Text -- Job 15:33-35 (NET)

15:33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall, and like an olive tree he will shed his blossoms. 15:34 For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes. 15:35 They conceive trouble and bring forth evil; their belly prepares deception.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Job 15:33

¹ tn The verb means “to treat violently” or “to wrong.” It indicates that the vine did not nourish the grapes well enough for them to grow, and so they dry up and drop off.

² sn The point is that like the tree the wicked man shows signs of life but produces nothing valuable. The olive tree will have blossoms in the years that it produces no olives, and so eventually drops the blossoms.

NET Notes: Job 15:34

¹ tn The LXX renders this line: “for death is the witness of an ungodly man. “Death” represents “barren/sterile,” and “witness” represents “assembly.”

² sn This may refer to the fire that struck Job (cf. 1:16).

³ tn Heb “the tents of bribery.” The word “bribery” can mean a “gift,” but most often in the sense of a bribe in court. It indicates that the wealth and the possessions that the wicked man has gained may have been gained unjustly.

NET Notes: Job 15:35

¹ tn Infinitives absolute are used in this verse in the place of finite verbs. They lend a greater vividness to the description, stressing the basic meaning of the words.

² tn At the start of the speech Eliphaz said Job’s belly was filled with the wind; now it is there that he prepares deception. This inclusio frames the speech.