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 BOOK or JOB, 
 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW TEXT, 
 
 WITH AN ^y 
 
 INTRODUCTION, / i. 
 
 A SUMMARY OF EACH CHAPTER, 
 
 AND BRIEF NOTES IN EXPLANATION OF OBSCURE PASSAGES. 
 
 ' , BY - ' ' ■■ •■\ . 
 
 ^^^■ 
 
 METROPOLITAN OF CANADA. ^ 
 
 
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 ST. JOHN, N. B. 
 
 J. & A. McMillan, peinteks. 
 
 1879. 
 
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 ,< JOHN, BISHOP OF FREDERICTON, 
 
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 TO THE CLKKGY 
 OF THE DIOCESE OF FREDERICTON , 
 
 THIS TRANSLATION OF TliE 
 
 BOOK OF JOB .1 
 
 IS DEDICATED 
 BY TnEIB, AFFECTIONATE FRIEND AND BROTHER, 
 
 JOHN FREDEKICTON, 
 
 METROPOLITAN. 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 •>• 
 
 The original intention of the present publication was 
 to place in the hands of the Clergy of my Diocese that 
 which might assist them in understanding and appreciat- 
 ing a most important, but obscure book of Holy Scrip- 
 ture. It has occurred to me, however, that there may be 
 many others who require, and possibly may be benefited 
 by the same assistance, and who are unable to purchase 
 expensive and more learned Commentaries. 
 
 Should this be found to be the case, I shall be most 
 thankful, and I humbly commend my endeavour to the 
 gracious fovour of Him who disdains not the smallest 
 offering to His praise. 
 
 John Fredericton, - 
 
 Metropolitan of Canada. 
 
 BisJwpscote, ^ 4 
 
 Augiisl 25th, iSyg. 
 
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 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 My dear Brethren, — 
 
 Wliilst prosecuting the study of God's Holy Word, 
 which I have endeavoured to continue, as far as my 
 abiHty and the claims on my time allow, I have been 
 desirous to make the attempt to assist and benefit you 
 by a little help in the more difficult and obscure parts 
 of the Scripture. For this purpose, I have selected the 
 book of Job, — a book specially endeared to me by having 
 been studied in past years in seasons of deep sorrow, 
 and specially commended to our consideration at such 
 time3 by the authority of the inspired Apostle St. James. 
 Let me not be thought presumptuous if I set before you 
 a fresh translation of this holy book, which I have made 
 after repeated examination of the Hebrew Text, aided 
 by such of the learned Commentaries of eminent scholars, 
 both German and English, as have fallen within my reach. 
 Since our ordinary version of the Bible was made, special 
 attention has been bestowed upon this book ; and many 
 of the obscurities of the Authorized Version have been 
 removed by the labours of the illustrious Arabic scholar 
 Schultens, as well as by Rosenmiiller, to whom all subse- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 f 
 
 quent Commentators are much indebted ; and in later days 
 by the able Commentaries of Mr. Goode, Professor Lee, 
 the Bishop of Lincoln, Canon Cook, Canon Barry, Mr. 
 Rodwell, and others. In Rosenmiiller particularly we 
 have the advantage of that true German diligence, which 
 never passes over a single word, examines the opinions 
 of ethers, refers to the Septuagint wherever it seems to 
 throw any light, and is not disfigured by the contemptu- 
 ous rationalism which unhappily is found elsewhere. 
 
 1. In the translation, whenever I have adopted the exact 
 words of English commentators, I have marked the pas- 
 sage with a letter of the alphabet, indicating the name of 
 the author ; but I have never done so without repeated 
 examination of the passage itself By the help of short 
 notes on many of the obscurer passages, suggesting what 
 1 conceive to be the probable meaning, and by a brief 
 sum) lary of the addresses of the Patriarch and his friends, 
 I trust that the whole may become clearer to you. 
 
 2. I have also taken the liberty of disregarding the divi- 
 sion into chapters, which often breaks into the argument, 
 and is, as most of you know, a perfectly arbitrary, though 
 a very convenient abridgement for the purpose of Scrip- 
 ture lessons. The division into verses does not interfere 
 so much with the sense of the text, as the greater part of 
 the book of Job is written in the simplest form of poetic 
 parallelism ; two members, or at most three, generally 
 forming a complete sentence, and ending with what 
 answers to our colon and full stop, with certain interme- 
 diate slight pauses. I have, however, endeavoured to 
 
'^ 
 
 •v. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XI 
 
 mark the parallelism by parallel lines in English, which 
 our Authorized Version does not attempt to do. This is 
 of some importance, because in a vast number of in- 
 stances, the first member of the parallelism throws light 
 on the second, which is, in some instances, the obscurer 
 part. For the Hebrew writer sometimes omits words in 
 the second member which have to be supplied from the 
 first ; or obscurer words in the second member are to be 
 interpreted by the meaning more plainly expressed in 
 the first part of the sentence. 
 
 II. 
 
 1. The difficulties of a right translation arise from 
 several causes. There are many words in this book 
 which occur in no other parts of the Bible, jnd only once 
 in the book of Job. These must be explained by having 
 recourse to the roots in Arabic or other cognate lan- 
 guages, and learned men, even among the Jews, differ 
 sometimes as to their meaning. 
 
 2. Another difficulty arises from the exquisite skill with 
 which the sacred writer depicts the deep wrestlings of the 
 soul, the searchings of spirit, the occasional inconsisten- 
 cies, and thoughts bordering on presumption, in which 
 this holy man, in the extremity of his agony, and under 
 the pressure of harsh and unjust accusation, sought to 
 justify his integrity, to appeal to God to hear his cause, 
 to manifest a strong and earnest faith, and to express his 
 despair of solving the problem suggested by this terrible 
 and hitherto unknown trial. It would be unnatural to 
 
 ^ 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 suppose that such perplexing thoughts could be expressed 
 in words easy to be understood. As St. Paul labours to 
 find words expressive of the overpowering pressure of 
 his thoughts (" Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio"), so Job, 
 of whose thoughts St. Paul is full, gasps for words to 
 represent the intensity of his sufferings and the crushing 
 difficulties of the trial which weighed down his soul. 
 
 3. It must also be recollected that the writer, whoever 
 he was, though translated into English, did not think in 
 English. His turn of thought, his idioms, his proverbs, 
 his addresses to the Almighty and to his three friends, are 
 ever Oriental ; and have an Arabian cast. They are the 
 expressions of a man familiar with the national life of 
 Egypt, and with the customs of the countries outside the 
 region of Palestine, though not far distant from it. 
 
 4. Considerable difficulty arises in adapting the limited 
 number of Hebrew tenses — the perfect and the imper- 
 fect — to a language which employs the imperfect, past, 
 pluperfect, and the may, can, might, would, should of our 
 ordinary English tongue. To explain this clearly would 
 require a dissertation. It is sufficient to remark a funda- 
 mental difference in the manner of Hebrew speech from 
 our own tongue. ** In English," an able writer observes, 
 ** we dwell on the order of time, endeavouring to ascer- 
 tain the date of any event with precision. In Hebrew, 
 the writer indicates 'the kind or character of time, /. <?., 
 as beginning, continued, or completed; such incipi- 
 ence, continuance, or completion, being represented by 
 the perfect, the participle, and the imperfect tenses. Thus 
 
 -\kf 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 the tenses in Hebrew may almost be called moods. The 
 subtilty, and certainly the charm of the Hebrew language 
 is the ease with which the writer constantly changes his 
 stand-point : at one moment contemplating the prophetic 
 future as the past, from the certainty of its fulfilment ; at 
 another, speaking of an event as still in the remote future, 
 yet describing it as though present to his gaze, so that it 
 emerges into the light and stands with clearly defined 
 outline before the eye of the writer. Such peculiarities 
 of the Hebrew baffle all efforts to reproduce them exactly 
 in a Western tongue, and render the work of an idiomatic 
 English translation proportionably difficult." (See Mr. 
 Driver's valuable work on the Tenses in Hebrew, p. 6.) 
 
 HI. 
 
 Not to dwell longer on what may be uninteresting to 
 you, I proceed to make some observations on a question 
 of some importance, but not in any way affecting the 
 inspiration of the book. Who was its author ? 
 
 1. Early Jewish tradition ascribes it to Moses, as either 
 the author or the translator. Holy Scripture, in two 
 passages, vouches for the reality of the history. But it 
 goes no farther ; and we are not, I suppose, obliged to 
 believe more than that the substance of the arguments 
 was used by Job and his friends, aniiplified, and wrought 
 into one of the noblest poems ever written, under the 
 control and direction of the Holy Ghost, 
 
 2. The external evidence of the authorship being con- 
 fessedly scanty, it appears to me that we should not hastily 
 
'■HV 
 
 xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 reject the old Jewish tradition respecting the author, un- 
 less there be overpowering internal evidence in the book 
 itself, that it must have been written in a later age. The 
 opinions of modern Jews seem less entitled to credence, 
 as many of them reject the miracles even of Moses him- 
 self, and thereby would detract most seriously from the 
 veracity of his writings The author, whoever he were, 
 was a man *' mighty in words." His description of sce- 
 nery, of animal life, and of patriarchal life, are accurate to 
 the last degree. He had evidently travelled much, and 
 meditated more. Nor can any sufficient reason be given 
 why the great mystery of pain and suffering should not 
 have pressed on thoughtful minds in an earlier, as well as 
 in a later age. Besides, one of the characteristics of an 
 early patriarchal age is meditation ; as the characteristic 
 of a later age is action. The very proverbs of Job have 
 a rugged archaic form, and seem to want the finish and 
 completeness of the age of Solomon. It is quite true that 
 words and whole phrases of the book of Job are found in 
 the book of Proverbs, and in several of the Psalms, and 
 in one place in Jeremiah ; but this proves nothing beyond 
 the fact that one author borrowed from, or imitated the 
 other ; and Jeremiah, consciously or unconsciously, often 
 repeats the words of earlier writers. Nor are the Psalms 
 free from this peculiarity. To me it seems certain, that 
 the description of Wisdom in the twenty-eighth chapter 
 of Job is the grand original thought, and that Solomon 
 devoted a whole book to the full elucidation of the parent 
 idea ; carrying into all the details of practical life, in a 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3tv 
 
 manner the most wonderfully instructive, the grand con- 
 clusion of Job's argument — '* The fear of the Lord, that 
 is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." 
 Nor is there any picture in the writings of Solomon so 
 perfecdy life-like as the picture of the miner in the same 
 chapter, "sinking a shaft far from human habitation," 
 ** hanging suspended without aid from the foot," digging 
 an adit to carry off the drippings from the rocks, turning 
 up every stone to discover ore, and "searching after every 
 precious thing." We know that the Egyptian mines were 
 worked at a very early period, and we have every indica- 
 tion that the writer was perfecdy familiar with Egyptian 
 life. We know also that Solomon's importations of gold 
 came from a different quarter, and his importations from 
 Egypt were horses, chariots, and linen yarn, to which we 
 find no allusion in the book of Job. It may be added, 
 that in the eighth chapter of the first book of Kings, and 
 in the seventy-second Psalm — if that be truly ascribed 
 to Solomon — the indications are all of a later date than 
 the patriarchal life of the book of Job, 
 
 3. But the argument which weighs with me against 
 Solomon or any Israelitish writer of later date being the 
 author, is this. Inspiration controls and modifies the 
 thoughts, but does not alter the character of the mind 
 which is inspired. Moses does not resemble Malachi; 
 nor is Isaiah like Hosea or Jeremiah. It is almost 
 impossible to imagine a man like Solomon, brought up 
 in all the associations of the Jewish law, celebrating its 
 rites with the utmost splendour, possessed of unbounded 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 wealth, nursed in an atmosphere of perpetual luxury, 
 and, in his old age, falling into the grossest sensuality, 
 and even idolatry, — conceiving the idea of a character 
 so utterly foreign to his own as that of Job. The book 
 of Proverbs is indeed full of that Divine practical sense 
 in daily life, congenial to the wisdom given to Solomon 
 in his early years. But of those terrible searchings of 
 heart, vehement vindication of personal integrity, and 
 occasional bursts of triumphant faith, there is no trace 
 in the writings of Solomon, and still less in the book of 
 Ecclesiastes — if that book be Solomon's — except in the 
 one great sentiment found in substance in the book of 
 Job, ** Fear God and keep his commandments, for this 
 is the whole duty of man." And though the Song of 
 Songs bears the impress of Solomon's mind, and admits 
 of a spiritual interpretation, it has not the remotest 
 resemblance to the mind of the writer of the book of 
 Job. The stern and awful mystery of sufifering, the 
 tremendous strain upon faith, the duty of implicit, ab- 
 solute submission to a higher and wiser Will, are not 
 taught in Solomon's writings as they are taught in the 
 book of Job. And when a later Psalmist (Ps. 73,) comes 
 to wrestie with such deep questions, his answer betokens 
 a somewhat clearer light, a fuller revelation than Job 
 possessed. His solution is to go " into the sanctuary of 
 God," and there learn. And the words " thou shalt guide 
 me with thy counsel, and hereafter receive me with glory," 
 imply an assurance of faith Job could not attain unto, at 
 all events, with such astonishing clearness. The convic- 
 
INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 tion on my mind is strong that neither Solomon, still less 
 any later Israelite, could have so divested himself of 
 Jewish associations as to write the book, and that the 
 whole air of the book betokens an earlier period of his- 
 tory, as well as a residence out of Palestine, 
 
 4. The question however returns. Was this ancient 
 work written by Moses? 
 
 As the book of Job is chiefly thrown into a poetical 
 form, we naturally turn to the poetical works of Moses^ 
 particularly to the fifteenth chapter of Exodus, the thirty-* 
 second of Deuteronomy, and to the ninetieth Psalm. 
 Several coincidences have been pointed out by commen- 
 tators between phrases which occur in Job and in the 
 books of Exodus and Deuteronomy, which I need not 
 dwell upon in detail. See Job iv. 9 ; Exodus xv. 9, 10 ; 
 Job XX. 26, 27 ; Deut. xxviii. 22, 23, 24; Job xii. 24, 25; 
 Deut. xxviii. 28, 29. But perhaps the closest resemblance 
 will be found in the ninetieth Psalm, the inscription of 
 which is, " A Psalm of Moses the man of God." This 
 inscription is found in the Septuagint translation, and the 
 Hebrew inscriptions of the Psalms are supported by far 
 stronger manuscript authority than the subscriptions at 
 the end of St. Paul's Epistles. Assuming that the Psalm 
 was written by Moses, Dr. Kay points out ten words in 
 the Psalm which occur in the same sense in the acknow- 
 ledged writings of Moses. But it is in this Psalm that we 
 find the following striking comparison with the book of 
 Job : " Tnou turnest man to destruction (the same word 
 found in Job), and sayest, return sons of man, or Adam, 
 
xvili INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Thou carricst them away as with a flood ; in the morning 
 they are like grass which changeth (a word often found 
 in Job) ; in the morning it blossometh and changeth, or 
 passeth away ; in the evening it is cut down and wither- 
 eth." Ps. xc. 5, 6. 
 
 " Man that is born of a woman is of few days 
 And full of disquiet. 
 
 As a flower he cometh up, and is cut down ; 
 He fleeth as it were a shadow, and abideth not. 
 
 As the waters wear away the stones, 
 The floods wash away the soil of the earth, ^ 
 
 Even so the hope of frail man Thou destroyest : 
 Thou changest his aspect, and sendest him away." 
 
 Job xiv. I, 2, 19, 20. In addition to this correspondence 
 of ideas and phraseology, I note that the prayer in verses 
 15 and 16 of this ninetieth Psalm, " Make us glad accord- 
 ing to the days thou hast afflicted us, and the years we 
 have seen evil. Let thy working appear unto thy ser- 
 vants," are altogether conformable to the wishes of one 
 who had seen, or heard, or had written of Job restored 
 to joy and prosperity in proportion to the humiliation 
 and misery he had experienced ; and now, having seen 
 Israel wasted away in the wilderness, and all the men of 
 war perishing before his eyes, asked that the like favour 
 may be bestowed on the chosen people which had been 
 granted to an Arabian Sheik. - 
 
 Whether this evidence is strong enough to lead us to 
 conclude that Moses was the probable author or transla- 
 tor of the book of Job, I leave to the decision of the 
 
» 
 
 INTRODUCnON. xix 
 
 I 
 
 learned ; but I certainly agree with Dr. Mill, that it is 
 probably one of the most ancient compositions of which 
 we have any knowledge. 
 
 IV. I, 
 
 I pass on to consider what is of more importance to us 
 all, the true moral of this holy book. 
 
 I. It is a passage in the life of one of the few saints 
 to whose integrity God has vouchsafed to set His seal ; 
 one of the great triad, Noah, Daniel, and Job. It is 
 an astonishing instance of the presumptuous flippancy 
 which characterizes many modern thinkers, and alas ! 
 some modern teachers and preachers, that, in spite of 
 the plain reference to the patience of Job, and to our 
 learning from the dealings of the Almighty with him, 
 made by St. James (chap. v. ii), men should deny the 
 reality of the history. No reader of this book can 
 read it profitably who does not understand that Job is a 
 representative and a typical man. Born in an age 
 when no written Revelation was known ; a Gentile, not 
 a Jew, he is selected, and we may say honoured by 
 God, to endure in his own person calamities hitherto 
 unknown, inflicted by an unseen enemy ; and to bear at 
 the same time loss of property, loss of children, ago- 
 nizing and protracted' pain, and, bitterest of all, the 
 accusations of mistaken and unfeeling friends. The 
 unexampled trial serves to work out the great problem, 
 whether God afflicts those whom He loves, or only those 
 whom He hates; whether sorrow and suffering have a 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 remedial as well as a punitive character; and whether 
 the integrity of a saint can withstand the most terrible 
 assaults of evil, and yet retain its confidence and faith in 
 God ; whether, in short, religion be, in the very best of 
 men, only a species of refined selfishness, a hope that 
 cannot trust God beyond and above what man sees and 
 enjoys in this life. This is the moral of the whole 
 action. And to make the trial thoroughly real, and in 
 no way fictitious, Job is related as entirely ignorant of 
 the esteem in which he is held by his Creator, of the 
 source of his many calamities, and of the intention of God 
 to restore him, even in this life, to peace, health, and 
 prosperity. But Job is not only a representative man, 
 bearing a larger portion of the ills to which flesh is heir 
 than the great majority of his fellow-men, and so an ex- 
 ample for all time, but he is also the first of a series of 
 typical men; of those who represented, in figure, the 
 sorrows of Him who " himself" (and alone) " bare our 
 sins in His own body on the tree." What surprising dig- 
 nity, what exquisite pathos do we see in the impassioned 
 cries of the sufferer, when there rises before us in this 
 mirror of the ancient time, a faithful portraiture of a 
 higher and Divine sufferer? Similar expressions are 
 indeed scattered through the Psalms, but Job surpasses 
 them all in the intensity of his accumulated woes, in his 
 despair of restoration in this life, and in his truthful but 
 unconscious resemblance to his unseen but gracious 
 Master and Lord, in the following passage : 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 And now I .ini become their song ; 
 And am their byword. 
 
 They loatlie me ; tliey stand far from me ; 
 Tliey refrain not from spitting in my presence. 
 
 Upon my right hand the young brood riseth up ; 
 
 They trip up my feet, 
 And cast up against me their high-ways of ruin. 
 
 They break up my path, they lielp on my fall ; 
 Themselves the helpless. 
 
 They pursue mine honour as the wind ; 
 And my dignity is passed as a cloud. 
 
 And now my soul is poured out upon me ; 
 Days of affliction have taken hold upon me. 
 
 By night my bones are pierced through within me, 
 And my gnawing pain resteth not. 
 
 By its great violence my raiment is disfigured ; 
 It girdeth me as the collar of my tunic. 
 
 It casteth me down upon the mire. 
 And I am become like dust and ashes. 
 
 I cry unto thee, but thou answerest not y 
 I stand (for prayer), but thou only gazest at me. 
 
 For I know that thou wilt bring me down to death, 
 To the house appointed for all living. 
 
 Chap. XXX. See Psalms xxii. ; xxxi. lo to i6; xxxv. ii 
 to i6; xxxviii. 2 to 13; Ixix. 8 to 13; Ixxxviii. 
 
 2. If it be asked, Why should God heap such cala- 
 mities upon his righteous servant ? The question goes 
 deeper, and leads on to blasphemy. Why, it may be 
 asked, should God "cause to meet" on the Holy One 
 and the Just, the only spotiess soul on earth, " the iniqui- 
 
xxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tics of us all" ? It is only as we obtain a deep sense of 
 the evil of sin, and survey Job's sufferings in the lij^^ht 
 of the fifty -third chapter of Isaiah, th.it we have an answer 
 to such flippant, ij^norant questioninj^^s. 
 
 3. Hut somcthinj*^ more is to be said on the purpose of 
 Job's trial. Holy as Job was, he had yet to learn that 
 *' the trial of faith, beinp more precious than gold that 
 perisheth, though it be tried with fire, will be found unto 
 praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus 
 Christ." Holy as he was, his humility was to be deepened 
 by trial. And he was to learn more fully the necessity of 
 self-abasement, before he could be justified in the sight 
 of God; and this, not by his own righteousness, but 
 through the pardoning mercy of the Most High, by a 
 way in after ages to be revealed. 
 
 In order to take a right view of Job, we must not 
 lose sight of his compound character. The Scripture 
 speaks, of him as a model of patience. But his own lips 
 proclaim h'is impatience ; and yet, patient he is ; not 
 in being able to subdue every murmur that rises to 
 his lips ; not in being able to answer every complaint 
 he makes of the disorder and injustice of the world, 
 which is a fact he cannot deny, but in patiently resolving, 
 and abiding in his resolution, never to deny God, come 
 what will. Never were the struggles from one state of 
 mind to another so vividly and marvellously described ; 
 the transition from acknowledgment of sin to the sense 
 of disorder in the world, and the necessity of holding fast 
 the truth of his integrity, if he would not renounce his 
 
^ INTRODUCTION. xxHI 
 
 rcliji^f^n, as in the book of Job. It will remain to the end 
 of time the j^'^randest account of the fearful struj^^'^les of 
 the human soul in its attempt to penetrate the dark mys- 
 tery of evil and of suffering. 
 
 4. And the mercy and loving^ kindness of God, even in 
 permitting- so sore a trial, are shown in the wonderful 
 comfort which Job must have felt in the issue of the trial. 
 Though deeply humbled, he was fully vindicated. All 
 his passionate expressions, all his doubts were graciously 
 passed over, and the general verdict of God was for Job, 
 and against his friends. The friends were probably pros- 
 perous men, who had never known trial. Their accusa- 
 tions were hasty, unsustained by proof, and uttered with 
 unfeeling harshness, llieir general princi{)le, that every 
 act of goodness is temporally rewarded by God, and 
 every act of wickedness is punished in this world, is dis- 
 proved by fact : the agony of the sufferer moves them to 
 no pity, and they point with increasing vehemence to his 
 concealment of supposed crimes. Therefore their whole 
 argument is disallowed, as far as it relates to the course 
 of Divine Providence in this world, and to the integrity 
 of Job. Job's earnest prayer is answered. He has ob- 
 tained a hearing from God, and if that hearing involve 
 his own deeper self-humiliation, this turns to his own 
 spiritual good, and to the good of thousands of other 
 sufferers like himself; as for example, to a sufferer like 
 St. Paul, who, from the time of his first preaching the 
 Gospel, scarce enjoyed a moment's ease, and was in 
 perils from false accusers, as well as Job. Thus this great 
 
xxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Patriarch still " dwells as a king among a host^' of woe- 
 stricken sufferers, " as one that comforteth mourners," 
 while sorrow and sickness last ; and ** with kings on a 
 throne, God setteth him on high forever, and he is ex- 
 alted." Job xxix. 25 ; xxxvi. 7. 
 
 And Job is further honoured by being a Divinely 
 appointed intercessor for his friends, therein affording 
 another type of Him "who made intercession for the 
 transgressors." The burnt offerings are presented, the 
 intercession is made, and the erring friends are pardoned. 
 It is marvellous to see how the words of Eliphaz, so 
 Pharisaic in their tone, are retorted against himself: " The 
 not-innocent {;l. e, guilty) he will deliver, yea he shall be 
 delivered by the pureness of Thine hands." Chap. xxii. 30. 
 
 5. I have said nothing on that part of the book which 
 seems to many readers the most important, and about 
 which many trifling questions have been raised, — the 
 restoration of Job to greater prosperity than he had 
 before his trial. St. James passes this by without obser- 
 vation, and indeed the great moral of the book is not 
 affected by it. It pleased God, after the full vindication 
 of His servant's integrity, accompanied with the deepest 
 self-abasement, and the admission that God's providential 
 dealings are mysteries which man cannot understand, and 
 ought not to question, to give to Job, over and above the 
 priceless blessing of his love, a large meauure of return- 
 ing prosperity. But this is not necessary to the religious 
 purpose of the book ; and in this respect, Job was an 
 exception to the ordinary lot of the saints of God. " They 
 seek a better country, that is a heavenly." 
 
:v 
 
 1 # 
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxv 
 
 ■i*r -44 V. 
 
 Perhaps one of the most remarkable parts of the book 
 of Job is the extraordinarily high standard of morals 
 which the Patriarch sets before us. The law of the ten 
 commandments was given to the Israelites for the benefit 
 of all mankind ; yet how large a portion of it was anti- 
 cipated by a Gentile. Job acknowledges the necessity of 
 the observance of each of the first three commandments, 
 and of the fourth in spirit, if not in the letter ; and he 
 scrupulously adheres to the last six. Nay, he goes 
 beyond this into the spirit of purity, liberality, equity, 
 hospitality, forgiveness of injuries, brotherly-kindness, 
 and all the offices of love which our Lord enjoins in the 
 Sermon on the Mount, and which the Apostles teach in 
 their Episdes. He only required to know more clearly 
 that " Blessed are the poor in spirit : Blessed are they 
 that mourn : Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, 
 and say all manner of evil against you falsely." And in 
 the school of afflicdon this truth was brought home to his 
 heart. He learned obedience and humility " by the things 
 which he suffered." Above all, he learned, that absolute 
 submission to God's will is the true secret of happiness 
 and peace. This alone was worth all his trials. 
 
 VI. 
 
 A few words may be added on the appearance and 
 
 character of Elihu in the poem. 
 
 I. Some divines have conjectured that, because Zophar 
 
 is not introduced a second time into the argument of the 
 n 
 
xxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 three friends, after Bildad had spoken, therefore all that 
 is ascribed to Elihu belongs really to Zophar. This, to 
 my mind, is a most strange conclusion. First, are we 
 ^•% prepared to deny the genuineness and authenticity of one 
 seventh part of the book? For the writer expressly 
 affirms, in the same simple prose which characterizes 
 the beginning and the end of the narrative, that Elihu 
 was present during the discussion, and waited more than 
 once for a reply to Job. That reply never came, for the 
 friends had nothing left but to repeat their own argu- 
 ments. Bildad's last speech is a succession of truisms, 
 which Job did not deny ; and Zophar had exhausted hinv 
 self in the vehemence of his passion. Job's vindication of 
 himself is complete, as regards man ; but incomplete as 
 to submission to God. A link still remains to be supplied, 
 A dispassionate observer is introduced, essentially differ- 
 ing from all the three friends, who admits the integrity of 
 Job, charges him with no hypocrisy or concealed crime, 
 but reproves him for a leaning to self-righteousness, and 
 for want of absolute submission to God. He calls on 
 Job for an answer, but Job remains silent. Elihu presses 
 the charge with some undue severity. Still, he has made 
 an impression on Job's mind, and has partially prepared 
 the way for his retraction of all impatient and presump- 
 tuous speeches, when the Almighty manifests his presence, 
 and Job humbles himself before his Maker. 
 
 This appears to me one of the most admirable, natural, 
 and skilfully arranged parts of the whole poem. For 
 suppose Elihu's words all struck out — and they are ea- 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxvii 
 
 tirely out of keeping with those of Zophar — nothing can 
 be more abrupt or unfinished than the commencement 
 of the thirty-eighth chapter, immediately after the close 
 of the thirty-first : whereas, if we allow the interposition 
 of a new speaker, of another class, and of a different 
 tone of mind from the others, the whole poem is consist- 
 ent. Job's feelings are respected, and he, on his part, no 
 longer driven to desperation by the false accusations of 
 his friends, begins calmly to consider whether the young 
 man may not have some truth on his side. In this 
 softened spirit, he is prepared to profit by the solemn 
 questions of his Maker, who reproves him for some pre- 
 sumption, and receives from His humbled and repentant 
 servant entire submission to His wise and holy will. 
 
 The whole poem is thus complete. Satan is utterly 
 discomfited, for Job cannot be induced to deny his Maker. 
 Job's integrity is vindicated by the verdict of God in his 
 favour; the friends are pardoned at Job's intercession; 
 the Patriarch is restored ; and, above all, the great lesson 
 of submission to God's merciful Providence, and of man's 
 incapacity to understand the reason of His dealings with 
 His creatures, are more clearly seen by Job, and he is 
 delivered from that self-righteousness into which he was 
 tempted to fall. 
 
 2. It is also no little proof of the accuracy of thought 
 and depth of the sacred writer, that he represents Elihu as 
 able to take a juster view of Job's position than his elders, 
 yet in rebuking Job for his presumption, falling into the 
 error of extreme severity, to which Job listens in silence. 
 
 # 
 
xxviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 "He addeth impiety unto his sin ; 
 •- He clappeth his hands against us, 
 
 And multiplieth his words against God." 
 
 These are the v^ords, scarcely deserved even by Job's 
 most impatient expressions, to which, however, he makes 
 no reply. 
 
 3. But in no part of the book is there a more wonderful 
 revelation of truth than in Elihu's conscious or uncon- 
 scious prophecy of the " interceding Angel," which it 
 seems impossible to read without applying it to the great 
 "Angel of the Covenant," Jehovah-Jesus, who, by the 
 mouth of a later prophet, declares, " I will ransom them 
 from the power (or grasp) of Hades ; I will redeem them 
 from death ; O death, I will be thy plagues ; O grave, I 
 will be thy destruction." Hos. xiii. 14. Or, " Where, O 
 death, are thy plagues ? Where, O grave, is thy destruc- 
 tion ? " as St. Paul, I Cor. xv. 55, seems to understand 
 the passage. As Dr. Pusey observes in his Commentary 
 on Hosea, " The word rendered * ransom,' signifies rescue^ 
 them by the payment of a price; the word rendered 
 ' redeem,' (the same word I note used by Job in his great 
 prophecy, chap. xix. 25,) relates to one who, as the near- 
 est of kin, had the right to acquire anything as his own 
 by paying that price," and likewise, to vindicate his kins- 
 man's rights. 
 
 VII. ' ' 
 
 On one more point I desire to make some observa- 
 tions, and to speak with all reverence and fear, because 
 the right interpretation of the chapter seems essential to 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxix 
 
 our understanding the true purport of the whole book. 
 I allude to the assembling of the " sons of God " before 
 the presence of Jehovah, the appearance of the adver- 
 sary or accuser among them, and what follows. 
 
 I. It must be admitted that this is one of the most mys- 
 terious places of Holy Scripture, and requires caution and 
 deep humility in our handling it, but not more mysterious 
 than the account of the Fall of man. One seems especially 
 here to see the value of St. Peter's rule, that " no pro- 
 phecy of Scripture (z. e,, of the Old Testament, of which 
 he was speaking,) is of private interpretation ;" or as 
 the words may be rendered, " of its own, or one's own 
 solution." Not only are we forbidden to make our own 
 opinion the measure of the Inspired Word, but we are 
 directed to allow Scripture to be its own interpreter, and 
 especially to let the light of the New Testament be thrown 
 upon the Old. Thus, in reference to the first question, 
 who are the ** sons of God " mentioned here ; not only 
 have we the same expression, apparently used in this 
 book of Job for the angels (chap, xxxviii. 7), but we have 
 apparently a similar expression in Psalms xxix. i, and 
 Ixxxix. 6 ; and St. Peter expressly speaks of " the angels 
 which sinned ; " and St. Jude of " the angels which kept 
 not their first estate," or original place of rule. And fur- 
 ther, that the Archangel Michael contended with a fallen 
 angel about the body of a Saint, as in this book the 
 adversary disputes the sincerity of a Saint. 
 
 Guided by these passages, we explain the term " sons 
 of God" in this book to mean the angels who had not 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 fallen, while " the adversary," not yet known by his pro- 
 per name, the devil, i. e. the accuser of the brethren, h 
 no longer worthy of the title of a Son of God. 
 
 2. There can be no question here, I should suppose, 
 of his personality. He appears among the Sons of God, 
 is questioned, admits his occupation, wandering up and 
 down, (St. Peter calls it "goeth about, ) apparently to 
 observe all the evil that is in the world, and especially to 
 note the failings of good men. Questioned as to his 
 observation of Job, he answers with a sneer, exactly par- 
 allel to his first attack on the faith of the woman. Gen. iii. 
 " Is it true, or is it really so that God said. Ye shall not 
 eat of the trees of the garden ?" Thus he craftily under- 
 mines the faith of the woman ; and in the same manner, 
 sjueeringly insinuates his utter want of confidence in the 
 integrity of Job. Job only serves God for what he can 
 get from Him. Thus we not only see in this chapter a 
 remarkable similarity between the book of Genesis and 
 the book of Job, but we may, I think, perceive the first 
 link in that explanation of the existence and designs of 
 the evil spirit, which is plainly revealed in the New Tes- 
 tament, and most plainly in the book of Revelation. 
 This passage of the book of Job is the earliest hint of the 
 true meaning of the account of the Fall, given by Moses. 
 Without some key to the mystery, the existence of a 
 fallen angel could not even have been conjectured, much 
 less known, and the interpretation of St. John, " that old 
 serpent, the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole 
 world," Rev. xii. 9, and xx. 2, could never have been 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxi 
 
 imagined unless some link had been supplied to assist in 
 the explanation of the term serpent in the book of Genesis. 
 The account in Job, the accusation, the trial, and its 
 results, are most significant in this connection ; most use- 
 ful in setting man on his guard, in warning him of his 
 great danger from an unseen foe, ever watchful to wound 
 and to destroy ; most encouraging to those who might 
 be driven to despair of recovery by the account of the 
 Fall ; and most admirably adapted, in the absence of 
 direct written revelation, to supply help and consolation 
 in trial, by words which throw a wondrous light on the 
 obscure promise of victory over the serpent by the wo- 
 man's seed. Abel, Enoch, Noah and Job (who is linked 
 with Noah in the Divine estimation), are the first-fruits 
 of this victory ; the great conquest was yet to come. 
 
 If I am correct in my judgment of this mysterious 
 passage, no believer in the inspiration of Scripture need 
 stumble at it because it is mysterious, and only explains 
 a small part of what we should wish to know. It is, as 
 we are told elsewhere, the manner of Revelation, that it 
 should be imparted by small parcels of communication, 
 in such a way as both to try and to encourage faith. 
 After the book of Job had become known, a new light 
 had Been thrown on the great trial of mankind, tempta- 
 tion by Satan ; not that Job himself understood this, be- 
 cause the severity of his trials consisted in his not knowing 
 from what quarter the blow came, and who was the real 
 author. Hence, he sometimes ascribes to God what might 
 very properly have been said of the author of the mischief. 
 
XXXll 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In this book the personality of the Devil is first mani- 
 fested, his occupation as the accuser, and his desire to be 
 the tempter and destroyer of mankind, and that he is the 
 permitted inflictor of bodily suffering, according to the 
 words of our Lord, " whom Satan hath bound, lo ! these 
 eighteen years," and of St. Paul, " to deliver such an one 
 unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh," and " the 
 messenger of Satan, to buffet me." Those who disbelieve 
 in the plain teaching of the New Testament on this sub- 
 ject, must disbelieve the veracity of the Gospel narratives, 
 and the words of our Lord, " Simon, Simon, Satan hath 
 desired to have thee that he may sikyoti as wheat," where 
 the change from the singular to the plural only renders 
 the passage more emphatic, by applying to all the Apos- 
 tles what was first said to St. Peter alone. 
 
 3. Many questions have been raised on the appearance 
 of Satan among the angels of God. The fact is recog- 
 nized as early as the Septuagint translation, and it seems 
 more reverent to take the literal interpretation, as borne 
 out by similar words of our Lord and his apostles. Whe- 
 ther Satan, at the time of Job, were as degraded a being 
 as he afterwards became, seems to admit of doubt. But 
 we must remember the words of our Lord, " He was a liar 
 and a murderer from the beginning," where the reference 
 seems to be to the fall of man, at which time he displayed 
 the entire depravation of his moral nature. His persist- 
 ence in evil may possibly have called for a severer pun- 
 ishment, and entire severance from the angels of God. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxiii 
 
 But on such dark mysteries it is better to recall the words 
 of the Divine speaker himself, " Who is he that darkeneth 
 counsel by words without knowledji^e ? " * 
 
 VIII. 
 
 In closing these introductory remarks, it may be proper 
 to observe, that the name Jehovah, the covenant God ol 
 Israel, is confined (with the exception of one passage) to 
 the opening and closing chapters. The names El, Eloah 
 and Shaddai, which I have throughout rendered God, and 
 Almighty, are the terms used in the poetical part of the 
 book. Whether this may indicate that the central poem 
 is a translation from an older document, and the prose 
 portions were added by the Sacred writer, may be con- 
 sidered. The fact, however, harmonizes with what is 
 stated in the sixth chapter of Exodus, " I appeared unto 
 Abraham, and unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as El Shaddai," 
 (the Almighty Governor of the world,) " my name, Jeho- 
 vah, I did not manifest unto them," /. e., in all the fulness 
 of that redeeming power which I am about to shew to my 
 chosen people, to whom I am a covenant-keeping, as well 
 as an Eternal, Almighty God. The name Jehovah is 
 constantly used by Moses in the earlier part of the Pen- 
 tateuch, but the fulness of the saving power was not made 
 known till God brought them out of Egypt " with a 
 mighty hand and an outstretched arm." It is certainly 
 remarkable, that during the severity of Job's trial, the 
 name Jehovah is withheld, and before, and at the end of 
 the trial, it is the word constantly made use of. 
 
XXXIV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The reader will now find a brief outline of the argu- 
 ments used by Job and his friends prefixed to each 
 chapter, and short notes, in which I have endeavoured 
 to explain obscure passages. In places where commen- 
 tators greatly disagree, I have occasionally given alterna- 
 tive renderings. My object has been to be as literal as 
 possible, consistently with idiomatic English ; and I have 
 not departed from our Authorized Version except where 
 it seemed necessary, in order to be faithful to the text. 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS IN THE NOTES. 
 
 B. W., Bishop Wordsworth. 
 
 C. B., Canon Barry. 
 R., Rodwell. 
 
 C. C, Canon Cooke, 
 Rosen., Rosenmiiller. 
 L., Professor Lee. 
 
 ^*. 
 
 / f- 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 fift; 
 
 The history of Job, previous to his trial, is related with a 
 simplicity, brevity, «incl dignity, which remind us of the opening 
 diapter of Genesis, the beginning of Exodus, and the first 
 chapters of the Gospels. Job is represented as a great prince, 
 with vast possessions, residing in the land of Uz. By this resi- 
 dence he is connected with the south of Palestine, Edom, and 
 part of Arabia. His family were probably descended from 
 Nahor's son (Abraham's brother), Uz. The brief sketch of his 
 family is purely patriarchal, as in Abraham's time ; the brothers 
 and sisters of the family lived on terms of frank and open 
 familiarity, " each son having his own residence, but the daugh- 
 ters residing with their father." On occasion of their birth-day, 
 a great feast was held, and lest it should lead to excessive 
 indulgence and forgetfulness of God, Job accompanied every 
 such festivity with a solemn religious service, and with the 
 burnt offerings which we read of in the history of the Patriarchs, 
 sacrifices of atonement, lest they might have been betrayed 
 into sin. Consistent piety and watchfulness mark the even 
 course of Job's life. 
 
 We are now suddenly introduced to a new scene. Among 
 the heavenly host there appears the Accuser of mankind, bent 
 on the discovery of evil. The Almighty, who tolerates his 
 presence, points out to him a bright example of goodness and 
 integrity in Job. The Accuser sneeringly suggests, that all Job's 
 piety arose from his possessions. Deprived of these, he would 
 renounce his faith, and become a blasphemer. The trial is 
 permitted ; and on one and the selfsame day, Job loses all his 
 property and all his children. Not a murmur escapes his lips. 
 He adores the hand which smites, and utters a doxology which 
 
,-^6 nooK OF jon. 
 
 has quickened the faith and soothed the sorrows of many gen- 
 erations, and will last to the end of time. The Accuser is dis- 
 comfited. Aj^ain the scene is repeated, and the accusing and 
 malevolent spirit su^^i^sts that Job's patience is founded on his 
 selfishness. I le will give up all to save himself. Touch his 
 own person, and he will blaspheme. The second trial is per- 
 mitted, and Job is smitten with a sore disease, supposed to 
 be elephantiasis, and deemed incurable. His miseries were 
 aggravated by the advice of his wife, to which he refused to 
 listen. Some time seems to have elapsed between the begin- 
 ning of his malady and the coming of his friends to condole 
 with him, for Job says, " Oh that I were as in months past, in 
 the days when God preserved me;" chap. xxix. 2. And, "I am 
 made to possess months of misery ;" chap. vii. 3. His three 
 friends had no word of comfort to offer, and in their long silence 
 were evidently revolving in their minds what enormous crime 
 Job could have been guilty of, to bring upon him such unusual 
 misery. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I. There was a man in the land of Uz, his name was 
 Job : and that man was perfect and upright, and he feared 
 God, and eschewed evil. 2. And there were born unto 
 him seven sons and three daughters. 3. And his posses- 
 sions were seven thousand sheep, and three thousand 
 camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred 
 she asses, and his household was exceeding great, and 
 that man was the greatest of all the children of the East. 
 4. And his sons were used to make a feast each in his 
 house on his birth-day (or on an appointed day), and they 
 sent and invited their three sisters to eat and to drink 
 with them. 5. Now it came to pass, when the days of 
 their feasting came round, that Job sent and sanctified 
 them, and rose early in the morning, and offered burnt 
 
. *•/ 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 37 
 
 olfcrings, according to the number of them all, for Job 
 said, Peradventure my children have sinned, and re- 
 nounced God in their hearts. Thus did Job all the days 
 [of their festivity]. 
 
 6. Now it was the day when the angels came to present 
 themselves before Jehovah, and the Adversary [Satan] 
 also came among them. 7. And Jehovah said unto the 
 Adversary, Whence comest thou ? And the Adversary 
 answered Jehovah and said, From wandering in the 
 earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8. And 
 Jehovah said unto the Adversary, Hast thou considered 
 my servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a 
 man perfect and upright, fearing God and eschewing evil ? 
 9. And the Adversary answered Jehovah and said, Doth 
 Job serve God for nought ? 10. Hast thou not set a fence 
 round him, and round his house, and round all that is his, 
 round about? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, 
 and his possessions are spread over the land. 11. But 
 perchance put forth thy hand, and touch all that is his, 
 and see if he do not renounce thee to thy face. 12. And 
 Jehovah said unto the Adversary, Behold all that is his is 
 in thy power : only against himself put not forth thine 
 hand, and the Adversary went out from the presence of 
 Jehovah. 
 
 13. And it came to pass on the day that his sons and 
 his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house 
 of their eldest brother : 14. There came a messenger 
 unto Job and said, The oxen were ploughing and the 
 asses feeding beside them: 15. And the Sabeans fell 
 
38 
 
 BOOK OP^ JOB. 
 
 upon them, and took them away, and smote the young 
 men with the edge of the sword : and I am escaped, only 
 I, by myself, to tell thee. i6. While this man was speak- 
 ing, there came also another, and said, A great fire hath 
 fallen from heaven, and hath burnt up the sheep, and the 
 young men, and hath consumed them : And I am escaped, 
 only I, by myself, to tell thee. 17. While this man was 
 yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The 
 Chaldeans made three bands, and rushed upon the camels 
 an4 took them away, and smote the young men with the 
 edge of the sword, and I am escaped, only I, by myself, 
 to tell thee. 18. While this man was yet speaking, there 
 came also another, and said. Thy sons and thy daughters 
 were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest 
 brother, 19. And lo ! there came a great wind from be- 
 yond the desert, and smote the four corners of the house, 
 and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and 
 I am escaped, I only, by myself, to tell thee. 20. Then 
 Job arose, and rent his upper robe, and shaved his head, 
 
 t 
 
 and fell to the ground, and worsh'rjp'd, and said : 
 21. Naked came I out of my mother's womb, 
 And naked shall I return thither : 
 Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken : 
 ' The name of Jehovah be blessed. 
 
 22. In all this Job sinned not, nor uttered foolishness 
 against God. 
 
 Verse i. — Job, a name signifying either persecuted (Gesen.) 
 or penitent. But the name originally given to him cannot refer 
 to his subsequent trial, or penitence. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 39 
 
 V. 5. — " Offered burnt offerings." This is an indication of the 
 early date of the book, as it refers to a patriarchal usage, before 
 the Levitical law was known. 
 
 V. 7. — " From wandering on the earth." Thus our Lord re- 
 presents the unclean spirit as "seeking rest, but finding none." 
 S. Matth. xii. 43, S. Peter, to whom our Lord had said, " Satan 
 hath desired to have thee that he may sift you as wheat," tell 
 us the reason of this restlessness ; " seeking whom he may de- 
 vour." The Adversary conceals his object. 
 
 V. 10. — " My servant." Job is honoured by this title after his 
 trial, as well as before it. 
 
 V. 17. — Chaldeans. Not those who in after ages bare the 
 name, but a more ancient race, freebooters, like the Curds. C. C. 
 
 V. 21. — "Blessed." The word is here used in its primary 
 sense, contrary to the insinuation of the accuser, that he would 
 renounce God. 
 
 «■ 
 
40 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 I. And it came to pass on the day that the angels came 
 to present themselves before Jehovah, that the Adversary- 
 came also among them to present himself before Jehovah. . 
 2. And Jehovah said unto the Adversary, Whence com- 
 est thou? And the Adversary answered Jehovah and 
 said, From wandering on the earth, and from walking up 
 and down on it. 3. And Jehovah said unto the Adver- 
 sary, Hast thou considered my servant Job, for there is 
 none like him in all the earth, a perfect and an upright 
 man, fearing God and eschewing evil, and still he holdeth 
 fast his integrity, though thou dost instigate me against 
 him to destroy him [swallow him up] without cause. 4. 
 And the Adversary answered Jehovah, and said. Skin for 
 skin : yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. 
 
 5. But put forth now thine hand and touch his bone and 
 his flesh, and see if he will not renounce thee to thy face. 
 
 6. And Jehovah said unto the Adversary, Behold he is 
 in thy power : only preserve his life. 7. And the Adver- 
 sary went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote 
 Job with a sore boil [elephantiasis] from the sole of his 
 foot to the crown of his head. 8. And he took him a 
 potsherd to scrape himself therewith, and he sat down 
 amidst the ashes. 9. And his wife said unto him, Dost 
 thou still hold fast to thine integrity ? renounce God, and 
 die. 10. And he said unto her, As one of the foolish 
 women speaketh ; yea, shall we receive good from God, 
 and shall we not receive evil ? In all this Job sinned not 
 
 with his lips. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 41 
 
 II. Now, three friends of Job heard of all this evil 
 which had come upon him, and they came each one from 
 his place, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, 
 and Zophar the Naamathite, for they had agreed together 
 to come to condole with him, and to comfort him. 12. 
 And when they lifted up their eyes from afar, and knew 
 him not, they lifted up their voices and wept, and they 
 rent each man his robe, and cast dust upon their heads 
 towards heaven. 13. And 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 anguish was 
 very great. 
 
 Verse 4. — " Skin for skin." One skin for another : His 
 selfishness will let him give up his chile n and possessions, 
 provided his own lire be preserved. (Rosen.) See this illustra- 
 ted by Job's argument in chap. xxi. 19, 20, 21, where the A. V. 
 seems entirely to miss the sense. 
 
 V. 7. — " Sore boil," or elephantiasis. Thus Job was regarded 
 even by his family and friends, as one smitten by God. Isaiah 
 Iviii. 4, 8, (B. W.) which may account for his friends' hard treat- 
 ment of him. Such persons, in the East, are left to die. 
 
 V. 9. — Satan spares Job's wife, for she unconsciously assists 
 his object, and is herself a tempter. C. C. The Septuagint 
 puts into her mouth a long paraphrase of the Hebrew. 
 
 V. II. — "Job's three friends." Some time, perhaps two or 
 three months, may have passed before they arrived. The Sep- 
 tuagint speaks of them as kings. From their addresses, we 
 may conclude them to have been wealthy men. 
 c 
 
42 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Verse i. — "At length." Probably after months of snflTering, 
 during which he received no comfort from his wife ; no sympa- 
 thy from his kinsmen ; no respect from his servants ; while 
 "lewd fellows of the baser sort" offered him the grossest in- 
 sults ; and even his chosen friends had only come to add to his 
 sorrow, "Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day." He 
 cursed, not God, but the day of his birth. Perhaps no more 
 is meant than that, in the hyperbolical language of Oriental 
 poetry, he proclaimed its utter wretchedness. He thought upon 
 the festivities of his children, who had vied with one another in 
 the enjoyment of their good fortune. While they were in the 
 full tide of happiness, Job had humbly prayed that tliey might 
 be kept from sinning against the Lord. But now — " woe worth 
 the day." It is well for us to bear all these lacts in mind, before 
 we hastily condemn the sufferer for his impatient expressions, 
 seeing we have probably manifested as much impatience under 
 very small trials, even though we have tlie teaching of the Gos- 
 pel to instruct us. 
 
 I. At length Job opened his mouth and cursed his 
 birth-day. 2. And Job answered and said : 
 
 3. Perish the day in which I was born, 
 
 And the night which said, a man-child is conceived. 
 
 4. Let that day be darkness^ let not the high God care 
 
 for it, 
 Neither let the dawn of day lighten upon it. 
 
 5. Let darkness and the shadow of death lay claim to it. 
 Let a cloud dwell upon it ; let the blackness of the 
 
 day terrify it. 
 
 6. As for that night let thick darkness seize it. 
 Let it not rejoice among the days of the year ; 
 Let it not come among the number of the months. 
 
 7. Lo ! let that night be solitary [or unfruitfull 
 Let no cry of joy come therein. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 43 
 
 8. Let them execrate it who curse the day ; 
 
 Who are ready to arouse the crocodile [leviathan]. 
 
 9. Let the stars of its twilight be dark 
 
 Let it wait for twilight, and there be none ; 
 And let it not see the eyelids of the morn. 
 
 10. Because it closed not the doors of the womb [/. e., 
 
 which bare me], 
 And hid not sorrow from mine eyes. 
 
 1 1 . Why died I not from the womb ? 
 
 Came forth from the belly and expired at once ? 
 
 12. Why did the knees support me? 
 
 And why the breasts, that I should suck ? 
 
 13. For now had I lain still and been quiet, 
 I had slept, and then had found rest. 
 
 14. With kings and counsellors of the earth. 
 
 Who build (or rebuild) waste places for themselves. 
 
 15. Or with princes who have gold (laid up) 
 Who fill their houses with silver. 
 
 16. Or, as a hidden abortic.i, I had not come to life, 
 As infants that see not the light. 
 
 17. There the wicked cease from troubling, 
 And the worn-out are at rest. 
 
 18. The prisoners repose together : 
 
 They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. 
 
 19. The small and the great are there, 
 And the slave is free from his lord. 
 
 20. Why doth he give light to him that is burdened, 
 And life to the bitter of spirit ? 
 
 21. Who wait for death, but they have it not. 
 And dig for it, more than for hid treasures ? 
 
 22. Who rejoice even to exultation. 
 
 And are glad when they find the grave ? 
 
44 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 23. To the man whose way is hidden, 
 And whom God hath hedged in ? 
 
 24. For before my food my sighing cometh, 
 And my groaning is poured out Hke waters. 
 
 25. For I feared a fear, and it befalleth me. 
 And whatsoever I dread is come upon me. 
 
 26. I have no peace, no quiet, no respite, 
 But trouble ever cometh. 
 
 Verse i. — "Cursed." Not the same word as "curse God." 
 It is a lament of extreme wretchedness. Job's children had 
 often extolled the happiness of their birth-days. Job thinks it 
 "good if he had never been born," which was true in the case 
 of Judas Iscariot. "Job's infirmities show that this is a real 
 history." B. W. 
 
 V. 7. — " Solitary," or barren. Let the day be black with 
 storms ; let the night bring forth no more. 
 
 V. 8. — Day-cursers, sorcerers, hired (like Balaam) for this 
 purpose. B. W. " Ready to arouse leviathan ;" either men en- 
 gaged in a desperate enterprise, or it may refer to Egyptians 
 hunting the crocodile, as an emblem of an evil power. In the 
 only two places where Leviathan is mentioned, it seems to 
 mean the crocodile. 
 
 V. 14. — " Desolate places." Sepulchres, or possibly the pyra- 
 mids may be referred to. C. C. See, however, a reference to 
 the same custom, chap. xxi. 32. 
 
 •■** 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 45 
 
 CHAPTERS IV.-V. 
 
 The first address of Eliphaz to Job ; smooth, plausible, and 
 not without a mixture of truth, but with an insinuation through- 
 out of crime, punished by loss and suffering, and advice to 
 repent of that crime, whereupon the sufferer might expect to 
 be restored to temporal prosperity. The doctrine that man 
 cannot be justified in the sight of God is most true ; but the 
 application does not meet Job's difficulty. He inquires, Why 
 am I thus afflicted ? Eliphaz insinuates, because of some con- 
 cealed iniquity. The unfeeling tone of the address is to be 
 observed. It is all from the stand-point of a man perfectly at 
 ease himself, and without consideration for Job's terrible misery. 
 The indirect allusion to the death of Job's children is particu- 
 larly cruel. As Job had given up all hope of restoration to 
 health, the assurance of Eliphaz as to what would be granted 
 to him on a confession of crimes he had never committed, seems 
 to the sufferer altogether beside the mark. This capital error 
 runs through every address of the three friends. Job must have 
 committed some enormous crime, or God would never have so 
 sorely punished him. The idea of the trial and purification of 
 a good man never occurred to them. Job only learned it in the 
 course of the trial. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1 . Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said : 
 
 2. If we attempt to discourse with thee, thou wilt be 
 
 wearied : 
 Yet, who can refrain from speaking ? 
 
 3. Lo ! thou hast instructed many, 
 
 And the weak hands thou usest to strengthen. 
 
 4. The wavering thy words upheld, 
 
 And the feeble knees thou didst make strong. 
 
 5. But now, it is come upon thee, and thou art wearied 
 
 out : 
 It toucheth thee, and thou dost despond. 
 
46 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 6. 
 
 7- 
 
 8. 
 
 lO. 
 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 
 14. 
 
 15- 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 Was not thy fear [of God] thy confidence ? 
 And the integrity of thy ways thy hope ? 
 
 Remember now, what innocent man perished, 
 And where were the righteous cut off? 
 
 As far as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, 
 And sow wickedness, reap the fruit of it. 
 
 By the breath of God they perish, 
 
 And by the blast of his nostrils they are consumed. 
 
 The roar of the lion, and the yell of the young lion, 
 And the teeth of the full grown lion, are broken. 
 
 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey. 
 
 And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad. 
 
 Now, a thing was stealthily told unto me, 
 And mine ears received a whisper thereof. 
 
 In the thoughts of night visions. 
 When deep sleep falleth upon men ; 
 
 Fear fell upon me, and tremor. 
 And made every bone to shake : 
 
 A spirit glided before my face. 
 The hair of my flesh stood on end : 
 
 It stood still, and I could not discern its form ; 
 An image was before mine eyes ; 
 Silence, and I heard a voice : 
 
 Shall frail man be just before God ? 
 Shall man be pure before his Maker ? 
 
 Lo ! he putteth no trust in his servants, 
 And his angels he chargeth with error. 
 
 How much more the dwellers in houses of clay, 
 Whose foundation is in the dust, 
 They are crushed before the moth. 
 
 From morning to evening [in a single day] they are 
 cut off; 
 
liOOK OF JOB. 47 
 
 Without any regarding it, they perish forever. 
 
 21. Doth not their excellency which is in them, pass 
 away : 
 They die, and without wisdom. 
 
 Verse r j, — Five different words are iiere iised for the Hon, ac- 
 cording to the stages of its j^rovvth. The full j2;rovvn lion ; the 
 young lion when it first makes its roar heard ; the lion in its 
 mature strength ; the okl lion ; and the whelps of the lioness. 
 There seems a stealthy reference to Job and his children. C. C. 
 
 V. i6. — "vSilence." Septuagint and Vulgate render "a gentle 
 air." In i Kings xviii. 12, "The small still voice," the same word 
 is used. Possibly the image gave rise to our Lord's description 
 of the work of the Holy Ghost, like a gentl-e air in a calm day, 
 when we hear a sound in the leaves, but neither know from 
 what quarter it comes, nor in what direction it is moving. So 
 the Spirit gently stirs the soul of the new-born. See Alford on 
 John iii. 
 
 V. 18.— Angels are liable to fall. No creature stands but by 
 ^race. C. C. 
 
 V. 21. — *' Their excellency." So Gen. xlix. 3. The excellency 
 or chief of my strength. Whatever there is in man that is pre- 
 eminent. Rosen. "The spiritual principle." C. C. Others, the 
 cord of the tent ; but this seems more prosaic. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I . Call now, if there be any to answer thee. 
 
 And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn ? 
 
 .2. For wrath destroyeth the fool. 
 
 And jealousy slayeth the infatuated. 
 
 I have seen the fool taking root. 
 
 And suddenly I denounced his habitation. 
 
 His children were far from safety, 
 They were crushed at the gate. 
 And there was none to deliver them. 
 
 o 
 
48 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 5. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, 
 And seizeth it up to the very thorns, 
 
 And destruction [or the plunderer] pants for their 
 substance. 
 
 6. For misery cometh not out of the dust, 
 Nor doth trouble spring out of the ground. 
 
 7. For man is born to trouble. 
 Even as the sparks fly upward. 
 
 8. Surely I would seek unto God, 
 
 And unto God I would commit my cause : 
 
 9. Who doeth things great and unsearchable, 
 Marvellous things, and without number. 
 
 10. Who giveth rain upon the earth. 
 And sendeth waters upon the fields. 
 
 11. To set the lowly on high, 
 
 And the mourners are raised to a place of safety. 
 
 1 2. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty. 
 
 So that their hands cannot accomplish their design. 
 
 13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 
 
 And the counsel of the deceitful is carried headlong. 
 
 14. In the day-time they stumble in darkness. 
 And at noontide they grope as in the night. 
 
 15. Yet he saveth the needy from the sword. 
 From the hand of the mighty. 
 
 16. So the poor hath hope, 
 
 And iniquity stoppeth her mouth. 
 
 17. Lo ! blessed is he whom God correcteth. 
 Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the 
 
 Almighty. 
 
 18. For he maketh sore, and bindeth up ; 
 He woundeth, and his hands make whole. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 49 
 
 19. In six troubles he shall deliver thee ; 
 
 Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. 
 
 20. In famine he shall redeem thee from death, 
 And in war from the hand of the sword. 
 
 21. When the tongue scourgeth, thou shalt be hid. 
 And thou shalt not fear destruction, when it cometh. 
 
 22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh. 
 
 And thou shalt not be afraid of the (wild) beast of 
 the field. 
 
 23. For with the stones of the field shall be thy covenant. 
 And the beast of the field shall be at peace with thee. 
 
 24. And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace, 
 And thou shalt visit thy habitation and shalt lack 
 
 nothing. 
 
 25. And thou shalt know that thy seed is abundant, 
 And thy offering as the grass of the earth. 
 
 26. Thou shalt come in full age to the grave, 
 
 As a shock of corn cometh up [/. e. to the floor] in 
 its season. 
 
 27. Lo ! this we have searched out, so it is ; 
 Hear it, and do thou lay it to heart. 
 
 Verse i. — "The holy ones," the angels. Men and angels will 
 alike be unable to defend thee in thy anger. Eliphaz seems to 
 describe the punishment of men such as he supposed Job to be. 
 
 V. 5. — " Up to the thorns." The thorn-hedge planted for the 
 protection of the crop against catde. 
 
 V. 7. — " Sparks," lit., children of flame. 
 
 V. 26.— "In full age." C. C. quotes Milton, "Till like ripe 
 fruits, thou drop into thy mother's lap." 
 
so 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTERS VI.-VII. 
 
 Job admits that his words are hasty, but justifies them by the 
 extremity of his agony. Despairing of restoration he prays for 
 ■death, his consolation being that he had never denied God, 
 He enlarges on the absence of symj)athy on the part of his 
 friends, and their unjust accusations. He affectingly describes 
 his dreadful sufferings, so that death would be welcome, ond is 
 expected. He admits his sinfulness in the sight of God, but 
 claims pardon from his mercy, and reiterates his despair of life. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1. And Job answered and said : 
 
 2. Would that my wrath were thoroughly weighed, 
 And my calamity lifted in the balance together. 
 
 3. For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea, 
 Therefore my words are hasty. 
 
 4. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, 
 The poison whereof drinketh up my spirit, 
 
 The terrors of God array themselves against me. 
 
 5. Doth the wild ass bray over (his) grass ? 
 Doth the ox low over his fodder ? 
 
 6. Can the insipid be eaten without salt ? 
 Or is there taste in the white of an egg ? 
 
 7. What my soul refuseth to touch, 
 Is (become) my loathsome food. 
 
 8. Oh that my request might come to pass, 
 And that God would grant my desire. , 
 
 9. Yea, that God would be pleased to crush me, 
 That he would let loose his hand and cut me off. 
 
 10. . Then this might yet be my consolation, 
 And I could exult in my unsparing pain, 
 That I had not disowned the words of the Holy One. 
 
BOOK oi' jon. 51 
 
 11. What is my strcnpfth, that I should endure? 
 
 And what is my end, that I should prolong my 
 patience ? 
 
 1 2. Is my strength the strength of stones ? 
 Is my flesh brass ? 
 
 13. Is not my helplessness in me? ^ 
 And my soundness driven out from me ? 
 
 14. To him that is melted (with grief) pity is due from 
 
 his friend, 
 Or he may forsake the fear of the Almighty. 
 
 15. My brethren have been deceitful as a brook, 
 As valley-streams that pass away : 
 
 16. Which are blackish by reason of ice, 
 In them is hid the snow ; 
 
 17. At the season they flow ofl", they vanish, 
 
 When it is hot, they are dried up out of their place. 
 
 18. The paths of their course are crooked. 
 They come to waste, and perish. 
 
 19. The caravans of Tema looked. 
 
 The companies of Sheba waited for them : 
 
 20. They were ashamed to have entertained the hope. 
 They came up to them and were confounded. 
 
 21. Thus now ye are of nought. 
 
 Ye saw my terror, and were afraid. 
 
 i2. Did I say, give unto me ? 
 
 Or out of your substance make a present on my 
 behalf? 
 
 23. Or deliver me from the hand of the enemy ? 
 Or redeem me from the hand of the oppressor ? 
 
 24. Teach me and I will be silent, * 
 And cause me to understand my error. 
 
52 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 25- 
 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 29. 
 
 30- 
 
 How forcible are upright words ! 
 But what doth your reproving prove ? 
 
 Do ye invent words for reproof, 
 Whilst the sayings of the despairing are counted as 
 wind? 
 
 Surely ye cast lots for the fatherless, 
 And dig a pit for your friend. 
 
 And now if it please you, look at me 
 And see if I lie to your face. 
 
 Turn I pray, let there be no injustice, 
 
 Yea turn, there is yet righteousness in my cause. 
 
 Is there iniquity in v tongue ? 
 
 Cannot my sense (palate) discern what is evil ? 
 
 Verse 2. — " My wrath," referring to Eliphaz, chap v. 2. Job 
 argues that the hastiness of his expressions might be excused, 
 if his sufferings were duly considered. 
 
 V. 6. — " White of an egg,^' some render, purslain broth, /. e. 
 what is insipid. My feelings are the natural expression of my 
 misery. 
 
 V. 13. — ** My helplessness," lit., my no-help. 
 
 V. 15. — This description corresponds with the Hauran, in 
 which winter torrents rush with great impetuosity through the 
 ravines. C. C. 
 
 "^ V. 18. — " Paths," some render caravans, but this seems need- 
 less. 
 
 V. 27. — " Cast lots," as inhuman creditors who at the debtor's 
 death, seize the persons of his children, and take their shares 
 by lot. C. C. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 53 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1. Is there not a term of service for frail man upon the 
 
 earth ? 
 Are not his days as the days of an hireling ? 
 
 2. As the servant longeth for the shadow, 
 
 And the hireling waiteth for his wages ; -t 
 
 3. So am I made to possess months of misery, 
 And nights of trouble are measured out to me. 
 
 4. If I lie down and say, when shall I arise ? 
 Then the evening lengthens itself out. 
 And I am full of tossings till the dawn. 
 
 5. My flesh is clothed with vermin and clods of dust ; 
 My skin stiffens and discharges : 
 
 6. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. 
 And pass away without hope : 
 
 7. Remember that my life is but a breath, 
 Mine eye shall never again see good : 
 
 8. The eye that seeth me shall look on me no more ; 
 Thine eye is upon me, and I am not. 
 
 9. The cloud passeth by and vanisheth, 
 
 So he that goeth down to Hades shall not come up 
 again. 
 
 10. He shall return no more to his house. 
 And his place shall know him no more. 
 
 11. Even so I will not refrain my mouth, 
 
 I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, 
 I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 
 
 12. Am I a sea, or a monster of the deep, 
 That thou settest a watch over me ? 
 
 13. When I say, my bed shall comfort me, ] 
 My couch shall ease my sighing : 
 
54 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 14. 
 
 15- 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 Then thou scarest me with dreams, 
 And terrifiest me with visions : 
 
 So that my soul chooseth strangling, 
 Death, rather than this emaciated frame. 
 I melt away, I shall not live forever ; 
 Let me alone, for my days are but a breath. 
 
 What is frail man that thou dost magnify him ? 
 And that thou aost set thine heart upon him ? 
 
 That thou dost visit him every morning, 
 And try him every moment ? 
 
 Why dost thou not look away from me. 
 And dost not give me a lespite, while I take my 
 breath ? 
 
 I have sinned ; what shall I do unto thee, O pre- 
 server of man ? 
 Why dost thou set me as a mark for thy assault, 
 And I live to be a burden to myself? 
 
 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression. 
 
 And pass over mine iniquity ? 
 
 For now I shall lie down in the dust, 
 
 And when thou hast sought me early, 
 
 Lo ! I am no more. 
 
 Verse 5. — An exact description of the progress of Job's dis- 
 ease. C. C. 
 
 V. 7. — See Psalms xxxix. 6, and Ixii. 9. 
 
 V. 9.— "To Hades." " To the grave." A. V. But the word 
 for grave is different. Sheol in Job and in the Psalms is the 
 place of spirits after death. See Acts ii. 27, and i Pet. iii. 19. 
 
 V. 12. — "Monster of the deep." Not a whale specially, but 
 any monstrous creature in the sea, or on land. 4 
 
 V. 15. — " Emaciated frame." Lit. my bones, i. e. bare bones. 
 
 V. 17. — Imitated in Ps. viii. and cxliv., but in a different sense. 
 
 V. 18. — "Take my breath." A momentary respite. Lit. "till 
 I swallow my spittle." 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 55 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 With similar arguments, but with more vehemence, and, rf 
 possible, less feeling for Job, Bildad, the second speaker, after 
 a severe reproof of Job, dwells on the certain punishment and 
 insecure state of the wicked ; and to make Job feel the sting of 
 the application, he specially alludes to the death of Job's chil- 
 dren, as cut off in the midst of their sins, promising restoration 
 to Job on his confession and repentance. 
 
 1. And Bildad the Shuhite answered and said : 
 
 2. How long wilt thou speak these things. 
 
 And the sayings of thy mouth be like a strong wind ? 
 
 3. Will God pervert judgment? 
 Will the Almighty pervert justice ? 
 
 4. If thy children have sinned against him, 
 
 Then doth he give them over to the hand (conse- 
 quences) of their transgressions. • 
 
 5. Yet if thou thyself will seek God early, 
 
 And make thy supplication unto the Almighty : 
 
 6. If thou be pure and upright, 
 
 Even now will he wake up on thy behalf, 
 
 And will make thy righteous dwelling prosperous. 
 
 7. So that thy former estate shall be of small account. 
 And thy latter end shall increase mightily. 
 
 8. For ask now of the former generation. 
 
 And apply thyself to the research of their fathers ; 
 
 9. For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, 
 For our days are but a shadow upon earth. 
 
 10. Shall not they instruct thee, speak to thee, 
 And bring forth words out of their heart ? 
 
 11. Can the rush (papyrus) grow without marsh ? 
 Can th^ flag increase without water ? 
 
56 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 12. When it is yet in its greenness, and unplucked, 
 It will wither before any other herb. 
 
 13. So are the ways of those who forget God, 
 And the hope of the impious shall perish. 
 
 14. Whose confidence shall be cut asunder, 
 And his trust a spider's house : 
 
 15. He shall lean on his house, and it shall not stand, 
 He shall grasp it, but it shall not abide. 
 
 16. He is full of sap in the eye of the sun, 
 
 And his suckers stretch out over his garden : 
 
 17. His roots twine round the heap, 
 And feel the abode of stones : 
 
 18. Yet if one destroy him from his place, 
 It shall deny him, " I never saw thee." 
 
 19. Lo ! this is the joy of his house, 
 And out of the dust shall others grow. 
 
 20. Lo ! God will not reject the upright. 
 
 And will not take the wicked by the hand : 
 
 21. Till (or even yet) {i. e. if thou be upright) he will fill 
 
 thy mouth with laughter. 
 And thy lips with a cry of joy : 
 
 22. They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, 
 And the tent of the wicked shall be no more. 
 
 Verse 11. — The words rendered rush^ grow and flag^ are 
 Egyptian. C. C. See the Excursus on Exodus in " Speaker's 
 Commentary." Three similes are here introduced, to show the 
 short-lived prosperity of the wicked man, as it is implied that 
 Job was ; the decay of water-plants, deprived of moisture ; the 
 spider's house, easily destroyed by hand ; the succulent plant, 
 spreading itself rapidly and taking root even among the stones, 
 where it finds moisture, but is rooted up by man. 
 
 V. 17. — " Feel the abode of stones." I understand this, not of 
 the stones stopping its growth and killing it, but of the habit 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 57 
 
 of trees of certain kinds to force their roots even among rocks, 
 and to prefer rocky places. In the forests of New Brunswick, I 
 have often seen that precipitous rocks are clothed with trees of 
 large size, which find moisture in crevices invisible to the eye, 
 where one can discover no soil to nourish them. "They feel," 
 and even luxuriate in the "abode of stones," until man "de- 
 stroys them from their place." By a bold figure, the hole where 
 the tree grew is represented as denying that it was ever there, 
 so complete is the uprooting. It is curious to observe that trees 
 planted by natural selection among "the stones," are often 
 averse to a more luxurious soil, wither and die. ^r. 
 
 i 
 
99 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 *a"^. 
 
 CHAPTERS IX.-X. 
 
 Job admits the truth that man cannot be justified in the sight 
 of God by his own righteousness. But he is altogether per- 
 plexed by God's dealings with him. He acknowledges his 
 power and wisdom, and confesses his inability to plead with 
 God on the ground. of merit; but he cannot understand God's 
 severity of affliction. Nay, he observes the same inexplicable 
 dealing in respect to others. The innocent are punished, and 
 the wicked promoted. "Alas!" he cries, "were I to plead my 
 cause before Him, how could I expect the Almighty to under- 
 stand me ? What Arbiter, what Mediator is there, to lay his 
 hand upon, God and man, and to plead man's cause ? If this 
 could be, I might speak and not be afraid, for I am not consci- 
 ous of the crime imputed to me." Thus does this great mind 
 feel after, and almost anticipate, the central truth of the Gospel, 
 that " there is one God, and one Mediator between God and 
 man, the man Christ Jesus." By how sure a connection, aris- 
 ing out of God's insight into the deep longings of frail man, are 
 the earliest and the latest books of Scripture bound together? 
 But this flash of light only lightens on Job for a moment, and 
 he returns to his misery again. In despair, he begins to reason 
 with God as to the apparent injustice of his dealings ; reminds 
 him of man's weakness, of his own integrity, of the mercy of a 
 Creator, and only asks for one pitiful look upon his misery. 
 " Oh that God would either cut me off at once, or let me have 
 some respite from my sufferings before I go hence and return 
 no more." In no part of Holy Scripture is there so awful a 
 picture of a poor wounded soul, struggling for comfort, but 
 unable to find it out of Chf ist ; looking on death as the only 
 solace, yet unable to see more than a land unknown, ** a land 
 of murky darkness, as the gloom of the shadow of death, with- 
 out form and void, wherein the very light is gloom." With this 
 wail of suffering humanity, unsurpassed in its sublime terror, 
 the death-knell of all human hope, we contrast the soothing 
 words of the Gospel of Peace, " Come unto me, all ye that are 
 weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." " Them that 
 sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 59 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1. And Job answered and said : 
 
 2. Of a truth I know that is so, 
 
 And how should man be justified before God ? 
 
 3. If he choose to plead with him, 
 
 He cannot answer Him one of a thousand. 
 
 4. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, 
 
 Who hath hardened himself against Him, and pros- 
 pered ? 
 
 5. Who removeth the mountains unawares, 
 Who overturneth them in his anger : 
 
 6. Who maketh the earth to tremble out of its place, 
 So that its pillars rock : 
 
 7. Who speaketh to the sun, and it shineth not, 
 And setteth a seal upon the stars : 
 
 8. Who stretcheth out the heavens alone, 
 
 And walketh upon the mountainous waves of the 
 sea: « 
 
 9. Who maketh Arcturus, Orion and the Pleiades, 
 And the chambers of the south : 
 
 10. Who doeth great things past finding out, 
 Yea, wonderful things without number : 
 
 11. Lo ! He passeth by me, and I see him not, 
 He glideth past, and I cannot discern him : 
 
 12. He snatcheth away, who can turn him back, 
 Who can say unto him, what doest thou ? 
 
 13. God will not withdraw his anger. 
 
 The proud rebels are bowed beneath him : 
 
 14. Much less would I answer Him, 
 
 And choose my words to plead with him. 
 
 15. W^hom if I were justified, I would not answer, 
 I would make my supplication to my judge, 
 
60 
 
 HOOK OF JOB. 
 
 i6. Were I to summon him that he might answer, 
 
 I could not be sure that he would hearken to my 
 voice. 
 
 17. He who overwhelmeth me with a tempest, 
 And multiplieth my wounds without cause : 
 
 18. He doth not permit me to take breath, 
 For he filleth me with bitternesses. 
 
 19. If one speak of strength, lo ! it is he. 
 
 If of judgment, who will summon me (to plead) ? 
 
 20. If I be justified, my mouth will condemn me. 
 Even were I upright, it would prove me perverse. 
 
 21. Even were I upright, I would not recognize myself, 
 I would abhor my life. 
 
 22. It is all one, therefore I say it, 
 
 The upright and the wicked he destroyeth (alike), 
 
 23. If the scourge slay suddenly. 
 
 At the perplexity (or calamity) of the innocent he 
 mocketh. 
 
 24. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, 
 He covereth the faces of the judges thereof. 
 
 If it be not He, then who is it ? 
 
 25. Now my days are swifter than a courier. 
 They flit away, and see no good. 
 
 26. They glide past like the ships of reeds. 
 As the eagle swoopeth upon its prey. 
 
 27. If I should say, I will forget my complaint, 
 I will abandon my gloom, and brighten up : 
 
 28. I am afraid of all my sorrows, 
 
 I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. 
 
 29. TBut) suppose I am guilty, 
 Why do I then labour in vain? 
 
nOOK OF JOB. 6i 
 
 30. If I wash myself with snow-water, ^ 
 And cleanse my hands with lye : 
 
 31. Yet wilt thou plunge me in the pit, 
 And mine own clothes shall abhor me. 
 
 32. For he is not a man, as I am, whom I could answer, 
 That we should come together to judgment ; 
 
 33. There is no arbiter between us. 
 To lay his hand upon us both. 
 
 34. Let him take his rod from me. 
 And let not his fear terrify me. 
 
 35. I would speak, and not be afraid. 
 
 For I am not conscious to myself (of wrong). 
 
 Verse 7. — "Who speaketh to the sun, and it shineth not." 
 This may refer to eclipses, which must have been observed in 
 Job's days, unless the words refer to the supernatural darkness 
 sent upon the Egyptians, which seems doubtful. " Sealeth up 
 the stars." Modern astronomers report the disappearance of 
 known stars, which is a curious confirmation of the accuracy 
 of the description. 
 
 V. 9. — "Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades." The Hebrew names 
 are given in the margin of our Bible. The word Ash, for Arc- 
 turus, is said by Niebuhr to be still used in the East. The word 
 Pleiades alludes to the season when mariners usually thought 
 it safe to sail in ancient times. There are seven principal stars 
 in this constellation visible to the naked eye, but seventy-eight 
 stars have been discovered in the group. The Hebrew word 
 Kimah signifies cluster. Homer, Iliad xviii, line 483, alludes to 
 Arcturus, to which, he says, is given the additional name of 
 " the wain." The chambers, or inner " chambers of the south," 
 where other constellations are visible, not seen in the Northern 
 hemisphere. 
 
 V. 13. — *' Proud rebels." Lit., helpers or associates of Rahab ; 
 the word is often connected with Egypt. 
 
 V. 16. — " Summon him." Job often borrows words from judi- 
 cial pleadings. See chap, xxiii. 3-7, and especially xxxi. 35-37. 
 
62 
 
 BOOK OF JOR. 
 
 Vs. 20, 21. — The expressions are obscure. The probable 
 meaning is, that God would detect impurity even in an upright 
 life, so much so, that he would be condemned out of his own 
 mouth; and that though he previously supposed himself perfect, 
 when weighed in the balance of God's judgment, he would not 
 know himself again ; he would abhor what before he approved. 
 
 V. 22. — " It is all one," etc. Notwithstanding his previous 
 admission. Job holds fast to his conclusion, that " there is one 
 event to the righteous and the wicked ;" no equitable decision 
 in this life. 
 
 V. 24. — " Coverest the faces of the judges thereof." Blinds 
 their eyes so that they do not discern right and wrong. 
 
 V. 27. — ** Brighten up." This word is the same used in Ps. 
 xxxix. 14, and rendered " recover my strength ;" a figure taken 
 from the dawn. 
 
 V. 35. — " I am not conscious to myself" (of wrong), exactly 
 adopted by St. Paul, i Cor. iv. 4, " 1 know notliing by, /. e, against, 
 myself." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1. My soul is weary of my life ; 
 I will give way to my plaint, 
 
 I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 
 
 2. I will say unto God, do not hold me guilty, 
 
 Make me to know wherefore thou contendest with 
 me. 
 
 3. Is it good for thee that thou shouldest oppress, 
 That thou shouldest despise thy handiwork, 
 And shine upon the counsels of the wicked ? 
 
 4. Are thine eyes of flesh ? ^ ^ 
 Seest thou as frail man seeth ? 
 
 5. Are thy days as the days of frail man ? 
 Are thy years as the days of man ? 
 
 6r That thou sea /chest after my fault, 
 And inquirest for my sin ? 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 63 
 
 7. Thouj^h thou knowest I am not wicked, 
 
 And there is none that can deliver out of thy hands : 
 
 8. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me together 
 
 round about, 
 And yet thou dost swallow me up : 
 
 9. Remember, I pray, that thou hast moulded me as 
 
 clay. 
 And wilt bring me again to dust. 
 
 10. Hast thou not poured me out as milk, 
 And curdled me as cheese ? 
 
 1 1. With skin and flesh hast thou clothed me, 
 
 With bones and sinews hast thou knit me together. 
 
 12. Life and favour thou hast vouchsafed me. 
 
 And thy visitation hath watched over my breath. 
 
 13. Yet these things hast thou hidden in thy heart, 
 I know that this is thy purpose. 
 
 14. If I have sinned, thou hast watched over me, 
 And wilt not hold me innocent of my transgression. 
 
 15. If I have done wickedly, woe is me ! 
 
 If I have done righteously, I cannot lift up my head, 
 I am full of shame ; yet look thou on my misery. 
 
 16. And should my head lift up itself, thou liest in wait 
 
 for me as a lion, 
 And again shewest thy marvellous judgments on me. 
 
 17. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, 
 And multipliest thy inflictions upon rae : 
 
 A host of successive troubles are against me. 
 
 1 8. Yea, why came I out of the womb. 
 
 Why gave I not up the ghost, when no eye saw me? 
 
 19. I had been as though I had not been, 
 Borne from the womb to the grave. 
 
64 
 
 BOOK OF jon. 
 
 20. Arc not my days few ? let him desist, let him with- 
 
 draw from me, 
 That I may brighten up a little, 
 
 21. Before I go hence, and return no more. 
 
 Unto a land of darkness, and the shadow of death. 
 
 22. A land of murky darkness, as the gloom of the 
 
 shadow of death, 
 Without order, where the very light is gloom. 
 
 Verses 8 to 12. — See the repetition of this idea in Ps. cxxxix. 
 12 to 16. 
 
 V. 16.— "Should my head lift up itself," etc. So B. W. and 
 C. C. The A. V. is very obscure. 
 
 Vs. 21, 22. — The most wonderful picture in the Bible of the 
 gloom of death, and of the unknown land into which the soul 
 passes, if not enlightened by the hope of the Gospel. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 65 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 This piteous wail of Jol) is cinswered by Zophar, the most im- 
 petuous, inconsiderate, and unfeeling of his friends. After a 
 severe censure on Job's mockintj, idle words, he reiterates the 
 arjfument of Kliphaz, openly charges Job with concealed crime, 
 hints at his obstinacy and folly, and promises him restoration 
 on his putting away his iniciuity. We have continually to bear 
 in mind, that the points in the argument between Job and his 
 friends were, whether Job was a man of upright life, and whe- 
 ther his sufferings were an evidence of the divine displeasure. 
 An '. the points raised by Job were, the certainty that wicked 
 men were not always punished and the righteous rewarded be- 
 fore death, his consciousness of his own integrity, his desire that 
 God would grant him a hearing, and his inability to understand 
 the reason of his sufferings. These important questions Zophar, 
 in ignorance, or in passion, passes by without notice. 
 
 1. And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said : 
 
 2. Shall one full of words not be answered, 
 And shall a loquacious man be justified ? 
 
 3. At thy idle words shall men hold their peace. 
 
 Yea, shalt thou mock, and there be none to shame 
 thee ? 
 
 4. For thou sayest, ** My discourse is pure, 
 And I am clean in thine eyes." 
 
 5. But would that God would speak, 
 And open his lips unto thee. 
 
 6. And tell thee the secrets of wisdom. 
 That his counsel is manifold. 
 
 So that thou mightest know that God remits to thee 
 some of thy guilt. 
 
 7. Canst thou attain to the insight of God ? 
 
 Canst thou attain to the perfection of the Almighty ? 
 
 8. High as heaven, what canst thou do ? 
 Deeper than Hades, what canst thou know ? 
 
66 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 9. Broader than the earth is its measure, 
 And wider tlian the sea. 
 
 10. If he assail and imprison, and call to judgment, 
 Then who can hinder him ? 
 
 11. For he knoweth worthless men, 
 And seeth iniquity 'ere man is aware. 
 
 12. Yet empty (or vain) man may be made wise, 
 And a wild ass's colt may be born a man. 
 
 13. If thou apply thine heart. 
 
 And stretch out thine hands unto Him : 
 
 14. If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far from thee, 
 And let not sin dwell in thy tent : 
 
 15. Then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot ; 
 Thou shalt become steadfast, and shall not fear, 
 
 16. For thou shalt forget thy misery, 
 
 And remember it as waters that pass away. 
 
 17. And a Hfe brighter than noonday shall arise. 
 Thick darkness shall be as the morning : 
 
 18. And thou shalt trust, because there is hope. 
 And shalt look around, and rest securely. 
 
 19. And thou shalt lie down, with none to alarm thee, 
 Yea, many shall make suit unto thee. 
 
 20. But the eyes of the wicked shall fail. 
 And their place of refuge shall perish, 
 
 And their hope shall be the breathing out of life. 
 
 Verse 6. — Ephesians iii. 10, " The manifold wisdom of God." 
 Ecclesiasticus xlii. 24, " All things are double one against an- 
 other, and he hath made nothing imperfect." 
 
 V. 12. — This verse may be taken either as in A. V., an insinu- 
 ation of the obstinacy of Job, or as a recommendation to leave 
 off his perverseness (like that of an ass-colt), and learn wisdom. 
 " Born a man ;" become gifted with human intelligence. 
 
 V. 15. — "Steadfast," or firm ; lit., molten ; hard as cast metal, 
 applied to the scales of the crocodile, chap. xli. 15. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 67 
 
 CHAPTERS XII., XIII., XIV. 
 
 These repeated taunts, with no substantial answer to Job's 
 main argument, greatly exasperate him against his accusers. 
 He appeals to his past life in a tone of righteous indignation ; 
 and in his turn assails his friends, ad'nitting all that they said 
 of the glory and wisdom of God as mere elements of religion. 
 ' He turns from his friends to plead with a more righteous 
 judge, with God himself. He has such confidence in Him, 
 that he will trust Him even in death. He is sure that He will 
 admit his integrity. He implores God to hear him, without 
 crushing him by His power. He appeals to His knowledge 
 of man's weakness, not to refuse the cry of the poor frail crea- 
 ture that lies helpless at His feet. He reminds Him that there 
 is no hope of vindication for man on earth after brief life is 
 ended, and then passionately and imploringly calls on God, 
 if he must die, at least to hide him in Hades, and appoint a 
 set time when his trial shall take place, and his integrity be 
 made known. This trial he would patiently wait for ; he would 
 answer to God's summons, and await His just decision. But 
 of his own life, or restoration, he saw no hope whatever. It 
 is astonishing to find so many deep and holy truths in this 
 address, mixed with ignorance of the real purposes of God. 
 His firm conviction of God being his Saviour; his confession 
 of his own sinfulness in God's sight ; his belief in a resurrection, 
 for man only sleeps " till the heavens are no more", (which is 
 substantially the doctrine of St. Peter, 2 Ep. iii. 12, 13) ; his 
 glimpse into the land ''very far off," beyond the grave, "the 
 secret place," where "the souls of the righteous are in the hand 
 of God, and there shall no evil touch them ;" his conviction that 
 there is a " fixed time," when God will remember and visit his 
 saints : these are marvellous proofs of the blessed effects of 
 trial on Job's mind, and that he is, under God's leading, able to 
 descry, though dimly, the glorious manifestation that was yet 
 to v-ome. 
 
 1. And Job answered and said : 
 
 2. In sooth ye are the people. 
 And wisdom shall die with you. 
 
68 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 3. I also have understanding as well as you, 
 I fall not short of yourselves, 
 
 And with whom are not such things as these ? 
 
 4. Must I be mocked of my friends, 
 
 I, that called upon God and he answered me, 
 I, the just, upright man, laughed to scorn ? 
 
 5. Contempt for woe is the thought of one at ease, 
 It waiteth for those who stumble. 
 
 6. The tents of the destroyers are in peace, 
 And they are secure who provoke God : 
 Into whose hands God bringeth abundance. 
 
 7. But ask now of the beasts, and they will teach thee, 
 And of the fowls of the heaven, and they will tell 
 
 thee. 
 
 8. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach thee. 
 And the fish of the sea will declare unto thee. 
 
 9. Who hath not known all these things ? 
 That the hand of Jehovah hath done this ? 
 
 10. In whose hand is the life of every living thing. 
 And the breath of all mankind. 
 
 11. Doth not the ear try words. 
 Even as the palate tasteth its food ? 
 
 12. With the hoary head is wisdom. 
 And length of days is understanding. 
 
 13. With Him is wisdom and might, 
 His is counsel and understanding. 
 
 14. Lo ! he destroyeth, cud there is no rebuilding. 
 He shutteth up a man, and none openeth. 
 
 15. Lo ! he withholdeth the waters, and they are dried up. 
 He letteth them loose, and they overthrow the earth. 
 
 16. With Him is strength, and prudence. 
 The deceived and the deceiver are His. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 69 
 
 17. He leadeth counsellors away stripped (of under- 
 
 standing), 
 And maketh judges infatuated. 
 
 18. He looseth the girdle of kings, 
 And bindeth their loins with a bond. 
 
 19. He leadeth their priests captive (spoiled), 
 And overthroweth the mighty. 
 
 20. He depriveth the trusted of speech, 
 
 And taketh away the discernment of the aged. 
 
 21. He poureth contempt upon princes. 
 And looseneth the girdle of the strong. 
 
 22. He revealeth deep things out of darkness. 
 And bringeth into light the shadow of death. 
 
 23. He maketh nations great and destroyeth them, 
 He enlargeth nations, and straiteneth them. 
 
 24. He taketh away the heart of the chieftains of a land, 
 And causeth them to wander in a pathless waste. 
 
 25. They grope in darkness and without light, 
 And he maketh them wander as a drunken man. 
 
 Verse 5. — The verse is obscure, and may be rendered other- 
 wise ; but this seems to me the best translation. Rosen, ren- 
 ders, He that is ready to stumble is as a lamp extinguished 
 in the thoughts of a prosperous man. The thought, in either 
 translation, is the same. 
 
70 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 I. 
 
 2. 
 
 6. 
 
 8. 
 
 lO. 
 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 
 14. 
 
 15- 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Lo ! all this mine eye hath seen, 
 Mine ear h^'^h heard and understood it. 
 
 As ye know, I know, even I, 
 I am not inferior unto you. 
 
 But as for me, unto the Almighty will I speak, 
 And I desire to plead with God. 
 
 Surely ye are framers of lies. 
 Physicians of no value, all of you. 
 
 Would that ye would altogether be silent, 
 And it should be counted your wisdom. . . 
 
 Hear now my reasonings. 
 
 And attend to the pleadings of my lips. 
 
 Will ye speak iniquity on behalf of God ? 
 And on His behalf utter falsehood ? 
 
 Will ye show him favour ? 
 Will ye plead God's cause ? 
 
 Will it be well when He searches you out ? 
 Can ye deceive Him, as frail man is deceived ? 
 
 He will severely reprove you. 
 If ye secretly show him favour. 
 
 Will not His excellency make you afraid ? 
 And His terror fall upon you ? 
 
 Your wise saws are maxims of ashes, 
 Your defences are defences of clay. 
 
 Be silent before me, and let me speak, 
 And come on me what will. 
 
 Come what will, I will take my flesh in my teeth, 
 I will put my life in my hand. 
 
 Behold, should He slay me, I will trust in Him, 
 Only my ways will I defend before His face. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 71 
 
 16. Yea, He is my salvation, 
 
 For an impious man shall not come into His presence. 
 
 17. Hearken diligently to my words, 
 And to my delaration with your ears. 
 
 18. Lo ! now I have set my cause in order, 
 I know that I shall be justified. 
 
 19. Who is he that can contend with me ? 
 
 Were it so (that 1 were proved guilty), I should be 
 silent, and give up the ghost. 
 
 20. Only two things do not unto me. 
 
 Then I will not hide myself fi'om thy presence. 
 
 21. Remove thy hand fi-om me. 
 
 And let not thy terror affright me. 
 
 22. Then summon me, and I will answer, 
 Or I will speak, and do thou reply. 
 
 23. How many are my iniquities and my sins ? 
 Make me to know my transgressions and my sins. 
 
 24. Why hidest thou thy face. 
 
 And countest me for thine enemy ? 
 
 25. Wilt thou scare a driven leaf? 
 And chase the dry stubble ? 
 
 26. For thou writest bitter things against me. 
 
 And makest me to inherit the iniquities of my youth. 
 
 27. Thou puttest my feet in the stocks, 
 And watchest all my paths, 
 
 And drawest a line round the soles of my feet. 
 
 28. And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, 
 Like a garment that is moth-eaten. 
 
 Verse 10. — i. <?., take a side ye know to be wrong, from fear 
 of God's power. 
 
 V. 14. — " I will put my flesh in my teeth," etc. I will expose 
 myself to any peril, rather than not utter what I know to be true. 
 
 V. 28.— Job seems here to contemplate himself from without, 
 drawing a picture of his own misery. 
 
72 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 I. 
 
 2. 
 
 6. 
 
 8 
 
 lO. 
 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, 
 Full of disquiet. 
 
 As a flower he cometh up and is cut down, 
 He fleeth as it were a shadow, and abideth not 
 
 Yea on such an one wilt thou open thine eyes. 
 And wilt bring me into judgment with thyself? 
 
 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean } 
 Not one. 
 
 If his days are determined, 
 
 If the number of his months is with thee, 
 
 If thou hast set him a fixed time that he cannot pass, 
 
 Then look away from him, that he may have respite, 
 Till he enjoy, as a hireling, his day (of rest). 
 
 For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, yet it 
 
 will sprout again. 
 And its sucker shall not fail. 
 
 If its root in the earth wax old. 
 And its stock in the ground be dead. 
 
 At the scent of water it will sprout. 
 
 And put forth boughs as a plant. ^^ 
 
 But man dieth and wasteth away, 
 
 Yea man giveth up the ghost, and where is he ? 
 
 The waters fail from the lake (sea). 
 And the stream is withered and dried up. 
 
 So man lieth down and riseth not. 
 
 Till the heavens be no more they shall not arise. 
 
 Nor be awaked out of their sleep. 
 
 O that thou wouldest hide me in Hades, 
 And keep me in secret till thine anger turn. 
 That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and re- 
 member me ! 
 
BOOK OF JOB. >^ fs 
 
 14. If a man die, will he live again? 
 
 All the Jays of my warfare would I wait, till my 
 change were come. 
 
 15. Thou shouldest call, and I would answer thee, 
 Thou wouldest long after the work of thine own 
 
 hands. 
 
 16. But now thou numberest my steps. 
 Dost thou not keep watch over my sins ? 
 
 17. Thou sealest up my transgressions in a bag. 
 And sewest up mine iniquities. 
 
 18. And even as the mountain falleth and crumbleth 
 
 away, 
 And the rock is removed out of its place : 
 
 19. The waters wear away the stones. 
 
 The floods wash away the soil of the earth, 
 Even so the hope of frail man thou destroyest. 
 
 20. Thou overwhelmest him forever, and he is gone : 
 Thou changest his aspect, and sendest him away. 
 
 21. His sons come to honour, but he knoweth it not. 
 And they are impoverished, and he understandeth 
 
 it not of them. , 
 
 22. Only in his own flesh shall he grieve, 
 And his soul upon him shall mourn. 
 
 Verse 2. — See Ps. xc. 5, 6, and Isaiah xl. 6, 7. 
 
 V. 13. — Hades, not the grave. Job here anticipates what the 
 author of the book of Wisdom teaches : " The souls of the righ- 
 teous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch 
 them. In the sight of the unwise, they seemed to die, and their 
 going from us to be destruction ; but they are in peace." See 
 also Ps. xxxi. 18. 
 
 V. 22.— "His soul upon him," as in Ps. xlii. 12, "Why art 
 thou my soul disquieted upon me ?" The soul, agitated by con- 
 tending emotions, lying as a burden on the spirit, the nobler 
 part of man. See Dr. Kay, — Appendix to his version of the 
 Psalms. 
 
74 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 We now reach a second series of addresses on the part of 
 Job's friends, and Eliphaz begins. But his former gentleness 
 has deserted him. He replies in the spirit of Zophar ; accuses 
 Job of folly, rashness, impiety, hypocrisy, and declares that he 
 is proved guilty out of his own mouth. Reiterating his former 
 topics on the weakness and sinfulness of men in general, he 
 enlarges on the sure and terrible judgment of the wicked, but 
 in such terms as indirectly point to Job as the criminal. 
 
 I. 
 2. 
 
 6. 
 
 7- 
 
 8. 
 
 lO. 
 
 II. 
 
 13. 
 
 And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said : 
 
 Shall the wise man reply with empty knowledge, 
 And fill his belly with the East wind ? 
 
 Reasoning with words that have no profit, 
 And speeches that have no force in them ? 
 
 Surely thou castest off piety, 
 
 And withholdest devout meditation before God. 
 
 For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth ; 
 And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. 
 
 Thine own mouth shall prove thee guilty, and not I, 
 And thy lips shall witness against thee. 
 
 Wast thou the first man born ? 
 
 And before the hills wast thou brought forth ? 
 
 Didst thou hear the secret counsel of God ? 
 And dost thou reserve wisdom to thyself? 
 
 What dost thou know that we know not ? 
 
 What dost thou understand which is not also with us ? 
 
 Both the greyhaired and aged are among us, 
 Much older than thy father. 
 
 Are the consolations of God too small for thee, 
 And the words gently spoken to thee ? 
 Why does thy heart carry thee away. 
 And why do thine eyes wink ? 
 
BOOK OF JOB. ' 75 
 
 13. That thou turnest thy spirit against God, 
 And utterest such speeches from thy mouth ? 
 
 14. What is frail man that he should be pure, 
 
 And one born of woman, that he should be justified ? 
 
 15. Lo! he trusteth not in his holy ones, 
 And the heavens are not pure in his eyes ! 
 
 16. How much less in one who is loathsome and un- 
 
 clean, 
 A man drinking in iniquity like water ? 
 
 17. I will shew thee, hearken to me, 
 For this have I seen and will declare. 
 
 18. Which wise men have told. 
 
 And have not hid it, from the days of their fathers, 
 
 19. To whom alone the earth was given, 
 
 And no stranger passed through their midst. 
 
 20. All the days of the wicked he torments himself, 
 And the number of his years is reserved to the op- 
 pressor. 
 
 21. A sound of terrors is in his ears. 
 
 In his prosperity a spoiler shall come upon him. 
 
 22. He hath no sure hope to return out of darkness, 
 And he is watched for of the sword : 
 
 23. He wandereth for bread ; where is it ? 
 
 He knoweth that the day of darkness is close at 
 hand : 
 
 24. Trouble and anguish terrify him, 
 
 They overpower him, as a king ready for the on- 
 slaught : 
 
 25. For he stretched out his hand against God, 
 And against the Almighty he magnified himself. 
 
 26: He ran against Him with stubborn neck, 
 With the thick bosses of his bucklers : 
 
76 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 29. 
 
 30. 
 
 31" 
 
 32. 
 
 33- 
 
 34. 
 
 35. 
 
 For he covered his face with fatness (lived in luxury), 
 And made thick flesh upon his loins : 
 
 Therefore he dwelleth in desolate cities, 
 In houses where there are no inhabitants. 
 Which are destined to become heaps. 
 
 He shall not be rich, nor shall his substance last, 
 Nor shall his possessions extend upon the earth. 
 
 He shall not depart out of darkness, 
 The flame shall dry up his branches. 
 And by the breath of His (God's) mouth shall he 
 be carried away. 
 
 Let not the deceived trust in vanity, 
 For vanity shall be his recompense : 
 
 Before his time it (retribution) shall be fulfilled, 
 And his branch (palm branch) shall not be green. 
 
 He shall shake off, like the vine, his sour grape. 
 And shall cast his flower like the olive. 
 
 For the congregation of the impious shall be barren. 
 And fire shall devour the tents of bribery : 
 
 He conceived mischief, and brought forth iniquity, 
 And his inward part prepared deceit. 
 
 Verse 19. — This evidently refers to a patriarchal age. 
 
 V. 20. — A limited number of years, during which he may op- 
 press ; but his punishment is sure. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 77 
 
 CHAPTERS XVI.-XVII. 
 
 Stung by these unjust and bitter reproaches, Job retorts 
 upon his friends, that their arguments were entirely beside the 
 mark. Despairing of all earthly comfort, he returns to his own 
 terrible suffering. Unable to distinguish between God, who 
 permitted the trial for his own good, and that of others, and 
 Satan, who wrought the trial by his own malignity, he uses 
 expressions which would have been true if applied to the evil 
 one, but are unbecoming and presumptuous when applied to 
 the Almighty. Again he pleads for a hearing, such as " man 
 would gain from his friend." In the most marvellous picture 
 of mingled feelings of despair, cries for a hearing, keen sense 
 of indignities offered him, a single flash of conviction shines 
 forth, that, in some unknown way, his affliction will be a bene- 
 fit to others; and then he sadly returns to the old terror of 
 death before his integrity can be proved. The address closes — 
 
 " Where is my hope ? my hope, who can see it ?" 
 " I and my hope shall go down to Hades, 
 Where there is altogether rest in the dust." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1. And Job answered and said : 
 
 2. I have heard many such things : ' 
 Wearisome comforters are ye all. 
 
 3. Will there be an end to windy talk ? 
 
 Or what provoketh thee that thou (so) answerest ? 
 
 4. I also could speak as ye do, 
 
 If your soul were in my soul's stead, 
 I could heap together words against you, 
 And could shake my head at you. 
 
 5. I could strengthen you by mere words, 
 
 And the solace of my lips should restrain your grief. 
 
 6. Though I speak, my anguish is not restrained. 
 And if I forbear what (pain) will leave me ? 
 
nOOK OF JOB. 
 
 lo. 
 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 7. Surely now He TGod) hath worn mc out, 
 Thoi'. hast desolated all my household. 
 
 8. And thou hast bound me fast, 
 Which is a witness against me, 
 
 My leanness riseth up, and maketh answer before 
 my face. 
 
 9. His wrath teareth and persecuteth me, 
 He gnasheth upon me with his teeth. 
 Mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. 
 
 They gaped upon me with their mouths. 
 They smote me on the cheek reproachfully, 
 They gathered themselves together against me. 
 
 God hath shut me up into the hand of an evil one, 
 And into the hands of the wicked he hath thrown 
 me headlong. 
 
 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder, 
 
 He laid hold of me by the neck, and dashed me to 
 
 the ground. 
 And hath set me up for his mark. 
 
 13. His archers surround me. 
 
 He cleaveth my reins and spareth not. 
 He poureth my gall to the earth. 
 
 14. He breaketh me with breach upon breach, 
 He rusheth upon me as a mighty man. 
 
 15. I sewed sackcloth upon my skin, 
 
 I thrust my horn with shame into the dust. 
 
 16. My face is inflamed with weeping, " , 
 And on my eyelids is the shadow of death. 
 
 17. Not for any deed of violence in my hands, 
 Yea, my prayer is pure. 
 
 18. O earth, cover not my blood, 
 
 And let there be no place to hide my cry. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 79 
 
 19. Yea, now behold, my witness is in heaven, 
 And my testimony on high. 
 
 20. My friends are my scorners, 
 
 But mine eye pourcth out tears unto God. 
 
 21. O that one might plead with God, 
 
 Even as a son of man (pleadeth) with his friend ! 
 
 22. For my few years will pass away, 
 
 And I shall go by the path whence I shall not return. 
 
 Verse 9. — True, if Job's words were applied to Satan, his real 
 enemy. His description in verse 10 is a wondrous type of a 
 nobler, a divine sufferer. See Ps. xxii. 13. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1. My breath is spent, my days are extinct, 
 The grave is (ready) for me. 
 
 2. Are there not mockers with me ? 
 
 And doth not mine eye dwell in their provocations ? 
 
 3. Be thou my surety for me with thyself, 
 Who else will strike hands with me ? 
 
 4. For thou hast hid their heart from understanding, 
 Therefore thou shalt not exalt them (decide in their 
 
 favour). 
 
 5. He who giveth his friends to be despoiled, 
 Even the eyes of his children shall fail. 
 
 6. And he hath made me a byeword of the people. 
 And I am as one in whose face they spit. 
 
 7. Mine eye also is dim through sorrow. 
 And my limbs are all of them as a shadow. 
 
 8. The upright shall be astonished at this. 
 
 And the innocent shall stir himself up against the 
 impious. 
 
f/0 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 9- 
 
 lO. 
 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 i3> 
 
 i^. 
 
 15- 
 
 1 6. 
 
 And the righteous shall hold fast his way, 
 And he that hath clean hands shall increase in 
 strength. 
 
 But as for you all, return now (to your accusations) 
 
 and proceed, 
 For I cannot find a wise man among you. 
 
 My days are passed away, 
 My purposes are broken off, 
 The possessions of my heart. 
 
 They change night into day, 
 
 Light is near (they say) in the face of darkness. 
 
 If I (patiently) wait, Hades is my house (or home), 
 I shall spread my bed in darkness. 
 
 To corruption I cry, thou n^'t my father ; 
 
 To the worm, thou art my mother and my sister ; 
 
 And where then is my hope ? 
 Yea, my hope, who can see it ? 
 
 To the bars of Hades shall they go down. 
 When together there is rest in the dust. 
 
 Verse 3.— ^The surety in a judicial trial " accepted the respon- 
 sibility by shaking hands with the person he represented." C. C. 
 
 V. 6. — ^The A. V. is unintelligible here. Some render "in 
 whose presence they spit." "Then did they spit in his face and 
 buffeted him." 
 
 Vs. 8, 9. — A momentary 3;leam of hope and joy. 
 
 V. 16. — This melancholy conclusion seems to harmonize with 
 the preceding verses. There is no hope for me in this life, for 
 I and my hope shall go down to Hades together, and rest alto 
 gether in the di'st. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 9t 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Bildad follows with a more vehement and cruel attack upon 
 the sufferer, supposing (as there seems no reason to doubt) that 
 by the wicked man is meant Job himself. He advances no new 
 argument, passes by all Job's statements of fact, and dwells, 
 with apparently malicious pleasure, on the entire uprooting of 
 Job's family, leaving nothing behind him but a dishonoured 
 name. It is a remarkable proof of the patience of Job that he 
 did not, as men who think themselves unjustly accused often 
 do, retort on his accusers by insinuating that they had been 
 guilty of the same crimes themselves. Job only attacks their 
 arguments. 
 
 1. And Biidad the Shuhite answered and said : 
 
 2. When then will ye make an end of words ? 
 Consider, and afterwards we will speak. 
 
 3. Why are we counted as beasts, 
 Thought vile in your eyes ? 
 
 4. O thou that rendest thine own self in thine anger, 
 At thy bidding shall the earth be forsaken, 
 
 And the rock removed from its place ? 
 
 5. Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, 
 And the spark of his fire shall not shine ; 
 
 6. Light shall become darkness in his tent. 
 And his lamp over him shall be extinguished. 
 
 7. His mighty strides shall be straitened, 
 And his counsel shall cast him down : 
 
 8. For he is cast into the net by his own feet, 
 And upon a snare he maketh himself to walk. 
 
 9. The gin shall lay hold of him by the heel. 
 The trap shall bind him fast ; 
 
 10. A noose is hidden for him in the ground, 
 A gin for him in the path. 
 
82 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 11. His terrors shall affright him on every side, 
 And shall harass him to flight, 
 
 1 2. Famine shall be his strength, 
 And destruction ready at his side. 
 
 13. The first-born of death shall devour his skin, 
 Devour the limbs of his body : 
 
 14. His confidence shall be torn away from his tent, 
 And it (the calamity) shall bring him to the king of 
 
 terrors : 
 
 15. It shall dwell in his tent, no longer his, 
 Brimstone shall be scattered over his habitation. 
 
 16. His roots shall be dried up beneath, 
 And his branches shall wither above. 
 
 17. His memory shall perish from the earth, 
 
 And he shall have no good name abroad (without) . 
 
 18. They shall drive him from light into darkness, 
 And chase him out of the world. 
 
 19. He shall have no son or grandson among his people, 
 No survivor in his sojournings : 
 
 20. At his day, they that come after him shall be amazed. 
 As they that before him were struck with horror. 
 
 21. Surely these are the dwelling places of the wicked. 
 And this is the place (condition) of him that know- 
 
 eth not God. 
 
 Verse 17. — i Tim. iii. 7, "Moreover, he must have a good re- 
 port of them that are without." 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 83 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ■ 
 
 We now come to one of the most important chapters in the 
 book. After an earnest remonstrance with his friends on their 
 utter want of sympathy, and the injustice of their reproaches, 
 Job returns to the old subject of his miseries ; the tokens of 
 God's hand in his suffering, the refusal of God to answer his 
 appeal, the desertion of his kinsfolk and acquaintance, the inso- 
 lence of his servants, the estrangement of his wife, the abhor- 
 rence on the part of old and young of his strange and terrible 
 malady, the frightful spectacle of his emaciated limbs ; he 
 implores one glance of pity, one word of real feeling for his 
 wretchedness. But his friends are silent. With them, he is a 
 criminal, deserving all he suffers. Then, as if by a sudden in- 
 spiration, there breaks forth from the depths of his soul such a 
 mighty burst of faith as we scarce find in any other sufferer 
 (save one) in the whole Bible. Affliction seems to have done 
 its work. He is driven by the fire of suffering, by his utter help- 
 lessness, and the absence of all succour from his fellow-men, to 
 cast himself wholly upon God ; he is forced to realize that there 
 must be in God a love which will acknowledge, and pity, and 
 vindicate him, as well as a power which punishes him. The eye 
 of faith pierces the veil, and looks beyond the grave. There 
 he can again behold his God standing to receive and vindicate 
 His servant. Let death do its worst, let this poor wasted body, 
 "this," he calls it, too wretched for a name, be utterly broken 
 in pieces ; yet out of his restored flesh he knows that he shall 
 see his deliverer with his own eyes. " How does my inmost 
 soul pine for that blessed sight ! " In Ps. cxix. 81, Ixxxiv. 2, 
 Ixix. 3, cxliii. 6, we see the same longing, the same holy ear- 
 nestness. Job can say no more but to utter a word of warning 
 to his friends. There is a judgment awaiting them, as well as 
 himself. It may be well to observe that, in the construction of 
 the passage, we should neither attribute too much nor too little 
 to the words of Job. In the rugged grandeur of the original, 
 we may not be able to find all that a Christian reader sees in 
 the graceful and flowing English of our authorized version. 
 Rut we may lawfully put upon the ancient prophecy the Chris- 
 tian sense vhich the light of the Gospel has thrown upon it ; 
 
84 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 while we should hesitate to believe that Job understood truth of 
 which even the Apostles were ignorant before the Resurrection 
 of our Lord. On the other hand, 1 see no reason to doubt Job's 
 full belief in his own resurrection, and in seeing God face to 
 face after death, though he failed to grasp the full meaning of 
 the term Redemption. 
 
 1. And Job answered and said : 
 
 2. How long will ye afflict my soul, 
 And bruise me with (your) words ? 
 
 3. These ten times have ye reproached me : 
 Ye are not ashamed to crush me. 
 
 4. And be it, in truth, that I have erred, 
 My error is lodged with myself. 
 
 5. If in truth ye will magnify yourselves against me, 
 And will argue against me to my reproach : 
 
 6. Know then that God hath wrested me from my way, 
 And hath surrounded me with his net. 
 
 7. Lo ! I cry out of wrong, but am not answered, 
 I exclaim, and there is no judgment. 
 
 8. My way he hath hedged up that I cannot pass. 
 And he set darkness on my paths : 
 
 9. He hath stripped my gloi^ from me, 
 And hath taken the crown from my head : 
 
 10. He hath broken me down on every side, and I am 
 
 gone. 
 And hath torn up my hope as a tree : 
 
 11. His anger is hot against me, 
 
 And he counteth me for his enemy. 
 
 12. His troops advance together. 
 And raise their mound against me, 
 And encamp round my tent. 
 
 13. My brethren he hath removed far from me. 
 
 And my acquaintance are verily estranged from me. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 85 
 
 14. My kinsfolk have failed me, 
 
 And my familiar friends have forgotten me. 
 
 15. The inmates of my house and my handmaidens 
 
 count me for a stranger, 
 I am an alien in their eyes. 
 
 16. I called to my servant, and he gave me no answer, 
 Though I besought him with my mouth. 
 
 17. My breath was strange to my wife, 
 
 And my entreaties to the children of my mother's 
 womb. 
 
 18. Even young children spurn me, 
 When I rise up, they speak against me. 
 
 19. All my intimate friends abhor me, 
 
 And the one I loved is turned against me : 
 
 20. My bones cleave to my skin and my flesh, 
 And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. 
 
 21. Have pity on me, have pity on me, ye my friends, 
 For the hand of God hath touched me. 
 
 22. Why do ye persecute me as God, 
 And are not content with my flesh ? 
 
 23. Oh would then that my words were written. 
 Would that in a record they were engraven, 
 
 24. With an iron pen and lead, deep cut in the rock for 
 
 ever. 
 
 25. I surely know that my redeemer liveth. 
 And at the last, shall arise over the dust. 
 
 26. And after my skin they destroy this (body). 
 Yet from out my flesh shall I see God : 
 
 27. Whom I shall see for myself. 
 
 And mine eyes shall behold, and no stranger. 
 
 For which my inmost soul is consumed with longing. 
 
86 BOOK OK JOB. 
 
 28. Yet ye say, wherein do we persecute him ? 
 Yea the root of the matter is found in him. 
 
 29. Be ye afraid of the sword : 
 
 For (God's) wrath is the avenger of iniquities, 
 That ye may know that there is a judgment. 
 
 Verse 4. — " My error is lodged with myself." Ye will not suf- 
 fer. I must bear the penalty. 
 
 V. 6. — " Wrested me from my way." My calamity is God's 
 doing, not, as you say, the consequence of my sin. B. W. 
 
 V. 21. — One wonders that any heart could resist such an ap- 
 peal to pity ; yet on that very account that he was ** smitten by 
 God," they would not pity him. He mu-c be left to die. C. C. 
 
 V. 22. — "Satisfied with my flesh." Is not my misery suffi- 
 cient ? Must you add to it by reproaches and unjust accusa- 
 tions? Ps. xxvii. 2. ■ 
 
 V. 23. — " Printed in a book." A. V. conveys a very mislead- 
 ing sense to the ordinary reader. 
 
 V. 25. — " I surely :" the " I " is emphatic : I, on my part. " My 
 Redeemer." Though Job could not realize all the glorious 
 truths of which this word reminds us, yet as the word " Goel " 
 signifies a near kinsman, a protector, an avenger of blood, the 
 word " Vindicator " is not sufficient. Redeemer and redemp- 
 tion are the ordinary renderings. "The angel that redeemed 
 me from all evil." Gen. xlviii. 16. " In after time :" it is also 
 rendered "the last," as in Isaiah xliv. 6; but in such instances, 
 the word "first" is put in opposition to it. "Arise over the 
 dust," either as conqueror, or as guardian over Job himself, over 
 the grave. "After my skin they destroy:" the agents of de- 
 struction are not specified : A. V. supplies the word " worms." 
 " This :" I understand Job to point to his emaciated body, like 
 a mere skeleton, as in chapter xvi. 8, " My leanness riseth up." 
 Elsewhere, he calls his body "my bones." High authorities 
 render the word '''■thus" but it seems to me a more vivid poetic 
 picture to retain the word "-thisy' without his naming it. 
 
 V. 26. — " Out of my flesh." He looks as an observer from the 
 stand-point of his body, now risen again ( for Job has no hope 
 whatever of escaping death), and beholds his God. "Whom I 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 87 
 
 shall see for myself:" he is sure of his bodily identity; no other 
 eyes but his own shall see, he is the same " I " who before was 
 afflicted. ** My inmost soul is consumed with longing." " In- 
 most soul," lit. " my reins witiiin me." The reins are treated 
 as the seat of the affections. The same word is used in Ps. 
 Ixxxiv. 2, "My soul pineth away," Ps. Ixix. 3, "Mine eyes fail 
 with waiting," Ps. cxix. 81, 82, " My soul pineth away, mine eyes 
 pine away." Ps. cxliii. 7, " My soul fainteth." So truly do the 
 hearts beat in unison that long for the salvation of God. " No 
 doubtful meaning of any words can efface from this passage 
 the doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh." Dr. Pusey on 
 Daniel, p. 504. 
 
 Vs. 28, 29. — Ye continue to load me with unjust accusations, 
 inasmuch as the root of the matter, the real guilt, is proved by 
 my suffering; whereas ye should yourselves be afraid of God's 
 anger : which was shown afterwards to be true. Chap. xlii. 7. 
 
88 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 This is Zophar's last speech, and he exhausts himself in his 
 violence. It is evident that every word is intended to be ap- 
 plied to Job ; and there is a coarseness, a sensuousness in the 
 images he employs, which would render them peculiarly offen- 
 sive to the sufferer. In this apparently indirect way, he now 
 accuses Job of hypocrisy, oppression, theft, gluttony, and mi- 
 serly meanness. This, however, prepares the way for Job's full 
 vindication of himself in subsequent chapters. 
 
 1 . And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said : 
 
 2. Assuredly my thoughts suggest an answer, 
 And by reason of the eagerness within me, 
 
 3. I hear the reproof which is to shame me. 
 
 And out of my understanding my spirit will reply. 
 
 4. Knowest thou (not) this of old, 
 
 From the time that man was placed upon earth ; 
 
 5. That the triumphing of the wicked is brief. 
 And the joy of the impious but for a moment ? 
 
 6. Though his height mount up to heaven. 
 And his head touch the clouds ; 
 
 7. Like his own dung he shall perish forever. 
 They that saw him shall say, Where is he ? 
 
 8. As a dream he shall fly away and not be found. 
 And shall flit as a vision of night. 
 
 9. The eye that looked upon him shall see him no more, 
 And his place shall no more behold him. 
 
 10. His children shall court the favour of the poor. 
 And his hand shall restore (to them) his goods. 
 
 11. His bones are full of his hidden sins. 
 And it shall lie down with him in the dust, 
 
 12. Though wic^'«^dness be sweet in his mouth, 
 (Though) he hide it under his tongue ; 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 89 
 
 13. Thou,3;h he spare it, and will not let it go, 
 But hv)ld it in his cheek : 
 
 14. His food in his bowels is turned (to poison), 
 It is gall of asps within him : 
 
 15. He hath swallowed down riches, and shall disgorge 
 
 them, 
 God shall drive them out of his belly : 
 
 16. He shall suck the poison of asps. 
 The viper's tongue shall slay him. 
 
 17. Let him not think to see the rivers, 
 The flowing streams of honey and milk : 
 
 18. The fruit of his toil shall he restore, and not devour, 
 According to the abundance shall be the restitution 
 
 thereof, 
 And he shall not rejoice. 
 
 19. Because he oppressed, forsook the poor, 
 Stole a house which he never builded ; 
 
 20. Because he knew no rest in his heart. 
 With his greed he shall not escape. 
 
 21. Because nothing was spared in his gluttony, 
 Therefore his prosperity shall not endure. 
 
 22. In the fulness of his abundance he shall be in straits, 
 Ail the power of trouble shall come upon him. 
 
 23. It shall come to pass that to fill his belly, God shall 
 
 cast upon him burning wrath, 
 And shall rain it upon him for his food. 
 
 24. If he flee from an iron weapon, 
 
 A bow of brass shall transfix him. 
 
 25. (If) he draweth out (the arrow) and it cometh out 
 
 of his body. 
 And the glittering weapon from his gall ; 
 He is gone, terrors are upon him. 
 
90 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 26. Entire darkness is reserved for his treasures, 
 A fire not blown shall devour him. 
 
 It shall consume what remains in his tent. 
 
 27. The heaven shall reveal his iniquity, 
 And the earth shall rise up against him ; 
 
 28. The increase of his house shall depart, 
 
 His wealth scraped together, in the day of his judg- 
 ment. 
 
 29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, 
 The heritage decreed by God. 
 
 Verse 22. — " The power of trouble," or " every hand of the 
 sorrowful," whom he oppressed. C. C. 
 
 V. 25. — '• He is gone ; deadly terrors are upon him." The 
 imperfect tense in Hebrew here presents a vivid picture. As 
 the wretch is drawing out of his body the deep-seated arrow, 
 he draws the life-blood with it, and he begins to faint away ; 
 "A^ w^on^," as we say; his strength is spent; death's terrors 
 are upon him. 
 
 V. 26. — '* A fire not blown." Coming from an unseen source ; 
 sent from heaven. 
 
 ••■ • • • • , i 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Job now enters more fully into the question of the temporal 
 prosperity of the rijjhteous and of the wicked. He asserts that 
 the wicked are often prosperous, and die without any reverses. 
 He endeavours to meet the argument, that the children suffer, 
 by the reply that the sinner is too selfish to be moved by their 
 suffering, and often escapes altogether himself. He introduces 
 the doctrine of a general judgment in the life to come, " when 
 the wicked are brought forth at the day of wrath." Meanwhile, 
 not only do the wicked prosper, but they are borne in state to 
 the tomb, and mausoleums are erected to their memory. Their 
 followers are as many as their predecessors. So that the argu- 
 ment of his friends falls to the ground. Here we observe that 
 Job is in full accord with St. Paul, Rom. ii. 6 to ii, as well as 
 with many other passages in the New Testament. 
 
 1. And Job answered and said : 
 
 2. Hearken diligently unto my words, 
 And let this be your consolation (to me). 
 
 3. Bear with me, and I will speak, 
 
 And after my word thou mayest mock. 
 
 4. Is my complaint to man f 
 
 If so, why should not my spirit be straitened ? 
 
 5. Turn to me and be astonished, 
 And lay your hand on your mouth. 
 
 6. Yea when I remember it, I am terrified, 
 And trembling seizes my flesh. 
 
 7. Why do the wicked live, 
 
 Wax old, yea, are mighty in wealth. 
 
 8. Their seed is established in their sight together with 
 
 them, 
 t And their offspring before their eyes. 
 
 9. Their houses are safe from fear. 
 
 And the rod of God is not upon them. 
 
92 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 10. Their bull gendereth, and faileth not, 
 Their cow calveth, and doth not miscarry. 
 
 11. They send forth their little ones like sheep, 
 And their children skip for joy. 
 
 12. They lift up their voice to the timbrel and harp, 
 And rejoice at the sound of the pipe. 
 
 13. They end their days in prosperity, 
 And in a moment go down to Hades. 
 
 14. And they say unto God, " Depart from us, 
 
 For we delight not in the knowledge of thy ways. 
 
 15. " What is the Almighty, that we should serve him. 
 And what profit is it, that we should make suit unto 
 
 him ? " 
 
 16. Lo ! their prosperity is not in their own hand ; 
 May the counsel of the wicked be far from me ! 
 
 17. How oft is it, that the lamp of the wicked is put out. 
 And their destruction cometh upon them ? 
 
 That God apportioneth sorrows in his anger ? 
 
 18. That they become as straw before the wind, 
 And as chaff which the whirlwind scattereth ? 
 
 19. (But ye say) God layeth up his affliction for his 
 
 children ? 
 Let him repay it to the sii.ner himself, and let him 
 feel it. 
 
 20. Let his own eyes see his calamity. 
 
 And let him drink the wrath of the Almighty. 
 
 21. For what careth he for his household, after him, 
 When his own allotted time is cut short ? 
 
 22. Is it to God one shall teach knowledge, 
 When He will judge those that are exalted ? 
 
 23. This one dieth in his full strength, 
 Wholly at ease and rest. 
 
.,' 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 93 
 
 24. 
 
 25. 
 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 29. 
 
 30. 
 
 31- 
 
 32. 
 
 33- 
 
 34- 
 
 His sides are full of fat, 
 
 And the marrow of his bones is moistened. 
 
 And this one dieth in bitterness of soul, 
 And never tasteth good : 
 
 Together they lie down in the dust, 
 And the worm covereth them. 
 
 Behold I know your thoughts, 
 
 And the devices wherewith ye do me wrong. 
 
 For ye say, " Where is the house of the prince ? 
 And where is the tent of the dwelling places of the 
 wicked ? " 
 
 Will ye not ask them that travel by the way ? 
 And can ye be ignorant of their observations ? 
 
 That the wicked is reserved at the day of calamity, 
 At the day of wrath they shall be brought forth ? 
 
 Who shall (dare to) declare his ways to his face ? 
 And for what he hath done, who will repay him ? 
 
 Yea, he shall be borne (in state) to the tomb, 
 And watch shall be kept over the sepulchral pile. 
 
 The clods of the valley are sweet unto him. 
 And every man shall draw after him, 
 Even as there were innumerable before him. 
 
 How then do ye comfort me in vain, 
 
 Seeing that in your answers there remaineth deceit ? 
 
 Verse 2. — " Let this be your consolation." As you offer me 
 no real solace, at least listen to my answer. 
 
 V. 16. — " Lo ! their prosperity is not in their own hand." This 
 seems a piece of irony, as Rosenmiiller observes : You see how 
 true your assertion is, that the wicked are always punished. 
 Be it so : I do not desire to share their counsels. This resem- 
 bles Job's other ironical compliment, "In sooth ye are the 
 people, and wisdom shall die with you." Thus understood, it 
 
94 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 agrees well with what follows, " How oft," [i. e. how seldom] 
 " is the lamp of the wicked put out," etc. 
 
 V. 22. — " He shall jiidge those that are exalted." See i Cor. 
 vi. 3, " Know ye not that we shall judge angels ?" 
 
 V. 28. — •' Where is the house of the prince," etc. You build 
 your argument solely on my calamity. 
 
 V. 31. — " Declare his way to his face." Who will venture 
 publicly to charge a wicked wealthy man with his crimes? 
 IJke Dives, he is buried in state, and a mausoleum is raised to 
 his memory. Job's description is just as accurate in the present 
 day. " Every man shall draw after him :" he has innumerable 
 followers, and a host of predecessors. 
 
 '^. 
 
 ■m- 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 95 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Eliphaz makes his last address, evidently irritated. He 
 plainly charges Job with oppressing and even robbing the poor, 
 with refusing hospitality, crushing the widow and orphan, with 
 contempt of God. All this, as far as appears, on the mere evi- 
 dence of his being a great sufferer. It is true that he promises 
 a restoration, but this is on condition that he confesses the 
 crimes laid to his charge. By the irony of events, Eliphaz him- 
 self is one of the "guilty," whom Job is appointed by God to 
 "deliver," when he offers burnt-offerings, and intercedes for his 
 friends, according to the will of God. 
 
 1. And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and sa'd : 
 
 2. Can a man profit God ? 
 
 Surel^^ a wise man profiteth (only) himself. 
 
 3. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art 
 
 righteous ? 
 Is it a gain to him, that thou makest thy ways per- 
 . feet? 
 
 4. For fear of thee will he reason with thee ? 
 Will he enter with thee into judgment? 
 
 5. Is not thy wickedness great ? 
 
 And is there any end to thine iniquities ? 
 
 6. For thou hast bound thy brother by a pledge with- 
 
 out cause, 
 And hast stripped the naked of their clothing. 
 
 7. Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink. 
 And hast refused bread to the famishing. 
 
 8. And the strong man, the land was his, 
 And the man in authority dwelt in it. 
 
 9. Thou hast sent widows away empty, 
 And hast crushed the arms of orphans. 
 
 10. Therefore snares are round about thee. 
 And sudden fear troubleth thee. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 11. Or a darkness, so that thou canst not see, 
 And an outpouring of waters cover thee. 
 
 12. Is not God in the height of heaven ? 
 
 And behold the summit of the stars, how high they 
 are, 
 
 13. And thou sayest, " What doth God know ? 
 Can He judge through the thick darkness ? " 
 
 14. " Thick clouds are his covering that he seeth not, 
 And he walketh in the vault of heaven." 
 
 15. Wilt thou keep the old path, 
 Wherein wicked men have walked ? 
 
 16. Who were seized by an untimely end. 
 Their foundation flowed away as a river. 
 
 17. Who said unto God, Depart from us. 
 And what can the Almighty profit us ? 
 
 18. Yet he filled their houses with good ; 
 
 I say then, " The counsel of the wicked be far from 
 me!" 
 
 19. The righteous shall see it and rejoice. 
 And the innocent will laugh him to scorn. 
 
 20. See (they say), whether our adversaries are not de- 
 
 stroyed, 
 And their wealth the fire has devoured. 
 
 21. Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace. 
 Thereby good shall come unto thee. 
 
 22. Receive now the law from his mouth, 
 And lay up his sayings in thine heart. 
 
 23. If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be 
 
 built up. 
 Thou shalt put away wickedness from thy tent. 
 
 24. Thou shalt lay up ore more than the dust. 
 
 Yea (gold of) Ophir among the stones of the brooks. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 97 
 
 25- 
 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 29. 
 
 30. 
 
 And the Almighty shall be thy confidence, 
 And thou shalt have treasures of silver (gotten by 
 labour), 
 
 For there thou shalt delight thyself in the Almighty, 
 And shalt lift up thy face unto God. 
 
 Thou shalt pray unto him, and he shall hear thee. 
 And thou shalt pay thy vows. 
 
 Thou shalt decide on a matter, and it shall stand, 
 And light shall brighten on thy ways : 
 
 When men are cast down, thou shalt say, 
 " Let there be lifting up ; " 
 And the lowly he will save 
 
 The guilty he will deliver. 
 
 Yea, he shall be delivered by the pureness of thy 
 hands. 
 
 Verse 18. — " I say then," etc. It is my place, not yours, to 
 say, " the counsel of the wicked be far from me," for in the 
 destruction of the sinners by the flood you see an example of 
 God's punishment of the wicked. Eliphaz is trying to turn Job's 
 own words against himself. The transition of thought is rapid, 
 and the A. V. very obscure. He continues in the next verses 
 to confirm his argument by the same instance of divine justice. 
 
 V. 25. — "Treasures of silver." Silver obtained with great 
 labour. 
 
 V. 30. — The A. V. is unintelligible. "Shall deliver the not- 
 innocent, i. e. the guilty." The Septuagint and Vulgate both 
 miss the sense, rendering, " He shall deliver the innocent ;" the 
 very opposite to what is intended. The prediction of Eliphaz 
 was fulfilled, but Eliphaz himself, not Job, was the guilty man 
 delivered. 
 
 ^ 
 
98 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTERS XXIII.-XXIV. 
 
 In reply, Job again most earnestly pleads for a hearing by 
 the Almighty Judge : declares his confident trust that he shall 
 be acquitted ; and utters the noble sentiment, which St. Peter 
 repeats, and which contains the true solution of his difficulty : 
 " He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold" He then ad- 
 dresses himself to the question between himself and his oppo- 
 nents, " Does God invariably reward the righteous, and punish 
 the evil doer in this life ? " He adduces instances of oppressors, 
 plunderers, robbers, murderers, adulterers, burglars, as often- 
 times dying unpunished. No times of retribution are invariably 
 laid up for them. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 1. And Job answered and said : 
 
 2. Even to-day is my complaint bitter, 
 
 Yet my stroke (my suffering) is heavier than my 
 groaning. 
 
 3. O that I knew where I might find Him, 
 That I might come to his dwelling place : 
 
 4. That I could order my cause before him, 
 And fill my mouth with pleadings ! 
 
 5. That I could know the words he would answer me, 
 And understand what he would say unto me 1 
 
 6. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his 
 
 strength? 
 Nay, even He would give heed to me: ' 
 
 7. There might the upright plead with him. 
 
 And I should be acquitted finally by my judge. 
 
 8. Lo ! I turn forward, and he is not there, 
 Behind me, and I cannot perceive him : 
 
 9. On the left har?d, where he worketh, and I see him 
 
 not. 
 He veileth himself on the right hand, and I do not 
 behold him : 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 99 
 
 lO. 
 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 
 14. 
 
 15- 
 
 16. 
 
 17- 
 
 Surely he knoweth the way that is with me, 
 
 He hath tried me, and I shall come forth as gold. 
 
 My foot hath held to his steps. 
 
 His way have I kept, and have not turned aside ; 
 
 The commandment of his lips, and have not turned 
 
 back, 
 I have laid up the words of his mouth more than 
 
 my own good pleasure. 
 
 But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him ? 
 What his soul willeth, even that he doeth. 
 
 For that which is appointed for me He will accom- 
 plish, 
 And many such things are with Him. 
 
 Therefore at His presence am I troubled, 
 I consider, and am terrified at Him. 
 
 For it is God that maketh my heart soft. 
 And the Almighty who terrifieth me. 
 
 Because he hath not cut me off before the darkness 
 
 (of my affliction). 
 And hath not hidden the gloom from my sight. 
 
 Verse 12. — "My own good pleasure." The word signifies a 
 fixed portion of labour, time, or food (hence A. V. necessary 
 food), or an habitual custom or law. I take it as the law Job 
 laid down to himself, which he placed in subordination to the 
 precepts of God. 
 
100 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 1. Why are not times of retribution treasured up by 
 
 the Ahnighty, 
 And they who know him, do not see his ways? 
 
 2. Some remove landmarks, they steal a flock and 
 
 pasture it. 
 
 3. They lead away the ass of the fatherless, 
 They take in pledge the ox of the widow. 
 
 4. They turn the needy out of the way, 
 
 The poor of the land are made to hide themselves 
 together. 
 
 5. Behold as wild asses in the desert they go to their 
 
 work. 
 Rising early in the morning in quest of prey : 
 The desert is food for him and for his children. 
 
 6. In the tilled land they gather fodder, 
 And glean the vintage of the wicked. 
 
 7. Naked they lodge all night unclad, 
 And without covering in the cold. 
 
 8. They are drenched with the mountain storms, 
 And for lack of shelter they cling to the rock. 
 
 9. Some snatch the fatherless from the breast, 
 And take a pledge of the poor man's clothing. 
 
 10. They go naked without clothing, 
 And famished they bear the sheaf. 
 
 11. Within their walls (of their oppressors) they press 
 
 out oil, 
 They tread the wine-vats and are athirst^ 
 
 12. Out of the city men groan, 
 
 And the soul of the wounded crieth out. 
 Yet God heedeth not their prayer. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 lOI 
 
 13. 
 
 14. 
 
 15- 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 23- 
 
 Others are men who rebel ag^ainst the light, 
 They consider not its ways, and abide not in its 
 paths. 
 
 The murderer riseth before daybreak, 
 And killeth the poor and needy. 
 And in the night is as a thief. 
 
 The eye of the adulterer also waiteth for the dusk, • 
 Saying, " No eye shall see me," 
 And putteth a veil upon his face. 
 
 (Another) breaks through houses in the dark, 
 In the daytime they seal themselves up. 
 They know not the light. 
 
 For to one and all the morning is the shadow of 
 
 death. 
 For each recognizes the terror of the shadow of death. 
 
 He trips lightly, as on the face of the waters. 
 Their portion is cursed in the earth : 
 They turn not to the path of the vineyards. 
 
 (As) drought and heat absorb snow-waters, 
 So Hades (swalloweth up) sinners. 
 
 The womb shall forget him, the worm shall feed 
 
 sweetly on him : 
 He shall no more be remembered, and wickedness 
 
 shall be broken as a tree. 
 
 (Others) devour the barren who bear not. 
 And do no good to the widow. 
 
 He even draggeth off the mighty by his strength. 
 He (the mighty) ariseth, and is not sure of life. 
 
 (God) has given to him to be in security and he 
 
 leans upon it. 
 Yet his eyes are upon their ways. 
 
loa BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 24. They arc exalted for a little while, and then are not, 
 
 and are destroyed : 
 Like all others they are gathered, 
 And as the tops of the cars of corn they are cut off. 
 
 25. And if it be not so then, who will convict me of 
 
 untruth, 
 And prove my words to be nothing worth ? 
 
 Verse 12. — " Heedeth not their prayer." Some render "im- 
 puteth not the wrong." 
 
 V. 16. — "Seal themselves up," to escape detection. "Recog- 
 nizes the terrors of the shadows of death," when the light ap- 
 pears, and he is afraid that he shall be discovered and seized. 
 
 V. 18.— "He trips lightly," etc. The steahhy walk of the 
 burglar. " Turn not to the path of the vineyards," where they 
 might find honest labour, but walk in by-paths, where they are 
 not observed. 
 
 'h- 
 
 I. ' 
 
 
 ^^m 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 103 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Bildad has nothing whatever to reply, but he utters a few 
 truisms in a pompous tone, which have all been urged pre- 
 viously, and then all the three friends are silent. They have 
 exhausted their arguments, and have entirely failed to silence 
 Job, or to answer him. 
 
 1. And Bildad the Shuhite answered and said : 
 
 2. Dominion and fear are with Him, , " 
 Who maketh peace in his high places. 
 
 3. Is there any number of his hosts ? 
 And on whom doth not his light arise ? 
 
 4. How then shall frail man be justified in God's sight ? 
 And how accounted pure that is born of woman ? 
 
 5. Behold even to the moon, and it shinefh not : 
 And the stars are not pure in his eyes. 
 
 6. How much less frail man, a worm, 
 And the son of man, a reptile ! 
 
 
I04 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTERS XXVI.-XXXI. 
 
 Job then takes up the discourse alone. As his friends seemed 
 to express a doubt of his belief in the power and wisdom of the 
 Creator, and treated him as if he were an infidel, he deals with 
 this subject at length, showing that he both knew and believed 
 as much as his opponents. He returns to the question of his 
 own integrity, which is to himself as much a truth as the wis- 
 dom of God, and further declares his detestation of the ungodly. 
 With a view, perhaps, to show that he did not differ from his 
 opponents in believing the certain eventual punishment of the 
 wicked, though not their invariable punishment in this life, he 
 describes in words that have appeared to some inconsistent 
 with his former argument, the evils that will fall on the wicked 
 and their posterity. Only, he would argue, this is not the inva- 
 riable law of God's providence. That Job is not conscious of 
 any inconsistency in his argument seems proved by the ex- 
 pression — 
 
 "What is the hope of the impious, though he get wealth. 
 When God shall summon his soul?" 
 
 This last clause seems to show that much of what he now said 
 may be referred to a judgment after death, though in many in- 
 stances, judgment goes before death. 
 
 Job has now cleared the way for a full exhibition of the guid- 
 ing principle of his life, in answer to the unworthy charges laid 
 against him. The whole desire of my life (he seems to say) has 
 been to search for heavenly wisdom and to obey its dictates, as 
 the duty and the happiness of man. He compares with this, 
 man's eager search for hidden treasure ; for gold and precious 
 stones, which had found a marketable value long before the 
 first attempt to coin money. But of what value to the soul of 
 man is this eager thirst for riches ? The one law I have ever 
 striven to keep before my mind is this : 
 
 ** The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ; ^. 
 
 And to depart from evil, is understanding." v 
 
 Then (chap, xxix.) he lays bare the whole aim of his life in 
 the days of his prosperity and dignity, showing that the great 
 principles of man's duty to his neighbour were fully understood, 
 even in the earliest times, for the picture of life is entirely 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 105 
 
 patriarchal, and does not belong to the later days of the Jewish 
 monarchy. With this, his former state, he contrasts his present 
 condition. He is the sport, the byword, the laughing-stock 
 of those "abjects," those pariahs of society, those nameless 
 wretches, huddled together in caves and holes of the earth, 
 who had been expelled from their homes and driven into the 
 desert. His fierce disease, his gnawing and unresting pain 
 meets with no human sympathy, and saddest of all, 
 
 " I cry unto Thee, but Thou answerest me not : 
 I stand to pray; but Thou gazest upon me ! " " 
 
 Death is imm'w< nt, and there is no hope of life. 
 
 He continues (chap, xxxi.) to shew us his sense of the neces- 
 sity of purity in the inmost soul. Lust and idolatry, deceit and 
 oppression, injustice, and indifference to the wants of the poor, 
 covetousness, and trust in wealth, have been alike abhorred by 
 him, even in thought ; and revenge, so dear to the Arab heart, 
 has never darkened his soul. He appeals to those who knew 
 him best, " the inmates of his tent," if his hospitality was not 
 extended to every wayfarer. "Armed strong in honesty," but 
 with some tinge of self-righteousness, he even challenges the 
 Almighty to a decision, and speaks as one who could meet him 
 in a court of judicature, and would come near to him with " the 
 princely heart of innocence." The sacred writer, however, has 
 more to tell us. Job must not only be vindicated, but Job must 
 be humbled. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 1. And Job answered and said : 
 
 2. How hast thou helped him that hath no strength ? 
 How hast thou succoured the feeble arm ? 
 
 3. What counsel hast thou given to the unwise ? 
 And hast imparted sound advice in abundance ? 
 
 4. To whom hast thou addressed thy words ? 
 And whose spirit came forth from thee? 
 
 5. The shades tremble beneath ; the waters, and they 
 
 that dwell therein. 
 
io6 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 6. Hades is naked before Him, and the abyss hath no 
 
 covering. 
 
 7. Stretching out the firmament over the empty space, 
 And hanging the earth upon nothing, I 
 
 8. Binding the waters in his thick clouds, 
 ^ . So that the cloud doth not burst under them. 
 
 9. Veiling the face of his throne, 
 Spreading his cloud thereon. 
 
 ID. Graving a circle over the face of the waters, 
 To the confines of light and darkness.' 
 
 11. The pillars of heaven tremble, 
 And are amazed at his reproof. t 
 
 12. By his strength he stilleth the sea. 
 And by his understanding he tameth its pride. 
 
 13. By his spirit the heavens are shining. 
 His hand hath formed the flying serpent. 
 
 14. Lo ! these are the outskirts of his ways, 
 And how small a whisper is heard of him ; 
 But the thunder of his power who can understand ? 
 
 Verse 5. — "The shades tremble." The transition is exceed- 
 ingly abrupt, and it is rendered more obscure by the A. V., but 
 it may be thus explained : Job, considering the brief address 
 of Bildad as scarcely worth an answer, as it does not touch the 
 question between himself and his opponents, takes the words 
 (as it were) out of Bildad's mouth, and proceeds to give many 
 proofs of the power and wisdom of the Almighty, which Bildad 
 has omitted. After a short reproof of Bildad, he suddenly takes 
 up the same subject, and shows that not only in Heaven above, 
 but in Hades beneath, the power of God is felt. The very 
 shades, the abode of the dead, "rephaim," tremble before Him. 
 
 Verse 7. — " The firmament." Lit. the north, or north-pole. 
 " Hanging the earth upon nothing." This passage is a sufficient 
 answer to those who think that the Hebrews imagined the earth 
 to be supported on solid pillars, because the word "pillars" is 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 107 
 
 sometimes applied to the earth. In no place of Holy Scripture 
 are the conclusions of science more clearly anticipated. 
 
 V. 10. — " A circle," /. e. the horizon. 
 
 V. 12. — " Stilleth the sea." I prefer this to "moveth " or "agi- 
 tateth," for the second member of the parallelism guides us 
 generally to the right sense of the first. So the Septuagint. 
 
 V. 13.— "Are shining." Lit., are brightness. "Formed the 
 flying serpent." The word rendered " formed," is so translated 
 in Ps. xc. 2. See also Job xxxix. i ; Pp. xxix. 9. B. W. renders 
 wounded, and so the Septuagint, " His hand hath wounded the 
 apostate dragon." The parallel clause would lead me to think 
 that Job alludes to a constellation. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 1. And Job continued his parable, and said : 
 
 2. As God liveth who depriveth me of my acquittal, 
 As the Almighty (liveth) who embittereth my life : 
 
 3. While my whole breath is in me. 
 
 And the spirit of God is in my nostrils : 
 
 4. So surely shall my lips speak no iniquity, 
 And my tongue shall utter no deceit. 
 
 5. Far be it from me that I should j'udge you to be 
 
 right, 
 Until my last breath, I will not cast away my integ- 
 rity from me. 
 
 6. I will hold fast to my uprightness, and will not let 
 
 it go. 
 My heart shall not reproach me all my days (past). 
 
 7. Let my enemy be as the wicked. 
 
 And he that riseth up against me as the evil man. 
 
 8. For what is the hope of the impious, though he get 
 
 wealth. 
 When God shall summon his soul ? 
 
io8 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 9. Will God hear his cry, when distress cometh upon 
 him? 
 
 10. Will he delight himself in the Almighty ? 
 Will he call upon God at all times ? 
 
 11. I will instruct you concerning the hand of God, 
 The dealings of the Almighty I will not conceal. 
 
 12. Lo ! ye all of you have seen it; 
 Wherefore then do ye utter mere vanities ? 
 
 13. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, 
 And the inheritance which oppressors shall receive 
 
 from the Almighty. 
 
 14. If his children be multiplied, they are for the sword : 
 And his offspring shall not be filled with bread. 
 
 15. His survivors shall be buried by death : 
 And his widows shall make no lamentation. 
 
 16. Though he heap up silver as dust, 
 And prepare clothing as clay ; 
 
 17. He shall prepare it, and the righteous shall be clothed 
 
 with it, 
 And his silver the innocent shall inherit. 
 
 18. He hath built his house as the moth, 
 And as the booth the watcher frameth. 
 
 19. The rich man lieth down, and shall not be gathered 
 
 (to his rest). 
 He openeth his eyes, and he is no more. 
 
 20. Terrors pursue him as a deluge, 
 
 A whirlwind hurrieth him off by night. 
 
 21. An east wind carrieth him away and he is gone; 
 And whirleth him out of his place. 
 
 22. (God) casteth it upon him unsparingly, 
 
 Though he strive never so much to escape out of 
 his hand. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 109 
 
 23. Men shall clap their hands at him, 
 
 And shall hiss at him out of his place. 
 
 Dismissing his opponents, for Zophar has nothing more to 
 say, Job now reviews the whole controversy, continues his 
 " parable," or discourse on knotty, intricate questions, as the 
 word is used in Ps. Ixxviii. 2. "I will open my mouth in a par- 
 able; I will declare hard sentences of old;" enigmas. See 
 I Cor. xill. 12. 
 
 Verse 15. — " Buried by death." vfo friends, no mourners, no 
 widow to stand by ; death only to entomb the corpse. C. C. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 1 . Surely there is a vein (or mine) for silver, 
 And a place for gold (which) they refine. 
 
 2. Iron is taken out of the earth. 
 And ore is molten into copper. 
 
 3. He (the miner) setteth an end to darkness. 
 And searcheth to its extreme limits, 
 
 The stone (hid in) darkness, and the shadow of 
 death. 
 
 4. He sinketh a shaft far from the settler, 
 
 Unaided by the foot, they hang suspended far from 
 men. v^: 
 
 5. The earth by their toil produceth food, 
 
 And underneath it, it is turned up as by fire. . 
 
 6. Its stones are the place of sapphires. 
 And he hath nuggets of gold. 
 
 7. That path no bird of prey knoweth. 
 Nor hath the vulture's eye scanned it. 
 
 8. The sons of pride have not trodden it, 
 Nor the lion passed over it. 
 
no BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 9. He (the miner) putteth forth his hand to the hard 
 rock, 
 He overturneth mountains by the roots. 
 
 10. He cleaveth channels among the rocks, 
 
 A nd his eye beholdeth every precious thing. 
 
 11. The streams of waters h»- bindeth from dripping, 
 And hidden treasures he bringeth to light. 
 
 12. But wisdom, — whence cometh it? '^• 
 And where is the place of understanding ? 
 
 13. Frail man knoweth not its worth, w^ 
 Neither is it found in the land of the living. 
 
 14. The depth saith, " It is not in me : " 
 And the sea saith, " It is not with me." 
 
 15. Choice gold cannot be given in exchange for it, 
 Nor silver weighed as its price. 
 
 16. It cannot be valued for the gold of Ophir, 
 With the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 
 
 17. Gold and crystal cannot equal it. 
 
 Nor can it be exchanged for vessels of pure gold. 
 
 18. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. 
 For the possession of wisdom is above pearls (or 
 
 rubiies). 
 
 19. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it. 
 Nor shall it be weighed with pure gold. 
 
 20. And wisdom, — whence cometh it ? *]' 
 And where is the place of understanding ? - 
 
 21. Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, /V 
 And concealed from the birds of heaven. 
 
 22. Destruction and death say. 
 
 With our ears we have heard a rumour (thereof). 
 
 23. God understandeth its way, 
 And he knoweth its place. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. Ill 
 
 24. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, 
 He seeth under the whole heaven. 
 
 25. To make weight for the wind, 
 
 And the waters he adjusteth by measure : 
 
 26. When he made a law for the rain, 
 
 And a path for the flash of the thunder voices. y, 
 
 27. Then he beheld, and numbered it, 
 
 He prepared it, yea, and also searched it out. 
 
 28. And unto man he said — 
 
 Lo ! the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, 
 And to depart from evil (is) understanding. 
 
 Verse 6.—" Nuggets." Lumps. 
 
 V. 8. — "Sons of pride," i. e. fierce beasts of prey. 
 
 V. 10.— "Channels," i.e. adits, so calhid by miners. The 
 chapter accurately describes the process of mining, as well 
 known to the Egyptians. Such mines were in existence at the 
 time of the Exodus. 
 
 V. II.— "Dripping." Lit., "weeping;" a term still in use 
 among miners. 
 
 Vs. 18, 19.— The names of the jewels cannot be determined 
 with accuracy, but the general sense is plain. C. C. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX, 
 
 1. And Job continued his parable and said : 
 
 2. Oh that I were as in months past, -% 
 As in the days when God preserved me. 
 
 3. When his lamp shone upon my head. 
 And by his light I walked in darkness. 
 
 4. As I was in the days of my prime, 
 
 When the favour (counsel) of God was on my tent. 
 
 5. When the Almighty was yet with me. 
 And my children were around me. 
 
 6. When I washed my steps in butter, 
 
 And the rock poured out for me rivers of oil. 
 
112 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 7. When I went through the gate to the city, 
 
 In the broadway I prepared my seat. ^ 
 
 8. The young men saw me and hid themselves, 
 And the aged arose, (and) stood. 
 
 i 9. Princes refrained from speaking, 
 
 And laid their hand upon their mouth. 
 
 ■• 10. As to the voice of the nobles, it was hidden, ' 
 
 And their tongue clave to the roof of their mouth. 
 
 11. When the ear heard, then it blessed me, 
 When the eye saw, it bore witness to me. 
 
 12. For I delivered the poor from the oppressor, 
 The fatherless, and him that had no helper. 
 
 f, 13. The blessing of the perishing came upon me, 
 And I made the widow's heart to sing for joy. 
 
 14. I clad me in righteousness, and it was my clothing, 
 My justice was as a robe and diadem. 
 
 15. Eyes was I to the blind, 
 And feet was i to the lame : 
 
 16. I was a father to the needy, '^ 
 And the cause I knew not I searched out. 
 
 17. And I brake the jaw-teeth of the wicked, 
 And plucked the prey from his teeth. 
 
 18. And I said, I shall die with my nest, 
 
 And multiply my days as the sand : • > 
 
 19. My root will be open to the waters, ' f^. 
 And the dew will lodge on my branches : 
 
 20. My glory will remain fresh with me. 
 
 And my bow will renew its strength in my hand. 
 
 21. To me, they gave ear, and waited, and silently ex- 
 
 pected my counsel. 
 
 22. After I had spoken they made no answer, 
 And my words dropped upon them. 
 
n\ 
 
 BOOK OF JOn, ' 113 
 
 23. And they waited for me as the rain, 
 
 And opened their mouths wide as for the latter rain. 
 
 24. If I kughed on them, they beheved it not, 
 
 And the Hght of my countenance they caused not 
 to fall. •* ♦ 
 
 25. I chose their way, and sat as head. 
 And dwelt as a king among a host, 
 As one who comforteth mourners. 
 
 Verse 4. — " My prime." Lit., harvest. 
 
 V. 24. — " The light of my countenance," etc. Said of Cain, 
 Gen. iv. 5, 6. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 1. But now they mock me, who are younger than my- 
 
 self, 
 Whose fathers I refused to set with the dogs of my 
 flock. 
 
 2. Yea, of what value was their strength to me, *■■• 
 In whom their natural vigour had perished ? 
 
 3. From want and famine emaciated, 
 
 That gnaw the desert, sometime desolate and waste. 
 
 4. That pluck saltwort off the bushes, . *^ 
 And juniper-root for their food ; 
 
 ^$. From the midst (of men) they were driven. 
 
 They cried after them as a thief; '.^v 
 
 6. (Driven) to dwell in dismal valleys, • "'• 
 
 In caves and holes of the earth: - 
 
 ■■■■'■■ '15' 
 
 7. Between the bushes they brayed, 
 Under the nettles they huddled together. 
 
 8. Children of fools, yea nameless children, 
 They were cast out of the land. 
 
114 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 
 9. And now I am become their song, 
 
 And am their byword. ^ 
 
 10. They loathe me, they stand far from me, 
 They refrain not from spitting in my face. 
 
 1 1 . For each one of them looseth his rein and afflicteth 
 me, 
 
 And casteth off his bridle in my presence. 
 
 12. Upon my right hand the young brood riseth up, 
 They trip up my feet, and cast up against me their 
 
 highways of ruin. n 
 
 13. They break up my path, they help on my fall. 
 Themselves the helpless. 
 
 14. Like a wide breach they come on. 
 
 Beneath the ruins they roll themselves upon me. 
 
 15. Terrors are turned upon me : 
 
 A They pursue mine honour as the wind, .^ 
 
 And my dignity is passed as a cloud. 
 
 16. And now my soul is poured out upon me, '^* 
 ^ Days of affliction have laid hold of me : 
 
 17. By night my bones are pierced through within me. 
 And my gnawing pain' resteth not. 
 
 18. By its great violence my raiment is disfigured, 
 It girdeth me as the collar of my tunic : 
 
 19. It casteth me down upon the mire, 
 And I am become like dust and ashes. 
 
 20. I cry unto Thee, and thou answerest me not, 
 
 I stand (for prayer) but thou gazest upon me ! 
 
 21. Thou art changed to a cruel one to me. 
 With thy strong hand thou attackest me. 
 
 22. Thou liftest me up, and bearest me upon the wind, 
 And thou dissolvest my substance. 
 
ROOK OF job: * • lis 
 
 23. For I know that thou wilt bring me down to death, 
 To the house appointed for all living. 
 
 24. Only in his ruinous fall shall not one stretch forth 
 
 his hand ? y 
 
 In his calamity shall he not complain thereof? 
 
 25. Have I not wept for him whose day is hard ? 
 Was not my soul grieved for the needy ? ^, 
 
 26. When I looked for good, then evil came, 
 
 I hoped for light, and there came thick darkness, 
 
 27. My bowels boil and are restless ; 
 
 The days of my affliction come suddenly upon me. 
 
 28. I go blackened, but not with the sun : r. 
 I rise up, I cry in public. 
 
 29. I am become a brother to jackals, * 
 
 And a companion to the daughters of the ostrich. 
 
 30. My skin is blackened upon nie, 
 
 And my bones are burned with heat. ♦ 
 
 31. My harp also is turned to mourning, ^ "^ 
 And my pipe into the voice of them that weep. 
 
 Verse 12. — " Young brood," a term of contempt. ^ 
 
 V. 15. — See Ps. vii. 5. 
 
 V. 20. — " Gazest at me," as not heeding his supplications. 
 
 V. 24. — Commentators are much divided as to the meaning 
 of this obscure verse. The words, the construction, and the 
 connection, are alike disputed. I have given Canon Cooke's 
 rendering, and, substantially, Canon Barry's. Bishop Words- 
 worth renders — 
 
 '• Only will he (God) not stretch out his hand to help a ruin ? 
 Will not crying reach him in his destruction of me ?" 
 DathS's translation is — 
 
 " May one not pray when God putteth forth his hand ? 
 Will not crying reach him in his destruction of me ?" 
 If this verse be connected with that which follows. Job seems to 
 vindicate his own complaints on the ground that he had often 
 wept for other sufferers. 
 
ii6 ' BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 1. I made a covenant to mine eyes, 
 
 And how then could I gaze upon a maiden ? 
 
 2. Then what would be my portion from God above ? 
 And what my inheritance of the Almighty from on 
 
 high? 
 
 3. Is not destruction to the evil man ? 
 And calamity to the workers of iniquity ? 
 
 4. Doth He not see my ways, 
 And numlK»r all my steps ? 
 
 5. If I have walked with vanity, 
 
 And my foot hath hasted after deceit — 
 
 6. Let Him weigh me in the balances of righteousness, 
 And God shall know mine integrity. 
 
 7. If my i'tep hath declined from the (right) way, 
 And my heart hath walked after mine eyes. 
 And if any stain hath cleaved to my hands : 
 
 8. Let me sow, and another eat, 
 And let my produce be rooted out. 
 
 9. If my heart hath been enticed after a woman, 
 And I have laid wait at my neighbour's door, 
 
 10. Let my wife grind unto another. 
 And let others embrace her. 
 
 11. For this is a heinous crime, 
 
 Yea it is a sin for the judges (to punish). 
 
 1 2. For this is a fire that devoureth to destruction, 
 And would root out all mine increase. 
 
 13. If I have denied justice to my man-ser\'ant, or my 
 
 maid-servant, 
 When they contended with me : 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 117 
 
 14. What then should I do when God riseth up, 
 
 And when he visitcth, what answer should I return ? 
 
 15. • Did not He that made me, make him also ? 
 
 Djd not one fashion us in the womb ? 
 
 16. If I have withheld the poor from their desire, 
 And have caused the eyes of the widow to fail : 
 
 17. If I have eaten my morsel alone, ^ 
 And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof: 
 
 18. Nay from my youth he grew up with me as a father, 
 And I brought her up (the widow) even from my 
 
 mother's womb : 
 
 19. If I have seen any perish for lack of clothing. 
 And the needy for want of covering : 
 
 20. If his loins have not blessed me, 
 
 And he were not warmed with the fleece of my 
 sheep: 
 
 21. If I have shaken my hand against the fatherless, 
 When I saw my supporters in the gate : 
 
 22. Let my shoulder fall from the blade, ' 
 And mine arm be fractured from .he joint. 
 
 23. For God's destruction would be a terror to me, 
 And because of his majesty I should be powerless. 
 
 24. If I have made gold my trust. 
 
 And said to fine gold, " My confidence :" 
 
 25. If I rejoiced, because m.y wealth was great. 
 
 And because I had gotten much substance : % 
 
 26. If I looked on the sun, when it shineth. 
 And the moon walking in brightness : 
 
 27. And my heart hath been secretly enticed, 
 And my mouth hath kissed my hand : 
 
 28. Yea, this also is a sin for the judges (to punish), 
 For I should have renounced God who is above : 
 
ii8 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 29. If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that 
 
 hated me, 
 And exulted that evil had found him out : . 
 
 30. Yea, I suffered not my mouth to sin, , 
 By demanding his life with imprecations : 
 
 31. If the inmates of my tent said not, 
 
 Shew us one who has not been plentifully feasted 
 by him? 
 
 32. The stranger lodged not without, 
 
 I opened my door to the wayfarer. 
 
 33. If I have covered my sin as Adam, 
 Hiding my iniquity in my bosom : 
 
 34. Because I dreaded the great multitude. 
 
 And the contempt of the families of the tribes intimi- 
 dated me. 
 
 Then had I been silent, I would not have gone out 
 of doors. 
 
 35. O that one would grant me a hearing ! 
 
 Behold my signature — that the Almighty would 
 answer me ! 
 
 Or that my challenger would write a bill of indict- 
 ment ! 
 
 36. If I would not bear it upon my shoulder ! 
 If I would not bind it on me as chaplets ! 
 
 37. I would recount to him the number of my steps, 
 I would draw near to him as a prince. 
 
 38. If my land cried out against me (as its unlawful 
 
 possessor), 
 If its furrows wept together (over my injustice), 
 
 39. If I have eaten its strength without payment. 
 And caused the soul of its owners to sigh, 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 119 
 
 40. 
 
 Let brambles grow instead of wheat, 
 And noisome weeds instead of barley ! 
 The words of Job are ended. 
 
 Verse 21. — " In the gate." Where suits were usually decided. 
 
 V. 31. — *' Shew us one," etc. The A. V, is obscure. The trans- 
 lation I have given seems to convey the sense of the passage, 
 referring to Job's abundant hospitaUty. 
 
 V. 35. — " My signature." The answer which I must exhibit 
 in the court of judicature to my accuser, who is also bound to 
 produce his written indictment. " O that mine adversary had 
 written a book," (A. V.) is entirely misleading. 
 
 V. 38.^ob had been charged by Eliphaz with oppression of 
 the poor, chap, xxii, and by Zophar with robbery, chap. xx. 
 
 v.- ■■ ■' 
 
Ifl 
 
 I20 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTERS XXXII.-XXXVII. 
 
 Now a new character appears upon the scene, Elihu, a 
 young man, who had been eagerly Ustening to the whole con- 
 troversy. With a natural apology for addressing his elders, and 
 with an express admission that they had not met Job's argu- 
 ments with a satisfactory reply, and that he himself would not 
 argue on their principles, nor would stoop to flatter either Job 
 or his opponents, he proceeds to address Job. Absolutely aban- 
 doning the unjust accusations laid against him, he reproves Job 
 for his self-righteousness and presumptuous speeches towards 
 God. For the first time in the controversy, the great purpose 
 of affliction is distinctly brought out. It is "to hide pride from 
 man ;" to humble, and to purify him. But Elihu goes further 
 than this. Man not only needs humbling and purifying, but he 
 needs redeeming. He requires a ransom for his soul. In the 
 very wonderful passage in which Elihu develops this thought, 
 he speaks as one inspired with a new Revelation. And we are 
 led to regard it as truly a prophecy of things to come, as the 
 words of Job in the nineteenth chapter, and indeed a more 
 clear prophecy. Job had complained throughout of his need 
 of an arbiter of his cause ; he had seemed to regard the Al- 
 mighty as an adversary ; he had asked for one who could lay 
 his hand on both God and man ; and now, his prayer is an- 
 swered. The angel who pleads in behalf of man, who is "one 
 among a thousand," is surely none other than the angel who 
 "redeemed" both Jacob and David from all evil. Gen. xlviii. 
 15, 16; 2 Sam. iv. 9; Ps. xxxiv. 22: the angel whose name is 
 " Wonderful," " the angel of the covenant," the God who re- 
 deems, as well as the man who suffers. See Hosea xiii. 14. 
 And we are as fully entitled to give this sense to the passage as 
 to give a Christian sense to the words of the Psalms, which the 
 Catholic Church has invariably done, both in the Commentaries 
 of the Fathers and by the Liturgical use of the Psalter, and of 
 the Gloria Patri, etc. at the close of every Psalm. " 
 
 In the next Chapter (xxxiv.), Elihu reproves Job for certain 
 presumptuous speeches, which he quotes without the context, 
 which would have somewhat modified and explained them. 
 When, however, he teaches Job the right use of affliction, he is 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 121 
 
 preparing Job's mind for the real lesson of humiliation and sub- 
 mission which he was to receive from the mouth of God himself. 
 The concluding words of chap, xxxiv. are, it must be admitted, 
 very harsh, and resemble too nearly the spirit of the three 
 friends of Job. In the latter part of his address, he admits the 
 truth of Job's doctrine of the apparent inequalities of Divine 
 Providence, but counsels submission as the only true course, 
 and, observing the signs of a rising storm, he bids Job "stand 
 still, and consider the wonderful works of God," and learn the 
 nothingness of man. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 I. So these three men ceased to answer Job because he 
 was righteous in his own eyes. 2. Then was kindled the 
 wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the 
 family of Ram, against Job was his anger kindled, be- 
 cause ho justified himself more than God. 3. Also against 
 his three friends was his anger kindled, because they had 
 found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. 4. Now 
 Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because he was 
 older than himself. 5. When Elihu saw that there was 
 no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his 
 anger was kindled. 6. And Elihu, the son of Barachel 
 the Buzite, answered and said : 
 
 I am young and ye are aged : 
 
 Therefore I was afraid, and feared to declare what I 
 know in your presence. 
 
 7. I said, Days shall speak. 
 
 And the multitude of years shall teach wisdom. 
 
 8. Nevertheless the spirit which is in man, 
 
 Even the inspiration of the Almighty (giveth) un- 
 derstanding. 
 
 9. Men of years are not (always) wise, 
 Nor do aged men understand judgment. 
 
122 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 
 10. Therefore I said, hearken to me, 
 
 I will utter what I know ; even I. 
 
 11. Lo ! I waited for your words, 
 I gave ear to your reasonings, 
 
 Till ye had searched out what ye should say. 
 
 12. And I gave heed to you. 
 
 But lo ! there was none that confuted Job, 
 Or that answered his words among > ou : 
 
 13. Lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom : 
 God putteth him to flight, not man. 
 
 14. And he hath not directed his words unto me. 
 Nor will I answer him with your arguments. 
 
 15. They were confounded, they answered no more, 
 Words failed them. 
 
 16. And (again) I waited, yet they spake not, 
 
 For they remained silent, they answered no more. 
 
 17. (I thought) I will answer, even I, on my part, 
 I will utter what I know, even L 
 
 18. For I am full of words, 
 
 The spirit within me constraineth me. 
 
 19. Lo ! my inward part is as wine that hath no vent, 
 As new wine skins of which each is ready to burst. 
 
 20. I will speak, and get me breath, 
 
 I will open my lips, and will answer. 
 
 21. Let me not, I pray, accept the person of the great. 
 Nor flatter any man, 
 
 - i 
 
 22. For I know not to offer flattery ; 
 
 Speedily would my Maker take me away. » , 
 
 Verse 2. — It would seem that Elihu v^as related to Nahor, and 
 so eventually to Abraham. 
 
 Verses 15, 16. — More than one passage occurs in this book in 
 which the speaker contemplates those whom he is addressing 
 in the third person. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 1. Therefore hear I pray thee, O Job, my words, 
 And hearken to all that I say. 
 
 2. Behold now, I open my mouth, 
 
 The words of my tongue are in my palate. 
 
 3. My sayings are (from) an upright heart. 
 And my lips utter what I know sincerely. 
 
 4. The spirit of God hath made me. 
 
 And the inspiration of the Almighty hath quickened 
 me. 
 
 5. If thou canst, return me an answer, 
 
 Set thy thoughts in order before me ; take thy stand. 
 
 6. Lo ! I, as regards God, am according to thy model, 
 I am moulded of clay, even I. 
 
 7. Lo ! my terror shall not alarm thee. 
 
 And my dignity shall not be heavy upon thee. 
 
 8. Surely thou saidst in mine ears, 
 And the voice of thy words I heard, 
 
 9. "I am pure without transgression, 
 
 I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me." 
 
 10. " Lo ! he findeth occasions of strife with me, 
 
 He counteth me as his enemy." 
 n. "He putteth my feet in the stocks, 
 
 He watcheth all my paths." ' 
 
 12. Lo ! this thou hast not said jusdy, 
 
 I will answer thee, that God is greater than man. 
 
 13. Wherefore dost thou strive with Him ? 
 
 For of none of his ways doth He give account 
 
 14. For God speaketh once, yea twice, 
 
 But he (man) observeth it not ^^^; 
 
124 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 ■■-r 
 
 15. In a dream, in a vision of the night, 
 When deep sleep falleth on men, 
 In slumberings on the bed ; 
 
 16. Then he openeth the ear of men. 
 And sealeth their admonition. 
 
 17. To withdraw man from his (evil) deeds, 
 Fo he hideth pride from man. 
 
 18. He keepeth back his soul from the pit. 
 And his life from passing away by the dart. 
 
 19. He is also chastened with pain upon his bed, 
 And with continual anguish in his bones : 
 
 20. So that his appetite (life) abhorreth bread. 
 And his soul dainty food. 
 
 21. His flesh is consumed out of sight, 
 
 And his bones which were not seen, are bare. 
 
 22. And his soul draweth near to the grave. 
 And his life to the destroyers. 
 
 23. If there be with him [or near him] an interceding 
 
 angel. 
 One who, among a thousand. 
 Can declare unto man his duty ; 
 
 24. Then He is gracious unto him, and he saith, (/. e. 
 
 the angel), 
 " Redeem him from going down to the pit, 
 I have found a ransom." 
 
 25. His flesh shall be restored fresher than a child's. 
 He shall return to the days of his youth ; 
 
 26. He shall pray unto God, and He shall be favourable 
 
 to him ; 
 He shall see his face with joy ; 
 And he shall restore to frail man his righteousness. 
 
 27. He will sing among men, and say, 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 125 
 
 I have sinned and perverted the right, 
 And I was not requited as I deserved. 
 
 28. He hath redeemed my soul from passing into the pit, 
 And my life shall behold the light. 
 
 29. Lo ! all these things worketh God oftentimes with 
 
 man, 
 
 30. To restore his soul from the pit. 
 
 To enlighten him with the light of the living. 
 
 31. Attend, O Job, hearken unto me: \/ 
 Be silent, and I will speak. 
 
 32. If thou hast any thing to say, answer me, ^ 
 Speak, for I desire thy justification. ' 
 
 33. If not, do thou hearken to me ; 
 
 Hold thy peace, and I will teach thee wisdom. 
 
 Verses 23, 24. — " If there be with him an interceding angel." 
 The word rendered "angel" signifies one deputed, or sent by 
 another. Where the sender is God, it is always rendered 
 " angel " in A. V. Where the sender is man, it is rendered 
 *' messenger." Here, as the work of the angel is far above that 
 of an ordinary man, he who sends him must be God, and he 
 who is sent is commissioned to execute a divine work. " The 
 angel is gracious unto him," constantly used of the Divine 
 favour and mercy. ** God be gracious unto thee my son," Gen. 
 xliii. 29. " Redeem him from going down to the pit ; I have 
 found a ransom." These are spiritual acts, such as none but 
 God can perform. See Ps. xlix. 7, 9. " None can by any means 
 redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him .... that 
 he should live for ever, and not see the pit." And compare 
 Rosea xiii. 14, " I will ransom them from the hand of the grave, I 
 will redeem from death." " Interceding." The root signifies one 
 who stammers, or speaks in a barbarous tongue ; in a second- 
 ary sense, scomers, as in Job, " My friends are my scomers :" 
 further, interpreters who explain a foreign language, and once 
 it is rendered in A. V. "ambassadors," 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. 
 Hence Gesenius renders it intercessor, intemuncius, an idea 
 
136 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 much thought of by Job. The intercession described in this 
 passage as the work of the angel, entirely harmonizes with St. 
 Paul's doctrine of a Mediator. 
 
 V. 27. — ** He will sing." This is now generally accepted as 
 the correct rendering. It conveys a new and striking idea. It 
 is the holy song of the redeemed and pardoned sinner. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 1. And Elihu answered and said : 
 
 2. Hear my words, ye wise men, 
 
 And give ear to me, ye men of knowledge. 
 
 3. For the ear trieth words. 
 As the palate tasteth food. 
 
 4. Let us choose for ourselves a right decision, 
 Let us approve among ourselves what is good. 
 
 5. For Job hath said, " I am justified, 
 
 And God hath deprived me of my judgment." 
 
 6. "Against my just right should I pass for a liar. 
 My wound (arrow) is incurable, without transgres- 
 
 sion." 
 
 7. What man is like Job, 
 
 Who drinketh up scorn as water ? 
 
 8. Who goeth in company with workers of iniquity, 
 And watcheth with wicked men. 
 
 9. For he hath said, " It doth not profit a man to 
 
 delight in the favour of God." 
 
 10. Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understand- 
 
 ing, 
 Far be it from God to do wickedness, 
 And from the Almighty, to commit iniquity. 
 
 11. For the work of a man shall he repay him. 
 
 And according to his way he will cause a man to find. 
 
 I 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 197 
 
 1 2. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, 
 Neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. 
 
 13. Who hath given Him the earth in charge, 
 And who hath founded the whole universe ? 
 
 14. If he set his heart on himself alone, 
 
 If he gathered his spirit and breath unto himself: 
 
 15. All flc^h would perish together, 
 And man would return to dust. 
 
 16. If then thou hast understanding, hear this : 
 Give ear to the voice of my words. 
 
 17. Shall he that hateth judgment, rule? 
 
 And wilt thou condemn the just, the mighty ? 
 
 18. Shall one say to a king, "Vile man," 
 And to princes, " (Ye are) ungodly "? 
 
 19. How much less to him who accepteth not the person 
 
 of princes, 
 And regardeth not the rich more than the poor, 
 For they are all the work of his hands. 
 
 20. In a moment they die, 
 
 And at midnight the people are overthrown and 
 
 pass away, ^^ 
 
 And the mighty are removed by no hand (of man), 
 
 21. For his eyes are upon the ways of man. 
 And all his steps he seeth. 
 
 22. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death. 
 Where the workers of iniquity can hide themselves. 
 
 23. For he need not long set himself to observe man, 
 That he should come before God in judgment. 
 
 24. He breaketh in pieces the mighty without searching, 
 And raiseth up others in their stead, 
 
 25. Because he knoweth their deeds. 
 
 And overturneth them by night, and they are crushed. 
 
128 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 26. Inasmuch as they are wicked, he smiteth them in 
 
 the place of all beholders. 
 
 27. Because they turned back from him, 
 And considered not any of his ways. 
 
 28. So as to bring before him the cry of the poor, 
 Yea the cry of the afflicted He heareth. 
 
 29. And (when) He giveth peace, who then can make 
 
 trouble ? 
 When He hideth his face, who can behold him ? 
 If it be done upon a nation, or upon a man only ? 
 
 30. To prevent the impious man from ruling, 
 Or to thwart the snares of the people ? 
 
 31. Surely, to God one should say, 
 
 I have borne (my chastisement), 
 I will not deal perversely. 
 
 32. Beyond that which I see, teach thou me. 
 
 If I have done iniquity, I will do so no more. 
 
 33. Will he requite according to thy mind ? (saying) 
 " For thou refusest, for thou choosest, and not I, 
 And what thou knowest, utter." ^ 
 
 34. Men of understanding will say to me, 
 And a wise man will hear me (when I say), 
 
 35. Job speaketh without knowledge. 
 
 And his words are without instruction. ' 
 
 36. My desire is, that Job may be tried to the very end, 
 Because of his answers, like those of wicked men. 
 
 37. For he addeth impiety to his sin : 
 
 He clappeth his hands among us, ' 
 
 • And multiplieth his words against God. 
 
 Verse 14. — That is, if, entirely regardless of man's interests, 
 he leave man to himself. 
 
 V. 33. — " For thou refusest." The words of the Almighty, on 
 the suppositiop that man is to dictate to God. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 129 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 1. And Elihu answered and said : 
 
 2. Hast thou thought this rightly, 
 
 When thou sayest, " I am more just than God"? 
 
 3. For thou sayest, " What profit shall it be to thee "? 
 What more should I gain than from sinning ? 
 
 4. I will return thee an answer, 
 And thy friends with thee. 
 
 5. Look to the heavens, and see ; 
 
 And observe the clouds, high above thee. * * 
 
 6. If thou hast sinned, what injury doest thou to Him ? 
 If thy offences be multiplied, what doest thou to 
 
 Him? 
 
 7. If thou hast dealt righteously, what givest thou to 
 
 Him? 
 Or what will He receive of thy hand ? 
 
 8. Thy wickedness can only affect a man as thou art, 
 And thy righteousness a son of man. 
 
 9. Men groan at the multitude of oppressors. 
 They cry out from under the arm of the mighty. 
 
 10. But none saith, Where is God my maker, 
 Who giveth songs in the night ? 
 
 11. Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, 
 And maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven ? 
 
 12. There they cry, but He answereth not, 
 By reason of the pride of the wicked. 
 
 13. Surely God will not hearken to vain prayers, -* 
 Neither will the Almighty regard them. 
 
 14. Surely though thou sayest, Thcu canst not see Him, 
 ^ The cause is before Him ; therefore do thou wait for 
 
 Him. 
 
»3o 
 
 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 15. And because His wrath hath visited thee gently (as 
 
 nothing), 
 And He taketh no notice of thy exceeding sinfulness : 
 
 16. Therefore Job vainly openeth his mouth, 
 
 He multiplieth his words without knowledge. 
 
 Verse 13. — See St. James iv. 3. 
 
 8. 
 
 10. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 And Elihu further spake and said : 
 
 Wait for me a little, and I will instruct thee, 
 For I have yet words to speak for God. 
 
 I will bring my knowledge from afar ; 
 
 And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. 
 
 For verily my words are not false, 
 One of sound knowledge is with thee. 
 
 Lo ! God is great, and despiseth none ; 
 He is mighty in strength of understanding. 
 
 He will not preserve the wicked. 
 
 And to the afflicted he will render justice. 
 
 He doth not withdraw his eyes from the just, 
 But with kings on a throne 
 
 He even setteth them on high for ever, and they are 
 exalted. 
 
 And if they be bound in fetters, 
 Taken in cords of affliction ; 
 
 Then he sheweth them their doings, 
 And their transgressions, in that they have dealt 
 proudly. 
 
 And he openeth their ear to instruction, 
 And biddeth them turn from iniquity. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 131 
 
 11. If they hearken and obey Him, 
 They shall spend their days in good, 
 And their years in pleasures : 
 
 12. But if they will not hearken, they shall perish by the 
 
 sword. 
 And shall die without knowledge. 
 
 13. But the impious in heart lay up wrath, 
 And cry not when he binds them. 
 
 14. Their life perisheth in youth. 
 
 And their desire is among the unclean. 
 
 15. He will deliver the poor in his affliction, 
 And will open their ear in their distress. 
 
 16. So surely would he remove thee from the power of 
 
 the enemy, 
 To a wide place, where there shall be no straitness, 
 And what is set on thy table shall be full of fatness. 
 
 17. But if thou fulfillest the cause of the wicked. 
 
 The cause and the judgment will lay hold on thee. 
 
 18. Because there is wrath, beware lest he drive thee 
 
 forth with a stroke, 
 And lest a great ransom may not deliver thee. 
 
 19. Will he value thy riches ? 
 
 Not gold, nor all the powers of strength — 
 
 20. Long not for the night, in which people perish 
 
 utterly. 
 
 21. Beware lest thou turn to evil, 
 
 For thou hast chosen this rather than affliction. 
 
 22. Lo ! God is exalted in his might ; 
 Who teacheth like Him ? 
 
 23. Who prescribeth to Him his way ? 
 
 And who can say, " Thou hast wrought iniquity "? 
 
132 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 24. Remember that thou extol his work, 
 Which men celebrate. 
 
 25. All mankind gaze upon it, 
 Frail man beholds it from afar. 
 
 26. Lo ! God is high above our knowledge, 
 The number of his years is unsearchable. 
 
 27. For he draweth up the drops of water, 
 They pour down rain for his vapour, 
 
 28. Which the clouds distil, 
 
 They drop down upon man abundantly. 
 
 29. Surely who can understand the outspreadings of the 
 
 clouds, 
 The thunders of his pavilion ? 
 
 30. Lo ! He spreadeth his light around Him, 
 And covereth the depth of the sea, 
 
 31. For by them he judgeth the nations. 
 And giveth food in abundance. 
 
 32. He clotheth his hands with lightning. 
 And commandeth it where to strike. 
 
 33. His thunder announceth his presence, 
 The cattle also (tell of) the rising storm. 
 
 "* ''erse 7. — See St. Matthew xix. 28 ; Eph. ii. 6 ; Rev. iii. 21. 
 V . 20. — Referring to Job's wish, chaps, vi. 8, 9 ; vii. 15. 
 V. 33. — The latter clause may be explained by the former. 
 The thunder announceth His presence, and even the cattle (the 
 word is a very common one, used in this sense forty-six times 
 in the Pentateuch alone,) bear their part in the announcement. 
 The word rendered vapour (A. V.) signifies "that which goeth 
 up." See I Kmgs xviii. 44. Storms often appear first on the 
 horizon, and then spread themselves over the heavens. An 
 observer of nature, like Elihu, would often have noticed the 
 terror of the cattle before a tropical thunder storm. See Virgil, 
 Georg. i. 373— 
 
 Nunquam imprudentibus imber 
 Obfuit : aut ilium surgentem vallibus imis 
 Aerise fugere grues ; aut bucula, coelum 
 Suspiciens, patulis captavit naribus auras. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 1. Truly, at this my heart throbs, 
 And leaps out of its place. 
 
 2. Hear and listen to the roar of his voice, 
 
 And the muttering that issues from his mouth. 
 
 3. He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, 
 And his lightning to the ends of the earth. 
 
 4. After it the thunder wars. 
 
 He thunders with his majestic voice, 
 
 And holds them not back when his voice is heard. 
 
 5. God thundereth marvellously with his voice. 
 He doeth great things beyond our knowledge. 
 
 6. For He saith to the snow, " Fall on the earth," 
 Likewise to the rain -shower, and to the heavy down- 
 fall. 
 
 7. He sealeth up the hand of all mankind. 
 That all men may know his working. 
 
 8. Then the wild beasts go into their lairs. 
 And abide in their dens. 
 
 9. Out of the South cometh the tempest, 
 
 And cold from the cloud-scattering winds. ^ 
 
 10. By the breath of God frost is given, 
 
 And the breadth of the waters is straitened. 
 
 11. Likewise with vapour he loadeth the cloud, 
 He scattereth abroad his lightning. 
 
 12. And it turneth itself hither and thither by his coun- 
 
 sels, 
 To do all that he commandeth them, on the face of 
 the whole universe, 
 
 13. Whether for a scourge, or for (the good of) his land. 
 Or for loving kindness, he biddeth it fall. 
 
134 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 14. Give ear to this, O Job, 
 
 Stand still, and consider the wonderful works of God. 
 
 15. Dost thou know when God planned them, 
 And caused his lightning-cloud to shine ? 
 
 16. Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, 
 
 The wondrous works of Him, who is perfect in 
 knowledge ? 
 
 17. How thy garments are warm, 
 
 When he quieteth the earth by the south wind ? 
 
 18. Dost thou with Him spread out the firmament, 
 , Strong like a molten mirror? 
 
 19. Teach us what we shall say unto Him, 
 We cannot order our words for darkness. 
 
 20. Shall it be told unto Him that I will speak ? 
 If a man speak, will he not be swallowed up ? 
 
 21. And now men cannot bear to look on the bright 
 
 light that is in the clouds, 
 Yet the wind passeth, and cleareth them away. 
 
 22. From the North cometh a golden glow, 
 With God is awful majesty. 
 
 23. As for the Almighty, we cannot find him out ; 
 
 He is exalted in strength, and judgment, and plen- 
 ^^ • ' teous in righteousness, 
 He will give no account. 
 
 24. Therefore shall men fear Him, 
 
 He regardeth not aiy that are wise in their own 
 esteem. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 135 
 
 CHAPTERS XXXVIII.-XLI. 
 
 Elihu's discourse prepares the way for the close of the whole 
 discussion, when Jehovah, interposing, makes known to Job, 
 by a marvellous description of his creative power, the ignorance 
 and incapacity of man to pass judgment on the works and on 
 the providential dealings of God. No solution is given of Job's 
 difficulties. And though the Almighty acknowledges and re- 
 wards the uprightness of his ser\'ant, he calls upon him humbly 
 to bow before the mysteries which were left unexplained. The 
 general scope of the discourse may remind us of our Lord's 
 question to Nicodemus, " If I have told you earthly things and 
 ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly 
 things ? " If man were greater than he is, he might be expected 
 to know more of the creatures amongst whom he lives, and of 
 the reason of their creation ; but being what he is, he must sub- 
 mit in silence to what is altogether beyond his grasp. And 
 now. Job has learned the lesson of this terrible affliction. He 
 r ) longer murmurs, nor challenges the Almighty to answer 
 i; im ; but, acknowledging that he had been heard and answered, 
 retracts all hasty and presumptuous speeches, and sits as a 
 penitent sinner on dust r.nd ashes, imploring mercy, and receiv- 
 ing pardon. How incomparably nobler and grander is this 
 close of the book of Job, than the close of that very noble, but 
 uninspired poem, the " Prometheus Vinctus." Man, proudly 
 defying an unjust and cruel deity, and man kneeling at the foot- 
 stool of a wise and merciful, but inscrutable Creator, humbled, 
 purified and pardoned, afford instructive contrasts, and enable 
 us to see how much we owe to Inspiration, as well as where 
 our duty lies. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 I. Then Jehovah answered Job out of the tempest, and 
 said: 
 
 2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words with- 
 
 out knowledge ? 
 
 3. Gird up now thy loins as a man, 
 
 I will question thee, and do thou inform me. 
 
 J 
 
136 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 4. Where wast thou, when I founded the earth ? 
 Tell, if thou possessest understanding. 
 
 5. Who laid the measures of it, if thou knowest, 
 Or who stretched upon it a line ? 
 
 6. On what were its bases sunk. 
 Or who laid its corner stone ? 
 
 7. When the morning stars sang together, 
 And all the sons of God shouted for joy ? 
 
 8. And who shut in the sea with doors. 
 When it burst forth, issuing from the womb ? 
 
 9. When I made the cloud its covering, 
 And thick darkness its swaddling-band ? 
 
 10. And brake up for it my decreed bound, 
 And set bars and doors, and said : 
 
 11. Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther, 
 And here shall thy proud waves be stayed. 
 
 12. Hast thou, since thy days began, commanded the 
 
 morning. 
 And taught the day-spring to know its place ? 
 
 13. To lay hold of the ends of the earth, 
 
 So that the wicked are shaken out of it ? 
 
 14. It turneth itself as clay to the seal, 
 And (all things) stand out as a garment. 
 
 15. And their light is withholden from the wicked, 
 And the high arm is broken. 
 
 16. Hast thou entered the fountains of the sea, 
 Or explored the recess*of the deep ? 
 
 17. Have the gates of death been opened to thee. 
 And hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death? 
 
 18. Hast thou comprehended the broad places of the 
 
 earth, - 
 
 Tell me, if thou knowest them all. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 137 
 
 19. Which is the way where light dwelleth, 
 And darkness, where is its seat ? 
 
 20. That thou shouldest take it to its boundary, 
 
 And that thou shouldest know the paths of its house ? 
 
 21. Thou knowest it (forsooth) because thou wast then 
 
 born. 
 And the number of thy days is great ? 
 
 22. Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow, 
 Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, 
 
 23. Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, 
 Unto the day of conflict and of war ? " 
 
 24. By what way is the light parted, 
 
 And the east wind scattereth itself over the earth ? 
 
 25. Who hath cleft a channel for the torrent of waters. 
 And a path for the flash with its thunder-voices ? 
 
 26. To cause it to rain upon the uninhabited land, 
 The desert, where no man liveth ; 
 
 27. To satisfy the waste and desolate place. 
 
 And to make the bud of the tender grass to spring 
 forth ? 
 
 28. Hath the rain a father? 
 
 Or who hath begotten the drops of dew ? 
 
 29. Out of whose womb came the ice ? 
 
 And the hoar-frost of heaven, — who hath gendered it ? 
 
 30. The waters like stone hide themselves, 
 And the surface of the deep is hardened. 
 
 31. Canst thou bind together the bands of the Pleiades, 
 Or loose the bands of Orion ? \ 
 
 32. Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season, 
 And guide Arcturus with his sons ? 
 
 33. Knowest thou the laws of heaven. 
 
 Canst thou set its dominion upon earth ? 
 
 H.. . . • 
 
138 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 34. Canst thou raise thy voice to the clouds, 
 That abundance of waters may cover thee ? 
 
 35. Canst thou send forth lightnings, and they go. 
 And say unto thee, " Here we are ? " 
 
 36. Who hath put wisdom in the reins, 
 
 Or who hath given understanding to the mind ? 
 
 37. Who can number the clouds by wisdom. 
 Or pour out the bottles of heaven ? 
 
 38. When the dust is molten into a mass, 
 And the clods cleave together ? 
 
 39. Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, 
 And satisfy the craving of the whelps, 
 
 40. When they crouch in their dens. 
 And lurk in their covert for ambush ? 
 
 41. Who provideth for the raven his food. 
 When his young ones cry unto God, 
 (And) they wander for lack of meat ? 
 
 Verse 14. — " As clay to the seal," or as seal-clay, receiving 
 form and colour from light. C. C. 
 
 V. 22. — " Treasures of the hail," etc. This looks like a refer- 
 ence to the overthrow of the Canaanites. But it is of too 
 general a character to lay much stress upon it. 
 
 V. 31. — " Bands of the Pleiades." The natural forces which 
 hold them in their true position, and as some think, connect 
 them with our planetary system. "The sweet influences" of 
 the A. V. seem to refer to their marking the time of year when 
 ancient mariners thought it safe to sail. The word " bands " is 
 more in harmony with the discoveries of science. 
 
 V. 32. — " Mazzaroth.' ' If a particular constellation is intended, 
 as seems probable from the second member of the parallelism, 
 " or guide Arcturus," etc., it is not known to what constellation 
 we should refer the words. Some refer the word to the Zodiac, 
 but this is open to objection. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 139 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 1. Knowest thou the time when the wild-goats bring 
 
 forth ? 
 Canst thou observe when the roes calve ? 
 
 2. Dost thou number the months of their conception, 
 And knowest thou the time when they bring forth ? 
 
 3. They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, 
 They cast out their throes. 
 
 4. Their young ones become lusty and strong in the 
 
 plain, * 
 
 They go forth and return not unto them. 
 
 5. Who hath sent the wild ass free, 
 
 And who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass ? 
 
 6. Whose home I have made the desert, 
 And the salt waste his dwelling place. 
 
 7. He mocketh at the din of the city. 
 
 He regardeth not the cries of the driver, 
 
 8. The range of the mountains is his pasture. 
 And he searcheth after every green thing. 
 
 9. Will the oryx be willing to serve thee ? 
 Will he lodge in thy stall ? 
 
 ID. Canst thou tether the oryx in the furrow by a cord ? 
 Will he harrow the furrows after thee ? 
 
 11. Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great, 
 And wilt thou leave thy labour to him ? 
 
 12. Wilt thou confide in him to bring home thy seed, 
 And gather it into thy garner ? 
 
 13. The wing of the ostrich moveth exultingly, 
 
 Is it like the pinion and plumage of the stork ? 
 
 14. For she abandoneth her eggs to the earth. 
 And hatcheth them on the sand : 
 
I40 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 15. And forgetteth that the foot may trample on them, 
 And the wild beast of the field may crush them. 
 
 16. She is harsh towards her young, as not her own. 
 She hath no fear that her labour may be in vain. 
 
 17. For God hath caused her to forget wisdom. 
 And hath not imparted to her understanding. 
 
 18. What time she lifteth up herself on high (or lasheth 
 
 up herself), 
 She laugheth at the horse and his rider. 
 
 19. Canst thou give strength to the horse? 
 Canst thou clothe his neck with terror ? 
 
 20. Canst thou make him spring as the locust ? 
 The glory of his neighing is terrible. 
 
 21. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength, 
 He goeth forth to confront the armed host. 
 
 22. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted, 
 And turneth not back from the sword. 
 
 23. The quiver rattleth against him, 
 The flashing spear and the javelin. 
 
 24. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, 
 And scarce believeth that it is the sound of the 
 
 trumpet. 
 
 25. At every blast of the trumpet he saith, " Aha ! " 
 And he scenteth the battle afar off. 
 
 The thunder of the chieftains, and the war-cry. 
 
 26. At thy contrivance doth the hawk fly ? 
 (And) stretch out his wings toward the south. 
 
 27. At thy word doth the eagle soar, ' ,, 
 And make his nest on high ? 
 
 28. He dwelleth on the cliff, 
 
 And lodgeth on the jagged cliff and fortalice. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 141 
 
 20. Thence he espieth his prey, 
 His eyes behold it afar off. 
 
 30. His young ones also gorge the blood, 
 And where the slain are, there is he. 
 
 Verse i.— " Wild goats." Lit., rock-climbers. 
 
 V. 4. — " Become lusty and strong in the plain." They leave 
 their dams, and betake themselves to more abundant pastures. 
 
 V. 5. — Two words are used for the wild ass, " one denoting 
 his speed, the other his shyness." C. C. 
 
 V. 9. — "Oryx." R6m. The unicorn seems to be a fabulous 
 creature. 
 
 V. 13. — There seems no authority for the rendering "pea- 
 cocks," A. V. " Moveth exultingly," as Homer II. ii. 462. 
 
 V. 24. — "Scarce believeth," or "cannot stand still at the 
 sound," etc. See Virgil Georg. iii. 85 — 
 
 Turn, si qua sonum procul arma dedere, 
 Stare loco nescit ; micat auribus, et tremit artus ; 
 Collectumque fremens volvit sub naribus ignem. 
 
 V. 28. — The Hebrew is in the masculine throughout. "Jagged 
 cliff." Lit., "tooth." See i Sam. xiv. 5. 
 V. 30. — See St. Matthew xxiv. 28. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 1 . And Jehovah answered Job and said ; 
 
 2. Shall he who contendeth with the Almighty instruct 
 
 Him? 
 He that reproveth God let him answer. 
 
 3. Then Job answered Jehovah and said : 
 
 4. Behold I am vile: what answer shall I return to 
 
 Thee ? 
 I lay my hand upon my mouth. 
 
 5. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer : 
 Yea twice, but I will say no more : 
 
142 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 6. And Jehovah answered Job out of the tempest and 
 
 said: 
 
 7. Gird up then thy loins as a man, 
 
 I will question thee, and do thou inform me. 
 
 8. Dost thou indeed annul my justice. 
 
 Dost thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justi- 
 fied ? 
 
 9. Hast thou an arm like God, 
 
 And canst thou thunder with a voice like his ? 
 
 10. Deck thyself now with pomp and majesty. 
 And array thyself in excellency and beauty. 
 
 11. Pour forth the overflowings of thy wrath. 
 
 And behold every one that is proud, and abase him. 
 
 12. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low. 
 And crush the wicked in their place. 
 
 13. Hide them in the dust together. 
 
 Bind their faces in secret (a hidden place). 
 
 14. Then even I will confess to thee, 
 
 That thine own right hand can save thee. 
 
 15. Behold now Behemoth whom I have made as well 
 
 as thyself, 
 He eateth herbage as an ox. 
 
 16. Behold now his strength is in his loins. 
 And his force in the muscles of his belly. 
 
 17. He bendeth his tail as a cedar. 
 
 The sinews of his thighs are knitted together. 
 
 18. His bones are as tubes of brass, 
 
 And his limbs as bars of iron. '' 
 
 19. He is the chief of the ways of God, 
 
 He that made him furnisheth him with his sword. 
 
 20. For the hills supply him with pastures, 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 143 
 
 Where all the wild beasts of the field disport them- 
 selves. 
 
 21. For he lieth under the lotus-trees, 
 In the covert of the reed and marsh. 
 
 22. The lotus-trees cover him with their shade, 
 The willows of the brook are his shelter. 
 
 23. Lo ! if the river proudly overflow, he is not alarmed, 
 He is fearless, if Jordan burst forth over his mouth. 
 
 24. Can one take him when he is aware (or openly), 
 Can one pierce his nostrils by snares ? 
 
 V. 15. — "Behemoth," generally supposed to be the hippo- 
 potamus. 
 
 V. 17. — ''Bendeth his tail as a cedar," not from its size so 
 much as from its stiffness and rigidity. 
 
 u 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 1. Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook, 
 And with a line sink (or fasten) into his tongue ? 
 
 2. Canst thou thrust a reed into his nose, 
 Or pierce his jaw through with a hook ? 
 
 3. Will he multiply entreaties to thee, 
 Will he speak soft words to thee ? 
 
 4. Will he make a covenant with thee, 
 
 That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever ? 
 
 5. Canst thou play with him as a bird, 
 And bind him for thy maidens ? 
 
 6. Will the partners (fishermen) make a feast of him ? 
 Will they divide him among the merchants ? 
 
 7. Canst thou fill his skin with darts, 
 And his head with fish -spears ? 
 
144 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 8. Lay thine hand upon him, — 
 
 Thou wilt not again bethink thee of battle. 
 
 9. See how his hope is belied (who attacks him), 
 Is he not even cast down at the sight of him ? 
 
 10. None is so fierce as to arouse him, 
 
 And who then is he that can stand before me ? 
 
 11. Who hath been beforehand with me, that I should 
 
 repay him ? 
 Under the whole heaven, all is mine. 
 
 12. I will not be silent as to his limbs, 
 
 And what belongs to his strength, and the symmetry 
 of his structure. 
 
 13. Who can uncover the face of his clothing? 
 
 Who can come within his double bridle (row of 
 teeth) ? 
 
 14. Who can open the doors of his face ? 
 The circuit of his teeth is terrible. 
 
 15. His strong shields (of scales) are his pride, 
 Each one shut as with a close seal. 
 
 16. Each joins to each. 
 
 So that not a breath of air can come between them. 
 
 17. Each one cleaveth to its fellows, 
 
 They lie close together, and cannot be sundered. 
 
 18. His snortings make the light to shine. 
 
 And his eyes are as the eyelids of the morning. 
 
 19. Out of his mouth issue torches. 
 Sparks of fire leap forth. 
 
 20. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, 
 As from a boiling pot or caldron. 
 
 21. His breath kindleth coals, 
 
 And a flame goeth out of his mouth. 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 145 
 
 22. In his neck abideth strength, 
 And before him terror danceth. 
 
 23. The looie parts of his flesh cleave toj^ethcr, 
 Compact, immovable, upon him. 
 
 24. His heart is as firm as a stone, 
 Yea, firm as the nether millstone. 
 
 25. At his arising the mighty are afraid, 
 
 From consternation they are beside themselves. 
 
 26. The sword of him that attacketh him cannot stand, 
 The spear, the dart (or club), and the coat of mail. 
 
 27. He accounteth iron as straw, 
 And brass as rotten wood. 
 
 28. The arrow cannot put him to flight. 
 Slingstones are counted unto him as stubble. 
 
 29. The club is reckoned as straw. 
 
 And he laugheth at the rattling of the spear. 
 
 30. Beneath him are sharp-pointed sherds, 
 
 He spreadeth a threshing instrument on the mire. 
 
 31. He causeth the depth of the sea to boil as a pot, 
 He maketh it as a pot of ointment. 
 
 22. In his wake he maketh a path to shine. 
 One would think the deep to be hoary. 
 
 33. There is not his like upon earth, 
 That is made without fear. 
 
 34. He looketh down upon everything that is high, 
 He is king over all the children of pride. 
 
 Verse i. — "Leviathan." The crocodile. 
 V. 34. — See chap, xxviii. 8. " Fierce lion," lit., children of 
 pride. 
 
146 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Verse 7 to end. — The question between Job and his friends is 
 now decided, and with that decision all the unjust accusations 
 against him are shown to be untrue. Job is what the Divine 
 voice had declared him to be before the great trial of his faith, 
 " My servant, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil." The 
 Accuser is silenced and discomfited. Job's patier.ce has en- 
 dured to the end, for he has never renounced his faith in God. 
 even in thought. Job is also raised to be an intercessor for his 
 erring friends, and it is said emphatically, that it was at the time 
 of that int ^cession, which implied Job's entire forgiveness of all 
 their hard and bitter speeches against him, that the Lord turned 
 all his sorrows into joy. Having been thoroughly humbled for 
 his own transgressions, like a true penitent, he knows how to 
 pity and to forgive. It is remarkable that Eliphaz, Bildad and 
 Zophar are unconscious prophets of the happiness and pros- 
 perity they lived to see Job possess, affording the most com- 
 plete vindication of his integrity. Eliphaz says — 
 
 " Thou shalt come in full age to the grave, 
 
 As a shock of corn cometh up in its season." 
 
 Bildad— 
 
 " Thy latter end shall greatly increase." 
 
 Zophar — 
 
 " Thou shalt forget thy misery, 
 
 And remember it as waters that pass away." 
 
 ''A life brighter than noonday shall arise, 
 
 Thick darkness shall be as the morning." 
 
 Contrary to their expectation, all this was signally fulfilled. 
 Looking then on Job as selected to be a representative of the 
 sufferings of the children of God, though not of their prosperity in 
 this life, we see the vast importance of the book to the Church in 
 the early ages of its passage through a world in which so many 
 mysteries, so many problems of exceeding interest are left un- 
 solved. Job, suddenly bereaved of his children, and deprived 
 of his possessions, tormented by Satan, tempted by his wife, 
 rejected by his kinsmen, insulted by his neighbours, falsely 
 accused by his friends, and (as it seemed at first) forsaken by 
 God in whom he trusted, but at last vindicated, restored and 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 147 
 
 honoured, must have taught submission, must have inspired 
 comfort to many a sinking heart, long before light and immor- 
 tality had been brought to light by the Gospel of Christ. And 
 this consolation was infinitely more striking, as it proceeded 
 from a Gentile, not from one of the favoured race of Israel. 
 But when Jewish Psalmists and Jewish Prophets took up the 
 same strain ; when the very words and phrases of the older 
 sufferer were caught up and re-echoed by successive poets; 
 when the great Sufferer and his Apostles spake of the same 
 troubles, and illustrated the same truth, then those whose faith 
 was "tried by fire" were strengthened by the assurance that 
 all was rightly ordered ; and though no restoration to temporal 
 prosperity awaited them in this life, the latter end of Job was 
 to them a foretaste of eternal day ; a comforting token that, 
 " having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded ; 
 for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself." 
 Would that all sufferers may learn to drink of the water of this 
 heavenly consolation. 
 
 1. Then Job answered Jehovah and said: 
 
 2. I know that thou canst do everything, 
 And no thought of thine can be hindered. 
 
 3. " Who is this (indeed) that darkeneth counsel with- 
 
 out knowledge ? " 
 Therefore I have uttered what I understand not, 
 Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. 
 
 4. " Hear now (thou sayest) and I will speak, 
 
 I will question thee, and do thou inform me." 
 
 5. I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, 
 But now mine eye seeth Thee. 
 
 6. Wherefore I retract, 
 
 And repent, on dust and ashes. 
 
 7. And it came to pass, after Jehovah had spoken these 
 words unto Job, that Jehovah said unto Eliphaz the 
 Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against 
 
148 BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 thy two friends, because ye have not spoken concerning 
 me what is right, as my servant Job hath. 8. Now there- 
 fore take to you seven bullocks and seven rams, and go 
 unto my servant Job, and offer them as a burnt-offering 
 on your behalf, and Job my servant shall intercede for 
 you, for him will I surely accept, that I deal not with you 
 according to your folly, for ye have not spoken concern- 
 ing me that which is right, as my servant Job hath. 9. 
 And Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and 
 Zophar the Naamathite, went and did according as Jeho- 
 vah had said unto them, and Jehovah accepted Job. 10. 
 And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job, when he inter- 
 ceded for his friends, and the Lord added to all that Job 
 had, two-fold. 11. And there came unto him all his 
 brethren, and all his sisters, and all that had known him 
 aforetime, and they ate bread with him in his house, and 
 condoled with him, and comforted him on account of all 
 the evil which Jehovah had brought upon him, and they 
 gave him every one a piece of money, and every one an 
 ear-ring (or nose-ring) of gold. 12. And Jehovah blessed 
 the latter end of Job more than its beginning, and he had 
 fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a 
 thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. 13. 
 And he had seven sons and three daughters. 14. And 
 he called the name of the first, Jem.ima ; and the name of 
 the second, Keziah ; and the name of the third, Keren- 
 happuch. 15. And there were no women found in all the 
 land so fair as the daughters of Job, and their father gave 
 them an inheritance among their brethren. 16. And Job 
 
 ^ 
 
BOOK OF JOB. 149 
 
 lived after this an hundred and forty years, and saw his 
 sons and sons' sons, four generations. 17. And Job died, 
 old, and full of days. 
 
 V"'" . 
 
 Verse 11. — " Piece of money." Uncoined, but of value. 
 
 V. 14. — Jemima, signifying bright as the day ; Keziah, fragrant 
 as the aromatic plant Cassia ; Keren-happuch, a horn or vessel 
 of pigment for anointing the eyes. C. C. 
 
 V. 15. — "Gave them inheritance," etc. An unusual circum- 
 stance, that the daughters should share with the sons. 
 
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