Job · Chapter 6

Verse 1. Job answered and said — Eliphaz concluded his discourse with an air of assurance, being very confident that what he had advanced was so plain and so pertinent that nothing could be objected to it. Job, however, is not at all convinced by it, but still justifies himself in his complaints, and condemns his friend for the weakness of his arguing. Though Eliphaz, in the beginning and some other parts of his speech, was very severe upon Job, he gave him no interruption, but heard him patiently till he had delivered his whole mind. But when he had done this, and had finished all he had to say, Job modestly, but feelingly, makes his reply. He begins with an apology for venting his grief in a manner somewhat unbecoming, and begs it may be ascribed to the great multitude and sharpness of his afflictions; but as to the advice given him by Eliphaz, to hope for an amendment of his condition: and to address God for that purpose, he tells them, that his petition to God should be of a quite different nature, namely, that he would be pleased to cut him off speedily; for that the desperateness of his condition would by no means permit him to hope for any amendment. That, however, he could not help resenting their unkind suspicions of him, that they should think him capable of such great wickedness; but, above all, should imagine him to be so abandoned as to be able to entertain a thought tending to a revolt from the Almighty. He begs them not to condemn him barely on suspicion, and on the strength of general maxims, but to consider it was possible he might be innocent.

V. 2. My grief-The cause of my grief. Weighed-Were fully understood, and duly considered. O that I had an equal judge! that would understand my case, and consider whether I have not cause for complaints. Together-Together with any other most heavy thing to be put into the other scale.

Verse 2. O that my grief were thoroughly weighed] Job wished to be dealt with according to justice; as he was willing that his sins, if they could be proved, should be weighed against his sufferings; and if this could not be done, he wished that his sufferings and his complainings might be weighed together; and it would then be seen that, bitter as his complaint had been, it was little when compared with the distress which occasioned it.

Verse 2. O that my grief — The cause of my grief; were thoroughly weighed — Were fully understood and duly considered! O that I had an impartial judge! that would understand my case, and see whether I have not just cause for such bitter complaints. And my calamity laid in the balances — Would to God some more equal person than you would lay my complaint and my sufferings one against the other, and judge sincerely which is heaviest!

2. Grief — c[k, vexation or wrath. See on Job 5:2. Job would have the test made, whether his vexation were greater than his calamity justified. The balances — Probably the common balance of Egypt, which was also used in early times among the Hebrews. Lepsius gives a representation from an Egyptian tomb, in which a person appears to be weighing rings of gold or silver with weights in the form of a bull’s head. The weighing of words and thoughts in scales is a figure, as Canon Cook (SPEAKER’S Commentary) shows, derived from the remotest antiquity. In the Egyptian ritual, the day of weighing words is a common term for the day of judgment, as in chapter i; and the vignette to the 125th chapter represents the weighing of the heart in the presence of Osiris.

V. 3. Sea-Which is heavier than dry sand. Swallowed-My voice and spirit fail me. I cannot find, or utter words sufficient to express my sorrow or misery.

Verse 3. Heavier than the sand of the sea] This includes two ideas: their number was too great to be counted; their weight was too great to be estimated.

Verse 3. For now it — That is, my grief or calamity; would be heavier than the sand of the sea — Which is much heavier than dry sand. Therefore my words are swallowed up — My voice and spirit fail me. I cannot find or utter words sufficient to express my sorrow or misery.

3. Sand of the sea — A figure also common in the classic writers for what cannot be measured or numbered. Compare Hosea 1:10. Swallowed up — w[l. Better, Therefore do my words rave. A candid admission! The proper acknowledgment of one’s error is a mark of a truly noble mind. Castell gives the meaning of the cognate word in Arabic as, “to be rash,” which Gesenius (Thesaurus, 758) and Furst both accept as the basis and meaning of the word here. The secret of his wild words lies in his inexpressible, unweighable misery.

V. 4. Arrows-So he fitly calls his afflictions, because, like arrows, they came upon him swiftly and suddenly one after another, immediately shot by God into his spirit. Poison-Implying that these arrows were more keen than ordinary, being dipped in God’s wrath, as the barbarous nations used to dip their arrows in poison, that they might not only pierce, but burn up and consume the vital parts. Drinketh-Exhausteth and consumeth my soul. In array-They are like a numerous army, who invade me on every side. This was the sorest part of his calamity, wherein he was an eminent type of Christ, who complained most of the sufferings of his soul. Now is my soul troubled. My soul is exceeding sorrowful. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Indeed trouble of mind is the sorest trouble. A wounded spirit who can bear.

Verse 4. The arrows of the Almighty] There is an evident reference here to wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows; and to the burning fever occasioned by such wounds, producing such an intense parching thirst as to dry up all the moisture in the system, stop all the salivary ducts, thicken and inflame the blood, induce putrescency, and terminate in raging mania, producing the most terrifying images, from which the patient is relieved only by death. This is strongly expressed in the fine figure: The POISON DRINKETH UP my SPIRIT; the TERRORS of GOD SET THEMSELVES in ARRAY against me. That calamities are represented among the Eastern writers as the arrows of the Almighty, we have abundant proofs. In reference to this, I shall adduce that fine saying attributed to Aaly, the son-in-law of Mohammed in the Toozuki Teemour; which I have spoken of elsewhere. “It was once demanded of the fourth caliph (Aaly,) ‘If the canopy of heaven were a bow; and if the earth were the cord thereof; and if calamities were the arrows; if mankind were the mark for those arrows; and if Almighty God, the tremendous and glorious, were the unerring Archer; to whom could the sons of Adam flee for protection?’ The califf answered, ‘The sons of Adam must flee unto the Lord.’“ This fine image Job keeps in view in the eighth and ninth verses {Job 6:8, 9}, wishing that the unerring marksman may let fly these arrows, let loose his hand, to destroy and cut him off.

Verse 4. The arrows of the Almighty are within me, &c. — The sublimity of style, and beautiful vein of poetry, which run through this verse, are well deserving of the reader’s particular attention. He fitly terms his afflictions arrows, because, like arrows, they came upon him swiftly and suddenly, one after another, and that from on high, and wounded him deeply. And he calls them arrows of the Almighty, not only, generally speaking, because all afflictions come from him, but particularly, because God’s hand was in a singular manner visible and eminent in his sufferings, and especially because they were immediately shot by God into his spirit, so that they were within him, as it follows, not like the external evils mentioned chap. 1., which were passed, but fixed and constant in his very nature, producing sharp pains in his body, and dismal horrors in his mind. The poison whereof drinketh up my spirit — Or, as the Hebrew may be rendered, The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up: which is the construction of Pagninus and the Targum. But our translation is more poetical, and quite agreeable to Moses’s sublime expression, Deuteronomy 32:42, where he represents God as taking vengeance on his enemies, and saying, I will make mine arrows drunk with blood. The words imply, that these arrows were more keen and pernicious than ordinary, being dipped in God’s wrath, as the barbarous nations used to dip their arrows in poison, that they might not only pierce, but burn up and consume the vital parts. Thus did the poison of God’s arrows drink up his spirit, that is, exhaust and consume his life and soul. The terrors of God do set themselves in array — They are like a numerous army invading me on every side. Houbigant renders it, The terrors of the Lord confound me. This was the sorest part of his calamity, wherein he was an eminent type of Christ, who complained most of the sufferings of his soul. Indeed, trouble of mind is the sorest trouble. A wounded spirit, who can bear? “He had patience enough,” says Lord Clarendon, “for the oppression and rapine of his enemies, for the unkindness and reproach of his friends, and for the cunning and malice of the devil; but he was so transported with the sense of God’s anger against him, he could not bear that with temper: the apprehension that all those miseries, of so piercing and destroying a nature in themselves, fell upon him, not only by God’s permission, to try and humble him, but proceeded directly from his indignation and resolution to destroy him, almost confounded him. When they appeared no more the arrows of his enemies levelled and shot at his greatness and prosperity, the enterprises and designs of evil men, suborned by the devil against him; but the artillery which God himself discharged upon him in his greatest displeasure and fury, he was able to stand the shock no longer, and thought he had some reason to pour out his complaints and lamentations with a little more earnestness; and that the grief and trouble of his mind might excuse the want of that order, and method, and deliberation, which the ease, and calm condition, and disputing humour of his friends, who were only healthy spectators of what he suffered, reproachfully required from him.”

Verse 4. The poison of the arrows absorbed his spirits. In 1822, when Campbel the missionary travelled in South Africa, a bushman shot one of his men in the back with a poisoned arrow. He languished about two and forty hours in extreme pain. A hottentot said next day, he will die tomorrow about sunrise, which happened according to his calculation of the time in which others had died of those wounds.

4. The arrows of the Almighty — The various calamities, such as sickness, pain, bereavements, and sorrows, (Deuteronomy 32:23; Psalm 38:2,) which the great Archer had sent. “The emphasis lies on Almighty — the awful nature of his Adversary” — this was enough to account for all his madness. Few are the hearts in which remain not such arrows deeply infixed, which He alone can extract —

Who has Himself

Been hurt by th’ archers; in his side He bears,

And in his hands and feet, the cruel scars!

— Cowper.

The poison whereof. The ancients sometimes tipped their arrow-heads with the most deadly poison. If they but touched the blood they inflicted certain death. Ulysses is represented in Homer as making a voyage to a distant city, Ephyra, —

Seeking some poisonous drug

Wherewith to taint his brazen arrows keen.

— Odyssey, 1:260.

Man’s cruelty to man, in one age, invents poisoned arrows, in another, explosive bullets. Drinketh up my spirit — Rather, my spirit drinketh up. The original justifies this change, which modern commentators generally adopt. The effects of the divine arrows upon him are similar, to the poisoned arrows of men. Maddened by the virus, it is no wonder he raves. Set themselves in array — Used in a military sense, as in Judges 20:33 and 1 Samuel 4:2, where the same Hebrew word is used. Second strophe — It is natural for all beings, brute and human, to complain when in trouble, 5-7.

V. 5. Doth, &c.-Even the brute beasts, when they have convenient food, are quiet and contented. So it is no wonder that you complain not, who live in ease and prosperity, any more than I did, when I wanted nothing.

Verse 5. Doth the wild ass] arp pere, translated onager, by the Vulgate, from the onov agriov of the Septuagint, which we properly enough, translate wild ass. It is the same with the tame ass; only in a wild state it grows to a larger size, is stronger, and more fleet. The meaning of Job appears to be this: You condemn me for complaining; do I complain without a cause? The wild ass will not bray, and the ox will not low, unless in want. If they have plenty of provender, they are silent. Were I at rest, at ease, and happy, I would not complain.

Verse 5. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? &c. — “Grass and fodder here are a figure of abundance and tranquillity, such as the friends of Job enjoyed. To bray and low refer to expressions of grief and uneasiness. Job therefore compares his friends, with some smartness, to a wild ass exulting in its food, and to an ox perfectly satisfied with grateful pasture.” His words may be paraphrased thus: Even the brute beasts, when they have convenient food, are quiet and contented. So, it is no wonder that you complain not, who live in ease and prosperity, any more than I did when I wanted nothing; “happy yourselves, you do not condole with me in my wretchedness, nor mourn with me, but rather blame my mourning as importunate clamour, and as if I had behaved myself toward God with insolence and impatience.” — Schultens.

Ver. 5. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? This animal, often named in the sacred writings, has lately been described, and accompanied with a drawing by Sir Robert K. Porter. It is larger than the common ass, and of a silvery colour. It has a black band along the spine, with patches of pure white on the flanks. The male has a bar of black across his shoulders. Those animals have more vivacity than the common ass, and are formed peculiarly for deserts and hills, having the power to subsist for two or three days without water. The hunters catch them by mounting fresh horses, and running them down. They are much esteemed in the east, and often rode by persons of quality.

5. Dr. Young has the same thought: “Deep in their pastures will thy lowing herds complain.” “Do you suppose I (a reasonable being) would complain without cause? He complains not, with whom all is well.” — Hirtzel.

V. 6. Can, &c.-Do men use to eat unsavoury meats with delight, or without complaint? Men commonly complain of their meat when it is but unsavoury, how much more when it is so bitter as mine is?

Verse 6. Can that which is unsavoury] Mr. Good renders this verse as follows: Doth insipid food without a mixture of salt, yea, doth the white of the egg give forth pungency? Which he thus illustrates: “Doth that which hath nothing of seasoning, nothing of a pungent or irritable power within it, produce pungency or irritation? I too should be quiet and complain not, if I had nothing provocative or acrimonious, but, alas! the food I am doomed to partake of is the very calamity which is most acute to my soul—that which I most loathe, and which is most grievous or trying to my palate.” Some render the original, Is there any dependence on the drivel of dreams?

There have been a great variety of interpretations given of this verse. I could add another; but that of Mr. Good is as likely to be correct as that of any other critic.

Verse 6. Can that which is unsavoury — Or rather, that which is insipid, be eaten without salt? — Is it not requisite that every thing insipid should be seasoned, to give it a relish, and make it agreeable? Therefore life itself, when it has lost those comforts, which are the seasoning to it, and give it its relish, then becomes insipid, so that it is nothing more than a burden. Now, if men commonly complain of their meat when it is only unsavoury, how much more when it is so bitter as mine is? Some commentators, however, consider Job here as referring to Eliphaz’s discourse, which had been insipid and disagreeable to him, as having no substance, and carrying no weight with it: like unsavoury food, not seasoned nor cured, instead of satisfying and instructing him, it had been nauseous and offensive, like corrupted meat to a weak and sick stomach. Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? — “Our version of this clause,” says Dr. Dodd, “seems to be void of all sense and connection with what goes before. Mr. Mudge supposes Job to allude, in the original words, to those medicinal potions, which were administered by way of alterative; and, agreeably to his criticism, the clause should be rendered, Is there any relish in the nauseous medicinal draught?”

6. Unsavoury… white of an egg — Rir hhallamouth. The latter word is one of the many in this book which occur but once in the Bible. This is because of the great antiquity of the book of Job. This archaism has given rise to conflicting views. Michaelis thinks it means the insipid froth of camel’s milk, from which the Arabs derive many proverbs, comparing anger, vanity, and whatever is superficial with this tasteless froth. (Sup. ad Lex., page 779.) Others suppose it signifies the broth or slime of purslain, an herb proverbial among the Arabs, Greeks, and Romans for its insipidity. Thus Renan and Merx. The authorized version is preferable, as Dillmann shows; also Umbreit, Ewald, Delitzsch, and Hitzig. An objection is made by Bottcher, that the Hebrews before the captivity did not keep poultry. The objection is inapposite, since geese, together with beef, constituted the principal part of the animal food throughout ancient Egypt. That by tasteless food he means his sorrows, and perhaps his loathsome disease, is evident from the preceding verses. As insipid food calls for some kind of condiment or relish, so does his calamity justify complaint.

V. 7. The things, &c.-The sense may be, those grievous afflictions, which I dreaded the very thought of, are now my daily, though sorrowful bread.

Verse 7. The things that my soul refused, &c. — “Job, persisting in his allegory,” says Schultens, “goes on to show how disagreeable to his stomach the speech of Eliphaz had been.” This learned critic accordingly translates the verse thus: My soul refuseth to touch such things; they are to me as corrupted food. But Dr. Dodd, after quoting these words of Schultens, observes, he “cannot help thinking that this and the two preceding verses will bear another interpretation, and that Job means, in them, to offer a justification for himself; to declare that he had sufficient ground for complaint, without which it was no more usual for man to lament than for the ox or ass to low or bray, when they had sufficient food, &c.” The sense of the verse seems to be, Those grievous afflictions, which I dreaded the very thought of, are now my daily, though sorrowful, bread.

7. The things that my soul refused — The verse reads literally, My soul refuses to touch! They are as tainted food to me. Thus most of the recent commentators. Hitzig, however, renders ywd, crumbs; which, in connexion with “my food,” to say the least, makes very poor sense. Job’s soul recoils from, absolutely loathes, the sorrows of which he speaks in the fourth verse, and again, under a figure, in the sixth. They are to him “like putridity in his food.” — Furst.

Third strophe — So heavy is his burden of sorrow, that death would be true consolation, 8-10.

Verse 8. O that I might have] As Job had no hope that he should ever be redeemed from his present helpless state, he earnestly begs God to shorten it by taking away his life.

Verses 8, 9. O that I might have my request! — The thing which I so passionately desired, and which, notwithstanding all your vain words, and weak arguments, I still continue to desire, and beseech God to grant me. The thing that I long for! — Hebrew, ytwqt, tickvati, my hope or expectation. That it would please God to destroy me — To end my days and calamities together: that he would let loose his hand — Which is now, as it were, bound up or restrained from giving me that deadly blow which I desire. O that he would not restrain it any longer, and suffer me to languish in this miserable condition, but give me one stroke more and quite cut me off. Mr. Peters has justly observed, that “these two verses, as well as verse 11, with many more that might be quoted to the same purpose, are utterly inconsistent with Job’s believing that God would restore him to his former happy state;” as Bishop Warburton contended, that he might lay a foundation for an interpretation of the noted passage in Job 19:25-27, different from that commonly received, and might explain it, not of Job’s hope of immortality, but of his expectation of a restoration to temporal prosperity.

8. Oh that — We have here the optative formula, “Who will give”=Oh that! quite frequent in the addresses of Job, and occurring once besides in this book, in the first address of Zophar. 11:5. The pathos of this appeal is exceedingly touching, and is heightened by his assuming that all must know what that wish must be.

V. 9. Destroy-To end my days and calamities together.

Verse 9. Let loose his hand] A metaphor taken from an archer drawing his arrow to the head, and then loosing his hold, that the arrow may fly to the mark. See on Job 6:4.

Verses 8, 9. O that I might have my request! — The thing which I so passionately desired, and which, notwithstanding all your vain words, and weak arguments, I still continue to desire, and beseech God to grant me. The thing that I long for! — Hebrew, ytwqt, tickvati, my hope or expectation. That it would please God to destroy me — To end my days and calamities together: that he would let loose his hand — Which is now, as it were, bound up or restrained from giving me that deadly blow which I desire. O that he would not restrain it any longer, and suffer me to languish in this miserable condition, but give me one stroke more and quite cut me off. Mr. Peters has justly observed, that “these two verses, as well as verse 11, with many more that might be quoted to the same purpose, are utterly inconsistent with Job’s believing that God would restore him to his former happy state;” as Bishop Warburton contended, that he might lay a foundation for an interpretation of the noted passage in Job 19:25-27, different from that commonly received, and might explain it, not of Job’s hope of immortality, but of his expectation of a restoration to temporal prosperity.

Ver. 9. Let loose his hand. Job felt that God only touched him, and was cautious not to kill him, nor to deprive him of exquisite sensibility.

9. Please God to destroy me — With God is the determination of life and death. The command, “Thou shalt not kill,” includes self-destruction. In all his sufferings Job never intimates a thought of taking his own life. The old Hebrew mind would have spurned the effeminacy that expresses itself in the “Morals of Seneca;” — that mind was strong to bear the ills of life so long as it pleased God. In the entire Old Testament there is no trace of suicide apart from war, unless the case of Ahithophel be an exception. And cut me off — Allusion is here made to the weaver, who, when the web is woven, cuts off the thread from the thrum which fastens the web to the loom. Compare Isaiah 38:12.

V. 10. Harden-I would bear up with courage under all my torments, with the hopes of death, and blessedness after death. Spare-Not suffer me to live any longer. Concealed-As I have steadfastly believed them, and not wilfully departed from them, so I have not been ashamed, nor afraid, boldly to profess and preach the true religion in the midst of Heathens. And therefore I know if God doth cut me off, I shall be a gainer by it.

Verse 10. Then should I yet have comfort] Instead of dw[ od, YET, three of Kennicott’s and Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS. have taz zoth, THIS. And THIS should be my comfort. The expectation that he will speedily make an end of me would cause me to rejoice with great joy. This reading is supported by the Vulgate and the Chaldee.

I would harden myself in sorrow] To know that I should shortly have an end put to my miseries would cause me to endure the present with determinate resolution. Let him not spare—let him use whatever means he chooses, for I will not resist his decree; he is holy, and his decrees must be just.

Verse 10. Then should I yet have comfort — The thoughts of my approaching death would comfort me in all my sorrows, and yield me abundantly more solace than life, with all that worldly safety, and glory, and happiness, for which thou hast advised me to seek unto God. Yea, I would harden myself in sorrow — I would bear up with more courage and patience, under all my torments, with the hopes of death and blessedness after death. Let him not spare — Let him use all severity against me, so far as to cut me off, and not suffer me to live any longer. For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One — That is, of God, who is frequently called the Holy One in Scripture, and is so in a most eminent and peculiar sense. The meaning is, As I have myself steadfastly believed the words, or truths of God, and not wilfully and wickedly departed from them; so I have endeavoured to teach and recommend them to others, and have not been ashamed nor afraid boldly to confess and preach the true religion in the midst of the heathen round about me. And, therefore, I know, if God do cut me off, it will be in mercy, and I shall be a gainer by it.

Ver. 10. Then should I yet have comfort, by an entrance into peace.—I have not concealed, or as Schultens reads, “non abnegavi,” I have not denied the words of the Holy One. This was his confidence, that he had been faithful as a preacher of righteousness, and a worshipper of God.

10. Then should I yet have comfort — “A clear assertion of belief in a life to come.” — Wordsworth. The difficulty of any other interpretation is felt by Zockler, who cannot see in this connexion how a speedy death could, in and of itself, bring any comfort. He is forced, with Delitzsch, Schlottmann, etc., to find the source of comfort in the statement of the last clause, that he had not denied the words of the Holy One! thus making the second member of the verse parenthetical. The structure of the clause, however, naturally points to the preceding verse for the ground of his comfort. His jubilant expression, that in the midst of unsparing anguish he “would exult,” is also retrospective. The last clause of the verse is rather a continued reason why God should give him the solace of death, as both Hirtzel and Dillmann admit: the latter urging that the cool reflection that he had not denied the words of the Holy One would be out of harmony with the triumphant exultation of the second member. That he had kept the faith, is a climactical reason why God should discharge him from his troubles, and give sweet rest in the grave. “A poor consolation,” (that of being cut off,) Peters well says, “perfectly romantic and delusive, could we suppose him to have no expectations after death.” I would harden myself, etc. — I would exult in the pain which He does not spare: (Furst:) or the pain that does not spare. — (Dillmann.) The subject of the word “spare” is not given in the original. Harden myself — dls. The Arabic saladha — to leap, to exult — determines the meaning of this word, which occurs only once in the Scriptures. The hllomhn of the Septuagint corresponds: thus, “Let the grave be my city, upon the walls of which I have leaped.” Concealed — That is, denied in the sense of renouncing.

Second long strophe — THE DECEITFULNESS OF HUMAN FRIENDSHIP, 11-20. First strophe — His helplessness and consequent hopelessness, 11-13.

V. 11. Strength-My strength is so spent, that it is vain for me to hope for such restitution as thou hast promised me, Job 5:22. End-What is death to me? It is not terrible, but comfortable. That-Then why should I desire to prolong my life. But as desirous of death as Job was, yet he never offered to put an end to his own life. Such a thought will never be entertained by any, that have the least regard to the law of God and nature. How uneasy soever the soul’s confinement in the body may be, it must by no means break the prison, but wait for a fair discharge.

Verse 11. What is my strength] I can never suppose that my strength will be restored; and, were that possible, have I any comfortable prospect of a happy termination of my life? Had I any prospect of future happiness, I might well bear my present ills; but the state of my body and the state of my circumstances preclude all hope.

Verse 11. What is my strength that I should hope? — My strength is so small and spent, that although I may linger a while in my torments, yet I cannot live long, and therefore it is vain for me to hope for such a restitution as thou hast promised me, Job 5:22. And what is my end? — What is the end of my life? Or, what is death to me? It is not terrible, but comfortable. That I should prolong my life? — That I should desire or endeavour to prolong it, by seeking unto God for that purpose. But, as desirous of death as Job was, yet he never offered to put an end to his own life. Such a thought will never be entertained by any that have the least regard to the law of God and nature. How uneasy soever the soul’s confinement in the body may be, it must by no means break the prison, but wait for a fair discharge.

11. Prolong my life — The Vulgate is right — patiently endure. The original, “that I should stretch out my spirit,” is a decided Hebraism. In Exodus 6:9, anguish is expressed by shortness of spirit. Compare Jeremiah 21:5.

V. 12. Is, &c.-I am not made of stone or brass, but of flesh and blood, as others are, therefore I am unable to endure these miseries longer, and can neither hope for. nor desire the continuance of my life.

Verse 12. Is my strength the strength of stones?] I am neither a rock, nor is my flesh brass, that I can endure all these calamities. This is a proverbial saying, and exists in all countries. Cicero says, Non enim est e saxo sculptus, aut e ROBORE dolatus HOMO; habet corpus, habet animum; movetur mente, movetur sensibus. “For man is not chiselled out of the rock, nor hewn out of the oak; he has a body, and he has a soul; the one is actuated by intellect, the other by the senses.” Quæst. Acad. iv. 31. So Homer, where he represents Apollo urging the Trojans to attack the Greeks:—

Nemeshse dJ Apollwn,

Pergamou ekkatidwn, Trwessi de kekletJ ausav, OnusqJ, ippodamoi Trwev, mhdJ eikete carmhv Argeioiv, epei ou sfiliqov crwv, oude sidhrov, Calkon anascesqai tamesicroa ballomenoisin. ILLIAD, lib. iv., ver. 507.

But Phœbus now from Ilion’s towering height Shines forth reveal’d, and animates the fight. Trojans, be bold, and force to force oppose; Your foaming steeds urge headlong on the foes! Nor are their bodies ROCKS, nor ribb’d with STEEL; Your weapons enter, and your strokes they feel. POPE.

These are almost the same expressions as those in Job.

Verse 12. Is my strength the strength of stones? — I am not made of stone or brass, but of flesh and blood, as others are; therefore I am not able to endure these miseries longer, and can neither desire nor hope for the continuance of my life. Bishop Patrick’s paraphrase on this verse is, “God hath not made me insensible; and therefore do not wonder that I desire to be released from these very sharp pains.”

Ver. 12. Is my strength the strength of stones, in a walled city or tower, to bear the incessant strokes of a battering ram in a close siege?

12. Is my flesh of brass — That is, invulnerable? Brass is used sometimes as the symbol of incorrigible pride and wanton immorality, and sometimes as an emblem of durability and strength. — (Eadie.) The ancients possessed some secret for hardening brass (more properly copper) so as to make it firm like iron. “For man,” says Cicero, “is not sculptured out of the rock, nor hewn out of the oak-tree: he has body, he has mind; he is moved by mind, he is actuated by senses.” — Acad. Quest., 4:31.

V. 13. What, &c.-If my outward condition be helpless and hopeless? Have I therefore lost my understanding, cannot I judge whether it is more desirable for me to live or to die, whether I be an hypocrite or no, whether your words have truth and weight in them; whether you take the right method in dealing with me?

Verse 13. Is not my help in me?] My help is all in myself; and, alas! that is perfect weakness: and my subsistence, hyvwt tushiyah, all that is real, stable, and permanent, is driven quite from me. My friends have forsaken me, and I am abandoned to myself; my property is all taken away, and I have no resources left. I believe Job neither said, nor intended to say, as some interpreters have it, Reason is utterly driven from me. Surely there is no mark in this chapter of his being deranged, or at all impaired in his intellect.

Verse 13. Is not my help in me? — Though I have no strength in my body, or outward man, yet I have some help and support within me, or in my inward man, even a consciousness of my sincerity toward God, notwithstanding all your bitter accusations and censures, as if I were a hypocrite and had no integrity in me, chap. 4:6. And is wisdom driven quite from me? — If I have no strength in my body, have I therefore no wisdom or judgment left in my soul? Am I therefore unable to judge of the vanity of thy discourse, and of the truth of my own case? Have I not common sense and discretion? Do not I know my own condition, and the nature and degree of my sufferings, better than thou dost? And am I not a better judge whether I have integrity or not than thou art? It may not be improper to observe here, that there is considerable difficulty in determining the precise sense of the Hebrew of this verse; and that, accordingly, different learned men have proposed different translations of it. Houbigant renders it, Because my help is not at hand, is wisdom, therefore departed far from me? Dr. Waterland reads it, Is my help in me vain, and the substance quite gone from me? And Heath, Do not I find that I cannot in the least help myself, and that strength is quite driven out of me? In justification of our translation, and of the interpretation given above, it may be sufficient to observe, that the same form of expression in the Hebrew is used Isaiah 50:2, jk yb ˆya µah, haim en bi choach, and is translated, and according to the context must necessarily be translated, in a similar manner. An vero, nulla (est) in me potestas? Is there no power in me? (saith the Lord.) or, Have I no power to deliver? If, however, a different translation of the words be contended for, perhaps that mentioned by Poole, which is perfectly agreeable to the Hebrew, and admits of an easy explication, is preferable to any other that has been proposed; which is, What, if I have not help in me, is wisdom driven quite from me? That is, if I cannot help myself, if my outward condition be helpless and hopeless, as I confess it is, have I therefore lost my understanding? Cannot I judge whether it is more desirable for me to live or to die; whether I am sincere in my religion or not; whether your words have truth and weight in them; and whether you take the right method of dealing with me?

Ver. 13. Is not my help in me, in comfort, in confidence, and in all the sanctifying powers of religion on the mind. This is the sacred test, which exterior adversities can never touch.

13. Is not my help in me — Rather, Is it not so that there is no help in me? Wisdom — Strength, or soundness — toushiyyah; same as in chap. 5:12. A comprehensive word embracing the entire internal resources of a man. We may call it the very substratum of man’s being, the substance, (Latin, substantia,) that which is beneath, upon which all that appears rests. With Job all is gone.

Second strophe — The withholding of sympathy has been like the failure of a summer brook, 14-17.

V. 14. To him-Heb. to him that is melted or dissolved with affections. But. &c.-But thou hast no pity for thy friend; a plain evidence that thou art guilty of what thou didst charge me with, even of the want of the fear of God. The least which those that are at ease can do for them that are pained, is to pity them, to feel a tender concern for them, and to sympathize with them.

Verse 14. To him that is afflicted pity should be showed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.] The Vulgate gives a better sense, Qui tollit ab amico suo misericordiam, timorem Domini dereliquit, “He who takes away mercy from his friend, hath cast off the fear of the Lord.” The word sml lammas, which we render to him who is AFFLICTED, from hsm masah, to dissolve, or waste away, is in thirty-two of Dr. Kennicott’s and Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS. saml lemoes, “to him that despiseth his friend;” and hence the passage may be read: To him who despiseth his friend, it is a reproach; and he will forsake the fear of the Almighty: or, as Mr. Good translates,

“Shame to the man who despiseth his friend!

He indeed hath departed from the fear of the Almighty.” Eliphaz had, in effect, despised Job; and on this ground had acted any thing but the part of a friend towards him; and he well deserved the severe stroke which he here receives. A heathen said, Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur; the full sense of which we have in our common adage:— A FRIEND IN NEED is a FRIEND INDEED

Job’s friends, so called, supported each other in their attempts to blacken the character of this worthy man; and their hand became the heavier, because they supposed the hand of God was upon him. To each of them, individually, might be applied the words of another heathen:— ————Absentem qui rodit amicum,

Qui non defendit alio culpante; solutos

Qui captat risus hominum, famamque dicacis,

Fingere qui non visa potest; commissa tacere

Qui nequit; hic niger est; hunc tu, Romane, caveto. HOR. Satyr. lib. i., s. iv., ver. 81.

He who, malignant, tears an absent friend;

Or, when attack’d by others, don’t defend;

Who trivial bursts of laughter strives to raise,

And courts, of prating petulance, the praise;

Of things he never saw who tells his tale,

And friendship’s secrets knows not to conceal;—

This man is vile; here, Roman, fix your mark;

His soul’s as black as his complexion’s dark.

FRANCIS.

Verse 14. To him that is afflicted — Hebrew, To him that is melted, or dissolved with afflictions: or, as Dr. Waterland renders it, To one that is wasting away; pity should be showed from his friend — His friend, such as thou, O Eliphaz, pretendest to be to me, should show kindness and compassion in his judgment of him, and behaviour toward him, and not pass such unmerciful censures upon him as thou hast passed upon me, nor load him with reproaches; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty — Thou hast no love or pity for thy friend; a plain evidence that thou art guilty of what thou didst charge me with, even of the want of the fear of God. The least which those that are at ease can do for them that are pained, is to pity them, to feel a tender concern for them, and to sympathize with them.

14. The pity his condition calls for, they (his friends) have denied him. To him, etc. — Literally, To the despairing, from his friend, (is) pity. The pity of a friend is spontaneous. Its flow to such a despairing sufferer as Job is like a fountain, natural and unforced. Their sympathy has consisted of words and ceremony; hence they are not true friends. This prepares us for the coming portrayal of deceitful friendship. Afflicted — sm, literally, melted down, dissolved; a graphic description of the effect of sorrow on Job. Pity — Umbreit says of pity, hhesedh, (which may be rendered also kindness or love,) that it is the friendly and indulgent judgment of our fellow-men; the true love which is the spirit of Christianity; and it is put (Proverbs 3:3) on a par with truth. They together form the principal elements of moral perfection, and are recommended to our care as a double talisman of perfect virtue. But he forsaketh — Concerning the meaning of the preceding clause there is but little doubt; the confessedly great difficulty of the present clause turns for the most part on the rendering of the particle but w. The old reading of the Targum, Vulgate, Luther, “He who withholds mercy from his neighbour, he forsakes the fear of the Almighty,” entirely ignores the particle, and is now, with the exception of Merx, quite given up. Some modern expositors, such as Schlottmann, Renan, Dillmann, and Zockler, read, “Even if he should have forsaken,” etc. The more satisfactory exposition is that of Delitzsch, Schnurrer, Hengstenberg, Wordsworth, Canon Cook, etc., “Otherwise he forsaketh.” etc., that is, unless he receives pity from his friend — a reading that is justified by the occasional use of the particle, as in Gesenius, Thesaurus, p.

397. For want of human sympathy a man may fall away from his God. Nothing can more forcibly express the power of Christian love. It is conservative — it may keep others from evil. A kind word, a sympathetic tear, a charitable deed, is a little thing, but an engine of might that any one may wield. Sympathy, oneness of feeling, is a magic power to lift the sorrowful and despairing up from the abyss. It is like the golden chain let down from heaven, as the ancients fabled. Through sympathy the resources of the one, supplement the weakness of another. The field of responsibility vastly enlarges, when we behold it embracing the little deeds of charitable love we might have done. If sorrow could enter heaven, it would be because we have done so little for Christ and his suffering ones on earth.

V. 15. Brethren-Friends; for though Eliphaz only had spoken, the other two shewed their approbation of his discourse. Deceitfully-Adding to the afflictions which they said they came to remove. And it is no new thing, for even brethren to deal deceitfully. It is therefore our wisdom to cease from man. We cannot expect too little from the creature, or too much from the creator.

Verse 15. Have dealt deceitfully as a brook] There is probably an allusion here to those land torrents which make a sudden appearance, and as suddenly vanish; being produced by the rains that fall upon the mountains during the rainy season, and are soon absorbed by the thirsty sands over which they run. At first they seem to promise a permanent stream, and are noticed with delight by the people, who fill their tanks or reservoirs from their waters; but sometimes they are so large and rapid as to carry every thing before them: and then suddenly fail, so that there is no time to fill the tanks. The approach of Job’s friends promised much of sympathy and compassion; his expectations were raised: but their conduct soon convinced him that they were physicians of no value; therefore he compares them to the deceitful torrents that soon pass away.

Verse 15. My brethren — That is, my kinsmen, or three friends; for though Eliphaz only had spoken, the other two had shown their approbation of his discourse; have dealt deceitfully — Under a pretence of friendship dealing unmercifully with me, and adding to the afflictions which they said they came to remove. As the stream of brooks, &c. — Which quickly vanish and deceive the hopes of the thirsty traveller. It is no new thing for even brethren to deal deceitfully. It is therefore our wisdom to cease from man. We cannot expect too little from the creature, or too much from the Creator.

Ver. 15. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, to which the thirsty beasts go afar to drink; but alas, the heat of summer has dried up the stream.

15. As a brook — The Arabians, as Schultens observes, compare a faithless friend to a mountain torrent. Thus, “I put no trust in the flowing of thy torrent.” The Greek Artemidorus, writing on dreams, interprets those of running water to indicate change and instability. The apostle is supposed by some to make use of the figure of our text in his exhortation against spiritual defection. (Hebrews 2:1.) Stream of brooks — Rather, the bed of torrents — wadies — in which Arabia and Palestine abound. Dillmann urges that rb[ should be rendered overflow, instead of pass away — which certainly could not be said of the channels — and that it is in better accord with the description which assumes that the channels are full. “The long, winding valleys,” in the graphic words of the recent traveller, Palmer, “by which the mountain groups are intersected, are called wadies. They are not at all like the valleys to which we are accustomed in Europe, but present rather the appearance of dry, sandy river-beds. They are, in fact, the courses along which the torrents from the mountains find their way down to the sea; but, as rain seldom falls, and as there is no soil or vegetation on the mountain sides to collect or absorb the gentle showers when they do come, the valleys are never filled except on the occasion of some fierce storm bursting over the mountains which they drain.” — Desert of the Exodus, p. 22.

V. 16. Which-Which in winter when the traveller neither needs nor desires it, are full of water congealed by the frost. Snow-Under which the water from snow, which formerly fell, and afterward was dissolved, lies hid. So he speaks not of those brooks which are fed by a constant spring, but of them which are filled by accidental falls of water or snow.

Verse 16. Blackish by reason of the ice] He represents the waters as being sometimes suddenly frozen, their foam being turned into the semblance of snow or hoar-frost: when the heat comes, they are speedily liquefied; and the evaporation is so strong from the heat, and the absorption so powerful from the sand, that they soon disappear.

Verse 16. Which are blackish, &c. — Which in winter, when the traveller neither needs nor desires it, are full of water congealed by the frost. Wherein the snow is hid — Under which the water from snow, which formerly fell, and afterward was dissolved, lies hid. So he speaks not of those brooks which are fed by a constant spring, but of them which are filled by accidental falls of water or snow.

Ver. 16. The ice and the snow were frequent on the ranges of Abarim, whose highest summits were mount Nebo, and mount Pisgah.

V. 17. Warm-When the weather grows milder. Hot-In the hot season, when waters are most refreshing and necessary.

Verses 17, 18. What time they wax warm — When the weather grows milder, and the frost and snow are dissolved; they vanish — wtmxn, nitsmathu, ex cisi sunt, they are cut off, having no fountain from whence to draw a supply. When it is hot — In the hot season, when waters are most refreshing and necessary; they are consumed out of their place — The place where the traveller expected to find them to his comfort; but they are gone he knows not whither. The paths of their way are turned aside — That is, the courses of those waters are changed; they are gone out of their channel, flowing hither and thither, till they be quite consumed, as it here follows. There “is a noble climax,” as Heath observes, in these last three verses; “a most poetical description of the torrents in the hot climates. By extraordinary cold they are frozen over, but the sun no sooner exerts its power than they melt; they are exhaled by the heat, till the stream for smallness is diverted into many channels; it yet lasts a little way, but is soon quite evaporated and lost.”

17. What time — At the time (that is, as soon as) they flow, they vanish away. So short-lived are the mountain torrents. As soon as the snows that feed the streams are melted, the torrents are consumed away. “The simile is remarkably complete. When little needed the torrent overflows, when needed it disappears; in winter it does not fertilize, in summer it is dried up.”

Third strophe — Job draws a picture of caravans perishing miserably for the want of water, 18-20.

V. 18. Perish-They are gone out of their channel, flowing hither and thither, ‘till they are quite consumed.

Verse 18. The paths of their way] They sometimes forsake their ancient channels, which is a frequent case with the river Ganges; and growing smaller and smaller from being divided into numerous streams, they go to nothing and perish—are at last utterly lost in the sands.

Verses 17, 18. What time they wax warm — When the weather grows milder, and the frost and snow are dissolved; they vanish — wtmxn, nitsmathu, ex cisi sunt, they are cut off, having no fountain from whence to draw a supply. When it is hot — In the hot season, when waters are most refreshing and necessary; they are consumed out of their place — The place where the traveller expected to find them to his comfort; but they are gone he knows not whither. The paths of their way are turned aside — That is, the courses of those waters are changed; they are gone out of their channel, flowing hither and thither, till they be quite consumed, as it here follows. There “is a noble climax,” as Heath observes, in these last three verses; “a most poetical description of the torrents in the hot climates. By extraordinary cold they are frozen over, but the sun no sooner exerts its power than they melt; they are exhaled by the heat, till the stream for smallness is diverted into many channels; it yet lasts a little way, but is soon quite evaporated and lost.”

18. The paths of their way — Delitzsch, Barnes, Wordsworth, and Zockler, substantially adopt our authorized version. They understand Job still to speak of the streams, that “they wind about;” (are turned aside;) “they go up into the waste (tohu) and vanish.” Others, (Ewald, Dillmann, Noyes, Renan, etc.) more satisfactorily, read, caravans turn aside their course, they go up into the wastes and perish, making a slight change in the pointing of the Hebrew — thus, twjra, orhhoth, caravans, as in Isaiah 21:13, instead of twjra, orhhoth, ways. Delitzsch pertinently puts the argument for the rendering “ways,” by asking “if it be likely that the poet would let the caravans perish in verse 18, and in verse 19, sq., still live? If so, the feebler figure follows the stronger.” On the other hand it may be replied, 1) That the same objection holds against the rendering of “ways.” The streams have been consumed, “extinguished,” and if they reappear here on their winding way it must be at the creative touch of the poetic wand. 2) Two different and entirely inapposite meanings must be given to substantially the same word, orhhoth, in two successive verses, the 18th and 19th. 3) To say of torrents, even though they wind about, that they go up (hl[) into the waste, is quite absurd, and can here apply only to caravans. Zockler’s conceit, (in Lange,) that they go up in vapours and clouds, does not relieve the difficulty, as tohu does not justify such rendering. 4) The objection of tautology Evans thus happily answers: that the chief motive of the description just given is not to excite pity for the fate of such a caravan, but to justify Job’s resentment at the treachery of which the dry wady is the type. Hence in the verses following, Job emphasizes the disappointment which the caravans of Tema and Sheba (named by way of vivid individualization) would feel in such a plight. See note on next verse.

V. 19. Tema-This place and Sheba were both parts of the hot and dry country of Arabia, in which waters were very scarce, and therefore precious and desirable, especially to travellers. Companies-Men did not there travel singly, as we do, but in companies for their security against wild beasts and robbers.

Verse 19. The troops of Tema looked] The caravans coming from Tema are represented as arriving at those places where it was well known torrents did descend from the mountains, and they were full of expectation that here they could not only slake their thirst, but fill their girbas or water-skins; but when they arrive, they find the waters totally dissipated and lost. In vain did the caravans of Sheba wait for them; they did not reappear: and they were confounded, because they had hoped to find here refreshment and rest.

Verse 19. The troops of Tema looked — This place and Sheba were both parts of the hot and dry country of Arabia; in which waters were very scarce, and therefore precious and desirable, especially to travellers. The word twjra, orchoth, signifies companies of travellers or merchants, such as that mentioned Genesis 37:25, A company of the Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels, &c., or those spoken of Isaiah 21:13, 14, In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies. The inhabitants of Tema brought water, &c. The Hebrew word, however, properly means ways, or roads; but is here put for travellers in the ways, by a common metonymy. The companies of Sheba waited for them — The Scenitæ, who lived in tents, may here be included, as well as the troops before mentioned, for they removed with their cattle from one place to another for the convenience of pasture and water. It must be observed, men did not there travel singly as we do, but in companies, for their security against wild beasts and robbers. “By a very slight alteration in the pointing, Mr. Heath so translates this verse as to introduce the speaker using a prosopopœia, or addressing himself to the travellers: Look for them, ye troops of Tema, ye travellers of Sheba, expect them earnestly. This gives great life to the poetry, and sets a very beautiful image before the eye: the travellers wasting their time, depending on those torrents for water; but, when they come hither, how great the disappointment!” — Dodd.

19. Troops of Tema — The caravans of Tema. Job now enlarges, according to Oriental usage, upon the thought of the preceding verse, and specifies the mighty caravans of Tema and Sheba. In very remote ages caravan routes lay through Idumaea. Umbreit improperly makes these troops a part of the caravans referred to in ver. 18, who had gone on and perished. “These,” he says, “await their return and blush over their disappointment.” This is altogether too tame. Tema was the ninth of the sons of Ishmael. (Genesis 25:15.) The tribe that bore his name probably resided not far from Idumaea. The prophets speak of a Tema in connexion with Arabia and her kings; Isaiah 21:14, and Jeremiah 25:23. The Arabs still give the name Taima to a region in the north of Arabia-Deserta, on the borders of Syria. The town Taima lies on the route of the Damascus caravan. It is interesting to remember that it was a company of Ishmaelites that bought Joseph of his brethren and carried him down into Egypt. For Sheba see note on 1:15. Job probably alluded to some well-known destruction of a caravan that had failed to find a supply of water at the appointed place.

V. 20. Hoped-They comforted themselves with the expectation of water. Ashamed-As having deceived themselves and others. We prepare confusion for ourselves, by our vain hopes: the reeds break under us, because we lean upon them.

Verse 20. They were confounded — That is, the troops and companies were miserably disappointed; because they hoped — Comforted themselves with the expectation of water there to quench their thirst; they came, and were ashamed — To think that they should expect relief from such uncertain streams, and had deceived themselves and others. Thus we prepare confusion for ourselves by our vain hopes: the reeds break under us because we lean upon them.

20. They were confounded, etc. — Rather, They were ashamed because they trusted; they came thither and reddened with shame. Job now closes a most striking description of the failure of human friendship. He leads us to the mountain torrent, swollen by wintry storms, boisterous, impetuous. While we gaze, the voice of the torrent ceases to be heard; for the summer sun is on the sky. With a master stroke Job fixes our eye on the toiling, thirsting, dying hosts of a caravan who have turned aside that they may find water and life in the hour of their distress. Again a single touch shows us their confusion and despair as they sink down in the dreary wastes and die. Such is friendship, loud in its professions and strong in the day of prosperity. Such was the thirst of Job’s soul for the pure streams of friendship; but he thirsted in vain.

Third long strophe — A FURTHER CONFIRMATION OF THE FALSENESS OF HIS FRIENDS, 21-30.

First strophe — Job proceeds to apply the preceding illustration, 21-23.

V. 21. Nothing-You are to me as if you had never come to me; for I have no comfort from you. Afraid-You are shy of me, and afraid for yourselves, lest some further plagues should come upon me, wherein you for my sake, should be involved: or, lest I should be burdensome to you.

Verse 21. For now ye are nothing] Ye are just to me as those deceitful torrents to the caravans of Tema and Sheba; they were nothing to them; ye are nothing to me.

Ye see my casting down] Ye see that I have been hurried from my eminence into want and misery, as the flood from the top of the mountains, which is divided, evaporated, and lost in the desert.

And are afraid.] Ye are terrified at the calamity that has come upon me; and instead of drawing near to comfort me, ye start back at my appearance.

Verse 21. For now ye are nothing, &c. — Just such are you, who, seeing my calamity, afford me no comfort, and seem afraid lest I should want something of you. Thus Job very properly applies the preceding most beautiful description of the torrents in the hot climates, to his three friends who thus disappointed his expectations. Indeed, it is a very fine image of pretended friends in adversity. When their help is most wanted and coveted, they are too apt to fail the expectations of those that trusted in them. They may properly enough be said to be either frozen or melted away by adversity. All their warm professions are congealed, as it were, when adverse circumstances have laid hold on their friends, and their friendship is quite dissolved and melted away. Ye see my casting down, and are afraid — You are shy of me, and afraid for yourselves, lest some further plague should come upon me, wherein you, for my sake, should be involved; or, lest I should be burdensome to you. Therefore you are to me as if you had never come; you are nothing to me, for I have no help or comfort from you.

21. Ye are nothing — Like the streams the perishing host looked for. My casting down — Fearful state, (Furst,) or terror. Job was fearful to behold. The disposition of the three friends is like that of the priest and Levite — they look on and lend no succour. The original has a figure of beauty — a paronomasia, (warytw… wart) that cannot be translated.

V. 22. Did I say-Give me something for my support or relief. You might have at least given me comfortable words, when I expected nothing else from you.

Verse 22. Did I say, Bring unto me?] Why do you stand aloof? Have I asked you to bring me any presents? or to supply my wants out of your stores?

Verses 22, 23. Did I say — Or, is it because I said; Bring unto me? — Give me something for my support or relief? Is this, or what else is the reason why you are afraid of me, or alienated from me? Did either my former covetousness, or my present necessity, make me troublesome or chargeable to you? or, Give a reward for me of your substance — Or, Give a gift for my use or need? Did I send for you to come and visit me for this end? Nay, did you not come of your own accord? Why then are you so unmerciful to me? You might at least have given me comfortable words, when I expected nothing else from you. Or, Deliver me from the enemy’s hand? — By power and the force of your arms, as Abraham delivered Lot; or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty? — Namely, by price or ransom.

22. Give a reward — For the purpose of bribing, say some, since the verb will bear such a rendering. The questions are evidently meant in derision.

V. 23. Deliver-By the force of your arms, as Abraham delivered Lot. Redeem-By price or ransom.

Verse 23. Or, Deliver me] Did I send to you to come and avenge me of the destroyers of my property, or to rescue my substance out of the hands of my enemies?

Verses 22, 23. Did I say — Or, is it because I said; Bring unto me? — Give me something for my support or relief? Is this, or what else is the reason why you are afraid of me, or alienated from me? Did either my former covetousness, or my present necessity, make me troublesome or chargeable to you? or, Give a reward for me of your substance — Or, Give a gift for my use or need? Did I send for you to come and visit me for this end? Nay, did you not come of your own accord? Why then are you so unmerciful to me? You might at least have given me comfortable words, when I expected nothing else from you. Or, Deliver me from the enemy’s hand? — By power and the force of your arms, as Abraham delivered Lot; or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty? — Namely, by price or ransom.

23. Or, Deliver me — He had not asked for alms to relieve his distress, nor for money for purposes of bribery, nor for help to pay his ransom from an enemy, nor that his friends should interpose against the mighty. He had asked absolutely nothing at their hands either before or since his crushing calamity. As he was under no obligations he had reason to expect better treatment.

Second strophe — Their words, far from being forcible, have in them the elements of cruelty, 24-27.

V. 24. Teach-Convince me by solid arguments. I will-I will patiently hear and gladly receive your counsels.

Verse 24. Teach me] Show me where I am mistaken. Bring proper arguments to convince me of my errors; and you will soon find that I shall gladly receive your counsels, and abandon the errors of which I may be convicted.

Verses 24, 25. Teach me — Instead of censuring and reproaching, instruct and convince me by solid arguments; and I will hold my tongue — I will patiently hear and gladly receive your counsels; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred — Show me my mistakes and miscarriages; for I am ready to receive your reproofs, and humbly to submit to them. How forcible are right words! — The words of truth and solid argument have a marvellous power to convince and persuade a man; and, if yours were such, I should readily yield to them. But what doth your arguing reprove? — There is no truth in your assertions, nor weight in your arguments, and therefore they are of no account, and have no power with me.

24. Teach me — If they really believe that he has been guilty of some great wrong, as their looks probably showed during the seven days of formal sorrow, it is their duty now to show him the wrong. Eliphaz had taken advantage of “the wrath” of Job to charge him with folly. Having disposed, as he thinks, of this charge, Job now demands other reasons for their cruel treatment.

V. 25. Forcible-The words of truth have a marvellous power. Reprove-But there is no truth in your assertions or weight in your arguments.

Verse 25. How forcible are right words] A well-constructed argument, that has truth for its basis, is irresistible.

But what doth your arguing reprove?] Your reasoning is defective, because your premises are false; and your conclusions prove nothing, because of the falsity of the premises whence they are drawn. The last clause, literally rendered, is, What reproof, in a reproof from you? As you have proved no fault you have consequently reproved no vice. Instead of wxrmn hm mah nimretsu, “how forcible,” wxlmn hm mah nimletsu, “how savoury or pleasant,” is the reading of two MSS., the Chaldee, and some of the rabbins. Both senses are good, but the common reading is to be preferred.

Verses 24, 25. Teach me — Instead of censuring and reproaching, instruct and convince me by solid arguments; and I will hold my tongue — I will patiently hear and gladly receive your counsels; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred — Show me my mistakes and miscarriages; for I am ready to receive your reproofs, and humbly to submit to them. How forcible are right words! — The words of truth and solid argument have a marvellous power to convince and persuade a man; and, if yours were such, I should readily yield to them. But what doth your arguing reprove? — There is no truth in your assertions, nor weight in your arguments, and therefore they are of no account, and have no power with me.

25. How forcible — How sweet, etc. Thus Furst, Ewald, and Zockler. Many others of equal authority, however, (for instance, Gesenius, Thes., p. 820,) favour the version of the text — How forcible are right words — words of “uprightness,” or “truth,” dvy. The parallelism, which ever helps to the meaning of a verse, will properly appear from a literal translation of the second member of the verse: “But what doth reproof from you reprove.” The feebleness of their reproof (from you) is set forth by contrast with the forcibleness of right words. “Words which keep the straight way of truth go to the heart.”

V. 26. Words-Do you think it is sufficient to quarrel with some of my words, without giving allowance for human infirmity, or extreme misery. Desperate-Of a poor miserable, hopeless and helpless man. As wind-Which pass away and are forgotten.

Verse 26. Do ye imagine to reprove words] Is it some expressions which in my hurry, and under the pressure of unprecedented affliction, I have uttered, that ye catch at? You can find no flaw in my conduct; would ye make me an OFFENDER for a WORD? Why endeavour to take such advantage of a man who complains in the bitterness of his heart, through despair of life and happiness?

Verse 26. Do you imagine to reprove words? — What! is all your wisdom employed for this, to catch hold of and reprove some of my words, without making allowance for human infirmity or extreme misery? and the speeches of one that is desperate? — Of a poor, miserable, helpless, and hopeless man; which are as wind — Which you esteem to be like wind, vain and light, without solidity, giving a sound, but with little sense, and to little purpose. Heath renders it, Are they as the wind? vain and empty.

26. Do ye imagine, etc. — Read, Do ye think to reprove (mere) words, when the words of the despairing are as wind? Instead of displaying wisdom by forcible words, their folly is conspicuous in taking up for reproof the words of despair rather than the actions and character of a lifetime. “Certainly a dangerous expression for Job to make,” (says Dillmann,) “when he thus depreciates words.” Such a sentiment, moreover, is quite inconsistent with Job’s high tone of morals, expressed in his anxiety for his children. (Note on 1:5.) The view of the recent commentator Hitzig relieves the difficulty by rendering the latter clause thus: And even the HASTY speech of the despairing. The Hebrew will justify such a rendering of jwrl; literally, to (the) wind, as he satisfactorily shows.

V. 27. Overwhelm-You load with censures and calumnies. Desolate-Me who am deprived of all my children, my estate, and my friends. I spoke all I thought, as to my friends, and you thence occasion to cast me down.

Verse 27. Ye overwhelm the fatherless] Ye see that I am as destitute as the most miserable orphan; would ye overwhelm such a one? and would you dig a pit for your friend—do ye lay wait for me, and endeavour to entangle me in my talk? I believe this to be the spirit of Job’s words.

Verse 27. Ye overwhelm the fatherless — Your words are not only vain, useless, and uncomfortable to me, but also grievous and pernicious. Hebrew, wlypt, tappilu, you rush, or throw yourselves upon him. You fall upon him with all your might, and say all that you can devise to charge and grieve him. You load him with censures and calumnies. The word µwty, jathom, here rendered fatherless, means a solitary person in distress, as well as an orphan; or one desolate. Job intends himself by the expression, being deprived of all his children, and of all his estate, and forsaken by his friends. And you dig a pit for your friend — You insult and triumph over me, whom once you owned for your friend. I spoke all I thought, as to my friends, and you from thence take occasion to cast me down. There is nothing in the Hebrew for the word pit: it is literally, You dig for your friend; or as Heath and Houbigant render it, make a mock of your friend.

27. Overwhelm — Literally, Cause to fall upon, (as in the margin,) here used elliptically. Accordingly, most moderns render the clause, Ye would even cast lots for the fatherless, in allusion to a custom by which the prey was divided by lot. (See 1 Samuel 14:42; Jonah 1:7.) This is the cruelest charge that Job makes. Carey, however, would supply the word net — and read, “ye spring a net.” The ancient Egyptians, as is still seen on the monuments, ensnared birds with a net. The former rendering is better. Dig a pit — hrk. Karah, also bears the meaning of traffic; thus, Ye would traffic in your friend; (Ewald, Furst, etc.;) for instance, as the brethren of Joseph trafficked in him. (Comp. Job 41:6.) According to Hitzig, Job sees in his friends a firm conviction that he has been guilty of some unknown offense. In their uncertainty as to its nature they leave (he says) its determination to chance. Serious objections to this view lie on the surface. Hirtzel and Dillmann suggest a painful thought — that the traffic alluded to was in the children of deceased friends, who were sold into captivity to pay the debts of their fathers. (2 Kings 4:1.) The reading of the English version is preferred by Rosenmuller and Gesenius. To the present day, among wild nations, the mode mentioned in the text is followed for entrapping wild beasts. The “pit” that has been dug is covered with brushwood and earth. The spot selected is on the wonted path of the animal. Even the elephant falls into such traps. Job, we think, does not mean by this harsh language to charge his friends with having perpetrated these acts; but that their treatment of him contained all the elements of such cruelty.

Third strophe — He makes an appeal for justice, and justice only, 28-30.

V. 28. Look-Consider my cause better than you have done, that you may give a more righteous judgment. Evident-You will plainly discover it.

Verse 28. Look upon me] View me; consider my circumstances; compare my words; and you must be convinced that I have spoken nothing but truth.

Verse 28. Now therefore be content, look upon me — Hebrew, Be willing; look upon me, or, to look upon me, the second imperative being put for the infinitive. Be pleased to consider me and my cause further and better than you have done, that you may give a more true and righteous judgment concerning it; for it is — Or rather, will be; evident — You will plainly discover it; if I lie — A little farther consideration and discourse will make it manifest if I have uttered any thing untrue or without foundation, and I shall readily acknowledge it.

28. Now therefore — And now be pleased to look upon me. He deems that they will see, notwithstanding his disfigurement, integrity in his look and bearing. Evident unto you, etc. — I will not speak falsely to your face, is the reading of most modern critics. Hengstenberg prefers to read, “let it be before your face,” that is, be determined by you, “whether I lie.”

V. 29. Return-Turn from your former judgment. Iniquity-Or, there shall be no iniquity, in my words. Righteousness-In this cause or matter between you and me; and you will find the right to be on my side.

Verse 29. Return, I pray you] Reconsider the whole subject. Do not be offended. Yea, reconsider the subject; my righteousness is in it—my argumentation is a sufficient proof of my innocence.

Verse 29. Return, I pray, let it not be iniquity — Or, Recollect yourselves, I beseech you; call it not wickedness: yea, return again; my righteousness is in it — Or, Consider it yet again, righteousness may be in me. — Chappelow. Notwithstanding your suspicion, if you will examine more candidly and strictly, you may, perhaps, be convinced that I am not the sinner you think; but that righteousness is still in me, though I have fallen under these sore afflictions.

29. Return… return — Renan supposes that Job’s friends, astonished by his apostrophes, turn away as if about to depart, and Job calls them back. Let it not be iniquity — Let there be no wrong (between us.) My righteousness is in it — That is, in the matter about which we treat, (Dillmann, Hirtzel.) My position is impregnable, for my cause is a righteous one.

V. 30. Is there-Consider if there be any untruth or iniquity in what I have already said, or shall farther speak. Taste-My judgment, which judgeth of words and actions, as the palate doth of meats.

Verse 30. Is there iniquity in my tongue?] Amos I not an honest man? and if in my haste my tongue had uttered falsity, would not my conscience discern it? and do you think that such a man as your friend is would defend what he knew to be wrong?

I HAVE done what I could to make this chapter plain, to preserve the connection, and show the dependence of the several parts on each other; without which many of the sayings would have been very obscure. The whole chapter is an inimitable apology for what he had uttered, and a defence of his conduct. This might have ended the controversy, had not his friends been determined to bring him in guilty. They had prejudged his cause, and assumed a certain position, from which they were determined not to be driven.

JOB

Verse 30. Is there iniquity in my tongue? — Consider, if there be any iniquity, or untruth, in what I have already said, or shall further speak? Have I hitherto uttered any thing that is faulty? Cannot my taste discern perverse things — That is, my understanding, which judges of words and actions, as the palate doth of meats. I hope it is not so corrupted but that I can discern what is bad, though spoken by myself.

30. Iniquity — Is there wrong in my tongue? Taste — Cannot my palate discern that which is perverse? Of all human beings he himself knows best about his own heart and life, as one’s own palate is best fitted to discern its own objects of taste. The word palate is here used metaphorically for the moral judgment. It is this that tries “perverse things,” twwh — not “calamities,” as Zockler would read, but a “wickedness which completely contaminates feeling and utterance.” See Psalm 52:2, where the same word is used and rendered “mischiefs.”