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He shall not be rich - The whole of what follows, to the end of the chapter, seems to be directed against Job himself, whom Eliphaz indirectly accuses of having been a tyrant and oppressor. The threatened evils are,

1. He shall not be rich, though he labors greatly to acquire riches.

His substance shall not continue - God will blast it, and deprive him of power to preserve it.

3. Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof - all his works shall perish, for God will blot out his remembrance from under heaven.

He shall not be rich - That is, he shall not continue rich; or he shall not again become rich. He shall be permanently poor.

Neither shall his substance continue - His property.

Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof - Noyes renders this, “And his possessions shall not be extended upon the earth.” Wemyss, “Nor shall he be master of his own desires.” Good, “Nor their success spread abroad in the land.” Luther, Und sein Gluck wird sich nicht ausbreiten im Lande- “ And his fortune shall not spread itself abroad in the land.” Vulgate, “Neither shall he send his root in the earth “ - nec mittet in terra radicem suam. The Septuagint, οὐ μὴ βάλῃ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν σκιὰν ou mē balē epi tēn gōn skian - “and shall not cast a shadow upon the earth.” The word rendered “perfection” (מנלם mı̂nlām ) is commonly supposed to be from מנלה mı̂nleh from נלה nâlâh to finish, to procure, and hence, the noun may be applied to that which is procured - and thus may denote possessions. According to this the correct rendering is, “and he does not extend their possessions abroad in the land;” that is, his possessions do not extend abroad. Gesenius supposes, however, that the word is a corruption for מבלם - “their flocks.” I see no objection, however, to its being regarded as meaning possessions - and then the sense is, that he would fail in that which is so much the object of ambition with every avaricious man - that his possessions should extend through the land; compare the notes at Isaiah 5:8.

Eliphaz maintains that the wicked are certainly miserable: whence he would infer, that the miserable are certainly wicked, and therefore Job was so. But because many of God's people have prospered in this world, it does not therefore follow that those who are crossed and made poor, as Job, are not God's people. Eliphaz shows also that wicked people, particularly oppressors, are subject to continual terror, live very uncomfortably, and perish very miserably. Will the prosperity of presumptuous sinners end miserably as here described? Then let the mischiefs which befal others, be our warnings. Though no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. No calamity, no trouble, however heavy, however severe, can rob a follower of the Lord of his favour. What shall separate him from the love of Christ?