He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
Ver. 30. He shall not depart out of darkness] But be held under remediless misery, being ever blasted and benighted, till God at last breathe forth upon him his final displeasure. When God hath brought wicked men into straits, there he holdeth them; not so the godly, Psalms 34:19, they are sure of deliverance in due season. And as before the morning light is the thickest darkness, so before help hardest trials. Post tenebras lux, After the darkness, light, is the Christian's motto; not so the ungodly, they are ex tenebris in tenebras, infelieiter exclusi, infelicius excludendi, as Austin hath it, to pass out of one darkness into another, till they be cast into utter darkness (Hom. 16).
The flame shall dry up his branches] That ventus urens et exsiccans of God's wrath shall blast and consume, not his offspring only, but all his beauty and bravery; he shall be as a tree that is thunder struck, Zechariah 11:16 .
And by the breath of his mouth shall he go away] God will blow him to destruction, his very breath shall leave him breathless, Isa 11:4 Psalms 18:15 Job 4:9; See Trapp on " Isa 11:4 " See Trapp on " Psa 18:15 " See Trapp on " Job 4:9 " Others understand it to be the wicked man's mouth, and take this to be the sense, He shall be so choleric and impatient in his trouble, that he shall send out his last breath suddenly in a passionate fit. So did Nerva, the emperor, likewise Valentinian, Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, and our Henry II.