He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth [that] the keeper maketh.
Ver. 18. He buildeth his house as a moth] Which lodgeth itself in some stately garment, and thinks there to die in his nest, which he hath feathered (as the silkworm endeth his life in his long wrought clew), but is soon bruised or brushed out; so shall the oppressor be cast out of his sumptuous buildings, which he hath with much cost and care erected, rather for a moth than a man to dwell in. It is not unlawful to build houses; only men must not build them, as the moth doth, with loss and hurt to others. Tremellius reads the text thus, He shall build his house at Arcturus (so this word is translated, Job 9:9), that is, a heavenly house, and as it were a second paradise. But God did not cast man out of one paradise that he should build him another. Haec sunt quae nos invitos faciunt mori, said Charles V to the duke of Venice (who had showed him his palace, which was very magnificent and majestic), These be the things that make us loth to die. The Turks' private houses in Constantinople are for the most part low and base; they, after their homely manner (by long custom received), never build anything sumptuously for their own private use; but content themselves with their simple cottages, how mean soever; commonly saying, that they are good enough for the short time of their pilgrimage.
And as a booth that the keeper maketh] i.e. The keeper of the field, orchard, or vineyard, who setteth him up a booth, cabin, or cottage, to defend him from the parching heat of the sun, which lasteth only for one summer at utmost; so here, the experience whereof we have had abundantly in these late desolating wars; for how many gallant houses have been utterly ruined,
Ut praeter nomen solum, nihil amplius extet?