Job 36:12

Job 36:12 But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.

Ver. 12. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword] In gladium transibunt, they shall pass away by the sword; that is, some evil end shall befall them, and worthily, because they would not be warned, which is both a presage and desert of utter ruin. Lesser and lighter judgments (where they work not) are foretokens of greater and heavier at the heels of them; as the black horse in the Revelation followeth the red. And as clouds cluster against a storm, one following in the neck of the other, unless the sun break forth and scatter them; so do God’s judgments usher in one another and every less a greater, unless repentance and better obedience take up the matter.

And they shall die without knowledge] Heb. because they were without knowledge; and wilfully so. It was not a bare nescience, but an affected ignorance, that undid them. Some render it, Non praesentientes, they shall die suddenly, and before they have bethought themselves. It should be our care that death do not suddenly surprise us. No guest comes unawares to him who keeps a constant table. Every sharp affliction is a warning piece, and let us so conceive of it, Stillicidia praecedunt ruinam.

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.

36:12 dying from lack of understanding: See also 4:21; Prov 5:23; 10:21.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, in their folly or obstination, and so shall be cause of their own destruction.

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

(Job 33:18).

without knowledge--that is, on account of their foolishness (Job 4:20-21).

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 12. But if they obey not] This also is a general rule, from which, in the course of Providence, there are only few, and those only apparent, deviations. Instead of they shall perish by the sword, the meaning of the Hebrew בשלח יעברו beshelach yaaboru, is, "By a dart they shall pass by." They shall be in continual dangers, and often fall before they have lived out half their days. Mr. Good translates: They pass by as an arrow. The VULGATE: Transibunt per gladium. "They shall pass away by the sword."

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

But if they obey not,.... Who seem to be righteous and are not; and when afflicted are not submissive to the will of God; attend not to the voice of his providence; receive no instruction thereby; but kick against the pricks, and rebel, against God; complain of him, and murmur at his dealings with them:

they shall perish by the sword; or they shall pass away out of the world by it, or by some missive weapon: they shall die a violent death, by the sword of justice, of the civil magistrate, or by the sword of men; or, as a Jewish commentator (r) paraphrases it, by the dart of death, by the sword of Satan, they shall pass out of this world;

and they shall die without knowledge; without knowledge of their death being near, it coming upon them suddenly and at unawares; or without knowledge of themselves and of their miserable and lost estate; and without knowledge of Christ, and of God in Christ, and of the way of salvation by him. Or they shall perish for lack of knowledge; because they have none; through ignorance and that affected; they know not nor will they understand, but despise the means of knowledge, and hate instruction.

(r) R. Simeon, Bar Tzemach.

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

But if they obey not - If those who are afflicted do not turn to God, and yield him obedience, they must expect that he will continue their calamities until they are cut off.

They shall perish by the sword - Margin, as in Hebrew “pass away.” The word rendered “sword” (שׁלח shelach) means properly “anything sent” - as a spear or an arrow - “a missile” - and then an instrument of war in general. It may be applied to any weapon that is used to produce death. The idea here is, that the man who was afflicted on account of the sins which he had committed, and who did not repent of them and turn to God, would be cut off. God would not withdraw his hand unless he acknowledged his offences. As he had undertaken the work of discipline, he could not consistently do it, for it would be in fact “yielding” the point to him whom he chastised. This “may” be the case now, and the statement here made by Elihu may involve a principle which will explain the cause of the death of many persons, even of the professedly pious. They are devoted to gain or amusement; they seek the honors of the world for their families or themselves, and in fact they make no advances in piety, and are doing nothing for the cause of religion. God lays his hand upon them at first gently. They lose their health, or a part of their property. But the discipline is not effectual. He then lays his band on them with more severity, and takes from them an endeared child. Still, all is ineffectual. The sorrow of the affliction passes away, and they mingle again in the frivolous and busy scenes of life as worldly as ever, and exert no influence in favor of religion. Another blow is needful, and blow after blow is struck; but nothing overcomes their worldliness, nothing makes them devotedly and sincerely useful, and it becomes necessary to remove them from the world.

They shall die without knowledge - That is, without any true knowledge of the plans and government of God, or of the reasons why he brought these afflictions upon them. In all their sufferings they never “saw” the design. They complained, and murmured, and charged God with severity, but they never understood that the affliction was intended for their own benefit.

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

Folly. Hebrew, "without knowledge." He speaks of princes, (Calmet) and of all the wicked, who have not known the day of their visitation. (Haydock) --- They shall suffer the punishment prepared for fools or wicked men. (Menochius)

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).

If they; the righteous, spoken of Job 35:7, opposed to the hypocrites here following, Job 35:13; for even good men may sometimes be disobedient to Divine admonitions, and may suffer deeply, yea, even death itself, for their folly: see 1Co 11:30.

Without knowledge; in or for their ignorance, or inadvertency, or folly. Or, because they are without knowledge; because they are foolish, or brutish, and will not learn the lessons which God so plainly teacheth them.

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

12. Without knowledge — See note on Job_4:21. They die without that knowledge of God which is the eternal weal of the soul. Or it may refer to the stupor which sin brings, an unconsciousness of deep guilt that in general beclouds the wicked when dying. “For there are no bands in their death.” Psa_73:4. (See MERCEIN, Natural Goodness, see. 2.)

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

But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword. Not, necessarily, by a material sword, but by the sword of God"s vengeance, which slays in a thousand different manners, piercing through all obstacles, and reaching to the heart and spirit. And they shall die without knowledge. Either without knowing that they are about to die, or in their wilful ignorance of God"s intentions in chastising them.

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