The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
Job 18:9 belongs to the oldest book in the Bible, which is also the oldest poetical book that has come down to us, and it is written in poetry. It falls in the debate between Job and his three friends on the subject of his afflictions in chapters 4 to 31, which consists of three circles of speeches on the part of each. That central debate is distinct from the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2, the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37, and the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud.
It belongs to Bildad's second speech, which describes the final doom of the wicked. It is part of the accusations brought against Job by his friends, and is to be read together with Job's replies. It pictures the wicked being caught by the heel by a trap, a gin, and overcome, with the robber prevailing against him. The Hebrew word used is chah-zaq, which can mean prevail.
It belongs to the arguments of Job's friends, whose statements were often generally true but were misapplied to Job, since suffering does not prove that a person is under God's displeasure. As part of the declamations of Job's misguided friends, it does not give correct and reliable truth about God or about Job. Though put on record by inspiration, its recording does not make it verity and truth where it contradicts the teachings of Scripture. It must therefore be rightly divided and cannot be treated as correct unless what it says is sustained by inspired declarations given elsewhere, and even its good sayings must be compared with other portions of the Bible to see if they hold.
Job 18:9 belongs to the oldest book in the Bible, which is also the oldest poetical book that has come down to us, and it is written in poetry. It falls in the debate between Job and his three friends on the subject of his afflictions in chapters 4 to 31, which consists of three circles of speeches on the part of each. That central debate is distinct from the prose prologue in chapters 1 and 2, the prose epilogue in chapter 42:7-17, the speeches of Elihu in chapters 32 to 37, and the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud.
It belongs to Bildad's second speech, which describes the final doom of the wicked. It is part of the accusations brought against Job by his friends, and is to be read together with Job's replies. It pictures the wicked being caught by the heel by a trap, a gin, and overcome, with the robber prevailing against him. The Hebrew word used is chah-zaq, which can mean prevail.
It belongs to the arguments of Job's friends, whose statements were often generally true but were misapplied to Job, since suffering does not prove that a person is under God's displeasure. As part of the declamations of Job's misguided friends, it does not give correct and reliable truth about God or about Job. Though put on record by inspiration, its recording does not make it verity and truth where it contradicts the teachings of Scripture. It must therefore be rightly divided and cannot be treated as correct unless what it says is sustained by inspired declarations given elsewhere, and even its good sayings must be compared with other portions of the Bible to see if they hold.