Chapter Twenty-Four

The second part of Job’s response. 1–25. The unpunished state of various kinds of sinners; examples of this.

Job 24:1. Why are the times hidden from the Almighty, and do those who know Him not see His days? As mysterious as the sufferings of the righteous, so incomprehensible is the unpunished state of the wicked. Since the Hebrew verb “tzafan” (“lo nitzpenu,” “why are they not hidden,” the Synodal reading) is used to express the thought of God’s preserving and keeping the deserved punishment (Job 21:19), it is evident that by “days and times” are understood the days of divine vengeance and judgment upon sinners (Ezek 30:3). These days “are not hidden from the Almighty,” more precisely and clearly, are not preserved by God,—they do not exist; and therefore “those who know Him,”—the righteous (Job 18:21; Ps 35:11)—do not see the manifestation of Divine Justice in regard to sinners (cf. Job 22:19). Job 24:2-4. The first series of examples proving that on earth reigns a worthy-of-curse but nonetheless unpunished oppression of the weak by the strong.

Job 24:2. They move boundary stones; they steal flocks and pasture them. First to be punished are those “who move boundary stones,”—those who rob others of land ownership by moving the boundaries that separated the possessions of one person from those of another (Deut 19:14; Deut 27:17; Prov 22:28; Hos 5:10). The robbers (cf. Job 20:19) also remain unpunished, emboldened so much by this that without fear they pasture openly before everyone the stolen livestock.

Job 24:3. They take the donkey of the orphan; they take the ox of the widow as a pledge; Even those who oppress widows and orphans, despite God’s promise to protect the latter (Exod 22:22-24; Ps 67:6), do not receive recompense.

Job 24:4. They push the poor off the roads; all the afflicted of the land are forced to hide. The oppressions reach the point that the poor are deprived of the ability to walk the roads and are forced to hide. According to the testimony of the Book of Judges, the Hebrews experienced such a state during Shamgar from the invasion of the Philistines (Judg 5:6). This circumstance makes the supposition of certain exegetes (Delim and others) quite plausible that in the present and further verses there is discussion of those primitive tribes inhabiting the land of Uz, whose possessions were taken from them by invaders who entered their country. As for the invasion, it is known to Job’s friends (Job 15:19). Job 24:5-12. A description of the state of the enslaved tribes.

Job 24:5. Look at them, like wild donkeys in the desert, going out to do their work, rising early for prey; the wilderness provides bread for them and for their children; Their life resembles that of animals both in place (“like wild donkeys in the desert”—Job 6:5 and following) and in food. Their sustenance consists of steppe grasses, roots and berries of plants (cf. Job 30:4), which they gather for their soon-hungry children, which is why they “go out to do their work” (cf. Ps 103:23) in early morning.

Job 24:6. They reap in a field not theirs, and gather grapes from the vineyard of the wicked; Having obtained food for their children, they set out to gain their own sustenance in the fields of their oppressors—wealthy men. They are given the feed destined for cattle (“belilo,” cf. Job 6:5) and grapes remaining after the present harvest.

Job 24:7. The naked sleep without covering and without garment in the cold; Job 24:8. They are wet from mountain rains and, having no shelter, huddle against the rock; The resemblance to animals is completed by the lack of clothing and dwellings (cf. Job 30:6) and defenselessness against the harmful effects of the atmosphere.

Job 24:9. They snatch the orphan from the breast and take a pledge from the poor; Job 24:10. They make them walk naked, without clothing, and the hungry they feed with stalks of grain; Job 24:11. Between the stones they press out olive oil; they tread the winepresses yet go thirsty. After the description of the plight of enslaved tribes, Job returns to enumerating unpunished evils. They consist in the strong taking from the weak infants for enslavement (cf. Job 31:17-18), taking pledges from the poor and, using their poverty, forcing them to work in their fields, yet not even feeding them—denying what one cannot refuse to animals (Deut 25:4; 1 Tim 5:18). “They feed the hungry with stalks” literally means “they are hungry and carry sheaves.” Likewise, when the unpaid laborers of the oppressors “between the stones press,” that is, under strict supervision, olive oil and “tread” grapes, they are not permitted to quench their thirst.

Job 24:12. In the city men groan, and the soul of the wounded cries out, and God does not forbid it. Having enslaved one part of the indigenous population, the oppressors have beaten another. The blood of the slain cries out for vengeance, but God pays no attention to this.

Job 24:13. There are among them enemies of light, who do not know its ways and do not walk on its paths. Job 24:14. At dawn the murderer rises, kills the poor and the needy, and by night he becomes a thief. Job 24:15. And the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, No eye will see me,—and he conceals his face. Job 24:16. In darkness they tunnel under houses, which by day they had marked for themselves; they do not know the light. A special kind of criminal, committing their deeds under the cover of night, children of night, enemies of light (cf. Rom 13:12). Among them are, first, murderers, rising “at dawn,” more precisely “before dawn” (Heb. “layor”), when the deed is favored by semi-darkness; second, adulterers, waiting for the darkness of evening (Prov 7:8-9) and for greater safety concealing their face, and finally, thieves, easily tunneling under the walls of eastern houses, thanks to the absence of foundations.

Job 24:17. For to them the morning is as a shadow of death, for they are familiar with the terrors of the shadow of death. Murderers, adulterers and thieves shun the light; it is terrible to them as the shadow of death. In the daytime they face the danger of being exposed and punished. Job 24:18-21. These verses contain a description of the destruction of the sinner, which Job so far had not acknowledged. In view of this, most exegetes see in them a presentation of the view of the friends, to which the sufferer himself relates ironically. And indeed, otherwise Job falls into a strange self-contradiction (cf. v. 12). According to the text of the LXX, Vulgate and Peshitta, the destruction of the sinner appears to Job only as something to be wished for.

Job 24:18. Light is like him on the surface of water; his portion is cursed upon the earth, and he does not look upon the way of the vineyards. The wicked man “is light upon the surface of water”—his happiness has no permanence, passing as swiftly as is swept away by water a light object (cf. Job 9:26; Hos 10:7); his property is subjected to curse (Job 5:3), and he cannot enjoy peace and quiet: “does not look upon the way of the vineyards” (cf. 1 Sam 4:25; Mic 4:4; Zech 3:10).

Job 24:19. Drought and heat consume the snow water: so the underworld—sinners. The lot of the sinner is inevitable destruction, like the inevitable disappearance of snow under the influence of heat (cf. Job 6:16-17; Ps 67:3).

Job 24:20. Let the womb forget him; let the worm feast on him; let there be no remembrance of him; like a tree, let the evildoer be broken, Job 24:21. who oppresses the barren woman, who has not borne children, and does no good to the widow. And such a fate causes no pity in anyone: he is forgotten even by his own people,—his mother, and all memory of him completely disappears (cf. Job 18:17). Job 24:22-24. To the view of the friends, Job opposes his own view.

Job 24:22. He also drags away the strong with his power; he rises, and no one is certain of his life. Throughout his life the wicked man displays such power that even the strong fear him.

Job 24:23. He gives him all for security, and his eyes watch over their ways. God Himself helps the evildoers. He sees their crimes and nevertheless gives all that serves their security.

Job 24:24. They are raised high—and then, they are no more; they fall and die, like everyone else, and like the top of grain, they are cut down. Relying on their power (v. 22), supported by divine help, the wicked reach the height of power, and then die such a death as all other men die. “Like the top of grain they are cut down.” Alluding to the oriental custom of cutting the tip of the stalk at harvest and leaving the stubble on the root, Job means that the stalks and root of the wicked—his offspring—continue to exist, do not disappear, as the friends assert (cf. Job 15:32).

Job 24:25. If this is not so,—who will convict me of falsehood and bring my speech to nothing? Job’s view cannot be refuted.