Job 15:24
in Job 15Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Distress and anguish make him afraid; They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
KJV
Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
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This verse in Job 15
Commentary
10 notes on this verseTrouble and anguish shall make him afraid - He shall be in continual fear of death; being now brought down by adversity, and stripped of all the goods which he had got by oppression, his life is a mark for the meanest assassin. As a king ready to the battle - The acts of his wickedness and oppression are as numerous as the troops he commands; and when he comes to meet his enemy in the field, he is not only deserted but slain by his troops.
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
like a king poised to attack
Distress and anguish attack like an army. Barnes reads the king as fully prepared for battle, so that resistance is vain. Gregory applies the siege to the mind of the wicked, hedged in by anxiety in all he does.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
This means that pain and anguish catches [the wicked] in the middle, just like in a field where on one side a king threatens with inimical banners and on the other side pillaging robbers impend, so that his mind and soul cannot be at rest.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 24. Trouble shall make him afraid, straits shall besiege him, as a king ready to the battle. In all that the wicked man does, he is hedged in with anguish, and tribulation, and straits; in that his soul is confounded with anxiety and misgiving. One man secretly longs to seize another's goods by force, and he toils and strains in the thoughts of his heart, that he may not be found out.
Since he has such fears of everyone, he does not rest but is always plotting something against those whom he fears. Therefore, the occasion of fear is ever multiplied for him, and so he says, "Tribulation will terrify him," threatening him by the actions of …
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
), Trouble and anguish (that inward tribulation and anguish of soul spoken of Rom. ii. 8, 9 , which are the effect of God's indignation and wrath fastening upon the conscience) shall make him afraid of worse to come. What is the hell before him if this be the hell within him?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
As a king ready to the battle - Fully prepared for a battle; whom it would be vain to attempt to resist. So mighty would be the combined forces of trouble and anguish against him, that it would be vain to attempt to oppose them.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְֽ֭בַעֲתֻהוּ | yevaatuhu | they terrify him | H1204 → | 16 times |
| צַ֣ר | tzar | anxiety | H6862 → | 109 times |
| וּמְצוּקָ֑ה | umetzukah | and distress | H4691 → | |
| תִּ֝תְקְפֵ֗הוּ | titkefehu | it overpowers him | H8630 → | |
| כְּמֶ֤לֶךְ׀ | kemelekh | like a king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| עָתִ֬יד | ʾatid | ready | H6264 → | |
| לַכִּידֽוֹר׃ | lakidor | for <the> battle | H3593 → |
יְֽ֭בַעֲתֻהוּthey terrify him
yevaatuhuH1204 →16 times
צַ֣רanxiety
tzarH6862 →109 times
וּמְצוּקָ֑הand distress
umetzukahH4691 →
תִּ֝תְקְפֵ֗הוּit overpowers him
titkefehuH8630 →
כְּמֶ֤לֶךְ׀like a king
kemelekhH4428 →2525 times
עָתִ֬ידready
ʾatidH6264 →
לַכִּידֽוֹר׃for <the> battle
lakidorH3593 →
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
Proverbs 24:34and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
it leads to
- Proverbs 10:4
Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 13:4
The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 10:4
Through
Psalms 119:143Trouble and distress have found me, but Your commandments are my delight.
it leads to
- Job 23:12
I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
- Psalms 119:107
I am severely afflicted, O LORD; revive me through Your word.
- Job 23:12
Through
Proverbs 1:27when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:25–26
Do not fear sudden danger or the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
- Proverbs 3:25–26
Through
Isaiah 13:3I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.
it leads to
- Joel 3:11
Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD.
- Joel 3:11
Through
Proverbs 6:11and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
it leads to
- Proverbs 24:34
and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
- Proverbs 20:4
The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.
- Proverbs 24:34
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 15:24; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XII; 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.