Job 18:6

18:5-10 Bildad describes the miserable condition of a wicked man; in which there is much certain truth, if we consider that a sinful condition is a sad condition, and that sin will be men's ruin, if they do not repent. Though Bildad thought the application of it to Job was easy, yet it was not safe nor just. It is common for angry disputants to rank their opponents among God's enemies, and to draw wrong conclusions from important truths. The destruction of the wicked is foretold. That destruction is represented under the similitude of a beast or bird caught in a snare, or a malefactor taken into custody. Satan, as he was a murderer, so he was a robber, from the beginning. He, the tempter, lays snares for sinners wherever they go. If he makes them sinful like himself, he will make them miserable like himself. Satan hunts for the precious life. In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare for himself, and God is preparing for his destruction. See here how the sinner runs himself into the snare.

The light shall the dark in his tabernacle,.... Not the light of the eye, in the tabernacle of his body, rather the light of nature and reason in him; and when that "light that is in a man becomes darkness", as our Lord says, "how great is that darkness!" Matthew 6:23 ; but best of all it designs the light of prosperity in his house and family, which should be quite obscured: and his candle shall be put out with him; which sometimes signifies the spirit of man, his rational soul, called "the candle of the Lord", Proverbs 20:27; which, though it dies not when man dies, yet its light is extinct with respect to the things of this life, and all its thoughts and reasonings are no more about civil matters, and the affairs of this world; in that sense this light is put out, and those thoughts perish with him, Psalm 146:4; but more frequently it is used for outward prosperity, which if it continues with a man as long as he lives, as it often does, yet, when he dies, it ceases and is no more; it does not descend with him into the grave, and he cannot carry it into another world, but it is put out in "obscure darkness"; see Job 21:17.

6 . his candle shall be put out with him ] The meaning is either: his lamp shall be put out over him, the idea being that it was hung in his dwelling above him or shone upon him, cf. ch. Job 29:3 , “when God’s lamp shined upon my head”; or, his lamp shall be put out to him, the prep. being the same reflexive, untranslateable word referred to on ch. Job 14:22 .

Verse 6. - The light shall be dark in his tabernacle . This is not, as Rosenmuller asserts, a mere repetition of the thought contained in the preceding verse with a change of terms, and a variation of metaphor. It is a denunciation of woe to the whole house of the ungodly man, not to himself only. As Schultens says, "Lumen ob-tenebratum in tentorio est fortuna domus extincta." And his candle shall be put out with him ; rather, as in the Revised Version, his!amp above him shall be put out ; i.e. the lamp which swings above him in his tent, or in his chamber, shall be extinguished. Darkness shall fall upon the whole house of the wicked man. Job 18:6

6. candle—the lamp which in the East is usually fastened to the ceiling. Oil abounds in those regions, and the lamp was kept burning all night, as now in Egypt, where the poorest would rather dispense with food than the night lamp (Ps 18:28). To put out the lamp was an image of utter desolation.

In his tabernacle. i.e. in his family. Instead of his former splendour, both he and his shall fall into extremity of misery. His candle shall be put out with him, i.e. his glory shall die with him, and not descend to his posterity, as he hoped and designed. Or, his candle, which was with him, or shone upon him, shall be put out.

And his candle - Margin, lamp. The reference is to a lamp that was suspended from the ceiling. The Arabians are fond of this image. Thus, they say, "Bad fortune has extinguished my lamp." Of a man whose hopes are remarkably blasted, they say, "He is like a lamp which is immediately extinguished if you let it sink in the oil." See Schultens. The putting out of a lamp is to the Orientals an image of utter desolation. It is the universal custom to have a light burning in their houses at night. "The houses of Egypt, in modern times, are never without lights; they burn lamps all the night long, and in every occupied apartment. So requisite to the comfort of a family is this custom reckoned, and so imperious is the power which it exercises, that the poorest people. would rather retrench part of their food than neglect it." Paxton. It is not improbable that this custom prevailed in former times in Arabia, as it does now in Egypt; and this consideration will give increased beauty and force to this passage.

גּם is here equivalent to nevertheless, or prop. even, ὅμως, as e.g., Psalm 129:2 (Ew. 354, a). The light of the evil-doer goes out, and the comfortable brightness and warmth which the blaze (שׁביב, only here as a Hebr. word; according to Raschi and others, tincelle, a spark; but according to lxx, Theod., Syr., Jer., a flame; Targ. the brightness of light) of his fire in his dwelling throws out, comes to an end. In one word, as the praet. חשׁך implies, the light in his tent is changed into darkness; and his lamp above him, i.e., the lamp hanging from the covering of his tent ( Job 29:3 , comp. Job 21:17 ), goes out. When misfortune breaks in upon him, the Arab says: ed-dahru attfaa es-sirâgi, fate has put out my lamp; this figure of the decline of prosperity receives here a fourfold application. The figure of straitening one's steps is just as Arabic as it is biblical; צעדי אונו, the steps of his strength (און synon. of כּח, Job 40:16 ) become narrow (comp. Proverbs 4:12 , Arab. takâssarat), by the wide space which he could pass over with a self-confident feeling of power becoming more and more contracted; and the purpose formed selfishly and without any recognition of God, the success of which he considered infallible, becomes his overthrow.

[Bible] 17:12. They have turned night into day, and after darkness I hope for light again. 17:13. If I wait hell is my house, and I have made my bed in darkness. Hell... Sheol. The region of the dead. 17:14. I have said to rottenness: Thou art my father; to worms, my mother and my sister. 17:15. Where is now then my expectation, and who considereth my patience? 17:16. All that I have shall go down into the deepest pit: thinkest thou that there at least I shall have rest? Deepest pit... Literally, hell. Job Chapter 18 Baldad again reproves Job and describes the miseries of the wicked. 18:1. Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and said: 18:2. How long will you throw out words? understand first, and so let us speak. 18:3. Why are we reputed as beasts, and counted vile before you? 18:4. Thou that destroyest thy soul in thy fury, shall the earth be forsaken for thee, and shall rocks be removed out of their place? 18:5. Shall not the light of the wicked be extinguished, and the flame of his fire not shine? 18:6. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is over him, shall be put out. 18:7. The step of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down headlong. 18:8. For he hath thrust his feet into a net, and walketh in its meshes. 18:9. The sole of his foot shall be held in a snare, and thirst shall burn against him. 18:10. A gin is hidden for him in the earth, and his trap upon the path. 18:11. Fears shall terrify him on every side, and shall entangle his feet. 18:12. Let his strength be wasted with famine, and let hunger invade his ribs. 18:13. Let it devour the beauty of his skin, let the firstborn death consume his arms. 18:14. Let his confidence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and let destruction tread upon him like a king. 18:15. Let the companions of him that is not, dwell in his tabernacle, let brimstone be sprinkled in his tent. 18:16. Let his roots be dried up beneath, and his harvest destroyed above.

6 . eaten upon the mountains ] that is, sacrificed on the high places and partaken of the sacrificial meal following, token of fellowship as a guest with the idols there worshipped. The phrase occurs again Ezekiel 18:11; Ezekiel 18:15 , Ezekiel 22:9 . In Ezekiel 33:25 the reading is, eaten with the blood ; cf. Leviticus 17:13 ; Leviticus 19:26 ; 1 Samuel 14:33 . Sept. renders Leviticus 19:26 , eaten upon the mountains , and it is possible that the same error of reading occurs here, and that Ezekiel 18:6 ; Ezekiel 18:11 ; Ezekiel 18:15 , Ezekiel 22:9 , should be assimilated to Ezekiel 33:25 (W. R. Smith, Kinship , p. 310). lift up his eyes ] In prayer to the idols, or trust in them, or perhaps generally, in acknowledgment of them. Psalm 121:1 ; Psalm 123:1 ; Job 31:26 . his neighbour’s wife ] Adultery is not seldom charged against the people by the prophets, especially Jeremiah, e.g. Jeremiah 5:8 ; Jeremiah 9:2 ; Jeremiah 29:23 ; cf. Leviticus 20:10 ; Deuteronomy 22:22 . Note Job’s claims for himself, ch. Ezekiel 31:9 . On the other impurity forbidden cf. Leviticus 15:24 ; Leviticus 18:19 . Ezekiel 18:6

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