Notes on the Old and New Testaments

22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

the desolation of the Midianites when it came." Ver. 22: " In the desolation of Sihon, and in the famine of the desert, thou didst laugh; and of the camps of Og, who was like a wild beast of the earth, thou wert not afraid."

22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh. That is, thou shalt be perfectly safe and happy. They shall not come upon thee; and when they approach with threatening aspect, thou shalt smile with conscious security. The word here rendered famine (l^^) is an unusual word, and differs from that occurring in ver. 20, ^SJ'I. This word is derived from "(33 — to languish, to pine from hunger and thirst. It then means the languid and feeble state which exists where there is a want of proper nutriment. A sentiment similar to that which is here expressed occurs in Martial, iv. 19. 4

Ridebis ventos hoc munere tectu.s, et inibies. M JYeither shalt thou he afraid of the beasts of the earth. Wild beasts in new countries are always objects of dread, and in the fastnesses and deserts of Arabia, they were especially so. 'They abounded there; and one of the highest images of happiness there would be, that there would be perfect safety from them. A similar promise occurs in Ps. xci. 13:

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot.

And a promise similar to this was made by the Saviour to his disciples: " They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them." The sentiment of Eliphaz is, that they who put their trust in God would find protection, and have the consciousness that they were secure wherever they were.

23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts " of the field shall be at peace with thee.

23. For thou shalt be in league icith the stones of the field. In the Hebrew, '* There shall be a covenant between thee and the stones of the field." The sense is, they shall not harm thee. They are here spoken of as enemies that were made to be at peace, and that would nut annoy or injure. It is to be remembered that this was spoken in Arabia, where rocks and stones abounded, and where travelling, from that cause, was difficult and dangerous. The sense here is, as I understand it, that he would be permitted to make his way in ease and safety. Tindal renders it:

But the castels in the land shall be confederate with thee; The heastes of the fealde shall give thee peace.

Some have supposed that the meaning is, that the land would be free from stones that rendered it barren, and would be rendered fertile if the favor of God was sought. Shaw, in his Travels, supposes that it refers to the custom of walking over stones, in which the feet are liable to be injured every moment, and that the meaning is, that that danger would be averted by the divine interposition. By others it has been conjectured that the allusion is to a custom which is known as skopelism, of which Egmont and Heyman (Reisen, II. Th. S. 156), give the following account: " that in Arabia, if any one is living at variance with another, he places on his land stones as a warning that no one should dare to plow it, as by doing it he would expose himself to the danger of being punished by him who had placed the stones there." This custom is also referred to by Ulpian (L. ix. de officio Proconsulis), and in the Greek Pandects, Lib. Ix. Tit. xxii. Leg. 9. It may be doubted, however, whether this custom was as early as the lime of Job, or was so common

24 And thou shalt know ^ that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not '^ sin.

then as to make it probable that the allusion is to it. Rosenmiiller supposes the meaning to be, ' Thy field shall be free from stones, which would render it unfruitful.' Ahe u. neue Morgenland, ui loc. Other explanations may be seen in Rosenmiiller (Commentary), but it seems to me that the view presented above, that travelling would be rendered safe and pleasant, is the true one. Such a promise would be among the rich blessings in a country like Arabia.

24. And tliou shall know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace. Thy tent — (^^.n^) — showing that it was common tlien to dwell in tents. The sense is, that when he was away from home he would have confidence that his dwelling was secure, and his family safe. This would be an assurance producing no smaH' degree of consolation in a country abounding in wild beasts and robbers. Such is the nature of the blessing which Eliphaz says the man would have who put his confidence in God, and committed his cause to him. To a certain extent this was, and is, undoubtedly true. A man cannot indeed have miraculous assurance when from home, that liis wife and children are still alive, and in health; nor can he be certain tliat his dwelling is not wrapped in flames, or that it has been preserved from the intrusion of eviiminded men. But he may feel assured that all is under the wise control of God; that whatever occurs will be by h.is permission and direction, and will tend to ultimate good. He may also, with calmness and peace, commit his home with all that is dear to him to God, and feel that in his hands all is safe. IT Jiiid thou shalt visit thy habitation. That is, on the return from a journey, ^i And not sin. This is a very unhappy translation. The

25 Thou shall know also that thy seed shall be ^ great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

true S3iise is, thou slialt not miss thy dwelling; thou shalt not wander away lost, to return no more. The word here used, and which is rendered "sin" in our common version, is Kuin, hhdtd. It is true that it is commonly rendered to sin, and that it often has this sense. But it properly means to miss; that is, not to hit the mark, spoken of an archer, Judges XX. 16; then to make a false step, to stumble or fall, Prov. xix. 2. It thus accords exactly in sense with the Greek aaaoTdro). Here the original sense of the Hebrew word should be retained, meaning that he would not miss the way to his dwelling; that is, that he would be permitted to return to it in safety. Gesenius, however, renders it, " Thou musterest thy pasture (flocks), and missest naught:" that is, nothing is gone: all thy flocks are there. But the more obvious sense, and a sense which the connection demands, is that which refers the whole description to a man who is on a journey, and who is exposed to the dangers of wild beasts, and to the perils of a rougli and stony way, but who is permitted to visit his home without missing it or being disappointed. A great variety of interpretations have been given of the passage, which may be seen in Rosenmuller and Good. Many suppose it means that he should review his domestic affairs, and find all to his mind; or should find that every thing was in its place, or was as it should be. It cannot be doubted that the Hebrew word ^^ visit " ("^i^S) will bear this interpretation, but that above proposed seems to me best to suit the connection. The margin correctly renders it, en-.

25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great. Marg. much. That is, thy posterity shall be nume.—

26 Thou shait come to tJiy grave in a full age, " like as a shock of corn ' cometh in in his

ous. This was one of the blessings supposed to be connected with the favor of God. See Notes on Isa. liii. 10. U jind thine offspring as the grass of the earth. On the meaning of the word here rendered offspring, see Notes on Isa. xlviii. 19. Nothing is more common in the Scriptures, than to compare a prosperous and a happy man to a green and flourishing tree. See Ps. i. 3, xcii. 12-14. The idea here is, that the righteous would have a numerous and a happy posterity, and that the divine favor to them would be shown by the blessing of God on their children. Comp. Ps cxxviii. 1, 3.

Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord,

'J'hiit vvalketh in his ways.

Thy wife shall be a fruitful vine by the side of thine house; Thy children like olive-plants round about thy

26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in full age. That is, thou shalt have long life; thou shalt not be cut down prematurely, nor by any sudden calamity. It is to be remembered that long life was regarded as an eminent blessing in ancient times. See Notes on Isa. Ixv. 22. f Like as a shock of corn Cometh in in his season. Marg. ascendeth. As a sheaf of grain is harvested when it is fully ripe. This is a beautiful comparison, and the meaning is obvious. He would not be cut off before his plans were fully matured; before the fruits of righteousness had ripened in his life. He would be taken away when he was ripe for heaven — as the yellow grain is for the harvest. Grain is not cut down when it is green; and the meaning of Eliphaz is, that it is as desirable that man should live to a - good old age before he is gathered to his fathers, as it is that grain should be suffered to stand until it is fulljr ripe.

27 Lo this, we have searched '

27. Lo this. All this that I have said; the truth of all the remarks which I have made. If We have searched it. We have by careful observation of the course of events come to these conclusions. TJiesc are our views of the providence of God, and of the principles of his government, as far as we have had the opportunity of observing, and they are well worthy of your attention. The sentiments in these two chapters indicate close and accurate observation; and if we think that the observation was not always wholly accurate, or that the principles were carried farther than facts would warrant, or that Eliphaz applied them with somewhat undue severity to the case of Job, we are to remember that this Avas in the infancy of the world, that they had few historical records, and that they had?io tcritteyi revelation. If they were favored with occasional revelations, as Eliphaz claimed (ch. iv. 12, seq.), yet they were few in number, and at distant intervals, and the divine communications pertained to but few points. Though it may without impropriety be maintained that some of the views of Eliphaz and his friends were not wholly accurate, it, so it is; hear it, and knovr thou it for ' thy good.

yet we may safely ask. Where among the Greek and Roman sages can views of the divine government bo found that equal these in correctness, or that are expressed with equal force and beauty? For profound and accurate observation, for beauty of thought and sublimity of expression, the sage of Teman will not fall behind tlie sages of Athens; and not the least interesting thing in the contemplation of the book of Job, is the comparison which we are almost of necessity compelled to make between the observations on the course of events which were made in Arabia, and those which were made by the philosophers of the ancient heathen world. Is it improper to suppose that one design of this book was to show how far the human mind could go, with the aid of occasional revelations on a few points, in ascertaining tiie principles of the divine administration, and to demonstrate that, after all, the mind needed a fuller revelation to enable man to comprehend the truths pertaining to the kingdom of God.'' If Hear it for thy good. Marg. as in Heb. thyself. These principles are such that they are of importance for you to understand and to apply.

These two chapters comprise the answer of Job to the.^ipeech of Eliphaz. There is n:uch strong emotion in this reply; much that expresses the depth of his soirow; much real piety; and mucli also that cannot be justified in his impatience, and in his remonstrances with God for afflicting him. lie felt keenly the remarks of Eliphaz, and in the anguish of his soul, he gives vent to expressions which he himself afterwards sees to he improper, and for which, in the close, he makes humble and penitent acknowledgment to God. In reply to the harsh and severe insmuations of Eliphaz, he justifies the bitterness of his complaints by the severity of the affliction which he had been called to endure, ch. vi. 2-13. This object leads him into a paiticular statement of the depth and extent of his sorrows, as if they had not been understood or appreciated by his fijonds. He wishes (vs. 9,3) that his grief were thoioughly and attentively con- Bidercd; says (ver. 4) that the arrows of the Almighty are in him, and that the terrors of God are arrayed against him; remarks that he did not complain without cause, any more than the wild ass or the ox when they were perishing, vs. 5-7; reiterates his request that God wouM suffer hiLi to die, vs. 8, 9; repeats the thought that he would then have comfort in the grave, ver. 10; and complains bitterly that his strength was insufficient lo hear these heavy trials, lie then goes on to say, that a man in such ciicumstances ought to have the sympathy of his friends, but that Ms friends had deceived him, and had greatly aggravated his sufferings, vs. 14- 23. They had shown themselves to be like a brook in the desert, where a company of travellers expected to find water, hut which they found to he dried up, vs. 15-93. He then (vs. 24- 30) earnestly requests his friends to consider more attentively his circumstances, and to see whether his strong expressions could not be justified. He evidently supposes that they did not understand the depth of his sorrows, and did not sympathize with him as they ought to do. Ill justification of his feelings (ch. vii. 1-11), he recapitulates his suffeiings. Eliphaz had exliorted him to commit himself to God, and to bear all this with a calm and submissive mind. To all this he says (ch vii. 1) that life was short, and that the days of man were like those of an hireling, who anxiously longed forthe close of the day; that his was a life of toil and pain, where it was [iroper to look for the shades of the evening, vs. 2, 3; that his days and nights were tilled with vanity and sottovv. vs. 3, 4. He desciibes his disease as filling his flesh with worms and clods of dust. ver. 5; and says that his days are swift, and that he must soon vanish away like a cloud, and be known no more, ver. 10. How then, he asks, could lie restrain his anguish? How could he help speaking in the bitterness of his soul.' ver. 11. Hurried on by the deep sen.se of his sorrows, he now allows himself to expostulate in a very imjjvoper manner with God, and to remonstrate with him in great severity of language for thus afflicting him, vs. 12-19. He asks w liether he was a sea or a v, hale, that God should watch him in this manner, ver. 12; says that when he would take rest on his bed, then God frightened him with distressing visions, vs. 13, 14; that such was his condition that he loathed and hated his life, vs. 15, 16, and demands with impatience what is man that God should thus visit him, and that he would not for the briefest time let him alone, vs. 17-'9; and, continuing the same bitter language of complaint, he asks with impatience why, supposing he had sinned, was he of so much consequence as to attract, in- a special manner, the attention of the Almigiity.' What injury had his offence done to God, that he should visit him thus.-" Why did not God forgive the sin, and take his heavy hand from him? Why would he crush him down to the grave? vs. 20, 21. Substantially the.■Slime state of feeling is evinced in this speech of Job which was shown in ch. iii; and while there is great beauty, and much of the workings of the human heart developed, still there is much, as we shall see, which cannot be commended or approved.

"jDUT Job answered and said, -^ 2 Oh that my grief were thorouglily weighed, and my ca-

2. 0 that my grief loere thoroughly iceighed. The word rendered grief here (^'^'3) may mean either vexation, trouble, grief, Eccl. i. 18, ii. 23; or it may mean anger^ Deut. xxxii. 19. Ezek. XX. 28. It is rendered by the LXX here, oo//j — anger; by Jerome, pcccfli^a — sins. The sense of the whole passage may either be, that Job wished his anger or his complaints to be laid in the balance with his calamity, to see if one was more weighty than the other — meaning that he had not complained unreasonably or unjustly (RosenmiiUcr); or that he wished that his afflictions might be put into one scale and the sandy of the sea in another, and the one weighed against the other (JVoyes); or simply, that he desired that his sorrows should be accurately estimated. This latter is, I think, the true sense of the pa.-sage. He supposed his friends had not under-

] amity ^ laid in the balances together!

stood and appreciated his sufferings; that they were disposed to blame him without understanding the extent of his sorrows, and he desires that they would estimate them aright before they condemned him. In particular, he seems to have supposed that Eliphaz had not done justice to the depth of his sorrows in the remarks which he had just made. The figure of weighing actions or sorrows, is not uncommon or unnatural. It means to take an exact estimate of their amount. So we speak of /tea??*/ calamities, of afflictions that crush us by their weight, etc.!I Laid in the balances. Marg. Lifted up. That is, raised up and put in the scales, or put in the scales and then raised up — as is common in weighing. ^ Together ('^'T'.'j). At the same time; that nil my sorrows, griefs, and woes, were piled on the scales, and then weighed He supposed that only a partial esti-

3 For now it would be heavier than the sand " of the sea: therefore ' my words are swallowed up.

mate had been formed of the extent of liis calamities.

3. Hcdvicr than the sand of the sea. Tliat is, tliey would be found to be insupportable. Who could bear up the sands of the sea? So Job says of his sorrows. A comparison somewhat similar is found in Prov. xxvii. 3.

Heavy is a stone, and weighty the sand of the sea, But a fool's wrath is iieavier than them hoth.

V Mij words are srcal kneed V]). Marg. / vunit 2cords to express viy grief. This expresses llie true sense — but not with the same poetic beauty. We express the same idea when we say that we are choired with grief: we are so overwhelmed witii sorrow that we cannot speak. Ajiy very deep emotion prevents the power of utterance. So in Ps. Ixxvii. 4:

So th« well-known expressions in Virgil,

There has been, however, considerable variety in the interpretation of the word iierc rendered sicalloiccd vp — ^-^. Gesenius supposes that it means to speak rashly, to talk at random, and that tlie idea is, that Job now admits that his remarks Ijad been unguarded — " therefore were my words rash." The same sense Castell gives to the Arabic word. Schultens renders it, " therefore are my words tempestuous or fretful." Roscnmilller, " my words exceed due moderation." Castellio, " my words fill." Luther, "therefore it is vain that I speak." The LXX, "but my words seem to be evil " Jerome, " my words are full of grief." In this variety it is difficult to determine the meaning; but ])robably the

I 4 For the arrows of the Al- I mighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors ' of God do set themselves in array against me.

old interpretation is to be retained, by which the word is derived from?'''', to absorb., to sioalloic up. Comp. Prov. XX. 25. Obad. 16. Job xxxix. 30. Prov. xxiii. 2. The word does not elsewhere occur.

4. For the arroics of the Mmighty are within me. That is, it is not a light affliction that I endure. I am wounded in a manner which could not be caused by man — called to endure a severity of suffering which shows that it proceeds from the Almighty. Tlius called to suffer what man could not cause, he maintains that it is right for him to complain, and thai the words which he employed were not an improper expression of the extent of the grief. 1! The poisoji lohereof drinJicth up my spirit. Takes away my vigor, my comfort, my life. He here compares his afflictions with being wounded with poisoned arrows. Such arrows were not unfrequently used among the ancients. The object was to secure certain death, even w'here the wound caused by the arrow itself would not produce it. Poison was made so concentrated, that the smallest quantity conveyed by the point of an arrow would render death inevitable. This practice contributed much to the barbarity of savage war. Thus Virgil speaks of poisoned arrows:

Ur.gcre tela manu, fcrrumquc armnro vencno.

Vulnera dirigcre, ct calamos arniaie veneno.

Qui mortis ssevo geminent ut vulnere causas, Omnia vipereo spicuia felle linuiit.

Virgil, A'^n. xii. 857. lu tlio Odyssey, i. 260, soq. we read of Ulysses that lie went to Epliyra, a city of Thessnly, to obtain IVoni Ilus, the son of Marnier, deadly poison, that he might smear it over the iron points of his arrows. The pestilence which produced so great a destruction in the Grecian camp is also said by Homer (Iliad i. 46) to have been caused by arrows shot from tlic bow of Apollo. The phrase " drinketh up the spirit " is very expressive. We speak now of the sword tliirsting for blood; but this language is more expressive and striking. The figure is not uncommon in the poetry of the East and of the ancients. In the poem of Zohair, the third of the Moailakat, or those transcribed in golden letters, and suspended in the temple of Mecca, the same image occurs. It is thus rendered by Sir William Jones:

A similar expression occurs in Sophocles in Trachinn. vs. 1061, as quoted by Schultens, when describing the pestilence in which Hercules suffered:

This has been imitated by Cicero in Tusculan. Disp. ii. 8:

Ha?c mo irrotivit veste fuiiali inscium, Clure lutcri inliaprons morsu laccrat viscera, Urgensiiue graviter, pulmonum liaurit spiritus, Jam decoloieiTi sanguincm omnem exsorbuit.

Ecce subii virus taciturn carpctque niedulla.s Igni.s eda.x, calidoque inciulit viscera tabe. Ebil)it liumorem circa vitalia fiisum Pestis, ot in sicco linguain torrere palate Coppit.

Fai more beautiful, however, than the expressions of any of the ancient classics — more tender, more delicate, more full of pathos — is the description which the Christian poet Covvper gives of the arrow that pierces the side of the sinner. It is the account of his own conversion:

[ was a stricken deer thai left the herd Long since. With many an arrow deep inti.K'J iSIy panting side was charged, when [ withdrew, To seek a tranquil death in distant shades. 'J'hcro I was found by one, who had himself Been iuirt by the archers. In his side ho bore, And in iiis hands and feet, the ciuol scars. 1\\si<, b. iii

Of such wounding lie did not complain. The arrow was extracted by tiie tender liand of him who alone had power to do it. Had Job known of him; had he been fully acquainted with the plan of mercy through him, and the comfort which a wounded sinner may find there, we should not Jiave lieard the bitter complaints which he uttered in his trials. Let us not judge him with the severity which we may use of one who is afflicted and complains under the full light of the gospel. Tl The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. Tliose things which God uses to excite terror. The word which is rendered "set in array " (T^^^) pi-operly denotes the drawing up of a line for battle; and tlie sense is here, that all these terrors seem to be drawn up in battle array, as if on purpose to destroy him. No expression could more strikingly describe the condition of an awakened sinner, though it is not certain that Job used it precisely in this sense. The idea as he used it is, that all that God commonly employed to produce alarm seemed to be drawn up as in a line of battle against him.

5. Doth tlie wild ass bray ichen he hath grass. On the habits of the wild ass, see Notes on ch. xi. 12. The meaning of Job here is, that he did not complain without reason; and this he illustrates by the fact that tiie wuld animal that had a plentiful supply of food would be gentle and calm, and that when its bray was heard it was proof that it was suffering. So Job says that there was a reason for his complaining. He was suffering; and perhaps he means that his complaint was just as natu-

6 Can that Vv'hich is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is th^re

ral, and just as innocent, as the braying of the ass for its food. He should have remembered, however, that he was endowed with reason, and that he was bound to evince a different spirit from tlie brute creation. TT Or loweth the ox over his fodder That is, the ox is satisfied and unmurmuring when his wants are supplied. The fact that he lows is proof that he is in distress, or tiiere is a reason for it. So Job says that his complaints were proof that he v^as in distress, and that there was a reason for his language of complaint.

6. Can that which is unsavory. Which is insipid, or without taste. II Be eaten without salt. It is necessary to add salt in order to make it either palatable or wholesome. The literal truth of this no one can doubt. Insipid food cannot be relished, nor would it long sustain life. "The Orientals eat their bread often with mere salt, without any other addition except some dry and pounded sumersavory, which last is the common method at Aleppo." Russell's Natural History of Aleppo, p. 27. It should be remembered, also, that the bread of the Orientals is commonly mere unleavened cakes. See Rosenmtiller, Alte u. neuc Morgenland, on Gen. xviii. 6. The idea of Job in this adage or proverb is, that there was a fitness and propriety in things. Certain things went together, and were necessary companions. One cannot be expected without the other; one is incomplete without the other. Insipid food requires salt in order to make it palatable and nutritious, and so it is proper tliat suffering and lamentation should be united. There was a^reason for his complaints, as there was for adding salt to unsavory food. Much perplexity, however, has been fidt in regard to this whole passage, vs. 6, 7. Some liave supposed that Job means to rebuke Eliphaz severely for his harangue on the necessity of patience, which he characterizes as insipid, impertinent, and disgusting to him; as being in fa,.t ae unpleasant to his soul as the white of an egg was to the taste. Dr. Good explains it as meaning, "Doth that which has nothing of seasoning, nothing of a pungent or irritating power within it, produce pungency or irritation? I too should be quiet and complain not, if I had nothing provocative or acrimonious; but alas! the food I am doomed to partake ot is the very calamity which is most acute to my soul, that which I most loathe, and which is most grievous or trying to my palate." But the real sense of this first part of the verse is, I think, that which is expressed above — that insipid food requires proper condiment, and that in hia sufferings there was a real ground for lamentation and complaint — as there was for making use of salt in that which is unsavory. I see no reason to think that he meant in this to reproach Eliphaz for an insipid and unmeaning address. H Or is there any taste in the v:hitc of an egg? Critics and commentators have been greatly divided about the meaning of this. The LXX render it, el d? y.al fori yei\((a iv ^)i']f(aoi. y.ffolq; is there any taste in vain words? Jerome (Vulg), " can any one taste that which being tasted produces death?" The Targums render it substantially as it is in our version. The Hebrew word rendered "white" C"|'^'^) means properl}^ spittle, 1 Sam. xxi. 14. If applied to an egg, it means the white of it, as resembling spittle. The word rendered "egg" (r^^^t^^) occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. If it be regarded as derived from D5'7, to shcp, or dream, it may denote somnolency or dreams, and then fatuity, folly, or a foolish speech, as resembling dreams; and many have supposed that Job meant to characterize the speech of Eliphaz as of this description. The word may mean, as it does in Syriac, a species of herb, the " purslain " (Gesenius), mty taste in Ihe white of an egg? I 8 Oh that I might have my 7 The things that my soul re- i request; and that God would fused to touch are as my sorrow- grant me ' the thing that I long ful meat. I for;

duced to the greatest pain and distress in partaking of his food, since he loathed that which he was obligedto eat (comp. Notes ch. iii. 24), or more probably his cahunity is described under the image of loathsome food in accordance with the Oriental usage, by which one is said to eat or taste any thing; i. e. to experience it. His sorrows were as sickening to him as the articles of food which he had mentioned were to the stomach. The LXX render it strangely, " For my wrath — uov r] ooyj] — cannot cease. For I see my food offensive as the smell of a lion" — woTTfO onijiirjp Afo/'ro?.

8. Oh that I mi(rht have my request. To wit, death. This he desired as the end of his sorrows, either that he might be freed from them, or that lie might be admitted to a happy world — or both. 1[ Would grant me tlie thing that I long for. Marg. My expectation. That is, death. He expected it; he looked out for it; he was impatient that the hour should come. This state of feeling is not uncommon — where sorrows become so accumulated and intense that a man desires to die. It is no evidence, however, of a preparation for death The wicked are more frequently in this state than the righteous. They are overwhelmed with pain; they see no hope of deliverance from it; and they impatiently wish that the end had come. They are stupid about t!ie future world, and either suppose that the grave is the end of their being, or that in some undefinable way they will be made happy hereafter. The righteous, on the other hand, arc willing to wait until God shall be pleased to release them, feeling that He has some good purpose in all that they endure, and that they do not suffer one pang too much proverbial for its insipidity among the Arabs, Greeks, and Romans, but which was used as a salad; and the whole phrase here may denote purslain-hroth., and hence an insipid discourse. This is the interpretation of Gesenius; but the more common and more probable explanation is that of our common version, denoting the white of an egg. But what is the point of the remark as Job uses it.? That it is a proverbial expression, is apparent; but in what way Job meant to apply it, is not so clear. The Jews say that he n^eant to apply it to the speech ofEliphazas being insipid and dull, without any thing to penetrate the heart or to enliven the fancy; a speech as disagreeable to the mind as the white of an cgs, was insipid to the taste. Roseniniiller supposes that he refers to his afflictions, as being as unpleasant to bear as the white of an egg was to the taste. It seems to me that the sense of all the proverbs used here is about the same, and that they mean, ' there is a reason for every thing which occurs. The ass brays and the ox lows only when destitute of food. That which is insipid is unpleasant, and the white of an egg is loathsome. So with my afflictions. They produce loathing and disgust. My very food (ver.7) is disagreeable, and ez;er?/fAmoseems tasteless as the most insipid food would. Hence the language which I have used — language spoken not without reason, and expressive of this state of the soul.'

7. The things that my soul refused to touch. That / refused to touch — the word soul here being used to denote himself. The idea here is, that those things which formerly were objects of loathing to him, had become his painful and distressing food. The idea may be either that he was re-

9 Even that " it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

Such sometimes were Job's feelings; but here, as in some other instances, no one can doubt that he was betrayed into unjustifiable impatience under his sorrows, and that he expressed an improper wish to die.

9. Even that it would pi ease God to destroy me. To put me to death, and to release me from my sorrows. Comp. ch. iii. 20, 21. The word rendered destroy here C^^"^) means properly to break in pieces, to crusli, to trample under foot, to make small by bruising. Here the sense is, that Job wished that God would crush hiui, so as to take his life. The LXX render it loound — roojoaro). Tiie Chaldee renders it, " Let God, who has begun to make me poor, loose his hand and make me rich." IT That he ^couUl let loose his hand. Job here represents the hand of God as bound or confined. He wishes that that fettered hand were released, and were so free in its inflictions that he might be permitted to die. IT j^iid cut me off. This expression, says Gesenius (Lex. in the word ^'^^j? is a metaphor derived from a weaver, who, when his web is finished, cuts it off from the thrum by which it is fastened to the loom. See Notes on Isa. xxxviii. 12. The sense is, that Job wished that God would wholly finish his work, and that as he had begun to destroy him he would complete it.

10. Then should I yet have comfort. Dr. Good renders this, " then would I already take comfort." Noyes, " yet it should still be my consolation." The literal sense is, ' and there w'buld be to me yet consolation;' or ' my consolation would yet be.' That is, he would find comfort in the grave (comp. ch. iii. 13, seq.), or in the future world. 1[ /

10 Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for '' I have not concealed the words of the Holy '^ One.

would harden myself in sorrow. Dr. I Good renders this, " and 1 will leap i for joy." In a similar way Noyes I renders it, " I would exult." So Schultens understands the expression. The Hebrew word rendered " I would harden myself" C^?^) occurs nowhere else, and expositors have been divided in regard to its meaning. According to Castell, it means to strengthen, to confirm. The Chaldee '^r^ means to grow warm, to glow, to burn. The Arabic

XJ^J^ is applied to a horse, and means to beat the earth with his feet, and tiien to leap, to exult, to spring up: and this is the idea which Gesenius and others suppose is to be retained here — an idea which certainly better suits the connection than the common one of hardening himself in sorrow. The LXX render it riD.ofiriv — " I would leap," or exult, although they have sadly missed the sense in the other part of the verse. Tiiey render it, " Let but my city be a i grave, upon whose walls I will leap; I will not spare, for I have not falsified the holy words of my God." The Chaldee renders it, " and I will exult (?'1^?!?.1) when fury comes upon the wicked." The probable meaning is, that Job would exult or rejoice, if he was permitted to die; he would triumph even in the midst of his sorrow, if he might lie down and expire. U Let him not spare. Let him not withhold or restrain those sufferings which would sink me down to the grave. IT For I have not concealed the zaords of the Holy One. I have openly and boldly maintained a profession of attachment to

1 1 What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?

ner, professed attachment to my Maker; I have not refused to acknowledge tliat I am his; I have not been ashamed of him and his cause. How much consolation may be found in such a reflection when we come to die! If there has been a consistent orofession of religion; if there has been no shrinking back from attachment to God; if in all circles, high and low, ricii and poor, gay and serious, there lias been an unwavering and steady, though not ostentatious, attachment to the cause of God, it will give unspeakable consolation and confidence when we come to die. If there has been concealment, and sJiame, and shrinking back from a profession of religion, there will be shame, and regret, and sorrow. Comp. Ps. xl. 9. Acts XX. 20-27.

11. IVhat is mtj strength, that I should hope? Job had hitlierto borne his trials without appreiiension that he would lose his constancy of hope, or his confidence in God. He here seems to apprehend that his constancy might fail, and he therefore wishes to die before he should be left to dishonor God. He asks, therefore, what strength he had that he should hope to be able to sustain his trials much longer. V. And tch.at is mine end, that I should prolong viy life? Various interpretations have been given of this passage. Some suppose it means, ' Wluit is the limit of my strength.' How long will it last.'' Others, ' Wiiat end is there to be to n)y miseries V Others, ' How distant is mine end.' How long have I to live.'' Noyes renders it, " And what is mine end that I should be patient.'" Rosenmiiller supposes that the word "end" here means the 'end of his strength,' or that he had not such foriitudc as to be certain that lie could long bear his trials without complaining or murmuring. The

12 J5 my Strength the Strength of stones 1 or is my flesh ' of brass?

phrase rendered 'prolong my life,' probably means rather 'to lengthen the patience,' or to hold out ujider accumulated sorrows. TJie word rendered life (~^..5) often means soul, spirit, mind, as well as life, and the sense is, that he could not hope, from any strength that he had, to bear without murmuring these trials until the natural termination of his life; and hence he wished God to grant his request, and to destroy ])im. Feeling that his patience was sinking under his calamities, lie says that it would be better for him to die than be left to dishonor his Maker. It is just tiie state of feeling which many a sufiercr has, that his trials are so great that nature will sink under them, and that death would be a relief Thcji is the lime to look to God for support and consolation.

12. Is my strength the strnigth of stones? That is, like a rampart or fortification made of stones, or like a craggy rock that can endure assaults made upon it. A rock will bear the beatings of the tempest, and resist the floods, but iiow can frail man do it.' The idea of Job is, that he had no strength to bear up against these accumulated trials; that he v/as afraid that he should be left to sink under them, and to complain of God; and that his friends were not to wonder if his strength gave way, and lie uttered the language of complaint. U Or is my flesh of brass? jMarg. hrazen. The comparison here used is not uncommon. So Cicero, Aca. Q,u. iv. 31, says, Non enim est c saxo sculptus, aut e robore dolatus iiomo; habet corpus, habct animum; movetur mente, movctur sensibus: — "for man is not chiselled out of the rock, nor cut from a tree; he has a body, he has a soul; he is actuated by mind, he is swayed by senses." So

13 Is not my help in me? and is v/isdom driven quite from me?

'Round as to his vast breast and broad back, and with iron flesh, he is as if a colossus formed with a hammer.' So in Homer the expression frequently occurs — aidr^neiov rjToo — an iron heart — to denote courage. And so, according to Schultens, it has come to be a proverb, ovy. ano tJui'o?, oi'y. (XTTo TTfro?/? — not from a tree, not from a rock. The meaning of Job is plain. He had flesh like others. His muscles, and nerves, and sinews, could not bear a constant force applied to them, as if they were made of brass or iron. They vi2ist give way; and he apprehended that he would sink under these sorrows, and be left to use language that might dishonor God. At all events, he felt that these great sorrows justified the strong expressions which he had already employed.

13. Is not my help in me? This would be better rendered in an affirmative manner, or as an exclamation. The interrogative form of the previous verses need not be continued in this. The sense is, ' alas! there is no help in me!' That is, ' I have no strength; I must give up under these sorrows in despair.' So it is rendered by Jerome, RosenniQller. Good, Noyes, and others. IT And is icisdom quite driven from ine? This, also, should be read as an affirmation, ' deliverance is driven from me.' Tiie word rendered wisdom, (tl^'iT^in) means properly a setting upright; then help, deliverance; and then purpose, enterprise. See Notes on ch. v. 1^2. Here it means that all hope of deliverance had fled, and that he was sinking in despair.

" pity should he shewed, from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

melteth. The word here used (^7) is from GO'^, ina.sds, to melt, flow down, waste away, and here n)eans one who pines away, or is consumed under calamities. The design of this verse is, to reprove his friends for the little sympathy which they had shown for him. He had looked for consolation in his trials, and he had a right to expect it; but he says that he had met with just the opposite, and that his calamity was aggravated by the fact thatth.ey had dealt only in the language of severity. ITPif^/sliould be shovvcd/ro7?«, his friend. Good renders this, " shame to the man who despiseth his friend." A great variety of interpretations have been proposed of the passage, but our translation has probably expressed the true sense. If there is any place where kindness should be shown, it is when a man is sinking under accumulated sorrows to the grave. H Bui he for sakcth the fear of the Almightij. This may be either understood as referring to the language which Job says they had used of him — charging him with forsaking the fear of God, instead of consoling him; or it may mean that they had forsaken the fear of God in reproaching him, and in failing, to comfort him; or it may mean that if such kindness were not shown to a friend in trial, he would he left to cast off" the fear of God. This last interpretation is adopted by Noyes. Good supposes that it is designed to be a severe reproach of Eliphaz, for the course whicli he had pursued. It seems to me that this is probably the correct interpretation, and that the particle T here is used in an adversative sense, meaning that while it was an obvious dictate Oi piety to show kindness to a friend, Eliphaz had forgotten this obligation, and had indulged himself in a strain of remark which could not

15 My brethren ° have dealt

have been prompted by true religion. This sentiment he proceeds to illustrate by one of the most beautiful comparisons to be found in any language.

15. Mij brethren. To wit, the three friends who had come to condole with him. He uses the language of hrethren^ to intimate what he had a right to expect from them. It is common in all languages to give the name brethren to friends. II Have dealt deceitfuUy. That is, I have been sadly disappointed. 1 looked for the language of condolence and compassion; for something to cheer my heart, and to uphold me in my trials — as weary and thirsty travellers look for water, and are sadly disappointed when they come to it^ })lace where they expected to find it, and find the stream dried up. Tlie simile here used is exquisitely beautiful, considered as a mere description of an actual occurrence in the deserts of Arabia. But its chief beauty consists in its exact adaptation to the case before him, and the point and pith of the reproof which it administers.. " Tlie fullness, strength, and noise of these temporary streams in winter, answer to the large professions made to Job in his prosperity by his friends. The dryness of the waters at the approach of summer, resembles the failure of their friendship in time of affliction." Scott^ as quoted by Noyes. *^ J]s a brook. That is, as a stream that is swelled by winter torrents, and that is dry in summer. Such streams abound in Arabia, and in the East generally. The torrents pour down from the hills in time of rain, or when swelled by the melting of the ice; but in summer they are dry, or their waters are lost in the sand. Even large Btreams are thus absorbed. The liver Barrady, which waters Damascus, after passing to a short distance Ko the south-east of the city towards deceitfully as a brook, ancles the stream of brooks they pass away; the Arabian deserts, is lost in the sand, or evaporated by the heat of the sun. The idea here is, that travellers in a caravan would approacli tho place where water had been found before, but would find the fountain dried up, or the stream lost in the sand; and when they looked for refreshment, they found only disappointment. In Arabia there are not many rivers. In Yemen, indeed, there are a few streams that flow the year round, and on the East the Euphrates has been claimed as belonging to Arabia. But most of the streams are winter torrents that become dry in summ.er, or rivulets that are swelled by heavy rains. An illustration of the verse before us occurs in Cam^jbelTs Travels in Africa. " In desert parts of Africa it has aftorded much joy to fall in with a brook of water, especially when running in the direction of the journey, expecting it would prove a valuable companion. Perhaps before it accompanied us two miles it became invisible by sinking into the sand; but two miles farther along it would reappear and raise hopes of its continuance; but after running a few hundred yards, would sink finally into the sand, no more again to rise." A comparison of a man who deceives and disappoints one to such a stream is common in Arabia, and has given rise, according to Schultens, to many proverbs. Thus they say of a treacherous friend, " I put no trust in thy torrent;' and, "O torrent, thy flowing subsides." So the Scholiast on Moallakat says, "a pool or flood was called Gadyr, because travellers when they pass by i. find it full of water, but when they return they find nothing there, and it seems to have treacherously betrayed them. So they say of a false man, that he is more deceitful than the appearance of water" — referring, perhaps, to the deceitfu-l appearance

16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:

17 What time thev wax v/arm,

of the mirage in the sands of the desert. Sec Notes on Isa. xxxv. 7. IT And as the stream of brooks they pass aicaij. As the valley stream — the stream that runs along in the valley, that is filled by the mountain torrent. Tiiey pass away on the return of summer, or when the rain ceases to fall, and the valley is again dry. So wilh the consolations of false friends. Tliey cannot be depended on. All their professions are temporary and evanescent.

16. IVhich are blackish. Or, rather, w^hich are turbid. The word here used ('^'IIF;) means to be turbid, foul, or muddy, spoken of a torrent, and then to be of a dusky color, to be dark colored, as e. g. the skin scorched by the sun. Job xxx. 28; or to be dark — as when the sun is obscured. Joel ii. 10, iv. 15. Jerome renders it. Qui timent pruinatn — ' which fear the frost, when the snow comes upon them.' The LXX render it, " they who had venerated me now rushed upon me like snow or hoar-frost, which melting at the approach of heat, it was not known whence it was." The expression in the Hebrew means that they were rendered dark and turbid by the accumulated torrents caused by the dissolving snow and ice. IT By reason of the ice. When it melts and swells the streams. H And wherein the snow is hid. That is, says Noyes, melts and flows into them. It refers to the melting of the snow in the spring, when the streams are swelled as a consequence of it. Snow, by melt- 'mg in the spring and summer, would swell the streams, which at other times were dry. Lucretius mentions the melting of the snows on the mountains of Ethiopia, as one of the causes of the overflowing of the Nile:

Foisitan Ethiopum penitus de montibus altis

they ' vanish: ' when it is hot, they are ^ consumed out of their place.

Crescat, ubi in campos albas descendere nin

gues Tabificis subigit radiis sol, omnia lustian*

vi -rl-i. Or, from the Ethiop-mountains, the bri^.'jtsun, Now full matured, with deep-dissolving ray, May melt the agglomerate snows, and down the plains Drive them, augmenting hence the incipient

^ctjiappovs KiXT opeecpivj /c.r.X.

Ecce velut torrens undis pluvialibus auctus, Aut nive, quae, Zephyro victa. repente fluit,

Per sata, perque vias, fertur; nee ut ante solohat Riparnm clausas marginc sinit aquas.

17. What time. In the time; or after a time. IT They wax warm. Gesenius renders this word (^^^ir) tchcn they became narrow, and tliis version has been adopted by Noyes. The word occurs nowhere else. Taylor (Concord.) renders it, 'to be dissolved by the heat of the sun.' Jerome, fucrint dissipati — 'in the time in which they are scattered.' The LXX, ra-Afiaa O^fOftrjq yfrnf(fr>]!; — 'melting at the approach of heat.' The Chaldee, "In the time in which the generation of the deluge sinned, they were scattered." Castell says that the word 2']T in Pihel, as the word in Chaldee (-'Tl!), meairs to flow; and also that it has the same signification as ^t^, tzardbh., to become warm. In Syriac the word confined. On the whole, however, the connection seems to require us to understand it as it is rendered in our common translation, as meaning, that when they are exposed to the rf<ys of a burning sun, they evaporate. They pour down from the mountains in torrents, but when they flow into

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

1 9 The troops of Tenia " lookburning sands, or become exposed to tlio intense action of the sun, they are dried up, and disappear. II They vanish. Marg. are cut off. That is, they wander off into the sands of the desert until they are finally lost. H When it is hot. Marg. in the heat thereof. When the summer comes, or when the rays of the sun are poured down upon them. H They are consumed. Marg. exting-uished. They arc dried up, and furnish no water for the caravan.

18. Th e paths of their icay are turned aside. Noyes renders this, " The caravans turn aside to them on their way." Good, " The outlets of their channel wind about." Rosenmilller, "The bands of travellers direct their journey to them." Jerome, "Involved are the paths of their steps." According to the interpretation of Rosenmiiller, Noyes, Umbreit, and others, it means that the caravans on their journey turn aside from their regular way in order to find water there; and tliat in doing it they go up into a desert and perish. According to the other interpretation, it means that the channels of the stream wind along until they diminish and come to nothing. This latter I take to be the true sense of the passage, as it is undoubtedly the most poetical. It is a representation of the stream winding along in its channels, or making new channels as it flows from the mountain, until it diminishes by evaporation, and finally comes to nothing. H They go to nothing- Noyes renders this very singularly, " into the desert," — meaning that the caravans, when they suppose they are going to a place of refreshment, actually go to a desert, and thus perish. The word usfed here, however (^liiri), does not occur in the sense of « desert elsewhere in the Scriptures. It denotes nothingness, emptiness,

20 They were confounded be-

vanity (see Gen. i. 2), and very appropriately expresses the nothingness into which a stream vanishes when it is dried up or lost in the sand. The sense is, that tliose streams wander along until they become smaller and smaller, and then wholly disappear. They deceive the traveller who hoped to find refreshment there Streams depending on snows and storms, and having no permanent fountains, cannot be confided in. Pretended friends are like them. In times of prosperity they are full of professions, and their aid is profi'ered to us. But we go to them when we need their assistance, when we are like the weary and thirsty traveller, and they disappear like deceitful streams in the sands of the desert.

19. The troops of Tema looked. That is, looked for the streams of water. On the situation of Tema, see Notes, ch. ii. ]1. This was the country of Eliphaz, and the image would be well understood by him. The figure is one of exquisite beauty It means that the caravans from Tema, in journeying through the desert, looked for those streams. They came with an expectation of finding the means of allaying their thirst. When they came there they were disappointed, for the waters had dispeared. Reiske, however, render.s this, "Their tracks (the branchings of the flood) tend towards Tema;"— a translation vv^hich the Hebrew will bear, but the usual version is more correct, and is more elegant. H The companies of Sheba xcaited for them. The Sheba here referred to was probably in the southern part of Arabia. See Notes on Isa. xlv. 14. Tlie idea is, that the caravans from that part of Arabia came and looked for a supply of water, and were disappointed.

cause they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed. 2 1 For now ' ye are "^ nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.

theij had hoped. The caravans of Tema and Sheba. The word " confotindod " liere means ashamed. It represents the state of feeling which one has who has met with disappointment. He is perplexed, distressed, and ashamed that he had entertained so confident hope. See Notes on Isa. xxx. 5. They were downcast and sad that the waters had failed, and they looked on one another with confusion and dismay. There are few images more poetic than this, and nothing that would more strikingly exhibit the disappointment of Job, that he liad looked for consolation from his friends, and had not found it. He was downcast, distressed, and disheartened, like the travellers of Tema and of Sheba, because they had nothing to offer to console him; because he had waited for them to sustain him in his afflictions, and had been wholly disappointed.

21. For now yc are as nothing. Marg. ' or, Ye are like to it, or them.' In the margin also the word nothingis rendered not. This variety arises from a difference of reading in the Hebrew text, many MSS. having instead of!?<'', not, 'i'', to him, or to it. Which is correct, it is not easy to determine. Rosenmiiller supposes that it is only a variety in writing the word!^'', where the 1 is often used for ^^. The probability is, that it means, that they were as nothing- — like the stream that had disappeared. This is the point of the comparison; and tiiis.lob now applies to his friends. They had promised much by their coming — like the streams when swollen by rains and melted ice. But now they were found to be nothing. H Ye see my casting doion.

22 Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?

23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?

ini^n — rny being broken or crushed my calamity. Yu\g. plagam. LXX, toaTjiia, wound. IT ^nd are afraid. Are timid and fearful. You shrink back; you dare not approach the subject boldly, or come to me with words of consolation. You came with a professed intention to administer comfort, but your courage fails.

22. Did 1 say. Bring unto me. Job proceeds to state that their conduct in this had been greatly aggravated by the fact that they had come voluntarily. He had not asked them to come. He had desired no gift; no favor. He had not applied to them in any way or form for help. They had come of their own accord, and when they came they uttered only the language of severity and reproach. If he had asked them to aid him, the case would have been different. That would have given them some excuse for interposing in the case. But now the whole was gratuitous and unasked. He did not desire their interference, and he implies b}' these remarks that if they could say nothing that would console him, it would have been kindness in them to have said nothing. IT Or, Give a reivard for me of your substance. That is, did I ask a present from you out of your property.' I asked nothing. I have on no occasion asked you to interpose and aid me.

23. Or, Deliver me out of the enemy's hand. At no time have I called on you to rescue me from a foe. IT Or, Redeem me. That is, rescue me from the hand of robbers. The meaning is, that he was in no way beholden to them; he had never called on them for assistance; and there was therefore no claim which they could now have to afHict him farther by

24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

25 How forcible " are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove 1

their reflections. There seems to be something peevish in these remarks: and we need not attempt to justify the spirit which dictated them.

24. Teach inc^ and I lo'dl hold my tojigue. That is, give me any real instruction, or show me what is my duty, and I will be silent. By this he means that Eiiphnz iiad really imparted no instruction, but had dealt only in the language of reproof. The sense is, ' I would willingly sit and listen where truth is imparted, and where I could be enabled to see the reason of the divine dealings. If I could be made to ^indtrstand where I have erred, I would acquiesce.'

25. Hoio forcible are right icords! How weighty and impressive are words of truth! Job means that he was accustomed to feel their power, and to admit it on his soul. If their words were such, he would listen to them with profound attention, and in silence. The expression has a proverbial cast. IT But ichat doth your arguing reprove? Or rather, what doth the reproof from you reprove.'' or what do your reproaches prove.-' Job professes a readiness to listen to words of truth and wisdom; he complains that the language of reproach used by them was not adapted to instruct his understanding or to benefit his heart. As it was, he did not feel himself convinced, and was Ukely to derive no advantage from what they said.

26. 1)o ye imagine to reprove words? A considerable variety of interpretation has occurred in regard to this verse. Dr. Good, following Schultens, supposes that the word transit

26 Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?

27 Yea, ye ' overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.

lated wind here (H^^i) means sighs, or groans, and renders it, W^ould ye then take up woicls for reproof.'' The more venting the moans of despair.'

But Rosenmfiller has well remarked that the word never has this signification. Noyes renders it, Do ye mean to censure words.' The words of a man in despair are but wind.

In this, he has probably expressed the true sense. This explanation was proposed by Ludov. de Dieu, and is adopted by Rosenmuller. According to this, the sense is, ' Do you think it reasonable to carp at mere words? Will you pass over weighty and important arguments and facts, and dwell upon the icords merely that are extorted from a man in misery? Do you not know that one in a state of despair utters many expressions which ought not to be regarded as the result of his deliberate judgment.'' And will you spend your time in dwelling on those words rather than on the main argument involved?' This is probably the true sense of the verse; and if so, it is a complaint of Job that they were disposed to make him ' an offender for a word ' rather than to enter into the real merits of the case, and especially that they were not disposed to make allowances for the hasty expressions of a man almost in despair. 27. Fea, ye overwhelm the fatherless. Job undoubtedly means that this should be applied to himself. He complains that they took advantage of his icords., that they were disposed to pervert his meaning, and unkindly distorted what he said. The word rendered " fatherless " (nin^) properly denotes an orphan,

28 Now, therefore, be content, look upon rne: for it is ^ evident unto you if I lie.

Ex. xxii. 23. Deut. x. 18, xiv. 29. But it is possible tliat it is not to be taken in this limited signification here. The word is still retained in the Arabic language, — the language spoken in the country v/here Job lived, — where the word aJCj V^' tham, means to be lonely, bereaved, &c. It may be that this idea occurs under the tbrm of the word used here, that Job was lonely and bereaved; that he was as desolate and helpless as a fatherless child; and especially that they manifested a spirit like that of those who would oppress an orphan The word " overwhelm " (^b'lQJn) means properly, ' ye fall upon;' that is, you deal with him violently. Or, it may mean here, in the Hiphil, ' you cause to fall upon,' referring to a net, and meaning, that they sprung a net for the orphan. So Rosenmiiller and Noyes understand it. To do this was, in Oriental countries, regarded as a crime of peculiar enormity, and is often so spoken of in the Bible. See Notes on Isa. i. 17. H And ye dig a pit for your friend. You act towards your friend as hunters do towards wild beasts. They dig a pit and cover it over with brushwood to conceal it, and the hunted animal, deceived, falls into it unawares. So you endeavor to entrap your friend. You lay a plan for it. You conceal your design. You contrive to drive him into the pit that you have made, and urge him on till you have caught him in the use of unguarded language, or driven him to vent expressions that cover him with confusion. Instead of throwing a mantle of charity over his frailties and infirmities, you make the most of every word, take it out of its proper connection, and attempt to overwhelm him in shame and disgrace. I On the method of hunting in an- I

29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in -^it.

cient times, see Notes on ch. xviii. 8-10.

28. JVoio, therefore^ he content. Rosenmuller has better rendered this, "if it please you." The sense is, 'if you are willing, look upon me.' That is, ' if you are disposed, you may take a careful view of me. Look me in the countenance. You can se* for yourselves whether I am sincere or false. I am willing that my whoU demeanor should be subjected to the utmost scrutiny.' IT For it is evident xinto you if I lie. Marg. as in Heb. before your face. That is, ' you yourselves can see by my whole demeanor, by my sufferings, my patience, my manifest sincerity, that I am not playing the hypocrite.' Conscious of sincerity, he believed that if they would look upon him, they would be convinced that he was a sincere and an upright man.

20. Return, I pray you. That is, return to the argument. Give your attention to it again. Perhaps he may have discerned a disposition in them to turn away from what he was saying, and to withdraw and leave him. Job expresses his belief that he could convince them; and he proposes more fully to state his views, if they would attend to him. TI Let it not he iniquity. Let it not be considered as wrong thus to come back to the argument. Or, let it not be assumed that my sentiments are erroneous, and my heart evil. Job means, that it should not be taken for granted that he was a hypocrite; that he was conscious of sincerity, and that he was convinced that he could satisfy them of it if they would lend a listening ear. A similar sentiment he expresses in ch. xix. 28:

But ve.sliould say, Why persecute we him.' Seeing ihe root of the luatter is found in me.

complete vindication is in the argument vvliicli I propose to state. I am prepared to show that lam innocent.' On that account, he wishes them to return and attend to what he proposed to say.

30. Is there iniquity in my tongue? Tliis is a solemn appeal to their consciences, and their own deep conviction that he was sincere. Iniquity in the tongue means falsehood, deceit, hypocrisy — that which would be expressed ly the tongue. IT Cannot my taste discern jjerversc things 9 Marg. palate. The word used here (~n) means properly the palate, together with the corresponding lower part of the mouth, the inside mouth. Gescnius. Hence it means the organ of taste, residing in the m»uth. The meaning is, that Job was qualified to discern what was tongue? can not my ^ taste discern perverse things 1 true or false, sincere or hypocritical, just or unjust, in the same manner as the palate is fitted to discern the qualities of objects, whether bitterer sweet, pleasant or unpleasant, wholesome or unwholesome. His object is to invite attention to what he liad to state on the subject. To this proposed vindication he proceeds in llie following chapter, showing tiie greatness of his calamity, and his right, as he supposes, to complain. Tlieir attention Avas gained. They did not refuse to listen to him, and he proceeds to a fuller statement of his calamity, and of the reasons why he had allowed himself to use the language of complaint. They listened without interruption till he was done, and then replied in tones of deeper severity still.

'S there not ' an appointed " time to man upon earth? arc

1. Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? Marg. or, warfare. The word here used (l^^-?) means properly a host, an army, see Notes, Isa. i. 9; then it means icarfarc, or the hard service of a soldier. Notes, Isa. xl. 2. Here it means that man on the earth was enlisted, so to speak, for a certain time. He had a certain and definite hard service to perform, and which he must continue to discharge until he was relieved by death. It was a service of hazard, like the life of a soldier, or of toil, like that of one who had been hired for a certain time, and who anxiously looked for the period of his release.

not his days also like the days of an hireling?

The object of Job in introducing this remark evidently is, to vindicate himself for the wish to die which he had expressed. He maintains that it is as natural and proper for man in his circumstances to wish to be released by death, as for a soldier to desire that his term of service might be accomplished, or a weary servant to long for the shades of the evening. The LXX render it, " Is not the life of man upon the earth Tzei'^' art] ij tor," — explained by Schleusner, and rendered by Good, as meaning a band oj pirates. The Vulgate renders it, militia — military service. Tiie sense is, that the life of man was like the

2 As a servant ' earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reivard of his work;

hard service of a soldier; and this is one of the points of justification to which Job referred in ch. vi. 29, 30. He maintains that it is not improper to desire that such a service should close. ^ The days of an hireling. A man who has been hired to perform some service with a promise of a reward, and who is not unnaturally impatient to receive it. Job maintained that such was the life of man. He was looking forward to a reward, and it was not unnatural or improper to desire that that reward should be given to him.

2. As a servant earnestly dcsireth. Marg. gapcth after. The word here (*i^^) means to breathe hard, to pant, to blow, and then to desire earnestly. IT Tlie shadoiD. This may refer either to a shade in the intense heat of the day, or to the night. Nothing is more grateful in oriental countries, v/hen the sun pours down intensely on burning sands, than the shadow of a tree, or the shade of a projecting rock. The editor of the Pictorial Bible on this verse remarks, " We think we can say, that next to water, the greatest and deepest enjoyment we could ever realize in the hot climates of the East was, when on a journey, any circumstance of the road brought us for a few minutes under some shade. Its reviving influence upon the bodily fi-ame, and consequently upon the spirits, is inconceivable by one who has not had some experience of the kind. Often also during the halt of a caravan in the open air, when the writer has been enabled to secure a station for repose under the shelter of a rock or of an old wall, has his own exultation and strong sense of luxurious enjoyment reminded him of this and other passages of Scripture, in which shade is mentioned as a thing panted for with intense desire." Probably here.

3 So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights "■ are appointed to me.

however, the reference is to the shades of night, the time when darkness falls upon the earth, and the servant is released from his toil. It is common in all languages to speak of night as enveloped with shadows Thus Virgil, ^n. iv. 7: Ilumentomquc aurora polo dimoverat umbrain The meaning of Job is, that as a servant looked impatiently for the shades of the evening when he would be dismissed from toil, so he longed for death. H And as an hireling looketh. That is, he anxiously desires his work to be finished, and expects the reward of his labors. So Job looked to the reward of a life of toil and piety. Is there not here an undoubted reference to a future state.'' Is it not manifest that Job looked to some recompense in the future world, as real and as sure, as a hired servant looks for the reward of his toils when his work is done.''

3. So am I made to possess. Heb. I am made to inherit. The meaning is, that such sad and melancholy seasons now were his only portion. U Months of vanity. That is, months which were destitute of comfort; in other words, months of affliction. How long his trials had continued before this, we have no means of ascertaining. There is no reason, however, to suppose that his bodily sufferings came upon him all at once, or that they had not continued for a considerable period. It is quite probable that his expressions of impatience were the result not only of the intensity^ but the contimtance of his sorrows. H And tcearisome nights arc appointed to me. Even his rest was disturbed. The time when care is usually forgotten and toil ceases, was to him a period of sleepless anxiety and distress — ^^^'- The LXX render it, nights of pangs (ri'xTfs oJi<i'w»'), expressing accurately

4 When '' I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the ' night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.

the sense of tiie Hebrew. TJie Hebrew word?^^' is commonly applied to intense sorrow, to trouble;ind pain of the severest kind, such as the pains of parturition. See Notes on isa. liii. ]1.

4. When I lie doicn. I find no comfort and no rest on my bed. My nights are long, and 1 am impatient to have them passed, and equally so is it with the day. This is a description which all can understand who have been laid on a bed of pain. IF And the night be gone. Marg. cvcnii'o- he measured. Herder renders this, "the night is irksome to me." 'Vlie word rendered night (^"!?) J roperly means the early part of the Slight, until it is succeeded by the dawn. Thus in Gen. i. 5, "And tiic evening (2'!]5.') and the morning were the first day." Here it means the portKui of the night which is before the dawning of the aurora — the night. The word rendered " be gone," and in the margin " be measured " ("•t!^)? has been variously rendered. Tlie verb ^"1^ means to stretch, to extend, to measure; and, according to Gesenius, the form of the word here used is a noun meaning flight, and the sense is, ' when shall be the flight of the night.'' He derives it from T^J, to move, to flee, to flee away. So Rosenmtiller explains it. The expression is poetic, meaning, when shall the night be gone.'' IT I am full of tossings to and fro (d'^'7'13). A word from the same root. It means uneasy motions, restlessness. He found no quiet repose on his bed. H Unto the datcning. ^^??., from?11r^5> to breathe; hence the evening twilight because the breezes blow, or seem to breathe, and then it means

5. My flesh is clothed loitlt xcorms. Job here undoubtedly refers to his diseased state, anfl this is one of the passages by which we may learn the nature of his complaint. Comp. Notes on ch. ii. 7. There is reference here to the worms which are produced in ulcers and in other forms of disease. Michaclis remarks that such effVjcts are produced often in the elephantiasis. Bochart, llieroz. P. H, Lib. IV. c. xxvi. pp. 619-621, has abundantly proved that such effects occur in disease, and has mentioned several instances where death ensued from this cause. Comp. Acts xii.23. The same thing would often happen — and particularly in hot climates — if it were not for the closest care and attention in keeping running sores as clean as possible. II And clods of dust. Accumulated on the ulcers which covered his whole body. This efl^ect would be almost unavoidable. Dr. Good renders this, " worms, and the imprisoning dust," and supposes that the image is taken from the grave, and tliat the idea in the wliole passage is that of one who is ' dead while he lives;' that is, of one who is undergoing putrefaction before he is buried. But the more common and correct interpretation is that which refers it to the accumulated filth attending a loathsome disease. See ch. ii. 8. The word which is here used and rendere(i clods (^^J\) means a lump of earth or dust. Sept. ^o'Aay.aq yrjq; Vulg. sordes pulveris., ' clods of earth.' The whole verse is rendered by the LXX, " My body swarms with the putrefliction of worms, and I moisten the clods of earth with the ichor (t/oinnq) of ult^ers." II My skin is brohcn — ^"5"^.

6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

Tliis word means, to make afraid, to terrify; and then to shrink together from fear, or to contract. Here it means, according to Gesenius, that ♦ the skin came together and healed, and then broke forth again and ran with pus.' Jerome renders it, a?-uit — dries up. Herder, "my skin becometli closed." Dr. Good, " my skin becometh stiff;" and carries out his idea that the reference here is to the stiffened and rigid appearance of the body after death. Doederlin supposes that it refers to the rough and horrid appearance of the skin in the elephantiasis, wlien it becomes rigid and frightful by the disease. Jarchi renders it, cutis mea corrugata — my skin is rough, or fdled icith icrinhles. This seems to me to be the idea, that it was filled with wrinkles and corrugations; that it became stiff, fixed, frightful, and was such as to excite terror in the beholder. IT And become loathsome. Gesenius, " runs again with pus." The word here used (O^"?) means properly to reject, contemn, despise. A second sense which it has is, to melt, to run like water. Ps. Iviii. 7, " Let them melt away (''^^.'S^) as waters." But the usual meaning is to be preferred here. His skin became abhorrent and loathsome in the sight of others.

6. My days are sivifter than a weaver's shuttle. That is, they are short and few. He does not here refer so much to the rapidity with which they were passing away as to the fact that they would soon be gone, and that he was likely to be cut off without being permitted to enjoy the blessings of a long life. Comp. Notes on Isa. xxxviii. 12. The weaver's shuttle is tiie instrument by which the weaver inserts the fillino- in the woof. With us few things would furnish a more striking

7 O remember that my life is wind: mine " eye shall ^ no more ~see good.

emblem of rapidity than the speed with which a weaver throv/s his shuttle from one side of the web to the other. It would seem that such w^as the fact among the ancient**, though the precise manner in which they wove their cloth, is unknown. It was common to compare life with a web, which was filled up by the successive days. The ancient classic writers spoke of it as a web woven by the Fates. We can all feel the force of the comparison here used by Job, that the days which we live fly swift away. How rapidly is one after another added to the web of life! How soon will the whole web be filled up, and life be closed! A few more shoots of the shuttle and all will be over, and our life will be cut otT, as the weaver removes one web from the loom to make way for another. How important to improve the fleeting moments, and to live as if we were soon to see the rapid shuttle flying for the last time! ^i And are spent icithout hope. Without hope of recovery, or of future happiness on earth. It does not mean that he had no hope of happiness in the world to come. But such were his trials here, and so entirely had his comforts been removed, that he had no prospect of again enjoying life.

7. O remember. This is evidently an address to God. In the anguish of his soul Job turns his eye and his heart to his Maker, and urges reasons why he should close his life. The extent of his sufferings, and the certainty that he must die (vs. 9, 10), arc the reasons on which he dwells why his life should be closed, and he released. The language is respectful, but it is the expression of deep anguish and sorrow. H That my life is wind. Life is often compared with a vapor, a shadow, a breath. The language denotes that it is frail, and

8 The eye ofhim that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes «re upon me, and I ' a??i not.

9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away; so he that

Boon passed — as the breeze blows upon us, and soon passes by. Comp. Ps. Ixviii. 39:

For lie remembered that they were out flesh; A wind that passeth away and cometh not

IT Mine eye shall 7io more. Marg. as in Heb. not return. The idea is, that if he was cut off, he would not return again to behold the pleasant scenes of this life. H See good. Marg. To see., i. e. to enjoy. The sense is, that he would no more be permitted to look upon the things which now so much gratified the sight, and gave so much pleasure. There is some resemblance here to the feelings expressed by Hezekiah in his appreliension of death. See Notes on Isa. xxxviii. 10, 11.

8. TJie eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more. I shall be cut off from all my friends — one of the things which most distresses men when they come to die. H Thine eyes are upon me, and /am not. See x'er. 21. Dr. Good renders this, " let thine eye be upon me, and I am nothing." Herder, " thine eye will seek me, but I am no more." According to this the sense is, that he was soon to be removed from the place where he had dwelt, and that should he be sought there he could not be found. He would seem to represent God as looking for him, and not finding him. See ver. 21. Tiie margin has, " I can live no longer." It may be possible that this is the meaning, tjiat God had fixed an intense gaze upon him, and that he could not survive '.t. If tliis is the sense, then it accords with the descriptions given of the majesty of God everywhere in the Scriptures — that nothing could endure his presence, that even the earth trembles, and the mountains

goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

10 He " shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

melt away, at liis touch. Thus in Ps. civ. 32:

He looketh on the earth, and it trenibleth j He toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

Compare the representation of the power of the eye in Job xvi. 9:

Ho teareth me in his wrath who hateth me; He gnasheth upon me with his teeth; Mine enemy sharpcneth his eyes upon me.

On the whole, I think it probable that this is the sense here. There is an energy in the original which is greatly enfeebled in the common translation. God had fixed his eyes upon Job, and he at once disappeared. Comp. Rev. XX. 11: " And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them."

9. As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away. This image is taken from the light and fleecy clouds, which become smaller and smaller until they wholly vanish. For an illustration of a similar phrase, see Notes on Isa. xliv. 22. U To the grave —?1J<^, Sheol. Sept. elq uStjv^ to Hades. The word may mean grave, or the place of departed spirits. See Notes on Isa. v. 14, xiv. 9. Comp. Notes on Job cb. x. 21, 22. Either signification will apply here. IT Shall come up no more. Shall no more live on the earth. It would be pressing this too far to adduce it as proving that Job did not believe in the doctrine of the resurrection. The connection here requires us to understand him as meaning only that he would not appear again on the earth.

10. He shall return no more to his oicn house. He shall not revisit his family. Job is dwelling on the calamity of death, and one of the circumstances most deeply felt in the pros-

11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will

pect of death is, that a man must leave his own house to return no more. The stately palaces that he has built; the splendid halls which he has adorned; the chamber where he slept,; the cheerful fireside where he met his family; the place at the table which he occupied, he will revisit no more. His tread will be no more heard; his voice will no more awaken delight in the happy family group; the father and husband returning from his daily toil will no more give pleasure to the joyous circle. Such is death. It removes us from all earthly comforts, takes us away from home and kindred — from children and friends, and bids us go alone to an unknown world. Job felt that it was a sad and gloomy thing. And so it is, unless there is a well founded hope of a better world. It is the gospel only that can make us willing to leave our happy dwellings, and the embraces of kindred and friends, and to tread the lonely path to the regions of the dead. The friend of God has a brigliter home in heaven. He has more numerous and better friends there. He has there a more splendid and happy mansion than any here on earth. He will be engaged in more blissful scenes there, than can be enjoyed by the most happy fireside here; will have more cheerful employments there, than any which can be found on earth; and will have higher and purer pleasures there, than can be found in parks, and lawns, and landscapes; in splendid halls, in music, and the festive board; in literary pursuits, and in the love of kindred. How far Job had the means of consolation from such reflections as these, it is not easy now to determine. The probability, however, is, that his views were comparatively dim and obscure.

mouth. The idea in this verse is, ' such is my distress at the prospect of dying, that I cannot but express it. The idea of going away from all my comforts, and of being committed to the grave, to revisit the earth no more, is so painful that I cannot but give vent to my feelings.'

12. Am / a sea? That is, ' am I like a raging and tumultuous sea, that it is necessary to restrain and confine me.''' The sense of the verse is, that God had treated him as if he were untamable and turbulent, as if he were like the restless ocean, or as if he were some monster, which could be restrained within proper limits only by the stern exercise of power. Dr. Good, following Reiske, renders this, " a savage beast," understanding by the Hebrew word 2^ a sea-monster instead of the sea itself, and then any ferocious beast, as the wild buffalo. But it is clear, I think, that the word never has this meaning. It means properly the sea; then a lake or inland sea, and then it is applied to any great I'iver that spreads out like the ocean. Thus it is applied both to the Nile, and to the Euphrates. See Notes on Isa. xi. 15, xix. 5. Herder here renders it, "the river and its crocodile," and this it seems to me is probably the meaning. Job asks whether he is like the Nile, overflowing its banks, and rolling on impetuously to the sea, and, unless restrained, sweeping every thing away. Some such flood of waters, and not a savage beast, is undoubtedly intended here, fl Or a ichale, '■pir],te?mm. Jerome, cetus — a whale. The LXX render it, dody.oo', a dragon. The Chaldee paiaphrases it, "Am I condemned as the Egyptians were, who were condemned and submerged in the Red Sea; or as Pharaoh, who was drowned in the midst of it, in his sing, that thou placest over me a guard''" Herder

13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint:

14 Then thou scarest me with

renders it, "the crocodile." On the meaning of the word, see Notes on Isa. xiii. 22, li. 9. It refers here probably to a crocodile, or some similar monster, that was found either in the Nile or in the branches of the Red Sea. There is no evidence that it means a whale. Harmer (Obs. iii. 536, Ed. Lond. 1808) supposes that the crocodile is meant, and observes that " Crocodiles are very terrible to the inhabitants of Egypt; when, therefore, they appear, they watch them with great attention, and take proper precautions to secure them, so as that they should not be able to avoid the deadly weapons the Egyptians afterwards make use of to kill them." According to this, the expression in Job refers to the anxious care which is evinced by the inhabitants of countries where crocodiles abound to destroy them. Every opportunity would be anxiously watched for, and great solicitude would be manifested to take their lives. In countries, too, which were subject to inundation from waters, great anxiety would be evinced. The rising waters would be carefully watched, lest they should burst over all barriers, and sweep away fences, houses, and towns. Such a constant vigilance Job represents the Almighty as keeping over him — watching him as if he were a swelling, roaring, and ungovernable torrent, or as if he were a frightful monster of the deep, whom he was anxious to destroy. In both respects the language is forcible, and in both instances scarcely less irreverent than it is forcible. For a description of the crocodile, see Notes on ch. xli.

13. When I say, My bed shall comfort me. The idea in this verse and

15 So that my soul chooseth strancrling, and death rather than

the following is, that there was no intermission to his sorrows. Even the times when men usually sought repose were to him times of distress. Then he was disturbed and alarmed by the most frightful dreams and visions, and sleep fled from him. IT Shall case my complaint. The word rendered " shall ease " (^">^'?) means rather, shall bear; that is, shall lighten or sustain. The meaning is, that he sought relief on his bed.

14. Theji thou scarest me. This is an address to God. He regarded him as the source of his sorrows, and he expresses his sense of this in language indeed very beautiful, but far from reverence. IT With dreams. See ver. 4. A similar expression occurs in Ovid:

Ut puto, cum requies medicinaque publica curse,

Somnus adest, solitis nox A^enit orba malis, Soninia me terrent, veros imitantia casu.s,

Et vigilant sensn.-^ in mea damna mei.

IF Jlnd terrifiest vie through visions. See Notes on ch. iv. 13. This refers to the visions of the fancy, or to frightful appearances in the night. The belief of such night-visions was common in the early ages, and Job regarded them as under the direction of God, and as being designed to alarm him.

15. So that my soul. So that /; the soul being put for himself. IT Chooseth strangling. Dr. Good renders it "suffocation," and supposes that Job alludes to the oppression of breathing, produced by what is commonly called the night-mare, and that he means that he would prefer the sense of suffocation excited at such a time to the terrible images before his mind. Herder renders it, death. Jerome, suspcndium. The LXX,

»' Thou separatest (a/raJJ.a^ft?) my life from my spirit, and my bones from death;" but what idea they attached to it, it is impossible now to tell. The Syriac renders it, " Thou choosest (y-^^r^^ my soul from perdition, and my bones from death." The word rendered strangling (P^n^) is from p^H, to be narrow, strait, close; and then means to strangle, to throttle, Neh. ii. 13. 2 Satn. xvii. 23. Here it means death; and Job designs to say that he would prefer even the most violent kind of death to the life that he was then leading. I see no evidence that tlie idea suggested by Dr. Good is to be found in the passage. H And death rather than my life. 3Iarg. as in Hebrew, hones. There has been great variety in the exposition of this part of the verse. Herder renders it, " death rather than this frail body." RosenmUller and Noyes, " death rather than my bones;" that is, he preferred death to such an emaciated body as he then had, to the wasted skeleton which was then all that he had left to him. This is probably the true sense. Job was a sufferer in body and in soul. His flesh was wasting away, his body was covered with ulcers, and his mind was harassed with apprehensions. By day he had no peace, and at night he was terrified by alarming visions and spectres; and he preferred death in any form to such a condition.

16. I loathe it. I loathe my life as it is now. It has become a burden, and I desire to part with it, and to go down to the grave. There is, however, considerable variety in the interpretation of this. Noyes renders it, " I am wasting away." Dr. Good connects it with the previous verse, and understands by it, " death in comparison with my sufferings do I despise." The Syriac is, ^^ iwi^^uo

— it fails to me, i. e. I fail, or my powers are wasting away. But the Hebrew word tJX^ means properly to loathe and contemn (See Note on ch. vii. 5), and the true idea here is expressed in the common version. The sense is, ' my life is painful and offensive, and I wish to die ' H / 'would not live alway. As Job used this expression, there was doubtless somewhat of impatience and of an improper spirit. Still it contains a very important sentiment, and one that may be expressed in the higlicst state of just religious feeling. A man who is prepared for heaven should not and will not desire to live Iiere always. It is better to depart and to be with Christ, better to leave a world of imperfection and sin, and to go to a world of purity and love. On this text, fully and beautifully illustrating its meaning, the reader may consult a sermon by Dr. Dwight. Sermons, Edinburgh, 1828, vol. ii. 275, srq. This world is full of temptations and of sin; it is a world where suffering abounds; it is the infancy of our being; it is a place where our knowledge is imperfect, and where the affections of the best are comparatively grovelling; it is a world where the good are often persecuted, and where the bad are triumphant; and it is better to go to abodes where all these will be unknown. Heaven is a more desirable place in which to dwell than the earth; and if we had a clear view of that world, and proper desires, we should pant to depart and to be there. Most men live as though they wonld live always here if they could do it, and multitudes are forming their plans as if they expected thus to live. They build their houses and form their plans as if life were never to end. It is the privilege of the Christian, however, to expect to die. Not wishing to live always here, he forms his plans with the anticipation that all which he has must soon he

17 What " zs man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and

left; and he is ready to louse his hold on the world the moment the summons comes. So may we live; so living, it will be easy to die. The sentiments suggested bj this verse have been so beautifully versified in a hymn by Muhlenberg, that I will copy it here:

I would not live alway; I ask not to stay Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the

The few fleetinsf mornings that dawn on us Are enough for life's sorrows — enough for its

I would not I've alway; no, welcome the tomh; Since Jesus hath lain there, I dread not its gloom; There sweet he my rest, till he bid me arise, To hail him in triumph descending the skies.

God, Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode, Where rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright

W'here the saints of all ages in harmony meet. Their Saviour and brethren transported to greet; While anthems of rapture unceasingly roll. And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the

If Let Vie alone. This is an address to God. It means, 'cease to afflict me. Suffer me to live out my little length of life with some degree of ease. It is short at best, and I have no desire that it should always continue.' This sentiment he illustrates in the following verses. M For my days are vanity. They are as nothing, and are unworthy the notice of Cod. Life is a trifle, ard I am not anxious that it should be prolonged. Why then may I not be suffered to pass my few days without being thus afflic*ed and pained?

17. What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? That thou shouldst make him great, or that thou shouldst regard him as of so great importance as to fix thine eye attentively upon him. The idea here is, that it was unworthy the character of so great a being as God to bestow so much that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?

time and attention on a creature so insignificant as man; and especially that man could not be of so much importance that it was necessary for God to watch all his defects with vigilance, and take special pains to mark and punish all his offences. This question might be asked in another sense, and with another view. Man is so insignificant compared with God, that it may be asked why he should so carefully provide for his wants.'' Why make so ample provision for his welfare? Why institute measures so amazing and so wonderful for his recovery from sin? The answers to all these questions must be substantially the same. (1.) It is a part of the great plan of a condescending God. No insect is so small as to be beneath his notice. On the humblest and feeblest animalcula a care is bestowed in its formation and support as if God had nothing else to regard or provide for. (2.) Man is of importance. He has an immortal soul, and the salvation of that soul is iDorth all which it costs, even vi^hen it costs the blood of the Son of God. (3.) A creature who sins, ahcays makes himself of importance. The murderer has an importance in the view of the community which he never had before. All good citizens become interested to arrest and punish him. There is no more certain way for a man to give consequence to liimself, than to violate the laws, and to subject himself to punishment. An offending member of a family haa an importance which he had not before, and all eyes are turned to him with deep interest. So it is with man — a part of the great family of God. (4.) A sufferer is a being of importance, and man as a sufferer is worthy of the notice of God. However feeble may be the powers of any one, or humble his rank, yet if he suffers, and especially if he is likely to suffer forever, he becomes at one*

18 Anu that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?

an object of the highest importance. Such is man; a sufferer here, and liable to eternal pain hereafter; and hence the God of mercy has interposed to visit him, and to devise a way to rescue him from his sorrows, and from eternal death. Tlie Syriac renders this, ' What is man that thou shouldstfl?e5^ro?/him' — u^ctq.> -.ioZ? — but the Hebrew means, ' to magnify him, to make him great or of importance ' IF Tliat thou shouldest set thine heart npon him? Not with ■affection, but to punish him — for so The expression in this connection evidently means. The phrase itself rMi.:jht mean, 'Why shouldst thou lo ^him?' — implying that tliere was not ng in a creature so insignificant that ould render him a proper object of the divine regard. But as used here by Job it means, ' ^Vhy dost thou fix thy attention upon him so closely — marking the slightest offence, and seeming to take a special pleasure in inflicting pain and torture?' The Psalmist makes use of almost the same language, and not improbably copied it from this, though he employs it in a somewhat different sense. As used by him, it means that it was wonderful that the God who made the heavens should condescend to notice a creature so insignificant as man.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers 5

The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

And the son of man that thou visitest him.''

18. JJnd that thou shouldest visit him? That is, for the purpose of inflicting pain. This language Job intends undoubtedly to be applicable to himself, and he asks with impatience why God should take a pleasure in visiting with suffering each returning day a creature like him.?

19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle 1

U Every viorning. V/hy is there no intermission even for a day.? Why does not God allow one morning, or one moment, to pass without inflicting pain on a creature so feeble and so frail.? H ^nd try him. Or, prove him: to wit, by afflictions. U Every moment. Constantly; without intermission.

19. Hoic long icilt thou not depart How long is this to continue? The same word occurs in ch. xiv. 6. The word rendered '•'' depart^' (ns'^) means to look, to look around, and then to look away from any one or any thing. The idea here is, that God had fixed his eyes upon Job, and he asks with anxiety, how long this was to continue, and when he would turn his eyes away. Comp. Notes on ver. 8. Schultens supposes that the metaphor here is taken from combatants, who never take their eyes from their antagonists. IT Till I swalloin doicn my spittle. For the shortest time. But there has been considerable variety in the explanation of this phrase. Herder renders it, "Till I draw my breath." Noyes, "Till I have time to breathe;" but he acknowledges that he has substituted this for the proverb which occurs in the original. The Hebrew is literally rendered in the common version, and the proverb is retained in Arabia to the present day. The meaning is, Give me a little respite; allow me a little time; as we would say, Suff'er me to breathe. "This," says Burder, "is a proverb among the Arabians to the present day, by which they understand. Give me leave to rest after my fatigue.- This is the favor which Job complains is not granted to him. There are two instances which illustrate this passage (quoted by Schultens) in Harris's Narratives entitled the Assembly. One is of a person, wlio, when eagerly pressed to give an account of hia

\i-avcls, answered with impatience, Let me swallow down my spittle, •br my journey liath fatigued me.' The other instance is of a quick return made to a person who used the proverb. ' Suifer me,' said the person importuned, ' to swallow down my spittle;' to which the friend replied, 'You may, if you please, swallow down even the Tigris and the Euphrates;' that is. You may take what time you please." The expression is proverbial, and corresponds to ours when we say, ' in the twinkling of an eye,' or, ' till \ can catch my breath;' that is, in the briefest interval. Job addresses this language to God. There is much impatience in it, and much that a pious man should not employ; but we are to remember that Job was beset with peculiar trials, and that he had not the views of the divine existence and perfections, the promises and the high hopes, which as Christians we have under the fuller light of revelation; and before harshly condemning him we should put ourselves in his situa- * -n, and ask ourselves how ice would likely to think and feel and speak if we were in the same circumstances.

20. / have sinned, ^r^'^'^U. This is a literal translation, and as it stands in the common version it is the language of a penitent — confessing that he had erred, and making humble acknowledgment of his sins. That such a confession became Job, and that he would be willing to admit tlutt he was a sinner, there can be no doubt; but the connection seems rather to require a different sense — a sense implying that though he had sinned, yet his offences could not be such as to require the notice which God had taken of them. Accordingly this interpretation has been adopted by many, and the Hebrew will bear the construction. It may

Preserver ^ c^f men? v^hy hast thou set me as a mark '' against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?

be rendered as a question, " Have I sinned; what did I against thee.''" Herder. Or, the 'sense may be, ' I have sinned. I admit it. Let this be conceded. But what can that be to a being like God, that he should take such notice of it.'' Have I in-

Have I deserved these heavy trials 1 Is it proper that he should make me a special mark, and direct his severest judgments against me in this manner.?' Comp. Notes on ch. XXXV. 6-8. The Syriac renders it in this manner, ' If I have done to thee?' So the Arabic, according to Walton. So the LXX, Ei tyo) ■rj/Liaornv — ' if I have sinned.' This expresses the true sense. The object is not so much to make a penitent confession, as it is to say, that on the worst construction of the case, on the admission of the truth of the charge, he had not deserved the severe inflictions which he had received at the hand of God. IF What shall I do unto thee? Or, rather, what hare I done unto thee? How can my conduct seriously affect thee? It will not mar thy happiness, affect thy peace, or in any way injure a being so great as God. This sentiment is often felt by men — but not often so honestly expressed. IT 0 thou Preserver of men. Or, rather, ' O thou that dost icatch or observe men.' The word rendered < Preserver' p^3) is a participle from "^^J, which means, according to Gesenius, to watch, to guard, to keep, and is here used in the sense of observing one's faults; and the idea of Job is, that God closely observed the conduct of men; that he strictly marked their faults, and severely punished them; and he asks with impatience, and evidently with improper feeling, why he thus closely watched men. So it is understood by Schultens, RosenmOller,