My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My speech shall distil as the dew, As the small rain upon the tender herb. And as the showers upon the grass.
So Homer speaks of the eloquence of Nestor,
" Words sweet as honey from his lips dis till'd.'>. Pope.
So Milton, speaking of the eloquence of Belial, says,
Dropt manna, and could make the worse appear The better reason, to perplex and dash Maturest counsels. Par. Lost, B. ii.
The comparison in the Scriptures of words of wisdom or persuasion, is sometimes derived from honey, that drops or gently falls from the comb. Thus in Prov. v. 3;
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an
23 And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under thy tongue.
23. ^'Jnd they icaitf.d for mc as for the rain. That is, as tlie dry and tliirsiy earth waits for the rain. This is a continuation of the beautiful image commenced in the previous verse, and conveys the idea that his counsel was as necessary in the assemblies of men as tlie rain was to give growth to the seed, and beauty to the landscape. 11 Jlnd theij opened thdr mouth wide. Expressive of earnest desire. Comp. Ps. cxi.x. 131: "I opened my mouth find panted." ir As for the latter rain. The early and tlie latter rains are frequently spoken of in the Scriptures, and in Palestine and the adjacent regions are both necessary to the harvest. The early, or autumnal rains, commence in tiie latter half of October, or the beginning of November, not suddenly, but by degrees, so as to give the husbandman an opportunity to sow his wheat and barley. The rains come mostly from the west, or southwest, continuing for two or three days at a time, and falling especially during the nights. During tiie months of ISovember and December, they continue to fall heavily; afterwards they return only at longer intervals, and are less heavy; but at no period during the winter do they entirely cease to occur. Rain continues to fall more or less during the month of Marcii, but it is rare after that period. The latter rains denote those which fall in the month of March, and which are so necessary in order to bring forward the harvest, which ripens early in May or June. If those rains fail, the harvest materiall)' suffers, and hence the expressions in the Scriptures, that " the husbandman waits for that rain." Comp.
24 Ifl laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
James v. 7. Prov. xvi. 15. The expression, " the early and the latter rain " seems, unless some material change has occurred in Palestine, not to imply tiiat no rain fell in the interval, but that those rains were usually more copious, or were especially necessary, first for sowing, and then for bringing forward the harvest. In the interval between the "latter" and the "early" rains — between IMarch and October — rain never falls, and the sky is usually serene. See Robinson's Bibl. Researches, vol. ii. pp. 96-100. The meaning here is, that they who were assembled in counsel, earnestly desired Job to speak, as the farmer desires the rain that will bring forward liis crop.
24. Ifllauglicd07i them, they believed it not. There is considerable variety in the interpretation of this member of tlie verse. Dr. Good renders it, "I smiled upon them, and they were gay." Herder, " Ifl laughed at them, they were not offended." Coverdale, " \Vhen I laughed, they knew well it was not earnest." Schultens, "1 will laugh at them, tiiey are not secure." But RosenmUller, Jun. et Trem., Noyes and Umbreit, accord with the sense given in our common translation. The Hebrew literally is, " Should I laugh upon them, tliey did not confide;" and, according to RosenmUller, the meaning is, " Such was the reverence for my gravit}', that if at any time I relaxed in my severity of manner, they would scarcely believe it, nor did they omit any of their reverence towards me, as if familiarit)- with the great should produce contempt." Grotius explains it to mean, " Even my jests, they thought, contained something serious." The word here used, however (P1^), means not only to laugh or smile upon, but to laugh at, or deride. Ps. lii. 8. Job xxx. 1.
25 I chose out tlieir wny, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in
Comp. Jol) V. 2*2, xxxix. 7, xviii. 22. It seems to me, that the sense is, that so great was liis iufliieiice, tliat he was able to control them even witii a smile, without saying a \\()rcl; that if, wlien a measure was proposed in debate, he should even smile, though he said nothing, they would liave no confidence in it, but would at once abandon it as unwise. No higher intlueiice than this can be well conceived, and tiiis exposition accords with the general course of remark, where Job traces along the various degrees of his influence till he comes to this, the highest of them all. IT ^Tid the light of my couiitrnance they cast not doicn. His smile of favor on an undertaking, or his smile at the weakness or want of wisdom of any thing proposed, they could not resist. It settled the matter. They had not power by their arguments or moral courage to resist him even if he did not say a word, or even to change the aspect of his countenance. A look, a token of approbation or disapprobation from him, was enough. 25. / chose out their way. That is, I became their guide and counsellor. Rosenmtlller and Noycs explain this as meaning, " When I came among them;" tliat is, when I chose to go in their way, or in their midst. But the former interpretation better agrees with the Hebrew, and with the connection. Job is speaking of the honors shown to him, and one of the highest which he could receive was to be regarded as a leader, and to have such respect shown to his opinions that he was even allowed to select the way in which they should go; that is, that his counsel was implicitly followed. ^ Jlnd sat chief. Heb. "Sat head.'' He was at the head of their assemblies. IF And dicelt as a king in the army. As a king, surrounded bv a multitude of troops, all of whom were subservient to his will, and whom he could command at pleasure. It is not to be in-
the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.
ferrcd from this, that Job was a king, or that he was at the head of a nation. The idea is, merely, that the san)c respect was shown to him which is to a monarch at the head of an army. IT As one that comforttlh the inourners. In time of peace I was tlieir counsellor, and in time of war they looked to me for direction, and in time of affliction they came to mc for consolation. There were no classes which did not show me respect, and there were no honors which they wore not ready to heap on mc.
It may seem, perhaps, that in this chapter there is a degree of selfcommendation and praise altogether inconsistent with that consciousness of deep unworthiness which a truly pious man should have. How, it may be asked, can this spirit be consistent with religion.' Can a man who has anv proper sense of the depravity of his heart, speak thus in comniendation of his own righteousness, and recount with such apparent satisfaction his own good deeds.' Would not true piety be more distrustful of self, and be less disposed to magnify its own doings.' And is there not here a recalling to recollection of former honors, in a manner which shows that the heart was more attached to them than that of a man whose hope is in heaven should be.' It may not be possible to vindicate Job in this respect altogether, nor is it necessary for us to attempt to prove that he was entirely perfect. Wo are to remember, also, the age in which he lived; we are not to measure what he said and did by the knowledge whicli we have, and the clearer light which shines upon us. We are to bear in recollection the circumstances in which he v\'as placed, and perhaps we shall find in them a mitigation for what seems to us to exhibit such a spirit of selfreliance, and which looks so much like the lingering love of the honors of this world. Particularly, we may recall the following considerations:
(1.) He was vindicating himself from charges of enormous guilt and hypocrisy. To meet these charges, he runs over tlie leading events of his life, and shows what had been his general aim and purpose. He rnminds them, also, of the respect and honor which had been shown him by those who best knew him — by the poor, the needy, the inhabitants of his o\vn city, the people of his own tribe. To vindicate himself from the severe charges which had been alleged against him, it was not improper thus to advert to the general course of his life, and to refer to the respect in which he had been held. Who could know him better than his neighbors.' Who could be better witnesses than the poor whom he had relieved; and the lame, the blind, the sorrowful, whom he had comforted.' Who could better testify to his character than they who had followed his counsel in times of perplexity and danger.'' Who would be more competent witnesses than the mourners whom he Iiad comforted?
(2) It was a main object with Job to show the greatness of his distress and misery, and for this purpose he went into an extended statement of his former Jiappiness, and especially of the respect wliich Lad been shown him. This he contrasts beautifully with his present condition, and the colors of the picture are greatly heightened by the contrast. In forming our estimate of this chapter, we should take this object into the account, and should not charge him with a design to magnify his own righteousness, when his main purpose was only to exhibit the extent and depth of his present woes.
(3.) It is not improper for a man to speak of his former prosperity and Jiappiness in the manner in which Job did He does not speak of himself as having any merit, or as relying on this for salvation. He distinctly traces it all to God (vs. 2-5), and says that it was because he blessed him that he had enjoyed these comforts. It was not an improper acknowledgment of the mercies wliich he had received from his hand, and the remembrance was fitted to excite his gratitude. And although there may seem to ns something like parade and ostentation in thus dwelling on former honors, and recounting what he had done in days that were past, yet we should remember how natural it was for him, in the circumstances of trial in which he then was, to revert to past scenes, and to recall the times of prosperity, and the days when he enjoyed the favor of
(4.) It may be added, that few men have ever lived to whom this description would be applicable. It must have required uncommon and very remarkable worth to have made it proper for him thus to spoak, and to be able to say all this so as not to be exposed to contradiction. The description is one of great beauty, and presents a lovely picture of patriarchal piety, and of the respect whic-h then was shown to eminent virtue and worth. It is an illustration of the respect that will be, and that ought to be, shown to one who is upright in his dealings with men, benevolent towards the poor and the helpless, and steady in his walk with God.
The design of Job in this chapter is, to contrast Iiis condition at the time when he spake it with liis former happiness and prosperity. The afflictions wliich he describes are mainly those which result from the want of respect and honor which he had formerly enjoyed. He begins by laying (vs. 1-11) that the most vile and abject of society now treated him with disrespect and Ureveience — the very outcasts and dregs of mankind now made him their song. He then goes «n to say (vs. 1-2-14) that the youths, instead of showing him the respect and reverence wliich they had once done, now joined with others in adding to his calamities. He then (vs. 15-19) adverts to the depth of his bodily sutferings, and to the painful and loathsome nature of the disease which bad come upon him. He says (vs. 20-24) that he cried in vain to God, and that he felt assured that he meant to bring him down to death. In the conclusion of the chapter (vs. 25-31) he says that notwithstanding he had shown compassion to the poor, and had as a consequence looked for some token of the divine favor and approbation, yet nothing but calamity came, *nd he was now plunged in the deepest distress; he was a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
DUT now they that are ' young- ■■-^ er than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
1. But now tliey tliat are younger than I. Marg. of fewer days. It is not probable that Job here refers to his three friends. It is not possible to determine their age with accuracy, but in oh. XV. 10, they claim tiiat there were with them old and very aged men, much older than the father of Job. Thougii that place may possibly refer not to themselves but to those who held tlie same opinions with them, yet none of those who engaged in the discussion, except Elihu (ch. xxxii. 6), are represented as young men. They were the contemporaries of Job; men who are ranked as his friends; and men who chowed that they had had opportunities for long and careful observation. The reference liere, therefore, is to the fact that while, in the days of his prosperity, even the aged and tfTe honorable rose up to do him revt'rence, now he was the object of contempt even by tlie young and tiic wortiiless. The Orientals would feel this much. It was among the chief lirliios with them to show respect to
2 Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
the aged, and their sensibilities were peculiarly keen in regard to any indignity shown to them by the young. ir Wkose fathers I icould have, disdained. Who are the children of the lowest and most degraded of the community. How deep the calamity to be so fallen as to be the subject of derision by such men! IT To have set with the dogs of my flock. To have associated with ray dogs in guarding my flock. That is, they were held in less esteem than his dogs. This was the lowest conceivable point of debasement. The Orientals had no language that would express greater contempt of any one than to call him a dog. Comp.Deut. xxiii. 18. 1 Sam. xvii. 43, xxiv. 14, 2 Sam. iii. 8, ix. 8, xvi. 9. 2 Kings vi'ii. 13. Note Isa. Ixvi. 3.
2. Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands proUt me. There has been much difference of opinion respecting the meaning of this passage. The general sense is clear. Job means to describe those who were reduced by poverty and want, and
3 For want and famine they were ' solitary; fleeing into the
who were witliout respectability or home, and who had no power in any way to affect him. He states that they were so abject and worthless as not to be worth his attention; but even this fact is intended to siiow how low he was himself reduced, since even the most degraded ranks in life did not show any respect to one who had been honored by princes. The Vulgate renders this, "The strength — virtus — of whose hands is to me as nothing, and they are regarded as unworthy of life." The LXX, " And the strength of their hands, what is it to me? Upon whom perfection — civvzt).fta — has perished." Coverdale, " The power and strength of their hands might do me no good, and as for their age, it is spent and passed away without any profit." The literal translation is, " Even the strength of their hands, what is it to me.''" The meaning is, that their power was not worth regarding. They were abject, feeble, and reduced by hunger — poor emaciated creatures, who could do him neither good nor evil. Yet this fact did not make h'lm feci less the indignity of being treated by such vagrants with scorn. V In whom old age icas perished. Or, rather, in whom vigor, or the power of accomplishing any thing, has ceased. The word M^'-?. —keldlih, means completion, or the act or power of finishing or completing any thing. Then it denotes old age — age as, finished or completed. Job v. 26. Here it means the maturity or vigor which would enable a man to complete or accomplish any thing, and the idea is, that in these persons this had utterly perislied. Reduced by hunger and want, they had no power of effecting any thing, and were unworthy of regard. The word here used occurs only in this book in Hebrew (chs. v. 26, xxx. 2), but is common in Arabic, where it refers to the wrinkles, the wanness, and the austere aspect of the counte nance, especially in age. See Castell's Lex.
3. For want and famine. By hunger and poverty their strength is wholly exhausted, and they are among tiie miserable outcasts of society. In order to show the dcptii to which he himself was sunk in public estimation. Job goes into a description of the state of these miserable vvretcius, and says that he was treated with contempt by the very scum of society, by those who were reduced to the most abject wretchedness, and who wandered in the deserts, subsisting on roots, without clothing, shelter, or home, and who were chased away by the respectable portion of the community as if they were thieves and robbers. The description is one of great power, and pre.scnts a sad picture of his own condition. H Tiiey were solitary. Marg. or, dark as the night. Heb. ll'^l^J. Tliis word properly means hard, and is applied to a dry, stony, barren soil In Arabic it means a hard rock. Umhreit. In ch. iii. 7, it is applied to a night in which none are born. Here it seems to denote a countenance, drv, hard, emaciated with hunger JeVome renders it, stcriles. 'I'he LXX, ayni'oq — sterile. Prof Lee, "Hardly beset." The meaning is, that they were greatly reduced — or dried vp — by hunger and want. So Umbreit renders h, gantz ausgedorrt — altogether dried np. H Fleeing into the wilderness. Into the desert or lonely wastes. That is, they fed there to obtain, on what the desert produced, a scanty subsistence. Sucli is the usual explanation of the word rendered fee — P'^lr; ■ But the A'ulgate, the Syriac, and the Arabic, render It gnau-ing, and this is followed by Umbreit, Noyes, Schultens, and
4 Who cut up mallows by the
Good. According to this the meaning is, that they were ' gnawers of tlie desert;' tliat is, that they lived by gnawing tiie roots and shrubs which they found in the desert. This idea is much more expressive, and agrees with tlie connection. The word occurs in Hebrew only in this verse and in ver. 17, where it is rendered " My sinews," but whicii may more appropriately he rendered ' J\ly gnawing pains.' In the Syriac and Arabic the word means to ffnoic, or corrode, as the leading signification, and as the sense of tiie word cannot be determined by its usage in the Hebrew, it is better to depend on the ancient versions, and on its use in the cognate languages. According to this, the idea is, that they picked up a scanty subsistence as they could find it, by gnawing roots and slirubs in the deserts. II Iniheforviertime. Marg. yesternight. The Hebrew word (W2X) means properly last night; the latter part of the preceding day, and then it is used to denote night or darkness in general. Gesenius supposes that this refers to the night of desolation, the pathless desert being strikingly compared by the Orientals with darkness. According to this, the idea is not that they had gone but yesterday into the desert, but that they went into the shades and solitudes of the wilderness, far from the abodes of men. The sense then is, ' They fled into the night of desolate wastes.' TI Desolate and loaste. In Hebrew the same word occurs in different forms, designed to give emphasis, and to describe the gloom and solitariness of the desert in the most impressive manner. We should express the same idea by saying that they hid themselves in the shades of the wilderness.
4. Who cut vp malloics. For the purpose of eating. Mallows are common medicinal plants, famous for their emollient or softening properties, and the size and brilliancy of their flowers. It is not probable, however, that
Job referred to what we commonly understand by the word mallows. It has been commonly supposed that he meant a species of plant, called liy the Greeks Halimus, a saltish plant, or salt-wort, growing commonly in the deserts and on poor land, and eaten as a salad. The Vulgate ren ders it simply herhas; the LXX, ahfta. — alima. The Hebrew word, according to Umbreit, means a common salad of a saltish taste, whose young leaves being cooked, constituted food for the poorer classes. The Hebrew word T\^fq — vidlludhh, is from n?'?. — vitldhh, sat, and properly refers to a marine plant or vegetable. IT By the bvshes. Or among the bushes; that is, that which grew among the bushes of the desert. They wandered about in the desert that they might obtain this very humble fare. 11 Jljid juniperroots. The word here rendered "juniper"' (^Tl"^ — rothem), occurs only in this place, and in 1 Kings xix 4, 5. Ps. cxx. 4. In each place it is rendered juniper. In 1 Kings it is mentioned as the tree under whicli Elijah sat down when ho fled into the wilderness for liis life. In Ps. cxx 4, it is mentioned as a material for making coals. " Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper." It is rendered juniper by Jerome, and by the Rabbins. The verb (CP~i) occurs in Micah i. 13, where it is rendered hind, and means, to bind on, to make fast; and probably the plant here referred to received its name in some way from the notion of binding — perhaps because its long, flexible, and slender twigs were used for binding, or for willies. There i.s no evidence, however, that the juni per is in any case intended. It denotes a species of broom —.■^partium juticcum of Linn, which grows abundantly in the deserts of Arabia. It is the Genista ratam of Forskal. Flora Egypt. Arab. p. 214. It has small variegated blossoms, and grows in
5 They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief,)
the water-courses of the Wadys. Dr. Robinson (Bibl. Researches, i. 299) says, " The; Rctein is the largest and most conspicuous shrub of these deserts, growing thickly in the watercourses and vallies. Our Arabs always selected the place of encampment (if possible) in a place where it grew, in order to be sheltered by it at night from the wind; and, during tlie d.iy, when they often went on in advance of the camels, we found them not unfrequently sitting or sleeping under a busli of Retem, to protect them from the sun. It was in this very desert, a day's journey fi'om Beersheba, that the prophet Elijah lay down and slept beneath tlie same shrub. The roots are very bitter, and are regarded by the Arabs as yielding the best charcoal. Tlie Hebrew name Or}"I — Rothem, is the same as the present Arabic name." Burckhardt remarks, that he found several Bedawinsin the Wady Genne collecting brusliwood, which they burnt into charcoal for the Egyptian m;irket, and adds that they preferred for this purpose the thick roots of the shrub Retliem ((vJ'v), which grew there in abundance. Travels in Syria, p. 483. It could have been only those who were reduced to tlie utmost penury and want that could have made use of the roots of this slirub for food, and this is doubtless the idea which Job means to convey. It is said to liave been occasionally used for food by the poor. See Gesenius. Lex.; Umbreit in loc, and Schultens. A description of the condition of the poor, remarkably Bimilar to this, occurs in Lucan. Lib. vii.:
Cernit mUorabile vulgus
In pccu.ium cecitiisse ciboe, ct earpsre dumos, Et morsii spolinre neinus.
Biddulph (in the collection of Voyages
6 Tc dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves ' of the earth, and in the rocks.
from the Library of tlie Earl of Oxford, p. 807), says he had seen many poor people in Syria gather mallows and clover, and when he had asked them what they designed to do with it, they answered that it was for food. Tliey cooked and ate them. Herodotus, viii. 115, says, that the army ot Xerxes, after their defeat, when tliey had consumed all the corn of tlie inhabitants in Thessaly, " fed on the natural produce of the earth, stripping wild and cultivated trees alike of their bark and leaves, to such an extremity of famine were they come."
5. T/ieij were driven forth from among men. As vagabonds and outcasts. They were regarded as unfit to live among the civilized and the orderly, and were expelled as nuisances. U ( They cried after them as after a thief.) The inhabitants of the place where they lived drove them out with a loud outcry, as if they were thieves and robbers. A class of persons are here described who were mere vagrants and plunderers, and who were not allowed to dwell in civilized society, and it was one of the highest aggravations of the calamities of Job, th.it he was now treated with derision by such outcasts.
G. To dwell ill the cliffs of the valleys. The word here rendered cliff's (iJllSJ) denotes rather horror., or something horrid, and the sense liere is, that they dwelt in the horror if valleys; that is, in horrid valleys Tlie idea is that of deep and frigiitt'nl glens, wnere wild beasts ranged, f:;r from the abodes of men, and surrounded by frightful wastes. The word rendered valleys ('n?) means properly a brook, stieam, watercourse— what is now called a icudy; a place where the winter torrents run, but which is usually dxy in summer. See Notes on ch. vi. 15. U In
8 They were children of fools,
caves of the earth. Marg. as in Ileb. holes. Sept. " Wiiose houses are — rnwyXai TtfTooiv — caverns of the rocks;" that is, vvlio are Tro<rlodytcs. Caves furnished a natural dwelling for the poor and tlie outcast, and it is well known that it was not uncommon in Egypt, and in the deserts of Arabia, to occupy such caves as a iiabitation See Diod. Sic. Lib. iii. xiv. and Strnbo, Lib. xvi. IT.ind in the rocks. The caverns of the rocks. Dr. Richardson found a large number of such dwellings in the vicinity of Thebes, many of which were large and beautifullv formed, and sculptured with many curious devices. Mr. Rich, also, saw a large number of such caves not fir from Mousal. Residence in Koordistan, vol. ii. p. 94.
7..Imong the bushes. Coverdale, " Upon the dry heath went they about crying." The Hebrew word is the same which occurs in ver. 4, and means bushes in general. They were heard in tlie slirubbery that grew in tlie desert. IT Theij brayed — 'r'1?"^ • The Vulgate renders this, " The\' were concealed." The LXX, " Amidst sweet sounds they cry out." Noyes, "They utter their cries." The Hebrew word properly means to brai/. It occurs only here and in cli. vi. 5, where it is applied to the ass. The sense here is, that the voices of this vagrant and wretched multitude was heard in the desert like the braying of asees. H Under the nettles. Dr. Good, " Under the briers." Prof Lee, "Beneath the broom-pea." Noyes, "Under the thorns." The Hebrew word blin — hltdrul, occurs only here and in Zeeh. ii. 9, and Prov. x.\iv. 31, in each of which places it is rendered nettles. It is probably derived from ''5'^=:"IT!'7' VOL. II. 5
yea, children " of base ' men; they were viler than the earth. 9 And now am I '' their song yea, I am their " by-word.
to burn, to glow, and is given to nettles from the burning or prickling sensation which they produce. Either the word nettles, thistles, or thorns, would sufficiently answer to its derivation. It does not occur in the Arabic Castell. Umbreit renders it, unter Dornen — tinder thorns. H They were gathered together. Vulg, "They accounted it a delicacy to be in a thorn, hedge." The word here used ('^SD) means to add; and then to be added or assembled together. The idea is, that they were huddled together quite promiscuously in the wildgrowing bushes of the desert. They had no home; no separate habitation. This description is interesting, not only as denoting the depth to which Job had been reduced when he was the object of contempt by such vagrants, but as illustrative of a state of society existing then.
8. They were children of fools. The word rendered/oo/i- ^23 — JVdbdl, means, (1,) stupid, foolish; and (2,) abandoned, impious. Comp. 1 Sam. XXV. 3, 25. Here it means the worthless, the refuse of society, the abandoned. They had no respectable parentage. Umbreit, " A brood of infamy." Coverdale, " Children of fools and villains." IT Children of base men. Marg. as in Hebrew, mere of no name. They were men of no reputation; whose ancestors had in no way been distinguished; possibly meaning, also, that they herded together as beasts without even a name. U They were viler than the earth. Gesenius renders this, " They are frightened out of the land." The Hebrew word ("^^S) means to chide, to upbraid, and then in Niph. to be chidden away, or driven off. The sense is, a« an impious and low-born race tliey were driven out of the land.
10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and ' spare not to spit " in my face.
11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they
ch. xvii. 6. Comp. Ps. Ixix. 12, «' I was the song of the drunkards." Lam. iii. 14, "I was a derision to all my people, and their song all the day." The sense is, that they made Job and his calamities the subject of low jesting, and treated him with contempt. His nanie and sufferings would be introduced into their scurrilous songs to give them pith and point, and to show how mucli they despised him now. f Yea, I am their by-word. See Notes on ch. xvii. 6.
10. They abhor mc. Ileb. They regard me as abominable. IT They fieefar from me. Even such an impious and low-born race now will have nothing to do with me. They would consider it no lienor to he associated with me, but keep as far from me as possible. Tl And spare not to spit in my face. Marg. unthhold not spittle from. Noyes renders this, *■'■ Before my face;" and so Luther, Wemyss, Umbreit, and Prof. Lee. The Hebrew may mean either to spit in the face, or to spit in the presence of any one. It is quite immaterial which interpretation is adopted, since in the view of Orientals the one was considered about the same as the other. In tlteir notions of courtesy and urbanity, he cotnmits an insult of the same kind who spits in the presence of another which he would if he spit on him. Are they not right.' Should it not be so considered every where.' Yet how different their views from the more refined notions of the civilized Occidentals! In America, more than in any other land, are offences of this kind frequent and gross. Of nothing do foreigners complain of us more, or with more justice; and much as we boast of our intelligence and re-
12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
finement, we should gain much if in this resj)ect we would sit down at the feet of a Bedawin Arab, and incorporate his views into our maxims of politeness.
11. Because he hath loosed my cord. According to this translation, the reference here is to God, and the sense is, that the reason why he was thus derifled and contemned by such a worthless race was, that God had unloosened his cord. That is, God had rendered him incapable of vindicating himself, or of inflicting punishment. The figure, according to this interpretation, is taken from a boxci, and Job means to say that his bow was relaxed, his vigor was gone, and they now felt that tliey might insult him with impunity. But instead of the usual reading in the Hebrew text '^^r''? — Yithri — my nerve, another reading 1'^^*'^ — Yithriv — his nerve, is found in the keri or m.irgin. This reading has been adopted in the text by Jahn, and is regarded as genuine by Roscnmilller, Umbrnif, and Noyes. According to this, the meaning is, that the worthless rabble that now treated him with so much contempt, had relaxed all restraint, and they who had hitherto been under some curb, now rushed upon him in the most unbridled manner. They had cast off all restraint arising from respect to his rank, standing, moral worth, and the dread of his power, and now treated him with every kind of indignity. '^ And afflicted vie. By the disrespect and contempt which they have evinced. IT They have also let loose the bridle before me. That is, they have cast otf all restraint — repeating the idea in the first member of the verse.
13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they
youth. The riglit hand is the place of lienor, and therefore it was felt to be a greater insult that they should occupy even that place. Tlie word rendered youth ("H'^S) occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Scriptures- It is probably from H'lB, to sprout^ germinate, blossom; and hence would mean a progeny, and would be probably applied to beasts. Il is rendered by Jerome, calamities; by the LXX, " Upon the right hand of the progeny, or brood {i]).aarnv), they rise," whore Schieiisner conjectures tiiat [ilctoTol should be read, " On the right hand rise a brood or progeny." U mbreit renders it^cine Brut — a brood. So Rosenmiiller, Noyes, and Schultens. The idea then is, that this rabble rose up, even on his right hand, as a brood of wild animals — a mere rabble that impeded his way. IT They push away my feet. Instead of giving place for me, they jostle and crowd me from my path. Once the aged and the honorable rose and stood in my presence, and the youth retired at my coming, but now this worthless rabble crowds along with me, jostles me in my goings, and shows me no manner of respect. Comp. ch. xx\x. 8. TT.^nd they raise up against me the icays of their destruction. They raise up against me destructive ways, or ways that tend to destroy me. The figure is taken from an advancing army, that casts up ramparts and otlier means of attack de-signed for the destruction of a besieged city. They were, in like manner, constantly making advances against Job, and pressing on him in a manner that was designed to destroy him.
13. They mar my path. They break up all my plans. Perhaps here, also, the image is taken from war, and Job may represent himself as on a line of march, and he says that tliis rabble comes and breaks up his path altogethsr. Tbey break down the
14 They came upon me as a
bridges, and tear up the way, so that it is impossible to pass along. His plans of life were embarrassed by them, and they were to him a perpetual annoyance. IT They set foricard my calamity. Luther renders this part of the verse, " It was so easy for them to injure me, that they needed no help." The literal translation of the Hebrew here would be, "they profit for my ruin;" that is, they bring as it were profit to my ruin; they help it on; they promote it. A similar expression occurs in Zech. i. 15, " I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction;" that is, they aided in urging it forward. The idea here is, thaJ they hastened his fall. Instead of assisting him in any way, they contributed all tliey could to bring him down to the dust. IT They have no helper. Very various interpretations have been given of this phrase. It may mean, that they had done this alone, without the aid of others; or that they were persons who were held in abhorrence, and whom no one would assist; or that they were worthless and abandoned persons. Schultens has shown that the phrase, one icho has no helper., is proverbial among the Arabs, and denotes a worthless person, or one of the lowest class. In proof of this, he quotes the Ilamasa, which he thus translates, Videmus vos ignobiles, pauperes, quibus nullus ex reliquis hominibus adjutor. See, also, other similar expressions quoted by him from Arabic writings. The idea here then is, probably, that they were so worthless and abandoned that no one would help them — an expression denoting the utmost degradation.
14. They came upon me as a wide, hrcaking-in of waters. The Hebrew here is simply, " Like a wide breach they came," and the reference may be, not to an inundation, as our translators supposed, but to an irruption made by a foe through a breach made wide breaking-in of inciters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon inc.
15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my ' soul as
in a wall. When such a wall fell, or when a breach was made in it, the besTeging army would pour in in a tumultuous manner, and cut down all before them. Comp. Isa. xxx. 13. This seems to be the idea here. The enemies of Job poured in upon him as if a breach was made in a wall. Formerly they were restrained by his rank and office, as a besieging army was by lofty walls; but now all these restraints were brolcen down, and they poured in upon him like a tumultuous army. TI hi the desolation they rolled themselves upon me. Among the ruins they rolled tumultuous along; or they came jiitching and tiimbling in with the ruins of the wall. The image is taken from the act of sacking a city, where the besieging army, having made a breach in the wall, would seem to come tumbling into the heart of the city with the ruins of the wall. No time wouH be wasted, but they would follow suddenly and tumultuously upon the breach, and roll tumultuously along. The Chaldee renders this as if it referred to the rolling. and tumultuous waves of the sea, and the Hebrew would admit of such a construction, but the above seems better to accord with the image which Job would be likely to use.
15. Terrors arc turned v/pon vie. As if they were all turned upon him, or made to converge towards him. Every thing fitted to produce terror seemed to have a direction given it towards him. Umbreit, and some others, however, suppose that God is here referred to, and that the meaning is, ' God is turned against me; terrors drive as a storm against me.' The Hebrew will bear either construction; but it is more emphatic and impressive to suppose it means the wind; and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
1() And now my soul is poured out upon ^ me: the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
that every thing adapted to produce terror seemed to be turned against him. TI They pursue my soul as the wind. Mdrg. my principal one. The word " they " here, refers to the terrors. In the original the word r|Tir] agrees with mnsS ^ terrors understood, for this word is often used as a collective noun, and witli a singular verb, or it may agree with rfiN?b — " each one of the terrors persecutes me." There is more difficulty about the word rendered 50?iZ in the text, and pri7icipal one in the margin — '^T^'?? • ^' properly means loilliiigncss, voluntariness., spontaneity; then a free-will offering, a voluntary sacrifice; then largeness, abundance. RosenniQller renders it, " My vigor." Noycs, " My prosper ity," and so Coverdale. Jerome, ""My desire," and the LXX, "My hope passes away as the wind.'' Schultens translates it, " They persecute my generous spirit as the wind." It seems probable that tire word refers to a generous, noble nature; to a large and liberal soul, evincing its magnanimity in acts of generosity and hospitality; and the idea seems to bo, that his enemies rushed against that generous nature like a tempest. They wholly disregarded it, and a nature most generous and noble was exposed to the fury ol the storm. IT Jlnd my icelfarc. Ileb. my salvation; or my safety. IT ^s a cloud. As a cloud vanishes and wholly disappears.
16. J]nd now my soul is poured out upon me. So in Ps. xlii. 4, "I pour out my soul in me." We say tliat one is dissolved in grief. The language is derived from the fact that the soul in grief seems to lose all firmness or consistence. The Arabs
17 My bones are pierced in iiie in ihe night-seuson; and iny
style a fearful person, one who has a, watery heart, or whose heart melts \ awaij like water. JVoyes.
17. My bones are pierced in me. The bones arc often represented in the Scriptures as the seat of acute pain. Ps. vi. 2, xxii. 14,.\.\.xi. 10,.xxxviii. 3, xlii. 10. Prov. xiv. 30. Comp. Job XX. 11. The meaning liere is, that he had iiad shooting or piercing pains in the night, wliich disturbed and prevented liis rest. It is mentioned as a peculiar aggravation of his sufferings that they were in the nigitt — a time wlien we expect repose. If And my sineics take no rest. See the word here rendered."incics explained in the Note on vcr. 3. The word literally means gnaiccrs, and hence the teeth. Tlie Vultrato renders it, qui me romcdunt, non durmiunt, " they who devour me do not slumber." Tlie LXX,rfvud /(ov — 'my sineirs, or arteries. Schcusner. Lutlicr, " They who gnaw me." Coverdale, Sinews. I see no reason to doubt that the teeth or the jaws are meant, and that Job refers to the vi(jlent pain in the tooth, among the acutest pains to which tlie body is subject. The idea is, that every part of the body was diseased and filled with pain.
18. By the great force of my disease. The words " of my disease " are not in the Hebrew The usual interpretation of the passage is, that in consequence of the foul and oft'ensive nature of his malady, his garment had become discolored or defiled— changed from being white and clear to filthiness and oflensiveness. Some have understood it as referring to the skin, and as denoting that it was so affected with the leprosy', that he could scarcely be recognized. Utnbreit supposes it to mean, " Through the omnij)otence of God has my white robe of honor been changed into a narrow garment of grief" — trauerkleid. Dr. Good ren-
18 By the great force of mij
dors it, " From tlie abundaniM; of the acrimony;" that is, of the fierce or acrimonious humor, " it is changed into a garment for me." Coverdale, " With all their power have they changed my garment, and girded mo therewith, as it were with a coat." Prof. Lee, " With much violence doth my clothing bind me." According to Schultcns, it means, " My affliction puts itself on in the form of my clothing;" and the whole passage, that without and within, from the head to the feet, lie was entirely diseased. His afliiction was his outer garment, and it was his inner garment— his mantle and his tunic. The Hebrew is difficult. The phrase rendered " by the great force, ' means, literally, " by the multitude of strength " — and may refer to the strength of disease, or to the strength of God, or to the force with which his garment girded him. The word rendered "is changed" — ^'^r]-^?, is from ^"SI^, to seek, to search after, in Kal; in Hithpa. the form uted here, to let one's self be sought; to hide one's self; to disguise one's self. 1 Kings xx. 38. According to this, it would mean that his garment was disguised; that is, its appearance was changed by the force of his disease. Gesenius. Jerome renders it, " In their multitude, my garment is consumed; theLXX, " With great force he took hold of- my garment." Of these various interpretations, it is impossible to determine wliicli is the correct one. The prevailing interpretation se«ms to be, that by the strength of his disease his garment was chang-ed in its appearance, so as to become offensive, and yet this is a somewhat feeble sense to give to the passage. Perhaps the explanation of Scliultens is the best, " By the greatness of power, pain or disease has become my garment; it girds me about like the mouth of my tunic." He has shown, by a great variety of disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He hath cast '' me into the mire, and 1 am become like dust and ashes.
instances, that it is common in Arabic poetry to compare pain, sickness, an.'iiety, &c., to clotiiing. IT It bindeth mc about as the collar of my coat. Tlie collar of my tunic, or undergarment. This was made like a shirt, to be gathered around the neck, and tiie idea is, that iiis disease fitted close to him, and was gathered close around him.
19. He hath cast me into the viire. That is, God has done it. In this book the name of God is often understood where the speaker seems to avoid it, in order that it may not be needlessly repeated. On the meaning of the e.xpression here, see Notes on ch. ix. 31. IT.4nd I am become like dust and ashes. Either in appearance, or I am regarded as being as worthless as the mire of the streets. Rosenmilller supposes it means, " I am more like a mass of inanimate matter than a living man."
20. / cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me. This was a complaint which Job often made, that he could not get the ear of God; that his prayer was not regarded, and that he could not get his cause before him. Comp. ch. xiii. 3, 19, seq., and ch. xxvii. 9. IT / stand up. Standing was a common posture of prayer among the ancients. See Heb. xi. 21. 1 Kings viii. 14, 55. Neh. ix. 2. The meaning is, that when Job stood up to pray, God did not regard his prayer.
21. Thou art become cruel to me. Jlarg. turned to be. This language, applied to God, seems to be hrrsh and irreverent, and it may well be inquired whether the word cruel does not express an idea which Job did not intend. The Hebrew word "IJ^X,
20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me; I stand up, and thou regardest me not.
21 Thou art ' become cruel to me: with thy ■•' strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.
... i^-^ — nearly the same as this, means to break with violence; to rout as an enemy; then to be enraged. In the Syriac, the primary idea is, that of a soldier, and thence it may refer to such acts of violence as a soldier commonly commits. The word occurs in Hebrew in tiie following places, and is translated in the following manner. It is rendered cruel in Deut. xxxii. 33, Jobxxx. 21, Prov. V. 9, xi. 17. xii. 10, xvii. 11, xxvii. 4, Isa. xiii. 9, Jer. vi. 23, 1. 42, XXX. 14; and fierce in Job xli. 10. Jerome renders it, mutatus mihi in crudclem — " thou art changed so as to become cruel to me;" the LXX render it, di's).( tjftoi'ojc; — unmerciful; Luther, Du hist mir verwandelt in einem Grausamen — "thou art changed to me into a cruel one;"' and so Umbreit, Noyes, and translators generally. Perhaps the word fierce, severe, or harsh, would express the idea; still it must be admitted that Job, in the severity of his sutierings, is often betrayed into language which cannot be a model for us, a;id which we cannot vindicate. IT With thy strong hand, fllarg. tlie strength. So the Hebrew. The hand is the instrument by which we accomplish any thing; and hence any thing which God does is traced to his hand. TT Tliou opposest thyself against 7«e— "^Sia-Jbn. The word tqi^ _ Sdtam, means to lie in wait for any one; to lay snares; to set a trap. See cli. xvi. 9, where the same word occurs, and where it is rendered " who hateth me," but where ii would be better rendered he pursues.
22 Thou liflest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride
or pcrsfcutes me. The meaning is, that God had become his adversary, or had set himself against him. Tliere was a severity in his dealings with iiim as if he had become a foe. 22. Thou liftest me %ip to the wind. Tlie sense here is, that lie was lifted up as stubble is by a tempest, and driven mercilessly along. The figure of riding upon the winder the wfiiriwind, is common in Oriental writers, and indeed elsewhere. So Milton says,
So Addison, speaking of the angel that executes the commands of tlie Almighty, says,
Coverdale renders this verse, " In times past thou didst set me up on high, as it were above the wind, but now hast thou given me a very sore fail." Rosenmilller thinks that the image here is not taken from straw or chaff that is driven by the wind, but that the meaning of Job is, that he is lifted up and borne aloft like a -iloud. But the image of chaff or straw taken up by the whirlwind and driven about, seems best to accord with the scope of the passage. The idea is, that tlie tempest of calamity had swept every thing away, and had driven him about as a worthless object, until he was wasted away and mined. It is possible that Job refers in this passage to the sand-storm which occurs sometimes in the deserts of Arabia. The following description of such a storm by Mr. Bruce (vol. iv. pp. 553, 554), will furnish an illustration of the force and sublimity of the passage. It is copied from Taylor's Fragments, in C-tlmst's Dictionary, vol. iii. 235: " On the fourteenth," says Bruce, " at seven in the morning, we left Assa Nagga, our course being due
north. At one o'clock we alighted among some acacia trees at Waadi el Halboub, having gone twenty-one miles. We were here at once surprised and terrified by a sight, surely one of the most magnificent in the world. In tiiat vast e-xpanse of desert from west and to north-west of us, we saw a number of prodigious pi/Zars of sand at different distances, at times moving with great celerity, at others stalking on with a majestic slowness; at intervals we thought they were coming in a very few minutes to overwhelm us, and small quantities of sand did actually more than once reach us. Again they would retreat so as to be almost out of sight — their tops reaching to the very clouds. There the tops often separated from the bodies; and these, once disjoined, dispersed in the air, and did not appear more. Sometimes they were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon shot. About noon they began to advance with considerable swiftness upon us, the wind being very strong at north. Eleven of them ranged alongside of us about the distance of three miles. The greatest diameter of the largest appeared to me at that distance as if it would measure two feet. They retired from us with a wind at south-east, leaving an impression upon my mind to which I can give no name, though surely one ingredient in it was fear, with a considerable deal of wonder and astonishment. It was in vain to think of flying; the swiftest horse, or fastest sailing ship, could be of no use to carry us out of thia danger, and the full persuasion of this riveted me as if to the spot where I stood, and let the camels gain on me so much in my state of lameness, that it was with some difficulty I could overtake
"Thewh*le of our company were much disheartened, except Idris, and
23 For I know that thou wilt
imagined that they were advancin"' into whirlwinds of moving sand, from which they should never be able to extricate themselves; but before four o'clock in the afternoon these phantoms of the plain had all of them fallen to the ground and disappeared. In the evening we came to Waadi Diniokea, where we passed the night, much disheartened, and our fear more increased, when we found, upon wakening in the morning, that one side was perfectly buried in the sand that the wind had blown above us in the night.
" The sun shining through the pillars, which were tliicker, and contained more sand, apparently, than any of the preceding days, seemed to give those nearest us an appearance as if spotted with stars of gold. 1 do not think at any time they seemed to be nearer than two miles. The most remarkable circumstance was, that the sand seemed to keep in that vast circular space, surrounded by the Nile on our left, in going round by Chaigie toward Dougola, and seldom was observed much to the eastward of a meridian, passing along the Nile through the Magizan, before it takes that turn; whereas the simoom was always on the opposite side of our course, coming upon us from the south-east.
" The same appearance of moving pillars of sand presented themselves to us this day in form and disposition like those we had seen at Waadi Halboub, only they seemed to be more in number, and less in size. They came several times in a direction close upon us, that is, I believe, within less than two miles. They began, immediately after sunrise, like a thick wood, and almost darkened the sun; his rays shining through them for near an hour, gave them an appearance of pillars of fire."
" If my conjecture," says Taylor, "be admissible, we now eee a magnificence in this imagery, not appa-
bring me to death, and to the house appointed " for all living.
rent before: we see how Job's dignity might be exalted in the air; miglit rise to great grandeur, importance, and even terror, in the sight of beholders; might ride upon the wind, which bears it about, causing it to advance, or to recede; and, after all, when the wind diminishes, might disperse, dissipate, melt tliis pillar of sand into the undistinguished level of the desert. This comparison seems to be precisely adapted to the mind of an Arab; who must have seen, or have been informed of, similar phenomena in the countries around hmi."' Ti Jlnd dissoltest my substance. Marg. or wisdom. The word rendered " rf /ssolvest," means to melt, to flow down, and then to cause to melt, to cause to pine away and perish. Isa. Ixiv. 6. It is applied to a host or army that appears to njelt away. 1 Sam. xiv. 16. It is also applied to one who seems to melt away with fear and terror. Ex. XV. 15. Josh. ii. 9, 24. Here tho meaning probably is, that God caused Job to melt away, as it were, with terrors and alarms. He was like one caught up in a whirlwind, and driven along with the storm, and who, in such circumstances, would be dissolved with fear. The word rendered substance (n^iJri) has been very variously interpreted. The word, as it is written in the test, means help, deliverance, purpose, enterprise, counsel, or understanding. See ch. v. 12, vi. 13, xi. 6. But by some, and among others Gesenius, Umbreit, and Noyes, it is supposed that it should be read as a verb, nVvUFl from i^''^ — to fear. According to this, the meaning is, ' thou terrifiest me.' This agrees better with the connection; is more abrupt and emphatic, and is probably the true interpretation.
23. For I know that tJiou icilt bring me to death. This is the language of despair. Occasionally Job seems to have had an assurance that his cala
24 Howbeit he will not stretch
mities would pass by, and that God would show liimself to be his friend on earth (conip. Notes on eh. xix. 2-j, seq.), and at other times he utters the hmguage of despair. Such would be commonly the case with a good man afflicted as he was, and agitated with akernate hopes and fears. We are not to set tliese expressions down as contradictions. All that inspiration is responsible for, is the fair record of Ills feelings; and that he should have alternate hopes and fears is in entire accordance with what occurs vvhen we are afflicted. Weve. the view of his sorrows appears to have been so overwhelming, tliat he says he knc^o they must terminate in death. The phrase ' to death ' means to the house of the dead, or to the place where the dead are. Umbreit. IT,,9nd to the house appointed for all living The grave. Comp. Heb. ix. 27. That house or home is ' appointed ' for all. It is not a matter of chance that we come there, but it is because the Great Arbiter of life has so ordained. What an affecting consideration it should be, that such a house is designated for all! A house so dark, so gloomy, so solitary, so repulsive! For all that sit on thrones; for all that move in the halls of music and pleasure; for all that roll along in splendid carriages; for all the beautiful, tiie gay, the vigorous, the manly; for all in the marts of business, in the low scenes of dissipation, and in the sanctuary of God; for every one who is young, and every one who is aged, this is the home! Here they come at last; and here they lie down in the narrow bed! God's hand will bring them all there; and there will they lie till his voice summons them to judgment I
24. Howbeit he loill not stretch out his hayid to the grave. Marg. heap. In our common version this verse conveys no very clear idea, and it is quite evident that our translators despaired of giving it a consistent
out his hand to the 'grave, though they cry in his destruction.
sense, and attempti;d merely to translate it literally. The verse has been rendered by every expositor almost in his own way; and though almost no two of them agree, yet it is remarkable that the versions given are all beautiful, and furnish a sense that agrees well with the scope of the passage. The Vulgate renders it, " But not to their consumption wilt thou send forth their hand; and if they fill, thou wilt save them." The Sept., "For O that I could lay violent hands on myself, or beseech another, and he would do it for me." Luther renders it, " Yet he shall not stretch out the hand to the charnelhouse, and they shall not cry before his destruction." JVoyes:
"When he stretcheth out his hand, prayer availeth nothing; When he bringeth destruction, vain is the cry for lielp."
Nur miig' er nicht an den zerstOrten Haufon
Hand anlegen! Oder mussen jene aelbst in ihrera Tode
" Only if he would not lay his hand upon the heaps of the destroyed! Or must these also cry out in their death."'
According to this interpretation, Job speaks here in bitter irony. ' I would gladl}^ die,' says he, 'if God would only suffer me to be quiet when 1 am dead.' He would be willing that the edifice of the body sliould be taken down, provided the ruins might rest in peace. Rosenmdller gives the same sense as that expressed by Noyes. Amidst this variety of interpretation, it is by no means easy to determine on the true meaning of the passage. The principal difficulty in the exposition lies in the word "^i'S, rendered in the text ' in the grave,' and in the margin 'heap.' If that word is compounded of the preposition 3 and "*",, it means literally, 'in ruins, or in rubbish' — for so the word "^5^ is used in Mic. i. 6. Jer
25 Did not I weep for him that was ' in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
xxvi. 18. Mic. iii. 12. Ps. Ixxix. 1. Num. xxxiii. 45. But Gesenius supposes it to be a single word, from tiie obsolete root J^Sa, Chaldee i^i':;, to pray, to petition; and according to lliis the meaning is, ' Yea, prayer is nought wlien he stretches out his hand; and in his [God's] destruction, their cry availeth not." Prof. Lee understands the word ("^253) in tlie same sense, but gives a somewhat different meaning to the whole passage. According to him the meaning is, ' Nevertheless, upon prayer thou wilt not lay thine hand; surely, when he destroyeth, in this alone there is safety.' Schultens accords very nearly in the sentiment expressed by Umbroit, and renders it, " Yet not even in the tomb would he relax his hand, if in its destruction an alleviation were there." This sentiment is very strong, and borders on impiety, and should not be adopted if it is possible to avoid it. It looks as if Job felt that God was disposed to pursue his animosity even into the regions of the dead, and that he would have pleasure in carrying on the work of destruction and affliction in the ruins of the grave. After the most careful examination which I have been able to give of this dilEcult passage, it seems probable to me that the following is the correct sense. Job means to state a general and important principle — that there was rest in the grave. lie said lie knew that God would bring him down there, but that would be a state of repose. The hand of God producing pain, would not reach there, nor would the sorrows experienced in this world be felt there, provided there had been a praying life. Notwithstanding all his afflictions, therefore, and his certain conviction that he would die, he had unwavering confidence in God. Agreeably to '.his, the following paraphrase will
26 When '' I looked for good, then evil came unto me; and
convey the true sense. 'I know that he will bring me to the grave. Kevtrtheless ("J?), over the ruins (''<3) — of my body, the ruins in the grave — he will not stretch out his hand — to afflict me there or to pursue those who lie there with calamity and judgment; if in his destrurtion (IT'Sa) — in the destruction or desolation which God brings upon men — among them ('"1^) — among those who are thus coii.^igned to the ruins of the grave — there is prayer (?*lttJ); if there has been sup])lication offered to him, or a crij for mercy has gone up before him.' This paraphrase embraces every word of the original; saves the necessity of attempting to change the text, as has been often done, and gives a meaning which accords with the scope of the passage, and with the uniform belief of Job, that God would ultimately vindicate him, and show that he himself was right in his government.
25. Did not I weep, &c. Job here appeals to his former life, and says that it had been a characteristic of his life to manifest compassion to the afflicted and the poor. His object in doing this is, evidently, to show how remarkable it was that he was so much afflicted. 'Did I deserve,' the sense is, ' such a hard lot? Has it been brought on me by my own fault, or as a punishment for a life where no compassion was shown to others.'" So far from it, iic -says, that his v.'hole life had been distinguished for tender compa.ssion for those in distress and want. V In trouble. Marg. as in Hebrew, hard of day. So wo say, " a man has a hard time of it," or has a hard lot.
26. If'hen I looked for good. When I sujjposed that respect would be shown me; or when I looked forward to an lionored old age. I expected to be made happy and pros-
when I waited for light, there came darkness,
27 My bowels boiled, and rested not; the days of affliction
perous through life, as the result of m_v uprightness and benevolence; l:>ut, instead of tiint, calamity came and swept all my comforts away. He experienced the instability which most men are called to experience, and the divine dealings with him showed that no reliance could be placed on confident plans of happiness in this life.
'Zl. My hoxrels boiled. Or rather, Mv bowels boil — for he refers to his present circumstances, and not to the past. It is clear that by this phrase he designs to describe deep aflliction. The bowels, in the Scriptures, are represented as the seat of the affections. By this is meant the upper Dowels, or the region of the heart and the lungs. The reason is, that deep emotions of the mind are felt there. The heart beats quick; or it is heavy and pained; or it seems to melt within us in the exercise of pity or compassion. Comp. JNotes on Isa. xvi. 11. The idea here is, that the seat of sorrow and of grief was atTected by his calamities. Nor was the feeling slight. His emotions he compared with agitated, boiling water. It is possible that there is an ttllusion here to the inflammatory nature of his disease, producing internal heat and pain; but it is more probable that he refers to the mental unguish which he endured. H The days of affliction prevented me. Literally, ' have anticipated me '—for so the word prevent was formerly used, and so it is uniformly used in the Bible. Notes on Job iii. 12. Comp. Ps. lix. 10, Ixxix. 8, Ixxxviii. 13, cxix. 148. 1 Thess. iv. 15. There is in the Hebrew word {^1P,) the idea tliat days of anguish came in an unexpected manner, or that they anticipated the fulfilment of his plans. Ail his schemes and hopes of life had
28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and cried in the congregation.
been anticipated by these overwhelm ing sorrows.
28. / went mourning. Or rather, 'I go,' in the present tense, for he ia now referring to his present calamities, and not to what was past. The word rendered '■mourning,' how ever ("''HP), means here rather to be dark, dingy, tanned. It literally means to be foul or turbid, like a torrent. Job vi. 16; then to go about in filthy garments, as they do who mourn. Job v. 11. Jer. xiv. 2; then to be dusk}-, or of a dark color, or to become dark. Thus it is applied to the sun and moon becoming dark in an eclipse, or when covered with clouds, Jer. iv. 28. Joel ii. 10, iv. 15. JMic. iii. 6. Here it refers to the fact that, by the mere force of his disease, liis skin had become dark and swarthy, though he had not been exposed to the burning rays of the sun. The wrath of God had burned upon him, and he had become black under it. Jerome, however, renders it mocrens, mourning. The LXX, "I go groaning {nrd'oiv) without restraint, or limit' — aviv (fi^iov. The Cjialdee translates it C=*N, black. II Without the sun. Without being exposed to the sun; or without the agency of the sun. Though not exposed, he had become as dark as if he had been a day-laborer exposed to a burning sun IT I stood up. Or, I stand up. TT And cried in the congregation. I •«tter my cries in the congregation, or when surrounded by the assembled people. Once I stood up to counsel them, and they hung upon my lips for advice; now 1 stand up only to weep over my accumulated calamities. This indicates the great change which had come upon him, and the depth of his sorrows. A man will weep readily in private; but he
30 My skin " is black upon
will be slow to do it, if he can avoid It, when surrounded by a multitude. 29. / am a Ir other to dragons. That is, my loud com])laints and cries resemble the doleful screams of wild animals, or of the most frightful monsters. The word 'brother' is often used in this sense, to denote similarity in any respect. The word dragons here (C"Sn, tdnnim) denotes properly a sea-monster, a great fish, a crocodile; or the fancied animal with wings called a dragon. See Notes on Isa. xiii. 22. Gesenius, Umbreit, and Noyes, render this word here jackals — an animal between a dog and a fox, or a wolf and a fox; an animal that abounds in deserts and solitudes, and that makes a doleful cry in the night. So the Syriac renders it f''»05^ — an animal resembling a dog; a wild dog. Custell. Tliis idea agrees with the scope of the passage better than the common reference to a sea-monster or a crocodile. " The Deeb, or Jackal," says Sliaw, " is of a darker color than the fox, and about the same bigness. It yelps every night about the gardens and villages, feeding upon roots, fruit, and carrion." Travels, p. 247, Ed. Oxford, 1738. That some wild animal, distinguished for a mournful noise, or howl, is meant, is evident; and the passage better agrees with the description of a jackal tiian the hissing of a serpent or the noise of the crocodile. Bochart supposes that the allusion is to dragons, because the)' erect tlieir heads, and their jaws are drawn open, and they seem, to bo complaining against God on account of their humble and miserable con<lition. Taylor (Concord.) upposes it means jackals or thocs, and refers to the following places where the word may be so used. Ps. xliv, 19. Isa. xiii. 22, xxxiv. 13, xxxv. 7, xliii. 20. Jer. ix. 11, x. 22, xlix me, and my bones are burnt with heat.
31 My harp also is turned to
13, li. 37. Lam. iv. 3. Mic. i. 8. Mai. i. 3. TI jind a companion to owls. Marg. ostriches. The word companion here is used in a sense similar to brother in the other member of the parallelism, to denote resemblance. The Hebrew, here rendered oicls, is, literally, daughters of ansicering, or clamor — '^J?.'! niJ;;. The name is given on account of the plaintive and mournful cry wliich is made. Bochart. Gesenius supposes, however, that it is on account of its greediness and gluttony. Tiie name ' daughters of the ostrich' denotes properly the female ostrich. The phrase is, liowever, put for the ostrich of both se.xes in many places. See Gesenius on the word '^J*'.!!. Comp. Notes on Isa. xiii. 21. For a full examination of the meaning of the plirase, see Bochart, Hieroz. P. ii. L. 2. cap.xiv. pp. 218-231. See also ch. xxxix. 13-17. There can be little doubt that the ostrich is here intended, and Job means to say that his mourning resembled tlie doleful noise made by the ostrich in the lonely desert. Sliaw, in his Travels, says tliat during the night " they [the ostriches] make very doleful and hideous noises; which would sometimes be like the roaring of a lion; at other times it would bear a nearer resemblance to the hoarser voice of other quadrupeds, particularly of the bull and the ox. I have often lieard them groan as if they were in the greatest agonies."
30. My skin is black jipon me. See ver. 28. It had become black by the force of the disease. IT Mi) boiics are burnt with heat The bones, in the Scriptures, are often represented as the seat of pain. The disease of Job seems to have pervaded the whole body. If it was the elephantiasis (see Notes on ch. ii. 7, 8), these effects would be naturally produced
31. My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the i \ oice of them that weep.
■mourning. What formerly gave chueiful sounds, now gives only notes of plaintiveness and lamentation. The harp was probably an instrument originally designed to give sounds of joy. For a description of it, see JVotes on Isa. v. 12. U.'Ind my organ. The form of what is here called the organ, is not certainly known. The word -S? is doubtless from -?^\ to breathe, to blow; and most j robably the instrument here intended was the pipe. For a description of it, see Notes on Isa. V. 12. This instrument, also, was played, as would appear, on joyous occasions, but Job now says that it was turned to grief. All that had been joyous with him had fled. His honor was taken away; his friends were gone; they who had treated bim with reverence now stood at a distance, or treated him with contempt; his health was departed, and his former appearance, indicating a station of affluence, was changed for the dark complexion produced by disease, and the instruments of joyousness now gave forth only notes of sorrow.
This chapter finishes the reply of Job, and closes the argument. Zophar should have nnawered in his turn, but he is silent, and the cause is then taken up by Elihu. The chapter IS a beautiful vindication of the private life of Job. It is not to be regarded as uttered in the spirit of boasting or self-confidence, but as made necessary by the accusations of his friends. They had charged him with crimes of an aggravated character, and they regarded his sufferings as fiill proof that he was a wicked man. In ch. xxix. he had spoken of his publicWie — his character as an Emir or magistrate, and of the honor that was shown him in that capacity; and in this chapter he goes into a detail of the principles on which bis private conduct was regulated, and maintains his integrity in regard to his conduct there. While his main design was to meet the charges of his friends, it cannot be denied that there is an implied reflection on the dealings of God, as if they were severe and harsh. See vs. 35-37. But the picture which he has drawn of himself is exquisitely beautiful. Nothing can surpass it as a moral painting; and whatever may be thought of the propriety of his dwelling on tlie virtues of his own private life in the mariner in which he here does, the description is a fine illustration of what was regarded in the patriarchcil times as constituting true piety, and of the nature of true piety in all ages and lands.
The plan of the chapter is to specify certain of the leading virtues of piety, and to deny that lie had been guilty of violatinj any of them, and to imprecate appropriate punishment on himself if lie had been suilty. The following is a summary of the virtues specified.
(I.) C/!a.>«rtw, vs. 1-4. He says that he had so conscientiously adhered to that virtue, that ho dii not even allow himself to look on a niaid,ver. 1. He knew that God would punish thia sin, ver. 3; lie knew that his eye saw all his ways, vor. 4.
(2) Seriousness and.■Hncerity of life, vs. 5, 6. He says that he had not walked in a vain and deceitful manner, ver. 5, and asks that he might on this subject be weighed in an even balance, vcr. C.
(3.) Uprirrhtness and purity of life, Ts. 7,8. He says that his steps had not been turned out of the way. and that no stain cleaved to his hands, ver. 7; if there did, he asked that he might be compelled to sow while another reaped, and that liis offspring might bo rooted out, ver. 8.
('») Fidelity to the marriage voir, vs. 9-12. He affirms that his heart had not been allured by a Mo:n in and that he had not attempted to destroy the peace of his neighbor by seduom^ hia wife, ver. 9. If 8uch a fault should be found against him, he consented that his own wife should lie made to eerve others in the most menial capacity, ver. 10. He adds, with peculiar emphasis and in a manner that shows his sense of the magnitude of such an offence, that this was a crime wliich ought to be punished by the judges, and that it was a fire which consumed to destruction, vs. II, 12.
(5.) Fidelity to h s servants, vs. 13-15. He affirms that he had not been guilty of injustice or unkiiidness to either his man-servant or maid servant, ver. 13. He say3 that he well knew that ir'iie had been, ho could not answer God when he should call him to judgment, ver. 14, for the tame God liad made him and them, ver. 15.
(£.) Benevolence towards the poor, the widow, and the fatherless, vs. 16-23. He says that if he li«d been gviilty of neglecting tlicm; if he had caused the widow to weep, or had eaten his niorsi'l;ilone, or had refused to clothe the naked, or to vindicate the cause of the fatherless, he was willing tliat his arm should fall from his shoulder-blade.
(7.) freedom, from idolatry, vs. Si4-28. He had not put his trust in gold, nor had he worshipped the sun or the moon, vs. 24-27. He says that that would have been an offence that should be punished by the judge, for he would have denied the God above, ver. 28-
(8.) Kindne.?s to his enemies, vs. 29, 30. He had not rejoiced in their destruction, nor had he allowed liis mouth to imprecate a curse on them.
(y.) Hospitality, vs. 31, 32. Even those that dwelt in his tent had been constrained to express their admiration at his hospitality, and he had not suffered the stranger to lodge in the street, nov refused to open his doors to the traveller.
(10.) Frecdomfrom sceret sin, vs. 33-37. He had not attempted to conceal his offonces, nor to cloak them by hiding them in his bosom, vs. 33, 34. Here he could boldly make his appeal to God, and wished thr.t the record were made, and that all his thoughts, motives, and plans were recorded. He says that it would be such a perfect vindication of his innocence, that he would take it triumphantly on his shoulder and bind it as a diadem on his head, vs. 35-37.
(11.) Honesty towards others in the purchase and use of land, vs. 38-40. He says that he had not seized upon the land of others by violence, or cultivated it without paying for its use, sc that the land itself could not cry out against him, vs. 38, 39. If he had, he asked that on his own land thistles might spring up instead of wheat, and cockles instead of barley. Having thus assorted his integrity, he said that ho was dona. He regarded his character as vindicated, and he had no more to say.
T MADE a covenant with mine
1. / made a covenant icith mine cyrs. Tlie first virtue of his private life to which Job refers is chastity, yucli was his sense of the importance of this, and of the danger to which man was exposed, that lie liad solemnly resolved not to think upon a young female. The phrase here, " I made a covenant with mine eyes," is poetical, meaning that he solemnly reaolvctl. A covenant is of a sacred and binding nature; and the strength of his resolution was as great as if he had made a solemn compact. A covenant or compact was usually made by slaying an animal in sacrifice, and the compact was ratified over the animal that was slain, by a kind of imprecation that if the compact was violated the same destruction might fall on the violators which fell on the head of the victim. This idea of cutting up a victim on occasion of making a covenant, is retained in most langu.tgcs. So the Greek ooxia Tffirciv, Ti/i(rfiv anoiddq, and the Latin icere fccdus — to strike a league, in allusion to the striking down, or slaying of an animal on the occasion. And so the Hebrew, as in the place before us, Ti'lS r'i^2 — to cut a covenant, from cutting down, or cutting in pieces the victim over which the covenant was made. See this explained at length in the Notes on Heb. ix 16. By the language here, Job means that he had resolved, in the most solemn manner, that he would not allow his eyes or thoughts to endanger him by improperly contemplating a woman. 11 Why then should I think upon a inaidf Upon a virgin — tl^^PS'by. Comp. Prov. vi. 25, " Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids." See, also, the fearful and solemn declaration of the Saviour in Matth. v. 28. There is much emphasis in the expression
2 For what portion of God is there from above '? and what inheritnnce of the Almighty from on high I
used licre by Job. He does not •iiorely say that he had not thoiiglit ni that manner, but that tlie tiling was morally impossible that be should have done it. Any charge of that kind, or any suspicion of it, he vvould repel with indignation. His purpose to lead a pure life, and to keep a pure heart, had been so settled, that it ■was impossihlc that he could have otTended in that respect. His purpose, also, not to think on this subject, showed the e.xtent of the restriction imposed on himself It was not merel\' his intention to lead a chaste life, and to avoid open sin, but it was to maintain a pure heart, and not to suffer tliii mind to become corrupted by dwelling on impure images, or indulging in unholy desires. This strongly shows Job's piety and purity if heart, and is a beautiful i!lu.<tra- ■ion of patriarchal religion. We may •emark here, that if a man wishes to naintain purity of life, he must make ust such a covenant as this with himself— one so sacred, so solemn, so firm, that he will not suffer his mind for a moment to harbor an improper thought. " The very passage of an ■mpure thought through the mind ■caves pollution behind it;" and the outbreaking crimes of life are just the esult of allowing the imagination to Iwell on impure images. As the eye 'S the great source of danger (comp. •Matth, v. 23. 2 Peter ii. 14), there should be a solemn purpose that that should be pure, and that any sacrific3 should be made rather than allow indulgence to a wanton gaze. Comp. Mark ix. 47. No man was ever too much guarded on this subject; no one ever yet made too solemn a covenant with his eyes, and with his whole soul, to be chaste.
2. For ichat portion oj God is there from above? Or, rather, ' What portion should I then have from God
3 /5 not destruction to the wicked? and a strange piinishment to the workers of iniquity 1
who reigns above.'' Job asks with emphasis, what portion or reward he should expect from God who reign? on high, if he bad not made such q covenant with his eyes, and if lie had given the reins to loose and wanton thoughts.' This question he himself answers in the following verse, and says, that he could have expected only destruction from the Almighty. 3 Is not destruction to the wicked? That is, Job says that he was well aware that destruction would overtake the wicked, and that if he had given indulgimce to impure desires he could have looked for nothing else. Well knowing this, he says, he had guarded himself in the most careful manner from sin, and had labored with the greatest assiduity to keep his eyes and his heart pure. IT And a strange punishment — *?.?']• The word here used, means litcraliy strangeness — a strange thing, something with which we were unacquainted. It is used here evidently in the sense of a strange or unusual punishment; something which does not occur in the ordinary course of events. The sense is, tliat for the sin here particularly referred to, God would interpose to inflict vengeance in a manner such as did not occur in the ordinary dealings of his providence. There would be some punishment adopted peculiarly to this sin, and which would mark it with his especial displeasure. Has it not been so in all ages? The Vulgate renders it, alienatio, and the LXX in a similar manner — dTTaklnro^ojoiq — and they seem to have understood it as followed by entire alienatien from God; an idea which would be every where sustained by a reference to the history of the sin referred to by Job. There is no sin that so much poisons all the fountains of pure feeling in the soul, and none that will so certainly ter
4 Doth " not he see my ways, and count all my steps 1
5 If ** I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
4. Dotli he not see my ways? Tliis either means that God was a witness of all that lie did — his thoughts, words, and deeds, and would punish him if he had given indnlg(aice to improper feelings and thoughts; or that since God saw all his thoughts, he could boldly appeal to him as a witness of his innocence in this matter, and HI proof that iiis life and heart were pure. Ilosenmilller adopts the latter interpretation; Herder seems to incline to the former. Umbreit renders it, " God iiimself must be a witness that I speak the truth.'' It i's not easy to determine which is tiie true jneaning. Either of them will accord well with the scope of the passage.
5. // / have icaU>ed with vanity. This is the second specification in regard to his private deportment. He says that his life had been sincere, upright, honest. The word vanity here is equivalent to falsehood, for so the parallelism demands, and so the word (-^y-J) is often used. Ps. xii. 3, xli. 7. Ex. xxiii. 1. Deut. v. 17. Comp. Isa. i. 13. The meaningof Job hero is, that he had been true and honest. In his dealings with others he had not defraudeil them; he had not misrepresented things; he had spoken the exact truth, and liad done that which was with.-iit deception or guile. IT If my foot hath hasted to deceit. That is, if 1 have gone to execute a purpose of deceit or fraud. He had never, on seeing an opportunity where others miglit be dr-frauded, hastened to embrace it. The LXX render this verse, "If I have walked uith scofT-
even balance, that God may know mine integrity.
7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart ' walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
6. Let me be roeightd in an even balance. Marg. Idni weigh me in balances of justice. That is, let him ascertain exactlv my character, and treat me accordingly. If on trial it be found that I am guilty in this respect, I conseiU to be punisiied accordingly. Scales or balances are often used as emblematic of justice. Many suppose, however, that this verse is a parenthesis, and that the imprecation in verse 8, relates to verse 5, as well as to verse 7. But most probably the meaning is, that he consented to have his life tried in this respect in the most exact and rigid manner, and was willing to abide the result. A man may express such a consciousness of integrity in his dealings with others, without any improper self-reliance or boasting. It may be a simple fact of which he may be certain, that he has never meant to defraud any man.
7. If my step hath tjirncd ovt of the way. The path in which I ought to walk — the path of virtue. H."Ind mine heart walked after mine eyes. That is, if I have coveted what my eyes have beheld; or if I have been determined by the appearance of tilings rather than b)' what is right, I consent to bear the appropriate punishment U.Qnd if any blot hath cleared to mine hands. To have clean hands is emblematic of innocence. Job -xvii. 9 Ps. xxiv. 4 Comp. RIatth. xxvii. 24. The word blot here, means stain, blemish. Dan. i. 4. The idea is, that his hands were pure, and that he had not been guilty of any act of fraud or violence in depriving others of their property.
8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
9 If mine lieart have been deceived by a woman; or (/" I
8. Tlioii Ift mc soir, and let another eat. Tliis is the imprecation wliicli he invokes, in case lie had been guilty ill this respect. He consented to sow his fields and let others enjoy the harvest. The expression here used is common in tiie Scriptures to denote insecurity of property or calaniity in general. See Lev. xxvi. 16: " And ye shall sow jour seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it." Conip. Deut xxviii. 30. Amos. ix. 13, 14. U Yea, let mij ojfspring be rooted out. Or, rather, " Let what I plant be rooted up." So Umbreit, Noyes, Schull(>ns, Rosenmuller, Herder, and Lee icnderstand it. Tjiore is no evidence that he here alludes to his children, for the connection does not demand it, nor does the word used here require such an interpretation.
The word ~"^^^^^<^. — means properly shoots; that is, what springs out of any thing — as tlie earth, or a tree — from X^^ — to go out, to go forth. It is applied to tlie productions of the earth in Isa. xlii. 5, xxxiv. 1, and to children or posterity, in Isa. xxii. 24, Ixi. 9, Ixv. 23. Job v. 25, xxi. 8. Here it refer.s evidently to the productions of the earth; and the idea is, that if he had been guilty of dishonesty or fraud in his dealings, he wished that all that he had sowed should be rooted up.
9. Jf mine heart have been deceived by a looman. If I have been enticed by her beauty. The word rendered deceived ('^'^S) means to open, to expand. It is then applied to that whicii is open or ingenuous; to that w hich is unsuspicious — like a vouth; and thence is used in the sense of being deceived, or enticed. Deut. xi. 16. Ex. xxii. 15. Prov. i. 10, xvi. 29. The word " woman " here probably means a married woman, and stands
10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
opposed to " virgin '" in ver. 1. The crime which he here disclaims is adultery, and he says that his heart had never been allured from conjugal fidelity by the charms or the arts of a woman. Tl Or if I have laid wait at viy neighbor's door. Tliat is, to watch when he would be absent from home. This was a common practice with those who were guilty of tlie crime referred to here. Conip. Prov. vii. 8,9.
10. Then let my wife grind unto another. Let her be subjected to the deepest humiliation and degradation. Probably Job could not have found language which would have more emphatically cxj)ressed his sense of the enormity of tiiis crime, or his perfect consciousness of innocence. The last thing whicli a man would imprecate on himself, would be that which is specified in this verse. The word grind (11^) means to crush, to beat small; then to grind, as in a handmill. Judges svi. 21. Num. xi. 8. This was usually the work of females and slaves. See Notes on Isa. xlvii. 2. The meaning here is, ' Let my wife be the mill-wench to another; be his abject slave, and be treated by him with the deepest indignity.' This passage has been understood by many in a different sense, which the parallelism might seem to demand, but which is not necessarily the true interpretation. The sense referred to is this: Cogatur uxor mea ad patiendum alius concubituni, ut verbum niolendi hoc loco eodem sensu sumatur, cpio non raro a Latinis usurpatur ut in illo Hcratii (Satyr. L. i. Eel. ii. ver. 35), alicnas permolcre uxores. In this sense the Rabbinic writers understand Judges xvi. 21 and Lam. V. 13. So also the Chaldee renders the phrase before us (I'^^n DSll553ltin
11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is " an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
''r^r'^*?) coeat cum alio uxor vica; and.so the LXX seein to have understood 't — autna.L cloa. xai, tj yvrfj fiov iriyo). But jirobubly Job meant merely that his wife should be reduced to the condition of servitude, and be compelled to labor in the employ of another. Wii may find here an answer to the opinion of Prof. Lee (in his Notes on vnr. 1), that the wife of Job was at this lime dead, and that he was meditating the question about marrying again. May we not here also find an instance of the fidelity and forgiving spirit of Job towards a wife wiio is represented in the early part of tliis l)ook as manifesting few qualities which could win the heart of an husband.' There is no expression of impatience at her temper and her words on the part of Job, and he here speaiis of it as the most serious of all calamities that could happen; the most painful of all punishments, tiiat that same wife should be reduced to a condition of servitude and degradation.
11. For this is an heinous crims. Tliis expresses Job's sense of the enormity of sucli an ofience. He felt that there was no palliation for it; he would in no wa}', and on no l)relence, attempt to vindicate it. U.in iniiiuity to be punislied by the judges. A crime lor the judges to ileterniinc on and decide. The sins which Job had specified before this, were those of the heart; but here he reefers to a crime against societv — an ofl'ence which deserved the interposition oi' the magistrate. It may be o!)served here, that adultery has always been regarded as a sin ' to be punished by the judges.' In most couulrics it lias been punished with death. 8ee Notes on John viii.;j.
\'2. For it is afire that consinncth to destruction. This may mean that such an oflcnce would be a crime
12 For it is a fire that consuraeth to destruction, * and would root out all mine increase.
that would provoke God to send destruction, like a consuming fire, upon the offender {Rostnmilllcr and J\'oijes), or more likely it is designed to be descri'ptive of the nature of the sin itself. According to this, the meaning is, that indulgence in this sin tends wholly to ruin and destroy a man. It is like a consuming fire, which sweeps away every thing before it. It is destructive to the body, the morals, the soul. Accordingly, it may be remarked that there is no one vice which pours such desolation through the soul as licentiousness. See Rush on the Diseases of the Mind. It corrupts and taints all the fountains of morals, and utterly annihilates all purity of the heart. An intelligent gentleman, and a careful observer of the state of things in society, once remarked to me, that on coming to the city of Philadelphia, it was his fortune to be in the same boarding-house with a number ol young men, nearly all of whom were known to him to be of licentious habits. He has lived to watch their course of life; and he remarked, that there was not one of them who did not ultimately show that he was essentially corrupt and unprincipled in every department of morals. There is not any one propensity o1 man that spreads such a withering influence over tiie soul as this; and, however it may be accounted for, if is certain that indulgence in this vice is a certain evidence that the whole soul is corrupt, and that no reliance is to be placed on the man's virtue in any respect, or in reference to any relation of life. TI.ind would root out all mine increase. By its desO' lating effects on my heart and life The meaning is, that it would utterly ruin him. Comp. Luke xv. 13, 30. How many a wretched sensualist can bear testimony to the truth of this
13 If I did despise the cause of my man-servant, or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me;
14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and, when he
statoinent! How many a young man li;is bueii wliolly ruined in reference to liis worldly interests, as well as in reference to his soul, by this vice! Conip. Prov. vii. No young man could do a better service to liiniself than to commit the whole of that chapter to memory, and so engrave it on his soul that it never could be forgotten.
] 3. If I did despise the cause of my ijiitn-scrvant. Job turns to another subject, on which he claimed that liis life had been upright. It was in reference to the treatment of his servants. The meaning here is, ' I never refused to do strict justice to my servants when they brought their cause before me, or when they complained that my dealings with them jiad been severe.' IT When they contended icith me. That is, when they brought their cause before me, and complained that I had not provided for them comfortably, or that their task had been too hard. If in any rrspect they supposed they had cause of complaint, I listened to them attentively, and endeavored to do right. He did not take advantage of his poicer to oppress them, nor did he suppose that they had no rights of any kind. It is evident, from this, that Job had those who sustained to him the relation of servants; but wiiither they were slaves, or hired servants, is not known. The language here will agree with either Bupposition, though it cannot be doubted that slavery was known as early as the time of Job. There is no certain evidence that he held any slaves, in the proper sense of the term, nor that he regarded slavery as right. Comp. Notes on ch. i. 3. He here refers to the numerous persons
15 Did " not he that made me in the womb make him? and ' did not one fashion us in the womb?
that had been in his employ in the days of his prosperity, and says that he had never taken advantage of his power or rank to do them wrong.
14. What then shall I do ichtn God riseth vp? That is, when he rises up to pronounce sentence on men, or to execute impartial justice. Job admits that if he had done injustice to a servant, he would have reason to dread the divine indignation, and that he could have no excuse. "I tremble," said President Jetlerson, speaking of slavery in the United States, " when I remember that God is just!"' JVotes on Virginia, 'i J)nd ichcn he visiteth. When he comes to inspect human conduct. Umbreit renders it, ' when he punishes.' The word visit is often used in this sense in the Scriptures.
15. Did not he that made me in the icomh make him? Had we not one and the same Creator, and have we not consequently the same nature? We may observe in regard to this sentiment, (1.) That it indicates a very advanced state of view in regard to man. The attempt has been always made by those who wish to tyrannize over others, or \\ ho aim to make slaves of others, to show that they are of a different race, and that in the design for which they were made, they are wholly inferior. Arguments have been derived from their complexion, froni their supposed inferiority of intellect, and the deep degradation of their condition, often little above that of brutes, to prove that they were originally inferior to the rest of mankind. On this the plea has been often urged, and oftener/e/< than urged, that it is right to reduce them to slavery. Since this feeling so early existed, and
IC If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
since tlicro is so iiuicli that may be jj!ausil)ly said in defence of it, it shows tltat Job had derived his views from something more tlian the speculations of men, and the desire of power, when he says tliat he regarded all men as originally equal, and as having the same Creator. It is in fact a sentiment which men have been practically very reluctant to believe, and which works its way very slowly even yet on the, earth. Comp. Acts xvii. 26. (2.) This sentiment, if fairly embraced and carried out, would s on destroy slavery every where. If men felt that they were reducing to bondage those who were originally on a level with themselves — made by the same God, with the same fuciilties, and for the same end; if they felt that in their very origin, in their nature, there was that \vhieh could not be made mere prupcrtij, it would soon abolish the whole.•system. It is kept up only where men endeavor to convince themselves that there is S07ne original ivfcriority in the slave which makes it proper that he should be reduced to servitude and bo held as property. But as soon as there can be diffused abroad the sentiment of Paul, that " God hath made of one blood all nations of men," (Acts xvii. 261, or the sentiment of the patriarch Job, that ' the same God made us and them in the womb,' that moment the shackles of the slave will fall, and he will be free. Hence it is apparent, how Clirislianity, that carries this lesson on its fore front, is the grand remedy for the evils of slavery, and needs only to be universally diffused to bring the system to an end. IT.>ind did not one fashion us in the womb? Marg. Or, did he not fashion us in one iDomb? The Hebrew will bear either construction, but the parallelism rather requires that given in the i
17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
text, and most expositors agree ia this interpretation The sentiment is, whichever interpretation be adopted, that they had a common origin; that God would watch over them alike as his children; and that, therefore, they had equal rights.
16. Jf I have iciihheld the poor from their desire. Job now turns to another class of virtues, regarded also as of great importance in the patriarchal ages, kindness to the poor and the afflicted; to the fitherless and the widow. He appeals tf) his former life on this subject; affirms that he had a good conscience in the recollection of his dealiiigs with them, and impliedly declares that it could not have been for any deficiency in the exercise of these virtues that his calamities had come upon him. The meaning hero is, that he had not denied to the poor their wish. If they had coinc and desired bread of him, he had not withheld it. See ch. xxii. 7. IT Or caused the eyes of the widoio to fail. That is, I have not frustrated her hopes, or disappointed her expectations, when she lias looked intently upon me, and desired my aid. The 'failing of the eyes' refers to failing of the object of their c?[yectation; or the expression means that she had not looked to him in vain. See ch. xi. 20.
] 7. Or have eaten my m.orsel myself alone. If I have not imparted what I had, though ever so small, to others. This was in accordance with the Oriental laws of hospitality. It is regarded as a fixed law among the x\rabians, that the guest shall always be helped first, and to that which is best; and no matter how needy the family may be, or how much distressed with hunger, the settled laws of hospitality demand that the stranger-gue.st shall have the first and best portion. Dr. Robinson, in his ' Bib-
IS (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as
lical J{(.'.se:irclies,' gives an nniusiiig itist.iiico of the extent to wliicli this law is carried, and the sternness with \vi:i.-h it is executed among tiic A abs. In the journey from Suez to I\i(>uiu Sinai, intending to furnish a nujiper ibr tiie Araljs in their employ, he and his fellow'-travellers had bougiit a kid, and led it along to the jilace of their encampment. At night the kid was killed and roasted, and the Arabs were anticipating a •savory supper. But those of whom they had bought the kid, learned in some way that they were to encamp near, and naturally concluded that the kid was bought to be eaten, and followed them to the place of encauipnicnt, to the number of five or six persons. " Now the stern law of Arabian hospitality demands, that whenever a guest is present at a meal, whether there be much or little, the first and best portion must be laid before the stranger. In this instance the five or six guests attained their object, and had not only the selling of the kid, but also the eating of it, while our poor Arabs, whose mouths had long been watering with expectation, weie forced to take up with the fragments." Vol. i. 118. There is often, indeed, ninch ostentation in the hospitality of the Orientals, but the law is stern and inflexible. " No sooner," says Shaw (Travels, vol. i. p. 20), " was our food prepared, than one of the Arabs, having placed himself on the highest spot of ground in the neighborhood, called out thrice with a loud voice to all their brethren, the sons of the faithful, to come and partake of it; though none of them were in view, or perhaps within a hundred miles of them." The great law of hospitality Job says he had carefully observed, and had not withheld what he had from the poor and the fatherless.
13. Fo' from mij youth he icas brought up with me. This verse is with a father, and I have guided ' her from my mother's womb;)
usually regarded as a parenthesis, though very various expositions liavo been given of it. Some have understood it as denying that he had in a.iy way neglected tiie widow and the fatherless, and affirming that the or phan had always, even from his youth, found a father in him, and the widow a guide. Others, as our translators, suppose that it is a parenthesis thrown in to indicate his general course of life, altiiough the imprecation which lie makes on himself, if he had neglected the widow and the orphan, is found in ver. 22. Luther reads the two previous verses as questions, and this as an answer to them,;ind so also do RosenmOller and Noyes. Umbreit regards this verse as a parenthesis. This is probably to be considered as the correct interpretation, for this better agrees with the Hebrew than the other proposed. It implies a denial of having neglected the widow and the orphan, but the ftdl expression of liis abhorrence of a charge of having done so, is to be found in the strong language in ver. 22. The unusual Hebrew word ■^S^^5 stands probably for "^53iJ ^"la— ' he was brought up with mo.' This form of the word does not elsewhere occur. ^ Jis 2oith a father. That is, he always found in ine one who treated him as a father. The meaning is, that he had always had under his care those who were orphans; that from his very youth they had been accustomed to look up to him as a father; a<id that they had never been disappointed in him. It is the language of one who seems to have been born to rank, and who had the means of benefiting others, and who had done it all his life. This accords also with the Oriental notions of kindness — requiring that it should be shown especially to the widow and the fatherless. IF / have guided her. Marg. ' That is, the ividow.' The meaning is, that he liad been her