Job 15:23
in Job 15He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
KJV
He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He wandereth abroad for bread - The Septuagint renders this, “he is destined to be food for vultures” - κατατέτακται δὲ εἰς σῖτα γυψίν katatetaktai de eis sitos gupsin. The meaning of the Hebrew is, simply, that he will be reduced to poverty, and will not know where to obtain a supply for his returning needs. He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand - He is assured that the period of calamity is not far remote. It must come. He has no security that it will not come immediately.
This site's exposition
A wicked man writhes in pain all his days
on Job 15:20-24
Eliphaz opens the book's first full poem on the wicked man, the doctrine the friends have assumed now set in verse. Henry reads it as settled theology of exact retribution, repeated in chapters 18 and 20 and rejected at 42:7, and Job's innocent suffering never appears.
This site's exposition
food for vultures
Barnes notes that the Septuagint makes the wanderer food for vultures, while the Hebrew pictures him wandering in poverty for bread. Clarke sees a man once wealthy who can scarcely beg enough to live. Gregory takes the day of darkness as the time of judgment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"He has been appointed to be food for vultures." "He has already been given over to the power of the sword." Notice this again. His death is pitiful. It is not conformed to the common law of nature but is the result of violence, war and battle. After his death, he will not have a burial or a funeral and will not only be deprived of a tomb but will also be "food for vultures." "He knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcass." The foreboding of these events makes them even more painful for Job when they are predicted to him and announced beforehand.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 23. When he has stirred himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready in his hand. For 'bread' is the wages of the present life, and 'the day of darkness' is taken for the time of vengeance. And so in the course of his conduct, the wicked man at times weighs well the present wrath of the Judge Above, but he is not diverted from wickedness, so that it too should be itself diverted from his destruction.
Now although a tyrant fears all strangers, he still can sometimes confide in the members of his family or his household with whom he lives securely. But when his evil is beyond all measure, he fears even the members of his own household with whom …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? 12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, 13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? 14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
): He knows that the day of darkness (or the night of darkness rather) is ready at his hand, that it is appointed to him and cannot be put by, that it is hastening on apace and cannot be put off.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We read of those who were full, but have hired out themselves for bread ( 1 Sam. ii. 5 ), which this sinner will not do. He cannot dig; he is too fat (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
He wandereth abroad for bread,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He wandereth abroad for bread - He is reduced to a state of the utmost indigence, he who was once in affluence requires a morsel of bread, and can scarcely by begging procure enough to sustain life. Is ready at his hand - Is בידו beyado, in his hand - in his possession. As he cannot get bread, he must soon meet death.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֹ֘דֵ֤ד | noded | [is] wandering | H5074 → | 28 times |
| ה֣וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לַלֶּ֣חֶם | lalechem | for <the> food | H3899 → | 298 times |
| אַיֵּ֑ה | ʾaiyeh | where? | H346 → | 45 times |
| יָדַ֓ע׀ | yada' | he knows | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נָכ֖וֹן | nakhon | [has been] prepared | H3559 → | 217 times |
| בְּיָד֣וֹ | beyado | in hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יֽוֹם־ | yom- | a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ | choshekh | darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
נֹ֘דֵ֤ד[is] wandering
nodedH5074 →28 times
ה֣וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לַלֶּ֣חֶםfor <the> food
lalechemH3899 →298 times
אַיֵּ֑הwhere?
ʾaiyehH346 →45 times
יָדַ֓ע׀he knows
yada'H3045 →945 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
נָכ֖וֹן[has been] prepared
nakhonH3559 →217 times
בְּיָד֣וֹin hand his
beyadoH3027 →1618 times
יֽוֹם־a day of
yom-H3117 →2304 times
חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃darkness
choshekhH2822 →80 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 59:15They scavenge for food, and growl if they are not satisfied.
it leads to
- Psalms 109:10
May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 109:10
Through
Ecclesiastes 11:8So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile.
it leads to
- John 12:35
Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the…
- Deuteronomy 32:29
If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
- Ecclesiastes 7:14
In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will…
- Joel 2:2
a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be…
- John 12:35
Through
Amos 5:20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?
it leads to
- Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
- Zephaniah 1:15
That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
- Ezekiel 34:12
As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered…
- Isaiah 13:10
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 15:17-23B; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.