Albert Barnes Commentary Job 24:14

"The murderer riseth with the light; He killeth the poor and needy; And in the night he is as a thief." — Job 24:14 (ASV)

The murderer - One of the instances, referred to in the previous verse, of those who perform their deeds in darkness.

Rising with the light - Hebrew לאור (lā'ôr). Vulgate: "Mane primo – in the earliest twilight." The meaning is that he does it very early, by daybreak. It is not in open day, but at the earliest dawn.

Killeth the poor and needy - Those who are so poor and needy that they are obliged to rise early and go out to their toil. There is a double aggravation: the crime of murder itself, and the fact that it is committed against those who are under a necessity of going out at that early hour to their labor.

And in the night is as a thief - The same man. Theft is usually committed under cover of the night. The idea of Job is that though these crimes cannot escape the notice of God, yet He does not interpose to punish those who committed them.

A striking incidental illustration of the fact stated here occurred in the journey of Messrs. Robinson and Smith on their way from Akabah to Jerusalem. After retiring to rest one night, they were aroused by a sudden noise, and they apprehended an attack by robbers. "Our Arabs," says Dr. R., "were evidently alarmed. They said, 'If thieves, they would steal upon us at midnight; if robbers, they would come down upon us towards morning.'" Bibl. Research. i. 270.

It would seem, therefore, that there was some settled time or order in which they are accustomed to commit their various depredations.