Job 4:20

(20) From morning to evening.—The process is continual and unceasing, and when we consider the ravages of time on history, we may well say, as in Job_4:20, that “none regardeth it.”

The next verse, however, may seem to imply that they themselves are unmindful of their decay, it is so insidious and so complete.

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

Job 4:20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding [it].

Ver. 20. They are destroyed from morning to evening] Heb. They are beaten to pieces, as in a mortar, with one sorrow upon another, till the very breath be beaten out of their bodies at length; and all this from morning to evening, all the day long, or all their life long, which is here set forth (for the brevity of it) by an artificial day, and such also as no man can be sure he shall have twelve hours to his day ( Per totum diem, through the entire day, Drus.), for how many are there whose sun hath set at high noon! in the prime and pride of their days have they been suddenly snatched away by the hand of death; yea, how many see we whose sun setteth in the very rising, so that they are carried from the birth to the burial! Every hour, surely, we all yield somewhat unto death, and a very short cut hath the longest liver of all, from the grave of the womb to the womb of the grave. Eliphaz here seemeth to compare us to those creatures called Ephemerobii, which are young in the morning, middle aged at noon, and dead ere night; they begin and end their lives in a day (Aristot.). Man’s life is a vapour, saith St James, a bubble, say the heathens, a blast, a dream, a shadow, a dream of a shadow, &c.

They perish for ever] That is, they die once for all. For "if a man die, shall he live again?" Job 14:14. No such matter. In this war, as there is no discharge, Ecc 8:8, so neither is it granted to any man to err twice; therefore Austin said that he would not for the gain of a million worlds be an atheist for half an hour; because he knew not but God might in that time call for him, and cut him off from all time of repentance, acceptation, and grace for ever, since he could die but once only, and after death judgment: every man’s death’s day is his doom’s day, Heb 9:27.

Without any regarding it] Heb. Putting, sc. his heart to it, or laying it upon his heart, as every man living should do, Ecc 7:2, but that few or none so do, see Isa 57:1. David did, when hearing of his child’s decease, he said, "I shall go to him," 2Sa 12:23. And Moses, seeing the people’s carcases fall so fast in the wilderness, prayed for himself and the rest, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom," Psa 90:12. Every dead corpse is a monitor, a dumb preacher, Etiam muta clamant cadavera. Abel, though dead, speaketh; but how few hearken to him! Dives thought that if one came from the dead to forewarn his brethren, great matters would be done. Petrus Sutorius telleth of one that, preaching a funeral sermon on a religious man, as he calleth him, and giving him large commendations, heard at the same time a voice in the church, Mortuus sum, iudicatus sum, damnatus sum, I am dead, I am judged, I am damned (Pet. Sutor. de Vita Carth.). This very much wrought upon the heart of Bruno, saith he, and occasioned him to found the Carthusian order. Waldus, a French merchant, was so affected with the death of one that died suddenly in his presence, that he thenceforth became a right godly man, and the father of the Waldenses, those ancient Protestants in France, called also, The poor men of Lyons. But oh, the dead lethargy, the spirit of fornication, that hath so besotted the minds of the most, that they can see death, and yet not think of it! They can look into the dark chamber of the grave, and never make the least preparation for it: if for present they be somewhat affected, and have some good impressions, yet they soon vanish; as the water, circled by a stone cast into it, soon returns to its former smoothness; as chickens run under the wings of the hen, while the kite is over them, or in a storm, but soon after get abroad again, and dust themselves in the sun. As Nebuchadnezzar had seen a vision, but it was gone from him; so here, if men at the house of mourning have some good motions, they improve them not to resolutions, or draw not forth their resolutions into executions, &c.

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 4:20. They are destroyed — Bruised, or broken, as the same word, יכתו, juccattu, is rendered, Mic 1:7, where we read, The graven images shall be broken to pieces; from morning to evening — That is, either speedily, between the morning and evening, like the grass, Psa 90:5-6. They flourish in the morning, and in the evening are cut down: or rather, all the day long; there is not a moment wherein man is not sinking toward death and corruption. If these words were considered as being connected with the latter clause of the preceding verse, as Dr. Grey thinks they ought to be, the sense would be, they are crushed and destroyed all the day long, as moths are, which, being an insect hurtful and injurious, every one is ready to destroy. They perish for ever — In reference to the present worldly life, which when once lost is never recovered; without any regarding it — Or laying it to heart, say most commentators. But the literal interpretation of the Hebrew, מבלי משׂים, mibbeli meesim, Chappelow thinks, is preferable, namely, absque imponente, without any one’s adding to their misery; or, according to Junius and Tremellius, nemine disponente, without any one’s ordering or appointing it. That is, they are continually perishing and going to destruction, of their own accord, through the mere frailty of their nature, even if no external violence be offered to them. Our translation, however, conveys an important and instructive truth, namely, that few or none that survive, lay to heart, as they ought to do, the death of those that are taken away. For it is so common a thing for all men, though ever so high and great, to perish in this manner, that no man regards it, but all pass it by, as a general accident not worthy of observation.

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

They see death continually before their eyes, and daily approaching toward them.

No man for all this doth consider it.

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

from morning to evening--unceasingly; or, better, between the morning and evening of one short day (so Exo 18:14; Isa 38:12).

They are destroyed--better, "they would be destroyed," if God withdrew His loving protection. Therefore man must not think to be holy before God, but to draw holiness and all things else from God (Job 4:17).

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 20. They are destroyed from morning to evening] In almost every moment of time some human being comes into the world, and some one departs from it. Thus are they "destroyed from morning to evening."

They perish for ever] יאבדו yobedu; peribunt, they pass by; they go out of sight; they moulder with the dust, and are soon forgotten. Who regards the past generation now among the dead?

Isaiah has a similar thought, Isa 57:1: "The righteous perisheth, and No MAN LAYETH IT TO HEART: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." Some think that Isaiah borrowed from Job; this will appear possible when it has been proved, which has never yet been done, that the writer of this book flourished before Isaiah. If, however, he borrowed the above thought, it must be allowed that it has been wondrously improved by coming through his hands.

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

20. from morning to evening] i. e. from a morning to an evening, in the course of a single day, cf. Isa_38:12. They are short-lived as ephemerids.

without any regarding] i. e. without any one noticing it; so insignificant and of no account are they, that they pass away unobserved, like ephemeral insects. The words might mean, without any of them laying to heart; they are thoughtless in their sinful levity, an idea parallel to “without wisdom” in the next verse. Job_4:19 described how easily men are destroyed, this verse describes how soon. All is meant to widen the chasm between men and God, and by giving Job right thoughts of God, and of himself a man, to bring back his mind to a becoming attitude towards Heaven.

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.

Doth not their excellency which is in them go away?.... Either the soul which is in them, and is the most excellent part of them; this, though it dies not, yet it goes away and departs from the body at death; and so do all the powers and faculties of it, the thoughts, the affections, the mind, and memory, yea, all the endowments of the mind, wisdom, learning, knowledge of languages, arts, and sciences, all fail at death, Co1 13:8; and so likewise all that is excellent in the body, the strength and beauty of it depart, its strength is weakened in the way, and its comeliness turned into corruption: or, as it may be rendered, "which is with them" (l); and so may likewise denote all outward enjoyments, as wealth and riches, glory and honour, which a man cannot carry with him, do not descend into the grave with him, but then go away: a learned man (m) renders the words, "is not their excellency removed which was in them?" and thinks it refers to the corruption of nature, the loss of original righteousness, and of the image of God in man, which formerly was his excellency in his state of innocence, but now, through sin and the fall, is removed from him; and this, indeed, is the cause, the source and spring, of his frailty, mortality, and death; hence it follows:

they die even without wisdom; that dies with them, or whatsoever of that they have goes away from them at death; wise men die as well as fools, yea, they die as fools do, and multitudes without true wisdom, not being wise enough to consider their latter end; they die without the wisdom which some are made to know, in the hidden part, without the fear of God, which is real wisdom, or without the knowledge of Christ, and of God in Christ, which is the beginning, earnest, and pledge of life eternal. Now then since man is such a frail, mortal, foolish, and sinful creature, how can he be just before God, or pure in the sight of his Maker? which, is the thing designed to be proved and illustrated by all this; and here ends the divine oracle, or the revelation made to Eliphaz, when he had the vision before related.

(l) "cum ipsis", Piscator; so some in Mercerus and Drusius, and Mr. Broughton. (m) Schmidt; "quae fuerat", Beza.

Next: Job Chapter 5

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

They are destroyed from morning to evening - Margin, “beaten in pieces.” This is nearer to the Hebrew. The phrase “from morning to evening” means between the morning and the evening; that is, they live scarcely a single day; see the notes at Isa 38:12. The idea is, not the continuance of the work of destruction from morning to evening; but that man’s life is excecdingly short, so short that he scarce seems to live from morning to night. What a beautiful expression, and how true! How little qualified is such a being to sit in judgment on the doings of the Most High!

They perish forever - Without being restored to life. They pass away, and nothing is ever seen of them again!

Without any regarding it - Without its being noticed. How strikingly true is this! What a narrow circle is affected by the death of a man, and how soon does even that circle cease to be affected! A few relatives and friends feel it and weep over the loss; but the mass of men are unconcerned. It is like taking a grain of sand from the sea-shore, or a drop of water from the ocean. There is indeed one less, but the place is soon supplied, and the ocean rolls on its tumultuous billows as though none had been taken away. So with human life. The affairs of people will roll on; the world will be as busy, and active, and thoughtless as though we had not been; and soon, O how painfully soon to human pride, will our names be forgotten! The circle of friends will cease to weep, and then cease to remember us. The last memorial that we lived, will be gone. The house that we built, the bed on which we slept, the counting-room that we occupied, the monuments that we raised, the books that we made, the stone that we directed to be placed over our graves, will all be gone; and the last memento that we ever lived, will have faded away! How vain is man! How vain is pride! How foolish is ambition! How important the announcement that there is another world, where we may live on forever!

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

Understandeth. Hebrew, "regardeth." Septuagint, "can help himself." (Haydock) --- Man is justly punished because he does not reflect on what he ought. (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).

From morning to evening; either,

1. Speedily, between morning and evening, like the grass; they flourish in the morning, and in the evening are cut off, Psa 90:5,6. Or rather,

2. All the day long, as the phrase is, 2Co 11:25. There is not a moment wherein man is not sinking and drawing on towards death and corruption.

For ever; as to human appearance and the course of nature, as many such like passages are to be understood in this book; or in reference to this present. and worldly life, which when once lost is never recovered, Job 16:22; Psa 39:13.

Without any regarding it, Heb. without putting the heart to it; the word heart being understood there, as also Job 23:6; 34:23; Isa 41:20, as may appear by comparing 1Sa 9:20; 2Sa 18:3; Isa 41:22; 57:1, where the same phrase is used, and the word heart expressed. The meaning is either,

1. Yet few or no men that survive them lay it to heart as they should do. Or,

2. They perish beside the expectation of all men, when both themselves and others thought their mountain was so strong that it could not be removed. Or rather,

3. This is so common a thing for all men, though never so high and great, to perish in this manner, that no man heeds it, but passeth it by as a general accident not worthy of observation. Otherwise, no man procuring or furthering it, Heb. without any man’s putting the hand to it, i.e. they perish of themselves, without any violent hand.

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

20. From morning to evening — So short is their life that they may be called ephemeral.

They perish forever — That is, from this present life.

Without any regarding it — So insignificant is man, that though thousands perish, the face of society remains the same. The landscape shines no less brightly though many a blade of grass may have withered; and the ocean rolls no less majestically after it has dashed its long line of surf against the shore. Of as little account in the estimate of man is man himself. It is of infinite moment to man how he shall have lived, not so much what others shall think of him (if they think of him at all) when once he is dead. This verse has such a human look that we might imagine the spirit that speaks to have once been of our race, one of life’s great actors, his name already blotted out from human remembrance. It is more profitable to reflect that the oft-recurring event of death has so little power to affect the human heart. Its visitations, really more ghastly than those of a ghost, elicit this strange feature of the heart, that the frequent repetition of that which is most terrible renders us correspondingly indifferent if not insensible. The shafts of death are for the most part powerless to turn the infatuated children of men from the pursuit of folly. The subject shows in its true light the desperate perverseness of the heart of man.

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

They are destroyed from morning to evening. Human bodies undergo a continuous destruction. From the moment that we are born we begin to die. Decay of powers is coeval with their first exercise. Our insidious foe, Death, marks us as his own from the very first breath that we draw. Our bodies are machines wound up to go for a certain time. The moment that we begin to use them we begin to wear them out. They perish for ever. The final result is that Our" houses of clay "perish, crumble to dust, disappear, and come to nothing. They "perish for ever," says Eliphaz, repeating what he believed the spirit of ver. 15 to have said to him; but it is not clear that he understood more by this than that they perish and disappear for ever, so far as this life and this world are concerned. Without any regarding it. No one is surprised or thinks it hard. It is the lot of man, and every one"s mind is prepared for it.

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

Destroyed - All the day long, there is not a moment wherein man is not sinking towards death and corruption. Perish - In reference to this present worldly life, which when once lost is never recovered. Regarding - Hebrew. without putting the heart to it, this is so common a thing for all men, though never so high and great, to perish in this manner, that no man heeds it, but passes it by as a general accident not worthy of observation.

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

General Information:

These verses continue the earlier use of parallelism, here emphasizing in different ways the idea that people die suddenly without having achieved wisdom and without concern from others. (See: Parallelism)

Between morning and evening they are destroyed

This refers to the idea of something happening quickly. (See: Metaphor)

they are destroyed

This may also be put into active form. AT: "they die" (See: Active or Passive)

Are not their tent cords plucked up among them?

This may be put into active form. AT: "Have not their enemies plucked up their tent cords from among them?" (See: Rhetorical Question)

their tent cords

Here tent cords represent a tent. Sometimes a person's home and family are pictured as his tent, which can also represent all his possessions. (See: Synecdoche and Metaphor)

translationWords

perish

eternity

tent

die

wise

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

From morning to evening they are crushed in one day, they are crushed and subdued.

without giving [a thought] lit. without putting it upon their heart to return to their Maker.

they perish to eternity This too is an elliptical verse.

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.