Job 24:24

24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.

Job 24:24 in Other Translations

KJV
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.
ESV
24 They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain.
NLT
24 And though they are great now, in a moment they will be gone like all others, cut off like heads of grain.
MSG
24 They may get their brief successes, but then it's over, nothing to show for it. Like yesterday's newspaper, they're used to wrap up the garbage.
CSB
24 They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. They wither like heads of grain.

Job 24:24 Meaning and Commentary

Job 24:24

They are exalted for a little while
To seats of honour, to places of profit and trust, to great wealth and riches, to be highly esteemed among men, and to have a large affluence of the good things of life; see ( Malachi 3:15 ) ; though this exaltation, dignity, and glory, wealth and riches, last but for a little time, this life at longest being but short, like a vapour that appears, and soon vanishes away; and then all a man's honours and glory, riches and substance, are at an end, who is soon cut down as the grass, and withers as the green herb, ( Psalms 37:2 ) ; but as this pretty much falls in with the sentiment of Zophar, or seems to do so, ( Job 20:5 ) ; rather this phrase, "for a little while", may be joined with what follows, "a little while, and they are gone";

but are gone;
out of the world, to their own place, and death puts an end to all their prosperity, to all their outward enjoyments, which yet they retain till death: or "they are not" F9; in the land of the living, in their houses and shops, and places of trade and commerce; they are no more about their business, and in their callings of life, nor in the possession of their worldly estates; the places which knew them know them no more; and this comes to pass in a very little time; their honour is short lived, and their earthly portion is not forever:

and brought low;
not diminished in their substance in life, nor lessened in their honour and grandeur, nor are brought into poverty and disgrace; but are brought at last to death, and laid low in the grave, and are fed upon by worms, and reduced to rottenness and dust:

they are taken out of the way, as all [others];
out of the world, by death, and out of the way of others; who come in their room, and were hoping for their death, and waiting for their posts of honour, and places of profit, or for their worldly estates; and out of the way of doing more mischief, and especially to good men; or they are "closed" or "shut up" F11; that is, in the grave, where they lie imprisoned until the resurrection morn, and out of which prison none can release themselves; nor will they be released, until Christ, who has the keys of the grave, unlocks it, and sets the prisoners free; but then all this is no other than what befalls the rest of mankind; all die, and must die, and all are brought to the grave, and laid in that, and shut up in it, which is the house appointed for all living:

and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn;
when they are fully ripe at harvest time; it being usual in some places, as I have somewhere read, when they gather their corn, only to cut off the ears of corn at the top, which is very easily and quickly done; and so this may denote the quiet and easy death of wicked men, and when they are come to a full age, and are like a shock of corn in its season, ( Job 5:26 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (wnnyaw) "et non ipse", Montanus, Bolducius; "et non sunt", Schultens.
F11 (wupqy) "claudentur", Pagninus, Montanus; "clauduntur", Piscator.

Job 24:24 In-Context

22 But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways.
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”

Cross References 3

  • 1. S 2 Kings 19:35; S Job 4:20; Job 14:21; Psalms 37:10; Psalms 83:13; Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah 17:13; Isaiah 40:24; Isaiah 41:2,15
  • 2. S Job 3:19
  • 3. Isaiah 17:5
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