THE BOOK OF JOB, 
 
 WITH NOTES, 
 
 CRITICAL, EXPLANATORY AND PRACTICAL, 
 
 DESIGNED FOR BOTH PASTORS AND PEOPLE. 
 
 5l2ait1^ a iaelu Cranslation appcntict. 
 
 REV. HENKY COWLES, D. D. 
 
 ' Understandest thou what thou rcadcst ? And he said, How can I except some 
 man should guide me ?"— Acts viii : 30, 31. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 
 
 5W & 551 BROADWAY. 
 
 1877. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by 
 
 REV. HENRY COVVLES, 
 in the Office of tlie Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 TnPvOUGn all the ages this book of Job has been dear to 
 the most gifted minds and to the noblest hearts. Its high 
 antiquity, antedating all other books extant ; its poetry, un- 
 surpassed in beauty and sublimity ; its appeal to man's deep- 
 est sympathies through its recital of sufferings so keen yet so 
 mysterious ; and the ever-living interest which human bosoms 
 must feel in its great problems — all these elements conspire 
 to give this book imperishable interest. Of course these 
 features of the book avail to justify any worthy effort to 
 throw light upon its historic questions, interpret its language, 
 bring out its moral purposes, and so place its great moral 
 lessons within easy grasp. 
 
 This grouping of aims will suffice to indicate the points to 
 which my labors have been si^ecially directed. I have sought 
 to locate the book in chronology and history ; to throw light 
 on the question of its authorship; to show how the leading 
 minds of that early age struggled and stumbled over the 
 great problem of the sufferings of apparently good men, and 
 how the Lord himself brought this great problem to issue in 
 what we must regard as the ultimate and supreme moral pur- 
 pose of the book. 
 
 Quite aside from my method in previous volumes, I have 
 appended to this a new translation, hoping in this concise 
 form to give the reader a general view of the drift of thought 
 and of the beauty of style which appear in the original. 
 For many nicer shades of meaning and for a more full pre- 
 sentation of the argument and its bearings, the reader must 
 
 Cm) 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 be referred to the Notes. Our received English version 
 
 of Job, while in many passages it is most admirable, is in 
 some, sadly imperfect. 
 
 With this small volume on Job, the author's work on the 
 Old Testament is completed. The foregoing historic books 
 in two volumes ; the subsequent poetic books in two ; and the 
 prophetic in four — fill out this portion of the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures.- Under a sense of manifold imperfections, alleviated 
 
 only by the consciousness of honest purpose and earnest en- 
 deavor, the author brings this long labor to its close, hopeful 
 subordinately that it may find favor with many who love the 
 Sacred Word, but chiefly and supremely that it may be ac- 
 cepted of Him whose love and wisdom have given us these 
 ancient and priceless treasures. 
 
 Obeklin, Ohio. 
 July, 1877. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 The co7iclusion, which is a Supplement to this Commentary, 
 treats of the following points : 
 I. The true doctrine as to the inspired authority of the 
 
 speeches in this book, 227 
 
 "Authority" applied to the views expressed by Job as 
 
 to the under-world, 231 
 
 II. Progress of doctrine on the great problems of the book, 235 
 III. Sundry incidental points : 
 
 1. One of the possible reasons for God's permission 
 
 of suffering upon good men, .... 242 
 
 2. The mischiefs of the doctrine of suffering as held 
 
 by Job's friends 245 
 
 3. On Job's faith in his Kedeemer, . . . 246 
 New Translation, 249 
 
IISTTEODUOTIO^. 
 
 ITS NATURAL DIVISIONS. 
 
 Tins remarkable l)ook, bearing the name of Job, is quite 
 unique in character, unlike any other book of the Bible, 
 being neither history nor prophecy ; neither songs of devotion 
 nor maxims of wisdom ; neither memoirs of Christ, nor apos- 
 tolic letters to the churches, — a book therefore which has no 
 analogy with any other one embraced in our Sacred Scrip- 
 tures. Its manifestly high antiquity and its magnificent 
 poetry, coupled with the profound and rational interest always 
 felt in the great questions of God's moral government — the 
 problems of this book — combine to bring it very near the 
 hearts of thoughtful men of all generations and to commend 
 it to most careful attention and thorough study. 
 
 As helpful to such study, I propose by way of introduction 
 to treat : 
 
 I. Of its natural divisio7is ; 
 
 II. Of its historic basis ; 
 
 III. Of the country aiul age of its historic events ; 
 
 IV. Of its author and of the admission of the book into 
 the Hebrew sacred canon ; 
 
 V. Of the work done by the author ; 
 
 VI. Of its moral design and purpose. 
 
 I. Of the natural divisions of the book. Of these, there 
 are five : — (1) An introduction (chap. 1 and 2) which gives 
 a brief personal history of Job ; his family ; residence ; 
 position in society, great wealth and exemplary piety. Next 
 occurs a remarkable conversation between the Lord and 
 Satan concerning Job's piety — which resulted in the Lord's 
 giving Satan permission to put Job to the test under most 
 
 (I) 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. HISTORIC BASIS. 
 
 severe affliction. Then follows a detailed account of calam- 
 ities falling on Job, which stripped him of his property, bereft 
 him of his children, tormented him with painful and loath- 
 gome disease, and apparently left nothing to him but a suffer- 
 ing existence. 
 
 (2) Next, three friends come to visit him who hold and 
 represent the doctrine that all suffering in this life is punitive, 
 retributive ; that the good or evil sent of God upon men is 
 in point of justice perfect according to their good or ill 
 deserts, and consequently by inevitable inference, that great 
 sufferers have been great sinners. These friends are, there- 
 fore, very sure that Job, despite of the strongest professions 
 and fairest appearances of piety, is a great hypocrite, whose 
 hypocrisy God is exposing, and whom, as friends of God and 
 of Job also, they are bound to expose ; to convict him of his 
 sin and bring him if possible to repentance. We have their 
 successive speeches and Job's replies in the second division 
 of the book (chap. 3-31.) 
 
 (3) Another disputant appears, a young man Elihu, who 
 gives his opinion of the case, mainly reviewing the words 
 and spirit of Job — in six chapters (32-37.) 
 
 (4) Next the Almighty himself appears ; addresses Job at 
 considerable length ; whereupon Job humbles himself deeply 
 before the Lord ; is forgiven and restored. The Lord also 
 passes his judgment upon Job's three friends, etc. (chap. 38- 
 42 : 1-6). 
 
 (5) The conclusion records the issue as to Job's three 
 friends and his own subsequent prosperity (42 : 7-17). 
 
 11. Some critics have denied all histoi'ic basis to this book, 
 claiming that what purports to be historic fact is wholly the 
 author's fiction — purely ideal and never actual. They justify 
 the author in representing the persons in his dialogue as his- 
 toric men, on the ground that this course naturally heightens 
 
 the reader's interest in the discussions. The critics referred 
 
 to rest their position on two grounds : — (a) The alleged im- 
 probability that such a series of fearful calamities should fall 
 in so rapid succession upon one man : (b) That the part 
 borne by Satan has far more the air of fancy than of fact. 
 How, it is asked, can the things affirmed of Satan be sup- 
 posed to have been real ; and even if they had been, how 
 could the writer know what transpired in that meeting of 
 " the sons of God" into which Satan obtruded himself? 
 
 Reserving the case of Satan for future consideration, in 
 order to discuss first the more vital question as to Job, I am 
 
INTRODUCTION. — HISTORIC BASIS. 3 
 
 4 
 
 iuduced to regard liim as a real character, a veritable his- 
 toric personage by the following considerations : 
 
 1. The points of Job's case are given with very great 
 minuteness as those of a real history. 
 
 2. The agencies Avhich brought upon him his afflictions 
 and all the points set forth as history, correspond with the 
 well known circumstances of that country and age — e. g., his 
 great wealth in cattle, the usage of birth-day festivals among 
 married sons and daughters ; the predatory incursions of 
 Sabeans and Chaldeans ; the terrific destructiveness of light- 
 nings and tornadoes ; and the jilague of leprosy with which 
 Job was smitten. 
 
 3. Subsequent sacred writers speak of Job as a real, not a 
 fictitious person; e. g., Ezekiel in chap. 14: 14-20, and 
 James in chap. 5:11. In Ezekiel the words are those of the 
 Lord himself: "Though these three men" (all equally as- 
 sumed to be real men) " Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, 
 they should deliver but their own souls by their righteous- 
 ness." These men are adduced as notable examples of pre- 
 vailing prayer in behalf of others, and perhaps of that ex- 
 emplary righteousness, because of which God spares the 
 guilty as he would have spared Sodom if a few such men had 
 been in it. This assumes that they "svere real, not fictitious 
 
 men. We must make the same inference from the words 
 
 of James : " Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have 
 seen the end of the Lord ; that the Lord is very pitiful and 
 of tender mercy." 
 
 4. In the progressive development of literature, the age 
 of Job and of his author also, was far too early for works of 
 fiction. The earliest wi'itings were genealogical, soon shading 
 oflT more or less into historical. These forms of literature 
 met man's earliest and most urgent demands. Fiction be- 
 longs exclusively to a far later age. This doctrine is on the 
 one hand inferable from the laws of mind, and on the other, 
 is sustained by the facts of history. In the progress of lit- 
 erary culture, poetry came early, but fiction late — never until 
 authorship became an art. 
 
 No argument in favor of regarding the story of Job as 
 fiction can be drawn from the parables of the New Testa- 
 ment, for these differ Avidely from the apparent facts in the 
 history of Job. The points made in the parables do not 
 purport to be real history. They are simply supposed cases, 
 set forth for the avowed purpose of illustrating great truths 
 pertaining to the kingdom of God. 
 
a INTEODUCTION. — HISTOEIC BASIS. 
 
 • 
 
 Turning now to the objections made to the historical char- 
 acter of the book, I grant that the quick succession of such 
 fearful calamities upon one man is extraordinary — but it is 
 not impossible, and therefore not incredible. The history 
 represents it as extraordinary — a very special case — and 
 gives the special reason, viz. : a point at issue between God 
 and Satan, and a special permission given of God to this 
 great "accuser of the brethren" to try his hand in testing 
 
 the question of Job's unselfish piety. Now if there be a 
 
 devil (as the Scriptures every-where assume) ; if he has 
 certain powers over the human mind and the physical world 
 which he can wield with God's permission; if he has a cer- 
 tain range for his activities in this sinning world; if more- 
 over he hates all righteousness and dreads its influence, and 
 therefore loves to traduce the reputation of all good men so 
 that his devilish spirit makes him naturally an "accuser of 
 the brethren"; — then there is nothing incredible — nothing 
 even improbable in the statements made here as veritable 
 history. 
 
 It deserves to be specially noted that Satan's character and 
 work as put here are in fullest accord with the numerous 
 allusions made to him throughout the Scriptures. He is the 
 same "old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, who deceiveth 
 the whole world" ; whom John of Patmos saw in vision, and 
 Avith an eye on these chapters of Job, calls * ' the accuser 
 of our brethren, who accused them befoi'e God day and 
 night" (Rev. 12: 9, 10); the same "old serpent" who entered 
 Eden and there began his work of deception and lies ; whom 
 Jesus describes as a murderer from the beginning (John 8 : 
 44); and styles "the prince of this world" (John 12: 31); 
 and of whom he said to Peter — "Satan hath desired to have 
 thee that he may sift thee as Avheat" — (even as he sifted 
 Job); whom Peter knows as "your adversary the devil"; 
 a "roaring lion, Avalking about seeking whom he may de- 
 vour" (1 Peter 5:8); and whom Paul knotvs as "the god 
 of this -world, blinding the minds of them that believe not" 
 (2 Cor. 4: 4); as "the prince of the power of the air, the 
 spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience " (Eph. 
 2 : 2). Nor can it be said with any force that the age of Job 
 was too early in the progress of religious thought for such views 
 of Satan, for, early as I admit the age of Job to have been, 
 Eden was yet earlier, and its traditions, if not even its written 
 history, may be plausibly assumed to have gone abroad over 
 the East ere this time. Moreover, if it be still objected 
 
INTRODUCTION. — COCJXTRY AND AGE. 5 
 
 that Satan's appearing among " the sons of God" is quite too 
 strange for fact, it may ])e re})lied that we know but little yet 
 of the spiritual worhl which lies outside the range of our 
 bodily senses ; and further still, that other cases of analogous 
 sort appear in Bible history, as the reader may see in ] 
 Kings 22: 19-23, and Zech. 3: 1, 2. 
 
 Finally, if the point be pressed — How could the writer 
 of this book know what transpired at this meeting of Satan 
 among " the sons of God" and especially the ensuing conver- 
 sation between Satan and the Lord? it scarcely need be said 
 that he does not claim to have been present as a Avitness. 
 Our alternative, therefore, is — inspiration, or mere drapery, 
 a costume suggested by fancy to represent truthful relations. 
 Those who admit inspii-ation at all in the writing of Scrip- 
 ture will have not the least difficulty in assuming insjiiratiun 
 here. And if Ave may suppose the writer familiar* Avith the 
 record of the scenes in Eden, Ave shall not look for any start- 
 ling surprise in his mind upon learning that Satan is equal to 
 such impudence toAvard God and such malignity against good 
 men as these revelations of that conversation imply. 
 
 This group of facts and considerations seem to me to justify 
 the doctrine of a real historic basis for this Book of Job. 
 
 HI. The country and age of these historic events: 
 
 The country is definitely named — "the land of Uz" 
 (1 : 1). The precise location and boundaries of this land 
 are in dispute ; but all agree to locate it in Arabia, north and 
 east of Edom, eastAvard of the old kingdoms of Moab and 
 Ammon; but how far east tOAvard the Euphrates is the 
 special point of disagreement among the best geographical 
 authorities. Beyond all doubt it Avas the land early and 
 long held by the descendants of Abraham other than the 
 children of the coA'enant through Isaac ; — viz : through 
 
 Ishmael, Keturah, and Esau. It should be suggested that 
 
 all the allusions of the book to the external world — to 
 climate and atmospheric agencies; to productions, animals, 
 modes of living, customs of society, etc., etc., are in keeping 
 Avith. this country and Avith these populations. 
 
 As to the age — the time-period — of these historic events, 
 our data enable us to approximate it sufficiently for all prac- 
 tical purposes; Avhile yet Ave must fail of entire precision. 
 We test it by the great longevity of the patriarch, in appl}'- 
 ing Avhich to the diminishing scale of the average human 
 life, we ought perhaps to make some alloAvance for an old age 
 exceptionally long and prosperous. ' In approximating Job's 
 
6 INTRODUCTION.— THE AUTHOR. 
 
 entire age, the first period, prior to the scenes of this book, 
 is a matter of estimate. We may assign at least fifty years 
 for raising a fixmily of ten children (apparently of one 
 mother). To this Ave add one hundred and forty (42 : 16) 
 for the second stage subsequent to his great affliction, making 
 one hundred and ninety — which classes him with Abraham, 
 175 (Gen. 25: 7), and Isaac, 180 (Gen. 85: 28). 
 
 Another element of calculation comes in with the force of 
 considerable probability from the supposed identification 
 of some of the various parties whose names appear in this 
 history. We have "Eliphaz" whose name is given as the 
 son of Esau (Gen. 36: 4, 10); " Bildad the Shuhite ", 
 Avhose appellation, "the Shuhite," may connect him with 
 Shuah, the sixth son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25: 2) ; 
 also " Elihu the Buzite" — whose family designation may in- 
 dicate him as descended from " Buz", a son of Nahor (Gen. 
 
 22 : 21), and so, a nephew of Abraham. These friends 
 
 were contemporary with the early stage of Job's life. 
 
 If this identification be reliable we must place Job as late as 
 the age of Jacob and Joseph. This may be regarded as our 
 nearest approximation, and is suflBciently near for all prac- 
 tical purposes. 
 
 Let it be borne in mind that the time-period of Job's life 
 by no means determines the date of the book — the time when 
 it was written. The historic facts may have remained un- 
 written through one or more generations. This great dis- 
 cussion, set forth with the rich embellishments of oriental 
 poetry, may have waited, we know not how many years, for 
 a writer to arise competent to produce and disposed to at- 
 tempt such a work. The date of the author is therefore an 
 independent question which naturally comes uj) next for our 
 consideration. 
 
 IV. The author of Job ami its admmion into the canon of 
 Hebrew Scriptures. 
 
 My reasons for grouping these two points under this one 
 general head will appear presently. 
 
 The elements of this problem of authorship may be ar- 
 ranged thus : 
 
 1. Gapahillty. The number of men since the world began 
 capal)le of writing the Book of Job, has been by no means • 
 large; the number of such men within the period in which 
 this book must have been written was very small indeed. 
 The writer of this book was certainly a man of the highest 
 order of mental and literary ability — one of a class which in 
 
INTRODUCTION. — THE AUTHOR. 7 
 
 the history of our world has been exceedingly small in the 
 most favored ages, while many an age has failed of its single 
 man upon this exalted level.* This point should be al- 
 lowed more weight than is currently accorded to it. It bears 
 with great force against the favorite theory of many modern 
 critics, that this author was some "great unhiown," living in 
 Israel between Samuel and Jeremiah. This theory encounters 
 in the outset one stubborn improbability, viz. : that a man 
 of such powers could be unhicnvn. A "great unknown" is 
 essentially a solecism — a proposition whose absurdity is self- 
 demonstrated. The world always has work for such men, 
 and their works can not be hid. They are too few to be 
 spared from the world's highest necessities — too great to be 
 unknown. The theory is sometimes convenient to help out 
 a foregone conclusion — convenient because it seems not easily 
 refuted. If these critics would name their man — David, 
 Solomon, Nathan, Asaph; — then we might have means of 
 sifting, testing, disproving, the theory ; carrying our search 
 into the known qualities of these supposed candidates, and so 
 exploding each distinctly proposed hypothesis. My in- 
 ference from these considerations is that if the author of Job 
 were a Hebrew, one of the race of Israel, living among his 
 own people, we must find him among the known and not the 
 unknoivn names of their history. 
 
 At this stage of our inquiry, it will be helpful for many 
 reasons to advance a definite theory as to the name of the 
 author. It will help to illustrate our points of evidence and 
 
 * Froude speaks of Job as a " book of which it is to say little to 
 call it unequaled of its kind, and which will one day, perhaps, when 
 it is allowed to stand on its own merits, be seen towering up alone, 
 far away above all the poetry of the world." (" Short Studies on 
 Great Subjects," p. 231.) 
 
 Carlyle (On Heroes, p. 45) says: — "Apart from all theories about 
 it, I call the Book of Job one of the grandest things ever written 
 with pen. One feels, indeed, as if it were not Hebrew ; such a noble 
 universality, diiferent from noble patriotism or sectarianism, reigns 
 in it. A noble book : all men's book ! It is our first, oldest state- 
 ment of the never-ending problem — Man's destiny, and God's wAys 
 with him here in this earth. And all in such free-flowing outlines; 
 grand in its sincerity, in its simplicity; its epic melody and repot^e 
 of reconcilement." 
 
 " Such living likenesses were never since drawn. Sublime sorrow, 
 sublime reconciliation, oldest choral melody as of the heart of man- 
 kind ; — so soft and great ; as the summer midnight, as the world with 
 its seas and stars! There is nothing written, I think, in the Bible 
 or out of it, of equal literary merit." 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. — THE AUTHOR. 
 
 may thus conduce toward a reliable conclusion. It ought of 
 course to be understood that a theory proposed as to the 
 name of the author is not of itself proof. It is only a sup- 
 position — to be confirmed or not confirmed as the points of 
 real proof may bear upon him. Let it then be supposed that 
 the author was Moses. 
 
 Moses was equal to the authorship of this book. No com- 
 petent critic has ever questioned his ability to write the Book 
 of Job. The man Avho was skilled in all the wisdom of 
 Egypt ; who enjoyed through forty years the training 
 of the reputed son of Pharaoh's daughter ; at the court 
 of the most cultured nation of the ancient world ; the man 
 who could write that glorious triumphal song (Ex. 15 : 1-19) 
 over Pharaoh's hosts gone down as a stone into the Red Sea 
 Avaters ; or those words of sublimest poetic power which fill 
 two chapters in his Deuteronomy (32 and 33), the closing 
 paragraph of which (33 : 26-29) has scarcely its equal in all 
 human literature for beauty, sublimity and grandeur — this 
 man it is safe enough on the score of original talent or ac- 
 quired culture, to name as the author of the Book of Job. 
 
 2. The language and style of the book sujiply another 
 
 element bearing upon this problem of authorship. The 
 
 critics versed in questions of this nature concur in general if 
 not even universally that the Book of Job is written in pure 
 Hebrew, and that it certainly does not belong to the later 
 but to the earlier age of Hebrew literature. My own read- 
 ing of the book has impressed me with these two peculiari- 
 ties: — (a) The large number (relatively to other extant 
 Hebrew) of rare words (the " apax legomeua" of the critics) ; 
 and (b) The frequent occurrence of words upon which im- 
 portant light is thrown from the corresponding words in 
 Arabic — a cognate language. The latter point favors the 
 supposition that the book was written in Arabia, or at least, 
 by one familiar Avith the HebrcAV as then spoken in their 
 
 country. 1 scarcely need say that these points favor the 
 
 theory that Moses Avas the author. 
 
 3. Still other elements for this problem of authorship lie 
 in his allusions to the country, and to Avhatever in it is present 
 to his eye, or indeed open by any means to his knoAvledge. 
 It is simply inevitable that a Avriter should draw his illustra- 
 tions — also his Avords and phrases — from things known, and 
 not from things imknoAvn. Thus his AA'ork will show Avith a 
 fair measure of certainty ivJiere he lived and Avhat his sur- 
 roundings Avere. We shall better appreciate the nature and 
 
INTRODUCTION. — THE AUTHOR. 9 
 
 force of this class of facts if we bear in mind that every 
 author writes for somebody to read — commonly for the peo- 
 ple among whom he lives. 
 
 Now this book shows on every page a thorough familiarity 
 with north-eastern Arabia, and to nearly an equal extent, with 
 Egypt We find here Arabian life in every point — people 
 living in tents, with property in cattle only. We have here 
 largely the animals of the desert ; also the climate, the storms, 
 and the diseases of that country. The only form of idolatry 
 referred to is the worship of the heavenly bodies, and this was 
 " a crime to be punished by the judges" — indicating a period of 
 
 very high antiquity. Of the author's references to points 
 
 known to be Egyptian, we may specify — the light vessels of 
 papyrus (9 : 26) ; the Nile grass, under its well-known Egyptian 
 name (8 : 11) ; the Nile-horse or hippopotamus (40 : 15-24) ; 
 the crocodile (leviathan) (41 : 1-34) ; the usages of civil courts 
 (9 : 14-16, 32, 33 and 13 : 18, 19, 22 and 14 : 15) particu- 
 larly, indictments in writing (13 : 26 and 31 : 35) and per- 
 haps the use of advocates at law (9 : 33-35 ) ; a whole 
 chapter on mining (28 :) for which we must find the basis 
 in Egypt or Arabia — certainly not in Palestine. This en- 
 umeration is very incomplete, to be taken merely as a speci- 
 men. A complete list would quote a great part of the allu- 
 sions of this class in the book. The reader will note par- 
 ticularly that while the scenes and circumstances of the book 
 are located in Arabia, making it substantially certain that 
 the author lived there and wrote this book there, it is yet 
 about equally certain that he had lived in Egypt. His entire 
 familiarity with Egyptian life and surroundings leave no 
 reasonable doubt on this point. You can not find that he 
 has lived in Canaan, in Syria, or on the Euphrates — much 
 less still, in any more remote countries of Asia, Africa or 
 
 Eiurope. Now obviously, when we have narrowed down 
 
 our problem to some one man who has lived in Egypt and in 
 Arabia, writing his book in the latter country, it is plain that 
 we must be about ready for the positive inference that the 
 author was Moses. 
 
 4. There is a negative side to this argument, viz., in the 
 points NOT alluded to. Here the one comprehensive fact is 
 the entire absence of whatever is properly of Palestine — the land 
 of Canaan, The author of Job makes no allusion to a thing — 
 none to a single object in nature — which is peculiar to 
 Canaan as distinct from Arabia and Egypt — if we except the 
 river Jordan (40 : 23) which as a rapid torrent in its flood 
 
10 INTEODUCTION. — THE AUTHOR. 
 
 season Avas the only illustration accessible for either of these 
 three countries — Egypt, Arabia or Canaan, and therefore is 
 not distinctively Palestinian. Passing this, we find in Job 
 no allusion to the cedars of Lebanon, none to the oaks of 
 Bashan, nor to the palm-tree, the pomegranate, the olive ; 
 none to the vale of Sharon, nor to the beauty of Carmel. 
 The threshing-floor and the wine-press appear abundantly in 
 the poetry of Canaan ; but with only a single exception — a 
 rather obscure notice — of each (40 : 30 and 24: 11) are not 
 here. 
 
 Let it be considered that every poet depends on his out- 
 ward world for the materials of his imagery. In this outer 
 world he lives, sees, feels, and develops his imagination. 
 Hence his allusions to nature are an index to the country he 
 lives in — an index which determines his locality with a sort 
 of proof little short of demonstration. Any reader Avith or- 
 dinary habits of attention Avill see the fact of which I speak 
 if he Avill compare the book of Job with the Psalms, or Avith 
 Proverbs, or the Song of Solomon, or with Isaiah, Hosea or 
 Amos. Such comparison will bring him at once to the con- 
 clusion that the writer of Job did not live in the same country 
 with David and Asaph, with Solomon and Isaiah, with Hosea 
 and Amos. He Avill be forced to this conclusion by the evi- 
 dence coming from this one point of comparison, viz., their 
 respective allusions to the external Avorld as the source of 
 poetic imagery and illustration. 
 
 But there are other points of comparison. Every writer 
 of the land of Canaan after Joshua shows in his writings that 
 he knoAVS of the Mosaic law ; knows the scenes of the Exodus, 
 of the wilderness, of the planting of his people in the goodly 
 land of promise. His religious ideas take their type — not 
 mainly from the fields of nature — the great Avorks of God in 
 the material universe ; but largely from the history of his own 
 people and from the system of Avorship God had given them. 
 
 Over against this, the author of Job moves and thinks 
 
 in the sphere of natural religion almost exclusively. Tradi- 
 tionally, he knows of the creation and the flood ; there is no 
 evidence that he then had the written records of those events. 
 Sacrifices and the worship of the heavenly bodies appear in 
 his book ; but sacrifices in their general form Avere every-where 
 in those early ages and Avere not confined by any means to 
 the people of Israel. In their more minute Mosaic forms — 
 stated festivals, an organized priesthood; tithes and most 
 diversified oflTerings — they appear every-where in the poetry 
 
INTRODUCTION. — THE AUTHOR, 11 
 
 of Canaan, but are not found in Job. Is it replied to this 
 
 that a writer of Palestine in the period between Saul and the 
 exile, having laid his plot in Arabia, would study to make all 
 the points in his drama correspond to the assumed locality of 
 his actors, and so would avoid all allusions to what was dis- 
 tinctively Palestinian ? The answer is — (a) That such an 
 
 luidertaking is immensely difficult ; so difficult that it is 
 doubtful whether it has ever been successfully accomplished ; 
 and (b) That the supposition of such a purpose is utterly at 
 war with the honesty and simplicity of the inspired oracles. 
 That a prophet of God, living in the land of Israel should 
 labor in this way to ignore his own home and country, and 
 write a book as if he tvere of Arabia, and were adapting his 
 book primarily for Arabian readers, is too revolting, too un- 
 natural, too utterly improbable, to be accepted. No critic 
 could look with favor upon such an assumption unless he were 
 hard pushed to find support for a foregone conclusion. The 
 idea of a Hebrew prophet in Palestine getting up a debate on 
 the deep questions of divine providence, and clothing it with 
 poetic attractions for the purpose of alluring readers in Arabia 
 
 or Edom, is most preposterous. If, on the other hand, he 
 
 wrote for his countrymen, how could he utterly ignore his 
 nation's history, his nation's religion and worship? How 
 could he be dumb in the presence of Baal-worship ; the 
 burning of sons and daughters in homage of the gods of 
 Moab and Amnion ; the awful apostasies of his people into 
 gross idolatry, while he had words of condemnation for kisses 
 thrown by the hand to the sun and the moon (31 : 26-28) ? 
 Is it in any wise credible that a good and true prophet of 
 Jehovah — one capable of writing the book of Job — should be 
 so utterly oblivious to every thing that made up the surround- 
 ing present of his life, and for no obvious cause should throw 
 himself into an ideal present in Arabia to produce such a 
 book, supposably to send on a mission into the unknown East ? * 
 The reader will see that we have made important progress 
 toward the solution of our problem if we have substantially 
 settled this — that he was not at home in the land of Canaan. 
 This rules out the current theory of some " Great Unknown " 
 
 * Froude recognizes some of the points above put, though he sug- 
 gests no hypothesis to account for them : — in these words : " Unjew- 
 ish in form and in fiercest hostility with Judaism, it hovers like a 
 meteor over the Old Hebrew literature, in it, but not of it, compell- 
 ing the acknowledgment of itself by its own internal majesty, yet 
 exerting no influence over the minds of the people," etc., (page 238.) 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. — THE AUTHOR. 
 
 living in Israel after Samuel and before Jeremiah. We must 
 find him elsewhere. 
 
 The conditions under consideration here are fully met in 
 Moses. After forty years of education, training, culture in 
 the court of Pharaoh, Ave have his next forty years in this 
 very land of Arabia. We know that a mind of such powers 
 and of such culture will thinh. Among the renowned sages 
 of Edom and of the great east country, there were some other 
 minds of thought and culture, contact with whom would beget 
 acquaintance ; mutual sympathy and a common interest would 
 develop discussion. It need not surprise us that such minds 
 should be keenly alive to the great problems of God's provi- 
 dence and moral government over men. It is by no means 
 incredible that the human mind began to grapple with those 
 problems at a very early age of the world. Occasions adapted 
 
 to excite inquiry were sure to arise. If our chronological 
 
 data approximate the truth. Job may have been still living 
 ■when Moses was passing his forty years of shepherd life in 
 that land. . At least he could not have been long deceased, 
 and his history must have been still fresh in tradition, if not 
 even in the memory of surviving friends. Whether Moses 
 found any thing in writing, and if any thing, how much; — 
 whether in substance only or in full form as it now appears, 
 can never be known with absolute certainty. It is safe 
 enough to say that Moses might have been the author. All the 
 qualities of authorship apparent in the book are in fullest 
 accord with the known talents and ti-aining of Moses, and 
 with the five books which certainly came from his hand. — 
 Moreover, not only such qualities of authorship as lie in the 
 line of mental gifts and culture, imagination and poetic 
 power, but also the knoivledge — the points of truth pertaining 
 to this subject which appear in his book, become important 
 testimony on the question whether he can have been the 
 
 author. Under this head, let me call special attention to 
 
 two points : — 
 
 (a) Knowledge of a promised Messiah : 
 
 (b) Conceptions respecting the work and manner of the 
 world's creation. 
 
 (a) We shall see that a fair construction of Job's words 
 (19: 25-27) involves some knowledge of the early promise 
 of a Redeemer to come upon the earth. Did Moses know 
 any thing of this promised Redeemer before he went into the 
 land of Midian ? The writer to the Hebrews answers this 
 question for us, showing that Moses not only knew of that 
 
INTEODUCTION. — THE AUTHOR. 13 
 
 promise but had felt its power upon his heart and life; for 
 under that power he " chose suffering affliction with the peo- 
 ple of God before the momentary pleasures of sin, esteeming 
 reproach for Christ greater riches than all the treasures of 
 Egypt." (Heb. 11 : 24-27). Now we can not know defin- 
 itely how far the thoughts and the words ascribed to Job 
 may have had their birth in the mind of the author ; but we 
 know that Moses had experienced the sublime moral power 
 of that primal promise of a Messiah, and was competent, 
 therefore, to put this element of conquering faith into the 
 experience of the great sufferer. 
 
 (b) Conceptions in regard to the work and the manner of 
 the creation appear esi^ecially in the address of the Lord (38 :) 
 This passage gives prominence to the gathering of the earth's 
 waters ; enwrapping them in swathing bands of cloud and 
 darkness ; assigning to them their bounds that they come 
 not up u])on the dry land any more; causing the rain-fall, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 The careful reader of this chapter will be struck with the 
 close resemblance of these conceptions with those which he 
 finds in Gen. 1 and 2. If these conceptions (Job 38 :) and 
 the words that clothe them are due in any measure to the 
 author of the book, we readily think of Moses as the author 
 also of Genesis, and shall not wonder that the same concep- 
 tions of creation and the same phraseology should obtain 
 here in Job and there in Genesis. If it be said that with 
 great probability, Moses in making up the first chapters of 
 Genesis, compiled from very ancient written documents, I 
 reply: — Nothing forbids that those documents may have 
 been among the chosen people in Egypt and brought to his 
 eye while yet under a pious mother's religious training there. 
 
 5. A fifth j)oint of some importance for its bearing upon 
 the author and age of this book lies in its time-relations to 
 other books of the Hebrew Scriptures as indicated by its 
 
 reference to them or their reference to it. We find in Job 
 
 no allusion to any part of the Hebrew Scriptures as then in 
 existence. Its author knew the great facts of the creation 
 and of the flood ; but whether from the written records as 
 they come to us in Genesis, or from tradition, can never be 
 determined. We find nothing to indicate that he had read 
 any other portion of the Old Testament. The three friends 
 could not have read the story of Joseph — a good man, yet 
 suffering sorely despite of his innocence — and indeed because 
 of it, yet rising through his very sufferings to the noblest 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. — THE AUTHOE. 
 
 dignity of character and the highest rank in social life and 
 political power. As already noted, neither the author nor 
 his disputants seem to know any thing of the deliverance of 
 the chosen people from Egyptian bondage, nor of their 
 triumph at the Red Sea, or their life in the wilderness ; 
 nothing of Sinai, or of the laws civil and religious given 
 through Moses, nor of the entrance into Canaan. It would 
 seem to be a legitimate inference from these facts that the 
 Book of Job must have been written before the Book of 
 Exodus and even before its great events occurred. 
 
 On the other hand, some later Hebrew books refer to the 
 Book of Job in a way to attest its prior existence. The 
 allusion to Job in Ezekiel (14 : 14-20) shows that it was ex- 
 tant then. Jeremiah cursing the day of his birth (20: 
 14-18) may be assumed to be in imitation of Job 3. Strong 
 resemblances to passages in Job occur in later books, but no 
 great reliance can be placed in any argument built on mere 
 resemblance. 
 
 6. There is yet another source of argument bearing upon 
 the question of authorship which should receive attention and 
 have weight, viz. : Its admission into the canon of Hebrew 
 Scriptures. Long as there has been any Hebrew canon, this 
 Book of Job has been one of the number. All the authori- 
 ties Avhich define that canon certify that Job belongs in it. 
 Hoiv came it there f 
 
 All those books were written by men accredited among 
 the Hebrew people as "prophets". None other was ever 
 admitted into their canon. Whatever notions as to inspira- 
 tion may have prevailed among other people in any age 
 of the world, they believed in genuine inspiration. They 
 knew that they had among themselves from time to time 
 men who were taught of God. The teachings of these 
 heaven-taught men were entirely decisive and severely 
 stringent against accepting any other writings as sacred and 
 of divine authority except those of known prophets. Tlie 
 Jewish nation in all ages (Josephus being witness) held this 
 doctrine tenaciously, ready to seal it with their blood, that 
 holy men of God had given them certain writings, and that 
 not a written word might be admitted into the sacred collec- 
 tion except those which came certainly and undeniably from 
 the pen and the tongues of these prophets of God. This is 
 his language: "From the death of Moses to that of Artax- 
 erxes, the propliets y^ho have followed Moses have described 
 the things which were done during the age of each one re- 
 
INTRODUCTION. — THE AUTHOR. 15 
 
 spectively, in thirteen books". "From the time of Artax- 
 erxes until our present period (after the Christian era) all 
 occurrences have been written down, but they are not 
 regarded as entitled to the like credit with those which pre- 
 cede, because there was no certain succession of 'prophets", 
 
 " In all Jews it is implanted even from their birth to regard 
 our sacred books as being the instructions of God, and to 
 abide steadfastly by tliem, and if it be necessary, to die 
 gladly for them". 
 
 It is therefore settled that the author of Job must have 
 been a known, accredited j^rojihet of God. Hence in point 
 of birth, nationality and religion, he was not an Arabian nor 
 an Egyptian. This book never came into Palestine, com- 
 mending itself for reception among the accredited oracles 
 of God on the ground that it represented the poetry, the 
 learning, the theology or the wisdom of either Arabia or 
 Egypt. There was no point in the Hebrew history, say be- 
 tween Samuel and the exile, when the relations, of Israel to 
 either Arabia or Egypt were such that Israel and her 
 prophets and priests could have looked to either Arabia or 
 Egypt for a book inspired of God, or could have received 
 one so written. The supposition is simply incredible. 
 
 Yet as we have seen, the internal evidence of the book 
 shows that it was not ivritten by a residoit of Canaan, but 
 must have been written by a man perfectly familiar Avith 
 Arabia — familiar with it moreover from personal observa- 
 tion ; familiar also wdth Egypt. 
 
 From these facts, my conclusion is that one man known to 
 history, meets all these conditiom, and only one, viz. : Moses. 
 He was pre-eminently a prophet of God. His name and 
 prestige as the author of Job were amply sufficient to secure 
 for it the readiest possible reception into the Hebrew canon.* 
 He had lived in Arabia forty years, yet Avas not of Arabia ; 
 had lived in Egypt also forty years ; yet was never by birth, 
 nationality or religion, an Egyptian. 
 
 A word is due here as to the sense in which I speak of 
 Moses as the author of Job. I leave undecided the ques- 
 
 *Froude overcomes the acknowledged difficulty of getting such 
 a book into the Hebrew canon by assuming its admission very early : 
 — " How it found its way into the canon, smiting as it does through 
 and tlirough the most deeply seated Jewish prejudices, is the chief 
 difficulty about it now — to be explained only by a traditional ac- 
 ceptance among the sacred books, dating back from the old times of 
 the national greatness ", etc. (p. 231.) 
 
16 INTEODUCTION. — WOEK DONE BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 lion whether he learned the facts of its history from oral 
 tradition, personal contact with the original actors, or 
 from Avritten documents. Nor is it imjioi'tant here to 
 decide how much the points of argument or the phraseology 
 of the reported discussions may owe to his shaping hand. 
 But, on the positive side, in naming Moses as the author 
 of this book, I make him responsible at least for editing, 
 perhaps for writing, and certainly for bringing the book to 
 the people of Israel and placing it in their sacred canon. 
 Its inspiration rests on his known character as a prophet of 
 God. 
 
 7. Still another consideration sustaining the very early 
 writing of this book rests upon its relation to p^'ogress of doc- 
 trine on the points discussed. This "progress" will demand 
 our attention in the sequel. At this point the result may 
 be so far anticipated as to say that the doctrines held by the 
 three friends were probably the earliest human opinions on 
 the great problem of suffering, and therefore indicate the 
 very early age of the book. 
 
 V. We pass to a kindred topic — the worh done by the 
 
 author. Here I do not inquire ivho put into written form 
 
 these discussions^the parts assigned respectively to Eliphaz 
 and his associates ; to Job ; to Elihu ; and to the Lord ; but 
 I raise the question whether he reported their speeches ver- 
 batim, or only for siihstance of thought, giving those thoughts 
 their poetic form and dress with his own hand, allowing free 
 scope to his own literary taste and skill in setting forth their 
 views. This question has only a secondary importance; hence 
 
 a very brief notice of it must suffice. The earlier critics 
 
 who wrote on this book held mostly the former view ; all the 
 more modern hold the latter, induced thereto by these con- 
 siderations, mainly — (a) That the tone of high and well 
 sustained literary culture and finish, coupled with poetic 
 genius, forbids the supposition of an ex tempore discussion, 
 reported verbatim. It is not in human nature for men to 
 speak offhand in such style as ajopears throughout these dis- 
 cussions. (b) The literary style is one and not many — 
 
 indicating the work of one mind, and not of several. If 
 each one of the six speakers had been precisely reported, it 
 is simply impossible that there should not have been more 
 diversity in literary merit and finish than is apparent here. 
 
 VI. The moral design and purpose of the book is a point 
 of supreme importance. It is vital to the value of the book 
 
INTRODUCTION. — MORAL DESIGN AND PURPOSE. 17 
 
 to US that we apprehend this point definitely, clearly, and 
 justly. The book omits to state explicitly its own moral de- 
 sign, but leaves us to infer it from its contents. We must 
 reach it mainly 'l)y inquiries in this line: — What were m/«d 
 the vital points raised in this discussion and how were they 
 ultimately decided ? 
 
 It is almost too obvious to need remark (yet it has been often 
 overlooked) that the very highest importance must attach to 
 the final decision given by the Lord himself. Surely if the Al- 
 mighty came down to speak as the umpire in this discussion, 
 his speech will give us the really great and vital issues. The 
 supreme moral purpose, high above all subordinate purposes, 
 will come to view in his decision. 
 
 It Avill be useful to make and to carry out a, distinction be- 
 tween the main and the subordinate purposes embraced in 
 the design of the book. The main purpose Avill appear in 
 the final decision by the Almighty taken in connection with the his- 
 toric facts which gave occasion to the discatssion. The subordi- 
 nate purposes are evolved from the body of the discussion 
 between the several parties. 
 
 The great theme of debate is — the design of God in sending 
 (or permitting) suffering upon men (especially good men) in this 
 
 world. This general theme involves subordinate questions : 
 
 — Why does He permit? Is it for punishment, real retribu- 
 tion ; or for discipline and correction in his goodness and 
 wisdom? Is it administered ahvays xvith justice — to each 
 according to his deserts relatively to the deserts of other 
 men, — or (a different sui^position) relatively to the demands 
 of the law which sin breaks ? These subordinate questions 
 were the staple points discussed between Job and his three 
 friends, including also Elihu. 
 
 The main design of the book as evolved in the speech of 
 Jehovah, was twofold : 
 
 1. To justify the assumption that the ultimate reasons 
 why suffering befalls good men in this world may lie beyond 
 the pale of human hnoivledge as in this case of Job, the ulti- 
 mate reason for whose suffering was a test-issue between God 
 and Satan. 
 
 2. To show that consequently submission to God's provi- 
 dence, and confidence in his wisdom and love, are man's true 
 
 wisdom and supreme duty. These were the points made 
 
 and enforced in the final decision by the Almighty. 
 
 There may be reasons for his permission of suffering, that 
 lie away in the secret counsels of the Most High, originating 
 2 
 
18 INTEODUCTION. — MORAL DESIGN AND PURPOSE. 
 
 perhaps in his relations to Satan or to the angels of light or 
 of darkness, which we can not know, but which He knows, 
 and estimates at their full value. Therefore we ought to 
 confide the government of the world to his "Wisdom and sub- 
 missively trust him to manage it well. 
 
 Certain subordinate designs contemplated in the discussions 
 recorded here we may put thus : — (1) To show that the doc- 
 trine held by Job's three friends was fundamentally /afee and 
 essentially of pernicious tendency — this doctrine being that 
 all suffering in this life is retributive — sent as punishment for 
 sin — and is therefore not only the j)voof but the measure of the 
 
 sufferer's guilt. (2) To show how very good men may 
 
 wrestle with this great problem of suffering, and be bitterly 
 perplexed and agonized by it, especially when false views 
 of it — such as those held by Job's friends — are thrust upon 
 them and they are reproached and condemned as hypocrites 
 and as the greatest of sinners because they are extreme suf- 
 ferers : (3) To disclose the darkness that prevailed on 
 
 these points in the early ages. of our world ; shown perhaps 
 that we may the better appreciate the increase of light from 
 that time onward through the Old Testament age to the yet 
 more full revelations made by the glorious Sun of right- 
 eousness at his rising. 
 
 Let it now be suggested negatively : (1) That the main 
 question of the book is not the point raised in the opening 
 historic chapters as at issue between God and Satan, viz.. 
 Whether there is any really unselfish piety; whether Job's 
 piety was or was not a refined selfishness — a serving of God 
 for the present reward which God was giving and was ex- 
 pected to give. 
 
 This issue sufficed to explain the extraordinary inflictions 
 which fell upon Job. It also gave occasion to the long dis- 
 cussions in this book. This is one part of the service which 
 the issue made between God and Satan performed. But the 
 question whether Job's piety would or would not bear this 
 terrible strain without the least moral failure seems not 
 to have been among the things to be settled by this book. 
 In the final issue, no notice is taken of the point raised 
 by Satan. It had manifestly served its purpose when it 
 had accounted for the fearful and otherwise unaccountable 
 severity of Job's afflictions. 
 
 Yet God's ways and purposes are manifold, compassing in 
 every movement more results than our wisdom is wont to 
 think of and indeed more than our finite intelligence can 
 
INTRODUCTION. — MORAL DESIGN AND PURPOSE. 19 
 
 even comprehend when the facts are mainly before us. It 
 is therefore quite supposable that among his subordinate 
 purposes in this trial of Job, God may have embraced this 
 one, viz.: to show how the human nature of his own dear 
 children — not yet perfectly sanctified — bears itself under ter- 
 rific temptation ; how it struggles, wrestles, and sometimes 
 reels under the shock and the strain that are too stern and 
 stubborn for merely human strength ; and then how God 
 comes to the rescue, and grace saves the tempted one from 
 utter fall. This mapping out of Job's experiences, re- 
 garded in this point of light, has useful lessons for us — not 
 least among which is the suggestion it makes that if Job 
 had only been able to read from our New Testament how the 
 Lord "makes all thmgs work together for good to them 
 that love God" and how he chastens whom he loves, he 
 might have breasted the surging waves of this troubled sea 
 with calmer trust and steadier nerve. Ah, indeed ; and if 
 he could have read the whole story of this book that bears 
 his name, or if some angel from among those " sons of 
 God" had come down to whisper in his ear what Satan had 
 been impudent enough to say in the very face of God, and 
 how the Lord proposed to him to test the question of Job's 
 unselfishness if he pleased, then would not the patriarch 
 have stood up to the rack and the torture, with a sense of 
 an object grand enough to justify the utmost suffering that 
 human nerves can bear? Yet the grandeur of this moral 
 conflict is due in large measure to the awful darkness of the 
 night and to the terrible uncertainties of the storm through 
 which the great sufferer was destined to pass. With God's 
 help Job did weather the gale and enter the harbor at last — 
 a nobly saved man in the end — one more moral lesson from 
 this wonderful book. 
 
 (2) The great question of the book is not this (as some have 
 held) — Whether Job believed in a future retribution ; or 
 whether the doctrine of a future life is \ntal to the true 
 solution of the great problem of suffering as it stands forth 
 
 to human view here. (3) Nor is it the purjwse of this 
 
 book to discuss abstractly the -Jt-ses oj suffering in the great 
 system of agencies for perfecting human character. True, 
 something may be learned incidentally from the book, bear- 
 ing on that question ; but to suppose that this was the main 
 question of the book is to ignore things most patent, and 
 
 give chief prominence to what is very incidental. (4) 
 
 Nor, finally, is it the purpose of the book to disclose the 
 
20 INTEODUCTION. — MORAL DESIGN AND PURfOSE. 
 
 subtle power of self-righteousness over human souls or the 
 mischiefs of an undue regard for reputation as exemplified 
 in tlie case of Job. This notion comes of overlooking the 
 main things of the book and magnifying points which in 
 their relative worth are almost insignificant. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 CEAPTER I. 
 
 1. There Avas a man in the land of Uz, whose name 7va3 
 Job ; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that 
 feared God, and eschewed evil. 
 
 Of "the hxnd of Uz", see Introduction, page 5. 
 
 A man of unblemished integrity. This phrase correctly 
 measures the significance of the original words for "perfect and 
 
 upright". "Eschewed", in the sense of the more modern 
 
 words, shun, avoid. The old word "eschew" has affinities with 
 the English word, to shy, in the sense to keep clear of, to turn 
 sharply away from. 
 
 2. And there were born unto him seven sons and three 
 daughters. 
 
 3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three 
 thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five 
 hundred she-asses, and a very great household ; so that this 
 man was the greatest of all the men of the east. 
 
 4. And his sons Avent and feasted in their houses, every one 
 his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and 
 to drink with them. 
 
 In nomadic life throughout the great deserts of Arabia, prop- 
 erty in land was only general — a right to go and to occupy tem- 
 porarily where they would, provided they did not come into 
 collision with others. In the close, strict sense, all property was 
 in cattle. Hence Job's " substance " his real property, was esti- 
 mated by the count of his varieties of cattle. Camels were 
 
 used for travel and for burdens; are sometimes described as "the 
 
 ship of the desert". She- asses were valued for their labor and 
 
 for their milk. "Household" is the collective term for serv- 
 ants. " C4reatest" refers especially to his wealth. His sons 
 
 held festivals successively each in his own house on his own 
 birthday. 
 
 (21) 
 
22 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP I. 
 
 5. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone 
 about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early 
 in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings according to the 
 number of them all : for Job said, It may be that my sons 
 have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job 
 continually. 
 
 When the annual circuit had been made, one festival in each 
 son's house, Job sent and purified them by the offering of special 
 sacrifices, one for each of his sons, for he feared that under the 
 temptations incident to festivities, they might have sinned. Good 
 man that lie was — a careful and conscientious father, watchful ever- 
 more over the spiritual life of his children — why should he 
 not guard them against probable dangers on these occasions ? 
 
 On the sense of the word "cursed" (both here and in v. 11 
 and 2 : 5, 9) there has been much discussion and diversity of 
 views. The original is the common, well-known Hebrew word 
 for bless* — so that the great problem has been, How can the 
 
 same word mean both bless and curse ? The only satisfactory 
 
 analysis of the significations of this word is this — that it became 
 the current term for the social farewell at the parting of friends, 
 equivalent to adieu ; God be with you ; and hence, secondly, be- 
 came associated with the sense of leaving, parting from. This 
 secondary sense is supposed therefore to be the one which obtains 
 here. Job feared that his sons had abandoned God in their 
 hearts — had lost the sense of his presence, and allowed their 
 souls to become divorced from the fear and love of God. He 
 feared they had hid farewell to God in the sense of dropping 
 him out of their thoughts, concern and affection. f We can 
 readily excuse the anxious father for this fear. There was danger 
 in this direction. This sense of the word therefore befits the 
 circumstances, as well as comes naturally from the current usage 
 of this farewell term. 
 
 6. Now there was a day when the sous of God came to 
 present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also 
 among them. 
 
 7. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou ? 
 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to 
 and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 
 
 8. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered 
 my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a 
 
 f A similar usage appears in both ancient and modern classics. 
 Horace says, "Valeat res ludicra"; farewell to the stage. Shakes- 
 peare: "But farewell, compliment". 
 
 " Farewell, faint-hearted and degenerate king. 
 In whose cold blood, no spark of honor bides ". 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. I. 23 
 
 perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and 
 escheweth evil? 
 
 9. Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job 
 fear God for nought ? 
 
 10. Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his 
 house, and about all tliat he hath on every side? thou hast 
 blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased 
 in the land. 
 
 11. But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he 
 hath, and he will curse thee to thy-ftice. 
 
 12. And the Loed said unto Satan, Behold, all that he 
 liatli is in thy power ; only upon himself put not forth thy 
 hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. 
 
 Upon what is said here of Satan see Introduction, pages 4, 5. 
 
 The question, Who are these "sons of God"? is probably best 
 answered by referring to Job 38 : 7 : holy beings ; angels un- 
 fallen. That Satan should come into their assembly, reporting 
 himself as just in from ranging up and down over this fallen 
 world, has its fact supported by the words of Peter — "Going about, 
 seeking whom he may devour"; — and its analogy in the scenes 
 described in 1 Kings 22: 19. It is easy for us to raise more 
 questions on this subject than the wisest of men can answer; 
 e. (/., Where Avas this meeting held; and when? Are such meet- 
 ings held statedly or only occasionally? Is this mere costume — 
 a way of giving point and distinctness to the fact that Satan is 
 working a scheme of opposition against God and all righteousness, 
 always traducing righteous men and in every possible way foster- 
 ing the interests of a great rebellion against Jehovah ; or, are we 
 
 to accept this statement as in form a fact of the spiritual world ? 
 
 Leaving undetermined all questions upon which revelation has shed 
 no light, it is important for us to admit, what every-where revela- 
 tion has taught us — that Satan is a real person ; is the enemy of 
 all righteousness; is "going about as a roaring lion, seeking 
 whom he may devour"; is evermore "an accuser of the breth- 
 ren " (Rev. 12: 10). There were doubtless good reasons why the 
 revealing spirit should give us so much light as appears in these 
 two chapters of Job respecting his agencies in our world. In- 
 deed, it may be supposed that Satan is brought to view here, not 
 merely to indicate to us his work among men and his moral atti- 
 tude toward God and all the good, but also to suggest one reason 
 why God should permit these extreme afflictions to befall one of 
 the best of men. This terrible scene of suffering might otherwise 
 seem unaccountable even to the angels nearest the throne above. 
 Moreover, God might deem it wise to permit a test case to show 
 the devil and all his party how God can save his children ; bring 
 good out of Satan's intended evil; and frustrate his schemes, to 
 his own everlasting chagrin and confusion. 
 
 "Hast thou considered my servant Job?" — set thy thought 
 
24 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. I. 
 
 upon him as one worthy of thy special notice — a very pertinent 
 question to be asked of Satan who has no love for such exem- 
 plary men and is little apt to notice them save to traduce and 
 blacken — if he can. Satan's reply is thoroughly character- 
 istic: — Job's piety is sheer selfishness ; he serves God only for 
 pay. There is no unselfish piety. Thou hast hedged him about 
 with thy protection, hast carefully preserved for him all his great 
 possessions, so that he finds it profitable to serve thee as much 
 as he does. But now, turn thy hand and instead of protecting, 
 destroy his great possessions, and he will abandon thee — will bid 
 thee farewell, even to thy face, and thou wilt see the end of all 
 
 his piety, service and homage. Note that while Satan proposed 
 
 that the Lord should do this, the Lord gave Satan permission to 
 do it himself So, the result would be more convincing, and the 
 agency itself would be specially gratifying to one who is so much 
 of a devil. The permission this time reached only Job's posses- 
 sions ; not his person. It is well for our race that Satan's 
 
 power in this world is limited by the divine permission. God 
 always knows its permitted amount, and how to provide for his 
 trusting people a way of escape, and help in their need so that 
 they may be able to bear it. See Paul's allusion to this (1 Cor. 
 10: 13 andEph. 6: 10-16). 
 
 13. And tliere was a day when his sons and his daugh- 
 ters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's 
 house : 
 
 14. And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The 
 oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them : 
 
 15. And the Sabeans fell ^q■)on them, and took them away ; 
 yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword ; 
 and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 
 
 These Sabeans are supposed to have descended from Sheba, 
 the fifth in line of descent from Shorn (Gen. 10: 21-28). Their 
 home was in that great " eastern" land of the remote Arabian 
 
 desert (v. 30). Savage incursions for plunder were then, as in 
 
 all later ages, the law of life for those nomadic tribes of the 
 desert. In this case we must suppose they were both instigated 
 
 and guided to their point of attack, by Satan. The oxen and 
 
 the asses together with the servants who had them in charge 
 and were laboring with them in the field, were all swept away — 
 the cattle driven off and the servants slain — all but the one who 
 escaped to tell the sad story. 
 
 16. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, 
 and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath 
 bui-ued up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them ; 
 and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 
 
 The next stroke fell from heaven — " the fire of God" which 
 in Hebrew usage is commonly lightning. (See 1 Kings 18; 38 and 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. I. 25 
 
 2 Kings 1 : 12 and Lev. 9 : 24 ; 1 Chron. 21 : 26 and 2 Chron. 7 : ] ). 
 We arc to find here another case of Satanic agency, yet wrought 
 strictly under divine permission. It would bear the more severely 
 upon the heart of Job for its seeming to come from the very hand 
 
 of God himself. Note that this infliction sAvept from Job all 
 
 his flocks of lesser cattle ; and also the servants in charge, "with 
 the exception of one man to bear to him the tidings. 
 
 17. "While he Avas yet speaking, there came also another, 
 and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell 
 upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain 
 the servants with the edge of the sword ; and I only am 
 escaped alone to tell thee. 
 
 Interspersing inflictions from the hand of man with those which 
 came more apparently from the hand of God, we have next a 
 second predatory troop, viz., of Chaldeans — in that early age, a 
 wild savage race, holding the mountain regions of Armenia. 
 Later they came down upon the plains of Mesopotamia and 
 founded the great Chaldean empire. Their history may be traced 
 further by means of various allusions to them in the Scriptures, 
 e. (/., Isa. 23 : 13 and 13 : 19 and 43 : 12, and 2 Kings 24 : 2, etc. 
 
 In this assault they formed three bands, to surround their prey 
 and make escape more difficult. The camels they drove off; the 
 servants in charge they slew, one messenger only escaping. 
 
 18. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, 
 and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drink- 
 ing wine in their eldest brother's house : 
 
 19. And, behold, there came a great wind from the wil- 
 derness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell 
 upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am 
 escaped alone to tell thee. 
 
 The first three inflictions have swept away Job's property 
 entire, leaving him nothing : this takes his children. While they 
 were feasting in their eldest brother's house, a tornado from the 
 wilderness struck the house and laid it in ruins; the young men, 
 his sons, Avere buried beneath ! This must have seemed to Job to 
 come directly from the hand of the Almighty. 
 
 20. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his 
 head, and fell doAvn upon the ground, and wor.shiped, 
 
 21. And said. Naked came I out of my mother's womb, 
 and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the 
 Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord. 
 
 22. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. 
 Here are the customary tokens of intense grief, yet blended 
 
 with the strongest expressions of resignation to the divine will — 
 a resignation not coldly philosophical but deeply sincere, grateful 
 
26 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. II. 
 
 and adoring. Thus far Satan has won no laurels in this fight. 
 Job's piety is the brighter for the fire it has passed through. Is 
 it not more than beautiful, yea morally sublime, to say from the 
 heart under such absolute bereavement: — "The Lord gave and 
 the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord!" 
 
 As to these tokens of grief, they are of course oriental — those 
 of the country and age where Job lived. To rend the garments, 
 to shave the head, to fall, prostrate upon the earth, to olTer wor- 
 ship by these profound prostrations attended with the appropri- 
 ate utterances of grief — all these were in their view the natural 
 language of great sorrow. 
 
 "Return thither," i. e., to the dust, to the bosom of earth, my 
 second mother. Job's thought is obviously upon the original sen- 
 tence — " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Born 
 naked, bringing nothing into the world, I am in a sense ready 
 now to die naked, — shorn of all that men hold dear in the line of 
 earthly possessions. Of all my hei'ds and flocks not a hoof re- 
 mains to me ; not a servant of my great household ; not a child to 
 my name ! How naked and how desolate ! Yet all those treas- 
 ures the Lord gave ; why should I murmur that he takes them all 
 away? Rather let me bless his glorious name! 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. Again there was a day when the sous of God came to 
 present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also 
 among them to present himself before the Lord. 
 
 2. And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest 
 thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From 
 going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and 
 down in it. 
 
 3. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered 
 my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a 
 perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and 
 escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, 
 although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him with- 
 out cause. 
 
 Despite of his utter failure thus far, Satan is still ready and 
 even eager for one more onset; and the Lord seems not averse to 
 a more extreme trial of his servant Job. A second meeting is 
 therefore held of the sons of God, Satan coming again among 
 them — the account of this meeting being in substantially the 
 same words as of the former. Triumphantly the Lord refers 
 Satan to the case of Job, still holding fast his integrity although 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. II. 27 
 
 Satan had been movint!; the Lord to swallow him up (Ileb.) with- 
 out good cause in Job himsoll" for any such infliction. A less 
 frequent sense of the lleb. word for "unfhout cause" is in vain, 
 without securing the result sought. Either sense might be ad- 
 missible here. The former is the more usual, and, so far, has 
 the preference. 
 
 4. 'And Satan answered the Lord, and said' Skin for 
 skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. 
 
 5. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and 
 his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. 
 
 6. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he k in thine 
 hand ; but save his life. 
 
 "Skin for skin" is manifestly a proverb, coming from the 
 world of trade, and signifying — any thing for its equivalent. In 
 barter, skin went for skin, one an offset for the other. In this 
 sense Satan applies 'his own words; all a man hath — all his 
 goods — he gives cheerfully as an equivalent for his life. In the 
 application he meant to insinuate that these inflictions upon Job 
 were still very trivial and of small account— had not half stripped 
 him, for his sound body, still left to him, was more than an 
 equivalent for all the Lord had taken away. Make this trial (he 
 would say) more thorough; put forth thy hand and touch his 
 bone and his flesh, and he will bid thee farewell before thy very 
 face and quit thy service. 
 
 The Lord replied : He is in your hand for the further trial you 
 demand, only spare his life. Give him pain to your heart's 
 content. 
 
 7. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, 
 and smote Job "with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto 
 his crown. 
 
 8. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal ; 
 and he sat down among the ashes. 
 
 "Sore boils" — an oriental disease and not the modern one 
 known under this English name. The best critics suppose that 
 this disease of Job was the black leprosy, called "elephantiasis" 
 from the resemblance of its blotched, rough skin and swollen 
 limbs, to the skin and limbs of that animal. It was one of the 
 ten plagues upon Egypt (Ex. 9: 9-11): is threatened (Deut. 28: 
 27, 35); and is described somewhat definitely by its symptoms 
 in Lev. 13. 
 
 Conant gives this description : 
 
 "In this disease small spots first appear on the skin, then 
 tumors, of the size of a pea at first, increasing to that of a walnut or 
 a hen's egg, with deep furrows between, covering the whole bod}'. 
 Finally, many of these suppurate and form ulcers, with a bloody 
 and very offensive discharge which dries and hardens to dark colored 
 scales. The face becomes bloated and glistening, the eyes feeble 
 
28 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. II. 
 
 and watery, the breath offensive, tlie voice weak and hoarse or en- 
 tirely lost. The sufferer is subject to extreme dejection ; his 
 nights are sleepless, or harassed with frightful dreams. In the last 
 stage of this disease, the extremities perish and fall off, the bones 
 and ligaments being destroj'ed by the ulceration. No cure has been 
 fonnd for this terrible malady though the patient may survive many 
 years." 
 
 To sit down upon the ground, and still more to sit in ashes, 
 
 betokened the extremity of grief. A potsherd — piece of broken 
 
 pottery, such as he would readily find among the ashes, he took 
 to scrape himself to relieve the intolerable itching and burning — 
 a relief at best bvit Inomentary, and followed by severer pains. 
 
 That Satan, with permission from God, can inflict disease upon 
 men, is fully implied in the demoniacal i^ossessions and in their 
 forms of disease which appear often in the gospel history (e. g., 
 Matt. 9: 32-34 and Mark 3: 23, 24 and Luke 13 : 16, etc.) 
 
 9. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain 
 thine integrity? curse God and die. 
 
 10. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the fool- 
 ish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the 
 hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did 
 not Job sin with his lips. 
 
 Job's afflictions were terribly heightened in severity by these 
 instigations from his wife. When he so greatly needed not only 
 sympathy but moral support to his tried spirit, it was dreadful to 
 meet only this cold, heartless reproach which seemed to imply 
 that his trouble came of still maintaining his moral integrity 
 toward God ! Oh, how could she throw her entire influence to 
 
 help Satan and to make her husband's trial insupportable! 
 
 " Curse God and die " (as above explained) means — Renounce 
 God ; bid farewell forever to God and to your pious regard for God ; 
 and then let death come if it will! What's the use of such a suf- 
 fering life?— — Some critics upon this passage have given this 
 Heb. word for Mess its usual sense, but in irony, thus: — Bless 
 God if so you will ; this is all you get for it — to die ! The sense 
 first above given, has the supportof its usage in this history (1 : 11 
 and 2 : 5) and must be preferred. 
 
 Job's reply charges her -with follfj — that extreme of folly which 
 
 is the essence of such impiety toward God. "Shall we receive 
 
 good?" etc. Some critics read the first clause affirmatively and only 
 the second interrogatively: We receive good at God's hand con- 
 stantly, richly, far beyond our desert; shall wo not therefore 
 accept the evil which his hand in loving wisdom may send? But 
 the original gives as much authority for making the first clause a 
 question as "the second, and the sentence is thus made more 
 spirited and forcible ; Shall we continually receive good from the 
 Lord's hand — enough assuredly to prove his love to us — and then 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. Ill, 29 
 
 not l)c willing to boar submissively and trustfully the small cvila 
 which the same pood Being may see fit to send ? 
 
 Again it is testified that thus far Job " did not sin with his lips.'* 
 
 11. Now wlien Job's three friends heard of all this evil that 
 Avas come upon him, they came every one from his own place ; 
 Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar 
 the Naamathite ; for they had made an appointment together 
 to come to mourn with him, and to comfort him. 
 
 12. And Avhen they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew 
 him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept ; and they rent 
 every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads 
 toward heaven. 
 
 13. So they sat down Avith him upon the ground seven 
 days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him : for 
 they saw that his grief Avas very great. 
 
 See allusions to these three friends in the Introduction, page G. 
 They seem to have come from somewhat remote parts — men 
 prominent in their respective homes, rcjiresentative men, as Job 
 also was in his home sphere. 
 
 The scene, as sketched here, is inimitaldy touching. They saw 
 him from afar, but so changed they could not recognize him! is 
 it strange that they should lift up their voices in loud wails of 
 grief — should rend their mantles and sprinkle dust on their heads ? 
 Think of seven days' silence, sitting there by their old friend, 
 now so desolate, so terribly smitten of God ! — We must suppose 
 these were hours of distressing perplexity as well as of sympa- 
 thetic grief. With their theory of the relation of suffering to sin, 
 they stood amazed at this supposed evidence of his awful hypoc- 
 risy, and were weighing the question as to the duty of rebuke and 
 its hopeful methods. But thus far Job too was silent, and they 
 could not know how his heart was bearing this stern and fearful 
 trial. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. After this oj)ened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. 
 
 Two chapters of historic introduction in prose having fully 
 brought the case before us, the poem proper commences here. 
 
 It may be a question whether the phrase — "opened his 
 
 mouth" — is purposely emphatic, indicating that his pent-up, long 
 suppressed emotions, refused to be restrained longer, and now 
 his mouth (so to speak) bursts open and this torrent of impreca- 
 tions upon his day pours itself forth. If the phrase were not a 
 
30 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. III. 
 
 common orientalism, there would be great plausibility in this 
 view of its significance. Manifestly he speaks as one whose 
 griefs are too urgent, too tumultuous to be longer suppressed in 
 silence. Was it aggravated rather than relieved by the presence 
 of these three friends — sitting seven days in unexplained silence ? 
 Did he begin to forecast their state of feeling as of men ready 
 to arraign and rebuke him for supposed hypocrisy, rather than 
 to give him their sympathy, their consolations and their prayers ? 
 Be the cause what it may, we miss in this chapter the sweet res- 
 ignation and the calm good sense and piety which shine out in 
 the passages chap. 1 : 21 and 2 : 10. " Cursed his day" — his birth- 
 day as appears from the following context and also from the 
 
 usage of the'word in chap. 1 : 4. Tliis Hebrew word for curse* 
 
 is not the common woi-d for "bless" which we find translated 
 " curse" in chap. 1 : 5, 11 and in 2: 5, 9. 
 
 2. And Job spake, and said, 
 
 3. Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night 
 m ivhich it was said. There is a man-child conceived. 
 
 4. Let that day be darkness ; let not God regard it from 
 above, neither let the light shine upon it. 
 
 5. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it ; let a 
 cloud dwell upon it ; let the blackness of the day terrify it. 
 
 " Job spake" — in the original, ansAvered, but in the sense, com- 
 mon in the Scriptures, of speaking to the circumstances of the 
 case, yet not in reply to words really spoken before. Job gave 
 
 utterance to long pent emotions. " Let the day perish" — not so 
 
 much cease to be as to have been. Let the day and all it brought 
 with it — especially my own bii'th into being — go into nonentity, 
 bearing with it my own existence. It avails nothing to reason 
 against such a prayer that the thing asked is an utter impossi- 
 bility. In his calm moments Job would have seen this. But these 
 are expressions of uncontrolled emotion, taking on the strong 
 forms of oriental speech. It is equivalent to a prayer that he 
 had never been born, or if born, yet only to die in birth. Per- 
 ish also the night which said (so the Hebrew makes the night 
 speak) "a man-child is delivered." Let that day be darkness, no 
 sun arising upon it ; let not God from above look after it to bring 
 it under his usual regard and count it among the days of time. 
 Let darkness and death-shade — not stain — but reclaim it as 
 
 their own and take it into their own domain. Not so well — 
 
 " the blackness of the day;" but rather — Let the obscurations of 
 the day terrify it — said with reference to eclipses which throw 
 their dark shadows upon the day. The word "terrify" looks to- 
 ward the superstitions of ancient times which regarded an eclipse 
 as a fearful omen of great calamities impending. Let dark 
 eclipses bring down all their terrors upon it. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. III. 31 
 
 0. As for that night, let darkness seize upon it ; let it 
 not be joined unto the days of the year ; let it not come into 
 the number of the months. 
 
 7. Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come 
 therein. 
 
 8. Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to 
 raise up their mourning. 
 
 9. Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it 
 look for light, but have none ; neither let it see the dawning 
 of the day : 
 
 10. Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, 
 nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. 
 
 It is only by a poetic variation that Job passes from impreca- 
 tions upon the day to like imprecations upon the night of his 
 
 birth. As for that night, let utter darkness seize upon and hold 
 
 it; let it not rejoice (better than "be joined") among the days 
 of the year. (This improvement in the sense comes from de- 
 riving the verb from another root). " Let that night be soli- 
 tary," ?'. e., barren, no living births occurring in it: let no joyful 
 
 shouts be heard therein, oyer a man-child born. V. 8 alludes 
 
 to persons supposed to have power to curse any particular day so 
 that every thing attempted on that day shall fail and the day be 
 
 sacred to ill-fortune and calamity. Its last clause means — Who 
 
 are ready or skilled to arouse to frenzy the crooked serpent, the 
 "leviathan" (Heb.). This also belongs to the domain of oriental 
 superstitions, according to which certain people professed the 
 skill of exciting serpents to frenzy, and charming them down to 
 quietude. To such men Job would conseci'ate his birth-night and 
 
 let them have it, all their own to curse at their will. Let the 
 
 very stars of that night be dark. The last clause of v. 9 gives 
 
 this beautiful image ; Let not that night look forth through 
 
 the eyelids of the dawn — to behold the sweet rays of morning. 
 
 All these imprecations .lob poured upon that ill-starred night be- 
 cause it did not forestall his birth into a suffering existence and 
 thus hide all sorrow from his eyes. 
 
 11. Why died I not from the Avomb? ivhy did I not give 
 up the ghost when I came out of the belly? 
 
 12. Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts 
 that I should suck? 
 
 Thus deep emotion is wont to repeat its utterances of grief 
 with only the slightest variations. How ardently this sufferer 
 would pray (if he might) that he had never been born alive! 
 Why did my Maker provide beforehand a mother's lap (" knees ") 
 to receive me, and a mother's breast with nutriment for my sub- 
 sistence ? The English word "prevent", the reader should 
 
 notice, has not the modern sense, shtd off, forestall ; but the 
 
32 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. III. 
 
 ancient sense — provide beforehand — be in advance of my need, 
 in readiness to meet it. 
 
 13. For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I 
 should have slept : then had I been at rest, 
 
 14. With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built 
 desolate places for themselves; 
 
 15. Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses 
 ■with silver: 
 
 16. Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as in- 
 fants ^vhich never saw light. 
 
 Oh, how quiet (as he thinks of them) are the dead, especially 
 those who have had no earthly life ! He thinks also of their 
 company in the under-world — the great men of earth, all are 
 
 there. " Who built ruins for themselves " — suggests the 
 
 vanity of the proudest human labors ; for princes with immense 
 weahli and infinite toil have built for themselves splendid man- 
 sions only to have them become vast ruins. 
 
 17. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the 
 weary be at rest. 
 
 18. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the 
 voice of the oppressor.? 
 
 19. The small and great are there; and the servant is free 
 from his master. 
 
 So Job enlarges upon the supposed state of the dead in the 
 under-world, the leading thought being, exemption from the 
 sorest afiiictions of the present earthly life ; quiet after turmoil ; 
 rest after exhausting labor. In verse 18 the bond-men, restrained 
 of their freedom, may well include the slave, for he hears 
 
 no more the voice of the task-master — the slave-driver. 
 
 " Small and great" both are there, and there they are all equally 
 great — those once in power are in power no longer. The op- 
 pressor's rod is broken forever. 
 
 20. Wherefore is light given to liini that is in misery, and 
 life unto the bitter in soul ; 
 
 21. Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig fur 
 it more than for hid treasures ; 
 
 22. Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they 
 can find the grave ? 
 
 23. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and. 
 whom God hath hedged in ? 
 
 In the first clause of v. 20, Job uses not the passive voice — (is 
 given) but the active, saying — Why does one — some one, give? 
 etc., yet with manifest reference to God, though he forbears to 
 speak his name. Why does God give light to the wretched man 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. IV. 33 
 
 — to those who so long to die? etc. So in v. 23, the same con 
 struction is continued from v. 20: Why does God give the liglit 
 (if life to the man whose whole earthly existence is darkened with 
 overshadowing calamity ? etc. Here the name of God is at last 
 spoken, but has been virtually assumed throughout this passage. 
 
 24. For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings 
 are poured forth Uke the waters. 
 
 25. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon 
 me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. 
 
 26. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I 
 quiet; yet trouble came. 
 
 All this applies in full force (Job would say) to myself — "for" 
 my sighs come before my bread. While men in comfort and pros- 
 perity sit at their joyful board, I have only sighs and moans, an- 
 ticipating — coming in before — these usually bright moments of 
 human life. All the worst evils I have ever feared have come 
 down in one overwhelming avalanche upon me. I could not really 
 rest because of these foreboding apprehensions — and now the dire 
 realities come rushing over me ! 
 
 The Christian reader will ask — What must be thought of these 
 impassioned utterances? — While it is but fair to make some 
 abatement from our estimate of his real meaning on the score of 
 oriental hyperbole — the habit of intense emotion and of very 
 strong expressions thereof, and while it should also be considered 
 that his disease was of the sort that fearfully rasp human nerves, 
 rob the sufferer of restoring sleep, and beget an almost resist- 
 less depression of spirits, yet still we must say — This is not the 
 language of submission to God's overruling; providence. We 
 miss in it the tone of resignation which we delightfully recognize 
 in the two previous chapters. We must set it to the account of 
 human infirmity. When in the end Job came to apprehend 
 God, not as by the hearing of the ear but as by the more perfect 
 eye — when he could say — "but now mine eye seeth Thee", lio 
 ceased to give utterance to such emotions. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 First Speech of EUpliaz. 
 
 1. Then Eliphaz the Teraanite answered and said, 
 
 2. //' we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved ? 
 but who can withhold himself from speaking? 
 
 Eliphaz here opens the reply — the recognized foreman of this 
 group of friends — probably the eldest; manifestly the ablest. — His 
 
34 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. IV. 
 
 first words are modest and cautious, as of one well aware of the 
 delicacy of administering such reproof as in his view the case de- 
 manded. Should one Venture a word with thee, wilt thou be 
 offended? But who can forbear to speak? Literally, "withhold 
 words, who can?" 
 
 3. Beliold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast 
 strengthened the weak hands. 
 
 4. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and 
 thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. 
 
 5. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest ; it 
 toucheth thee, and thou art troubled. 
 
 The sense of these words is clear and well put in our English 
 version, saving that the last word "troubled" (v. 5) is somewhat 
 stronger in the original, viz., confounded, nonplussed, as one who 
 
 has lost his self-possession and his spirit of manly resolution. 
 
 This opening of the debate on the side of Job's friends is severe, 
 more adapted to wound than to soothe or conciliate. Underneath 
 lies the insinuation that Job's words have been better than his 
 heart; that he had known better than he had lived; that though 
 able to counsel others well and minister to their succor and conso- 
 lation, lie was now proving himself even more weak than other 
 men — almost a pitiable case of pusillanimity. 
 
 6. Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the 
 uprightness of thy Avays ? 
 
 This English fails to suggest readily the true and full sense — 
 which is this : Has not thy piety been thy confidence ; and thy 
 hope — has it not been in the integrity of thy ways? — Thy assumed 
 piety has been the ground of all thy confidence — by which Eliphaz 
 suggests that the root of Job's difliculty is that this assumed piety 
 is only assumed, and hence, under such stern trial, his confidence 
 has gone overboard — utterly sunk with the disappearance of his 
 piety. — The woi-d "fear" is the current Old Testament term 
 for piety. 
 
 7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being inno- 
 cent ? or where were the righteous cut off? 
 
 8. Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow 
 wickedness, reap the same. 
 
 9. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of 
 his nostrils are they consumed. 
 
 Recall, now : — Who is he that, being innocent, has perished ? 
 Eliphaz holds this to be a universal proposition : the guiltless never 
 perish ; the righteous are never cut off. Calamities from God's 
 hand fall only upon the guilty. — The figures from husbandry — 
 plowing, sowing and reaping — are plain, conveying the sentiment 
 that God's providential retributions are uniform and ceaseless. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. IV. 35 
 
 No human power can withstand — no human skill evade — this law 
 of retribution upon the guilty. 
 
 10. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce 
 liou, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. 
 
 11. The old lion perisheth for luck of prey, and the stout 
 lion's whelps are scattered abroad. 
 
 These allusions to the lion can have no other application here 
 save this — that no lion-like power or cunning can withstand the 
 march and the sweep of God's agencies in providence for retribu- 
 tion upon guilty men. 
 
 12. Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine 
 ear received a little thereof. 
 
 13. In thoughts from the visions of the night, Avhen deep 
 sleep falleth on men, 
 
 14. Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all 
 my bones to shake. 
 
 Here Eliphaz relates the revelations which God had given to 
 him in a vision. — " Now a thing" (better a tcord) came stealthily, 
 or more literally — stole silently upon me, and mine ear caught the 
 whisper thereof. — In those early ages, perhaps more frequently 
 than in later times, God revealed himself to men in dreams. '^ 
 Sometimes these shaded off into what are distinctively called 
 " visions " as having more or less of a prophetic character. What- 
 ever may be the true view of the normal philosophy of dreams, 
 there can be no doubt that God has power to interpose a special 
 agency and does use them for purposes of moral instruction, and, 
 more often still, of pure moral impression. 
 
 15. Then a spirit passed before my face ; the hair of my 
 flesh stood up : 
 
 16. It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: 
 an image was before mine eyes, tliere was silence, and I heard 
 a voice, saying, 
 
 17. Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man 
 be more pure than his Maker ? 
 
 18. Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his 
 angels he charged with folly : 
 
 19. How muck less in them that 'dwell in houses of clay, 
 whose foundation is in the dust, iiMch are crushed before 
 the moth ? 
 
 One in sleep might have a sense that a spirit had come and was 
 passing, but no mortal eye could discern the form thereof. Such 
 were the impressions of Eliphaz. The voice heard, the words 
 whispered so gently, were the externals of this revelation. — Shall 
 man assume to be more just than God? is probably the sense, this 
 being at once the more obvious and the more usual sense of the 
 
36 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. IV. 
 
 Hebrew ■words, and also the very sin of which (in the view of 
 Eliphaz) Job was guilty ; for in tacitly impugning the justice of 
 God in the afflictions sent upon himself, he assumed to' be more 
 just than his Maker — the providential Disposer of events and the 
 
 Author of the inflictions upon Job. Yet some critics prefer the 
 
 sense — Shall mortal man be justified by God — be accounted just in 
 the presence of God and in his perfect eye ? But this sense seems 
 less pertinent in the present case and comes less naturally from 
 the original words. — The point is enforced by reference to the 
 holy ones before his throne — his servants — i. e., his angels — these 
 words being equivalent names for the same class of beings. God 
 does not confide in them as his counselors, but imputes to them 
 folly in the sense of a wisdom all inferior to his own — so thrown 
 into the shade by the surpassing glory of his wisdom that it seems 
 as darkness itself The course of thought here does not require or 
 
 even justify giving the sense of sin to this word "folly." How 
 
 much less will God trust, and how much more will he charge with 
 folly those that dwell, not in immortal bodies, nor in ctherial 
 forms, but in houses of clay, etc. — " Crushed before the moth " — 
 has been interpreted variously : — crushed by the moth ; or as the 
 moth is crushed ; or as the moth crushes — destroys the garments 
 which it consumes. The latter" can not be the sense of the Heb. 
 words. Of the two former, the second is best — as the moth is 
 crushed, so easily does human life go out; so weak and frail is 
 mortal man.* 
 
 20. Tliey are destroyed from morning to evening; thoy 
 perish for ever without any regarding it. 
 
 21. Doth not their excellency ^vhich is in them go away? 
 they die, even without wisdom. 
 
 This is in the same line of thought, continuing and closing the 
 
 words brought to his ear by the revealing Spirit. From a 
 
 morning to an evening the whole woi'k is done ; within a single 
 day, they are beaten in pieces ; they perish forever, no one regard- 
 ing — so suddenly men scarcely take note of it or get their mind 
 upon it. Gone forever, they return to their earthly home no 
 moi'e. The Heb. word for excellence f illustrates the uncer- 
 tainties of criticism, some applying it to the tent-cord; others 
 . from this figure to the life-cord of man ; and yet others giving 
 it the sense — whatever is best, super-excellent. I prefer the 
 latter here, and take the phrase to mean that the very best things 
 of human life, its dignities, honors, acquirements — all pass sud- 
 denly away, going as when the nomadic troop strike their tents 
 
 and are gone. This figure lies in the verb for going away. So 
 
 they die and not in wisdom. This greatest, best of all human ac- 
 
 "••■ The original seems not very explicit, the literal rendering being 
 this : Whom destroyers crush in the presence of, at the face of, the 
 moth. But this phrase may have the sense — after the manner of — and 
 this I accept as the sense here. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. V. 37 
 
 quisltions, they miss, and die without it. All these points of 
 
 human frailty are grouped here to give force to the idea that such 
 a man so frail, so short-lived, of life so uncertain, whose best qual- 
 ities are held by a tenure so slender — should not presume to lift 
 himself above his Maker, or match his sense of justice against 
 God's! 
 
 CHATTER V. 
 
 Conclusion of EUpliaz^ s first sj'icech. 
 
 1. Call now, if tliere be any that will answer thee ; and to 
 which of the saints wilt thou turn ? 
 
 Summon your witnesses, (Eliphaz would say to Job) ; invoke 
 the testimony and the aid for your cause of good beings — all whom 
 you will or can. I have brought forward the testimony of the spirit 
 whose whispers I caught with my ear in a night-vision. Any re- 
 butting testimony you may have is now in order. 
 
 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy sla3^eth 
 the silly one, 
 
 3. I have seen the foolish taking root : but suddenly I 
 cursed his habitation, 
 
 4. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed 
 in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them, 
 
 5. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it 
 even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their 
 substance. 
 
 Testimony of the good against my positions you will scarcely 
 find — "for" these facts of God's providence are patent and incon- 
 trovertible ; viz.: that wrath killeth the foolish (wicked) man. 
 His own wickedness will surely work his destruction. It always 
 does. I have seen it. The speaker makes the word / emphatic, 
 and appeals here to his own personal observation. I have seen 
 the wicked taking root — starting well in life as if they would make 
 a tall, strong and enduring growth — i. e., a prosperous life; but 
 suddenly I cursed his dwelling-place — probably in the sense of 
 declaring it to be accursed rather than of imprecating a curse 
 
 upon it. I did so for I saw that God's wrath lay upon it. " His 
 
 children are oppressed in the gate" — the place of civil tribunals.' 
 Their harvest the hungry thief or robber devours, seizing upon 
 it despite of the thorn hedge which the owner raised for its pro- 
 tection. — Not the "robber but rather the snare is gaping for 
 their wealth. So the accumulations of the wicked man are swept 
 away. 
 
38 THE BOOK OF JOB. CHAP. V. 
 
 6. Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither 
 doth trouble spring out of the ground ; 
 
 7. Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. 
 The relations of thought expressed in our English by 
 
 "although" and "yet" are neither apposite to the course of ar- 
 gument here, nor are they in the original, where in both cases 
 we have the common Ileb. word "For." '■■ I would therefore 
 paraphrase thus: Wicked men will certainly be stripped of their 
 wealth — "For" (first word of v. 6) "evil, calamity, does not come 
 up out of the ground," but from the hand of the Great Moral 
 Ruler; "for" (v. 7) "man is born to trouble;" calamity is as 
 common and as much a thing of natural course as sin, and for the 
 same reason. Because this is a sinning world, it is also a suffer- 
 ing world, and under the rule of a righteous God, can not be 
 
 otherwise. To show yet more clearly that our English version 
 
 misses the real argument, let it be considered that the proposition 
 — affliction does not come up from the ground as trees do, must 
 really intend its opposite, viz., it does come from God's band. But 
 to say that aWiovgh affliction comes from God, yet man is born to 
 trouble — is to talk without meaning. Really the only reason why 
 man is born to trouble is that he is born into a sinning world, in 
 which suffering and sin are in more senses than one correlated, 
 partly as an antidote; partly as a just retribution, and perhaps 
 yet more as a premonition of a coming retribution that is to be 
 perfect. Hence man is born to trouble because as a race he is 
 
 born to sin. Sinful man drifts toward suffering, calamity, as 
 
 sparks naturally rise upward — this result being natural to him 
 in the sense of following a uniform law of God's providential ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 8. I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit 
 my cause : 
 
 9. Which doeth great things and unsearchable ; marvel- 
 ous things without number : 
 
 10. Who giveth rain ujwn the earth, and sendeth waters 
 upon the fields : 
 
 11. To set up on high those that be low ; that those which 
 mourn may be exalted to safety. 
 
 I can readily tell you what I would do, were I in your case. 
 (The speaker makes the word / emphatic). 1 would go at once 
 to God and commit my cause to him. He has done so many 
 good things — has so constantly opened his great hand to bless 
 his creatures — it must be the best possible thing for one in such 
 afflictions as yours to hasten at once to his blessed feet for help. 
 
 The reader will notice that Eliphaz finds his light of God in 
 
 nature — not in a written revelation; in God's great works of 
 goodness in the natural world, and not in any revealed promise, 
 
 * O 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. V. 39 
 
 In his viow God shapes his providences toAvard men to exalt the 
 lowly and the humble mourner. 
 
 12. He disappointetli the devices of the crafty, so that 
 their hands can not perform their enterprise. 
 
 13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness : and the 
 counsel of the froward is carried headlong. 
 
 14. They meet Avith darkness in the day-time, and grope 
 in the noonday as in the night. 
 
 The same Providence blesses the virtuous and abases the 
 
 vicious. " Disappointetli," would be better put breaketh. 
 
 The counsels of the cunning are made hasty, rash, so that they 
 rush upon their own destruction. God sees further than they. 
 Daylight is not light to them. They run foul of darkness despite 
 of the sun, and grope after light at noon as if it were midnight 
 — which puts forcibly God's w^ays to bafHe the wisest schemes of 
 wickedly designing men. See the figure — groping at noon-day — 
 moi-e fully drawn out, Deut. 28: 29. 
 
 15. But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their 
 moutli, and from the hand of the mighty. 
 
 16. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her 
 mouth. 
 
 The Hebrew word translated, " from the sword," admits of a 
 bettor derivation which makes it a participle,* with the sense — 
 one made desolate — the victim of oppression. The word "poor" 
 belongs to the last clause. The poetic parallelism is thus made 
 complete : — So he saves the victim (of wrong) from their mouth, 
 and the poor from the hand of the strong. 
 
 17. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth : 
 therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty : 
 
 18. For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, 
 and his hands make whole. 
 
 It is interesting to notice how near Eliphaz comes to the great 
 doctrine of Prov. 3: 11, 12 and of the New Testament (Heb. 
 12: 5, 6) — viz., that God sends suffering for chastisement and; 
 correction — for the moral good of the sufferer, so that such in- 
 flictions should by no means be resented ("despised") — should 
 never be considered hard, severe, unreasonable. For, the 
 wounds which God makes, he is always ready to heal speedily, if 
 only the sufferer repents and 'accepts tlie chastisement submis- 
 sively. The hard point in the doctrine of ipliphaz was that 
 
 these inflictions always presupposed specially great sins. This 
 was his fundamental mistake. 
 
 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles : yea, in seven 
 there shall no evil touch thee. 
 
 *znnD 
 
40 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. V. 
 
 20. lu famine lie shall redeem tliee from death : and in 
 war from the power of the sword. 
 
 21. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: 
 neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction Avhen it cometh. 
 
 22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh : neither 
 shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. 
 
 23. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the 
 field : and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. 
 
 Such prosperity trod would surely give the penitent whom his 
 afflictions had brought to a better mind. Therefore let Job be 
 
 moved to repent of his great sins. Naturally he specifies those 
 
 dangers which wei'e common in the life of the desert — such as 
 wild beasts, and the sharp stones which subjected whoever walked 
 with bare feet, to bad wounds. " In league with the stones of 
 the field," had therefore in their life a meaning not to be 
 despised. 
 
 24. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall he in 
 peace ; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. 
 
 The word for " habitation " is not a tent for man but a fold for 
 his flocks. He shall visit this to see that all are there, and shall 
 miss none — the sense of the word translated — " shall not sin." 
 This well known Heb. word* which primarily means to miss, to 
 miss the mark — comes by a secondary sense to mean that worst 
 ■^ mistake of all which the sinner makes who always fails ulti- 
 mately of the good he seeks in sin. 
 
 25. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall he great, and 
 thine offspring as the grass of the earth. 
 
 26. Thou shalt come to tluj grave in a full age, like as a 
 shock of corn cometh in his season. 
 
 27. Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and 
 know thou it for thy good. 
 
 To crown all, the penitent sufierer, (e. g., Job) would have the 
 joy of a numerous and precious posterity (although just then 
 made childless by terrible bereavement), and would himself come 
 to his grave in a ripe old age as the heavy corn sheaf is gathered 
 
 in its time. All this Eliphaz declares to be the result of his 
 
 personal observations, and is therefore more sure of it. So he 
 begs Job to believe and accept it, for his own good. 
 
 Thus endeth the first lesson of these well meaning but not 
 altogether well taught friends. Its tone is on the whole calm if 
 we judge of it from the standpoint of his theory. The root of 
 his error lay in his assumption that .Tob must be in heart a hypo- 
 crite — a very great sinner. Assuming that suffering sent from 
 God must accurately, measure the sin of the sufferer, how could 
 he infer any thing less or else than this ? 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CIIAr. Vl. 41 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Job replies to ElipTiaz. 
 
 1. But Job answered and said, 
 
 2. Oh that my grief were .thoroughly weighed, and my 
 cahimity laid in the balances together ! 
 
 3. For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea : 
 therefore, my Avords are swallowed up. 
 
 The starting point in JolVs reply is the greatness of his grief, 
 Avbich he feels that his friends have liy no means fully appreciated, 
 
 and hence have been strangely wantuig in sympathy. " Oh that 
 
 my griefs were thoroughly Aveighed ", some explain as a wish that 
 grief were a thing to be weighed so as to test precisely its real 
 severity. But it falls in better with the case in hand to regard it 
 as a wish that these friends could and would estimate it justly. 
 This must be his ultimate meaning, for this is the thing he so 
 
 ardently desired. It becomes a question whether the word 
 
 "together" means all his individual sorrows, put in and weighed 
 in one mass; or, taking "calamity" in the sense of complaint, 
 making this the ultimate meaning: Oh that my griefs might be 
 put in one scale and my complaints in the opposite, to see if the 
 complaints outweigh the griefs. The latter construction might be 
 admissible possibly if the word for calamity would bear the 
 meaning complaint — but it can not. JMoreover, the point at issue 
 is not whether Job complains overmuch, beyond what such suffer- 
 ings justify; but whether his sufferings are or are not the exact 
 
 index of his sins. If my griefs were thoroughly weighed, 
 
 they would be heavier than the sands of the sea — this strong ex- 
 pression being oriental in character. But Job manifestly felt 
 
 that no figures could exaggerate his griefs. Therefore have 
 
 my words been rash, extreme. I am sensible of the fact that 
 
 they have been rash, and this is my apology. Our English 
 
 "swallowed up" derives the Hebrew Avord from a root which is 
 now generally rejected.* Our English word would seem to 
 mean — ^ly words have gone for nothing, have proved utterly 
 worthless ; but this makes no sense pertinent to the context or 
 the case. 
 
 4. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the 
 poison Avhereof drinketh up my spirit : the terrors of God 
 do set themselves in array against me. 
 
 That which made Job's sufferings so appalling and unen- 
 durable was the manifest hand of God in them. How could he 
 bear this? The poison of those ari'ows when seen coming from 
 
 (*Viz., from V^'; but modern critics from "^.i'^-) 
 
42 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. VI. 
 
 the hand of the Almighty, drank up his spirits; swallowed up 
 all his manly courage, all his endurance. The terrors of God all 
 in array against him as for battle, broke down his very soul. 
 
 5. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth 
 the ox over his fodder ? 
 
 6. Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt ? or 
 is there any taste in the white of an egg? 
 
 7. The things that my soul refused to touch are as my 
 sorrowful meat. 
 
 On these verses the work of the interpreter (as usual) is two- 
 fold : (a) To determine precisely what the speaker says ; to reach 
 the exact sense of his several words; and (b) To ascertain their 
 
 intended application and bearing in his argument. Under the 
 
 first head critics have differed as to the meaning of the very un- 
 usual Hebrew word translated "the white of an egg" — some 
 giving it the sense of jnirslain broth — a most tasteless, insipid 
 herb. The older authorities, e. g. the Targums and the Rabbins, 
 give the former. The Arabic ti'anslators have been supposed to 
 ftivor the latter. This point, however, is of small consequence. 
 
 As to the second and far more vital question — What is the 
 
 bearing of these verses upon Job's argument? I understand his 
 thought to be of this sort: — All sentient beings, even the lower 
 animals, have a voice for their sorrows. They never moan and 
 cry save from a sense of suffering and want. Think not of me 
 that I should pour forth Availings of sorrow, if there were no sor- 
 row in my soul. These wails are as really the cries of my na- 
 ture as the call of the wild ass or the ox for food in his hunger. 
 
 From this thought, .Job passes easily to speak (v. 6) of his 
 
 friends as professing or attempting to minister to his hunger by 
 giving him tasteless or insipid food; or, (as in v. 7) things that 
 offend his stomach, and bring on nausea and vomiting. The 
 consolations they offer to him in his heart-hunger turn his 
 stomach to loathing. A better translation of v. 7 is that of 
 Conant: — "My soul refuses to touch! They are as food that I 
 loathe " ! He says this of the food offered him by his friends 
 when his nature cries like that of the ox for relief from gnawing 
 pain. 
 
 8. Oh that I might have my request ; and that God would 
 grant me the thing that I long for ! 
 
 9. Even that it would please God to destroy me ; that he 
 would let loose his hand, and cut me oft'! 
 
 10. Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden 
 myself in sorrow ; let him not spare ; for I have not con- 
 cealed the words of the Holy One. 
 
 These deeply impassioned utterances were provoked by a sense 
 of the severity of his friends. It is not strange that Job's heart 
 was torn and bleeding, nor that he should be tempted to look 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. VI. 43 
 
 wishfully to death for relief — The English translation of v. 10 
 imputes to Job a spirit of hardihood and daring toward God of 
 which his real words are innocent and for which they are not 
 responsible. Job did not mean to say that he would harden his 
 lieart under liis griefs, nor did he challenge the Almighty to lay 
 on as he would and not spare ! The more accurate translation of 
 his words will much relieve his utterances of these extreme senti- 
 ments — thus : If God were to cut short my life, it should still be 
 my comfort, and I would exult, even under unsparing agony, that 
 1 have not denied the words of the Holy One. — A consciousness 
 of having honored the known words of his ]\Iaker and sought to 
 walk before him accordingly should be more than mere comfort — 
 should be even his exultant joy under the bitterest of mortal 
 agonies. The sense — agony that does not or will not spare 
 (instead of "Let him not spare") is certainly admissible. It 
 being admitted, we need not understand Job as having his thought 
 specially upon God — much less, as challenging him to inflict tor- 
 ture without mercy ! — And the sense " harden myself" for the Heb. 
 verb® so rendered here in our version, finds not the least support 
 in the modern Heb. Lexicons of Gesenius or of Fuerst. In extant 
 Hebrew it occurs here only; but its Arabic analogies determine 
 its meaning — to leap up, to bound with exultation. — In v. 9 the 
 conception is that God's firm hand upon him sustains his life, so 
 that loosing that hand would be to cut short his life in death. 
 
 11. What is my strength, that I should hope ? And what 
 is mine end, that I sliould prolong my life ? 
 
 12. Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh 
 of brass ? 
 
 13. Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite 
 from me ? 
 
 14. To him that is afflicted, pity should be shelved from his 
 friend ; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. 
 
 In vs. 13, 14, we must modify our Eng. version matferially; 
 thus (v. 13) "Is there not an absence — a negation — of all help in 
 myself? Is not recovery (a reinstatement in my former well- 
 being) quite driven from me?" — In v. 14, "Kindness is due from 
 his friend to one broken down," i. e , in hope and strength, and 
 ready to forsake the fear of the Almighty; tempted, and almost 
 on the verge of such forsaking of God. Such a man, if he has a 
 friend on earth, needs and has a right to claim his tenderest sym- 
 pathy. Ah indeed, most truly! But Job goes on from this point 
 to charge his friends, then present, with utterly disappointing, his 
 reasonable expectations in this respect. 
 
 In v. 11, 12, Job says that his endurance is almost exhausted. 
 Physically he can bear but little more; and probably he would 
 say that, morally, spiritually, his soul was quivering on the verge 
 of utter prostration. These points in their relation to what pre- 
 
44 THE BOOK OF JOB. —CHAP. VI. 
 
 cedes are put as reasons Avhy he looks to death for relief. — Advanc- 
 ing in his line of thought, he suggests that his extremity of 
 •w'eakness and need ought to draw forth in his behalf the deep 
 sympathy of his friends; but, alas! this fails him! 
 
 15. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as 
 the stream of brooks they pass away ; 
 
 16. Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein 
 the snow is hid : 
 
 17. What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is 
 hot, they are consumed out of their place. 
 
 My brethren fiiil me and disappoint my hopes as the streams 
 of the desert disappoint the caravans and leave them to perish for 
 lack of water. — Some of the phrases in this passage should have 
 an improved translation; thus— (last clause of v. 15) "As the 
 valley-streams which themselves pass away:" not "they" (my 
 brethren) " pass away." Streams that are blackish, turbid, when 
 the ice and snow from the mountains swell them to torrents; but 
 when they have thus poured themselves oif in floods — the high 
 waters of spring — they suddenly fail. Not — "when they wax 
 warm" — but when they have poured themselves off rapidly in 
 floods — then they cease. to run. The point of comparison is, they 
 lack stability, permanence. One spring freshet — thou, through all 
 the hot summer, dry. 
 
 18. The paths of their way are turned aside ; they go to 
 nothing, and perish. 
 
 19. The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba 
 waited for them. 
 
 20. They were confounded because they had hoped ; they 
 came thither, and Avere ashamed. 
 
 Here the Eng. version erroneously translates the same Heb. 
 word "paths" in v. 18, and "troops ' in v. 19, — whereas in both 
 cases the sense is caravans, traveling companies, crossing the 
 Arabian deserts. . They turn from their direct course to strike 
 and follow up these old water channels ; they march up into utter 
 wastes, waterless and desolate — and there perish. These caravans 
 of Tema and Sheba looked for water there with expectation and 
 hope, but were bitterly put to shame and confounded by reason of 
 such trust and its utter failure in their great need. So Job's hopes 
 of sympathy and moral succor from his friends had left him to 
 shame and confusion. 
 
 21. For now ye are nothing ; ye see vnj casting down, and 
 are afraid. 
 
 22. Did I say, Bring unto nie ? or, Give a reward for me 
 of your substance ? 
 
 23. Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand ? or, Kedeem 
 me from the hand of the mighty ? 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. VI. 45 
 
 For now ye too, like these desert-streams, have become nothing, 
 "Ye see a terror" — a case of suffering that shocks and amazes: 
 and ye seem to shrink back in dismay. But look again into my 
 case. Consider what I am asking of you. Is it your wealth, as 
 if to supply the loss of mine ? Or is it deliverance from some 
 threatened violence ? No such thing at all. 
 
 24. Teach me, aud I will hold my tongue : and cause mo 
 to understand wherein I have erred. 
 
 25. How forcible are right words ! but what doth your 
 arguing reprove ? 
 
 26. Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of 
 one that is desperate, ivhich are as wind ? 
 
 27. Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a j^it for 
 your friend. 
 
 The thing I do want and do ask of you, is moral counsel, real 
 advice. Show me wherein I have erred. Set me right as toward 
 
 God. Such fitting words would bo above all price. But what 
 
 does your upbraiding prove, and what does it avail ? Do ye pro- 
 pose to rebuke my words when ye should know that the words of 
 one driven to desperation are only as the wind? — Job thinks they 
 should not criticise his rash utterances so severely, vrhich indeed 
 had been forced from his lips by his terrible sufferings and by 
 being brought so nigh to utter despair. Ye might as well cast 
 lots for orphans — to part them among you as slaves — or dig a pit- 
 fall for your friend. 1 understand 'Job to compare the cruel, 
 
 heartless course of his friends toward himself with these flagrant 
 violations of friendship and right. 
 
 28. Now therefore be content, look upon me : for it is evi- 
 dent unto you if I lie. 
 
 29. Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return 
 again, my righteousness is in it. 
 
 30. Is there iniquity in my tongue ? can not my taste di.s- 
 cern perverse things? 
 
 Job moves for a reconsideration of his case. "And now, con- 
 sent;" yield to my request; look upon me in my case once more, 
 for I will not speak falsely to your face. (I will deal honestly : 
 ah, I am too near my grave to deal otherwise!) Return, I pray; 
 let there be no perverse views, nothing false or misconceived. 
 Yea, return ; for yet my righteousness is in it — which I take to 
 mean — my uprightness, my integrity, is in the case and must yet 
 
 appear. Have I said aught that was false ? Can ye suppose 
 
 1 have lost my moral sense so that I can can not discriminate 
 
 right from wrong? The views they had taken of his case 
 
 seemed to Job to assume that his words were false and his moral 
 sentiments perverse. He begs them to reconsider the case and 
 withdraw these tacit or avowed implications. 
 
46 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. VII. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Conclusion of Job's reply. 
 
 Job concludes his speech, recounting his sorrows, discoursing 
 upon the shortness of human life and especially of that portion 
 which lay yet before himself, and passionately, not to say com- 
 plainingly, entreats that God would lighten his too heavy hand, 
 forgive his sins, and grant him yet one quiet, peaceful hour before 
 he shall go hence. 
 
 1. Id there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are 
 not his days also like the days of a hireling ? 
 J 2. As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as a 
 hireling looketh for the reward of his Avork ; 
 
 3. So am I made to possess months of vanity, and weari- 
 some nights are appointed to me. 
 
 4. AVhen I lie down, I say. When shall I arise, and the 
 night be gone ? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the 
 dawning of the day. 
 
 The Heb. word for "appointed time" is used often of a term 
 of service in war; also of the designated term of temple service 
 assigned to the Levites. So man has a very limited period for 
 his life-service on this earth. As the servant longs for the fast 
 lengthening shadows which shortly precede sun-setting — his sig- 
 nal for closing a weary day's toil, — so, says Job, am I made to in- 
 herit months of vanity — empty of all good and full of pain ; nights 
 also, not of rest in sleep, but of perpetual tossings because of 
 pain. Ah, how true to the experience of the sick sufferer, saying 
 as he lays himself down to court sleep — " When shall I arise and 
 the night be gone?" 
 
 5. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust ; my 
 skin is broken, and become loathsome. 
 
 6. IMy days are sAvifter than a Aveavei''s shuttle, and are 
 spent without hope. 
 
 The skin disease described here under which Job was suffer- 
 ing was very unlike the modern boil. Fortunately for us it is 
 
 unknown to human experience in our climate and country. 
 
 " Clothed with worms" — but critics differ as to the sense here of 
 the word for " worms." Some say roitenness ; others, ulcers ; 
 and yet others, mold. The usual sense is no doubt, loorms. The 
 phrase — " clods of dust" — aims to give its resemblance. Of an 
 ashy color, and corrugated with ridges and lumps as if it were a 
 
 plowed field of half broken clods. My skin cracks and dis- 
 
 chai-ges matter — which indicates somewhat the nature of his dis- 
 ease. The bitter thing in these swiftly passing days was that 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP VII. 47 
 
 they came and went, but neither found in him nor brought to him 
 any hope of relief. 
 
 7. O remember that my life is wind ; mine eye shall no 
 more see good. 
 
 8. The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more : 
 thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. 
 
 9. As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away ; so ho 
 that goeth down to the gi'ave shall come up no more. 
 
 10. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall 
 his place know him any more. 
 
 O remeinbcr that my life is but a breath — so soon past and 
 gone ! Here again we see Job despairing of more good on earth. 
 Death will soon take him hence — to return no more. Alas, lie 
 must soon be missed and even forgotten amid the scenes and 
 surroundings of his now present life. Not only will the passing 
 generations of men cease to know him ; they are themselves 
 moving on and away ; — but even the old localities — the hills and 
 the streams he once frequented and loved, and with Avhich he 
 seemed to hold a sort of heart-communion — even they, enduring 
 as they are, will know him no more ! They catch the glow of 
 his eye, the pressure of his step, the inspirations of his presence 
 — no more at all forever. This great fact pertaining to the dead 
 is here put in most impressive, memorable words. How forcibly 
 are they confirmed by all human experience ! 
 
 11. Therefore I will not refrain my mouth ; I will speak 
 in the anguish of my spirit ; I Avill complain in the bitter- 
 ness of my soul. 
 
 12. Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch 
 over me? 
 
 13. "When I say, My l^ed shall comfort me, my couch shall 
 ease my complaint ; 
 
 14. Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me 
 through visions : 
 
 15. So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather 
 than my life. 
 
 Xcft " therefore," which the original by no means admits, but 
 this: — "Also, as for myself, I for my part, will not shut my 
 
 mouth. The anguish of my spirit compels me to sjieak." 
 
 "Am I a sea?" — unreliable, uncertain, boisterous — the sea being a 
 natural emblem of pride, fickleness, instability. — —Or am I a sea- 
 monster? — the word more naturally suggesting the great sea-ser- 
 pent than the whale. Am I in character, like either of these, 
 
 that thou shouldest set a watch over me? V. 15, last clause, 
 
 should read — "My soul chooseth death rather than these bones" — 
 indicating that either pain in them or emaciation made them 
 prominent to his thought. Frightful dreams by night and in- 
 
48 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. VII. 
 
 supportable depression of spirits by day, were among the fruits 
 of this terrible disease. Under these sufferings and horrors, no 
 ■wonder Job should choose to die of strangling rather than live on 
 under such torture. 
 
 16. I loathe it; I would not live alway : let me alone; 
 for my days are vanity. 
 
 17. What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and 
 that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him ? 
 
 18. And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and 
 try him every moment ? 
 
 19. How long Avilt thou not depart from me, nor let me 
 alone till I swallow down my spittle ? 
 
 The primary sense of the verb translated " loathe" is to umsfe 
 
 awaij, and this should be preferred here. The next clause is 
 
 the simple future : — " I shaJl not live alway." Therefore desist 
 
 fi'om me ; leave me for a little moment at peace : — which we must 
 understand as addressed to God. For my days are a breath and 
 this only ; therefore let me have a few moments of rest before I 
 
 go hence. Then Job falls back upon his own insignificance 
 
 and littleness as a reason for his plea that God would withdraw 
 his sharp eye and leave him for the moment exempt from the 
 horrors of such a sense of rebuke and divine indignation. What 
 is man that thou shouldest make so much of him, set thy thought 
 so sharply vipon him, visit him in thy watchfulness every morn- 
 ing, try him with such sufferings as mine every moment? How 
 long ere thou wilt look away from me ; take oiF thine eye from 
 me, and let me alone till I can take my breath — this last phrase be- 
 ing analogous to the more oriental one — " swallow my spittle." 
 
 20. I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou 
 preserver of men ? why hast thou set me as a mark against 
 thee, so that I am a burden to myself? 
 
 21. And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and 
 take away mine iniquity ? for now shall I sleep in the dust ; 
 and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be. 
 
 Conant translates — "If I sin, what do I unto Thee " — /. e., of 
 what great consequence can it be to thee, and how can it be a 
 reason for visiting me so severely ? The literal and proper sense 
 of the Heb. words is put in our English version : " I have sinned ; 
 what shall I do to Thee?" Yet the scope of thought in the 
 
 Avoids that follow favors the sense given by Conant. Why hast 
 
 thou made me thy mark — the target for thy sharp arrows — so 
 making me a burden insupportable to myself? The underlying 
 implication here is — Why does the great God treat me so? How 
 
 shall I account for this apparent severity? -These were among 
 
 the rash and foolish Avords of tliis tried and impatient sufferer, for 
 which, when he came to see God better, he humbled himself and 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB, — CHAP. VITI. 49 
 
 repented in dust and ashes. "0 Thou preserver of men," 
 
 should rather be read — O Thou observer of men — Thou who 
 dost watch so closely, so sharply — for such is here the course of 
 
 Job's thought. Then, with far less humility and conscious un- 
 
 worthines.s than was meet, he almost impatiently demands that 
 (lod should pardon his iniquities and should do it soon, for he 
 had but little more time to live, and soon God could no longer 
 find him among the living though he were to seek never so ear- 
 nestly. This verb — to seek — most often takes the secondary sense 
 — not precisely of seeking in the morning, but of seeking ear- 
 nestly — this earnestness being indicated by being up betimes for 
 it in the morning. 
 
 Thus Job allows the severity of his sufferings to wring from 
 his heart and to force through his lips tliese impassioned com- 
 jilaints and daring implications of the Great God ! No wonder 
 that when in the result God came so impressively near in the 
 glory of his majesty. Job w^as smitten with contrition and abased 
 himself in the dust! That ultimate humiliation and confession, 
 set over against tliese daring, not to say false and foul charges 
 against Gud, constitute some of the great moral lessons of this 
 book. 
 
 o-^^c 
 
 ^ CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Bildad speaks in his tnrn. 
 
 Bildad the second disputant comes forward in this chapter with 
 one fundamental doctrine, viz., that God's administration is abso- 
 lutely righteous and complete, and can never fall below this 
 standard even in the present world. ITence judgments follow 
 sins and are graduated to the enormity of the sin they are sent to 
 punish. • Job therefore must be a great sinner inasmuch as he is 
 a great sufferer. There can be no hope for him save in repent- 
 ance and returning to God. Bildad appeals to history — to the 
 voice of all the fathers — for proof that God blesses the righteous, 
 but visits judgment on the wicked. 
 
 1. Then an-sw^ered Bildad the Shuhitc, and said, 
 
 2. How' long wilt thou speak these things f and hoiu long 
 xhall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind ? 
 
 It is the human nature of disputants in sharp controversy to 
 indulge in retort that cuts deep — as here: "the words of thy 
 mouth a strong wind" — as void of thought; as incessant and 
 
 tumultuous, putting sound for sense. In Bildad, this was at 
 
 once heartless and unreasonable. We marvel that he could so 
 utterly lack sympathy with his suffering friend. Ilis philosophy 
 
50 THE BOOK OP JOB. — CHAP. VIII. 
 
 of the case impressed him so strongly that Job must be the greatest 
 of sinners, and all his professed piety only egregious hypocrisy, 
 that his heart could not and would not open to the appeals of 
 sympathy with those outbursts of impassioned grief. 
 
 3. Doth God pervert judgraeut? or doth the Almighty 
 pervert justice? 
 
 This lays down his fundamental doctrine in the strongest 
 form — that of a question which assumes its point as above all 
 dispute or doubt — the point being that God never can pervert the 
 right — never can siverve from inherent, perfect justice. 
 
 Remarkably, the logic of the doctrine seems to be an inference 
 from God's almightiness, corresponding to the argument as put 
 by Abraham (Gen. 18: 25): "Shall not the Judge of all the earth 
 do right" ? But was this a purely logical inference, deducing the 
 rectitude of God from his infinite resources of power, on the 
 principle that such tl God can have no conceivable motive for in- 
 iustice ; or was it rather an intuition of the reason — that the 
 Supreme God must be perfect in goodness and therefore in justice 
 as truly as infinite in power and sway over his own universe? 
 
 4. K thy cliiklren have sinned against him, and he have 
 cast them aAvay for their transgression ; 
 
 5. If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy 
 supplication to the Almighty ; 
 
 6. If thou loert pure and upright ; surely now he would 
 awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness 
 prosperous. 
 
 7. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end 
 should greatly increase. 
 
 The word "if" here (in v. 4) does not imply in the speaker's 
 mind the least doubt as to the fact that Job's sons had sinned. 
 
 " Though " would give his thought more precisely. " And God 
 
 have cast them away for their transgression " — is put in the 
 Hebrew very suggestively — thus : And God hath thrown thom 
 into the hand of their transgression, i. e., for punishment, as if the 
 very sin they had committed were armed with power to punish. 
 Thus certainly in the view of the speaker must suffering follow 
 sinning, as if sin w^ere made self-avenging — always mighty to 
 
 visit retribution upon the sinner w^ho commits the sin. Even 
 
 then (he proceeds to say) if thou thyself (making the word thou 
 emphatic) — if thou as their father wouldest seek earnestly 
 unto God and make supplication to the Almighty; and then, 
 moreover, if thou wert pure and upright (which I fear is 
 far from being the case) — but if thou shouldest come back to 
 purity by penitence and humiliation before God, surely even now, 
 desperate as thy case has become, God Avould rouse himself up in 
 thy behalf and make thy righteous dwelling-place again prosper- 
 ous. This, on th-e supposition that thy dwelling-place shall be- 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. VIII. 51 
 
 conic a righteous one. Then, though thy l)eginnings wore small 
 
 — though thy prosperity shouhl start from the lowest possilile 
 point, yet thy latter end should be exceeding great. Remarkably 
 Bildad foretold sagaciously the- latter end of the Lord's actual 
 dealings with Job. 
 
 8. For inquire, I pray tliee, of the former age, and pre- 
 pare thyself to the search of their fiithers : 
 
 9. (For ^ve are but of yesterday, and know nothing, be- 
 cause our days upon earth are a shadow :) 
 
 10. Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter 
 words out of their heart ? 
 
 For the proof of his positions Bildad appeals first to the voice 
 of history. Go back to former generations ; search out the testi- 
 mony of their fathei'S. Personally we have lived but as it were a 
 day — only since yesterday; our observation therefore is all too 
 limited to become a basis for such a generalization. But the 
 fiithers — those ancient men whose lives stretched over centuries — 
 they have marked the ways of God's providence through long ages 
 and they must know. Will not they give you honest words, from 
 their simple hearts ? such words as these, which he proceeds to 
 recite. 
 
 11. Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow 
 without water? 
 
 12. Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it 
 withereth before any other herb. 
 
 13. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the 
 hypocrite's hope shall perish : 
 
 14. "Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a 
 sjiider's web. 
 
 They will tell you that effects follow their proper causes ; as 
 you see it in vegetable growths, so you may see it in the moral 
 world — retribution follows sin. The paper-rush (" papyrus ") 
 grows not except in marshy soil, e. g. close along the banks of the 
 Nile ; the flag — the same that hid the little ark of the child Moses 
 on the margin of the Nile, grows not without Avater. But, the 
 water failing, these plants wither and die, even without being cut 
 at all. So are the paths of all who forget God. Losing God's 
 favor, they perish no less surely than these Nile growths when their 
 
 waters fail. Let it be noted incidentally that these allusions to 
 
 the well-known grasses and growths on the Nile banks bear wit- 
 ness that the writer was familiar with Egypt. Should it seem 
 strange that ISIoses (if really the writer of this book) should remem- 
 ber his mother's story of the flags by the river's brink that hid her 
 
 boy so safely ? The Hebrew word translated " hypocrite "^ should 
 
 not be restricted to the common sense of this English word — one 
 who falsely professes more piety than he has — but should have 
 the broader sense — the godless, impious, morally polluted man- 
 
52 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. VIII. 
 
 15. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand : 
 he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure. 
 
 16. He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth 
 forth in his garden. 
 
 17. His roots are wrapj^ed about the heap, cmd seeth the 
 place of stones. 
 
 18. If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny 
 him, saying, I have not seen thee. 
 
 19. Behold, this is the joy of his Avay, and out of the earth 
 shall others grow. 
 
 The description of the wicked man's adversity continues. lie 
 may lean upon his house as upon something firm enough to sup- 
 port a man resting against it, but the house itself falls ; he may 
 hold fast upon it (better than "hold it fast"), but it endures 
 
 not, and therefore himself must fall. Again comparing the 
 
 sinner to some vegetable growth — he flourishes for a short season, 
 green and fresh in the presence of the sun — his roots penetrating 
 the stony soil and making themselves fast and firm there (v. 17); 
 but (v. 18) when he shall be destroyed (literally this is impersonal) 
 
 when one, or something shall destroy him from his place, 
 
 this destruction shall be so utter that his very place shall deny 
 him and seem to say, "I have not seen thee. No such man ever 
 lived here." Lo, mark it; this is the highest joy the sinner can 
 reach ; so short is his prosperity ; thus utter is the ruin that swal- 
 lows him up and roots out his very name and memorial ! Other 
 and better men come up at once to fill the place he held for his 
 brief moment.* 
 
 20. Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither 
 will he help the evil doers : 
 
 21. Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with 
 rejoicing. 
 
 22. They that hate thee shall be clothed with .shame ; and 
 the dwelling-place of the wicked shall come to nought. 
 
 To another point give your attention. Mark this ; God never 
 spurns the upright — never rejects him as with loathing; nor on 
 tlie other side, does he ever grasp the hand of evil-working men 
 to sustain them in their wickedness. If thou art truly good, God 
 will carry out this principle of blessing the virtuous with j^ros- 
 perity (v. 21) till " he fills thy mouth with laughter," etc. 
 
 Thus Bildad's scheme of the divine administration in this life 
 has no place for calamity to touch the good man, nor any scope 
 for prosperity to smile on the wicked. All this seems to him a ' 
 resistless inference from God's justice. However it may fit, it 
 must be made to apply to the case in hand — poor Job, stripped 
 of children and property ; stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. 
 If his sins have been correspondingly great, what a monster in 
 crime and vileness he must have been ! 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. IX. 53 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Job commences his reply to B'lldad. 
 
 The great discussion has now reached its deep places. Job's 
 sensibilities are poAverfully moved. Struggling between a con- 
 sciousness of sincerity in the main as a true servant of the Most 
 High, and a feeling of dark uncertainty as to the reasons why God 
 was afflicting him so fearfully ; longing to know what those reasons 
 might be, and yet deeply aware of the majesty, the glory, the 
 power as Avell as the purity of the Infinite God, he anxiously 
 presses the question — Is it possible for me to have a fair hearingt 
 before him ? Can I hope ever to obtain from him an explanation 
 of these dark ways of his providence toward me ? In this chap- 
 ter he turns over and over the great points that bear on this ques- 
 tion, and gives large scope to the feelings that well up in his 
 troubled soul. 
 
 1. Then Job auswered and said, 
 
 2. I kuow it is so of a truth : but how should man be just 
 with God ? 
 
 3. If he will contend with him, he can not answer him one 
 of a thousand. 
 
 " Of a truth I know it is so: " You say God is righteous and 
 can never pervert justice. My deepest convictions affirm the same ; 
 this doctrine must stand. No mortal can sustain himself as right- 
 eous in an issue made on this point against the Almighty Ruler. 
 
 How can man prove himself just with {i. c, before) God? In 
 
 V. 3 — "If he (God) will contend" — should rather be — ivills to 
 contend — if He should choose to join issue with a mere creature, 
 this creature could not answer to God for one count out of a thou- 
 sand in the great indictment; i. e., man could make out nothing 
 at all in a case of controversy with God. 
 
 4. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength : who hatli 
 hardened himself against him, and hath prospered ? 
 
 5. Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: 
 which overturneth them in his anger ; 
 
 0. Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and tlie pil- 
 lars thereof tremble: 
 
 God being all-wise and all-powerful as well, who can withstand 
 him and be secure — i. e., and still have peace and safety? The 
 welfare and destiny of every ci*eature are so perfectly under his 
 control, what can it avail any proud mortal to take a stand against 
 
 the Infinite God? "Who removeth mountains and they know 
 
 not" — means — not that they are unconscious of being moved, but 
 that it is done with such infinite ease and facility and of course so 
 suddenly that ere they are aware, they are uptorn from their deep 
 
54 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP, IX. 
 
 foundations. The speaker thinks of the fearful earthquake hy 
 Avhich the granite mountains are shaken and even hurled out of 
 their place. — The ancient notion that the earth is supported upon 
 pillars appears here as we might expect — this being the current 
 thought of those times. (See 1 Sam. 2 : 8 and Job 38 : 4, 6 and 
 Prov. 8: 29 and Ps. 104: 5.) 
 
 7. Wliicli commandetli the sun, and it risetli not; and 
 sealetli up the stars; 
 
 8. Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth 
 upon the waves of the sea ; 
 
 9. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and tlie 
 chambers of the south ; 
 
 10. AVhich doeth great things past finding out ; yea, and 
 wonders without number. 
 
 Who speaks to the sun and it shines not — this being the sense 
 rather than his rising — the speaker's thought being apparently 
 upon the eclipse as shutting off the sun's rays. In like manner 
 he can seal up the stars that their light shall not reach us. — "Who 
 spreadeth out the heavens " — in the sense of creating the vast 
 expanse of sky, called in scripture " the firmament." He does 
 this of himself alone, with no aid from the creatures he has made. 
 Who in his majesty treads upon the heights of the sea (its highest 
 and proudest billows) ; who made the great constellations here 
 named — always very prominent objects in the starry heavens. 
 "The chambers of the south" — the word rather signifying the 
 secret chambers, with allusion to the little known constellations of 
 the remote southern hemisphere. All those glories of the starry 
 sky are but the handiwork of the Almighty, whose works are 
 great beyond our searching out and whose wonderful doings defy 
 all enumeration. 
 
 11. Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on 
 also, but I j)erceive him not. 
 
 12. Behold,, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who 
 will say unto him, What doest thou ? 
 
 His person invisible to mortal eye, his presence is known by 
 the wonderful works lie achieves. How then should a weak mor- 
 tal stand in awe before him! — "Lo, (v. 12), he taketh away" — but 
 the Hebrew suggests rather this intensive thought: — "he seizes," 
 as the lion does his prey: "who then can turn Jiim hack" — stay 
 his hand; reverse his doings? Who shall dare call him to account 
 as to any of his deeds ? 
 
 13. Ij God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers 
 do stoop under him. 
 
 14. How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my 
 words to reason with him ? 
 
 The Hebrew does not say " if;" the real sentiment is better 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. IX. 55- 
 
 expressed without it.— God Avill not turn back his anger — the same 
 word for "turn back" as in the first clause of v. 12 (Eng. "hin- 
 der"). Tiic sentiment — When God has occasion for anger, no 
 mortal arm can Avithstand. So the next clause implies ; " proud 
 helpers bow " — fall low — before (underneath) it. These "helpers " 
 are supposed to proffer their help to some poor mortal against 
 God. Though proud c^" their prowess, they are laid low before 
 his dreadful arm. — .Should I then — such an one as I in my weak- 
 ness (Heb. makes the word / emphatic) essay to answer him — 
 choose out fitting words for debate with him ? Before such awful 
 majesty, what could my presence or my words of argument avail? 
 
 15. Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not 
 answer, hut I would make supplication to my judge. 
 
 16. If I had called, and he had answered me ; yet would I 
 not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice. 
 
 17. For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth 
 my wounds without cause. 
 
 18. He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth 
 me with bitterness. 
 
 Even if my cause were just, I would attempt no answer in vin- 
 dication of myself. I would only supplicate my Judge for his 
 mercy — falling back in humblest mood upon prayer. — Here let 
 the reader note how pertinently Job thinks of God as his judge, 
 and therefore not as one who could stand on a common level with 
 himself before some court higher than either of the parties in 
 litigation. In Job's case God must be thought of, not as one party 
 summoned to appear and answer to some charge, but simply as 
 
 the Infinite Judge himself Even if I were to call and he were 
 
 to answer — " call" and "answer" being forensic terms employed 
 in suits at law, where the complainant calls, summoning the 
 accused to appear, and he makes answer. Even if He were to 
 make such answer I could not believe my own ears — could not 
 believe that he had stooped so low as to regard my call and pro- 
 pose to meet me in the forms of judicial trial. I could not 
 believe this, "for" (in the Hebrew "who") — /. e., of one "who 
 dashes me Avith a tempest and multiplies my wounds for no good 
 cause" which I can understand. How can I suppose that one 
 who deals thus with me will submit to a legal investigation Avith 
 me as to the equity of his dealings ? So quick in succession are 
 his bloAvs I can not even take my breath betAveen. (See the story 
 
 in chapt. 1) "Filleth me with bitterness" — not here of the 
 
 spirit — the feelings of the heart, but of bodily pangs. 
 
 19. If Ispeak of strength, lo, lie is strong : and if of judg- 
 ment, Avho shall set me a time to plead f 
 
 20. If I justify myself, mine OAvn mouth shall condemn 
 me : if I say 1 am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. 
 
 21. Tliough I loere perfect, yet would I not know my soul : 
 I would despise my life. 
 
56 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. IX. 
 
 The original words here are strikingly concise and abrupt, indi- 
 cating intense agitation — emotion beyond his power to control: — 
 put as nearly in literal corresponding terpis as our language will 
 allow — thus: If as to strength, lo. He is mighty: if as to judgment, 
 who will appoint me the day for a hearing?! e., before the court.* 
 
 In V. 20, our English version supplies quite too much that 
 
 is not indicated at all in the original. It is far more safe to take 
 the Hebrew in its simple, obvious sense — fhus : "Though I were 
 righteous, my mouth would condemn me ; perfect I— then He 
 would hold me as perverse." This last verb in this hiphil coju- 
 gation, might, under the various usage of this form, be translated 
 variously; — either treat me as perverse; sJioic vne to be so; or 
 7nake me so. The nature of the case seems to require one of the 
 
 two former rather than the latter. Then v. 21 may read thus : 
 
 "Perfect I — I should not know my 'soul; I should think little of 
 
 my life." In the Hebrew phrase for " knoiv vu/ soul," usage 
 
 favors, not conscious self-knowledge, but regard fur one's life, 
 as in Prov. 12: 10 — the same words: "The righteous man knoto- 
 eth the life of his beast; i. e., regardeth its happiness. The next 
 clause, being parallel, demands this construction — I should not 
 value my life. Overawed, overwhelmed before him, how could 1 
 deem my very life of the least account ? In the violent con- 
 flict of emotion throughout this passage, I take the over-mastering 
 thought to be not so much consciousness of guilt before God (like 
 that which Job expresses in 42: 5, 6) as a blended feeling — awe 
 and dread of God's majesty and power with agonizing perplexity 
 as to the reasons for God s soro inflictions upon himself This 
 view of the thought best accords with the words thus far used, 
 and especially, with those that follow. Interpreting this pass- 
 age we are to inquire — not how Job ought to have felt but how 
 he did feel, as judged of by his loords. 
 
 22. This is one thing, therefore, I said if, He destroyeth the 
 perfect and the wicked. 
 
 Inllcb. " This is one" — Avhich it would seem must mean — this 
 one thing is sure; of this there can be no doubt; therefore 1 
 said — " He consumes righteous and wicked:" sending his inflic- 
 tions upon them, irrespective of moral character. Often (at least) 
 both sufi"cr at his hand alike. So these words should mean ; and 
 so the drift of the following context requires. 
 
 23. If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the 
 trial of tlie innocent. 
 
 24. The earth is given into tlie hand of the wicked : he 
 covercth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, ami 
 who is he ? 
 
 "When the scourge kills suddenly," he mocks (" seems to make 
 no account of) the distress of the innocent." So it certainly 
 
 * A case of the same verb in the same sense occurs, Jer. 49 : 19. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. IX. 67 
 
 seems to us when an earthquake enirulphs a whole city. Or 
 when (as often) God suffers the wicked to come into great power 
 and they I'ule the earth at their will, making fearful havoc of hu- 
 n^an well-being. The face of human judges he seems to vail so 
 that they are practically blind to justice and administer law to the 
 great detriment of society. If this may not be ascribed to God — 
 at least to his permissive agency, irho does it ? and where is the 
 permissive or controling power ? The facts are as I say ; who is 
 responsible? The world is full of evil, this evil falling on right- 
 eous men as well as on wicked men. Who can deny this ; or 
 who explain ? 
 
 The reader will observe that here Job squarely confronts the 
 doctrine of his three friends, which is that God's administration 
 of good and ill in the present life is always and perfectly accord- 
 ing to their respective deserts — always as their moral good or 
 evil. Job insists that God's judgments fall on men — at least in 
 some cases — with no regard to their character as innocent or 
 guilty, virtuous or vicious. Nor let us fixil to notice the agitation 
 and terror of Job which appear in his broken words, reflecting 
 his tremulous tones. Was it not painful to him to think so of 
 God and to be driven to these startling utterances by the force 
 of what seemed to him to be obvious fiicts ? 
 
 25. Now my days are swifter than a post : they flee away, 
 tliey see no good. ♦ 
 
 26. They ai*e passed away as the swift ships : as the eagle 
 that hasteth to the prey. 
 
 27. If I say, I Avill forget my com2:)laint, I will leave oft' 
 my heaviness, and comfort myself: 
 
 28. I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt 
 not hold me innocent. 
 
 Here appears one element in Job's sense of weakness and 
 frailty — the fleetness of his days and the apparent hopelessness 
 of any change for the bettor while he lives. 
 
 " 8wifter than a post" — "post" in the old English sense of 
 a mail-carrier, or a runner Avho bears tidings. So my days have 
 fled — (not merely are fleeing) — and have seen no (abiding) good. 
 They have passed by as reed-skiffs, the light vessels of papyrus 
 that move swiftly on the Nile. [The Avriter shows himself 
 familiar with scenes and facts of Egyptian life.] Or (another 
 figure) as the flight of an eagle darting down upon his prey. 
 
 If 1 say to myself — Let me forget my complaining; let me put 
 off this sad face and put on a brighter one — the exact sense of the 
 Hebrew-r-" then 1 shudder at all my sorrows " ; they are fast- 
 ened upon me, and the very thought of an effort to throAV them 
 off recoils upon me with a sense of utter despair; and more still, 
 it reminds me that these avocs come upon me from God, and 
 that he will not hold me innocent. Alas, that I can not know 
 ■why I 
 
58 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. IX. 
 
 29. if I be wicked, why then labor I in vain? 
 
 30. If I wash myself with snow-water, and make niy 
 hands never so clean ; 
 
 31. Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own 
 clothes shall abhor me. 
 
 Here again the Hebrew gives no word for "if." It also makes 
 the word / emphatic. I for my part; I, perhaps alone or above 
 other men, am held to be wicked, being obviously treated as such. 
 
 Why then shall I labor in vain for relief or redress ? " Though 
 
 1 wash myself with soft snow-water and cleanse my hands with 
 
 alkali (soap), yet Thou wilt plunge me into the pit", etc. 
 
 These deeply impassioned words — words, it must be admitted, 
 of severe reflection upon God, it were wrong to attempt to justify. 
 We may perhaps say — They show how for a tim.e the ways of 
 God toward him appeared in his eye. He could not see that he 
 above all other men had deserved such terrible sufferings. It 
 may have seemed to him that God was imputing to him crimes 
 of which, in comparison with other moi'e wicked yet far happier 
 men, he was not consciously guilty. The author aims to show 
 how a good man — good in a general but not in the perfect sense — 
 might be agonized so long as he tried to apply to his own case 
 the doctrine that the sufferings of this life are the exact measure 
 of men's sins. Applied to good men whf) really value the ap- 
 proval of God and are agonized under his apparent displeasure, 
 the doctrine is shown to be uttei-ly and terribly impracticable — 
 too impracticable, too harassing, to be true. 
 
 32. For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer 
 him, and we should come together in judgment. 
 
 33. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might 
 lay his hand upon us both. 
 
 If God were a man like myself, we might meet on common 
 ground and I would ask him wherefore he sent upon me these 
 crushing sorrows; or if there were any mediator ("daysman") 
 between us, capable (the word signifies) of rebuking us, either or 
 both, then we might have the question at issue fairly heard and 
 adjusted. 
 
 34. Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his 
 fear terrify me. 
 
 35. The7i would I speak, and not fear him ; but it is not so 
 with me. 
 
 If he would remove his rod from upon me and not let the fear 
 of him overawe me, then I would speak and not fear him; for I 
 am restrained, not so much by a consciousness that I am all 
 wrong and really deserve these inflictions, as by the dread of his 
 majesty and power. I am restrained less by what I see in myself 
 than by what I see and dread in the Almighty God. The 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAr. X. 59 
 
 passage is difficult. This sense is suggested as most in harmony 
 with the words themselves and with the general drift of thought 
 throughout the context. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Job's speech concluded. 
 
 1. My soul is weary of my life ; I will leave my complaint 
 upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 
 
 2. I Avill say unto God, Do not condemn me ; shew me 
 wherefore thou contendest with me. 
 
 The word, my " soul," is slightly stronger than to have said 
 /, since it implies that his deepest sensibilities were in this 
 weariness of life. He felt that such a life was a sore burden. 
 
 The English version of the next clause is by no means clear. 
 
 Job means — I will give full scope to my complaining — to the out- 
 pouring of my sorrows : I will speak out all my sad heart. Let 
 me speak, pressed by this bitterness of my soul. V. 2. ex- 
 presses the feeling that was uppermost and strongest in his 
 heart. He did long to know why God seemed to be thus contend- 
 ing with him, pushing a controversy, as his word signifies. It 
 was all a mystery to his mind. O might he only know ! 
 
 3. Is it good unto tliee that thou shouldest oppre8s, that 
 thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine 
 upon the counsel of the wicked ? 
 
 Is it for one moment to be supposed that God enjoys the oppress- 
 ing of his own creature; that he cares little or nothing for one 
 who is the workmanship of his own hand; and, that, moreover, 
 he should seem to approve the counsels of wicked men — in which 
 words he tacitly implies that God connives at the slanders which 
 the wicked were insinuating against him as now proving himself 
 to be one of the worst of men. His thought may have been on 
 these heartless but professed friends of his. 
 
 4. Hast thou eyes of flesh ? or seest thou as man seeth ? 
 
 5. Are thy days as the days of man ? are thy years as man's 
 days, 
 
 6. That thou inquivest after mine iniquity, and searchest 
 after my sin ? 
 
 7. Thou knowe.st that I am not wicked ; and tlicre is none 
 that can deliver out of thine hand. 
 
 Can it be (Job would say) that God takes the false view of my 
 
60 THE BOOK OF JOB, — CHAP. X. 
 
 case and character that my friends have taken in this debate : and 
 is God subject to such mistaken judgments as are common to 
 short-lived man? Is it for any such reason that God sets him- 
 self to search so sharply and persistently for my sin, although 
 (first word of v. 7) although " thou knoAvest I am not a wicked 
 man (in the sense they claim), and although, moreover, thy judg- 
 ment on my case is of infinite moment to me, for none can deliver 
 from thine hand. The sentence thou shalt pass upon me must 
 be final — must forever control my future destiny. O let it, then, 
 be a x'ighteous one ! 
 
 8. Thine hands have made me and fashioned me togethqr 
 round about ; yet thou dost destroy me. 
 
 9. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as 
 the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? 
 
 10. Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled mc 
 like cheese ? 
 
 11. Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast 
 fenced me with bones and sinews. 
 
 12. Thou hast granted me life and favor, and thy visita- 
 tion hath preserved my spirit. 
 
 13. And these things hast thou hid in thine heart : I know 
 that this is with thee. 
 
 "Together round about" means onlj' — in every part — so that I 
 am wholly and absolutely of thy workmanship ; — and yet wilt thou 
 
 destroy the work of thine own hands ?-■ " Made me as the clay " 
 
 — i. e., as the clay is molded by the potter into whatever form he 
 will — which expression moreover, starting with the point of simi- 
 larity in the mode and a like perfect control, seems to have sug- 
 gested the further point — made out of earth as to the material; 
 
 for he asks, Wilt thou resolve me back to the same dust again? 
 
 V. 10 gives the same thought under another figure. In v. 11 
 
 " fenced " is not so much, protected with defensive armor, as 
 interlaced, knit together, and made strong and firm with bones 
 
 and sinews. In v. 12, "thy visitation" is what we express by 
 
 the word " providence " — thy perpetual oversight and protec- 
 tion. This Job says has kept me in life — a life of general enjoy- 
 ment. All these things hast thou done for me not of un- 
 
 thoughtful impulse, but of deliberate purpose, a purpose deep 
 hidden in thy heart. 1 know that such has been thy mind toward 
 me. And Job seems to imply that it is to him all the more strange 
 that one who has made him with so much skill and watched over 
 him with so much care, should now turn upon him to break down 
 and destroy the work of his own hands. 
 
 14. If I sin, then thou markest mc, and thou wilt not ac- 
 quit me from mine iniquity. 
 
 15. If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if 1 be righteous. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB — CHAP. X. 61 
 
 yet will I not lift up my head. lam fall of confusion ; there- 
 fore see thou mine affliction ; 
 
 16. For it iiicreaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion : 
 and again thou shewest thyself marvelous upon me. 
 
 17. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest 
 thine indignation upon me ; changes and war are against me. 
 
 No fond partiality for the -work of his own hands abates at all 
 from the searching scrutiny with which God notes and punishes 
 moral obliquity. Does this appear strange to Job, or does he de- 
 sign only to indicate that this scrutiny seems to him in his own 
 case tb be severe, pushed to an extent which he can not well ac- 
 count for ? 
 
 "If I be righteous, I may not — dare not — lift up my head" — so 
 overwhelmed am I with the sense of being crushed beneath his 
 
 inflictions. The English version (last clause of v. 15 and first 
 
 of V. 16), fails to give the sense of the Hebrew. Better thus — 
 "full of shame and the sight of my sufferings! " i. e., confounded 
 by this sight and sense of my sufferings. " If it rise up " — i. e., 
 if my head is lifted up with some sense of conscious innocence, 
 
 then thou dost hunt me as the fierce lion hunts his prey. " Thy 
 
 witnesses " are the manifest indications of God's displeasure, which 
 come with fresh power and frequency, with host succeeding host, 
 one battalion after another as with charging squadrons on the 
 field of battle. One of the Heb. words gives us the idea of a 
 martial host; the other, of a hot succession of assaults. The sense 
 I take to be — I am full of confusion as I see my sufferings (v. 15) 
 and the more so because I am compelled to think of them as from 
 
 God's hand! Tlie Uel). verb for " incrcaseth " (v. 16) means, 
 
 to be or l)ecome high ; and best refers to lifting up his head, as 
 above. If I say, I will bear all bravely and raise my head witli 
 heroic fortitude, then it becomes a new mark for tlie arrows of 
 the Almighty; he comes down upon me as the lion leaps, upon his 
 prey; more and more marvelous and astounding become his visi- 
 tations of sorrow upon sorrow. 
 
 18. "Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the 
 womb ? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had 
 seen me ! 
 
 19. I should have been as though I had not been ; I should 
 have been carried from the womb to the grave. 
 
 Here is the same thought essentially as in chap. 3, where Job 
 so emphatically and plaintively cursed the day of his birth, and 
 wished, (O how imploringly !) tluit he had never been ! Why, he 
 asks, should God give existence at all to one Avho exists only to 
 suffer? If God had but let me perish from the womb, and no 
 human eye had seen a throb of life, then I should be as if I had 
 never been — should never have seen the light of life and so never 
 have known these agonies beyond endurance-. 
 
62 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. X. 
 
 20. Are not my days few ? cease then, and let me alone, 
 that I may take comfort a little, 
 
 21. Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land 
 of darkness and the shadow of death ; 
 
 22. A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the 
 shadow of death, without any order, and wliere the light id as 
 darkness. 
 
 But it is vain to wish and pray against what is and can not 
 cease to be. Yet my days at the utmost must be few. Let me 
 therefore pray that God would arrest these terrible inflictions, 
 withdraw his too heavy hand, and let my face brighten up (-Ileb.) 
 for one brief moment, before I go and not return — go to that realm 
 of utter darkness — that chaos of all desolation where even the 
 light is but darkness itself! 
 
 This description of the under-world — the realm of the dead — is, 
 in every point of view, remarkable, and naturally starts in our 
 minds many interesting questions. Does Job speak according to 
 the thought of his times current then ? Is this realm of darkness 
 the home of lost souls only, or of all human souls ; and is it con- 
 ceived of as only an intermediate state (between death and the 
 final resurrection and judgment) beyond which is to be another 
 state of existence? Does Job think of this "dai'kness" as retri- 
 bution for sin — real punishment, and the very doom of lost, 
 unpardoned souls ? Or is it mostly a state of unconsciousness — 
 this darkness practically shutting off the activities and thought- 
 workings of life ? — And yet further ; how much, if at all, are the 
 dark shadings of this picture due to the exaggerations of oriental 
 poetry ? How much, if any thing, must be attributed to images 
 thrown forward by a certain power of self-projection, from his 
 dark present, to make the future no less dark and dismal ? 
 
 Each one of these several points seems to me worthy of atten- 
 tion. As I think of them, I am impressed with the conviction 
 that the human mind in that age and country, having but the 
 least possible light from revelation on the great future beyond the 
 grave, was shut up mainly to this sense of darkness in the state 
 of human souls there, and especially so when the present was to 
 them almost hopelessly dark and hence threw forward only dark 
 foreshadowings upon that unknown world. To them. He who 
 ultimately came as "the Light of the world," had not yet appeared 
 to "bring life and immortality to light." Some gleams of light 
 fell on the patriarchs who learned during their earthly life to 
 " walk with God." A portion of the light and joy of such walking 
 would naturally be reflected forward into that little known realm 
 beyond the grave. It can not be supposed that their anticipated 
 future was wdioUy buried under such dense and unrelieved dark- 
 ness as Job here portrays. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XI. 63 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Speech of Zophar. 
 
 1. Then answered Zopliar the Naamathite, and said, 
 
 2. Should not the multitude of words be answered ? and 
 should a man full of talk be justified ? 
 
 3. Should thy lies make men hold their peace ? and when 
 thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed ? 
 
 Shall a man's words be deemed unanswerable because they are 
 innumerable ? Must we desist from all attempt to reply because 
 thy words are so copious? Or, shall a man of lips (Heb.) be 
 deemed just in his cause by virtue of his loquacity? Shall thy 
 A'ain boasts (better than " lies ") put men to silence, and then shalt 
 
 thou mock on, and none put thee to shame? These cruel, 
 
 heartless taunts upon Job make not the least allowance for his 
 terrible sufierings ; manifest not the slightest sympathy with a 
 soul lacerated under a sense of inflictions he could not account 
 for — visitations from the Almighty that were most painfully 
 mysterious. 
 
 4. For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am 
 clean in thine eyes. 
 
 The translation — "For thou hast said," fails to give correctly 
 the relations of thought since the verb "mockest" in the previous 
 verse, and "said" in tliis verse, stand in Hebrew in the same 
 form of the verb. Hence better thus : That thou mayest mock and 
 also that thou mayest say, etc., my doctrine is all right; my views 
 of God's administration are just. I have been morally pure before 
 
 thee, etc. As to this point, Zophar failed to distinguish between 
 
 being sincere as opposed to hypocritical — which Job did claim to 
 be; and being absolutely sinless before God — which Job did not 
 claim. But men in controversy are wont to fail in just discrimi- 
 nation, as also in candor and kindness toward an opponent. 
 
 5. But oh that God would speak, and open his lipsagainst 
 thee : 
 
 6. And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, 
 that theij are double to that which is ! Know therefore that 
 God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. 
 
 The second clause of v. 6 as put in our version is by no means 
 lucid. It is parallel with the preceding, thus : That God would 
 show thee the secret things of wisdom, how there are complications 
 to understand — i. e., how there are doublings, intricate enfoldings, 
 in the waj's of God, considered as subjects of human thought and 
 
 inquiry. O that God himself would speak and show thee the 
 
 deep things of his kingdom, and so put to silence thy complaints 
 against his ways ! — a sensible prayer surely, even on the mildest 
 
64 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XL 
 
 theory of Job's actual case ! For man's darkened mind gets the 
 true light of God only when God himself comes near to speak to 
 
 man's inner soul. Last clause of v. 6 is thus : Then wouldest 
 
 thou know that God forgetteth for thee some of thy sins (Heb.), 
 the sense of which is — does not bring them all into remembrance 
 against thee. 
 
 Zophar thinks of Job's insinuation that God has over-marked 
 his sins — has been severely exact — not to say, more than exact, 
 in noting his iniquities. If the Lord were to meet Job in solemn 
 review of his case, frail man Avould see that God had by no means 
 brought all his sins — much less, more than all, up to remembrance. 
 
 7. Canst tliou by searching find out God ? canst thou find 
 out the Almighty unto perfection ? 
 
 8. It is as high as heaven ; what canst thou do ? deeper 
 than hell ; what canst thou know ? 
 
 9. The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and 
 broader than the sea. 
 
 "Whatever we may think of the bearing of these conceptions of 
 God upon Zophar's argument with Job, they are at once pro- 
 foundly true, and grandly, yea sublimely, expressed. The He- 
 brew puts it- — Canst thou find out the deep things of God? Canst 
 thou find out the Almighty One, to the very end — till there shall 
 be no more to find? "Heights of heaven are they" — i. e., the 
 things that are in him which ye have to search out; deeper than 
 the under-world; longer than this wide earth is its measure, and 
 broader than the sea ! By what standard shall we conceive his 
 vastness ; what can we find in all the realm of nature that can 
 give us an adequate conception or illustration of the great depths 
 of his being or of the infinitude of his pei'fections ? 
 
 As bearing upon the points at issue in this discussion, nothing 
 could be more appropriate. God's ways are deep ; thy short line 
 can not reach their bottom. His ends in the pains he inflicts or 
 sufiers to befall us, may lie remote, far beyond our vision ; his 
 wisdom in these plans and his love in the ends he seeks may be 
 equally too deep and too vast for us to take in, and consequently 
 too great to be adjudged before our petty tribunal. It wore wise 
 therefore for us to desist at the outset and never presume to sit in 
 judgment upon the ways of the Almighty. We may think it 
 humiliating — we can never reasonably think it unwise — to accept 
 these great facts of our present existence as related to God's 
 ways in providence. The occasions are countless in which we 
 must despair of fathoming the dejDths of God's thought, and must 
 fall back upon his promises and upon his known wisdom and love, 
 resting there till the possible, yea probable, revelations of the 
 great future shall make all plain that we shall then need to 
 
 know. Meantime, let our faith in God become only the more 
 
 strong for the dark, inscrutable things which constitute so much 
 of the moral trial of our present life. Who knows how much 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CITAr. XI. 65 
 
 this discipline of faith may have to do -with the peace and bless- 
 edness of our heaven at last ? 
 
 Zophar's doctrine — God's ways too deep for man to fathom — , 
 had good lessons for Job ; scarcely less good for Zophar — a fact 
 which he may have overlooked. For Zophar assumed to pro- 
 nounce very definitely and positively in regard to God's moral 
 administi'ation in this world; and what is more, he made bad 
 mistakes. If he had held his judgment in suspense till he should 
 know God better, he would have been a wiser man. 
 
 10. If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, tlien 
 ■\vho can hinder him ? 
 
 11. For he knoweth vain men : he seeth wickedness also; 
 will he not then consider it f 
 
 12. For vain man would be wise, though man be born like 
 a wild ass's colt. 
 
 In V. 10 the leading words are borrowed from judicial proceed- 
 ings; thus. If he (God) comes upon thee {i. e., for arrest), and 
 imprisons thee, and convokes or summons a court to try the case, 
 then who can answer — i. e., to his indictment? " For he know- 
 eth men of wickedness— (ah, so perfectly !) — " he " being made 
 emphatic; he surely of all beings will certainly know. He sees 
 iniquity, though he seems not to notice it. So we must construe 
 the last verb in v. 11. — When he appears not to know — a form of 
 the Hebrew verb, often used specially for what appears or secmn 
 to be. iSo God certainly notices all human guilt, however he may 
 seem not to know it. But man, hollow at heart, is without under- 
 standing — a passage in which the Hebrew words are quite peculiar 
 and indeed specially forcible ; — suggesting this : Man with heart 
 bored through and through, hollow and empty, is heartless in the 
 
 sense of being without understanding. As a foal of the wild 
 
 ass is man born ; and consequently so is he from his birth — a 
 view of depraved man, at once most sad and yet most true ! 
 
 13. If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine 
 hands toward him : 
 
 14. If iniquity 6e in thine hand, put it for away, and let 
 not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. 
 
 15. For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot ; yea, 
 thou shalt be steadfast, and shaft not fear : 
 
 16. Because thou shalt forget tJuj misery, and remember it 
 as waters that pass away : 
 
 17. And thiiie age shall be clearer than the noon -day ; 
 thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. 
 
 But bad as man is, there is yet hope for the penitent. There- 
 fore let me say to thee, that if even thou wilt prepare thy heart, 
 diligently giving thyself to reflection and repentance ; and then 
 spread forth thy hands in prayer ; and if there be iniquity in thy 
 4 
 
66 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XI. 
 
 hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness abide in thy tents — 
 the plural perhaps including those of his childi-en as well as his 
 own; then stireh/ (better than "for" as the first word of v. 15) 
 thou shouldest lift up thy face without spot — with no waste of 
 disease and no stain from tears of sorrow; — and be steadfast in 
 the sense of a sweet confidence in God ; — for thou shalt forget 
 these bitter sorrows and remember them only as men remember 
 
 water-floods when they have gone to return no more. Brighter 
 
 than noon shall a new life arise; the (former) darkness shall be 
 as the morning. So this may be read, if the Heb. word here 
 rendered "darkness" be a noun; if a verb (according to some 
 authorities) then thus : Though now thou art dark, yet shalt thou 
 
 be as the morning. The sense in either reading is the same. 
 
 All this describes the new life of peace and joy which should 
 ensue upon his repentance and God's forgiveness. 
 
 18. And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope : yea, 
 thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. 
 
 19. Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee 
 afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee. 
 
 20. But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall 
 not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost. 
 
 This might well be read — And then thou wilt be trustful, for 
 there will be good ground for it (ground for all hope) ; yea, thou 
 wilt search (to see if all is well) and lie down without fear. 
 Thou shalt have sweet undisturbed repose; and the high consid- 
 eration accorded to thee in thy former prosperity shall return 
 
 again; — "many shall seek thy favor." But the eyes of the 
 
 wicked shall waste away, consumed with grief, sorely pained with 
 perpetual disappointment in all expected pleasure ; refuge perishes 
 from them, and their hope — it is the breathing out of one's life; 
 it passes forever away like the spirit departing in death. 
 
 Zophai*, like his brethren, held on persistently to one and the 
 same theory, viz., that all the sufferings of this life are judgments 
 sent from God, and are the indices and measure of the sufferer' sU 
 guilt; that Job — good man though he had seemed to be — must not 
 think himself an exception to these invariable laws of God's pres- 
 ent government, and therefore he must have been a great and 
 grievous sinner and ought to admit the fact — ought to open his 
 soul to the conscious sense of guilt, and seek mercy by repent- 
 ance and prayer for pardon. On these conditions they think it 
 safe to promise him forgiveness, and then a new and joyous life. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIT. G7 
 
 CHAPTEll XII. 
 
 Reply of Job. 
 
 1. And Job answered and said, 
 
 2. No doubt but ye are the people, and Avisdoni shall die 
 with you. 
 
 3. But I have understanding as well as you; I am not 
 inferior to you; yea, who knoweth not such things as these? 
 
 According to a usage with disputants, more common than 
 praiseworthy, Job opens his reply with a caustic retort. In apol- 
 ogy for him we might say — It was provoked by the claim to 
 superior wisdom which his friends had set up and which was 
 thrust forward in a very offensive way by Zophar in the beginning 
 of his last speech. Yes, in keen sarcasm. Job replies, "no doubt 
 ye are the people" and ye represent the sum total of all human 
 knowledge and sagacity : when ye come to die, all wisdom must 
 perish from among men ! Alas for all future generations ! — But, 
 indulge me to say — " I have some understanding as truly as your- 
 selves" — in which phrase Job's choice of terms has an eye to 
 Zophar's words (11: 12); man bored out till his heart is hollow, 
 is of necessity Jieartleas — using heart in the sense of understand-*- 
 ing. This, Zophar had insinuated, was the case with Job ; and 
 to this, therefore,. Job indignantly replies; — That is no more true 
 of me than of yourself In v. 2, the second clause is literally — 
 "I am in no respect more fallen than you" which may perhaps 
 intimate that the original fall of man from primeval purity 
 
 . reached his opponent as truly as himself. Tlie last clause is — 
 
 "'With whom are not all such things " — knowledges — as ye have 
 been proudly displaying and claiming as your exclusive pos- 
 session? They are no specialty of yours. Any body could say 
 all that. 
 
 4. I am as one mocked of his neighbor, who calleth upon 
 God, and he answereth him : the just upright man is laughed 
 to scorn. 
 
 The sense of this verse turns much upon the point — tcJio is it — 
 Job or his neighbor — that calls upon God and he answereth? — 
 The order of the words in the English version suggests 
 "neighbor" — this being the nearest antecedent; but the course 
 of thought and argument clearly demands its reference to Job. — 
 I am become one mocked of his neighbor, even 1 who call upon 
 God and he answers ; — for I have cried to God in my supplications 
 and he has often deigned to hear my cry. Yet ye, my professed 
 friends, are utterly pitiless to my appeals for your sympathy and 
 moral support. Strange to say, a mockery — an object of insult — 
 is the just, upright man I — a fact which of itself overturns your 
 whole theory of the moral administration of this world. — We 
 
68 THE BOOK OF JOB. CIIAr. XIT. 
 
 must suppose that Job makes this a point in his rebutting of the 
 main argument of his friends. They maintained that every-where 
 and always the good were held in honor, and only the bad were 
 abased. Job answers: I have become a by-word and a mockery 
 to my neighbors, and I have a deep, immovable consciousness of 
 general integrity and uprightness among men. This conscious- 
 ness of my inner soul refutes all your philosophy. 
 
 5. He that is ready to slip with /its feet is as a lamp de- 
 spised in the thought of him that is at ease. 
 
 The first Hebrew word in this verse* admits of being taken in 
 two very different senses. If made up of a preposition and a 
 noun, it means — -for misfortune (or calamify) ; but taken as only 
 one word, it signifies a lamp. Our translators took it in the latter 
 sense: most of the modern critics (with good reason, I think,) 
 prefer the former. So taken, the verse may be read — " There is 
 scorn for misfortune in the thought of him at ease — scorn ready 
 for men of wavering step." When a man becomes the victim of 
 misfortune and his feet slip, portending a terrible fall, then those 
 who live at ease, all going well with them, hea^p upon him their 
 scorn. f Such facts do occur in human life (Job would say), and 
 he doubtless meant to intimate — such is precisely the case between 
 me and my professed friends. The fiicts reflect no special honor 
 upon poor human nature. I submit to you, my friends, whether 
 ye ought not to be ashamed of it ! 
 
 6. The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that pro- 
 voke God are secure; into whose hands God bringeth 
 ahundanily. 
 
 The last clause of this verse has been construed variously by* 
 critics; but this variety affects the general argument too little to 
 justify an elaborate discussion. I accept the general sense 
 of our English version — "into whose hand God causes good to 
 come" — /. e., who prospers them in their efforts to accumulate. 
 
 The verse entire affirms a fact of most vital bearing upon the 
 
 great argument between Job and his friends. The tents of 
 highway robbers continue in peace, vmdisturbed ; all their 
 plunder remains secure for their enjoyment, how much soever 
 they provoke God to his face, violating his law recklessly, as 
 their life-long business and avowed profession. 
 
 Yet, strange to say, God, the righteous and just One, brings 
 them earthly treasures — the best man has — with his full hand. 
 In that great Arabian country. Job knew, and his friends 
 
 tThe English version — "As a lamp despised" — is barren of perti- 
 nence and good sense, and ought of course to be rejected if any better 
 construction is possible. A "lamp" is not a thing to be despised 
 anyhow, and no reason appears why "one at ease" should despise 
 it. The construction adopted in these notes is perfectly in harmony 
 with the verse previous and with the entire context. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XII. 69 
 
 also knew, that freebooting Avas the known profession and pur- 
 suit of multitudes of men; and they all alike knew that such men 
 were more often successful, secure, unmolested, than otherwise. 
 
 How shall such a fact be accounted for? How (Job would 
 
 say) do ye reconcile it with your doctrine of a perfect retribu- 
 tion in this world ? A fact so patent to every mind ; a case of 
 such outrageous wickedness, .of such wide extent, so universally 
 known and so very rarely brought to condign punishment in this 
 world, was itself alone sufficient to upset the theory of Job's 
 friends. So long as this great fact stood before their eyes, how 
 could sensible men hold on to their theory that all wickedness is 
 punished in this world, swiftly and surely, because God is cer- 
 tainly just and almighty? 
 
 7. But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee ; 
 and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee : 
 
 8. Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the 
 fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 
 
 9. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the 
 Lord hath wrought this? 
 
 10. In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and 
 the breath of all mankind. 
 
 The only possible way to break the force of Job's argument 
 from these prosperous freebooters would be to say that their case 
 does not come under God's administration; that such crimes lay 
 
 outside the pale of his government. To this supposed objection 
 
 therefore. Job now addresses himself. Do you say that God 
 
 has nothing to do with highway robbers? Go, ask the beasts and 
 the birds of heaven; or speak to the earth and to the fishes 
 of the sea. They surely will tell thee. Who does not learn from 
 them that God's hand is every-where, active evermore in all 
 events, holding in its control the breath of every living thing, 
 and not least the spirits of all of human kind? Does not God 
 uphold the life and supply the breath of those "robbers" whose 
 tents are in peace and security and into whose hand God is per- 
 petually pouring the good things that other and better men have 
 honestly toiled to produce ? 
 
 11. Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his 
 meat? 
 
 12. With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days 
 understanding. 
 
 13. With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel 
 and understanding. 
 
 Doth not the ear try words, even as the mouth tasteth its own 
 food ? — not two questions, but one — the second clause being a 
 
 *case to illustrate the point of the first. Upon Job's argument 
 
 the point made here bears in this way : Have not all men a cer- 
 tain good sense which they may rightly use upon such questions 
 
70 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XII. 
 
 as we have now in hand — a sense as truly of nature as their 
 relish for bread ? And if ye were to use this native good sense, 
 would ye not discern at once that yonr theory of God's rule over 
 human affairs is utterly at variance with facts well and univers- 
 ally known ? 
 
 You say — "With the ancients is wisdom", and you appeal to 
 
 the testimony of all the old patriarcli^. To which I reply — Not 
 
 so much with your ancient men, but with Him, the Everlasting 
 One, is real wisdom and all strength; he alone hath counsel and 
 understanding in their consummate perfection. His works lie 
 spread out before us; I ai^peal to them. God is both older and 
 wiser than your ancient patriarchs ; the length of his days gives 
 him an understanding infinitely higher, better, sui-er, than what 
 ye have adduced from your old fathers. 
 
 14. Behold, he breaketh down, and it can not be built 
 again; he shuteth up a man, and there can be no opening. 
 
 15. Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: 
 also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. 
 
 Here the argument appeals mainly to God's great works in the 
 material world. Is not his power in this realm supreme? Docs 
 not his providence reach all events? Therefore (this is the 
 underlying inference) therefore all these events come into his plan 
 of governing the world morally, so that if we see the powerful 
 robbers of the Great Desert (v. 6) outrageously wicked, and yet 
 almost universally successful and unpunished through all this 
 earthly life, we can by no means evade the testimony from their 
 case by assuming that God's government over men leaves them 
 out. 
 
 16. With him is strength and wisdom; the deceived and 
 the deceiver are his. 
 
 17. He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the 
 judges fools. 
 
 18. He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins 
 with a girdle. 
 
 19. He leadeth princes away spoiled, and ovei'throweth the 
 mighty. 
 
 20. Pie removeth away the speech of tlie trusty, and 
 taketh away the understanding of the aged. 
 
 21. He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the 
 strength of the mighty. 
 
 Here Job appeals mainly to God's agencies upon the world of 
 mind — the control he wields over various classes of men here 
 specified. Doubtless Job purposes to make his argument rise 
 from the special to the universal, on this wise : The destinies 
 of all these men God shapes and controls ; and if of these, then 
 no less, of others — no less, of all. " The deceived and the 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XH. 71 
 
 deceiver are his" (v. 16) — not in the sense of his -willing;, 
 obedient servants; this is by no means the thing he means 
 and asserts; but they are so entirely in hfs hand that he shapes 
 their destiny. If they have any retribution on earth, it comes 
 from liis hand. If they escape this retribution here, the fact 
 proves that the retributions of time are incomplete, and h?ave 
 some, perhaps many, things to be set right in the great hereafter. 
 
 So he baffles human wisdom (v. 17); breaks tlie power 
 
 of kings, or gives them resistless power as he may choose (v. 18) ; 
 for in oriental imagery, "girding up the loins" was significant 
 of activity and power; and "loosening the girdle" had the oppo- 
 site sense. In v. 19, the word "princes" means primarily 
 
 j)riests, who in those early ages were clothed with no small 
 
 measure of authority in civil affairs. In v. 20 we may read — 
 
 From men long trusted, he takes away the lij) — the power 
 of influence by speech. So also the wisdom of the aged he with- 
 draws, perhaps referring to the waning of their powers in ex- 
 treme old age. The noblest of men are as nothing before him 
 
 when he sees fit to bring them low. 
 
 22. He discoveretli deep things out of darkness, and 
 bringeth out to light the shadow of death, 
 
 23. He increaseth the nations, and destroyelh them : lie 
 enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. 
 
 24. He taketli away the heart of the chief of the people 
 of the earth, and eauseth them to wander in a wilderness 
 where there is no way. 
 
 25. They grope in the dark without ligkt, and he maketh 
 them to stagger like a drunken man. 
 
 The same strain of remark and the same course of argument 
 
 continues through the chapter. " Discover" — a word which in 
 
 modern usage signifies commonly, to find by search, in the age of 
 our English Bible meant to reveal io the vieio of others, i. e., to 
 take off the covering: — which is the sense here. Deep things, 
 God brings up out of the darkness; things dark as the shadow of 
 
 death, he brings forth to the light. So if nations rise into great 
 
 power or decline into weakness and ruin, it is his hand that works 
 both results, at his perfect will (v. 23). The wisdom (" heart") 
 of the wisest counsellor, he takes away at his pleasure, and puts 
 them upon wandering in untrodden ways. They grope as if there 
 were no light for them, and reel as men under intoxication. Thus 
 God's agencies over men are at once supreme, absolute and uni- 
 versal. 
 
72 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIII. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Job^s speech continued. 
 
 1. Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard 
 and understood it. 
 
 2. What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not 
 inferior unto you. 
 
 Such have been the results of my personal observations. I 
 know these things because I have seen them. Fully aware that 
 ye have said much the same things as to God's control over all 
 human affiiirs, I wish you to understand that I am fully informed 
 as to these things no less than yourselves. 
 
 3. Surely I Avould sjieak to the Almighty, and I desire to 
 reason with God. 
 
 But from all your reasonings and allegations against me, I 
 
 make my final appeal to the Almighty. Job makes the word 
 
 "I" strongly emphatic: — I for my part — I with all my heart, 
 make this appeal to God. Oh how do I long for a hearing before 
 Him! 
 
 4. But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no 
 value. 
 
 5. Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it 
 should be your wisdom. 
 
 6. Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings 
 of my lips. 
 
 "But ye" — this word also is made emphatic — "ye are only 
 forgers of lies, woi-king up false charges against me continually. ' 
 
 " Physicians " does not Well translate eJob's word here. 
 
 Botchers, patchers, is the sense. Ye are makers of vanities, i. e., 
 lies ; and botch the work at that — the figure being drawn from 
 putting ugly looking patches upon worn garments. How much 
 vriser and more to your credit, to hold your peace ! But at least 
 give ear for a little to my reasonings and to the pleadings of my 
 lips. 
 
 7. Will ye speak wickedly for God ? and talk deceitfully 
 for him ? 
 
 8. Will ye accept his person ? will ye contend for God ? 
 
 9. Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man 
 mocketh another, do ye so mock him ? 
 
 10. He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept 
 persons. 
 
 Would ye speak falsely in God's behalf! Does He ask you to 
 vindicate him with falsehood and deceit? Can he possibly accept 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIII. 73 
 
 such vindication? To "accept one's person" is a phrase of 
 
 well defined meaning in the Scriptures— it being always used in 
 the bad sense of sinister partiality, regarding something external, 
 the outside appearance, rather than intrinsic merit. Job inti- 
 mates that his friends were pleading for God on false grounds, 
 assuming falsely, through their own mistake, that God was acting 
 on certain principles when he was not. Could this be pleasing to 
 God ? How would it fare with you if God were to search you out 
 and say to you — I ask no such defense from you ! Cease your at- 
 tempt to justify me on false grounds, or to vindicate me as if I 
 were doing what I am not! God will surely rebuke you if ye 
 accept persons, and none the less because it is attempted upon 
 himself. 
 
 11. Shall not his excellency iiiake you afruid? and hi.s 
 di-ead fall upon you ? 
 
 Considering the sublime majesty of God — his ineffable glory — 
 does it not become you to dread his displeasure ? , Even though 
 ye may have intended to do him honor, yet to misapprehend the 
 principles on which he governs this world and make apologies 
 and vindications for him which rest on false assumptions, must be 
 a very serious matter ! Let the fear of it make you cautious ! 
 
 12. Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies 
 to bodies of clay. 
 
 The word " remembrances " will probably mislead the English 
 reader, for the original here by no means signifies your recollec- 
 tions, or the things you remember; but instead of this — yonx most 
 memorahle things, your wisest sayings. They are only as ashes; 
 flavorless, caustic, all unfit for any use in the human mouth or 
 
 stomach. The translation — "Your bodies" — is no less inept 
 
 and misleading. "Bulwarks" or "towers," is the sense — the 
 term appl^'ing to their main arguments which they assumed to be 
 impregnable rock; but Job declares to be only towers of clay, 
 such as the rains of heaven would soon wash away. 
 
 13. Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and 
 let come on me what tvill. 
 
 14. AVherefore do I take ray flesh m my teeth, and put 
 my life in mine hand ? 
 
 This V. 13 serves to show how deeply Job felt the insinuations 
 and assumptions of his three friends. He begs that they would 
 be silent and let him speak in his own vindication, whatever may 
 come upon him as the consequence. Let me defend my reputation 
 against your false and cruel aspersions, though it cost me every 
 
 thing dear, even to life itself! In v. 14, the phrase — ^" Take 
 
 my flesh in my teeth " is in itself very obscure, it being doubtful 
 what the precise figure in mind may be. But the second clause 
 " Put my life in my hand," has a well established usage, and 
 therefore, under the law of Hebrew parallelism, serves to deter- 
 
74 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP, XIII. 
 
 juine the general meaning of the first clause. This second pro- 
 verbial phrase is used by Jephthah of himself (Judg. 12: 3); of 
 David bv Jonathan (1 Sam. 19: 5); by the woman of Endor of 
 herself (1 Sam. 28: 21); and by the writer of Ps. 119: 109 of 
 himself Job's meaning, therefore, must be — Wherefore do I put 
 my life in jeopardy before God by such a bold request, not to say, 
 demand, for a hearing upon my own case? Nothing less than a 
 deep consciousness of general integi'ity and an irrepressible long- 
 ing to be vindicated from such aspersions as yours could induce 
 me to risk such a peril. 
 
 15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him : but I will 
 maiutain mine own ways before liim. 
 
 16. He also sJmll be my salvation ; for a hypocrite shall not 
 come before him. 
 
 Our English version — " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in 
 him " — yields a precious sentiment, expressing a spirit of trust 
 which, though desperate, is yet admirable and blessed. ]>ut the 
 honest interpreter of the original words is compelled to dissent 
 from the correctness of this translation. The fii'st Hcb. word ia 
 certainly not " Though ", but Behold. The next word is the 
 simple future — " He loill slay me ^ The word next in order, ac- 
 cording to the Hebrew text, {i. e., the consonants) must be the 
 negative pai'ticle — not ; I may not hope. I can have no hope, i. e., 
 of my life before him. Then he proceeds to say — Yet I will de- 
 fend my ways before him — in his presence. The next verse 
 
 presents Job renewing his confidence in God : " Also he shall be 
 my salvation, because the bold notorious sinner shall not come 
 before him :" — but he tacitly implies — I am not such ; I am substan- 
 tially honest and true to God, and such as 1 am may come into his 
 
 presence. The word rendered "hypocrite" can not be restricted 
 
 to that form of sin, but is used of one whose sinful character is 
 
 known and read of all. "He will slay me" may be taken to 
 
 express the feeling that Job had, at least in his most depressed 
 moods — a feeling that he could not long survive his dreadful suf- 
 ferings and should probably soon die under them. But even 
 should this be the case, he longed for the opportunity to vindicate 
 himself against the aspersions cast on him so cruelly by his friends. 
 So deep was his consciousness of general integrity toward God, 
 as opposed to the arrant hypocrisy imputed to him by his friends 
 that he does not fear at all to come before God on this issue. In- 
 deed, the very thought of such a hearing before God inspires an 
 assurance that God will yet deliver his name from this reproach 
 and cause him to lift up his head as one vindicated before his 
 generation. 
 
 17. Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with 
 your ears. 
 
 18. Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that 
 I shall be justified. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIII. 75 
 
 Hear me; I have prepared my defense: "I know that I am 
 innocent" — or rather, just — this beinc; more precisely the sense 
 of the Hebrew verb. It is not so much an assurance tliat the 
 proposed hearing and trial will result in acquittal, as a conscious- 
 ness of being innocent of the charge of hj^pocrisy, brought against 
 him by his friends. 
 
 19. Who is he that will plead with me ? for now, if I hold 
 my tongue, I shall give up the gho.'^t. 
 
 Who can contend with me, i. e., successfully, on this point? 
 For if any one can, with success, I will hold my peace and die ! 
 
 It were of no use for me to live ! The Heb. words by no 
 
 means sustain the English version — "If I hold my tongue, I 
 shall die." There is no "?/" in the Hebrew. Two future tenses 
 of apparently like future significance, are all we have, I will (or 
 would) be silent, and I will die ! The sense, therefore, must be 
 as above given : If any one can contend eflfectually against me so 
 that my attempted vindication must prove a failure, I might as 
 well be silent and die ! 
 
 20. Only do not two tJiings unto me; then will I not hide 
 myself from thee. 
 
 21. Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy 
 dread make me afraid. 
 
 22. Then call thou, and I. will answer: or let me speak, 
 and answer thou me. 
 
 Xow, thinking of God as the Judge before whom he is to plead 
 his cause, he begs to stipulate two conditions; viz., (a) That God 
 would lift from him that heavy hand and relieve his insupportable 
 pains; (6) That he would withdraw his terrors and not over- 
 whelm his soul with dread. Then the Lord might call, speaking 
 first, and Job would answer; or, in the reverse order — "Let me 
 speak, and answer thou me." 
 
 23. How many are mine iniquities and sins ? make me to 
 know my transgression and my sin. 
 
 21. Wherefore hidest thou thy fice, and holdest me for 
 thine enemy ? 
 
 25. Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt 
 thou pursue the dry stubble? 
 
 " How many and what are my sins ?" for Job manifestly assumes 
 that he has sinned and can by no means make out his own sinless 
 innocence. He seems honestly desirous to know what they are 
 and why God has been afliicting him so fearfully. It was agoniz- 
 ing that God should seem to hide his face and treat him as an 
 enemy. Why should this be? — In v. 25 Job expresses his sense 
 of his own littleness and frailty, and makes this a plea with God 
 to spare him. The word Job used means, not — " break a driven 
 leaf," but terrify, put in awful fear. 
 
76 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP, XIV. 
 
 26. For tliou writest bitter things against me, and makest 
 me to possess the iniquities of my youth. 
 
 27. Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest 
 narrowly unto all my paths ; thou settest a prijit upon the 
 heels of my feet. 
 
 28. And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment 
 that is moth-eaten. 
 
 "Writest bitter things'' — for so these terrible inflictions upon 
 me naust imply. I am made to inherit the sins of my youth — the 
 bitter consequences of early sins following me thus, far down into 
 these years of my advanced age. So it seemed to him — perhaps 
 because he could account for these inflictions of disease and pain 
 on no other principle. This law of inheritance is (alas for thou- 
 sands) but too sure and too terrible ! In v. 27, the words — 
 
 "Settest a print upon the heels of my feet" — fail to give the most 
 approved sense of the Hebrew. The lexical authorities diSer 
 slightly from each other; one putting it — To dig a trench or draw 
 a line round the soles of my feet: another, to put thyself as a 
 limit round, etc. All concur in the sense — shutting in ; circum- 
 scribing within limits beyond which he could not pass. Job was 
 
 shut up, and could move nowhere to escape from his woes. In 
 
 V. 28, all critics concur that the words refer to Job, speaking of 
 himself; — I perish, like a thing thoroughly rotten, as a garment 
 moth-eaten through and through. There is no stamina left in me 
 for longer endurance. * 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Job's speech concluded. 
 
 1. Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of 
 trouble. 
 
 2. He Cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down : he 
 fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. 
 
 3. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and 
 bringest me into judgment with thee? 
 
 4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? not one. 
 
 "Man" — the Heb. word chosen here suggesting the ground out 
 of which he was formed — has at best but few days on earth, and 
 those, full of turmoil, unrest. He comes into being, fresh and 
 blooming as the flower; but like this same flower, he is soon cut 
 off. He flees as the (not a) shadow — /. e., as the swiftly lengthen- 
 ing shadow toward evening; and tarries not. Like that shadow, 
 he too is soon gone. — Upon such an one (for such am I)— upon 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIV. 77 
 
 one so frail, so short-lived, dost thou open thine eyes to fasten 
 them upon me and bring me into judgment with thee? This is a 
 plea for consideration, not to say, commiseration, in view of his 
 frailty. — He proceeds to add another point to his plea — this being 
 taken from the foct of an impure ancestry — a parentage which in 
 some undefined way involved sin. " Who can produce a clean 
 thing fi'om an unclean? Xot one can do this." — The Hebrew for 
 the verb — "can produce," or "can bring," is literally, W/w will 
 give 1 but of some twenty or more cases of its use in our Hebrew 
 scriptures, it has almost if not quite invariably the optative sense — 
 O that one could bring, etc ! In this passage, the optative wish is 
 not congruous with the answer — "Not one," since this manifestly 
 calls for the question — Who can ? In what way moral unclean- 
 ness inheres in the human mother and attaches to her offspring. 
 Job does not indicate. He leaves us to adopt some theoi-y Avhich 
 will neither implicate the divine justice on the one hand, nor on 
 the other, abrogate human individual responsibility for every 
 thing that is actual sin. All theories on this point ought mani- 
 festly to be constructed within and under these limitations. 
 
 5. Seeing his days are determined, the number of liis 
 months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that 
 he can not pass ; 
 
 6. Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accom- 
 plish, as a hireling, his day. 
 
 Strictly taken, these Hebrew words mean — If his days are fixed, 
 if ih.Q number of his months is with thee — ordained by thy will, 
 etc.; then (v. 6) turn thine eye away from him, etc. But this " if" 
 does not suggest any doubt of the fact, and is therefore equiva- 
 lent to — Inasmuch as this is so. That he " may accowplish his 
 
 day" should leather be — that he may enjoy, take delight in his 
 day — a plea based on the extreme shortness of human life, that 
 God would be lenient to frail, short-lived man and indulge him to 
 enjoy his brief life-time as best he may. As the hireling has 
 just his one day to make out, so has man on earth only his brief 
 life-day. 
 
 7. For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it 
 will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will 
 not cease. 
 
 8. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the 
 stock thereof die in the ground; 
 
 9. Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring 
 forth boughs like a plant. 
 
 10. But man dieth, and wasteth away; yea, man giveth 
 up the ghost, and where is he? 
 
 Man lives one life-time on earth — no more. When he is cut 
 down, he never shoots up again from the stump or stock. There 
 is such hope for the tree. Though cut down, and though the 
 
78 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIV. 
 
 root be ever much decayed in the ground, the scent of water at 
 its roots may start it into fresh life ; but never is it so with man. 
 He dies — and where is he ? We see him no more. 
 
 The careful reader of this chapter will be reminded continually 
 of Psalm 90:— written by Moses — shall we say, by the same 
 Moses f The tone of each is almost identical ; the figures and 
 images are to a remai'kable degree the same. In the Psalm — 
 "Thou turnest man to destruction": In this poem — "Man dieth 
 and wasteth aAvay; man giveth up the ghost, and Avhere is he" ? 
 I'he Psalmist says — "Thou carryest them away as with a flood"; 
 Job has it — "The watej-s wear the stones; its flood sweeps away 
 
 the dust of the earth; so thou destroyest the hope of man." 
 
 More definitely still : — the Psalm has it — " In the morning they 
 are like grass which groweth up; in the morning it flourisheth 
 and groweth up: in the evening it is cut down and withereth." 
 In Job we read — "He cometh forth like a flower and is cut 
 down". "There is hope for a tree that though cut down, it may 
 live again; but man dieth and wasteth away " ; — " lieth down and 
 riseth up no more." And finally these passages alike ascribe hu- 
 man mortality and frailty to the wrath of God against man for 
 
 his sin. More decisive indications, in two distinct compositions, 
 
 of the same originating mind, the same imagination, the same 
 mode of viewing a given subject — a similarity so entire as to 
 indicate if not even actually prove identity of authorship — it 
 would not be easy to find. 
 
 11. As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth 
 .and drieth up ; 
 
 12. So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens 
 be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their 
 sleep. 
 
 The "sea" thought of here, is not "the great and wide sea" 
 whose waters never fail; but inland ponds or pools which, in 
 tropical and desert regions, are subject to disappear in drought. 
 With these man may be compared ; his life-waters dry away 
 and disappear; he lieth down to rise no more to resume his 
 
 earthly life — never till the heavens pass away. We need not 
 
 press this to the extent of denying a final resurrection at 
 the last day. The writer manifestly thinks only of a resumption 
 of this earthly life, analogous to that of a tree cut off near the 
 ground, which may shoot up again. Such resumption of earthly 
 life is to man, in all his generations, for ever hopeless. 
 
 13. Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou 
 wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou 
 wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! 
 
 14. If a man die, shall he live again f all the days of 
 my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIV. 79 
 
 15. Thou shalt call, and I Avill answer thee: thou wilt 
 have a desire to the work of thine hands. 
 
 Again Job's mind fulls back upon himself — his desolate, hope- 
 less present; his pains that will not let up; his fast waning life- 
 powers, and his utter hopelessness of any thing better for this 
 fleeting life. Therefore he looks forward for his only hope to the 
 state beyond. " Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the under- 
 world (Sheol) — not the grave which receives the body; it av;is 
 not for his perishing body that he sought a hiding-place from the 
 wrath of God ; but rather for that portion of his being that 
 
 could not die ! And then I pray also that thou wouldest set the 
 
 time for my release from that dark under-world, that " land of 
 darkness and the shadow of death, without any order, and where 
 the light is as darkness", as himself has described it (10: 21, 22). 
 
 Appoint me a time and remember me for good. Thus Job raises 
 
 and meets that one most momentous of all human questions: — "If 
 a man die, shall he live again " ? — which here must be taken in its 
 broadest and most f\xr-reaching application ; — Shall he live again 
 ever — again, on beyond his life-period in that dark under-w^orld ? 
 For in its application to the present world, he had settled 
 the question most decisively already, and it were simple fatuity 
 to ask it again. The tree, cut down, may spring up again from its 
 roots, even though much decayed ; but man giveth up the ghost, to 
 
 live here again never, no never ! But the question in its 
 
 broader and far more remote application yet remains. Is there 
 still another life-period beyond man's hiding-place in Sheol — after 
 his abode, be it more or less protracted, in that under-Avorld ? 
 Upon this his mind now fastens itself, and with this in view, he 
 prays — " Oh that thou wouldest appoint me a set time— -fix the 
 
 period of its duration — and remember me" ! But is it really 
 
 so, that man, once departed from this life and hidden in the dark 
 under-world, shall live again — passing into another and more 
 glorious life ? Assuming this to be the case, he says — Then will 
 I wait on patiently, all the days of my ivarfare (the usual and 
 proper sense of his word) — all the period of my enlistment 
 and hard service as it were under arms — until my great change 
 comes — my glad release and discharge. This must refer to that 
 momentous change which will raise him out from the under- 
 world (Sheol) into some better life beyond. Up into that more 
 glorious life. Thou wilt call me; and oh how gladly shall I an- 
 swer thee I I know thou wilt j^earn with longing desire for man, 
 the work of thine own hands. Surely the Great and Loving 
 Father can not, will not forget the creatures of his hand, the dear 
 objects of his care. The verb which Job used here expresses the 
 deepest longings of one's heart. 
 
 16. For now thou numberest my steps : dost thou not 
 watch over my sin ? 
 
 17. My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sew- 
 cst up mine iniquity. 
 
80 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIV. 
 
 The relation of thought which connects these verses and all 
 that remain in this chapter, with vs. 13-15 above, requires and 
 
 will reward the closest attention. In the verses last preceding, 
 
 we have seen gleams of light breaking forth from the far distant 
 future upon this great sufferer's afflicted heart. But plainly, he 
 does not pause to enjoy them long. Is it due (perhaps it is) to 
 the terrible severity of his pains that he can keep his thought 
 away from his sad present only for a moment, and then it will 
 return, as here ? Perhaps he thinks of justifying that outburst of 
 strong emotion in the prayer (v. 13) ; " Oh that God would hide me 
 in the under-world till his wrath be past!" For consider, how 
 full of trial and solicitude is this present state of mine ! For now 
 Thou art numbering my steps, subjecting every movement to the 
 most rigid scrutiny, watching as it were with eagle eye for my 
 sin; then sealing up in a bag all my iniquities for some future 
 re-examination and pei-haps for a yet more terrible retribution. 
 So we must understand these words and must assume that they 
 put Job's case as it seemed to him under the pressure of unre- 
 lieved suffering and of that state of perplexity, amounting almost 
 to distraction, under which he could see no reason why he was 
 singled out for such unexampled suffering. 
 
 In the phrase — " sewest up mine iniquity," some critics give 
 the verb the secondary sense (which appears in 13 : 4 ) — Thou 
 patchest up false charges — devising, working up charges beyond 
 what the truth will warrant. Against this sense of the verb in 
 this passage, it should suffice to say : (a) That it is too revolting 
 in its bearing upon God to be ascribed to Job, unless the usage 
 of the vei'b absolutely demands it — which it does not: and (b) 
 That the law of parallelism justifies, not to say requires, the other 
 sense, given above — Thou sewest up as well as sealest up — for safe 
 
 presei'vation. The salient point of thought here is the endur- 
 
 inrj nature of sin; that sins committed against God can never 
 drop into oblivion. No lapse of time sweeps them away; no for- 
 gctfulness abates their vivid impression upon the Infinite Mind. 
 They live on, they are sealed up and pass on down the ages to 
 
 their final retribution ! This seems to be the point of thought 
 
 from which is suggested to the mind of Job tlie contrast which ap- 
 pears in the next verse ; viz., between never forgotten sins on the 
 one hand ; and the mortal part of man — his earthly hopes and his 
 earthly thoughts and activities on the other. 
 
 18. And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, 
 and the rock is removed out of his place. 
 
 19. The waters wear the stones ; thou washest away the 
 things which grow out of the dust of the earth ; and thou 
 destroyest the hope of man. 
 
 20. Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passetli : 
 thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. 
 
 2-1. His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and 
 they are brought loAV, but he perceiveth it not of them. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIV. 81 
 
 22. But his flesh upon him shall have pahi, and his soul 
 within him shall mourn. 
 
 The first Ileb. word of this passage should not be read " surely,'' 
 for it means But, in the strongly adversative sense •which indi- 
 cates a contrast as suggested above. But, -while sins, the trans- 
 gressions of men, have in them no element of decay ; while they 
 never cease to be ; while they live on and on — treasured up by 
 the great moral Ruler of the universe — every thing that is only 
 material, of perishable matter, passes soon away. The mountain 
 crest, loosened by frost, or broken off by the lightnings of heaven, 
 falls from its lofty height and comes to nought (/. e., is a mount- 
 ain no more). Even rocks are uptorn from their place by the 
 earthquake. Water wears away even the stones ; its floods (Heb. 
 something jr)o?(refZ out) sweep away the dust of the earth, washing 
 down the hills and bearing away the debris: so Thou destroyest 
 the hope of man. Thou dost overpower him continually (v. 20) 
 and he goeth hence. " Thou changest his countenance " from the 
 joyous freshness of health, to the paleness of disease and the 
 ghastliness of death, and then sendest him away ! His sons sur- 
 vive him for a little season, perhaps they rise to honor, but he 
 knows it not, or if they are brought low, he is equally uncon- 
 scious of their state. His body mouldering in the grave and 
 his soul in that dark under-world^how can he know and why 
 should he care what may befall his sons who survive him? Job 
 certainly assumes that the dead have no knowledge of even their 
 
 nearest and dearest surviving friends. We must commence v. 22, 
 
 with the word " only," for this is the sense of the Hebrew word 
 — indicating that this and this only is all we can say of the de- 
 parted one. He lives within himself; he is shut up to his own 
 thought — to his own pain if pain be his lot, or to his own joy if 
 his lot be one of joy. So I think we must understand this last 
 verse of Job's speech. Conant's translation represents the Hebrew 
 better than our received version does : — " Only his flesh for itself 
 shall have pain, and his soul for itself shall mourn." This seems 
 to be put in antithesis with a state of symj^athy with the case of 
 his living sons. Such sympatliy Job denies. The depar.ted father 
 has no knowledge of his living sons : he lives wholly and only 
 within his own realm of inner consciousness, cognizant of his own 
 sufierings or joys, and of none save his own. This seems to be 
 the sense of his words, and should therefore be taken as the doc- 
 trine held by himself and probably by the men of his times. How 
 much light from revelation on these points had dawned upon the 
 leading minds of that age, it seems quite impossible to determine. 
 It is very clear that no certain knowledge on this subject can be 
 reached by the wise men of any age, be it never so ancient or so 
 modern, save as such knowledge comes to them from God. He 
 and he only has this knowledge; he and he only can impart it. 
 
82 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XV. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Second speech of EliplMZ. 
 
 1. Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, 
 
 2. Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his 
 belly with the east wind '? 
 
 3. Should he reason with un2:)rofi table talk? or with 
 speeches wherewith he can do no good? 
 
 In the established order of speaking, it falls now to Eliphaz to 
 speak the second time. Following the usual but by no means 
 commendable practice of warm disputants, he opens with cutting 
 sarcasm : — Does it befit a wise man, such as you profess to be, to 
 respond with knowledge that is only windy (literally, " knowledge 
 of wind") — good for sound, but void of sense; put forthwith long 
 and abundant talk, but without pertinence, solid argument or real 
 wisdom ? Shall a wise man fill his belly with the east wind — 
 not only vain in the sense of being empty of thought, but violent 
 and destructive ? Should a man of wisdom fill his belly with 
 tornadoes, to blow ofi^ in tempests of desolating words? reproving 
 with speech that avails nothing and words in which is no profit ? 
 From the point where Eliphaz stood — to a mind full of notions 
 like his as to God's administration of events in the present, all 
 Job's words would doubtless seem windy and worthless. Even 
 that sad spectacle of suffering fell on his soul, not stirring one 
 impulse of sympathy, but only proving to him according to his 
 doctrine that Job was the wickedest of men. Hence in his view 
 all Job's words were wide of the truth and served only as a sub- 
 stitute for repentance — squarely in the way of his only salvation. 
 So he felt it to be his duty to rebuke his friend in the plainest 
 terms — as we shall see. 
 
 4. Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before 
 God. 
 
 * 5. For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest 
 the tongue of the crafty. 
 
 6. Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I : yea, 
 thine own lips testify against thee. 
 
 " Fear," in the sense common in the Old Testament, is piety; 
 while the verb " cast off" looks not merely to an effect upon him- 
 self, but upon others as well ; — Thou dost annul, abolish all piety. 
 The things thou sayest against God tend to displace the very 
 foundations of piety and make men think that God is not worthy 
 
 of their love and confidence. "Restrainest prayer" — the word 
 
 for prayer however, more naturally means meditation, but medi- 
 tation before God or toward God means reverent and solemn 
 thoughts of God — such as lie at the foundation of real piety. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XV. 83 
 
 In making these grave charges against thee, I am not talking at 
 random, I speak on the authority of thine own words. Thine own 
 mouth is the Avitncss ; thy mouth condemns thee and not I. The 
 things thou hast said have charged God foolishly. Thou hast re- 
 flected severely upon his justice; thou hast dishonored his name. 
 
 In V. 5, the lleb. word corresponding to " uttcreth," is of rare 
 
 occurrence in this sense and quite peculiar, indicating, not that 
 .lob taught iniquity intentionally, but rather incidentally ; that 
 liis -words were suggestive of iniquity, were closely connected — 
 tied up with it; were redolent of sin; and could not fail therefore 
 to be mischievous. 
 
 7. Ah thou the first man that Avas born? or wast thou 
 made before the hills ? 
 
 8. Hast thou heard the secret of God ? and dost thou re- 
 strain wisdom to thyself? 
 
 9. What knowest thou, that we know not ? ^vhat under- 
 .''tandest thou, which is not in us ? 
 
 10. With us are both the grayheaded and the very aged 
 men, much elder than thy father. 
 
 Eliphaz had great faith in aiithoriiy — the testimony of the 
 oldest men. Hence this argument; — art thou the tirst man born — 
 brought into being before the hills ? Wert thou a listener in God's 
 privy council when the great principles of his government over 
 races yet unborn were discussed and determined ? And dost 
 thou restrict all wisdom to thyself, assuming that other men have 
 none and have no business to claim any ? By what right dost 
 thou claim to know more than we? What knowledge hast thou 
 that we have not? On our side are men much older than thy 
 
 father. "On our side" of this argument, he probably meant, 
 
 including men not present ; for it is scarcely supposable that 
 either of the three disputants had reached the great age of which 
 
 he speaks. His remark suggests however that, at this time. 
 
 Job had not reached a very great age. 
 
 11. Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there 
 any secret thing with thee? 
 
 11. Why doth thine heart carry thee away ? and what do 
 thy eyes wink at, 
 
 13. That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest 
 such words go out of thy mouth ? 
 
 "Are the consolations of God too small for thee" — (so the 
 Hebrew); are they altogether unsatisfactory? Eliphaz manifestly 
 thinks of the consolations wdiich himself and his associates had 
 brought to Job, and speaks of them (with perhaps some little self- 
 conceit) as being from God himself In the last clause of v. 11, 
 
 the received version quite fails of the real sense, for this clause 
 should merely expand the thought of the former; thus — The con- 
 solations of God — the word that was very gentle tow^ard thee: — 
 
84 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XV. 
 
 the sentiment being that their rebukes of Job, administered as 
 God's consolations, were very mild ; far less severe than he de- 
 served. — "Why doth thine heart" — " heart" as the seat of feeling, 
 emotion — sweep thee away, i. e., from reason and all propriety? 
 And for what do thine eyes twinkle — indicating a sneer of con- 
 tempt toward God, as the next verse implies. What could have 
 emboldened thee into such disrespect and irreverence toward 
 God ? Why hast thou suffered thine heart to feel such irreverence, 
 and thy mouth to give it utterance ? 
 
 14. What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is 
 born of a woman, that he should be righteous ? 
 
 15. Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the 
 heavens are not clean in his sight. 
 
 16. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which 
 drinketh iniquity like water ? 
 
 Eliphaz reverts to those impressive words which came to him 
 in visions of the night (4: 17-19), and substantially quotes them. 
 Doubtless' they seemed to him to bring the very rebuke which 
 Job's irreverent words as to God should receive. The entire pass- 
 age as it stands here makes a strong contrast between man, born 
 of woman, morally unclean, of a sinning race — on the one hand; 
 and on the other, the holy and unsinning ones above. If in the 
 latter, God puts no trust and accounts them, relatively to himself, 
 not pure ; how much more must he hold man to be abominable and 
 polluted ? — man who takes in sin so readily and even so greedily ? 
 
 17. I will shew thee, hear me ; and that which I have seen 
 I will declare; 
 
 18. Which wise men have told from their fathers, and 
 have not hid it: 
 
 19. Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger 
 passed among them. 
 
 Again Eliphaz brings forward his great argument from the 
 authority of the fathers, to the point that the wicked have always 
 been punished; sin has always met a present, swift retribution. 
 All the wise and good of the earliest times have brought this down 
 to us from the fathers, even from those who held the earth first 
 and had it alone, and their primitive ideas, fresh from the Great 
 Father of men, were as yet uncontaminated by the teaching of 
 strangers coming among them. In his view the value of tradi- 
 tions from the fathers will be as their age, the most ancient being 
 the best; and moreover as their pnritt/ — according as they were 
 free from corruptions introduced by strangers. 
 
 20. The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and 
 the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. 
 
 21. A dreadful sound is in his ears : in prosperity the 
 destroyer shall come upon him. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP, XV. 85 
 
 22. He believeth not that lie shall return out of darkness, 
 and he is waited for of the sword. 
 
 23. He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is itf 
 he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. 
 
 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid ; ti)ey 
 shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. 
 
 In V. 20, last clause, our English version has it that the oppressor 
 knows not how long he shall live. I>ut this has little force, for 
 the same is true of the hcst of men. The utmost that can he said 
 pertinently on this point is that the continued life of the oppressor 
 iiecomes specially uncertain; his chances of long life are seriously 
 diminished. — A better construction puts "all his days" and "the 
 number of years that are laid up for the oppressor" in apposition, 
 each clause describing the future life of the great robber. Then 
 the verse will affirm of him that he — he emphatically- — is in tor- 
 ment all his days, even all the years, laid up for him. The state- 
 ment is very strong — that such a man is in perpetual torment 
 through all his wicked life. A dreadful sound rings evermore in 
 his ear — a sound inspiring fear and dread. He hears it every- 
 where, day and night; he starts at every rustling leaf In his 
 most prosperous state, the destroyer may break in upon him with 
 vengeance. He can have no confidence — (" believeth not") — that 
 he shall ever emerge out of this state of darkness and dread ; the 
 sword of some avenging hand is ever waiting for him. He is the 
 man who roams abroad for even bread to eat, crying Where ? con- 
 scious that the day of utter darkness is close upon him. The blow 
 that he fears and dreads so much will surely fall ere long and 
 overpower him — as a king would who was fully equipped for 
 battle. — This strongly drawn picture leaves scarcely the least 
 possible comfort or peace to the boldly wicked man. 
 
 25. For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and 
 strengtheneth himself against the Almighty. 
 
 26. He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick 
 bosses of his bucklers : 
 
 27. Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and 
 raaketh collops of fat on his flanks. 
 
 28. And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which 
 no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps. 
 
 The reason for his unmitigated wretchedness is here traced to 
 his daring impiety toAvard God. The form of the verb trans- 
 lated, " strengtheneth himself," does not imply that he really 
 became strong against God — a thing entirely impossible for 
 mortal man: but rather that he made a shoui of himself as strong; 
 took on airs and proudly set himself forth as one able to measure 
 arms with the Almighty. Such is the well known usage of this 
 
 form of the Heb. verb. In v. 26, we meet the question — Upon 
 
 xohose neck, and upon the thick bosses of whose bucklers ? The 
 
86 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XV. 
 
 received version misleads most reade^rs to suppose that the neck 
 and the buckler also are those of God. Whereas, we must read — ■ 
 He (this proudly wicked man) runneth upon Him (God) with 
 stiffened neck [high head], and with the thick bosses of his own 
 buckler — i. e., clad in defensive armor Avhich he vainly assumes 
 will shield him against the sAVord of the Almighty. It is not God 
 therefore, but the sinner who supposes himself to be thus armed. 
 
 Vain mortal ! The description of his haughty pride and defiant 
 
 hardihood continues: "Because he covered his face with his fat- 
 ness," etc. — fatness and pride being in oriental conception, kin- 
 dred and associated ideas. See Deut. 32; 15 and 31: 20 and Ps. 
 
 17: 10. In V. 28 this savage freebooter — a man of violence and. 
 
 blood — is thought of as living amid the ruins of cities himself had 
 laid desolate. 
 
 29. He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance con- 
 tinue, neithei" shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon 
 the earth. 
 
 30. He shall not depart out of darkness ; the flame shall 
 dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he 
 go away. 
 
 This wicked man makes a failure of his life, for the things he 
 specially lives and labors for elude his grasp. He shall not enrich 
 himself however much he may pillage and plunder, nor shall what 
 he does seize upon be enduring. The last clause of v. 29 has a 
 rare word of very doubtful etymology and meaning. * Probably 
 it means possession, of some soi't. We may choose between ex- 
 tending abroad his possessions in the earth, and the bending down 
 
 of his fruit (on trees) to the earth. He shall not emerge (v. 30) 
 
 out of darkness — i. c, out of calamity. Fire shall scorch and 
 wither his branches. By the breath of Jehovah's lips shall he be 
 swept away — a figure which appears also in Isa. 11:4. 
 
 31. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity ; for vanity 
 shall be his recompense. 
 
 32. It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch 
 shall not be green. 
 
 33. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and 
 shall cast off his flower as the olive. 
 
 The sense is improved by reading the passage — Let him not 
 trust in evil, he deceives himself (if he does); for evil shall be his 
 recompense. The evil he trusts in will return upon him for his 
 reward. And it will be fulfilled before its day — far sooner than 
 one might naturally expect. Comparing him to the palm-tree, ho 
 will not remain green. His grapes drop off unripe ; his olive-blos- 
 soms fall prematurely ; no fruit ripens in his garden. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XVI. 87 
 
 34. For the congregation of hypocrites -sAoM be desolate, 
 and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. 
 
 35. They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and 
 their belly prepareth deceit. 
 
 The word " congregation " is too indefinite. Better JiovseJiold — 
 his family and group of servants are made desohxte, all cut off 
 prematurely — said perhaps with an eye to the case of Joh himself. 
 " Hypocrite " (as usual) — a great and bold sinner, yet not re- 
 stricted 'to those who falsely pretend to he what they are not. 
 Their plans of wickedness prove altogether abortive. 
 
 All these points in his description of the destiny of the wicked 
 in this world Eliphaz lays down as universal ; admitting of no 
 exception. Obviously he first infers this from God's justice, 
 strengthening this inference by his conviction that it onght to be 
 so; and then backs up his doctrine by a very limited observation 
 of facts in human history. Thus held and presented, his doctrine 
 bore with terrible severity upon Job. Neither he nor his associ- 
 ates were disposed to soften this severity. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Joh replies. 
 
 1. Then Job answered and said, 
 
 2. I have heard many such things : miserable comforters 
 are ye all. 
 
 3. Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth 
 thee that thou answerest ? 
 
 Taken in whole, this speech of Job (chap. 16 and 17) is a tender, 
 pathetic appeal to his friends for their compassion and sympathy. 
 His first words, as usual, are somewhat sharp; but, passing these, 
 his strain of remark portrays his affliction and puts in strong light 
 the deep trial of his soul because thoge afflictions come so mani- 
 festly from the hand of God, and because he can get no explana- 
 tion of the reasons why the Lord afflicts him so fearfully. 
 
 I have heard many such "things" — /. e., from you all. Your 
 speeches have been mostly a repetition of the same things with 
 scarcely the least variation or advance in the argument. " Com- 
 forters of trouble" [Heb.] — who bring, not comfort but only 
 deeper trouble — are ye all. Do words of wind ever come nat- 
 urally to an end ? Is it not the normal law of such words to blow 
 on and on, gusty, breezy, and nothing else ? Observe, the ques- 
 tion is not one of expectation ; — May we not hope for an end of 
 such words? Nor of oitghtness; — ovglit they not to end some- 
 
88 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAr. XVI. 
 
 where ? But, with a somewhat caustic turn, he intimates that 
 words so empty, so void of sense, must naturally blow on with 
 never an end, since they never accomplish any worthy purpose, 
 and there will always remain the same reason for more as at the 
 
 first. In the second clause of v. 3, we should read — not, What 
 
 " emboldens," but what stirs thee np, excites, provokes, thee to 
 answer so ! 
 
 4. I also could speak as ye do : if your soul were in my 
 soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake 
 mine head at you. 
 
 Job sugc^ests that it would be very easy for him too to talk sagely, 
 philosophically, and also very long, if only their respective cases 
 were reversed — their soul in the condition of his, and his in 
 theirs. Then t could string together words against you in per- 
 petual accumulation, and do it too with very little feeling other 
 than contempt, or at least disrespect, shaking the head in assumed 
 dignity and superiority. Probably Job thought this remark 
 might help them to see themselves as others saw them, and more 
 
 according to the reality. Note that the word "soul" as here 
 
 used carries in it more of sensibility, suffering, than the words 
 I and you would have done. For your soul to be in my soul's 
 stead would give you more sorrows, woes and heart-agonies than 
 ye are wont to think of. 
 
 5. But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the 
 moving of my lips should assuage your grief. 
 
 In the case supposed, I would do far otherwise than ye are doing. 
 I would speak so as to give you real succor, moral strength. 
 The moving of my lips should relieve, and help bring to an end. 
 
 To the word for "moving" of the lips some critics give the 
 
 sense, comfort; but the better established sense is that of 
 moving. Ilis speech should aim to give them the relief they 
 would need, which would indeed imply comfort. 
 
 6. Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged : and thovgJi 
 I forbear, what am I eased ? 
 
 But now I am not in your case but in my own. When I speak, 
 therefore, it brings me no relief; my sorrows hold me all the 
 same; and if I cease to speak, my sorrows leave me not — liter- 
 ally: What goes from me? the implied answer being — Nothing 
 at all; I am no less full of anguish than before. 
 
 7. But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made 
 desolate all my company. 
 
 8. And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, ivMch is a 
 witness against me; and my leanness rising up in me beareth 
 witness to my face. 
 
 9. He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me : he 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CIIAr. XVI. 89 
 
 guashelh upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sliarpcneth 
 his eyes upon me. 
 
 Here Job passes on to describe the way he has been treated. 
 Some of his expressions apply more naturally to God as inflicting 
 these calamities ; others seem to refer to these professed friends, 
 considered, perhaps, as acting under God's permissive agency. 
 
 "He hath made me weary" would bear the stronger sense: 
 
 He hath worn out my strength ; exhausted my powers of further 
 
 endurance. "Made desolate all my company ' — the same word 
 
 for "company" as in 15: -34, where the sense is household. The 
 word must include the whole group of his household, viz., chil- 
 dren, servants — all of whom were swept off together by one 
 
 awful wave of desolation (chap. 1). In the first clause of v. 8, 
 
 our English version fails to give the sense of the Hebrew. It 
 should be thus : — " He hath seized me (as with the grip of a giant 
 or as the lion does his prey); this is a witness that my leanness 
 [emaciation] riseth up against me and bears witness to my face. 
 So onward : "His anger tears and still pursues me" (as an 
 adversary). 
 
 10. They have gaped upon me Avith their mouth ; they 
 have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have 
 gathered themselves together against me. 
 
 11. God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me 
 over into the hands of the wicked. 
 
 These Hebrew methods of expressing contempt occur in later 
 writings: — " Gaping upon one with the mouth " — in Ps. 22 : 1.3 ; 
 smiting upon the cheek in Lam. 3 : 30. But " gathering together 
 against me " suggests in the original more than simple combina- 
 tion, viz., the further idea of fitting out a full array like an 
 embattled host, charging in successive squadrons, Avith allusion 
 probably to the fact that these three friends charged upon him 
 one after another, availing themselves of their number and 
 
 method of assault, to overwhelm him utterly. God's agency 
 
 in all this, though only permissive, was yet one of its most 
 bitter elements. 
 
 12. I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he 
 hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, 
 and set me up for his mark. 
 
 13. His archers compass me round about; he cleaveth my 
 reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall 
 upon the ground. 
 
 14. He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth 
 upon me like a giant. 
 
 Ah me ! I once had a peaceful, happy life ; hut all that is past 
 and gone. He [God] hath shattered me utterly ; he hath taken 
 me up by the neck — as a ravenous beast does his powerless prey, 
 5 
 
90 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XVI. 
 
 and hath dashed me to pieces. He hath made me a target for 
 
 his arrows. The first word of v. 13 has the authority of the 
 
 ancient versions for the sense " archers " ; but its etymology and 
 current usage favor the meaning, his many or strong ones beset 
 me round. They are represented not so much as shooting 
 [arrows] as encompassing him all round about by their great 
 number. The rest of the passage can scarcely be misappre- 
 hended. 
 
 15. I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and dtfiled my 
 horn in the dust. 
 
 16. My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the 
 shadow of death; 
 
 17. Not for any injustice in my hands: also my prayer is 
 pure. 
 
 Bowing before this terrible assault, Job had taken the attitude 
 of a mourner. So we see in the history: "He rent his mantle; 
 shaved his head; fell to the ground and worshiped " (1 : 20) ; — " and 
 
 sat down in the ashes " (2 : 8). To " thrust one's horn into 
 
 the dust" contemplates the horn as the symbol of power and 
 
 dignity. All this dishonor and bitter sorrow came upon him, 
 
 not for any violence of his hands against his fellow-men, nor 
 for any impurity [selfishness or hypocrisy] in his prayer before 
 God. He was not conscious of any supposable cause in his 
 treatment of men, or his worship of God, which should have 
 occasioned these inflictions, or which might account for them. 
 
 18. O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry 
 have no place. 
 
 19. Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my 
 record is on high. 
 
 As a murdered man leaves his blood on the face of the earth, a 
 witness to his own innocence and to the guilt of his murderer, so 
 Job implores the earth not to hide his blood, but let it remain 
 open to every eye as his witness. — "Let my cry have no place," 
 i. e., where it may hide itself or be absorbed and lost to human 
 ears. Let it echo and re-echo forever, finding no place where it 
 can die away and become inaudible. — And now it flashes upon 
 Job's mind that in one respect at least, this prayer may and Avill 
 be answered, for God will remember all and will be his witness. 
 Ah, verily; "my witness is in heaven;" my attestor — he who will 
 bear witness for me — is on high. 
 
 20. My friends scorn me : but mine eye poiu-etli out tears 
 unto God. 
 
 21. Oh that one might plead for a man with God, as a 
 man pleadeth for his neighbor ! 
 
 22. AVhen a few years are come, then I shall go the way 
 wJience I shall not return. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XVII. 91 
 
 My mockers are these professed friends. The bitterest re- 
 proaches and insults I am made to feel come from those who 
 should comfort and befriend me. Unto God and before him only, 
 mine eye pours out its tears! — In v. 21, there is nothing corre- 
 sponding to " Oh that" ! — nothing that expresses in this way his 
 impassioned desire. The verse should rather be connected with 
 what precedes, thus : Mj eye poureth forth tears unto God, that he 
 would implead for man with God — argue a case for the interests 
 of justice even as a son of man may have a hearing and trial with 
 his fellow. Over and over Job has pathetically implored this 
 favor — a hearing before God ; such as the law provides for between 
 man and man. Now this longing is intensified by a sense of 
 being near his end, and a feeling therefore that it must be soon 
 or never. For at the utmost a few years only will pass and I 
 shall go that way from which I shall not return. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Job concludes his speech. 
 
 This chapter runs in the same current of thought as the preced- 
 ing, portraying Job, the great sufferer; his life-powers almost 
 spent; himself mocked and not commiserated by his friends; 
 longing for a candid, equitable hearing of his case ; his sorest 
 abuse coming from those who should have befriended him — a 
 case of abuse that must move the indignation of all the good and 
 react favorably for real righteousness. His claim upon the pity 
 of all compassionate souls is the greater because he is so near the 
 grave and has no hope elsewhere than in that under-world. 
 
 1. My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves 
 are ready for me. 
 
 My breath is — not "foul" — but used iqy, gone. The word for 
 "breath"* being the usual one for spirit, some explain it — My 
 vital forces are spent — which without doubt is essentially the 
 meaning. — "My days are extinct" — like the extinguishing of a 
 lamp; so the light of my life is virtually extinguished. "The 
 grave is /or me' — the only portion that now remains. 
 
 2. Ave there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye 
 continue in their j)ro vocation? 
 
 The original words indicate, not a question, but the strongest 
 asseveration. Jf it be not so, then what is it? The sense — most 
 truly mockers are upon me, beset me. On their insults, mine 
 
92 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XVII. 
 
 eye must abide — literally, spend all the niglit. So Job speaks of 
 the insulting, cruel remarks of his friends. 
 
 3. Lay down now, put me in a surety with tliee ; who is 
 he that will strike hands with me ? 
 
 4. For thou hast hid their heart from understanding : 
 therefore shalt thou not exalt them. 
 
 "Lay down" is the language used in betting phrase by those 
 who ask another to give a j)! edge. — The second clause: "Put me 
 in a surety with thee;" "who will put his hand into mine?" indi- 
 cates -what the Hebrew tongue expresses by "striking hands" for 
 the pledge of a solemn covenant. Here the thing to be guaranteed 
 was, not the payment of a debt — which would be quite foreign 
 from the subject— but a hearing before some fair tribunal. Would 
 any one appear, and give this guaranty ? His soul longed for 
 some opportunity for such a hearing as might vindicate him from 
 the foul and cruel aspersions cast on him by his professed friends. — 
 In V. 4, the thought is — Thou, Lord, hast hidden [covered] the 
 heart of my friends from 'wisdom. Thou hast holden their 
 eyes that they should not see wisely; therefore thou wilt not 
 exalt them in honor, but (as is implied) wilt bring them to dis- 
 honor. Thou wilt not indorse but wilt rebuke their cruel cen- 
 sures of me. 
 
 5. He that speaketh flattery to Ids friends, even the eyes 
 of his children shall fail. 
 
 The received version is neither well sustained by Hebrew usage, 
 nor in harmony with the course of thought. True, the first verb 
 sometimes means, to speak, but is properly, to put somelJdng before 
 one. Here ^'friend" is the object 7>»Mi before, in the sense of 
 being surrendered into the power of another — put into their hand, 
 i. e., as a spoil. He who betrays his friends for a spoil into the 
 handof I'obbers ; the eyes of his children shall fail — pining away 
 in sorrow. God will scourge them with the desolation of their 
 dearest. Job suggests that his friends have committed, not this 
 crime precisely, but one of analogous character, equally heartless 
 and cruel. Therefore God will curse their children after them. 
 
 6. He hath made me also a byword of the people : and 
 aforetime I was as a tabret. 
 
 7. Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my 
 members are as a shadow. 
 
 " He" in v. 6 seems to refer most naturally to God, but in this 
 connection only as providentially permitting or suifering his friends 
 to do this. They had made him a byword of the peoples — the 
 tribes, round about;— a byword moreover in the sense of a noto- 
 rious character who strangely illustrated how a man, appearing 
 spotless for a season, had been suddenly shown up to be one of 
 the worst of men. His friends had put this construction upon 
 his case, and had thereby put all his neighbors upon defaming 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XVII. 93 
 
 his character. In the second clause of v. 6, the English version 
 
 must be changed entirely. All modern critics concur in making 
 it essentially parallel with the first clause — " I am become a man 
 to be spit on in the very face." They have sunk me so low in 
 
 general esteem that every one feels at liberty to spit upon me. 
 
 My eye has grown dim Avith grief. Emaciation has made all the 
 members of my body as a shadow — the substance utterly gone. 
 
 8. Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the iuiio- 
 cent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite. 
 
 9. The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that 
 hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. " 
 
 Upright men will be astonished at this — but we must ask — at 
 wliat f What precisely does the Avriter mean by " this" ? Is it 
 the strange facts of Job's case ; or is it the yet more strange inter- 
 
 2)reiatioii put upon those facts by his three friends? Either 
 
 construction is possible, not to say, pertinent. The former thus : 
 The facts are indeed remarkable. Men unsympathizing, suspi- 
 cious, or of shallow thought, may construe them as ye have done;' 
 but the truly upright, though amazed at such facts, will not be 
 staggered as to their foith in God, but will be stirred up the more 
 against vile men. The righteous will hold on his righteous way 
 
 and grow only the stronger therein. Then v. 10 calls upon his 
 
 friends for a hearing of the case, not one of them having shown 
 
 himself wise upon it. On the second construction above named, 
 
 thus : Strange as the facts in my case may be — an upright man 
 smitten so fearfully of God — yet jonr interpretation of them is 
 stranger still. Ye may think your view is the right one ; but all 
 the truly good and wise will stand amazed at your conclusions, 
 and will be stirred up to stand by the truth, hold fast to their up- 
 right life, and gi'ow only the stronger in it. Of these two pos- 
 sible constructions, the former seems to me preferable because of 
 its bettor connection with the context before and after. It indi- 
 cates that Job had very strong faith in his doctrine as opposed to 
 that of his friends, and fully believed that in the final result all 
 the really good would be with him and not with them, both in 
 their sympathies and in their interpretation of such remarkable 
 facts in God's providence. This need not imply that he felt able 
 to explain the reasons of God's ways toward him ; but does im- 
 ply that he held on to his foith in the goodness and justice of God 
 and would still believe that God would explain and vindicate his 
 Avays in due time. 
 
 10. But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for 
 I can not find one wise man among you. 
 
 This calls for a rehearing of his case on the ground that not a 
 man of them had shown himself really wise. This call links 
 itself with what he had recently said of the view that all the 
 truly good must take of his case. 
 
94 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XVII. 
 
 11. My days are past, my j)urpose.s are broken off, even 
 the thoughts of my heart. 
 
 12. They change the night into day : the light is short 
 because of darkness. 
 
 Let this be hastened on, for my life-time is short. My best 
 days have gone ; my plans of life are frustrated — those dearest 
 
 treasures of my heart. V. 12 is obscure. The most literal 
 
 translation would be — They put night to day ; light is near from 
 before darkness. This might possibly mean that night comes 
 closely up to the day with no twilight intervening, every thing 
 working toward the greatest duration of the darkness. In like 
 manner every thing in his case hurries toward the deep darkness 
 of the under-world. Or the sense may be — They put night into 
 day, making the night not restful as night should be, but toil- 
 some, unrestful. The ultimate sense is probably this : — What 
 little light [joy of life] I have is soon to be followed Avith dark- 
 ness in the under-world. The translation — " They change the 
 
 night into day" seems to be entirely foreign from the drift of 
 thought. 
 
 13. If I wait, the grave is my house: I have made my 
 bed in the darkness. 
 
 14. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father : to the 
 worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. 
 
 15. And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who 
 shall see it ? 
 
 16. They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our 
 rest together is in the dust. 
 
 The first word of v. 13 is translated by the best critics, not 
 " if," but " lo," calling attention to the fact stated. Lo, I wait 
 for Shcol, my house [to become such in anticipation] ; I have al- 
 ready spread my bed there in the darkness of that world ; 1 have 
 made corruption and worms my father, mother, sisters ; I have 
 addressed them — thought of them — as such. I am so soon to be 
 permanently at home with them in the grave. The literal grave 
 for the decaying body is the stepping-stone — a sort of foregoing 
 illustration of the lower under-world — the home of the departed 
 
 spirit. Pathetically Job asks therefore: Where is my hope? 
 
 Who shall ever see any hope for me ? It may be noted here 
 
 that this noun, " hope," repeated (v. 15), affiliates with the first 
 verb of v. 13, translated "wait" or " await" i. e., look forward 
 
 to as near and certain. These words are from a common root. 
 
 V. 16 answers the questions put in v. 15. " They" — these liojus 
 of mine — go down to the bars of Sheol — that under-world being 
 often represented as barred. They will bo there so soon as there 
 is rest [for me] in the dust. When the body shall find its resting- 
 place in its own home, the grave, then all the hopes that pertain 
 to my spirit will be found in Sheol, the under-world, the spirit-land. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. CHAP. XVIII. 95 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Second speech of Bildad. 
 
 This spcccli of Bildad, after opening as usual with some sharp 
 retort (v. 1-4) falls into the old line of argument, adding nothing 
 new, but simply reiterating the old, viz., that God's judgments 
 always follow the Avicked till they are chased out of the world, 
 and then curse their children after them. The gist of his argu- 
 ment requires him to prove the universality and certainty of this 
 assumed law of God's administration in this world. If he can 
 prove not merely that it is so sometimes, but always, and never 
 otherwise; that bad men always suffer for their sins here, and 
 always according to the measure and guilt of their sin ; he will 
 have made out his case. But Bildad seems quite unaware of the 
 necessity for close and thorough discrimination on these points, and 
 therefore satisfies himself with general statements and with the 
 peristent assumption that there can be no exception to the general 
 law he propounds. 
 
 1. Then answered Bildad tlie Shiiliite, and said, 
 
 2. How long toill it he ere ye make an end of words? mark, 
 and afterwards we will speak. 
 
 The best critics disagree on the precise sense of the Hebrew 
 word translated " cud'' * [of words]. Gesenius says end; Fuerst, 
 primarily noose; but symbolically, a perveision, the ultimate 
 meaning being this: How long will ye pervert, distort, words? 
 He finds support in the next clause; understand ; try to get the 
 true sense ; then afterward, let us speak. Conant and many 
 modern critics, guided by an Arabic analogy, give the word the sense 
 — a hunt, a search, as of the huntsman for his prey. How long 
 will ye make a hunt for mere words, to keep up the show of ar- 
 gument and reply ? This view finds some support in the form of 
 the question which does not ask When'? but How long? It 
 should be icheyi if the sense were — to make an end; but Hoto long ? 
 if the thought be of hunting for words. The keener sarcasm lies 
 
 in the latter interpretation. The plural, "ye" contemplates 
 
 Job and his party — those who agree with him. 
 
 3. "Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile 
 in your sight ? 
 
 Bildad complains that Job withholds from his opponents due 
 credit for sense and sagacity. " Why are we accounted as the 
 brute [Heb.] and reputed vile in your eyes?" But the Ileb. 
 word here rendered "vile" does not occur elsewhere. Hence its 
 precise meaning is somewhat doubtful. The choice lies between 
 impure in the moral sense, and duU-ivitted, intellectually. 
 
96 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 4. He tearetli himself in his anger : shall the earth be for- 
 saken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his 
 place ? 
 
 The first clause stands as an exclamation : " One who tears 
 himself in his rage! " — in which Bildad represents Job as badly 
 excited, swept away and quite unmanned by his emotions — which 
 he allows himself to characterize as " rage. ' So utterly do these 
 disputants fail to sympathize with their afilicted friend under his 
 
 unprecedented calamities! What and how much Bildad would 
 
 imply in the question — " For thee shall the earth be forsaken and 
 the rock be removed from his place?" — is not altogether clear. 
 Was it that Job's self conceit made it intolerable for any one to live 
 in the same world with him ; or that his towering passion was unen- 
 durable; or that his doctrine as to God's government would deso- 
 late the earth and break down all society and order ? The second 
 
 question looks toward uptearing the great foundation principles of 
 all government and righteousness ; for to this it should apply, and 
 not to a literal tearing up of granite rocks. 
 
 5. Yea, the light of the wicked shall be juit out, and the 
 spark of his fire shall not shine. 
 
 6. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle 
 shall be put out with him. 
 
 7. The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his 
 own counsel shall cast him down. 
 
 From this point onward through the chapter, Bildad portrays 
 what he considers to be the universal lot of wicked men. The 
 description involves but very few points that require explanation. 
 
 In v. 6, "His candle above him," rather than "with him," 
 
 " shall be extinguished " — this candle being suspended in his tent. 
 His strong steps — strong but for his sin — shall be straitened — 
 cramped, circumscribed. His own wisdom shall prove his down- 
 fall, God turning it into foolishness. 
 
 8. For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he 
 walketh upon a snare. 
 
 9. The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall 
 prevail against him. 
 
 10. The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap 
 for him in the way. 
 
 11. Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall 
 drive him to his feet. 
 
 In V. 9 we should read, not "the robber" but the snare will 
 
 take strong hold of him. In the last clause of v. 11, terrors 
 
 shall not "drive him to his feet", but chase him close vpon his 
 heels. They follow hard after him continually, 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XVIII. 97 
 
 12. His strength shall be hunger-bitten, and destruction 
 shall be ready at his side. 
 
 13. It shall devour the strength of his skin : even the first- 
 born of death shall devour his strength. 
 
 14. His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, 
 and it shall bring him to the king of terrors. 
 
 15. It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of 
 his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation. 
 
 In V. 13, the word twice translated " strength " seems rather to 
 mean the parts of Ids body. In the first case the portions of his 
 skin; in the second, his Ihnbs. Destruction devours the affected 
 portions of his skin; "the first-born of death" [its mightiest en- 
 ergies] devours the limbs of his body — all said with an eye to 
 
 Job's disease and its effects upon his person. In v. 14, not " his 
 
 confidence shall be torn " but he shall be torn out of his tent, 
 his security — i. e., which was his security — his place of safety 
 and trust. Having been thus torn out of his stronghold, he is 
 led away to the king of terrors. Then, himself having been torn 
 from his tent, it shall be occupied by others than either himself or 
 his children. Literally, " There shall dwell in his tent those not 
 of him" — not descended from his loins. "Brimstone shall be 
 showered upon his habitation", accoi-ding to the doom of Sodom 
 and her neighbor cities, to which there seems to be distinct 
 allusion. 
 
 16. His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall 
 his branch be cut off. 
 
 17. His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he 
 shall have no name in the street. 
 
 18. He shall be driven from liglit into darkness, and 
 chased out of the world. 
 
 19. He shall neither have son nor nephew among his peo- 
 ple, nor any remaining in his dwellings. 
 
 20. They that come after Idm shall be astonished at his 
 day, as they that went before were aftrighted. 
 
 21. Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this 
 is the place of him that kuoweth not God. 
 
 Thus in the strongest form of statement Bildad avers that every 
 sinner — at least every notorious sinner — is exterminated from the 
 face of the earth, there being left to him neither name nor pos- 
 terity. Equally, the men who survive him and those who lived 
 before and with him are amazed at such displays of God's 
 righteous judgments upon the wacked. He closes with the 
 strongest asseveration — Such only (not "surely", v. 21) are the 
 habitations of the wicked; only such as this is their doom; all 
 go in this way to their speedy and final reward. To this place 
 of ruin must all come who know not God. 
 
98 THE BOOK OF JOE. — CHAP. XIX. 
 
 CHAPTER X IX. 
 
 Joh replies. 
 
 This speech of Job reaches the climax of interest inasmuch as 
 in it he himself reaches the very culmination of his trial, of his 
 distressing — almost distracting — perplexity, and ultimately, of his 
 triumph through the power of simple faith in his Redeemer. 
 
 1. Then Job answered and said, 
 
 2. How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces 
 witli words ? 
 
 3. These ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not 
 ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me. 
 
 "How long will ye vex" — he docs not say me — but " ?»y soul", 
 for your cutting, merciless reproaches go down to the very depths 
 of my being. Your words break me to pieces; lacerate my 
 sensibilities; tear my heart-strings asunder. How long will 
 ye persist in these cruel assaults upon me? How long 
 must I endure them from men whom I have been happy 
 
 to regard as my dearest and most honored friends ? " These 
 
 ten times " — not intended as a precise enumeration but a 
 general expression for veri/ many — too many to comport with real 
 friendship; too many to be accounted for on any worthy law of 
 fraternal obligation. "Reproached me" — by perpetually im- 
 plying that my life has been altogether false and foul, and my 
 
 pietv only hypocrisy. The last clause of v. 3 is expounded 
 
 variously' by good critics. Its principal Ileb. word* rendered 
 "make yourselves strange," occurs only here. Manifestly our 
 English translators mistook its derivation, and consequently, its 
 meaning. Gesenius and Conant favor this — " Without shame ye 
 stun me", i. e., confound me; thrust your reproachful accusations 
 upon me so violently, fiercely, persistently, that I can scarcely 
 take my breath. I am overwhelmed and my selfpossession 
 broken down. In later editions Gesenius, guided by its Arabic 
 analogies, suggests this: To injure; to litigate pertinaciously. 
 Fuerst, following the Targum, gives it — To misjudge. Shameless, 
 ye misconstrue my case. Professing to sit in sober judgment as 
 if searching for truth, ye are not ashamed to pervert the evidence 
 and so wrong me fatally by misjudgment. This last view of the 
 meaning seems to me best sustained. 
 
 4. And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remain- 
 eth with myself. 
 
 5. If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and 
 plead against me my reproach : 
 
 If it be so (perhaps I can not dispute it) that I have erred — 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP.- XIX. 99 
 
 made inadvertent mistakes — yet consider; tlic bitter consequences 
 fallen myself alone. 1 have them all to bear. They lodge [Hcb.], 
 tarry all the night, Avith me. AVhy then should ye reproach and 
 vilify me as if I had been l)ringing evil upon society ; blighting 
 
 the "happiness of others? In v. 5 the mutual relation of the 
 
 two clauses is not well given in the English version. Better thus : 
 If indeed ye would exalt yourselves over me — take on the airs 
 of a higher piety and a purer morality, then prove against me your 
 reproacliful charges.— — The thought-relations of the successive 
 clau-ses (vs. 5, 6) as put in the received version are not sustained 
 by the original and arc entirely inept and void of force, as the 
 reader will see if he will suppose Job to counsel his friends on 
 this wise ; — If ye would really boast and gloi-y over me and would 
 prove against me all ye charge upon me to my reproach, ye would 
 do well to consider that God has overthroirn me — that God is in- 
 deed wholly against me. Yes indeed, (they would reply), that 
 
 is what we have all along maintained I the very thing we have 
 been laboring to impress upon you. God is utterly against you. 
 Every pain he inflicts is a fresh proof of it! This is his way to 
 testify that you are not by any means his friend and servant. — ■ — ■ 
 Now I submit that if Job were in his right mind, with any of 
 that sense we are wont to call " common," he could not have used 
 
 such logic. It was logic for their side, not Ms. On the other 
 
 hand, for Job to say (v. 5) " Then j^^'ove your points against me " 
 — is thoroughly pertinent to his argument. 
 
 6. Kbow now that God hath overthrown nie, and hath 
 compassed me with his net. 
 
 7. Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard : I cry 
 aloud, but there is no judgment. 
 
 "Hath overthrown me" — our English has it; but the Hebrew 
 word demands a sense quite unlike and beyond this, viz., hath 
 W7-ested my cause. The word is severe as used of God ; but it must 
 be our first concern, not to justify Job for using it, but to arrive 
 with certainty at his real moaning, and then to suggest whatever 
 the circumstances may furnish as the occasion for this strong 
 word.— — -As to the sense of this Hebrew word* it is, of all words 
 in the language the one most naturally used for distorting, per- 
 verting, justice ; the veryAvord used twice by Bildad in this sense 
 (8: 3); "the same which Elihu used (34: 12), and parallel there 
 with the verb — "do wickedly"; the same which we meet Lam. 3 : 
 36 and Ps. 119: 78; — always in the same sense. Moreover v. 7 
 involves the same idea ; — I cry out of wrong — the wrong done me 
 in these strange inflictions from the hand of God — but 1 am not 
 answered (Heb.) ; "I cry aloud, but there is no justice" [done 
 me]. Job could not see that his sins had been as much greater 
 than those of other men as his sufferings were greater than theirs. 
 He was deeply conscious of having honestly sought to please and 
 obey God. He knows that in general his life has been upright 
 
100 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 
 
 and his heart honest, and yet no man, however -wicked, had suf- 
 fered as he had. He knows that hosts of wicked men are openly, 
 outrageously oppressive, cruel, satanic; and yet no great judg- 
 ments fall on them from God's hand. This looks to him like 
 perverting his cause. Judged of by the appearance thus far — es- 
 timated on the basis of what God has already done, how else could 
 
 he view the case ? To what other conclusion could he come ? 
 
 His great mistake lay in allowing himself to make up a charge 
 against the justice of God before he had seen the whole of the 
 case, before the Lord had finished his retributions upon the guilty, 
 and before he came to understand wherefore the Lord was bring- 
 ing upon himself these sore afflictions. But in partial apology 
 for Job it should be said that his friends were continually push- 
 ing him into this very mistake. They were perpetually assuming 
 that God's providences were administered even hei'e and now in 
 completed justice, so that at every step, at any possible point, you 
 might bring them under consideration and judge of their moral 
 quality upon the basis of what is so far made visible to mortals. 
 
 As bearing upon Job's argument, the reader will notice that he 
 had said (v. 5) " Prove against me the charges ye have made." 
 But he would suggest here that they must not think to prove those 
 charges by a mere inference of guilt drawn from these inflictions 
 of God's hand upon him : — for, said he — "Kiiow ye (imperative 
 mood) — consider this fact — God is not dealing with me upon 
 strict justice ; he is even wresting my cause. As compared with 
 his administration over men in general, he is visiting upon me 
 far more than my relative shai-e — more than, in this point of view, 
 I deserve. Ye can not therefore infer from these inflictions that 
 I am the worst of earth-born sinners. 
 
 8. He hath fenced up my way that I can not pass, and he 
 hath set darkness in my paths. 
 
 9. He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown 
 from my head. 
 
 10. He hath destro3^ed me on eveiy side, and I am gone : 
 and mine hope hath he removed like a tree. 
 
 11. He hath also kindled his "wrath against me, and he 
 counteth me uuto him as on£ of Ins enemies. 
 
 12. His troops come together, and raise up their way 
 against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle. 
 
 Through these accumulated figures and poetic conceptions, Job 
 sets forth the fearful severity of God's dealings with him. Verily 
 he had been stripped of every thing; utterly broken down in 
 heart, in hope ; in comforts and sources of pleasure ; in vital forces 
 and life-powers, till he was on the verge of the grave. Of social 
 pleasure from fellow-beings, none remained to him ; of consolation 
 and hope in God — alas, worst of all — even these were almost 
 
 dropping out from his soul and passing beyond his grasp. In 
 
 V. 10, better ; " He breaks me down on every side." Every support 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 101 
 
 on which T have leaned is torn away. — My hope hath he removed 
 as the ti-ee is uptorn by the roots and cast away to wither and 
 rot. — More yet, he makes his anger burn against me — (so it seems 
 to me); he treats me as an enemy; he brings out all his hosts of 
 armed men to surround me and lay siege to my tent as in the 
 fierce assaults of war. 
 
 13. He hath put my brethren fur from me, vfad mine 
 acquaintance are verily estranged from me. 
 
 14. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have 
 forgotten me. 
 
 15. They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count 
 me for a stranger : I am an alien in their sight. 
 
 As Job saw things, it came directly from God's hand that his 
 brethren had withdrawn their sympathy and made themselves 
 distant and regardless ; that all his old acquaintances were 
 estranged from him — estranged not "verily" but wholli/, alto- 
 gether — this being the sense of Job's word. Even the members 
 of his household — his maid-servants — came to regard him as a 
 foreigner — one to whom they owed no obligation and whom it 
 were but natural to despise or even hate. "I am become an alien 
 in their eyes " — a fact adduced to show how utterly he had fallen 
 from the position of esteem and honor which every patriarch 
 rightfully held in his own household. 
 
 16.. I called my servant, and he gave me no answer ; 1 
 entreated him with my mouth. 
 
 17. My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated 
 for the children's sake of mine own body. 
 
 18. Yea, young children despised me; I arose and they 
 spake against me. 
 
 19. AH my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom 
 I loved are turned against me. 
 
 Even his servant had lost all due respect for him so utterly as 
 to give no heed to his call, or even to his entreaty. "My breath 
 is offensive even to my wife," and no inspirations of conjugal love 
 prompt her to faithful nursing and kind offices to her suffering 
 
 husband. The last clause of v. 17 is construed variously by the 
 
 best critics. The leading questions are whether the first Heb. 
 word is a noun or a verb, and in either case, what it 7)ieans. As a 
 verb, some give it the sense — being offensive ; others — to make 
 supplication. Taken as a noun, it may signify 7ni/ kindness 
 " (Fuerst) ;" or "my supplication" (Gesenius). The connecting 
 verb is to be brought forward from the previous clause, tiuis: My 
 breath is offensive to my wife; my kindness (or my supplication) 
 to children of the same womb, i. e., to my natural brethren. If 
 taken as a verb, it would read — I am offensive to my own broth- 
 ers. The last words can not mean — children of my own body 
 
 (for the word means womb) but children of the same womb as 
 
102 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 
 
 myself — born of the same mother. We may remember that Job's 
 own children were all dead.— — Young children, trained in orien- 
 tal life to honor the aged, yet despise me; when I rise up and 
 respectful recognition is in place, they speak always against 
 
 me. The translation — " my inward friends " — does not give 
 
 well the sense of Job's words, which mean — The men of my coun- 
 sel; those whom I had taken fully into my confidence, and was 
 accustomed to consult as my best friends. That these should 
 have so turned against him as to abhor him is a fearful indication 
 of a terrible fall from esteem into contempt. 
 
 20. My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I 
 am escaped with the skhi of my teeth. 
 
 21. Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my 
 friends ; for the hand of God hath touclied me. 
 
 22. Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied 
 with ray flesh ? 
 
 Job's afflictions do not end with this universal and sovereign 
 contempt from every class of living men, women and children. 
 If only his health had been perfect, and every organ, nerve and 
 tissue of his body were in prime order, he might have fallen back 
 within himself with some resources still remaining for enjoyment. 
 But alas, here, too, he was a broken down man ! Emaciated, 
 wasted away, bones cleaving to skin and flesh — what remained to 
 
 him of real living? "Escaped with the skin of his teeth" is a 
 
 proverb used to show how little had been saved to him out of the 
 
 wreck of his bodily frame. Ho iv much was this? Most of the 
 
 visible organs of the body are covered with a skin ; but teeth have 
 none. To escape therefore with only " the skin of the teeth " is 
 
 to escape with nothing! This grouping of his pains brought 
 
 upon his soul the keenest possible sense of unutterable desolation 
 and forced from his lips this imploring cry for pity and compas- 
 sion : — " Have pity upon me, O my friends! Have pity upon me, 
 for the most bitter pang of all is yet untold — reserved to this 
 last utterance; "The hand of God hath touched me ! " I could 
 bear any thing else; but this, how can I bear! Oh, if only his 
 smile remained to me, how would my heart exult! If I could but 
 know that all these inflictions came from some other hand 
 than his, and that neither his hand nor heart were in them, how 
 would this heaviest of my burdens be lifted from my poor crushed 
 heart! 
 
 " Pursue me as God " — should naturally mean — as God does — 
 assumiug it to be your duty to become the executioners of his 
 sentence of death against me. Yet Job's meaning may perhaps 
 be — Why do ye assume to be acting under God and in his behalf 
 in the torments ye inflict? Or, why are your eyes so blind to my 
 woes and your hearts so merciless ? The last clause is quite in 
 harmony with this view — "And are not satisfied Avith my flesh — 
 tacitly comparing them to savage beasts who devour the flesh of 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 103 
 
 thoir victim and are yet unsatisfied, and still go on to lap his blood 
 and toss about his bare bones, and glory in their power to destroy ! 
 Remarkably the orientals compare the keen remorseless appetite 
 of the slanderer -who makes utter havoc with the reputation of his 
 victim, to the wild beast, tearing the flesh and cranching the bones 
 of his prey. So the Chaldee word in Dan. 3: 8 for "accused" 
 signifies — The;/ aie up the pieces of the Jews — devoured them 
 piecemeal. Under the same figure Paul said to the Galatians 
 ((ilal. 5 : 15) — " But if ye bite and devour one another, take h&cd 
 that ye be not consumed one of another." 
 
 23. Oh that ray words were now written ! oh that they were 
 prmtcd in a book ! 
 
 24. That they were graven witli an iron pen and lead in 
 the rock for ever ! 
 
 One among the sharpest of his griefs, only next below that of 
 being smitten and disowned of God, was the going doAvn to his 
 grave, traduced, maligned, — his good name blackened ; his once 
 fair reputation utterly stricken down, with none to plead in his 
 behalf! O might he only be permitted to bear his protest against 
 this insupportable wrong! might his words be put on some 
 enduring record. Would they were icritien ! O let them be in- 
 scribed not merely in a book — some sort of book — but in the book 
 (this is what he said) the Avell known book — the genealogical 
 records of his tribe and people, into which records important 
 paragraphs of personal history Avere not infrequently inserted, as 
 we may see (Gen. 5: 24, 29 and 10: 8-12 and 1 Chron. 4: 39-43 
 and 5: 1, 2, 9, 10, 18-22, etc.) And yet more — to make the record 
 imperishable — with iron pen and lead, let them be engraven in 
 the rock forever ! Such inscriptions on the everlasting rocks were 
 well understood by the men of the great east countries, not a few 
 of them having endured to the present day. O could we find, for 
 away in that land of Uz these testimonials which Job would fain 
 
 have recorded there ! As to the instrument and mode for such 
 
 records, we must not think of a pen made of both iron and lead ; 
 but a pen of iron only, cut the Jetters in the hard face of the rock; 
 then melted lead, poured upon the chiseled surface, filled the cav- 
 ities and made the writing indelible. 
 
 25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, andthat he shall 
 stand at the latter day upon the earth : 
 
 26. And though after my skin ivorvw destroy this bodi/, yet 
 in my flesh shall I see God : 
 
 27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall be- 
 hold, and not another : though my reins be consumed within 
 me. 
 
 These verses constitute a passage of unsurpassed interest. Noth- 
 ing else in the speeches of Job equals them. AVe might perhaps 
 say, nothing that has come down to us from the first three thou- 
 
104 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 
 
 sand years of our world's history can be put ahove them — (a) In 
 point of the li2;ht thrown by them upon the earliest revelations of 
 God to men ; (b) For their bearing upon the faith and hope of God's 
 tried and tempted people ; (c) For tlieir tone of moral sublimity 
 and of glorious triumph of faith over sense — -of trust in God, de- 
 spite of the utmost accumulation of doubt, temptation, suffering 
 and physical prostration. 
 
 We can not do justice to this passage without a somewhat care- 
 ful, and, if need be, extended consideration of the following points : 
 
 1. The connection of thought in which they stand and through 
 which they are reached : 
 
 2. The real sense of the words: their just exposition as words 
 and phrases : 
 
 3. The great truths which these words involve : 
 
 4. The antecedent knowledge which the words seem to assume 
 and imply : 
 
 5. The importance of the passage as being the groat crisis in 
 Job's experience — the hour of his triumph over the hot and ter- 
 rible temptations to despair which had almost cost him his soul: 
 
 6. Certain indefensible constructions of the passage. 
 
 1. The first point — the connection of thought in which these 
 words stand — has been brought out in part by the preceding con- 
 text. We therefore need only recall to mind that Job, stripped 
 suddenly and utterly of his great wealth ; bereft of children in 
 one day ; then smitten with a painful, loathsome and prospectively 
 fatal disease — has had all these severe sufferings intensified many 
 fold by the mistaken views and the consequently severe judgments 
 of his three friends. Under the firm conviction that these inflic- 
 tions from God proved Job to be the chief of sinners they ceased 
 not for one moment to jiusli this doctrine upon him mercilessly, 
 allowing no place in their souls for even the sympathies of our 
 common humanity. Under the 'pressure of these reiterated as- 
 sertions and arguments, it seems to have cost Job his utmost for- 
 titude to hold fast the clear and invincible convictions of his soul 
 that he had been sincere and honest toward God and never had 
 played the hypocrite. No words can do justice to his harassing 
 perplexities and agonies over the question — Wherefore has God 
 sent on me these afflictions ? He begged that God would give 
 him a hearing and reveal the reasons of his dark ways ; but no 
 answer came from God to these prayers. He tried to rebut the 
 arguments of his friends ; but all the foots of his case were appar 
 
 ently against him and on their side. In this chapter Job 
 
 groups in rapid succession the salient points of his case. His 
 friends vexing his soul and putting every sensibility to torture ; God 
 wresting his cause and refusing him any hearing or answer to his 
 prayers ; a despised man among his fellow-beings, sunk below re- 
 spectful notice ; his good name foully maligned and his last hope 
 for vindication on earth fading into darkness — O, said he, that, 
 before I die and go hence, my words of complaint and self-defense 
 might be written, inscribed in the records of my people, engraved 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CIIAT. XIX. 105 
 
 in the everlasting rock! At this point — as low perhaps in hap- 
 piness and hope as a human soul can ever sink — he reaches the 
 crisis and makes this startling, glorious transition I There is 
 one joy left to me: I know thai my Redeemer livcih I I knov? a 
 Redeemer is yet to come, .the Great and Blessed Friend of most 
 friendless men! I shall one day see him; my cause, therefore, is 
 far indeed from being hopeless ! 
 
 2. We must look more closely into those words of Job, to reach 
 
 if possible' their true and full significance. The expressions 
 
 throughout are very brief and most of them not a little obscure 
 because of their brevity. Probably no critical student ever put 
 his mind to their interpretation without wishing he could ask Job 
 
 himself to explain his meaning more fully. Unfortunately for 
 
 the merely English reader the received translation is very imper- 
 fect. The unusually large number of words in italics should sug- 
 gest this. 
 
 The first clause is essentially right — being so plain it could not 
 well be misapprehended. "1 know that my Redeemer liveth." 
 The Hebrew, however, makes the word "I" specially emphatic: 
 / for my part; I to my joy ; / whatever may be true of others — 
 / hnoio this glorious truth ! 
 
 "We may be liable, perhaps, inadvertently, to include more ideas 
 under the word " Redeemer" than Job had in his mind. We can 
 not wisely assume that he used the word in its broad, full-orbed 
 gospel sense. We are forbidden to give it a sense so broad by 
 two general considerations: — (a) The earlier Old Testament sense 
 of this word was more limited than its later New Testament sense : 
 And (b) We must suppose that Job used it in a sense germain to 
 his then pending case — i. e., that in his lips, "My Redeemer" 
 was essentially — my vindicator ; one who Avill espouse and plead 
 my cause, lift me out of these depths of darkness and despair, and 
 
 be in very deed the God of my salvation. The Old Testament 
 
 sense of the word for "Redeemer" * seems to have meant, first 
 of all — a man's '" next friend, " usually the nearest blood relative ; 
 in every case, the friend whose office it was to stand by him in 
 trouble; to I'edeera his estate from incumbrance; to interpose 
 when necessary in behalf of his personal liberty; and not least, 
 to avenge his blood if unrighteously shed. This man was the Re- 
 deemer (the Goel) — often translated " the avenger of blood," of the 
 
 Mosaic Law.-j- Both the name and this sense of it appear, not 
 
 in Hebrew history only, but in all oriental life. Thus the word 
 "Redeemer" obtained its earliest significance. Further on- 
 ward as used (e. </.) by Isaiah, the Redeemer of Israel was their 
 national Defender, the Savior of the Zion of God — that Zion being 
 then embosomed and represented in the external fortunes as well 
 as the religious life of the chosen people. Compare Isa. 49 : 7, 26 
 
 * Goel. 
 
 t Cases of its n.sage may be seen in Num. 35 : 12, 19, 21 and Dent. 
 19: 6, 12 and Lev. 25: 25, 48, 49 and in Ruth 2: 20 and 3: 9, 12 
 and 4 : 14. 
 
106 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 
 
 and 41 : 14 and 43 : 14 and 44 : 6 and 47 : 4, and also Ex. G : 6 and 
 Ps 19: 14 and 78: 35. 
 
 That Job should use the word with a meaninc; that reached and 
 met those deepest wants of his sorrow-stricken heart, is the de- 
 mand of the soundest good sense. The question then uppermost 
 in his mind was not whether his sins could be forgiven without 
 an atoning Lamb for sacrifice, nor does it seem even to have 
 borne specially on the point of forgiveness in any respect; but 
 rather upon the point of vindication from the cruel charges of 
 supreme wickedness and upon the question whether God were in 
 fact his enemy or really his friend. On these points his very 
 soul felt most intensely his need of a Redeemer in that early Old 
 Testament sense, and therefore in that sense we must suppose his 
 words are to be understood. The question whether the very early 
 prophetic intimations of a Messiah may have shed some few rays 
 through tradition or otherwise upon his mind will be considered 
 
 in the sequel. The original words translated — "He shall stand 
 
 at the latter day upon the earth" — are more closely rendered and 
 perhaps better represented thus:— He, the last One, shall arise 
 upon the earth. " Arise " however, should be taken in the sense 
 of putting forth his power in signal manifestations; as in Ps. 3: 
 7 and 7:^6 and 12: 5 and 44: 26 and 68: 1 and 102: 13 and Isa. 
 60: 1, 2. "A7-ise" is precisely the sense of the Heb. verb; but 
 this is not the word in common use for stand. The ultimate sig- 
 
 nificance^ however, is not materially different. The word for 
 
 "latter" or last may refer simply to time — the latter day; or it 
 may indicate this as the latest among several manifestations of 
 God before men on the earth. 
 
 In v. 26, the Hebrew gives us no word for "though ; " none for 
 " worms ; " none for " body." The words it does give will naturally 
 be translated thus: "And after this my skin they have cut in 
 
 pieces and even outside of my flesh, I shall see God." It is 
 
 generally conceded that the verb — they have cut or destroyed — 
 might be equally well translated in the simple passive — is de- 
 stroyed. The word for " this " seems to be made emphatic by 
 position, thus : After my skin is destroyed even this one, this 
 already almost ruined, perished, skin. Job uses the word " skin" 
 to represent his entire body, wasted, destroyed and turned back 
 to its primal dust, because his disease was one of the skin so that 
 pain perpetually turned his thought to this part of his animal 
 frame. The original verb suggests a skin hacked, chipped, mar- 
 red to ruin — thought of therefore as utterly destroyed, by his 
 terrible leprosy, and perhaps beyond death, by the corruption of 
 the grave. 
 
 The last claase of v. 26 begins, not with "yet", for which we 
 find no equivalent Hebrew word ; but rather and, connecting the 
 words that next follow as still another similar circumstance in 
 his condition. "And apart from my flesh, I shall see God ". 
 The sense of the Hebrew can not be — m my flesh; nor can it 
 well mean — looking out from a body of flesh; but must be, apart 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 107 
 
 from my flosli; I'cmovod from a body of flesh and existing -with- 
 out, separated from it. After he shall have laid down this 
 mortal body and shall lie no longer in this home of flesh, he Avill 
 yet see God. The estnl)lished nsage of the Hebrew preposition 
 before the word "flesh" demands this sense: the parallel senti- 
 ment of the clause next preceding supports it. The human body 
 is seen destroyed. 
 
 In V. 27, tiiie word I is made emphatic by the insertion of the 
 pronoun : Whom I myself and for myself shall see, and mine 
 eyes and not another's eyes for me, shall behold. He means to 
 say that in that far future day, he shall be the same being, 
 retaining still his personal identity, seeing for himself and with 
 
 his own joyous vision the glorious form of his Redeemer. It 
 
 should, however, be said that, owing to the indefiniteness of the 
 Hebrew tongue, this word translated "another"* may be either 
 subject or object, i. c, may be read either — I and not another 
 shall see; or 1 shall see him and not another than him. I have pre- 
 ferred the former construction as being in harmony with the 
 strain of thought. Moreover there seems to be no special perti- 
 nence in saying — Not another than my Redeemer— for there was 
 no ground to fear any mistake as to his identih/. But Job, pass- 
 ing through the anticipated changes of death and the under- 
 world, might well be comforted in the thought that his own un- 
 dying spirit would still be the same. Yet farther : Since this 
 
 Hebrew word often means a stranger, foreigner, and hence, in 
 some connections, an enemy, some critics have given it this con- 
 struction : — Whom I shall see, not as a stranger or an enemy, 
 but a friend and a brother. The objections to this interpreta- 
 tion are, that a Redeemer could not possibly be either stranger 
 or enemy — the essential idea of the term being the very oppo- 
 site of this — so that there could be no occasion to suggest this; 
 also, that it is only in special connections that the word can mean 
 an enemy. Moreovei-, we have the Hebrew usage for the sense 
 above preferred — another as opposed to himself; e. g., Prov. 27: 
 2: "Let another praise thee, and not thine own lips." 
 
 Noticeably, the last clause, which literally would read — "My 
 reins are consumed in my bosom" — stands wuth no connecting 
 particle corresponding to the English word " though ". We are left 
 to supply what the sense of the verse seems to demand. Some 
 critics suppose that the word ''though" or " ivheii" corresponds 
 best with the exigencies of the clause — in this sense: Desi:)ite 
 of the utter wasting away of all my present life-powers, I am sure 
 my own eyes shall yet see the King in his glory — see him as my 
 own Blessed Redeemer ! 
 
 Another quite difierent construction harmonizes well with the 
 usage of the Hebrew words and has the sanction of Gesenius and 
 Fuerst in their standard Lexicons; viz., this: — "My soul in its 
 deepest sensibilities has pined away with longing desire within 
 
108 THE BOOK OF JOB, — CHAP. XIX. 
 
 me". Ill this construction -we make the perfect tense of the verb 
 prominent: This has been myexpcrience; my soul has been in an 
 agony, wasting away under consuming grief, for this blessed 
 vision. That this clause stands entirely independent, having no 
 recognized grammatical connection with what precedes, favoi'S 
 this construction. It is an after-thought, by itself. 
 
 In a passage of so much interest and importance, the reader 
 will be gratified to see how modern critics translate it. 
 Noyes thus : 
 
 " Yet I know that my Vindicator liveth, 
 
 And will hereafter stand up on the earth ; 
 
 And though with my skin this body be wasted away, 
 
 Yet without my flesh shall I see God. 
 
 Yea, I shall see him my friend ; 
 
 My eyes sliall behold him, and not another : 
 
 For this my soul panteth within me." 
 
 Barnes (vol. 1, 276) thus: 
 
 " For I know that my Avenger liveth, 
 
 And that hereafter lie shall stand upon the earth ; 
 
 And though after my skin tliis [flesh] shall be destroyed, 
 
 Yet even without my flesh sliall I see God; 
 
 "Whom I shall see for myself, 
 
 And mine eyes shall behold, and not another, 
 
 Though my vitals are wasting away within me." 
 
 Prof. Green (p. 201) in this way: 
 
 " And I know that my Eedeemer liveth, and last on earth shall he 
 arise ; and after my skin, which has been destroyed thus, and out 
 of my flesh sliall I see God." 
 
 Prof. Conant as follows : 
 
 " But I, I know my Eedeemer lives. 
 
 And in after-time will stand upon the earth ; 
 
 And after this my skin is destroyed, 
 
 And without my flesh, shall I see God, 
 
 "Whom I, for myself, shall see. 
 
 And my eyes behold and not another, 
 
 "When my reins are consumed within me." 
 
 3. It is in place next to group together the great truths which 
 these words involve : 
 
 (1) God had already provided and promised a Eedeemer for his 
 peo])]e; — a Eedeemer then living but not yet sent down to stand 
 on the earth — a Eedeemer personal to each and every one of all 
 his people;, the real Friend, the next and best Friend, of every 
 suffering, needy soul. 
 
 (2) This Eedemer was truly divine — worthy to bo called God, 
 and to be so regarded. 
 
 (.S) This Eedeemer Avould appear at some future day in the 
 visible manifestation upon this earth, not of his power only but 
 of his very person. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 109 
 
 (4) Job lielicTod he should see him, even after his then present 
 body should have perished, yet outside of any material flesh, he 
 should see this Redeemer for himself, to his own inexpress- 
 ible joy. 
 
 (5) This Redeemer Avould appear for his personal vindication, 
 and consequently would fulfill the functions of a final judge upon 
 the moral issues of the present life, to right its wi'ongs and admin- 
 ister upon all moral deeds done in the body. This idea of a 
 future judgment is brought out very distinctly in the verses next 
 following. 
 
 (6) Consequently the passage involves the doctrine of o, future 
 life; implies it so necessarily and absolutely as to put it beyond 
 a doubt. 
 
 (7) This after-life is a conscious as opposed to an unconscious 
 state of being. 
 
 (8) This future life has an unbroken, continuous identity with 
 the present — an identity not of being only, but of interest and 
 relationship — the future life being most vitally related to the 
 present, so that Job can assume that his character, though vilified 
 here, will be vindicated there. 
 
 This group of implied and involved truths, each reader will 
 readily see, presents points of immense interest, especially when 
 taken in connection with the age, the country and the people 
 among whom Job was living. Some have thought that the pass- 
 age involves Job's belief in a future resurrection. I can not see 
 that it does. There is nothing here to forbid it; nor, do I see any 
 thing here that necessarily demands it. When we reject the 
 translation — "In my flesh I shall see God," and put it; Apart 
 from my flesh, despite of its being wasted away by disease and 
 death, we take away from the passage that which has been sup- 
 posed to imply a resurrection. Furthermore, in the words (v. 27) 
 "Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold " Job 
 may use the words "see," "behold," in the sense of a spiritual 
 vision, an apprehension of his Redeemer's presence which does 
 not involve the physical eye, and therefore does not imply a soul 
 seeing through a risen material body. 
 
 4. The antecedent knowledge assumed here, on the great and 
 vital points of divine truth. 
 
 There is no occasion to prove that this passage assumes as pre- 
 viously known the being of a God — even of a personal God who 
 is moral Ruler and final Judge ; and of a future life — a real con- 
 tinuation of the present with no break in the continuity of a con- 
 scious existence. The points demanding special inquiry are— 
 whether Job had previously known that God was truly the personal 
 friend of his people, and had both provided and promised them a 
 Redeemer who should at some future day come upon the earth to 
 manifest his presence and his love in this very world of ours. In 
 other words, had some rays of that glorious first promise of Eden — 
 made somewhat more clear to Noah and next to Abraham — 
 reached the eye of this patriarch of the early ages ? 1 do not see 
 
110 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 
 
 how this can be rationally doubted. The future coming of a 
 divine Redeemer to plant his feet upon this sin-cursed eartli and 
 to wage the fight against Satan and his legions on this battle- 
 ground of time, was not a doctrine to be dreamed out in the 
 imaginations of men, was not a fact to be assumed, apart from 
 direct revelation from God. And yet it was a fact of inexpress- 
 ible moment to the sons of men. It bore upon its face a glorious 
 testimony to the love of the Great Father, and to the profound 
 interest felt in his heart for the moral results of the great conflict 
 in which Satan heads the party of sin and evil against the 
 Almighty. It revealed the chief agencies he proj^osed to use in 
 achieving his foreordained victory. — Now it was every thing to 
 lost men to know that God had a reserved force to bring into the 
 field in his own best time which would surely crush Satan under 
 his feet and give all the kingdoms of earth to his Son. Let it 
 then be well considered that these truths, put in substantially 
 this definite point of light, were the substance of the first great 
 ■ promise — that given to the fiillen pair in Eden. Shall we believe 
 that this precious promise dropped out of the living thought of 
 that succession of holy men who walked with God from Adam to 
 Noah and from Noah to Abraham, and onward? Especially, can 
 this be made to appear probable in view of the virtual renewal of 
 this promise to Noah — "God shall dwell in the tents of Shem ;" 
 and to Abraham — "In thee and in thy seed shall all the fixmilies 
 of the earth be blessed?" The probability seems to me to rise to 
 substantial certainty that these promises were remembered, cher- 
 ished, wrought into the patient, trusting life and developed into 
 the stern, unfaltering faith of those earliest saints of time. Natur- 
 ally they would form the staple of those inspiring traditions which 
 passed down from generation to generation of God's real children 
 and which spread abroad outward into other lands, together Avith 
 such traditions as that of the flood and of God's special manifesta- 
 tions to men from time to time in dreams and visions of the 
 night. — Let it now be carefully considered that Job's friends and 
 doubtless himself as well had a traditional knowledge of the flood, 
 which Eliphaz describes, even to the sayings of those giants in 
 moral hardihood and wickedness (22: 15-18). How then can we 
 rationally sup}X)se they had never heard of the great promise of a 
 Redeemer to come ? That Job had this knowledge is a fact, for it 
 stands out in the words of this passage. The origin of this knowl- 
 edge in his mind is the problem — to be accounted for as given 
 him either by direct revelation at this juncture of his experience ; 
 or by tradition ; — with the odds greatly in favor of the latter. The 
 supernatural should never be assumed when the natural amply 
 accounts for the fiicts of the case. — This view can be gainsayed 
 only by assuming the early and almost universal ignorance of 
 mankind — the very early lapse into barbarism and idolatry of the, 
 great nations and tribes of antiquity and the extinction of those' 
 grand traditions, freighted with the divine light vouchsafed to the 
 sainted patriarchs from Adam to Abraham. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAr. XIX. Ill 
 
 In my jucliTment this assumption has embraced too much and 
 
 has rested on quite insufficient authority. The subject is too 
 
 vast to be treated exhaustively here. Let it suffice to suggest that 
 Egypt had the doctrine of the future life, of the soul's immor- 
 tality, and of future rewards and punishments ; and if Egypt, then 
 doubtless Edom and the renowned sages of the great east country 
 of Arabia. Yet further, this book of Job is itself good proof 
 that his people had not lapsed into the grosser forms of idolatry — 
 the worship of the heavenly bodies iDeing referred to as then 
 known, and this only. 
 
 5. Let us briefly note the importance of this passage and of the 
 grand truths it involves, as forming a crisis in Job's moral struggle 
 — the hour of his triumph over the terrible temptations which 
 had almost driven him into despair. In reading thoughtfully this 
 19th chapter we pass from point to point in his recital of his griefs 
 and note the rising tide of his emotions and the deepening agonies 
 of his soul, till at length we hear him passionately exclaim — Oh that 
 my words of self-vindication were written in the enduring records 
 of my people ! Oh, that they were graven with iron pen in the 
 
 everlasting rock ! Then all suddenly it flashes over his soul — 
 
 Why should I long so passionately for such a doubtful and at best, 
 but feeble vindication, when I know that I have a great and glo- 
 rious Vindicator on high ; when I know he will one day arise upon 
 this earth; when I know these tear-dimmed eyes will surely see 
 him and this long stricken heart will feel the consolations of his 
 presence and the inexpressible relief of his vindication I Ah, 
 this was one of the things he had most longed for — that God would 
 somehow give him a hearing ; would bear to him some testimony 
 of his substantial approbation ; and give him the joy of his per- 
 sonal friendship and favor. This Avas such a revelation of God 
 
 as his broken heart needed. It availed (as it should) to lift him 
 out of the " Slough of Despond" and plant his feet on the rock 
 of trust in a living Redeemer — a Redeemer given to suffering man, 
 sure to come and reveal himself personally to human eyes in 
 God's appointed time — a Redeemer whom Job knows he shall see 
 in some bright day of the future, despite of the perishing of his 
 already wasted mortal flesh. It was .faith giving the victory over 
 sense. 
 
 Let us not fail to notice that Job's salvation from the combined 
 assaults of the devil and of his mistaken friends — this uplifting 
 of his sinking heart above his fearful sufferings and terrible 
 temptations — was due, apparently, to his recalling to mind that 
 great primal promise of a Redeemer. The case serves to show 
 how vital to the religious life in man were those rays of light re- 
 vealed from the heavenly foujitain, even though few and dim. 
 How could fiillen man have ever groped his way through the dark- 
 ness of sin and doubt, and fought his fight against the powers of 
 hell, if God had not spoken out of heaven some blessed words of 
 promise ? This case of Job is a grand illustration of the saving 
 power of truth revealed from God as compared with the best light 
 
112 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XIX. 
 
 of nature, even thoup;h supplemented with the noblest intuitions 
 and assertions of the best human thought and heart. 
 
 6. Of other constructions of this passage, not in my view de- 
 fensible, the most prominent is that which assumes its reference 
 to some divine interposition to vindicate Job in the very near fu- 
 ture, before his natural death ; either that which is recorded chap. 
 
 38-42, or something else of analogous sort. It should suffice to 
 
 refute this construction that Job manifestly implies that he must 
 die before he sees his Redeemer. The coming of his Redeemer 
 to stand upon this earth is fiir in the future beyond his own mor- 
 tal life. The exposition given above rests upon the fair and even 
 necessary sense of Job's words, supported moreover by its entire 
 and even beautiful harmony with the context — i. e.. with Job's 
 intense desire for some due vindication of his character. The 
 theory which assumes no future Ufe in this passage and no Be- 
 deemer to appear on the earth in the then remote ages of our world's 
 history, but only some manifestations to be made in Job's behalf 
 before his death — disregards the obvious and necessary sense of 
 Job's words, and is therefore unfounded and indefensible. 
 
 28. But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the 
 root of the matter is found in me? 
 
 29. Be ye afraid of the sword : for wrath bringeth the pun- 
 ishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment. 
 
 The first word of v. 28, giving the relation of these two verses 
 to what precedes, is not well put by the word " But." It is rather 
 If or Becmise, for — to be translated thus : For ye say ; or Be- 
 cause ye say. The spirit, the animus of your speeches is — How 
 will we pursue him 1 How will we overwhelm him with our ar- 
 guments and cut him with our reproaches ! Since ye are in 
 
 spirit saying this, while yet "the root of the matter" [intrinsic 
 rectitude] is found in me, I warn you to stand in fear of the 
 sword [of justice]; for [such] wrath is a crime for the sword [to 
 punish], that j^e may know there is a judgment [for the sins of 
 men]. Job holds that the animus of their assault upon him is 
 vindictive; that neither his own moral state of heart nor his out- 
 ward life by any means justify such vindictive persecution; and 
 that human law or God's righteous retributions (probably the 
 latter) will surely take cognizance of their crime and cause them 
 to know that there is a coming judgment. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOE. — CHAT. XX. 113 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Zopliar replies. 
 
 This last speech of Zophar makes no real advance in the gen- 
 eral argnment. It is simply a reiteration of the very points which 
 have appeared in every speech made liy either of the three 
 friends ; — viz. that wicked men never prosper beyond the moment, 
 but meet with all manner of reverses, disappointments, calamities. 
 On these he rings the changes and accumulates his general state- 
 ments which he puts as the ever recurring facts of human life, 
 assuming throughout that to this course of the divine providence, 
 there neither are nor can be any exceptions. He leaves it to 
 .Job to infer that this universal law of God's administration toward 
 the wicked means him — must certainly include him — for such an 
 accumulation of judgments as those under which they see JoVj 
 
 suffering never fell on the vilest of men before ! Expanding 
 
 his general sentiment into particulars he shows that the higher 
 a wicked man rises in apparent prosperity, the deeper and more 
 terrible his fi\ll (4-11); that his good things (like unwholesome 
 sweetmeats) beget fatal disease (v. 12-17), and that the never-fail- 
 ing law of restitution and retaliation makes his retribution 
 inevitable — in which all heaven and earth conspire ; the hand 
 of man and the hand of God combine to make it fatally eifec- 
 tive (18-29). 
 
 1. Tlien answ^ered Zopliar the Naaraatliite, and said, 
 
 2. Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for 
 this I make haste. 
 
 3. I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit 
 of my understanding causeth me to answer. 
 
 Zopliar opens with an apology for speaking. He is so presse'd 
 in spirit and so stung with Job's reproaches, that he can restrain 
 
 himself no longer. Perhaps we may assume an undertone of 
 
 feeling like this : — You spe.ak of being rasped and stung with the 
 insinuations and reproaches of your three friends ; and pressed in 
 spirit even to agony, under their severe words : but please remem- 
 ber — that sense of suffering keen reproach is not all on one side: 
 the pressure on the heart to speak out is not confined to yourself. 
 I too feel my heart hot within me. ]\Iy soul burns to make answer 
 and to rebut the reproachful charges you too have made. 8o that 
 on both sides this discussion had Avaxed warm and had made the 
 
 hearts of old friends sore. Therefore {i. e., because of your 
 
 severe reproaches) do my thoughts within me press me to make 
 
 reply. Because of this there is eager haste within me. In v. 
 
 3, the Heb. verb being in the future tense (indicating at least un- 
 finished time) should not be read — " I have heard," but I shall or 
 must hear — the sense being: You will never desist from it; I am 
 6 
 
114 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XX 
 
 doomed to be tormented thus ; and must therefore have my say 
 in self-defense. 
 
 4. Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed 
 upon earth, 
 
 5. That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy 
 of the hypocrite but for a moment ? 
 
 The word '^ not" is wanting in the Hebrew. More literally, 
 therefore, we may read — Dost thou know this to have been the 
 case from most ancient times ? Art thou aware of this fact ? 
 Thou hast spoken (strangely), as if this fact had escaped thee — 
 
 were quite forgotten. Zophar would admit that wicked men do 
 
 sometimes triumph, exulting in their prosperity ; but maintains 
 that it is very short — only for a moment. 
 
 6. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and 
 his head reach unto the clouds ; 
 
 7. Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung : they 
 which have seen him shall say, Where is he ? 
 
 The translation (v. 7) " like his own dung" — should give place 
 to one less low and disgusting in its associations, and at the same 
 time, more sensible ; — viz., according to his greatness, so shall he 
 perish forever, i. e., his fall shall be deep as his exaltation was 
 high. The Heb. word readily admits this sense — that which has 
 been rolled vp and is therefore high, lofty. The Arabic analogies 
 
 sustain this sense. The disputants in Job are sometimes severe, 
 
 but never descend to low, vulgar comparisons. That one step from 
 the sublime to the ridiculous, they are not given to taking. 
 
 8. He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found : 
 yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. 
 
 9. The eye also ivhich saw him shall see him no more ; 
 neither shall his place any more behold him. 
 
 "Gone like a dream when one awaketh" — vanished away, 
 leaving not a trace behind — is a telling image. Who has not felt 
 its force ? 8o (Zophar affirms) the wicked man, lofty and 
 strong though he may have been, disappears from the face of 
 the world. 
 
 10. His children shall seek to please the poor, and his 
 hands shall restore their goods. 
 
 11. His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall 
 lie down with him in the dust. 
 
 Of the first clause in v. 10, two constructions are possible : 
 that of our English version, supported by Gesenius, " His sons 
 shall seek the favor of the poor, or what comes to the same thing 
 — shall conciliate the poor ; i. e., by restoring the goods extorted 
 from them". And the following, given by Conant; viz., "His 
 sons, the weak shall oppress " — so powei'less are they. The former 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XX. 115 
 
 construction assumes that the wicked man of whom he speaks has 
 robbed and plundered the poor, and now in retribution, his sons 
 are forced to conciliate their good-will, glad to restore what their 
 father had taken away by robbery or fravjd. The relation of the 
 second clause to the first favors this. In verse 11, there is no 
 occasion to supply the words — " of the sin", and therefore they 
 should not be supplied, there being no such words in the original, 
 and nothing in the connection to demand them. Better thus : 
 "His bones are full of youth", i. e., of youthful vigor; yet shall 
 it lie down with him in the dust — it shall not save him from an 
 early death. 
 
 12. Though wickedness be sweet iu his mouth, though he 
 hide it under his tongue : 
 
 13. Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it 
 still within his mouth : 
 
 14. Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of 
 asps within him. 
 
 Wickedness is like sweetmeats, delicious to the taste, but wont 
 
 to turn to acidity and gall in the stomach. In v. 13, "spare 
 
 it" — be mercifully tender of it; never let it go; yet does it turn 
 to poison in his bowels ! 
 
 15. He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit 
 them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. 
 
 16. He shall suck the poison of asps : the viper's tongue 
 shall slay him. 
 
 17. He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of 
 honey and butter. 
 
 Still retaining the same general figure, yet applying it in detail, 
 Zophar thinks of him as swallowing down the riches he may 
 have unrighteously acquired; but his stomach sickens; he vomits 
 
 it all up. God dispossesses him of them (Heb.) In v. 17, the 
 
 word for " rivers " refers to channels cut for irrigation — associated, 
 therefore, with great fertility. He shall never see such symbols 
 of fertility ; butter and honey shall not flow freely forth for him. 
 
 18. That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall 
 not swallow it down : according to his substance shall the 
 restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein, 
 
 19. Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor ; 
 heca^ise he hath violently taken away a house which he 
 builded not ; 
 
 In the last clause of v. 18, the more precise sense is — It shall 
 be as borrowed treasures, not his own, and therefore he shall not 
 
 rejoice in them, but shall be compelled to restore. V. 19 
 
 should close, not with a suspended but with a completed sense : 
 " Because he hath oppressed, hath forsaken the poor, the houses 
 
116 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XX. 
 
 he has seized by violence he shall not build up. They shall 
 avail him nothing". Houses seized by extortion shall perish 
 from his hands. A house so obtained he shall never build up 
 into a quiet and sure dwelling for himself. 
 
 20. Surely he shall not feel quietness in his helly, he shall 
 not save of that which he desired. 
 
 21. There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall 
 no man look for his goods. 
 
 The first AA'ord of v. 20 should not be "Surely" but Because. — 
 the sense being this: Because he knew no rest in his bosom; 
 because his avarice was insatiable — his greed for money quench- 
 less, never leaving his soul at rest — therefore he shall save noth- 
 ing of what he delighted in. So also in v. 21, the two clauses 
 
 express one thought — thus: Nothing escaped his devouring 
 (literally his-" eating"); therefore his prosperity shall not be en- 
 during (Heb. strong, firm). Our English version, "look Jor", 
 quite mistakes the root from which the verb comes. 
 
 22. In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits : 
 every hand of the wicked shall come upon him. 
 
 23. When he is about to fill his bell}'', God shall cast the 
 fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while 
 he is eating. 
 
 At the point where he seemed to have every thing in all- 
 sufficiency, suddenly he is in straits, shorn of all. Every hand — 
 not of the " icicked", but of the wretched shall come upon him. 
 Probably he means — of those whom his oppressions have made 
 wretched ; every such hand comes upon him in retribution for 
 
 his violence. The next clause is better as an exclamation: — 
 
 " His belly shall be filled " ! Last clause of v. 23 : — " God shall 
 
 rain his food upon him " — his food being that with which God 
 shall fill his belly — ^judgments sent in swift and fearful retrilm- 
 tion. Compare Ps. 11: 6: "Upon the wicked God shall rain 
 snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest — the portion 
 of their cup". 
 
 24. He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of 
 steel shall strike him through. 
 
 25. It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the 
 glittering sword cometh out of his gall : terrors are uj)on him. 
 
 The shafts of an avenging God pierce him through and 
 through with deadly wounds. While he would escape one weapon 
 by flight, another smites him (v. 25); — he draws out the arrow 
 
 from the wound it has made. "The glittering sword" or the 
 
 gleaming weapon — the word often used for the lightning's Jia.<ih, 
 coming out of his gall — the wound is of course deadly. The 
 wounded man sees this and terrors seize upon him! Alas, he 
 must die I 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAr. XXI. 117 
 
 26. All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not 
 blown shall consume him ; it shall go ill with him that is 
 left in his tabernacle. 
 
 27. The heavens shall reveal his iaiiquity; and the earth 
 shall rise up against him, 
 
 28. The increase of his house shall depart, and Jm goods 
 shall flow away in the day of his wrath. 
 
 29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and 
 the heritage appointed unto him by God. 
 
 "All darkness is hoai-ded for his treasure" — "darkness" as 
 usual being symbolic of all extremest calamity. How it takes the 
 
 place of his choicest treasures ! " A fire not blown ", but one 
 
 self-originated as if it were a spontaneous combustion, starting, 
 no one knows how or whence — consumes him. Most terrible 
 retribution springs upon him from every unexpected quarter. It 
 
 devours all that have survived in his tent. Does this tacitly 
 
 allude to the tornado which buried all Job's children under the 
 ruins of the one house where they were feasting ? 
 
 Heaven comes down to disclose his sin ; earth rises up as if to 
 
 finish the awful retribution ! All the accumulations of his 
 
 estate ("increase of his house") shall "go into captivity" (the 
 sense suggested by the Hebrew word), passing away as if borne 
 
 ofi" by a conquering foe. So the wicked man meets his doom 
 
 under the retributions ordained by the Almighty ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Job's rcj)};/. 
 
 Job grapples vigorously with the one main argument which his 
 friends have perpetually pressed upon him. Whereas they have 
 maintained that in fact the wicked experience their retribution 
 in this life— a retribution at once perfect in degree and embracing 
 all the wicked without exception — Job here replies — that the facts 
 are not as they have claimed, for the wicked do live on ; become 
 old and mighty in power (v. 7); their oifspring live prosperously 
 and their wealth is secure (v. 8-12); they spend their days in the 
 midst of all worldly good, and then die suddenly, with no linger- 
 ing, wasting sickness (v. 13) ; they become defiant toAvard God 
 and give him neither'fear nor homage (v. 14-16); you can not say 
 their candle is put out soon and suddenly (v. 17, 18) ; and it mat- 
 ters little to them Avhat God does with their children after they 
 are dead (v. 19-22). There are extreme inequalities in the dis- 
 pensations of God's providence (v. 23-2G). I sec through the 
 
118 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXI. 
 
 fallacies of your argument (v. 27, 28) ; the testimony of men of 
 great travel shows that the case of the wicked holds over for a 
 future retribution, and is not completed in this life (v. 29, 30). 
 They die in honor and lie down in no ignoble or dishonored 
 graves (v. 31-33), so that your consolations for me lack the ele- 
 ment of truthfulness and hence avail me nothing (v. 34). 
 
 1. But Job answei'ed and said, 
 
 2. Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your conso- 
 lations. 
 
 3. Suffer me that I may speak ; and after that I have 
 spoken, mock on. 
 
 Give me at least this consolation (since I can expect nothing 
 better from you); — give me your respectful attention; hear me 
 through, and then go on to abuse and reproach me with disparag- 
 ing insinuations — if so ye will ! 
 
 4. As for me, is my complaint to man ? and if it xoere so, 
 why should not my spirit be troubled ? 
 
 5. Mark me, and be astonislied, and lay your hand upon 
 your mouth. 
 
 6. Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling 
 taketh hold on my flesh. 
 
 Is it (o mail that I make my complaint? Nay, verily; but to 
 God. Inasmuch as the great questions that perplex and distress 
 me even to agony, all lie between myself and God, why should I 
 
 not be troubled ? In v. 4, our English Bible reverses the true 
 
 sense, for it assumes that he might well be troubled if his com- 
 plaint lay with man. The mistake is made by misconceiving the 
 Heb. word translated "if." It is not if, but simply indicates and 
 asks a second question, corresponding to that in the first clause. 
 The first clause assumes a negative answer as but too well known 
 to his opponents to need argument. Hence I would paraphrase: — 
 "As for me, is my complaint to man? [Since it is not, but is to 
 and of God] why should I not be troubled? — Look upon me and 
 take in the whole of my case : — ye will be astonished ! Lay your 
 hand in silent amazement upon your mouth ! For myself, when I 
 recall these fiicts of my case, I am full of fear; my flesh trembles! 
 Oh how I dread the manifest wrath of the Almighty ! What may 
 not come next!" 
 
 7. Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are 
 mighty in power? 
 
 8. Their seed is established in their sight with tliem, and 
 their ofl'spring before tlieir eyes. 
 
 9. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of 
 God upon them. 
 
 But, passing these strange and fearful facts of my sufifering, and 
 taking up your main arguments against me, I must ask you how, 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXI. 119 
 
 on your theory, you account for it that the wicked live long and 
 prosperously, and become great in power? And how is it that 
 their children are established peacefully before their eyes, within 
 their own tents, in the joy of a happy household — their homes 
 safe from fear, and no rod of God's displeasure or retribution falls 
 upon them? One such case upsets your argument entirely; ye 
 surely must know there are many such. 
 
 10. Their bull gendercth, and failetli not; their cow calv- 
 eth, and casteth not her calf. 
 
 11. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their 
 children dance. 
 
 12. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the 
 sound of the organ. 
 
 13. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go 
 down to the grave. 
 
 Their property being in flocks and herds, it was pertinent to 
 say that in this business they escaped the losses and failures inci- 
 dent to stock-raising. Their children also were multiplied like 
 their flocks ; ajl healthy, moreover, and happy. Their days they 
 spend in prosperity to the end, and then, with no pangs in their 
 death and no wasting sickness, they drop in a moment into their 
 graves. What better earthly estate does man ever know than 
 theii"s ? 
 
 14. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us ; for we 
 desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 
 
 15. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him ? 
 and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him ? 
 
 "And " (the Heb. does not authorize the word " Therefore," as 
 in our English) — they are so emboldened by their unbroken pros- 
 perity that they become defiant of God and contemptuously repel 
 all knowledge of his ways and all his claims upon them for sei'vice, 
 homage, or gratitude. — The last verb in v. 15, "pray," suggests 
 (in the original) a prayer which asaails the Lord with petitions; 
 is importunate and persistent. What would be the profit to us 
 (say they) of even the most importunate prayers ? i. e., they 
 imply — We get all the good we care for without laborious praying. 
 
 16. Lo, their good is not in their hand : the counsel of 
 the wicked is far from me. 
 
 In the first clause, the most obvious sense seems to be quite in 
 conflict with the strain of the context. Three other constructions 
 may be suggested between which the choice may lie. — (a) That of 
 Conant: — "Their good" — i. e., their real good, in the true and 
 highest sense, is not in their possession, or within their grasp. 
 Sentiment : Though the wicked may have only prosperity, yet 
 impiety is folly, and godliness the only true Avisdom. — The objec- 
 tion to this construction is that Job (v. 13) had used this same 
 
120 THE BOOK OF JOB. -CHAP. XXI. 
 
 ■word good (Eng. "wealth)" saying — They spend — wear out — all 
 their days in good. How then should he so suddenly change the 
 sense of this word Avith no intimation of the change ? — (b) I 
 suggest whether it is admissible to use the words " In their hand" 
 as in the phrase — To "take one's life in his hand" (Judg. 12: 3 
 and 1 Sam. 18 : 5 and 28 : 20. Job 13 : 14 and Ps. 119 : 109) i. e., 
 to imply what is specially precarious, exposed to imminent danger 
 of loss. Lo, ye see their prosperity is not precarious — but is 
 stable. — Or (c) it may be taken ironically: Ye say their good is 
 not in their hand : What could be more so ? If they have not 
 prosperity ever in their hand, who on the earth has ? — To this 
 construction I see no serious objection. — But adds Job, great and 
 stable as their prosperity may be, I have no sympathy with their 
 counsels ; I abhor their principles ; I will have none of their 
 ways ! These are the utterances of a pious heart. 
 
 17. How oft is the candle of the wicked put out ! and hoxo 
 oft Cometh their destruction upon them ! God distributeth 
 sorrows in his anger. 
 
 18. They are as stubl^le before the wind, and as chaff that 
 the storm carrietli away. 
 
 The meaning of the clause — " How oft," etc., depends, we may 
 say, entirely upon the emphasis and the punctuation at its close 
 — whether an interrogation, or an exclamation. If we read — How 
 oft is the candle of the wicked put out ! we imply that it is in- 
 deed very often. If we read — How often is their candle put out? 
 we ask the reader to consider how many cases he can recall, and 
 
 Ave imply that he will not find many such. Noav here it is plain 
 
 that the latter mode of reading gives the real thought of Job. He 
 did not see many such cases. There might be some ; but they 
 could easily be counted. Thousands of wicked men, however, 
 lived and died with no such experience. His friends had affirmed 
 tliat this was the universal experience of wicked men. Job says. 
 No ! by no means. IIo^v often does even one solitary case appear? 
 Moreover it is vital to the true sense of this whole passage (v. 
 17-19) that its punctuation should be made to accord with Job's 
 real meaning in his argument — thus : How often is the candle of 
 the wicked put out and their destruction comes upon them (as ye 
 say), and hoiv oft does He in his anger distribute sorrows [among 
 tlicm] ? Hoio oft are they as stubble before the wind and as 
 chaiF which the wind drives away ? Ye have made sweeping 
 declarations affirming these visitations of calamity upon the 
 wicked to be universal ; but do not those statements need to be 
 greatly qualified — nay more — limited within narrow bounds ? 
 
 19. God layeth up his iniquity for his children ; he re- 
 wardeth him, and he shall know it. 
 
 20. His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink 
 of the Avrath of the Almighty. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAr. XXI. 121 
 
 21. For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, Avhen 
 the number of his months is cut off in the midst ? 
 
 Here too the punctuation is vital to the real sense, — thus : Will 
 God treasure up his iniquity for his sons — i. e., to reap the fruit 
 thereof? On him (the wicked man himself) let God requite it, 
 that he may know ! If God would have his providential judg- 
 ments understood without mistake, let him visit them upon the 
 sinner himself and not lay them up in store for his children !— — • 
 80 also V. 20 : " Let his eyes see his own destruction, and let him " 
 (the sinner who commits the sin) " drink of the wrath of the 
 Almighty!" And v. 21 — " For what of pleasure (or pain either) 
 hath he in his house (family) after him " — (after himself is dead) 
 — " and the number of his months is cut off ' ? This is a very 
 indefinite and uncertain way (Job argues) for God to manifest 
 retribution for sin in this world. 
 
 22. Shall amj teach God kno^vledge ? seeing he judgcth 
 those that are high. 
 
 Would ye assume to dictate to God a better way than his own 
 to manage the wicked in this world? Ye are perpetually assum- 
 ing that, being just, he ought to administer his government with 
 perfect and finished justice here in time; but, in fact, every body 
 must see that he does not. Are ye not then assuming that ye 
 can teach him how he ought to punish sin in this world ? Will 
 ye thus essay to teach God a higher and better knoAvIedge than 
 his own, when it is He who judges all the high — the loftiest be- 
 ings in the heavens above or in the earth beneath ? 
 
 23. One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease 
 and quiet. 
 
 24. His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moist- 
 ened with marroAV. 
 
 25. And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and 
 never eateth with pleasure, 
 
 26. They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms 
 shall cover them. 
 
 There is a diversity amounting to contrast in the fortunes of 
 men under the government of the same God — a diversity which 
 we are entirely unable to explain on the principle of a present 
 and perfect retribution for their respective sins. One dies in the 
 very essence, fullness, of his perfection (Heb.) — every thing about 
 him at the highest point of prosperity : Another dieth in the ex- 
 tremest soul-bitterness, having never tasted real good. Alike they 
 lie down in the grave, and ye can not see in their life and in their 
 death any reason for this wide diversity in the Avays of God toward 
 them.* 
 
 *The first Ileh. word in v. 24 (Eng. "breasts") occurs only here. 
 Its precise meaning, therefore, is doubtful. Some authorities give 
 it — A place where flocks lie down, which is full of their milk : 
 
122 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXI. 
 
 27. Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices ivhich 
 ye wrongfully imagine against me. 
 
 28. For ye say, Where is the house of the prince ? and 
 where are the dwelling places of the wicked ? 
 
 " Behold " calls attention to a new point in his speech. 1 
 
 knoAV your ai'tfiil wresting of the doctrine of God's providence to 
 make it bear with crushino; force upon your old but now afflicted 
 friend. Ye are saying — Where is the house of him who lived as 
 a prince among his people ? - Where in all the ages is the dwell- 
 ing place of the wicked ? Suddenly swept away before the torna- 
 does of divine wrath — as thine, Job, has been! So I under- 
 stand Job to imply that his friends were tacitly bringing their 
 logic to bear upon himself and to cut deep into his acute sensi- 
 bilities by the insinuation that Job's case came under the general 
 law — the desolations of God's judgments always coming down 
 upon the wicked. 
 
 29. Have ye not asked them that go by the way ?. and do 
 ye -not know their tokens, 
 
 30. That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? 
 they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. 
 
 31. Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall 
 repay him xuhat he hath done? 
 
 Job's friends had made their appeal to the ancients (8: 8-10 
 and 15 : 10, 18, 19), and to men of extensive travel, and conse- 
 quently, of great knowledge of God's w.ays toward men. Here 
 Job makes a similar appeal. Have ye not asked the wayfaring 
 men, and do ye not understand their signs — the indications they 
 have given of their opinions, viz., that the wicked — far from be- 
 ing punished (as they deserved) at the time and on the spot, ai'e 
 held over, reserved to some future day of destruction, borne on 
 
 forward to the day of wrath! Further, (v. 31), Who faces 
 
 them down by charging and proving their sin upon them, and 
 bringing them to condign punishment ? No one. In the great 
 majority of cases this is never done in this world. Wicked men 
 are not requited here for their sins. 
 
 32. Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain 
 in the tomb. 
 
 33. The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and 
 every man shall draw after him, as tJiere are innumerable 
 before him. 
 
 34. How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your 
 answers there remaineth falsehood ? 
 
 Others better : — His loins, sides, full of fat (Gesenius) ; but Fuerst — 
 His sinews, reins, full of juice. The sense of the passage in whole 
 is scai-cely affected by these diverse senses of this word. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXII. 123 
 
 We must begin v. 32, not with " Yef,'' which is not indicated sit 
 all in Hebrew" and damages the real connection of thought; but 
 rather -with "A)id"—s\. new fact, following naturally upon the 
 
 next preceding. He escapes retribution here in time — A)id he 
 
 (slightly emphatic) he, this wicked, unpunished man, is borne 
 away to his grave; and they watch over his tomb — (survivors 
 guard his tomb from desecration, even as they have buried him 
 with honor). The clods of the valley are as sweet to him as to 
 any other people; men follow after him in long procession at his 
 burial, or perhaps the sense is, "draw after him" in emulation 
 of his great prosperity — as also men without number followed the 
 same path before him. Nothing in the general administration of 
 God over the wicked gives such warning against prosperous 
 wickedness as deters men from pursuing the same path age after 
 age. 
 
 How vain, therefore are all your consolations — the things ye 
 perpetually suggest and reiterate — seeing that in your replies 
 [arguments] there is only deception, fallacy, and really no truth, 
 no harmony at all with the actual facts of human history ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Last speech of EUphaz. 
 
 After expressing his views on the question whether man's piety 
 can bring to God either profit or pleasure (v. 2, 3), Eliphaz pro- 
 ceeds to charge Job, not by implication only, as heretofore, but 
 directly and exj^licitly, with overt crime (v. 4—9) ; suggests that this 
 has been the cause of his great calamities (v. 10, ll); intimates 
 that Job must have thought God could not see him (v. 12-14); 
 asks him if he still persists in the sinful ways and defiant spirit 
 of the generation buried beneath the flood (v. 15-18); tells how 
 the righteous rejoice in the retributions sent of God upon the 
 wicked (v. 19, 20); advises Job to acquaint himself with God, 
 promising, upon this, great peace and prosperity (v. 21-29); and 
 power with God in prayer, to save even the guilty (v. 30). 
 
 1. Then Elipliaz the Tenianite answered and said, 
 
 2. Cau a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise 
 may be profitable unto himself? 
 
 3. is it any pleasui*e to the Almighty, that thou art right- 
 eous ? or is xt gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect? 
 
 " Can a man profit God? for it is himself the wise man profits. 
 The Hebrew has nothing •which suggests the comparison which 
 appears in our English version — "as a wise man profits himself." 
 Eliphaz means only this — that no man profits God; his piety 
 
124 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CIIAr, XXII. 
 
 profits himself only. God is too great and high, too independent 
 of his creatures, to lie benefited b}^ their piety or by any service 
 they can render. So also it is no pleasure to him that his creatures 
 should be righteous — no gain though they be perfect. The bear- 
 ing of these views upon the case in hand is not entirely obvious. 
 Perhaps Eliphaz would imply that Job must think he was laying 
 God under obligation to him by his great piety. Truly, the idea 
 of conferring favors upon God is at once repulsive, mistaken and 
 pernicious ; but on the other hand, we must say that Eliphaz pre- 
 sents a cold, repulsive view of God's feelings toward his creatures. 
 What! is he a Great Father, and yet has he no joy in his heart 
 over the sincere love, reverence, faith, obedience, of his children? 
 Has he neither interest nor pleasure in their piety and happiness? 
 If such were the doctrine of Eliphaz, we must ascribe it to the 
 darkness of his age, and can only wish he had better known the 
 love for our lost race that shines forth in the glorious gospel. 
 
 4. Will he reprove thee for fear of thee ? will he euter 
 with thee into judgment? 
 
 5. is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities 
 infinite ? 
 
 In V. 4 the Ileb. Avord for " fear" may mean either dread, being 
 afraid; or piety, /. e., the true fear of God. The latter sense is 
 very frequent in the Old Testament, and applies most appropri- 
 ately here. Eliphaz does not ask whether God will reprove Job 
 because he is afraid of him ; for this would be very weak and in- 
 sipid ; but rather asks whether God is rebuking him — entering 
 into judgment with him — because of his piety. What! (Eliphaz 
 ■would say) can you be so void of sense as to assume that your 
 great piety has brought down upon you these inflictions from God's 
 hand ? Do you not know that when God sends on you his sore judg- 
 ments it must be for your great sins? — This, we must remember, 
 is the staple doctrine of Eliphaz — one that no point made in his 
 
 speeches might ever forget. It is in this line of thought that he 
 
 advances to say next — "Is not thy wickedness great? and there 
 is no end to thine iniquities." This Eliphaz perpetually assumes, 
 yet more boldly in this speech than in either of the two preced- 
 ing — a fact which naturally comes of heated personal controversy. 
 He would say to Job — It is very absurd for you to assume that 
 God is scourging and crushing you for your piety, when it so mani- 
 festly must be for your great sin. 
 
 6. For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for 
 nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. 
 
 7. Thou hast not given water to the Aveary to drink, and 
 thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. 
 
 8. But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the 
 honorable man dwelt in it. 
 
 9. Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of 
 the fatherless have been broken. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAr. XXII. 125 
 
 Here Eliphaz, no longer content with the vague and general in- 
 ference that Job must be a great sinner, though no mortal can see 
 wherein, — advances to specific charges, and declares him guilty 
 of sins toward his fellow men of the sort which, in oriental society, 
 were deemed most heinous and disgraceful. It is plain that ou 
 his part these were purely gratuitous assumptions for which he 
 had not the first particle of proof. All he knew as to Job's sin in 
 these points or any other was his own false theological inference 
 
 from Job's great sufferings. According to the Mosaic law, 
 
 which in these points seems to have been fully in harmony with 
 oriental ideas, to take a pledge for no consideration, to which he 
 who takes it has no just claim, was deemed a mean and wicked 
 outrage on the poor man's rights. To take the poor man's garment, 
 which not only covered his nakedness by day but Avrapped and 
 protected him from the chills of night, was specially oppressive 
 and outrageous. So also, to withhold bread and water from the 
 suffering was a violation of the most sacred rights of hospitality — 
 nowhere more sacred than in the oriental world. And yet farther, 
 to give the land to the mighty and the honorable, while he sent 
 widows away empty and crushed the orphan, was a crime to be 
 held in detestation. 
 
 10. Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden 
 fear troubleth thee ; 
 
 11. Or dai-kness, that thou canst not see; and abundance 
 of waters cover thee. 
 
 These great sins would account for the great calamities which 
 had fallen upon .Job; nothing else could. Snares hemming in his 
 way; the horrible fear and dread of which he had often com- 
 plained; darkness through which he could see no light; floods of 
 desolation overwhelming ; — all these came of his unprecedented 
 crimes. 
 
 12. Is not God in the height of heaven ? and behold the 
 height of the stars, how high they are ! 
 
 13. And thou sayest, Plow doth God know? can he judge 
 through the dark cloud? 
 
 14. Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; 
 and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. 
 
 We may well take v. 12 as the speaker's own view of God's 
 lofty position, whence he can survey all the things of earth and 
 especially all the sins of men ; — and then commence v. 13 — " Yet," 
 notwithstanding this, thou (Job) must have been saying in thine 
 heart — How doth God know? Can his eye pierce the dark chiud 
 and, through its darkness, see all the deeds of men ? Thick 
 clouds are the covering of his tent. He occupies himself Avith 
 walking to and fro upon the high vault of heaven, and little does 
 he see or know what man is doing so far beneath ! — These are the 
 views which Eliphaz assumes that Job must have had — else he 
 could not have given himself up to such outrageous wickedness. 
 
126 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXII. 
 
 15. Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men 
 have trodden? 
 
 16. AVhich were cut down out of time, whose foundation 
 was overflown with a flood : 
 
 17. Which said unto God, Depart from us : and what can 
 the Ahnighty do for them ? 
 
 18. Yet he filled their houses with good things; but the 
 counsel of the wicked is far from me. 
 
 Our English version assumes that Eliphaz calls Job's attention 
 to the facts of the deluge; — "Hast thou marked" — noticed — those 
 events? But the Hebrew word should rather have the sense — 
 Wilt thou keep on in that old way ? Wilt thou maintain it, persist 
 in it, hold it fast? Wilt thou live over again their deeds and their 
 spirit? — In the same sense, David uses this verb (Ps. 18: 22 or 2 
 Sam. 22: 22); "For I have kejit the way of the Lord."— It will 
 be noticed that under this construction, Eliphaz is far more severe 
 upon Job than under the former : — for while it is very mild to ask 
 Job if he had taken note of that terrible judgment, it is heartless 
 insult and abuse to ask him if he purposes to keep on in their 
 course — assuming that he has been pursuing it with all its bold 
 defiance of the Almighty and contemptuous rejection of his 
 
 claims. In v. 16, the sense of the Hebrew verb for " cut down," 
 
 occurring here only, must be determined from the cognate lan- 
 guages. In them, the sense — seized, arrested, talxen firm hold of, 
 is by fir best sustained. The meaning of the verse therefore is — 
 God seized hold of them to arrest their daring wickedness. — 
 Moreover, the Hebrew is not — " out of time " — in the sense — out 
 of this world of time; but literally this — and [it was] not time — 
 was not according to the usual manner of God as to time — this 
 manner being to give wicked men a long protracted space for 
 repentance. Not so, but with what we are wont to call an un- 
 timely arrest — a seizing of them which was out of time. Compare 
 Eccl. 7 : 17 Avhere we have the same words with only the addition 
 
 "thy": "Why shouldest thou die before thy time"? "Upon 
 
 whose foundation was poured out a great river or flood " ? — Who 
 ivere sai/ing unto God — the present participle [Heb.] denoting the 
 present tense more definitely than any other form of the verb. 
 The speaker implies that they were then saying this : that while 
 these words were in their mouths the terrible judgment fell on 
 them. Our Lord gives the same view (Luke 17: 26, 27): "As it 
 was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son 
 of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they 
 were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the 
 ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." — "What can the 
 Almighty do for them," i. e., for Noah and his family? The old 
 patriarch (they would say) has a notion that a great flood is com- 
 ing and that if he trusts in his God and follows his direction as to 
 preparing an ark, God will carry him safely through — which in 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXII. 127 
 
 their eyes doubtless seemed quite absurd and perhaps ridiculous. 
 Hence "What can the Almighty do for them"? Avell expressed 
 
 their feelings. It made their sin inexpressibly vile and mean 
 
 that God had long been filling their houses with good. They had 
 waxed fat upon his bounties and had grown proud, hardened, and 
 
 lost to all gratitude. At this point EHphaz interposes the same 
 
 words which Job had used (21 : 16) and in the same sense : I too 
 as truly as yourself abhor the counsels of the Avicked ; I detest their 
 spirit; my soul recoils from their counsels, and shudders in 
 view of their doom ! EHphaz would no doubt imply and probably 
 he meant — 1 can say this much more truthfully than you. 
 
 19. The rigliteons see if, and are glad : and the innocent 
 laugli them to scorn. 
 
 20. Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the rem- 
 nant of them the fire consumeth. 
 
 The righteous sec these judgments on the wicked, and rejoice. 
 The innocent retaliate the scorn which the ungodly had previously 
 heaped on them. The common version of v. 20 is quite un- 
 meaning in this connection. It also fails to give the sense of the 
 Hebrew words. Better thus: "Most assuredly our adversary is 
 cut down" [made to despair], "and what remains of them, fire 
 consumes." This is what the righteous say of their wicked haters 
 and persecutors. — The strong affirmation in the first words of the 
 verse is made by a peculiar Hebrew idiom; — "If not" — i. e., if 
 this be not true, nothing is true. V. 20 carries on and fills out 
 the thought in v. 19. 
 
 21. Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace : 
 thereby good shall come unto thee. 
 
 22. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay 
 up his words in thine heart. 
 
 In itself this advice is most excellent ; but as said to Job, imply- 
 ing that he had never made the acquaintance of God — had never 
 either taken God's law to his heart, or obeyed it in spirit — was a 
 grievous violation of Christian charity and most unreasonably 
 severe. Considered as said to men who had never known God, 
 no counsel could be better. To know God, with knowledge 
 amounting to real acquaintance, and then to take the law of one's 
 own life from his lips and treasure his words in the heart, is 
 indeed man's supi'erae -wisdom. No words can overstate the bless- 
 edness of such relationship to the Infinite Father. 
 
 23. If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built 
 up, thou shalt put iniquity far from thy tabernacles. 
 
 24. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of 
 Ophir as the stones of the brooks. 
 
 25. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defense, and thou 
 shalt have plenty of silver.' 
 
128 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXII. 
 
 This passage, exceedingly beautiful ■when rightly understood, 
 needs to have its translation improved in two important respects. 
 
 (a) The first clause of v. 24 should read — not " lay up gold as 
 dust" — but " cast forth gold vjjon the dust" — throw it away upon 
 the ground; and " Ophir" *■ — i. e., its gold — cast thou to the stones 
 of the brook. This is unquestionably the sense of the Hebrew 
 Avords, for the verb signifies to lay or cast doicn — not to lay up as 
 a safe deposit. The next Avords mean — vpo7i the dust or ground 
 
 — not as, which this preposition never signifies. Then in v. 25, 
 
 we have the same word for "gold" as in v. 24; but here, unac- 
 countably, our translators rendered it, not gold but " defense." 
 We must correct this, and read verse 25 : " For the Almighty will 
 be thy gold, and silver for thee " — of which the Hebrew says — 
 not "plenty," but that for which men toil severely; the silver for 
 which men labor so hard, thy God will himself be to thee. 
 
 (b) The second change to be made in the translation of this 
 passage is to continue the condition {i. e., the power of the word 
 "if") — throughout vs. 23 and 24 thus: — "//"thou return to the 
 Almighty ; and if thou put iniquity far away from thy heart; and 
 ij' thou shalt cast gold away upon the ground, and Ophir [its 
 gold] to the stones of the brook; — then the Almighty will be thy 
 gold, and Avill be silver to thee" — the silver for which men toil 
 severely. This it will be seen makes Eliphaz talk more sensi- 
 bly than our English version does as to hoarding gold and silver. 
 How much better to have God our chief possession — our supreme 
 treasure — than the gold of Ophir ! 
 
 26.' For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, 
 and shalt lift up thy face vuito God. 
 
 27. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall 
 hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. 
 
 These conditions being fulfilled, thou shalt delight tlnjself (re- 
 ciprocal verb) in the Almighty ; shalt lift up thy face, not proudly 
 but in peaceful trust, toward (or unto) God. Acceptable prayer 
 will be one of thy chief blessings — above all price to frail mortals. 
 
 To "perform one's vows" implied that the blessing sought, 
 
 to which the vow stood related, had been found. So the Psalmist: 
 "I will pay thee my vows which my lips have uttered and my 
 mouth hath spoken when 1 was in trouble " (Ps. 66 : 13, 14). 
 
 28. Thou shalt also decree a thing ; and it shall be estab- 
 lished unto thee : and the light shall shine upon thy ways. 
 
 29. When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There 
 is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. 
 
 * The name " Ophir " became so associated with gold that the 
 geographical name itself is used for gold. Compare Job 28: 16 and 
 1 Kings 9 : 28 and 10 : 15, 22 and 1 Chron. 29 : 4 and I's. 45: 9 
 and Isa. 13 : 12. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CIIAr. XXII. 129 
 
 "Shalt decree a thing" — in moclei'ii phrase — purpose or decide 
 to do a thing. The verb suggests that the man cuttt off further 
 
 inquiry and dehate, as the English word decide also signifies. 
 
 "And light shall shine" — better than " the light," for no particu- 
 lar light is thought of. 
 
 V. 29 presents rather special difficulties. Critics suggest vari- 
 ous constructions. The verb for " are cast down," has no subject 
 expressed, "men" not being in the Hebrew at all. Some construe 
 the passage — When thy ways ("ways" being brought forward 
 from the previous verse) are depressed, thou shalt say — " exalta- 
 tion," [soon]. In a spirit hopeful and trustful, thou wilt look for 
 speedy uplifting again, for God will save those of humble look, 
 
 as opposed to men of proud look. Others — When proud and 
 
 violent men (none others would do it) crush thee down and thou 
 sayest — Oh, the insolence! then God Avill save the humble, and 
 
 thee also, since thou art such. The chief objection to this is 
 
 that it takes too much upon supposition which is not definitely in- 
 dicated in the words of the passage. Others say — When men 
 
 humble themselves, thou dost command exaltation, for God saves, 
 etc. But this as said by Eliphaz to Job, assumes Job to be again 
 in power, wielding extensive influence — a very improbable sup- 
 position for this speech. The first named construction seems open 
 to fewer objections than any other. 
 
 30. He shall deliver the Maud of the innocent: and it is 
 delivered by the pureness of thy hands. 
 
 The sense "island" is entirely foreign from the scope of 
 thought, and is not by any means demanded Ijy the original. 
 The word is manifestly a negative. Prefixed to an adjective, as 
 here to the word " innocent," it means — the not innocent — i. e., 
 the guilty. Though of rare occurrence in Hebrew, the authority 
 of cognate languages and of later Rabbinic usage seems quite 
 
 sufficient to establish this sense. Upon this construction, the 
 
 sense is easy and plain: Thy pure hands, uplifted in prayer, shall 
 avail to save the not-innocent — i. e., the guilty. " Lifting up holy 
 hands," thy praj^er for even bad men shall be heard before God. 
 
 These are the last recorded words of Eliphaz. In point of 
 
 literary merit this last speech is well enough ; its logic is not bad 
 if only its premises were true and worthily assumed ; but its 
 spirit, its moral tone, is bad ; its assumptions as to Job were un- 
 authorized and cruel. We need not wonder that in the final result 
 the Lord rebuked him as well as his associates, and humbled 
 them to ask their much-abused friend to go to God in prayer on 
 their behalf. 
 
130 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Job's Reply to the last Speech of ElipJiaz. 
 
 Deeply pained by the severe implications of his professed 
 friends, Job replies that his complaints are not duly appreciated ; 
 that his sufferings surpass his groans (v. 2) ; O might he but carry 
 his case up from man's hearing to God's ! (v. 3, 4). He knows 
 that God would give him a more kind hearing (v. 5, 6), and a 
 more righteous decision (v. 7) ; but alas ! turn which way he may, 
 he finds him not (v. 8, 9) ; yet God surely knows all his life-path 
 (v. 10) ; and that he has held fast to the word and to the prescribed 
 law of his God (v. 11, 12) ; but God is changeless and does all his 
 pleasure (v. 13, 14) : therefore Job is the more afraid and troubled 
 (v. 15-17). 
 
 1. Then Job answered and said, 
 
 2. Even to-day is my complaint bitter : my stroke is 
 heavier than my groaning. 
 
 The precise sense of the word rendered "bitter"* is given va- 
 riously by the best authorities. Conant — " froioardness" — i. e,, 
 my complaint is so regarded by my opponents : Fuerst says — 
 'harshness, violence" — meaning — This is what I complain of: 
 while Gesenius favors the sense " outcry '^ — my complaint is an 
 outcry against abuse and wrong. The sense given by Conant 
 seems to me most in harmony with Job's probable feelings. My 
 complaint is deemed utterly unreasonable, a sin and a shame — 
 which would be a reproach very hard for such a sufferer to bear. 
 
 To this in self-justification Job replies: — " My stroke " (that 
 
 which falls upon me) " is heavier than my groaning." For the 
 
 word " stroke," the Hebrew has its usual word for hand,-\ but 
 certainly in the sense — the hand that smites or falls upon me. 
 My complaint is far below the severity of these inflictions. So 
 far from complaining to excess, my sufferings are far in excess of 
 my groans. 
 
 3. Oh that I knew where I miglit find liim ! that I might 
 come even to his seat ! 
 
 4. I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth 
 with arguments. 
 
 5. I would know the words which he would answer me, and 
 understand what he would say unto me. 
 
 6. Will he plead against me with his great power? No ; 
 but he would put strength in me. 
 
 No special emphasis should be laid on the word " where" as to 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIII. 131 
 
 tlic place in which God mi'riht be found. Conant translates 
 " Iwio \ mijiht" etc., but the Hebrew says only this : — "O that I 
 knew and that I might find " — /. e., that I knew enough as to 
 both the place where and the manner how, that I might success- 
 fully seek and really find. The original favors the dependence 
 
 of all the clauses to the end of v. 6 upon this outcry of strong 
 desire — " O that !" Thus — O that I knew and might find him ; 
 O that I might come even to his scat — that I might lay out my 
 case in order before him and might fill my mouth with arguments ! 
 
 that I might know the words he would answer me, and under- 
 stand what he would say to me! — Then (v. 6) — With his great 
 power would he plead with me ? No ! he surely would give heed 
 to me, or more literalh^ — set [his thought] upon me. The usage 
 of this verb in Job 4 : 20, without an object after it, but certainly 
 implying the sense — mind or thought — justifies this construction 
 here. In that passage — " They perish forever without any re- 
 garding it " we have only the same verb as here — without any 
 one putting or setting — and must' supply — Ms mind, to it. So 
 here: No; God would give his mind and thought to my prayer. 
 This was Job's confidence and consolation. 
 
 7. There the righteous might dispute with him : sosliould 
 
 1 1)6 dehvered for ever from my judge. 
 
 " Dispute," not in the bad sense, implying boldness, much less 
 impudence or dogmatism ; but only to reason rciih him. The 
 Heb. word in this book is commonly translated — to reason loith. 
 
 The last clause raises the question — From what "judge"? 
 
 The Almighty and Supreme ; or these human self appointed judges 
 whose judgment of his case had borne upon him with such savage 
 severity ? The latter unquestionably. If he could get a hearing 
 before the Most High, he would care little for what Eliphaz or 
 Bildad or Zophar might think or say of his case. 
 
 8. Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and back- 
 ward, but I can not perceive him ; 
 
 9. On the left hand, where he doth work, but I can not 
 behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I 
 can not see him: 
 
 10. But he knoweth the way that I take : u'hen he hath 
 tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 
 
 Returning to speak again of his search after God, he says — I 
 go in every direction — toward every point of the compass, but 
 find him not: forward — i. e., toward the East, then backward, to 
 the West; then on the left hand, i. e., to the North where men 
 see most grand and brilliant displays of his glory in the aurora 
 borealis and in the great constellations of the heavens ; then to 
 the South where in its dai-k chambers he doth hide himself — that 
 quarter of the heavens being little seen or known — but all this 
 search is vain. This description suggests by contrast that of 
 
132 THE BOOK OP JOB. — CHAP. XXJII. 
 
 the Psalmist (139 : 7-12) — " If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art 
 there ; if I make my bed in Hades, lo. Thou art there ; if I take 
 the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the 
 sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall 
 hold me." But alas ! nowhere in the universe does Job find that 
 sensible presence of God which his aching heart longs for. Yet, 
 he adds, God knoweth the way I take — knoweth all the life I live 
 and all my griefs and woes. When he hath tried me, I shall come 
 forth as gold from the furnace. This is one of those utterances 
 of his heart-confidence which no severity of trial, no i-acking tor- 
 ture of reproach from friends ; none of those perplexities which 
 sometimes drive him almost to despair, could utterly e^^pel from 
 his soul. Apparently such expressions of deep and precious 
 trust in God were more free and full after that glorious triumph 
 of his faith Avhich we saw in the close of chap. 19 ; — " I know 
 that my Kedeemer liveth." 
 
 11. j\fy foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and 
 not declined. 
 
 12. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of 
 his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than 
 my necessary /oocL 
 
 Here Job expresses his deep consciousness of integrity toward 
 God in an honest, sincere purpose of obedience. All along in his 
 debate with his friends he had maintained this, and had felt it 
 
 deep in his soul, to his great consolation. In the last clause 
 
 of V. 12, the word " food " which the translators supplied without 
 Heb. authority, is not the right one. The Hebrew * is constantly 
 used in the sense of what is enjoined, imposed or ordained as law, 
 precept. Hence the better sense is — I have treasured up the 
 words of his mouth more than my own law or purpose. Above 
 the demands of my own will, I have kept and prized the will of 
 
 my God. His ivill above mine has been the law of my life. 
 
 Glorious testimony to the right and the only right attitude of the 
 human will to the divine ! 
 
 13. But he is in one mind, and who can turn him ? and 
 what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. 
 
 14. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me : 
 and many such things are with him. 
 
 The immutability of God is the thought here, coupled with the 
 certain accomplishment of all He wills to do. — The practical bear- 
 ing of this doctrine concerning God upon the then present con- 
 dition and hopes of Job seems to have been discouraging — as we 
 shall see. 
 
 15. Therefore am I troubled at his presence : when I con- 
 sider, I am afraid of him. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIV. 133 
 
 16. For God maketh my lieavt soft, and tlie Alniiglity 
 troul)leth me : 
 
 17. Because I Avas not cut off befcn-e tlie darkness, neither 
 hath he covered the darkness from my face. 
 
 "Therefore" — i. e., because God is so changeless in his pur- 
 poses and will so surely accomplish tliem all — therefore am I 
 troubled. For, as to his ways with me, 1 must judge of the future 
 iVoni the past. How can I hope to work any change iu his purposes 
 
 or in his course of dealing with me? "God maketh my heart 
 
 soj't " — weak, powerless — not tender in the moral sense of being 
 penitently submissive, but void of firmness and endurance — hopeful 
 
 courage and faith failing me. V. 17 has difBculties. The English 
 
 version quite fails to give the sense of the Hebrew. Better thus : 
 "For I have not been cut off — i. e., broken down in heart and 
 hope — before mere darfcness — these external calamities ; nor be- 
 cause he hath spread darkness over my face. A deeper reason 
 than this for the prostration of my spirit and hopes is at the root — 
 viz., the apparent wrath of God against me. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Job concludes his speech. 
 
 This chapter has great unity of argument throughout. It makes 
 but one main point, viz., to show that there are oppressors — out- 
 rageously wicked men in the world who live to the usual limit of 
 human life in prosperity, and meet no such fearful judgments 
 from the Almighty as they deserve, nor such as on your theory 
 (he would say to his opponents) they ought to have. The whole 
 chapter is devoted to the description of these wicked men and of 
 the poor victims of their oppression. The chief difficulty for the 
 reader to overcome is to distinguish the descriptive points which 
 apply to the oppressor from those which describe his oppressed 
 victim. 
 
 1. Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, 
 do they that know him not see his days? 
 
 This somewhat obscure verse gives the key to the entire chapter, 
 
 and should therefore be carefully considered. " Times " and 
 
 "days" must here be essentially synonymous — both indicating 
 special periods of God's visitations of retributive judgments upon 
 the wicked for their sins. The scriptural usage of these words 
 may be readily seen: that of the word "time" iu Isa. 13: 22, 
 " Her time is near to come and her days shall not be prolonged : " 
 Jer. 27 : 7, " Until the very time of his land come : " Ezek. 22 : 3, 
 
134 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 "The city slicddeth ))l(»i(l in the midst of it that her time may 
 come: " — Ezek. 80: 3, "For the day is near, even the day of the 
 
 Lord is near: it shall be the time of the heathen." For the 
 
 word "day" see Isa. 13: 6, "The day of Jehovah is at hand; it 
 shall be as a destruction from the Almighty:'' Isa. 2: 12, "For 
 the day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud," 
 etc.; Joel 2: 1, "Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for 
 the day of the Lord cometh" : Zeph. 1 : 7, "Hold thy peace, for 
 the day of the Lord is at hand," etc.; Zech. 14: 1, etc. 
 
 But what can be meant by these times being "hidden from the 
 Almighty?" It is simply inept and insupposable that God's own 
 times should be unknown to himself or concealed from himself. 
 — Moreover, the argument as put in our English version is too 
 weak to bear any weight. If God knows his own times, then they 
 that know Him ought to see them also. Can we infer that his 
 creatures must know all that he knows ? We must look deeper 
 
 into this passage, for there must be in it some better logic. 1 
 
 suggest this : If there is no concealment on the part of God as to 
 his times of retribution on tlie wicked — if He makes no effort to 
 conceal, but on the contrary, makes these times of retribution open 
 and palpable, then why should not those who know him discern 
 these days — these times of retribution ? This is sensible reason- 
 ing and wholly in accord with facts. It also meets the require- 
 ments of the Hebrew words. The force of the first word — Why? 
 
 bears upon the last clause; — Why do not God's knowing ones — 
 (those who know him) — see his days of judgment, there being no 
 concealment on his part as to these " times " ? Inasmuch as 
 nothing emanating from the Almighty serves to conceal but every 
 thing to disclose, why shall not all who know God, in any just 
 sense, see these open doings of God toward the wicked ? The 
 original I understand to signify, not that the knowledge of his 
 own time is not concealed from the Almighty, but that no con- 
 cealment of his times proceeds from him. He takes no pains, 
 makes no effort, to conceal or hide them. 
 
 2. Soine remove the landmarks ; they violently take away 
 flocks, and feed thereof. 
 
 3. They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take 
 the widow's ox for a pledge. 
 
 Here Job begins his description of notoriously wicked men. 
 
 To remove landmarks was bold iniquity which no right-thinking 
 men could ever justify. See the Mosaic law on this point, Deut. 
 27: 17 and 19: 14 and Prov. 22: 28 and 23: 10 and Hos. 5: 10. 
 — ■ — ^This law must have had special application in Egj^pt, Avhere 
 land was so valuable and the boundaries between one man's land 
 and another's were fixed, not at all by fences, but only by landmarks. 
 Hence the crime was the greater because more easily committed 
 and with more difficulty detected. It became more vital to society 
 to maintain the sacredness of the law. They seize the cattle 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIV. 135 
 
 [Heb.] of other men and feed them as iheir own — not Hn the 
 English version might be understood to mean — and also iheir 
 fodder. This crime also -was committed with comparative ease, and 
 therefore the greater odium attached to it, and the sacrcdness 
 
 of the law became more vital to the well-being of society. 
 
 The crime is still more enhanced in malignity when perpetrated 
 upon orphans and Avidows — less able to bear the loss and having 
 less power of prevention or redress. 
 
 4. They turn the needy out of the way; the poor of the 
 earth hide themselves together. 
 
 5. Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to 
 their work ; rising betimes for a prey : the wilderness yieldeth 
 food for them and for their children. 
 
 6. They reap every one his corn in the field : and they 
 gather the vintage of the wicked. 
 
 7. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that 
 they have no covering in the cold. 
 
 8. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and 
 embrace the rock for Avant of a shelter. 
 
 The sense of the words — " Turn the needy out of the way," i. e., 
 out of iheir way where it is their right to walk — may be seen in 
 
 Amos 2: 7 and 5: 12; Isa. 29: 21 and Prov.lS: 5, etc., etc. 
 
 All the oppressed of the land are made to hide themselves — not 
 necessarily " together " as the English version would suggest, but 
 the speaker means that this is their common experience — a uni- 
 versal thing. To escape these giant oppressors, all the poor are 
 compelled to hide themselves. 
 
 The reader should notice carefully that vs. 4-12 (with the ex- 
 ception of V. 9) are occupied in describing, not the oppressor 
 directly, but those whom he oppresses. Job tells us how the violence 
 
 of their oppressors compelled them to live. In v. 5, these poor 
 
 people, driven off into desert regions, are compared to wild asses 
 — alike in roaming the desert and searching after food for them- 
 selves and their children. In v. 6 they are supposed to be 
 
 employed in labor for their oppressors, reaping his fodder, glean- 
 ing his vineyard. Naked, they pass the night without clothing, 
 too poor to be comfortably clad. The outer garment for the day 
 was the usual covering for the chilly night — most needed then. 
 No protection against the mountain showers — the storms that 
 came chilly and cold from the mountain regions. "Embracing 
 the rock for a shelter," indicates that they had no protection save 
 to nestle close to the rock which might sometimes break the force 
 of the wind, or screen from the pelting storm. 
 
 9. They pluck the fivtherless from the breast, and take a 
 pledge of the poor. 
 
136 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 This verse, interposed here somewhat aside from the general 
 drift of the connection, manifestly describes what is done by the 
 opjiressors. They tear orphan babes from the breast and take the 
 pledge from the poor — the first step toward grasping and holding 
 his last comfort. 
 
 10. They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they 
 take away the sheaf from the hungry ; 
 
 11. Which make oil within their walls, and ti'ead their 
 wine-presses, and sutler thirst. 
 
 The course of these verses throughout is more easy if taken as 
 describing directly the labors and privations of the oppressed 
 rather than the doings of their oppressors — thus : — They walk 
 about naked without covering; they bear sheaves [of corn] yet 
 are hungry (not being allowed to relieve their hunger from the 
 sheaves they bear) ; they make oil within their walls and tread 
 the wine-press, yet suffer thirst — this being the aggravation of 
 their suffering, that in the midst of plenty, wine flowing forth 
 from under their feet, they are not permitted to taste ; bearing 
 corn-sheaves they must not eat — all in violation of that humane 
 law: " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn" 
 (Deut. 25: 4). 
 
 12. ]Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the 
 wounded crieth out: yet God layetli not folly to them. 
 
 Accepting the text as it stands and the words in their usual 
 sense, the verse suddenly transfers the scene of the oppressor's 
 devastations from country to city ; and we may translate : — From 
 out the city men groan and the soul of the wounded cries out 
 aloud ; but God [apparently] gives no heed to the wickedness. 
 
 The last vei'b is often used in this Book of Job with the noun 
 
 for heart or thought to be supplied after it, the cases being suf- 
 ficiently numerous to establish a settled usage. See 23 : 6 and 
 21: 23 and 37: 15. In this view of the verse it will be ob- 
 served that the fact referred to is in full harmony with the drift 
 of Job's argument, showing that in the present world God does 
 often suffer outrageous crime to pass on unpunished. 
 
 The verb signifying to put, 2}liice, we have had repeatedly with 
 mind understood, in the sense — putting his mind upon it ; giving 
 heed to it. The sentiment here is that God seems not to hear these 
 outcries of helpless men, dying under the violence of their 
 oppressors. This fact not only makes strongly against, but utterly 
 disproves, the doctrine of an immediate and perfect retribution 
 upon outrageous wickedness in the present world. 
 
 13. They are of those that rebel against the light ; they 
 know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. 
 
 14. The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor 
 and needy, and in the night is as a thief. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIV, 137 
 
 15. The eye also of the adulterer waitetli for the twilight, 
 saying, No eye shall see me : and disguiseth his face. 
 
 16. In the dark they dig through houses, ivhich they had 
 marked for themselves in the day-time: they know not the 
 light. 
 
 17. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of 
 death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the 
 shadow of death. 
 
 Here is the oppressor himself — a murderer, a highway robber, 
 a burglar, or an adulterer — every-where loving darkness and 
 hating light — hating it as unendurable — the light of morning 
 being to him more dreadful than the terrors of the shadow of 
 
 death. "They dig through houses" — conceives of the houses 
 
 as mud-cabins, built of earth. In v. 14, "rising with the light," 
 
 means at the earliest dawn. The points of this description are 
 
 too clear to need exi^lanation. 
 
 18. He is swift as the waters; their portion is cur.^ed in 
 the earth : he beholdeth not the Avay of the vineyards. 
 
 In Hebrew — "light is he" (a light thing) like the papyrus 
 skiffs on the Nile — on the face of the waters — descriptive of rapid 
 motion, a quality essential to success in the crimes here referred 
 to. " Accursed is their portion in the earth " — only to be ex- 
 ecrated are the men, their profession and their plunder. The 
 original gives a very noticeable paranomasia between the first 
 word of the verse translated "swift" and the verb in the second 
 clause for "cursed." No translation can reproduce this to pur- 
 pose. The last clause should read: "He turneth not to the 
 
 way of vineyards" which I take to mean — He carefully avoids 
 highly cultivated districts; finds his best success in regions remote 
 from dense populations ; he abhors civilization ! 
 
 19. Drought and heat consume the snow waters : so doth 
 the grave those which have sinned. 
 
 20. The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed 
 sweetly on him ; he shall be no mox'e remembered ; and 
 wickedness shall be broken as a tree. 
 
 Dreaded of men are they — a curse to society. It is a comfort to 
 say that as drought and heat drink up the Avaters that come from 
 the hills of melting snow, so does the under-world, (Slieol) these 
 desperate sinners. — Even the mothers that bear them are glad to 
 forget them. Let the worms of the grave feed sweetly on them, 
 for their flesh can turn to no better use. They have done noth- 
 ing to entitle them to grateful remembrance among the living. 
 Such wicked men are broken down like the tree Avhich falls, 
 never to rise again. ' Thus a sort of retribution follows them to 
 their graves — as if glad to have its opportunity at last; but (Job 
 plainly intimates) this retribution has been under restraint through 
 1 
 
138 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 all their life. In iJiis loorld, they never receive their just deserts. 
 This is one of the main points of his argument. 
 
 21. He evil entreatetli the barren that beareth not: and 
 doeth not good to the widow. 
 
 22. He draweth also the mighty with his power ; he risetb 
 up, and no man is sure of life. 
 
 23. Though it be given him to he in safety, whereon be 
 resteth ; yet his eyes are upon their ways. 
 
 Again the speaker returns to his description of the wicked op- 
 pressor, touching briefly some salient points. 
 
 In V. 21 the first verb should be taken from a root not appar- 
 ently noticed by the English translators, meaning — lie feedeth 
 doivn, in the sense of eating up, consuming, as in the figure — 
 " They devour widows' houses." So these men eat up the barren 
 
 woman who should be an object of commiseration. In v. 22 I 
 
 would say — not " draweth the mighty ;" but taketh away, remov- 
 
 eth them by his superior power. In v. 23 the translation is not 
 
 felicitous — the sense of the Hebrew being that this strong oppressor 
 either displaces men by his superior power (as in v. 22) or he 
 gives [Ileb.] them to be in safety and then they are at rest — his 
 eyes however narrowly watching their ways. That is, those 
 whom at his sovereign option he deigns to spare, may live in 
 peace under his perpetual surveillance. 
 
 24. They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and 
 brought low ; they are taken out of the way as all other, and 
 cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. 
 
 The happiest exposition of this verse turns on its punctuation, 
 the just arrangement of its distinct and dependent paragraphs — 
 thus: "They rise high for a little while, and then — they are not ! 
 They are brought low ; like all [the world] they are gathered and 
 cut off like the top ears of corn. Brief is the pride of their power ! 
 Then you look for them and they ai-e there no longer ! As men 
 cut off the highest ears of a cornfield — " topping them," is the 
 phrase — so they are cut down and gathered to their graves. This 
 retribution comes in and after death.; not before. 
 
 25. And if it he not so now, Avho will make me a liar, aud 
 make my speech nothing Avorth ? 
 
 The conclusion — the grip of the whole argument— lies in this 
 appeal. These are the facts of the world's history. Disprove 
 them, who can ? If it be not so, who will prove me a liar, and 
 my statements false and my words worthless ? But if these things 
 are true, then God's retributions upon notoriously wicked men 
 are not completed in this world. There is no such perfect retri- 
 bution here as ye have persistently claimed. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. CHAP. XXV. 139 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Last speech of Bildacl. 
 
 This very short chapter Lrlngs the argument of Job's three 
 friends to its final close. It is Bildad's third speech. Zophar 
 does not resume the discussion, but rests his argument with his 
 second speech (in chap. 20). — Bildad, it will be noticed, deals 
 only in "glittering generalities," utterly failing to grapple with or 
 even to notice the strong points just made by Job. Plainly as 
 disputants they were routed from the field and had virtually 
 thrown their weapons away in their flight. The points made by 
 Bildad are indeed very true; but what are they to the great argu- 
 ment in hand? .The conceptions are lofty; the rhythm melliflu- 
 ous, and the doctrine taught as to God unobjectionable; but what 
 
 are all these to the point in debate ? It should, however, be 
 
 said that if Job had really claimed to be more righteous than 
 God, or even equally pure as God, he would have deserved any 
 severity of rebuke, and the argument here would, so far, have 
 been in point. 
 
 1. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 
 
 2. Dominion and fear are with him ;. he maketh peace in 
 his high places. 
 
 3. Is there any number of liis armies ? and upon whom 
 doth not his light arise ? 
 
 4. How tlien can man be justified with God ? or liow can 
 he be clean that is born of a woman ? 
 
 "Dominion" pertains to him by infinite right; "reverence" 
 toward him also is for evermore his due. His reign fills all heaven 
 with blessedness ! Ah indeed ! Does not peace reign there in its 
 fullness and glory forever ? — " His armies " — troops or hosts — seem 
 to refer to the heavenly bodies, the great luminaries of the sky 
 which move in marshaled order like the battalions of a well dis- 
 ciplined army. Giving the words this sense, we see the natural 
 connection of the next clause — " Upon whom doth not their light 
 arise " ? Think how brilliantly and gloriously they pour forth the 
 
 very light of God over all the works of his hands ! In v. 4 the 
 
 argument, tacitly implied, seems to be this : — that a God whose 
 material light, thrown all abroad from the great orbs of heaven, is 
 so pure and so magnificent, must be no less pure and glorious in 
 his moral qualities — in holiness, equity and love; so that man, 
 born of woman, should never assume to compare himself with 
 God in moral purity, or even think to approach him in these 
 respects, or in any wise be just before him. 
 
 5. Behold even to the moon, and it sliineth not; yea, the 
 stars are not pure in his sight. 
 
140 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 6. How mucli less man, that is a ■worm ? and the son of 
 man, which is a worm ? 
 
 Look even to the moon, the great orb of lessor brightness. Its 
 shining is nothing compared with the glory of its Maker. The 
 stars are not pure in his eyes — which seems to mean that their 
 light is only as darkness in the presence of God's resplendent 
 glory. Yet the discrimination between material and moral light 
 seems not very distinctly drawn in the speaker's mind. Perhaps 
 we must say Bildad tacitly assumes that the material light which 
 strikes our bodily eye is a fit illustration and just measure of that 
 purer, nobler light of moral purity and glory which dwells in the 
 Most High. So considered, what is man before him — man who is 
 only a worm — powerless, low, without dignity — nay even disgust- 
 ing! The Hebrew uses here two different words — both which 
 
 our English translates by the one word, " worm." Both suggest 
 insects which are always found in putrid, decomposing substances, 
 so that both may alike refer to this destiny of the human body 
 — food for corruption and worms. 
 
 As already suggested these thoughts are grand, impressive, 
 just, and in this debate are in point to enforce due reverence to- 
 ward the Infinite God — as to which Job's words and spirit had 
 been sometimes very exceptionable and really deserved rebuke. 
 But as bearing upon the great point — the question of God's moral 
 administration over men in time — they would simply imply that 
 it must be equitable and righteous on the great whole — to be 
 shown in its own time — but do not by any means imply that this 
 equity and righteousness are perfectly manifested here in this 
 world. Hence the vital point of the great argument was evaded 
 — not answered. The discussion had run its course and might as 
 well close. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Job begins his final argument. 
 
 The field of argument is now cleared for Job to reply. He may 
 descant upon the great theme under discussion and explain his 
 position, fully as he might wish, in whatever point it might seem 
 
 to have been imperfectty or erroneously apprehended. This 
 
 chapter is a definite reply to Bildad's last speech ; first retorting 
 with perhaps too much severity upon Bildad's talk as worse than 
 powerless toward the result a true friend should have sought — 
 viz., moral support and consolation to one under terrible affliction 
 (v. 1-4): followed by a glowing description of the majesty, glory 
 and grandeur of the works of God in the matei-ial universe. 
 
THE BOOK- OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVI. . 141 
 
 Plainly Job is moved (inspired, slniU we say ?) to this setting forth 
 of God's majesty by the strain of Bildad's last speech — as if his 
 underlying thought were : — I can appreciate these grand works of 
 (lod as truly as yourself and might descant upon them no less 
 eloquently. They have as much bearing in favor of my side of 
 the main question as of yours. I shall allow you no monopoly in 
 
 the use of such sublime descriptions ! Noticeably, Job does not 
 
 intimate hoio in his view these lofty conceptions of God's Avorks 
 in the realm of the material-universe bore upon his doctrine as 
 to God's moral administration ; yet neither did his opponent. The 
 logical purpose in both speeches is quite eclipsed by the rhetorical, 
 and perhaps in a very general sense, the moral. 
 
 1. But Job answered and said, 
 
 2. How hast thou helped hhn that is without power? hoio 
 savest thou the arm that hath no strength ? 
 
 3. How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom ? and 
 how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is ? 
 
 4. To whom hast thou uttered words ? and whose spirit 
 came from thee ? 
 
 As intimated above, the rebuke involved in these questions has 
 its main force in the very just assumption that a true friend 
 (such, as Bildad claimed to be and ought to have been) should 
 make it his real object to "help" and "save," and really give 
 good counsel to a friend, suffering as he saw Job to be. There was 
 cutting truth therefore in Job's ironical reply — How tenderly and 
 sweetly and most effectively hast thou helped and. saved and coun- 
 seled thy poor broken-down friend ! In Job's Hebrew words 
 
 both beauty and force are heightened very much by a usage of the 
 negative particle in a privative sense, signifying at least tlie utter 
 absence of the quality spoken of, and, where the nature of the case 
 admits, the presence of the opposite quality, thus : — How hast thou 
 helped the poioerless ; saved the arm that is nerveless ; given coun- 
 sel to the wisdo77iIess — (if we might coin a word) — i. e., the tnnoise 
 
 whose wisdom has sunk even into folly ! In the close of v. 3 
 
 the Heb. word translated — " the thing as it is," means simply nn- 
 der standing ; parallel to "wisdom" in the first clause. In v. 
 4, the question is not " To whom" ? but hy whom — by whose aid, 
 by whose inspiration, as the next clause implies ; by whose spirit 
 breathed into thee, hast thou been so filled with superhuman wis- 
 dom as to utter these profound and wonderful words ? 
 
 5. Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the 
 inhabitants thereof. 
 
 6. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no cov- 
 
 The English version fails here also. Not "Dead things" but 
 The Shades" — the spirits of the departed, which are by no 
 
142 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 means supposed to be void of life. The usage of this Heb. word 
 is both definite and uniform, as maybe seen in Ps. 88: 10; — 
 
 Prov. 2 : 18 and 9: 18 and 21: 16; Isa. 14: 9 and 26: 14, 19. 
 
 Moreover the verb means — not, " are formed"; hat tremble. The 
 passage rightly translated, gives its own meaning readily : — The 
 Shades (souls of the departed) tremble beneath " the waters and 
 their inhabitants" — where the ancients located the under-world 
 — the home of departed souls. "Hell" (Heb. Sheol) — not the 
 "Gehenna" of the New Testament — but the "Hades" — the place 
 of location for the spiritual part of man after death. " Destruc- 
 tion" is here but another name for the same locality. The verse 
 declares that this under-world is perfectly open to the view of 
 God. So in Ps. 139: 8: " If I make my bed in hell (this same 
 under-world), behold, thou art there." 
 
 7. He stretchetli out the north over the empt}^ place, and 
 hangeth the earth upon nothing. 
 
 8. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds ; and the 
 cloud is not rent under them. 
 
 " The North " — the northern region of the sky, the portion of that 
 vast concave expanse above us whose starry constellations were 
 
 visible to them in their northern hemisphere. " Over the empty 
 
 place " — Job using one of the two words of Moses in Gen. 1 : 2, 
 signifying what is formless, vacant as to distinctly visible objects ; 
 
 the great vacuity of empty space. " He hangeth the earth upon 
 
 nothing" — seem.s a long stride toward the true astronomical con- 
 ception of the earth as " self-balanced, on its center hung " — un- 
 supported by any thing underneath it, yet sustained by some un- 
 seen and to us mysterious agency of God. V. 8 speaks of the 
 
 water-bearing clouds as if the Great Creator had tied and bound 
 the waters within them, making the clouds so tenacious and strong 
 that they can bear along their water-burden without being rent 
 till they reach their destination. 
 
 9. He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth 
 his cloud ujwn it. 
 
 "Holdeth back" — the sense however being better expressed by 
 '' shutteth v}J," concealeth from the gaze of men, the face of his 
 throne, no mortal eye being able to pierce through and distinctly 
 behold it. God spreadeth his cloud over it. " Clouds and dark- 
 ness are round about him." 
 
 10. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the 
 day and night come to an end. 
 
 Literally; — "He hath described a circle upon the face of the 
 waters, even to the end of light in the darkness " — i. e., to the 
 point or line where light terminates in darkness. The idea is 
 not (as the common version seems to mean) to continue long as 
 the succession of day and night does ; but with reference to space 
 — not to time — he has set bounds to the ocean waters far away as 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVI. 143 
 
 to tlio utmost verge of light — to the point where light is liniite(^ 
 by the outlying darkness — the oriental conception being that, out- 
 side the realms of light, darkness held sway. 
 
 11. The pillars of lieaven tremble, and are astonished at 
 his reproof. 
 
 Here, the voice of God beneath which " the pillars of heaven 
 tremble and are astonished" is thunder. This often seems to 
 shake the very pillars of the lower heavens — " heavens " in the 
 sense in which we read of " the clouds of heaven" — " the fowls 
 of heaven." What in all the realm of nature within the range of 
 man's senses is more majestic — what more imprassively exhibits 
 the glory of God, than the roll and the crash of thunder ! 
 
 12. He divideth the sea with his power, and by his under- 
 standing he smiteth through the proud. 
 
 The translation " divideth " misleads the reader, the sense be- 
 ing — He sitbdues its raging ; calms it down to rest from its agita- 
 tions. So the voice of the Son of God was heard over the tossing 
 waves of the Galilean sea — "Peace; be still; — and there was a 
 great calm." Job thinks of the same divine power over the ocean 
 waters; and from this, passes to the analogous power with which 
 God in his wisdom smites down the pride of mortals. 
 
 13. By bis Spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand 
 hath formed the crooked serpent. 
 
 The creative Spirit is thought of, as in Gen. 1:2:" The Spirit of 
 God moved upon the face of the waters." — " Garnished " — adorned, 
 clothed with objects of beauty, viz., stars, planets and other heav- 
 enly bodies.* The serpent thought of here is not he that 
 
 crawls prone on the ground, but he who gives name to one of 
 the grandest constellations in the heavens. The Hebrew quali- 
 fying word means rather Jiging than " crooked "—with reference 
 to his place in the sky, on the icing, not pi'one upon the earth. 
 
 God alone is the glorious former of all these grandest objects 
 
 visible to mortals. 
 
 14. Lo, these are parts of his Avays : but how little a por- 
 tion is heard of him ? but the thunder of his power who can 
 understand ? 
 
 "Parts of his ways " fails to give the full sense of the Hebrew 
 which means the borders of his ways — those outlying manifesta- 
 tions which are most remote from his great central throne though 
 nearest to us, it being implied that works and ways far more grand 
 
 • ® The original word is taken variously — either as a noun or as a 
 verb in the Piel form — the sense being the same whether we read; 
 "By his Spirit the heavens are brightness" ; or, "The heavens are 
 made bright," i. e., splendid. 
 
144 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAT. XXVII. 
 
 may lie nearer the center, around the ineffixble, unapproachable 
 
 throne of the Almighty ! The next clause is put in most expresa- 
 
 ive Hebrew words ; — " And what a whisper of a word is heard of 
 Him! But the thunder of his power, who can comprehend?" 
 All we get of his ways with our dull ear is but the whisper of a 
 word — the gentlest murmuring sound ; but O, what are we, to 
 know or to bear the awe-inspiring thunder of his power! 
 
 It can not be out of place to ask the reader to compare with this 
 chapter of Job, some portions of the Song of Moses on the eastern 
 shore of the Red Sea as in Ex. 15 : 1-19, with an eye on the ques- 
 tion of authorship. Are not both this chapter and that song 
 from the same ^^ifted poetic genius and the same reverent, adoring 
 spirit? — Note these lines from the Red Sea song: — 
 
 "Thy right hand, Lord, is become glorious in power; thy 
 right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy ! Thou didst 
 blow with thy wind ; the sea covered them ; they sank as lead in 
 the mighty waters ! Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the 
 gods ? Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in 
 
 praises, doing wonders ? " The salient points of resemblance 
 
 between this song of Moses and the chapter before us are (a) High 
 poetic genius: — (b) Most exalted conceptions of the divine power, 
 majesty and glory; — i. e., considered both intellectually and mor- 
 ally, these poems indicate and honor the same authorship. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Joh continues. 
 
 This chapter has no obvious connection of thought with the one 
 preceding. It is in two parts : — (a) A very solemn reassertion of 
 his essential integrity, as against the reiterated charges of hypoc- 
 risy and great wickedness brought against him by his three friends 
 (v. 1-6) ; — (b) The wicked man's portion in this life from God's 
 2:)rovidential hand. 
 
 This second part has given some critics great trouble because it 
 has seemed to them so unlike Job's doctrine in chap. 24. They 
 conclude that this can not be from the same Job. Hence some 
 have held that this must be a third speech from Zophar, being in 
 hai-mony with his known sentiments, but in their view, out of 
 harmony with Job's. Besides, Zophar lacks yet one speech to make 
 his number good — Eliphaz and Bildad having both spoken three 
 
 times and Zophar but twice. Against attributing this paragraph 
 
 to Zophar may be urged — (a) that the text gives not the least hint 
 of it — not the slightest intimation that these are words of Zophar, 
 or any other man than Job :— and (b) There is nothing here out 
 of character with Job's known sentiments — nothing out of harmony 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVII. 145 
 
 with what he has previously said. — For be it carefully considered, 
 Job has held that retribution on the ■wicked in this life is not per- 
 fect, is not complete; but he has never said, there is none; has 
 never denied that retribution, more or less full, is the common law 
 of human life. His opponents insisted most strenuously that this 
 retribution is perfect here in time, always ; manifestly ; invariably ; 
 and they held this so strongly and with such sweeping application 
 that they claimed to knotv absolutely that Job was the wickedest 
 
 of men because he was the gi'eatest known sufferer. The one 
 
 point of irreconcilable diversity therefore between Job and his 
 three friends was precisely this — The absolute and necessary per- 
 fection of God's rcirihution upon sinners in the present life; they 
 affirming; Job .denying. Job could say as in chap. 24: There are 
 many cases in which notoriously wicked men go through life 
 unpunished; and to the point of his argument he might have said 
 to his friends — A single case of this sort utterly overthrows your 
 doctrine. Job could also say (as in chap. 27) ; The very com- 
 mon lot of the wicked in this life is calamity, disappointment, retri- 
 bution from the hand of God. There was ample room in his sys- 
 tem of theology for this admission. 
 
 After Job's three friends had rested their case, having exhausted 
 their logic upon him in vain, we may think of him in this final 
 reply as quietly saying (perhaps in an uuder-tone) — Ye have sought 
 to make capital for your argument by magniloquent discourse upon 
 the majesty of God and the glory of his works — as in the last 
 speech of Bildad (chap. 25). I would have you understand that 
 ye have no monopoly of that theme; I can descant upon it in 
 
 strains of poetry and eloquence in nowise inferior to yours. 
 
 Te have also given large scope to your poetry and eloquence in 
 your portrayals of the bitter lot of the wicked in this world under 
 God's retributions. I have the same right to sjieak of this as your- 
 selves; I have seen all that ye have seen and am quite able to ex- 
 patiate upon it even as ye have done. Moreover, ye claim to 
 
 stand high aloof from all sympathy with the wicked man, pi-osper 
 though he may for his brief day of life. I too (Job Avould say) 
 can honestly deny all sympathy with the man of wickedness, how 
 prosperous soever he may sometimes appear to be. The chapter 
 
 before us expresses this sentiment. It was exceedingly wise 
 
 and fore-thoughtful in Job to bring out these points in his theo- 
 logical system in order to prevent misapprehension, to round out 
 his system, and present it in its completeness. Those critics, 
 therefore, who deny the authorship of Job in this chapter because 
 of the doctrine it puts forth must have sounded his system with a 
 very short line — unto only a very shallow depth. 
 
 1. Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 
 
 2. As God livetb, tvho hatb taken away my judgment; 
 and the Almighty, tdio hath vexed my soul ; 
 
 3. All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of 
 God is in my nostrils; 
 
146 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 4. My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue 
 utter deceit. 
 
 " Parable," not in the sense common in the New Testament — a 
 supposed or actual case presented and more or less fully expanded 
 for illustration^but in the broader sense — discourse — here in 
 poetic form and including many supposed cases for illustration on 
 the main theme of tlie chapter as presented in vs. 13-23. — "As 
 God liveth" — was one form of the solemn oath, and indicates here 
 
 the depth of Job's feeling and the solemnity of this utterance. 
 
 ''Taken away my judgment" — on the most charitable and intrin- 
 sically most fair construction, should be taken to mean that, on the 
 system of divine government so strenuously asserted by his friends, 
 viz., blessing and sufiFering awarded to men in this life strictly 
 according to their individual virtue or vice — God had taken away 
 his righteousness ; had dishonored and disowned it ; had not recog- 
 nized it as it was. If all his sufferings had been pure punishment 
 and nothing else, then, comparing himself with the rest of man- 
 kind, he had been overmatch punished. He knew he had honestly 
 sought, and labored to do, the known will of God. He saw hosts 
 of men who had neither sought to know God's will nor to do it, 
 yet his sufferings had been fearfully great, while their lot had 
 been almost or altogether uniformly prosperous. So contemplated 
 and so estimated, God had taken away from Job what would have 
 been a just and equitable apportionment of good or ill on the basis 
 of his moral goodness or perverseness. 
 
 This need not be construed to imply that Job arraigned the 
 Almighty as having dealt with him unjustly. We are not really 
 obliged to concede that Job claimed to be sinless before God, nor 
 even that his sufferings were greater than he deserved. But this 
 we must concede that, according to the doctrine of God's govern- 
 ment wliich teas 2)>'^ssed on him so persistently by his friends, 
 his "right had been taken away;" he had been punished quite 
 beyond his due proportion, compared with other men. So a man 
 wrongfully charged with murder might assert his innocence most 
 solemnly, even calling God to witness to his protestations, and yet 
 he might not claim to be in all respects sinless. He might say — • 
 Ye ought to understand me as speaking only to that charge 
 
 against me of murder. Yet the vindication of Job which I here 
 
 suggest is qualified, not absolute. He had said things of God and to 
 God which should have been more guarded, more reverent. When 
 ultimately he came to see God with nearer, clearer view, he ab- 
 horred himself and repented bitterly. "Who hath vexed my 
 
 soul" — in the sense of the Hebrew is— hath brought bitterness 
 upon my soul — bitter, fearful agony. — V. 3 carries the mind back 
 to Gen. 2 : 7 for the conception of life as imparted to man by the 
 breath or spirit of God, breathed into him. So long as I live — is 
 the idea — this life being the immediate gift of God. So long I wiU 
 speak truth and truth only — said with special reference to confess- 
 ing himself wicked and guilty in the sense charged by his friends. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVII. 147 
 
 6. God forbid that I should justify you : till I die I will 
 not remove mine integrity from me. 
 
 6. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go ; 
 my heart shall not reproach wie so long as I live. 
 
 Never will I admit the justice of your charges against me. I 
 can not, will not, deny my essential integrity, as opposed to the 
 hypocrisy and awful wickedness which ye impute to me. In this 
 sense we are to understand Joh as aiSrming his righteousness and 
 
 refusing to retract this affirmation. In the last clause of v. 6 
 
 our Eng. version comes short of the Hehrew, which means — my 
 
 heart shall not reproach any one of my days. In the phrase — 
 
 "God forbid" — our translators allowed themselves to use the 
 name of God where the original does not. It were better to fol- 
 low the original and say only — "Be it far from me; be it an abom- 
 ination to me ! Never let it be ! — The use of that sacred name for 
 the sake of emphasis should be reverently avoided. The prayer, 
 "Hallowed be thy name," should rule out, as inadmissible, the 
 translation — "God forbid." 
 
 7. Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth 
 up against me as the unrighteous. 
 
 Though I have maintained (Job would say) that the wicked 
 sometimes prosper through a \o\\g life, yet, let none suppose I 
 envy his happiness or have any sympathy with his sj^irit or his 
 life. Nay, verily. The worst wish I can have for my enemy is 
 that he may have the doom of the wicked. I can think of nothing 
 more dreadful — can ask for him no destiny more fearful. 
 
 From this point through the chapter Job descants upon the 
 fearful lot of the wicked even in this world. 
 
 8. For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath 
 gained, when God taketh away his soul? 
 
 9. Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? 
 Some word of broader significance than " hypocrite " would be 
 
 better here, for the thought is not of one who pi-etends to be Avhat 
 he is not; but of the robber, despoiler, who has enriched himself 
 by violence or fraud. What will his hope (?'. c, of enjoying his 
 accumulations) amount to though he hath torn away their goods 
 from others, when God shall similarly tear away his soul ? Will 
 God hear his cry in that dread hour ? 
 
 10. Will he delight himself in the Almighty ? will he al- 
 ways call upon God? 
 
 Has this despoiler of others ever chosen God for his portion 
 and his joy ? Has it been his habit to call upon God ? Or does 
 he not rather cry out for God only in his times of agony, when 
 God's fearful retributions crush him down ? 
 
 11. I will teach you by the hand of God; that Avhich is 
 with the Almighty will I not conceal. 
 
148 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 12. Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are 
 ye thus altogether vain ? 
 
 The meanino; is not — I will teach you hi/ the hefjJ of God ; 
 but this ; I will teach concerning God's hand ; concerning God's 
 ways of dealing with the ungodly. So in the parallel clause : 
 What is with the Almighty — his counsels and methods of deal- 
 ing with the wicked, I will not conceal, but will speak of them in 
 all plainness. Ye have all seen it; how comes it then that ye 
 have spoken so unwisely — have said so much that was only van- 
 ity ? Job implies that though his friends had seen the facts of 
 
 human life, they had reasoned from them with much fallacy — 
 unto vain, indefensible conclusions. 
 
 13. This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and 
 the heritage of oppressors, ichich they shall receive of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 This gives the reader the subject-matter of the rest of the chap- 
 ter — viz., the portion allotted to the wicked by the Almighty King. 
 Forcibly it is spoken of as "their heritage" — the. inheritance 
 which falls to them and of which they may be very sure. " What- 
 soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." " The wages of 
 sin is death." 
 
 14. If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword ; and 
 his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. 
 
 15. Those that remain of him shall be buried in death and 
 his widows shall not weep. 
 
 He may think himself blessed in many children ; but alas ! 
 
 they will be only food for the sword to devour. In v. 15, the 
 
 word " death " signifies the pestilence, often thought and spoken 
 of as a "great Death." The sense is that those who escape the 
 
 sword are swept to their early graves by the pestilence. That 
 
 " his widows make no lamentation" indicates forcibly that the 
 woes of his household come too thick and fast and are too terrible 
 to afford either time or heart for the customary oriental lamenta- 
 tions over the dead. Or, it may be implied that they die and no- 
 body cares — so worthless or worse than worthless to society had 
 
 they become ! The same thing is said (Ps. 78 : 64) in a similar 
 
 description of extreme calamity. 
 
 16. Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare 
 raiment as the clay ; 
 
 17. He may prepare ii, but the just shall put it on, and 
 the innocent shall divide the silver. 
 
 18. He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that 
 the keeper maketh. 
 
 The wicked amass clothing for the righteous to wear, and sil- 
 ver for the righteous to divide among themselves. SoGo.d utilizes 
 the wickedness of men to the benefit of the righteous — one of his 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVII. 149 
 
 ways of just retribution upon sin — one of the glorious testimonies 
 that the Great Father loves his oifspring and seeks their real 
 
 well-being. The wicked man builds his house as the moth does 
 
 his — for the moment only ; or as a booth, a rude tent which the 
 vineyard-keeper puts up for the few days while his presence by 
 night is needed for the protection of his ripening fruit. He may 
 flatter himself that he has built for long years— for a kind of 
 earthly immortality. Alas, for his mistake ! 
 
 19. The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gath- 
 ered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not. 
 
 20. Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth 
 him away in the night. 
 
 21. The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: 
 and as a storm, hurleth him out of his place. 
 
 The rich man must lie down in death, despite of all that his 
 riches can do to save him ; but he " shall not be gathered " to 
 the honored fathers who have gone before. This, we may remem- 
 ber, was the favored lot of the holy patriarchs — " gathered to their 
 fathers " — to the glorious company of the hallowed dead. See 
 Gen. 25 : 8 and 35 : 29 and 49 : 29 and Jer. 8 : 2 and Ezek. 29 : 5. 
 
 But no such honor awaits the ungodly rich at their death. 
 
 The fearful suddenness of his death is expressed in the words — 
 "He openeth his eyes, and he is not" ! Quick as a wink of the 
 eye, he is gone ! Terrors overtake him, rushing on like the water- 
 flloods. In the stillness of the night, a tempest snatches him 
 away. The Hebrew verb common for the sense " steal," implies 
 that it comes upon him unawares as a thief, yet resistless and ter- 
 rible as a tempest. The east wind — the dreaded Eurochlydon 
 
 of oriental lands and waters — bears him away and he is gone ! 
 Ah,. it hvrls him stormwise (the sense of the Ileb. verb) from his 
 place. So swift and resistless are the instruments of Jehovah's 
 vengeance to finish his work ! 
 
 22. For God shall cast upon him, and not spare : he would 
 fain flee out of his hand. 
 
 23. Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him 
 out of his place. 
 
 These terrors that seize him — the storm and the whirlwind that 
 hurl him out of the world, are put here as the very hand of the 
 Almighty. " He " [God] " shall cast [his bolts of lightning] 
 upon this wicked man and spare him not — -_show him no mercy! 
 O how gladly would this smitten sinner flee from Jehovah's hand 
 — if only he could! This passage suggests Ps. 11: 6; "Upon 
 the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horri- 
 ble tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup." Both these 
 passages have an eye on the rain of fire and ])rimstone upon 
 
 guilty Sodom. So universal is the feeling that this guilty man 
 
 deserves to die and that his death will bring relief and blessing to 
 
150 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 mankind that all unite to clap their hands over his fall and to hiss 
 him out of his place among the living ! In one aspect of his case, 
 survivors may stand aghast before the awfulness of such a doom ; 
 but in another, they feel a sense of relief from a living curse and 
 of rest under the retributive rule of the Almighty. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Job still continues Ins speech. 
 
 This memorable chapter celebrates the praises of wisdom, and 
 witnesses sublimely that man's search for it is vain, though he be 
 able to bore the mountains and dive deep into the bowels of the 
 everlasting hills for things most rare and precious. Beautifully 
 Job introduces his theme by setting forth the methods of mining 
 operations and the marvelous industry, skill and persistence 
 which they evince (v. 1-11) ; then passes on to ask where wisdom 
 shall be found (v. 12-14); and what most precious things can 
 measure its value (v. 15-19) ; — returning again to the question — 
 Whence shall wisdom come and where is its place of abode 
 (v. 20-22) ; thus bringing us to the final and grand conclusion 
 that none can know its home and none can bring it down to man 
 save God himself. God has found it; has used it in his glorious 
 woi'ka of creation, and commends it to his creature man, setting 
 forth that the perfection of wisdom for mortals is " to fear the 
 Lord and to depart from evil " (v. 23-28). 
 
 1. Surely there is a vein for tlie silver, and a place for gold 
 where they fine it. 
 
 2. Iron ia taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out 
 of the stone. 
 
 Job opens abruptly, hia first Avord signifying — not " surely," 
 but for, as if he had before his mind the entire theme of the 
 chapter : — For, though man knoweth the way to the silver 
 and the gold of the mountains, yet he knoweth not the home and 
 dwelling place of wisdom. " A place for gold which men re- 
 fine." Copper rather than "brass" — the latter being not a 
 
 simple mineral, but a compound of copper and zinc. The 
 miners find in the earth, therefore, not brass but copper — often 
 however impure from being mixed with what may be popularly 
 called " stone," from which it is separated by fusion. 
 
 . o. He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all 
 perfection : the stones of darkness, and the shadow of 
 death. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVIIT. 151 
 
 4. The flood breaketli out from the inhabitant; even the 
 waters forgotten of the foot : they are dried up, they are 
 gone away from men. 
 
 " Setting an end to darkness seems to mean that he penetrates to 
 the very uttermost limit of its reahn — i. e., underneath the moun- 
 tains, in the deep shafts which he sinks under the hills. He searches 
 out — not " all perfection," but to the extreme end of that realm of 
 darkness — the place where are found " stones of darkness," and 
 
 where "the shadow of death" reigns. In v. 4 our English 
 
 version misses the sense. The following somewhat free transla- 
 tion will give the verse a tangible significance : — " lie drives a 
 shaft far away from man's abode; in paths forgotten of the foot; 
 they hang pendulous, wanderers from among men." The miner 
 sinks his shaft deep into the hills, along paths unknown to human 
 feet; you see him hang suspended — gone like the roaming wan- 
 derer, far from where men dwell. 
 
 5. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread : and under it 
 is turned up as it were fire. 
 
 6. The stones of it are the place of sai)phires : and it bath 
 dust of gold. 
 
 The earth's surface supplies the soil for man's bread; but its 
 underlying regions are upturned, and desolated as with fire — 
 which may seem to favor the Vulcan geological hypothesis. Un- 
 questionably, the realm where the miner works bears abundant 
 traces of fusion under intense heat. 
 
 7. There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the 
 vulture's eye hath not seen : 
 
 8. The lion's Avhelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce 
 lion passed by it. 
 
 This under-rcalm of the miner — all unlike the wilderness and 
 the solitary places on the earth's surface, lies where no bird of 
 prey has seen — no lion's foot has trodden. 
 
 9. He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he over- 
 turneth the mountains by the roots. 
 
 10. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks ; and his eye 
 seeth every precious thing. ^' > >. i..tc u ■ £.>--<^-^v^ 
 
 11. He bindeth the floods from overflowing ; and the thing 
 that is hid bringeth he forth to light. 
 
 This is what the miner does. In v. 11 he is said to bind the 
 floods even from dripping, rather than "overflowing." He diverts 
 the waters into channels cut for the purpose, so that they shall 
 not be loceping upon him. 
 
 12. But where shall wisdom be found ? and where is the 
 place of understanding? 
 
152 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 13. Man knowetli not the price thereof; neither is it found 
 in the land of the living. 
 
 14. The depth saith, It is not in me : and the sea saith, It 
 is not with me. 
 
 The place and the price of wisdom are alike the object of in- 
 quiry. Man can search out the ruby and the sapphire ; can bring 
 up from the bowels of the earth most precious gold and silver ; 
 but where shall he find wisdom ? He calls to tlie deep and is 
 answered — "It is not in me." The "depth" and the " sea" are 
 only poetic variations as to name — two names for the same thing: 
 
 15. It can not be gotten for gold, neither shall silver- be-' 
 weighed for the price thereof. 
 
 16. It can not be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the. 
 precious oynx, or the sapphire. 
 
 17. The gold and the crystal can not equal it: and the 
 exchange of it sliall not he for jewels of fine gold. ■..<.' 
 
 18. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: |tjr 
 the price of wisdom i& above rubies. ' ^ •■ , ^ 
 
 19. The topaz of Ethioj)ia shall not equal it, neither s^^ti"' 
 it be valued with pure gold. 
 
 Grandly the poet calls for some precious thing which can 
 measure the value of wisdom. All are too poor to supply any . 
 standard whatever which can adequately express it. 
 
 20. "Whence then cometh wisdom ? and where is the place 
 of understanding ? 
 
 21. Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept 
 close from the fowls of the air. 
 
 22. Destruction and death say, "NVe have heard the fame 
 thereof with our ears. 
 
 He returns to the great question — "Whence cometh wisdom?" 
 Hidden from all human eyes, never discovered even by the far- 
 sighted fowls of the air; Destruction and Death have only 
 heard the rumor of it, but even they have never seen it. That 
 they should be thought of as having heard of wisdom, shall we 
 say in the wailings of the lost who go down to the realms of de- 
 struction for tlie want thereof and the guilty abuse of what they 
 did have — is inexpressibly touching, terribly suggestive. 
 
 23. God understandeth the Avay thereof, and he knoweth 
 the place thereof. 
 
 24. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth 
 under the whole heaven ; 
 
 25. To make the weight for the winds ; and he weigheth 
 the waters by measure. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIX. 158 
 
 26. "When he made a decree for tlie rain, and a way for 
 the lightning of the thunder ; 
 
 27. Then did he see it, and dedare it; he prepared it, 
 yea, and searched it out. 
 
 Man searches for the home and for the source or fountain of wi?- 
 dom, all in vain; but God understands the way thereof Ah 
 indeed, he knows it most perfectly. He saw it and brought it 
 into reqnisition, what time he determined the weight for the 
 winds and weighed out the great waters of the mighty seas, when 
 he fixed the ordinances for the rain and ordained the law for the 
 lightning and the thunder; — then he saw what for him was infin- 
 ite wi?dom, and ingrafted its results into this glorious frame-work 
 
 of nature and into her laws of sublimely grand operation. The 
 
 reader will recall the same line of thought in Prov. 8: 22-31. In- 
 deed it seems probable that the suggestive germs of thought in 
 that chapter by Solomon were found in this of Job The points 
 of resemblance are manifold. Apparently, Job was the antece- 
 dent, and Solomon developed the germs he found here. 
 
 ^3. Aud unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, 
 th?' is wisdom ; and to depart from evil ts understanding. 
 
 For man wisdom has a purpose and work far other than the 
 framing of nature's laws or the construction of material worlds. 
 To man he saitli simply — "Behold, the fear of the Lord for thee 
 is supreme wisdom; to depart from evil is thy highest and best 
 understanding. Be thou a humble disciple at the feet of thine 
 Infinite Maker and Father; so shall thy highest well-being be safe 
 under his care, thy heart reposing forever in the fullness of his 
 
 love. God's Avisdom is commended to us as seen in the fitness 
 
 and order, the beauty and beneficence, the grandeur and the glory, 
 of his visible works. Such wisdom must be adequate to instruct 
 man in the way of life and peace. Listen, therefore, oh man, to 
 the wise counsels of thine Infinite Maker. His voice proclaims: 
 "Behold, the fear of the Lord" — reverential and obedient — "that 
 is wisdom;" "to depart from evil is for thee the highest and best 
 understanding." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Job speaks of his better days. 
 
 The course of thought throughout this chapter is simple and 
 obvious, all perfectly true to nature for one who is consciously 
 broken down with disease and fallen from the position of influence 
 and honor which he held in his better days. How often Job's 
 
154 THE BOOK OF JOB. -CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 thought must have gone back to that honored and delightful Past — 
 saddened only by the feeling — Will it ever return? Would it 
 might possibly bel 
 
 1. Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 
 
 2. Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days ivhen 
 God preserved me ; 
 
 3. When his candle shined upon my head, and tvlien by 
 his light I walked through darkness ; 
 
 4. As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of 
 God ivas upon my tabernacle ; 
 
 5. When the Almighty was yet with me, when my chil- 
 dren ivere about me. 
 
 The first and foremost element in that former happy life was — 
 "God preserved me;" his lamp shone out over my head — with 
 allusion to the lamp suspended from the center of an oriental tent, 
 which shed down its soft and cheery light upon the heads of the 
 household. Illumined with this light of God, he could most joy- 
 fully walk through darkness and know it not. — As I was in my 
 autumn days (better than "days of my youth") the woi-d being 
 used for the period of ripened fruits and the joy of the harvest 
 ingathering. Job thinks of that as the time when he was reaping 
 the precious harvests of a well spent life. — When the favor of God 
 (more exact than the word "secret") — when God's favor rested 
 upon my tent. — There is pertinence in the choice of the name 
 "the Almighty" — when He who is almighty to save, infinitely 
 strong to protect and defend and in every way to bless — was with 
 me. And all my children — an unbroken family — were round 
 about me. Oh how unlike this present unutterable desolation I — 
 not a child spared to my home and to my heart ! 
 
 6. AVhen I washed my steps with butter, and the rock 
 poured me out rivers of oil ; 
 
 7. When I went out to the gate through the city, when 
 I prepared my seat in the street ! 
 
 8. The young men saw me, and hid themselves : and the 
 aged arose, and stood up. 
 
 "Washed my steps with butter" — puts the thing somewhat 
 more strongly than Job's Hebrew words, which rather mean — 
 lyiy steps were bathed in milk — which he had in plenty. — " Streams 
 of oil from the i-ock" seem to anticipate, by many whole cen- 
 turies, the "petroleum" of our own times. 1 know not what other 
 sense to give these words. "Streams" is more accurate than 
 " rivers," the Heb. word being currently used not for the great 
 rivers of nature, but for the artificial channels cut by the hand 
 of man for purposes of irrigation. 
 
 In those days Job seems to have officiated as judge, holding 
 this position by virtue of his age, wisdom and known integrity. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXIX. 155 
 
 Courts being hold at the city gates, Job was there in business 
 hours, placing his seat in the opeii sj)aces near the gate — so the 
 Heb. word means — and not " in the street," considered as the 
 thoroughfare of travel. At his coming, young men retired respect- 
 fully and quietly, while the aged arose and stood in honor of 
 their chief. 
 
 9. The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on 
 tlieir mouth. 
 
 10. The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved 
 to the roof of their mouth. 
 
 11. When the ear heard me, then it blessed me ; and when 
 the eye saw me, it gave Avitness to me : 
 
 12. Because I deliverd the poor that ciied, and the father- 
 less, and him that had none to help him. 
 
 13. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came 
 upon me : and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. 
 
 • "When the eye saw me it gave witness " by such tokens of rec- 
 ognition as were most significant of profound respect. Notice- 
 ably the ground for this honest respect was the intrinsic justice 
 and goodness of Job's decisions. He proved himself worthy of 
 all honor, and his people gladly accorded it to him. The widows 
 and the fatherless were loud and emphatic in his praise, and all 
 humanity was glad thereof! 
 
 14. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me : my judg- 
 ment uns as a robe and a diadem. 
 
 In this verse we have a very curious play upon words, resulting 
 in noble thought, beautifully expressed. Literally we might ren- 
 der: — I put on ri(/hteo7tsness, and it 2}i(t on me. But by usage 
 the sense of the first clause is, I put on righteousness, not as a 
 hypocritical, outside show, but by taking it into my very being (as 
 Paul speaks of "putting on Christ") — engrafting it into my char- 
 acter; conforhiing my heart and life to its principles and behests. 
 
 Then "righteousness put on me" in the sense of honoring me 
 as its worthy representative, and of being itself set forth well 
 
 recommended and illustrated by my example. The last clause 
 
 of the verse declares — My inherent justice, always manifesting 
 itself in my life, became to me as a robe and a diadem — right 
 royal apparel. 
 
 15. I was eyes to the blind, and feet xms I to the lame. 
 
 16. I was a father to the poor : and the cause tvhich I knew 
 not I searched out. 
 
 17. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the 
 spoil out of his teeth. 
 
 We shall be excused if we envy .Job the sweet recollections of 
 puch a life. Giving one's best and utmost labor to blessings upon 
 
15G THE BOOK OF JOB. CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 the needy ; becoming eyes to the blind and feet to the Lame and 
 succor to the wi'onged; — ah, angels might be thankful for such 
 
 Avork to do and for the joy that comes of it ! "The cause I had 
 
 not known" (v. 16) we may suppose to be that of one personally 
 a stranger — a fact which shows that Job's humane sympathies 
 Avere broader than the circle of old friends or personal acquaint- 
 ance. The " searching otit " testifies to his substantial integ- 
 rity and patient industry, sparing no pains to get the whole truth 
 and to award full and equal justice. A magnificent model for a 
 judge! 
 
 The recollection of such a life would have refreshed the soul of 
 this great sufferer, but for the agonizing perplexity of the prob- 
 lem — Why does God scourge me thus, apparently for a life so 
 honest and so true to the interests of humanity and to the known 
 
 will of my Maker? In v. 17, Job tacitly compares the man of 
 
 violence, fraud, or extortion, to a wild beast — the hyenas or lions 
 of the desert. I brake in his fangs ; I plucked from his teeth his 
 prey — the flesh he had torn off from his victim. This last verb, 
 " plucked," carries in it the further sense — cast it forth — plucked 
 it out and put it in a place of safety. 
 
 18. Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multi- 
 ply my days as the sand. 
 
 19. My root %vas spread out by the waters, and the dew 
 lay all night upon ;ny branch. 
 
 20. My glory was fresh iu me, and my bow was renewed 
 in my hand. 
 
 Why should not Job naturally assume that under the providence 
 of a God at once just and good, his life of integrity and piety, 
 " fearing God and eschewing evil," would have no reverses ; would 
 escape all calamities, and certainly all manifest inflictions from 
 God's hand. "I shall die in my nest," having numbered my 
 earthly days as the sand. He could not drop his eye on his 
 present case without astonishment — nay, amazement. How did 
 it perplex and confound him — that such a life, under the rule of 
 such a God, should lead on into this dreadful misery ! 
 
 Taking his imagery from the vegetable world, he says — My root 
 is open to the waters ; the dew lies all night on my branch: — con- 
 ditions which in his climate ensured growth, freshness, fertility. 
 
 " My glory fresh upon me" still follows out the same figure, 
 
 the glory of vegetable life being its perpetual freshness. By 
 
 what processes the bow [of war] was renewed in strength in the 
 hand is not certainly known ; perhaps by unbending it to give the 
 fibers opportunity to recover their normal elasticity and force. 
 
 21. Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence 
 at ray counsel. 
 
 22. After my words they spake not again ; and my speech 
 dropped upon them. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXX. 157 
 
 23. And they waited for me as for the rain ; and they 
 opened their inouth wide as for the latter rain. 
 
 Not, "kept silence at my counsel," as if he meant to say, when 
 I advised it ; but kept silence, waiting for my counsel. This is 
 
 the well defined sense of the Hebrew. " My speech dropped " — 
 
 better, dripped, fell like the dew, grateful, refreshing. In those 
 dry, desert regions, waiting for the rain is a figure full of signifi- 
 cance. 
 
 24. If I Laughed on them, they believed it not ; and the 
 light of my countenance they cast not down. 
 
 25. I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a 
 king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners. 
 
 Smile gives the true sense better than "laugh," since the latter 
 might imply contempt which would be utterly out of place 
 here. "I smiled on them : " they could not believe their eyes: it 
 seemed too good to be true. They did nothing to cause the light 
 of my countenance to fall — used like the phrase — " his counte- 
 nance fell," meaning that for smiles came frowns. My judgment 
 
 and expressed will determined their course [or as some critics take 
 it,] I gladly put myself in their company, and sat among them an 
 acknowledged chief; or like a king at the head of his armed 
 hosts; yet not ruling despotically, but enjoying the consideration 
 
 and love accorded to him who comforts mourners. All in all, a 
 
 most delightful description of an Arab chieftain, a Shiek among 
 his people, of most amiable spirit and most benign influence, en- 
 joying the unbounded esteem and respect of his tribe. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Job speaks of Jiis sad and desolate present. 
 
 This chapter paints Job's present in contrast with his past, as 
 in chap. 29. There, in the highest honor; here, in utter dis- 
 honor; there, prosperous and happy, his cup filled with all de- 
 sirable earthly good; here, afiiicted, overwhelmed, abhorred 
 of men, denied a hearing of God; his cup absolutely full with all 
 imaginable forms of human misery. Noticeably Job sets forth 
 the depth of dishonor icto which he had sunk by showing how 
 mean and low were the people Avho now looked down contemptu- 
 ously upon him (v. 1-15) ; — and then describes by various figures 
 the depth of his sorrows and the utter desolation of his state, 
 especially because he is so manifestly forsaken of God (v. 16-31). 
 
 1. But now they that are younger than I, have me in de- 
 
158 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXX. 
 
 rision, whose fathers I would have disdained to .have set with 
 the dogs of my flock. 
 
 2. Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit 
 me, in Avhom old age was perished ? 
 
 3. For want and famine they were solitary ; fleeing into the 
 wilderness in former time desolate and waste. 
 
 The great respect for age, universal in those days throughout 
 all oriental society, makes this a strong point — that those far 
 younger thau liimself should mock and insult him, even boys 
 whose fathers were so far below him in social rank that he had 
 
 disdained to set them with the dogs of his flock. V. 2 heightens 
 
 the picture of those scoffing young men by saying that the 
 strength of their hands could avail him nothing were they never 
 so well disposed, for all their hope of a vigorous old age had per- 
 ished and gone. Vice and crime had exhausted their vital forces 
 long before their normal time. Such imbecility sinks young men 
 
 to the lowest point of worthlessness and contempt. In v. 3, 
 
 the best modern critics give a different meaning to several 
 words. Not " solitary," but famished with vrant and hunger. 
 Instead of "fleeing into the wilderness," some put it — gnawing 
 doion the desert as cattle and horses gnaw down the bare pastures 
 for a hai'd living. Rather than — " in former time desolate," 
 Gesenius puts it — tlie night or darkness of desolate wastes — 
 assuming that darkness is made a figure for extreme desolation. 
 
 All these word? in question arc of rare occurrence. Hence 
 
 their precise significance is somewhat in doubt. 
 
 4. Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots 
 for their meat. 
 
 5. They were driven forth from among men, (they cried 
 after them as after a thief). 
 
 6. To dwell in the cliffs of the valley, in caves of the 
 earth, and in the rocks. 
 
 7. Among the bushes they brayed ; under the nettles they 
 were gathered together. 
 
 8. They were children of fools, yea, children of base men ; 
 they were viler than the earth. 
 
 These low, savage tribes are well described by the food on 
 which they subsist — the wild shrubs and roots which the desert 
 affords. They were driven forth from the abodes of civilized 
 men who shouted after them — hooted them ofi" as men do the 
 thief — to dwell in horrible ravines, in caverns and rock fissures. 
 It is a question whether these are not the aboriginal " Horites " 
 — which is the very word used here, translated " Caves" — an old 
 race of savage men, several times alluded to in Hebrew history ; 
 e. g., Gen. 14: 6 and 36: 20 and Deut. 2: 12, 22. Remark- 
 ably, their thoroughly savage nature and life were manifest in 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXX. 159 
 
 their voice, more asinine than human ; more like the braying 
 
 of an ass than the melody of cultured eloquence or music. 
 
 Under the nettles they lie s2)raiohd out — this being more true to 
 
 the original than merely " gathered together." In v. 8 the 
 
 last clause means, " they were beaten [driven] out of the land," 
 — too mean, too low and vicious to be tolerated among civilized 
 J)eople. 
 
 9. And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. 
 
 10. They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to 
 spit in my face. 
 
 Even such men, so utterly base and contemptible, affect to despise 
 and abhor me. They stand aloof from me as if fearing some con- 
 tamination from my presence; " they do not forbear to spit before 
 me" — this being without question the sense of the original. But 
 the reader should remember that according to oriental ideas, to 
 spit in another's presence was no less insulting than to spit in his 
 
 face. Let us bear in mind throughout this passage that Job 
 
 measures the deep dishonor and contempt into which he had fallen 
 among men, by the utter abasement of these savage people who 
 affected to despise him. 
 
 11. Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they 
 have also let loose the bridle before me. 
 
 Here we must read — not my "cord" but his, referring to God 
 who is thought of as loosing the cord which had restrained him 
 from inflicting the scourge upon Job. Because God had applied 
 the dreadful scourge upon his servant Job with apparently no re- 
 straint and almost without measure, they also cast off their 
 •restraining bridle, and poured their contempt on Job with loose 
 rein. Job means to say that they felt themselves free to insult 
 and torment him because they supposed him to be stricken and 
 smitten of God. 
 
 12. Upon viy right hand rise the youth ; they push away 
 my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their de- 
 struction. 
 
 13. They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, 
 they have no helper. 
 
 The word "youth" is too respectful to represent the Hebrew' 
 which has here none of its usual words for youth, but a rare term, 
 better translated brood or herd — a rabble. Being boys in years, 
 they ought to have treated the aged Job with deference ; but in- 
 stead, they thrust aside his feet—/, e., to trip him up as he passed 
 near them.* " Raising against him their ways of destruction," 
 
 *Some critics however take the clause in the same sense as in Job 
 24 : 4 — referring it to one's ri(/ht path — to the enjoyment of his rights. 
 But in the latter sense, we always have a difl'erent verb from the 
 one here, viz., (i^^^) 
 
160 THE BOOK OP JOB. — CHAP. XXX. 
 
 borrows its terms from military life — the raising of mounds from 
 ■which to assault a fortified city. The sense — They deliberately, 
 
 industriously contrive to abuse, insult, destroy me. " They 
 
 break up my path" — tear up the ground before me — making it 
 rugged, impassable. They help on my utter fall ; there is none to 
 help me against them — this being the obvious sense of the last 
 clause of v. 13. 
 
 14. They came upo7i vie as a wide breaking in of scalers ; 
 in the desolation they rolled themselves ^qJon me. 
 
 15. Terrors are turned upon me : they pursue my soul as 
 the wind ; and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. 
 
 They rush upon me with insult and wrong as water-floods rush 
 through a yawning crevasse in the dyke. They come upon me as 
 such floods roll on, wave upon wave. " Terrors" constitute the 
 tide that is thus turned and let loose upon me. They chase away 
 my dignity — ^my princely estate — even as a wind-storm drives and 
 beats down all before it. My prosperity [salvation, Heb.] has 
 
 passed away as a cloud does. By these accumulated figures Job 
 
 sets forth the unutterable desolation that has come over him, es- 
 pecially in the contempt heaped upon him by the basest of men. 
 
 It is remarkable that thus far in this chapter. Job does not put 
 in the foreground his loss of property, nor of children, nor even 
 his physical sufferings; but prominently and almost exclusively 
 the contempt manifested toward him by the lowest specimens of 
 beings called human. And this was specially afilictive because it 
 suggested and even reflected back upon him the rebuke of the 
 Almighty. These meanest of men thought the ways of God to- 
 ward Job justified them in turning upon him their utmost insult 
 and abuse. 
 
 16. And now my soul is poured out upon me ; the days of 
 affliction have taken hold upon me. 
 
 17. My bones are pierced in me in the night season : and 
 my sinews take no rest. 
 
 18. By the great force of my disease is my garment changed : 
 it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. 
 
 " My soul poured out " [not 112)011 but] " within me " — by a 
 figure similar to that in 22: 16; "God maketh my heart *sqft ;" 
 no strength, no firmness left in me. Days of affliction have seized 
 
 upon me and hold me in their dreadful grip. In the last clause 
 
 of V. 17, better than " sinews" is the word gnawers — the gnawing 
 
 pains eating into my sensitive nerves. In v. 18- " my garment ' 
 
 is probably his skin, thought of as covering his tortured nerves as 
 a garment does the body — his skin being the seat of his disease. 
 
 " Changed," in the sense of disfigured — this form of the verb 
 
 being used in the sense of disguised — so altered in appearance as 
 to forbid recognitioiK This skin, shrivelled, shrunk, cracked — 
 came to bind him about as a close-fitting tunic. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXX. IGl 
 
 « 
 
 19. He hatli cast nie into tlie mire, and I am become like 
 dust and ashes. 
 
 20. I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me : I stand 
 up, and thou regardest me not. 
 
 21. Thou art become cruel tome: with thy strong hand 
 thou opposest thyself against me. 
 
 22. Thou liftest me up to the wind ; thou causest me to 
 ride tipon it, and dissolvest my substance. 
 
 Job attributes all this to God's immediate agency. Worst of all, 
 when 1 cry to God, he does not hear : I stand up and thou seest 
 me [so the Hebrew], yet givest me no answer — no token of favor- 
 ing recognition. (V. 22) Thou liftest me up to the wind, to ex- 
 pose me to its utmost violence, and dost cause me to be borne 
 
 away on its rudest blast. In the last clause — not, "dissolvest 
 
 my substance," but causest me to be dissolved in the crash of the 
 tempest — utterly broken in pieces, powerless to resist the tornado 
 of thy wrath. 
 
 23. For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to 
 the house appointed for all living. 
 
 24. Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, 
 though they cry in his destruction. 
 
 Job sees death near and certain ; and (v. 24) knows that then 
 no prayer can be availing. The English version of this is infe- 
 licitous. Better thus : Surely, there is no prayer [to purpose] 
 when he [God] stretcheth forth the hand, nor is any cry for help 
 possible [or availing] for them when He destroys. 
 
 25. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble ? was not 
 my soul grieved for the poor ? 
 
 Is it supposable that Job meant to put his own compassion in 
 hearing the cry of the suffering, in contrast with what he had just 
 before said of God ? Or does he allude to his own case only to sug- 
 gest how strange and perplexing the ways of God seemed to his 
 view? Instead of the interrogative form, the strongly affirma- 
 tive better expresses the original ; — Most surely, verily, I have 
 wept for those who were " hai'd of day " — having a hard time. 
 My soul sorrowed for the poor. 
 
 26. When I looked for good, then evil came mito me: and 
 when I waited for light, there came darkness. 
 
 27. My bowels boiled, and rested not : the days of afflic- 
 tion prevented me. 
 
 28. I "went mourning without the sun : I stood up, and I 
 cried in the congregation. 
 
 29. I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. 
 
 It was one bitter element of hia great sorrow that it came un- 
 8 
 
162 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXX. 
 
 expectedly. He had hoped — and thought he might reasonably hope 
 — that a life devoted to " fearing God and eschewing evil " would 
 
 insure him peace and prosperity. Why not? But now, when 
 
 he looked for good, there came evil. In v. 27, " prevent" needs 
 
 the modification usual thi-oughout our English version, to the sense 
 anticipate — to get in before me and meet me, as it were, in the 
 
 face. "I went mourning without the sun "—^should rather be — 
 
 I go about blackened, yet not with sun-heat ; the body fearfully 
 disfigured, made foul with disease. Sun-heat was not the cause. 
 
 "A brother to jackalls" — cast out of the society of men, 
 
 moaning and wailing in lonely desolation ! Alas ! what a picture 
 
 of deep and crushing grief! These animals were well known 
 
 examples of sad, jalaintive outcries. 
 
 30. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned 
 with heat. 
 
 31. My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ 
 
 into the voice of" them that weep. 
 
 • 
 
 A fever-heat consuming his bones — what can his harp and 
 organ give forth but plaintive notes of woe ! 
 
 . The close of this chapter is a suitable point at which to arrest 
 the special exposition of detached passages and give our thought 
 a moment to one of the great moral lessons of the book, viz., The 
 social and moral bearings of the doctrine that suffering in this life 
 710^ only livesvpposes sin, but accurately measures its aggrava- 
 tinn ; inasmuch as good or evil, sent of Ciod in his providence, 
 must be taken as blessing or curse, adjusted to a perfect retribu- 
 tion in time. Such, we have seen, Avas the doctrine of Job's three 
 friends — men moving in the highest and most intelligent social 
 circles. It is equally manifest in the Horites described in this chap- 
 ter, moving far down on the social scale in the lowest barbarism. 
 
 What was the social and moral influence of this doctrine as 
 shown in their treatment of Job ? 
 
 Taking separately these two extremes of society, and turning 
 first to the higher class represented by Job's three friends, we 
 take them to be men who fairly represent the religious class, for 
 else they would not have been numbered among JoIj's special 
 friends. This mistaken view of God's ways in providence had 
 the effect on their souls of drying up almost the last drop of 
 human sympathy. They felt so sure that Job was wicked, even 
 one of the most wicked of men, that they felt bound to push thia 
 conviction of theirs persistently upon him; to charge him with 
 crimes all unknown to his life; to suppress every manifestation of 
 pity, compassion or sympathy, and give the utmost scope to what 
 they deemed their paramount duty— viz., to convict him of crimes, 
 though he had never committed them — of sins as to which he w^as 
 consciously innocent, and to make him believe, if they could, that 
 his unpi-ecedented sufferings Avere God's witnesses to prove him 
 the chief of sinners Miserable comforters were they all ! — for no 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXI. 163 
 
 other men aggravated his sufferincs so fearfully as they. They 
 conkl torture him in no Avay so effectually as by perpetually push- 
 ing liim into the feeling that (iod was exposing and punishing 
 some great sin of his. — Apparently these three friends were too good 
 to I)e reached by envy at Job's great prosperity and the consequent 
 mean gratification of their own selfishness over his fall. Those 
 contemptible savages, depicted in this chap. 30, may have been 
 open to such feelings, for men who are conscious of being on the 
 lowest plane of human character are naturally glad to .see men of 
 high social position and of the finest moral character, brought 
 down. But we will not suspect that any views of this sort had 
 poisoned the souls of these old friends of Job. That which is so 
 repulsive to us in their cold-hearted philippics upon Job must be 
 put to the account of their doctrine of providence which in their 
 view compelled them to infer that Job was only a vile hypocrite, 
 an enemy of God, a monster in crime. Ah, they had not heard 
 the Savior of men expound the true doctrine in answer to the 
 question, " Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was 
 born blind?'' (John 9: 2, 3); or in both asking and answering, on 
 another occasion : " Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners 
 above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell 
 you. Nay," etc., (Luke 13 : 1-5). — Doubtless we may conclude that 
 one moral purpose to be answered (incidentally) by this book of 
 Job was to throw light upon the terrible mischiefs of thq-fiilse 
 doctrine held by Job's friends. If that doctrine were to prevail, 
 how fearfully would Christian sympathy with great sufferers be 
 ruled out of human bosoms, and how terribly would Christian 
 fidelity to the souls of the suffering be perverted to their insup- 
 portable agony! 
 
 CHA.PTER XXXI. 
 
 Conscious of innocence, Job imj^recaies calamites vjyon liimself 
 if he has been guilty as his friends had charged. 
 
 In this last long speech of Job, he very properly avers his inno- 
 cence of the great crimes charged upon him by his friends. Some 
 of these had been chai-ged specifically (e. g., by Eliphaz, chap. 22); 
 others were fully implied in the general imputation of the greatest 
 and most scandalous sins. Naturally the sins brought out in 
 detail here are those in worst repute in that oriental society, esti- 
 mated by the standard of public opinion in that age and country. 
 We shall have occasion to notice that Job makes these protes- 
 tations of innocence as in the presence of the Great Searcher of 
 hearts whose soul is too pure and eye too keen not to see and con- 
 demn iniquity (v. 2-4). The strain of the chapter in general is 
 that of specifying great sins and then affirming himself innocent 
 
164 • THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXT. 
 
 of them — imprecating on himself the extrcmest judgments if he 
 has been guilty. 
 
 1. I made a covenant with mine eyes ; why then should I 
 think upon a maid ? 
 
 This fii'st verse stands by itself, giving a specimen of the habit 
 of his godly life as a man who " eschewed evil." He guarded his 
 soul carefully, vigilantly, against the approaclies of temptation. 
 He made a covenant with his eyes that they should not become a 
 snare to seduce him toward sin. 
 
 2. For wdiat portion of God is there from above? and ivliat 
 inheritance of the Ahniglity from on higli ? 
 
 3. Is not destruction to the wicked ? and a strange punish- 
 ment to the workers of iniquity? 
 
 4. Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps ? 
 
 "Portion of the Almighty" must not be understood to mean a 
 part of him, but an allotment or award made by him and coming 
 upon men from him. So the second and parallel clause means, 
 an inheritance from and by him as the wages of sin. Is not this 
 allotment from the Almighty one of destruction to the wicked — of 
 calamity — appalling, overwhelming — upon -the workers of in- 
 iqui^? — and coming, moreover, from One who sees all my waj's? 
 
 Thus in the very opening of this chapter. Job expresses his 
 
 deep conviction that God's justice insures the punishment of the 
 wicked, and that his omniscience renders all concealment and 
 evasion utterly and forever impossible. 
 
 5. If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted 
 to deceit ; 
 
 6. Let me be weighed in an even bahince, that God may 
 know mine integrity. 
 
 If my life has been a lie, swerving frota truth and living false- 
 hood and deceit, He will weigh me in scales of justice (so the 
 Hebrew has it), and God will know my innocence. This transla- 
 tion is shaped closely to the original. I take it therefore to ex- 
 press Job's solemn confidence that his general integrity of life 
 would abide the scrutiny of God ; and that the charge of hypocrisy 
 and of a false, deceitful life, could not stand. 
 
 7. If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart 
 walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine 
 hands ; 
 
 8. TJien let me sow, and let another eat ; yea, let my off- 
 sjiring be rooted out. 
 
 "If my steps have deflected" (this Heb. verb always in a bad 
 sense) "from the way" — i. e., the right way (the Heb. article 
 implying this) the only fit way; and if my heart has gone after my 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXI. 165 
 
 eyes (see v. 1) — the eye seducing the heart; then let my harvests 
 be for others to eat; let my crops (products of my planting) be 
 torn up by the roots — the thought being not of offspring in the 
 sense of claildren but of vegetable growths that others might root 
 up. 
 
 9. If mine heart have been deceived by a -woman, or if 
 I have laid wait at my neighbor's door ; 
 
 10. Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others 
 bow down upon her. 
 
 11. For this is a heinous crime ; yea, it is an iniquity to be 
 2yu)mhed by the judges. 
 
 12. For it i? a fire that consumeth to destruction, and 
 would root out all my increase. 
 
 If my heart hath been enticed toward woman, and I have been 
 an adulterer, let my own wife become the menial slave of another, 
 to grind at his hand-mill (the service assigned to the lowest slave), 
 and let her be another's concubine. For this is a heinous crime, 
 the Heb. word involving the element of purpose, thought, plotting; 
 and therefore more flagrant than sins of inadvertence or of sudden 
 impulse.-— — A crime for the judges, i. e., to take cognizance of, 
 and to punish — evincing a somewhat advanced stage of civiliza- 
 tion. Moreover, this is a sin of terrible power for mischief, one 
 
 that devours even to the bottomless pit — ruins the sinner, soul and 
 body. Noticeably, Solomon bears the same testimony to the ag- 
 gravation of this sin and to its sure, swift, terrible mischiefs, 
 (Prov. 6 : 24-35). 
 
 13. If I did despise the cause of my man-servant or of my 
 maid-servant, w'hen they contended Avith me ; 
 
 14. What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when 
 he visiteth, what shall I answer him ? 
 
 15. Did not he that made me in the womb make him? 
 and did not one fashion us in the womb? 
 
 Noble sentiments, forcibly put! How deep and how just is Job's 
 conviction that God befriends the defenseless poor, and will surely 
 arouse himself to vindicate their cause and bring retribution on 
 their oppressors ! Is not lie the Father of the servant as truly as 
 of his master ? Did not One — i. e., the one only God and Father of 
 all — fashion us all before our birth ? 
 
 16. If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have 
 caused the eyes of the widow to fail ; 
 
 17. Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the father- 
 less hath not eaten thereof; 
 
 18. (For from my youth he Avas brought up Avith me, as 
 with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's 
 Avomb ; ) 
 
166 • THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 " Caused the eyes of the widow to fail," — literally to consume 
 away as with hopeless tears and bitter grief If I have been reck- 
 less as to the rights of hospitality and as to the claims of the 
 fatherless, the orphan, otherwise destitute. Fi-om his early 
 youth ; — he might say even from his mother's womb, he had been 
 brought up with poor orphans by his side, fed from the same table. 
 
 The sweet charities that reached and blessed the dependent 
 
 classes in those days were individual and personal, and not as is 
 largely the case in our times, administered through " Asylums for 
 the orphan" and " Homes for the friendless." Men of large means 
 and large hearts also are represented by Job as shown here — ex- 
 ceedingly to their honor and richly to the culture of genuine 
 benevolence. 
 
 19. If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any 
 poor without covering ; 
 
 20. If his loins have not blessed me, and ?/ he were not 
 Avarined with the fleece of my sheep ; 
 
 21. If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, 
 when I saw my help in the gate; 
 
 22. Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder-blade, and 
 mine arm be broken from the bone. 
 
 23. For destruction /ro3?i God was a terror to me, and by 
 reason of his highness I could not endure. 
 
 Not food only and home did Job supply to the needy, but cloth- 
 ing. — "If his loins have not blessed me" for the comfort of warm 
 clothing — as if his loins were themselves intelligently conscious 
 and grateful. — "When I saw my help in the gate" — my helper, 
 one who could help me carry my suit against them in the court 
 ["gate"]. If when I had a legal advantage and might have car- 
 ried my case against them, I pushed my claim, contrary to the 
 law of kindness and benevolence; then let my arm drop from my 
 shoulder-blade, etc. For how could 1 endure the destruction God 
 would senTl upon me for such inhumanity ? — The last clause 
 better thus: — "Before his luajesty, I cotild not; I should be 
 powerless ! 
 
 24. If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine 
 gold, Thou art my confidence ; 
 
 25. If I rejoiced because my wealth uns great, and because 
 mine hand had gotten much ; 
 
 To make gold one's idol-god and large wealth the real trust 
 of the heart, is but too often the besetting sin of the prosperous 
 Job avers his innocence of this sin. 
 
 26. If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walk- 
 ing in brightness ; 
 
 27. And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my 
 mouth hath kissed my hand ; 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXI. 167 
 
 28. This also were an iniquity to he punished by the judge ; 
 for I should have denied the God that is above. 
 
 This is the earliest known form of idolatry — the worship of the 
 heavenly bodies. — "My mouth hath kissed my hand" — is not 
 exactly accurate, the Hebrew being — "If my hand hath gently 
 touched my mouth" — after which the hand was waved toward the 
 
 distant object, as if to pass up the kiss as an act of worship. 
 
 This form of idolatry was a civil crime, punishable at law; and 
 moreover, would involve really a denial of God's supreme and 
 exclusive right to the homage of his intelligent creatures. Both 
 points go far to prove in Job's age and country a very consider- 
 able knowledge of the true God and of the obligations of men to 
 worship and serve Him, and Him only. 
 
 29. If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, 
 or lifted up myself when evil found him ; 
 
 30. (Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing 
 a curse to his soul.) 
 
 To this sin of the heart, as opposed to sins of external act, t"here 
 are subtle temptations — so subtle that few altogether escape 
 them. — "Lifted up myself," elated arid glad, perhaps boastful, 
 when evil befell him. — " By wishing a curse," is rather, by asking, 
 Avith cursing, for his life, i. e., by imprecations against his life. 
 
 The reader will notice that throughout a somewhat extended 
 passage, beginning here and continuing to v. 34, the sense is sus- 
 pended — Job saying. If I Have done this ; if I have done that, 
 etc., — till at length (v. 34) we find the curse which, if guilty, he 
 imprecates upon himself. 
 
 31. If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had 
 of his flesh ! we can not be satisfied. 
 
 32. The stranger did not lodge in the street : but I opened 
 my doors to the traveler. 
 
 In V. 31 our English version not only fails to give the sense 
 well, but really gives the very opposite of what Job said. Accord- 
 ing to our English, the men of Job's tent did say — "Oh that we 
 had some of his flesh to eat ! We famish and can not have enough" — 
 wdiich would have been a flagrant violation, not of the law of 
 kindness only, but of justice. Wiiat Job really said was this: 
 The men of my tent say — Who will give [or produce] one, not 
 satisfied to the full Avith his flesh ? They challenge the world to 
 produce a man who, being present there, has not been ami)ly fed 
 at Job's table. "The men of his tent" were his servants, Avaiting 
 upon Ills guests. They could speak from personal knoAvledge. < 
 
 33. If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding 
 mine iniquity in my bosom : 
 
 According to the history in Gen. 3, Adam was an illustratiA'e 
 case of covering sin in these several respects: — that he did not 
 
168 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 confess the fact till forced to it; that he sought to cover his guilt 
 by apologies and self-vindications; and sought to hide himself 
 personally from the eye of his Maker — all these efforts being alike 
 futile and foolish, as all attempts to cover sin from the eye of God 
 must always be. Job had been boldly and persistently charged 
 vrith hypocrisy. It was therefore pertinent to his case to place 
 this on the list of sins of which he was not guilty. 
 
 34. Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of 
 families terrify me, that I kept silence, a7id went not out of 
 the door ? 
 
 The English version here is specially infelicitous in many 
 respects. The Hebrew gives no authority for putting the verse 
 in the form of a question. It is by no means clear how " keeping 
 silence" and " not going forth from his door" because he was 
 " afraid of a great multitude," should be a sin. This translation 
 
 fails therefore to make any proper sense. The clew to its real 
 
 significance lies in making it what grammarians call the apodosis 
 of the sentence. In this case, the sentence is long, beginning as 
 far back as v. 29. From that point onward to this verse 34, the 
 sense has been suspended: Ifl rejoiced over my enemy's fall; if 
 the men of my tent have not had occasion to say that never a 
 stranger failed of bread in Job's house; if\ have covered my sin 
 as Adam — then what ? Something must be put as the curse im- 
 pi'ecated upon himself if these sins should be proven upon him. 
 What is this something ? What is the counterpart [apodosis] of 
 this long sentence.? — It is found in this verse — which should com- 
 mence: Then, in that case, let me dread [tremble before] the 
 great assembly : let the contempt of whole tribes confound me ; 
 let me be duui):), nor venture forth from my door [for shame] ! — 
 So read, the verse amounts to a terrible imprecation. Let the 
 most public disgrace overwhelm me! Let me be forced to slink 
 away from the public eye and never show my face again ! 
 
 35. Oh that one Avould hear me ! behold, my desire is, 
 that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary 
 had written a book. 
 
 36. Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it 
 a,s a crown to me. 
 
 37. I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as 
 a prince would I go near unto him. 
 
 In previous speeches Job had passionately invoked a hearing be- 
 fore God; (e. g., chap. 13: 3, 19-24) "Surely, I would speak to 
 the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. Call thou, and I 
 will answer ; or let me speak, and answer thou me." Here, in 
 language borrowed from the forms in human tribunals, he repeats 
 the same request: "Oh, that there were some one to hear me! " 
 " Behold my sign " — or mark I So the word translated " desire " 
 should be put. This sign of the cross (■J*) was equivalent to the 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXI. 169 
 
 signature of his name, and in this connection it implied that he 
 had put his case in writing and now indorsed it and would 
 stand to it before the court. He proceeds: "Let the Al- 
 mighty answer me; let my legal opponent (literally, the one 
 who is to plead against me) put his charge in Avriting." The 
 sense is not by any means that he wishes his adversary Avere 
 an author that he might (forsooth) have the license of a critic to 
 review and scathe him ! Far enough from that is the sense here. 
 Oh, that he would put his charge in icriting ; then if\ would 
 not take it upon my shoulder and bind it upon my head as a 
 crown ! The whole number of my steps (all my moral conduct) I 
 would put before him ; I Avould come near him like a prince. I 
 should not shrink away abashed under conscious guilt; nay, 
 verily : but I would meet him fearlessly and challenge the fullest 
 investigation.— — A stronger assertion of substantial innocence 
 of the grievous charges brought against him by his opponents, 
 Job could not have made. He declares himself ready for an in- 
 vestigation before the Infinite God ! 
 
 38. If my land cry against me, or that the furrows like- 
 wise thereof complain ; 
 
 39. If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or 
 have caused the owners thereof to lose their life : 
 
 40. Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead 
 of barley. The words of Job are ended. 
 
 One more sin is named here, in the same hypothetical w^ay: If 
 I have been guilty of this, let the proper retribution come upon 
 
 me in the line of my sin. The sin is that of defrauding his 
 
 tenants and withholding the wages of his farm-laborers. Re- 
 markably he thinks of the land itself as remonstrating against 
 such oppression and the very furrows as weeping in sympathy 
 with the wronged laborers. "If my land cry out against me " — a 
 witness pained and horrified by my crimes; " and all its furrows 
 weep " (the literal sense of the Hebrew) ; " If I have eaten the 
 strength {i. e., the products) of my land without paying 
 my laborers honorably ; if I have made its tenants sigh [or 
 breathe] out their life — («'. e.,) under the wrong, or perhaps the 
 pinching want, of my oppressive hand ; — then let thistles come 
 forth of it instead of wheat, and weeds, worthless and even 
 noxious, instead of barley. 
 
 And so Job rested his defense. If we construe his vindica- 
 tion strictly within the limits of the charges brought against him 
 by his three friends, understanding him to deny what they alleged 
 and no more, we shall find ample ground for his justification. 
 
 But if, on the other hand, we give his words a far broader ap- 
 plication and suppose him to have claimed entire sinlessness as 
 before and toward God, we must find judgment against him and 
 condemn not his rashness only, but his very shallow self-knowledge 
 and sadly inadequate sense of the purity of God's law and of the 
 
170 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 holiness of his Maker. It deserves careful notice that the 
 
 whole attitude and argument of his opponents pushed him 
 violently into self-vindication, and made his temptation in this line 
 strong — perhaps resistless. His feelings became too excited for 
 the calm discrimination which the case demanded. The golden 
 mean would have been reached, if while he calmly rebutted the 
 cruel and unfounded charges brought against him, he had also 
 humbly acknowledged himself very far from absolute purity as 
 toward his Infinite Maker. In the final result, he became deeply, 
 thoroughly humbled before God, and then was graciously accepted. 
 
 In his whole bearing throughout the discussion he was far 
 
 less culpable and less wide from the line of rectitude, than his 
 friends were. 
 
 For their severity and their groundless allegations against Job, the 
 Lord had no apology, but demanded of them most humble con- 
 fession, and sent them to Job to ask his prayers in their behalf. 
 The final result, as we shall see, Avas a strong showing of the perni- 
 cious influence of their mistaken doctrine in respect to God's moral 
 administration of good and evil as to men, but especially toward 
 pious men in the present life. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Eliliu Appears. 
 
 A new and noticeable feature of this book next invites atten- 
 tion — the introduction of a young man — a fifth personage in this 
 drama — who appears as a sort of umpire in the great controversy 
 between Job and his three friends. No notice of him has ap- 
 peared in the book till this moment; yet he has been present from 
 the beginning, and has listened carefully to all that has been said 
 on both sides. When he saw that the discussion had run its 
 course ; that the three friends had retired from the contest, aj^pa- 
 rently in despair of bringing Job to their views of his case, and 
 that Job had finished his defense, his soul was mightily stirred 
 within him, and he broke his long silence, as we shall see. 
 
 It is a somewhat grave question what part Elihu was expected 
 to bear in this drama ; and what ultimate ends were to be answered 
 by his introduction and his long speech. As bearing on this ques- 
 tion, it should be remembered that in the final decision of the 
 case by the Lord himself (chap. 38-42) no allusion whatever is 
 made to this young man or to his part in thq discussion. The 
 Lord replied to Job; he also gave his opinion as to Job's three 
 friends, but was silent as to Elihu. Whether he approved or dis- 
 approved of Elihu's doctrine, no hint is given, These points 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIT. 171 
 
 will be resumed after avc have read his speech, when we shall ]>e 
 in better position to take in all its relations and bearini^s. 
 
 Another remarkable fact in the case is tliat the part ot" umpire, 
 on the humnn side of this controversy, should be assig;ned to a 
 yoiincj — ^I'athcr than to an aged man. Ordinarily the fathers are 
 relied on for sound wisdom, cool-headed judgment, the absence of 
 prejudice and the judicious application of principles long time 
 profoundly weighed in the light of the observed facts of human 
 life. How happens it then that here, the youngest man of the 
 party is reserved, or, shall we say, reserves himself, for the last 
 word — the candid review of the whole discussion — to point out the 
 failure of the three more aged disputants and to indicate to Job 
 his sense of the very exceptionable thinjis in his defense? Was 
 the choice of Elihu, the youngest man of the group, for this serv- 
 ice, purposely suggestive that the age was one of progress ; that 
 better views of the great questions at issue were breaking in upon 
 the minds of men, which better views, though scarcely accepted 
 
 by the aged, were yet molding the thought of the young? 
 
 There can, I judge, be no doubt that the human mind was then mov- 
 ing forward to justcr views of the great problem of this book — 
 the ways of God in providence as related both to moral discipline 
 and to righteous retribution in the present life ; and also on an- 
 other point incidentally involved, i. e., the true grounds for sub- 
 mission to God's will and for trust, despite of the impenetrable 
 darkness of his dispensations. Whether the assignment of the 
 part he bore to Elihu was designed to be suggestive of the march 
 of public opinion on these great problems, is a question worthy 
 of consideration — open however to every man's own inquiries and 
 conclusions. We shall at least deem it in place to scan the doctrines 
 of this young man very closely and note in what respects they are 
 really in advance of what had been said on either side before. 
 
 In this book Elihu tills six chapters (32-37). Chap. 32 is 
 throughout introductory : first, an historical introduction Ijy the 
 compiler of the book (v. 1-5) : next, Elihu's introduction of him- 
 self, in which he bears at least the appearance of true modesty, 
 apologizing quite sufficiently for what might be deemed an intru- 
 sion of himself — so young a man — into a discussion held between 
 men much his seniors in age. "Jliis great deference to that beautiful 
 sentiment of the orientals which instinctively does so much honor 
 to age, we may perhaps enjoy the more because its ])eauty and glory 
 have grown dim — not to say, have so far faded out among Amer- 
 icans of the nineteenth century. 
 
 1. So these three men ceased to answer Job, becaxise he 
 u'as righteous in bis own eyes. 
 
 2. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu tlie son of Bara- 
 chel the Buzite, of the" kindred of Ram : against Job. was 
 his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than 
 God. 
 
172 THE BOOK OF JOB, — CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 3. Also against liis three friends was his wrath kindled, 
 because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. 
 
 4. Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they 
 ivere elder than he. 
 
 5. When Elihu saw that tJiere was no answer in the mouth 
 of tJiese three men, then his wrath was kindled. 
 
 Buz, from -whom comes the tribal name " the Buzite," is sup- 
 posed to have been a son of Nahor, and thus a nephew of Abra- 
 ham ; also a brother of Uz who gave name to the country in which 
 •Job lived. (See Gen. 22: 21). Hoio remote an ancestry is not 
 indicated, so that we miss the definite data we should gladly find 
 
 for the chronological place of these events. His probable descent 
 
 from Nahor suggests another line of inquiry: — Was he not from 
 Mesopotamia rather than (like some or all the other disputants) 
 from Edom and great Arabia — ?'. e., from the country where Abram 
 first made his acquaintance with the true God, and Avhere more 
 light of revelation had shined than in any other region of the 
 East? Is it not therefore supposable that on the score of both 
 ancestry and early residence, he may represent an advanced doc- 
 trine as to God and his providential administration? 
 
 " His anger kindled " should not suggest to our thought any 
 malign passion — a man mad ; but only a mind warmly excited, 
 thoroughly stirred up under the conviction of a service to perform ; 
 words to speak which the exigencies earnestly demanded. He 
 was deeply moved, to see that Job pushed his self defense to the 
 extreme appai-ently of implicating God as unrighteous, by repre- 
 senting himself as injured, wronged, by his Maker. Toward 
 
 the three friends his soul was stirred because they had so mani- 
 festly failed to convict Job, and yet persisted in condemning him. 
 
 6. And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered 
 and said, I am young, and ye are very old ; wherefore I was 
 afraid, and durst not shew you mine opinion. 
 
 7. I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should 
 teach wisdom. 
 
 8. But there is a spirit in man : and the inspiration of the 
 Almighty giveth them understanding, 
 
 9. Great men are not alurtys wise : neither do the aged 
 understand judgment. 
 
 Bemg so much younger than ye all, I said — " Days should 
 speak;" let youth be silent. But there is a limit to this law. Its 
 claims may be pushed beyond reason; for verily, there is a meas- 
 ure of divine inspiration accorded to man. God has given him 
 capabilities for thought, observation, knowledge, wisdom ; and 
 these sublime gifts (he would suggest) may be granted to the young 
 and developed in the early stages of human life. Knowledge and 
 wisdom are not always to be measured by years or by social po- 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXII. 173 
 
 sition. Not all great men arc wise ; not all the aged stand above 
 other men in understanding. 
 
 10. Therefore I said, Hearken to me ; I also will shew 
 mine opinion. 
 
 11. Behold, I waited for yonr words ; I gave ear to your 
 reasons, whilst ye searched out what to say. 
 
 12. Yea, I attended unto you, and behold, tJiere rvas none 
 of you that convinced Job, or that answered his words : 
 
 The clause — " I also will show my opinion," falls short of the 
 original in the degree of emphasis upon the word " I." Elihu 
 said what is fully equivalent to this : " I also, even /, Avill show, 
 
 etc. After the most careful attention to the discussion even to 
 
 .its close, Elihu saw that the three disputants had neither con- 
 vinced Job of his sin, nor answered his arguments. In both these 
 respects they had made a signal failure. In the line of convinc- 
 ing Job of his sin, they attempted quite too much, and hence their 
 efforts reacted. They only grieved without persuading ; offended 
 without convicting. As to meeting and answering his arguments, 
 they made either feeble attempts, or none at all. 
 
 13. Lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom : God 
 thrusteth him doAvn, not man. 
 
 This somewhat obscure verse may admit either of these two 
 constructions, each of which assumes that Job's three friends are 
 addressed : — (a) Say not — We have found out wisdom ; and 
 since we have failed [to convince Job], it is certain that not man 
 but God must cast him down ; demolish his argunjents and con- 
 vince his stubborn soul. Or (b) Your failure is ordained of God, 
 " lest ye should say. We have found out all wisdom, and that ye 
 
 may know that not man but God must cast Job down." Thedif 
 
 ference between the two lies mainly in this — that the latter looks 
 back of the human act to God's purpose in permitting or ordain- 
 ing it ; the former puts the case as an admonition by the speaker; 
 and leaves it there.* 
 
 14. Now he hath not directed his words against me: 
 neither will I answer him with your speeches. 
 
 Elihu would be understood to be impartial, not entering upon 
 this discussion with personal feelings. Job has not attacked me: 
 I am not incited in a partisan spirit to defend myself. I do not 
 propose to reply to him as ye have done. 
 
 15. They were amazed, they answered no more : they left 
 off speaking. 
 
 * Beyond question the Hebrew word ( J3), the first in this verse, 
 usually means "lest." The lexicons hold that in the beginning of a 
 sentence it may simply prohibit; — Fuerst say.s of this case, "Cau- 
 tiously prohibit." 
 
174 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 IG. When I liad waited, for they spake not, but stood still, 
 and answered no more, 
 
 17. I said, I will answer also my part; I also will shew my 
 opinion. 
 
 In the last clause of v. 15, the Hebrew is in this strong form : 
 Words icere removed far away from them ; they could get hold 
 
 of nothing more to say. V. 17 (like v. 10 above, only more so,) 
 
 makes the word"/" intensely emphatic : "I will answer, even 
 /; I, yea even I, will show my opinion. 
 
 18. For I am full of matter; the spirit within me con- 
 straineth me. 
 
 19. Behold, my belly is as wine ivhicli hath no vent; it is 
 ready to burst like new bottles. 
 
 20. I will speak, that I may be refreshed : I will open my 
 lips and answer. 
 
 "Full of matter" is, strictly, full o? words. The orientals 
 
 made very free use of their words " belly," " bowels," as the seat 
 of emotion and even of thought, as we use the words heart, 
 
 breast, bosom. My belly is like a wine vessel that can not 
 
 breathe [Heb.] — can not throw off its accumulating gases — as 
 new bottles that are bursting. Hence he naturally says. Let me 
 speak that I. may relieve myself. "Let me" (rather than "I 
 will'') gives the precise shade of the original. 
 
 21. Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person ; 
 neither let me give flattering titles unto man. 
 
 22. For I know not to give flattering titles ; in so doing, my 
 Maker would soon take me away. 
 
 Sensible of the great importance of the most rigid impartiality, 
 
 he would forearm himself against the least respect of persons. 
 
 The Hebrew has a nice play upon the various senses of the word 
 used every-where in the phrase "accept the person" — which 
 literally signifies — to take or taTce iip the face. Elihu says, If I 
 should take up any man's face, my Maker would soon take up me! 
 — take me in hand for pui'poses far other than flattery or 
 favoritism. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIIL 
 
 Elihu opens his argument. 
 
 Elihu enters upon his expostulation with Job, gently, cau- 
 tiously, yet as one in earnest; — first with yet more woi'ds of in- 
 troduction (v. 1-7) ; then proceeding to the first count in his 
 indictment, he charges Job with having claimed spotless inno- 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIII. 175 
 
 cence as toward God, and also with having entered complaint 
 against God of injustice (v. 8-13); then shows how God reveals 
 himself to man for purposes of instruction and correction (v. 
 14—18); bringing upon man suffering as a moral discipline 
 (v. 19-22); in which case, if there be some one to teach the suf- 
 ferer and lead his heart back to God, the best moral results fol- 
 low, coupled with physical restoration as well (v. 23-30). 
 
 1. Wherefore, Job, I pray thee, hear my speeches, and 
 hearken to all my words. 
 
 2. Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue hath 
 spoken in my mouth. 
 
 3. INIy Avords shall be of tlie uprightness of my heart: and 
 my hps shall utter knowledge clearly. 
 
 4. The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of 
 the Almighty hath given me life. 
 
 5. K thou canst answer me, set tJiy tuords in order before 
 me, stand up. 
 
 In V. 3 Elihu says tersely: "My words are the uprightness 
 of my heart;" I have only the best intentions and shall speak 
 
 only my own heart. " Mj lips shall utter knowledge jivi-eb/ " 
 
 — better than " clearly " — his thought being not so much upon 
 style as upon substance. What he had to say was pure trutli, 
 with no admixture of error. So the Psalmist used this word — 
 "The commandment of the Lord is pure" (19: 8); "Thy word 
 
 is very pnre ; therefore thy servant loveth it" (119: 140). 
 
 The reference in v. 4 to man's original creation as given in Gen. 
 2 : 7, is beautifully in place here in connection with the devoted 
 homage to truth in its purity which Elihu had just then professed. 
 What could more befit an immortal, heaven-born soul than such 
 love and devotion to truth in its purity ! Did Elihu purposely 
 intimate that he felt his responsilnlity as a child of God by most 
 direct pareiitai^e, to search after and when found to speak the 
 very truth of God without fear or favor, and (if so he might) for 
 
 the spiritual good of his fellow-beings? It deserves special 
 
 notice that of the two verbs in v. 4, the first is in the perfect 
 tense (a finished act) ; the second in the imperfect (the HebrcAV 
 future) for an act not finished but still continued — thus: The 
 Spirit of God hath made me, giving me existence at my birth into 
 being. The breath of the Almighty still gives and will give me 
 life — this second verb, therefore, looking to God's sustaining hand, 
 
 as the former, to God's originally creative power. In the last 
 
 clause of v. 5, there is no occasion to supply "words" which the 
 English version puts in italics; for the sense is good without it: 
 — " If thou art able, then answer me; set thyself before [against] 
 me ; take thy stand." 
 
 6. Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead : I 
 also am formed out of the clay. 
 
176 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 7. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither 
 shall my hand be heavy upon thee. 
 
 Two constructions of v. 6 have been proposed : (a) The first 
 that of our English version : — I am God's vicegerent to debate and 
 try this case with thee, for thou hast requested such an one ; — 
 (b) I am like thyself as toward God — a mere creature ; I am 
 
 formed of clay. We shall remember that Job had passionately 
 
 begged that he might have another than God — one human like 
 himself^jefore whom his case might be tried. (See 9 : 32, 34, 35 
 and 13 : 21, 22). The first construction (as above) is objection- 
 able as being too bold and assuming to comport with Elihu'a 
 modesty and good sense. In a point so delicate he would be 
 likely to suggest his relation to God in the matter indirectly 
 
 rather than afiirm it directly. Again, the unusual phrase, 
 
 translated " according to thy wish," means in Hebrew usage only 
 — as thou art; like thyself [The Hebrew student will find it in 
 Ex. 16: 21 and Num. 6: 21 and 7: 5]. Moreover, the parallel 
 clause — " I too was formed of clay " — should indicate the sense 
 of the clause in question. For these reasons the second con- 
 struction (b) is to be preferred. Job had complained that 
 
 God's majesty overwhelmed him; that his terror before the Al- 
 mighty would appall and unfit him for the trial. But Elihu 
 says — You need have no such terror before me. — In the second 
 clause of v. 7 we should translate — not "my hand" but my 
 dignity. There will be no such dignity or majesty in my pres- 
 ence as will oppress you heavily. 
 
 8. Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have 
 heard the voice of thy words, saying, 
 
 9. I am clean without transgression, I am innocent ; neither 
 is tliere iniquity in me. 
 
 10. Behold, he findeth occasions against me, he counteth 
 me for his enemy; 
 
 11. He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my 
 paths. 
 
 Job had said things of God which would not bear scrutiny. 
 Elihu brings some of them forward as he understands them. Per- 
 haps his construction was in some respects rather stringent than 
 liberal and charitable, but Job could not be justified. In the final 
 issue God did not justify him, nor did Job by any means justify 
 
 himself In v. 10, "occasions" — grounds of quarrel, as in 10: 
 
 6 and 14: 16 — which passages however should scarcely be con- 
 strued to mean more than a close scrutiny, a rigid investigation ; 
 and not necessarily that God sought occasion for a quarrel. 
 
 12. Behold, in this thou art not just : I will answer thee, 
 that God is greater than man. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIII. 177 
 
 13. Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not 
 account of any of his matters. 
 
 It deserves special notice and will receive attention again in 
 the sequel, that Elihu does not rest God's claim on us for trust, 
 submission and love, upon his goodness but upon his greatness 
 and his absolute sovereignty. He did not say ; We know that 
 God is benevolent — too good ever to deal unjustly; nor did he say, 
 — All our intuitions of God affirm that the Infinite One must be 
 infinitely just to all his creatures. Not either of these grounds 
 does he distinctly take ; Init he says — God is greater than man and 
 gives no account of his ways. In the sequel we shall have 
 occasion to notice that this is the position and doctrine not of 
 Elihu only but of the whole book — the resting of the case as put 
 ultimately by Jehovah himself Hence the fact should be reserved 
 for more distinct consideration in connection with the closing 
 chapters. 
 
 14. For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet mem perceiveth 
 it not. 
 
 15. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep 
 falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed ; 
 
 16. Then he ojDeneth the ears of men, and sealeth their 
 instruction, 
 
 17. That he may withdraw man /ro)u Ids jDurpose, and hide 
 pride from man. 
 
 But God does speak to mortal man for his instruction and cor- 
 rection, sometimes in dreams or visions — of which method Eliphaz 
 had before spoken (4: 12-21). Beyond question this method of 
 divine communication to man was not uncommon in the earlier 
 
 ages. The Old Testament Scriptures give repeated instances. 
 
 In V. 14, the exact relation of the second clause to the first is left 
 somewhat indefinite in the original. The verse taken literally 
 runs — " For once, God will speak,, and twice ; one will not regard 
 it" — which might supposably mean — ?y' man does not regard the 
 first speaking; or, though man regards it not; or, man loill not 
 see, or does not see, ^. e., is slow and dull of apprehension. Most 
 probably the sense is, that God in great compassion and forbear- 
 ance speaks the second time if the first time proves unavailing. 
 
 In dreams or visions he awakens thought and moves upon 
 
 the sensibility so as thoroughly to open the ear of men and seal 
 instruction to them, not in the sense of shutting it off, but of fasten- 
 ing it within and upon their mind. The object in view (v. 17) is 
 to induce man to put away his wrong deeds and to save him from 
 pride. "Hiding pride from man" seems to imply — taking from 
 it its glare and fascination, forestalling thus its tempting power; 
 withdrawing it from his admiring view. 
 
 18. He keepeth hack his soul from the pit, and his life 
 from perishing by the sword. 
 
178 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 19. He is clitisteued also with j)aiu upon his bed, and the 
 multitude of his bones with strong jmIu. 
 
 20. So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty- 
 meat. 
 
 21. His flesh is consumed away, that it can not he seen ; 
 and his bones that were not seen stick out. 
 
 22. Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life 
 to the destroyers. 
 
 The pui-pose of God in these efforts to instruct man, and also the 
 methods adopted for his correction, come to view here; viz., to 
 save him (as in v. 18) from rushing upon his own destruction. 
 For this end God chastens him with pain and disease ; takes away 
 his appetite for food and his flesh, and brings him near the grave. 
 Elihu puts the supposed case in such terms as would suggest to 
 
 Job his own. In v. 18, the Hebrew gives us, not "sword" but 
 
 dart or javelin, a weapon thrown by the hand. In v. 19, not 
 
 "the multitude of his bones," but chastened with a strife of his 
 bones continually — as if they were in a mutiny, an uprising, an 
 utter unrest. By a change of vowel points we have really a differ- 
 ent word in the text, which instead of emphasizing the number of 
 his bones, puts stress upon their disturbance, commotion, 
 
 23. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one 
 among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness ; 
 
 24. Then he is gracious unto him, and saith. Deliver him 
 from going down to the pit : I have found a ransom. 
 
 25. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's : he shall return 
 to the days of his youth : 
 
 26. He shall pray unto God, and he will he favorable unto 
 him : and he shall see his face with joy : for he will reuder 
 unto man his righteousness. 
 
 Then if this sufferer under God's chastisement has some friend 
 to interpret to him the kind designs of God in these inflictions, 
 and if the sufferer is brought back to humble repentance, then the 
 mercy of God comes to his relief He is speedily restored to 
 sound and youthful flesh. God hears his prayer once more and 
 deals with him according to his present righteousness. Such is 
 
 the general strain of this passage. In v. 23, the Heb. word for 
 
 "messenger" is the usual one for angel, yet manifestly refers to 
 some human rather than superhuman messenger — one who stands 
 in the counsels of God, comprehends his moral purposes, and is 
 competent therefore to lead suffering men to right views of God's 
 designs in their afiliction. Such a spiritual guide (Elihu suggests) 
 
 is a rare man, " one of a thousand." "To show unto m.an his 
 
 uprightness " should not be taken here to moan — that this suffer- 
 ing man is upright, but rather, that he may become so — i. e„ to 
 show to man what is his right way. Or possibly it should refer 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIII. 179 
 
 to God rather than to man; — to show this sufferer God's right- 
 eousness — his real goodness and his kind moral purpose in this 
 
 affliction. Such a messenger and interpreter of God s purposes, 
 
 Elihu modestly suggests — am 1 to thee, O Job. The words — "1 
 
 have found a ransom," are truly remarkable, considering the very 
 early date of this book. So early the grand idea of a ransom for 
 sinners — a ground of possible pardon for the penitent — was before 
 the minds of those most taught of God. Old Testament usage of 
 this Hebrew word [copher] is uniform and decided, and therefore 
 must fix its meaning. (See Ex. 21 : 30 and 30: 12 and Num. 35 : 
 31, 32 and Prov. 6 : 35 and 13: 8 and 21 : 18 and Isa. 43 : 3 and 
 Ps. 49: land Job 36: 18.) 
 
 27. He looketh upon men, and if awj say, I have sinned, 
 and perverted that u'hich luas right, and it profited me not; 
 
 28. He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and 
 his life shall see the light. 
 
 29. Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, 
 
 30. To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened 
 with the light of the living. 
 
 In V. 27, the subject of the first verb should be the same as of the 
 second, the Hebrew requiring this. Therefore we must make 
 this sui)ject man, not God, and read thus : He (this pardoned and 
 i-estored man) will chant it before men (in his praise-song) and 
 will say — "I have sinned and have perverted the right," etc. The 
 verb which the Eng. version makes "looketh," by another punc- 
 tuation means sing. The last clause of v. 27 is interpreted 
 
 somewhat variously. Prof Conant is Avith our received version: 
 "It availed me not;" this sinning life did not pay. Gcsenius has 
 it — It was not made even, or equal, to me; but Euerst — "It was 
 not recompensed to me righteously, according to my deserts ;" — 
 which in this connection should imply that God did not requite or 
 render back, up to" the full measure of his ill-desert, but either 
 delayed or lessened the really righteous retribution for his sins. — 
 This last is not only true, but is a precious truth, and by no means 
 inappropriate at this point. — Ofttimes God deals thus with men to 
 save their souls from the pit of ruin and bring them back to the 
 light and joy of a true life. 
 
 31. Mark well, Job, heai-ken unto me : hold thy peace, 
 and I will speak. 
 
 82. If thou hast any thing to say, answer me ; speak, for 
 I desire to justify thee. 
 
 33. K not, hearken unto me : hold thy peace, and I shall 
 teach thee wisdom. 
 
 It was both kind and conciliating for Elihu to say, "1 desire to 
 justify thee." Nothing would please me better than to find thy 
 cause a just one and to show it to be so. No prejudice shall blind 
 
180 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 my eye to any thing which legitimately bears toward thy vindica- 
 tion. In V. 33 "If not," means — If thou hast not any thing to 
 
 say, then listen to me. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Eliliu continues. 
 
 The pivotal thought of the chapter is put in v. 5 : "Job hath 
 said, I am righteous, and God hath taken away my judgment" — 
 i. e., my right; hath virtually denied to me the equity and fair 
 dealing which was my right. These Avords of Job, Elihu con- 
 demns as not only rash but impious. 
 
 1. Furthermore Elihu answered and said, 
 
 2. Hear my words, O ye wise men ; and give ear unto me, 
 ye that have knowledge. 
 
 3. For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. 
 
 4. Let us choose to us judgment : let us know among our- 
 selves "what is good. 
 
 In V. 4, the verb "c7;oose" not only implies but emphasizes the 
 preliminary investigation : Let us examine as preparatory to a 
 wise decision upon what is right. 
 
 5. For Job hath said, I am righteous : and God hath taken 
 away my judgment. 
 
 6. Should I lie against my right ? my wound h incurable 
 Avithout transgression. 
 
 Elihu referred (avc may suppose) to what Job had said in 13 : 
 rS and 16: 17 and 19: 6, 7 and 27: 2-6. In commenting upon 
 these passages I have suggested the modifications which his words 
 under the circumstances might perhaps bear. Yet it must be 
 admitted that Job was less careful than he should have been to 
 indicate these modifications himself. We can not say less than 
 that he "spake unadvisedly with his lips," his words and spirit 
 lacking that humble reverence before God which so eminently 
 befits a frail and sinning mortal, Elihu takes his words in their 
 strongest sense, perhaps making them mean more than Job ever 
 really intended. — I take v. 6 to mean — Against my own right, 
 shall I speak falsely? i. e., for the sake of justifying God, shall I 
 ignore my own conscious innocence of the charges my friends 
 bring against me and confess mj^self a vile hypocrite when I know 
 I am not? Elihu may refer specially to Job's Avords in 27 : 4, 5. — 
 Last clause of v. 6: — "My arroAv" (that which sticks fast in me) is 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIV. 181 
 
 fatal — from no sin of mine. Elihu charges that Job represents 
 himself as shot unto death, not for any crime on his part which 
 deserved death. 
 
 7. What man is Ijke Job, wlio drinketh up scorning like 
 water ? 
 
 8. Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, 
 and walketh with wicked men. 
 
 9. For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he 
 should delight himself with God. 
 
 Scoffing is more exact than " scorning," scorn being properly of 
 the heart, and scofiF of the lip. Job's words are thought of here. 
 The figure used implies that Job scoffed as freely and copiously as 
 a thirsty man drinks water. — .Job's woi'ds and doctrine, moreover, 
 put him on the side of wicked men, in intimate sympathy with 
 them, for he said what they love to say and hear. He had said — 
 It is of no use to obey and please God — which is no less false and 
 blasphemous than what wicked men are wont to say. Elihu' s' 
 mind may have been on Job's words in 9 : 22, 23: "He destroyeth 
 the perfect and the wicked. If the scourge slay suddenly, he will 
 laugh at the trial of the innocent." Job had put the case as it 
 seemed to him, viz., that God sends affliction on the good as on 
 the bad — upon one who seeks and would please God, as upon one 
 who does not: — a fact he could not explain ; he could only affirm 
 it to be so. He did not, however, put himself in heart and sym- 
 pathy wath wicked men, but again and again denied having such 
 sympathy. See 21 : 14-16 and 23 : 11, 12 and 27 : 7-13. "Far be 
 the counsel of the wicked from me." "My foot hath held his 
 steps," etc. "I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than 
 my necessary food." "Let my enemy l)e as the wicked," etc. 
 Elihu, therefore, (in this charge at least) was not only unchari- 
 table but uncandid, not to say slanderous toward Job. 
 
 10. Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding : 
 far be it from God, that he should do wickedness ; and from 
 the Almighty, that he sho^dd commit iniquity. 
 
 11. For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and 
 cause every man to find according to his ways. 
 
 12. Yea surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the 
 Almighty pervert judgment. 
 
 God turns with abhorrence from doing Avickedness : let man 
 forbear to cast on him such an imputation ! Nothing could be to 
 him a greater abomination ! This seems to be the bottom thought 
 of the Hebrew woi-ds. God renders to man in pure justice ac- 
 cording to his ways. This Elihu avers most explicitly and with 
 
 the greatest solemnity. Did he state this as an intuition — a 
 
 thing that must be so by the necessity of God's being ; or as the 
 result of his observation and experience as to the ways of God in 
 the present world ? The former apparently, rather than the latter. 
 
182 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 13. Who has given him a charge over the earth? or who 
 hath disposed the whole world ? 
 
 This thought is in "place here to show how Elihu came to his 
 strong conviction in respect to the inherent and necessary justice 
 
 of God. Who put the Almighty in charge over the earth as 
 
 Moral Governor ? or who gave order to the whole habitable world, 
 i. e., to the world considered as peopled by intelligent and moral 
 beings ? Is God acting a subordinate part, with only delegated 
 power and right ? If so, who is his Superior ? Who is the really 
 
 Injinite, Supreme Being ? But all our intuitions compel us to 
 
 believe that the Great Underived, the sole and Supreme Monarch 
 of all, mtist he above all temptation to injustice, indeed, to. any 
 and all evil — the infinitely pure and perfect One. Such, if fully 
 drawn out, would seem to have been the reasoning of Elihu and 
 the ground of his belief in God's infinite perfection. 
 
 14. If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto him- 
 .self his spirit and his breath ; 
 
 15. All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn 
 again unto dust. 
 
 Think of God's infinite power to take all life from the entire 
 race of man ! Were he to gather to himself that breath of life 
 which at man's creation he imparted (Gen. 2 : 7), how suddenly 
 would all the living expire together ! The doctrine seems to be 
 that one who wields infinite, supreme power 7mtst he perfectly 
 just and good. So Abraham; — "Shall not the Judge of all the 
 earth do right"? (Gen. 18: 25). The reasoning does not seek 
 strength from the recoil of human hearts from the opposite alter- 
 native — How unutterably dreadful if it could be otherwise — if the 
 Supreme, with such resources of power were susceptible to malice 
 and liable to do moral wrong ! but it moves promptly and firmly 
 to the conclusion — One so infinitely above all his creatures nmst 
 he perfect in goodness, of pure and perfect justice. 
 
 16. If now tlvou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to 
 the voice of ray words. 
 
 17. Shall even he that hateth right, govern ? and wilt 
 thou condemn him that is most just? 
 
 Elihu expands and elaborates this great and cai'dinal point. Is 
 it even supposable that a hater of justice can rule the universe? 
 Or, putting it in another form ; Is it at all supposable that the 
 Ruler of the universe can possibly be a hater of justice? And 
 since our resistless intuitions give us these assured convictions, 
 how shouldest thou dare condemn the All-just and the Almighty? 
 
 18. Is it ft to say to a king. Thou art wicked ? and to 
 princes, Ye are ungodl)' ? 
 
 19. How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of 
 princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor ? for they 
 all are the work of his hands. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIV. 183 
 
 Even on earth, all right-thinking; men recognize the profound 
 respect due to official rank and high authority, when worthily 
 borne, lien count it treason to blaspheme the king and defame 
 princes, especially when their character is stainless and their ad- 
 ministration truly righteous — which is what Eliliu adds in v. 18. 
 We have no authority in the Hebrew for the words — " How much 
 less to him," which imply that v. 19 describes another and a dif- 
 ferent personage from those of v. 18. The true construction is — 
 "Shall one say to a king Belial (Heb.) "O thou bad!" and of 
 princes — " O Avicked one !" who (/. e., when this very king, or 
 this prince, is one who) regards' not the person of princes and 
 knows not the rich in the presence of the poor, for they are all 
 tlie work of his hand. The inference tacitly suggested is — AVhen 
 such reproachful words are said of the Great King, whose charac- 
 ter is spotless and his administration unblemished, what can be 
 more impious ? 
 
 20. Ill a moment shall tlicy die, and the people shall be 
 troubled at midnight, and pass away : and the mighty shall 
 be taken away without hand. 
 
 21. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth 
 all his goings. 
 
 22. There is no darkness, nor shado^v of death, where the 
 workers of iniquity may hide themselves. 
 
 The awful sweep of God's judgments, so sudden, so resistless — 
 is the thought hei-e, apparently designed to inspire a wholesome 
 
 fear of his retributions. It is but a moment and they die ; " at 
 
 midnight; whole peoples are smitten and pass away" — smitten 
 rather than " troubled " meets the demands of the context. Even 
 the mighty are taken away, yet by no visible hand. The unseen 
 agencies of the Omnipotent do the work. 
 
 23. For he will not laj' upon man more than right; that he 
 should enter into judgment Avith God. 
 
 24. He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, 
 and set others in their stead. 
 
 Tn the first clause of v. 23, the English version has manifestly 
 missed the sense of the Hebrew words. The Hebrew phrase, 
 meaning to set the heart upon one [" heart " as the seat of tJwvghi^ 
 occurs somewhat frequently; e. g.,in full form chap. ] : 8 and 
 2:3: with the word " heart " implied, in chap. 4 : 20 and 23 : 6 ; 
 and with an analogous verb, in 7 : 17. The sense hei'e, therefore, 
 is not — laying upon man ■inflictions, but setting upon man his 
 tJiougJit. Then we have in the original a very important word* 
 which is not represented at all in the English version. Its nor- 
 mal sense involves doing a thing again, over and over as in a circle, 
 or round and round. Hence the meaning must be this : God will 
 
184 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAT. XXXIV. 
 
 not set his thought upon each man again and again that he may 
 go before God in the judgment. He is not shut up to the slow 
 processes of human courts — one man at a time ; witnesses exam- 
 ined and re-examined; protracted arguments of counsel; long 
 deliberations of the Judge : — but God moves with amazing rapid- 
 ity : one flash of his eye, one touch of his infinite Mind gives him 
 
 every element of the case in perfection. This is the thought 
 
 also in the next verse — which however is quite obscured in the 
 English version. The original has it : He breaks in pieces the 
 mighty with no long antecedent searching. Search and not 
 " number," is the sense of the Hebrew. 
 
 25. Therefore he kuoweth their works, and he overturn- 
 eth them in the night, so that they are destroyed. 
 
 26. He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of 
 others ; 
 
 27. Because they turned back from him, and would not 
 consider any of his ways : 
 
 28. So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto 
 him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted. 
 
 29. When he giveth quietness, Avho then can make trou- 
 ble ? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him ? 
 whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only : 
 
 30. That the hypocrite reign not, lest the peojile be 
 ensnared. 
 
 The precise sense of the word for "Therefore" seems to be — 
 Because, inasmuch as, God knows their works perfectly, he needs 
 no appreciable time for inquiry or examination, but overwhelms 
 them in a night; (not " the " night, but) in the lapse of a single 
 
 night, the awful desolation is complete. In v. 27, 28, turning 
 
 back from following after God is supposed to develop into oppres- 
 sion of the poor which brings up their cry for redress before God — 
 one who will always hear such cries ! — Carrying out this thought 
 yet farther, consider that God rules the world, caring for the de- 
 fenseless, curbing his oppressors. When He gives rest, who shall 
 condemn, bring in guilty ? etc. When he hides his face, what eye 
 can piei'ce through to gaze upon it, or to win its smiles ? — This 
 may apply to judgments upon a whole people, or upon a single 
 individual — all the same, God's ultimate aim being that corrupt 
 men shall not bear rule, nor the people be ensnared. 
 
 31. Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne 
 chastisement, I will not offend any more: 
 
 32. That which I see not, teach thou me : if I have done 
 iniquit}^, I will do no more. 
 
 Whatever may be said of any other advice given to the sufierer 
 by Elihu, this is admirable. JS'othing could be more appropriate 
 for a sufferer to say unto God than this. And Job need have no 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIV. 185 
 
 fear lest so much confession of sin as those words imply would he 
 an admission of that t:;reat guilt of hypocrisy and that unmitigated 
 iniquity which his friends, according to their doctrine, felt bound 
 to charge upon him. We can readily understand that Job stood 
 toward his friends in a very narrow, tight place, there being on 
 the one hand the fitness of making honest confession to God of 
 sins in the way of shortcomings, of which we must suppose he 
 was consciously guilty; and on the other, the protest of his deep- 
 est consciousness against the kind and the measure of guilt which 
 they laid to his charge. 
 
 33. SJiould it be according to thy mind ? he will recom- 
 pense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose ; and 
 not I : therefore speak what thou knowest. 
 
 In this verse of somewhat complicated structure, it seems plain 
 that the verb "requite'' ["recompense"] belongs to the very first 
 clause. We have no need or place for the verb " be,'' supplied 
 without authority by our translators. Hence we may read thus : 
 " Shall lie [God] requite at thy instance, so that thou mayest refuse, 
 or that thou thyself and not I, should choose? Then, what thou 
 knowest, speak forth." The sense will be this : Canst thou expect 
 that God will consult thee and be governed by thy choice rather 
 than by his own wisdom in the recompenses of his providence 
 toward thee ? 
 
 34. Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man 
 heai'ken unto me. 
 
 35. Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his woi'ds 
 ivere without wisdom. 
 
 36. My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end, 
 because of Im answers for wicked men. 
 
 37. For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth Ms 
 hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God. 
 
 He invokes a thorough sifting of Job's words and of his attitude 
 toward God. His answers [statements] had seemed to be in 
 favor of wicked men, of such sort as would sustain them in their 
 rebellion against God. — In v. 37, Elihu puts the case very strongly — 
 far more strongly than Job's real feeling and true intent could 
 justify. Elihu certainly was deficient in candor and sweet Chris- 
 tian charity. 
 
 9 
 
186 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Eliliu continues. 
 
 Elihu opens this division of his long speech by naming two 
 charges against Job: {a) that he claimed to be more righteous 
 than God: {h) that he found no more profit in serving God than 
 in sin. But he drops the first, having dwelt on that quite fully in 
 the two previous chapters, and devotes this chapter to the second. 
 His doctrine on this point will call for careful attention, viz., that 
 God is so high above us that neither piety nor sin can have any 
 commercial relations toward him, neither can become things of 
 profit and loss as to God. One so great and high is not harmed 
 by man's sin nor benefited by his righteousness. Hence if men 
 are proud or vain, God can afford to disregard their cries unto 
 him; while yet his favor is a priceless blessing to those who seek 
 and find. Elihu seems to charge against Job that he had abused 
 God's supreme independence as to his creatures and his apparent 
 [or real] disregard of their doings, to the result of a most ofiensive 
 vanity and of daring utterances against his Maker. 
 
 1. Elihu spake moreover, and said, 
 
 2. Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My 
 righteousness is more than God's? 
 
 3. For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? 
 and, What profit shall I have, if I he cleansed from my sin ? 
 
 4. I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee. 
 
 Passing the first charge with only this one appeal — Do you 
 really think it right to say that your righteousness is more than 
 God's? he proceeds to a second charge, viz., that he had said 
 there is no profit in piety more than in sin. In the last clause of 
 V. 3 the words of Elihu are closely rendered, thus: "What shall I 
 gain more than by my sin"? That is — In the line of profit, what 
 course pays better than sinning? What is the use of being right- 
 eous? Elihu had made the same charge before (34; 9): "He 
 hath said. It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight him- 
 self with God." But this was pressing Job's words beyond his 
 intent. Job had indeed said (9: 22), "This is one thing; there- 
 fore I said it: He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked." Also 
 (10: 15): "If! be wicked, woe unto me: and if I be righteous, 
 yet will I not lift up my head." But for aught that appears, Job 
 might have held (9 : 22) that those cases were exceptional, anom- 
 alous, and not the uniform, established law of God's administi'a- 
 tion. The second passage above cited (10: 15) was evidently of 
 words extorted from his lips by his own strange, astounding ex- 
 perience — this marvel of perplexity and mystery: and therefore 
 in candor should not be taken as Job's statement of doctrine con- 
 cerning God and his ways. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXV. 187 
 
 5. Look unto the heavens, and see ; and behold the clouds 
 vhleh are higlier than thou. 
 
 6. If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him ? or if thy 
 transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? 
 
 7. If tliou be righteous, what givest thou him ? or what 
 receiveth he of thine hand ? 
 
 God was thought of as enthroned above these lower heavens; 
 far away therefore from this humble abode of mortals. Elihu's 
 thought is that God is so high as to be entirely above possible 
 harm from man's sin or benefit from his righteousness. Of which 
 sentiment, this should be said — that on the one hand it sufficiently 
 sweeps away the entire system of commercial religion — salvation 
 by -works profitable to God, or destruction because of mere per- 
 sonal damage done to him; while, on the other hand, it may be so 
 pushed as quite to leave out of account God's infinite paternal love 
 for his creatures; his interest in their Avelfare ; his happiness in 
 their obedience and love; and his displeasure toward their sin as 
 ruinous to souls he has made to be blessed in his favor. It seems 
 doubtful Avhether Elihu had yet reached those precious gospel 
 views of the great love and condescension of the Infinite Father 
 which Jesus taught so sweetly. 
 
 8. Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art ; and thy 
 righteousness 7nay profit the son of man. 
 
 The Italic words supplied in this verse do not mislead, yet are 
 scarcely necessary. For we may translate closely : Thy wicked- 
 ness is towards or unto a man like thyself, and thy righteousness 
 is unto a son of man — i. e., bears upon man and upon man only — 
 not upon God. 
 
 9. By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the 
 oppressed to cry : they cry out by reason of the arm of the 
 mighty. 
 
 10. But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth 
 songs in the night : 
 
 11. Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, 
 and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven ? 
 
 The thought in v. 9 turns to show how thy wickedness may 
 harm thy fellow-men, taking the form of oppression toward the 
 weak and compelling them to cry out by reason of unendurable 
 wrongs. Vs. 10, 11 suggest that even these afflicted, overborne 
 suff'erers were not wont to seek God their Maker who might give 
 them songs in the depths of their darkness and calamity, and who 
 kindly teaches his docile children more than he does the beasts 
 of the earth, or the fowls of heaven. Perhaps his thought is that 
 though ye can not profit the Infinite God by your piety or harm 
 him by your wickedness, yet ye might find the richest consolation 
 and joy in his favor and under his instruction. It is, however, 
 
188 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 more natural to connect v. 10 closely with v. 9 (as above), and 
 refer it to the case of men, oppressed by the cruel and the mighty, 
 who might find great consolation in seeking their Maker. 
 
 12. There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the 
 pride of evil men. 
 
 " There they cry," looks back to the last clause of v. 9 — " They 
 
 cry out" etc., and saj-s more as to their case. "None giveth 
 
 answer" — would be more plain if put as it stands in the original — 
 
 and he ansivei's not — " he " referring to God. Next we have 
 
 the question to meet whether Elihn means that they cry, because 
 of the pride of evil men, or that God hears not, becanse of this 
 pride. The latter must be preferred, both because the 7wt hearing 
 is the nearest antecedent, and also because the next verse is on this 
 subject. The verse therefore means that men, suffering oppression, 
 cry out under it ; but God answers them not, because they are too 
 proud — i. e., to humble themselves before him and seek his help. 
 
 13. Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Al- 
 mighty regard it. 
 
 14. Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judg- 
 ment is before him ; therefore trust thou in him. 
 
 The central idea in the Heb. word for " vanity " is false, lying, 
 empty or void of truth. Applied to prayer it means insincere, 
 
 dishonest. Such prayer God can not hear. In v. 14 we must 
 
 set aside the English translation as being wide of the sense, and 
 translate — ]\Iuch less when thou sayest that thou regardest not 
 him. The Heb. verb regard is the same here as in the last clause 
 of v. 13 : God will not regard thee, thy prayer being vanity : much 
 less will he when thou sayest, thou regardest not him. If the 
 suppliant will not suitably regard God, God will not regard him. 
 
 But such relations between God and the sinner are to the 
 
 einner utterly ruinous ! Let him therefore consider — The cause 
 is before Him [God, as the Great Judge] ; wait thou in trust and 
 hope for him. That is ; Seek for his mercy before the trial of your 
 case comes on ! 
 
 15. But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his 
 anger ; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity : 
 
 16. Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain ; he mul- 
 tiplieth words without knowledge. 
 
 The sense of v. 15 and its relation to v. 16 requires a better 
 translation — thus : " But now because he [God] does not visit in 
 his anger and does not scrutinize crime rigidly, therefore Job 
 opens his mouth wide with vanity and multiplies words without 
 knowledge." That is, God's groat forbearance and long suffei'ing 
 Job abuses by indulging himself in untruthful allegations and in 
 saying things of which he knows nothing. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. -CHAP. XXXVI. 189 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 ElUiu still continues. 
 
 In this portion of his discourse Elihu magnifies the wisdom 
 and also the power and majesty of God, making it his special 
 point to show that God prospers the righteous; but if they fall 
 into sin, sends upon them affliction for purposes of discipline and 
 correction. It is their wisdom to receive such inflictions submis- 
 sively and to turn humbly and in penitence to the Lord. 
 
 1. Elihu also proceeded, and said, 
 
 2. Suffei' me a little, and I will shew thee that I have yet 
 to speak on God's behalf. 
 
 3. I will fetch my knoAvledge from afar, and will ascribe 
 righteousness to my Maker. 
 
 4. For truly my words shall not he false : he that is perfect 
 iu knowledge is with thee. 
 
 .Wait for me yet a little longer (v. 2); "there are yet more 
 
 •words for God." The clause (v. 4) — " One perfect in knowledge 
 
 is before thee " (Ileb.) apparently refers to himself. "Was not this 
 a bold, self-conceited assumption ? Or shall we put it to the account 
 of his strong conviction that he was sent and taught of God, espe- 
 cially when, as here, he was laboring to establish God's rights and 
 vindicate his ways toward men ? In support of this view, com- 
 pare chap. 37: 16, where the same words are unquestionably ap- 
 plied to God. Elihu must have felt that they could be applied 
 fitly to no other being. 
 
 5. Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is 
 mighty in strength and wisdom. 
 
 6. He preserveth not the life of the wicked : but giveth 
 right to the poor. 
 
 7. He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous : but 
 with kings are they on the throne ; yea, he doth establish them 
 for ever, and they are exalted. 
 
 In V. 5, the nicer shades of thought are better put thus: "_Lo, 
 God is mighty, yet he contemns not" — as one of such power might 
 
 be tempted or presumed to do. " Mighty is he in strength of 
 
 understanding" — which extols his power of mind — not his power 
 
 over matter. "Preserveth not the life of the wicked" should 
 
 rather be — He does not give them life in the highest and best 
 sense of the word — real prosperity, true enjoyment. But he does 
 award righteousness to the poor; "literally — " The right of the suf- 
 fering he will give." " His eyes are evermore upon the right- 
 eous" — never withdrawn; and "with kings on the throne he 
 
190 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 makes them sit forever, and they are exalted in honor." The 
 doctrine is — Great prosperity and high honor to the righteous. 
 
 8. And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords 
 of affliction ; 
 
 9. Then he sbeweth them their work, and their transgres- 
 sions that they have exceeded. 
 
 10. He openeth also their ear to discipline, and conimand- 
 eth that they return from iniquity. 
 
 11. If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their 
 days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. 
 
 12. But if they obey not they shall perish by the sword, 
 and they shall die without knowledge. 
 
 If they find themselves involved in calamity, caught suddenly 
 within its tight bands, it must be assumed that they have sinned, 
 and that God is chastening them in discipline. " lie shows them 
 their work," — their misdeeds, sins. Not — "that they have ex- 
 ceeded" — but that the;/ have dealt proudly — have been lifted up 
 in pride. God laboi's to open their ear to his instruction and 
 would turn them back from their sin. If they accept his counsel, 
 all is well; their prosperity returns: if they refuse, they speedily 
 perish. 
 
 13. But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath : they cry 
 not when he bindeth them. 
 
 14. They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean. 
 
 The word translated " hj^pocrite," here as usually throughout 
 this book, does not suggest a false pretender, one who wears a 
 mask to deceive ; but rather one who is bad at heart without refer- 
 ence to pretension. The rotten-hearted, the sin-loving who have 
 no fear of God in their souls — these heap up wrath against them- 
 selves. When they become bound in the fetters of some great 
 affliction (as in v. 8), they never cry to God in prayer for relief. 
 Of course they die young. Their life goes out among the vilest, 
 foulest of mortals. 
 
 15. He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and open- 
 eth their ears in oppression. 
 
 16. Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait 
 into a broad place, where there is no straitness ; and that 
 which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness. 
 
 V. 15 seems to be a general statement made to introduce the 
 application of its doctrine to the case of Job, as in v. 16 and on- 
 ward. The point for critical inquiry turns on the words " the 
 
 poor" : Is he thought of simply as a sufferer, or is he also ''poor 
 in spirit" — not proud but humble? This is the same word we 
 had in v. 6; "Giveth the rischt of the poor." Plainly this poor 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVI. 191 
 
 one in iinHctinn is not supposed to be in rebellion against God. 
 Perhaps the true view is that as a sufferer, God has compassion 
 on him and labors to open his ear to divine counsel and turn his 
 
 heart to repentance. The words — " in oppression " mean only 
 
 — one in distress, not one guilty of oppressing others. Applying 
 
 this doctrine to Job, Eliliu proceeds to say — "And thee, [O Job], 
 he would allure from out of the jaws [mouth] of the straits, into 
 a broad place, having no straitness underneath (or beyond) it ; 
 and the food on thy table should be full of fatness. 
 
 17. But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked : 
 judgment and justice take hold on thee. 
 
 18. Because there is wrath, beivare lest he take thee away 
 with his stroke : then a great ransom can not deliver thee. 
 
 19. Will he esteem thy riches? no, not gold, nor all the 
 forces of strength. 
 
 The "judgment of the wicked '' is here the mental judgments 
 which they form, the counsels and ways of life they clioose and 
 follow. Elihu plays on the double sense of the word "fill." In- 
 stead of having a table filled with fatness, thou hast chosen to 
 fill thy heart with the judgments of wicked men. Because thou 
 hast done this, judgment and justice will lay hold upon thee — the 
 same word, "judgment," being used here as in the first clause, 
 with a play upon its two very diverse senses. Since thou hast 
 filled thine heart with the vile judgments of wicked men, God 
 
 will make his judgments of justice take hold of thee. ^In the 
 
 first clause of v. 18 our English misses the exact sense of the 
 Hebrew, rendered " take thee away." I translate: — "Beware lest 
 resentment excite thee against the chastising stroke. It is the 
 same verb which in v. 16 might be rendered, allure in the good 
 sense — draw, attract. As God labors to draw thee out of the straits 
 into a broad place, so do thou beware lest anger [in the form of 
 resentment] should stir thee up to resist his chastising hand. In 
 Elihu's view, this was the case with Job — the great mistake of 
 his life. Instead of yielding himself to be drawn, as God would 
 fain have done, into penitence, and so, out of his strait place into 
 a broad and blessed one, he had suffered his resentment to fire up 
 against God's chastising rod. Of this Elihu begs him to beware 
 because from this sin even a great ransom can not deliver. For 
 
 such a sin no atonement can be found. Dost thou imagine that 
 
 great wealth can conciliate the Almighty ? Elihu asks the ques- 
 tion and leaves it to suggest its own answer. In v. 19, instead 
 
 of " No, not gold," the punctuation of the original gives us this 
 reading of the verse : — Will he esteem thy riches — not in small 
 amount — and all the resources of wealth ? How absurd to im- 
 agine that thy riches will conciliate his favor and buy the pardon 
 
 of thy great sin ! Home excellent critics however read the verse 
 
 essentially as in the English version — Will he esteem thy riches ? 
 Not even gold ore, nor all the resources of wealth. 
 
192 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 20. Desire not the night, when peojile are cut off in their 
 place. 
 
 The " night" of death is in mind here, for Job had repeatedly 
 expressed his longing desii'c to die. (See 14: 13 and 3: 20-23). 
 The last clause, putting the thought in briefest form, means this: 
 For the nations to go to the ivorld beloic. This is the outcome of 
 that night of death. 
 
 21. Take heed, regard not iniquity : for this hast thou 
 chosen rather than affliction. 
 
 One word of special exhortation : — Take heed ; turn not unto 
 [or toward] iniquity, for toward this hast thou turned rather than 
 suflFer affliction [patiently]. This, Elihu thought, had been the 
 great mistake and sin of Job. Instead of bearing his sufferings 
 submissively, he had allowed his heart to be turned toward com- 
 plaints of God, even to the extent of charging him with in- 
 justice. 
 
 22. Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth 
 like him? 
 
 23. Who hath enjoined hina his way ? or who can say, Thou 
 hast wrought iniquity? 
 
 24. Remember that thou magnify his work, which men 
 behold. 
 
 25. Kvery man may see it ; man may behold it afar off. 
 From, this point onward Elihu extols the great power of God 
 
 as manifested in the vapor, the rain, the storm, the clouds and 
 lightnings of the sky. His aim seems to have been to inspire 
 reverence and awe — qualities in which he supposed Job greatly 
 
 deficient. God exalteth — not others — but himself He shows 
 
 himself to be great and glorious. Who can teach as God 
 does in these great works of his wisdom and power ? Who is 
 higher than He that he should direct Him what to do and hoio ? 
 Who can impute to Him aught of wrong? Remember that thou 
 magnify his work which men fitly celebrate in song — this being 
 the sense of the Hebrew, rather than " behold." 
 
 26. Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither 
 can the number of his years be searched out. 
 
 27. For he maketh small the drops of Avater: they pour 
 down rain according to the vapor thei-eof. 
 
 28. Which the clouds do drop and distill upon man abun- 
 dantly. 
 
 Here the wisdom and power of God are illustrated from the 
 perpetual changes in the waters of our globe, passing by evapora- 
 tion from the earth's surface into the atmosphere; then condensed 
 and f\illing in showers — to rise again in the form of vapor. In 
 V. 27 there is some difficulty in determining the precise sense of 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVI. 193 
 
 the verb, gvowintj out of our ignorance of the prevalent ideas 
 of the ago as to these processes of nature (or rather of God) in 
 evaporation. It is scarcely admissible to shape our interpretation to 
 meet the now well-known doctrines of modern science. And we 
 know too little of the state of the most ancient science to avail our- 
 selves of its light in our interpretation- The best critics mostly 
 agree in putting vs. 27 and 28 thus : " For he draws up the water- 
 drops (?. e., by evaporation); they pour out (or as some make it, 
 pnrifj/) the rain for his vapor, with which the skies flow down and 
 distill upon man abundantly." If the sense purify be accepted, 
 it refers to the fact that the most impure waters are purified by 
 
 exhalation and fall again in perfect purity. These processes 
 
 Ity which a considerable portion of the waters of our globe are 
 kept in constant circulation, evermore passing through changes 
 supremely beneficent to man, have been in all ages the admiration 
 of observing minds, being among the most obvious manifestions 
 of God's wisdom and beneficence. 
 
 29. Also can amj understand the spreadings of the clouds, 
 or the noise of his tabernacle ? 
 
 30. Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth 
 the bottom of the sea. 
 
 V. 29 refers to the phenomena of thunder (" the noise of his 
 tent"), and hence, instead of " the spreadings of the clouds," we 
 may better translate — the hursting of the clouds, for under the 
 awful thunder's crash, they seem to burst asunder. The etymology 
 
 of the Hebrew word admits this sense. In v. 30 it is better to 
 
 see a present God than a merely impersonal something (" it"), 
 reading the verse thus : — Behold he spreads his light round 
 about himself; he covers himself with the waters of the ocean's 
 
 depths — literally, with the roots of the sea. Dwelling in light 
 
 unapproachable, yet veiling himself from human eyes behind the 
 dark waters and thick clouds of the sky. We must bear in mind 
 that the orientals thought of God's throne as above the lower 
 heavens, and they also conceived immense masses of Avaters 
 above the firmament as well as other masses below it, on the 
 earth's surface. This firmament, according to Gen. 1, constituted 
 a dividing wall, or rather a beaten out and solid expanse of firm 
 matter which supported the superincumbent waters, but let 
 them out from time to time through the windows of heaven — 
 sluice-gates in the sky — through which waters rushed out to fill 
 the clouds and make the showers. 
 
 31. For by them judgeth he the people ; he giveth meat 
 in abundance. 
 
 32. With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth 
 it not to shine by the clmid that cometh betwixt. 
 
 33. The noise thereof sheweth concering it, the cattle also 
 concerning the vapor. 
 
194 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 Beautifully, Elihu regards these agencies of God in the distri- 
 bution of the waters of our world as shaped to the purposes 
 of his moral government over men — supplying rain in abundance 
 to fertilize the earth and provide food for man ; or withholding it 
 
 to visit guilty men with drought and famine. In v. 32 it were 
 
 quite a vain endeavor either to justify our English version or to 
 interpret it. But if we hold in mind the subject of thought — the 
 phenomena of thunder — we may translate both intelligibly and 
 forcibly: — He puts the light (/. e., of the lightning's flash) as a 
 coA'ering over the palms of his hands and gives it a commission 
 
 against the enemy. Then v. 33, thus : — His thunder speaks 
 
 [makes revelations] of him — to the herds of cattle even — of Him 
 
 who is on high. As to the last word, there is no authority for 
 
 the sense " vapor." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Conclusion of Elihu s speech. 
 
 In its general course of thought, this chapter resumes, continues 
 and fills out the theme which commenced 36 : 26, viz., the wisdom 
 manifested by God in his agencies in our atmosphere — clouds, 
 rain, storm, lightning, the ice of winter and the warmth of sum- 
 mer. Most appropriately these agencies are so presented as to 
 inspire reverence and awe — moral impressions which Elihu as- 
 sumes may be useful to his suffering but not sufiiciently reverent 
 friend. 
 
 1. At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of 
 his pkce. 
 
 Following the thought with which the last chapter closed, the 
 speaker says — Not the beasts of the field only give tokens of alarm 
 before the approaching thunder-storm, but " my heart trembles 
 and starts from its place:" thrilled with terror, it would fiiin spring 
 away to hide itself from this august presence ! 
 
 2. Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound 
 tliat goeth out of his mouth. 
 
 3. He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his light- 
 ning unto the ends of the earth. 
 
 4. After it a voice roareth : he thundereth with the voice 
 of his excellency ; and he will not stay them when his voice 
 is heard. 
 
 5. God thundereth marvelously with his voice; great 
 things doeth he, which we can not comprehend. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVII. l'.)') 
 
 Pause, () Job, and listen attentively to the roar of .Tcliovali's 
 voice when he speaks in the rolling tluinder, shaping its eonrso 
 under the whole heaven, flashing its lightnings to the ends of the 
 
 earth. "He will not stay them when his voice is heard." He 
 
 detains not the lightnings but lets them fly when his voice of 
 thunder goes abroad. Great things God works in earth and sky, 
 far beyond our comprehension. 
 
 6. For he saitli to the snow, Be thou on the earth : likewise 
 to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength. 
 
 7. He sealeth up the hand of every man ; that all men 
 may know his work, 
 
 8. Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places. 
 
 At his command come the snow, and both the gentle and the 
 mighty rain. In those oriental countries, the distinction between 
 the soft, mild shoAver and the pouring storm was strongly marked. 
 The autumn rains began gently, swelling during winter to the 
 great rain, and closing with the latter rain which again was 
 modei'ate. God's hand shaped all these diversities of rain-fall in 
 
 wisdom and in love. The "sealing up of every man's hand," 
 
 is no other than the sealing up of the earth with the icy bands 
 of winter, so that man is compelled to desist from his labors in the 
 field — God's design in this being, in part, that man may have 
 
 leisure to study and learn of God. We should not read it — 
 
 "that men may know his work," but thus; — that the men of his 
 work [workmanship] may know [him]. Men are definitely 
 thought of as the work of God's hand, and therefore under most 
 
 sacred obligation to know their Maker. In this winter season, 
 
 the beasts also in a similar manner retire to their dens and remain 
 there. 
 
 9. Out of the .south cometh the whirlwhul : and cold out 
 of the north. 
 
 10. By the breath of God frost is given : and the breadth 
 of the waters is straitened. 
 
 From the south came the great whirlwinds of that climate. The 
 south is called in Hebrew "God's secret chamber" because the 
 
 southern hemisphere was little known. God is seen every-whero 
 
 in all these ardencies of nature; the north winds which bring down 
 
 cold and ice are but his breath. The whole breadth of the 
 
 rivers is bridged and held firmly as if compressed, by the ice. 
 
 11. Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he 
 scattereth his bright cloud : 
 
 12. And it is turned round about by his counsels: that 
 they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face 
 of the world in the earth. 
 
3 96 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 13. He causetli it to come, ^vhether for correction, or for 
 his land, or for mercy. 
 
 Not by " Avateving " in its usual sense — sprinkling water — but 
 with moisture, i. e., by supplying water freely, he loads [burdens] 
 the thick clouds. He also spreads abroad his lightning cloud: it 
 is made to turn this way and that by his guiding hand to do all 
 he commands over the face of the whole world. He causes it to 
 find [and execute] its work [Heb.], whether as a rod [of correc- 
 tion] upon his land, or for mercy [blessings]. 
 
 14. Hearken unto this, O Job : stand still, and consider 
 the Avondrous Avorks of God. 
 
 15. Dost thou kuoAv Avhen God disposed them, and caused 
 the light of his cloud to shine ? 
 
 At this point Elihu begs Job to pause for the practical appli- 
 cation — Stand : Consider ; wert thou in God's secret counsels when 
 he set his thought upon these works in nature and sent forth the 
 
 flash of his lightning-cloud? If not, then admit that God's 
 
 thoughts are deeper and more vast than thine I 
 
 16. Dost thou knoAV the balancings of the clouds, the Avon- 
 drous Avorks of him Avhich is perfect in knoAvledge ? 
 
 17. HoAV thy garments are Avarm, Avhen he quieteth the 
 earth by the south ivindf 
 
 18. Hast thou Avith him spread out tlie sky, ivhlch is strong, 
 and as a molten looking-glass ? 
 
 The same idea as above ; — Hast thou been one of God's privy 
 counsel so that thou hast understood how to weigh the clouds so 
 nicely that they are just sustained in the atmosphere and made 
 equal to their great burden of water? Dost thou comprehend the 
 
 wonders of him whose knowledge is really perfect? " Quieteth 
 
 the earth by his south wind" — distinguished for blowing gently 
 and bringing in the warm, balmy breath of summer. Wast thou 
 icith Him as counsellor or helper when He spread out the con- 
 cave firmament — supposed in that age to be solid, firm, as a mirror 
 of polished brass ? 
 
 19. Teach us Avhat Ave shall say unto him ; for Ave can not 
 order our speech by reason of darkness. 
 
 20. Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, 
 surely he shall be sAvalloAved up. 
 
 Perhaps to give Job a sharper sense of the absurdity of the 
 assumption which the question (above) suggests, Elihu would say ; 
 ■ — If thou hast indeed been in the privy council of the Most High, 
 then teach us what we shall say to him ; for we — only common 
 
 men — are in great darkness on this point. But pause and think ! 
 
 Shall it be said unto the Great God — / would speak unto thee ? 
 Shall a man speak [i. e., to God] that he may be swallowed up? 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXYII. 197 
 
 or, ■when he surely will be ? Elihu remembers those impassioned 
 words of Job (23: 3-7) — "Othat I knew where I might find Him ! 
 I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with argu- 
 ments. I would know the words he would answer me," cto. 
 Elihu would suggest to Job that such bold irreverence might be 
 
 fotal. The last clause of v. 20, as well as the first should be 
 
 interrogative. In the Hebrew they are definitely correlated: — Is 
 it this way, or is it that ? 
 
 21. And now vien see not the bright light which is in the 
 clouds : but the wind pa.sseth, and cleanseth them. 
 
 Even now men can not gaze on the sun when its light shines 
 brightly in the sky — when the wind has passed over and cleared 
 the atmosphere. Inference : If men can not gaze upon the open, 
 unobscured face of the sun in the heavens, how can they endure 
 the blazing glory of the face of God, dwelling in the light which 
 no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen or can see 
 (1 Tim. 6:16). 
 
 22. Fair weather cometh out of the north : with God is 
 terinble majesty. 
 
 23. Touching the Almighty, we can not find him out : he 
 is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of 
 justice : he will not afflict. 
 
 24. Men do therefore fear him : he respecteth not any that 
 are wise of heart. 
 
 The Heb. word translated "fair weather" is the usual term for 
 ffold. Critics are sharply divided between these two senses : (a) 
 A golden sky of clear, brilliant light, coming forth from the 
 northern regions : — (6) Gold itself as found in northern latitudes. 
 The latter construction would be taken to suggest that though men 
 go deep for gold and bring it up with immense labor, yet they fail 
 to find God. But this fact, though not bad in its place, (as e. r/., 
 in chap. 28) is here far-fetched, and entirely foreign from the 
 course of thought. The former construction seems therefore to be 
 preferable. — The great thought here is that God's majesty is all- 
 glorious, and should inspire most reverent awe. His ways, more- 
 over, are deep — as to us, past finding out. Exalted is he in power 
 and in equity ("judgment"); abundant in righteousness; one 
 who will never oppress. Therefore sensible men do, and all men 
 should fear him. On the other hand, " he regards not the wise of 
 heart" — said here of those who are wise only in their own esteem. 
 Men who are vain of their wisdom (perhaps he meant this for a 
 suggestion to Job) find no special favor before God. Reverent 
 awe before his glorious majesty, and a due recognition of his 
 spotless righteousness and justice, would be incomparably more 
 appropriate. 
 
 Thus ends the long speech of Elihu, remarkable both for what 
 it aaya and for what it omits to say. Of what it says, we have 
 
198 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 already observed that it brings out in strong light — perhaps some- 
 times too strong — the objectionable things Job had said as to his 
 own righteousness and God's severe bearing toward him. Con- 
 sidering hoAv Elihu understood Job, he met these objectionable 
 points admirably in view of the light he had in regard to God's 
 character and ways. Nobly has he set forth the majesty and 
 glory of God as seen in his great works in the visible heavens 
 above us — the phenomena of cloud, rain, lightning, and storm. 
 Most truthfully and in plainest terms has he testified to the per- 
 fect rectitude and justice of God in his dealings with men. On 
 the great problem of suffering, as falling upon good men, he has 
 said little if estimated in the light of its importance to the issue 
 then pending; yet he has intimated his belief that such sufferings 
 arc disciplinary and corrective, and that, if they accomplish the 
 end sought and bring the sufferer to humble resignation and true 
 repentance, God will surely turn his hand promptly from the 
 infliction of suffering to the bestowal of blessings. Beyond this, 
 Elihu has not attempted to fathom the mysteries of God's admin- 
 istration in the sufferings of good men. He had not fully reached 
 the great doctrine that " whom the Lord loveth be chasteneth," and 
 that he is certainly and perfectly benevolent, even in the pitying 
 tenderness of a father to his children, as truly in the pains he 
 leaves the good to suffer as in the joys he gives them. This doc- 
 trine in its full development came at a later age with the advent 
 of new and better light from the Great Father of light, in harmony 
 with the general law of progress in the revelation of God to men. 
 The entire speech of Elihu being now before us, it is in place 
 here to inquire: 
 
 I. What main points lie has viade in these six chapters, and 
 what is to be thought of their bearing upon the important issues 
 of this controversy ; and, 
 
 II. What may we infer as to their influence upon Job and their 
 apprn%'nl or otherwise by the Lord ? 
 
 I. What main points has Elihu made in this speech ? 
 
 1. As we have seen, he lias rebuked Job — (1) For saying, or 
 at least implying, that himself was more righteous than God — (2) 
 For teaching that piety availed nothing before God; brought no 
 more profit than impiety — a doctrine (Elihu maintains) which 
 wicked men love and live upon ; that therefore Job was playing 
 into their hands and really taking ground against God and against 
 real piety — (3) In general, for irreverence toward God and for 
 impious presumption. All these points have been treated in our 
 notes sufficiently. 
 
 2. As already shown, Elihu maintained the doctrine that the 
 sufferings of the good are, at least, often disciplinary, and consid 
 ered in view of the divine purpose in their permission, corrective; 
 and that if successful to this result, God forgives the sin and 
 restores the sinner, now humbled and penitent, to favor and to his 
 f )rmer prosperity. This was a long step in advance toward the 
 true doctrine. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP, XXXVII. 199 
 
 3. lie also labored to impress Job with a sense of God's ma.jesty, 
 power and wisdom in his works of creation and also of providence, 
 especially in his physical administration over his material uni- 
 verse. His aim was to deepen Job's reverence and awe toAvard 
 God — an aim worthy of the best of men and of their best endeav- 
 ors. It may be observed that this aim was in full harmony with 
 that of Jehovah himself, who took up the effort at the point where 
 EHhu suspended it, and made it his main, not to say exclusive, 
 aim throughout his speech. 
 
 II. On the two questions — Did this speech have any effect 
 upon Job ? and, Did the Lord indorse it ? we are met in the outset 
 by the fact that the record has no definite statements bearing on 
 either of these points. Job made no reply ; said not a word from 
 which Ave can infer how the speech impressed him., The Lord 
 made not the slightest allusion to Elihu, and hence gave no direct 
 expression of his thought as to the speech. Must we then in- 
 fer that probably his speech had no appreciable influence and 
 turned to no valuable account? That it neither impressed Job to 
 good purpose nor pleased the Almighty and won his approbation ? — 
 Some critics are understood to maintain the affirmative on both 
 these points, and on this ground question, or deny, the claims of 
 his speech to a place in this book. 
 
 In defense of these claims it should be said — (a) That on the 
 score of textual authority, the speech of Elihu is here by as good 
 
 right as any thing else in the book. (b) That it actually fills a 
 
 useful place in the discussion, administering deserved rebuke to 
 Job, criticising justly the notable failure of Job's three friends, 
 and moving upon Job entirely in the line of thought and argu- 
 ment which the Lord himself immediately takes up at the close 
 of his speech and carries forward till Job is broken, humbled, 
 
 penitent, forgiven, and accepted before God. On the main 
 
 question therefore noAV in hand, viz.. The results of this speech 
 and the reasons why Job makes no reply and the Lord no 
 allusions to it, 1 come to these three conclusions : 
 
 1. That as an answer to Job on the human side, i. e.. from a 
 fellow-being, from a man unprejudiced and in the main fair- 
 minded, it was nseful to Job and acceptable to God. 
 
 2. That Job made no answer — (a) Because he felt in a good 
 measure the truth and justice of Avhat Elihu had said ; — (b) Be- 
 cause he had nothing to say by Avay of objection or of self- 
 vindication. — (c) Perhaps also because the Lord began at the 
 very point both of time and of thought where Elihu closed, taking 
 up the same line of argument which Elihu had been pressing, 
 and with no interval of unoccupied time. 
 
 3. Further, Elihu's speech did make progress in the general 
 argument, and so far as appears, helped toward the immediate re- 
 sult of bringing Job to a better mind. 
 
 4. The reasons why the Lord made no allusion to Elihu may 
 have been such as these: (1) What Elihu had said did not need 
 his formal indorsement : — (2) It was a sufficient though indirect 
 
200 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 indorsement that the Lord took up the very point with which 
 Elihu closed and pursued it throughout his own entire speech, 
 laboring to impress Job with a sense of God's ineffable majesty, 
 greatness and glory, his wisdom also and perfect ability to man- 
 age the universe he had made in all its minutest details, and to the 
 wisest and best possible results. — (3) It was not befitting the dig- 
 nity and majesty of God that he should formally recognize Elihu 
 as an xrmpire in this debate, especially in a case in which he con- 
 descended to become the umpire himself — (4) Inasmuch as the 
 Lord expressed very explicitly his disapprobation of what Job's 
 three friends had said, and indirectly showed wherein he held Job 
 to have been in the wrong, it is reasonable to assume that if he 
 had disapproved the speech of Elihu, he would have said so. 
 Coupled with this, the fact that he resumed Elihu's closing argu- 
 ment and carried it forward himself, should be accepted as his 
 sufficient indorsement. 
 
 oj^c 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 The Lord himselj' appears and speaks. 
 
 The human speakers in this long discussion have closed at last 
 and are silent. The way is open for the final word ; and now the 
 Lord appears in a whirlwind and addresses Job with sublimity 
 and grandeur never surpassed in human speech. Job had rashly 
 assumed to know how the Almighty ought to govern the world 
 and administer its agencies of good or evil over the righteous 
 and the wicked. For this rash assumption he deserved the 
 sternest rebuke. This is therefore the first and main point in 
 this sublime speech of Jehovah. True, Job had made no pre- 
 tensions to special knowledge or wisdom as to creating the world 
 or ordaining its physical laws, nor need we understand the Lord 
 to assume that he has. But he anight as icell have assumed to 
 know all about this material world and its ordinances as to have 
 made the analogous assumption in respect to God's moral adminis- 
 tration. This fact suggests the logic of the speech before us. Un- 
 derneath it lies the great truth that it requires no less wisdom to 
 govern a world of moral agents on probation than to create a 
 material universe and ordain its physical laws. Unquestionably 
 the fact is that the moral universe as compared with the physical 
 demands and calls into exercise incomparably greater wisdom and 
 poAver. Now Job had boldly assumed to pass his judgment upon 
 the moral administration of the Most High. To answer him, the 
 Lord puts it to him to say where he was when the Great Creator 
 spake this material world into being and ordained its laws and 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXYIII. 201 
 
 put in motion the wonderful meclianism of suns and planets ; 
 of rivers and ocean depths, of light and heat, of summer and 
 winter — of all the agencies wise and beneficent for the good of 
 man. Throughout this protracted appeal the underlying implica- 
 tion is of this sort : If thou art not old enough, nor wise enough, nor 
 mighty enough, to do these lesser things, how couldest thou assume 
 to be equal to the greater task of governing intelligent and moral 
 
 beings under a scheme of moral probation? It might perhaps 
 
 be added that, while human thought is dull and shallow in the 
 just appreciation of the infinitely delicate and difficult manage- 
 ment of free acting moral agents, it is comparatively more easy to 
 impress upon men the glorious sublimity and majesty of God, as 
 well as his wisdom and power also, by bringing forth to his view 
 the more tangible and apprehensible manifestations of God in the 
 world of matter. So it often is that God puts infant minds at 
 school in the realm of matter to train them into the higher and 
 more difficult lessons in the realm of mind and morals. 
 
 1. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, 
 and said, 
 
 2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without 
 knowledge ? 
 
 3. Gird up now tliy loins like a man ; for I will demand 
 of thee : and answer thou me. 
 
 Nothing can surpass the sublime dignity or the telling force of 
 the first words ; " Who is this " ? this creature of a day ; this be- 
 ing so infinitesimally small, so very weak, of so little knowledge ! 
 Who is he that thus sheds darkness and not light over the mo- 
 mentous questions involved in governing the universe ? Who is 
 this that makes such a display of words, with no knowledge 
 
 therein? "Gird up now thy loins like a man" — for there is 
 
 earnest work to be done, and the utmost manly energy will be 
 
 called into requisition. The word chosen here for man is not 
 
 that one which suggests his earth-born origin [Adam], nor that 
 which specially distinguishes his sex as compared with woman 
 [ish] ; but is the one which suggests the hero — the man of mas- 
 terly vigor and power — the very embodiment of manliness. 1 
 
 will demand of thee, and inform thou me ; make me know in an- 
 swer to the inquiries I put. The Avord "answer" comes short of 
 the full sense. 
 
 4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the 
 earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 
 
 5. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest ? 
 or who hath stretched the line U2:)on it ? 
 
 6. Whereupon ai-e the foundations thereof fxstened ? or 
 who laid the corner-stone thereof? 
 
 7. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sous 
 of God shouted for joy ? 
 
202 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 As we oujiht to expect, the building and construction of tliia 
 material globe are expressed in correspondence with the current 
 ideas of the age. A use of terms and forms of statement more 
 scientifically accurate (according to modern science), it were simple 
 folly in us to demand. The effect sought in this speech was not 
 
 instruction in physical science but a sublime moral impression. 
 
 The observant reader will notice that both the phraseology and 
 the conception in this chapter are entirely in harmony with Gen- 
 esis — as if the same Moses wrote both. "Where wast thou" ? 
 
 The great Creator saAv nothing of thee ; where couldest thou have 
 
 been on that august morning of earth's creation? Who made 
 
 the measurements (v. 5) for this stupendous building? Not 
 
 "(/"thou knowest," but ^\for thou wilt know"— this being the 
 normal, not to say necessary sense of the Hebrew words. The 
 verb is in the Hebrew future tense Avhich admits some latitude of 
 meaning — e. g., Thou shouldest know; shouldest be expected to 
 know since thou hast assumed to sit in judgment on God's moral 
 administration; — ovghtest to know in order to justify such as- 
 sumptions. There may pei'haps be a slight tinge of irony — against 
 
 which there can be no valid objection. Instead of " hath laid " 
 
 and ^^ hath stretched," the simple imperfeet tense "who laid" — 
 " Avho stretched " — would be better, the reference being to acts 
 
 finished in that birth-hour of creation. Upon what were its 
 
 massive foundations sunken (this being the sense of the Hebrew 
 word). " The morning stars " (v. 7) are synonymous and par- 
 allel with " the sons of God," both phrases referring to angelic or- 
 ders of being in existence before our Avorld was made. The word 
 "star" in the sense of one eminently distinguished, was in use 
 among the Hebrews, as we may see in Num. 24: 17 — " There shall 
 come a star out of Jacob," etc. — also Kev. 22 : 16 — " I am the 
 bright and the morning star." Of analogous sort is Isa. 14: 12. 
 
 It was a pertinent question to ask how it happened that in the 
 
 sublime chorus of joy when the welkin of the upper heavens rang 
 with hallelujahs of praise to the great Creator of this lower world, 
 Job ivas not there! Where was he then ? What could he have 
 been doing that he should miss this stupendous gathering? What 
 could have engrossed his attention, of sublimer, vaster moment, 
 than this praise-song of the morning ages ! 
 
 We scarcely need say that the conception of such a song is 
 itself sublimely grand, and no doubt gloriously true ! Ah, did 
 they foresee what was to transpire upon this beautiful earth 
 ere its final conflagration ? Had any whisper ran through their 
 shining ranks that a race of younger brethren were to be planted 
 there; that sin would enter the Eden of its beauty and doom this 
 brother race to the ruin of death ; that the Son of God would be- 
 come incarnate for their redemption ; and that in the end a world 
 redeemed would swell the chorus of heaven with its " new song " 
 
 forever and forever ? Of only one thing we may be sure, viz., 
 
 that if their angelic song were not inspired in any measure by 
 prophecy, it was the more surely inspired by faith — a faith that 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVIII. 203 
 
 the Great Creator had some far-reaching plan and grand results 
 in his unfatliomable thought. The moral sublimity of such faith, 
 it is elevating and glorious to contemplate. 
 
 8. Or u'Jio shut up tlie sea with doors, when it brake forth, 
 as if it had issued out of the womb? 
 
 9. AVhen I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick 
 darkness a swaddling band for it, 
 
 10. And brake up for it my decreed j-'^'^^^'^: ^^^(^ ^ct bars 
 and doors, 
 
 11. And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: 
 and here shall thy proud waves be stayed ? 
 
 Next, the production and disposal of the great waters of our 
 globe, thought of as a birth from the womb of creation ; then like 
 an infiint child, wrapped in swathing-bands of cloud ; then assigned 
 to its place and rigidly circumscribed within bounds whicla it 
 
 must not pass over. In v. 9, for " thick darkness," read tJiick 
 
 cloud, which is precisely the etymological sense of the original. 
 
 In V. 10, the English version is wide of the true sense, which is; 
 
 And then I assigned my boioids to it. The Hebrew words have 
 primary application to the head of a household breaking off to 
 everyone his portion of bread, from which came the broader sense 
 of marking off due bounds or limits — here to the great waters of 
 the deep. 
 
 12. Hast thou commanded the morning since tliy days; 
 and caused the day-spring to know his place ; 
 
 13. That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that 
 the wicked might be shaken out of it? 
 
 Not to press farther the question what thou hast known or done, 
 of that which took place long ages before thou wert born ; let me 
 ask now what thou hast done as to certain things "since thy 
 days" [began]? Since thy birth into this glorious world, hast 
 thou, day by day, commanded the morning to come on and made 
 the dav-spring know its place, that it might grasp the ends of the 
 earth, tliat the wicked might be shaken [with fear], and driven 
 out of it — ?'. e., driven from their usual works of darkness ? The 
 reader will find a clue to the meaning of this in 24: 16, 17. 
 Wicked men work their deeds in the darkness and flee in terror 
 from the approach of day. The morning dawn therefore " shakes 
 them out" of the active business world in which they move. 
 
 14. It is turned as clay to the seal ; and they stand as a gar- 
 ment. 
 
 15. And from the wicked their light is withholden, and 
 the high arm shall be broken. 
 
 The face of the earth is changed, under the rising light of the 
 
204 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 Bun, as clay when impressed by the signet-ring. Its mass which 
 under the darkness had seemed shapeless and void of beauty, sud- 
 denly under the sunlight puts on all forms of beauty, even as the 
 shapeless clay-lump takes the nice impressions of the signet. 
 Then all earth's beauty stands forth as in gay apparel ; or perhaps 
 the whole idea may be, its beauties are all before you, apparent as 
 
 one's outer garment. V. 15 reiterates the sentiment of v. 13. 
 
 As to the wicked, their light is the darkness ; their day of work is 
 the night. When darkness is withholden from them, being dis- 
 pelled by the glorious sun, their high arm is broken, their power 
 for evil gone. 
 
 16. Hast tliou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast 
 thou walked in the search of the depth ? 
 
 17. Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or 
 hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death ? 
 
 Has Job pushed his travels and researches into the depths of 
 
 the sea, and down to the gates of the under-world ? The sea is 
 
 supposed to be fed by springs at its bottom : Has Job been down 
 to explore them ? or has he traversed the unexplored depths of the 
 ocean ? — traversed, walking to and fro, is the sense of the Hebrew. 
 — Instead of saying — " In the search" it should be — In the realms 
 never yet searched, or the places that will forever remain to be 
 
 explored. Moreover, hast thou been down to the very gates of 
 
 the deep world below, and were those gates opened to admit thee ? 
 Hast thou even seen those gates of death-shade ? 
 
 18. Hast thou perceived tlie breadth of the earth? declare 
 if thou knowest it all. 
 
 19. Where is the way ivhere light dwelleth ? and as for 
 darkness, where is the place thereof, 
 
 20. That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and 
 that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? 
 
 21. Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or 
 because the number of thy days is great ? 
 
 As to the earth's surface, hast thou explored it to its uttermost 
 breadth? Declare if thou knowest all this ! The abode of light and 
 the home of the darkness-^hast thou been there and found their 
 local habitation and learned how to conduct them to their respec- 
 tive homes and to bring them forth in their appointed times ? 
 
 In V. 21 the Hebrew gives no sign of a question. The affirmative 
 construction is therefore true to the original: "Thou knowest — 
 (certainly ! ) for thou wast then already born, and the number of 
 thy years is great ! " Irony of course ; but a forcible way of putting 
 home to Job's mind the folly of his daring assumption. 
 
 22. Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow ? or 
 hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVIII. 205 
 
 23. Which I have reserved agahist the time of trouble, 
 against the day of battle and war ? 
 
 Accoi'ding to the conceptions current in all classic and oriental 
 literature, snow and hail arc thought of as deposited in vast store- 
 houses, treasured for use upon call from their Infinite Maker; 
 here said to be reserved in store for the day of battle and war, 
 when God goes forth against his enemies. 
 
 24. By what way is the light parted, ^vhich scattereth the 
 east wind upon the earth? 
 
 25. Who hath divided a water course for the overflowing 
 of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder ; 
 
 26. To cause it to rain on the earth, ivhere no man is; on 
 the wilderness, where tliere is no man ; 
 
 27. To satisfy the desolate and waste ground ; and to cause 
 the bud of the tender herb to spring forth ? 
 
 In V. 24, the sense is not — " By what way [manner] is the light 
 parted ; but what is the way to the place whence light comes forth ? 
 The same question is asked as to the point from which the east 
 wind is sent abroad over the earth. The idea is not by any means 
 
 that the light scatters the east wind. Who lays out the channels 
 
 for the rain or the track for the thunder's flash ? Who does that 
 wonderful thing — send rain upon unpeopled deserts, where no 
 mortal lives to be blessed thereby? 
 
 28. Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the 
 drops of dew ? 
 
 29. Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary 
 frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? 
 
 30. The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the 
 deep is frozen. 
 
 Where is the limit to these wonders of the material universe? 
 Think : — How came the rain and the dew to exist at all ? Who gave 
 
 them birth? Had they a father? The phenomena of ice are 
 
 among the marvels of the water system, noticed in v. 30. The 
 sense however is not — tied as ivith a stone; hut hidden as m 
 stone — i. e., as if converted into stone. — And the face of the deep 
 coheres, the waters clasping hands (so to speak) together; the 
 particles grasping each other — literally, are seized and held fast. 
 
 31. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or 
 loose the bands of Orion ? 
 
 The Pleiades are the well known constellation, otherwise called 
 " the seven stars." Orion, drawn as a giant on the sky with girdle 
 about his loins, is also among the best known constellations. 
 Anciently, the former appeared in spring ; the latter in winter. 
 Whether the stars themselves were thought of as controlling the 
 
206 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXVIIT. 
 
 climate, bringinsj; on the warmth of sprinji; and the cold of winter; 
 or were regarded as merely indicating the seasons because they 
 appeared at the time of their change, and their appearance there- 
 fore came to be associated with spring or with Avinter, it is neither 
 easy nor important to decide. Whichever may have been the 
 current notion in the day and country of Job, we need find here 
 no scriptural authority for the doctrines of astrology. In fact, 
 spring came Avith the advent of the Pleiades; winter with the 
 appearance of Orion. Hence the Lord fitly asked Job — Dost thou 
 (not literally "canst") but dost thou in fact bind in clusters 
 together those stars of the Pleiades ? or dost thou unbind the 
 stars in the girdle of Orion, loosing his girdle? That is; Art thou 
 the author of those beneficent changes of the seasons from winter 
 to spring which shed such blessings abroad over the face of the 
 
 earth ? As to the precise sense of the Hebrew word translated 
 
 "sweet influences;" if taken as it stands in the text, its etymo- 
 logical meaning is — delights ; sweet and precious things: but if 
 its two final letters should be transposed — (a change not altogether 
 infrequent in Hebrew words), Ave have the sense bands, which 
 corresponds with "binding" and "loosing," and keeps up the 
 antithesis between these two constellations. 
 
 32. Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season ? or 
 canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons ? 
 
 "Mazzaroth" — a Hebrew Avord transferred (not translated), is 
 a plural noun and means the signs of the Zodiac : the twelve 
 stars which marked off the entire Zodiac into twelve equal por- 
 tions through which the sun (apparently) passes in the corre- 
 sponding twelve months of the year. "Arcturus" is the well 
 
 known northern constellation, otherwise called "the Great Bear" 
 ("Dipper"); "his sons" (special stars) being poetically the chil- 
 dren of that animal. The question as put to Job asks if he controls 
 these moA'ements of the great constellations, or as we should put it, 
 those changes of the earth in its revolution round the sun Avhich 
 they serve to mark and indicate ? 
 
 33. KnoAvest thou the ordinances of heaven ? canst thou 
 set the dominion thereof in the earth ? 
 
 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abund- 
 ance of waters may cover thee ? 
 
 35. Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and 
 say unto thee. Here we are? 
 
 Dost thou even iinderstand the ordinances of the heavens — 
 those great natural laws under Avhich the heavenly bodies move in 
 their orbits and fulfill each his OAvn mission ? Or dost thou assign 
 to them their dominion oA-er the earth, giving them the poAver they 
 wield and regulating its exercise? — So also, dost thou command 
 the clouds, and consequently abundance of waters come doAvn to 
 cover thee? Or, in like manner, dost thou send forth the light- 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB, — CHAP. XXXVIII. 207 
 
 ningf, and they respond to thy bidding as thy ready servants? — 
 questions as to which we scarcely know Avhether most to admire 
 their exquisite pertinence, or their matchless sublimity. 
 
 36. Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or wlio hath 
 given understanding to the heart ? 
 
 This question opens a new vein of thought — the resources of 
 power and wisdom manifested in Him who can create inielligent 
 mind, like that of man — a mind capable of learning and appreci- 
 ating the glorious attributes of his Maker and Father. Who has 
 wrought this Avonderful achievement ? Has Job ever done any 
 thing of this sort? If not, then he is entirely too fast in presum- 
 ing to say how the Infinite Maker of man's intelligent mind ought 
 to govern his moral children and adjust to their spiritual nature 
 and need the complicated influences of adversity and prosperity. 
 
 37. Who can number the clouds in wisdom ? or who can 
 stay the bottles of heaven, 
 
 38. When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods 
 cleave first together? 
 
 " Numbering the clouds " probably includes more than their 
 count, even a perfect knowledge of their laws and a supreme con- 
 trol of all their agencies. Is^ot "stay the bottles of heaven" in 
 
 the sense of holding them still; but rather — Who can incline 
 tliem ; turn them up so that they shall discharge their waters in 
 showers upon the earth. The time, thought of, is one of extreme 
 drought, when the soil becomes hard and the clods cohere and 
 can not be pulverized. Who then can send the softening showers ? 
 
 39. Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion ? or fill the appe- 
 tite of the young lions, 
 
 40. When they couch in their dens, and abide in the cov- 
 ert to lie in wait? 
 
 41. Who provideth for the raven his food ? when his young 
 ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat. 
 
 At this point the field from which illustrations are drawn 
 changes and a new chapter should have commenced. The strain 
 of discourse passes from the inanimate creation to the animate ; 
 from the heavenly bodies and atmospheric agencies to beasts of 
 field and forest, o-f land and of water; to treat of their instincts, 
 and capabilities, and of the provision which their great Creator 
 has made for their subsistence and well-being. This portion of 
 the discourse will have less of sublimity and grandeur than tlio 
 preceding, yet, carefully considered, scarcely less rich displays of 
 the wisdom and beneficence of the Creator. 
 
 The lion, notwithstanding his wonderful strength and agility, 
 must still depend on the all-peiwasive providence of his Maker for 
 his daily food. • Noticeably the case of the lion is put in two 
 aspects: the young, hungry and to be supplied; yet waiting idly 
 
208 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 in their dens : the old lion, responsible for the hunting, and crouch- 
 ing in his covert to lie in wait. V. 39 names the old lion first; 
 his young second: while v. 40 reverses this order, and shows the 
 young waiting in their homes; the old, lurking for his prey. Who 
 shaped these laws and provides for their well-working ? Beau- 
 tifully the young of the raven are thought of as lifting up their 
 cry to God for the food which their nature demands, and God 
 hears their cry! — Does Job bear any part in this universal provi- 
 dence of God? Could he do it if the responsibility were laid 
 
 upon him ? Moreover, let the question be considered whether 
 
 the Lord does not invite Job (and ourselves also) to this infer- 
 ence: — He who hears the cry of the raven will hear the cry of his 
 human offspring: He who is good to the lion is no less good to 
 suffering man. Subsequent sacred writers seem to have had in 
 mind this allusion to the raven ; e. g., the Psalmist (147 : 9): " He 
 giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry." 
 Also our Lord himself (Luke 12: 24): "Consider the ravens, for 
 they neither sow nor reap ; who have neither store-house nor barn ; 
 and God feedeth them." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Speech of Jehovah continued. 
 
 This chapter brings under consideration successively the rock- 
 goat (v. 1-4); the wild ass (v. 5-8); the unicorn (v. 9-12); the 
 ostrich (v. 13-18); the war-horse (v. 19-25) ; the hawk (v. 26); and 
 the eagle (v. 27-30). The purpose in each is essentially the 
 same— to set forth the surpassing wisdom and beneficence of the 
 Great Creator, whose works in the field of animated existence 
 are endlessly varied, but every-where rich in demonstrations of 
 his measureless resources of skill, adaptation and beneficent 
 providence. 
 
 1. Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the 
 rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do 
 calve ? 
 
 2. Canst thou number the months that they fulfill? or 
 knowest thou the time when they bring forth ? 
 
 3. They bow themselves, they bring forth their young 
 ones, they cast out their sorrows. 
 
 4. Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up 
 with corn ; they go forth, and return not unto them. 
 
 Instead of ''canst mark;" "canst number," dost should be the 
 word, as precisely representing the original. In v. 2 the idea is 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAr. XXXIX. 209 
 
 bj no means — canst thou count their months — which would he no 
 difficult matter, but dost thou determine, fix, this period — a thin^ 
 done by no other than their Creator. " Cast out their sorrows' 
 in the sense of casting away, dismissing, their pains. Their 
 young (v, 4) mature, develop rapidly to the point of puberty. — 
 They grow up, not " with corn," but in the open fields — the wide, 
 desert regions. This " goat of the rock" [Heb.] is the wild one — 
 in habits and life, entirely unlike his tame brother. Who made 
 him to differ so widely? Who supplies his physical wants and 
 bears him with such facility through the trying exegencies of all 
 animated beings? 
 
 5. Who hath sent out. the Avild ass free? or who hath 
 loosed the bands of the wild ass? 
 
 6. Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the 
 barren land his dwellings. 
 
 7. He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth 
 he the crying of the driver. 
 
 8. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he 
 searcheth after every green thing. 
 
 This description of the wild ass has its eye continually upon 
 his tame brother, to show the points of great unlikeness in 
 
 his spirit and habits of life. Who sent forth this wild ass/ree 
 
 as a manumitted slave — the word here being the one employed 
 for the bondman set at liberty. Who loosed his bands of 
 slavery — to whom I have given the broad wilderness for his 
 home? "He scorneth" — not properly " the w?(?f/i'H(7e," but the 
 tumult — the hum and roar of the city. He does not like those 
 sounds which come up fi'om the busy haunts of men, nor will he 
 hear [patiently] the shouts of the driver — such as the domesti- 
 cated ass is doomed to hear interminably. The range of the 
 
 mountains is his pasture-ground — the word for range implying a 
 country to be traversed and explored at will, where he may search 
 out every green thing for his subsistence. Who gave this animal 
 his fixed instincts of fi-eedom, and provided for him a home so 
 peculiar, a pasture-ground so ample, the supply for every want so 
 abundant; and made him love this sort of life so well and persist 
 in it so tenaciously ? Had Job any hand in all this ? 
 
 9. Will the unicorn be Avilling to serve thee, or abide by 
 thy crib ? 
 
 10. Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the fur 
 row? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? 
 
 11. Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or 
 wilt thou leave thy labor to him? 
 
 12. Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy 
 seed, and gather it into thy barn ? 
 
 Both naturalists and Bible critics have sought long and dili- 
 10 
 
210 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP, XXXIX. 
 
 gently to identify this so-called " unicorn " [Ileb. reeml. The 
 descriptive points given here suffice to show fully his strong 
 points of resemblance in structure and strength to the do- 
 mestic ox. He might plovr or harrow or bear your burdens 
 of grain — if only he would ; but like the two animals before 
 described, lie is intractable. You can not bow his neck to your 
 yoke, nor make him feel at home at your crib. Wild ox is there- 
 fore his descriptive name. The supposition that he had but 
 
 one horn [" unicorn "] is for many reasons untenable. See the 
 allusions to his liorns [plural] in Ps. 22: 21 and 92: 10 and 
 
 Deut. 33 : 17. The earlier critics labored to make him out the 
 
 rhinoceros ; but all later critics reject their speculations. The 
 effort to class him ■with the oryx has proved equally abortive. 
 If his race is still extant, he must be a species of the buffalo, 
 now domesticated in Southern Europe, Egypt and India.* 
 
 13. Gavest thou the goodly "wiugs unto tlie peacocks? oi* 
 wings and feathers unto the ostrich ? 
 
 14. Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth 
 them in the dust, 
 
 15. And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that 
 the wild beast may break them. 
 
 16. She is hardened against her young ones, as though 
 tliey were not hers: her labor is in vain without fear; 
 
 17. Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither 
 hath he imparted to her understanding. 
 
 18. What time she lifteth up herself on high she scorneth 
 the horse and his rider. 
 
 • In this passage the Hebrew gives no authority whatever for 
 the word " peacock." The bird described is the ostrich and no 
 other. Therefore, read vs. 13 and 14 thus: — "The wing of the 
 ostrich waves exultingly; but are her wings and pinions pious" 
 (like the affectionate stork suggested by the word for " pious")? 
 [Nay,] "/"or she commits her eggs to the earth, and on the dust 
 [or sand] leaves them to be warmed and forgets that some foot 
 may crush them. By her .instincts she is hard of heart toward 
 her young; God has withheld from her the maternal love and 
 care impressed into the nature of most animals. Her unsur- 
 passed speed in flight is given truthfully as another of her 
 marked characteristics. Combining nimble feet with powerful 
 wings, she easily distances and proudly scorns the horse and his 
 rider. Her hunters find that it is only by driving the ostrich 
 against the wind that they can break her down and bring her 
 
 within their reach. The reader will notice here also that the 
 
 striking peculiarities of this wonderful bird are attributed to her 
 Maker, who is " wonderful in counsel." 
 
 * Robinson in Calmet gives an elaborate review of this subject. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XXXIX. 211 
 
 19. Hast thou given the horse strength ? hast thou clothed 
 his neck Avith thunder ? 
 
 20. Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper ? the 
 glory of his nostrils is terrible. 
 
 21. He pawethiu the valley, and rejoiceth in Ms strength: 
 he goeth on to meet the armed men. 
 
 22. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted ; neither 
 turneth he back from the sword. 
 
 23. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear 
 and the shield. 
 
 24. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: 
 neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. 
 
 25. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha ! and he 
 sraelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and 
 the shouting. 
 
 This is not the average horse of civilized life, put to burdens 
 and to draft: but the genuine war-horse — nowhere else developed 
 
 so perfectly as on the Arabian desei-ts. In v. 19 — not "clothed 
 
 his neck with thvuder. but with terror — in allusion to his waving, 
 streaming, tremulous mane — one of the significant marks of his 
 
 fearless spirit and rampant enthusiasm for battle. In v. 20, 
 
 " the glory of his nostrils " is not for the eye (as the English 
 reader might suppose), but for the ear — the snorting, exploding 
 
 his breath through the nostrils. In v. 24, the phrase — more 
 
 oriental and Arabic than occidental — " he swallows the ground in 
 his fierceness and rage '' — sets forth the fury of his charge in his 
 eagerness for the shock of battle. So excited is he that he can 
 scarcely believe his own ears when the blast of the war-trumpet stirs 
 his blood to frenzy. Who gave him this passion for the scenes 
 and apparently for the glory of battle ? 
 
 26. Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her 
 wings toM'ard the south ? 
 
 27. Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make 
 her nest on high? 
 
 28. She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag 
 of the rock, and the strong place. 
 
 29. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold 
 afar off. 
 
 30. Her young ones also suck up blood : and where the 
 slain are, there is she. 
 
 From land animals we pass now to birds. First, the hawk, one 
 of the birds of passage. As the cold of winter approaches, he 
 mounts high aloft and spreads his wings for the warmer regions 
 of the south. Does this sagacity come of thy wisdom ? Art thou 
 equal to the creation of such instincts? And of the eagle: 
 
212 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XL. 
 
 Dost thou nerve and inspii-e her for her lofty soarins;, and make 
 her at home on the highest peaks and crags of the mountain- 
 top ? Hast thou given her that marvclously long range of vision 
 by which she descries her food from afar ? Is it of thee that she 
 makes her feast upon the flesh and blood of the slain? 
 
 Throughout these two magnificent chapters, we know not which 
 to admire most, the sublime grandeur of the thought, or the sur- 
 passing beauty of the diction. If we ascribe the style to the 
 genius and imagination of the author, we shall readily concede to 
 him the very first rank in these grand qualities. If we assume 
 that in fact Jehovah did appear in the whirlwind and give audible 
 utterance to these thoughts in substantially these words, we can 
 not say less than that the argument is worthy of a God, and the 
 reported words do highest honor to the sublime source whence 
 they came. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Jehovah's speech resumed and conttmied. 
 
 The first striking feature of this chapter is that it appears like 
 a new speech, or at least, a second distinct part of the same ; for 
 it has its appropriate introduction, corresponding to that in chap. 
 38. Was this because Job had become inattentive — his mind ap- 
 parently flagging and therefore needing a new impulse to hold its 
 thought? Or was it that some new points were to be introduced 
 or old ones put in new aspects for the stronger impression ? The 
 latter view has some support in the points made at the opening of 
 this new speech. 
 
 The Lord begins by rebuking the boldness, verging upon impi- 
 ous hardihood, of the mortal who presumes to contend with the 
 Almighty, or censure his conduct (v. I, 2); to which Job responds, 
 with his first words of reply (v. 3-5), after which the Lord pro- 
 ceeds, repeating some of the introductory words to the first part 
 of his speech (v. 6, 7) ; then in v. 8, brings out the main and really 
 great charge against Job — that of imputing injustice to his Maker 
 in his bold self-vindication — which rebuke the Lord enforces by 
 appealing to Job to show his power and see if he has any worth 
 naming that can at all compare with that of his Infinite Maker 
 (v. 9-14.) Then resuming the strain of chap. 39, the Lord calls 
 his attention to another remarkable specimen of the animal crea- 
 tion (v. 15-24). 
 
 1. Moreover, the Lord answered Job, and said, 
 
 2. Shall lie that contendeth with the Almighty instruct hi7n f 
 he that reproveth God, let him answer it. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XL. 213 
 
 " The Lord ansicerecl Job" — but tbc oriental sense of the word 
 "answer" (prevalent in both the Old Testament and the New) 
 is broader than merely a reply to a definite question, it being 
 used in the sense of addressing one and speaking to any well 
 
 known facts in his conduct, words or relations. In v. 2, the 
 
 first clause (emphatic and vital in the discourse) may be para- 
 phrased thus : — Shall a mere mortal, assuming to be a reprover, 
 go into earnest controversy with the Almighty? The word which 
 our English version translates as a verb — " instruct" — is now con- 
 ceded to be a noun, in the sense — a reprover. The one verb of 
 the sentence ( " contendeth ") is a part of that very emphatic He- 
 brew idiom, made by combining the infinitive Avith the finite verb, 
 thus; — contending, shall he contend — i. e., shall he contend vig- 
 orously, boldly ; shall he really undertake a set controversy with 
 
 his Maker? "He that censures God, let him answer for it"; 
 
 it is a fearfully grave matter, and whoever shall undertake it 
 should consider the solemn account he must render for such ii-rev- 
 erence and daring impiety. 
 
 3. Then Job answered the Lord, and said, 
 
 4. Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will 
 lay mine hand upon my mouth. 
 
 5. Once have I spoken ; but I Avill not answer : yea, twice ; 
 but I will proceed no further. 
 
 Job is not only appalled but humbled. Deeply conscious that 
 he has said entirely too much already, he shuts his lips and de- 
 clares he will say no more ! 
 
 6. Then answered the Lord unto Job out of the whirl- 
 wind, and said, 
 
 7. Gird up thy loins now like a man : I will demand of 
 thee, and declare thou unto me. 
 
 8. Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou con- 
 demn me, that thou mayest be righteous ? 
 
 Vs. 6, 7 repeat verbatim a part of the introductory words of the 
 first speech (38 : 1-3). The grave charge brought against Job — 
 the very head and front of his great offense against God — is dis- 
 tinctly put in V. 8 ; — Wilt thou annul my infinite right to rule ? 
 For to deny the justice of my judgments is equivalent to denying 
 my right to rule at all. If it were supposable that the Infinite 
 God should perpetrate injustice, he would by that injustice forfeit 
 his right to rule at all, and would virtually vacate his throne. 
 Hence the morial who charges against God any injustice virtually 
 denies his right to reign. So much seems to be implied in the 
 first clause ; — " Wilt thou even annul my right " — i. e., as God ? 
 
 "Wilt thou condemn me" (literally, hold me to be wicked) 
 
 that thou mayest be righteous," — i. e., for the sake of self-justifi- 
 cation ? 
 
214 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XL. 
 
 9. Hast thou an arm like God ? or canst thou thunder 
 with a voice like him ? 
 
 10. Deck thyself now iv'dli majesty and excellency ; and 
 array thyself with glory and beauty. 
 
 11. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath : and behold every 
 one that is proud, and abase him. 
 
 12. Look on every one that is proud, ami bring him low ; 
 and tread down the wicked in their place. 
 
 13. Hide them in the dust together ; and bind their faces 
 in secret. 
 
 14. Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right 
 hand can save thee. 
 
 It should be carefully noticed that on this most vital point of 
 all in this great debate, the Lord seems to make his final appeal, 
 not directly to the intrinsic justice of his administration, nor to 
 facts which would certify to that justice, or would serve to illus- 
 trate it; but simply to his infinite power and majesty. Hast 
 
 thou an arm like God's? or a voice of thunder like his ? Put on 
 thine utmost majesty ; array thyself in all thy beauty and glory; 
 send forth the floods of thy wrath (v. 11); look on every most 
 
 proud one and abase him I To " tread down the wicked m their 
 
 place " is to break them down where they are, underneath them- 
 selves, giving them not a moment to escape. "To bind their 
 
 faces in secret," should rather be in dccrkness : — consign them to 
 darkness, deep, remediless, eternal ! In v. 14, the verb " con- 
 fess " has usually the sense of p''«''se — meaning here: Then will 
 I give thee the credit and the honor of being able to save thyself 
 by the might of thine own right arm. The reasons for this ap- 
 peal to the power and majesty of God, in a case which was essen- 
 tially an impeachment of his justice, will come up for more full 
 consideration hereafter. The fact challenges special investiga- 
 tion and should receive it. 
 
 15. Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he 
 eateth grass as an ox. 
 
 16. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is 
 in the navel of his belly. 
 
 17. He moveth his tail like a cedar : the sinews of his 
 stones are wrapped together. 
 
 18. His bones are as strong pieces of brass ; his bones are 
 like bars of iron. 
 
 The word " behemoth" is transferred from the Hebrew — not 
 translated. By general consent of all modern critics, he is the 
 animal known best by his Greek name, "hippopotamus," or river- 
 horse; yet as his characteristics are rather those of the ox than 
 
 the horse, he might better be called the river-ox. His proper 
 
 home is the Nile of Egypt. He is amphibious — living both in 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP, XL. 215 
 
 and out of water. The animals before referred to (38 : 39-41 and 
 39) were either land animals or birds. This one and the " levi- 
 athan " (the crocodile) of chap. 41, are of both land and water. — 
 This river-ox has many qualities in common with the land-ox, 
 living on vegetables (not on flesh) — a foot the more noticeable 
 because his great strength would enable him to supply himself 
 
 readily with animal food if he had been constituted for it. His 
 
 force is — not " in the navel" — but in the sinews of his belly. He 
 bends his tail like a cedar — as a cedar would be bent, only under 
 great force. The sinews of his thighs are firmly wrapped together, 
 interlaced so as to give the utmost strength. The strength of his 
 bones is represented by the strongest known material (brass), in 
 its strongest form — that of holloAv pipes or tubes — the sense of 
 the Heb.. word for "pieces" (v. 18). 
 
 19. He is the chief of the ways of God : he that made him 
 can make his .sword to approach unto him. 
 
 20. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, wdaere all 
 the beasts of the field play. 
 
 21. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the 
 reed, and fens. 
 
 22. The shady trees cover him tcith their shadow ; the 
 willows of the brook compass him about. 
 
 "The chief of the ways of God" I take to mean — the highest 
 work of skill in constructing an animal of immense strength, yet 
 of only moderate size. The last clause of v. 19 should be read: — 
 "His Maker gave him his sword" — referring to his huge tusk or 
 corner tooth of which he has two. " It is (-says Conant) more 
 than two feet long and hard as flint, striking fire with steel." — The 
 word for "shady trees" (v. 22) signifies rather the loivs, whose 
 leaves on the river's surface are his covert, underneath which and 
 among the reeds and ferns on the margin of the river, he takes 
 his rest. The English version might be understood to imply 
 that he sleeps and rests on the land. His natural bed is in the 
 water's edge. 
 
 23. Behold, he drinketh up a river, ami hasteth not: he 
 trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. 
 
 24. He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through 
 snares. 
 
 Quite unlike the English version, the Hebrew (v. 23) means : — 
 The river rushes on proudly: he is not startled: he is fearless 
 [trustful in himself] though Jordan burst forth at his mouth. — 
 "Why should he be afraid of water? It is one of his native ele- 
 ments. The text does not describe him as a great drinker of 
 water, but as not fearing the rush of water about or upon him- 
 self. The translation of v. 24 is also very imperfect. It should 
 read : — He [the hunter] takes him (behemoth) before his own 
 eyes; he pierces through the nose with snares [hooks]. This is 
 
216 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XLI. 
 
 the method of taking the river-ox as given in history. The animal 
 is by nature shiggish and not timid. When he has not yet learned 
 to fear man, and has not been wounded or in any way exasper- 
 ated, his capture is easy, in the mode here indicated. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 The speech of Jehovah continued. 
 
 This chapter describes the crocodile, well known in the Nile; 
 portrayed here in boldest imagery as one of the masterly works 
 of God. 
 
 1. Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook? or his 
 tongue with a cord ivhich thou lettest down ? 
 
 2. Canst thou put a hook into his nose? or bore his jaw 
 through with a thorn ? 
 
 The name "leviathan" is transferred from the Hebrew — not 
 translated. It is applied in the Scriptures to other animals as 
 well; e. g., to a large serpent (Job 3: 8), and to a sea-monster 
 (Ps. 104 : 26). Yet there can be no doubt that this animal is the 
 crocodile of Egypt. — The first point made is in tacit contrast with 
 behemoth, who can be caught with a hook; but wilt thou draw out 
 leviathan in that way ? Or (2d clause) wilt thou j^ress down his 
 tongue with a cord — i. e., passed round his lower jaw and over 
 histongue ? Wilt thou put a rush-cord (a cord made of the rush) 
 into his nose, or bore his jaw with a hook?* 
 
 3. Will he make many supplications unto thee ? will he 
 speak soft ivords unto thee ? 
 
 4. Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take 
 him for a servant for ever ? 
 
 5. Wilt thou play with him as ivith a bird ? or wilt thou 
 bind him for thy maidens? 
 
 Canst thou domesticate and tame leviathan so as to use him in 
 thy labors, or make him a pet for thy maidens ? 
 
 6. Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall 
 they part him among the merchants ? 
 
 7. Cau.st thou fill his skin with barbed irons ? or his head 
 with fish spears? 
 
 8. Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do 
 no more. 
 
 * There are several Heb. words in this chapter whose meaning is 
 better understood now than when our received version was made. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAr. XLI. 217 
 
 "Companions" here arc partners, supposed to be associated in 
 the hunting, capture and sale of the crocodile. — Instead of " make 
 a banquet,'' we may read — Dig a j^H as a method of takinrr the 
 wildest animals — this being the only well established sense of the 
 Hebrew. V. 7 suggests the methods of capture practiced, e. (j., in 
 taking the whale. (V. 8) Lay thine hand upon him; try it for 
 once : — once will suffice ! Think no more of battle — ivllh him ! 
 Literally — Add not to think of battle ! 
 
 9. Behold, the hope of him is in vain : sluill not one be 
 cast clown even at the sight of him ? 
 
 10. None is 'so fierce that dare stir him up : Avho then is 
 able to stand before me? 
 
 11. Who hath prevented me, that I should repay himf 
 ichatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. 
 
 12. I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his 
 comely proportion. 
 
 Behold, the hope (i. e., of taking him by any such means) will 
 
 disappoint — will prove to be delusive. If thou canst not face 
 
 him in conflict, and dare not stir him up, who shall take his stand 
 against «ie f Who shall dare provoke my wrath or think to meas- 
 ure his right arm against mine? — (In v. 11) Who hath first given 
 aught to me that I should be bound to repay him ? This English 
 word "prevent" has long been obsolete in the sense given it by 
 our translators, and hence entirely fails now to express what they 
 meant by it. The sense here is — Who has been beforehand with 
 me, first giving to me, so that I am bound to give back to him ? 
 Under the whole heaven, it is mine ; all, all is mine ! Resum- 
 ing the description, v. 12 says — I will not pass in silence his limbs, 
 nor (literally) the word of his strength — his renowned, much talked 
 of strength, etc. 
 
 13. Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can 
 come to him with his double bridle ? 
 
 14. Who can open the doors of his face ? his teeth are ter- 
 rible round about. 
 
 " Discover," as usual in oiu* version, in the sense nncover. Tlie 
 ultimate meaning here is — Who has removed his armor of scales 
 
 so as to examine his skin underneath ? In the second clause 
 
 of V. 13, the word for "bridle" is supposed to mean his jaws — 
 the question put being this : Who will enter within his double 
 jaws, and trust himself beneath those terrible teeth ? 
 
 15. His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close 
 seal. 
 
 16. One is so near to another, that no air can come 
 between them. 
 
 17. They are joined one to another, they stick together 
 that they can not be sundered. 
 
218 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XLI. 
 
 The Hebrew for " scales " is shields, our translation giving the 
 ultimate sense, yet missing the figure under which it is clothed. 
 His mighty shields are his pride — laid so close together; making 
 an armature so impenetrable. 
 
 18. By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are 
 like the eyelids of the morning. 
 
 19. Out of his mouth go burning lamj)s, and sparks of fire 
 leap out. 
 
 20. Out of his no.strils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot 
 or caldron. 
 
 21. His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his 
 mouth. 
 
 The obsolete word " neese " is modernized in sneeze. This 
 crocodile has a habit of his own. Basking in the sunshine, he 
 inflates himself, and then forces the heated air and steam through 
 his nostrils as from a bellows. Glistening in the sun, this has 
 somewhat the appearance of smoke and flame. To this appear- 
 ance the passage alludes. 
 
 22. In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned 
 into joy before him. 
 
 23. The flakes of his flesh are joined together : they are 
 firm in themselves ; they can not be moved. 
 
 In his neck, strength lodges [finds a permanent home] ; and 
 terror dances before him (last clause of v. 22) — meaning — the 
 terrified quake in his presence. 
 
 24. His heart is as firm as a stone ; yea, as hard as a piece 
 of the nether millstone. 
 
 25. When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid : by 
 reason of breakings they purify themselves. 
 
 26. The sword of him that layeth at him can not hold : 
 the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. 
 
 27. He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. 
 
 His heart is said to be firm and hard as knowing no fear. 
 
 The unintelligible clause — " By reason of breakings, they purify 
 themselves " is made by Gesenius — " By reason of fear men miss 
 their way in precipitate flight." Fuerst, in nearly the same 
 sense : " They disappear, from terror, i. e., they can not hold out." 
 The verb should naturally mean, to miss one's icai/ — here through 
 
 consternation in the presence of an enemy. V. 26 reads literally 
 
 thus : One assailing him with the sword, it [the sword] shall not 
 stand — i. e., it will recoil and fail him. So the spear, the dart, 
 and the coat of mail. None of the ordinary weapons of war had 
 strength enough for such a foe. 
 
 28. The arrow can not make him flee : sling stones are 
 turned with him into stubble. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — ClIAr. XLII. 219 
 
 29. Darts are counted as stubble : he lauglieth at the 
 shaking of a spear. 
 
 30. Sharp stones are under him : he sjireadeth sharp 
 pointed things upon the mire. 
 
 He hurls back his disdain in return for the war-missiles tossed 
 
 so harmlessly at him. In v. 30, we are to tind — not " sharp 
 
 stones," but sharp points of the hard scales under his belly, which 
 leave their traces on his path as the oriental threshing sledge 
 would if drawn through mire. 
 
 31. He maketh the deep to boil like a pot : he maketh the 
 sea like a pot of ointment. 
 
 32. He maketh a path to shine after him ; one would think 
 the deep to he hoary. 
 
 Moving along the deep sea, he tosses it into foam (as the modern 
 wheel-steamer,) but compared here to the boiling of a pot, or the 
 seething of ointment. He leaves a glistening path behind him ; 
 you might think the deep hoary Avith age. 
 
 33. Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without 
 fear. 
 
 34. He beholdeth all high ihings : he is a king over all the 
 children of pride. 
 
 Of all living creatures on the earth, he is most fearless, and is 
 so by the nature given him by his Maker. Wilt thou not infer 
 that nnich more must his g'lorious Maker be above all fear ? Who 
 will stand up against him when he shall arise in his majesty and 
 might? If this leviathan looks down with calmness and disdain 
 on all things high — king over all the sons of pride, how much 
 more must this be true of his Infinite Maker ! Such are obvi- 
 ously the inferences for the sake of which this fearless invulner- 
 able leviathan was set before the mind's eye of Job. 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Reply of Job, and conclusion of his history. 
 
 Here is the sequel to the whole book. Job becomes deeply 
 penitent: the uttered words and the present majesty of Jehovah 
 bring him to a better mind. He humbles himself low before the 
 infinitely holy and just One and is forgiven of his sin and received 
 again into favor (1-6). To Eliphaz and his associates the Lord 
 expresses his displeasure and his dissatisfaction with their 
 speeches, and requires them to take animal sacrifices; go to Job: 
 
220 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XLJI. 
 
 offer their sacrifices in tlieir own behalf and ask his prayers for 
 themselves (v. 7-9) ; thereupon the Lord turned Job's captive 
 moans into songs of deliverance; doubled his blessings in the 
 line of personal property (v. 10, 12); his old fx-iends return to 
 him with greetings and gifts (v. 11) ; a new family grows up about 
 him (v. 13-15) ; his life continues yet one hundred and forty years, 
 blessed by a numerous offspring and crowned with a ripe old age, 
 and at last, a peaceful death. 
 
 1. Then Job answered the Lord, and said, 
 
 2. I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought 
 can be withholden from thee. 
 
 I know that thou art able ; almighty as to all [things.] Very 
 appropriately Job uses the Hebrew tense which indicates both 
 present and future time. Thou art and forever ivilt be, able to 
 
 do all things. In v. 2 (2d clause), we must choose between two 
 
 constructions : (a) No human thought can be concealed from thee : 
 — (b) No purpose of thine can be restrained as to thee — in the 
 sense that thou shalt be restrained or hindered from accomplish- 
 in <>• it. The latter should be preferred as being supported by the 
 parallelism. Thou canst do all things ; nothing can be impossible — 
 
 nothing can be even difficult to thee. The word translated 
 
 "thought" were more precisely rendered purpose, plan, design — 
 sometimes used in a bad sense, yet often, as here, in a good sense. 
 It is not the word which a Hebrew writer would choose for the 
 
 simple idea of a thought as a mental conception. Job is deeply 
 
 impressed with the infinite power of God and his resources for 
 accomplishing whatever he might design. 
 
 3. "Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? 
 therefore have I uttered that I understood not ; things too 
 wonderful for me, which I knew not. 
 
 This first clause is substantially repeated from the first address 
 of the Lord (38 : 2) — as if Job would say — Thou hast very appro- 
 priately accosted me in the words — " Who is this that darkens 
 counsel," etc. I am the man ; I must confess that such words but 
 too well describe my impudence and folly ! Why our transla- 
 tors in this verse say " Who is he ? " — rather than as in 38 : 2 — 
 "Who is this f " — the Hebrew being the same in both cases — is not 
 apparent. The woi'd "this" is the best, as more suggestive of 
 
 insignificance. Observe Job says — " Therefore hawo I uttered," 
 
 etc., i. e., I am the foolish, guilty man who has been darkening 
 counsel by unwise, unmeaning words ; that is the reason why I 
 have uttered what I know not and never shall know (the Hebrew 
 tense being both present and future) — things too wonderful for 
 me, which I not only have not known but never shall know. 
 
 4. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak : I will demand 
 of thee, and declare thou unto me. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XLIJ. 221 
 
 5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear : but 
 now mine eye seeth thee. 
 
 6. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. 
 
 V. 4 might perhaps be thought irreverent in tone but for the 
 fiict that Job quotes in substance words twice spoken by the Lord 
 
 himself (38: 3 and 40: 7). Witli matchless force and fitness 
 
 Job compares his present knowledge of God to that of sight ; his 
 past, to that of hearing. — 1 have heard about thee before ; now I 
 see thee. All human experience testifies to the clearness, vivid- 
 ness, perfection, of our sense-perceptions through the eye as com- 
 pared with the dullness and feebleness of impressions that come 
 only through the ear. We hear about things remote ; the words 
 bring only dim images and feeble perceptions ; but when the eye 
 takes them all in with undimmed vision, a new sense of what they 
 
 are flashes upon the soul ! It is not perhaps certain that Job 
 
 meant to say, I know more truth, more facts about God, now than 
 before; but it is entirely certain that he meant — 1 feel the force 
 of what I know as I never did before. I have a sense of what 
 God is; I am impressed Avith his purity, greatness, majesty and 
 glory as never in my former life. This was the main point in the 
 antithesis between the past and the present — the hearing of the 
 
 ear and the vision through the eye. In v. 6 the translators have 
 
 supplied " myself" in Italics, to indicate that no corresponding 
 word appears in the Hebrew. Such is the fact, due to the idiomatic 
 structure of the language which represents reciprocal action not 
 by any word corresponding to self but by special forms of the 
 verb. In the present case the real sense is not badly given in 
 the phrase — " I abhor myself" yet the more exact meaning is — 1 
 loathe, repel, disown my former self — the rash, irreverent words 
 I have spoken and the hateful spirit I have indulged. The most 
 concise and forcible way of expressing this in our tongue is as we 
 have it here, " I abhor myself ' So Job felt to the very depths 
 of his soul. I see thee, O my God, as never before : therefore I 
 abhor all my past words and thoughts, even my whole attitude 
 and bearing toward Thee ; and I repent in dust and ashes. No 
 external symbols of humiliation, sorrow, penitence, can be too 
 strong for my case. 
 
 7. And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these 
 words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My 
 wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy tAvo friends : for 
 ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my serv- 
 ant Job hath. 
 
 8. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven 
 rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves 
 a burnt-offering ; and my servant Job shall pray for you : for 
 him will I accept : lest I deal with you after your folly, in 
 
222 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XLII. 
 
 that ye have not spoken of me the thing ivhich is right, like 
 my servant Job. 
 
 9. So Eliphaz the Temauite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and 
 Zophar the Naamathite, went and did according as the Lord 
 commanded them : the Lord also accepted Job. 
 
 The Lord gives his decision upon the case of the three friends. 
 Saying it twice over he makes the point emphatic — " Ye have not 
 spoken as to me the right thing, as Job my servant has." Does 
 this refer to Job's latest words, expressing his penitence and shame ; 
 or rather to the doctrine held by Job on the great points at issue 
 as to God's ways of providence and discipline in this world ? 
 Probably the latter is included ; the former can scarcely be left 
 out of the divine thought. As he then stood before the Lord, Job 
 was accepted, and his prayers for his brethren could be heard. 
 Noticeably, the words of the Lord imply that while he could hear 
 Job's prayer, he cotcld not hear theirs. " Go (said he to them), take 
 your animals for sacrifice to Job ; offer them up for yourselves 
 there in his presence. He will pi'ay for you, ybr J will accept his 
 prayers, that I deal not with you according to your folly " — i. e., 
 so that I shall not be compelled to visit your folly upon your own 
 
 heads. The circumstance that the Lord bade the three friends 
 
 ask Job to pray for themselves, intimating that he Avould hear Job 
 in their behalf but could not hear them, is too significant and too 
 instructive to be passed over lightly. Think of the keen rebuke 
 it bore to those misjudging, heartless friends ! They had "verily 
 thought themselves doing God service " by maintaining that his 
 providences were wholly and only retributive, and that therefore, 
 Job must be the greatest of sinners. They felt themselves justified 
 in charging him with crimes he never dreamed of, and thought (no 
 doubt) that they did well to harden their souls against all sympa- 
 thy and pity for their smitten, suffering friend. It must have 
 taken them as a galling surprise when the Lord said — "Go to Job, 
 and ask his prayers in your own behalf I shall hear him : I can 
 
 not hear you " ! Were they standing by when Job humbled 
 
 himself so penitently before the Lord, and did they hear his con- 
 fessions and woi'ds of self-abasement ? And was all this power- 
 less on their Pharisaic souls ? If so, there was only the more 
 fitness in this sharp rebuke. Moreover on Job's side, this ar- 
 rangement was a model of wisdom. If any ill feeling had sprung up 
 in Job's human sensibilities toward these abusive brethren, this was, 
 of all means possible the most effective to cure it. Let him pray 
 for them ! Let him go before the f\ice of the pure, the loving, 
 the forgiving Father, and ask him to forgive their offense. How 
 sweetly this would mollify his own feelings! How insensibly 
 yet how surely it would mold his spirit into forgiveness and love ! 
 
 10. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he 
 prayed for his friends : also the Lord gave Job twice as much 
 as he had before. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XLII. 223 
 
 There can be no question that " captivity " is here a firrure of 
 speech to denote a condition of deepest aflliction and extreme 
 privation of good. In that age and country when whole families 
 were so often dragged away from home and friends into hopeless 
 bondage, the figure could not fail to be impressive. Ewald remarks 
 that this figure (captivity) may have been suggested by the lan- 
 guage in 7 : 12 and 12 : 14 and 13: 27. Job's captivity was most 
 
 emphatically turned in the sense that his state of deep aflliction 
 was in every point completely reversed; especially in those re- 
 spects which bore most grievously upon him — the light of God 
 upon his soul; the charge of egregious crimes ; the withdrawal 
 of even common respect, and the heaping of cruel contempt and 
 
 scorn upon him as one utterly outcast from God. The Lord not 
 
 only restored but doubled his possessions. 
 
 11. Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his 
 sister.s, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, 
 and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned 
 him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had 
 brought upon him : every man also gave him a jiiece of 
 money, and every one an ear-ring of gold. 
 
 12. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than 
 his beginning : for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six 
 thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thou- 
 sand she-asses. 
 
 13. He had also seven sons, and three daughters. 
 
 14. And he called the name of the first, Jemima ; and the 
 nanie of the second, Kezia ; and the name of the third, Keren- 
 happuch. 
 
 15. And in all the land were no women found so fair as 
 the daughters of Job : and their father gave them inheritance 
 among their brethren. 
 
 Children he had none to return to Rim now with greetings and 
 consolations ; but his brethren and sisters came and all his former 
 acquaintance. K^oticeably they came not only to condole and 
 comfort, but to contribute to re-establish his fortune. How much 
 the " kesiia" — ("a piece of money ") amounted to in value, is not 
 entirely certain. Some estimate it at about two shekels ; others, 
 four. It was not a coin but a certain weight — a circumstance 
 which proves a vei-y high antiquity — the stamping of coin indi- 
 cating a somewhat advanced stage of civilization. It is only in 
 the age of th-e Pentateuch that we read of money passing by weight. 
 
 We have this same word Gen. 33 : 19. Of Job's three daughters 
 
 three facts are given ;-:-that in personal beauty they surpassed all 
 the daughtei's of the East; that their father gave them inheri- 
 tance among their brethren, which seems to have been a depart- 
 ure from the usages of the age ; and thirdly, their individual 
 
224 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XLII. 
 
 names. Since oriental names are always significant, we may sup- 
 pose the writer intended to give his readers whatever suggestions 
 this significance might afford. "Jemima" is a dove; " Kezia" is 
 the name for cassia, one of the ai'omatic spices of the East, and 
 " Keren-happuch " is a paint-horn — a horn containing paint. It 
 will be seen that these significant names look toward beauty, cul- 
 ture, refinement. 
 
 16. After this lived Job a liimdred and forty years, and 
 saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even fonr generations. 
 
 17. So Job died, being old and full of days. 
 
 The great age which Job ultimately attained is a noticeable fact. 
 He could scarcely have been less than fifty at the time of these 
 events ; since he had seven sons and three daughters — the sons at 
 least having homes if not even families of their own. His entire 
 life therefore reached (supposably) the age of one hundred and 
 ninety — exceeding that of Abraham by fifteen years and that of 
 Isaac by ten. This fact is important, both as indicating the great 
 prosperity which ultimately crowned the last and longest period 
 of his life, and also as supplying some data for the general chro- 
 nology of the book— the place in history and time to which these 
 events must be assigned. True, his age was exceptionally great 
 compared with other patriarchs of his time. Yet notwithstand- 
 ing some deductions on this score, his great age should still have 
 w^eight in fixing the time when he lived. Moses reached an ex- 
 treme age — one hundred and twenty. Job must have lived in 
 earlier times than his. 
 
 It is refreshing to think of these long years, of a purer, higher 
 religious life, of far better views of God's ways in providence, of 
 wholesome reflection upon his past experience ; of deep, unalloyed 
 bliss in the communiop of human souls with God, the Infinite 
 Father, when they have truly come down into their own place of 
 humble, trustful submission and grateful love. So we may sup- 
 pose Job filled out one hundred and forty years of a fruitful, ripen- 
 ing old age, himself a joy to his children and friends, and they 
 a joy and consolation to him — his chastened spirit continually 
 witnessing — " It is good for me that I have been afllicted." 
 
 It is now in place to take a general view of the aim and results 
 of this closing section of the book of Job — the words attributed 
 to Jehovah, as the final umpire in this long debate (chap. 38-42). 
 
 In the first place the speech has perfect unity of aim and pur- 
 pose. It aims at one result and one only — which is, to impress 
 Job with a sense of his folly and sin in the severe reflections he 
 had cast upon God's justice and upon the general course of his 
 providence toward himself. To show that- God is gi*eat and Job 
 very little ; that God is wise and good, and has all the power and 
 skill requisite to manage Avell the universe he has created, while 
 Job is infinitely too weak, too vile, too ignorant, to assume the 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. -CHAP. XLII. 225 
 
 place and to do the Avork of God, or even to sit in judgment upon 
 God's doings — these are the aims of this sublime address. It was 
 shaped and planned to humble Job and to impress him with a 
 keen sense of his unspeakable folly and impious presumption in 
 calling God to account for his providential government over men ; 
 — and it fully acco7nplis7ied its j^ii'T^^^- 
 
 Next, let us note carefully some points not embraced within the 
 plan and purpose of this address. It was manifestly not within 
 its purpose to discuss or to pass upon the whole problem of suffer- 
 ing as sent (or suffered to fall) upon good men. It was no part of its 
 aim to show that those sufferings are disciplinary/ ; or, on the other 
 hand, that they are retributive ; or that they may be sometimes of 
 the one sort and sometimes of the other ; or that they may com- 
 bine both purposes at once. These points had indeed been in- 
 volved largely in the discussion, as reported, between the three 
 friends, Job, and Elihu. But in the final award by the Almighty, 
 he saw fit to make no direct allusion to these points of the debate, 
 except so far as may be involved in his disapproval of what the 
 three friends had said; and even this may refer to their spirit 
 fully as much as to their doctrine. But the Lord made no clear 
 decision as to the truth of any of these diverse theories, nor did 
 he discuss them at all. 
 
 It will help us to gain the true view of the aim of this great ad- 
 dress if we consider carefully the historic occasion of this entire 
 discussion, viz., the case of suffering Job, out of which it grew. 
 Job had the reputation even before the Lord of most exemplary 
 piety — " a man who feared God and eschewed evil." Yet upon 
 him there fell all suddenly a fearful avalanche of sufferings — 
 which stripped him of every earthly good and left him only a suf- 
 fering existence. Now, be it specially noticed, the occasion of 
 these terrific inflictions was a tcst-issve between God and Satan 
 upon the question whether Job's piety was or was not sheer self- 
 ishness. Was it real piety at all ? Satan declared it was not, and 
 said that if God were to strip Job of all the good he had given 
 him. Job would renounce his piety. The Lord said — I put him in 
 your hand to take from him every thing short of life: try him if 
 you will. These memorable afflictions therefore came of God's 
 permission, but were really inflicted by Satan for the purpose 
 here indicated. 
 
 From these historic f:\cts, which disclose to us the occasion and 
 purpose of these extraordinary sufferings, the folloM'ing inferences 
 come irresistibly, viz. : 
 
 L That these sufferings sent upon Job were in no proper sense 
 either disciplinary or retributive. In the light of their primary 
 purpose as permitted of God, they were not sent either for his 
 discipline and correction, or as retribution for his sin. There- 
 fore they did not at all involve the question yb?- which of these two 
 supposable ends were they sent, because they were sent for 
 neither the one nor the other. As shown in the definitely re- 
 vealed occasion of their being permitted, the question at issue 
 
226 THE BOOK OF JOB. — CHAP. XLTI. 
 
 between discipline and retribution did not come in at all, but was 
 really ruled out. 
 
 2. Another inference, equally logical and resistless, is that, as 
 the occasion in this case lay outside the possible knowledge of 
 mortals, where neither Job nor his friends could know any thing 
 about it, such occasions may arise again ; nay, more, may occur 
 often, in which the ultimate reason why good men suffer lies out- 
 side the pale of human discernment, and therefore must be to man 
 an it7ipenetrable viystery. That is to say, God may have good 
 reasons for afflicting his saints which, under the present laws of 
 our world he can not reveal to us, and we are therefore shut up 
 to submission and to trust, ivithout knoiving the reasons. There 
 may be, nay, more, there loill he, cases which defy all human 
 philosophy to account for them. The ultimate reasons lie beyond 
 the possible range of our knowledge. We can not force these 
 mysterious cases under the head of retribution for sins committed, 
 or of discipline and correction for the spiritual profit of the suf- 
 ferer. The latter result may follow as incidental. From the 
 nature of the case it is very sure to be an incidental result; but 
 the ultimate reason why the stroke falls where and as it does, is 
 the point now under consideration, and this may lie in a realm 
 into which no human eye can pierce. Now these facts are entirely 
 vital to the solution of the great problem of the Book of Job. 
 They constitute the very gist of this problem — the center and 
 soul of it. As the book is built historically upon circumstances 
 lying altogether outside the pale of human cognizance; as the 
 sufferings of Job were brought upon him in pursuance of this 
 test-conflict between God and Satan; a case is here "made up" 
 (as the lawyers would say) to illustrate and settle a principle at 
 law — in the government of God. The entire problem of the suf- 
 ferings of good men can not be brought within the alternatives — 
 discipline or retribution. It may lie outside of either and of both. 
 It may set at naught, therefore, all the soundings of our longest 
 
 line of human philosophy. Thus the case of Job brings us to 
 
 the Sublime moral conclusion that God reigns in perfect power, 
 wisdom, and love, and therefore surely doeth all things well. Hence, 
 our only and highest wisdom and our most sacred duty terminate 
 in sweet, humble submission to his will, trusting with utmost con- 
 fidence that his own results will in the end vindicate his wisdom 
 and his love. Consequently we may see the wisdom and the 
 pertinence of this closing section of the book — the words of the 
 Almighty. He had one end to accomplish in this address — the 
 best he could possibly propose to himself — viz., to lay the founda- 
 tion for submission and faith as toward himself under any possible 
 sufferings that may befall us, amid the extremest darkness and 
 mystery as to his immediate and special purposes in the afflictions 
 he may send upon his people. 
 
 Other various moral lessons of this book will receive special 
 attention in the conclusion. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 Under this head I group several miscellaneous topics, inci- 
 dental to the discussions of this book. 
 
 I. The true doctrine as to the implred authority of the contents 
 of Job. 
 
 For the sake of two quite diverse classes — those who re- 
 ceive all they find in the Bible with unquestioning but 
 sometimes unenlightened faith ; and those whose bent is to 
 receive none of it, this investigation ought to be a part of 
 every work which aims to place the Book of Job in its true 
 light before the public. 
 
 My aim is not precisely to discuss the inspiration of this 
 book as a wdiole by adducing the reasons for and against its 
 admission into the Jewish canon ; nor, back of this, the 
 question whether it was so admitted. The point I aim at 
 will be gathered from this statement of the question : What 
 opinions expressed and what things said b>j th-e various speakers 
 in this book are to he accepted as having insjnred authority 1 
 And on what principle shall the line be drawn between the 
 inspired words and the uninspired? 
 
 Even a slight attention to this book will show that in 
 general character and composition, it stands entirely by itself 
 among the numerous books of the Bible, differing from any 
 and every other in its general structure and subject-matter. 
 It does not detail to us the personal history, words and deeds 
 of Jesus as in the four gosjjels ; nor the history of the plant- 
 ing of Christian churches as in the "Acts of Ihe Apostles;" 
 nor is it made up of letters to those churches ; nor (compar- 
 ing it with the other Old Testament books) is it the history 
 of the Jewish Church or nation, or the messages and pre- 
 dictions of the old prophets ; or the wisdom of ins^nred 
 
 (227) 
 
228 CONCLUSION. — INSPIRED AUTHORITY. 
 
 sages in the form of proverbs; nor is it sacred songs from 
 tlie sweet Psalmists of Israel for the devotions of the sanc- 
 tuary. No; it stands apart from any and all of these books 
 — a special discussion of a great theological problem — a 
 discussion carried on by a number of disputants, each bearing 
 his respective part — which the Lord himself closed at length 
 by appearing as umpire and giving the final decision. The 
 theological problem was no other than the sufferings of good 
 men in the present life, considered as coming from the hand of 
 God ; or in other words, the principles of God's administra- 
 tion of good and evil upon men in the present life. As dis- 
 cussed between Job, his three friends and Elihu, it bore 
 mainly on the point whether the sufferings or blessings sent 
 of God are retributive, or are disciplinary, or may include 
 
 both. Now it is obvious that in such a discussion — the 
 
 speakers taking perhaps not only diverse but even op- 
 posite grounds and expressing opposite opinions, it would 
 not be safe to read the book with the foregone conclusion 
 that all its contents — all the expressed opinions of men which 
 it records — being in the Bible — must be true and even of 
 inspired authority. Here are some thoughts and Avords 
 ascribed to Satan, whose name and chai^acter are sufficient 
 vouchers that those at least are lies (John 8 : 44). Here are 
 whole chapters of discourse from Job's three friends (Eli- 
 phaz, Bildad, Zophar), whose Avords Jehovah, in his final 
 award, did not by any means indorse, but disapproved, de- 
 claring — "Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, 
 as my servant Job hath. Offer, therefoi'e, for yourselves a 
 burnt-offering and my servant Job shall pray for you . . . 
 lest I deal with you after your folly in that ye have not spoken 
 of me the thing Avhich is right, like my servant Job " (42 : 
 
 7, 8). This comparative indorsement of Job's Avords as 
 
 more right than theirs still leaves the question open : — Hoav 
 much of Avhat Job said was purposely indorsed by the Lord 
 as right? Certainly not all of it, else the Lord AA'ould not 
 have come down upon him Avith that appalling, Avithering ex- 
 clamation — " Who is this that hideth counsel by Avords 
 Avithout knoAvledge"? (38:2). Indeed it is a grave question 
 Avhether the Lord's comparative a2:)proval of Job's AA'ords 
 above those of his three friends had not a sioecial, possibly 
 an exclusive, reference to Job's then recent Avords of deep 
 contrition, humble confession and most profound humilia- 
 tion. It is scarcely supposable that he had no reference to 
 these most fitting and precious Avords. He might have re- 
 
CONCLUSION. — INSPIRED AUTHORITY. 229 
 
 ferred also in a qualified way to the general doctrine main- 
 tained by Job in the discussion, indorsing it as nearer the 
 truth than the views of his three opi^onents. But even if 
 this be admitted, the indorsement is still too vague and 
 indefinite to give us any considerable aid in determining 
 which of Job's expressed views were aj:) proved of God, and 
 which were not. 
 
 Tiiere was a fifth speaker — the young man Elihu — from 
 whom we have six chapters, but no word from the Almighty 
 appears in the book, either indorsing or not indorsing what 
 he said. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that the sanction of God's special 
 indorsement to the doctrines held and the opinions expressed 
 by the speakers in this discussion is given very sparingly. In 
 regard to most that is said, it is not given at all, but from 
 much of it it is distinctly withheld. — Yet from these premises, 
 let no reader leap rashly to the conclusion that these discus- 
 sions are therefore useless to us and unworthy of a place in 
 the inspired book of God. Not all Scripture is recom- 
 mended as profitable for doctrine. Some of it is good for 
 "reproof" and some for "instruction." In Job are some 
 things that God meant to reprove, and his reproof of them is 
 exceedingly useful to us. Here is much that is richly instruc- 
 tive, not for its truth but for its error — for the grievous mis- 
 takes Avhich (as shown here) good men made in those early 
 ages in their attempts to interpret the ways of God toward 
 godly men. It is not easy to overestimate the value to us of this 
 very ancient portrayal of the earliest known views held by 
 intelligent men on the great problems of this book. If they 
 groped ill comparative darkness and made some grievous 
 mistakes, let us the more bless God for the clearer light of 
 our Christian age ; nay more — let us be thankful that we are 
 shown how in those very early times the Lord condescended 
 to come down and bear a hand in this momentous discussion, 
 and let in some light from the very heavens above, upon this 
 
 dark problem. Yet further, a record in the Bible of 
 
 things said and done may be truthful, and yet not in the 
 highest sense inspired. It may be valuable because it is 
 true, and because, being true, it becomes instructive. So far 
 as appears, there is no ground to question the essential truth 
 of the historic records in this book as to the great afllic- 
 tions that befell Job, nor to question his own statements con- 
 cerning himself; his physical and his mental agonies; the 
 fearful conflicts of soul through which he passed ; the social 
 
230 CONCLUSION. — INSPIRED AUTHORITY. 
 
 contempt into which he fell ; and the ci'uel susi^icion — nay- 
 more, the groundless charges against his moral character 
 with which his friends harassed and tormented this greatest 
 of human sufferers. The truth of these statements serves to 
 heighten the interest of the great problem which this book 
 labors to solve. It is no mere ideal question of theory or 
 speculation. It comes down to actual human experience, 
 into the deepest sensibilities of human hearts. The book 
 therefore has both interest and value, even though many of 
 the opinions it expresses and of the doctrines it puts forward 
 from the lips of its speakers lack the authority of direct in- 
 spiration from God. 
 
 If now it be deemed important to give a general rule or 
 draw a line which may separate the non-inspired declara- 
 tions of this book from the inspired, it may be said (a) 
 
 All that fills from the lips of Jehovah lacks no element of 
 supreme authority, (b) What fell from human lips can not 
 be accepted as inspired merely on the ground that they said 
 it. These disputants were not prophets, inspired of God, 
 they were not speaking as men sent of God, and indorsed by 
 God either by miracle or by prophecy, or by a prophetic 
 
 character established in any reliable way. Consequently 
 
 their words must be brought to some other standard than 
 their own personal authority for a worthy judgment as to 
 their being the truth of God. But this amounts to saying 
 that those words, considered in themselves, are inspired in 
 no other or higher sense than the words of uninspired men 
 in every age ; — i. e., are not in any just sense inspired at all. 
 
 Applying these results to the speeches of Job's three friends, 
 
 we have these things to say : (1). They have spoken some 
 
 truth, but nothing that is in any just sense inspired — nothing 
 
 that has authority as coming from God. (2) The one main 
 
 doctrine which they labored incessantly to establish and to 
 press upon Job is unquestionably false, viz., the doctrine that 
 all the evils which befall men in this Avorld are retributive — 
 the proper punishment of sin ; and are therefore an index to 
 the sufterer's guilt. This can not be true. To prove it from 
 human experience and observation would require the testi- 
 mony to be universal and 7iever varying. But the proof they 
 adduced was very limited. The only thing they proved was 
 that iti some cases — not in all cases — wicked men suffered in 
 this life. Of course their proofs utterly failed to sustain 
 their proposition. All such ])roving of that doctrine must 
 fail in the same way. (3) In the final decision passed 
 
CONCLUSIOX. — DOCTRINE AS TO THE UXDER-WOELD. 231 
 
 upon the merits of this discussion by the Lord himself, he 
 distinctly disallowed, and thereby condemned their doctrine. 
 
 (4) Essentially the same doctrine, held to some extent 
 
 in the time of our Lord's ministry, received his unc|ualified 
 
 condemnation. See Luke 13 : 1-5 and John 9 : 2, 3.- (5) 
 
 It might be objected against this doctrine that it is of perni- 
 cious tendency and thei^efore can not be true. This point 
 will come up for consideration hereafter. 
 
 Tlie genera] results above expressed in regard to the in- 
 spired authority of the opinions found in this book should be 
 applied to the doctrine of the under-world — the Sheol of the 
 Hebrew WTiters. The abode and state of human souls after 
 death have constituted one of the great problems of human 
 thought and search through all the ages. Every thing we can 
 hioiv upon this subject, we shall accept, not only with joy and 
 thankfulness, but with a sense of relief as when great burdens 
 of doubt and darkness are lifted from the heart. Oh, if we 
 might only hnoxv something with certainty as to that home 
 for the departed spirit which is so soon to be our own ! But 
 have we any revelations here from the lips of Job that will 
 
 add to our certain knowledge of this under-world ? It may 
 
 at least be a matter of interest to us to study what he says 
 and to ascertain the views held in those earliest ages on this 
 momentous subject. It may add something to the historical 
 development of human opinions, even though it add little or 
 nothing to theological science — facts certainly known — of the 
 future life. 
 
 All we find in this book on the subject falls from the lips of 
 Job himself. Neither his three friends, Elihu nor the Lord, 
 have said any thing concerning it. Job has allusions more 
 or less full in four passages — viz., 3 : 13-19 and 10 : 21, 22 
 
 and 14 : 10-22 and 17 : 13-16. Comparing these passages, 
 
 we note a very considerable diversity in the general impres- 
 sions they make. The first in order (chap. 3) is not specially 
 somber, but rather restful and quiet — the points it makes 
 being largely negative, setting forth the absence in that world 
 of the various wrongs and oppressions under which the millions 
 of earth sutler and groan during their earthly life. If I had 
 gone there (says Job) direct from the womb of my mother, 
 " I should have lain still and been quiet ; I should have slept ; 
 .then had I been at rest." " There the wicked cease from 
 troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prison- 
 ers rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. 
 The small and great are there, and the servant (slave) is free 
 
232 CONCLUSION. — DOCTRINE AS TO THE UNDER-WORLD. 
 
 from his master." But while we may say of this picture 
 
 that it isnotspeciallysomber, of thenextinorder (10: 20-22), 
 the one feature prominent above all the rest is — it is nothing 
 else but somber. No words can be found that would intensify 
 the darkness of the picture. All is dark, dark, dismal as the 
 night of the grave; "a land of darkness and the shadow of 
 death ; a land of darkness as darkness itself, and of the shadow 
 of death ; without order [a perfect chaos] where what light there 
 may be is as darkness." As we compare these diverse con- 
 ceptions, of the under-w^orld, we shall be moved to ask, How 
 much were the views of Job shaded by the stand-point from 
 which he took his picture ? In the former passage (3 : 13-19), 
 he supposes himself to have gone into that world from the 
 point of his human birth — a mere spark of being, with no 
 activities of earthly life involved in his destiny, no burden of 
 guilt upon his soul ; no dread responsibilities accruing from a 
 life of accountable deeds done here in the body. From such 
 a stand-point of view, he sees in that under-world nothing 
 for himself but a restful waiting (for perhaps he knows not 
 what) ; but in general the state is one where the giant oppres- 
 sions of earth are foreclosed and forbidden ever to come, and 
 where a certain sort of peace and quiet reign with naught to 
 disturb. Must we not conclude that the shadings of this pic- 
 ture are projected forward from the point where he stood ? 
 
 In the second passage (10 : 20-22), this is, if possible, 
 
 even more manifest. His present as put in this chapter is 
 dismal in the extreme; scarce one ray of light blends itself 
 in the thick darkness of his state. Now may we not suppose 
 that the deep, pure darkness of the under-world, as seen from 
 this point, was mostly due to the mind's power of projecting 
 its own thought and feeling forward into that otherwise un- 
 known world, and coloring it with the hues of its present? 
 
 It is obvious that so far as this law of mind comes into 
 
 play in Job's painting of the under-world, it detracts from the 
 reliability of his conceptions as related to abstract truth. 
 
 In the next passage (14 : 12-22) if my interpretation of it 
 is correct, there is a new feature, of immense interest; — viz., 
 the doctrine of another state of existence, yet further onward, 
 beyond the period passed in this under-world — where God will 
 remember his servant Job and manifest a longing desire to- 
 ward the work of his own hands. Under the inspiration of 
 this hope Job said — " All the days of my appointed time will 
 I wait [in Sheol] till my change come " — and I pass thence 
 into the far more blessed life beyond. The Heb, word for 
 
CONCLUSION. DOCTRINE AS TO THE UNDER-WORLD. 233 
 
 "appointed time" suggests a service in war which must be 
 
 filled out for the allotted time. The fourth passage (17 : 
 
 13-16) makes a point of kindred character, for it shows that 
 Job had yet some real tangible " hope" that went down Avith 
 Lim within the bars of the pit. 
 
 In regard to the locaUty of this world of the dead, all the 
 representations both in Job and throughout the Old Testa- 
 ment concur in going doivn to find it. It is belo^v. JNIen 
 thought of it as a "pit" as an iinder -world. In accounting 
 for this universal thought, we might perhaps say that the 
 place for the soul followed the law of destination for the 
 body. The body, they saw, went back to its mother earth. 
 This destination appears in the original decree — " Unto dust 
 thou shalt return." Acustom almost universal opened a grave 
 in the bosom of the earth, or an excavation in rock, to receive 
 the mortal remains of the dead. What more natural than 
 to suppose that the spirit also went doivn to some lower depth, 
 to some unknown region under ground, for its place of abode ? 
 
 We might say — Where else could they locate its place ? 
 
 Of other worlds, supposably fitted for its location, they could 
 know nothing. To lift its home into the atmosphere, some- 
 where in the vast expanse of sky above, would scarcely meet 
 their notions of a local habitation. 
 
 The more important question is — Can we allow any au- 
 thority to their notions of the soul's future locality? I can 
 see no ground for conceding to them any authority whatever. 
 Did they hioiv any thing on this point? Nothing. The no- 
 tion prevailed widely, Ave know. It was current among the 
 ancient Greek and Roman poets, and was fully developed in 
 their mythology ; but this gives it no additional authority. 
 
 Furthermore, the ancient classic mythologies made tAvo 
 
 great apartments in this under-Avorld ; the one dismal, cheer- 
 less, dark — fit abode for guilty souls in Avhich to Avander ever, 
 homeless and forlorn : the other, an Eden of delights, a very 
 Elysium, Avhere the good enjoyed the rcAA'ards of a well-spent 
 
 life. In Job's allusions to this under-world, Ave scarcely 
 
 find this twofold conception dcA'eloped. The absence of it 
 may be due to the brevity and incompleteness of his allu- 
 sions. The patriarchs of his times and of yet earlier times 
 speak with hope and joy of being " gathered to their fathers." 
 It must be presumed that in their view, the Avicked Avere not 
 among them, but elscAvhere. 
 
 There are elements of great and blessed truth in all these 
 vieAVS, whether of Job, the patriarchs, or the classic heathen 
 11 
 
234 CONCLUSION. — DOCTRINE AS TO THE UNDER-WORLD. 
 
 poets. The doctrine of a future life for human souls uiiderlies 
 them alL Throughout, there is the assumption of the soul's 
 
 immortality. No people known to us during those earliest 
 
 ages held to the death of human souls. That the soul was 
 to be annihilated at death, or at any period after death, seems 
 never to have been thought supposable ; much less, possible 
 and actual. W^hether this early belief were due to that in- 
 stinctive revulsion under which human souls recoil from an- 
 nihilation ; or to a deep intuition of the reason ; or to a sense 
 of oughtness in the moral convictions of men — that human 
 deeds oiight to have a more finished and just retribution some- 
 where than they receive in this life; or to an original revela- 
 tion from God, transmitted by tradition from age to age ; — 
 to which of these sources (if to one only) and if to several, 
 in what measure to each — it is perhaps impossible to decide. 
 It may however suffice for our present purpose to say that a 
 belief so universal in those early ages, and so related to the 
 noblest qualities of the human soul, may safely be accepted 
 as founded in truth — too deeply founded to admit of rational 
 question. No impulses save those of guilt and consequent 
 fear seem ever to have begotten any considerable doubt as to 
 the certainty of a future life. 
 
 The conviction that this future life is related to the present 
 as one of reward and punishment has been scarcely less uni- 
 versal — a fact which goes far to prove that this belief in a 
 future life has been due mainly to moral considerations — to 
 evidence coming in upon its moral side. There ovght to be 
 more retribution for the deeds of time than we see or feel 
 here ; therefore the soul mud live on after the death of the body 
 to receive it. 
 
 As to the truth and reliability of Job's expressed views of 
 the under-world, we must come to these conclusions : 
 
 1. On the relatively unimportant points — its locality (in 
 what direction from our present home) ; and upon whatever 
 relates to its external, we can recognize no authority in Job's 
 opinions. 
 
 2. But on the really vital points — e. (/., the fact of a fu- 
 ture life — holding on despite of death and w'ith sustained 
 identity of moral being and responsibilities ; involving of course, 
 the fullest mental consciousness ; a state of existence adapted 
 to retribution for the deeds of the life that now is ; — on all 
 these points, which underlie the ancient conceptions of the 
 under-world, there can remain no ground for doubt whatever. 
 
 Later revelations in the Scriptures and especially those 
 
CONCLUSION. — PROGRESS OF DOCTRINE. 235 
 
 which fell from the lips of Him who " brought life and im- 
 mortality to light " have served in large measure to fill up 
 the outline as to the moral pur^DOses and results of the after 
 life, leaving nothing more to be desired as to the great, vital 
 points above named ; but leaving almost every thing as to the 
 relatively unimportant points of location and surroundings, 
 in still unrelieved darkness, 
 
 II. A second topic, deeply involved in the great problem 
 of this Book of Job, may be suggested comprehensively by 
 the phrase — Progress of doctrine. — Naturally this progress 
 runs in two parallel lines; viz., (1) Progress in the develop- 
 ment of the true doctrine of suffering as related specially to 
 good men in the present, life : — (2) Progress correspondingly 
 in conceptions of the character and attributes of God as 
 involved in this great problem — the sufferings of his people. 
 
 1. In the first of these parallel lines, Ave are probably safe 
 in assuming that the earliest stage of opinion was essentially 
 that of Job's three friends, viz., that the sufferings of even 
 apparently good men were reirihxdke — actual punishment 
 for sin, and consequently a true index to its aggravation. 
 Under this stage of the doctrine it must always be held that 
 the greatest sufferers are proven to be the greatest sinners. 
 This precisely was the doctrine which the three friends per- 
 sistently maintained and pushed incessantly upon their 
 stricken friend. It should be said, moreover, that in their 
 view human sufferings, though retributive, yet left the door 
 open for repentance and submission to God; and through 
 this open door, for restoration to God's favor — in this re- 
 spect differing radically from the pure and eternal retribu- 
 tion, visited upon the guilty in the world to come. They 
 also held that God's inflictions of suffering were never in 
 violation of justice, but rather rested on the basis of a per- 
 fectly just administration of good or evil according to human 
 
 desert. INIoreover, they maintained, rather by assertion 
 
 than by proof, that all the facts of human life verified their 
 theory. They found some such facts; but had to ignore 
 many more which refused to fall in under their theory. 
 Hence, logically considered, their reasoning was very lame. 
 In its bearing upon Job, we have had occasion to notice that 
 it served only to irritate and agonize — never to convince. 
 
 2. A second stage in the progress of this doctrine admitted 
 the idea of discipline and correction as always a part at least 
 of the divine purpose, but did not altogether exclude the 
 element of retribution. Elihu apparently held this modified 
 
236 CONCLUSION, — PROGRESS OF DOCTRINE. 
 
 doctrine, giving more prominence to discipline than the other 
 friends of Job had done, but not distinctly excluding retri- 
 bution from the objects and designs of sufl'ering. Thus opin- 
 ions were advancing by stages toward the true doctrine. — 
 Elihu's views of suffering as sent of God for discipline 
 are brought out fully in 33: 19-30 and 34: 31, 32 and 
 36: 8-12. 
 
 3. A third and final stage of opinion held that the suffer- 
 ings of the righteous are for discipline exclusively — always 
 looking toward moral culture and the perfecting of moral 
 character. We find the germ, at least, of this perfected 
 doctrine in Prov. 3: 11, 12: "My son, despise not the chas- 
 tening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction. For 
 whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth, even as a father the 
 son in whom he delighteth." In the same strain is Ps. 94: 
 12: "Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord." 
 The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews develops the idea 
 fully and admirably (12 : 5-12) : " Whom the Lord loveth 
 he chasteneth." . . . "If ye endure chastening, God 
 dealeth with you as with sons." Human fathers chasten 
 (sometimes) "after their own pleasure;" the Great Father 
 of our spirits, only for our profit, that we may be partakers 
 of his holiness." — It will be seen that in this completed stage 
 of the doctrine, the inflictions of suffering upon God's people 
 are not in any measure vindictive, but on the contrary are 
 the indication and proof of parental love. Never are they 
 in any sense retributive ; they are no part of the proper j^un- 
 ishment of sin. They do indeed recognize the presence of 
 sin, or at least of moral imperfection. They assume that the 
 sufferer is not yet as pure as he may be, and are therefore 
 sent for the definite purpose of making him more fully a 
 "partaker of the Father's holiness. 
 
 The second and parallel line of progress in doctrine re- 
 spects the hitman conception of God in his relation to the 
 sufferings sent upon apparently good men. — Here, however, 
 let it be observed, the question is not precisely — What ele- 
 ments enter into the character of God to make up the sum 
 total of his attributes; but rather this : — What special ele- 
 ments of his character should be brought and kept before 
 the mind of the sufferer as developed toward him, and what 
 views of God shall he take as a means of adjusting himself 
 morally to God's dispensations of affliction ? 
 
 Thus considered, we shall be able to trace a manifest prog- 
 
CONCLUSION. — PROGRESS OF DOCTEINE. 237 
 
 ress of doctrine, quite analogous to the other line of jirogress 
 in the theoiy of sufTering as above presented. 
 
 1. In the earliest stages as exemplified by Job's three 
 friends, Ave find an almost exclusive appeal to God's majesty 
 and power. He is to be thought of by suffering Job as great, 
 far above man ; as clothed in majesty ; as ruling to inspire 
 awe, and under its impressions to hush every murmur into 
 silence. If any mystery hangs over his ways; if there are 
 things not explicable on the theory of retribution for obvious 
 sin — let it be realized that God is a sovereign who gives no 
 account to man of any of his matters. Room was pro- 
 vided under this scheme, at this stage of the doctrine, for 
 the attribute of justice. The sufferings inflicted upon men, 
 being real retribution for sin, were measured out wholly and 
 only on the principles of justice. 
 
 2. It Avas some advance to bring up to view God's attribute 
 of wmlom as developed in the infliction of suffering upon the 
 righteous. For wisdom contemplates good ends as being 
 definitely sought, and this led on toward the conception of 
 other ends than pure retribution. That God in fact exer- 
 cised wisdom in the infliction of suffering was more than 
 suggested by the appeal made, in his own sublime discourse, 
 to his works of creation and providence in framing the mate- 
 rial universe and in constructing its animal and vegetable 
 kingdoms. We have seen that this appeal was obviously 
 shaped to suggest this inference : — Will not the same God 
 be no less wise to secure great and good ends in administer- 
 ing his providential government over a sinning world ? 
 
 3. Next we find (e. g., in the later books of the Old Testa- 
 ment) a marked stage of progress in doctrine, manifested in 
 setting forth the pity and compassion of God as being deeply 
 moved by the sufferings of his people. It is not in the 
 Book of Job but in the Psalms that we read : " Like as a 
 father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that 
 fear him" (Ps. 103: 15). Not in Job, but as far on as in 
 Jeremiah (31: 18, 20) w^e read: "I have surely heard 
 Ephraim bemoaning himself thus : Thou hast chastised me, 
 and I w^as chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke." 
 . . . "Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? 
 for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him 
 still. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him; and I Avill 
 
 surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord." In Hosea 
 
 (11: 8) Ave find this: "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? 
 How shall I deliver thee, Israel? . . . My heart is 
 
238 CONCLUSION. — PROGRESS OF D(XTRINE. 
 
 turned within me ; my repentings are kindled together." 
 
 With exquisite beauty and force as well as with marvelous 
 philosophic distinctness, we find the whole subject unfolded 
 in Jeremiah's Lamentations (3 : 22-41). Here may be seen 
 God's purposes of chastening and moral correction, yet every 
 word bathed in the tenderness of unutterable compassion — 
 brought home to the very heart of the sufferer, moaning 
 
 sorely under the chastening rod. "It is of the Lord's 
 
 mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions 
 fail not. . . . It is good for a man that he bear the yoke 
 in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because 
 he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the 
 dust, if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him 
 that smiteth him. For the Lord will not cast off forever; 
 but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion ac- 
 cording to the multitude of his mercies ; for he doth not 
 afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." .... 
 " Wherefore doth a living man comjilain — a man for the 
 punishment of his sins ? Let us search and try our ways, 
 and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts with 
 our hands unto God in the heavens," etc. The great cen- 
 tral idea — that God is a Father to Jiis yeople, and chastens 
 them only as a father does the son he loves, with yearning, 
 pitying heart, only for their moral good, stands out very 
 distinctly in the Old Testament prophets. Indeed, in their 
 special mission to God's Avayward, chastened people, this 
 was the sweet burden of their message. 
 
 4. Finally, in the last stage, the full-orbed glory of his 
 love to his peoj)le shone forth in the incarnation — Jesus, an 
 elder brother, moving among men during his earthly life to 
 bear their burdens of sorrow and to lift crushing griefs from 
 stricken hearts, ultimately laying down his life for his people ; 
 then rising to become and forever remain a merciful and com- 
 passionate High Priest in things pertaining to God — not one 
 Avho can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but 
 one Avho was tempted in all points as his people are. Coupled 
 with this gloriously full and unshaded light as to God's com- 
 passionate, loving-kindness, there shines forth also in the 
 New Testament the fullest possible development of God's 
 providential rule for the best discipline and culture of his 
 people and for their richest final reward, showing how he 
 *' makes all things work together for good to them that love 
 God;" how "these light afflictions which are but for a mo- 
 ment work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 
CONCLUSION. — PROGRESS OF DOCTRINE. 239 
 
 ■\vei,2:lit of glory;" how "if we suffer with him (Christ), we 
 shall also reign with hira ;" how "the trial of your faith 
 being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though 
 it be tried Avith fire, may be found unto praise and honor 
 and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ ; " and how it be- 
 hooves us to " be in subjection to the Father of our spirits 
 and live" — because he "cliasteus only for our profit that we 
 may be partakers of his holiness." 
 
 This New Testament doctrine, it will be seen, is far in ad- 
 vance of the doctrine held and set forth by the human 
 speakers in the Book of Job. Many (perhaps not all) of 
 tlie reasons for a light on this subject so dim in Job and so 
 full and glorious in Paul and Peter, are within our reach, 
 and may be briefly suggested — thus : 
 
 Not all the Bible could be compressed into one chapter.— 
 Historical facts and events, such as the ways of God with 
 ancient Israel ; the persecutions endured by Christian martyrs 
 in the New Testament age; and, more tlian all, the great 
 fact of the incarnation, afforded illustrations and manifesta- 
 tions of God by means of which the revelations of himself 
 to men were continually progressing, and without Avhich 
 illustrative aid, finite minds could not be taught of God im- 
 pressively. But history is a thing of time. It takes time to 
 7nake historij; time therefore to evolve Avhatever requires the 
 
 aid of historic events to unfold it. Again, it has manifestly 
 
 been in the divine plan — the wisdom of which is not in all 
 respects inscrutable — not to attempt to reveal all his great 
 leading attributes at once and simultaneously, but rather one 
 by one and progressively. Under this general plan, the 
 attribute oi poxcer — creative and administrative power — came 
 first in order. With power was naturally associated authority 
 to rule and the right to enforce obedience by incipient, illus- 
 trative retribution. Power, clothing itself with majesty, 
 
 inspires fear and awe. We shall have read the Old Testa- 
 ment but superficially if we fail to see there that the earliest 
 
 type of piety is spoken of as "the fear of the Lord" 
 
 INIanifestations of (jod's pity and compassion were of later 
 development. The great depth of God's love for lost men 
 could not be fully brought out by any thing less than the 
 incarnation and atoning death of his Son. 
 
 Another point, perhaps more vital than any other, lies in 
 the nature of a sinning moral agent, such as man. If God 
 would restore and save him, the first step must be to check 
 his sinful course by impressing him with fear. "The fear 
 
240 CONCLUSIOX. — PROGRESS OF DOCTRINE. 
 
 of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" — tlie very starting- 
 point from which to advance and reach it. But to impress 
 the sinner with fear demands the demonstration of God's 
 power. Hence, by the very laws of a sinning nature, power 
 must be the first divine attribute to be put prominently for- 
 Avard. If love were revealed before power, it would most 
 surely be abused. Practically it would be of no effect — a 
 mere waste of effort — availing only to make sinners more 
 bold in their sin. — If any reader questions the soundness of 
 this philosophy, let him at least refer to the world's great 
 historic facts. Look at the antediluvian ages — the first ex- 
 periment made with a sinning race. Life and health stretch- 
 ing far on into the centuries ; a gracious providence dispensing 
 almost nothing but blessings, with only the minimum of 
 affliction and suffering ; with little indeed to impress fear and 
 reverent awe of God — "vengeance against evil works not 
 executed speedily" but long, long delayed: — What, after 
 sixteen centuries of experiment, proved to be the result? 
 One small family embraced all the piety that survived among 
 mankind ! The masses were the hardest, most reckless, God- 
 defiant generation that earth has ever known. What had 
 long-suffering love achieved toward their salvation ? Nothing. 
 What course was God compelled to adopt before he could 
 really begin a successful endeavor to reclaim fallen man? 
 Sweep that whole generation away under the awful flood ! 
 Power, clothing itself with majesty and coupling itself with 
 terrible justice, must lay the foundation for "the fear of the 
 Lord." Hence in his wisdom, God made it thenceforward 
 the established order in manifesting his attributes before a 
 sinning race, to reveal power and justice, before love. Thus 
 it came to pass that in the early age of Job the main vindi- 
 cation of God's justice is made to rest upon his power. "Doth 
 God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty j)ervert jus- 
 tice"? (18: 3). "Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, nor 
 will the Almighty pervert judgment" (34: 12). That is — 
 one who is Almighty can do no wickedness ; can perpetrate 
 no injustice. Essentially the same sentiment appears in the 
 w^ords of Abraham (Gen. 18 : 25): " Shall not the Judge of 
 all the earth do right"? — Was it accepted as the first intu- 
 ition of the human reason that the Great Supreme, the 
 Almighty One, must of necessity be just and righteous? 
 This seems to have been the basis on which those men rested 
 tlieir convictions of God's justice. — Hence it was that when, 
 at the close of this long debate, the Lord met Job and would 
 
CONCLUSION. — PKOGRESS OF DOCTRINE. 241 
 
 impress upon him a sense of his sin, he came in awful 
 majesty ; he revealed his glorious power. He neither affirmed 
 nor sought to illustrate his justice, but left it to be inferred 
 from his Almighty power, coupled with manifestations of his 
 wisdom in the works of his hand. Evidently Job did make 
 this inference, at once, spontaneously — that a God of such 
 ineffiible majesty and glory must he 'perfect in justice and 
 righteousness; — nay, more, must be good, and therefore intrins- 
 ically worthy of homage, reverence, obedience and trust. — 
 Wisely, therefore, in the order of revealing his attributes to 
 men, God puts power before love ; law before Gospel : — so 
 that in the human soul, the sense of guilt and fear of wrath 
 precede the deep humiliation of the heart befn^e God and 
 the uplifted cry for mercy. 
 
 One qualifying remark is due before we pass the theme in 
 hand — the progress of doctrine; viz., that the special points 
 involved in the address of the Lord himself are an exception. 
 From those points there never can be any progress forward 
 to something higher and better. It was true then and will 
 be true always— (1) That the ultimate reasons why God 
 sends suffering upon good men lie sometimes utterly beyond 
 the range of human knowledge, enwrapped in mystery, at 
 least till we shall reach a brighter world than this : — and 
 (2) That, therefore, man's supreme duty is to trust God to 
 rule the world wisely and well, and to bow in perfect 
 submission to every dispensation of his providence. These 
 are ultimate truths, for our dark world, upon Avhich there 
 can be no advance or improvement. In the revelations of 
 God's character, which should inspire trust aiid submission, 
 there may be progress ; — there has been. 
 
 The reader will notice that in the main I have spoken of 
 the great problem of the sufferings of good men as it was 
 held and discussed by the htiman speakers in this book — not as 
 presented by the Lord himself. 
 
 This subject admits of being expanded far more fully. At 
 present, this must suffice. Ho much seemed necessary as 
 bearing toward a proper aj)preciation of the book of Jol). It 
 is not easy for those whose eyes have been so long accustomed 
 and adjusted to the full blaze of the Glorious Sun of right- 
 eousness, truth and love, to put themselves back into the 
 very dim twilight of Job's early morning, and realize his 
 deep perplexities, his heart-agonies ; the inextricable confu- 
 sion into which the sophistries and half-truths thrust upon 
 him by his friends had thrown him. The story is richly 
 
242 CONCLUSION. — WHY GOD PERMITS SUFFERING. 
 
 suggestive of the conflicts to which suffering saints were sub- 
 jected in those times of so great comparative darkness ; also 
 of the method adopted of God to clear away by slow stages 
 this deep darkness; suggestive too of our exceeding great 
 occasion for gratitude that, before and during the Gospel 
 age, light on this great subject was shed abroad so abundantly 
 as really to leave us nothing more to desire. 
 
 III. Some incidental points of a miscellaneous sort seem 
 to call for a more full presentation than they have received 
 in the Notes. 
 
 1. The book suggests one of the possible reasons for God's 
 permission of suifering upon those who are not only really 
 but eminently pious ; viz. , a test-conflict between God and Sa- 
 tan. It will be remembered that the historical introduction 
 to this book of Job puts this point beyond doubt. The rea- 
 son assigned there for permitting such fearful calamities to 
 fall upon Job was that God called Satan's attention to his 
 servant Job as a model of piety ; Avhereupon Satan said that 
 his apparent piety was only a refined selfishness ; to which 
 the Lord replied — You may put him to the test on that point 
 if you like ; — and Satan accepted the challenge. Hence came 
 
 upon Job this fearful visitation of calamity. Here, then, 
 
 are ultimate reasons for the permission of great calamities 
 upon the holiest of men, which reasons lie outside the range 
 of human observation — such as no deep soundings Avith the 
 line of our human philosophy can reach. They are reasons 
 which we are by no means wont to think of. They refuse to 
 come under the head either of retribution for sin, or directly 
 of discipline and correction, bearing toward moral culture — 
 although it may be presumed that, in a case of this sort, the 
 Lord would make the trial subserve in the end very useful 
 results for his afflicted, suffering child. 
 
 In the light of this case it may be suggested that reasons 
 somewhat analogous may often be at the bottom of God's 
 permission of great suffering upon the best of men. If the. 
 purpose be not so directly as here to confound Satan, it may 
 be to furnish instructive illustrations of the riches of grace. 
 The sufferer may be thrown into the furnace, not so much to 
 make him more pure, as to show what grace has wrought, 
 and what it can and may achieve in human souls toward sweet 
 submission and j)atient endurance under the afflictive hand of 
 God. To such manifestations of what grace can do, God is 
 often pleased to appeal as a witnessing testimony for the en- 
 couragement of others under similar trials. " Ye have heard 
 
CONCLUSION. — WHY GOD PERMITS SUFFERING. 243 
 
 of the patience of Job (said James, 5 : 11), and have seen the 
 end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender 
 mercy." If Job could have foreseen what use the Lord pur- 
 posed to make and actually did make of his case, it would 
 have relieved some of his most painful perplexities; would 
 have satisfied him that God knew Avhat himself was doing 
 and had wise and good ends to secure, in ways to Job most 
 inscrutable. The very daikncss and inscrutaliility (we may 
 remember) constituted in large measure the fearful, almost 
 unendurable, severity of the trial. It was mainly these ele- 
 ments in it Avhich gave it so great moral value as a discipline 
 to Job and an example to all suffering saints from that day 
 
 to the end of time. But the point I specially make now 
 
 is that the case of Job as set forth in the historic introduc- 
 tion, representing it as a test-issue between God and 8atan, 
 enlarges the field within which God's ultimate reasons may 
 lie for permitting sore afflictions upon the best of Christians. 
 It suffices also to suggest that inasmuch as here is one reason 
 which certainly lies outside the range of human observation, 
 there may be other reasons equally beyond our recognition, 
 yet in the eye of God, supremely worthy and wise. From 
 this case let us learn the lesson of sweet confidence in God 
 that he doeth all things well and never permits any thing, 
 how^ever mysterious or dark to us, without reasons that will 
 bear the light when he lets the light in. In brief, the moral 
 lesson is — commit all these dark problems to God and bow 
 to his will in patient suffering without k)ioiinng the reason wJty 
 the sxiffer'inrj comes. 
 
 In this connection, the word " sovereignty " has been often 
 apphed to God as w^ell representing that great element in his 
 character and government before which suffering human 
 souls should bow in reverence and submission. To some this 
 word has been sweetly refreshing; to others, painfully be- 
 wildering — the difference being due somewhat to a radical 
 difference of heart as to deep confidence in the wisdom and 
 love of God, and in part also to the different senses given to 
 the word itself. The word is sometimes understood to imply 
 that God's purposes are arbitrary, resting on no reasons 
 whatever save the dictates of his infinite will. This notion 
 is both false and mischievous, utterly misrepresenting the 
 Most High. Far better is the view put tersely by Dr. Pay- 
 son — " The will of God is infaite reason." The special reasons 
 for his divine purposes may be — often will be — far too deep 
 for our short line to fathom — may and often will lie where 
 
244 CONCLUSION. — AVHY COD PERMITS SUFFERING. 
 
 no human eye hag penetrated ; but tliey are none the less 
 reasons ; sound, strong, valid reasons for the decision which 
 rests upon them. Reasons which are above and beyond the 
 narrow horizon of our view are not on this account the less 
 
 weighty and worthy. It ought to be vei'y clear to our; 
 
 thought that God must know more than man and be better 
 able to rule the universe wisely and well. Let us then not 
 allow ourselves to be tempted and pained under the notion 
 that God's plans and ways are shaped without reason, under 
 the impulses of a blind sovereignty. Rather let us believe, 
 to our inexpressible peace and joy that all his ways rest on 
 infinite reason. Let the word "Sovereignty," if we think 
 best to use it of God, signify to us, not that He w^orks with- 
 out reason but that his reasons grasp the universe, sweep 
 eternity, and must evolve in the end the highest, noblest, most 
 glorious results possible to infinite wisdom, love and power. 
 
 Applied to the special case now in hand, the sufferings that 
 God permitted Satan to inflict on Job were indeed to him 
 utterly mysterious and painfully pei'plexing. They seemed 
 to be in conflict with both goodness and justice. It was ap- 
 parently very clear to Job's thought that these sufferings 
 were not only without reason but against reason. So it 
 appeared, as seen and judged of upon the grounds that lay 
 within the horizon of his limited vision. But there were great 
 reasons lying entirely beyond this narrow horizon. Job tvas 
 "a spectacle to angels." He did not know it, but it was none 
 the less true. Angels unfallen and angels fallen also, were 
 witnesses to his godly life and to this terrible strain brought 
 upon his tempted, tried spirit by the shock of those appalHng 
 calamities. They saw also the far more terrible perplexities 
 into which his stricken soul was thrown by the thought that 
 God had turned against him and become his enemy for rea- 
 sons he could not begin to fathom. In the end they saw, to the 
 joy of all the holy and to the confusion and shame of Satan 
 and all his sympathizers, that God does " feed the strength 
 of every saint ;" that his hand underneath is mighty to save ; 
 and that the way up from the depth of earthly suffering is 
 into peace and rest and blessedness. 
 
 It is something to have learned, as we have in this book of 
 Job, the practical bearings of the great fact that " we are a 
 spectacle to angels," albeit they are not as yet in any such 
 sense a spectacle to us. It should be a quickening inspira- 
 tion to us in breasting the surges of life here, that eyes far 
 beyond the sky are looking down upon us ; that " we are 
 
CONCLUSION. — ON THE MISTAKE OF JOB's FRIENDS. 245 
 
 compiissed about with a great cloud of witnesses ;" and tliat 
 our struggling and conquering faith in God is accepted by 
 those witnessing spirits as a glorious testimony to the power 
 of the Spirit of God working in human souls toward holiness, 
 and uplifting the tempted and faltering into the triumph 
 of victory. 
 
 2. A second incidental lesson to be learned from the story 
 and the discussions in this book is the immense mischief which 
 comes of assuming that the sufferings of professedly good 
 men are wholly and only retributive — the real punishment of 
 their sins ; and are therefore a true index and measure of 
 their guilt. This, we have seen, was the doctrine of Job's 
 three friends. We have seen how it crushed out their confi- 
 dence in his piety ; shut them up to the conclusion that so far 
 from being a suffering child of God, he was one of the most 
 guilty of all sinners ; and thus, by natural consequence, dried 
 up not only their religious but their human sympatliies, so 
 that they seem to have looked without the least fellow-feeling 
 or pity upon his terrible sufferings and the utter wreck of 
 all his prosperity. Who can read this record of heartless 
 reproaches and cruel insinuations and even the rnost slander- 
 ous and groundless charges of overt sin, without being shocked 
 at man's inhumanity to man ! Yet these three men Avere, 
 presumably, excellent and estimable men as they stood in 
 human view before these developments. This strange inhu- 
 manity was the legitimate fruit of their bad theology. It 
 came as a logical deduction from their false premises. They 
 were sure they had the secret of Job's dreadful sufferings, 
 and therefore deemed it their duty to rebuke him with this 
 cruel sharpness as the only hopeful means in their view of 
 bringing him to repentance. They felt bound to tell him, 
 and even to prove it to him, that God was turned against 
 him — that God was putting the fiery finger of his judgments 
 upon Job's great sins. On their theology they assumed that 
 they were doing God service in their co-operation Avith his 
 endeavor to save Job's soul by pressing his conscience into 
 a sense of his great sin. 
 
 When in the issue God expressed his strong disapproba- 
 tion of what they had spoken (42 : 7, 8), it is left perhaps in 
 some doubt whether he more condemned their bad theology, 
 or the bad spirit which it begat in their heart toward Job. 
 No doubt both Avere offensive in his sight. Their theology, 
 God could in no wise indorse; their bad spirit (I think we 
 must assume) was yet more abhorrent to the pitying love of 
 
246 CONCLUSION. — job's faith in his redeemer. 
 
 the Great Father. AVe shall readily recall the fact that when 
 Jesus came among men in the flesh, he found this same doc- 
 trine somewhat current ; met it on several occasions, yet 
 never without pronouncing against it his unqualified condem- 
 nation. To those who told him of " certain Galileans whose 
 blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices " (Luke 13 : 
 1-5), he answered — " Suppose ye that these Galileans were 
 sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such 
 things? I tell you nay." "Or those eighteen upon whom 
 the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they 
 w^ere sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem ? I tell you 
 nay." — To the question put by his disciples, upon the case 
 of congenital blindness; "Master, who did sin, this man or 
 his parents, that he was born blind " ? He answered. Neither. 
 " Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents " — so that this 
 blindness can be reckoned as a judgment upon them for the 
 sin (John 9 : 2, 3). Thus without the least qualification did 
 Jesus reprobate this doctrine that special calamities befall 
 men in this world in punishment for special sins. 
 
 3. I call up for further consideration a point suggested in 
 my discussion of the remarkable passage (19: 25-27); "I 
 know that my Redeemer liveth" — viz., the inexpressible value 
 toward the religious life, of the early promise of a Messiah. If I 
 am right in the opinion that it was the rays (though few 
 and dim) of this glorious promise that fell on the otherwise 
 dark, desolate, disconsolate soul of this great sufferer, and 
 inspired this outburst of triumphant faith, forming the grand 
 crisis of his inward struggle, then we have here a magnificent 
 illustration of the preciousness of that primal promise. Nor 
 should the fsict of its supreme importance toward faith in 
 God surprise us. For it revealed far more of God's love and 
 ])ity for lost men than could have been known otherwise. 
 Wiiat the actual coming of Jesus in human flesh was to his 
 generation and has been to all generations since, as a mani- 
 festation of God's love, surpassing all others immeasurablj'-, 
 it was in embryo to the saints of all })receding ages, through 
 the power of this foregoing promise. When we search the 
 earlier records of the Old Testament for Messianic prophecies 
 and find them so very few in number, and even these few 
 appearing to our eye somewhat indefinite, not to say tame, 
 compared with what the New Testament reveals, it may seem 
 to us that such promises and predictions can not have amounted 
 to much. It strikes us perhaps that our notions of the Mes- 
 siah would be very meager and by no means inspiring to faith 
 
CONCLUSION. — job's FAITH IN HIS REDEEMER. 247 
 
 and hope if we had nothing more. But this reasoning badly 
 under-rates the power and preciousness of even those few 
 and dim rays of foi'egoing gospel promise. It was every thing 
 to the struggling foith of those early ages to have even so 
 much liglit from heaven. It bore unmistakable testimony 
 that our race were not hopelessly doomed like those angels 
 Avho " kept not their first estate." It witnessed that God had 
 great, deep thoughts of mercy for our fallen Avorld. It 
 whispered of love and pity and of promised help upward 
 toward acce^^tance before God and toward penitence, purity 
 
 and salvation. As to the actual impression made by these 
 
 promises upon the saints of those early ages, Ave shall greatly 
 under-estimate it if we infer from the little they say of their 
 experience under this revealed truth, that it scarcely raised 
 a ripple of feeling, or helped them appreciably toward a 
 steadfast fliith. True, their utterances of personal experience 
 are less full than perhaps we might expect ; but when we turn 
 to the New Testament allusions to the subject, we are struck 
 with the estimate given us there. Hear what Jesus himself 
 said of Abraham : "He rejoiced to see my day" (hailing it 
 as one hails a distant friend with exultant shouts of joy) ; 
 " and he saw it and was glad" (John 8 : 56). Or what he 
 said not of Abraham alone, but of very many others : — "I 
 say unto you that many prophets and kings have desired to see 
 the things which ye see, but have not seen them " (Luke 10 : 
 26). Or let one l-ead the testimony from Heb. 11, of the 
 power of faith in those ancient moral heroes, and not least, 
 of Moses who " esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches 
 
 than all the treasures of Egypt"— (Heb. 11: 24-26). 
 
 These allusions show that those early promises of the Messiah 
 to come were far from being tame, uninspiring and ineffective. 
 The reference to Moses proves that he knew these promises 
 and felt their power before he fled from the court of Pharaoh 
 into Arabia, and consequently before he wrote the book of 
 Job — supposing him to have been its author. 
 
 To Job, if I inter2:)ret his words truly, these promises of a 
 Messiah were as life from the dead. They spake to him of 
 God, as nothing else had done — as nothing else could do. In 
 the hour when flesh and heart failed him ; when not a human 
 friend stood ])y him, when in fact every one of them rose up 
 against him and had almost swallowed him up ; then this 
 great promise spake to him of God and lifted his soul from a 
 point, scarcely above despair, into the calmness of trust, and 
 the exultation of victory. 
 
NEW TEANSLATION.* 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. There was a man in the Land of Uz whose name was 
 Job ; this man was perfect and upright, one Avho feared God 
 and shunned eviL 2. There were born to him seven sons and 
 three daughters. 3. His possessions were seven thousand 
 sheep; three thousand camels; five hundred yoke of oxen; 
 five hundred she-asses ; and a very large family of servants ; 
 so that this man was wealthy above all the children of the 
 East. 4. And his sons went and made a feast in each one's 
 house on his birthday ; and they sent and invited their 
 three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5. Now when 
 they had gone round these birthday festivals, Job sent and 
 sanctified them, and rose early in the morning and offered 
 sacrifices according to their number; for Job said — Perhaps 
 my sons have sinned and bid farewell to God in their hearts. 
 So did Job from year to year. 
 
 6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to 
 
 ■••• The common doctrine in respect to translations from the Hebrew 
 demands that eacli Hebrew word or plirase should be represented by 
 its nearest equivalent in English. This rule must sometimes be re- 
 laxed to meet special idioms of the Hebrew tongue which have no 
 precise equivalents in our own. A yet more important deviation 
 from the rule of a "word for word" translation has seemed to me 
 demanded in this Book of Job for the sake of the logical relations 
 of the several clauses to each other and to the main argument. 
 The speeches which make up the body of this book are in purpose 
 and aim argumentative, yet often their logical relations are liable to 
 be overlooked. For the purpose of making them clear I have 
 allowed myself to introduce in brackets some connecting and ex- 
 planatory words or clauses. 
 
 (249) 
 
250 CHAPTER I. 
 
 present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came in 
 the midst of them. 7. And the Lord said to Satan, Whence 
 comest thou? Satan answered the Lord and said, From 
 roaming over the earth and from walking about in it. 
 
 8. And the Lord said to Satan, Hast thou set thy thought 
 on my servant Job, for there is none like him in the earth, 
 a man perfect and upright, fearing God and shunning evil ? 
 
 9. Then Satan answered the Lord and said. Does Job fear 
 (xod for nought? 10. Hast thou not made a hedge about him 
 and his house and all that he has? The work of his hands thou 
 hast blessed, and his cattle are spread abroad over the land. 
 IL But put forth now thy hand and touch all his possessions, 
 and he ^vill surely say thee farewell to thy face. 12. And 
 the Lord said to Satan, Behold all he has is in thy power, 
 only upon himself lay not thy hand. Then Satan went forth 
 from the presence of the Lord. 
 
 13. And there was a day when his sons and daughters 
 were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house; 
 14. And a messenger came to Job and said; The cattle 
 were plowing and the asses feeding by their side ; 15. And 
 the Sabeans fell upon them and took them away, and the 
 young men have they smitten with the edge of the sword, 
 and I only have escaped alone to tell thee. 16. While he 
 was yet speaking, another came and said: The fire of God 
 [lightning] fell from heaven and burned the sheep and the 
 young men and consumed them, and I only have escaped 
 alone to tell thee. 17. While he was yet speaking, another 
 came and said, The Chaldeans formed three bands and 
 rushed upon the camels and took them, and smote the young 
 men Avith the edge of the sword, and 1 only have escaped 
 alone to tell thee. 18. While he was yet speaking, another 
 came and said. Thy sons and daughters were eating and 
 drinking wine in their eldest brother's house ; 19. And lo, 
 a great w^nd-storm swept across the desert and smote the 
 four corners of the house, and it fell uj^on the young men, 
 and they are dead, and I only have escaped alone to tell 
 thee. 
 
 20. Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his 
 head and fell to the ground and worshiped ; 21. And said. 
 Naked came I forth from the womb of my mother, and 
 naked shall I return to my mother earth. The Lord gave 
 and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the 
 Lord ! 22. In all this Job did not sin nor imj)ute folly to 
 God. 
 
CIIArTER II. 251 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 I. Again there was a day ■vvlieii the sons of God came to 
 present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came 
 in the midst of them to present himself before the Lord. 
 2. The Lord said to Satan, Whence comest thou? Satan 
 answered and said, From roaming over the earth and from 
 walking about in it. 3. And the Lord said to Satan, 
 Hast thou set thy thought on my servant Job, for there is 
 none like him in the earth, a man perfect and upright, fear- 
 ing God and shunning evil? And he holds fast his integrity 
 still, though thou hast moved me against him to destroy him 
 without cause. 4. Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin 
 for skin; even all a man has he Avill give for his life. 
 
 5. But put forth now thy hand and touch his bone and his 
 flesh and he will certainly say thee farewell to thy face. 
 
 6. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand, 
 only spare his life. 
 
 7. Then Satan went forth from the j^i'esence of the Lord 
 and smote Job with burning ulcers [the l)lack leprosy] from 
 the sole of his foot to his crown. 8. And Job took a 
 potsherd to scrape himself with it, and sat down in the 
 ashes. 9. Then said his wife to him, Dost thou hold fast 
 thine integrity still? Bid farewell to God and die! 10. But 
 Job said to her. Thou speakest as one of the foolish women. 
 What! shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and 
 shall we not receive evil ? In all this Job simied not with 
 his lips. 
 
 II. When Job's three friends heard of all this affliction 
 that had befallen him, they came each from his home, 
 EHphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the 
 Naamathite ; for they met by appointment to come to mourn 
 with him and to comfort him. 12. When they saw him from 
 a distance and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices 
 in loud weeping, and rent each one his mantle and sprinkled 
 dust on his head toward heaven. 13. Then they sat down 
 with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and 
 not one spake a word to him, for they saw that his grief was 
 very great. 
 
252 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. After this Job opened his mouth and cursed his birth- 
 day. 2. He spake and said : 
 
 3. Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night 
 Avhich said, A man-child is brought forth. 4. That day — 
 let it be darkness ; let not God from above inquire for it; let 
 no light shine forth upon it: 5. Let darkness and death- 
 shade claim it as their own; let clouds dwell upon it and 
 eclipses of day strike terror through it. 6. That night — let 
 darkness seize it ; let it not rejoice among the days of the 
 year, nor come into the number of its months. 7. Lo, let 
 that night be sterile, and no voice of joy break forth therein. 
 •8. Let those Avho curse days curse this day — who have skill 
 to excite to frenzy the crooked serpent. 9. Let the stars of 
 its twilight be dark ; let it wait for light, and there be none ; 
 let it never look forth through the eye-lids of the dawn, 10. 
 Because it did not close the doors of my mother's womb, and 
 so hide sorrow from my eyes. IL Why did I not die from 
 the womb? Why did I not expire at my very birth? 12. 
 Why was a mother's lap provided to receive me, and her 
 breasts that I might suck? 13. For then [in that case] I 
 should have lain still and been quiet; I should have slept, 
 and have been at rest; 14. With kings and counsellors of 
 the earth who build for themselves vast ruins ; 15. Or with 
 princes who have gold, who fill their houses with silver; 16. 
 Or as one still-born I had not been, as still-born infants that 
 never see light. 17. There the wicked cease from troubling 
 and there the weary are at rest. 18. Captives [slaves] are 
 all quiet there; they hear no voice of the driver. 19. The 
 small and the great are there ; the slave is free from his 
 master. 
 
 20. Why is light given to the eyes of the wretched and life 
 to the bitter of soul; 21. Who long for death and it is 
 not — who dig for it more than for hid treasures ; 22. Who 
 rejoice even to exultation and are glad when they find the 
 grave? 23. To the man whose life-path is darkened and 
 whom God hedges in round about? 24. For my sighings 
 come before my bread and my groans are poured out as the 
 waters. 25. For what I feared has come upon me, and what 
 I dreaded has befallen me. 26. I was not in peace nor in 
 quiet; I had no rest: yet then trouble came. 
 
CHAPTEE IV. 253 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 First S2)eech of Elipliaz. 
 
 1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite took up the case and said; 
 2. Should one try a word with thee, wilt thou take it ill ? 
 But restrain his words, who can ? 3. Behold, thou hast in- 
 structed many, and weak hands thou hast strengthened. 4. 
 The tottering one thy words have upheld, and trembling 
 knees thou hast made strong. 5. But now it has come upon 
 thyself and thou hast fainted ; it touches thee and thou art 
 confounded. 6. Has not thy piety been thy confidence, and 
 the integrity of thy ways been thy ground of hope ? 7. 
 But I pray thee, recall to mind. What innocent man has 
 ever perished? and where have the upright been cut ofi'? 8. 
 Even as I have seen ; They that plow iniquity and soav 
 misery are sure to reap it. 9. Before the breath of God they 
 perish ; before the blast of his indignation they are consumed. 
 10. The roaring of the lion, the voice of the roaring one, the 
 teeth of the young lion, are broken. 11. The strong lion 
 perisheth for lack of food ; the whelps of the lioness are 
 scattered abroad. 
 
 12. A Avord stole silently upon me ; mine ear caught a 
 whisper of it; 13. In thoughts from visions of the night 
 when deep sleep falls upon men, 14. Fear seized me and 
 trembling, and it shook all my bones. 15. A spirit passed 
 before me ; the hair of my body stood erect. 16. There the 
 spirit stood ; I could not trace its form ; an image was before 
 me, and silence ; — then I heard a voice : 17. Shall man be 
 more just than God? Shall even a mighty man be more 
 pure than his Maker? 18. Behold, he does not confide in 
 his saints ; and he imputes to his angels folly : 19. How much 
 more to those Avho dwell in houses of clay whose foundation 
 is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth ! 20. From a 
 morning to an evening they are crushed utterly ; they perish 
 forever and no one regards it. 21. Does not their glory pass 
 away [as the moving caravans of the desert] ? They die, 
 and there is no wisdopi ! 
 
254 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 UlipJiaz concludes his speech. 
 
 1. Call now, if there be one to answer thee; To whom of 
 the holy wilt thou turn ? 2. For wrath kills the fools, and 
 envy slays the silly. 3. I have seen the fool taking root; 
 but suddenly I pronounced his dwelling-place accursed. 4. 
 His sons were far from being prosperous ; they were crushed 
 in the gate [before the courts] and there was none to deliver: 
 5. Whose harvests the famislied devour; despite the thorn- 
 hedge, he will seize it ; the snare opens wide its jaws for his 
 wealth. 6. For calamity comes not out of the dust, nor 
 does trouble spring up fi-om the ground ; 7. For man is born 
 to trouble, and sparks mount upward flying. 
 
 8. But for myself, I would seek the Almighty ; I would 
 commit my cause to God ; 9, Who does things great and 
 unsearchable — even marvellous things without number; 10. 
 Who gives rain upon the earth and sends waters upon the 
 fields ; 11. So that he sets the humble on high and mourn- 
 ers are exalted to safety. 12. He frustrates the schemes of 
 the crafty, and their hands can not work out their thought. 
 13. He takes captive the wise in their cunning, and the 
 counsels of the perverse are borne headlong. 14. Even in 
 broad day they plunge into darkness, and grope at noon as if 
 it were night. 15. But He [God] saves the victim of wrong 
 from their jaws — the poor from the hand of the strong. 16. 
 So there is hope for the poor, and iniquity shuts her mouth. 
 
 17. Behold, how blessed is the man whom God correcteth! 
 Therefore, despise not the chastening of the Almighty: 18. 
 For he gives pain and then healing; he smites and then his 
 hand restores. 19. In six troubles he will deliver thee ; in 
 seven, no evil shall touch thee. 20. In fiimine he redeems 
 thee from death ; in war, from the thrust of the sword, 21. 
 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue, nor shalt 
 thou fear when destruction comes. 22. At destruction and 
 famine thou shalt laugh, and from the beasts of the field, fear 
 thou nothing. 23. For with tlie stones of the field thou art 
 in covenant, and the beasts of the field shall have peace with 
 thee. 24. Thou shalt know that thy tent is safe ; thou shalt 
 visit thy sheep-fold and shalt miss none [of them]. 25. Thou 
 shalt know that thy children are many — thy offspring as the 
 grass of the earth. 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in 
 
CHAPTEIl VI. 
 
 ripenesf, as the full sheaf is gathered iu its time. 27. Lo, 
 all this have we searched out; it is even so ; hear and learn 
 it for thyself. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Job replies. 
 
 1. Then Job answered and said ; 2. Oh that my griefs 
 were weighed thoroughly, and my afflictions put on the scales 
 together! 3. For now they would be heavier than the sand 
 of the sea. For this reason it is that my words have been 
 rash. 4. For the arrows of the Almighty are deep within 
 me, the poison of which is drinking up my spirit: the terrors 
 of God array themselves against me. 5. Does the wild ass 
 bray over his green grass? or does the ox low over his fodder? 
 6. Shall tasteless food be eaten without salt ? And is there 
 any relish in purslain slime? 7. So my soul refuses to touch! 
 They are as food that I loathe. 
 
 8. Oh that the thing I ask might come ; that God would 
 grant to me my longing desire ! 9. That God would consent 
 and break me in pieces — that he would let go his hand and 
 cut me oft'! 10. Then should it be my comfort, and under 
 pangs that spare not I would exult that I have not denied 
 the words of the Holy One. 11. What is my strength that 
 I should yet hope? and what is my limit of endurance that I 
 should prolong my life? 12. Is my strength the strength 
 of stones, and is my flesh brass? 13. Is not help in myself 
 utterly wanting and all hope of recovery driven away from 
 me? 14. A broken-down man should have pity from his 
 friend ; — else he forsakes the fear of the Almighty [real 
 piety.] 
 
 15. My brethren have disappointed me like a brook — as 
 the valley-torrents that soon flow off"; 16. Which are turbid 
 from the melting ice, in which the snow hides itself: 17. 
 But when then they have poured themselves off" in floods, 
 they disappear ; under the summer's heat they are dried up 
 from their place. 18. The caravans turn aside into those old 
 water-courses ; they follow them up to find them only a deso- 
 lation — and so they perish ! 19. The caravans of Tema had 
 looked ; the traveling companies of Sheba had hoped for 
 
256 CHAPTER VJI. 
 
 water there. 20. They were put to shame because they had 
 trusted ; they came to it [where water should have been] and 
 were confounded. 21. So ye too have now become nothing ; 
 ye have seen a terror and are panic-smitten. 
 
 22. Is it that I have said — Make me a gift? bestow of 
 your wealth for my sake ? 23. Or, deliver me from an ene- 
 my's hand ? or redeem me from the hand of the mighty ? 24. 
 Teach me, and I will be silent ; make me understand in what 
 I have erred. 25. How forcible are right words ! But what 
 does your upbraiding prove? 26. Do ye think to rebuke 
 mere words, when the words of one in despair are but wind? 
 27. Indeed ye might [as well] cast lots for the orphan or dig 
 a pit for your friend ! 28. But now, consent ; yield to me ; 
 it is before your face if I speak falsely. 29. Return, I pray 
 you ; let there be no perverseness. Turn yet again ; my 
 righteousness is in the case. 30. Is there perverseness in my 
 tongue ? Does not my moral sense discern wrong ? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Job concludes. 
 
 I. Is not man's term of service short on the earth? and 
 his days as those of an hireling? 2. As the servant longs 
 for the lengthening shadows and the hireling waits for his 
 wages ; 3. So am I made to inherit months of vanity, and 
 nights of trouble are my lot. 4. If I lie down I say, When 
 shall I arise and the night be gone ? I am wearied with 
 tossings about till the dawn of morning. 5. My flesh is 
 clothed with worms and clods of earth ; my skin cracks and 
 suppurates. 6. My days are swifter than a shuttle and pass 
 away with no hope. 7. Oh remember that my life is but a 
 breath ; my eye shall no more see good. 8. The eye that 
 has seen me shall see me no more ; while thine eyes are yet 
 on me, I am not ! 9. As the cloud is consumed and passes 
 away, so one goes down to the grave, but comes not again. 
 10. He returns no more to his house ; his place will know 
 him no more. 
 
 II. As for me, I will not shut my mouth ; let me express 
 the anguish of my spirit: let me speak in the bitterness of my 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 257 
 
 soul ! 12. Am I like the sea, or a sea-monster, that thou 
 shouldest set a watch over me? 13. When I say — My couch 
 shall give me comfort ; my bed will relieve my complaint ; 
 14. Then thou dost frighten me with dreams and terrify me 
 by night-visions ; 15. So that my soul chooses strangling and 
 death rather than these bones. 16. I am wasting away; I 
 shall not live always ; desist from me, for my days are only 
 a breath. 17. What is frail man that thou shouldest make so 
 gi-eat account of him and set thy sharp thought ujion him ? 
 18. That thou shouldest look after him every morning and 
 put him to stern trial every moment ? 19. How long wilt 
 thou never even look off from me nor let me alone till I can 
 swallow my spittle? 20. Be it so that I have sinned ; What 
 shall I do to Thee, O thou Observer of men ? Why hast 
 Thou set me as thy mark [target] so that I am a burden to 
 myself? 21. Why dost Thou not pardon my transgression 
 and put away my sin ? — for now [so soon] I shall sleep in the 
 dust; Thou shalt seek me early [earnestly] — but I shall not 
 be. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 First speech of Blldad. 
 
 1. Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 2. How 
 long wilt thou speak these things, and the words of thy 
 mouth be a gusty wind? 3. Will God pervert judgment? 
 AVill the Almighty pervert justice? 4. If thy sons have 
 sinned against him and he have put them in the [avenging] 
 hand of their transgression ; 5. Even then, if thou wouldest 
 seek God earnestly and lift thy prayer to the Almighty, 6. 
 And if moreover, thou thyself wert pure and upright, surely 
 even now, he would rouse himself in thy behalf and give 
 peace to thy righteous dwelling. 7. Thy beginning might 
 be small, but thy latter end would be very great. 
 
 8. For ask, I pray thee, of the earliest generations [of 
 men] and set thyself to inquire of their fathers ; 9. (For 
 we are of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth 
 are but a shadow: ) 10. Will not they teach thee and speak 
 to thee and their words come forth from their heart? 11. Will 
 the papyrus [paper-rush] grow up without marshy soil ? will 
 12 
 
258 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 the flag [of Egypt] become tall without water ? 12. While 
 still in its greenness and not cut off, yet [without water] it 
 will wither before all herbs. 13. fSo are tlie paths of all 
 that forget God ! The hope of the godless must perish : 14. 
 Whose hope shall be cut off and his trust be as the spider's 
 web. 15. He shall lean upon his house, but it will not 
 stand ; he will grasp it strongly but it will not be firm. 16. 
 Green is he before the sun, and his shoot springs up in his 
 garden. 17. His roots entwine round the heap [of stones] 
 and strike firmly into the stony soil; 18. But when destruc- 
 tion swallows him up fi'om his place, this place itself shall 
 deny him and say, I have never seen thee. 
 
 19. Behold, such as this is the joy of his life-course ! From 
 the soil other [and better] men spring up [to fill his place]. 
 
 20. Behold, God wall not spurn the perfect man, nor will he 
 make strong the hand of evil-doers: 21. Until he fill thy 
 mouth with laughter and thy lips with shouts of joy. 22. 
 Thy haters shall be clothed with shame. As for the tent 
 of the wicked, it is not ! 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Job commences Ms reply to Bildad. 
 
 1. Job answered and said ; 2. Verily, I know it is even 
 so. How shall man be just with God ? 3. If God be 
 pleased to contend with him, he can not answer to one count 
 out of a thousand. 4. Wise of heart is he and mighty in 
 power : who has ever hardened himself against God, and 
 yet prospered ? 5. Who displaces the mountains ere they 
 are aware of it ; who overturns them in his wrath ; 6. Who 
 hurls the earth ti-embling out of her place, and her very 
 pillars are shaken ; 7. Who speaks to the sun and it shines 
 not, and seals up the face of the stars ; 8. Who spreads out 
 the heavens alone and walks upon the heights of the sea; 
 9. Who made Arcturus, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the 
 chambers of the south ; 10. Who does great things until 
 there is no searching them out, and things wonderful, till 
 none can number them. 11. Lo, he passes before me, but 
 I see him not: He moves along, I can not discern him. 12. 
 Lo, he seizes like the lion ; who can resist him ? Who shall 
 say to him, AVhat doest Thou ? 13. God will not turn back 
 
CHATTER X. 259 
 
 his anger : the proud helpers [of the wicked] are prostrated. 
 14. How much less shall such au one as I make answer be- 
 fore him and choose out my -^vords with him ? 15. As to 
 
 whom, if my cause were just, I would not even attempt to 
 answer, but would make supplication to my Judge. 16. If 
 I were to summon him [as in a legal prosecution] and he 
 were to answer, I could not believe he had heard my voice ; 
 17. He, Avho rushes on me as a tempest and multiplies his 
 inflictions upon me for no [apparent] cause. 18. He does 
 not let me take breath, but fills me full of bitter pains. 19. 
 If as to strength — lo. He is mighty : if as to judicial trial, 
 who will join issue with me before the court ? 20. If I were 
 righteous, my mouth would condemn me ; perfect I — then he 
 holds me guilty : 21. Perfect I — I should deem my soul of 
 small account ; — my life, of little worth. 22. This one thing 
 is certain, therefore I have said it : — He is destroying [alike] 
 the perfect and the wicked. 23. If the scourge slay sud- 
 denly, he [seems to] mock at the ti-ial of the innocent. 24. 
 The earth is given over into the hand of wicked men ; the 
 faces of its judges he vails ; if this be not [God], who is it? 
 25. My days are swifter than a runner ; they have fled away 
 and seen no good. 26. They have swept by like the reed- 
 skiffs [on the Nile] — like the eagle pouncing on his prey. 
 27. If I say — Let me forget my sighs ; let me put oft" this 
 sad face and put on a brighter one ; 28. Then I shudder un- 
 der all my pains; I know thou wilt not acquit me. 29. I 
 at least am held guilty ; what avails it then that I labor in 
 vain ? 30. If I wash myself in snow-water and cleanse my 
 hands with alkali ; 31. Even then thou wilt plunge me into 
 the pit, and my very clothes will abhor me ! 32. For He is 
 not a man, as I, that I should answer him and that we should 
 come together into court for trial. 33. There is no mediator 
 between us who shall lay his hand upon us both. 34. Let 
 him lift his rod from upon me ; let not his terrors chill me 
 with horror ; — 35. Then would I speak and I would not fear 
 him ; but not such is my case in my view. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 JoVs speech concluded. 
 
 1. My soul is weary of living ; let me give scope to my 
 complaint; let me speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2. Let 
 
260 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 me say to God, Do not condemn me ; let me know why 
 tliou dost contend with me. 3. Is it a good to thee that thou 
 shouldest oppress and care little for one Avho is the work of 
 thy hands, and shouldest shine upon the counsel of the wicked ? 
 
 4. Hast thou eyes of flesh ? dost thou see as man does ? 
 
 5. Are thy days like man's days? and thy years as the days 
 of man, 6. That thou shouldest seek for my iniquity and 
 search into my sin ? 7. Although thou knowest I am not 
 wicked, and there is none to deliver from thy hand. 8. Thy 
 hands have formed and made me in every part ; and then 
 thou hast destroyed me. 9. Oh remember that thou hast 
 formed me as the clay [is molded], and wilt thou resolve 
 me back to dust ? 10. Hast thou not poured me out as milk, 
 and curdled me as cheese? 11. Clothed me Avith skin and 
 flesh and interlaced my frame with bones and sinews ? 12. 
 Life and mercy hast thou granted me, and thy kind provi- 
 dence has guarded my spirit. 13. These things have beeu 
 deep in thy heart ; I know this is with thee. 14. If I have 
 sinned thou hast watched me, and of my sin thou dost 
 not hold me innocent. 15. If I am wicked, wo unto me ! 
 if righteous, I would not lift up my head — full of confusion, 
 keenly feeling my afiliction. 16. Then, should my head rise 
 to view, thou wilt hunt me as the fierce lion, and again thou 
 wilt deal strangely with me. 17. Thou bringest fresh wit- 
 nesses against me — dost multiply thy visitations of wrath, 
 host after host, upon me. 
 
 18. Why didst thou give me birth from the womb ? ^Yould 
 I had breathed out my life and no eye had ever seen me ! 
 19. Then I should be as if I had never been — borne from 
 the womb to the grave. 20. Are not my days few ? Cease 
 then and lift from me thy hand, that my face may brighten 
 a little while — 21. Ere yet I go whence I shall not return 
 — to a land of darkness and death-shade : 22. A land all 
 dark as the darkness of the shadow of death ; and no order 
 is there, and it shines only as very darkness. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 First speech of ZopTiar. 
 
 1. Then Zophar the Naaraathite answered and said, 2. 
 Shall a multitude of words be deemed unanswerable? and 
 
CHAPTER XI. 261 
 
 shall a mau of mucli talk be accounted just ? 3. Shall thy 
 vain boasts silence all reply, so that thou mayest mock on 
 and there be none to put thee to shame ? 4. And thou may- 
 est say, My doctrine is pure, and I have been sj)otless in 
 thine eyes ? 5. But O that God would speak and Avould 
 open his lips Avith thee; 6. And would show thee the un- 
 seen things of his wisdom, for there are complications — [deep 
 enfoldings], in his counsels. Moreover, know thou that God 
 has not remembered against thee all thy sins. 
 
 7. Canst thou by searching find out God ? Canst thou find 
 out the Almighty to the uttermost end ? 8. They [the things 
 of God'\ are heights of heaven : — what canst thou do ? — more 
 deep than hell ; what canst thou know ? 9. Their measures 
 are longer than the earth and broader than the sea. lU. If he 
 arrest [for trial] and imprison, and then summon before his 
 bar, who can answer [to his indictment] ? 11. For He, at 
 least, knows men of vanity most thoroughly, and consequently 
 he sees all sin, though he may seem not to notice it. 
 
 12. Now man void of heart, has no understanding; as a 
 foal of the wild ass is frail man born. 13. And yet, if thou 
 shalt diligently prepare thine heart and stretch out unto him 
 thy hands; 14. And then if there be iniquity in thy hand, 
 thou shalt put it far aAvay and not let wickedness dwell in 
 thy tents; 15. Then surely thou mightest lift up thy face 
 without spot; thou shalt be calmly trustful and have no 
 fear ; 16. For even tJioii shouldest forget thy sorrows, or 
 shouldest remember them only as water-floods that have gone 
 by forever. 17. Brighter than noon shall thy new life 
 arise ; the [former] darkness shall become as the morning. 
 18. And thou shalt be trustful, for there shall be good 
 ground for hope ; thou shalt search carefully and lie down in 
 safety. 19. As the herds in their field shalt thou repose and 
 there be none to alarm. Many shall propitiate thy favor. 
 20. But the eyes of the wicked waste away [in disappointed 
 hope] ; all refuge perishes, and their hope is as the breathing 
 out of the spirit [in death]. 
 
262 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CHAPTEli XII. 
 
 Job commences his reply. 
 
 I. Then Job answered and said, 2. Doubtless ye are the 
 people, and with you must Avisdom die ! 3. But I also have 
 some heart as Avell as yourselves ; I am not more fallen than 
 ye ; and indeed with whom are not such things as these ? 
 4. Yet I am as one mocked of his neighbor — even I Avho 
 call upon God, and he answers. The just, upright man is 
 an object of scorn ! 5. 'There is contempt for misfortune in 
 the thought of one at ease — contempt ready for those whose 
 feet are shding. 
 
 6. The tents of highway robbers have prosperity; all secure 
 are these men who most recklessly provoke God's wrath, to 
 whom God himself awards earthly good with his full hand. 
 7. But ask now the beasts, and they will teach thee ; or the 
 fowls of heaven, and they will show thee ; 8. Or speak to 
 the earth, and it will teach thee ; and the fish of the sea will 
 rehearse it to thee. 9. By all these [witnesses] who does 
 not learn that the hand of Jehovah doeth this? 10. In 
 whose hand is the soul of every living one and the spirit of 
 all human flesh. 
 
 II. Does not the ear try words even as the mouth tastes 
 its food ? 12. With the ancients [ye say] is wisdom ; with 
 those of many days is understanding. 13. Rather, with Him 
 [the Great God] are wisdom and might ; he has counsel and 
 understanding. 14. Behold, he throws down, and it can 
 not be built up ; he shuts down upon man, and there shall 
 be no opening. 15. Lo, he withholds the waters, and they 
 dry away; or he sends them forth, and they desolate the 
 land. 16. With him a*e sti-ength and wisdom ; in his hand 
 are both deceiver and deceived. 17. He brings out wise 
 men despoiled and makes judges fools. 18. He unlooses the 
 girdle of kings, and again, he binds the girdle upon their 
 loins. 19. He brings out priests despoiled, and overthrows 
 the mighty. 20. He withdraws the power of the lip from 
 men most trusted; the discernment of the aged he takes 
 away. 21. He pours contempt upon princes and loosens the 
 girdle of the mighty. 22. Deep things God brings up out 
 of darkness; the shadow of death, he brings forth into the 
 light. 23. He lifts nations on high, and again he destroys 
 them : he enlarges their borders, and again leads them into 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 263 
 
 captivity. 24. He takes wisdom away from the priuces of 
 all the nations of the earth, and makes them wander in deso- 
 late untrodden paths. 25. They grope in darkness with no 
 light; he makes them reel like the drunkard. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Juh's speech continued. 
 
 1. Lo, all this has my eye seen, and my ear has heard and 
 understood it. 2. As ye know, so also have I known ; I am 
 not more fallen than ye are. 3. But verily, I for my part 
 would speak to the Almighty ; I long to debate my cause 
 with God. 4. But ye, for your part, are forgers of lies; 
 miserable botchers are ye all. 5. Oh, that ye would be en- 
 tirely silent, and let this be your wisdom. 6. I pray you, 
 hear my argument; give ear to the pleadings of my lijjs. 
 7. "Will ye speak for God jierversely ? and speak in his behalf 
 deceitfully? 8. Will ye accept his person and so contend for 
 God ? 9. Would it be well for you that he should search 
 you out? as one deals deceitfully with man, will ye deal de- 
 ceitfully with him? 10. He will rebuke you severely if ye 
 covertly accept persons. 11. Shall not his excellency make 
 you afraid? and a dread of him fall upon you? 12. Your 
 most remembered sayings are like ash-heaps; your towers 
 of argument like towers of clay. 13. Cease to interrupt 
 me ; let me have scope to speak ; and then let any thing 
 come down on me ! 14. For what do I take ray flesh in my 
 teeth and put my life in my hand? 15. Behold, he will slay 
 me: I can not hope [for any thing less], yet I will defend 
 my ways before him. 16. And indeed, he is my salvation, 
 for the bold sinner shall not come into his presence. 
 
 17. Hear my wox'ds attentively and my declaration with 
 your ears. 18. Behold now, I have set my cause in order [for 
 defense] ; I know that I am just [as to the charge against me]. 
 19. Who is he that can plead [to purpose] against me ? for in 
 that case I would hold my peace and die ! 20. Only, do not 
 thou with me these two things ; then would I not hide my 
 face from before thee. 21. Take off thy heavy hand from me 
 and let not thy terrors affright me ; 22. Thou call and I 
 will answer; or let me speak [first], and thou respond to 
 
264 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 me. 23. Like what [of what sort] are my iniquities and 
 sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. 24. 
 Why dost thou hide thy face and account me an enemy to 
 thyself? 25. Wilt thou smite with terror the driven leaf 
 and chase the dry stubble ? 26. For thou Avritest bitter 
 things against me, and makest me inherit the sins of my 
 youth. 27. Thou dost set my feet in stocks and watch all 
 my paths ; thou hast cut a trench around the soles of my 
 feet. 28. And he [this great sufferer] will waste away as a 
 thing rotten — as a garment the moth has eaten through. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Job closes his reply. 
 
 1. Frail man, of woman born, is of few days and full of 
 trouble. 2. He shoots up as a flower and is then cut 
 down ; he flees fast as the lengthening shadow, and will 
 never stand. 3. Is it upon such an one thou opeuest thine 
 eyes, and dost thou bring me into judgment with thyself? 
 
 4. Who can bring a clean one from an unclean ? Not one. 
 
 5. Inasmuch as his days are determined and the number 
 of his months is in thy control, thou hast set his limit and 
 he shall never pass it ; 6. Turn thine eye from him that he 
 may rest until he shall have enjoyed his day as a hireling. 
 7. Because there is hope for a tree that though cut down, it 
 will yet sprout and its shoot will not utterly perish ; 8. And 
 though its root become old in the earth and its stump die in 
 the soil ; 9. Yet, from the scent of water, it will send forth 
 buds again and produce boughs like a plant. 10. But the 
 strong man will die and then waste utterly away ; frail man of 
 earth expires — and where is he? 11. Waters fail from the 
 pools [of the desert] ; the river-flood subsides and becomes 
 dry ; 12. And man lies dow'n and will not arise ; till the heav- 
 ens be no more they will not awake and will not be roused 
 from their sleep. 13. Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the 
 under- world and cover me until thy wrath be past ! that 
 tho\i wouldest appoint me a time and remember me ! 14. 
 If man dies, will he live again? All the days of my war- 
 service will I wait till my release come. 15. Then thou wilt 
 
CHAPTEE XV. 265 
 
 call and I will answer thee. Thou wilt have a longing desire 
 toward the work of thy hands. 16. For now thou dost 
 number ray steps. Dost thou not watch for my sin? 
 17. JVIy transgression is sealed up as in a bag, and then thou 
 sowest up mine iniquity. 18. Over against this, the 
 mountain falling, comes to nought, and the rock is removed 
 from his place. 19. Waters wear away the stones ; its floods 
 wash away the dust of the earth, and thou destroy est the 
 hope of man. 20. Thou dost overpower him forever, and so 
 he passes away; thou changest his countenance and dost send 
 him forth. 21. His sons rise to honor, but he knoAvs it not; 
 or they become small, yet he perceives it not. 22. Only his 
 flesh for itself shall have pain, and his soul for itself shall 
 mourn. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Second speech of Ehphaz. 
 
 I. Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2. Will a 
 wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly 
 with east wind storms ? 3. Will he reason with words that 
 avail nothing, and with speeches that profit not? 4. Verily, 
 thou dost annul piety and restrain prayer before God: 
 5. For thy mouth carries with it thine iniquity, and thou 
 choosest the tongue of tlie crafty. 6. Thine own mouth 
 condemns thee — not I; and thy lips make answer against 
 thee. 7. Wast thou the first man born — brought forth be- 
 fore the hills ? 8. Wast thou a listener in the privy counsel of 
 God? and dost thou restrict all wisdom to thyself? 9. What 
 knowest thou and we know it not? or discern, and it is not 
 with us? 10. On our side are gray-haired, aged men, hav- 
 ing more weight of days than thy father. 
 
 II. Are the consolations of God too small for thee, 
 even the word that was gentle with thee? 12. Why does 
 thy heart sweep thee away? and why does thine eye twinkle 
 with insolence ? 13. That thy spirit should turn back upon 
 God and thou shouldest dare to utter [such] words from thy 
 mouth ? 14. What is man that he should be pure ? and one 
 born of woman that he should be righteous? 15. Behold, 
 he does not confide in his holy ones, and the heavens are 
 
266 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 not pure in liis eyes ! 16. How much more abominable and 
 corrupt is man who drinks iniquity as water ! 17. Let me 
 show thee : hearken thou to me : the things I have seen, let 
 me rehearse; 18, Which wise men, learning from their 
 fathers, have told us and not concealed; 19. To whom 
 alone the earth was given, and no stranger had then passed 
 among them. 20. [This they have taught:] The wicked 
 man is in torment all his days, even all the years allotted to 
 the oppressor. 21. • A dreadful voice rings in his ear ; in his 
 best prosperity, the spoiler comes down upon him. 22. He 
 can have no hope of emerging from his darkness ; he is des- 
 tined to the sword. 23. He wanders about for bread, saying, 
 Where f He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his 
 hand. 24. Trouble and anguish overpower him as a king 
 equipped for battle. 25. For he lifts his hand defiantly 
 toward God and boasts as one strong against the Almighty. 
 26. He runs upon him [God] with stiflfened neck, even with 
 the thick bosses of his own buckler. 27. For he has covered 
 his face with his fatness and laid on fat upon his loins. 28. 
 He dwells in cities blotted out ; in houses where no man 
 lives, which are destined to be heaps of ruin. 29. He shall 
 not enrich himself, nor shall his wealth abide, nor his posses- 
 sions spread abroad in the land. 30. He shall not emerge 
 from his darkness; the flame shall Avither his branch; he 
 shall pass aw^ay under the breath of his [Jehovah's] mouth. 
 31. Let him not trust in evil; he deceives himself [if he does], 
 for evil Avill become his retribution. 32. This shall be ful- 
 filled ere his time; his branch shall not even become green. 
 33. He shakes off his grapes yet unripe, as the vine, and casts 
 his fruit-blossoms as the olive. 34. For the family of the 
 sinner becomes desolate ; fire devours the tents of corruption. 
 35. They conceive mischief; they bring forth calamity: 
 their belly prepares deceit. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Job replies. 
 
 1. Job answered and said, 2. I have heard many things 
 like these ; tormenting comforters are ye all. 3. Is there 
 any [natural] end to words of wind ? or what excites thee to 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 267 
 
 answer [so]? 4. I too might speak as ye do; if only your 
 soul were in the phice of mine, I might multiply speeches 
 against you, and shake my head at you scornfully. 5. But 
 I would rather give you moral strength with my mouth, and 
 ray lip-comforts should assuage. 6. But now if I speak, my 
 grief is not assuaged ; if I desist, what goes from me ? 7. 
 Surely now hath he worn out my strength ; thou hast made 
 all my household desolate. 8. He has fixed his grasp upon 
 me ; this is in proof of it that my leanness stands forth against 
 me and answers to my face. 9. His anger tears and then 
 pursues me; he gnashes his teeth on me; my enemy makes 
 his eye sharp upon me. 10. They have opened the mouth 
 wide against me; they have smitten my cheek reproachfully; 
 they fill out their battle array against me. 11. God hath 
 given me over to the ungodly; he hath cast me into the 
 hands of the wicked. 12. I was living in peace ; but He 
 [God] hath shattered me utterly ; he hath seized me by the 
 neck and dashed me to pieces and made me the target for 
 his arrows. 13. His hosts beset me round; he cleaves my 
 reins and spares not ; he pours out my gall upon the ground. 
 14. He breaks me with breach upon breach ; he rushes on 
 me like a giant. 15. Then I sowed sackcloth on my loins; 
 I thrust my horn into the dust. 16. My face is red with 
 weeping; on my eyelids rests the shadow of death. 17. Not 
 for any violence of my hands ; my prayer also has been pure. 
 18. O earth, cover not my blood, and let there be no place 
 for my cry [to be suppressed, unheai'd]. 19. Yet even now^ 
 behold, my witness is in heaven and my attestor is on high. 
 20. My mockers are these my [professed] friends ; — unto 
 God [and to him only] my eye pours out its tears : — 21. 
 that one might plead for man with God, even as a mortal 
 Avith his fellow-man. 22. When a few more years have 
 passed, I shall go that Avay from which I shall return no 
 more. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Job conclvdes his speech. 
 
 1. My life-force is spent; my days are extinct; the grave 
 awaits me. 2. If these men with me are not mockers [what 
 are they] ? Day and night I must see their insults ! 3. Lay 
 
268 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 down now the pledge ; give me a sui-ety with thee : "Who is 
 he that will strike his hand with mine [for a hearing in 
 court] ? 4. For thou hast vailed their heart from wisdom ; 
 therefore thou wilt never exalt them [to honor]. 5. He 
 who exposes his friends to the spoiler, his children's eyes 
 shall pine away. 6. He has made me a by-word of the 
 people — a man to be spit oh in the face. 7. My eye is dim 
 from grief; all my members are as a shadow. 8. At these 
 things upright men will be amazed ; yet will the good rouse 
 himself against the wicked. 9. The righteous will hold 
 on in his righteous way, and he of pure hands will wax 
 stronger. 
 
 10. But now, return ye all, and come, I pray, [to review 
 my case], for I find not a wise man among you. 11. [And 
 soon, for] my days are past ; my plans of life are frustrated — 
 those dearest treasures of my heart. 12. They put [the 
 elements of] night into my day ; light is close before the 
 face of darkness. 13. Lo, I wait but a little, and Sheol is 
 my abode ; I have spread my bed in its darkness. 14. To 
 corruption I have said. Thou art my father ; to the worm, 
 my mother and sister art thou. 15. And where is now my 
 hope ? Yea, my hope — who shall see it ? 16. My hopes 
 go down to the bars of Sheol when there shall be rest [for 
 my body] in the grave. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Second speech of Bildad. 
 
 1. Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 2. How 
 long will ye make a hunt for words ? Understand, and after 
 that, let us speak. 
 
 3. Why are we regarded as brute-beasts, and accounted 
 stupid in your eyes ? 4. He is tearing himself in his rage ! 
 For thy sake shall the earth be forsaken and the foundation 
 rocks be uptorn from their place ? 
 
 5. Verily the light of the wicked shall be put out ; the 
 flame of his fire shall not give light. 6. The light in his 
 tent shall be darkness ; his lamp suspended above shall be 
 put out. 7. His strong steps shall be straitened: his own 
 wisdom shall prove his downfall. 8. For he is cast into the 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 269 
 
 net with his feet ; he walks to and fro over snares. 9. The 
 trap shall seize him by the heel ; the snare shall hold him fast. 
 10. The cord [for his foot] is hidden in the earth ; his snare 
 is over his path. 11. Terrors affright him on every side 
 and chase him close upon his heels. 12. His strength is 
 famished [as from hunger] ; destruction is ready at his side. 
 13. It shall consume the portions of his skin ; even his bodily 
 members shall the first-born of death consume. 14. He shall 
 be torn out of his tent — his place of security ; thou Avilt 
 march him away to the king of terrors. 15. Others than 
 his offspring shall dwell in his tent ; brimstone [like that on 
 Sodom] shall be showered upon his dwelling. 16. From 
 beneath, his root is withered ; from above, his branch is cut 
 off. 17. All remembrance of him perishes from the earth; 
 he has no more a name on the face of the land. 18. They 
 chase him from light into darkness, and drive him out of the 
 inhabited world. 19. He has no offspring, no progeny among 
 his people ; no survivor in his dwelling. 20. Those who 
 come after will be amazed at his day [doom], and those who 
 were before are stricken Avith horror. 21. Only such as these 
 are the habitations of the wicked ; this is the doom of him 
 who knows not God. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Job replies. 
 
 1. Job answered and said, 2. How long will ye vex my 
 very soul, and break me in pieces with your words ? 3. These 
 ten times ye have reproached me ; shameless, ye misjudge 
 me. 4. Be it so that I have erred ; — with myself my error 
 abides. 5. If ye would indeed make yourselves strong against 
 me, then prove against me your reproachful charges. 6. 
 Know ye now that God hath wrested my cause ; he hath en- 
 vironed me wath his net. 7. Behold, I cry out of cruel 
 wrong, but I am not answered ; I cry aloud, but there is no 
 justice [done me]. 8. My way he has Availed up, and I can 
 not pass on ; he has spread darkness on my path. 9. My 
 glory he has stripped from me, and torn off the croAvn from 
 my head. 10. He breaks me down on every side and I am 
 gone; my path is uptorn as a tree. 11. He kindles his wrath 
 
270 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 against me and counts me among his enemies. 12. His 
 troops charge upon me together ; they cast up their embank- 
 ments against me; they encamp round about my tent. 13. 
 He hath alienated my brethren from me ; those Avho have 
 known me are wholly estranged from me. 14. My nearest 
 friends have deserted me ; my old acquaintance have forgot- 
 ten me. 15. Even the members of my household and my 
 maid-servants account me a stranger ; I am a foreigner in 
 their eyes. 16. To my servant I call, and he answers me 
 not, though Avith my mouth I entreat him. 17. My breath 
 is offensive to my wife — my entreaty, to those born of the 
 .same mother. 18. Even young children despise me ; when 
 I rise up they speak against me. 19. All my confidential 
 friends have abhorred me ; those I have loved best have turned 
 against me. 20. My bones cleave to my skin and my flesh, 
 and I have escaped with only the skin of teeth. 21. Have 
 pity on me, have pity on me, O ye my friends, for the hand of 
 God hath touched me. 22. Why do ye pursue me as God and 
 are not satisfied with my flesh? 23. O that my words might 
 now be written ! O that they Avere inscribed in the book ! 
 24. With an iron style and with lead ; were cut into the rock 
 forever ! 25. Yet I do know that my Redeemer lives, and , 
 that He, the last [or in the latter time] shall arise upon the 
 earth ; 26. And after this skin of mine is destroyed, even 
 without my flesh, shall I see God ; 27. Whom I for myself 
 shall see and my own eyes and not another's shall behold. 
 INIy inmost soul has pined away with longing [for this vision]. 
 
 28. Because ye say — How will we pursue him ! And yet the 
 root of the matter [intrinsic rectitude] is found in me ; 
 
 29. Be ye therefore afraid for yourselves of the sword [of 
 justice], for [such] wrath is a crime for the sword [to piin- 
 ish] — that ye may know there is a judgment. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ZopTiar replies. 
 
 1. Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, 2. 
 Therefore do my deep thoughts press me to reply : Because 
 of this is my eager haste. 3. I must hear myself shamefully 
 
CHAPTER XX. 271 
 
 rebuked ; therefore the spirit from my inward thought forces 
 11)6 to answer. 
 
 4. Hast thou known this from of old, from the planting of 
 man upon the earth — 5. That the triumphant shout of the 
 wicked is short, and the joy of the great sinner only for a 
 moment ? 6. Though his excellency tower up to the heavens 
 and his head even touch the clouds ; 7. Yet corresponding 
 to. his exaltation, so shall he j^erish forever : those who have 
 seen him will say, Where is he? 8. As a dream shall he fly 
 away and they shall not find him ; he shall be chased away 
 as a vision of the night. 9. The eye that saw him shall not 
 see him again, nor shall his place behold him any more. 10. 
 His sons shall conciliate the poor, and his hands shall make 
 restitution of his [ill-gotten] wealth. 11. His bones are full 
 of his youthful vigor ; yet it shall lie down with him in the 
 dust [of the grave]. 12. Though evil be sweet in his mouth 
 and he hide it under his tongue ; 13. Though he nurse it 
 tenderly and will not forsake it, but Avill hold it fast in the 
 midst of his mouth ; 14. Yet his food turns acrid in his 
 bowels — the gall of asps within him. 15. The riches he has 
 swallowed greedily, he shall vomit up ; God will make him 
 disgorge it from his belly. 16. The poison of asps shall he 
 suck ; the tongue of the adder shall be his death. 17. Never 
 shall he see the water-courses [for irrigation], and the flowing 
 streams of honey and butter. 18. The fruits of his labor 
 shall he restore and not swallow down ; as borrowed treasure, 
 he shall not rejoice therein. 19. Because he has crushed and 
 forsaken the poor, he has seized a house by robbery, but shall 
 never build it up. 20. Because he has never known quiet 
 in his bosom, he shall save none of his coveted treasures. 21. 
 Nothing escaped his devouring greed ; therefore his good shall 
 not be enduring. 22. At the point of his full sufficiency, he 
 is in straits : every hand of the wretched comes down upon 
 him. 23. Let his belly be filled ! God will pour out upon 
 him the fierceness of his Avrath and rain it upon him with his 
 food. 24. When he would flee from the shaft of iron, the 
 bow of brass shall smite him through. 25. He draws out 
 the arrow and it comes forth from his body — the gleaming 
 blade from his gall : terrors are upon him. 26. All darkness 
 is stored up for his treasure ; a fire not blown up [but spon- 
 taneous] shall consume him ; it shall devour the last surviv- 
 or in his tent. 27. Heaven shall reveal his iniquity ; earth 
 shall rise up against him. 28. The increase of his house shall 
 go away as into captivity — even his gathered riches in the 
 
272 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 day of his wrath. 29. This is the portion of the wicked man 
 from God — his ordained inheritance from the Almighty. 
 
 coi^OO 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Job's repli/. 
 
 1. Job answered and said ; 2. Hear my words attentively, 
 and let this be the consolation ye give me. 3. Bear with me 
 and let me speak: after I have spoken, mock on. 
 
 4. As for me, is my complaint made to man ? [Since it is 
 not] why should not my spirit be troubled ? 5. Look on me 
 and be astonished ; lay your hand upon your mouth ! 6. 
 When I remember all, I am amazed ; trembling seizes my 
 flesh. 
 
 7. Why do wicked men live, become old, and indeed, 
 mighty in power ? 8. Their children settle down with them 
 in their presence — their offspring under their eye. 9. Their 
 homes are safe from fear ; no scourging rod of God falls on them. 
 10. Their cow breeds without fail and is delivered of her 
 young'safely. 11. They send forth their little ones as a flock 
 and their children dance. 12. They take timbrel and harp, 
 and are glad at the voice of the organ. 13. They fill out 
 their days in good, and then in a moment they go down to 
 Sheol 14. And yet they have been saying to God, Depart 
 from us , the knowledge of thy ways we have not desired. 
 
 15. Who is the Almighty that we should serve him, and 
 what profit shall we gain though we pray never so earnestly ? 
 
 16. Mark well ; Their good [ye say] is not in their hand ! 
 But far from me be the counsel of the wicked ! 17. Hotv 
 often is the candle of the wicked put out? Hoiv often does 
 calamity come down upon them and God allot to them pangs 
 in his wrath? 18. And they become stubble before the wind 
 and chaff" which the whirlwind snatches away? 19. Does 
 God [as ye say] store up his sin for his children ? Rather 
 let him requite it upon the man himself that he may know it. 
 20. Let his own eyes see his calamity, and let the sinner him- 
 self drink of the Avrath of the Almighty. 21. For what 
 pleasure can he have in his house after him when the number 
 of his months is cut off"? 22. Is it to God that one Avould im- 
 part knowledge? — for He judges beings most exalted. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 273 
 
 23. One man dies in the-fulluess of his perfection, altogether 
 peaceful and prosperous. 24. His loins are full of fat ; the 
 marrow of his bones is moist. 25. Another dies of a bitter 
 heart, and has never tasted good. 26. Together they lie 
 down in the dust, and the worms cover them [alike]. 
 
 27. Lo, I understand your thoughts and the artful reason- 
 ings Avhich ye cruelly apply against me. 28. For ye say — 
 Where is the house of the prince, and where is the tent in 
 which the wicked dwell ? 29. Have ye not asked the way- 
 faring men, and do ye not recognize the signs of their judg- 
 ment ? 30. That the wicked is reserved to a day of calamity 
 — carried over to a day of wrath? 31. Who sets his way be- 
 fore his face, and tnJio requites to him what he hath done ? 
 32. And this man is borne to his grave [with honor], and 
 men watch over his tomb. 33. The clods of the valley are 
 sweet to him ; after him all men draw and before him too, 
 without number. 34. How vain therefore are the comforts 
 ye would give me ! and in your answers [when sifted] nothing 
 remains but false views of God. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Last speech of Eliphaz. 
 
 1. Eliphaz the Teraanite answered and said, 2. Can a 
 man bi'ing profit to God? For it is himself the Avise man 
 profits. 3. Is it a pleasure to the Almighty that thou art 
 righteous ? Is it gain to him that thou makest thy life per- 
 fect ? 4. Is it because of thy piety that he reproves thee 
 and enters into judgment with thee ? 5. Is not thy iniquity 
 great, and there is no end to thy sins? 6. For thou hast taken 
 a pledge from thy brother for no consideration, and the gar- 
 ment of the naked thou hast torn away ; 7. Thou hast not 
 given water to the weary and hast withheld bread from the 
 famishing ; 8. The man of strong arm held the land, and 
 men most respected dwelt in it. 9. AVidows thou hast cast 
 out empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been crushed. 
 10. For these reasons have snares beset thee on every side 
 and sudden fear hath filled thee with terror; 11. Or dark- 
 ness through which thou couldest see nothing, and water-floods 
 have covered thee. 
 
274 CHAPTEK XXIII. 
 
 12. Is not God in the height of heaven ? Look away to 
 the lofty stars, for they are very high. 13. Yet thou hast 
 been saying [to thyself] — How should God know ? can he 
 judge through the thick cloud ? 14. Dense clouds are a cov- 
 ering about hiin, and he will not see ; he walks to and fro 
 upon the high vault of heaven. 
 
 15. Wilt thou pursue the old way which those wicked 
 men had trodden, 16. Who were seized hold of before their 
 time ; a mighty flood was poured forth upon their foundation ; 
 17. Who were saying to God — Depart from us, and what 
 can the Almighty do for them ? 18. Yet he [this same God] 
 had filled their houses with good ! Far from me be the 
 counsel of the wicked! 19. The righteous shall see it and 
 rejoice; the innocent retort upon them their scorn. 20. Most 
 assuredly our adversaries [say they] are cut off", and all that 
 remains of them, fire has devoured. 
 
 21. Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace ; by 
 such a course shall good come inito thee. 22. I pray thee 
 take law from his mouth and put his word in thy heart. 23. 
 If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up ; 
 if thou Avilt put iniquity far from thy tents ; 24. If thou 
 Avilt cast gold to the ground — the gold of Ophir to the stones 
 of the brook, 25. Then shall the Almighty become thy gold, 
 and silver toilfully earned, for thee ; 26. For then shalt thou 
 delight thyself in the Almighty and shalt lift up thy face 
 trustfully unto God. 27. Thou shalt make supplication unto 
 him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt perform thy vows. 
 28. Thou shalt frame a plan and it shall stand, and light 
 shall break forth upon thy ways. 29. When thy ways are 
 depressed, then thou shalt say, Uplifting [comes soon] ; and 
 God Avill save men of humble aspect. 30. He will deliver 
 even the guilty [the not innocent] ; he shall be delivered by 
 the pureness of thy hands. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Job's reply to the last speech of Eliphaz. 
 
 1. Job answered and said, 2. Even to-day is my com- 
 plaint deemed unreasonable ; but the stroke I feel is heavier 
 than my groans. 3. Oh that I knew and might find him ; 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 275 
 
 tliat I might come even to his seat ; 4. That I might order 
 my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments ; 5. 
 That I might know with what words he would answer me 
 and might understand what he would say to me ! 6. Would 
 he contend with me in his great strength? No ; but he would 
 surely set his thought upon me. 7. There the upright might 
 reason with him, and I should be delivered forever from my 
 [human] judge. 8. Lo, I go forward [to the east]— but he 
 is not there ; backward, but I discern him not ; 9. To the 
 left where he works gloriously — but I behold him not : he 
 hides himself on the right hand, and I can not see him. 10. 
 But still he knows his way with me : when he has tried me I 
 shall come forth as gold. 11. My foot has held fast upon 
 his steps ; his way have I kept and not declined from it. 12, 
 From the precepts of his lips I swerve not; high above my 
 ow'n will have I treasured and regarded the words of his 
 mouth. 13. His thought is one, and who can turn him? 
 His soul desires, and then he does it. 14. For he will accom- 
 plish W'hat is ordained for me, and many things like these 
 are in his plan. 15. Therefore am I troubled before him; 
 I labor to understand these things, and I am afraid of him. 
 God hath made my heart soft ; the Almighty hath troubled 
 me. 16. For I am not broken before the face of mere [ex- 
 tei'nal] darkness, nor because he hath sj^read [such] darkness 
 before my face. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Job concludes liis speech, 
 
 1. Since, on the part of the Almighty, his times [of judg- 
 ment] are not hidden, why do not those who know him see 
 his days [of retribution] ? 
 
 2. They remove landmarks ; they seize upon flocks of cattle, 
 and then feed them [as their own]. 3. The ass of the father- 
 less they lead away, and take the widow's ox in pledge. 4. 
 They turn the needy out of their Avay ; all 'the poor of the 
 land hide themselves. 
 
 5. Behold, wild asses are they in the wilderness ; they go 
 forth for their work in the early morning, seeking something 
 to pluck off; the desert is bread to them for the children. 6. 
 
276 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 In the fields they pluck each his fodder ; they gleau the 
 wicked man's vintage. 7. Naked they spend the night with 
 no clothing, and have no covering in the cold. 8. They are 
 wet with the mountain showers, and for want of shelter, 
 nestle close under the rocks. 9. Their oppressors tear the 
 orphan babe from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. 
 10. These walk about naked with no clothing ; they gather 
 sheaves, yet are hungry. 11. Within house-walls they make 
 oil ; they tread wine-presses, yet sufier thirst. 12. Men of 
 the city groan ; the soul of the Avouuded cries aloud, but God 
 seems not to heed the crime. 13. These men are of those 
 who rebel against daylight ; they know not its ways ; they 
 dwell not in its paths. 14. The murderer will rise at the 
 dawn and will slay the poor and the needy ; and in the night, 
 will be as the thief. 15. The adulterer's eye watches for the 
 twilight, saying, No eye shall see me : he disguises his face. 
 16. He digs in the dark through house- walls : by day they 
 hide themselves ; they know not the light. 17. For univer- 
 sally the morning is to them as the shadow of death, for he 
 knows well the terrors of the shadow of death. 18. As a 
 light skiff is he on the face of the waters ; accursed is their 
 portion in the earth ; he turns not to the way of vineyards. 
 19. Drought and heat bear away the swow-waters ; Sheol, 
 those who have sinned. 20. The mother that bare shall for- 
 get him ; the worms feed sweetly upon him ; he shall be re- 
 membered no' more : the wicked man is broken down utterly 
 as the tree. 21, He devours the barren Avoman who has 
 never borne ; he blesses not the widow. 22. In his power he 
 takes away the mighty ; he rises up and one is not sure of his 
 life. 23. He may grant to one to be in safety, and then he 
 may have rest ; yet are his eyes upon their way. 24. They 
 rise high for a little time, and then they are not : they are 
 brought low ; like all the world they are gathered in and are 
 cut ofl' like the top-ears of corn. 25. If this be not so, who 
 will prove me a liar and put my words to nought? 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Last speech of Bildad. 
 
 1. Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 2. Dominion 
 and fear are his of right ; he maketh peace in his high heavens. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 277 
 
 3. Is there any numbering of his hosts ? and on whom doth 
 not his ]ifi;ht arise? 4. How then shall man be just with 
 God ? and how shall one born of woman be pure ? 5. Look 
 away to the moon : it gives no light; — to the stars, and they 
 are not pure in his eyes ! 6. How much less then, man, a 
 reptile, and the son of man, a worm ! 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 
 Job begins his final reply. 
 
 1. Job answered and said, 2. How hast thou helped the 
 helpless and saved the arm of the powerless! 3. How hast 
 thou given counsel to men of no wisdom, and made them un- 
 derstand knowledge abundantly! 4. Witli Avhose aid hast 
 thou set forth [such] words, and Avhose inspiration has gone 
 forth from thee ? 
 
 5. The shades of the dead tremble from beneath the 
 waters and their inhabitants. 6. Naked is Sheol before 
 him, and there is no covering to the pit of destruction. 
 7. He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs 
 the earth upon nothing. 8. He binds the waters in his 
 thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent beneath them. 
 9. He shuts up tlie fixce of Ms throne, and spreads his 
 thick cloud over it. 10. He described a circle on the face 
 of the waters, even to the border line between light and 
 darkness. 11. The pillars of heaven tremble and are 
 astounded at his rebuke. 12. By his power he stills the sea, 
 and in his wisdom smites down the proud. 13. By his 
 creative spirit he adorned the heavens, and his hand 
 framed the constellation — the flying serpent. 14. Lo, 
 these are only the outlying borders of his Avorks! What a 
 whisper of a word do we hear of him ! The thunder of 
 his power, who can comprehend ? 
 
278 CHAPTER XXVIT. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Job continues his sj^eecli. 
 
 I. Job resumed his illustrative discourse and said: 2. 
 As God lives Avho has taken away my judgment, and the 
 Almighty who has made my soul bitter; 3. Surely, so long 
 as my breath is in me and the inbreathed Spirit of God is in 
 my nostrils ; 4. My lips shall never speak falsely nor shall 
 my tongue utter deceit. 5. Be it an abomination to me 
 that I should justify you while I live; I will not disown my 
 integrity, 6. I have held fast to my integrity and I will not 
 relax my hold. My heart shall reproach none of my days. 
 
 7. Let my enemy be as the wicked, and whoever may 
 rise against me, as the unrighteous. 8. For what is the 
 hope of the daring sinner, though he hath torn away [other's 
 wealth] when God shall tear away his soul! 9. When 
 trouble shall come upon him, will God hear his cry? 10. 
 Will he on his part delight himself in the Almighty, and 
 call upon God at all times ? 
 
 II. I will teach you concerning the hand of God; the 
 counsels of the Almighty I will not conceal. 12. Behold, 
 ye have all seen it; why then is this that ye speak such 
 vanities? 13. This is the wicked man's portion from God, 
 and the heritage of oppressors which they shall receive from 
 the Almighty. 14. If his^children are multiplied, it is for 
 the sword, and his offspring* shall not be satisfied with bread. 
 15. By the pestilence shall his survivors come to their early 
 graves, and his widows shall not bewail their dead. 16. If 
 he heap up silver as dirt, and prepare clothing as the clay ; 
 
 17. He may prepare, but the righteous shall wear it and 
 the innocent shall divide his silver among themselves. 
 
 18. He builds his house as the moth does, and as a booth 
 which the vineyard-keeper fits up. 19. The rich man lies 
 down in death, but is not gathered to the fathers; he opens 
 his eyes — and he is not ! 20. Terrors overtake him like the 
 water-floods; in a night the whirlwind snatches him away. 
 21. An east wind bears him away and he is gone; it hurls 
 him, as the tempest, out of his place. 22. God will cast 
 forth his thunderbolts upon him and spare not, while the 
 sinner would fain flee from his hand. 23. Men clap their 
 hands at him and hiss him from his place. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 279 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIIT. 
 
 Job continues. 
 
 1. For there is a mine for the silver and a place for the 
 gold which men refine. 2. Iron is taken out of the ground, 
 and copper is molten from stone-ore. 3. He [the miner] 
 finds the end of darkness ; he pushes his search to its utter- 
 most limit for the stone-ore of darkness and death-shade. 
 4. He sinks a shaft far from where man sojourns, down paths 
 forgotten of the foot. They hang pendulous, wandering 
 far from man's abode. 5. As to the earth, bread-corn 
 comes forth from it ; but the realms underneath it are 
 upturned as with fire. 6. Her stones are the place of 
 sapphires; gold-dust is there. 7. The path — no bird of prey 
 has known it ; no vulture's eye hath seen it. 8. No proudly 
 moving beasts have trodden it, nor has the lion passed over 
 it. 9. The miner smites the flinty rock, and turns up 
 mountains by their roots. 10. He cuts water-courses in the 
 rocks; his eye sees all precious things. 11. He binds the 
 water-streams from dripping; things deeply hidden he brings 
 forth to light. 
 
 12. But wisdom, whence shall it be found ; and where is 
 the place of understanding? 13. Man knows not the price 
 of it, nor is it found in the land of the living. 14. The 
 Deep saith — It is not in me ; the Sea saith — Not with me. 
 15. Fine gold shall not be given for it, nor shall silver be 
 weighed out as its price. 16. It shall not be put in the bal- 
 ance against the gold of Opjiir, the precious onyx or the 
 sapphire. 17. Gold and crystal shall not measure its value, 
 nor shall vessels of most fine gold be its exchange. 18. 
 Coral and pearls are not to be thought of; the price of wis- 
 dom is above the red coral. 19. The topaz of Ethiopia 
 can not equal it, nor shall it be weighed against the most 
 pure gold. 
 
 20. ^^' hence then shall wisdom come, and where Ls the 
 place of understanding? 21. It is hidden from the eyes of 
 all the living and covered from the fowls of the heaven. 22. 
 Destruction and death have said. We have heard a rumor of 
 it with our ears. 23. God understands the way to it and he 
 knows its place : 24. For his eye pierces to the very ends 
 of the earth, and sweeps Avhatever is under the whole 
 heaven — 25. To fix the weight for the winds, and to assign 
 
280 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 the waters by measure. 26. When he established the law 
 for the rain and the path for the thunder-flash : 27. Then 
 he saw and revealed it ; he prepared it and also searched it 
 out. 28. And unto man he said : Lo, the fear of the Lord — 
 that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Job continues. 
 
 1. Again Job resumed his discourse and said; 2. O that 
 I were as in former months, as in the days when God pre- 
 served me ; 3. When his lamp shone down upon my head, 
 and in his light I walked through darkness; 4. As I was in 
 my autumn days, when the favor of God rested on my tab- 
 ernacle ; 5. While the Almighty was yet with me and my 
 children were round about me; 6. When my steps were 
 bathed in milk, and the rock poured out for me streams of 
 oil. 7. When I went forth to the city-gate and prepared 
 my seat [the judge's bench] in the public square ; 8. Then 
 young men saw me and modestly retired : old men arose and 
 stood. 9. Princes refrained from speaking and put the hand 
 to their mouth. 10. The voice of nobles was not heard; 
 their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. 11. For 
 the ear heard and then blessed me; the eye saw and then 
 Avitnessed to my honor, 12. Because I delivered the poor 
 who cried in distress, the fatherless also and him who had no 
 helper. 13. The blessing of the perishing came upon me ; 
 I made the widoAv's heart sing for joy. 14. I put on right- 
 eousness as my clothing, and then righteousness put on me ; 
 as a royal robe and diadem were my judicial decisions. 15. 
 I became eyes to the blind ; feet Avas I to the lame. 16. I 
 was a father to the poor, and the cause I had not known I 
 searched out thoroughly. 17. I brake in the jaws of the 
 extortioner, and plucked forth his prey from his teeth. 18. 
 Then I said, I shall die in my nest ; I shall multiply days as 
 the sand. 19. My root lay open to the waters; the dew lay 
 all night on my branch. 20. My glory was fresh upon me 
 and my bow in my hand was renewed in strength. 21. To 
 me men listened ; they waited in silence for my counsel. 22. 
 After my words they spake not again ; my words dripped as 
 the dew upon them. 23. They waited for me as men wait 
 
 ■r 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 281 
 
 for the I'ain ; they opened wide their mouth for the latter 
 rain. 24. I smiled on them ; — they could not believe it; my 
 lighted countenance they never caused to fall. 25. I chose 
 for them their way ; I sat a chieftain, and dwelt as a king 
 with his hosts — as one who comforts mourners. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Joh continues. 
 
 1. But now men younger than I treat me scornfully, whose 
 fathers I should have disdained to set with my shepherd- 
 dogs. 2. Moreover, of what avail to me could be their 
 strength of hand, since their vital forces have already per- 
 ished ? 3. Famished with want and hunger, they are gnaw- 
 ing down the desert — the darkness of desolate wastes : 4. 
 Who pluck the salt plants among the bushes, and the roots 
 of the bitter broom are their bread. 5. They are driven 
 forth from among men who shouted after them as after the 
 thief; 6. To dwell in horrid valleys, in holes under ground 
 and in the rocks ; 7. Among the bushes they brayed [like 
 asses]; they lie sprawled out under the nettles; 8. Sous of 
 fools ; yea, sons of basest men — they were driven forth from 
 the earth. 9. But now of such men I have become a song 
 of derision ; I am to them for a by- word. 10. They abhor 
 me, they stand aloof from me, and do not forbear to spit in 
 my presence. 11. Because he [God] hath loosed his cord 
 [of restraint] and afflicted me, they also have broken loose 
 all their restraint before me. 12. On the right hand there 
 rises a young brood ; they trip my feet and raise up against 
 me their ways of approach for my destruction. 13. They 
 mar my path ; they help on my utter fall. I have no helper 
 against them. 14. They rush upon me as waters through a 
 wide breach ; they roll themselves upon me wave after wave 
 for my destruction. 15. Terrors are turned upon me; they 
 put my dignity to flight as the wind ; as a cloud does my 
 salvation pass away. 16. And now my soul is poured out 
 within me ; days of affliction have seized upon me. 17. By 
 night my bones in me are pierced ; my gnawing pains will 
 not rest. 18. Through their great violence my skin is dis- 
 figm'ed ; it girds me close about like the mouth of my outer 
 garment. 19. He hath cast me into the mire, and I am 
 13 
 
282 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 made to be like dust and ashes. 20. I cry uuto thee and 
 thou wilt not answer nie, though I stood and tliou didst 
 seem to see me. 21. Thou hast turned thyself to a cruel 
 one against me ; with the strength of thy hand thou dost 
 persecute me. 22. Thou liftest me up to the wind and dost 
 bear me away on its blast and break me to pieces in the 
 tempest's crash. 23. For I know that by death thou wilt 
 turn me back [to dust] — to the house appointed for all the 
 living. 24. Surely there is no prayer [to purpose] when 
 God puts forth the hand, nor is any cry for help possible for 
 them when He destroys. 25. If I have not wept for those 
 whose lot was hard, and if my soul has not been grieved for 
 the poor! 26. But yet I have waited for good, and then 
 there came evil ; I have waited for light, and there came 
 darkness. 27. My bowels boiled with heat and had no rest; 
 days of affliction met me in the flice. 28. I walked about 
 blackened, yet not with sundieat ; I have stood up and cried 
 aloud in the congregation. 29. I have been a brother to 
 jackals, a companion to the daughters of the ostrich. 30. 
 My skin comes off from me blackened, and my bones are hot 
 with fever-heat. 31. My harp is only for mourning; my 
 organ for the voice of weeping. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 The close of Job's last reply. 
 
 1. I have made a covenant with my eyes ; why then 
 should I think upon a maid ? 2. What is the allotment 
 of God from above, and what the inheritance of the Al- 
 mighty from on high? 3. Is it not destruction to the 
 wicked and unwonted calamity to the workers of iniquity ? 
 
 4. Will not he see my ways and number all my steps ? 
 
 5. If I have walked in falsehood and my foot has hasted 
 to deceit, 6. He will weigh me in the scales of justice and 
 he will know my integrity. 7. If my steps have deflected 
 from the right way and my heart has gone after my eyes, 
 and a blot has cleaved to my hand ; 8. Then let me sow 
 and another eat, and let my crops be rooted up. 9. If my 
 heart has been enticed toward woman ; if I have lain in 
 wait at the door of my friend ; 10. Let my wife grind 
 for another, and let others bow down upon her. 11. For 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 283 
 
 this is a crime of wicked intent. — a sin for the Judge [to 
 punish]. 12. For this is a fire that Avill consume even to de- 
 struction, and will root out all my increase. 
 
 13. If I disregarded the rights of my man-servant or of my 
 maid-servant in their litigation with me ; 14. What should 
 I do when God should arise ? and when He should look into 
 the case, Avhat should I answer him ? 15. Did not He who 
 formed me in the womb form him also ? Did not one God 
 give us both our being in the womb? 16. If I have with- 
 held the poor from what they desired and have consumed 
 with grief the eyes of the widow; 17. If I have eaten my 
 morsel alone, and the fatherless have not eaten of it also ; 
 18. For from my youth he grew up with me, as with a father, 
 and I have guided her from my mother's womb ; 19. If I 
 have seen any one perish for want of clothing and there was 
 no covering for the poor ; 20. If his loins have not blessed 
 me and he Avere not made warm by the fleece of my sheep ; 
 21. If I have lifted my hand against the fatherless when I 
 saw my helper in the gate ; 22. Let my shoulder fall from 
 its shoulder-blade and my arm be broken from the bone. 
 23. For destruction from God is a terror to me and befoi'e 
 his majesty I could not [stand]. 
 
 24. If I have made gold my hope and have said to fine 
 gold, Thou art my trust ; 25. If I have rejoiced that my 
 wealth was gi'eat and that my hand had found much ; 26. If 
 I beheld the sun when it shone forth and the moon walking 
 in brightness, — 27. And then my heart has been secretly en- 
 ticed and my hand has gently touched my mouth ; 28. This 
 also" were a sin for my judge [to punish], for I should have 
 denied the God above. 
 
 29. If I have rejoiced in the destruction of him who hated 
 me or was elated with joy when evil befell him ; — 30. But I 
 did not suffer my mouth to sin by asking for a curse upon 
 his soul : 31. If the men in charge of my tent do not say — 
 Who can produce a man not satisfied to the full with his 
 flesh-meat ? 32. The stranger has not lodged without ; I 
 opened my doors to the traveler : 33. If I have covered my 
 transgression as Adam did to hide my sin in my bosom — 34. 
 Then let me dread the great assembly, and let the contempt 
 of whole tribes confound me so that I should be dumb and 
 not go forth from my door. 
 
 35. O that there were some one to hear me ! Lo, my 
 mark ! Let the Almighty answer me and my legal opponent 
 put his charge in writing ! 36. Then if I would not bear 
 
284 CHAPTER XXXII, 
 
 it on my shoidcler and bind it on ray head as a crown ! 37. 
 I would set before bim all my steps ; I would come near to 
 him like a prince. 
 
 38. If my land cry out against me and all its furrows 
 weep ; 39. If I have eaten the products of it without money 
 and have made its tenants breathe out their life ; — 40. Then 
 let thistles grow from it instead of wheat and foul weeds in- 
 stead of barley. The words of Job are ended. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Eliliu appears' 
 
 1. So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was 
 right in his own eyes. 2. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu, 
 son of Barachel the Buzite, of the tribe of Ram ; against 
 Job was his Avrath kindled because his soul justified itself 
 rather than God. 3. Also against his three friends was his 
 w^'ath kindled because they had found no answer and yet had 
 condemned Job. 
 
 4. Now in respect to words Elihu had waited for Job [and 
 his friends] because they Avere older than he. 5. When Elihu 
 saw there was no answer in the mouths of the three friends, his 
 wrath was Idndled. 6. Elihu, son of Barachel the Buzite, 
 took up the case and said — I am young, and ye are very old ; 
 therefore I advanced timidly and feared to show you my 
 opinion. 7. I said. Days should speak and the multitude of 
 years should teach wisdom. 8. But verily there is a spirit in 
 man, and tlie inspiration of the Almighty gives them under- 
 standing. 9. Not all great men are wise, nor do all the 
 aged understand judgment. 10. Therefore I said, Hear ye 
 me; let even me set forth my opinion. 11. Lo, I have 
 waited for your words; I gave ear to your arguments until 
 ye had searched out what to say. 12. Unto you I gave ear 
 diligently, and behold, no one convicted Job ; none of you 
 answered his words: 13. Lest ye say. We have found out 
 wisdom : God — not man — must put him down. 
 
 14. Now he has not arranged his words against me, and I 
 shall not rej^ly to him with your speeches. 15. They were 
 amazed ; they ansAvered not again ; Avords Avere far aAvay 
 from them. 16. When I had Avaited — for they spake not, 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 285 
 
 but stood and answered not again ; 17. [I said] I also for 
 my part will answer ; even I will show my opinion. 18. For 
 I am full of words; the spirit within me presses me sore. 
 19. Lo, my belly is as wane and has no vent; it will burst as 
 new bottles. 20. Let me speak, and it will give me relief; let 
 me open my lips and answer. 21. Let me not accept the 
 person of man ; I will not flatter any man. 22. For I know 
 not [how] to flatter ; and [if I should] my JMaker would soon 
 take me oft". 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 EliJm continues. 
 
 1. Wherefore, O Job, I pray thee, hear my words and 
 give ear to all I may say. 2. Behold now, I have opened 
 my mouth ; my tongue has spoken in my mouth. 3. My 
 words are the uprightness of my heart ; my lips shall speak 
 forth knowledge in purity. 
 
 4. The Spirit of God has made me ; the breath of the Al- 
 mighty gives me life. 5. Answer me if thou art able ; set 
 thyself before me ; take thy stand. 6. Lo, I am like thy- 
 self as to God ; I too am formed of clay. 7. See, the fear 
 of me will not terrify thee ; my dignity shall not be heavy 
 upon thee. 8. Surely thou hast said in mine ears and I have 
 heard the voice of thy words — 9. I am pure without trans- 
 gression ; I am cleansed ; there is no iniquity in me. 10. Lo, 
 He will find occasions of antagonism against me; He will 
 account me his enemy. 11. He puts my feet in the stocks; 
 he watches all my paths. 
 
 12. Lo, in this thou art not right. I will answer thee, for 
 God is greater than man. 13. AV^herefore dost thou contend 
 with him ? For he will answer as to none of his matters. 
 14. For God will speak once, and a second time if one does 
 not notice it. 15. In dreams and night-visions when deep 
 sleep falls on men, in slumbers upon the bed : 16. Then he 
 opens the ear of men and seals instruction to them, 17. To 
 divert man from misdeeds, and he will hide pride from am- 
 bitious man. 18. He will hold back his soul from the pit 
 and his life from passing away under the fatal dart. 19. He 
 is chastened with suffering upon his bed and with racking 
 pain of his bones continually ; 20. So that his appetite 
 
286 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 loathes bread, and his soul all desu-able food. 21. His flesh 
 is consumed from view; his bones — not seen before — are laid 
 bare. 22. Then his soul 'draws near to the pit and his life 
 to the destroyer. 23. If there be then a messenger for him, 
 an interpreter, one of a thousand, to show to man his right 
 way ; 24. Then he will be gracious to hira and will say — 
 "Redeem him from going down to the pit; I have found a 
 ransom." 25. Then liis flesh shall be more fresh than a 
 child's ; he shall be borne back to the days of his youth. 
 26. He shall make supplication to God, and He will accept 
 him witli favor : he will look upon the face [of God] with 
 joy, and He will render to man his righteousness. 27. He 
 shall chant it before men and shall say — I had sinned and 
 jierverted the right, and it Avas never fully requited against 
 me. 28. He hath redeemed my soul from going down to the 
 pit ; my life shall behold the light. 29. Lo, all these things 
 does God accomplish, even thrice told, Avith man ; 30. To 
 bring back his soul from the pit, to renew the light of 
 his life. 
 
 31. Attend, Job; listen to me; be silent and I will 
 speak. 32. If thou hast words to say in reply, speak ; for I 
 shall delight to justify thee. 33. But if thou hast nothing 
 to reply, hear me; be silent, and I Avill teach thee wisdom. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Eliliu continues. 
 
 I. Then Elihu resumed and said: 2. Hear my words, ye 
 Avise men, and ye Avho have knowledge, give ear to me : 3. 
 For the ear tries words, and the mouth tastes for eating. 4. 
 Let us search out for ourselves AA'hat is right ; let us knoAV 
 betAveen us what is good, 5. For Job has said, "I am 
 righteous, and God has taken aAvay my rights. 6. Shall I 
 speak falsely against my own right ? My arrow-wound is 
 incurable, for no sin of mine." 
 
 7. What manly soul is like Job aa'Iio drinks in scofling as 
 Avater, 8. Who goes in company Avith evil-doers and Avalks 
 Avith Avicked men ? 9. For he has said — a man will find no 
 profit from takmg his delight in God. 10. Therefore, ye men 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 287 
 
 of understanding, hearken to me. God turns away from 
 wickedness with abhorrence, — the Almighty, from all injus- 
 tice ! 11. For the very work of man God will render to him, 
 and will bring upon him according to his own way.. 12. 
 ]\Iost assuredly God will do nothing Avicked ; the Almighty 
 Avill never pervert justice. 13. Who has put him in charge 
 of the earth, and who has set him over the whole inhabited 
 world ? 14. If he set his heart on man, if he recall to him- 
 self man's spirit and breath ; 15. All flesh would expire 
 together and luortal man return unto dust. 16. If there be 
 understanding, hear this ; give ear to the voice of my words. 
 17. Shall one who hates the right have supreme dominion ? 
 Wilt thou condemn the Just and Mighty One? 18. Shall 
 one say to a king — O thou bad ! and to nobles, O wicked one ! 
 19. To one who accepts not the person of princes and knows 
 not the rich in the presence of the poor, because they all are 
 the work of his hands ? 20. In a moment they die ; at mid- 
 night they are smitten and pass away ; even the mighty are 
 taken away by no [visible] hand. 21. For his eyes are ou 
 the ways of nxan and he sees all his steps. 22. There is no 
 darkness, no death-shade, where the workers of iniquity can 
 hide themselves. 23. For he will not set his thought again 
 and again upon man that he may come before God iu the 
 judgment. 24. But he crushes the mighty with no long an- 
 tecedent searching, and sets up other men in their stead. 
 25. Inasmuch as he knows their deeds and overturns them 
 in a night and they ai'e crushed to pieces. 26. They being 
 wicked, he smites them in the presence of beholders; 27. 
 Because they turned back from following him and would 
 understand none of his ways; 28. So that they bring up the 
 cry ot the poor before him, and he will hear the outcry of 
 the afilicted. 29. When He gives rest, who shall condemn 
 as guilty? and when he hides his face, who shall behold 
 him ? and alike as to a nation or an individual man. 30. So 
 that no bad man shall reign, nor the people be ensnared. 
 31. For should not one say unto God — I have borne [chas- 
 tisement] ; I will be i')erverse no more ? 32. What I can not 
 see, teach thou me; if I have done evil, I will not again. 
 33. Shall it be at thy will that God shall i-equite, so that 
 thou mayest refuse, or thou choose, and not He ? What thou 
 knowest, speak. 34. Let men of understanding speak to me, 
 and let the wise man hear me. 35. Job speaks without 
 knowledge, and his Avords are not in wisdom. 36. O that 
 Job might be tried thoroughly on account of his answers in 
 
288 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 sympathy with wicked men ! 37. For he adds rebellion to 
 his sins of error ; he claps his hands among us and multiplies 
 his words against God. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Elihu continues. 
 
 1. Elihu resumed and said : 2. Dost thou think this to be 
 right ? Thou hast said — My righteousness is more than God's. 
 3. For thou saidst, What will it profit thee, and what shall 
 I gain more than by my sin ? 4. With words I Avill answer 
 thee and thy friends with thee. 
 
 5. Look up to the heavens and see ; behold the clouds ; 
 they are higher than thou. 6. If thou hast sinned what dost 
 thou effect as to him? If thy transgressions are many, what 
 dost thou to him ? 7. If thou art righteous, what dost thou 
 give to him? or what does he receive from thy l^ind? 8. 
 Thy wickedness is toward a man such as thou art, and thy 
 righteousness toward a son of man. 9. Because of the mul- 
 titude of oppressions, they cry ; because of the arm of the 
 mighty they cry for helj) ; 10. Yet he dpes not say. Where 
 is God my. Maker who gives songs in the night? 11. Who 
 teaches us more than he does the beasts of the earth, and 
 makes us wiser than the fowls of the heavens. 12. There 
 they cry, but He does not answer, because of the pride of 
 the wicked. 13. Surely God will not -hear vain [insincere] 
 prayer ; the Almighty Avill not regard it. 14. How much 
 less when thou sayest thou wilt not regard him! The 
 cause is before Him [as the Infinite Judge] ; wait thou upon 
 him. 15. But now because He does not visit with anger and 
 does not closely scrutinize transgression ; 16. Therefore Job 
 opens his mouth for vanity, and multiplies words without 
 knowledge. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 289 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Elihu continues. 
 
 1. Elihu still contiuiied and said ; 2. Wait for me yet a 
 little and I will show thee, for there are yet more words for 
 God. 3. I will bring my knowledge from far, and Avill 
 ascribe righteousness to my JNIaker. 4. For truly my words 
 are not false ; one perfect in knowledge is with thee. 
 
 5. Lo, God is mighty, yet will he never oppress ; mighty 
 is He in strength of understanding. 6. He blesses not the 
 life of the wicked ; but he will award the right of the poor. 
 7. He withdraws not his eyes from the righteous ; with kings 
 on the throne are they ; He makes them sit there forever, and 
 they are exalted in honor. 8. But if, bound in chains, they 
 are caught in the tight bands of afHiction, 9. Then He sets 
 before them their deeds and their transgressions, because they 
 have dealt proudly. 10. He opens their ear to the instruction 
 [he would give], and says they must turn back from iniquity. 
 11. If they will hear and will serve him, they shall spend 
 their days in prosperity and their years in pleasure. 12. But 
 if they will not hear, they pass away by the dart and die 
 without knowledge. 13. Men of vile heart heap up wrath 
 [against themselves] ; they will not cry [to God] when He 
 binds them [in affliction]. 14. Their soul shall die in youth 
 and their life with prostitutes. 
 
 15. He will deliver the poor in his affliction; he will open 
 their ear in the distress [brought on them]. 16. And even 
 thee, O Job, would he allure from the jaws of the strait into 
 a broad place, having no straits underneath [or beyond] it ; 
 and the food on thy table should be full of fatness. 17. Thou 
 hast filled thy heart with the judgments [opinions] of wicked 
 men ; the judgments and justice [of God] shall take hold 
 of thee. 18. Because there is heat [of resentment], beware 
 lest it excite thee against the chastising stroke; for then, 
 [in that case] a great ransom can not deliver thee. 19. Will 
 he esteem thy riches — not of small amount — and all the re- 
 sources of wealth? 20. Pant not for the night [of death] 
 for the nations to go down to the under-world. 21. Take 
 heed ; turn not toward iniquit}^, for this hast thou chosen 
 rather than affliction. 
 
 22. Behold, God is exalted in power ; who is a teacher like 
 Him? 23. A\nio hath enjoined upon him the way he shall 
 
290 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 take, or Avho can say — Thou hast done wrong ? 24. Remem- 
 ber that thou magnify his work which men [fitly] celebrate 
 in song. 25. All men have seen it; man may behold it from 
 afar. 26. Lo, God is high and we shall not know him ; the 
 number of his years there is no searching out. 27. For he 
 draws up the water-drops [by evaporation] ; they pour forth 
 the rain for his vapor ; 28.' Which the clouds shed forth and 
 distill upon man abundantly. 29. Can one understand the 
 bursting of the thunder-cloud — the noise of his tent ? 30. 
 Behold, he spreads his light round about himself; he covers 
 himself with the waters of the ocean depths. 81. For by 
 these he judges the nations ; he gives food in abundance. 
 32. The palms of his hands he covers Avith the lightning's 
 blaze and gives it his commission against the enemy. 33. 
 His thunder speaks of him — to the herds of cattle even — of 
 Him who is on high. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Close of Elilius speech. 
 
 1. My heart also trembles at this and would start from its 
 place : 2. Listen attentively to the roar of his voice — the 
 sound which goes forth from his mouth. 3. Under the whole 
 heaven he shapes its course, and the light of it to the ends of 
 the earth. 4. After it [the lightning], a voice roars ; he 
 thunders with the voice of his majesty : he will not detain 
 them [the lightnings] when his voice of thunder is heard. 5. 
 God thunders marvelously with his voice, doing great things, 
 and we can not know them. 6. For he commands the snow — 
 Be thou upon the earth ; also the gentle rain and the great 
 rain of his strength. 7. He seals up [from labor] the hand 
 of every man, that all men of his workmanship may know 
 him. 8. Then the beast goes into his den and dwells in his 
 place of rest. 9. From the south comes the whirlwind, and 
 from the north, the cold. 10. By the breath of God he gives 
 ice and the breadth of the waters is compressed. 11. Also 
 with moisture he loads the thick clouds ; he sends abroad his 
 lightning-cloud. 12. He turns them about by his guiding 
 Avill that they may accomplish all that he commands them 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 291 
 
 upon the face of the inhabited avoiIcI. 13. He causes it to 
 find and execute its work, whether for a rod for his land, or 
 for mercy. 14. Hear this, O Job; stand and consider the 
 wonderful works of God ! 15, Didst thou know it at the time 
 when God set his thought upon these things, and made the 
 lightnings of his cloud shine forth? 16. Didst thou know 
 as to the balanqjngs of the clouds — the wonderful works of 
 Him who is perfect in knowledge? 17. How thy garments 
 are warm when he makes the earth quiet under his south 
 wind ? 18. Didst thou with him construct the firmament, 
 solid as a molten mirror? 19. Teach us what we shall say to 
 him, for we can not put it in order on account of our dark- 
 ness. 20. Shall it be said to him — I would speak [to thee] ? 
 Shall a man speak [to God] that he may be swallowed up? 
 21. Even now men can not gaze on the bright sun in the 
 skies when the wind has passed over and cleared them. 22. 
 From the north breaks forth the clear golden sky ; Avith God 
 is terrible majesty. 23. The Almighty ! we have not found 
 him out; exalted is he in power and in judgment and in 
 abundant righteousness. He will ansAver to no charges. 24. 
 Therefore have men feared him ; he Avill look [propitiously] 
 on none of the wise of heart. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Jehovah speaks to Job. 
 
 1. Then Jehovah ansAvered Job out of the whirhvind and 
 said — 2. Who is this that darkens counsel Avith Avords and 
 no knowledge? 3. Gird noAV thy loins like a mighty man, 
 and I will ask thee, and teach thou me. 4. Where Avast 
 thou Avhen I laid the foundations of tho earth ? Inform me 
 if thou hast knoAvn intelligently. 5. Who laid the measures 
 of it — for thou Avilt know ; or who stretched the builder's 
 line upon it? 6. Upon Avhat were its massive foundations 
 sunken, or Avho laid its corner-stone, 7. AVhen the morning 
 stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 
 8. And then he hedged in the sea Avith double doors Avhen 
 in its breaking forth, it issuedj^s from a Avomb : 9. When I 
 made the cloud its garment, and thick clouds its swaddling- 
 
292 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 bands ; 10. And then I assigned my bounds to it, and set 
 bars and doors; 11. And said — So far thou mayest come, 
 but no farther, and here let there be a stand in the pride of 
 thy waves. 
 
 12. Since thy days hast thou commanded the morning and 
 made the day-dawn know its phice, 13. That it might grasp 
 the corners of the earth and the wicked be^haken out of it 
 through fear? 14. Then the earth is changed [in appear- 
 ance] as clay under the signet-ring; things stand forth in 
 their beauty as a garment. 15. Their own light is with- 
 holden from the wicked, and their high arm of power is 
 broken. 
 
 16. Hast thou been down to the springs of the sea and 
 traversed the unexplored bottom of the deep? 17. Have 
 the gates of Death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen 
 the gates of the Shadow of Death? 18. Has thy knowledge 
 reached even to the breadth of the earth? Declare if thou 
 hast known it all. 19. Where is the way to the dwelling- 
 place of light; and darkness — where is its home? 20. For 
 thou wilt take it to its bounds and thou wilt command the 
 paths to its house! 21. Surely thou hast known, for thou 
 wast then already born, and the number of thy days is great! 
 22. Hast thou been to the treasure-houses of snow and seen 
 the treasure-houses of hail, 23. Which I have held in 
 reserve for the time of trouble — for the day of battle and 
 Avar? 21. Where is the way to the point whence light is 
 apportioned and the east wind scattered over the earth ? 
 25. Who has cut the water-courses for the great rain and 
 the way for the thunder's flash ? 26. To make rain fall on 
 lands where there is no man and on the desert in which no 
 man dwells; 27. To satisfy soils most sterile and barren 
 and to start fresh herbage into growth. 
 
 28. Has the rain a father? or who has begotten the 
 drops of dew ? 29. Out of whose womb came forth the ice? 
 and the hoar-frost of heaven — who hath gendered it? 30. 
 The waters are hidden as in stone and the face of the deep 
 coheres. 
 
 31. Dost thou bind the bands of the Pleiades, or unbind 
 the girdle of Orion ? 32. Dost thou bring forward the stars 
 of the Zodiac each in his time? and the Great Bear with his 
 sons, dost thou lead on ? 33. Dost thou even understand 
 the ordinances of the heavens? Dost thou appoint the do- 
 minion of each one in the ear|ja ? 34. Dost thou lift up thy 
 voice of command to the clouds, and abundance of waters 
 
CHAPTEE XXXIX. 293 
 
 shall cover thee? 35. Dost thou send forth the lightnings 
 that they shall go and shall say to thee, Here we are ? 
 
 86. Who has put wisdom within [man], or who has given 
 intelligence to the mind? 37. Who shall number the clouds 
 in Avisdom, and who shall turn up to empty the bottles of 
 heaven, 38. When the dust has thickened to a solid mass 
 and the clods adhere together ? 
 
 39. Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion, or fill the appe- 
 tite of the young lions, 40. While the latter lie in their 
 dens and the former lurk in concealment for their prey? 41. 
 Who provideth for the raven his food? When his young 
 cry unto God, they wander for lack of food. 
 
 <.0V®i0-c — 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 The Address of the Lord continued. 
 
 1. Dost thou know the time when the goats of the rock 
 bring forth? Dost thou watch over the bringing forth of 
 the hinds? 2. Dost thou determine the months they fulfill 
 and know the time of their giving birth ? 3. They bow 
 themselves: they are delivered of their young; they soon 
 dismiss their pains. 4. Their young mature early; they 
 grow up in the open country; they go forth and return not 
 to them. 
 
 5. AVho hath sent forth the wild ass free? Who hath 
 loosed the bands of the wild ass? 6. Whose house I have 
 made the wilderness and the sterile regions his dwelling- 
 place. 7. He scorns the noises of the city ; he will not hear 
 [patiently] the cries of the driver. 8. The range of the 
 mountains is his pasture-ground ; he searches after all green 
 herbs. 
 
 9. Will the wild ox be willing to serve thee ? Will he 
 spend the night at thy crib? 10. Wilt thou bind the wild 
 ox with his bands in the furrow? Will he harrow the valleys 
 after thee ? 11. Wilt thou trust him because his strength is 
 great ? Wilt thou leave to him thy labors? 12. Wilt thou 
 believe him that he will bring home thy seed and gather it 
 to thy threshing-floor? 
 
 13. The wing of the ostrich waves proudly — but are his 
 wings and pinions pious [like the aflfectionate stork] ? 14. 
 
294 CHAPTEE XL. 
 
 [Nay] for she leaves her eggs on the earth and lets them be 
 warmed on the sand; 15. And forgets that some foot may 
 press on them or .beast of tlie field crush them. 16. She is 
 hard of heart toward her young as if not her own. Tliat her 
 birth-labor should be for nought, she has no fear: 17. For 
 God has made her forget wisdom, nor has he imparted to her 
 [the usual] understanding. 18. What time she strikes out 
 her Avings on high, she laughs at the horse and his rider. 
 
 19. Hast tliou given to the war-horse his strength? Dost 
 thou clothe his neck with terror ? 20. Wilt thou make him 
 afraid as the grasshop^^er ? The glory of his snorting is 
 terrible. 21. He paws in the valley and rejoices in his 
 might; he moves on [proudly] to the shock of arms. 22. 
 He mocks at fear and is never daunted, nor turns he back 
 from the face of the sword, 23. Nor when the arrow rattles 
 upon him, or the glittering spear and javalin. 24. Restless and 
 leaping he swallows the ground and will not believe it the 
 voice of the trumpet. 25. Oft as the war-trump sounds, he 
 calls out Aha! He snuffs the battle from far — the thunder 
 of the captains and the shouting. 
 
 26. Is it of thy wisdom that the hawk takes his flight and 
 spreads his Avings for the south ? 27. Is it at thy command 
 that the eagle soars aloft and makes his nest on high ? 28. 
 That he makes the lofty rock his home and lodging-place, 
 even the crags of the rock and the stronghold ? 29. Thence 
 he descries his food ; his eye will pierce afar. 30. His young 
 gorg6 themselves with blood ; where tlie slain lie, there is he. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 The Lord resumes his address to Job. 
 
 1. Again the Lord answered Job and said, 2. Shall a 
 reprover really contend with the Almighty ? He who cen- 
 sures God, let him answer for it! 
 
 3. Tlien Job answered the Lord and said, 4. Behold, 
 I am vile ; what shall I answer thee ? I put my hand upon 
 my mouth. 5. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer 
 'again ; twice, but I will add no more. 
 
 6, Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and 
 
CHAPTER XLI, 295 
 
 said — 7. Gird now thy loins as a mighty man : I will de- 
 mand of thee, and inform thou me. 
 
 8. Wilt thou indeed annul my right [to reign] ? "Wilt 
 thou condemn me that thou mayest justify thyself? 9. Is 
 thine arm like God's ? Canst thou thunder with a voice like 
 his ? 10. Put on now thy majesty and grandeur ; array 
 thyself in glory and beauty ; 11. Cast abroad the outpour- 
 ings of thy wrath ; look down on every proud one and bring 
 him low ! 12. Look down on every proud one and make 
 him bow, and tread down the wicked where they are. 13. 
 Hide them in the dust together ; shroud their faces in dark- 
 ness ! 14. Then will I confess to thy praise that thine own 
 right arm will bring thee salvation. 
 
 15. Behold now behemoth [the river-ox] Avhom I made 
 together with thee; he eats grass as the herds. 16. Behold 
 now, his strength is in his loins, and his force in the sinews 
 of his belly. 17. He bends his tail as a cedar ; the muscles 
 of his thighs interlace together. 18. His bones are tubes of 
 brass ; his bones are as forged bars of iron. 19. He is chief 
 of the ways of God ; his Maker gave him his sword. 20. 
 For the mountains supply to him their products, and all the 
 beasts of the field play there. 21. He lies down under the 
 lotus leaves, in the covert of reeds and rushes. 22. The 
 lotus leaves cover him with their shade; the willows of 
 the brook are twined about him. 23. Lo a great river may 
 rush down proudly upon him ; he will not tremble ; he Avill 
 be fearless though Jordan burst forth at his very mouth. 24. 
 Before his eyes, he [the hunter] will take him ; he Avill pierce 
 through his nose with hooks. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 The speech of the Lord contimies. 
 
 1. But canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook? Canst 
 thou press down his tongue with a cord ? 2. Canst thou put 
 a rush-cord in his nostrils and bore his jaw with a hook ? 3. 
 Will he make many supplications to thee and speak to thee 
 with soft words? 4. Will he make a covenant with thee, 
 and wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? 5. Wilt thou 
 play with him as with the little birds and bind him for thy 
 
296 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 maidens ? 6. Shall hunting parties dig a pit for him and 
 then divide him among the merchants? 7. Wilt thou fill 
 his skin with javelins and his head with fish-spears ? 8. Put 
 thine hand upon him ; remember the battle ; try it not again ! 
 
 9. Lo, the hope of taking him will prove vain ; shall not 
 one be cast down at even the sight of him ? 10. There is 
 not a man so daring as to rouse him up. Who then shall 
 take his stand against me? 
 
 11.^ Who has first given ought to me that I should be 
 holden to repay him ? Under the whole heaven it [all] is 
 mine. 
 
 12. I will not pass in silence his limbs, his renowned 
 strength ; the beauty of his attire. 13. Who has taken off 
 hii outer covering [of scales] ? Who has entered within his 
 double jaws ? 14. Who shall open the doors of his mouth ? 
 His teeth round about are terrible. 15. His strong shields 
 are a splendor, shut together with a close seal. 16. Each to 
 each is so near that a breath of air can not pass between. 
 17. Each one cleaves fast to his brother; they clasp each 
 other and will not be sundered. 18. With his sneezings, 
 light streams forth, and his eyes are as the eyelids of the morn- 
 ing. 19. Burning lamps seem to walk forth from his mouth ; 
 sparks of fire make their escape. 20. From his nostrils there 
 goeth smoke as from a pot or caldron over a blown fire. 21. 
 His breath kindles coals ; a flame goes forth from his mouth. 
 22. In his neck abides strength ; terror dances with fear be- 
 fore him. 23. Even the hanging flaps of his flesh cleave close 
 together ; firm are they upon him and will not be moved. 
 24. His heart is firm as a stone ; yea, firm as the nether mill- 
 stone. 25. AVhen he arouses himself, mighty men are afraid ; 
 terror-stricken, they lose their way in flight. 26. The sword 
 that assails him shall not stand, nor the spear, the dart, or 
 the coat of mail. 27. He accounts iron as straw and brass 
 as rotten wood. 28. No arrows shall make him flee; for 
 him, sling-stones turn to stubble. 29. The bludgeon he 
 thinks of as straw ; he laughs at the shaking of the speai-. 
 30. Under him are sharp points as of potsherd; like a 
 threshing-sledge they spread their traces on the mire. 81. 
 He makes the great deep boil like a pot ; he makes the sea 
 as a pot of ointment. 32. He leaves a glistening path be- 
 hind him ; one might think the deep were hoary. 33. Upon 
 the earth there is none like him — made to have no fear. 34. 
 He looks down upon all the lofty; he is king over all the 
 sons of pride. 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 297 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 The conclusion. 
 
 1. Then Job answered the Lord and said, 2. I know 
 thou hast all power and no purpose of thine can be hindered. 
 3. Who is this that darkens counsel with his folly? for I 
 have set forth things I understood not — things too wonderful 
 for me, and I could not know them. 4. Hear, I pray thee, 
 and let me speak ; I will ask of thee, and teach thou me. 5. 
 I have heard about thee by the hearing of the ear; but now 
 mine eye seeth thee; 6. Therefore I abhor myself and re- 
 pent in dust and ashes. 
 
 7. Now after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the 
 Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite; — My wrath is kindled 
 against thee and agaiust thy two friends, because ye have not 
 spoken concerning ine the right thing, as my servant Job has. 
 8. Therefore take ye now for yourselves seven btillocks and 
 seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt- 
 offering in your own behalf, and my servant Job will pray 
 for you, for him will I accept, lest I deal with you according 
 to your folly ; for ye have not spoken concerning me the right 
 thing, as my servant Job has. 
 
 9. Then Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite 
 and Zophar the Naaraathite went and did as the Lord had 
 said to them, and the Lord accepted Job. 10. Then the 
 Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his 
 friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much of all as he 
 had before. 11. Then there came to him all his brethren 
 and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate 
 bread with him in his house, and they bemoaned and com- 
 forted him on account of all the afflictions which the Lord 
 had brought upon him ; and they each gave him one kesita, 
 and each an ear-ring of •gold. 
 
 12. And the Lord blessed the latter years of Job more 
 than the earlier ; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six 
 thousand camels, and one thousand yoke of oxen, and one 
 thousand she-asses. 13. He had also seven sons and three 
 daughters. 14. He called the name of the first Jemima; 
 the name of the second, Kezia ; and the name of the third, 
 Keren-happuch. 15. And no women Avere found in all the 
 
298 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 land so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave 
 them inheritance among their brethren. 16. After this Job 
 lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his sons and his 
 sons' sons, four generations. 17. Then Job 'died, being old 
 and full of days. 
 
CowLES's Notes on the Old Testament 
 
 I, THE MINOll PROPHETS, 
 
 1 vol., 12nio. $2.00. 
 
 II, EZEKIEL AND DANIEL. 
 
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 JF. PBOVEBBS, ECCLESIASTES, AND 
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 F. NOTES ON JEBEMIAU. 
 
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 By Rev. HENRY COWLES, D. D. 
 
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 " These works are desi<)rned for both pastor and people. They embody the rc- 
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 fiToe and simplicity. The learned professor, h.iving devoted many years to VLm 
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 with all needful materials to produce a useful and trustworthy commentary." 
 
 From Dr. Leonard Bacon, of Tale College. 
 "There is, within my knowledge, no other work on the same portions of the 
 Bible, corabininfT so much of the results of accurate scholarship with bo lauch com- 
 mon-sense and so much of a practical and devotional spirit." 
 
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 With sound scholarship the writer combines the unction of deep religious expo- 
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 epoculation, a candid judgment, and the fiiculty of expressing his thoughts cleailj- 
 and forcibly." 
 
 From President E. B. Fairfield, of ITillsdale College. 
 "1 am very much pleased with your Commentary. It meets a want which 
 aae lon^ been felt. For various reasons, the ^vritinnrs of the prophets have const* 
 Rlted a sealed book to a largo part of the ministry as well as most of the comniou 
 people. They aie not sufficif-ntly understood to make them appreciated. Youi 
 Lribf notcH relieve them of all their waut of interest tc common readers. I tl)lu6 
 pen lave bUd iubt taioDKli." 
 
COWLES' NOTES-Continued. 
 
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 XI. THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
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 This volume (1877) completes the Old Testament. \ 
 
 r 
 
 \ 
 
BS1415.C875 
 
 The book of Job : with notes, critical, 
 
 Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00042 7171