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Contemporary English Version
Job 24:18
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- Hastings'Parallel Translations
They float on the surface of the water.Their section of the land is cursed,so that they never go to their vineyards.
"They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the eretz: They don't turn into the way of the vineyards.
He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
"You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards.
"They are like foam floating on the water. Their part of the land is cursed; no one uses the road that goes by their vineyards.
"You say, ‘He is foam on the face of the waters; their portion of the land is cursed so that no one goes to their vineyard.
"They are insignificant on the surface of the water; Their portion is cursed on the earth; They do not turn toward the vineyards.
"They are insignificant on the surface of the water; Their plot of land on the earth is cursed. They do not turn toward the vineyards.
"They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth: They don't turn into the way of the vineyards.
He is swift vpon the waters: their portion shalbe cursed in the earth: he will not behold the way of the vineyardes.
"They are insignificant on the surface of the water;Their portion is cursed on the earth.They do not turn toward the vineyards.
They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
"May they be scum on the surface of the water, may their share of land be cursed, may no one turn on the way of their vineyards,
He is swift on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed on the earth: he turneth not unto the way of the vineyards.
" You say, ‘Evil people are taken away like things carried away in a flood. The land they own is cursed, so no one goes to work in their vineyards.
They are swiftly carried away upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth; they behold not the familiar way of the vineyards.
[Zophar]
The wicked are swept away by floods, and the land they own is under God's curse; they no longer go to work in their vineyards."He himself is swift on the water's surface; their portion is cursed in the land. No one turns toward the path of their vineyards.
He is swift on the waters; their part is cursed in the earth; he does not face the way of the vineyards.
The vngodly is very swyft: O yt his porcio also vpo earth were swyfter then ye runnynge water, which suffreth not ye shipma to beholde the fayre & pleasaut vyniardes.
Swiftly they pass away upon the face of the waters; Their portion is cursed in the earth: They turn not into the way of the vineyards.
They go quickly on the face of the waters; their heritage is cursed in the earth; the steps of the crusher of grapes are not turned to their vine-garden.
He is swift upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth;
Hee is swift as the waters, their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the Uineyards.
[The vngodly] is swyft vpon the water: their portion shalbe cursed in the earth, and he shall not beholde the way of the vineyardes.
He is swift on the face of the water: let his portion be cursed on the earth; and let their plants be laid bare.
He is swift upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he turneth not by the way of the vineyards.
He is vnstablere than the face of the water; his part in erthe be cursid, and go he not bi the weie of vyneris.
Swiftly they [pass away] on the face of the waters; Their portion is cursed in the earth: They don't turn into the way of the vineyards.
He [is] swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
"They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.
"But they disappear like foam down a river. Everything they own is cursed, and they are afraid to enter their own vineyards.
"They are taken away on the top of the waters. Their part of the earth is cursed. They do not go to their grape-fields.
"Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion in the land is cursed; no treader turns toward their vineyards.
Swift is he on the face of the waters, Speedily vanished their share in the land, He turneth not to the way of the vineyards.
He is light upon the face of the water: cursed be his portion on the earth, let him not walk by the way of the vineyards.
"You say, "They are swiftly carried away upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards.
Light he [is] on the face of the waters, Vilified is their portion in the earth, He turneth not the way of vineyards.
"They are scraps of wood floating on the water— useless, cursed junk, good for nothing. As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun, sinners disappear in the grave. The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them— nothing that is evil lasts. Unscrupulous, they prey on those less fortunate. However much they strut and flex their muscles, there's nothing to them. They're hollow. They may have an illusion of security, but God has his eye on them. 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. You're free to try to prove me a liar, but you won't be able to do it."
"They are insignificant on the surface of the water; Their portion is cursed on the earth. They do not turn toward the vineyards.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
swift: Psalms 58:7, Psalms 73:18-20, Isaiah 23:10
their portion: Deuteronomy 28:16-20, Psalms 69:22, Proverbs 3:33, Malachi 2:2
Cross-References
If the woman refuses to come along, you don't have to keep this promise. But don't ever take my son back there."
So the servant gave Abraham his word that he would do everything he had been told to do.
and I'll ask one of them for a drink. If she gives me a drink and then offers to get some water for my camels, I'll know she is the one you have chosen and that you have kept your promise to my master.
Her words are sensible, and her advice is thoughtful.
Finally, all of you should agree and have concern and love for each other. You should also be kind and humble.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
He [is] swift as the waters,.... Or "upon the face of the waters" y; which some interpret of another set and sort of wicked men, guilty of like crimes, not on land, but upon the mighty waters; pirates, such that commit robberies upon the high seas; who generally choose the swiftest vessels to run from place to place for their prey, and to carry off their booty when pursued; whose manner of life is detestable to other persons; and especially they are cursed by those on land, who suffer by robbing the ships of their goods they send abroad; but these men best like such a manner of life, and prefer it to any thing by land, to agriculture or cultivation of vineyards, which they have no regard unto, as is supposed to be intimated by the following clauses; but it is greatly to be questioned whether there were any such persons, or that such practices obtained so early as the time of Job. Schultens thinks Sodomites are meant, who are most profuse to lust, and flow in it like water, plough the accursed field, by going after strange flesh, and have no regard to lawful marriage, or honest wives, comparable to vines and vineyards; but I should rather think those guilty of the sin of Onan are meant, who have no regard to the propagation of posterity. Others, as Ben Gersom are of opinion that this refers to the above persons, murderers, adulterers, and thieves,
Job 24:14; who, being conscious of their crimes and due deserts, and in danger of being taken up, and brought to just punishment, flee to the sea with all the haste they can, take shipping, and go abroad into foreign parts; where they dwell in desolate and uncultivated places of the earth, which are cursed, or nigh unto cursing, and never more see pleasant fields, gardens, orchards, and vineyards: though others suppose that these words describe the temper and disposition of such wicked persons, who are unstable as water, carried about as any light thing upon the water with every wind of temptation, run swiftly into evil, and make haste to commit sin; though it seems best of all to interpret the words as respecting the state of wicked men at death, who then pass away swiftly and suddenly as gliding waters, and are "lighter" or swifter "than the waters", as Mr. Broughton renders the words:
their portion is cursed in the earth; that part and portion of the good things of this world they have is with a curse; their very blessings are cursed, and what they leave behind has a curse entailed on it, and in process of time is blasted, and comes to nothing; for, the curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, Proverbs 3:33;
he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards; as in their lifetime they had no regard to the way of good and righteous men, of whom Jarchi in a mystical sense, interprets the vineyards; so at death they are taken away from all their worldly enjoyments they set their hearts upon; their places know them no more, and they no more see their fields, and vineyards, and oliveyards, and take no more walks unto them nor in them.
y על פני מים "super faciem aquarum", Mercerus, Bolducius, Beza, Drusius, Schultens.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
He is swift as the waters - Noyes renders this, “They are as swift as the skiff upon the waters.” Dr. Good, “Miserable is this man upon the waters.” Wemyss, “Such should be as foam upon the waters.” Le Clerc says that there is scarcely any passage of the Scriptures more obscure than this, and the variety of rendering adopted will show at once the perplexity of expositors. Rosenmuller supposes that the particle of comparison (כ k) is to be understood, and that the meaning is, “he is as a light thing upon the waters;” and this probably expresses the true sense. It is a comparison of the thief with a light boat, or any other light thing that moves gently on the face of the water, and that glides along without noise. So gently and noiselessly does the thief glide along in the dark. He is rapid in his motion, but he is still. It is not uncommon to describe one who is about to commit crime in the night as moving noiselessly along, and as taking every precaution that the utmost silence should be preserved. So Macbeth, when about to commit murder, soliloquizes:
Now o’er the one half world
Nature seems dead -
And withered murder,
Alarm’d by his sentinel, the wolf,
Who’s howl’d his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost.
Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
The very stones prate of my whereabout.
I do not know, however, that this comparison of a thief, with a light object on the waters, is to be found any where else, but it is one of great beauty. The word rendered “swift” (קל qal) may denote either that which is swift, or that which is light. In Isaiah 30:16, it is applied to a fleet horse. Here it may be rendered, “He is as a light thing upon the face of the waters.”
Their portion is cursed in the earth - That is, their manner of life, their way of obtaining a livelihood, is deserving of execration. The result of humble toil and honest labor may be said to be blessed; but not the property which they acquire. Rosenmuller and Noyes, however, suppose that the word “portion” here refers to their habitation, and that the idea is, they have their dwelling in wild and uncultivated places; they live in places that are cursed by sterility and barrenness. The Hebrew will bear either construction. The word lot, as it is commonly understood by us, may perhaps embrace both ideas. “Theirs is a cursed lot on earth.”
He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards - That is, they do not spend their lives in cultivating them, nor do they derive a subsistence from them. They live by plunder, and their abodes are in wild retreats, far away from quiet and civilised society. The object seems to be to describe marauders, who make a sudden descent at night on the possessions of others, and who have their dwellings far away from fields that are covered with the fruits of cultivation.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 24:18. He is swift as the waters — Literally, Light is he on the face of the waters: and cursed shall be their portion on the earth, which Mr. Good translates: -
Miserable is this man on the waters:
Deeply miserable the lot of those on dry land.
He beholdeth not the way of the vineyards. — These no longer flourish or bring forth fruit. The labour of the vintage fails.
