Job · Chapter 17

V. 1. The graves-He speaks of the sepulchres of his fathers, to which he must be gathered. The graves where they are laid, are ready for me also. Whatever is unready, the grave is ready for us: it is a bed soon made. And if the grave be ready for us, it concerns us, to be ready for the grave.

Verse 1. My breath is corrupt] Rather, My spirit is oppressed, hlbj yjwr ruchi chubbalah: My days are extinct, and the sepulchral cells are ready for me.—PARKHURST. There is probably a reference here to cemeteries, where were several niches, in each of which a corpse was deposited. See on Job 17:16.

For hlbj chubbalah, corrupted or oppressed, some MSS. have hlj chalah, is made weak; and one has hlbg is worn down, consumed: this is agreeable to the Vulgate, Spiritus meus attenuebatur; “My spirit is exhausted.”

Verse 1. My breath is corrupt — Is offensive to those around me, through my disease. But, as the word hlbj, chubbalah, here rendered corrupt, may signify bound, straitened, or distressed with pain, as a woman in travail, Chappelow thinks the phrase had better be rendered: Spiritus meus constringitur, vel, cum dolore emititur; that is, I have such an oppression, that I can hardly breathe. The reading of the margin, however, is not to be overlooked, My spirit is spent, or lost, that is, my vital spirits and animal powers are wasted; my soul is ready to leave the body: I am a gone man. My days are extinct — The lamp of my life is far spent, and upon the point of going out. The graves are ready for me — That is, the grave; the plural number being put for the singular. Or, he speaks of the sepulchres of his fathers, to which he was to be gathered. Sol. Jarchi’s comment is, “I am ready for the grave.” The text is only yl µyrbq, kebarim li, sepulchra mihi: The grave for me, or, I have the grave. Any addition seems to spoil that elegancy of expression which consists in a sudden, quick turn of thought; as if Job had said, My breath is gone; my days extinct; I have a grave. Thus the Vulgate, Solum mihi superest sepulchrum, The grave only remains for me. Wherever we go there is but a step between us and the grave. The sepulchres where our fathers are laid are ready for us also. Whatever is unready, the grave is ready. It is a bed soon made. And, if the grave be ready for us, it concerns us to be ready for the grave.

Verse 1. My breath is corrupt. Schultens reads, corruptus est spiritus meus: “My spirit is corrupt, my days are extinct, the sepulchre is my repose. Why then make a jest of me, while my eye weeps all night at the severity of their reproaches?” The French versions nearly coincide with these readings. Mercer, a celebrated German critic, has this gloss on ver. 1. “The vital power is exhausted and consumed.”

1. Now follow short ejaculatory clauses in which “Job chants his own requiem,” (Delitzsch,) reminding the reader of the requiem chanted by Mozart shortly before his death. My breath is corrupt — Literally, My life (rouahh) is destroyed. Some still read as in the text. The graves — The Arabians, according to Schultens, frequently use “graves” for the grave. Around the sides of the tomb of the ancient Hebrew there were cells for the reception of sarcophagi containing the bodies of the dead. To such cells Job may refer.

V. 2. Are not-Do not my friends, instead of comforting, mock me? Thus he returns to what he had said, Job 16:20, and intimates the justice of his following appeal.

Verse 2. Are there not mockers with me?] This has been variously translated. The VULGATE: “I have not sinned, and yet my eye dwells upon afflictions.” SEPTUAGINT: “I conjure you, labouring under afflictions, what evil have I done? Yet strangers have robbed me of my substance.” Mr. GOOD: “But are not revilers before me? Alas, mine eye penetrateth their rebukes.” CALMET thinks the Hebrew might be translated thus: “If I have not been united in friendship with the wicked, why are my eyes in bitterness?” COVERDALE translates both verses thus: My breth fayleth, my dayes are shortened, I am harde at deathes dore. I have disceaved no man, yet must myne eye continue in hevynesse. Mr. HEATH “Were it not so, I have sarcasms enow in store; and I could spend the whole night unmoved at their aggravations.” The general meaning is sufficiently plain, and the reader has got translations enough.

Verse 2. Are there not mockers with me? — Do not my friends, instead of comforting, mock and abuse me, as if I had made use of religion only as a cloak to cover my wickedness? Thus he returns to what he had said chap. 16:20), and intimates the necessity and justice of his following appeal, which otherwise might have been thought too bold. And doth not mine eye continue in their provocation? — That is, doth not their provocation continue in mine eye? Do not I still behold them provoking me to my face? Or he may speak of the eye of his mind, and then the meaning is, Their provoking scoffs and reproaches do not only molest me in the day-time, when they are with me, but lodge with me (for the word ˆlt, talan, here rendered continue, signifies to lodge) in the night, and are continually in my thoughts.

2. Mockers — Surely mockers are with me, and on their quarrelling mine eye dwells. Notwithstanding the grave is all that remains for Job, (verse 1,) his quasi friends mock him with promissory illusions of long life, and embitter his existence with janglings night and day so that his eye can rest on nothing else. Continue — Hebrew, Pass the night.

Second strophe — That God alone will, or can, guarantee the righteous adjudication of Job’s cause, is evident from the blind and unprincipled conduct of his representative friends; and that God should do this is urged by Job’s own outrageous sufferings, and by the injury that would otherwise result to the cause of virtue. HIS PRAYER STILL IS FOR A MEDIATOR, 3-9.

V. 3. Surety-These words contain, an humble desire to God that he would be his surety, or appoint him a surety who should maintain his righteous cause against his opposers. Strike hands-Be surety to me; whereof that was the usual gesture.

Verse 3. Lay down now] Deposit a pledge; stake your conduct against mine, and your life and soul on the issue; let the cause come before God, let him try it; and see whether any of you shall be justified by him, while I am condemned.

Verse 3. Lay down now — Some earnest or pledge. Put me in a surety with thee — Let me have an assurance that God will take the hearing and determining of the cause into his own hands, and I desire no more. Who is he that will strike hands with me? — That is, agree and promise, or be surety to me, whereof striking or joining hands was the usual sign. But, probably, we ought rather to consider Job as addressing God in these words, and then we must understand them as containing an humble desire that he would be his surety, or would appoint him a surety, who should maintain his righteous cause against his opposers. “Our English annotations,” says Henry, “give this reading of the verse; Appoint, I pray thee, my surety with thee, namely, Christ, who is with thee in heaven, and hath undertaken to be my surety: let him plead my cause, and stand up for me, and who is he then that will strike upon my hand? that is, who dares then contend with me? Who shall lay any thing to my charge, if Christ be an advocate for me? Romans 8:32, 33. Christ is the surety of the better testament, (Hebrews 7:22,) a surety of God’s appointing; and if he undertake for us we need not fear what can be done against us.”

3. Lay down — hmyc. “A pledge” is evidently understood; some kind of security like that which binds a bargain. The clause reads, Lay down, (a pledge,) I pray. Put me in a surety — Better, Be thou my surety with thee. br[, ‘harab, signifies to pledge one’s self for another, and by implication protect or deliver. Comp. Genesis 43:9; Psalm 119:122; Isaiah 38:14; (undertake for me.) In Job 16:21, Job speaks of God in a twofold character: also here, “as a judge and He who gives security before the judge.” — Olshausen. The security became liable for his client’s debts in case he failed. Strike hands, etc. — The custom of ratifying compacts by the joining or striking together of hands prevailed quite universally in ancient times. Proverbs 6:1. The “surety” struck hands with the party he represented, “for Solomon warns his son against giving his hand to a stranger, that is, against being surety for a person unknown.” — MICHAELIS, Laws of Moses, 2:323. Ewald takes an erroneous view, that “the debtor and surety gave the hand to the creditor,” (Alt., S. 165,) whereas the surety joined hands with the debtor. (Dillmann, etc.) Job’s prayer, “Be thou my surety with thee,” is urged by the momentous consideration, Who is he? who can be my surety if not thou? If man have hope at all, it must come from the Godhead. Christ, the Son of God, strikes hands with man, assumes his nature, becomes his surety. The prayer of Job became wonderfully prophetic.

V. 4. Hid-Thou hast blinded the minds of my friends: therefore I desire a more wise and able judge. Therefore-Thou wilt not give them the victory over me in this contest, but wilt make them ashamed of their confidence.

Verse 4. For thou hast hid their heart] This address is to God; and here he is represented as doing that which in the course of his providence he only permits to be done.

Shalt thou not exalt them.] This was exactly fulfilled: not one of Job’s friends was exalted; on the contrary, God condemned the whole; and they were not received into the Divine favour till Job sacrificed, and made intercession for them.

Verse 4. Thou hast hid their heart from understanding — Rather, thou hast hid understanding from their heart. The minds of my friends are so blinded, that they cannot see those truths which are most plain and evident to all men of sense and experience. Hence, I desire a more wise and able judge. Therefore shalt thou not exalt them — Thou wilt not give them the victory over me in this contest, but wilt give sentence for me, and make them ashamed of their confidence in affirming falsehoods of thee, and wilt punish them severely for their misconduct.

4. For — None but God can “undertake” for him! His purblind friends certainly cannot. Not exalt them — above me. Thou wilt not let them prevail.

Verse 5. He that speaketh flattery] There is a great variety of meaning given to the terms in this verse. The general sense is, The man who expects much from his friends will be disappointed: while depending on them his children’s eyes may fail in looking for bread.

Verse 5. He that speaketh flattery to his friends — “The Hebrew of this verse,” says Peters, “literally, runs thus: He shall reckon friends for a portion, or inheritance, and the eyes of his children shall fail; that is, with expectation. They may look their eyes out before they receive any benefit or assistance from these friends. The expression is proverbial, intimating how liable men are to be disappointed, who depend upon the constancy of human friendships. And nothing could be more apposite to Job’s purpose.” Heath renders the words,” Whoso becometh the accuser of his friends, the eyes of his children will fail; that is, not only he, but his sons after him may look till they be weary, before they get more.” Bishop Patrick’s paraphrase on this and the two preceding verses appears to be perfectly consistent with the context, and is certainly well deserving of the reader’s attention. Lay down now, &c. Verse 3. “Once more, therefore, I beseech thee, O God, to assure me that thou wilt judge my cause thyself; let somebody undertake for thee; who is it, that on thy behalf will engage to do me right? Verse 4. Not these friends of mine, for they comprehend nothing of the way of thy judgments: therefore thou shalt not confer this honour on them who talk so absurdly. Verse 5. I must speak the truth of them, (though it displease them,) and not sooth them up in their errors: for he that flatters his friends, when he should reprove them, may look long enough before either he, or his children, find one that will deal sincerely with them.” We add also the following interpretation of this verse, proposed by Poole. “He that uttereth, or declareth his mind, or thoughts, with flattery, or to flatter, or deceive another, he shall be severely punished, not only in his person, but even in his children, whose eyes shall fail with vain expectations of relief, and deliverance out of those calamities which shall come upon them for this sin of their parents.”

5. He… friends — The common reading is, He who betrays friends for a spoil. Flattery — Hhelck, signifies a share of spoil. The spoil which the treacherous gain proves a curse to their children. Hitzig unites the verse with the preceding, thus: Exalt not “him who invites friends to a feast (tsum Theilen) while the eyes of his children fail.” Comp. 11:20. He is profuse in his hospitality, while his children have nothing to eat. Job’s friends rejoice in a superabundance of wisdom for others, but have none for themselves. The well-timed thrust for which — though he had to overleap the lists of continuous thought — Job was always ready, assorts well with the preceding verse. The verse, however, looks like a proverbial saying whose exact meaning has been lost.

Verse 6. He hath made me also a by-word] My afflictions and calamities have become a subject of general conversation, so that my poverty and affliction are proverbial. As poor as Job, As afflicted as Job, are proverbs that have even reached our times and are still in use.

Aforetime I was as a tabret.] This is not the translation of the Hebrew אהיה לפנים ותפת vethopheth lephanim eheyeh. Instead of לפנים lephanim, I would read לפניהם liphneghem, and then the clause might be translated thus: I shall be as a furnace, or consuming fire (Topheth) before them. They shall have little reason to mock when they see the end of the Lord’s dealings with me; my example will be a consuming fire to them, and my false friends will be confounded. COVERDALE translates thus: He hath made me as it were a byworde of the comon people. I am his gestinge stocke amonge them.

Verse 6. He — That is, God, who is generally designed by this pronoun in this book; hath made me also a by-word of the people — Or, a proverb, or subject of common talk. My miseries are so great and unprecedented that they fill all people with discourse, and are become proverbial to express extreme misery. And, or rather, but, or although, aforetime I was as a tabret — That is, I was the people’s delight and darling, the matter of their praise, and received by them with applauses, and, as it were, with instruments of music. Thus he aggravates his present misery by the mention of his former prosperity.

6. Aforetime I was as a tabret — Literally, I am become a spitting upon the face; that is, one into whose face they (the people) spit. Tabret — Hebrew, topheth. Its meaning is determined by kindred dialects — for instance, the Arabic taffafa, to spit with contempt. The valley of Topheth was a valley of abomination. Job’s treatment in this respect resembled that of his divine antitype.

V. 7. As a shadow-I am grown so poor and thin, that I am not to be called a man, but the shadow of a man.

Verse 7. Mine eye also is dim] Continual weeping impairs the sight; and indeed any affliction that debilitates the frame generally weakens the sight in the same proportion.

All my members are as a shadow.] Nothing is left but skin and bone. I am but the shadow of my former self.

Verse 7. Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow — Through excessive weeping and decay of spirits, which cause a dimness of the sight. And all my members are as a shadow — My body is so reduced, and I am grown so poor and thin, and my colour so wan and ghastly, that I look more like a ghost or a shadow than a man.

Ver. 7. All my members are as a shadow. Job here, from the emaciated state of his frame, makes a transition to the pressure of his mind, to the cloud of darkness which overspread all the faculties of his soul.

7. Eye also is dim — Dimness of the eye is a figure frequently employed in Scripture to indicate the effects of grief, or of advanced age. As a shadow. See note Job 8:9.

V. 8. Astonied-At the depth and mysteriousness of God’s judgments, which fall on innocent men, while the worst of men prosper. Yet-Notwithstanding all these sufferings of good men, and the astonishment which they cause, he shall the more zealously oppose those hypocrites, who make these strange providences of God an objection to religion.

Verse 8. Upright men shall be astonied] In several of these verses Job is supposed to speak prophetically of his future restoration, and of the good which religious society should derive from the history of his original affluence, consequent poverty and affliction, and final restoration to health, peace, and prosperity. The upright will receive the account with astonishment, and wonder at the dispensations of the Almighty; while hypocrites, false professors and the sour-headed, godly, shall be unmasked, and innocent men, whether in affliction or affluence, shall be known to be favourites of the Almighty.

Verse 8. Upright men shall be astonied at this — Wise and good men, when they shall see me, and consider my calamities, will not be so forward to censure and condemn me as you are, but will rather stand and wonder at the depth and mysteriousness of God’s judgments, which fall so heavily upon innocent men, while the worst of men prosper. And, or, rather, but, or yet, the innocent shall stir himself up against the hypocrite — Notwithstanding all these sufferings of good men, and the astonishment which they cause, he shall be so far from joining his opinions, counsels, and interest with those profane men, who take occasion from thence to censure afflicted persons, and desert, condemn, and reproach the profession and practice of godliness, that he will the more zealously oppose those hypocrites who make these strange providences of God an objection to religion, and will prefer afflicted piety to prosperous iniquity.

8. The hypocrite — The impure. To the righteous, the permitted sufferings of the just man at the hands of the unjust present a dark feature of the divine economy. The Church in all ages has been baptized with blood. All life of appreciable worth begins and matures through suffering, and the higher spiritual life is not excepted. According to the value of the life is the fierceness of the sorrow that accompanies it into being — a thought that holds good with respect to the highest saints in heaven. (Revelation 7:13-15.) The divine will that spares not the Son of God, subjects to kindred suffering those in whom he is most deeply interested.

Verse 9. The righteous also shall hold on his way] There shall be no doubt concerning the dispensations of the Divine providence. My case shall illustrate all seemingly intricate displays of God’s government. None shall be stumbled at seeing a godly man under oppression, knowing that God never permits any thing of the kind but for the good of the subject, and the manifestation of his own mercy, wisdom, and love. Therefore whatever occurs to the righteous man, he will take it for granted that all is well and justly managed, and that the end will be glorious.

Shall be stronger and stronger.] He shall take encouragement from my case, stay himself on the Lord, and thus gain strength by every blast of adversity. This is one grand use of the book of Job. It casts much light on seemingly partial displays of Divine providence: and has ever been the great text-book of godly men in a state of persecution and affliction. This is what Job seems prophetically to declare.

Verse 9. The righteous shall hold on his way — Shall persevere in that good way upon which he hath entered, and not be turned from it by any afflictions which may befall himself, or any other good men; nor by any contempt or reproach cast upon them by the ungodly, by reason thereof. And he that hath clean hands — Whose life, and the course of whose actions, is righteous and holy; which is a sign that his heart also is upright and pure from the love of sin; shall be stronger and stronger — Shall not be shaken and discouraged by the afflictions and distresses of the godly, nor by the bitter censures and reproaches of hypocrites or wicked men; but will be confirmed thereby, and made more constant and resolute in cleaving to God, his ways, and people.

9. Hold on — Lay fast hold of. Clean hands — The hand was no less the symbol of human action than of power and strength: clean hands represented purity of action. Be stronger and stronger — Margin, Shall add strength. A pure life is a source of strength to man’s entire being. Body, mind, soul, all testify to its reflex influence. Laws of habit unite with laws of grace to assure the good man that he shall ever “renew his strength.” (Isaiah 40:31.) Affliction facilitates soul-growth. God makes it the touchstone of spiritual strength. The fierce blast either uproots or strengthens the tree. The storm passes by, and the pious soul has struck deeper its roots into that which is eternal. “It is said of the Lacedemonian republic, that whereas all other States were undone by war, Sparta alone grew rich and was bettered by it; and we may say, that whereas all hypocrites and worldly men are undone by affliction, true believers thrive under it.” (KITTO, Bib. Illus. in loc.)

Third division — JOB RESUMES THE REQUIEM (verse 11) WHICH AT VERSE 2 WAS

V. 10. Come-And renew the debate, as I see you are resolved to do.

Verse 10. But as for you all] Ye are too proud, and too full of self-importance, to profit by what ye see. Return—enter into yourselves, consider your ways, go again to school, get back to your own houses, and endeavour to acquire humility and knowledge; for there is not one wise man among you.

Verse 10. But as for you all — Who have charged me so heavily. Do you return and come now — Recollect yourselves: reflect on what I have said, and consider my cause again; peradventure your second thoughts may be wiser. For I cannot find one wise man among you — Namely, as to this matter. None of you judge truly of my case; nor speak like wise and good men; but, like rash and inconsiderate persons, you censure me as a hypocrite, judge erroneously of God’s ways, and condemn the generation of his children on false grounds and frivolous pretences.

INTERRUPTED BY THE SUPPLICATION THAT GOD SHOULD MEDIATE WITH GOD, 10-16. The main thought of the elegy is the destruction of all hope for this life. This, as Ewald intimates, leads Job to look for justice beyond death; to seek in another life the fruitage of faith, hope, and charity. Job evidently reasons up to an eternal and immutable justice, from the framework of his moral being, which now resounds with testimonies to the purity of his conscience, inspiring him with the conviction that God would be his surety. This enables Job to triumph over sheol.

10. Return… now — “The friends of Job, irritated by his vehement words, threaten to retire.” — Renan. He challenges his retreating friends to continue the argument, at least to hear what he has to say, in the meantime reminding them of the little understanding they have thus far displayed. (Ver. 4.) For — Nevertheless.

V. 11. My days-The days of my life. I am a dying man, and therefore the hopes you give me of the bettering of my condition, are vain. Purposes-Which I had in my prosperous days, concerning myself and children.

Verse 11. My days are past] Job seems to relapse here into his former state of gloom. These transitions are very frequent in this poem; and they strongly mark the struggle of piety and resignation with continued affliction, violent temptation, and gloomy providences. The thoughts of my heart.] All my purposes are interrupted; and all my schemes and plans, in relation to myself and family, are torn asunder, destroyed, and dissipated.

Verse 11. My days are past — The days of my life. I am a dying man, and therefore the hopes you give me of the bettering of my condition are vain. My purposes are broken off — Or the designs and expectations which I had in my prosperous days concerning myself and children, and the continuance of my happiness. Even the thoughts of my heart — Hebrew, yvrwm, morashei; the possessions of my heart; that is, those counsels and intentions which in a great measure possessed my heart, and were natural and familiar to me. All these are disappointed and come to nothing.

11. My days are past — The want of wisdom Job has just spoken of, the friends have shown in their glowing promises of future worldly bliss provided he will repent; that, too, while he has both feet in the grave. The thought serves as a transition to the elegy renewed in this verse. Thoughts — yvrwm, possessions, or treasures. Zockler calls them the wards, or nurslings, of the heart. The term comprehends thought, hope, purpose, affection — all the furniture of the soul.

V. 12. They-My thoughts so incessantly pursue and disturb me, that I can no more sleep in the night, than in the day. The light-The day-light, which often gives some comfort to men in misery, seems to be gone as soon as it is begun. Darkness-Because of my grievous pains and torments which follow me by day as well as by night.

Verse 12. They change the night into day] These purposes and thoughts are so very gloomy, that they change day into night.

The light is short because of darkness.] Ëvj ynpm bwrq rwa or karob mippeney choshek, “The light is near from the face of darkness.” I have scarcely any light: what is called light is so near akin to darkness, that it is scarcely severed from it. There is either no light, or merely such as is sufficient to render darkness visible. A fine picture of the state of his mind-he was generally in darkness; but had occasional gleams of hope.

Verse 12. They change the night into day — My distressing thoughts, griefs, and fears, so incessantly pursue and disturb me, that I can no more sleep in the night than in the day. The light is short — The day-light, which often gives some comfort to men in misery, seems to be gone and fled as soon as it is begun; because of darkness — Because of my grievous pains and torments, which follow me by day as well as by night.

12. Night into day — Literally, they put night for the day — That is, day hath become night to me. wmycy, is used impersonally. Conant’s rendering, “Night is joined to day.” is not sustained. The light is short. — Among the various readings is that of Hahn and Zockler: “Light is near in the presence of darkness:” that is, such is the representation made by the friends when really there is nothing but darkness. Dillmann and Ewald make ˆm a comparative, nearer than — a feeble and inconsequential thought. The reading of Hengstenberg, the light is near to darkness, which substantially agrees with that of Evans, is decidedly to be preferred. The light of my life is near the darkness of death. The Latin language, like the Arabic, has a similar construction to express “nearness from” — prope abesse a. The full development of this thought, says Wordsworth, (following the first reading above,) is found in the sublime speech of the Christian martyr Saint Ignatius, on the eve of suffering, to his friends who persuaded him to sue for a prolongation of life: “My birth is at hand. O, my friends, do not hinder me from living. Do not desire that I should die. Let me have a sight of that pure light. Let me have a sunset to the world, that I may have a sunrise to God.”

V. 13. Wait-For deliverance, I should be disappointed; for I am upon the borders of the grave, I expect no rest but in the dark grave, for which therefore I prepare myself. I endeavour to make it easy, by keeping my conscience pure, by seeing Christ lying in this bed, (so turning it into a bed of spices) and by looking beyond it to the resurrection.

Verse 13. The grave is mine house] Let my life be long or short, the grave at last will be my home. I expect soon to lie down in darkness—there is my end: I cannot reasonably hope for any thing else.

Verse 13. If I wait, the grave is my house — Hebrew, hwqa µa, im akaveh, If I eagerly desire and expect any thing now, it is the grave, the only habitation I can promise myself; and which I am just entering. There I am going to rest in a bed where I shall not be disturbed, for which therefore I am preparing myself. In all situations, and amidst all changes, we should keep the grave in view, the bed in which we are shortly to lie, and, by preparation for it, should endeavour to make it easy, namely, by securing peace with God, by keeping our consciences pure, by seeing Christ lying in this bed, and so turning it into a bed of spices, and by looking beyond it to the resurrection.

13. If I wait — Lo, I wait my abode, (sheol.) House — The ancient Egyptians designated the tomb as their house. (See note Job 3:15.) Made my bed — Spread my couch. Aristobulus saw in the tomb of Cyrus a golden couch, a table with cups, a golden coffin, and a large quantity of garments ornamented with precious stones. (Strabo, xv, chap. 3:7.)

V. 14. Corruption-Heb. to the pit of corruption, the grave. Father-I am near a-kin to thee, and thou wilt receive and keep me in thy house, as parents do their children.

Verse 14. I have said to corruption] I came from a corrupted stock, and I must go to corruption again. The Hebrew might be thus rendered: To the ditch I have called, Thou art my father. To the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister. I am in the nearest state of affinity to dissolution and corruption: I may well call them my nearest relations, as I shall soon be blended with them.

Verses 14, 15. I have said to corruption — Hebrew, ytarq, karati, I have called to corruption; to the grave, where the body will be dissolved and become corrupt. Thou art my father — I am near akin to thee, being formed out of thee, and thou wilt receive and embrace me, and keep me in thy house as parents do their children. To the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister — A near relation, being of the same origin, and because of the most strict and intimate union between us. And where is now my hope? — What then is become of that hope which you advised me to entertain? As for my hope — Or the happiness which you would have me expect; who shall see it? — No man shall see it, it shall never be. The happiness I expect is out of sight, consisting in the enjoyment, not of things that are seen, which are temporal, but of those which are unseen, which are eternal.

Ver. 14. I have said to corruption, thou art my father. Schmidius describes corruption as the heritage we have derived from our father, and the worm as our sister, having the earth for our common mother.

14 Said — Called. The thought of his mouldering body suggested a family likeness to the corruption of the grave. My father — The Oriental languages abound in like comparisons. The Arabians call Satan the father of bitterness; a husband, the father of a woman; rain, the father of life; the stomach, mother of food; the via lactea, mother of heaven; wine, mother of evils; and death, the mother of vultures. (Golius’ Lex.) Among the touching incidents connected with the burial of a Bedawi is an address of the friends to the deceased as he lies in the grave. “When the twain Green Angels shall question and examine thee, say, ‘The feaster makes merry, the wolf prowls, and man’s lot is still the same; but I have done with all these things. The sidr-tree is thy aunt, and the palm-tree thy mother.’” — PALMER, Dessert of the Exodus, 1:94. Diodorus, Archbishop of Cappadocia, requested that one word should be inscribed on his tombstone — acarus — which means a worm — and it was done. (VICTOR HUGO, Les Miserables.)

V. 15. Hope-The happiness you would have me expect.

Verse 15. And where is now my hope?] In the circumstances in which I am found, of what use can hope be? Were I to form the expectation of future good, who could ever see it realized? Is it then any wonder that I should complain and bemoan my wretched lot?

Verses 14, 15. I have said to corruption — Hebrew, ytarq, karati, I have called to corruption; to the grave, where the body will be dissolved and become corrupt. Thou art my father — I am near akin to thee, being formed out of thee, and thou wilt receive and embrace me, and keep me in thy house as parents do their children. To the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister — A near relation, being of the same origin, and because of the most strict and intimate union between us. And where is now my hope? — What then is become of that hope which you advised me to entertain? As for my hope — Or the happiness which you would have me expect; who shall see it? — No man shall see it, it shall never be. The happiness I expect is out of sight, consisting in the enjoyment, not of things that are seen, which are temporal, but of those which are unseen, which are eternal.

Ver. 15. Where is now my hope? Much beclouded, obscured with darkness, depressed with complicated afflictions; yet it is a hope. On the contrary the wicked, going down to the bars of the pit, are destitute of hope, and assailed with every fear.

INTERRUPTED BY THE SUPPLICATION THAT GOD SHOULD MEDIATE WITH GOD, 10-16. The main thought of the elegy is the destruction of all hope for this life. This, as Ewald intimates, leads Job to look for justice beyond death; to seek in another life the fruitage of faith, hope, and charity. Job evidently reasons up to an eternal and immutable justice, from the framework of his moral being, which now resounds with testimonies to the purity of his conscience, inspiring him with the conviction that God would be his surety. This enables Job to triumph over sheol.

10. Return… now — “The friends of Job, irritated by his vehement words, threaten to retire.” — Renan. He challenges his retreating friends to continue the argument, at least to hear what he has to say, in the meantime reminding them of the little understanding they have thus far displayed. (Ver. 4.) For — Nevertheless.

V. 16. They-My hopes, of which he spake in the singular number, ver. 15, which he here changes into the plural, as is usual in these poetical books. Bars-Into the innermost parts of the pit: my hopes are dying, and will be buried in my grave. We must shortly be in the dust, under the bars of the pit, held fast there, ‘till the general resurrection. All good men, if they cannot agree now will there rest together. Let the foresight of this cool the heat of all contenders, and moderate the disputers of this world.

Verse 16. They shall go down to the bars of the pit] All that I have must descend into the depths of the grave. Thither are we all going; and there alone can I rest.

ydb baddey, which we translate bars, signifies also branches, distended limbs, or claws, and may here refer either to a personification of the grave, a monster who seizes on human bodies, and keeps them fast in his deadly gripe; or to the different branching-off-alleys in subterranean cemeteries, or catacombs, in which niches are made for the reception of different bodies.

When our rest together is in the dust.] That is, according to some critics, My hope and myself shall descend together into the grave. It shall never be realized, for the time of my departure is at hand.

IN those times what deep shades hung on the state of man after death, and on every thing pertaining to the eternal world! Perplexity and uncertainty were the consequences; and a corresponding gloom often dwelt on the minds of even the best of the Old Testament believers. Job’s friends, though learned in all the wisdom of the Arabians, connected with the advantages derivable from the Mosaic writings, and perhaps those of the earlier prophets, had little clear or distinct in their minds relative to all subjects post mortem, or of the invisible world. Job himself, though sometimes strongly confident, is often harassed with doubts and fears upon the subject, insomuch that his sayings and experience often appear contradictory. Perhaps it could not be otherwise; the true light was not then come: Jesus alone brought life and immortality to light by his Gospel. JOB

Verse 16. They shall go down to the bars of the pit — They that would see my hope must go down into the grave, or rather into the invisible world, to behold it. Or, he means, My hope shall go down, of which he spake in the singular number, verse 15, and which he here changes into the plural, as is usual in these poetical books. Thus Houbigant renders this clause: It, namely, my hope, shall descend together with me into the grave: it shall rest with me in the dust. My hopes of temporal good are dying, and will be buried in my grave, where I and they, and I and my friends, shall lie together. Remember, reader, we must all shortly lie in the dust, under the bars of the pit; held fast there, till the general resurrection. And all good men, if, like Job and his friends, they cannot agree now, will there rest together. Let the foresight of this cool the heat of all contenders, and moderate the disputers of this world.

16. They — Better, It shall go down to the bars of sheol. The verb is not plural, but a poetical form of the singular. Its subject is, the hope of renewed prosperity with which Job’s friends had flattered him. Bars is preferable to solitudes, as rendered by Furst and Schnurrer, and is used figuratively for the gates of sheol; (Job 38:17; Psalm 9:13; 107:18; Isaiah 38:10.) The shadowy bars kept the gates, so that those who entered could not return. The Iliad (23:74) calls sheol “the house of wide gates,” whose width pointed to the multitudes who were constantly entering. Rest… in the dust — Literally, when together there is rest in the dust. Furst would render Rest “descent,” with the meaning, “Yea, we shall descend together into the dust;” that is, my hope and I shall be buried together. Among the many proposed readings of this clause, that of the Authorized Version is to be preferred.