Job · Chapter 30

V. 1. Younger-Whom both universal custom, and the light of nature, taught to reverence their elders and betters. Whose fathers-Whose condition was so mean, that in the opinion, of the world, they were unworthy to be my shepherds the companions of my dogs which watch my flocks.

Verse 1. But now they that are younger than I have me in derision] Compare this with Job 29:8, where he speaks of the respect he had from the youth while in the days of his prosperity. Now he is no longer affluent, and they are no longer respectful.

Dogs of my flock.] Persons who were not deemed sufficiently respectable to be trusted with the care of those dogs which were the guardians of my flocks. Not confidential enough to be made shepherds, ass-keepers, or camel-drivers; nor even to have the care of the dogs by which the flocks were guarded. This saying is what we call an expression of sovereign contempt.

Verse 1. But now, &c. — Job having, in the foregoing chapter, described the honour of his former condition, goes on here, by way of contrast, to describe the vileness of his present state. They that are younger than I — Whom both universal custom and the light of nature taught to reverence their elders and betters; have me in derision — Make me the object of their contempt and scoffs: thus my glory is turned into shame. Whose fathers I would have disdained — Or, rather, might have disdained; that is, whose condition was so mean and vile, that in the opinion, and according to the custom of the world, they were unworthy to be my shepherds, and the companions of my dogs, which watch my flocks. This and the seven following verses are an exaggerated description of the vileness of those to whom he was now become a derision, notwithstanding all his former authority.

Verse 1. The dogs of my flock. Job does not say this through pride, for he owns that the slave and himself were formed by the same hand: Job 31:15. He says it rather with a view to describe the sin and the folly of the untutored race.

1. The dogs — In the East the dog serves as a symbol for every kind of uncleanness, (Revelation 22:15,) and is universally abhorred. The scoffers Job speaks of were not fit to associate with dogs. Mohammed says, “Angels will enter no house where are dogs and pictures.” In his annals, Sardanapalus speaks of a captive king, “With the dogs I placed him, and I caused him to be chained.” — Column 8:29.

Verse 2. The strength of their hands profit me] He is speaking here of the fathers of these young men. What was the strength of their hands to me? Their old age also has perished. The sense of which I believe to be this: I have never esteemed their strength even in their most vigorous youth, nor their conduct, nor their counsel even in old age. They were never good for any thing, either young or old. As their youth was without profit, so their old age was without honour. See Calmet. Mr. Good contends that the words are Arabic, and should be translated according to the meaning in that language, and the first clause of the third verse joined to the latter clause of the second, without which no good meaning can be elicited so as to keep properly close to the letter. I shall give the Hebrew text, Mr. Good’s Arabic, and its translation:— The Hebrew text is this:—

jlk dba wmyl[

aleymo abad calach

גלמוד ובכפנ rsjb

becheser ubechaphan galmud

The Arabic version this:—

[Arabic]

[Arabic]

Which he translates thus:—

“With whom crabbed looks are perpetual,

From hunger and flinty famine.”

This translation is very little distant from the import of the present Hebrew text, if it may be called Hebrew, when the principal words are pure Arabic, and the others constructively so.

Verse 2. Yea, whereto might their hands profit me? — Nor was it strange that I did, or might refuse to take them into any of my meanest services, being utterly impotent and unfit for any business; in whom old age was perished — Who were grown no wiser for being old. Or, rather, who had so wasted their strength and spirits by their evil courses, that when they came to old age they were debilitated, feeble, and useless for any labour. Accordingly, Houbigant interprets the clause, When all their health or strength was worn out; and others render it, In whom vigorous age was perished; that is, who were grown useless for service. For the word jlk, chelach, here rendered old age, is used only here and Job 5:26, where also it may be so rendered, Thou shalt come to thy grave in a vigorous, or mature age, having the vigour of youth even in thy old age, and until thy death, as Moses had. And if this word do signify old age, yet it signifies not every, but only a flourishing and healthful old age; as the Hebrews note, and the word may seem to imply; whence the LXX. also render it perfection, namely, of age, and of the endowments belonging to age.

2. Old age — Equivalent to manly vigour, the maturity of strength. These wretches are so eaten out by vice, or worn away by want and wretchedness, that all hope of old age has perished.

V. 3. Solitary-Although want commonly drives persons to places of resort for relief, yet they were so conscious of their own guilt, that they shunned company, and for fear or shame fled into, and lived in desolate places.

Verse 3. Fleeing into the wilderness] Seeking something to sustain life even in the barren desert. This shows the extreme of want, when the desert is supposed to be the only place where any thing to sustain life can possibly be found.

Verse 3. For want and famine — Brought upon them either by their own sloth or wickedness, or by God’s just judgment. Hebrew, rsjb, becheser, In want and famine, which aggravates their following solitude. They were solitary, &c. — Although want commonly draws persons to places of resort and company for relief, yet they were so conscious of their own guilt, and contemptibleness, and hatefulness to all persons, that they shunned all company, and for fear or shame fled into and lived in desolate places.

3. Solitary — Similar to Job 3:7, (which see;) barren, emaciated, hard like the rock. Fleeing into — Literally, gnawing the wilderness. The scantness of their livelihood appears from ver. 4. Former time — The prime import of this word, vma, is darkness, or yesternight, as in margin; others insist upon “the yesterday of waste and desolation.” The language denotes extreme desolation.

V. 4. Who cut-Bitter herbs, which shews their extreme necessity. Juniper-Possibly the word may signify some other plant, for the Hebrews themselves are at a loss for the signification of the names of plants.

Verse 4. Who cut up mallows by the bushes] jwlm malluach, which we translate mallows, comes from jlm melach, salt; some herb or shrub of a salt nature, sea-purslane, or the salsaria, salsola, or saltwort. Bochart says it is the alimov of the Greeks, and the halimus of the Romans. Some translate it nettles. The Syriac and Arabic omit the whole verse. The halimus, or atriplex halimus, grows near the sea in different countries, and is found in Spain, America, England, and Barbary. The salsaria, salsola, or saltwort, is an extensive genus of plants, several common to Asia, and not a few indigenous to a dry and sandy soil.

And juniper roots for their meat.] רתמים rethamim. This is variously translated juniper, broom, furze, gorse, or whin. It is supposed to derive its name from the toughness of its twigs, as רתם ratham signifies to bind; and this answers well enough to the broom. Genista quoque vinculi usum præstat, “The broom serves for bands,” says PLINY, Hist. Nat. lib. xxiv., c. 9. But how can it be said that the roots of this shrub were eaten? I do not find any evidence from Asiatic writers that the roots of the juniper tree were an article of food; and some have supposed, because of this want of evidence, that the word לחמם lachmam, for their bread, should be understood thus, to bake their bread, because it is well known that the wood of the juniper gives an intense heat, and the coals of it endure a long time; and therefore we find coals of juniper, רחמים גחלי gachaley rethamim, used Psalm 120:4 to express severe and enduring punishment. But that the roots of the juniper were used for food in the northern countries, among the Goths, we have a positive testimony from Olaus Magnus, himself a Goth, and archbishop of Upsal, in lib. vii., c. 4, of his Hist. de Gentibus Septentrionalibus. Speaking of the great number of different trees in their woods, he says: “There is a great plenty of beech trees in all the northern parts, the virtue whereof is this: that, being cut between the bark and the wood, they send forth a juice that is good for drink. The fruit of them in famine serves for bread, and their bark for clothing. Likewise also the berries of the juniper, yea, even the roots of this tree are eaten for bread, as holy Job testifies, though it is difficult to come at them by reason of their prickles: in these prickles, or thorns, live coals will last a whole year. If the inhabitants do not quench them, when winds arise they set the woods on fire, and destroy all the circumjacent fields.” In this account both the properties of the juniper tree, referred to by Job and David, are mentioned by the Gothic prelate. They use its berries and roots for food, and its wood for fire.

Verse 4. Who cut up mallows — Or, bitter herbs, as the word seems to import, which shows their extreme necessity; by the bushes — Or, by the shrubs, nigh unto which they grew. Or, with the bark of trees, as the Vulgate Latin renders it; and juniper-roots — Possibly the word may signify some other plant, for the Hebrews themselves are at a loss for the signification of the names of plants.

Ver. 4. Who cut up mallows—and juniper-roots for their meat. The rabbins are irrelevant here. Calmet is silent, and Schultens with all his Arabic is uncertain. But the monkeys in South Africa, when the leaves are decayed, will often guide the hungry Hottentot where to find roots. Vaillant’s Travels.

4. Mallows — Probably the sea purslain or orach, a kind of bramble without thorns, of an exceedingly bitter and saltish taste, whence the Hebrew name, like our word salad, from sal, salt. Athenaeus speaks of the poor of his day as “eating purslain, and gathering such like bad things.” Juniper — Hebrew, rothem, is a broom shrub, common in the desert of Syria, and grows to the height of eight or ten feet, furnishing a shade, though slight, yet eagerly sought for by the traveller. It was under this plant Elijah took shelter. Its roots are so bitter as to be eaten only by the extremely poor.

Verse 5. They were driven forth] They were persons whom no one would employ; they were driven away from the city; and if any of them appeared, the hue and cry was immediately raised up against them. The last clause Mr. Good translates, “They slunk away from them like a thief,” instead of “They cried after them,” &c.

Verses 5, 6. They were driven forth from among men — As unworthy of human society; and for their beggary and dishonesty, suspected and avoided of all men; they cried after them as after a thief — Giving one another warning of their danger from them.

5. Driven forth from among men — If they dared to show themselves among men they were hooted back to their own bestial homes.

Verse 6. To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys] They were obliged to take shelter in the most dangerous, out-of-the-way, and unfrequented places. This is the meaning.

Verses 5, 6. They were driven forth from among men — As unworthy of human society; and for their beggary and dishonesty, suspected and avoided of all men; they cried after them as after a thief — Giving one another warning of their danger from them.

6. Clefts of the valleys — Literally, Horror of the gorges. Dwelling in valleys, Umbreit says, is in the East a mark of poverty and wretchedness. Caves — Hhorim, as in the margin, holes of the earth, whence the word Horites, those who dwell in holes and caves — the aborigines of Idumaea. (Deuteronomy 2:12, 22.) See note Job 24:2. The treatment that they and their ancestors had received at the hand of their conquerors led them to improve every opportunity of revenge, as is evident from their persecution of Job, whom misfortune had thrown into their power. Then, too, fallen human nature takes pleasure in maltreating those who have fallen from a higher plane to that of a lower one. Wolves devour a wolf when no longer capable of self-defence.

V. 7. Brayed-Like the wild asses, for hunger or thirst. Thorns-Under which they hide themselves, that they might not be discovered when they are sought out for justice.

Verse 7. Among the bushes they brayed] They cried out among the bushes, seeking for food, as the wild ass when he is in want of provender. Two MSS. read wqany yinaku, they groaned, instead of wqhny yinhaku, they brayed.

Under the nettles] lwrj charul, the briers or brambles, under the brushwood in the thickest parts of the underwood; they huddled together like wild beasts.

Verse 7. Among the bushes they brayed — Like the wild asses, (Job 6:5,) for hunger or thirst. They brayed, seems to be an improper translation here; because, though qhn, nahak, signifies to bray, when applied to an ass, yet when spoken of men in difficult circumstances, as in this verse, we should rather say with the Targum and LXX., they sighed, cried out, or made their moan. So Heath and Houbigant render it. Under the nettles they were gathered — The word lwrj, charul, here rendered nettles, is by some translated thorns, or thistles, the nettle being too small a plant, as Bochart observes, for men to gather themselves under. Dr. Waterland, however, renders it, Among the nettles were they tormented, or burned. The meaning is, that they hid themselves under the thorns, or among the nettles, that they might not be discovered when they were sought out for justice.

Ver. 7. They brayed under the nettles. The LXX, they sighed; growled out their noisy and revolting speeches under the bushes.

7. Brayed — Their inarticulate notes sounded like those of the ass, Job 24:5. Herodotus (iv, 183) compares the language of the Troglodyte Ethiopian to the screech of the night-owl. The bray which Job deftly imputes to this human rabble tells the genus to which, in his estimate, they belong. Nettles — Denoted probably some kind of thistle or thorn, (Rosenmuller;) according to others, some species of wild mustard. They were gathered together — The Arabic seems to justify Taylor Lewis (compare Gesenius, Thes., s.v.) in rendering wjpsy, herd together like beasts. In illustration of meaning, consult Herodotus 1:216, and Larcher’s “Notes on Herodotus,” vol. i, page 196.

Verse 8. Children of fools] Children of nabal; children without a name; persons of no consideration, and descendants of such.

Viler than the earth.] Rather, driven out of the land; persons not fit for civil society.

Verses 8-10. They were children of fools, &c. — They were children of base, obscure parents; viler than the earth upon which they trod. Houbigant translates the verse: Foolish men and inglorious, they were driven out of the country in which they lived. And now am I their song — The matter of their song and derision. They now rejoice in my calamities, because I formerly used my authority to punish such vagrants. They flee far from me — In contempt of my person, and loathing of my sores; and spare not to spit in my face — Not literally, for they kept far from him, as he now said, but figuratively; that is, they use all manner of contemptuous and reproachful expressions toward me, not only behind my back, but even to my face. Houbigant reads, They abominate me; they hold me in the utmost abhorrence; and fear not to spit in my face. Here we may see in Job a type of Christ, who was thus made a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Ver. 8. They were children of fools. Of all the versions the English seems the least successful; better, flagitious children, children of men without a name, vile beyond comparison with earth.

8. They were viler than the earth — Rather, They are beaten out of the land. Our aborigines furnish a parallel case.

Second strophe — These human outcasts are led on to such brutal usage of Job by the treatment he had received at the hands of God, who had himself set the example, by letting loose his horde of calamities against his servant, 9-15.

Verse 9. Now am I their song] I am the subject of their mirth, and serve as a proverb or by-word. They use me with every species of indignity.

Verses 8-10. They were children of fools, &c. — They were children of base, obscure parents; viler than the earth upon which they trod. Houbigant translates the verse: Foolish men and inglorious, they were driven out of the country in which they lived. And now am I their song — The matter of their song and derision. They now rejoice in my calamities, because I formerly used my authority to punish such vagrants. They flee far from me — In contempt of my person, and loathing of my sores; and spare not to spit in my face — Not literally, for they kept far from him, as he now said, but figuratively; that is, they use all manner of contemptuous and reproachful expressions toward me, not only behind my back, but even to my face. Houbigant reads, They abominate me; they hold me in the utmost abhorrence; and fear not to spit in my face. Here we may see in Job a type of Christ, who was thus made a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

9. Their song (of derision) — See Job 17:6. Nothing can give us of the West an idea of the shocking and indecent scurrilities Orientals put into their satirical, or, rather, abusive songs. (Kitto.)

V. 10. Spit-Not literally, for they kept far from him, but figuratively, they use all manner of reproachful expressions, even to my face. Herein, also we see a type of Christ, who was thus made a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Verse 10. They abhor me] What a state must civil society be in when such indignities were permitted to be offered to the aged and afflicted!

Verses 8-10. They were children of fools, &c. — They were children of base, obscure parents; viler than the earth upon which they trod. Houbigant translates the verse: Foolish men and inglorious, they were driven out of the country in which they lived. And now am I their song — The matter of their song and derision. They now rejoice in my calamities, because I formerly used my authority to punish such vagrants. They flee far from me — In contempt of my person, and loathing of my sores; and spare not to spit in my face — Not literally, for they kept far from him, as he now said, but figuratively; that is, they use all manner of contemptuous and reproachful expressions toward me, not only behind my back, but even to my face. Houbigant reads, They abominate me; they hold me in the utmost abhorrence; and fear not to spit in my face. Here we may see in Job a type of Christ, who was thus made a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

10. Spit in my face — Numbers 12:14; Deuteronomy 25:9; see also Job 17:6. Some improperly understand the grossly insulting act in this case to have been before, not into, the face. In the East, however, spitting in the presence of another is regarded as an outrage nearly as great as to spit upon him.

V. 11. He-God. Cord-Hath slackened the string of my bow, and so rendered my bow and arrows useless; he hath deprived me of my strength or defence. Let loose-They cast off all former restraints of humanity, or modesty, and do those things before mine eyes, which formerly they trembled lest they should come to my ears.

Verse 11. Because he hath loosed my cord] Instead of yrty yithri, my cord, which is the keri or marginal reading, wrty yithro, his cord, is the reading of the text in many copies; and this reading directs us to a metaphor taken from an archer, who, observing his butt, sets his arrow on the string, draws it to a proper degree of tension, levels, and then loosing his hold, the arrow flies at the mark. He hath let loose his arrow against me; it has hit me; and I am wounded. The Vulgate understood it in this way: Pharetram enim suam aperuit. So also the Septuagint: Anoixav gar faretran autou; “He hath opened his quiver.”

They have also let loose the bridle] When they perceived that God had afflicted me, they then threw off all restraints; like headstrong horses, swallowed the bit, got the reins on their own neck, and ran off at full speed.

Verse 11. Because he — That is, God; hath loosed my cord — Hath slackened the string of my bow, and so rendered it and my arrows useless; that is, he hath deprived me of my strength and defence: so understood, this expression is opposed to that used Job 29:20, My bow is renewed, &c. But the phrase may mean, He hath taken away from me that power and authority wherewith, as with a cord, I bound them to their good behaviour, and kept them within proper bounds. A similar expression is used in this sense Job 12:18. As, however, the word rty, jether, here rendered cord, also means excellence, and is so translated Genesis 49:3; Job 4:21, and in other places, the sense here may be, He hath loosed, broken, or destroyed my excellence: or, as Schultens translates it, He hath stripped me of my glory. And afflicted me — When they perceived that God, who had been my faithful friend and constant defender, had forsaken me and was become mine enemy, they presently took this advantage of showing their malice against me. They have also let loose the bridle — They have cast off all former restraints of law, humanity, or modesty, and have given themselves full liberty to speak or act what they pleased against me: and this before me — For they now dare to do those things before mine eyes which they would formerly have trembled lest they should come to my ears.

11. Loosed my cord — My girdle, (Furst;) bowstring, (Dillmann;) the well-known symbol of power, or, as in Job 4:21, the cord, (Delitzsch,) like that of a tent that keeps the soul in the body. In either view God had humbled him. He forbears to mention Deity by name. They also have cast off the bridle; that is, all restraint, perhaps all sense of shame. The antitheis is obvious.

V. 12. Right hand-This was the place of adversaries or accusers in courts of justice. The youth-Heb. young striplings, who formerly hid themselves from my presence, Job 29:8. Push-Metaphorically, they endeavour to overwhelm me. Ways-Cause-ways, or banks: so it is a metaphor from soldiers, who cast up banks, against the city which they besiege. Destruction-To destroy me.

Verse 12. Upon my right hand rise the youth] The word jjrp pirchach, which we translate youth, signifies properly buds, or the buttons of trees. Mr. Good has younglings. Younkers would be better, were it not too colloquial.

They push away my feet] They trip up my heels, or they in effect trample me under their feet. They rush upon and overwhelm me. They are violently incensed against me. They roll themselves upon me, wlglgth hithgalgalu, velut unda impellit undam, as waves of the sea which wash the sand from under the feet, and then swamp the man to the bottom; see Job 30:14.

Verse 12. Upon my right hand — The place of adversaries or accusers in courts of justice, Psalm 109:6; Zechariah 3:1. Or this may be observed to show their boldness and contempt of him, in that they dared to place themselves on his right hand; rise the youth — Hebrew, young striplings. Those who formerly hid themselves from my presence, (Job 29:8,) now rise up, in the way of contempt and opposition, or to accuse and reproach me. They push away my feet — Either, 1st, Properly, they trip up my heels; or, rather, 2d, Metaphorically, they endeavour utterly to overthrow my goings, and to cast me down to the ground. And they raise up against me the ways of their destruction — That is, causeways or banks, alluding to soldiers who cast up banks against the city which they besiege. The meaning is, they prepare, contrive, and use several methods to destroy me. Heath renders the verse, On my right hand their brood start up; they trip up my heels. Their troops of destruction throw up an intrenchment round me.

12. Right hand — The place of vantage. This was the position of the accuser in court. (Zechariah 3:1.) Evil has the vantage ground here: in heaven, Christ standeth at the right hand of God. The youth — An expression of contempt — “offspring of beasts,” (Gesenius,) “brats.” Against me the ways — As in Job 19:12, he compares himself to a place besieged, a favourite figure of Job, and one which he expands in the following two verses.

V. 13. Mar-As I am in great misery, so they endeavour to stop all my ways out of it. Set forward-Increasing it by their invectives, and censures. Even they-Who are themselves in a forlorn and miserable condition.

Verse 13. They mar my path] They destroy the way-marks, so that there is no safety in travelling through the deserts, the guide-posts and way-marks being gone.

These may be an allusion here to a besieged city: the besiegers strive by every means and way to distress the besieged; stopping up the fountains, breaking up the road, raising up towers to project arrows and stones into the city, called here raising up against it the ways of destruction, Job 30:12; preventing all succour and support.

They have no helper.] “There is not an adviser among them.”—Mr. Good. There is none to give them better instruction.

Verse 13. They mar my path — Or, rather, dig up my path. As I am in great misery, so they endeavour to stop all my ways out of it, and to frustrate all my counsels and methods for obtaining relief and comfort. The allusion to a place besieged is still carried on; the besiegers of which strive to cut off all communication of the besieged with the country around. Or, the sense may be, they pervert all my ways, putting perverse and false constructions on them, censuring my conscientious discharge of my duty to God and men as nothing but craft and hypocrisy. They set forward my calamity — Increasing it by bitter taunts, invectives, and censures. But wly[y, jognilu, may be rendered, They profit by, or are pleased with, my calamity. Heath reads this and the next clause, They triumph in my calamity: there is none who helpeth me against them.

13. They mar my path — In the process of the siege they break up his paths, that is, the paths that lead to him; they “set forward his calamity.” — make his destruction more certain. They have no helper — This ambiguous expression is probably a proverbial one for “the friendless” and “the helpless.” “They are too vile to have an ally.” Schultens gives several illustrations of such Oriental use: for instance, “We behold you ignoble, poor, without a helper among the rest of men.” Zockler’s interpretation, “they need no other help,” and that of Hitzig, “they do it without gain to themselves,” are sufficiently self condemned.

V. 14. Waste place-In the waste place; in that part of the bank which was broken down. They rolled-As the waters, come rolling in at the breach.

Verse 14. They came upon me as a wide breaking in] They storm me on every side.

In the desolation they rolled themselves] When they had made the breach, they rolled in upon me as an irresistible torrent. There still appears to be an allusion to a besieged city: the sap, the breach, the storm, the flight, the pursuit, and the slaughter. See the following verse.

Verse 14. They came as a wide breaking in of waters — As fiercely and violently as a river doth when a great breach is made in the bank which kept it in. Hebrew, bjr xrpk, cheperetz rachab, as at a wide breach, as a besieging army, having made a breach in the walls of the city, do suddenly and forcibly rush into it. The word waters, the reader will observe, is not in the Hebrew. In the desolation they rolled themselves upon me — As the waters or soldiers come tumbling in at the breach, they poured themselves upon me, that they might utterly destroy and make me desolate.

14. A wide breaking in — A wide breach. See “breach upon breach,” 16:14. By a figure common in the Scriptures, (like that of “cup” for its contents,) breach stands for the inrushing soldiers. In the desolation — Literally, Beneath the crash they roll on. (Delitzsch.) A vivid description of the storming of a fortress: the walls crash as the infuriated soldiery rush through the breach. Hitzig agrees with the English version except in the second clause, which he renders “like a plunging stream they roll on.”

V. 15. Terrors-If he endeavoured to shake them off, they turned furiously upon him: if he endeavoured to out run them, they pursued his soul, as swiftly and violently as the wind.

Verse 15. Terrors are turned upon me] Defence is no longer useful; they have beat down my walls.

They pursue my soul as the wind] I seek safety in flight, my strong holds being no longer tenable; but they pursue me so swiftly, that it is impossible for me to escape. They follow me like a whirlwind; and as fast as that drives away the clouds before it, so is my prosperity destroyed. The word ytbdn nedibathi, which we translate my soul, signifies properly my nobility, my excellence: they endeavour to destroy both my reputation and my property.

Verse 15. Terrors are turned upon me — Many terrible things from God, who sets himself against me, and in some sort joins his forces with these miscreants, are directed against me, to whom they seem not to belong, as being the portion of wicked men. They pursue my soul — Hebrew, ytbdn, nedibathi, my principal, or excellent one; that is, my soul, which is properly so called, as being the chief part of man, and which was the proper seat and object of divine terrors, as his body was of his outward pains and ulcers; as the wind — That is, speedily, vehemently, and irresistibly; and my welfare — All the happiness and comfort of my life; passeth away as a cloud — Which is quickly dissolved into rain, or dissipated by the sun, or driven away with the wind.

15. My soul — Literally, My honour. Genesis 49:6. In recognition of the soul as the nobler part of man. As a cloud — Arabian writers frequently compare hopes and promises that are not fulfilled to a cloud full of promise, speedily dispersed by the wind.

Third strophe — In his extreme distress Job cries in vain to a God who casts him into the mire and coldly stares upon him, or lifts him up upon the stormy wind that he may dissolve him in the crash of the storm, and thus make more conspicuous and startling the divine determination to destroy. 16-23. Compare Job 29:2-5.

Verses 16, 17. My soul is poured out upon me — Or within me, as the particle yl[, gnali, is elsewhere used. All the strength and powers of my soul are melted, faint, and die away. My bones are pierced — Or rather, it, namely, the terrors or affliction last mentioned, hath pierced my bones. This is no slight and superficial, but a most deep wound, that reaches to my very heart, bones, and marrow. Nothing in me is so secret but it reaches it; nothing so hard and solid but it feels the weight and burden of it. In the night season — When others and I should receive some rest and refreshment; and my sinews take no rest — The flesh of my body, which covereth the sinews and is mixed with them. So he signifies that neither his bones nor his flesh rested.

16. Poured out upon me — We say of the heart, “it dissolves in grief,” an effect of grief recognised in other languages.

Verses 16, 17. My soul is poured out upon me — Or within me, as the particle yl[, gnali, is elsewhere used. All the strength and powers of my soul are melted, faint, and die away. My bones are pierced — Or rather, it, namely, the terrors or affliction last mentioned, hath pierced my bones. This is no slight and superficial, but a most deep wound, that reaches to my very heart, bones, and marrow. Nothing in me is so secret but it reaches it; nothing so hard and solid but it feels the weight and burden of it. In the night season — When others and I should receive some rest and refreshment; and my sinews take no rest — The flesh of my body, which covereth the sinews and is mixed with them. So he signifies that neither his bones nor his flesh rested.

17. My bones are pierced — According to many, night is here personified, thus: The night pierces my bones. Night intensifies pain and sorrow. Job attributes to night, as an agent, the work done in the night. See note Job 3:3. Herder calls Job the brother of Ossian in personification. In me — Literally, From upon me. So that they (the bones) are detached from him. It is possible that Job was already maimed by this “maiming disease.” See note Job 2:7, and below verse 30. Sinews — Same as in verse 3, gnawers, that is, the gnawing disease or gnawing pains; possibly worms, the maggots in his ulcers, Job 7:5.

Verse 18. Is my garment changed] There seem to be here plain allusions to the effect of his cruel disease; the whole body being enveloped with a kind of elephantine hide, formed by innumerable incrustations from the ulcerated surface.

It bindeth me about] There is now a new kind of covering to my body, formed by the effects of this disease; and it is not a garment which I can cast off; it is as closely attached to me as the collar of my coat. Or, my disease seizes me as a strong armed man; it has throttled me, and cast me in the mud. This is probably an allusion to two persons struggling: the stronger seizes the other by the throat, brings him down, and treads him in the dirt.

Verses 18, 19. By the great force of my disease, &c. — The words, of my disease, are not in the Hebrew, neither do they seem to be rightly supplied, but rather to obscure the sense of the clause, which, without any supplement, is literally rendered, With great force my garment is changed, for so this verb vpjty, jithchappesh, is used, 1 Kings 22:30. Thus the sense is, I cannot shift or put off my garment without great difficulty; the reason whereof is given in the following words: It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat — It cleaveth fast to me, being glued by that purulent matter which issues from my sores. He seems to allude to the fashion of the eastern outward garments, which were all of a piece, and had a strait mouth at the top, which was brought over the head and fastened close about the neck. Some, however, understand the clause figuratively, thus: By the great force, that is, the power of God, is my garment changed, that is, my condition is wholly altered; it bindeth me about, &c. — I am straitly bound in on every side with my sorrows and afflictions, as it were, with a collar; every part of me, from head to foot, is, as it were, wrapped round with pains; and all my limbs are, in a manner, bound with them. He hath cast me into the mire, &c. — I am reduced to the lowest and filthiest condition possible. Houbigant, who thinks that the idea here is taken from a man struggling with another, laying hold on his garment, and casting him into the mire, renders these two verses, With great force he layeth hold on my garment, and infolds me by the collar of my robe: He hath cast me into the mire, &c.

Ver. 18. Force of my disease. These words are deficient in the Hebrew, but copied in the Latin from some authorized reading. The LXX read, “He has with great strength taken hold of my robe, and bound me by the collar of my coat,” as wrestlers do to throw their antagonists to the ground. The text is obscure, which occasions variations in all the versions. The French reads, “The colour of my vestment is changed;” and it would seem, by the soporation of his sores; a reading altogether at issue with the LXX.

18. Garment changed — Figuratively, for skin which by “great (divine) power” is marred, disfigured so that he could scarcely be recognized; “the whole body being enveloped with a kind of elephantine hide formed by innumerable incrustations from the ulcerated surface.” — Clarke. Of a madman a Persian poet says, He was clothed as with a vest, with the wounds of ulceration. (Sir W. Jones, 1:224.) Coat — Tunic; a closely fitting undergarment resembling in form and use a shirt, and made either of wool, cotton, or linen.

Verses 18, 19. By the great force of my disease, &c. — The words, of my disease, are not in the Hebrew, neither do they seem to be rightly supplied, but rather to obscure the sense of the clause, which, without any supplement, is literally rendered, With great force my garment is changed, for so this verb vpjty, jithchappesh, is used, 1 Kings 22:30. Thus the sense is, I cannot shift or put off my garment without great difficulty; the reason whereof is given in the following words: It bindeth me about as the collar of my coat — It cleaveth fast to me, being glued by that purulent matter which issues from my sores. He seems to allude to the fashion of the eastern outward garments, which were all of a piece, and had a strait mouth at the top, which was brought over the head and fastened close about the neck. Some, however, understand the clause figuratively, thus: By the great force, that is, the power of God, is my garment changed, that is, my condition is wholly altered; it bindeth me about, &c. — I am straitly bound in on every side with my sorrows and afflictions, as it were, with a collar; every part of me, from head to foot, is, as it were, wrapped round with pains; and all my limbs are, in a manner, bound with them. He hath cast me into the mire, &c. — I am reduced to the lowest and filthiest condition possible. Houbigant, who thinks that the idea here is taken from a man struggling with another, laying hold on his garment, and casting him into the mire, renders these two verses, With great force he layeth hold on my garment, and infolds me by the collar of my robe: He hath cast me into the mire, &c.

19. As in Job 9:31. Like dust and ashes — In elephantiasis the skin is at first intensely red, and afterward black.

V. 20. I stand-I pray importunately and continually.

Verse 20. I cry unto thee] I am persecuted by man, afflicted with sore disease, and apparently forsaken of God.

I stand up] Or, as some translate, “I persevere, and thou lookest upon me.” Thou seest my desolate, afflicted state; but thine eye doth not affect thy heart. Thou leavest me unsupported to struggle with my adversities.

Verses 20, 21. Thou dost not hear me — Namely, so as to answer or help me. I stand up — Namely, before thee: I pray importunately and continually, as thou requirest; and thou regardest me not — Notwithstanding all my griefs and cries, thou dost not pity and help me, but rather seemest to take pleasure in beholding my calamities, as the following words imply; Thou art become cruel to me — Hebrew, Ëpht, tehapheck, Thou art turned to be cruel, as if thou hadst changed thy very nature; which is kind, merciful, and gracious; and such thou hast formerly been in thy carriage to me; but now thou art grown severe, rigorous, and inexorable. Thou opposest thyself against me — Thy power, wherewith I expected that thou wouldest have supported me under my troubles, thou usest against me.

20. Hear — Rather, answer. Regardest me (omit not) — Job takes the reverential attitude of a suppliant, and God looks upon him calmly and pitilessly.

V. 21. Turned-As if thou hadst changed thy very nature, which is kind, and merciful, and gracious.

Verse 21. Thou art become cruel to me] Thou appearest to treat me with cruelty. I cry for mercy, trust in thy goodness, and am still permitted to remain under my afflictions.

Thou opposest thyself] Instead of helping, thou opposest me; thou appearest as my enemy.

Verses 20, 21. Thou dost not hear me — Namely, so as to answer or help me. I stand up — Namely, before thee: I pray importunately and continually, as thou requirest; and thou regardest me not — Notwithstanding all my griefs and cries, thou dost not pity and help me, but rather seemest to take pleasure in beholding my calamities, as the following words imply; Thou art become cruel to me — Hebrew, Ëpht, tehapheck, Thou art turned to be cruel, as if thou hadst changed thy very nature; which is kind, merciful, and gracious; and such thou hast formerly been in thy carriage to me; but now thou art grown severe, rigorous, and inexorable. Thou opposest thyself against me — Thy power, wherewith I expected that thou wouldest have supported me under my troubles, thou usest against me.

21. Harsh and unjustifiable charges against God, which Elihu justly reproves, Job 33:10.

V. 22. Thou-Thou exposest me, to all sorts of storms and calamities; so that I am like chaff or stubble lifted up to the wind, and violently tossed hither and thither in the air. Substance-By which, my body is almost consumed, and my heart is melted within me.

Verse 22. Thou liftest me up to the wind] Thou hast so completely stripped me of all my substance, that I am like chaff lifted up by the wind; or as a straw, the sport of every breeze; and at last carried totally away, being dissipated into particles by the continued agitation.

Verses 22, 23. Thou liftest me up to the wind — Thou exposest me to all sorts of storms and calamities, so that I am like chaff or stubble lifted up to the wind, and violently tossed hither and thither in the air. And dissolvest my substance — By which my body is almost consumed, and my heart is melted within me. I know that thou wilt bring me to death — Rather, I verily know, or am persuaded, that by these lingering and painful disorders thou art gradually bringing me to death; the house appointed for all living — The grave, to which all living men are hastening. The grave is a narrow, dark, cold house, but there we shall rest and be safe. It is our home, for it is our mother’s lap, and in it we are gathered to our fathers. It is a house appointed for us by him that has appointed the bounds of all our habitations. And it is appointed for all living. It is the common receptacle for rich and poor; we must all be brought thither, and that shortly.

22. The wind; thou causest me to ride upon — This figure is common in Oriental writers. “In Arabic they say of one who hurries rapidly by that he rides upon the wings of the wind.” — Delitzsch. Comp. Psalm 102:10. Dissolvest my substance — Rather, according to the Kethib, Dissolvest me in the tempest; more literally, the crash of a tempest.

V. 23. House appointed-The grave is a narrow, dark, cold house, but there we shall rest and be safe. It is our home, for it is our mother’s lap, and in it we are gathered to our fathers. It is an house appointed for us, by him that has appointed the bounds of all our habitations. And it is appointed for all living. It is the common receptacle for rich and poor: we must all be brought thither, and that shortly.

Verse 23. Thou wilt bring me to death] This must be the issue of my present affliction: to God alone it is possible that I should survive it. To the house appointed for all living.] Or to the house, מועד moed, the rendezvous, the place of general assembly of human beings: the great devourer in whose jaws all that have lived, now live, and shall live, must necessarily meet.

“—————— O great man-eater!

Whose every day is carnival; not sated yet! Unheard of epicure! without a fellow!

The veriest gluttons do not always cram! Some intervals of abstinence are sought To edge the appetite: thou seekest none. Methinks the countless swarms thou hast devour’d, And thousands that each hour thou gobblest up, This, less than this, might gorge thee to the full. But O! rapacious still, thou gap’st for more, Like one, whole days defrauded of his meals, On whom lank hunger lays her skinny hand, And whets to keenest eagerness his cravings; As if diseases, massacres, and poisons, Famine, and war, were not thy caterers.” THE GRAVE.

Verses 22, 23. Thou liftest me up to the wind — Thou exposest me to all sorts of storms and calamities, so that I am like chaff or stubble lifted up to the wind, and violently tossed hither and thither in the air. And dissolvest my substance — By which my body is almost consumed, and my heart is melted within me. I know that thou wilt bring me to death — Rather, I verily know, or am persuaded, that by these lingering and painful disorders thou art gradually bringing me to death; the house appointed for all living — The grave, to which all living men are hastening. The grave is a narrow, dark, cold house, but there we shall rest and be safe. It is our home, for it is our mother’s lap, and in it we are gathered to our fathers. It is a house appointed for us by him that has appointed the bounds of all our habitations. And it is appointed for all living. It is the common receptacle for rich and poor; we must all be brought thither, and that shortly.

23. Appointed — d[wm, according to Dr. Clarke and most moderns, means assembly; here with beth, the house of assembly, the involuntary rendezvous of all of woman born. Comp. Job 3:18, 19. The idea of a gathering of the dead “to the fathers,” or “to their people,” appears frequently in the oldest of the Scriptures. Note on Job 27:19. “All such language must have come from some idea of death, or sheol, being a place of waiting for something to come after it.” — T. Lewis. See Excursus III, page 73.

Fourth strophe — God’s insensibility to Job’s prayers may have arisen from the general principle that prayers can be of no avail when once the doom of destruction shall have gone forth. The sympathy Job had ever extended to those in distress led him to expect divine succour, but in vain, since naught now remains to him but lamentation and death. 24-31.

V. 24. To the grave-The hand of God’s wrath will not follow me beyond death; I shall then be safe and easy: Tho’ men cry in his destruction: tho’ most men cry and are affrighted, while they are dying, while the body is sinking into destruction; yet I desire it, I have nothing to fear therein, since I know that my redeemer liveth.

Verse 24. He will not stretch out his hand to the grave] After all that has been said relative to the just translation and true meaning of this verse, is it not evident that it is in the mouth of Job a consolatory reflection? As if he said, Though I suffer here, I shall not suffer hereafter. Though he add stroke to stroke, so as to destroy my life, yet his displeasure shall not proceed beyond the grave.

Though they cry in his destruction.] Mr. Good translates: Surely there, in its ruin, is freedom. In the sepulchre there is freedom from calamity, and rest for the weary.

Verse 24. He will not stretch out his hand to the grave — This verse is judged by commentators to be very obscure. The sense of it probably is, Notwithstanding I earnestly wished for the grave as a place of rest, thou wilt not indulge me so far as to stretch out thy hand and give me my death-wound: or, thy hand (that is, the hand of God’s wrath) will not follow me beyond death and the grave: I shall then be safe and easy. Though they cry in his destruction — In the destruction brought on them by death; that is, though most men cry out and are affrighted while they are dying, while the body is sinking into destruction, yet I desire it; I have nothing to fear therein, since I know that my Redeemer liveth.

24. Howbeit — Ëa, yea. Schultens enumerates eighteen interpretations of this difficult verse. Those most worthy of consideration turn upon the meaning of y[b, which, if taken as one word, signifies prayer; if compounded, it means to the grave or in destruction. Gesenius, (Thes., 222,) Rosenmuller, Conant, Renan, Lewis, etc., render, essentially, yea, there is no prayer where he (God) stretches out the hand; when he (God) destroys, vain is the cry for help. Literally, it reads. “If in his destruction (that of which God is author) one cries,” what then? of what avail? which is, says Dr. T. Lewis, an aposiopesis, (like that of Luke 13:9, if it bear fruit!! or the quos ego!! of Virgil,) a figure common to passionate language, in which the speaker leaves the hearer to supply a conclusion which he himself is loath to express. Comp. Psalm 94:9; Iliad, 1:26. Renan renders it, “of what use to protest against his blows.” If instead of taking, with Jerome and Kimchi, ˆhl, as euphonical for a masculine plural, it be read adverbially “on this account,” (Furst,) the sense is not materially changed. The noun [wv, cry, corresponds to the [wvt of Job 24:12, “The soul of the wounded crieth out.” On the other hand, in view of the context, Ewald, Hirtzel, Dillmann, etc., translate less correctly, yet in destruction doth one not stretch out the hand? In his calamity doth he not complain thereof? Dr. Clarke gives no translation, but seems disposed to follow Bede and most of the Latins in regarding it as “a consolatory reflection, as if he had said, though I suffer here, I shall not suffer hereafter… his displeasure shall not proceed beyond the grave.”

V. 25. Did not I-Have I now judgment without mercy, because I afforded no mercy to others in misery? No; my conscience acquits me from this inhumanity: I did mourn over others in their miseries.

Verse 25. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?] Mr. Good translates much nearer the sense of the original, יום hvql liksheh yom. “Should I not then weep for the ruthless day?” May I not lament that my sufferings are only to terminate with my life? Or, Did I not mourn for those who suffered by times of calamity?

Was not my soul grieved for the poor? Did I not relieve the distressed according to my power; and did I not sympathize with the sufferer?

Verses 25, 26. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble — Have I now judgment without mercy, because I afforded no mercy or pity to others in misery? No; my conscience acquits me from this inhumanity: I did mourn over others in their misery. Was not my soul grieved for the poor? — The negative particle not, which is not in the Hebrew, seems to be here improperly supplied. The sense will be stronger and more emphatical to understand the second part of the verse as containing an answer to the first, and to render it, My soul was grieved for the poor; that is, I not only wept, but my very soul was grieved for them; yea, even for those who were so necessitous as to be incapable of requiting my kindness in case of their recovery from affliction. When I looked for good, then evil came — Yet trouble came upon myself when I expected it not.

25. Him that was in trouble — Literally, the hard of day. Job seems to intimate that the sympathizer with men has reason to expect divine sympathy. Psalm 41:1-3. And yet the sympathy he has freely poured forth for others is withheld from him by God and man. Like Jeremiah and our Saviour. Job was pre-eminent in sympathy. The touching pathos of this appeal must commend itself to each heart.

V. 26. Upon me-Yet trouble came upon myself, when I expected it not.

Verses 25, 26. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble — Have I now judgment without mercy, because I afforded no mercy or pity to others in misery? No; my conscience acquits me from this inhumanity: I did mourn over others in their misery. Was not my soul grieved for the poor? — The negative particle not, which is not in the Hebrew, seems to be here improperly supplied. The sense will be stronger and more emphatical to understand the second part of the verse as containing an answer to the first, and to render it, My soul was grieved for the poor; that is, I not only wept, but my very soul was grieved for them; yea, even for those who were so necessitous as to be incapable of requiting my kindness in case of their recovery from affliction. When I looked for good, then evil came — Yet trouble came upon myself when I expected it not.

V. 27. Affliction-Came upon me suddenly, and unexpectedly, when I promised myself peace and prosperity.

Verse 27. My bowels boiled] This alludes to the strong commotion in the bowels which every humane person feels at the sight of one in misery.

Verses 27, 28. My bowels boiled — Namely, with the violence of my disorder; and rested not — Hebrew,wmd alw, velo damu, and were not silent. The days of affliction prevented me — Came upon me suddenly and unexpectedly, when I promised myself peace and prosperity. I went mourning without the sun — Hebrew, ytklh rdq, koder hillacti, I walked black, not by the sun. My very countenance became black, but not by the sun, which makes many other persons black, but by the force of my disease. I stood up, I cried in the congregation — I was not able to lie still, nor to refrain from cries in the greatest assemblies.

27. Bowels — According to the Oriental ideas, the seat of deep and noble feelings and emotions. Barnes thinks Job means “the upper bowels, or the region of the heart and the lungs.” In Isaiah 16:11, deep feeling for others calls forth from within responsive notes, like those of the harp touched by the plectrum. South Sea Islanders “call compassion a bleating of the bowels.” — Forster. Prevented — Have overtaken.

V. 28. Without the sun-Heb. black, not by the sun. My very countenance became black, tho’ not by the sun, but by the force of my disease.

Verse 28. I went mourning without the sun] hmj chammah, which we here translate the sun, comes from a root of the same letters, which signifies to hide, protect, &c., and may be translated, I went mourning without a protector or guardian; or, the word may be derived from חם cham, to be hot, and here it may signify fury, rage, anger; and thus it was understood by the Vulgate: Maerens incedebam, sine furore, I went mourning without anger; or, as Calmet translates, Je marchois tout triste, mais sans me laisser aller a l’emportement; “I walked in deep sadness, but did not give way to an angry spirit.” The Syriac and Arabic understood it in the same way.

Verses 27, 28. My bowels boiled — Namely, with the violence of my disorder; and rested not — Hebrew,wmd alw, velo damu, and were not silent. The days of affliction prevented me — Came upon me suddenly and unexpectedly, when I promised myself peace and prosperity. I went mourning without the sun — Hebrew, ytklh rdq, koder hillacti, I walked black, not by the sun. My very countenance became black, but not by the sun, which makes many other persons black, but by the force of my disease. I stood up, I cried in the congregation — I was not able to lie still, nor to refrain from cries in the greatest assemblies.

28. Mourning without the sun — I go blackened, but not by the heat of the sun. The blackness of his skin is due, not to the sun, but to his disease. Elephantiasis passes current as “the black leprosy.” Congregation — Probably the indiscriminate assemblage of the people, naturally drawn together at first by the tidings of his misfortunes. This seems to have been previous to the seven days of mourning; the utter breaking down of Job is painfully indicated by this cry of despair.

V. 29. A brother-By imitation of their cries: persons of like qualities are often called brethren. Dragon-Which howl and wail mournfully in the deserts.

Verse 29. I am a brother to dragons] By my mournful and continual cry I resemble תנים tannim, the jackals or hyenas.

And a companion to owls.] יענה twnb benoth yaanah, to the daughters of howling: generally understood to be the ostrich; for both the jackal and the female ostrich are remarkable for their mournful cry, and for their attachment to desolate places.—Dodd.

Verse 29. I am a brother — By imitation of their cries; to dragons — Which howl and wail mournfully in the deserts, (Micah 1:8,) either through hunger and thirst, or when they fight with, and are beaten by, the elephant. Persons of like qualities are often called brethren. And a companion to owls — Whose doleful noises are well known: or, ostriches, as Dr. Waterland renders the word; the females of which are also remarkable for their mournful cry, and which have their habitation in desolate places.

Ver. 29. A brother to dragons. Job sat in solitude, hearing the hissings and wailings of serpents in the night. See note on Deuteronomy 32:33.

29. Brother — See note, Job 17:14. By his cry he has become a brother to dragons, (Hebrew, tannim,) rather, jackals, whose howl is a wailing like that of a child. It begins with the setting of the sun and continues all night. Dr. Thomson speaks of a concert of jackals as the most frightful noise he ever heard. (Land and Book, 1:113.) Owls — Literally, daughters of the ostrich. The cry of the ostrich is hideous, sometimes resembling the roar of a lion; then again, the hoarse voice of the bull. “I have often heard them groan as if they were in the greatest agonies.” — Dr. Shaw, (comp. Micah 1:8.) Shakspeare borrows the imagery of this verse, —

though I go alone,

Like to a lonely dragon, that his fen

Makes feared.

— Coriolanus, iv, sc. 1.

Verse 30. My skin is black] By continual exposure to the open air, and parching influence of the sun.

My bones are burned with heat.] A strong expression, to point out the raging fever that was continually preying upon his vitals.

Verses 30, 31. My skin is black upon me, &c. — “The boiling heat of my body hath so parched me that my skin looks black, and the marrow in my bones, and all my vital moisture, are dried up.” My harp also is turned to mourning — “To say no more, all mirth is banished my house: the musical instruments are laid aside, and nothing but mourning and weeping come in their room.” — Bishop Patrick. All my joy is gone, my condition entirely changed, and I have nothing now but wo and misery.

30. Upon me — Literally, from upon me. Job now describes an advanced stage of the elephantiasis, in which the skin peels and hangs down in black flakes, and the limbs perish and fall off, the bones having been destroyed by the ulceration. Verse 17.

Verse 31. My harp also is turned to mourning] Instead of the harp, my only music is my own plaintive cries.

And my organ] What the bg[ uggab was, we know not; it was most probably some sort of pipe or wind instrument. His harp, rwnk kinnor, and his pipe, bg[ uggab, were equally mute, or only used for mournful ditties. THIS chapter is full of the most painful and pathetic sorrow; but nevertheless tempered with a calmness and humiliation of spirit, which did not appear in Job’s lamentations previously to the time in which he had that remarkable revelation mentioned in the nineteenth chapter. {Job 19:25} After he was assured that his Redeemer was the living God, he submitted to his dispensations, kissed the rod, and mourned not without hope, though in deep distress, occasioned by his unremitting sufferings. If the groaning of Job was great, his stroke was certainly heavy. JOB

Verses 30, 31. My skin is black upon me, &c. — “The boiling heat of my body hath so parched me that my skin looks black, and the marrow in my bones, and all my vital moisture, are dried up.” My harp also is turned to mourning — “To say no more, all mirth is banished my house: the musical instruments are laid aside, and nothing but mourning and weeping come in their room.” — Bishop Patrick. All my joy is gone, my condition entirely changed, and I have nothing now but wo and misery.

31. Harp… to mourning — See note, Job 21:12. Among the Hindus, when a person is in trouble, his instrument is also considered to be in trouble, (Roberts.)

Thus closes the second part of the soliloquy, (monologue,) Job’s last sorrowful lament. “What a delicate touch of the poet is it that he makes this lament die away so melodiously! One hears the prolonged vibration of its elegiac strains. The festive and joyous music is hushed; the only tones are tones of sadness and lament, mesto flebile.” — Delitzsch.