Job 24:16

_IN THE DARK THEY DIG THROUGH HOUSES, WHICH THEY HAD MARKED FOR THEMSELVES IN THE DAYTIME: THEY KNOW NOT THE LIGHT._ Dig through. Houses in the East are generally built of sun-dried mud bricks (so Matthew 6:19) х_ DIORUSSOUSIN _ (G1358)]. "Thieves break through" - literally, dig through (Ezekiel 12:7, "I digged through the wall with mine hand"). HAD MARKED - rather, as in Job 9:7, 'They shut themselves up' (in their houses) - literally, they seal up. FOR THEMSELVES - for their own ends, namely, to escape detection. KNOW NOT - shun....

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 24:16. _IN THE DARK THEY DIG THROUGH HOUSES_] Thieves in Bengal very frequently dig through the _mud wall_ and under the _clay floors_ of houses, and, entering unperceived, plunder them while the inhabitants are asleep. Mr. _Good's_ version of this paragraph I shall lay before the reader: - Ver. Job 24:15. For the dark too watcheth the eye of the adulterer; Exclaiming, No eye shall behold me. Then putteth he the muffler on his face; Ver. Job 24:16. He wormeth into houses amidst the darkness....

IN THE DARK THEY DIG THROUGH HOUSES - This refers, probably, to another class of wicked persons. The adulterer steals forth in the night, but it is not his way to “dig” into houses. But the persons here referred to are robbers, who conceal themselves by day, and who at night secretly enter houses for plunder. The phrase “dig through” probably has reference to the fact that houses were made of clay, or of bricks dried in the sun - a species of mud cottages, and whose walls, therefore, could be easily penetrated. In the East, nearly all the houses are made of unburned brick, and there is little difficulty in making a hole in the wall large enough to admit the human body; compare Ezekiel 12:7. In Bengal, says Mr. Ward, it is common for thieves to dig through the walls of houses made of mud, or under the house floors, which are made merely of earth, and enter thus in

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

IN THE DARK THEY DIG THROUGH HOUSES, [WHICH] THEY HAD MARKED FOR THEMSELVES IN THE DAYTIME,.... Which some understand of adulterers last mentioned, who, having observed where beautiful women dwell, mark their houses, and the way to them, and the best way into them, and in the dark get in at windows, or by breaking open doors get to the persons they lust after; but as such steps would be neither safe nor prudent, so they are not necessary; such sort of persons get admittance in an easier way, either by bribing servants, or by a previous agreement with the adulteress herself: rather this is to be understood of the thief and his companions, before spoken of; or designs another sort of thieves, such as are guilty of burglary, housebreakers, who in the daytime go about and observe such houses as are full of money, plate, and rich goods, see Job 3:15; and take diligent notice of the way to the...

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...

THEY: i.e. burglars....