He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
The verse belongs to Bildad's second speech, which sets forth the final doom of the wicked. In its larger setting it falls within the extended debate between Job and his three friends over the meaning of Job's afflictions. It stands among the repeated accusations troubling Job and the replies to them, grouped with chapters 17 and 19 inside chapters 8 through 27, which close in the middle of Job's final reply after his friends stop troubling him. Chapter 18 is one of a series of speeches by Job's friends found in chapters 4, 5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, and 25.
It teaches that the wicked will be expelled from light into darkness and out of the world, meaning their utter destruction, entire loss, and complete removal from the earth. That destruction means they do not go on living elsewhere but die in both soul and body, consumed and burned up so as to exist no more. When removed they will have no place on earth at the time the righteous take possession of the kingdom.
It describes the final end of wicked people who willfully reject light: after their lamp is extinguished they travel in darkness amid hidden snares and traps while terrors and calamity pursue them, until they are brought before the king of terrors, who is Satan, with brimstone spread over their dwelling, and are expelled from the world. Although it expresses the ultimate punishment of evil, its truth was misapplied to Job, since suffering does not prove a person is under God's displeasure.
The speeches of Job's friends were declared by the Lord to be untrue about Him and about Job; their claims about Job are misrepresentations and their claims about God are not dependable unless confirmed by inspired teaching elsewhere in Scripture, so though recorded by inspiration they must be compared with other passages to test whether they are supported.
The verse belongs to Bildad's second speech, which sets forth the final doom of the wicked. In its larger setting it falls within the extended debate between Job and his three friends over the meaning of Job's afflictions. It stands among the repeated accusations troubling Job and the replies to them, grouped with chapters 17 and 19 inside chapters 8 through 27, which close in the middle of Job's final reply after his friends stop troubling him. Chapter 18 is one of a series of speeches by Job's friends found in chapters 4, 5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, and 25.
It teaches that the wicked will be expelled from light into darkness and out of the world, meaning their utter destruction, entire loss, and complete removal from the earth. That destruction means they do not go on living elsewhere but die in both soul and body, consumed and burned up so as to exist no more. When removed they will have no place on earth at the time the righteous take possession of the kingdom.
It describes the final end of wicked people who willfully reject light: after their lamp is extinguished they travel in darkness amid hidden snares and traps while terrors and calamity pursue them, until they are brought before the king of terrors, who is Satan, with brimstone spread over their dwelling, and are expelled from the world. Although it expresses the ultimate punishment of evil, its truth was misapplied to Job, since suffering does not prove a person is under God's displeasure.
The speeches of Job's friends were declared by the Lord to be untrue about Him and about Job; their claims about Job are misrepresentations and their claims about God are not dependable unless confirmed by inspired teaching elsewhere in Scripture, so though recorded by inspiration they must be compared with other passages to test whether they are supported.