Job 4:9

By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Job 4:9-10. By the blast of God they perish, &c. — These two verses are thus interpreted by Heath: By the breath of God they perish; for, at the blast of his anger, the roarings of the lion, and the growling of the black lion, are hushed, and the teeth of the young lions are broken; that is, by the mere breath of God’s displeasure, or by a secret, and often undiscerned, but mighty and irresistible calamity, their projects are blasted, and they are suddenly carried away, as chaff by the wind, and come to a fearful end. Nor can they escape, were they even as strong as lions, yea, as the strongest and fiercest of them. For when the divine wrath is once kindled against them, their power is immediately broken, and in a moment they are cut off, and totally consumed. He speaks of powerful tyrants, fitly compared to lions, Ezekiel 32:2; Ezekiel 38:13; 2 Timothy 4:17, who, though for a time they persecute and oppress other men, yet in due time they are restrained and crushed by the mighty power of God. Possibly, he might intend secretly to accuse Job, or his children, that, being persons of great wealth and power, they had abused it to ruin their neighbours, and therefore were justly cut off.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:7-11 Eliphaz argues, 1. That good men were never thus ruined. But there is one event both to the righteous and to the wicked, Ec 9:2, both in life and death; the great and certain difference is after death. Our worst mistakes are occasioned by drawing wrong views from undeniable truths. 2. That wicked men were often thus ruined: for the proof of this, Eliphaz vouches his own observation. We may see the same every day.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

By the blast of God - That is, by the judgment of God. The figure is taken from the hot and fiery wind, which, sweeping over a field of grain, dries it up and destroys it. In like manner Eliphaz says the wicked perish before God.

And by the breath of his nostrils - By his anger. The Scripture often speaks of breathing out indignation and wrath; Acts 9:1; Psalm 27:12; 2 Samuel 22:16; Psalm 18:15; Psalm 33:6; notes at Isaiah 11:4; notes at Isaiah 30:28; notes at Isaiah 33:11. The figure was probably taken from the violent breathing which is evinced when the mind is under any strong emotion, especially anger. It refers here to any judgment by which God cuts off the wicked, but especially to sudden calamity - like a tempest or the pestilence.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. breath of his nostrils—God's anger; a figure from the fiery winds of the East (Job 1:16; Isa 5:25; Ps 18:8, 15).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

By the blast of God, to wit, of his nostrils, as it here follows, i.e. by his anger, which in men shows itself in the nostrils, by hot and frequent breathings there, and therefore by an anthropopathy is ascribed to God; by a secret, and oft undiscerned, but mighty and powerful, judgment of God, by which they are blasted and blown away as chaff by the wind, as the phrase is, Psalm 1.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

By the blast of God they perish,.... They and their works, the ploughers, sowers, and reapers of iniquity; the allusion is to the blasting of corn by the east wind, or by mildew, &c. having used the figures of ploughing and sowing before; and which is as soon and as easily done as corn, or anything else, is blasted in the above manner; and denotes the sudden and easy destruction of wicked men by the power of God, stirred up by his wrath and indignation, because of their sins; who when he blows a blast on their persons, substance, and families, they perish at once:

and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed; meaning his wrath and anger, which is like a stream of brimstone, and kindles a fire on the wicked, which are as fuel to it, and are soon consumed by it; the allusion is to breath in a man's nostrils, and the heat of his wrath and fury discovered thereby: some think this refers to Job's children being destroyed by the wind, see Isaiah 11:4.

Geneva Study Bible

By the {f} blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

(f) He shows that God needs no great preparation to destroy his enemies: for he can do it with the blast of his mouth.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. by the blast of God] Better,

By the breath of God they perish,

And by the blast of his anger are they consumed.

The destructive judgment of God upon the wicked is described as a fiery breath coming from His mouth, as the hot wind of the desert withers and burns up the grass, cf. Isaiah 40:7; Amos 1:2.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - By the blast of God they perish; rather, by the breath of God, as in Job 37:10. The word used (גִשְׁמָה) means always, as Professor Lee observes," a slight or gentle breathing." The slightest breath of God's displeasure is enough to destroy those against whom it is directed. And by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. Here "blast" would be better than "breath," for רוח is a stronger word than נשׁמה. Similarly, רוח is a stronger word than יאבדו. The breath kills, the blast utterly consumes, transgressors. Job 4:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

6 Is not thy piety thy confidence,

Thy Hope? And the uprightness of thy ways?

7 Think now: who ever perished, being innocent?!

And where have the righteous been cut off?!

8 As often as I saw, those who ploughed evil

And sowed sorrow, - they reaped the same.

9 By the breath of Eloah they perished,

By the breath of His anger they vanished away.

10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the shachal,

And the teeth of the young lions, are rooted out.

11 The lion wanders about for want of prey,

And the lioness' whelps are scattered.

In Job 4:6 all recent expositors take the last waw as waw apodosis: And thy hope, is not even this the integrity of thy way? According to our punctuation, there is no occasion for supposing such an application of the waw apodosis, which is an error in a clause consisting only of substantives, and is not supported by the examples, Job 15:17; Job 23:12; 2 Samuel 22:41.

(Note: We will not, however, dispute the possibility, for at least in Arabic one can say, zı̂d f-hkı̂m Zeid, he is wise. Grammarians remark that Arab. zı̂d in this instance is like a hypothetical sentence: If any one asks, etc. 2 Samuel 15:34 is similar.)

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