Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

The east wind carrieth him away - Such as is called by Mr. Good, a levanter, the euroclydon, the eastern storm of Acts 27:14.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The east wind carrieth him away - He is swept off as by the violence of a tempest. Severe storms are represented in this book as coming from the East; compare the notes at Job 15:2. The ancients believed that people might be carried away by a tempest or whirlwind; compare Isaiah 41:16; see also Homer, Odyssey xx. 63ff:

“Snatch me, ye whirlwinds far from human race,

Test through the void illimitable space;

Or if dismounted from the rapid cloud,

Me with his whelming wave let Ocean shroud!”

Pope

Compare the notes at Job 30:22. The parallelism here would seem to imply that the wind referred to was violent, but it is possible that the allusion may be to the burning winds of the desert, so well known in the East, and so frequently described by travelers. The Vulgate here renders the Hebrew word קדים qâdı̂ym ventus urens, “burning wind;” the Septuagint in like manner, καύσων kausōn the Syriac simply wind. This east wind, or burning wind, is what the Arabians call Samum. It is a hot wind which passes over the desert, and which was formerly supposed to be destructive of life. More recent travelers however, tell us that it is not fatal to life, though exceedingly oppressive.

And as a storm - See Psalm 58:9.

Hurleth him out of his place - Takes him entirely away, or removes him from the earth.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

The east wind carrieth him away,.... Which is very strong and powerful, and carries all before it; afflictions are sometimes compared to it, Isaiah 27:8; and here either death, accompanied with the wrath of God, which carries the wicked man, sore against his will, out of the world, from his house, his family, his friends, his possessions, and estates, and carries him to hell to be a companion with devils, and share with them in all the miseries of that dreadful state and place. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, "a burning wind", such as are frequent in the eastern countries, which carry a man off at once, so that he has only time at most to say, I burn, and immediately drops down dead, as Thevenot, and other travellers, relate; which is thus described;

"it is a wind called "Samiel", or poison wind, a very hot one, that reigns in summer from Mosul to Surrat, but only by land, not upon the water; they who have breathed that wind fall instantly dead upon the place, though sometimes they have time to say that they burn within. No sooner does a man die by this wind but he becomes as black as a coal; and if one take him by his leg, arm, or any other place, his flesh comes from the same, and is plucked off by the hand that would lift him up^F14Thevenot's Travels into the Levant, par. 2. B. 1. ch. 12. p. 54. :'

and again, it is observed, that in Persia, if a man, in June or July, breathes in certain hot south winds that come from the sea, he falls down dead, and at most has no more time than to say he burns^F15Thevenot's Travels into the Levant, par. 2. B. 3. ch. 5. p. 135. . Wicked men are like chaff and stubble, and they can no more resist death than either of these can resist the east wind; and they are as easily burnt up and consumed with the burning wind of God's wrath as they are by devouring flames; and though wicked men and hypocrites may think all will be well with them if they have but time to say, Lord have mercy on us; they may be carried off with such a burning wind, or scorching disease, as to be able only to say, that they burn, and not in their bodies only, but in their souls also, feeling the wrath of God in their consciences: or this may have respect to the devouring flames of hell they are surrounded with upon dying, or immediately after death, see Isaiah 33:14;

and he departeth; out of the world, not willingly, but, whether he will or not, he must depart; or rather he will be bid to depart, and he will depart from the bar of God, from his presence, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

an as a storm hurleth him out of his place: this is done either at death, when as a storm hurls a tree, or any other thing, out of its place, so is the sinner forced out of his place in a tempestuous manner, through the power and wrath of God, so that his place knows him no more; and he is hurried into hell and everlasting destruction, just as the sinning angels were hurled out of heaven, and cast down into hell, and there will be no place found in heaven for them any more; or rather this will be his case at judgment, which immediately follows, where the wicked shall not stand, or be able to justify themselves, and make their case good; but with the storm of divine wrath and vengeance shall be hurled from thence, and go, being driven, into everlasting punishment.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

(Job 21:18; Job 15:2; Psalm 58:9).

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

East-wind — Some terrible judgment, fitly compared to the east-wind, which in those parts was most vehement, and pernicious.

Carrieth him — Out of his palace wherein he expected to dwell forever; whence he shall be carried either by an enemy, or by death.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

Job 27:21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

Ver. 21. The east wind carrieth him away] Deus subito et severo suo iudicio (Lavat.). God, by his sudden and severe judgment, hurrieth him hence to the place of torment, without the least hope of ever either mending or ending.

And he departeth] But with as ill a will as ever did Lot out of Sodom; Adam out of Paradise; the Jebusites out of Jerusalem; the unjust steward out of his office; the devil out of the demoniac.

And as a storm hurleth him] Turbinat eum, tosseth him like a ball into a far country, as if he were wherried away by a fierce whirlwind, or served as pastime for tempests.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

The east wind, i.e. some violent and terrible judgment, fitly compared to the east wind, which in those parts was most vehement and furious, and withal pestilent and pernicious; of which see Exodus 10:13 14:21 Psalms 48:7 78:26 Hosea 13:15 Jonah 4:8.

Carrieth him away, out of his place, as it follows, out of his stately palace, wherein he expected to dwell for ever; whence he shall be carried either by an enemy, that shall take him and carry him into captivity, or by death.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

21.The east wind — A storm brought on by an east wind is generally very destructive on account of its strong gusts, and it will even uproot the largest trees. (Wetzstein.) This wind, according to “The Hamasa,” is usually most violent at night. See Job 15:2.

Mark Dunagan Commentary on the Bible

Here the sudden troubles that come upon the wicked are compared with a scorching east wind and a whirlwind, and will carry him away from his supposed place of safety from which there is no escape.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

east wind

Jeremiah 18:17; Hosea 13:15

a storm

Exodus 9:23-25; Psalms 11:6; 58:9; 83:15; Nahum 1:3-8; Matthew 7:27