Job · Chapter 1

V. 1. Uz-Part of Arabia. Perfect-Not legally or exactly, but as to his sincere intentions, hearty affections, and diligent endeavours to perform all his duties to God and men. Upright-Heb. right, exact and regular in all his dealings, with men; one of an unblameable conversation. Feared-One truly pious, and devoted to God. Eschewed-Carefully avoiding all sin against God or men.

Verse 1. In the land of Uz] This country was situated in Idumea, or the land of Edom, in Arabia Petræa, of which it comprised a very large district. See the preface.

Whose name was Job] The original is bwya Aiyob; and this orthography is followed by the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. From the Vulgate we borrow Job, not very dissimilar from the Iwb Iob of the Septuagint. The name signifies sorrowful, or he that weeps. He is supposed to have been called Jobab. See more in the preface.

Perfect and upright] rvyw ועהתתאם tam veyashar; COMPLETE as to his mind and heart, and STRAIGHT or CORRECT as to his moral deportment. Feared God] Had him in continual reverence as the fountain of justice, truth, and goodness.

Eschewed evil.] [rm rs sar mera, departing from, or avoiding evil. We have the word eschew from the old French eschever, which signifies to avoid. All within was holy, all without was righteous; and his whole life was employed in departing from evil, and drawing nigh to God. Coverdale translates an innocent and vertuous man, soch one as feared God, an eschued evell. From this translation we retain the word eschew.

Verse 1. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job — We have observed in the argument, that the firstborn son of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, was called Uz. It appears also from Genesis 10:23, that a grandson of Shem bore the same name, but it does not appear whether any country was named from either of these. But we find in Lamentations 4:21, that Edom was called Uz, probably from a grandson of Seir, the Horite, of that name. See Genesis 36:20, 28; 1 Chronicles 1:38, 42. This person, as the reader will recollect, inhabited the mountainous country, called Seir from him, before the time of Abraham; but his posterity being driven out, the Edomites seized that country, Genesis 14:6; Deuteronomy 2:12, whence it afterward bore the name of Edom. It is part of Arabia Petræa, bordering upon the tribe of Judah to the south. Hence the land of Uz is properly placed between Egypt and the Philistines in Jeremiah 25:20. See Bishop Lowth and Dodd. This, therefore, was probably the country of Job, “whose name,” Dr. Dodd says, “in the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, may, with the greatest probability, be derived from a root which signifies to love or desire; and might be rendered, the beloved or desirable one.” We have observed, that it is likely he was of the posterity of Uz, the son of Nahor, the brother of Abraham; but how far removed from him can only be conjectured from the age of his friends; the eldest of whom, Eliphaz the Temanite, could not be nearer than great- grand-son to Esau; for Esau begat Eliphaz, and the son of Eliphaz was Teman: so that supposing this Eliphaz to be the son of Teman, (and higher it will be impossible to place him,) he will then be five generations from Abraham; but as Eliphaz was very much older than Job, nay, older than his father, as appears from chap. 15:10; and, considering that Abraham was very old before he had a son by Sarah, and that Rebecca, grand-daughter to Nahor, by Bethuel, perhaps his youngest son, was of an age proper to be wife to Isaac; we shall, probably, not be wide of the mark, if we allow Job to be at least six, if not seven generations removed from Nahor. The age therefore in which he lived must have coincided with the latter years of the life of Jacob, with those of Joseph, and the descent into, and sojourning in Egypt: his afflictions must have happened during the sojourning, about ten years before the death of Joseph, and his life must have been prolonged to within fourteen years before the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, that is, the year of the world 2499. The number of the years of the life of Job, according to this calculation, will be about two hundred; which, for that age of the world, and especially considering that Job was blessed with a remarkably long life, as a reward for his sufferings and integrity, will not appear very extraordinary; for Jacob lived one hundred and forty-seven years; Levi, his son, one hundred and thirty-seven; Koath, his grand-son, one hundred and thirty-three; and Amram, his great-grand-son, and father of Moses, one hundred and thirty-seven; Moses also lived one hundred and twenty years. All these, it seems, were his cotemporaries, some older, some younger than Job: so that this appears to agree extremely well with that circumstance of his history. See Heath and Dodd.

That man was perfect — Not exactly, or according to the law of innocence, but as to his sincere intentions, hearty affections, and diligent endeavours to perform his whole duty to God and men. And upright — Hebrew, wvyw, vejashar, right, exact, and regular in all his dealings with men; one of an unblameable conversation. And one that feared God — One truly pious and devoted to God. And eschewed evil — Carefully avoiding all sin against God or men.

Verse 1. The land of Uz. Moses is always correct in calling countries after the name of the first possessor. Uz was in the east beyond Jordan, and south of mount Hermon. It fell to the lot of the half tribe of Manasseh, but was partly possessed by the children of Esau. Jeremiah says, “Rejoice, oh daughter of Edom, thou that dwellest in the land of Uz.” This has given rise to what is unproved, that Job is the Jobab of Esau’s race. In keeping to the text of Moses we are safe, that Job was the son of Uz, the son of Nahor. Genesis 22:21. This country fell under the empire of Zenobia, whose capital was Tadmor, afterwards called Palmyra. 1 Kings 9:18.— Whose name was Job. In all the editions of the Septuagint, except the complute, there is the following account of this patriarch, which has much the appearance of probability. “He is signified in the Syriac to have dwelt in the land of Uz, upon the confines of Edom and Arabia. His name before was Jobab. He had an Arabian woman for his wife, and a son whose name was Ennon. His father’s name was Zare, or Zarethy, a descendant of the sons of Esau. His mother’s name was Bossorrao: hence he was the fifth from Abraham.”—One that feared God. µyhla Elohim, reverens que Numinis, as Schultens reads. This name occurring here, as in Genesis 1:1, is an indication that Moses really did transcribe the book of Job, for ydv Shaddai, the Almighty, is the name occurring twenty times in this book.

1. There was a man — These first words point to an historical basis for the ensuing work. Job bears the noble title of vya, man, in contradistinction to µda, “mean man.” Isaiah 2:9; 5:15, etc. A similar distinction occurs in Latin between vir and homo; in Greek between anhr and anqrwpov. In our own language man — from the Sanscrit manu, originally a thinker, (man, “to think,”) — is, like vya of the text, an honourable designation. “Human beings,” says Herodotus, “are many, but men are few.” Ezekiel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20) ranks Job, with Noah and Daniel, as highest types of our race. The land of Uz — So called, probably, from Uz, a son of Dishan, (Genesis 36:28,) and grandson of Seir. The translation of the word Uz by the Septuagint into Ausitiv, Ausitis, has led some, on account of a supposed resemblance to the word Aisitai, AEsitae, the name of a tribe mentioned by Ptolemy, (Geogr., 5:19,) and living in the Arabian desert west from Babylon, to fix upon the neighbourhood of Babylonia as the home of the patriarch. But little reliance, however, can be placed upon this fanciful philology, and as little upon Moslem traditions, which induce others to look for the country of Job in the Hauran, (Delitzsch,) or East Hauran, (Zockler,) a province east of the Jordan, and stretching southward from Damascus, being a part of the ancient kingdom of Bashan. The recent commentator Hitzig, after a long and laboured but unsatisfactory argument, based upon ancient idolatrous worship, locates Uz in the hill district of Tulul, which upon the west is bounded by the mountain range of Hauran.

We rather accord with the ancient opinion, according to which Uz lay in the northern part of Arabia, and, comprehending Edom, (as intimated in Lamentations 4:21,) extended toward the Euphrates, for the most part corresponding to the Arabia Petraea of classical geography. In support of this we may note, — 1. That Job was the greatest of all the men of the East; that is, of the bene Kedem, one of the nations of Arabia. “The sons of the East,” says Gesenius, (Thesaurus, page 1193,) “are the inhabitants of Arabia Deserta, which extends from the east of Palestine to the Euphrates.” (See note on verse 3.) The Scriptures help us in determining their residence, for we learn from Genesis 25:4, 6, that Abraham sent among others the sons of Midian “eastward unto the east country;” and from Judges 6:3, that subsequently the Midianites and the Amalekites were in confederacy with “the children of the East;” and from Isaiah 11:14, that God linked “them of the East” with Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon, in one common though dissimilar doom. From the remarkable association of these nations with “the children of the East” in these and similar passages, we are justified in concluding that Job must have lived somewhere between Egypt and the Euphrates, and to the south or south-east of Palestine. 2. The sole scriptures, other than that of our text, that speak of Uz as a country, associate it with Edom, (Lamentations 4:21, and Jeremiah 25:20,) though in the latter case other nations are also mentioned. The latter of these passages does not conflict with the conclusion from the former, that Uz was the more extensive country and included Edom. Then, too, the grandson of Seir the Horite, whose descendants dwelt in Edom, was called Uz. (Genesis 36:20, 21, 28, 30, 31.) As the neighbouring mountains received and transmitted the name of the grandparent, Seir, it stands in reason that the country of Edom should take the name of the grandson, Uz, though subsequently displaced by the name of Edom, (Idumea.) This view is strengthened by Deuteronomy 2:12, “The HORIM also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them [margin, inherited them] when they had destroyed them,” etc. The relatives of this Uz evidently dwelt in Seir and the adjacent country, until driven out by the children of Esau. 3. This position agrees better with that of the countries where Job’s friends lived than any other hypothesis; nor is the objection of its distance from Chaldaea a serious difficulty. (See note on verse 17.) It would also account for the great knowledge of Egypt displayed by Job, since it also lay not far from one of the most ancient caravan routes, whose starting point was Egypt. It harmonizes, also, with the mention of Jordan in Job 40:23, and of Canaanitish merchants in Job 41:6. 4. If tradition be appealed to, the statement in the supplement to the Septuagint, on the authority of the Syriac Book, that Job “dwelt in the land of Ausis, (Uz,) on the borders of Idumea and Arabia,” is worthy of quite as much consideration as the sites of monasteries, (J.G. Wetzstein,) or the fact that the sepulchre of Job is also pointed out in the Hauran, since four other places also lay claim to his tomb. Whose name was Job — bwya, iyyob. The origin of this name is exceedingly uncertain. The more general view is that of our older lexicographers, who rendered it persecuted, on the supposition that the word is a passive form of the verb bya, ayab, to hate, or attack. A serious objection against such a derivation is, that the kittol form, in which the word is, has an active or a neuter signification, and exceedingly rarely a passive meaning, (such as, for instance, yillodh, born,) so that the probabilities would be quite as great that the word “iyob” would be rendered “persecutor” as “persecuted.” The more plausible view is that which finds in the word the idea of penitence, although Zockler (in Lange) thinks that both views are equally admissible. On the hypothesis that the book is of great antiquity, we should be justified in seeking the origin of the word in the Arabic, as in those ancient times this language was closely allied to the Hebrew, furnishing the latter language with many of its roots and archaic forms. The Arabic aba, to turn, return, is near akin to the Hebrew oub, (cognate with shoub,) signifying also to turn; thence as a noun, one who turns back (to God) or repents. This view is held by Eichhorn, Rosenmuller, Ewald, Delitzsch, and Dillmann, among others. A somewhat similar name, bwy, Job, was borne by the third son of Issachar, Genesis 46:13; and an Edomite king, Jobab, is spoken of in Genesis 36:33. This name corresponds with the Greek name of Job, as cited in the supplement to the Septuagint. Perfect and upright — rvyw µt. These words express, as nearly as possible, the sense of the original. The Jewish idea, (for instance that of Rabbi Solomon, reappearing in Ewald and Henry,) that the perfection of Job consisted simply in “sincerity” or “innocency of heart,” is incomplete, presenting but one side of a many-sided prism. The word “perfect,” like the crystal of the prism, is generic, and contemplates the moral being as a whole, rather than in specific traits. Wherever this work of faith manifests itself, whether amid the mountains of Idumea or the distractions of camp-life, as with the two Roman centurions, or under Christ’s direct disclosure of himself, as to a Saul of Tarsus, it is the work of God, deep, radical, and superinduced upon the nature of man by the Spirit of God. This perfection was not inconsistent with infirmities, errors of judgment, and perhaps derelictions of the heart, as is exemplified in Job’s own case; for which, through accepted faith, the unknown mediation of Christ may as truly avail in behalf of a Job, as the known, avails for us. Thus saints may ripen for heaven in other folds than that of Israel or of Christendom, and the words of Peter be verified: “In every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” Acts 10:35. Job’s perfection could not, more than ours, stand complete in the presence of the Absolute Perfection, and so needed, like ours, the mediation.

2. Seven sons — The head of a large family has always been regarded in the East as pre-eminently happy. In the patriarchal age especially a large progeny was a source of military strength, each son, as well as each bondman, being a possible soldier. Elements of power, they, more than any other worldly gifts, entitled their possessor to distinction and honour. “Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.” “They shall speak with the enemy in the gate.” Hence “the young men” appear first in the enumeration of the blessings of Providence, even as in the series of terrible calamities their destruction is the last climactic stroke. The number ten, as Hitzig and others have remarked, is here divided into seven and three, as well as in the following verse, where the seven and three also appear together with the halves of ten. In other portions of the Bible, however, similar numerical relationships appear. (Comp. 1 Kings 17:21 with 2 Kings 4:35; 1 Samuel 20:41 with Genesis 33:3. See note on sacred numbers, Luke 6:13.) The exact round numbers, seven and three, and their symbolic selection, so frequent in the Book of Job, in the opinion of some indicate the poetical overlying the historical.

V. 3. Camels-Camels in these parts were very numerous, and very useful, both for carrying burdens in these hot and dry countries, as being able to endure thirst much better than other creatures, and for service in war. Asses-He-asses also may be included in this expression, because the greatest part of them (from which the denomination is usually taken) were she asses. The greatest-That lived in those parts. The account of his piety and prosperity comes before the account of his afflictions, to shew that neither of these will secure us from the common, no, nor from the uncommon calamities of human life.

Verse 3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep] A thousand, says the Chaldee, for each of his sons. Three thousand camels: a thousand for each of his daughters. Five hundred yoke of oxen for himself. And five hundred she-asses for his wife. Thus the Targum divides the substance of this eminent man.

A very great household] dam hbr hdb[ abuddah rabbah meod, “a very great estate.’ The word hdb[ abuddah refers chiefly to husbandry, including all manner of labour in the field, with cattle, and every description of servants.

The greatest of all the men of the East.] He was more eminent than any other person in that region in wisdom, wealth, and piety. He was the chief emir of that district.

Verse 3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep — Namely, seven thousand small cattle, whether sheep or goats, in opposition to the larger cattle next mentioned. And three thousand camels — Camels in these parts were very numerous, as is manifest from Judges 7:12; 1 Chronicles 5:21, and the testimonies of Aristotle and Pliny; and very useful, both for carrying burdens in those hot and dry countries, being able to endure thirst much better than other creatures, and for service in war. And five hundred she-asses — Which were preferred before he-asses, as serving for the same uses of carrying burdens, riding on, and different kinds of labour; and likewise for breeding and giving milk: but he-asses also may perhaps be included in the expression, the denomination being, as usual, taken from the greater part, which were she-asses. This man was the greatest of all the men of the East — Hebrew, magnus præ omnibus filiis Orientis, great in comparison, in respect, or before all the children of the East. Grotius and others have observed, that the phraseology here used is an argument that the book must have been written by some Israelite, or inhabitant of the land of Canaan, Job’s country lying eastward from thence, and it being usual with the Hebrews to call Arabia the East. The expression probably only means that he was the greatest, or one of the greatest, that lived in those parts; such general expressions being commonly understood with such limitations. The account of his piety and prosperity comes before the account of his afflictions, to show that neither of these will secure us from the common, no, nor from the uncommon calamities of human life.

3. His substance — Sir G. Wilkinson gives a plate, taken from a tomb at the pyramids, illustrative of the possessions of a wealthy Egyptian proprietor, who probably lived four thousand years ago. In the schedule appears a flock of four thousand two hundred and eight sheep, and about the same number of oxen and asses as in our text, but no camels. The statement of the stock of Abraham, (Genesis 12:16,) during his short stay in Egypt, presented sheep, oxen, asses of both sexes, and camels. He and Job were both of a country where camels were needed. It is to be remarked that in the inventories of all these extensive proprietors no horses or mules are mentioned — an incidental indication of the remote antiquity in which Job must have lived. Kitto (Bible Illustrations) estimates the value of his live stock to have been not far from forty thousand pounds, and that this did not constitute one half of his entire possessions. Money, too, was then of vastly greater relative value than now. His wealth was that of a prince. A sheik or emir, worth five or six thousand pounds, would at the present day be regarded as a very rich man. Three thousand camels — Of the camel the Arabs say: “Job’s beast is a miracle of God’s mercy.” The word itself, hamala, as found in the Arabic, a cognate language, indicates the mission of his life to be a beast of burden. The quaint old traveler Sandys calls him the ship of Arabia — his seas being the deserts. In his life he is indispensable, for without him the vast deserts of the East would be impassable; and in his death the Arab, says Scetzen, “turns every part to account.” As the make of the ship tells of the sea, so the make of the camel points to the desert; and the one no more indicates the mind of man than does the other the forethought and goodness of God. Burckhardt (Notes) says of the Bedawin residing on the frontiers of Yemen: “The father of a family is said to be poor among them if he possesses only forty camels — the usual stock in a family is from one to two hundred.” She asses — The sex is mentioned, not on account of the milk they give, which the Semitic tribes do not drink, but because of their value as breeders. The price of the male, however, in Syria is now three times that of the female, (Wetzstein.) A peculiar breed is implied in the original, ˆwta, the possession of which imported riches or dignity. The Targum thus distributes the live stock: A thousand sheep to each son, a thousand camels to each daughter, and the asses to the wife. The men of the east — Literally, sons of the East. By the bene Kedem, “sons of the East,” is meant, according to Rosenmuller and Winer, the miscellaneous tribes (especially the Arabian) inhabiting the regions between Egypt and the Euphrates. The word “Saracen” is Arabic for “men of the East,” Orientals.

V. 4. Feasted-To testify and maintain their brotherly love. His day-Each his appointed day, perhaps his birth-day, or the first day of the month.

Verse 4. Feasted in their houses, every one his day] It is likely that a birthday festival is here intended. When the birthday of one arrived, he invited his brothers and sisters to feast with him; and each observed the same custom.

Verse 4. His sons went and feasted in their houses — Or made a family feast, to testify and maintain their brotherly love. Every one his day — Not every day of the week and of the year, which would have been burdensome to them all, and gross luxury, and which certainly such a holy man as Job would not have permitted; but each his appointed day, perhaps his birth- day, or the first day of the month. It is certain the same expression, wmwy, jomo, his day, means his birth-day, Job 3:1. “The verse,” says Dr. Dodd, “might be rendered, And his sons had a constant custom to make a family feast, every one on his birth-day; and they sent and invited their three sisters,” &c. According to Herodotus, the inhabitants of the East in general, and especially the Persians, were remarkable for celebrating their birthdays with great festivity and luxury.

4. Every one his day — Which, for insufficient reasons, Hirtzel refers to national festive days either of the spring or of the harvest. As there were seven sons, Oehler, Delitzsch, and Clericus would understand by the above phrase a week of festivity, with its attendant lustration and sacrifice on the seventh day, or sabbath. Thus they infer a high antiquity for the division of time into weeks and the observance of the sabbath. But it probably indicates their respective birthdays. (Hahn, Schlottmann.) “‘His day,’ par excellence,” says Umbreit, “is the birthday.” There was apparently a fixed reason for such family festivals. Among the people of the East, birthdays have been ever commemorated with marked festivity. Pharaoh’s was celebrated with a feast to all his servants. Wilkinson, in Ancient Egyptians, says: “Every Egyptian attached much importance to the day, and even to the hour, of his birth, and it is probable that, as in Persia, each individual kept his birthday with great rejoicings, welcoming his friends with all the amusements of society, and a more than usual profusion of the delicacies of the table.” “Of all the days in the year,” says Herodotus, (i, 133,) “the one which the Persians celebrate most is their birthday.” Called for their three sisters — A joyous home, over which religion shed its heavenly light. Its influence is seen in the spirit of pure affection that bound together the hearts of the ten children. It was honourable in “the young men” that they should thus at the same time consult their own and their sisters’ happiness; as if the festive circle must be incomplete without the crowning joy of their presence. The Egyptian monuments also testify to the high esteem in which woman was held in the earliest ages. “In the treatment of women they (the Egyptians) seem to have been very far advanced beyond other wealthy communities of the same era, having usages very similar to those of modern Europe; and such was the respect shown to women that precedence was given to them over men, and the wives and daughters of kings succeeded to the throne, like the male branches of the royal family.” — Sir G. Wilkinson.

V. 5. When-When each of them had had his turn. Satisfied-He exhorted them to examine their own consciences, to repent of any thing, which had been amiss in their feasting, and compose their minds for employments of a more solemn nature. Early-Thereby shewing his ardent zeal in God’s service. May be-His zeal for God’s glory, and his true love to his children, made him jealous. Cursed-Not in a gross manner, which it is not probable either that they should do, or that Job should suspect it concerning them, but despised or dishonoured God; for both Hebrew and Greek words signifies cursing, are sometimes used to note only, reviling or setting light by a person. Hearts-By slight and low thoughts of God, or by neglecting to give God the praise for the mercies which they enjoyed. Thus-It was his constant course at the end of every feasting time, to offer a sacrifice for each. Parents should be particular in their addresses to God, for the several branches of their family; praying for each child, according to his particular temper, genius and disposition.

Verse 5. When the days of their feasting were gone about] At the conclusion of the year, when the birthday of each had been celebrated, the pious father appears to have gathered them all together, that the whole family might hold a feast to the Lord, offering burnt-offerings in order to make an atonement for sins of all kinds, whether presumptuous or committed through ignorance. This we may consider as a general custom among the godly in those ancient times.

And cursed God in their hearts.] אלהים wkrbw uberechu Elohim. In this book, according to most interpreters, the verb Ërb barach signifies both to bless and to curse; and the noun אלהים Elohim signifies the true God, false gods, and great or mighty. The reason why Job offered the burnt-offerings appears to have been this: in a country where idolatry flourished, he thought it possible that his children might, in their festivity, have given way to idolatrous thoughts, or done something prescribed by idolatrous rites; and therefore the words may be rendered thus: It may be that my children have blessed the gods in their hearts. Others think that the word Ërb barach should be understood as implying farewell, bidding adieu—lest my children have bidden adieu to God, that is, renounced him, and cast off his fear. To me this is very unlikely. Mr. Mason Good contends that the word should be understood in its regular and general sense, to bless; and that the conjunction w vau should be translated nor. “Peradventure my sons may have sinned, nor blessed God in their hearts.” This version he supports with great learning. I think the sense given above is more plain, and less embarrassed. They might have been guilty of some species of idolatry. This is possible even among those called Christians, in their banquets; witness their songs to Bacchus, Venus, &c., which are countless in number, and often sung by persons who would think themselves injured, not to be reputed Christians. Coverdale, in his translation, (1535,) renders the passage thus Peradventure my sonnes have done some offence, and have been unthankful to God in their hertes. Thus did Job continually.] At the end of every year, when all the birthday festivals had gone round.

Verse 5. When the days of their feasting were gone about — When each of them had had his turn, and there was some considerable interval before their next feasting-time; or, as the Hebrew ymy wpwqh yk, chi hikkipu jemee, may be rendered, As the days went about, Job sent and sanctified them — Exhorted and commanded them to sanctify themselves, not merely by changing or washing their clothes, (Genesis 35:2; Exodus 19:14,) and performing other ablutions, and acts of ceremonial purification then in use; but by examining their own consciences, repenting of every thing that had been amiss in their feasting, and composing their minds for employments of a more solemn nature. And rose up early in the morning — Thereby showing his ardent zeal in God’s service. And offered burnt- offerings according to the number of them all — Well knowing himself, and hereby teaching them, that all sin, even secret unbelief, ingratitude, and vanity of mind, merited condemnation from God, and could only be expiated by the shedding of blood, and offering of sacrifice, in a spirit of true penitence, and humble, lively faith. It may be my sons have sinned — His zeal for God’s glory, and his love to his children, made him jealous; for which he had sufficient cause, from the corruption of human nature, the frailty and folly of youth, the many temptations which attend feasting, and men’s proneness to slide from lawful to forbidden delights. And cursed God — Not in a gross manner, which it was not probable either that they should do, or that Job should suspect concerning them, but despised or dishonoured God; for both the Hebrew and Greek words which signify cursing, are sometimes used to denote only reviling, or setting light by a person. Thus, what is called cursing one’s father or mother, Exodus 21:17, is elsewhere called setting light by them, as Deuteronomy 27:16; Ezekiel 22:7. In their hearts — By slight and low thoughts of God, or by neglecting to give him the praise of the mercies which they enjoyed. It may be proper to observe, that the word Ërb, barack, here rendered to curse, usually signifies to bless; but it is evident it is here to be understood in a bad sense, as it is 1 Kings 21:10, where Naboth is accused of cursing or blaspheming God and the king, as it is also Job 2:5, 9, of this book. It has been thought by some, that it was substituted instead of the word rra, arar; bbq, ka-bab; or llq, kalal, (one or other of which is usually put for cursing, or vilifying,) out of reverence for God, when he is spoken of. But, “It is most certain,” says Selden, as quoted by Leigh, “that the verb barak signifies to execrate or to curse, as well as to bless; and this, as I think, not by antiphrasis, as some will have it; but almost from the very idiom of the sacred language it may signify either way, according to the connection in which it is used, as among the Latins sacrare and imprecari. For as the first signifies sometimes to devote any one by curses to destruction, and at others, to consecrate any thing to God; and as we call for either good or evil upon others; so barak denotes what a man wishes or calls for, with an ardent mind, whether it be salvation or perdition. And when applied to the Deity, it either signifies addressing him by praises and thanksgivings, (which is more common,) or with revilings and reproaches; and the difference is to be collected from the nature of the case and from the context.” What Dr. Dodd observes here is also worth attention. “The Hebrew word,” says he, “signifies to bless; but it here implies to renounce or bid adieu to, or take our leave of those things which we abandon or renounce. It is therefore used with great elegance in this sense, to signify, they renounced God; and this signification is still softened and rendered more elegant by the addition of the words, in their hearts.” Thus did Job continually — It was his constant course, at the end of every feasting-time, to offer a sacrifice for each of his children. Parents should be particular in their addresses to God, for the several branches of their family; praying for each child, according to his particular temper, genius, and disposition.

Ver. 5. When the days of feasting were gone about; by which it appears that those weekly feasts were celebrated at the festival seasons. The Jews ate unleavened bread at the passover for seven days, and rejoiced at the feast of tabernacles for the like number of days. Nuptial feasts comprised a week. Judges 14:12.—It may be my sons have sinned, and cursed God; by profane songs, and bacchanalian speeches. Job therefore offered seven victims, accompanied with other illustrations, without which they could not appear in the religious assembly of their father. Exodus 19:10. 1 Samuel 16:5.

5. Sanctified them — The Septuagint renders µvdqy, “purified them.” Not being present himself at their festivities, Job sent some messenger who should summon them to cleanse themselves, perhaps their garments, (Genesis 35:2; Exodus 19:10,) by some unrecorded process of lustration. Thus they would become ceremonially pure; for thus only would they be prepared to participate in the benefit of the sacrifices he proposed next day to offer. Jacob pursued a similar course with his family prior to the erection of an altar unto God. St. Chrysostom (quoted by Wordsworth) says, “that he purified their hearts, and not their bodies, by prayers; and that this lustration resembled an apostolic purification, not a Levitical one.” Job regarded himself as responsible for his family. Its very constitution points to higher ends than the mere training of children for the present life. The family circle is a divinely constituted section of our race, severed from all others, intrusted to the two who stand at its head; and God holds that head to stern responsibility, according to the enlarged views of the patriarch Job. (On the entire absorption of the family in the person of the father under the patriarchal system, see Maine on “Ancient Laws.”) Burnt offerings — hl[, ‘holah, a whole burnt offering — a sacrifice to be wholly consumed by fire, hence called holocaust. This word first appears in the sacrifice by Noah, (Genesis 8:20,) and denotes, as in the text, a primitive institution of this the most imposing of all the forms of sacrifice. As a whole victim was offered for each of the sons, the thoughtful family must have read in the ascending flames (‘halah, to go up) the enormity of sin against God, the doctrine of vicarious sacrifice, and the necessity of entire consecration to him. In the substitution of one for one, they may have descried afar off the One Being who should die for each sinner. In the Levitical economy the offering of sacrifices devolved upon a distinct tribe. Here Job discharges the duties of a priest, which could have been proper only among a people distinct from the Jewish, (compare Exodus 18:12; Numbers 23:3, 15,) or in an age antedating the Jewish economy. “Besides, the Levitical law required in such cases as these the offering of a sin offering or a trespass offering, but Job offered a burnt offering.” — Wordsworth. The indications are, that this sacrifice preceded those of the Levitical dispensation, and belonged rather to those of the patriarchal. It serves also casually to show the antiquity of this book. Under the light, then, of a primeval revelation whose one chief rite was apparently that of sacrifice, Job appears before us the peer of Melchisedek — like him without father and mother — of no known lineage, but highly honoured to shadow forth the One Priesthood, greater than all others, and which, though not of the house of Aaron, was to abide forever. Cursed God — Rather, renounced God. The word Ërb, translated curse, primarily means to “bow” or “bend the knee;” thence it came to signify to “pray,” “praise,” and to “bless,” since the knee was bowed in these respective acts. From the custom of pronouncing blessings upon occasions of separation the word in time assumed another meaning, that of “bidding farewell.” In like manner our own word farewell, fare (thee) well, pronounces a blessing upon the act of parting. A like change took place in the Greek cairein and in the Latin valere, until, like the Hebrew barak, they were used in the sense of “renouncing.” Job’s fear of God led him to apprehend that his sons, in the excess of pleasure, might have deemed the thought of God intrusive, at least unessential to their joys, and thus in their hearts have been guilty of renouncing God. Comp. Job 21:14. “It is curious that the sin which the father’s heart dreaded in his children was the sin to which he himself was tempted, and into which he almost fell.” — Davidson. In their hearts — Job’s view of the heart partly anticipates that of Christ: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.” Job evidently regarded the heart as the seat of evil, the source of moral action, and the fountain-head of responsibility. A dominion is thus betokened not only over overt action, but the more mysterious realm of thought. Job knew that evil thoughts needed an atonement. The senseless and practically Epicurean maxim, “Thought is free,” found no favour in that earnest age. The flames of whole burnt offerings “continually” proclaimed, as with solemn tongues of fire, man’s responsibility for all his thoughts. See note on Romans 10:10.

V. 6. A day-A certain time appointed by God. The sons-The holy angels, so called, Job 38:7 Daniel 3:25,28, because of their creation by God, for their resemblance of him in power, and dignity, and holiness, and for their filial affection and obedience, to him. Before-Before his throne, to receive his commands, and to give him an account of their negotiations. But you must not think that these things are to be understood literally; it is only a parabolical representation of that great truth, that God by his wise and holy providence governs all the actions of men and devils: It being usual with the great God to condescend to our shallow capacities, and to express himself, as the Jews phrase it, in the language of the sons of men. And it is likewise intimated, that the affairs of earth are much the subject of the counsels of the unseen world. That world is dark to us: but we lie open to it.

Verse 6. There was a day when the sons of God] All the versions, and indeed all the critics, are puzzled with the phrase sons of God; האלהים ynb beney haelohim, literally, sons of the God, or sons of the gods. The Vulgate has simply filii dei, sons of God. The Septuagint, oi aggeloi tou qeou, the angels of God. The Chaldee, aykalm ytk kittey malachaiya, troops of angels. The Syriac retains the Hebrew words and letters, only leaving out the demonstrative h he in the word האלהים haelohim, thus, [Syriac] baney Elohim. The Arabic nearly copies the Hebrew also, [Arabic] banoa Iloheem; to which, if we give not the literal translation of the Hebrew, we may give what translation we please. Coverdale (1535) translates it, servauntes of God. The Targum supposes that this assembly took place on the day of the great atonement, which occurred once each year. And there was a day of judgment in the beginning of the year; and the troops of angels came, that they might stand in judgment before the Lord. But what are we to make of this whole account? Expositions are endless. That of Mr. Peters appears to me to be at once the most simple and the most judicious: “The Scripture speaks of God after the manner of men, for there is a necessity of condescending to our capacities, and of suiting the revelation to our apprehension. As kings, therefore, transact their most important affairs in a solemn council or assembly, so God is pleased to represent himself as having his council likewise; and as passing the decrees of his providence in an assembly of his holy angels. We have here, in the case of Job, the same grand assembly held, as was before in that of Ahab, 1 Kings 22:6-23; the same host of heaven, called here the sons of God, presenting themselves before Jehovah, as in the vision of Micaiah they are said to stand on his right hand and on his left. A wicked spirit appearing among them, here called Satan or the adversary, and there a lying spirit; both bent on mischief, and ready to do all the hurt they were permitted to do; for both were under the control of his power. The imagery is just the same; and the only difference is in the manner of the relation. That mentioned above, Micaiah, as a prophet, and in the actual exercise of his prophetic office, delivers, as he received it, in a vision. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the HOST of HEAVEN standing by him, on his right hand and on his left, and there came forth a LYING SPIRIT, and stood BEFORE the Lord, and said, 1 Kings 22:19-22. The other, as a historian, interweaves it with his history; and tells us, in his plain narrative style, There was a day when the sons of God came to PRESENT themselves BEFORE the Lord, and SATAN came also among them. And this he delivers in the same manner as he does, There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job.

“The things delivered to us by these two inspired writers are the same in substance, equally high, and above the reach of human sight and knowledge; but the manner of delivering them is different, each as suited best to his particular purpose. This, then is the prophetical way of representing things, as to the manner of doing them, which, whether done exactly in the same manner, concerns us not to know; but which are really done: and God would have them described as done in this manner, to make the more lively and lasting impression on us. At the same time, it must not be forgotten that representations of this kind are founded in a well-known and established truth, viz., the doctrine of good and bad angels, a point revealed from the beginning, and without a previous knowledge of which, the visions of the prophets could scarcely be intelligible.” See Genesis 28:10-15. And Satan came also] This word also is emphatic in the original, ˆcch hassatan, the Satan, or the adversary; translated by the Septuagint o Diabolov. The original word is preserved by the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic; indeed, in each of them the word signifies an adversary. St. Peter, 1 Peter 5:8, plainly refers to this place; and fully proves that ˆcch hassatan, which he literally translates o antidikov, the ADVERSARY, is no other than o Diabolov, the DEVIL, or chief of bad demons, which he adds to others by way of explanation. There are many diamonev, demons, mentioned in Scripture, but the word Satan or devil is never found in the originals of the Old and New Testaments in the plural number. Hence we reasonably infer, that all evil spirits are under the government of ONE chief, the DEVIL, who is more powerful and more wicked than the rest. From the GREEK Diabolov comes the LATIN Diabolus, the SPANISH Diablo, the FRENCH Diable, the ITALIAN Diavolo, the German Teuffel, the DUTCH Duivel, the ANGLO-SAXON [A.S.], and the ENGLISH Devil, which some would derive from the compound THE-EVIL; o ponhrov, the evil one, or wicked one.

It is now fashionable to deny the existence of this evil spirit; and this is one of what St. John (Revelation 2:24) calls ta baqh tou satana, the depths of Satan; as he well knows that they who deny his being will not be afraid of his power and influence; will not watch against his wiles and devices; will not pray to God for deliverance from the evil one; will not expect him to be trampled down under their feet, who has no existence; and, consequently, they will become an easy and unopposing prey to the enemy of their souls. By leading men to disbelieve and deny his existence, he throws them off their guard; and is then their complete master, and they are led captive by him at his will. It is well known that, among all those who make any profession of religion, those who deny the existence of the devil are they who pray little or none at all; and are, apparently, as careless about the existence of God as they are about the being of a devil. Piety to God is with them out of the question; for those who do not pray, especially in private, (and I never met with a devil-denier who did,) have no religion of any kind, whatsoever pretensions they may choose to make.

Verse 6. Now there was a day — A certain time appointed by God; when the sons of God came — The Targum says, Troops of angels, the LXX., Angels of God; the holy angels are called sons of God, (Job 38:7, and Daniel 3:25, 28,) because of their creation by God, their resemblance of him in power, dignity, and holiness, and their filial affection and obedience to him. To present themselves before the Lord — Before his throne, to receive his commands, and to give him an account of their ministrations. The verb bxythl, lehithjatseb, here rendered to present themselves, expresses the attendance and assiduity of ministers appearing before their king to receive his instructions, or give an account of their negotiations. This must be understood as a parabolical representation, similar to that in 1 Kings 22:19. The Scripture speaks of God after the manner of men, condescending to our capacities, and suiting the revelation to our apprehensions. As kings, therefore, transact their most important affairs in a solemn council or assembly, so God is pleased to represent himself as having his council likewise and as passing the decrees of his providence in an assembly of his holy angels. We have here, in the case of Job, the same grand assembly held as was before in that of Ahab, 1 Kings 22.: the same host of heaven, called here the sons of God, presenting themselves before Jehovah, as in the vision of Micaiah they are said to stand on his right hand and on his left: a wicked spirit appearing among them, here called Satan, or the adversary, and there a lying spirit, both bent on mischief, and ready to do all the hurt that they were able, as far as God would give them leave; but, nevertheless, both under the control of his power, and suffered to go as far as might best serve the wise ends of his justice and his providence, and no further. The imagery, in short, is just the same; and the only difference is in the manner of the relation. Micaiah, as a prophet, and in the actual exercise of his prophetic office, delivers it as he received it, that is, in a vision: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, &c. The other, as an historian, interweaves it with the history, and tells us, in the plain narrative style, There was a day, &c. And this parabolical or prophetical way of representing what is a great and most important truth, namely, that God, by his wise and holy providence, governs all the actions of men and devils, is used that it may make a more lively and lasting impression on our minds. At the same time it must not be forgotten that representations of this kind are founded in a well-known and established truth, namely, that there are angels, both good and bad, that they are interested in the affairs of men; a point revealed, no doubt, from the beginning. And that the affairs of earth are much the subject of the counsels of the unseen world, to which we lie open, though that world is in a great measure concealed from us. And such representations may also be intended to discover to us, in part, at least, the causes of many of those things which happen on earth, and which appear to us unaccountable, namely, that they arise from our having some connection with, or relation to, other orders of beings through the universe, on whose account, and through whose ministry, many things may happen to us, which otherwise would not. Thus the dreadful calamities and afflictions which befell Job, in such quick succession, are utterly unaccountable according to the ordinary course of human things, and seem almost without reason, if he were considered merely as a human being, having no connection with, relation to, or influence upon, any world but this, or any order of beings but those among whom he lived; but are easily accounted for if brought on him by invisible agents, through divine permission, and certainly answered a most wise and grand purpose, if intended to show to superior beings, whether good or evil, to what a degree of steady and invincible piety and fidelity to God his grace can raise creatures formed out of the clay, and dwelling in flesh. It is but just to observe here, that some commentators adopt a different interpretation of this verse, understanding by the sons of God presenting themselves before the Lord, the people of God meeting together for religious worship on earth. Dr. Lightfoot’s comment is, “On a sabbath day, when the professors of the true religion were met together, in the public assembly, Satan was invisibly there among them;” namely, to distract and disturb them in their worship, and observe their infirmities and defects, that he might have matter of accusation against them. But what we have stated above seems to be the most probable sense of the passage.

Ver. 6. There was a day, a sabbath or other festival day, when the sons of God, the sons of great and good men assembled for religious worship. This phrase is purely patriarchal, and designates the superior antiquity of the book of Job. It equally designates the public worship which was maintained by the holy patriarchs. And Satan, the adversary, the accuser, came also. The Arabians, says Schultens, call the serpent Satan, because he elevated his head. By the sons of God many understand the holy angels, assembled in convocation before the Messiah, the Eternal WORD and WISDOM of God. Schultens refers this to the angels, Genesis 28:12.

JEHOVAH’S DETERMINATION TO TRY JOB, 6-12.

“It was a correct feeling which influenced the poet to indicate at the outset to the reader the divine grounds of the decree, and thus to provide for him a polestar which would guide him through all the entanglement of the succeeding conflicts. This he does by disclosing to us those events occurring in heaven which led to the divine decree concerning Job, the execution of which thereupon follows.” — Dillmann.

6. Now there was a day — Rather, Now it came to pass on the day, perhaps some fixed time when the sons of God came together; “a sabbath day,” says Lightfoot, 2:110. Greswell (Fasti Catholici, 1:18) adduces Psalms 89:29Psalm 89:29, and Deuteronomy 11:21, in illustration of his speculation, that it may be not merely in the language of analogy, or of accommodation to human ideas, that inspiration itself speaks of the days of heaven, or gives us reason to conclude that even in heaven, as well as on earth, the lapse of time is measured and numbered by days of some kind or other. In keeping with this, the Chaldee paraphrast has presumed to specify the day: “Now it happened in the day of judgment, (or scrutiny,) in the beginning of the year, that hosts of angels came to stand in judgment before Jehovah, and Satan came.” The sons of God — Septuagint, “angels of God.” Targum, “crowds of angels.” (See Job 38:7.) The sons of God are unquestionably angels, beings of some one of the several gradations of the intelligent and holy universe. Ephesians 1:21. The sons of God, bene Elohim, were in existence when “the foundations of the earth were laid,” and united in celebrating the laying of its corner-stone with “shouts of joy.” The peculiar designation of sons of God may point to a close relationship or a similarity of nature with Him, somewhat like that existing between child and parent among us. These sons of Deity may differ more from angels, who bear other titles, than from our own race, who, under the ennobling influences of grace, are called sons of God. (Genesis 6:2; Hosea 1:10; Romans 8:14.) Satan, though ruined by sin, was still in essential nature a son of God, and may have had at that time certain primordial rights (not then withdrawn, Luke 10:18; John 12:31; Revelation 12:9) to appear with these sons before God. Christ, par excellence, is called “Son of God,” the only-begotten of the Father, because he alone of all beings has oneness of nature with God. (See note on Genesis 6:2.) At a period not far from the time of Job the doctrine of angelic ministry had been plainly revealed. The ascent and descent of the angels upon Jacob’s ladder emblemed forth their tireless activity. They “rest not day and night.” Revelation 4:8. Before the Lord — Elohim — in the next verse Jehovah. (See note on verse 21 and on Genesis 2:4.) They “take their stand” (Carey) before Jehovah, probably to engage in praise and adoration, and perhaps at the same time, to render account for their actions, and receive new commissions and behests. That these “sons of God” should be called upon at stated times to give account of their deeds is not an unreasonable thought for us — a race upon whom the sense of responsibility is stamped; and who will be summoned to undergo our ordeal at the close of life. And Satan — See Excursus I, p. 33. Came also among them — The expression, “in the midst of them,” does not imply constraint or obligation to appear with the sons of God, nor friendliness of association, but savours rather of intrusion and unexpectedness of appearance. The form of the question, “Whence art thou [just now] coming?” (the imperfect expressing the immediate present; thus Zockler and Davidson) favours such a view, inasmuch as the question seemingly arrests Satan in the act of making his approach. Whatever may have been the privileges of Satan at that time, (verse 6,) the scene smacks of effrontery, and makes clear the distinction of the evil from the good, and their irreconcilable antagonism. See Excursus II, p. 34.

Verse 7. From going to and fro in the earth] The translation of the Septuagint is curious: perielqwn thn ghn kai emperipathsav thn upJ ouranon, pareimi; “Having gone round the earth, and walked over all that is under heaven, I am come hither.” The Chaldee says, “I am come from going round the earth to examine the works of the children of men; and from walking through it.” Coverdale, who generally hits the sense, translates thus: I have gone aboute the londe ond walked thorow it. Mr. Good has it, from roaming round the earth, and walking about it.

St. Peter, as has been already stated, 1 Peter 5:8, refers to this: Be sober, be vigilant; for your ADVERSARY the DEVIL GOETH ABOUT, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. I rather think, with Coverdale, that xra arets here signifies rather that land, than the habitable globe. The words are exceedingly emphatic; and the latter verb Ëlhth hithhallech being in the hithpael conjugation shows how earnest and determined the devil is in his work: he sets himself to walk; he is busily employed in it; he is seeking the destruction of men; and while they sleep, he wakes—while they are careless, he is alert. The spirit of this saying is often expressed by the simple inhabitants of the country: when they perceive a man plotting mischief, and frequent in transgression, they say, The devil is BUSY with him.

Verse 7. The Lord said unto Satan, &c. — As we are not to suppose from the preceding verse that Satan entered into heaven among the angels of God, uncalled; so, neither are we so to understand what is here said, as if the Great and Holy One really entered into a conversation with that apostate spirit. But, as we have stated above, the whole is parabolical and emblematical. Whence comest thou? — God, being here represented as Judge, begins with an inquiry as the ground of his further proceedings, as he did with our first parents, Genesis 3:9, and with Cain, Genesis 4:9. Satan answered the Lord, From going to and fro in the earth — Where, by thy permission, I range about, observing, with great diligence, all the dispositions and actions of men, and working in them and among them, as far as I have liberty and opportunity. The Targum, after the words, from going to and fro in the earth, very significantly adds, to try the works of the children of men. From which it appears, that the ancient Jews understood this account of the temptation of Job in a literal sense. This representation teaches us, that Satan, the great apostate spirit, is entirely under the dominion of the sovereign Lord of all things, and not suffered to act without control; and that he is chiefly confined to the limits of this earth; agreeably to which he is called, in the New Testament, the Prince of this world, John 12:31. And from this and many other passages in Scripture, we may learn that it is his employment to seek for all opportunities to delude the human race. The New Testament frequently mentions the temptations, wiles, and snares of the devil. And St. Peter describes him as doing the same thing which he is here said to do, namely, walking about as an adversary to man, seeking whom he may devour; roving to and fro with an evil intention, and a determined resolution of doing mischief.

7. Whence comest thou — According to the tenor of the Scriptures it is not unworthy of God to hold converse with any of his intelligent creatures, even though they be fallen; as is illustrated in the scenes subsequent to the sin of Adam, the murder of Abel, and in the conversation of Christ with the tempter. From going to and fro — The Chaldee paraphrase here adds, “to examine into the works of the sons of men.” The word cwv is best translated, as by Dr. Good, “roaming around,” which accords with Ewald and Dillmann. His course has been, not on paths divinely ordered, but here and there, as has been pleasing to himself. In like manner Peter: “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about [peripatei — peripatetic,] seeking whom he may devour.” The rendering of Umbreit, “to whip through,” “as if Satan sped along in storm like a destructive wind,” may be in part accepted. See Job 5:21. It is apparently the law of all sinful beings severed from “the Lord of peace” to be unceasingly restless. The reply is curt and tart, that of a ruined spirit who has nothing to hope — not unlike that of Cain when arraigned. Among the Arabs the devil is called el-hharith — the active, busy, industrious one. The olden Greeks represented Ate, who had been hurled from heaven, as a malicious deity traveling to and fro over the earth with great rapidity, always intent on doing injury to mankind.

Verse 8. Hast thou considered my servant Job] Literally, Hast thou placed thy heart on my servant Job? Hast thou viewed his conduct with attention, whilst thou wert roaming about, seeking whom thou mightest devour? viz., the careless, prayerless, and profligate in general.

Verse 8. Hast thou considered my servant Job? — Hast thou taken notice of him, and of his spirit and conduct? That there is none like him in all the earth — The Targum saith, “None like him in the land of the Gentiles;” intimating, probably, that notwithstanding he was of the Gentiles, he was yet so distinguished an example of virtue and goodness, that his equal was not to be found among them. Dr. Lightfoot speaks of Job as being, without the least doubt, a heathen, observing, “In these times, when it went thus sadly with Israel in Egypt, there shone forth the glorious piety of Job in the land of Uz,” vol. 1. p. 23; and again, p. 1026, “About (the time of) Israel’s being in Egypt, Job lives in Arabia, a heathen man, and yet so good.” And thus St. Gregory: “His country is purposely named, that the goodness of the man may be the more illustrated.”

8. Hast thou (in thy travels) considered — Remarked, noticed, l[ bl µyc, literally, as in the margin. The question falls like a spark upon a mind inflammable with evil, and the evil spirit becomes unconsciously an agent for the accomplishment of the divine purpose — the trial of Job. “Not only must he receive God’s permission before he can proceed one step against Job, but the very occasion through which he attains that permission is gratuitously provided for him by God.” — Evans. My servant — A title of honour conferred by God on but few. The term is endearing, My servant. Though but “a root out of a dry ground” of heathenism, there was none in all the East his equal. A perfect and an upright man — The repetition not only constitutes a poetical elegance common in the classics, but shows most expressively the moral worth of the man. The estimate of Job, expressed by the author in verse 1, (which see,) now receives the divine approval.

V. 9. For nought-Out of pure love and respect to thee? No. It is policy, not piety, that makes him good; he doth not serve thee, but serveth himself of thee, serving thee for his own ends.

Verse 9. Doth Job fear God for naught?] Thou hast made it his interest to be exemplary in his conduct: for this assertion Satan gives his reasons in what immediately follows.

Verse 9. Doth Job serve God for naught? — That is, sincerely and freely, and out of pure love and respect to thee? No: it is policy, not piety, that makes him good: he doth not serve thee, but serves himself of thee; and is a mere mercenary creature, serving thee for his own ends.

9. Doth Job fear God for nought — The praise of piety implies its counterpart, the condemnation of evil. Smarting under the implied reproof, Satan retorts that Job’s virtue consists solely of selfish fear. Of the four graces mentioned, he craftily elects the most assailable — the fear of God — to which even diabolical nature might lay some claim. James 2:19. For nought — “Without good reason,” or “gratuitously?”

This question starts the problem of the book. Is Job not a hireling with whom pay is the only consideration? The first words from the lips of Satan of which man has record, (Genesis 3:1,) were a malicious reflection upon divine love. True to his nature as “accuser,” he can see in the best of human virtue only mercenary motives; and this, his first onset against Job, becomes a “reflection that sheds its poisonous venom” on a whole race. It is natural for fallen beings to depreciate that in others of which they are conscious that they themselves are deficient. “It is not amiss for every one, for his mere watchfulness, to mark that Satan knows Job as soon as ever God speaks of him.” — Lightfoot.

Verse 10. Hast not thou made a hedge about him] Thou hast fortified him with spikes and spears. Thou hast defended him as by an unapproachable hedge. He is an object of thy peculiar care; and is not exposed to the common trials of life.

Verse 10. Hast thou not made a hedge about him? — Protected him with a thorny and inaccessible defence, or secured him, by thy special care and providence, from all harm and inconveniences? which is sufficient to oblige and win persons of the worst tempers; and about his house — His children and servants; about all that he hath on every side — His whole property, which is all under thy protection. Thou hast blessed the work of his hands — Hast caused whatever he does to prosper. Observe, reader, without the divine blessing, be the hands ever so strong, ever so skilful, their work will not prosper. And his substance is increased in the land — The original word whnqm, mickneehu, chiefly means his cattle; and the word xrp, parets, here rendered increased, is a metaphor taken from waters which have burst their bounds, and spread themselves on all sides round; so Job’s substance had largely increased, and spread itself like a flowing torrent over the adjacent land. — Schultens.

10. Hast not thou — (ta, thou, the very one whom Job fears) — made a hedge about him — The Chaldee paraphrases it: “Hast thou not covered him with thy word?” In his mind Satan sees a field or garden surrounded with a hedge as a protection against wild beasts. According to Thomson, (Land and Book, 1:299,) the stone walls which surround the sheepfolds of modern Palestine are frequently covered with sharp thorns. (Hosea 2:6.) The fence was threefold — first, around Job himself; then another, an exterior hedge, around his house; and a third protection or fence around all that he possessed, somewhat after the manner of fortifying ancient cities. Such, Satan unwittingly says, is God’s mode of protecting those who are his. Thou hast blessed — Wordsworth remarks: “Even Satan confesses that God’s benediction is the source of all good to man.” Is increased — xrp signifies to break through bounds. Not unlike a swollen stream, his herds had covered the land, (better, the earth,) thus showing the greatness of his possessions. The Arabs at the present day employ this word to express the mouth of a stream.

Verse 11. But put forth thine hand] Shoot the dart of poverty and affliction against him.

And he will curse thee to thy face.] Ëkrby Ëynp l[ al אם im lo al paneycha yebarechecca, “If he will not bless thee to thy appearances.” He will bless thee only in proportion to the temporal good thou bestowest upon him; to the providential and gracious appearances or displays of thy power in his behalf. If thou wilt be gracious, he will be pious. The exact maxim of a great statesman, Sir Robert Walpole: Every man has his price. “But you have not bought such a one?” “No, because I would not go up to his price. He valued himself at more than I thought him worth; and I could get others cheaper, who, in the general muster, would do as well.” No doubt Sir R. met with many such; and the devil many more. But still God has multitudes that will neither sell their souls, their consciences, nor their country, for any price; who, though God should slay them, will nevertheless trust in him; and be honest men, howsoever tempted by the devil and his vicegerents. So did Job; so have done thousands; so will all do, in whose hearts Christ dwells by faith.

Verse 11. But put forth thy hand now — In a way of justice and severity, as the phrase of putting or stretching forth God’s hand is used, Isaiah 5:25, and Ezekiel 25:7, 13, 16: and touch all that he hath — That is, afflict or destroy his children and substance; and he will curse thee to thy face — He who is now so forward to serve and bless thee, will then openly and boldly blaspheme thy name, and reproach thy providence as unjust and unmerciful to him. Or, as Schultens paraphrases the words, “He will, with the highest degree of insolence and contumacy, entirely renounce thee and religion.” Thus, when Satan could not accuse Job of any thing really ill, he charges him with having merely selfish and sinister ends in view in doing good, which was, in effect, charging him with being a hypocrite. Let us not think it strange if those who are approved and accepted of God, be unjustly censured by the devil and his instruments; and if they be otherwise perfectly unexceptionable, it is easy to charge them with hypocrisy, as Satan charged Job, and they have no way to clear themselves, but patiently to wait for the judgment of God. As there is nothing we should dread more than being hypocrites, so there is nothing we should dread less than being called and accounted so without cause. It was a great truth that Job did not fear God for naught; he got much by it: for godliness is great gain. But it was a false lie that he would not have feared God if he had not got this by it, as the event proved. Job’s friends charged him with hypocrisy because he was greatly afflicted, Satan because he greatly prospered. It is no hard matter for those to calumniate that seek occasion. Let us remember it is not mercenary to look at the eternal recompense in our obedience; but to aim merely or chiefly at temporal advantages in our religion, and to make it subservient to them, is spiritual idolatry, worshipping the creature more than the Creator, and is likely to end in a fatal apostacy. Men cannot long serve God and Mammon.

11. Touch all that he hath — God needs but touch the fairest estate of man and it withers. The word [gn may also be rendered smite, as in verse

19. It is worthy of special remark that Job’s piteous cry, “the hand of God hath touched me,” (Job 19:21,) corresponds to the present cruel demand of Satan with the same word, [gn. Some have indulged the fanciful notion that the Satan here is merely an accusing angel; but the maliciousness evinced not only in his sneer at human virtue, but in his desire that God should touch all that Job hath, already proclaims him the devil whose works Christ came to destroy. And he will curse thee — And — al µya, literally, If not, truly, verily; the formula of an path without the apodosis. The evil spirit is by no means chary of the words he uses. Curse thee — Ërb in the sense of renouncing, as in verse 5. (See note.) The shameless effrontery and arrogance of Satan are heightened by the added words, “to thy face.”

V. 12. Behold, &c.-It seems strange, that, God should give Satan such a permission as this. But he did it for his own glory, for the honour of Job, for the explanation of providence, and the encouragement of his afflicted people in all ages.

Verse 12. All that he hath is in thy power] Satan cannot deprive a man even of an ass, a sheep, or a pig, but by especial permission of God. His power and malice are ever bounded, and under control.

So Satan went forth] The Targum adds, with authority from the presence of the Lord.

Verse 12. The Lord said, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power — I give thee full power to do with his property, his servants, his children, and his wife, whatsoever thy craft or malice shall prompt thee to do; only upon himself put not forth thy hand — Meddle not with his own person, with his body or soul. It seems strange that God should give Satan such a permission as this. But he did it for his own glory, for the honour of Job, for the explanation of providence, and the encouragement of his afflicted people in all ages. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord — From the place where God is represented as having been especially present, glad of the permission he had obtained to do mischief to a good man; and resolved to lose no time, but immediately to put his project in execution. Schultens observes, that axy, jatza, to go forth, is used here in a judicial way; comprehending the office of an executer of justice; as Isaiah 37:36, the angel of the Lord axy, jatza, went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians. Thus did Satan go forth to execute the judgments wherewith he was permitted to afflict and try Job.

12. All that he hath is in thy power — As in the margin, hand. Job is now delivered into the hand of Satan. His piety is to be put to the sorest test. All virtue is conditioned upon trial — the higher the virtue the severer the ordeal. The stroke is a bold one, even for the empire of the world. For God had declared Job the best man then living. (Verse 8.) If Satan should succeed in showing Job to be a hypocrite, he will practically demonstrate that there is no substantial virtue in the world. So Satan went forth — Not so much to his roaming “to and fro,” as in a straight and definite line to execute his permitted “mission” of evil. By that mission he would seek to destroy virtue; but God shall so overrule him that he will only furnish the conditions by which hardy and tried virtue is made possible and demonstrated. A like remark is made of Cain, (Genesis 5:16,) and of Judas, that “he went immediately out” to his deed of treachery. There is no delay: evil nature recoils from the constrained presence of the pure and good to its own congenial work of ruin. He goes with alacrity and with vast resources, and in high expectation of encompassing the fall of one saint, which better pleaseth him than of many unbelievers. From this we learn that trials are proportioned to the strength of the soul. The intensity of the kindling flames declares the estimate God puts upon the virtue of Job. On the one hand, all temptation at the hand of Satan sets forth the value of the soul, and its high destiny in another life: on the other, the saying is no less true, that “in every temptation to sin the devil cheapens our immortal souls,” and in every way endeavours to depreciate them before the soul itself. “God tries men, that they may rise: Satan tempts them, that they may fall.”

Verse 13. There was a day] The first day of the week, says the Targum. It no doubt refers to one of those birthday festivals mentioned before.

FOUR MESSENGERS OF MISFORTUNE, 13-19.

“It is not accidental,” says Hengstenberg, “that there are just four catastrophes divided into two pairs, and corresponding to the fourfold particularization of the righteousness of Job. In them may be seen a sort of irony of destiny touching his and all human righteousness.” The Germans have also remarked upon the peculiarity that the first and third of the calamities are ascribed to human, the second and fourth to celestial agencies. — Evans. The Germans call calamities hiobs-posten — “Job’s posts,” or messengers — a proverbial expression similar to our own “Job’s comforters.”

13. There was a day — Literally, Now it was the day; the day of festivity, which in the rotation happened to be at the house of the firstborn. On this account it was probably the most marked of all the feasts of the year. It was a feast, too, in which the drinking of wine is specified, to set forth its sumptuousness and hilarity. These two circumstances heighten the precipice down which the family is so soon to be plunged. In the mention of wine-drinking we have, in part, the reason for Job’s anxiety over these festive occasions, and perhaps also the secret of his standing aloof. Wine-drinking and its drunken effects, even upon women, are portrayed on the monuments of Egypt. The winepresses and offerings of wine to the gods, pictured in the tombs, establish the making of wine as far back as the fourth dynasty, (about 2450 B.C.) This is supposed to be the remotest period from which the manners of the people were thus perpetuated. The culture of the vine was, without doubt, of a vastly greater antiquity, (Genesis 9:20,) as is seen in the exceptional fact that substantially the same word is used for wine among almost all eastern and western nations. The basis of the word is found, according to Pott and Kuhn, in the Indo-European language, the former making it from we, to weave, the latter from wan, to love. Gesenius and Furst, on the other hand, hold that it is of Semitic extraction, and cognate to ˆyy, either from a root signifying “burning,” or another, “to tread out grapes.” The oneness of the word in the Indo-European and Semitic languages may be illustrated by comparing the Greek oinov, originally foinos, the Latin vinum, the Welsh g-win, with the Hebrew yayin, the Arabic wain, (a bunch of grapes,) Ethiopic wain, (wine.)

FIRST MESSENGER.

V. 14. Messenger, &c.-One messenger immediately followed another; Satan so ordering by God’s permission, that there might seem to be more than ordinary displeasure of God against him in his troubles, and that he might not have leisure to recollect himself, but be overwhelmed by a complication of calamities.

Verse 14. The asses feeding beside them] twnta athonoth, the she-asses, which appear to have been more domesticated, as of more worth and use than the others, both for their milk and their work.

Verses 14, 15. And the asses feeding beside them — That is, beside the oxen. And the Sabeans fell upon them — A people of Arabia, who led a wandering life, and lived by robbery and plunder, as Strabo and other heathen writers observe. They were the descendants of Abraham by Keturah, whose son Jokshan begat Sheba, their progenitor. Indeed, the Hebrew here is, Sheba fell upon them; and took them away — The whole five hundred yoke of oxen, and the five hundred asses which he had. Yea, they have slain the servants, &c. — Who faithfully and bravely did their best to defend them. And I only am escaped to tell thee — Him Satan spared no less maliciously than he destroyed the rest, that Job might have speedy and certain intelligence of his calamity.

14. A messenger — In each of the four cases the messenger was, Chrysostom thinks, (though without authority from the text,) Satan himself, who brought the tidings to Job that he might feed on his misery. The oxen were ploughing — A single touch of the pencil sets forth the quietude and peace that reigned around. The scientist speaks of a like hush of nature before an earthquake. “The ancient plough was entirely of wood, and of as simple a form as that of modern Egypt. It consisted of a share, two handles, and the pole or beam, which last was inserted into the lower end of the stilt on the base of the handles, and was strengthened by a rope connecting it with the heel. It had no coulter, nor were wheels applied to any Egyptian plough; but it is probable that the point was shod with a metal sock of bronze or iron. It was drawn by two oxen, and the ploughman guided and drove them with a long goad, without the assistance of reins, which are used by the modern Egyptians.” — Wilkinson.

V. 15. Sabeans-A people of Arabia, who led a wandering life, and lived by robbery and spoil. I-Whom Satan spared, that Job might have speedy and certain intelligence of his calamity.

Verse 15. And the Sabeans fell] The Vulgate alone understands this of a people. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic, understand it as implying a marauding party. The Chaldee says, “Lilith, queen of Zamargad, rushed suddenly upon them, and carried them away.” The Sabeans mentioned here are supposed to have been the same with those who were the descendants of Abraham by Keturah, whose son Jokshan begat Sheba. The sons of Keturah were sent by Abraham into the east, Genesis 25:6, and inhabited Arabia Deserta, on the east of the land of Uz. Hordes of predatory banditti were frequent in those countries and continue so to the present day. They made sudden incursions, and carried off men, women, children, cattle, and goods of every description; and immediately retired to the desert, whither it was in vain to pursue them.

Verses 14, 15. And the asses feeding beside them — That is, beside the oxen. And the Sabeans fell upon them — A people of Arabia, who led a wandering life, and lived by robbery and plunder, as Strabo and other heathen writers observe. They were the descendants of Abraham by Keturah, whose son Jokshan begat Sheba, their progenitor. Indeed, the Hebrew here is, Sheba fell upon them; and took them away — The whole five hundred yoke of oxen, and the five hundred asses which he had. Yea, they have slain the servants, &c. — Who faithfully and bravely did their best to defend them. And I only am escaped to tell thee — Him Satan spared no less maliciously than he destroyed the rest, that Job might have speedy and certain intelligence of his calamity.

Ver. 15. The Sabeans, inhabiting a country south-east of Uz. Among the Greeks, Zeus Sabazius was the name of the Most High God, agreeing, no doubt, with the Hebrew phrase, “The Lord of sabbaoth.” The father of the Sabeans, after the manner of all the tribes that populated the earth, had claimed divine descent, as the offspring of God. They were a race of great strength and stature. Isaiah 45:14. As the worship of the Sabeans overspread the earth, we may here notice its characters. They worshipped fire, and declared their altars to be the gods. They worshipped the hosts of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars. This worship had its origin in Chaldea, and is reckoned the most refined species of idolatry. It is severely condemned by Job 31:26, 28. “If I beheld the sun when it shined, and the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand; this were an iniquity punishable by the Judge.”—See on Deuteronomy 4:19. Sabianism prevailed not only among all the race of Shem and of Ham, and had cities and temples dedicated to the sun, as Heliopolis in Egypt; but down to the time of Jeremiah, it had a strong hold of the idolatrous Jew. See on Jeremiah 7:18.

15. The Sabeans — In the original, Sheba; the name of the country, for its inhabitants. In broken and startling language he cries, “Sheba fell and took them.” Three races bearing the name Sabean are mentioned in Genesis: the one in the line of Cush, (Job 10:7,) the second of Joktan, (Job 10:28,) and the third in that of Abraham by Keturah, (Job 25:3.) The Sabeans of our text were of the last-named lineage, and as a nomadic tribe occupied the country south-east of Uz; that part of Arabia Deserts stretching from the Persian Gulf to Idumea — the home of Job. A similar state of lawlessness prevails throughout that entire country at the present time. “Wealth among the Arabs is extremely precarious, and the most rapid changes of fortune are daily experienced. The bold incursions of robbers and sudden attacks of hostile parties reduce, in a few days, the richest man to a state of beggary; and we may venture to say there are not many fathers of families who have escaped such disasters.” — BURCKHARDT, Bedawin, 1:81. They have slain the servants — Ne’harim sometimes signifies children and young men as well as servants. A large body of men, in the pride of their manhood, through the malice of one being are put to the edge of the sword. “We must not here think of the paid day-labourer of the Syrian towns, or the servants of our landed proprietors, — they are unknown on the borders of the desert. The hand that toils has there a direct share in the gain; the workers belong to the aulad, — ’children of the house,’ — and are so called; in the hour of danger they will risk their life for their lord. This rustic labour is always undertaken simultaneously by all the quarterers, (so called from their receiving a fourth part of the harvest for their labour, the ustad meantime providing instruments of agriculture, and for the shelter and board of the ‘quarterers,’) for the sake of order, since the ustad, or in his absence, the village sheik, has the general work of the following day announced from the roof of his house every evening. Thus it is explained how the five hundred ploughmen could be together in one and the same district and be slain all together.” — WETZSTEIN in Delitzsch, 2:418. And I only — Each of these four messengers represents himself to be the sole survivor of the dire calamity, and this has been objected against the historical character of the book. The author, it is to be remarked, however, gives us the message as they delivered it. Nothing would be more natural in the midst of the confusion and terror attending the apparently general destruction, than for each one to suppose himself alone to have escaped. It may have been a part of the diabolic machination that each should close his message in the same manner, in order to give to the series of calamities the unmistakable cast of a divine judgment. Chrysostom indulges in the conceit that Satan repented of the first message because of the prominence given to the deeds of men. Job might still solace himself with the thought that God is not against him. Hence the startling opening of the next message — the fire of God!!

SECOND MESSENGER.

V. 16. The fire of God-As thunder is the voice of God, so lightning is his fire. How terrible then were the tidings of this destruction, which came immediately from the hand of God! And seemed to shew, that God was angry at his very offerings, and would receive no more from his hands.

Verse 16. The fire of God is fallen] Though the fire of God may mean a great, a tremendous fire, yet it is most natural to suppose lightning is meant; for as thunder was considered to be the voice of God, so lightning was the fire of God. And as the prince of the power of the air was permitted now to arm himself with this dreadful artillery of heaven, he might easily direct the zigzag lightning to every part of the fields where the sheep were feeding, and so destroy the whole in a moment.

Verse 16. While he was yet speaking — Before the former had done speaking, or Job could have time to compose his disturbed mind, and to digest his former loss; there came also another — Another messenger of evil tidings; and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven — Not ordinary lightning, which could scarcely have destroyed seven thousand sheep at once; but an extraordinary, terrible, and widely-spreading flame or fire, issuing from the air, accompanied, probably, by a dreadful storm of thunder and hail, such as that recorded Exodus 9., which destroyed both man and beast that were left without shelter in the field; or that which destroyed the army of the confederate kings, Joshua 10:11. We need not wonder that this fire and storm were so destructive, since they were raised by him who is emphatically termed the prince of the power of the air, and who had now permission to use his power to the utmost against the property of Job. Thunder is termed in Hebrew the voice of God, and the messenger terms this lightning the fire of God, not knowing that the evil spirit had any hand in causing it. How terrible then must have been the tidings of this destruction, which was represented as coming immediately from the hand of God, and which seemed to show that God was angry at Job’s very offerings, and would receive no more at his hands!

16. Fire of God — Or lightning, as in 1 Kings 18:38. Thus Euripides: —

Alas! alas! may the fire of heaven

Strike through my head. — Medea, 144.

According to Delitzsch, a rain of fire like that of Sodom. Umbreit and Ewald suppose it to have been the simoom — the fiery, sulphurous wind of Arabia, called by the Arab and the Turk “the wind of poison.” Its approach is heralded by an unusual redness of the sky, which, while the wind lasts, seems to be all on fire. The blast of air, heated to quite two hundred degrees, frequently becomes a tornado, whirling along vast mounds of sand, which sometimes overwhelm armies, as in the case of Cambyses and his 50,000 men. But as this visitation “fell (hlpn) from heaven,” it seems more natural to interpret it of lightning. It is significant that the second stroke came from heaven, as if to impress Job with the conviction that God, as well as man, was against him.

THIRD MESSENGER.

V. 17. Chaldeans-Who also lived upon spoil, as Xenephon and others observe.

Verse 17. The Chaldeans made out three bands] The Chaldeans inhabited each side of the Euphrates near to Babylon, which was their capital. They were also mixed with the wandering Arabs, and lived like them on rapine. They were the descendants of Chesed, son of Nahor and brother of Huz, from whom they had their name Casdim, which we translate Chaldeans. They divided themselves into three bands, in order the more speedily and effectually to encompass, collect, and drive off the three thousand camels: probably they mounted the camels and rode off.

Verse 17. There came also another — Bringing tidings still more afflictive than either of the two former; and said, The Chaldeans — Who also lived upon spoil, as Xenophon and others observe; made out three bands — That they might come upon their prey several ways, and that nothing might be able to escape them; and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away — The three thousand camels which Job had; (see verse 3;) a prodigious loss indeed! slaying, at the same time, the servants that tended them. If the fire of God, and the sword of the plunderers, which fell upon Job’s honest servants that were in the way of their duty, had fallen upon the Sabean robbers that were doing mischief, God’s judgments therein would have been like the great mountains, evident and conspicuous; but when the way of the wicked prospers, and they carry off their booty, while just and good men are suddenly cut off, God’s righteousness is like the great deep, the bottom of which we cannot find, Psalms 36:6Psalm 36:6.

17. The Chaldaeans — Or, Chasdim. They appear to have been one of the many Cushite tribes inhabiting the great alluvial plain lying far to the north-east of Idumea, known as Babylonia or Chaldaea — the latter, according to Ptolemy, forming the south-western portion of the former. From the earliest times the people occupying this land, though of the Hamite race, have been distinguished for their cultivation of science and their discoveries in the arts. Their principal tribe was the Accad. Genesis 10:10. “With this race originated the art of writing, the building of cities, and the institution of a religious system.” — RAWLINSON, Herodotus, 1:256. When the Semitic tribes established themselves in Assyria, in the thirteenth century before Christ, they adopted the alphabet of the Accad. The tablets found at Nineveh are exclusively in the Accadian language. (See Rawlinson, ibid., and “Five Great Monarchies,” vol. i, ch. 3.) Yet these are the people who are moved to a merciless foray against the unoffending man of God. In later times they are described as “terrible” — “a bitter and hasty nation” — whose “horses are swifter than the leopards,” and “more fierce than the evening wolves.” Habakkuk 1:6-11. The distance from Chaldaea to Idumaea is not far from five hundred miles. Yet “scarcely a year passes during which the border of Syria is not ravaged by plundering parties from Mesopotamia, and sometimes even from the shores of the Persian Gulf.… Raids are now, also, as they were in Job’s days, sudden, rapid, and unexpected.” — J.L. Porter. “Once at least in every year the Teyaheh [a tribe of the Bedawin] collect in force, often mustering as many as one thousand guns, and set off on camels for the country of the ‘Anazeh, a distance of more than twenty days’ journey. Having chosen for their expedition the season of the year when the camels are sent out to graze, they seldom fail to come across some large herd feeding at a distance from the camp and watched by a few attendants only. These they drive off, the men who possess guns forming a guard on either side and in the rear, and the rest leading the beasts. It sometimes, though rarely, happens that they get off clear with their booty before the owners are aware of the invasions; but in many cases they are hotly pursued, and compelled to relinquish their prey and take to their heels. In the last of these excursions the Teyaheh carried off more than six hundred head of cattle.” — PALMER, Desert of Exodus, 295. Three bands — They formed themselves into three columns, (Judges 7:16: 1 Samuel 11:11,) according to the ancient tactics of war; literally, “set three heads (bands) and spread out,” (cvp,) that they might encompass the three thousand camels, which are easily affrighted and then exceedingly difficult to take. These three bands, according to Jahn, were probably the center, left, and right wing. In illustration of the availableness of the camel, Wellsted (Arabia, 1:300) states that the usual pace of the Oman camels, when the Bedawin mount them for a desert journey, is a quick, hard trot from six to eight miles an hour. They will continue this for twenty to twenty-four consecutive hours, but increase their speed, on occasions which require it, to thirteen or fifteen miles an hour. Laborde tells us (Arabia, 264) that his camel carried him from Suez to Cairo (thirty-two leagues) in seventeen hours. Burckhardt (Notes, 2:79) describes a wager which the camel lost, but he had traveled one hundred and fifteen miles in eleven hours, though twice crossing the Nile in a ferry-boat.

FOURTH MESSENGER.

Verse 18. While he was yet speaking there came also another — Bringing tidings the most distressing of all. One messenger immediately followed another in this manner, through the contrivance of Satan, by God’s permission, that there might seem to be more than ordinary displeasure of God against Job in his troubles, and that he might not have leisure to recollect himself, but be overwhelmed by a complication of calamities Thus the children of God are often in heaviness, luphqentev, distressed, burdened with grief, through manifold trials; deep calls to deep; waves and billows, one after another, go over them. Let one affliction, therefore, quicken and excite us to prepare for another; for, how deep soever we may have drunk of the bitter cup, as long as we are in the world, we cannot be sure that we have drunk our share. Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking, &c. — That is, feasting after their manner, and, as Job had generally feared and suspected, perhaps sinning against God, verse 5.

Ver. 18. Drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house. This last and severest stroke fell on the house where the sin of Epicurean pleasures began. The eldest brother should have been the guide of the younger branches of his family.

18. Drinking wine — The mention of wine-drinking in so painful an association, suggests that in the mind of the messenger there may have been the thought, how ill-prepared these young people were for death’s surprise.

V. 19. The young men-This was the greatest of Job’s losses, and therefore Satan reserved it to the last, that if the other provocations failed, this might make him curse God. They died by a wind of the devils raising, but which seemed to be the immediate hand of God. And they were taken away, when he had the most need of them, to comfort him under all his other losses. Such miserable comforters are creatures: in God we have a constant and sufficient help.

Verse 19. A great wind from the wilderness] Here was another proof of the influence of the prince of the power of the air. What mischief might he not do with this tremendous agent, were he not constantly under the control of the Almighty! He seems to have directed four different currents, which, blowing against the four corners or sides of the house, crushed it together, and involved all within in one common ruin.

Verse 19. And behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness — From the further part of, or across the wilderness, whence the fiercest winds came, as having most power in such open places: see Jeremiah 4:11, and 13:24. By this it appears that Job’s situation was on the northerly side of the Arabian desert; and smote the four corners of the house — In which the chief strength of the house consisted. The wind smote these either all together, or rather successively, one corner immediately after another, being possibly a whirlwind, which came violently and suddenly whirling about in a circle; and it fell upon the young men — Upon his sons in their youth, and his daughters also, as appears from the sequel. This was the greatest of all Job’s losses, his ten children being, undoubtedly, by far the dearest and most valuable of his possessions; and it could not but go nearest to him, and, therefore, Satan reserved it to the last; that, if the other provocations failed, this might make him curse God. Our children are parts of ourselves, and it touches a good man in a most tender part to be deprived of any of them. What then must Job have felt, when he learned that he had lost his whole ten at once, and that in one moment he was written childless! It was also an aggravation of the calamity that they had been taken away so suddenly, without any previous warning. Had they died by some lingering disease, and he had had notice to expect their death, and prepare for the breach, the affliction would have been more tolerable. And that they had died when they were feasting and making merry, was another and still more distressing circumstance. Had they died suddenly when they were praying, he might have better borne it; for. in that case, he would have hoped that death had found them in a state of preparation for another world, which he had great reason to fear now it had not. They died, indeed, by a wind of the devil’s raising, but which seemed to come from the immediate hand of God, and to be sent as a judgment of God upon them for the punishment of their sins: and they were taken away when Job had most need of them to comfort him under all his other losses.

19. From the wilderness — Literally, from beyond the desert. rbdmh with the article as here, generally signifies the great Arabian desert, lying to the south of Palestine, and extending from Egypt as far as the Persian Gulf. The most destructive storms come from that direction. Sweeping across this desert, with no obstacle to break its force, this storm constantly increased in intensity until it became a whirlwind, (so Dillmann thinks,) and thus struck the four corners of the house at once. Mr. Buckingham thus describes a whirlwind which he encountered in the desert of Suez: “Fifty gales of wind at sea seemed to me more easy to be encountered than one among these sands. It is impossible to imagine desolation more complete; we could see neither sun, earth, nor sky; the plain at ten paces distance was absolutely imperceptible; our beasts, as well as ourselves, were so covered as to render breathing difficult; they hid their faces in the ground, and we could only uncover our own for a moment to behold this chaos of midday darkness.” Such winds, says Dr. J.L. Porter, are common in the desert. “They pass along with a roar like a cataract, and can be both seen and heard at a great distance. I have often witnessed them. Such a tornado would destroy a house exactly as here described, ‘smiting it upon the four corners.’” Young men — µyr[n. An archaic form of frequent use in the Pentateuch (like the Greek paiv) for either or both of the sexes. They are dead — The climax of conceivable evils is now reached. Each additional one had been more disastrous than that which preceded. This — before which the others are dwarfed — is forcibly left to the last. Dante says of Satan that he is a master logician. The first stroke was the work of men, and entailed the loss of five hundred yoke of oxen and as many asses; in the second, the fire of God fell, and burned up the seven thousand sheep; in the third, men were again the agents, and the Chaldeans swooped up the three thousand camels; in each case their attendants being left dead on the field. But what are all these in the presence of a family of ten dead children? These diversified calamities were so ordered, that, like so many claps of thunder, the reverberation of one died not away before another broke upon the sky.

THE TRIUMPH OF JOB, verses 20-22.

V. 20. Shaved-Caused his hair to be shaved or cut off, which was then an usual ceremony in mourning. Worshipped-Instead of cursing God, which Satan said he would do, he adored him, and gave him the glory of his sovereignty, of his justice, and of his goodness also, in this most severe dispensation.

Verse 20. Rent his mantle] Tearing the garments, shaving or pulling off the hair of the head, throwing dust or ashes on the head, and fitting on the ground, were acts by which immoderate grief was expressed. Job must have felt the bitterness of anguish when he was told that, in addition to the loss of all his property, he was deprived of his ten children by a violent death. Had he not felt this most poignantly, he would have been unworthy of the name of man.

Worshipped] Prostrated himself; lay all along upon the ground, with his face in the dust.

Verse 20. Then Job arose — From his seat whereon he had been sitting in a disconsolate posture; and rent his mantle — In token of his deep sense of, and just sorrow for, the heavy hand of God upon him, and his humiliation of himself under that hand: see Genesis 37:34; and shaved his head — Caused the hair of his head to be shaved or cut off, which was then a usual ceremony in mourning: of which see Ezra 9:3; Isaiah 15:2, and 22:12; Jeremiah 7:29, and 41:5; Micah 1:16. And fell down upon the ground — In self-abasement, contrition, and supplication unto God; and worshipped — Instead of cursing God, which Satan said he would do, he adored him, and gave him the glory of his sovereignty, of his justice, and of his goodness also, in this most severe dispensation.

20. Then Job arose — Thus far he has borne unmoved the successive shocks of adverse fate. But now nature triumphs. As the tidings of the last great grief break upon him he rises, and yielding to the more tender impulses of our common nature, resigns himself to sorrow, but not one moment to suspense of faith in God. And rent his mantle — There was no custom among the Orientals corresponding to that among ourselves, of putting on of mourning attire in token of heavy grief. They, on the contrary, instead of changing their outer dress, rent it in twain. This custom was common among the nations of antiquity. The l[m, me’hil, mantle made of linen, in later times also of cotton, was an outer garment worn by priests, kings, and the very rich, and sometimes by the daughters of kings. That of the high priest was, according to Josephus, a long vestment of a blue colour woven in one piece, but with openings for the neck and arms. (Antiquities, iii, chap. 7:4.) In the opinion of some, Christ, as high priest, wore a similar garment, for which the soldiers cast lots at the foot of the cross. (John 19:23.) And shaved his head — This was forbidden among the Jews to the priests. (Leviticus 21:5.) The people were prohibited (Deuteronomy 14:1, and Leviticus 19:27) from rounding the corners of their heads, etc., which had, perhaps, respect to some idolatrous custom among neighbouring nations. Herodotus (ii, 36) says of the Egyptians, who “wear no hair at any other time, that when they lose a relative they let their beards and the hair of their heads grow long. Elsewhere it is customary in mourning for near relatives to cut their hair close.” The custom among the Greeks, according to Plutarch, was similar to that of the Egyptians. The shaving of his head is decisive that Job could not have been an Egyptian. This deliberate and protracted act shows in a striking manner Job’s mastery over himself and his sorrow. Fell down upon the ground, and worshipped — (Compare 2 Samuel 12:20.) “That he might not show pride by his insensibility he fell down at the stroke; but that he might not estrange himself from Him who strikes, he so fell down as to worship.” — ST. GREGORY, Moralia. “He arose,” says Origen, “and at length prostrated himself. He arose for battle; he prostrated himself for peace. He arose for the perfection of victory; he prostrated himself for the reception of the crown.”

V. 21. Naked-I brought none of these things with me, when I came out of my mother’s womb into the world, but I received them from the hand of God, who hath now required his own again. Return thither-I shall be as rich when I die as I was when I was born, and therefore have reason to be contented with my condition, which also is the common lot of all men. Into the lap of our common mother, the earth, as the weary child lays its head in its mother’s bosom. We go out of the world naked; the body doth, tho’ the sanctified soul goes clothed. (2 Corinthians 5:3.) Death strips us of all our enjoyments: clothing can neither warm nor adorn a dead body. Taken-He hath taken away nothing but his own, and what he so gave that he reserved the supreme disposal of in his own hand. And what is it to me, by what hand he that gives, resumes what he gave?

Verse 21. Naked came I out of my mother’s womb] I had no earthly possessions when I came into the world; I cannot have less going out of it. What I have the Lord gave: as it was his free gift, he has a right to resume it when he pleases; and I owe him gratitude for the time he has permitted me to enjoy this gift.

Naked shall I return thither] Whither? Not to his mother’s womb surely; nor does he call the earth his mother in this place. In the first clause of the verse he speaks without a metaphor, and in the latter he speaks in reference to the ground on which he was about to fall. As I came out of my mother’s womb destitute of the earthly possessions, so shall I return hmv shammah, THERE; i.e., to the earth on which he was now falling. That mother earth was a common expression in different nations, I allow; but I believe no such metaphor was now in the mind of Job.

The Lord gave] The Chaldee has, “The WORD of the Lord, yyd armym meymera dayai, gave; and the WORD of the Lord and the house of his judgment, have taken away!” WORD is used here personally, as in many other places of all the Targums.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.] The following is a fine praphrase on the sentiment in this verse:—

“Good when he gives, supremely good;

Nor less when he denies;

Afflictions from his sovereign hand,

Are blessings in disguise.”

Seeing I have lost my temporal goods, and all my domestic comforts, may God alone be all my portion! The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Covedale, add, The Lord hath done as he pleased.

Verse 21. Naked came I out of my mother’s womb — I brought none of those things which I have now lost with me when I came out of my mother’s womb into the world, but I received them from the hand and favour of that God who hath now required his own again; and naked shall I return — I shall be as rich when I die as I was when I was born; and therefore have reason to be contented with my condition, which also is the common lot of all men. We go naked out of the world into the womb or lap of our common mother the earth, as the weary child lays its head on its mother’s bosom. Death strips us of all our possessions and enjoyments; clothing can neither warm nor adorn a dead body: a consideration which silenced Job under all his losses. The sanctified soul, however, goes out of the world clothed, (2 Corinthians 5:3,) and when it appears in the presence of God is not found naked. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away — He hath taken away nothing but his own; nothing but what he so gave to me as to reserve the supreme dominion and disposal of it in his own hand. So that I have no cause to murmur against him or complain. Nor have I reason to fret and rage against the Chaldeans and Sabeans, the fire or the wind, which were only God’s instruments to execute his wise and holy counsel: for, what is it to me by what hand or means he that gives resumes what he gave? Blessed be the name of the Lord — That is, blessed be the Lord, his name being put for himself. The sense is, I have no cause to quarrel with God, but much cause to bless and praise him that he did give me such blessings, and suffered me to enjoy them more and longer than I deserved, and that he hath vouchsafed to afflict me, which I greatly needed for my soul’s good; and which I take as a token of his love and faithfulness to me, and therefore ministering more matter of comfort than grief to me; and that he hath left me the comfort of my wife, and yet is pleased to continue to me the health of my body, and a composed mind, and a heart to submit to his good pleasure; and that he hath reserved and prepared a felicity for me, which no Chaldeans or Sabeans, no men or devils, can take away from me; of which see Job 19:25.

21. Return thither — The Chaldee paraphrast interprets thither by “the house of burial.” In the Apocrypha is an evident paraphrase of this verse. “A heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam from the day that they go out of their mother’s womb till the day that they return to the mother of all things.” Ecclesiasticus 40:1. Cyprian thus quotes the passage: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go under the earth.” Comp. Ecclesiastes 5:15. The classics, in like manner, speak of the earth as the mother of all mortals. (LIVY, Hist., 1:56; SUETONIUS, Julius Cesar, chap. 7.) J.D. Michaelis and others erroneously adduce this passage in proof of the pre-existence of souls in the depth of the earth. Lord gave… Lord… taken… blessed be… Lord — In this remarkable

passage, which Dr. Chalmers calls “one of the most precious memorabilia of the Scriptures,” and Hitzig “the epilogue of a prayer,” the word Jehovah is used three times with marked significance. Under the sanction of an oath Satan had declared Job would renounce (curse) Ërby, God, (verse 11;) on the contrary, the coincidence is notable that with the same word, Ërbm, he “blesses” and worships God. The Septuagint adds after the second clause, “As it seemed good to the Lord so it has come to pass.” In the subsequent dialogues of the book the name Jehovah is used by the speakers but once, and then by Job himself, Job 12:9. 1. The word Jehovah is a personal proper name, intended to express the personality of Deity. It is from the verb hyh, hayah, to be, and indicates independent and underived existence. Self-existence necessarily implies eternity and unchangeableness, (Malachi 3:6,) and this, and this only, furnishes a proper basis for the moral attributes of Deity. The word struggles to convey the idea of the innermost being of God, the very essence of his personality. The word Elohim, on the contrary, with its root idea of power, sets forth God as creator, and partakes more of the character of a common noun, being quite generally used with the article or some other qualification, etc., while Jehovah, as a proper name, dispenses with the article. The frequent recurrence in Job of the older names for God, such as Shaddai, El, and Eloah, is in keeping with the earlier usage of the Pentateuch, and points to a remote antiquity for the authorship of this book. (See Hengstenberg, “Genuineness of the Pentateuch,” 1:231-308.) 2. The word Jehovah, whether pointed hwhy, or hwhy, as others would read, is believed by many to indicate futurity, and to contain a prophecy of the incarnation, which is also supposed by some to be implied in its radical meaning of life, which was the pre-eminent attribute of Christ. Delitzsch (Symb., p. 29) finds the interpretation of the meaning of Elohim in the mystery of the trinity — that of Jehovah in the incarnation. The one name would then be the exponent of creation, preservation, and government; the other of salvation and of grace.

3. The close and tender relationship of God, as Jehovah, to Israel, will help us to a proper conception of the word. It not only embraced all the moral attributes of God, but those relationships which among men are most endearing — those of father, husband, and Saviour. Deuteronomy 32:6; <19A313>Psalm 103:13; Isaiah 54:5; 60:16; Hosea 2:16. According to Havernick, “it denoted the essence of the Godhead in its concrete relation to mankind, the revelation of the living God himself, which is as much unique as its object is unique.” It is, then, not without the deepest reason that Job passes by the olden divine names of power, El, Eloah, Elohim, Shaddai, and in the unshaken affection of the soul addresses God as Jehovah. His stricken heart seeks the heart of God. His appeal rises in sublimity as we contemplate him spontaneously, and at once, casting himself upon the eternal God (Jehovah) who is the Saviour and life of the soul. Upon the very issue that the adversary had made — that Job, stripped of his possessions, would renounce God — faith strikes its key-note of triumph. He blesses God, but not according to the Satanic form of blessing. The jubilant cry of Job is a remarkable and unconscious rejoinder to the dark insinuation that he served God for what he could get. The withdrawing of the goods or blessings of life is one of the modes God takes to remind us that all we have belongs to him. “Just as in some places on one day in the year the way or path is closed in order to remind the public that they pass by sufferance and not by right, in order that no lapse of time may establish ‘adverse possession,’ so does God give warning to us.” — F.W. ROBERTSON, Ser. 2:65. etc.

V. 22. Charged-Heb. not imputed folly to God; so far was he from blaspheming God, that he did not entertain any dishonourable thought of God, as if he had done anything unworthy of his infinite wisdom, or justice, or goodness, but heartily acquiesced in his good pleasure, and in his righteous though sharp proceedings against him. Discontent and impatience do in effect impute folly to God. Against the workings of these we should carefully watch, acknowledging that God has done well, but we have done foolishly.

Verse 22. In all this Job sinned not] He did not give way to any action, passion, or expression, offensive to his Maker. He did not charge God with acting unkindly towards him, but felt as perfectly satisfied with the privation which the hand of God had occasioned, as he was with the affluence and health which that hand had bestowed. This is the transaction that gave the strong and vivid colouring to the character of Job; in this, and in this alone, he was a pattern of patience and resignation. In this Satan was utterly disappointed; he found a man who loved his God more than his earthly portion. This was a rare case, even in the experience of the devil. He had seen multitudes who bartered their God for money, and their hopes of blessedness in the world to come for secular possessions in the present. He had been so often successful in this kind of temptation, that he made no doubt he should succeed again. He saw many who, when riches increased, set their hearts on them, and forgot God. He saw many also who, when deprived of earthly comforts, blasphemed their Maker. He therefore inferred that Job, in similar circumstances, would act like the others; he was disappointed. Reader, has he, by riches or poverty, succeeded with thee? Art thou pious when affluent, and patient and contented when in poverty?

THAT Job lived after the giving of the law, seems to me clear from many references to the rites and ceremonies instituted by Moses. In Job 1:5, we are informed that he sanctified his children, and offered burnt-offerings daily to the morning for each of them. This was a general ordinance of the law, as we may see, Leviticus 9:7: “Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin-offering and thy burnt-offering, and make an atonement for thyself and for the people.” Leviticus 9:22: “And Aaron lifted up his hands towards the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering the burnt-offering.”

This sort of offering, we are told above, Job offered continually; and this also was according to the law, Exodus 29:42: “This shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations.” See also Numbers 28:3, 6, 10, 15, 24, 31.

This custom was observed after the captivity, Ezra 3:5: “They offered the continual burnt-offering: and of every one that offered a freewill-offering.” See also Nehemiah 10:33. Ezekiel, who prophesied during the captivity, enjoins this positively, Ezekiel 46:13-15: “Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt-offering unto the Lord; thou shalt prepare it every morning.”

Job appears to have thought that his children might have sinned through ignorance, or sinned privately; and it was consequently necessary to make the due sacrifices to God in order to prevent his wrath and their punishment; he therefore offered the burnt-offering, which was prescribed by the law in cases of sins committed through ignorance. See the ordinances Leviticus 4:1-35; 5:15-19, and particularly Numbers 15:24-29. I think it may be fairly presumed that the offerings which Job made for his children were in reference to these laws.

The worship of the sun, moon, and stars, as being the most prevalent and most seductive idolatry, was very expressly forbidden by the law, Deuteronomy 4:19: “Take heed, lest thou lift up thine eyes to heaven; and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them.” Job purges himself from this species of idolatry, Job 31:26-28: “If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for I should have denied the God that is above.”

He clears himself also from adultery in reference to the law enacted against that sin, Job 31:9-12: “If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door; then let my wife grind to another: for this is a heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.” See the law against this sin, Exodus 20:14, 17: “Thou shalt not commit adultery: thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife.” Leviticus 20:10: “The man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife shall surely be put to death;” see Deuteronomy 22:22. And for the judge’s office in such cases, see Deuteronomy 17:9-12: “Thou shalt come unto the priests and Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment.” 1 Samuel 2:25: “If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him.” The following will, I think, be considered an evident allusion to the passage of the Red Sea, and the destruction of the proud Egyptian king: Job 26:11, 12: “The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof. He divideth the sea with his power; and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.” These, with several others that might be adduced, are presumptive proofs that the writer of this book lived after the giving and establishment of the law, if not much later, let Job himself live when he might. See other proofs in the notes.

JOB

Verse 22. In all this Job sinned not — That is, under all these pressures, or in all that he said or did upon these sad occasions, he sinned not in such a manner as Satan presaged that he would, and as is expressed in the following words. But the meaning is not that he was free from all human infirmity, of which he often acknowledges himself to be guilty. Indeed, the question between God and Satan was not whether Job had any sin in him, but whether he was a hypocrite, and would blaspheme God if brought under heavy calamities, which is here denied and disproved. Nor charged God foolishly — Hebrew, nor imputed folly to God; so far was he from blaspheming God, that he did not entertain any dishonourable thought of God, as if he had done any thing unworthy of his infinite wisdom, or justice, or goodness, but heartily acquiesced in his good pleasure, and in his righteous, though sharp proceedings against him. Discontent and impatience do, in effect, impute folly to God! Against the workings of these we should carefully watch, acknowledging that God has done well, but we have done foolishly.

22. Nor charged God foolishly-“In all that had befallen him” (Septuagint) he had neither sinned nor uttered folly against God. Aben Ezra’s rendering is more literal: “He spake nothing out of taste or against reason.” Tyndale gives it, “nor murmured foolishly against God.” The approval is entirely retrospective.