They that come after him shall be astonished at his day, and horror shall fall upon them that went before.

“In his days the last shall be astonied, and horror shall seize on the first. For he will then let himself loose against the righteous with such a measure of iniquity, that even the hearts of the very Elect shall be struck with no small consternation. Whence it is written, Insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very Elect. Which, clearly, is said, not because the Elect shall fall, but because they shall tremble with terrible alarms. Now at that time both the latest Elect and the first Elect are described as maintaining the conflict for righteousness against him, in that both they that shall be found among the Elect at the end of the world, are destined to be laid low in the death of the flesh, and they too who proceeded from the former divisions of the world, i.e. Enoch and Elijah, shall be brought back amongst men, and shall be exposed to the savageness of his cruelty still in their mortal flesh. This one's forces let loose in such terrible power, 'the latest are astonied at, and the first do dread,' in that, though in respect of this, viz. that he is lifted up by a spirit of pride, they despise all his temporal power, yet in respect of this, that they are themselves still in mortal flesh, wherein they are liable to suffer temporal anguish, they dread the very punishments, which they bear with resolution; so that there is in them at one and the same time both constancy derived from virtue, and alarm proceeding from the flesh; in that though they be of the number of the Elect, so that they cannot be overcome by torments, yet from this only that they are men, they fear the very torments, that they overcome. So let it be said, In his days the last shall be astonied, and terror shall seize on the first. In that he shall then shew forth such signs, and do things so cruel and hard hearted, as to force them to astonishment, whom he shall find at the end of the world, and to pierce with the pang of carnal death the first fathers, who are reserved for his extirpation. Therefore whereas he has described many particulars relating to all the wicked, or to the head of the wicked himself, he immediately adds with a general description.”

“the later people They wondered when they heard of the misfortune that befell him. quaking Heb. שָׂעַר, tempest. This cannot be of the form of שֵׂעָר, hair, because the accent in שָׂעַר is not (on the “sin,” but on the “ayin,”) and it is not converted to a “kamatz” when it is cantillated with an “ethnachta” or a “sof pasuk.” I did not hear this.”

“But Bildad the Shuhite answering, and so on. Because Bildad the Shuhite was unable to grasp with his understanding the words of blessed Job set forth above, he supposed that what he himself did not understand was also being uttered in vain by the one speaking; hence at the beginning of his response he says, "How long will you cast forth words?" In this he seems to accuse him of three things: first, of the ineffectiveness of his speech, as though the aforesaid words of Job had no efficacy to establish anything, which is signified by his saying, "to what end"; second, he accuses him of a vain multiplication of words, as though Job's aforesaid words lacked the weight of sound meaning, which is signified by his saying, "words"; third, he notes in him a disordered connection of words, which is signified by his saying, "will you cast forth": for a man is said to cast forth words who scatters them in a disordered way, although this third point could also be referred to the boastfulness of arrogance. Now these three things arise in a person's speech from a defect of understanding; and since it is useless to converse with one who is deficient in understanding, he adds, "understand first, and so let us speak," as if to say: from the fact that you speak ineffectively, lightly, and in a disordered way, it is clear that you are deficient in understanding; therefore apply yourself first to understanding, and afterward we shall be able to confer with one another. Then he accuses him of presumption, because he had not accounted them wise, when he said, "I shall not find among you any wise man"; and so, answering to this, he adds, "Why are we reputed as beasts, and have become vile in your sight?" For a man who lacks wisdom appears like the beasts and vile, because it is in wisdom that man's honor and adornment consist. Consequently he rebukes him for anger, because he had said, "my eye grows dim with indignation," which he had wrongly understood, believing it to be such an indignation as had taken away from him the light of wisdom, not attending to what he had said afterward, "and the just man will hold to his way"; and so he adds, "Why do you destroy your soul in your fury?" For that man destroys his soul in fury who, on account of fury, falls away from wisdom and justice, which are especially the goods of the soul. These things, then, having been premised, by which he noted in the person of Job a defect of understanding, presumption, and fury, he consequently proceeds to the principal point on which the controversy turned, namely that the adversities of the present life were the punishments of sins — against which Job had said, "I have not sinned, and my eye abides in bitterness." But because Bildad was unable to use reasons in asserting his position, he wished to establish his position as though most firmly grounded on common opinion, and therefore he compared it to things that cannot be removed, namely the earth and the rocks; hence he says, "Shall the earth be forsaken for your sake, and shall the rocks be moved out of their place?" As if to say: this position, that adversities happen for sins, is as firm as the earth and the rocks; shall it, then, be able to be removed on account of your disputations, so that you may be proved innocent? Then he pursues his position more diffusely, recounting one by one the evils that befall sinners; among which he first sets down the cessation of prosperous successes, which he compares to light, because "he who walks in the light does not stumble," as is said in John 11:9; hence those to whom all things succeed prosperously according to their wish seem to walk in the light. Concerning the loss, then, of this light, that is, of prosperity, he says, "Shall not the light of the wicked be extinguished," that is, shall not his prosperity cease? But just as bodily light proceeds from the flame of a fire, so also the brightness of prosperity proceeds from a man's affection, when what he desires comes about for him; and therefore he adds, "nor shall the flame of his fire shine"? For by fire the ardor of love is customarily signified, according to that saying in Song of Songs 8:6, "its lamps are lamps of fire and flames." Now it must be considered that the prosperity of human success proceeds from a twofold cause: sometimes from human providence, as when a man prudently and cautiously arranges each and every thing, and with respect to this, concerning the cessation of prosperity, he says, "the light shall grow dark in his tabernacle," because, namely, both he himself and his household will lack prudence in their counsels; and sometimes the prosperity of human success proceeds from a higher cause, namely from divine providence, and with respect to this, describing the cessation of prosperity, he says, "and the lamp that is above him shall be extinguished" — not indeed that it does not shine in itself, but that it does not enlighten the wicked man. And he well called man's providence "light," as though borrowed from another, and God's providence a "lamp," as shining of itself. He set the light of human providence first, because by the fact that a man abandons the light of reason he seems to merit that he not be protected by the light of divine providence. Consequently, after the cessation of prosperity, he adds concerning adversity; with respect to which he first sets down impediments to action and endeavor. Now a man strives to attain the effect of his action from two sources: in one way through his own strength, and against this he says, "the steps of his strength shall be straitened," because, namely, the endeavor of his strength could not have ample progress; in another way a man endeavors to obtain something through wisdom, and with respect to this he says, "and his own counsel shall cast him down headlong," namely when what he had devised as useful becomes harmful to him. He says that the cause of these impediments proceeds from the man's own sin, when he adds, "for he has cast his feet into a net"; for just as one who of his own accord puts his foot into a net prepares himself for capture, so one who of his own accord thrusts himself into sinning disposes himself thereby to have his progress impeded, according to that saying in Proverbs 5:22, "his own iniquities catch the wicked man"; and just as in a net there are various meshes, so too in sin there are many diversities by which men are ensnared in different ways; and therefore he adds, "and he walks in its meshes," namely when he proceeds from one kind of sin to another, or from one manner of sinning to another. And because he of his own accord thrusts himself into dangers and does not desist but always proceeds further, therefore he will at some point feel an impediment; hence he adds, "his sole shall be held by a snare," that is, the progress of his will and action will be impeded by some contrary thing. Now harms of this kind arise, for those who proceed in sin, from a threefold cause: first, on the part of the sinner himself, who, the more he sins, the more he increases in himself the desire of sinning; and with respect to this he adds, "and thirst shall burn against him," because, namely, a sinful man sometimes considers by reason that something is harmful to him, but the burning desire of sinning compels him to act against his own judgment. Second, the cause of harm is sometimes from the very things in which he sins, as Ecclesiastes 5:12 says, "riches are kept to the hurt of their owner"; and harms of this kind arise sometimes from things already acquired, and with respect to this he says, "his snare is hidden in the earth," because, namely, in earthly things themselves there lies hidden some danger by which the feet of the sinner may be caught; and sometimes harms of this kind arise while a man is on the way of acquiring, and with respect to this he says, "and his trap is upon the path," because, namely, before the sinner obtains what he seeks, dangers lie hidden in the very way. Third, harms of this kind are caused on the part of other men, whose ambushes and assaults are feared; hence he adds, "terrors shall frighten him on every side," because, as is said in Wisdom 17:10, "since wickedness is timid, it has been given over to the condemnation of all"; and since a man is on guard against all, it is necessary that his acts be impeded in many ways; hence he adds, "and they shall entangle his feet," so that, namely, he cannot proceed freely anywhere. "Let his strength be weakened by hunger," and so on. Bildad had set forth beforehand the punishments of sinners pertaining to outward adversities; here, however, he begins to pursue the punishments pertaining to their persons. Now it must be considered that sins themselves are bound up with outward adversities, and therefore he pursued the outward adversities by foretelling them, as it were with a certain certainty; but bodily punishments do not seem to be directly caused by sins themselves, except perhaps by some, such as especially by gluttony and lust, by which a man sins against his own body; and therefore he does not pursue bodily punishments by way of pronouncement but rather by way of imprecation. He sets forth first the bodily punishments preceding death; and since life is preserved by nourishment, he first imprecates upon him the withdrawal of nourishment, from which a man first begins to be weakened, and with respect to this he says, "let his strength be weakened by hunger." Then, with nourishment failing, life too is taken away, and with respect to this he adds, "and let starvation invade his ribs," by which is signified the weakening of the vital operations, whose principle is the heart, which is contained beneath the ribs. Now the goods of the body which begin to be weakened by hunger are totally consumed by death; and the chief goods of the body seem to be beauty and strength, and therefore he adds, "let the firstborn death devour the beauty of his skin" — since, namely, beauty is considered in outward appearance — "and consume his arms," in which strength is especially observed — that is, an untimely death, forestalling the natural end of his age. Now a dead man is carried out from his house, and with respect to this he adds, "let his confidence be torn away from his tabernacle," because, namely, he placed his hope not in God but in the wealth and glory of his house, from which he is cast out after death. But cast out from his house, he is shut up in the tomb, where he is totally destroyed by death, and with respect to this he adds, "and let destruction tread upon him as a king," because, namely, death, with the full power as it were of a king, grinds him down into dust. But when he has gone out from his house, the household members remain, who are as dead to him, with whom he had society in life; and with respect to this he adds, "let the companions of him who is not dwell in his tabernacle," that is, of the dead man who has now ceased to be among human affairs. Now the household, when their patron has died, perform mourning and display certain signs of sadness, whether as to black and squalid garments or also as to certain foul odors; and with respect to this he says, "let brimstone be sprinkled in his tabernacle," by which is understood everything that can be a sign of sadness, just as also good odors are taken up as a sign of joy. Now when a man has died, frequently all the things that were his perish; showing this in turn, he begins first from things that spring from the earth, of which some, when he has died, still remain sown, and with respect to these he says, "let his roots be dried up beneath," so that, namely, whatever he sowed or planted may be destroyed so as not to bear fruit; and some indeed have already been brought to fruit, and with respect to these he adds, "but above let his harvest be crushed"; and this can be referred to any undertakings begun or already nearly completed. Then he proceeds to the fame that remains concerning a man after death, on account of which some desire to live on in the memories of men and to have glory even after death; hence, with respect to the blotting-out of the sinner from the memories of men, he adds, "let his memory perish from the earth"; and with respect to the cessation of his celebrated fame he adds, "and let his name not be celebrated in the streets," which he says pointedly, because there is no celebrity of a name except among a multitude, which is customarily found in the streets. And so, with memory and the celebrity of his name ceasing, the brightness of his glory will be changed into the darkness of perpetual oblivion; and this is what he adds, "he shall drive him out of light into darkness," that is, from worldly glory into oblivion. Now with his fame ceasing and his body consumed by death, nothing further of him will remain in the world — for Bildad and his companions were of the opinion that the soul did not remain after death — "and he shall remove him from the world," so that, namely, nothing of his remains in the world. But because parents also live on in their children, therefore, to exclude this too, he adds, "there shall be no seed of his," because his children will die, "nor offspring among his people," because neither grandsons nor great-grandsons will remain; nor even any who belong to him, hence he adds, "nor any remnants in his regions," that is, neither kinsmen nor household members through whom memory might be had of him. But he shows what effect follows from this in the hearts of others when he adds, "in his day" — namely, the day of his ruin — "the last shall be astonished," that is, the lesser ones of the people, out of excessive wonder, unable to consider how so great a glory of the sinner has suddenly been reduced to nothing; and as regards the greater ones he adds, "and horror shall invade the first," who fear, namely, lest something similar befall them. And this seems to have led him to reply to what Job had said above in 14:21: "whether his sons be noble or ignoble, he shall not understand it; yet his flesh, while he lives, shall grieve" — from which it seemed that Job had refuted the threats of his friends, or their promises concerning future contingent events after death; but here Bildad replies that misfortunes of this kind which happen after death, even though the dead man does not know of them, are nevertheless inflicted by God — such punishments — for the correction of others. And because he had set forth beforehand certain punishments of the sinner pertaining to the way of the present life, and certain others pertaining to the end of the way, namely to death or to what happens after death, therefore, as if by way of epilogue, he adds, "such then are the tabernacles of the wicked man," that is, his course along the way of the present life — for travelers make use of tabernacles; and as regards the ultimate end, which is as it were the terminus of the movement, he adds, "and this is the place of him who does not know God," whether through unbelief or through disobedience.”

“Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,.... As before described; as that the light should be dark in them; a wicked man's confidence should be rooted out of them; everything shocking and dreadful should dwell in them; brimstone should be scattered on them, they should be utterly consumed, and none remaining in them, Job 18:6. The Targum represents these as the words of the persons astonished and frightened, who at the sight of such a dismal spectacle should utter them, prefacing them thus, "and they shall say, but these are the dwellings, &c.'' and this is the place of him that knoweth not God; the place that he shall be driven to when chased out of the world, even a place of darkness and misery, Job 18:18; or "this is the case of him that knoweth not the Omnipotent", as Mr. Broughton translates the words; that is, which is above described in the several particulars of it; this is sooner or later the case of every wicked man, as Bildad supposed it now was Job's case, at least in part, or would be hereafter: one "that knows not God", is the periphrasis of a wicked man, that has no knowledge of God, at least no practical knowledge of him, that lives without God in the world, or like an atheist; such shall be punished with everlasting destruction by him, see Th2 1:8; either one whom "God knows not" (q), so some render the words; for though God by the perfection of his omniscience knows all men, good and bad, yet there are some he knows not so as to approve of, love, and delight in, see Mat 7:23; or rather that have no knowledge of God, who though they may know there is a God, yet do not worship and glorify him as God; and though they may profess to know him, yet in works they deny him, and however have no spiritual and experimental knowledge of him; do not know him in Christ, as the God of all grace, and as their God in him; they do not know him, so as to love him, fear, worship, and obey him. (q) "quem non agnoscit Deus fortis", Junius. Next: Job Chapter 19”

“Them. Literally, “the first,” who were witnesses of his misery. (Haydock) Bible Text & Cross-references: Baldad again reproves Job: and describes the miseries of the wicked. 1 Then Baldad, the Suhite, answered, and said: 2 How long will ye throw out words? understand first, and so let us speak. 3 Why are we reputed as beasts, and counted vile before you? 4 Thou that destroyest thy soul in thy fury, shall the earth be forsaken for thee, and shall rocks be removed out of their place? 5 Shall not the light of the wicked be extinguished, and the flame of his fire not shine? 6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is over him shall be put out. 7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down headlong. 8 For he hath thrust his feet into a net, and walketh in its meshes. 9 The sole of his foot shall be held in a snare, and thirst shall burn against him. 10 A gin is hidden for him in the earth, and his trap upon the path. 11 Fears shall terrify him on every side, and shall entangle his feet. 12 Let his strength be wasted with famine, and let hunger invade his ribs. 13 Let it devour the beauty of his skin, let the first-born, death, consume his arms. 14 Let his confidence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and let destruction tread upon him like a king. 15 Let the companions of him that is not, dwell in his tabernacle, let brimstone be sprinkled in his tent. 16 Let his roots be dried up beneath, and his harvest destroyed above. 17 *Let the memory of him perish from the earth and let not his name be renowned in the streets. 18 He shall drive him out of light into darkness, and shall remove him out of the world. 19 His seed shall not subsist, nor his offspring among his people, nor any remnants in his country. 20 They that come after him shall be astonished at his day, and horror shall fall upon them that went before. 21 These then are the tabernacles of the wicked, and this the place of him that knoweth not God.”

“after . . . before--rather, "those in the West--those in the East"; that is, all people; literally, "those behind--those before"; for Orientals in geography turn with their faces to the east (not to the north as we), and back to the west; so that before--east; behind--north (so Zac 14:8). day--of ruin (Oba 1:12). affrighted--seized with terror (Job 21:6; Isa 13:8).”

“20 Those who dwell in the west are astonished at his day, And trembling seizeth those who dwell in the east; 21 Surely thus it befalleth the dwellings of the unrighteous, And thus the place of him that knew not God. It is as much in accordance with the usage of Arabic as it is biblical, to call the day of a man's doom "his day," the day of a battle at a place "the day of that place." Who are the אחרנים who are astonished at it, and the קדמנים whom terror (שׂער as twice besides in this sense in Ezek.) seizes, or as it is properly, who seize terror, i.e., of themselves, without being able to do otherwise than yield to the emotion (as Job 21:6; Isa 13:8; comp. on the contrary Exo 15:14.)? Hirz., Schlottm., Hahn, and others, understand posterity by אחרנים, and by קדמנים their ancestors, therefore Job's contemporaries. But the return from the posterity to those then living is strange, and the usage of the language is opposed to it; for קדמנים is elsewhere always what belongs to the previous age in relation to the speaker (e.g., Sa1 24:14, comp. Ecc 4:16). Since, then, קדמני is used in the signification eastern (e.g., הים הקדמוני, the eastern sea = the Dead Sea), and אחרון in the signification western (e.g., הים האחרון, the western sea = the Mediterranean), it is much more suited both to the order of the words and the usage of the language to understand, with Schult., Oetinger, Umbr., and Ew., the former of those dwelling in the west, and the latter of those dwelling in the east. In the summarizing Job 18:21, the retrospective pronouns are also praegn., like Job 8:19; Job 20:29, comp. Job 26:14 : Thus is it, viz., according to their fate, i.e., thus it befalls them; and אך here retains its original affirmative signification (as in the concluding verse of Psa 58:1-11), although in Hebrew this is blended with the restrictive. וזה has Rebia mugrasch instead of great Schalscheleth, (Note: Vid., Psalter ii. 503, and comp. Davidson, Outlines of Hebrew Accentuation (1861), p. 92, note.) and מקום has in correct texts Legarme, which must be followed by לא־ידע with Illuj on the penult. On the relative clause לא־ידע אל without אשׁר, comp. e.g., Job 29:16; and on this use of the st. constr., vid., Ges. 116, 3. The last verse is as though those mentioned in Job 18:20 pointed with the finger to the example of punishment in the "desolated" dwellings which have been visited by the curse. This second speech of Bildad begins, like the first (Job 8:2), with the reproach of endless babbling; but it does not end like the first (Job 8:22). The first closed with the words: "Thy haters shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the godless is no more," the second is only an amplification of the second half of this conclusion, without taking up again anywhere the tone of promise, which there also embraces the threatening. It is manifest also from this speech, that the friends, to express it in the words of the old commentators, know nothing of evangelical but only of legal suffering, and also only of legal, nothing of evangelical, righteousness. For the righteousness of which Job boasts is not the righteousness of single works of the law, but of a disposition directed to God, of conduct proceeding from faith, or (as the Old Testament generally says) from trust in God's mercy, the weaknesses of which are forgiven because they are exonerated by the habitual disposition of the man and the primary aim of his actions. The fact that the principle, "suffering is the consequence of human unrighteousness," is accounted by Bildad as the formula of an inviolable law of the moral order of the world, is closely connected with that outward aspect of human righteousness. One can only thus judge when one regards human righteousness and human destiny from the purely legal point of view. A man, as soon as we conceive him in faith, and therefore under grace, is no longer under that supposed exclusive fundamental law of the divine dealing. Brentius is quite right when he observes that the sentence of the law certainly is modified for the sake of the godly who have the word of promise. Bildad knows nothing of the worth and power which a man attains by a righteous heart. By faith he is removed from the domain of God's justice, which recompenses according to the law of works; and before the power of faith even rocks move from their place. Bildad then goes off into a detailed description of the total destruction into which the evil-doer, after going about for a time oppressed with the terrors of his conscience as one walking over snares, at last sinks beneath a painful sickness. The description is terribly brilliant, solemn, and pathetic, as becomes the stern preacher of repentance with haughty mien and pharisaic self-confidence; it is none the less beautiful, and, considered in itself, also true - a masterpiece of the poet's skill in poetic idealizing, and in apportioning out the truth in dramatic form. The speech only becomes untrue through the application of the truth advanced, and this untruthfulness the poet has most delicately presented in it. For with a view of terrifying Job, Bildad interweaves distinct references to Job in his description; he knows, however, also how to conceal them under the rich drapery of diversified figures. The first-born of death, that hands the ungodly over to death itself, the king of terrors, by consuming the limbs of the ungodly, is the Arabian leprosy, which slowly destroys the body. The brimstone indicates the fire of God, which, having fallen from heaven, has burned up one part of the herds and servants of Job; the withering of the branch, the death of Job's children, whom he himself, as a drying-up root that will also soon die off, has survived. Job is the ungodly man, who, with wealth, children, name, and all that he possessed, is being destroyed as an example of punishment for posterity both far and near. But, in reality, Job is not an example of punishment, but an example for consolation to posterity; and what posterity has to relate is not Job's ruin, but his wondrous deliverance (Psa 22:31.). He is no עוּל, but a righteous man; not one who לא ידע־אל, but he knows God better than the friends, although he contends with Him, and they defend Him. It is with him as with the righteous One, who complains, Psa 69:21 : "Contempt hath broken my heart, and I became sick: I hoped for sympathy, but in vain; for comforters, and found none;" and Psa 38:12 (comp. Psa 31:12; Psa 55:13-15; Psa 69:9; Psa 88:9, 19): "My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my stroke, and my kinsmen stand afar off." Not without a deep purpose does the poet make Bildad to address Job in the plural. The address is first directed to Job alone; nevertheless it is so put, that what Bildad says to Job is also intended to be said to others of a like way of thinking, therefore to a whole party of the opposite opinion to himself. Who are these like-minded? Hirzel rightly refers to Job 17:8. Job is the representative of the suffering and misjudged righteous, in other words: of the "congregation," whose blessedness is hidden beneath an outward form of suffering. One is hereby reminded that in the second part of Isaiah the יהוה עבד is also at one time spoken of in the sing., and at another time in the plur.; since this idea, by a remarkable contraction and expansion of expression (systole and diastole), at one time describes the one servant of Jehovah, and at another the congregation of the servants of Jehovah, which has its head in Him. Thus we again have a trace of the fact that the poet is narrating a history that is of universal significance, and that, although Job is no mere personification, he has in him brought forth to view an idea connected with the history of redemption. The ancient interpreters were on the track of this idea when they said in their way, that in Job we behold the image of Christ, and the figure of His church. Christi personam figuraliter gessit, says Beda; and Gregory, after having stated and explained that there is not in the Old Testament a righteous man who does not typically point to Christ, says: Beatus Iob venturi cum suo corpore typum redemtoris insinuat.”