Job 3:18

Job 3:18 [There] the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

Ver. 18. There the prisoners rest together] Or alike, as do their cruel creditors and hard taskmasters. There, that is, in the state of the dead, whether by land or sea, the prisoners, or bound persons, the miserable captives, rest; such as were those poor Christians, shut up so close (by Barbarossa, the Turkish general, returning toward Constantinople) under hatches among the excrements of nature, that all the way as he went almost every hour, some of them were cast dead over board. Such were many of the martyrs, kept fast shut up in Lollard’s tower, in the bishop of London’s coal house, a dark and ugly prison, said Mr Philpot, as any is about London; but I thank the Lord, I am not alone, but have six other faithful companions, who in our darkness do lightsomely sing psalms and praises to God for his great goodness, but especially for this, that I am so near the apprehension of eternal bliss. God forgive me mine unthankfulness and unworthiness of so great glory (Acts and Mon. 1669, 1670). What pitiful hard usage God’s poor prisoners met with in the late troubles, at Oxford especially (from which death God graciously delivered me when I was in their hands) and in the western parts, see Mr Bonas’ Sermon called Job in the West, where he compareth the enemies’ cruelty to that of the American cannibals, who, when they take a prisoner, feed upon him alive, and by degrees, to the unutterable aggravation of his horror and torment.

They hear not the voice of the oppressor] Their harsh and hard speeches, Jdg 1:15, that were as a murdering weapon in the poor prisoner’s bones, Psa 42:10. Send me back to my frogs and toads again, where I may pray for your conversion, said one of the martyrs to his railing adversaries. Art thou come, thou villain? how darest thou look me in the face for shame? said Stephen Gardiner to Dr Taylor the martyr, who told him his own freely, but fairly: for the spirit of grace is nec mendax, nec mordax. neither lying nor deceitful. Est autem Satanae pectus faecundissimum convitiis, Moreover, there is in the heart of Satan most fruitful vice,saith Luther; the devil and his agents are bitter railers, fetching their words as far as hell, to break the hearts of God’s prisoners, Psa 69:20. But besides that they have their cordial of a good conscience by them, 2Co 1:12, in the grave they hear not the voice of the oppressor, nor the barkings of these dead dogs, any more.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 3:18. There the prisoners rest together — That is, one as well as another; they who were lately deprived of their liberty, kept in the strongest chains and closest prisons, and condemned to the most hard and miserable slavery, rest as well as those who were captives in much better circumstances. They hear not the voice of the oppressor — Or exactor, or taskmaster, (as the word נגשׁ, nogesh, is translated Exo 5:6,) who urges and forces them, by cruel threatenings and stripes, to labour beyond their strength. Job does not here take into consideration their eternal state after death, of which he speaks hereafter, but only their freedom from worldly troubles, which is the sole matter of his present discourse.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All they that sustain any kind of calamity and misery in this world: which he speaketh after the judgment of the flesh.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

There the prisoners rest--from their chains.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. The prisoners rest together] Those who were slaves, feeling all the troubles, and scarcely tasting any of the pleasures of life, are quiet in the grave together; and the voice of the oppressor, the hard, unrelenting task-master, which was more terrible than death, is heard no more. They are free from his exactions, and his mouth is silent in the dust. This may be a reference to the Egyptian bondage. The children of Israel cried by reason of their oppressors or task-masters.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(18) The oppressor.—As this is the word rendered taskmaster in Exodus, some have thought there may be an allusion to that history here.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. the prisoners rest together] The “prisoners” are not those immured in prison, but captives driven to forced labour.

the oppressor] The taskmaster, Exo_3:7. The prisoners are there all together, and they hear not the voice, the shouts and curses of the driver ch. Job_39:7).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There the prisoners rest together,.... "Are at ease", as Mr. Broughton renders the words; such who while they lived were in prison for debt, or were condemned to the galleys, to lead a miserable life; or such who suffered bonds and imprisonment for the sake of religion, at death their chains are knocked off, and they are as much at liberty, and enjoy as much ease, as the dead that never were prisoners; and not only rest together with those who were their fellow prisoners, but with those who never were in prison, yea, with those who cast them into it; for there the prisoners and those that imprisoned them are upon a level, enjoying equal ease and liberty:

they hear not the voice of the oppressor; or "exactor" (x); neither of their creditors that demanded their debt of them, and threatened them with a prison, or that detained them in it; nor of the jail keeper that gave them hard words as well as stripes; nor of cruel taskmasters, who kept them to hard service in prison, and threatened them severely if they did not perform it, like the taskmasters in Egypt, Exo 5:11; but, in the grave, the blustering, terrifying, voice of such, is not heard.

(x) "exactoris", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

There the prisoners rest together - Herder translates this, “There the prisoners rejoice in their freedom.” The Septuagint strangely enough, “There they of old (ὁ αἰώνιοι hoi aiōnioi) assembled together (ὁμοθυμαδόν homothumadon) have not heard the voice of the exactor.” The Hebrew word שׁאן shâ'an means “to rest, to be quiet, to be tranquil”; and the sense is, that they are in the grave freed from chains and oppressions.

They hear not the voice of the oppressor - Of him who exacted taxes, and who laid on them heavy burdens, and who imprisoned them for imaginary crimes. He who is bound in chains, and who has no other prospect of release, can look for it in the grave and will find it there. Similar sentiments are found respecting death in Seneca, ad Marcian, 20: “Mots omnibus finis, multis remedium, quibusdam votum; haec servitutem invito domino remittit; haec captivorum catenas levat; haec a carcere reducit, quos exire imperium impofens vetuerat; haec exulibus, in pairtam semper animum oculosque tendentibus, ostendit, nibil interesse inter quos quisque jaceat; haec, ubi res communes fortuna male divisit, et aequo jure genitos allure alii donavit, exaequat omnia; haec est, quae nihil quidquam alieno fecit arbitrio; haec est, ea qua nemo humilitatem guam sensit; haec est, quae nuili paruit.” The sense in Job is, that all are at liberty in death. Chains no longer bind; prisons no longer incarccrate; the voice of oppression no longer alarms.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Bound in chains, like incorrigible slaves, (Calmet) or debtors. (Cocceius.) --- These were formerly treated with great severity, Luke xii. 59. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The prisoners rest together, i.e. one as well as another; they who were kept in the strongest chains and closest prisons, and condemned to the most hard and miserable slavery, rest as well as those who were captives in much better circumstances. Or,

in like manner, ( as this word oft signifies,) as those oppressors and oppressed do.

The oppressor, or, exacter, or taskmaster, who urgeth and forceth them by cruel threatenings and stripes to greater diligence in the works to which they are condemned. See Exo 3:7; 5:6,10,13. Job meddles not here with their eternal state after death, or the sentence and judgment of God against wicked men, of which he speaks hereafter; but only speaks of their freedom from worldly troubles, which is the only matter of his complaint and present discourse.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. Rest — שׁאננו, an intensive form of the verb, expressive of deep and abiding rest.

The oppressor — נגשׂ, taskmaster. The same word appears in Exo_5:6.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There the prisoners rest together. "There those who in life were prisoners, condemned to work at enforced labours, enjoy sweet rest together." They hear not the voice of the oppressor; rather, of the taskmaster. (comp. Exo_3:7 Exo_5:6, where the same word is used) The task. master continually urged on the wearied labourers with such words as those of Exo_5:13, "Fulfil your works, fulfil your daily tasks. In the grave these hated sounds would not be heard.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The oppressor - Or, taskmaster, who urges and forces them to work by cruel threatenings and stripes. Job meddles not here with their eternal state after death, of which he speaks hereafter, but only their freedom from worldly troubles, which is the sole matter of his present discourse.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.