Job 24:5

24:1-12 Job discourses further about the prosperity of the wicked. That many live at ease who are ungodly and profane, he had showed, ch. xxi. Here he shows that many who live in open defiance of all the laws of justice, succeed in wicked practices; and we do not see them reckoned with in this world. He notices those that do wrong under pretence of law and authority; and robbers, those that do wrong by force. He says, God layeth not folly to them; that is, he does not at once send his judgments, nor make them examples, and so manifest their folly to all the world. But he that gets riches, and not by right, at his end shall be a fool, Jer 17:11.

Behold, as wild asses in the desert,.... The word "as" is a supplement, and may be omitted, and the words be interpreted literally of wild asses, as they are by Sephorno, whose proper place is in the wilderness, to which they are used, and where their food is provided for them, and which they diligently seek for, for them and their young; and so the words may be descriptive of the place where the poor hide themselves, and of the company they are obliged to keep; but the Targum supplies the note of similitude as we do; and others (i) observe it to be wanting, and so it may respect wicked men before described, who may be compared to the wild asses of the wilderness for their folly and stupidity, man being born like a wild ass's colt, Job 11:12 ; and for their lust and wantonness, and for their rebellion against God and his laws, and their unteachableness.

Perhaps some regard may be had to the wild Arabs that were in Job's neighbourhood, the descendants of Ishmael, called the wild man, as he is in Genesis 16:12 ; who lived by plunder and robbery, as these here: they go forth to their work: of thieving and stealing, robbing and plundering, as their trade, and business, and occupation of life, and as naturally and constantly as men go to their lawful employment, and as if it was one: rising betimes for a prey; getting up early in a morning to meet the industrious traveller on the road, and make a prey of him, rob him of what he has about him; for they cannot sleep unless they do mischief: the wilderness yieldeth food for them, and for their children; though they are lurking in a wilderness where no sustenance is to be had, yet, by robbing everyone that passes by, they get enough for them and their families: though some understand all this of the poor, who are obliged to hide themselves from their oppressors, and go into the wilderness in droves like wild asses, and as timorous and as swift as they in fleeing; and are forced to hard service, and to rise early to earn their bread, and get sustenance for their families; and who in the main are obliged to live on berries and roots, and what a wild desert will afford; but the, word "prey" is not applicable to the pains and labours of such industrious people, wherefore the former sense is best; and besides, there seems to be one continued account of wicked men. (i) Aben Ezra, Ben Gerso

Job 24:5 . Behold, as wild asses — Which are lawless and fierce, and greedy of prey; in the desert — Which is the proper habitation of wild asses, Jeremiah 2:24 : they go forth to their work — These oppressors go forth to spoil and rob, which is their constant work and trade: rising betimes for the prey — Beginning their work of plunder before the poor go to their daily labour. The wilderness yieldeth food for them — They are so diligent and industrious in their wicked work, that they fetch food for themselves and families even out of desert places, in which the owners can with difficulty subsist.

5 . The comparison to wild asses expresses their herding together, their flight far from the dwellings of men, and that they find their home and sustenance in the wilderness. go forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey ] Rather, they go forth to their work, seeking diligently for food . Their “work” is explained by “seeking for food.” for them and for their children ] Rather, food unto them for their children . The roots and herbage of the desert are the only nourishment they can find for their children; comp. ch. Job 30:3-4 . 5–8 . Job now directs his attention to a particular class of outcasts, giving a pathetic description of their flight from the abodes of men and their herding together like wild asses in the wilderness; their destitution, and the miseries they endure from cold and want, having only the rocks and caves to cover them, and only the roots and garbage of the desert to sustain them. The class of miserables here referred to are, no doubt, as Ewald first pointed out, the aboriginal races of the regions east of the Jordan, whose land and homes had been seized by more powerful tribes, and who had fled from the bitter oppressions to which they were subjected by their conquerors. Another detailed reference is made to them in ch. 30.

Verse 5. - Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work . Plundering bands of wicked marauders scour the desert, like troops of wild asses, going forth early to their work, and late taking rest - rising betimes for a prey, and generally finding it, since the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children. They are sure to find some plunder or other ere the day is over. Job 24:5

5. wild asses—(Job 11:12). So Ishmael is called a "wild ass-man"; Hebrew (Ge 16:12). These Bedouin robbers, with the unbridled wildness of the ass of the desert, go forth thither. Robbery is their lawless "work." The desert, which yields no food to other men, yields food for the robber and his children by the plunder of caravans. rising betimes—In the East travelling is begun very early, before the heat comes on.

As wild asses; which are wild, and lawless, and unteachable, and fierce, and greedy of prey, or food, which they snatch out of the goods or labours of the husbandman; in all which they are fit emblems of these men. Or, these wild men ; for so this word signifies, Genesis 16:12 , as elsewhere wild asses . The particle as is not in the Hebrew. In the desert , which is the proper habitation of wild asses, Jeremiah 2:24 . If this be understood of the wild men, he placeth them in the desert and wilderness , either because they by their spoils and violences have destroyed or driven away the people, as is intimated, Job 24:4 , and thereby turned populous places into deserts; or because such places as have but few houses and inhabitants (which are oft so called, as Genesis 21:20,21 Jos 15:61,62 1 Kings 2:34 9:15 Isaiah 42:11 Matthew 3:1 ) are most fit for their robberies. Go they; either, 1. The poor, whom they spoiled and drove away from their own former habitations into deserts, where they hid themselves, and wrought hard for a subsistence. Or rather, 2. The oppressors, who are more fitly compared to wild asses, and more truly said to seek for prey, than those poor oppressed persons mentioned Job 24:4 , and of whom he speaks both in the foregoing and following verses. To their work, i.e. to spoil and rob, which is their constant work and trade.

The wilderness yieldeth food for them; they are so diligent and industrious in that work, that they will fetch food for them and theirs even out of desert places, in which the owners can very hardly subsist. For their children, or servants ; for the word signifies both children and servants , even the whole family.

Behold, as wild asses in the desert - In regard to the wild ass, see the notes at Job 6:5 . Schultens, Good, Noyes, and Wemyss, understand this, not as referring to the haughty tyrants themselves, but to the oppressed and needy wretches whom they had driven from society, and compelled to seek a precarious subsistence, like the wild ass, in the desert. They suppose that the meaning is, that these outcasts go to their daily toil seeking roots and vegetables in the desert for a subsistence, like wild animals. But it seems to me that the reference is rather to another class of wicked people: to the wandering tribes that live by plunder - who roam through the deserts, and live an unrestrained and a lawless life, like wild animals. The wild ass is distinguished for its fleetness, and the comparison here turns principally on this fact. These marauders move rapidly from place to place, make their assault suddenly and unexpectedly, and, having plundered the traveler, or the caravan, as suddenly disappear. They have no home, cultivate no land, and keep no flocks. The only objection to this interpretation is, that the wild ass is not a beast of prey. But, in reply to this, it may be said, that the comparison does not depend on that, but on the fact that they resemble those animals in their lawless habits of life; see Job 11:12 , note; Job 39:5 , note. Go they forth to their work - To their employment - to wit, plunder. Rising betimes - Rising early.

It is a custom of the Orientals everywhere to rise by break of day. In journeys, they usually rise long before day, and travel much in the night, and during the heat of the day they rest. As caravans often traveled early, plunderers would rise early, also, to meet them. For a prey - For plunder - the business of their lives. The wilderness - The desert, for so the word wilderness is used in the Scriptures; see Isaiah 35:1, note; Matthew 3:1, note. Yieldeth food - To wit, by plunder. They obtain subsistence for themselves and their families by plundering the caravans of the desert. The idea of Job is, that they are seen by God, and yet that they are suffered to roam at large.