Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 15:28-35

"And he hath dwelt in desolate cities, In houses which no man inhabited, Which were ready to become heaps; He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, Neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth. He shall not depart out of darkness; The flame shall dry up his branches, And by the breath of [God`s] mouth shall he go away. Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself; For vanity shall be his recompense. It shall be accomplished before his time, And his branch shall not be green. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree. For the company of the godless shall be barren, And fire shall consume the tents of bribery. They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, And their heart prepareth deceit." — Job 15:28-35 (ASV)

After Eliphaz shows the anxieties and fear the wicked man suffers even in a state of prosperity, he now speaks about the bitter things that consume him when he is cast down into adversity. This is to answer Job’s statement, “Do you write bitter things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth?” (Job 13:26).

Eliphaz presents these bitter things in order:

1. Becoming a fugitive. Fugitives normally seek hidden and uninhabited places, so Eliphaz says, “He will live in desolate cities and in deserted houses which have been turned into mounds of earth.” These are the kinds of places where fugitives usually take refuge.
2. Being despoiled of his riches. Thus, he says, “He will not become wealthy” by acquiring new riches, “nor will he preserve his substance” by retaining the riches he has already acquired.
3. The impossibility of recovering his wealth. So Eliphaz says, “nor will he put down his roots in the earth.” If a tree is uprooted and replanted, it recovers its strength if it can put down its root into the earth. But if it cannot, it cannot grow strong again. To explain this, he says, “He will not emerge from the darkness,” that is, from the state of adversity. He gives the reason for not returning to the light when he says, “a flame will dry his branches.” There is still hope of reviving an uprooted tree as long as its branches remain green, because they can be grafted and replanted. But if the branches are burned up, no hope of reviving it remains. A man’s branches are his sons and other relatives, through whom a man sometimes rises again from adversity. But Job’s sons had been killed and his household had perished. He himself had even been afflicted with illness, which Eliphaz addresses, continuing, “and will be carried away by the breath of his mouth”—that is, by his proud words. He cannot hope for any renewal, not even from God, whom pride of words offends. So he says, “Let him not trust in vain, deceived that he is to be redeemed by some price,” for he must be freed from tribulation by some help.
4. The shortness of his life. So he then says, “He will perish before his days are complete,” since he will die before his time is finished, “and his hands will wither,” for his sons and his relations will fail. Then he gives an example: “His grapes will be blighted just like the vineyard in first flower.” This blighting usually results from frost, by which he means external persecution. “And as the olive lets its flowers fall,” which usually happens from some internal cause, here meaning that the one who suffers deserves the adversity.

Regarding this merit, he says, “what the hypocrite collects is sterile,” because what is gathered by the hypocrite bears no fruit, “and fire will devour the tents of those who freely accept gifts.” For things acquired wickedly are sometimes easily destroyed according to divine judgment. Eliphaz says this to highlight Job’s supposed theft and hypocrisy, as though adversity had befallen him because of his sins.

He adds a third sin: deceit. The text continues, “He conceived pain,” because he premeditated in his heart the kind of pain he would inflict on others. The conception of this pain has brought forth unjustly inflicted harm, and so the text continues, “and given birth to evil.” As a consequence, Eliphaz adds the manner in which he accomplished this, saying, “and his womb prepares evil intent.” Truly, it is a hypocrite’s nature to plot harm against others by deceit, not openly. By the term “womb,” he means the heart, where spiritual conceptions take place in the same way that physical conceptions take place in the womb.