Job 8:15

Job 8:15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

Ver. 15. He shall lean upon his house] The spider shall, so Vatablus taketh it; but better, the hypocrite leaneth, or layeth his whole weight upon his house, that is, wealth, children, friends, clients, tenants, &c., as did Doeg, Psa 52:7; Haman, Est 3:9-11. That profane earl of Westmoreland, who said that he needed not at all to pray to God, for he had tenants enough to pray for him. Bildad probably glanceth here at Job, as if he had once trusted in his riches, relations, &c., which yet Job disavoweth, Job 31:24-25

But it shall not stand] No more than the spider’s house doth, borne down sometimes by her very weight, and not only by the wind. Hypocrites ruin their own houses by their sins, and particularly by relying on them. Though thou build thy palace as high as heaven, said the oracle to Phocas, yet sin, that lieth at the bottom, will be the ruin of it.

He shall hold it fast] Mordicus tenebit, he shall hold it, not with his hands only, but with his teeth, as Cynegiras did the Persian ship; or as a drowning man doth the branch of a tree.

But it shall not endure] All will not do; riches avail not in the day of wrath, &c. A hypocrite runs in his trouble to former false refuges; he trusted to his legs, or repairs to his bushes, as the hunted hare goes to the places that she used when she lived in quiet, thither she flees when she knows not how else to escape; but all to no purpose.

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 8:15. He shall lean upon his house — He shall trust to the multitude and strength of his children and servants, and to his wealth, all which come under the name of a man’s house in Scripture. But it shall not stand — That is, not be able to uphold itself, nor him that trusted to it. He shall hold it fast — Or, he shall take fast hold of it to strengthen and uphold himself by it. But his web, that refuge of lies, will be swept away, and he crushed in it. Or, by holding it fast, may be meant, that he shall endeavour to support his house by strong alliances, but it will be to no purpose, for it shall not endure.

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

he shall hold it fast--implying his eager grasp, when the storm of trial comes: as the spider "holds fast" by its web; but with this difference: the light spider is sustained by that on which it rests; the godless is not by the thin web on which he rests. The expression, "Hold fast," properly applies to the spider holding his web, but is transferred to the man. Hypocrisy, like the spider's web, is fine-spun, flimsy, and woven out of its own inventions, as the spider's web out of its own bowels. An Arab proverb says, "Time destroys the well-built house, as well as the spider's web."

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 15. He shall lean upon his house] This is all allusion to the spider. When he suspects his web, here called his house, to be frail or unsure, he leans upon it in different parts, propping himself on his hinder legs, and pulling with his fore claws, to see if all be safe. If he find any part of it injured, he immediately adds new cordage to that part, and attaches it strongly to the wall. When he finds all safe and strong, he retires into his hole at one corner, supposing himself to be in a state of complete security, when in a moment the brush or the besom sweeps away both himself, his house, and his confidence. This I have several times observed; and it is in this that the strength and point of the comparison consist. The wicked, whose hope is in his temporal possessions strengthens and keeps his house in repair; and thus leans on his earthly supports; in a moment, as in the case of the spider, his house is overwhelmed by the blast of God's judgments, and himself probably buried in its ruins. This is a very fine and expressive metaphor, which not one of the commentators that I have seen has ever discovered.

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

(15) It shall not endure.—The description of the wicked man ends here.

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

15. hold it fast] i. e. hold fast by it. The meaning of course is not that he tries to uphold his house, but that he tries to support himself by holding on to it. This is true both of the spider and the man.

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.

He is green before the sun,.... Which some understand of the rush or flag, of which a further account is given, as setting forth more fully the case of wicked men and hypocrites; but to either of these do not agree the situation of it in a garden, the shooting forth of its branches, and the height of it, and its striking its roots deep in stony places: Cocceius interprets it of the "herb" or grass before which the flag withers, Job 8:12; but the same objections, or most of them, lie against that also; rather, from the description of it, a tall large tree is designed, to which hypocrites in their most flourishing circumstances are compared, and yet come to nothing, Psa 37:35; that is "green" in its leaves, and looks beautiful, so they in a profession of religion, which is like green leaves without fruit; they make in it a fair show in the flesh, take up and him the lamp of a profession, and retain it bright and fair for a time; or, like a tree full of sap, or "juicy" (i); or, as Mr. Broughton renders it, "juiceful"; denoting, not a fulness of the spirit and his grace, or of faith, hope, love, &c. and of righteousness and goodness, but of, outward prosperity, having as much as heart could wish, and great plenty of good things laid up for many years: and this tree is said to be green and juicy "before the sun"; either in the presence and through the influence of it, as hypocrites flourish, even in a religious way, while the sun of prosperity shines upon them, and no longer; or openly and publicly, in the sight of all men, as this phrase is used, Sa2 12:11; and as such men do, in the view of all men, professors and profane, doing all they do to be seen of men, and before whom they are outwardly righteous, and reckoned good men; or, "before the sun" rises, as the Targum and Aben Ezra, so hypocrites flourish, before the sun of persecution arises and smites them, because of their profession, and then they drop it; see Mat 13:6,

and his branch shooteth forth in his garden; or "over" (k) it; and branch may be put branches, which in a flourishing tree spread themselves to cover a considerable piece of ground: Mr. Broughton renders it, "and his suckers sprout over his orchard"; all which may denote the increase of a wicked man, in his family, in his wealth and substance, and particularly in his posterity, which are as branches and suckers from him; and Bildad, if these are his own words, may have respect to Job, and to his large substance and number of children he had in his prosperity, when he had an hedge set about him, and was enclosed as in a garden: and whereas the church of God is sometimes compared to a garden, Sol 4:12; it agrees very well with hypocrites, who have a place there, and are called hypocrites in Sion, where they have a name, and flourish for a while: many interpreters, both Jewish (l) and Christian (m), interpret this, and what follows, of truly righteous and good men under afflictive providences, who notwithstanding continue, and are not the worse, but the better for them; their leaf of profession is always green, and withers not; and that "before the sun", even of adversity and affliction; and though that beats upon them, and smites them severely, they are like green olive trees, or the cedars of God, full of sap, full of the grace of God, and continually supplied with it; and so patiently endure temptation and affliction, bear the heat and burden of the day, and are not careful in the year of drought; see Sol 1:6; such are planted in the garden and house of the Lord by himself and shall never be rooted up; where their branches spread, and they grow in grace, and in the knowledge of all divine things, and are filled with the fruits of righteousness.

(i) "succosus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schultens; "viridis quidem et succi plenus", Michaelis. (k) "supra", Junius & Tremellius, Mercerus, Codurcus; "super", Montanus, Piscator, Schmidt, Schultens. (l) Saadiah Caon, R. Levi, Ben Gersom. (m) Vatablus, Beza, Diodati, Cocceius, Gussetius, p. 247.

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

He shall lean upon his house - This is an allusion to the web or house of the spider. The hope of the hypocrite is called the house which he has built for himself; his home, his refuge, his support. But it shall fail him. In times of trial he will trust to it for support, and it will be found to be as frail as the web of the spider. How little the light and slender thread which a spider spins would avail a man for support in time of danger! So frail and unsubstantial will be the hope of the hypocrite! It is impossible to conceive any figure which would more strongly describe the utter vanity of the hopes of the wicked. A similar comparison occurs in the Koran, Sur. 28, 40: “They who assume any other patrons to themselves besides God, are like the spider building his house; for the house of the spider is most feeble.”

He shall hold it fast - Or, he shall lay hold on it to sustain him, denoting the avidity with which the hypocrite seizes upon his hope. The figure is still taken from the spider, and is an instance of a careful observation of the habits of that insect. The idea is, that the spider, when a high wind or a tempest blows, seizes upon its slender web to sustain itself. But it is insufficient. The wind sweeps all away. So the tempest of calamity sweeps away the hypocrite, though he grasps at his hope, and would seek security in that, as a spider does in the light and tenuous thread which it has spun.

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

He. The spider, or rather the hypocrite, who will not be able to screen himself, by his possessions, from the wrath of God. (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).

He, either the spider, or rather, the wicked man signified by it,

shall lean upon his house, i.e. he shall trust to the multitude and strength of his children and servants. and to his wealth, all which come under the name of a man’s house in Scripture use.

It shall not stand, i.e. not be able to uphold itself, nor him that trusted to it.

He shall hold it fast; or, he shall take fast hold of it; not to uphold it, but to strengthen and uphold himself by it, as it is in the former branch.

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

He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure. A spider"s web, once damaged, rapidly goes to pieces. It cannot be patched up. To "lean upon it" is to put its structure to a test which it is unable to bear. It cannot "stand" or "endure." The ease is the same with all the supports of the ungodly.

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

House - He shall trust to the multitude of his children and servants, and to his wealth, all which come under the name of a man's house in scripture. Hold it - To uphold himself by it. But his web, that refuge of lies, will be swept away, and he crushed in it.

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