Job · Chapter 21

Verse 1. But Job answered and said — It has been thought strange that Job should never resume the argument of a resurrection, which was so full of piety and conviction; but, when resuming the dispute with his friends, should stick to that he first set out with. Whether this be the case or not, we shall see in the course of our observations. But if it be, a very sufficient reason may be assigned for it. For, if one such appeal as this, made in the most solemn manner, would not convince them of his innocence, he had reason to think it would be much the same, if he had repeated it a second and a third time. He had, therefore, no other resource left, but to follow the argument with which he had begun; namely, to combat the false principle upon which they were so forward to condemn him: and this he does effectually throughout the present chapter, by showing that many wicked men live long and prosperously, and at last die in apparent peace, and are buried with great pomp; which shows that this life is not the proper state of retribution, but that men shall be judged and recompensed hereafter. See Peters and Dodd.

1. But Job answered — The friends have to the last adhered to their main proposition, that the wicked are punished in this life. Job now meets it for the first time face to face; devoting the entire speech to its consideration. He more discreetly than before makes an appeal to facts, and shows that in their entire life the wicked are eminently prosperous, and that even in the article of death their lot is easier than that of the righteous. The friends have made appeal again and again to the wisdom of the ancients; he, on the other hand, summons travelers, men of wide knowledge, who testify (verses 28-33) that the punishment of the wicked is in the next life — a truth “the friends,” in their dogmatism, have ignored; that in this life the wicked are above law and responsibility to man; and that their memory; instead of perishing, as the friends maintained, lived on in magnificent tombs and the abiding power of an evil life. In thus urging the general prosperity of the wicked, Job has pushed his plea to the extreme of dogmatism, and in argument committed an error similar to that of his opponents, thus leaving a gap in his defence which gives rise to a renewal of the controversy. It is to be remarked that the first of Job’s discourses since his triumph of faith in the nineteenth chapter, (25-27,) like the others yet to follow, is marked by calm and dispassionate argument; by a greater freedom from personalities; by a more confident view of the darkest phases of evil; and by a faith which the darkness around him has no more power to disturb than the shadow of the night has to unsettle the fastnesses of the mountain, all which is in itself an earnest of the victory soon to follow. Exordium — If the friends will but give him a proper hearing, Job will speak of an astounding anomaly in the moral world, the mere contemplation of which fills his soul with terror, 2-6.

V. 2. Hear, &c.-If you have no other comfort to administer, at least afford me this. And it will be a comfort to yourselves in the reflection, to have dealt tenderly with your afflicted friend.

Verse 2. Let this be your consolations.] תנחומתיכם זאת yhtw uthehi zoth tanchumotheychem may be translated, “And let this be your retractations.” Let what I am about to say induce you to retract what you have said, and to recall your false judgments.

נחם nacham signifies, not only to comfort, but to change one’s mind, to repent; hence the Vulgate translates et agite pænitentiam, “and repent,” which Coverdale follows in his version, and amende yourselves. Some suppose the verse to be understood ironically: I am now about to give you consolations for those you have given me. When I have done, then turn them into mockery if you please.

Verses 2, 3. Hear diligently my speech — If you have no other comfort to administer, at least afford me this: be so kind, so just, as to give me a patient hearing: and let this be your consolations — I shall accept of it instead of those consolations which you owed to me in this my distressed condition, and which I expected from you. And it will be a consolation to yourselves in the reflection, to have dealt tenderly with your afflicted friend. Suffer me to speak — Without such interruption as you have given me. And after I have spoken, mock on — If I do not defend my cause with solid and convincing arguments, go on in your scoffs.

Verse 2. Consolations. µjn nicham, though mostly translated consolation, comfort &c., as in Isaiah 40:1; is in several places understood of a change of mind, or of repentance. So in Judges 21., when the people wept because one tribe was lacking in Israel; and when the Lord repented that he had made Saul king. 1 Samuel 15:35. So it should here be rendered, Job having endeavoured to bring his friends to a change of sentiment concerning his case.

2. Your consolations — The consolations you give. As you have no other solace to administer, yield me what little there is in attentive listening. The best consolation is often that of silence.

V. 3. Speak-without interruption. Mock-If I do not defend my cause with solid arguments, go on in your scoffs.

Verses 2, 3. Hear diligently my speech — If you have no other comfort to administer, at least afford me this: be so kind, so just, as to give me a patient hearing: and let this be your consolations — I shall accept of it instead of those consolations which you owed to me in this my distressed condition, and which I expected from you. And it will be a consolation to yourselves in the reflection, to have dealt tenderly with your afflicted friend. Suffer me to speak — Without such interruption as you have given me. And after I have spoken, mock on — If I do not defend my cause with solid and convincing arguments, go on in your scoffs.

3. Mock on — Literally, thou mayest mock. He means Zophar, whose remarks were thus far the most cruel and lacerating of all. In his would-be coup-de-grace Zophar exhausted himself, and speaks no more. Job’s individualizing of Zophar here, as of Eliphaz in Job 16:3, and of Bildad in Job 26:2-4, spurs the sufferer up to the highest strains of oratory.

V. 4. Is-I do not make my complaint to, or expect relief from you, or from any men, but from God only: I am pouring forth my complaints to God. If-If my complaint were to man, have I not cause?

Verse 4. As for me] yknah heanochi, “Alas for me!” Is it not with a man that I speak? And, if this be the case, why should not my spirit be troubled? I do not reply against my Maker: I suffer much from God and man; why then may I not have the privilege of complaining to creatures like myself?

Verse 4. Is my complaint to man? — No: if it were, I see it would be to little purpose to complain. I do not make my complaint to, or expect relief from you, or from any men; but from God only. I am pouring forth my complaints to him; to him I appeal. Let him be judge between you and me. Before him we stand upon equal terms, and, therefore, I have the privilege of being heard as well as you. And if it were so — If my complaint were to man; why should not my spirit be troubled? — Would I not have cause to be troubled? For they would not regard, nor even rightly understand me; but my complaint is to God, who will suffer me to speak, though you will not.

4. To man — To in the sense of concerning. His complaint is not in regard to man, but God, the superhuman source of his woe. Troubled — Literally, shortened — the Hebrew phrase for impatient.

V. 5. Mark-Consider what I am about to say concerning the prosperity of the worst of men, and the pressures of some good men, and it is able to fill you with astonishment. Lay, &c.-Be silent.

Verse 5. Mark me, and be astonished] Consider and compare the state in which I was once, with that in which I am now; and be astonished at the judgments and dispensations of God. You will then be confounded; you will put your hands upon your mouths, and keep silent. Putting the hand on the mouth, or the finger on the lips, was the token of silence. The Egyptian god Harpocrates, who was the god of silence, is represented with his finger compressing his upper lip.

Verse 5. Mark me, and be astonished — Consider what I am about to say, concerning the wonderful prosperity of the worst of men, and the pressures of some good men; and it will fill you with astonishment at the mysterious conduct of Divine Providence herein. And lay your hand upon your mouth — Be silent: quietly wait the issue; and judge nothing before the time. God’s way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters. When we cannot account for what he doth, in suffering the wicked to prosper, and the godly to be afflicted, nor fathom the depth of those proceedings, it becomes us to sit down and admire them. Upright men shall be astonished at this, chap. 17:8. Be you so.

5. Hand upon your mouth — (Compare Job 40:4; Proverbs 30:32; Micah 7:16.) The Egyptian mode of indicating silence was by placing the hand on the mouth. One of their deities, Horus, is represented as a child seated on a lotus leaf with his finger on his lips. This attitude however, Wilkinson thinks, was only illustrative of his extreme youth.

V. 6. Remember-The very remembrance of what is past, fills me with dread and horror.

Verse 6. I am afraid] I am about to speak of the mysterious workings of Providence; and I tremble at the thought of entering into a detail on such a subject; my very flesh trembles.

Verse 6. Even when I remember I am afraid, &c. — The very remembrance of what is past fills me with dread and horror. As Job well knew that the account he was about to give of the prosperity of wicked men, however necessary to his argument, would have something shocking in it to the ears of those to whom it was addressed, the delicacy with which he thus introduces it is inimitable.

6. Even when I remember — Verily if I think upon it. The thoughts with which he is burdened arraign the administration of God, and cause him to shudder.

Main division — THE DIVINE ADMINISTRATION OF AWARDS IN THIS WORLD TENDS TO

Verse 7. Wherefore do the wicked live] You have frequently asserted that the wicked are invariably punished in this life; and that the righteous are ever distinguished by the strongest marks of God’s providential kindness; how then does it come that many wicked men live long and prosperously, and at last die in peace, without any evidence whatever of God’s displeasure? This is a fact that is occurring daily; none can deny it; how then will you reconcile it with your maxims?

Verse 7. Wherefore do the wicked live? — That is, long and happily: become old? — Namely, in their prosperous state: yea, are mighty in power? — Are preferred to places of authority and trust, and not only make a great figure, but bear a great sway? Now, if things be as you say, how comes this to pass? Wherefore does the righteous God distribute things so unequally? “The description, which follows, of a prosperous estate is such as might, indeed, justly create envy, were a wicked man, in any state, to be envied; for we have here the chief ingredients of human happiness, as it respects this life, brought together and described in terms exactly suiting the simplicity of manners, and the way of living in Job’s time and country, as, first, security and safety to themselves and families; verse 9. Their houses are safe from fear — Of the incursions of robbers, we may suppose, or the depredations of the neighbouring clans, so usual in those ancient times, and of which Job had felt the mischievous effects. Next health, or a freedom from diseases, called in the language of that age, the rod of God. See 1 Samuel 26:10. To this is added plenty of cattle, the riches of those times; verse 10. Next comes a numerous and hopeful offspring; and what a rural picture has he drawn of them! verse 11. They send forth their little ones like a flock — Of sheep or goats, as the word signifies, in great numbers, and with sweet concord, which is a singular delight to them and their parents. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe; verse 12. Lastly, and to crown all, after a prosperous and pleasant life comes an easy death. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave — That is, their days pass on in a continual flow of prosperity, till they drop into the grave without a groan. As every thing in this divine poem is wonderful, there is scarce any thing more to be admired in it than the variety of descriptions which are given us of human life, in its most exalted prosperity, on the one hand, and its deepest distress on the other: for this is what their subject led them to enlarge upon on both sides; with this only difference, that the three friends were for limiting prosperity to the good, whereas Job insists upon a mixed distribution of things from the hand of Providence; but as all of them, in every speech almost, enlarge upon one or other of these topics, the variety of imagery and colouring in which they paint to us these different estates, all drawn from nature, and suiting the simplicity of those ancient times, is inexpressibly amusing and entertaining: then their being considered as the dispensations of Providence, and it being represented that we can receive neither good nor evil but from God, the judge of all, a point acknowledged on both hands, is what renders these descriptions interesting and affecting to us in the highest degree; and the whole affords no contemptible argument of the antiquity of the book. See Peters and Dodd.

CONFOUND MORAL DISTINCTIONS, 7-26.

First half — THE WICKED DEFY GOD, AND YET GOD PROSPERS THEM EVEN UNTO SHEOL, 7-16.

First strophe — Instead of suffering punishment, as Zophar maintained, the wicked live, grow old surrounded by their families, and safe from the discipline of Heaven, 7-11.

7. Wherefore do the wicked live — Zophar’s assertion (Job 20:5,) calls forth the counter thesis of this verse. The existence of evil is a mystery, among the first to perplex and the last to leave the mind. The question why the wicked live is but one of its phases, and is of personal interest, for it concerns ourselves. The question does not so often assume the form why we should live, as why others should, whom we suppose to be much more depraved than ourselves. Its solution is much simplified if we confine the thought to ourselves, for extreme wickedness is but the outgrowth of a nature that we share in common with the wicked. In such case of reflection upon ourselves and others there will readily be suggested: 1. The possibilities for good in all moral existence; 2. That the freedom of the will devolves upon the human agent the responsibility of perverted life; and, 3. Perfection of being can seemingly be secured only amid the most adverse influences of trial, for Christ himself was made “perfect through suffering,” one large element of which was meted out at the hand of the wicked. Science resolves its nebulae; but this cloud of mystery defies all resolution, and may continue so to do forever. Goethe has said profoundly, “Man is not born to solve the mystery of existence, but he must nevertheless attempt it, that he may learn to keep within the limits of the knowable.” For Plutarch’s views on the protracted life of the wicked, see Meth. Quar. Revelation, 1852, pp. 399-401; or Bib. Sacra, 1856, pp. 616-619.

Verse 8. Their seed is established] They see their own children grow up, and become settled in the land; and behold their children’s children also; so that their generations are not cut off. Even the posterity of the wicked continue.

8. Their offspring — The children of the wicked live on, while his own are dead. The thought which he twice repeats in this verse, and which he resumes in the 11th, by contrast points most pathetically to the darkest phase of his inexpressible calamity, of which it is to be remarked he never directly speaks. This very silence, more eloquent than words, is the natural outgrowth of untold calamity, (Job 6:3.) The naturalness of the book, seemingly beyond the power of invention, must impress the reader at every step.

Verse 9. Neither is the rod of God upon them.] They are not afflicted as other men.

9. The rod of God — In the sense of scourge. Same as in Job 9:34.

10. Comp. Genesis 31:38; Exodus 23:26.

Verse 10. Their bull gendereth] rb[ ibbar, passes over, i.e., on the cow, referring to the actions of the bull when coupling with the female. Their flocks multiply greatly, they bring forth in time, and none of them is barren.

CONFOUND MORAL DISTINCTIONS, 7-26.

First half — THE WICKED DEFY GOD, AND YET GOD PROSPERS THEM EVEN UNTO SHEOL, 7-16.

First strophe — Instead of suffering punishment, as Zophar maintained, the wicked live, grow old surrounded by their families, and safe from the discipline of Heaven, 7-11.

7. Wherefore do the wicked live — Zophar’s assertion (Job 20:5,) calls forth the counter thesis of this verse. The existence of evil is a mystery, among the first to perplex and the last to leave the mind. The question why the wicked live is but one of its phases, and is of personal interest, for it concerns ourselves. The question does not so often assume the form why we should live, as why others should, whom we suppose to be much more depraved than ourselves. Its solution is much simplified if we confine the thought to ourselves, for extreme wickedness is but the outgrowth of a nature that we share in common with the wicked. In such case of reflection upon ourselves and others there will readily be suggested: 1. The possibilities for good in all moral existence; 2. That the freedom of the will devolves upon the human agent the responsibility of perverted life; and, 3. Perfection of being can seemingly be secured only amid the most adverse influences of trial, for Christ himself was made “perfect through suffering,” one large element of which was meted out at the hand of the wicked. Science resolves its nebulae; but this cloud of mystery defies all resolution, and may continue so to do forever. Goethe has said profoundly, “Man is not born to solve the mystery of existence, but he must nevertheless attempt it, that he may learn to keep within the limits of the knowable.” For Plutarch’s views on the protracted life of the wicked, see Meth. Quar. Revelation, 1852, pp. 399-401; or Bib. Sacra, 1856, pp. 616-619.

Verse 11. They send forth their little ones] It is not very clear whether this refers to the young of the flocks or to their children. The first clause may mean the former, the next clause the latter; while the young of their cattle are in flocks, their numerous children are healthy and vigorous, and dance for joy.

11. Like a flock — His wounded heart conceives of the choicest of God’s gifts under the beautiful figure of a flock. Epiphanius has observed that in the early ages of the world the child rarely died before the parent. Hence the emphasis laid upon the death of Haran before that of his father, Terah, (Genesis 11:28,) who, he thinks, was thus punished for his idolatry. (Joshua 24:2, 14.) The thought of his dead family must have added to the perplexities of Job, and may account somewhat for his confusion as to the moral government of God. Children dance — dqw, jump about, (Delitzsch,) like the young of the flocks. The children of the wicked disport themselves under the skies (this is implied by wjlvy, they send them forth, namely, out of doors) like the sheep of the pastures. (Umbreit.) There is no evidence that their diversion corresponded to the modern dance. The harmless frolicking of the children was simply one of the features of domestic happiness that crowned the homes of the wicked. While the passage has no bearing on the question of dancing, as such, it is not unworthy of remark that the moralist, having in view the well-being of the soul, has ever felt himself called upon to condemn dancing as practiced in modern times.

Second strophe — Contrary to all desert, and defiant of God, the wicked attain to the highest earthly good, not through themselves, but by the agency of God — a divine enigma from which the soul recoils, but without suspense of faith, 12-16.

Verse 12. They take the timbrel and harp] wacy yisu, they rise up or lift themselves up, probably alluding to the rural exercise of dancing. ãt toph, which we translate timbrel, means a sort of drum, such as the tom-tom of the Asiatics.

rwnk kinnor may mean something of the harp kind.

bgw[ ugab, organ, means nothing like the instrument now called the organ, though thus translated both by the Septuagint and Vulgate; it probably means the syrinx, composed of several unequal pipes, close at the bottom, which when blown into at the top, gives a very shrill and lively sound. To these instruments the youth are represented as dancing joyfully. Mr. Good translates: “They trip merrily to the sound of the pipe.” And illustrates his translation with the following verse:—

“Now pursuing, now retreating,

Now in circling troops they meet;

To brisk notes in cadence beating,

Glance their many twinkling feet.”

The original is intended to convey the true notion of the gambols of the rustic nymphs and swains on festival occasions, and let it be observed that this is spoken of the children of those who say unto God, “Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have if we pray unto him?” Job 21:14, 15. Is it any wonder that the children of such parents should be living to the flesh, and serving the lusts of the flesh? for neither they nor their parents know God, nor pray unto him.

Ver. 12. Rejoice at the sound of the organ, a species of wind instrument not now exactly known. Job keeps a princely patriarch fully in view, living in affluence like himself and his three friends.

12. They take — Literally, They lift up (the voice) with the tabret, etc. The timbrel — Toph, (comp. Genesis 31:27,) appears to have been a small hand drum, such as was known among the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, and Hebrews. It is still in use in the East, and is called by the Arabians, doff; in Spanish, adufe. The ancient Egyptian drum, according to Engel, was from two to three feet in length, and covered with parchment, like our own, and was beaten by the hands at both ends. The harp — Kinnor, supposed by Wilkinson to have been the lyre, was probably the earliest musical instrument invented by man. Genesis 4:21. The annexed engraving is of one of the figures in an Egyptian painting discovered in a tomb at Beni-Hassan. It represents the arrival and introduction of one of a company of foreigners to the owner of the tomb, who was evidently one of the principal officers of the reigning Pharaoh. Wilkinson surmises that they may be Jews, and not improbably of the family of Jacob. All the men wear beards, contrary to the custom of the Egyptians. The last two accompany a laden ass, one of them holding a bow and club, the other (as in the engraving) a lyre, which he plays with the plectrum. (Ancient Egyptians, ii, p. 296.) See note, Genesis 47:2. Organ — ngw[, ‘hougab, was a perforated wind instrument of some kind, probably the pipe. (Genesis 4:21.) It seems to have been known to most ancient nations. There has been discovered in the ruins of Susa a figure in baked clay representing a female playing upon a pipe. (ENGEL, Music of Most Ancient Nations, p. 77.) Thus we have the three different representative kinds of musical instruments: first, of percussion; secondly, stringed instruments; and, thirdly, wind instruments.

V. 13. Moment-They do not die of a lingering and tormenting disease.

Verse 13. They spend their days in wealth] There is a various reading here of some importance. In the text we have wlby yeballu, they grow old, or wear out as with old age, terent vetustate; and in the margin, wlky yechallu, they consume; and the Masora states that this is one of the eleven words which are written with b beth and must be read with k caph. Several editions have the former word in the text, and the latter in the margin; the former being what is called the kethib, the latter keri. wlby yeballu, they grow old, or wear out, is the reading of the Antwerp, Paris, and London Polyglots; wlky yechallu, they accomplish or spend, is the reading of the Complutensian Polyglot, thirteen of Kennicott’s and Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS., the Septuagint, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Vulgate has ducunt, “they lead or spend,” from which our translation is borrowed. I incline to the former, as Job’s argument derives considerable strength from this circumstance; they not only spend their days in faring sumptuously every day; but they even wear out so as to grow old in it; they are not cut off by any sudden judgment of God. This is fact; therefore your doctrine, that the wicked are cut off suddenly and have but a short time, is far from the truth.

In a moment go down to the grave.] They wear out their years in pleasure; grow old in their gay and giddy life; and die, as in a moment, without previous sickness; or, as Mr. Good has it, They quietly descend into the grave.

Verse 13. They spend their days in wealth — Hebrews bwcb, batob, in good: en agaqoiv, LXX., in good things: in deliciis, in delights, Arab. ver.: that is, in the enjoyment of all the good things of this life without any mixture of evil. And in a moment go down to the grave — They do not die of a lingering disease, as many good men die, but suddenly and sweetly.

13. Spend their days — They wear out — make the most of — life. “In connexion with this, one thinks of a coat which is not laid aside until it isentirely worn out.” — Delitzsch. Wealth bwc — Septuagint, good things. Dives also had his “good things.” The life and burial of Dives have several points in common with Job’s description of the wicked rich man. In a moment — Their lot brings no grievous protracted sickness — “there are no bands in their death.” Having no idea of repentance, and no sense of eternal things, they evidently esteemed sudden death desirable. Suetonius tells us that Augustus Caesar expired suddenly, dying a very easy death, and such as he himself had always wished for. (xcix.) The grave — Sheol.

V. 14. Therefore-Because of their constant prosperity. Say-Sometimes in words, but commonly in their thoughts and the language of their lives.

Verse 14. They say unto God ] This is the language of their conduct, though not directly of their lips.

Depart from us] Let us alone; we do not trouble thee. Thy ways are painful; we do not like cross-bearing. Thy ways are spiritual; we wish to live after the flesh. We have learned to do our own will; we do not wish to study thine.

Verse 14. Therefore — Because of their constant prosperity, they say unto God — Sometimes in words, but commonly in their thoughts and affections, and by the language of their lives, Depart from us — Let us not be troubled with the apprehension of our being under God’s eye, nor be restrained by the fear of him. Or, they bid him depart as one they do not need, nor have any occasion to apply to for help or comfort. The world is the portion which they have chosen, and with which they are satisfied, and in which they think themselves happy, and while they have that they can live without God. Justly will God say to them, Depart, who have bid him depart; and justly doth he now take them at their word. We desire not the knowledge of thy ways — Much less the practice of them. They that are resolved not to walk in God’s ways, desire not to know them, because their knowledge would be a continual reproach to their disobedience.

14. Therefore — Better, And yet they say unto God. Depart from us — This is the practical language of all irreligious life; the language of God at the last day is retributively the same, Depart from me. “If religion cost something, the want of it will cost infinitely more.” Lest after such a repulse even yet, in his love and mercy, he should draw nigh unto them, they say unto God: “We desire not the knowledge of thy ways.” “They seem to take as much care to guard against the inroad of ideas from that solemn quarter as the inhabitants of Holland do against the irruption of the sea… they endeavour to raise the groves of an earthly paradise to shade from sight that vista which opens to the distance of eternity.” — JNO. FOSTER, Essays, iv, lect. 8.

Verse 15. What is the Almighty] What allegiance do we owe to him? We feel no obligation to obey him; and what profit can we derive from prayer? We are as happy as flesh and blood can make us: our kingdom is of this world; we wish for no other portion than that which we have. Those who have never prayed as they ought know nothing of the benefits of prayer.

Verse 15. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? — What is he to us? What excellence is there in him? What advantage have we, or can we expect from him? Strange that ever creatures should speak so insolently respecting their Creator, on whom they are every moment dependant for life, and breath, and all things! that ever reasonable creatures should speak so absurdly and unreasonably concerning their Redeemer and Saviour, their Governor and their Judge! The two great bonds, by which we are drawn and held to religion, are those of duty and interest; but here they endeavour to break both those bonds asunder. They will not own that they owe him any worship or service, nor will they believe that they should be a whit the better for serving him.

15. What is the Almighty — The almost identical language of Pharaoh. (Exodus 5:2.) The reason for their repulse of God is threefold and comprehensive — they desire neither his knowledge, service, nor worship.

V. 16. Lo-But wicked men have no reason to reject God, because of their prosperity, for their wealth, is not in their hand; neither obtained, nor kept by their own might, but only by God’s power and favour. Therefore I am far from approving their opinion, or following their course.

Verse 16. Their good is not in their hand] With all their boasting and self-dependence, God only lends them his bounty; and though it appears to be their own, yet it is at his disposal. Some of the wicked he permits to live and die in affluence, provided it be acquired in the ordinary way of his providence, by trade, commerce, &c. Others he permits to possess it for a while only, and then strips them of their illegally procured property. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.] Some understand the words thus: “Far be it from me to advocate the cause of the wicked.” I have nothing in common with them, and am not their apologist. I state a fact: they are often found in continual prosperity. I state another fact: they are often found in wretchedness and misery.

Verse 16. Lo, their good is not in their hand — These words, says Chappelow, will be more consistent with what goes before, if read with an interrogation; namely, Lo, is not their good in their hand? that is, Is not every thing in their power? Do they not enjoy whatever they desire? To this purpose, he observes, is Sol. Jarchi’s comment. Most commentators, however, read the words without an interrogation, which is certainly more agreeable to the Hebrew text. And Poole, with Henry and several others, consider them as containing an answer to the foregoing questions, and a confutation of the ungodly opinion and practice mentioned verses 14, 15, as if he had said, Wicked men have no reason to reject God, because of their prosperity, for their wealth is not in their hand; neither obtained nor kept by their own might, but only by God’s power and favour. Therefore I am far from approving their opinion, or following their course. “After the foregoing elegant description of the prosperity of some wicked men,” says Dr. Dodd, “Job proceeds, on the other hand, to confess what was likewise apparent in the ways of Providence, that some of them were as remarkably distinguished by their wretchedness, being exposed to the most dreadful evils and calamities. He knew that while he had been recounting the prosperity of the wicked, he had touched upon a tender point, to which his adversaries would be apt to give a wrong turn, as if he had been pleading the cause of iniquity. He therefore guards against their entertaining any idea of that kind, in this verse, in which he speaks to this purpose: ‘Do not imagine that because I say the wicked sometimes prosper, therefore, I believe their prosperity to be owing to themselves, or in their own hand or power. God forbid that I should give such a countenance to impiety! No; though they may thus presumptuously imagine with themselves, I am not of their opinion, nor yet of their society; the counsel of the wicked is far from me — I know that all the happiness that they can boast is merely by the will and sufferance of Almighty God, and that sometimes he is pleased to make them terrible examples of his justice.’” Of which he speaks in the following verses to verse 21.

Ver. 16. Lo, their food is not in their hand. Behold, their happiness is not in their power.—SCHULTENS. Let the counsel of the wicked be far from me. God in a moment can extinguish their candle.

16. Their good — This verse is parenthetical. Notwithstanding their godlessness, God gives them good. (The same word as wealth in verse 13.) He, not they, is the author of their happiness, which to Job is an astounding feature of moral government. Astounded at himself, he adds, The counsel of the wicked, far be it from me! (Job 22:18.) Job’s exclamation is of great moment in its bearing upon the problem of the book. (Job 1:11; 2:5.) Instead of repudiating God, he repudiates the entire counsel and views (hx[) of the wicked. Right in the midst of the whirlpool we still see the brow of the rock, and feel it is immovable.

Second half of main division — ANTITHETIC DEMONSTRATION OF THE PRECEDING PROPOSITION, DERIVED FROM EXPERIENCE, (Zockler,) 17-26.

First strophe — Even if the pitiable pretence of the friends be true, that the children of the wicked suffer if the parent himself does not, it does not meet the difficulty, since it is no punishment for the wicked man in his supreme selfishness, 17-21.

V. 17. Often-I grant that this happens often though not constantly, as you affirm. Lamp-Their glory and outward happiness.

Verse 17. How oft is the candle of the wicked put out?] The candle or lamp is often used, both as the emblem of prosperity and of posterity. Oftentimes the rejoicing of the wicked is short; and, not unfrequently, his seed is cut off from the earth. The root is dried up, and the branch is withered.

God distributeth sorrows in his anger.] He must be incensed against those who refuse to know, serve, and pray unto him. In his anger, therefore, he portions out to each his due share of misery, vexation, and wo.

Verse 17. How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! — Or, lamp, that is, their glory or outward happiness. I grant that this happens often, though not constantly, as you affirm. This certainly best agrees, both with the use of this phraseology in Scripture, in which it always signifies that a thing is done frequently, and never that it is done but seldom; and with the foregoing words, which contain a reason why the counsel of the wicked was far from him, namely, because they often pay dear for their wickedness in this life, and always in the life to come. This sense of the words also agrees best with the following verses, in which he discourses largely, not of the prosperity of the wicked, (as he should have done, if he had intended to say that such were but seldom afflicted,) but of their calamities.

17. How oft — Bildad’s assertion. (Job 18:5, 6; see note,) that the light of the wicked is put out, is answered by a question of doubt, (How oft?) in the sense of not often, seldom. Bildad also had spoken of destruction “ready at his side.” God distributeth, etc. — Better, doth he in his anger distribute sorrows? Sorrows — Delitzsch and Umbreit render snares, in allusion to the great variety of snares Bildad describes: (Job 18:8-10) but better as in the text.

Verse 18. They are as stubble before the wind] “His fan is in his hand; he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, but shall be like the chaff which the wind driveth away.” Were not this a common thought, I should have supposed that the author of this book borrowed it from Psalm 1:4. The original signifies that they shall be carried away by a furious storm; and borne off as booty is by the swift-riding robbers of the desert, who make a sudden irruption, and then set off at full speed with their prey.

Verse 18. They are as stubble before the wind, &c. — That is, their destruction shall be speedy, certain, and irrecoverable. Thus he goes on to concede to his adversaries, “that wicked men are sometimes thus severely punished, as they in their speeches had been fond of representing; but then he had before shown, that they were sometimes as remarkably prosperous; and this made way for a third particular, which is indeed his general assertion all along, and the medium by which he endeavoured to convince them of the rashness of their censures and suspicions of him; namely, that things are dealt out here promiscuously, and without any strict regard to merit or demerit.” — Dodd.

18. As stubble — To be read as a question: (how oft) are they as stubble before the wind? etc. (Compare Job 20:8, 9.)

V. 19. Layeth up-In his treasures, Romans 2:5. Iniquity-The punishment of his iniquity; he will punish him both in his person and in his posterity.

Verse 19. God layeth up his iniquity for his children] This is according to the declaration of God, Exodus 20:5: “Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” This always supposes that the children, who are thus visited, have copied their parents’ example; or that ill-gotten property is found in their hands, which has descended to them from their wicked fathers; and of this God, in his judgments, strips them. It is, however, very natural to suppose that children brought up without the fear of God will walk in the sight of their own eyes, and according to the imaginations of their own hearts.

He rewardeth him, and he shall know it.] He shall so visit his transgressions upon him, that he shall at last discern that it is God who hath done it. And thus they will find that there would have been profit in serving him, and safety in praying unto him. But this they have neglected, and now it is too late.

Verses 19, 20. God layeth up — Namely, in his treasures; his iniquity — Or rather, the punishment of his iniquity; that is, He will punish him both in his person and in his posterity. His eyes shall see his destruction — That is, he shall be destroyed, as to see death, is to die, Psalm 89:48; Hebrews 11:5; and to see affliction, or any kind of evil, is to feel it, Psalm 90:15; and to see good, is to enjoy it, Job 7:7, and 9:25. Or, this phrase may be emphatical; he shall foresee his ruin hastening toward him, and not be able to prevent or avoid it: he shall sensibly feel himself sinking and perishing, which aggravates his misery. He shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty — Not sip or taste, but drink; which word commonly denotes receiving abundance of the thing spoken of.

19. Iniquity — ˆwa also signifies “calamity,” “wealth” — a network of meanings exceedingly suggestive. One of the positions taken by the friends of Job was, “God layeth up the iniquity of the wicked for his children,” (Job 5:4; 20:10;) if he does not visit it upon the parents, he certainly does upon the children. Horace has a similar thought:

Delicta majorum immeritus lues Romane.

Thou, O Roman, innocent

Shalt suffer for the sins of thy ancestors.

Cicero, on the other hand, denounces the principle that “if a wicked man die without suffering for his crimes, the gods should inflict a punishment on his children, his children’s children, and all his posterity.” (De Nat. Deorum, 3:38.) Job’s reply commences with the second clause, which should read: Upon him (the wicked man himself) should He (God) requite that he may know, that is, feel it — the transgressor is the proper person to suffer.

V. 20. See-He shall be destroyed; as to see death, is to die.

Verse 20. His eyes shall see his destruction] He shall perceive its approach, and have the double punishment of fearing and feeling; feeling a THOUSAND deaths in fearing ONE.

He shall drink of the wrath] The cup of God’s wrath, the cup of trembling, &c., is frequently expressed or referred to in the sacred writings, Deuteronomy 32:33; Isaiah 51:17-22; Jeremiah 25:15; Revelation 14:8. It appears to be a metaphor taken from those cups of poison which certain criminals were obliged to drink. A cup of the juice of hemlock was the wrath or punishment assigned by the Athenian magistrates to the philosopher Socrates.

Verses 19, 20. God layeth up — Namely, in his treasures; his iniquity — Or rather, the punishment of his iniquity; that is, He will punish him both in his person and in his posterity. His eyes shall see his destruction — That is, he shall be destroyed, as to see death, is to die, Psalm 89:48; Hebrews 11:5; and to see affliction, or any kind of evil, is to feel it, Psalm 90:15; and to see good, is to enjoy it, Job 7:7, and 9:25. Or, this phrase may be emphatical; he shall foresee his ruin hastening toward him, and not be able to prevent or avoid it: he shall sensibly feel himself sinking and perishing, which aggravates his misery. He shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty — Not sip or taste, but drink; which word commonly denotes receiving abundance of the thing spoken of.

20. His eyes shall see — Better, His eyes should see… and he should drink, etc. Job is still answering the insufficient theory of substitution. It is right that the parent, not the child should see destruction.

V. 21. For, &c.-What delight can ye take in the thoughts of his posterity, when he is dying an untimely death? When that number of months, which by the course of nature, he might have lived, is cut off by violence.

Verse 21. For what pleasure hath he in his house after him] What may happen to his posterity he neither knows nor cares for, as he is now numbered with the dead, and numbered with them before he had lived out half his years. Some have translated the verse thus: “Behold how speedily God destroys the house of the wicked after him! How he shortens the number of his months!”

Verse 21. What pleasure hath he in his house after him? — As for what befalls his children when he is dead, he concerns not himself; he is not affected with their felicity or misery, irreligion commonly making men unnatural. And therefore God punishes both him and his children while he lives, verses 19, 20. Or, the meaning may be, what delight can he take in the thoughts of the glory and happiness of his posterity, when he finds he is dying a violent and untimely death? Thus, this is a further proof, that this man is neither happy in himself, nor with reference to his posterity. When the number, &c. When that number of months, which, by his constitution, and the course of nature, he might have lived, is diminished, and cut off by the hand of violence.

Ver. 21. What pleasure hath he in his house after him? wxpj chephzoo, designates business, or causing his family to do his pleasure after death. Then the sense is, Can he reign in the tomb by testamentary limitations?

21. Pleasure — xpj sometimes bears a wider meaning of “concern,” “interest,” (Job 32:3; Isaiah 58:3,) “business.” What interest has he in his house (family) after he is dead? Their misery cannot trouble him, because he knows nothing about it. (Job 14:21; Ecclesiastes 9:5.) Is cut off… midst — The root idea of wxxj is found in xj, an arrow, and is kindred with the Arable housas, “speed,” “swiftness of course,” and here points to the completion of life; and (if) the number of his months flows away, or is completed. Zockler and Dillmann, with substantially the same idea, read: “Whilst the number of his months is allotted to him.” All he is concerned about is, that he may live out the measure of his days. A stroke of the brush depicts the supreme selfishness of the wicked. Second strophe — The unequal distribution of earthly bliss extends to the deathbed, and ceases only in the grave, without, however, furnishing any indication of moral character, 22-26.

V. 22. Teach-How to govern the world? For so you do, while you tell him that he must not afflict the godly, nor give the wicked prosperity. That he must invariably punish the wicked, and reward the righteous in this world. No: he will act as sovereign, and with great variety in his providential dispensations. High-The highest persons, on earth, he exactly knows them, and gives sentence concerning them, as he sees fit.

Verse 22. Shall any teach God knowledge?] Who among the sons of men can pretend to teach GOD how to govern the world, who himself teaches those that are high—the heavenly inhabitants, that excel us infinitely both in knowledge and wisdom? Neither angels nor men can comprehend the reasons of the Divine providence. It is a depth known only to God.

Verse 22. Shall any teach God knowledge — How to govern the world? For so you do while you tell him that he must not afflict the godly, nor give the wicked prosperity; that he must invariably punish the wicked, and reward the righteous in this world. No: he will act as sovereign, and with great variety in his providential dispensations. Seeing he judgeth those that are high — The highest persons on earth, he exactly knows them, and gives sentence concerning them, as he sees fit. Thus, as Job had introduced the foregoing particular, namely, that wicked men are sometimes severely punished in this world, by an easy transition, at verse 16; so, by another as easy, he here introduces the remaining article of his discourse above mentioned, namely, that God deals out things promiscuously in this world, not according to men’s merit or demerit, which he pursues in the following verses.

22. Teach God knowledge — Prescribe to God what he ought to do! (Job 20:23,) who is perfectly competent to administer his own government. Those that are high — Literally, For he judgeth the high, that is, angels. (Job 4:18; 15:15.)

Verse 23. One dieth in his full strength] In this and the three following verses Job shows that the inequality of fortune, goods, health, strength, &c., decides nothing either for or against persons in reference to the approbation or disapprobation of God, as these various lots are no indications of their wickedness or innocence. One has a sudden, another a lingering death; but by none of these can their eternal states be determined.

Verses 23, 24. One dieth in his full strength — In a state of perfect health, and strength, and prosperity; all which this phrase implies. His breasts are full of milk — The Hebrew word, ˆyc[, gnatin, here rendered breasts, is not elsewhere used in Scripture, and therefore is translated different ways. Houbigant renders the clause, When his bowels are loaden with fatness. Others, When his milk-pails are full of milk; or, his oil-vessels are full of fatness. And his bones are moistened with marrow — Which is opposed to that dryness of the bones (Job 30:30; Psalm 102:3;) which is caused by old age or grievous distempers and calamities.

23. One dieth — The wicked man whose life of uninterrupted prosperity he proceeds to describe.

Verse 24. His breasts are full of milk] The word wynyc[ atinaiv, which occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, is most likely an Arabic term, but probably so provincial as to be now lost. [Arabic] atana signifies to macerate hides so as to take off the hair: hence Mr. Good thinks it means here, that sleekness of skin which is the effect of fatness both in man and beast. But as the radical idea signifies to stink, as leather does which is thus macerated, I cannot see how this meaning can apply here. Under the root ˆc[ atan, Mr. Parkhurst gives the following definitions: “ˆc[ occurs, not as a verb, but as a noun masculine plural, in construction, ynyc[ atiney, the bowels, intestines; once Job 21:24, wynyc[ atinaiv, his bowels or intestines, are full of, or abound with, blj chalab, fat. So the LXX.: ta de egkata autou plhrh steatov. The VULGATE: Viscera, ejus plena sent adipe, ‘his intestines are full of fat.’ May not µynyc[ atinim be a noun masculine plural from hc[ atah, to involve, formed as גליונים gailyonim, mirrors, from hlg galah, to reveal? And may nor the intestines, including those fatty parts, the mesentery and omentum, be so called on account of their wonderful involutions?” I think this conjecture to be as likely as any that has yet been formed.

Verses 23, 24. One dieth in his full strength — In a state of perfect health, and strength, and prosperity; all which this phrase implies. His breasts are full of milk — The Hebrew word, ˆyc[, gnatin, here rendered breasts, is not elsewhere used in Scripture, and therefore is translated different ways. Houbigant renders the clause, When his bowels are loaden with fatness. Others, When his milk-pails are full of milk; or, his oil-vessels are full of fatness. And his bones are moistened with marrow — Which is opposed to that dryness of the bones (Job 30:30; Psalm 102:3;) which is caused by old age or grievous distempers and calamities.

Ver. 24. His breasts are full of milk. To ascribe full breasts to a male requires apology, which is not easy to make. Some critics translate mulctralia, his pails are full of milk; but that idea has no connection with his bones being moistened with marrow. The sense is, that his constitution is full of vigour and blooming health. Still the figure is left without support from any classical author.

24. His breasts — The Vulgate followed the Septuagint in rendering this troublesome word, ˆyc[, thus: “His inwards are full of fat.” Furst and Rodwell, among others, conceive that the parallelism of the text demands some part of the human body: the former of them consequently rendering ‘hatin “veins;” the latter, “loins.” Schlottmann, on the other hand, observes that, “In contrast to the well-watered marrow, one expects a reference to a rich, nutritious drink.” The Hebrew word occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures, and is apparently of foreign origin, perhaps kindred with the Arabic hatan, “resting places,” (for herds,) an idea which Hitzig accepts. Delitzsch, Dillmann, and Zockler read, “his troughs are full of milk.” Our Authorized Version adopts the version of the Targum, than which Tayler Lewis thinks there is nothing better. Moistened with marrow — And the marrow of his bones is well watered. The human body is likened to the soil of the field, which is not suffered to dry, but is plentifully watered and made fruitful. (Umbreit.) Comp. Isaiah 58:11.

V. 25. Another-Another wicked man. So there is a great variety of God’s dispensations; he distributes great prosperity to one, and great afflictions to another, according to his wise but secret counsel.

Verses 25, 26. Another dieth — Another wicked man, or any other man promiscuously considered, either good or bad. In the bitterness of his soul — With heart-breaking pains and sorrows; and never eateth with pleasure — Hath no pleasure in his life, no, not so much as at meal-time, when men usually are most free and pleasant. So he shows there is a great variety in God’s dispensations; he distributes great prosperity to one, and great afflictions to another, according to his wise but secret counsel. They shall lie down alike in the dust — All these worldly differences are ended by death, and they lie in the grave without any distinction till the time of the general resurrection. So that no man can tell who is good and who is bad, by events which befall them in this life. And if one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, they will meet in the congregation of the dead and damned; and the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched, will be the same to both: which makes those differences inconsiderable, and not worth perplexing ourselves about.

25. Another — The good man. Never eateth, etc. — Rather, Has not enjoyed the good: the oft recurring hbwc, that is, the so-called greatest good of life.

V. 26. Alike-All these worldly differences are ended by death, and they lie in the grave without any distinction. So that no man can tell who is good, and who is bad by events which befall them in this life. And if one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, they will meet in the congregation of the dead and damned; and the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched will be the same to both: which makes those differences inconsiderable, and not worth perplexing ourselves about.

Verse 26. They shall lie down alike in the dust] Death levels all distinctions, and the grave makes all equal. There may be a difference in the grave itself; but the human corpse is the same in all. Splendid monuments enshrine corruption; but the sod must lie close and heavy upon the putrefying carcass, to prevent it from becoming the bane of the living.

Verses 25, 26. Another dieth — Another wicked man, or any other man promiscuously considered, either good or bad. In the bitterness of his soul — With heart-breaking pains and sorrows; and never eateth with pleasure — Hath no pleasure in his life, no, not so much as at meal-time, when men usually are most free and pleasant. So he shows there is a great variety in God’s dispensations; he distributes great prosperity to one, and great afflictions to another, according to his wise but secret counsel. They shall lie down alike in the dust — All these worldly differences are ended by death, and they lie in the grave without any distinction till the time of the general resurrection. So that no man can tell who is good and who is bad, by events which befall them in this life. And if one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, they will meet in the congregation of the dead and damned; and the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched, will be the same to both: which makes those differences inconsiderable, and not worth perplexing ourselves about.

Ver. 26. Worms shall cover them, alluding to hasty burials on a field of battle, where the vermin at once prey upon the slain.

26. Alike — Together, side by side. Whatever life men live, one common fate awaits all — to lie down together in the dust. What, then, argues Job, becomes of the law of retribution in this present life? The same difficulty perplexed the Preacher, Ecclesiastes 2:15.

Second division — THE REPORT OF TRAVELLERS IS, THAT THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED

V. 27. Me-I know that your discourses, though they be of wicked, men in general, yet are particularly levelled at me.

Verse 27. I know your thoughts] Ye still think that, because I am grievously afflicted, I must therefore be a felonious transgressor.

Verses 27, 28. Behold, I know your thoughts — I perceive what you think and will object for your own defence; and the devices — Hebrew, twmzmw, umezimmoth, machinationes pravas, the evil thoughts, or, wicked designs and contrivances; which ye wrongfully imagine — wsmjt, thachmosu, wrest, or violently force, for they strained both Job’s words and their own thoughts, which were biased by prejudice and passion; against me — For I well know that your discourses, though they be concerning wicked men in the general, yet are particularly levelled at me, that is, I know what you would insinuate by the speeches which you make, such as this which follows: Where is the house of the prince? — Of Job, or his eldest son, whose house God had lately overthrown; it is nowhere: it is lost and gone. And where are the dwelling-places of the wicked? — µy[vr, reshagnim, in the plural, of wicked persons in general. Are not their habitations overthrown? Do not they come to ruin? So the meaning of the question is: that it was apparent from common observation, that eminent judgments, even in this life, were sooner or later the portion of all ungodly men.

IS HELD IN ABEYANCE, 27-34.

Strophe a — If, instead of judging by appearances in this present life the friends had made more extensive research, they would have found that the wicked are held in reserve for future punishment. The element of delayed punishment not only serves to unlock the enigma of retribution, but to relieve Job from dire suspicion, since suffering here is a criterion of virtue rather than of vice, 27-30.

27. Job’s argument properly closed with the preceding verse; but having perceived (so Kitto thinks) by their interchange of looks that they were not satisfied, he resumes with, “Behold, I know your thoughts,” and proceeds to produce a new species of testimony, which they, learned men as they were, could not deny.

Verse 28. For ye say, Where is the house of the prince?] In order to prove your point, ye ask, Where is the house of the tyrant and oppressor? Are they not overthrown and destroyed? And is not this a proof that God does not permit the wicked to enjoy prosperity?

Verses 27, 28. Behold, I know your thoughts — I perceive what you think and will object for your own defence; and the devices — Hebrew, twmzmw, umezimmoth, machinationes pravas, the evil thoughts, or, wicked designs and contrivances; which ye wrongfully imagine — wsmjt, thachmosu, wrest, or violently force, for they strained both Job’s words and their own thoughts, which were biased by prejudice and passion; against me — For I well know that your discourses, though they be concerning wicked men in the general, yet are particularly levelled at me, that is, I know what you would insinuate by the speeches which you make, such as this which follows: Where is the house of the prince? — Of Job, or his eldest son, whose house God had lately overthrown; it is nowhere: it is lost and gone. And where are the dwelling-places of the wicked? — µy[vr, reshagnim, in the plural, of wicked persons in general. Are not their habitations overthrown? Do not they come to ruin? So the meaning of the question is: that it was apparent from common observation, that eminent judgments, even in this life, were sooner or later the portion of all ungodly men.

Ver. 28. The house of the prince. The Dabib, or the Nabob: equivalent to the house of the powerful, the oppressor; for it is not doubted but Job meant the house of the wicked.

28. The house of the prince — Compare Job 15:34; 18:15; 20:6, 7. His friends seem to him, in response to what they regarded as his special pleading for the wicked, to reply, Where is your own house and sumptuous pavilion? Whatever God may do with the rest of the wicked, he certainly has punished thee. Dwellingplaces — Literally, Where the tent of the dwellingplaces? Turning from the “house” of city or town to the home of the Nomad, Job naturally uses the word tent, so often occurring in the controversy, upon which he enlarges to point out the sumptuousness of the establishment he means.

V. 29. Them-Any person that passes along the high-way, every one you meet with. It is so vulgar a thing, that no man of common sense is ignorant of it. Tokens-The examples, or evidences, of this truth, which they that go by the way can produce.

Verse 29. Have ye not asked them that go by the way?] This appears to be Job’s answer. Consult travellers who have gone through different countries; and they will tell you that they have seen both examples-the wicked in great prosperity in some instances, while suddenly destroyed in others. See at the end of the chapter. See Clarke “Job 21:34”. Do ye not know their tokens] Mr. Good translates the whole verse thus: “Surely thou canst never have inquired of men of travel; or thou couldst not have been ignorant of their tokens. Hadst thou made proper inquiries, thou wouldst have heard of their awful end in a thousand instances. And also of their prosperity.” See at the end of this chapter. See Clarke “Job 21:34”.

Verses 29, 30. Have ye not asked them that go by the way? — In these verses we have an answer to the preceding question; as if he had said, Even the travellers that pass along the road can inform you: it is so vulgar a thing that no man of common sense is ignorant of it. They can give you tokens, examples, or evidences of this truth. That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction — That they are not punished as they deserve in the present world, and therefore that they shall be in the next. They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath — The day of future and final wrath, when God will judge the world in righteousness, and render unto every man according to his deeds, even indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil. “I believe,” says Dr. Dodd, from Peters, “that by the day of destruction and the day of wrath, mentioned in this verse, can be meant no other than the future day of judgment; which, to the wicked and ungodly, is everywhere represented in Scripture as a day of wrath, a day of destruction and perdition. See 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 3:7. And it is remarkable that Job, when he declares to his friends that he had been all along withheld from sinning by a pious awe of the divine justice, (meaning, as I apprehend, the thoughts of a future judgment,) uses a like expression, Job 31:23. Destruction from God was a terror to me; dya, aid, the very same word as is used here. To understand it of a temporal destruction is to suppose Job to cut the neck of his own argument, and to fall in directly with the reasoning of his friends; for thus it would stand, (verse 27,) ‘Behold I know your thoughts, &c. — I know what you would insinuate by the speeches which you make; such as this which follows, verse 28, Where is the house? &c. As if you should say, What is become of the house of Job, who lived like a prince? Or what, in general, is the portion of the wicked? Does not a great and sure destruction overtake them?’ This is evidently the meaning of the question; the answer immediately follows, verse 29, Ask those who go by the way, &c. Now if this were meant of a temporal destruction, it directly confirms the insinuation of his friends, and the inference would be unavoidable; therefore Job must needs be wicked. The sense I contend for, must, therefore, needs be the true one.”

29. Them that go by the way — “Wayfaring men,” who travelled largely, probably in connexion with caravans. Such travellers became popular intelligencers, and were often sent for and consulted by kings. The routes of these caravans embraced even the homes of the patriarchs, (Genesis 37:25.) and thus became agencies for the diffusing of religious knowledge. And do ye not know their tokens — Know, rkn, signifies find strange, that is, despise, (Furst,) or to be ignorant of, (GESENIUS, Thes.,) or mistake. (Arnheim.) Either intentionally or carelessly they have misinterpreted the tokens of these travellers. These tokens were “proofs,” “arguments,” (Psalm 86:17,) according to Gesenius and Dillmann, or memorabilia, “things worthy of note.” (Zockler.) Hitzig conjectures that the word jwa, token, is used metaphorically for a kind of tessera recognised by the host. A Punic passage in the “Poenulus” of Plautus, act v, scene i, Kenrick thus reads — “A sign of truth shall be the tessera of hospitality which I carry with me.” (See the comment in his “Phoenicia,” p. 181.) The report of these travellers is, that the punishment of the wicked is in the future life; you (the friends) pervert it, and say that it is always in the present life. Thus Hahn, Stickel, etc.

V. 30. They-He speaks of the same person; only the singular number is changed into the plural, possibly to intimate, that altho’ for the present only some wicked men were punished, yet then all of them should suffer. Brought-As malefactors are brought forth from prison to execution.

Verse 30. That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction?] Though every one can tell that he has seen the wicked in prosperity, and even spend a long life in it; yet this is no proof that God loves him, or that he shall enjoy a prosperous lot in the next world. There, he shall meet with the day of wrath. There, the wicked shall be punished, and the just rewarded.

Verses 29, 30. Have ye not asked them that go by the way? — In these verses we have an answer to the preceding question; as if he had said, Even the travellers that pass along the road can inform you: it is so vulgar a thing that no man of common sense is ignorant of it. They can give you tokens, examples, or evidences of this truth. That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction — That they are not punished as they deserve in the present world, and therefore that they shall be in the next. They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath — The day of future and final wrath, when God will judge the world in righteousness, and render unto every man according to his deeds, even indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil. “I believe,” says Dr. Dodd, from Peters, “that by the day of destruction and the day of wrath, mentioned in this verse, can be meant no other than the future day of judgment; which, to the wicked and ungodly, is everywhere represented in Scripture as a day of wrath, a day of destruction and perdition. See 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 3:7. And it is remarkable that Job, when he declares to his friends that he had been all along withheld from sinning by a pious awe of the divine justice, (meaning, as I apprehend, the thoughts of a future judgment,) uses a like expression, Job 31:23. Destruction from God was a terror to me; dya, aid, the very same word as is used here. To understand it of a temporal destruction is to suppose Job to cut the neck of his own argument, and to fall in directly with the reasoning of his friends; for thus it would stand, (verse 27,) ‘Behold I know your thoughts, &c. — I know what you would insinuate by the speeches which you make; such as this which follows, verse 28, Where is the house? &c. As if you should say, What is become of the house of Job, who lived like a prince? Or what, in general, is the portion of the wicked? Does not a great and sure destruction overtake them?’ This is evidently the meaning of the question; the answer immediately follows, verse 29, Ask those who go by the way, &c. Now if this were meant of a temporal destruction, it directly confirms the insinuation of his friends, and the inference would be unavoidable; therefore Job must needs be wicked. The sense I contend for, must, therefore, needs be the true one.”

30. The wicked is reserved to the day of destruction — Rosenmuller and Delitzsch, in order to harmonize the “tokens” of the wayfaring men with the argument of Job, have rendered the verb Ëcjy with l, reserved to, spared in, as if the substance of this report was, that in days of calamity the wicked escaped. The grammatical construction is against such an interpretation, as Dillmann admits. A like construction of the Kal form of the verb in Job 38:23, is quite decisive, since in the latter case no other interpretation is possible. The preposition l, to, stands on guard before both yoms, “days,” as if divinely commissioned to exclude all such parasitical intruders as from, in, or at, which the modern rendering demands. Compare Proverbs 16:4 — “The wicked man for the day (le yom) of trouble.” (See Excursus III by Tayler Lewis in Lange’s Commentary on Job.) Brought forth — Same word as in verse 32, which see. (Comp. the same phrase in Isaiah 53:7: l lbwy, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter;” also Jeremiah 11:19; Hosea 10:6; 12:1, etc.) The sense of antiquity embodied in this narration of the travellers, (30-33 inclusive,) that the punishment of the wicked is after death, is confirmed by the most ancient memorials, as well as by divine revelation, to be a truth beyond dispute.

Strophe b — The doom of the wicked is sure, notwithstanding that in his life he was above accountability to man, and in his death honoured with a grand funereal cortege, and with undying fame among men, 31-34.

V. 31. Declare-His power and splendor are so great, that scarce any man dare reprove him.

Verse 31. Who shall declare his way to his face?] But while the wicked is in power, who shall dare to tell him to his face what his true character is? or, who shall dare to repay him the evil he has done? As such a person cannot have his punishment in this life, he must have it in another; and for this the day of wrath—the day of judgment, is prepared.

Verse 31. Who shall declare his way? — That is, his wicked course and actions, and whither they lead him; to his face — That is, plainly, and while he lives, as the same phrase is used Deuteronomy 7:10. His power and splendour are so great that scarcely any man dare reprove him for his sin, or show him his danger. And who shall repay him what he hath done? — No man can bring him to an account or punishment. Job is here pursuing the same way of reasoning which he did before, and showing that the wicked mighty man is so far from being always punished in this world, that he often does what he pleases without any to control him, or so much as open their lips against him. And that such a one shall at last go down to the grave in peace, and be buried with great pomp.

31. His way to his face — No one dares to declare to the face of the powerful wicked the way (of destruction, dya) they pursue. Nor does any one dare confront them with their evil deeds. Yet though above all responsibility to man, they are not above responsibility to God.

V. 32. And-The pomp of his death shall be suitable to the glory of his life. Brought-With pomp and state, as the word signifies. Grave-Heb. to the graves; to an honourable and eminent grave: the plural number being used emphatically to denote eminency. He shall not die a violent but a natural death.

Verse 32. Yet shall he be brought to the grave] He shall die like other men; and the corruption of the grave shall prey upon him. Mr. Carlyle, in his specimens of Arabic poetry, Translations, p. 16, quotes this verse, which he translates and paraphrases, lbwy twrbql awhw “He shall be brought to the grave,” dwqcy cwdg ועל And shall watch upon the high-raised heap.”

It was the opinion of the pagan Arabs, that upon the death of any person, a bird, by them called Manah, issued from the brain, and haunted the sepulchre of the deceased, uttering a lamentable scream. This notion, he adds, is evidently alluded to in Job 21:32. Thus Abusahel, on the death of his mistress:—

“If her ghost’s funereal screech

Through the earth my grave should reach,

On that voice I loved so well

My transported ghost would dwell.”

Verse 32. Yet — Hebrew, And, the pomp of his death shall be suitable to the glory of his life; shall he be brought to the grave — With pomp and state, as the word lbwy, jubal, signifies. Hebrew, twrbql, likbaroth, to the graves, that is, to an honourable and eminent grave; the plural number being often used emphatically to denote eminence. He shall not die a violent, but a natural death, and shall lie in the bed of honour. And shall remain in the tomb — Or, watch in the heap. His body shall quietly rest in his grave or monument, where he shall be embalmed and preserved so entire and uncorrupted that he might rather seem to be a living watchman, set there to guard the body, than to be a dead corpse. Hebrew, dwqvy vydg l[w, vegnal gadish jishkod, over the tomb he shall watch. “A stately monument,” says Bishop Patrick, “is raised to preserve his memory, and represent him as if he were still living.”

32. The grave — Like “dwelling-places” in verse 28, “the graves” here is an amplificative plural. (Delitzsch.) Brought — The idea of pomp, or ceremony, is involved in the word youbal. The magnificence displayed by the ancient Egyptians in the burial of their dead surpasses description. (See CAREY’S Job, p. 458.) Shall remain in the tomb — Shall watch over the tomb. Mercerus remarks: “The dead is said to watch in the sepulchre; since there he is assiduous; there assiduously remains! — never thence departs.” Renan surmises that there may be an allusion to the threatening inscriptions against those who profane the abodes of the dead, (see note Job 18:16,) which will remind of Shakspeare’s curse against him who should disturb his bones. A better view is, that the wicked, instead of perishing from remembrance, as Bildad had said, (Job 18:17,) lives on either in the affection that cares for his tomb, or in the splendid memorial crowning the sepulchral height. There may be an allusion, says Hengstenberg, to the Egyptian custom of placing in the tomb an image of the dead, either as a statue or a painting on the wall.

V. 33. Valley-Of the grave, which is low and deep like a valley. Sweet-He shall sweetly rest in his grave. Draw-Heb. he shall draw every man after him, into the grave, all that live after him, whether good or bad, shall follow him to the grave, shall die as he did. So he fares no worse herein than all mankind. He is figuratively said to draw them, because they come after him, as if they were drawn by his example.

Verse 33. The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him] Perhaps there is an allusion here to the Asiatic mode of interment for princes, saints, and nobles: a well-watered valley was chosen for the tomb, where a perpetual spring might be secured. This was intended to be the emblem of a resurrection, or of a future life; and to conceal as much as possible the disgrace of the rotting carcass.

Every man shall draw after him] There seem to be two allusions intended here: 1. To death, the common lot of all. Millions have gone before him to the tomb; and אדם lk col adam, all men, shall follow him: all past generations have died, all succeeding generations shall die also. 2. To pompous funeral processions; multitudes preceding, and multitudes following, the corpse.

Verse 33. The clods of the valley — Or, the grave, which is low and deep like a valley; shall be sweet unto him — He shall sweetly rest in his grave, free from all cares, and fears, and troubles, Job 3:17, 18. Every man shall draw after him — Hebrew, He shall draw every man after him, into the grave; all that live after him, whether good or bad, shall follow him to the grave, shall die as he did. So he fares no worse herein than all mankind. He is figuratively said to draw them, because they come after him, as if they were drawn by his example. “There he lies,” says Bishop Patrick, “quietly in the earth, and no one disturbs his ashes: he suffers nothing but what all men shall do after him, as innumerable have done before him.”

Ver. 33. The clods of the valley. The Goths buried their dead in burrows on the hills; but Virgil, Æneid 11., mentions a preference to vallies. The LXX read, the stones of the brook, while the Hebrew and the Chaldaic have, the glebe of the brook. Flesh in a box full of holes, interred under running water, is converted into spermaceti. It is not impossible that this modern discovery was known to the ancients.

33. The valley — With the ancients, vallies (for instance that of Jehoshaphat) were favourite buryingplaces for the dead. It was a common wish among friends that the earth might be light upon their graves. Thus, Terra sit super ossa levis. (Catullus.) His grave shall be one of perennial freshness, and his godless life a magnetic power to draw multitudes into the way of evil. Every man shall draw after him — He has a great following, either in the common fate of mortality or in his funereal procession; or, as others say, and more properly, in his wickedness of life.

V. 34. How-Why then do you seek to comfort me with vain hopes of recovering my prosperity, seeing your grounds are false, and experience shews, that good men are often in great tribulation, while the vilest of men prosper.

Verse 34. How then comfort ye me in vain] Mr. Good translates: “How vainly then would ye make me retract!” See the note on Job 21:2. I cannot retract any thing I have said, as I have proved by fact and testimony that your positions are false and unfounded. Your pretensions to comfort me are as hollow as the arguments you bring in support of your exceptionable doctrines.

THIS chapter may be called Job’s triumph over the insinuated calumnies, and specious but false doctrines, of his opponents. The irritability of his temper no longer appears: from the time he got that glorious discovery of his Redeemer, and the JOYOUS hope of an eternal inheritance, Job 19:25, &c., we find no more murmurings, nor unsanctified complainings. He is now full master of himself; and reasons conclusively, because he reasons coolly. Impassioned transports no longer carry him away: his mind is serene; his heart, fixed; his hope, steady; and his faith, strong. Zophar the Naamathite is now, in his presence, as an infant in the gripe of a mighty giant. Another of these pretended friends but real enemies comes forward to renew the attack with virulent invective, malevolent insinuation, and unsupported assertion. Him, Job meets, and vanquishes by pious resignation and fervent prayer. Though, at different times after this, Job had his buffetings from his grand adversary, and some seasons of comparative darkness, yet his faith is unshaken, and he stands as a beaten anvil to the stroke. He effectually exculpates himself, and vindicates the dispensations of his Maker.

There appears to be something in the 29th verse which requires to be farther examined: Have ye not asked them that go by the way? And do ye not know their tokens? It is probable that this verse may allude to the custom of burying the dead by the way-side, and raising up specious and descriptive monuments over them. Job argues that the lot of outward prosperity fell alike to the just and to the unjust, and that the sepulchral monuments by the wayside were proofs of his assertion; for his friends, as well as himself and others, had noted them, and asked the history of such and such persons, from the nearest inhabitants of the place; and the answers, in a great variety of cases, had been: “That monument points out the place where a wicked man lies, who was all his lifetime in prosperity and affluence, yet oppressed the poor, and shut up the bowels of his compassion against the destitute; and this belongs to a man who lived only to serve his God, and to do good to man according to his power, yet had not a day of health, nor an hour of prosperity; God having given to the former his portion in this life, and reserved the recompense of the latter to a future state.”

The Septuagint render the verse thus:— Erwthsate paraporeumenouv odon, kai ta shmeia autwn ouk apallotriwsate, “Inquire of those who pass by the way, and their signs [monuments] ye will not alienate.” That is, When ye hear the history of these persons, ye will not then assert that the man who lived in prosperity was a genuine worshipper of the true God, and therefore was blessed with temporal good, and that he who lived in adversity was an enemy to God and was consequently cursed with the want of secular blessings. Of the former ye will hear a different account from those who dare now speak the truth, because the prosperous oppressor is no more; And of the latter ye shall learn that, though afflicted, destitute, and distressed, he was one of those who acknowledged God in all his ways, and never performed an act of religious service to him in hope of secular gain; sought his approbation only, and met death cheerfully, in the hope of being eternally with the Lord.

Neither good nor evil can be known by the occurrences of this life. Every thing argues the certainty of a future state, and the necessity of a day of judgment. They who are in the habit of marking casualties, especially if those whom they love not are the subjects of them, as tokens of Divine displeasure, only show an ignorance of God’s dispensations, and a malevolence of mind that would fain arm itself with the celestial thunders, in order to transfix those whom they deem their enemies.

JOB

Verse 34. How then comfort ye me in vain? — See then how ill you discharge the office of comforters, whose arguments have so little truth in them. Or, Why do you seek to comfort me with vain hopes of recovering my prosperity if I repent, seeing your grounds are manifestly false, and common experience shows, what also every body can tell you, that good men are very often in great tribulation, while the vilest of men thrive and prosper in the world.

34. Falsehood — Malice or treachery. Having subjected their consolatory speeches to the test of reason, and having eliminated that which seemed to be truth, Job declares the residuum to be solely the perfidious or malicious disposition by which they have been actuated. Comp. verse 27.