an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
ways
דַּרְכֵיdar.khei-
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders plural construct
man
אִ֑ישׁ'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
seeth
יִרְאֶֽהyir.'Eh
H7200
to see · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
goings
צְעָדָ֥יוtze.'a.Dav
H6806
a pace or regular step · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Job 31:4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
Jeremiah 16:17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
Jeremiah 32:19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways,…
Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Genesis 16:13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 34:16-30
Elihu here addresses himself more directly to Job. He had spoken to the rest (Job 34:10) as men of understanding; now, speaking to Job; he puts an if upon his understanding: If thou hast understanding, hear this and observe it, Job 34:16.
I. Hear this, That God is not to be quarrelled with for any thing that he does. It is daring presumption to arraign and condemn God's proceedings, as Job had done by his discontents. It was, 1. As absurd as it would be to advance one to power that is a professed enemy to justice: Shall even he that hates right govern? Job 34:17. The righteous Lord so loves righteousness that, in comparison with him, even Job himself, though a perfect and upright man, might…
God's omniscience and omnipotence enable Him to execute immediate justice. He needs not to be long on the "watch," as Job thought (Job 7:12; Ch2 16:9; Jer 32:19).
Adam Clarke on Job 34:20
In a moment shall they die - Both are equally dependent on the Almighty for their breath and being; the mighty as well as the poor. If the great men of the earth have abused their power, he sometimes cuts them off by the most sudden and unexpected death; and even at midnight, when in security, and least capable of defense, they are cut off by the people whom they have oppressed, or by the invisible hand of the angel of death. This appears to be spoken in reference to Eastern tyrants, who seldom die a natural death.
John Gill on Job 34:21
For his eyes are upon the ways of man,.... Which denotes the omniscience of God, which reaches to every man, to every individual, and to all men in general; and to their ways, to every step taken by them, to the whole of their lives and conversations, and every action of them; to all their internal and external ways and goings; perhaps the former may be meant in this, and the latter in the following clause. This may denote all their inward thoughts, the workings of their mind, the imaginations of their heart; all their secret purposes, designs, and schemes; and all the desires and affections of their soul; and all these, whether good or bad:
and he seeth all his goings; the whole of his wal…
The Church Fathers
For His eyes are over the ways of men, and He considers all their steps. For He was then believed not to observe them, while this man of violence was committing, unpunished, all the wickedness he could. God was supposed not to behold the deeds of the ungodly, because He was delaying to condemn them justly; and His great forbearance was regarded as a kind of carelessness. The wicked also himself believed that he was not observed by God in the commission of sin, as often as he sinned without being punished. To whom it is said by a certain wise man, Say not, I have sinned, and what harm hath happened to me? [Ecclus. 5, 4] He does not wish to correct the wickedness, for which he has not suffered the punishment it deserved: and the more mercifully he is spared, the more sinfully is he urged on to wickedness: and, despising the long-suffering of the Divine forbearance, he has added to his faults, from the very circumstance that should have led him to correct them. As is said by this very Job, God gave him a place for repentance, but he misuses it in his pride. [Job 24, 23] Frequently, also, because he does not suffer immediately the punishment he deserves, he considers that his conduct is not displeasing to God. Let him go then now, and launch forth presumptuously into every kind of blasphemy. Let him take his fill of his sinful pleasures; let him spoil others' goods, and satiate himself with the oppression of the innocent. And, because he is not yet smitten, let him consider that his ways are not observed by God, or, what is worse, that they are approved of by Him. There will fall on him, full surely, there will fall on him, a sudden and everlasting blow. And he will then acknowledge, that every thing is observed by God, when he sees himself condemned, by an unexpected death, in retribution for all his guilt. He will then open, in his torment, the eyes which he long kept closed in sin. He will then perceive, that the righteous Judge has observed every thing, when he is now unable, by perceiving it, to escape the due deserts of his sins. The ungodly, then, who is long spared, is swept away suddenly, because the eyes of the Lord are over all the ways of men, and He considereth all their steps. As though he were to say, Because He does not at last leave those sins unpunished, which He long looks on with forbearance. For, behold! He has suddenly swept away the…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Escape · NONE, FROM THE — NONE, FROM THE
Wisdom Of God, The · Exhibited in knowing: The actions — Exhibited in knowing: The actions
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
21 For His eyes are upon the ways of each one,
And He seeth all his steps.
22 There is no darkness nor shadow of death
Wherein the workers of iniquity might hide themselves.
23 For He needeth not long to regard a man
That he may enter into judgment with God.
As the preceding strophe showed that God's creative order excludes all partiality, so this strophe shows that His omniscience qualifies Him to be an impartial judge. He sees everything, nothing can escape His gaze; He sees through man without being obliged to wait for the result of a judicial investigation. שׂים with על does not here signify: to lay upon (Saad., Gecat.), but as Job 37:15, and as with אל (Job 34:14) or בּ (Job 23:6); to d…
doesn’t care how great a person may be: Impartiality flows from God’s justice (Acts 10:34; Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9; Col 3:25; 1 Pet 1:17).
Rashi on Job 34:20
In a moment, they die when He wishes.
and at midnight as He did to the Egyptians,
an [entire] people quakes in a moment and passes away.
it is not in their hands it is not in their hands, and they have no strength.
