Job · Chapter 15

Verse 1. Then answered Eliphaz — Eliphaz, not a little incensed that Job should pay no regard to his advice, and should dare to challenge the Almighty to argue the point with him, charges him home with self-conceit in entertaining too high an opinion of his own knowledge; with arrogance in undervaluing the arguments drawn from their experience, whose age was a sufficient voucher for their wisdom; and with impiety, in thus rudely challenging the Almighty to answer for his conduct in afflicting him. He presses home the same argument upon him a second time, to which he adds that of universal tradition; insinuating, that he had yet worse to expect unless he prevented it by a contrary conduct: and then presents him with a picture of the final state of a wicked man; in which he so works up the circumstances as to make it resemble Job and his condition as much as possible; intimating thereby, that he imagined him to be that very wicked man he had been describing, and that he had by that means drawn down God’s judgments on himself: that, therefore, his imaginations of innocence were an illusion; but one, however, of the worst kind; he had deceived himself. — Heath.

1. Answered, etc. — Eliphaz, who was the first speaker in the first circle of debate, now urges that the talk of Job was not only as unprofitable as an east wind, but really destructive to all piety. He taunts him with assuming a monopoly of wisdom such as could only have been gathered from some prior existence or from the council chamber of God. To convince Job of the folly of his arrogance, he alludes again to the revelation he had himself received, from which Job may learn that man’s place in the scale of righteousness is lower even than in that of wisdom. His own observation agreed with the sentiment of an ancient poem, that there is a perfect scheme of retribution in this world. The prosperity of the wicked man is only apparent. He lives a life of anguish; his fields are covered with blasted fruit; he reaps the vanity he has sown. The view of Eliphaz is limited by the theorem that suffering is an evidence either of a guilty life or an impure heart.

First division — JOB’S SPEECHES SUBSTANTIATE HIS GUILT, 2-19. First strophe — His discourses are distinguished for inane vehemence, destructive godlessness, and low cunning, 2-6.

V. 2. Fill-Satisfy his mind and conscience. East wind-With discourses not only unprofitable, but also pernicious both to himself and others; as the east-wind was in those parts.

Verse 2. Should a wise man utter vain knowledge] Or rather, Should a wise man utter the science of wind? A science without solidity or certainty. And fill his belly with the east wind?] ˆcb beten, which we translate belly, is used to signify any part of the cavity of the body, whether the region of the thorax or abdomen; here it evidently refers to the lungs, and may include the cheeks and fauces. The east wind, µydq kadim, is a very stormy wind in the Levant, or the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, supposed to be the same with that called by the Greeks eurokludwn, euroclydon, the east storm, mentioned Acts 27:14. Eliphaz, by these words, seems to intimate that Job’s speech was a perfect storm or tempest of words.

Verse 2. Should a wise man — Such as thou pretendest to be, utter vain knowledge — Hebrews jwr t[d, dagnath, ruach, knowledge of wind; that is, empty words, without any sense or solidity in them; and fill his belly — Satisfy his mind and conscience; with the east wind — With notions and speeches, which are not only unsubstantial and unprofitable, but also hasty, impetuous, and pernicious; and full as hurtful to the peace of his own mind, and the quiet and comfort of others, as the boisterous, scorching east wind is to fruits and herbs of every kind. The Hebrew is literally, And should the east wind fill his belly — his vain and useless knowledge puff him up with pride and self-conceit?

Verse 2. Fill his belly with the east wind; a hot dry wind, the least favourable to vegetation. This is an angry figure of speech, equivalent to a declaration that Job’s defence was a mere storm of words. Instead of being a suppliant for mercy, he accuses him of unfounded confidence.

2. Vain knowledge — Literally, windy knowledge. See note Job 16:3. His belly — The sense of the Hebrew beten is best expressed by the Arabic, el battin, which signifies that which is within. In a mystical sense, it means the inmost being, in which were united, as Orientals believe, all the powers of mind, body, and spirit. East wind — See Job 1:19. This wind was exceedingly violent and destructive, and is frequently used in the prophets as an image of desolation and emptiness.

Verse 3. Should he reason with unprofitable talk?] Should a man talk disrespectfully of his Maker, or speak to him without reverence? and should he suppose that he has proved any thing, when he has uttered words of little meaning, and used sound instead of sense?

Verse 3. Should he reason with unprofitable talk? — Of what consequence are all his arguments? Do they carry any weight with them? Do they convince and satisfy those with whom he contends? No: they are no better than unprofitable talk. With speeches wherewith he can do no good? — Either to himself or others, but will do much hurt.

V. 4. Castest off-Heb. thou makes void fear; the fear of God, piety and religion, by thy unworthy speeches of God, and by those false and pernicious principles, that God makes no difference between good and bad in the course of his providence, but equally prospers or afflicts both: thou dost that which tends to the subversion of the fear and worship of God. Restrainest prayer-Thou dost by thy words and principles, as far as in thee lies, banish prayer out of the world, by making it useless and unprofitable to men.

Verse 4. Thou castest off fear] Thou hast no reverence for God. And restrainest prayer] Instead of humbling thyself, and making supplication to thy Judge, thou spendest thy time in arraigning his providence and justifying thyself.

When a man has any doubts whether he has grieved God’s Spirit, and his mind feels troubled, it is much better for him to go immediately to God, and ask forgiveness, than spend any time in finding excuses for his conduct, or labouring to divest it of its seeming obliquity. Restraining or suppressing prayer, in order to find excuses or palliations for infirmities, indiscretions, or improprieties of any kind, which appear to trench on the sacred limits of morality and godliness, may be to a man the worst of evils: humiliation and prayer for mercy and pardon can never be out of their place to any soul of man who, surrounded with evils, is ever liable to offend.

Verse 4. Yea, thou castest off fear — Hebrew, Thou makest void fear; the fear of God, piety, and religion, by thy unworthy speeches of God, and by those false and pernicious principles, that God makes no difference between good and bad in the course of his providence, but equally prospers or afflicts both: thou dost that which tends to the subversion of the fear and worship of God. And restrainest prayer — Thou dost, by thy words and principles, as far as in thee lies, banish prayer out of the world, by making it useless and unprofitable to men. Houbigant’s translation of the verse is, Truly, thou loosest the bonds of religion; thou preventest the groans or prayers which are sent up to God. Thy speeches, says Bishop Patrick, “destroy all religion, and discourage men from pouring out their complaint in prayer to God.”

4. Thou castest off — Makest void. Fear — The fear of God is the life of every form of religion. It is the keystone of the arch that upholds the morals of a people, and all that is dear to man. Irreligion, as the word signifies, is the unbinder; it gradually perverts the affections of the soul from the love and pursuit of things true, just, pure, and lovely; (Philippians 4:8;) it loosens the ties of society by removing the sense of responsibility to God; in fine, breaks the divine bond that binds the yearning God to a salvable soul. Eliphaz charges upon Job false principles, and reasons that these must spring from the neglect of religion. And restrainest — Literally, lessenest. According to Eliphaz, Job’s theory, that God treats the righteous and the wicked alike, renders prayer unnecessary. It strikes a blow at the most universal of the institutions of religion. Not to pray is to do violence to nature. “The flow of prayer is just as natural as the flow of water; the prayerless man has become an unnatural man.” Prayer — Hebrew, meditation, the fruitful source of prayer.

V. 5. Uttereth-Thy words discover the naughtiness of thy heart. Crafty-Thou speakest wickedly, and craftily: thou coverest thy impious principles with fair pretences of piety.

Verse 5. For thy mouth uttereth] In attempting to justify thyself, thou hast added iniquity to sin, and hast endeavoured to impute blame to thy Maker.

The tongue of the crafty.] Thou hast varnished thy own conduct, and used sophistical arguments to defend thyself. Thou resemblest those cunning persons, µymwr[ arumim, who derive their skill and dexterity from the old serpent, “the nachash, who was µwr[ arum, subtle, or crafty, beyond all the beasts of the field;” Genesis 3:1. Thy wisdom is not from above, but from beneath.

Verses 5, 6. Thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity — Thy words discover the naughtiness of thy heart, and justify my charge against thee, that thou castest off fear, &c. Thou choosest the tongue of the crafty — Thou speakest wickedly and craftily: thou coverest thy impious principles with fair pretences of piety and respect for God, wherewith thou endeavourest to deceive men. Thine own mouth condemneth thee — My condemnation of thee is grounded on thy own words.

Ver. 5. Thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity; or blasphemy against the hand that afflicted so good a man unjustly.

5. Uttereth — ãlay, (yealleph,) teacheth. Iniquity is the grammatical subject of the sentence, which should read, For thine iniquity teacheth thee. Iniquity was his oracle — “an oracle of transgression,” [vp µan, (Psalm 36:2,) a kind of demon, in the inmost recesses of the heart, whispering the dialect, (the alephs,) the abc’s of evil. Crafty — ’Haroum; the same word is used of the serpent in Genesis 3:1. The use of this comparatively rare word may have made it an offensive echo of the preceding thought. “Job plays the part of a thief, who, when accused, strives to criminate his accusers.” — Ewald.

Second strophe — Ironical questioning as to the possible modes by which Job had attained to such superior wisdom and self-sufficiency that he could discard divine consolations imparted through his friends, 7-11.

Verses 5, 6. Thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity — Thy words discover the naughtiness of thy heart, and justify my charge against thee, that thou castest off fear, &c. Thou choosest the tongue of the crafty — Thou speakest wickedly and craftily: thou coverest thy impious principles with fair pretences of piety and respect for God, wherewith thou endeavourest to deceive men. Thine own mouth condemneth thee — My condemnation of thee is grounded on thy own words.

Verse 7. Art thou the first man that was born?] Literally, “Wert thou born before Adam?” Art thou in the pristine state of purity and innocence? Or art thou like Adam in his first state? It does not become the fallen descendant of a fallen parent to talk as thou dost.

Made before the hills?] Did God create thee the beginning of his ways? or wert thou the first intelligent creature which his hands have formed?

Verses 7-10. Art thou the first man that was born? — Hast thou lived ever since the creation of the world, and treasured up the experiences of all ages in thy own breast, that thou speakest so arrogantly and magisterially, and with such contempt of other men? Art thou the most ancient and the wisest of all mortal men? Whom dost thou make thyself? S. Jarchi’s comment is, “What, wast thou born before Adam? Wast thou made before the hills? — As wisdom herself was, Proverbs 8:23. Didst thou exist before the earth was created, and distinguished into mountains and valleys? Hast thou heard the secret of God? — Hath God acquainted thee with all his secret counsels, whereby he governs the world, that thou dost pass so bold a censure upon his designs and actions? Dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? — Art thou the only wise man in the world, and we and all others but fools? What knowest thou that we know not? — He retorts upon Job his own expressions, Job 12:3, and 13:2. With us are both the gray-headed, &c. — That is, among us; meaning either some of them, or some others with whom they had conversed, and who were of their opinion in this matter. And this they oppose to what Job had expressed, Job 12:12. Very aged men, much elder than thy father — Perhaps all these three friends of Job were elder than he, and therefore they thought he was bound to acknowledge them to be wiser. And many think themselves wiser than others for a similar reason, and are confident they know more, because they have lived more years!

Ver. 7. Art thou the first man? Wert thou born before Adam, or begotten before the hills? Shultens. Eliphaz here cautions Job to reason with greater deference and modesty; for he had received traditions from the sons of Noah, who walked the earth as heirs, and no stranger passed among them.

7. Art thou the first man — Literally, Wast thou born the first man? Art thou an Adam still alive, having gathered all the treasures of wisdom — the experience of many centuries? In India, Mr. Roberts tells us, a pertinacious opposer is asked, “What! were you born before all others?” “Yes, yes, he is the first man: no wonder he has so much wisdom.”

Verse 8. Hast thou heard the secret of God?] “Hast thou hearkened in God’s council?” Wert thou one of the celestial cabinet, when God said, Let US make man in OUR image, and in OUR likeness?

Dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?] Dost thou wish us to understand that God’s counsels were revealed to none but thyself? And dost thou desire that we should give implicit credence to whatsoever thou art pleased to speak? These are all strong sarcastic questions, and apparently uttered with great contempt.

Verses 7-10. Art thou the first man that was born? — Hast thou lived ever since the creation of the world, and treasured up the experiences of all ages in thy own breast, that thou speakest so arrogantly and magisterially, and with such contempt of other men? Art thou the most ancient and the wisest of all mortal men? Whom dost thou make thyself? S. Jarchi’s comment is, “What, wast thou born before Adam? Wast thou made before the hills? — As wisdom herself was, Proverbs 8:23. Didst thou exist before the earth was created, and distinguished into mountains and valleys? Hast thou heard the secret of God? — Hath God acquainted thee with all his secret counsels, whereby he governs the world, that thou dost pass so bold a censure upon his designs and actions? Dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? — Art thou the only wise man in the world, and we and all others but fools? What knowest thou that we know not? — He retorts upon Job his own expressions, Job 12:3, and 13:2. With us are both the gray-headed, &c. — That is, among us; meaning either some of them, or some others with whom they had conversed, and who were of their opinion in this matter. And this they oppose to what Job had expressed, Job 12:12. Very aged men, much elder than thy father — Perhaps all these three friends of Job were elder than he, and therefore they thought he was bound to acknowledge them to be wiser. And many think themselves wiser than others for a similar reason, and are confident they know more, because they have lived more years!

8. Hast thou heard — Literally, Hast thou heartened in the council of God. “Wast thou present at the secret council of God at the creation.” (Targum.) After the manner of an Oriental monarch, God is represented as engaged in consultation with his counsellors upon important questions relative to his moral government. The intensest irony introduces Job as a listener, a kind of eavesdropper.

Verse 9. What knowest thou] Is it likely that thy intellect is greater than ours; and that thou hast cultivated it better than we have done ours? What understandest thou] Or, Dost thou understand any thing, and it is not with us? Show us any point of knowledge possessed by thyself, of which we are ignorant.

Verses 7-10. Art thou the first man that was born? — Hast thou lived ever since the creation of the world, and treasured up the experiences of all ages in thy own breast, that thou speakest so arrogantly and magisterially, and with such contempt of other men? Art thou the most ancient and the wisest of all mortal men? Whom dost thou make thyself? S. Jarchi’s comment is, “What, wast thou born before Adam? Wast thou made before the hills? — As wisdom herself was, Proverbs 8:23. Didst thou exist before the earth was created, and distinguished into mountains and valleys? Hast thou heard the secret of God? — Hath God acquainted thee with all his secret counsels, whereby he governs the world, that thou dost pass so bold a censure upon his designs and actions? Dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? — Art thou the only wise man in the world, and we and all others but fools? What knowest thou that we know not? — He retorts upon Job his own expressions, Job 12:3, and 13:2. With us are both the gray-headed, &c. — That is, among us; meaning either some of them, or some others with whom they had conversed, and who were of their opinion in this matter. And this they oppose to what Job had expressed, Job 12:12. Very aged men, much elder than thy father — Perhaps all these three friends of Job were elder than he, and therefore they thought he was bound to acknowledge them to be wiser. And many think themselves wiser than others for a similar reason, and are confident they know more, because they have lived more years!

Verse 10. With us are both the gray-headed] One copy of the Chaldee Targum paraphrases the verse thus: “Truly Eliphaz the hoary-headed, and Bildad the long-lived, are among us; and Zophar, who in age surpasseth thy father.” It is very likely that Eliphaz refers to himself and his friends in this verse, and not either to the old men of their tribes, or to the masters by whom they themselves were instructed. Eliphaz seems to have been the eldest of these sages; and, therefore, he takes the lead in each part of this dramatic poem.

Verses 7-10. Art thou the first man that was born? — Hast thou lived ever since the creation of the world, and treasured up the experiences of all ages in thy own breast, that thou speakest so arrogantly and magisterially, and with such contempt of other men? Art thou the most ancient and the wisest of all mortal men? Whom dost thou make thyself? S. Jarchi’s comment is, “What, wast thou born before Adam? Wast thou made before the hills? — As wisdom herself was, Proverbs 8:23. Didst thou exist before the earth was created, and distinguished into mountains and valleys? Hast thou heard the secret of God? — Hath God acquainted thee with all his secret counsels, whereby he governs the world, that thou dost pass so bold a censure upon his designs and actions? Dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? — Art thou the only wise man in the world, and we and all others but fools? What knowest thou that we know not? — He retorts upon Job his own expressions, Job 12:3, and 13:2. With us are both the gray-headed, &c. — That is, among us; meaning either some of them, or some others with whom they had conversed, and who were of their opinion in this matter. And this they oppose to what Job had expressed, Job 12:12. Very aged men, much elder than thy father — Perhaps all these three friends of Job were elder than he, and therefore they thought he was bound to acknowledge them to be wiser. And many think themselves wiser than others for a similar reason, and are confident they know more, because they have lived more years!

10. The grayheaded — He probably refers to himself. The Targum applies the term gray-haired to Eliphaz; aged, to Bildad; and older, or greater in days, to Zophar.

V. 11. Are-Are those comforts, which we have propounded to thee on condition of thy repentance, small and contemptible in thine eyes? Secret-Hast thou any secret and peculiar way of comfort which is unknown to us, and to all other men?

Verse 11. Are the consolations of God small with thee?] Various are the renderings of this verse. Mr. Good translates the verse thus: “Are then the mercies of God of no account with thee?” or, “the addresses of kindness before thee?”

The VULGATE thus:—”Can it be a difficult thing for God to comfort thee? But thou hinderest this by thy intemperate speeches.”

The SYRIAC and ARABIC thus:—”Remove from thee the threatenings (Arabic, reproaches) of God, and speak tranquilly with thy own spirit.” The SEPTUAGINT thus:—”Thou hast been scourged lightly for the sins which thou hast committed; and thou hast spoken greatly beyond measure; or, with excessive insolence.”

Houbigant thus:—”Dost thou not regard the threatenings of God; or, has there been any thing darkly revealed to thee.”

Coverdale:—Dost thou no more regarde the comforte of God? But thy wicked wordes wil not suffre the.

Scarcely any two translators or interpreters agree in the translation, or even meaning of this verse. The sense, as expressed in the Vulgate, or in our own version, or that of Coverdale, is plain enough:—”Hast thou been so unfaithful to God, that he has withdrawn his consolations from thy heart? And is there any secret thing, any bosom sin, which thou wilt not give up, that has thus provoked thy Maker?” This is the sense of our version: and I believe it to be as near the original as any yet offered. I may just add the Chaldee.—”Are the consolations of God few to thee? And has a word in secret been spoken unto thee?” And I shall close all these with the Hebrew text, and the literal version of Arius Montanus:— la twmwjny Ëmm c[mh

hameat mimmecha tanchumoth el.

Ëm[ cal rbdw

vedabar laat immak.

Nonne parum a te consolationes Dei?

Et verbum latet tecum?

“Are not the consolations of God small to thee? And does a word (or thing) lie hidden with thee?”

Now, let the reader choose for himself.

Verse 11. Are the consolations of God small with thee? — Are those blessings which we have pro-pounded to thee, on condition of thy repentance, small and inconsiderable in thine eyes? He takes it ill that Job did not value the comforts which he and his friends administered to him, more than, it seems, he did, and that he did not welcome every word they said as the truth of God. And he represents this as a slight put upon divine consolations in general, as if they were of small account with him; whereas, really, they were not: if Job had not highly valued them he could not have borne up as he did under his sufferings. It is true Job’s friends had said some very good things, but in their application of them to him they were miserable comforters. Is there any secret thing with thee? — Hast thou any secret and peculiar way of obtaining comfort, which is unknown to us, and to all other men? some cordial to support thee, that no body else can pretend to, or knows any thing of? Or, perhaps he means, Is there some secret sin harboured and indulged in thy bosom, which hinders thy reception of divine comforts? None disesteem divine consolations but those that secretly, if not openly, are attached to the world, and live after the flesh.

Ver. 11. Are the consolations of God small with thee? The spiritual consolations of peace, joy and hope; for he had no temporal consolations. Our translators very much follow Montanus, who asks, “Are not the consolations of God small with thee?”—Is there any secret thing with thee? Hebrews a secret word, viz. of confession of some secret sin which thy pride will not let thee utter, And he intimates that if Job did not confess this sin, he should be as an exile and a vagabond upon the earth: ver. 20, 21.

11. Consolations of God — Such as he and his friends administered. Small with thee — Too little for thee, great and “wise in thy own conceit.” Is there any secret thing with thee — Literally, and the word so gentle with thee. (Hitzig.) Is that, also, too small for thee. The word cal, so gentle, is used in 1 Kings 21:27 of the slow gait of a mourner, and in Isaiah 8:6 of the gentle waters of Shiloah, “that go softly.” God’s words are words of tenderness. The affection and the wisdom of God are seen in the adaptation of his revelation to the heart, no less than to the mind, of man. “The Bible fits into every fold of the heart.” It is God’s book because it is, in the tenderest sense, man’s book. God’s yearning over man is the lesson of its every page. He who holds over our world the atmosphere, like a veil that the severest rays of the sun may be toned down, has modified his revelation to every heart; so that the blind may see, the despairing take heart, the guilty find pardon, and the dying live. Third strophe — The fundamental error with Job is his ignorance of the true character of sin, 12-16.

V. 12. Why-Why dost thou suffer thyself to be transported by the pride of thine heart, to use such unworthy expressions? Wink-Why dost thou look with such an angry, supercilious, and disdainful look?

Verse 12. Why doth thine heart carry thee away?] Why is it that thou dost conceive and entertain such high sentiments of thyself? And what do thy eyes wink at] With what splendid opinion of thyself is thine eye dazzled? Perhaps there is an allusion here to that sparkling in the eye which is excited by sensations of joy and pleasing objects of sight, or to that furious rolling of the eyes observed in deranged persons. Rosenmuller translates thus:—

Quo te tuus animus rapit?

Quid occuli tui vibrantes?

“Whither does thy soul hurry thee?

What mean thy rolling eyes?”

Thou seemest transported beyond thyself; thou art actuated by a furious spirit. Thou art beside thyself; thy words and thy eyes show it. None but a madman could speak and act as thou dost; for thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth, Job 15:13. This latter sense seems to agree best with the words of the text, and with the context.

Verses 12, 13. Why doth thy heart carry thee away? — Why dost thou suffer thyself to be transported by the pride of thy heart, to use such unworthy and unbecoming expressions, both concerning us and concerning God and his providence? And what do thine eyes wink at? — Why dost thou look with such an angry, supercilious, and disdainful look? But Buxtorf translates the words, Quid collimant oculi tui? What are thine eyes taking aim at? Or, Quid innuunt? Quorsum spectant? What do they intimate? Or, Whither, what way, or toward what, do they look? The Hebrew, ˆwmzry, jirzmun, properly signifies to wink with one eye, as those that aim at a mark. That thou turnest thy spirit against God? — Opposest thyself to him, and art become his enemy. He thought Job’s spirit was soured against God, and exasperated at his dealings with him, and so was turned from what it had been: and that this was evident from his letting such words go out of his mouth as reflected on God, and his justice and goodness. But Eliphaz wanted candour and charity, otherwise he would not have put such a harsh construction on the speeches of one that had such a settled reputation for piety, and was now sorely assaulted with temptation. This was, in effect, to give the cause on Satan’s side, and to own that Job had done as Satan said he would, curse God to his face.

12. Thy eyes — Why do thy eyes twinkle? Job’s impatience at the hypocritical assumption of his friends must have manifested itself through the flashing of his eyes.

V. 13. Against God-Eliphaz here does in effect give the cause on Satan’s side, and affirms that Job had done as he said he would, Curse God to his face.

Verse 13. That thou turnest thy spirit against God] The ideas here seem to be taken from an archer, who turns his eye and his spirit—his desire—against the object which he wishes to hit; and then lets loose his arrow that it may attain the mark.

Verses 12, 13. Why doth thy heart carry thee away? — Why dost thou suffer thyself to be transported by the pride of thy heart, to use such unworthy and unbecoming expressions, both concerning us and concerning God and his providence? And what do thine eyes wink at? — Why dost thou look with such an angry, supercilious, and disdainful look? But Buxtorf translates the words, Quid collimant oculi tui? What are thine eyes taking aim at? Or, Quid innuunt? Quorsum spectant? What do they intimate? Or, Whither, what way, or toward what, do they look? The Hebrew, ˆwmzry, jirzmun, properly signifies to wink with one eye, as those that aim at a mark. That thou turnest thy spirit against God? — Opposest thyself to him, and art become his enemy. He thought Job’s spirit was soured against God, and exasperated at his dealings with him, and so was turned from what it had been: and that this was evident from his letting such words go out of his mouth as reflected on God, and his justice and goodness. But Eliphaz wanted candour and charity, otherwise he would not have put such a harsh construction on the speeches of one that had such a settled reputation for piety, and was now sorely assaulted with temptation. This was, in effect, to give the cause on Satan’s side, and to own that Job had done as Satan said he would, curse God to his face.

Verse 14. What is man, that he should be clean?] vwna hm mah enosh; what is weak, sickly, dying, miserable man, that he should be clean? This is the import of the original word enosh.

And-born of a woman, that he should be righteous?] It appears, from many passages in the sacred writings, that natural birth was supposed to be a defilement; and that every man born into the world was in a state of moral pollution. Perhaps the word qdxy yitsdak should be translated, that he should justify himself, and not that he should be righteous.

Verses 14, 15. What is man? — Hebrew, vwna, enosh, frail, weak, imperfect man; that he should be clean? — That is, that he should pretend to be so; or, that any should expect to find him so: and he that is born of a woman — A sinful woman, from whom he has derived infirmity, corruption, and guilt; that he should be righteous? — Just and holy in his own eyes, or in the eyes of others, and especially that he should be such in the sight of the just and holy God? Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints — That is, in his angels, (see Job 4:18,) who are called his saints or holy ones, Deuteronomy 33:2; Daniel 4:13, 23. Who, though they were created holy, yet many of them fell. Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight — The angels that dwell in heaven; heaven being put for its inhabitants. None of these are pure, simply, and perfectly, and comparatively to God. The angels are pure from corruption, but not from imperfection.

14. Born of a woman — The words of Job are now turned upon him, and give point to the citations Eliphaz makes from his wonderful revelation, 4:17. Job’s admission “born of a woman,” (see note 14:1,) justifies Eliphaz in seizing again his fallen weapon — “Job a sinner.”

V. 15. Saints-In his angels, Job 4:18, who are called his saints or holy ones, Deuteronomy 33:2 Psalm 103:20. Who though they were created holy, yet many of them fell. Heavens-The angels that dwell in heaven; heaven being put for its inhabitants. None of these are pure, simply and perfectly, and comparatively to God. The angels are pure from corruption, but not from imperfection.

Verse 15. Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.] The Vulgate has, “Behold, among his saints, none is immutable; and the heavens are not clean in his sight.” Coverdale.—Beholde, he hath found unfaithfulnesse amonge his owne sanctes, yea the very heavens are unclene in his sight.

Eliphaz uses the same mode of speech, Job 4:17, 18; where see the notes. Nothing is immutable but GOD: saints may fall; angels may fall; all their goodness is derived and dependent. The heavens themselves have no purity compared with his.

Verses 14, 15. What is man? — Hebrew, vwna, enosh, frail, weak, imperfect man; that he should be clean? — That is, that he should pretend to be so; or, that any should expect to find him so: and he that is born of a woman — A sinful woman, from whom he has derived infirmity, corruption, and guilt; that he should be righteous? — Just and holy in his own eyes, or in the eyes of others, and especially that he should be such in the sight of the just and holy God? Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints — That is, in his angels, (see Job 4:18,) who are called his saints or holy ones, Deuteronomy 33:2; Daniel 4:13, 23. Who, though they were created holy, yet many of them fell. Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight — The angels that dwell in heaven; heaven being put for its inhabitants. None of these are pure, simply, and perfectly, and comparatively to God. The angels are pure from corruption, but not from imperfection.

Ver. 15. He putteth no trust in his saints, or in angels, as most of the ancient authorities read. Bede has here a good remark to preachers in taking texts; that these are not the words of Job, nor of other inspired men, but of Eliphaz.—Yea the ethereal heavens are not clean, compared with him, a pure, an invisible, and eternal mind.

15. Saints — Holy ones. See Job 5:1. The belief in a defection among the angels was very ancient. Thus in the Veda, as extracted by Sir Wm. Jones, (vol. vi, page 418,) “But what are they? Others yet greater.… companies of spirits… have we seen destroyed. But what are they? Others still greater have been changed — even the sufees, or angels, hurled from their stations.” The heavens — The blue heavens, with their glittering stars, have ever been an emblem of purity, but, compared with God, they are not clean. Most commentators, however, regard the word as a trope for “the hosts of the heavens.” But this is needless.

V. 16. Who-Who besides his natural proneness to sin, has contracted habits of sinning; and sins as freely, as greedily and delightfully, as men, especially in those hot countries, drink up water.

Verse 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man] As in the preceding verse it is said, he putteth no trust in his saints, it has appeared both to translators and commentators that the original words, yk ãa aph ki, should be rendered how much LESS, not how much MORE: How much less would he put confidence in man, who is filthy and abominable in his natures and profligate in his practice, as he drinks down iniquity like water? A man who is under the power of sinful propensities commits sin as greedily as the thirsty man or camel drinks down water. He thinks he can never have enough. This is a finished character of a BAD man; he hungers and thirsts after SIN: on the contrary, the GOOD man hungers and thirsts after RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Verse 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man — If saints are not to be trusted, much less sinners. If the heavens are not pure; if heavenly beings, who maintained their allegiance to their Maker, are not free from imperfection, when compared with God, much less is man, who is degenerated, and has rebelled against him. Which drinketh iniquity like water — Who, besides his natural proneness to sin, has contracted habits of sinning; and sins as freely, as greedily, and delightfully, as men, especially in those hot countries, drink up water.

16. How much more — Much less is he, the abominable and filthy man, that drinketh iniquity like water. Man’s pollution seems the greater by contrast. Abominable — b[tn. Man is a being detestable because of his corruption. The original implies both. The more pure a nature is, the more it loathes moral corruption. An infinitely pure being regards it as infinitely abominable. Filthy — jla, to be muddy, dirty, spoken of water; hence, to be corrupt in a moral sense. (Furst.) The word in the Arabic means to turn sour, as in the case of milk or wine. The same word is used in Psalm 14:3; 53:3. Drinketh iniquity like water — It is supposed by Dr. Good that this is a “proverbial expression, with a direct allusion to the prodigious draught of water swallowed by a camel.” A custom connected with the Arabic dance, described by Burckhardt, favours this view. In the exclamations with which the men standing in line animate the girl who dances, they do not address her by name, which would, according to Bedouin etiquette, be a breach of politeness, but style her “camel,” affecting to suppose that she advances toward them in search of food or water. This fiction is continued during the whole dance. “Get up, O camel,” “walk fast,” “the poor camel is thirsty,” and similar expressions, are used on the occasion. — Notes on the Bedouins, 1:254. The expression of the text, considered from any point of view, indicates an exceeding fondness for sin. Semper nitimur in vetitum, “We always strive for the forbidden.” (Ovid.) Evil takes the form of thirst. This thirst is abnormal — it conflicts with man’s entire being. Its indulgence only increases its power; the more the soul drinks of evil the more it demands. “In divine speech water is the hieroglyphic for abundance.” — Corderus. The soul drinks iniquity abundantly. Everywhere this holds true of man: “No one is born without vices.” — Horace, Sat., 3:1. Society, education, custom, manners, civilization, may do much to disguise the diseased condition of the soul, but it is everywhere man’s inalienable heritage, though the soul be, in the words of Sakuntala, (Sanscrit drama,) “like a deep well whose mouth is covered over with smiling plants.”

Fourth strophe — The remarkable fragment out of the experience and wisdom of the ancients which Eliphaz is about to recite in confirmation of his own views as to the miserableness of the wicked, he thinks is worthy of the more consideration, because of the purity of the race-stock by whom it has been preserved and transmitted, 17-19. The strophe is transitional.

V. 17. I-I will prove what I have affirmed, that such strokes as thine are peculiar to hypocrites. Seen-I speak not by hear-say, but from my own experience.

Verse 17. I will show thee, hear me; and that which I have seen l will declare] Eliphaz is now about to quote a whole collection of wise sayings from the ancients; all good enough in themselves, but sinfully misapplied to the case of Job.

Verses 17, 18. I will show thee, hear me — I will prove what I have affirmed, namely, that such strokes as thine are peculiar to hypocrites and wicked men. And that which I have seen I will declare — I will not speak from hearsay, but only from my own observation and experience. Which wise men have told — Who are most able to be witnesses and judges in these matters; from their fathers — Or, ancestors; who diligently observed this, and carefully transmitted their own judgment and experience successively to their posterity. And have not hid it — They judged it to be so certain and important a truth, that they would not conceal it in their own breasts.

V. 18. Hid-They judged it to be so certain and important a truth, that they would not conceal it in their own breasts.

Verses 17, 18. I will show thee, hear me — I will prove what I have affirmed, namely, that such strokes as thine are peculiar to hypocrites and wicked men. And that which I have seen I will declare — I will not speak from hearsay, but only from my own observation and experience. Which wise men have told — Who are most able to be witnesses and judges in these matters; from their fathers — Or, ancestors; who diligently observed this, and carefully transmitted their own judgment and experience successively to their posterity. And have not hid it — They judged it to be so certain and important a truth, that they would not conceal it in their own breasts.

V. 19. To whom-By the gracious gift of God: this he alleges to make their testimony more considerable, because these were no obscure men, but the most worthy and famous men in their ages; and to confute what Job had said, Job 9:24, that the earth was given into the hand of the wicked. By the earth he means the dominion and possession of it. Stranger-No person of a strange nation and disposition, or religion. Passed-Through their land, so as to disturb, or spoil them, as the Sabeans and Chaldeans did thee. God watched over those holy men so, that no enemy could invade them; and so he would have done over thee, if thou hadst been such an one.

Verse 19. Unto whom alone the earth was given] He very likely refers to the Israelites, who got possession of the promised land from God himself; no stranger being permitted to dwell in it, as the old inhabitants were to be exterminated. Some think that Noah and his sons may be intended; as it is certain that the whole earth was given to them, when there were no strangers—no other family of mankind-in being. But, system apart, the words seem to apply more clearly to the Israelites.

Verse 19. Unto whom alone the earth was given — By the gracious gift of God: this he alleges to make their testimony more considerable, because these were no obscure men, but the most worthy and famous men in their ages; and to confute what Job had said, Job 9:24, that the earth was given into the hand of the wicked. By the earth he means the dominion and possession of it. No stranger passed among them — No person of a strange nation and disposition, or religion, passed through their land, so as to disturb or spoil them, as the Sabeans and Chaldeans did thee. God watched over those holy men so that no enemy could invade them; and so he would have done over thee, if thou hadst been such a one. It seems evident, that Noah and his sons, Melchizedeck, Abraham, and others of the patriarchs, who lived before Job, are here intended.

19. The earth — The land. Eliphaz boasts, like a true Ishmaelite, that his ancestors had kept their land against the intrusion of strangers, and their blood free from foreign commixture. Hence their doctrines and faith were more trustworthy because unalloyed. With Arabs even at the present day, purity of blood is the highest nobility, and a guarantee of superior wisdom. An unmixed Temanite was necessarily a wise man. See note Job 2:11, and Delitzsch, 1:259.

Rosenmuller suggests that Eliphaz means to insinuate that Job’s belief had been corrupted by association with the Chaldaeans and Sabeans; and he might have added the Egyptians, for Job makes more frequent allusions to their customs than to those of either of the others.

Second division — THE WISDOM OF PRIMITIVE AGES INCULCATED THE DIVINE PUNISHMENT

V. 20. Pain-Lives a life of care, and fear, and grief, by reason of God’s wrath, the torments of his own mind, and his outward calamities. Hidden-He knows not how short the time of his life is, and therefore lives in continual fear of losing it. Oppressor-To the wicked man: he names this one sort of them, because he supposed Job to be guilty of this sin, in opposition of what Job had affirmed of the safety of such persons, Job 12:6, and because such are apt to promise themselves a longer and happier life than other men.

Verse 20. The wicked man travaileth with pain] This is a most forcible truth: a life of sin is a life of misery; and he that WILL sin MUST suffer. One of the Targums gives it a strange turn:—”All the days of the ungodly Esau, he was expected to repent, but he did not repent; and the number of years was hidden from the sturdy Ishmael.” The sense of the original, llwjtm mithcholel, is he torments himself: he is a true heautontimoreumenos, or self-tormentor; and he alone is author of his own sufferings, and of his own ruin.

Verse 20. The wicked man travaileth with pain — That is, lives a life of care, and fear, and grief, by reason of God’s wrath, the torments of his own mind, and his outward calamities. The number of his years is hidden — He knows not how short the time of his life is, and therefore lives in continual fear of losing it. To the oppressor — To the wicked man: he names this one sort of them, because he supposed Job to be guilty of this sin; and in opposition to what Job had affirmed of the safety of such persons, Job 12:6, and because such are apt to promise themselves a longer and happier life than other men.

OF THE WICKED IN THIS PRESENT LIFE, 20-35.

First strophe — Notwithstanding external appearances, fear and anxiety torment the wicked their entire life, 20-24.

The remainder of the chapter appears to be a fragment of some ancient poem. Clericus supposes that these maxims originated among the Joktanidae, or pure original Arabs. (The queen of Sheba is believed to have been of this people.) The deepest interest gathers about this poem, which is evidently of very high antiquity.

20. Is hidden — Rather, That are reserved, for the oppressor. His life is prolonged, but with the intention of punishment. Years of splendour have no power to allay his trouble — it lies deep within, where God and the soul come together. Hence the word conscience, which implies a second and divine party to the knowledge and punishment of sin. In its maturest form the compunction of conscience becomes remorse, with its meaning of to bite back upon the soul. Eliphaz uses a figure common in the East when he compares the gnawing of conscience to the pains of childbirth. In the Greek language, the term wickedness, (ponhria,) in its root, signifies labor, misery, and the Hebrew word for sin (ˆw[) means misfortune and punishment. (See note, Job 3:17.) A most remarkable letter was that of Tiberius Cesar, monarch of the world, (Luke 3:1,) to his Senate, commencing in these words: “What to write you, Conscript Fathers, or in what manner to write, or what altogether not to write at this juncture, if I can determine, may all the gods and goddesses doom me to worse destruction than that by which I feel myself consuming daily.” — TACITUS, Annals.

V. 21. A sound-Even when he feels no evil, he is tormented with perpetual fears. Come upon him-Suddenly and unexpectedly.

Verse 21. A dreadful sound is in his ears] If he be an oppressor or tyrant, he can have no rest: he is full of suspicions that the cruelties he has exercised on others shall be one day exercised on himself; for even in his prosperity he may expect the destroyer to rush upon him.

Verses 21, 22. A dreadful sound is in his ears — Even when he feels no evil, he is tormented with perpetual fears and expectations of it, from a consciousness of his own guilt, and a sense of God’s all-seeing eye and righteous judgment. In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him — In the most peaceable and prosperous time, he is not in safety, nor does he think himself to be so, but he is always fearing some one or other will injure him as he has injured others; and that some enemy will invade and destroy him suddenly and unexpectedly. He knows both heaven and earth are incensed against him; and that he has done nothing to make his peace with either, and, therefore, thinks every one that meets him will slay him. A guilty conscience represents to the sinner a flaming sword turning every way, and himself inevitably running upon it. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness — When he falls into trouble he despairs of deliverance, by reason of his guilty conscience. And he is waited for of the sword — Besides the calamity which is upon him, he is in constant expectation of greater. The sword is used for any grievous affliction.

21. Dreadful sound — Sound of terrors. In prosperity — In (time of) peace. The words of Horace (Odes, 3:1) are in place: Post equitem sedet atra cura — Behind the knight sits dark care.

V. 22. Believeth not-When he falls into trouble, he despairs of deliverance, by reason of his guilty conscience. Waited for-Besides the calamity which is upon him, he is in constant expectation of greater; the sword is used for any grievous affliction.

Verse 22. That he shall return out of darkness] If he take but a few steps in the dark, he expects the dagger of the assassin. This appears to be the only meaning of the place. Some think the passage should be understood to signify that he has no hope of a resurrection; he can never escape from the tomb. This I doubt: in the days of the writer of this book, the doctrine of a future judgment was understood in every part of the East where the knowledge of the true God was diffused.

Verses 21, 22. A dreadful sound is in his ears — Even when he feels no evil, he is tormented with perpetual fears and expectations of it, from a consciousness of his own guilt, and a sense of God’s all-seeing eye and righteous judgment. In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him — In the most peaceable and prosperous time, he is not in safety, nor does he think himself to be so, but he is always fearing some one or other will injure him as he has injured others; and that some enemy will invade and destroy him suddenly and unexpectedly. He knows both heaven and earth are incensed against him; and that he has done nothing to make his peace with either, and, therefore, thinks every one that meets him will slay him. A guilty conscience represents to the sinner a flaming sword turning every way, and himself inevitably running upon it. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness — When he falls into trouble he despairs of deliverance, by reason of his guilty conscience. And he is waited for of the sword — Besides the calamity which is upon him, he is in constant expectation of greater. The sword is used for any grievous affliction.

22. Darkness — Destruction is represented by the figure of night. The sword — Metaphorical for the wrath of God. The same poet (ibid.) speaks of the naked sword suspended over the impious neck of the tyrant.

V. 23. Knoweth-From his own guilty conscience.

Verse 23. He wandereth abroad for bread] He is reduced to a state of the utmost indigence, he who was once in affluence requires a morsel of bread, and can scarcely by begging procure enough to sustain life. Is ready at his hand.] Is wdyb beyado, in his hand—in his possession. As he cannot get bread, he must soon meet death.

Verse 23. He wandereth abroad for bread — His poverty is so great, that he is forced to wander hither and thither to seek for bread, and cannot find it, a just punishment for him that took away the bread and substance of others by violence. He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand — He is assured, from his own guilty conscience, that the time of his total, and irrecoverable, and everlasting destruction is ready to seize upon him, and arrest him, as an officer of justice arrests a criminal; that it is appointed to him and cannot be put by, that it is hastening on and cannot be put off. The Hebrew wdyb ˆwkn, nachon bejado, may be properly rendered, Is prepared by his own hand, that is, by his works or actions. So the sense is, He is conscious to himself that, by his wicked life, he hath prepared and treasured up calamities and destruction for himself. This day of darkness is something beyond death; it is that day of the Lord which, to all the wicked, will be darkness and not light, and in which they will be doomed to utter, endless darkness.

23. Where is it — hwa. This word, differently pointed, may signify vulture, (gruyin, Septuagint,) which leads Merx to render the passage, “He wanders about to be the food of vultures.” Better the text, with its outcry “where?” The one touch of the pencil paints the confusion and despair of famine. “He sees himself in the mirror of the future reduced to beggary.” — Delitzsch. The imagination — that faculty by which we form images, real or unreal — is a powerful agent which God uses for the punishment of men in this present life.

Verse 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid] He shall be in continual fear of death; being now brought down by adversity, and stripped of all the goods which he had got by oppression, his life is a mark for the meanest assassin.

As a king ready to the battle.] The acts of his wickedness and oppression are as numerous as the troops he commands; and when he comes to meet his enemy in the field, he is not only deserted but slain by his troops. How true are the words of the poet:—

Ad generum Cereris sine caede et vulnere pauci

Descendunt reges, et sicca morte tyranni.

Juv. Sat., ver. 112.

“For few usurpers to the shades descend

By a dry death, or with a quiet end.”

Verse 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid — When trouble comes, instead of trusting and hoping, and comforting himself in God, as good men do in such cases, 1 Samuel 30:6, he is full of torment, dreading the issue of it, and concluding it will end in his utter ruin, as he has great reason to do. They shall prevail against him — Though he would fain shake off his fears, and uses many expedients to free himself from them, he is not able; they overpower him, as a king ready to the battle — With forces too strong to be resisted. He that would keep his peace must keep a good conscience.

24. Trouble and anguish — These are personified as leaders of a formidable force of troubles. They loom forth, kings armed for the battle. Second strophe — Titans in impiety, they not only rushed madly against God, but fattened themselves upon the ruin of the innocent. If their punishment be aggravated it springs from aggravated sin, 25-30.

V. 25. For-Now he gives the reason of all the fore-mentioned calamities, which was his great wickedness. Against God-He sinned against God with an high hand. The Almighty-Which aggravates the madness of this poor worm that durst fight against the omnipotent God.

Verse 25. He stretcheth out his hand against God] While in power he thought himself supreme. He not only did not acknowledge God, by whom kings reign, but stretched out his hand—used his power, not to protect, but to oppress those over whom he had supreme rule; and thus strengthened himself against the Almighty.

Verse 25. For he stretcheth out his hand against God — He sinned against him with a high and outstretched hand; that is, boldly and presumptuously, as one that neither desired his favour, nor feared his anger. Thus he gives the reason of the fore-mentioned calamities that befell him, which was his great wickedness in the time of his peace and prosperity. And strengthened himself against the Almighty — Putteth his forces in array, as if he would fight with him who is almighty, and therefore irresistible. This aggravates the madness of this weak and contemptible worm, that he should dare to fight against the omnipotent God!

25. Strengtheneth himself — Boasteth himself. The first reason given for his wretched doom is his stiff-necked hostility to God. (Verses 25, 26.) “When all vices flee from God, pride alone opposes itself to him.” — Boetius.

V. 26. He-The wicked man. Neck-As a stout warrior who cometh close to his adversary and grapples with him. He acts in flat opposition to God, both to his precepts and providences. Bosses-Even where his enemy is strongest.

Verse 26. He runneth upon him.] Calmet has properly observed that this refers to GOD, who, like a mighty conquering hero, marches against the ungodly, rushes upon him, seizes him by the throat, which the mail by which it is encompassed cannot protect; neither his shield nor spear can save him when the Lord of hosts comes against him.

Verse 26. He runneth upon him — That is, the wicked man (of whom, and of whose sin and misery, he speaks in the whole context, both preceding and following) assaults God, and, as it were, rushes swiftly and furiously upon him, as the same phrase, wla xry, jarats eelaiv, signifies, Daniel 8:6. In the former verse he was represented as preparing for the battle, and here as actually and impudently fighting with him. Even on his neck — As a stout warrior who cometh close to his adversary and grapples with him. He acts in flat opposition to God, both to his precepts and providences. Upon the thick bosses of his bucklers — Even where his enemy is strongest. He is not discouraged with his enemy’s thick, and strong, and eminent shields, but boldly ventures to rush upon them, though to his own certain destruction. Every sinner departs, or runs, rather, from God: but the presumptuous sinner, who sins with a high hand, runs upon him, fights against him, and bids defiance to him; and it is easy to foretel what will be the issue.

26. On his neck — With his neck, (with neck erect — Vulgate, Furst,) as a combatant rushes upon his adversary. Upon the thick bosses, etc. — The central and projecting part of the shield, which was made thick and strong. The use of the word shield or buckler, in the plural, may denote the joining of shield to shield, thus forming what the Romans called a testudo, from the likeness of the linked shields to the scales of a tortoise. Schultens cites an Arabic proverb, “He turns the back of his shield:” denoting that such a one has become an enemy.

V. 27. Because-This is mentioned as the reason of his insolent carriage towards God, because he was fat, rich, potent, and successful, as that expression signifies, Deuteronomy 32:15 Psalm 78:31 Jeremiah 46:21. His great prosperity made him proud and secure, and regardless of God and men. Fat-His only care is to pamper himself.

Verse 27. Because he covereth his face] He has lived in luxury and excess; and like a man overloaded with flesh, he cannot defend himself against the strong gripe of his adversary.

The Arabic, for maketh collops of fat on his flanks, has [Arabic] He lays the Pleiades upon the Hyades, or, He places Surreea upon aiyuk, a proverbial expression for, His ambition is boundless; He aspires as high as heaven; His head touches the stars; or, is like the giants of old, who were fabled to have attempted to scale heaven by placing one high mountain upon another:—

Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam

Scilicet, atque Ossæ frondosum involvere Olympum

Ter Pater extructos disjecit fulmine montes.

VIRG. Geor. i., ver. 281.

“With mountains piled on mountains, thrice they strove To scale the steepy battlements of Jove;

And thrice his lightning and red thunder play’d,

And their demolished works in ruins laid.”

DRYDEN.

To the lust of power and the schemes of ambition there are no bounds; but see the end of such persons: the haughty spirit precedes a fall; their palaces become desolate; and their heaven is reduced to a chaos.

Verse 27. He covereth his face with his fatness — This is mentioned as the reason of his insolent carriage toward God. because he was fat, rich, potent, and successful, as that expression signifies, Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalm 78:31; Jeremiah 46:21. His great prosperity made him proud and secure, and regardless of God and men. Maketh collops of fat on his flanks — His only care is to pamper and please himself, and satisfy his own lusts, and in defence and pursuance of them he contends with God.

27. Maketh collops of fat on his flanks — Literally, he maketh (gathereth) fat upon his loins. Verses 27 and 28 contain the second reason for the destiny of the wicked, “his contentment on the ruin of another’s prosperity.” — Delitzsch. The misery of others does not trouble him, he grows fat in its midst. The words are rank with the corruption of human nature. The Greeks had a word, epicairekakia, (ARISTOTLE, Ethics, 2:7, 15,) which appears also in the German, schadenfreude, signifying the joy which man feels in the sufferings of others. The text sets before us the anger of Heaven at the contemplation of a self-complacent, bloated sinner, “the fatness” upon whose “face” has been made out of the destruction of others — a pampered human spider, surrounded by his gray web, lined with the refuse of many a gory feast. Isaiah 5:8; Habakkuk 2:5, 12. The two rich men of whom Christ speaks will recur to the reader. (Luke 12:18; 16:19.)

V. 28. But-This is fitly opposed to the prosperity last mentioned, and is the beginning of the description of his misery.

Verse 28. He dwelleth in desolate cities] It is sometimes the fate of a tyrant to be obliged to take up his habitation in some of those cities which have been ruined by his wars, and in a house so ruinous as to be ready to fall into heaps. Ancient and modern history afford abundance of examples to illustrate this.

Verses 28, 29. And he dwelleth — It should rather be translated, But he dwelleth in desolate places. This is fitly opposed to the prosperity last mentioned, and is the beginning of the description of his misery, which is continued in the following verses. Which are ready to become heaps — Which are ready to fall, and to be turned into heaps of stones. He shall not be rich — He shall not remain rich, but shall become poor. Neither shall his substance continue — He shall lose what he had gotten. Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof — The perfection of his substance, or that complete estate and glory which he had attained, shall not be continued to him and his posterity. Or, neither shall their perfection (that is, that prosperity, wealth, and power, wherein they placed their perfection or happiness) spread itself, or be spread abroad; but shall be diminished and taken away. It is a metaphor from a tree. See Job 8:16.

28. No man inhabiteth — Literally, which they should not inhabit for themselves. This “wicked man’s” defiance of God is manifested, as some think, by his preferring to dwell in cities that God has cursed. In blasphemy he chooses the ruins of a Sodom, Jericho, Tyre, or Babylon. This impiety is the more conspicuous as the people of the East have ever shrunk from inhabiting places on which they believe the frown of God rests. The Arab at the present day, as Consul Wetzstein informs us, hurries through the city of el Hijr (Medain Salih) without looking round, and muttering prayers, as does the great throng of pilgrims to Mecca, from fear of incurring the punishment of God by the slightest delay in the accursed city.

V. 29. Substance-What he had gotten shall be taken from him.

Verse 29. He shall not be rich] The whole of what follows, to the end of the chapter, seems to be directed against Job himself, whom Eliphaz indirectly accuses of having been a tyrant and oppressor. The threatened evils are, 1. He shall not be rich, though he labours greatly to acquire riches. 2. His substance shall not continue—God will blast it, and deprive him of power to preserve it. 3. Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof—all his works shall perish, for God will blot out his remembrance from under heaven.

Verses 28, 29. And he dwelleth — It should rather be translated, But he dwelleth in desolate places. This is fitly opposed to the prosperity last mentioned, and is the beginning of the description of his misery, which is continued in the following verses. Which are ready to become heaps — Which are ready to fall, and to be turned into heaps of stones. He shall not be rich — He shall not remain rich, but shall become poor. Neither shall his substance continue — He shall lose what he had gotten. Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof — The perfection of his substance, or that complete estate and glory which he had attained, shall not be continued to him and his posterity. Or, neither shall their perfection (that is, that prosperity, wealth, and power, wherein they placed their perfection or happiness) spread itself, or be spread abroad; but shall be diminished and taken away. It is a metaphor from a tree. See Job 8:16.

29. Neither shall he prolong the perfection, etc. — Their substance (riches — Furst) bendeth not to the ground. (Hirtzel, Stickel. etc.) The image is drawn from a tree whose branches bend with their weight of fruit.

V. 30. Depart-His misery shall have no end. Flame-God’s anger and judgment upon him. Branches-His wealth, and power, and glory, wherewith he was encompassed, as trees are with their branches. His mouth-And this expression intimates, with how much ease God subdueth his enemies: his word, his blast; one act of his will is sufficient. Go-Heb. go back: that is, run away from God faster than he ran upon him, ver. 26. So it is a continuation of the former metaphor of a conflict between two persons.

Verse 30. He shall not depart out of darkness] 4. He shall be in continual afflictions and distress. 5. The flame shall dry up his branches— his children shall be cut off by sudden judgments. 6. He shall pass away by the breath of his mouth; for by the breath of his mouth doth God slay the wicked.

Verse 30. He shall not depart out of darkness — His misery shall have no end. The flame — God’s anger and judgment upon him. Shall dry up his branches — His wealth, and power, and glory, wherewith he was encompassed, as trees are with their branches. By the breath of his mouth, &c. — This expression intimates, with how much ease God subdueth his enemies: his word, his blast, one act of his will, is sufficient. Shall he go away — Hebrew, go back: that is, run away from God faster than he ran upon him, verse 26. So it is a continuation of the former metaphor of a conflict between two persons.

30. Dry up his branches — The figure is of a lofty tree which has been scathed by fire. By the breath of his mouth — The breath of God’s mouth gave him life. God breathes in his wrath and it gives him death — he goes away. Where?

Third strophe — The evil in which they trusted is its own recompense: its chief characteristic — vanity, awv, (nothingness, abortion,) — is the blossom and fruit of their whole being, 31-35.

The conclusion which Eliphaz means Job should draw is — all the godless are miserable, therefore the most miserable (Job) are the most godless.

V. 31. Vanity-In the vain and deceitful things of this world, he subjoins a general caution to all men to take heed of running into the same error and mischief. Vanity-Disappointment and dissatisfaction, and the loss of all his imaginary felicity. Recompence-Heb. his exchange; he shall exchange one vanity for another, a pleasing vanity for a vexatious vanity.

Verse 31. Let not him that is deceived] 7. He has many vain imaginations of obtaining wealth, power, pleasure, and happiness; but he is deceived; and he finds that he has trusted awvb bashshav, in a lie; and this lie is his recompense.

Verse 31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity — That is, in the vain and deceitful things of this world, such as power, riches, honour, &c., of which, and of the loss of them, he had been discoursing largely; and now he subjoins a general caution to all men to take heed of running into the same error and mischief with the fore-mentioned persons: and, withal, he secretly intimates what, he judged, had been Job’s great sin, and the cause of his ruin, namely, his carnal confidence in those vain things, his wealth and glory, and the children which God had given him: from which crime Job, therefore, vindicates himself hereafter. For vanity — Disappointment, dissatisfaction, and the loss of all his imaginary felicity; the same word vanity being elegantly repeated in another sense, as is usual in the Scripture, and all authors. Shall be his recompense — Hebrew, wtrwmt, temuratho, permutatio vel commutatio ejus; his exchange, Leviticus 27:33; he shall exchange one vanity for another, a pleasing vanity for a vexatious vanity. This verse however may be rendered otherwise, thus: He that is deceived with vanity (that is, with the vain things of this world, wherewith most men are deceived and bewitched) will not believe that vanity (namely, emptiness, disappointment, and misery) shall be his recompense. And thus this is an aggravation of his calamity, that it surprised him when he was confident, and secure from all fears of such an event.

31. Let him not trust in evil; he is deceived, for evil shall be his reward. (Conant and most moderns.) Recompense — Literally, exchange. The word translated vanity signifies also evil, or sin and destruction. For sin the wicked man gets destruction. Let him not be deceived, for this is the exchange he makes. Galatians 6:7.

V. 32. Accomplished-That vanity should be his recompence. Before-When by the course of nature, and common providence he might have continued much longer.

Verse 32. It shall be accomplished before his time] I believe the Vulgate gives the true sense: Antequam dies ejus impleantur, peribit; “He shall perish before his time; before his days are completed.” 8. He shall be removed by a violent death, and not live out half his days. 9. And his branch shall not be green—there shall be no scion from his roots; all his posterity shall fail.

Verses 32, 33. It shall be accomplished — Namely, that which was last mentioned, that vanity should be his recompense: before his time — When, by the course of nature, and common providence, he might have continued and flourished much longer. And his branch — His glory and prosperity, or his children; shall not be green — Shall not continue to flourish as heretofore. He shall shake off his unripe grapes — The wicked man, who, by his sins, is the author of his own ruin, shall be deprived of his fruit, of his children, and other comforts, before their time; as the vine — Which either of itself drops its tender grapes, or loses them when they are plucked off by a violent hand; and shall cast off his flower as the olive — Which flourishes much about the same time with the vine, and commonly suffers similar injuries.

32. Accomplished before his time — Literally, In not his day it (the exchange) is fulfilled. The wicked man dies prematurely. The day he dies “is not his appointed day.” — Dillmann, Hirtzel. See note, Job 14:5. Compare Psalm 55:23. Branch — The top branch (of the palm.)

Verse 33. He shall shake off his unripe grape] 10. Whatever children he may have, they shall never survive him, nor come to mature age. They shall be like wind-fall grapes and blasted olive blossoms. As the vine and olive, which are among the most useful trees, affording wine and oil, so necessary for the worship of God and the comfort of man, are mentioned here, they may be intended to refer to the hopeful progeny of the oppressor; but who fell, like the untimely grape or the blasted olive flower, without having the opportunity of realizing the public expectation.

Verses 32, 33. It shall be accomplished — Namely, that which was last mentioned, that vanity should be his recompense: before his time — When, by the course of nature, and common providence, he might have continued and flourished much longer. And his branch — His glory and prosperity, or his children; shall not be green — Shall not continue to flourish as heretofore. He shall shake off his unripe grapes — The wicked man, who, by his sins, is the author of his own ruin, shall be deprived of his fruit, of his children, and other comforts, before their time; as the vine — Which either of itself drops its tender grapes, or loses them when they are plucked off by a violent hand; and shall cast off his flower as the olive — Which flourishes much about the same time with the vine, and commonly suffers similar injuries.

33. Cast off his flower as the olive — “The olive is the most prodigal of all fruit-bearing trees in flowers. It literally bends under the load of them. But then not one in a hundred comes to maturity. The tree casts them off by millions, as if they were of no more value than flakes of snow, which they closely resemble. So it will be with those who trust in vanity.” — Land and Book, 1:72.

Verse 34. The congregation of hypocrites] 11. Job is here classed with hypocrites, or rather the impious of all kinds. The congregation, or td[ adath, society, of such, shall be desolate, or a barren rock, dwmlg galmud. See this Arabic word explained in Clarke’s note on “Job 3:7”. Fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.] 12. Another insinuation against Job, that he had perverted justice and judgment, and had taken bribes.

Verses 34, 35. For the congregation of hypocrites — Their children, servants, friends, and dependants; shall be desolate — That is, utterly destroyed; and fire — Some eminent and terrible judgment of God, often expressed by fire: see Isaiah 9:19, and 26:11; shall consume the tabernacles of bribery — Which were either built or maintained by extortion and bribery, or such unrighteous practises, of which they thought Job guilty, Job 22:8. They conceive mischief — They devise and contrive pernicious enterprises against others; and bring forth vanity — They execute what they had contrived. They produce iniquity, injury, or trouble, either to others, or rather to themselves: for the mischief they designed for others falls upon their own heads, and they reap what they sowed. And their belly — That is, their inward parts, their hearts and minds; prepareth deceit — For others, whom they design to cheat; and especially for themselves, who, while they seek to deceive others, shall find that they themselves are most deceived, as being deprived of all their desires and hopes wherewith they fed themselves, and cast into all those calamities which they thought to prevent by these artifices. This whole description is evidently pointed at the situation of Job. His prosperity was become vanity; his children were all cut off before their time; his family become solitary; and his hopes, to all appearance, an illusion. All the fine prospect with which the wicked man entertained himself, and for which he endured all the anguish here described, produced only a deceit. He hath imposed on himself.

34. The congregation of hypocrites — The household of the impure. Desolate — The figure is of a rock, hard and barren. Fire is often employed in the Bible for the wrath of God.

Verse 35. They conceive mischief] The figure here is both elegant and impressive. The wicked conceive mischief, from the seed which Satan sows in their hearts; in producing which they travail with many pangs, (for sin is a sore labour,) and at last their womb produces fraud or deception. This is an accursed birth, from an iniquitous conception. St. James gives the figure at full length, most beautifully touched in all its parts: When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death; James 1:15, where see the note.

Poor Job! what a fight of affliction had he to contend with! His body wasted and tortured with sore disease; his mind harassed by Satan; and his heart wrung with the unkindness, and false accusations of his friends. No wonder he was greatly agitated, often distracted, and sometimes even thrown off his guard. However, all his enemies were chained; and beyond that chain they could not go. God was his unseen Protector, and did not suffer his faithful servant to be greatly moved.

JOB

Verses 34, 35. For the congregation of hypocrites — Their children, servants, friends, and dependants; shall be desolate — That is, utterly destroyed; and fire — Some eminent and terrible judgment of God, often expressed by fire: see Isaiah 9:19, and 26:11; shall consume the tabernacles of bribery — Which were either built or maintained by extortion and bribery, or such unrighteous practises, of which they thought Job guilty, Job 22:8. They conceive mischief — They devise and contrive pernicious enterprises against others; and bring forth vanity — They execute what they had contrived. They produce iniquity, injury, or trouble, either to others, or rather to themselves: for the mischief they designed for others falls upon their own heads, and they reap what they sowed. And their belly — That is, their inward parts, their hearts and minds; prepareth deceit — For others, whom they design to cheat; and especially for themselves, who, while they seek to deceive others, shall find that they themselves are most deceived, as being deprived of all their desires and hopes wherewith they fed themselves, and cast into all those calamities which they thought to prevent by these artifices. This whole description is evidently pointed at the situation of Job. His prosperity was become vanity; his children were all cut off before their time; his family become solitary; and his hopes, to all appearance, an illusion. All the fine prospect with which the wicked man entertained himself, and for which he endured all the anguish here described, produced only a deceit. He hath imposed on himself.

35. Deceit — This word is but the refrain of the entire address of Eliphaz — Job is self-deceived.