The Targum is,"no man has power over the spirit of the soul to restrain the soul of life, that it might not cease from the body of man;''and to the same sense Jarchi,"to restrain the spirit in his body, that the angel of death should not take him;''neither [hath he] power in the day of death; or "dominion" ; death strips a man of all power and authority, the power that the husband has over the wife, or parents over their children, or the master over his servant, or the king over his subjects; death puts down all power and authority: it is an observation of Jarchi's, that David after he came to the throne is everywhere called King David, but, when he came to die, only David, 1Ki 2:1; no king nor ruler can stand against death any more than a beggar; up man is lord of death any more than of life, but death is lord of all; all must and do submit to it, high and low, rich and poor; there is a day fixed for it, and that day can never be adjourned, or put off to another; and as man has not power to deliver himself in the day of death, so neither his friend, as the Targum, nor any relation whatever;and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; death is a warfare as well as life, with which nature struggles, but in vain; it is an enemy, and the last that shall be destroyed; it is a king, and a very powerful one; there is no withstanding him, he is always victorious; and there is no escaping the battle with him, or fleeing from him; a discharge of soldiers in other wars is sometimes obtained by interest, by the entreaty of friends, or by money; but here all cries and entreaties signify nothing; nor does he value riches, gold, or all the forces of strength; see 2Sa 12:18; under the old law, if a person had built a new house, or married a wife, or was faint hearted, he was excused and dismissed; but none of these things are of any avail in this war, De 20:5; captives taken in war are sometimes dismissed by their conquerors, or they find ways and means to make their escape; but nothing of this kind can be done when death has seized on the persons of men.
Some render it, there is "no sending to" or "in [that] war" ; there is no sending forces against death to withstand him, it is to no purpose; there is no sending a message to him to sue for a peace, truce, or reprieve; he will hearken to nothing; there is no sending one in the room of another, as Jarchi observes,"a man cannot say, I will send my son, or my servant;''no surrogation is allowed of in this case, as David wished for, 2Sa 18:33.
Aben Ezra interprets it, no armour, and so many interpreters; and so the Targum;"nor do instruments of armour help in war;''in this war: in other wars a man may put on a helmet of brass and a coat of mail, to protect and defend him, or throw darts and arrows; but these signify nothing when death makes his approach and attack;neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it; or "the masters of it" ; that is, from death; neither Satan the wicked one, as Jerom, who is wickedness itself, and with whom wicked men are confederate, can deliver them from death; nor sinners the most abandoned deliver themselves, who have made a covenant with it, and an agreement with hell, Isa 28:15; such who are masters of the greatest wicked craft and cunning, and who devise many ways to escape other things, can contrive none to escape death; nor will riches gotten by wickedness deliver the owners of them from death; see Pr 10:2; This sense is mentioned by Aben Ezra, and not to be despised.
awlkl "ut coerceat", Piscator; "ad coercendum", Cocceius. Nwjlv "dominatio", Junius & Tremellius, Vatablus; "dominium", Rambachius. hmxlmb txlvm Nya "non est missio ad illud praelium", Varenius apud Gejerum.