Job 8:12

“Whilst it [is] yet in its greenness, etc.] Before it is come to its full height, or to a proper ripeness; when as yet it has not flowered, or is about it; before the time usual for it to turn and change; it being without moisture, water, or watery clay, will change; [and] not cut down; by the scythe, or cropped by the hand of man, it withereth before any [other] herb; of itself; rather sooner than such that do not require so much moisture; or in the sight and presence of them, they looking on as it were, and deriding it; a poetical representation, as Schultens observes: next follows the accommodation of these similes to wicked and hypocritical men.”

“not cut down--Before it has ripened for the scythe, it withers more suddenly than any herb, having no self-sustaining power, once that the moisture is gone, which other herbs do not need in the same degree. So ruin seizes on the godless in the zenith of prosperity, more suddenly than on others who appear less firmly seated in their possessions [UMBREIT] (Psa 112:10).”

“Whilst it is yet in his greenness - That is, while it seems to be in its vigor. And is not cut down - Even when it is not cut down. If suffered to stand by itself, and if undisturbed, it will wither away. The application of this is obvious and beautiful. Such plants have no self sustaining power. They are dependent on moisture for their support. If that is withheld, they droop and die. So with the prosperous sinner and the hypocrite. His piety, compared with that which is genuine, is like the spongy texture of the paper-reed compared with the solid oak. He is sustained in his professed religion by outward prosperity, as the rush is nourished by moisture; and the moment his prosperity is…”

“Greenness - Whereby it promises long continuance. Tho' no man cut it down, it withers of itself, sooner than other herbs. Job 8:13”

“8:12-13 To forget God does not mean to have a lapse of memory but to act as if God did not exist (see Pss 10:4; 14:1; Zeph 1:12) or cannot see (see Job 22:13-17; Ps 94:7).”

“Psa 129:6, Psa 129:7; Jer 17:6; Mat 13:20; Jam 1:10, Jam 1:11; Pe1 1:24 Job 8:13”