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xplaining them; that is, i thine eyes*; emer henton as if i had a high and con- times he ceited opinion of himfelf..; _. |mind-in them; yg. But O that God would fpeak, &c.] To|know not, ob, and {top his'mouth, fo full of words; vict him of his lies, reprove him for his mocks {coffs, and make him afhamed of them 3 refute falfe doétrine and oppofe it, and fhew him his folly and vanity in imagining it to be pure, and in ceiting him(elf to be free from fin, and even in the fight of God himfelf: Zophar feems by this with fuggeft, that what his friends had as yet fpoke had no effet upon ed, and fignified nothing; and that he defpaired of bringing him to any true fenfe of himf<lf and his cafe, but that God only could do it; and therefore he intreats he would take him in hand, and fpeak unto him;
thee.of thy fins, miftakes, and follies: for, notwithftanding all the heat and warmth of Zophar’s ipirit, yet, being a good man, as it cannot belof thought he. fhould wilfully and knowingly flander Fob, and put a falfe glofs on his words, fo neither could he defire any hurt or injury to'be done or that God would deal with him, as an enemy; only convince and reprove him for his fin, juftify himfelf and his own conduét, which he imagined od had arraigned. - |which-agrees what ~ ¥.6. And that he would foew: thee the fecrets of wifdom, &c.| Either of found doétrine,, in oppofition to his own doctrine he had fuch a vain nion of; and then he would fee, as he thought, that it was not fo pure, as he imagined it to be: gofpel, and the doétines of it are the wifdom God, the produce of it, and in which it is difplayed; as in the doctrines of election to graceand glory, of redemption by Chrift, of juttification by his righteoufnefs, and pardon by-his blood; by which all-the divine perfections are glorified, the juftice and holinefs of God, as well.as his grace nd mercy: and there are /ecrets or myfteries in chis wifdom- of.God, 1 Cor. ii. 6, 7. Matt. xiii. 11. or myfterious doctrines, which, though, vealed, yet the modus, or manner of them, is to be fearched out and underftood; fuch is the trinity of perfons in the Godhead, the union of the two natures in Chrift, the faints union to God communion with him, the refurrection of the dead, €c. and thefe and fuch like them are only fhewn by the Lord; men cannot come at them of themfelves, by their own natural reafon and underftanding 5 it is God that reveals them, in his word, and by his Spirit, and gives his. people an increafing ledge of them, 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10. Pf, xxv. 14. and and cxix. 18. or it may be rather the fecrets of the wifdom of divine, providence, in the governmentjor, of the world, and the ordering of all things in it according to the counfel of God, may be here meant; there isa great difplay of the wifdom God in providence, and there are fecrets in it indifcoverable by creatures; his ways are paft.finding out, they are in the deep waters, and his foot{teps in hisjare not known, ‘nor to be traced 5 though | ome. makes his judgments manifeit, a dh and what he does now which nen he fhews them hereafter; efpecially his. con-jown people, and particularly when in the fanctus in and of the Lord, and in the way of their duty, wher %, hislevery thing appears right and beautiful, they be fore were ready to complain of; fee mire | <% con-jand then it is feen: shat they are double to the a weich is! or to wifdem® 5 as the word is rendere. tojin Prov. it. 7. that is, to human wifdom; an had then the fenfe is, that the fecrets of divine wifdo difplayed, whether in the doctrines of gracé or the methods of providence, being fhown and ma manifeft, would appear to be double; that is, val yea infinitely to exceed the wildom of men; andas he had by his that thefe which men are apt to arraign as weale! injand wrong, are the effects of the higheft wifdom, or’ they then appear fo zo a man of wifdom* 3 fo the; \fupply may be made, as is in Mic. vi, 9. or elfe fpeak out his mindjthe fenfe is, were ‘fod let in to the feeret wifdom of God more, and into the purity and holinefs of ‘his fully convince law, which fome underttand by that which is, or wifdom, and render it according to the law*; and fee what that requires, and how much fhort he comes it, and what and how many were his tranigref-' fions and violations of it; it then would be plain to him, that the punifhment that God, in wifdom,- him,jand according to his righteous law, might inflict upon him, would be double; or greatly, yea infinitely andjexceed thofe afflictions he was now exerciféd with, and therefore he had no reafon to complain 3 to. follows: know therefore that God exatieth of thee lefs than thine iniquities deferve 5 or punifhes, afflicts, or chaftifes, lefs than the deopi-jferts of fin; fee Ezr, ix. 13. fome render it, God exaceth of thee fomething of thine’ imquity; fo Futhejmus and Tremellius; according to which verfion the. ofjfenfe is, that fins are debts, ‘and thefe many; and that payment of part of the debt of punifhment for them is only required, which is not truth fe for, though there is a debt of punifhment due to Juttice for fin, yet it is not part of it only that is required: of the finner, but the whole, if any; for indeed no part of it is exacted of God’s people, fince the whole has been exacted of Chrift, and he has anfwered and paid the whole debt, and blotted out the re-jhand-writing againft them; wherefore the word ufed notjhas rather the fignification of forgetfalnefs, and’ ° may be rendered, either God bath caufed, or juffered thee to forget part of thine iniquity®; or'thow andjcouldft never fay that thou wert clean in his eye, anc free from fin; or, God himfelf has forgot pare of. thine iniquity’; in that he has afflicted’ thee fo mildly, and with fo much lenity; or, bath for-. gotten thee for thine iniquity’; forfook him, hid his face from him, Jaid his hand-on him, and fo: know-jchaftifed him, fo that he feemed to. be forgotte him, or he to forget to be gracious to him; all’wl were owing to his fins, thefe were the caufes of will condemn thee for thine iniquity®, ~ providences in afflicting him, fo by his Spirit teaching and inftructing him; and, he adds: and open bis lips againft thee, or rather; with thee, or to thee*; converfe with thee;
freely; difclofe the fecrets of his wifdom, as in the next verfe, and that for thy good;
y. 7. Canft thou by fearching find out God?) is not to be found out by human fearch; that th oflis a God, may be found out by énquiring i book of nature, by confidering. the crez har are made, who all proclaim fome fi E caufe Yr 5% maker of them, who is God; bur then it c oe be found out what God is, his nature, being, perfections: an heathen philofopher® being afked by a certain king what God was, required a day andjcomes through him; what of the divine ptefence’ and communion with God is enjoyed, is by him; and he will be the medium of the enjoyment of to give in his anfwer; when that was up he defired God, and of all the glory and happinefs of the a fecond, and {till went on afking more; and be faints in the world to come.
ing demanded the reafon of his dilatorinefs, replied,
¥. 8. It is as high as heaven; what canft thon
the more he had confidered the queftion, the more do? 8&c.] Or, is higher than the beavens', either obfcure it was to him: the world by wifdom, or the wifer. part of the heathen world, kwew not God, though they knew there was one, they knew not who and what he was; and therefore in fome places altars were erected to the unknown God: and tho’ fome of the perfeétions of God. may be inveftigated from the works of nature, fuch as the power, ' wifdom, and goodnefs of God, Rom. i. 19, 20. yet not all his perfections, fuch as his grace, mercy, ce. proclaimed and difplayed in Chrift; nor indeed his counfels, purpofes, and decrees, which lie in his eternal mind, are the thoughts of his heart, the deep things of God, which none but the Spirit of God fearches, knows, and reveals; and fince the wifdom of God and the fecrets of it; the perfection of his wifdom, by which he has made the heavens; or evangelical wifdom, hid in his heart, and which the higheft of creatures, the angels, come at the knowledge of only by revelation; and therefore, what can man do to find it out, unlefs God reveals it? or wifdom difplayed in dark providences, which ‘can never be accounted for until’ the judgments of God’ are made manifeft: or elfe, be that is God, as the Vulgate Latin’ verfion, is higher than the heavens; the heaven-is' his: throne on which he fits, and: therefore he muft be higher than that;\-the heavens, and heaven: of. heavensy cannot contain him; he fills up the infinite {pace
Zophar’s requeft was, that God fhould fhew to ¥ob beyond them; how is it poffible. therefore to find!
the fecrets of wifdom,»thefe may be meant here, either, evangelical wifdom, the wifdom of God in a him out, to’ comprehend him? deeper than bell; what canft thou know? meaning, neither the grave’
myftery hid in his heart from everlafting, and the nor the place of the damned, for both’ which Sheol myfterious truths and doctrines of it, things which eye has not feen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered is fometimes ufed, but the centre or loweft part of the earth; there is a depth in God, in his effencey into the heart of man to conceive of; thefe are notjin his thoughts, in his wifdom, difplayed in na- to be found out by human fearch, but are by the revelation of God; or elfe the reafons of the pro- ture,. providence, and grace, that is unfathomable; we can know nothing of it, but what he is ceedings of God in providence, which are out of the reach of men, dark, intricate, myfterious, unfearchable, and paft finding out: canjt thou find out the Almighty unto perfetion? to the uttermoft of his nature and perfections; all his attributes, the Jaft of them, and the extremity thereof: is perfect and entire, wanting nothing, and is poffefied of all perfections may be found out, or wife he would not.be God’; but his effence and attributes being infinite,’.can never’ be traced and comprehended by finite minds; there are fome perfeétions of God we have’ no idea of; but are loft in confufion and amazement. as foon as we think of them and reéafon about them, as his eternity and pleafed'to make known; fee Pf. xcii. 5. Rom. xi. 33. the Targum of the verfe is, “* in the heighth off heaven, what canft thou do? in the law which is deeper than hell, what canft thou know?”
¥. 9. The meafure thereof is longer than the earth, that God!and broader tham the fea.\ Length is. generally: afcribed to the earth, and/width to the fea; the other-Jends of the earth are ufed for a great diftance, and the fea is called the great and wide fea; fee* Pf Ixxii. 1. and civ..25. but God and his. perfections, particularly his wifdom and underftanding, are infinite, P/ cxlvii.5. and will admit of no dimenfions; as his love; fo his wifdom, has an. heighth which cannot be reached, a depth ‘that cannot be immenfity particularly; for, when we have rolled over in our minds millions and millions of ages, we'are as far off from eternity as when we began; and when we have pervaded all worlds, and every fpace and place, we have got no further into immenfity than at firft; we are confounded when we think of a being without beginning and without bounds, unoriginated and unlimited; yea, even it is but.a fmall part of the works of God in creation fathomed, and a length and breadth immeafurables fee Eph. iii. 18. from hence it appears that Godiis omnilcient, omniprefent, and incomprehenfible$ and fince he is to be found in Chrift, and in him: only, it is in vain for us to feek for him elfewhere «: next the fovereignty of God is difcourfediof.
y. 10. If be cut off, &c.| The horns, power, dominion, and authority of the wicked or the {pirits of princes, or kingdoms and ftates, whole na- that is known by men, or of God in and by them; nay, by divine revelation, which gives the cleareft and moft enlarged view of him, whereby he has proclaimed his name, a God gracious and merciful, Sc, yet it is only his back-parts that are fhewn, not his face; it is only through a glafs, darkly, we now fee; indeed, in the other world, we fhall fee him face to face, and as he is, yet then comprehend his effence: and, after all, it is only in Chrift that God is to be found, to faving purpofes; in him, is the moft glorious difplay of him; being the brightnefs of his glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon; and not only all his perfections are in him, asa divine perfon, but they are glorified by him as Mediator; every ftep in falvation is taken in Chrift, and every bleffing of grace tions, as he did the feven nations of Canaan or families, as ‘7ob’s, his fervants, and his childrens or particular perfons, by difeafes, or by judgments, by famine, fword, and peftilence; there is none can hinder him; he’ll do what he pleafes: or, as others render it, if he changes’; if he makes revolutions » in governments, changes in families, and in the neverjeftates of men, ‘as in ‘/od’s; or changes men’s countenances by death, and fends them out of time, into eternity, there is no oppofing him: or, if be paffes through”, as the word is fometimes ufed; fee J/. viii. 8. if he comes out of his place to: punifh the inhabitants of the earth, and goes through a kingdom and nation, making of fuffering to be made devaftations every where, as he went through the land of Egypt and {mote all the firft-born s ity there is no ftopping him:
wonder he does the above things at his pleafure: he feeth wickednefs alfo; the wickednefs of their hearts and lives, their fecret and open wickednefs, their wicked thoughts, words, and actions; or, men of wickedne/s; even wicked men; they are all feen by him; nothing is or can be hid from him he is God omnifcient, the fearcher of the and trier of the reins of the children of men: will be not then confider it; fo as to punih or correct for or, if he paffes on", orlit? he will: or, be does not confider®; he feemsas if he did not; as if he took no notice of wicked men, and of their wickednefs, becaufe he does not immediately punifh or correct for it; or, he has no need to take 3) any time to confider thereof, he fees and knows at once what it is, and what men are: Gerfom reads this claufe in connection with the former; be fees the men of wickedne/s, and him who does: met conider the ways of the Lord; or, the man does not confider that God fees him; fo Ben Melech.
from hence, or goes away; fee 1 Sam. xi. 3. of departs from a people or particular perfon, even his own people, and hides his face from them, and is long, at leaft as they think, before he returns who can behold him, or find him out, or caufe * him to fhew himfelf? fee Fob xxiii. 3, 8, 9. and xxxiv. 29. or, if be fubverts° and overturns things, or fhould reduce the world and all things in it to al chaos, as at the deluge, or as he overturned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrab, or fhould fet on fire the whole courfe of nature, and burn up the whole world and all in it, and reduce it to afhes, as he will; there is none can ftay his hand, and obftruct him in ‘his defigns and meafures: and hut up; fhould he do fo; fhut up ina civil fenfe, either a prifon, as Gerjom, or in the hands of an enemy, by giving them unto then, to be inclofed and ftraitened by them, there is none can deliver; P/ xxxi, 8. Deut. xxxii. 30. or to fhut them up as he did Noab in the ark, by protecting them by his power and providence, and {fo appear to be on theirlwi fide, and for them; who then can be againft them? or what does it fignify if any are, if Lord fhuts them up and keeps them clofe? fpiritual fenfe, if he concludes men in fin, and fhuts them up in unbelief, and under the law; himfelf can fet them free? or, if good men are fhut up in their frames, and: ftraitened in their fouls, that they cannot come forth in the lively ercife of grace, and free difcharge of duty; there is no opening for them till he pleafes, J/!xxxviii. 8. Fob xii. 14. or gather together, then who can| binder him? either gathers them into one place, in a civil fenfe; or in a gracious manner, with great mercies and everlafting kindnefs to himfelf, to communion with him; to his Son, to participate of the bleffings of his grace, and to his church people, to enjoy all {piritual privileges with them; or, gathers men at and by death; fee ch. xxxiv. 14, 15. and as he will gather them at the laft day, even all nations, before him, the tares, and burn them and his wheat, and put them into his garner; and when he does any and every of thefe things, who can hinder him or turn him back from doing what he pleafes: Fob fays much the fame in ch. ix. 12. the Zargum is, “‘ if he paffes through and fhuts up the heavens with clouds, and gathers armies, who can turn him back?”
y. 12. For vain man would be wije, &c.) Or o//ow', empty man; empty of all that is good, though full of all unrighteoufnefs; without God, the knowledge, love, and fear of him; without Chrift, the knowledge of him, faith in him, and injlove to him; deftitute of the Spirit, and of his grace, having no good thing in him: yet fuch 4 man would be wife; not defirous of true wifdom, but would be thought to be wile; he conceits himfelf that he is very wife, and he would fain have others think fo of him; or is, or may, or will be e*; may be made wile by the chaftifements of God through afflictions, béing fanétified to him by thelthe grace of God; though he is a vain man, and or in ajalfo is what is after faid of him; affli€ting difpenfations are fometimes teaching ones, and in the {chool who butlof affli€tions many ufeful leffons are learnt, whereby men become wifer; fee P/ xciv. 12. though fome underftand the word in a very different fenfe, and ex-Jinterpret it bold, audacious, proud, and haughty; man takes heart‘ and lifts up himfelf againit God, {tretches out his hand, and hardens his heart againft him: though man be born like a wild afs’s colt, foolifh and ftupid, without underftanding of divine and fpiritual things; given to luft and wantonnefs, havejto ferve divers lufts and pleafures; not fubje& to the yoke of the law of God, ftubborn, refractory, andjand untameable, but by the grace of God; the afs, and efpecially the wild afs, and the colt of one, being a very ftupid creature, and a very luftful and wanton one, chufes to be free, will not bear the yoke, but ranges about in defart places; fee fob xxxix. 5. Fer. ii. 23, 24. fome render the words, amd a wild a/fs’s colt is, or may be born @ man™; that is, one that is by his firft birth, and by his life and converfation, like a wild afs’s colt, is or may be born again, and be made a new man, as Yarchi alfo interprets it, and fo become a wife, knowing, and good- man, which is a great truth; but whether the truth in this text, is not fo clear:- the Targum feems to incline this way; a refractory youth that grows wife fhall become a great man.”
¥. 11. For he knoweth vain men, &c.)- Or, men of vanity®, as all men are; men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree a lie, and they are both lighter than vanity, P/- Ixii. 9. and the Lord knows'them, and knows them to be fo; he knows all men, and all that is in them; he knows the vanity of their minds, and the vain thoughts that are in them; all their vain and idle words, and their vain lives and converfations;
y. 13. Jf thou prepare thine heart, and ftretch out thine bands towards bim;] In this and the following verfes Zepbar proceeds to give fome advice to Fob; which, if taken, would iffue in his future happiand therefore it is nojnefs, but otherwife it would be ill with him; he advifes him to pray to God with an heart repared for fuch fervice; fo fome render the laft claufe in the imperative, /fretch out thine bands” towards bim,; that is, towards God; for, though not expreffed, is implied, whofe immenfity, fovereignty,;,and omnifcience, Zopbar had been difcourfing of; hearts,Jand, though ftretching out the hands is fometimes a gefture of perfons in diftrefs and mournful cirs ~ cumftances, thereby fignifying their grief and for—— ad eum manus tuas, de Dieu, row, and of other in great danger, in order to. lay up any thing for fafety; and of conquered perfons -refigning themfelves up into the hands of the conqueror; and of fuch who are defirous of being in friendfhip, alliance, and affociation with others 3 yet it is alfo fometimes ufed as for the whole of religious worfhip, Pf. xliv. 20. fo particularly for prayer, P/. Ixxxviii. 9. and this was what all Fob’s triends advifed him to, to humble himfelf before God, to pray for the forgivenefs of his fins, and for the removal of his afflictions and deliverance from them; fee ch. v. 8. and viii 5, 6. in order to which it is proper the heart fhould be prepared; as it is requifite it fhould be to every good work by the grace of God, fo to this: and then may it be faid to be prepared for fuch fervice, when the Spirit of God is given as a {pirit of grace and fupplication, whereby the heart is imprefled with a fenfe of its wants, and fo knows what to pray for; and arguments and fit words are put into the mind and mouth, and it knows how to pray as it fhould; and is enabled to approach the throne of grace with fincerity, fervency, and in the exercife of faith, being {prinkled from an evil con{cience by. the blood of Jefus, and refigned to the divine will, in all its peticions it is direéted to make: now this is the work of God, to prepare the heart; the preparation of the heart, as well as the anfwer of the tongue; is from the Lord; he is prayed to for it, and. it is affirmed she will do it, Prov. xvi. t. 1 Chron. xxix. 18. P/. x. 17. but it is here reprefented as it it was man’s act, which is faid not to fuggeft any power in man to do it of himfelf; at leaft this is not the evangelic fenfe of fuch phrafes; for Zophar might be.of a more legal fpirit, and not fo thoroughly acquainted with the evangelic ftile; but this might be faid to thow the neceffity of fuch a preparation, and to ftir up to aconcern for it, and to expect and look for it from and by the grace ot God.
¥. 14. If iniquity be in thine hand, &c.| For, as the heart mutt be prepared for the {tretching out of the hand in prayer to God, fo it is not any hand that is to be ftretched out or lifted up unto God; not hands full of blood, or defiled with fin, but holy hands; fee J, i. 15. 1 Tim. ii. 8. it is not faid, if iniquity be in thine heart, or on thy con {cience, put it far away; for fin cannot be put away out of the heart, it will have a place there as Jong as we live; tho” it fhould not be regarded, cherifhed, and nourifhed there; if fo, God will not hear prayer, P/- Ixvi. 18. and nothing can put away or remove afar off guilt from the confcience, but the blood of Jefus; which, being fprinkled, purifies the heart and purges the confcience from dead works; but it is faid, if it is in thine band, which is the inftrument of a@ion, and may fignify the commiffion of fin, and a feries and courfe o! finning, which fod’s friends fufpected he was priyately guilty of; and therefore advife him to leave off fuch a finful courfe, and abftain from all appearance of evil, and live a holy and godly converfation: and let not wickednefs dwell in thy tabernacles; in any room or apartment of his houfe; fome reftrain this, and iniquity in the former claufe, to ill-gotten goods, obtained by rapine and oppreffion, which he is advifed to reftore to thofe that had been injured by him; but there is no need to limit it to any fin: befides, wickednefs may be put for wicked men, and the fenfe be, that, as he fhould not indulge to any iniquity himfelf, fo neither fhould he fuffer wicked men to dwell in his houfe, but genetal réformation in himfelf afd in his family..
¥. 15. For then halt thou lift up thy face without Jot, 8cc.] Either before men, being in all good con{cience, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blamelefs, exercifing a con- {cience void of offence towards God and men; and fo be able to fay as Samuel did, Whofe afs have I taken? 8c. 1 Sam. xii. 3. or rather before God, as in ch, xxi. 26. ufing an holy boldnefs and an humble confidence with him at the throne of grace, in the view of the blood, righteoufnefs, and facrifice of his living Redeemer he had knowledge of, as every true believer may; who, though he is not without fpot in himéelf, yet, being wathed in the blood of Chrift, and cloathed in his righteoufnefs, he is all fair, and without fpot or wrinkle, or any fuch thing; and may ftand before the throne without fault, and appear before God, and in his fight unblameable and irreproveable: yea, thou fhalt be ftedfaf'; firm and folid, rooted and grounded in the love of God; having a firm perfuafion of Intereft in it, and that nothing fhall feparate from it; being built on the foundation of Chrift, and eftablifhed in the exercife of faith on him; the affections being fteady towards him, and fixedly fet on divine and heavenly things; continuing ftedfaft in the dottrines of grace, and not carried about with ftrange doctrines, or every wind of doétrine; as well as conftant and immoveable in the work of the Lord, always employed in his fervice, and doing his will, from which nothing can move; not reproach, affliction, and perfecution; and to be thus fteady and fixed is a great privilege: and fhalt not fear, evil tidings of evil times; of wars and rus mours of wars, famine, pettilence, earthquakes, and other judgments; of changes and revolutions in kingdoms and ftates, or of what is coming upon the world, according to promife and prophecy, the heart being fixed and well eftablithed, trufting in the Lord; nor be afraid of evil men or devils, or any enemies whatever, nor of death, the king. of terrors, that being one of the believer’s bleffings, and a friend of his; nor of hell and damnation, or the fecond death, or wrath to come; from all which the faints are fecure.
¥. 16. Becaufe thou fhalt forget thy mifery, 8c.] Former afflictions and diftreffes; having an abundance of profperity and happinefs, and long continued; and fo, in procefs of time, the miferies and diftreffes before endured are forgotten; thus it was with Yofeph in his advanced ftate, and therefore he called one of his fons Manaffeb, Gen. xi. 51. and as it is with convinced and converted perfons and believers in Chrift, who, under firft convictions and awakenings, are filled with forrow and diftrefs, on a view of their miferable eftate by nature; but when Chrift is revealed to them as their Saviour and Redeemer, and the love of God is thed abroad in their hearts, and they have faith and hope in Jefus, and a comfortable view of heaven and happinefs, and eternal life by him, they forget their piritual poverty, and remember their mifery no more, unlefs it be to magnify the riches of the grace of God; fee Prov. xxxi. 6, 7. and remember it as waters that pa/s away; either the waters of the ftream in ariver, which, when gone, are feen and remembered no more; or as waters occafioned by floods in the winter-feafon, which when over, and fummer is come, are gone and are no more difcerned; and as they pafs from the places where they were, fo from the minds of men: or it may be, refpedt is 294 had had to the waters of Noah's food, which, according to the divine promile and oath, fhould no more go over.the earth; and being paft and gone, and no fear or danger of their returning, are forgotten, y. 17. and thine age fhall be clearer than the yo0n-day, &c | That is, the remainder of his days; the latter part of his lite, which was yet to thould be no more attended with the darknefs of adverfity; but the light of profperity fhould fhine upon him, and exceed the light of the fun at noonday: the phrafe is expreffive of the wonderful change there fhould be in his ftate and circumflances; fee If lviii. 10. thou fhalt foine forth, like the rifing fun, or as when it breaks forth out of a cloud; in a temporal fenfe, it may be underftood of his enjoying health, wealth, and friends, the candle of the Lord fhining upon him, as in days paft; and in a fpiritual fenfe, of his being favoured with the light of God’s: countenance, the fun of righteoufnets rifing upon him, with healing in his wings; the graces of the fpirit being and in lively exercife, and a large fhate of light and knowledge being given: the word ufed has a contrary fenfe, and fignifies darknefs and ob- {curity, and may be rendered although thou art, or haft been, or mayeft be dark*; under dark and affliGtive providences, as he had been, and ftill was; and in darknefs of foul, under the hidings of God’s face; yet thou fhalt be as the morning; whofe light breaks forth fuddenly, and makes every thing gay and chearful efpecially a morning without clouds, when it is bright and clear, and is increafing and more: by this metaphor is fignified, that ob would at once emerge out of his darknefs, afflictions, and trouble, and have abundance of joy and comfort, which would be increafing in every fenfe; night-feafon in peace and quietnefs, having nothing to fear; being well intrenched, and fecure from depredations and inundations; and more efpecially, being hedged about and protected by the power and providence of God; fee P/- iii. 5. and iv. 8. the Targum is, “ thou fhalt prepare a grave, and lie come, down, and fleep fecure.”
. 19. 4l/o, thou fhalt le down, and none Joall make thee afraid, &c,| Either lie down on his bed, as before, or by his flocks, and where they lie down, and none fhould difturb him or them; not thieves and robbers, fuch as the Chaldeans and Sabeans had been to him, nor lions, bears, and wolves: yea, many fhall make fuit unto thee; make cheir fupplications, prefent their requefts and petitions for relief under neceffitous circumftances, or for protection’ from the injuries and infults of others; as the poor and needy, the widow and fatherlefs, had done to him in times paft, when in his profperity, and when he was a friend unto them, brightened,Jand the father of them; fee Prov. xix. 6. or, the piritual|great ones* fhall make fuit to thee; to have his favour and friendfhip, his counfel and advice, his company and converfation; he fhould be applied unto and courted by men of all forts, which would be no {mall honour tohim; fee Pf xlv. 12. uv _ ¥. 20. But the eyes of the wicked fhall fail, &c.] Either through grief and envy at 70d’s profperity, and with looking for his fall into troubles again; or rather, through expectation of good things for themfelves, and for deliverance out of trouble, but morejall in vain; fee Lam. iv. 17. and they fhall not efcape, afflictions and calamities in this life, nor the righteous judgment, nor wrath to come: or, refuge foall perifh from them*; there will be none to betake themfelves unto for fafety; in vain will they feek fee Prov, iv. 18. it from men; refuge will fail them, and no man y. 18. And thou fhalt be fecure, &c.]’ From coming into like darknefs, difficulties, and diftrefs again, and from every evil and enemy; nothing fhall come nigh to difturb and hurt, nothing to feared from any quarter, all around: or, shalt be confident’; have a {trong faith and full affurance of ‘it, in the love of God, in the living Redeemer, and in the promifes which refpeét the life that now is, and that which is to come: decaufe there is hope; of the mercy of God, of falvation by Chrift, and “of eternal glory and happinefs, as well as of a continuance of outward profperity; faith and hope mutually affift each other;
care for them; and in vain will they fly to rocks and mountains to fall upon them: and their bope fhall be as the giving up of the ghofts it is with bejthem, as when a man is juft expiring, and it is all over with him, and there is no hope of his reviving; fo the hope of wicked men is a dying hope, a loft hope; it is not hope, but defpair; their hope is gone, and they are loft and undone; and if they retain their hope in life, when they come to die they nave none; though the righteous has hope in his death, their hope dies with them, if not before jthem: or, their hope is the giving up of the ghof”; faith is the fubftance oflall they have to hope and with for is death, to relieve them from their prefent troubles and agonies they are in; and fometimes are left amidft their guilt, defpair, and horror, to deftroy themfelves: to)now Zophar by all this would fuggeft, that fhould not Job take his advice, he would appear to be fuch a wicked man, whofe eyes would fail for his own help, and would not efcape the judgments of God here and hereafter, and would die without hope, in black defpair; or at leaft without any hope that would be of any avail.;
‘things hoped for, and hope of better and future things on a good foundation encourages faith and confidence: yea, thou fbalt dig about thee; to let in ftakes for the pitching and fixing of tents dwell in, and for more commodious pafturage; or for wells of water, for the fupply both of the family and the flocks; or rather, for ditches and trenches to fecure from thieves and robbers, or for drains to carry off floods of water: and thou Jhalt take thy reft in fafety; lie down on the bed and fleep in the ‘ Ben tenebrefces, Montanus, Drufius, Mercerus; ee OS gatiy 3 MMOA) & confides, Mercerus, tes, Vatablus, Bolducius.
N this and the two following chapters Yd makes anfwer to Zophar’s difcourfe in the former; having reprefented him as an ignorant man, he refents it, and begins his defence with a biting caf on him and his friends, as being felt-conceited, and having an high opinion of their own wifdom, as if none had any but themfelves, y. 1, 2. and puts in his claim for a fhare with them, as being not at all inferior to them. y. 3. and then refutes their notions, that it always goes well with good men, and ill with bad men; whereas the reverfe is the truth, ¥. 4—6.
‘fort of people; or, ye are the only people of God, who his covenant-people, his fervants; that are made acquainted with the fecrets of wifdom, as none elfe far- 'are: and wifdont fhall die with you; you have all the wifdom of the world, and when you die it will be all gone; there will be none left in the world: thus he reprefents them as monopolizers and engroffers of wifdom and knowledge, full of it in their own ceit, allowing none to have any fhare with them: and by all this he not only upbraids them with their vanity and felf-conceit, but puts them in mind, and which they might that, as wife as they were, they muft die; and thar, though their wifdom with refpeét to them, or any ufe they could make of it in the grave, where there is none, would die too; or that their wifdom was but the wifdom of the world, which comes to nought; yet there would be wifdom ftill in the world, and that which is true, which God makes known to men, even the wifdom of God in a myftery, the wifdom hid in himfelf; and who has the refidue of the Spirit and his gifts to inftruét men in it, and qualify them to beteachers of others; by which means, though men, even the beft of men die, yet the word of God, the means of true wifdom and knowledge, will always abide.
Jearn from the brute creatures; or he fends them to them, to obferve to them, that the beft things they had knowledge of concerning God and his providence, and of his wifdom therein, were com-_ mon notions, that every one had, and might be learned from beafts, birds, and fifhes; particularly, that all things in the whole univerfe are made by God, and fuftained by him, and are under his direction, and at his difpofal, ¥. 7—10. and fuch things might as eafily be fearched, examined, and judged of, as founds are tried by the ear, and food by the mouth, ¥. 11. and feeing it is ufual among men, at leaft it may be expected that men in years fhould have a confiderable fhare of wifdom and knowledge, it might be ftrongly inferred from thence, without any difficulty, chat the moft perfect and confummate wifdom was in God, y. 12, 13. whence he pafles on to difcourfe moft admirably and excellently of the wifdom and power of God in the difpenfations of his providence, in a variety of inftances; which fhews his knowledge of his perfeétions, ways, and works, was not inferior to that of his friends, ¥. 14—25. God;
y. 3. But I have underftanding as well as you, &c.] A natural under{tanding, or an underftandjing of natural things, which diftinguifhes a man {from a brute; and a fpiritual underftanding, an underftanding enlightened by the Spirit of God, which is naturally dark as to divine things; but he had an underftanding given him, to know himfelf, his ftate and condition by nature 3 to know God, his love and grace to men, and, as his covenantto know Chrift his living Redeemer, who fhould ftand on the earth in the latter day, both to be his Redeemer and his Judge; to know his intereft in him, and in the bleffings of grace, and glory by him: or, [have an heart as well as you's a wife and an underftanding one; a new heart, and a right fpirit; an heart to fear and ferve the Lord, a fincere and upright one, and devoid of hypocrify and deceit; and as good an one as theirs: Jam not inferior unto you; he was indeed as to eftate and fubftance, being now reduced; though he had been, in that fenfe, the greateft man in all the Eaft; but in wifdom and knowledge, in gifts and grace: thus a modeft man, when oppreffed and in- {ulted by the {peeches of over-bearing men, may be obliged and fee it neceffary to fay fome things of himfelf, in his own vindication, which he otherwife would not; fee 2 Cor. xi. 16. and xii. 11. or, J am not falling before you, or by you*; as one intimidated, conquered, and yielding; I ftand my ground, and will not give way or fubmit to you, or allow you to have the fuperiority of me: or, I
¥.1. And Fob anfwered and faid,| In reply to Zophar, and in defence of himfelf, what is recorded in this and the two following chapters.
y¥. 2. No doubt but ye are the people, &cc.] Which is faid not ferioufly, meaning that they were but of the common people, that are generally ignorant, and have but little knowledge, at leaft of things fublime, efpecially in matters of religion; wherefore, tho’ they took upon them to be his teachers, and di€ators to him, and cenfors of him, they were not above the rank, but in the clafs of people of low and mean underftandings; fee Fobn, vii. 49. this fenfe indeed agrees with what is after faid, who knoweth not fuch things as thefe? but fince Fob compares himfelf with them, and afferts he is not inferior to them, it fuppofes them to have a degree of knowledge and underftanding of things fomewhat above the common people; wherefore thefe words are to be taken ironically, expofing their vanity and felf-conceit: ye are the people; the only, and all the people in the world of importance and confequence for good fenfe and wifdom; the only wife and knowing folk, the men of reafon and underftanding; all the reft are but fools and affes, or like the wild afs’s colt, as Zophar had faid, and which od took as pointing to him; fo the word in the Aradic language‘ fignifies, the more excellent and better am falling no more than you; they took him for an apoftate from God, and the fear of him, and the true religion he had profeffed, which ‘70d denies; he held faft his integrity; and though he was fallen into calamities and afflictions, he was not fallen from God; from his fear of him, faith in him, and love and obedience to him; he was a holy, good man, 4 petfevering faint; and though he had ldeliverance out of his troubles; and who had in.
flips and falls in common with good men, yet fell not finally and totally, or was an apoftate from the faith: yea, who knoweth not fuch things as thefe? or, with whom are not as thefe'? the things you have been difcourfing of, which you would fain have pafs for the fecrets of wifdom, deep and myfterious things, hid from vulgar eyes, which none have and know but yourtelves, are common things, what every one is poflefled of, and underftands as well as you; that there is a God that has gmade the world, and governs it; that he him(elf is unfearchable, infinite and incomprehenfible; a fovereign Being that does according to his will and pleafure, and fees and knows all things, and does all things well and wifely, and according to the counfel of his will: though fome think ‘70d has reference not to what Zophar had been difcourfing concerning the infinity and wifdom of God, but to the thing or things in difpute between them, or to the affertions of his friends; that it is always well with good men, and ill with bad men, or that wicked men only are punifhed and afflicted, and particularly what Zophar concluded his fpeech with, vy. 20. Now thefe were vulgar notions, which the common people had taken up, and were vulgar errors, as he proves in the following verfes, by giving inftances of good men being afflicted, and of bad men being in profperity.
y. 4. 1 amas one mocked of bis neighbour, &c.} That is, according to Sephorno, if I knew not, or denied thofe things you have been fpeaking of con- many inftances received an{wers of prayer from
God; and this being his character, and this the’
conftant work and bufinefs of his life, and being heard and anfwered of God in times paft, fhewed him to be a good man, and yet an afflicted one 5, and this alfo ferved to wipe off the reproach, and remove the charge which they tacitly infinvated, and fometimes fpoke out, that he reftrained prayer before God; but he was fo far from it, that the feornful ufage of his friends made. him ply the, throne of grace the more frequently, fee ch, xviii. 20. and trom this fingle inftance of himfelf, he paffes on to confider it as a general cafe, as what ufually befals good and gracious men: she juft upright man.is laughed to feorn, or the juf perfec? man” that is, perfectly juft; no man is foof hims felf; none of Adam’s pofterity are righteous, no not One; nor is any man truly juft, perfectly rightcous in himfelf, but in Chrift; and even. fuch a man does not do good without finning; only the man Chrift Jefus is righteous in fuch fenfe; but then all that are made righteous by the imputation of his righteoufnefs to theni, are perfectly juftified from all things, and are become the fpirits of juft men made perfect and compleat in him: the character here defigns. fuch who are really righteous, truly gracious, are upright in heart, fincere fouls, who have the truth of grace in’ them, and walk uprightly; thefe become a prey, a langhing ftock to wicked men, as Noab, Lot, and others, before the times of ob, had been, which he may have re- dom, I fhould be derided by all my friends and acquaintance; but rather the fenfe is, Fod inftances in himfelf as a proof, that good men are afflicted by God in this life; he was once in a very profpetous condition, when he was careffed by all, but now was fallen into fuch low and miferable cir-
¥. 5. He that is ready to flip with his feet, &c.} Not into fin, though this is often the cafe of good men, but into calamities and afflictions; and Fob means himfelf, and every juft upright man in the like circumftances: or he that is prepared or deftined to be among them, that fetter and ftagger in their cumftances, as to be the fcorn and contempt of| feet*; that can’t ftand upon their feet, but fall to his friends and neighbours; and even his being mocked, was no {mall part of his afflictions; to endure cruel mockings has been the common lot of good men in all ages, and is reckoned one part of their diftrefies and fufferings for righteoufnelsfake, Heb. xi. 36. and to be mocked by a neighbour, or a friend®, as it may be rendered, greatly aggravates the affliction, fee P/. lv. 12, 13. which was Fob’s cafe; his friends that came to comfort him mocked at him, at leaft fo he underftood them, and interpreted what they faid unto him, fee ch. Xvi. 20. and what made it ftill the heavier to bear, he was mocked by fyich a neighbour or friend, who calleth upon God, and he anfwereth him; he was mocked at not by prophane men only, but by a profeffor of religion, one that made it his conftant bufinefs to pray to God, and by the profperity he was in, and the good things he enjoyed, he feems to e anfwered; or rather ob means himfelf who was mocked, and fo this is introduced to aggravate the fin of his friends, as well as to prove his point, and alfo to throw off a charge that had been the ground; which may defcribe man in declining and diftreffing circumftances; or that is appointed to be the laughing-ftock of fuch as are unftable in the word and ways of God; double-minded men, hypocrites, and formal profeffors, that totter and {tagger at every thing they meet with difagreeable to the flefh: with fuch, a poor afflicted faint is laughed to fcorn; he is as a lamp de/pifed in the thought of bis that is at eafe,; who are in affluent circumftances, enjoy great profperity, live in plenty, and are nor in trouble as others; their hearts are at eafe: now with fuch, poor good men are had in great con-’ tempt; they are defpifed at heart, in the thoughts of fuch perfons, if they don’t in words exprefs it; they are like a lamp juit going out, which is n le€ted, and looked upon as ufelefs; or like a torch burnt to the end, when it is thrown away; and thus it is with men, whilft the lamp of _profperity burns clear and bright, they are valued and had in efteem, but when their lamp becomes dim, and is- almoft, or quite extinguifhed, they are defpifed, fee Pf, cxxxiii. 3, 4. fome apply this to Chrift,who was brought againft him. It was an aggravation of a lamp or light, a great one, but cefpifed of men, their fin in mocking him, that he was a praying man; one that made a confcience of daily calling upon God for the conftant fupplies of life, for his gracious prefence, for help in time of need, for difcoveries of pardoning grace and mercy, and for and even as a light; they loved darknefs rather than light; and efpecially by the PAarifees, who were at eafe, fettled on their lees, that trufted in themfelves that they were righteous, and defpifed others; and this is true of gofpel-minifters, though bright and burning burning lights, and even of every good man, in to the greater, by whom they are devoured, fee whom the true light of grace, and of the gofpel, * fhines, and efpecially when under afflictive circumftances. Some, inftead of a lamp de/pifed, read, for or because of calamity defpifed*; fo Aben Ezra, which conveys the fame fenfe, that an afflicted man is defpifed for his affliction; and this being the cafe of good men, confutes the notion of ‘f0d’s friends, that it always goes well with fuch; and their other notion of its going ill with bad men, is refuted in the following verfe. y¥. 6. The tabernacles of robbers profper, &c. ] Stich as the Chaldeans and Sabeans, who had robbed Fob of his fubftance, and filled their houfes ~ with the fpoils of others, and lived in the greateft fulnefs and profperity, and whom he might have in-his view; and the like is what has been fince ébferved by good men, and has been a trial and tethptation to them, not ‘knowing’ well how to reconcile this to the juftice and wifdom of God in providence, yet fo it is, a fact that cannot be de. Reap te Py textit. 2,3, “12. “fer. xit.'1) 2. and they that provoke God are fecure;, all fin is abominable to God, contrary to his nature, will and law, and fo provoking; yet there are fome fins that are more provoking than others, as idolatry, blafphemy, murder, thefty robbery, rapine and oppreffion, and the like, as well as attended with more ageravating circumftances; and yet many who are guilty of fach enormous crimes, and God-provok- _ ing iniquities, are /ecure, live in the greateft tranquility and fafety, free from the incurfions, invafions, and infults of others: their houfes, as Fob elfewhere-fays, ave fafe from fear, ch. Xx. 9. ito whofe hand God bringetb abundantly; an abundance of the good things of this world, who have as much or more than heart can wifh; whofe belly i8 filled with hid treafure, whofe grounds and fields bring forth plentifully, that they have no room to beftow their-fruits; this, as it is an aggravation of their fin in provoking the Ged of their mercies, who is fo liberal and bountiful to them, fo it’ is the more full and exprefs for the point in hand od is confuting. Sorie, as Aben Ezra and Ben Ger. fom, anderftand this' of idol-makers and idol-worfhippers, and render the words, who makes a god with bis band, or carries a god in bis band", and worfhips it; which others interpret of his doing what he will with God, having him, as it were, in his hand, or reckoning his hands his God, and thinks to do what he pleafes™. ¥.7. But afk now the beafts, and they fhall teach thee, &c.] And fo the fowls of the air, and the fifhes of the fea, in this and the following verfe; from thofe inftruétions may be learnt, or inftances taken, and examples given, which may illuftrate and confirm the fame things that had been treated of: either what had been juft now confuted, that it is’ always well with good men, and ill with with bad men; the reverts of which had been affirmed and proved, that good men are -afflicted, and wicked'men profper; fomething like to which miay be feen in the creatures, and learned of them; thus thofe creatures that are the moft harmlefs and innocent, and moft ufeful and beneficial, are a prey to others, as fheep‘and lambs to lions, wolves and bears, whilft they range about forefts, fields and plains, fearlefs and unmolefted; and doves and turtles to hawks and vultures and the leffer fifh
- ok D5 ad calamitatem contumelia, Cocceius; ad infortunium vilis habetur, Guffetius, p. 674. YT! quique deum portant ve/ portat in manu fua, Tigurine verfion, Muntter; fo Bolducius, De Dieu, Schaltens. Mt virgultum terra, Pagninus Schmidt; fo Drufius and Michaelis. oe aah