Exposition of the Whole Bible

troubles and affliGions, from which time he was notjor, as Mr. Broughton renders it, and now cometh | in fafety, nor had any reft and peace; there was no}vewation; a frefh one, a fufpicion of hypoerify 5 intermifion of his forrows; but as foon as one af-jand upon this turns the whole controverly, ma- fli€tion was over, another came: yet trouble came; {till one after another, there was no énd of them;

OB’s fore afflictions, and his behaviour under them, laid the foundation of a difpute between him and his three friends, which begins in this chapter, and is carried on to the end of the 31ft; when Eliby ftarts up as a moderator between them, and the controverfy is at laft decided by God himfelf. Eliphaz firft enters the lift with Fob, ¥. 1. introduces what he had to fayin a preface, with fome fhew of tendernefs, friendfhip, and refpect; ¥. 2. obferves his former conduétin his profperity, by inftructing many, ftrengthening weak hands and feeble knees, and fupporting ftumbling and falling ones, y. 3, 4. with what view all this is obferved may be eafily feen, fince he immediately takes notice of his prefent behaviour, fo different from the former, y. 5. and infults his profeffion of faith and hope in God, and fear of him, ¥. 6. and fugeefts that he was a bad man, and an hypocrite; and which he grounds upon this naged’ and carried on between him and his friends in the following part of this book. 5 mY opened and bleeding wound, which makes it fmart the more. oy, y. 2. If we affay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? &c.| Elipbaz {peaks in. the name of himfelf and his two friends, who had doubtlefs con-. fulted together, and compared their fentiments of ob; which appearing to be the fame, they formed a plan and fcheme’in which they fhould attack him, and the part which each fhould take, and»the order in which they fhould proceed: thele words are faid, either as feemingly doubting whether they thould fpeak or be filent; for they may be rendered, fhall we try, or attempt, to drop or fpeak a - word to thee; to enter into a converfation with thee? or, fhall we take up a difcourfe, and carry it on with thee, who art grigved already? or art weary and heavy laden, and bore down with the burden of affliction, with forrows and troubles; or art im- fuppofition, that no good man was ever deftroyed patient "under them; we fear, fhould we, that thou - by the Lord; for the truth of which ‘he appeals to Job himfelf, ¥. 7. and confirms it by his own experience and obfervation, y. 8—11. and {trengthens _it by a vifion he had in the night, in which the holinefs and juftice of God, and the mean and low condition of men are declared, y. 12—21. and wilt be more grieved and burdened, and become’ more impatient; and therefore know not well what’ to do: or elfc, as fuppofing and taking it for granted that he would be grieved and burdened, and made more reftlefs and uneafy, impatient and outrageous, yet they had determined to enter into a’

therefore it was wrong in od to infinuate any injuftice in God or in his providence, and a piece of debate with him; for fo the words are by fome ren-. dered, /bould we peak a word unto thee; or, againft

‘weaknefs and folly to contend with him.

y. 1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite anfwered and faids| When Fob had done curfing his day, and had finifhed his doleful ditty on that fubject, then E - pbaz'took the opportunity of fpeaking, not being able to bear any longer with od and his behaviour under his affi@ions: E/iphaz was one of od’s three friends that came to.vifit him, ch. ii, 11. very probably he might be the fenior man, or a man of the greateft authority and power; a moft refpectable perfon, had in great efteem and: reverence among men, and by thefe his friends, and therefore takes upon him to fpeak firft; or it may be it was agreed among themfelves that he fhould begin the difpute with od; and we find, that in the clofe of this controverfy the Lord fpeaks to him by name, and to him only, ch. xlii. 7. he an/wered; not that Yob directed his difcourfe to him, but he took occafion, from fod’s afflictions and his paffionate expreffions, to fay what he did; and he faid not any thing by way of condolence or confolation, not pitying Yob’s cafe, nor comforting, him in his afflicted circumftances, as they required both; but reproaching him as a wicked and hypocritical man, not acting like himfelf formerly, or according to his profeffion and principles, but juft the re- thee’; even fhould the leaft word be fpoken againft thee, thou wilt be weary", or burdened, or grieved, or take it ill: we know thou wilt; yet, neverthe= lefs, we muft not, we cannot, we will not forbear fpeaking: or elfe interrogatively, as our verfion and others, w/t thou be grieved? we defire thou wouldft not, nor take it ill from us, but all in good part; we mean no hurt, we defign no ill, but thy good, and beg thou wilt hear us patiently: this fhews how great a man Fob had been, and in what reverence and.refpect he was had, that hisfriends befpeak him after this manner in his low eftate; however, this was artifice in them, to in= troduce the difcourfe, and bring on the debate after, this fort: dut who can withhold himfelf from Speak= ing? be itasit will, Eliphex fuggelts, though Fob! was already and greatly burdened, and would be more fo, and break ‘out into greater impatience, yet there was a neceflity of fpeaking, it could nor be forborn; no man could refrain himfelf from | fpeaking, nor ought in fuch a cafe, when the pro~ vidence of God was reflected upon, and he was blafphemed and evil fpoken of, and charged with — igus as ve asa; in fuch circumftanees, no good; no faithful man, could or ought keep’ ’ Bias indecd, when the glory of God, he ho- | nour of the Redeemer, and the good of fouls re-» — verfe: this was a new trial to fob, and fome think the foreft of all; it was asa fword in his bones, which was very cutting to. him ‘as oil caft into a fiery furnace in which he now was, which increafed the force and fury of it; and-as vinegar to an quire it, and a man’s own repuration with refpeét to his faithfulneéfs lies at ftake, filence fhould n kept, let the confequence be as it may; far this was the cafe, may be confidered,: y. 3. Behold, thou baft infirutted ‘many, &c.)

This is introduced with a debold, either as a note of admiration, that fuch a man, who had inftructed others, fhould act the part he now does; or as a note of attention to Fob himfelf, and all others that Should hear and read this, to obferve it, and well confider it, and make the ‘proper ufe of it; or, as a note of affieveration, affirming it:to be true and certain, notorious and unqueftionable, as no doubt it was: ¥cb was the inftructor, a great man, and yet condefcended to teach and inftruct men in the beft things, as did alfo 4draham, David, Solomon, and others; and a good man, and fo fit to teach good things, as every good man is, and who, according to his ability, the giftand meafure of grace received, fhould inftruct others; and a man of great gifts he was, both in things natural, civil, and religious; one that could fpeak well, and to the purpofe, and fo was apt and able to teach; and fuch fhould not difufe and hide their talents * the perfons he initruéted were not only his own family,, his children and fervants, as 4drabem before him did; but others who attended him, and waited for his counfel and advice, his words and doétrine, as for the rain, and latter rain, and which dropped and diftilled as fuch, fee ch. xxix. 15, 21, 22, 23. and thefe were many; his many ignorant neighbours about him, or many profeffors of religion, as there might be, and it feems there were in this idolatrous country; and many afflicted ones among thefe, which is ufually the cafe: Yob_had many {cholars in his fchool, of different forts, that attended on him; and thefe he inftructed in the knowledge ot the true God, his nature, perfections, and works; and of the living Redeemer, his perfon, office, grace, and righteouineis; and of themfelves, the impurity of their nature through original fin, he was acquainted with; their impotency and inability to purge themfelves, to atone for fin, and to juftity and make themfelves acceptable to God; as well as ~he inftruéted them in the worfhip of God, and the manner of it, their duty to him and to one another, and to. all their fellow-creatures: fome render it, thou beft corrected, or reproved many’; he had taught the afflicted to be patient under their afflictions, and had reproved them for their impatience; and the defign of E/iphaz is to upbraid him with it, as in Rom. ii. 21. thou that didft correét others for their unbecoming behaviour under afflictions, art thy felf guilty of the fame; turpe eft doétori, cum culpa redarguit ipfum: and thou baft Strengthened the weak bands; either fuch as hung down through want of food, by giving it to them, both corporal and fpiritual, which ftrengthens mens hearts, and fo their-hands; or through fluggifhnefs, by exhorting and ftirring them up to be active and diligent; or through fear of enemies, efpecially fpiritual ones, as fin, Satan, ‘and the world; by reafon of whofe numbers and ftrength good men are apt to be difpirited, and ready to caft away their fpiricual armour, particularly the fhield of faith and confidence in God, as faint-hearted foldiers in war, to which the allufion is: and thefe were ftrengthened by telling them that all their enemies were conquered, and they were more than conquerors over them; that the victory was certain, and their warfare accomplifhed, or would quickly be: or elfe, whofe hands were weak through

- a fenfe of fin and danger, and being in expectation of the wrath and vengeance of God; and who were ftrengthened by obferving to them that there was a

Saviour appointed and expected, a living Redeemer, who would. ftand upon che earth in the latter day, and fave them from their fins, and from wrath to come; fee Jf xxxv. 3, 4. or rather, fuch whofe hearts'and hands were weak through fore and heavy afflictions, whom 7od ftrengthened by fhewing them that their afflictions were of God; not by chance, but by appointment, and according to the fovereign will of God; that they were for their good, — either temporal, {piritual, or eternal; and that they would not continue always, but have an end; and therefore fhould be patiently bore, fee Heb. xii. Bey De,

Wi 4. Thy words bave upbolden him that was falling, 8cc.} Or fumbling”; that was ftumbling at the providence of God in fuffering good men to be afflicted,-and wicked men to profper; which has been the ftumbling-block of God’s people in allages; fee Pf. Ixxii. 2,°3. or that was {tum dling and falling off from the true religion by realon of, the revilings and reproaches of men,. and their perfecutions for it; which is fometimes the cafe, not only of nominal profeffors, Matt. xiii. 21. but of true believers, though they don’t fo itumble and fall as to perifh: or elfe being under afflictions themfelves, were ready to fink under them, their ftrength being fmall,; now od. was helped to fpeak fuch words of comfort and advice to perfons imany and every of thefe circumftances, as to fupport them and preferve them from falling; and to enable. them to keep their place and ftation among the people of God. The Targum interprets it of fuch as were falling into fin; the words of good men to {tumbling and falling profeffors, whether into fin, or into affliction by it, are often very feafonable, and very ufeful, when attended with the power and {fpirit of God: and thou haft irengthened the feeble knees; that were tottering and trembling, and bending, -and not able to bear up | under the weight of fin, which lay as an heavy burden, too heavy to bear; or of afflictions very erievous and intolerable; to fuch perfons fod had often fpoken words that had been ufeful to alleviate their troubles, and fupport'them under them. It may be obferved, that the cafes and circumftances of good men in early times were much the fame as they are now; that there is no temptation or affliction that befals the faints, but what has been common; and that ob’ was a man of great gifts, grace, and experience, and had the tongue of the learned, to fpeak a word in feafon to every weary foul, in whatfoever condition they ‘were: and all this fo very laudable in him, is not obferved to his commendation, but to his reproach; to fhew that he was nota man of real virtue, that he contradicted’ himfelf, and did not act according to his profeffion and’ principles, and the doctrines he taught others, and was an hypocrite at heart; though no fuch conclufion follows, fuppofing he had not aéted up altogether to his principles and former conduét; for it is a difficult thing for any good man to act entirely according tothem, or to behave the fame in profperity as in adverfity; or to take that advice themfelves in affliction, and follow it, they have given to others, and yet not be chargeable with hypocrify. It would have been much better in Eliphaz and his friends to have made another ufe of Fob’s former conduc and behaviour, namely, to have imitated it, and endeavoured to have comforted, ftrengthened, and upheld him in

204 eo) Bs: Ch.iv. ¥. 5; 6: in his prefent diftrefled circumftances; inftead of that he infults him as follows. ¥. 5. But now it is come upon thee, and thou fainteft, &c.| The affliction and evil that he feared ch. iii 25. or rather the fame trials and affiictions were come upon him as had been on thofe whom he had inftruéted and reproved, and whofe hands and hearts he had ftrengthened and comforted; and yet now thou thytelf fainteft, or art weary”, or art bore down and finkeft under the burden, and beareft it very impatiently *, quite contrary to the advice given to others; and therefore it was concluded he could not be a virtuous, honett, and up right man at heart, only in fhew and appearance. Bolducius renders the words, God cometh unto thee, or thy God cometh, very wrongly, thougtrthe fenfe may be the fame; God cometh and vifits thee by laying his afflicting hand upon thee; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled, {uggefting that it was but a touch, a flight one, a light affliction; there: by leffening 70d’s calamity and diftrefs, or making little and light of it, and aggravating his impatience under it, that for fuch a trial as this he fhould be fo exceffively troubled, his paffions fhould be fo violently moved, and he be thrown into fo much diforder and confufion, and be impatient beyond meafure; no bounds being fet to his rief, and the expreflions of it; yea, even to be i the utmoft confternation and amazement, as the word ° fignifies. ¥. 6. Is not this thy fear, &c.}] The fear of God, that which is of him, comes from him, isa grace of his implanted in the hearts of his people at converfion, and is increafed and encouraged, and drawn forth into frefh exercife through the grace and goodnefs of God difplayed; for a flavith fear. or a fear of punifhment, of wrath and damnation, is not the true grace of fear, which may be in unregenerate men, and even in the devils; but this lies in a reverential affection for God on account of his goodnefs, and in a carefulnefs not to offend him on that account; in an hatred of fin, and a departure from it; in an attendance on the worthip of God, and is fometimes put for the whole of it; and is accompanied with faith in God, joy in the Holy Ghoft, humility of foul, and holinefs of heart and life: now Fob profeffed to have this fear ot God in his heart, and was thought to have it; this was his general character, ch. i. 1. but in his prefent cafe and circumftances, E/ipbaz afks what was become of it, where it was now, and in what it appeared? and jeers him about it, as if he fhould fay, does it lie in this, in fainting and finking under afflictions, in being troubled and terrified, and thrown into a confternation by them, and in break ing out into fuch rafh expreffions of God and his providence? is it come to this at laft, or rather to nothing at all? for he fuggefts either that 70d never had the true grace of fear in him, contrary to the character given of him, and confirmed by God himfelf, ch. i. 1, 8. and ii. 3. or that he had caft it off, and it was gone from him, and left, ch. xv. 4. which can never be, where it once is, it being the great fecurity againft a final and total apoftacy trom God, Fer. xxxii. 40. or that what he had was on his heart, he could never have curfed the day of his birth, nor. arraigned the providence of God, ~ and charged him with injuttice, as he fuppofed he did; whereby his fear, his piety, his religion he had profeffed, appeared to be juft nothing at all*: it follows, thy ‘confidence, that is, in God; for Fob profeffed none in any other, in any creature or creature-enjoyment, ch, xxxi. 24. this when right is a ftrong act of faith and truft in the Lord, a thorough perfuafion and full affurance of intereft in him as a covenant-God, and in his love and favour, and in Chrift as the living Redeemer, and of the truth of the work of grace upon the heart, and of the certainty of the performance of it; alfoa holy boldnefs in prayer to God, and a firm and affured belief of being heard and anfwered; as well as an open and courageous profeffion of him before men, without any fear of them; for all this Fod had been famous, and now he is afked where it all was? and what was become of it? how it appeared now? and intimates he never had any, or had caft it away, and that it was come to nothing; as was concluded from the rafh-expreffions of his - lips, and from the finkings of his fpirit under his prefent afflictions; but 70d’s truft and confidence in’ God and in Cérif ftill continued; fee ch. xiii. 15. and xix. 25. thy hope; which alfo is a grace wrought in the heart, in regeneration; is of things unfeen and future, yet to be enjoyed either here or hereafter; and that which is right has Chri for its objeét, ground, and foundation, and is of fingular ufe to keep up the {pirits of men under affictive providences: and E/ipbaz obferving Fob to be very:impatient under them, enquires about his hope; and intimates that what he had profefied to have was the hope of the hypocrite, and not real, and was now come to nothing; hope that is true, though it may become low, it cannot be loft; nor was ‘fob’s, efpecially with refpect to fpiritual and eternal things; fee ch. xiv. 7, 14. and xix. 25, 26, 27. and the uprightne/s of thy ways? before God and men, walking uprightly in the ways of God, according to the revelation of his will made unto him, and acting the juft and upright part in all his dealings with men; and for which he was celebrated, and is a part of the character before given of him, ch. i. 1, 8. andii. 3. but it is infinuated by Eliphaz, that there was nothing in it; it was only in fhew, in appearance, it was not from the heart; orit would not be thus with him as it was, nor would he behave in the manner he now did: fome read the words asin the margin, and in fome copies of our bible, 7s not thy fear thy confidence? and the uprightne/s of thy ways thy bope? and with fome little variation Mr. Broughton, is not thy relie gion ‘thy hope, and thy right woys thy confidence? that is, didft thou not hope and expect, and even wert thou not confident of it, that becaufe of thy fear of. God, and of the uprightnefs of thy ways before men, that thou fhouldit not only be increafed in thy worldly fubftance, but be preferved and protected in the enjoyment of it? and were not thefe the reafons which’ induced thee to be religious, and make fuch a fhew of it? fuggefting, rat that he was only religious from mercenary views, merely hypocritical, like that which is taught by the precept of men, was only in appearance, and not in reality, as his conduct now fhowed; for had he had the true fear of God before his eyes, and and felfith principles, and fo tacitly charges him with what the devil himfelf did, ch. i. 9. and this way go many Fewi/b and Chriffian interpreters ¢: fome render the words much in the fame way, but toa better fenfe, and more in favour of Yod, and by way or inftruction and comfort to him: foould not thy fear be thy confidence, and thy hope, and the uprinbtne/s of thy ways *? fhouldft thou not take encourigement from thy fear of God, and the uprightnels of thine heart and ways, to expect deliverance and falvation, and not faint and fink as thou dott? or is not this the caufe of all thine impatience, thy fear of God, truft and hope in him, and thine integrity? concluding thou fhouldft have been dealt with after another manner for the fake of thefe things, and therefore art ready to think thou art hardly dealt with by God, having deferved better treatment; thus making ¥od to think highly of himfelf, and to entertain wrong notions ot God; fo Scdimidt, but the firft fenfe I have given of the words, feems beft.

¥.7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever perifhed being innocent? &c. ] Here Eliphazx appeals to Job himielf, and defires him to recolle¢t if ever any one initance had fallen under,his obfervation, in the whole courfe of his life, or it had ever been told him by credible perfons, that an innocent man, by whom he means not one entirely free from fin ‘original or actual, for he knew there was no fuch perions in the world, fince the fall of 4dam, but a truly good and gracious man, who was not guilty of any notorious and capital crime, or did not live a vicious courfe of life; if heever knew or heard of any fuch perfons that peri/bed; which cannot be underftood of eternal ruin and deftruction, which would be at once granted, that fuch as thefe defcribed can never perifh in fuch a fenfe, but have everlafting life; nor of a corporal death, which is fometimes the fenfe of perifhing, fince it is notorious that innocent and righteous perfons fo perifh or die, fee Eccl. vii, 15. J/. lvii. 1. and could it be meant of a violent death, an.anfwer might have been returned; and E/ipdaz perhaps was not acquainted with it himielf, that that innocent and righteous perfon Adel thus perifhed by the hands of his brother: but this is rather to be underftood of perifhing by afflictions, fore and heavy ones, not ordinary but extraordinary ones; and which are, or look like the judgments of God on men, whereby they lofe their all, their fubftance, their fervants, their children, as well as their own health, which was od’s cafe; and therefore if no parallel inftance of an innocent perfon ever being in the like cafe, it is infinuated that od could not be an innocent man: or where were the righteous cut off? fuch as are truly righteous in the fight of God, as well as before men, who have the gift of righteoufnefs beftowed on them, and live foberly, righteoufly and godly; in what age or country was it ever known that fuch perfons, in their family and fubftance, were cut off by the hand and providence of God, and abandoned and forfaken by him, and reduced ¢o fuch circumftances, that there could be no hope of their ever being in profperous ones again? and fob now being in fuch a forlorn and miferable cafe and condition, it is fuggefted, that he could not be a righteous man: but admitting that no fuch inftance could be produced, Eliphaz was too hafty and premature in his conclufion; feeing, as it after appeared, Job was not fo cut off, abandoned and forfaken by God, as not to rifeany more; for his latter end was greater than his beginning: and befides, innocent and righteous pérfons are often involved in the fame calamities as wicked men are, and their affictions are the fame; only with this difference, to the one they are the proper punithment of fin, to the other they are fatherly chaftifements and trials of their grace, and iffue in their good 5 the 7argum explains it of fuch perfons, as dérabam, Ijaac, and Facod, none fuch as they perifhing, or being cut off.

y. 8. Even as | have feen, &c.] Here he goes about to prove by his own experience, the deftruction of wicked men; and would intimate, that 0d was fuch an one, becaufe of the ruin he was fallen into: they that plow iniquity, and fow wickedne/s, reap the fame; figurative expreffions, denoting that fuch who devife iniquity in their hearts, form and plan fchemes of it in their minds, fignified by plowing iniquity, and who were ftudious and diligent to put into practice what they deviled; who took a great deal of pains to commit fin, and were conftant at it, exprefled by fowing wickedne/s; thefe fooner or later eat the fruit of their doings, are punifhed in proportion to their crimes, even in this life, as well as hereafter, fee Hof. viii. 7. and x, 13. Gal. vi. 7, 8. though a Fewi/h commentator ° obferves, that the thought of fin is defigned by the firft phrafe; the endeavour to bring it into ation by the fecond; and the finifhing of the work, or the actual commifiion of the evil, by the third; the punifhment thereof being what is expreffed in the next verfe; the Targum applies this to the generation of the flood.

yy. 9. By the blaft of God they perifh, &c.] They and their works, the plowers, fowers and reapers of iniquity; the allufion is to the blafting of corn by eaft-wind, or by mildew, &c. having ufed the figures of plowing and fowing before; and which is as foon and as eafily done as corn, or any thing elfe, is blafted in the above manner; and denotes the fudden and eafy deftruction of wicked men by the power of God, ftirred up by his wrath and indignation, becaufe of their fins; who when he blows a blaft on their perfonsj fubftance and families, they perifh at once: sik by the breath of bis no- /frils are they confumed, meaning his wrath and anger, which is like a ftream of brimftone, and kindles a fire on the wicked, which are as fuel to it, and are foon confumed by it; the allufion is to breath in a man’s noftrils, and the heat of his wrath and fury difcovered thereby: fome think this refers to ¥0d’s children being deftroyed by the wind, fee J/. xi. 4.

y. 10, The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, &c.] Which Aven Ezra interprets of God himfelf, who is’compared to a lion; who not only by his voice terrifies, but in his wrath tears the wicked in pieces, and deftroys them, and fo is a-continuation of the preceding account; and others, as R. Mo/es and R. Fonab, whom he mentions, take this to be a continuation of the means and methods by which God deftroys wicked men fometimes, namely, by beafts of prey; this being one of his fore judgments he threatens men with, and inflicts upon men, fee Lev. xxvi. 22. Ezek. xiv. 21. and in this they are followed by fome chriftian interpreters, who render the words at or by the roaring of the lion, and by the voice of the fierce lion, by the tetth of the young lions ‘, my

? So fome in Michaelis. > R. Simeon Bar Tzemach. © Ragita leonis & voce ferocis leonis, &c. Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator; fo fome in R. Simeon Bar Tzemach.

the wicked are broken, ground to pieces, and utterly deftroyed; but it is better with Yarebi, Ben Gerfom, and others, to underfland it of kings and ptinces, of the mighty ones of the earth, tyrannical and oppreffive rulers and governors; comparable to lions of different ages, becaufe of their grandeur and greatnefs, their power and might, their cruelty and oppreffion in their feveral diffetent capacities; fignifying, that thefe do not efcape the righteous judgments of God: the Targum interpreis the roaring of the lion of E/aw, and the voice of the fierce lion of Edom; and another Fewi h writer* of Nimred, the firft tyrant and oppreffor, the mighty hunter before the Lord; but thefe are too particular; wicked men in power and authority in general are here, ahd in the following claufes, intended, fee Jer. iv. 7. and]. 17. Nabum ii. 11, 12, 13. 1 Zim. iv. 17. and the fenfe is, that fuch plowers and fowers of iniquity as are like to fierce and, roaring lions, are eafily and quickly deftroyed by the Lord: aud the teeth of the young lions are broken; the power of fuch mighty ones to do mifchief is taken away from them, and they and their families are brought to ruin; the teeth of lions are very ftrong in both jaws; they have 14 teeth, four incifors or cutters, four canine or dog teeth, fix molares or grinders.

¥. 11. Lhe old lion perifbeth for lack of prey, &c.

Or rather the flout and firong lion °, that is moft able to take the prey, and moft fkilful at it, yet fuch fhall perifh for want of it; not fo much for want of finding it, or of power to feizeit, as of keeping it when got, it being takenaway from him; fignifying, that God oftentimes in his providence takes away from cruel oppreflors, what they have got by oppreffion, and fo they are brought into ftarving and famifhing circumftances. The Septuagint renders the word by myrmecoleon, or the ant-lion, which Jf/dore ‘ thus defcribes, ‘ it is a little animal, _ very troublefome to ants, which hides itfelf in the duft, and kills the ants as they carry their corn; hence it is called both a lion and an ant, becaufe to other animals jt is asan ant, and to the ants as a lion,” and there fore can’t be the lion here fpoken of; though Strabo® and Aélianus* {peak of lions in Arabia and thefe creatures, and therefore his calamities righ? teoufly came upon him. y.12. New a thing was feeretly brought to me, &c.] From reafon and experience, Eiiphaz proceeds to a vifion and revelation he had from God, fhewing the purity and holinefs of God, and the frailty, weaknefs, folly and finfulnefs of men, b which it appears that men cannot be juft in the fight of God, and therefore it muft be wrong in Fo to infift upon his innocence and integrity. Some indeed have thought, that this was a mere fiction of Elipbaz, and not areal vifion; yea, fome have gone fo far as to pronounce it a diabolical one, but without any juft foundation; for there is nothing in the manner or matter of it, but what is agreeable to a divine vifion or to a revelation from God; befides, tho’ Z/iphaz was a miftaken man in the. cafe of Fob, yet was a good man, as may be concluded from the acceptance of a facrifice for him by the Lord, which was offered for him by od, according to the order of God, and therefore could never be guilty of fuch an impofture; nor does Fab ever charge him with any falfhood in this matter, who doubtlefs would have been able to have traverfed and expofed hims add to all this, that in his difcourfe annexed to and continued along with this account, ftands a paflage, which the Apoftle has quoted as of divine in{piration, 1 Cor, iii, 19. from ch. v.13. When £iipbaz had this vifion, whether within the feven days of his vifit to Jed, or before, fome time ago, which he might call to mind on this occafion, and judging it appofite to thé prefent cafe, thought fit to relate ir, is not certain, nor very material to know: it is introduced after this manner, a ¢hing or word, a word of prophecy, a word from the Lord, a revelation of his mind and will, which was hidden and fecret, and what before he was not fo well acquainted with; this was brought unto him by the Spirit of God, or by a meffenger from the Lord, fent on this occafion, and for this purpofe; and the manner in which it was brought was /ecretly or by ftealth, as Mr. Broughton and others ' render it; it was /telen unto him, or fecretly brought, as the Targum, and we, and others™; it was in a private way or manner; or

Babylon called ants, which feem to be a fpecies of /uddenly, as fome others", at unawares, when it lions, and being in thofe countries, might be known Megafihenes * {peaks of ants in India.

to Eliphaz. as big as foxes, of great {wiftnefs, and get their living by hunting: and the ftout lion’s whelps are feattered abroad; or the whelps of the lione s*, thefe are fcattered from the lion and lionefs, and from one another,' to feek for food, but in vain; the Targum applies this to J/mael, and his pofterity; archi, and others, to the builders of Badel, faid to be fcattered, Gez. xi. 8. rather reference may be had to the giants, the men of the old world, who!

filled the earth with violence, which was the caufe of the flood being brought upon the world of the ungodly. Some think that £/iphax has a regard to Fob in all this, and that by the fierce lion he defigns and defcribes fob as an oppreffor and tyrant, and by the /ione/s, his wife, and by the young lions, and hion’s whelps, his children; and indeed, tho’ he may not directly defign him, yet he may obliquely point at him, and fuggeft, that he was like to the men he had in view, and compares to this in the Arabic language, that it fignifiesa fring was not expected by him: it may have refpect to the ftill and filent manner in which it was revealed ~ to him, ¢here was silence, and he beard. a voice, a ftill one, a fecret whifper; or to the almoft invifible perfon that revealed it, whofe image he faw, but could not difcern his form and likenefs; or it may be tothe diftinguifhing favour he enjoyed, in haying this revelation particularly made to him, and, not to others; he heard this word, as it were, behind the curtain, or vail, as the Jews ° fay, explaining this paflage: mine ear received a little of. ~ it; this revelation was made, not by an impulf r. upon his fpirits, but vocally, a voice was heard, as after declared, and E/ipbaz was attentive to its. he liftened to what was faid, and catched at it, and took it in with much delight and pleafure, tho” but a imall part of it, as his capacity was able to retain it; or it was but a fmall part of the will of God, an hint of his only, as fome interpret ie Schultens has fhewn, from the ufe of a word near “ of pearls; and fo may defign a fett of evangelic ‘truths, comparable to gold, filver, and precious ftones, and which are indeed more defirable than them, and preterable to them; what they are, will be obferved hereafter.

y.13. Ja thoughts from the vifions of the night, &c.}° Whillt E/iphaz was thinking of, and meditating upon divine things, or whilft he was revolving in his mind fome night-vifions he had, before this was made unto him, fee Dez. ii. 29. in meditation the Lord is often pleafed to make known more of his mind and will to his people; and this is one way in which he was wont to do it in former times, in a vifion either in the day, as fometimes, or in the night, as at others, and as here, fee Numd. xii. 6. when deep fleep falleth on men; on forrowful men, as Mr. Broughton renders it; fuch who have been laborious all the day, and getting their bread with forrow and trouble, and are weary; who as foon as they lie down fall afleep, and fleep falls on them, and to fuch it is fweet, as the wife men fays, Eccl. v. 12. now it was-at fuch a time when men ordinarily and commonly are afleep, that this vifion was had.

y.14. Fear came upon me, and trembling, &c.] Not only a dread of mind, but trembling of body; which was often the cafe even with good men, whenever there was any unufual appearance of God unto them by a voice, or by any reprefentation, or by an angel; as with Abrabem in the vifion of the pieces, and with Mofes on mount Sinai, and with Daniel in fome of his vifions, and with Zechariah, when an angel appeared and brought him the tdings of a fon to be born to him; which arifes from the frailty and weaknefs of human nature, a confcioufnefs of guilt, a fenfe of the awful majefty of God, and an uneafy apprehenfion of what may be the confequences of it: which made all my bones to hake; not only there was inward fear and outward tremor of body, but to fuch a degree, that not one joint in him was ftill; all the members of his body fhook, and every bone was as if it was loofed, which are the more firm and folid parts, as is common in any confiderable tremor. yi15. Then a fpirit paffed before my face, &c.] Which fome interpret of a wind?, a bluftering _ wind, that blew ftrong in his face; and fo the Zar- _ gum renders it, a ftormy wind, fuch an one as E ijab perceived when the Lord fpoke to him, tho’ he was not in that, 1Kzags xix. 11. or fuch a whirlwind, out of which the Lord fpake to Fob, ch. Xxxviii. 1. or rather as Farchi, an angel, an immaterial fpirit, one of Yehovah’s miniftring pirits, clothed in an human form, and which paffed and repaffled before Eliphaz, that he might take notice of it: the hair of my flefh flood up; erect, through furprize and dread; which is fometimes the cafe, when any thing aftonifhing and terrible is beheld; the blood at {uch times making its way to the heart, for the prefervation of that leaves the external members of the body cold, and the fkin of the flefh, in which the hair is, being contracted by the impetuous influx of-the nervous fluid, caufes the hair to ftand upright, particularly the hair of the head, like the prickles of hedge-hogs *; which has been ufual at the fight of an apparition *. ¥.16. It flood ftill, &c.]} That is, the fpirit, or the angel in a vifible form.; it was before going to and fro, but now it ftood ftill right againft Ziiphaz, as if it had fomething to fay to him, and fo preparing him to attend to it; which he might do the better, it ftanding before him whilft {peaking to him, that he might have the opportunity of taking more notice of it: dut notwithftanding this advantageous pofition of it, Lcould not difcern the form thereof, what it was, whether human or any other:-a% image was before mine eyes; he faw fomething, fome appearance and likenefs, but could not tell what it was; perhaps the fear and furprize he was in hindered him from taking in any diftinét idea of it, or that particular notice of it, fo as to be able to form in his own mind any fuitable notion of it, or to defcribe it to others - there was fi/ence both in the ipirit or image, which ftanding ftill, made no rufhing noife, and inEviphaz himfelf, who kept in his breath, and liftened with all the attention he could to it; or a fmall low voice, as Ben Melech interprets it: fo it follows, and I heard @ voice; a diftiné articulate voice or found of words, very audibly delivered by the fpirit, or image that ftood betore him: /aying; as follows. ¥.17. Shall mortal man be more juft than God? &c.] Poor weak, frail, dying man, and fo finful, as his mortality fhews, which is the effect of fin; how fhould fuch a man be more righteous than God? who is fo originally and effentially of himfelf, completely, perfectly, yea, infinitely righteous in his nature, and in his works, both of providence and grace; in chaftizing his people, punifhing the wicked, and beftowing favours upon his friends, even in their election, redemption, juftification, pardon, and eternal happinefs: yea, not only prophane wicked finners can make no pretenfions to. any thing of this kind, but even the beft of men, none being without fin, no not man in his beft eftate; for the rightcoufnefs he had then was of God, and therefore he could not be more juft than he that made him‘upright. This comparative fenfe, which our verfion leads to, is more generally received; but it feems not to be the fenfe of the pafiage, fince this is a truth clear from reafon, and needed no vifion or revelation to difcover it; nor can it be thought that God would fend an angelic fpirit in {uch an awful and pompous manner, to declare that which every one knew, and no man would contradict; even the moft felf-righteous and felf-fuficient.man would never be fo daring and infolent, as to fay he was. more righteous than God; but the words fhould be rather rendered, /hall mortal man. be juftified by God, or be jut from God? or with him, or defore him‘, in his fight, by any‘righteouf- ~ nefs in him, or done by him? fhall he enter into his prefence, ftand at his bar, and be examined there, and go away from thence in the fight, and account of God, as a righteous perfon of himfelf? no, he cannot; now this is a doctrine oppofed to carnal reafoning, and the common fentiments of men, a doctrine of divine revelation, a precious truth + this is the ftring of pearls Eliphaz received, fee ¥. 12. that mortal man is of himfelf an unrighteous creature; that he can’t be juftified by his own righteoufhefs in the fight of God; and that he mutt look and feek out for a better righteoufnefs than his own, to juftify him before God; and this agrees with E/ipbaz’s interpretation of the vifion, ch, xv. 14. with the fentiments of his friend £i/- ': dad, juus erit? Schultens; fo Mr. Broughton, can the and not angels reconciling men, or drawing the plan of their reconciliation; and when this feerer, being concluded on and fettled, was revealed to angels, it is thought by fome to be the reafon of fo many of them apoftatizing from God; they chufing rather to have nothing to do with him, than to be under the Son of God in human nature: but befides this, there are many other things God has not trufted the angels with, as his purpofes and decrees within himfelf, and the knowledge of the times and feafons of the accomplifhment of them, particularly the day and hour of judgment; tho’ the fenfe here rather fees to be this, that God does not, and did not truft them with themfelves; he knew their natural weaknels, frailty, mutability, how liable they were to fin and fall from him, and therefore he chofe them in Chrift, put them into his hands, and made him head over them, and fo confirmed and eftablifhed them in him and as it may be rendered, did not put ftability or firmne s™ in them, fo as to ftand of themfelves; or perfection in them, as fome render it*, which cannot be ina Creature, as itis in God: and his angels be charged with folly, that is comparatively, with refpect to himfelf, in comparifon of whom all creatures are foolifh, be they ever fo wife; for he is all-wife, and only wife; angels are very knowing and intelligent in things natural and evangelical, but their knowledge is but imperfect, particularly in the latter; as appears by their being defirous of looking into thofe things which refpeét the falvation of men, and by learning of the church the manifold wif— dom of God, 1 Pet. i. 12. Eph. iii, 10. or by folly is meant vanity, weaknefs, and imperfection’, a liablenefs to fall, which God obferved in them; and which are in every creature in its beft eftate, and were in Adam in his ftate of innocence, and fo in the angels that fell not, efpecially previous. to their confirmation by Chrift, fee Pf xxxix., 5. and fo the fenfe is the fame with the preceding claufe: fome render it by repeating the negative from that, and he putteth not glorying or boafting in his angels”; he makes no account of their duties and fervices, fo as to glory in them; it is an humbling him{elf to regard them; or he puts nothing in them that they can boaft of, fince they have nothing of themfelves, all from him, and therefare cannot glory as though they had received it not.. Others obferve, that the word has the fignification of light, and differently render the paflage; fome, though be putteth light in his angels*, makes them angels of light, comparable to morning-ftars, yet he puts no truft in them; and what they have is from him, and therefore not to be compared with him, nor can they glory in themfelves 5 or, be pute teth not light, or not clear light into. them”; that which is perfect, and free from all manner of darknefs; fuch only is in himfelf che Father of lights, with whom it dwells in perfection, and there is no fhadow of turning in him: fome would have this underftood of the evil angels, whom God charged with folly; but this is too low aterm, a phrafe to make them his counfellors about it; no, Chrift nly was the wonderful counfellor in this affair, the counfel of peace, or that refpecting the peace and reconciliation of men was only between him and his Father; God was only in and with Chrift, not {trong enough to exprefs their fin and wickednefs, who are not chargeable only with imprudence, but with rebellion and treafon againft '3 nor does this fenfe agree with parallel places, ch. xv. 14, 15, 16. and xxv. 4, 5. and befides, the beauty dad, who feems to have fome refpect to it, ch. xxv. 4. and alfo of Yed himfelf, ch. ix. 2. and in like manner are we to underftand the following clauie: fhall a man be more pure than bis maker? even the greateft and beft of men, fince what purity was in Adam, in a ftate of innocence, was from God; and what good men have in a itate of grace, is from the grace of God and blood of Chrift, without which no man is pure at all, and therefore can’t be purer than him from whom they have it: or rather de pure from, or with, or before bis maker“, or be fo accounted by him; every man is impure by his firft birth, and in his nature-ftate, and therefore can’t ftand before a pure and holy God, who is of purer eyes than to behold inquity; or go away from his prefence, and be reckoned by him a pure and holy creature of himfelf; nor can any thing that he can do in a moral or ceremonial manner, cleanfe him from his impurity; and therefore it is neceflary he fhould apply to the grace of God, ad blood of Chrift, for his purification, yx. 08. Bebold, be put no truft in bis Jervants, &c.] Some think the divine oracle or revelation ends in the preceding verfe, and that here Eliphaz makes fome ufe and improvement of it, and addreffes Fob, and argues with him upon it, with a view to his cafe and circumftances; but rather the account of what the oracle faid, or was delivered by revelation, is continued to the end of the chapter, there being nothing unworthy of God, either in the matter or manner of it: and here Eliphaz himfelf is addreffed, and this addrefs, ufhered in with a debold, as a note of admiration, affeveration and attention; it being fomewhat wonderful and of importance, fure and certain, and which deferved to be liftened to, that God, the maker of men and angels, did not, and does not, put any truft or confidence in Lis fervants; meaning not the prophets in particular, as the Yargum, though they are in an eminent fenfe the fervants of God; nor righteous men in general, as Yarchi and others, who tho’ heretofore fervants of fin, yet thro’ grace become fervants of righteoufnels, and of God; but as men who dwelt in houfes of clay, are oppofed to them, and diftinguifhed from them in the next verfe, they muft be underftood of angels, as the following claufe explains it; who always ftand before God, miniftring unto him, ready)to do his will, and to do it in the moft perfect manner creatures are capable of; they go forth at his command into the feveral parts of the world, and execute his orders; they worfhip him, and celebrate his perfections, afcribing honour and glory, wifdom, power and bleffing to hit; and this they do chearfully, conftantly and inceffandy. Now though God has intrufted thefe fervants of his with many meffages of importance, both under the Old and New Teftament-difpeniation; yet he has not trufted them with the falvation of men, to which they are not equal, but has put it into the hands of his Son; nor indeed did he truft them with the fecret of it, fo as

7 ae ak ae | rie; s ey Ch.iv.¥.19, 26. + ae, m3 269 of the comparifon of them with men would be loft, and the ftrength of the argument with refpect to them would be fadly weakened, which we have in the following verfe. y¥. 19. How much lefs on them that dwell in houfes of clay, &c.] Meaning men, but not as dwelling in houfes, in a proper fenfe, made of clay dried by the fun, as were common in the eaftern countries; ~ nor in mean cottages, as diftinguifhed from cedar, and cieled houfes, in which great perfonages dwelt, for this refpects men in common; nor as being in the houfes of the grave, as the Targum, Farchi, and others, which are no other than duft, dirt, and clay; for this regards not the dead but the living; but the bodies of men are meant, in which their fouls dwell; which fhews the fuper-excellency of the foul tothe body, and its independency upon it, being capable of exifting without it, as it does in the feparate ftate before the refurrection;. fo bodies are called tabernacles, and earthen veffels, and earthly houfes, 2,Pet i. 13, 14. 2 Cor. iv. 7. and v. 1. and bodies of clay, ch. xiii. 12. fo the body is by /piéetus “called clay elegantly wrought; _and another heathen writer * calls it clay fteeped in, or macerated and mixed with blood: being of clay denotes the original of bodies, the duft of the earth; and the frailty of them, like brittle clay, and the pollution of them, all the members thereof being defiled with fin, and fo called vile bodies, and will remain fuch till changed by Chrift, Pdi. iii. 21. now the argument ftands thus, if God put no truft in angels, thes much lefs in poor, frail, mortal, finful men; he has no dependance on their fervices, whofe weaknefs, unprofitablenefs, and unfaithfulnefs he well knows; he puts no truft in their purpofes, and refolutions, and vows, which often come to nothing; nor does he truft his own people with their falvation and juftification, or put thefe things upon the foot of their works, but trufts them and the falvation and juftification of them with his Son, and puts them upon the foot of his own grace and mercy: and if he charges the holy angels with folly, then much more, (for fo it may be alfo rendered) will he charge mortal finful men with it, who are born like the wild afs’s colt, and are foolifh as well as difobedient, even his chofen ones, efpecially before converfion; or thus, if fo ftands the cafe of angels, then much lefs can man be juft before him, and pure in his fight: the weaknefs, frailty, and pollution of the bodies of men are further enlarged on in fome following claufes: whofe foundation is in the duff; meaning not the lower parts of the body, as the feet, which fupport and bear it up; rather the foul, which is the bafis of it, referring to its corruption and depravity by fin; though it feems chiefly to refpect the original of the body, which is the duft of the earth, of which ie confifts, and to which it will return again, this being but a poor foundation to ftand upon, Gen. ii. 7. and iii. 17. Eccl. xii. 7. for the fenfe is, whofe foundation is duft, mere duft, the particle 3 being redundant, or rather an rabi/m: which are crufbed before the moth? that is, which bodies of men, of houfes of clay founded in the duft; or, they crujb them; or which or who they crue *; either God, Father, Son, and Spirit, as fome; or the angels, as others; or diftrefies, calamities, and afflictions; which fenfe feems beft, by which they are cruthed before the moth or worm '; that is, before they die, and come to be the repaft of worms, ch. xix. 26, or before a moth is deftroyed, as foon, or fooner * than it is; fo a man may be crufhed to death, or his life taken from him, as foon as a moth’s; either by the immediate hand of God, as Ananias and Sapphira, or by the {word of man, as dma/a by Joab; or rather, like a moth”, as eafily and as quickly as a moth is crufhed between a man’s fingers, or by his foot: fome, as Saadiab Gaon, and others render it, before ArGurus', a conftellation in the heavens, ch. ix.g. and take the phrafe to be the fame as that, defore the fun, Pf. \xxii. 17, and to denote the perpetuity and duration of their being crufhed, which would be as long as the fun or ArGurus continued, that is, for ever; but either of the above fenfes is beft, efpecially the laft of them; y. 20. They are deftroyed from morning to evening, &c.] That is, thote that dwell in houfes of clay ~ before defcribed; the meaning is, that they are always expofed to death, and liable to it every day they live; not only fuch who are perfecuted for the fake of religion, but all men-in common, for of fuch are both the text and context; who have always the feeds of mortality and death in them, that is continually working in them; and every day, even from morning to evening, are innumerable inftances of the power of death over men; and not only fome there are, whofe {un rifes in the morning and fets at evening, who are like grafs in the morning, gay and green,.and by evening cut down and withered, live but a day, and fome not that; but even it is true of all men comparatively fpeaking, they begin to die the day they begin to live; fo that the wife man takes no notice of any intermediate time between a time to be born and a time todie, Leci. iii. 2, fo frail and fhort is the life of man; his days are but as an hand’s breadth, Pf. xxxix. 5. they peri b for eyer; which is not to be underftood of the fecond or eternal death which fome die; for this is not the cafe of all; thofe that believe in Chrift fhall not perith for ever, but have everlafting life; but this refpects not only the long continuance of men under the power of death until the refurrection, which is not contradicted by this expreffion; but it fignifies that the dead ‘never return to this mortal life again, at lea{t the inftances are very rare; their families, friends, and houfes, that knew them, know them no more; they return no more to their worldly bufinefs or enjoyments, fee ch. vii. 9, 10, and x. 21. without any regarding it; their death; neither they themfelves nor others expecting it fo foon, and ufing no means to prevent it, and which, if made ufe of, would not have availed, their appointed time being come; or without putting *, either without putting light into them, as Sephorne, which can only be true of fome; or without putting the hand, either their own or another’s, to deftroy them, being done by the hand of God, by a diftemper of his fending, or by one providence or

* arog rpowror, Sept. inftar tinew, Noldius, Schmidt; fo Aben Ezra and Broughton, * Donec fuerit Ar&turus, Pagninus, Vatablus; fo fome in Aben Ezra, Ben Melech.

another; or without putting the heart to it, which comes to the fenfe of our verfion; though death is fo frequent every day, yet-it is not taken notice of; men do not lay it to heart, fo as to confider of their latter end, and repent of their fins, and reform from them, that they may not be their ruin; and this is and would be the cafe of all men, were it hot for the grace of God.

y¥. 21. Doth not their excellency which is in them, go away? &c.] Either the foul which is in them, and is the moft excellent part of them; this, tho’ it dies not, yet it goes away and departs from the body at death; and fo do all the powers and faculties of it, the thoughts, the affections, the mind and memory, yea, all the endowments of the mind, wifdom, learning, knowledge of languages, arts, and fciences, all fail at death, 1 Cor. xiii. 8. Py exlvi. 8. and fo likewife all that is excellent in the body, the ftrength and beauty of it depait, its ftrength is weakened in the way, and its contelinefs turned into corruption: or, as it may be rendered, which is with them'; and fo may likewife denote all outward enjoyments, as wealth and riches, glory and honour, which a man cannot carry with him, do not defcend into the grave with him, but then go away: a learned man ™ renders the words, is not their excellency removed which was in them? and thinks it refers to the corruption of nature, the lofs of original righteoufnefs, and of the image of God in man, which formerly was his excellency in his ftate of innocence, but now, through fin and the fall, is removed from him; and this, indeed, is the caufe, the fource and {pring of his frailty, mortality, and death; hence it follows: they die even without wifdom; that dies with them, or what- ( foever of that they have goes away from them at death; wife men die as well as fools, yea, they die as fools do, and multitudes without true wifdom, not being wife enough to confider their latter end; they die without the wifdom which fome are made to know, in the hidden part, without the fear of God, which is réal wifdom, or without the knowledge of Chrift, and of God in Chrift, which is” the beginning, earneft, and pledge of life eternal. Now then fince man is fuch a frail, mortal, foolith and finful creature, how can he be juft before God, or pure in the fight of his Maker? which is the thing defigned to be proved and illuftrated by all this; and here ends the divine oracle, or the revelation made to Eiipbaz, when he had the vifion before related.

rN this chapter Eliphaz goes on to prove, and farther confirm and eftablifh what he had before aflerted, that not good men, but wicked men only are afflicted of God, at leaft greatly, fo as to have their fubftance wholly deftroyed and perifh, which was ‘Fob’s cafe; and this partly from the cafe, ftate, and fentiments of all the faints, ¥. 1, 2. and from his own obfervation and experience, ¥. 3, 4, 5. and then he proceeds to give fome advice; and feeing afflictions do not come by chance, but are of God, it is right in fuch circumftances for a man to feek to the Lord for pardon and falvation, and commit his caufe unto him, ¥. 6, 7, 8. who does many ereat things in a providential way to the good of man in general, and to the difappointment of wicked crafty men, and to the ferving of the poor in particular, ¥.g—16. fo that it is beft patiently to bear the afflicting hand of God, and it is an happinefs to be corrected by him, fince he delivers fuch out of all their troubles, and preferves them from many evils, and beftows many good things on them; which would be ¥od’s cafe particularly, if he behaved according to the advice given, and which is left with him to confider of, ¥. 17—27.

y¥. 1. Call now, if there be any that will anfwer thee, &c.} Thatis, call upon God, which, if ferioufly, and not ironically fpoken, was good advice; God is to be called upon, and efpecially in times of trouble; and invocation is to be made in faith, in fincerity, and with fervency, and to be accompanied with confeffion of fin, and repentance for it; and fooner or later God hears and anfwers thofe that call upon him; but Zipbaz fuggetts, that if Fob did call upon him, it would be in vain, he would not hear him, he going upon the fame maxim that the Jews did in Chrift’s time, God heareth not finners, Fobn ix. 31. or call upon him to give him an oracle from heaven, to favour him with a vifion and revelation, and fee if he could get any thing that would confront and confute what he had delivered as coming that way; which, if it eould be done by him, would appear to bea falfhood and an impofture, fince one revelation from God is not contradicted by another: or ele the fenfe is, call over the catalogue and lift of good men that have been from the beginning of the world, and fee if there be any that ax/wers to thee", whofe cafe, character, and behaviour correfpond with thee; if ever. any of them was afflicted as thou art, or ever behaved with fo much indecency. impatience, murmuring, and blafphemy againft God as thou haft, done;. that ever opened his mouth. and curfed the day of his birth, and reflected upon the providence and juftice of God as thou haft, as if thou wert unrighteoufly dealt with: or rather, cal] now, and fummon all creatures together, angels and men, and get any one of them to be thy patron, to defend thy caufe, and plead for thee, to give a reply to what has been faid, from reafon, experience, and revelation: and fhouldft thou obtain this, which is not likely, Jo, there is one that can anfwer thee°, as fome render the words, meaning either God or himfelf; thus Eiipbaz infults ob, and triumphs over — him, as being entirely baffled and conquered by him, by what he had related as an oracle and revelation from heaven: and to which of the faints wilt thou turn? or look, or have refpeé ”, that will be of any fervice to thee? meaning either the divine perfons in the Godhead, fometimes called Holy Ones, as in Job. xxiv. 19. Prov. ix. 10. and xxx. 3. Hof, xi. 12. the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit, who may and fhould be turned and — looked unto; God the Father, as the God of providence and grace for all good things; Jefus Chrift his Son, as the Redeemer and Saviour for righteouf- nefs and eternal life; the Bleffed Spirit; as a fanctifier to carry on and finifh the work of grace; but it is fuggeited, it would be in vain for fod to turn and look to any of thefe, fince he would be rejected by them as a wicked man, nor would any of them plead his caufe: or elfe the holy angels, as the Septuagint exprefs it, and who are called faints and holy ones, Deut: xxxili. 2. Dan. vill. 13. Zech. xiv. 5. and it is afked, which of thofe he - could turn or look to, and could expect relief and protection from? fignitying, that none of thefe would vouchfafe to converfe with him, nor take him under their care, nor undertake to plead his caufe: or rather holy men, fuch as are fanétified or fet apart by God the Father, to whom Chrift is made fanctification, and in whofe hearts the Holy Spirit has wrought principles of grace and holinefs, and who live holy lives and converfations; and it is infinuated, that fhould he turn and look to thefe, he would find none of them like him, nor in the fame with God and his providence; and envious at the profperity of others, particularly his friends; and fo was a foolifh and filly man, in whofe brealt wrath and envy refted, and would be his ruin and deftruction, as he was already under Naying and killing providences. ¥. 3. I bave feen the foolifh taking root; &c.} Such foolifh wicked men as before defcribed 5 thofe Eliphaz had obferved to profper in the world, and increafe in riches, and even to have attained to a feeming ftability and firmnefs, as if they would ever continue in fuch happy circumftances, fee ‘fer. xii. 2. Pf. xxxvii. 35, 36. by this he would obviate an objection, that here might be railed, and made againft the affertion he was proving, that wicked men are affli€ted and punithed of God for their fins; whereas it is notorious, that they are not in trouble as other men, but in very profperous and flourifhing circumftances; this he grants is their cafe for a while, as he had obferved, but in a circumftances, nor of the fame fentiments, or that would take his part and plead for him; but that all to a man would appear of the fame mind with Eliphaz, that none but wicked men were afflicted by God as he was, and that he was fuch an one, and that for the reafon following: the papifts very abfurdly produce this paflage in favour of praying to departed faints, when not dead but living ones are meant, and even turning to them is difcou-| raged; and befides, this would contradict another tenet of the papifts, that the Old Teftament-faints, until the coming of Chrift were in a fort of tory called Limbus patrum, and therefore uncapable of helping faints on earth that fhould apply unfhort time they pafs away, they and their fubftance difappear, and are no more feen, as follows: dut /uddenly I curfed bis habitation; not that he withed ill to him, or imprecated evils upon him; for curfing and bitternefs only fit the mouths of wicked men, and not’ good men, among whom Eliphaz mutt be allowed to be; but he immediately thought within himfelf, as foon as he faw the flourifhing tate of the wicked, that the curfe of the Lord was in their houfes; as in Prov. iii. 33. that they and all they had were undér a curfe, and that God had purga-j given them what they had with a curfe, and had curfed all their bleffings; which makes the difference between a good man and a wicked man; the one to them. has what he has, his cottage and his fmall fubftance

¥. 2. For wrath killeth the foolifo man, &c.] Not one that is an ideot, and deftitute of common fenfe, and has no underftanding in things natural and civil; but a wicked man, who has no knowledge of things divine and fpiritual, and fo foolifh: which is the character of every natural man, and of God’s people before converfion; and even of fome profeffors, who are foolifh virgins, and carry the lamp of a religious profeffion without the oil of grace; and fuch an one Eliphax took Fob to be, whom fooner or later the wrath of the Lord, as the Targum interprets it, which is revealed from heaven, and comes down upon the children of - difobedience, would confume like devouring fire: or this may be underftood of the wrath and paffion of fuch men themfélves, which fometimes rifes in them to fuch an height, as that they die in a fit of it; or do thofe things which bring them to death, either by the hand of God, or by the civil magiftrate: and envy flayeth the filly one; one that is fimple and void of underftanding, and is eafily perfuaded and drawn into fin, either by his own heart, or by evil men, or by the temptations of Satan; and in whofe heart envy at the profperity of others dwells, and which infenfibly preys upon him, eats up his own fpirits, and is rottennefs - his bones, and crumbles them into duft, Prov. xiv. go. or the word may be rendered jealou/y, or zeal *, as it fometimes is, and may’ fignify the jealoufy of the Lord, zeal for his own glory, which he fometimes ftirs up as 2 man of war, and which fmoaks againtt wicked men, and confumes them as fire, fee J/. xii. 13. Pf Ixxix. 5. Deut. xxix.20. Eliphaz by all this would reprefent and infinuate, that Fob was fuch a man, hot, paffionate, and angry with a blefling; the other his pleafant habitation, as the word ‘ here ufed fignifies, his ftately palace, rich furniture, and large eftates with a curfe; or he prognofticated, he forefaw, and could foretell, and that without pretending to an extraordinary {pirit of prophecy, that in a fhort time the curfe of God would light upon him, and upon his houfe, fee Zech. v. 3, 4.

y. 4. His children are far from Safety, S8c.] From outward fafety, from evils and dangers, to which they are liable and expofed, not only from men, who hate them for their fathers fake, who have been oppreffors of them, or from God, who vifits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children; and from fpiritual and eternal fafety or /alvation, or from falvation in the world to come, as the Targum, they treading in their fathers fteps, and imitating their actions: and they are crufbed in the gate; or openly, publickly, as ben Ezra and others; or in the courts of judicature whither they are brought by thofe their parents had oppreffed, and where they are caft and have no favour fhown them; or literally by the falling of the gate upon them; and:perhaps fome reference is had to Fod’s children being crufhed in the gate or door of the tojhoufe, through which they endeavoured to get when it fell upon them -and deftroyed them; the Targum is, ‘¢ and are cruthed in the gates of hell, in the ‘day of the great judgment:” neither is there any to deliver them; neither God nor man, they having no intereft in either, or favour with, partly on account of their fathers ill-behaviour, and partly on account of their own; and fad is the cafe of men when it is fuch, fee Pf |. 24.

y.5. Whofe barveft the hungry eateth up, re

This is to be underftood of the foolifh rich man before defcribed, as taking root and flourifhing; though he fows, and reaps and gathers in his harveft, and fancies he has goods laid up for many years, to be enjoyed by him, yet he is taken away by death, and: another eats what he has gathered either his hungry heirs, that he has kept bare, and without the proper neceffaries of life; or the poor whom he has opprefied, who, driven by hunger, feize upon his harveft, and eat it up, whether be be alive or dead: Sephorno interprets this of the wicked man himfelf, who fhould eat up his own harveft, and not have enough to fatisfy him, the curfe of God being upon his land; and another learned interpreter * thinks the fenfe is, that fuch fhould be the curfe of God on the fields of wicked men, that they fhould produce no more than what was ufually left to the poor, and therefore fhould have no need to gather it: and taketh it even out of the thorns; that is, either the hungry man takes the harveft out of the thorns, among which it grows, fee Matt. xiii. 7. or which he had gotten through the thorns, as Mr. Broughton renders it; that is, the owner, through many difficulties; and hunger will break through many to get at it; or though his harveft being got in, is inclofed with a thorn hedge, the hungry man gets through it, and takes it out from it, furrounded by it; the abovementioned Yewi/h writer underftands this alfo of ‘the wicked man, who takes his own harveft out from among the thorns, fo that there is nothing left for the poor and his friends, as it is meet there fhould: the word ' for thorns has alfo the fignification of armour, particularly of fhields; hence the Targum is, ‘‘ and armed men with warlike arms fhall take it away;” to which agrees the Vu - gate Latin verfion, ‘‘ and the armed men fhall take it away;’’ that is, foldiers fhould forage, fpoil, and deftroy it: and the robber /walloweth up their fubfiance;, the houfe-robber, who breaks in and devours all at once, and makes a clear riddance of it; fome render it the bairy man“, either that neglects his hair, as beggars, or fuch that live in defart places, as robbers, that they may appear the more terrible; or that take care of it, and nourihh it, and tie it up in locks, and behind their heads, as Bar Tzemach and Ben Melech obferve they do in Turkey; others tranflate it the thirfly™, and fo it anfwers to the hungry in the preceding claufe, and defigns fuch who thirft, and gape after, and covet the fubftance of others, and greedily catch at it, and {wallow it up at once, at one draught, as a thirfty man does a large quantity of liquor, fee Prov. i. 12, 13. this may have fome refpect to the Sabeans and Chaldeans, that fwallowed up Fob’s fubftance, and took away his cattle from him at once, and were no other than bands of robbers; and the ufe of the word for a thief or a robber, as we take it, is confirmed by a learned man *, who derives it from the"Arabie word es Which fignifies to fmite with a club or ftone.

¥. 6. Although affiittion cometh not forth of the duft, &c.] Orrather, for or indeed”, this being a reafon fhewing that wicked men are juftly afflicted and punifhed; feeing their afflictions come not from the creatures, though they may be inftru- ments, but from God for the fins of men: the:

word for afficion alfo fignifies iniquity or fin, the.

caufe of affliction, as well as-affliction the fruit of fin; and fo does the word in the following claufe 5 and Aben Ezra underftands both, not of natural

5 | but moral evil, and fo do others’; both fenfes”

may be taken in: fin does not come from God, — the Maker of the duft of the earth, he is not the author of fin, nor does this fpring out of the duft which he has made; good things, as Schmidt obferves, come out of the earth for the ufe of man as. well as beafts, bread, and wine, and oil, and all the neceffaries of life; the precious things produced by the influence of the {un and moon, the precious things of the everlafting hills, and of the earth, and the fulnefs of it; indeed, the earth was curfed for the fin of men, but this is taken off; and how= ever it 1s not owing to the foil, or to the air and climate in which a man lives that he is finful; for though there may be national vices, or fome fins peculiar to, or more predominant in one nation than in another, yet this is not to be attributed to fuch caufes; for all fin is from a man’s felf, and’ proceeds out of his own evil heart, which is defp rately wicked and evil continually, and from’

whence all the impure {treams of fin flow, fee Matt. xv. #9. and fo afflictions are not to be afcribed to fecond caufes, fuch as the things before-mentioned, or Fob’s lofies by the Sabeans and Chaldeans; nor did he place them to that account, but to the hand: of God; nor to chance and fortune, or to be reckoned fortuitous events, as if. they were chance-~ productions, fpontaneous things that {pring up of themielves, and not under the direétion of an allwife providence; but they are to be confidered as of God, and as of his appointment, and direéted by his fovereign will and pleafure, and over-ruled for his glory; who has fixed what they fhall be, of what kind and fort, what the meafure of them, to what pitch they fhall rife, and how long they thall lat: neither doth trouble {pring out of the ground the fame thing as before in different words, neither’ fin the caufe of trouble, the effect of fin; fin may very fitly be exprefled by a word *, which fignifies trouble, becaufe it is both troublefome, wearifome, and offenfive to God, and brings trouble to the bodies and fouls of men here and hereafter. Here Eliphaz begins to lower the tone of his voice, and to fpeak to Yod in a feemingly more kind and friendly manner, obferving to him the {pring of affiictions, and giving him advice how to behave under them.

y. 7. Yet man is born unto trouble, &c.) Or but *, after the negative follows the pofitive part of the affertion; before we have what is denied as the caule of affliction, here what it is affirmed to be, or what it is to be afcribed unto, even to the appointment of God for fin: to be born to it, is to be appointed to it, as all men are appointed to death, and to every thing previous and that leads on to it; and it fignifies that affliction or trouble - fprings from the birth-fin of man, from original fin, the fin of the firft parent, and of his nature;

as all fins arife from hence, and are ftreams from this fountain of pollution, fo all diforders and difeafes of body, all diftrefits and anguifh of mind, and death in every fenfe, corporal, fpiritual, and eternal; and thefe are the let and portion, the eftate and inheritance of the fons of men by nature, what they are born unto, and are full of, fee ch. xiv. 1. the fame word is here ufed as in the preceding verfe, and fignifies labour, mifchief, the milchief of fin, inyprobity, wickednefs, moral evil; and man may be faid to be born to fin, inafmuch as he is conceived, fhapen, and born in it; and as he is born at once into a finful ftate, and fins as foon as born, goes aftray from the womb, is a tranfereffor from thence, and the imagination of his heart evil from his infancy and youth upwards, be becomes a flave to fin, and isa home-born one 3 not that he is laid under a neceffity of force to fin, or his will compelled to it; for he fins moft freely, is a voluntary flave to it; he ferves divers lufts as pleafures, and gives up himfelf to work all iniquity with greedinefs; but there is fuch a connexion between his birth, the circumftances of it, and fin, that fin is the certain confequence of it, and immediately, naturally, and necefiarily follows upon it; that is, by aneceffity of confequence, though not of coaction or force; it is as natural for man to fin, as it is for a thirfty man to covet and drink water; or, as for an Erhiopian to be born black, and a leopard with fpots; or, as it follows, as the Sparks fly upward, which they do naturally and neceffarily when coals are blown, and which are here called the fons of coals*; and to thefe, troubles and afflictions, the fruits and effects of fin, may be aptly compared; not only for the neceflity of them, it is if needs be they are, but for the nature of them, being fiery and troublefome, hence called fiery trials, and fignified by fires and flames of fire, 1 Pet. iv. 12. Jf, xxiv. 15. and xliii. 2. and alfo for the number of them, being many, and very grievous: fome interpret this of flying fowls, of young vultures, as the Septuagint; of young eagles, as others; Aben Ezra makes mention of this fenfe, as if it was, as a fowl is born to flie, fo man is born to labour; to labour in the law, according tothe Targum; or to labour for his bread; or rather, to labour and forrow; that is, to affliction and trouble: a learned man“ thinks the phrafe, according to the ufe of it in the Arabic language, defigns the more rapid caft of a dart, of the vibration of it, which is very quick.

y. 8. I would feek unto God, &c.] Or truly’, certainly, doubtle/s, 1 do feek unto God, verily I do fo; for fo the words are introduced in the original text, and exprefs what EZpbaz had done when under afflitions himfelf; for he was not without them, though he had not them to fuch a degree as Fob had 5 and when he was under them, this was the courfe he took he fought unto God by prayer to fupport him under them, to fanctify them to him, and to deliver him out of them; and this he propofes for ‘fob’s imitation, and fuggefts, that if he was in his cafe, this would be the firft ftep he fhould take; and good advice this is, nothing more roper for a man, efpecially a faint, than when afflicted of God, to feek unto him, to feek his face and his favour, to \intreat his gracious prefence, and the difcoveries of his love, that he may fee ad Alcoran, p.2g. So Schultens renders it, tela corufca.

that it is not in wrath, but in love, he afMli@s him; to fubmit unto him, humble himfelf before him acknowledge his fins, and implore his pardoning grace and mercy; to intreat him to help him in this time of need, to exercife the graces of faith and patience, and every other; to defire counfel and advice how to behave under the prefent trial, and to be made acquainted with the reafons, ends and ufes of the difpenfation, as well as to bee for {trength to bear up under it, and in his own time to grant deliverance from it: and unto God would 1 commit my caufe; or direét my word or Jpeech § to him; that is, in prayer, as Sepborno adds; { would, as if he fhould fay, make known my cafe to him, tell him the whole of it, and pour out my foul before him; and then I would leave ir wlth him, and not wrangle, quarrel, and contend with him, but fay, here am I, let him do what feemeth good: unto him: fome render the words, éruly or indeed I foall difcourfe concerning God, and order my Speech about deity *; fhall no longer infift on this fubject, but drop it, and hereafter treat of God, his nature, being, and perfections, and particularly his works; though thefe are rather obferved in the following verfes, as fo many arguments to engage Fob to feek the Lord, and leave his cafe and caufe to him.

¥. 9. Which doeth great things, &c.] - The things of creation are great things, the making of the heavens and the earth, and all therein, by the word of the Almighty, out of nothing, and which is a difplay of great power, wifdom, and goodnefs; the things of providence are great things, which God is always doing; as the upholding all things in being by the word of his power, governing the whole univerfe, ordering all things in it, fupplying and feeding all creatures, men and beatts; and efpecially the things of grace are great things, the covenant of grace, and its bleflings, redemption by Jefus Chrift, the work of grace upon the heart, the quickening and enlightening’ dead and dark finners, taking away their hearts of {tone and giving them hearts of flefh, and conftantly fupplying them with his grace for the finifhing of it; the confideration of all which is a great encouragement to feek the Lord in time of need, as well as of what follows concerning them: and unfearchable; the things of nature; many of them are fuch as puzzle the greateft philofophers, who are not able, with all their fagacity and penetration, to find out the caufes and reafons of them; and in providence the way of God is often in the deep, and is not to be tracked and followed; and the difpenfations of his grace to the fons of men are fo fovereign and diftinguifhing, that it made the apoftle fay, of them, O the depth, &c. Rom. xi. 33. and there are fome things not to be enquired into, nor can they be fearched out; fecret things belong to God, as his purpofes relating to the eternal ftate of particular perfons, and the times and feafons of various future events, as the day of judgement, &e. marveilous things; in nature, as the formation of man and all creatures; in providence, and it may be, refpect may be had to the wonders done in Egypt, and the marvellous things in the field of Zean, “the dirigerem fermonem meum, Beza, Michaelis; difpofe my talk unto God, Broughton.

& Enucleatius difleram de

Deo, & de Numine inftruam fermocinationem meam, Schultens.

plagues of Egygt, and the deliverance of Lrael, things done much about this time, or before it, as fome-think, and of which Eliphaz might have heard, and were frefh in his memory; and wonderful things are done in grace, as the effects of marvelous loving kindnefs: and ’thofe without number the works of God are manifold, and not to be counted; the ftars of heaven, the fowls of the air, the beafts of the field, and cattle on a thoufand hills, the fifhes of the fea, fmall and great, fee P.

civ. 25. to which may be added, thofe animalcules, of which 1,000,000,000 do not exceed the bignefs of a {mall grain of fand, as they may be feen thro’ a microfcope "; the various things done every day in providence, the fpecial bleffings of goodnefs, and the kind thoughts of the heart of God, which if one attempt to reckon up, they are more than can be numbered, Pf. xl 5.

¥. 10. Who giveth rain upon the earth, &c.) Not upon the land of J/rael only, as the Targum and Farchi, fee Deut. xi. 11. but upon the whole earth; this is particularly mentioned as being of God, and which none of the vanities of the Gentz es can give; and it is a free gift of his, which tarries not tor the defert of men, and is-beftowed on the godly and ungodly; and is a great blefling of goodnefs, which enriches the earth, makes it fruitful, and through it, it produces pienty of good things for man and beaft: and fendeth water upon the fields; or out-places* places’ without cities, and towns, fuch as gardens, fields, and defarts, where fhowers of rain are fent of God to water them, many of which are not under the care of man, but are under-the providence of God; the Zargum and FYarchi interpret this of Gentile lands, as_ diftinct from the land of J/rael, to whom God gives rain, and to the other /ends it; fome render it, “pon the fireets *, that is, upon perfons that lie in the ftreets, and have no houfes to dwell in, and'to whom rain in hot and dry countries was welcome.

y. 11. To fet.up on high thofe that be low, &c.] Not the low plants, which, through rain, are made to rum up on high, though there is a truth in.that; but hufbandmen and gardeners, and fuch-like perfons, in low circumftances, who, by means of fhowers of rain, which make their gardens, fields, and lands fruitful, are raifed to enjoy good eftates, and large poffeflions: that thofe which mourn may be exalted to fafety;,. or are black’, that are clothed in black, as a token of mourning; or whofe faces are black with famine, fee Lam. iv. 8. and v. 10. or are in very diftrefled circumftances, and black through poverty, as the Zargum, and «mourn over and grieve at their fad and deplorable cafe; thofe, through rain and fruitful’ feafons, are brought out of fuch an uncomfortable fituation, and put into a better condition of life, where they. are as in a fortrefs, out of the reach of fuch fad calamities: fome connect the words with the following, that in order to do this, to raife up the humble and exalt i th he difappoints the devices of the crafty,

¥. 12. Lle difappointeth the devices of the ‘crafty, &c.} Or, it difappointeth; that is, the rain, as fome Jewi/o commentators ™ interpret it, and the whole paragraph to this fenfe; the rain coming

FAO OB, upon the earth makes it fruitful, and caules it tons; C and their paflage through the Red Sea; which were produce a plentiful crep, whereby the {chemes of» crafty men are difappointed, who.ina;time of = * | drought withold the corn, and enhance the price of « it, and diftrefs the poor; and this in order to make © a penny of them, according to Amos viii 49659 but through the rain falling are not able.to gain’ theirend, but aré obliged to bring out their corn, = and fell it at a low price, and fo are taken in their « own craftinefs; their counfel becomes brutifh, and — they are brought into bad circumftances themfelves, and the poor faved from being ground and op-"* prefied by them, and have hope for the furureof plenty of provifions, to the confufion and aftonifh- — ment of their oppreffors: but the Targum interprets > this of the Egyptians, cunningly devifing mifchief © againft the J/raelites, without fuccefs; and not — amifs, fince that affair might be well known to - Elipbaz, and he might have it in view: the fact was this, a new king of Egypt, after the death of

| Jofeph, obferving the great increafe of the people of J/rael in his dominions, and fearing, in cafe of ~ a war, they fhould join the enemy, and get out of © the land by fuch an opportunity, calls his nobles, ~ courtiers, and counfellors together, to form fome wife fchemes' how to diminith them; and the firft ~ was, to fet tafk-matters over them, and affli& them “ with hard bondage, but this fucceeded not; for the more they. were afflicted the more they multiplied and grew; another decree was, to order the © midwives to kill the male children of the J raelites, and: fave alive the females; but. the midwives, * fearing God, obeyed not the order, and the people ftill multiplied; and then a third: proje& was ° formed, to caft every fon born to the J/raclizes into — the river, and drown them;. but notwithftanding this they were preferved, as Mo/es, and doubtlefs -.. many others; the people increafed fo, that they went out of Egypt 600,000. men; this was a recent ~ thing, it may be in the times of Elipbez, and which ~ he. might eafily call to mind: and he might alfo - have refpect to a more remote cafe, that of the builders of Babel, who devifed a fcheme to build a tower, whofe top fhould reach to heaven, and fe ~ cure them from. a difperfion of them throughout » the earth; when God defcended in the difplay of: his. power and providence, confounded ‘their Jan— guage, fo that they were obliged to defift from ° their enterprize, and were fcattered throughout the earth, which by their fcheme they thought to have - prevented: this may be applied to wicked, crafty ~ men in common, who devife fchemes to commit. fin, and gratify their lufts, to get for themfelves » riches and honour, and to do mifchief to others, * which God in his providence breaks, fruftrates, and makes of none effect; and to falfe teachers, — that walk in craftinefs,. lie in wait to deceive, and make ufe of cunningly~devifed fables, coin new doétrines,. invent new ‘forms of worfhip, and point new ordinances, and contrive ‘diffe nt 1 and methods of falvation; all which is foolifhnefs with God, and to fuch perfons the following verfe is applied by the apoftle Pau/: and this may | wife refpeét wicked princes and potentates. their counfellors and wife politicians, who in former, as well asin later times, have formed defigns againft their neighbours, and to the hurt of the