Job 12:14

“Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again, etc.] Which some restrain to the tower of Babel; but though the builders of it were obliged to desist from building, it does not appear that it was broken down, but seems to have continued many ages after: others more probably refer it to the destruction of Sodom, as Sephorno, which was an utter destruction, a perpetual desolation, and that city never was rebuilt to this day; and the same may be observed of many other cities that have had their foundations razed up, and have never been rebuilt, Thebes, Tyre, etc. and as will be the case of Rome, or the great city of Babylon, when once destroyed; yea, this has been true of kingdoms and…”

“shutteth up-- (Isa 22:22). Job refers to Zophar's "shut up" (Job 11:10).”

“Behold, he breaketh down - None can repair what he pulls down. Cities and towns he can devote to ruin by fire, or earthquake, or the pestilence, and so completely destroy them that they can never be rebuilt. We may now refer to such illustrations as Sodom, Babylon, Petra, Tyre, Herculaneum, and Pompeii, as full proof of what is here affirmed. He shutteth up a man - He can shut up a man in such difficulties and straits that he cannot extricate himself; see Job 11:10. The Chaldee renders this, “he shuts up a man in the grave (בקבורתא) and it cannot be opened.” But the more correct idea is, that God has complete control over a man, and that he can so hedge up his way that he cannot help…”

“No opening - Without God's permission. Yea, he shuts up in the grave, and none can break open those sealed doors. He shuts up in hell, in chains of darkness, and none can pass that great gulf. Job 12:15”

“he breaketh: Job 9:12, Job 9:13, Job 11:10; Isa 14:23; Jer 51:58, Jer 51:64; Mal 1:4 he shutteth: Job 16:11; Sa1 17:46, Sa1 24:18, Sa1 26:8 \*marg. Isa 22:22; Rom 11:32 \*marg. Rev 3:7 up: Heb. upon Job 12:15”

“14 Behold, He breaketh down and it cannot be built again, He shutteth up, and it cannot be opened. 15 Behold, He restraineth the waters and they dry up, And He letteth them out and they overturn the earth. 16 With Him is might and existence, The erring and the deceiver are His. God is almighty, and everything in opposition to Him powerless. If He break down (any structure whatever), it can never be rebuilt; should He close upon any one (i.e., the dungeon, as perhaps a cistern covered with a stone, Lam 3:53, comp. Jer 38:6; על with reference to the depth of the dungeon, instead of the usual בּעד), it (that which is closed from above) cannot be opened again. In like manner, when He desires to…”