Job · Chapter 5

V. 1. Call-Call them all as it were by their names: will not every good man confirm what I say? If-Try if there be any one saint that will defend thee in these bold expostulations with God. Thou mayst find fools or wicked men, to do it: but not one of the children of God.

Verse 1. Call now, if there be any] This appears to be a strong irony. From whom among those whose foundations are in the dust, and who are crushed before the moth, canst thou expect succour?

To which of the saints wilt thou turn?] To whom among the holy ones, (µyvdq kedoshim,) or among those who are equally dependent on Divine support with thyself, and can do no good but as influenced and directed by God, canst thou turn for help? Neither angel nor saint can help any man unless sent especially from God; and all prayers to them must be foolish and absurd, not to say impious. Can the channel afford me water, if the fountain cease to emit it?

Verse 1. Call now, &c. — Wouldst thou know the reason why I relate to thee this night vision? I do it with an intent that thou mayest apply it to thyself, and thy present circumstances. Thou hast heard how weak and imperfect the best of men must be in comparison with God, but if this does not satisfy thee, if thou dost not believe what has been advanced, thou mayest inquire of others. Try, therefore, if there be any one that will defend thee in these thy bold expostulations with God. Thou mayest find fools or wicked men that will do it, but not one of the children of God. There is no good man but is of my opinion; and if an angel should appear to thee as one did to me, thou wouldst receive no other information but this.

Verse 1. To which of the saints wilt thou turn? Men in anguish look every way for help, but how can either angel or departed spirit of the just help us, without a special command from heaven. Men should therefore bear their afflictions till God relieve them.

1. If there be any — Literally, Is there he? The Septuagint renders the verse, “But call, if any one will hearken to thee, or if thou shalt see any of the holy angels.” The saints — µyvdq, (the holy.) As this term is employed both of good men and good angels, (Deuteronomy 33:2, 3; Psalm 34:9, etc.,) its meaning must be determined by the context. The idea of Eliphaz is, that Job, in his present mood, need expect no sympathy or help from any quarter. The vision just cited has established the inferiority of all beings in the sight of God, and, as declared in the afflictions of Job, the infinite wisdom of his will. After God has spoken there is none other — holy man or angel — who will either deign or dare to make reply to his (Job’s) complaints. To reply, even, might foster the spirit of rebellion. Murmuring belongs to man, not to the angels. That there can be no reference, as the Romanists teach, to any intercession of angels, is evident from the comparatively low estimate in which the vision had held them. See ver. 8, and 4:18. Nor is it a challenge to Job, as Grotius and others have held, to produce a similar revelation in his own favour. Nor is there any ground for the suggestion of Schultens, that “call” and “answer” are forensic terms, thus versified by Scott: —

“Be now complainant, the defendant see;

Which angel will espouse thy daring plea?

V. 2. Killeth-A man’s wrath, and impatience, preys upon his spirit, and so hastens his death; and provokes God to cut him off. The foolish-The rash and inconsiderate man, who does not weigh things impartially. Envy, &c.-I perceive thou art full of envy at wicked men, who seem to be in a happier condition than thou, and of wrath against God; and this shews thee to be a foolish and weak man. For those men, notwithstanding their present prosperity, are doomed to great and certain misery. I have myself seen the proof of this.

Verse 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man] Foolish, silly, and simple, are epithets given by Solomon to sinners and transgressors of all kinds. Such parallelisms have afforded a presumptive argument that Solomon was the author of this book. See the preface. {Job 1:1} The words of Eliphaz may be considered as a sort of maxim, which the wisdom and experience of ages had served to establish; viz., The wrath of God is manifested only against the wicked and impious; and if thou wert not such, God would not thus contend with thee.

Verse 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man, &c. — That is, say some, a man’s wrath and impatience prey upon his spirit, and so hasten his death. But the meaning seems rather to be, as Bishop Patrick observes, that “God in his anger and indignation destroys the wicked, and such as err from his precepts.” It is probable that Eliphaz intended to distinguish Job by the characters of foolish and silly one, to insinuate that all his misfortunes were owing to his folly and weakness, or to his sins and vices. By the foolish is meant the rash and inconsiderate man, who does not weigh things impartially; and by the silly one, the man who, for want of true wisdom, is soon deceived with false opinions, and with appearances of present things.

2. For wrath — c[k signifies also grief. Passionate sorrow, such as Job had indulged, slays the foolish. 2 Corinthians 7:10. In the word for, Eliphaz resumes the leading thought of this discourse — men reap what they sow. The passions of a man — for instance, “envy,” (jealousy,) — an envy that even looks wistfully at non-existence, (Job 3:3) — are not only the ruin of a man, but they are the marks of “a fool,” lywa — a word which he repeats in the next verse. “The violence of sin brings no help, but destruction, to itself, which is the nerve of all Eliphaz is saying: vers. 6, 7.” — DAV. At the opening of the debate the implication against Job is of folly, manifesting itself through jealousy and passionate murmurings against God, rather than of crime. The latter is reserved for a direct charge, which the now courteous Eliphaz himself brings against Job at a later stage of the debate; chap. 22. Nevertheless, these words sink deep into the heart of Job, as is seen by his allusion (Job 6:2) to this very word wrath.

V. 3. Foolish-The wicked man. Root-Not only prosperous for the present, but, as it seemed, firm and secure for the future. Suddenly-In a moment, beyond mine, and his own, and all other mens expectation. Cursed-I saw by the event which followed his prosperity, that he was a man accursed of God.

Verse 3. I have seen the foolish taking root] I have seen wicked men for a time in prosperity, and becoming established in the earth; but I well knew, from God’s manner of dealing with men, that they must soon be blasted. I even ventured to pronounce their doom; for I knew that, in the order of God’s providence, that was inevitable. I cursed his habitation.

Verse 3. I have seen the foolish taking root — I have observed the wicked man, whom I term foolish, as being destitute of true, that is, of heavenly, wisdom, not only prosperous for the present, but, as it seemed, firm and secure for the future, being strongly fortified with power and riches, and children too, so that there was no likelihood or apparent danger of a change; but suddenly — In a moment, before any one’s expectation; I cursed his habitation — I saw, by the event which followed his prosperity, that he was a man under a divine curse, and that, notwithstanding the seeming depth and strength in which he vainly promised himself a permanent, unshaken situation for many years, all his hopes were built on a weak and false foundation. Thus Eliphaz answers an objection concerning the present seeming prosperity of the wicked, which he confesses that he himself had sometimes observed, but which, he insists, was of short duration, destructive judgments from God unexpectedly overwhelming them.

3. Suddenly I cursed — He feels himself justified in acting upon what he had observed — that adversity trod upon the heel of wickedness. So that where-ever he beheld the marked prosperity of the foolish, he at once pronounced their doom. The version of the Septuagint, “but suddenly their habitation was devoured,” Merx is not justifiable in following. “The word ‘suddenly’ points, as with the finger, to the catastrophe by which, at one stroke, Job’s prosperity was laid in the dust — to the Chaldeans and Sabeans, to the lightning and the storm.” — Hengstenberg.

V. 4. Children-Whose greatness he designed in all his enterprizes, supposing his family would be established for ever. Safely-Are exposed to dangers and calamities, and can neither preserve themselves, nor the inheritance which their fathers left them. There is no question but he glances here, at the death of Job’s children.

Verse 4. His children are far from safety] His posterity shall not continue in prosperity. Ill gotten, ill spent; whatever is got by wrong must have God’s curse on it.

They are crushed in the gate] The Targum says, They shall be bruised in the gate of hell, in the day of the great judgment. There is reference here to a custom which I have often had occasion to notice: viz., that in the Eastern countries the court-house, or tribunal of justice, was at the GATE of the city; here the magistrates attended, and hither the plaintiff and defendant came for justice.

Verse 4. His children — Whose greatness he designed in all his enterprises, supposing his family would be established for ever; are far from safety — Are exposed to dangers and calamities, and can neither preserve themselves, nor the inheritance which their fathers left them. There is no question but he glances here at the death of Job’s children; and they are crushed in the gate — That is, in the place of judicature, to which they are brought for their offences, and where they find severe judges, and few or no friends; because, being wickedly educated, and trusting to their own greatness, they had been insolent and injurious to all their neighbours; as also because those many persons, whom their powerful fathers had defrauded or oppressed, seek for justice and the recovery of their rights, which they easily obtain, against persons who plainly declared, by their actions, that they neither feared God nor regarded man, and therefore were hated by all sorts of people. Neither is there any to deliver them — They can find no advocates or assistants who are either able or willing to help them: for, as their hand was formerly against every man, so now every man’s hand is against them. Justice, therefore, takes hold on them, and will not let them escape.

Ver. 4. His children—are crushed in the gate, when brought before the elders for their wicked deeds. The gate of the city was the ancient bench of justice.

4. His children — In the East the fate of the children was involved in that of the parent, as in the case of Haman’s ten sons, who were hanged on the gallows. Esther 9:13, 14. The merciful legislation of Moses was arrayed against such monstrous perversion of justice. Deuteronomy 24:16. Are crushed — Davidson unnecessarily supposes the verb to be reflexive, that the children crushed each other by “family feuds and ruinous litigations.” “In the gate,” (Job 31:21; see also Job 29:7,) plainly points to courts of justice before which fatherless children, having no natural defender, would fare badly, even to being crushed. In the gate of the city the great assemblies of people were held, (Proverbs 1:21,) whether for reading the law and proclamations, (Nehemiah 8:1, 3,) or for the administration of justice, (Joshua 20:4; Ruth 4:1,) or even for market purposes. (2 Kings 7:1.) The sculptures found by Botta (plate 18) represent the king sitting at the gate in an arm-chair, the seat of judgment. This Oriental custom is transmitted in the title of the court of the Sultan, The Sublime Porte — the word “porte” signifying gate. In the Koran (Sura xxiii, 79) we read: “We have opened against them the gate of supreme judgment.” See note on Matthew 16:19.

V. 5. Harvest-Which they confidently expect to reap after all their cost and labour, but are sadly and suddenly disappointed. The hungry-The hungry Sabeans eat it up. Thorns-Out of the fields: in spite of all dangers or difficulties in their way.

Verse 5. Whose harvest] Their possessions, because acquired by unjust means, shall not be under the protection of God’s providence; he shall abandon them to be pillaged and destroyed by the wandering half-starved hordes of the desert banditti. They shall carry it suddenly off; even the thorns—grain, weeds, thistles, and all, shall they carry off in their rapacious hurry.

The robber swalloweth us] Or, more properly, the thirsty, µymx tsammim, as is plain from their swallowing up or gulping down; opposed to the hungry or half-starved, mentioned in the preceding clause. The hungry shall eat up their grain, and the thirsty shall drink down their wine and oil, here termed חילם cheylam, their strength or power, for the most obvious reasons.

There seem to be two allusions in this verse: 1. To the hordes of wandering predatory banditti, or half-starved Arabs of the desert, who have their scanty maintenance by the plunder of others. These descendants of Ishmael have ever had their hands against all men, and live to this day in the same predatory manner in which they have lived for several thousands of years. M. Volney’s account of them is striking: “These men are smaller, leaner, and blacker, than any of the Bedouins yet discovered. Their wasted legs had only tendons without calves. Their belly was shrunk to their back. They are in general small, lean, and swarthy, and more so in the bosom of the desert than on the borders of the more cultivated country. They are ordinarily about five feet or five feet two inches high; they seldom have more than about six ounces of food for the whole day. Six or seven dates, soaked in melted butter, a little milk, or curd, serve a man for twenty-four hours; and he seems happy when he can add a small portion of coarse flour, or a little ball of rice. Their camels also, which are their only support, are remarkably meagre, living on the meanest and most scanty provision. Nature has given it a small head without ears, at the end of a long neck without flesh. She has taken from its legs and thighs every muscle not immediately requisite for motion; and in short has bestowed on its withered body only the vessels and tendons necessary to connect its frame together. She has furnished it with a strong jaw, that it may grind the hardest aliments; and, lest it should consume too much, she has straitened its stomach, and obliged it to chew the cud.” Such is the description given of the Bedouin and his camel, by M. Volney, who, while he denies the true God, finds out a deity which he calls Nature, whose works evince the highest providence, wisdom, and design! And where does this most wonderful and intelligent goddess dwell? Nowhere but in the creed of the infidel; while the genuine believer knows that nature is only the agent created and employed by the great and wise God to accomplish, under his direction, the greatest and most stupendous beneficial effects. The second allusion in the verse I suppose to be to the loss Job had sustained of his cattle by the predatory Sabeans; and all this Eliphaz introduces for the support of his grand argument, to convict Job of hidden crimes, on which account his enemies were permitted to destroy his property; that property, because of this wickedness, being placed out of the protection of God’s providence.

Verse 5. Whose harvest — Which they confidently expected to reap after all their cost and labour; The hungry eateth up — The hungry Sabeans, or the poor, whose necessities make them greedy and ravenous to eat it all up; so that he can never recover it, or any thing in recompense of it. As if he had said, They may cultivate their ground with the utmost care, and sow it with the choicest seed, in expectation of reaping, at the usual time, the fruits of their labour; but when once the sentence of the judge is declared against them, behold, instead of carrying in, and filling their barns and store-houses with the great and plentiful increase, their field is laid open to the hungry poor, who soon devour their whole harvest. And take it even out of the thorns — That is, out of the fields, notwithstanding the strong thorn-hedges wherewith it is enclosed and fortified; and in spite of all the dangers or difficulties which may be in their way. They will take it, though they be scratched and wounded by the thorns about it. And the robber swalloweth up their substance — The word µymx, tzammim, here rendered robber, occurs but once more, namely, Job 18:9, where Bildad, taking it for granted that Job must be a wicked man, says the robber, tzammim, shall prevail against him. R. Levi derives it from tzammah, hair, and says it represents a man who suffers his hair to grow long and squalid, and appears with a terrible countenance. It may however signify thirsty, as derived from another root. Either way it points out a set of savage and barbarous plunderers. The word ãac shaaph, rendered swalloweth up, literally means to draw in the air, to pant after, to swallow greedily; and is applied to wild beasts, snuffing up the wind in pursuit of their prey. The sense of the clause is, that these robbers shall hasten with great eagerness, shall greedily pant after and swallow up their entire substance, so as to leave them in the most deplorable condition.

5. Even out of the thorns — The best interpretation is that of Dr. Thomson, who speaks of Gennesareth as “pre-eminently fruitful in thorns. They grow up among the grain, or the grain among them, and the reaper must pick the harvest out of the thorns.” The idea of Eliphaz is, that “the robbers would make thorough work of it, and leave nothing behind them, not even that which grew among the thorns.” (See further, “The Land and the Book,” 1:537.) The robber — The thirsty; that is, greedy spoilers. µymx is rendered “snare,” or “noose,” by Gesenius, Furst, Hirtzel, Conant, etc., thus, “The snare gapeth for their substance:” but most ancient versions, together with Ewald, Wordsworth, Zockler, etc., adopt the reading, “The thirsty (pant for) swallow up their substance,” on the assumption that a weak letter a has been lost from the original word. The exact meaning of the verb ãav, which expresses violent emotion, such as “to pant for,” “to greedily drain,” etc., accords better with the rendering, “the thirsty.”

Second strophe — Suffering is of divine appointment, 6, 7. This is shown by its being inseparable from the constitution of nature.

V. 6. The dust-It springs not up by merely natural causes, as herbs grow out of the earth: but from God. Eliphaz here begins to change his voice, as if he would atone for the hard words he had spoken.

Verse 6. Affliction cometh not forth of the dust] If there were not an adequate cause, thou couldst not be so grievously afflicted. Spring out of the ground] It is not from mere natural causes that affliction and trouble come; God’s justice inflicts them upon offending man.

Verse 6. Although affliction cometh not forth out of the dust — The word ˆwa, aven, here rendered affliction, rather signifies iniquity, and the clause is literally, Iniquity cometh not forth out of the dust; neither doth trouble spring out of the ground — That is, says Dr. Dodd, “As the wickedness of men does not proceed from any natural cause, but from their own free-will; so neither are their miseries to be considered as the effects of natural causes, but as the distributions of a free agent likewise, namely, of a just God, who suits men’s punishments to their crimes; and hence man, being prone to sin, is necessarily born to suffer,” as is signified in the next verse.

6. Although — Rather, for. He proceeds to give the reason why it is foolish to murmur over affliction: evil is not fortuitous, but due to the wickedness of man. Affliction — ˆwa; evil. Spring out — Sprout up like weeds. Man’s trouble is not a growth or offshoot of nature, but a divine appointment on account of sin. It belongs to a scheme subsequent to that of nature, in which man, a sinful race, grows up to trouble as naturally as the plant sprouts from the earth, or the spark springs upward from the burning coal. The true well-spring of misery is not in nature, but within man himself.

V. 7. Is born-He is so commonly exposed to various troubles, as if he were born to no other end: affliction is become natural to man, and is transmitted from parents, to children, as their constant inheritance; God having allotted this portion to mankind for their sins. And therefore thou takest a wrong course in complaining so bitterly of that which thou shouldest patiently bear, as the common lot of mankind. As-As naturally, and as generally, as the sparks of fire fly upward. Why then should we be surprized at our afflictions as strange, or quarrel with them, as hard?

Verse 7. Yet man is born unto trouble] לעמל leamal, to labour. He must toil and be careful; and if in the course of his labour he meet with trials and difficulties, he should rise superior to them, and not sink as thou dost.

As the sparks By upward.] ãw[ yhybgy ãvr ynbw ubeney resheph yagbihu uph; And the sons of the coal lift up their flight, or dart upwards. And who are the sons of the coal? Are they not bold, intrepid, ardent, fearless men, who rise superior to all their trials; combat what are termed chance and occurrence; succumb under no difficulties; and rise superior to time, tide, fate, and fortune? I prefer this to all the various meanings of the place with which I have met. Coverdale translates, It is man that is borne unto mysery, like as the byrde for to fle. Most of the ancient versions give a similar sense.

Verse 7. Yet man is born to trouble, &c. — He is so commonly exposed to various troubles, as if he were born to no other end: affliction is become natural to man, and is transmitted from parents to children, as their constant inheritance; God having allotted this portion to mankind for their sins. And therefore thou takest a wrong course in complaining so bitterly of that which thou shouldst patiently bear, as the common lot of mankind. As — As naturally, and as generally, as the sparks of fire fly upward — Why then should we be surprised at our afflictions, as strange, or quarrel with them, as hard? This last clause, literally translated from the Hebrew, is, As the sons of the burning coal raise themselves up to fly. Instead, however, of sparks, or the sons of the coal, the author of the Vulgate writes, Homo nascitur ad laborem, et avis ad volatum, man is born for labour, (or trouble,) and the bird for flying; reading, ãw[, gnoph, a bird, for gnuph, to fly. To the same purpose is the interpretation of the LXX., Syr. and Arab.

7. Yet — Not an adversative, as Dillman, Hitzig, and others would read, but for; thus Conant, Evans, etc. This verse is also argumentative. The sparks — Bene resheph — sons of fire, just as arrows are called sons of the bow. Umbreit translates: “Even as the bird of prey rises high in its flight.” Jerome beautifully expresses it, “Man is born to labour and the bird to flight.” The version of the text is better. That the evils of life are many, and “in close succession rise,” is implied in the figurative word “sparks.” Fourth double strophe — GOD’S MORAL GOVERNMENT, 8-16.

First strophe — His government is as beneficent in the moral as in the natural world, 8-11.

V. 8. I would-If I were in thy condition. Seek-By prayer, and humiliation, and submission, imploring his pardon, and favour.

Verse 8. I would seek unto God] Were I in your place, instead of wasting my time, and irritating my soul with useless complaints, I would apply to my Maker, and, if conscious of my innocence, would confidently commit my cause to him.

Verse 8. I would seek unto God, &c. — If I were in thy condition, instead of accusing the dispensations of Divine Providence, and repining under them, I would apply to God, by a full and free confession of those sins which have drawn this sad calamity upon me, and by sincere repentance, humiliation, and submission to his will: to God, who is able to do wonders, (as he presently adds,) and who can and will restore thee to thy former happy state, if he sees that thou art penitent for thy past transgressions, and hast reformed thy conduct. For this is the whole purport of the following part of his speech, namely, to give him hopes of a happy turn to his condition, if he would do what he thought was absolutely necessary to be done in this case; make a frank confession of those crimes which had brought down this severe chastisement upon him. See Peters and Dodd. And unto God would I commit my cause — Would resign myself and all my concerns to him, and humbly hope for relief from him. And let my cause be what it would, and my own opinion of it ever so favourable, I would commit it wholly to him, and leave him to judge and determine it.

8. I would seek — Literally, But I, I would seek. As for me, whatever others may do, I would seek unto God. He proposes to go, not to saints or angels, or through the medium of saints or angels, but directly to God himself. God — The first name of God is El, the second Elohim. The first designation of God presents him as the mighty one; the second, as “God in the totality of his variously manifested nature.” He turns with strongest aversion from the thought of Job’s outcries of despair, in like manner as afterward (Job 22:18) from the spectacle of successful antediluvian sinners, and betakes himself to God.

V. 9. Who, &c.-Here Eliphaz enters upon a discourse of the infinite perfection of God’s nature and works; which he doth as an argument to enforce the exhortation to seek and commit his cause to God, ver. 8, because God was infinitely able either to punish him yet far worse, if he continued to provoke him; or to raise him from the dust, if he humbly addressed himself to him: and that by a representation of God’s excellency and glory, and of that vast disproportion which was between God and Job, he might convince Job of his great sin in speaking so boldly and irreverently of him. Marvellous-Which (though common, and therefore neglected and despised, yet) are matter of wonder to the wisest men. The works of nature are mysteries: the most curious searches come far short of full discoveries: and the works of Providence are still more deep and unaccountable.

Verse 9. Which doeth great things] No work, however complicated, is too deep for his counsel to plan; none, however stupendous, is too great for his power to execute. He who is upright is always safe in referring his cause to God, and trusting in him.

Verse 9. Which doth great things and unsearchable — Here Eliphaz enters upon a discourse of the infinite perfection of God’s nature and works; which he does as an argument to enforce the exhortation to seek and commit his cause to God, verse 8, because God was infinitely able either to punish him yet far worse, if he continued to provoke him, or to raise him from the dust, if he humbly addressed himself to him: and that, by a representation of God’s excellence and glory, and of that vast disproportion which was between God and Job, he might convince Job of his great sin in speaking so boldly and irreverently of him. Marvellous things — Which (though common, and therefore neglected and despised, yet) are matter of wonder to the wisest men. The works of nature are mysteries: the most curious searches come far short of full discoveries; and the works of Providence are still more deep and unaccountable.

9. Without number — Literally, “Till there be no number.” Each avenue of research opens upon the infinite. Science has brought to light worlds of creative might of which Eliphaz had not dreamed. The commonest textbooks of science furnish abundant illustrations of the text.

V. 10. Rain-He begins with this ordinary work of God, in which he implies that there is something wonderful, as indeed there is in the rise of it from the earth, in the strange hanging of that heavy body in the air, and in the distribution of it as God sees fit; and how much more in the hidden paths of Divine Providence?

Verse 10. Who giveth rain upon the earth] The Chaldee gives this verse a fine turn: “Who gives rain on the face of the land of Israel, and sends waters on the face of the provinces of the people.” Similar to our Lord’s saying, which is expressed in the half of the compass: Your Father which is in heaven—SENDETH RAIN ON THE JUST AND ON THE UNJUST; Matthew 5:45.

Sendeth waters upon the fields] The term twxj chutsoth, which we translate fields, and generally signifies streets, may here mean those plantations which are laid out in ridges or plats, in an orderly, regular manner. God does not only send rain upon the earth in a general manner, but, by an especial providence, waters the cultivated ground, so that not one ridge is destitute of its due proportion of fructifying moisture.

Verse 10. Who giveth rain upon the earth — He begins with this ordinary work of God, in which he implies that there is something wonderful, as indeed there is, in the rise of it from the earth, in the strange hanging of that heavy body in the air, and in the distribution of it as God sees fit; and how much more in the hidden paths of Divine Providence! And sendeth waters upon the fields — When the scorching heat of the sun is so strong and intense as to dry up and consume almost every herb of the field, every green thing upon the face of the earth, God, in great compassion, opens the windows of heaven, and pours down a gracious, refreshing, and long-wished-for rain; by which wonderful supply the springs and rivers, which were much exhausted, and, in a manner, had quite disappeared, do now rise and swell to their usual height; nay, are not only full, but overflow, so as to reach several distant places which waited, as it were, for refreshment from those superabundant treasures.

10. Giveth rain — The Koran often calls the rain “the flowing forth of divine power.” The devastations by droughts, so frequently experienced throughout the East, make the advent of rain a most signal event, illustrative both of the power and goodness of God. Psalm 65:10; Jeremiah 14:22; Acts 14:17.

V. 11. To set up-That is, he setteth up. Another example of God’s great and wonderful works. He gives this instance to comfort and encourage Job to seek to God, because he can raise him out of his greatest depths.

Verse 11. To set up on high those that be low] He so distributes his providential blessings without partiality, that the land of the poor man is as well sunned and watered as that of the rich; so that he is thus set upon a level with the lords of the soil.

Verse 11. To set up on high those that be low — The consequences which proceed from the fore-mentioned happy change, from God’s sending a refreshing rain upon the earth, after a long drought are inexpressibly great and beneficial. Those who had been reduced to straits and difficulties, and, by the pressing necessities arising therefrom, had been brought very low, and obliged to submit to mean and laborious employments, are now enabled to lift up their heads with joy, and appear in a very different condition. That those who mourn may be exalted to safety — That through the blessings of Providence flowing in upon them, like a plentiful stream of water upon a barren and thirsty land, they may be raised from their former state of extreme poverty and want, and may find themselves placed in a comparatively safe and comfortable situation, without any apparent reason to fear a relapse into their former difficulties and distresses. Thus he gives Job another example of God’s great and wonderful works, to comfort and encourage him to seek unto him, forasmuch as he could easily raise him from the depth of his distress, however great, as he was wont to raise others in the like condition.

11. Eliphaz naturally passes to the moral world, in mysterious grandeur so far transcending that of nature. He who, for the sake of the arid and barren wastes connects with each tiny raindrop transforming power, can change sorrow into joy. The change produced by the autumnal rains, Dr. Russel, in his “History of Aleppo,” calls “a sudden resurrection of vegetable nature.” Second strophe — Human arrogance and human wisdom God alike overwhelms and brings to shame, 12-16.

Verse 12. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty] All these sayings refer to God’s particular providence, by which he is ever working for the good, and counterworking the plots of the wicked. And as various as are the contingent, capricious, and malevolent acts of men, so varied are his providential interferences; disappointing the devices, snares, and plots of the crafty, so that their plans being confounded, and their machinery broken in pieces, their hands cannot perform their enterprises.

Verse 12. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty — On the contrary, he defeats the craftiest designs of evil and subtle men to exalt themselves. They may place a great deal of confidence in their own abilities, and, without any regard to the overruling hand of Providence, may imagine that their good or bad success in the world depends wholly on their own wisdom and efforts: they may form deep and secret designs; and, to the utmost stretch of their knowledge and foresight, may contrive and project measures which will have the most plausible appearance of accomplishing their purpose. But after all this dexterous management, should the Almighty once interpose, and throw an obstacle in their way, all their crafty devices are frustrated, and their promising expectations vanish away. So that their hands cannot perform their enterprise — Hebrew, hyvwt, tushijah, a word of an extensive meaning, implying that which is solid and substantial, or which is wise, good, and virtuous. Instead of executing any thing of moment, any thing advantageous or praiseworthy; instead of having the satisfaction of seeing a prosperous event of their best-formed counsels, they quickly perceive with what weak hands they have been labouring, and that all their aspiring attempts are vain and fruitless.

12. Crafty — From µr[, to spin, twist. Furst cites three Hebrew words expressive of cunning or evil thought, (he might have added pathal, froward, ver. 13,) whose roots give the same idea of spinning. However men may work in the dark, spinning their evil devices, God “breaks them to pieces,” (disappointeth,) rpm. Enterprise — hyvwt, toushiyyah. The root of the word indicates being, substance, that which is. See note on Job 6:13. It stands in contrast with ˆwa, evil, which signifies, also, emptiness, nothingness, which is its root idea. The wicked can accomplish nothing substantial.

V. 13. The wise-Men wise to do evil, and wise in the opinion of the world, he not only deceives in their hopes and counsels, but turns them against themselves. Froward-Or, wrestlers: such as wind and turn every way, as wrestlers do, and will leave no means untried to accomplish their counsels. Is carried-Is tumbled down and broken, and that by their own precipitation.

Verse 13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness] So counterworks them as to cause their feet to be taken in their own snares, and their evil dealings to fall on their own pate. Such frequent proofs has God given of his especial interference in behalf of the innocent, who have been the objects of the plots and evil designs of the wicked, by turning those evil devices against their framers, that he who digs a pit for his neighbour shall fall into it himself has become a universal adage, and has passed, either in so many words or in sense, into all the languages of all the people of the earth. Lucretius expresses it strongly:

Circumretit enim vis atque injuria quemque,

Atque, unde exorta est, ad eum plerumque revortit.

LUCRET. lib. v., ver. 1151.

“For force and wrong entangle the man that uses them;

And, for the most part, recoil on the head of the contriver.”

Verses 13, 14. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness — Men wise to do evil, or wise in the opinion of the world; he not only deceives their hopes and counsels, but turns those counsels against themselves. And the counsel of the froward — Hebrew, Of the perverse, or wrestlers, such as wind and turn every way, as wrestlers do, and will leave no means untried to accomplish their designs: is carried headlong — That is, tumbled down and broken, and that by their own precipitation and haste. Such is their malice, that they cannot proceed leisurely and wisely, but are eager, and venturous, and rash, and so make more haste than good speed in their wicked designs: or, the meaning may be, The event will show that such deceitful cunning, though never so coolly and sedately digested, will deserve no better name than precipitate rashness and infatuation. They meet with darkness in the day-time — In plain things they run into gross mistakes, and choose those courses which are worst for themselves. Darkness often denotes misery, but here ignorance or error. And grope in the noon-day — Like blind men to find their way, not knowing what to do. They trip in the plainest way, and see not their danger, when it is visible to every body but themselves.

13. The wise — Those whose “wisdom is of this world,” as in 1 Corinthians 3:19, a verse in which the apostle quotes this very passage from the Hebrew, rather than the Septuagint. There lurks an insinuation, that Job’s boasted wisdom may prove to be a like counterfeit of the real. “He captures the wise, not when their wisdom has forsaken them, and they make a false step, but at the very point where they make the highest use of it.” — Hengstenberg. “This,” says Hitzig, “is the only passage in this book which is cited in the New Testament.” Froward — Crooked or cunning. The Koran has a similar thought: “God outwits the cunning,” Job 13:44. Lucretius is still more in point: —

“Circumretit enim vis, atque injuria, quemque

Atque unde exorta est, ad eum plerumque revortit.”

“For force and rapine in their craftiest nets

Oft their own sons entangle, and the plague Tenfold recoils.”

V. 14. Meet-In plain things they run into gross mistakes, and chuse those courses which are worst for themselves. Darkness often notes misery, but here ignorance or error. Grope-Like blind men to find their way, not knowing what to do.

Verse 14. They meet with darkness in the daytime] God confounds them and their measures; and, with all their cunning and dexterity, they are outwitted, and often act on their own projects, planned with care and skill, as if they had been the crudest conceptions of the most disordered minds. They act in noonday as if the sun were extinct, and their eyes put out. Thus does God “abate their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices.”

Verses 13, 14. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness — Men wise to do evil, or wise in the opinion of the world; he not only deceives their hopes and counsels, but turns those counsels against themselves. And the counsel of the froward — Hebrew, Of the perverse, or wrestlers, such as wind and turn every way, as wrestlers do, and will leave no means untried to accomplish their designs: is carried headlong — That is, tumbled down and broken, and that by their own precipitation and haste. Such is their malice, that they cannot proceed leisurely and wisely, but are eager, and venturous, and rash, and so make more haste than good speed in their wicked designs: or, the meaning may be, The event will show that such deceitful cunning, though never so coolly and sedately digested, will deserve no better name than precipitate rashness and infatuation. They meet with darkness in the day-time — In plain things they run into gross mistakes, and choose those courses which are worst for themselves. Darkness often denotes misery, but here ignorance or error. And grope in the noon-day — Like blind men to find their way, not knowing what to do. They trip in the plainest way, and see not their danger, when it is visible to every body but themselves.

14. They meet with darkness — They stumble against darkness. — GESENIUS, Thesaurus. A judicial visitation. They were deemed sharp-sighted among men. God sends upon them thick darkness.

V. 15. Mouth-Which was ready to swallow them up.

Verse 15. He saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth] This is rather a harsh construction. To avoid this, some have proposed to render brjm mechereb, which we translate from the sword, the persecuted, but, I am afraid, on very slender authority. Instead of מפיהם מחרב mechereb mippihem, “from the sword, from their mouth,” eleven of Kennicott and Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS. read פיהם מחרב mechereb pihem, from the sword of their mouth; and with these MSS. the Chaldee, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic agree. The verse, therefore, may be translated thus:— He saveth from the sword of their mouth;

The poor from the hand of the mighty.

Or thus:—

He saveth from the sword of their mouth;

And with a strong hand the impoverished.

Verse 15. But he saveth the poor, &c. — According to the order in which the words stand in the Hebrew, the translation is, But he saveth from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty, the poor. Schultens thinks it should be interpreted, from the sword which proceedeth out of their mouth, meaning, their cutting and killing reproaches. A sense this which is approved by Buxtorf, and which receives no small confirmation from divers passages of Scripture, in which reproachful language is stigmatized by the name of a sword. See Psalm 57:4, and 64:3. Dr. Waterland’s translation of the verse is to the same purpose. But he saveth the poor from destruction by their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. The general sense undoubtedly is, that God saveth such as, being poor, are defenceless, and therefore flee to him for refuge, from the censures, slanders, threatenings, and deceitful insinuations of their enemies; from the false swearing of witnesses, and the unrighteous sentences of corrupt judges, by which things their characters, or estates, or lives, may be exposed to great hazards.

Ver. 15. He saveth the poor—from [the threats] of their mouth.

15. From the sword — brjm. Doderlein, Michaelis, and Conant propose to change the pointing of the original, in order to make a direct object of the verb; thus, brjm, desolated, and read, “So he rescues the victim from their mouth, and the needy from the hand of the strong.” Dr. Adam Clarke adduces eleven of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s manuscripts as reading, “from the sword of their mouth,” with which agree the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic. The rendering of Zockler, Umbreit, and most moderns, accords with that of Delitzsch — from the sword, (that) of their mouth, that is, that proceeds from their mouth — who also remarks that the text is sound and beautiful. Compare Psalm 64:3, “who whet their tongue like a sword.” The shape of the tongue may have led to its comparison to a sword; certainly its power to cut, to wound, has ever led the Oriental to associate the two together.

V. 16. So-So he obtains what he hoped for from God, to whom he committed his cause. Iniquity-Wicked men. Stoppeth-They are silenced and confounded, finding that not only the poor are got out of their snares, but the oppressors themselves are ensnared in them.

Verse 16. So the poor] ld dal, he who is made thin, who is wasted, extenuated; hath hope—he sees what God is accustomed to do, and he expects a repetition of gracious dealings in his own behalf; and because God deals thus with those who trust in him, therefore the mouth of impiety is stopped.

Religion is kept alive in the earth, because of God’s signal interventions in behalf of the bodies and souls of his followers.

Verse 16. So the poor, &c. — Hebrews ldl yhtw, vatehi ladal, even to the poor there is hope: Dal signifies one who is deprived of his strength or power, either by poverty or sickness: in Arabic, He who is submissive, and humbles himself in a low, abject manner. Here the interpretation seems to be, Even the abject, contemptible man hath hope; that is, obtains what he hoped for from God, to whom he had committed his cause. And iniquity — Iniquitous men, the abstract term being put for the concrete, as pride, deceit, injustice, are put for proud, deceitful, unrighteous men, Jeremiah 13:9; 2 Peter 3:13. Stoppeth her mouth — They are silenced and confounded, finding not only the poor are got out of their snares, but that the oppressors themselves are insnared in them.

16. So the poor hath hope — As the poor are God’s special care, Heaven’s proteges, it is particularly said of them, that they have hope. Eliphaz sublimely declares the care of the poor, the lowly, and the suffering ones of this world to be the ulterior end of the natural and moral worlds; to this end converge all the arrangements of nature and of grace, with all their criss-cross and apparently contradictory motions. In harmony with our thought is the pleasing one of Whewell, (Bridgewater Tr., chap. 3,) who “considers the whole mass of the earth, from pole to pole and from center to circumference, as employed in keeping a snow-drop in the position most suited to the promotion of its vegetable health.” The verse is a grand climactical close to this sublime description of God. Comp. Luke 7:22, with a similar climax — “The poor have the gospel preached to them.” Fifth double strophe — THE BLESSED RESULTS OF SUBMISSION, 17-27. First strophe — The happiness of him who willingly yields himself to the loving chastisements of the Almighty, 17-21.

V. 17. Behold-Eliphaz concludes his discourse, with giving Job a comfortable hope, if he humbled himself before God. Happy-Heb. Blessednesses (various and great happiness) belong to that man whom God rebukes. The reason is plain, because afflictions are pledges of God’s love, which no man can buy too dear; and are necessary to purge out sin, and thereby to prevent infinite and eternal miseries. Without respect to this, the proposition could not be true. And therefore it plainly shews, that good men in those ancient times, had the belief, and hope of everlasting blessedness. Despise not-Do not abhor it as a thing pernicious, refuse it as a thing useless, or slight it as an unnecessary thing. But more is designed than is exprest. Reverence the chastening of the Lord: have an humble, aweful regard to his correcting hand, and study to answer the design of it. The Almighty-Who is able to support and comfort thee in thy troubles, and deliver thee out of them: and also to add more calamities to them, if thou art obstinate and incorrigible.

Verse 17. Behold, happy is the man] jnh hinneh, behold, is wanting in five of Kennicott’s and Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS., and also in the Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic.

We have had fathers of our flesh, who corrected us for their pleasure, or according to their caprices, and we were subject to them: how much more should we be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? for he corrects that we may be partakers of his holiness, in order that we may be rendered fit for his glory. See Hebrews 12:5; James 1:12; and Proverbs 3:12.

Verse 17. Behold — Consider, for what I am saying, though most true and important, will not be believed, without serious consideration. Eliphaz concludes his discourse with giving Job a comfortable hope of deliverance from his troubles, and of restoration to his former, or even a greater state of prosperity, if he humbled himself before God. Happy is the man — Hebrews blessednesses, various kinds and degrees of happiness belong to that man whom God rebukes. The reason is plain, because afflictions are pledges of God’s love, which no man can buy too dear; and are necessary to purge out sin, and thereby to prevent infinite and eternal miseries. Without respect to this, the proposition could not be true. And therefore it plainly shows, that good men in those ancient times had the belief and hope of everlasting blessedness. Despise not — Do not abhor it as a thing pernicious, refuse it as a thing useless, or slight it as an unnecessary thing: but more is designed than is expressed. Reverence the chastening of the Lord: have an humble, awful regard to his correcting hand, and study to answer the design of it. The Almighty — Who is able to support and comfort thee in thy troubles, and deliver thee out of them; and also to add more calamities to them, if thou art obstinate and incorrigible.

Ver. 17. Happy is the man whom God correcteth. Those three friends of Job were perfectly acquainted with the blessings of the Noachial, the Abrahamic, and Mosaic covenant. They partly enumerated them in the following verses: and though Eliphaz might not know it, his words imply a prophecy of Job’s restoration, that his tabernacle should be in peace, and his offspring like the grass. Yea, that Job, like a shock of corn, should come to his grave in a good old age.

17. Behold, happy — Behold, blessed is the man. One of the earliest beatitudes; so important, that our attention is specially invited. It appears again in the Psalms, (94,) the Proverbs, (3,) and Hebrews, (12.) “The world,” says A.H. Hallam, “was loved in Christ alone. The brethren were members of his mystical body. All the other bonds that had fastened down the spirit of the universe to our narrow round of earth were as nothing in comparison to this golden chain of suffering and self-sacrifice, which at once riveted the heart of man to one who, like himself, was acquainted with grief. Pain is the deepest thing we have in our nature, and union [with God] through pain has always seemed more real and more holy than any other.”

V. 18. For he, &c.-God’s usual method is, first to humble, and then to exalt. And he never makes a wound too great, too deep for his own cure.

Verse 18. For he maketh sore, and bindeth up. Thus nervously rendered by Coverdale, For though he make a wounde, he giveth a medicyne agayne; though he smyte, his honde maketh whole agayne.

Verses 18, 19. For he maketh sore, &c. — God’s usual method is first to wound and then to heal, first to convince and then to comfort, first to humble and then to exalt. And he never makes a wound too great, too deep, for himself to cure. He will deliver thee — If thou seek to him by prayer and repentance; in six troubles — In distresses, manifold and repeated. Here he applies himself to Job directly. Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee — Thou shalt have a good issue out of all thy troubles, though they be both great and many.

18. Bindeth up — Among the ancients the healing art was for the most part confined to external applications. They seem generally to have attributed the curing of diseases to supernatural agency; hence priests were resorted to for healing purposes, since they were supposed to possess peculiar powers of propitiating their deities. On the medical resources of the ancients, see PLINY, Nat. Hist., Books 23-29. Also Leviticus 13, which Kitto calls the most ancient medical treatise in the world.

V. 19. Deliver-If thou seekest to him by prayer and repentance. Here he applies himself to Job directly. Six-Manifold and repeated. Touch-So as to destroy thee. Thou shalt have a good issue out of all thy troubles, though they are both great and many.

Verse 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles] The numbers six and seven are put here for many. Though a number of troubles should come upon thee all at once, and there should be no hope, humanly speaking, yet God would rid thee out of them all; for he saves as well from many as from few. We may also understand the words, He who hath been thy deliverer in past troubles, will not deny his help in those which are to come.

Verses 18, 19. For he maketh sore, &c. — God’s usual method is first to wound and then to heal, first to convince and then to comfort, first to humble and then to exalt. And he never makes a wound too great, too deep, for himself to cure. He will deliver thee — If thou seek to him by prayer and repentance; in six troubles — In distresses, manifold and repeated. Here he applies himself to Job directly. Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee — Thou shalt have a good issue out of all thy troubles, though they be both great and many.

19. Six troubles — The speaker first incidentally suggests six, but as seven is the number expressive of completeness, he adds “in seven troubles;” that is, in all troubles, God will protect us against evil. He goes on to specify a few, say five, troubles, although Cocceius and Schultens conceive that seven are enumerated. Davidson sees a fine gradation in the ills, and observes that they are coupled together in pairs: — First pair: Public national calamity — famine and sword, (20.) Second pair: Personal private wrong from the powerful or malevolent — calumny, violence, (21.) Third pair: Personal private misfortune — hunger, (want from failure,) beasts of the field, (ravages on private property,) (22, 23.) “The number seven was esteemed a holy number also among other peoples, as the Persians, Hindus, and the ancient Germans.” — WINER, Rwb. This wondrous word “SEVEN,” according to Cicero, contains the mystery of all things, and tends, as Hippocrates, the ancient philosopher, said, through its occult virtues to the evolution of all things. The identity of the Hebrew word with [bv, “to swear,” “take an oath,” as if men swore by this word seven, shows that from very ancient times it has been associated with a sacred idea.

V. 20. He shall-These things he utters with more confidence, because the rewards or punishments of this life, were more constantly distributed to men in the Old Testament according to their good or bad behaviour, than they are now: and because it was his opinion, that great afflictions were the certain evidences of wickedness; and consequently, that great deliverances would infallibly follow upon true repentance.

Verse 20. In famine he shall redeem thee] The Chaldee, which understands this chapter as speaking of the troubles and deliverances of the Israelites in Egypt and the wilderness, renders this verse as follows: “In the famine of Egypt he redeemed thee from death; and in the war of Amalek, from the slaying of the sword.”

Verse 20. In famine he shall redeem thee from death — From that terrible kind of death. Eliphaz might think that Job feared perishing by want, as being so poor, that he needed the contributions of his friends for his relief. And in war from the sword — These things he utters with more confidence, because the rewards or punishments of this life were more constantly distributed to men in the Old Testament, according to their good or bad behaviour, than they are now: and, because it was his opinion, that great afflictions were the certain evidences of wickedness; and, consequently, that great deliverances would infallibly follow upon true repentance.

20. The power of the sword — Literally, The hands of the sword. The Scriptures attribute hands to other destructive agencies: to the tongue, Proverbs 18:21; to the flame, Isaiah 47:14; to lions, Daniel 6:27; and to the grave, Psalm 49:15; as if, poetically, their destructive power could be accounted for only by their being endowed with man’s most formidable members of destruction.

Verse 21. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue] The Targum refers this to the incantations of Balaam: “From injury by the tongue of Balaam thou shalt be hidden in the clouds; and thou shalt not fear from the blasting of the Midianites, when it shall come.” Perhaps no evil is more dreadful than the scourge of the tongue: evil-speaking, detraction, backbiting, calumny, slander, tale-bearing, whispering, and scandalizing, are some of the terms which we use when endeavouring to express the baleful influence and effects of that member, which is a world of fire, kindled from the nethermost hell. The Scripture abounds with invectives and execrations against it. See Psalm 31:20; 52:2-4; Proverbs 12:18; 14:3; James 3:1-8. Neither shalt thou be afraid] “Thou shouldst have such strong confidence in God, that even in the presence of destruction thou shouldst not fear death,” the God of life and power being with thee.

Verses 21, 22. Thou shalt be hid — Protected, as in some secret and safe place; from the scourge of the tongue — From false accusations, and virulent slanders and reproaches. Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction — Thou shalt have no cause to fear it, because God will secure thee in it and from it: when it cometh — Namely, upon others, near or round about thee. Bishop Patrick’s paraphrase on the verse is, “False accusers shall not be able to hurt thee; and when whole countries are depopulated, thou shalt be secure.” At destruction, &c., thou shalt laugh — With a laughter of joy and triumph; arising from a just security and confidence in God’s watchful and gracious providence. Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the field — The wild beasts, which were numerous and mischievous in those parts. As no apprehensions of fear shall possess thee in other heavy calamities, so neither shalt thou be under any dreadful consternation, should even the most fierce and savage beasts of the earth rise up against and be ready to devour thee. Perhaps it is not possible for that peace of mind, which arises from a good conscience and a confidence in the divine care and protection, to be expressed more elegantly or poetically than it is in this verse. Thus, leviathan, so far from being terrified, is said to laugh at the shaking of a spear, Job 41:29. And God himself, in the same beautiful style, is represented as disdaining the politic intrigues of kings, and the crafty counsels of the rulers of the earth against his church. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision, Psalm 2:4.

21. Scourge of the tongue — The Targum refers this to the incantations of Balaam, but without reason. The word scourge, cwv, means whip, and is used here figuratively, with prime reference, perhaps, to the whip so frequently depicted on the monuments of Egypt. The same word, cwv, used of Satan’s rapid and destructive course and rendered “going to and fro,” means literally “whipping through,” Job 1:7. Jeremiah (Jeremiah 18:18) makes similar allusion to the tongue as a whip. Comp. Isaiah 28:15. Hitzig finds the secret of the figure used here in the resemblance of the sound of the tongue to that of a whip, or in their like flexibility — a thought which Homer has, “flexible is the tongue of mortals.” — Iliad, 20:248. It is worthy of remark, (Schlottmann calls it a certain irony,) that the very evil — calumny — from which Job is assured he should be hidden, in case he yields to the divine chastisement, is that with which the friends already threaten him.

Second strophe — The blessings that shall crown the life of such a favourite of heaven, 22-26.

V. 22. Laugh-With a laughter of joy and triumph, arising from a just security and confidence in God’s watchful and gracious providence.

Verse 22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh] This most forcibly expresses the strongest security, and confidence in that security. “In the desolation of Sihon, and in the famine of the desert, thou shalt laugh; and of the camps of Og, who is compared to a wild beast of the earth, thou shalt not be afraid.”—Targum.

Verses 21, 22. Thou shalt be hid — Protected, as in some secret and safe place; from the scourge of the tongue — From false accusations, and virulent slanders and reproaches. Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction — Thou shalt have no cause to fear it, because God will secure thee in it and from it: when it cometh — Namely, upon others, near or round about thee. Bishop Patrick’s paraphrase on the verse is, “False accusers shall not be able to hurt thee; and when whole countries are depopulated, thou shalt be secure.” At destruction, &c., thou shalt laugh — With a laughter of joy and triumph; arising from a just security and confidence in God’s watchful and gracious providence. Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the field — The wild beasts, which were numerous and mischievous in those parts. As no apprehensions of fear shall possess thee in other heavy calamities, so neither shalt thou be under any dreadful consternation, should even the most fierce and savage beasts of the earth rise up against and be ready to devour thee. Perhaps it is not possible for that peace of mind, which arises from a good conscience and a confidence in the divine care and protection, to be expressed more elegantly or poetically than it is in this verse. Thus, leviathan, so far from being terrified, is said to laugh at the shaking of a spear, Job 41:29. And God himself, in the same beautiful style, is represented as disdaining the politic intrigues of kings, and the crafty counsels of the rulers of the earth against his church. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision, Psalm 2:4.

22. Thou shalt laugh — The man of God, secure in his tower of faith, looks down upon the most formidable evils, and, in the bold imagery of the East, laughs at them. He thus expresses his sense of superiority; an idea that Hobbes has embodied in his theory of laughter.

V. 23. League-Thou shalt be free from annoyance thereby, as if they had made an inviolable league with thee. This is a bold metaphor, but such as are frequent both in scripture and other authors. This is an addition to the former privilege; they shall not hurt thee, ver. 22, nay, they shall befriend thee, as being at peace with thee. Our covenant with God is a covenant with all the creatures, that they shall do us no hurt, but serve and be ready to do us good.

Verse 23. Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field] Instead of ynba abney, stones, Mr. Good reads ynb beney, sons, or produce; but this reading is not supported by any ancient version, nor, as far as I know, by any MS. yet collated. We must, therefore, take up the text as we find it, and make the best we can of the present reading.

The Chaldee gives a plausible sense: Thou needest not to fear, “because thy covenant is on tables of stone, which are publicly erected in the field; and the Canaanites, which are compared to the beasts of the field, have made peace with thee.”

Perhaps the reference is to those rocks or strong holds, where banditti secured themselves and their prey, or where the emirs or neighbouring chiefs had their ordinary residence. Eliphaz may be understood as saying: Instead, then, of taking advantage of thee, as the Sabeans have done, the circumjacent chieftains will be confederate with thee; and the very beasts of the field will not be permitted to harm thy flocks.

Coverdale seems to have had an idea of this kind, as we find he translates the verse thus:—

But the castels in the londe shall be confederate with the, And the beastes of the felde shall give the peace.

I believe the above to be the meaning of the place. See the next verse.

Verse 23. Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field — Thou shalt be free from any annoyance thereby, as if they had made an inviolable league with thee. It is a bold metaphor, but such are frequent in the Scriptures, as also in other authors. And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee — This is an addition to the former privilege; they shall not hurt thee, verse 22. Nay, they shall befriend thee, as being at peace with thee. Our covenant with God is a covenant with all the creatures, that they shall do us no hurt, but serve and be ready to do us good.

Ver. 23. In league with the stones. Covenants, laws, and actions were often written on rocks. A Swedish prince of the seventh century caused the actions of his father to be cut in a high rock of that country; where stones of this description are of frequent occurrence.—The beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. In ancient times, the wild beasts devoured many shepherds and husbandmen, especially during the sultry seasons, when the sun was in the sign of Leo, at which time the lions came to drink at the rivers.

23. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field — Literally, For with the stones of the field (is) thy covenant. “Isaiah (Isaiah 28:15) speaks of ‘a covenant with death;’ that is, death is far from us, and will not injure us. Such, also, is the meaning here: thy field will be free from stones, which would make it barren.” — Rosenmuller. In like manner Lucan says (Phar., 9:394) —

Pax illis cum morte data est,

Peace with death to them is given,

in the sense of security from death. Dr. Shaw thus alludes to this text: “The feet being thus unguarded, (that is, being bare, or only protected with slippers,) were every moment liable to be hurt and injured; and from thence perhaps the danger, without the divine assistance, which ever protects us from the smallest misfortunes, of dashing them against a stone, (Psalm 91:12;) which, perhaps, will illustrate that difficult text (Job 5:23) of being in league with the stones of the field.” Compare 2 Kings 3:25. “The stones are personified: they conclude a treaty with the reformed Job, and promise not to injure him.” — Hengstenberg. Beasts… field — In Ezekiel 14:21, “noisome beasts” constitute a fourth calamitous judgment which God threatens against Israel. What is here promised to the pious man is in like figure prophesied of the Messianic times; Isaiah 11:6-10. The good man is protected against the animate and inanimate creation. Each of the three following verses is crowned with a promise especially pleasing to the Oriental mind: first, domestic bliss; second, numerous posterity; third, long life.

V. 24. Know-By certain experience.

Verse 24. Thou shalt know] Thou shalt be so fully satisfied of the friendly disposition of all thy neighbours, that thou shalt rest secure in thy bed, and not be afraid of any danger, though sleeping in thy tent in the field; and when thou returnest from thy country excursions, thou shalt find that thy habitation has been preserved in peace and prosperity, and that thou hast made no mistake in thy trust, in thy confidence, or in thy confederates. The word Ëlha oholecha, “thy tabernacle,” means simply a tent, or moveable dwelling, composed of poles, pins, and cloth, or skin, to be pitched any where in a few moments, and struck again with the same ease. The word Ëwn navecha, which we properly translate thy habitation, signifies a solid, permanent dwelling-place. See Joshua 22:4, 6-8; 2 Samuel 18:17; 19:8; 1 Kings 12:16; Psalm 52:7; 91:10; 132:3; Lamentations 2:4; Malachi 2:12; and with these passages compare the place in the text.

As to acjt techeta, which we translate thou shalt not SIN, it comes from acj chata, to err, to mistake, to miss the mark: hence to sin, transgress God’s laws, seeking for happiness in forbidden and unlawful things, and therefore missing the mark, because in them happiness is not to be found: and it is very likely, from the connection above, that to mistake or err is its meaning in this place. I need not add, that the Arab chiefs, who had their castles or strong holds, frequently in their country excursions lodged in tents in the open fields; and that on such occasions a hostile neighbour sometimes took advantage of their absence, attacked and pillaged their houses, and carried off their families and household. See at the end of this chapter. See Clarke “Job 5:27”.

Verse 24. And thou shalt know — By certain and constant experience; that thy tabernacle shall be in peace — That is, thy habitation, as it follows, including also the inhabitants, children or friends, and servants. They shall enjoy great safety from all their enemies, and concord among themselves, and prosperity in all their concerns; all which things are comprehended under the sweet name of peace. And thou shalt visit thy habitation — Shalt order and manage thy family, and all thy domestic and worldly affairs, with care and diligence; and shalt not sin — Either by unrighteousness in thy dealings, with thy family or others; or by neglecting God and his service in thy family, or by conniving at any sin in thy domestics, which thou canst hinder. But because Job’s duty does not seem to be the subject of Eliphaz’s discourse here, but rather his privilege, and that in outward and worldly things, the clause is probably better rendered thus: And thou shalt not err, or miscarry, or miss thy way. Thou shalt not be disappointed of thy hopes, or blasted in thy endeavours, but shalt succeed in them. “When thou takest an account of thine estate,” says Bishop Patrick, “all things shall answer thine expectation.”

24. Thy tabernacle shall be… peace — Hebrews, ohel; equally a tent in which to live and the house of God in which to worship. Our homes should be God’s houses; then shall they be peace. And shalt not sin — Or err, as in the margin. Among the radical meanings of the word acj are, to miss, want, miss the mark. The word originally used in a physical sense, for instance, of the skill of the warrior, (Judges 20:16,) took upon itself a moral meaning, as in the case of the Greek amartanw. Comp. Iliad, 5:287, and 9:501.* The sense of this passage, according to most moderns, is, that he shall return to his dwelling and find nothing wanting. Thus Wordsworth: “Not one of thy cattle, sheep, or lambs will be missing” — a forced and feeble interpretation. The more natural reading — which at the same time is consistent with the legitimate sense of the verb — is that of the Vulgate, Luther, and our English version, that the good man may be kept by the grace of God from the commission of sin. As “habitation” corresponds with “tabernacle” of the preceding clause, so does God’s protection from sin answer to the “peace” Eliphaz promises. The antithesis is thus well sustained, and the sense harmonious. Hengstenberg accepts of the English version, and explains: “In looking over thy possessions thou shalt find thou art not treated by God as a sinner but as a friend, being richly blessed by him” — a paraphrase which Evans rightly condemns. [* The following hymn, taken from the Rig Veda, 7:85, contains a similar thought:

1. Let me not yet, O Varuna, enter into the house of clay; have mercy, Almighty, have mercy!

2. If I go along trembling like a cloud driven by the wind; have mercy, Almighty, have mercy!

3. Through want of strength, thou strong and bright God, have I gone to the wrong shore; have mercy, Almighty, have mercy!

— See further, MULLER’S

Sanscrit. Lit., p. 540.]

V. 25. Know-By assurance from God’s promises, and the impressions of his Spirit; and by experience in due time.

Verse 25. Thine offspring as the grass] Thou shalt have a numerous and permanent issue.

Verse 25. Thou shalt know — By assurance from God’s promises, the impressions of his Spirit, and by experience, in due time, that thy seed shall be great — Thy posterity, which God shall give thee, instead of those whom thou hast lost, shall be high, and honourable, and powerful: or, shall be many, as br, rab, often signifies. And thine offspring — The fruit of thy body; (for he speaks of his natural, not of his spiritual seed, as Abraham’s seed is in part to be understood;) as the grass of the earth — Both for its plentiful increase, and for its flourishing greenness.

V. 26. Full age-In a mature and old, but vigorous age, as the word implies. It is a great blessing, to live to a full age, and not to have the number of our years cut short. Much more, to be willing to die, to come chearfully to the grave: and to die seasonably, just in the bed-time, when our souls are ripe for God.

Verse 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave] Thou shalt not die before thy time; thou shalt depart from life like a full-fed guest; happy in what thou hast known, and in what thou hast enjoyed.

Like as a shock of corn] Thou shalt completely run through the round of the spring, summer, autumn, and winter of life; and thou shalt be buried like a wholesome seed in the earth; from which thou shalt again rise up into an eternal spring!

Verse 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age: &c. — Heath translates it, In old age shalt thou come to the sepulchre, as the corn is heaped upon the thrashing-floor in its season. Thou shalt die in a mature and old, though vigorous age, as the word implies. It is a great blessing to live to a full age, and not to have the number of our years cut short: much more to be willing to die; to come cheerfully to the grave; and to die seasonably; in the best time, when our souls are just ripe for God.

26. Like as a shock of corn cometh — Literally, Like the going up of a heap of sheaves. The threshing-floor was on some open and elevated spot, that there might be a free circulation of the air, and the grain be more easily winnowed. As the carts, crowned with the ripened grain, were driven up the ascent, a sense of triumph must have filled the heart of the husbandman. While the paths of earthly glory “lead but to the grave,” the course of the man of God, even in death, is an ascension, a “going up.” Like sheaves from the harvest-field, the good are gathered together at last. Thus Sandys: —

Thou, full of days, like weighty sheaves of corn

In season reaped, shalt to thy grave be borne.

V. 27. Searched-This is no rash or hasty conceit, but what both I and my brethren have learned by deep consideration, long experience, and diligent observation. Know thou-Know it for thyself; (So the word is) with application to thy own case. That which we thus hear and know for ourselves, we hear and know for our good.

Verse 27. Lo this, we have searched it] What I have told thee is the sum of our wisdom and experience on these important points. These are established maxims, which universal experience supports. Know— understand, and reduce them to practice for thy good. Thus ends Eliphaz, the Temanite, “full of wise saws and ancient instances;” but he miserably perverted them in his application of them to Job’s case and character. They contain, however, many wholesome truths, of which the wise in heart may make a very advantageous practical use.

THE predatory excursions referred to in Job 5:23 were not unfrequent among our own barbarous ancestors. An affecting picture of this kind is drawn by Shakespeare, from Holinshed’s Chronicles, of the case of Macduff, whose castle was attacked in his absence by Macbeth and his wife and all his children murdered. A similar incident was the ground of the old heroic ballad of Hardicanute. When the veteran heard that a host of Norwegians had landed to pillage the country, he armed, and posted to the field to meet the invading foe. He slew the chief in battle, and routed his pillaging banditti. While this was taking place, another party took the advantage of his absence, attacked his castle, and carried off or murdered his lovely wife and family; which, being perceived on his return by the war and age-worn chief, is thus affectingly described by the unknown poet:— Loud and chill blew the westlin wind,

Sair beat the heavy shower,

Mirk grew the nicht eir Hardyknute

Wan neir his stately tower:

His tower that us’d with torches bleise

To shine sae far at night,

Seim’d now as black as mourning weid,

Nae marvel, sair he sich’d.

“Thair’s nae light in my lady’s bowir,

Thair’s nae light in my hall;

Nae blink shynes round my Fairly fair,

Nor ward stands on my wall.

“What bodes it, Thomas! Robert! say?”

Nae answer—speaks their dreid;

“Stand back, my sons, I’ll be your gyde;”

But bye they pass’d with speid.

“As fast I haif sped owr Scotland’s foes”

There ceis’d his brag of weir.

Sair schamt to mind ocht but his dame,

And maiden Fairly fair.

Black feir he felt; but what to feir

He wist not yet with dreid;

Sair schook his body, sair his limbs,

And all the warrior fled.

The ending of this poem is lost; but we here see that the castle of Hardicanute was surprised, and his family destroyed, or carried off, while he and his sons had been employed in defeating the invading Norwegians. Thank God! civilization, the offspring of the spread of Christianity, has put an end to these barbarous practices among us; but in the East, where Christianity is not, they flourish still. Britons! send out your Bible and your missionaries to tame these barbarians; for whom heathenism has done nothing, and the Koran next to nothing. Civilization itself, without the Bible, will do as little; for the civilized Greeks and Romans were barbarians, fell and murderous; living in envy and malice, hateful, hating one another, and offering hundreds at a time of human victims to their ruthless deities. Nothing but Christianity ever did, or even can, cure these evils.

JOB

Verse 27. Lo this, we have searched out — It is not my single opinion, but my brethren concur with me, as thou wilt hear from their own mouths. And it is no rash or hasty conceit, but what we have learned by deep consideration, long experience, and diligent observation. Know thou it for thy good — Know it for thyself, (so the word is,) make application of it to thine own case. That which we thus hear and know for ourselves, we hear and know for our good.

27. We have searched it — He thus commits the two other friends to the sentiments he has expressed, and they by their silence assent. Job assumes this in his reply. For thy good — As in the margin, for thyself. These principles, proved by experience, Job may take to himself. The frigid want of sympathy accompanies the speech to its bitter end. The galled jade may wince — Job is in the hands of a righteous God, let him suffer. “Eliphaz blames Job for his murmuring, and bids him receive his affliction with a recognition of human sinfulness and the divine purpose for good. Thus the controversy begins.” — Delitzsch.