the timber, becaufe of the fins of fpoil, violence, oppreffion, and covetoufnefs, Had. ii. 11. or that the furrows likewife thereof complain, or weep*, on account of the like ill ufage. archi, and fo the Midrafh, interpret this of not allowing the forgotten fheaf and corner of the field to the poor, and detaining the tithes; and of plowing and making furrows with: an ox and an afs together; but the laws refpecting thefe things were not yet in being; and if they had been, were only binding on I/raelites, and not on Yod, and the men of his country.;, is 39. If Ihave eaten the fruits thereof without for though there is fomewhat more faid afterwards by him, and but little, yet to God, and by way of humiliation, acknowledging his fin, and repentance for it with fhame and abhorrence; fee ch. xl. 3,4, 5. and xliii 16. ‘Farchi, and fo the Midrafo, underftand this concluding claufe as an imprecation of Fod’s; that if he had done otherwife than he had declared, he wifhes that thefe might be his laft words, and he become dumb, and never open his mouth more; but, as Bar Tzemach obferves, the fimple fenfe is, that his words were now compleated and finifhed, juft as the prayers of David, the fon of Feffe, are faid to be, Pf. lxxii. 20.
PAM robur ejus, Mon- FIDD 192 fine, vel
O B's three friends being filenced, and having no more to fay in reply to him, £izbu of whole defcent fome account is given, a by-ftander and hearer of the whole difpute between them, rifes up as a moderator, and expreffes fome warmth both againft them and od, y-. 1—5. he makes an apology for engaging in this controverfy, by reafon of his youth, and they being advanced in years, y. 6,7. but fince there is a {pirit in man, that gives underftanding to men of every age, and old men are not always wife, he defires they would hearken to him whilft he delivered his fentiments on the fubject in debate, ¥. 8, 9, 10. and hopes to be heard patiently, fince he had waited until they had faid all they had to fay, and had clofely attended to it, and which fell fhort of convincing Fod; and this he was obliged to fay, left they fhould be wife in their own conceit, and attribute that to men which belongs to God, ¥. 11, 12, 13. he propofes to take a new method with 7od, different from theirs; and now they hearing all this from a young man, they were filled with amazement, he concluded himfelf to be quit and clear of the charge they had broughragainft him; but they rather, according to our verfion, contain a reafon why they ceafed to anfwer him; becaufe they thought him felf-conceited, felf-willed, obftinate, and incorrigible; not open to conviction, ftiffly infifting on his own innocence, not allowing that he was guilty of any fin or fins, which were the caufe of his afflictions; otherwife in the article of juttification before God Fob was no felf-righteous man, nor was he fo charged by his friends; to fay he was isto abufe his character, and is contrary to that which God himielf has given of him; nor would he have fo highly commended him as to fugeeft there was none like him on earth, when of all men in the world there aré none more abominable to God than a felf-righteous man; fee If. \xv. 4, Luke xvi. 15. and Xviii. 14. trary to Job's knowledge of and faith in Chriff, as his living redeemer, Yob xix. 25. and to many clear and ftrong expreflions, confeffing his fin, difclaiming perfection, and declaring himfelf no felf- while to obferve whether they would fay any thing or no, he determined to take his turn, and fhew his
33: y.2. Then was kindled the wrath of Ekihu the opinion alfo, ¥. 14—17. and the rather becaufe he fon of Barachel rhe Buzite, &c.| Both again Fob was full of arguments, he was defirous to propofe them, and was uneafy until he had brought them out; and which he was refolved todo with all impartiality and integrity, ¥. 18—22.
¥. 1. Sothefe three men ceafed to anfwer Fob, &c.
His three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shubite, and Zophar the Naamathite, who came to vifit and comfort him under his afflictions; but unawares were led into a controverfy with him, occa- and his three friends, for reafons after given; who this perfon was is not eafy to fay; they debafe him too much, who make him to be Balaam the foothfayer, according to the tradition of the Fews*; for neither the time he lived in, nor his character will agree with him; this man living before the times of Balaam; and being alfo a holy, good man, which all his difcourfes fhew: and they too much exalt him who make him to be Chri#; for though fome phrafes being ftrained, may feem to agree with him, fioned by fome rath and impatient expreffions of and fome things in the fignification of his name, his; which controverfy had been carried on between them a confiderable time, but now dropped; they grew weary of it, and now refted themielves as men do on a fabbath, as the word fignifies; they fet themfelves down, and made no reply to 7od’s vindication of himfelf, not caring to give themfelves any further trouble, or labour the point any more and longer, perceiving it was all to no purpote’: or and thefe three men ceafed, &c. the latt words of the preceding chapter are, the words of Fob are ended; and the copulative and connects thefe with them, and fhews that thefe men alfo had done fpeaking; fo that the difpute was clofed between fob and them, and the way was clear for another difputant that might think fit to enter, as Elibu did after-mentioned: Lecaufe be was righteous in bis own byes; fome take this to exprefs the ftate of the queftion between them, rendering the words, that he was righteous, &c‘. Thenotion his friends had of him was, that he was righteous in his own account, and as he profeffed to be, and might fo feem to others:; but was a wicked man, and an hypocrite, as his afflictions fhewed; this point they had been labouring to prove, but upon 7oé’s long and clear vindication of his integrity, they _ceafed to defend it: others fuppofe the words to be an inference of Yob’s from their filence; therefore be was righteous, &c. they making no reply to him f HITY NIM 'D quod ille (tantum) juftus in oculis fuis, Quaft. feu Traditiones in Gen. fol. 69. D.- So Bolducius, and the names of his anceftors, may be thought to anfwer to him; Elibu fignifying, my God is he; the fon of Barachel, the fon of the bleffed God of the kindred of Ram, of the high and holy line; the Buzite, one de/pifed and reproached; yet there are other things that cannot be faid of him, as particularly in ver. 22. and befides, the Meffiah feems to be ipoken of by him as another perfon, ch. xxxiii, 23, 24. it is very probable that he was one of od’s relations that was come to vifit him in his melancholy circumftances, had been a by-{tander, and an hearer of the whole difpute between ob and his friends, with the management of which he was not a little difpleafed; he is defcribed by his defcent, when Job's other three friends are not, becaufe he was a young man, and not known as they were: and this feryes to fhew the truth of this hiftory, that it is not a mere apologue, or fable, but a real fact; though who his father Barachel the Buzite was, cannot eafily be determined; it is probable he was a de- (cendant of Buz, the fon of Nabor, Abrabam’s brother, Ge. xxil. 20, 21. Of this opinion are Aben Ezra and Ben Gerfom; unlefS it can be thought he was fo called from the city Buz, of which he might be an inhabitant, mentioned a with Dedaz and Tema, places in Edom or Idumea, where or near to which ‘od lived: of the kindred of Ram; according to the Targum, of the kindred of _ Abrabam, Schmidt, T.Hierof. Sotah, fol. one ms, <a, whe 4
Abrakam, in which it is ‘followed by other Yewi/2 declares his ignorance of that correction, and ob- writers"; and fome even take him to be J/zac, the fon of Abraham'; Aben Ezra thinks he is the fame with Ram the father of Amminadab, Ruth ‘iv. 19. but he is abundantly too late for this man to be of his kindred; others take him to be the fame with Aram, the fon of Kemuel, a brother of Buz, Gen. xxii. 21. thefe names being ufed for one another, either by adding or removing a letter; fee Mait. i. 3. compared with Ruth iv. 19. againft Job was his wrath kindled, becaufe be juftified bimfelf rather than God; not that he made himfelf more juft than God, he could never think or fay fo, fee ch.iv. 17. nor that he was juft before him or by him; for he was fo in an evangelic, though not in a legal fenfe,; and £/zhu would not have been difpleafed with him, for afferting that; he did not deny that Fob was a righteous man in the fight of God; nor that he was righteous, and in the right in the fight of God, with refpect co the controverfy between him and his friends; nor did he blame him for juftifying himfelf from their charges; but that he juttified himfelf more than God; fo the Fewifh writers generally “render it; he fpent more time, and infifted longer on his own juftification, than upon the juftification of God in the dealings of his providence with him; he was more careful of his own character and -reputation than he was of the honour of God, and the glory of his juftice; he faid more for himfelf than he did for God; and this difpleafed Elibuy it gave this good man fome concern, that, though od did not directly charge God with unrighteoufnefs in his dealings withhim, yet by confequence; and he expreffed himfelf in fuch language that would bear fuch a conftruction, whether it was his real fenfe or no; and to hear him complain fo heavily of God, and at the fame time enlarge fo much on his own innocence, and to importune in fo bold and daring a manner to have a hearing of his caufe; thefe things being obferved by Euibu, raifed his choler and indignation. ¥. 3. Allo againft bis three friends was bis wrath kindled, &c.| He did not take part with either fide, but blamed both, and took upon him to be a moderator between them, and deal impartially with them: what highly difpleafed him, and raifed his fpirit againft the three friends of Fob was, because they bad found no anfwer, they were at a lofs for one, for a fufficient one; they had all of them been anfwering him in their turns again and again, but with nothing to the purpofe, not with any thing conclufive and convincing; and particularly they could find, and give no anfwer to Fob’s laft vindication of himfelf: and yet bad condemned Job; as a very wicked man, and an hypocrite, for no other reafon but becaufe he was afflicted; and they ftill perfifted in their fentiment, though od had fo fully cleared himfelf, and put them to entire filence; this exafperated Elibu, to obferve thefe men to retain fo unreafonable a fentiment, to pronounce’ fuch a rafh fentence, and yet could make no reply to obs defence of himéfelf. ‘archi fays, this place is one of the corrections of the Scribes, it having been formerly written God inftead of Fob; as if the fenfe was, that Elibu was provoked with them, becaufe by their filence they had condemned the Lord, not vindicating his honour and glory as became them; but 4éen Ezra ferves, that they that fay fo, knew what was hid
¥. 4. Now Elihu had waited sill Job bad fpoken;
&c.] Made an end of fpeaking, until he had thus exprefled himfelf, she words of Job are ended; and waited likewife until his three friends had faid all they had to fay, and which is here fuppofed and implied, as appears by what follows: decaufe they were elder than he; it may be added from the original text, iz, or as to days'; more days had gone over their heads than over his; they had lived longer in the world than he, and therefore did not take upon him to fpeak till they had done; he, as became a young man, was fwift to hear,. and.flow to fpeak; that they were old men, appears from what Elipbaz fays, ch. xv. 10.
¥. 5. When Elihu jew that there was no anfwer in the mouth of thefe three men, &c.| That could be called an anfwer; nay, when he perceived they were quite nonplufled and filenced, though men of years and experience, and reputed wife and knowing: then his wrath was kindled, his fpirit was itirred up; his heart was hot within him; he burned with anger again{t thofe men; he was all on fire, as it were, and wanted to vent his refentment.
¥.6, And Elihu the fon of Barachel she Buzite anfwered and faid, &c.| Since there was no anfwer inthem, he takes upon him to give one himfelf s but firft makes an apology on account of his youth:
Tam young, and ye are very old, or few of days; a few days, comparatively fpeaking, had he lived in - the world; or /mall, or little as to days™s; he had been but a little time in it, and fo could be thought to have but little knowledge and experience; whereas they were old, even very old; with them were the aged and the grey-headed, ch. xv. to. in whom it might have been expected was much wifdom and knowledge: wherefore I was afraid, and durft not foew mine opinion; declare what knowledge he had of the things‘in difpute, left it fhould appear mean, {mall, and contemptible; or give his fentiments concerning them, left he fhould fpeak wrong, and not only give offence, but do more hurt than good: the firft of thefe words in the 4- rabic language", as Aben Ezra obferves, fignifies to go back; it is ufed of worms, which, thro’ fear, withdraw themfelves from men; fo mean an opinion had he of himfelf, and fuch a fenfe of his own weaknefs, that it not only kept him back, but even caufed him to draw back, and keep out of the difpute, and at a diftance from it,’ inftead of being forward to engage in it: one Yewi/h commentator * paraphrafes it ** | humbled myfelt as one that goes on his belly;” referring to worms that go low and creep upon their belly, or to the proftrate pofture of men that humble themfelves to their fuperiors. ¥. 7. I faid, days fhould fpeak, &c.} That is, men of days, of many days, who have lived many days and years in the world: man,in common is but of few days, even the moft that men arrive to; are but few; and fome indeed are very few, in comparifon of whom others may be faid to be men of days, or to have lived many days; and to fuch it belongs to fpeak, it is their place, nor fhould they be prevented or interrupted; it fhould be allowed them to fpeak, nor fhould they be hindered; and - is thei?
their duty to fpeak and inftruét juniors, and all that are under them; and it might be’ reafonably expected, that when they {peak it will be to the purpofe, and to profit and edification: and multitude of years foould teach wifdoms; that is, fuch over whom many years have pafled; thefe it may be thought, having had an opportunity of making their obfervation on things, and of increafing experience, and of treafuring up a ftock of knowledge, they fhould be very capable of, and indeed, the only fit pérfons to teach others wifdom; either natural wifdom, or the knowledge of natural things; or divine wifdom, the knowledge of God, of his perfections and providences; and inward, {piricual, and evangelical wifdom, which lies in the knowledge of a man’s felf; in the knowledge of God in Chrift; in the knowledge of Chri and of the gofpel of Chrift, and the truths of it: this was a fentiment E/ibu had entertained of ancient men, and this had reftrained him from entering fooner into this debate between Fob and his friends; they all being his fuperiors in age, and as from thence he judged, in wifdom and knowledge alfo.
y¥.8. But there is a /pirit in man, &c.] This feems to be a correction of his former fentiment 5 the confideration of which gave him encouragement, though young, to declare his opinion, fiance there is a {pirit in men, both young and olds; and wherever that be, there is an ability to fpeak, and a capacity of teaching wifdom; which is not tied to age, but may be found in young men as well as in old men: fome by this underftand the rational foul, or fpirit, which is immaterial, immortal, is of God, and is in man; and the rather it is thought this is meant, becaufe it is in every man, whereby he has knowledge of many things, natural and divine, and particularly is capable of trying and judging things, of difcerning the dif ference between one thing and another, and of reafoning and difcourfing upon them; and this being wobferved by Elihu, and he being confcious to himfelf of having fuch a fpirit in him, was emboldened to engage in the debate, though a young man; but if fuch a fpirit is meant, the words may be rendered to fuch a fenfe, verily, truly, indeed there is fuch a rational /pirit in man, which makes him capable of knowing many things, but the in/piration of the Almighty, &c°. it is not owing to the rational powers and faculties of the foul of man, and the ufe of them, that a man becomes capable of teaching others wifdom; but to his foul or fpirit. being infpired by the Almighty; and fuch a one be he young or old, that God breathes into, and he is under his infpiration, he is the man fit to engage in fuch work: though I rather think, that in this firft claufe the Spirit of God is meant, and fo Farchi; who is an increated, infinite, and eternal Spirit; is of God, and is put into men; for he is not in men naturally, nor in every one; and where he is, he is given, and there he abides; and it is from him men have their wifdom and knowledge; it is he that makes men know themfelves, that fearches the deep things of God, and reveals them to men, and that is the fpirit of wifdom and revelation in the knowledge of Chrif?, and leads into all truth, as it is in him; though rather the {pirit in his gifts, than in his {piritual faving grace is here meant; and fo does not point to every good man in common,
B. Ch. XXX. y¥. S—=F Ie Spirit fuperior to others; and fo the Targum interprets it of the fpirit of prophecy; and on whony foever this refts, whether on young or old, he is fit to teach men wifdom: and the infpiration of the
' Almighty giveth them underfianding; not the foul of man, or breath of God infpired by him, which is the candle of the Lord, fearching the inward parts of men; for that leaves him without underftanding of things of the greateft importance: rather as the Targum, the Word of God, the effential Word, the Son of God, who gives an underftanding of the beft things, 1 Yobn, v. 20. but better, the Spirit of God, by whom the {criptures were
‘infpired, and who is breathed into men, Yobn, xx.
21. and is a fpirit of underftanding to them; for though a man has an underftanding of natural things, yet not of things fpiritual; to have an underftanding of them is the fpecial gift of God, and is in particular the work of the Spirit of God: Elibu now having fome reafon to believe that he had the Spirit of God, and was under his infpiration, and was favoured with knowledge and underftand-
‘ing by him, is encouraged, though young, to in-.terpofe in this difpute between Fob iid hie friends, and declare his opinion on the matter in debate - and which leads him to make an obfervation fomewhat different from his former fentiment, as follows. ¥. 9. Great men are not always wife, &c.} Men of grandeur and dignity, as ¥0d’s friends might be, the rich, the honourable, and noble; the apo- {tle is thought to refer to this, at leaft to exprefs the fentiment contained init, 1 Cor. i.26. or the
‘great in quantity, the many, the multitude; and therefore are not to be followed in principle or practice; or that are great in years, well ftricken in age, have lived long in the world, fo fome verfions »; or are doctors, teachers of others, mafters in [/rael, as Nicodemus, and yet ignorant; all thefe
}may be wife in natural, civil, and worldly things, though this is not always the cafe; but not wife and knowing in divine and fpiritual things, particularly in thofe refpeéting the caufes and reafons of God’s providential dealings with men, affli&tin the righteous, and fuffering the wicked to profper which is more fully explained in the next claufe: neither do the aged underftand judgment; what is right and wrong, the difference between truth and error, and particularly the judgments of God, which are unfearchable, and his ways paft finding
‘out; even fo to underftand them as to obferve and acknowledge his fovereignty, wi and faithfulnefsin them.: ‘0 ace
¥. 10. Therefore I faid, hearken to me, &c.} Thou, O Fob, and every one of you his friends for the word is fingular; though I am but a young, man, yet if I have the Spirit of God, and am under the infpiration of the Almighty, I may be able to fay fomething to you worth your hearing: I alfo will foew mine opinion; for though for a while he was timorous and fearful of doing it, left he fhould miftake and expofe himfelf, yet having duly weighed and confidered the above things, he was determined to do it,
¥. 11. Bebold I waited for your words, 8&c.} With great defire, with great eagernefs and earneftnefs, in hope of meeting with arguments fully fa-— tisfying and convincing; he waited for them, as but to fuch who are favoured with the gifts of the for the rain, and the latter rain, to be revived, re-
‘: > I) mr it “« men of not great time may be wife, as the old colecheubae right.”
- frethed, and edified therewith; and he patiently - waited until they had done fpeaking: I gave ear to your reafons, or underfiandings*; endeavoured to get into the fenfe and meaning of their words; not only attended to what they did fay, but to what he thought they meant to fay: fome are not fo happy in their expreffions; and yet, by what they do fay, with clofe attention it may be underftood what they aim at, what is their drift and defign; this Elihu was careful to attain unto, not barely to hear their words, but penetrate, if poffible, into their meaning: whilf ye fearched out what to fay; for they did not make their replies to Hod immediately, and fay what came uppermoft at once, but they took time to think of things, and to fearch out for the moft.forcible arguments to refute Fo, and ftrengthen their caufe 5 it is very probable they made a paufe at the end of every fpeech of 7od’s, and confidered what was proper to be faid in reply, and perhaps confulted each other.
v.12. Yea, I attended unto you, &c.] Very clofely, with great application and diligence, endeavouring to get, as it were, within them, and thoroughly underftand the meaning of what they faid: and bebold there was none of you that convinced Fob; which was not owing to his obftinacy, but to want of proof in them, their words and arguments; they had charged. 7od highly, as particularly £/zphaz, ch. xxii. 5; 6, 7, 8,9. but then they failed in their proof; they produced nothing to fupport their allegations: or that anfwered bis words; the arguments and reafons he gave in proof of his own innocence and uprightnefs, or the inftances he produced, fhewing that God often afflicted good men, and fuffered the wicked to profper; and therefore no argument could be drawn from God’s dealings with men, proving they were either of this or the other character, good or bad men.
y.13. Left ye foould fay, we have found out wif- is if Connection with the former, either that they found it was the wifeft method they could take with Fo) to be filent, and leave him to himfelf, left they fhould add to his affli€tion; to which Farchi inclines, who paraphrafes it, ** we found wifdom by our filence, that we may’nt provoke him any, more;” which, if their fenfe, fhews more tendernefs and compaffion than they had hitherto exprefied, and anfwers pretty much to the advice given 2 Cor, ii. 6, 7. or elfe their meaning is; that they found it the beft and wifeft way to leave him with God, he being fo obftinate and incortigibles that none but God could move him; it was not in the power of men, or of words ufed by men, to make him fenfible of things; or rather the meaning is, Eiibu was obliged to tell them, that none of them had convinced od, of anfwered his arguments, left they fhould fay, we have found outa wife and ftrong argument, proving the charge brought againft him, that he muft be a wicked man and an hypocrite, fince God has fo forely af flicted him, and thruft him down from all his grandeur and dignity; which no man could ever have done, and God would not, if he had not been the man we fuppofe him to be; now Eiibu’s view is to obferve to them, that there was nothing in this argument convincing, in which they imagined fo much wifdom lay. °/0d’s afflictions indeed were of God, and not men; and which he often owns himfelf; but this was no proof or argument of his being a wicked man: Mr. Broughton renders the words, ** The Omnipotent doth tofs him, not man.”
y. 14. Now be hath not direfted his words againft me, &c.| Thatis, Fob had not directed his fpeech to him, or levelled his areuments againft him; he had not fet himfelf and his words in battle array againft him, as the word fignifies; he had not lafhed and irritated him as he had them; and there= dom, &c.] They were left to themfelves, and not direéted to take the proper methods of convincing Fob, and an{wering his arguments; left they fhould be wife in their own conceits, and attribute much to themfelves; “or E/#hu told them this, that they had not convicted Fob, though they had condemned him, nor anfwered his arguments, though they had left off fpeaking; and this he was obliged to fay, and that for the reafon before obferved: for all wifdom is of God, and not to be found out, or acquired by men; not natural wifdom, that is not of men, but of God, and efpecially fupernafore he came into the difpute calm and unprovoked, having nothing in view but truth, the glory of God, and the good of ¥ob; and therefore hoped toojfor better fuccefs than they had had: neither will I an/wer him with your /peeches; he propofed to take a new and different method from them, as he dids for he never charges ‘fob with any fin or fins, or a }courfe of living in a finful manner, before thofe afflictions came upon him, and as the caufe of them 5 he only takes notice of what was amifs in him fince his afflictions, and what dropped from him in the heat of this controverfy, rafh and unbecoming tural wifdom, or the knowledge of divine and fpiritual things, and the reafon of God’s dealings with the fons of men in the different manner he fpeeches, which reflected upon the honour and juftice of God; and if he made ufe of any words and arguments fimilar to their’s, yet to another purpofe;
him down, not man: fome think Eiibu fays this in reference to himfelf, whom God would make ufe of as an inftrument to convince ¥cb and anfwer his
¥.15. They were amazed, &c.} They were like perfons thunder-ftruck, quite furprized and aftonifhed to hear a young man talk after this manner:
arguments; and that he would afcribe this not to himfelf but to God; they took a natural way to convince od, which failed, that they might not be proud of their own wifdom; he fhould take a more divine and fpiritual method, and if he fucceeded, he fhould give all the glory to God, and afcribe ¢hey anfwered no more; as they had ceafed to anfwer 7od, they did not undertake to anfwer Elibu, who had plainly told them their arguments were not convincing; their anfwers were no anfwers, and that they had done a wrong thing in condemning ‘%od without proof; and that which they thought nothing to himfelf: as in the conviétion and converfion of a finner, though minifters are inftruments, it is not by might or power of men, but by the Spirit of the Lord‘of hofts; it is God that thrutts down man from a vain opinion he has of himfelf; that convinces him of fin, that takes him off of his own righteoufnefs, and humbles him, and lays him low at his feet: but they rather feem to be the words be departed from them.”
of Yob’s friends, as related by Elibu; and the fenfe * their greateft wifdom and ftrongeft argument, had no wifdom nor ftrength in it; namely, which was taken from his fore afflictions by the hand of God: they left off [peaking; or words departed from them; as Farchi; their fpeech left them, they feemed deprived of it: Mr. Broughton renders the wholes ‘¢ they fhrink away, do fpeak no more; fpeeches
¥.16. When I had waited, &c.] To obferve whether they would make any reply to what he had: faid, or any objection to his engaging in the controverfy: for they fpake not; were as mute as fifhes, but fiood fill, like ftatues, had no power to!move. neither to fit down nor to depart; but were as if all life, fenfe, and motion were gone from them: and anfwered no more; or not at all; for it does not appear that they had given him any an{wer before, as well as not now.
y.17. I faid I will anfwer alfo my part, &c.) Or take his turn in giving an anfwer to 7ob; what they had given being quite infufficient and unfuitable: I alfo will foew mine opinion; knowledge, or
-fentiment; this for a while he was fearful of doing, but upon a thorough and ferious confideration of things, he determined upon it, and now repeats it, to aflure he would do it; the reafons of which follow.
y.18. For I am full of matter, &c.| Or full of qwords*’; not of mere words, fuch that have nothing folid and fubftantial in them; this is the charater of a fool, Eccl. x. 14. nor was Elihu a loquacious, talkative man, as od is charged to be, a man full of talk, ch. xi. 2. but he was full of words, which had fulnefs of matter in them, which were to the purpofe, and contained ftrong reafonings and folid arguments 3 his mind was full of them, and he could eafily fill his mouth with them, and was not eafy until he had uttered them: fo an able minifter of the word may be faid to be full of words, of the wholfome words of our Lord Jefus, of ufeful doctrines, when the word of Cbrifi dwells richly in him, and he has a rich treafure in an earthen veffel, is full of the bleffing of the gofpel of Chri; has a large knowledge of gofpel truths, a real experience of them in the heart, great gifts to exprefs them to others, and is full of power and of the Spirit of God, to declare them as this good man was: the Spirit within me conftraineth me, or the fpirit of my belly*; alluding to wind pent up therein, which, unlefs expelled, gives great uneafinefs and pain: he either means the Spirit of God within him, as in ver. 8. by whom the prophets were infpired and fpoke, by whom ordinary minifters of the word are qualified for their work, and by whom they are led into all truth, and who preffles and obliges them to fpeak what they know; there is a neceflity upon them to preach the gofpel wholly and faithfully, and a woe unto them if they do not: or elfe hisown fpirit, influenced and aétuated by the Spirit of God; as the fpirit of the apoftle Paul was ftirred up in him to fpeak, when he faw the idolatry and fuperftition of the people of Athens, Adis xvii. 16. fo love to God and Corift, and the fouls of men, the honour of God, and intereftof religion, conftrain the minifters of Chri? to fpeak in his name, notwithftanding all the oppofition made unto them, and reproach caft upon yr. 19. Behold my belly is as wine, which hath no vent, &c.} Or, is not opened*, like a bottle of wine, as-Ben Gerfom, which is ftopt clofe, and the
“wine in it new; which is moft apt to ferment, and fhould have vent given it; fo the Targum, “‘ as
“© new wine, which is not opened:” in the fame manner farchi and Bar ‘zemach interpretit; in thefe words, Eiibu illuftrates by a metaphor taken from new wine put into bottles and clofe {topt, what he perfon, &c.] Neither the perfon of of ae shade and affliction, eR Latch |to pity and commiferation, and affecting to get a good name from others for it; nor the perfon 0 his had before more literally and properly exprefied, and fo in the following claufe: it is ready to burft like new bottles; or perhaps it may be better rendered, like botiles of new wine’; for new bottles — are not fo apt to burft as old ones, and efpecially when they have mew wine in them; the bottles of the ancients, and in the eaftern countries, being made of fkin, which better agrees with what our Lord fays, Mats. ix. 17. by his belly he means his mind, which was full of matter, and that matter he compares to new wine in bottles, clofely ftopped, which need vent, and are in danger of burfting: the doétrine of the gofpel is like to wine, Cant. vii. g. to wine neat and clean, being free from all human mixtures; to wine of a good flavour and pleafant tafte, as the gofpel is to thofe whofe tafte is changed; to generous wine, which revives, and refrefhes, and comforts; all which effeéts the doctrines of the gofpel have, when attended with a divine influence: and it may be compared to new wine; not that itis a né¢w and upftart doétrine, it is the everlafting gofpel,; made known immediately on the fall of Adam, and was ordained be- — fore the world for our glory; but becaufe it is newly, or of late under the gofpel-difpenfation, more clearly revealed: minifters of the word are like veffels, into which it is put; they are but veffels, even earthly veffels, and have nothing but what is put into them; and they are like veffels, {topped up, when they are ftraitened in themfelves, or fhut up by the Lord, that they cannot come forth freely in their miniftry, and when any outward re- ~ ftraint is laid upon them by perfecuting magiftrates, and when there is. no open door for them in providence; which gives them great pain and uneafinefs, and let the confequence be what it will, they are weary of forbearing, and cannot ftay, but muft {peak the things they fee and know; fee Yer. xx. g. Ads iv. 18, 20.
¥.20. I will {peak that I may be refrefoed, &c.] That his mind might be made eafy; the matter it was full of Jay with much weight upon it, prefied him hard, and gave him pain; and therefore he determines to {peak his mind, and difburthen: himfelf: fo a minifter of the word fpeaks fometimes to the refrefhment of others, the gofpel being a word in feafon to weary fouls, bread to the hungry drink to the thirfty, even wine to them that are of an heavy heart; and efpecially it is refrefhing when the love of God is fhed abroad in the heart through it, and the prefence of God is enjoyed under it - and fometimes he {peaks to the refrefhment of him- {lf with others, Rom. xv. 32. and whether it be fo one or the other, yet a faithful minifter eafes his mind, difcharges his confcience, and is clear from the blood of all, when he truly and fully declares the whole counfel of God, fo far as he is acquainted with it: J will open my lips and anfwer; {peak freely and boldly what was upon his mind, and he had to fay, and which he judged would be a fufficient an{wer to Yod; the opening of his lips is a phrafe ufed by him in allufion to the opening of a bottle, full of new wine, the metaphor before exprefled by him..
y. 21. Let me not I pray you accept any man’s
three friends, on account of their’ wealth andthe grandeur; for neither the perfons of the poor, of the rich, are to be regarded in judgment, or the decifion of any matter between them, but truth and juftice are to be attended to; fee Exod* xxiii. 3. Lev. xix.15; Elibu was determined with fenfeis, that he would not hide a man’s name nor!under epithets, but call him by his proper name 3 infhe would not do as they had done by 0b, whounder covert names meant him; as when they defcribed a wicked man, and an hypocrite, defigned him, but did not fay fo in exprefs words; now himfelf not to refpeét the perfon of any, and he hopes that ¥od and his friends would bear with him, and excufe him on that account: xeither let me give flattering titles unto men, he does not mean titles of civil. honour and refpect, which belong to men, and are in common ufe among men, according to the different ftations of life men are in; for honour is to be given to whom it is due; and it is no piece of flattery to give men their proper and ufual titles, as it was not in the evangelift’ Lwke, and in the apoftle Paul, Luke i. 3. Aéts xxvi. 25. but he means fuch titles that don’t belong to men, and are unfuitable unto them, and only given them by way of flattery; as to call a man wife and prudent when he is the reverfe; or a holy, juft, and good man, when he is a very wicked one. Liibu was refolved not to act fuch a part, and he hopes the perfons he had to deal with would not take it amifs that he fpake his mind plainly and freely, and called a fpade a fpade; nor muft they or any other expect to be complimented by him with the characters of wife and prudent, juft and good, if they did not appear tohimto be fo. According to Ben Gerfom
N this chapter Elibu addrefles od himfelf, and I intreats his attention to what he had to fay to him, and offers feveral things to induce him to it; and ee, | a as one that was according to his wifh, in the ftead of God, a man like himfelf, and of whom he had no reafon to be afraid, y. 1—7. and then he brings a charge againfthim of things which he himfelf had heard, of words that had dropped. from him in the courfe of his controverfy with his friends;. in which he too much and too ftrongly infifted on his own innocence and purity, and let fall very undue and unbecoming reflections on the dealings of God with him, y. $—11. to which he gives an anfwer by obferving the fuperior greatnefs of God to man, and his fovereignty over him, not being accountable to him for-any thing done by him; and therefore man fhould be filent and fubmiffive to him, y. 12, 13. and yet though he is fo great and fo abfolute, and uncontroulable, and is not obliged to give an account of his affairs to man, and the reafons of them; yet he condefcends by various ways and means to inftruét him in his mind and will,
Elibu fuggefts, that fhould ¥od or they appear to him to have acted a wrong part, he fhould tell them plainly of it, and fay thou art the man.
y.22. For I know not to give flattering titles, &c.} He had not been brought up in fuch a manner, nor taught to ufe them; he had not been inured to them, nor did he know or approve of them 3 nor could he in confcience give them, In fo doing, my maker would foon take mé away, it being fucha piece of wickednefs, fo abominable to him, and fo highly refented by him, that I might juftly expect he would, as he could, ftrike me dead at once; juft as Ananias and Sapphira were ftruck dead for lying: or he knew that it would be but a fhort time at moft, and he fhould be taken out of the world by death, when he muft appear before his maker, his judge, to whom he muft give an account of his words, as well as actions; the awe of this being continually on his mind, would not admit him to flatter any man, Some render it will burn me“, as in 2 Sam. v. 21. fo: dben Ezra and Ben Gerfom, that is, in hell-fire; fee Pf xii. 2, 3.
which is frequently the defign and the ufe that he makes. of chaftening difpenfations, y. 23—30. and the chapter is concluded with befeeching 70d to mark and confider well what had been faid unto him; and to anfwer it if he could or thought fit 5 if not, filently to attend to what he had further to fay to him for his inftruction, y¥. 31, 32, 33.
¥.1. Wherefore Fob I pray thee hear my {peeches, &c.] In the preceding chapter, E/ibu directed his difcourfe to the three friends of od chiefly, here to Fob himfelf, and that by name; which none of his friends in all their difcourfes ever ufed; and in an humble fuppliant manner intreats his attention to what he was about to deliver, andthat for reafons which his addrefs to his friends could furnifh him with; and hence begins his fpeech with wherefore, feeing he took not the part of his three friends, but-blamed them; and becaufe he had the Spirit of God in him, and was full of matter, and uneafy until he had vented it; and which he propofed to deliver in a plain and faithful manner, with fincerity and without flattery; on all which accounts and even by thofe very things complained of; and therefore fhould not be treated as if unkind and unfriendly to men; fometimes he does it by dreams and vifions, when he opens the ears of men, and feals inftruétion to them, and with this view reftrain them from their evil purpofes and doings, and to weaken their pride and humble them, and { preferve them from ruin, y. 14—18. and fometimes by chaftening and afflictive providences, which are defcribed ¥. 19—22. and which become teaching ones; through the interpofition of a divine meffenger, and upon the afflicted man’s prayer to God, and humiliation before him, God is grahe befeeches him to give him a diligent and attentive hearing: end hearken to all my words 5 not to fome of them only, but to all; he befpeaks his can - did and conftant attention, that he would bear him tojout, all that he had to fay, with patience, and without interruption; and then judge of the truth, force, and pertinency of them; which he would not fo well be able to do, unlefs he heard them all; for fometimes the proof, the evidence, and demonftration of a thing depends not on a fingle argument, but upon many put together; each of them alone being infufficient, at leaft may appear fo, when all confidered together give full fatisfaction.
cious and favourable to him, and delivers him; y. 2.
Begun to fpeak in order to give vent to the fulnefs of matter within him, which madehim, like bottles of new wine, ready to burft; and fince he had opened his lips, that he might fpeak and be refrefhed, he defires Foe to liftento him, and offers fome things to his confideration to induce him to it: my tongue hath fpoken in my mouth; but does not every man’s tongue fpeak in his mouth when he fpeaks? is there any thing fingular and peculiar in this, that can excite attention? it may be rendered, in my palate*; which, as it is an inftrument of fpeech, fo of tafting and trying food, fee ch. vi. 30. and xii. 11. and Eiibu’s fenfe is, that he had thoroughly confidered what he fhould fay, he had well weighed what he fhould fpeak, and fhould not deliver any thing raw, crude, and indigefted; he had palated his words, in order to difcern whether there was any thing in them perverfe or no.
yy. 3. My words fhall be of the uprightne/s of my heart, &c.] Not that the uprightnefs of his heart, or his own perfonal integrity, fhould be the fubject of his difcourfe; but what he fhould fay would be in or out of the uprightnefs of his heart, with all fincerity and faithfwhnefs; what would be the real fentiments of his mind, and not proceed from a double or infincere heart: and my lips fhail utter knowledge clearly; what knowledge he had of God, and of the perfections of his nature, and of his works in nature and grace, and of his dealings in a providential way with the fons of men; and what knowledge he had of Chri, his perfon, office, and grace, fomewhat of which he fpeaks in this chapter; and fuch fort of knowledge is to be uttered, y. 2. Bebold now I have opened my mouth, &c.| hence regeneration, and renewing of the Holy 7
Ghoft, are put together; and being a work of al- ~ mighty power, is a proof of the deity of the Spirit of God; it is he that quickens men when dead in’ trefpafles and fins, and makes them alive to God; which appears by their fpiritual breathings after divine things, and by the exercife of their fpiritual fenfes, and by their performance of {piritual actions; and now £libu, being a man regenerated and quickened by the Spirit, might more juftly claim the attention of od, fince what he fhould fay was what he had heard, felt, and feen, as a good man, one that had an experience of divine and {piritual things. ¥.5. If thou can’ft anfwer me, &c.] That is, when he had done fpeaking, after he had heard him out; if he thought he could make a reply to him, he gave him full liberty fo to do, and tacitly fuggefts that he fhould give him an attentive and candid hearing, as he had requefted of him: /et thy words in order before me; put them into the - beft form and order thou canft for thy felf-defence, and level them at me; fet them, as it were, in battel-array again{t me; give them all the poignancy, ftrength, and force thou art capable of: frand Up; not out of veneration to him, but to denote freedom and boldnefs in himfelf; a prefentation of himfelf with boldnefs, and ftanding and keeping his ground: the expreffions are military; Mr. Broughton renders it, /tand to it. 4 ¥.6. Bebold Lam according to thy wifh in God’s ead, &c.] So fome perfons are, as civil magiftrates, the minifters of the Word, the prophets of the Old Teftament, and the apoftles of the New; fee 2 Cor. v. 20. and fo in fome fenfe was E to be publifhed, and made known to the good of ibu; he undertakes to be an advocate for God, to vindicate others; and not to be concealed, and hid, or held as ina prifon in unrighteoufnefs; and to be uttered clearly, plainly, and diftinétly, in words intelligible, and eafy to be underftood; and not in ambiguous terms, or in words of a double meaning; or which are abftrufe and intricate, and ferve rather to make the myfteries of providence and grace more dark and ob{cure, than to explain them; integrity of heart, and perfpicuity of language, ferve much to recommend a fpeaker, and both are exprefied in this verfe.
y¥.4, The Spirit of God hath made me, &c.] As a man 3 fo every man is made by God, and not by himfelf; Father, Son, and Spirit, are his Makers or Creators, as we read of them in the plural number, Pf. cxlix, 2. Eecl. xii. 1. and this is a proof of the deity of the Spirit, who was not only concerned in the creation of all things, garnifhing the heavens, and moving upon the face of the waters on the earth, but in the formation of man: and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life; the fame with the Spirit of God, the allufion is to the creation of man at firft, when God breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living foul: life natural is from God, he is the God of our life, he gives all the mercies of life, and by him is this life preferved; and the ‘whole is the effect of Almighty power: now this is obferved by Elibu to Fob, to encourage him to attend to him without fear, fince he was a man, a creature of God, -as he was: it may be underftood of his fpiritual formation, the Spirit of God re-makes men, or makes them new men, new creatures; this is done in regeneration, which is the work of the holy Spirit;
his juftice in his dealings with the children of men, and clear him from the charge of feverity towards them, and hard ufage of » and particularly Job; and whom he befought, as in God’s ftead, to be reconciled to his providential dealings with him to bear his afflictions patiently, and wait the iffue of them: or J am as thou art; fo the TZ: argum and Ben Gerfom interpret it; one that belongs to God, a creature of God’s, a finful frail mortal creature, as ‘fob was, and accountable to God; one that belonged tohim both as the God of nature and providence, and of grace; and fuch an one Fob feemed to have wifhed for, to difpute the point in queftion with; fee ch. ix. 32, 33. Lal/o am formed out of the clay; or cut out * of it; alluding to the potter, who out of a mafs or lump of clay before him, cutsia piece out of it, to make a veflel of. God is the potter, men are as clay. in his hands, their bodies are bodies of clay, houfes of clay, which have their foundation in the duft; reference may be had to the original formation of man, and may denote not fo much the pollution of his nature, clay being defiling, but the frailty of man, a veffel made of clay being brittle, and eafily broken; fee ch, iv. 1g. and x. 9. and xiii, 12. Jf Ixiv. 8. ‘.7. Bebold my terror fhall not make thee afraid, &c.] To come near, join iffue in a debate, and {peak freely; this ob had withed for, and defired of God that his fear might not terrify him, and his dread not make him afraid, and then he could talk and reafon freely with him, ch. ix. 34, 35, _ and xiii. 21, 22. now ¥ob had nothing to fear from Elibu, he was a man and not God, with whom there was no terrible majefty, as with God; he _ was but 4 clod of clay, and had nothing in him or about him to ftrike terror into him; he was no great perfonage, as a king or prince, nor in any civil authority, nor had fo much as age to command an awe, much lefs could inject dread and terror: neither fhall my band be heavy upon thee; which is not to be literally underftood.; ‘fod could be in no fear of that, nor L/ibu guilty of fuch rudenefs; but figuratively, that he fhould not feek to affiiét and diftrefs him, or add to his affliction, and make it heavier, by hard words, fevere reflections, and cruel reproaches; he feems to refer to ch. xiii. 21. the Largum isy ** my burden upon thee fhall not be heavy;” he promifes not to ageravate things, but make them as eafy.as they would admit of.
¥. 8. Surely thou haft {poken in mine hearing, Sc.) After the above preface, Eiihu proceeds to the point in hand, and enters a charge againft od; which he took up, not upon fulpicion, and furmifings, nor upon report, nor upon accufations: received from others, but what he had heard with his own ears, unlefs he was greatly miftaken indeed, which he thought he was not: and I have beard the voice of thy words; the found of them, clearly and diftinétly, and took in the fenfe of them, as he really believed, faying as follows.
¥. 9. Lam cleag without tranfgreffion, &c.) This with what follows is fippofed to be gathered from ch. x. 6, 7. and xiii. 23, and xxvii. 5, 6. for this is no where faid by ‘fod in exprefs words; though rather think fince E/ibu fo peremptorily affirms that they were fpoken in his hearing, that thefe words andthe following did drop from oé’s lips, in the controverfy with his friends, though not recorded; for we are not to fuppofe that every thing that was {aid on both fides is preferved, only fo much as the Holy Gho ught fit fhould be: no manis naturally clean, or free from fin; man came clean out of the hands of God, by fin is become un- This impurity is propagated by natural generation, and is in all without exception. od exprefies himfelf clearly on this point, and agreeable toit, ch. xiv. 4. nor‘is any man clean by and of himfelf, or through any thing heis capable of doing in a moral, ceremonial, or evangelic fenfe, to make himfelf clean; as by moral actions, by ceremonial ablutions and facrifices, or by fubmiffion to evangelic ordinances, or even by his own tears, repentance, and humiliation. ‘Yod feemed clearly and fully fenfible of this, ch. ix. 30, 31. fee Prov. xx. 9. Fer. ii. 22. yet there are fome perfons that are clean through the blood of Cdrijf, in which they are wafhed, and which cleanfes from all fin; and through the righteoufnefs of Chri/t imputed to them, in which they appear without fpot or wrinkle, or any fuch thing; and through the fentence of juftification pronounced on them, by which word fpoken they are all clean; and through the grace of God beftowed on them, the clean water that is fprinkled upon them, by which they are cleanfed from all filthinefs, and hence faid to have clean hearts, andclean hands; and if od meant it in this fenfe, as he had: knowledge of his living Redeemer, he no doubt was fuch a one: but not without tran'grefion; without tranfgreffion imputed he was, and fitch are all they whofe perfons arejuftified, and their fins pardoned; to thofe
7 + O B. ~ 529 God does not impute fin, P/. xxxii 1, 2. but they. are not without the being nor commiffion of ‘fin; for no man, even the beft of men, are clear of it in this fenfe. ‘ob might be free from the groffer fins of life, but not from indwelling fin, and the pactings of it; we find him confeffing fin; and difclaiming perfection, ch, vii. 20. and ix. 20. Jam innocent; fo he was, as to the charges brought againft him by his friends, or the things it was infinuated he was guilty of, as hypocrify, &c. or as. to doing any injury to the perfons and properties of men, or with refpect to grofs enormities, from which he had fufficiently cleared him(felf in ch. xxxi. but not fo innocent as to be free from all fin, as Adam was in his ftate of innocence, which is contrary to his own declarations in the paflages before referred to; fome, as Aden, Ezra obferves, interpret the word covered‘, and as having the fame fenfe with Pf. xxxii..1. and in which fenfe it was true of Fos, that his iniquities were covered; and others of his being covered with righteoufnefsy with civil righteoufnefs, as in ch. xxix. 14, which was true of the exercife of it; and in an evangelic fenfe he was covered with the juftifying righteoufnefs of Chriff; the Targum renders the word wa/bed; as he was in a fpiritual fenfe. Zarchi interprets it wiped or rubbed, and others combed and, brufhed; and fo eat and clean, whichis the fenfe of feveral verfions ®: neither is there iniquity in mes in a gofpel-fenfe there is none in believers in Chrif? s their iniquities being removed from them to him, and are done away, and made an end of by him; nor are they to be feen with the eye of vindictive juftice; God has caft them behind his back, and into the depths of the fea, never to be feen more but then there is iniquity in them, as confidered in themfelves; for men to fay they have none, fhews pride and ignorance, and is inconfiftent with the truth of grace. If ‘ob is to be wnderftood in thefe expreffions in_an evangelical fenfe, or with refpect to the groffer fins of life, or a vicious courfe of life; and indeed in no other fenfe can he well be underftood confiftent with himfelf; he is not to be blamed for what he faid, and I apprehend that Elibu does not blame him for faying thefe things in his own defence; but for infifting fo much and fo long upon his innocence and purity, and unfpotted life; and efpecially for joining with it undue and unbecoming reflections on the Lord, for afflicting a perfon fo holy and righteous, as follows..
y¥. 10. Behold, he jindeth occafions againft me, &c.] That is, fought in order to find them; fo Job in fome places fuggefts, that God enquired after his fins, and fought diligently after them, that he might have fomething to bring againft him; and becaufe he could not find great fins, grofs enormities, he fought after lefler fins; fo fome render the word, faggerings, totterings*; frailties, failings,. and infirmities; and becaufe he could find none of late of a very heinous nature, he went back as far as the fins of his youth; fee ch. x. 6. and xiii. 26. and this in order to pick a quarrel with him; and fo Mr. Broughton renders the words, Jo, he picketh quarrels againft me; or that he might have juft reafon to depart from him, or to break from him, or to break off friendfhip with him, or to break him to pieces in his eftate, family, and health; all which fenfes fome obferve the words will bear: but it would be needlefs for God to feek in ofder to occafions ‘againft men; there is enough ready at find Maker, the clay againft the potter; how abfurdand ftupid is this? and a piece of weaknefs and folly ic was in him to defire to litigate the point — hand, the fins that are about them; and to reprefent the Lord as dealing thus with good men, is to reprefent him as acting contrary to the declarations and methods of his grace; yea, as doing what wicked men do to good men, as the enemies of David, Daniel, and Jeremiah, did to them; nay, even as Satan himfelf does, who goes about and feeks for, and picks up accufations againft the faints; this muft be owned to be a very irreverent and unbecoming expreffion of 0d’s, and for which he deferved tobe fharply rebuked, as well as for fome following ones, and for which he afterwards was thoroughly humbled: he coanteth me for bis enemy; this he had often faid, but very wrongly; fee ch.
with God, and difpute with him, as he often did, when men cannot anfwer him one of a thoufand, as he himfelf owned, ch. ix. 3, 4. and very finful. and criminal it is to chide with God, or complain of him, om account of any of his dealings with, the fons of men, as well as it is vain and fruitlefs z or he giveth not account of any of bis matters; he is. a fovereign being, and does what he pleafes in nature, providence, and grace, and is not accountable to any for what he does; in things temporal, he does all after the counfel of his will; he beftows riches and honours, wealth and health, gifts of natural wifdom and knowledge on fome, and withxiii, 24.- and xvi. g, and xix, 11. and the notes holds them from others; and each of thefe are his there, own, and he may do with them as he pleafes = y. 11. He putteth my feet in the flocks, &c.}\ This alfo he had faid, ch. xiii. 27. by which he| would fuggeft.not only that his afflictions were painful ard difgraceful, and from which he not extricate himfelf, being clofe fettered by them; but that they were infli€ted on him as puniflyments, and he was treated as a criminal, as a malefactor, who had been guilty of fome notorious breach of the law: be marketh all my paths; looked narrowly at them, numbered and counted them; he had faid, ch. xiii. 27. and xiv. 16. and xxxi. 4. meaning not only his natural and eivil paths and fteps, but his moral ones, that he could not ftep the leaft awry, but prefently it was marked and obferved, ch. x. 14. but though God does take notice of the finsof his people, and chaftifes them for them, yet he does not mark them in ftri¢t juftice, for fhould he, they could not ftand before o likewife in things fpiritual, he loves, chufés, redeems, regenerates, calls by his grace, and brings to glory whom he thinks fit; the bleffings of grace couldjand glory are his own, and he difpofes of them as. feems good in his fight; and in all refpeéts he ats according to his will in. heaven and inearth; none can ftay his hand, or hinder him from doing his pleafure; and none ought to fay to him, what doft thou? or why doft thou thus? orif they do, he this alfojis not ebliged to give any reafons for his fo doing. Some take this to be the thing ed ftrove and contended with God about, that he did not, and becaufe he did not give an ‘account of all his matters, or anfwer all his words; and particularly he did not fhew to him wherefore he contended with him 3 and others think the meaning is, that God does not reveal all his fecrets to men, but only as much as he thinks fit to acquaint them with; fecret him, P/- cxxx. 3. things belong to him, and things revealed to men;
y. 12. Behold, in this thou art not juft, &c.) Here begins E/ibu’s anfwer, who does not deny that Zod was ajuft man, both before God in anjthe evangelic fenfe, and before men in a moral fenfe; he did not go about to detraé&t from 7od’s general character, as a man that lived foberly, righteoufly, and godly inthe world; but in this he was notjuft, nor is it to be juftified, with refpect to this thing, he could not acquit him of doing what was wrong; namely, infifting fo much on his own innocence, the fecrets of his own nated the modes of fubfiftence of the divine perfons in the godhead, fecret reafons of divine predeftination of men to life or death, and of his dealings with men ina providential way, afflicting the righteous, and fuffering the wicked to profper.
y.14. For God fpeaketh once, yea twice, &c.} Or, but God fpeaketh*; though he is not bound to give an account of his matters, and the reafons of his proceedings in a way of providence or grace;
> and tacking therewith fuch unbecoming and undue yet fuch is his condefcenfion and goodnefs, that reflections on the dealings of God with him; he he makes ufe of various ways and means to make did not give to God his due, he did not do him juftice in reprefenting him in this light; he didnot fay nor do the right thing, fo Mr. Broughton tranflates the words, ‘* lo, here thou art not in the right;” fee ch. xxxii. 2. J will anfwer thee; or I muft tell thee, as the fame writer renders the,fee P words, being able to make it clearand plain: ¢hat God is greater than man than any man, than the greateft of men, moft famous for power, wifdom, or juftice; he is not only greater in his power, faithfulnefs, goodnefs, grace, and mercy, but his holinefs and righteoufnefs, wifdom and knowledge; and therefore can never do either an unjuft thing, or an unwife one;
both finful and ignorant, even the beft in comparifon of him, to arraign him at his bar, is very arrogant and prefumptuous; fince he knows beft what to do, and what are his reafons for fo doing, known his mind and will in his difpenfatiuns, if men were but attentive to them; he fpeaks once, in dreams and vifions, as in the following verfe; and twice, or a fecond time, by chaftifements, as in y. 18. or he fpeaks frequently, again and again,. Ixii. 11. gives line upon line, and precept upon precept; if one way is without effect, he'll take another; and if one warning and admonition is not fufficient, he'll give another; fo that tho” he is a fovereign being, and not accountable to injany, yet he does not aétthe unkind and unfriendly part ob had fugeefted: yet man perceiveth it ot; the voice of God {peaking in one Way or anand for man, who isjother; hearkens not to the admonition given in a dream or vifion, nor hears the chaftizing rod, and him that has appointed it; he is deaf to all inftructions; he-underftands not the mind and meaning of God in his difpenfations; which is not owing to_ and is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his want of means of knowledge, but to the blindnefs — works. Si: and ignorance of his mind, to dulnefs of hearing, y.13. Why dof thou ftrive againft bim? &c.] A creature againft the Creator, a man againft to negligence and inattention, and to the prevalence his'of fin and corruption: the words, yes man, area fup- plement to the text, and notin it, and fome ver: fions are without it, and underftand the whole of God, rendering the words thus, God /peaketh once, and a fecond time be does not repeatit 5 {o the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic verfions: or does not revife it, or will not fee it*, to which agrees the Targum, ‘* and a fecond time he needs not to look uponit;” and which rendering as it fuits with the context, fo is more agreeable to the accents; but is differently applied, by fome to the fufficiency of the word of God, that God has at once made known all truth, and there is no need to do it a fecond time; but certain it is, that God did at fundry times, and in divers manners, fpeak unto the fathers by the prophets; though indeed in thefe laft days he hath fpoken at onceall his mind and _ will by his Son, fo that no future revelation is to be expected; but though this is true now, it was not in the times of Eihu: by others it is referred to God’s dealings with a proud man, that calls him to an account for his actions, to whom he fpeaks once, and reproves him for his boldnefs; but a fecond time he'll not look athim, nor bear his pride and infolence: and by others to the unalterable decrees and purpofes of God 5; what he has faid or determined in his eternal mind is done at once, and remains invariably fixed; he has no need to look over a fecond time, -or revife his firft thoughts and defigns, or reconfider them, whether it is proper to make any alteration inthem or no, they are at once fo wifely formed; and he has all things before him in one view in his all-comprehending mind, fo that there cannot poffibly any thing turn up unforefeen by him, to hinder the execution of his purpofes, or caufe him to make any change in them; no newthoughts, refolutions, or purpofes can arife in his mind, with whom there is no variablenefs, nor fhadow of turning, This agrees well with his fovereignty exprefled in the preceding verfe, and carries in it a ftrong reafon enforcing what is there faid. Though fome take the meaning to be this, that God {peaks once to a man, and admonifhes and reproves him as he ufed to do, in the way expreffed in the following verfe; and if he regards it not, he don’t fpeak to him a fecond time in that way, or no more by words, but now by blows or chaftifements.
y. 15. In a dream, in a vifion of the night, &c.| That is, God fpeaks to men in this way, and which in thofe times was his moft ufual way, fee ch. iv. 12, 13. fometimes he {pake to a prophet, a perfon in public office, and made known his mind and will in this manner to him, that he might deliver it to others, Numb. xii. 6. and fometimes directly and immediately to perfons themfelves, as he did to Abimelech and Laban,.Gen. xx. 3. and xxxi. 24. when deep fleep falleth upon men, in flumbrings upon the bed, the former denotes a faft, heavy, and found fleep, when the fenfes are all locked up, and there is not the leaft attention to any outward object; the latter a flight fleep, when a man is between fleeping and waking; and now at fuch a time, when he was laid on his bed in the nightfeafon, it was ufual for God tocome to him ina vifionary way, and imprefs things on his mind, when it was called off from worldly and earthly thoughts and cares, and was calm and ferene, and fo fitto receive what intimations and inftruétions
» sat might be given this way; fee P/iv.4:. Job had ais dreams and night-vifions, though he feems not to have had any benefit by them, or to have under- {tood them, but was fcared and terrified with them, ch. vii. 14, to which Eiihd may have fome refpect.
y. 16. Then he openeth the ears of men, 8éc.] Not the ears of his body, which remaining fhut whilft things are prefented to his mind in a dream or vifion, but his internal ears; it is the fame with opening the heart or underftanding to attend to and receive the things delivered in this vifionary way: and fealeth their injftruction; fets home the inftruction given in this manner, and imprints it upon the mind, fo that it is well remembered when awake, not only the dreams themfelves, but the leffons taught and learnt there, as may be obferved in the cafes of Abimelech and Laban; the word fignifies cha/tifement' as well as inftruction, that being one way in which God teaches and in- {tructs men, P/. xciv. 12. and fo the fenfe may be that Godin a dream or vifion makes it known to men, that if they regard not what he fays to them, and repent not of their evils, and turn from thems he will correct and chaftife them, and this he af= fures them of; and they may look for the certain performance of it, that he will vifit their tranf greffions with a rod, and their iniquities with {tripes; things that are fealed being fure and firm. Mr. Broughton renders the words, and imprintetb why they are chaftifed.
¥. 17. That be may withdraw man from his purpofes &c.}] Or work™, his wicked work, as the Zar gum; either which he has begun upon, or which he defigned to do. Thus Abimelech and Laban were reftrained from their intentions by a divine admonition in a dream, the one from taking braham’s wife, as he intended, and the other from doing hurt to Yacod, which he defigned: and hide pride from many; by pardoning his fins, in which there is always pride, fo fome; pardon of fin being expreffed by covering it, P/- xxxii. 1. or rather by reprefling, weakening, and preventing it; and that by not iuffering vain and proud men to perform their enterprizes, but obliging them to fubmit to the will of God, and humble themfelves under his mighty hand. Thefe are the ends propofed, and which are effected through the Lord {peaking to men in dreams, opening their ears, and fealing inftructions to them; and others alfo for their good follow. ¥.18. He keepeth back bis foul from the pit, &c.} Or, that he may keep back”; for this is another end and ufe of God’s {peaking unto men; it is to preferye them for the prefent from going down to the grave, the pit of corruption and deftruction; fo called becaufe the bodies of men being there laid corrupt, and are entirely deftroyed by worms, and turn to rottennefs and duft; and to preferve them from the bottomlefs pit of everlafting ruin and de- (truction; for the Lord’s people are reproved by him, that they may not be condemned with the world, 1 Cor. xi. 32. and bis life from perifhing by the fword; by the fword of men, which is one of God’s fore judgments; or by the fword of the civil magiftrate, the man fpoken to being warned of God, of committing thefe fins, which would bring him into the hands of fuch; or by the {word of divine eyes nd toys) fecundo non revidet, Schmidt & Maius apud Michaelis; & fetunda vice non videbit illud, angel of death; the word fignifies a miflive weapon, as a dart; fo Mr. Broughton renders the words, and his life from going on tbe dart; or, as another verfion has it, /eft it should go on under the caft of darts®; the darts of an enemy in war, or the fiery darts of Satan, Eph.vi.16.
y.19. He is chaftened alfo with pain upon bis bed, &c.] This feems to be another way, in which God, according to his eternal purpofes, fpeaks unto men, as the word a//o intimates; namely, by afflictions, and fometimes painful ones; which have a voice in them, and men of wifdom will hearken toit, Mic. vi.9. Pain here fignifies not pain of the mind, or a wounded fpirit, which is very afflicting, diftreffing, and intolerable; but pain of the body, asthe next claufe fhews; and this endured on the bed, it being fo great as to confine a man to his bed, or is what he felt there, where he might hope for