John Gill Commentary Job 15:32

"It shall be accomplished before his time, And his branch shall not be green." — Job 15:32 (ASV)

It shall be accomplished before his time ,
Either the recompence or reward of his trusting vanity, in vain persons or things, the punishment of such a trust, the sorrows and troubles following upon it; these shall come upon the wicked man "before his day" ^F6 , as it may be rendered; before the day of his death, even before his old age; before the evil days come in a course of nature, and those years in which he has no pleasure: or his life, and the days of his life, "shall be filled up" ^F7 ; or be at an end before his time; not before the time fixed in the decree and purpose of God, (Job 14:5) ; but before his own time, that he and his friends thought he might have lived, and as his healthful constitution promised; or before the then common term of human life; and so the phrase is expressive or an immature death:

and his branch shall not be green ;
but dried up and wither away; his wealth and riches, his children and family, be utterly extinct; instead of being like a branch, green and flourishing, shall be like a dry stick, useless and unprofitable, only fit for burning; see (Job 15:30) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F6: (wmwy alb) "ante diem suam", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
• F7: (almt) "complebitur", Montanus; "implebitur", Schultens.