| Geneva Study Bible {u} The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree. (u) Though God tolerates the wicked for a time, yet their end will be vile destruction, and in this point Job commits to himself and shows his confidence. Wesley's Notes 24:20 Womb - His mother that bare him in her womb. Wickedness - The wicked man. Broken - Broken to pieces, or violently broken down, as the word signifies. Tree - Which being once broken down never grows again. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 20. The womb-The very mother that bare him, and who is the last to "forget" the child that sucked her (Isa 49:15), shall dismiss him from her memory (Job 18:17; Pr 10:7). The worm shall suck, that is, "feed sweetly" on him as a delicate morsel (Job 21:33). wickedness-that is, the wicked; abstract for concrete (as Job 5:16). as a tree-utterly (Job 19:10); Umbreit better, "as a staff." A broken staff is the emblem of irreparable ruin (Isa 14:5; Ho 4:12). Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 24:18-25 Sometimes how gradual is the decay, how quiet the departure of a wicked person, how is he honoured, and how soon are all his cruelties and oppressions forgotten! They are taken off with other men, as the harvestman gathers the ears of corn as they come to hand. There will often appear much to resemble the wrong view of Providence Job takes in this chapter. But we are taught by the word of inspiration, that these notions are formed in ignorance, from partial views. The providence of God, in the affairs of men, is in every thing a just and wise providence. Let us apply this whenever the Lord may try us. He cannot do wrong. The unequalled sorrows of the Son of God when on earth, unless looked at in this view, perplex the mind. But when we behold him, as the sinner's Surety, bearing the curse, we can explain why he should endure that wrath which was due to sin, that Divine justice might be satisfied, and his people saved. | 
