Job 8:18

Job 8:18 If he destroy him from his place, then [it] shall deny him, [saying], I have not seen thee.

Ver. 18. If he destroy him from his place] If he stub up this green tree, no better surely than the cyparit, of which Pliny writeth that it beareth fruit to no purpose, small berries, bitter leaves, that it yields an ill smell, and no pleasant shade; or as the boxtree, green indeed all the year about, but of an offensive smell, no fruit, and such a seed as all living creatures hate. Now if he, that is, Almighty God, destroy him, that is, the hypocrite, as he will do questionless (totally and speedily swallowing him up), what then?

Then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee] Heb. It shall tell a lie of him, &c., the place, as ashamed to own him, shall feign and say, We have not seen him, we know not what is become of him. So Psa 37:35-36. As they have denied the Lord that bought them, 2Pe 2:1, so they shall one day be denied by the places they have bought or builded, by the people that once clawed them, and cried them up.

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 8:18. If he, &c. — Namely, God, who is the saviour of good men and the destroyer of the wicked; destroy him from his place — When God blasts him and plucks him up; then it shall deny him — That is, the place shall deny him; saying, I have not seen thee — The reader will easily observe, that denying him and seeing him are here ascribed to the place figuratively, and the meaning is, that he shall be so utterly extirpated and destroyed, that there shall be no memorial of him left, nor any remembrance that such a man ever lived in that place. He shall no more recover himself than a tree which is plucked out of the ground, and left to wither.

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

That is, so that there remain nothing there to prove whether the tree had grown there or no.

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

If He (God) tear him away (properly, "to tear away rapidly and violently") from his place, "then it [the place personified] shall deny him" (Psa 103:16). The very soil is ashamed of the weeds lying withered on its surface, as though it never had been connected with them. So, when the godless falls from prosperity, his nearest friends disown him.

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. If he destroy him from his place] Is not this a plain reference to the alienation of his inheritance? God destroys him from it; it becomes the property of another; and on his revisiting it, the place, by a striking prosopopoeia, says, "I know thee not; I have never seen thee." This also have I witnessed; I looked on it, felt regret, received instruction, and hasted away.

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

18. if he destroy him] The subject is God. The words might be rendered, if he be (when he is) destroyed. This is perhaps better, as the plant is spoken of. The point of the verse is not who destroys him, but that he is destroyed, and when destroyed utterly disappears, so that his place says, I never saw thee. In spite of his luxuriance and hold of the soil he is suddenly and wholly swept away and his place denies ever having known him.

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.

Behold, this is the joy of his way,.... Of the state and condition of the hypocrite, who, while he is in outward prosperity, exults and rejoices, but his joy is but short, it is but for a moment, Job 20:5; and this is what it comes to at last, and issues in, even entire destruction from his place; which, because it may seem strange and wonderful, and is worthy of notice and consideration, as well as to express a certainty of it, the word "behold" is prefixed; though this also is understood, by some, of good men who have much spiritual joy in their present state and condition, be it what it will; they have joy and peace in believing, even joy unspeakable, and full of glory; they have joy in the Lord, and in his ways in which they walk, when they have trouble in the world; they rejoice and even glory in tribulation, and are cheerful be they where they will, though removed from their native place and country; and especially this will be their case when they are transplanted from earth to heaven, the better and heavenly country:

and out of the earth shall others grow; in their room and stead; where the tall flourishing tree once stood, but now utterly destroyed, other trees should grow; signifying, either the children of the hypocrites and wicked men, that should spring up in their place and imitate them, and come to the same end; or rather such as were strangers to them, that should inherit their substance and estates; and it may be good men that should succeed them, and come into the possession of all their wealth, even such as were before in mean circumstances, and so may be said to come "out of the earth": it may be rendered, "out of another dust" or "earth shall they grow" (q); signifying, that the wicked should be utterly destroyed, they and theirs; and that such as were of another family, and as it were of another earth and country, should stand in their place; see Job 27:16; this may be interpreted of good men, who, though they die, others are raised up in their stead; God will have a seed to serve him as long as the sun and moon endure; though they are forced to fly from their native place, being persecuted, to strange cities, or removed into the heavenly regions, yet God raises up others to till up their places, and oftentimes out of other families, even of the ungodly, to support his cause and interest; and understanding the whole of truly righteous persons seems best to connect the sense with the following words.

(q) "de pulvere alio", Montanus, Bolducius, Cocceius; so the Targum; "de terra alia", Pagninus, Mercerus.

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

If he destroy him from his place - The particle here which is rendered “if (אם 'ı̂m) is often used to denote emphasis, and means here “certainly” - “he shall be certainly destroyed.” The word rendered destroy, from בלע bela‛, means literally to swallow Job 7:19, to swallow up, to absorb; and hence, to consume, lay waste, destroy. The sense is, that the wicked or the hypocrite shall be wholly destroyed from his place, but the image or figure of the tree is still retained. Some suppose that it means that God would destroy him from his place; others, as Rosenmuller and Dr. Good, suppose that the reference is to the soil in which the tree was planted, that it would completely absorb all nutriment, and leave the tree to die; that is, that the dry and thirsty soil in which the tree is planted, instead of affording nutriment, acts as a “sucker,” and absorbs itself all the juices which would otherwise give support to the tree. This seems to me to be probably the true interpretation. It is one drawn from nature, and one that preserves the concinnity of the passage.

Then it shall deny him - That is, the soil, the earth, or the place where it stood. This represents a wicked man under the image of a tree. The figure is beautiful. The earth will be ashamed of it; ashamed that it sustained the tree; ashamed that it ever ministered any nutriment, and will refuse to own it. So with the hypocrite. He shall pass away as if the earth refused to own him, or to retain any recollection of him.

I have not seen thee - I never knew thee. It shall utterly deny any acquaintance with it. There is a striking resemblance here to the language which the Savior says he will use respecting the hypocrite in the day of judgment: “and then will I profess to them, I never knew you;” Mat 7:23. The hypocrite has never been known as a pious man. The earth will refuse to own him as such, and so will the heavens.

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

If he; either God, who is the Saviour of good men, and the Destroyer of the wicked; or the owner; or any other man; for this is an indefinite speech, and may be taken passively and impersonally; which is very common in the holy text and language.

From his place, in which he was planted.

Then it, i.e. the place; to which denying him and seeing him are here ascribed figuratively, as we have oft seen.

I have not seen thee, i.e. I do not know nor remember that ever thou wast planted here. He shall be so utterly extirpated and destroyed, that there shall be no footstep, nor name, nor memorial of him left there.

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

18. If he (God) destroy — Or the subject of the verb may be indefinite. The plant was apparently a useless growth, which any one would do well to destroy,

Him — Or, It. The interweaving of the image and its object throughout this entire citation is a sign, not only of its great antiquity, but also of its foreign origin. The Hebrew mind wielded an imagination which was always clear and distinct.

Deny him — The earth that had given the plant its life is moved with such a sense of shame as to deny that it had seen him, (or it.) A powerful personification. For nature’s abhorrence of human fungi, see Job_27:21-23.

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

If he destroy him from his place; or, if he be destroyed. The verb seems to be best taken as impersonal. If he be destroyed in any way, suddenly or gradually, by a Divine stroke, or by human agency, or by the comparatively slow process of nature, in any ease the result is one, the flourishing plant is clean swept away, and the place of it knows it no more. Bildad"s words are very dramatic and expressive. Then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee. The place shall be ashamed of having ever nurtured anything so vile, and shall declare that it never held such a growth.

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

He - God, who is the saviour of good men, and the destroyer of the wicked. It - The place; to which denying him, and seeing him, are here ascribed figuratively. Not seen - He shall be so utterly extirpated and destroyed, that there shall be no memorial of him left.

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

If one destroys him from his place the one who requites him, and this is an elliptical verse.

then it shall deny him his place [shall deny him].

‘I have not seen you,’ For neither root nor branch shall remain of him, and it will be as though he had never existed, for his fall shall not ascend like the downfall of the righteous—for the righteous will fall and rise, but this one will fall without rising.

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.