Job 18:20

after . . . before--rather, "those in the West--those in the East"; that is, all people; literally, "those behind--those before"; for Orientals in geography turn with their faces to the east (not to the north as we), and back to the west; so that before--east; behind--north (so Zec 14:8). day--of ruin (Ob 12). affrighted--seized with terror (Job 21:6;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens

They that come after him - The young shall be struck with astonishment when they hear the relation of the judgments of God upon this wicked man. As they that went before. The aged who were his contemporaries, and who saw the judgments that fell on him, were affrighted, אחזו שער achazu saar, seized with horror - were horrified; or, as Mr. Good has well expressed it, were panic-struck.

They that come after him - Future ages; they who may hear of his history and of the manner in which he was cut off from life. So the passage has been generally rendered; so, substantially, it is by Dr. Good, Dr. Noyes, Rosenmuller, and Luther. The Vulgate translates it novissimi; the Septuagint, ἔσχατοι eschatoi - “the last” - meaning those that should live after him, or at a later period. But Schultens supposes that the word used here denotes those in “the West,” and the corresponding word rendered “went before,” denotes those in “the East.” With this view Wemyss concurs, who renders the whole verse: “The West shall be astonished at his end; The East shall be panic-struck.” According to this, it means that those who dwelt in the remotest regions would be astonished at the calamities which would come upon him. It seems to me that this accords better with the scope of the passage than the other interpretation, and avoids some difficulties which cannot be separated from the other view. The word translated in our version, “that come after him” אחרינים 'achăryônı̂ym is from אחר 'âchar, to be after, or behind; to stay behind, to delay, remain. It then means “after,” or “behind;” and as in the geography of the Orientals the face was supposed to be turned to “the East,” instead of being turned to the North, as with us - a much more natural position than ours - the word “after,” or “behind,” comes to denote West, the right hand the South, the left the North; see the notes at Job 23:8-9. Thus, the phrase האחרין הים hayâm hā'achăryôn - “the sea behind, denotes the Mediterranean sea - the West; Deu 24:3; see also Deu 11:24; Deu 34:2; Joe 2:20, where the same phrase in Hebrew occurs. […]