John Trapp on Job 8:12

Verſe 12. Whilſt it is yet in his greenneſſe &c.] And ſo withereth not through age, as being but in its ſhooting up.

And not cut downe] Or, cropt off, either by the hands of men, or teeth of beaſts.

It withereth] for want of water, without ſtore whereof it cannot live. The Hypocrite is a ſenſualliſt, Judg. 18.19. Job 21.11. Hoſ. 4.11. he liveth in ſuch miry places, as cannot be healed by the waters of the Sanctuary, Ezek. 47.11. He ſaith, as the Vine and the Olive in Jothams parable, I cannot leave my wine, my fat and ſweet ſins; take away my liquor, you take away my life: He ſerveth not the Lord Jeſus Chriſt (whatever he pretendeth) but his own belly, Rom. 16. He followeth Chriſt for the loaves only.

Before any other herb] That is, of leſſe ſhew, but better rooting: theſe retain their verdure, and look on, as it were, to ſee the ruſh wither; ſo David did by Doeg, Pſalm 52.5, 6, 8.