Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 18:14

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 18:14. His confidence shall be rooted out — His dwelling-place, how well soever fortified, shall now he deemed utterly insecure.

And it shall bring him to the king of terrors. — Or, as Mr. Good translates, "And dissolution shall invade him as a monarch." He shall be completely and finally overpowered.

The phrase king of terrors has been generally thought to mean death; but it is not used in any such way in the text. For למלך בלהות lemelech ballahoth, to the king of destructions, one of De Rossi's MSS. has כמלך kemelech, "as a king;" and one, instead of בלהות ballahoth, with ו vau holem, to indicate the plural, terrors or destructions, has בלהות ballahuth, with ו vau shurek, which is singular, and signifies terror, destruction. So the Vulgate seems to have read, as it translates, Et calcet super eum, quasi rex, interitis; "And shall tread upon him as a king or destroyer. Or as a king who is determined utterly to destroy him." On this verse the bishop of Killala, Dr. Stock, says, "I am sorry to part with a beautiful phrase in our common version, the king of terrors, as descriptive of death; but there is no authority for it in the Hebrew text."

It may however be stated that death has been denominated by similar epithets both among the Greeks and Romans,

So Virgil, AEn. vi., ver. 100.

________Quando hic inferni janua regis

Dicitur.

"The gates of the king of hell are reported to be here."

And OVID, Metam. lib. v., ver. 356, 359.

Inde tremit tellus: et rex pavit ipse silentum.

Hanc metuens cladem, tenebrosa sede tyrannus

Exierat.

"Earth's inmost bowels quake, and nature groans;

His terrors reach the direful KING of HELL.

Fearing this destruction, the tyrant left his

gloomy court."

And in SOPHOCLES, (OEdip. Colon., ver. 1628, edit. Johnson.)

Εννυχιων αναξ,

Αιδωνευ.

"O Pluto, king of shades." That is, the invisible demon, who dwells in darkness impenetrable.

Old COVERDALE translates: Very fearfulnesse shall bringe him to the kynge.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Bildad speaks (18:1-21)

In an angry outburst, Bildad accuses Job of not answering their arguments directly and of looking for arguments on other matters instead. Job speaks to them as if they were stupid cattle, and speaks to God as if the Creator should change the world to suit Job (18:1-4).
Then, with inexcusable heartlessness (in view of the recent calamities in Job’s household), Bildad further describes the punishment that justly falls on the wicked. In his house sorrow will replace happiness and poverty will replace prosperity (5-7). This is a judgment from which he cannot escape. He is like an animal caught in a trap (8-10). He is afflicted with fear, hunger, disease and finally death (11-14). His property is destroyed and his family is wiped out (15-19). His fate becomes a lesson to all who would oppose God (20-21).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

BILDAD’S LONG, UNINSPIRED DIATRIBE ON THE FATE OF THE WICKED

“Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, And the spark of his fire shall not shine. The light shall be dark in his tent, And his lamp above him shall be put out. The steps of his strength shall be straightened And his own counsel shall cast him down. For he is cast into a net by his own feet, And he walketh upon the toils. A gin shall take him by the heel, And a snare shall lay hold on him. A noose is hid for him in the ground, And a trap for him in the way. Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, And shall chase him at his heels. His strength shall be hunger-bitten, And calamity shall be ready at his side. The members of his body shall be devoured, Yea, the first-born of death shall devour his members. He shall be rooted out of his tent where he trusteth; And he shall be brought to the king of terrors. There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his: Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation. His roots shall be dried up beneath, And above shall his branch be cut off. His remembrance shall perish from the earth, And he shall have no name in the street. He shall be driven from light into darkness, And chased out of the world. He shall have neither son nor son’s son among his people. Nor any remaining where he sojourned. They that come after shall be astonished at his day, As they that went before were affrighted. Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, And this is the place of him that knoweth not God.”

“Bildad here painted a dark picture of the fate of the wicked.”International Critical Commentary, Job, p. 157. The only thing wrong with it was that it bore no resemblance to the truth. How could he have thought that, “The remembrance of the wicked shall perish from the earth” (Job 18:17)? Even a fool should have known that the extremely wicked make up the vast majority of mankind whose names shine forever on the pages of history. Not for a moment can we agree with Blair that this wicked description of the fate of the wicked is, “More powerful than any other in the Bible.”Blair, p. 152. As Rawlinson noted, “Bildad was only stringing together a list of `ancient saws.’“The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 308. But, as Watson wrote, “It is a cold creed indeed that is built on the wisdom of this world.”The Expositor’s Bible, Vol. 14, p. 217.

Again returning to Bildad’s ridiculous idea that the remembrance of the wicked shall perish (Job 18:17), Bildad himself would refute his silly allegation. His name, and that of his evil friends, all of them special agents of Satan himself, would be remembered forever in the pages of the Bible. Also, think of Cain, Esau, Balaam, Abimelech, Saul, Nebuchadnezzar, many of the reprobate kings of Israel, the brutal and ruthless rulers of the Gentiles, etc, - the list is endless! And, as for such men having, “no name in the street” (Job 18:17 b), just take a look at the monuments that stand in the streets of all nations. Countless numbers of them memorialize the names of the wickedest men in their respective generations! How blind was Bildad!

“His lamp above him shall be put out” “There is no doubt that Bildad applied every word of this to Job.”Barnes’ Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), Job, p. 308.

“Six kinds of snares or traps are mentioned in Job 18:8-10”;The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 308. and Bildad’s point here is that there’s no possible way for Job to escape; he might as well admit his wickedness!

Andersen’s paraphraseTyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 13, p. 189. of Job 18:11-13 is:

“His plump body becomes emaciated,
His ribs stick right out,
Disease corrodes his kin,
Death’s eldest son swallows his organs.”

“The first-born of death… the king of terrors” “The first of these is probably the worst pestilence, and the `king of terrors’ is death itself.”Arthur S. Peake, A Commentary on the Bible (London: T. C. and E. C. Jack, Ltd., 1924), p. 357.

“Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation” Fire and brimstone were rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness; and hell itself was eventually described as the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone. It is not hard to read Bildad’s evil thoughts toward Job in remarks such as this.

“And this is the place of him that knoweth not God” “The use of the singular pronoun here and in the preceding clause indicates that this whole series of denunciations (Job 18:5-21) is leveled against an individual, namely, Job.”The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 310.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle - Security shall forsake his dwelling, and he shall be subject to constant alarms. There shall be nothing there in which he can confide, and all that he relied on as sources of safety shall have fled.

And it shall bring him - That is, he shall be brought.

To the king of terrors - There has been much variety in the explanation of this verse. Dr. Noyes renders it, “Terror pursues him like a king.” Dr. Good, “Dissolution shall invade him like a monarch.” Dr. Stock says. “I am sorry to part with a beautiful phrase in our common version, the king of terrors, as descriptive of death, but there is no authority for it in the Hebrew text.” Wemyss renders it, “Terror shall seize him as a king.” So Schultens translates it, “Gradientur in eum, instar regis, terrores.” Rosenmuller renders it as it is in our version. The Vulgate: Et calcet super eum, quasi rex, interitus - “destruction shall tread upon him as a king.” The Septuagint “and distress shall lay hold on him with the authority of a king” - αἰτίᾳ βασιλικῃ satia basilikē. The Chaldee renders it, “shall be brought to the king of terrors” - רגושתא למלך is not evident, therefore, that we are to give up the beautiful phrase, “king of terrors.”

The fair construction of the Hebrew, as it seems to me, is that which is conveyed in our common version - meaning, that the wicked man would be conducted, not merely to death, but to that kind of death where a fearful king would preside - a monarch infusing terrors into his soul. There is something singularly beautiful and appropriate in the phrase, “the king of terrors.” Death is a fearful monarch. All dread him. He presides in regions of chilliness and gloom. All fear to enter those dark regions where he dwells and reigns, and an involuntary shudder seizes the soul on approaching the confines of his kingdom. Yet all must be brought there; and though man dreads the interview with that fearful king, there is no release. The monarch reigns from age to age - reigns over all. There is but one way in which he will cease to appear as a terrific king. - It is by confidence in Him who came to destroy death; that great Redeemer who has taken away his “sting,” and who can enable man to look with calmness and peace even on the chilly regions where he reigns. The idea here is not precisely that of the Roman and Grecian mythologists, of a terrific king, like Rhadamanthus, presiding over the regions of the dead but it is of death personified - of death represented as a king fitted to inspire awe and terror.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 18

Then answered Bildad ( Job 18:1 ),

So this is Bildad's second discourse with him.

How long will it be before you make an end of words? just make the mark, and afterwards we will speak. Why do you count us like beasts, and we are vile in your sight? You tear yourself in your anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place? Yes, the light of the wicked will be put out, and the spark of his fire will not shine ( Job 18:2-5 ).

Job, your lights going to be put out, man. You know, because you're wicked. The sparks will not shine.

The light shall be dark in his tent, and his candle shall be put out with him. The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. For he is cast into a net by his own feet, he walks upon a snare. The bear trap will take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him. The snare is laid for him in the ground, and the trap for him in the way. Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet. His strength shall be hunger-bitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side. And it shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength. His confidence shall be rooted out of the tabernacle, and he shall bring him into the king of terrors. It shall dwell in his tent, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his house. His roots shall be dried up from beneath, and above his branch will be cut off. His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street. He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. They that come after him will be astonished at his day, and they that went before him will be frightened. Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God ( Job 18:6-21 ).

Ooh, man, did he lay it on Job. "Job, this is what's going to happen to you. You know, all of the terrors and all of the fears and all of the destruction and the devouring of your strength and the death of your first born and your confidence be taken away. Brimstone be poured out upon you, your roots dried up from beneath, you're cut off from above. Man, just going to get you coming and going, man. No way out."

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Bildad’s warning concerning the wicked 18:5-21

Here are some of the things both Eliphaz and Bildad pointed out concerning the wicked.

Bildad painted four vivid pictures of the death of the wicked in this passage: a light put out (Job 18:5-6), a traveler trapped (Job 18:7-10), a criminal pursued (Job 18:11-15), and a tree rooted up (Job 18:16-21). [Note: Wiersbe, pp 37-38.]

Another noteworthy feature of this section is the frequent recurrence of the idea that the wicked will end up in a trap, especially in Job 18:8-10. Bildad promised not only their capture but that they would experience terror, like animals hunted down by a predator (Job 18:11). As in Eliphaz’s second speech, much of what Bildad said here concerning the wicked he claimed was true of Job (e.g., Job 18:13 a, 15). "The first-born of death" may refer to "death in its most terrible form." [Note: Rowley, p. 130.] Another possibility is that this is a reference to Namtar, the Mesopotamian god of pestilence and vizier of the underworld. [Note: John B. Burns, "The Identity of Death’s First-Born (Job XVIII 13)," Vetus Testamentum 37:3 (July 1987):362-64.] Both Job and Bildad had a lot to say about death.

"Bildad felt Job did not really understand the doctrine of retribution. He probably considered Job weak on this subject because Job kept harping on how the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. In these speeches Job and his friends had nothing to say about future retribution at the day of final judgment or the balancing of the scales of justice after death. This is a truth that unveils gradually (progressive revelation) in the OT." [Note: Smick, "Job," pp. 936-37.]

Often when we counsel suffering people it is more important to help them think about God and talk to Him than it is to get them to adopt all of our theology. Job’s companions seem to have given up on Job because he would not agree with their theological presupposition. They failed to give him credit for being sincere in his desire to come to terms with God.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle,.... That which his confidence was placed in, his wealth and riches, his family, particularly his children, in all which he placed his confidence of future prosperity and happiness; these should be all taken away from him, and his house cleared of them all; or his good, sound, and healthful constitution, on account of which he promised himself long life, this he should be deprived of, and it should be taken out of the tabernacle of his body; or his hope and confidence of eternal happiness in another world, this should perish, and be as the giving up of the ghost: or the words may be rendered, "he shall be rooted out of his tabernacle [which was] his confidence" b; that is, his soul shall be taken out of his body by death, in which it dwelt as in a tabernacle, and where he hoped to have had a long continuance; death is a rooting of a man out of it, and even out of the world, see

Psalms 52:5;

and it shall bring him to the king of terrors; either famine, by which his strength is weakened, or destruction that is at his side, or the firstborn of death, or his vain confidence: or this may be the sense, "thou (O God) wilt bring him", or "cause him to go to the king of terrors" c; to death; all men are brought unto it, but not all unto it as a king of terrors; as good men, such as Simeon, the Apostle Paul, and others, but wicked men. Death is a king: it reigns, it has a large empire, even the whole world; its subjects are numerous, all, high and low, rich and poor, great and small; and the duration of its reign is long, it reigned from Adam to Moses, from Moses to the coming of Christ, and from thence to this day, and will to the end of the world, and it reigns with an irresistible power: and this king is a king of terrors to wicked men; it is, as Aristotle d calls it, the most terrible of terribles; it is terrible to nature, being a dissolution of it; and it must be terrible to mere natural men, who have nothing to support them under it, and no views beyond the grave to comfort them, and cause them to go cheerful through it; but, on the other hand, have not only the bitterness of death to endure, but have terrible apprehensions of a future judgment that comes after it. Some render it, "the king of darkness" e, extreme darkness, blackness of darkness, utter darkness, which wicked men at death are brought unto. Jarchi interprets it of the king of demons, the devil; and to be brought to him is to be brought to hell and eternal damnation: so some render it, "terrors shall bring him to his king" f, the devil; or rather "terrors shall come upon him like a king" g, in a very grand, powerful, and formidable manner.

b Michaelis. c De Dieu. d Ethic. l. 3. c. 9. e למלך בלהות "ad regem caliginum", Cocceius. f Schmidt. g "Instar regis", Schultens; "quasi rex", V. L.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.   12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.   13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.   14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.   15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.   16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.   17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.   18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.   19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.   20 They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.   21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

      Bildad here describes the destruction itself which wicked people are reserved for in the other world, and which, in some degree, often seizes them in this world. Come, and see what a miserable condition the sinner is in when his day comes to fall.

      I. See him disheartened and weakened by continual terrors arising from the sense of his own guilt and the dread of God's wrath (Job 18:11; Job 18:12): Terror shall make him afraid on every side. The terrors of his own conscience shall haunt him, so that he shall never be easy. Wherever he goes, these shall follow him; which way soever he looks, these shall stare him in the face. It will make him tremble to see himself fought against by the whole creation, to see Heaven frowning on him, hell gaping for him, and earth sick of him. He that carries his own accuser, and his own tormentor, always in his bosom, cannot but be afraid on every side. This will drive him to his feet, like the malefactor, who, being conscious of his own guilt, takes to his heels and flees when none pursues,Proverbs 28:1. But his feet will do him no service; they are fast in the snare, Job 18:9; Job 18:9. The sinner may as soon overpower the divine omnipotence as flee from the divine omniscience, Amos 9:2; Amos 9:3. No marvel that the sinner is dispirited and distracted with fear, for, 1. He sees his ruin approaching: Destruction shall be ready at his side, to seize him whenever justice gives the word, so that he is brought into desolation in a moment,Psalms 73:19. 2. He feels himself utterly unable to grapple with it, either to escape it or to bear up under it. That which he relied upon as his strength (his wealth, power, pomp, friends, and the hardiness of his own spirit) shall fail him in the time of need, and be hunger-bitten, that is, it shall do him no more service than a famished man, pining away for hunger, would do in work or war. The case being thus with him, no marvel that he is a terror to himself. Note, The way of sin is a way of fear, and leads to everlasting confusion, of which the present terrors of an impure and unpacified conscience are earnests, as they were to Cain and Judas.

      II. See him devoured and swallowed up by a miserable death; and miserable indeed a wicked man's death is, how secure and jovial soever his life was. 1. See him dying, arrested by the first-born of death (some disease, or some stroke that has in it a more than ordinary resemblance of death itself; so great a death, as it is called, 2 Corinthians 1:10, a messenger of death that has in it an uncommon strength and terror), weakened by the harbingers of death, which devour the strength of his skin, that is, it shall bring rottenness into his bones and consume them. His confidence shall then be rooted out of his tabernacle (Job 18:14; Job 18:14), that is, all that he trusted to for his support shall be taken from him, and he shall have nothing to rely upon, no, not his own tabernacle. His own soul was his confidence, but that shall be rooted out of the tabernacle of the body, as a tree that cumbered the ground. "Thy soul shall be required of thee." 2. See him dead, and see his case then with an eye of faith. (1.) He is then brought to the king of terrors. He was surrounded with terrors while he lived (Job 18:11; Job 18:11), and death was the king of all those terrors; they fought against the sinner in death's name, for it is by reason of death that sinners are all their lifetime subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:15), and at length they will be brought to that which they so long feared, as a captive to the conqueror. Death is terrible to nature; our Saviour himself prayed, Father, save me from this hour. But to the wicked it is in a special manner the king of terrors, both as it is a period to that life in which they placed their happiness and a passage to that life where they will find their endless misery. How happy then are the saints, and how much indebted to the Lord Jesus, by whom death is so far abolished, and the property of it altered, that this king of terrors becomes a friend and servant! (2.) He is then driven from the light into darkness (Job 18:18; Job 18:18), from the light of this world, and his prosperous condition in it, into darkness, the darkness of the grave, the darkness of hell, into utter darkness, never to see light (Psalms 49:19), not the least gleam, nor any hopes of it. (3.) He is then chased out of the world, hurried and dragged away by the messengers of death, sorely against his will, chased as Adam out of paradise, for the world is his paradise. It intimates that he would fain stay here; he is loth to depart, but go he must; all the world is weary of him, and therefore chases him out, as glad to get rid of him. This is death to a wicked man.

      III. See his family sunk and cut off, Job 18:15; Job 18:15. The wrath and curse of God light and lie, not only upon his head and heart, but upon his house too, to consume it with the timber and stones thereof,Zechariah 5:4. Death itself shall dwell in his tabernacle, and, having expelled him, shall take possession of his house, to the terror and destruction of all that he leaves behind. Even the dwelling shall be ruined for the sake of its owner: Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation, rained upon it as upon Sodom, to the destruction of which this seems to have reference. Some think he here upbraids Job with the burning of his sheep and servants with fire from heaven. The reason is here given why his tabernacle is thus marked for ruin: Because it is none of his; that is, it was unjustly got, and kept, from the rightful owner, and therefore let him not expect either the comfort or the continuance of it. His children shall perish, either with him or after him, Job 18:16; Job 18:16. So that, his roots being in his own person dried up beneath, above his branch (every child of his family) shall be cut off. Thus the houses of Jeroboam, Baasha, and Ahab, were cut off; none that descended from them were left alive. Those who take root in the earth may expect it will thus be dried up; but, if we be rooted in Christ, even our leaf shall not wither, much less shall our branch be cut off. Those who consult the true honour of their family, and the welfare of its branches, will be afraid of withering it by sin. The extirpation of the sinner's family is mentioned again (Job 18:19; Job 18:19): He shall neither have son nor nephew, child nor grandchild, to enjoy his estate and bear up his name, nor shall there be any remaining in his dwelling akin to him. Sin entails a curse upon posterity, and the iniquity of the fathers is often visited upon the children. Herein, also, it is probable that Bildad reflects upon the death of Job's children and servants, as a further proof of his being a wicked man; whereas all that are written childless are not thereby written graceless; there is a name better than that of sons and daughters.

      IV. See his memory buried with him, or made odious; he shall either be forgotten or spoken of with dishonour (Job 18:17; Job 18:17): His remembrance shall perish from the earth; and, if it perish thence, it perishes wholly, for it was never written in heaven, as the names of the saints are, Luke 10:20. All his honour shall be laid and lost in the dust, or stained with perpetual infamy, so that he shall have no name in the street, departing without being desired. Thus the judgments of God follow him, after death, in this world, as an indication of the misery his soul is in after death, and an earnest of that everlasting shame and contempt to which he shall rise in the great day. The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot,Proverbs 10:7.

      V. See a universal amazement at his fall, Job 18:20; Job 18:20. Those that see it are affrighted, so sudden is the change, so dreadful the execution, so threatening to all about him: and those that come after, and hear the report of it, are astonished at it; their ears are made to tingle, and their hearts to tremble, and they cry out, Lord, how terrible art thou in thy judgments! A place or person utterly ruined is said to be made an astonishment,Deuteronomy 28:37; 2 Chronicles 7:21; Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 25:18. Horrible sins bring strange punishments.

      VI. See all this averred as the unanimous sense of the patriarchal age, grounded upon their knowledge of God and their many observations of his providence (Job 18:21; Job 18:21): Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place (this the condition) of him that knows not God! See here what is the beginning, and what is the end, of the wickedness of this wicked world. 1. The beginning of it is ignorance of God, and it is a wilful ignorance, for there is that to be known of him which is sufficient to leave them for ever inexcusable. They know not God, and then they commit all iniquity. Pharaoh knows not the Lord, and therefore will not obey his voice. 2. The end of it, and that is utter destruction. Such, so miserable, are the dwellings of the wicked. Vengeance will be taken of those that know not God,2 Thessalonians 1:8. For those whom he has not honour from he will get himself honour upon. Let us therefore stand in awe and not sin, for it will certainly be bitterness in the latter end.