Job · Chapter 19

Verse 1. Then Job answered and said — “Tired with the little regard paid by the three friends to his defence, and finding them still insisting on their general maxims, Job desires them calmly to consider his case; to reflect that his failings, whatever they were, had not been at all prejudicial to them; but if, on the strength of their general principle, they thought themselves warranted from his sufferings to infer his guilt, he desires them to take notice that this was God’s particular infliction, verses 2-7; that he insisted on his innocence, and desired nothing but to bring his cause to an issue, which was, as yet, denied him, verses 8-20; that God’s inflictions were indeed very grievous; and, to excite their compassion, he makes here a very moving description of them; but tells them that should be a reason why they should pity him, and not add to the load by their unkind suspicions and cruel treatment, verses 21, 22; that he was so far from retracting his plea, that he was desirous it should remain for ever on record, verses 23, 24. — Heath. For he was assured a day was coming in which all his afflictions would be fully recompensed, and in which they would wish that they had treated him in a more friendly manner; though he questioned whether that would suffice to avert God’s judgments from them.” — Dodd.

1. Then Job answered — His friends ought to be ashamed of their ill-treatment, for he, and he alone, has the brunt of his error, if error there be, to bear; and the cause at issue really lies between him and his God. It was not enough, however, that God should have overthrown him, hedged him in, degraded and altogether ruined him; but his brethren, his wife, and his bosom friends, and even his servants, have turned against him. His wreck is so complete that he has thus far escaped only with the skin of his teeth. Yet in the darkest of all mortal hours there gleams upon him an incomparable revelation of hope, which he esteems so precious that he would have it inscribed on the rock, where all the world might see and read, and that forever.

Introduction — Even suppose there should be error, it is sad enough for Job that he bear its consequences, without being perpetually and maliciously reminded not only of his error but of his shame, 2-5.

Verse 2. How long will ye vex my soul] Every thing that was irritating, vexatious, and opprobrious, his friends had recourse to, in order to support their own system, and overwhelm him. Not one of them seems to have been touched with a feeling of tenderness towards him, nor does a kind expression drop at any time from their lips! They were called friends; but this term, in reference to them, must be taken in the sense of cold-blooded acquaintances. However, there are many in the world that go under the sacred name of friends, who, in times of difficulty, act a similar part. Job’s friends have been, by the general consent of posterity, consigned to endless infamy. May all those who follow their steps be equally enrolled in the annals of bad fame!

Verses 2, 3. And break me in pieces with words — With mere empty words, void of sense or argument; with your impertinent and unedifying discourses and bitter reproaches. These ten times have ye reproached me — That is, many times, a certain number being put for an uncertain. Ye make yourselves strange — You carry yourselves like strangers to me, are not affected with my calamities, and condemn me as if you had never known my integrity and piety.

2. Bildad’s repeated how long, (see chap. 18,) Job hurls back with an indignation which is reflected in an exaggerated “ten times” of the next verse.

V. 3. Ten-Many times. A certain number for an uncertain. Strange-That you carry yourselves like strangers to me, and condemn me as if you had never known my integrity.

Verse 3. These ten times] The exact arithmetical number is not to be regarded; ten times being put for many times, as we have already seen. See particularly Clarke’s note on “Genesis 31:7”. Ye make yourselves strange to me.] When I was in affluence and prosperity, ye were my intimates, and appeared to rejoice in my happiness; but now ye scarcely know me, or ye profess to consider me a wicked man because I am in adversity. Of this you had no suspicion when I was in prosperity! Circumstances change men’s minds.

Verses 2, 3. And break me in pieces with words — With mere empty words, void of sense or argument; with your impertinent and unedifying discourses and bitter reproaches. These ten times have ye reproached me — That is, many times, a certain number being put for an uncertain. Ye make yourselves strange — You carry yourselves like strangers to me, are not affected with my calamities, and condemn me as if you had never known my integrity and piety.

Verse 3. These ten times have ye reproached me. A form of speech which puts a certain number for one less certain. Job had no doubt noticed about ten principal arguments levelled against him.

3. Ten times — Used for many times. Thus Maimonides: “He who profaneth the name of God in the presence of ten Israelites, behold, he profaneth it in the presence of many.” Or it may stand as the number of human possibility, says Delitzsch, from its being the number of fingers on the two hands of man. Make yourselves strange to me — Ill-treat me. (Dillmann.) Stun me. (Zockler.)

V. 4. Erred-If I have sinned, I myself suffer for my sins, and therefore deserve your pity rather than reproaches.

Verse 4. And be it indeed that I have erred] Suppose indeed that I have been mistaken in any thing, that in the simplicity of my heart I have gone astray, and that this matter remains with myself, (for most certainly there is no public stain on my life,) you must grant that this error, whatsoever it is, has hurt no person except myself. Why then do ye treat me as a person whose life has been a general blot, and whose example must be a public curse?

Verses 4, 5. Be it that I have erred, &c. — If I have sinned, I myself suffer for my sins, and therefore deserve your pity rather than your reproaches. If you will magnify yourselves, &c. — Use imperious and contemptuous speeches against me; or seek praise from others by outreasoning me: and plead against me my reproach — Declaim against me, and allege my calamities, which have made me contemptible, as an argument to prove me a hypocrite, and condemn me as such.

4. Remaineth — Literally, Passes the night, ˆylt, with me. The busy and absorbing scenes of the day divert the mind from its errors, guilt, and wretchedness. At night, left to itself, the soul becomes the prey of thought and of the remindings of conscience. Amid the darkness, conscience asserts her supremacy, and lords it over the man. What of the man, if the night be forever protracted! An inscription on an Assyrian tablet (in the British Museum, K, No. 44) gives an invocation to the fire-god: — God of fire, with the bright fire,

In the house of darkness, light thou establishest.

…To the wicked in the night, the causes of trembling art thou. The works of man, the child of his God, do thou purify.…

Verses 4, 5. Be it that I have erred, &c. — If I have sinned, I myself suffer for my sins, and therefore deserve your pity rather than your reproaches. If you will magnify yourselves, &c. — Use imperious and contemptuous speeches against me; or seek praise from others by outreasoning me: and plead against me my reproach — Declaim against me, and allege my calamities, which have made me contemptible, as an argument to prove me a hypocrite, and condemn me as such.

5. And plead — Then prove. If ye will look down upon me in pride, it is incumbent upon you by good arguments to prove against me shamelessness of deed or of life. Reproach, in the original, is the sense of shame which sin brings in its train. The Hebrew has no stronger word for shame than — hprj. Some make this verse a question.

First division — NONE OTHER THAN GOD COULD BE THE AUTHOR OF SUCH CALAMITIES AS

Verse 6. Know now that God hath overthrown me] The matter is between him and me, and he has not commissioned you to add reproaches to his chastisements.

And hath compassed me with his net.] There may be an allusion here to the different modes of hunting which have been already referred to in the preceding chapter. But if we take the whole verse together, and read the latter clause before the former, thus, “Know, therefore, that God hath encompassed me with his net, and overthrown me;” the allusion may be to an ancient mode of combat practised among the ancient Persians, ancient Goths, and among the Romans. The custom among the Romans was this: “One of the combatants was armed with a sword and shield, the other with a trident and net. The net he endeavoured to cast over the head of his adversary, in which, when he succeeded, the entangled person was soon pulled down by a noose that fastened round the neck, and then despatched. The person who carried the net and trident was called Retiarius, and the other who carried the sword and shield was termed Secutor, or the pursuer, because, when the Retiarius missed his throw, he was obliged to run about the ground till he got his net in order for a second throw, while the Secutor followed hard to prevent and despatch him.” The Persians in old times used what was called [Persic] kumund, the noose. It was not a net, but a sort of running loop, which horsemen endeavoured to cast over the heads of their enemies that they might pull them off their horses. That the Goths used a hoop net fastened to a pole, which they endeavoured to throw over the heads of their foes, is attested by Olaus Magnus, Hist. de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, Rom. 1555, lib. xi., cap. 13, Deuteronomy diversis Modis præliandi Finnorum. His words are, Quidam restibus instar retium ferinorum ductilibus sublimi jactatione utuntur: ubi enim cum hoste congressi sunt, injiciunt eos restes quasi laqueos in caput resistentis, ut equum aut hominem ad se trahant. “Some use elastic ropes, formed like hunting nets, which they throw aloft; and when they come in contact with the enemy, they throw these ropes over the head of their opponent, and by this means they can then drag either man or horse to themselves.” At the head of the page he gives a wood-cut representing the net, and the manner of throwing it over the head of the enemy. To such a device Job might allude, God hath encompassed me with his NET, and overthrown me.

Verses 6, 7. Know now — Consider well, that God hath overthrown me — Hath grievously afflicted me in various ways, and therefore it ill becomes you to aggravate my miseries. Hebrew, yntw[, gnivetani; hath perverted me; either my state and condition, as has now been said: or my right and cause. He oppresseth me with power, and will not give me a fair hearing, as it follows, verse 7. This is a harsh reflection on God: but such thoughts and expressions have sometimes proceeded from good men when they have been under sore afflictions and temptations, which was now Job’s case. And hath compassed me with his net — With afflictions on every side, so that I cannot escape, nor obtain freedom to plead with him as I desire. Behold, I cry out of wrong — Hebrew, smj q[xa, etsgnack chamas, literally, I cry out injury! violence! namely, from my friends, who show me no pity, but condemn me without cause, and rob me of my good name; or from the Sabeans and Chaldeans, who have plundered me of my substance. Perhaps he also meant to complain that God himself treated him with rigorous justice, and not according to the mercy and benignity which he was wont to show to upright and good men. I cry aloud, but there is no judgment — Neither God nor man relieves or pities me. God, for a time, may seem to turn away his ear from his people, to be angry at their prayers, and overlook their appeals to him, and they must be excused if in that case they complain bitterly. Wo unto us if God be against us.

Ver. 6. Know now that God hath overthrown me. Cease then from your asperities, and leave me in his hands. So is the sense of ver. 21, 22.

THOSE THAT HAVE BEFALLEN JOB, 6-20.

First strophe — Job admits that it is impossible that a calamity bearing such marks of design (comp. Job 19:6 with Job 18:8-10) — one, too, so complete and overwhelming — should have proceeded from any other than God, who consistently turns a deaf ear to his solemn appeals, 6-12.

Satan so contrived the misfortunes, and especially the disease, of Job, as to convince him that they must be the work of God, hoping the more assuredly to wreck his faith. See note on Job 1:15, and Job 19:21.

6. Overthrown me — Others read, perverted, wrested me. With his net — The net was frequently used in ancient warfare for the purpose of entangling, and thus more easily destroying, an enemy. Kitto (Pict. Bible) cites an instance in history (about 600 years before Christ) of a single combat between the commanders of the Athenian and Mitylenean forces; the latter (Pittacus, one of the famous seven sages) concealed behind his shield a net, in which, throwing it suddenly, he entangled the Athenian general, and easily slew him. “Bildad had said that the wicked would be taken in his own snares. Job says that God has ensnared him.” — Elzas.

V. 7. Cry-Unto God. Wrong-That I am oppressed by my friends.

Verse 7. I cry out of wrong] I complain of violence and of injustice; but no one comes to my help.

Verses 6, 7. Know now — Consider well, that God hath overthrown me — Hath grievously afflicted me in various ways, and therefore it ill becomes you to aggravate my miseries. Hebrew, yntw[, gnivetani; hath perverted me; either my state and condition, as has now been said: or my right and cause. He oppresseth me with power, and will not give me a fair hearing, as it follows, verse 7. This is a harsh reflection on God: but such thoughts and expressions have sometimes proceeded from good men when they have been under sore afflictions and temptations, which was now Job’s case. And hath compassed me with his net — With afflictions on every side, so that I cannot escape, nor obtain freedom to plead with him as I desire. Behold, I cry out of wrong — Hebrew, smj q[xa, etsgnack chamas, literally, I cry out injury! violence! namely, from my friends, who show me no pity, but condemn me without cause, and rob me of my good name; or from the Sabeans and Chaldeans, who have plundered me of my substance. Perhaps he also meant to complain that God himself treated him with rigorous justice, and not according to the mercy and benignity which he was wont to show to upright and good men. I cry aloud, but there is no judgment — Neither God nor man relieves or pities me. God, for a time, may seem to turn away his ear from his people, to be angry at their prayers, and overlook their appeals to him, and they must be excused if in that case they complain bitterly. Wo unto us if God be against us.

7. Of wrong — Behold, I cry aloud, “Violence!” and am not answered. Habakkuk 1:2.

Verse 8. He hath fenced up my way] This may allude to the mode of hunting the elephant, described at the conclusion of the preceding chapter; or to the operations of an invading army. See under Job 19:11.

Verses 8, 9. He hath fenced up my way, &c. — So that I can see no means or possibility of getting out of my troubles. He hath set darkness in my paths — So that I cannot discern what course I ought to take. He hath stripped me of my glory — That is, of my estate, and children, and authority, and all my comforts. And taken the crown from my head — All mine ornaments.

8. See note on Job 3:23.

V. 9. Glory-Of my estate, children, authority, and all my comforts. Crown-All my power, and laid my honour in the dust.

Verse 9. He hath stripped me of my glory] I am reduced to such circumstances, that I have lost all my honour and respect.

Verses 8, 9. He hath fenced up my way, &c. — So that I can see no means or possibility of getting out of my troubles. He hath set darkness in my paths — So that I cannot discern what course I ought to take. He hath stripped me of my glory — That is, of my estate, and children, and authority, and all my comforts. And taken the crown from my head — All mine ornaments.

9. The crown — Though not a king, Job’s former state was truly regal.

V. 10. Every side-In all respects, my person, and family, and estate. Gone-I am a lost and dead man. Hope-All my hopes of the present life, but not of the life to come. Tree-Which being once plucked up by the roots, never grows again. Hope in this life is a perishing thing. But the hope of good men, when it is cut off from this world, is but removed like a tree, transplanted from this nursery to the garden of God.

Verse 10. Mine hope hath he removed like a tree.] There is no more hope of my restoration to affluence, authority, and respect, than there is that a tree shall grow and flourish, whose roots are extracted from the earth. I am pulled up by the roots, withered, and gone.

Verse 10. He hath destroyed me on every side — In all respects, my person, and family, and estate. And I am gone — I am a lost and dead man. My hope hath he removed — All my hopes of the present life, but not of the life to come; like a tree — Which, being once plucked up by the roots, never grows again. Hope in this life is a perishing thing. But the hope of good men, when it is cut off from this world, is but removed like a tree, transplanted from this nursery to the garden of God.

10. Destroyed — xtn, a word in common use for the pulling down of buildings. Removed — Uprooted. By these figures Job expresses complete destruction.

Verse 11. And he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.] From the seventh to the thirteenth verse there seems to be an allusion to a hostile invasion, battles, sieges, &c. 1. A neighbouring chief, without provocation, invades his neighbour’s territories, and none of his friends will come to his help. “I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard,” Job 19:7. 2. The foe has seized on all the passes, and he is hemmed up. “He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass,” Job 19:8. 3. He has surprised and carried by assault the regal city, seized and possessed the treasures. “He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head,” Job 19:9. 4. All his armies are routed in the field, and his strong places carried. “He hath destroyed me on every side,” Job 19:10. 5. The enemy proceeds to the greatest length of outrage, wasting every thing with fire and sword. “He hath kindled his wrath against me, and treateth me like one of his adversaries, Job 19:11. 6. He is cooped up in a small camp with the wrecks of his army; and in this he is closely besieged by all the power of his foes, who encompass the place, and raise forts against it. “His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.” 7. Not receiving any assistance from friends or neighbours, he abandons all hope of being able to keep the field, escapes with the utmost difficulty, and is despised and neglected by his friends and domestics because he has been unfortunate. “I am escaped with the skin of my teeth,” Job 19:20. “My kinsfolk have failed-all my intimate friends abhorred me,” Job 19:14-19.

11. One of his enemies — Hebrew, his foes; not one, but several. God treats him as if he were many enemies in one.

V. 12. Troops-My afflictions, which are God’s soldiers marching under his conduct. Raise-Cast up a trench round about me.

Verse 12. His troops come together — My afflictions, which are but God’s instruments and soldiers marching under his conduct; and raise up their way against me — Cast up a bank, or make a trench about me, as an army besieging a place; or raise a causeway or path, as pioneers usually do, in low and marshy grounds, for the march of an army: that is, God removes all impediments out of the way, and lays me open to troubles and calamities of every kind.

Ver. 12. His troops came against me; the Sabeans and Chaldeans, to take away my cattle, as in chap. 1. He sent them to strip me of my patriarchal glory and crown.

12. Gives the three stages of a siege: invasion; the throwing up of a mound; and, finally, complete investment. In their attacks on walled places both the Assyrians and the Egyptians used to cast up mounds or “banks.”’ 2 Kings 19:32; Isaiah 37:33; Jeremiah 32:24. These not only enabled the besiegers to push their battering rams up to the fortress, but at the same time to scale its walls. The judgments of God, subjecting man to extreme suffering, are often spoken of under the figure of a siege. Isaiah 29:3.

Second strophe — God’s treatment of Job has resulted in the alienation of his friends of every grade, so that the menials of his house now treat him with contempt, 13-20.

V. 13. Estranged-As we must eye the hand of God, in all the injuries we receive from our enemies, so likewise in all the slights and unkindnesses we receive from our friends.

Verse 13. He hath put my brethren far from me, &c. — I looked for some support and comfort from my kindred and friends, but they were so astonished at the number and dreadfulness of my calamities that they fled from me as a man accursed of God: and as for my neighbours, who formerly much courted my acquaintance: they keep aloof from me, as if they had never known me. As we must see the hand of God in all the injuries we receive from our enemies, so likewise in all the slights and unkindnesses we receive from our friends.

13. My brethren — Umbreit cites an Arabic proverb, “The brother — that is, the true friend — is only known in time of need.” Job specifies six different phases of friendship, or classes of friends, whom his sufferings had alienated: in general, his brethren, (Job 6:15;) his “knowers,” “confidants,” (acquaintance;) his kinsmen. “near ones,” (Psalm 38:11:) “those familiarly known,” (familiar friends,) ver. 14; sojourners in his house, (ver. 15;) and finally, bosom friends. (inward friends,) ver. 19.

Verse 14. My kinsfolk have failed] Literally, departed: they have all left my house, now there is no more hope of gain.

Verse 14. My kinsfolk — Whom nature inclined to love and befriend me; have failed — To perform the offices of humanity which they owed me: and my familiar friends — To whom I was united by a stronger bond than that of nature; have forgotten me — Have neglected and disregarded me as much as if they had quite forgotten the friendship there was between us.

THOSE THAT HAVE BEFALLEN JOB, 6-20.

First strophe — Job admits that it is impossible that a calamity bearing such marks of design (comp. Job 19:6 with Job 18:8-10) — one, too, so complete and overwhelming — should have proceeded from any other than God, who consistently turns a deaf ear to his solemn appeals, 6-12.

Satan so contrived the misfortunes, and especially the disease, of Job, as to convince him that they must be the work of God, hoping the more assuredly to wreck his faith. See note on Job 1:15, and Job 19:21.

6. Overthrown me — Others read, perverted, wrested me. With his net — The net was frequently used in ancient warfare for the purpose of entangling, and thus more easily destroying, an enemy. Kitto (Pict. Bible) cites an instance in history (about 600 years before Christ) of a single combat between the commanders of the Athenian and Mitylenean forces; the latter (Pittacus, one of the famous seven sages) concealed behind his shield a net, in which, throwing it suddenly, he entangled the Athenian general, and easily slew him. “Bildad had said that the wicked would be taken in his own snares. Job says that God has ensnared him.” — Elzas.

V. 15. Maids-Who by reason of their sex, commonly have more compassionate hearts than men.

Verse 15. They that dwell in mine house] In this and the following verses the disregard and contempt usually shown to men who have fallen from affluence and authority into poverty and dependence, are very forcibly described: formerly reverenced by all, now esteemed by none. Pity to those who have fallen into adversity is rarely shown; the rich have many friends, and to him who appears to be gaining worldly substance much court is paid; for many worship the rising sun, who think little of that which is gone down. Some are even reproached with that eminence which they have lost, though not culpable for the loss. A bishop, perhaps Bale, of Ossory, being obliged to leave his country and fly for his life, in the days of bloody Queen Mary, and who never regained his bishopric, was met one morning by one like those whom Job describes, who, intending to be witty at the expense of the venerable prelate, accosted him thus: “Good morrow, BISHOP quondam.” To which the bishop smartly replied, “Adieu, KNAVE semper.”

Verses 15, 16. They that dwell in my house — Hebrew, ytyb yrg, garei beethei, peregrini domus meæ, the sojourners of my house, that is, those that formerly were kindly entertained at my house, whether strangers, widows, or the fatherless; nay, the people of my family, even my maids, who, by reason of their sex, have commonly more tender and compassionate hearts than men, count me for a stranger — Have forgotten the respect they owe, and were wont to pay to me, and regard my commands and concerns no more than if I were a stranger to whom they had no relation. I called my servant — To do some servile office; and he gave me no answer — He regarded not what I said; no, not when I besought him, as if he had been my master.

15. They… dwell in mine house — Delitzsch understands them to be domestics or vassals.

Verses 15, 16. They that dwell in my house — Hebrew, ytyb yrg, garei beethei, peregrini domus meæ, the sojourners of my house, that is, those that formerly were kindly entertained at my house, whether strangers, widows, or the fatherless; nay, the people of my family, even my maids, who, by reason of their sex, have commonly more tender and compassionate hearts than men, count me for a stranger — Have forgotten the respect they owe, and were wont to pay to me, and regard my commands and concerns no more than if I were a stranger to whom they had no relation. I called my servant — To do some servile office; and he gave me no answer — He regarded not what I said; no, not when I besought him, as if he had been my master.

16. My servant — Probably a head servant, as in Genesis 24:2. With my mouth — The mouth that had been accustomed to command now entreats.

Verse 17. Though I entreated for the children’s sake of mine own body.] This may imply no more than adjuring her by the tenderest ties, by their affectionate intercourse, and consequently by the children which had been the seals of their mutual affection, though these children were no more.

But the mention of his children in this place may intimate that he had still some remaining; that there might have been young ones, who, not being of a proper age to attend the festival of their elder brothers and sisters, escaped that sad catastrophe. The Septuagint have, Prosekaloumhn de kolakeuwn uiouv pallakidwn mou, “I affectionately entreated the children of my concubines.” But there is no ground in the Hebrew text for such a strange exceptionable rendering. Coverdale has, I am fayne to speake fayre to the children of myne own body.

Verse 17. My breath is strange to my wife, &c. — I am become so loathsome that my wife will not come near me, though I have conjured her to do it, by the dear memory of our children, those common pledges of our mutual love. Houbigant translates the verse, My wife abhors even my breath: the children of my body fly far from my offensive smell: and he observes, that “we are nowhere told that all the children of Job perished, but only such as were feasting in their eldest brother’s house.” It must be observed, however, that when the messenger informed Job of the destruction of his family, the answer which he gave, namely, Naked came I, &c., supposes that there were none who survived that calamity. Some are of opinion that those whom Job calls his children were grandchildren. The LXX. take them for the children of concubines. Sol. Jarchi supposes they were his domestics: but the Hebrew text here does not necessarily imply that there were any children of his then in existence. For there is nothing for the word sake; it is literally, I entreated for the children of my body, which may mean, as interpreted above, for, or by the memory of our children, namely, the children now dead. The general interpretation here supposes that Job’s breath, by reason of his sores and ulcers, was so offensive that his wife could not bear to come near him; but the words do not necessarily imply that: for, as he had just said before, I entreated my servant with my mouth; so, when he immediately adds, My breath is strange: &c., he might mean no more than that his breath or voice was strange also to his wife: that is, she had as little regard to what he said as the servant who gave him no answer when he was called. See Chappelow, who thus paraphrases the passage: “When my servant gave no attention, I called to my wife; but neither did she regard me, though I particularly mentioned to her (as an aggravation of my calamities, and to move her compassion) the loss of my children, whom I had begotten.”

Ver. 17. I entreated for the children’s sake of mine own body. The LXX, children by concubines. Others say, the grandchildren of Job.

17. Though I entreated, etc. — Now generally translated, I am offensive to the sons, etc. The Hebrew is equivocal in meaning. (See below.) Job’s disease was no less offensive to the sense of sight than to that of smell. It is to the latter sense he may now refer. Children — Some suppose he refers to his grandchildren, as his own children were believed to be all dead. But as the word rendered body signifies also womb, others think that he speaks of his own full brothers, that is, brothers by the same mother. Tayler Lewis renders the passage thus: “My temper, yjwr, [in the sense of religious faith.] to my wife is strange — my yearning for the children that she bare,” and devotes a long note to its defence. This rendering of ytwnj agrees with the Arabic version, “My longing is for, or, I yearn after, the children of my body.” Such a sense is justified by the Arabic hhanan, signifying “to be moved by affection, either maternal or paternal,” as in Schultens, (i, 474,) who illustrates by the exceeding fondness of the camel for her young. It establishes a satisfactory parallelism, and removes the difficulty connected with the subsequent words of the verse. It is observable that Job makes no mention of his children except here and in Job 29:5. Their tragical death rendered the subject too painful for speech. In one of the Arabic poems of the Moallakat we have, “The unkindness of relations gives keener anguish to every noble breast than the stroke of an Indian scimitar.” It is said of Job’s great antitype, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:11.

V. 18. Arose-From my seat, to shew my respect to them, though they were my inferiors.

Verse 18. Yea, young children despised me — Or, the wicked, as in the margin; and as the word µylyw[ also signifies, being derived from lw[, gniv-vel, inique egit, he acted unjustly. Some render it, fools, reading µylywa, evilim, from lwa. If we take the word in any of these senses, we must think that Job had good reason to complain, whether he was despised by children, by wicked men, or by fools. I arose, and they spake against we — To show my respect to them, though they were my inferiors, I rose from my seat, or I stood up, as the word hmwqa, akumah, means. I did not disoblige, or provoke them, by any uncivil behaviour toward them; but was very courteous and condescending to them, and yet they made it their business to speak against me, and give me abusive words in return for my courtesy.

18. I arose — The original intimates difficulty in so doing. The boys ridicule the efforts he makes to arise.

V. 19. Inward-My intimates and confidants, to whom I imparted all my thoughts and counsels.

Verse 19. My inward friends] Those who were my greatest intimates.

Verse 19. All my inward friends abhorred me — ydws ytm, methei sodi, The men of my secret, or council; my intimates and confidants, to whom I imparted all my thoughts, counsels, and concerns. And they whom I loved — Sincerely and fervently; are turned against me — So ill do they requite me. He does not say, they who loved me, for had their love been sincere it would have continued, and manifested itself toward him in his affliction as well as in his prosperity.

19. Inward friends — Literally, men of my counsel, that is, bosom friends.

V. 20. Skin-Immediately, the fat and flesh next to the skin being consumed. As-As closely as it doth to these remainders of flesh which are left in my inward parts.

Verse 20. My bone cleaveth to my skin.] My flesh is entirely wasted away, and nothing but skin and bone left.

I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.] I have had the most narrow escape. If I still live, it is a thing to be wondered at, my sufferings and privations have been so great. To escape with the skin of the teeth seems to have been a proverbial expression, signifying great difficulty. I had as narrow an escape from death, as the thickness of the enamel on the teeth. I was within a hair’s breadth of destruction; see on Job 19:11.

Verse 20. My bone — Or, bones, the singular collectively being put for the plural: cleaveth to my skin — Namely, immediately, the flesh next to the skin being consumed. The sense is, Afflictions have so wasted me, that I am little more than skin and bone. And to my flesh — Or, As to my flesh; as closely as it does to those remainders of my flesh, which are left in my inward parts. And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth — I am scarcely free from sores in any part of my skin, except that of my gums, which holdeth and covereth the roots of my teeth. Schultens says, that “it seems to be a proverbial expression, for those who lie beaten and covered with wounds from head to foot, and whose mouths also are broken with blows, so that, being half dead, they are scarcely able to breathe.” Heath and Le Clerc render the verse, My bones pierce through my skin, and my flesh and my teeth slip out from my gums.

20. The skin of my teeth — In the last stages of the disease (elephantiasis) the tongue and the gums are attacked, and the mouth filled with ulcers so as to render continuous speech impossible. This terrible infliction he has (he means to say) thus far escaped. The Germans call the gums zahn-fleisch, tooth-flesh, which, indeed, is the rendering Hitzig gives. An old English physician (Smith) in his “Portrait of Old Age,” (p. 69,) had hit upon the true sense of this passage. “There are two parts of the teeth: the basis and the radix, that is, the part which eminently appears white above the gums; this is that part which is within the gums, and stands fixed in the mandibles. Now, by Job’s skin or covering of his teeth, it is apparent he meant the gums which cover the roots of the teeth.” Wordsworth unnecessarily regards it “as a proverbial paradox.” Job is now in extremis. In the preceding chapter, while yet he could, he chanted his requiem. The next stage of his disease means death. There is but the skin of his teeth between him and sure destruction.

Second division — THE PITEOUS APPEAL JOB MAKES TO HIS FRIENDS FOR SYMPATHY OPENS UP AN EXTREMITY OF DISTRESS, OUT OF WHICH, AS IS SO COMMON IN THE ECONOMY OF GRACE, SPRINGS A MOST TRIUMPHANT ASSURANCE OF FAITH IN GOD’S PURPOSES OF ETERNAL GOOD

V. 21. Touched me-My spirit is touched with a sense of his wrath, a calamity of all others the most grievous.

Verse 21. Have pity upon me] The iteration here strongly indicates the depth of his distress, and that his spirit was worn down with the length and severity of his suffering.

Verse 21. Have pity, have pity upon me, O ye my friends — For such you have been, and still pretend to be; and, therefore, fulfil that relation; and, if you will not help me, yet, at least, pity me. “Nothing can be more pathetic,” says Dr. Dodd, “than the repetition in this passage, as well as the immediate application to his friends; as if he had said, ‘You, at least, with whom I have enjoyed so intimate and friendly a correspondence; you, who more especially should exert the tender office of consolation, do you have some pity upon me, since the hand of God hath so fearfully afflicted me.’“

TOWARDS HIM, 21-27.

The intensified storm of doubts, fears, griefs, and desolation quickly retires along the sky, and discloses a bow of peace, in beauty far transcending that of nature. Taylor Lewis supposes that a pause ensued after the repeated prayer for pity.

21. Touched me — [gn, naga’h. The leprosy was called the stroke (nega’h) of God. (See note Job 2:8.) The most touching appeal of the leper is, even at the present day, in vain. Though he be the greatest personage, he is removed at least a mile or two from the encampment, where a small black hair tent is put up for him, while an old woman who has no relations living is given him for a nurse until he dies. No one visits him, not oven his nearest relations. He is cast off as muqatal Allah, “slain of God.” — Wetzstein.

V. 22. As God-As if you had the same infinite knowledge which God hath, whereby you can search my heart and know my hypocrisy, and the same sovereign authority to say and do what you please with me. Not satisfied-Are like wolves or lions that are not contented with devouring the flesh of their prey, but also break their bones.

Verse 22. Why do ye persecute me as God] Are not the afflictions which God sends enough? Do ye not see that I have as much as I can bear? When the papists were burning Dr. Taylor at Oxford, while wrapped in the flames, one of the true sons of the Church took a stick out of the faggots, and threw it at his head, and split open his face. To whom he calmly said, Man, why this wrong? Do not I suffer enough?

And are not satisfied with my flesh?] Will ye persecute my soul, while God is persecuting my body? Is it not enough that my body is destroyed? Why then labour to torment my mind?

Verse 22. Why do you persecute me as God? — As if you had the same infinite knowledge which God hath, whereby you could search my heart, and know my hypocrisy, and the same sovereign authority, to say and do what you please with me. And are not satisfied with my flesh — That is, with the consumption and torment of my whole body, but add to it the vexation of my spirit, by grievous censures and reproaches, and are like wolves and lions, which are not contented with devouring the flesh of their prey, but also break their bones.

22. Satisfied with my flesh — According to Schultens, to eat the flesh of another, is an Arabic phrase for calumniating him. The comparison, so common in the East, of an evil report to a wild beast devouring the flesh, appears often in the classics, and is still retained in our word backbite. Psalm 27:2.

V. 23. My words-The words which I am now about to speak. And that which Job wished for, God granted him. His words are written in God’s book; so that wherever that book is read, there shall this glorious confession be declared, for a memorial of him.

Verse 23. O that my words were now written!] Job introduces the important subject which follows in a manner unusually solemn; and he certainly considers the words which he was about to utter of great moment, and therefore wishes them to be recorded in every possible way. All the modes of writing then in use he appears to refer to. As to printing, that should be out of the question, as no such art was then discovered, nor for nearly two thousand years after. Our translators have made a strange mistake by rendering the verb wqjy yuchaku, printed, when they should have used described, traced out. O that my words were fairly traced out in a book! It is necessary to make this remark, because superficial readers have imagined that the art of printing existed in Job’s time, and that it was not a discovery of the fifteenth century of the Christian era: whereas there is no proof that it ever existed in the world before A.D. 1440, or thereabouts, for the first printed book with a date is a psalter printed by John Fust, in 1457, and the first Bible with a date is that by the same artist in 1460.

Three kinds of writing Job alludes to, as being practised in his time: 1. Writing in a book, formed either of the leaves of the papyrus, already described, (see on Job 8:11,) or on a sort of linen cloth. A roll of this kind, with unknown characters, I have seen taken out of the envelopments of an Egyptian mummy. Denon, in his travels in Egypt, gives an account of a book of this kind, with an engraved facsimile, taken also out of an Egyptian mummy. 2. Cutting with an iron stile on plates of lead. 3. Engraving on large stones or rocks, many of which are still found in different parts of Arabia.

To the present day the leaves of the palm tree are used in the East instead of paper, and a stile of brass, silver, iron, &c., with a steel point, serves for a pen. By this instrument the letters are cut or engraved on the substance of the leaf, and afterwards some black colouring matter is rubbed in, in order to make the letters apparent. This was probably the oldest mode of writing, and it continues among the Cingalese to the present day. It is worthy of remark that PLINY (Hist. Nat., lib. xiii., c. 11) mentions most of these methods of writing, and states that the leaves of the palm tree were used before other substances were invented. After showing that paper was not used before the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, he proceeds: In palmarum foliis primo scriptitatum; deinde quarundam arborum libris: postea publica monumenta plumbeis voluminibus, mox et privata linteis confici cæpta, aut ceris. “At first men wrote on palm tree leaves, and afterwards on the bark or rind of other trees. In process of time, public monuments were written on rolls of lead, and those of a private nature on linen books, or tables covered with wax.” Pausanias, lib. xii., c. 31, giving an account of the Bœotians, who dwelt near fount Helicon, states the following fact:—Kai moi molibdon edeiknusan, enqa h phgh, ta polla upo tou cronou

lelumasmenon, eggegraptai gar autw ta erga; “They showed me a leaden table near to the fountain, all which his works (Hesiod’s) were written; but a great part had perished by the injuries of time.”

Verses 23, 24. O that my words were now written! — Either, 1st, All his foregoing discourses with his friends, which he was so far from disowning or being ashamed of, that he was desirous all ages should know them, that they might judge between him and them, and decide whose cause was better, and whose arguments were stronger: or, rather, 2d, The words which he was now about to speak, containing a remarkable confession of his faith. O that they were printed in a book! — Or, rather, inserted, or recorded (as the word wqjy, jochaku, signifies) in a register. The word printed is certainly used very improperly here, as being a term expressive of an art invented only about three hundred and fifty years ago: and, “especially as it does not, even by an improper expression,” as Dr. Dodd justly observes, “convey the idea of Job, which was the perpetuating his words; records, to which Job refers, being written, not printed among us. Observe, reader, that which Job wished for, God granted. His words are written in God’s book, are entered and preserved in the divine records. So that, wherever those records are read, there shall this glorious confession be declared for a memorial of him. That they were graven with an iron pen — Of which there is also mention Jeremiah 17:1; and lead — Job here alludes to the ancient custom of graving the letters on stone or marble, and then filling them up with lead, to render the inscription more legible and lasting. The LXX. however, do not seem to have understood Job thus, but rather to have supposed that he meant the recording of his words, by engraving them on plates of lead. Their words are, en grafeiw sidhrw kai molibw h en petraiv egglufhnai, To be engraven with an iron pen and lead, (that is, upon lead,) or on the rocks. And it is very probable it was customary in those times to engrave inscriptions on plates of lead as well as on stones. One of these ways of engraving must have been intended by Job; for it would be absurd to suppose, that he meant to have the inscription cut on stone with a leaden pen, which could make no impression on so hard a material.

Ver. 23, 24. Oh that my words were printed in a book—that they were graven with a pen of iron, and lead in the rock. Pliny, lib. 13:11, mentions the ancient method of writing on the leaves of the palm tree. The Egyptians wrote much on the leaf of the papyrus. In India they write on the prepared leaves of the tallypot: all imperfect, when compared with European manuscripts. Dr. Dyer, a physician of Bristol, lent me Fasciculos, a Latin work on Swedish antiquities, Stockholm 1746, in which I found that a Swedish prince of the seventh century had caused the actions of his father to be cut in a prominent rock. But Job’s prayer seems to be, that his grand and full assurance of faith in a living Redeemer might be cut on his sepulchre.

23. Written — So ancient is the knowledge of writing that Pliny says “it appears to have been in use from all eternity.” It is now conceded that to the parent Semitic tribe belongs the honour to have been first in possession of this invaluable invention. The knowledge of letters comes into history through the Hebrews and Phoenicians, who, it will be remembered, are classed among the Semitic nations. These letters appear vastly more perfect than the hieroglyphic system of Egypt or the cuneiform one of Assyria. (EWALD, Hist. of Israel, 1:51; RENAN, Les Langues Sem., 1:105; WINER, Rwb. 2:421.) In remote times papyrus, (see note 8:11,) the skins of animals, and Egyptian linen cloth, furnished the materials on which writing was made with the pen. Books, in the ancient sense of the term, consisted of sheets of papyrus, etc., with writing on one side, and rolled around a staff. Papyrus rolls are now in existence written more than two thousand years B.C. The Turin copy of “The Book of the Dead,” written, probably, in the time of the Ptolemies, is more than a hundred feet long. Printed in a book — Inscribed in the book. Septuagint, “a book” which Merx prefers. Schultens thinks some public book is meant, in which illustrious deeds were written. Exodus 17:14 speaks of writing a memorial in the book, rpsh. Taking one of the root meanings of this word, sepher, to scrape or shave off, Havernick insists that the word is used of no other writing materials than skins of animals. There would be, however, no more reason for pressing the prime meaning of the Hebrew for “book” than that of qqj, printed; which signifying to cut into, hew into, would demand some more solid material than that of parchment. The book of which Job speaks may have been of wood or of some kind of metal. Very recently there has been discovered a copy of an extraditionary treaty between Rameses II., king of Egypt, and a prince of the Hittites. This is described as having been engraved by the latter upon an oblong tablet of silver, of which the Egyptian text gives the figure. It was surmounted by a ring which must have been used for suspending it. (M. CHABAS, Voyage, etc., p. 345.) Among the early Canaanites there was a very important city called “the Book City,” Kirjath-sepher, Joshua 15:15. This was, probably, a city of the Hittites. Pliny (xiii, 21) speaks of the preservation of public documents in leaden volumes. Folding wooden tablets were employed for the same purpose even before the time of the Trojan war. (Iliad, 6:169.) The native city of Hesiod honoured his memory by engraving one of his poems on tablets of lead. (Pausanias, 9:31.) Very possibly Job refers to clay tablets or cylinders, such as have been discovered in modern times at Nineveh, on which the work is so minute and exquisitely wrought that the aid of a magnifying-glass is requisite to ascertain the terms of the letters. See LAYARD, Nineveh, 2:186; 3:345.

V. 24. Lead-Anciently they used to grave the letters in a stone with an iron tool, and then to fill up the cuts with lead, that the words might be more plainly seen.

Verse 24. Iron pen and lead] Some suppose that the meaning of this place is this: the iron pen is the chisel by which the letters were to be deeply cut in the stone or rock; and the lead was melted into those cavities in order to preserve the engraving distinct. But this is not so natural a supposition as what is stated above; that Job refers to the different kinds of writing or perpetuating public events, used in his time: and the quotations from Pliny and Pausanias confirm the opinion already expressed.

Verses 23, 24. O that my words were now written! — Either, 1st, All his foregoing discourses with his friends, which he was so far from disowning or being ashamed of, that he was desirous all ages should know them, that they might judge between him and them, and decide whose cause was better, and whose arguments were stronger: or, rather, 2d, The words which he was now about to speak, containing a remarkable confession of his faith. O that they were printed in a book! — Or, rather, inserted, or recorded (as the word wqjy, jochaku, signifies) in a register. The word printed is certainly used very improperly here, as being a term expressive of an art invented only about three hundred and fifty years ago: and, “especially as it does not, even by an improper expression,” as Dr. Dodd justly observes, “convey the idea of Job, which was the perpetuating his words; records, to which Job refers, being written, not printed among us. Observe, reader, that which Job wished for, God granted. His words are written in God’s book, are entered and preserved in the divine records. So that, wherever those records are read, there shall this glorious confession be declared for a memorial of him. That they were graven with an iron pen — Of which there is also mention Jeremiah 17:1; and lead — Job here alludes to the ancient custom of graving the letters on stone or marble, and then filling them up with lead, to render the inscription more legible and lasting. The LXX. however, do not seem to have understood Job thus, but rather to have supposed that he meant the recording of his words, by engraving them on plates of lead. Their words are, en grafeiw sidhrw kai molibw h en petraiv egglufhnai, To be engraven with an iron pen and lead, (that is, upon lead,) or on the rocks. And it is very probable it was customary in those times to engrave inscriptions on plates of lead as well as on stones. One of these ways of engraving must have been intended by Job; for it would be absurd to suppose, that he meant to have the inscription cut on stone with a leaden pen, which could make no impression on so hard a material.

Ver. 23, 24. Oh that my words were printed in a book—that they were graven with a pen of iron, and lead in the rock. Pliny, lib. 13:11, mentions the ancient method of writing on the leaves of the palm tree. The Egyptians wrote much on the leaf of the papyrus. In India they write on the prepared leaves of the tallypot: all imperfect, when compared with European manuscripts. Dr. Dyer, a physician of Bristol, lent me Fasciculos, a Latin work on Swedish antiquities, Stockholm 1746, in which I found that a Swedish prince of the seventh century had caused the actions of his father to be cut in a prominent rock. But Job’s prayer seems to be, that his grand and full assurance of faith in a living Redeemer might be cut on his sepulchre.

24. Since ink, parchment, and metal may perish, Job desires that the momentous truth he is about to utter may be chiseled into the rock; and, that the characters may be forever legible, he would have them filled in with lead. A gradation of thought is intended, as Holemann has indicated — first the writing, then the inscribing in a book, and last the chiseling into the rock forever. Rocks abound in the East bearing inscriptions not only of historical events, but of legal precepts, prayers, etc. While no one knows that the wish of Job was ever fulfilled, his precious thoughts stand recorded upon the rock of heavenly truth. Generation after generation have gazed with wondering and trusting hearts upon these imperishable lines, and thus shall it be so long as rocks and mountains stand.

THE INSCRIPTION — JOB’S CONFESSION OF FAITH.

Such is its momentousness that we give the Hebrew with a literal translation, and in the reverse order, as in the original: — yj | ylag | yt[dy | ynaw

living (is) | my Redeemer | I know | And

µwqy | rp[-l[ | ˆwrjaw

shall stand | on the dust | the last. And

taz-wpqn | yrw[ | rjaw

this they destroy | my skin. | And after

hwla | hzja | yrvbmw

God | I shall see. | And from my flesh

yl | hzja | yna | rca

for myself | I shall see. | I, | Whom,

rz-alw | war | yny[w

and not another | behold, | And my eyes

yqjb | ytylk | wlk

within me | my reins. | Are consumed

V. 25. For-This is the reason of his confidence in the goodness of his cause, and his willingness to have the matter depending between him and his friends, published and submitted to any trial, because he had a living and powerful Redeemer to plead his cause, and to give sentence for him. My Redeemer-In whom I have a particular interest. The word Goel, here used; properly agrees to Jesus Christ: for this word is primarily used of the next kinsman, whose office it was to redeem by a price paid, the sold or mortgaged estate of his deceased kinsman; to revenge his death, and to maintain his name and honour, by raising up seed to him. All which more fitly agrees to Christ, who is our nearest kinsman and brother, as having taken our nature upon him; who hath redeemed that everlasting inheritance which our first parents had utterly lost, by the price of his own blood; and hath revenged the death of mankind upon the great contriver of it, the devil, by destroying him and his kingdom; and hath taken a course to preserve our name, and honour, and persons, to eternity. And it is well observed, that after these expressions, we meet not with such impatient or despairing passages, as we had before; which shews that they had inspired him with new life and comfort. Latter day-At the day of the general resurrection and judgment, which, as those holy patriarchs well knew and firmly believed, was to be at the end of the world. The earth-The place upon which Christ shall appear and stand at the last day. Heb. upon the dust; in which his saints and members lie or sleep, whom he will raise out of it. And therefore he is fitly said to stand upon the dust, or the grave, or death; because then he will put that among other enemies under his feet.

Verse 25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth] Any attempt to establish the true meaning of this passage is almost hopeless. By learned men and eminent critics the words have been understood very differently; some vehemently contending that they refer to the resurrection of the body, and the redemption of the human race by Jesus Christ; while others, with equal vehemence and show of argument, have contended that they refer only to Job’s restoration to health, family comforts, and general prosperity, after the present trial should be ended. In defense of these two opinions larger treatises have been written than the whole book of Job would amount to, if written even in capitals. To discuss the arguments on either side the nature of this work forbids; but my own view of the subject will be reasonably expected by the reader. I shall therefore lay down one principle, without which no mode of interpretation hitherto offered can have any weight. The principle is this: Job was now under the especial inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and spoke prophetically.

Now, whether we allow that the passage refers to the general resurrection and the redemption by Christ, or to Job’s restoration to health, happiness, and prosperity, this principle is equally necessary. 1. In those times no man could speak so clearly concerning the general resurrection and the redemption by Jesus Christ as Job, by one class of interpreters, is supposed here to do, unless especially inspired for this very purpose. 2. Job’s restoration to health and happiness, which, though it did take place, was so totally improbable to himself all the way through, so wholly unexpected, and, in every sense, impossible, except to the almighty power of God, that it could not be inferred from any thing that had already taken place, and must be foreshown by direct inspiration. Now, that it was equally easy to predict either of these events, will be at once evident, because both were in futurity, and both were previously determined. Nothing contingent could exist in either; with them man had nothing to do; and they were equally within the knowledge of Him to whose ubiquity there can be neither past nor future time; in whose presence absolute and contingent events subsist in their own distinctive characters, and are never resolved into each other. But another question may arise, Which was most likely to be the subject of this oracular declaration, the general resurrection and redemption by Christ; or the restoration of Job to health and affluence? If we look only to the general importance of these things, this question may be soon decided; for the doctrine of human redemption, and the general resurrection to an eternal life, are of infinitely greater importance than any thing that could affect the personal welfare of Job. We may therefore say, of two things which only the power of God can effect, and one of which only shall be done it is natural to conclude he will do that which is of most importance; and that is of most importance by which a greater measure of glory is secured to himself, and a greater sum of good produced to mankind.

As, therefore, a revelation by which the whole human race, in all its successive generations, to the end of time, may be most essentially benefited, is superior in its worth and importance to that by which one man only can be benefited, it is natural to conclude here, that the revelation relative to the general resurrection, &c., is that which most likely the text includes.

But to this it may be answered, God does not do always in the first instance that which is most necessary and important in itself, as every thing is done in that order and in that time which seems best to his godly wisdom; therefore, a thing of less importance may be done now, and a thing of greater importance left to a future time. So, God made the earth before he made man, produced light before he formed the celestial luminaries, and instituted the Mosaic economy before the Christian dispensation. This is all true, for every thing is done in that season in which it may best fulfil the designs of providence and grace. But the question still recurs, Which of the predictions was most congruous to the circumstances of Job, and those of his companions; and which of them was most likely to do most good on that occasion, and to be most useful through the subsequent ages of the world? The subject is now considerably narrowed; and, if this question could be satisfactorily answered, the true meaning of the passage would be at once found out. 1. For the sake of righteousness, justice, and truth, and to vindicate the ways of God with man, it was necessary that Job’s innocence should be cleared; that the false judgments of his friends should be corrected; and that, as Job was now reduced to a state of the lowest distress, it was worthy the kindness of God to give him some direct intimation that his sufferings should have a happy termination. That such an event ought to take place, there can be no question: and that it did take place, is asserted in the book; and that Job’s friends saw it, were reproved, corrected, and admitted into his favour of whom they did not speak that which was right, and who had, in consequence, God’s wrath kindled against them, are also attested facts. But surely there was no need of so solemn a revelation to inform them of what was shortly to take place, when they lived to see it; nor can it be judged essentially necessary to the support of Job, when the ordinary consolations of God’s Spirit, and the excitement of a good hope through grace, might have as completely answered the end.

2. On the other hand, to give men, who were the chiefs of their respective tribes, proper notice of a doctrine of which they appear to have had no adequate conception, and which was so necessary to the peace of society, the good government of men, and the control of unruly and wayward passions, which the doctrine of the general resurrection and consequent judgment is well calculated to produce; and to stay and support the suffering godly under the afflictions and calamities of life; were objects worthy the highest regards of infinite philanthropy and justice, and of the most pointed and solemn revelation which could be given on such an occasion. In short, they are the grounds on which all revelation is given to the sons of men: and the prophecy in question, viewed in this light, was, in that dark age and country, a light shining in a dark place; for the doctrine of the general resurrection and of future rewards and punishments, existed among the Arabs from time immemorial, and was a part of the public creed of the different tribes when Mohammed endeavoured to establish his own views of that resurrection and of future rewards and punishments, by the edge of the sword. I have thus endeavoured dispassionately to view this subject; and having instituted the preceding mode of reasoning, without foreseeing where it would tend, being only desirous to find out truth, I arrive at the conclusion, that the prophecy in question was not designed to point out the future prosperity of Job; but rather the future redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ, and the general resurrection of the human race. After what has been stated above, a short paraphrase on the words of the text will be all that is necessary to be added.

I know, ידעתי yadati, I have a firm and full persuasion, that my Redeemer, ylag goali, my Kinsman, he whose right it was among the ancient Hebrews to redeem the forfeited heritages belonging to the family, to vindicate its honour, and to avenge the death of any of his relatives by slaying the murderer; (Leviticus 25:25; Numbers 35:12; Ruth 3:13;) but here it must refer to Christ, who has truly the right of redemption, being of the same kindred, who was born of woman, flesh of flesh and bone of our bone.

Liveth, yj chai, is the living One, who has the keys of hell and death: the Creator and Lord of the spirits of all flesh, and the principle and support of all life.

And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. The latter day, אחרונ acharon, the latter day, or time, when God comes to judgment; or finally, or at last, or in the last time, or latter days, as the Gospel is termed, he shall be manifested in the flesh.

He shall stand, µwqy yakum, he shall arise, or stand up, i.e., to give sentence in judgment: or he himself shall arise from the dust, as the passage has been understood by some to refer to the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Upon the earth, rp[ l[ al aphar, over the dead, or those who are reduced to dust. This is the meaning of rp[ aphar in Psalm 30:9: What profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit? Shall the DUST (i.e., the dead) praise thee? He shall arise over the dust—over them who sleep in the dust, whom he shall also raise up.

Verse 25. For I know, &c. — Job proceeds now to assign the reason of his confidence in the goodness of his cause, and of his willingness to have the matter depending between him and his friends published and submitted to any trial. I know that my Redeemer liveth — I have no knowledge, nor confidence, nor hope of being restored to the prosperities of this life; yet this one thing I know, which is much more comfortable and considerable, and therein I rejoice, though I be now a dying man, and in a desperate condition for this life; I know that I have a living and powerful Redeemer to plead my cause, and vindicate my person from all severe and unjust censures, and to give sentence for me: a Redeemer, whom I call mine, because I have a particular interest in him, and he hath a particular care of me. Hebrew, yj ylag yt[dy, jadangti goali chai, I know my living Redeemer; that is, My Redeemer is living, is now living, and I know him: I am acquainted, truly, experimentally, and savingly acquainted with him, because he hath revealed himself to me, and hath given me an understanding to know him. Remember, reader, this knowledge of him, this acquaintance with him, is absolutely necessary to thy salvation. But what Redeemer, and what deliverance, does Job speak of in this and the two following verses? Answer: Some late interpreters understand this passage metaphorically, of God’s delivering Job out of his afflictions and troubles, and restoring him to his former splendour and happiness in this world; it being, they say, a usual thing in Scripture, to call eminent dangers and calamities death, and great and glorious deliverances a quickening or resurrection. But most interpreters, both ancient and modern, understand it of Christ, and of his resurrection, and of Job’s resurrection to life by his power and goodness. And this seems most probable, for many reasons: 1st, Because a proper and literal interpretation of any passage of Scripture is always to be preferred before the metaphorical, where it suits with the text and with other passages. 2d, Because the Hebrew word, lag, goel, here used, although sometimes used of God, absolutely or essentially considered, yet most properly agrees to Jesus Christ: for this word is primarily spoken of the next kinsman, whose office it was to redeem, by a price paid, the sold or mortgaged estate of his deceased kinsman, Leviticus 25:25; and to revenge his death, Numbers 35:12, and to maintain his name and honour by raising up a seed to him, Deuteronomy 25:5. All which most fitly agrees to Christ, who is our nearest kinsman and brother, as having taken our nature upon him, Hebrews 2:11; who hath redeemed that everlasting inheritance which our first parents had utterly lost, by the price of his own blood; and hath revenged the death of mankind upon the contriver of it, the devil, by destroying him and his kingdom; and hath taken a course to preserve our name, and honour, and persons, to eternity. 3d, Because Job was so far from having a firm confidence, such as is here expressed, that he had not the least degree of hope of any such temporal restoration as that which his friends promised him, as we have often observed in his former discourses, as Job 16:22, and 17:12, 13. And, therefore, that hope which every righteous man hath in his death, and which Job often professes that he had, must necessarily have been fixed on his happiness in a future life. 4th, Because this is a more lofty and spiritual strain than any in Job’s former discourses; which generally savour of dejection and diffidence, and either declare or increase his grief; whereas, this puts him into another and much better temper. And, therefore, it is well observed, that after he uttered these expressions we meet not with any such impatient or despairing passages as we had before, which shows that he was now inspired with new life and comfort. 5th, Because this well agrees with several other passages in this book; wherein Job declares that, although he had no hope as to this life, and the comforts thereof, yet he had a hope beyond death, which made him profess, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him, Job 13:15. Trust in him for what? Surely, for comfort and happiness. Where? Not in this life, for that he supposes to be lost; therefore it must have been in the next life. And this was one reason why he so vehemently desired death, because he knew it would bring him unto God, and unto true felicity. And this his hope and confidence in God, and in his favour to him, Job opposes to those foul and false aspersions which his friends had cast upon him, as if he had forsaken God, and cast off all fear of him, and hope in him. But it is objected, How is it credible, that Job, in those ancient times, and in that dark state of the church, should know these great mysteries of Christ’s incarnation, and of the resurrection and life to come? Answer, 1st, The mystery of the Messiah’s incarnation was revealed to Adam by that first and noted promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, Genesis 3:15; which, being the only foundation of his hopes, for the recovery and salvation of himself and of all his posterity, he would doubtless carefully and diligently explain, as need required, to those that descended from him. 2d, That the ancient patriarchs and prophets were generally acquainted with these doctrines is undeniably evident, from Hebrews 11. and 1 Peter 1:9-12. 3d, Particularly Abraham, from whom Job is supposed to have descended, had the promise made to him, that Christ should come out of his loins, Genesis 12:3; and is said to have seen Christ’s day, and to have rejoiced to see it, John 8:56; and had his hopes and desires fixed upon a divine and heavenly city and country, Hebrews 11:10, 16. And as Abraham knew and believed these things himself, so it is manifest that he taught them to his children and servants, Genesis 18:19, and to his kindred and others, as he had occasion; and, therefore, it cannot seem strange that Job professes his faith and hope in these things.

That my Redeemer liveth — I am a dying man, and my hopes as to this life are dying, but he liveth, and that for ever; and, therefore, though I die, yet he both can and will make me to live again in due time, though not in this world, yet in the other, which is much better. And, though I am now highly censured and condemned by my friends as a great dissembler and secret sinner, whom God’s hand hath found out; yet there is a day coming wherein my cause shall be pleaded, and my name and honour vindicated from all these reproaches, and my integrity brought to light. And that he shall stand in the latter day — In the days of the Messiah, or of the gospel, which are often called the latter or last days, or times, as Isaiah 2:2; Hosea 3:5; Joel 2:28; compared with Acts 2:17; 1 Timothy 4:1; and 2 Timothy 3:1; Hebrews 1:1. Or at the day of the general resurrection and judgment, which, as those holy patriarchs well knew, and firmly believed, was to be at the end of the world; for this was the time when Job’s resurrection, of which he here speaks, was to take place. So that, in these words, Job may either be considered as professing his faith in the incarnation of the Messiah; that, as certainly as he then lived, as God was in existence, and had been from eternity, he should, in due time, be made man, and stand in human nature upon the earth: or, that he should rise out of the dust, and stand up the first-fruits of them that sleep, by his resurrection. Or he may refer to the day of general resurrection and final judgment, which, as those holy patriarchs well knew and firmly believed, was to be at the end of the world; and which is often termed the last day: see John 6:39-54, and 11:24, and 12:48; 1 Peter 1:5. Then shall Christ appear and stand upon the earth, or dust, as rp[, gnaphar, properly means; namely, the dust in which his saints and members lie or sleep, whom he will raise up out of it. And therefore he is fitly said to stand upon the dust, or the grave, or death; because then he will subdue and put that, among other enemies, under his feet, as it is expressed 1 Corinthians 15:25: or, as the Hebrew, µwqy rp[ l[ ˆwrjaw, vaacharon gnal gnaphar jakum, may properly be rendered, The last, or he, the last, shall arise, or stand up against the dust, and fight with it, and rescue the bodies of the saints, which are held in it as prisoners, from its dominion and territories.

Ver. 25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth. µwqy rp[ l[ ˆwrjaw yj ylag yt[dy ynaw Ve-ani yadaati goëli chai ve-acheron âl âphar yakum, which Schultens thus translates. Enimvero ego novi, vindicem meum vivum; eumque novissimum supra pulverem staturum. Ostervald has judiciously observed, that prophecies respecting the Messiah are expressed with great brevity, and therefore are more obscure than historic passages. The veil of futurity was uplifted sufficiently for the support of faith, and no further. As this hope was Job’s last and best refuge, let us give his words a particular consideration, as sent down to us by the above translator, and others.

The connecting particle is variously read. Ve-ani yadaati, for I know; but Cocceius prefers, truly I know; Goëli chai, that my Redeemer liveth. We find three other readings of this word.

(1) It is joined with Jehovah. Isaiah 40:14. 43:1. Exodus 3:6. “Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”

(2) In Hosea 13:14, “I will redeem them from death.” Jacob, in blessing Joseph and his two sons, said, “The Angel which redeemed me from all evil bless the lads.” Genesis 48:16. The idea of a deliverer or Saviour, as often repeated in the psalms, is understood chiefly here.

(3) In the following words it designates affinity, to which the right of redemption belonged: “Boaz said to Ruth, there is a nearer Goel [kinsman] than I.” Job 3:9-13. 4:4, 6, 14. The word Vindicator, in the above version of Schultens, is equally proper, for the nearest kinsman was the avenger of innocent blood; and Job, conscious of his innocence, felt a confidence in his breast, that God would avenge his wrongs, and grant him his righteousness in the land of the living. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Ambrose seem to coincide, that Job expected restoration to his former splendour in the present life, as well as a resurrection from the dead in the world to come.

The Hebrew, ve-acheron, the latter time or day, being used by the prophets for the Messiah’s time or days, fully demonstrates the meaning of Job.—See Deuteronomy 4:30. 31:29. Joel 2:28, 29. Jeremiah 23:20. 33:16. Ezekiel 38:16. Daniel 2:28. 10:14.—âl âphar yakum, upon or over the dust he shall stand. Job foresaw that his Redeemer should be clothed with flesh, being the seed of Abraham, and walk on earth in humble life, as in Psalm 85:11. Isaiah 53:2. Others say, as Grotius, He shall stand in the camp, and avenge the wrongs of his saints. Others again, understanding dust in the sense of Psalm 30:9, “Shall the dust (the dead) praise thee,” refer this immediately to the resurrection.

25. For I know — “For” — and. It is not uncommon in the classics to commence a distinct poem or treatise in like manner. (OVID, Am. 3:8; PROPERTIUS, 1:17.) Ewald pertinently renders it but, in the sense of “Yet whereto other thoughts?” Or it may be used in a manner similar to the oti of classic and N.T. Greek, which is often redundant before citations and declarative sentences. (Comp. THAYER’S Buttmann, pp. 245, 274.) And I, I know. The “I” stands forth with prominence as if to express the personal identity of the entire man. No one of the constituent natures answers to the “I;” but all — body, mind, and spirit together — constitute man. Thus in verse 27, “Whom I, I shall see for myself.” I know — By degrees has Job been rising to this wondrous sunlight of faith. There has been all along not only a progress of doctrine, but a steady advance in faith. He has sighed for a daysman (Job 9:33) who might intercede for man with God. (Job 16:21.) The fearful struggle in the fourteenth chapter disclosed, for the miserable service in sheol, gleams of hope that God would bring it to an end. (Job 14:14.) Still horrors and doubts have “compassed him about” until, in agony, he cries out to God that he himself should be his sponsor with himself. (Job 17:3.) And all this time his “attester in the heights” (Job 16:19) has kept silence. But now the clouds vanish, and he cries triumphantly aloud, I KNOW my Redeemer liveth, etc. It is to be remembered that from this time forth we hear no more of the gloom of sheol, or of dismal doubts concerning the state of the dead. My Redeemer — Hebrew, Goel. The prime meaning of the verb is loose, set free. There is no word that, better than redeemer, expresses the fourfold duties of a goel or kinsman. On him devolved, first, the recovery of the lost possession of a kinsman; (Leviticus 25:25;) second, the deliverance of a kinsman from bondage; (Leviticus 25:48, 49;) third, the avenging of the violent death of a kinsman; (Numbers 35:12;) fourth, care for the widow of a deceased and childless kinsman; (Deuteronomy 25:5.) See vol. 3:308,

314. Christ is our nearest kinsman. Through his veins coursed a tide of blood in common with that of our entire race. The extremes of our race unite in him — however remote the circle of humanity, its radii all centre in him. Each human being can lay claim to a relationship to this divine Goel as close and tender as that which bound the brothers and sisters of Jesus to himself. (Matthew 13:56.) He stretches his arm of protection over our whole life, and draws to his heart each sorrowing child of Adam. Liveth — (Is) living. “He ever liveth,” “hath life in himself,” “in him was life.” Job’s Redeemer would be pre-eminently a living one. “Life, in the Hebrew and Semitic languages, is a more complete idea than being.” — Dillmann. He shall stand — The posture of Christ in great emergencies. (Acts 7:56.) Faith sees its future champion standing upon (not rising upon) the dust, as some would read the clause. The attitude is one of firmness, dignity, and endurance, like that of the angel of the last day. (Revelation 10:5.) At the latter day upon the earth — Though Merx and others render ˆwrja at the latter, at last, it is plainly a substantive: — The last (Gesenius, Michaelis, Zockler, etc.) It is an attribute of Deity (Isaiah 48:12) which Christ assumes to himself, (Revelations 1:11,) and to which the apostle alludes (“the last Adam”) in his description of the resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:45.) The earth — The dust. That into which the dead body moulders; hence the “dusty death” of the classics. Shall the dust (dead body: De Wette) praise thee? (Psalm 30:9.) Ewald and Merx read, instead of “upon the earth,” “on (my) grave.” a sense justified by the frequent use by Job of “dust” for the grave. (Job 7:21; 10:9; 17:16; 20:11; 21:26; 34:15.) The expression dust is peculiarly elegant in view of man’s origin and destiny. (Genesis 3:19.) In the Arabic the tomb is called turbe, dust.

V. 26. Though-Though my skin is now in a great measure consumed, and the rest of it, together with this body, shall be devoured by the worms, which may seem to make my case desperate. Flesh-Or with bodily eyes; my flesh or body being raised from the grave, and re-united to my soul. God-The same whom he called his Redeemer, ver. 25, who having taken flesh, and appearing in his flesh or body with and for Job upon the earth, might well be seen with his bodily eyes. Nor is this understood of a simple seeing of him; but of that glorious and beatifying vision of God, which is promised to all God’s people.

Verse 26. And though after my skin worms destroy this body] My skin, which is now almost all that remains of my former self, except the bones; see Job 19:20. They destroy this—not body. taz wpqn nikkephu zoth, they—diseases and affliction, destroy THIS wretched composition of misery and corruption.

Yet in my flesh shall I see God] Either, I shall arise from the dead, have a renewed body and see him with eyes of flesh and blood, though what I have now shall shortly moulder into dust, or, I shall see him in the flesh; my Kinsman, who shall partake of my flesh and blood, in order that he may ransom the lost inheritance.

Verse 26. And though after my skin, &c. — The style of this and other poetical books of the Scripture is concise and short, and therefore many words are to be understood in some places to complete the sense. The meaning here is, Though my skin be now, in a great measure, consumed by sores, and the rest of it, together with this body, shall be devoured by worms, which may seem to make my case quite desperate, yet in my flesh — Hebrew, yrvbm, mibbeshari, out of my flesh, or, with my flesh, that is, with eyes of flesh, or bodily eyes; my flesh, or body, being raised from the grave and reunited to my soul: (which is very fitly added, to show that he did not speak of a mental or spiritual, but of a corporeal vision, and that after his death:) shall I see God — The same whom he called his Redeemer, (verse 25,) who having taken flesh, and appearing in his flesh or body, with and for Job upon the earth, might well be seen with his bodily eyes. Nor is this understood of a simple seeing of him, but of that glorious and beatifying vision of God which is promised to all God’s people.

Ver. 26, 27. And though after my skin be thus broken, yet shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. SCHULTENS.—Worms, used as an expletive in the English, is destitute of ancient authority, and derogatory to the text. Two or three German reformers have inferred worms, from the Hebrew nikpoo, ulcers, which waste the body.

On this most important prophecy, the grand pillar of Job’s support, and of christian hope, the critics, conformably to their notions and creeds, have indulged in much variation of opinion. But the general succession is one full and decided consent, that Job speaks here of the Redeemer’s incarnation, and also of the resurrection of the dead at the final advent. What else can comfort the afflicted and the dying, from whom all earthly hope is for ever fled?

The second opinion is that of Mercer, Drusius, and other Arians, that Job here makes a confession of faith, and firm belief and trust in God, Bildad having tacitly reproached him with a species of atheism in “not knowing God:” Job 18:21. They therefore allow him to say, I do indeed believe in God, and in his providence, though he hath thus afflicted me. By consequence, though Job was the fifth from Abraham in Ishmael’s line, he knew little of the grand promise of Abraham’s covenant, that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed; or if he knew of it, his rational christianity was so cold that he did not think proper to trust his cause into the avenger’s hands. These expositions totally lose sight of Job’s words concerning “the latter day,” a hope ever brightening on the church. The concluding opinion of all the faithful has been, a general consent that Job had a perfect knowledge of the person of Christ, as his Goël, always rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth. The Christ, the Son of God, whose goings forth were of old from everlasting: the Messiah, who from the womb of the morning had the dew of his youth. He viewed the glorious person of Christ as the Qeanqrwpou, God and man, the WORD made flesh, and standing upon the dust, as introductory to his death and resurrection, and his advent on the clouds of heaven.

These are the comments which the church of Rome, as in Biblia Magna, and other writings, and which the most learned men of the Lutheran communion have sent down to us. These are coincident with confessions of faith, which the learned and pious bishop Bull has collected out of the christian fathers of the first three centuries. First, of the pre-existence of Christ before the virgin Mary, and consequently before the world. Secondly, that he is one substance with the Father. Thirdly, that he is co-eternal with the Father. Fourthly, that the subordination of the Son to the Sire, refers merely to God the Father as the fountain of Deity. These four points are demonstrated beyond all the subtleties of modern apostasy. The faith of the ancient church was the foundation and the unshaken rock of the christian temple.

26. And after my skin — That is, when my skin is no more. “After” can only be a preposition (See Hirtzel in loc.) If, as some prefer, it be read adverbially, we shall have, And after they have thus destroyed my skin. But there are greater difficulties in this than in the reading of the Authorized Version. Destroy this — So many and varied are the agencies that destroy the body that they are not enumerated. The Orientals, however, were of the opinion that worms were the principal cause of its destruction. They say — according to Roberts — that the life is first destroyed by them and afterwards the body. The word pqn, in the Piel rendered destroy, in the Arabic (nakafa) signifies to smash or crush the head. It is one of the most powerful words in the Semitic languages to express complete destruction. This — Though not expressed, the allusion is evidently to the body. Yet — “Yet” (w) is adversative. (See Nordheimer, 2:294.) In my flesh — From my flesh. The word min, from, is supposed by some to mean without; apart from, and is thus given by Conant, Zockler in Lange, Ewald, etc. But Pusey and Perowne are right when they say that ˆm can no more, of itself, mean “without” than our word “from.” At the same time, the grammatical construction justifies the sense of in. Thus Rosenmuller, Kosegarten, Welte, Clarke, Carey, Noyes, Wordsworth, etc.: also the Vulgate, the Targum, (Walton’s rendering,) etc. The use of the word min, from, in the sense of in, is by no means alien to the Hebrew. This is especially the case in connexion with verbs of speaking, hearing, seeing, etc. The place from which the observer looks is invariably connected with the verb by the word from. A like remark holds good of the other senses. (GESENIUS, Thesaurus, p. 804.) Thus Sol. Song, (Song of Solomon 2:9,) “he looketh forth at,” (literally, from,) “the windows.” Comp. 2 Chronicles 6:21. Eastward, i.e., in the east, (Genesis 2:8,) is literally from the east. Besides, Job freely uses at least five other prepositions to express without, either one of which would have been better to convey the idea of without than the min before us. For instance, (Hebrew text,) Job 4:11, 20, 21; 6:6; 7:6; 8:11; 24:7, 10; 30:8, 28; 31:19, 39; 33:9; 34:6, 20; 38:2, 41; 39:16; 41:33. Thrice, indeed, elsewhere in Job, min occurs in a privative sense, (Job 3:19; 11:15; 21:9,) which, however, can hardly be regarded as parallel cases. If Job speaks of beholding God with his bodily eyes after that body has been destroyed, it must be from a new body. The subsequent beholding of God with his eyes, (“mine eyes,”) identifies it with the body he then had, the body to which he had before pointed with the deictic this. The unbiased interpretation of this passage discloses substantially the elements of the doctrine of the resurrection, even though their full meaning may have been hidden from Job. See Excursus V.

V. 27. See-No wonder he repeats it again, because the meditation of it was most sweet to him. For-For my own benefit and comfort. Another-For me or in my stead. I shall not see God by another’s eyes, but by my own, and by these self-same eyes, in this same body which now I have. Though-This I do confidently expect, tho’ the grave and the worms will consume my whole body.

Verse 27. Whom I shall see for myself] Have a personal interest in the resurrection, as I shall have in the Redeemer.

And mine eyes shall behold] That very person who shall be the resurrection, as he is the life.

And not another] rz alw velo zar, and not a stranger, one who has no relation to human nature; but ylag goali, my redeeming Kinsman. Though my reins be consumed within me.] Though I am now apparently on the brink of death, the thread of life being spun out to extreme tenuity. This, on the mode of interpretation which I have assumed, appears to be the meaning of this passage. The words may have a somewhat different colouring put on them; but the basis of the interpretation will be the same. I shall conclude with the version of Coverdale:—

For I am sure that my Redeemer liveth;

And that I shal ryse out of the earth in the latter daye; That I shal be clothed againe with this skynne

And se God in my flesh.

Yee, I myself shal beholde him,

Not with other, but with these same eyes.

My reins are consumed within me, when ye saye,

Why do not we persecute him?

We have founde an occasion against him.

Verse 27. Whom I shall see — In the manner before and after expressed. No wonder that he repeats it again, because the meditation of it was most sweet to him; for myself — For my own benefit and comfort, as the phrase is often used. Or, which is of much the same importance, on my behalf, to plead my cause and vindicate me from all your reproaches. Mine eyes shall behold, and not another — Namely, for me, or in my stead. I shall not see God by another’s eyes, but by my own, and by this self-same body which now I have. Hebrew, rz alw, velo zar, not a stranger, that is, this privilege shall be granted to me, and to all other sincere servants of God, but not to such as are strangers to God and his people, being alienated from him and his service. And, if I were such a one as you suppose me to be, I could never hope to enjoy that happiness. Though my reins be consumed within me — This I do confidently expect, though at present my case seems hopeless, my very inward parts being consumed with grief; and though, as I have said, the grave and the worms will consume my whole body. Or, without though, for which there is nothing in the Hebrew, My reins are consumed within me: which may be considered as a passionate exclamation, such as we find Genesis 48:18, and often in the book of Psalms, arising from his confident expectation of this his unspeakable happiness, and expressing his vehement desire and longing for that blessed time and state. The intelligent reader will be glad to see father Houbigant’s translation of these three important verses, which is as follows: verse 25, For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall hereafter arise over the dust: verse 26, And that even I, after my skin is consumed, shall behold my God in my flesh: verse 27, Yes, I shall behold him: my eyes, and not another’s, shall see him. This my hope is reposed in my bosom.

Ver. 26, 27. And though after my skin be thus broken, yet shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. SCHULTENS.—Worms, used as an expletive in the English, is destitute of ancient authority, and derogatory to the text. Two or three German reformers have inferred worms, from the Hebrew nikpoo, ulcers, which waste the body.

On this most important prophecy, the grand pillar of Job’s support, and of christian hope, the critics, conformably to their notions and creeds, have indulged in much variation of opinion. But the general succession is one full and decided consent, that Job speaks here of the Redeemer’s incarnation, and also of the resurrection of the dead at the final advent. What else can comfort the afflicted and the dying, from whom all earthly hope is for ever fled?

The second opinion is that of Mercer, Drusius, and other Arians, that Job here makes a confession of faith, and firm belief and trust in God, Bildad having tacitly reproached him with a species of atheism in “not knowing God:” Job 18:21. They therefore allow him to say, I do indeed believe in God, and in his providence, though he hath thus afflicted me. By consequence, though Job was the fifth from Abraham in Ishmael’s line, he knew little of the grand promise of Abraham’s covenant, that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed; or if he knew of it, his rational christianity was so cold that he did not think proper to trust his cause into the avenger’s hands. These expositions totally lose sight of Job’s words concerning “the latter day,” a hope ever brightening on the church. The concluding opinion of all the faithful has been, a general consent that Job had a perfect knowledge of the person of Christ, as his Goël, always rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth. The Christ, the Son of God, whose goings forth were of old from everlasting: the Messiah, who from the womb of the morning had the dew of his youth. He viewed the glorious person of Christ as the Qeanqrwpou, God and man, the WORD made flesh, and standing upon the dust, as introductory to his death and resurrection, and his advent on the clouds of heaven.

These are the comments which the church of Rome, as in Biblia Magna, and other writings, and which the most learned men of the Lutheran communion have sent down to us. These are coincident with confessions of faith, which the learned and pious bishop Bull has collected out of the christian fathers of the first three centuries. First, of the pre-existence of Christ before the virgin Mary, and consequently before the world. Secondly, that he is one substance with the Father. Thirdly, that he is co-eternal with the Father. Fourthly, that the subordination of the Son to the Sire, refers merely to God the Father as the fountain of Deity. These four points are demonstrated beyond all the subtleties of modern apostasy. The faith of the ancient church was the foundation and the unshaken rock of the christian temple.

27. Whom I — See note on verse 25. Mine eyes — If the sight of God be solely that of the disembodied spirit, as many think, the expression “mine eyes” is superfluous and misleading. The six preceding Hebrew words four times disclose the same thought, that he, the identical person, after death, shall see God. If the sight be not a bodily one, the introduction of “mine eyes” is a solecism, a descent in thought, and a blemish upon the inscription. The eye is the frailest, most delicate, of the members of our physical frame — among the first to succumb to decay, and yet it is to be the medium through which the soul shall enjoy the sight of God. If God’s promise cover the eye it suffices for our entire dust. Behold — The Hebrew, exact in the use of his language, employed hzj see (twice above) for mental vision, and for the sight of such objects as were subjected to the mind without the senses, such, for instance, as visions and oracles. (Numbers 24:4, 16; Ezekiel 12:27; Habakkuk 1:1,) while har, behold, was used of sight as an act of the senses. “The preterite raou, rendered behold, after the future ‘I shall see,’ is the perfect of certainty or futurity;” (Zockler) in like manner Delitzsch, Ewald, etc. And not another — According to Gesenius, Stickel, Hahn, etc., “another” is the object of the verb. Thus Dr. Clarke: “Not a stranger, one who has no relation to human nature, but my redeeming kinsman.” Many others, however, (Zockler, Hengstenberg, etc.,) make another or stranger the nominative of the verb, and read, not a stranger, who would have no interest in the beatific sight, but himself, (now the alien, the rejected of God, then no longer a stranger,) shall behold him in his capacity of divine Goel. The words correlate with “mine eyes.” They are words of ecstatic triumph, and form the transition to the last clause of the inscription. Though my reins — Neither the though of the text nor the when of Conant is justifiable. The reins, which were regarded as the seat of the deepest affections, consume within him (see margin) from intense longing for the realization of such a sight of God. See Excursus ix, p. 285.

Conclusion — Inspired by the vision of faith, Job not only ceases to be a supplicant for pity, but faithfully warns his persecutors that continued maltreatment of the unfortunate must provoke the wrath of Heaven, 28, 29.

V. 28. Therefore-Because my faith and hope are in God. The root-The root denotes, a root of true religion. And the root of all true religion is living faith.

Verse 28. But ye should say] Or, Then ye shall say.

Why persecute we him] Or, as Mr. Good, How did we persecute him! Alas! we are now convinced that we did wrong.

Seeing the root of the matter] A pure practice, and a sound hope, resting on the solid ground of sound faith, received from God himself. Instead of yb bi, in ME, yb bo, in HIM, is the reading of more than one hundred of Kennicott’s and Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS., and in several of the versions. Seeing the root of the matter is found in HIM.

Verse 28. But ye should say — Therefore, because this is my case, and my faith and hope are in God, it would become you, and it is your duty on this account, to say, Why persecute we him? — We are blameworthy that we have persecuted him with such bitter invectives, and we will do so no more; seeing the root of the matter — Hebrew, rbd, dabar, of the word; is found in me — That is, since my heart is sincere and upright before God, and the root, or foundation, of true religion is in me. Cum veritas ipsa inveniatur in me, since the truth itself is found in me. — Vatablus. The root of all true religion is living faith in that Redeemer of whom Job had just spoken, and in the truth and grace of God in and through him; faith working by love, overcoming the world, and purifying the heart; faith disarming death of its sting, and inspiring us with a lively, patient, joyful, and grateful hope of eternal life, such as Job had just expressed. This is the root of the matter, other things are but leaves in comparison of it. This, which implies the whole of godliness and righteousness, is the one thing needful. Let us see to it that this be found in us. And, with respect to others, let us believe that many have this root of the matter in them, who are not in every thing of our mind, and who have their follies, weaknesses, and mistakes: and let us be aware that it is at our peril if we persecute any such. Wo be to him that offends or causes to stumble and fall one of these little ones. God will resent and revenge it. Job and his friends differed in their views concerning the methods of Divine Providence, but they agreed in the root of the matter; and, therefore, it was their duty not to have censured and persecuted, but to have lived in love with each other.

28. But ye should say — If ye say. “How shall we persecute him, and the root of the matter is found in me?” The root of the matter — The cause of the whole trouble; that is, his guilt and sin.

V. 29. Sword-Of some considerable judgment to be inflicted on you which is called the sword, as Deuteronomy 32:41, and elsewhere. That-This admonition I give you, that you may know it in time, and prevent it. A judgment-God sees and observes, and will judge all your words and actions.

Verse 29. Be ye afraid of the sword] Of God’s judgments. For wrath bringeth] Such anger as ye have displayed against me, God will certainly resent and punish.

That ye may know there is a judgment.] That ye may know that God will judge the world; and that the unequal distribution of riches and poverty, afflictions and health, in the present life, is a proof that there must be a future judgment, where evil shall be punished and virtue rewarded. IT would not be fair, after all the discussion of the preceding verses in reference to the two grand opinions and modes of interpretation instituted by learned men, not to inform the reader that a third method of solving all difficulties has been proposed, viz., that Job refers to a Divine conviction which he had just then received, that God would appear in the most evident manner to vindicate his innocence, and give the fullest proofs to his friends and to the world that his afflictions had not been sent as a scourge for his iniquities. Dr. Kennicott was the proposer of this third mode of solving these difficulties, and I shall give his method in his own words. “These five verses, though they contain but twelve lines, have occasioned controversies without number, as to the general meaning of Job in this place, whether he here expressed his firm belief of a resurrection to happiness after death, or of a restoration to prosperity during the remainder of his life.

“Each of these positions has found powerful as well as numerous advocates; and the short issue of the whole seems to be, that each party has confuted the opposite opinion, yet without establishing its own. For how could Job here express his conviction of a reverse of things in this world, and of a restoration to temporal prosperity, at the very time when he strongly asserts that his miseries would soon be terminated by death? See Job 6:11; 7:21; 17:11-15; 19:10, and particularly in Job 7:7: O remember that my life is wind; mine eye shall no more see good.

“Still less could Job here express a hope full of immortality, which sense cannot be extorted from the words without every violence. And as the possession of such belief is not to be reconciled with Job’s so bitterly cursing the day of his birth in Job 3:1-3, so the declaration of such belief would have solved at once the whole difficulty in dispute.

“But if neither of the preceding and opposite opinions can be admitted, if the words are not meant to express Job’s belief either of a restoration or of a resurrection, what then are we to do? It does not appear to me that any other interpretation has yet been proposed by the learned; yet I will now venture to offer a third interpretation, different from both the former, and which, whilst it is free from the preceding difficulties, does not seem liable to equal objections.

“The conviction, then, which I suppose Job to express here, is this: That though his dissolution was hastening on amidst the unjust accusations of his pretended friends, and the cruel insults of his hostile relations; and though, whilst he was thus singularly oppressed with anguish of mind, he was also tortured with pains of body, torn by sores and ulcers from head to foot, and sitting upon dust and ashes; yet still, out of that miserable body, in his flesh thus stripped of skin, and nearly dropping into the grave, HE SHOULD SEE GOD, who would appear in his favour, and vindicate THE INTEGRITY of his character. This opinion may perhaps be fairly and fully supported by the sense of the words themselves, by the context, and by the following remarks.

“We read in Job 2:7, that Job was smitten with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown; and Job 2:8, ‘He sat down among the ashes.’ In Job 7:5, Job says, ‘My flesh is clothed with worms, and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.’ In Job 16:19: ‘Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.’ Then come the words of Job, Job 19:25-29. And then, in opposition to what Job had just said, that God would soon appear to vindicate him, and that even his accusing friends would acquit him, Zophar says, Job 20:27, that ‘the heaven would reveal his iniquity, and the earth would rise up against him.’ Lastly, this opinion concerning Job’s words, as to God’s vindication of him, is confirmed strongly at the end of the book, which records the conclusion of Job’s history. His firm hope is here supposed to be that, before his death, he should, with his bodily eyes, see GOD appearing and vindicating his character. And from the conclusion we learn that God did thus appear: Now, says Job, mine eye seeth thee. And then did God most effectually and for ever brighten the glory of Job’s fame, by four times calling him HIS SERVANT; and, as his anger was kindled against Job’s friends, by speaking to them in the following words: ‘Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Go to my servant Job,—and my servant Job shall pray for you,—in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job,’ Job 40:7, 8.”

Dr. K. then gives the common version, and proposes the following as a new version:—

Ver. 25. For I know that my Vindicator liveth,

And he at last shall arise over this dust.

26. And after that mine adversaries have mangled me thus, Even in my flesh shall I see God.

27. Whom I shall see on my side;

And mine eyes shall behold, but not estranged from me: All this have I made up in mine bosom.

28. Verily ye shall say, Why have we persecuted him;

Seeing the truth of the matter is found with him?

29. Tremble for yourselves at the face of the sword;

For the sword waxeth hot against iniquities:

Therefore be assured that judgment will take place.

KENNICOTT’S Remarks on Select Passages of Scripture, p. 165. There is something very plausible in this plan of Dr. Kennicott; and in the conflicting opinions relative to the meaning of this celebrated and much controverted passage, no doubt some will be found who will adopt it as a middle course. The theory, however, is better than some of the arguments by which it is supported. Yet had I not been led, by the evidence mentioned before, to the conclusion there drawn, I should probably have adopted Dr. K.’s opinion with some modification: but as to his new version, it is what I am persuaded the Hebrew text can never bear. It is even too loose a paraphrase of the original, as indeed are most of the new versions of this passage. Dr. Kennicott says, that such a confidence as those cause Job to express, who make him speak concerning the future resurrection, ill comports with his cursing so bitterly the day of his birth, &c. But this objection has little if any strength, when we consider that it is not at all probable that Job had this confidence any time before the moment in which he uttered it: it was then a direct revelation, nothing of which he ever had before, else he had never dropped those words of impatience and irritation which we find in several of his speeches. And this may be safely inferred from the consideration, that after this time no such words escaped his lips: he bears the rest of his sufferings with great patience and fortitude; and seems to look forward with steady hope to that day in which all tears shall be wiped away from off all faces, and it be fully proved that the Judge of all the earth has done right.

JOB

Verse 29. Be ye afraid of the sword — Of some considerable judgment to be inflicted on you, which is called the sword; as Deuteronomy 32:41, and elsewhere. That is, if ye continue to persecute me. So Houbigant understands him, interpreting these words in connection with the preceding, thus: But if ye shall say, Let us persecute him, and devise some cause of accusation against him: then be afraid for yourselves from the threatening sword. Job may be considered, however, as threatening them with punishment on account of their past uncharitable and unrighteous judgment of him, and severe treatment of him. For wrath bringeth the punishment of the sword — That wrath, or fury, which is in your hearts, and breaks forth from your lips against me, deserves and will certainly bring upon you the punishment of the sword, that is, a dreadful judgment from God. The Hebrew word here rendered punishment, twnw[, gnavonoth, properly means iniquities, but is sometimes used, by a metonymy, for the punishment of iniquities, which our translators judged was its meaning here. The sense, however, is good, if the word be rendered literally, thus: Wrath (the sin of wrath, or anger against man, especially against one in affliction) bringeth, or implies, iniquities of the sword, that is, iniquities fit to be punished by the sword, or by some eminent judgment. Thus, Job 31:19, An iniquity of the judges, means an iniquity to be punished by the judges, as our translation has it. That ye may know there is a judgment — I give you this admonition, that you may know in time, and may seriously consider it for your good, that there will be a time of judgment, when God will call men to an account for all their hard speeches and miscarriages, and particularly for their rash and uncharitable censures of their brethren, Matthew 7:1; Romans 14:4; James 4:11; either in this life, or at that last and dreadful day of the general resurrection and judgment, of which I have just spoken. God sees and observes, and will judge all your words and actions, and therefore do not flatter yourselves with vain hopes of impunity.

Ver. 29. Be ye afraid of the sword. Satan had done all he was allowed to do to the body of Job; and now he had set those religious and public characters most grievously to afflict his mind. But to kill Job with grief might have been to them a sin unto death by sickness, or by the sword.

29. Be ye afraid — A continuation (the apodosis) of the preceding verse. The punishments of the sword — twnw[ means iniquities, which in this case deserved the punishment of the sword, succinctly called “sins of the sword.” With the Hebrew the sword was the symbol of the divine judgments, (Job 15:22, Deuteronomy 32:41; Psalm 7:12, etc.) It was also the insignia of the judge, and pointed to the judgment he executed. The last two Hebrew words stand as the equivalent, as well as the outcome of the first, “wrath.” The sense, then, is not far from that of our translators, wrath is, or bringeth, death. By “wrath” Hengstenberg understands that wrath of God, which visits capital misdeeds — those which deserve the sword. See note on Job 36:18. A judgment — ˆydv, a compound word, the first letter of which is an abbreviation of rva, signifying that. Ewald’s objection, that such a compounding of words would be solitary in our book is invalid, since a like use of the pronoun appears once in Deborah’s song, (Judges 5:7,) and only once besides in the same book, (Judges 6:17.) Dillmann’s reading, “Almighty,” would require a radical change of the word. Divine judgments await the wrong doer here, and serve as so many indices of the judgment to come. “If there were no other argument for a life to come, SIN would furnish one never to be refuted.” The incomplete punishment of sin in this life necessitates punishment in the next.

EXCURSUS V.

THE INSCRIPTION.

This memorable passage has given rise to more comment, and probably to a greater division of sentiment, than any other in the Old Testament Scriptures. The history of these opinions does not lie within our scope, except to remark in general that the olden faith, that these lines referred to the Messiah and the resurrection of the body, has, to a great extent, given place in modern times to the view that the deliverance was altogether confined to this life, and that the earnest desire of Job was answered by the disclosure of Deity at the end of the debate, a view which is shared by such commentators as Albert Barnes, Stuart, and Noyes. More recent interpreters, however, incline to the opinion that Job speaks of a vision of God after death; though these do not for the most part acknowledge the teaching of a resurrection of the body. The question of Job’s faith in such a resurrection is so closely allied to the other question, of his belief in the existence of the soul after death, that the admission of the one seems quite to involve that of the other. J.J.S. Perowne, who doubts that the passage alludes to an after life, admits, “most certainly if there be any expression here of a hope reaching beyond this world, then there can be no doubt, I think, that Job looks for a resurrection, not merely for a future life.” — HULS. Lec. on Immortality, p. 80.

I. The evidently great importance, in Job’s estimation, of the inscription. Job desires that it should be chiselled into the rock, and in such a manner as to endure forever. The temporal theory, which looks to the vindication of Job’s character and the restoration of his loss, fails to present us an inscription with a purport worthy of such high consideration. The experience of the Church in all ages proves that the vindication of character in this life, and the restoration of temporal loss, are not of so much consequence in the divine estimate. The Scriptures assume, rather, that loss and ignominy are incidental to the life of the good man, and that restitution and vindication are to take place in the life to come. It is of more importance that the moral government of God in this world should be vindicated; a demand that can be met only in a future life, comprehending within itself redemption for the entire man.

II. The natural impression that the language, literally interpreted, makes upon the mind. Mr. Barnes concedes that the language which is used is such as would properly describe the coming Messiah and the future resurrection of the dead. “This,” he says, “is undoubted, though more so in our translation than in the original; but the original would appropriately express such an expectation.” This may account for the marked unanimity among the ancient interpreters of this passage. Although the Septuagint, in the opinion of some, is of doubtful meaning, its rendering is, “For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me, and to raise up upon the earth my skin (the Codex Alexandrinus has swma, body) that endures these” (sufferings.) The Targum, the Vulgate, Clemens Romanus, Ephraim, Epiphanius, Augustine, and many others of the fathers; of more recent Continental interpreters, Schultens, J.H. and J.D. Michaelis, Rosenmuller, Kosegarten, Pareau, Welte, and Velthusen; and of English commentators, Adam Clarke, Good, Hales, Carey, Pusey, Wordsworth, and others; have seen in this inscription either a prophecy of, or an allusion to, the resurrection of the dead. The objection that nothing is said in reply to the startling thoughts of Job may be met by the consideration that no reply is made to other startling expressions. as those of a Daysman, (Job 9:33.) hope within sheol, (Job 14:13-16,) and advocacy of God with God, (Job 16:21.) The objection would be equally good against any possible interpretation of the inscription, for there is no direct reference made to it in the replies of the friends. It confessedly stands out alone — a vein of golden ore in the adamantine rock.

In the earlier ages truth was given in fragments. It was isolated, succinct, compressed, not unlike the utterances of oracles. The reader will be reminded of the gospel given in the garden, the prediction by Enoch of a judgment to come, the promise of Shiloh, and the prophecies through the Gentile Balaam. They who thus became agents for the transmission of divine truth may have failed to comprehend it in all its bearings, but the truth is on that account none the less rich and comprehensive. In the living Goel who shall stand upon the dust, Job may not have seen Christ in the fulness of the atonement; nor in the view of God “from the flesh,” have grasped the glories of the resurrection morn; but the essential features of these two cardinal doctrines of Scripture are there, identical with those we now see in greater completeness; even as the outlines of a landscape, however incompletely sketched, are still one with those of the rich and perfected picture.

Dr. Green wisely remarks that “the resurrection of the body was probably not present to Job’s thoughts, certainly not in the form of a general and simultaneous rising from the dead. And yet it is so linked, seminally at least, with our continued spiritual existence, and it is so natural, and even necessary, for us to transfer our ideas of being, drawn from the present state, to the great hereafter, that it may perhaps be truly said that the germs of the resurrection may likewise be detected here.” — The Argument, etc., p. 216.

III. The structure of the language. The keenest dissection of the sentences shows that there is nothing in the words themselves incompatible with a rudimental hope of the resurrection. The exegesis of the present day, as we have seen, accords to them the hope of immortality. The concession, we believe, carries with it the entire bulwark. “When Job says that with his own eyes he shall behold Eloah, it is, indeed, possible by these eyes to understand the eyes of the spirit; but it is just as possible to understand him to mean the eyes of his renewed body… and when Job thinks of himself (verse 25) as a mouldering corpse, should he not by his eyes, which shall behold Eloah, mean those which have been dimmed in death, and are now again become capable of seeing?” — Delitzsch, 1:371. Those who reject the doctrine of a resurrection are confronted with serious difficulties in the expressions “from my flesh” and “mine eyes.” They who confine the interpretation to the idea of immortality do grammatical violence to the former of the two expressions, “from my flesh,” (see note, verse 26,) — and the tautology is not to be overlooked, since he has just before uttered the words “after my skin” — and at the same time they are constrained to spiritualize the latter — “mine eyes.” Job having spoken once and again of the “I” who shall see God, the expression “mine eyes” appears to be expletive, unless he means the eyes of his body after its death. Then, too, we have “upon the dust,” “after my skin,” and “not another,” each of which expressions are excrescences upon the passage if we accept either the theory of deliverance in this life, or the spiritual beholding of God in the life to come. An insignificant and jejune inscription is the rock on which, an the one side, the temporal theory must split; while on the other, the superfluities in an inscription confessedly epigrammatic, make the Charybdis in which those critics who spiritualize the passage must founder. In other words, if the proposed inscription means merely the present life, it is hardly worth inscribing; if it have no idea of a resurrection it has so much that is superfluous, that it is at war with itself; it seems pruned to the utmost degree, and compacted, and yet at the same time is weighed down with redundancies.

IV. The scope of the context. During the course of the debate, Job has frequently given utterance not only to his despair of life, but to a passionate longing for death, (Job 6:8-12; 7:15; 10:18-21; 17:11-16.) Continued life entails inexpressible wretchedness. Therefore he digs for death more than for hid treasures. The glowing descriptions of brighter days that adorned the discourses of his friends sound to him as words of mockery, (Job 16:20; 17:2.) This very chapter speaks of his utter destruction, (verse 10.) It is, he stays, like that of a house fallen into ruins or a tree plucked up by the roots. Life no longer enters into his estimate. He had at times caught a glimpse of another life. His eye of faith had seen that the gloom of sheol could not last forever. The voice of God should surely call the sentinel from his dreary post, Job 14:13-16. We are prepared for any notes of triumph from the welkin of a life to come, and even to see Job “plant the flag of victory over his own grave.” — Delitzsch. But here to talk of mere temporal life, (vain and barren in its best estate,) of compensation for loss, and an avenger of blood, is as much out of place as “the bloating of sheep and the lowing of oxen “at Gilgal. 1 Samuel 15:14. The view into the dark grave, by contrast reminds him of the view of God on its other side; and site sight of his loathsome body naturally suggests the hope that the time of its renewal should come, and that from his body he should yet see God.

V. The ancient and wide-spread belief in a resurrection, or more properly, a re-vivifying of the body. The objection has been strongly urged against the evangelistic interpretation of this passage that the dogma of a resurrection is of more recent disclosure than the time of Job. This objection now quite disappears beneath the accumulating light of our age. It now appears that the most ancient of the civilized nations enjoyed high religious light. Frequent discoveries are made of religious truth in what appear most barren fields, which prove to be nuggets of gold from wastes of sand. With almost every Pagan people, the nearer we approach the fountain head of history the purer seems the knowledge of divine things. The history of very ancient nations — and we can hardly except the early Hebrew — records a loss of spiritual truth.

The following hymn, addressed to the mediator, God, (see Excursus iv,) taken from the Assyrian tablets, transmits the faith of the ancient Akkadian and of the later Chaldean-Babylonian on the subject of the resurrection: — “Great lord of the land, king of countries, eldest son of Hea, who dost lead (in their periodic movements) heaven and earth — great lord of the land, king of countries, god of gods, servant of Anna and Moulge, (that is, of heaven and earth,) the merciful one among the gods — the merciful one who dost raise the dead to life: O Silik — mouloukhi, king of heaven and earth, king of Babylon…

strengthen heaven and earth… strengthen death and life.… Thou art the favourable Colossus. Thou art he who quickens. Thou art he who makes to prosper — the merciful one among the gods, the merciful one who raises the dead to life.” — LENORMANT, La Magie, etc. Compare George Smith’s Assyrian Discoveries, 202, 203. In the proximity of Idumaea was another great people with whom the immortality of the soul had ever been a cardinal doctrine of faith. Even if most of the Semitic races of Arabia, Babylonia, and Phenicia, while retaining other spiritual knowledge had lost that of the resurrection of the body, Egypt, it now appears, possessed it, though in a modified form. With the Egyptian, in contradistinction even to the Hebrew, the body was the subject of anxious consideration after death. Its preservation, as all will admit, was for some reason essential to the weal of the soul. (See note, Job 3:14; also BUNSEN, Egypt’s Place, etc., 4:651.) In the fable of Osiris it was taught “that the souls of dead persons, whose bodies had been properly embalmed, descended into hades [the invisible world, see Excursus on Sheol] in the boat of the setting sun; and that after some long period, during which they had many trials to undergo, they would rise again perfectly pure to reunite with the body in the boat of the rising sun. Abydos then took its name, which means ‘the city of the resurrection,’ because at the time it was the highest point up the river to which the valley had been explored, and therefore the place where, according to the fable, the resurgent souls would first reach Egypt. It was, moreover, the doctrine of this fable that Osiris reigned supreme (both as god and king) over the entire destinies of the bodies and souls of the dead. He especially presided over the resurrection. Therefore it was that his city was named Abydos, the city (or place) of the resurrection.” — OSBURN, Monumental History of Egypt, 1:332.

“The deceased was to be resuscitated after this subterranean pilgrimage: the soul was to re-enter the body again to give it movement and life, or, to use the language of Egyptian mythology, the deceased was to arrive finally at the boat of the sun, to be received there by Ra, the scarabaeus god, and to shine with a brightness borrowed from him.” — LENORMANT, Ancient History, 1:321. “In general, the greater part of the funereal ceremonies, the various wrappers of the mummies, the subjects painted on the interior or exterior of the coffins, have reference to the different phases of the resurrection, such as the cessation of the corpse-like rigidity, the reviving of the organs, the return of the soul.” (Ibid., 1:311.) Compare chap. clv and clxix of the Book of the Dead, in the latter of which occurs the prayer, “Make his soul in his body again,’ etc.

The Vedas now satisfy the student that the Aryan race — between whom and the Semitic there was originally intercommunication of religious light as well as perhaps a primeval oneness of language — had some knowledge of a resurrection, though probably not so full and clear as that of the Egyptian and the Assyrian. “It is incontestable,” says Burnouf, (Essai sur le Veda, p. 438,) “that all ancient India believed in the possibility of the resurrection of the dead.” For the formula of the resurrection, see ibid., 436, 437. The ancient Persian has been supposed by the Rationalists of the day to have been the great depository from which Job gained his ideas of Satanology; and, later, Israel its knowledge of the resurrection. On this account they have been disposed to ascribe a later origin to the book of Job. But the Parsee now seems to have been less enlightened than either the Egyptian or the Assyrian. On the cardinal doctrines just referred to, Job appears to have had fewer points in common with the Persian than with his other neighbours. Those well qualified to form an opinion deny that there are any traces of the resurrection in the Avesta — the sacred books of the Parsee. (See HARDWICK, Christ and other Masters, 2:426.) If Job had not some distinct conception of the revivifying of the dead body, he, the most enlightened of the Gentile world, and evidently possessed of a wide culture, falls below his contemporaries and neighbours, both Egyptian and Assyrian. If he had such knowledge, the words before us — the marvellous inscription — can be interpreted on no other hypothesis than that of a communication of his faith, which infinitely outshone that of any ancient religion whose light still lingers among men. The faith according to which the patriarchs lived and died, (Hebrews 11:13,) probably embraced a belief in the future reunion of soul and body. Joseph certainly could not have been ignorant of this marked feature of Egyptian lore. This is manifested in his remarkable care for his own mummy, “his bones,” which he commanded to have buried with his brethren in the land of promise and hope. (Hebrews 11:22.) The sun of a primeval revelation shed its light upon the human race as a whole; and Hebrew, Idumaean, Egyptian, and Assyrian enjoyed its quickening power, though subsequently in different degrees, because of the darkening and destructive influences of idolatry, into which some of them sank. If the seventh from Adam, of a line prior to the select Abrahamic race, overlooked the centuries and beheld the Lord coming to judgment, (Jude 1:14,) it is not unreasonable to suppose that the patient sufferer of Uz may have overlooked the grave and seen the same Lord standing triumphantly upon the dust of an entire race, and summoning soul and body to renewed and united life.