Job 24:16

“In the dark they dig through houses, [which] they had marked for themselves in the daytime, etc.] Which some understand of adulterers last mentioned, who, having observed where beautiful women dwell, mark their houses, and the way to them, and the best way into them, and in the dark get in at windows, or by breaking open doors get to the persons they lust after; but as such steps would be neither safe nor prudent, so they are not necessary; such sort of persons get admittance in an easier way, either by bribing servants, or by a previous agreement with the adulteress herself: rather this is to be understood of the thief and his companions, before spoken of; or designs another sort of…”

“dig through--Houses in the East are generally built of sun-dried mud bricks (so Mat 6:19). "Thieves break through," literally, "dig through" (Eze 12:7). had marked--Rather, as in Job 9:7, "They shut themselves up" (in their houses); literally, "they seal up." for themselves--for their own ends, namely, to escape detection. know not--shun.”

“In the dark they dig through houses - This refers, probably, to another class of wicked persons. The adulterer steals forth in the night, but it is not his way to “dig” into houses. But the persons here referred to are robbers, who conceal themselves by day, and who at night secretly enter houses for plunder. The phrase “dig through” probably has reference to the fact that houses were made of clay, or of bricks dried in the sun - a species of mud cottages, and whose walls, therefore, could be easily penetrated. In the East, nearly all the houses are made of unburned brick, and there is little difficulty in making a hole in the wall large enough to admit the human body; compare Ezekiel 12:7.…”

“They - The robber: having on that occasion inserted the mention of the adulterer as one who acted his sin in the same manner as the night - thief did, he now returns to him again. Job 24:17”

“In the dark: Exo 22:2, Exo 22:3; Eze 12:5-7, Eze 12:12; Mat 24:43 they know: Job 24:13, Job 38:12, Job 38:13; Joh 3:20; Eph 5:11-13 Job 24:17”

“16 In the dark they dig through houses, By day they shut themselves up, They will know nothing of the light. 17 For the depth of night is to them even as the dawn of the morning, For they know the terrors of the depth of night. The handiwork of the thief, which is but slightly referred to in Job 24:14, is here more particularly described. The indefinite subj. of חתר, as is manifest from what follows, is the band of thieves. The בּ, which is elsewhere joined with chtr (to break into anything), is here followed by the acc. בּתּים (to be pronounced bâttim, not bottim), (Note: Vid., Aben-Ezra on Exo 12:7. The main proof that it is to be pronounced bâttim is, that written exactly it is בּתּים,…”