He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine, and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.
Eliphaz ends his second speech with two pictures from the farm: a vine dropping sour grapes, and an olive tree shedding its blossom before fruit forms. He means it as a law of God's government — the wicked never enjoy what they built — but does that law explain Job?
The pictures explained
Both halves of the verse turn on timing:
Leslie M. GrantHe may have grapes on his vine, but not ripe, cast off before being of any use. Blossoms on his olive tree, showing promise of fruit, would also be cast off before fruit came.
One word stamped on the whole life
Kelly draws the picture wider than the fruit. The same verdict falls on the man's wealth and his household:
William KellyA man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Those who set their mind on possessions must learn how empty they are in the day of trial. They may promise like the palm, or the vine, or the olive; but it all comes to nothing. Barrenness will be the portion of him and his household. Judgment consumes the tents of those greedy for dishonest gain.
The authority Eliphaz is leaning on
Earlier in this same speech Eliphaz says he will declare what he has seen. The whole grim description rests on that. He had made the same appeal in his first speech:
F. B. HoleIn Job 5 Eliphaz keeps to this note, and again he points to what he had seen. Verse 3 begins, "I have seen …". Turn to Job 15, his second speech, and again he says, "what I have seen I will declare" (verse 17). So the validity of his argument rests mainly on his own powers of observation. In those powers he trusted for his opinion of the meaning of the calamities that had fallen upon Job.
The mistake inside the argument
The flaw lies one step further back, in what Eliphaz assumes his observation can prove. All three friends share it:
William KellyTheir error was not a rare one. It is found most of all among the righteous, who know God but have never been thoroughly broken down about themselves. You still find such people among His own on the earth. It was common to them all. Yet there must have been some ground of righteousness in their thoughts, as every believer would allow. But here is where they went astray. They assumed that the present state of the world is an adequate expression of His judgment on men's ways.
So the blighted vine is not a general observation. Eliphaz aims it at one man:
Samuel RidoutA fearsome picture indeed — and he thinks he is describing Job! He lingers over the picture: let the wicked not trust in what is empty, for emptiness will be his repayment. His branch will wither, his fruit will be cast off, hypocrisy and bribery will get the penalty they deserve!
The image turned the right way round
One writer turns the same picture round and aims it at believers. Where Eliphaz sees fruit lost early, he sees a reason to wait for God's harvest:
Hamilton SmithYour Lord requires this of you, as you grow older and drift on without noticing toward eternity: that your faith should grow and ripen for the Lord's harvest. The great Farmer gives His fruit a season to come to full ripeness. When they have had their fill of the tree, they are then shaken down and gathered in for use. But the wicked rot on the tree, and their branch will not be green. "He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine, and cast off his blossom like the olive tree."
Summary
- Unripe. The verse shows sour grapes shaken off and olive blossom dropped. Nothing reaches harvest.
- Empty. A life built on possessions comes to nothing. Barrenness is the portion of the man and his household.
- Observed. His whole case rests on what he says he has seen, and he uses that same appeal in both his speeches.
- Assumed. Under it lies one assumption: the world as it stands now shows God's judgment on men. It is a common error among the righteous who have never been broken down about themselves.
- Aimed. He lingers over the withered branch because he thinks he is describing Job. Turned round, the same picture calls believers to let faith ripen for the Lord's harvest.