Job Blesseth God.

(20) And worshipped.-Compare the conduct of David (2 Sam. xii. 20) and of Hezekiah (2 Kings xix. 1). Moments of intense sorrow or trial, like moments of intense joy, force us into the immediate presence of God.

(21) Thither.-If taken literally, can only refer to the womb, which in that case must here mean the earth, with a probable allusion to Gen. iii. 19. (Comp. Job xvii. 14.)

Blessed be the name of the Lord.-The very word used in a contrary sense (verse 11). Thus was Satan foiled for the first time.

(22) Foolishly.-The same word as at chap. xxiv. 12, signifying reproach or guilt. It is a noun derived from the adjective rendered "unsavoury" in chap. vi. 6.

II.

(1) And Satan came also.-See chap. i. 7. St. Peter applies to Satan the verb from which we have peripatetic.

(4) Skin for skin.-This is a more extreme form of the insinuation of chap. i. 9. He means Job takes care to have his quid pro quo; and if the worst come to the worst, a man will give up everything to save his life. If, therefore, Job can save his life at the price of subservience to God, he will willingly pay that price rather than die; but his service is worth no more than that selfish object implies.

(6) But save his life.-God's faithfulness cannot fail even if, as Satan hints, Job's should do so (2 Tim. ii. 13). There was one who cared for Job's life more than he cared for it himself.

(7) Sore boils.-Supposed to be Elephantiasis, an extreme form of leprosy, in which the skin becomes

(7) So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. (8) And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

(9) Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. (10) But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

(11) Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite for they had made an appointment to

clotted and hard like an elephant's, with painful cracks and sores underneath.

(9) Then said his wife.-Thus it is that a man's foes are they of his own household (Micah vii. 6; Matt. x. 36, &c.). The worst trial of all is when those nearest to us, instead of strengthening our hand in God and confirming our faith, conspire to destroy it.

.

:

(10) Shall we receive good ..?-The words were fuller than even Job thought; for merely to receive evil as from God's hands is to transmute its character altogether, for then even calamities become blessings in disguise. What Job meant was that we are bound to expect evil as well as good from God's hands by a sort of compensation and even-handed justice, but what his words may mean is a far more blessed truth than this. There is a sublime contrast between the temptation of Job and the temptation of Christ (Matt. xxvi. 39-42, &c.). (Comp. Heb. v. 8.) This was the lesson Job was learning.

(11) Eliphaz the Temanite.-Teman was the son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, to whose family this Eliphaz is probably to be referred (Gen. xxxvi. 4, 10, 11). If so, this may roughly indicate the date of the book. The inhabitants of Teman, which lay north-east of Edom, were famed for their wisdom (Jer. xlvii. 7).

Bildad the Shuhite probably derived his origin from Shuah, the son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. xxv. 2). Of the district from which Zophar the Naamathite came nothing is known. It probably derived its name from a Naamah or Naaman, of which there were several (e.g., Gen. iv. 22; 1 Kings xiv. 21; Gen. xlvi. 21; Num. xxvi. 40; 2 Kings v. 1), as names of persons or places called after them.

a ch. 10. 18, 19; Jer. 20. 14.

gether to come to mourn with him and 1 Heb., answered. to comfort him. (12) And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. (13) So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

CHAPTER III.—(1) After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. (2) And Job 1spake, and said,

a

(3) Let the day perish wherein I was born, And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

(4) Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above,

Neither let the light shine upon it. (5) Let darkness and the shadow of death 2 stain it;

Let a cloud dwell upon it;

3 Let the blackness of the day terrify it.

? Or, challenge it.

13 Or, let them terrify it, as those who have a bitter day.

4 Or, let it not se joice among th days.

(6) As for that night, let darkness seizes or, a leviathan. upon it;

Let it not be joined unto the days of

the year,

Let it not come into the number of the months.

6 Heh., the eyelids of the morning.

(12) And knew him not.-Compare the converse statement descriptive of the love of him who could recognise his lost son under a disguise as great as that of Job, or even greater (Luke xv. 20).

(13) So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days.-Compare the conduct of David (2 Sam. xii. 16), and see also Gen. 1. 10; 1 Sam. xxxi. 13; Ezek. iii. 15. There is a colossal grandeur about this description which is in keeping with the majesty and hoary antiquity of the poem.

III.

(1) After this opened Job his mouth.-There is a striking similarity between this chapter and Jer. xx. 14-18, so much so that one must be borrowed from the other; the question is, which is the original? Is Jeremiah the germ of this? or is this the tree from which a branch has been hewn by Jeremiah? Our own conviction is that Job is the original, inasmuch as this chapter is indispensable to the development of the poem ; but in Jeremiah the passage occurs casually as the record of a passing mood of despair. It is, moreover, apparently clear that Jeremiah is quoting Job as he might quote one of the Psalms or any other writing with which he was familiar. He was applying to daily life the wellknown expression of a patriarchal experience, whereas in the other case the words of Job would be the ideal magnifying of a commonplace and realistic experience. (4) Regard.-Literally, require, ask for, and 80 manifest care about. (Comp. Deut. xi. 12.)

(5) Stain.-Literally, redeem-i.e., claim as their

He Curseth his Day.

(7) Lo, let that night be solitary,

Let no joyful voice come therein. (8) Let them curse it that curse the day, Who are ready to raise up their

mourning.

5

(9) Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark;

Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it see the dawning of the day:

(10) Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb,

Nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. (11) Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

(12) Why did the knees prevent me?

Or why the breasts that I should suck? (13) For now should I have lain still and been quiet,

I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

(14) With kings and counsellors of the earth,

Which built desolate places for themselves;

(15) Or with princes that had gold,

Who filled their houses with silver: (16) Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been;

As infants which never saw light.

dawn.

Eliphaz Reproveth him.

the waters.

(25) For the thing which I greatly feared

is come upon me,

And that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

(26) I was not in safety, neither had I rest, Neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

knees.

33.

(17) There-i.e., in the grave, the place indicated, but not distinctly expressed.

(18) The oppressor.-As this is the word rendered taskmaster in Exodus, some have thought there may be an allusion to that history here.

(20) Wherefore is light given.-Comp. the connection between life and light in Ps. xxxvi. 9 and John i. 4.

(23) Hedged in.-The same expression was used in an opposite sense in chap. i. 10.

(25) For the thing which I greatly feared.. -Comp. Prov. xxviii. 14. It means that he had always had in remembrance the uncertainty and instability of earthly things, and yet he had been overtaken by a calamity that mocked his carefulness and exceeded his apprehensions.

IV.

(2) If we assay.-Rather, perhaps, Has one ever assayed? or, Has a word ever been tried? It appears from chap. xxix. 9, 10, that Job was held in great honour and reverence by all, and Eliphaz regarded him with awe such as would have constrained him to be silent, but he is so convinced that Job is wrong and deserves reproof, that he cannot refrain from speaking. He strikes a note, however, which the friends all sound, namely, that it is the wicked who suffer, and that all who suffer must be wicked. This, in a variety of forms, is the sum and substance of what they have to say.

(3) Behold, thou hast instructed many.There is a conspicuous want of feeling in Eliphaz.

And thou hast strengthened 7the feeble knees.

(5) But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest ;

It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

(6) Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, Thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?

(7) Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent?

Or where were the righteous cut. off?

(8) Even as I have seen, 'they that plow iniquity,

And sow wickedness, reap the same. (9) By the blast of God they perish,

And by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

(6) Is not this thy fear, thy confidence . . .? -The meaning seems to be, "Should not thy fear or piety be thy confidence, and the uprightness of thy ways thy hope? Should not the piety thou wast so ready to commend to others supply a sufficient ground of hope for thyself?" Or we may understand, "Is not thy reverence, thy confidence, thy hope, and thy integrity shown to be worthless if thou faintest as soon as adversity toucheth thee?" The drift of the speaker is virtually the same in either case.

(7) Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent?-He challenges Job's experience, and quotes his own in proof of the universal connection between sin and suffering. In so doing, his object may be to insinuate that Job is sinful; or, as seems perhaps more probable, and certainly more gracious, to prove to him that if he is what he was supposed to be, that itself is a ground of hope, inasmuch as no innocent person is allowed to perish. He utters here a half-truth, which, however, is. after all true, inasmuch as God will never fail, though He may try, those who trust in Him.

(8) They that plow iniquity.-Comp. Gal. vi. 7, 8; and comp. also the strange expression of Isa. v. 18,

And mine ear received a little thereof. (13) In thoughts from the visions of the night,

When deep sleep falleth on men, (14) Fear 2 came upon me, and trembling, Which made 3all my bones to shake. (15) Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair of my flesh stood up:

(16) It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof:

An image was before mine eyes,

4 There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

(17) Shall mortal man be more just than God?

its Teaching.

Shall a man be more pure than his

maker?

(11) The old lion perisheth This means that even though wickedness is joined with strength, it is equally unable to prosper. It is to be observed that no less than five different words are here used for lion, showing that these animals must have been common and of various kinds in Job's country.

(12) Now a thing. He now proceeds to enforce and illustrate what he has said in highly poetical language, which has been versified in one of Byron's Hebrew Melodies.

Secretly brought to me.-Literally, was stolen for me. Joseph uses the same expression of himself in Gen. xl. 15.

Mine ear received a little, compared with the inexhaustible resources remaining unrevealed. The word used for little is only found once again, and in the mouth of Job (chap. xxvi. 14).

(13) In thoughts from the visions of the night.-The Book of Genesis exhibits the same idea of revelation through visions of the night, e.g., chaps. xv. 1, xx. 3, xxx. 11, xỈ. 5, xli. 1, xlvi. 2; afterwards it is not common, except in the Book of Daniel. The word rendered "thoughts" only occurs once again, in Job xx. 2. The "deep sleep" of this place is like a reminiscence of Gen. ii. 21 and xv. 12. It is used again in Job xxxiii. 15, otherwise only once in 1 Sam. xxvi. 12, once in Prov. xix. 15, and once in Isa. xxix. 10.

(15) A spirit passed before my face.-It is vain to argue from this passage that spiritual essences are capable of being seen by the bodily eye, because, first of all, the language is highly figurative and poetical, and because, secondly, every one understands that a spiritual manifestation can be made only to the spirit. The notion, therefore, of seeing a spirit is absurd in itself, because it involves the idea of seeing the invisible; but it is conceivable that the perceptions of the inner spirit may be so vivid as to assue the character of outward manifestations.

them go away?

They die, even without wisdom.

CHAPTER V.-(1) Call now, if there be any that will answer thee;

And to which of the saints wilt thou 7 turn ?

(2) For wrath killeth the foolish man, And envy slayeth the silly one. (3) I have seen the foolish taking root:

(17) Shall mortal man be more just than God? ―This is the burden, or refrain, upon which the friends of Job are for ever harping. It is perfectly orthodox, but at the same time perfectly inadequate to deal with the necessities of Job's case. He is willing to admit that it is impossible for any man to be just with God; but then arises Job's dilemma, Where is God's justice if He punishes the innocent as the guilty? The word rendered "mortal" man is really weak, frail man, involv ing, it may be, the idea of mortality, but not immediately suggesting it. As far as mortality implies sin, the notion of being just is absurd; and even a strong mansuch is the antithesis-cannot be more pure than He that made him, who, it is assumed, must be both strong and righteous.

(18) Behold, he put no trust in his servants. -The statement is a general one; it does not refer to any one act in the past. We should read putteth and chargeth. Eliphaz repeats himself in chap. xv. 15.

(19) Houses of clay.-This may perhaps contain an allusion to Gen. xi. 3.

Are crushed before the moth ?-That is to say, are so frail that even the moth destroys them.

(20) From morning to evening. The process is continual and unceasing, and when we consider the ravages of time on history, we may well say, as in verse 20, that " none regardeth it."

The next verse, however, may seem to imply that they themselves are unmindful of their decay, it is so insidious and so complete.

V.

(1) Call now. The speaker now becomes more personal and direct in his tone and bearing. He insinuates that Job is unwise" and "silly," and promises swift destruction for all such.

(3) I cursed. The word means, "I was able to declare distinctly, and I did declare without hesitation, that his

lot would be as follows." All these general results of experience have the sting of insinuation in them that they contain the key to Job's unfortunate condition. There is secret unsoundness there which is the cause of the manifest and open misery. It is impossible that a man so stricken should be otherwise than, for some unknown reason, the guilty victim of the righteous wrath of a just judge.

(4) They are crushed.-Rather, perhaps, they crush one another. Their internal rivalries and dissensions bring them to ruin. They exemplify the house divided against itself.

(5) Whose harvest the hungry eateth up.The meaning becomes more pointed if we understand the wicked man himself as the subject whose harvest he shall eat famishing and have to take from among the thorns-there shall be so little, and that little choked with thorns. The word "robber" is perhaps a trap, or snare. Some of the old versions use other vowels, and read, "the thirsty swallow up," making the parallelism complete.

(6, 7) Although affliction. .-These two verses are confessedly very difficult. It is hard to see also the connection between sparks flying upwards and man's being born to trouble. It seems to give better sense if we understand Eliphaz comparing man's lot as prepared for him by God with his own pride and presumptuous ambition. Man is born to labour, but, like sparks of fire, he makes high his flight. Trouble and toil is no accidental growth, but a lot appointed by God, which would be beneficial if man did not thwart it by his own pride. They lift themselves up and soar on high like sparks of fire with daring and presumptuous conduct, and so bring on themselves condign punishment. The same word means trouble and toil, and it may be understood in the two consecutive verses in these cognate, but slightly different, senses. It would be no consolation to Job to tell him that man was born to trouble; besides, it is a sentiment more likely to proceed from the patient himself than from the spectator.

(11) To set up on high those that be low.— Thus his doctrine is that man's exaltation must come from God, and not from his own vain strivings. (Comp. Ps. lxxv. 4-10, and the prayer of Hannahı, 1 Sam. ii. 6-8; also Ps. cxiii. 7, &c.)

(12) So that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.—Or, so that their hands can do nothing that is sound or of worth, can accomplish nothing effectual.

(13) He taketh the wise.-St. Paul quotes the former half of this verse in his warning to the Corinthians (1 Cor. iii. 19): "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." The word rendered "froward" means crooked, perverse, or tortuous. The name Naphtali is derived from the same root (Gen. xxx. 8). (1) Darkness in the daytime.-This is possibly an allusion to the Egyptian plague of darkness that may be felt" (Ex. x. 21), as the words used are similar. This may be a note of probable date. (Compare Isa. lix. 10, where the thoughts correspond, but the words differ.) This is one of the many passages of Job in which there seems to be an indication of some acquaintance with the events related in the Pentateuch, though the points of contact are too slight for us to be quite sure of it.

(15) From the sword, from their mouth.—It is merely a matter of grammatical nicety whether we regard the sword as coming forth from their mouth, or as identical with what comes forth from it, or as the first of three things from which the poor are delivered. It is worthy of special note that the Lord is thus conceived of and represented as the Saviour, and the Saviour of them who have no saviour. Is not this an idea confined to the circle of the sacred writings? At all events, it so abounds and predominates in them as to be pre-eminently, if not exclusively, characteristic of them. (16) Iniquity stoppeth her mouth.-See Ps. cvii. 42, where the same phrase occurs.

(17) This is probably the original of Prov. iii. 12, which is itself quoted by the writer of the Epistle to