Job 15:21-23 | TNotes | STEP | 15:21 Although Eliphaz generalized the terror that the wicked experience, Job had undergone similar experiences (3:25 ; 6:4 ; 9:34 ; 13:11 , 21 ; 23:15 ; 27:20 ; 30:15 ). Bildad (18:11 , 14 ) and Zophar (20:25 ) spoke of more terror to come. • The Sabeans and Chaldeans were examples of the destroyer (1:13-17 ), but this could refer to any destructive agent (1:18-19 ). Destroyers might be agents of Satan (1 Cor 10:10 ; Rev 9:11 ) or divine agents that punish wickedness (Exod 12:23 ; 2 Sam 24:16 ; 2 Chr 32:21 ; Acts 12:23 ; Heb 11:28 ). Eliphaz meant the latter.

15:21 ^a Although Eliphaz generalized the terror that the wicked experience, Job had undergone similar experiences (3:25 ^b; 6:4 ^c; 9:34 ^d; 13:11 ^e, 21 ^f; 23:15 ^g; 27:20 ^h; 30:15 ⁱ). Bildad (18:11 ^j, 14 ^k) and Zophar (20:25 ^l) spoke of more terror to come.

• The Sabeans and Chaldeans were examples of the destroyer (1:13-17 ^m), but this could refer to any destructive agent (1:18-19 ⁿ). Destroyers might be agents of Satan (1 Cor 10:10 ^o; Rev 9:11 ^p) or divine agents that punish wickedness (Exod 12:23 ^q; 2 Sam 24:16 ^r; 2 Chr 32:21 ^s; Acts 12:23 ^t; Heb 11:28 ^u). Eliphaz meant the latter.
15:22 ^v for fear they will be murdered (literally he is marked for the sword): The wicked might be killed by murder or by the sword of God’s wrath.
15:23 ^w They wander around, saying, “Where can I find bread?”: Like the wicked (15:20 ^x), Job either experienced hunger (see 15:27 ^y) or (following the Greek Old Testament) had been “appointed to be food for a vulture,” which would parallel “marked for the sword” (15:22 ^z).