Job 24:14

_SOME REMOVE THE LANDMARKS; THEY VIOLENTLY TAKE AWAY FLOCKS, AND FEED THEREOF._ Instances of the wicked doing the worst deeds with seeming impunity. SOME - the wicked. LANDMARKS - boundaries between different pastures (Deuteronomy 19:14; Proverbs 22:28). Verse 3. PLEDGE - alluding to Job 22:6. Others really do, and with impunity, that which Eliphaz falsely charges the afflicted Job with. Verse 4. Literally, they push the poor out of their road in meeting them. Figuratively, they take advantage of them by force and injustice (alluding to the charge of Eliphaz (Job 22:8;...

13-17 See what care and pains wicked men take to compass their wicked designs; let it shame our negligence and slothfulness in doing good. See what pains those take, who make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts of it: pains to compass, and then to hide that which will end in death and hell at last. Less pains would mortify and crucify the flesh, and be life and heaven at last. Shame came in with sin, and everlasting shame is at the end of it. See the misery of sinners; they are exposed to continual frights: yet see their folly; they are afraid of coming under the eye of men, but have no dread of God's eye, which is always upon them: they are not afraid of doing things which they are afraid of being known to do....

Verse Job 24:14. _THE MURDERER RISING WITH THE LIGHT_] Perhaps the words should be read as Mr. _Good_ has done: - With the daylight ariseth the murderer; Poor and needy, he sheddeth blood. This description is suitable to a _highwayman_; one who robs in daylight, and who has been _impelled_ by _poverty_ and _distress_ to use this most unlawful and perilous mode to get bread; and for fear of being discovered or taken, commits murder, and thus adds crime to crime. _IN THE NIGHT IS AS A THIEF._] Having been a _highwayman_ in the _daytime_, he turns _footpad_ or _housebreaker by night_; and thus goes on from sin to sin. There have been several instances like the case abov

THE MURDERER - One of the instances, referred to in the previous verse, of those who perform their deeds in darkness. RISING WITH THE LIGHT - Hebrew לאור _lā'ôr_. Vulgate “_Mane primo_ - in the earliest twilight.” The meaning is, that he does it very early; by daybreak. It is not in open day, but at the earliest dawn. KILLETH THE POOR AND NEEDY - Those who are so poor and needy that they are obliged to rise early and go forth to their toil. There is a double aggravation - the crime of murder itself, and the fact that it is committed on those who are under a necessity of going forth at that early hour to their labor. AND IN THE NIGHT IS AS A THIEF - The same man. Theft is usually committed under cover of the night. The idea of Job is, that though these crimes cannot escape the

EXPOSITION The general subject of this chapter is the prosperity of the wicked, whose proceedings and their results are traced out in detail (Job 24:2). A single note of perplexity (Job 24:1) forms a sufficient introduction; and a single note of challenge a sufficient epilogue (Job 24:25). JOB 24:1 WHY, SEEING TIMES ARE NOT HIDDEN FROM THE ALMIGHTY. By "times" seem to be meant God's special periods of exhibiting himself in action as the moral Governor of the world, vindicating the righteous, and taking vengeance upon sinners. Such "times" are frequently spoken of in the prophetical Scriptures as "days of th

THE MURDERER RISING WITH THE LIGHT,.... The light of the morning, before the sun is risen, about the time the early traveller is set out on his journey, and men go to distant markets to buy and sell goods, and the poor labourer goes forth to his work; then is the time for one that is used to commit robbery and murder to rise from his bed, or from his lurking place, in a cave or a thicket, where he has lain all night, in order to meet with the above persons: and so KILLETH THE POOR AND NEEDY; takes away from them the little they have, whether money or provisions, and kills them because they have no more, and that they may not be evidence against him; it may be meant of the poor saints and people of God, whom the wicked slay out of hatred to them: AND IN THE NIGHT IS AS A THIEF; kills privately, secretly, at an unawares, as the thief does his work; or the "as" here is not a note of simil...

Job 24:1. _Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?_ «Why do they live so long? Why do they appear to have such prosperity?» Job 24:2. _Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof. They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together._ «They are hard-hearted enough to rob even poor widows and orphan children.» Job 24:5. _Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work;_ Like wild asses, their work consists in going forth to do mischief....

CHAPTER S 23-24 JOB'S REPLY _ 1. O that I knew where I may find Him (Job 23:1)_ 2. Trusting yet doubting (Job 23:10) 3. Hath God failed? (Job 24:1) 4. Job's further testimony as to the wicked (Job 24:13) Job 23:1. Job here does not disprove at once the false charges of Eliphaz. He can afford to wait till later, till their mouths are completely silenced. Then he speaks the final word. He acknowledgeth that he is still rebellious. His hand which is upon him is heavier than all his groanings. Then that outburst which reveals the longing of his t

JOB 24. This chapter has since Merx in 1871 been subjected to much criticism, the general trend of which has been to deny the whole or a considerable part of the chapter to Job. Peake, however, considers that the chapter as a whole reflects Job's point of view, though alien elements are to be recognised in it. Davidson sums up the chapter under the heading: The Divine rectitude which Job misses in his own instance he equally misses in the broad field of the world. Job 24:1 asks why days of assize are wanting in the universe? With Job 24:2 begins a series of examples of injustice. In Job 24:5 we have the description of a wretched tribe of pariahs, nameless outcasts, probably aborigines. In...

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