Job 21:13

They spend their days in wealth,.... Or "in good" (p); not in the performance of good works, or in the exercise of that which is spiritually good; or in seeking after spiritual good things, or

They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Wealth - old English for prosperity. In a moment - not by a lingering disease. Great blessings!

In wealth; in good, i.e. in the enjoyment of all the good things of this life, without any mixture of evil. They do not die of a lingering and tormenting disease, as I now and many other good men die, but suddenly and sweetly, like lambs; as is usually said in such cases.

Job 21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.Ver. 13. They spend their days in wealth] Or, in mirth. Heb. In good. They wallow in wealth, and have the world at their will, even more than heart could wish, as David phraseth it in Psalms 73:2-12, which may well serve for a comment upon this text; and the rich glutton for an instance. He in his lifetime received good things, and in a moment went down to the grave, Luke 16:25. True it is, that this is not every wicked man’ s case; for some of them live wretchedly and die lamentably, being held long upon the rack of a torturing disease (as Jehoram), all which is to them none other than a type and foretaste of hell, whither they are hastening. And in a moment they go down to the grave] Ad inferna, to hell, saith the Vulgate; they spend their days in wealth, and end their days in woe; their merry dance determineth in a miserable downfall. Thus that "rich man died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment," &c., Luke 16:22-23. But though the same Hebrew word signifieth hell and the grave (both which have their names from their unsatiableness, Proverbs 30:15-16), yet here, in a suitableness to what went before, the grave is to be understood; and the sense is, Dicto citius moriuntur, they die easily, suddenly, sweetly, without much pain of body or trouble of mind; "there are no bands in their death," saith David, Psalms 73:4. They die without much ado, like a lamb, or like a lamp, that goeth out of itself when the oil faileth; they go quickly and quietly to the grave. Some wicked persons indeed die piecemeal by a complicated disease, and a long lingering death, as did Antiochus, Herod, Philip II of Spain, &c. Dionysius the tyrant is said to have envied a beast, whose throat he saw cut, because he died so soon. Julius Caesar wished he might die speedily, saith Suetonius. Pliny commendeth sudden death as the chief felicity of life. That is a good death to nature which is neither feared nor expected; yet that is the best death which hath been longest expected and prepared for. Mors iucunda cuius nulla praecessit expectatio aut metus. Happy is he that, after due preparation, is passed through the gates of death ere he be aware. Happy is he that, by the holy use of long sickness, is taught to see the gates of death afar off, and addresseth for a resolute passage. The one dieth like Elijah, the other like Elisha, both blessedly.

(13) In a moment.—They go down to death without being made to feel the lingering tortures that Job had to undergo.

Verse 13. They spend their days in wealth] There is a various reading here of some importance. In the text we have יבלו yeballu, they grow old, or wear out as with old age, terent vetustate; and in the margin, יכלו yechallu, they consume; and the Masora states that this is one of the eleven words which are written with ב beth and must be read with כ caph. Several editions have the former word in the text, and the latter in the margin; the former being what is called the kethib, the latter keri. יבלו yeballu, they grow old, or wear out, is the reading of the Antwerp, Paris, and London Polyglots; יכלו yechallu, they accomplish or spend, is the reading of the Complutensian Polyglot, thirteen of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., the Septuagint, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Vulgate has ducunt, "they lead or spend," from which our translation is borrowed. I incline to the former, as Job's argument derives considerable strength from this circumstance; they not only spend their days in faring sumptuously every day; but they even wear out so as to grow old in it; they are not cut off by any sudden judgment of God. This is fact; therefore your doctrine, that the wicked are cut off suddenly and have but a short time, is far from the truth. In a moment go down to the grave.] They wear out their years in pleasure; grow old in their gay and giddy life; and die, as in a moment, without previous sickness; or, as Mr. Good has it, They quietly descend into the grave.

13. in wealth] i. e. weal, prosperity. The word has not here its modern meaning of riches, but its older, more general sense:—“in all time of our tribulation, in all time of our wealth … good Lord deliver us.” The Litany. to the grave] Heb., to Sheol. They die in a moment without pain—there are no bands in their death, Psalms 73:4. This idyllic picture of a joyous untroubled life, rich in possessions and filled with all that gives a charm to existence, and having a peaceful close, forms the counterpart to the picture drawn by the friends of the troubled conscience, Job 15:20, the early death, Job 20:11, the childless solitariness, Job 18:19, and the disastrous end, Job 20:24, of the wicked man.

They spend their days in wealth - Margin, or, “mirth.” Literally, “they wear out their days in good” - בטוב baṭôb. Vulgate “in bonis.” Septuagint, ἐνἀγαθοῖς en agathois - “in good things;” in the enjoyment of good.

13. Spend their days — They wear out — make the most of — life. “In connexion with this, one thinks of a coat which is not laid aside until it isentirely worn out.” — Delitzsch. Wealth ùׂ ?åá — Septuagint, good things.