Notes on the Old and New Testaments

In thoBe lone, silent realms of night. Shall peace and hope no more arise?

No future morning light the torn i. Nor day-star gild the daikaorae ekiea? Shall spring the faded world revive ' Shall waning moons their lignt renew? Again shall setting suns ascend. And chase the darkness from our view?

The feeling of Job here is, that when man was removed from the earth, he was removed finally; that there was no hope of his revisiting it again, and that he could not be employed in the dark abode of departed spirits in the cheerful and happy manner in which he might be in this world of light. This idea is expressed, also, in a most tender manner by the Psalmist:

Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee.' Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave.'' Or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? And thy righteousness in the land of forget-

For Shcol cannot praise thee? Death cannot celebrate thee; They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as

I do this day; The father to the children shall make known

All these gloomy and desponding views arose from the imperfect conception which they had of the future world. It was to them a world of dense and gloomy shades — a world of night — of conscious existence indeed— but still ftir away from light, and from the comforts which men enjoyed on the earth. We are to remember that the revelations then made were yery few and obscure; and we should deem it a matter of inestimable favor that ice have a better hope, and have far more just and clear views of the employments of the future world. Yet probably our views of that world, with all the light which we have, are much far ther from the reality than the views of the patriarchs were from those which we are permitted to cherish. Such as they are, however, they are fitted to elevate and cheer the soul. We shall not, indeed, live again on

8 Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

tlie earth, but we shall enter a world of light and glory, compared with which all that is glorious here shall fade away. Not far distant is that blessed world; and in our trials we may look to it not with dread, as Job did to the land of shades, but with triumph and joy. H JVill not cease. Will not fail, or be wanting. It will spring up and live.

8. Though the root thereof wax old. Tiiough life becomes almost extinct. The idea is, though the root of the tree be very old., yet it does not become wholly lifeless. It is not like an old man, when life goes out altogether. In the very aged root there \w\\\ be vitality still; but not so in man. H Though the stock thereof. The stump — literally that which is cut off — i^^TS. The meaning is, that vv-hen the trunk of the tree is cut down and dies altogether, life remains in the root; but when man falls, life is wholly extinct.

9. Yet, through the scent of icater. The word here rendered scent iyV^^) means properly the odor or fragrance which any thing exhales or emits. Cant. ii. 13, vii. 14. Gen. xxvii. 27. The idea is \ery delicate and poetic. It is designed to denote a gentle and pleasant contact — not a r?/5/i of water — by which the tree is made to live. It inhales, so to speak, the vital influence from the water — as we are refreshed and revived by grateful odovifics when we are ready to faint. IF It will hud. Or, rather, it will^erminalc, or spring up again — fllSI. See Notes on Isa. Iv. 10. U And bring forth boiighs — '^''5£)^. This word usual] V means a harvest. Gen. viii. 22, xxx. 14, xlv. 6. It also means, as here, a bough, or branch. Comp. Ps. Ixxx. 12. Job xviii. 16, xxix. 19. H Like a plant. Like a

water, it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

10 But man dieth, and ' wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he 1

10. But man dieth, and wasteth aicaij. Marg. Is weakened, or cut off. The Hebrew word (^P^^) means to overthrow, prostrate, discomfit; and hence to be weak, frail, or waste away. TheLXX render it, 'Avi]o dh re).{VTi]oa.c; oj/fto — ma7i dying goes away. Herder renders it, " his power is gone." The idea is, he entirely vanishes. He leaves nothing to sprout up again. There is no germ; no shoot; no living root; no seminal principle. Of course, this refers wholly to his living again on the earth, and not to the question about his future existence. That is a different inquiry. The main idea with Job here is, that when man dies there is no germinating principle, as there is in a tree that is cut down. Of the truth of this there can be no doubt; and this comparison of man with the vegetable world, must have early occurred to mankind, and hence led to the inquiry whether he would not live in a future state. Other things that are cut down, spring up again and live. But man is cut down, and does not spring up again. Will he not be likely, therefore, to have an existence in some future state, and to spring up and flourish there? " The Romans," says RosenmiUIer, "made those trees to be the symbol of death, which, being cut down, do not live again, or from whose roots no germs arise, as the pine and cypress, which were planted in burial-places, or were accustomed to be placed at the doors of the houses of the dead." H Man giveth up the ghost. Expires, or dies. This is all that the word (^'^'^^) means. The notion of giving up the spirit or the ghost — an idea not improper in itself — is not found in the Hebrew

11 As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decay eth and drieth up:

word, nor is it in the corresponding Greek word in tlie New Testament. Coinp. Acts V. 10.

11. As the tcaters fail from the sea. As the waters evaporate wholly, and leave the bottom wholly dry, so it is with man, who passes entirely away, and leaves nothing. But to what fact Job refers here, is not known.

The sea or ocean has never been dried up so as to furnish a ground for this comparison. Noyes renders it, " the lake." Dr. Good, without the slightest authority, renders it, '^ as the billows pass away with the tides." Herder supposes it to mean tliat till the waters fail from the sea man will not rise again, but the Hebrew will not bear this interpretation. Probably the true interpretation is, that which makes the word rendered sea (C!^) refer to a lake, or a stagnant pool. See Notes on Isa. xi. 15, xix. 5. The word is applied not unfrequently to a lake, as to the lake of Genesareth, Num. xxxiv. 11; to the Dead Sea, Gen. xiv. 3, Deut. iv. 49, Zech. xiv. 8. It is used, also, to denote the Nile, Isa. xix. 5, and the Euphrates, Isa. xxvii. 1. It is also employed to denote the brazen sea that was made by Solomon, and placed in front of the temple. 2 Kings xxv. 13. I see no reason to doubt, therefore, that it may be used here to denote the collections of water, which were made by torrents pouring down from the mountains, and which would after a little while wholly evaporate. TI ^nd the flood decayeth. The river; — '^'i}'^. Such an occurrence would be common in the parched countries of the East. See Notes on eh. vi. 15, seq. As such torrents vanish wholly away, BO it was with man. Every vestige disappeared. Comp. 2 Sam. xiv. 14.

12 So man lieth down, and

riseth not: till the heavens "^ be no more, they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep.

does not rise again on the earth. IT Till the heavens be no more. That is, never; for such is the fair interpretation of the passage, and this accords with its design. Job means to say, undoubtedly, that man would never appear again in the land of the living; that he would not spring up from the grave, as a sprout does from a fallen tree; and that when he dies, he goes away from the earth never to return. Whether he believed in a future state, or in the future resurrection, is another question, and one that cannot be determined from this passage. His complaint is, that the present life is short, and that man when he has once passed through it cannot return to enjoy it again, if it has been unhappy; and he asks, therefore, why, since it was so short, man might not be permitted to enjoy it without molestation. It does not follow from this passage that he believed tliat the heavens ever tcould be no more, or would pass away. The heavens are the most permaaent and enduring objects of which we have any knowledge, and are therefore used to denote permanency and eternity. See Psalm Ixxxix. 36, 37. This verse, therefore, is simply a solemn declaration of the belief of Job that when man dies, he dies to live no more on the earth. Of the truth of this, no one can doubt — and the truth is as important and affecting as it is undoubted. If man could come back again, life would be a different thing. If he could revisit the earth to repair the evils of a wicked life, to repent of his errors, to make amends for his faults, and to make preparation for a future world, it would be a different thing to live, and a different thing to die. But when he travels over the road of life, he treads a path which is not to be traversed again. When he neglects an opportunity to do good,

13 Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy

it cannot be recalled. When he commits an offence, he cannot come back to repair the evil. He falls, and dies, and lives no more. He enters on other scenes, and is amidst the retributions of another state. How important then to secure the passing moment, and to be prepared to go hence, to return no more! The idea here presented is one that is common with the poets. Thus Horace says:

Nobis, cum semcl occidit brevis lux, Nox est perpetua unadormienda.

13. 0 that thou wonldest hide me in the grave. Comp. Notes on ch. iii. 11, seq. Heb. in 57*coZ— bit^tUS. Vulg. in ivferno. Sept. h' adtj — in Hades. On the meaning of the word Sheol, see Notes on Isaiah v. 14. It does not mean here, I think, the grave. It means the region of departed spirits, the place of the dead, where he wished to be, until the tempest of the wrath of God should pass by. lie wished to be shut up in some place where the fury of that tempest would not meet him, and where he would be safe. On the meaning of this passage, however, there has been considerable variety of opinion among expositors. Man}^ suppose that the word here properly means the grave., and that Job was willing to wait there until the v/rath of God should be spent, and then that he desired to be brought forih in the general resurrection of the dead. So the Chaldee interprets it of the grave — XFj^i^^f?. There is evidently a desire on the part of Job to be hid in some secret place until the tempest of wrath should sweep by, and until he should be safe. There is an expectation that he would live again at some future period, and a desire to live after the present tokens of the wrath of God should pass by. It is probably a wish for a safe retreat or a hidingplace — where he might be secure, as from a storm. A somewhat similar

wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

expression occurs in Isa. ii. 19, where it is said that men v.'ould go into holes and caverns until the storm of wrath should pass by, or in order to escape it. But whether Job meant the grave, or the place of departed spirits, cannot be determined, and is not material. In the view of the ancients the one was not remote from the other. The entrance to Sheol was the grave; and either of them would furnish the protection sought. It should be added, that the grave was with the ancients usually a cave, or an excavation from the rock, and such a place might suggest the idea of a hiding-place from the raging storm, IT That thou xcouldest appoint me a set time. AVhen I should be delivered! or rescued. Herder renders this, "Apj point me then a new term." The I word rendered " a set time" — pH — i means, properly, something decreed,! prescribed, appointed; and here an I appointed time when God would re-! member or revisit him. It is the exi pression of his lingering love of life; He had wished to die. He was borne I down by heavy trials, and desired a release. He longed even for the grave. Comp. ch. iii. 20-22. But there is the instinctive love of life in his bosom, and he asks that God would appoint a time, though ever so remote, in which he would return to him, and permit him to live again. There is the secret hope of some future life — though remote; and he is willing to be hid for any period of time until the wrath of God should pass by, if he might live again. Such is the lingering desire of life in the bosom of man in the severest trials, and the darkest hours; and so instinctively does man look on even to the most remote period with the hope of life. Nature speaks out in the desires of Job; and one of the objects of the poem is to describe the work ings of nature with reference to a fu-

14 If a man die, shall " he live again? all the days of my

lure Slate in the severe trials to which he was subjected. We cannot but remark here, what support and consolation would he have found in the clear revelation which we have of the future world, and what a debt of gratitude do we owe to that gospel which has brought life and immortality to light!

14. If a man die^ shall he live again? This is a sudden transition in the thought. He had unsconsciously worked himself up almost to the belief that man might live again even on the earth. He had asked to be hid somewhere — even in the grave — until the wrath of God should be overpast, and then that God w'ould remember him, and bring him forth again to life. Here he checks himself It cannot be, he says, that man will live again on the earth. The hope is visionary and vain, and I will endure what is appointed for me, until some change shall come. The question here 'shall he live again.'" is a strong form of expressing negation. He will not live again on the earth. Any hope of that kind is, therefore, vain, and I will wait until the cliange come — w^hatever that may be. II All the days of my appointed time. *!^^^ — my warfare; my enlistment; my hard service. See Notes on ch. vii. 1. U Will I icait. I will endure w'\\.\\ patience my trials. I will not seek to cut short the time of my service. IT Till my change come. What this should be, he does not seem to know. It might be relief from sufferings, or it might be happiness in some future state. At all events, this state of things could not last always, and under his heavy pressure of wo, he concluded to sit down and quietly wait for any change. He was certain of one thing — that life was to be passed over but once — that man could not go over the journey again — that he could not return to

appointed time will I wait, till my change ' come.

15 Thou shalt call, and I will

the earth and go over his youth or his age again. Grotius, and after him Rosenmiiller and Noyes, here quotes a sentiment similar to this from Euripides, in Supplicibus, vs 1080, seq.

NfGDS Sic slvai, Kal yipovTEi av TraXiv; k.t.X.

The whole passage is thus elegantly translated by Grotius:

Proh fatii! cur non est datum mortalibus Duplici juventa, duplici senio frui.' Intra penates siquid habet incommode, Fas seriore corrigi sententia; Hoc vita non permittit; at qui bis foret Juvenis senexque, siquid erratum foret Priore, id emendaret in cursu altero.

The thought here expressed cannot but occur to every reflecting mind. There is no one who has not felt that he could correct the errors and follies of his life, if he were permitted to live it over again. But there is a good reason w'hy it should not be so. What a world w^ould this be if man knew that he might return and repair the evils of his course by living it over again! How securely in sin would ho live! How little would he be restrained! How little concerned to be prepared for the life to come ' God has, therefore, wisely and kindly put this out of the question; and there is scarcely any safeguard of virtue more firm than this fact. We may also observe that the feelings here expressed by Jo'b, are the appropriate expressions of a pious heart. Man should wait patiently in trial till his change comes. To the friend of God those sorrows will be brief. A change will soon come — the last change — and a change for the better. Beyond that, there shall be no change; none will be desirable or desired. For that time we should patiently wait, and all the sorrows whicii may intervene before that comes, we should patiently bear.

answer thee: thou wilt liave a desire to the work of thine hands.

16 For " now thou numberest

from courts of justice. It refers, probably, not to a future time, but to the present. ' Call thou now, and I will respond.' It expresses a desire to come at once to trial; to have the matter adjusted before he should leave the world. He could not bear the idea of going out of the world under the imputations which were lying on him, and he asked for an opportunity to vindicate himself before his Maker. Comp. Notes on ch. ix. 16. II Thou icilt have a desire to the icork of thine hands. To me, one of thy creatures. This should, with more propriety, be rendered in the imperative, ' do thou have a desire.' It is the expression of an earnest wish that God would show an interest in him as one of his creatures, and would bring the matter to a speedy issue. The word here rendered, ' have a desire' (JTjD^ri), means literally to be or become pale (from f]P.3, silver., so called from its paleness, like the Greek aQyvgoq from ao/og, white); and then the verb means to pine or long after any thing, so as to become paie.

16. For noio thou numberest my steps. Thou dost make strict inquiry into all my conduct, that thou mayest mark my errors, and hold me bound to punishment. The sense is, that God treated him now with severity; and he besought him to have pity on him, and bring him to trial, and give him an opportunity to vindicate himself.

17. My transgression is sealed up. The verb rendered sealed up (DSTiH) means to seal^ to close, to shut up. See Notes on Isa. viii. 16. Comp. Notes on Job ix. 7. It was common with the ancients to use a seal where we use a lock. Money was counted and put into a bag, and a seal was at-

17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

tached to it. Hence a seal might be put to a bag, as a sort of certificate of the amount, and to save the necessity of counting it again. IF In a, hag — *n"i5i2. So Jerome, in sacculo. So the LXX, ^v (ialavTto). The word "ii"iit means _usually ahundle (1 Sam. XXV. 29. Cant. i. 13), or any thing bound up (comp. Job xxvi. 8. Hos xiii. 12. Ex. xii. 34. Prov. xxvi. 8. Isa. viii. 16. Gen. xlii. 35. Cant. i. 13. Prov. vii. 20); but here it is not improperly rendered a bag. The idea is, that they were counted and numbered like money, and then sealed up and carefully put away God had made an accurate estimate of their number, and he seemed carefully to guard and observe them — as a man does bags of gold — so that none might be lost. His sins seemed to have become a sort of valuable treasure to the Almighty, none of which he allowed now to escape his notice. IT And thou sewest up mint iniquity. Noyes renders this, " and thou addest unto mine iniquity." Good, " thou tiest together mine iniquity." The word here used (''5^) means properly to patch; to patch together; to sew; to join together as carpenters do their work; and then to devise or forge — as a falsehood; — to join a malicious charge to a person. Thus in Ps. cxix. 69, " The proud have forged a lie Op."^. ^^i^) against me," that is, they have joined a lie to me, or devised this story about me. So in Job xiii. 4, " Ye are forgers of lies.'' The word does not occur elsewhere. The Greeks have a similar expression in the phrase qoltzthv fTtrj — whence the word gaipo'doq. The word here, it seems to me, is used in the sense of sewing up money in a bag, as well as sealing it. This is done when there are large sums, tc

18 And surely the mountain falling ^ Cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

avoid the inconvenience of counting it. The sum is marked on the bag, and a seal affixed to it to authenticate it, and it is thus passed from one to another vvitliout the trouble of counting. If a seal is placed on the bag, it will circulate for its assigned value, without being opened for examination. It is usual now in the East for a bag to contain five hundred piastres, and hence such a sum is called "a purse," and amounts are calculated by so many " purses." See Harmcr, ii. 28-5, Chardin, and Pict. Bible in loc. The sense here is, that God had carefully numbered his sins, and marked them, and meant that none of them should escape. He regarded them as very great. They could now be referred to in the gross, without the trouble of casting up tlie amount again. The sins of a man's past life are summed up and marked wnth reference to the future judgment. 18. ^nd surely the mountain falling. Marg. Fadeth. The sense of this is, that the hope of man in regard to living again, must certainly fail — as a mountain falls and does not rise again; as the rock is removed, and is not replaced; or as the waters wear away the stones, and they disappear. The hope of dying man V.'as not like the tree that would spring up again (vs. 7-9); it was like the falling mountain, the wasting waters (ver. 11), the rock that was removed. The reference in the phrase before us is, probably, to a mountain that settles down and disappears— as is sometimes the case in violent convulsions of nature. It does not rise again, but is gone toreappear no more. So Job says it was of man. TT ^nd the rock is removed. An earthquake shakes it, and removes it from its foundation, and it is not replaced.

19 The waters wear the stones: thou ^ washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

19. The waters wear the stones By their constant attrition they weai away even the hard rocks, and the^ disappear, and return no more. The sense is, that constant changes are going on in nature, and man resembles those objects which are removed to appear no more, and not the productions of the vegetable world that spring up again. It is possible that there may also be included the idea here, that the patience, constancy, firmness, and life of any man must be worn out by long continued trials, a3 even hard rocks would be worn away by the constant attrition of waters. TI Thou xcashest aicay. Marg. Orerflozcest. This is literally the meaning of the Hebrew ST^'iJri. But there is included the sense of \vashing away by tlie inundation. IT The things ichich grow out of the dust of the earth. Herder and Noyes translate this, " the floods overflow the dust of the earth," and this accords with the interpretation of Good andRosenmUller. So Castellio renders it, and so Luther — Tropfen flOssen die Erde weg. This is probably the true sense. The Hebrew word rendered ' the things which grow out' (n'lSD), means properly that which is poured out — from nS&, to pour out, to spread out — and is applied to grain produced spontaneously from kernels of the former year, without new seed. Lev. XXV. 5-11. 2 Kings xix. 29. See Notes on Isa. xxxvii. 30. But here it probably means a flood — that which flows out — and which washes away the earth. IT The dust of the earth. The earth or the land on the margin of streams. The sense is, that as a flood sweeps away the soil, so the hope of man was destroyed. IT Tfioit destroyest the hope of man. By death — for so the connection demands. It

20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

21 His sons come to honour, and he knovveth if not; and

is the language of despondency. The tree would spring up, but man would die like a removed rock, like land washed away, like a falling mountain, and would revive no more. If Job had at times a hope of a future state, yet that hope seems at times, also, wholly to fail him, and he sinks down in utter despondency. At best, his views of the future world were dark and obscure. He seems to have had at no time clear conceptions of heaven — of the future holiness and blessedness of the righteous; but he anticipated, at best, only a residence in the world of disembodied spirits — dark, dreary, sad; — a world to which the grave was the entrance, and where the light was as darkness. With such anticipations, we are not to wonder that his mind sank into despondency; nor are we to be surprised at the expressions which he so often used, and which seem so inconsistent with the feelings which a cliild of God ought to cherish. In our trials let us imitate his patience, but not his despondency; let us copy his example in his better moments, and when he was full of confidence in God, and not his language of complaint, and his unhappy reflections on the government of the Most High.

20 Thou prevailest for ever against him. Thou dost always show that thou art stronger than he is. He never shows that he is able to contend with God. H And he jJ^isseth. He cannot stand before thee, but is vanquished, and passes off the stage of being. IT Thou changest his countenance. Possibly the allusion is to the change produced by death. The countenance that glowed with health and was flushed with beauty and hope — blooming as the rose — is made pale its the lily under the hand of God.

they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

What an afiecting exhibition of the power of God! IT And sendest him aicay. This language seems to be that of expectation that man would still live though he was sent away; but all his hopes on earth were blasted, and he went away from his friends and possessions to return no more.

21. His sons come to honor, and he knotceth it not. He is unacquainted with what is passing on the earth. Even should that occur which is most gratifying to a parent's heart; should his children rise to stations of honor and influence, he would not be permitted to enjoy the happiness which every father feels when his sons do well. This is suggested as one of the evils of death. TT They are brought Joto, but he perceiveth it 7wt of them. He is not permitted to sympathize with them, or to sustain them in their trials. This is another of the evils of death. When his children need his counsel and advice, he is not permitted to give it. He is taken away from his family, and revisits them no more.

22. But his flesh upon him shall have pain. Dr. Good renders this, " his flesh shall drop away from him." This is evidently a representation of the state of the man after he was dead. He would be taken away from hope and from his friends. His body would be committed to the grave, and his spirit would go to the world of shades. The image in the mind seems to have been, that his flesh would suffer. It would be cold and chill, and would be devoured by worms. There seems to have been an impression that the soul would be conscious of this in its distant and silent abode, and the description is given of the grave as if the body wrre conscious there, and the turnii!g back to dust were attended with fii.in. This thought is that which inakes the grave so gloomy now. We think of ourselves in its darkness and chilliness. We insensibly suppose that we shall be conscious there. And hence we dread so much the hmely, sad, and gloomy residence in the tomb. The meaning of the word rendered "shall have pain" — "5<^ — is to be sore, to be grieved, afflicted, sad. It is by the imagination, that pain is here attributed to the dead body. But Job was not alone in this. We all feel the same thing when we think of death. M And his soui icithinhim shall viourn. The soul that is within him shall be sad; that is, in the land of shades. So Virgil, speaking of the death of Lausus, says,

Turn vita per auras Concessit mffisto ad manes, corpusque reliquit.

The idea of Job is, that it would leave all the comforts of this life; it would be separate from family and friends; it would go lonely and sad to the land of shades and of night. Job dreaded it. He loved life; and in the future world, as it was presented to his view, there was nothing to charm and attract. There he expected to v/ander in darkness and sadness; and from that gloomy world he expected to return no more for ever. Eichhorn, however, has rendered this verse so as to give a different signification, which may perhaps be the true one

'His troubles pertain only to himself; his grief- relates to himself alone. According to this, the idea is that he must bear all his sorrows alone, and for himself He is cut off" from the living, and is not permitted to share in tiie joys and sorrows of his posterity, nor they in his. He has no knowledge of any thing that pertains to them, nor do they participate in his griefs. What a flood of light and joy would have been poured on his soul by the Christian hope, and by the revelation of the truth that there is a world of perfect light and joy for the righteous — in heaven! And what thanks do we owe to the Great Author of our religion — to him who is " the Resurrection and the Life" — that we are permitted to look upon the grave with hearts full of peace and joy '

This chapter contains the second speech of Eliphaz, and begins the second series of the controversy, which continues to the close of ch. xxi. As in the other series of the arguments, Eliphaz is the first speaker.??ee an account of his character in the Notes on ch. ii. 11, and on chs. iv., V. He is the most argumentative, calm, and reasonable of those who maintain the argument against Job. Hi.s speech here consists of two parts. I. Tlie first extends to ver. 13. In this he accuses Job of vanity and unprofitable talk (vs. 2, 3); reproaches him with having cast off the fenr of God, and with pursuing a train of argument that was full proof that)ie had done it (ver. 3); says that the positions which he had maintained about the goveinment of God were ample demonstration of his guilt (vs..'J, G); accuses him of i-.rrogance and self-confidence, for speaking as if he had been the first man tiuit was born, or was made before the hills, or understood the secret of God (vs. 7, 8); says that they had had more ample opportunities for observation tlian he had, since there were men among them old enough to be his father (vs. 9, 10); and asks him why he sutlers himself to give utterance to expressions like these (vs. 11 -13). II. in the second part (vs. 14-35), ho gives a graphic description of the misery which in various ways will pursue a wicked man. This part is made up, apparently, either of a string of apothegms, or is a fragment of an ancient poem, which he now quotes as fully sustaining tha position that the calamities of Job aro proofs of guilt. The argument is, that calamity will overtake the wicked; and that, therefore, when calamities exist, there is proof of guilt that may be measured by the calamity. As Job had been afflicted in an uncommon degree, the inference in the mind of Eliphaz from this principle was unavoidable, that lie was a man of uncommon guilt. In illustrating this position, he urges the following considerations: (1.) He repeats the solemn truth which had been communicated to him in the fearful vision which he describes in ch. iv., that man could not be puie before God, and that even the angels are chargeable with folly, vs. 14-16. (2) He appeals to the fathers, and professes to quote the sentiments of the observing men of former times in proof of what would be the consequences of eminent wickedness, vs. 17-19. (3.) He then states, more particularly, what would be the condition of the guilty man. He would travail in pain; he would be subject to alarms; he would have no security in prosperity; he would be compelled to wander abroad for bread, and trouble and anguish would come upon him, vs. 20-24. (4.) He states as a reason for this, that he makes an assault on God, and rushes upon his buckler j he impinges on the great principles of the divine government and law, and he cannot prosper, vs. 25-27. (5.) He then shows that such a man must be desolate; he could neither be rich, nor honored, nor long-lived, vs. 27-30. (6.) And be concludes his discourse by an exhortation not to trust in vanity, and not to rely on the hope of the hypocrite; for in the midst of bis confidence and security "he would be cut down before his time — like unripe fruit, or like a fading flower, vs. 31-35. All this was so applicable to the circumstances of Job, and was so obviously designed to be a description of his condition, thoujjh his name is not mentioned, that there is no wonder that he replied with so much severity m the following chapter. The conclusions of Eliphaz were the more deeply felt Jjy Job, because they were communicated as the result of long observation, and strengthened by the undisputed maxims of antiquity.

2 Should a wise man utter ' vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

2. Should a wise man. Referring to Job, and to his claims to be esteemed wise. See ch. xii. 3, xiii. 2, 6. The argument of Eliphaz here is, that the sentiments which Job had advanced were a sufficient refutation of his pretensions to wisdom. A wise man ivould not be guilty o^ mere talk., or of asing language that conveyed no ideas. IT Utter. Literally, answer. It refers to the replies which Job had made to the arguments of his friends. H Vain knoicledge. Marg. Knotcledge of wind. So the Hebrew. See ■;h. vi. 26, vii. 7. The wind is used to denote what is unsubstantial, vain, changing. Here it is used as an emblem of remarks which were vain, empty, and irrelevant. TI And fill his belly. Fill his mind with unsubstantial arguments or sentiments — as little fitted for utility as the east wind is for food. The image is, ' he fills himself with mere wind, and then blows it out under pretence of delivering the maxims of wisdom.' IT With

3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? " or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

4 Yea, thou '^ castest off fear, and restrainest 'prayer before God.

the east wind. The cast wind was not only tempestuous and vehement, but sultry, and destructive to vegetation. It passed over vast deserts, and was characterized by great dryness and heat. It is used here to denote a manner of discourse that had in it nothing profitable.

3. Should he reason with unprofitable talk? It does not become a man professing to be wise to make use ot words that are nothing to the purpose. The sense is, that what Job said amounted to just nothing.

4, Yea thou castest off fear. Marg, Makest void. Fear here means the fear or reverence of God; and the idea is, that Job had not maintained a proper veneration or respect for his Maker in his argument. He liad defended principles and made assertions which implied great disrespect for the Deity. If those doctrines were true; if he was right in his views about God, then he was not a being who could be reverenced. No confidence

5 For thy mouth

could be placed in his government; no worship of such a being could be maintained. Eliphaz does not refer here so much to what was personal with Job, as to his principles He does not mean so much to affirm that he himself had lost all reverence for God, as that his arguments led to that. Job had maintained that God did not in this life reward and punish men strictly according to their deserts. If this was so, Eliphaz says, then it would be impossible to honor him, and religion and worship would be at an end. The Hebrew w^ord rendered 'castest off'— more accurately rendered in the margin ' makest void' pan) — implies this. IT ^nd restrainest prayer before God. Marg. speech. The Hebrew word (,'^r;"'''^) means properly meditation — and particularly meditation about divine things. Ps. cxix. 97. Then it means devotion — as to meditate on divine things is a part of devotion. It may be applied to any part of devotion, and seems to be not improperly rendered praxjer. It is that devotion which finds utterance in the language of prayer. The word rendered restrainest — ""Iviin — means to shave o^— like the beard; then to cut off, to take away, detract, withhold; and the idea here is, that the views which Job maintained were such as to sap the very foundations of Ti Hgion. If God treated the righteous and the wicked alike, the one would have nothing to hope and the other nothing to fear. There could be no ground of encouragement to pray to him. How could the righteous pray to him, unless there was evidence that he was the friend of virtue.'' How could they hope for his special blessing, if he were disposed to treat the good and the bad alike.'' Why was it not just as well to live in sin as to be holy ^ And how could such a being be the object of confidence or prayer.? Eliphaz mistook the meaning of Job, and pressed his

thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

positions farther than he intended; and Job was not entirely able to vindicate his position, or to show how the consequences stated by Eliphaz could be avoided. They both icanted the complete and full vieio of the future state of retribution revealed in the gospel., and that would have removed the ichole difficulty. But I see not how the considerations here urged by this ancient sage of the tendency of Job's doctrine can be avoided, if it be applied to the views of those who hold that all men will be saved at death. If that be the truth, then who can fail to see that the tendency must be to make men cast off the fear of God, and to undermine all devotion and prayer.'* Why should men pray, if all are to be treated alike at death.'' How can men worship and honor a being who will treat the good and the bad alike? How can we have confidence in a being who makes no distinction in regard to character.? And what inducement can there be to be pious, when all men shall be made as happy as they can be for ever whether they are pious or not? We are not to wonder, therefore, that the system tends every where to sap the foundations of virtue and religion; that it makes no man better; and that where it prevails, it banishes religion and prayer from the world.

5. For thy mouth 7ittereih thine iniquity. Marg. teacheth. That is, 'your whole argument shows that you are a guilty man. A man who can defend such positions about God cannot be a pious man, or have any proper veneration for the Most High.' A man 7nay pursue an argument, and defend positions, that shall as certainly show that he is destitute of religion as though he lived an abandoned life; and he who holds opinions that are dishonorable to God, can no more be a pious man than if he dishonored God by violating his law. TI Thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. In-

6 Thme " own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

stead of pursuing an argument with candor and sincerity, you have resorted to miserable sopliisms, such as cunning disputants use. You have not showed a disposition to ascertain and defend the truth, but have relied on the arts and evasions of the subtle disputant and the rhetorician. His whole discourse, according to Eliphaz, was a work of mere art, designed to blind his hearers; to deceive them with a favorable opinion of his piety; and to give some plausible, but delusive view of the government of God.

6. Thine oion viouth condemneth thee. That is, the sentiments which you have uttered show that you cannot be a pious man.

7. Art thou the first man that teas born? Hast thou lived ever since the creation, and treasured up all the wisdom of past times, that thou dost now speak so arrogantly and confidently? This question was asked, becaufie, in the estimation of Eliphaz and his friends, wisdom was supposed to be connected with long life, and with an opportunity for extended and varied observation. See ver. 10. Job they regarded as comparatively a young man. IT Wast thou made before the hills? The mountains and the hills arc often represented as being the oldest of created objects, probably because they are the most ancient things that appear on earth. Springs dry up, and waters change their beds; cities are built and decay; kingdoms rise and fall, and all the monuments of human skill and art perish; but the hills and mountains remain the same from age to age. Thus in Psalm xc. 2:

Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting thou art was born 1 or wast thou made before * the hills 1

8 Hast " thou heard the secret of God 1 and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

So in Prov. viii. 25, in the description of wisdom:

Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills was I brought forth.

So the hills are called "everlasting" (Gen. xlix. 2G), in allusion to their great antiquity and permanence. And so we, in common parlance, have a similar expression when we say of any thing that ' it is as old as the hills.' The question which Eliphaz intends to ask here of Job is, whether he had lived from the creation, and had observed every thing.^

8. Hast thou heard the secret of God? Literally, '■in the secret of God hast thou heard'— TiOSH. The word rendered secret (^"1^) means properly a cotcch, or cushion, on which one reclines — whether for sleep or at a table, or as a divan. Hence it means a divan, or circle of persons sitting together for familiar conversation, Jer. vi. 11, xv. 17, or of judges, counsellors, or advisers for consultation, as the word divan is now used in Oriental countries. Ps. Ixxxix. 8. Jer. xxxiii. 18. Then it means any consultation, counsel, familiar intercourse, or intimacy. Ps. Iv. 15. Prov. XV. 22. Here God is represented in Oriental language, as seated in a divan, or council of state: there is deliberation about the concerns of his government; important questions are agitated and decided; and Eliphaz asks of Job whether he had been admitted to that council, and had heard those deliberations; and whether, if he had not, he was qualified to pronounce as he had done, on the plans and purposes of the Almighty. H ^nd dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? Having obtained the secret of that council, art thou now keeping it wholly to

9 What " knowest thou that we know not? what understandest thou which is not in us?

thyself— as a prime minister might be supposed to keep the purposes resolved on in the divan? ' Hast thou listened in the council of Jehovah, and dost thou now reserve all wisdom to thyself?'

9. What knoicest thou that we knotc not f What pretensions or claims to wisdom have you which we have not? We have had, at le^st, equal advantages, and may be 'presumed to know as much as you.

10. With us are both the grayheaded. That is, some of us who are here are much older than thy father; or we express the sentiments of such aged men. Job had admitted (ch. xii. 12), that with the aged was wisdom, and in length of days understanding; and Eliphaz here urges that on that principle he and his friends had a claim to be heard. It would seem from this, that Job was very far from being regarded as an old man, and would probably be esteemed as in middle life. The Targum (Chaldee) refers this to Eliphaz himself and his two friends. " Truly Eliphaz, who is hoaryheaded (^"'P'^), and Bildad,the longlived (^"^^"k"^), are with us, and Zophar, who is older than thy father." But it is not certain that he meant to confine the remark to tijem. It seems to me probable that this whole discussion occurred in the presence of others, and perhaps was Vi public contest. It is clear, I think, that Elihu was present, and heard it all (see ch. xxxii. 4), 2nd it would accord well with Oriental habits to suppose that this was a trial of skill, which many were permitted to witness, and which was continued for a considerable time. Eliphaz may, therefore, have meant to say, that among his friends who had assem-

headed * and very aged men, much elder than thy father

II Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

bled to hear this debate, there were not a few who coincided with him in sentiment, who were much more aged than Job, and who had had much longer experience in the world. 11. Are the consolations of God small icith thee? The ' consolations of God' here refer probably to those considerations which had been suggested by Eliphaz and his friends, and which he takes to be the ' consolations' which God had furnished for the afflicted. He asks whether they were regarded by Job as of little value.'' Whether he was not willing to take such consolations as God had provided, and to allow them to sustain him instead of permitting himself to inveigh against God.' The LXX render this, " thou hast been chastised less than thy sins deserve. Thou hast spoken with excessive haughtiness!" But the true idea seems to be, that Eliphaz regarded the considerations adduced by him and his friends as the gracious consolations which God had provided for men in affliction, and as the results of all former reflections on the design of God in sending trial. He now represents Job as regarding them as of no value, and maintaining sentiments directly at variance with tliem. IT Is there any secret thing with thee? Noyes renders this, " and words so full of kindness to thee;" that is, are they of no account to you.'' So Dr. Good and Wemyss, " or the addresses of kindness to thyself.''" Luther translates it, " but thou hast, perhaps, yet a secret portion with thee." Rosenmiiller, "and words most guilty spoken towards thee." The LXX render it, " and thou hast spoken proudly beyond measure" — fifydXox; v7if(jpaXX6t'Taq?.iXci,kTjy.aq. The word which occurs in the Hebrew — ^^^> ^^^f, when it

12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thine eyes wink at,

13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, " and lettest

IS a single word, and used as a verb, means lo wrap around, to muffle, to cover, to conceal, and then to be secret — whence the Greek IdOvi, and lav- &ni'o)i and the Latin lateo. In tliis sense it is understood here by our translators. But it may be also a compound word — from t:X — a gentle sound, murmur, whisper; whence it is used adverbially — '^'^'i and '^'^ — gentl}^, softly, slowly — as of the slow gait of a mourner,! Kings xxi. 27; and of water gently flowing, as the water of Siloam, Isa. viii. 6. And hence, also, rt may refer to tcords flowing kindly or gently towards any one; and this seems to be the meaning here. Eliphaz asks whether Job could despise or undervalue the words spoken so gently and kindly towards him.'' A singular illustration, to be sure, of kindness, but still showing how the friends of Job estimated their own remarks.

12. Why doth thine heart carry thee away? Why do you allow your/<^e^- ings to control you in spite of the decisions of the understanding.'' Eliphaz means to represent him as wholly under the influence of passion, instead of looking calmly and coolly at things as they were, and listening to the results of past experience and observation. H And lohat do thy eyes rcink at? This expression has given considerable perplexity to commentators. RosenmUller (and after him Noyes) remarks that the expression indicates pride, haughtiness, and arrogance. In Ps. XXXV. 19, it is an indication of joyfuhiess or triumph over a prostrate foe:

Let not them that are mine enemies ■wrongfully rejoice over me;

Neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.

In Prov. vi. 13, it is an indication of such words go out of thy mouth 1 14 What * is man, that he should be clean 1 and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous 1

A haughty person, a wicked man, Walketh with a froward mouth; He winketh with his eyes. He speakcth with his feet, He teachoth with his fingers.

The Hebrew word (^1"^) occurs no where else, and it is therefore difficult to determine its true signification. The most probable meaning is, to wink with the eyes as a gesture of pride and insolence. Comp. Notes on Isa. iii. 16. The Vulgate renders it, attonitos kahes oculos? — ' Why, as though meditating great things, hast thou eyes of astonishment.'" Sept. " Why are thine eyes elevated.''" Schultens renders it, ' Why do thine eyes roll fury.''' — Quid fremitum volvunt oculi tui? Luther, " Why art thou so proud.''" There can be no reasonable doubt that the word conveys the idea of pride and haughtiness manifested in some way by the eyes.

13. That thou turnest thy spirit. That your mind is turned against God instead of acquiescing in his dealings. The views of Job he traces to pride and to overweening self-confidence, and perhaps not improperly.

14. What is mati that he should he clean? The object of Eliphaz in this is to overturn the positions of Job that he was righteous, and had been punished beyond his deserts. He had before maintained (ch. iv. 7.) that no one ever perished being innocent, and that the righteous were not cut off". This was with him a favorite position; and indeed the whole drift of the argument maintained by him and his friends was, to prove that uncommon calamities were proof of uncommon guilt. Job had insisted on it that he was a righteous man, and had not deserved tho

15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens " are not clean in his sight.

16 How much more abomina-

calamities which had come upon him — a position which Eliphaz seems to have regarded as a!i assertion of innocence. To meet this he now maintains that 710 one is righteous; that all that are born of women are guilty; and in proof of this he goes back to the oracle which l^.ad made so deep an impression on his mind, and to the declaration then made to him that no one was pure before God. Ch. iv. He does not repeat it exactly as the oracle was then delivered to him, but adverts to the substance of it, and regards it as final and indisputable. Tiie meaning is, 'What are all the pretensions of man to purity, when even the angels are regarded as impure and the heavens unclean?' ^ He which is horn of a xcovian. Another mode of denoting man. No particular arguvient to maintain the doctrine of man's depravity is couched in the fact that he is born of a woman. The sense is, simply, how can any one of the human family be pure?

15. Behold he putteth no trust in his saints. In ch. iv. 18, it is, "in his servarits,'' but no doubt the same thing is intended. The reference is to the angels., called there servants, and here saints (p'^'O'lp)^ holy ones. See Notes on ch. iv. 18. H Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. In ch. iv. 18, " and his angels he charged with folly ' The general idea is the same. God is so holy that all things else seem to be impure. The very heavens seem to be unclean when compared with him. We are not to understand this as meaning that the heavens are defiled; that there is sin and corruption there, and that they are loathsome in the sight of God. The object is to set forth the exceeding purity of God, and the greatness of his holiness. This sentiment seemed to be a kind of proverb, or a common-

hie and filthy ^ is man, which drinketh " iniquity like water!

17 1 will shew thee, hear me; and that lohich I have seen 1 will declare;

place in theology among the sages of Arabia. Thus it occurs in ch. xxv..5, in the speech of Bildad, when he had nothing to say but to repeat the most common-place moral and theological adages —

Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; Yea, the stars are not pure in his sight: How much less man, that is a worm. And the son of man, which is a worm!

16. Hoic much more abominable and filthy is 77ia7i. How much more than the angels, and than the heavens. In ch. iv. 19, the image is somewhat different. There it is, how can man be the object of the divine confidence since he lives in a house of clay, and is so frail.'' Here the image is more striking and forcible. The word rendered filthy C^?^) moans, in Arabic, to be sour, as milk, and then to be corrupt, in amoral sense. Ps. xiv. 3, liii. 4. Here it means that man is defiled' and polluted, and this declaration is a remarkable illustration of the ancient belief of the depravity of man. Tl Which drinketh iniquity like icater! This is still a true, though a melancholy account of man. He loves sin, and is as greedy of it as a thirsty man is of water. He practises it as if it were his very nature — as much so as it is to drink. Perhaps too there may be an allusion, as Dr. Good supposes, to the large draught of water which the camel makes, implying that man is exceedingly greedy of iniquity. Comp. ch. XX. 12, xxxiv. 7. Prov. xix. 28.

17. I will show thee, &c. The remainder of this chapter is a violent declamation, designed to overwhelm Job with the proofs of personal guilt. Eliphaz professes to urge nothing which had not been handed down from his ancestors, and was the result of careful observation. What he says is made up of apothegms and maxims

18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it;

19 Unto whom " alone the earth was given, and no stranger

that were regarded as containing the results of ancient wisdom, all meaning that God would punish the wicked, or that the wicked would be treated according to their deserts. The implied inference all along was, that Job, who had had so many proofs of the divine displeasure, must be a wicked man.

18. Which icise men have told from their fathers. Which they have received from their ancestors and communicated to others. Knowledge among the ancients was communicated chiefly by tradition from father to son. They had few or no written records, and hence they embodied the results of their observation in brief, sententious maxims, and transmitted tliem from one generation to another. ^ And have not hid \X. They have freely communicated the result of their observations to others.

19. Unto 2ohom alone the earth was given. The land; the land or country where tbey dwelt. He refers to the period before they became intermingled with other nations, and before they imbibed any sentiments or opinions from strangers. The meaning is, ' I will give you the result of the observations of the golden age of the world, when our fathers dwelt alone, and it could not be pretended that they had been corrupted by foreign philosophy; and when in morals and in sentiment they were pure.' Probably all nations look back to such times of primeval simplicity, and freedom from corruption, when the sentiments on morals and religion were comparatively pure, and before the people became corrupt by the importation of foreign opinions. It is a pleasing delusion to look back to such times — to some innocent Arcadia, or to a golden age

20 The wicked man travaileth " with pain all his days, and the number '^ of years is hidden to the oppressor.

— but usually all such retrospections are the mere work of fancy. The world really grows wiser as it grows older; and in the progress of society it is a rare thing when the present is not more pure and happy than its early stages. The comforts, privileges and intelligence of the patriarchal age were not to be compared with those which toe enjoy — any more than the condition of the wandering Arab is to be preferred to the quiet, peace, intelligence, and order of a calm, Christian home. IF J^o stranger passed amojig them. No foreigner came to corrupt their sentiments by an admixture of strange doctrines. " Eliphaz here speaks like a genuine Arab, whose pride is in his tongue, his sword, and his pure blood." Umhreit. It is possible, as RosenmOller suggests, that Eliphaz means to insinuate that Job had been corrupted by the sentiments of the Chaldeans and Sabeans, and had departed from the pure doctrines of earlier times.

20. Travaileth icith pain. That is, his sorrows are like the pains of parturition. Eliphaz means to say that he is a constant sufi'erer. H All his daxjs. It seems difficult to see how they could have ever formed this universal maxim. It is certainly not literally true now; nor was it ever. But in order to convey the doctrine that the wicked would be punished in as pointed and striking a manner a« possible, it was made to assume this universal form — meaning that the life of the wicked would be miserable. There is some reason to think that this and what follows to the close of the chapter, is an ancient fragment which Eliphaz rehearses as containing the sentiments of a purer age of the world.

21 ^ A dreadful sound is " in his ears: in prosperity '' the destroyer shall come upon him.

IT ^nd the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. Weinyss renders this, " and a reckoning of years is laid up for the violent.' So, also, Dr. Good. The Vulgate renders it, " and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain." RosenmtUler, Cocceius, Drusius, and some others suppose that there should be understood here and repeated the clause occurring in the first hemistich, and that it means, " and in the number of years which are laid up for the violent man, he is tortured with pain." Luther renders it, " and to a tyrant is the number of his years concealed." It is difficult to tell what the passage means. To me, the most probable interpretation is one which I have not met with in any of the books which I have consulted, and which may be thus expressed, ' the wicked man will be tormented all his days. To one who is an oppressor or tyrant, the number of his years is hidden. He has no security of life. He cannot calculate with any certainty on its continuance. The end is hid. A righteous man may make sovie calculation, and can see the probable end of his days. He may expect to see an honored old age. But tyrants are 80 often cut down suddenly; they so frequently perish by assassination, and robbers are so often unexpectedly overcome, that there is no calculation which can be formed in respect to the termination of their course. Their end is hid. They die suddenly and disappear. This suits the connection; and the sentiment is, in the main, in accordance with facts as they occur.

2\. A dreadful sound is in his ears. Marg. A sound of fears. He hears sudden, frightful sounds, and is alarmed. Or, when he thinks himself safe, he is suddenly surprised. The enemy steals upon him, and in his fancied security he dies. This

22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

sentiment might be illustrated at almost any length by the mode of savage warfare in this land, and by the sudden attacks which the American savage makes, in the silence of the night, on his unsuspecting foes. TheChaldee renders this, " the fear of the terrors in Gehenna are in his ears; when the righteous dwell in peace and eternal life, destruction comes upon him." H In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. When he supposes he is safe, and his afl^airs seem to be prosperous, then sudden destruction comes. See 1 Thess. V. 3. The history of wicked men, who have encompassed themselves with wealth, and as they supposed with every thing necessary to happiness, and who have been suddenly cut off, would furnish all the instances which would be necessary to illustrate this sentiment of Eliphaz. See an exquisitely beautiful illustration of it in Ps. xxxvii. 35, 36-

I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green bay-tree. Yet he passed away, and lo he was not; Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found

Surely thou didst set them in slippery places;

How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!

22. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness. Darkness is used in the Bible, as elsewhere, to denote calamity; and the meaning here is, that the wicked man has not confidence {T^^'l K^), that he shall return safely from impending danger. He is in constant dread of assassination, or of some fearful evil. He is never secure; his mind is never calm; he lives in constant dread. This is still an accurate description of a man with a guilty conscience:

2^ He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it 1 he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

for such a man lives in constant fear, and never feels any security that he is safe. *^ And he isioaitedfor of the sword. That is, he is destined for the sword. Gescnhis.

23. Heioandereth abroad for bread. Tiie LXX render this, " he is destined to he food for vultures" — y.aTarfTay.rai S^ flq oItci yvi^ifr. The meaning of tlie Hebrew is, simply, that he will be reduced to poverty, and will not know where to obtain a supply for his returning wants. H He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand He is assured that the period of calamity is not far remote. It must come. He has no security that it will not come immediately. The whole design of this is to show that there is no calmness and security for a wicked man; that in the midst of apparent prosperity his soul is in constant dread.

24. Jls a king ready to the battle. Fully prepared for a battle; whom it would be vain to attempt to resist. So mighty would be the combined forces of trouble and anguish against him, that it would be vain to attempt to oppose them.

25. For he stretchcth out his hand against God,. The hand is stretched out for battle. It wields the spear or the sword against an enemy. The idea here is, that the wicked man makes God an adversary. He does not contend with his fellow-man, with fate, v/ith the elements, with evil angels, but with God. His opponent is an Almighty Being, and he cannot prevail against him. Comp. Notes on Isa. xxvii.4. H And strengtheneth himself. As an army does that

25 For " he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against * the Almighty.

26 He runneth upon him, evefi on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:

throws up a rampart, or constructs a fortification. Tiie whole image here is taken from the practice of war; and the sense is, that a w icked man is really making war on the Almighty, and that in that war he must be vanquished. Comp. ch. ix. 4.

26. He runneth uj)on him. That is, upon God. The image here is taken from the mode in which men rushed into battle. It was with a violent concussion, and usually with a shout, that they might intimidate their foes, and overcome them at first with the violence of the shock. The mode of warfare is now changed, and it is the vaunted excellency of modern warfare that armies now go deliberately and calmly to put each other to death. H Even on Jiis neck. Literally, 'with the neck'— "l^^'^'^ • Vulg. With erect neck — erecto collo. Sept. Contemptuously, or with pride — v[)ufi. The idea seems to be, not that he ran upon the neck of his adversary— as would seem to be implied in our translation — but that he ran in a firm, haughty, confident manner j with a head erect and firm, as the indication of self-confidence, and a determined purpose to overcome his foe. See Schultens in loc. IT Ujion the thick bosses. The word boss with us means a knob — a protuberant ornament of silver, brass, or ivory on a harness or a bridle; then a protuberant part, a prominence, or a round or swelling body of any kind. The Hebrew word here used (3S) means properly any tiling gibbous, convex, arched; and hence the back — as of animals. Applied to a shield, it means the convex part or the back of it — the part which was presented to an enemy, and which was made swelling and strong, called by the Greeks o/LKpaVoq., or f^tfoof((p<x}.ioy. Gesenius supposes that the metaphor here is taken from soldiers, who joined their shields together, and thus rushed upon an enemy. This was one mode of ancient warfare, when an army or a phalanx united their shields in front, so that nothing could penetrate them, or so united them over their heads when approaching a fortress, that they could safely march under them as a covering. This, among the Romans and Greeks, was commonly practised when approaching a besieged town. One form of the tcstudo — the /i).6)'f] oraaTi- <tjro}i> of the Greeks, was formed by the soldiers, pressed close together, and holding their shields over their heads in such a manner as to form a compact covering. J. H. Eschenburg, Manual of Classical Literature, by N. W. Fiske, pt. III. § 147. The Vulgate renders this, " and he is armed with a fat neck" — pingui cervice armatus est. Schultens expresses the idea that is adopted by Gesenius, and refers to Arabic customs to show that shields were thus united in defending an army from a foe, or in making an attack on them. He says, also, that it is a common expression — a proverb — among the Arabs, " he turns the back of his shield" to denote that one is an adversary; and quotes a passage from Hamasa, •' When a friend meets me with base suspicions, I turn to him the back of my shield — a proverb, whose origin is derived from the fact, that a warrior turns the back of liis shield to his foes." Paxton supposes that the expression here is taken from single combat, which early prevailed. But the idea here is not that which our translation would seem to convey. It is not that he rushes upon or against the hard or thick shield of face with his fatness, and maiketh col lops of fat on his flanks the Jihnighty — and that, therefore, he must meet resistance and be overcome; it is that he rushes upon God WITH his own shield. He puts him self in the attitude of a warrior. lie turns the boss of his own shield against God, and becomes his antagonist. He is his enemy. The omission of the word icitli in the passage — or the preposition which is in the Hebrew (3), has led to this erroneous translation. The passage is often quoted in a popular manner to denote that the sinner rushes upon God, ana 'must vieet resistance from his shield, or be overcome. It should be quoted only to denote that the sinner places himself in an attitude of opposition to God, and is his enemy. 1[ Of his bticklers. Of his shields (^^S?^), that is, of the shields which the sinner has; not the shields of God. The shield was a well known instrument of war, usually made with a rim of wood or metal, and covered with skins, and carried on the left arm. See Notes on Isa. xxi. 5. The outer surface was made rounding from the centre to the edge, and was smoothly polished, so that darts or arrows would glide oft" and not penetrate.

27. Because he covereth his face with his fatness. That is, he not only stretches out his hand against God (v. 25) and rushes upon him as an armed foe (ver. 26), but he gives himself up to a life of luxury, gluttony, and licentiousness; and fAere/bre these calamities must come upon him. This is designed to be a description of a luxurious and licentious person — a man who is an enemy of God, and' who, therefore, must incur his displeasure. ^ And mahcth collops of fat. Like an ox that is fattened. The w^crd collop properly means ' a small slice of meat, a piece of flesh ' (Webster), but here it means a thick piece, or a mass. The word is used in this sense

28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

29 He shall not be rich, neitlier shall his substance continue.

ill New England. The sense is, that lie becomes excessively fat and gross — as they usually do who live in sensual indulgence and who forget God.

28. And he dicelleth. Or rather, ' therefore he shall dwell.' As a consequence of his opposing God, and devoting himself to a life of sensuality and ease, he shall dwell in a desolate place. Instead of living in affluence and in a splendid city, he shall be compelled to take up his abode in places that have been deserted and abandoned. Such places — like Petra or Babylon now — became the temporary lodgings of caravans and travellers, or the abodes of outcasts and robbers. The meaning here is, that the proud and wicked man shall be ejected from his palace, and compelled to seek a refuge far away from the usual haunts of men. H Which are ready to become heaps. Which are just ready to tumble into ruin.

29. He shall not be rich. That is, he shall not continue rich; or he shall not again become rich. He shall he J} ermanenthj poor. U Neither shall his substance continue. His property. IT JYeither shall he prolong the perfection thereof. Noyes renders this, "And his possessions shall not be extended upon the earth." Wemyss, " Nor shall he be master of his own desires." Good, " Nor their success spread abroad in the land." Luther, Und sein Gluck wird sich nicht ausbreiten im Lande — ' And his fortune shall not spread itself abroad in the land.' Vulg. ' Neither shall he send his root in the earth' — nee mittet in terra radicem suam. The LXX, ov lit] ^ciXrj iTzt r7]V yriv ay.iav — ' and shall not cast a shadow upon the earth. The word rendered perfec-

rieither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

80 He shall not depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

tion (^^272) is commonly supposed to be from ^^ri?^, from J^^S to finish, to procure, and hence the noun maybe applied to that which is procured — and thus may denote possessions. According to this, the correct rendering is, 'and he does not extend their possessions abroad in the land;' that is, his possessions do not extend abroad. Gescnius supposes, however, that the word is a corruption for Q^3^ — their flocks. I see no objection, however, to its being regarded as meaning ^05- sessions — and then the sense is, that he would fail in that which is so much the object of ambition with every avaricious man — that his possessions should extend through the land. Comp, Notes on Isa. v. 8.

oO. He shall not depart out of darkness. He shall not escape from calamity. See ver. 22. He shall not be able to rise again, but shall be continually poor. TI The fame shall dry up his branches. As the fire consumes the green branches of a tree, so shall punishment do to him. This comparison is very forcible, and the idea is, that the man who has been prospered as a tree shall be consumed— as the fire consumes a tree when it passes through the branches. The comparison of a prosperous man with a tree is very common, and very beautiful. Thus the Psalmist says,

I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green bay tree. Ps. xxxvii. 35. Comp. Ps. xcii. 12, 13. The aged Skenandoah — a chief of the Oneida tribe of Indians, said, " I am an aged hemlock. The winds of an hundred winters have whistled through my branches. I am dead at the top. My branches are falling," &c. IT And by the breath of his mouth shall he go

31 Let not him that is deceived trust " in vanity; for vanity shall be his recompense.

32 It shall be * accomplished away. That is, by the breath of the mouth of God. God is not indeed specified, but it is not unusual to speak of liim in this manner. The image here seems to be that of the destruction of a man by a burning wind or by lightning. As a tree is dried up, or is rent by lightning, or is torn up from the roots by a tempest sent by the Deity, so the wicked will be destroyed.

31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity. The sense is, ' Let him not trust in vanity. He will be deceived. Vanity will be his recompense.* The idea is, that a man should not confide in that wliich will furnish no support. He should not rely on his wealth and rank; his houses and lands; his servants, his armies, or his power, if he is wicked, for all this is vain. He needs some better reliance, and that can be found only in a righteous life. The word vanity here means that which is unsubstantial; which cannot uphold or sustain; which will certainly give way. IT For vanity loill be his recompense. He will find only vanity. He will be stripped of all his honors and possessions.

32. It shall he accomplished before his time. Marg. cut off. The image here is that of a tree, which had been suggested in ver. 30. Here it is followed up by various illustrations drawn from the flower, the fruit, <fec. all of which are designed to denote the same thing — that a wicked man will not be permanently prosperous; he will not live and flourish as he would if he were righteous. He will be like a tree that is cut down before its proper time, or that casts its flowers and fruits and brings nothing to perfection. The phrase here literally is, 'It shall not be filled up in its time;' that is, a wicked man will be cut oflf before he has filled up the

before ^ his time, and his branch shall not be green.

33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

measure of his days, like a tree that decays and falls before its proper time. A similar idea occurs in Ps. Iv. 23. "Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days." As a general fact this is all true, and the observation of the ancient Idumeans was correct. The temperate live longer than the intemperate; the chaste longer than the licentious; he that controls and governs his passions longer than he who gives the reins to them; and he who leads a life of honesty and virtue longer than he who lives for crime. Pure religion makes a man temperate, sober, chaste, calm, dispassionate, and equable in his temper; saves from broils, contentions, and strifes; subdues the angry passions, and thus tends to lengthen out life, "fl His branch shall not be green. It shall be dried up and withered away — retaining the image of a tree.

33. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine. The idea here is, that the wicked man shall be like a vine that casts off" its grapes while they are yet sour and green, and brings none to perfection. Cpmp. Notes on Isa. xviii. 5. Scott renders this,

" As when the vine her half-grown berries showers, Or poisoned olive her unfolding flowers."

It would seem from this passage that the vine might be so blasted by a hot wind or other cause, as to cast its unripe grapes to the earth. The employment of a figure of this kind to illustrate an idea supposes that such a case was familiar to those who were addressed. It is well known that in the East the grape and the olive might be blasted while in blossom, or when the fruit was settings as all fruit may be. The injury is I usually done in the flower, or when

34 For the congregation of " hypocrites shall be desolate, and

the fruit is just forming. Yet our observations of the effects of the burning winds that pass over the deserts on fruit that is half formed, in blasting it and causing it to fall, are too limited to allow us to come to any definite conclusion in regard to such effects in general. Any one, however, can see the beauty of this image. The plans and purposes of wicked men are immature. Nothing is carried to perfection. They are cut oif, their plans are blasted, and all the results of their living are like the sour, hard, crabbed, and useless fruit that falls from the tree before it is ripe. The results of the life of the righteous, on the other hand, are like a tree loaded with ripe and mellow fruit — their plans are brought to maturity, and resemble the rich and heavy clusters of grapes, or the abundant fruits of the olive when ripe. H Jnd shall cast off his JJower as the olive. The olive is a well known tree that abounds in the East. The fruit is chiefly valuable for the oil which it produces. Comp. Notes Rom.xi. 17. The olive is liable to be blasted while the fruit is setting, or while the tree is in blossom. In Greece, a northeast wind often proves destructive to the olive, and the same may be true of other places. Dr. Chandler, speaking of Greece, says, " The olive groves are now, as anciently, a principal source of the riches of Athens. The crops had failed five years successively when we arrived; the cause assigned was a northerly wind, called Greco-tramontane, which destroyed the flower. The fruit is set in about a fortnight, when the apprehension from this unpropitious quarter ceases. The bloom in the following year was unhurt, and we had the pleasure of leaving the Athenians happy in the prospect of a plentiful harvest." A wicked man is here elegantly compared with such a tree that casts its flowers and produces no fruit.

fire shall consume the tabernacles of * bribery.

34. For the congregation of hypocrites. The word rendered ' congregation' here ('^'7?) means properly an appointed meeting; a meeting convened by appointment or at stated times (from '^?'^), and hence an assembly of any kind. It is commonly applied to an assembly for public worship; but il may refer to a more private company — a family, or circle of friends, dependents. &c. It refers here, I suppose, to such a community that a man can get around him in his own dwelling — his family, servants, dependents, &.C. The word rendered 'hypocrites' (^.?^) is in the singular number, and should be so rendered here. It does not mean that a worshipping assembly composed of hypocrites would be desolate — which may be true — but that the community which a man ivhois a hijpocrite can gather around him shall be swept away. His children, his dependents, and his retinue of servants, shall be -taken away from him, and he shall be left to solitude. Probably there was an allusion here to Job, who had been stripped in this manner; or at any rate the remark was one, if it were a quotation from the ancient sayings of the Arabians, which Job could not but regard as applied to himself. IT.^nd fire shall consume. This has all the appearance of being a proverb. The meaning is, that they who received a bribe would be certainly punished. M The tabernacles of bribery. The tents or dwellings of those who receive bribes, and who therefore are easily corrupted, and have no solid principles. There is probably an allusion here to Job; and no doubt Eliphaz meant to apply this severe remark to him. Job was a Sheik., an Emir, a head of a tribe, and, therefore, a magistrate. See ch. xxix. 7, seq. Yet a part of his possessions and servants had been cut off by fire from heaven (ch. i. 16); and Eliphaz means probably to imply that it had been because he had been guilty of receiving a bribe. This ancient proverb declared that the dwellings of the man who could be bribed would be consumed by fire; and now he presumes that the fact that Job had been visited by the fire of heaven was full proof that he had been guilty in this manner. It was about on principles such as these that the reasoning of the friends of Job was conducted.

and bring forth ' vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

35. They conceive mischief. The meaning of this verse is, that they form and execute plans of evil. It is the characteristic of such men that they form such plans and live to execute them, and they must abide the consequences. All this was evidently meant for Job; and few things could be more trying to a man's patience than to sit and hear those ancient apothegms, designed to describe the wicked, applied so unfeelingly to himself.

Chapters xvi. and xvii. contain the reply of Job to the speech of Eliphaz, and should not have been separated. This speech of Job is full of the language of complaint and of solemn appeals to God. It is the language of bitterness and distress, where he felt that he was called to suffer almost beyond the power of endurance. In his former speech (chs. iv., v.), Eliphaz had shown some tenderness. He had exhorted him to return to God; he had assured him that his favor might be found if he would return. But now he had argued as if it were a settled point that Job was a wicked man, and as if there were no possibility that he could find favor. In reply to this, Job in the following speech dwells on the following points. He says that he had heard many such things, and that they imparted to him no consolation (vs. 2, 3); that it was no difficult matter to speak as they did, and that if they were to change places, he could u<e similar language, but would not do it; he would comfort them, and assuage tlieir grief (vs. 4-7). He then goes on with an affecting description of his calamities. God had made him weary; he had filled him with wrinkles; he had torn him in his wrath; he had delivered hiin to the ungodly; he had come upon him when he was at ease; he had compassed him about; and he had rushed upon him like a giant (vs. 8-14). Of this he now makes complaint. He knew not why it was; ho felt that he was innocent, and that his prayers had been pure (vs. 15-17). Overcome with deep emotion, he appeals to the earth, and asks that it would not cover his blood, or suffer him to go unavenged, but that it would disclose his guilt, and pray.? that his very blood might cry out from the ground, attesting his innocence (ver. 18). He then expresses the earnest desire that he might plead his cause before God; that as his friends scorned him, he might have the privilege of presenting his cause to One by whom ho might hope to have justice done (vs. 19-21). He goes on to say that in a little time it would all bo over — he would go down to the grave, where he would sleep in peace (ver. 22). In ch. xvii. he goes on in the language of complaint, especially of the conduct of his friends. There are mockers, he says, with him (ver. 2). God had hid their heart from understanding, and they never could be exalted (ver. 4). He was now made a by-word, but the time would come when upright men would be astonished at the course of things in regard to him; that God had afflicted him in this manner, and had suffered his friends to rail on him thus, and had not come forth for his vindication (vs 5-8). He says that it was a great truth that the righteous should hold on his way, but that among them there was not one wise man (vs. 9, 10). And he closes by Baying, that in such a series of calamities his only hope was in the grave. There was rest. He was prepared to embrace corruption as his father, and to say to the worm that it was his mother and his sister (vs. 11-16).

THEN Job answered and said, 2 I have heard many such ' things: miserable " comforters are ye all.

3 Shall '^vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee

2. Many suck things. That is, eitner things fitted to provoke and irritate, or sentiments that are common-place. There was nothing new in what they said, and nothing to the purpose. IF Miserable comforters. Comp. ch. xiii. 4. They had come professedly to condole with him. Now all that they said was adapted only to irritate, and to deepen his distress. He was disappointed; and he was deeply wounded and grieved.

3. Shall vain loords? Marg. As in Heb. words of 7cind; that is, words which were devoid of thought — light, trifling. This is a retort on Eliphaz. He had charged Job (ch. XV. 2, 3) with uttering only such words. Such forms of expression are common in the East. " His promise, it is only wind." " Breath, breath; all breath." Roberts. U Or what emboldeneth thee f ♦ What provokes or irritates thee, that thou dost answer in this manner.' What have I said, that has given occasion to Buch a speech — a speech so severe and unkind V The Syriac reads this, " do not afilict me any more with speeches; for if you speak any more, I will not answer you."

4. / also could speak as ye do. In the same reproachful manner, and stringing together old proverbs and maxims as you have. IT If your soul were in my soul's stead. If you were in my place. The idea is, that there is no difficulty in finding arguments to overwhelm the afflicted — a truth which most persons who have been unfortunate, have had opportunity to experience. TT / could heap up words against you. Or, rather, ' I could string together words against you.' The idea is not that oi heaping vp, or accumulating; it is that of

4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake * mine head at you.

tying together, or uniting; and refers here to stringing together old maxims, saws, and proverbs, in the form of a set argument or discourse. The idea of Job is, that their discourses were nothing but ancient proverbs, thrown together, or strung along without regard to order, pertinancy, or force. The Hebrew word used here ("^5^7) ineans to bind, to bind together, to associate, to be confederate. It may be applied to friends — united in friendship; to nations — united in an alliance, «fec. Gesenius supposes that it means here that he < would make a league with words against them;' but the above seems to be the more probable interpretation. The LXX render it, " then I could insult you — irakovfiat — with words." Jerome (Vulg.) " I would console you with words, and move my head over you." The Chaldee is as the Hebrew — '^'^'n^_. Dr. Good renders it, " against you will I string together old sayings." H And shake mine head at you. An action common to all countries and ages, expressive of contempt, or of threatening. Comp. Jer. xviii. 16. Lam. ii, 15. Zeph. ii. 15. Matth. xxvii. 29. So Lucretius ii. 1163:

Jamque, caput quassans, grandia subspirat

arator, Crebius incassum magnum cecidisse labores.

Tum quassans caput, haec efFudit pectore dicta.

The meaning of Job here is, that he could as easily have expressed contempt, reproach, and scorn, as they did. It required no uncommon talent to do it, and he felt that he would have been fully suflScient for the task.

5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, " and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief.

6 Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged; and though I forbear, what ^ am I eased?

5. But I would strengthen you icith my mouth. With that which proceeds from the mouth — icords. IT And the moving of my lips. My speaking — implying that it would have been done in a mild, gentle, kind manner — so that the lips would appear just to move. Others, however, have given a different interpretation. Thus Dr. Good renders it:

" With my own mouth will I overpower j'ou, Till the quivering of my lips shall fail."

But the common interpretation is to be preferred. The word rendered '■^moving" (^'^?), is from ^^3 — to move, agitate, and hence denotes motion. It denotes here the motion of the lips when we speak. Gesenius renders it, consolation, comfort — because this is expressed by amotion of the head. IT Should assuage your grief. The word here used (Ti'i^n';^) means properly to hold back, to restrain. Job vii.ll. Here it is correctly rendered, meaning that he would hold back, or check their sorrows. In other words, he would sustain them.

6. Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged. ' But for me, it makes now no difference whether I speak or am silent. My suflerings continue. If I attempt to vindicate myself before men, I am reproached; and equally so if I am silent. If I maintain my cause before God, it avails me nothing, for my sufferings continue. If I am silent, and submit without a murmur, they are the same. Neither silence, nor argument, nor entreaty, avail me before God or man. I am doomed to siiffering.' H What am I eased? Marg. Goethfrom me.

7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.

8 And thou hast filled me with ' wrinkles, which is a witness against me; and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.

7. But now he hath made me weary. That is, God has exhausted my strength. This verse introduces a new description of his sufferings; and he begins with a statement of the woes that God had brought on him. The first was, that he had taken away all his strength. II Ml my company. The word rendered ' corapany' ('^'^?) means properly an assembly that comes together by appointment, or at stated times; but here it is evidently used in the sense of the little community of which 'Job was the head and father. The sense is, that all his family had been destroyed.

8. And thou hast filled me with icrinkles. Noyes renders this, " and thou hast seized hold of me, which is a witness against me." Wemyss, " since thou hast bound me with chains, witnesses come forward." Good, " and hast cut off myself from becoming a witness." Luther, " he has made me kuntzlich (skilfully, artificially, cunningly), and bears witness against me." Jerome, "my wrinkles bear witness against me." Sept., " my lie has become a witness, and is risen up against me." From this variety of explanations, it will be seen that this passage is not of easy and obvious construction. The Hebrew word which is hero used and rendered, ' thou hast filled me with wrinkles' ("^SW^pri), from t2?3p — qdmdt, occurs only in ono other place in the Bible. Job xxii. 16. It is there in the Pual form, and lendered, " were cut down." According to Gesenius, it means, to lay fast hold of, to seize with the hands, and answers to the Arabic r?»V to hind. The word in Chaldee (p'^p.) means to wrinkle, or collect in wrinkles; and is applied to any thing tliat is contracted^ or rough. Ifis applied in tlie form li^jlp to the pupil of the eye as being contracted^ as in the declaration in Deree Erez, c. 5, quoted by Castell. " The world is like the eye: where the ocean that surrounds the world is white; the world itself is black; the pupil is Jerusalem, and the iinage in the pupil is the sanctuary." Probably the true notion of the word is to be found in the Arabic Jb.^' • According to Castell, this means, to tie together the four feet of a sheep or lamb, in order that it might be slain; to bind an infant in swaddling clothes before it is laid in a cradle; to collect camels into a group or herd: and hence the noun is used to denote a cord or rope twisted of wool, or of leaves of the palm, or the bandages by which an infant is bound. This idea is not in use in the Hebrew; but I have no doubt that this was the original sense of the word, and that this is one of the numerous places in Job where light may be cast upon the meaning of a word from its use in Arabic- The Hebrew word may be applied to the collecting or contraction of the face in wrinkles by age, but this is not the sense here. We should express the idea by ' being draion up with pain or affliction; by being straitened, or compressed.' The meaning is that of drawing together — as the feet of a sheep when tied, or twisting — as a rope; and the idea here is, that Job was drawn up, compressed, bound by his afflictions — and that this was a witness against him. The word compressed comes as near to the sense as any one that we have. IT Which is a zvitness against me. That is, ' this is an argument against my innocence. The fact that God has thus compressed, and fettered^ and fastened me; that he has bound me as with a cord — as if I were tied for the slaughter, is an argument on which my friends insist, and to which they appeal, as a proof of my guilt, I cannot answer it. They refer to it constantly. It is the burden of their demonstration, and how can I reply to it.'" The position of mind here is, that he could appeal to God for his uprightness, but these afflictions stood in the way of his argument for his innocence with his friends. They were the usual proofs of God's displeasure, and he could not well meet the argument which was drawn from them in his case, for in all his protestations of innocence there stood these afflictions — the usual proofs of God's displeasure against men — as evidence against him, to which they triumphantly appealed. TI ^nd my leanness rising up in me. Dr. Good renders this, " my calumniator." Wemyss, " false witnesses." So Jerome, " falsiloquus." The LXX render it, " my lie — to xpevdoq finv — rises up against me." The Hebrew word (^n?) means properly a lie, deceit, hypocrisy. But it cannot be supposed that Job would formally admit that lie was a liar and a hypocrite. This would have been to concede the whole point in dispute. The word, therefore, it would seem, must have some other sense. The verb ^n3 is used to denote not only to lie, but also to waste atcay, to fail. Ps. cix. 24. " My flesh failcth of fatness." The idea seems to have been, that a person whose flesh had wasted away by sickness, as it were, belied himself; or it was a false testimony about himself; it did not give a fair representation of him. That could be obtained only when he was in sound health. Thus in Hab. iii.l7, "the labor of the olive shall fail.'" Heb. shall lie or deceive; that is, it shall belie itself, or shall not do justice to itself; it shall aff"ord no fair repre- 1 sentation of what the olive is fitted 1 to produce. So the word is used in

9 He teareth " me in l)is wrath, who hateth me; he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy * sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

10 They have gaped upon me

Hos. ix. 2. It is used here in this sense, as denoting the false appearance of Job — his present aspect — whicli was no proper representation of himself: that is, liis emaciated and ulcerated form. This, he says, was a ' witness' against him. It was one of the proofs to which tliey appealed, and he did not know iiow to answer it. It was u.«;ually an evidence of divine displeasure, and he now solemnly and tenderly addresses God, and says, that he had furnished this testimony against him — and he was overwhelmed.

9. He teareth me iyi his lorath. The language here is all taken from the ferocity of wild beasts; and the idea is, that his enemy had come upon him as a lion seizes upon its prey. RosenmUller, Reiske, and some others suppose that this refers to God. Cocceius refers it to Satan. Schultens, Dr. Good, and some others, to Eliphaz, as the leading man among his adversaries. 1 have no doubt that this is the true reference. The connection seems to demand this; and we ought not to suppose that Job would charge this upon God, unless there is the clearest evidence. The whole passage is a description of the manner in which Job supposed his friends had come upon him. He says they had attacked him like wild beasts. Yet it must be admitted that he sometimes attributes these feelings to God, and says that he came upon him like a roaring lion. See ch. x 16, ] 7. 1[ JVho hateth me. Or rather, ' and persecutes me, or is become my adversary,' for so the word here used (Vjo) means. See Notes on ch. xxx. 21. H He gnasheth upon me imth his teeth. As an enraged wild animal does when about to seize upon its prey. A

with their mouth; they have smitten *" me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have ' gathered themselves together against me.

False as the wind, the water, or the weather j Cruel as tigers o'er their trembling prey: I feel him in my breast, lie tears my heart. And at each sigh he drinks the gushing blood.

And SO Homer, when he describes the wrath of Achilles as he armed himself to avenge the death of Patroclus, mentions among other signs of wrath his gnashing his teeth:

H Mi7ie enemy sharpeneth his eyes uponme. Looks fiercely; watches me narrowly — as an animal does his victim when about to seize upon it. The image is probably drawn from the intense gaze of the lion when about to pounce upon his prey. ' He darts piercing looks at me; or Ioo'a:* at me with a fierce and penetrating eye.'

10. They have gaped upon me. Changing the form from the singular to the plural, and including all his pretended friends. Such a change in the number is not uncommon. His mind seems to have passed from the particular instance which he was contemplating, to all his friends, and he suddenly felt that all had treated him alike. The meaning is, that, like wild beasts, they open tiieir mouth to devour me. IT They have gathered themselves together. They have entered into a conspiracy, and have agreed to oppose me. They are united in this thing, and all feel and act alike.

to the ungodly, and turned me over into the liands of the wicked.

12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder; he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me "^ up for his mark.

shvt me up. The meaning is, that God had committed him to their hands as a prisoner or captive. They had power over him to do as tliey pleased. U To the ungodly. Into the liands of wicked men — meaning undoubtedly his professed friends. IF And turned vie over. The word here used (from ^tl^) nieans to throw headlong, to precipitate, to cast down. Here it means, 'lie lias thrown me headlong into the hands of the wicked.'

12. / icas at ease. I was in a state of iiappiness and security. The word here used ("l?^) means sometiines to be at ease in an improper sense; that is, to be in a state of 'carnal security,' or living unconcerned in sin (Ezek. xxiii. 42, comp. Prov. i. 32); but here it is used in the sense of comfort. He had every thing desirable around him. TI But he hath broken me asunder. He has crushed me. II He hath also takeji me by 7ny neck. Perhaps as an animal does his prey. We have all seen dogs seize upon their prey in this manner. M And set me uj} for his mark. Changing the figure, and saying that God had directed his arrows against him. So Jeremiah, Lam. iii. 12:

And set me as a mark for the arrow.

13. His archers. He does not come alone to shoot at me; he has employed acompany of bowmen, who also direct their arrows against me. The word here used (^'^) means properly much., large., great; and is applied to that which is powerful or

13 His archers compass me round about; he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.

14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach; * he runneth upon me like a giant.

mighty. It is nowhere else used in the sense of archers., and might be rendered ' his many f i. e. his bands, hosts, or armies. But as all the ancient versions render it arroios., or archers, probably that sense is to be retained. Allusion is here made to those who claimed to be the friends of Job, but wlio now showed to his apprehension that they were merely sharp-shooters under the control of God, to deepen his woes. IF He cleaveth my reins asunder. With liis arrows. They penetrate quite through me. '[I He poureth out my gall. The \K'ordgall means the bile — the yellowish-green bitter fluid secreted in the liver. A similar figure occurs in Lam. ii. 11, "My liver is poured upon the earth." Among the heathen poets, also, the liver is represented as pierced, and as pouring out gore. TJius ^sch. Agam. 442: ^lyyavft Tcooq rjTtao. So also 801: Jijyua?.u- 7T)]q ^q' TjTTaQ TTooaiyrfTrat, So in the Iliad xiii. 412, xx. 469, 470. The meaning here is, 'I am transfixed with a deadly wound, and must die. God has come upon me as an armed man, and has pierced my vitals.'

14. He breaketh me. He crushes me. ^JVith breach upon breach. He renews' and repeats the attack, and thus completely overwhelms me. One blow follows another in such quick succession, that he does not give me time to recover. 11 He runneth upon me like a giant. With great and irresistible force — as some strong and mighty warrior whom his adversary cannot resist. The Hebrew is lis a — a mighty one. Sept.,

15 I have sewed sackcloth

15. I have sewed sackcloth. I hare put on tlie badges of humiliation and grief. See Notes on Isa. iii, 24. This was the usual emblem of mourning. In order more deeply to express it, or to make it a permanent memorial of sorrow, it would seem that it was sewed around the body — as we sevj crape on the hat. H And defiled vuj horn in the dust. The word rendered defiled (from ^^^') has, according to Gesenius, the notion of repetition, derived from the use of the Arabic word. The Arabic means, to drink again, i. e. after a former draught; and then, to drink deep. Hence the word is applied to^giny action which is repeated — as to the second blow by which one already struck down is killed; to an after-harvest, or to gleaning in the fields. Here Gesenius supposes it means to maltreat^ to abuse; and the idea according to him is, that he had covered his whole head in the dust. The word hor7i is used in the Scriptures to denote strength and power. The figure is taken from horned animals, whose strength resides in their horns; and hence, as the horn is the means of defence, the word comes to denote that on which one relies; his strength, honor, dignity. A horn, made of silver, was also worn as an ornament, or as an emblem, on the forehead of females or warriors. It was probably used at first by warriors as a symbol of power, authority, or strength; and the idea was undoubtedly derived from the fact that the strength of animals was seen to lie in the horn. Then it came to be a mere ornament, and as such is used still in the vicinity of Mount Lebanon. Oriental customs do not undergo those changes which are so common in the Western world, and it is possible that this custom prevailed in the time of Tob.