Job 15:30
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He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Perhaps Job was so clear, and so well satisfied, in the goodness of his own cause, that he thought, if he had not convinced, yet he had at least silenced all his three friends; but, it seems he had not: in this chapter they begin a second attack upon him, each of them charging him afresh with as much vehemence as before. It is natural to us to be fond of our own sentiments, and therefore to be firm to them, and with difficulty to be brought to recede from them. Eliphaz here keeps close to the principles upon which he had condemned Job, and, I. He reproves him for justifying himself, and fathers on him many evil things which are unfairly inferred thence (Job 15:2-13). II. He persuades him to humble himself before God and to take shame to himself (Job 15:14-16). III. He reads him a long lecture concerning the woeful estate of wicked people, who harden their hearts against God and the judgments which are prepared for them (v. 17-35). A good use may be made both of his reproofs (for they are plain) and of his doctrine (for it is sound), though both the one and the other are misapplied to Job.
Open source ↗15:30 The burning sun (literally The flame) might be the scorching sun or a flame of judgment from God (15:34, see Num 16:31-35; Ps 106:17-18; Ezek 20:47). • The breath of God might be a desert wind or a more direct theophany (a manifestation of God’s presence) that caused the burning of Job 15:34.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.
Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.
But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’
For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.