Job 34:25

25–27. Armed with such omniscient insight (therefore, Job_34:25) He knoweth men’s works, and His judgment overtakes them without fail.

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.

Job 34:25 Therefore he knoweth their works, and he overturneth [them] in the night, so that they are destroyed.

Ver. 25. Therefore he knoweth their works] It appeareth by their punishment that God took notice of their wicked works, though they thought otherwise; yea, when they know not, or are not aware of it, he overthroweth them therefore. This he doth in the night, i.e. suddenly and unexpectedly. Others render it, As soon as he hath changed the night they are crushed; that is, as soon as he hath brought forth the light which revealeth all things, Eph 5:19, and layeth them open to public view, who before were taken for better men, they are destroyed, as public pests.

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.

γ Guided by unerring wisdom God goeth forth with the hand of an almighty one against the mighty, and suddenly crushes them in the presence of many beholders. His omniscience and his impartial love of his creatures are guarantees that HIS OMNIPOTENT POWER shall not err in the allotment of good and evil, Job_34:25-30.

25. Therefore — A logical inference from Job_34:23, and the central thought of Job_34:24, that God acts without prolonged examination.

In the night — Sudden is his work of retribution, for he overturneth the wicked in a night. Or, night may be the grammatical object of the verb הפךְ, (compare Exo_10:19; 1Sa_10:9; Job_30:15,) and be read, “He (God) turneth night;” that is, God brings on night, in the sense of great calamity.

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

Make them manifest that they are wicked.

Declare the things that were hid.

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

Therefore--because He knows all things (Job 34:21). He knows their works, without a formal investigation (Job 34:24).

in the night--suddenly, unexpectedly (Job 34:20). Fitly in the night, as it was in it that the godless hid themselves (Job 34:22). UMBREIT, less simply, for "overturneth," translates, "walketh"; that is, God is ever on the alert, discovering all wickedness.

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 25. He knoweth their works] He knows what they have done, and what they are plotting to do.

He overturneth them in the night] In the revolution of a single night the plenitude of power on which the day closed is annihilated. See the cases of Belshazzar and Babylon.

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

(25) Therefore.—We should expect because rather; but the writer, believing in God’s justice, infers that since God acts thus He knoweth the works of man, and has grounds for acting as He acts.

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

Because they turned back from him,.... Became apostates from the ways and worship of God, as the posterity of Cain before the flood, and the posterity of Ham after it; who had been educated and trained up therein, and turned from the law of God, as the Septuagint version, from the light and law of nature:

and would not consider any of his ways; either of providence, whether in a way of mercy which might lead to repentance, or in a way of judgment which might be a caution and instruction to them; or of his precepts, the way of his commandments, not any of these would they consider; so as to express a value for them, show any regard to them, and walk in them; and which was owing to the stubbornness of their wills; they would not advert to them.

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

Therefore he knoweth their works - Or, “Because he knoweth their works.” The word (לכן lākên) here rendered “therefore” is evidently used as denoting that since or because he was intimately acquainted with all which they did, he could justly bring vengeance upon them without long investigation.

And he overturneth them in the night - literally, “he turneth night;” meaning, probably, he turns night upon them; that is, he brings calamity upon them. The word “night” is often used to denote calamity, or ruin. Umbreit understands it in the sense of “turning about the night;” that is, that they had covered up their deeds as in the night, but that God “so turns the night about” as to bring them to the light of day. The Vulgate renders it “et ideireo inducit noctem,” “and therefore he brings night;” that is, he brings adversity and ruin. This is probably the correct interpretation.

So that they are destroyed - Margin, “crushed.” The idea is, that when God thus brings adversity upon them, they are prostrated beneath his power.

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

Night, calamities. At once the shall be oppressed. (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).

i.e. Hence it appears that he knows all their evil works, because he judgeth them for them. God or men are ofttimes said in Scripture to know or do a thing, when they only manifest their knowing and doing of it. Or, became, &c., as this particle is used, Isa 26:14; 61:7. So this is subjoined as the ground or reason why he punisheth them, as is related both in the foregoing and in the following words, because he sees all their wicked designs and actions.

He overturneth them in the night, i.e. when they are at rest and secure; at midnight, as it is Job 34:20. Or, he turneth or bringeth upon them the night, to wit, of calamity and tribulation, as the next words explain it, and as the words

night and darkness are oft used. Or, he turneth the night, to wit, into day, i.e. he knoweth all their deeds of darkness, and bringeth them to light. See above, Job 34:22.

So that they are destroyed, Heb. and (or then, or therefore; for both these ways this particle is sometimes used) they shall be destroyed, or broken to pieces.

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

Therefore (i.e. to that end" or with that object in view) he knoweth (rather, taketh knowledge of) their works. As God governs the world, and governs it, to a large extent, by exalting some men and depressing others, he is bound to take strict account of their conduct, that he may exalt the worthy and depress the unworthy. And he overturneth them in the night (comp. ver. 20). So that they are destroyed; literally, crushed. God"s judgments fall on men suddenly, either "in the night," or as "In the night, i.e. suddenly, unexpectedly, when they are quite unprepared; and fall on them with "crushing" force, with a might that is wholly irresistible,

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

Because He recognizes their deeds Because He recognizes their deeds, whether good or evil, He does not need to debate.

He turns night A time of darkness and trouble for them, and they are crushed.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.