Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 24:20

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 24:20. The womb shall forget him — The mother that bare him shall have no affection for him, nor be afflicted at his death. But the word רחם rechem signifies compassion, mercy. Mercy shall be unmindful of him. How dreadful such a state! When mercy itself forgets the sinner, his perdition slumbereth not.

The worm shall feed sweetly on him — The Chaldee has, "The cruel, who have neglected to commiserate the poor, shall be sweet to the worms." He shall be brought into a state of the greatest degradation, and shall be no more remembered.

And wickedness shall be broken as a tree. — He shall be as a rotten or decayed tree, easily broken to pieces. If it were clear that עולה avlah, here rendered wickedness, has the same sense as עלה aleh, a leaf, sucker, or shoot, then we might translate according to the ingenious version of Mr. Good; viz., But the shoot shall be broken off as a tree; which might, in this case, be supposed to refer to illicit commerce, the fruit of the womb becoming abortive.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Job’s reply to Eliphaz (23:1-24:25)

Again Job says that he is not rebelling against God or running away from him as his friends claim. On the contrary he wants to meet God, so that he can present his case to him and listen to God’s answer (23:1-5). He is confident that God will declare him innocent of the charges people have made against him (6-7).
No matter where Job has searched for God, he has not found him. He cannot see God, but God can see him. God knows he is upright, and one day, when this time of testing has proved him true, God will announce his righteousness to others (8-12). But until that day arrives, Job must bear his suffering. Nothing will change God’s mind, and Job is terrified as he thinks of what God may yet require him to go through (13-17).
Job wishes there were set times when God the judge was available for the downtrodden to bring their complaints to him and obtain justice (24:1). The poor and helpless are oppressed by the rich and powerful. Driven from their homes they are forced to wander like animals in the wilderness, eating whatever food they can find and sleeping under trees and rocks (2-8). If caught they are forced to sell their children as slaves or become slaves themselves. Yet God ignores their cries for help (9-12). Meanwhile murderers, sex perverts and thieves, who rely on the cover of darkness to carry out their evil deeds, seem to escape unpunished (13-17).
The friends say that these wicked people will quickly be swept away in judgment (18-20), but from Job’s observations, God allows them to go on living in comfort and security. When they die, their deaths are no different from the deaths of others (21-24). Job challenges his friends to prove him wrong in what he says (25).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THAT PART OF JOB’S SPEECH THAT SOME QUESTION

“Swiftly they pass away upon the face of the waters; Their portion is cursed on the earth: They turn not into the way of the vineyards. Drought and heat consume the snow waters: So doth Sheol those that have sinned. The womb shall forget him; The worm shall feed sweetly on him; He shall be no more remembered; And unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree. He devoureth the barren that beareth not, And doth not good to the widow. Yet God reserveth the mighty by his power: He riseth up that hath no assurance of life. God giveth them to be in security, and they rest thereon. And his eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted; and yet a little while and they are gone; Yea, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, And are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain. And if it be not so now, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech nothing worth?”

This, of course, is that part of Job’s speech which is thought by some to be part of Bildad’s speech, which follows at once, and seems to be unusually short; but, as the text stands, there is very little of it that is inappropriate upon the lips of Job.

“Swiftly they pass away” for example, may be only a reference to the brevity of life for all men.

“He shall be no more remembered” does not seem to fit all that Job has said earlier.

“Unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree” is in the same category as the first clause.

The best understanding of this perplexing paragraph among the writers we have consulted is that of Dr. Dale Hesser:

“The big thing that Job objected to was Eliphaz’ theory that the wicked are punished at once. Job admits that if one looks at the whole picture, he will see that wickedness leads to suffering and that righteousness leads to rewards; but what puzzles Job is the exceptions which are obviously quite numerous. Job is pointing out that in the course of things crime brings misery to the criminal, but that God has not ordered that each crime shall bring immediate retribution.”R. B. Sweet Publishing Company, No. 216, p. 50.

We are not to suppose that Job here has changed his basic thesis. Both Job and his friends believed that God punishes the wicked; but Job vehemently rejected the notion (1) either that God always punished the wicked immediately upon their commission of wicked deeds, or (2) that sufferings and calamities coming upon any person were to be considered as proofs of his wickedness.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The womb shall forget him - His mother who bare him shall forget him. The idea here seems to be, that he shall fade out of the memory, just as other persons do. He shall not be overtaken with any disgraceful punishment, thus giving occasion to remember him by a death of ignominy. At first view it would seem to be a calamity to be soon forgotten by a mother; but if the above interpretation be correct, then it means that the condition of his death would be such that there would be no occasion for a mother to remember him with sorrow and shame, as she would one who was ignominiously executed for his crimes. This interpretation was proposed by Mercer, and has been adopted by Rosenmuller, Noyes, and others. It accords with the general scope of the passage, and is probably correct. Various other interpretations, however, have been proposed, which may be seen in Good, and in the Critici Sacri.

The worm shall feed sweetly on him - As on others. He shall die and be buried in the usual manner. He shall lie quietly in the grave, and there return to his native dust. He shall not be suspended on a gibbet, or torn and devoured by wild beasts; but his death and burial shall be peaceful and calm; see Job 21:26, note; Job 19:26, note.

He shall be no more remembered - As having been a man of eminent guilt, or as ignominiously punished. The meaning is, that there is nothing marked and distinguishing in his death. There is no special manifestation of the divine displeasure. There is some truth in this, that the wicked cease to be remembered. People hasten to forget them; and having done no good that makes them the objects of grateful reminiscence, their memory fades away. This, so far from being a calamity and a curse, Job regards as a favor. It would be a calamity to be remembered as a bad man, and as having died an ignominious death.

And wickedness shall be broken as a tree - Evil here or wickedness (עולה ‛avlâh) means an evil or wicked man. The idea seems to be, that such a man would die as a tree that is stripped of its leaves and branches is broken down. He is not like a green tree that is violently torn up by the roots in a storm, or twisted off in a tempest, but like a dry tree that begins to decay, and that falls down gently by its own weight. It lives to be old, and then quietly sinks on the ground and dies. So Job says it is with the wicked. They are not swept away by the divine judgments, as the trees of the forest are torn up by the roots or twisted off by the tornado.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 24

Now, why, seeing the times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? Some [now you've accused me of these things, but there are some] that remove the landmarks; and violently take away another man's flocks. And they drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together. Behold, as the wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yields food for them and for their children. They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, they have no covering for the cold. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for the want of a shelter. They pluck the fatherless from the breast, they take a pledge of the poor. They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and they suffer thirst. [They allow others to go thirsty.] Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out: yet God lays not folly to them. [They are doing these horrible things but] they are those that rebel against the light; and they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer rising with the light kills the poor and the needy, and in the night is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waits for twilight, saying, No one will see me: and he disguises his face. And in the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked in the daytime: they know not the light. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one knows them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death ( Job 24:1-17 ).

They do all their dirty work at night. They won't go out in the daytime. It's fearful for them to go out in the light. As Jesus said, "Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil" ( John 3:19 ).

He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholds not the way of the vineyards. Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned. The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him ( Job 24:18-20 );

As your body's decaying there in the ground.

he shall be no more remembered; the wickedness shall be broken as a tree. He evil entreateth the barren that bears not: and does not good to the widow ( Job 24:20-21 ).

And so forth. So Bildad has had it. I mean, he really doesn't have much more to say to Job. In fact, all of the guys are sort of just phasing out at this point. They really can't argue much against Job's logic. He really has pretty much proved his case. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Job’s confidence 24:18-25

These confusing verses may seem to be saying that God does punish the wicked at all. Probably Job was reflecting that God does indeed punish them in death if not in life. [Note: Andersen, pp. 213-14.] What bothered him was why God did not punish them sooner. Even with more revelation than Job enjoyed, we still have great difficulty understanding God’s ways generally, and why He does what He does in specific individual lives particularly. God’s wisdom is still unfathomable.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

The womb shall forget him,.... His mother that bore him; or his wife, by whom he had many children; or his friend, as Gersom, who had a tender and affectionate respect for him; these all, and each of them, either because of his wicked life and infamous death, care not to speak of him, but bury him in oblivion; or because of his quiet and easy death, are not distressed with it, but soon forget him; unless this is to be understood of the womb of the earth, in which being buried, he lies forgotten, to which the next clause agrees; though some interpret it of God himself the word having the signification of mercy b; who, though mercy itself, is rich and abundant in it, yet has no mercy for, nor shows any favour to, such men; but they lie in the grave among those whom he remembers no more in a way of grace and favour,

Psalms 85:5;

the worm shall feed sweetly on him; for being brought to the grave at once, without any wasting distemper, is a fine repast for worms, his breasts being full of milk, and his bones moistened with marrow, and full of flesh; or "the worm [is] sweet unto him" c; he feels no pain by its feeding on him, and so the sense is just the same with that expression, "the clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him",

Job 21:33;

he shall be no more remembered; with any mark of honour and respect; his memory shall rot with him, while the righteous are had in everlasting remembrance; or rather dying a common death, and not made a public example of:

and wickedness shall be broken as a tree; that is, wicked men, who are wickedness itself, extremely wicked, and are like to a tree, sometimes flourishing in external prosperity, having an affluence of the things of this world, and always like barren and unfruitful trees, with respect to grace and good works; these, when the axe of death is laid to the root of them, they are cut down, and their substance comes to nothing, and their families are destroyed, and so they become like trees struck with thunder and lightning, and broken into ten thousand shivers; or as the trees in Egypt were broken to pieces by the plague of hail, Exodus 9:25.

b רחם "misericordia", V. L. "miseratio", Montanus, Bolducius; so Tigurine version, Grotius. c מתקו "dulcescit ei", Beza, Piscator; "suavis", Cocceius; so Michaelis, Schultens.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.   19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.   20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.   21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.   22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.   23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.   24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.   25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

      Job here, in the conclusion of his discourse,

      I. Gives some further instances of the wickedness of these cruel bloody men. 1. Some are pirates and robbers at sea. To this many learned interpreters apply those difficult expressions (Job 24:18; Job 24:18), He is swift upon the waters. Privateers choose those ships that are the best sailors. In these swift ships they cruise from one channel to another, to pick up prizes; and this brings them in so much wealth that their portion is cursed in the earth, and they behold not the way of the vineyards, that is (as bishop Patrick explains it), they despise the employment of those who till the ground and plant vineyards as poor and unprofitable. But others make this a further description of the conduct of those sinners that are afraid of the light: if they be discovered, they get away as fast as they can, and choose to lurk, not in the vineyards, for fear of being discovered, but in some cursed portion, a lonely and desolate place, which nobody looks after. 2. Some are abusive to those that are in trouble, and add affliction to the afflicted. Barrenness was looked upon as a great reproach, and those that fall under that affliction they upbraid with it, as Peninnah did Hannah, on purpose to vex them and make them to fret, which is a barbarous thing. This is evil entreating the barren that beareth not (Job 24:21; Job 24:21), or those that are childless, and so want the arrows others have in their quiver, which enable them to deal with their enemy in the gate, Psalms 127:5. They take that advantage against and are oppressive to them. As the fatherless, so the childless, are in some degree helpless. For the same reason it is a cruel thing to hurt the widow, to whom we ought to do good; and not doing good, when it is in our power, is doing hurt. 3. There are those who, by inuring themselves to cruelty, come at last to be so exceedingly boisterous that they are the terror of the mighty in the land of the living (Job 24:22; Job 24:22): "He draws the mighty into a snare with his power; even the greatest are not able to stand before him when he is in his mad fits: he rises up in his passion, and lays about him with so much fury that no man is sure of his life; nor can he at the same time be sure of his own, for his hand is against every man and every man's hand against him," Genesis 16:12. One would wonder how any man can take pleasure in making all about him afraid of him, yet there are those that do.

      II. He shows that these daring sinners prosper, and are at ease for a while, nay, and often end their days in peace, as Ishmael, who, though he was a man of such a character as is here given, yet both lived and died in the presence of all his brethren, as we are told, Genesis 16:12; Genesis 25:18: Of these sinners here it is said, 1. That it is given them to be in safety,Job 24:23; Job 24:23. They seem to be under the special protection of the divine Providence; and one would wonder how they escape with life through so many dangers as they run themselves into. 2. That they rest upon this, that is, they rely upon this as sufficient to warrant all their violences. Because sentence against their evil works is not executed speedily they think that there is no great evil in them, and that God is not displeased with them, nor will ever call them to an account. Their prosperity is their security. 3. That they are exalted for a while. They seem to be the favourites of heaven, and value themselves as making the best figure on earth. They are set up in honour, set up (as they think) out of the reach of danger, and lifted up in the pride of their own spirits. 4. That, at length, they are carried out of the world very silently and gently, and without any remarkable disgrace or terror. "They go down to the grave as easily as snow-water sinks into the dry ground when it is melted by the sun;" so bishop Patrick explains Job 24:19; Job 24:19. To the same purport he paraphrases Job 24:20; Job 24:20, The womb shall forget him, c. "God sets no such mark of his displeasure upon him but that his mother may soon forget him. The hand of justice does not hang him on a gibbet for the birds to feed on but he is carried to his grave like other men, to be the sweet food of worms. There he lies quietly, and neither he nor his wickedness is any more remembered than a tree which is broken to shivers." And Job 24:24; Job 24:24, They are taken out of the way as all others, that is, "they are shut up in their graves like all other men; nay, they die as easily (without those tedious pains which some endure) as an ear of corn is cropped with your hand." Compare this with Solomon's observation (Ecclesiastes 8:10), I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten.

      III. He foresees their fall however, and that their death, though they die in ease and honour, will be their ruin. God's eyes are upon their ways,Job 24:23; Job 24:23. Though he keep silence, and seem to connive at them, yet he takes notice, and keeps account of all their wickedness, and will make it to appear shortly that their most secret sins, which they thought no eye should see (Job 24:15; Job 24:15), were under his eye and will be called over again. Here is no mention of the punishment of these sinners in the other world, but it is intimated in the particular notice taken of the consequences of their death. 1. The consumption of the body in the grave, though common to all, yet to them is in the nature of a punishment for their sin. The grave shall consume those that have sinned; that land of darkness will be the lot of those that love darkness rather than light. The bodies they pampered shall be a feast for worms, which shall feed as sweetly on them as ever they fed on the pleasures and gains of their sins. 2. Though they thought to make themselves a great name by their wealth, and power, and mighty achievements, yet their memorial perished with them,Psalms 9:6. He that made himself so much talked of shall, when he is dead, be no more remembered with honour; his name shall rot,Proverbs 10:7. Those that durst not give him his due character while he lived shall not spare him when he is dead; so that the womb that bore him, his own mother, shall forget him, that is, shall avoid making mention of him, and shall think that the greatest kindness she can do him, since no good can be said of him. That honour which is got by sin will soon turn into shame. 3. The wickedness they thought to establish in their families shall be broken as a tree; all their wicked projects shall be blasted, and all their wicked hopes dashed and buried with them. 4. Their pride shall be brought down and laid in the dust (Job 24:24; Job 24:24); and, in mercy to the world, they shall be taken out of the way, and all their power and prosperity shall be cut off. You may seek them, and they shall not be found. Job owns that wicked people will be miserable at last, miserable on the other side death, but utterly denies what his friends asserted, that ordinarily they are miserable in this life.

      IV. He concludes with a bold challenge to all that were present to disprove what he had said if they could (Job 24:25; Job 24:25): "If it be not so now, as I have declared, and if it do not thence follow that I am unjustly condemned and censured, let those that can undertake to prove that my discourse is either, 1. False in itself, and then they prove me a liar; or, 2. Foreign, and nothing to the purpose, and then they prove my speech frivolous and nothing worth." That indeed which is false is nothing worth; where there is not truth, how can there be goodness? But those that speak the words of truth and soberness need not fear having what they say brought to the test, but can cheerfully submit it to a fair examination, as Job does here.