Commentary on the Holy Bible

Thits did Job continually.] At the end of every year, when all the birthday festivals had gone round. Verse 6. There was a day when the sons of God] AH the versions, and indeed all the critics, are puzzled with the phrase sons of God; D^nSKTI " J3 beney haelohim, literally, sons of the God, or, sons of the gods. The Vulgate has simply ^/tt dei, sons of God. The Sepluagint, ol ayye^t rov Oeovj the angels of God. The Chaldee, ITDxSd TO kittey malachaiya, troops of angels. The Syriac retains the Hebrew words and letters, only leaving out the demonstrative n Atf in the word O^n^ltn haelohim, thus, jQKDOiw '^^^ baney Elohim. The Arabic nearly copies the Hebrew also, f^tf^J^ T^ banoa Iloheem; to which, if we give not the literal translation of the Hebrew, we may give what translation we please. Coverdale (1535) translates it, sntauntes oC €roli. The Targum supposes themselves before the Lord, and Ante u. c.

" Satan came also " among them.

that this assembly took place on the day of the great atonement, which occurred ones eaoh year. And there was a day of judgment m the beginning of the^ year; and the troops af angels came, that they might stand in judgment before the Lord, But what are we to make of this whole account t Expositions are endless. That of Mr. Peters appears to me to be at once the most simple and the most judicious: *' The Scripture speaks of God after the manner of men; for there is a necessity of condescending to our capacities, and of suiting the revelation to our apprehension. As kings, therefore, transact their most important affairs in a solemn council or assembly, so God is pleased to represent himself as having his council likewise; and as passing the decrees of his providence in an assembly of (lis holy angels. We have here, in the case of Job, the same grand assembly held, as was before in that of Ahab, i Kings xxii.; the same host of heaven, called here the sons of God, presenting themselves before Jehovah, as in the vision of Micaiah they are said to stand on his right hand and on his left. A wicked spirit appearing among them, here called Satan or the adversary, and there a lying spirit; both bent on mischief, and ready to do all the hurt they were permitted to do; for both were uqder the control of his power. The imagery is just the same; and the only difference is in the manner of the relation. That mentioned above, Micaiah, as a prophet, and in the actual exercise of his.prophetic office, delivers, as he received it, in a vision,. / saw the Lord sitting on his throne^ and all thp host of rcaven standing by him, on his right hand and on his left; and there came forth a lying spirit, and stood before the Lordf and said, 1 Kings xxii. 19-22. The other, as a historian,, interweaves it with his history; and tells U8« in his plain narrative style, There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves BEFORE the Lord; and Satan came also among them. And this he delivers in the same manner as he does,- There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job,

** The things delivered to us by these two inspired writers are the same in substance, equally Kigh, and above the reach of human sight and knowledge; but the manner of delivering them is different, each as suited best to his particular purpose. This, then, is the prophetical way of representing things, as to the manner of doing them, which, whether done exactly in the same manner, concerns us not to know; but which are really done: and God would have them described as done in this manner, to make the more lively and lasting impression on us. At the same time, it must not be forgotten that representations of this kind are founded In a well-known and established truth, viz., the doctrine oi good and bad angels, a point revealed from the beginning, and without a previous

^atan obtains permission JOB.

to destroy Joh*s fropei*fy,

Batan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;

14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside tliem:

1 5 And the Sabeans fell upon them^ and took them away; yea, ihcy have slain the servants With the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

16 While he was yet speakings there caiae also another, and said, "" The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the

liim; to ihe providentbt ^nd g-^rfsjons appearances or di^aps of thy power ia bia behalf. If thou wilt be graemu^T he will be pious, Tbe exact msxim of a great statesman, Sir Robert Wal'pole: Every man kas A«# price^ " Bai yoti bave not bought such a one V *^ No, be^^aiise I would not go tip lo his price^ He valued btmaelf at more ihan I thought him worth; and 1 could get others chpaper^ who, in the general mnBterT would do as weU;" No doubt Sir R. met with many such; and tbe devil ipatiy more. But atill God has mullitttdea that wilS neither sell their soulS} their eotiaclenees, nor their count ry^ for anj priee \ who, ihooRb God atiould &lay thetn^ will nevertheless trusi in bim; attd be honest ineri, bowsoever tempted by the deiril aiid Ills vicegerents. So did Job;.ao hare dot>e thousands; so will all do, in whose hearts Christ dwells by fajth.

Verso 12. All thai he httih U tn thy p^mefj Satan eMitiot dcprire a man even of an as$i a sheep^ or a pig^ but by especial permission of God, His power and malice are ever bounded, and under eontfol,

Verse 13* Th^e tms a dat/] The first day of the week J says the Targum. Il no doubt refers to one of tbo^c htrthday ft'Stwuh mentioned before*

Verse IJ 7'Ae a ssej feeding beside them'\ rn3n»4 athonotkf the she-usses, whif;h appear to have been more domestieatodi as of more wonh and use Ih^ui tbe others J both for their milk and ibeir work*

Ver^e 15. And ike Sabcant fill] The Vui^afe alone understands this of a p^tTpie. The Bepiua^s^ini^ SyriaCf and Ara^fiCj uaderatand it a^ implying u marauding party. The Chaldec aays, •* LUith, qoeen of ^amafgad, ruatied auddcnly opon themi and carried til em away/* The SatcanA mentioned here are supposed to have been the aame with those who wet© the |]es<3*rndants of Abraham by Keiurah, whose son Jok- consumed tlieni; and I only am Ajitt.,„,,.

ing, tliere came also another, and said. The Chaldeans made out tlirce bands, and ^ fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, ycai and skin the servants \Yilh the edge of the sword j and I only am. escaped alone to tell thee.

18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy tons and ihy danghiers weie eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;

19 And behold, there came a great ^iud * from tlie wilderness^ and smote the four comers of the house, and it fell upon tho young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

ah an bef at Shebci. Tha tons ot Kctarah were mm by Abrahiim inlo the easi, O^n. xxv. 6, and inhabited Arabia Beeerlai on the casi of the land of Vt. Hordes of predatory band it ri were frequent ia those conn tries, 1 aad conLjJxue ao to the present day. They made sadden incu^tafifi, and darried off mert^ women ^ children^ I caHh^ tindj^i?od4 of every deflcripiiow ^ and immediately I reiiT^d to ihe desert^ wliiiber it was in viun to piitsne j Verse 16, The Jtre of God Lf fallen] Though^f I /i^^? ftf Qod may mean a great* a tr emend au,i fire^ yet I it is most natural lo suppose lightning ia meant* jbr; as thunder waa considered to be the voite of God^ s^ lightning was the^re of Gf>d, And as the prince of the pmptr of the atr vvas permitted eow to arm himself whh this dreadful artillery of heaven, bo might ea-sdy direct the ^igsag lightning to every part of the fields whera the sheep were feedingi and bo destroy tbe whole in a moment*

\''er5e 17* The Chatf^ans m&da out thre€ hands] The Chaldeans itiiiahited each aide of the EiiphraleSf near to Babylon, \vU\rM was Iheir capital. They were also mj!£ed with the wundering Arabt, a^d lived like them on rapine* They were tbe deseendiLiits of Chtsed^ son 0f Nahor and brother of Huz, from.xvhom they had their aame Casdim, \\ hieh we translate Chaldeans. They divided ihemsalvcs into three handsf in order the more speedily and eifeetoally lo eneompa»B» coHeei, and drive o(T the ihroe thousand Oftmcls: probably they mounted (he came [a tiod rode off*

Ver«e!*>. A great wind from (he v^tiderness} Here was another pioof of the influence of the prince af the power af the air. What mischief might he not do with tbie Iremendnus a^rerit, wete he not consianily undtr I bo control of the Almighty 1 He aeema to have dkeeted four diflerent currenla, which* blowing against the four corners or sides of the bouae^ crushed it to* get her, and im'olvcd all wiihin in one common ruin* a

20 Then Jab arpse, ■ and rent

bis ^ mHtitle» and shaTod his head, and fell down upon the ground,

£ I And said, * Naked caine I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I

V rrse 2 Q* Rent his mantle] Tear in g tlie f ormen t&^ ibaiiAg or pulling off the hair of the hea4, tkmwmg rlu«t OT a&bes on the head, and titling on the groand, wcj»* 2^t» by wbu^h UDinodtTat* grief was e3Cpresacd, Joh miiii haTe felt ihe bitienieas of an^bti when lie ITES u4d liiat, in juldition tc the loas of all his property, 1 _.- i,,.,^..,,j nf his tea r Ai/ifrcn by a violent death. '^ mo si poignantly, he would have. oi the n^jue of m^rfl. j] Prosi rated /um^^if; lay &l] along upon Ais face in the dust. (/ came I out of m^ fnotkcr'^g trowiA] no eoj^iliiy possessions when X eame into ibe, 1 casnoi liavc less going out of it* What I btfv Uitt L&rd gates aa it was his/iree ^^A* ^^ I^^s a t^sbl Uk femme it wheo he ple^u^c^i; und 1 owe hhn fer the time ha Itaa permitted me to enjoy gift NoAei Ma// / return thither] Whither! Not to ila mtiikgw^i tfomk surely; nor does he call the earth hk fiioiAer m this place. In the tif^ clause of the?erse he ^hc-ak» without a metaphor j and in the lattei hs «peik» in reference to the gmutid on which he was aboot to fall. Kb I came out of my mother's womb destitote of aU eajthty {io«sessioti9, 90 ahall J return £139 dismmmhr tuitaie; i. e.^ to \\x% earth on which he WM now €-LllJDg. That moth€r enrlh wa^ a common «tpre8sir>n in different natit/hs^ I allow; but I beliefe ■o Bdch metaphor was now in the mind of Job.

Iinanj aiher p^aees of all tlie Tttrg^ms, Mesicti h ihe name^ of the L&rd^] The following |U fitte paniphr3»3e on the f^entimeot in thia vcr&e; —

Tenc 29 hi ati ikit Job sinned not] He did not ^re ftay lo &iiy sietlont paaaLonf or eipressicin, oSennite Id his M^er. He did not charge God with acting wkmMj tow&rds him^ but felt aa perfectly sati^iied with th^ prtvuUon which ihe hiind of God had occa^ ■looiidf s» he was with the offiucmc and kcallk which UttS hand Eia#j hestawed. This is the transaction thai ilie strong and virld colottring to the cliaxacter of lih; ia tliisi &nd in this aiimcf he was a pattern q( return thither; and ihc Lord atvay j blessed be the Lord.

S3 * In all this Job sinned not, nor ^ charged God foolishly;

paSicnce and r^^i^aft&n. Iti ihie Scitan wa« utterly disappointed; he found a man ^ho loved \im God more than hie earthly portion. Tbie was a rare case, even to the experience of the devil. He hud teen multitudea who httriered their Qod for money, and thmt hopea of bleasedn&aB in ihe world to coine for ir^riltaT possess ions in tJie present. He had been so often aueeeftiiftil in thi$ kind of lemptationr that he made no donbt he should a\icceed again. He saw many who, vrhen riches increased, set their htart^ on tham, and forgot God, He saw many also wlio, w hen deprived of earthly comforts, blaaphcmed their Maker, He therefore inferred that Job, in aimilar cirijumstaneea, would act like the otliers; he was diuappoiott^. Reader, has he» by riches or poverty^ succeeded with thee * Art thou pious when aMuent, and patiei^t and contentei} when in poverty 1

That Job lived after the giving of ihe \vl-^, seems to me clear from many references to the rites and ceremonies instituted by Moaes. In chap. i. 5^ we are informed that he santlified his children, and offered burnt -offerings dmly in ihe mormtig for eaeh of iheni. This was a general ordinance of the law, as we may see, Lev, ix. 7: ** Moses said unto Aaron* Go unto the altar, and offer thy a in -offering and thy burnt-offerings and maJce an atonement for ihyeelf and for the people/' Ver. 22: " And Aaron lifted up his hands towards the people, and hi eased them, and came down from offering the burnt-offermgy

This aoit of offering, we are told above, Joh offered continuaUy; and thia also was according to the law, Exod, Ttxix. %2: **This shall be a contmuai burntoffering throughout your generation*/^ See also Nom» xxviij. 3, 6, 10, is', 24t 3L

This cuatom was observed after the caphmiy, Exra iii. 5: "They ofl^red the continuai hnrnt -off e ring t and of every one that offered a freewill-offering?^ See also Neb* x- 33* l>AckieJ, who prophesied dnring the captivity, enjoins ibis positively, chap, xlvi. 13-15; ** I'hou shalt daily prepare a bunU^offertng unto tiie Lord; tjion shalt prepare it every mortimg.*''

Job appears to have thought that hi^ children might hare sinned through ignorance^ or sinnnd pnvaiefy; and it was consoquenily necessary to make the duo sacrifices to God in order to prevent his wrath und their punishment; he thetefore offered the burnt-offering, which was prescribed by the law in cases of sins committed through ignorance. See the ordinances Lev. iv, 1-35 i V. 15-19, and partkukjly Num* xy. 2*-29. 1 think It may be fairly presumed that ihe offerings which Job made for his childteo were in reference to these laws.

The worship ot ibe jiun, meon, and starst as Itejng the most prevalent and most aecfucttve idolatry, was very expressly forbidden by the law. Dent, iv, 19; " Take heed, lest thou lift up ihitie eyes to beaten; aud wh^ thou seeet the suriy and the mmth and the stars% even ftU the host of heaven^ shouldeat be driven to worship tliem, and serve them. ' ^ Job pit rgos binutelf from this Bpeeiea of idolatry, chap, xxati, ver. t0-S6: '' If I beheld the sun when it shliiedi or the moon walking in brightness^ and my heart haih been secretly enticedi or my ciiouth hath kissed my hand: this also were an iniquity (& be pumshtd Ay iho judge; for I should have denied the God that is above. ^^

He clears himself also from aduUety in reference to the law enacted against that sin, Job xxxi, 9-*! 2: " If mine heart have been deceived by a woman^ nr if I have laid wait at my aeigbhour^s door; then let my wife grind to another: for this ia a beinous crime \ yea, it is an iniquity to he ptmished by tbe jud^Cf." See the la^'' against this sin, Exod. xx. 14,17: *' Tbon ahaU r^ot compiit adttiiery: thou ^halt nnt covH thy neighhcur'^s wif^,^* Lev. xx,. 10: ** The roan that committeth adulitry with anolhcr man^s wife shall «urely be put to death;^^ see Dent. xxii. 22. And for the judge's office in such casca, Bce Deul. xvii. &-I2: ^* Tboo fjhalt con^ unto the priests j^nd Leviies, and unto the judge that &hall be in those days i and they shall show thee tho seoteuce of judgment.''^ I Sam. ii, 35: ^Mf one man sin against another, the judge ^uW judge him.**

The following wuH, I ihinlc, be ©onaidered an evident altusion to Ihe passage of the Red Sea, and the destruction of the proud Egyptian hng r Job xxvi. 1 1, 12: *^ The piHars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof. He dirridcth the sea with his power; and by his nnderaianding be sr}iiteth ihfongh tlie proud.^'' Tt)e$e, With several otliers that might be adduced, are presumptive proofs that the wnlcr of this book lived at^er the giving and establisliment of the [aw, if not much later, let Job himself live when he might Set other proofs in the notes.

The son^ <yf God ^^^ mor^ prtxtnt thansdues before him; and Saiart c&mes aisOj arcusing^ Job as a person whose steadfastness would be soon shaken^ proi^idv.d his body teere to be iuhject^d to sore ft^icdonSf 1—5, He receives perrttisstQn to afflict J&b^ and sinites him VJtlh sure b&ilsj 6— @. His wife rev ties htm, D. Hts pious reproof, 10* His three friends come to visit and mourn with him,

3 And tlie Loiu> said unto SalaOf Hast thou considered ray servant Job, that there is none like him in ihe earth, *" a perfect and an upright man, one that feareih God^ and eschewetli evil? and. still ho "^ hoMeth fa&l his inlegritj% although ihou moved si me against him, " to ^ destroy him without cause,

4 And Satan answered the Loed, and said.

Ante u. c' cir. s^nt themselvcs before the Lord, and Satan came also anicing^ llieni

2 And lite Lord said unto Satan, From whence comesl thou? And ^ Satati answered the XiOED, and said, Frbm going to and fro in the earthy and from walking up and down in it.

NOTES ON CHAR TL Veree 1. Agatn there was a do^] IIow long this was after the former trials wo know not: probably one whole 1/ear, ^vhen, aa the Targum intlmateaj it waa the lime of the annual atonement; which, if so^ must have he en at least oue whole year after the former; arid dnfing which period the p^itienee m\d resignation of Job had suflloient scope to show themselves. This Jippearance of ihe sons of God and Satan ia to be onderstood naetaphorically — there could be nothing reid In it — but it ia intended to instruct ns in ibe doctrine of the existence of goqd and evit spirits; that Satan pnrauea man wiili implacable enmity, and that he can do no man hurl, either in his person or property, but by the especial permisaioo of Cod; anri that God gives Mm permiftaion only when be purposes to orerrule it for ihe greater maaifeRtaiion of his own glory, and the greater go^d of his tempted followers.

Veree 3. To destroy him without caujue.] Thou wiahedat me to permit thee to destroy a man whose S8 sins liaTO not called for ao beayy a judgment. Thia seems to be the meaning of thia saying. The original word, Ipbj / lebalic&y signifies to sumUmi} down or devour I aad this word 8t* Peter had no doubt in viuv** in the place quoted on?erse 7 of the prccediug chapter: ** Your adversary the devil gQ€th about tts a roar* ing lion J seeking whom ht may DRYOOR; gyrui^, rtvo. jturg-ij/j seeking uhom he may sWALtow or n^hP Doww. Sec the nolo on 1 Pet. v. S.

Vei«6 4* Skin for skin] That is, A man will part with all he has in the world io save hia life; and he will part with all by piecemeal, till he has nothing left on earth, and aven he thankftili prorided \m life be spared* Thou b:ist only destroyed his property; thou hast left him his Itfe and hia lieaJih. Thoy hast not touched his Jlesh nur his bone; therefore he ie patient and resigned* Man, through the love of life, will go mi2**b farther: he will give up one member to save tho rest; yea, limb afYer limb^ as long 9M there b hope that J by miclt saeiifiecs, life mny b<5 spared or pro

Anie t. piftnp hath will he give for his life* Afit» o c' cir. 5 * But put forth tliine Iiand ^^^ now, and loucli his ^ hone and

6 ' A.nd the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he If in thine hand; ^ hut save his hfe.

1 So went Satan forth from the presence of ihe LoEJ), and smote Job with sore boils

Xwrm 5. J5r« wvU tuftelhee to ihf fate,] Lkeiallyt jTf he miil not bless ikew to thtf face or apptarances. Hn puJy W thee Will be always regulated by thy l«iMf|r BO Asm. 8ee ibe note on chap. i. 11.

Tcffie 6. But S0V9 ht$ h/e] }fts hf)Jf ihou ahalt perEoiision to afflict, bat againat his ttfe thou hA^% mo power; therefore take care of hts life. Tlf^cirri^B^^ 1D^ \^Bl naphMho shemor, m:iy be trana- \j^Xitf^% kitp hit MQtd; be I the word also signitica life; ir«t in ibe hmdm of the destToyei the life of this holy DUO is placed! How ssionbhing ia the eeouotny of asjtmtioti? It iu so ffiAnmgedf by the uoliinited power raktll of Godi that the grand adversary of aouja msiif, by the order of God, the preserver I vjd^ll the evil^f hi^ nature inees6;ii)tjy proiripts him i^ dialroy I

Ter«e 7* Stor* hoils] jn |'ntff3 hisMn rrr, " With an enl ittfltmnation.'^ What this diabolical disorder, tuteffireteta arc not agreed. Some ibink it was hpntf^^ and thiA is the reason why he dwelt by % and had his habitation m an unclean ]Haee, w%iJ^i ik€ ei^f, (Septyagint^ ef« 1^ troS-cw^,) or in tW open air [ and the reason why his friends beheld him af&r &ff^ ver. 12, was because they knew that the diaonler was infections.

Hm scfvptmg^ himself with ^ p^ttgherd miltcates a disease aeeAflip&nted wrth intolerable ticking ^ one of 1^ e^ractdfifliica of the rmalipo^. Query, Was it pot thiis diaoider I And in orde? to s^ve bU life (for tiuit be Imd ilk especial conrjmand) did not Salwi himwdf direct bun to the tool rt^im^n, without whieli, Itanbnty speakings the disease mnst hare proved fatal ^ Iji Ihe rlrpk^ntiasis and iefirosi/ there is^ properly speaklEif:, ou tioil i>f J' fiichfti infiammnhon^ or sicelling, bof 9B# I ' ^rf j/a/fi of the tf^/Eij|r surface, so tlial L.,1.. iy is covered wiih loathsome aeaieai and th« skin appear* like that of the dtphanl^ ^liek ami wrinMod, frnrn vvhieh appearance the disntA^ lims itJ nsne. In llie smallpr^x it is dilTerent; «tttli pmk or pvxftiie ia a separate inflammation, tendkf to ntppuratioti; and during this process^ the fever i« in genenil t€ty high, and the angiuah and dji^treas M lAie patient imolerahlc. When the siippuration i»

'iing is extreme; aiid the confined to prevent the riiig his own fleab. his Wife] To this verse tlie o

8 And he look lurn a potsherd Ai^^v.cleii. to scrape himself withal j *" and ^

9 Then said his wife unto him, *Dost ihoa still " retain thine integrity 1 curse God, and die*

10 But he said unto her, Thou speak est as one of ihe foolish women speaketh. VVhat t

SBpNagtnt adds the following words; " Miieh lime having elapsed, his wife said unto him, Uow long dost ihou stand steadfast, sayings * Behold, I wail yet a little longer looking for ihe hojie gf my salvation 1' Behold thy memorial i& already blotted out from tha earth, together with Ihy aona and thy daughters, the fruits of my pains and laboora, for whom with auxiety I have laboured in vain. Thyself also sittest in the rottenness of worms night ajid day^ while I am a wanderer from place to plaoe, and from house to hoiijse, watting for the sett in g of the sun, that 1 may rest from my labours, and from the griefs which oppress me. Speak therefore some word against God, and die," We I raft slate nm U*rhK T>J AorecA Elohtm vmmiihi Cnrse God^ nmi die. Ti*e verb ^"13 barath is auppoaed to include in it the ideas of ^ttrsing^ and Messing; but it is not clear that It has the former metuiiog in any part of the sacred nrritings^ though we sometimes translate it so.

Here it seems to be a strong irofty. Job was ex* ceedtngly aMieted, and apparently dying through sore disease; yet his soul was filled with gratitude to God. His wtfcj destitute of the salvation which her husband possessed, g-ave him this ironical reproof. Bless God^ and dte — What f bless him for his goodness^ while he is destroying all that thou hast! bless him tpr his sop port, while he is casting thee down and de* straying thee! Bless on, and die.

The Tar gum says that Job^s wife*S name was Dinah, and thai the words which she spake iq him on this occasion were n^DT "*'! KID'O *] -13 berich meymera dat/ai umith* Bless the icord of the Lord, and die^

SoUicitoi null OS esee putare deos, Vive pins, moriere piua; cole sacran colentem

'* In yain to gods (if gods there are) we pray, And needless victims prodigally pay; Worship their sleeping deities: yel death Scorns yotaries, and stops the praying breath. To hallow \i shrines intruding fate will eome, And drag you from ike altax to the tomb,"

Ante I. oiymp. hand of God, and shall we not AnteU. c' cir. receive evil? ^ In all this did

i 1 Now when Job's three ■ friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the ' Tcmanite, and Bildad the ** Shuhite, and Zophar ilie Naamatliite: for they had made an appointment together to come ^ to mourn with him and to comfort him.

kpeakest like an inftdel; like one who has no knowledge of God, of religion, or of a future state.

The Targum, who calls this woman Dinah, translates thus: *^ Thou speakcsi like one of those women who have wrought folly in the house of their father." This is in reference to an ancient rabbinical opinion^, that Job lived in the days of the patriarch Jacob, whose daughter Dinah he had married.

Shall we receive good] This we have Tcceived in great abundance for many years: —

And shall toe not receive evil f] Shall we murmur when He afflicts us for a day, who has given us health for so many years? Shall we blaspheme his name for momentary privationsi who has given us such a long succession of enjoyments t His blessings are his own: he never gave them to us; they were only lent. We have had the long, the free, the unmerited use of them; and shall we be offended at the Owner, when he comes to reclaim his own property? This would be foolish, ungrateful, and wicked. So may every one reason who is suffering from adversity. But who, besides Job, reasons thus 1 Man is naturally discontented and ungrateful.

In all this did not. Job sin wHk his lips.] The Chaldcc adds, But in his heart he thought words. 'He had surmisings of heart, though ha let nothing esclipe from his lipsj

Verse 11. Job's three friends] The first was Eliphaz the Tcmanite; or, as the Septuagini has it, £A(^C o Qaifiavuv fiaaiXev^, Eliphaz the king of the Thaimanites. Eliphaz was one of the sons of Esau; and Teman, of Eliphaz, Gen. xxxvi, 10, 11. Teman was a ciiy of £dom^ Jcr. xlix. 7—20; Ezek. xxv. 13; AmoB i. 11, 12.

Bildad the Shuhite] Or, as the Septuagint, BaXdad 6 Xvxeuv Tvpavvo^, Baldad, tyrant of the Suchites. Shuah was the son of Abraham by Ketnrah; and his posterity is reckoned among the Easterns. It is supposed he should be placed with his brother Midian, and his brother^s sons Sheba and Dedan. See Gen. xxv. 2,3. Dedan was a city of Edom, see Jer. xlix. 8, and seems to have, been situated in its southern boandaty, as Teman was in its western, Ezek. XXV. 13.

Zophar the Naamathite] Or, according to the Sep- Utmgint, Scj^op Mivatov BokXi^evf, Sophar king of the Kmaites. He most probably Came from that Namiah,

12 And when they hfted up 3 c dl'is^* their eyes afar off, and knew Ante 1. oiymp. him not, they lifted up their Ant« u. c. cir. voice, and wept; and they rent ^^' every one his mantle, and ^ sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

13 So they sat down with him upon the ground ' seven days and seven nights, and Done ispake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

which was bordering upon the Edomites to the sooth, and fell by lot to th^ tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 21-41. These circumstances, which have already been men* -tioned in the introduction, prove that Job must have dwelt in the land of Edom, and that all his friends dwelt in Arabia Petra^a, or in the countries immediately adjacent* That some of those Eastern people were highly cultivated, we have at least indirect proof in the case of the Temanites, Jer. xlix. 7: Concern^ ing Edom thus saith the Lord of hosts, I* wisdom no more in Teman J Is counsel perished from the prudent f Is their wisdom vanished f They are celebrated also in Baruch, iii. 23, 23. Speaking of wisdom he nys: It hath not been heard q/* in Chanaan; neither hath it been seen in Theman. The Agarenes that seek wisdom upon earth, the merchants of Meran and of Theman, the expaundets of fables, and searchers out of understanding, none of these have known the way of wisdom. It is evident enough from these quotations that the inhabitants of those districts were celebrated for their knowledge; and the sayings of Job*s three friends are proofs that thcu: repatation for wisdom stood on a very solid foundation.

Verse 12. They rent every one his mantle] 1 have already had frequent occasions to point out and illustrate, by quotations from the ancients, the actions that were used in order to express profound grief; such as vnrapping themselves in sackcloth, covering the face, strewing dust or ashes upon the head, sitting upon the bare gronnd, &c., &c.; significant actions which were in use among all nations*

Verse 1 3. They sat down with him upon the ground seven days] They were astonished at the unprecedented change which had taken place in the circumstances of this most eminent man; they could not reconcile his present aituation with any thing they had met with in the history of Divine providence. The seven days mentioned here were the period appointed for mourning. The Israelites mourned for Jaoob seven days, Gen. 1. 10. And the men of Jabesh moamed so long for the death of Saul, 1 Sam. xxxi. 13; 1 Chron. x. 12. And Ezekiel sat on the ground with the captives at Chebar, and mourned with and for ihem seven days, Eaek. iii. 15. The wise son of Sirach says, " Seven days do men moura for him that is dead;" Ecclas. xxii. 12. So calamitous was the state of Job, that they considered him u a dead man;

Tkey saw that his grief was very great.^ This is the reason why they did not speak to him: they be- liered him to he sufTering for heavy crimes; and, i ing \am suffer so mach, they were not willing to add. to his distresses by invectives or reproach. Job him* self first broke silence*

/oA CHTses ike day of his hrih, andregreii Aat he eomr saw the light, 1-13. Describes the empire^fdeaik and its inhahitants, 1 3-19. Begrets that he is appointed to live in the midst of sorrows, for the calamities which he feared had Qvert€iken him, 20-26.

3 ^ Let the day perish wherein I was bofo, and^ the night* in which it was

KOTES ON CHAP. UK Terse 1» After this opened Job his mouth] After the seven days* mourning was over, there being no prospect of relief, Job is represented as thus cursing the day of his birth. Here the poetic part of the book begins; for most certainly there is nothing in the preceding chapters either in the form or spirii of Hebrew poetry. It is easy indeed to breair the sentences into hemislidksi hat this does not constitute them poetry: for, tfltaigh Hebrew poetry is in general in hemistichs, yet it doet sol follow that the division of narrative into hemistichs must necessatiiy constitute it poetry.

In many^cases the Asiatic poets introduce their compositions with prose narrative; and having in this way prepared the reader for what he is to expect, begin their deevans, cassidehs, gazels, &c. This appears to be the plan followed by the author of this book. Those who still think, after examining the structure of those chapters, and comparing them with the undoubted poetic. parts of the book, that they also, and the ten conclud- 'mg Terses, are poetry, have my consent, while I take tibe liberty to believe most decidedly the opposite.

Cursed his day.] That is^ the day of his birth; and thus he gave vent. to the agonies of his. soul, and the disiraLCtions of his mind. His execrations have sometbing in them awfully solemn, tremendously deep, and strikingly sablime. But let us -not excuse all the things which he said in his haste, and in the bitterness of his soal, because of his former well established character of patience. He bore all his privations with becoming resignation to the Divine will and providence: but now, feeling himself the subject of eontinual sofferings, being in heaviness through manifold temptation, and probably having the light of God withdrawn from his mind, as his consolations most undonhtedly were, ^e regrets that ever he was bom; and in a very high strain of impassioned poetry curses his day. We find a similar execration to this in Jeremiah, chap. XX. 14—18, and in other places; which, by the way, are no proofs that the one borrowed from the other; bat that this was the common mode of

4 Let that day be darkness; a. U.c. dr. let not God regard If from abovCj ''^' neither let the light shine upon it»

5 Let darkness and ® the shadow of death

Verse 3. There is a man-child conceived.] Thd word nVI harah signifies to conceive; yet here, it seems, it should be taken in the sense of being bom^ as it is perfectly unlikely that the night of conception sfiould be either distinctly known or piiblished»

Terse 4. Let that day be darkness] The meaning is exactly the same with our expression, " Let it be blotted out of the cal0iidar." However distinguished it^ may have been, as the birthday of a man once celebrated for his possesuons, liberality, and piety, let it no longer be thus noted; as he who was thus celebrated is now the sport of adversity, the most impoverished, most afflicted, and most wretched of human beings.

Let not God regard it frMn above] y%Vtnv Sk ai yidreshehu, " Let Him not require it" — ^let Him not consider it essential to the completion of the days of the year; and therefore he adds, neither let the light shine upon it. If it must be ar part oi-duration, let it not be distinguished by the' light of the sun.

. Verse 5. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain il] inSw yigaluhu, " pollute or avenge it," from SkJ gaali to vindicate, avenge, ^c.; hence S«J goel, the nearest of kin, whose right it was to redeem an inheritance, and avenge the death of his relative by slaying the murderer. Let this day be pursued, overtaken, and destroyed. Let natural darkness, the total privation of the solar light, rendered still more intense by death^s shadow projected over it, seize on and destroy this day, exhipot avTrjv, Septuagint; alluding, -perhaps, says Mr. Parkhurst, to the avenger of Uood seizing the offender.

Let a cloud dweU upon it] let t|e Hfinme clouHe fall upon ft.' — Coverdale. Let the thickest clouds have there their dwelling-place — ^let that be the period of time on which they shall constantly rest, and never be dispersed. This seems to be the import of the original, n33K rSj; parn tishcan alaiv ananah. Let it be the phice in which clouds shall be continually ^e^Aerarf

seize upon it; ' let it not be joined unto the jdays of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

1 Lo, let that night be solitary, g^c/'ilr. 1520. let no joyful voice come therein. Antei.oiymp.

b Let them curse it that curse Ante u. c. cir. the day, » who are ready to raise *^^'

9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none.

together, so as to be the storehouse of the densest rapours, still ia the act of being increasingly condensed. Let the blackness of the day terrify it.] ^nU let ft be lai^pcH Cn toft)) sottotnr. — Coverdcde. This is Tery expressive: lap signifies to fold up, or eni^lope any pirilfitj\vLT thing with fold upon fold, so as to cover it everywhere, and secure it in all points. Leaving out the semicolon, live had better translate the whole clause thtfs: "Let the.thichcst cloud have its dwelling-place upon it, and let the bittemesa o{ a day fill it with terror." A day similar to that, says the Tdrgunty in which Jeremiah was distressed for the destruction of the house of the sanctuary; or like that in which Jonah was cast into the sea of Tarsis^ such a day as that on whidi some great or national misfortune has happened: probably in allusioq to that in which the darkliess that might be felt enveloped the whole laUd 6f Egypt, and the night in. which the destroying angel sldw all the first-born in the land.

Verse 6* As for that night, let darkness seize upon tt] I think the TargHtn has hit the sense of this whole verse: ^ Let darkness seize upon that night: let it not be reckoned among the annual festivals; in the number of the months of the calendar let it not be computed." Some understand the word ^i)K ophel as signifying a dark storm; lience the Vulgate, tencbrosus tiirbo, **a dark whirlwind." And hence Coverdale, l.et tte ^arclt storme overcome ttat nfgtt, let ft not be redi' oneH smonfle tbe Ha^rs off tbe searr, nor counted f n tbe monetbes. Everything is here personified; day, night, darkness, shadow of death, Cloud, &c.; and the same idea of the total extinction of that portion of. time, or its being rendered ominods and portentbos, is pursued through all these verses, from the third to the ninth, inclusive. The imagery is diversified, the expressions varied, hut the idea is the same.

Verse 7. Lo, let that night be solitary] The word nan hinneh, behold, or lo, is wanting in one of De Rossi's MSS., nor is it expressed in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, or Arabic,

The word moSj galmud, which we translate solitary. Is properly Arabic, From f'^ghalama orjalama, signifying to cut off, make bare, amputate, comes AyXs^jalmud, a rock, a great stone; and SA^^JJ^ ialameedet, weight, a burden, trouble, from Which we may gather Job's meaning: «« Let that night be grievous, oppressite, as destitute of good as a bare rock is of verdure." The Targum gives the sense, In that night let there be tribulation.

Let no joyful voice come therein.] Let there be no ehoirs of singers; no pleasant music heard; no dancing or merriment. The word njJI renanah signifies any 3S brisk movement, such as the vibration of the rays of light, or the brisk modulation of the voice in a cheerful ditty. The Targum has. Let not the crowing of the rural or wild cock resound in it. Let all work be intermitted; let there be no sportive exercises; and let all animals be totally silent.

Verse 8. Let them curse it that curse the day] This translation is scarcely intelligible. I have waded through a multitude of interpretations, without being able to collect from thenr such a notion of the verse as could appear to me probable. Schultens, Rosenmiiller, and after them Mr« Good, have laboured much to make it plain. They think the custom of sorcerers, who had execrations for peoples, places, things, daySt &Q,, is here referred to; such as Balaam, Ely mas, and many others were: bat I cannot think that a man who knew thq Divine Being and fais^sole government of the world so well as Job did,, would make such an allusion, who must have known that such persons and their pretensions were impostors and exeorible vanities. I shall give as near a translation as I can of the words, and subjoin a short paraphrase: ^TlK IHDp^ |nnS '^'^}; Dn'JVP or yikkebuhu or&rey yom.haathidim orcr livyathan; " Let them, curse it who detest the day; them who are ready to raise up the levistthan.** That is, Let them curse my birthday who hate daylight, such as adulterers, murderers, thieves, and banditti, for whose practices the night is more convenient; 4LDd let them curse it who, being like ^le weary of life^ are desperate enongh to provoke the feviaihan, the crocodile, to tear them to pieces. This version is nearly the same as that given by Coverdale. Sift tbem tbat curse tb^ ^aa?e gfbe ft tbefr curse also, eben tbose tbat be teabp to ravse up lebfatban. By leviathan some understand the greatest and. most imminent dangers; and others, the devil, whom the enchanters are desperate enough to attempt to raise by their incantations.

Calmet understands the whole to be spoken of the Atlantes, a people of Ethiopia, who curse the sun because it parches their fields and their bodies; and who fearlessly attack^ kill, ai]d eat the crocodile. This seems a good sense.

Verse 9. Let the stars of the twilight thereof] The stars of the twilight may -here refer to the planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury, as well as to the brighter fixed stars.

Let it look for light] Here the prosopopceia or personification is still carried on. The darkness is represented 2A waiting for the lustre of the evening star, but is disappointed; and then for the aurora or dawn, bat equally in vain. He had prayed that its light, the

neither let it see * the. dawning, of the day:

10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother^s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

11^ Why died I ndt from the womb? why did I not ^ve up the ghost when I came out of the beUy?

12 VWhy did the knees prevent me? or why the breast that I should suck t

13 For now should I have lain still and

lb Or with princes that had goldj who filled their houses with silver. • 16 Or "* as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw Ught«

17 There the wicked cease /rom troubling; and there the ® weary be at resti

nut, should not shioe upon it, ver. 4; and here he prays thit its evetdng star may be totally obscured, and that it might oeTer see the dawning of the day. Thus his execration comprehends ^Tery thing that might irraiiate or enliven it.

Terse 10. Because it shut not up the doors] Here B the reason why he curses ^the day and the night in which be was conceived and born; because, had he oerer been brought into existence, he would never have seen ttoabiei It seems, however, very harsh that he should- have wished the destruction of his mother, in order that his birth might have been prevented; and I rather think Job^s execration did not extend thus hx. The Targum understands the pasage aa speaking of the umbilical cord, by which the foetus is nooQshed ip its mother^s womb: had this been shot op, there must have been a tniscarriage^ or he most have been dead born; and thus sorrow would kdvt been hidden from his eyes. This seeming gloss is much nearer the letter and spirit of the Hebrew than is generally imagined. I studl quote the words: '»3 TiTI -UO ih O ki lo sagat dalthey hUni, because ii did not shut up the doors of my belly. This is Boch more consistent with the feelings of humanity, than to wish his motheif's womb to have been his grave.

Verse 11. Why died I not from the womjt.'] As the other circumstance did not take place, why was I not siill-bom, without the possibility of reviviscence 1 or, aa this did not occur, why did I not die as soon as baml These three things appear to me to be dearlj intended here:— I. Dying in.the womb, or never coming to maturity, as in the case of an abortion. 2. Being still-born, without ever being able to breathe. 3. Or, if bom alive, dying withih a short time aAer. And to these states he seems to refer in the foRowing verses.

Verse 13. Why did the knees prevent me?] Why was I dandled on the knees? Why was I nourished by the breasts T In either of the above cases I had neither been received into a mother^s lap, nor hung Bpon a mother's breasts.

Verae 13. For now should I have lain stUl] In that case I had been insensible; 7iit>f— -^without these overwhelming agitations; slept — ^unconscious of evil; been at rest'-^heen out bf the reach of calamity and sorrow.

I believe this translation to be perfectly correct. The counsellors, ^TC}^'* yoatsey, I suppose to mean the privy cot^ncii, or advisers of kings; those without whose advice kings seldom undettake wars, expeditions, &c. These mighty agitattdrs of tbe wdrld are at rest in theif graves, after ihe lives of commotion Which they have led among men: most ^f whom indeed have been the titmblers of the peace of the globe.

Which built desolate places^ Who erect mausoleums, funer^ monuments, sepulchral pyramids, &c., to keep their names from perishing, while their bodies are turned^ to corruption, ^ I cannot think, with some learned men, that Job is here referring to those patriotic princes who employed themselves in repairing the ruins and desolations which others hac^ occasioned. His simple idea is, that, had he died from the womb, he would have been equally at rest, neither troubling nor troubled, as those defunct kings and planners of wars and- great designs are, who have nothing to keep even their nttmes from perishing, but the monuments which they have • raised to contain their corrupting flesh, moulderidg bones, and dust.

•Verse 16. Or with princes that had gold] Chief or mighty men, lords of the soil, or fortunate adventurers in merchandise,, who got gold in abundance, filled their houses with silver, left a11 behind) and had nothing reserved for themselves. but ^the empty places which they had made for their last dwellings and where their dust.npw sleeps, devoid of care, painfUl journeys, and anxious expectations. He alludes here to the case of the covetous, whom nothing can satisfy, as an Asiatic writer has observed, but the dust that Jills his mouth when laid in the grave. — Saady.

Verse 16. Or as a hidden untimely birth] An early miscarriage, which was scarcely perceptible by the parent herself; and in this case he had not been — he bad never had the distinguishable form of a human be> ing, whether male or femdle.

As infants] Little ones; those farther advanced in maturity, but mitearried long before the time of birth.

Verse 17. There the wicked cense] In the grave the oppressors of men cease from irritating, harassing, and distressing their fellow creatures and dependents.

And there the weary be at rest.] Those who were worn out with the cruelties and tyrannies of the aboye. The troublers and the troubled, the restless and the submissiye, the toils of the great and the labours of the slave, are h^re put in opposition.

19 The small ^md great are

there; and the servant is free from his master.

20 "^ Wherefore is light given to hhn tliat is in misery, and life unto the ' bitter in soul;

2 1 Which ■ long * for death, but it cometh not; and (Jig for it more than * for hid treasures;

22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the gravis?

Verae 18. The prisoners rest together] Those who were slares, feeling all the troubles, and scarcely tasting any of the pleasures o^ life, are quiet in the grave together; and the voice of the oppressor, the hard, tinrelenting task-master, which was more terrible than death, is heard no more. They are free from his exactions, and his mouth is silent in the dust. This may be a reference to the Egyptian bondage. The children of Israel cried by reason of their oppressors or taskmasters.. '

Verse 19. T*he small and great are there] AU sorts and conditions of men are equally blended in the grave, and ultimately reduced to one common dust; and between the bond and free there lb- no difference. The grave ia

These travellers meet." Equality is absolute among the sons of men in their entrance into and exit from the world: all the intermediate state is disparity. All men begin and end life alike; and there is no difference between the king and the cottager. A contemplatioo of this should equally humble the great and the small. The saying is tritef^mt it is true: —

Pallida mors nqao pulsat pede panperum tab^ma^, Regumque turres. Hon. Odar. lib. i., Od. iv., ver. 13. *' With equal pace impartial Fate Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate.*^ Death is that state,

'^ Where they an equal honour share Who buried or unburied are. Where Agamemnon knows no more Than Irus he contemned before. Where fair Achilles and Thersites lie, Equally nahed, poor, and dry.^^ And why do not the living lay these things to heart t There is a fine saying in ^Seneca ad Marciam^ cap. 90» OD this ao^ieot, which may serve as a comment OD thiB. place: MoM-^HBervitutem invito domino remittit; h«c Aaptivonim catenas levat; haec e carcere e^inut, quos exire imperium impotens vetuerat. Heo •A ift^quo neoio humilitatem suam sensit; haec quae oolli paruit; h»c quae nihil qnicqaam alieno fecit arhitrio. Haec, ubi les communes fortuna male divisit, tt aequo, jure genitos alium alii donavit, ezequat omnia. -*-^ Death, in spite of the master, maDomits the slave.

23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, - ^ and whom God halh "^ hedged in?

24 For my sighing cometh * before I eat, and my roarings are pour^ out like the waters.

25 For y the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is comie unto me.

26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

It loosens the chains of the prisoners. It brings out of the dungeon those whom impotent authority had forbidden to go at large. This is the state in wliich none is sensible of his humiliation. Death obeys no man. It does qothing according to the will of another. It reduces, by a just law, to a state of equality, all who in their families an^ circumstances had unequal lots in life."

Verse 20. Wherefore is light given] Why is life granted to him who is incapable of enjoying it, or of performing its functions 1

Verse 21. Which long for death] They look to it as the end of all their miseries; and long more for a separation from life, than those who love gold do for a rich mine.

Verse 22. Which rejoice exceedingly. Literally, They rejoice with joy^ and exult when they find the grave.

There is a various reading here in one of Ketmicott^s MSS., which gives a different sense. Instead oiwho rejoice, Vi'SlC eley gil, with joy,. it ^ Sj 'Sit e/ejt galy who rejoice at the tomb, and exult when they find the grave.

Verse 23. To a man whose way is hid] Who knows not what is before him in either world, but is full of fears and trembling concerning both.

God hath hedged in J] Leaving him no way to escape; and not permitting him to see one step be fore him.

There is an exact parallel to this passage in Lam iii. 7, 9: He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out. He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone. Mr. Good translates the verse thus: To the man whose path is broken up, and whose futurity God hath overwhelmed. But I cannot see any necessity for departing from the common text, which gives both an easy and a natural sense.

Verse 24. For my sighing cometh] Some think that this refers to the ulcerated state of Job's body, mouthy hands, &c. He longed for food, but was not able to liA it to his mouth with his hands, nor masticate it when brought thither. This is the sense in which Origen has taken the words. But perhaps it is most natural to suppose that he means his sighing took away all appetite, and served him in place of meat. There is the same thought in Psa. xlii. 3: My tears have been my meat day and night; which place is not ( 3») c

3 Behold, thou hast ins^lructed maay, and tliou •= hast strengthened the vrcak hands.

4 Thy wards have upholdcn him lliat was falling, and thou ^ hast strengthened ■ the feeble knee^.

5 But now It is come ui>an thee^ and liiou

Verse i* Tken Ehpt^z the Temamie aftswer^J] FoT ievcn d^^s thia person and his two friends had observed a profound dtetioe, being nwed and confounded at the sight of Job's unprceeJentecl affliction* Hiving now suflUciently coot^mplated his aflticted state, and heard his hitler eompl^giat, forgeiiing thai ]m2 canie as a ^omfurter, and not as a reprover, h& levies the feelmg of the fn^nd in the haugltlineis of the ernsor^ endeavoiiTing to strip kixii of his only consolation, — l\m tesliniony of his conscience, that in aimpUcity and godly sincerity, not in ffcshly wisdom » hut hy the grrice of God, he h:id his conversation among men, — try Insinuating that if his ways had been uprlglHr he woitld noL have been abandoned to sych distn^ss and aliliclion; snd if his heart possessed ttiat right eousaess of which he boasted, he w;ou!d n<it have been so suddi:tily cast down by adversity*

Verse S. If irer eismy to comrmtne wilh thee^ As if he had said^ Should 1 and my friends endeavour to reason with thee ever so mildly, because ^^e shaR have many thin^ to say by way of reprehension, thou wili he grieved and faint; and this we may reasonably mfer from tho manner fn which thou bcarest thy present affjjctioiis. Yet as thou hast uttered words which are injurious to thy Maker, who can forbear speaking 1 It is our duty to rise up on the pccrt of God, though there?- by we shalJ grieve him who is one friend. This was a plausible beginning, and certainly ^as far ftitw. being insincere.

Verse % Thou httsi instructed mantf] Thmi hast ^en many in affliction and distress, and thou basi gi-ven them such advice as was stntable to their state, arrd eifectual 10 tlieir relief; and by this means tfiou hasi strengtheTtcd th^ urea^ kamhi and the feehU knees~\\iG desponding have been encouraged, and the irroacilute confirmed azul excited to prompt and proper actions, by thy counsel and example.

Verse b. But nmc it is come vpon thee] Now it is ihy turn to su^er, and give an example of the efficacy of thy own principles j but instead of this, behold, thou faintest. Either, therefore, thou didst pretend lo what thou hadfit not; or thou art not making a proper use of the principles which thou didat recommend to others.

Verse 6. Is?wt this thy fear] I think Couerdali; hits the true meaning: fjl^tjc^t u nota tbn fcfirc ot (SfoH, tb^ s,tcK^stncs«^?» ii)» pacfencr, an^ Ihf utrtectacasr fif ttiw MU T It these be genuine, eurely there is no caose

6 la not this ^ thy fear, f thy AiueU.'c. ctr* confidence, thy hope, and the ' * uprightness of thy wa^^s?

7 Rcraentber, I pray tlice, ^ who ever pe* riahcd, being innocent? or wliere were the righteous cut off?

8 Even as I have seen, ' they tliat plough iniquity, and sow wickcdncssj reap the same*

for aH this complaint, vexation, and despair. That this is the raeaningt ihe next words show.

Verse 7, Bememher^ I pray thee] Recollect, if Ihon canst, a single instance wjicre God abandoned an innocent man J or anflered him to perish. Didst thou CTer hear of a case in which God abandoned a righteous man to destruction T Wert ihou n righteous man, and innocent of all hidden crunes, would God abandon theo til us to tli6 malice of Satan? or hi loose the plagues of affliction and adversity agiinst thee }

Verse 8. They that pi(ntgh migmt^] A prioTerbial form of speech drawn from nature. Whatever seed a man sows in the ground, he reajjs the same kind; for every seed pToduces its like. Thus Soltmiont Pro v. xxii. fi4 ''He that soweth iniqaity shall reap vanity," And St. Paul, GaL vl 7, 6: ^* Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sow eth, that shall hG a bo res]^. Fof he that soweth to his Hesli^ shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he who^ soweth to thtt Spirit, shall of the Spirit renp hfe everlasting.*' Antl of the same natnfe is that other saying of the spnsfle. He that soweth jipannglyj shall reap spariTigt^, 2 Cor. ix. 6.

The same figure is employed Ijy the Prophet H<ise^ viii. 7: They hm^e SPwn (he windj and ihetj xhall reap the Ufhirlmnd; and chap, x, 1*J, 13: Smtt to ymtr^ sdves in righteousness; reap m mercy. Yt hai^t ploughed wie^edness j y« hftve reaped iniquity. The last sentence contaitis, not only the same imager but almost the same words as those used by Eliphaz.

Our Lord cxpreasca the same thing, in the following words: Matt* vii. 16— 18; Do men gather grapes of thorns f or figs of thistles f £t?*ry good tree bring tih forth go0dfrtiU, but u emfupt tr$€ bnngeth forth evtl fnnt. So the Greeks: —

'* The field of iniquity produces the fruit of death*"

*' For oppression, when it springs. Puts forth the blade of vengeance; and its froit Yields a ripe harvest of repentant wo J* — Potter.

Tiie image is common every where, because it is a universal law of nature.

maSr 1^ 9 By tlie Wast of God they Aate L oijii^. peri&h, and ^ by the breath of his Ame V, c, «ir_ ttostTils arc Ihey cousumed.

* ' _ 1 0 The roarifjg of I fie hon, and the voice of the fierce lion, and '^ the teeth of ihe jomog lions^ ate broken.

J 1 " The old lion perbhetit for lack of prey, and Uie stout \i<m^B whelps are scattered alurooiL

12 Ndw a tiling wai " secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.

Vcfva 9. B^ rAtf Ho^l of G^d ihey perish] Aa the aoxioas nnd p4rchm|r east "^iad btasta and destroys rpget^ion, so the wicked periah tiader the indignation ttf the Aimightj.

Yerm 10. TA« r&anrhg nf ike Uon] By the toating liori* fierce lion, old linn, stout bf»iit and lion^s whefps, tfnmioa^'ralen of dl kimU arc intended. The design of Kl)|4iaz lit qsing these flgurea is to show thiit e?en Choee who are po^es^ed of the greatest imthorif^ iUid fi^aetr — Jibe kin^s^ rvhrx^ and princex of the 641 rth — prfcea thej b«eome wicked and oppressive to their sub- Jeeli pm east down, broken to pieces, and destroyed, bf ite iaeinied justiee of the X^rd; and their tche!p3 — llieir i;lBUrea «uid intended mccessors^ seaiteied without possessions over the face of ihe eoith.

Verse 1 1. Yhe eld han pertsAclh] In this and the preceding; rerse the word lion otentA fi*-^^ times f and k the original tlie words are all different v —

I, n*^M mjjth^ firom mK Grab, to tear off. 2. Sni? ftfJtor, whicb 4^ it appears Ui si^ify bl(ick or dark^ QM^ Iftesii the ^ari; Imn^ which is said to he found in AlbJtffift and India., ^, 1'i3I3 ktphtr^ a yi^un^ /ion, from ^Q^e^lAtfrt 1(9 amer^ beeoose be is satd to hide hlm^lf im oricx to enrpriae hjjj pt ey, which the old &nt does aai. 4« IT*! ItsftMhj from 0*7 /^^A, ^^ An^cJ, iramph ir/NNi; because of his method of seizing: his prey. 6* ll"2V i&k^ from K^S ia^tf, /o sue He tctth the first mdJt: a ]joae» giving auck; ai which time they are f^euliarly fierce. All these words may point ont some quality of the lion i and this was probably the cause wlrf they were orif in.illy given: but ii is likely that, is process of time, they served only to desigtiate the be^K^ wttliottt any partioulaf reference to any of his propertieg. We have one and the sanie idea when we ssy the /iffn, the king of beast s^ the monarch of tht foreslt the most mhk of quadrupeds^ &c.

Ver^e 12. Now a thing was steretbj brought i(*me\ Tft f iTc himself the more authority, he ptofesaea to ti|^ reeeiYed a Ttsion from GihI, by which he was laog^ the secTct of the Divine dispensations in providence; and a confirmation of the doelnne wh;ch he was aow atating to Jol>; and which he applied in a diiTerent way to what was designed in the, Divine com* munieatififi.

Mm€ ear received d til (le thereof) Mr. Oo&d transliteSt ** And mine ear received a whisper along with iJ*"' Tte i^pantton was the general subject;:^rid the o

^ Irembling, which made ' all my bones to shake. i 5 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hail of my flesh stood up:

16 It stood stilly but I could not discern (he form thereof: an image i^as before mine eyes, ■ there was silence^ and t heard a voice, sat/ing^

ic&rds related Ter. 17, &c.j were the whispers which be bctLTd when the apparition stood stiU,

Vers* 13 From ih^ visiimsaf^ the ni^ht] " It b in ¥ain/' says Mr* Good-, ** to search through ancient or modern poetry for a description U^nt has any pretensions to rival that itpnn which we are now entering. Midnight — solitudes—the deep sleep of all around—^ the dreadful chill and horripDation or erection of the hair over the whole body — the shivering, not of the muscles only, hut of the hones themselves — the gliding approach ol'the spectre — the abruptness of his pause—- his undefined and indescribable form — are all powerful and original characters^ which have never been given with equal effect by any other writer."

Mr. Hemet/s illustration is also strikiag and naturaL *' 'Twas in the dead of nighi; uU nature lay slirouded in darkness; every creature was buried in xlcep* Tha most prof mind silence reiglied through the universe, la these solemn moments EliphaiE, alone, all wakeful and solitary, wsls mnsing on sul>tinic subjects. When, lo i an nwftil being burst into hjs apartment. A spirU passed before his fare. Astouishment seized the beholder* His bones shivered within him i his flesk trembled all over him; and the hair of his head stood erect with horror* Sudden and unejrjfected was its appearance \ not such its departure, li stood stUt^ to present itself more fully to his view. It made a so* lemn pause, to prepare his mind for some momentous message* After which a votce v^as heard. A votce, for the importance of its meanmgi worthy to he had in everlasting rcmembTanee* It spoke, and these were its words:"

Be more pist ihitn God f] Or, pnr HiSk^ m^HTi haenosh tncdoah t^ its dak; shall poor^ wealr, sinfnl mn.n be justified before God?

Shall a man] Hi gaber* shall even the strong and mighty marir be pure before his Maker 1 Is ftoy micn, ecrnsidercd merely in and of himself* either holy in hij conduct, or pure in his heait 1 No. lie must be Justified by the mercy of God, through an atoning sacri* fice; ho must be sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God^ and thus made a partaker of the Divine nature. Then he is justified before God, and pure in the si|*bt of his Maker: and this ts a work which God himself alone can do ^ so the work is not man^s work, b\it God's,

God? shall a man be more pure than his Maker?

18 Behold, he * put no trust in his servants; ^ and his angels h^ charged with folly;

19 "^ How much less in them that dwell in ^houses of clay, wiiose foundation is in the

It is false to infer, from the words of this spectre, (whether it came from heaTen or hell, we know not, for its communication shows and rankles a wound> without providing a cure,) that no man can be justified, and that no man can be purified, when God both justifies the ungodly, and sanctifies the vnholy. The meaning can be no more than this: no man can make an atonement for his own sins, nor purify his own heart. Hence all boasting is for ever excluded. Of this Eliphaz believed Job to be guilty, as he appeared to talk of his righteousness and purity, as if they had been his own acquisition.

A^'erse 18. Behold, he put no trust in his servants'] This verse is generally understood to ififet to the fall' of angels; for there were some of those heavenly heiags who kept not their first estate: they did not persevere to the end of their probation, and therefore fell into condemnation, and are reserved in chains ^of darkness unto the judgment of the great day; Jode 6.. It is said he put no trust in them — ^he knew that nothing could be absolutely immutable but himself; and that no intelligent beings could subsist in a state of purity, unless continually dependent on himself, and deriving constant sujiplies of grace, power, and light, irom him who gave them their being.

Amd-his angels he charged with folly] Not chargeth, as many quote the passage. He charged those with folly who kept not their first estate. It does not appear that he is charging the others in the same way, who continue steadfast.

The several translations of this verse, bodi sncient and modern, are difieient from each other, itere arc the chief: —

Jn angelis suis repent pravitatem, " Jn' his angels he found perveraeness,'* Vulgate. The Skptuagint is nearly the sam^. B met la lumiere dans ^es anges, **He puts light into his angels,^ French Bible. Even those pure intelligences have continual need of being irradiated by the Almighty.

^OlSoZ ^^-^^ ^01QoP]|i£iOO wa-bemalakui neshim temcho, ^' And he hath put amazement ih his angels,** Striac. The Arabic is the same. In angelis suis ponetgloriationem, ** In his angels he will'put exultation,** MoNTANus. The Hebrew is rhmy toholah, irradiation, from Th7\ halah, to irradiate, glister, or shine. In this place we may consider angels (OOkSo malachim) as heavenly or earthly messengers or angels of the Lord; and the gtory, influence, and honour of their office as being put in themhj the Most High. They are as planets which shine with a borrowed light. They have nothing but what they have received. Corentale translates the whole verse thus: 3Set»ollir

20, y They are * destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.

2 1 * Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? ^ they die, even without wisdom.

fie (atf) founUe ttnfa|it]ifulhcsse armonfle l^fs otone ser^ baunts aivlfe prottHe Hfsebelrrenre smonge f^Ut angeUr. vThe sense is among all these interpreters; and if t)ie fallen angels are meant, the passage is j)lain enough.

Verse 19. How much less] Rather, with the Vulgate, How much more? If angels may be unstable, how can man arrogate stability to himself who dwells in an earthly tabernacle, and who must shortly retafn to dust?

Crushed before the moth?] The slightest accident oAehtimes destroys. " A fly, a grape-stone, or a hair ean kill.'* Great men have fallen by all these. This is the general idea in the text; and it is useless to sift for meanings.

Verse 20. They are destroyed from morning to evening] In almost every moment of time some human being comes into the world, and some one departs from it. Thus are they " destroyed from morning to evening."

They perish for ever] n2«' yobedu; peribunt, they pass by; they ^o ont of sight; they moulder with the dust, and are soon forgotten. Who regards the past generation now among tlie dead?

Isaiah ^ has a similar thought, chap. Ivii. I: <* The righteous perisheth, and no ma-n lateth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." Some think that Isaiah borrowed from Job: this will appear possible when it has been proved, which has never yet been done, that the wxim of this book flovrished before Isaiah. If, however, he borrowed the above thought, it must be allowed that it has been wondrously improved by coming through his hands.

Verse 2 1. Doth not their excellency- — go away?] Personal beauty, corporeal strength, powerful eloquence, and various mental endowments, pass away,, or are plucked up by the roots; they are no more seen or heard among men, and their memory soon perisheth.

They did, even without wisdom.] If wisdom means the pursuit of the best end, by the most legitimate and appropriate means, the great mass of mankind appear io perish without it. Bui, if we consider the subject more closely, we shall find that all men die in a state of comparative ignorance. With all our boasted science and arts, how little do we know! Do we know any thing to perfection Aat belongs either to the material or spiritucd world 1 Do we understand even what maWer is 1 What is its essence f Do we understand what spirit is \ Then, what is its essence t Almost all the phenomena of nature, its grandest operations, and the laws of the heavenly bodies, have been explained on the jnrinciple of gravitation or at- irwets^m; bat in ufhai does ihisconmU Who ean asBwer? We can traverse everf part of the huge and tnckless ocean by means of the compass; but wk> nnderatands the nature of magnetism on which all this depends? We «at and drink in order to maintain life i but what is nutrUunt^ and how is it effected! This has never been explained. Life depeoda on respiration for its continaance; but by what kind of action is it, that in a moment the lungs separate Che oxygen, which is friendly to life, from th^ nitrogen^ which would destroy it; snddenly absorbing the 0n«, and e^^eUing the other 1 Who, among the generation of kypothesis-framers, Jias guessed this out? Life ii continued by the circulation of the Mood; but by what power and law does it circulate t Hare the systole and diast(de of the heart, on^ which this circulation depends, ever been satisiaetovKy explained t Moat certainly not. ^Aias! we die teithout wisdom; and must die, to know.these, and ten thousand other matters equally unknoi^, and e<;(ually Unp<^rtant To be safe, in reference to eternity, we must know the only true God, and Jaaas Christ whom he has sent; whom to know is life eternal. This knowledge, obtaiiied and retained, will entitle us to all.tbfi rest in tlie eternal woil4»

EUf^az proceeds to show that the wicked are always punished hy the justice of Ood, though they may appear to flourish f or jgt titne, 1-8; e^t^ the providence of God, by which the counsels of the wicked tire brought to naught, and the poor fed and supportedy 9-J6; shows the blessedness of being corrected by Ood, in the exceileni fruits that result from it; and exhorts Job to patience and submission, with the promise of alt secular prosperity, and a happy death in a wuiture and comfortoikile old age, 17-27.

PJALL now, if there be any that will answer, thee; and to which of ike saints wilt thou • twm?

2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and ^ envy slayeth the siUy one. 3*1 have seen the foolish taking root:

Verse 1. Call now, if there be any] This appears to be a strong irony. From whom among those whose foundations are in the dust, and who are crushed before the moth, canst thou expect succour!

To which of the saints wilt thou tumf] To whom among the hidy ones, (0*Bnp kedoshim,) or among those who ate e^nlly dependent on Divine support with tbjsel^ and can do no good but as influenced and directed by God, canst thou turn for help? Neither angel nor saint can help any man unless sent especially from God; and all prayers to them must be foolish and absurd, not to sly impious. Can the channel afford me water, if the fountdin cease to emit it!

Verse 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man] Foolish, silly, and simple, are epithets given by Solomon to sinners and transgressors of all kinds. Sueh paralleliainu hare affijtded a presumptive argument that Solomon was the author of this book. See the preface. The words of Eliphaz may be considered as a sort of maxim, which the wisdom and experience of ages had serred to establish; viz., The Aihrath of God is manifestedi only against the wicked. and impious; and if thoa wert not such, God would not thus contend with thee:

Verse 3. / have seen the foolish taking root] I have seen wicked men for a time in prosperity, and becoming established in the earth; but I well knew, from God*t manner of dealing witb mei^ that they must

4 ^ His children arc far- from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, • neither is there any to deliver them.

5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and 'the

soon be blasted. I even ventured to pronounce their doom; for I knew that, in the order of God's provi* dence, that was inevitable. ■ / cursed his habitatiomm

Verse 4. His children are far from safety] Hi« peeterity shall not continue in prosperity. HI gotten^ ill spent; whxUever is got by wrong must have God^s curse- on it.

They are crushed in the gate] The Targum says. They shaU be bruised im the gate of heU^ in the day of the great judgment. There in reference here to a custom which I have often had occtaion to notice; viz., that in the Eastern countries the court-house, or tribunal of justice, was at the ©ate of the city; here the magistrates attended, and hither the plaintifi* and defendant came for justice.

Verse 5. Whose harvest] Their possessions, be«> canse acquired by unjust meansy shall not be under the protection of God*s providence; he. shall abandog them to be pillaged and destroyed by the wandering half -starved hordes of the desert banditti. They shall carry it suddenly off; even the /A<w7M-^grain,weeds, thistles, and all, shall they carry off in their rapacious hurry.

The robber swalloweth up] Or, more properly, the thirsty, D'Dlf tsammm, as is plain from their swallowing up or gaping down; opposed to the hungry or half-starved, mentioned in the preceding clause. The hungry sbaU eat up their grain, and the thirsty shall drink down their wine and oil, here termed D^^M cheyUan, thei][ strength or power^ for tbe n^ost obvions reasons.

A. M.cir.SM[84. robber swalloweih up their suV dbte I. oiymp. stance.. 4nie*u. c.'cir... 6 Although "^affliction cometh' ^^'. not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

7 Yet man is ^ bom unto * trouble, as ^ the sparks fly upward.

8 I would 43eek unto God, and unto

There seem to be two allusions in this Terse: 1. To the hordes of wandering predatory banditti, or half-starved Arabs of the desert, who have their scanty ipaintenance by the plunder of others. These descendants of lahmael have ever h^ul their hands agaiost all men, and live to this day in the same predatory manner in which they have lived for seyeral tlwnsands of years. M. Volney's account of them is striking: "These men are smaller, leanet, and blacker,' ^an any of the Bedouins yet discovered. Their wasted legs had bnly tendons without calves. Their befly was 'iriknink to their biiok. They are in general small, lean, snd swarthy, and more so in the bosom of - tiie desert than on the borders of the move* cultivated

;^ country. They are ordinarily about five feet or Jive feet two inches high; they seldom have more than |J>out six ounces of food for the whole day. Six or seven dates, soaked in melted butter, a little milk, or curd, serve a man for twenty-four hours; and' he seems happy when he can-add a small portion of coarse flour, or a little ball of rice. Their cornels also, which are their only support, ar6 remarkably meagre, living on the meanest and most scanty pro- Tision. Nature has given it a small head \vithout cars, at the end of a long neck without flesh. She hM taken from its legs and thighs every muscle not inraiediately requisite for motion; and in short has bestowed on its withered body only the ressels and ^•adoiB necessary to Connect its frame together. She lm» fqniislied it with a strong; jaw, that it may grind tha.baldest aliments; and, lest it should consume too moch, she has stiaitened its stomach, and obliged it to lAiew' the cud."" Such is the description given of the

" ipiedoqin and his camel, by M. Volney, who, while he denies the true God, flnds out a deity which he calls fiature, whose works evince the highest providence, wisdom, and design! ' And where does this most wonjierful and intelligent goddess d>v'ell 1 Nowhere but in the creed of the infidel; while the genuine believer knows that nature is only the afferU created and employed by the great and wise God to accomplish, und'er bis direction, the ^eatest and most stupendous beneficial effects.

The second allusion in the verse I suppose* to be to the loss Job had sustained of his cattle by the predafoiy Sabeans; and all ibis Eliphaz introduces for the ^qpport of his grand argument, taeonvict Job of hiddn crimes, on which account his enemies were perlaStted to destroy his property; that property, because of this wickedness, being placed out of the proiaction ^ Qod'a proTidepce.

10 ^^Who giveth rai;i upon the earth> and sendeth waters upon the p fields:

11 4 To set up on high those that be low;

Verse 6. Affliction cometh not forth 'of the dust] If there were not an adequate cause, thou couldst not be so grievously afflicted.

Spring out of the ground] It is not from mere iwt^r(d causes that affliction and trouble' come; God^s justice inflicts them upcrn offending man. ' Verse 7. Yet man is bom unto trouble] hojh lec^- mtU, to labour. H& must toil and be careful; and if in the cdif)rse of his labour he meet with trials and diflipulties, ho should rise soperior.» to them, and not /ink as thou dost.

" As the sparks fly upward.] f\)]; in^ar f\vn '»> ubeney reshtph yagbihu uph; And the sans sfiheeo€Jt lift up their flighty or dart ufpwards. And who are the, sons of the coal! Are (hey not bold, intrepid, ardent, fearless men, who rise supexbr to all their trials; combat what are terhied chance and occurrence; succumb under no diflicuUies; and rise superior to time, tide, ftite, and fortune 1 I prefer this to all the various meanings of the place with 'which I have met. Coverdale translates, fit Cs man t|)3t fs borne unto mrjscr^, Ifftc «ts tteT)5ttre tot to tie. Mtt«t of the ancient versions give a sinilar sense.-

V^rse 8. / would seek unto God] Were I in your place, instead of wasting my time, and irritating my soul with useless complaints, I would apply to my Maker, and, if conscious of my innocence, wo.^ld confidently connmit my oause to him.

Verse 9. Which doeth great things] No work, however complicated, is too deep for his counsel to plan; none, however stupendous, is too great for his power to execute. He who is upright is always safe in referring his cause to God, and trustbf in him.

Verse 1 0. Who giveth rain uprni the earth] The Chaldee gives this verse a fine tarn: " Who gives rain on the face of the land of Israel, and sends waters on the face of the provinces of the people.** Similar to our Lord's saying, which is expressed in the half of the compass: Your Father which is in heaven

Sendeth waters up&n tht fields] The term ni}fin chutsoth, tvhioh we translate fields^ and generally sig Tiifies streets, may here mean those plantfUions which are laid out in ridges qp plats, in an orderly, ngular manner. God does not only send rain upon, the earth in a general manner, but, by an especial providence, waters the cultivated ground, so that not one ridge is destitute of ite due proportion of fructifying moisture.. Verse 11. To set up oh high those thathelow] He «0 4ietribate8 his providential Ueasiviit;wi4|oul faip-

that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.

12 'He disappointetb the devices of the crafty, so that tKo hands ' cannot perform their enterprise.

13 *He taketh the wise 'in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

14 ' They ^ meet with darkness in- the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

1 5 But ^ he saveth the poor from-the sword,

tiality, that the land of the poor manria as well sunned znd watered ai^ that of the rich; so that he is thus set upon a level vith the UrqIb of the soil.

Verse 13. He diswppointeth (he devices of the 0nfti\ AA these sayings refer to God^s ptfUcular pnmdencej by which he is ever working for the good, wad e«mterwor)dng the plots of the wicked. And as wniiaoa as are the contingent, capricious, and malevolent acts,of mtJit 8o varied are his providential inlerferences; disai^inting the devices, snares, and plots of the crafty, so that their plans being confounded, and their machinery broken in pieces, their hands canaW perform their enterprises.

Verse 13. He taketh the wise in their Own craftiness] So counterworks them as to cause tlicir feet to be taken in their own snares, and their evil d^alihgs to fall on their.own pate. Such frequent proofs has God given of his especial interference in behalf of the innocent, who have been the objects of the plots and CTil designs of the wicked, by turning those evil devices against their framers, that he who digs a pit far his neighbour shall fall into it himself has become a univers^ adage, and has passed, either in so many words or in flense, into all the languages of all the people of the earth. Lucretius expresses it strongly:

Circumretit enim vis atque injuria quemquc, Atqae^ nnde exoz^ est, ad eum plerumoue revortit.

LucRET. lib. v., ver. 1151. ^' For force ^d wrong entangle the man that uses them; And^ for the most part, recoil on the hedd of the contriver."

Verse 14. They meet with darkness in the daytime] God confounds them and their measures; and, with all their cunning and dexterity, they are outwitted, and often act on their own projects^ planned wiiii eaie and skill, as if they had been the crudest emiceptions of the most disordered minds. They act in noonday as if the sun were extinct ^ and their eyes put out. Thus does God " abate their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices."

Verse 15, jjjiis saveth the poor from the sword, frem f^nrmptc/A] This is rather a harsh constTUCtion. To

1 6 * So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

17 y Behold, happy i« the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

18 » For he mafcelh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands ma}ie whole.

19 »He -shall deh ver thee in six troubles t yea, in seven ** there shall no evil touch

iLvoid this, some have proposed to render yvfXO mis* cftt^reb, which we translate from the sword, the perse^ cutedi but, I am afraid, on very slender aathority. Instead of tSTI'fiO yyf\^ mechereb mippihem, '* from the sword, from their mouth,^* eleven of Kennicott and Dt Rossi^s"biSS. read OTTfi i'THD mechereb pihem^ from the sword of their mouth; and with these MSS. • the ChaTdee, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic agree. The verse, therefore, may be translated thus: —

He saveth from the sword of their mouth; Jhe poor from the hand of the mighty. Or thus: —

He saveth fi^om the sword of their mouth; And with a -strong hand the impoverished.

Verrfe 16. So the poor] St dal, he who is made thifu who is wasted, extenuated-; liath hope — he sees what God is accustomed to do, and he ejtpects a repeiiiion of ^acious dealings in his own behalf; and b^ cause God deals' thus with those who trust in hbii, th(*r«fore the mouth of impiety is stopped.

Religion is kept alive in tha earth, becaoae of Qod^s signal interventions in behalf of the bodies and souls of his followers.

Verse 17. Behold, happy is the man] fl^H Atnne^, hehold, is wanting in five of Rennicott'^s and De Rossi's MSS., and also in the Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic.

We have had fathers of our flesh, who corrected us for I heir pleasure, or according to their caprices, and we were subject to them: how much more should we be Bubject to the Father of spirits, and live 1 for he corrects that we may be partakers of his holiness, in order that we may be rendered fit for his glory. Sea Heb. xii. 5; James i. 12; and Prov. iii. 12.

Verse 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles^ The nnmbers six and seven are put here for many^ Though a number of troubles should come upon Xhsm all at ome, and there should be no hope, humanly speaking, yet God would rid thee out of them all; for he ^V6fi-a8 well from many as from/ytr. We may

the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

22 At destruction and. famine thou* shah laugh: ff neither shalt (hou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

23 ^ For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and tife beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

also understand the words, He who hath heen thy deliverer in past troubles, will not deny his help in those which are to corae.

Verse 20. In famine he shall redeem thee] The Clialdee, which understands this chapter as speaking of the troubles and deliverances of the Israelites in Eg^t and the wilderness, renders this ve^se as folk^'s: '* In the famine of Egypt he redeemed thee from death; and in the war of Amalek, from the daying of the sword."

Verse 21. Thou shalt be hid from tfie scourge of the tongue] The Targum refers this to the incantations of Balaam: " From injury by the tongue of Balaam thou shalt be hidden in> the clouds; and thou shalt not fear from the blasting of the Midianites, whei^ it shall come."

Perhaps no evil is more dreadful than the scourge of the tongue: evil-speaking, detraction, backbiting, calumny, slander, tale-bearing, whispering, and scandalizing, are some -of the terms which we use when endeavouring to- express the baleful influence and effects of that member, which is a world of fire, kindled from the nethermost hell. The Scripture abounds with invectives and execrations against it. See Psa. xxxi. 20, lii. 2-4; Prov. xii. 18, xiv. 3; James iii. 5—8.

Neither shalt thou- be afraid] " Thou shouldst have such strong confidence in God, that even in the presence of destruction thou shouldst not fear death," the God of life and power being with thee.

Verse 22. At destruction and famine, thou shalt Umgh] This most forcibly expresses the strongest security, and confidence in that security. ^* In -the

desolation of Sihon, and in the famine of the desert, thou shalt laugh; and of the «amps of Og, who is compared to a wild beast of the earth, thou shalt not be afraid." — Targum.

Verse 23. Thou shalt he in league wiih /he stones of the field] Instead of ^J3K abney, stones, Mr. Good reads ^j:i beney, sons, or produce; but this reading is not supported by any ancient version, nor, as far as I know, by any MS. yet collated. We must, therefore, take up the text as we find it, and make the best we can of the present reading.

thy tabernacle shall be in peace; Ante i. oiymp. and thou shalt visit thy habita- Ante u. c. cir. tion, and shalt not ^ sin. ^^'

. 25 Thou shalt know also that ^tliy seed shall 66'°* great, and thine offspring * as the ^ass of the earth.

26 " Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like a9 a i^ock of com ^ cometh in his season,

27 Lo this, we have ^ searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thgu it ' for thy good.

not to fear, *t because thy covenant is on tables of stone, which are publicly erected in the field; and the Canaanites, which are compared to the beasts of the field, have made peace with thee."

Perhaps the reference is to those roch or strong holds, where banditti secured themselves and their prey, or where* the emirs or neighbouring chiefs had their ordinary residence. Eliphaz may be understood as saying: Instead, then, of taking advantage of thee, as the Sabeans have done, the circumjacent chieflains will be confederate with thee; and the very beasts- of the field will not be permitted to harm- thy flocks.

Coverdale' seems to have had an idea of this kind, as vfe find he translates the verse thus:^

Verse 24. Thou shalt know] Thou shalt be so fully satisfied pf the friendly disposition of all thy neighbours, that thou shalt rest secure in thy bed, and not be afraid of any danger, though sleeping in thy tent in the field; and when thou retumest from thy country excursions, thou shalt find that thy habitation has been preserved in peace and prosperity, and that thou hast made no mistake in thy trust, in thy confidence, or in thy confederates.

As to KOnn techeta, which we translate tlum shalt not SIN, it comes from KDH chala, to err, to mistake, to miss the mark: hence to sin, transgress Gods lawsy seeking for happiness in forbidden i^nd unlawful things, and therefore missing the mark^ because in them happiness 18 |ieC to be found: and it is rery likely, from the coonectimi above, that to mistake or err is its meaning in this place. I need not add, that the Aral) chiefs, ^ho had their castles or strong holds, frequently in their coontry excursions lodged in tents in t^p open fields; and that on such occasions a hosHle neighbour sometimes took advantage of their absence, attacked and pillaged their houses, and carried off their families and household. See at the end of this chapter.

Verse 25. Thine offspring as the grass \ Thou shalt have a numerous and permanent issue.

Verse 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave] Thou' shale not die before thy time; thou, shalt depart from life like a full-fed guest; happy in what thou hast known, and in what thou hast' enjoyed.

lUJte as a shock of com] Thou shalt completely run through the round of the spfing, summer, autumh, and winter of life; and thou shalt be buried like a wholesome seed in the earth; from which thou sh^lt again rise up into an eternal spring!,.

Verse 27. Lo this, we have searched it]. What I have told thee is the^ sum of our wisdom and experience on these important points. These are established maxims, which universal experience supports. Know — cnderstand, and reduce them to practice for thy good. Thus ends Eliphaz, thq Temanite, *' full of wise saws and ancient instances;" but he miserably perverted them in his application of them to Job^s caqe and character. They, contain, however,.many wholesome truths, of which the wise in heart may make a very advantageous practical use.

The predatory excursions referred to in verse 23 were not unfrequent among pur own barbarous ances^ tors. An affecting picture of this kind is drawn by Shakspearet from Holinshed*s Chronicles^ of the case of Macduff, whose castle was attacked in his absence by Macheik, and his wife and all his children murdered. A similar incident was the ground of the old heroic ballad of Hardicanute. When the veteran -heard that a host of Norwegians had landed to pillage the ' country, he armed, and posted to the field to meet the invading (oe. He slew the chief in battle, and routed his pillaging banditti. While this was taking place, another party took the advantage of his absence, attacked his castle, and carried off or murdered his lovely wife and family; which, being perceived on his return by the war and age-worn chief, is -thus affectingly described by the unknown poet: —

Loud and chill blew the westlin wind, Sair beat the heavy showir, * Mirk grew the nicht eir HardykntUe Wan neir his stately tower:

His tower that ns'd with torches bleise,

•To shine sae %ur al nich^ Seim'd now as black as mourning weid» Nae marvel, sair he sich'd.

" Thair*8 nae light in my lady^s bowir; Thair^s nae light in my hall; ^ Nae blink shynes round my FotWy fair; Nor ward stands on my wall.

What Bodes it, Thomas! Robert! say V* l^ae answer — speaks their dreid; ** Stand back, my sons, Fll be your gjde;" But bye they pass*d with speid.

^ " As fast I haif sped owr Scotland's foes" — There ceis'd his brag of weir. Sair 8chamt> to mind ocht tiut hl» dame, • And maiden Fairiy &ir.

Black feir he felt; but what to feir

He wist not yet with dreid; ^ -

Sair schook his body, sair his limbs, And all the warrior fied.

The ending of this poem is lost; but we here see that the castle of Hardicanute was surprised, and liis family destroyed, or carried off, while he and his sons had been employed in defeating the invading Norwegians. Thank God! civilization, the offspring of the spread of Christianity, has put an end to these barbarous practices ampng us; but in the Ecut, where Christianity is not, they flourish still. Britons! send out your Bible and your missionaries to tame these barbarians; for whom heathenism has done nothing, and the Koran next to nothing. Ciifilization itself, without the BiUe, will do as little; for the civilized Greeks and Romans were barbarians, fell and murderous; living in envy and malice, hateful, hating one another, and offering hundreds at a time of human victims to their ruthless deities. Nothing but Chris^ tianity ever did, or ever can, cure these evils.

Jvh answers, and vindicates himself; and shows that the great affliction which he suffered was the cause of his complaining, by which life was rendered burdensome to him, 1—13. He complains that, whereas he expected consolation from his friends, he had received nothing but the bitterest reproaches, on the asswned ground that he must be a wicked man, else God would not so grievously afflict him, 14—20. He shows them that they kntw nothing of his cascr cmd that they had no compassion^ 21-23. And then entreats them, if they can, to show him in what he has offended^^QS he is ready to acknowledge and correct etery trespass, 24-30.

3 For now it wgiild be heavier ^ ih^n tlic sand of the sea: therefore ^ my wotda ft re swallowed up",

4 '^ For ilie arrows of the Almiglily are within me, the poison whereof drinkelh up my spirit: " the lorrors of God do set Uiemfielves in array against me.

5 Dolh the wild ass bray /when, he hath grass? OF lowelh the ox over his fodder?

6 Can that which is unsavoury ^ ^'^"jj- ^^^^ be calen without salt? or is there - Ante L oiymp, tasie in the white of an

7 The things that tny soul refuselh to touch are as my sorrowful meat*

8 O that I might have my request; and that God would grant me r tlic thing that I long for!

S Even ^ that it would 'please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand^ and cut me off f

10 Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not

Ycfse 2. Qthaf m\j grief w€r€ thorough! t/ u-EigJwJ] Job wished to be desjk with a(*cordmg lo Justice; as ha wa3 wilUfrg ihtxl hia sitia, if they couM be proved, should be weighed against bis nufCenn^; and If ibis cow Id not be done, be wished that bia suffcnn|Ts and his complainings might be weighed togeiher \ and it would then im seea thal^ bitter sis his^ comploinl had been, it was little when compaicd with the distress which occasioned it.

Verse 3- ffeatjiwr thari the sand of the iea} This includes Uca ideas i their number was too great to be cotmtcd I their weight was too great to be estimated*

Verse 4, nc arrows of the Abmghiy\ There is an evident reference here to vif&unds injlkttd hy poisoned etrrmts; and to the butuing fever oecasioned by such tcoundjr, produeing such an intense parching thirst as to dry up all the nmiBture b the syslcmt atop all the aahvary dnct^, thicken and itiJiLirne ibe blood, induce putrcsccncy, and terminate in raging manias producing the mbat terrifying images, from which the patient is relieved only by death. This is stronglj expressed in the fine firure ■ The poison duinketh up my bpjikt; the TEtiB^ins of Qon SET TUEAiSELTcs in hRUsY c^ainsl me. That calamities are represented among the Eaatem writers as the nrrowi! of the Aimightt/t we have abundant ijroofs In reference to this, 1 shall adduce thnt fine saying nttrihuted to Aalyt i^be son -in-law of Mohnmmedi in the Toozukt Tcemour: which I have spoken of alsewbere. '* Jt was once demandeil of the fourth ealiflT^ {Aait/i) * If the canupj of hetsven were a bow; ftnd if the f^arth were the cord thereof; and if calamities were tjje arrows; if ttianhnd were the mark for thoae arrows; and if At might if God, the tremendous and glorious, were the unerring Archf^; lo whom could the sons of Adam flee for protection 1' The ealiff answered, *Tbe sons of ^dam must flee unto tho Lord J " This fine image Job keeps in view in the eighth nivd ninth verses, wishing that the unerring marksman may let fltj these MTOwm, let looie his handi to dcslroy and eirt him ofT.

Verse 5* Doth the wild ass] VHB pere, translated onager^ by the Vulgate^ from the ovof aypioc of the Srptuai^mt, which we^ properly enough, tranahte wdd

3SS. It is the same with the t<sne ass; only in a wild state it grows to a larger size, is atronger, anti more fleet. The meaning of Job ap|>ears lo be this: You condemn me for complainLng; do I eomptain without a cause I The ^ild ass will not brajj^ and the 0ir will not low^ unless in want. If they have plenty of provender, ihey are silent. Were I at restj at ease, and happyi I would not complain.

Yerse G. Can thai which is tiTtsavouri/] Mr, Good renders ibis verse as follows: Doth insipid food with-. 4>ut a mixture of salti yea^ doth lAp whitt of the egg give forth putigenty f Which be thus illustrates; ** Doth that which hath nothing of seasoning, nothing of a pungent or irriliMe power within it, produce pun* gency or irritation T 1 too should be quiet and complain not, if I ha(t nothing provocative or aetimonious; hut, alas! the food I am doomed to partake of is tho very calamity wiuch is most acute lo my soul — that which I most loathe, and which ia most grievous or tryliig to my palate.'* Some render the original. Is there any dependence on the drivd of dremns J

There have been a gifeat variety of interpretittions Qfiven of thk verse- I cotdd add another; but that of Mr< Good is as Ukely to be correct as that of any other critic.

Verse 8. 0 thai I m^ghi have] As Job had nn hope that he t^hoold ever be redeemed from his present helpless state, he earnestly begs God to ahozien it by taking away bia life.

Verse 9. Let hose his hand] A metaphor taken from an archer drawing his arrow to the head, and then loosing hi^ holdj that the arrow may fly to th€ mark. See on ver. 4,

Verse 10. Then should J yet have comforf\ Instead of 11J? Of/, YET, three ^T Kennicott^s and De Rossi^s MSS. have HHl ^oth, mw. And this should he my comfort. The expeciaijon that he will speedily make an end of me would cause mc to rejoice with great joy. This reading is supported by the Vulgate and the Chaldee.

I would hsfden myself in sorroie} To know that I should sboTtly have an end put to my miaenea, would cause me to endure the present with determinate resolution. Lei htm not spare — ^let him uac whatever

4am LOiYiflfp. the words of ^ Uie Holy Oac, AAie il'c. e*r. 1 1 What is my strength > that I ^^' should hop© t and whal i> mine

12 /* my strength llie siren glh of stones? or is my flesh * of brass I

m^^ni lie chooses, for I will not resist his decree; be a AoTy, mad his deereca must be just,

Vetw II. What is my strengih] I can never supjMise tfafti my stxengtti will be leatored; and^ were ifaal pumble, b&ve I any comfortable prospecl of a tisppj lenninatioQ of my life? Had I any proarpect of JWtirt happifiessi, I mlgbt well bear my presmi lib; boi the Mat« of mj body ^n6 the «tMe of my circum^ «£aii^e« precjmle all hope.

Vemt 12* Is mt/ strength the strength of stones?] I aa neiiher a rod^ not h my flesh bfusif that I can \ bH Iheae calamities. Tbis ia u. prorirerbial-saymd fixivta in ail countries. Cioero says, Ni^n i exf e sojo scu^ptuSy aut e ruboek dolaim homo;

lllitim foitfa zeveal'dt and animates ibe fij^bl.

Trojsna, ht boldf and force to Totcc oppo^;

Kor UTt tbeir bodies aocits, nor nbb'd witb stekl;

Your weapons enter^ and your strokes they feel.

lime uc almost the same e repressions as those in Job,

Verve 13 la net my help in me 1] My help is all ia myself; aod, alis ] tbat is perfect weakness: and nf tu&mMienctt XVmT\ htshiyah^ all that is reo/, slaMe, ■nd |Prnnia>»eM, t* driven quite frmtt me^ My friends bare fareaken me, and 1 am abandon^ to myself; my froperty is all taken away, and I have no rtfo«f£«< leA. I believe Job neither saidi nor intended lo Mf, la wom^ interpreters bare it^ Reason %s ulterly drwmt fimn rne. Surely there is no mark in this el^pCer of his being deranged, or at all impaired in Mwetlect.

Vwim 14. To htm tfmt is quieted p\t^ should be Af$^^ from htsfnend; hut heforsaketh the feat of the Almighty -l The Vulgate gives a better sense, Q^i tallif ah mntco stta miserkordiamt trmorem Dornim dty^j^tiiti *■ He who takes away merey from his

14 "" To '^ him that is afflicted pity should be showed from his friend; tut ho forsaketh the fear of the Almighty-

friend, hath cast olTtbe fear of the Lord,*^ The word DdS lammaSf which we r«nde? ft? him who u affltctzo, fromiHO'^ m€(sah^ io dissoltfe^ or waste awityi is in thirfy-two of Dr. Kenmcotts nud i?c RossPs MSS. OKoS lemoest ** to him that dcspiscth his friend;" and hence the passage may be read: Tw him who desptseth his friend t it ts a reproach; and he will forsake the fear of the Almighty: or, as Mr. Good trartsfates,

^^ Shame to the man. \vhQ despiseth his friend I Ho indeed baih departed from tjie fear of the Almififbty.'* Mliphtz had, in effect, desptsed Job; and on thii^ ground had acted any thing but the part of a fnend towards him; and Jie well deserved the severe stroke which he here receives, A bpathen said, Aimeus ctrliu IB re mceHa cermitii'; the fall sense of which we have in oiir eommon adage:—

Job's frtends^ so called, supported each olher in their attempts to blacken the character of this worthy man; and their hand became the heavier, because tbey supposed the hand of God was upon him. To eacb of ibem, indiviUuaily, might be apphed tbe worda of another heathen:— -

-«Absentem qui rodit amicam,

Qui non defend it alio crqlpantc; ecdiUos Qui captat ri&us hotninum, famamque dicacia; Fingere qui non riaa potest j commissa lacero Qui nequit; hie niger est; himc tu, Romane, caveto, HoR* Satyr- hb- l^a. iy., ver. 81,

He who, malignant, tear» an absent friend; Or, when attacked by olbera, don^t defend; Who trivial bursts of laugh lei strives to raisej And courts, of prating petulance^ ihe praise; Of things he never saw who tells his tale^ Atjd fVjendiibip'4 socrets knows not to coficsal;^- This man is vile; here, RoroaUi fii your mark; His soul^s as black as bis complejtion^s dark^

Verse 1 5. Have deoit deceitfuUy as a 5ro^A] There is probably an allusion here to those latid torrents which make a sudden appearance, and as suddenly vanish; being produced by the fains that fall upon the moon tains doring the rainy season, and are soon absorbed by the thirsty sands over vyhich they run. At first they seem to promise a permcment sireamt and are notieed with delight by the people, who All their tanks or reservoirs from their waters; but sometimes ihey are so large and rapid as to carry every thing before them; and then suddenly fail? so that

. 1 6 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the

17 What time they wftx warm, * they vanish: 'when it is hot, they are- •consuined out of their place.

18 The paths of their way are turned asid^; they go to nothing, and perish,

1 9 The troops of * Tema looked, the companies of * Sheba waited for them.

20 They were ^ confoi^nded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were

ashamed. 21 ^For

there is no time to fill the tanks. The approach of Job^ friends promised ~inuch of «ynapathy and compassfbn; his expectations were raised:' but their conduct soon conrinced him that they were physicians of no value; therefore he compares them to the deceitful torrents that soon pass aweiy.

Verse 16. Blackish by reason of the ice] He represents th^ waters as being sometimes suddenly frozen, their fbam being turned into Ihe semblance- of snow or hoar-frost: when the heat comes, they are speedily liquefied; ani the eyaporation is so strong from the heat, and the absorptiofl so powerful from the^sand, that they soon jdisappear.