Spit Ni GFE.
vine juftice; Yarchi interprets it of the fword of the ‘were not seen fijck out; which before were covered - with flefh and fat, fo that they could not be feen 5_ butnow the flefh and fat being wafted, they feem»)
as if they rofe up in aneminence, and ftood out to. be beheld; this was alfo ¥0d’s cafe, being reduced _ to a mere fkeleton, ch. xix. 20. and Z£i6z in thisdefcription of an afflicted man, feems to have Zod. chiefly in view, and by this would intimate to him. that God had been, and was {peaking to him by, thofe afflictions, which he would do well to advert unto. % y.22. His foul draweth near unto the grave, &c.} Not the foul ftri€tly and properly {peaking, for that does not, nor is it laidin the grave at death, but returns to God that gave it; rather the body, for which it is fometimes put, and of which what is here faid is true, fee P/- xvi. 10. or the perfon of the fick man, whofe difeafe being fo threatening, all hope is gone, and he is given up by his phy- eafe andreft; fee ch. vii. 13. and the multitude of bis bones with ftrong pain, not with a flight one, but a very ftrong one, fuch as thofe felt who gnawed their tongues for pain, Rev. xvi. 10. ‘Farchi interpretsit, the multitude of his bones, which ftrong; though they are hardy and ftrong, yet filled with exquifite pain; and notone, or afewofthem, but a multitude of them, as there are a multitude of them in a man’s body;. even all of them, as Hezekiab complains, which muft be very excruciating ficians and friends, and feemingly is at the grave’s mouth, and that is ready for him, and he onthe brink of that; which were the apprehenfions Joh — had of himfelf, ch. xvii. 1. fee P/. Ixxxyviii. 3. areJand cvii. 17. and his life to the defiroyers, the de- {troying angels, as dben Ezra, and fo the Septuagint verfion: or deftroying difeafes, and fo Mr. Broughton renders it, to killing maladies; or it may be to worms, which deftroy the body in the grave, and which ‘od was fenfible of would quickly be indeed, J/- xxxviii. 13. and which was 70d’s cafe; not only his flefh was in pain, through the fores and ulcers upon him, but his bones were pierced in him, and his finews had no reft, and he was full of toffings to and fro, ch. vii. 3, 4. and xxx. 17. and in this way he was, as other good men are, reproved and chaftened by the Lord.; and in which way he had {poke to him, as he does to others, and which fhould be attended to; and fince fuch painful afflictions are but fatherly chaftifements, they fhould be patiently endured, and the voice of God inthem liftened to, and ere long there will be no more pain: the Cerid, or textual writing is, the contention of bis bones 1s firong; through pain, or with which God contends with men; we follow the marginal reading.
y¥. 20. So that his life abborreth bread, &c.} Through the force of pain he lofes his appetite for food, and even a naufea of it takes place; he loathes it as the moft abominable and filthy thing that can be thought of; even bread fo neceffary to the fupport of human life, fo ftrengthening tothe heart of man, and what he every day ftands in need of, and fhould pray for, and in health is never weary of; it may be put for all common and ufeful food: and his foul dainty meat; the moft rich and delicious; fuch as the tables of the great and rich are furnifhed with: food of defire®,; or defireable food, as it may be rendered; fee Dan. x. 3. fuch as in the time of health the appetite craves ‘and defires, and is fed on with delight and pleafure, but now had in the utmoft averfion. Pains and difeafes of body often produce fueh a naufeain men, P/- cvii. 19, — 18. and was 7od’s eafe, ch. iii. 24. and vi. 7.
XY. 21. His flefh is confumed away that it cannot be feen, &c.] All being gone, none left to be feen, nothing but fkin and bones; and this partly thro’ the vehemence of {trong pain, and partly through the naufea of food; not being able to take any thing for nourifhment and the fupport of the fluids, and fo quite emaciated: and his bones that as it may be rendered, is on his fide, an adv his cafe, ch. xix. 26. though fome interpret it of thofe that kill, or of thofe that are dead, with whom they are laid that die; or of deaths corporal and eternal, and the horrors and terrors of both, with which’ perfons in fuch circumftances are fometimes diftrefied.:; ¥. 23. If there be a meffenger with him, &c.| Or angel, either with God, as fome think; or rather with the fick,man; by which meffenger is meant not an angel by nature, a created angel, though fometimes fuch are God’s meffengers, fent by him on errands to men, are interpreters of things to them, as Gabriel was to Daniel; of whom there are choufands, and who may be of fervice to fick men for their comfort and inftruétion, fince it is ‘certain they attend faints in their dying moments; yet this proves not that they are to be invoked as mediators between God and men: but rather a minifter of the word is defigned, who is by office an angel, a meffenger of Chrift, and of the churches; an zaterpreter of the {criptures, and of the mind of Gad in them; and a {piritual, evangelical, faithful mini- {ter is fcarce and rare, one among a thoufand, and his bufinefs is to vilic fick perfons, and to obferve the uprightne/s and faithfulnefs of God in afflicting them, that they may quietly fubmit to and patiently bear the affliction; and to direct them for#heir peace and comfort to the uprightnefs or righteoufnefs of Cbrift, for their juftification before God; and to fhew them what is right for them to do in their prefent circumftances; whether the fick man be ftupid and infenfible of his cafe, and his need of righteoufnefs, or whether he be a truly gracious man, yet Jabouring under, doubts and feats about the truth of grace in him, the uprightnefs of his heart, and his intereft in the righteoufnefs of Chrift: but it feems beft to underftand this of Chri? himfelf, the angel of God’s prefence, the meflenger-of the covenant, who is with the fick man, and favours him with his fpiritual prefence; or is for him 4, come and interceffor for him with God; ax interpreter of his Father’s mind, and with which he is: long acquainted, he lying in his bofom; and of the facred {criptures, as he was to his difciples concerning himfelf; or an orator *, an eloquent.one, never man fpake like him, having the tongue of the learned given him as man; and who as a divine Perfon is the eternal and effential Word of God; who fpake for his people in the council of peace and covenant of grace; and alfo as mediator is the antitypical arom, can fpeak well for them on all occafions: one among a thoufand; the chiefeft among ten thoufand, angels or men; fee Cant. v. 10. Eccl. vii. 28. to fhew unto man bis uprighine/s,; which to do is his office as Mediator, and efpecially as a Prophet, even to fhew the uprightnefs of God, the rectitude of his nature, the righteoufnefs required in his holy law; and this Chrift has fhewn forth and declared in his being the propitiation for the fins of his people, Rom. ili. 25, 26. And by his Spirit he fhews to man, and fo to a fick man, his want of uprightnefs in himfelf, his need of righteoufnefs from another; and brings it near him, and fhews it to be perfect, complete and fuitable; as well as teaches to live foberly, righteoufly and godly. ¥. 24. Then be is gracious to him, &c.] To the fick man; either the meffenger or the minifter that is with him, who pities his cafe and prays for him; and by fome, the following words are fuppofed to be a prayer of his, Deliver me, &c. fince find in the gofpel there is a ranfom for fuch perfons. Rather Chrift, who is gracious to man, as appears by his afflumption of their nature and becoming a ranfom for them, and who upon the foot of redemption which he has found or obtained, fee Heb. ix. 12. pleads for the prefent comfort and future happinefs of his people, in fuch language as after exprefled, Deliver bim, &c. Or rather, God the Father is gracious to the fick man for his Son’s fake, and faith, Deliver bim from going down to the pit; addreffing either the difeafe, fo Mr. Broughton renders the word, Spare him (O killing malady) from defcending into the pit, the grave, for the prefent his difeafe threatned him with. Or the minifter of the word attending the fick man, who is bid to declare to him, as Nathan to David, and Lfaiah to Hezekiah, that he fhould live longer, and not die for the prefent: or rather, the addrefs is to law and juttice, to let the redeemed of the Lord go free, and particularly the fick man being one of them; and not thruft him down into the bottomlefs pit of everlaiting ruin and deftruction, for the reafon following: I have found aranfom; which is no other than Chrift the Son of God; whom Fehovab in his infinite wifdom found out and pitched upon to be the ranfomer of his people; to which he agreed, and in the fulnefs of time came to give his life a ranfom for many, and for whom he has given himfelf as a ranfom-price, which has been teftified in due time: and this ranfom is for all the eleét of God, and is of them from fin, Satan, law, hell and death; and the finding of it is not of man, nor is the ‘fcheme of propitiation, peace and reconciliation by Chrift, or of atonement and fatisfaction * by the facrifice of Chrift, as the word here ufed fignifies an invention of men; but is the effect of infinite wifdom, and a fcheme drawn in the eternal mjnd, and formed in Chrift from everlafting;
fee 2 Cor. v. 19. Some take thefe words to be fpoken by the Father to the Son, upon his appointment and agreement to be the ranfomer and redeemer, faying, Go, redeem him, &c. for fo the words * may be rendered; and others think they are the words of the Son the meffenger to his Father, the advocate with him for his people as 'be= fore obferved. s
Being recovered from illnefs:and reftored to health, through the gracious dealings of God with him.
This is to be underftood not fimply and abfolutely, but comparatively, or with refpect to his former condition; that he who before was reduced to fkin and bone, is now become fat and plump; and whofe flefh was dry and withered, now moift, fucculent and juicy; and whofe fkin was wrinkled, now foft, and fmooth, and fleek; and whofe face was pale, now bloomy and ruddy. The Targum is, ‘s his flefh is weakened more than a child;’’ and the Vulgate Latin, * is confumed,” referring to his former ftate: he fhall return to the days of bis youth,’ His youth renewed, and he feem young again; become hale and robuft as in‘his youthful days; fee Pfal, citi. 5. oie y. 26. He fhall pray unto God, &c.] As-the former verfe expreffes the condition of the body of the man recovered from ficknefs, this the frame of his foul, and the fpiritual bleffings enjoyed by him: fome underitand this of his praying in the time of his affliction, and confider it as one means of his recovery; and indeed a time.of affliction is a time for prayer; and which brings a good’ man to it, who in health and profperity has been negligent of it; fuch a one will make his application to God for deliverance, and not to the creature;. and it is his mercy and privilege he has a God. to pray unto, who can and will help him.’ But according to the courfe and connexion of the words, it feems rather to refpect what the good man would do, and thé frame he would be in upon his recovery; who would intreat the Lord to make him thankful for the mercy received, and accept of his thankfgiving. for the fame that his affliction might appear to be fanctified unto him, and that he is much the better for it, more holy and more humble; and that he would manifeft his pardoning grace to him for all the fins and tranfereffions he had been guilty of, his murmurings and repinings, and every thing elfe during his affliction; and that he may make ufe of his health and ftrength given him in the fervice of God, and for the glory of hisname. dnd be will be favourable to him; which, if underftood of the time of affiction, it may be interpreted of his laying no more on him than he will enable him to bear, and fupporting him under it; of granting his gracious prefence in it, and of his taking notice of him, vifiting him, knowing, owning and choofing him in the furnace of affliction, and manifefting his care unto him; and of the deliverance of him out of it. But if it refpeéts the man as recovered out of affliction, it denotes further difcoveries of the {pecial care and favour of God to him, which are very enlivening and refrefhing, ftrengthning and fupporting; and of his gracious acceptance of his perfon, and of his facrifices of prayer, praife and thank{giving, thro’ Chrift the mediator and meffenger of the covenant. And be fall fee his face with joy: that is, either God who is favourable to him, he looks with a fmiling 8 "\53 Propitiationem, Beza, filing countenance upon an now recovered, who before feemed to loo n him with in his countenance, there cing a che outward difpenfations of mee eb wards him, though none in his heart: his counte holds the upright with pleafure, whether they fee it - or no; he looks upon his people in Chrift with the utmoft complacency and delight, and particularly when they come to him in the exercife of grace, with their prayers, praifes and thankfgivings.. Or the man recovered from illnefs, God being favourable to him, he behglds the face of God with joy, ‘who perhaps had hid it from him in his affliction, which caufed trouble; but now fhewing his face and favour, it caufes joy and exultation, even a jubilee in his foul. He beholds him in Chrift as the God of grace and peace; and through him can come to him and look him in the face with comfort and pleafure,.as nothing is more delightful to him than the light of his countenance. For be will render unto man bis righteoufne/s: not the fick man recovered, render to another man what is his right and due, or what he may have wronged him of; for which being reproved by the affliction, and convicted of, is defirous of making reftitution: but God who will render, return or reftore to the man recovered his righteoufnefs, which is the foundation of his joy; not render to him according to his own righteoufnefs, as the Targum, which would be but a poor recompence if ftri¢tly given; nor reftore to him the righteoufnefs he loft in Adam, which is but a creature-righteoufnefs; but the righteoufnefs of Chrift, as Mr Broughton, which is the good man’s or the believer’s in Chrift, becaufe wrought out for him, imputed to him, and beftowed as a free gift on him. Now though this righteoufnefs can never be loft, being an everlafting one, yet a fenfe of intereft in it may, which is returned, reftored and rendered to a man, when that righteoufnefs is afrefh revealed to him from faith to faith; the confequence of which is peace and comfort, joy and triumph. ¥.27. He looketh upon men, &c.] According to our verfion and other interpreters, the fenfe is, God looks upon men as‘he does on all men in general, their ways and their works; and particularly he takes notice of men under affliction, and obferves how they behave; if they are penitent and confefs their fins, he reftores them to health, and does them good both in body and foul. But moft carry the fenfe another way, and interpret it of the fick man recovered, who looks upon his friends and relations about him, and any others that come within his reach; or he goes about them, as dben Ezra explains the word; or will accompany with men, as Mr Broughton; or fets them in rows, as Gerfom, in order as at a levee, that he may the better addrefs them; or he fhall direét himfelf to them, as the Targum; or fhall fing over them or before them, fo Schultens*; in a joyful manner, in an exulting ftrain exprefs himfelf, as follows; for the phrafe, and if any fay", fhould be rendred, and be foall fay; make the following confeffion of his acknowledement of the goodnefs of God unto him. I have finned; againft God and man, and that has been the caufe of all my afflictions; I am now fenfible of it, and:ingenuoufly own it: and perverted that which was right; have not done that which is right in the fight of God, nor what is jutt' and right between man and man; have perverted the right ways of God, fwerved from his com- me a, mandments, and gone into erodkeslpatts, fiteth me not; as fin does not in the iffue; though it promifes profit and advantage, it does not workers of iniquity}; and declined from, or perverted juftice and judgment among men. And it prow iid it; but, on the contrary, much hurt and mifchief come by it. may ¥.28. He will deliver his foul from going into the pit, &c.] Into the pit of the grave; and then the foul is put for the man or for the body; or into the pit of hell or perdition: and bis life fhall fee the light; or he fhall live and enjoy outward profperity here, and the light of eternal happinels hereafter; and fo the Targum interprets it of fuperior light, or the light above, even the inheritance of the faints in light. Thefe words have a double reading; the Keri, or marginal reading, is what we follow; but the Cerid, or textual reading is, be hath delivered my foul from going into the pit, and my life fees the light: and which feems to be the better reading; and fo the words are a continuation of the addrefs of the man recovered from illnefs to”
his friends; fetting forth and acknowledging, with joy and thankfulnefs, the great goodnefs of —
God unto him, that he had delivered him from the grave and fpared his life, and given him to enjoy great profperity, both temporal and {fpiritual, ‘ y¥.29. Lo, all thefe things worketh God oftentimes with man.| This is a fummary or recapitulation of what goes before, from ¥. 15. God is an ope- rating being, he is always at work in a providential times on the minds of men in dreams and vifions;
and fometimes by affliction, and fometimes by his prophets, meffengers and minifters of the word; he> ~ works with and by thefe, and all according to the internal workings and actings of his mind, his eternal purpofes and decrees, which are hereby brought about: and thefe he works oftentimes, or, as in the original, twice ¥; therefore when once is not fuifi- cient, he repeats it in dreams and vifions; when men are not admonifhed by one, he comes to them in another: and afflictions, when one does not bring men to repentance or anfwer a good purpofe, he fends another; and continues the miniftry of the 4 word in which he waits to be gracious, till all his people are brought to repentance, and all his ends anf{wered by it: and all this he works with man, his darling object, the fpecial care of his providence; and for whom his great concern is in redemption and falvation. He works with men dif- tributively confidered, with various men, in the feveral ways before exprefied; and with men perfonally and individually; to one and the fame man he has often appeared in dreams and vifions, and on the fame perfon has laid his afflicting hand again”
and again; and to the fame individual has given line upon line, and precept upon precept. And becaufe this is certain and to be depended upon as truth, and is worthy of notice and confideration, as well as is very wonderful and aftonith- ing, that God fhould thus be mindful of man, and work with him and for him, 0 or behold is prefixed unto it: the ends for which all this is done
X. 30. To bring back bis foul from the pit, &c.J
From the pit of the grave; at the mouth oron ~ the brink of which he-feemed to be in the apprehenfion of his friends, and having the fentence of death in himfelf; fee Pfal xc. 3. Orto turn
‘ eee ar Ch.xxxut. ¥.3I—3 3. away*, or /tay his foul from the pit, as Mr Broughton; prevent his going into it by removing his diforder, and reftoring him to health, as in the cafe of Hezekiah, Mai.xxxviii. 17. Or figuratively, from the pit of an unregenerate f{tate, which may be compared to a pit or grave, becaufe in it lie fuch who are dead in trefpafies and fins; and which is a pit of corruption, or a corrupt ftate: men in it are corrupt and corrupters, corrupt both in principles and practices 5 and is an impure one, like to mire and clay 5 and a very uncomfortable one, a pit wherein is no water, no refrefhment, no folid peace and comfort. In converfion, which fometimes is brought about by the above means, afflictive providences, as well as by the miniftry of the word, fouls are brought back from hence; are regenerated, quickned and raifed from the graves of fin and live ipiritually, as they are alfo fecured from going down into the pit of hell and everlafting deftruction: to be enlighined with the light.of the diving; ina natural fente, to enjoy the light of living men, the light of the fun, and to live in health and profperity, which ts called light in oppofition to affliction and adverfity, exprefled by darknefs; fee H/td. vill. 15. Pf. cxii. 4. Yai. viii. 22. And in a {piritual fenfe, to live a {piritual life, who before were Cead in fin, to live a life of faith on Chrift as their righteoufnefs, and to live a life of holingfS from him, and in newnels of life to his honour and glory; and to have {piritual light into their ftate by nature, and their recovery and falvation by Chrift; to fee their nee of him, his fuitablenefs, worth and excellency, and to have a glimpfe of eternal glory; as alfo here- weigh well what has been faid; or rather attend to what is further to be faid: hearken unto me; to what he was about to fay; for he was full of matter, and had not yet vented all he had to utter: hold thy peace, and I will fpeak; be filent and don’t interrupt, and I’]l go on with my difcourfe:
¥. 32. Lf thou haft any thing to fay, anfwer me, &c.] Any thing to object to what he had delivered, or any an{wer to return to what he had charged him with; /peak, for I defire to juftify shee. Elihu was a fair antagonift, and gave free liberty, time and {pace, to make whatfoever reply he thought fit, and which he fhould patiently and attentively hear: his view was not victory, but that truth might come out, and take place and prevail, having nothing more at heart than ob’s good; and could wihh it would appear, that he was in all refpeéts a juft man, and even in that in which he thought he was not juft; but could he fairly acquit himielf it would be a pleafure to him..
{ no objection to make, nor anfwer to return, then he defires he would attend and liften to what he had further to lay before him; hold thy peace, and I Joall teach thee wifdom. For though Fob was a wife and good man, he might become wifer and more knowing; and indeed when inftruction is given to a wife man, he will be yet wifer, Prov. ix. g. and
| this may be received fometimes from perfons inferior in age and abilities. Z/bu propofed to teach him as he did, natural, moral and evangelical wif; dom, efpecially the wifdom of God in his providential dealings with men, and what is man’s after to partake both of eternal life and eternal higheft wifdom under thems which is to be recon- light, called by our Lord the light of life, John Vill. 12.
| ciled unto them, and patiently to fubmit and to fear: the Lord, and be careful not to offend him, which to do is wifdom and underitanding.
N this chapter Elihu reaffumes his difcourfe, and proceeds in his anfwer to 70d, in which are firft a preface exciting attention, ¥.1—-4. then a charge is brought againft fob, exprefied in or extracted from fome words that dropped from his lips, not fo well guarded, ¥.5—9. A refutation of thefe expreffions of his in a variety of arguments, ¥.10——30. and the chapter is clofed with fome good advice to Fob, ¥. 3133. and with an earneit requeit of Elihu to men of underftanding, to join with him in trying him to the uttermoft, ¥. 3437.
¥.1. Furthermore Elibu anfwered and faid,] It is reafonable to fuppofe that E/zhu made a confiderable paufe, to fee whether ¥ob would make any reply to what he had delivered, or objet to what he had faid; which he gave him free liberty to do, if he had any thing upon his mind: but perceiving he was not inclined to return any anfwer to him, he went on with his difcourfe; and which is called a further anfwer to him: for though Yob had made no reply to which this could be called an anfwer; yet as there were feveral things remaining for Eiibu to anfwer to, and which he propofed to anfwer and did, it may with great propriety here be faid that he anfwered him.
¥. 2. Hear my words, O ye wife men, &e.] This is not an addrefs to ¥o}’s three friends, as fome think; for Elihu had exprefiéd his difpleafure at them, in condemning Yod without convicting him, and returning folid anfwers to him; and therefore he fhould not take their method of dealing with him, but take another; and plainly fuggefts that wifdom was not with them, nor taught by them; and therefore as he could not give flattering titles to men, it could not well be thought that he fhould addrefs them as wife and underftanding men, unlefs indeed in an ironical way, as fome choofe to interpret it; fee chap. xxxii. 3, 5, 7,9, 12, 14, 21, 22.. Rather therefore fome byftanders are here fpoken to, whom Elihu knew to be men of wifdom and knowledge, €&c. as it follows, and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge; and as they were endued not only with natural and political wifdom and knowledge, but with that which is divine and fpiritual, they were proper judges of the affair in controverfy, and could beft difcern whether what Elibu delivered was right or wrong, and to the purpofe or not. And befides, though they had a large fhare of wifdom and knowledge, yet it was but imperfect; and the moft wife and knowing may become more fo, and that fometimes by means of their inferiors and juniors: and therefore Elibu craves their attention to what he had faid or fhould — fay, though he was but a young man, and they aged, and men of great geniufes and abilities; and the rather, he might be preffing on them to be his hearers and judges, becaufe, generally fpeaking, fuch, as they are the moft judicious, fo the moft candid hearers., y¥. 3. For the car trieth words, &c.] Not only the mufical found of them, the goodnefs of the language and diction, and the grammatical conftruétion of them, but the fenfe or them, and whether the matter of them is good or not; that they are found fpeech, which cannot be condemned, or unfound; whether they are right or wrong, agreeable to right reafon, found doétrine and the word of God; for there are words and words, fome the words of men, others the words of God. A fanctified ear tries thefe; but then men muft have fuch ears to hear, and be attentive to what they hear and retain it, hear internally as was as externally; and which a man does when his ears are opened by the Lord, from whom are the hearing ear and feeing eye; and fuch try what they hear, diftinguifh between good and bad, approve truth and receive it, and retain and hold it faft: as the mouth tafteth meat; words and doétrines are like meat, fome good and fome bad; and fuch that have a good tafte try them, either a rational or rather a fpiritual difcernment: fome have no fpiritual tafte, their tafte is not changed, and therefore cannot diftinguith, nor make any good judgment of things; but others have, and thefe difcern the difference, relifh truth, favour the things that be of God, tafte the good word of God, and efteem it more than their neceflary food; and it is fweeter to them than the hony or the hony-comb. Such Elihu judged thefe men to be he addreffed, and therefore defired their attention to what he had to fay.
y. 4. Let us choofe to us judgment, &c.] Take the part of the queftion or controverfy in which truth and juftice lie, and he doubtlefs has refpect to the prefent controverfy with Fob. Let us know among ourfelves what is gcod; agree upon that which is beft to be done in the prefent cafe, what judgment to be made of the dealings of God with od, and his behaviour under them, and what the beft advice to give to him.
¥.5. For Fob bath faid, I am righteous, &c.] Not in exprefs words, but what amounted to it: no doubt he was a righteous man in an evangelic fenfe, being juftified by the righteoufnefs of Chrift, as all the Old-Teftament faints were, who looked to him and believed in him as the Lord their righteoufnefs, and faid, as the church in thofe times did, Surely in the Lord have I righteoufnefs and firength, Tfai. xlv. 24, 25. And moreover he was an upright man, to which the Lord himfelf bore teftimony, chap. i. 8. and had the truth of grace in him, that zew man which is created in righteoufnefs and true bolinefs; and alfo lived an holy lite and converfation; but then he did not fay or think that he was righteous in or of himfelf, or fo as to be free from fin: Feb could not judge or fpeak thus of himfelf, which would be contrary to what he exprefly declares, chap. vii. 20. and ix. 20, 30, 31. though it muft be owned, that he thought himfelf fo righteous, holy and good, that he ought not to have been affli¢ted in the manner he was; in which fenfe it is probable Elihu underftood him: and befides, thefe words are not to be taken feparately, but in connexion with what follows, which fhews Fob’s fenfe, and how Elihu underftood him, that though he was a righteous perfon, he had not juftice done him: and God bath taken away my judgment; which words he did fay, chap. xxvii. 2. fee
-the note there; or as Mr Broughton renders the words, the Omnipotent keeps back my right; does not vindicate my caufe, nor fo much as give ita hearing, nor lets me know why he contends with me; and though I call for juftice to be done, cannot be heard, chap. xix. 7. a like complaint of the church in J/ai. xl. 27. a
¥. 6. Should I lie againft my right? &c.] Nos ~ I ought not: this though 7eb had not faid in fo many words, yet this feems to be his fenfe in chap. XXVii. 4, 5, 6. that fhould he own and fay that he was a wicked man, a hypocrite, and deftitute of the grace of God, he fhould not only fpeak againft himfelf, but, contrary to his con{cience, fay an untruth, and not do juftice to his charaéter. Some read the words without an interrogation, as Mr Broughton, ** for my right I mutt be a liar;” that is, for vindicating my right, feeking and endeavouring to do mytelf juftice, and clear myfelf from falfe imputations, I am reckoned a liar. And to this purpofe is the paraphrafe of Aben Ezra, * be- ‘© caufe I feek judgment, they fay that I lie.” Others render them, there is a lie in judging me, fo the Vulgate Latin Verfion; that is, *¢ | am falfly ac- “< cufed, I am judged wrongfully:” things I know not are laid to my charge, which has often been the cafe of good men: or, J have lied in judgment; that is, failed, as the word is fometimes ufed, J ai. Iviii.
11. Hab. iii. 17.” failed in his expectation of judgment or-of juftice being done him; he looked for it but was difappointed; but the firft fenfe feems beft, My wound is incurable without tranfereffion not that he thought himfelf without tranfgreffion, but that his wound or ftroke infli€ted on him, or the afflictions he was exercifed with, were without caufe; were not for any injuftice in his hands, or wickednefs that he had committed; and that he utterly defpaired of being rid of them, or reftored to his former health and profperity; and to this fenfe he had expreffed himfelf, chap. ix. 17. and Xvi. 17, 18, 19, 20.. In the Hebrew text it is, my arrow ¥, that is, the arrow that was in him, the arrows of the Lord that ftuck faft in him; thefe were thrown at him and faftened in him without caufe; and there was no hope of their being drawn out, or of the wounds made by them being healed; fee chap.vi. 4. Now what E/ibu was offended at in thefe expreffions, was that Fob fhould {fo rigidly infift on his innocence, and not own himfelf faulty in any refpeét; nor allow there was any caufe for his afflictions, nor entertain any hope of the removal of them: whereas it became him to acknowledge his fins, which no man is free from, and that he was dealt with lefs than his iniquities deferved; and that, inftead of indulging defpair, he fhould rather fay, J will return to the Lord; he hath torn and he will Seal, he hath mitten and he will ind up, Hofea vi. 1.
y. 7. What man is like Fob, &cc.| This is faid as wondering at the part he acted, that a man fo wife and good as ob was efteemed to be, fhould behave in fuch a manner as he did, who drinketh up corning like water? Kor a foolifh and wicked man to do fo is not ftrange nor uncommon; but for a man of fuch fenfe and grace as ‘fob was, to do this was aftonifhing; to have no more regard to his character, than to expofe himfelf to the fcorn and ridicule of men: for a man to become a laughing-ftock to profane and wicked men for his religion and piety, it is no difgrace, but an honour to him; but by unbecoming words and geftures to make himfelf juftly jeered and fcoffed at, is great indifcretion, _ Or it may be underftood aétively of his dealing very freely and frequently in fcoffs and jeers, which he poured out very liberally and plentifully, and feemingly with as much delight as a man drinks water when thirfty; fee chap. xi. 3. Ph conftant bufinefs and employment to commit fin; and walketh with wicked men, the moft abandoned of mankind. Not that Yod kept company with fuch, and walked with them in all excefs of riot; nor did Elibu think fo; Fob was a man that feared God and ef{chewed evil, and evil men; he was a companion of them that feared the Lord; his delight was with the excellent of the earth: nor fhould a good man keep company and walk with the wicked, nor can he with any pleafure. But the fenfe is, that by his words, the expreffions that dropped from his lips, he feemed to agree with them, and to be of the fame fentiments with them; and what he delivered tended to encourage and harden them in their finful ways; and what thole words were follow.
y¥.9. For he bath faid, &c.] Not plainly and exprefly, but confequentially; what it was thought might be inferred from what he had faid, particularly in chap. ix. 22. it profiteth a man nothing that he fhould delight himfelf with God, in his houte and ordinances, ways and worfhip; he may as well indulge himfelf in the pleafures of fin, and in the delights of the world, if God deftroys the perfect and the wicked, as Fob had {aid in the place referred to; if this be the cafe, it is in vain to ferve God and pray unto him, or keep his ordinances; which are the language and fentiments of wicked men, and according to which they act, fee chap. xxi. 14,15. Mal. iit. 14. Mr Broughton renders it, *¢ when he would walk with God;” and fo the Targum, ‘in his walking with God,” and another Zargum, *¢ in his running with God:” though he walks and even runs in the way of his commandments, yet it is of no advantage to him; or he does the will of God, as Aben Ezra; or feeks to pleafe him or be acceptable to him, and to find grace in his fight. Whereas though love and hatred are not known by profperity and adverfity, but both come to good and bad men, which feems to be Fob’s meaning in the above place, from whence this inference is deduced; yet it is certain that godlinefs is profitable to all, 1 Tim. iv.'8.
v.10. Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of underftanding, &c.| The fame perfons he addrefies as wife men and men of knowledge, y¥. 2. and here as men of underftanding, or beart*; the heart being the feat of wifdom and knowledge; and fuch Elibu defired to be his hearers, to attend to what he was about to fay; which was to refute the words of Fob, or his fenfe exprefied in the preceding verfes. Far be it from God that he fhould do wickednefs; and from the Almighty, that he fhould commit zniguity; do any injuftice or injury to any perfon, there being no unrighteoufnefs in him, nor in any of his ways and works; which fod tacitly feemed to charge God with, at leaft as Elibu underftood him. But fin is contrary to his pure and holy nature; he cannot look upon it with pleafure, much lefs commit it; it is forbidden by his holy, righteous law, and therefore-would never be done by him the lawgiver; nor can any one fingle inftance be given of wickednefs and unrighteoufnefs committed by him in any of his works of nature, or providence, or grace. Hie is the author of the evil of afflictions, whether as punifhments or fatherly corrections; and in neither cafe does he commit or do any injuftice; not in punifhing wicked men lefs than they deferve, as he does in this life; nor in correcting his own people, which is always for their good: but not of the evil of fin; this may be concluded from the titles here given, of almighty and alluf- ficient; for being fo he can be under no temptation of doing an unjuft thing; and which is exprefied with the like abhorrence and indignation by Ehbu, as the fame fentiment is by the apoftle Paw, y. 11. For the work of a man will be render unto bim, &c.] The reward of his work, as Ben Gerfom interprets it, whether the work of a wicked man or of a good man; and caufe every man to find according to his ways. Which is a truth frequently inculcated in the fcriptures; and will take place e- {pecially at the refurrection of the dead, which is for that purpofe, and at the final judgment, by the righteous judge of all; for though wicked men may not be punifhed now according to their deferts, they will hereafter, which is fufficient to vindicate the juftice of God: and as for the works and ways of good men, though God does not proceed according to them in the methods of his grace; they are not juftified by them, nor called and faved according to them; for though evil works deferve damnation, -good works do not merit falvation; yet they age not neglected by the Lord; he is not unrighteous to forget them, and verily there is a reward for righteous men, though it is not of debt but grace; and not for, but in keeping the
| commands of God is this reward; even communion with him and peace in their fouls, which they enjoy in, though not as arifing from their keeping them; and at the Jaft day, when their juftification will be pronounced before men and angels, it will be according to their works of righteoufhefs, not done by themfelves but done by Chrift, in their room and ftead, and reckoned to them; for the obedience of Chrift, by which they are made righteous, though imputed to them without works, is nothing elfe but a feries of good works moft perfectly done by Chrift for them; and according to which the crown of righteoufnefs in a righteous way will be given them by the righteous Judge. All which therefore is a full proof that no iniquity is, will or can be committed by the Lord.
¥. 12. Yea, furely God will not do wickedly, &c.] This truth is repeated and affirmed in the ftrongeft manner; or will not condemn, as the Vulgate Latin Verfion, and fo the Targum, that is, he will not condemn the righteous; for though he may afflict them, which is done that they may not be condemned with the world, he will not condemn them; for there is no condemnation to them that are in Chrift; his righteoufnefs, by which they are juftified, fecures them from all condemnation. Néeither will the Almighty pervert judgment: pronounce a wrong fentence, decline the execution of juftice, fwerve from the rule of it, or do a wrong thing; for he punifhes wherever he finds it, either in the finner or his furety; and his punifhing it in his Son, as the furety of his people, is the ftrongeft proof of his punitive juftice that can be given: nor does he neglect to chaftize his people for fin, though fatisfied for; fo far is he from conniving at fin, and ftill farther from committing it; fee chap. viii. 2. and the wote there. |
¥. 13. Who bath given bim a charge over the earth? &c,) Or who hath committed the earth unto him, and made it his care and charge? Is there any above him that has put him into this poft and office? Under whofe direétion andcommand is he, and to whom is he accountable? None at all; he is no deputy or fub-governor: the kings of the eart are under him, and they have others fubordinate to them; but he is above all, higher than the higheft: he is fole governor of the world in his own right, by right of creation, and which he has from himfelf and not another; he has no rival nor partner with him, none to whom he is accountable, or can controll him; and fince he is the judge of all the earth, he will do right. Subordinate governors fometimes do unjuft things in obedience to their fuperiors, or to pleafe them, or through fear of them; but nothing of this kind is or can be the cafe with God; as he cannot do any injuftice thro’ inclination of nature, nor through ignorance, as men may; fo neither through fear of any, there being none above him from whom he has received a charge, or that rules over him; and, as Farchi exprefies it, can fay to him, what doft thou? as, I did not command thee fo and fo. And though he is fovereign and independent, and his power uncontrolable, it is contrary to his nature to make an ill ufe of it; and was juftice perverted by him, the world would foon be in the utmoft confufion: but it is a plain cafe there is a God that judgeth in the earth, and cannot commit iniquity. Or, this may be faid with refpect to man; who has committed the earth to man, to be his charge, to be governed by him? if fo, it would foon come to nothing; all creatures in it would be deftroyed, as in the following verfes; but this is not the cafe. Or who has given it to man to poffefs ir, and to enjoy all things in it, and has put all things into his hands and in fubjection to him, to make ufe thereof, and for his good, delight and pleafure, and vifits him in it ina providential way, in great kindnefs and goodnefs? It is the Lord; and can it be thought that he that is fo good and beneficent to men, will do them any injuftice? no furely! Yea, fhould he take away all thefe good things he has given them, and even life itfelf, it could be no injuftice, fince he would only take away what he had given and had a right unto. Or who bath difpofed the whole world? or created it, as 4ben Ezra; that ftored it with all the good things’in it for the ufe of men? or put it in the beautiful order it is, fo fuitable and convenient for the good of his creatures? or made it the habitable earth it is for man and beaft? So Mr Brougbton renders the whole, ‘* who before him looked to s¢ the earth, or who fettled all the dwelt land?” Or who made it the fruitful earth it is, abounding with plenty of food for man and beaft? or who difpofes of all things in it by his wife providence, fo that every thing is beautiful in its feafon? None but the Lord has done all this; how then can it be thought that he who has filled the earth with his goodnels, fhould do wickedly or pervert judgment?
y.14. Df be fet bis heart upon man, &c.| Not his love and affections; though there are fome he does in this fenfe fet his heart on, and whofe fouls at death he gathers to himfelf, but with this fenfe the next verfe will not agree; but to deftroy him, as Farchi adds by way of explanation; if he gives his mind to it, is fet upon it and refolved to do it, none can hinder him; or fets himfelf againft him in an hoftile way, the iffue muft be entire ruin and deftruction to the race of men; but it is plain this is not the cafe, or otherwife all muft have perifhed long ago: or if he feverely marks the ways and works of men, and deals with them according to the ftrictnefs of his juftice, which yet he
® Jarchi, Bar Tzemach in loc. fo Cocceius, Schmidt and Schultens.
Ch.xxxiv. / 4-19 might do without any charge of injuftice, none could ftand before him; but this he does not, fo — far is he from any injuftice or any appearance of it. If he gather unto bimfelf his fpirit and bis. breato; not his own fpirit and breath, drawing in and retaining that within himfelf, and withholding the influence of it from his creatures, which, the Septuagint Verfion feems to favour; but the fpirit and breath of man, which are of God, and which as he gives, he can gather when he pleafes, The fpirit or rational foul of man is put in him by the Lord; this at death is feparated from the body, yet dies not with it, but is gathered to the Lord: and the breath which he breathes into man, and is in his noftrils, and which as he gives, he can take away, and then man dies. Bur in doing this he does no injuftice; indeed fhould he in anger and refentment rife up and deal thus with men in general, the confequence mutt be as follows.
¥.15. All fle shall perifo together, 8c.) Not one by one, or one after another, as they generally do, but all together; as when the flood fwept away the world of the ungodly. dll fleh fignifies all men, and their bodies of flefh particularly, which are weak, frail] and mortal; and if God gathers or takes out the fpirit from them, they die immediately, which is meant by perifhing, as in Eccl. vii. 15. Iai. \vii. 1. And man fall turn again unto duft; from whence he came, as the body does at death; when thofe earthly tabernacles of the bodies of men, which have their foundation in the duft, are diffolved and fink into it. Now though this is the cafe of particular perfons, one after another, yet it is not a general cafe, as it would be, if God was to exert his power, as he might without any charge of injuftice: and this fhews the merciful kindnefs of God to man, fo far is he from doing any thing injurious or unjuft, y. 16. If now thou hatt underftanding, bear this, &c.] Not as calling his underftanding in queftion, as if he had none: for ¥ob was a very underftanding man; he had not loft his natural underftanding by his afflictions, fee chap. vi. 13. nor was he without an underftanding of divine things, as his fpeeches and anfwers fhew; but rather it is taken for granted that he was a man of underftanding: if or feeing thou haft underftanding, art a man of knowledge and intelligence, therefore hearken and attend to what has been faid or about to be faid; though, as fome Few interpreters * obferve, the word is not a noun but a verb, and is imperative, underftand thou now, hear this; and then the fenfe is, 7f things are fo as before related, ¥. 13,14, 15, then now underftand this, take it into thy heart, and mind, and well weigh and confider it; bearken to the voice of my words, either the preceding or following ones. j
¥.17. Shall even he that bateth right govern? &c.] That hates moral and civil juftice; is fuch an one fit to rule among men or over them? No furely; for to love righteouinefs and do it, is a qualification of a civil governor; it is his bufinefs to adminifter juftice; and if an hater of it, he can never be a proper perfon to rule: and if God was an hater of that which is right, as he would feem to be if he did not do it, he would not be fit to govern the world as he does. To this abfurdity is Fob reduced, by fuggefting that right was not _ done him, or that God had removed his judgment from him; fee 2 Sam. xxiii. 3. Gen. xviii. 25. Rom. — iii. 5, 6. Mr Broughton tranflates the words, Can a foe to judgment rule well? And yet it cannot be; denied,
#,°4 a d «@ 2 ees; Ch.xxxiv.¥.18—22. denied, but muft be owned, that God does judge in the earth and judges righteoufly. Or fhall fuch an one bind»; the allufion may be to a chirurgeon that binds up wounds. Sin makes wounds, and fuch as cannot be healed by men; but God can bind them up and cure them, and does: but would he do this, if he hated that which is right, if he was not kind and merciful, juft and good? fee Hofea vi. 1. Or as others render it, which comes pretty near to the fame fenfe, Shall a hater of judgment refrain wrath © 2 Such are tyrants, cruel and unmerciful, full of wrath and-vengeance, and which they execute in a barbarous manner; but fuch is not God; he ftirs not up all his wrath, which he in juftice might; he retains it not for ever, but delights in mércy. And wilt thou condemn bim that is moft juft? At is not right to condemn any juft man, to charge him wrongfully, and then pafs an unrighteous fentence on him; and much lefs to charge the righteous God with injuftice, and condemn him that is moft juft, fuperlatively juft; in whom there is not the leaft fhadow of unrighteoufnefs; who is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works; who is naturally, effentially and infinitely righteous.
¥.18. Is it fit to fay to a king, Thou art wicked? &c.] Not even to a bad king; for though he may be reproved for his fins, yet not by any or every one, but by a fit and proper perfon: and generally fpeaking, if not always, the fcriptural inftances of reproving fuch kings, are of men that were prophets, and fent in the name of the Lord to do it; and when done by them, was done with decency: and much lefs fhould this be faid to a good king; as to fay to him, Be/ia/, the word here ufed; or thou art Belial; or a fon of Belial, as Shimei faid to David, 2 Sam. xvi. 7. a name given to the worft of men, and is the devil himfelf; and fignifies either one without a yoke, or lawlefs, which a king is not; or unprofitable, whereas a king is a minifter of God for good; is for the punifhment of evil-doers, and for a praife to them that do well, And to princes, Ye are ungodly 2 Who have their name from being generous, munificent and liberal, and therefore fhould not be treated in fuch a manner. Who are the fons of kings, or fubordinate magiftrates to them, and execute their will and pleafure, laws and precepts. And if now fuch language is not to be ufed to earthly kings and princes, then furely not to the King of kings, and Lord of lords; fo Farchi interprets it of God the king of the world; and fome Chriftian interpreters, as Schmidt, underftand by Princes the three perfons in the godhead; which can hardly be made to bear: though could the whole be underftood of God in the three perfons of the deity, the connexion with the following verfe would run more fmoothly without the fupplement that is made; fo Broughton, ** to the King, the King of nobles, that ** accepteth not,” &e.
y. 19. How much lefs to him that accepteth not the perfons of princes, &c.| And indeed God is not the refpecter of the perfons of any, no not of the greate{t men on earth, kings and princes; thefe are alike dealt with by him as others in the difpenfations of his providence; nor do they efcape the marks of his difpleafure, wrath and vengeance, when they fin againft him: nor regardeth the rich more than the poor; by fhewing favour to them, or conniving at them, For they are all the work of his bands; both the rich and the poor; not only judicii frenabit? Schultens.
as creatures made by him, but as rich men and poor men; it is God that makes men rich or poor, 1 Sam. ii. 7. Prov. xxii, 2. inftances follow proving this, that God is no refpecter of perfons on account of outward circumftances.
¥. 20. In a moment fhall they die, &cc.} Princes as well as the common people, rich men as well as poor; all muft and do die, great and fmall, high and low, kings and peafants, rich and poor men, and fometimes fuddenly; are ftruck dead at once, and without any previous notice, that night, that hour, that moment their fouls are required of them. ‘The Zargum interprets this of the men of Sodom. And Mr Broughton, in his margin, refers to the hiftory of them in Gen, xix. and the people Joall be troubled at midnight; either the common people when their kings and governors die; or the relations and friends of perfons deceafed; and this circumftance at midnight is added, which makes the fcene more melancholy, awful and fhocking, when it happens at fuch a time. The above Zargum underftands it of the Egyptians, when their firft-born were flain, which was in the middle of the night; and Mr Broughton refers in his margin to the fame inftance: but it is a queftion whether this affair ever came to the knowledge of Fo and his friends, at leaft not fo early as this controverfy. And pafs away not into another country being taken and carried away captive; but pafs away by death into their graves, and into another world. Sephoruo interprets it of the deftroying angel’s pafsing over the tents of the //raelites, and not entering into them to {mite them when they fmote the firftborn of Egypi. But the former fenfe is beft, fee Pfal, xxxvit. 36. And the nizhty foall be taken away without hand; without the hand of men, but by the immediate hand of God; not falling in battle, or in.a common natural way by difeafes, but by fome judgment of God upon them: and - the whole verfe feems to be underftood not of a natural death, or in the common way, but of fudden death in a way of judgment, from the immediate hand of God, and that upon the mighty and great men of the earth; which fhews that he is no refpecter of princes, fee Dam. viii. 25. and X1, 20.
¥.21. Lor bis eyes are upon the ways of man, &c.} Which denotes the omnifcience of God, which reaches to every man, to every individual, and to all men in general; and to their ways, to every {tep taken by them, to the whole of their lives and converfations, and every action of them; to all their internal and external ways and goings; perhaps the former may be meant in this, and the latter in the following claufe. This may denote all their inward thoughts, the workings of their mind, the imaginations of their heart; all their fecret purpofes, defigns and fchemes; and all the defires and affections of their foul; and all thefe whether good or bad: and he feeth all bis goings; the whole of his walk and converfation, condu&t and behaviour; all his external ways, works and actions; and thefe whether of good or bad men, fee Pfalm CXXxix. 1—6.
¥. 22. There is o darkne/i, nor fhadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may bide themfelves.
By whom may be meant chiefly profane finners that are abandoned to a.vicious courfe of life, and make a trade of fin, or that the common courfe of their lives; tho’ fecret finners, and even profeffors of religion, hypocrites, who in a more private man- fuch may endeavour to hide themfelves through | fhame and fear, but all in vain and to no purpofe; there is no fcreening themfelves and their aétions from the all-feeing eye of God, and from his wrath and vengeance. - No darknefs of any fort can hide them, not the thick clouds of the heavens, nor the darknefs of the night; nor is there any darknefs in God that can obftruct his fight of them; nor are they able to caft any mift before his eyes, or ufe any colourings, pretences, and excufes he cannot fee through. Nor /hadow of death; the groflett and thickeft darknefs; nor is even the grave itfelf an hiding place for finners, from whence they will be raifed to receive the juft deferts of their fins. See chap. X. 21, 22. and xiv. 13. Now from the omnifcience of God, and his clear uninterrupted fight of all perfons and their actions, inward and outward, Elibu argues to the juftice of God, who therefore cannot do any thing amifs through ignorance, error, or miftake. ¥. 23. For be will not lay upon man more than right, &c.j Neither in.a way of duty, his law being holy, juft, and good, not any of his commandments grievous, but all his precepts concerning all things right, his yoke eafy and his burden light; nor in a way of punifhment, always punifhing men lefs than their iniquities deferve; nor in a way of chaftifement, fuffering nothing to befal his people but what is common to men; and he is faithtul to bear them up under it and through it, and to make a way of efcape out of it: or the phrafe, than right, being a fupplement, may be left out, and the words be conneéted with what follows, that be fhould enter into judgment with God; and the fenfe is, either that God does not put it on man to go again into judgment with him; he does not fuffer him to have a caufe heard over again, to appeal from God or to him to have a fecond hearing; nor is any thing to be got by it, he is in one mind and none can turn him, or reverfe or get reverfed any fentence of his; and therefore it was a piece of weaknefs in ob to infift fo much as he did to have a hearing of his caufe before him, fince he could not expect there would be any alteration made in his favour: or, as Mr Broughton reads it, it is not for men to purpofe to enter into judgment before the Omnipotent; {uch a purpofe is vain, he can never carry his caufe again{t him; it is a piece of weaknefs to pretend to litigate a point with him: or the fenfe is, he puts no more on man than to come to him in judgment, fo Schultens he has appointed a perfon and time to judge the world in righteoufnefs, and all muft appear before his tribunal; and every thing, thought, word and action, will then and there be brought into an account, and righteous judgment will pafs; and therefore fince he has fixed fuch a method of proceeding, and requires no other, he can never be charged with injuftice. y. 24. He fhall break in pieces mighty men without number, &c.] Such as are mighty in bodily ftrength, as the giants of the old world, and fuch as were inhabitants of fome parts of the land of “Canaan, or mighty in power and authority, being kings, princes, rulers and governors, over nations and cities; or mighty in wealth and riches, which give men power and ftrength; thefe God can and fometimes does break in pieces like potters veffels, and even mighty kingdoms and nations themfelves he will make like the chaff of the fummer-threfhing can tell how many of thefe mighty men, men of gigantic ftature, were drowned in the flood, or cut. off by the fword of the //raelites in the land of Ca-_ a naan? or without fearch4, as it may be rendered 5 a either on the part of God who needs not any, with whom are unneceflary any formal inquiries into 4 caufe, or examination of witnefles, in order to a judicial procefs againft delinquents, all being naked and open before him at once; or on the part of. man, with whom the ways and judgments of God are unfearchable, and who ought not clofely and curioufly to inquire into any of his proceedings, and the caufes and reafons of them, who does all. things after the counfel of his own will. © Mr. Broughton renders it without end, for ever; with an. everlafting deftruction, an utter and irretrievable one; he fo breaks them as that they never can be made whole again, like an earthen veffel that is broke to pieces and cannot be put together again.. And fet others in their ftead; God always provides for a fucceffion in the world, that as when one generation goes.off, another comes on 3 when he deftroyed the world with a flood, he preferved a family to replenifh the earth; when the fathers of
‘the Fewi/b nation, their carcaffes fell in the wildernefs, their children were raifed up in their room to enter the good land and pofiefs it; and particularly he provides for the civil government of the world, and when he pulls down or removes one king he fets up another, and will not fuffer kingdoms and {tates to fall into anarchy and confufion; and fometimes, when he cafts down the mighty from their feats, he exalts men of low degree, as when he rejected Saul he took David from the fheepfold; and makes fuch kings and kingdoms to /rand * ftable and firm, as the kingdom of David, and as the word here ufed fignifies. ¥. 25. Therefore be knoweth their works, &c.] Being God omnifcient, or rather takes notice of them, weighs and confiders them, and gives to man according to them; or rather makes them known, for. of his omnifcience E/ibu had fpoken before; he makes them known.to themfelves, faftens convictions of their evil ways and works on their. confciences, and obliges them to confefs them, as the inftances of Cain, Pharaoh, and others thew; and he makes them known to others by the judgments he executes, as on the old world, Sodom and Gomorrah; and the works of all will be made manifeft at the day of judgment. And be overturneth them iz the night; literally taken, as the firft-born of the Egyptians were flain in the night; and Pba-~ raob and his hoft were drowned in the Red-fea in the night; and the 4fyrian army were deftroyed by an angel in one night; and Bel/bazzar was killed in the night, and the Babylonian empire tranflated to the Medes and Perfians at the fame time: or figuratively, that is, fuddenly, at unawares, and by furprize, and as quickly and eafily as the night is turned into day; and fuch a revolution is made, as when he turns the night into day, and “ difcovers and makes known all their fecret actions == committed in the dark; or he turns the night of 3 calamity upon them, and puts an end to their light of temporal happinefs and profperity; or turns the night of death and everlafting wrath and juftice on them, the blacknefs of darknefs-—~ — upon them: jo that shy are destreyed; bothina temporal fenfe on every fide, with an utter deftrue~ * tion; and in a fpiritual fenfe, with an everlafting one..
y. 26. He Striketh them as wicked men, &c.]| Such is the ftri€t juftice of God that he never ftrikes men, or inflicts punifhment on them, or brings down his judgments upon them, but as wicked men, and becaufe of their wickednefs; the cafting of man out of /den was for his fin, as well as the cafting down the angels from heaven that finned;
the drowning of the old world, the deftruéction of
Sodom and Gomorrah, the ruin of Pharaob and his hoft, the driving the Canaanites out of their land, the various captivities of the J/raelites, with other inftances of God’s difpleafure with men -in this world, and the everlafting punifhment of them in another, are only of them as wicked men, and for fin; and therefore he is not chargeable with any unrighteoufnefs.
Pharaoh and his hoft into the fea in the room and ftead of the wicked //raelites, that came up from thence, in the open fight of others, which the fame interpreter refers to the /raelites feeing the Egyptians dead on the fea-fhore; or in the place of them that fee*, that is, in a public manner, as generally malefactors are executed, to which the allufion may be; it denotes the publicknefs of God’s righteous judgments on wicked men, for the greater declaration of his power and juftice, and for the greater fhame and difgrace of fuch wicked men, and for the joy and comfort of the righteous. delivered from them.
y. 27. Becaufe they turned back from him, &c.]
Became apoftates from the ways and worfhip of
God, as the pofterity of Cain before the flood, and the pofterity of Ham after it; who-had been educated and trained up therein, and turned from the law of God, as the Septuagint verfion, from the light and law of nature: and would not confider any of bis ways; either of providence, whether in a way of mercy which might lead to repentance, or in a way of judgment which might be a caution and inftruction to them; or of his precepts, the way of his commandments, not any of thefe would they confider; fo as to exprefs a value for them, fhew any regard to them, and walk in them; and which was owing to the ftubbornnefs of their wills; they would not advert to’ them.
yr. 28. So that they caufe the cry of the poor to come to bim, &c.) To God; through their oppreffions of the poor they are made to cry by reafon of them, and who come to God with their cries, and tears, and fupplications, and which enter into the ears of the Lord of hofts. And be beareth the cry of the offlided, as he did the cry of the J raelites under “£gyptian bondage; he is a God hearing and anfwering prayer, and he particularly attends to the cry of the humble, and of the afflicted, and arifes for their help and deliverance.
¥. 29. When be giveth quietne/s, who then can make trouble? &c.| Quietnefs or peace is of God; external peace to bodies of men, to communities, civil and religious, and to particular perfons; quietnefs and contentment in outward enjoyments, peace and fafety at home, and from enemies abroad; inward {piritual peace, this is of God, is in Chrift, and from him; is the fruit of his righteoufnefs, poke by his blood, comes through faith in Chrift, and is enjoyed in his ordinances, and continues as long as it is the pleafure of God to give it, and cannot be