Exposition of the Whole Bible

Chiu vi ¥eI3—rs.. Jo Oy 216: intereft_ of true religion particularly; but have been baffled and contounded by divine providence, of which as there were many inftances in, / rael of old, fo in our Britifh Ijrael of late: fo. that their bands cannot perform their enterprife; what their heads have contrived, what they have refolved and determined upon, and what they have begun to, effect, but could not go on with; or, bring it foundly to pafs, as Mr. Broughton renders. it; that is, could not compleat it, or bring it to.perfection; and. indeed not able to do any thing”, as fome| tranflate the word, not any: thing of what’they devifed and contrived; it fignifies that which. is, &c. which hasja being and fubftance, and folidity in it°; but nothing of this kind could be done; it is fometimes rendered wifdom, and found wifdom, Prov. ii 7. Mie.vi. 9. and fo itis here by fome?, and may fignify, that though their counfels were deeply and witely formed, according to the beft rules of wifdom and prudence, they yet are not able to bring them to pafs; which fhews the infinitely fuperior wifdom of God, and his over-ruling providence, and which therefore muft be a great encouragement to feek unto him, and leave every caufe and cafe comes to nought, through an over eagernefs to have it done at once; not waiting a fit opportunity for the accomplifhment of it.

> y. 14. 7) bey meet with darknefs in the day-time, Which may denote their infatuation in things the moft plain and clear, and which are obvious to every one’s view, even to fuch as are of }much meaner capacities than themfelves; and fo it fometimes is, that the greateft politicians, mien laid, of the greateft fagacity and penetration, capable of forming and conducting the wifeft counfels, yet blunder in things plain and-.eafy to every one; which muft be imputed to their being given up to a judicial blindnefs of mind by the Lord, who detroys the wifdom of the wife, and brings to noching the underftanding of the prudent; or this with him. may -fignify the defeat of their counfels, when they ys 13. He taketh the wife in their own craftinefs, &c.} As beaits are taken ina pit, or birds in’a fnare or net, or with bird-lime; fo thefe crafty men. who are wife in their own opinion, and really fo in things natural, civil, and worldly, or however, to do evil, are entangled and taken in their own fchemes 5 they fall into the pit they have digged for others, and are fnared in the works of their own. hands, as Haman and his fons were hanged on the gallows he prepared: for Mordecai:

own craftine/s *, by the crafty fchemes they themfelves have-formed; fo fometimes thofe very things crafty men defign to prevent, are brought about the very means they make ule of; thus Yo/eph’s brethren defigned to prevent the accomplifhment of his dreams, which portended their fubjection to him, by felling him to the Jbmaclites, who carried him to Egypt, where, in procefs of time, he was made governor of the land, and where his brethren became obedient to him; with which fact Elipbaz might be acquaintec, it being not long before his time: fo the ews, to prevent the Romans taking away their city and nation, contrived to put Chrift to death, and did, whereby they brought the wrath of God upon them, executed by thofe very per-|ne fons; the fame they did alfo, to prevent the fpread of his fame and glory in the world, and that he night not be -believed on as the Saviour of men, whereas, hereby he became the Saviour of them; and he a crucified Chrift, being preached to the world by his minifters, the favour of his know-| ledge has. been diffufed in every place, his glory great in all the earth, and will be more fo: Targum applies this to the wife men of Pharach, and the apoftle Paul w the Fewifh doctors and wife philofophers of the Gentiles, 1 Cor. iii. 19. which quotation proves the authority of this book: and the counfel of the froward is carried headlong; that is, the counfel or well-contrived fchemes of the crafty and. wife before-mentioned, who twift and wind about, as the word" here ufed fignifies, there is no tracing their meafures, and finding out are in the higheft pitch of efteem among men, as Ahithophel’s countel was as the oracle of God; Or:he deftruction of fuch perfons and their fchemes when they are in the meridian of their glory, who veing in high and flippery places, come to defolation in a moment: and krope in the noon-day as in rhe night; which intends the fame as before; this was threatened to the Fews in cafe of difobedience, ind was fulfilled in them, Deut. xxviii, Borie, lix: or, by their 9,10. a learned man renders it, as the night they rope, or feel, at noon-day*; as the Egyptians felt darknefs when it was noon, and when light was in by Jil the dwellings of the Tfraelites, Exod. x. 22, 23. this may be applied to the cafe of many in a land of gofpel-light, who are in darknefs, walk in darknefs, and are darknefs itfelf’;:hough the light of the glorious gofpel fhines® all around them on others, and know no more.of divine and fpiritual things than the Gentiles, but crope or feel about like perfons blind, and in the dark as much as they, 4s xvii. 27. nay, they not only havé the great things of the gofpel hid from them, and Satan blinds their minds lett this light fhould fhine into them, but shey run into darks", as the words of the firft claufe may be rendered; thofe Jucifuge, fach as the Jews were, and the deifts now are, run from the light of divine reyvelation, and love ‘darknefs, and which is the aggravation of their condemnation, Fob iii. 19, 20.

y.15. But he /aveth the poor, &c.] Who are o in a literal fenfe, ‘and whom the Lord faves with a temporal falvation; thefe being the butt of the crafthe ty, wife, and cunning, on whom their eyes are, for whom they lay fnares, and lie in wait to draw them in; and thefe being helplefs and without friends, God takes notice of them, appears for them, and arifes for their help, and faves them: from the fword; of of their enemies, drawn againft them, and ready to be fheathed in them: from their mouth; from their reproaches, calumnies, detraétion, and evil fpeakthatjing; or from the fword, their mouth”, as fome; or from the fword of their mouth *, as others; or which the fpring of them, nor the ends they have in view; yet thefe are fometimes carried on to execution in a rath and precipitate manner, and fo mifcarry; and like a man that is had to a precipice, and is thrown down from thence, and is deftroyed at once, fo are their counfeis and fchemes dathed to pieces in a moment by the providence of God: or, is baftened*; too much hafte is made to accomplith it, and fo it comes ‘out of its. whofe mouths and tongues are as fharp fwords, which deftroy their credit and reputation, and threaten them with ruin; the Targum is, ** trom the flaughter of their mouth:” and from ike band of the mighty 5 their mighty enemies, that are mightier than they; the Targum is, **from the hand of a mighty king;” fuch an one as Pharach, which the fame paraphrafe makes mention of in the preceding verfe, and from whom the poor J/raelites were delivered: this may be applied to the poor a {fpiritual fenfe, who are poor in fpirit, and are fenfible of their {piritual poverty, whom the Lord looks unto, has a regard for, and faves them from the fword of avenging juftice; that being awaked againft the man, his fellow, and fo warded off them, and from the mouth of a curfing and demning Jaw, and from Satan the accufer of the brethren; and of wicked men, whofe tongue rifing up in judgment againft them, he condemns; and from the band of Satan.the {trong man armed, and ' who is ftronger than they; and of all their fpiritual flictive providences, by blows as well as words, which are the rod of correction God makes ufe of with his children 5 for this is not the correction of a judge reproving, condemning, and chaftifing malefactors and criminals, but of a father correcting his children, in love, in judgment, and in meafure, for faults committed; Prov. iii. 12. fo God’s correétions are for fin, to bring his people to a fenfe of it, to humiliation and repentance for it, injand to an acknowledgment of it; and often for remiffnefs in duty, private or publick, and when they fet too high a value on the creature, and creature-enjoyments, truft in them, and glory of them, to the neglect of the beft things: now fuch perfons from are happy who are corrected by God in this mancon-jner; for thefe corrections are fruits and evidences of the love of God to them, and of their relation to God as children; he. grants them his prefence in them, he fympathizes with them, fupplies and fupports them under them, and delivers out of them; he makes them work for their good, fpiritual and enemies. eternal; by thefe he prevents and purges fin, tries

¥. 16. So the poor hath hope, &c.] Who ob-jand ferving this and that and the other poor man crying to the Lord and faved, hopes that he may be faved by him alfo; and having had experience of falvation out of one trouble or more, even out of fix troubles, as in a following verfe, entertains a comfortable hope he fhall be faved out of the feventh, or whatfoever he is in: the word” ufed fignifies one that is weak and feeble, attenuated, and exhaufted of his flrength, wealth, and fubftance; and may be applied to one fpiritually poor, and in a very deftitute and forlorn condition in himfelf; and yet, through the revelation of the grace and mercy of God to him, has hope of fafety in Chrift, the ftrong hold and hope fet before him to flee unto; falvation by him, it being in him, and for the chief of finners,and altogether free; through him, as being promifed of God, that cannot lie; the free gift of God through Chrift, and in his hands to difpofe of: and iniquity ftoppetb ber mouth; that is, iniquitous men; very wicked men, who are iniquity and wickednefs itfelf; {top their mouths through fhame at what they have faid concerning the poor that God faves, fee Mic. vii. 9, 10, and through admiration at the goodnefs of God, in faving them, Jf lii. 15, having nothing to fay againft the ways and difpenfations of divine providence they are apt to quarrel with, P/ cvii. 40, 41, 42. and efpecially at the laft day, fuch thall have their mouths ftopped, and fhall not able to open them againft the Lord or his people, being convinced of their hard fpeeches which they have fpoken againft them, Jude, y. 15. be like the man at the feaft without a wedding-garment, fpeechlefs, or muzzled, and his mouth ftopped, Matt, xxii. 12. and juftice, and as a proper brightens their graces; makes them more partakers of his holinefs; weans them from this world, and fits them for another: and this account is introduced with a bebold, as a note of attention, exciting it in ob and others; thereby fuggefting that it was worthy of notice and regard, and a matter of moment and importance; and as a note of admiration, it being a wonderful thing, a mere paradox with natural men efpecially, and contrary to all their notions of things, that an afflicted man fhould be a happy man, who generally reckon good men to be unhappy men, becaufe of their afflictions, reproaches, and perfecutions; and as a note of affeveration, affirming the truth and certainty of the and offaffertion, and which is confirmed by after teftimonies, and by the experience of the faints, Pf xciv. and of eternal life}i2. and cxix. 67, 71. the Targum reftrains this to Abraham; but it is true of every good man whom God afflicts in a fatherly way: therefore defpife not \thou the chaftening of the Almighty; who is able to fave and to deftroy, to take off his hand, or lay it thefe fhalljheavier if not regarded, to bear up his peopleunder all their afflictions, or to deliver them out of them; or of Shaddai*, God all-fufficient, who has a fufficiency in himfelf, and needs not any thing from his creatures; whofe grace is fufficient for his people, to fupply them in all their ftraits and difficulties; or of him who is all-nourifhing, who has breafts of confolation to draw out to his people in bejdiftrefs, the word* ufed coming from one that fignifies a pap, or breaft, as fome think; hence’ mention is made of the bleffings of the breaft, when he and willlis fpoken of under this character, Gem. xlix. 25. now this chaftifing of his is not to be underftood of chaftifement in a way of vindictive wrath punifhment for fin, for

¥.17. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth, &c.| Reproves, rebukes, convinces by word, which is profitable for correction of men’s minds and manners; and by his meffengers, the prophets and minifters, who are fent as reprovers of the people, and to rebuke them fharply, that they may be found in their principles, and fober in their converfation; and by his Spirit, which makes the correction of the word and minifters effeQual, and who reproves and convinces of fin, righteoufnefs and judgment; and fometimes this is done by hisjliii. 5. and to inflict this on them would be a depreciating the fatisfaction of Chrift, be contrary to the juitice of God, and to his everlafting and unchangeable love; but this is the chaftening of a father, and in love, and for the good of his people, in which he deals with them as with children: the word fignifies infrucion®,; affliction is a fchool of inftru€tion, in which the faints learn much of themind and will of God, and more of his love, grace, af-land kindnefs to them; and are enriched with a this is laid on Chrift, the furety of his people, J -~ larger experience of divine and {piritual things: and therefore fuch chaftening fhould not be de/pifed or rejected, as_naufeous and loathfome, as the fignifies: indeed no affliction is joyous; the bread of affliction, and water of adverfity, are not palatable or grateful to flefh and blood; bitter and difagreeable potion, as the cup of forrow was to the human nature of Chrift; but yet fhould not be rejected, but drank, for the fame reafon he gives, it being the cup given by his heavenly father; John xviii. 11. nor fhould it be defpifed as ufelefs and unprofitable, as the word is ufed in P €xviii. 22. feeing afflictions are of great ufe for humiliation for fin, for the increafe of grace and holinefs; the chaftening of the Father of fpirits is for profit now, and works a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, Hed. xii. 10. 2 Cor. iv. 17. this paflage feems to be referred to by Solomon, Prov. ili. 11. and is quoted by the in Heb. xii. 5. where he ufes a word * by which tranflates this, which fignifies to make Jittle of; and as on the one hand afflictions fhould not be magnified too much, as if there were none, nor ever had been any but them; fo, on the other hand, they fhould not be flighted and overlooked, and nojas notice taken of them, as if they were trifling and infignificant, and anfwered no end or purpofe; the hand of God fhould be obferved in them, and acknowledged; and men fhould humble themfelves under his mighty hand, and quietly and patiently bear it; and, inftead of defpifing, fhould blefs him for it, it being for their good, and many falutary ends being, aniwered by it.

y. 19. He fhall deliver thee in fix troubles, 8cc. Behaving as before direéted; feeking unto God, committing his caufe and cafe to him, and leaving it with him, and not defpifing the chaftening ofl P the Lord, but receiving and bearing it, with reverence, patience, and fubmiffion: and then the fenfé wordjis, that God would deliver out of whatfoever troubles he was or fhould be in, though they were ever {6 many; a certain number being put for an yea, are even ajuncertain one, Pf xxxiv. 19. yea, in feven th.re /hall no evil touch thee; which is a number expreffive of multitude and of perfection, and fo may denote the multitude and fulnefs of affli€tions: the tribulations of God’s people are many, through which they pafs to heaven, and there is a meafure.}of them to be filled up; and when they are comé to the height, and the meafure is fully up, then the Lord puts a ftop to them, and delivers out of all their troubles; and in the midft of them all, fo preferves them, that o evil fhall fo much as tonch them; not the evil of punifhment; for, though thofe troubles and afflictions that attend them are apoftle,jevil things, in a natural or civil fenfe, they are difhelagreeable and diftreffing, yet they are not the effect of vindictive juftice; there is not a drop of wrath and vengeance in them; and though they do come upon them and unto them, upon their perfons and families, yet not fo as to do any real hurt, or to deftroy them; fee P/: xci. 10. fome think that feven particular troubles are meant, hereafter mentioned, as Yarchi; as famine, war, an evil tongue, deftruction, dearnefs of provifion, the beafts of the earth, and the ftones of the field.

y. 20. In famine be fhall redeem thee from death, &c.] In a time of extreme want of provifions, God fo cares for his own dear people, that they fhall not be ftarved to death by the famine; fo in the famine in Egypt, which the Targum takes noas altice of, in the times of Abraham, and of J/aac, and of Yacob, and the patriarchs, there was food provided for them, fo that they and their families were fuftained, and perifhed not for lack of the neceffaries of life: God fometimes goes out of his ordinary way, and works wonders for his poor and needy in diftrefs, when they cry unto him; fee J/- xli. 17, 18. and in war from the power of the fword, injor, from the bands of the fword',; from {words in fo in {piritualjhand, when drawn, and men are ready to pufh with them with all their force; as he delivered and preferved drabam from the {word of the four kings, when he waged war with them; and the J/raelites, in the war of Amalek, in the times of es, which the Targum here refers to; and David, from the hurtful fword of Goliab, and others with thatjwhom he was concerned in war: and fo the Lord covers the heads of his people in the day of battle oftentimes, when multitudes fall on their right hand and on their left.

y. 18. for he maketh fore, and bindeth up, &c.] Or, though he maketh fore, yet be bindeth up*; chirurgeon, who makes a wound the forer by probing and opening it, to let out the matter and make way for his medicine, and then lays on the plaifter, and binds it up: fo God caufes.grief and puts his people to pain, by difeafes of body, or by making breaches in their families and eftates, and fuch like cutting providences; and then he binds up their breach, and heals the ftroke of their wound, and the iffue makes all whole again:

things; he cuts and wounds, and gives pain and uneafinefs, by the fharp two edged fword of the word, and by his fpirit making ule of it; and lays open all the corruption of nature, and brings to repentance and humiliation for all tranfgreffions;!Mo and then pours in the oil and wine of pardoning grace and mercy, and binds up the wounds are made: he woundeth, and bis hands make whole; or heal*; the fame thing is meant, expreffed by different words; and the whole fuggefts, that every afflicted man, and particularly 7d, fhould he behave well, and as he ought, under the afflicting hand of God, would be healed, and become found and whole again, in body, mind, family, and eftate; for, though God for the prefent caufed grief, yet he| would have compaffion, fince he did not willingly grieve the children of men; did not do it for his own pleafure, but for their good; as a fkilful chirurgeon cuts and wounds in order to heal; fee Deut. xxxii. 39. Hof. vi. 1. Lam. iii. 32. 33.

¥. 21. Thou halt be hid from the fcourge of the tongue, &c.] Of Satan, as Farchi, the accufer of the brethren; or rather, from the evil tongue of wicked: men, their flanders, calumnies, and reproaches; the tongue is a {mall weapon, but it is a cutting one; it is like a fcourge or whip, with which wicked men ftrike hard: the enemies of Feremiab encouraged one another to {mite him with their tongue, ch. xviii. 18. and a fad thing it is to be under the lafh of fome men’s tongues, and a \gréat mercy it is to be delivered from them: God does fometimes hide his people, and keeps them fecretly as in a pavilion, from the ftrife of tongues; xxxi. 20. he either reftrains the tongues of men, lays an embargo on them, to fay that evil of his people which Satan and their wicked hearts prompt them to; or, if they are fuffered to defame and fpeak evil of good men, yet they do it in fuch a romantic way, and fo overcharge and load it, that it is not credited by ‘any what they fay, even by thofe of their own party; fo that the characters of God’s people fuffer not by their lies and calumnies: fome render it, when the tongue wanders about ®; walks through the earth, and fpares none, all ranks and degrees of men; God hides his people from being hurt by it, fee Pf. Ixxiiic 9. Aben Ezra interprets the word ren dered tongue, of a nation or people; and fo it may be underftood of one pation entering into another, pafling through it, and making defolations in it; as the Scythians, Gauls, Goths, Huns, and Vaudals, have done in different ages; and that, in fuch a time of calamity, God has his hiding places in providence, for the protection and fafety of his people: but the Targum interprets it of an evil tongue, and particularly of the tongue of Balaam: neither foalt thou be afraid of deftruction when tt cometh; meaning either of peftilence, which is the deftruction that waftes at noon-day, P/. xci. 6, 10 which, when it comes into a nation or neighbourhood, fhall not come nigh the good man, and infeé& him; or if it does, fhall not carry him off; and if it does that, it carries him home to heaven and happinefs, and therefore he has no reafon to be afraid of it: or of a general calamity; as when there isa complication of judgments in a nation, or in the world in general, as war, famine, peftilence, earthquakes, &c. as if all were juft falling to pieces and into ruin; and yet even then the faints have no caufe to fear; fee Pf xlvi. 1,2, 3. 4. or’ the deftruction of the whole world at the laft day, when the heavens. and earth, and all therein, hall be burnt up; for then good and righteous men will be fafe with Chrift, and dwell with him in the new heavens and the new earth, which fhall be pre- and will not fuffer them duft of the ¢arth, with all other poifonous animals, the liceral fenfe is to be preferred; the”

between which and men there is an antipathy; and yet good men need not be afraid of thefe4fee Mark xvi 18. Adts xxviii. 3, 4, 5. or figuratively, cruel and barbarous men, thieves and robbers, as archi; or rather fierce and furious perfecutors, and particularly the beafts of Rome, pagan and papal’; ‘tho’ Targum interprets this of the camp of Og, comparable to the beafts of the earth. } gtd Th are y¥. 23. For thou thalt be in league sith the ones of the field, &c.] So’as to receive no hurt from them, by walking among them, and even barefoot, which was ufual in the eaftern countriés, fee Pf. xci. 12. or by their being in the field, fo as to hinder the increafe of them; but on the contrary, even from fuch fields as were ftony yround, a Jaree crop has been produced, and fo rather receiVe benefit by them, as men do from thofé with whom they are: in league; and may therefore likewife fignify, that thefe: ftones: fhould be ufeful in being botindaries or fences about their fields, and*land-mafks in them, which fhould not be removed; many inter- - preters take notice of a fenfe that Pineda gives of thefe words, and which Coceeius calls an’ ingenious one, that it refers to a cuftom in Arabia, which may be called Scopeli/m, and was this; a m&n’s enemies would lay {tones in his field, and thefe fienified, that if any attempted to till and manure thofe grounds where they were laid, fome evil would befa him by the means of thofe perfons who laid the ftones there; and which ftones were thought to be ominous and formidable; fomething like it is in 2 Kings iii. 19; 25. and fo the fenfe is, that a good man had. er thing to fear from fuch ftones, he being in league with them; and this malicious practice is thought to have had its origin’ in Arabia Petrea*: but the firft fenfe feems befl: and the beafts of the field foall be at peace with thee; a covenant being made with them, as in Hof: ii, 18. meaning either Tirerally, the. beafts of the field; and thefe either the fame as pared for them; fee 2 Pet. iii. 1o—13. the Targum before, wild beafts, or bealts of prey; or rather, in refers this to the deftruction of the Midianites. y¥. 22. At deftruétion and famine thou fhalt diftinétion from them, tame beafts, as cows and horfes, which fhould be fo far from doing any laugh, &c.] Not deride and defpife them, and hurt, as fometimes is done by thefe tame creatures, make a jeft of them; for good men have a reverence and awe of the righteous judgments of God upon them, when they are in the world, P/. cxix. 120. but the fenfe is, that fuch fhall reckon themfelves fafe and fecure amid{t fuch calamities, provifion being made for their protection and fuftenance; and be chearful and comfortable, putting that they fhould be very ferviceable in tilling fields and drawing carriages, and the like: or elfe fisuratively, men comparable to fuch creatures; and fo the fenfe may be, that when a man’s ways pleafe the Lord, and he behaves according to his mind - and will, particularly under afflictions, even his enemies are made to be at peace with him; Prov.

their truft and confidence in the Lord, as Habakkuk xvi. 7. the Targum interprets this of the Canaanites, was, in atime of great diftrefs, when all the neceffaries of life were cut off from the ftall, the herds, comparable to the beatts of the field. y. 24. And thou foalt know that thy tabernacle the flocks, and the fields; Had. iii. 17, 18, 19. juft as a man that is in a good harbour, or has a good houfe over his head, laughs at bluftering ftorms and winds*, or thinks himfelf fecure, and fo is chearful and pleafant amidft all the noife that is about him, fee Hab. i, 10. neither fhalt thou be afraid of the beafts of the earth either literally taken, beafts of prey, that wander about in the earth, noifome and pernicious ones; which are one of God’s fore judgments which he threatens the difobedient with, and promifes the obedient he will rid them of; and therefore they have no reafon to be afraid of them, fee Ezek. xiv. 21. Lev. xxvi. 6. 22. fome think ferpents are particularly defigned, which creep upon the earth, and whofe food is fhall be in peace, &c.] Not a place of religious worfhip, though the Targum renders it an houfe of doétrine of inftru@tion; for we read not of any fuch but the tabernacle of Maoj/es, ereéted in the wildernefs, and which was indeed about, or little after, the times of fob; but it cannot be reafonably thought he did or could attend there; nor the tabernacle of his body, now in great pain and anguith, in which there were no reft nor foundnefs, ~ being filled with fore boils and burning ulcers; b: his dwelling-houfe, which was built asa tent ie bernacle; fuch were the houfes of the eaftern people, ~~ made to move from place to place, for the fake of pafturage for their flocks and herds, in which their — the' wealth confifted,; fo Abraham, Iaac, and. Facob dwelt in tabermacles; and hence in after-tinies more firm, fixed, and ftable dwellings were fo, called; David calls his palace the tabernacle of his houle,

2rg and not corre¢ting for it, which was the faule of

Eli: Ben Gerfom thinks Elipbaz tacitly fugeetts, and ftrikes at 706’s indulgence to his children; and

Pf. cxxxii. 3. though this alfo includes all that fo Sephorno: the word ufed having the fignifieation dwelt in his houfe, his family; and the meaning is, that fhould he behave aright under the afflicting hand of God, his family fhould live in concord, harmony, and love; there fhould be no difcord, ani- of wandering and ftraying, fome take the fenfe to be this; that he fhould have a fure’and certain dwelling-place to come into, and abide in, ‘and fhould not wander about’, or be as a ftroller and mofity, and contention among them, but they fhould vagabond in the earth: though this has fometimes be at peace and in unity among themfelves; as in- been the cafe of good men’; as of the godly in the

‘deed Fod’s children were whilft he had them, before this calamity came upon him;. and that alfo andjtimes of the Maccabees, who wandered in defarts and mountains, in caves and dens of the éarth; and they fhould be fecure from enemies, and dwell unmolefted by them; and bein the urmoft fafety, enjoying all kind of profperity, inward and outward, temporal and fpiritual; which the word peace includes, as uled in eaftern countries, whofe common faluration was, peace be with thee; thereby withing all kind of happinefs: or the words may be ren dered, peace fhatl be thy tabernacle’; as is a good man’s tabernacle: he dwells in God, who is all love, all peace, in whom there is no wrath or fury; he dwells by faith in Chrift, who is his peace, his peace-maker, and peace-giver; and in whom he has peace amidit all the tribulation he meets with in the world; the peace of God, which paffes all underftanding, keeps and guards him in Chrift as in a garrifon, fafe and fecure; and he enjoys much peace, as the fruit of the fpirit, arifing from.a view of intereft in the blood, righteoufnefs, and facrifice of Chrift; and when he dies he enters into. peace, and dwells and abides in it as his everlafting manfion, Jf lvii. 2. now all this Elipbaz fays, Fob, behaving well, fhould know; that is, have an experience of it; fhould really enjoy it, and find it in fact true what he afferted: and thou fhalt vifit thy habitation, and fbalt not fin, meaning not his wife, as fome interpreters, Fewifh and Chriftian, underftand it; and fo in the Zahnud*, the word being rendered fhe that tarried at home, Pf. Ixviii. 12. which is a defcription of a good houfewife, that keeps at home and minds the affairs of her family, but rather it defigns the fame as his tabernacle in the preceding claufe, his dwelling-houfe, and fig nifies a fine, fair, and beautiful one; a fpacious and goodly building, and well ftored with rich houfhold-goods; and including his family alfo: and to wifit this is to take care of his family, rule and govern them well, protect and defend them, and provide all things neceffary for them; as well as to infpect into the affairs of his houfe, enquire, examine, and fee how things are managed; to know the ftate, condition, and circumftances it is in; which is looking well to the ways of his houfhold: and this he fhould do, and mot fim; not that aman, even a good man, can fo conduct himfelt always in his family, as not to be guilty of any fin at all, but not of fn in common, or continually; at leaft not any grofs and notorious ones: the fenfe aking is, that he fhould not fin himfelf whil fuch a vifit and enquiry, by an undue heat, by exceflive anger, by rath and paffionate expreffions, things not being entirely to his mind; or be the caufe of fin in others, by provoking his children to wrath, by threatening and menacing his fervants in ~@ fevere, boifterous, and bluftering manner; but reproving both, as there may be occafion, in a milc and gentle way;' or elfe not fin by conniving at it even of the difciples of Chrift, who had no certain dwelling-place; yea of Chrift himfelf, who had not where to lay his head: rather, fince the word fignifies to mifs the mark, and fo be difappointed; in which fenfe it is ufed in Fudg. xx. 16. the fenfé may be, that when he vifited his habitation he fhould find nothing amifs or wanting, but every thing fhould anfwer his expectations and wifhes, fo Aber Ezra; and Mr. Broughton renders it, /halt not mifprofper; and others, jhalt not be fruftrated™,; baulked, difappointed of thine ends and views, defigns, hopes, and wifhes. ~¥. 25. Thou fhalt know alfo that thy feed Mall be great, &c.| Not his feed fown in the earth, and the increafe of that, but his children, as the next claufe explains it, as Bar Tzemach well obferves; and defigns-either their greatnefs in worldly things, in wealth and riches, in honour and dignity, in power and authority, or elfe their numbers; for the word may be rendered much or many”, a multitude of children being reckoned a great temporal bleffing; but this, feems rather intended in the following words: and thine offspring as the gras of the earth; as numerous as the fpires of grafs, which can no more be ‘told than the ftars of the heavens, or the fand of the fea, by which the fame thing, a numerous progeny, is fometimes illuftrated: this is to be underftood not of his immediate offfpring, but his defcendants in fucceffive ages and generations, and which fhould be as beautiful as the grafs of the earth when in its verdure3 pointing at the comelinefs of their perfons, their honour and dignity raifed unto, the largenefs of their fubftance, the greatnefs of their profperity, and flourifhing circumftances they fhould be in; though it may alfo denote the original of them, amidft all, being of the earth and earthy, and their frailty and tading condition; for which reafon all fleth is faid to be as grafs, and men are frequently compared unto it, fee Pf xc. 5,6. and-cii. 4. and ciil. 15. If. xl. 6, 7,8. y¥. 26. Thou fhalt come to thy grave in'a fu'l age, &c.] Or, go into thy grave °, which is reprefented as a houfe to enter into and dwell in; and fo the wife man calls it man’s long home, and Fob his houfe, and which is appointed for all living, Eccl, xii. 5. Fob xvii. 13. and xxx. 23. forall men muft die, and fo come to the grave, good men as well as bad, the righteous and the wicked: this is not to be underftood literally, for the dead cannot go or come to their graves, but are carried thither, as Stephen was, and all are; but it denotes their willingnefs to die, who chufe to be abfent from the body, that they may be prefent with the Lord, and are defirous to depart this world, and be with him, as the apoftle Pau! was; and therefore chearfully give up the ghoft, and refign their fouls into the hands of Chrift, defiring him to receive them; and rejoice when they obferve the grave is near, and ready for them; whilft others have their fouls demanded and required of them, and are forced to death and the grave againft their wills, and are driven away in their wickednefs: now.this, with refpeét to good men, is faid to be ix a full age, not in abundance, as thé Vulgate Latin verfion, in an abundance or fulnefs of wealth and honour, and with great pomp and fplendor, which is not the cafe of all good men, but of very few; nor in the full time which God has determined and appointed men fhouild live, which may be called the fulne/s of times for in this every man comes to the grave, good and bad, young and old; no man dies before or lives beyond it, fee Yod xiv. 5. but in the full age of men, or the common term of man’s life; the higheft which he ufually attains unto, which is threefcore years and ten, and at moft fourfcore, P - xc. 10. and fuch who die before this, are faid to die before their time, the ufual term of life; who die before the midft of this, are faid not to live out half their days, Eccl. vii. 17. Pf lv. 23. but he that arrives to this, dies in a good old age, and has filled up his days, which men, at moft, ordinarily live: Mr. Broughton renders it, in lufty old age, enjoying great health, ftrength, and vigour; and fo Nachmanides takes the word to be compounded of 5 as and n> moift, lively, ftrong, and lufty; as if the fenfe was, that Yob fhould die indeed in old age, but when old, be as hearty as a young man in his full ftrength, and whofe bones are moiftened with marrow; as was the cafe of Mofes, whofe eyes were not dim, nor his natural force or radical moifture abated, Deut. xxxiv. 7. but the word denotes extreme decrepit old age’, coming from the root in the Arabic language, which fignifies to be of an auftere, rugged, wrinkled, contracted countenance ‘, which is ufually the cafe of old men: now this is to be underftood, not as if every good man arrives to fuch an age, or that none but good men do; for certain it is, that fome good perions, as Abijah, die in their youth, and many wicked men live to a great age, fee Ecc/. vii. 15. but Eiphaz here fpeaks fuitably to the legal difpenfation under which he was, in which temporal bleffings were promifed to good men, as fhadows of {piritual things, and this of long life was a principal one, fee Pf. xci. 16. Eph. vi. 2, 3. this is illuftrated by the following fimile: /ike as a fhock of corn cometh in, in his feafon; there is a very great refemblance between ripe corn and old age; corn, when it is in its fullear, and ripe, its ears will hang down; the ftalks being dry and withered, are weak, and not able to bear the weight of them; fo old men ftoop, their knees bend, the ftrong men bow themfelves, being unable to bear the weight of the body: fields of corn, ripe for the harveft, look white, and fo the hairs of a man’s head in old age; the almondtree flourifhes, which when in full bloom, is a lively emblem of the hoary head: and there is a great likenefS betweeti ripe corn, and fhocks and fheaves of it, and a good o]d man; a good man is comparable to a corn of wheat that falls into the ground, to which Chrift compares himtelf, fobm xii. 24. and to wheat he compares his faints, Matt. xiii, 30. for their choicenefs, excellency, purity, and folidity; and thefe, like a corn of wheat, grow up gradually in grace, in fpiricual light, knowledge, faith, and experience, and at length come to maturity; the good work is performed and perfected in them, and they come to the meafure of the ftature of the fulnefs of Chrift; and then they are cut down with the feythe or fickle of death, which is the proper: time, like corn in bis feafon; which, if cut before it is ripe, would not be fit for ufe, and if it ftood longer, would fhed and come to nothing: and then, as corn when cut down and reaped, is put up in fhocks and fheaves, which are lifted up from the earth, and made to a/cend, as the word ' fignifies, and are laid in carts and waggons, and carried home with expreffions of joy,

(hence we read of the joy of harveft) and are laid up in the barn or granary; fo the faints are carried by angels, the reapers, into ddraham’s bofom, as Lazarus was, into heaven, and as ail the eleét will be gathered by the angels at the harveft, the end of the world; attended with their fhouts and acclamations, and with expreffions of joy from gofpel-minifters, who now go forth bearing the precious feed of the word, and fow it in tears, but then fhall return with joy, bringing their fheaves with them, fee Mast. xiii. 30. 39. and xxiv. 31. Pf. CxXxvi. 5, 6. 2 Thef. ii. 19, 20.

y. 27. Lo this, we have fearched it, &c.] This is the concluding part of E/iphaz’s firft oration or fpeech to Fob, and in order to engage his attention to it, obferves, that what he had {aid was not his own fingle opinion, but the fentiment of the reft of his friends; and that it was the refult of laborious and diligent inveftigation; that they had fearched the records of former times, and enquired of antient people, as well as had made the ftricteft obfervations on things during their courfe of life; and the fum and amount of all was what he had declared, and which they had found to be fure and certain, the truth of the matter; that it is an undoubted truth, which fhould not be difputed and called in queftion, but to be held as a firft principle, which was this; that wicked men are punifhed for their fins, and that good men are never greatly afflicted, at leaft not to fuch a degree, as to be {tripped of all the neceffaries of life, and to be in a moft defolate and perifhing condition; and fince this had been fo thoroughly inveftigated by them, and fuch a probatum eft was written upon it, he exhorts Fob to hear it; agree to it, believe it, receive it, ‘and make a proper ufe of it, as he hoped he would: - and know thou it for thy good, or for thyfelf*; take it to thyfelf, as belonging to thee, as fuitable to thy cafe; apply it to thyfelf, learn fome leffons from it, and make good ufe of it; which is what is propofed by all that has been faid.. a

T HIS and the following chapter contain 0's an{wer to the fpeech of E/iphaz in the two foregoing; he firft excufes his impatience by the greatnefs of his afflictions, which, if weighed b good and_ impartial hands, would be found: to be heavier than the fand of the fea, and which words were wanting to exprefs, ¥. 1, 2, 3. and the reafon why they were fo heavy is given, they being the arrows and terrors of the Almighty, y. 4. and by various fimilies, he fhews:that his moans and complaints under them need not feem {trange and unreafonable, ¥. 5, 6, 7. and what had been faid not being convincing to him, he: continues in the fame fentiment and difpofition of mind, and wifhes-to be removed by death out of his miferable condition, and gives his reafons for it, ¥. 8—13. and though his cafe was fuch as required pity from his friends, yet this he had not from them, but reprefents them as deceitful, and as having fadly difappointed him, and therefore he neither hoped nor afked for any thing of them, ¥. 14-23. and obferves that their ‘words and arguments were of no force and weight with him, but hurtful and pernicious, ¥. 24—27. and in his turn gives them fome exhortations and inftruétions, and fignifies, that he was as capable of difcerning between right and wrong as they, with which this chapter is concluded, ¥. 28—30.

y. 1. But Fob anfwered and faid.| Though Ekipbaz thought his fpeech was unanfwerable, being, as he and his friends judged, unqueftionably true, and the fruit of ftrict, laborious, and diligent fearch and enquiry; or, then Fob anfwered ‘, as the fame particle is rendered, ch. iv. 1. after he had heard. Eliphaz out; he waited with patience until he had finifhed his difcourfe, without giving him any interruption, though there were many things that were very provoking, particularly in ch. iv. 5, 6, 7. and v. 2, and when he had done, then he made his reply; and this was no other than what every man has a right unto, to anfwer for himfelf when any charge or accufation is brought againft him; when his character is attacked, or his good name, which is better than precious ointment, is taken from him; and is what all reafonable men, and the laws of all civilized nations allow of.

y. 2. Ob that my grief were thoroughly weighed, &c.] Or, in weighing, weighed", moft nicely and exactly weighed; that is, his grievous affiction, which caufed fo much grief of heart, and which had been fhewn in words and geftures; or his wrath and anger “, as others render it; not his anger again{t Elipbhaz, as Sepborno, but as before, meaning the fame thing, his affiction 5: which either, as he underftood, was the fruit and effect of the wrath and anger of God, who treated him as an enemy; or rather, that wrath, anger, and refentment raifed in his own mind by thofe afflictive providences, and which broke out in hot and _paffionate expreffions, and for which he was blamed as a foolifh man, ch. v. 2. or elfe the complaint *, the groans and moans he made under them; or the impatience’ he ‘was charged with in bearing of them; and now he wifhes, and fuggefts, that y | if they were well weighed and confidered by kind and judicious perfons, men of moderation and temper, a great allowance would be made for them, and they would eafily be excufed, that is, if together with his expreflions of grief, anger, and impatience, his great afflictions, the caufe of them, were but looked into, and carefully examined, as follows’: and. my calamity laid in the balances together that is, his affliction, which had a being, as the word fignifies, as’ Aben Ezra obferves, was not through the prepoffeffions of fear as before, nor merely in fancy as in many, and made greater than it is, which is often the cafe; but ‘what was real and true, and matter of faé&; it was what befel him, had happened to him, not by chance, but by the appointment and providence of God; and includes all his misfortunes, the lofs of his cattle, fervants, and children, and of his own health; and now to be added to them, the unkindnefs of his friends: and his defire is, that thefe might be taken up, and put together in’ the fcales, and being put there, that the ballances might be lifted up at once, and the true weight of them taken; and the meaning is, either that all his exceffive grief, and paffionate words, and extravagant and unwarrantable impatience, as they were judged, might be put into one fcale, and all his afflictions in another, and then it would be feen which were heavieft, and what reafon there was for the former, and what ‘little reafon there was to blame him on'that account; or however, he might be excufed, and not be bore hard upon, as he was; to this fenfe his words incline in ch. xxiii. 2. or elfe by his grief and calamity he means the fame thing, his grievous afflictions, which he would have put together in a pair of ballances, and weighed againft any thing that was ever fo heavy, and then they would appear to be as is exprefled in the following verfe. 0b by all this feems defirous to have his cafe thoroughly canvaffed, and his conduct thoroughly examined into, and to be well weighed and pondered in the fcale of right reafon and found judgment, by men of equal and impartial characters; but he tacitly fuggefts, that his friends were not fuch, and therefore wifhes that fome third perfon, or other perfons, would undertake this affair.:

¥. 3. For now it would be heavier than the fand of the fea, &c.] Or feas*; all fand is heavy in its own nature, Prov. xxvii. 3. efpecially the fand of the fea, that which is immediately taken out of it; for that on the fhore is lighter, being dried by the winds and heat of the fun, but the other is heavier, through the additional weight of water; and much more efpecially, how heavy mutt all the fand of the fea be, and of all the feas that are in the world; yet Fob fuggefts by this hyperbolical expreffion, exaggerating his cafe, that his affliction was heavier » Lou» Sypyy librando, libraretur, Cocceius, Schultens. wD vier than it all, a moft intolerable and infupportable burden; the afflictions of God’s people are but light when compared with what their fins deferve, with the torments of the damned in hell, with the fufferings of Chrift in their room and ftead, and der and lightning; atd which were like arrows, _ that came upon him fuddenly, fecretly, and at unawares, and very {wiftly; thefe arrows flew thick and faft about him, and ftuck in him, and were. fharp and painful, and wounded and flew him; for » with everlafting happinefs, the eternal weight of he was now under flaying circumf{tances of provi- glory, 2 Cor. iv. 17. but in themfelves they are heavy, and prefs hard; they are fo to flefh and blood, and efpecially unlefs. everlafting arms are put under men, and they are fupported and upheld with the right hand of.God’s righteoufnefs; they are heavy when attended with the hidings of God’s face, and afenfe of his wrath and difpleature, which was ‘Yod’s cafe, fee ch. xiii. 24. and xxiii. 2, 3. fome render it more copious or numerous *, and indeed the word has this fignification, as in Numb. xx. 20. and the metaphor is more frequently ufed to expre{fs a multitude, even what is innumerable, Hof. i. 10. yet the notion of heavinefs beft agrees dence; but rather thefe mean, together with his afflictions, the inward diftreffes, grief, and anguifh of his mind arifing from them, being attended with a keen fenfe of the divine difpleature, which was the cafe of David, and is exprefiéd in much the: fame language, Pf. xxxviii. 1, 2. Fob here confiders his afflictions as coming from God, as arrows fhot from his bow; and as coming from him, not as.a father, in'a way of paternal chaftifement and love, dealing with him as a child of his, but accounting him as an enemy, and fetting him up asa mark» or butt to. fhoot at, fee ch. vii. 20. and xvi. 12, 13, 14. yea, not only as the arrows with the preceding figure of weighing in balances, [of a ftrong and mighty man, expert in archery, and therefore at leaft is not to be excluded; fome learned men take in both, as the fenfe of the word, the number of afflictions, and the bulk and weight of them: therefore my words are fwallowed up; either by his friends, as Kimchi, who catched at them, and put a wrong conftruction on them, without thoroughly examining the true fenfe of them; as men that {wallow down their food greedily, don’t chew it, nor take the true tafte of it, and fo are no judges whether itis good or bad; but this fenfe feems to have no connexion with what goes before; rather they were fwallowed up by himfelf, and the meaning either is, that fuch was the weight and preffure of his afflictions, that he wanted words to exprefs.it; his words failed him, as the Targum; or they come fhort, as Mr. Broughton renders it; they were not fufficient to fet forth and declare the greatnefs of his troubles; or he faultered in his ipeech, he could not fpeak out plainly and diftinétly, becaufe of his griet and forrow, fee Pf. Ixxvii. 4. what he had faid was delivered amidft fighs and fobs, through the heavinefs of the calamity on him; they were but half. words, attended with groanings that could not be uttered; by which he would fignify, that though his friends had charged him with {peaking too much and too freely, he had not fpoken enough, nor could he, by reafon of the greatnels of his affliction; and alfo to excufe his prefent anfwer, if it was not delivered with that politenefs and fulnefs of expreffion, with that eloquence and ftrength of reafoning and difcourfing he at other times was capable of: or rather the words may be rendered, s¢herefore my words break out with beat ®; in a vehement manner, in a hot and paffionate way I am blamed for; but this is to be imputed to the heavy burden of affiction and forrow upon me; which if confidered, fome allowances would be made, and the charge be alleviated.

y¥. 4. For the arrows ef the Almighty are within me, &c.| Which are a reafon proving the weight and heavinefs of his affliction, and alio of his hot and paffionate expreffions he broke out into; which defigns not fo much outward calamities, as famine, peftilence, thunder and lightning, which are called the arrows of God, Deut. xxxil. 23, 24. Ezek. v. 16. Pf. xci. 5, 6. and xviii. 13, 14. all’ which had attended od, and were his cafe; being reduced to extreme poverty, had malignant and _peftilential ulcers upon him, and his fheep deftroyed by thun-

-who fhoots his arrows with great ftrength and kiil, fo that they mifs not, and return not in vain, fee Pf. cxx. 4. and cxxviic4. Fer. 1.9. but as being ~ the arrows of the. Almighty, which come with force irrefiftible, with the ftretching and lighting down of his arm, and with the indignation of his anger intolerable: the poifon whereof drinketh up my Jpirit; alluding to the cuftom of fome people, that ufed to dip their arrows in poifon, or befmear them with it; fo the Perfans, as Farchi obferves, and Hleliodorus “ reports of the Erhiopians, that they dipped their arrows in the poifon of dragons, and which made them inflammatory, and raifed fuch an heat, and fuch burning pains, as were intolerable; and now, as fuch poifon prefently infected the blood, and penetrated into and feized the animal fpirits, and inflamed and foon exhaufted them; fo the heat of divine wrath, and a fenfe of it, which attended the arrows of God, his afflictions on Fob, fo affected him, as not only to take away his breath, that he could not fpeak, as in the preceding verfe, or rather, as to caufe thofe warm and hot expreffions to break out from him, but even’to eat — up his-vital fpirits, and leave him fpiritlefs and Iifelefs; which was Heman’s cafe, and fimilar to Fob’s, Pf. \xxxviil. 3, 4, 5 the terrors of God do fet them- Jelves in array againft me; the Lord is fometimeés compared to a man of war in arms, ftirring up his wrath and jealoufy, Exod. xv. 3. J. xlii. 13. and in this light he was viewed by ‘ob, and fo he apprehended him, as coming forth againft him, and which was terrible; and his terrors were like an army of foldiers fet in battle-array, in rank and file, ready to difcharge, or difcharging their artillery upon him; and which fometimes defign the inward terrors of mind, of a guilty confcience, the terrors of God’s judgment here, or of a future judgment hereafter, of death and hell, and eternal damnation, through the menaces and curfes of the law of God tranfgreffed and broken; but here afflictive providences, or terrible things in righteoufnefs, which furrounded him, attacked him in great numbers, and ina hoftile, military way, with great order and regularity, and which were frightful to behold; perhaps regard may be alfo had to thofe {caring dreams and terrifying vifions he fometimes had, fee ch. vii. 14, 15.: ¥. 5. Doth the wild afs bray when be hath grafs 2 or loweth the ox over bis fodder?] Wo, they neither of them do, when the one is in a good paf- ture, and the other has a fufficiency of provender; ‘cally ufed, fince it is ufelefS in judging of different but when they are in want of food, the one will bray, and the other will low, which are tones peculiar to thofe creatures, and exprefs their mournful complaints; wherefore Fob fuggetts, that fhould he make no moan and complaint in his forrowful circumftances, he fhould be more ftupid and fenfelefs than thofe brute creatures: and he may have fome refpect to the different circumftances of himfelf and his friends; he himfelf, when he was in profperity, made no complaints, as the wild afs brays not, and the ox lows not, when they have both food enough; but now, being in diftrefs, he could not but utter his forrow and trouble, as thofe creatures when in lack of food; and this may ferve as an anfwer to his different conduét now and formerly objected to him, ch. iv. 3, 4, 5. and fo his friends; they lived in great tranquillity and profperity, as Aben Ezra obferves, and roared and grieved not, which doubtlefs they would, were they in the fame circumftances he was; though it became them, as things were, to have uttered words of condolence to their friend in diftrefs, inftead of fharp reproofs and hard cenfures.

¥. 6. Can that which is unfavoury be eaten without falt? &c.| As any fort of pulfe, peas, beans, lentiles, &c. which have no favoury and agreeable tafte unlefs falted, and fo: many other things; and are difagreeable to men, and difrelifhed by them, and more efpecially things bitter and unpleafant; and therefore od intimates, it need not feem ftrange that the wormwood and water of gall, or} the bread of adverfity, and water of affliction, he was fed with, fhould be fo diftafteful to him, and he fhould fhew fuch a naufea of it, and an averfion to it,.and complain thereof as he did: tho’ fome apply this to the words and fpeeches of Eiphaz, and his friends he perfonated, which with Fob were infipid and foolifh talk, and very unfuitable and difagreeable to him, yea, loathed and abhorred by him, not being feafoned with the falt of prudence, grace, and goodnefs, fee Col. iv. 6. or is there any tafte in the white of an egg? none ‘at all. The fame things are defigned by this as the former. Mr. Broughton renders it, the white of the yolk; and Kimchi fays*, it fignifies, in the language of the Radbins, the red part of the yolk, the innermoft part; but others,’ from the ufe of taftes, and mixed with food, goes not into nourithment, as the white of an egg.

¥.7. The things that my foul refused to touch, are as my forrowful meat.| Meaning either the above things, that which is unfavoury, and the white of an ¢ge, or any other food, which in the time of his profperity he would not touch with his fingers, much lefs eat, but now was glad of, and were his conftant féod in his prefent forrowful circumftances; the fenfe given by fome Yewih writers ‘is, that what he difdained to touch or wipe his hands with formerly, he was glad to make. ufe of as a table-cloth to eat his bread of forrow upon; but it rather intends the infipid and difagreeable words of his friends, their doctrines, initructions and exhortations they gave him, but were refufed and rejected by him; and which he before compares to unfavoury food, the white of an egg, or the fpittle of a dreaming man, or the dribble of a fool; and which were as much Joathed‘and naufeated by him, as his food that was /othed by him *, either becaufe of his want of appetite, or becaufe of the badnefs of it, fuch as were corrupt and rotten, and even as the excrements of food'; thofe he refufed to receive, with as much indignation as he could fuch fort of food offered. him; and therefore we find, that notwithftanding all that had been faid to him, he continued in the fame fentiment and difpofition of mind, to defire death rather than life, as follows.

¥. 8. And that I might have my requeft, &c.] Or that it might come™; that it might go up to heaven, enter there, and come into the ears of the Lord. be attended to, admitted and received by him, fee Pf xviii. 6. or come to Fob, be returned into his bofom, be anfwered and fulfilled; the fame with. the defre that cometh, which is, when the thing defired is enjoyed, Prov. xiii. 12. or that what he had requefted would come, namely, death, which is fometimes reprefented as a perfon that looks in at the windows, and comes into the houfes of men, and feizes on them, Yer. ix, 21. and this is what ‘fob wifhes for; this was his fole requeft; this was the thing, the one thing that lay uppermoft in his mind, and he was moft importunately folicitous for: and that God would grant me the thing that I long for; death, as the following words the word in the Arabic language, interpret it of explain it; this is not defirable by nature, but the froth of milk *, which is very taftelefs and infipid: but the firft of the words we render white, always fignifies /pittle; and fome of the ews writers ‘ call it the fpittle of foundnefs, or a found man, which has no tafte, in diftinétion from that of a fick man which has; and the latter word comes from one which fignifies to dream; and archi obferves, that fome fo underftand it here and the whole is by fome rendered, is there any tafte or favour in the fpittle of a dream or drowftnefs®; fuch as flows from a perfon afleep, or in a dream; and fo may fitly exprefs the vain and empty words, as the Septuagint tranflate the phrafe, of

Fob’s friends, in his efteem, which to him were no other than the words of fome idle and dreaming -perfon, or were like the dribble of a fool or mad- is obferved*, that the word /pittle, is very emphati-

}too much eagernefs, importunity and paffion: and contrary to it; itis itfelf a penal evil, the fanétion and curfe of the law; it is an enemy, and a very formidable one, the king of terrors; and tho’ a very formidable one, is defired by good men, from a principle of grace, and with right views, to be rid of fin, and to be with Chrift; yet it often is done by men in melancholy, fullen, and humorous fits, when they can’t have what they would, as in Rachel, Elijah, and Yonah, Gen. xxx. 1. 1 Kings xix. 4. Fonab,iv. 8, 9. and becaule of fore troubles and afflictions, which was the prefent cafe of Fob; though it mutt be faid that ir was not, as is frequently the cafe with wicked mer, thro’ the horrors of a guilty confcience, which he was free of; and he had faith, and hope of comfort in another world, and in fome degree he fubmicted to the will and pleafure of God; tho’ prefled,with it may be obferved, that ob did not make re- “queft to men, to his fervants, or friends about him, to difpatch him, as Adimelech and Saul did;, nor did he lay hands on himfelf, or attempt to do it, as Saul, Abitopbel, and Judas: the wretched philofophy of the Stoicks was not known in ¥ob’s time, which not only makes felf-murder lawful, but commends it as an heroic action; no, Fob makes his requeft to the God of his life, who had given it to him, and had maintained it hitherto, and who only had a right to difpofe of it; he afks it as a favour, he defires it as a gift, he had nothing elfe tosafk, nothing was more, or fo defirable to him as death.

¥. 9. Even that it would pleafe God to defiroy me, &c.] Not with an everlafting deftruction of body and foul; for deftruction from the almighty was a terror to him, ch. xxxis 23. but, with the deftru€tion of the body only; not with an annihilation of it, but with the diflolution of it, or of that union there was between his foul and body: the word * ufed fignifies to bruife and beat to pieces; his meaning is, that his body, his houfe of clay in which he dwelt, might be crufhed to pieces, and beat to powder, and crumbled into duft; and perhaps he may have regard to his original, the duft of the earth, and his return to it, according to the divine threatening, Gem. ili. 19. a phrafe expreffive of death; and fo Mr. Broughton renders it, to bring me to the duff, to the duft of death, Pf. xxii. 15. that he would let loofe his hand, and cut me off; he had let loofe his hand in fome degree already; he had given his fubftance and his body into the hand of Satan; his own hand had touched him, but he had only gone fkin deep, as it were; he had {mote him in his eftate, in his family, and in the outward parts of his body; but now he defires that he would ftretch out his hand farther, and lift it up, and give a heavier ftroke, and pierce him more deeply; ftrike through his heart and liver, and make an end of him, as Mr. Broughton tranflates the word, and difpatch him at once; cut him off like the flower of the field by the fcythe, or like a tree cut down to its root by the ax, or cut off the thread of his life, J/ xxxvili. 12.

y. 10. Then fhould I yet have comfort, &c.| Either before death, and in the midft of all his pains and forrows, being in view of it as near at hand, and fure and: certain; could he but be affured of its near approach, he could exult in his afflictions; it would be an alleviation of his trouble, that he fhould be foon out of it; and he would fit and fing upon the brink of eternity, and fay, O death where is thy fting? O grave where is thy victory? his fufferings being juft at an end, and being comfortably perfuaded of a happy future ftate, and a glorious refurreétion, fee ch. xix. 25, 26, 27. or after death, when deftroyed and cut off by it; and he hereby fignifies, as if he expected no comfort on this fide death and the grave; that is, no temporal comfort, his comforts were gone, his fub- {tance, his’ children and health, and he had no hope of the reftoration of them, Eliphaz had fuggefted; but he believed, that though he now had his evil things, as Lazarus fince, yet after death fhould be comforted with the prefence of God, in which is fulnefs of joy; with the difcoveries of his love, as a broad river to fwim in; with a glory

_ 4 Et pede terram quatiam cum exultatione, Schultens.

fo fome in Muniter. j tgnus; corroboror, Beza; fo Aben Ezra that fhould be on him, and revealed in him, with, which the fufferings of this prefent time are not to be compared; and with the company of angels, and glorified faints, as well as be freed from all, bodily diforders and pains, and death itfelf, from all fin and forrow, from fatan’s temptations, divine * defertions, doubts, and fears: yea, 1 would harden myfelf in forrow, meaning either upon the firft news of death’s being near at hand, he would hardem himfelf againft all pains and pangs of death; whem thofe fhould befet him around, and he fhould find trouble and forrow through them, he, would not regard them, but moft chearfully and patiently bear them, and moft courageoufly go through them, not at all intimidated by them, or by death, and the moft terrible agonies of it: or hough 1 fhould be hot, burn, or be burnt in forrow or, pain®, as fome render it; or parched with pain, as Mr. Broughton, though I fhould be ftill more-and more inflamed with thele burning ulcers upon me, or be dried up with a burning fever, or my body caft into a fire, and be fcorched and burnt in the fames of it, I. fhould not value it; I could bear the, moft excruciating pains, and fharpeft torments;, could I but be affured I fhould die.. Some obferve, that the word fignifies to /eap?; and fo the Septuagint render it; and then the, fenfe isy that he fhould Jeap for joy, as men do, when they are, elevated at good news, or poffefs what is exceeding grateful to them, was it. certain,to him he, fhould die quickly; and fo the Targum interprets it of exultation. The word in the Arabic language, as a good: judge * of it obferves, is ufed of the pranfing and pawing of a horfe, which makes the ground to fhake;. he ftrikes with his foot, and which. as done. in the midft of a battle, mocking at fear, at the ratling quiver, and glittering pear and fhield, is moft beautifully deferibed in Fob XXXixX. 2!-—-25, in like manner Yod. fuggefts, he fhould rejoice in the view of death, and mock at the fear of it: or this may refpeét the happinefs he fhould enjoy after death; for in the Syriac and Arabic verfions, the words are rendred, and I fhail be perfected in virtue; and the word ufed has the fignification of folidity, confirmation, ftability and perfection; and to this fenfe it is rendered by fome’, though to different purpofes; and after this fuffering-ftate is over, the faints will be eftablifhed, fettled and perfected in all virtue, in knowledge, holinefs and happinefs: therefore Jet bim mot pare;

laying on his blows thicker and heavier, till he has beat me to pieces, and utterly deftroyed me, a petition the reverfe of David’s, Pf xxxix, 13. his defire is to have it done quickly and thoroughly, neither to fpare him any longer, nor abate in meafure, but ftrike him immediately, and that effectually, fo as to difpatch him at once: for 1 have not concealed the words of the holy ones that is, of God, as fome ‘fupply it, whofe name is holy, who is holy in his nature, and in all his works, and ‘is eminently glorious in the perfection of his holinefs; for tho’ there are holy men and holy angels, there are none holy as the Lord: his words are the doétrines delivered out by him concerning Chrift the promifed feed, and falvation by him, which were fpoken of by the mouth of all the prophets from the beginning of the world, of which —

Luke i. 70, 71. and the dutie§‘of religion enjoined men in thofe early times; which Sephorno reters to the laws and commandments given to the fons of Here|for fuftaining any weight laid on it? ict is not 5

Noah, of which fre the note on Gen. ix. 4.