^ 
 
3^^ ^^ 
 
 I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, | 
 f Princeton, N. J. f 
 
 ^ 
 
 BS 413 .B58 V.19 
 
 A new version of the book of' 
 Job 
 
THE 
 
 BIBLICAL CABINET; 
 
 OR 
 
 HERMENEUTICAL, EXEGETICAL, 
 
 AND 
 
 PHILOLOGICAL LIBRARY. 
 
 VOL. XIX. 
 
 UMBREIT S VERSION OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 ^ARK, 38. GEORG 
 
 J. G. & F. RIVINGTON, LONDON; 
 
 AND W. CURRY, JUN. & CO. DUBLIN. 
 
 MDCCCjXXXVII. 
 
A NEW VERSION 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB 
 
 EXPOSITORY NOTES, 
 
 AND 
 
 JtN INTRODUCTION, ON THE SPIRIT, COMPOSITION; 
 AND AUTHOR OF THE BOOK. 
 
 / 
 
 I>. FRIED RICH WILHELM CARL UMBREIT, 
 
 PKOF. OF THEOIiOGY IN HElBEIiBERG. 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE &ERMAN, 
 
 THE REV. JOHN HAMILTON GRAY, M. A, 
 
 <>E MAGD. COLLEGE. OXFORD, VICAR OF BOLSOVEP,. 
 
 VOL. IL 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 Tii(»fAS GLARK, 38. GEORGE STREET: 
 MDCCCXXXVII. 
 
J. TH0M30N, PRINTER, MILNE SQUARE. 
 
BO^^®^ JOB. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 1. Job began, and spake :^ 
 
 2. How long will ye grieve me, 
 And crush me with words ? ^ 
 
 * He again declares how deeply his feelings have 
 been wounded by the hard speeches of the friends. 
 Even admitting that he was justly punished on 
 account of guilt incurred, is this punishment not 
 sufficient ? Is it consistent with mercy thus ever to 
 demonstrate anew to the sufferer that he is justly 
 chastened ? And yet of this, they have hitherto 
 failed to convince him. 
 
 '' Observe the Aramaism of the union of the 
 suffix with the form ^rii^Sin for '3J^^^^ln. Vide 
 Alting Fundament. Punctat, Ling. Heb. p. 385 ; 
 Gesen. in Lehrgeh. 348. But in the Bible of Athias 
 we find ^^^^IJ^Ilin (the Dag. in 2d Nun.) 
 
 VOL. II. A 
 
2 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 3. Already have ye ten times *^ reviled me ! 
 Are ye not ashamed thus to stun me ?"* 
 
 4. And even if I had assuredly sinned,* 
 
 *" nt prefixed to calculations of number and time, 
 gives to them peculiar emphasis. Vide Gen. xxvii. 
 36 ; Jos. xxii. 3. Ten times stands for often, as 
 Gen. xxxi. 7. 
 
 •* After W2r) we might expect the second verb 
 in the infin. with 7. But the future follows instead, 
 which is the usual construction in Arabic. Vide 
 Gesen. in Lehrgeb. 823. IDIl occurs only here, 
 
 and receives from the Arabic Si^ obstupuity atto- 
 nitusfuity its full explanation, as Kromayer rightly 
 judged. The old translators are greatly at vari- 
 ance about this word. Vide J. D. 3Iichaelis, Supp. 
 ad Lex Heb. 529. The form admits grammatically 
 as little of being deduced from HIS to be grieved 
 (with the Syr.), as from "IDJ Hiph. TSU to acJmoiU" 
 hdge (with the Chald.), which last verb offers a very 
 forced meaning. ^■)3nr) stands for 'IT'SrTJv^. 
 
 ^ Job was unconscious of any wilful sin. At 
 most, he can only acknowledge some error of igno- 
 rance, (nj1t:^P) : for M = r\y^ and :i^^, means 
 always to err unconsciously. Dl^ must be supplied 
 before the verb. 
 
CHAP. XIX. 5-8. 3 
 
 I myself must expiate my error.^ 
 
 5. If ye would magnify yourselves against me 
 
 in truth, 
 Ye must make manifest my sliame.^ 
 
 6. Know, then, that God bows me down, 
 And encircles me with his net. 
 
 7. When I exclaim " Violence !" I am not 
 
 heard, 
 And when I cry aloud, I find no justice. 
 
 8. He hath girt about my path, so that I can- 
 
 not overstep it, 
 
 ^ Literally, My error passes the night with me. 
 The sense is, I bear its consequences. My sin is 
 my own burthen. The proverbial expression of 
 the original seems to be taken from harbouring a 
 stranger who is an unpleasant guest. 
 
 ^ yun soil. V3 '• to make oneself great in 
 -words, or to speak proudly and loftily," Obad. 12 ; 
 JSzek. XXXV. 13 ; chiefly with ^y " to magnify one- 
 self against any one," without VD, Psalm xxxv. 26 ; 
 xxxviii. 17 ; Jer. xlviii. 26. nS'in is the shame 
 of sin which rests upon the unfortunate, ^bv oc- 
 curs twice with emphasis. The sense is, " If ye 
 would become heroes in contention against me, 
 <lemonstrate to me that I am really, according to 
 your shewing, a sinner," 
 
4 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And spreadeth darkness over my ways. 
 9. He hath unrobed me of mine honour, 
 And torn the crown from my head.^ 
 
 10. He hath shaken me all around, so that I 
 
 fall in the dust,^ 
 And my hopes are uprooted as a tree.^ 
 
 11. His wrath is inflamed against me, 
 And he regardeth me as his foe.' 
 
 12. His hosts advanced together. 
 And reared a wall against me, 
 
 ^ The image is taken from a king in shame and 
 contempt deprived of his crown and robes. Job 
 might with peculiar propriety use such expressions, 
 as he had enjoyed dignity little inferior to kingly. 
 But it cannot be proved from hence that he had 
 ever enjoyed the actual honours of royalty. 
 
 * The figurative expression 3^3D \r\^ to destroy 
 round about, that is, on all sides, is taken from a 
 tree which is uprooted from the firm earth by vio- 
 lent shaking and pulling. In the following hemis- 
 tich, this comparison is brought plainly before us. 
 Concerning yjHJ, vide Jer. i. 10. — ^iS"! is here 
 
 quite in the sense of the Arab. t»0^ perire. 
 
 ^ An uprooted tree never more flourishes. Even 
 so were Job's hopes quite annihilated.' 
 
 ' Vide ch. iii. 24; xvi. 9. 
 
CHAP. XIX. 13, n. o 
 
 And compassed my tent around.'" 
 
 13. My brethren hath he removed to a distance, 
 And my acquaintance are estranged from 
 
 me." 
 
 14. Those that are near depart from me, 
 And those that knew me have forgotten me. 
 
 " Vide the same image in ch. x. 17. Eichhorn 
 and De Wette^ " And made, or reared, their way 
 towards me." Doubtless bbv has in general this 
 signification. But because of the last hemistich, 
 we prefer the original meaning of the word, " to 
 throw up earth," and here, for the purpose of build- 
 ing a fortification, a wall (hWd), and this is '!J'n. 
 Vide Jahn in Bibl. Archeol. ii. 2. 491. 
 
 " Vide ch. vi. 15. It is said in the Arabic pro- 
 
 verb, AaJ^ X^LsnJi Jsic 'SS ^'SS ojo 'S, "The 
 
 brother, that is, the true friend, is only known in 
 time of need." Vide Sent. Arab. Erpen. Arab. LV. 
 p. 55. " Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur." 
 The LXX. translate the first hemistich, acr' 1[mou 
 ddsX<poi fLQX) cc^zCTYicctv, as if they had read thus : 
 •Ip^nin, which would have been more suitable to 
 the parallelism. Thus the Syriac and Arab., but 
 the Vulgate and Chaldaic read as we do. — The 
 verb 11T seems, as Winer justly remarks in his 
 Dictionary, to unite in one, three different Arabic 
 
6 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 15. The slaves of my house, and my maidens, 
 regard me as one unknown ;** 
 In their eyes am I become a stranger. 
 
 roots. The most original and expressive meaning 
 may be found in Judges vi. 38, and Isaiah i. 6, 
 where it is used for squeeze^ or press together. Here 
 it has a meaning equivalent to "I^D recedere. But 
 it also means fastidiviL Hence it means " to turn 
 away with disgust, contempt," as Psalm Iviii. 4. 
 Scheid is not averse to the union of various mean- 
 ings in torquere, conforquere, distorquere ; and he 
 literally translates our passage, " Et noti mei stu- 
 diose distorserunt semet a me." Vide Specimen 
 Phihl. Crit. Complect. Nov, Vers, ch. i. Vat. Jes. 
 p. 13. 
 
 " The Vulgate rightly translates, " Inquilini do- 
 mus mese." For it appears from the following 
 ^J^^p^J that the ^^ITI n-1 do not mean those born 
 in the house, but the males of strange birth en- 
 gaged in his service. We must mark the emphasis 
 in the contrast between 13, the stranger-servant, 
 and "IT, the master accounted as a stranger. 
 Stranger-slaves regard and treat him, the master 
 of the house, as a stranger. — The verb ^J2^nJ3 
 is, according to its gender, construed only with the 
 feminine ^jnnpj;^, while it most commonly happens, 
 that when several subjects are united by orw?, the 
 
CHAP. XIX. 16, 17. T 
 
 16. I call my servant, and he giveth me no 
 
 answer ; p 
 With a loud voice I must beseech him.*^ 
 
 17. I am become hateful to my wife/ 
 
 gender and number of the following verb, to which 
 they all have reference, follows that of the nearest 
 subject, by which a zeugma arises. Vide Jer, vii. 
 20 ; Ezek. XXXV. 10 ; and Gesen. in Lehrgeb. 722. 
 
 P T^y is opposed to 12), the servant born in the 
 house, altogether belonging to the family. He no 
 longer obeys my commands. 
 
 ** Literally, with my mouth. Formerly a nod suf- 
 ficed to ensure obedience, but now the master's 
 mouth must earnestly call aloud before any one 
 will administer to his wants. 
 
 ' Mark the increased intensity of meaning ; not 
 only his servants are estranged from him, his wife 
 and kindred turn from him. l^jT is here taken in 
 
 the meaning of the Arab. Xa fastidivit^ abhorruit. 
 The translation of the Vulgate, " Halitum meum 
 exhorruit uxor mea," is followed by some of the 
 moderns, who appeal to experience, because a 
 putrid breath is one of the marks of Elephantiasis. 
 Others (as the Syr.) translate, " I am estranged 
 from my wife ;" so that ITin, like the Arab, ^^r , 
 as formerly ti^3^, stands for pei^sonay and y\t in the 
 
THE BOOK OF JO*, 
 
 And I must be a suppliant to my owli 
 brethren.^ 
 
 more truly Hebrew meaning, " to be estranged," 
 as in ver. 13 of this chapter. 
 
 * yn is unsuitable, when taken in the ordinary 
 Hebrew sense of to be gracious to one, to have mercy 
 upon one. For the elucidation of the word we 
 must have recourse to other dialects. In Arabic, 
 
 a double verb offers itself for comparison : (1.) ^i*. 
 to sighy to complain, (hence Eichhorn, my murmur- 
 
 ing, my complaint; (2.) ^L in Conj. x. foetorem 
 
 o r 
 
 emisitf with which the Syriac ]i.>.. rancidus rs 
 
 connected. This explanation is to be found in the 
 first edition of this commentary. The explanation 
 adopted by Gesenius and Winer is more gramma- 
 tically suitable, according to which, ^Jll^Pf stands 
 for "Jjn'iarT, from r\2n plu. iy\2n beseeching for fa- 
 vour. Vide the Lehrgeb, 215. I only do not agree 
 with Gesenius in repeating HIT from the foregoing 
 hemistich, and translating, " My complaint has be- 
 come disgusting to the sons of my mother's womb." 
 It seems simpler to me to translate it, " My en- 
 treaty is addressed to the children of my mother's 
 womb." By the children of my mother's womb 
 C^PBj as in ch. iii. 10) we understand brethrei3> 
 
CHAP. XIX. IS. 9 
 
 18. Even the wicked despise me ; 
 
 If I stood up, they would vilify me.' 
 
 which suits the sense of the passage : " I am re- 
 duced to the necessity of using earnest entreaty, 
 even with those who have reposed in the bosom 
 of my mother." In these words there is a height- 
 ening of the meaning of the last hemistich of the 
 preceding verse. They are, however, generally 
 applied to Job's own children (in which case the 
 word would have been ]l^3,), though this is incon- 
 sistent, as Job had lost his children. Vide Ewald 
 in Crit. Gram. 580. The LXX. tried to avoid the 
 difficulty by supposing the children to be those of 
 concubines : cr^ocgxaXou/i^jv hi xoXaxsuwi/ xj'mg rraXXcc- 
 Tiiduv fiov. Symmachus supposes them to have 
 been the children of Job's slaves, v/ovg 'xaibuv ij.o-j : 
 and others, his grandchildren. Eichhorn accounts 
 for the mention of Job's children as an oversight 
 of the poet in the rapidity of his verse. All these 
 explanations are rendered unnecessary by our 
 translation, which was already adopted by Stuhl- 
 mann. For the same train of thought, vide Psalm 
 Ixix. 9. 
 
 * T]l^ was used, in ch. xvi. 11, in the sense of 
 unjust, deceiver, — ^Dp^<, as the H paragog. shews, 
 must be taken hypothetically, with Dhi supplied ; 
 for Job was literally no more in a condition to stand 
 
10 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 19. All who were my confidential friends ab- 
 
 hor me, 
 And those whom I loved now turn against 
 me." 
 
 20. My bones cleave to my skin and flesh, 
 And I seek to escape only with my gums.'' 
 
 up. 13^] with 21 to speak against one, to abuse one, 
 as Niim. xxi. 7 ; Psalm 1. 20 ; Ixxviii. 19. In ch. 
 xxi. II, y^^ is puer. Hence some, as De Wette, 
 translate thus : " Even children despise me ; if I 
 stand up, they vilify me." A comparison with the 
 
 Arabic ^Uc domesticus, has been unnecessarily 
 
 suggested by Schultens, Michaelis, and Eichhorn. 
 The first translates it thus : " Etiam clientes egen- 
 tissimi aspernantur me." 
 
 " Literally, " men of my secret," that is, those 
 to whom I entrusted my most intimate confidence. 
 The demonst. pron. Ht stands here for the relat. 
 *)pi^i and imitates its unchangeableness, while, 
 in the singular form, it refers to a plural. Vide 
 Gesenius in Lehrgeb. 730 ; EwaJd in Crit. Gram. 
 642. 
 
 " Description of the most extreme meagreness. 
 In the first hemistich, we have the firm union of 
 the flesh with the bones under it wanting. The 
 bones and skin hang together. LXX. iv ds^/Aari 
 
CHAP. XIX. 21. 11 
 
 21. Have pity on me, have pity on me, my 
 friends. 
 For the hand of God hath stricken me !" 
 
 /xoy i6d'rrri<sav at (fd^y.sg fiou. Probably they read 
 nilpn instead of PTpin, " my bones are rotten," 
 which translation has been adopted by Michaelis 
 and Eichhorn. But our translation is sanctioned 
 by all the old versions. The second hemistich 
 stands thus more in harmony with the first. The 
 sense of the second is proverbial : " I have only a 
 very little skin remaining, viz. that of my teeth, 
 my gums : that of every other part of the body 
 loosens gradually, and disappears." Concerning 
 the futur. parag. niO^DDNt) vide ch. i. 15. In a 
 forced manner, Michaelis, in Suppl. p. 1512, com- 
 
 pares the Arabic LJLc pilis caruit, Conj. ii. nuda- 
 vit pilis, and translates " deglabror cute dentium 
 meorum ;" by which he understands, " my beard 
 is rooted out." Eichhorn and Dereser are of the 
 same opinion : <' On the skin of my teeth am I 
 bald." But the epithet skin of the teeth cannot 
 be properly applied to cheeks. 
 
 "^ In what a state of wretchedness and destitu- 
 tion did not the unfortunate Job lie ! This spec- 
 tacle of woe should have moved the friends to 
 milder sentiments. When God afflicted him, why 
 
12 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 22. Wherefore do ye persecute me like God ? 
 And will never be satiated on my flesh ?* 
 
 should they further persecute him with their hard 
 speeches ? 
 
 ^ The sense of the first hemistich is, Is it not 
 enough that God persecutes me ? would you ^ilso 
 add to the aflBiction by which I am visited? 
 LXX. 8iar/ fis diu}7isr£ ui<J-7rsP Kcci 6 Tthoiog ; The Syr. 
 ioAj yJ\ ^AjI •aj *jJ^Q2i]\L •* Why will you also 
 persecute me like God ?" No conjecture can be 
 more unfortunate than that of Reiske, to read 
 b''^ iD3, and to translate " Wherefore do ye per- 
 secute me like a stag ?" In the second hemistich 
 is expressed the most dire attack of his enemies 
 against Job. The eastern nations use the figure 
 of eating one's flesh, to express in the strongest 
 manner calumny. Vide Psalm xxvii. 2. So in 
 Chald. Vide Daniel iii. 8. Hence, in the Syr, 
 
 of o 
 
 New Test., the devil is called j ^ \k)| . Also 
 the same figure is to be found in Arabic. Vide 
 Schultens in loco. Thus there is an Arabic proverb 
 
 ^y^^ *c^^ ^^ ^5*^ ^y^a^ " Ipse si edam 
 
 ^ " " •• " 
 
 " carnem meam, at non sinam eam edi ab alio, i. e. 
 
 " si ipse me vexare volim, at ab alio me vexari non 
 
 " sinam." Vide Meidan Proverb, Arab, Ed. Hen. 
 
CHAP. XIX. 23, 21. 13 
 
 23. O that my words were written down ! 
 That they were engraved in a book !^ 
 
 24. Would that they were written with pen 
 
 of iron and with lead,^ 
 And inscribed upon the rocks for eternity !* 
 
 Alb. Schultens, p. 7. Vide other parallels in Gese- 
 nius T/iesaur. Phil. Grit. Ling. Heb. et Ghald. 91. 
 
 ' Thus must Job die misunderstood by his friends ; 
 they will not allow themselves to be persuaded by 
 his protestations of innocence ! Could his words 
 only be preserved to posterity in imperishable 
 writing, that, at least, would ensure a more just 
 judgment to the Unfortunate ! Mark the absolute 
 construction in the striking prefixing of "13D21 to 
 pn^l • ^^^ Gesenius in Lehrgeb, 725 ; JEwald in 
 Grit. Gram. 636. 
 
 ^ So that melted lead should be fused into the 
 characters engraved with an iron pen in the rock, 
 in order to make the writing more conspicuous. 
 Thus Jarchi rightly explains it. For other expla- 
 nations, vide Rosenmiiller in loco. 
 
 " As long as the rock lasts, this writing shall 
 endure, that is, long, or for ever ; for the idea of 
 everlasting in the Old Testament is not always 
 expressed with metaphysical accuracy, a remark of 
 importance in explaining various passages of holy 
 writ. Vide Isaiah, ix. 5, and the Comment, of 
 
14 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 25. Yet I know*' that my avenger lives,*^ 
 
 And at length he will arise on the scene 
 of contention : ^ 
 
 Gesenius. The LXX. took '\)^b for ly^, when they 
 translated dg [jjuorb^m ; by which acceptation they 
 at least shew that they understood Job's reason for 
 wishing to have his words engraved. 
 
 '' ^^S1 Yet I, with emphasis, viz. if not you also ! 
 His consciousness of innocence is so strong that 
 he is always convinced that God will at lengtli ap- 
 pear as his avenger, even although this blessed 
 appearing, after which he languishes, should not be 
 vouchsafed to him until his body was altogether 
 wasted to a skeleton. 
 
 "" Literally, I know my avenger Is living. 7^^5»* 
 Numb. XXXV. 27, with the addition DIH, i= the 
 avenger of blood, who, as next of kin to a mur- 
 dered person, was in duty bound to avenge him. 
 Vide J. D. Michaelis, Mos. Recht, Part ii. 401. 
 God is figuratively thus termed in reference to the 
 innocently and unjustly destroyed Job. The sense 
 is the same as in ch. xvi. 19. 
 
 •* \nn^ literally, as one that comes after, w\lien 
 I can no longer defend myself. "lH)y is either 
 
 * 'pi^]) without DirT> as it stands in this passage, niewis 
 GedeemeTy and not avenger, — Thans. 
 
CHAP. XIX. 25. 15 
 
 poetically used for yiJ^, or is conceived in opposi- 
 tion to D''Qt£^, where the expected* avenger dwells ; 
 or, as is more probable, it is descriptive of the 
 scene of contention, like the Latin pulvis. This is 
 sanctioned by the meaning of p^^^35 to fight or 
 struggle {Gen. xxxii. 25, 26), a denom. from p3>i 
 dust. Thus in Greek, craXa/s/i/ comes from Tokri. 
 Jarchi finds, in the expressions of this last hemis- 
 tich, a mere picture of the eternity of God, which 
 seems unsuitable in this place. He takes Dp'' as 
 Isaiah xl. 8. Thus De Wette (" and the last re- 
 maineth he upon the earth"), and also Rosenmiiller 
 in the 1st edition of his Comment, though in the 
 2d, he conceives ^y Dip to be taken for support, 
 
 standby, = ^c -li', as does also De Sacy, (vide 
 Kosegarten Comment. Exeget. Crit. in loc. Jobi, 
 xix. 25, 27), and "HSy to stand for the dust of the 
 dead: " eumque novissiraum pulveri adstiturum." 
 But the passages advanced in support of this sense 
 of "ISiy, ch. vii. 21, xvii. 16, xx. 11, xxi. 28, cannot 
 
 X T 
 
 be considered as bearing upon the question, since 
 they imply the dust of the earth on which a man 
 rests, and not the dust into which his body is 
 changed. And the form of words *l^l)''b]) Dp> is 
 the most simply explained by the above transla- 
 tion. The translation of Jerome seems erroneous, 
 • Or rather, hoped-for Redeemer. — Trans* 
 
1^ THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 26. Yea, when my skin is no more, when this 
 is broken to pieces, 
 And I am wholly without flesh, yet shall 
 I see God.^ 
 
 which in this verse discovers the appearing of the 
 Messiah at the resurrection of the last day, " Scio 
 enim, quod Redemptor meus vivit, et in novissimo 
 die de terra surrecturus sum ;" in which case, the 
 text should so stand U^pU "IBVD 1^")^^in^ The 
 mode of interpretation, which in this verse and the 
 following discovers the resurrection of the body at 
 the day of judgment, is opposed to the original 
 form, as well as to the connection of the passage 
 and the spirit of the book. Vide Eichhorns Job's 
 Hopes, in the General Library of Biblical Literature, 
 i. 386; Justis Fragments from Job, in Paulus 
 Memorabilia ; Augustis' Theol. Papers^ N°'. 1 6, 50, 
 51 ; and New Theol. Papers, B. i. 2, 40. It is re- 
 markable that J. D. Michaelis should have trans- 
 lated thus : — "I know that my Redeemer liveth ; 
 another I (?) will hereafter arise from the dust." 
 Vide his German Translation of the Bible, and his 
 Oriental and Exegetical Library, Part viii. 184'. 
 ( Vide, on the other hand, Eichhorn in the above-men- 
 tioned Treatise, page 387.) Vide Autenreith on the 
 Book of Job, 43, and my Treatise in the Heidleberg 
 Jahrbuch of Literature, 1824, 533. 
 
 ' We pause at this text, so often contested, from 
 
CHAP. XIX. 26. iq^ 
 
 deficiency of grammatical knowledge. ^Spp is first 
 to be taken impersonally as third person plural, 
 and then to be changed into the passive, as in ch. 
 vii. 3. D^^ must be supplied before ^3pi, and by 
 ^^^T (fern, for neut.) Job points with contempt to 
 his wretched body, ^liy ITl^ literally " after my 
 skin," that is, " when my skin shall be no more." 
 Emphasis must be laid on the expression skin, 
 which, if rightly comprehended, preserves from a 
 false explanation of the verse, as if in it Job spoke 
 of a beholding of God after the complete death of 
 the body. While he expresses the firm conviction 
 that God will yet appear as the avenger of his in- 
 nocence, his eye immediately rests upon his skin, 
 severely afflicted by his disease. (It may be well 
 said of the Elephantiasis, that by it the skin is 
 
 stricken, for ^p^ means in Arabic ( Vide ^.juu in 
 Diet.) gravissimo ictu percussit.) " If this skin 
 were stricken, yea, continues he with increased 
 force of meaning, while he adverts to the flesh 
 .under the skin, even although this too should dis- 
 appear through the consuming influence of disease, 
 yet shall I (even though reduced to a mere skele- 
 ton) behold God. The praef. D before n^l ex- 
 presses removing or distance ; without, as ch. xi. 
 15; xxi. 9. According to this plan, the poet at 
 
 VOL. II. B 
 
18 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 2*7. I shall behold him favourably inclined to- 
 wards me ; * 
 
 length describes to us the fulfilment of Job's wish, 
 and he is permitted, even in this life, to behold 
 God as his avenger. For other reasons, partly il- 
 lustrative of doctrine, vide J. D. Michaelis in 
 Orient, and Exeget. Bibl. Part viii. 184, 189. 
 
 * Thi» poor and unworthy translation of these sublime verses 
 shows the puerilities into which learned men can fall when they 
 are bent upon supporting a favourite system. The literal gram- 
 matical and unsophisticated translation of these verses is as 
 follows : — 
 
 ver. 25. Dp* isv bv pinhi") ^Vi 'h^:i ^nv'v •»:^*1 
 
 't tt -' ~:~:t •": .~t- -;— 
 
 I know mv Redeemer liveth, and afterwards he shall arise 
 above the dust. 
 
 wx. 26. ryb)^^ r\]m '^-yvy^^ nj^r Jisp^ ni;; itoi 
 
 And after they have destroyed this my skin, yet from my flesh 
 shall I see God. 
 Ver. 27. 
 
 pnn w'^D -to ir ^b^ \^5"i ^:)*^'i 'h r]'^ni^ o^^ -^I:'^J 
 
 I. .. . - ; • X T ; ,--••;• . . ; v • -; v -; 
 
 AVhom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall look upon him 
 and not a stranger ; they (my skin and flesh) failed, I am con- 
 sumed in my bosom (or inward parts). 
 
 The miserable system of German divinity, v;ith which, however, 
 our autlior seems less offensively imbued than many of his co. 
 temporaries, tends to rob the Christian of his liope, by depriving 
 the Scriptures of all their comfort and half their beauty. In 
 these interesting remains of sacred flebrew pietry, we trace tlie 
 dawn of that light which our Lord Jesus Christ made to shine 
 upon life and immortality. \\'e devoutly thank God for the 
 blessing of our church, which in so many of her offices points 
 out to her sons the right interpretation of Scripture. How ap- 
 propriately has she not introduced this beautiful passage as the 
 commencement cf the most solemn of her services ! — Trans, 
 I 
 
CHAP. XIX. 28. if) 
 
 Mine eyes shall behold him, and not as au 
 enemy.^ — 
 
 (My reins aj*e consumed within me !)^ 
 28. Ye will then assuredly say, Wherefore did 
 we persecute him ? 
 
 Or how found we in him ground of con- 
 tention ?^ 
 
 ^ "^^^^ refers emphatically to ni'?^^ in the fore- 
 going verse, vide ch. ix. 15. " Yet not as an ad- 
 versary," that is, rather as a protecting friend." 
 Literally, " mine eyes see (shall see) viz. Him, 
 (which suffix may be well supplied from the first 
 hemistich), but as one who, so far from being an 
 adversary, is the direct contrary." For the union 
 of vh vvith a subst. in the sense which occurs 
 here, vide Gesenius in Lehrgeb. 832. Rosenmiiller 
 and De Wette overlook this important form of 
 speech when they make "IT the subject with ?)j^n, 
 ♦' mine eyes shall behold him, and no stranger." 
 Hence arises a flat meaning. 
 
 s This is a supplementary expression of the most 
 longing desire for the appearing of God. /li'»'?3 
 stands here, as elsewhere ti^32, for the inmost re- 
 cesses of the heart, in union with H^D fto faint, 
 entirely to consume oneself with longing), as in Ps. 
 Ixxxiv. 3, cxix. 81, to express the most vehement 
 desire. 
 
 ^ 'T.l"'' which is most commonly construed with 
 
20 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 29- Be ye afraid of the sword, 
 
 For wrath is hy the sword punished.^ 
 
 the accusative, is here united with 7. 121 ^i£7 
 
 T T V 
 
 is a judicial expression, the groujid of the whole 
 matlevj that is the contention. We find 121 used 
 in a similar sense for legal contention in Deut. xvii. 
 8. Although in the printed editions we read ''3, 
 yet exegetical rule decides in favour of the reading 
 ^2? which is sanctioned by many excellent Cod. 
 and confirmed by all old translations. If the or- 
 dinary way of reading be retained, the unavoidable 
 harshness will be diminished by repeating the 
 question in ilD? " And what ground of the thing, 
 i. e. what guilt is found in me ?" If ''II is the most 
 critically certain way of reading, I should be 
 tempted, from exegetical grounds, almost to admit 
 a slip of the pen in the author.* 
 
 ' Therefore he admonishes those who contend 
 with him to be more moderate in their persecution 
 of an unfortunate, having judgment before them, by 
 which their conduct would assuredly be punished. 
 The sword, the sharpest instrument, stands for the 
 most severe punishment. Hence sins of the sword 
 are those which merit the hardest chastisementr 
 
 • It would be improper to restrain one's righteous indignation 
 at such vain and presumptuous language. A commentator, for- 
 sooth, would treat the inspired word of the Lord as he would a 
 Greek drama I — Trans. 
 
CHAP. XIX. 29. 21 
 
 That ye may know that judgment cometh!^ 
 
 To this number belongs HDn, i- e. wrath, viz. the 
 passionate and vindictive manner in which the 
 friends persecute Job. Literally, violence is sin 
 of the sword : that is, it comprehends such in it, 
 or it produces it. We may explain the expres- 
 sion, as if it was said, for r\t^n is = H^n ili^iy- 
 Syr. Vulg. and Arab, express the stat. const. riDH 
 as a Cod. in Kenn. reads it. Wrath stands there 
 for revenge, and it might be translated, for the 
 sword avenges the sins. 
 
 ^ IV^b refers to an omitted " I say this." t^ 
 before y^l stands for "l^^TNt in the sense of quody 
 which is even so written in the Patach, Judges v. 
 7 ; Song of Sol. i. 7. This ]^ praef, has commonly 
 Saegol under it, and belongs to later Hebraisms ; 
 as appears from its frequent use in the more recent 
 Book of the Preacher. Vide Bernstein in the Ana- 
 lecta for the study of Exeget. and System. Theol. 
 Keil. and Tzschirner^ ii. 68. That this judgment 
 refers to beyond the tomb, according to the opi- 
 nion of Dereser, is justified by nothing in the ori- 
 ginal. Eichhorn says, " for know, he is mighty." 
 
 He thus compares with ]*<'^ti^.the Arab. «xi to be 
 strong. But since this form of such an adjective 
 does not elsewhere occur in the Old Testament, 
 but as fl (for which the marginal pi may be ad- 
 
29 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ZOPHAR. 
 
 1. ZopHAR the Naamite began, and said :' 
 
 2. Yet ! My calm consideration shall supply 
 
 me with an answer, 
 Because of the storm within me ! "* 
 
 mitted) is common in Hebrew in the sense of 
 judgment, which is here quite suitable, it seems 
 better to adhere to the translation of our text. In 
 Arabic, too, ^.i is used for judgment. Vide \si 
 Siir. of the Koran, v. 3. 
 
 ' With the same narrowness which characterized 
 the previous opposition of this friend to Job, he is 
 unable to do more than again to place before the 
 sufferer an irritating picture of the misfortunes of 
 the wicked turning into the bitterest misery. 
 
 "' The sense is, The more I feel myself violent 
 and excited, the more determined is my purpose, 
 to oppose with calm forethought, p? the particle 
 of earnest affirmation. Yet assuredly, when the 
 contrary is affirmed of that which had been asserted. 
 Vide Gen. iv. 13 ; Isaiah x. 24. It is usually 
 
 rendered certo profecto. It answers to the Arabic 
 w ^ o ^ s ^ 
 
 u^^ *$ ^JCJ, ^5CI , and stands literally, as the lat- 
 
CHAP. XX. 3. 23 
 
 3. I must receive contemptuous rebuke, 
 
 And empty speeches beyond my comprehen- 
 sion gave an answer." 
 
 ter shows in Arabic, for p i^b, and is thus etymo- 
 logical ly different from p^ on that account. Vide 
 Gesen. Comment, on Isaiah i. 408. Here this 
 particle, whose minute explanation is important to 
 a right comprehension of the sense of the verse, 
 meets the supposition which was taken as natural, 
 that such an admonitory speech of Job's must lead 
 to an answer of hasty anger. But no, says Zophar, 
 although Job has undoubtedly excited me, I will, 
 even for that very reason ( 11^^21 ) having the 
 error of intemperate indiscretion, reply with calm 
 
 composure D*3*y*^ are earnest thoughts, as in 
 
 ch. iv. 13. 0^2*til^* " they shall answer me," viz. 
 against Job. H^in hastening is here evidently used 
 of the violently excited movement of the inner 
 man. For other and very different explanations, 
 vide Schvltens in loco, and J. D, Michaelis in Supp. 
 ad Lex Heb. 701. How different, for instance, is 
 Eichhorn's translation : — " So ! Shall terror alter 
 my judgment : and haunted with fear shall (ver. 3) 
 I submit to contemptuous reproof?" 
 
 " The sense of the 2d hemistich is, " And this 
 contemptuous reproof consisted of empty words 
 overstepping my capacity." Thus I take UD as in 
 
M THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 4. Knowest thou not this** from everlasting, 
 Since man was placed on the earth '^^ 
 
 ch. XV. 1, for inanitaSf and ]D before ''ili''3, as com- 
 parative. The adjective which expresses the point 
 of comparison is sometimes omitted, and must be 
 supplied according to the connection. Vide ch. xi. 
 17; Isaiah x. 10; and Gesen. in Lehrgeb. 690. 
 In this comparison there is a certain irony ; for the 
 sense is, the emptiness of the speeches were so 
 great that I could not understand them. This ex- 
 planation is more favoured by the parallelism than 
 the common one : " But the Spirit answers from 
 my understanding," as also De Wette translates 
 it. The contemptuousness of the reproof consisted 
 in the empty and yet violent words. 
 
 ° Viz. what follows in ver. 3. It would be better 
 to say, " Does not experience teach this, since the 
 origin of the human race ?" 
 
 p The infin. absol. D"*^ for Dli^; is rare. This 
 infin. must be taken impersonaliter, and then 
 changed into passive. Vide Exod. ix. IG ; Num. 
 ix. 15. Perhaps verse 4th might be translated, 
 " Dost thou know this from eternity (viz. what Job 
 had said against the friends), since man was placed 
 upon the earth ?" i. e. as in ch. xv. 7, " Hast thou 
 all wisdom from the beginning of the world ?" 
 Then must we render by profecto the ^3 at the be- 
 ginning of the 6th verse. 
 
CHAP. XX. 5-7. 25 
 
 5. That the triumphing of the wicked is short,'^ 
 And the joy of the arrogant is hut for a 
 
 moment ? 
 
 6. If his height rises even to heaven/ 
 And his head reaches the clouds, 
 
 7. Like his own dung he perisheth for ever ;* 
 
 "" y)'^'pt2fi'0M the vicinity, i, e. near ; or transfer 
 the meaning from space to time, short. For the 
 object which is near requires from me the spectator 
 unto him only a short space. 
 
 ' K'^iir which only occurs here, assuredly stands 
 for nVi:^, and this again for t^^m. Vide Psalm 
 Ixxxix. 10. Infin. from ^Vl, in meaning similar 
 toDXii^ ch. xiii. 11. 
 
 ' This strong comparison, which is suitably op- 
 posed to the one in the preceding verse, which 
 depicts the pride of the sinner, is designed to excite 
 both horror and disgust against the bad. Vide 
 1 Kings xiv. 10. The suffix tert. person, to 7721 
 seems to stand not without emphasis. 77^ in its 
 known meaning, stercus, (videEzek. iv. 12, 15, Zeph, 
 I. 1, 7), affords here a perfectly good, i. e. strong 
 sense, and there is no need to seek for an expla- 
 nation in Syriac or Arabic, as J. D. Michaelis and 
 Dathe have done. The former compares the Syr. 
 
 y^ " palea," and refers the suffix to 2V " nubis 
 
26 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 Those who saw him say, Where is he ? 
 
 8. Like a dream he vanisheth, and cannot be 
 
 found. 
 And is chased away as a vision of the night. 
 
 9. The eye followeth him, hut can discern him 
 
 no longer, 
 And liis place beholdeth him no more/ 
 
 10. The needy oppress his children, 
 And their hands recover his spoil." 
 
 instar in coelum se sceleratus efFert ; sed ut stipula 
 
 in nubes a vento abrepta disperibit." The latter 
 
 s ^ ^ 
 thinks of the Arabic ^^^ "splendor : in ipso 
 
 splendore suo perit." Vide Rosenmiiller in loco. 
 
 * Concerning the meaning of the verse, vide ch. 
 
 Til, 10, inSTi:^ stands for J)nn9T^ ^'^'^ occurs 
 
 only in ch. xxviii. 7, and Canticles, i. 6. The mean- 
 ing of guick and s/iarp -looking, which is ascribed 
 to the verb by Dathe, is sanctioned by the context. 
 Vide my Comment, on the Book of Canticles, ch. i. 6. 
 
 " Eternal justice brings retribution on the seed 
 of the wicked ; for that which the father had un- 
 justly acquired is now violently wrested from the 
 children. U^'^ is, according to the context, as- 
 suredly the subject, and as demonstrating the prin- 
 cipal idea, is made antecedent to the accus. VJ21* 
 There is a double explanation of ^^^^i 1st, Pihel of 
 
CHAP. XX. 10. 2*7' 
 
 niSl, according to the, in Kal, well known mean- 
 ing of the Arab. Lii- to be contented, to please or 
 appease any one ; or according to the, in Kal, still 
 better known meaning, to have pleasure in any one ; 
 to be gracious to one ; to seek ones favor, Gesenius : 
 " His sons atone to the poor" (by the restoration 
 of the property of which they had been robbed by 
 their father). De Wette : " His sons seek the fa- 
 vour of the poor." ilji"! stands here for y^"1 to 
 torment, or oppress, or treat violently. Thus 
 Schnurrer, Eichhorn, Rosenmiiller, with the sanc- 
 tion of the old versions. The latter explanation 
 appears to me to be the least forced. The expla- 
 nation of Bo'ckel, " His sons run about as beggars," 
 according to which Hli*) must be taken as equiva- 
 lent to y!)"), is not only deficient in regard to its 
 verification of parallel passages, but is an explana- 
 tion contrary to good taste ; for we expect from 
 beggars rather a creeping than a running ; not to 
 mention that the " about" is not expressed in the 
 Hebrew. In the word V"!^ in the 2d hemistich, 
 
 T T 
 
 there is some doubt as to what the suffix refers, 
 whether to the violent himself, or to his sons, so 
 that it should be taken distributively. But it seems 
 to me most suitable to refer it to the subject of the 
 former hemistich, wbl, also distributive. If, with 
 other translators, we take ]ij^ in the sense dolor, we 
 
28 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 1 1. His bones are full of his secret sins,"^^ 
 And they rest with him upon the dust. 
 
 might translate, « And their hands inflict his pain 
 back again ;" that is, they repay to the children of 
 the wicked the pain which he has occasioned to 
 them. Vide Schultens in loco. 
 
 " The sense is, his secret trespasses penetrate his 
 bones like a consuming canker. Even when the 
 wicked stands in his plentiful prosperity and seem- 
 ing righteousness, secret guilt, like secret poison, 
 destroys his inward marrow. Thus in Psalm xc. 
 8, D'^pw stands for secret sins. The striking and 
 well-chosen image, which perhaps had reference to 
 the nature of Job's disorder, is lost, if in accordance 
 with the LXX.y the Chald., the Syr,, Hufnagel, De 
 Wette, GeseniuSf and Winer, we take D^D^^^ in 
 the sense of the strength of youth, the age of youth. 
 " His bones are full of youthful strength." Vulg, 
 " vitiis adolescentiae." 
 
 * In the 2d hemistich lies the elevation of the 
 thought, figuratively expressed in the foregoing 
 one. At length the poison of these consuming 
 secret sins becomes fatal. And now the body of 
 the wicked lies in the dust annihilated, like his 
 criminal purposes. A fine thought, and nobly ex- 
 pressed — " His sins rest with him upon the dust !" 
 Vide a similar expression, ch. xvii, 16. Concern- 
 
CHAP. XX. 12-14. 29 
 
 12. Though wickedness taste sweet in his 
 
 mouth. 
 And he conceals it under his tongue ; 
 
 13. Though he spare it, and forsake it not, 
 And keep it still in the midst of his mouth : 
 
 14. His meat is changed in his bowels, 
 
 And becomes bitter poison of serpents 
 \Anthin him.^ 
 
 ing the union of the verb 33t!^D as tert. pers. fem. 
 gen, num. sing, with the nom. subst. D^D^^^ as a 
 masc. num. plural, vide above, cb. xiv. 19. 
 
 ^ The sense is, The fascination which sin exer- 
 cises over man to his destruction, is strikingly ty- 
 pified by a comparison with poisonous food, of 
 which the sweet taste at first pleases the palate, 
 but afterwards destroys the stomach. Vide a simi- 
 lar passage in Prov. xx. 17 : " Bread of deceit is 
 sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be 
 filled with gravel." The bitter disappointment of 
 the sinner's expectations is described with admi- 
 rable irony by the increased intensity with which 
 he pleases himself with the sweet taste of the poi- 
 sonous mouthful. Mark how well these expressions 
 succeed one another, V3B> iiT^7 ilHr). iSH ^iilll 
 and WD^. Many old commentators have speci- 
 fied some particular sin by ny"1> which is the ob- 
 ject of sinful affection in general, and is figuratively 
 
30 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 15. He bath devoured riches to vomit them up 
 again ; 
 God casteth them out of his belly.^ 
 
 considered as the DH/ (v. 14) of the sinner. Some 
 have thought of covetousness and greed (avaritid)^ 
 perhaps in reference to Job himself. But the con- 
 nection of the words affords no ground for this ; 
 and this specification diminishes the power and 
 justness of the thought. We also mistake the sense, 
 when we attribute to IPID the idea of secrecy, as 
 if the word refers to the secret gratification of plea- 
 sure, while it, as well as the following ^Dn and 
 yjQ, refers to the sparing and gradual consump- 
 tion of pleasant food, in order the longer to enjoy 
 it. ^3nj relates to a total change into a disagree- 
 able contrary, as in Psalm Ixxxii. 4 ; Isaiah xxix. 
 16 ; Jer. ii. 21. pniD, literally bitterness^ stands 
 in ver. 25 for gall. Poison is here understood by 
 the word; and it is in conformity with the opinion 
 of the ancients, that the poison of serpents was 
 contained in their gall. Vide Pliny Hist. Nat. xi, 
 37. But the Hebrew identified the bitter with 
 the poisonous, as he regarded wormwood as poi- 
 sonous. Vide CeTs. THerohot. i. 480 ; and »/. D. 
 Michaelis, in Siipp. ad Lex Ileb. 1453. 
 
 " The strong and impressive image is in itself 
 clear. When God himself scatters the treasure 
 
CHAP. XX. 16. 17. 31 
 
 16. He hath sucked the poison of serpents; 
 The viper's tongue slayeth him.'' 
 
 17. He shall not delight himself by the water- 
 
 brooks, 
 By streams which flow with milk and 
 honey.* 
 
 which the wicked had unjustly acquired, it is done 
 with violence. The more unpleasant are the feel- 
 ings of the sinner. 
 
 "" The treasure which the wicked devoured is 
 changed into poison ; and while he violently vomits 
 up the food which he has enjoyed, he perishes mi- 
 serably. The tongue of the viper stands for poison 
 itself, as that is the member which is- peculiarly 
 active in poisoning. Vide Psalm cxl. 4. 
 
 ^ In the sultry East, waterbrooks are the pleas- 
 ing image of flattering prosperity ; wherefore Ma- 
 homet, in his description of Paradise, forgets not a 
 plentiful supply of water. Brooks of milk and 
 honey, are hyperbolically mentioned as images of 
 the most luxurious prosperity. Our thoughts are 
 directed to the land flowing with milk and honey, 
 tll^ :ibr] nnr V")«. Exod. xiil. 5, xxxiii. 3 ; 
 
 - : T T -T ' V V 
 
 Levit, XX. 24. We have also the word Hi^Dn 
 thick milk. Vide ch. xxix. 6 ; Isaiah vii. 15i. 
 vTO nnj streams of floods, that is, plentifully 
 streaming floods.. 
 
32 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 18. He restoreth that for which he hath la- 
 boured, and dareth not swallow it ;'' 
 According to his treasure shall be his re- 
 compense, and he shall not rejoice.'^ 
 
 ^ The image is again taken from food which is 
 taken away from one before he swallows it. 
 
 " The second hemistich has occasioned consider- 
 able difficulty ; and Kromayer exclaims, " Hie 
 iterum aqua haeret interpretibus." If we unite 7^n 
 in the form of the stat. const, with irn^Qjl, and 
 join the proposition in whatever way we understand 
 it, to the first member, the entire verse is made an 
 even. Rosenmiiller's translation is, "reddet laborura 
 fiructus, nee abliguriet, quantumcumque ei sitresti- 
 tuendum :" literally, " Secundum vim, vel opes 
 permutationis ejus, i, e. quantum justa opum aliis 
 ereptarum compensatio requirit." But those com- 
 mentators, who feel the awkwardness and insignifir 
 cancy of this or similar translations, have made 
 theirs more or less arbitrary or artificial. Thus in 
 some Cod. b^n3. is read instead of ^113 ; and the 
 Syr. does not express 1 before vh ; thus Diiderlein 
 translates : " de opibus quas permutavit non laeta- 
 bitur," and thus Hufnagel, Dathe, and H. A. 
 Schultens. Schultens adopts the most simple 
 theory, which is the best suited to the parallel, 
 membr. where he takes the form of the stat. 
 
CilAP. XX, 19. 33 
 
 19. Because he ground down the poor, and 
 abandoned the oppressed,*^ 
 
 constr. TPT as the stat. absol. as if it was 
 iJTn^DJl n";nri ]3 'b'^m " Prout opulentia est, sic 
 erit permutatio ejus." When the form Vri occurs 
 in stat. absol. it is used only to express strength in 
 war ; and therefore in that sense only can Schultens' 
 explanation be received. The form commonly 
 used for the stat. const, is best suited to the sudden 
 agreement of the two expressions, which unques- 
 tionably form a proverb. At all events, these would 
 be the least critical difficulty were we to say that 
 it should be thus pointed ';'''rT. The expression, 
 which is confirmed by Jewish tradition, seems the 
 best, because, in conformity with the connection, 
 it favours the proverbial acceptation. 
 
 '* Picture of the rudest cruelty. He not only 
 did not espouse the cause of the poor; he mal- 
 treated them, and left them helpless. The union 
 of the verb y-^T with wb'l (vide 2 Chron. xvi. 10), 
 seems to favour the translation of •1^*1% which we 
 have adopted in ver. 10. The force of the ex- 
 pression is increased by the omission of ■) copul. 
 from ary. vide Ewald Crit. Gram. Qb^. Full of 
 meaning, on the contrary, is its position before ^h 
 in the 2d hemistich, <<and yet not." The object 
 
 VOL. II. c 
 
34 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And violently took houses which he built 
 not. 
 
 20. For his inward parts know no rest :^ 
 What he desired he suffered not to escape.' 
 
 21. No one was able to fly from his covetous- 
 
 ness; 
 
 house (of which the plundering is mentioned as 
 peculiarly shameful, in so much as thereby, ac- 
 cording to the 2d hemistich, we are led to think of 
 the shelter of the poor), is brought prominently 
 forward by being placed before the verb 7T2I. Vide 
 Ewald Crit. Gram. 635. Zophar thinks of the 
 avaricious rich man of whom mention is made in 
 Isaiah v. 8, " Woe unto them that join house to 
 house." Vide Gesen. Comm. in loco, 
 
 ^ 'h'^i as adject, neut. gen., stands for the subst. 
 Vide Gesen. in Lehrgeh. G50. The sense is, He 
 was never free from desires. The expression at 
 first seems to relate to physical hunger ; and hence 
 Eichhorn translates, '' Because he always felt hun- 
 ger in his belly." Vide ver. 21. 
 
 ^ Literally, " What is in his desires," i. e. con- 
 tained in them, or what he desires. We take the 
 It before il^^H for the 3, essentia;, Arab. Vide 
 Prov. iii. 26, and my Comment, thereupon. Thus 
 the hemistich, which contains the conclusion of the 
 former one, is simply explained. For other views, 
 vide liosenmiiller in loco. 
 
CPIAP^XX. 25. 35 
 
 Therefore should his prosperity have no 
 
 endurance.^ 
 22. In the fulness of his superfluity he feeleth 
 
 straitened, 
 And the oppression of the poor weigheth 
 
 him down.^ 
 
 s Most interpreters translate b^H by " endure 
 or continue." The meaning which may be here 
 aj)plied is, " to be strong ;" thus, " to continue in 
 strength," is the meaning which the verb has in 
 Psalm X. 5. Vide De Wette in loco, a7id Winer on 
 the word. The meaning is confirmed through the 
 
 nom. deriv. ^17? ^"^ ^^ found also in the Arab. jU* 
 and in the Syr. \i,^. The original meaning lies 
 in the idea of turning. Hence, 1. " to turn oneself," 
 i. e. " on account of pain, to bear ;" 2. to " turn 
 together, to unite, to knot together," which gives 
 the sense of strength (as "l^p) ; as, on the other 
 hand, loosening is accompanied by the notion of 
 weakness. The translation of Schultens is artifi- 
 cial, " Propterea nihilum parturiet fortuna ejus," 
 where ^n is taken in the sense of " to bear." 
 
 ^ Admirable picture of an evil conscience. Even 
 although the wicked revels in the fulness of super- 
 fluity, a certain inward restraint deprives him of 
 his perfect enjoyment. The literal meaning of the 
 
36 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 23. So may it be ! May God send his scorch- 
 ing indignation to fill his belly ! 
 And let it rain upon him for his food ! ' 
 
 2d hemistich is, " The whole hand of the miserable 
 comes upon him." T marks the oppressing and 
 constraining power ; and by vDV is probably in- 
 tended the person who had been plunged by the 
 rich into misery. The entire . suffering which he 
 had heaped upon individuals now comes on himself 
 as a punishment. There is no reason why we 
 should, with Gesenius, consider 7D]) as neuter for 
 bWi as after him, Lange, translates, " The entire 
 force of misery falls upon him," so that the hand must 
 be considered active in producing tlie misfortune. 
 The expression is, on the contrary, more lively and 
 impressive when 7t2V is considered as the subject 
 attacked by misfortune, on which the whole hand, 
 that is, the entire force of extraneous violence, rests. 
 ' The %T standing before, shows that the pro- 
 position is to be taken as an imprecation, ID^nbll 
 '•' on account of his food ;" that is, «' to feed him." 
 The meaning ^es/i, as in Zech. i. 17, is here un- 
 suitable for U)nh' After ")^p^ we supply the 
 suffix, in reference to iDN^ p")rT in the foregoing 
 member. By this fiery food of wrath, with which 
 God fills the wicked, we must understand lightning, 
 
CHAP, :^rx. 24, 25. 37 
 
 24. When lie fleetli from the iron weapon, 
 The brazen bow transfixeth him.'^ 
 
 25. He draweth the sword, and it presseth out 
 
 of the body ; ^ 
 
 of which it is said, in Psalm xi. 6, that God rain- 
 eth it. To feel the force of the image, we must 
 picture to ourselves the opposite nature of a re- 
 freshing rain in the desert. Exod. xvi. 4. — S'lyh''^ 
 on them, because the wicked were mentioned col- 
 lectively ; though Ewald thinks that the old plural 
 form ^,^3, used here and in other places, has been 
 put by mistake for the mas. sg. Vide Ewald Crif, 
 Gram. 365. 
 
 ^ While the wicked will avoid one danger he falls 
 into a still greater one, as proverbially, " Incidit in 
 Scyllam, qui vult vitare Charybdin." QJ^ must be 
 supplied before n^2^. S^Sl to pass through, to 
 pierce as with a dart. Judges v. 26. 
 
 ' ^'^ the known word to denote drawing the 
 sword. Vide Num. xxii. xxiii. xxxi. ; Jos. v. 13, 
 w^hich we most simply supply here as the object, 
 while we make the Enemy, or God himself, the 
 subject. " He draws, and the sword presses out 
 of the body," that is, to draw, and to run the sword 
 entirely through the body, is one. It is generally 
 translated, " He draws (viz. the wicked who has 
 been struck) (the dart), yet he pierced his body 
 
38 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 The lightning darteth from his gall — The 
 fears of death are upon him ! ™ 
 26. All darkness lieth hid in his treasures;" 
 A fire not blown shall consume him.° 
 
 through." Custom, and obviousness of the sense, 
 seem to favour the proposed explanation. — In 
 
 Arabic, i^X*m intransitive, means to draw out^ i.e. 
 go away ; for instance, used of objects which are 
 escaped. 
 
 '" The 2d hemistich confirms our translation in 
 the first, of a sword instead of an arrow, or dart : 
 for p")2 lightning^ is used for the glittering of a 
 sword. Z)eM^. xxxii. 41 ; Ezek. xxi. 15, 20. Vide 
 
 the Arab. C^Xj fidgens, which is frequently used 
 
 to denote a gleaming sword. Gall is here placed 
 for life, as in ch. xvi. 13. Deadly wounding is 
 expressed in the words. U^l^'^ otherwise D'^D'^Nt 
 terrores. Vide Psalm \-x.\yi\\iu 16. Thus in Psalm 
 Iv. 4, " The terrors of death are fallen upon me," 
 
 — X ; T V T 
 
 " The sense is. Every misfortune which assails 
 the wicked has its cause in his treasures. Lite- 
 rally, *' Every thing dark was concealed in his 
 treasures." ^t^H darkness^ is used for dark fate, 
 misfortune. 
 
 *• Wickedness is a self-igniting fire ; in it lie the 
 
CHAP. XX. 27, gS. 39 
 
 Woe to him that remaineth in his tent 1^ 
 
 27. The heavens reveal his iniquity, 
 And the earth riseth against him.^i 
 
 28. The prosperity of his house hath departed ; 
 It sinketh like a water- stream, on the day 
 
 when God is angry .'^ 
 
 principles of destruction. Others understand there- 
 by lightning, 
 
 1' Every trace of the wicked must be obliterated, 
 vide ch. xvili. 15. yn^ which we take as the future 
 Kal of y"l^ may also be derived, according to Ge- 
 senius and others, from nyi which occurs in the 
 sense of siccep away, in ch. xxiv. 21 ; Micah v. 3 ; 
 Jer. ii. 16 ; xxii. 22. Then the translation should 
 be, " And it (the fire) consumeth the rest in his 
 dwelling." 
 
 1 Universal nature gives utterance to his guilt ! 
 This enmity with all creation, is held up as a 
 peculiar punishment of the wicked. 
 
 ■■ As gained, so spent, n^"^3^ part. Niph. " The 
 wealth of his house is a thing suddenly thrown 
 down." Vide 2 Sam. xiv. 14, The root "(.1J is a 
 favourite word of the prophet Micah. Vide ch. i. 4, 
 when it is said, "niD2 DH^D D^D3 like water 
 which dashes down a precipice. Vide Schultens de 
 Defect. Ling. Heh. § 68, and Vindic. Origin. Heb. 
 
40' THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 29. This is the lot of the wicked from God, 
 The portion assigned unto him by the 
 Almighty.^ 
 
 180, For other unsuitable explanations of the 
 verse, vide Hosenmuller in loco. 
 
 * The suffix tert. pers. masc. gen. with l^i)^ 
 must be taken passively. Literally, " The heri- 
 tage of the share which has fallen to him." On 
 the meaning, vide ch. xviii. 21. 
 
CHAP. XXI. 1-4. 41 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 1. Job began, and said : 
 , 2. Hear ye now my words,' 
 
 And let this be your consolation ! 
 3. Grant unto me permission to speak. 
 
 When I have spoken, then begin to mock." 
 4-. Doth my complaint strike a man ?^' 
 
 ' As in ch. xiii. 17, If the violent friends would, 
 at least, consent to listen to him calmly, he would 
 regard it as a comfort. But, on the contrary, they 
 overwhelm him, to whom they will not listen, with 
 mockings. 
 
 * Literally, ^' Then first mock," that is, then 
 begin to mock. He probably addresses Zophar, 
 the last of the friends who had spoken. 
 
 ' Oi^^n as an absol. nom. " As to what con- 
 
 T V 
 
 cerns me." This pleonastic setting before of the 
 pron. person, prim, person, as the beginning of a 
 sentence, being an Arama'ism, is found more fre- 
 quently in the works of the later Hebrew writers. 
 e.g. Eccl, ii. 13 ; Ezek. ix. 10 ; Ezra vii. 21 ; Dan, 
 X. 17. Vide Hartmanns Philological Introd. 373. 
 
1'2 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And why should not I, then, be impatient ?* 
 
 5. Look on me, and be amazed ; 
 Lay the hand upon the mouth. 
 
 6. When I think thereon, I must be afraid, 
 And trembling taketh hold of my body/ 
 
 7. Why do the wicked continue in life. 
 
 And wax old, and strengthen with power ? 
 
 8. Their posterity standeth firm before them, 
 Their offspring before their eyes. 
 
 9. Their houses — peace without fear,^ 
 
 And the scourge of God striketh them not. 
 
 " This hemistich, of which the connection is not 
 always rightly understood, contains the force of the 
 former one. 
 
 * Concerning the construction of this word, vide 
 ch. xviii. 20. Can we wonder, that in his dis- 
 courses, he broke forth in passionate complaining, 
 when the struggle was not with mortal man, but 
 with the Almighty himself! Behold him, the un- 
 offending sufferer, in his boundless misery, and 
 then reconcile it if you can, with notions of the 
 divine justice ! Is not such a contradiction enough 
 to make us tremble ? — ^D^H Imper. Hiph. here 
 to be taken intrans. In some editions, -IDli^n is to 
 
 ~ t; 
 
 be taken in Hophal. Concerning the meaning of 
 the verb, vide ch. xvi. 7. 
 
 ' Vide ch. v. 24. The thought which chiefly 
 
CHAP. XXI. 10, 11. 43 
 
 10. Their cattle^ conceive, and cast not forth;* 
 Their cows bear,^ and have no untimely 
 
 births. 
 
 11. They lead forth their children like sheep. 
 And their young men dance.*^ 
 
 excited his consternation, was, that the greatest 
 worldly prosperity should fall to the share of the 
 wicked, while he, Job, unconscious of crime, was 
 fearfully tormented. 
 
 ^ l^V Literally transire fecit, scil. semen virile, 
 used concerning kine, in which sense ^W must 
 here be taken ; which, as an Epicoenum, can be 
 construed with the mascul., while it marks a de- 
 terminate feminine individual. Vide Gesenius in 
 Lehrgeh. 476. In Chald. "l^y is condpere. 
 
 * Scil. semen, bv^ (to feel disgust ?) to reject 
 something with disgust, here, " semen conceptum 
 rejicere." Vide Bochart Hieroz, torn i. p. 291. 
 Leipzig edition. 
 
 ^ 20^3 and tO>'D is literally to let f -ape, to 
 drop, and hence more than IT : thusjfo bring forth 
 easily. Vide Isaiah xxxiv. 15, where the word is 
 used of laying eggs. Thus, in the first member of 
 the verse, an easy conception is described, and in 
 the second, a happy birth. 
 
 ° Their children disport themselves under the 
 skies, (this is implied by ^n^t^") they send them 
 
44 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 12. They sing aloud to the note of the trumpet 
 
 and the twang of the viol, 
 And to the sound of the pipe.*^ 
 
 13. They pass their lives in prosperity, 
 
 And then go in a twinkling to the realm 
 of the dead.^ 
 
 forth, viz. out of doors,) like the sheep of the pas- 
 tures. In this picture of domestic happiness, a 
 numerous and healthy band of children is not for- 
 
 gotten. Tj^") = (jajif. dance. Deviating from the 
 text, Eichhorn says, " Their sheep lead out their 
 lambkins, and the older lambs skip." 
 
 •^ The instrument 2Wi called by Hebrew com- 
 mentators organon, and by recent ones harp, has 
 its meaning here fixed by the neighbouring word 
 ^ip. The term voice cannot be applied to a 
 stringed, but to a wind instrument. At all events, 
 we must expect to find the latter enumerated in 
 the 2d hemistich, since the former are mentioned 
 in the 1st ; and it seems probable, that the poet 
 would, if possible, describe music in its fulness and 
 completeness. 
 
 * What more remained to be desired ? Unbro- 
 ken prosperity even to a protracted age, and then 
 a sudden death without pain ! The reading ^72.^ 
 seems preferable (on account of the thought ex- 
 
CHAP. XXI. 14-16. 45 
 
 14. And yet they say unto God, Depart from us; 
 In the knowledge of thy ways we take no 
 
 pleasure.^ 
 
 15. What is the Almighty, that we should serve 
 
 him ?s 
 How could it benefit us, were we to ap- 
 proach him?^ 
 
 16. So their prosperity standeth not in their 
 
 hand.^ 
 
 pressed in the 2d hemistich) to that of T)2\ which 
 expresses the same sense, though more generally. 
 
 ^ The reverse of this godless expression, vide in 
 Isaiah ii. 3 ; Psalm xxv. 4. The way of God, is 
 the way which God points out ; that is, the law, the 
 course of action (for '^'yl means figuratively ratio 
 agendi et vivetidi), thus exactly n"liD. In a similar 
 
 sense ^ \ J^j^ via Dei stands frequently in the 
 Koran for religio. Vide also Psalm 1. 23. 
 
 s A similar expression of godless audacity, vide 
 in Prov. xxx. 9. Vide also Jer. ii. 20, where "Iiy 
 
 — r 
 
 is used. 
 
 ^ y!!D with 1 is to apply to one with a request. 
 Vide Gen. xxiii. 8; Ruth i. IG ; Jer. vii. 16. 
 
 ' But in the hand of God. Job now proceeds 
 to refute the chief argument of his opponents, that 
 the prosperity of the wicked is but temporary. 
 
46 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 May the counsel of tlie wicked be far from 
 
 me !^ 
 17. How oft is the light of the sinner extin- 
 guished,^ 
 And destruction cometh upon them. 
 And God in his wrath sendeth them snares ! *™ 
 
 Schnurrer fvide Dissertat. 258) and Eichhorn have 
 rightly conceived the true meaning of the words 
 of ver. 16th; for, from verse 19th, it is plain that 
 Job, in the whole passage, adverts to former asser- 
 tions of his adversaries, concerning the short con- 
 tinuance of the prosperity of the wicked. 
 
 ^ Expression of horror at the counsels of the god- 
 less, which naturally follow from the thoughts of 
 the first hemistich. The prait. T\\T\^ has here vim 
 optandi, as the praet. is used in Arabic, " in op- 
 tandi atque bene vel male precandi formulis." Vide 
 Rosenmiiller Instit. ad Fund. Ling. Arab. p. 329. 
 
 ' With especial reference to Bildad's expression, 
 ch. xviii. 5. 
 
 '" nD3 has to be repeated. — D*'^3rT, literally 
 cords, stands here, as in Psalm xi. 6, D'^HD, for 
 lightning^ which in its winding motion may be com- 
 pared with fiery strings, with which God puts men 
 in fetters. The words seem to relate to ch. xviii. 5, 
 and ch. xx. 23. Others understand by cords, mea- 
 suring lines, and conceive them figuratively for lot, 
 
CHAP. XXI. 18, 19. 47 
 
 18. How often are they like straw before the 
 And like chaff driven by the wind ! ^ [blast, 
 
 19. God layeth up misfortune for his sons ; 
 To him shall he recompense it, that he 
 
 may come to conviction ! ^ 
 
 apportionment. Others derive the word from ^211 
 pain, and translate thus : " How oft does God as- 
 sign to them pain as their lot !" The explanation 
 which we have adopted is more determinate and 
 forcible. Vide Korariy Sur. 73, v. 1 1, where fetters 
 and flames for the punishment of the condemned 
 are attributed to God. 
 
 " Vide the same image in Psalm i. 4. Job con- 
 tends against a partial and cold explanation of this 
 psalm. 
 
 " Equally valueless, continues Job, is the asser- 
 tion of the friends, that if the godless himself does 
 not receive the punishment due to his deeds, at 
 least his children must pay the penalty. — The 
 verb yT standing absolute, is clear in its true 
 sense, according to the selected translation. It is 
 especially used in this way to announce divine 
 punishment, and then we most simply supply God 
 as its object. Vide Psalm xiv. 4 ; Hosea ix. 7 ; 
 
 Isaiah i. 3 ; ix. 8. In the Koran, J^ scire, stands 
 thus. Sur. xxvi. 48, 49. 
 
48 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 20. His eyes shall see his ruin ;P 
 
 He shall drink of the wrath of the Al- 
 mighty ! "^ 
 
 21. For what hath he to do with his house; is 
 
 he away/ 
 
 p T3 occurs only here ; but in the meaning ex- 
 pressed in the translation, it is fully demonstrated 
 
 from the Arab., where Jva-^s especially denotes 
 the ruin which one prepares for another. Vide the 
 proofs by Schultens from the Koran. Vide Sur. xii. 
 5, 28, 34, 52, 72 ; lii. 41 ; Ixviii. 42. Vide Carm. 
 Bordtty V. 26 ; and Schidtens Hist. Joctan.^ p. 40, 
 
 where it is said, }<^\^ ^^ s*Na^j ^Lo <s^\ 
 ** Qui machinatione sua sibimet perniciem struxit." 
 
 ■1 Especially in reference to ch. xx. 10. The 
 image used in the hemistich, for " he should expe- 
 rience the punishment of God," is not quite fol- 
 lowed out. In the Old Testament, we find nu- 
 merous examples of the figure of God giving a cup 
 of wrath to sinners to drink, to overthrow them in 
 confusion. Vide Jer. xxv. 15, IG ; xlix. 12 ; xli. 7 ; 
 Lam. iv. 21 ; Obad. 16 ; Bzek. xxiii. 31 ; Isaiah U. 
 17 ; and Gesenius Comment. Part ii. page 149. 
 
 ' ysn is here not so much complacency (for this 
 meaning does not altogether suit tue passage), as 
 res, nrgotium, as Eccks. iii. 1 ; v. 7 ; viii, 6. Con- 
 
CHAP. XXI. 22. 49 
 
 When the number of the months allotted 
 to him is fulfilled ?^ 
 22. Can one teach wisdom to God ?^ 
 
 cerning these thoughts, vide eh. xiv. 21. " After 
 him," for " after his death," stands in like manner 
 in Gen. xvii. 19 ; xviii. 19 ; Eccles. iii. 22 ; vi. 12. 
 
 ^ The image is derived from the usual Arabic way 
 of casting lots, viz. to draw arrows as lots from an 
 urn. Vide Judges v. 11. We take Y^PT as a verb 
 denom., from yn? as Schnurrer has done. Vide 
 Pococke Specimen Histor. Arab. 324 ; De Sacy 
 Chrest. Arab. i. 315. Also in Persian ,/J» is, 
 1. An arrow; 2. A game with arrows; 3. Lot. 
 Vide V. Bohlen, Symb. ad Interpret. Sacr. Cod. e 
 Ling. Pers. 35 ; and Rosenmiillers Bibl. Exeget. 
 JRepertorium, i. 108. An arrow is a suitable figure 
 for an inevitable destiny, as the poet Sadi, in the 
 
 passage from Gulistan, cited p. 228, says : sSij \ 
 
 ;Ij «XjUj (^U^> ^^ f^j' 5 i. e. " That vv^hich has 
 come from the bow never returns back." For other 
 explanations, vide Gesenius on the word. In the 
 last hemistich there is only a poetical enlargement 
 of the thought in the preceding V"in>^. 
 
 ' Scil. UJ'^i^. Elsewhere, l^b is generally united 
 with the accusative as verb, of teaching. Vide 
 Ewald in Crit. Gram. 588. Job, instructed by 
 
 VOL. II. D 
 
50 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 Who judges the Highest ?" 
 
 23. The one dies in the fulness of his pros- 
 
 perity/ 
 In perfect security and repose. 
 
 24. The stations of his herds are full of milk,'' 
 
 experience, must continue true to his old asser- 
 tion, that God portions out prosperity and misfor- 
 tune as it pleases him, without reference to human 
 wisdom. 
 
 " W^f^l the high ones, viz. those who besides God 
 are so named by men, be they who they may. We 
 must not confine our explanation to the angels. 
 Videy in elucidation of the sense, the noble descrip- 
 tion in Isaiah ii. 12-18. 
 
 ' Literally, " The bone of his unscathed prospe- 
 rity" (for this is meant by Q'p\ integritas a. r. DDi^ 
 integer fuit.) Our marrow nearly resembles the 
 figurative expression of the orig. for the greatest 
 strength. When in some dictionaries D!iy means 
 also self, as Gen. vii. 18 ; niTl DVPf D^iV^ " on 
 the self-same day," the meaning is correct, but 
 the expression always in the first instance signifies 
 complete force. We must represent to ourselves 
 the bones as the most important, opposed to 
 flesh. 
 
 * Kromayer has said of pZO^, " Hoc vocabulum 
 admodum obscurum ac difficile est, cum nee ipsum. 
 
CHAP. XXI. 25, 26. 5 I 
 
 And the marrow of his bones is well wa- 
 tered.'' 
 
 25. The other dies with sorrowing spirit, 
 And hath not enjoyed any good. 
 
 26. They lie together in the dust ; 
 The worms cover both. 
 
 nee ejus radix, amplius extet." The old transla- 
 tors chiefly understand by the word a part of the 
 body, and render it sometimes by entrails, some- 
 times by side ; e. g. Vulg. " Viscera ejus plena 
 sunt adipe," where, if they did not read, they at 
 least explained either V^'^tOB (intestina ejus) or 
 VD'^py (Chald. latera ejus). For n^H they ex- 
 pressed 3711. Undoubtedly, then, if we attend to 
 the sense of the second hemistich, the parallelism 
 would be properly rounded off. But the word 
 ]'^JOy in the text, which is used as the resting-place 
 of cattle near the water, agrees very well with the 
 
 Arabic Ug and . .kx-c . The image contains 
 the twofold idea of the luxurious prosperity and 
 the vigorous health of man. Thus Aben Ezra, 
 Schultens, &c. For other explanations, vide Bo- 
 chart in Hieroz. Part i. p. 505, Leipz. edit. 
 
 * The same picture of green and vigorous health. 
 Vide in Prov. iii. 8. The human body is likened 
 to the soil of the field, which is not suffered to dry, 
 but is plentifully watered and made fruitful. 
 
52 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 27. Lo ! I know your devices well, 
 
 And the plots with which you attack me.^ 
 
 28. For ye say. Where is the house of the op- 
 
 pressor,^ 
 And where is the pavilion of the wicked ? 
 
 29. Have you not yet inquired of those who 
 
 traverse the ways,* 
 
 y This disingenuousness in the thoughts of the 
 friends, consists in the speech boiTOwed from their 
 mouth in verse 28. Job's misfortune proves the 
 truth of their assertion, that the wicked comes to a 
 melancholy end ; but since he did not consider 
 himself to be guilty, his view opposed to theirs 
 could not be decisive, for he would not speak 
 against his own interest. 
 
 ^ 2'»'1J standing over against D^'V^l? in the fol- 
 lowing hemistich, is here used in a bad sense, as 
 in Isaiah xiii. 2. Vide the elucidation of the 
 words in my Commentary on Proverbs, ch. xvii. 7. 
 By nii?t^p bT\t^ we must understand a tent con- 
 taining many dwellings, with reference to the 
 riches of the wicked, as Eichhorn has rightly ex- 
 ])ressed the meaning in his translation, "Where 
 are the pavilions of the sinner ?" Doubtless the 
 words were used with reference to Job. 
 
 =' Vide Lament, i. 12. From such wanderers an 
 impartial answer might be expected. Job sees 
 
CHAPi XXI. 30. 53 
 
 And will you not acknowledge their tes- 
 timony ?^ 
 30. In the day of misfortune the wicked is 
 spared ; 
 In the day of vengeance he escapeth.'^ 
 
 clearly that his enemies (who always attribute his 
 misfortunes to guilt) will not admit him as an im- 
 partial judge of the justice of the proposition which 
 they maintained. Wherefore, says he, let them 
 ask the opinion of the passengers on the high road, 
 who are in no way connected with him, and who, 
 as distant travellers, may be supposed to have ex- 
 perience of men and things. 
 
 ^ Their testimony is a confirmation of his asser- 
 tion. jy\i^ signum, ffrifXiTov, is explained, Isaiah vii. 
 11. Vide Theol, Stud, and Crit. Jahr. 1830, 3, 
 542. Here it serves as a sign for confirmation of 
 the word spoken. It conveys a force of proof which 
 suits perfectly here. For other explanations, vide 
 Rosenmiiller in loco. The last hemistich is most 
 simple and powerful, when taken as a continued 
 question. Others translate, " And ye will not mis- 
 take their directions," taking ^13^ in a privative 
 
 sense = Jo . Vide Gesenius and De Wefte, and 
 on the other hand, vide Winer. 
 
 " The result of worldly wisdom and experience 
 next follows. In times of misfortune it is the 
 
o4> THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 3 1 . Who dare advance his way before his 
 
 face ? 
 What he hath done, — who may repay it 
 unto him P'^ 
 
 32. Solemnly shall he be brought to the grave,^ 
 
 wicked who are spared. '^'WTl to spare, Isaiah xiv. 
 6. Uvb stands for DVB, and it opposes the object 
 of the discourse when it is thus translated : " The 
 wicked is snatched away from the evil day." Vulg. 
 *' Quia in diem perditionis servatur malus." Al- 
 though in verse 32, 7n^n occurs in the sense of 
 being borne to the grave, it does not follow that 
 it must here be used in the same sense. The 
 parallel, memb. at least does not require it ; and 
 the explanation that the sinner on the day of exe- 
 cution is borne to the grave well secured, seems to 
 be too artificial. 
 
 '^ The wicked is in general so powerful, that no 
 one dares to oppose his scandalous conduct, or to 
 accuse him because of it. ^W"^^^^^ " and he 
 acts." The emphasis lies on K^il. His actions 
 are naturally lawless. 
 
 " The verb by^ implies a solemn leading to the 
 grave. Vide Psalm xlv. 16; cviii. 11. Thus, 
 even after death, honour is testified to the wicked. 
 " To the graves ;" that is, " to the place where 
 the graves are." 
 
CHAP. XXI. 33. 55 
 
 And yet he watcheth on the mound.*^ 
 33. Sweet unto him are the clods of the valley,^ 
 
 ^ The meaning is, the remembrance of the 
 wicked is kept up by a monument erected over 
 his grave. In these words, often misunderstood, 
 we must not omit to mark the well-chosen lipti^*. 
 He watches upon the grave, while in reality he 
 sleeps in it. The usual translation, " They watch 
 the hillock of the grave," is tame. ti^Hil is here 
 hillock of the grave. Gesenius compares the Arab. 
 
 y ^ ^ 
 
 (J^*y£^ VIII. sepulcrum sibi paravit. That ti^HIl is as 
 
 y^^Jv^b , heap or hillock generally, and is used 
 here like the Latin tumulus. Compare it with the 
 Chald. t^l3, to heap up. Landau's explanation of 
 the word by leader^ is too bold. Vide his Rabbi' 
 nicaU Aramaic- German Dictionary ^ part ii. 36 L 
 For various other explanations, vide Bosenmicller 
 in loco. 
 
 ^ Est ei terra levis. "^yi clods. Vide chapter 
 xxxviii. 88, Gesenius and De Wette ; and J. D. 
 Michaelis in Suppl. p. 2230. The latter compares 
 
 the Arab. ^^. , whereby we must understand the 
 stones which the Arabians throw over graves. 
 Thus Eichhorn ; but the parallel place, ch. xxxviii. 
 38, appears to require clod, which suits here well. 
 
56 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And after him followeth the world. 
 And before him hosts innumerable.^ 
 34-. How then can ye comfort me in vain ? 
 And thus only wickedness remaineth in 
 your objections !^ 
 
 ^ A bitter expression f If one wicked person is 
 extirpated, another follows, as thousands have pre- 
 ceded him. D"TK"^3 is not to be taken strictly ; 
 
 T T T 
 
 it means veri/ many. It is generally translated, 
 " He draws after him every man." "^f^D stands 
 absolutely, like our word draw. We supply the 
 "!JT^. Vide ch. xxiv. 22, and Nelu ix. 30, where 
 it is said of Jehovah, UTyhV "^t^P^]' " Thou didst 
 delay long against them," viz. thy wrath (5)K). 
 
 ' The emptiness of their grounds of consolation 
 consisted in their always repeating, that the inno- 
 cent sufferer should at length become happy, while 
 even amid the most joyful prospects, the end of 
 the sinner should be miserable. But Job demon- 
 strates the contrary. The literal meaning of the 
 second hemistich is : " As to your repetitions, only 
 wickedness remains of them, for, as you yourselves 
 must perceive, they contradict the experience of 
 real life ; and you use them only with evil intent 
 against me." 
 
CHAP. XXII. 1, 2. 57 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 ELIPHAZ. 
 
 1. Eliphaz the Temanite began, and spake : 
 
 2. Can a man be profitable unto God ?^ 
 Yea, the pious man, profiteth himself ! ^ 
 
 ^ Eliphaz once more exerts himself to confute 
 Job's reproaches and complaints against God ; and 
 he prefaces what he has to say with the truth, 
 that God rewards and punishes, not for his own 
 advantage, but for that of man. For how should 
 mortal virtue increase the divine felicity ; or can 
 the Almighty punish the wicked with the view of 
 disarming an enemy ? Eliphaz brings forward this 
 truth, in order to deduce from it that Job must 
 without murmuring bear his misfortunes, as merited 
 punishment for the sins which he has committed, 
 with especial reference to the words of the friends, 
 ch. xxi. 4. 
 
 * ]'DD occurred already, ch. xv. 3, with TJ^iH in 
 the sense of " to profit." The connection here 
 requires this meaning, as in ch. xxxv. 3. The 
 difficulties which are set forth by Michaelis in 
 
58 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 3. Is there gain to the Almighty when thou 
 art righteous ? 
 Or advantage when thou walkest on the 
 way without blame ?*" 
 
 Suppl. ad Lex. Heh. 1752, and Storr in Observat. 
 47, are removed by the opinion of Coccejus, that 
 the original meaning of the word is condere (hence 
 PD promus condus, Isaiah xxii. 15), to which the 
 idea o£ prodesse is easily joined. Thus also Schul- 
 tens in loco. But in this case we must, by transpo- 
 sition of the letters (as 7l)D and bu^) rank pD with 
 D^3. Gesenius, in his Comment, on the above-cited 
 passage of Isaiah ii. 696, is favourable to this ac- 
 ceptation. In SuhVy /^ assuredly stands for ^, as 
 a mark of the dative case in the preceding hemis- 
 tich. This particle has frequently the signification 
 0^ pro commodi seu officii, as ch. xlii. 8 ; 1 Kings ii. 
 18 ; 2 Kings x. 3 ; vide Nolde, 703. Concerning 
 Styhv^ vide ch. XX. 23. ^»3"^Q is the b\^ yi^ 1iy?jf 
 wliom God knows, as in Psalm xiv. 2. 
 
 "* Y?f7 P^^^^w^ ^or advantage, which idea is 
 more plainly expressed by V^3, in the following 
 hemistich. It is the satisfaction arising from being 
 well pleased. The sense is : *' Does the perfectly 
 blessed nature of the Godhead require any increase 
 from pleasurable feelings excited by the pious and 
 good ?" This would inspire us with the notion of 
 
CHAP. XXII. 4, 5. 59 
 
 4. Doth he punish from fear of thee," 
 And go with thee into judgment ? 
 
 5. Was not thy wickedness great, 
 
 And were not thy misdeeds endless ? ° 
 
 epicurism ! The Chald. renders yBH by i^pV^^ 
 i' e. Ill resy as yHjn {Eccles. iii. 1) must be taken, 
 and also renders ])2^ by pDD opes, 
 
 " Not, according to Schultens and JRosenmiiller, 
 " from reverence," whereby the connection of this 
 verse with the preceding is obscured. The sim- 
 plest meaning is that which has been given above, 
 in the representation of the connection of ideas. 
 God does not punish the sinner because he fears 
 him, that is, would disarm him, for how should the 
 Almighty be swayed by such reasons ? Eichhorn, 
 " From fear of losing thee as an adorer, if he did 
 not defend himself." This idea of the motive in- 
 ducing God to inflict punishment is far-fetched. 
 
 ° Whence did Eliphaz know this ? It is by the 
 harsh conclusion which he draws concerning Job's 
 former misdeeds, on account of the violence of his 
 sufferings ! We need not be in perplexity, with 
 some, chiefly more ancient commentators, as to the 
 tempus, in which we should translate the enumera- 
 tion of the following crimes of Job, the individual 
 verba-, nor do we require the assistance of Coccejus, 
 who thus translates the commencing words of ver.6, 
 
60 THE BOOK OF. JOB, 
 
 6. From thy brethren thou didst take a pledge 
 for nought, 
 And thou didst strip the naked of their 
 raiment.P 
 
 " "Nam forfassis pignus cepisti a fratribus tuis sine 
 causa," and adds, " Conjecturaliter et disjunctive 
 exph'co, nulla repugnante grammatica, ne crudeli- 
 ores sententias, quam ipsi amici, in Jobam cudam." 
 p According to the Mosaic law, Exod. xxii. 26 ; 
 Deut. xxiv. 10, 14, it was not permitted to him 
 who had lent on security to his neighbour to enter 
 his house to take his pledge. He was obliged to 
 remain without until he to whom he had lent 
 should bring it forth. When the debtor was in 
 great penury, the creditor was obliged before sun- 
 set to restore the pledge, particularly if it consisted 
 of the sole remaining garment which he had to 
 cover him during the night. To this the words of 
 the 2d hemistich particularly refer. The DilH 
 makes the taking of a pledge an actual sin, in so 
 much, that a man of Job's wealth was not under 
 the necessity of insisting with such strictness on 
 his rights. He seems even to be accused of usury, 
 which was strictly prohibited by the Mosaic law. 
 Exod. xxii. 24 ; LeviL xxv. 35, 36, 37 (where the 
 meaning ^''HNl is clear from the opposition of ")^ 
 and 2l^lD) ; Psalm xv. 5 ; and J. D. Michadis^ 
 Mos. LaWf iii. 154. 
 
CHAP. XXII. 7-9. 61 
 
 T. Thou hast not filled the thirsty with water, 
 And thou hast denied bread to the hungry. 
 
 8, Whosoever hath a strong arm, to him the 
 
 land belongeth, 
 And the honourable man dwelleth therein.'* 
 
 9. Thou didst send the widow empty away, 
 And thou didst let the arms of the orphan 
 
 be broken.^ 
 
 ^ Literally, " As to what relates to the man of 
 arm {i, e. strength), the land belongs to him." 
 While Job would not refresh the thirsty with a 
 drop of water, or restore the hungry with a crust 
 of bread, he gratified his pride and love of display, 
 by receiving the mighty and the honourable with 
 hospitality in his land, and admitting them into it 
 as a permanent dwelling. Thus was it in the first 
 edition. But it now appears to me, that the verse 
 should be taken proverbially, and should represent 
 the external preference of the rich and great over 
 the poor and those of little account. yilT, image 
 of outward power, as Psalm x. 15 ; Ezek. xxii. 6. 
 □"^JD ^^^"Ii^3, as Isaiah iii. 3 ; ix. 13, referring to the 
 outwardly considered, viz. the great. With this 
 
 Hebrew expression the frequently occurring Arabic 
 
 ' - o - 'o; ^ ^s - 
 
 A^^ ids \ ^ , ^=-^ may be compared : " God will 
 
 cover his countenance with honour." 
 
 . ' The Mosaic law, which breathes the purest 
 
62 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 10. Therefore snares are laid round about thee," 
 And terror doth suddenly cause thee to 
 
 tremble. 
 
 11. Yea, darkness, so that thou canst not see, 
 And fulness of water covereth thee.* 
 
 12. Is not God in the height of heaven ? 
 
 spirit of philanthropy, insists particularly on the 
 protection of widows and orphans, as the most help- 
 less of the people. Exod. xxii. 22 ; xxiii. 24 ; 
 Lev. xix. 13 ; Deut xxiv. 17, 19 ; xxvii. 19 ; x. 18. 
 Dpn Vh'^ empty^ i. e. dismissed without a gift, as 
 Gen, xxxi. 42. The verse is closely united with 
 the one immediately preceding. While every faci- 
 lity is afforded to the rich and great, the widow and 
 the orphan are oppressed. Concerning the strange 
 anomaly of num. and gen. in the union of nom. plu. 
 gen. fem. in the following verb sing. gen. masc. 
 Vide Gesenius in Lehrgeb. 720, and Ewald in Crit, 
 Gram, 641. By iy)V'^\ is to be understood, every 
 thing upon which an orphan could stay itself. 
 Psalm xxxvii. 17 ; Hos. vii. 15. 
 
 ' Picture of the most tormenting anxiety and 
 danger. Vide Prov, xxii. 5. 
 
 * The image which so often occurs in the Old 
 Testament, of danger by water for misfortune in 
 general, is comparatively rare in our book. Vide 
 ch. xi. 16 ; xxvii. 20 ; and Lowlh de Sac, Poes, Heb, 
 
CHAP. XXII. 13, 15. 63 
 
 And look up to the stars, how high they 
 are ! " 
 
 13. But thou sayest, What doth God know? 
 Can he judge behind darkness ? 
 
 14. Thick clouds are a covering to him that 
 
 he seeth not, 
 And he walketh only in the circuit of 
 heaven.^ 
 
 15. Wilt thou keep fast the ways of the an- 
 
 cient world ? 
 The ways of destruction which mortals 
 followed ?^ 
 
 " God can thus behold every thing from his 
 height. Others think that Job alludes to the vast 
 distance of heaven from earth, in order to find a 
 sanction for his opinion, that God does not care 
 about his offences, that he does not even see them. 
 The meaning of the words which we have selected 
 seems better. 
 
 " Earlier commentators have already marked as 
 a parallel passage, the well-known verse of Lucre- 
 tius, Book ii. verse 646 : — 
 
 "' Omnis enim per se divum natura necesse est 
 Inimortali aevo summa cum pace fruatur, 
 Semota a nostris rebus, sejunctaque longe." 
 
 ^ Job must take care, lest, in his sinful obstinacy 
 
 and haughty boldness, like the godless of the old 
 
64 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 16. Who were cast in chains before the time,'' 
 Whose foundation was a poured - out 
 stream : ^ 
 
 world, he should afford to the triumphing just, 
 another example of utter ruin and premature death. 
 The words in verse 15 probably apply to the dege- 
 nerate antediluvian race. Vide Gen. vi. Eichhorn 
 thinks of Sodom and Gomorrah. "1Dt£^ is not here 
 ohservarey as it is generally conceived to be, but 
 servare, tenere, and is in 2 Sam, xxii. 22, united 
 with ^T7, as it is here with n^2»^. In an opposite 
 sense we have D^iV ^'^^^. Psalm cxxxix. 24. 
 
 ^ Concerning lODp, vide ch. xvi. 8. — r\VVh'^ 
 stands as in Eccles. vii. 17, where PtV is used con- 
 cerning the natural time of death. Vide ^'DT'Vh2.y 
 ch. XV. 32. * 
 
 ^ A strong but suitable expression, probably re- 
 ferring to Noah's flood, for " Their soil was washed 
 away by the poured-out streams." We have no 
 need to supply a preposition, such as bVj before 
 DliD% " On whose soil a stream was poured out." 
 Tlie verb p^V describes, by periphrasis, the adjec- 
 tive of "inj, as this periphrasis is common in 
 Arabic, where the relative may be omitted be- 
 tween the subject and the verb. Vide Rose7imiiller 
 in Institut. ad Fund. Ling. Arab, page 2^1. Vulg. 
 " Et fluvius subvertit fundamentum eorum." 
 
CHAP. XXII. 17, 18. 65 
 
 17. Who said unto God, Depart from us !* 
 For how could the Almighty profit them?^ 
 
 18. And yet he filled their houses with bless- 
 
 ings ! — 
 May the counsel of the wicked be far from 
 
 * Eliphaz used designedly the above words se- 
 lected by Job, in order to express the daring god- 
 lessness of the wicked. Lo ! says he, such bold 
 and impious people shall certainly be punished, 
 concerning whom you assert (ch. xxi. 24), that 
 they enjoy undisturbed prosperity ; and they pay 
 dearly for the speeches which you suppose to pro- 
 ceed, without receiving punishment, from their 
 irreligious lips, as has been shown by the fearful 
 example of the old world. Beware of the same 
 fate! 
 
 * For they think they have acquired every thing 
 for themselves. Vide ch. xxi. 15. The usual 
 change of person in ID^ put for -l^^, though dis- 
 turbed by the translation, cannot be unsuitable as 
 regards the understanding of the meaning. bVB 
 is here " to help, to assist," as in Psalm xxxi. 20. 
 In ch. vii. 20, it was, on the contrary, to '• hurt." 
 
 ^ Eliphaz borrows the formula of aversion used 
 by Job against the wicked, in ch. xxi. 16., and ap- 
 propriates it to himself, thereby giving to under- 
 
 VOL. ir. E 
 
66 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 19. The righteous shall witness it and rejoice ; 
 The innocent shall laugh them to scorn. 
 
 20. " Truly our adversary is destroyed,*^ 
 And his glory the fire hath consumed.** 
 
 stand, that it came with a better grace from his 
 mouth, than from that oi' a sinner. 
 
 " Speech of the pious triumphing over the fall 
 of the wicked. Concerning 11133, vide ch. iv. 17 ; 
 XV. 28. l^iDp our adversary, i. e. The wicked one. 
 The opposition of wickedness to goodness, is philo- 
 sophically conceived hy a hostile struggle. The 
 peculiar participial form of the word is analogous 
 to "1^^ messenger, Prov. xxv. 13. The ancients 
 understood the word in various ways. LXX. 
 hrroaracig avrcov, as also Theodot. i. e. " substantia, 
 opes,facultates." Vulg. *' Nonne succisa est erectio 
 eorum ?" Vide Rosenmiiller in loco, concerning 
 this uncritical change of ^yiTp^ into DO^fp, accord- 
 ing to the uncertain authority of the ancients by 
 Doderlein, Dathe, and several modern writers. 
 The explanation of Coccejus is indeterminate and 
 tame : " Dum non abolita est substantia nostra." 
 Concerning the various criticism of the form W^p, 
 vide the remarks of Schultens in loco. 
 
 '* ")J1"» as the constantly recurring pirT* of the 
 preacher, comprehends the highest earthly pros- 
 perity of which man can boast. Formerly we had 
 
CHAP. XXII. 21. 67 
 
 21. Turn truly to him,® and be again pros- 
 perous/ 
 
 destruction by water, here we have it by fire.* 
 The latter is an image of total ruin from the wrath 
 of God. Vide ch. xxxi. 12; Psalm xxi. 10; 
 Ixxviii. 21. Perhaps Eliphaz refers to the manner 
 by which some of Job's most choice possessions 
 were destroyed : for in the picture which he draws 
 of the sinner's sudden change of fortune, we can- 
 not avoid remarking a malicious insinuation direct- 
 ed against the cause of Job's misfortunes. 
 
 ^ Literally, " Act respecting him like a ]3b," i.e. 
 be a true servant in his house ; commonly, trust in 
 him. Vide verse 2. Let him with humble peni- 
 tence return to God under the pressure of his 
 righteous judgment, as an admonition tending to 
 edification ; and then, when he has banished every 
 evil thing, particularly his former avarice and 
 luxury, he may confidently reckon upon establish- 
 ing with the appeased Godhead an intercourse 
 affording full protection and favour. 
 
 ^ Become again that which thou wast. This is 
 implied by u2]D integer fuit. Vide ch. viii. 6. The 
 first of the two imperatives shows the condition, 
 
 * In these discourses of sages of old time, may we not be 
 permitted to trace a belief in the same destiny of the world 
 which was in later times more clearly revealed by the Holy 
 iSpirit to the apostle Peter ? 2 Fdcr iii. j, B, 7. — Tram. 
 
68 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 Thereby a blessing shall come upon thee' 
 22. Receive instruction from his mouth, 
 And take his words unto thine heart ! 
 
 and the second the consequence, which construc- 
 tion may be rendered by the German wenn. Vide 
 Gen. xlii. 18; Prov. iii. 3; iv. 3 ; xx. 13; Psalm 
 xxxvii. 27. Gesen. in Lehrgeb. 776. Ewald in 
 Crit. Gram. 653. Among the Arabians, the fu- 
 ture frequently follows instead of the second im- 
 
 perative Uii ^o Uxi* ^^s " Be contented, 
 
 thou wilt be rich." Vide Rosenmiiller Selectee, quced. 
 Arab. Sentent. VI. in the Instiiut. ad Fundam, 
 Ling. Arab. 366. 
 
 ° Ur\1 per ea. Thus the masculine K^irT is used 
 for the neut. ; ch. xiii. 16 ; Exod. xxxiv. 10 ; Jos, 
 xiii. 14. — ^nJ^i^n fut. paragog. of the 3d per- 
 son, with the usual change of n, before the suffix, 
 into r\. This form is rare, but it occurs in the 
 verb Ki^, Deut. xxxiii. 16 ; 1 Sam. xxv. 34; Isaiah 
 V. J 9. Vide Gesen. Lehrgeb. 464. We find i<ii;2 
 in the same sense in which it is here, in Gen. 
 xlix. 10; Psalm cxix. 41, 77. The reading 
 '^nhi'll^n vvhich De llossi met with in 19 Cod. 
 and which old translators, as the LXX. use " • 
 ■/M.^6i; GOV iffrai iv dycc&oT;," and modern commen- 
 tators, as Eichhorn, have followed, is easier, and 
 
CHAP. XXII. 23-25. 69 
 
 23. When thou returnest to the Almighty, 
 
 thou shalt be built up anew,^ 
 If thou removest unrighteousness from thy 
 
 24. Regard the glittering metal as dust, [tent. 
 And the gold of Ophir as the stones of the 
 
 valley ; 
 25 Then will Jehovah be thy shining gold, 
 And will become to thee as treasures of 
 silver.^ 
 
 on that account is less suitable than the above 
 translation, which, from the difficulty of its form, 
 is rendered certain by other adduced examples. 
 
 ^ Simple delineation of a restoration to fortune, 
 taken from the rebuilding of a ruined edifice. 
 
 ' Sense of verses 24 and 25, is. If thou dost little 
 regard thy wealth, i. e. not as formerly ground 
 upon it thine entire happiness and trust, but for 
 the future on God alone, then will he, who is the 
 giver of every thing, supply to thee the place of 
 riches. To lay shining metal on the dust, is a way 
 of speaking for, to value them equally little. Hence 
 
 the Arabian proverb, wJ -Xii ^-« a^^^ " Magis 
 
 in promptu quam pulvis," or ^S XJ \ ^.< jk^\ 
 
 " vilior pulvere." Vide Meidan Proverb, Arab. ed. 
 H, A. Schultens, page 183, 188. Thus, to lay the 
 gold of Ophir upon the stones of the valley means, 
 
70 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 26. Yea, then mayest thou deliglit thyself in 
 the Almighty, 
 And raise thy countenance unto God. 
 
 not to value the one more highly than the other. 
 We may consider JT'ti^ most suitably as a hypo- 
 thetical imperat. This acceptation seems to be 
 better than the common one, " Thou wilt heap up 
 silver more in number than the dust, and gold of 
 Ophir more than the stones of the brook." Vide 
 Grotius in locOj "l^^l ( Vide Schultens in hco), 
 which, as parallel to "^^^^^^, is sometimes explained 
 by silver, and sometimes by gold, and may be most 
 simply referred to its root ")^H after the Arab., 
 
 meaning u^j to look, to lead hack; insomuch as 
 the precious metal seems with its shining bright- 
 ness, to look up from the dark bosom of the earth, 
 upon him who digs for it. The ideas of see and 
 
 fihine are naturally united, hence ^waj is lajns albus 
 in Arab. It is also a poetical name for shining 
 metal, as probably DDD was in like manner called. 
 Vide Song of Solomon v. 1 1. As this is given by 
 the poet for ^HT, so probably liJ^ is for 5^p3^ 
 For another explanation by gold and silver ore, 
 according to Abulwalid, vide in Gesenius, in ^d 
 Edit, of his smaller Hebrew Dictionary 122, and 
 Thesaur. Philol, Crit. Ling. Heb. et Chald. 230. 
 
CHAP. XXII. 27. 71 
 
 27. Thou shalt pray unto him, and he will 
 hear thee ; 
 
 so ^-' 
 
 *niill is as ,jj the broken step, from "^2^ = -xj" 
 and accordingly a miner's expression. The ex- 
 pression is more suitable in our interpretation, as 
 it then forms a good contrast to 13y. Concerning 
 T'Bii^j so famous for its commerce in gold, vide 
 ch. xxviii. 16 ; Psalm xlv. 10 ; Isaiah xiii. 12 ; 
 1 Ckron. xxix. 4 ; and Tychsen de Commerciis et 
 Navigat. Heb. in vol. 16, Comment. Soc. Reg, 
 Sclent. Gottingen. 164. The safest theory of its 
 locality is Arabia, though this is not quite certain. 
 A city, El Ophir in Oman, has been pointed out, 
 not far from the city Sohar. Vide other ideas in 
 Gesen, in Thesaur. Philol. Crit. Ling. Heb. et 
 Chald. 141. The Chald. suppose "lif^ to be mu- 
 nitio, and this explanation seems to have suggested 
 the translation of Eichhorn : — 
 
 " Pull down thy robber fortress, 
 Destroy the castles of thy valleys ; 
 Then will the IMost High be thy fortress, 
 And he will be to thee instead of rich silver." 
 
 For other explanations, vide Rosenmilller in loco. 
 
 A')S)y*)n (united with DHU, according to Psalm 
 
 xcv. 4, where the same expression V"}^"''!??^^??' ^^ 
 
 opposed to the most secret depths of the earth), may 
 
 as well be translated heights^ with Bocharty as toil, 
 
72 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And what thou hitst vowed, raayest thou 
 
 pay.'' 
 
 28. What thou dost resolve, shall succeed to 
 
 thee, 
 And light beameth on thy path. 
 
 29. When man oppres.'eth thee, and thou art 
 
 vexed by pride. 
 He will help the bowed down.^ 
 
 30. Thus shall he save him who is not guiltless; 
 Yea, shall he be saved through the purity 
 
 of thine hands!™ 
 
 i. e. treasures to be acquired by toil, with Gesenius, 
 The last acceptation is more poetic, and better 
 suited to the use of the Hebrew tongue. The 
 tinest irony is contained in it, that it is easier to 
 find God than the hidden metals of the earth ; that 
 is to say, easier for the humble mind, but not for 
 a proud speculative understanding. Vide ch. 28. 
 
 ^ In so far as God secures that to him, for the 
 sake of which he had made a vow. 
 
 ' After ^'p'^Sti^n supp. the suffix of the 2d pers. 
 from the following "^?D^^^^1. Such ellipses of the 
 suffix are common; vide ch. xvii. 4. — U^^V n*^^ 
 is opposed to D'JD NY^i^J (v. 8.) 
 
 "' Eliphaz, even in the last words of his speech, 
 aims an attack at Job. Assuredly will Gotl save 
 
CHAP. XXII. 30. 
 
 thee, but not because thou art, as thou dost always 
 affirm, a '>Q2 ; but he will love thee, unclean as 
 thou art, on account of his own purity. In this 
 verse the speaker once more collects the strength 
 of his arguments. In the 2d hemistich, he turns 
 from Job to the Almighty himself. Thus we clear 
 the verse of the common interpretation, which is 
 foreign to the meaning of the author, God wmII 
 deliver the guiltless on account of Job's innocence. 
 — ^K, though not the common Hebrew negation for 
 j^^, yet occurs in 1 Sam. iv. 21, and very fre- 
 quently in Rabbinical Hebrew (where there is 
 greater variety of particles), especially in "It^^SJ^ ^K 
 (impossible.) Vide M. F. Landau s Spirit a9id 
 Language of the Hebreivs, after the building of tfie 
 2d Temphy p. 109 (who, with Buxtorf, considers it 
 an apocope for ]*i'^, and writes it ''^^, and still 
 oftener in Ethiopic.) Vide H. Liulolfi Comment. 
 Hist. Aeth. i. cvi. 203. This more uncommon 
 negation is selected here on account of its simila- 
 rity of tone with ^p^. Others conceive ^J^ as the 
 well-known substantive coast or island^ in the 
 general sense of dwelling, which more rarely 
 occurs. 
 
74 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 1 . Job answered and said : 
 
 2. Even now must my complaining have the 
 
 force of opposition." 
 The hand which is upon me burdens my 
 groaning. ° 
 
 " It is peculiarly distressing to the sufferer, to 
 feel obliged to utter complaints against God, in the 
 consciousness of his innocence. Mark the force 
 of the paronomasia ^H*^ Hp. In the condensed 
 brevity of the expression lies this meaning: I chiefly 
 complain that I must stand as a rebel against God, 
 who used formerly to be so pious and resigned. 
 Thus the meaning comes out more than if we take 
 ♦ItD in the sense of bilterness (TW2 '^'^2 as 1121 
 
 • ; ^ T T - T T T 
 
 221), as both ancient and modern translators 
 have done. 0*1*11 D^ and to-day , that is, now; 
 while the expression supposes the long duration of 
 any thing. For we cannot conceive the discourses 
 o\' our book to be divided into several days. 
 
 " T handy viz. of God, stands here for plaga 
 
CHAP. XXI T I. 3-6. 7;3 
 
 3. O that I knew where I might find him ! 
 I would press even unto his throne 1^ 
 
 4. I would shew forth the right before his face, 
 And fill my mouth with proofs. 
 
 5. I desire to know the words which he would 
 
 answer, 
 And understand what he could say unto me ! 
 
 6. Would he contend against me wuth his Om- 
 
 nipotence ?'^ 
 
 poena, vide ch. xix. 21. The suffix prim. pers. is to 
 be taken passively, as e. g. ''DQH injustice toivards 
 me, Jer, li. 35. Among the chief of these plagues, 
 he numbers the misconception regarding his inno- 
 cence. This heightens his care, which is already 
 so great. The words which denote the existence 
 of a grievance, receive from ^y the meaning of, to 
 he grievous. Isaiah i. 14i ; Neh. v. 18. Thus in 
 Arab, vide examples in Gesen. Lehrgeb. 818, and 
 Ewald in Crit. Gram. 184. We need not take 
 7^ in the sense of supra, mogis quam, as Rosen- 
 miiller does in loco, 
 
 p The Vulgate translate H^'lDri nghtly by solium. 
 The idea of a well-prepared seat lies in the ex- 
 pression, from p3, aptare. Vide Psalm ix. 8. 
 
 •1 An objection which suggests itself on his utter- 
 ing the wish. He several times already expressed 
 
76 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 No ! He would only give heed unto me I"" 
 
 7. Then^ might an upright one dispute witli 
 
 him, 
 And I might for ever free myself from my 
 Judge/ 
 
 8. Yet I go forward, and he is not there. 
 And backward, and I cannot discover him." 
 
 a fear lest he should be unable to bear the splen- 
 dour of the divine majesty. Vide ch. ix. 34 ; xiii. 21. 
 
 ' ikb Soil, nw 2n' ni)-a-^n. — s^^-"?I^^ to 
 
 declare something undetermined, from the opposi- 
 tion of rTi)"2"1, only as an ordinary judge, although 
 with divine knowledge. "^2. Dll^"' sell. ill7 that he 
 would hear the grounds of my defence, not ;2"»T 
 
 nay 
 
 * Dli), as adv. tempor. like the Arab, j^ Vide 
 Psalm xiv. 5 ; xxxvi. 13 ; cxxxii. 17. 
 
 ' That is, cleanse me for ever from suspicion of 
 guilt. 
 
 " But where to find God? Concerning the par- 
 ticular marking out of the four divisions of the 
 world, vide Ch. Ben. Michaelis Dissertat. de locorum 
 differentia ratione anticce jjosticae^ dextrce^ sinistrcc. 
 Hake 1735, in the Syllog. Commentat, Theod. ed, 
 D. J. Pott, vol. v. page bO. 
 
CHAP. XXI II. 9. 77 
 
 9. Hath he concealed himself on the left hand?'^ 
 Can I not reach unto him P'^ 
 And is he concealed on the right hand ? — 
 I cannot perceive him.^ 
 
 ^ Literally, verging on the left hand, i. e. the 
 north, hath he concealed him. 7lJ*^Dli^ is placed 
 first, because, to speak with geographical accuracy, 
 the north side is first mentioned. nW answers, 
 
 T T 
 
 by the closely observed parallelism of this verse, 
 too clearly to 5]^y of the 2d hemistich for us not 
 to translate it by conceal. For the proper solution 
 of the infin. with the preposition 3., which the verb 
 finit. follows, vide Gesfenhis in Lehrgeb. 801. The 
 usual translation, " If he worketh on the left hand," 
 is tame. The acceptation of Schultens, in a judicial 
 sense, " ut agam cum eo," is forced, according to 
 grammar, lexicon, and sense. 
 
 " In the fut. apocop. in P. Xn)k for ^T^T^5 vide 
 concerning the many alterations of this form, Alting 
 Fund. Punct. Ling. Sanct. 326, and J. 31. Hart- 
 inann Rudiments of the Heb. Tongue, 251. 
 
 ^ If the acceptation of ijl"^y^ b^'ik'dp in the 
 1st hemistich is right, we must in the second make 
 "i'':^'' the subject, and with ?|b>?2 supply the suffix. 
 But if the translation of Gesenius and De Wette 
 be preferred, " Should he conceal himself in the 
 
78 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 10. Yet^ he knoweth the way in me right well ; ' 
 
 south," we may at the word P|Dy, remember the 
 
 ^ v^ 
 meaning of the Arab. (_^kc " betake oneself 
 thither." 
 
 ^ Yet to what end does Job wish to prove his 
 innocence to God ? The Omniscient has assuredly 
 already penetrated him with his all-searching eye, 
 and by proving him hath discovered his innocence. 
 Either "^S gives the reason why God conceals him- 
 self from the seeking Job, viz. because his inno- 
 cence is already well known to him (and thus 
 think Jarchi, Schultens, Eichhorn), or else we 
 refer it to the suppressed reproach against himself, 
 while he prayed for leave to present his righteous 
 cause before the omniscient Judge. It may very 
 well be, that in the lively and rapid flow of thought 
 of an oriental, the point to which yet refers is not 
 expressly brought out ; and this receives the sense 
 of the conj. adversat. at^ or of the conj. affirm, pro- 
 fecto. Vide Glass. Phil. Sac. 1117, ed. Lips. 1725. 
 More modern grammarians do not admit this 
 meaning of *'!), e. g. Hitzig (Idea of Criticism, 160). 
 Everything depends upon a close exegetical atten- 
 tion to the connection of individual passages, and 
 grammatical distinction between the meaning of 
 this conjunction in Hebrew and in our language. 
 
CHAP. XXIII. 11. 79 
 
 When he trieth me, I shall come forth as 
 gold. 
 11. My foot held fast by his steps ;* 
 
 I followed his way, I deviated not from it.'* 
 
 The passage in 2 Sam, i. 9, is worthy of attention, 
 where the Amalekite announced to David the death 
 of King Saul, that the king had said to him, " Kill 
 me ;" ^2. '^tB:i liy-^3"''3 Vni^H •^:T^^< •'3 " for 
 giddiness (literally darkening faintness) hath seized 
 me, yet is my life whole in me." If we will trans- 
 late this passage in the strictest sense, we must 
 render not only the first but also the second "^3 
 by for, because. The second evidently supposes 
 the omitted connecting link in the rapid speech of 
 the enfeebled king v/ishing for death. " Death 
 hath not yet seized me," and thus we are necessi- 
 tated to render the following '♦S by yet. 
 
 ^ '^"iDy '^'yi " Via penes me," is inward mora- 
 lity. In verse 11, mention is made of the outward 
 way, i. e, real action. 
 
 ^ The sense is, I strictly followed the law of his 
 commands. The law seems a way or path to the 
 Hebrew poet, on which the Almighty precedes us 
 as our guide, in whose footsteps we must tread. 
 Vide Psalm xvii. 5. 
 
 ' LDSt-.^bl scil. 'hy^ i. e. I follow closely his- 
 path. ntOil seems to be elsewhere intransitively 
 
80 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 12. I departed not from the command of his 
 
 lips, 
 I observed the words of his mouth more 
 til an my law.*' 
 
 13. He continues ever firm,** and who then can 
 
 liinder him ? 
 
 used. Vide Psalm cxxv. 3; Isaiah xxx. 11. Con- 
 cerning the punctuation, vide J. M. Hartmann. 
 
 " Expression of the most implicit obedience to 
 the law. How difficult it is for man to prefer God's 
 laws to those of his own will ! And Job vanquished 
 this difficulty. Literally, " As to what relates to 
 the command of his lips." — The ^ only declares 
 the conclusion according to the preceding nom. 
 absol. as e. g. ch. xxxvi. 26 ; Gen. xxii. 24 ; Prov. 
 xxiii. 24, and other places, where in Arabic, after 
 
 Lo^ preceding, o follows. Vide de Sacy Gram. 
 Arab. ii. 309 ; Geseniiis in Lehrgeh. 323. >^r\ 
 is here the law which I set to myself. The LXX. 
 have allowed to themselves an alteration of the v.ord 
 found in all Cod. into pn3, when they translate 
 h xo'Xtw fiox), Vulg. in sinu meo, in favour of the 
 verb ]9!i, which contains the image of a treasure 
 preserved. Thus Eichhorn. Our explanation seems 
 more suitable. 
 
 '' inKB for •^^^?, with the pleonastic 2- l^ide 
 
CHAP. XXIII. 14-17. 81 
 
 His will desires, and he fulfils it ! 
 
 14. He putteth in execution that which is de- 
 
 termined for me. 
 And hath many such things yet in view.® 
 
 1 5. Therefore am I terrified at his presence ; . 
 I meditate, and fear before him. 
 
 16. Yea, God hath melted my courage, 
 
 And the Almighty hath filled me with 
 terror. 
 
 17. For I have not been brought^ to silence, 
 
 but near unto darkness,^ 
 
 Schultens in loco. The sense is, Although he knows 
 my punctual obedience of the law, yet his purpose 
 to prove me severely remains unaltered. He thus 
 determines it, and no one can prevent him. 
 
 ^ The suffix in ppTj must be conceived passively, 
 as above in verse 2. The sense of the second 
 hemistich is, I have yet much suffering from God 
 to bear. 
 
 ^ The expression iPity^^ must be taken here in 
 the Arabic sense "to be brought to silence," while 
 Job longs for his mournful complaint to be hushed 
 in death. 
 
 s Literally, before the face of darkness, i. e. of 
 death, vide ch. x. 22. The sense is, The fearful 
 darkness of death ever in view, and besides, con- 
 
 VOL. II. F 
 
82 THE BOOK OF JOBj 
 
 And he yet veils the darkness from my 
 face.** 
 
 stant bodily torment, and yet not to die ! The 
 same meaning is in the last hemistich. 
 
 ^ Thus Schultens explains the verse, yet with 
 the remark, " circa sensum ingens dissensio." 
 
CHAP. XXIV. 1. 83 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 1. Wherefore are not evil times hoarded up 
 by the Almighty ? 
 And wherefore do those that honour him 
 not behold his days of revenge ?^ 
 
 ' The sense of the verse is, Why do not the 
 righteous enjoy the triumph of God executing just 
 judgment upon those who are mentioned in the 
 following verse? Hereupon Job reverts to the 
 experience which he had already often maintained 
 against his adversaries, viz. that there is in this 
 world a discrepancy between our actions and their 
 consequences, often injurious to the pious. D'^D^^ 
 answering to D^p* in the next hemistich, are times 
 of misfortune or punishment, as Jiy, Isaiah xiii. 
 
 so ^ 
 
 22 ; Eccles. ix. 12. Thus jli^ is used in Arabic. 
 The word ]H3ii relates to keeping in reserve for a 
 fitting season. Others translate, " Wherefore do 
 not evil times remain concealed from the Al- 
 mighty?" i. e. how is it that he in his purity must 
 behold such unrighteousness as is described in the 
 following verse ? This translation is not, like ours. 
 
84 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 2. They displace boundaries, they plunder 
 And feed themselves.*^ [herds, 
 
 3. They lead away the ass of the orphan, 
 And take the widow's ox for a pledge. 
 
 4. They drive the poor out of the way ;* 
 
 favoured by the parallelism, and is more forced. 
 Concerning the signification of UV in the second 
 member of the verse, vide ei^pecially Joel i. 15. 
 For other explanations of the verse, vide Roscnmill- 
 ler in loco. 
 
 ^ We cannot be at a loss for the subject. The 
 LXX. rightly premise atrsGs/'s' the Vulgate still bet- 
 ter, alii — alii. While the poet places both to- 
 gether, depicting them with individual marks, he 
 has no occasion expressly to mention the subject, 
 which is evident from the description itself; the 
 description may be said to be the subject. Unto 
 the 5th verse, there follows a list of acts of lawless 
 oppression against the poor, which had been already 
 strictly noticed by Moses. Concerning the re- 
 moval of land-marks, of which .VDH (or according 
 to a different orthography rti^il) comes from the 
 root yOX for ^^D recedere, vide Deut. xix. 14 ; xxvii. 
 17; P?m'. xxii. 28 ; xxiii. 10. 
 
 ' Expresses the bad treatment of the poor. 
 The haughty rich man pushes them out of the way 
 ivhcn he meets them. Tiie expression ZDSti^rp TV^T}, 
 
CHAP. XXIV. 5. 85 
 
 The oppressed of the land hide themselves 
 together."^ 
 5. Lo ! like wild asses, they go forth into the 
 desert to their work, 
 
 Seeking for prey ; 
 
 The desert giveth them bread for their chil- 
 dren." 
 
 which means, '^ to pervert justice in judgment/ 
 often occurs. Vide 1 Sam. viii. 3 ; Exod. xxiii. 6 ; 
 Deiii. xxvii. 19. 
 
 ™ The various editions are divided upon the 
 different readings of "^^2^ poor, and ''^jy suffering. 
 The first (which is really marginal) is only found 
 in the Chaldaic, among the ancients. The united 
 idea of suffering and pious humility, is to be found 
 in f^D, as well as in Ijy and "{VI1^^; as also IT stands 
 
 • T T T : V 
 
 for haughty and irreligious. Vide De Wette Suppl. 
 to a Characl. of Hebrew i?i the Studies of Daub and 
 Creuzer, iii. 262. 
 
 " Several commentators, as Eichhorn, take the 
 oppressed of the preceding verse as the subject of 
 this. The comparison with wild asses, who are 
 always used to donote unbridled wildness and law- 
 lessness, does not sufficiently prove this. Vide 
 Gen. xvi. 12, where Ismael is announced to his 
 mother as N^D, and Oedmamis Collection from 
 Natural Science for the explanations of the Scrip- 
 
86 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 6. On the field they reap their piled-up harvest, 
 And gather gleanings in the vineyard of the 
 wicked.° 
 
 tures, part ii. cb. 1. Also several expressions, such 
 as Dt'yS^* ^")l2^ and ^'^b'^.y verse 6, does not fa- 
 vour this idea. From this verse to the 9th, the 
 ])oet rather depicts the oppressors of the helpless 
 righteous, as Bedouin robbers, under the suitable 
 simile of wild asses. d'^VH)!! because of their la- 
 
 T t; T ; 
 
 hour or their occupation. Several Cod. read 3 
 prsef. instead of 3. " as to their labour ;" other Cod. 
 read b instead of II. In either case the expression 
 is excellent. Robbery in the desert is the work 
 and trade of these lawless men. " The desert sup- 
 plies each with bread for his young ones ;" i. e. 
 Those regions, which, generally speaking, afford no 
 nourishment to man, support the entire family of 
 the robber. There is no reason to translate 0^")^^ 
 in the signification of servant. Vide ch. xxix. 5. 
 
 " y?3, is very suitable, according to the mean- 
 ing given in the translation, as in ch. vi. 5, if we 
 adhere to the image of Q''^^"l^, whence the sense 
 arises from the often misinterpreted words; they 
 (conceived as wild asses) suffer not (like the ^iDH) 
 their food to be piled up by the hands of men in 
 a stable, but they themselves procure it in the 
 
CHAP. XXIV. 7-9. 87 
 
 7. They lie naked at night without elothing,P 
 And uncovered to the cold. 
 
 8. They are made wet by the rain of the moun- 
 
 tains, 
 And they embrace the rocks without refuge.^ 
 9* They rob tlie orphan from the mother's breast, 
 And they bring destruction on the needy.^ 
 
 fields ; i. e. the Bedouin robber finds his food in the 
 open air. The separation of the word, among the 
 old translators, into i^"''t'3> must be regarded as a 
 needless conjecture ; at least no Cod. renders it 
 thus. Vide de Rossi. The reading of the Ketib 
 ^T^p\ must either be changed into ^T^p^j or else 
 we take the T)\1\>\ or T\l\>\ of the Keri in the 
 text, yi^l contains, at the same time, the idea of 
 
 T T 
 
 l^t^'V ; and we must not ask too minutely, why they 
 glean in the vineyard of the sinner ? The ^jy, the 
 pious poor, possesses no vineyard. 
 
 ^ ^b3,D tvithout, as Jer, ii. 15 ; ix. 9 ; x. 11; 
 Zeph. iii. 6. In like manner it is said of the poor, 
 in Lam. iv. 5, " they embrace the mire." 
 
 •^ The entire description, from verse 7 and 8, is 
 grounded upon the utter contempt of the Bedouins 
 for all the comforts of life. 
 
 " This verse depicts, in individual traits, the 
 harshness of the Bedouin robbers. What awful 
 
88 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 10. They lead tliem in naked without clothing, 
 And hungring they bear sheaves.^ 
 
 barbarity, to tear the suckling from its mother's 
 breast, and that too a fatherless orphan, its mother's 
 only joy ! To distrain the poor, in the last hemis- 
 tich, will not suit the above described character of 
 the wild Bedouin. And ^211 with bV does not 
 elsewhere occur, rendered to pled(;e. The difficulty 
 is, in general, met in a forced manner ; and R. Levi 
 translates, " What relates to the poor, they take 
 his clothes in pledge ;" others, as Michaelis, Eich- 
 horn, and Hufnagel, take bv for bv suckling, which, 
 however, must literally be b^]), as Isaiah xlix. 1 5 ; 
 Ixv. 20. They take the suckling of the poor by 
 way of pledge. Among the old translators, the 
 Chald. abides the most strictly by the words of the 
 text, when he thus translates ]*Jpt^Dp K^jy ^Vl, 
 " and they distrain the poor." * We take bin like 
 
 the Arab. J,x=i here with bVi (elsewhere with b, 
 vide Nek. i. 7), in the sense of, to act so as to bring 
 ruin upon one. 
 
 ' As the lawless has hitherto been depicted un- 
 der the simile of a plundering Bedouin, the oppres- 
 sed pious is now described as a cruelly treated 
 prisoner. Unclothed and unfed, they are forced to 
 labour in the fields, while they are made to prepare 
 
CHAP. XXIV. 11, 12. 89 
 
 11. Between tlieir walls* they must press the 
 Tread the grapes, and suffer thirst. [oil, 
 
 12. Out of the city" come the groans of the 
 
 dying/ 
 
 the food of their oppressors. DHDV sheaves^ Levit. 
 xxiii. iO ; Ruth ii. 7, 15. 
 
 ' They are forced to labour, not only in the open 
 fields, but in vineyards and olive gardens. The 
 suffix to /THV^j refers to the easilysupplied subject 
 of the oppressor. The vineyards were surrounded 
 no less with a stone wall ("lliJ Prov. xxiv. 31), 
 than with a thorny enclosure, (HD^i^^). Vide 
 Isaiah v. 5, and Gesen. Comment. IJ^D!*^ corre- 
 sponds with D^Hyi in the preceding verse. 
 
 " Why TJl^D " out of the city ?" has been often 
 asked. Because the prisoners in the city were 
 plagued and tormented by their masters even unto 
 death. Their oppression is heretofore depicted by 
 severe labour without the city walls, and in this 
 verse, by deadly suffering within the walls. The 
 representation is local, and therefore our expression 
 is neither obscqre nor tame. Doderlein, Schnurrer, 
 and Eichhorn, take "l^y in the meaning (which is 
 suitable to the Arabic, but not to the Hebrew) of 
 cBStus, i. e. fervor hostilitatis, while the latter trans- 
 lates, " the dying sigh because of severity." But 
 
90 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And the souls of those who are wounded 
 
 unto death call aloud ;^ 
 Yet God regardeth not their supplication l'^ 
 
 for us, the accustomed and pure Hebrew meaning 
 suffices, in favour of which the common consent of 
 the ancient translators speaks. 
 
 ' DS^ Oil2, ch. vi. 5, and njj>^, vide Ezek. xxx. 
 24. Instead of D'DQ the Syriac expresses it U^D'O 
 as is read in a Cod. of de Rossi. Whoever has be- 
 fore him a text without points, will certainly thus 
 read, because of the following U/htl- Here criti- 
 cal tact must decide. 
 
 ''' U^bbn are not the already slain, but the 
 wounded, who are wrestling with death, as Psalm 
 Ixix. 27. We must not think of the cries of the 
 spirits of the slain for revenge, according to some 
 translators ; the lamentations of the dying are ra- 
 ther expressed. Who may be said to cry, if not 
 the t^SD of the wounded ? Spirit, in the more pe- 
 culiar and separate sense of the word, is not here 
 thought of. 
 
 " The chief matter of the whole chapter ! For 
 rhBD (vide ch. i. 22, and the various conceptions 
 of the passage in Rosenmiiller ) we read, after a cri- 
 tical examination with the Syr. and twomanuscripts» 
 n^HJr), and supply ^:h b^y as Psalm 1. 23. 
 
CHAP. XXIV. 13, 14-. 91 
 
 13. There are those who have wandered from 
 
 the light ; 
 They knew not its rays, and dwell not m 
 its paths.y 
 
 14. When light dawns, the murderer departs,^ 
 Who slays the needy and the poor ; 
 
 ^ A new class of lawless persons is now intro- 
 duced, and truly the most peculiar children of dark- 
 ness, such as murderers, thieves, and adulterers. 
 By HDil allusion is made to them. Literally, they 
 are among those who eschew the hght. Concerning 
 inD vide Gesenius and Winer. Schnurrer reads 
 
 - T 
 
 niK"nip abscissi a luce, while he gives to the 
 word the Arabic meaning o^ abscindere, which does 
 not elsewhere occur in the Old Testament. The 
 severely oppressed of the preceding part are taken 
 as the subject, and Eichhorn translates, "They 
 lived far from each ray of happiness ; they knew 
 not the way which it illumines, and dwelt not in 
 the path on which it shines." This acceptation of 
 the verse is contrary to its clear connection with 
 the following, where is shown what must be under- 
 stood by n^i^-'inb. 
 
 ^ 2. e. When morning light begins, the murderer 
 departs, who during the darkness had been at bis 
 work. 
 
92 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 Yet in the night he is like a thief.* 
 
 15. The eye of the adulterer watches for the 
 
 twilight ; 
 No eye, saith he, shall recognize me ; 
 And he covers his face with a veil.^ 
 
 16. In the darkness tliey break into houses ;^ 
 They shut themselv^es up by day, 
 
 They know not the light ! 
 
 17. Yea, morning is to them darkness ;^ 
 Yea, they know well the horror of darkness, 
 
 ^ Then he recommences his employment, like 
 the thief, to whom the night is a time of activity. 
 
 ^ Vide the lively picture of the nightly activity 
 of the adulterer, in Prov. vii. 9. 
 
 " *irin occurs thus in Amos ix. 2, of breaking 
 into the lower world. ("^iSti^^) only here con- 
 strued with an accus. We may perhaps be re- 
 minded by it of the Arabic .j^;2» descendit, which 
 by transposition and change of pj with "^j corre- 
 sponds with IT. IQiin scil. to supply W^Pil 
 from the first hemistich. 'SO? the pleonast. sibi. 
 
 '^ Morning and darkness are for liim one and the 
 same. When morning dawns to other men, it brings 
 darkness to those wlio shun the light of day ! The 
 nn*' unites not ")pil and niD^2i, as Rosenmiiller 
 
 T • - 'v V T • - 
 
CHAP. XXIV. IS. 93 
 
 18. May he lie light on the surface of the water,^ 
 May his heritage he accursed upon earth, 
 May he not turn to the way of the vine- 
 yards ! ^ 
 
 and others contend for ; the different children of 
 darkness. 
 
 ^ It is contrary to the character of the chapter, 
 and the clear connection with verse 22d, though 
 it be in agreement with most commentators, to 
 regard that which we have translated in the form 
 of a wish, as if spoken by Job as an actual fact ; so 
 that we should translate, " Such an one is light," 
 &c. The sense of the figurative expression is, 
 " Such an one (viz. an enemy of the light) ought 
 to rest on a weak ground, and thus be of short 
 duration." Eichhorn, " Such an one should be 
 the sport of the waves." Vide the same image in 
 Hos. X. 7. 
 
 ^ A proverbial expression for, " May he enjoy 
 no pleasing prospect !" The way which conducts 
 to vineyards is generally among the pleasantest ; 
 and the reverse of this is the way of the desert. 
 The Vulgate translates well, " Neque ambulet per 
 viam vinearum." We have no need to deviate from 
 the usual meaning of the Hebrew Q^D")3, and with 
 Schnurrer, Dathe, and Eichhorn, to translate it by 
 viri generosi, according to the common Arabic 
 
94 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 19. As dryness and heat draw to them snow- 
 water, 
 So shall the realms of the dead draw to 
 them the sinner ! ^ 
 
 meaning of ^j^ generosus fuit; whence ^^^Es 
 
 plur. *U^3 generosus ; as Eichhorn translates, 
 " He shall not enjoy the prosperity of the noble." 
 The old commentators do here, without ground, 
 complain of obscurity. Vide four different classes 
 of explanation by Schultens, who enumerates them 
 with circumstantial prolixity. The middle propo- 
 sition, " May his inheritance be accursed upon the 
 earth," must guide the commentator in his judg- 
 ment of the verse. How does that agree with the 
 supposition which, among the moderns, Rosen- 
 miiller adopts, that in this verse we have a conti- 
 nued description of the way of life of a thief? A 
 thief advances suddenly, like a light canoe on the 
 waters, and selects not the way to the vineyards 
 surrounding the cities, but turns to the distant and 
 desert regions. But, in connection with this, the 
 explanation of the middle proposition, " Their in- 
 heritance, i. e, the dwelling which fell to their lot, 
 is accursed, i. c. uninhabited and desert," is very 
 forcible. 
 
 ^ Mark the brevity, even imperfection, of the 
 
CHAP. XXIV. 20. 95 
 
 20. The mother's womb shall forget him,^ 
 The worm shall devour him,' 
 
 expression in the comparison. Perhaps the quick- 
 ness of taking away may be expressed thereby ; 
 which certainly forms the tert. compar. The image 
 is Arabian, where the melted snow (distinguished 
 from the living water of a fountain) is quickly 
 dried up by the sunburnt sandy soil. Vide ch. vi. 
 16, 17. After bSm; we must supply -)t^St"J1Nt ^T^. 
 The first member of verse 28 explains this verse, 
 and sanctions our translation. The sense is. May 
 the lives of such evil persons be of the shortest 
 duration. Verse 22 expresses it differently. 
 
 ^ How severe a punishrtient ! How difficult it is 
 for the mother to .forget the child of her bosom ! 
 Vide Isaiah xlix. 14. Others, and among them 
 Eichhorn, take Dm in the sense unsuited to Hebrew 
 
 usage, of the Arab. *.-*. propinquitas, by which 
 the meaning is enfeebled. 
 
 ' Usually sweety i. e. corruption, or the worm, 
 should be a cordial to him, or, he shall be a deli- 
 cate morsel for the worm (which would be a strain 
 upon the language.) The meaning is strengthened 
 (and this is the chief thing) by agreeing with the 
 Syriac acceptation of pr\f2, suck vp or devour, as 
 Bocbart {Hieroz, iii. 522) and Kromayer have 
 
96 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 He shall no more be remembered. 
 May wickedness break like a staff ! ^ 
 21. He who plundered the barren that bore not. 
 And who did not shew favour to the widow ! ^ 
 
 done. This also compares with it the Arab. tsXXo 
 (3 cum p alternante) sorpsit. The meaning is, he 
 shall be exterminated in a fearful manner ! 
 
 ^ yy is here, as in Hos. iv. 12, Isaiah x. 15, « staff, 
 
 like the Arab. \j^^ . A broken staff is a figure of 
 irreparable ruin. Thus Schnurrer and Eichhorn. 
 
 ' Assigns the reason why the sinner deserves 
 such a fate as has been described. He plundered 
 the most helpless among the people. We must 
 take the sinner in general (from the descriptions 
 of various classes of evil doers in verses 14- to 18) 
 as the subject of this verse. 'Jhe barren, is the 
 lielpless woman, who wanted the support of chil- 
 dren, as the widow was destitute of the support of 
 a husband. We take H^l in the most simple sense 
 of feedf consume, nth aivay, as in ch. xx. 20, and 
 Jer. xxii. 22, an expression borrowed from pastoral 
 life. By others is nyi considered the same as 
 yyi, i. e. Y*J"1 (Y changed by Chaldaic custom into 
 y), which is too strong and unsuitable. The ne- 
 gative tihi in connection with Zl^ZO^S is affirmative, 
 as in Psalm Ixxviii. 50; Ixxxiv. 12; evil. 38; 
 
CHAP. XXIV. 22. 97 
 
 22. Yet the mighty man long retaineth his 
 strength ; 
 He raiseth himself anew, and yet believeth 
 no more in life."^ 
 
 Prov. xii. 2; xvii. 21; vide Glass. Philol. Sacra, 
 
 801. Concerning the striking form 2'tO^S Hke 
 
 rT'^i Isaiah xv. 2 ; xvi. 17 ; vide Gesenius in 
 
 Lehrgeb. 388. Following some old commentators 
 
 {vide Schultens in loco), Schnurrer, Eichhorn, and 
 
 Dereser conceived this verse to be a curse, and 
 
 took nV") in the sense of to maintain, or to lie with f 
 
 e. g. Eichhorn : — 
 
 " A barren wife, who never bore, may he lie with ; 
 May no one be gracious to her as a widow !" 
 
 But the expression, " to feed the barren," for *' to 
 maintain," (Schnurrer, Dereser) has an unsuitable 
 sound ; and Jl^^ has the sense of, to lie with, 
 (Eichhorn) in no other passage. The LXX. trans- 
 late "Tp7P '^'l^T.' J^^' "• 1^> 'iymcdv cs* and the 
 Vulg. " constuprarunt te," but erroneously; for they 
 change -) for -y, and take as the root y*T^ cognovit. 
 Vide GaaUs Explanation of Difficidties in Jeremiah, 
 P. V. The whole curse sounds tame, after that so 
 strongly expressed in the verse immediately pre- 
 ceding. 
 
 " Experience shows the contrary of the wish 
 expressed in verses 18 and 19. In this respect, 
 
 VOL. II. G 
 
98 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 we must mark *) in the sense o^yet^ in the beginning 
 
 of the verse. "^Jli^Q is either, hke the Arabic t»Slg*^ 
 with the following ^, to hold something fast, " the 
 mighty hold fast their power ;" or it stands, as in 
 ch. xxi. 23, absolutely, in the sense of, to continue 
 long ; so that we supply 1pr\ or D'^Tf, which fol- 
 low in the 2d hemistich. The union of the verb 
 in the sing, with a subst. in the plural, is rather an 
 Arabic form, though not unusual in Hebrew. Vide 
 Gesen. Lehrgeb. 713. Dp"* > i.e. as the following words 
 prove, from a sick-bed. ]"'D^^''■x'?^ " When he 
 already no longer believed, L e. when he had given 
 up all hope." Vide Deut. xxviii. ijQ ; thus must 
 we here understand the \ *^^n with Chald. plu. 
 termination, as above y^'Ot ch. xii. 11. De Rossi 
 found in two Cod. the usual Hebrew termination, 
 which can only be regarded as an amendment of 
 the transcriber ; thus also the reading in several 
 other Cod. Vna, which the LXX. and Vulgate 
 express, though they may not have had these in a 
 manuscript before them. Another explanation of 
 this verse, which is found among older commen- 
 tators, and in Coccejus, and, among the more re- 
 cent, in Rosenmliller, with icw modifications, is 
 not much favoured by the connection. The latter 
 translates thus : " Traxit vi sua robustos, qui, ubi 
 
CHAP. XXIV. 23, 24. 99 
 
 23. He (God) bestoweth" upon him security, 
 
 so that he may support himself; 
 And yet his eyes take knowledge of his 
 ways." 
 
 24. They stand on high — a moment — and they 
 
 are no more ; — 
 
 They are laid low, like those who are ga- 
 thered together, 
 
 And they are cut off like the ears of corn.P 
 
 surrexit ille, de vita diffidebant." This makes the 
 entire sense of the verse tame. 
 
 " He lends to him for security. He — who but 
 God ? The omission of his name in our book is 
 psychologically natural. Vide ch. iii. 20 ; and 
 ch. xxxvi. 37 ; Eccles, ix. 9 ; Prov. x. 34, where the 
 name of God is omitted, with the verb ]DJ, to be- 
 
 ° Otherwise rendered, " His eyes are attentively 
 directed to their way, that he may benefit them." 
 Our translation, \^hich is also adopted by Schnurrer 
 and Eichhorn, is better suited to Job's frame of 
 mind. 
 
 p The sense is, They die a quick and easy death, 
 in high situations of honour, as pious people may be 
 supposed to do, in the ripeness of their age. The 
 reading IDH instead of IDl, which is found in 
 
100 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 25. And even when it is not so with them,** 
 who can reprove me for lies, 
 Or make my speech nothing worth ? 
 
 some Cod. and which the Chald. in •')D''*)i^^, ex- 
 pectant, seems to have followed, is unsuitable. For 
 the form of J)D^n, from ^DI^, to sink, vide Gesen. 
 Lehrgeb. 371. Concerning the meaning of the ex- 
 pression " tops of ears of corn," vide ch. v. 26. 
 
 ** i3i^ to strengthen the interrogation in ^D, as 
 in ch. ix. 24. Schultens has erroneously uhi loci ? 
 and substitutes for this particle ^^''^^5 where ? In- 
 stead of b^i several Cod. in De Rossi read 7^i^ 
 before God; as also, among the ancients, the Syr. 
 Symm. and Vulg. have expressed themselves ; 
 and among the moderns J. D. Michaelis and Do- 
 derlein. The meaning then would be, " Who 
 might accuse my word as false before God ?" But 
 the parallel memb., and the well-known form of 
 speech, "b "im U^V, sanction the usual reading, 
 which is followed by the LXX. and the Chald. 
 
CHAP. XXV. 1-3. 101 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 B I L D A D. 
 
 1. BiLDAD the Shuhite began, and spake : 
 
 2. Dominion and terror are with him ; 
 He maketh peace in his high places.'^ 
 
 3. Can his hosts be numbered, 
 
 And over whom is not his light raised ?* 
 
 "" Power and terror, according to a Hendiadys, 
 for terror-inspiring power. " He maketh peace in 
 his high places," is generally explained as if God 
 produced in heaven repose and union among the 
 different spirits. But the words express only the 
 highest and most decisive power of the Divinity, 
 which is peculiarly made manifest in quelling all 
 opposition. He (the Almighty) does this in his 
 high places ; not as if he produced peace in heaven 
 only, but as if from thence he commanded the 
 same to exist on earth also. 
 
 ' The innumerable hosts of God are the stars, 
 called D'^Dt^n N^li, Isaiah xl. 26 ; Jer. xxxiii. 22. 
 Hence ^il")ii^ stands parallel with them in the 2d 
 hemistich. Thus Ormuzd used the stars as count- 
 
102 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 4. How then is a mortal righteous before God, 
 Or how shall one be pure that is born of 
 
 woman ?^ 
 
 5. Look up even unto the moon, she is not 
 
 bright, 
 And the stars are not clean in his eyes ! " 
 
 less and invincible armies, when he waged war 
 upon Ahriman : — 
 
 " The stars are mustered as Ormuzd's armies, to make war on 
 
 Ahriman, 
 Who sits enthroned in darkness and in chaotic night." 
 
 Hammer. Morgenl. Kleehlat, 42. 
 
 The second hemistich of our verse expresses the 
 
 unconquerable might of the divine and dazzling 
 
 hosts of heaven. " On whom does not his light 
 
 send its beams ?" is too feeble an expression, !)^*)i^^ 
 
 for nihJ, as in eh. xxiv. 23, ^mV for Vy^V, 
 
 ' Vide ch. iv. 17, 18 ; xiv. 4 ; xv. 5. 
 
 " That which is most dazzling to mortal eyes, 
 viz. the starry host, is not pure before God. The 
 parallelism too plainly favours the explanation 
 which we have adopted, of THi'^'' for Sl^, for us 
 to attempt to refer the form to the verb denom. 
 ^r\i^ to dwell, to dwell i7i tents. Vide Gesen. 
 Lehrgeh, 456. All the older translators, however 
 they may verbally differ, have expressed our mean- 
 ing. Vide J, D, Michaelis in Orient, and ExegeL 
 
CHAP. XXV. 6. 103 
 
 6. How much less the mortal, who is corrup- 
 tion, 
 And the son of man, who is a worm ! 
 
 Bibl, viii. 201. The expression 7n^, which occurs 
 only in one Cod. in Kennicott, may be considered 
 as an improvement. Before 7^n>^l suppl. V^'»y2 
 from the 2d hemistich ; and "ly before m^ deter- 
 mines that in every thing sublunary, no object 
 can be found which could be reckoned pure in 
 God's eyes. The *) before K^ forms the conclu- 
 sion, and is undoubtedly genuine, though in several 
 Cod. it is wanting. 
 
104 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 1. Job began, and said : 
 
 2. How hast thou helped the powerless,* 
 And supported the arm of weakness ! 
 
 3. How hast thou counselled the foolish,-]- 
 And taught wisdom in fulness !^ 
 
 4. Unto whom, then, availed thy revelations, 
 And whose breath proceeded from thee ?"* 
 
 ' The meaning of the ironical exclamation is, 
 "What wretched support hast thou rendered to thy 
 feeble and unwise colleagues ! Mark the force of 
 the juxtaposition of the neg. i^b with the substan- 
 tives ni), ty and riDDn, whereby the feeble con- 
 tradiction of their meaning is expressed. Thus it 
 is said of God, li^'^^i"^^'? and D"T^^"^iS not man, not 
 mortal, Isaiah xxxi. 8 ; and of idols, 7^<"N7, not 
 God, in Deut. xxxii. 21 ; and of men, \y'ik7) not 
 wood, in Isaiah x. 15. Vide Gesenius Lehrgeb. 832. 
 
 ^ The emphasis in the verse lies in the redupli- 
 
 * Literally, powerlessncss. -f- Literally, folli/. 
 
CHAP. XXVI. 5. 105 
 
 5. The shadows tremble under 
 
 The waters, and those that dwell therein.^ 
 
 cation of ^D. For whom and whence the speech ? 
 For Job was the instruction unnecessary, for he 
 knew it already better than his instructor. The 
 strength of inspiration in the poetical description 
 of divine omnipotence, was not a '^11£} JID^J (ch. 
 xxxii. 8) or rVbi^^ n^"1, but of lowly origin ; rather 
 an empty breath of mortal lips than a divine af- 
 flatus. 
 
 ^ Job is fully persuaded of the almighty com- 
 mand of God over the realms of nature. He takes 
 up Bildad's picture of heavenly omnipotence, and 
 elevates it still higher. But his description touches 
 only the surface of the unfathomable subject. The 
 words in this verse refer to Bildad's expressions in 
 ch, XXV. 2. Although God's throne is in the highest 
 heavens (VDi"nD2), his power reaches to the depths 
 of ocean and to the regions of the shades. Vide 
 Psalm cxxxix. 9. A movement, a shaking before 
 the power of God, may be predicated of the fleet- 
 ing shadows (nt!11 iinilD b^i^p, Isaiah xiv. 9) 
 and the rolling waves. From this and other pas- 
 sages, it is evident that the inhabitants of the 
 realms below are to be understood by D'*KS3*I- 
 Vide Prov. ii. 18 ; ix. 18; xxi. 16 ; Psalm Ixxxviii. 
 
106 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 6. The regions of the dead lie bare before him, 
 
 4 ; Isaiah xiv. 9 ; xxvi. 14, 19. The derivation of 
 the word from JIB'I, to be loose or weak, is so evi- 
 
 T T ^ 
 
 dent, that we are led to think of the zidoj'Ka xa/xoV 
 rcav of Homer. We may have some doubt as to 
 the propriety of bringing the name of a race of 
 Canaanitish giants (Ge7i, xiv. 5 ; xv. 20; Dent, ii. 
 11, 20 ; iii. 11) to an agreement with the name of 
 the inhabitants of the land of shades, as J. D. 
 Michaelis (on Lowth de Sacr. Poes. 133) and Herder 
 (Spirit of Heb. Poet. i. 221) have done. Vide, 
 on the opposite side, Gesen. in Dictionary, Per- 
 haps Rephaim (the weak) is a name of derision for 
 the giants of Canaan, to demonstrate their feeble- 
 ness in comparison with the power of Jehovah. 
 The old translators render the word elsewhere, as 
 well as here, gigantes ; only the Vulg. Prov. ii. 18, 
 have rightly rendered it inferi, and the Vers. 
 Venet. vi^oL Concerning the unnecessary diffi- 
 culties, vide Schultens in loco. DJT'Ppli^l is a tame 
 addition, if we agree to the compression of the 
 whole verse into one member, by Eichhorn and 
 others. He translates, " The shadows under the 
 seas and their monsters tremble." But JIH/HD 
 stands in the above named places, Isaiah xiv. 9 ; 
 Exod. XX. 4, as absolutely as Cms^j ^^, Koran, 
 Sur. ii. 23; V. 70; vi. 65. 
 
CHAP. XXVI. 7. lOT 
 
 And the abode of destruction hath no co- 
 vering.y 
 7. He spanned the heavens over empty space, 
 And hung the world upon nothing.^ 
 
 ' Vide the same idea in similar words, Prov, 
 XV. 11. There ^^a^^ stands parallel with b^i^t^ 
 The derivation of the fiarmer word from 12J«i perire, 
 is too evident to render a further search necessary ; 
 as, for instance, when Reiske compares the Arabic 
 
 «Xj Lj " vacua incolis et deserta fuit terra," whence 
 the word should signify desert waste. In this 
 verse the sense is natural, viz. the most concealed 
 and secret things are open and clear before God ; 
 and in it, as well as in the following, there is no 
 need to ask what qualities of God Job wished most 
 particularly to illustrate. The general idea is evi- 
 dent : God's power reaches from the loftiest height, 
 down to the most secret abyss ; comprehends uni- 
 versal nature, and regulates and penetrates every 
 thing. 
 
 ^ The older commentators have thought that 
 they discovered many allegories, which are little 
 to the purpose in this simple and noble verse. 
 But we find therein, a general description of the 
 wondrous and almighty power of the Most High. 
 The heavy vault of heaven rests upon empty air ! 
 
108 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 and the comparison of the vaulted heaven with a 
 tent canopy is common, and the word HZ^J is 
 always used, Psalm civ. 2 ; Isaiah xl. 22. f)3^ 
 the North Pole, is the only hemisphere visible to 
 us, and stands, in general, poetically for the vault 
 of heaven. (We are reminded of the Chambers of 
 the South, ch. ix. 9). The same meaning is in the 
 2d hemistich. This verse is remarkable, because 
 it seems to contain a contradiction to the represen- 
 tation, elsewhere made by the author, concerning 
 the pillars of heaven and of earth. Vide verse 1 1 , 
 and ch. ix. 6. But we must not apply the same 
 rules of criticism to the sage, that we would to an 
 ordinary poet. In this passage we find the loftiest 
 conceptions of almighty greatness, which is all 
 that the poet has in view. Vide also the Koran, 
 xiii. verse 2 : " It is Allah who has built the heavens 
 on high, without the support of visible pillars." 
 Vide the Persian poet Ferideddin Attar : 
 
 " He spans the heavens without jnllars, 
 As the canopy of the earth." 
 
 Vide Hammers History of Persian Eloquence^ 141 : 
 
 *' What supports the skies ? Nothing ! 
 And nothing on nothing, and only nothing. 
 Vide the same author and work^ 143. 
 And in like manner an Arabian poet : l,^^^ JL 
 
 xxX/a^ -.UlJs)\ .yo «• e. He hath formed the hea- 
 vens from smoke. Vide verba doctor. Audeddini 
 Alnasaphi de relig. Sonnit. priiicip. verse 2. 
 
CHAP. XXVI. 8-10. 109 
 
 8. He bindeth up the water in his clouds, 
 And they rend not under it.* 
 
 9. He closeth the face of his throne, 
 And spreadeth over it his cloud.^ 
 
 10. He drew a boundary around the waters,'^ 
 
 * The apparent difficulty of this hemistich va- 
 nishes when we view, along with the poet, the 
 clouds as slight and airy receptacles, in which rain 
 water is preserved. God has arranged them with 
 so much wisdom, that the lightly hovering cloudy 
 vessels shall not burst from the weight of the water 
 which they contain. DJinJ^ refers to DJD in the 
 1st member. 
 
 ^ The true Hebrew meaning of tns*^, to seize 
 uporiy is here unsuitable. The parallel, membr. 
 
 r 
 
 favours a comparison with the Syr. ^ to close up^ 
 
 as this sense of the word occurs in Neh, vii. 3* 
 The middle idea lies in enclose ovjoin together, vide 
 Gesenius and Winer. HM is the rare form for 
 J^DD, as 1 Kings x. 19 ; though we also find the 
 usual form in many Codd. in Kennicott and de Rossi. 
 In this verse, another destination is given to the 
 clouds ; they screen from profane eyes the glor}^ of 
 God's holiness. 
 
 *= In illustration, vide Prov. viii. 29 ; Psahn civ. 
 9 ; with the accurate determination of wisdom, did 
 
110 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And straitly divided light from darkness.^ 
 11. The pillars of heaven tremble, 
 And stiffen at his reproof.^ 
 
 God assign to the wild waters their fixed boundary, 
 which they may not overstep. y)n, as verb, occurs 
 only here, but is more frequent in Syr. and an- 
 swers to our measure off, or measure with compasses. 
 In ;irT \yn there is a paronomasia. 
 
 ^ In this hemistich, as well as in the first, there 
 is question of the great work of separating the per- 
 plexed chaos at the creation of the world. As the 
 Almighty separated the wild conflicting elements 
 into firm soil and streaming water, he also divided 
 the gloomy darkness from the cheerful light, by 
 creating day and night. We most simply repeat 
 y\'n from the preceding member of the verse. 
 D''^D/1"iy " usque ad perfectionem," i. e. per- 
 fectissime. 
 
 ^ Next follows the description of God's bound- 
 less power over the greatest strength of the creation. 
 The highest mountains are meant by the firm pil- 
 lars of heaven, and the thunder by the reproofs of 
 God. P]3"l in Po. which only occurs here, is illus- 
 trated as well from the context as from other dia- 
 lects. (J- and t]1H)1 Chald. mean, to tremble. 
 The expression TVOr\ to he stff, or astonished from 
 
CHAP. XXVI. 12. Ill 
 
 12. By his power lie bringeth tlie sea to repose/ 
 
 terror, is poetically chosen in reference to the 
 
 mountains. We are led thereby to think of the 
 
 voice of the thunder reverberating from cliff to 
 
 cliff. 
 
 ^ Though y^"l Isai. li. 15 ; Jer, xxxi. 35, has the 
 
 meaning of to excite, to stir up (Germ. aufregen\ the 
 
 opposite sense is here necessary from the parall. 
 
 and the connection, for the whole passage relates 
 
 to the repressing of strong powers of nature. The 
 
 LXX. rightly rendered it lax^' A'-sv xars-raLKTs rr\\ 
 
 ^6Xa<S(Sav. The original meaning is probably move, 
 
 partly forwards, partly backwards ; the latter pre- 
 ^ ^ ^ 
 
 dominates in the Arab. 5cs.^ and in this passage, 
 as well as in ch. vii. 5. Perhaps the word was 
 primarily used of the ebbing and flowing of the 
 sea. Then^^"! may be explained in the sense of 
 moment, in a way analogous to the Latin momen- 
 tum, for movimentum. Concerning the derivation 
 of the word from the Arab, according to its va- 
 rious meanings, vide J. D. Michaelis in his consi- 
 deration of the means which are used to understand 
 obsolete Hebrew, 214. We are, at all events, re- 
 
 minded of the Arab. ^^ . which, in the transposi- 
 tion of its letters, also means commovit. If we 
 follow Gesenius, in admitting threaten to be the 
 
112 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And by his wisdom he represseth its 
 threats.^ 
 13. By his breath he maketh the heavens to 
 leA^ve;^ 
 
 original meaning of the verb, so that, according to 
 Abulwalid, it is analogous to *l^il, (hence terrify^ 
 speak hotly), we shall, at the same time, rather 
 recur to the more graphic meaning of movement, 
 and so fix the difference between yjT and 1V^, 
 
 - X - T 
 
 that the latter shall mark a violent motion of the 
 voice. 
 
 ^ ynD a very strong expression, literally, to beat 
 to pieces — to destroy by breaking. Concerning' 
 nm, vide ch. ix. 13. The suffix tert. pers. masc. 
 gen. relating to D^ must be supplied. 
 
 " Poetic for, " The wind drives away the clouds, 
 and causes the heavens to brighten up." — rTlHlti/ 
 literally, He makes bright, viz. He caused the 
 shining stars of heaven to reappear. This ex- 
 planation is favoured by the following hemistich, 
 which depicts, in a contrary way, the sovereign 
 power of God over nature. The fem. of the verb 
 is probably incorrectly referred to '\TVn as regens ; 
 or we must take H as paragog. Vide Gesenius in 
 Lehrgeh. 267. The explanation adopted by De 
 Wette and Gesenius, " By his creative Spirit he 
 
CHAP. XXvi. 13,14. 113 
 
 His hand doth strangle the swift serpent.' 
 14. Lo ! these are only the boundaries of his 
 dominion \^ 
 
 adorns the heavens" (with stars), makes the sense 
 too general, and does not suit the connection. 
 Ewald, in crit. gram. 92, translates, " By his breath 
 is the heaven's beauty." 
 
 ^ This alkides to the constellation of the north- 
 ern dragon, which is used, on account of its name, 
 to denote the splendour of the stars, in order still 
 more to illustrate the power of the Almighty over 
 
 the strength of light. Vide chap. ix. 9. 77in 
 is used of piercing the serpent, in Isaiah li. 9. 
 ni^, flying 01" swift, is an epithet, perpet. of the 
 
 • T 
 
 serpent. Vide Is. xxvii. 1, and Gesenius in his Com- 
 ment. Pari 2. S\l. If, with de Wette and Rosen- 
 miiller, we translate, " his hand created the ser- 
 pent," the reason is less plain than according to our 
 translation, why the serpent was here named for 
 the other constellations. 
 
 ^ Is not the literal translation here the most 
 poetical? Eichhorn, in a more explanatory way, 
 says, " That is but a small part of liis deeds !" 
 De Wette agrees with us, " Lo ! these are the out- 
 most boundaries of his deeds !" 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
114 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 How slight is the whisper that we hear o 
 
 him!^ 
 But the full thunder of his power, who 
 
 hath ever comprehended it?"™ 
 
 * "i^ is most simply referred to the preceding 
 1^1. The praep. ^ equally shares the object. 
 
 Vide Gesenius in Lehrgeh. 816. 
 ™ DV1 is excellently opposed to f*,tDSi^ in the 
 
 preceding hemistich. The sense of the whole verse 
 is clear. Man cannot comprehend the entire ful- 
 ness of divine power. He only perceives the sur- 
 face of it. ■ 
 
CHAP. XXVII. 1,2. 11 5 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 1. Job continued his discourse and said :" 
 
 2. As truly as God liveth,^ who hath taken 
 
 away my right,^ 
 
 ° The three friends, at length fatigued with their 
 repetitions, have nothing new to oppose to Job, 
 who, with increased courage, proceeds with stronger 
 expressions to vindicate his integrity, and carries on 
 the contest to a decision. He first declares, that 
 he will remain true until his last breath, to the as- 
 sertion of his unconsciousness of guilt. 7^0 
 
 T T 
 
 clearly marks the peculiarity of the external form 
 of the philosophic poetic discourse of Job, as, in 
 these expressions, the figurative sententious decla- 
 ration of oriental wisdom, is peculiarly described. 
 D^t^ points to the solemn elevation of the magni- 
 loquent discourse. 
 
 ° 7{^"^n form of oath, as in 1 Samuel xx. 3; 
 
 XXV. 26. 
 
 P The right which Job affirms to have been with- 
 held from him, relates to the declaration of his in- 
 nocence, for which he prayed. 
 
116 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And the Almighty who hath vexed my 
 soul. 
 
 3. Yea ! as long as my breath is in me,** 
 And God's spirit is in my nostrils/ 
 
 4. Shall my lips assuredly not pronounce ini- 
 
 quity.^ 
 And my tongue shall not speak treachery.* 
 
 5. Far be it from me, as long as I shall live, 
 
 to justify your speech. 
 I will not suffer myself to be robbed of 
 mine integrity ! 
 
 6. I hold fast by my virtue, I will not let it 
 
 go. 
 
 ^ ^3 stands frequently after oaths. 1 Samuel 
 xxvi. 16. 2 Chronicles xviii. 13. 1iy"73 is 
 
 T 
 
 usually translated by quamdiu. Tij/ may also be 
 taken here as the Infin. ahsol. from ^"jy, to turn 
 back. *' The whole time of the turning back, i. e. 
 of the out and in-going of my breath, or of the ex- 
 istence of my breath." 73 stands here adverbially 
 as Eccles, v. 15 ; vide Gesenius Lehrgeb. 622. 
 
 "^ in full agreement with Genesis ii. 7. 
 
 ' Concerning T\^^V^ ^'de chapter vi. 29. 
 
 ' The treachery would have consisted in his con- 
 fession of guilt against the testimony of conscience. 
 
CHAP. XXVII. 7. 117 
 
 Remorse of heart embittereth none of my 
 days." 
 7. He who is mine enemy must be a sinner, 
 And he who is mine adversary a wicked 
 one!^ 
 
 " Vide various explanatiojis of this hemistich in 
 Schultens in loco. ^^H literally carpere^ has 
 
 ~ T 
 
 probably the force of reprehendere, (earpere con- 
 viciis, to reproach, Psalm cxix. 42. Proverbs 
 xxvii. 11,) as the Vulg. understands it, " Neque 
 enim reprehendit me cor meum in omni vita." 
 Several supply me. \^\t35 is since my first existence. 
 
 T T • 
 
 But it is easier to supply some one before |/t3, as in 
 
 Hebrew as well as in Arabic, this omission before 
 that preposition is customary, so that it is parti- 
 tively used. Vide Daniel xi. 5, VH^'ID^? but 
 (one) of his leaders. Vide Gesen. Lehrgeb. 755. 
 '2.A1 is consciousness, conscieiice. Eichhorn makes 
 
 ^7 the subject, and translates " Nothing pains my 
 heart since I existed." This translation also recom- 
 mends itself from its ease. 
 
 ^ Job affirms, that the truth of his solemn assu- 
 rance of his innocence could only be contested from 
 hostile motives towards him. And such opposition 
 must be regarded as criminal. The more ancient 
 
118 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 8. For what is the hope of the presumptuous?'' 
 
 commentators have already found a difficulty in 
 Job's words, that, contrary to his accustomed mild- 
 ness, he pronounces a heavy curse, according to 
 the usual translation, " Let it happen unto mine 
 enemy as to the wicked, and unto mine adversary 
 as to the unrighteous. But it is not necessary to 
 take ^n* as a wish : the Fut. apoc. also expresses 
 
 must, germ, miissen. There is, in this indeterminate 
 
 mode of expression, a certain forbearance towards 
 
 his friends, who were, in fact, his enemies. And 
 
 where is the necessity of taking jl^il? with 3 fol- 
 
 T T : 
 
 lowing it in the sense of to " fare like" ? It is 
 
 literally, " my enemy must be as the wicked, and 
 
 mine adversary as the unrighteous." Eichhorn 
 
 has well brought out the sense and connection of 
 
 the verse, but overlooks the Fut. apoc. when he 
 
 translates, " My opponents act like unjust persons, 
 
 and mine adversaries like traducers." 
 
 ^ The t^^n vvould be Job himself, had he, with 
 
 the consciousness of guilt, so solemnly asserted his 
 innocence. How could he, laden witii the know- 
 ledge of such shameless hypocrisy, indulge the hope 
 that God would favourably hear his cries for help ? 
 He would, on the contrary, have every reason to 
 dread immediate destruction from the Most High. 
 
CHAP. XXVII. 8,9. 119 
 
 When God cuts off his strength.^ 
 9. When he maketh his life to waste away ? ^ 
 Will God listen to his crying 
 When affliction cometh upon him ? 
 
 ^ ^^"2 ii^ay best be understood, as in ch. vi. 9, 
 of killing in a violent way. This meaning of the 
 
 verb J/VS (f(j^\ shown in the marked parallel 
 
 passage, suits the connection better than the signi- 
 fication of the somewhat different verb y^f2 
 
 T — 
 
 C^jOui)' " to carry on vmrighteous gain," which 
 
 meaning is applied hereby Schultens, Gesenius, and 
 Rosenmiiller. The latter translates " quid enim 
 sperandum simulatori, qui qusestum fecerit, quum 
 ei Deus animam eripiet." At the same time, these 
 verbs must be united together in a radical meaning, 
 and the force of this union rests in sharp and close 
 cutting off 
 
 y According to the actual punctuation of 7t^% 
 
 we take this form most simply to be the Fut. apoc. 
 from r\b^y which, as well as ^^\^y is in the 
 
 T T - T 
 
 sense of 7ji^'j, to draw out. The expression is 
 
 - T 
 
 figurative, taken from the idea that the body is 
 the scabbard of the soul. For other explanations 
 
120 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 10. Or could he delight himself in the Al- 
 
 mighty/ 
 And call upon God at any time?* 
 
 11. I will teach you from the hand of God,^ 
 What the counsel of the Almighty doth 
 
 not conceal from you. 
 
 which require a different punctuation, vide in Ro- 
 senmiiller in loco. Our translation recommends 
 itself on this account, that, being figurative, it suit- 
 ably follows another figurative expression, denot- 
 ing to kill violently and suddenly. Thus the Syr. 
 and Chald. 
 
 ^ Vide ch. xxii. 26. 
 
 * The sense of verses 9 and 10. We cannot 
 imagine that Job, as a presumptuous sinner, would 
 so humbly appeal to God. Without this special 
 reference to Job himself, the words in relation to 
 their connection are not clear. 
 
 ^ While Job now sets himself to guide the friends 
 to a true view of his sufferings, he admits their 
 repeated assertion, that the wicked is punished by 
 God, only blaming them for always holding out 
 this maxim in the way of crimination against him. 
 God's hand is liis ruling and working. 2l before 
 
 1^ answers to the Latin de. Psalm Ixiii. 7. The 
 
 Chald. takes it falsely for per, KHSk DNn^S' 
 per prophetiam Dei. 
 
CHAP. XXVII. 12, 13. 121 
 
 12. Lo ! All ye yourselves have seen it ; 
 Wherefore, then, will ye busy yourselves 
 
 with vanity ?^ 
 
 13. This is the portion of the wicked with 
 
 God,'i 
 And the heritage of the rebellious, which 
 they receive from the Almighty ! 
 
 ^ The vanity of the friends' discourses consisted 
 in their constantly depicting the punishment of the 
 sinner to him who was innocent. SuH is used in 
 
 — T 
 
 2 Kings xvii. 15, and Jerem. ii. 5, for the vanity 
 of idol worship. In order to comprehend the con- 
 nection of Job's entire discourses, we must keep 
 in view, that the sufferer is persuaded by his inte- 
 grity, that wickedness is punished in this world 
 with misery, and tliat the error of Job's friends is 
 their denial of the former, while they insist upon 
 the latter as true. Ought they not rather to be led 
 to admit, that because both are true, and as con- 
 tradictory cannot be comprehended by our under- 
 standing, there must be some incomprehensible 
 wisdom in the dealings of God, according to which 
 it may appear fitting, that the virtuous should in 
 some cases share the fate of the wicked. 
 
 ^ He admits, in their own words, this truth, that, 
 in spite of outward prosperity, misfortune at length 
 must visit the wicked. This picture of the fate of 
 
122 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 14. If his sons be multiplied, it is for the 
 sword, 
 
 the godless, drawn by Job, has given offence to 
 sonae, on the ground that it is opposed to his for- 
 mer assertions ; and, in verses 13 and 23, agrees 
 with Zophar. Vide Kennico^s Remarks on Select 
 Passages in the Old Testament, 169 ,- and Eichhorn 
 in his General Lib. of BibL Lit. G15. Stuhl- 
 manns Translation of Job, 157. But we must re- 
 member that Job exerted himself to point out in- 
 stances of the prosperity of the wicked, only as a 
 defensive contradiction of his friends, who were 
 always taunting him with his misfortunes as a proof 
 of guilt. But, now that he has reduced them to 
 silence, in order to bring them to the right point 
 from whence to judge of his misfortunes, he ad- 
 mits their favourite doctrine of the misfortune of 
 the ungodly ; only he maintains that nothing is 
 thereby proved, for his innocence stands as firm 
 and sure as the misfortunes consequent upon wick- 
 edness. Hence, because the virtuous also suffer, 
 there must be other mysierious grounds of suffer- 
 ing besides guilt. In this way, the contest comes 
 to a decision, which necessarily lay in the design 
 of the wise author of the book. Without this ap- 
 parent contradiction in Job's speeches, the inter- 
 change of words would have been endless. 
 
CHAP. XXVII. 14, 5. 123 
 
 And his offspring shall not be satisfied 
 with bread.^ 
 15. His remnant shall be buried in death, 
 And their widows weep not.^ 
 
 • ^ His family increases, only to perish, partly 
 from famine, and partly in war. 
 
 ^ 1*")Si^ is he M'ho escapes danger; and here 
 
 • T 
 
 it is used of one who has escaped war and famine. 
 Such persons saved perish at last by a frightful 
 disease, the plague ; for this meaning is implied in 
 ^\^t2> as Jerem. xv. 2; xviii. 21. And in like 
 
 V T 
 
 manner the expression HID "niD^l occurred above, 
 
 V. ch. xviii. 13. Thus also in Chald. the plague is 
 termed J^JHltD? ^^^ '^ the New Testament, ^avarog, 
 
 T 
 
 Rev. vi. 8 ; xviii. 8, as Winer pertinently remarks, 
 that our ancestors named the devastating pesti- 
 lence of their days " the black deaths At all 
 events, HID is to be taken as a personification, 
 
 as ^n^pS which is placed in connection with it 
 
 demands. The expression, " to be buried in death," 
 serves to represent destruction from pestilence in 
 still more fearful colours, and perhaps refers to the 
 peculiar mode of interment during its prevalence, 
 when, on account of the great number of corpses, 
 
124 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 16. Though he heap up silver like the dust/ 
 And prepare for himself raiment like clay.*^ 
 
 17. He only prepareth it, and the righteous 
 
 putteth it on. 
 And the pious divideth his silver. 
 
 18. He buildeth his house like the moth, ^ 
 Like a hut which the watchman prepareth.' 
 
 they were buried without the usual decent cere- 
 monies. For other explanations, vide Schultens 
 and RosenmiilJer in loco. As soon as our expla- 
 nation of I^IJi^ is properly attended to, (and it is 
 
 • T 
 
 not taken in general for the remnant of the god- 
 less), the difficulty vanishes. 
 
 ^ Proverbial expression to denote a quantity of 
 silver heaped up. Vide Zach. ix. 3, where, in the 
 same way of spenking, the verb n!2V to heap to- 
 
 gether occurs ; and Genesis xli. 35. 
 
 ^ A costly wardrobe is reckoned among the 
 choice treasures of the east. V. Bochart, Hieroz. 
 p. II. b. iv. ch. XXV. T. iii. p. 517. 
 
 ' The house which he builds lasts but a short 
 time : The abode of the moth, how easily destroy- 
 ed I And the bough-formed hut, raised for shelter 
 by the guard of a vineyard, how soon is it broken 
 down again ! Concerning HSD* Isaiah i. 8 ; and 
 
 T ••, 
 
 Geseniui Comment. 
 
CHAP. XXVII. 19,22. 125 
 
 19. He layeth himself rich in bed, and nothing 
 
 is robbed from him. 
 He openeth his eyes and nothing more is 
 there ! J 
 
 20. Terrors come upon him like waters,'^ 
 And the mighty tempest carrieth him 
 
 away.^ 
 
 21. The east wind taketh him up and hurrieth 
 
 him on.™ 
 And hurleth him out of his place. 
 
 22. God shooteth forth against him and spareth 
 not." 
 
 J The sense of this translation suits better the 
 connection with the preceding verse, where the 
 short continuance of the prosperity of the ungodly 
 is mentioned, than that of Rosenmiiller and De 
 Wette, of whom the latter translates " The rich 
 one dies, and is not buried, a moment — and he is 
 no more." 
 
 ^ Vide ch. xxii. 11. 
 
 1 Vide ch. xxi. 18. 
 
 ™ The east-wind is the most violent. Vide ch. 
 XV. 2. It is more poetical to make the east-wind 
 rushing onward, carrying with it its prey, the 
 subject of the verb •^S^ than, as is usual, to apply 
 the verb to the goddess. 
 
 " God, whose name is often omitted, as being 
 
126 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 He seeketh refuge from his hand.** 
 23. Men shall clap their hands at him,^ 
 
 And shall hiss him away from his place. '^ 
 
 self-evident, must here be taken as the subject. 
 With *l7t^^ we supply as object, the missile which 
 
 is shot, while we must think of God as armed with 
 the bow and arrows of vengeance. Vide Psalm 
 vii. 13. Rather boldly Schnurrer and Eichhorn 
 receive as subject, the place itself personified, " It 
 drives him away without compassion." It would 
 be easier to let the east-wind continue to be the 
 subject. The verb "1 vJi^H with Sj^ following, is 
 
 taken most agreeably to the language in the sense 
 of to shoot upon any one. 
 
 ® In the union of the infin. absol. with the verb 
 fin. is expressed the anxious striving of flight. 
 
 P The people exults in his misfortune. The 
 clapping of hands expresses their malicious joy. 
 Vide Lament, ii. 15. Nah. iii. 19. 
 
 '^ To hiss, stands for to deride. Vide Jeremiah 
 XXV. 9 ; xlix. 17 ; 1. 13. Zeph. ii. 15. 
 
CHAP. XXVIII. 11. 127 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 1. Has the origin of silver been discovered, 
 Or the place of gold which is refined/ 
 
 ^ While the justice of God is assuredly seen in 
 the unhappy fate of the wicked, the cruel misery of 
 virtuous persons, like Job, is still an unexplained 
 mystery. The mortal is here compelled to acknow- 
 ledge a higher wisdom in the duration of earthly 
 things, into which he is unable to penetrate, al- 
 though he may have succeeded in abstracting the 
 precious metals from their deep deposits under the 
 earth. But Job has already in so far discovered 
 the riddle of his life (although much yet remains 
 that is dark and mysterious), as to know that God 
 has sent affliction upon him, in order to try his 
 piety. This sense must be taken in connection 
 with verse 12. Man has found the native place 
 of silver and of gold, but the abode of wisdom is as 
 yet undiscovered, and thus he can, at will, procure 
 the deep concealed metal ; but not so wisdom. In 
 this way, we may understand the commencing ^3, 
 if we somewhat anticipate the conclusion of Job; 
 the seat of wisdom can no man reach, although he 
 may have learned to extract the shining metal from 
 
128 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 2. Iron is taken out of the dust, 
 And brass is extracted from stone.' 
 
 the darkness of the depths of the earth. Literally 
 " there is an exit for the silver." i^^lD is espe- 
 
 T 
 
 cially used of water. Vide Isa, xli. 18, where it 
 is united with Q^'2. Under ch. xxxviii. 27, we 
 
 find K2i^^ K'i^b^ 2' 6- the place where the voting 
 
 V I V T 
 
 verdure sprouts up. " Which is refined ;" this serves 
 more closely to designate metal originally conceal- 
 ed in the earth. The gold which is already re- 
 fined is not intended, but that which must first be 
 purified, pp^ is thus used of refining metal, only 
 
 in Piel in Malachiui. 3. VidePs.xu.7. 1 Chron. 
 xxviii. 18 ; xxix. 4. The sense would be frustrated 
 by translating with the Vulgate, " auro locus est, 
 in quo conflatur," so that IJi^K is supplied. 
 
 ^ Literally " He (man) fuses the stone like brass," 
 i. e. he knows how to extract brass from stone. To 
 p^i*^ tert. fut. kal., we supply as subject Ji^lJK 
 
 (vide verse 13 below) which might be omitted in 
 the whole passage as being self-evident, as else- 
 where the name of the divinity. In illustration of the 
 word, vide Plinius Nat. Hist, xxxiv. 1, and xxxvi. 
 21 : Aes fit ex lapide aeroso, queni vocant Cad- 
 mium ; ct igne lapides in aes solvuntur." 
 
CHAP. XXVIII. 3, 4. 129 
 
 3. Man maketli an end of darkness, 
 
 And thoroughly searcheth out the stone of 
 obscurity, and of the night of death. ^ 
 
 4. A stream breaks forth by the side of the 
 
 stranger." 
 
 * Concerning tl^'/'DH'^^^^ '^^de ch. xxvi. 10, 
 
 literally, " ad omnem consummationem." We 
 need not inquire what is the peculiar stone meant 
 by that of the thickest darkness. Job knows it 
 not himself: but he means the stone, whatever it 
 may be, which is embedded the deepest in the 
 bowels of the earth. There is no need to follow 
 the ancient commentators, who thought the earth's 
 centre was here designated. Schultens enume- 
 rates sixteen theories on this subject. 
 
 " " Cimmeriae tenebrae ; quas me exsuperatu- 
 rum vix sperare ausim !" exclaimed Schultens. 
 The commentators, who attend to the connection, 
 agree that this verse refers to the bold and dan- 
 gerous labours of miners in the deepest clefts of the 
 earth ; they only differ concerning the meaning of 
 individual expressions. The explanation is impeded 
 by conceiving the words (o refer to some special 
 branch of mining. But if we are contented with a 
 general explanation, the verse is plain. Three 
 causes render the life of the miner unpleasant ; 1. 
 an enduring combat with the watery element ; 2, 
 
 VOL. II. I 
 
130 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 Lo there, how they whom the foot for- 
 sake th 5^ 
 
 remoteness from human society ; 3. a dangerous 
 progress in the dark galleries and vaults of the 
 earth. These three difficulties are poetically de- 
 scribed in this verse : The first hemistich, depicts 
 the miner's surprise when a sudden stream rushes 
 past him from the bowels of the earth. The miner 
 is well named *1^, for he is only a stranger at the 
 
 bottom of his shaft. There is no need to follow 
 the more recent commentators (Eichhorn, De 
 Wette, and Gesenius), in their idea that *^^ is to 
 
 T 
 
 be taken in the meaning (not elsewhere occurring 
 in the Hebrew), of the Arabic ^^ foot of a moun- 
 tain (a stream breaks forth from the foundation 
 of a mountain). Nor need we follow Rosenmiiller, 
 who explains irDj/D by il ^^ "It^N* DVO 
 
 " From thence, where he (man) dwells, doth he 
 bring forth canals." The latter, like many other 
 modern commentators, takes Sfl^? "ot in the 
 
 common sense, but in that which does not elsewhere 
 occur, of shcfft, canal, where then r*^Q transit, stands 
 for to break through. 
 
 " Literally, they are forgotten by the foot, i. e. the 
 foot does not secure them in their descent to the 
 
CHAP. XXVIII. 5,6. 131 
 
 Hang, and flit far from mankind-^'' 
 5. Out of the earth /springeth nourishment, 
 
 And beneath it is stirred up with fire/ 
 6 • The abode of the sapphire are the stones of 
 the earth, 
 
 depths of the earth, but they must have recourse 
 to ropes. The bold expression of the original 
 Sjl'l"'3D D^nSt^^n adverts to the want of cus- 
 tom on the part of miners of using their feet in 
 proceeding securely. That H has a demonstra- 
 tive meaning before D^HID^X is justly remarked 
 
 by Pareau in loco, vide his explanation of this 
 chapter in his Comment, immort. et vit.fut. not. 
 
 ^ It might also be explained : " They stagger 
 more than men use to do," i. e. their unsteady gait 
 resembles less the firm tread of mortals than the 
 flitting of shadows in the realms of the dead. But, 
 according to our explanation, the gloomy separa- 
 tion of miners from mankind is expressed. 
 
 ^ This verse must be regarded as a sentimental 
 reflection. It is as if the mortal might be termed 
 ungrateful to the gracious earth which nourishes 
 him, while he makes such violent inroads upon her 
 hidden treasures. Piinius has expressed a similar 
 idea. " Persequimur omnes ejus (terrae) fibras, 
 vivimusque super excavatam. Imus in viscera ejus, 
 
132 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And gold-dust is found therein.^ 
 7. The path thither knoweth not the eagle, 
 
 et in sede Manium opes quaerimus, tanquam panim 
 benigna, fertilique, qiiaqua calcatur." Lib. xxxiii. 
 towards the heginnwg. The idea q{ alma mater is 
 purposely brought out by the nom. absol. 1*1^. The 
 
 second hemistich refers to the use of fire in mining. 
 
 ^ The sapphire is found among the hidden stones 
 
 of the earth. The suffix, fem. gen. to DOUK 
 
 assuredly relates to t*nX- Concerning the *1^£)D« 
 
 Vide Exodus xxviii. 18; xxxix. 11; liv. i\ ; 
 Ezekiel i. 26 ; x. 1 ; Canticles v. 14. It is called 
 by the Persians ^ ^.^\ lapis lazuli. Syr. [i .cT^m : 
 Chald. *^^2)/tOD ; LXX. ; cu'rpt^og. The ancients 
 
 distinguished two sorts of sapphire ; 1. the real, of 
 transparent blue ; 2, the one improj^erly so called 
 opaque, with gold spots, or laj)is hiznli. Vide 
 Plin. Nat. Hist, xxxvii. 39. Braun de vest, sacer. 
 538; Bellermann de Urimet Thummijn, 44. Earlier 
 commentators, as J. D. Micliaelis and Eichhorn, 
 explain ^HT DHDV by these gold spots of the 
 
 T T ; - 
 
 lapis lazuli ; in which case "jS would refer to )^{«^, 
 
 which is, indeed, fem. gen. M. de Le«^nhard is in 
 favour of laj)is lazuli on account of its spots, which 
 might easily be taken for gold-dust. Oiiicrs think 
 
CHAP. XXVIII. 8,9. 133 
 
 'And the eye of the vulture hath notseen it.^ 
 
 8. The fiercest hearts have not trodden it, 
 And the lion doth not traverse it.* 
 
 9. He layeth his hand upon the stones, 
 
 that in the second hemistich, mention is made of 
 actual gold ; in which case gold-dust would be put 
 
 for gold-ore, so that y} would refer to Dip/t^? as the 
 
 older translators do in part explain it. Vulg. 
 " locus sapphiri lapides ejus, et glebae illius au- 
 rum." But why is gold here called gold-dust? 
 
 ^ Eagles and vultures are the birds which have 
 the sharpest eyes. 
 
 * According to the second hemistich, we must 
 understand the fiercest animals to be denoted by 
 \*nt^"'^!Zl ; fo"" that the lion is specified on account 
 
 of his courage is shown by the connection. The 
 Arabic confirms this idea concerning the a-r. Xiy. 
 
 *^n^5 while ^ signifies, sustulit se, per su- 
 
 periora latus fait. Hence ^^ ^ elatio. Thus 
 
 the Vulg. rightly have : " filii superbiae." Other 
 acceptations of the expression vide in Rosenmiiller 
 in loco and Gesenius et D. W. n^V* which also 
 
 signifies to adorn {vide chap. xl. 10), refers to the 
 proud gait of the lion. 
 
134 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And overturneth the mountains from their 
 roots.'' 
 1 0. He guideth rivers through the clefted rocks, 
 And his eye beholdeth every precious 
 thing.^ 
 
 ^ Man knows how to vanquish the greatest hin- 
 drances which nature opposes to him — t^^t2?n= 
 
 ' X — 
 
 £7 J O 
 
 .1 . quartz or hard rock in general. Com- 
 pare with this verse a passage in Plinius, which 
 has been cited by both Schultens and Rosen- 
 miiller. " Cuneis earn (silicem) ferreis aggrediun- 
 tur, et iisdem malleis; nihilque durius putant, nisi 
 quod inter omnia auri fama durissiraa est. Peracto 
 opere cervices fornicumab ultimo caedunt, dantque 
 signum ruinae eamque solus intelligit in cacumine 
 montis pervigil. Hie voce, ictuve, repente opera- 
 rios revocari jubet, pariterque ipse devolat. Mons 
 fractus cadit in sese longo fragore, qui concipi hu- 
 mana mente non possit, et flatu incredibili. Spec- 
 tant victores ruinam naturae." Plinii Hist. Nat. 
 Book xxxiii. ch. iv. 21. 
 
 ^ Literally, " He cleavetli streams through 
 rocks," i. e. He makes ojienings in rocks, and thus 
 drains off the waters which hinder his mining. 
 This is the most simple explanation. Vide other 
 ideas in Schultens and Rosenmiiller. The mean- 
 
CHAP. XXVIII. 11, 12. 135 
 
 11. He stilleth the tears of the streams/ 
 And bringeth to light that which is con- 
 cealed. 
 
 12. Yet wisdom,^ where may she be found? 
 
 ing of the 2d hemistich suits that which we have 
 assigned to the first: As soon as the waters which 
 overspread the soil is removed, the costly treasures 
 of the earth are discovered. 
 
 '^ The tears of the streams poetically describe' 
 the trickling subterranean rills. These the miner 
 strives to stop, that he may advance on his work 
 unhindered by them. We take ti/'ZTl with great- 
 est certainty in its known meaning of ^mc?, stop up. 
 
 Vide ch. xl. 13, and the Arab. -j^x;=*- The no- 
 tion of impeding, which lies in the verb, is more 
 brought out by If^ before O^. Others translate, 
 
 " He collects brooks from tears," whereby the 
 meaning of the words is not so immediately plain. 
 Also, according to this explanation, the verb is 
 not taken in a sense closely or grammatically de- 
 monstrated. 
 
 ^ The right understanding of the meaning of 
 this (viz. that wisdom is nowhere to be traced to 
 her original source) is confirmed by the 8th ch. of 
 Prov., where, as well as here, she is personified. 
 
136 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And where is the place of understanding?^ 
 
 According to the Hebrew, there is a double H/tDDn 
 
 to be distinguished : 1st, The divine, viz. the might 
 of the Godhead, by the breathing forth of which 
 (ni*l), the wise order and regular government of 
 
 the world was brought forth, and is continued. 
 This PlDDn is wisdom unfathomable to man, of 
 
 which it is here said, that she can be found in no 
 place, and bought for no price: 2d, Human wis- 
 dom, or the power of man, by which he introduces 
 rules of order into his social life. ^ It is the 
 nDOn which is personified in Prov. viii. and ix., 
 
 and which mankind recognises as virtue. In v. 
 28 of this chap, the two wisdoms are accurately 
 distinguished. 
 
 ^ If we leave the oriental personification of 
 
 ^ This is altogether erroneous. The wisdom mentioned 
 in the 8th chap, of Prov. must he the divine wisdom^ and not 
 the human. In v. 23 of that chap. " I was set up from ever- 
 lasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was ;"and in 
 V. 2, " Before the mountains were settled, before the hills 
 was I brought forth ;" and in v. 27, " When he prepared 
 the heavens I was there." It is absolute nonsense to refer 
 these things to human wisdom. It is our Christian privi- 
 lege to believe that this wisdom, in the 8th cbap. of Prov., 
 was the Almighty word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. — 
 Note of Translator. 
 
CHAP. XXVIII. 13,14,15. 137 
 
 13. The mortal knoweth not her value/ 
 And she is not found in the land of the 
 
 living. 
 
 14. The deep said, she is not in me, 
 And the sea said, she is not with me. 
 
 15. A golden treasure cannot be given for her,'' 
 
 n^DHj and its comparison with the costly trea- 
 
 sures of the earth, which runs through the whole 
 chapter, we would thus paraphrase the figurative 
 question of " where is her place ?" by the ques- 
 tion, how shall we attain to an insight into the 
 wise plan of the divine government of the world ? 
 r\y^ is under sta7idingy (a. r. V3» separate, for 
 
 / , \Ij signifies in Arab, in conj. II. discernere) ; 
 
 and also in reference to life and intercourse with 
 others, prudence, especially in Prov., though there 
 it is not unfrequently used for nDDHj as it is 
 
 here. 
 
 ^ Not only the invaluable worth of wisdom is 
 here spoken of, but the utter impossibility of pur- 
 chasing it at any price. All the costliest treasures 
 which human industry extracts from the ground 
 avail not to gain Avisdora. 
 
 h nliD=m:iD, scii. :vnh i Kiiigs v\. 20, 21'; 
 
 vii. 49, 50 ; X. 21 ; 2 Chron. iv. 20, 22 ; ix. 20, is 
 
138 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And silver may not be weighed out as her 
 
 value. 
 16. She cannot be weighed with the gold of 
 
 Ophir,* 
 With the precious onyxjj and with the 
 
 sapphire. 
 
 certainly according to the context aurum prcBstan- 
 tissimwn. There may be some dispute about the 
 derivation of the word, most probably it is closed up 
 for valuable- Vide J. D. Michaelis suppl. ad lex. 
 Heh. 1718. ^ 
 
 ^ n7D K^D to i^;e/^/t, the same as 7^0 to raise 
 
 T T Tt - t 
 
 up, viz. on the scales ; as above ^t^^^ chapter 
 
 T T 
 
 vi. 2. Vide verse 19, and Lamentations iv. 2, where 
 K/D is written. Concerning the manifold expla- 
 
 T T 
 
 nations of the word, vide J. Z>. Michaelis, sup. ad 
 lex. Heh. 1759. Gold of Ophir is put for the finest 
 gold. Vide chapter xxii. 24. Ps. xlv. 10. Isaiah 
 xiii. 12. 
 
 J DnCi^ occurring in Genesis ii. 12. Exodus 
 
 XXV. 7; xxviii. 9; xxxv. 27; xxxix. 6; Ezekiel 
 xxviii. 13. 1 Chronicles xxix. 2, is most probably 
 onyx; of which the value was, in ancient times, 
 greater than it is now. Vide Braun De vest. Sa- 
 cerd. Heh. II. xviii. 574. ed. sec. and Ant. Theod. 
 Hartmann in der Hehr. Ft. iii. p. 90. 
 
CHAP. XXVIIII. 17, 18. 139 
 
 17. Gold and crystal cannot be equalled unto 
 
 her,"^ 
 Nor vessels of gold exchanged for her ; 
 
 18. No mention may be made of coral, ^ and 
 
 crystal,"^ 
 And the possession of wisdom" is more 
 than pearls. ° 
 
 ^ nOIDT W"^' ^-7' crystal or glass a. r. "H^T 
 
 to be pure. Vide J. D. Michaelis, sup. ad lex. 
 Heh. 613. 
 
 * niOK^I? which also occurs in Ezekiel xxvii. 
 
 ¥ 
 
 16, probably red coral. Vide A. T. Hartmann^ 
 I. 274, and Pareau in loco. 
 
 "^ ^*^^) literally what is frozen, e. g. Hail, 
 
 • T 
 
 f^zekiel xiii. 11. tfi^Oii/^^j according to some, 
 
 crystal. Vide Hartmann iii. 99; others under- 
 stand it to be pearl or beryl. The meaning is 
 doubtful. 
 
 " i. e. we cannot name its price. It may be that 
 this mode of speaking indicates the lower grade of 
 value of the precious objects mentioned in this 
 verse, compared with those in the preceding one? 
 
 ° There is no etymological necessity from '^^f^y 
 
 to think of the dangers of the pearl fishery, so as, 
 with Hartmann, to render it " with difficult draw- 
 
140 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 19. The topaz of Cusli cannot be held in equal 
 esteem/ 
 
 ing up." Vide Hebr. pt. I. p. 265, and pt. III. 
 p. 82, for the authorities cited for the word. Vide 
 Rosenmilller in loco. The etymological derivation 
 of D^P<DD is obscure, and, in the explanations, 
 
 we must be guided by the context, parallel pas- 
 sages, and ancient versions. In almost all places 
 where the word occurs, (Prov. iii. 15 ; viii. 11 ; xx. 
 15 ; xxxi. 10. Lament, iv. 7,) it serves, as here, to 
 compare with wisdom, which has a still greater 
 worth. The old commentators render it a costly 
 stone, the newer are divided between coral (chiefly 
 on account of a passage in Lament, iv. 7, where the 
 D^-!1^^B is mentioned as red,) and pearl, which the 
 
 Chald. finds ^here, and Bochart, in particular, de- 
 fends, {Hieroz. p. II. bk. v. ch. 6, Tom. III. p. 
 601.) Perhaps they may both be signified by the 
 same word, or, at least in Lament, iv. 7, coral 
 may be called red pearl. Pearl is more suitable, 
 because, in verse 18, the nl/tDJ^'H) coral, is already 
 
 T 
 
 mentioned, and the former could not be wanting in 
 the urim and thummim of this chapter.^ Vide my 
 Comment, on Prov. iii. 15. 
 
 ^ n^TkOQj Exod. xxviii. 17. Ezek. xxviii. 13, is 
 
CHAP. XXVIII. 20,21. 141 
 
 And she cannot be weighed with fine gold. 
 
 20. But wisdom, whence doeth she come P*^ 
 And where is the place of understanding? 
 
 21. She"" is hidden from the eyes of all living, 
 And covered from the fowls of heaven f 
 
 a precious stone found in Ethiopia, which is taken 
 by most of the ancient commentators for topaz ; 
 Gesenius in his Diet, thinks of an inferior sort of 
 emerald. It is doubtful whether it may have been 
 our common chrysolite. 
 
 ^ This repetition of the words in verse 12, has 
 great effect, and in verse 25, makes the sense of the 
 words more forcible. In the same wa}' that in this 
 passage Dip^tD ^''d K'iH '^^^ used of precious stones, 
 
 we find ^ta^^ and v^ used by Arabic writers. 
 Teifasch says ^^ ^j ^j-^j ^sM ^r-<^^ 2*^3-* 
 i. e. locus Smaragdi unde adducitur. Vide Sebald. 
 Ravii specim. arab.contineiisdescript. etexcerpt.libr. 
 Achmed. Teifaschii de gemm. et lapid.pretios. p. 88. 
 
 ^ The 1 before nD/^Jj as before the answer to 
 
 the question is here untranslatable. Vide Gesejiius 
 Lehrgeb. 845. 
 
 ^ In the east, an extraordinary gift of divination 
 is assigned to birds. They are looked upon as the 
 confidential interpreters of the divine will. We 
 have only to recollect the personification of the good 
 spirits of Ormuzd by birds, according to the Persian 
 
142 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 22 The abyss and the realms of the dead de- 
 clare,* 
 We have dnly heard the report of her with 
 our ears." 
 
 23. God uiiderstandeth the way to her, 
 And he knoweth her abode/ 
 
 24. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, 
 
 creeds, {^Creutzers Zymbolik I. 723,) and the 
 primeval feathered king singing on the moun- 
 tain top, representing the highest wisdom of life ; 
 and also the language of birds, of the great mystical 
 poet of the Persians, Ferideddin Attar. Vide Ham- 
 mer's Hist. ofPers. Eloquence, 140. These reminis- 
 cences will serve to illustrate this verse, as well as 
 Eccles. X. 20. Vide Diez Memorahilia of Asia, Pt. 
 II. p. 340. Grotius reminds us of the cranes of 
 Ibycus. 
 
 ' DID stands here as in Ps. iii. 14. Prov. vii. 
 
 27, for h^^t^- 
 
 " Thus wisdom is not found in the land of the 
 living, although the traces of her workings are 
 visible. She is not to be found in the regions of the 
 dead ; for there she is only heard of, her acting on 
 nature not being there seen. Thus the realms of 
 the shades are represented as without wisdom, in 
 Eccles. ix. 10. 
 
 ^ Or rather, he hath wisdom, or is himself wisdom. 
 
CHAP. XXVIII. 25, 26. 143 
 
 And he beholdeth whatever is under 
 heaven.^ 
 
 25. As he layeth his weight upon the winds,'' 
 And determineth the waters with his mea- 
 sure. 
 
 26. As he prescribed his law to the rain, 
 And a path for the lightning of the thun- 
 der.^ 
 
 ^'^ Similar to this is it said in Koran Sur. III. v. 6, 
 
 ^ ^^ ^^'^XS J ^^^ ^t>^ j^i, 'X ^\ ^^J 
 
 ^U^\' i' €. truly ! " There is nothing concealed 
 from God, either on earth or in the heavens." 
 
 ^ When God gave order to the world from chaos, 
 he used wisdom as his counsellor.^ Vide Prov. viii. 
 27 — 31. 7 before the inlin. nlti^V has a significa- 
 tion simihir to 2 in the following verse. Vide 
 
 Exodus xiv. 27. 2 Samuel xviii. 29. The infin. 
 is changed into the verb fin. in 2d hemistich. 
 
 ^ t^tn occurs in chapter xxxviii. 25, and Ezek. 
 
 ^ Let the Christian compare with this passage, what St. 
 John says of the Divine word, our blessed Saviour, in his 
 pre-incaruate state, St. John ch. I. " The word was in 
 the beginning with God." " All things were ra^de by him, 
 
 and without him was not any thing made that was made." 
 
 Note of Translator. 
 
144 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 27. There did he see her and declare her,* 
 He prepared her^ and searched her out. 
 
 28. But to man he said " behold the fear of 
 
 God, that is wisdom. 
 And to depart from evil, that is under- 
 standing-."^ 
 
 X. 1, doubtless lightning, from the obsolete Heb. 
 
 root IIH) Arab. .^ to pierce through. 
 
 ^ Viz. in his works. Thus stands *15D» Psalm 
 xix. 2. Perhaps the author had in view the joy- 
 ful estimate of wisdom, and we may compare Prov. 
 viii. 30, and the repeated applause bestowed in 
 Genesis by the Creator on the work of his hands. 
 " And God saw that it was good." 
 
 * As it is said of wisdom in Proverbs viii. 30, 
 
 nD^^ i^VK r^'>r^^^ " i ^^as the skiifui ani- 
 
 t w : V V : I V » 
 
 ficer by his side." Unnecessarily Diiderlein ren- 
 ders nmn, " he recognized or knew her." De 
 
 Wette was formerly of this opinion, but he has 
 now adopted ours. 
 
 ^ Even then^ did God, in the strength of his 
 wisdom, impart to mankind another wisdom, the 
 wisdom of practical good works grounded o\\ reli- 
 gion. Vide Prov. i. 7. 
 
 ^ And how much more has God revealed unto us, Chris- 
 tians, a better wisdom, through his c.o-eqtial Son, by whom 
 He has brought life and immortality to light — Note of 
 Translator. 
 
CHAP. XXIX. 1.3. 145 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 1. Job continued his discourse and said,*^ 
 
 2. Oh, that it were to me as in the months 
 
 that are past,^ 
 As in the days wherein God protected me. 
 
 3. When his lamp shone upon my head,^ 
 
 ^ Job is tranquillized, since he bears his misery, 
 not as punishment inflicted for former sins, but as 
 a mysterious plan of the unfathomable providence 
 of God. Yet he cannot repress the engrossing 
 feeling of sorrow, because of the sad turn which 
 his fortunes have taken, and he now resigns himself 
 to the recollection of his former happiness, at a 
 time when, protected by God, he spent his days 
 joyfully in the bosom of his family and respected 
 by all, on account of his religious and moral worth. 
 
 ^ The Stat, constr. declares to us the relat. to 
 be supplied. Vide 1 Sam. xxv. 15. Isa. xxix. 1. 
 Gesen. Lehrg. 679. 
 
 ® Literally, " by the shining of his light." y)^ in- 
 
 fin.inKal.(from ^n in form ^D)? with pleonast. suf- 
 fix, while the nom. for which it stands, follows imme- 
 diately, which pleonasm makes the Syr. and Chaid. 
 
 VOL. II. K 
 
146 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And I walked by his light, even in dark- 
 ness. 
 
 4. As the days were to me in my harvest 
 
 time/ 
 While God abode yet as a friend in my tent. 
 
 5. While the Almighty was still with me. 
 And my children surrounded me ; 
 
 6. While in going, I washed my steps in 
 
 cream,^ 
 
 languages so overladen with accessory ideas. Vide 
 Gesen. Lehrg. 733. Concerning the image, vide 
 eh. xviii. 6. "Iti^n is to be taken as accus. Vide 
 
 Ewald in Crit. Gram. 585. 
 
 ^ Harvest is here to be understood as a time 
 of blessing and ripe prosperity. It is a picture of 
 the most pleasant season, because, in the east, the 
 temperate climate of autumn is the most agreeable. 
 We have no need to agree with some commentators, 
 both ancient and modern, who have taken P]"in i" 
 
 the opposite sense of season of spring, or of youth ; 
 because the Hebrews began their year in autumn, 
 and thus, that season may be taken as an image of" 
 youth (Vulg. diebus adolescentiac nieae). Vide 
 Gesenius on the word. 
 
 ^ Image of the fullest prosperity and plenty of i 
 a shepherd life. DOvH are not so much thf 
 
CHAP. XXIX. 6, 7. 147 
 
 And near me the rock streamed forth with 
 oil.h 
 7. When I went through the gate to the 
 city 
 And prepared my seat in the market- 
 place :* 
 
 feet, (as Eichhorn translates, " when I washed my 
 feet in milk,") as the steps ; so that the idea is ex- 
 pressed in the entire hemistich, " Cream flowed in 
 streams wherever Job wandered." This sense cor- 
 responds with the second member of the verse, 
 and is stronger than if we understood him to say, 
 " I washed my feet in milk." To wash the steps 
 is an indeterminate expression, and means, to wash 
 the advancing feet. n^H HJ^^n ^^^^<^^ milk. 
 
 The erroneous translation of this word by Butter 
 is evident from this passage, for it could not be 
 said of any one that, in walking, he washed his feet 
 with butter ! 
 
 ^ A similar image for a like thought in the pre- 
 ceding hemistich. ^*1^J/ is usually rendered to me. 
 
 • T • 
 
 We might translate it literally and poetically, " In- 
 stead of water, the rock by which Job stood pour- 
 ed out oil." Thus did nature bestow her richest 
 abundance on her prosperous son. Vide Deut. 
 xxxii. 13. 
 
 ^ Schultens adduces ten different explana- 
 tions of this verse. There is a question as to 
 
148 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 8. The youn^ men saw me, and stepped 
 backwards, 
 The aged arose and remained standing.'' 
 
 whether Job is to be considered as dwelling with- 
 in or without the city. This can be as little 
 determined by {<\^*^ as by ^^^j; : for the former 
 
 need not be explained by going out of the city gate, 
 but may mean in general, go out, as the Arab, word 
 
 ^j^ to go out of the house. That this may be as 
 well translated by super, i. e. per, as by ad, where 
 it there (as it does often) stands for ^J^. Thus it 
 
 may either be, " When I went in to the door to the 
 city," or " when I went through the city out by 
 the door." But, according to the latter acceptation, 
 D'~\\> ''^V would be an unnecessary addition. Ac- 
 cording to the view which we take of the facts of 
 Job's history, it seems more suitable to suppose 
 him living in the country; and thus the extraordi- 
 nary impression is still more natural which his pre- 
 sence appears to have made on the townsmen who 
 were assembled in the place of judgment, for 
 lyt^ like ^ini has the latter meaning. 
 
 ^ Before ^^^^^*^ supp. ^^. The young men 
 
 T 
 
 ^N!!ini • that is not " they concealed themselves ;" 
 this would be too strong an expression. " They 
 
CHAP. XXIX. 9. 10. 149 
 
 9- Princes interrupted their speech^ 
 
 And in silence placed their hands on their 
 mouths. 
 10. The voices of the great ones were hushed, 
 And their tongues did cleave unto their 
 gums.™ 
 
 stepped back ;" out of respect they made way for 
 Job. In such great respect did he stand. But 
 even old men with grey hairs arose full of rever- 
 ence ^1/tDJ^? they stood until Job had seated him- 
 
 t T 
 
 self. 
 
 ^ Even the most dignified, if they had begun to 
 pronounce sentence, kept silence on Job's arrival. 
 The form of speech D^SDS *1W already existed, 
 
 cb. iv. 2. Even thus ; to lay the hand upon the 
 mouth. Vide ch. xxi. 5. 
 
 ™ The verb 1^^S^J is referred here to the gen. 
 
 of the subject of the proposition. Vide ch. xv. 20. 
 We need not therefore follow Schultens, who trans- 
 lates, " qjiod ad vocem eminentiura, comprime- 
 bantur," so as that the verb should refer to D^H^J^ 
 
 According to the sense, it may very well be poeti- 
 cally said, " The voice conceals itself, for it is re- 
 strained." Concerning the exjDression, " The 
 tongue cleaves to the gums, Vide Ps. cxxxvii. 6. 
 
150 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 11. Yea, the ear which heard me blessed me," 
 And the eye which saw me bore witness 
 
 unto me.° 
 
 12. For I delivered the poor that cried. 
 
 And the fatherless, who had none to help 
 him.^ 
 
 Ezek. iii. 26. This is a decidedly oriental form of 
 speech. 
 
 " Literally, " The ear when it heard me cele- 
 brated me. *lt^J^ is in this connection, and ac- 
 cording to the following hemistich, not so much 
 " to celebrate the prosperity," as to laud, to extol 
 the excellence of Job." Prov. xxxi. 28. S^H- 
 
 The sense is, " Whoever heard of me agreed in 
 sounding my praise." It is better to refer these 
 words to the universal renown of Job for virtue, 
 than to the actual hearing of these praises from the 
 mouths of the assembled people — as Eichhorn 
 translates, " The ear which heard me esteemed my 
 words happy." 
 
 " Viz. that I was an honourable man. The ex- 
 pression I^J/rii taken from justice, may assuredly 
 
 mean to command or celebrate^ as it is usually 
 translated. Vide (jjaorxjoio, St. Luke iv. 22. 
 
 P Benevolence is here extolled as a cardinal vir- 
 tue of the east. 
 
CHAP- XXIX. 13, 14. 151 
 
 13. The"^ blessing of the deserted came upon 
 
 me, 
 And I filled the widow's heart with joy. 
 
 14. Righteousness was my garment, and it 
 
 clothed me, 
 My justice covered me as a mantle and 
 head-dress.^ 
 
 ^ Blessing is here that which he who is deliver- 
 ed invokes for his deliverer. H^iS^ is he who is 
 
 near to destruction, as in Prov. xxxi. 6. 
 
 '■ According to this translation, the twice occur- 
 ring t^'2./ is quite clear, and we must not, with 
 
 — X 
 
 the LXX, the Vulgate, the Syriac and Arabic, ap- 
 ply '>^t^'2/''^ to the following hemistich. Thus 
 
 the fine meaning would be lost, viz. that the justice 
 which he put on clothed him well, and that the vir- 
 tue which he so intimately cultivated was his pro- 
 tection and his ornament. The image of putting 
 on as a garment expresses intimate union. Vide 
 Is, xi. 5 ; lix. 17. and Gesen. Comment. The ex- 
 pression of an Arabic poet may be suitably com- 
 pared with t1jis passage: 
 
152 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 15. I was the eye of the blind, 
 And the foot of the lame.^ 
 
 16. To the poor I was a father, 
 
 i. e. God clothed hira in a garment of renown, 
 and it is neither too long nor too short for him ; 
 or, 
 
 ,ot ^ (J -O^ 5 ^ ^ 
 
 i, e. Thou hast put on the vestments of noble 
 deeds, which are new and not worn out. Vide Ett- 
 sealehifrom JVisabur, the intimate companion of the 
 Solitary in combative dialogues, translated by Gus- 
 tav. Fliigel, 260. The second hemistich brings 
 out the *^t^27^1 of the first. The apparel specifi- 
 ed pertains especially to adornment. Vide Jahn, 
 Bibl. ArchaeoL Part I. B. 2, p. 92, 123. ^^^D 
 
 a long full robe was the dress of persons of rank, 
 especially of the chief priests, and to this also be- 
 longed the P)OV> a turban. Zech. iii. 5. 
 
 ^ This is figurative of the spiritual support which 
 the enlightened affords to the less cultivated un- 
 derstanding. 
 
CHAP. XXIX. 16, 17, 18. 158 
 
 And I investigated the cause of the un- 
 known.* 
 
 17. I brake the sharp biting of the wicked," 
 And I tore the prey from his teeth. 
 
 18. I said I shall die with my nest,^ 
 
 * Descriptive of the impartial desire to give to 
 each what is his right. Job carefully investigated 
 the claims even of a stranger, when an appeal was 
 made to his judgment. The translation of the 
 Vulgate is tame, '^ et causam, quam non nescie- 
 bam, diligentissirae investigavi." This can only 
 describe judicial conscientiousness. 
 
 " DlySnD the same as nlj^D^^ Ps- Iviii. 7, li- 
 
 terally " Implements for biting," from root xa! to 
 bite; a poetical expression for teeth. This is general- 
 ly rendered jaw teeth, or front teeth, from root xX-> 
 
 extulit se, longus fuit ; vide Gesenius on the word. 
 So compassionate was Job to the oppressed ! So 
 terrible was he to the oppressor ! The image is 
 taken from the combating of wild beasts. 
 
 ^ Usually, " I shall die in my hut or dwelling," 
 as Jerome has it; as if the meaning was, " softly 
 and full of repose shall I depart in the bosom of my 
 family.*' But mark the substance of the second 
 member of the verse, where the trope of long 
 
154 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And multiply my days as the sand.^ 
 19. My roots shall ever be spread out to the 
 waters, 
 
 life is mentioned, and then it will appear that ivith 
 is the more fitting translation of Qy, which may, 
 
 however, mean in ; vide Dent. viii. 5. The mean- 
 ing is, I shall not bear to have the sad thought of 
 departing from the scene to which long habit has 
 attached me, and the family which affection has 
 endeared to me, (for house and family are express- 
 ed by tp), but I shall die at the same time with 
 
 my house. This is a hyperbolical and proverbial 
 expression for the confident hope of a prolonged 
 existence ; and the idea is taken from a bird, pro- 
 bably an eagle, enduring even as long as his se- 
 curely built nest. Vide Obad. 4th verse. But it is 
 rather a stretch to follow the Jewish commentators 
 in their idea that this refers to the fable of the 
 Phoenix, which, at the age of a thousand years, is 
 consumed with his nest composed of spices. Vide 
 Justi and Herder, and more especially the Sionit. 
 Harfenklunge of the latter, p. 88. 
 
 y Sand is a well-known Old Testament image of 
 multitude, vide Genesis xxii. 17. Hab, i. 9. Thus 
 the usual meaning of 7'in suffices, and we need 
 not agree witii the uncertain Jewish traditionary 
 
CHAP. XXIX. 20, 21. 
 
 155 
 
 And the dew shall rest by night on my 
 branches.'' 
 20. My renown shall remain fresh with me,^ 
 And my bow shall be renewed in mine 
 hand.^ 
 •21, They listened unto me and waited, 
 
 And were in still attention to my counsel.*" 
 
 explanation, according to which the word here 
 means Phcenix^ and must be pointed 7in» to dis- 
 tinguish it from 7'in ^(^md. It is singular that the 
 LXX. and the Vulgate should have sanctioned such 
 traditions, by supposing it to mean, not indeed the 
 bird Phoenix, but the tree Phcenix, i. e. the palm 
 tree, which also attained to a great age. LXX iJra. 
 ds, 7] '/jXr/cia fj^ou yripdffsi oja-mo ffTsXs^og (poiviKog, 'jtoXuv 
 Xoowi jS/wcw. Vulg. Et sicut palma multipiicabo 
 Dies. The Chald. and Syriac have adopted the same 
 translation with that in the text. 
 
 "^ Descriptive of fresh health taken from a well- 
 watered, and therefore luxuriantly flourishing tree. 
 
 * His frame, like his bodily vigour, will remain 
 fresh. 
 
 ^ Expression derived from war, in which the 
 bow is an instrument for gaining renown. The 
 sense is, my strength, wliich gains me fame, shall 
 never fail, but ever be fresh. 
 
 ^ Job reverts with peculiar satisfaction to his 
 
156 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 22. After my words tbey kept silence, 
 
 For my discourse dropped down upon 
 them.^ 
 
 23. They waited for me as for the rain, 
 
 And they thirsted as for the rain of har- 
 vest.^ 
 
 24. I laug-hed at those who trusted not,*" 
 
 former dignity in the assemblies of the people, or 
 should we perhaps conceive these verses 21 — 23 
 to be more properly placed after verse 10? 
 
 ^ The working of my discourses upon the 
 hearts of the hearers was to be compared to rain 
 trickling upon the ground, softening and fertilizing 
 it. Vide the same image in Deu(. xxxii. 2. Micah 
 ii. 4. Amos vii. 16. 
 
 ^ Continuation of the same image. The anxious 
 attention to Job's words is strongly depicted by a 
 comparison with the Hope of the ti^ip/D* which 
 was the necessary rain before harvest. Vide Deut. 
 xi. 14. Jer. iii. 3; v. 24. Joel ii. 23. The gap- 
 ing of the mouth for panting or thirsting is an 
 image of Oriental force. "IJ/Q with HQ in the 
 
 same sense as here is to be found in Ps. cxix. 131. 
 ^ The sense is, in time of danger I shewed my- 
 self ci»eerful and composed to those whose courage 
 
CHAP. XXIX. 24. 157 
 
 And they could not trouble the light of 
 my countenance." 
 
 sank and whose confidence failed, ptlt^ with ^^ 
 
 means to laugh at, and with ^y, io out-laugh; vide 
 
 ch. XXX. 1. V,!OKn stands absolutely for, " to 
 
 trust on God that be will send deliverance," Is. vii. 
 9. The sense is rather strained according to the 
 usual translation of the words, " When I relax 
 from my accustomed gravity, and smile on the 
 people, they believe not that it is possible, and not- 
 withstanding this condescension, their reverence 
 for me is not diminished." E. g. De Wette, " If 
 I laughed to them they believed it not." But the 
 explanation which I have adopted is more sanc- 
 tioned by the parallel. 
 
 " Literall}^ " They could not destroy the light 
 of my countenance. Concerning the expression 
 DOD S^Sn ^'ide Gen. iv. 5, 6. Jer. iii. 12, 
 
 where the verb is in Kal. " The countenance falls," 
 " for the eyes sink to the earth, the mein becomes 
 gloomy." The light of the countenance for cheer- 
 fulness, as Prov. xvi. 15. The sense is, those who 
 were void of courage could not abate my cheer- 
 fulness, flowing from trust in God. By the figu- 
 rative expression D'^£3 ^IK gravitas is not impli- 
 
 • T 
 
 ed, as Rosenmiiller supposes. 
 
158 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 25. If their ways pleased me, I sat there as 
 chief, 
 And seated myself as a king amidst their 
 bands, as a comforter among the mourn- 
 ers. ^ 
 
 ^ The meaning is, when Job left his country re- 
 sidence for the city, and took part in the opposite 
 assemblies of its inhabitants, the greatest honour 
 and attention was shewn him. This verse shews 
 plainly that Job dwelt out of the city, and confirms 
 our explanation of verse 7. It also proves that he 
 was not in reality king of the land of Uz, as some 
 commentators suppose him to have been ; because, 
 in that case, the comparison, " like a king among 
 the bands of the people," which is meant to convey 
 a notion of his dignity, would have been unsuit- 
 able, and the description of the general respect paid 
 him would have been superfluous. 
 
CHAP. XXX. I. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 1. And now they that are younger than I 
 laugh me to scorn, ' 
 Whose fathers I did not honour by hold- 
 ing equal to the dogs of my flocks. ^ 
 
 ^ What a change in Job's condition ! Fornaer- 
 ly even the old men shewed him respect. Now- 
 even they who are his juniors mock him! We 
 must not understand these words to apply to the 
 friends. pT^ii^ with 7j^, to out- laugh, to laugh to 
 
 scorn, as in 2 Chron. xxx. 10, and in Arab. 
 
 <^*^ with i^""' 
 
 ^ i.e. Those who are descended from a base and 
 ignoble race. Job speaks like an Arab proud of 
 the nobility of his descent. The curse expressed 
 on the ancestors of his mockers comes appropriate- 
 ly from the mouth of a rich Arabian emir, and will 
 be fully understood, when we remember that the 
 dog is regarded in the east, and especially by the 
 Hebrews, as an unclean animal. Vide 1 Sam. xvii. 
 43. 2 Sam. xvi. 9. Prov. xxvi. 11. 2 Pet. ii. 
 22. A dog may not enter a mussulman's dwelling. 
 
160 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 2. The strength of their hands, how could 
 that avail me?* 
 
 and is killed when it touches his garments ; they 
 therefore live in the open air, and owe their sup- 
 port to chance, or to the alms and bequests of the 
 humane. Vide Hasselquist, Journey to Palestine, 
 109, and JaJm, Bihl. Archaeol. Part I. b. 1, p. 326. 
 
 An Arabic satyrical poet says, r,yQ Jj>! C3\^ 
 ^1x0^ c-*A^ " Thou art more ignoble than a 
 barking cur." Vide Jones, Poes. Asiat. Comment, 
 ed. Eichhorn, 325. Mahomet says. Angels will 
 enter no house where are dogs and pictures. Vide 
 Hammer's Extracts from the Sunna or Oral Tra- 
 ditions of Mahomet, in M. S. Fundgruben des 
 Orients, Part I. 187. Qj; ^i^ corresponds with 
 
 our compare, Schultens, and after him Rosenm til- 
 ler and De Wette, take DV for Sv> and translate, 
 
 " Whose fathers I did not esteem worthy to set 
 over the dogs of my flocks." But our translation 
 is better suited to the language, and has a stronger 
 meaning, and Jerome is of this opinion: " Quo- 
 rum non dignabar patres ponere cum canibus gre- 
 gis mei." 
 
 ' Such persons could be of no use to him, parti- 
 cularly in his helpless condition. Even if they 
 
CHAP. XXX. 3. 161 
 
 With them, even old age must perish ! 
 3. Wasted by want and famine,"" 
 
 possessed bodily strength, (which, from verse 3d 
 and following ones, does not appear to be the case), 
 their physical energy could not avail the sufferer, 
 who has need only of sympathy and compassion. 
 But these persons are so inhuman, that even needy 
 aged men, whose sufferings are peculiarly calculat- 
 ed to excite pity, are permitted to perish near 
 them, without obtaining a helping hand. H/S is 
 
 great age, as in ch. v. 26, and is used the abstract 
 for the concrete. The sense integritas is unsuitable, 
 which is used by Rosenmiiller, from an erroneous 
 comparison of the Syriac .^s^Xoby Castell. Schultens 
 says of this passage, that it is salebrosissimus locus, 
 and he gives nineteen different explanations. The 
 word nS3> and the somewhat dark connection of 
 
 this verse with the preceding one, occasion this va- 
 riety of possible meanings. 
 
 ^ Job here enters on a detailed description of 
 the rudest and most contemptible race of Bedowins, 
 natives of the desert. J. D. Michaelis, Muntinghe 
 and Eichhorn suggest the Troglodytes. Job first 
 depicts them as wasted by want. *lDn want, as 
 
 Prov. xxviii. 22. The reading IDHS which is 
 
 VOL. II. L 
 
162 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 They gnaw the desert.'^ 
 
 The ancient desert and desolation. 
 
 found in several manuscripts and printed editions 
 
 is unsuitable : ^^^7^1, literally " durum saxum," 
 
 does not convey the idea of barrenness and sterili- 
 ty, (vide ch. iii. 7,) as some of the old translators 
 understand, but that of drying up through hunger. 
 ° ply? on account of the connection and verse 
 
 17, is more suitably translated by gnaw^ according 
 to the Syriac and Arabic meaning and the Vulgate 
 translation, " qui rodebant in solitudine,*' than by 
 the meaning (which the word has equally in Syriac 
 and Arabic) of /7y, according to the translation of 
 the LXX., the Chaldee and more modern commen- 
 tators, such as Rosenmiiller, de Wette, &c. What 
 these natives of the desert chiefly gnaw, appears 
 from the following verse. 
 
 ° Properly, " the yesterday of desert and deso- 
 lation.'* We take ^12^ i" its usual acceptation, 
 
 which here affords the best sense, while Job de- 
 scribes these deserts frightful to man, as having 
 been ever there from time immemorial. Others, 
 like the Chald. take these words to mean, the 
 course of the preceding night, as Gen. xix. 34 ; xxxi. 
 !29; and deduce the peculiar meaning of darkness 
 
CHAP. XXX. 3. 163 
 
 from it, as Drusius, Gesenius^ 8^c. vide Jer. ii. 6. 
 But, in this case, one of the usual expressions for 
 night and darkness would be found in the text, and 
 our word must always be singular in this sense. 
 J. D. Michaelis, in Suppl. p. 102, compares the 
 Syr. I^.v^ j ager, as also Eichhorn translates,^e/G?5q/' 
 desolation. But this Syriac word is sanctioned by the 
 authority of no lexicographer older than Schindler ; 
 vide Gesen. in thesaur. Ling. Heb. De Wette 
 and Rosenmiiller give the same explanation with 
 that of the text. It is true that Gesenius remarks, 
 
 on the contrary side, that ^y^.^^ does expressly 
 
 mean a short time past, but it is yet easily conceive- 
 able that this meaning in the Hebrew may for 
 once have been neglected by our author. " The 
 yesternight of the desert" remains a singular ex- 
 pression. Hence the bold conjecture of Reiske, 
 which Dathe and Muntinghe follow, that in- 
 stead of HKit^ti^/^DK, we should read HKlSt^ DK 
 
 T V V T 
 
 Xhe people of desolation ; hence \J^ in ^^12^ must 
 have been reduplicated through error. HJ^ISi^ 
 
 T 
 
 nt^Si^^^ as cognate and similarly sounding deri- 
 
 vata from the same root, so found in ch. xxxviii. 27. 
 Zeph. i. 13, strengthen the idea. Vide Gesenius 
 
164 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 4. They cut up mallows by tlie hedges, 
 And juniper roots is their bread. *^ 
 
 m Lehrgb. 671 and 837. Ewald in Crit. Gram, 
 637. 
 
 P hJOp* pluck away, ch. viii. 12. Niph. to be 
 cut off. TVhl2 a>^'/>!'0?, atriplex Halimus Linn., a 
 somewhat salt-tasted plant like sallad, whose leaves 
 are eaten both raw and dressed by the poor. Vide 
 Bochart, Hieroz. Part I. B. III. ch. 16, torn. ii. p. 
 228. 'n^'tVwV because this herb is especially 
 
 found in hedges. This additional mark depicts 
 the whole region, which bears nothing but weeds. 
 Concerning the partly unintelligible explanation of 
 this word by the old commentators, vide Rosenmill- 
 ler in loco. 
 
 "^ Qnn according to Jerome, juniperus, as the 
 
 Hebrews explain it. But it is better according to 
 
 the Arabic x«.j', or spartium junceum, Linn. 
 which plentifully grows in the desert parts of 
 Arabia and Egypt, and of which the bitter roots 
 afford nourishment to the poor. Vide Schultcns 
 in loco, and J. D. Michaelis, Supp. 2270. 
 
CHAP, XXX. 5, 6. 165 
 
 5. They are driven away from the place, ^ 
 A cry is made after them as thieves. ^ 
 
 6. They dwell in the gloomy vallies,* 
 
 In caverns of the earth, and rocky caves ; 
 
 ^ Description of the contempt felt for this race 
 by the civilized and well-born among the Arabs, 
 lil in the usual sense of back or body, is here unsuita- 
 ble; but it answers to the Chald. *\^ or medium. The 
 expression 1i|"]D relates to the incursions of this 
 
 vagabond and plundering band on cities and vil- 
 lages ; where they are not tolerated but driven 
 away. 
 
 ^ Closer proof of what was said in the former 
 hemistich. The inhabitants of a place which is 
 visited by these bands hunt them away with loud 
 cries, summoning the whole community to assist. 
 ^3il3 as when a thief is chased away, i. e. because 
 
 there is reason to fear them as thieves. 
 
 ^ Y^IV frequently written in other Codd. 1*1*1^/ 
 means something horrible, a. r. TIJ/ to be fearful 
 and to inspire icith terror, J. D. Michaelis, in 
 
 Suppl. ad lex Heb. compares the Arabic \ja ys. 
 densa et umbrosa vallis. Hence Eichhorn and 
 
166 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 7. They groan among the bushes," 
 
 Justi translate, " they dwell in thickly wooded 
 vallies." Muntinghe and Schraeder, on the other 
 hand, take 1*^13/ in the sense of the Arab. 
 
 \ja ys. or jji>^ j^ a broad and extended tract of 
 country. Dwelling in vallies is in the east a mark 
 of poverty and wretchedness. According to our 
 explanation, in which we remain true to the He- 
 brew usage, the description gains in point of indi- 
 viduality and life. VZWh is generally taken as de- 
 pending on the preceding verse, " they were dri- 
 ven, &c. &c. so that they dwell." But the gerund 
 stands for the verb, finit. as in ch. v. 11. Vide, 
 Gesenius in Lehrg. 787. 
 « pX^"^ already in ch. vi. 5, expressed the cry of 
 
 the wild ass when hungry, hence it is generally 
 conceived in this passage to denote the crying of a 
 poor and hungry populace for food. Others, and 
 among them Jerome, think on the contrary that it 
 means a wild cry of joy. The expression has so 
 much greater force when we find it used to denote 
 the inarticulate tones of the uncivilized populace 
 ranking but little above the beasts of the field. 
 
CHAP. XXX. 8. 167 
 
 They are sprinkled under the thorns/ 
 8. A dishonoured and nameless rabble, 
 They are beaten out of the landT 
 
 ^ In the former hemistich brutal rudeness is de- 
 scribed by the crying of the rabble beliind the 
 hedges where they dwell, and in the present it is 
 signified by their disorderly lying up and down 
 behind the thorn-bushes. The picture of this 
 wild and disorderly mode of encampment lies in the 
 graphic expression IPTDD^ a- r* n£)D to pour or 
 
 sprinkle^ not, as is usually conceived, a. r. HlDD 
 
 — T 
 
 to add, " they congregate under the thorn-bush :'' 
 which explanation gives but a feeble sense. But 
 the too strong explanation of Eichhorn and J. D. 
 
 Michaelis is also improper, who compare ^jLw 
 in the sense of the 3d conjugation, scortari, *' and 
 enact lewdness under the thorn-bushes." Vide 
 Suppl. ad lex Heb. 1786. ^^in thorn-bush, as 
 
 jProv. xxiv. 31. Zeph. ii. 9. 
 
 '^ As dishonoured persons, they were not endur- 
 ed in the land of the civilized Arabians. (r*nj^ in 
 
 opposition to ^^^1^)• D^"^Ss no name, or 
 
 namelessness, shame. Concerning the meaning of the 
 negation in such conjunctions, vide ch. xxvi. 2. 
 
168 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 9. And to such am I now become as a song 
 of reproach. 
 And I am become to them as a proverb.'' 
 
 10. They turn from me with loathing, 
 
 And refrain not from spitting before my 
 face. ^ 
 
 11. Yea, each one unbridleth himself and 
 
 humbleth me, ^ 
 
 IKD^ Niph. a. r. ^^J = HID^ io beat, answers very 
 
 : • T T T T 
 
 well. For other acceptations, vide Rosenmiiller in 
 loco, 
 
 ^ Vide Lament, iii. 14, where jl^'Jl^ is thus 
 
 used ; also Ps. Ixix. 13 ; cIj. xvii. 6. 
 
 y They express their disgust by spitting. It is 
 more strongl}' expressed in eh. xvii. 6. The Vulg. 
 is too strong, facieni meam eonspuere non veren- 
 tur. Thus Rosenmiiller. On the other hand, 
 Justi and Eichhorn explain it too feebly by their 
 remark, that to spit in presence of a dignified per- 
 son is reckoned uncivil. Vide Harmers Remarks 
 on the East, pt. 3. 376. The spitting before the 
 face must be regarded as a determinate mark of 
 contempt. 
 
 ^ Mark the increased strength of the moaning. 
 These wretched persons take all manner of liberty 
 in tlie presence of the sufferer, — " tiiey unbridle 
 
CHAP. XXX. 11, 12. 
 
 169 
 
 And before my face they let loose the 
 reins. 
 12. At my right hand standeth a rabble,* 
 
 themselves." The reading in Chetib "Hri* merits 
 
 a preference, because of the parallel, before ^'nXI^ 
 
 in Keri, so that ^iH^ cord^ stands over against the 
 
 explanatory TD'I in the following hemislich. When 
 
 we read according to Keri, we must translate, 
 " Then because (God) made my sinews weak, and 
 oppressed me." i. e. " Because he weakened the 
 strength of my life and tormented me with suffer- 
 ing; so (after the following) they let loose the 
 reins before my face." This sense would be equal- 
 ly suited to the structure of the language and to 
 the connection. But the meaning praestantia^ 
 from ^iH^ (which Dathe receives) is little suited to 
 
 the verb 11715 " postquam dignitate mca deus pri- 
 
 vavit." The old translators show little insight into 
 the meaning of the words. 
 
 * Further examples of the rudeness of these 
 worthless persons towards him, once so greatly reve- 
 renced. nn*lQ contemptiblebrood,\'\do proof of this 
 
170 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 They push away my feet,^ 
 And throw out upon me on the ways of 
 destruction.'^ 
 13. They tear up my path, ^ 
 They help my fall, 
 No one supports them.® 
 
 meaning from the Arabic f- j-i hy Schultens in 
 loco. Thus J/11 stands in Is. 1.4; Ivii. 4. Ps. 
 
 xxxvii. 28. The standing up of this rabble on 
 Job's right hand has no particular meaning except 
 that they rise up against him. 
 
 ^ Expressive of the impudent misusage of Job, 
 vide ch. xxiv. 4. 
 
 '^ Figurative expression taken from the assaults 
 of besiegers, t-iWecA. xix. 12. 
 
 * DJlJi rn^» a"d as some codd. read it in ex- 
 planation ^^^^)J• The picture is clear of itself. 
 
 * Proverbial picture of the utter contempt of 
 those persons. " They have no helper," i. e. no 
 one joins with them. Vide the explanatory Arab, 
 parallel, from the Hamase, in Schultens in loco. 
 Several commentators take ^tu) ^or W i" relation 
 
 to Job, and the 3d person by an enallage for the 
 
CHAP. XXX. 14. 171 
 
 14. They come like the overthrow of a broad 
 wall/ 
 
 1st ^^. Thus Eichhorn, " and no one stands by 
 
 me." Vide Gesen. in Lehrgeb, 221, against the 
 taking of the form '\u7 ^s a singular. On the 
 
 T 
 
 other hand, vide Ewald^ in crit. gram, 305; vide 
 ch. XX. 23. Justii " and no one helps me against 
 them." 
 
 *" i, e. They come as assaulting foes suddenly, 
 and with a mighty attack. A wide rent in a wall 
 produces a sudden overthrow, with a loud crash. 
 Vide Is. XXX. 13, for a suitable explanation of the 
 image, where nlso 7^^ TlD stands. We see that 
 
 allusion is chiefly made to the loud crash in this 
 description of a wall breaking down from the 
 nnn r^D in the following hemistich, answering 
 
 to the T^^]^ r\T\P\ of the first. The usual trans- 
 lation is, " they press through the wide breach in 
 the wall :" after the example of Jerome, " quasi 
 rupto muro." Then the image would be taken 
 from a conquered city in which the enemy presses 
 in close bands through the broken wall. Both ex- 
 planations are sanctioned by the language and the 
 
172 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 They roll onwards with a crash. 
 15. He hath turned against me !^ 
 
 connection of the passage. Also the image found 
 in the Chaldee, which Eichhorn adopts, *' Like 
 broad streams they come," may be maintained 
 without violence to sense and grammar, for *r*1Q 
 
 means also wide spreading of the waters, 2 Sam. v. 
 20. 
 
 ^ As the stones of a falling wall roll on with a 
 crash; and as the enemy rushes forward with a 
 fearful shout. According to the meaning assigned 
 to the preceding hemistich, T^^Vi^ J* taken in this 
 
 which may express the crash of the falling mason- 
 ry, or the noise of a raging storm. 
 
 ^ ^/V ^^T\T\ is to be taken as an exclamation. 
 
 God is the subject, though the name is omitted, as 
 not unfrequently hapjjens in this book, being self- 
 evident. Others take the 3d p. of the verb imper- 
 sonally, as Eichhortij '• With me it has become 
 otherwise." Another explanation is, " Terrors 
 turn against mc, or rush upon me," in which 
 "|Dnn is united with Dln^S- Also this explan- 
 ation is admissible. 
 
CHAP. XXX. 15, 16, 17/ 173 
 
 Terror, like the storm, drivetb away my 
 
 honour,^ 
 And my prosperity like a cloud? 
 
 16. And now my heart is poured out within 
 
 me, '^ 
 Days of care hath taken hold on me ! 
 
 17. The night pierceth my bones and sepa- 
 
 rateth them from me.^ 
 
 ' The union of the plu. HinSS with the sing. 
 
 verb P]'^*!]^ is rare, when, as in the present case, 
 
 the verb follows. Vide Gesen. Lehrgeh. 713. But 
 as nn 7^ almost always occurs in the plu. it may 
 
 T T — 
 
 be thus regarded as the same with a singular, which 
 is the case with ni/D^ and Dl/tDIDn. ni"?! 
 
 T : — » • : 
 
 is that which made Job ^^'Hi, i. e. a dignified man, 
 
 • T 
 
 viz. Dignity. 
 
 ^ We say my heart is dissolved by grief, vide 
 Jos. vii. 3. Psalm xlii. 5. 
 
 ' That is poetically ascribed to the night which 
 really was produced by sorrow during the night. 
 Vide ch. iii. 2. We need not take *^p^ as Nipb., 
 
 which many commentators do, in which case there 
 would be an enall. gen. Mark the constr. prsegn. 
 
 in hV^' 
 
174 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And they that gnaw me take no rest."" 
 18. Through God's omnipotence my garment 
 is changed, " 
 
 "" W'p'^V^ the gnawers^ are thus poetically nam- 
 ed for the corroding pains. The Vulg. rightly 
 translates, " Etqui me commedunt, non dormiunt." 
 Some commentators as Seb. Schmidt translate, 
 " Et nervi mei non cubant." " My veins, i, e. my 
 pulses do not rest." Then we should compare the 
 
 Arab, o^vc venae. But the explanation of the 
 text is more poetical. 
 
 ° The most simple sense is, " Through God's 
 almighty power hath my robe of honour been 
 changed into a mourning garment. n3"i!2*l great- 
 ness of might, e. g. of a hero, (ll^jl) Psa. xxxiii. 
 
 16, and here of God, thus omnipotence. The ex- 
 pression does not suitably refer to the sharpness of 
 pain, as De Wette and Gesenius would have it. 
 " Through its violence (pain changes itself into my 
 garment, i. e.) *' clothes me like a garment," 
 ii^Snnn l-o change as a garment, I Sam. xxviii. 
 8. 1 Kings xx. 38. 
 
CHAP. XXX. 18, 19, 20. 175 
 
 He bindeth me like the collar of my vest.^ 
 10. He hath east me into the mire,^ 
 
 So that I am made like unto dust and 
 ashes. "^ 
 20. I cry unto thee yet thou hearest me not ; 
 There do I stand, "■ yet thou dost not re- 
 gard me ! ^ 
 
 ° God himself presses me close together. This 
 comparison with the under garment pressing on 
 the throat, sanctions our explanation of the first 
 hemistich. Concerning n3P3 X'^'w") tunica inte- 
 rior, vide Braun, de vestitu Sacerd. B. II. ch. 11. 
 Others conceive grief or pain to be the subject. 
 
 P As the omitted name of God must be taken as 
 the subject of ^^IH* it seems so much the more 
 
 fitting that we should supply it before ^J*1TN^ 
 
 of the preceding verse. 
 
 ^ Mark that the mourner used to throw himself 
 in dust and ashes. It is poetically expressed, as if 
 God, with his own hand, had thrown him in the 
 mire ; so that he resembled the dirty colour of 
 ashes and mire. 
 
 •■ Itty^ expresses the reverential attitude of a 
 
 suppliant. Hence, to stand before one's face, 
 means to serve, such as Jehovah, the King, &c. 
 ^ It is most simple to supply the neg. t^7 from 
 
176 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 21. Thou hast changed thyself into mine ene- 
 
 my,* 
 And dost press me hard under thy strong 
 hand. 
 
 22. Thou liftest me upon the storm 
 And causest me to ride upon it." 
 
 Thou makest me to despond, and pressest 
 me with terror.^ 
 
 the preceding hemistich. Vide ch. iii. 10. Others 
 translate, not without violence, " Thou only lookest 
 at me," or " thou dost hesitate." 
 
 t Perhaps this *n£)nn confirms the explanation 
 
 in the text of ^BilH v. 15. 
 
 " The image of being carried away by a whirl- 
 wind is not too strong for an eastern writer. Re- 
 member the fabulous tradition of the East, that the 
 mighty Solomon used the east wind as a riding 
 horse. Vide Hammei^s Rosenol, or Traditions of 
 the EasU Part I. 147. The image is borrowed 
 from a cloud of dust taken up in a whirlwind, and 
 well depicts the restless agitated spirit of the suf- 
 ferer. 
 
 ^ iT'ti^in is generally expressed as in Keri, and 
 
 T . 
 
 this word is translated by ratio ; as for instance, 
 De Wette, " and destroyed my sense and spirit," 
 
CHAP. XXX. 23. 177 
 
 23. Yea I know that thou wilt bring me again 
 
 unto death, 
 And to the house of resort for all living !^' 
 
 24. O that he would not stretch out his hand 
 
 to the destroyed heaps ! '■ 
 
 though now all deliverance vanished." According 
 to the consonants of the word in Chetib, it should 
 be pointed T\WT^ a. rad. Hlt^ in Chald. Ithp. 
 
 to fear. This meaning is suitable here. Also the 
 Syr. has expressed two verba in the translation. 
 For the greater part, the old translators have ren- 
 dered the verse very indeterminately. 
 
 y The conj. ^3 is wanting after ^riJ/"T^ as is 
 
 frequently the case after this verb. Vide Psa. ix. 
 17, 21 ; vide Gesen. Lehrg. 843. HIO as in ch. 
 
 xxviii. 22, means realm of the dead. But here it 
 stands for the abode of annihilation, as the sense of 
 H^ti^n* which is united to it, shows; which is not 
 
 accurately translated by bring. It is difficult to 
 see how this verse should have been regarded by 
 Schultens as obscure in its connection with the pre- 
 ceding one. 
 
 ^ Spoken in bitter irony. I will, says Job, will- 
 ingly die, provided God will let me rest peacefully 
 
 VOL. II. M 
 
178 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 Or must they cry to him even in death ?° 
 
 in death, ^y does not mean tumulus but rums. 
 
 Thus in a mournful mood does he name his dis- 
 tressed body. If the house of my flesh be destroy- 
 ed, may God at least let its ruins repose! Many 
 interpreters, as Gesenius, Rosenmiiller, and De 
 Wette, take fy^ for a word, a prayer, a petition : 
 
 " prayer is useless, he stretches forth his hand." 
 But the transition of the text brings out the mean- 
 ing better, and is more in accordance with the 
 structure of the language. 
 
 * With stronger irony. 1*S usually misfortmie, 
 
 Prov. xxiv. 22, where it stands opposite to *T*N' 
 
 But since the root means to die :ili in Arabic, it 
 is right to take the word here in its original mean- 
 ing 7nors. The ordinary meaning may be retained 
 without altering the sense of the whole. At all 
 events, there is question of the dead in this ironical 
 speech. The indeterminate pronoun ^H standing 
 
 in the dat. relates to the shades below. Perhaps 
 the feminine, as the less noble gend., is purposely 
 chosen for tliis, or we must admit an incorrectness 
 which sometimes occurs in using the ft m. j^end. in 
 
CHAP. XXX. 25, 2G. 179 
 
 25. Truly I wept for the heavily oppressed by 
 
 time, 
 My heart mourned for the poor. ^ 
 
 26. And yet v\dien I hoped for prosperity, mis- 
 
 fortune appeared, 
 
 relation to masculine objects. Vide Geseniafi 
 Lehrgeb. 732. The masc. suffix to I^B must 
 
 be conceived distributively. For other explanations 
 vide Roseniimller in loco. 
 
 ^ The meaning is, do I, according to human 
 calculation, deserve so hard a fate? We here meet 
 with the idea which is the chief matcer of ch. xxxi. 
 The connection of the discourse at least requires 
 not that the doubled 7 praef. should be taken in 
 
 this verse to mark the nature, according to Rosen- 
 mliller. Thus De Wette, " truly I weep as a hard 
 oppressed man ; my heart mourns because of my 
 misery." DV"nSi^p5 the hard, is in reference to 
 
 the day, i. e. one also has a hard day. Vide Gesen- 
 ius in Lehrgeb. p. 677, concerning this union of the 
 adject, with a subst. in thegen. in order to distinguish 
 
 the adjective, ^y^ to be sorrowful, Q^lJ^ Is. xix. 
 ~ » It 
 
 10. Vide J. D. Michaelis in SuppL 18-31. 
 
180 THE BOOK or JOB, 
 
 And when I waited for light, there came 
 darkness \^ 
 
 27. My bowels are disturbed and rest not ;'^ 
 Only days of affliction have fallen upon 
 
 me. 
 
 28. Blackened do I wander, though not from 
 
 the sun's burning,*' 
 
 ^ Vide eh. xxii. 28, concerning this sense of 
 
 nix. 
 
 ^ The bowels are regarded as the seat of deep 
 feeling, by the excitement of which, they are mov- 
 ed like boiling water. In Is. xvi. 11, the excite- 
 ment of lively pity is described as producing in 
 them a sound like that of the harp. Forster says, 
 that the wild natives of the South Seas call com- 
 passion a bleating of the bowels. Vide Gesenius' 
 Comment to Isaiah, Part II. p. 352. nHI to boil, 
 
 - T 
 
 stands for flDH » which is more common in this 
 
 union with D^V'tO' ^^ express the disturbed motion 
 
 of the inward parts. 
 
 ^ An impressive, almost enigmatical speech, in 
 which the reader is left to supply the chief object. 
 Thus, " I wander about not blackened by tiie heat 
 oftlie sun, but — by the heat of divine indignntion." 
 
CHAP. XXX. 28. 181 
 
 I Stand in the public assembly of the peo- 
 ple and cry aloud ! ^ 
 
 So that we should perhaps consider HDn (which 
 the Vulg. and Syriac express, and which several 
 codd. have put for nDH) as being in opposition to 
 
 n^n ; the heat of the divine wrath, is perhaps the 
 
 T — 
 
 violence of disease, by which the skin of the body 
 is blackened. Thus in Isaiah xxix. 9 ; li. 21, it is 
 said, " drunken but not with wine ;" but with the 
 wrath of God. Schultens and others render it, 
 " Wander blacker than from sun-burning ;" and 
 they adduce in illustration a peculiar sort of com- 
 parison of the Arabs, " wise and not as Lock- 
 man," for wiser than Lockman. But, in that case, 
 the compar. particle as would not strictly be awant- 
 ing, " and not as from the heat of the sun." Vide 
 Gesen. Lehrg. 691. 
 
 f Sense : I am a misused innocent man. The 
 idea is taken from one who also invokes the justice 
 of an assembled court, because of an injury. In 
 this verse the parallelism is generally, if not mi- 
 nutely observed. And there is no need of Eich- 
 horn's hypothesis, that after the 1st hemistich two 
 ]ines have been lost. 
 
182 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 29. 1 am become a brother to jackals, 
 
 And a companion to ostriches.^ 
 oO. My skin falls back from me, ^ 
 
 ^ Job compares himself to those animals because 
 of their cry, on which account they are mentioned 
 in Miccih i. 8. Is. xliii. 20. Vide Bochart in 
 Hieroz. torn. iii. p. 233. Hence it is said of D'^D 
 
 " describuntur ut '^^yjvrjnxd ^ua, quia cum capite 
 erecto, et deductis faucibus, sursum aspirare ssepe 
 visi sint, id itaaccepisse putantur Hebraeorum anti- 
 quissimi, ac si ore in caelum obverso per suspiria, 
 et gemitus ad Deum de sorte sua conquererentur, 
 (juodque omnibus odiosi, desertisque ac feralibus 
 addict! locis, longam quidem, sed miseram vitam 
 aegre traherent." Concerning ostriches nl^Il 
 
 nyf vide Bochart, P. II. L. II. Ch. xiv. torn. ii. p. 
 
 T — ; — 
 
 811. 824 : " acrem et asperum esse struthionum cla- 
 morem, maxime circa auroram, ab iis non semel 
 audivi, qui iilas circumducunt." In the compari- 
 son of Job with jackals and ostriches it must be re- 
 membered that they live in solitudes, and may be 
 taken as emblems of desolation. 
 
 '' The elephantiasis chiefly attacked the skin. 
 Mark the const, praeg. as above in v. 17. 
 
CHAP. XXX. 31. 183 
 
 And my bones are consumed with fire. 
 SI. My harp is turned to wailing, 
 
 And my flute into sounds of mourning.* 
 
 i In these words, which explain themselves, it 
 must be remarked, that the instruments named 
 were destined originally for purposes of mirth. 
 Vide Is. XXX. 29, 32. 
 
184 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 2. I made a covenant with mine eyes, 
 How should I then look upon a maid ? ^ 
 
 2. Yet what divine reward comes on that ac- 
 
 count from above? 
 And what heritage from the almighty out 
 of heaven ! 
 
 3. Does not destruction belong to sinners, 
 
 ^ Job continues, he might have expected a dif- 
 ferent fate, since he is conscious of so virtuous a 
 life. He first adverts to his chastity, which watch- 
 ed over his eye. pl^DK ^'efers to impure preme- 
 ditated glances. The latter sense lies especially in 
 hithpahel. H/^nn is connected with the idea 
 
 T 
 
 of purity, as regards contact with women, towards 
 whom Job never cast unchaste looks. This decla- 
 ration is important, in proof of the reality of his 
 moral feelings and principles, and stands very pro- 
 perly at the head of the list of his titles to inno- 
 cence. 
 
CHAP. XXXI. 4, 5, 6. 185 
 
 And ruin to the doers of evil ? ' 
 
 4. Did he not behold my ways, 
 And count all my steps ? ™ 
 
 5. Had I intercourse with lies, 
 
 Or did my foot hasten after deceit ? " 
 
 6. O that he would weigh me in an even ba- 
 
 lance, 
 
 ^ This sense presupposes the thought, " And yet 
 destruction overtook me !" But even the omission 
 of this thought, and the following quotatiouj pro- 
 duce great effect. 1D^ misfortune^ punishment, as 
 s o ^ 
 Y^=ii in the Koran, often occurs in this sense. Vide 
 
 Sur. Ixv. 8 ; xxxii. 43 ; Ixvii. 18. In several Codd. 
 the reading H^^? is to be found not very much dif- 
 
 fering in sense, for «X^ii in Arab, vita misera. 
 Vide Schultens in loc. 
 
 ^ God himself must bear witness that I speak 
 the truth. 
 
 " Continued asseveration of innocence. In the 
 form Ci^nm vve most easily receive the verb 
 
 nCi^n for tii^^n ^^ hasten. Yet vide Gesenius on 
 
 the word. 
 
186 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 God would acknowledge mine innocence ! 
 
 7. If my steps had ever deviated from the 
 
 right path, 
 Or my heart had followed mine eyes, " 
 And my hands had become defiled, 
 
 8. Then might I have sown and another 
 
 eaten ; ^ 
 Then what I planted might have been up- 
 rooted ! 
 
 9. If my heart had let itself be seduced by a 
 
 woman,*' 
 And if I had lain in wait at my neigh- 
 bour's door : ^ 
 
 "^ D^^^0 macula. In several Codd. Q^/tD) <>f 
 
 which our reading is only the Chald. version. 
 Vide Dan. i. 4. and Gesenius in Lehrgeb. 152. 
 
 ^ Vide similar curses in Numbers xxvi. 16. 
 Deut. xxviii. 30, and the opposite in Amos ix. 
 14. 
 
 ^ Literally : If my heart had opened itself (2. e. 
 to seductive influence), I shall have been a ^J^^ 
 
 as the Proverbs name the inexperienced and easily 
 reduced youth. Vide also Deut. xi. 16. 
 
 "■ Vide Prov. ch. vii. for a description of the 
 
CHAP. XXXI. 10, 11. 187 
 
 10. Then might another have wedded my 
 
 wife. 
 And others have bowed down upon her!^ 
 
 1 1. For this would have been a sin,* 
 
 ways of the adulterer, who lurks near the door un- 
 til the husband of the woman has gone out. 
 
 ^ Thus might my crime in like manner been pun- 
 ished ! The best commentators differ about ^HtD- 
 
 Some translate it literally by grinds and refer it to 
 the custom of female slaves working in the hand- 
 mill, {vide Exod. xi. 5. Is. xlii. 2. Eccles. xii. 3.) 
 thus making the meaning, " Thus might ray wife 
 have performed to others the services of a slave ;" 
 while others translate it figuratively as the Latin 
 molere i. e. adulter are^ only it is used of the man. 
 Thus Chald. and Vulg. The parallel favours the 
 latter explanation. Job has purposely chosen a 
 very strong expression, as the LXX. render it 
 aoi<sai aoa r\ yuv^ fiov iTi^u) dvbsi. As J^'l^ refers to 
 
 the man, HVV refers to the woman ; Jer. ii. 20. 
 
 T T 
 
 In Arab, it is said, 3^^^^ J^ '^^^^ C^^^ 
 curvat se femina ad virum ; the Greeks in like 
 manner say xaraxXmffSa/ ; and the Latins inclinare 
 sp. Vide Rosenmilller in Jerem. ii. 20. 
 
 t pi^l stands for the sin of unchastity. Vide 
 
188 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And a crime deserving punishment. " 
 12. Yea this would have been a fire consum- 
 ing even to the realms of the dead, 
 And would have uprooted all my posses- 
 sions ! ^ 
 l.*3. If I had despised the cause of my servant, 
 Or of my maiden, in their contest with 
 me,^ 
 14. What then could I have done when God 
 arose ? 
 
 Numbers xviii. 17. ^^r\ riDT- Vide Jud. xx. 6. 
 
 Ezek. xvi. 27; xxii. 9, 11. 
 
 " Literally. " A crime for the judge (so that we 
 supply 7 before Dv' /D) «• ^' a crime to be pun- 
 ished judicially, i.e. one of a deep die which con- 
 cerned the community. Hitherto Job had spoken 
 only of the avoiding of such sins as were judged by 
 man's conscience. 
 
 ^ The moral spirit of Hebraism cannot depict 
 in colours sufficiently striking the danger of the 
 sin of adultery. It menaces with utter penury, 
 and even with death. Vide Prov. ii. 18 ; vi. 27, 
 35; vii. 26, 27; ix. 18. 
 
 y In this trait of Job's noble sentiments is the 
 spirit of oriental ethics well developed. 
 
CHAP. XXXI. 15, 16, 17, 18 189 
 
 When he inquired, what could I have an- 
 swered ? 
 
 15. Did not he that made me in the womb 
 
 make him ? 
 And did not one fashion us in the womb?' 
 
 16. If I had denied the wish of the poor, 
 
 Or suffered the eyes of the widow to lan- 
 guish, 
 
 17. If I had alone eaten my morsel of bread, 
 And the orphan had not eaten thereof, 
 
 1 8. For from my youth I brought him up as a 
 
 father. 
 And from my mother's womb I was the 
 widow's guide.^ 
 
 ^ Others render it, " Hath he not fashioned us 
 in one womb ?" But the paralleUsm favours our 
 translation, besides that the original, in order to 
 give this sense, would require to be nHKH DPI'lS 
 
 T V T V V T 
 
 Concerning the form ^^^^y^ for ^3J^1D*1 (with 
 
 compensation for both nuns by Dagesh, and shorten- 
 ing T into ^). Vide Gesen. in Lehrgeb. 406. Be- 
 cause of their common origin, masters should treat 
 their servants with brotherly love. Vide Malachi 
 ii. 10. 
 
 ^ We must regard this verse as a parenthesis. 
 
190 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 19 If I had seen the forsaken ^ without cloth- 
 ing. 
 And the poor without covering, 
 20. If his loins had not blessed me,*^ 
 
 ^:hl-\ stands for ^^JT ^"l^ and 1^3 for 0^103 
 ^^^. Literally, " He grew up to me as to a father." 
 
 T 
 
 The suffix has not only the. sense of a dative en- 
 livening the discourse, (as Ewald thinks in Crit. 
 Gram. 620.), but it is necessary, in order to express 
 the relation of the orphans to Job. In tlie 1st 
 hemistich the orphan is subject, and in the 2d, the 
 suffix verb. feni. gen. niHl^^^ should be referred 
 to ni!D^K V. 16. The Syriac changes ^KD '"to 
 
 T T : - T ; 
 
 nKD, «nd mr\:t^ into n1n:K, according to 
 which Eichhorn translates, " Tiien might j)ain have 
 nourished me from my youth, and sighs from my 
 childhood." But then we must change ^^SH^ i'>t() 
 ^J^^il' There is, at all events, no necessity to de- 
 viate from the text. 
 
 ^' 1^^ f^if one going to destruction, i. e. tlie 
 
 abandoned, the one given as a prey to destruction, 
 as ch. xxix. 13. 
 
 *^ Expressions of thanks are here poetically as- 
 
CHAP. XXXI. 20, 21, 22. 191 
 
 And if he had not warmed himself in the 
 wool of my lambs, 
 
 21. If I had directed my hand against an or- 
 
 phan, 
 Because I had help at the gate,^ 
 
 22. Then might my shoulders have fallen 
 
 from the neck. 
 And mine arms been broken at the bone!*" 
 
 cribed to those ))arts of the body which Job had 
 principally benefited. 
 
 ^ Advancing in the description of the sins of 
 hardheartedness which he had avoided, Job says 
 that he had never treated the helpless with severity, 
 although he could always depend on the support of 
 a powerful party in the court ofjustice. Thus Job 
 never made bad use of his influence. 
 
 ^ Then a due punishment for his abuse of his 
 power might have reached him. nDD2i^)==D2£^' 
 Another reading is HD^Si^) (with niajipick in n)^ 
 
 from her shoulder', but the fern, is here unexpect- 
 ed. VllTK ^or V^\ with ^J prosthet. as in Jer. 
 xxxii. 21. TS'^p is here the arm hone; literally, 
 " my arm is broken at the arm bone." 
 
192 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 23. Yea terror and destruction from God 
 
 mig'ht have befallen me/ 
 And I could not have gainsaid his might ! 
 
 24. If I had made gold my support, 
 
 And said to the yellow brass thou art my 
 confidence ! 
 
 25. If I had rejoiced because my treasure was 
 
 great. 
 And mine hand had gotten much, 
 
 26. If I had looked unto the sun because he 
 
 shone, 
 And to the moon because she moved in 
 brightness.^ 
 
 ^ ^7{<^ shows that the verb J^"i^ must be supplied, 
 
 which must frequently be filled up in order to make 
 the sentence complete. VideGesenius Lehrgeh. 850. 
 The entire verse will be dull if we take ^3 at the 
 
 beginning in the sense of because ov for, as if the 
 reason was assigned why Job had guarded against 
 such conduct. " For the destruction coming from 
 God terrified me, and I could do nothing against 
 his power." 
 
 « Here there is question of idolatrous worship of 
 the sun and moon, as is especially shewn in verse 
 
CHAP. XXXI. 27, 28, 29, 30. 193 
 
 27. And if my heart had been secretly seduc- 
 
 ed, 
 And I had kissed my hand unto them,^ 
 
 28. This too would have been a punishable 
 
 crime, 
 For then I should have denied God in the 
 heavens. 
 
 29. If I had rejoiced at the ruin of mine ene- 
 
 my, 
 Or triumphed^ when evil befel him. 
 
 30. (Yet I suffered not my mouth to sin ^ 
 
 27. ^n* *3 and *nSn ^Ip' give the cause of the 
 
 ■ r ' ' •• 'tt 
 
 enticement to worship these luminaries: Their 
 brightness blinds mortal eyes, ^^'i^ for sun, as 
 Is. xviii. 4. Eccles. xi. 7. Hab. iii. 4. 
 
 ^ Description of actual adoratio, of the kissing 
 of the hand which was performed in honour of the 
 divinities. Vide 1 Kings xix. 18. Hosea xiii. 2, and 
 JRosenmuller in loco. 
 
 ^ I^Tiynn literally, to be excited, here to the 
 
 enjoyment of malice. Vide Shroder in orig. Heb. 
 p. 23, in reference to the word, and Psalm vii. 5, 
 in reference to the thought. 
 
 ^ He did not even allow himself an imprecation 
 
 VOL. II. N 
 
194 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 By curses to destroy his soul.) ' 
 
 31. Could those of my household have said 
 That any one had not filled himself with 
 
 my flesh I"' 
 
 32. (The stranger was not suffered to lodge in 
 
 the street, 
 I opened my doors unto the wanderer.)" 
 
 upon his enemy. *in is here as the instrument of 
 
 discourse, as Prov. viii. 7. Hos, viii. 1. 
 
 ^ Literally : " that I demanded his soul through 
 cursing ;" as the Vulg. : " ut expeterem maledi- 
 cens animam ejus." Concerning the construction 
 of the verb ;^'0 vide Jon. iv. 8. 
 
 - T 
 
 "" The difficulties of the old translators and mo- 
 dern commentators about this verse are wonderful, 
 for it undoubtedly celebrates Job's virtue of libe- 
 rality towards the poor, whom he never suffered to 
 depart dissatisfied from his gate. All those of 
 Job's household could bear witness to his hospita- 
 lity- tn* ^tD stands here as in clu xiv. 4. We 
 
 supply *TnK K^5 which in that passage actually 
 
 T V 
 
 occurs. 
 
 " At n*lt< ^^ay, ti^^K ^»«'^ is omitted. Man of 
 the way, is a wanderer. Vide Geseniusin Lelinj b. 
 
CHAP. XXXI. 33, 34. 195 
 
 33. Had I, with the deceit of man, concealed 
 
 my transgressions," 
 And hid my evil deeds in my bosom/ 
 
 34. Yea then must I have feared the great 
 
 concourse of the people, 
 The contempt of the tribes must have 
 overwhelmed me, 
 
 648. AH the old translators express viator, while 
 they use ^"l^?> which has hitherto been found in 
 
 no manuscript. But perhaps way has been retain- 
 ed, in order that thereby all wanderers without ex- 
 ception, might be understood. 
 
 ^ The sense is, " If I had incurred the guilt of 
 hypocrisy." This endeavour of man to cover his 
 trespasses, in order to seem better than he is, is 
 justly regarded by Job as a fundamental error, as 
 the addition D"Ii*^3 shows, which some commen- 
 
 tators have translated " as Adam," in reference to 
 Genesis iii. 12. But a more comprehensive ex- 
 planation of this addition gives it a deeper mean- 
 ing. 
 
 ^ nn a word rather appertaining to the Chaldeedia- 
 lect, for the usual Hebrew word p^H bosom. Vide 
 
 Buxtorf^ Lex. Cliald. Thalm. 695. 
 
196 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And I, brought to silence, durst not again 
 
 have left my door ! ^ 
 35. O that he would yet give ear unto me ! 
 Lo there is mine accusation ! 
 O that the Almighty would yet answer 
 
 me ! ^ 
 
 "^ As a punishment, the most profound contempt 
 of all the tribes must have visited me, so that I 
 should no more have ventured into the crowded 
 assembly, but must have remained in solitude. In 
 Jer. i. 17, DPin stands for put to shame. " Be not 
 
 dismayed at their faces, lest 1 confound thee before 
 them." In silence (D*^K1) hes especially the dis- 
 
 V T 
 
 grace of the patriot not to dare to take his part in 
 the public counsels of his people. This punish- 
 ment refers to all the moral faults mentioned ver. 
 29, viz. malicious exultation upon an enemy's ruin, 
 inhospitable treatment of strangers, and contempt- 
 ible hypocrisy. 
 
 ^ If the wish so often exi)ressed were only fulfill- 
 ed, that God would enter into a formal controversy 
 with me ! Vide ch. ix. 32 ; xiii. 22 ; xix. 23. m, 
 
 literally, design openly to confirm and accredit what 
 was written, the signed accusation itself, which by 
 this word was marked by Job as irrevocable. By 
 
CHAP. XXXI. 36, 37. 197 
 
 36. And if mine enemy would bring forward a 
 
 writing, 
 
 Assuredly I would take it upon my shoul- 
 ders. 
 
 And bind it upon me as an ornament of 
 the head. ^ 
 
 37. I would confess unto him each step, 
 And draw near unto him as unto a prince I^ 
 
 this accusation we must understand the testimony 
 previously imparted of Job's life of moral purity. 
 The last hemistich stands in the closest union with 
 the following verse. " As to what relates to the 
 accusation which my enemy brings forward." — 
 Here follows the conclusion. Formerly ^HD 
 
 - T 
 
 was taken optatively ; the present explanation is 
 more grammatically sure. Vide Ewald in Crit. 
 Gram. 535. 
 
 ^ The sense is ; he assuredly needed not to be 
 ashamed of this answer on the part of God. On 
 the contrary, it would contribute to his highest 
 honour, so that he might show it publicly as an or- 
 nament. 
 
 ' i. e. Void of all fear or shyness ; but rather 
 with a noble and dignified freedom. Behold in its 
 full strength, the moral consciousness which im- 
 parts dignity to man ! 
 
198 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 38. If my land had cried against me, 
 And all its furrows had wept," 
 
 " Job, animated by the recollection of his moral 
 purity, adds involuntarily a trait to the picture (as 
 it seemed to us already completed) of his ethical 
 beau-ideal. It cannot be denied that the omission 
 of the following verses would have tended to give 
 a more perfect finish to this last discourse of Job's, 
 and that the 37th verse would have been an ex- 
 tremely suitable close to the whole. Hence some 
 of the older commentators have transposed these 
 verses, and, among the modern, Eichhorn has pla- 
 ced them after verse 25, and Stuhlmann after verse 
 34. And although in my work on Eccles., for the 
 sake of improving the connection of this myste- 
 rious book, I have ventured upon this boldest of all 
 critical operations, I yet do not consider this pas- 
 sage quite to require it, since the connection of 
 ideas seems rather awkward, than without plan or 
 meaning. And we may regard this addition as a 
 proof of the enthusiasm of the author proceeding 
 from the lively impression which a leading idea 
 makes upon him, and which he is unwilling to sa- 
 crifice to the more artificial arrangement of cool 
 criticism. The meaning of the verse is, " Had I 
 been conscious of an unjust acquisition of the lands 
 
CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 199 
 
 39. If I had eaten its fruits without payment,^ 
 And suffered its master to languish/ 
 
 40. Then thorns might have sprung up in- 
 
 stead of wheat, 
 And weeds instead of barley! 
 The discourses of Job are ended. ^ 
 
 of others." The complaints of the hardly used 
 proprietors are poetically transferred to the lands 
 themselves. The following verse leaves us no 
 doubt of this interpretation. 
 
 '^ That is, without having rightfully possessed 
 myself of the land. 
 
 y Viz. by appropriating to myself the lands of 
 the rightful owner, P|D3"^7^» whereby his subsist- 
 ence was destroyed. '* I let him breathe forth his 
 soul," is the same with, " to suffer him to pine with 
 misery." Commonly translated, " If I had drawn 
 forth the sighs of its Lord." Which translation 
 does not so correctly render the words of the ori- 
 ginal. 
 
 ^ With this addition, the audior will mark to us 
 the termination of Job's argumentative discourse. 
 The expression, " The words of Job are ended," is 
 one of the weakest of all imaginable reasons for 
 
200 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 doubting the authenticity of the remainder of the 
 book ; or supposing that because he is again intro- 
 duced discoursing with the Most High, this must 
 be the work of a different author. It would even 
 be less objectionable to declare the words of this 
 verse an interpolation, than, because of this, to re- 
 gard as not authentic, a portion of the book which 
 is so essential to the development of the philoso- 
 phical plan of the whole. 
 
CHAP. XXXI T. 1, 2. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 ELIHU. 
 
 1. These three men ceased to answer Job, be- 
 
 cause he was righteous in his own eyes.^ 
 
 2. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the 
 
 son of Baracheel the Buzite, of the tribe 
 of Ram. ^ 
 His wrath was kindled asrainst Job because 
 he considered himself righteous before 
 God.^ 
 
 ^ And they could not prove to him his unright- 
 eousness. 
 
 ^ ^]^'3. nom. gent., from |^2, 1st, the name of 
 
 the second son of Nahor, and brother of Abraham. 
 Gen. xxii. 21. 2d. Hence the name of a race and 
 region of Arabia Deserta. Vide Jer. xxv. 23, 24. 
 We cannot offer any explanation as to " Ram." 
 Vide attempts to do so in Rosenmiiller in lac. 
 
 ^ Not, as is usually translated, *' because he jus- 
 tified himself rather than God," which Job never 
 had maintained. Vide ch. iv. 17. 
 
202 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 ;3. And his wrath was kindled against the 
 three friends, because they were able 
 to find no answer, and yet declared 
 Job guilty. 
 
 4. And Elihu waited for Job till he had spo- 
 
 ken, because they all were elder than 
 he.'^ But Elihu saw that there remain- 
 ed not any answer in the mouths of the 
 three men, and his anger was kindled. 
 
 5. Then Elihu, the son of Baracheel, the 
 
 Buzite, began and spake. 
 
 6. I am young, it is true, and ye are old. 
 Wherefore I was shy, and felt afraid® 
 To show unto you mine opinion. 
 
 7. I said days should speak. 
 
 And the multitude of years should teach 
 wisdom ! 
 
 ^ Being the youngest, he wished to give Job and 
 the others a full hearing. 
 
 « ^nt to fi^l afraidy answering to the Syriac 
 
 ~ T 
 
 ''\-*.» » which the Syriac translator here uses. In 
 Hebrew the verb also occurs in Deut. xxxii. 24, 
 and Mic. vii. 17, in the sense of to crawl. Per- 
 haps the Hebrew dialect contains the expressive, 
 and tlierefore original meaning of the word. 
 
CHAP. XXXI r. 3, 9. 203 
 
 8. Yet there is a spirit in man, 
 
 The breath of God which giveth him un- 
 derstanding ! ^ 
 
 9. Aged persons are not always wise, ^ 
 Nor do the old understand judgment. 
 
 f ni*l and ^ISS^ nOt^^ are expressive of the 
 
 same thing, and are not opposed to each other, 
 (vide ch. xxxiii. 4), as many commentators suppose. 
 " Truly the spirit is in man, but it is the breath of 
 the Most High that maketh him wise." This ex- 
 planation is more tame. The passage may be re- 
 garded as classical, for the right understanding of 
 the Breath and Spirit of God, whicli, in the Old 
 Testament, is ascribed to artists, sages, and pro- 
 phets, and by which we may conceive the higher 
 understanding to be meant, the wonderful creative 
 power of new ideas or genius. Elihu boasts, that 
 though younger than Job's other friends, and ac- 
 cordingly inferior to them in actual experience, yet, 
 through the superiority of his genius, he could 
 give a new turn to the dispute, which, according 
 to his view, was unsatisfactorily closed. 
 
 ^ D^2*^ = D0pTas in Gen. xxv. 23 ;i*l the 
 
 greater is opposed to ")* W the less. The elder to 
 
 the younger. 
 
204 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 10. Therefore, said I, hearken to me, ^ 
 And my views I will explain unto you. 
 
 11. Lo ! I waited for your discourses,' 
 
 And I listened unto your grounds of con- 
 viction, 
 
 Until you should have discovered the right 
 word ! 
 
 12. I attended to you with anxiety, 
 Yet, lo ! no one convinced Job, 
 
 And not one of you could confute his 
 words. 
 
 13. Say not, we have discovered wisdom ! 
 God only can thrust him from his seat, and 
 
 not man.^ 
 
 ^ The discourse directed to Job only. Thus 
 the sing. ^S'llV^Sl^ can occasion no difficulty. 
 The reading ^J/^^t!^ too much resembles an im- 
 provement to have any critical importance attach- 
 ed to it. 
 
 > That they might at length find a final contra- 
 diction to Job. 
 
 ^ We must explain SK according to the sense of 
 
 ver. 8. God alone can overthrow Job. That is, 
 only genius, not common understanding, can van- 
 
CHAP. XXXII. 14, 15, 16. 205 
 
 14. He hath not directed his discourse against 
 
 me, 
 And I will not answer him with your 
 words ! ^ 
 
 15. They are amazed, they can give no fur- 
 
 ther answer. 
 Words are snatched from them ! ^ 
 
 16. 1 waited, hut they spoke not, 
 
 There they stood, and answered no more ! 
 
 17. Now will I also answer my part, 
 
 quish this obstinate disputant. Perhaps the vain 
 speaker makes a play upon his own name. Many 
 commentators, and, among them, Rosenmiiller and 
 De Wette, regard the words of this hemistich as 
 addressed to the three friends, according to which 
 they wished to prove themselves to be in the right, 
 because God sanctioned their opinion of Job's 
 guilt, by laying him low. But then the addition of 
 ti^^K"^^ would be dull and superfluous. The 
 
 translation of the text is better, which also Eich- 
 horn has adopted. 
 
 1 Thus, unprejudiced and free from passion, will 
 I begin the contest. 
 
 "^ The 3d pers. plural act. must be here taken 
 passively, as in ch. vii. 3 ; xix. 26. 
 
206 THE BOOK OF JOE, 
 
 And I will explain to you my views ! 
 
 18. For I am full of words, 
 
 The spirit presseth me in my breast. 
 
 19. My bosom is like wine which is not open- 
 
 ed," 
 Like new leather bottles which burst a- 
 sunder. ^ 
 
 20. I will speak that I may have breath,^ 
 
 " Thus sparkling with genius ! By wine not 
 opened, we must understand new wine in a process 
 of fermentation. As the Vulg. has already rightly 
 rendered it : " En venter mens quasi mustum abs- 
 que spiraculo." 
 
 ° New leather bottles are those in which new 
 wine is kept ; for, in the truest sense, old bottles 
 are calculated to burst asunder; vide St. Matt. ix. 
 17. Such bottles are still used in the East. Vide 
 Niehuhrs Travels, I. 212. Vulg. and Chald. 
 translate Dlli^ by bottles. Vide J. D. Michaelis 
 in Suppl. ad lex Heb. 27. 
 
 P ^^"1111^1 ) " that there may be air to me." 
 
 The opposite is ^7 ")V- Thus it is said of the 
 
 spirit of Saul when, during his melancholy fits, he 
 heard the music of David's harp. Vide 1 Sam. 
 xvi. 23, and Eivald in Crit. Gram. 645. 
 
CHAP. XXXII. 21, 22. 207 
 
 And open my lips and reply ! 
 
 21. I must never be partial towards any one, 
 And no mortal will I ever flatter !^ 
 
 22. For I understand not flattery, 
 
 Yea ! quickly could my maker take me 
 away ! '' 
 
 ^ n^3 blande alloqui^ as Is. xliv. 3 ; xlv. 4. 
 
 Although it at first sight appears that Sk and ^7 
 
 are synonymous, yet this is not the case when 
 there is an elevation of the sense and of the lan- 
 guage. After Elihu had at first forbidden himself 
 ever to be partial, he next, with proud confidence, 
 expresses his resolution never to flatter any one. 
 Vide Ewald in Crit. Gram. 531. 
 
 "■ Viz. As a punishment for his unrighteous dis- 
 course. Perhaps there may be a play of words in 
 the various use of ^^ji^j, vide verse 21. 
 
208 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 1. Therefore listen now, O Job, to my dis- 
 
 courses, 
 And mark all my words ! 
 
 2. Behold now I open my mouth, 
 
 My tongue edready speaketh within my 
 gums.^ 
 
 3. My words shall be the uprightness of 
 
 mine heart. 
 And my lips shall express my knowledge 
 clearly.* 
 
 4. The Spirit of God hath created me, 
 And the breath of the Almighty hath in-^ 
 
 spired me." 
 
 8 It is here evident that the author's design was 
 that Elihu should demean himself like a conceited 
 prater. 
 
 ^ My upright inward conviction (i. e. the right- 
 eousness of my heart) shall be manifested in my 
 contest with you, and I will, without deceit, say 
 that only which is true. Here Elihu acquits him- 
 self of any appearance of partiality. 
 
 ^ In reference to ch. xxxii. 8, otherwise the 
 words would be superfluous. 
 
CHAP. XXXIII. 5,6.7. 209 
 
 5. If thou canst, do thou gainsay me. 
 
 Arm thyself, and set thyself in order be- 
 fore me ! 
 
 6. Lo ! I am as thou art; of God, 
 Of clay I also am fashioned ! ^ 
 
 7. Lo ! my majesty shall not terrify thee ! ^ 
 
 * ♦t)^ secundum. Vide Exod. xvi. 21. Levit. 
 
 XXXV. 8. \**lp — the Arab. (j<V> is to press toge- 
 ther, and also to form, taken from the potter, who, 
 by squeezing the mass of clay, forms a vessel with 
 the fingers. Kromayer in loco rightly says, " radix 
 
 (j^ j* notat inter alia: in pastilles et orbiculares par- 
 
 S (J J 
 
 tes concidit massam. Unde ^ja'» orbiculus, pas- 
 
 tillus, trochiscus. Item Xas> Jf orbicularis panis 
 eucharistiae. Eleganter haec formationi hominis 
 convenire nemo non videt. Sicut enim figulus mas- 
 sam luti concidit in partes, indeque vasa ac testas 
 format ; sic Deus hominem e terra." Though 1 
 am a mighty genius, says EUhu, I am still a weak 
 mortal like thyself. I am no divinity, therefore 
 stand not in awe of me! 
 
 y Vide ch. xiii. 21. Elihu conceives a terrible 
 
 VOL. II. o 
 
210 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And my burthen shall not oppress thee ! * 
 
 8. Yea thou hast spoken in mine ear, 
 I heard the sound of thy words. ^ 
 
 9. I am clean, without transgression, 
 
 majesty to be inherent in his fancied superiority of 
 genius. He speaks in reference to the wish which 
 Job had often expressed, that Jehovah would ap- 
 pear as judge, and at the same time veil the dazzling 
 splendour of divine majesty. 
 
 ^ How arrogant ! My burthen^ i. e. my mental 
 superiority. The LXX. render '9ID^? '5 X^'s ^^^' 
 
 thus explaining it as ^533 ; and thus modern com- 
 mentators with a comparison with the parallel pas- 
 sage, ch. xiii. 21. But the Chald. translate ^J^O 
 
 mt/ burthen. In explaining ^^^ Schultens right- 
 
 ly compared the Arab. {^^3\ clitellas ijnposuit, 
 
 and hence tiL^J^ clilellae, sarcinae. Burthen af- 
 fords here a stronger and uiore suitable sense, 
 which agrees better with tlie verb l^^* 
 
 * At length turnijjg to his already preparcMl and 
 announced confutation of Job, he denies his j)rin- 
 cipal assertion, that he suffers innocently. In so 
 far as God is highly exalted above man, he cannot 
 
CHAP. XXXIII. 10, 11, 12. 211 
 
 I am spotless, ** and without blame ! 
 
 10. " Lo ! He seeketh for enmity against me,*" 
 " He regardeth me as his foe \^ 
 
 11. " He stretcheth my feet in the stocks, 
 " And giveth heed unto all my ways."® 
 
 12. Lo! here thou art in the wrong, 
 I will contradict thee, 
 
 For God is greater than man.*^ 
 
 do him real injustice. To guard against the impu- 
 tation of ascribing a false meaning to Job, he quotes 
 his own words. 
 
 ^ f\'r\ pure, literally scraped off". Kromayer 
 
 rightly compares cJt=» glabrum reddidit. Vide J. 
 D. Michaelis in Suppl. 873. Vulg. immaculatus. 
 
 " ni^lJD hostilities, a. r. ^')^ (Vide Numb, 
 xxxii. 7.) to remove one's self. But here rather in 
 
 the sense of the Arab. ^Ij surrexit contra aliimi. 
 III. certavit cum alio, se opposuit illi adversando. 
 Vide Winer. 
 
 ^ Job's own words, ch. xiii. 24. 
 
 ^ Thus also, ch. xiii. 27. 
 
 *" Thus God cannot, according to the ways of 
 man, do undeserved injustice. But Elihu says 
 
212 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 13. Wherefore contendest thou with him ? 
 For he giveth no account of any of his 
 
 ways ! ^ 
 
 14. Yea, God speaketh once. 
 
 And twice, man hath not given heed to 
 it.^ 
 
 nothing new, and Job*s asserted innocence remains 
 uncontroverted. The question was, why does Job 
 suffer undeservedly? But to this he himself has al- 
 ready (^ch. xxviii.) given the best answer, when he 
 pointed to the impenetrable wisdom of God. Yet 
 he must always regard himself, according to human 
 views, as unfortunate but guiltless. 
 
 ^ How then can Job venture to engage in an ac- 
 tual contest with God ? 
 
 ^ Hence the sufferer need not complain of un- 
 righteous punishment; if, during his prosperity, 
 he had given sufficient heed to the warnings which 
 God repeatedly sends to man, to awaken him from 
 his dangerous carelessness, to thoughtful seriousness 
 of heart and life. Before ^i7 we may supply D{<J, 
 
 " if man did not give heed to it." How lenient is 
 God ! If thoughtless man gives no heed to his 
 first warning, he repeats it. In this way the idea is 
 more comprehensive than if we merely supply 
 1 before ^^, as most commentators do, and trans- 
 
CHAP. XXXIII. 15, 16. 213 
 
 15. In a dream, in a vision of the night, 
 When deep sleep falls upon man, 
 
 In his slumberings upon his bed. ' 
 
 16. Then he openeth the mortal's ear, 
 And sealeth it to himself by warnings,'' 
 
 late, " but he remarketh it not, although God 
 speaketh to him the second time." '^^ti^ is un- 
 suitably used, and does not agree well with the 
 connection, if we follow Schultens and others, and 
 take God as the subject of jli^^^ti^^ and translate 
 
 the whole verse, *' profecto semel loquetur Deus, et 
 secunda vice non cernet illud," i. e. " God speak- 
 eth once with man, the second time he beholdeth it 
 no more, i. e. he heareth it no longer, that the (man) 
 should thus disregard him." 
 
 * Dreams seem to be distinguished from visions 
 of the night, so that by the latter we may under- 
 stand actual spiritual appearances. Vide ch. iv. 
 13, which passage is here kept in view. 
 
 ^ The most exact sense is derived from the lite- 
 ral acceptation of 117^ and DnPT' I" the sealing 
 
 TT — X *" 
 
 of the ears with warnings is implied the secret yet 
 sure revelation of the latter. The common trans- 
 lation is, " He impresses upon them warnings." 
 We may, with Schultens, compare the Arabic 
 
214 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 17. To withdraw man from his ways, 
 And to cover up pride before him,' 
 
 18. That he may preserve his soul from the 
 
 pit,'" 
 
 j%JCia. indicavit, inspiravif, although we are satisfied 
 with the Hebrew sense of the word which we have 
 given in the text. The alteration of J. D. Mi- 
 chaelis in Sup. ad lex Heh. p. 986, in Dn^^ which 
 
 Eichhorn adopts, is unnecessary, viz. " he terrifies 
 them with ^warnings." 
 
 ' T\\^V'0 (which is to be taken in the accus.) 
 
 " In regard to his actions (his ways) is shown by 
 the connection to refer to the arbitrary and wick- 
 ed ways of man. The 2d hemistich is generally 
 translated, *' to remove pride from man." But " to 
 cover up," is very different from " to remove." 
 The poet represents the destruction of pride by the 
 image of an open pit, which the Lord covers up 
 before man when he sends him warning visions and 
 dreams. The first hemistich of the next verse 
 seems to sanction this view. 
 
 "" We consider nHt!^ as really an image of de- 
 struction, though we do not, with some, translate 
 it by «' ruin." 
 
CHAP. XXXIII. 19. 215 
 
 And his life from destruction by the 
 sword.° 
 
 19. He is chastened with pain upon his bed, 
 And the contest never resteth in his 
 
 bones." 
 
 20. His desire abhorreth food, 
 
 " n St^^ '^'2,V " perish by the sword," or vio- 
 lently. Not die a natural death. Vide ch. xxxvi. 
 12. 
 
 ° But if man does not attend to such divine 
 warnings, God lets him fall down on a sick-bed, 
 where he is punished for his thoughtless presump- 
 tion. Elihu here points to Job himself. The 
 never resting contest in his bones, denotes the fire 
 of fever, vide Ps. xxxviii. 4. 'OW!! Dl^tt^"]*K' 
 " there is no repose in my bones." De Wette, in 
 loco, judges otherwise. tHK stands for the more 
 usual tn^K* Most commentators prefer the read- 
 ing of the Keri ^"i") multitudo, and translate, " All 
 his bones, strong as they are, are chastened." 
 Also the old translators express this reading. But 
 ^^? referred to ^"i^ in the sense o^ strong ^ is not 
 
 a suitable epithet. The translation of the text is 
 better. 
 
216 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And his appetite the dainty morsels,^ 
 
 21. His flesh vanisheth away, so that it is not 
 
 seen. 
 And his bones, which were not perceived, 
 become bare.'^ 
 
 22. And thus his soul draweth near to the 
 
 grave, 
 
 P DHT a-^ >-27., in Arab, ^^foetuit. Vide A. T. 
 
 Hartmanns Ling, Introd. p. 220, and Winer on the 
 word. ^jTj^nT contr. for ^1nI2^^ The suffix is 
 
 pleonast. as in ch. xxix. 3. jl^ll answers closely 
 
 to the following ti^£3^, as ch. xxxviii. 39. A state 
 
 of deadly sickness is described by this disgust at 
 food formerly relished. Vide Ps. cix. 18. Eccles. 
 xii. 5. 
 
 ^ The body is changed through dreadful lean- 
 ness. The flesh that was formerly seen is now 
 consumed, and the bones which were formerly co- 
 vered now stick out. In X*) and ^JiJ*! there is a 
 
 sort of play of words. We read ^£3ti^ bareness 
 
 in Chetib, " and bareness of his bones ensues." 
 The nom. is put poetically for the verb, finit. Vide 
 Gesen. in Lehrgeb. 725. "^^ti^ stands in Keri a 
 
 more explanatory reading. 
 
CHAP. XXXIII. 23. 217 
 
 And his life to the angels of death. ^ 
 23. Then a messenger of God is vouchsafed to 
 him, 
 An interpreter from among a thousand, 
 To declare his conduct to man.^ 
 
 "" By D^D/tDD is understood by Jewish and some 
 Christian commentators, the angels of death, to 
 whom is given by the Most High the commission 
 to cut short man's life. According to others, those 
 pains are thus named which are so fearfully in- 
 creased as to bring death, as in ch. xxx. 17, they 
 are termed gnawing. Vide Rosenmuller in loco. 
 
 * It is not unsuitable to the boastful character of 
 Elihu, that he should understand himself under this 
 divine messenger. And thus, in the first edition, 
 I thought with Schultens, Dathe, and Rosenmiiller. 
 But that view seems to me now to be simpler and 
 better which was entertained by the older com- 
 mentators, and which, among the more modern, 
 Ilgen, Staiidlin and Kern have adopted. ( Vide 
 Observat. ad lib. Jobi, Tiibingen, 1826, p. 6.) viz. 
 that we must understand an angel and interpreter 
 of the divine will by ^^^^ and r>^/^ ; and this 
 throws a clearer light on the D^DDD of the pre- 
 ceding verse. The meaning of P^^, as mocker^ 
 (vide ch, xvi. 20.) so that by "IJ^^^ we should un- 
 
218 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 24. Then God is merciful to bim, and saith, 
 Save him from goin^ down into the pit, 
 I have already received a ransom ! * 
 
 25. Then his flesh becometh more plump" 
 
 than in his youth, 
 
 derstand a guardian angel is unsuitable. Vide 
 Oeder in Hamh. Bib.pt. 2. 3. 405. " To announce 
 his right," i. e. his duty, how he had to deport him- 
 self before God. 
 
 ^ V^3 only here for n"lQ to free. In some 
 codd. we find ^HV^Qj " set him free, which read- 
 ing may be regarded as an improvement upon the 
 usual text. " to receive a ransom," viz. " he hath 
 sufficiently atoned for his sins by the sufferings of 
 sickness, death shall be remitted to him."* We find 
 the Lutheran doctrinal explanation of this pnssage 
 in the translation contained in the Osterprogramme 
 of Huth, entitled Mysterium redemtionis ex Theolo- 
 gia J obi. Thus there is for him the Angel, the 
 Interpreter, the One of a Thousand, to reveal his 
 righteousness to mankind. Thus he will be gra- 
 cious to him, and say, redeem him that he go not 
 into the pit ; I have found a ransom. 
 
 " t^5D*^ only occurs here. With Gesenius 
 
 • Arrant nonsense. A man atone for his sins by being 
 sick ! ! Let the Christian reader compare these specimens 
 of modern and ancient German divinity toijether Trans. 
 
CHAP. XXXIII. 26,27. 219 
 
 He returneth again to the days of his 
 childhood. 
 
 26. If he pray to God he is gracious unto him 
 
 again, 
 And causeth his countenance to behoUi 
 
 joy, 
 
 And letteth his blessing return to man. ^' 
 
 27. Now singeth he before the people rejoic- 
 
 ing/ 
 
 and Winer, we consider it as a quadrilittera ac- 
 cording to the form Py. and compounded of ^JOI 
 
 - T 
 
 juici/ fvide ^"i*^*^ ch. viii. 16.) and Ci^^JO to be fat. 
 
 T - T 
 
 Instead of the latter verb, A. T. Hartmann in the 
 linguist. Introd. 234, adopts ^Ji^Q^^J^^Q to stream 
 
 over, which is more far-fetched. 
 
 ^ Usually " He prays to God, and God is gra- 
 cious to him again." It is, however, better to sup- 
 ply ^^ before '^DJ^^ and thus make his praying 
 
 a condition of the restoration which Elihu sets be- 
 fore the invahd. We consider HpH';^ in the sense 
 
 of salvation^ prosperity. Vide Isaiah xlv. 8, 24 ; 
 xlv). 13; xlviii. 18. 
 
 y ^^Ji^ or "yi^ to sing, which is construed in 
 
220 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 " I had sinned, and made the straight 
 
 crooked, 
 " Yet it was not avenged upon me ;^ 
 
 28. " He hath delivered my soul from going 
 
 down into the pit, 
 " And my life shall rejoice in the light !""* 
 
 29. Lo ! all these things worketh God, 
 Twice and three times with man, ^ 
 
 30. To bring him back from the pit, 
 
 like manner with 7j; in Prov, xxv. 20. The 
 
 meaning becomes flat, if we follow some commen- 
 tators in giving to the verb the usual sense to see. 
 " He looketh upon man and speaketh." 
 
 ' V nW) literally, " It is done to me equally." 
 
 T T 
 
 In Arab, ^y** Conj. III. means aestimari. 
 
 * The Keri iSi^D^ and ^rS^T^ ; in which case we 
 . "■ » ~ 
 
 should have Elihu's own words ; but this is clearly 
 
 less suitable. *X\^ is here as in ch.W'u 16, 20, and 
 
 as V. 30, and Ps. Ivi. 14. D**n ^llN- Vide Eccl. 
 
 xi. 7. 
 
 '' God seeks in various ways to save careless 
 sinful man from ruin, sometimes by warning vi- 
 sions, and sometimes by sickness. 
 
CHAP. XXXIII. 31, 32, 33. 221 
 
 That he may be enlightened with the 
 light of life.^ 
 
 31. Attend, O Job, hearken unto me ! 
 Keep silence, and I will speak ! 
 
 32. Yet, if thou hast words, reply to me ! 
 Speak, for I desire that thou mayest 
 
 have right. 
 
 33. If not, give ear unto me. 
 
 Keep silence, and I will teach thee wis- 
 dom.*^ 
 
 ' n1^?^ for ")lNn^ Infin. Niph. 
 
 ^ After the^e words we must imagine a short 
 pause, during which Elihu expects Job's answer. 
 
222 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 1. Elihu began and spake, 
 
 2. Receive my words, ye wise men, 
 
 And ye that are full of knowledge listen 
 to me !® 
 
 3. For the ear proveth words 
 
 Even as the mouth tasteth meat. ^ 
 
 4. Let us choose that which is right 
 
 And distinguish among us what is good ! 
 
 5. Yea, Job hath said, " I am innocent, 
 
 " And God hath taken away my right. 
 
 6. " Were I to renounce my own right, ^ 
 
 " A destructive arrow pierceth me without 
 my own fault." ^ 
 
 * Addressed not to Job alone, but also to his 
 friends. He desires wise and intelligent hearers. 
 
 *" Proveth the words attentively, and retaineth 
 what is best. Vide the same expression in ch. xii. 11. 
 
 ° Usually ; " In spite of my good cause, I must 
 stand as a liar or hypocrite." Thus Eichhorn, jRo- 
 sefimiiller, De Wette. But our translation brings 
 out the meaning better. Were Job to confess him- 
 self to be guilty he would be a liar. 
 
 h The suffix in i^r\ is to be taken passively, as 
 
CHAP. XXXIV. 7.8,9. 223 
 
 7. Where is there a man like Job, 
 
 Who drinketh up calumny like water; ^ 
 
 8. Who maketh himself familiar with evil- 
 
 doers, ^ 
 And walketh with workers of iniquity? 
 
 9. For he said, " It profiteth not to a man 
 
 " That he should beat peace with God ! ^" 
 
 in ch, xxiii. 2 in ^1\ The destructive arrow is 
 
 the dangerous wound which the divine wrath in- 
 flicted on the sufferer, viz. sore sickness. 
 
 ^ Vide the same figurative, and probably pro- 
 verbial expression in ch» xv. 16. j|J77, scortiy op~ 
 
 probrium, viz. of the divinity himself. 
 
 ^ i. e. Job beiiaves in such a manner that he 
 must be ranked amongst gross sinners, HIJ^ 
 
 pT^^n? J an expression not elsewhere occurring, 
 
 to go in company. 
 
 1 There is no occasion to inquire (e, g. in ch. ix. 
 22, or xxi. 8, or xxx. 26,) where Job thus express- 
 ed himself. He never expressed this sentiment, 
 at least in these strong terms, and in that broad 
 manner, and Elihu, not without unfairness, attri- 
 butes it to him. It may undoubtedly be gathered 
 from his own assertions, that he to whom God had 
 formerly been so gracious, now suffers without 
 
224 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 10. Wherefore, ye men of understanding, give 
 
 ear unto me ! 
 Far from God be unrighteousness, 
 And sin from the Most High ! 
 
 11. For the work of man shall he render unto 
 
 him, 
 According to a man's walk shall be his 
 doom. 
 
 12. Truly God cannot act unjustly. 
 Neither will the Almighty pervert judg- 
 ment ! 
 
 13. Who hath given him a charge over the 
 
 earth ? 
 Or who hath established the circle of the 
 globe?"" 
 
 cause. nVI with Qy as elsewhere with ^ of the 
 pers., to stand on a good and confidential footing 
 with one. Vide Ps. 1. 18. Some trace inV^S to 
 
 the root V']^ to leap, after the example of the Vul- 
 gate, " Etiamsiconcurreritcum Deo." But besides 
 that in this case the word must be thus pointed, 
 iDVI^ (as Rosenmiiller truly remarks), an impro- 
 per expression would arise from the adoption of 
 that verb. 
 
 ™ This verse assigns the cause of God's right- 
 eous government of the world ; because he himself 
 
CHAP. XXXIV. 14, 15. 225 
 
 14. If he only regardetli himself," 
 
 And gathereth to himself his spirit and his 
 breath. 
 
 15. All flesh must perish together, 
 
 And man must return again to the dust.*^ 
 
 rules his own creation, and does not commit it to 
 the government of anotlier from whom injustice 
 might be expected. IpD with Sj^ of the person, 
 
 I- T - 
 
 more according to Chald. form, " to give one a com- 
 mission." Vide c/2.xxxvi. 23. Nuin.\\'.27. Ezr. 
 i. 2. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 23. H'^'^IK *or pj*^ with 
 
 n paragog. Vide cli. xxxvii. 12. Is. viii. 23. It 
 cannot be the fern, form, because of the accent on 
 the penult. Vide Gesen. Lehrgeh. 544. 
 
 ° Some, as De Wette and Rosenmiiller, render 
 it, " If he strictly regarded him," (man) viz. in a 
 bad sense, i. e. " were God to take strict account 
 of man, he might call back the spirit which he had 
 breathed into him, and quickly bring his life to an 
 end." But the paraU. and the connection rather 
 favour our translation, which is sanctioned by 
 Grotius, Schnurrer and Eichhorn. 
 
 ° Vide the same expression, Ps. civ. 29. The 
 meaning of verses 14 and 15, is, the loving care 
 of the Almighty for the creatures of the earth, which 
 
 VOL. II. p 
 
226 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 16. If thou hast understanding, give ear to 
 
 this, 
 And mark the sound of my words ! 
 
 17. Can the hater of righteousness repress 
 
 wrath ? 
 And darest thou to condem^n the mighty 
 justpP 
 
 he has formed, is manifested by the duration of 
 their lives. For were God selfish, and consequently 
 unjust, he might at any moment withdraw the 
 breath of life, with which he has inspired his crea- 
 tion, and cause the death of all living. Vide ch. iv. 
 19, 21. 
 
 P The second hemistich explains the meaning 
 of the 1st. If God, according to Job's shewing, 
 hated justice and righteousness, he would doubtless 
 be excited to wrath against him, on account of his 
 accusations. This explanation, according to which 
 tt^nn occurs in the sense of to close, (vide ch. \\. 
 
 ~ T 
 
 13), is adopted by Schnurrer and Elchhorn, and 
 is more favoured by the parall. and gives a closer 
 sense, than that which is recommended by Gesen- 
 2M5, Rosenmuller, and De Wette. *' Can He rule 
 that hateth righteousness?" i. e. as Rosenmiilier 
 makes Elihu infer, *' Deus ideo Justus est, (juia 
 
CHAP. XXXIV. 18, 19. 227 
 
 18. Wilt thou charp-e the Kino: with unwor- 
 
 thiness, 
 And the Princes with wickedness?** 
 
 19. He is not partial in his dealings with 
 
 princes, "" 
 And preferreth not the rich before the 
 poor, 
 
 regnat." Then ^^H has the sense imperare, 
 
 — T 
 
 which does not elsewhere occur. The old com- 
 mentators vary in their explanation of this passage, 
 and give but little insight into its real meaning. 
 
 ^ What would be thy fate, wert thou thus vio- 
 lently to reproach an earthly potentate ? In the 
 infin : absol. : ^bKH an ellipse of the verb fin. 
 is to be taken for ^/tDt^^^ *lb?fn» as Exod. xx. 8. 
 Jos. i. 13. Vide Gesen. in Lehrgeb. 782. The 
 change of the word in *l/tDJ<n with Sclinurrer^ 
 
 Eichhorn, and De Wette, is at least unnecessary. 
 The translation of the Vulgate, is, " qui dicit regi : 
 apostata ; qui vocat duces impios," in which the sense 
 corresponds with verse 19. 
 
 ^ We must supply before the relative *lti^5< 
 
 " How much less dare we say this to him who," 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
228 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 For both are the work of his hands. 
 
 20. In a moment they perish, * 
 
 At midnight are the people disturbed, and 
 
 pass away.* 
 The mighty is driven away, but not witli 
 
 hands!" 
 
 21. For his eyes regard the ways of men. 
 And he beholdeth their goings.'^ 
 
 ^ Viz. The mighty, who have incurred the right- 
 eous displeasure of God. 
 
 t i, e. The people suddenly perish whom God in 
 his justice will uproot. n*7^7 DlVn " in the half 
 
 of the night," as in Ex. xi. 4. Ps. cxix. 62, 
 t^J/^ to be disturbed, or shaken, is used of the earth 
 
 when it trembles from an earthquake. Vide Ps. 
 xviii. 8. The figurative expression is taken from 
 the nightly attack of an enemy in the camp, by 
 which the people are terrified, and become a prey 
 to destruction. 
 
 " But not with hands, rather with the sword. It 
 is usually understood, not by the hand of man, but 
 by the mere volition of the Almighty. 
 
 ^ God, by means of his omniscience and omni- 
 potence, is able fully to satisfy his sense of jus- 
 tice. 
 
CHAP. XXXIV. 22, 23, 24, 25. 229 
 
 '22. There is no darkness nor sliaclow 
 
 Wherein the evii-doer might hide himself. 
 
 23. For he needeth not long to regard a man,^' 
 When he entereth into judgment with 
 
 God. 
 
 24. He destroy eth the mighty without inquiry, 
 And setteth up others in their stead. '- 
 
 25. For he knoweth well their deeds, ^ 
 
 ^' God penetrates man with his glance, and needs 
 not, like an earthly judge, to consider before he 
 cite him to appear. Vide ch.x\. 10 and 11. l3^^' 
 
 scil. ^7 as it stands complete in ver. 14. The 
 
 same ellipse in Isaiah xli. 20. Ti^ is here lon^, as 
 Gen. xlvi. 29. Vide other far-fetched explanations 
 in Rosenmilller in loco. 
 
 2 J/*}/^ to break in pieces, as Ps. ii. 9. Jer. xv. 
 
 — T 
 
 12. Vide the thought more powerfully expressed 
 in cli. xii. 18; xix. 20. 
 
 « \':h for 12i^K ps as Is. xxvi. 14. Vide con- 
 cerning the ellipse of *1t^^^ Gesetiitis in Lelirgeb. 
 636. Others take p7 as protesting, but without 
 sufficient ground. 
 
230 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And walketh in the night/' 
 That they may be broken in pieces. 
 26. Because they committed iniquity, he 
 striketh them*^ 
 In a place of public resort.'^ 
 
 ^ In which the godless have hid themselves. 
 " He walketh in the night," is equivalent to " He 
 discovers the hidden deeds of the mighty." There 
 is a fine parall. in the verse. Kern supplies OD^ 
 
 after 'iSn* and explains H / w according to the 
 analogy of hS^^ nlVPlj i- e. He changes them 
 suddenly, before they can look about them. 
 
 c " Because they are sinners ;" so that we must 
 resolve the Hebrew ^'H DDVPT DTir)- Vide Is. 
 
 Ix. 13. Others suppose that, " on account of their 
 guilt," is meant, so that D^^C!^*1 plur. is from 
 
 j;^;*^ guilt. But this plural docs not elsewhere 
 
 occur. p5D is here used for chasten. 
 
 ^ Literally : " In the place of spectators," the 
 open punishment is thus attended with more shame. 
 The sinners hid themselves in nocturnal darkness, 
 and they are punished by the bright light of day ! 
 
CHAP. XXXIV. 27, 28, 29. 231 
 
 27. Because they turned away from followinj^ 
 
 him, 
 And regarded not his ways. 
 
 28. So that the cry of the poor reached unto 
 
 him, 
 And he heard the complaint of the op- 
 pressed.® 
 
 29. He striketh to the earth, 
 
 And who shall dare to call him to ac- 
 count?^ 
 
 ® A main consequence of neglect of the divine 
 law is here specified : the oppression of the poor. 
 They utter loud complaints to God, K^Hilb i" 
 
 reality, " on that account (namely were they god- 
 less), that they caused the cry of the poor to be 
 raised to him." It lies in the words, " they abused 
 the poor so that they cried, but God heard them," 
 (and they were punished, v. 26.) 
 
 ^ Usually, " If he giveth quietness, who can 
 make trouble ? Concerning this meaning of Op^ 
 
 and J?Ji^*l vide Gesenius on the word. But from 
 
 — T 
 
 the next hemistich and ver. 20th, the question ap- 
 pears rather to be of an irresistible declaration of 
 divine wrath against the wicked* Hence I would 
 
232 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 He concealetli his countenance, 
 And who dareth to look upon him ? 
 
 willingly take tOpt^ '" the sense of the Arab. 
 
 Wi^ cecidity as this occurs in Abulfed. Vit. Moh. 
 Ed. Gagn. p. 3, Government of Saad-ed-daula, 
 published by Ffeitag^ p. 3. Ebn Tamim i?i Jones' 
 Cornmenf. poes. Asiat. ed. J, G. Eichhorn, 159. 
 Then the common meaning remains to V^^. 
 
 — T 
 
 By this explanation of OpL^^ from the Arab. 
 
 which is not too bold, we throw aside a number of 
 untenable attempts to make the connection as in- 
 telligible as possible, consistently with retaining 
 the usual meaning of the verb *Cp^. Kern has 
 
 felt this difficulty, and has tried to remedy it by 
 transposition of the verse, placing before verse 29 
 the 30th verse, which expresses the suite of v. 28, 
 and thus v.29is arranged accordingly', " hence when 
 God reposeth, {i. e. doth not punish on the spot,) 
 who dares to accuse him"? and " if he conceal his 
 fiice from nations and individuals, who dares to 
 look upon him." Then must ppti^^ he taken \\\- 
 transitively, as Isaiah vii. 4. 
 
CHAP. XXXIV. 30, 31. 233 
 
 And thus he clealeth equally with the men 
 and with the nation. 
 
 30. So that the wicked may not rule, 
 
 And deceivers of the people may not en- 
 dure.^ 
 
 31. May the mortal say unto God, 
 
 I am chastened and have not sinned! ^ 
 
 ^ The almighty power of God supports his jus- 
 tice. ?/2 before the infin. " so that not,'* vide 
 
 Gen. xxvii. 1, and Gesenius in Lehrgeb, 786. 
 DV ^^^pb'O stands for Dj/ ^tl^p^ r\^'^r\t2' Ac- 
 cording to this explanation of the verse, there is no 
 difficulty in its union with the preceding one; for 
 it is a natural thought that the great ones of the 
 earth, when they rule unjustly, draw on them the 
 anger of the Most High King of Righteousness. 
 Other explanations, vide in Rosenmiiller and 
 Schultens in loco, 
 
 *^ " Insuperabilis ferme scopulus, ad quem mag- 
 ni sententiarum fluctus co-oriuntur." Schultens. 
 He enumerates fifteen different explanations. That 
 which we, in common with Eichhorn, have adopt- 
 ed, flows easily from the words and suits the con- 
 nection. The usual translation is, " Therefore 
 man thus speaketh unto God ; I suffered chasten- 
 
234 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 32. What I cannot search out, teach thou me, 
 If I did unrighteous! 3^, I will do so no 
 
 more/ 
 
 33. Should he recompense it according to thine 
 
 idea? 
 Then is it for thee to reject and to choose, 
 
 and not me, 
 And what thou knowest say on l^ 
 
 ing, and I will no more do evil." }^j^^ sell. '>^')y 
 
 T T • -: 
 
 Vide Levit. v. 1, 17. Numb. v. 35. Slin to deal 
 
 — T 
 
 destructively. Vide Neh. i. 7. 
 
 * In order to oppose Job's arguments, Elihu ex- 
 presses his own conviction, and if his antagonist 
 knows better, he may instruct him ; and then he 
 will no longer attribute unrighteousness to him. 
 Others conceive these words to be a form of 
 expression of penitence, which Elihu prescribed to 
 Job. Both explanations are warranted by the 
 language ; but ours suits the connection better. 
 
 ^ Sense of the first hemistich : — Job would wish, 
 forsooth, to have tiie divine judgments regulated 
 according to his" views! The words of the second 
 hemistich seem to contain a proverb of this na- 
 ture : " Thou has determined, not I." The sense 
 is forced by those who, with De VVette, translate, 
 
CHAP. XXXIV. 34. 35, 36. 235 
 
 34. Men of understanding will say unto me. 
 And wise ones who listen to me : 
 
 35. " Job speaketli not with knowledge, 
 " And his words are not prudent !" 
 
 36. My desire ' is that Job may be tried con- 
 
 tinually, 
 Because of his answers according to the 
 manner of the wicked.™ 
 
 " Is he to give compensation according to thy 
 views ? Then thou dost reject, and thou dost 
 choose, not I," (as if these words were to be taken 
 ironically of God.) 
 
 ' ^IL^? Vulg. Pater mi, referred to God as an 
 
 • T 
 
 address of Elihu, which conveys too much feeling 
 for this connection. The least forced derivation is 
 what we have adopted, from ^^^ wishjrom r\^^ 
 
 V T T T 
 
 voluit. The Chaldee, Kirachi, and other Hebrew 
 expositors, agree in favour of this translation. 
 Schultens, Ddderlein, and Kern, suppose 'I1^? 
 
 stands for ^i^J*^ vaeh f Vide other explanations 
 
 in Gesenius, Thesaur. 8 
 
 ™ Because of his answers among the wicked, 
 i. e. in the society of the wicked, i. e. as the wicked, 
 
236 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 37. For he addeth breach of faith unto his 
 
 sins. 
 In the midst of us he clappeth scornfully 
 
 the hands, 
 And multiplieth his speeches against God." 
 
 2> however, does not here signify as. Vide Ewald 
 
 in Crit. Gram. 607. 
 
 ° The sense is: otherwise his audacity will always 
 increase, so that at length he will pour out scorn 
 "pon the Divinity himself. p5D I'^e p^\^ of 
 
 eh. xxvii. 23, (at least as many codd. read) with 
 
CHAP. XXXV. 1. 2.3. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 1. Elihu answered and said," 
 
 2. Didst thoii hold it for a just decision when 
 
 thou saidst, 
 " I am righteous before God ?"^ 
 
 3. " That thou darest to ask what profiteth 
 
 it me? 
 
 ^ Elihu, returning to the charge with new vigour, 
 sets himself to controvert a sentiment unfairly 
 deduced from Job's discourses, viz. that the suffer- 
 er, conscious of innocence, may say that piety has 
 been of no service to him. Can then a weak man 
 benefit or harm the divinity by his virtue or vice ? 
 Man can profit or injure man only. 
 
 P Others give a meaning to the words which 
 they will bear. " 1 am more righteous than God." 
 Then the expression stands for, 7t^ pI'ifD ^p*Ti« 
 
 For a justification of the meaning adopted, vide ch, 
 iv. 17. 
 
238 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 " And what good have I more than if I 
 had sinned ?" ^ 
 
 4. 1 will thereupon answer thee, 
 
 And together with thee thy friends. "" 
 
 5. Look up to the heavens and see, 
 Behold the clouds which are higher than 
 
 thou !' 
 
 6. If thou sinnest, how canst thou affect him? 
 And if thy misdeeds are many, can that 
 
 injure him ? 
 
 7. If thou art pious, what canst thou give un- 
 
 to him ? 
 Or what can he receiv^e from thine hand ? 
 
 8. Thy sins can only concern a mortal like 
 
 thyself, 
 
 "^ Of what use is it to you ? Job is represented 
 as if he were speaking to somebody else. Vide ch. 
 xxxiv. 9. The 2d hemistich is generally trans- 
 lated, " What availeth it me that I did not sin?" 
 Instead of taking *lf2 here in the sense of the conj. 
 
 that not, it is more grammatically safe to take it 
 comparatively. 
 
 ^ That is, those who show themselves, on this 
 point, to be like-minded with you. 
 
 ^ Spoken with irony. 
 
CHAP. XXXV. 9, 10. 239 
 
 And thy righteousness can only benefit a 
 son of man ! * 
 9. " By reason of the multitude do the op- 
 pressed cry." 
 " They call aloud from the violence of the 
 many." 
 10. Yet none saith, where is God my maker, 
 Who bestoweth songs in the night ?^ 
 
 * Eliphaz already expressed this thought, cli. 
 xxii. 2. 
 
 " These must be understood as Job's words, for 
 he had complained that oppressed innocence vent- 
 ed itself in loud wailing. Vide ch. xxiv. 12. From 
 the sense of what follows, viz. " the oppressed cry," 
 there is usually supplied at the word 2,h» ptL^VT^^ 
 
 " from the violence of the mighty." But we can 
 also refer it to the number of the oppressors, so 
 that we may take D'2^ foi' mmiij, and not for 
 
 magnates, as many expositors have done. py\ 
 
 has here in Hiphil the same meaning as in Kal. 
 Vide Jon. iii. 7. 
 
 ^ i. €. Who, in the midst of misfortune, gives 
 occasion to hymns of praise and thankfulness. And 
 n^^7 may retain its actual meaning. Vide Ps. 
 
 T ; — 
 
 xlii. 9. To defend the divinity from the accusation 
 
240 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 11. Who teachetli us more than the beasts of 
 the earth. 
 And maketh us wiser than the fowls of 
 heaven ? ^ 
 
 of not regarding the case of the innocent sufferer, 
 Elihu remarks that the importunate do not always 
 humbly address the Almighty benefactor of man- 
 kind for succour, in which case their ruin must be 
 attributed to their own pride. He also observes, 
 that man is prone to despair of the justice of God 
 when it is not immediately visible in the punish- 
 ment of the wicked ; whereas he ought to abide the 
 time appointed by the Almighty, with pious and 
 fixed confidence. 
 
 y The spirit of man which distinguishes liim 
 from the brute creation is justly considered as the 
 greatest gift of God's favour. VidePs. viii. 6. With 
 regard to the fowls of heaven in the second member 
 of the verse, vide ch. xxviii. 21. The divine bene- 
 volence is especially set forth in verses 10th and 
 11th, in order to place in a clear light the error of 
 those who do not in their misfortunes turn to him 
 with humble supplication. The part. t]^D stands, 
 
 according to the Aram, mode of writing, for 
 
 ^.^^' 
 
CHAP. XXXV. 12, 13, 14, 15. 241 
 
 12. Then they cry, and he ansvvereth not, 
 Because of the pride of the wicked. 
 
 13. Yea it is in vain,^ God heareth it not, 
 And the Almighty doth not regard it ! 
 
 14. And when thou sayest, " Man seeth it 
 
 not, 
 The matter lieth before him, only wait 
 thou on him ! 
 
 15. Yet, although his wrath doth not now 
 
 strike,^ 
 Doth he not care for the great multitude !^ 
 
 ' Viz. " that they cry." T\^ is most simply ta- 
 ken for cerfCf profecto, and ^^l^ adverbially. 
 * The emphasis rests upon HDJ^* according to 
 
 the erring conclusions of those who are introduced 
 by Elihu as speaking according to the meaning of 
 Job. The rare union of the neg. V^ with the 
 
 verb. fin. HpD is remarkable. 
 
 ^ t^Q multitude, according to the Hebrew com- 
 mentators, from the root ^^^, particularly in 
 Chald. to increase. Vide Buxtorf 1708. Others 
 
 derive it from g^^^, Arab, jili to go about proud- 
 
 VOL. II. Q 
 
242 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 16. But Job opens his mouth in empty 
 speeches, 
 He multiplieth words without knowledge !*= 
 
 /y, pride. The LXX. and Vulg. seem to have 
 read y^^ as they translate it 'Tra^d'jru/j.a and see- 
 
 lus. Gesenius supposes that this may be the cor- 
 rect reading ; but the translation of this doubtful 
 word (which is favoured by the Hebrew tradition) 
 by multitude, affords at least a good meaning, 
 which we may translate thus : " God concerns 
 himself not about the great multitude !" When 
 God does not inflict punishment exactly in the way 
 that short-sighted man thinks necessary, the false 
 conclusion is apt to be drawn, that the number of 
 creatures is too great for God to concern himself 
 about individuals. ^X^^Dasnom. rect. is united with 
 
 ^9, " the multitude of strength," for " the great 
 
 multitude." 
 
 ^ While he utters such a sentiment as lias been 
 quoted in the foregoing verse. 
 
CHAP. XXXVI. 1.2. 243 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 1. Elihu proceeded and said,** 
 
 2. Hearken yet a little unto me, and I will 
 
 teach thee;« 
 
 ^ Elihu, continuing his defence of God's justice, 
 returns to his former position, that the misfortunes 
 into which the Almighty permits the righteous to 
 fall, should be regarded as a means for their at- 
 tainment of a higher moral worth, and should be 
 used accordingly. He commences with the renew- 
 ed assurance of the honesty and fairness of his 
 arguments, which he had derived from the deepest 
 sources of wisdom. 
 
 ® Literally: "Wait yet but a little for me/' 
 This hemistich has in the original an Aramaic form, 
 for lilD stands in Aram, for the 7)1^ usual in 
 
 T •• • 
 
 Heb., I^yr for DV't^, r\^^^ for l^-in. The words 
 
 probably contain a polite formula upon the conti- 
 nuation of a discourse intended to instruct. " Al- 
 low me still a few words in order to convince you." 
 Schultens translates, coronare mihi pauca, et indi- 
 
244 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 There is no lack of words to me on 
 God's behalf. 
 
 3. I will fetch my knowledge from afar, ^ 
 And I will see justice done to my Maker/ 
 
 4. For truly my words are not false, 
 
 Thou hast to do with one that meaneth 
 honestly ! 
 
 cabo tibi.'* Who can undersfand this? He says in 
 explanation of 'nn3, " occurrit mihi \\xn Hebraicam 
 
 pressius retinenti, coronam dare mihi pauxillulum 
 etc. Audientiam coronae sibi continuari peteret 
 orator. Quid si sit ? coronare mihi paucis : pro, 
 paucis Jinem faciam atque ita quae disserui coron- 
 abo velut. Fortius joawca : Infinit. pro Fut. eleg. 
 This may serve as a specimen of the artificial me- 
 thod of etymological explanation of the great 
 Dutch orientalist I 
 
 ^ Instead of saying, as is more usual, " from the 
 depths," Elihu seeks for remarkable expressions, 
 in order that it may be better worth while to lis- 
 ten to him. Eichiiorn translates, '' My meaning, 
 which will stand the test, do I now open unto 
 you." 
 
 ^ Gratitude to God, not vanity or a mere spirit 
 of opposition, moves Elihu ! 
 
CHAP. XXXVI. 5, 6, 7. 8, 9. 245 
 
 5. Lo ! God is mighty, yet he despiseth no- 
 
 thing, 
 Great is he in the power of his spirit ! ^ 
 
 6. He letteth not the wicked live. 
 
 And procureth justice for the oppressed. ' 
 
 7. He withdraweth not his eyes from the 
 
 righteous, 
 With Rulers on the throne 
 He causeth them to sit for ever, that they 
 
 may be exalted !^ 
 
 8. And if they be bound with fetters. 
 And caught in the bonds of misfortune, 
 
 9. Thus will he show them their transgres- 
 
 sion 
 
 ^ Probably in reference to ver. 13. of the fore- 
 going chapter. The meaning is, Although God is 
 so exalted, he finds nothing too small for his no- 
 tice ; for the power of his spirit penetrates even to 
 that which is most minute. Mark the repetition of 
 ■^^23- Will also the great regard the small ? Yes, 
 
 for he is great in the all-embracing strength of his 
 spirit ! 
 
 ' God's all-directing spirit is manifested in the 
 righteous punishment of wickedness. 
 
 ^ Description of the external prosperity with 
 which God rewards the pious. 
 
246 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And their misdeeds, because they proudly 
 rebelled. ^ 
 
 10. He will open their ear to warning, 
 
 And command them to turn from iniquity. 
 
 11. If they obey and worship,"" 
 
 ' Tlius when even pious persons fall into mis- 
 fortune, it is a proof that they have suffered them- 
 selves to be seduced by presumptuousness, from 
 whence God will lead them back to humility and 
 reason, by the strokes of calamity. ^^'^ is used 
 
 here of evil deeds, as the Arab. XXxi, while, on the 
 contrary, in Ps. xc. 16, it is used of the benefits of 
 God. 
 "" *11J^ to serve, viz. God. Vide Is. xix. 23, 
 
 where the word in like manner stands ellipticall}'. 
 
 In like manner *Xx£ is used in Arabic, vide Kosen- 
 cjarten's Chrestom. Arab. p. ^S, where God is in - 
 
 troduced saying ^\ ^-i\^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^ 
 
 /. ij^iXxxJ i. e. " I have formed angels and men 
 for the purpose of adoring;" i. e. me. Hence 
 ^lx£ are called servants, i. e. of God. 
 
CHAP. XXXVI. 12, 13, 14. 247 
 
 They accomplish their days in joy, 
 And their years in prosperity. 
 
 12. But if they obey not, they shall perish by 
 
 the sword. 
 And expire in their foolishness. 
 
 13. Yet only the corrupt in heart nourish 
 
 their wrath, 
 They cry not when it enslaves them.'^ 
 
 14. They perish in youth, ° 
 
 And they go like the dishonoured to de- 
 struction.^ 
 
 "" ^H ^i^^'t^^ soil. 17 jy " take anger to 
 
 Iseart," L e. " brood over anger." Vide the same 
 ellipse, Ps. 1. 23. Others render it, " They heap 
 up the wrath of God." But our explanation is 
 to be preferred, as more suitable to the structure of 
 the language and the parall. 
 ° Others, as Schultens, give to *^yj in this place, 
 
 as in Ps. Ixxxviii. 16, the meaning of excussio from 
 "nj^j excussit, but without sufficient necessity. 
 
 Our translation, as in ch. xxxiii. 25, makes the 
 sense very good. 
 
 P Literally, " they die among the dishonoured, 
 {inde ch. xxxiv. 36,) or " early, and in awoful man- 
 
248 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 15. Yet he delivereth the pious from their 
 
 sufferings, 
 And openeth his ear in time of need.*' 
 
 16. Thee also will God lead from the jaws of 
 
 oppression, 
 Into a broad place where no straitness 
 
 dwells, 
 And that which descends upon thy table 
 
 shall be full of fatness.'' 
 
 ner," and thus the second hemistich strengthens 
 the meaning of the first. The Vulg. rightly enough 
 rendered D^tt^*TpIl " i"^^^ effeminatos." Vide 
 
 Levit. xix. 27 ; xxi. 9. Numb. xxv. 1 — 3. Deuf. iv. 
 3; xii. 2; xxiii. 18 — 19, and Jahn in Bihl. 
 Archaeol Pt.2d.p.70. 
 
 '^ To open one's ear in time of need, is equivalent 
 to admonishing one in misfortune to reform. 
 Mark the paronomasia in ^'^PI^ and *^n^, and in 
 
 OV and i':iV2l. 
 
 • T t : T : 
 
 "^ Elihu wishes Job to apply to himself, and to 
 take to heart the general assertion, that God sends 
 misfortune to the pious, in order lo guard him 
 against destructive presumption, and that the op- 
 pressed can free himself, by applying to the Al- 
 
CHAP. XXXVI. 17. 249 
 
 17. Yet when thou art fulfilled with the judg- 
 ment of the wicked, 
 Judgment and justice shall closely follow 
 each other. ^ 
 
 mighty with humble supplication. A wide space 
 and a table well covered vvith rich viands, is a pic- 
 ture of the liberty and superfluity of the prosperous. 
 The first comparison, according to which straitness 
 denotes misfortune, and width prosperity, is Semitic 
 in varied words and forms of speech. Vide in 
 Hebrew, especially the verb V^t^ln» Ps' v. 6 ; 
 
 vii. 2. Vide A. T. Hartmann's Introd. to the 
 Study of the Old Testament, 238 and 9. The figure 
 of a feast of fat things, denoting blessing and salva- 
 tion, occurs elsewhere. Ps. xxiii. 3. Is. xxv. 6. and 
 Gesen. Comment. 779, where D'^DSJ^ 'S found, as 
 
 here \t^y 
 
 ' Mark the play of words in the twofold use with 
 varied meaning of V*^. It first denotes a judgment 
 
 pronounced upon God by the J/ti^H (impius im- 
 
 probus) in misfortune; it secondly denotes the 
 judgment pronounced by God upon that wicked- 
 ness or impiety, and thus synom. with the follow- 
 ing ^QCi^Oi so that this often misunderstood pas- 
 sage seems clear. 
 
250 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 18. Yea, may the wrath of God not lead thee 
 
 away to scorn ; ' 
 May the greatness of the expiation not 
 seduce thee ! " 
 
 19. Will he esteem thy riches? 
 
 He valueth not costly metal, nor all the 
 power of wealth.'^ 
 
 * According to the usual acceptation of p£)*tS^ in 
 
 the sense of chastisement, the passage may be 
 translated, *' That the wrath of God may not drag 
 you into ruin "! But a tame meaning would from 
 hence arise. We take thenom. in the sense of the verb 
 p^ti^y as we found it in ch. xxvii. 23, and xxxiv. 
 
 26. 
 
 " " The greatness of the ransom," is the heavy 
 misfortune which Job must patiently bear as his 
 expiatory punishment. The meaning of the verse 
 runs thus: In thy present misery, which God hath 
 sent for thy salvation, do not let thyself be seduc- 
 ed, O Job, into daring complaints against the 
 Giver of all good. 
 
 * The connection is with the preceding verse. 
 But only a misfortune awakening to j)ious thought- 
 fulness, can be the expiation of sin ; no wealth can 
 serve to obliterate moral turpitude. To the second 
 hemistich we must supply "1^^* N^* 
 
CHAP. XXXVI. 20. 251 
 
 20. Long not eagerly for the night, ^ 
 
 To descend to the people that dwell be- 
 low. ^ 
 
 ^' In reference to the M'ish often expressed by 
 Job for death. This Elihu pronounces to be fool- 
 ish. The night of death in the realms below is 
 here peculiarly named H/V* 
 
 ^ " Profundissimus locus, velut vortice quodam 
 nos circumacturus." Schidtens. He gives fif- 
 teen different explanations. TwV ^^ usually taken 
 
 T T 
 
 in the passive meaning of Hiph. of the verb, in the 
 sense of to take away, as Ps. cii. 25, and is trans- 
 lated, " Where the people sink down in the deep." 
 Thus the night of the preceding hemistich is an 
 image of death, and not of the realm of the dead. 
 But, according to this translation, the train of 
 thought seems heavy. How would it do to take 
 n7j^ in its usual sense of to ascend, and to place it 
 in antithesis with the following nnn? so that the 
 
 ideas of above and helow, standing in opposition, 
 should express good and had? The words convey 
 the idea, which may be traced as well in our book 
 as in Eccles., that existence in the shades is not 
 desireable. Thus the sense of the entire verse is, 
 
252 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 21. Beware of turning thyself to iniquity :* 
 For in this thou hast more pleasure than 
 in misery.^ 
 
 that Job's longing desire for death, is a desire for 
 desolate gloomy night ; and his ardently wished for 
 ascending, (that is, the amelioration of his condition 
 by death), is in reality, a descending, (i. e. leads to 
 a change to the worse.) The people to whom the 
 lower world belongs, i. e. who inhabit the lower 
 regions, are the shades. 
 
 » i. e. Let not thy misery seduce thee to utter 
 presumptuous speeches against God. There is here 
 a paronomasia between |Qri and pK- 
 
 ^ A cutting remark on the grievance of which 
 Job so bitterly complains, that he suffers without 
 cause. According to it, Job prefers sin to misery. 
 nnS is, indeed, elsewhere construed with ^, but 
 
 ~ T 
 
 here sinful preference is purposely and almost 
 ironically expressed with strength by HT'/V- ^1**^ 
 
 conjecture of Gaab and Kern is needless, viz. to 
 read nt/V or HT /V • *' ^i gaudium calamitati 
 
 praefers.'* Besides, such anoun does not occur in the 
 Old Test. 
 
CHAP. XXXVI. 22, 23, 24, 25. 253 
 
 22. Lo ! God is exalted in his might ; 
 Who is Lord like him?^ 
 
 23. Who hath prescribed unto him his way? 
 And who dareth to say unto him, " Thou 
 
 doest iniquity !" 
 
 24. Consider'^ how thou magnifiest his work- 
 
 Which men behold. ^ 
 
 25. All men regard it, 
 
 "^ n"llD is here in the Aramaic sense for Lord, 
 
 hke the Syr. j-^. The LXX. rightly translate 
 duvdaTTjc. To translate the word by teacher is little 
 suited to the connection. 
 
 <^ i. e. Do not omit it ! 
 
 ® i. e. Which comes plainly under the observa- 
 tion of men. Vulg. '• De quo cecinerunt viri." 
 Thus Schultens, Gesenius, and many other com- 
 mentators, while they do not deduce y^'~\tV from 
 
 "niti^ to see, take it in the meaning of ^''^ 
 
 to sing, i. e. to value, to laud, " which men value.'* 
 But the meaning of the following verse substan- 
 tiates our translation. 
 
254 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 Yet the mortal looketh upon it only from 
 afar ! ' 
 
 26. Behold! God is great and incomprehen- 
 
 sible, 
 The number of his years cannot be search- 
 ed out/ 
 
 27. He hath drawn up the drops of water, 
 They pour down rain, when mists envelop 
 
 him.*^ 
 
 *" The same thought which Job had poetically 
 expressed in ch. xxvi. 14. 
 
 ^ Next follows a poetic description of the divine 
 greatness, as it is seen in heaven, and in its wonder- 
 ful influence upon earth, in order that Job may 
 learn to bow before him who has sent him his suf- 
 ferings. The first idea of God which Elihu ex- 
 presses is that of unbounded time. Vide Ps. xc. 
 2. 
 
 ^ Our translation is more faithful to the original 
 than were we to adopt that of De Wette, " Thus 
 the rain trickles from its cloud ;'' or that of Eich- 
 liorn, " Thus they become rain in storms." Eich- 
 horn views with much poetical feeling the following 
 description of the divine greatness manifested in 
 storms. He says, " It may be that because of the 
 storm in which God appears (cA. xl. 1.) the poot 
 
CHAP. XXXVI. 28, 29, 30. 255 
 
 28. The clouds pour down from thence, 
 They trickle upon the multitude of men.' 
 
 29. And who can understand the spreading of 
 
 the clouds, 
 Or the crashing of his tabernacle ? ^ 
 
 30. Lo ! He spreadeth around him his light, 
 
 selects this peculiar imagery to magnify the divine 
 greatness." 
 
 > We refer ■)Ji^^^ to IX i^ the preceding verse. 
 " By him (replenished) the clouds flow down- 
 wards ;" i. e. The mist is changed into clouds, 
 which are dissolved in rain. ^1 in connection with 
 
 T 
 
 0*|^?» naay be regarded as an epithet, perpet. as 
 
 T T 
 
 we say the " mighty sea." Vide ch, v. 10. 
 
 ^ The spreading of the clouds, relates to the 
 canopy of thick clouds which covers the heavens 
 in a storm. Vide Ps. cv. 39. The noise of thun- 
 der is poetically called the crashing of his taberna- 
 cle, viz. the clouds in the midst of which God i» 
 poetically said to dwell. Thus H^D is used for 
 
 the stormy clouds of darkness, behind which the 
 divinity is veiled, Ps. xviii. 12. The sense of our 
 verse is, who can understand the origin of thunder ? 
 
256 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And covereth himself with the roots of the 
 sea. ' 
 
 31. For by means of them he punisheth the 
 
 people, 
 And sendeth forth fulness of nourishment." 
 
 32. He covereth both his hands with light, 
 And giveth it a command against bis ene- 
 
 33. And he revealeth it unto his friend, 
 Also unto cattle and to plants." 
 
 ^ God's garment is woven of celestial light, Ps. 
 civ. 2, and of the watery abyss of ocean. 
 Elihu purposely borrows the word t^lD fro™ the 
 
 preceding verse, on account of the opposition. 
 *' He spreads not only clouds, but light around 
 him." The roots of the sea, are the depths of the 
 waters, which the hand of the Almighty raises to 
 heaven, and forms into a cloudy canopy. 
 
 ™ The sense is, God pours down the waters of 
 iteaven in destructive floods upon the earth, to 
 chastise the people; and again he sends forth his 
 waters in fertilizing showers upon the land, to re- 
 ward men with the blessing of wholesome nourish- 
 ment." 
 
 ° The difference of opinion about the immediate- 
 
CHAP. XXXVI. 33. 257 
 
 ly connected verses 32 and 33, is extraordinary. 
 Schultens enumerates twenty-eight explanations. 
 But it seems plain, that in these verses Elihu wishes 
 to describe the two-fold effect of the divine light, 
 as he had formerly, in like manner, described that 
 of the waters of heaven. He says figuratively, 
 " God fills both his hands with light ; in the one, he 
 holds the destructive light of lightning, with which 
 he consumes the wicked ; and in the other he holds 
 the cherishing hght of the sun, which affords to all 
 his good creatures, men, beasts, and plants, the 
 support of life," (v. 33.) The usual explanation is, 
 " He announces to him his voice of thunder,*' so 
 that y^ from yy^ is taken in the sense of cry = 
 
 thunder, which is difficult, "l^^in with Sj^? which 
 is somewhat startling, may be explained by the 
 preceding (1*^5^ V^'^l? still dwelling in his mind, 
 and the construction of that verb with ^y, has, at 
 least, analogy in its favour. Vide other explana- 
 tions in Rosenmiiller in loco. H'^I^ is what 
 shooteth up, for plants of all sorts. rhV ascendit^ 
 
 T T 
 
 is frequently used for plants. Vide Gen. xl. 10 ; 
 xli. 22. 
 
 VOL. IJ. R 
 
258 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 1. Yea, at this my heart trembleth and is 
 
 moved out of his place \^ 
 
 2. Hear the thunder of his voice, 
 
 And the roaring which proceedeth from 
 his mouth. 
 
 3. He guideth the thunder under the whole 
 
 heaven. 
 And his light even unto the end of the 
 earth.^ 
 
 ° nt<T^ " hy it," indeterminate, viz. that con- 
 cerning which the question antecedently was ; the 
 thundering of the divine majesty. "1*111 to tremble^ 
 
 to quakcy here in its primary meaning ; in its bor- 
 rowed meaning, to hurry forward in astonishment^ 
 vide I Sam x. 4. '^T)^ to spring up, vide Levit. 
 
 xi. 21. 
 
 P The all-embracing power of God shews itself 
 gloriously in a storm, when the thunder rolls with- 
 
CHAP. XXXVII. 4,5. 259 
 
 4. Behind Him the voice roareth,'* 
 
 He thundereth with the sound of his glo- 
 rious magnificence, 
 
 And holdeth it not, when his voice hath 
 become mighty.'" 
 
 5. God thundereth marvellously with his 
 
 voice, 
 
 out ceasing in the vault of heaven, and the light- 
 nings gleam even unto the ends of the earth. The 
 word *^t^' is well chosen to describe the pealing roll 
 
 of the thunder. T*1Kn nl£)^3 the boundaries of the 
 earth, as in ch. xxxviii. 13. Is. xi. 12. Ezek. vii. 2. 
 
 The verb ujLJL^s to surround^ is used in Arab, to 
 express hounding. Vide AbduUat. Memorab. 
 Aegypt. in Oberleitner's Chrestom. Arab. 162. 
 
 *^ The thunder-clap follows immediately after 
 lightning. 
 
 ' DlpV^ ^h^ " and he holdeth it not back." 
 
 What? The suffix, verb, relates to an omitted 
 substan. which must be supplied from the connec- 
 tion. We may naturally think of rain and hail so 
 intimately connected with storms. Vide Gesenius 
 in Lehrgeb. 740. 
 
260 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And doeth great things incomprehensibly !' 
 6. To the snow he saith, " Fall on the earth !"* 
 And to the shower and the rain of his 
 might." 
 
 ^ The powerful impression produced by a ma- 
 jestic storm is described with peculiar grandeur in 
 the Old Testament. Vide Ps. xxix. where, as 
 well as in this passage, 7"ip repeatedly occurs with 
 effect. Above all, in Arabia, the scene of our book, 
 the thunder is subhmely terrible. Vide what Ma- 
 homet says of the thunder in the celebrated passage, 
 Koran ii. 18, a sense of the beauty of which 
 made the poet Lebid a follower of the pseudo 
 prophet. 
 
 t J«^in Aram, for n^H- Most probably niH 
 
 •• v: "■ V; w ¥ 
 
 must here be taken in the Arab, meaning of to fall, 
 as the Vulg. translates " ut descendat in terram." 
 Others ** Be upon the earth," as the LXX. trans- 
 lated it. 
 
 " The meaning is, " in the continued increasing 
 storm of rain he shows his power." The increas- 
 ing strength of the shower is expressed by placing 
 the plural HllD/tD after the sing. "HD/tD- For the 
 
 sake of the meaning, we must repeat from the 1st 
 liemistich " fall," viz. showers of rain. DfiS^il '=* 
 used for winter rain in Cantichs ii. 11. 
 
CHAP. XXXVII. 7,8,9. 261 
 
 7. He sealeth up the hand of every man, 
 That all mortals whom he has created may- 
 be brought to acknowledgment/ 
 
 8. Then the beasts go to their dens. 
 And rest in their caves/ 
 
 9. From the south cometh storms, 
 
 * God stops with the approach of winter the ac- 
 tivity of man in the fields. Yet, even this inter- 
 ruption is calculated to bring man to acknowledg- 
 ment of his dependence on the superior power of 
 heaven. DHn to seal., is to make unfit for use. 
 
 In Samaritan D^tDH is lamed, Gen. xxxii. 33, vide 
 
 Gesenius on the word ; and in Arab. *JC:i. is, in 
 like manner, found. Vide Koran Sur. ii. 6, God 
 hath sealed their hearts and ears. The Vulg. trans- 
 lates, " Qui in manu omnium hominum signat, ut 
 noverint singuli opera sua." By this translation, 
 and a singular neglect of the connection, old trans- 
 lators have been led to understand this passage as 
 relating to the art of Chiromancy. 
 
 y Poetical description of the desolation of the 
 fields, while the wild beasts, their inhabitants, are 
 compelled in winter to retreat to caves and holes. 
 
262 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And cold out of the north.^ 
 1 0. Ice is produced by the breath of God, 
 And the breadth of the waters is straitened.* 
 
 ^ The violent storm comes from the south. Is. 
 xxi. 1. Zechar. ix. 14. Concerning ^nPT "^id^ ^^' 
 
 ix. 9. D^'ntD appears, from the context, to denote 
 
 ■ » : 
 
 the north ; but the derivation of the word is uncer- 
 tain. It may be most probably conceived to be 
 Part. Pi. of niT> ^^6 scattering^ viz. winds ; so that 
 
 we may think of the north winds scattering the 
 
 clouds; as in Arab, oLJi venti dispergentes, 
 
 occurs, vide Gesenius and Winer on the word. 
 
 "^ The ice-producing blast of the north wind is 
 poetically styled the breath of God. TJl^ stands 
 
 impersonally " there is ice," as Prov. xiii. 10. We 
 nmst regard the ^ before DV^Dj as a Beth essent. 
 
 These words, " The breadth of the waters is strait- 
 ened," depict, in the physical accuracy, the con- 
 gealing power of cold. An Arabic poet takes a 
 bold flight, and says, " The floods are fettered in 
 bonds of iron," viz. Motenehbi in Hammer's transla- 
 tion, 89. Others suppose p*^1,tD to mean some- 
 thing poured out, " and the breadth of the waters 
 
CHAP. XXXVII. 11. 263 
 
 11. And brightness driveth away the clouds.*' 
 His light seattereth the thick clouds.*^ 
 
 is his outpouring." But the antithesis of HH^? as 
 
 well as eh. xxxvi. 16, favours the above translation. 
 ^ ''1^ a. r. n'^35=11!!l purgavit : serenitas, the 
 
 brightness of the skies as the Chald. expresses it. 
 
 n^^D? Arab. ^ Js conjecity projecit. Vide Grang. 
 
 de Lagrange anthologie Arah.p, 18. Both words are 
 a'TT. Xiy. in the Old Test., and are variously explain- 
 ed by old commentators. Vide J. D. Michaelis in 
 Suppl. 1032. According to another explanation, 
 ^"n is taken as a noun with ^ praef. for the Arabic 
 
 iSj *>yy watering, from root n"!*^ irrigavit, and is 
 
 translated, *' also in rain causeth He (God) the 
 clouds to descend," by which a waterspout is pro- 
 bably meant. Vide Schultens in loco, and Gesenius 
 under rTltO* But the parallelism is decisive in fa- 
 
 — T 
 
 vour of the translation of the text. 
 
 ^ pj; is unsuitable as stat. constr. We must 
 
 either adopt the Chald. punctuation of the word, 
 and read pV i" stat. absol., or else select the read- 
 
264 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 12. Which are turned according to his guid- 
 
 ance,'' 
 To perform whatever he commandeth them 
 on the circle of the earth. 
 
 13. He useth them now as a scourge, and now 
 
 as a blessing, 
 And again as a benefit to his land.* 
 
 14. Hearken unto this O Job, stand still, 
 And consider the wonders of God ! 
 
 ing PV> which De Rossi found in fifteen codd. It 
 
 T t 
 
 is evident, that throughout the verse there is ques- 
 tion of the brightness of the sky in winter. 
 
 ^ Others refer J^^H to God, " He leads the 
 clouds according to his guidance." But the mean- 
 ing of *lQnnD in hithp. rather favours our ex- 
 planation, which, besides, seems more poetical. 
 niS^^nn or nlS^nn s/np's guidance^ and then 
 
 prudent guidance in general, occurs again only in 
 Prov. vide i. 5 ; xi. 14; xii. 5 ; xx. 18 ; xxiv. 6. 
 
 ^ " Now for his land," indeterminate for " as a 
 blessing to his land," viz. by means of fertilizing 
 rain. The antithesis is not closely observed in this 
 verse, " He useth them," properly " He lets them 
 be found," viz. the clouds. 
 
CHAP. XXXVII. 15, 16, 17. 265 
 
 15. Dost thou know when God commanded 
 
 them/ 
 And caused the light of his clouds to shine ? ^ 
 
 16. Hast thou understanding of the balancings 
 
 of the clouds,^ 
 And of the wonders of him who is perfect 
 in knowledge? 
 
 1 7. How thy garments become warm for thee,' 
 
 ^ DlCi^ with 7j; following, relates to the person ; 
 
 to devolve something on one, to lay upon one some- 
 thing to do, vide Exodus v. 8 ; xiv. 22, 25. Dost 
 thou know how God commands the wonders of na- 
 ture that they arise ? For DH wV clearly relates 
 
 to nlK/^^ i" the preceding verse. The suffix 
 
 masc. stands indefinitely, according to the sense, and 
 not according to the word for the feminine. 
 
 ^ Elihu particularizes certain wonderful and mys- 
 terious appearances of nature. Canst thou explain 
 the gleaming of lightning from the dark thunder- 
 cloud ? How can light arise from gloomy night ? 
 
 ^ How is it that the clouds are balanced in the 
 air ; and that their watery gravity does not bring 
 them to the earth ? 
 
 > Dost thou comprehend the influence of heat 
 upon thyself? The garments are mentioned, or the 
 
266 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 When the earth is made sultry by the south 
 wind? 
 
 18. Hast thou, like him, given expanse to the 
 
 heavens. 
 Which are firm as a molten looking-glass ?'' 
 
 19. Teach us what we shall say unto him ^ 
 For we cannot utter any thing by reason 
 
 of darkness ? ^ 
 
 20. Is what I am saying worthy to be an- 
 
 nounced before him ? 
 
 covering of the body on which the heat has a direct 
 influence. ^p\^T} to he quiet, to be in repose, 
 
 used of the still sultriness of the sun's heat. Dl'TH' 
 
 elsewhere region of the south, is here south wind. 
 
 ^ A suitable image for the bright smiling hea- 
 vens, ^J^l = ilKltD mirror, for which the term 
 
 pV-1/t3 is fitting, as the idea of a mirror formed of 
 
 molten metal is suggested. Vide Jahn in Bibl. 
 ArchcEol Pt. I. B. II. p. 155. 
 
 • " By reason of darkness," i. e. as is usually ex- 
 plained, *' By reason of great uncertainty." Per- 
 haps the sense of the preceding verse should lead 
 us to think of the bewildering blinding of the eyes, 
 when they are turned in a bold controversy with 
 the Almighty towards the sunny heavens. 
 
CHAP. XXXVII. 20, 21, 22, 23. 267 
 
 Durst any one complain, even if he were 
 destroyed ? ^ 
 
 21. Now the light is not seen, it shineth be- 
 
 hind clouds, 
 A wind passeth over and cleareth them 
 away. 
 
 22. Gold Cometh from heaven, 
 Around God is terrible splendour !° 
 
 23. The Almighty — we cannot find him out! 
 He is great in power, and also in grace 
 
 and righteousness, 
 
 ■" Others take ^3 as an exclamation or assertion, 
 
 " Yea, he would be destroyed." Our translation 
 is better, " Could any one dare to advance into the 
 presence of the Divinity, and accuse him of giving 
 him over to ruin ? Vide Winer in lex. page 1036. 
 '^ Now, we are supposed not to see the sun be- 
 cause it is clouded over, but then, when the winds 
 have cleared the skies, its golden glory shines from 
 its meridian height. The comparison, though not 
 brought out, is thus to be understood. As the sun, 
 when it suddenly shines out from behind a cloud, 
 the more powerfully affects man's eye ; in like man- 
 ner does the hidden majesty of God, when reveal- 
 ed suddenly to a mortal in all its brightness, spread 
 as it were, darkness over his eyes. 
 
268 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 He usetli not violence P*^ 
 24. Therefore shall men fear him ? 
 
 He hath no pleasure in the wise in their 
 own conceit.P 
 
 ** Instead of H^J^^ some Codd. of authority in 
 
 De Rossi, read ^^J^^ " He ansvvereth not." The 
 
 parall. favours this reading. 
 
 P Mark the paronom. of IHIK"!^ and HKI*- 
 
 The Vulgate rightly translates ^7'^DDn " qui 
 
 sibi videntur sapientes." Others, as De VVette, 
 Rosenmiiller, translate " No wise and prudent per- 
 son beholdeth him." The mention of the divine 
 disapprobation of haughty and self-sufficient men 
 seems better suited to the meaning of the first he- 
 mistich. 
 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 1,2,3. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 JEHOVAH. 
 
 1. Then did Jehovah answer Job out of the 
 
 tempest,"^ and said, 
 
 2. Who is this that darkeneth my counsel 
 By words without knowledge ?*■ 
 
 3. Rise ! gird up thy loins like a man, 
 
 I will ask of thee, answer thou me !^ 
 
 ^ Jehovah appears as a God of judgment, and 
 therefore he speaks in the rushing of the tempest. 
 
 ^ A humbling expression for the philosophic 
 disputants ! Their speeches, instead of throwing 
 light upon the ways of God, (JlVj^ is especially 
 
 the divine wisdom, manifested in the arrangements 
 of the universe, providence,) rather serve to cloud 
 them with obscurity. But the eternal decrees of 
 the Almighty shine forth from the depths of his 
 wisdom before the eye of mortals, in all those 
 wondrous signs of creating and governing power 
 which heaven and earth exhibit. 
 
 ' To all the following questions Job has no an- 
 swer. From this ignorance follows tiie Almighty 
 
270 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 4. Where wast thou when I laid the founda- 
 
 tions of the earth ? * 
 Declare if thou hast discerned wisdom ! " 
 
 5. Who hath laid the measure thereof, if thou 
 
 knowest ? ^ 
 Or who hath laid on it the line of measure- 
 ment? 
 
 Judge's final decision, viz. that the wisdom of man 
 is not the wisdom of God ; therefore man must 
 resign himself to celestial guidance, without striv- 
 ing to solve the mysterious reasons on which it is 
 founded. 
 
 t Assuredly not present there. 
 
 " n^'H stands here, as in ch. xxviii. 12, 28, foi 
 
 « 
 
 nDDH) actual acquaintance with the divine plans 
 
 of creation and government. In order to com- 
 prehend the cause of things, man must have been 
 present at their earliest origin. Hence the created, 
 the finite, is incapable of penetrating into the mys- 
 teries of eternal wisdom. In the 27th Sure of the 
 Koran, there appear to be many ideas borrowed 
 from this passage. 
 
 ^ Scil. "liUlj as V. 4. The earth is compared 
 
 with a building, of which tiie parts are first of all 
 accurately measured before they are put together. 
 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 6,7.8. 271 
 
 6. Whereon were its foundations fastened ? 
 Or who hath laid the corner-stone there- 
 of? 
 
 7. When the morning stars shouted in 
 
 triumph/ 
 And all the sons of God sang aloud for 
 joy?^ 
 
 8. Who hath closed in the sea with gates, 
 
 D^IDD ph fro"^ ^t2i2 ad form. ^DD only occur- 
 ring here, = H'^D) measure. 
 
 y The foundations of the fabric were laid amid 
 songs of praise. Vide Zech. iv. 7. £Jsr. iii. 10, 
 12, 13. The idea is full of poetry, that the tri- 
 umphant hymns of the stars of heaven attended the 
 earth's first formation. The morning stars are 
 specified, either because they are distinguished by 
 their beauty, or because the poet conceived that 
 the first foundations of the earth were laid in the 
 dawn of the day. We are reminded of the lyre 
 strung with sunbeams of Anahid placed on the 
 morning star in the Persian Mythus. Vide Ham- 
 mer. Hist, of Pers. Eloquence, 24. 
 
 '- The idea of angels is united with that of stars, 
 
 as is shown by the expression D^Dti^H " KUl*- 
 
27*2 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 When it burst forth out of the womb?* 
 9. When I gave unto it the cloud for a gar- 
 ment, 
 And darkness for a swaddling band ? ^ 
 10. When I strictly measured its boundary,^ 
 
 Vide Geseiiiiis on the word, and De Samaritanor. 
 Theolog. Comment, p. 23. 
 * 1J2 naust be repeated from v. 5. n^il> to break 
 
 forth, used of a stream, ch. xl. 23, and of a child 
 from its mother's womb, Ps. xxii. 10. Vide Ezek. 
 xxxii. 2. Mich, iv. 10. 
 
 ^ Bold description of the sea, as of a child pro- 
 ceeding out of the womb of chaos. The dark 
 clouds resting over it served as a garment or swad- 
 dling clothes. Concerning n^nH) '^id^ J- ^• 
 
 Michaelis Suppl. 984. 
 
 «= It seems hard to take lUti^' always in the 
 
 — ¥ 
 
 pure Hebrew sense o^ break in pieces ; so that, like 
 ")i;i to cut off, it may be used in the sense of to 
 
 measure off, to determine. Thus Gesenius. We 
 may more suitably, with Rosenmiiller, compare the 
 
 Arab. ,>.^ spithama dimensus est. Literally, my 
 boundaries, i.e. the boundaries which I acknovv- 
 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 11, 12, 13. 273 
 
 And assigned to it doors and bars. 
 
 11. And said, " Hitherto shalt thou come, and 
 
 no further ; 
 " Here shall bounds be set to the pride of 
 thy waves I"*^ 
 
 12. Since thou hadst being, didst thou ever 
 
 command the morning? 
 Or didst thou assign its place to the morn- 
 ing dawn, ® 
 
 13. To take hold of the ends of the earth, 
 And to scare away the evil doer ? ^ 
 
 ledged as right. Concerning the meaning of the 
 entire verse, videxxvi. 10. Jer. v. 22. Ps. xxxiii. 
 7 ; civ. 9. 
 
 ^ r\''t^ must here be taken intrans. Suppl. ptl 
 from verse 10. The boisterous roaring of the waves 
 is well termed their pride. Vide Ps. Ixxxix. 10, 
 and Schultens Animad. Philolog. in Job. 143, where 
 many paraU. from Arabic writers are collected in 
 elucidation of the figurative expression D^Sil \^^^ 
 
 ^ nnt^ riDVI^ in Chetib.; but in Keri rW^V 
 
 ^inti^n? which is preferable. 
 
 f V. 13, 14 and 15, form a digression, descrlp- 
 
 VOL. II. S 
 
274 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 14. When it is turned like the modeller's 
 clay,^ 
 And its shape is unfolded like a garment:*^ 
 
 tive of the effect of the ruddy dawn upon the earth. 
 As soon as its cheering beams begin to spread 
 over the uttermost ends of the earth, the haters 
 of light, the sinners who walk abroad in darkness 
 to execute their evil works, retire into conceal- 
 ment. Vide cli. xxiv. 13. 
 
 ^ The meaning of this often misunderstood image 
 is ; as the plastic clay fits itself to various shapes, 
 so does the earth at sunrise exhibit the most varied 
 appearances, which are gradually developed by 
 the cheering light of day from the dark shades of 
 night. 
 
 ^ There is some doubt as to the subject of 
 ^iL'li^'n*- *np!II and '^XVl} are usually supplied 
 
 from verse 12, and it is translated " they stand as 
 a garment," viz. " of the earth." Others, as De 
 Wette, translate, " Every thing comes forth like a 
 garment." But the subject lies concealed in the 
 "l^nn/^ of the foregoing hemistich, so that we 
 
 may think of the various changes in the appear- 
 ance and form of the earth, effected by their co- 
 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 15, 16. 275 
 
 15. From the wicked their light is withheld,^ 
 And the arm raised aloft shall be broken."^ 
 
 16. Hast thou entered into the fountains of 
 
 the sea. 
 Or hast thou walked in the discovered 
 deep?^ 
 
 vering of light, which are poetically compared to 
 a garment. 
 
 i The light by which the wicked work is ob- 
 scurity, so that their light is extinguished by the 
 approach of day. Vide eh. xxiv. 17. 
 
 ^ The uplifted arm, broken by the morning, is 
 the image of bold violence, daunted by the ap- 
 proach of day. The idea more particularly re- 
 lates to murderers. 
 
 * D^ " 0^^» which only occurs here, is etymo- 
 
 logically doubtful. The LXX. render it cr^j/^ ^a- 
 Xcccc'/jj, which is the explanation most favoured by 
 the parallelism. Cocceius translates^eto marisy and 
 adopts the root 'p^'^^ flevit. in the sense of ch. 
 
 xxviii. 11. It will be better with Gesenius to com- 
 pare the Arab, ^xj , and the Chald. Jj^l^ to loell 
 out (Germ, quellen). Schultens explains ^^^ = 
 
276 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 17. Have the gates of death been opened un- 
 
 to thee? 
 Or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow 
 of death ?"^ 
 
 18. Hast thou examined the breadth of the 
 
 earth ?" 
 Declare if thou knowest all these things. 
 
 19. Where leadeth the way to the abode of 
 
 light 
 And darkness, where is the place there- 
 of?« 
 
 4*X-xJ hill J cliffi from ««X^5 alius fuit<, and thus al- 
 so J. D. Michaelis, Eichhorn, &c. '^'^T\ stands 
 
 here like "jpllD. Ps. xcv. 4. 
 
 ™ There is a heightening of the thought in the 
 2d hemistich of the verse. The mortal, during 
 his Hfe, does not even behold the gates of the 
 realm of the dead ; much less are they opened 
 unto him. 
 
 " But " God looketh to the ends of the earth," 
 and seeth under the whole heaven. Vide ch. 
 xxviii. 24. 
 
 ° In plain prose: Knowest thou the origin of light 
 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 20, 21, 22, 23. 277 
 
 20, For thou hast reached it in its boundaries ! 
 Thou knowest the paths of its dwelling ! ^ 
 
 21. Thou knowest it, for thou wast born long 
 
 ago, ^ 
 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, ^ 
 
 and darkness ? Before l^li^i suppl. DlpDH ^K 
 
 ^ Verses 20 and 21 are to be understood ironi- 
 cally, and the usual translation is, " for thou didst 
 guide it to its boundary." A better sense arises 
 from our taking Hp / in the meaning of the Arab. 
 
 t V^ ' , to attain to. The following 75^ must be 
 
 explained according to the const, praeg. 
 
 '^ IJ^ is used here as in P?'ov. viii. 22, for time 
 
 T 
 
 long past. Vide ch. xv. 7. 
 
 ^ In the winter storm and tempest of hail, God 
 seems to carry on a war with the earth. 
 
278 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 For the day of contention and of war. 
 
 24. Which is the way whereby the light is 
 
 parted, 
 Whereby the East spreadeth itself upon 
 the earth ? ^ 
 
 25. Who hath divided a course for the pour- 
 
 ing rain, 
 And a path for the rays of the thunder's 
 voice,* 
 
 ^ In prose : In what way does the light part its 
 endless rays which penetrate the whole earth ? 
 And how does it happen that the east- wind (the 
 strongest of all) spreads its blast over the face of 
 the whole creation ? We must remember that the 
 light as well as the wind are personified, and con- 
 ceived as dwelling in a determinate place in hea- 
 ven. For the way in which the light splits its 
 beams to enlighten the world, and in which the 
 wind spreads on all sides to blow over it, is the 
 way in which the light and the wind exercise their 
 influence on the earth. 
 
 * How wonderful that the water-floods of heaven 
 fall upon the earth in measured out spaces, as it 
 were in individual canals of air (rain), and that 
 the fire of the thunder clouds descends in particu- 
 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 26. 27, 28, 29, 30. 279 
 
 26. That it should rain on the uninhabited 
 
 ground 
 And in deserts, where no man dwelleth; 
 
 27. To satisfy the wastes and desolation, 
 And to draw forth the sprouts of the ten- 
 der green ? ^ 
 
 28. Hath the rain a father, 
 
 Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?^ 
 
 29. Out of whose womb came forth the ice. 
 And who hath gendered the hoar-frost of 
 
 heaven ? 
 
 30. The waters are hid as under a stone, 
 
 lar flashes ! Concerning this verse, and in parti- 
 cular Dl /p T^TH) '^'^de ch. xxviii. 26. 
 
 " Verses 26 and 27 form a digression, to the 
 purport that God uses rain not only to render that 
 part of the earth used by man fruitful, but also to 
 adorn the wastes with fresh green for the nourish- 
 ment of its inhabitants, the beasts of the desert. 
 
 ^ This is usually explained, " Have rain and 
 dew another father than God?" But it is more 
 suitable to the connection to inquire, " Can any 
 origin of rain and dew visible to mortal eyes be 
 shown ?" 
 
280 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And the surface of the deep closeth fast 
 together. ^ 
 31. Canst thou bind the Pleiades with a knot, 
 
 y Vide ch, xxxvii. 10. Our translation of the 
 first hemistich, which is verbally correct, (vide 
 Gesen. Lehrgeb. 837) is (on account of ^K3^^)^ 
 
 " they conceal themselves ;" where ?) more suit- 
 able than this : (" The waters conceal themselves* 
 having become like unto a stone.") Vide Ewald 
 in Crit. Gramm. 614. It is taken for granted in 
 the verse, that not the whole water of the stream 
 is frozen, but only the surface, which thus resem- 
 bles a stony covering, under which the rest of the 
 water is concealed. The second hemistich de- 
 scribes the manner of freezing, through thickening 
 and closing in of the individual watery particles. 
 ^^37n^ might be passively translated in the usual 
 meaning of *ID7> ^^ ^^^^ or seize. According to 
 
 the sense of ch. xxxvii. 10, " The surface of the 
 deep is fettered." But ch. xli. 9, is in favour of 
 
 our translation. For "ID^ is equivalent to cX.^=J - 
 Conj. V. junctis inter se compactisque partibus fuit 
 
CHAP, XXXVIII. 32. 281 
 
 Or loosen the bands of Orion ?' 
 32. Canst thou lead forth within their seasons 
 the signs of the zodiac, ^ 
 
 ^ Vide cL ix. 9, ninVD bcmds, for riH^Vll^ 
 
 a. r. *|jy to hind. Eichhorn translates differently, 
 
 '< Canst thou bind the dehghtful Pleiades ?" He 
 takes as the root V^)^ to delight, which occurs in 
 
 the Old Test, only in Hithpahel. But the notion 
 of binding in "^t^pDil is in favour of our expla- 
 nation, especially on account of the antithesis with 
 the second hemistich in nnDD* Canst thou com- 
 mand the stars } Hast thou the power of binding 
 and of loosing them ? 
 
 ^ Dint^ is of very uncertain meaning. It is 
 
 sometimes translated by northern crown (compare 
 "IT^)? sometimes by wain, sometimes by morning 
 
 star, and sometimes by sigiis of the zodiac. The 
 last explanation is the surest, whereby nlHTD is 
 
 as nl^TD* Vide Gesenius on the word, and Ro- 
 
 T — 
 
 senmiiller in loco. " Canst thou lead forth ?" viz. 
 from their habitations. 
 
282 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 Or guide the bear with his young ?^ 
 33. Knowest thou the fixed ordinances of hea- 
 ven? 
 Hast thou founded its dominion on the 
 earth ?*^ 
 
 ^ " What relates to the bear and his sons, dost 
 thou lead them r" ^^^ is as t^>J/, the constellation 
 
 • — T 
 
 of the bear (vide ch. ix. 9), perhaps with the Ara- 
 bic diminutive form, the little hear. The children 
 are the three stars in its tail. By the Arabs, the 
 constellation of the great and little bear are called 
 
 ^mXa!^ vHjUj , daughters of the Bier. The stars 
 placed in a quadrangular shape form the Bier, and 
 the three others precede it as mourners. Thus the 
 Persian poet, Jami, describes the beauty of the 
 heavens : 
 
 " The daughters of the Bier, and the Knot of the 
 Pleiades, 
 
 Celebrate it in verse and prose." 
 Vide Rosenzweigs translation of the poem of Jo- 
 seph and Zuleicha, J 7. ^j; is not used (as it is in 
 
 general) to express una cuniy but more probably 
 Juxta. 
 
 c Thus the heavens follow their unchangeable 
 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 34, 35, 36. 283 
 
 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the 
 
 clouds, 
 That abundance of waters may cover 
 thee ? ^ 
 
 35. Canst thou send forth the lightnings that 
 
 they shall go ? 
 And say unto thee, " Here are we ?" 
 
 36. Who hath put wisdom in the dark clouds, 
 And who hath given understanding to the 
 
 meteors ?® 
 
 laws, the wonderful alternations of seasons, and of 
 day and night. The a- Xiy lOt^D is assuredly 
 
 T ; 
 
 power or rule. 
 
 '^ Vide eh. xxii. 11. The same words, but in a 
 diiferent sense. 
 
 ^ If ninO IS to be translated by Reins and 
 
 'OJi^ by Heart or Intellect, with the Hebrew- 
 commentators, the Chald. the Vulgate, and mo- 
 dern expositors, as Gesenius, (Vide Heb. Diet. 
 307,) " Who hath put wisdom in the reins, 
 or who gave understanding to the heart," the 
 connection would be too much broken. Gese- 
 nius ( Vide his larger Diet. 353,) proposes a trans- 
 position of the verse, but it is not easy to see 
 
284 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 37. Who can number the clouds in wisdom ? 
 Who can empty the vessels of heaven ?^ 
 
 in what part of the chapter our verse would be 
 suitable. I would prefer, therefore, in common 
 with several commentators, to illustrate the sense 
 
 of ri1nD» by comparing the Arabic {^^j ob- 
 
 scura fuit nox, and thence ^{^^ nubes alta ; 
 and, in like manner, referring ^05i^ to HDli^) 
 
 • : V T T 
 
 Chald. K3D ^0 behold, to render it, by <patv6- 
 
 T ; 
 
 //.ivov, appearance in the air. Vide Schultens in 
 loco. To understand the meaning of the verse, 
 we must think of the prophetic signs of clouds 
 and meteors, which are consulted by the at- 
 tentive husbandman. Vide Eccles. xi. 4. The 
 native of the East regards the skies with peculiar 
 interest, and discovers in them wonderful signs and 
 figures. Vide Hammer*s Schirin, Introd. 23. 
 
 f The meaning is, Who determines the due 
 measure of clouds and rain for the earth ? In 
 Koran Sur. xxiv. 44, it is said, " Seest thou not how 
 the Lord hath slowly moved the clouds. Then tak- 
 eth he them, and dasheth them one against another." 
 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 38. 285 
 
 38. When dust is caked together into hard- 
 ness. 
 And clod cleaveth fast to clod. 
 
 Vide Hammers translat. of passages of the Koran in 
 the Fundgruben des Orients. B. III. Pt. III. p. 253. 
 The clouds are called in the 2d hemistich, vessels 
 or bottles of heaven. ^D^ to lie, is here used in 
 
 — r 
 
 Hiphil. for the laying down of a vessel in order to 
 be emptied. ^^3fii^n corresponds with the Arabic 
 
 t-*«^aA« , which, even in Conj. I., means effudit. 
 Thus does a poet describe spring, -l^iJ\ <-N.^aAw^ 
 
 et fundunt pluviam nubes, (compare Jones' Poes. 
 Asiat. com. 307, ed. Eichhorn,) and the author of 
 
 XaJ JtkJi \a^^^ *• ^' Evang. inf. Servat. ed. H. 
 Sike, p. 12, uses this verb to express the pouring 
 out of a box of salve \j<Skam (j**L ^Xc \^xx^s.^^ 
 ^y*^j , " Et effudit illud (scil. alabastrum,) in ca- 
 put Domini nostri Jesu. ^Dti^ occurs in Hebrew, 
 at least in nom. deriv. from Kal. in this Arabic 
 
286 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 39. Canst thou hunt for the lioness her 
 
 prey, 
 Or still the young lions' hunger ?^ 
 
 40. When they couch in their dens, 
 And lie in wait in their coverts ?^ 
 
 meaning. Vide Exod. xvi. 13, 14. 7t5n HH^^ 
 
 and Levit. xv. 16, 17. j;iT"niD5!^» where in both 
 
 connectiorxs, the idea of pouring out prevails. The 
 translation of Jerome is worthy of remark, who, 
 after a forced explanation of the first hemistich, 
 has, in the second, referred to the Pythagorean 
 notion of the music of the spheres. " Quis enarra- 
 bit coelorum rationera, et concentum ccelorum quis 
 dormire faciet?" He understood by 7^^ the harp, 
 
 and by '2.'2ti^ ^o sleep. 
 
 * Some make this verse the beginning of a nevy 
 chapter. Jehovah now leads Job to the inexpli- 
 cable wonders of the animal kingdom. Under- 
 standest thou the instinct of the lioness, which 
 guides her search for prey ? 
 
 ^ The verbs HHti^ and 2lt^* are especially used 
 
 concerning the couching of wild beasts in their co- 
 verts. Ps, X. 8, 10. 
 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 41. 287 
 
 41. Who provideth his booty for the raven, 
 When his young ones cry to God for food, 
 And wander for lack of meat ? ' 
 
 i Mark the transition from the noble lioness and 
 her whelps to the hateful raven, and the croaking 
 of her young. Ps. cxlvii. 9. 
 
288 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Knowest thou the time when the swift 
 
 goat bringeth forth ? 
 Canst thou mark when the hinds do calve 'i^*^ 
 Canst thou number the months that they 
 
 fulfil? 
 Knowest thou the time when they bring 
 
 forth ? 
 
 ^ There is here no allusion made to the secrecy 
 of the pregnancy of the above named beasts, (for, 
 in that case, why should the chamois and the hind 
 be particularized.) But, the connection of what 
 precedes, and the sense of what follows, v. 3 and 4, 
 show Jehovah's meaning to be, to recal Job's at- 
 tention to the wonderful care bestowed by the Al- 
 mighty on all the creation, by informing him, that 
 even wild beasts which are cut off from all support 
 or community with man, and which delight them- 
 selves among tiie rocks and forests, are taught by 
 an immediate divine instinct, how to help them- 
 selves in the act of parturition. 
 
CHAP. XXXIX. 3,4,5. 289 
 
 3. They bow themselves, they bring forth 
 
 their young. 
 And cast forth their pains. ' 
 
 4. Their young ones prosper and wax large 
 
 in the fields ; 
 They go forth and return not back."' 
 
 5. Who hath sent the ass of the woods into 
 
 the wilderness, 
 
 * They do not require to reckon the time of 
 their pregnancy, for their labour is easy. H^Q 
 
 cleave, Pi. to cause to cleave or burst forth, i. e. to 
 bear. Concerning this meaning of the verb to 
 cleave for to bear, vide Schultens Animadv. Philol. 
 ]50. " They cast forth their pains," for *' they 
 cast with the young ones, which produce pain." 
 ™ The young prosper without the care of man. 
 
 QSn changed with ^'^pf = the Arab. *i^ to be 
 Heshy ; in Heb. and Syr, to be strong. Vide 
 
 Schultens in loco. The Arab. ^ -.r:^ entirely cor- 
 responds with ^^» in this sense. Vide De Sacrj 
 
 TT 
 
 Chrestom. Arab* p. 5. "iO S is the pleonast. sibi, as 
 
 T 
 
 ch. xxiv. 16. 
 
 VOL. II. T 
 
290 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And who hath loosed the bands of the 
 wild ass ?° 
 
 6. To whom I have given the wilderness as 
 
 a dwelling, 
 And the salt deserts as an abode. ° 
 
 7. He scorneth the tumult of the city, 
 
 He heareth not the crying of the driver.^ 
 
 " The ass of the woods, onager, here used to de- 
 note the most untamed animal. Vide Gen. xvi. 12, 
 where it is announced to Hagar that her son Is- 
 mael should become KHS- Vide Gesenius on the 
 
 word, concerning the nature of this animal, and 
 that it does not differ from the following "lilV* 
 
 ° nnSD saline, i. e. unfruitful land, vide Ps. 
 
 cvii. 34, " Omnis locus, in quo reperitur sal, sterilis 
 est nihilque gignit." Lowtli de Poes. Sacr. 170. 
 Plin. Hist. Nat. L. XXXI. ch. vii. In Jeremiah ii. 
 24, the wild ass is called "j^T^ 1?^^ N1D, " ac- 
 customed to the desert." 
 
 ^ The freedom of the ass is depicted with a sort 
 of poetical sympathy. Also the Arabian poets love 
 to describe the wild ass. We must remember, that 
 in Persia the ass is a highly valued animal — that 
 
 several kings have added its name r3^^ ^^ theirs 
 
CHAP. XXXIX. 8, 9. 291 
 
 8. That which is seen '^ upon the hills is his 
 
 pasture, 
 And he searcheth for every green thing. 
 
 9. Is the buffalo willing to serve thee ? 
 
 Or will he abide by night in thy cribs y"^ 
 
 e. g. Behramgur the renowned Sassanide -^j 
 
 ^ ^Tin^ ^ nom. from ^^n> to go about in search 
 
 of any thing, as D^p^ from Q^p. Several old 
 
 translators, as the Chald., the LXX. and the Vul- 
 gate, and also some of the modern, take it as the fut. 
 verb, and translate " He encircleth the hills." But 
 then, we must point I^D^? ^"^ take an Aram, form, 
 
 as K'lnS Eccles. xi. 3. 
 
 ^ It is disputed whether QH (usually D^^■^ or 
 contracted D1») means a gazelle^ (as Eichhorn be- 
 lieves it to be,) or a wild buffalo. The latter is the 
 more suitable meaning, since, in verse 10, there is 
 question of the animal being yoked in the plough. 
 Vide Schultens in loco, and De Wette on Ps. xxii. 22. 
 On the other hand, Rosenmiiller in loco. It is doubt- 
 ful whether D12LK means a stable or a crib. Vide 
 
292 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 10. Canst thou hold the buffalo by the rein in 
 
 thy furrow ? * 
 And will he harrow the fields after thee ? * 
 
 11. Wilt thou trust him because his strength 
 
 is great ? 
 Or wilt thou leave thy labour to him ? 
 
 12. Canst thou trust to him, that he will bring- 
 
 home thy fruits. 
 And empty thy thrashing-floor?" 
 
 13. The wing of the ostrich which vibrates 
 
 joyously, "^ 
 
 Gesenius Comment, in Is. i. 3. Either meaning is 
 admissible. 
 
 * Canst thou oblige him to plough, so that, at- 
 tached by a rein, he shall train the furrows ? 
 
 * " After thee," has given some offence, for the 
 peasant follows the harrow. But by ^nnN» the 
 
 good natured docility of the beast is expressed. 
 
 " « And collect thy thrashing floor ;" the word is 
 used to denote that which fills it. 
 
 ^ The Vulg. translates D^^^l hy Struthio. It 
 
 • ¥ 
 
 is plain that, in what follows, the ostrich, and not 
 the peacock is meant. Probably the name is poeti- 
 cally chosen, as e. g. the Arabians call the hen-os- 
 
CHAP, xxxix. 13. 293 
 
 Does it not resemble the quill and fea- 
 thers of the stork ? ^ 
 
 trich -Lo; song. It may be, that our name refers 
 
 to the vibration of the wing, or to the cry of the 
 ostrich -hen. Vide Bochart in Hieroz. Pt. II. B. 
 
 II. ch. xvi. torn. 2, p. 847. Whizzing wing may 
 also be given as a translation of D^^^I'^^S? ^"d if 
 
 this is the right meaning, the ostrich is not named ; 
 but, according to the method of Arabian poets, is 
 only described in what follows. It is in favour of 
 this explanation, that, by the omission of the name 
 of the bird, the poet more strongly arrests the 
 reader's attention. Thus do the Arabian poets of- 
 ten describe the ostrich. 
 
 y The wings and tail of the ostrich have large 
 white and black feathers like the stork. Vide 
 Marmot^s Description of Africa^ p, 1, ch. xxiii. 
 Rosenmuller on the Ancient and Modern East, Pt. 
 
 III. p. 365. The interrogation expresses wonder 
 on account of the remarkable animal which has 
 wings like a stork, and raises itself with some de- 
 gree of lightness, but yet cannot fly. n*T'Dn is 
 
 literally avis pia. Thus is the stork named because 
 of its parental affection, because of which the 
 
294 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 14. Yet he committeth his eggs to the earth, 
 And leaveth them to be warmed in the 
 dust. ^ 
 
 Egyptians made it the symbol of love to children. 
 Vide Horapollo xi. 58. According to Pliny Hist. 
 Nat. X. 32, the Greeks and Romans did the same. 
 The old commentators differ concerning the mean- 
 ing of the word, and the verse is variously under- 
 stood. Schultens cites nineteen explanations, and 
 adopts the twentieth. " Estne penna pietati- 
 cultrix, et pluma ?" Thus Gesenius, " The wing of 
 the ostrich vibrates joyously, but are its wings and 
 feathers lovely ?" i. e. " but they are not lovely, 
 they resemble not the stork." Thus, the first edi- 
 tion of the larger Heb. and Germ, dictionary. The 
 opinion of the reader must decide. At all events, 
 n*T^Dn must be etymologically insisted on. Ac- 
 cording to our explanation, Hlllt"? stands as stat. 
 absol. for the stat. const, as Deut. xvi. 21. Ruth ii. 
 17. nVi the same as HVll flag-feather. 
 
 T T 
 
 ' >3 advers. But, (though the ostrich has an 
 
 external resemblance to the stork,) it is not, like 
 that bird, full of love to its young, but is, on the 
 contrary, harsh and cruel. Hence the hen-ostrich 
 
CHAP. XXXIX. 15, 16. 295 
 
 15. And forgetteth that the foot may tread 
 
 upon them, 
 And that the beasts of the field may crush 
 them. 
 
 16. He is hardened against his young ones, as 
 
 though they were not his, 
 His labour is in vain, yet he careth not 
 for it. * 
 
 is called by the Arabs *-*X\o or wicked bird. Vide 
 
 Schultens in loco. An Arabian proverb likens un- 
 to the ostrich him who withdraws his benefits from 
 
 his own family in favour of strangers, ^>^j r^^^ 
 
 *^j' <^r^^ U^^ 5 " ^^^^^ abandons his own 
 
 eggs and hatches strange ones." Vide H. A. 
 Schultens^ Elnawabig^ page 7\. 
 
 ^ nCi^p the same as Hti^p, Hiph. to treat hard- 
 ly ; Arab, j^v^i*. Vide Schultens in loco, and Is. 
 Ixiii. 17. This vain labour relates to fruitless birth. 
 nriD ^^2. " there is to him no fear," viz. on ac- 
 count of his eggs. 
 
296 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 17. For God hath denied unto him wisdom, 
 And hath not given him understanding.'' 
 
 18. Yet he lifteth himself aloft," 
 
 ^ It may be remarked with reference to ch. 
 xxviii. 12, that want of care for children is called 
 want of wisdom or understanding. The ostrich is, 
 throughout the East, reckoned a stupid bird, hence 
 
 the Arab, proverb Xa^IxS (jj-< ^ — *♦->.!, " foohsh 
 as an ostrich." Vide Meidani prov. Arab, ex edit. 
 H. A. Schultens, p. 226.' 
 
 *^ K*1/tO only occurring in this place, the same as 
 
 tf -A) (HID) " equum scutica vel alia re (calcaribus) 
 
 ** -' T T 
 
 impellere ad currendum quantum potest." The 
 connection guides us to this explanation. LXX. 
 •j-xl^wcs/, Vulg. ; erigit alas. Vide J. D. Michaelis 
 Suppl. p. 1544, and Gesen. on the word. The 
 swiftness of the ostrich is a proverb among the 
 Arabians, Vide Bochart Hieroz. II. 868. In or- 
 der to depict the swiftness of the camel, Motanebbi 
 says, " Ask the camels how far the ostriches are 
 behind them." Vide Hammer's transl. 52, and 
 Ant. Horst. carmen Abu Ltajjib Ahmid Ben Alho- 
 sain Almotayiabbii, quo laudat Alhosainvm Ben- 
 Ishak Altanuchitam V. 6, p. 3 and 5. Willmetad 
 
CHAP. XXXIX. 19. 297 
 
 And mocketh the horse and his rider. 
 19. Hast thou given courage to the horse? 
 Hast thou clothed his neck with majesty?'^ 
 
 Antar. 156. Minutoli in his Journey to the Temple 
 of Jupiter Ammon, in his description of an ostrich 
 hunt, says, " The wounded alone were pursued, the 
 swiftest horseman might in vain attempt to over- 
 take an unhurt ostrich," p. 206. 
 
 ^ The allusion to the horse in the preceding 
 verse, gives the poet occasion now to describe it 
 more minutely. The description of the proud and 
 spirited war-horse is admirable. Vide Virgil 
 Georg. II. 75, &c., and a comparison of both de- 
 scr'iptious in Less Miscellan. writings, Part I. p. 1. 
 Herder, Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, Part /.HO and 
 111. The Arabian poets dwell with delight upon 
 the qualities of the horse. Vide Amrii l-Keis 
 Moallaka 50 — 64. Freitag, Description of Arab. 
 Versification, 402. Reiske in not. ad Tarapham., 
 84, 85. Antar MoalL 44. Lebid, m. Ibn Do- 
 reid carm. Maksura, 62. {1^^*^ is sometimes 
 
 T : ~ 
 
 translated highness, majesty, after the Chaldaic 
 QJ7*^ for Din j ^'id sometimes trembling, shudder- 
 ing, for trembling mane ; and sometimes thunder. 
 The last is the least suitable, and the first is the 
 preferable. 
 
298 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 20. Dost thou enable him to spring like a 
 
 grasshopper ? ® 
 His snorting is glory ! awful terror ! 
 
 21. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in 
 
 his strength, 
 He advanceth against the array of war.*^ 
 
 22. He mocketh at fear and tremble th not, 
 And turneth not away from the sword. 
 
 23. The quiver rattleth upon him, 
 , The spear and lance glitter ! ^ 
 
 ® Thus grasshoppers are compared by Joel ii. 4, 
 to horses. In illustration of our verse we may 
 read Amrulkeis in Reiske in not. ad Taraph.p.^A. 
 
 y*SJ^\ «• e. " de adventante (scil. equo) dicas, unani 
 esse de viridibus locustis, emersam stagnis." tl}V^ 
 
 - T 
 
 unites the meanings o^ tremble and spring up. 
 
 ^ Namely, in the valley, where the battle was 
 joined. How admirably chosen are the particulars 
 of this description I }^V* is used for marching out 
 
 to war in Num. i. 3 ; xxi. 23. Jos. viii. 14. Thus 
 
 in Arab. jL*. e. g. f^yjM jU^^LwwJ. Vide 
 Macriz. Hist. Reg. Islam. i?i Abgssinia, p. 30. 
 " n^*) is here used for pi, to rattle, to clank. 
 
r 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 24, 25. 299 
 
 24. With fretting and impatience he swallow- 
 
 eth up the ground, 
 And will not be still when the note of the 
 trumpet soundeth.^ 
 
 25. He saith among the trumpets " ha ha !" 
 
 The quiver stands for the arrows which it contains. 
 Also the spear and lance may be said to make a 
 clattering noise upon the horse. The glittering of 
 the spear, like the lightning of the spear. Hah. iii. 
 11. Thus in Judges iii. 22. ^H/ stands for ^"IH* 
 
 Also in Arabic this comparison is common. 
 
 ^ How graphic is the expression : " The war- 
 horse gnaweth the ground ;" when excited by un- 
 bridled courage, he will not obey the commands of 
 his rider, but, striving to rush on, he draws in the 
 ground or devours it with his feet. The translation of 
 the verb K^^ by sorbere is erroneous, if we con- 
 
 T T 
 
 ceive the horse to be in the act of leaping, and 
 translate thus : " He rushes forward with a bold 
 spring." ^^DNH intrans. means here to stand still. 
 
 It is unsuitable to translate " and believeth not that 
 it is the trumpet sound." After "iQ^Ji^ Sip we 
 
 must supply " to sound. Vide Gesen. Lehrgeh, 
 830. 
 
300 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And smelleth the battle from afar,* 
 , The thunder of the leaders, and the cry of 
 war. 
 
 26. Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, 
 
 And stretch her wings towards the south ? ^ 
 
 27. Or doth the eagle ascend at thy command, 
 And build his nest in the height ? 
 
 28. He dwelleth and abideth on the rock, 
 On the tooth and fastness of the cliif.' 
 
 ' nNH expresses the mettlesome neighing of the 
 war-horse. n^lH io smelly or, in other words, im- 
 mediately to perceive. Vide Is. xi. 3. The magical 
 influence of the distant tumult of battle on a coura- 
 geous war-horse is depicted with truth and poetry. 
 Pliny VIII. 42, says of war-horses, " praesagiunt 
 pugnam." 
 
 ^ The wonderful instinct of some birds is here 
 alluded to, which migrate to warmer climates on 
 the approach of winter. 15^^ Verb, denom. from 
 11K a wing. 
 
 • " Tooth of the rock," is the projecting point of 
 the cliff. Thus it is called horn, nose, &c. Vide 
 Is. V. 1, and Gesen. in loco. By ]^"i7n* is ex- 
 pressed secure abiding. Vide Ps. xci. 1. 
 
CHAP. XXXIX. 29, 30 301 
 
 29. From thence he descrieth his prey, 
 His eyes watch from afarT 
 
 30. His young ones swallow blood, 
 
 And where the slain lie, there is he." 
 
 "" The j3oet here brings before us exclusively 
 images of the grandeur of nature, the bold overhang- 
 ing cliff, and on its top the royal eagle, with wide- 
 searching look after its prey. *li3n> literally, to 
 
 dig^ hence, to search. Vide Deut i. 22. Job ii. 2, 3. 
 
 ° Description of the young eagle's thirst for 
 
 blood. j;^j; only in Pi. to swallow = y^^ Obad. 
 
 16. Vide Schulte7is and Roseiimiiller in loco. 
 
302 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 1. Jehovah began and answered Job." 
 
 2. Will he that reproveth dispute with the 
 
 Almighty ? ^ 
 And will the complainer against God an- 
 swer ! 
 
 JOB. 
 
 3. Then Job answered Jehovah and said, 
 
 4. Lo ! I am too mean, what shall I answer 
 
 thee? 
 
 ** Eichhorn places verses from 1 to 14 of ch. xl. 
 after xlii. 6; and unites ch. xl. 15, immediately 
 with xxxix. 30, in order that the words of the 
 Lord, in reference to the wonders of the animal 
 kingdom, may follow uninterruptedly. But the 
 interruption which is caused by the usual arrange- 
 ment adds to the force of the expression. 
 
 P nn for m as judges xi. 25. The inf. ab- 
 
 sol. ^*) stands for the verb fin. *^iD' ad form. 
 
CHAP. XL. 5, 6,7.8, 9, 10. 303 
 
 I lay mine hand upon my mouth. "^ 
 
 5. Once have I spoken, I will reply no 
 
 more ! 
 Yea, twice, but 1 will not do so again \^ 
 
 JEHOVAH. 
 
 6. Then answered Jehovah to Job out of the 
 
 tempest, and said, 
 
 7. Arise, gird up thy loins like a man ! 
 
 I will ask of thee, and do thou inform 
 me ! 
 
 8. Wilt thou disannul my judgments? 
 Wilt thou condemn me that thou mayest 
 
 be righteous ? 
 
 9. Hast thou an arm like God ? 
 
 Canst thou thunder with a voice like 
 him ? ^ 
 10. Deck thyself with majesty and excellency, 
 
 ** i. e. I am silent, Judges xviii. 19. 
 
 ■■ Job has once spoken to God : (we may more 
 especially think of the intemperate speeches of a 
 sufferer). The second time he will not allow him- 
 self the liberty of opposition. 
 
 ^ The arm of God is the instrument of his om- 
 nipotence, Is. liii. 1 ; and the thunder is his own 
 voice, Vide ch, xxxvii. 5. 
 
304 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 And array thyself with glory and splen- 
 dour !* 
 
 1 1 . Spread out the floods of thy wrath, 
 Look upon whatever is high, and humble 
 
 it," 
 
 12. And regard every thing that is exalted, 
 
 and bring it low ; 
 And throw down the wicked in their 
 place ! ^ 
 
 13. Hide them in the dust together, 
 Veil their countenance in darkness !y 
 
 *■ The same words in Ps. civ. 1. 
 " Vide Isaiah ii. 12, &c. where the divine omni- 
 potence is represented as bowing down the pride 
 
 of the earth. The Arabians say ^^^^ \j^^^ 
 exundare fecit iram. Vide Schultens Animadvei-s. 
 Philol. in loco, Mark ^^?1) which excellently 
 
 expresses the povver of God. The mere glance of 
 the Almighty upon the pride of the earth abases 
 it. 
 
 ^ "lin ^'^' ^£7«= *^*^^ = ^*^^ to overthrow, to 
 make to fall upon the earth. DDHD " on the 
 
 place under their feet." Vide on the meaning of 
 D'nr\ Ewald in Crit. Gram. 612. 
 
 y Isaiah ii. 10, is a good illustration of this verse, 
 
CHAP. XL. 14, 15. 305 
 
 14. Then will I also extol thee, 
 
 That thine own right hand can save 
 thee ! ' 
 
 15. Behold the river-horse, ^ which I created 
 
 as well as thee,^ 
 
 *' Enter into the rock and hide thee in the dust, 
 (*|5V5 ^Dt^m), for fear of the Lord, and for the 
 glory of his majesty." Literally, " Veil their 
 countenance in concealment." t^'2'n as above in 
 
 ~ T 
 
 ch. xxxiv. 17, = iy*-^^ iii carcerem conjecit ali- 
 quem, to shut up. 
 
 ^ But, since thou canst not do this, thou must 
 laud the Almighty's creating power. 
 
 * Jehovah continues to show Job the wonders 
 of the animal world. He notices first of all amphi- 
 bious creatures, the monstrous nlDil^* The 
 
 name denotes an immense quadruped, since we have 
 the plur. excellentiae of nOH^' We must under- 
 stand either the elephant or the river-horse. Bo- 
 chart decides in favour of the latter. Vide Hieroz. 
 Pt, II. ch. XV. torn. Hi. p. 705. Vide Gesenius on 
 the word. Schultens and Rosenmiiller in loco. 
 ^ *^V " as well as thee, or with thee," i. e. 
 
 with the same Creator's hand, and yet what a dif- 
 
 VOL. II. u 
 
306 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 He eateth grass like an ox.*^ 
 
 16. Behold the strength of his loins, 
 
 And his force in the muscles of his belly !^ 
 
 17. He bendeth his tail like a cedar,^ 
 
 ference there is between thee and it ! Others ren- 
 der it " near thee," that is, in Egypt near Arabia. 
 But this is unsuitable. Vide for the meaning of 
 Dj^j which we have adopted, Ps. cvi. 6. 
 
 *^ How wonderful ! To judge from his appear- 
 ance, one would take him for a destructive beast of 
 prey. Concerning the similarity of nourishment 
 of the river-horse and ox, vide Bochart. Hence is 
 it also called river-cow. 
 
 ^ The explanation of *l'^t!^ (vide Gesenius on 
 
 the word) Jirm, hard, for ^'^^ (Chald. TlCi^) 
 navel, is here unsuitable. Thus the Vulg. and 
 Chald. Others understand by D'^iHti^ the con- 
 cealed parts of the body. 
 
 ® Though his tail is as strong as a cedar, he yet 
 bends it, as the mighty tempest is able to drive hi- 
 ther and thither the loftiest trees. \QT\ means 
 
 the same thing as the Arab. (j<ax=s» depressit, as 
 this occurs in Sarnaschari in the Fundgruhen dcs 
 Orients. Bh. G, p. 240. The primary meaning of 
 
CHAP. XL. 18, 19. 307 
 
 The sinews of his thighs are twisted.^ 
 
 18. His bones are tubes of brass ! 
 They are like unto bars of iron ! ^ 
 
 19. He is the first of the works of God,^ 
 
 this verb is to hend^ with which the other meanings 
 easily agree. 
 
 ^ The thickly twisted sinews of his thighs evince 
 the strength of his body. Concerning HnS like 
 
 s ^ 
 
 the Arab. *^*^^ loins, vide Schultens in loco, and 
 Bochart, Hieroz. II. 758. Jj^ji^ = to the Chald. 
 
 JJ'lD and *TSD lo hvisty and to the Arab. ^-^ 
 
 to clasp together, and ^^^ which means nexus fuit, 
 
 Vide Rodiger in Glossar. to Lokman, 28. 
 
 ^ The inward parts are next described. The 
 bones may be compared with brass and iron, be- 
 cause of their hardness. 7'^D «'^' ^27* '^'''o^ staff. 
 
 In Arabic 3-k^ is ferrum cudit et extendit. 
 
 ^ In no creature, is the wonderful power of the 
 Creator so greatly displayed as in the river-horse. 
 It is as though this animal were the first which had 
 proceeded from the creative energy of God, and 
 
308 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 His Creator hath bestowed on him his 
 sword ! ' 
 20. Yet the mountains bring forth his food, ^ 
 And all the beasts of the field sport a- 
 round.^ 
 
 ranks ia the animal creation as wisdom does in that 
 of spiritual intelligences. Vide Prov. viii. 22, 
 where it is called ^^^'1 D''t^^y 
 
 ^ The strong teeth of the river-horse must be 
 understood by the sword of God. t^^^H to lead, 
 to bring, or to reach forth, as the Arabians use 
 
 ^^^ for venit and dedit. Luther's explanation is 
 far-fetched : " der greift ihn an mit seinem 
 Schwerdt." 
 
 ^ The translation was formerly, " For moun- 
 tains bring forth food for him ;" so that he used 
 the sword of God to mow the grass. But the con- 
 nection is better observed if we take *3 advers. 
 
 It is not a terrible ravening wild beast. 
 
 J A very graphic addition. This monstrous 
 creature allows the wild animals to sport around 
 him, and uses not his immense teeth against, but 
 peacefully and contentedly browses in the midst of 
 them. 
 
CHAP. XL. 21, 22, 23. 309 
 
 21. He taketh rest among lotus-bushes, 
 Under coverts of reeds and in the marshes. 
 
 22. Lotus-bushes entwine to shade him,"" 
 The willows of the brook compass him 
 
 about. 
 
 23. Lo the stream overfloweth, he trembleth 
 
 not! 
 He is of good courage, though a Jordan 
 reacheth to his mouth :° 
 
 "^ D^7K^ is either according to the Aramaic 
 way of writing (as D^SSV) shady thickets, as 
 RGsenmliller conceives, or Lotus-bushes, with a 
 
 comparison with the Arabic XJIao. Vide Schultens, 
 Eichhorn, Gesenius, 8^c. The latter translation is 
 preferable, because of the following verse, where it 
 cannot be said with propriety, " Shady bushes are 
 entwined in order to shade him." " Inter arun- 
 dines celsas et squalentes nimia densitate haec bel- 
 lua cubilia ponit." Ammian. Marcell. lib. XXII. 
 Vide Bosenmiiller in loco. 
 " The sense is, the animal is amphibious. pCi^V 
 
 means elsewhere to use violence to one, and here re- 
 fers to the flooding of the stream. Il^il in the fol- 
 lowing hemistich, corresponds with it, to break 
 
310 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 24. Before his eyes he is taken, 
 
 And his nose is pierced through with a 
 cord." 
 
 25. Canst thou draw the crocodile with a 
 
 hook? 
 And press down his tongue with a cord?*" 
 
 forth and swell up to his raouth. The Arabians 
 
 apply the expression MtX^ injuste agere^ to streams 
 which overflow their banks. Vide Schultens in loc. 
 " A Jordan," (mark that Hl^ stands without PT 
 
 artic.) i. e. using a Hebrew comparison, the great- 
 est river ; and in this case the Nile. Thus there 
 is no real difiiculty in the river-horse being trans- 
 posed from the Nile to the Jordan. From the 
 mention made of this river, the author of the book 
 is proved to be a Hebrew, for he alludes to his na- 
 tive stream instead of the mighty river of Egypt. 
 
 ° Description of the tame helplessness of the 
 river-horse, which is so easily caught. 
 
 P But the crocodile is not so easy a prey. Con- 
 cerning Tn^l/ vide Bochart, I. ch. p. 737, where it 
 
 is demonstrated that the crocodile must be under- 
 stood by this name. " Planum est leviathan sim- 
 plicem esse vocem, cujus ultima syllaba ?n thaii^ 
 pertinet ad formam nominis, ut in *rit^^inj» et 
 
CHAP. XL. 26. 311 
 
 26. Canst thou draw a rope of rushes through 
 his nose ? 
 Or pierce his cheeks with a ring?^ 
 
 ]nbDD, et ]n^:y, et \rhpy' Radix porro nee 
 Hebraea est, nee Syra, sed Arabica. Arabice sci- 
 licet verbum ^^ passim occurrit in significatione 
 flectendi, et contorquendi. — Itaque leviathan pro- 
 prie sinuosum est animal, et in plures spiras volu- 
 bile, qualis est maxime draco. Itaque leviathan ab 
 Esaia definitur tnSpJ/ ti^H^ serpens obliquus, vei 
 tortuosus. Verum ut vox synonyraa thannin ita 
 draconera significat, ut saepe transferatur ad cetos, 
 et marinas belluas ; quia draconura formam et flex- 
 um aliquo modo referunt : ita nomine leviathan 
 passim cetos et balaenas appellari videas, ut Psal. 
 Ixxiv. 14; civ. 20. Es. xxvii. 1. Qua ipsa de 
 causa factum ut utroque nomine thannin^ inquam, 
 et leviathan^ croeodili significentur, quia crocodili 
 sunt ad similitudinem draconis." J/ptJ^ to sink, 
 
 Hiph. to press down. The sense is, " canst thou 
 manage the crocodile like a fish ? Since fishes are 
 caught with a hook, and the string of the hook 
 presses down their tongue, the author here ex- 
 presses the same action, although the crocodile has 
 not really a tongue." — Eichhorn. 
 
 ^ Vide on the Egyptian way of fishing, Oed- 
 
312 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 27. Will he make many supplications unto 
 thee ? 
 Will he speak soft words unto thee '^^ 
 
 mannas Collections from Natural Science, Pt. V. 
 ch. 5. ^iOJlK is here a cord twined from a reed or 
 
 rushes, like 6-xp7vog of the Greeks. " Plinius libri 
 decimi noni capite secundo : junco Graecos ad 
 funes uses, nomini credamus, quo herbam earn ap- 
 pellant. Nomen illud est cx^mg, quod et juncum 
 significat, et funem e junco plexum. Sic Hebraice 
 funis junceus peculiari nomine vocabatur /^H 
 
 yyory. quia j:iD in Aruch est m^vtl; NDi^i m 
 
 T T - T T ' 
 
 7^n I^DD junci species, ex quo fit funis." Bo- 
 chart in loco. For other explanations, vide Gese- 
 nius in thesaur. philol. critic, ling. Heb. et Chald, 
 Concerning nlH ring, or hook with which the 
 
 cheek of the animal is pierced, and is dragged 
 ashore. Vide J. D. Michaelis in Suppl. ad lex, 
 Heb. p. 715. Nine Codd. of Kennicot's read nil- 
 Vide 2 Kings xix. 28. Is. xxxvii. 29. Ezek, 
 xxix. 4. 
 
 "^ Viz. That thou mayest spare his life. Ironical 
 description of the untamed wildness of the croco- 
 dile. Here there is no allusion to the proverbial 
 tears of this animal. 
 
CHAP. XL. 28, 29, 30. 313 
 
 28. Will lie make a covenant with thee ? 
 Canst thou make him a servant for ever?* 
 
 29. Canst thou sport with him as with a bird? 
 Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens ? * 
 
 30. Do partners in trade purchase him ? 
 
 Is he divided among the Canaanites? " 
 
 ^ The sense is, can he ever be tamed for domes- 
 tic purposes? 
 
 ^ Many creatures, such as birds, are caught by 
 man, and become the toys of women. But, with 
 the crocodile, this is impossible. Bochart in loco, 
 alludes to the well known passage in Catullus II. 
 1—4: 
 
 Passer, deliciae meae puellae, 
 Quicum ludere, quern in sinu tenere, 
 Quoi primum digitum dare adpetenti, 
 Et acris solet invitare morsus. 
 
 " Can it be made an article of commerce, like 
 those fishes which are good for food? HID Is 
 
 TT 
 
 usually (as in 2 Kings vi. 23,) taken to signify 
 
 feasting -zi r^=>i > e. g. De Wette, " Do the compa- 
 nions feast upon him ?" The meaning would then 
 be, Do the fishers, when they take him, make a 
 joyful banquet on him? But ni3 is here, with 
 
314 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 31. Canst thou fill his hide with barbed irons? 
 And his head with fish-spears ? '^ 
 
 32. Lay thine hand upon him ! 
 Think on the conflict. 
 
 Thou wilt not venture it again ! 
 
 greater propriety, to buy = 'r^* > o,s Deut. ii. 6. 
 Hos. iii. 2. The Canaanites are put, as Prov. xxxi. 
 24. Is. xxiii. 8, for merchants in general. For 
 other explanations, vide Rosenmiiller in loco. 
 ^ The crocodile's hide is impenetrable, vide ch. 
 
 xli. 15, nSti^ = *^>^ spina^ is here used for 
 pointed weapons in general. D'J*^ 7V7V is a fish 
 
 » . T — ; • 
 
 spear. 7^^^ is used for a clanging instrument, 
 a. r. ^^ tinnire. Vide Schidtens in loco. 
 
CHAP. XLI. 1. 2. 315 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 1. Lo ! his hope becometh a lie ! ■ 
 Is he not cast down even at the sight of 
 
 him?y 
 
 2. If no one is strong enough to stir him up, 
 Who then may venture to oppose himself 
 
 to my countenance ? ^ 
 
 y " His hope," i. e. The hope of any one who 
 wishes to vanquish him. Or, as is better, Jehovah 
 speaks of Job in the third person, instead of him- 
 self. n^TD^5 the hope is represented as a de- 
 
 ■»■ T : • 
 
 eeiver. Niph. is here passive of Hiphil. Vide 
 Ewaldin Crit. Gram.2i8. DJlH for DJI 5^711, as 
 in 1 Sam. ii. 27, and frequently H occurs in this 
 sense. 7C3* Hiiph. from ^^tO ^o be long^ to he 
 stretched out at lengthy as Ps. xxxvii. 24. 
 
 ^ If no one dares to stir up the creature, who 
 will venture to engage in a conflict with the Crea- 
 tor ? This idea lies at the bottom of the descrip- 
 
316 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 3. Who hath prevented me with service, that 
 
 I should repay him ? 
 Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is 
 mine ! * 
 
 4. I will not conceal his limbs, 
 
 The expression of his strength, and the 
 beauty of his armour ! ^ 
 
 tion of the terrible crocodile. Instead of *^£)S 
 several codd. read V^£)^> which, if referred to the 
 
 TT : 
 
 Leviathan, though it may seem to be an improve- 
 ment, in reality enfeebles the sense. 
 
 ^ Especially addressed to Job. Who may pre- 
 tend to the favour of God, as if he had deserved 
 well of him ? What can man give unto him who 
 possesseth all? Vide Ps. l. 10, 11. DHpH = 
 
 -tXii to come before one, to prevent him loith ser- 
 vice. Vide Ps. xxi. 4. Deut. xxiii. 5. 
 
 ^ Eichhorn reads from verses 4 to 26, immediate- 
 ly after chapter xl. 31. But the general digression 
 in Jehovah's speech does not disturb the harmony 
 of the passage. It is an agreeable change, after the 
 long description of the sea-monster. From the 
 words " I will not conceal," or " pass over in si- 
 lence," it would appear that the speaker had inter- 
 
CHAP. XLI. 5, 6. 317 
 
 5. Who uncovereth the surface of his gar- 
 
 ment ? 
 Who doth press within his doable teeth ?^ 
 
 6. Who dareth to open the doors of his coun- 
 
 tenance ? 
 The rows of his teeth — how terrible ? ^ 
 
 rupted himself before he had quite ended his de- 
 scription. ril'^ISil *1^^} the true proportion and 
 
 constitution of strength. Thus l^'H is used in 
 
 » T 
 
 Deut. xix. 4. It may be well translated by (Ger- 
 man) Ausdriick, expression. V^ Chald. for TpTj 
 
 beaut?/. By "llj/ we may understand that which, 
 
 in verses 7 — 9, is said of the well contrived cover- 
 ing of the crocodile. 
 
 ^ The surface of his garments expresses the 
 firmness of the covering of the animal. We can- 
 not penetrate even into its external coat. 10*1 
 
 elsewhere bridle, is here used for ieeth or Jaws. 
 Vide the Greek "/aXmi, frena, and Rosenmidle 
 in loco. 
 
 ^ " Crocodilus scilicet sexaginta numero dentes, 
 eosque majores habet, quam pro ratione corporis, 
 et in illis quosdam exertos, alios serratos et pecti- 
 natim coeuntes, morsum tenacissimum, atqiie ita 
 
318 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 7. His back is of furrowed scales, ^ 
 Shut up as with a close seal ! 
 
 8. The one fits so closely to the other. 
 That air cannot come between them. 
 
 9. They hang firmly to each other, 
 They are closed fast together. 
 And cannot be separated. 
 
 10. His sneezings cause light to shine, 
 
 perniclosum, ut non curetur aliter, quain morsus 
 rabidi canis." Bochart in loco. 
 
 ® Others translate " The strong scales are his 
 
 pride ;" and doubtless TV\^^ is usually pride, and 
 T— : ~ 
 
 p^QK adj. is strong. " The strong parts of his 
 scales," might stand for " his strong scales." Vide 
 Gesenius in Lehrgeb. 678. But 111}^^ may here 
 be the same with jlli) hack^ and p^£){^, as ch. xl. 
 
 18, may be taken for furrows, tubes. Then the de- 
 scription would be more graphic. We must think 
 of the crocodile's hard furrowed coat of scales. 
 "^IJlD is to be taken as singular in reference to 
 
 D^^JlD distributive. 
 
CHAP. XLI. 11, 12. 319 
 
 And his eyes glisten like the eyelids of 
 the morning. ^ 
 
 11. Torches proceed from his jaws, 
 And sparks of fire leap out. 
 
 1 2. Smoke goeth out of his nostrils 
 
 As out of a seething pot or caldron. ^ 
 
 ilU^^tDy sneezing, from t^JOV = u^^ to 
 
 sneeze. " Quum sternutat crocodilus per nares 
 confertim actus spiritus tanto prorumpit impetu, ut 
 scintillare videatur, et flamraas emittere. Quod 
 ideo huie animali frequentius accidere, mihi est 
 verisimile, quia ei solemne est, ut oculis ad solem 
 obversis apricetur." Vide Bochart in loco, and as 
 to the glistening of his eyes, " hac in parte rairus 
 fuit iiooy^af/jfMciTsuv Aegyptiorum cum sacro vate 
 consensus. Illi enim apud Horura Hieroglyphicor. 
 L. I. cap. 63. ' Avarokriv Xsyo\irig, dvo 6(p^aX/M0vc 
 KPOXodsiKou ^Myea^ovGiv, l^xiihri'mo (lege s~iihr, 'tt^o) Tav- 
 rhg (Tw/xaros ^wou o'l cxp'^uX/jjOi ex rov /S'j^oO dva(pa/vovTui, 
 " auroram significantes, oculos crocodili pingunt, 
 propterea quod ante totum corpus aniraalis, oculi 
 ex fundo apparent." Quomodo scilicet solis cor- 
 pore nondum exorto aurorae radii emicant." 
 
 ° mDi 1^1 « seethiiig pot, as in Jer. i. 13, 
 
 where the prophet is described as beholding 
 
320 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 13. His breath kindleth coals, 
 
 And a flame goeth out of his mouth, ^ 
 
 14. Strength resteth upon his neck, 
 And sorrow danceth before him.' 
 
 n^£)i *1'D. ]^l2^i^ « boiling kettle from DJK = 
 
 ^^S to hum. 
 
 "^ The description (from ver. 1 to 13,) of the 
 fire-spitting crocodile is to be taken in part as a 
 poetical hyperbole. Vide Rosenmiiller s Ancient 
 and Modern East, Pt. III. p. 374. Bertram, in 
 his Travels in North and South Carolina, says, " I 
 perceived a crocodile rush from a small lake, whose 
 banks were covered with reeds. It puffed out its 
 enormous body, and reared its tail in the air. 
 Thick smoke came with a thundering sound from 
 his nostrils. At the same time an immense rival 
 crocodile arose from the deep on the opposite 
 bank. They darted one at another, and the wa- 
 ters boiled beneath them." 
 
 * A certain antithesis exists in ^^7* and \*^*tJl. 
 
 He, the strong one, rests tranquilly, whilst all a- 
 round there is anxious commotion. n^lN'l a. r. 
 
 ^J«J1 == ^1*T to melt away, chiefly from anxiety, is 
 
 personified; as also |y is a personification, and ap- 
 pears as the accompanier of the crocodile, as we 
 
CHAP. XLI. 15,16. 321 
 
 15. The dewlaps of his flesh hang firmly to- 
 
 gether, 
 They are spread over him and cannot be 
 moved.^ 
 
 16. His heart is firmly pressed together like a 
 
 stone, 
 Firmly pressed together like the nether 
 millstone.* 
 
 say *' Terror or anxiety goeth before him." 
 LXX. 'ififT^ockv dvTou T^s^si a^rwXs/a, as if it were 
 TTMl as several codd. have it. t*^1 = ,o> and 
 
 Qfib to dance, to spring, is stronger and better. 
 Strength lies chiefly in the neck. 
 
 ^ /QD fiom 7f)^ ; that which hangs down, the 
 
 T - — T 
 
 dewlap of the throat. We may supply to p^^^ > 
 
 lii^ll from the foregoing hemistich. The expres- 
 
 sion tOl^^"?^ well describes the firmness of the 
 
 flesh. 
 
 ^ We shall best explain ^7 by understanding it 
 
 to mean the heart in its physical sense, regarded as 
 the seat of courage and feeling. Mark the rising 
 of the image in the second hemistich, for the ne- 
 ther millstone, on which the upper (HD^) turns, 
 
 VOL. II. X 
 
322 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 17. When he raiseth himself up, heroes 
 
 tremble, 
 They are bewildered by reason of terror.™ 
 
 18. When he is attacked by the sword, it 
 
 holdeth not," 
 
 must be especially hard. Vide Jakn in Bib. 
 Archaeol I. 2. 175. h'^D is literally the half of 
 
 an entire piece cut oif. Vide 1 Sam. xxx. 12. 
 Canticles iv. 3. 
 
 ™ Inb^D for iDNt^Oj as it is found iu several 
 
 codd., refers first of all to the rising up of the croco- 
 dile from the water ; and then the expression may 
 be intended by comparison to remind us of the 
 greatness and majesty of the Creator himself, vide 
 ch. xiii. 11. D^ /Kj or more usually D^7^N> as it 
 
 is frequently written in this passage, means slre?igthy 
 heroes. Q'^^^, literally confractiones (animi), i. 
 
 e. terrores. For the verba of breaking are among 
 eastern people (as we are reminded by Bochart), 
 also verba of terrifying.— 1}<t9nn*> they are be- 
 
 wildered, viz. through anxiety ; vide ScJiuHens 
 Aniwad. Phil. 175. 
 
 " nin injl^b^/!D, «» a nom. absol., is to be trans- 
 lated, " There is one that advanceth the sword a- 
 
CHAP. XLI. 19. 323 
 
 Nor lances, arrows, and coats of mail.'* 
 19. He esteemeth iron as straw. 
 And brass as rotten wood. 
 
 gainst him," i. e. *' If any one will strike him with 
 the sword.*' The expression DIpD ^ /2' " ^^ 
 
 holdeth not," is graphic ; viz. it holdeth not on his 
 hard skin, or it reboundeth from it. Bochart has 
 collected several classical passages in further proof 
 of what Pliny has said, " Cutem contra omnem 
 ictum invictam esse," as Herodotus ascribes to the 
 crocodile dsofj^a aUn'^rov. In Caswini it is said, 
 
 " The back resembles that of the tortoise, which steel 
 cannot penetrate." 
 
 « Soil. Dipn h^l' There can be no doubt that 
 the words J/DQ and HHt^ which occur only here, 
 
 denote weapons. With regard to the latter, there 
 is some doubt whether, in this passage, where there 
 is question of an attack upon the crocodile, it can 
 mean coat of mail, like |'*152^ and pHCS^; and 
 
 therefore Bochart has translated it spiculum =. the 
 
 Arab, "^.j^ parva sagitta. But the poet means to 
 express that defensive weapons also are useless, 
 and that the breastplate of the warrior affords him 
 
324 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 20. The son of the bow cannot make him flee/ 
 Slingstones are turned before him into 
 
 stubble. 
 
 21. Clubs are counted as stubble,"^ 
 
 no protection against the monster. But yBD is by 
 
 many commentators referred to riOHt so that this 
 
 signifies lancea profectionis (from J/DD prqficisci) 
 
 i. e. ejaculationisy i. e. hasta missilis. Vide IHK 
 
 VDD 1 Kings vi. 7. Only the description would 
 
 acquire greater force, if, with Bochart, we were to 
 understand by the word a species of weapon. He 
 
 compares the Arabic word %^ confodere, and ex- 
 plains it by telum. Schultens cites the Arabic 
 
 G^O 
 
 ^ JLc , which also means arrow^ from ^p 
 
 traxiU attraxit arcum. Vide Geseniuson the ivord. 
 
 P Son of the bow is the arrow, as Lament, iii. 
 13. Vide Jones^ Poes. Asiat. Comment, 127, J. G. 
 Eichhorn^s edition : and father, mother, son, and 
 daughter, are used as figurative terms in Arabic. 
 Vide Hammer Fundgruben des Orients, vi. 4. 402. 
 A. T. Hartmaiin's 2d Excursus to his Commentary 
 on Micah; Frey tag's Lex. Arab. Lat.p. 6, 54, 161, 
 162. 
 
 ^ Concerning the ar. Xiy. r\ry\r\ c^^^} from the 
 
CHAP. XLl. 22, 23. 325 
 
 He laugheth at the sliakini^ of the spear. 
 
 22. Pointed sherds are beneath him, 
 
 He spreadeth out threshing instruments 
 upon the mire."" 
 
 23. He maketh the deep to boil like a pot, 
 
 root nn* J Arab. ^^ fuste percussit, vide Bo- 
 chart and Schultens in loco. The plural l^ti^H^ 
 
 is no way incorrect, as many suppose, standing, as 
 it does with a singular noun : but this is to be taken 
 as collective. No club of any sort can hurt him. 
 
 ^ The meaning is, The under part of his body is 
 sharp and pointed. ti^^H ^^111) literally, " points 
 
 under sherds," i. e. very sharp and pointed sherds, 
 acumina testae. Vide Gesenius in Lehrgeb. 678. 
 Etvald in Crit. Gram. 576. With regard to this 
 comparison, Bochart adduces a passage from ^Elian, 
 Hist.Anim. B. 10, ch. 24, which says that the cro- 
 codile is armed as with shields, which hixaciv ogt- 
 odx.o/g zaorsDoTg. r^in> Threshing instruments. 
 
 (Dreschschlitten, Germ.) vide Isaiah xxviii. 27. 
 This comparison is somewhat ironical, as it is not 
 customary to spread out threshing instruments upon 
 the mire, D*D"*^J^ but upon the fruits of the 
 ground. Other attempts at explaining this pas- 
 
326 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 He changetli the sea into a mortar of oint- 
 ment.^ 
 24. Behind him he causeth his track to shine, 
 
 One would take the water-flood for hoary 
 hair.^ 
 
 sage, which is by no means difficult, vide in Rosen- 
 miiller in loco. 
 
 ^ Bold comparisons, descriptive of the foaming 
 of the waves after the passage of the crocodile. 
 nSVi^D as n?^^ depths of the sea or of a river. 
 Vide Jo7i. ii. 4. Micah vii. 19. Zech. x. Jl. Q> is 
 used here for the Nile, as Is. xix. 5. Nah. iii. 8, as 
 
 it is called by the Arabians ^-i • Pinp'l/t^ 
 
 from np*l = -f^j ^^ ^^^ odoriferous ointments^ 
 either means the ointments themselves, as Ezek. 
 xxiv. 10, or a vessel in which ointments are mixed. 
 The latter sense is preferable, because of *1^D o^' 
 
 the first member of the verse. Bochart and Rosen- 
 miiller maintain that the crocodile brings a perfume 
 with him out of the water. 
 
 * The shining which is seen on the track of the 
 crocodile, is foam of the water. Thus Homer often 
 calls the sea grey, to denote that it foams (croX/j^y 
 "^akdasav). Thus Catullus in Epithalamio Pelei : 
 " Tortaque remigio spumis incanuit unda." 
 
CHAP. XLI. 25, 26. 327 
 
 25. Upon earth there is not his like, " 
 He is made without fear. ^ 
 
 26. He looketh upon all high things,^ 
 He, the king amongst all proud beasts. 
 
 and Manillas, Astronomic. Book I. 
 
 " Ut freta canescunt, sulcum ducente carina." 
 Vide Bochart in loco, 
 " /Ji^D is not here dominion^ as in ch. ix. 10, 
 
 but similarity^ equality/, Muntinghe and Rosen- 
 miiller's translation has a weaker sense: " Non 
 habet potentiam sibi parem in terra." *^Qy^y 
 
 T T 
 
 literally on the dust, i. e. on the transitory earthly 
 scene. 
 
 ^ The crocodile is unequalled in this, that he of 
 all creatures is without fear. (^Ji^Vn) several 
 
 codd. have the more usual form 
 
 y Concerning t*nti^"0^ j wnich stands parallel 
 
 with niil i" the first hemistich, Vide ch, xxviii. 8. 
 
328 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 1 . Then Job began and spake. 
 
 2. I know that thou canst do every thing, 
 No undertaking is withholden from thee.^ 
 
 ^ He confesses sorrowfully and humbly, that, 
 without sufficient knowledge of the depths of divine 
 wisdom, he had judged rashly concerning its ar- 
 rangements, nj/l^ defect, for ^^)y^^ as Ps. clx. 
 
 13. Ezek. xvi. 19, which is found in several codd. 
 and editions. *^^'2 to cut off. Niph. with VQ to 
 be restrained, Gen. xi. 6. Pl^T^ consideration, 
 
 T • ; 
 
 used elsewhere chiefly in malam partem vide ch. 
 xxi. 27. P5. X. 2; xxi. 12. Jer. xxiii. 20 ; xxx. 
 24.) but here used by God, it is conceived in a 
 good sense. Vide Prov. i. 4; ii. 11. But perhaps 
 this ambiguous word is selected designedly, in or- 
 der to express the thought that from the circum- 
 scribed nature of Job's views, the plans of God 
 appeared to him to be bad, while to the All-wise 
 they continued unhindered, and, as they originated 
 
CHAP. XLII. 3, 4 329 
 
 3. Who is he that veileth counsel without 
 
 understanding ? * 
 Yet I uttered that which I comprehended 
 
 not, 
 Which was for me too inconceivable and 
 
 wonderful. 
 
 4. (When I said) " Hear, I beseech thee, I 
 
 will speak. 
 I will ask of thee, and declare thou unto 
 me I'"' 
 
 from him, the fountain of all good, they would at 
 length be understood in the most favourable light. 
 The Almighty can prosecute a plan which appears 
 to the human understanding bad, (H^^TD) for it is 
 
 in his power to transform the bad into good. 
 
 * Job assents to that which Jehovah said con- 
 cerning him, in ch, xxxviii. 2, and of his own free 
 will repeats the same words, as if his deep humiHa- 
 tion must express itself in the terms with which 
 Jehovah had addressed him at first. But there is 
 no need to be slavishly bound by that passage, as 
 if ]^SD3 was omitted before HV^" v3 > and as if 
 
 we should place Tl^JJ^HD instead of D^^J^D as we 
 
 find in several codd. in Kennicot. 
 
 ^ Job's want of understanding was shewn by this 
 
330 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 5. By the hearing of the ear I have heard of 
 
 thee, 
 But now mine eye hath seen thee.'' 
 
 6. Wherefore 1 retract, and repent 
 In dust and ashes. '^ 
 
 7. And it happened after Jehovah had spoken 
 
 all these words to Job, that Jehovah said 
 to Eliphaz the Temanite.^ " My wrath 
 
 demand addressed to God. God alone could thus 
 speak to Job, but not Job to him. Vide ch. xxxviii. 
 3 ; xl. 7. 
 
 ^ The meaning is, Formerly I had only one in- 
 distinct idea of thy wisdom ; I now perceive it 
 clearly. We must not take umbrage at the ex- 
 pression of SEEING God, on account of what is said 
 in Exod. xxxiii. 20. The eye, as an immediate ob- 
 ject of perception, stands opposed to the more 
 easily deceived ear. But if this vision of God is to 
 be taken literally, we must remember that Jehovah 
 spoke from a dark cloud, H^^VDH \'0 > and thus 
 
 saved the mortal from being overpowered by tlie 
 dazzling splendour of his countenance. 
 
 *^ DKD^^ I retract, viz. my former speeches a- 
 
 gainst God. 
 
 ^ Jehovah rightly distinguishes Eliphaz from 
 among the three friends, because he had spoken 
 
* CHAP. XLII. 8, 9. 331 
 
 is kindled against thee and thy two 
 friends, for ye have not spoken concern- 
 ing me that which is well-grounded, as 
 my servant Job hath done. 8. And now 
 take seven bullocks and seven rams, and 
 go to my servant Job, and offer for your- 
 selves a burnt-offering, and my servant 
 Job shall pray for you ;^ and perhaps I 
 will have respect unto him, and not a- 
 venge your folly upon you f for ye have 
 not spoken of me that which is well- 
 grounded, as my servant Job hath done. 
 9. So Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad 
 
 the most to the purpose. The expression jl^l^^ 
 
 T 
 
 is well chosen ; for there was a deficiency of well- 
 grounded consistency in the arguments of the 
 friends. 
 
 f For this sin-offering, vide ZemV. xxiii. 10. Job, 
 the servant of God, is made to take the place of 
 the expiatory priest ; whereby Jehovah shows him 
 the greatest honour. 
 
 s Literally, " not set to work against you the 
 folly." The folly, viz. which you have spoken a- 
 gainst me, i. e. not to avenge your folly upon you. 
 Folly, i. e. evil in general, exercised by Jehovah 
 against the friends, but, punishment. The expression 
 is ironical. 
 
332 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, 
 went and did as Jehovah had said unto 
 them, and Jehovah had respect unto 
 Job. 10. And Jehovah indemnified Job 
 for his loss,^ when he prayed for his 
 friends, and Jehovah restored the double 
 of every thing that had belonged unto 
 Job.* 11. Then came there unto him 
 his brethren and sisters, and all his rela- 
 tions of former times,'' and did eat with 
 
 ^ nnti^'Di^ 2t^ " bring back the captivity," 
 
 X 
 
 a proverbial expression for to replace what was 
 lost. Vide Ezek. xvi. 53. Ps. xiv. 7. Amos vi. 16. 
 Zeph. in. 20. Hos. vi. 11. Joel iv. 1. 
 
 * Thus is double promised by Jehovah to Jeru- 
 salem as a compensation for the evils of exile. Is. 
 xl. 2 ; Ix. 7 ; Ixi. 7. Zack. ix. 12. In the Koran 
 Sur. xxi 5, mention is made of this double compen- 
 sation for what Job had lost. It must not be over- 
 looked, that Jehovah granted this greatest favour 
 to Job at his particular request (iSSDriil!!) for 
 
 those who had proved themselves rather to be his 
 enemies than his friends. Vide Is. liii. 12. 
 
 k D^^f)^. In times past, formerly. Deut. ii. 
 10. Nek. x'ln. 5. After his misfortunes, it must 
 
CHAP. XLII. 12, 13. 333 
 
 him in his house; they testified unto 
 him their sorrow and their sympathy 
 with him because of all the misfortunes 
 which Jehovah had brought upon him, 
 and each one gave unto him a Kesita, ^ 
 and a ring of gold.*" 12. Jehovah blessed 
 the latter end of Job's life more than the 
 beginning; for he received fourteen thou- 
 sand sheep and six thousand camels, and 
 a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand 
 she-asses.'' He received also seven 
 
 have afforded Job peculiar pleasure to celebrate his 
 returning prosperity with his old friends in a joyous 
 banquet. 
 
 ' HtD^^p • Literally, something weighed out. 
 s o 
 k>g*5 a certain weight of gold or silver, which was 
 
 used in the most ancient times ; vide Gen. xxxiii. 
 29. Jos. xxiv. 32. It is a matter of doubt whe- 
 ther it was coined, or what was its value. Vide 
 J. D. Michaelis, Suppl. 2207 ^ and Gesen. on the 
 word. 
 
 ™ DT3 means nose as well as ear ring. Vide 
 
 Jakn Bibl. Archaeol. I. 2. 145. 
 " Vide ch. i. 3. 
 
334 THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 sons ° and three daughters. 14. And 
 he called the name of the first Jemima, 
 and the name of the second Kezia, and 
 the name of the third Keren Happuch.^ 
 13. And in all the land were no women 
 found so fair as the daughters of Job ; 
 and their father gave them an inherit- 
 ance among their brethren.^ 16. And 
 
 ° The numeral form HJV^t^ occurs only here. 
 
 Vide Gesen.in Lehrgeh. 612. The form is regard- 
 ed as a substantive by Ewald in Crit. Gramm. 
 498 ; a seven, as we say a dozen. 
 
 P Names figurative of the beauty of the daught- 
 ers, such as are much used by the Persians. Day- 
 light, Cassia (a perfume), Box of odoriferous oint- 
 ment. V^p is a box of horn, or shaped like a horn : 
 
 or the horn hollowed out and made into a box. 
 Vide 1 Sam. xvi. 1, 13. 1 Kingsi. 39. 
 
 "^ This favour shown to the daughters in giving 
 them a share of the family inheritance, is mentioned as 
 something peculiar, because, according to the Mosaic 
 law, the sons only inherited. Vide Num. xxvii. 8 
 Jahn. Bihl. Archaeol. 2. 291 . The admission of the 
 daughters to a share of the inheritance is a proof at 
 once of wealth and unanimity. DH? for \TX1- 
 
 V T 'V T 
 
 Concerning this apparent incorrectness in using the 
 
CHAP. XLII. 16, 17. 335 
 
 Job lived afterwards an hundred and 
 forty years, and rejoiced in his sons and 
 in his grandsons for four generations. 
 17. And Job died, being old and full of 
 days."^ 
 
 masculine pronoun in relation to substantives of 
 the fem. gend., vide Gesenius in Lehrgeb. 781. 
 Ewald in Crit. Gram. 643. 
 
 ^ Full of days, should more properly be render- 
 ed, tired of life ; and in this expression lies the 
 idea of full contentment with a richly blessed ex- 
 istence, at the time when it draws to a close. 
 
 END OF VOL. II, 
 
 J. THOMSON, PRINTER, MILNE SQUARE. 
 
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