Job 24:18-21

He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

In these verses Job quotes the opinion of his adversaries, ironically: he quoted them so before (Job 21:17). In Job 24:22 he states his own observation as the opposite. You say, 'The sinner is swift - i:e., swiftly passes away (as a thing floating) - on the surface (literally, on the face) of the waters' (Ecclesiastes 11:1; Hosea 10:7).

Is cursed - by those who witness their "swift" destruction.

Beholdeth not - `turneth not to' х yipneh (H6437)]: figuratively, because he cannot enjoy his pleasant possession (Job 20:17; 4:33).

The way of the vineyards - including his fields, fertile as vineyards: opposite to 'the way of the desert.'

Verse 19. Arabian image: melted snow, as contrasted with the living fountain, quickly dries up in the sun-burnt sand, not leaving as trace behind (Job 6:16). The Hebrew is terse and elliptical, to express the swift and utter destruction of the godless: (so) "the grave-they have sinned!"

Verse 20. The womb - the very mother that bare him, and who is the last to "forget" the child that sucked her (Isaiah 49:15), shall dismiss him from her memory (Job 18:17; Proverbs 10:7, "The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot"). The worm shall suck; i:e., 'feed sweetly' on him as a delicate morsel (Job 21:33).

Wickedness - i:e., the wicked; abstract for concrete (as Job 5:16).

As a tree - utterly (Job 19:10). Maurer, better, 'As as staff' х `eets (H6086)] (Umbreit). A broken staff is the emblem of irreparable ruin (Isaiah 14:5).

Verse 21. The reason given by the friends why the sinner deserves such a fate.

Barren - without sons, who might have protected her.

Widow - without a husband to support her.