y. 
 
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 4
 
 THE, 
 
 B O 
 
 O 
 
 K 
 
 O F 
 
 J 
 
 O 
 
 o,
 
 THE 
 
 BOOK of J O B, 
 
 I N 
 
 ENGLISH VERSE; 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL HEBREW; 
 
 WITH 
 
 REMARKS, 
 
 HISTORICAL, CRITICAL, and EXPLANATORY. 
 By THOMAS SCOTT. 
 
 Then Job anfwercd the Lord, and faid .... 
 
 Verily I have uttered that I underftood not, things too wonderful for me that 
 
 1 knew not. 
 Wherefore I abhor myfelf j and repent'jn duft and aflies. 
 
 Job xlii. I, 3, 6. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by W. Strahan, 
 And fold by T. Cadell, in the Strand; M. Hingeston, Temple-Bar; J. and F, 
 RiviNGTON, St. Paul's Church-Yard; J. Buckland, in Pater-nofter-Row ; 
 E. and C. DlLtY, in the Poultry; and J. Shave* Ij>fwich. 
 
 MDCCLXXI.
 
 PREFACE. ?43 
 
 TH E poetry in this venerable book begins with the fccond 
 verfe of the third chapter ; and breaks off, at the end 
 of the fixth verfe of the concluding chapter. Thofe, there- 
 fore, are the limits of the poem : which prefents to us the 
 ihades of an illuflrious charadler ; a great and good man in tlie 
 depth of adverilty, reduced to defpair, and complaining loudly 
 of the wavs of God. His three mod intimate friends, who 
 •came to condole with him, very early infinuate their uncha- 
 ritable fufpicions : and, afterward, openly accufe him of atro- 
 cious luickeclnefs, as the caufe of his afflicftions. Accordingly, 
 they exhort him to repentance, that repentance which a ivicked 
 man needeth, as the only means of his refloration. By thus 
 defending the honour of Providence at their friend's expence, 
 they exafperate his diftrefs, inflame his paffions, and hurry 
 Jkim into blameable excefTes in the juilification of himfelf, 
 and in expoftulations with his Maker about the reafon of his 
 fufferings. He is, however, by wifcr management in other 
 hands % gradually recovered to a becoming temper : And at laft 
 acknowledgeth his fault to the Almighty, in the fulleft terms 
 of contrition and felf-abafement. With this compkat con- 
 feffion the poem clofeth, the defign of the poem being then 
 accomplilhed. 
 
 The moral of fuch a poem, formed on the plan of difcontent 
 with the meafurcs of Providence, and the iflue of that difcon- 
 
 » Elihu. 
 
 tent
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 tent in fubmifllon to them, is too obvious to flaad in want of 
 explanation. 
 
 The majcfly and fubhniity of this divine compofition have 
 been admired b}' writers of the firft rank in genius, tafle, and 
 learning ' : One of whom, dillingiiifhed by his critical fkill in 
 the facred poetry of the Hebrews, is of opinion, that the pe- 
 culiar character of this poem is a certain air and call of anti- 
 quity ' : for the language is very old Hebrew, and the man- 
 ners are thofe of tlie earliefl: ages. It has, however, many 
 other beauties ; well known to that fagacious judge, and finely 
 illuftrated by his elegant pen '. It excels in concifenefs, force, 
 iind fulnefs of expreffion, in mafterly painting both of the 
 violent and tender paflions, in moving reprefentations of 
 human life, great powers of defcription, and the noble fira- 
 -plicity of its theology and ethics. 
 
 Whether the following tranflation lias, in general, reached 
 ,the meaning of this extremely difficult author, and copied his 
 ideas with fufficient clearnefs, brevity, and fpirit; is nowfub- 
 niitted to the judgement of the public. 
 
 " The whole book of Job, with regard both to fublimity of thought and 
 morality, exceeds beyond all comparifon the moft noble parts of Homer, 
 ■yiv.'2o^t\^ranjlation of the Odypy, b. xvi. the laft note. 
 
 " Letter to the Right Reverend Author of the Divine Legation «f Mo/ut 
 ^y Dr. Lowth, 
 
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 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The following remarks will be more intelligible, if the 
 reader will pleafe to lay before him our public veriion of 
 this book, to which they are adapted.
 
 THE 
 
 BOOK 
 
 O F 
 
 JOB. 
 
 Chap. 
 I. 
 Ver. I. '~1~^HERE liv'd an Arab, of diftinguilh'd fame, 
 
 A In Idumean Uz ; and Job his name : 
 
 Of fpotlefs manners, with a foul lincere, 
 
 Evil his hate, and God alone his fear. 
 
 2. Seven 
 
 The narration in this, and the following chapter, contains the materials of 
 the Poem. Several of the incidents, and indeed the whole ftory, might have 
 appeared, with advantage, in tlie drefs of poetry. They could not, however, 
 make a part of the poem, without deftroying the finglenefs of its plan. Thefe 
 two chapters, therefore, are cut off from it, by being written inprofe: as like- 
 wife are, for the fame reafon, the laft eleven verfes in the book ; which compleat 
 the hijlcry of this extraordinary man. 
 
 Ver. I. Uz] A territory in the land of Edom\ The land of Edom was a 
 portion of Arabia Petrjea, lying between Egypt and the fouth boundary of 
 Paleftine ''. Hence it is reafonable to imagine, that Job was well acquainted 
 
 with 
 
 Lanientat, iv. 21, Bp. Lowth, in hh liimnMe PraleSIiones de facra poeft Hebrtsoruniy 
 p. 4M, ^c. 8'^, has well fuppoitcd this geography of Uz j and anfwercd the objedions 
 10 it. 
 
 ■> Exod. xiii. 17. Numb. xx. 14, 17. xxxiv. 3. Reland's P<//^y?/«.7, vol. i. p. (6. 
 Arabia Petrrea is a rocky country confiding of mountains, valleys between them, and Tandy 
 plains. It lies between the two gulfs of the Red Sea, and extends away to the eafl of the 
 
 B Dead
 
 2 THE BOOK OF JOB. Ch r.I. 
 
 2. Seven fons his patriarchal fway rever'd, 
 
 His houiliold cares three beauteous daughters cheer'd, 
 
 3. His flocks in thoufands brows'd, his camels fed 
 In thoufands ; o'er his fertile pallures fpread. 
 In beeves, and beafts of more ignoble llrain. 
 In rural magazines, and ruftic train, 
 
 His mighty opulence no rival found, 
 Among the princes in Arabia's bound. 
 
 4. On the glad feafon of each natal day 
 
 Sweet friendfliip call'd, the brother friends obey : 
 The feflal in the birth-day houfe was blefs'd, 
 And each fair filler came a bidden gueft. 
 
 S- Oft 
 
 ■with Egypt : Hence, alfo,'we may account for the mention of the Jordan in the 
 poem ' : The Euphrates, doubtlefs, would have been thus honoured, had Job 
 lived in Arabia Deferta near the banks of that river ; as many have fuppoied. 
 
 Ver. 3. ^hree thoufand camels'] The Arabs ufed thefe animals in war '', in 
 their caravans, and for food '. One of their ancient poets, whofe hofpitality 
 grew into a proverb, is reported to have killed yearly in a certain month ten 
 camels every day for the entertainment of his friends '. 
 
 Of all the men of the eafi] The land of Uz, where Job dwelt, lay Ibuth of 
 Paleftine : But it was in Arabia Petrasa : and as a confiderable part of Arabia 
 Petrsea formed the eaftern boundary of Paleftine, it was natural for a Jewifli 
 hiftorian to denominate all the Petrsan Arabians, men of the eafi. Bp. Lowth 
 has alfo fhown, that all that traft of land which was between Egypt and the 
 
 river 
 
 Dead Sea and the River Jordan. (Pococks's Defcription of the Eafi. vol.\. p. 136.) No 
 tillage, no grafs in all this country. (Ih'id p. 137 J The mountains are rocks of granite 
 marble, mount Sinai being about the centre of them. (Ibid.) The vallies are the beds of 
 torrents in winter, but dry in fummer. Ibid, 140. 
 
 ' Chap. xl. 23. 
 
 '' Vid. Schultens' Excerpta from the Arabian Anthologia, p. 315. n, 
 
 • Pocock: Specim. hift. Arab. p. 3+3. Togr. p. 115.
 
 Chap. I. THEEOOKOFJOB. 3 
 
 J. Oft as ihefe rounds of fecial joy expir'd, 
 The pious father holy rites requir'd: 
 By due ablutions cleans'd, the filial band 
 For folemn facrificc around him ftand ; 
 When, rifing with the morn, the prieftly fire 
 Difpos'd th' atonement on the hallow'd fire. 
 For every child a coftly vidim blaz'd, 
 For every child the fervid pray'r he rais'd : 
 *' Forgive my childrcns fin, all-gracious Pow'r, 
 " If ought difpleas'd thee in their mirthful hour : 
 " If fome loofe moment's gaiety of heart 
 "" *' E'er faid to piety and God, depart. 
 
 6. Now, on a day in heav'n, before the throne 
 
 Supreme th' angelic miniftration fhone, 
 
 Jehovah's 
 
 river Euphrates, was called the eafi. He remarks from Mr. Jofeph Mede, tha-t 
 the Ifraelites learned this phrafeology while they fojourned in Egypt '. 
 
 Ver. 5. curfed God in their hearts \ It Iliocks credulity, that this excellent 
 father fliould conceive fo grofs a fentiment of his amiable children. He v/as 
 only apprehenfive, leaft, in the gaiety of a feftival, they had let loofe their 
 minds from the reftraints of religion. The word conftantly fignifies to blefs ^ 
 It was the term of compliment between friends at their meeting, and at part- 
 ing '' : in the latter ufe of it, it anfwered, as Bp. Lowth obferves, to our englifh 
 phrafe fare you well : and probably, like that, came to be ufed in a bad fenfe, 
 for renouncing an acquaintance. This paffage, therefore, might have been turned, 
 and have bidden far ewel to {ov renounced) God in their hearts. 
 
 Ver. 6 — 12. Now there was^ &c.] This is not hiftory ; but a piece of alle- 
 gorical fcenery, fomewhat refembling the councils of the Gods in Homer. 
 
 The 
 
 ' Letter to the author of the Divine Legation, p. 58. 
 
 8 In I Kings xx'i. 13. it is renirti to blafpheme : Naboth did blafpheme (renounce) God and 
 the king: that is, he had fpoken words which imported a renunciation both of his religion 
 and his allegiance. See the note of Schultenson ^e^. i. 5. 
 
 " Gtn.xWn. 7, 10. llSam.x\x. 59. 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THEBOOKOF JOB. Chap. I. 
 
 Jehovah's high-born fons : Among them ftands 
 
 7. Satan, of whom the fovei'eign voice demands ; 
 From which of my dominions art thou come ? 
 From earth, he anfwer'd, Hcens'd there to roam : 
 AfTiduous in my office, I have run 
 
 Through all its peopled climes from fun to fun. 
 
 8. Accufer, haft thou mark'd with hoftile aim 
 My fervant Job ; on earth a matchlefs name, 
 Of blamelefs manners, with a foul fincere, 
 Evil his hate, and God alone his fear? 
 
 9. Th' accufer anfwer'd : Is the fervice free,- 
 Rewarded with fuch ample hire by thee I 
 
 10. Is not himfelf, his houfe, his all, fecur'd 
 From harm ; within thy providence immur'd ? 
 
 Profpcr'd by thee, his wealth, increafmg flill. 
 
 Flows from a thoufand fprings in vale and hill-. 
 
 11. Smite now his all, this feeming fon of grace 
 Will, on my head, renounce thee to thy face. 
 
 12. Once 
 
 The noble inftruftion, which it veileth, is ; that God governs the world by the 
 inltrumentality of fecond caufes, that the evils of human life are under his 
 diredtion, and that the afflicStions of good men are appointed by him for the 
 illuftration of their virtue, and advancing, by that means, the honour of re- 
 ligion. 
 
 Ver. 6. Satan] Job himfelf, and the other human fpeakers in the poem, 
 conftantly reprefent his calamities as the immediate aft of God. They, there- 
 fore, had no idea of this evil being, nor of his agency in human affairs : He 
 is never once mentioned throughout the poem. 
 
 Ver. 7. going, &c. walking, &c.] Thefe exprelTions mean, in the Hebrew 
 idiom. Vigilant execution of a miniftry, or office. Zecb. i. 10, 11. 
 
 Ver. 11. he will curfe thee, &c.] he will renounce thee to thy face. The phrafe 
 is ftronger than in ver. 5. curfed God in their hearts. It importeth here an utter 
 and public renunciation of religion as a vain thing.
 
 Ghap. I. THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 12. Once more Jehovah: Go, invade his all, 
 But at thy peril on his perfon fall. 
 
 Swift from the prefcnce flew the Pow'r of fpite. 
 And prone to earth precipitates his flight. 
 
 13. 'Twas now the birth-day of the elder fon, 
 The kindred met, the banquet was begun. 
 
 14. When, lo, a fervant, breathlefs, pale with fear, 
 Bare heavy tidings to the mailer's ear : 
 
 Thy afl!es graz'd, thy heifers turn'd the foil, 
 I j*. Sabean robbers flew upon the fpoil : 
 
 Thy faithful flaves lie flaughter'd on the plain, 
 I, only I, to bring the tale remain. 
 
 16. Him interrupt another's doleful cries : 
 The fire of God was darted from the flcies, 
 The flocks and fhepherds are confum'd. alone, 
 I, wretch, furvive to make the mifchief known. 
 
 17. A third; The Chaldees, in a triple band. 
 Have forc'd the camels to a foreign land. 
 
 I only 
 
 Ver. 13 — ig. And there was, &c."l The calamitous cataftrophe defcribed in 
 thefe verfes, is crowded with events fo very extraordinary in their nature and 
 coincidence j that, I confels, it hath more the air of parable than of matter of 
 fad. 
 
 Ver. ly. The Chaldeans'] Chaldeawas, indeed, at a vaft diftance from the 
 land of Edom. But thefe were a fet of profligates, who followed the pilfering 
 life of the wild Arabs : and like them, it is probable, they made excurfions 
 through the Arabian dcferts ; to any diftance where tliere was any hope of 
 plunder '. The Arabs efteemed it heroifm to make long journeys over pathlefs 
 folitudes, in qucft of daring adventures ^ 
 
 fell 
 
 ' Let the learned reader fee what is offered in i\iz Praleiiioues p. +17, towards folving this 
 objedlion to placing Uz in the land of EJom. 
 •" jirah. Anthologia^ p. 397. n.
 
 6 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. I. 
 
 I only from their cruel fword have fled, 
 
 To fpeak the lofs and how the herdfmen bled. 
 
 1 8. Worfe meflfage follow'd, follow'd clofc behind. 
 The bearer's look fpoke horror in his mind : 
 Thy firft-born fon, his brethren, fifters — all 
 Were met, and feafting in his friendly hall : 
 
 19. When rufliing from the wild, a wheeling blaft 
 Full on the houfe all ways its fury caft: 
 
 Thy children fmother'd in the ruin fell, 
 I only live the fatal blow to tell. 
 
 20. Then Job arofe; and, father now no more, 
 He lopt his flowing hair, his robe he tore : 
 Pi"one to the dufl he bow'd his rev'rent head, 
 And, worfliipping, with humbleft accent faid : 
 Peace every murmur, naked into birth 
 
 I came, and naked fhall return to earth. 
 
 The Lord in bounty gave, but gave in trufl, 
 
 The LoKD refumes ; refuming, notunjufl: 
 
 Giving, 
 
 fell upon the camels] The Arabs continued thefe praftices in fucceeding ge- 
 nerations. The firft poem in the Arabian Anthologia, publifhed by the learned 
 Schultens, turns upon the lofs of ten camels ; wliich the poet had fullained by 
 an incurfion of this kind. 
 
 Ver. jg. from the wildernefs] Some defert eminently fo called; mofl pro- 
 bably that deep fandy defert which lies between Egypt and Paleftiue, mentioned 
 by Jofephus and Arrian '. It was, therefore, a fouth wind which overthrew the 
 houfe, where Job's children were feafting. Zech. ix. 14. The Lord God .... 
 Jhallgo with whirlwinds of the fouth. 
 
 Ver. 20, 2 r. and zvorjhipped, tic.'] This was behaviour truly fublime ; the 
 nobleft homage that could be paid by a reafonable being to his great Creator. 
 
 ' Vid. Reland's Palttftina, vol. i. p. 59.
 
 Chap. L THEBOOKOFJOB. ^ 
 
 Giving, refuming, he is Hill the Lord, 
 Still be the glories of his name ador'd. 
 21. Thus far the blamelefs man his ills fuftain'd. 
 Nor one complaint the ways of God arraign'd. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 II. 
 Ver. I. Again the fons of God his throne furround, 
 
 Again th' accufer in the ranks was found. 
 
 2, 3. To him Jehovah: erring was thy aim. 
 
 My fervant Job is ftill a matchlefs name ; 
 
 Of blamelefs manners, with a foul fincere, 
 
 Evil his hate, and God alone his fear. 
 
 His virtue (lands, unmeriting he mourns, 
 
 On thy own head thy calumny returns. 
 
 4. Satan reply 'd ; who that efcapes to fliore. 
 
 Will, though his all be wreck'd, his lofs deplore ? 
 
 5. Smite but his perfon home, this fon of grace 
 Will, on my head, renounce thee to thy face. 
 
 6. God anfwer'd: lo I yield him to thy will; 
 Licens'd to wound, at thy own peril kill. 
 
 7. Swift 
 
 Ver. 21. In all this, &c.] This remark, and the repetition of it chap. ii. i, 
 •warneth us to expeft a very different behaviour in the poem. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Ver. 4. fkin for Jkin, Sec.] This proverbial form of fpeech might have, among 
 the Hebrews, fufficient dignity for profe. But it appeared to me too humble 
 for verfe. I have, therefore, in my trandation, changed it into another j which, 
 I think, expreflTeth its meaning. 
 
 Ver. 5. he ivill curfe thee, &c.] See the note ch. i. 1 1, i
 
 \ THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. H. 
 
 7. Swift from the prcfcnce went the Pow'r of fpite, 
 And prone to earth precipitates his flight. 
 
 Job inflant felt the cruel foe, all o'er 
 Smitten with boils and Hung at every pore. 
 
 8. Down in the diift he fat, in humble fign 
 Of forrow paflive to the will divine. 
 
 9. 'Twas then, the frail companion of his care 
 
 Wounded his foul with words of wild defpair: 
 
 What, 
 
 Ver. 7. with fore hils] This was one of the plagues, with which the Egyp- 
 tians were fmitten ". It was frequently the firft ftage of a leprofy ". Accord- 
 ing to the great Dr. Mead °, it was that fpecies of leprofy, which had the name 
 of Elephantiafis, (be elephant difeafe ; fo called from its fwelling the mouth, legs, 
 and feet to an enormous fize, although the body at the fame time was emaciated. 
 The very bones, he adds, are injured by it. The learned Michaelis ^ fays " it 
 is an univerfal ulcer; an exceedingly foul, painful, and naufeous diftemper. 
 Thofc who were affefted by it, are laid to have been weary of life, and to wifh 
 and hope for nothing fo much as death : It made them impatient, paflionate, 
 difcontented with every thing, wild and defperate." 
 
 Ver. 8. a pot-peard} This was a part of the kitchen furniture, andanutenfil 
 of the hearth in thofe days of fimplicity ''. But the adion, here defcribed, 
 feemed to me too low to be admitted into englifh heroic verfe. 
 
 hejat down among the apes'] Sitting down on the hearth, and like wife fprin- 
 kling dull upon the head, were ancient rites of mourning '. 
 
 V-er. 9. curfeGod, &c.] The tranflation might have been bid farewel to, or 
 renounce. Cod, &c. there will be, however, more poignancy in the fpeech, if 
 
 we 
 
 ■" ExoJ. xi. 10, II. " Levit, .\iii. ;o. 
 
 " Medlca Sacra, Stick's tranjlalion ch. i. p. n. ii. ;o. 
 P Not in LovJihi Pi alcSf. p. :o2, 203. 
 1 Ifai.ih XXX. 11. 
 
 ' Among the Hebrews, II Sam. xiii. 19. Ifaiah Iviii. 5. Jerem. vi. 26, Thefe 
 cuftoms obtained alfo among the ancient Greeks : OdyiT. vii. i53' xxiv. 31s.
 
 Chap. II, THE BOOKOFJOB. 9 
 
 What, ftill a faint: go on, and cringing low 
 Praife him once more, and t'cd'his mortal blow. . 
 
 10. Dofl thou (he faid, and call a tender look 
 While zeal deliver'd its fevere rebuke,) 
 Even thou thus raflily fpeak ? in fuch a ftyle, 
 Let a blind paganefs her gods revile. 
 Jehovah's hand divides our portion flill ; 
 Shall we embrace his good, and not his ill ? 
 
 Thus far the patient man his lips reftrain'd 
 From fin, and firm in every fhock remain'd. 
 
 1 1. Lamenting fame now haften'd from his place 
 Temanian Eliphaz, of Shuah's race 
 
 Bildad, and Zophar of Naamah's line : 
 
 Thefe, guided by the voice of friendfliip, join ; 
 
 Then fpeedy to their fuff'ring friend they go, 
 
 To mingle tears, and mollify his woe, 
 
 12. Hig 
 
 we retain here the proper meaning of the Hebrew term as in ch. i. 2t, blefs 
 God and die-, a fevere farcafm on thole admirable words of devout adoration, 
 blejfed be the name of the Lord. The rafhnefs of this poor diftrefled Lady can- 
 not be altogether excufed : But candour will make favourable allowances for 
 the frailty of her fex, and the feverity of her trial. 
 
 Ver. lo. the foolip'] fo the Hebrews ftyled idolaters, Pf. Ixxiv. i8. The 
 Heathens, v/hen any misfortune befel them, were wont to revile their Gods : 
 Thus, in Homer, Achilles and Mcnelaus blafpheme Jupiter '. 
 
 Ver. II. The Temanite] The intimate friendfliip between Job and thofe three 
 men implies, lurely, vicinity of habitation. Teman, the refidence of Eliphaz, 
 was in the landofEdom' : the other two, therefore, dwelt, we may fuppofe, 
 in that country, or in its neighbourhood. 
 
 ' II. i. 353. ill. 365. ' Jerem. xlix. 7.
 
 JO THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. IF. 
 
 12. His form now opeijs to their diftant view. 
 But O how aliea from the form they knew ! 
 They fprinkled duft upon their heads, they rent 
 Their flowing vefture, and aloud lament. 
 
 13. Then feated near him on the groimd, amaze 
 Fetter'd their tongues. For feven fucceeding days. 
 With mourning rite, their vifit they renew'd, 
 
 But fdent flill. They faw, his grief withflood 
 All lenient counfel j for his looks exprefs'd, 
 Tortuijip^ aji^Jliuge aflOUdion in his breaft. 
 
 Chap. 
 III. 
 1, 2. At length the fuff'ring man, oppreft with pain, 
 
 Pour'd out his anguilh in lamenting- ftrain: 
 
 And thus devoted to eternal fliame 
 
 His natal day, whence all his forrows came. 
 
 3. Perifli 
 
 Ver. 13. feven days and feven mghts'] that is, a whole week; which was the 
 cuftomary ipace of time for mourning. Ecclefiaft. xxii. 12. Seven days do men 
 inournfor him that is dead. Compare Gen. L. 10. 
 
 CHAP. IIP. 
 
 The poem opens with that kind of tragical diftrefs, which is lofty in its con- 
 ceptions and highly figurative in its language-, which labours for the ftrongcft 
 images, and moft energetic words ; to exprefs its feelings, and to fpread over all 
 objefts around it its own gloominefs and horror. A paroxyfm of fuch violent 
 grief vents itfelf in the following imprecations. The palTion, however, fub- 
 fides a little in the latter part of the fpeech, and flows in the foft complaining 
 
 ftrain 
 
 " See the beautiful obfervations on this chapter in Bp. Lowth's Praleillones, p. 170—17;, 
 8vo. Alfo, concerning the difFerent ftyles of grief in its different degrees; p. 212, 213. of the 
 aiiie admirable book.. 8
 
 Chap. IIL THE BOOK OF JOB. ir 
 
 3. Perifli the day my haplefs years began ! 
 
 Perifli the night, which hail'd the new-born man! 
 
 4. Dark, total darkncfs, be that day ; nor eye 
 
 Of God, all viewing from his throne on high, 
 
 Its 
 
 ftrain of elegy. This impotence of mind in Job, fo inconfiftent with his former 
 firmnefs, may, I think, be accounted for, in part, from the influence of his 
 difeafe : to which mufi: be added, his not having obtained any abatement of his 
 affliction, notwithftanding his fubmiffion ; and his fufpicion, from the filence 
 of his three friends, t-hat he was to expeft no coniblation from them. 
 
 Ver. I. his day]: h\s birth-day. here day denoteth a fpace of twenty-four 
 hours : which, for the fake of amplification, is in the third verfe divided into its 
 conftituent parts; ibe day, or time from fun-rife to fun-fet, and the night, or 
 time from fun-fet to fun-rife again. 
 
 Ver. 3. the day perijh . . . and the night.'] The day, by being depris'cdof the 
 light of the fun ; the night, by lofing the light of the moon and ftars ; to which 
 circumftances he addeth others, to aggravate the horror. 
 
 There is a vian-child conceived] He is fpeaking of the night of his birth : for 
 he mentions the celebration of its anniverfary, ver. 6. the verfion, therefore, 
 fhould have been, a man-child was conceived''. The night of his birth difco- 
 vered that his mother had been pregnant with a fon. The birth of a fon was 
 one of the great occafions of feftivity among the Arabs : the other two were -, 
 the birth of a foal of family, and the rifing up of a poetical genius, in any of 
 their tribes ". 
 
 Ver. 4. regardit] Our public verfion renders it to care for, in Deut. xi. 12. 
 A land which the Lord thy God careth for. 
 
 God is here reprefented fitting on his throne in heaven, and furveying the 
 univerfe •, to fee that all its movements be carried on according to the laws which 
 he has eftablifhed. Job wifheth that the day of his nativity may be rejeiled from 
 the care of that providence, by which the conftant viciffitudes of day and night 
 are preferved. 
 
 The light] The fun. fo the word fignifies in Arabic ''. 
 
 * n"!! It appears, from Gen. iii. 16, that this word includes the whole period of preg- 
 nancy : It may denote here the termination of that period in child-hirth, as in I Chron. iv. 1 7. 
 
 Some, perhaps, will chufe to adopt the reading which the LXX followed, nJH "^^-h "* 
 «f j-i) behold a man child. 
 
 * Pocock. Spec. Hijl. Ar. p. i6c, 337. 
 ■ Lockman. Fab. Sol et Vcntui. 
 
 C 2
 
 12 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. III. 
 
 Its revolution heed ; nor orient beam 
 Revifit, gladd'ning with its golden flream. 
 
 5. Let Death poiTefs it with his dreary fliade, 
 
 Let ftorm and thund'ring cloud its heav'n invade: 
 Let boding figns, from all the quarter'd fphere, 
 Trouble i<ts brow, and terrify the year. 
 
 (5. That night let darknefs in his realm replace j 
 Erafe it from the rolls of time, erafe. 
 
 7. All through that lonefome night may filence reign, 
 
 Nor joy intrude, nor joy-awak'ning ftrain. 
 
 8. Curfe 
 
 Ver. ^. ftainit'] in the margin, challenge it ^ ; as its property. 
 
 the blacknefs ' of the day'] Whatever can be imagined moft difmal to make a 
 clay terrible and abhorred; fuch as deffcruftive ftorms, lightnings, thundrings, 
 portents, &c. is, I conceive, comprehended in this phrafe. 
 
 Ver. 6. darknefs] It is a different word in the hebrew from darknefs in the 
 foreo-ointr verle. We tranflate it chap. x. 22. darknefs it felf It there denoteth 
 the utter exclufion of every particle of light. 
 
 let it not he joined unto] The marginal verfion, let it not rejoice among'', has 
 an equal claim, is more poetical, and raifes the anniverfary of his birth to the 
 the dio-nity of a public feftival: an honour from which he now wifheth it may 
 for ever be degraded. 
 
 Ver. 7. folitary, &c.] That is, let none aflemble, to converfe, or to rejoice, 
 in that night. The Arabs had their meetings for converfation in the night ' : 
 and among the eaftern nations, in general, the night was devoted to feftivity' : 
 It is fo ftill among the Moors in Barbary '. 
 
 But 
 
 ' AvT.wiiwa.To ai'r.r, Thcodot. Synimachus turns it by a ftill ftronger word, ayx'^^'-'^''"' 
 K-S.r,t let it reiieem It in right of confanguinity* 
 
 » t-\'i-\'23trijiitieg mnxima ; an augmentative noun fubft. from the verb "1,^3 in Syriac, 
 tnjlhfuit: as in.lD <^ "^''O' doudy, rainy day, from -i:iD. tojhiit uf>. In the Syriac Teftament, 
 Matt. xvi. 3. "'N^i'SD "'i/^'' •'> ^^^ tranflation of fLjra^i. loiuting. 
 
 " in* from nnn to rejoice. 
 
 ' Pococlc. i>i carm. Tcgr. p. 106. 
 
 ' Matt. XXV. I, &c. ' Shaw's rraveh, p. 203. 4to.
 
 Chap. Iir. TH E BOO K OF J OB. 13 
 
 8. Curfe ye that night in horror-moving rhime, 
 All yc, whofe proverbs execrate the time 
 When wretches, by difaftrous chance mifled, 
 Roufc fierce Leviathan from his oozy bed. 
 
 9. Starlefs and deep eclipfe its twilight be, 
 Still may it pine one gUmm'ring ray to fee: 
 
 But 
 
 But Mr. Heath, following the learned Schultens, tranOates this member of 
 the verle -, Lo^ that night may it be fruitlefs ', that is, Let there be no births in that 
 night : a lentiment full of horror, but withal fublime -, not too outrageous for 
 thefpeeches of one -who zuas defperate^ ; perfecftly anfwering the expedation raifed 
 by the fignal of attention, Lo, and correfponding well to the feftivity " men- 
 tioned in the latter claufe. 
 
 That night be childlefs; let no human birth 
 
 Break the fad filence with the voice of mirth. 
 Ver. 8. their mour>!ing] In the margin, leviathan. 
 
 Let them curfe it, that curfe the day 
 
 Ofthofe "joho jhall awake ' leviathan. 
 To fir up., or azvake. Leviathan'', is reprefented chap. xli. 8 — 10. to be in- 
 evitable deftruftion: It was natural to mention fuch a terrible cafualty, in the 
 ftrongeft terms of abhorrence; and to lament thofe who lb miferably periflied, 
 with moft bitter imprecations on the difaftrous day. Job here calleth for the 
 afliftance of fuch language, to execrate the fatal night of his nativity. 
 
 Ver. 9. Let tkefars, &c.] Either thofe whofe aid he had juft invoked, are 
 introduced uttering thefe execrations; as Schultens fuppofes : or Job himfelf 
 borroweth their ftyle and manner. 
 
 ' ga'.mud. It fignifies in Arabic, afmooth, Jlinty rock: and is ufed, metaphorically, of 
 flocks and camels which are become barren through age. Schultens, 
 
 f Ch. vi. 26. 
 
 •■ The Arabians celebrated the birth of their male children with feafts, dances, and fong?. 
 Pococke. Spec. Hiji. Jr. p. 160. 
 
 ' "i"l> Cn'iiy, a pcriphrafis of the future tenfe, in the Syriac idiom. Vid. Schaat's 
 Lex. Syr. p. 441. In profe, indeed, the prcpofition '71 is prefixed to the infinitive mood Ja. 
 tliis phrafe; but was omitted by our author, probably, for the fake of the metre. 
 
 '' Moft probably the Crocodile. See the notes on Chap. xli.
 
 H THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. IIL 
 
 But fee no glimm'ring ray, nor morn's fair eye, 
 Half-op'ning, twinkle on its fadden'd fky. 
 
 10. That guilty night fulfill'd my mother's throe, 
 And gave nic being but to give me woe. 
 
 1 1. Ah ! why not bury'd in the womb ? or why 
 Not favour'd, recent from the womb, to die ? 
 
 12. Why did tlie mid wife -knee the birth receive ? 
 Or the full pap its fatal nurture give ? 
 
 13. Elfe I had lain, at eafe, in fleep profound, 
 
 In peaceful chambers of the cavern'd ground, 
 
 And 
 
 Ver. 10. it flmt not up, &c.] Nothing could fliew the diftrafted ftate of his 
 mind more forcibly, than fuch a fentiment as this : His diftrels had overfet 
 reafon. 
 
 Ver. If, 12. Why., &c.] The pathos in thefe interrogations very much re- 
 fembles the diftrefs, which is dcfcribed in fo natural and moving a manner in 
 Oedipus 'Tyrannus : 
 
 Iw KiBaijjuv, &c. Ver. 1404, &c. 
 
 Ah ! why, Cithasron, did thy fhades receive 
 Me, or, receiving, not forthwith deftroy ? 
 That I had never in the walks of men 
 Appear'd •, the haplefs progeny of man. 
 O Polybus, O Corinth, &:c. 
 Ver. II. from the ivonib'] in the womb\ Jerem. xx, 17. Because h« Jle-w tne 
 not in the womb ; that iny mother might have been my grave, &c. 
 
 Ver. 13. For no-j) I Jhould have been Jiill, &c.] He feels himfelf miferable : 
 Is it ftrange, he fhould wifh to be out of niifery ? Can the cleareft hopes of fy- i 
 ture happinefs extinguifli thefe natural defires in the bed of men? Death ap- 
 peared to him his only deliverance : Is it ftrange that he fhould paffionately long 
 for that deliverance ? that he fliould fpeak of it with tranfport ? and dwell upon 
 the idea of this negative happinefs.'' 
 
 LAX. a xel^la.
 
 Chap. IIT. THE BOOK OF JOB: is 
 
 14. And fwectly reftcd; with a princely train, 1 
 Whofe burial manfions load the dcfert plain, ^ 
 
 15. Vain works of Kings ! and fill'd with wealth as vain! J 
 
 16. Or like th' a,bortive, I had ne'er begun ; 
 Or, not lefs happy, ne'er beheld the fun. 
 The ftill-born infant's lot had been my own, 
 A namclefs being, and a grave unknown. 
 
 17. O land defir'd! where tyrants fcourge no more, 
 Where chiefs repofe, and flatcfmens toils are o'er: 
 
 18. The captive's home, who, flumb'ring on his clod. 
 
 Hears not the cruel voice nor founding rod. 
 
 19. There 
 
 Verr 14, &c. With kings, &IC.'] This beautiful panegyric, on the grave, con- 
 tains a fine oblique latire on ambition and avarice. 
 
 counfellors of the earth\ This is but another appellation for a fovereign, or 
 fupreme magiftrate ; Ifaiah ix. 6. 
 
 defdate places] lepulchral Grottos"; fuch as thofe fuperb monuments of the 
 kings of Thebes ", which Bp. Pococke faw : Or the famous pyramids, fome 
 of which were, probably, older than the times of Job ° 
 
 who filled their houfes, &c.] their fepulchral manfions. If xiv. 18. All the 
 kings of the nations lie in glory, every one in his own houfe. The fepulchres of the 
 kings of Judah had great treafure depofited in them ^ ; 
 
 Ver. 16. as an hidden, &c.] This refers to the firft of the two wifties ver. 11. 
 why died I not in the womb ? 
 
 Ver. 17. the wicked] let it be obferved once for all, that the wicked and the 
 opprejfor are, in this book, terms of the fame import, chap. xv. 20. 
 
 Ver. 18. the cppreffoiir] the tajk mafler°'. The account given us of the treat- 
 ment of the chriflian flaves in Mequinez, is a lively comment on this paflage: 
 
 " Their 
 
 "" Praeledtiones, p. 87. n. 
 
 " They are cut in the rocky mountains, on the weft llJe of the Nile; over againft Car- 
 naclc, the ancient Thebes. Drfription efthe Eaft. vol. i. 97, 5ic. 
 " Greaves m the Pyramids, p. 41. 
 P V^Kidon's J cfephus. vol. i. 517. 
 5 Or driver, chap, x.xxix. 7.
 
 i6 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. HI. 
 
 19. There great and fmall are undiftinguifh'd mould, 
 And there the Have's among the free inroll'd. 
 
 20. Why o'er the wretched muft the day-flar roll, 
 Who naufeate Hfc in bitternefs of foul ? 
 
 21. Who wait the coming of the king of fears. 
 Who feek the ruthlefs dart his hand uprears. 
 Impatient feek ; as greedy mifers toil 
 
 For treafure bury'd in the rocky foil ? 
 
 22. And when the grave appears, with fparkling eyes 
 Spring and in rapture feize the blifsful prize. 
 
 23. Why 
 
 " Their rcfpciflive guardians, or tafl<-mafl:ers, deliver them over at night, as 
 " lb many flieep, to another ; who is appointed to take charge of all : who fe- 
 " cures them in one lioufe till next morning, and then they hear the doleful 
 *' echo oicome out to work" ' 
 
 Ver. 20. Wherefore., &c.] Thefe inquifitive expoftulations are the beginning 
 of that driving with his Maker, which increafes to great boldnefs in the progrefs 
 of the poem. 
 
 Ver. 21,22. Which long for death., &c.] The utmoft power of eloquence is 
 here exerted -, to give us an adequate idea of the diftrefs of the fpeaker: five dif- 
 ferent words, rifing one above the other in fignificancy', are employed; to 
 exprefs how welcome death would be to him. He even falls into a rapture at 
 the thought of a diffolution, which fills every human breaft with horror. The 
 image from avaricious men, in fearch of hidden treafi-ire, is aftonifhingly great. 
 
 ' Account of South-Weft Barbary. p. 1 1 j. 
 
 ' (') n3n» ^^ng for ; it dcnoteth the continuance of defire under delays of the defired 
 good. Hab. ii. -. 
 
 (2) *1£!n d'igfor; it fignifies eager perfevering a(Sivlty to obtain what we defire. 
 
 (3) n«ti' '*'■</«''■' ■■ this word importeth a pleafure that has no trouble mixed with it, 
 being a metaphor from a fmooth reed. 
 
 (4) ^7'*;, ^y, exprefling itfelf by leaping; or rather dancing in a ring, after the eaftern 
 mode. 
 
 (5; lI'^I'm, to he iu rapture : it is u fed for the \ ivacity and fparkling appearance of the 
 eye, caufed by an cxceflive flow of fpirits, in the war-horfe. ch. xxxix. 21. See the Com- 
 ment, of Schultens.
 
 Chap. III. THEBOOKOFJOB. i? 
 
 23. Why muft I breathe, who fee no gleam of light ; 
 Whom God environs with defpair's black night ? 
 
 24. My daily meal but deepens all my groans, 
 And like the burfting fluice I pour my moans. 
 
 25. Ah boding fears ! I fuffer'd what I fear'd ; 
 Soon as divin'd, the dreaded ill appear'd : 
 Still trembling, fuff 'ring, I'm allow'd to know 
 
 No eafe from terror, nor one paufe in woe. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Ver. 23. Whofe way is hid] by his way he means his prefent condition': which 
 he compares to that of a man, who is fhut up in a ftrong and dark prifon ' -, out 
 of which there is no poffibility of efcape. He could neither lee the reafon why 
 God had caft him into this deplorable fituation, nor any probability of his deli- 
 verance from it. 
 
 Ver. 24. before I eat"] It is in the hebrew, before" (in the prefence of) my meat. 
 The light of his food renewed his diftrefs ; becaufe it was the means of prolong- 
 ing'a miferable life : or becaufe, as Mr. Peters ingenioufly conjedures, it brought 
 to his remembrance thofe happy hours when his children were about him ". 
 
 Ver. 25, 26. For the thing which I greatly feared, &:c.] The expreffions are 
 much too ftrong to reprefent the ftate of his mind in his profperity : He was 
 under no apprehenfions of a calamitous change-, ^hen I faid, 1 fhall die in my 
 nejl '. But upon the fudden deftrudion of his fortunes and family, he prefagetl, 
 no doubt, fome evil to his perfon: when that thing which he feared, came upon 
 him " : his alarms, no queftion, were increafed : he dreaded fome new blow, 
 at this very time, it is likely, he apprehended an addition to his afflidions from 
 the unkindnefs of his friends. 
 
 Ver. 26. I was not, &c.] Mr. Heath's tranflation is, I think, morejuftto 
 the meaning of the facred poet : / have no more eafe, my tranquillity is clean gone, 
 neither have I any more reft : but terror cometh. 
 
 • Ifaiah xl. 2% t Lamentat. iii. 7, 9. 
 
 - ^i^h (Oram. Vid.Noldlum. 1 Chap, xxix. 5. 
 
 » Chap. xxix. 18. r Chap. ii. 7. 
 
 D
 
 i8 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. IV. 
 
 Chap. 
 IV. 
 I, 2. The Temanite reply'd : To fpcak our fenfe 
 
 Shall we prefume, and hazard the offence ? 
 
 But whom can filence hold, or doubt fufpend, 
 
 To truth unfaithful or difpleafe a friend ? 
 
 3, 4. Not fuch the ftrain, when grief attentive hung 
 On the wife lefTons of thy pow'rful tongue : 
 AfSidtion's palfy'd arm was ftrung by thee, 
 The tott'ring Hep confirm'd and feeble knee; 
 What numbers, in the confliA half fubdu'd, 
 Arouz'd to courage, ftiong in patience flood ! 
 5. Now touch'd thyfelf, and thine the fufF'ring part, 
 Maz'd and unmann'd thou faintefl with the fmart. 
 
 d. Should 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 The overthrow of Job, fo nearly refembling the judgements of God on fome 
 notorioufly wicked men, had raifed in the minds of his three friends a fufpicion 
 of his moral charafter : His intemperate complaint ftrengthened their fufpicion. 
 The following reply kindles a flame of controverfy, which fpreadeth through the 
 far greater portion of the poem. That part of the difpute, on the ways of God, 
 in which he and they are engaged ; is the means employed by the poet to work 
 up his difcontent to its higheft pitch : The other part, managed fingly by Elihu, 
 is contrived to remove the embarraflment, and to prepare liimfor lubmiffion. 
 Both parts carry on the dcfign of the poem ; which is firft to expofe, and then 
 to cure tliat difcontent. 
 
 This addrefs of Eliphaz has the appearance of friendfhip. But feveral flrokes, 
 and the tenor of the whole, too plainly Ihew, that he fuppofed the afflidions of 
 his friend to be punifliment of preceding guilt. 
 
 There is an air of majefty and authority in the eloquence of this fpeaker, 
 which, I think, clearly diftinguifheth his manner from that of Bildad and 
 Zophar.
 
 Chap. IV. THEBOOKOFJOB. 19 
 
 6. Should not thy piety, beneath the rod, 
 Infpire a noble confidence in God ? 
 
 And confcious virtue, by its glorious pow 'r, 
 Fill thee with profpedl of falvation's hour ? 
 
 7. A juft man perifli? innocence o'erthrown ? 
 Name the flrange inftance ; in what climate known ? 
 
 8. But finners thus, if I thefe eyes believe. 
 
 Fit harvefl: of the crimes they fow receive. 
 
 9. A 
 
 Ver. 6. Is not this, &c.] The original is a period divided into two members, 
 and may be tranflated thus ; 
 
 Should net thy piety ^ he thy confidence ' ? 
 And " the uprightness of t}:>y ways, thy hope ? 
 The words may be conftrued a friendly admonition to recoiled his religious 
 principles, and to fupport himfelf by the clearnefs of liis confcience. On the 
 other hand, they may import that no good man would fall into defpair under 
 affliftion, as he had done. There is an appearance of art in this ambiguity. 
 
 Ver. 7, 8. who ever perijhed, &c.] Thofe expreffions, alfo, may be underflood 
 as a confolatory argument ; to confirm the hope which confcious integrity fhould 
 infpire. " Good men are fometimes chaftiled feverely for their faults, but not 
 " deftroyed : calamities which end in defiruJIion, are the portion of the wicked 
 « only \ " On the other hand, his meaning might be ; " calamities like 
 <• yours being the lot of wicked men only, fome wicked nefs of yours muft needs 
 " have brought thefe calamities upon you. " here then we have another in- 
 ftance of artful ambiguity. 
 
 Ver. 8. They that plow*, &c.] This general proverbial maxim is applied in 
 particular to o/>/>r^rj ; in Prov. xxii. 8. He that foweth iniquity Jhall reap va- 
 njty (mifery ) and the rod of his anger Jhall fail. 
 
 * In the Hebrew, thy fear : which fignifies thtfearof God, or piety; chap. xv. 4. 
 
 " '^D^- 't is ufed for confidence in God, Pf. Ixxviii. 7. 
 
 i" The conftruftion in the original is embarrafleJ by the diflocation of the % and: place 
 it at the beginning of the fentence ; all then becomes clear. See a like diflocation of O/*^ 
 in Pfal.cxxviii. 2. 
 
 ' Prov. xxiv. 16. Pf. cxI. 11. 
 
 ^ Arr:? afap 9ay«Toir (xxapi^tTai, The plowed field of fin pToduccth death, iEfchylus, Septem. 
 c. Theb. V. 607, 
 
 D 2
 
 20 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. IV. 
 
 9. A furious ftorm, th' Almighty's angiy breath, 
 
 Riiih'd down, and fmote them with enormous death. 
 
 10. At once was ftill'd the rav'ning Hon's roar, 
 
 The fierce black lion's growl was heard no more: 
 One blow difarm'd the weaned lion's jaw, 
 
 1 1. The flrong flout lion mourn'd his familli'd maw, 
 
 And perifli'd : The mad lionefs was flain, 
 
 Her whelps were fcatter'd o'er the fandy plain. 
 
 12. But 
 
 Ver. 9. By the blo.ft^ &c.] DeflrucSlion, fudden, terrible, and vifibly from 
 God, is here reprefented by the image of a furioLis tempeft. 
 
 Ver. 10. The roaring, &c.] His own deferts furnifhed him with thefe apt em- 
 blems of oppreffion, in its various kinds and degrees of power and rapacity. 
 But wherefore does he fingle out this particular fpecies of wickednefs ; and re- 
 prefent the vengeance it had brought on fome great tyrannical families, well 
 known to himfelf ? Is not this more than an obfcure hint, that he fufpedted his 
 friend to have committed crimes of this fortj and to be now in imminent 
 danger of perifhing by them ? 
 
 the fierce lion] the black lion: fo Bochart trandates it, according to the import 
 of the hebrew word % Oppian tells us, he himfelf faw lions of this colour: and 
 Pliny aflures us, there were lions of this fort in Syria. 
 
 Ver. II. "The old lion] Thejlout lion. The name in the original' denoteth a 
 lion of extraordinary ftrength. It is the fame word that is ufed, Prov. xxx. 30. 
 A lion which is Jtrongejl among beajis. In one of the poems in the Arabian An- 
 thologia ^ it is ftyled a fierce lion : " We attacked them with the impetuofity of a 
 " /zo»'', even the fierce lion. " 
 
 The Jlout lion's whelps] The whelps of the lionefs K It is plainly the fime word 
 which Ezekicl employs chap. xix. 2. IVhat is thy mother? a lionefs^: — flje 
 noiirifbes her whelps, &c. 
 
 ' '^nti' for the Syriac "^ntr ^''''^^- Hieroz. p. i. 718. 
 
 •' Latjh. 
 
 s Publiftied by the learned Schultens, in his edition of Erpenlus' Arabic Grammar ; p. 321- 
 
 " Laijh. ' NOS 
 
 '' N"!!*?. The points which the Maforltes have affixed to it in that pafTage of Ezekid, 
 to make it the feminine gender, is contrary, as Bochart obferves, to grammatical analogy : 
 for if K'::'7 had a feminine form, it mud be, HNO*? J as {s"2J a prophet, r]ii^2^a prophettfu 
 JHeroz. p. i. 719.
 
 Chap. IV. THEBOOKOFJOB. 21 
 
 12. But hear the word divine, to me convey 'd, 
 Than pearls more precious, in the midnight Ihade; 
 
 1 3. Amidft th' emotions which from vifions rife, 
 When more than nature's fleep feals human eyes. 
 
 14. Fear feiz'd my foul, the hand of horror flrook 
 My fliudd'ring flefli and every member fliook. 
 
 15. For a flrong wind with rufliing fury pafs'd 
 So near, fo loud, blail whirling after blaft. 
 That my hair ftarted at each fliff 'ning pore, 
 
 16. And flood ered. At once the wild uproar 
 
 Was 
 
 Ver. 12 — t6.] This vifion, or fupernatural dream, is introduced with won- 
 derful folemnity : The darknefs of the night, the horror, the whirlwind, the 
 fudden ftillnefs, the burft of glory, and the awful voice are circumftances, which, 
 of themfelves, and by the order of their fucceffion, have a powerful effedt oa 
 the imagination of the reader. 
 
 Ver. 12. a thing\ In the hebrew, avoord, that is a divine revelation; Jer. 
 xviii.^18. The law Jhall not perijh from the prieji — mr the word from the prophets 
 
 a little thereof 1 precious inflru^ion ' from it. 
 
 Ver. 13. In thoughts from the vijions^ &c.] The original means fuch thoughts 
 as call the mind into aftonifhment "" •, produced by the awful circumftances ufu- 
 ally attending a divine vifion. 
 
 Ver. 15. afpirit] a wind; or, according to the Chaldee Interpreter, a whirl- 
 wind. Chap. XXX. 15. II Sam. xxii. 11. If. xxxii. 2. This word when ufed. 
 abfolutely as here, never means, that I can find, a. good angel ; nor yet a« evil 
 fpirity except in I Kings xxii. 21. II Chron. xviii. 20. 
 
 ' Shemcts. the LXX render it t^xtaia, extraordinary thirty. The learned Schultens hath 
 fliewn, that in Arabic it fi^nifies ajiring of pearls; and, metaphorically, a feries of injhuiiive 
 fenUncei. 
 
 " O'QV'w*- Aquila tranflates \x. ■sa-xt^^iya., ahalicnationti y a ftatc of mind wherein a mam 
 lofeth the poDTcIEon of iiimfelf. 
 
 3
 
 22 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. IV. 
 
 Was hufh'd j a Prefcnce burft upon my fight 
 (I faw no fliape) in majefty of light: 
 Voice follow'd, and celeftial accents broke, 
 Which in thefe terms their awful di(5lates fpoke: 
 
 17. " Is God arraign'd ? abfolv'd man's fmful duft ? 
 " Lefs pure his maker ? and his judge lefsjuft? 
 
 18. " Lo he difcerns, difcern'd by him alone, 
 
 " Spots in the fandlities around his throne: 
 
 " Nor 
 
 Ver. 16. It flood Jim, &c.] The tranflation I apprehend fhould be ; Onafud- 
 den a glorious appearance " prefented itfelf before mine eyes ; but I difcerned -not the 
 form thereof : that is, he could not perceive that the appearance had any deter- 
 minate fhape : it was, probably, a cloud of light. 
 
 Ver. 1 7. Shall mortal man, &c.] The important inftruftions conveyed in this 
 divine vifion are ; the abfolnte reftitude of God, the exceeding imperfection of 
 human virtue, and the impiety of arraigning the juflice of his moral govern- 
 ment. 
 
 morejujl, &c.] The manifeft defign of Eliphaz, in relating this vifion, was, 
 to fix a divine cenfure on the latter part of Job's fpeech ; and to warn him again ft 
 falling into fuch querulous language any more : fince all complaint fuppofech, 
 that the complainant thinks himfelf injured by the party of whom he com- 
 plaineth. 
 
 Ver, 18. He put no truji. Sec.'] One of the Greek interpreters turns it, there 
 is injiability ^ inhis fervants : his angelic minifters are not abfolutly perfeft. 
 
 he 
 
 " Temunah. The verb in Arabic fignifies, among other things, to reprefent, or aft as fub- 
 ftitute of» another ; Caftell. Lex. Heptag. The noun is ufed. Numb. xii. 8. for fome glo- 
 rious vifible reprefentation of God : we there render it, fimiUiude j but the Septuagint, ^o|<» 
 glory. Seealfo Pf. xvii. 15. 
 
 • '^■y;'! Jletit, fuddenly prefented ilfelf. Horace ufes Jletlt in the fame manner. 
 
 dexter ftetit Sat. ii. 3. v. 38. 
 
 Js I was about to jump into the rivers to drown myfdf, the philofopbcr Stertinius fuddtnly prefented 
 himfelf at my right hand. 
 
 » A!i£(!uurn'.t Symmachus.
 
 Chap. IV. THEBOOKOFJOB. 23 
 
 " Nor trufls his noble minillers of flame, 
 " To yield him fervice unalloy'd with blame. 
 
 19. " Yet, innocent of blame fliall man be found ? 
 " Tenants of clay and reptiles of the ground? 
 
 20. " Crufli'd like the moth, thefe beings of a day 
 " With unregarded wafle are fweptaway: 
 
 31. " Their honours perifli, and themfelves defcend 
 
 " Fools to the grave and thoughtlefs of their end. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 he chargeth, Src] in bis angels he obferveth "^failure ' ; Hew much more ' in them 
 that dwell in houfes of clay, &c. 
 
 Ver. 19. lefcre the moth'\ like^ a moth. They are as eafily criiflied, as that 
 feeble and contemptible infeft. 
 
 Ver. 20. From morning to evening'] They are cut off within the compafs of 
 one day : A morning and evening are the boundaries of human life. In the 
 firft ages of the world, as Mr. Pope obferves, there were no other diflindions of 
 time but by the light and darknefs ; and the whole day was included in the ge- 
 neral terms of the evening and morning, note on II. xi. 119. fee Gen. i. 5. 
 
 they psrijio for ever] they difappear ■■■ for ever from the world, 
 
 tvithout any regarding it] The deftrudlion of mankind by death is not minded,, 
 or regarded, by the reft of the creation. This is only a rhetorical way of re- 
 prefenting, how infignificant a creature man is ; compared with the higher or- 
 ders of beines. 
 
 ' yasirn, LXX. £^..'»:j£ he tioticeth. Our tranflators render it to regard, or notice, v. ;o. 
 
 ' nSnn- the LXX render it 5-*=?jii»Tiyji/nrt/;;«g-«;rOT^. Schultens proves from the Arabic, 
 that it denotethyZZ/i or failure. The expreflion is much too faint for the crime of the angels 
 who finned and fell from their firft eftate. Nothing more feems to be meant than the imper- 
 feftion of the moft exalted fpirits, in comparifon with the infinite perfection of the Deity. 
 
 * n;jii fue^.'.r, Symmachiis. quanta magis, Vulg. 
 
 ' \1D^ injiar. Vid. NoIJium, p. 533. 
 
 ° Abad. they are mifling, or loft. Deut. xxii. 3. which he hath Icfl and ihou.hajljhundt 
 Job. vi. 18. they (the brooks) go into air , and difappear.
 
 24 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. V. 
 
 Chap. 
 V. 
 Ver. I. Be, now, complainant, the defendant fee. 
 
 Which angel will efpoufe thy daring plea ? 
 
 2. Learn, learn that mifery is the niulcl of fin, 
 
 In mens own bofoms all their woes begin : 
 
 Revenge, or envy, hurries fools along, 
 
 Purfu'd by death, to cruelty and wrong. 
 
 3. Such 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Ver. I. Call, &c.] call now, verily^ there is one -who will anfwer thee. The 
 learned Schultens is the firft, if I miftake nor, who obferved, that call and 
 anfwer are here law-terms ; the former denoting the aftion of the complainant, 
 the other the part of the defendant, as in chap. ix. 16. xiii. 22. 
 
 Eliphaz confidered the complaints of his friend as an arraignment of provi- 
 dence. He now ironically bids him renew the charge, and referreth him to 
 the foregoing vifion for an anfwer. 
 
 to which of the faints, &c.] To which of the holy beings, &c. that is, the an- 
 crels ". Thofe exalted fpirits know themfelves to be fallible : which of them, 
 therefore, will countenance thee, injuftifying thy felf and complaining againft 
 God? 
 
 Ver. 2 — 7. For ztrath, &c.] He refiimes his pofition, that men reap what 
 they fow : their fufferings are the fruit of their own criminal paffions >'. He 
 produccth another example in fupport of this principle : and traceth up the 
 matter to its fource in a fixed law of providence, which hath ordained na- 
 tural evil to be the punifhment of moral. Obferve, by what cautious grada- 
 tions this fpeaker opens his uncharitable judgement of the cafe of his friend. 
 
 the foolifh man — the filly one] Thefe are terms, in fcripture, for impious and 
 wicked men"" marking them as perfons of a ftupid underflanding and feduced 
 
 by 
 
 " n verily. So this particle f:equcntly fignifies, as Schultens hath abundantly proved. 
 Vid. Comment. p.i.:4- 
 ' Q'itnp See Daniel iv. 17. t Prov. i. 31, 3:. 
 
 * Prov. i. 7, 32.
 
 CiiAp. V. THE BOOK OF JOB. 25 
 
 3. Such I have fecn vfiih rooted verdure tow'r, 
 I curs'd his beauty in its profp ring hour : 
 
 4. The curfe came Hidden, o'er his Eden fpread, 
 Crufh'd by the pubhc hand his children bled : 
 
 5. Hinifelf, a loaden fruit tree, fenc'd around 
 With pow'r's thick terrors in oppreflion's ground, 
 Was plunder'd: for the thievifli defcrt pour'd 
 
 Her famifli'd vagrants, and his wealth devour'd. 
 
 6. Think 
 
 by their corrupt paffions. The firll, fcolijh, is applied by the prophet Zachariah 
 to an oppreffive ruler, chap. xi. 15, 16. 
 
 wrath'— emy] Thefe palTions are fpecified, becaufe thefe are two principal 
 fources of injuftice and cruelty ". 
 
 Ver. 3. / curfed" his habitation] I marked it as devoted to deftrucflion. i.e 
 dcfcribeth the tragical ruin of this wicked man's tamily and fortunes in the fol- 
 lowine: fourth and fifth verfes. 
 
 Ver. 4. They are crufhed in the gate] The fenate-houfe, which was alfo the 
 court of judicature, was over or near the gate of the city ^ he glances, no 
 doubt, at the tragical end of Job's children : though, fomewhat to cover his 
 meaning, he fpcaks of being cut off by human juftice. 
 
 there is none to deliver] This phrafe denoteth a calamity which is inevitable : 
 it is particularly applied to the judgements of God "' \ and is equivalent to that 
 good old faying of Homer, 
 
 There is no efcaping fror,i God. 
 
 Ver. 5. Whofe harveft, &c.] He had compared the opprefllve man of power 
 to a tree, olive or palm, flrikiiig root, ver. 3. he now takes up the image again, 
 and extends it ; reprefenting the deftrudtion of his wealth, by the wild Arabs 
 
 pillaging 
 
 '' Gen, xxxvii. 11,2c, 28. I Sam xxii. 17 — 19. I Kings, xxi. Pf. cvi. 16 — 18. 
 ' ipj^ Ezra viii. 3o. All of thun were marked out by nam:. See alfo Amos vi. i. Mr. 
 Heath. 
 ^ Job xxix. ver. 7, he. xxxi. 21. Prov. xxii. 22. 
 ■^ Pf. vii. 2. I. 22. 
 
 E
 
 ;6 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. V. 
 
 6. Think not tliefe changes from the dufl; aiife, 
 Nor feek their origin below the ikies : 
 
 7. Man is to forrow born, if man offend, 
 As furcly as the fpiry flames afcend. 
 
 8. hiaead 
 
 pillaging this gur.rded tree of all its fruit, the harveft of a tree is its ripened 
 fruit \ he has his eye, I fuppofe, on the iiicurfions of the Sabeans and Chal- 
 deans related chap. i. 14 — 17. 
 
 the thorns'] the hedge of thorns reprefenteth tlie means of fecurity and de- 
 fence, with which power is armed. 
 
 The robber''] The thievifli inhabitants of the deferts : Thefe pilfering Arabs 
 not only robbed the hufbandman of his feed- corn, and made depredations on the 
 fields of ripe corn, but they likewife treated the fruit trees in the fame manner; 
 Gripping the vines, for inftance, of their grapes, when they are ripe. See an 
 ingenious book, intituled, Obfervations on divers pajfages of Scripture, &cc. 
 
 Ver. 6. Jit hough affii^ion, &c.] Verily affliilion, &c. Neither the affliftions 
 of human life in o-eneral, nor the fpecial calamities mentioned in the foregoing 
 verfe, fpring from chance, or meer human agency •, but from an eftablifhed rule 
 of the divine government ; as it follows in the 7th verfe. 
 
 Ver. 7. Tet man, &c.] For man, &c. The train of the difcourfe obliges us, 
 I think, to underftand his meaning to be ; that men are born under a law, 
 which fubjedls them to forrow as foon as they become tranfgrefTors. Bp. Patrick's 
 paraphrafe of this verfe is very concife and expnflive : " Who (God) hath 
 made it as natural to man to fuffer (having offended him) as it is for the fparks 
 to fly upward." 
 
 The fparks^] fee the note J below. 
 
 •■ Job xiv. 9. it will bud and bring forth an harveft (of boughs, leaves, and fruit) like a 
 young plant. Ti'D 's the bough of a fruit-tree laden with fruit. Pf. Ixxx. 9, 12. 
 
 f Q'^^y The Chaldee alfo renders it robbers. In Arabic, C^V '" the icth conj. is 
 opprejfusfiiit; th; verb □i'Di Signifies to lay hands upon a perjms whole jubjlance. Vid. 
 Calkll : Lex. Hept. 
 
 ' ^IJi?") 'jn In the other places of Scripture, where t];^,*"! occurs in the fenfeof^jY, it 
 denoteth //>*/«/«,?■.• \.\\e. r^:)'^ 1^2 *be children of lightning ^nyAi^, therefore, mt3T\ its fajhes. 
 bit here they arc faid to fy upward; which cannot agree to lightning, as iMr. Peters hath 
 ob.eived Moft probably, therefore, the word was applied to any other .l.'.me.
 
 Chap. V. THE BOOKOFJOB. 27 
 
 8. Inflead of murmur, with repenting tear 
 
 I'd leave my caufe in God's all-gracious ear : 
 
 9. Whofc a6ts are great, ftupendous, and renown'd, 
 Which no thought fathoms and no numbers bound : 
 
 10. Who, pouring on the fields his genial rain, 
 Turns a burnt defert into foodful plain : 
 
 11. Who lifts the lowly, from their duft, on high, 
 And changes into fong the mourner's figh. 
 
 42. But vail difturbance on the plots he flings 
 Of fhrewd ambition, and to nothing brings 
 
 13. Its deep-laid policy : He oft has caught 
 
 The wily in the wiles themfelves have wrought j 
 
 And 
 
 Ver. 8 — 16. I ivould feek unto God, &c.] Having proved, as he imagined, 
 that the fufFerings of his friend were thejuft punifhment of his guilt; he 
 now recommends to him fubmiflive application to God for deliverance. To 
 rouie him out of his defpair, and at the fame time fix the convidion that his 
 downfall was caufed by his fins, he fets before him, in one blended view, the 
 aftonifliing operations of divine providence ; 
 
 Ut redeat miferis, abeat fortuna fi.iperbis. Her. 
 
 To raife the ivretcbed, and pull down the proud. Rofconimon. 
 
 Ver. 10. IVho giveth rain, &c.] " In thofe hot climates the fpring is of fliort 
 duration : All fummer the earth is without rain : every thing is burnt up, and 
 the fields are turned into a delert. But when the autumnal rains fall, a few 
 plentiful fliov/ers produce a fudden refurrection of vegetable nature ; the paf- 
 tures are cloathed again with grafs, the trees are covered with green leaves, and 
 all things alTume a frefli and delightful afpecft \" Elipliaz here alludeth, I 
 imagine, to fuch a great and beautiful operation of providence ; as a fitting 
 emblem of its effcding a like wonderful tranfirion, from a condition of defpair- 
 ing afflidlion to a ftate of profperity and joy. 
 
 ^ Dr. RnfTeVs natural hi/lory of yfUppa. p. ix, 14. 
 
 E 2
 
 28 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap.V. 
 
 And winding craft, entangled unaware, 
 Is driven to ftark confufion and defpair • 
 J 4. They Humble in high noon, and feel their way 
 Through perplcx'd darknefs, in the blaze of day. 
 
 15. Thus innocence he faves from murd'rous wrong, 
 The weak thus refcues from the fierce and ftrong: 
 
 16. Thus hope to forrow comes ; and, dumb with fhame^ 
 Impiety no more blafphemes his name. 
 
 1 7. From Heav'n's rebuke what heav'nly blefllngs flow I 
 Happy who fcorn not the reforming blow : 
 
 18. O fcorn not thou; the fame kind wounding hand 
 Its balm infufes, and applies its band. 
 
 iQ. Then ills on ills about thy path may fwell ; 
 
 In vain ! his arm will every ill repel. 
 20. In famine fulnefs fliall thy table cheer. 
 
 And war, v/idewafling, fliake his harmlefs fpear. 
 
 2.1. Rages the tongue of flander? undifmay'd, 
 
 Walk thou in covert of Almighty fhade. 
 
 22. When 
 
 Ver. 16. ImquilyJioppeth,&cc.] Such examples of the juftice and goodnefs 
 of providence filence the objeftions of infidels, and the murmurs of all com- 
 plainants. 
 
 Ver. 1 7 — 26. Happy is the man, &c.] As a further motive to repentance, he 
 reprefents affli6tions as divine remedies •, and difplays the bleflings they procure 
 to thofe who are reformed. But the defcription is too high for the ufual courfe 
 of things : The fmgular care of providence over the Abrahamic family fecms 
 to be the original, from which this beautiful pidure of felicity was copied. 
 
 Ver. 2 1 . defiruifion '] ruin by calumny or falie accufation ; as appears from its 
 conneftion with the fcourge of the tongue. See Ezek. xlv. 9. 
 
 ' Sh6J.
 
 Ckap. V. THE BOOK OF JOB. 29 
 
 22. When bcafts of niifchief prowl, with fmile behold 
 Thy clull'nng vineyard and thy crowded fold. 
 
 23. Thy foot fhall be in covenant with the flonc, 
 And furious dragons thy dominion own. 
 
 24. Know further ; peace thy houfliold reign fliall blcfs. 
 And all thy councils crown thee with fuccefs. 
 
 aj". Know alfo, that thy long-extending race 
 Shall multiply as grafs before thy face : 
 
 26. And 
 
 Ver. 22. deJiruBion^] defolation, by the incurfions of lav/lcfs men and v.ild 
 bcafts. See Levi:, xxvi. 22. Jer. v. 6. Ezek. xiv. 15. Pf. Ixxx. 13. 
 
 famine '] extreme poverty, the effeft of the incurfions and depredations, 
 abovementioned. Accordingly it follows, neither Jhalt thou beajraid of the beajls 
 of the earth. Hof. ii. 12, 18. 
 
 Ver. 23. in league zvith thejiones. Sec.'] This fublime figure of fpeech may 
 import protedion in travelling. The fandals, which they wore, were a very 
 night guard to the feet, in the rough and flony ways of their mountains, 
 compare Pf. xci. 11,12. 
 
 the beafts of the field] In the foregoing verfe he afTures fecurity to his vineyards, 
 &c. from the depredations of noxious animals : here he engages for the lecurity 
 of his perfon ; particularly from the various kinds of ferpents, which infefted 
 the deferts of Arabia and rendered travelling dangerous. Deut. viii. 15. 
 Pf. xci. 13. Gen. iii. i. 
 
 Ver. 24. fhall not fin] fcallnot mifcarry "". The original word is a metaphor 
 from fkilful flingcrs, who never mifs the mark : Judges xx. 16. there ix;ere feven 
 hundred chef en men, left-handed; every one could fling ft ones at an hair- breadth and 
 not mifs ". 
 
 k Sod. 
 
 ' Caphan. c. xxx. 3. the word for famine v. 20 is 3^"^ which figiiifies a general dearth.. 
 Gen. xii. 10. 
 
 "" Kun> cij.:i;~xix. In the proverb cited from Ariftotle by Er.Tfinus (in his colleclion <-^. I i, 
 cent. b. prov. 36. 1 e^fiarTa)w is ufed in this fenfc, m «» tiYa? af^afru ; vjho can wfi ih( mark ? 
 See Merrick on Pfal. xxi. 3 ; ,
 
 3« THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. V, 
 
 26. And thou all hoary to the grave be born. 
 As to its heap the mellow'd ear of corn. 
 
 
 Thus fpcaks our fearching thought, inflruclion fure j 
 Apply, embrace it, and its good fecure. 
 
 Chap. 
 VI. 
 1,2. O for a balance pois'd with equal hand ! 
 
 Lay all my forrows there, 'gainft ocean's fand : 
 
 3. Light 
 
 Xer. 26. grave °] This is the term for the fepulchral grot in general j or elfe 
 for the cells, bored in the walls of the fepulchral rooms, in which the coffins 
 were put. 
 
 Ver. 26. 'Thou Jhalt come, &c.] An eafy death in a good old age, worthy 
 and refpefled character, and an honourable interment, are the ideas conveyed 
 in this rural compariibn. 
 
 Ver. 27. JVe have fearched it, &c.] They had, it feems, conferred together on 
 the cafe of their friend, agreed in their judgement of it, and concerted the plan of 
 their difcourfe to him. Job, accordingly, addrefleth his anfwer to them all. 
 
 CHAP. VL 
 
 Job little expected fo harfh a conftruftion of his complaint -, much lefs that 
 his innocence would be called in queftion, and his very afflictions turned, by his 
 molt intimate friends, into an evidence of his guilt. This was too much to bear. 
 His reply difcovers the various turns and emotions of his mind, on this try- 
 ing occafion : he apologizes, laments % defpifes ■>, wifheth vehemently for 
 death, protefts his innocence ', defpans ', upbraids ', and fooths ". He apolo- 
 gizes again, and laments again ". Then turning to God, He pleads with him % 
 complains loudly of him '', expoftulates with him, and makes fupplication 
 to him '^. 
 
 Ver. 2, 3. my griefs — and my calami ty'\ He means his affliftions, inclufive 
 
 cf 
 
 " ins. P Ver. I — 4. 1 Ver. 5—7. ' Ver. S— 10. 
 
 ' Ver. II — 13. ' Ver. 14—27. " Ver 28, 29. 
 
 "' Ver. 3^. and ch. vii. 1—6. * Ch. vii 7 — 10. y Ver. 11—16. 
 
 » Ver. 17—21. 
 
 " t!'!'!r- Bp Lowih renders it by calamitas, in his elevated tranflation of this paragraph. 
 Tfvrltii- p. 215. Svo. S
 
 Chap. VI. THEBOOKOFJOB, 31 
 
 3. Light is the fand whereon the billows roll. 
 When weigh'd with all the forrows of my foul. 
 Ah ! therefore, therefore, docs my boiling woe 
 In fuch a vehemence of words o'erflow. 
 
 4. I feel, I feel th' Almighty's venom'd dart, 
 
 His arrows fire my veins, and drink my heart : 
 'Gainfl me his terrors, fet in thick array, 
 War behind war, unbounded wrath difplay. 
 
 5. Brays- 
 
 of their diftrening impreffions on his mind : all thefe he would have to be put 
 together in one fcale, and weighed againft the fand on the fea-fhore in the other 
 fcale. This is only a poetical and pathetic manner of laying, his afflidiorrs 
 were infupportable •, a confideration which in equitable judgement would at 
 leaft excufe his intemperate complaint. 
 
 therefore my 'u.'ords are fwalloijoed up\ therefore my words are vehement *". Our 
 Author's term is a metaphor from boiling water that runs over; and denotes 
 exceflive lamentations ^ 
 
 Ver. 4. The arrows of thi Almighty — the poifon whereof] The excruciating 
 pains caufed by his inflammatory difeafe ', may be fpecially intended by thefe 
 ftrong expreffions •, but not exclufive of his other calamities '. We may ob- 
 ferve, that pcifoned arrows were ufed in war in thofe days. The metaphor in 
 this paflage is founded on fuch a cuftom. The Chaldee Paraphraft, on Pf. Ixiv. 
 4. alludes to this praftice : For what is in the hebrew Ca'n 1311 (they bend 
 their bow to fhoct their arrows) He renders. 
 
 They anoint their arrows with poifon. 
 The terrottrs of God, &c.] The thick fuccefTion of his pafl: calamities, and his 
 apprehenfion of many more fufierings ftill to come, feem to be painted in this 
 high colouring. 
 
 ^ VlS. I know of no warrant for our public veifion of this word. 
 
 ■^ Schuhens hath proved, from the Arabic, that this is the import of the worJ. See his 
 Ccmmeniary. 
 
 •■ Sec the note on chap. ii. 7. 
 
 ' Likeas an arrow which is jh::t of a mighty archer., rtturneth net lucKi'jard: evenf the plague: 
 that Jhal! be fint upon tarth pall not return again. II tfdras. xvi. 1', comp. ver 13, 14.
 
 52 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. VI. 
 
 5. Brays the full zebra ? or does nature call 
 The bccvc to bellow in his foddcr'd flail ? 
 
 6. Turns not the ftomach from th' unfav'iy cate ? 
 Can vapid froth a poignant guft create ? 
 
 7. My foul your cordials loaths; as tafte rebels 
 Againll the viand whofe corruption fmells. 
 
 8, 9. O that, indulgent to my earnefl: cry, 
 
 God would extend his thund'ring arm on high ; 
 
 Unpitiful 
 
 A'er. 5 — 7. Doth ibe wild afs. Sec] The ftyle here manifeftly changes : it falls 
 greatly below the elevation of the foregoing verfes : a clear proof to me, that 
 the poet now palTeth to another fiibjeft, not capable of fublimity. I think he 
 here laflies Eliphaz, for his harangue on the bleflings of patience ' ; he charac- 
 terifes the whole fpeech as infipid, and highly ofFenfive ; wanting truth, per- 
 tinence, and charity. 
 
 Or lozveth the ox, &c.] No wonder ycu complain not of the ways of provi- 
 dence, and have no feeling for me : You are in perfeft eafe : The very brute 
 animals do not complain, when they are fed to tlie full. This feems to be the 
 thought. 
 
 Ver. 6. in the white of an egg] Infipidnefs is plainly the idea intended, but 
 it is not eafy to fix the precife meaning of the hebrew words ; which, on the 
 authority of the Rabbis, are here rendered, the white of an egg^. 
 
 Ver. 7. 'The things, &c.] My fcul^ refufeth to touch : thefe things are like cor- 
 ruption' in my food. The expreffions in the firft claufe denote itrong abhor- 
 rence : the other claufe gives the reafon for it. by thefe things are meant, I 
 fuppofe, the things v/hich Eliphaz had offered for his conviction and confolation. 
 
 Ver. 8 — 10. O that, &c.] The ftyle rifeth again. Reflcflion on the un- 
 kindnefs of his friends makes him break out in a vehement wifli for immediate 
 death : his wifli is couched in terms of horrid grandeur. 
 
 f Cliap. V. 17, &c. 
 
 6 j*,T:!*^n T"' Schuitcns' interpretation is methinks too grok ; faliva fomnolentia, the 
 rhaitn which 1 uns out of the mouths of infants and old men infieep. 
 
 ^ »ty£)], my appetite, as in Prov. xxiii. 2. a man^ivento appetite, it'fJJ Sy2. 
 
 ' ly^. It fignlfies lUfafe in the human body, Pf. xli. 4. corruption is the difcafc of food. 
 Alfo, rm'-j in Deut. .\xviii. 6c, is ufeJ for difeafe.
 
 Chap. VI. THE B O O K O F JOB. 33 
 
 Unpitiful his flaming trident throw, 
 
 And driving through its mark the mortal blow, 
 
 10. At once deilroy me. In that horrid death, 
 Exulting hope lliall fpend my lateft breath : 
 For never, never hath my faithful breaft 
 The mandates of his holy will fuppreft. 
 
 11. What is my ftrength r what beckons me to flay 
 Still ling'ring here, and hope fome healing day r 
 
 12. Is my flefli fafliion'd of unfeeling brafs ? 
 My fincws flubborn as the marble mafs ? 
 
 13. In this weak wafted body, can I find 
 
 Recruit from one found vital left behind ? 
 
 14. A 
 
 Ver. 10. then Jhould I yet have comfort'] What comfort? not, fiirely, the 
 meer fatisfadtion of deliverance from his fufferings, and confounding calumny 
 by his behaviour in that dreadful death. No, but a triumphing hope of felicity 
 in a future ftate. The ground of his hope follows, even the clear teftimony 
 of his confcience : for I have not concealed, &c. 
 
 / would harden my felf] I would exult ^. 
 
 For I have not concealed, &c.] This is the firft timeof his juftifying himfelf, 
 in direct terms ; and he does it with modefty. 
 
 The great Meffiah prophet appealeth to God for his fidelity, in fimilar lan- 
 guage : Pf. xl. 10. I have r.ot concealed thy loving kindnefs and thy truth, from 
 the great congregation. Was not Job, alfo, a prophet to his countrymen and 
 fubjefts ? compare chap. xxix. 4. 
 
 Ver. II — 13. tVhat is, &c.] He falls from the heroic flrain, into the foft 
 and tender. His defpair of recovery is oppofed to the hopes which Eliphaz 
 had given him. 
 
 Ver. 13. Is not my help, &c.] Verily^ there is no help for me within me: and 
 
 vital 
 
 ^ JfalUdah.'L'K.X. r.>7wji„,, I woulJ leap. The word occurs no more. Schultens, guided by 
 the Ar:;bic, makes it a metaphor from a generous horfe; who ftrikes the ground with his 
 foot, when he is in high fpirits. See his Commentary. 
 
 ' DXn certe, omnino, SeeNoldius, p. 86, and Schultens' Comment, p 90, 124. 
 
 F
 
 34 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. VI. 
 
 1 4. A friend the forrow of his friend fliould feci, 
 ReUeve by pity, and by counfel heal : 
 
 Elfe, void of bowels, and too hard for tears, 
 No arbiter of human woes he fears. 
 
 15. My brethren fail me, like the floods which rop.r, 
 Down the fteep hills with temporary ftore : 
 
 16. Thick 
 
 vital Vigour " is driven out of me. he had no refource of hope, in any fymp- 
 toms of fome ftrength remaining in his wafted body. 
 
 Ver. 14, &c. To him, &c.] He proceeds to upbraid his three friends, with 
 having failed him in his time of greateft need. 
 
 The pubhc trandation of this 14th verle is, I think, juil to the original; 
 and yieldeth an excellent moral inftrudtion, very proper to introduce the reproof 
 that follows. 
 
 but he forfaketh, d>cc.'] He that does not fhew pity to his afflifted friend. 
 Hands not in awe of that Great Being, who, as Sophocles excellently fays. 
 Is the difpenfer both offmiks atid tears ". 
 
 Ver. 15 — 20. brooks'] or, torrents °. This fimile is exquifitely beautiful, 
 confidered as a defcription of a fcene of nature in the deferts of Arabia. But 
 its principal beauty lies, in the exa6l correlpondence of all its parts to the thing 
 it is intended to reprelent. The fulnefs, ftrength and nolle of thefe temporary 
 ftreams in winter, anfwers to the large profeffions made to him by thefe men in 
 his profperity : The drying up of the waters, at the approach of fumnier, re- 
 iembles the failure of their friendftiip in his afflidlion : and the confufion of the 
 thirfty caravans on finding the ftreams vaniibed, ftrongly illuftrates his feel- 
 ings ; difappointed as he was of the relief he expedted in thefe mens friendly 
 counfels. 
 
 "■ n'ti'irii ''''"' vigour, Mr. Heath, it fignifies, fays he, fubji/ientia, aliquid pcrmatunsi 
 femcwhat that is durable and operative, virtue in the fenfe of ability. 
 
 " Sophodis Ajax, ver. 383. 
 
 " The beds of thofc winter rivers are alfo called torrents : They are deep vallies between 
 high roclcs of granite marble. l]p. Pococke faw feveral of them perfeclly dry, in his journey 
 to mount Sinai in the month of April One, in particular, which he pafTcd through, is a 
 quaiter of a mile broad. Defcription of the Eajl vol. i. p. 139—142.
 
 Chap. \7. THEI300KOFJOB. 35 
 
 16. Thick with the vernal thaw their torrents grow, 
 And foam impetuous with diflblving fnow. 
 
 17. Anon, the fury of the fcorching beams 
 
 Drains their full channels, and imbibes their dreams : 
 
 18. Short and more fliort the flirinking currents run, 
 Steal into air, and periih in the fun. 
 
 ic). Parch'd Sheba looks, and Tema's thirily bands 
 
 Hope the cool waters in the dillant fands ; 
 
 CO. They 
 
 Ver. 16. Which are blackijh^ &c.] Thefe ftreams are firft formed by the 
 autumnal rains : The warmth and rains of the fpring^ melting the ice and Inow 
 on the mountains, increafe them : They then rufli down into the vallies, in a 
 large body of turbid water > and afTume the appearance of deep rivers. 
 
 Wherein the fnow is hid] The fnow rufheth -violently into them ^. 
 
 Ver. 17. they ivax warm] theyfoiv'^, like a tide. 
 
 Ver. 18. are turned ajide] arejhortefied'. They run lliorter and fhorter ; as 
 the fun continueth to beat on them, and their fupplies from the mountains fail. 
 
 ^hey go] they afcend : that is, they are exhaled. Pf. cxxxv. 7. he caufeth 
 the vapours to afcend. 
 
 into nothing'] into empty fpace, chap xxvi. 7. he ftretcheth out the north over the 
 tmpty place ; that is, the air. 
 
 Ver. 19. Tema — Sheba'] Thefe were the caravans, that went from Arabia 
 Felix with merchandile to Egypt : Their road lay through Arabia Petrasa, 
 
 Job's 
 
 p Q^V'j"!*. St. Jerom turns it, irruet ; which is the very fignification of the word in 
 Arabic, as Schultens hath fhown in his note on this verfe. 
 
 '' T!!""!'- It occurs no more. Its fignification both in Chaldee and Arabic is, fluere, dif- 
 jiuere, effluere. Michaelis renders it, from the Arabic, by the ftronger word lejluare. One 
 of its derivatives in that language fignifies acaiarait. Lowth's PraUcf. p. 151. n. 2. Mi- 
 chaelis in PreeUSl. p. 75. Caftell. Lex. Hept. 
 
 ' HD^- In Ruth iii. 8. it is ufed of a man's drawing up his legs in a fright, as he lay on 
 his bed. 
 
 = The troops of Tema were a caravan of Ifhmaelites : for Tema was a fon of Ilhmael. The 
 inhabitants of Mecca were Ifhmaelites. Shcba, the other caravan, were alfo inhabitants of 
 Arabia Felix. The Queen of Sheba was the queen of that country. 
 
 F 2
 
 35 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. VI. 
 
 20. They come ; they view, confounded at their trufl, 
 Where foam'd their floods, a fmoth'ring vale of dull. 
 
 2 1. Alike my trull in you; illufion all! 
 
 Friends while I Hood, but ftarting at my fall. 
 22, 23. Afk'd I or gift or ranfom? or implor'd 
 
 Your arm to fave me from the lifted fword ? 
 
 24. Candour is all I aflc j with candour taught, 
 I'm mute ; I never will defend a fault : 
 
 25. Whom flaould a jufl rebuke, well-tim'd, difpleafe ? 
 
 But what convi(5lion in harangues like thefe ? 
 
 26. Have 
 
 Job's country. The yearly caravan which goes from Grand Cairo to Mecca, 
 in Arabia Felix, pafleth the fame way. 
 
 Ver. 21 — 29. For now, &c.] Our great author was mafter of the various 
 forts of ftyle : He has already given us fpecimens of the fublime, the pathetic, 
 and the proverbial manner. His language now, to the end of this chapter, is 
 plain but nervous 5 familiar, but not low ; in no refpedl injurious to the ma- 
 jefty of his poem. 
 
 Ver. 22, 23. Bring unto me. Sec] He fpecifies thefe inftances, as the feverefl: 
 trial of friendfhip. The Arabian Poet profefleth his friendfhip in much th« 
 fame language : 
 
 J fought for you againfi your enemies : 
 I zvas bound for you, if you ivere in debt, 
 and redeemed you\ 
 
 Ver. 25. How forcible, &c.] Wherefore fhould right words be grievous"^ ? He 
 replies to the introduflion of Eliphaz' fpeech. If we effay to commune with thee, 
 wilt thou be grieved? Words here meanr^/rw/"; and right fignifies y r//? and fea- 
 fonable: for in thole two qualities the reftitude of reproof confifts. 
 
 what doth your arguing, &c.] What guilt does it convifl me of ? 
 
 ' Anthologla, p. 577. 
 
 " So our tranflator-s turn the verb nimrals, in I Kings ii. 8. a guevoin curfe : tliat is, exaf- 
 pcrating reproaches, compare II Sam. xvi. 7, 8. 
 
 " Prov. xxix. 19. Afrvaiit -ivill not l>( cerrec'fal l>y werds : that is, reproof?.
 
 Chap. VI. THEBOOKOFJOB. 57 
 
 s6. Have ye caball'd for this? and thou their chief? 
 
 At founds to quarrel, breath of hopclefs grief ? 
 87. Cruel ! you wound the fatherlefs ; you bend 
 
 The bow of fatire at your bleeding friend. 
 28, O come, vouchfafe to view mc; can you trace 
 
 Guilt's evident confufion in my face ? 
 2p. Review my plaint, nor call rebellion mine ; 
 
 Again review, its innocence will fhine: 
 30. Was fm upon my tongue ? yet moral fenfe 
 
 In me too dull to notice the offence ? 
 
 Chap. 
 VII. 
 Ver. I . What elfe but forrow is the time of man ; 
 
 A hireling's life his predetermin'd fpan ? 
 
 2. As 
 
 Ver. 27. Tou dig a pit for your friend^ T.ou fet upon your friend''. You wound 
 his reputation ; and endeavour to make him odious, by infmuating that he is 
 wicked. 
 
 Ver. ,^. he content ., &c.] be pleafed to look upon me; I ^!fo \ook you in the face ^: 
 atn I guilty''? Do you perceive any figns of guilt in my countenance? 
 
 CHAP VII. 
 Ver. I — 6. Is there not, &c.] Thefe verfes appear to me in clofe connection 
 with the laft verfe of the preceding chapter : He had there faid, ivas there ini- 
 quity in my tongue, &c. He could perceive nothing criminal in his wifhing for 
 death.. He now argues, that the common afflidions of life would juflify fuch 
 a wilh ; much more his infupportable mifery. 
 
 " n">3' In the fecond conjugation in Arabic it fignifies impttgnavit, to fet upon j alfo /• 
 render dtUjlable. Caftell. Lex. Hcpt. 
 
 ^ i*^^?• It fignifies ti b« guilty in Prov. xxx. 6, and a falfe mplter in Exod, xxiii. 7. is «•. 
 had caufe.
 
 38 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. VIU 
 
 2. As the tir'd fwaiii pants for umbrageous cvc, 
 To reft from labour and his hire receive ; 
 
 3. So I — but I am deftin'd to fuftain 
 
 Long months of woe, and tedious nights of pain : 
 
 4. Laid on my pillow, foon I wifla to rife; 
 
 when will midnight gloom forfake the fkies ? 
 
 1 tofs from fide to fide ; and toiling Hill 
 Morn eyes me, as flie climbs her eaftern hill ; 
 
 5. A mafs of putrefaction, fhrowded o'er 
 
 With ulc'rous wounds, and worms, and dirt, and gore. 
 
 6. My 
 
 Ver. r . a;: appointed time *] that is, an appointed time of afflidion '' : fo the ' 
 word fignifies in Dan. x. i. compare ver, 14. 
 
 Ver. 2. afervant — anhirelittg\ The two terms are to be joined, an hireling 
 fervant ; or labouring man. he reafons from analogy : reft and wages are the 
 juftifiable dcfire of the wearied labourer ; eafe and death equally fo of the mi- 
 ferable. The comparifon is carried no further, as the judicious Schultens hath 
 obferved. 
 
 Ver. ^. So — ] He was going to fay, So I pant for death : but recollefling that 
 the comparifon bore no proportion to his cafe, he breaks off abruptly; and ex- 
 patiates on Jiis own peculiar fufferings. So — but alas ! I atn made to inherit, 8cc. 
 
 Ver. 4. and the night be gone'] but the night, or rather the evenings is prolong- 
 ed'. Time feems to a perfon in pain and diftrefs to move very flowly. 
 
 Ver. 5. my flejh, &c.] fee the note on chap. ii. 7. What a tragical objeft 
 is here prefented to our view ! a living corpfe. Mr. Maundrell, in his de- 
 fcription of the ten lepers whom he faw at Sichem in the holy land, remarks j 
 
 « The 
 
 ' N2y. The vcib both in Syriac and Chaldec is vohiit ; and is ufcd of the will and ap- 
 pointment of God in Dan. iv. 17. Heb. 14, 
 
 '' The feptuagint verfion is, ■xnfn-rr.^w a trial, 
 
 ^ madad it fignifies in Arabic, exUndere, et aug^ere auul'ione continuata : " I fhouH not 
 have wiflied that my life fliould be prolonged," fays the Arabian poet Tograi. Pocock. 
 Ciir/ri. Togr, ver. 43.
 
 Chap. VII. T H E B O O K O F J O B. 3:9 
 
 6. My days, alas ! how rapid they have pafs'd ! 
 
 The threaded fliuttlc never flics fo fafl : 
 
 My 
 
 " Thewhole didcmper indeed, as it there appeared, was fo noifomc; that it might 
 well pals for the utmoft corruption of the human body on this fide the grave." 
 
 with worms J] Whether the elephant iafis. Job's difeafe, is attended with this 
 dreadful fymptom •, I muft leave to the determination of the faculty. The 
 diftemper with which Antiochus Epiphanes was fmitten feems parallel, in feveral 
 particulars, to that of Job : " A pain of the bowels, that was remedilefs, came 
 upon him, and fore torments of the inner parts : So that the worms rofe up out 
 of the body of this wicked man, and while he lived in forrow and pain, his flefti 
 fell away, and the filthinefs of his fmcll was noifome to all his army*." 
 
 clods of dufti or dirt, for want of bathing ; which is fo neceflary, and fo much 
 praftifed, in the eaft, to keep the body clean. There is, however, no autho- 
 rity, but that of the Talmud and fome Rabbis, for rendering the hebrew word 
 clods : perhaps the verfion fliould have been, the ■putrefaction^ of the grave^. 
 
 become loathfom ''] is putrefied, viz. by his ulcers. 
 
 Ver. 6. a weaver's flout tie'"] He compares his life to a web : the davs which 
 compofed it, are the threads : the work is God's ; who determines the mea- 
 fure of every man's life, retrofpecftion on time, that is pafled away, makes it 
 appear, to a man in mifery, very fwift ; and pafl: happinefs as nothing, his 
 days feemed now to him, to have gone oft" taller than a manufacture of the 
 loom. 
 
 they arefpent without hope} they are confutned without a thread ; or far want of^ 
 
 a thread ; 
 
 *' rimmah, propQ.x\y corruption breeding vj'nns. E.xod. \vi. :o. 
 
 " II Maccabees ix. j, 9. Coinpare Job xix. 17, 20. xxx. 17, 18, 27. 
 
 ' tl"Jl or t IJ- The verb in Arabic fignifies, ehullivit; ehuHitio would, I think, well ex- 
 prefs the fermentation of a body that is corrupting in the grave. Vid. Anthologia, p. 36J. 
 ver. 3. See alfo Caftle's criticifm on this word, in his Lex. Hept. 
 
 s The duft is ufed for the grave ver. 2 1 . of this feventh chapter, and ch. xxi. 26. They Jhall 
 lie down alike in t/:e duft, and the -warms jliall cover iliem- See alfo ch. xvii. 16. 
 
 ^ DN^']/«'. niph. a Dh}*2; which, in the 5th conjug. is ufed, in the Arabic Pfalter, of 
 the putrefa£lion caufed by ulcerous fores, Pf. xxxvii. 5. lS'.w» 'n Arabic, is rendered by 
 Golius dilatatum fuit vulnus. 
 
 ' J"1X' St. Jerom renders it by tela, a web ; my days are pnjjid away fuiifter quam a texente 
 ielafucciditur, than a iveb is cut off the loom by the weaver. 
 
 " D3K3 through failure, 01 want of, Prov. xiv. 2S. Through want ef people is the dejlruc- 
 tion of a prince, 6
 
 40 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. VH. 
 
 My web is finifh'd. No remaining clew 
 (Such hope were folly) iliall the work renew. 
 
 7. O think, my life is but a breath : its good 
 A flitting vilion not to be review'd: 
 
 8. Shewn to the world ; ere men can look me round, 
 Thy glance but llrikes me and I am not found. 
 
 9. A 
 
 n thread ' ; to carry on the work, or to begin a new web. he means, there was 
 no hope of the continuance of his life (though Eliphaz had flattered him with 
 fuch a hope) any more than that he flrould live his days over again. 
 
 Ver. 7 — 21. O remember, &c.] Defpairing to make impreffion on the hard 
 hearts of his three friends, he turnech to God ; with whom he pleadcth for a 
 mitigation of his fufferings. His firft plea is the exceeding Ihortnefs of life : 
 which he exprefleth in a very ftrong and beautiful manner, in this and the fol- 
 lowino- verfe. Such a brief exiftence ought not, furely, to be made fo wretched. 
 
 'wind'] :compare Pf. Ixxviii. 39. and Ixxxix. 46, 47 ", 
 
 Jhall no more fee good] In the original, mine eyes JJjall not return to fee good. Life 
 is fo fliort, that it fcarce allows time to take a fecond look at the few enjoy- 
 ments in it. The thought is fomewhat fimilar to that of our own great Poet, 
 — fince life can little more fupply. 
 Than juft to look about us and to die. Effay on Man. 
 
 Ver. 8. flmll fee me no more] The hebrew is, fhall not gaxe" upon, or contemp- 
 late me. My Hay in the world is too fhort for men to look me over. 
 
 "Thine e^es, &c.] He means not a meer look of obfervation, but an effedbive 
 look : The effeft is, I am not in the land of the living. What a fublime idea 
 does the Pfalmift give us of fuch a look Pf. civ. 32. He looketh on the earth, and 
 
 it 
 
 ' plTi- Schultens remarks that it fignifies a <:«r^, in Jof. ii. 18. I may add, that the 
 verb in Arabic imports, io iwijl a cord ivith divers threads; and that the derivative noun 
 n\Qzn% a thread: alfo, in the Targum on Ifaiah lix. 5, 6. f"lT are the threads in a fpider's 
 web. 
 
 " nn It might have been tranflated a ^r^a//^, as in chap. ix. iS. He will not fuffer me la 
 lakemyireath. Alfochap. xix. 17. 
 
 " "lily is to look attentively on a thing, chap, xxxvi. 2\. Remember that thou magnifie bis 
 wirk, which men behold (gaze upon) See Jer. v. 26. Hof. xiii. 7, in the original.
 
 Chap. Vn. THE BOO K O F JO B. 41 
 
 9. A mornlng-mift, foon vanifli'd out of fight, 
 Is man, defcending to the world of night 
 
 10. Ne'er to return: his houfe no more will own 
 The voice forgotten and the ftep, unknown. 
 
 11. O tort'ring thought ! I will not now control 
 Th' intolerable anguifh of my foul : 
 
 Give, give, my tongue, th' unruly paflion vent, 
 In bitternefs of heart I will lament. 
 
 12. Am I a flood, or furious beaft, whofe rage 
 Thy mounds muft humble, and thy terrors cage ? 
 
 13. Ah! 
 
 // tremhleth. Whofe look (fays the Apocryphal Efdras) drieth up the depths^ and 
 indignation maketh the mountains to melt away°. 
 
 Ver. 9, 10. As the cloud, &c.] Man gone into the invifible world, never to 
 return hither, is the fubjedl of the comparifon : The thing, to which he is in 
 this regard compared, is a cloud that is vaniflied : unfubftantial in its compofi- 
 tion, tranfient in its duration, it difappears, and is never more feen. He al- 
 ledges this as another reafon, why his exiftence here Ihould not be made mi- 
 ferable. 
 
 to the grave] Sbeoly the world of death, or the invifible world : See the Appen- 
 dix to thefe notes Numb. II. 
 
 He Jhall return, &c.] This fentiment, and the affecting manner of exprefTing 
 it, fpreads a folemn fadnefs over the mind of every thinking reader. 
 
 Ver. II — 16. 'Therefore, &c.] The foregoing refleftions cafl: him- into an a- 
 gony of impatience : he lofeth all felf command -, and refolves to give his tongue 
 full liberty to expoftulate with his maker on this ulage of him. Thus his ftriv- 
 ♦ng with God gradually increafeth. 
 
 Ver. 12. Amiafea or a whals, &c.] He complains, that God treated him 
 
 as 
 
 B. ii. chap. viii. 23. 
 
 G
 
 4J THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. VH. 
 
 13. Ah! whcnfoe'er my aking eyes I clofe, '. /^ 
 And hope the anodyne of fweet repofe ; 
 
 14. Dream, on thy errand fent, dire forms uprears, 
 And fliakes my foul with vifionary fears : 
 
 15, Death, 
 
 as though he were fome furious tyrant ; whom the mofl fevere inflidions mud 
 reftrain from breaking the bounds of juftice, and fpreadjng deftruftion among 
 mankind. 
 
 a fea] The hebrews called any large body of water afea ''. Their propheti- 
 cal writers gave this appellation to the river Nile "^ -, fo did the Arabians '. The 
 learned Michaelis ' thinks that by the fea here Job meant the Nile ; which though 
 it be the caufe of Egypt's fertility, by its overflowing the lands, yet when it riies 
 beyond a certain height becomes an inundation ' : It then does great damage, 
 by carrying away large portions of tiie banks, deftroying fometimes towns 
 and villages near to it " ; and by not retiring at the proper time for fowing the 
 corn "■, threatens a famine. 
 
 a whale'] rather, perhaps, a crocodile. Tlie author's word is tannin. It mud 
 mean here fome terrible animal, which but for the watchful care of divine pro- 
 vidence would be very deftruftive. Our trandators render it the dragon in Ilaiali 
 xxvii. 1. where the prophet gives this name to the king of Egypt: he Jhall 
 flay the dragon, that is in the fea. 'The fea there is the river Nile, and the dragon 
 (tannin) is, 1 Ihould think, the crocodile. Compare Ezek. xxxii. 2. 
 
 Ver. 14. thou fcarefi me with dreams'] Thefe terrifying dreams were the ef- 
 fects of his inflammatory difeafe ". If I remember right, the account of the 
 (juardaloupe lepers, publiflied fome years ago, mentions this fymptom as one 
 
 circumflancc of rlieir fufi^crings. 
 
 ^ The dead fea, the fea of Tiberias, &c. which are only great lakes. 
 
 1 Ifaiah xxvii. 1. Ez^k. xxxii. 2. 
 
 ' Tlic Nile is named afra, fays Michaelis, in the Koran, Sun. vii. 12. xx. 59. xxviii. 6. 
 
 » Not. in PrakSf. p. 1&3. 
 
 ' Pocock. Dcferiptiou of the Eajl, vol. i. p. zoo.. 
 
 - VanfleU'u Prefcnt Suite of Egypt, p. 36.. 
 
 ■^^ Pocock. ubi fttpr. 
 
 ^ See the noie on chsp. ii. 7.
 
 Chap. VII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 43 
 
 15. Death, even by the flrangling cord, were blifs 
 To breatliing in a ilceleton like this. 
 
 16. Behold my putrid frame ; it was not caft 
 
 A fubftance through whole centuries to lall. : 
 O flay thy hand, a dying mortal fpare ; 
 The bubble life will quickly burft in air. 
 
 17. What is this mortal ? that thy lofty thought 
 Bellows fuch honour on a thing of nought, 
 
 18. As to purfue him with a jealous eye, 
 Vifit each morning, and each moment try .' 
 
 19. How long ere thou refrain? awhile refrain. 
 And yield me a fhort breathing paufe from pain. 
 
 20. That 
 
 Ver. 15. my life\ In the margin my hones. His fever, his pain, his afiright- 
 Ing dreams, and the anguifli of his mind had wafted him to a ikeleton. ke 
 chap. xix. 20. and xxx. 17, 30. 
 
 Ver. 1 6. / loath it, &c.] / am putrifying'', IJhall no! live always ; for my days 
 are a vapour^, he reprelents himfelf as a dying man : and urges this confider- 
 ation as another plea for the removal, at leaft the mitigation of his pains : there 
 was no need of thefe tortures to difpatch him. 
 
 Ver. 17, 18. What is man, &c.] Here he alledgeth, that it is doing too 
 much honour to man ; for fo great a Being to employ lb much time, and 
 thought, and power, in animadverting on his failures. A perlbn in diftrcfs 
 catches at every fhadow of an argument, to move compalTion. 
 
 ' DN!D> it 'S the fame word which in ver. 5. is turned, to become loathfome. hathjomenefi 
 is the fL-condary idea : the priinary one is, the Avelling and hurfting of the (km by a 'ore 
 when it fuppurates. Vid. Schultens' Orig. Heh. v. i. 312. .iniSComnunt. in Job p. 19;. col. 2- 
 
 ^ b.D^j In ^omt Greek vetfions, bt^i-.?. In the Targum on Pf. xc. 9. it is ufed for the 
 Ireath of the mouth : and it ought to have betn rendc.cd a va'.'Cur in Pro. . xxi. i^. The get' 
 ting of treofurei by a lying tongue, is a vapour fij] d to and fro of thun that feck drath. 
 
 G 2
 
 44 THE BOOK OF JOB, Chap. VII.. 
 
 20. That I have finn'd, all- watching Pow'r, I own i 
 But can my fins alarm th' eternal throne ? 
 Why am I made the obje6t to employ 
 
 Thy fliafts ? the nuifance, which thou mufl dellroy J 
 
 2 1 . Why, rather, will not gentle mercy plead, 
 Cancel my trefpafs, and my healing fpeed ? 
 Left when the morrow's dawning beams appear, 
 Thy mercy feek me and I am not here. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Ver. 20. I have Jtnned, &c.] He acknowledgeth himfelf a finner : /jr w,&^/ 
 ntan liveih, andfwneth not ? But can human infirmities affeft the fafety or re- 
 pofe of God ? 'This is his argument, which none but a diftraded man will think 
 valid. 
 
 ixihat Jhall I do tmto thee\ what can I do againji thee*? Mr. Heath turns it, 
 •what injury can I da to thee ? 
 
 O thou preferver of mejt] rather, O thou obferver^ of men. The charafter of 
 God as the preferver of men hath no propriety here ; where he is reprefented a» 
 an avenger of fin. 
 
 a burden to m-y felf\ This tranflation follows the printed hebrew text. But 
 the reading feems to have been originally, a burden to thee " ; which correfponds 
 better witli the foregoing claufe, lahy haji thou fet me as a mark againji thee? 
 For the fentiment appears to be j. " I am indeed guilty of failures, infcparable 
 from imperfeftion : But what crime have I committed ; that I am become fo 
 oftenfive to thee, as to be fingled out for a peculiar objeft of thy difpleafure?" 
 
 Ver. 2 1 . 'u)hy dojl thou not pardon, &c.] This is his concluding plea : it is a 
 pathetic addrcfs to the divine mercy. 
 
 '' l'? chap. viii. If ihy children have finned againji him ("]7) Olympiodorus remarks 
 rhat the hebrew is, n o-s &-Ka.-\a what injury have I done thee? 
 
 ^ " i'J- LXX. (ir.ra|tis»o? to» iuk run aiSpiWuf that knoxueji the mind of man. The word fig- 
 nifies in the Ethiopic language, iniuitus eft diligenter. 
 
 ' "I bj;, fa it was in the copy which the Septuagint tranflated from, m-t o-m ^sfTion a burden 
 vpoH thee. 7
 
 THE BOOK OF J03; ¥{! 
 
 Chap. 
 VIII. 
 J, 2. Then Bildad his opinion fpoke : How long, 
 
 How far, will rage this tempeft of thy tongue ? 
 
 3. Can the Great Source of juftice and of pow'r, 
 Who darts the lightning, and beftows the £how'r> 
 Perverfe his evil and his good apply. 
 
 And blefs and punifh by a rule awry? 
 
 4. What if thy children, daring to rebell, 
 
 Juft vidims of their own tranfgreffion fell ; 
 
 5. Wouldfl 
 CHAP. VIIL 
 
 Ver. t. Then anfwered Bildad, iccJ] Stung by Job's reproaches, but unmoved 
 by his diftrefs, and regardlefs of his proteftations, this refpondent calls the whole 
 a ftorm of palTion. With this fpirit he enters upon his anfwer : wherein he fup- 
 ports the principle of Eliphaz ; that all flifFerings are punifhments, and necef- 
 farily imply preceding guilt. He advances, in defence of that pofition, two- 
 arguments : the firft is taken from the juftice of God'', the other from the fen- 
 timents of the ancient fages '. Thefe are the outlines of his fhort difcourfe, 
 which he fills up with amplification '. 
 
 It is hard to fay,, what peculiarity diftinguifheth this orator, and marks the 
 habit of his mind. Had he fpoken no more, I fhould have fet him down for 
 a blunt man of a middle rate genius : But it muft be owned, that his fecond 
 fpeech ^ is full of fire. However, we may venture to affirm ■, that he has nei- 
 ther the dignity of Eliphaz, nor yet the violence of Zophar. 
 
 Ver. 3. Doth Cod pervert, &c.1 Thefe men had no conception, that, in the 
 government of an infinitely wife Being, fufixrings might be made to anfwer 
 many other valuable purpofes befides thofe of juftice : and therefore, that God 
 might, without repugnance even to his goodnefs, lay heavy inflictions on a man 
 of undiffembled piety. But they were to learn this truth from the ifluc of the 
 prefent affair : and to teach us this leiron, was, I apprehend, one fubordinate 
 liefign of the hijiory of Job, 
 
 Ver. 4. If thy child) en, &c.J lie inftances that tragical event as an example 
 
 "* r " 
 
 " Ver. 3. ' Ver. 8— 13. ' Ver. 4— 7. and ver. J4— iJ. 
 
 ^ Chap, xviii.
 
 v. THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap.VIIL 
 
 5. Wouklfl: thou, betimes, with fervency fincere, 
 In humble ftyle, befeech his fav'ring ear, 
 
 6. His ear would liften, and his arm, for thee 
 If pure, foon roufe its faving energy: 
 
 A fplendor round thy virtue he will caft, 
 
 7. Twilight at firft, but blazing noon at lafl. 
 
 8. What fpeak our fathers ? Go, I pray, inquire ; 
 Search hoary wifdom, up from fire to fire : 
 
 9. For we the birth of yefterday, and gone ^ 
 Like iliades projedled by the finking fun, 
 
 10. Know nothing. Will not their experience teach ? 
 Their parables the faith of ages preach ? 
 
 II. " Can 
 
 of divine juftice. If there be any thing charadteriftical of the manners in the pre- 
 fent fpeecli, it mull be this paflage : Eliphaz had but gently touched that ten- 
 der point, in a covered hint \ But this man, in violation of all civihty and de- 
 corum, mentions it bluntly in the moft open terms. He has the grace, how- 
 ever, to qualify the cruel refleftion, by putting it in the form of a luppofition, 
 Jf,&cc. 
 
 Ver. 5. If thou -juouldcjl feek, &c.] He thinks to foften the foregoing uncha- 
 ritable infmuation, by giving the affli;ied father hope of his own reilpration : 
 but on what condition ? on the condition of his fincere repentance and humilia- 
 tion. The very condition was an infult; for it luppoieth him to have continued 
 hitherto a contumacious finner. 
 
 Ver. 6. the habitation of thy right eoiifmfs\ Thy reformed family, compare 
 chap. xi. 14, 15. 
 
 Ver. I o. Shall they not teach thee, Sec] The fayings of wife men are refpeft- 
 able. But their maxims have no authority beyond the arguments which fupport 
 them, in a matter of fpeculation •, or beyond thefattson which they are grounded, 
 in a matter of experience'. 
 
 "^ Chap. V. 4.
 
 .<:hap.viii. the book of job. 47 
 
 11. " Can the fedge flourifli, or the paper-reed, 
 " When Nile forgets to overflow his mead ? 
 
 12. 'V Ere the fcythe enter, fee their verdure fall 
 ". Before all herbage, the contempt of all. 
 
 13. " So the ungodly perifh : change, like this, 
 
 " Shall blall the profligate's deceiving blifs." 
 
 14. Deceiving 
 
 Ver. 1 1. The rujh^r-tbe flag] The flag, or fedge'\ is, I apprehend, die long grafs 
 in the naeadows of the Nile : Tbe rujb ^ probably, means the famous papyrus^ 
 ibe paper reed ; which formerly' grew in thofe meadows. Thefe marfh vege- 
 tables required a great deal of water: when therefore the Nile rofe not high enough 
 for its ufual overflow, they perifhed fooner than any other plants. What a juft 
 image of cranfient profperity is this ! 
 
 can the rtifo groiv, &c.] We are entertained here with a fpecimenof the manner 
 of conveying moral inftruftions, in the oldeft times of the world. They couch- 
 ed their obfervations in pithy fentences, or wrapped them in concile fimilitudes ; 
 and. call them into metre to fix them in the memory. Bp. Lowth mentions the 
 words of Lamech to his two wives "" as the oldeft example of this kind on re- 
 cord. 
 
 Ver. 13. So are the paths of all, &c.] This is the moral, or application of the 
 comparilon. It belongs to thofe only, whofe impiety and vices are notorious 
 to all the world. Bildad, therefore, abufeth this faying of the wife, in apply- 
 ing it to Job ; whofe life was irreproachable. 
 
 the hypocrite's'] the prcfligate man's ; fo Mr. Heath turns it. I cannot find that 
 the hebrew word ever fignifies a hypocrite. It is here coupled \w\i\\ forge tfulnefs 
 of God, which is a fcriptural phraie for impiety ". it means evidently an oppref- 
 five ruler, in chap, xxxiv. 30. a profane f coffer, in Pf. xxxv. \b. And our 
 tranflators render the abftraft fubftancive° hj profaner.efs, in Jer. xxiii. 15. 
 where it imports a contempt of the divine threatnings, and confidence in com- 
 mitting the moft immoral aflions. 
 
 • ' >n»<' If '* wrongly franflated nuadovj in Gen. xli. :, 18. 
 
 * ^,^J. LXX. VUTVf!.:. 
 
 ' Dr. Shaw informs us, that there is fcarce any of it now to be found in the country j thft 
 inhabitants having continually rooted it up for fuel. Traveh p. 406. 4to. 
 » PraleSt. p. 53. 8vo. ° Pf- x. 4. L. a.
 
 48 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. VIII. 
 
 14. Deceiving blifs ! in bitter fhame it ends ; 
 His prop a cobweb, which an infeft rends : 
 
 15. Vain are his labours, and his leagues are vain, 
 Nor leagues nor labours fhall his houfe fuflain. 
 
 l6y 17, To vulgar eyes a vigorous plant he feems, 
 
 Which throws out fuckers by the garden flreams. 
 
 Verdant and gay, before the beam, awhile ; 
 
 But the roots twine within a flony foil : 
 
 18. The beam foon fwallows it : and, loft from earth. 
 
 The parent foil denies th' inglorious birth; 
 
 19. Behold 
 
 Ver. 14. TFhofe hope, &IC.'] The proverbial citation ended with the foregoing 
 verfe. Here begins his comment upon it, which he continues to the end of the 
 19th verfe. He enlargeth firft, in this and the next verfe, on the vain hopes of 
 tliefe wicked men to perpetuate their greatnefs by powerful alliancesj, or by any 
 other means whatfoever. 
 
 Ver. 16 — 19. He is green, &c.] He expatiates on their profperity and over- 
 throw. The metaphors are taken from a garden plant, perhaps a vine ; which 
 he fubftitures in tlie place of the marjh plants, the better to reprefent the fplen- 
 dour of this wicked man's fortunes and his fatal cataftrophe. 
 
 Ver. 17. about the heap'] about a fpring ? ; fo our tranflators turn it in Can- 
 ticles iv. 12, ajpringjhut up. 
 
 the place of Jlones'] In the original, the houfe offiones ; which is a hebrew idiom 
 for ftony ground ^ Seeing the place offiones is an animated phrafe for growing 
 in a ftony foil, as Buxtorf explains it '■ 
 
 Ver. 18. If he iejtroy him, &c.] Mr. Heath juftly refers this adtion to the 
 fun, mentioned ver. 16. The plant endureth the fun, fo long as the fpring, 
 
 that 
 
 p gal. It fignifies in the Syriac a wave. Vid. Syriac Teft. James i. 6. Jude ver. 13, 
 nbj gtdlah is z fpring. Jofll. xv. 19. 
 ■5 Thus the houfe of thorns, in the Syriac Teft. Matt. xiii. 22, is thorny greund, 
 ' Lex. Chaid. Talm. vid. ;'jr. 
 ' CN wlun; So our tranflators render it chap. vii. 4. xvii. 16.
 
 Chap. VIII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 4? 
 
 15). Behold his fatal period. In his room, 
 
 On the fame fpot a foreign plant fliall bloom. 
 
 20. Lo, God, impartial in his frown and fmile. 
 Nor hates the worthy nor befriends the vile: 
 
 21. Nor thee will leave, till laughter in thy eyes 
 Shall fparkle, and the hymn triumphant rife ; 
 
 22. While on thy foes he pours eternal fliame, 
 
 O'crthrows the wicked and uproots their name. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 that nouriflieth its roots, continueth to flow : But when that is dried by the in- 
 creafing heat, his parching beams deftroy the plant. 
 
 I have not feen thee] This is a ftrong manner of exprefling utter abolition and 
 abhorrence. The figure is a bold profopopeia ; but not more daring than that 
 of Ovid, who puts a long fpeech into the mouth of the Earth, when flie was 
 burnt up by the chariot of the fun ', 
 
 Ver. 19. others grow '] other plants fliall fucceed to his place : that is, his 
 eftate fhall pafs into another family . Thus the period clofes with the fame me- 
 taphor that began it ver. 1 6. 
 
 Ver. 20—22. Cod will not caft awa)\ &c.] This is the inference which he 
 xlraws from his preceding doftrine. 
 
 Ver. 21. Thy mouth'', &c.] He had begun the period, ver. 20, in the third 
 perfon. Behold God ivillmt cajl a'-jjay a perfect man, &c. Such a fudden turn of 
 of the ftyle to the fecond perfon is fpirited, and catches the attention by fur- 
 prize -, whether this addrefs to Job was ferious or ironical : If it was ferious, it 
 was fo on fuppofition of his becoming a righteous man : If ironical, it was a cruel 
 infult. As if he had faid, " The effeft of God's regard for the upright, and de- 
 teftation of the wickeJ, will be, undoubtedly, deliverance of thee from thy 
 affliftion ■, and relloration of thee to thy former profperity." 
 
 * Metamorph. lib. ii. 
 
 ' iri-V' "nS* .' The Septuagint read nS'iS «>•>''" (Alex. MS. «>^o) x,xthaTr,jiu 
 " The rnouth being filled with laughter Aznoics that fmile of joy which is fpreaJ over th^ 
 countenance in fome happy change of condition. Pfal. cxxvi. 2. 
 
 n
 
 5© THEBOOKOFTOB. Chap. IX. 
 
 Chap. 
 IX. 
 1,2. I know, Job anfwcr'd, verily I know? 
 
 Wrong from eternal juflice ne'er can flow: 
 
 3. How fhoukl a mortal ftand, in judgement Hand 
 Adverfc to God ? how anfwer each demand ? 
 Anfwer one charge, if he, feverely juft, 
 
 Tax with a thoufand faults this thing of dufl ? 
 
 4. Who fiifely can a ftrife with him prolong, 
 Him, wifeft, ilrongeft of the wife and ftrong? 
 
 5. Rocks from their bafes leap before his frown, 
 He, ere they feel it, hurls the mountains down : 
 
 6. Earth. 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Job was exceedingly moved at hearing his complaints and defence reprefent- 
 ed as contention with God, and an arraignment of his juftice. He now purg- 
 eth himfelf from that crime, in a mod exalted drain of piety ". 
 
 The train of his thoughts leads him to alTert an undiftinguifning diftribution 
 of worldly good and evil " : He inftances his own cafe, in confirmation of it ; 
 falleth infenfibly into complaint of hard meafure from God '' ; and, at length, 
 has the boldnefs to offer, on certain conditions, to difpute his caufe with God 
 himfelf in perfon ^. Upon this he goes into a vein of pleading exquifitely ten- 
 der " ; and concludes with prayer, for a refpite from his intolerable pains tiie 
 little time he had to live ^ 
 
 Ver. 2. / know it is fo\ I know and acknowledge it to be an everlafting truth, 
 that the Almighty doth not pervert jujiice \ But it does not follow, that the man 
 whom he fhall pleafe to afiiidt is therefore a wicked man. 
 
 Ver. 5. Which removeth the moimtaifts, &c.] This and the following verfe arc 
 rnanifeftly a defcription of an earthquake. During the terrible earthquake in 
 
 Jamaica, 
 
 " Chap. ix. 1—21. " Ver. 22, 23, 24. ^ Ver. 25— 31. 
 
 » Ver. 32—35. ' Chap x. 1 — 19. *■ Ver. 20, 21, 22. 
 
 * As Bildad had allcdged, clinp. viii. 3.
 
 Chap. IX:. THE BOOK OF JOB. 51 
 
 6. Earth ftaggers from her feat, her pillar'd frame 
 Trembles through terror of his dreadful name. 
 
 7. Aw'd by his thund'ring voice, the prince of day- 
 Shuts his broaid eye, and veils his golden ray : 
 And night's pale queen, with her attendant fires, 
 Beneath his fignet in eclipfe retires. 
 
 8. King 
 
 Jamaica, 1692, the mountains were fplit, they leaped, they moved, they fell 
 with prodigious loud noifes, they were thrown on heaps ^ In the great earth- 
 quake in the Ifland of Sicily, in 16^ ^^ which deftroyed above fixty thoufand 
 inhabitants, rocks were loofened >and thrown down : Two very high rocks, in 
 particular, near Ibla, with all the trees growing upon them, were by the vio- 
 lence of the fall quite inverted ; fo that their tops flood upon the ground \ 
 
 Ver. 6. Which Jloaketb the earthy &c.] Thefe expreflions feem to defcribe 
 that kind of earthquake, in which the earth vibrates alternately from right to 
 left : whereby mountains have been fometimes brouglit to meet, and clafh 
 againft each other ^ 
 
 Ver. 7. Which commandeth the fim, &c.] He may, perhaps, here refer to that 
 thicknefs and darknefs of the air, which fometimes precedes, or accompanies, 
 an earthquake ^. 
 
 it rifeth not] it Jhineth not^. II Kings iii. 22. The funfl^one upon the water. 
 The difappearing of the fun, moon, and ftars, by realbn of the thicknefs of the 
 air, is a circumftance mentioned in the account of the late eruption of mount 
 ^tna in the year 1766 '. 
 
 ■■ Philofophical TranfaEiiom abridged^ vol. 2. p. 411, &c. * Ibid. vol. 7. p. 149. 
 
 ' Chambers' Didl. Article, Earthquake. 
 
 ^ The night and day, preceding the earthquake in Sicily Jan. 11, the air was over- 
 fhadowed with daiknefs. 
 
 On the fame Jan. 1 1. a black cloud hung like night over the magnificent city of Catanea 
 in that ifland j prefently the city funk into the earth. Philijy Tranf, abridged, vol. 2. p. 403, 
 406, &c. 
 
 * n*T fpargere radios. 
 
 ' Univerfal Miifaum for Auguft 1766. p. 404. 
 
 H 2 • -
 
 52 THE BOOK OV JOB. Chap. IX. 
 
 8. King of the flood, alone the heav'ns he bends ; 
 And in his cloudy car upon the deep defcends: 
 The roaring billows threaten earth and fky, 
 His wheels along the wat'ry mountains fly. 
 
 f). He form'd Arclurus and his fons, to roll 
 
 In bright fuccefllons round the northern pole : 
 
 The 
 
 Ver. 8. JVhicb fpreadeth cut the heavens'] who hoioeth the heavens^. The he- 
 brew poets exprefs by this phrafe the defcent of thofe black heavy clouds, char- 
 ged with thunder, lightning, rain, and wind, that are the prelude of a ftorm 
 at fea. The ftorm itfelf, and the power of the Deity in condufting it, are re- 
 prefented in the next member of the period. 
 
 alone] This word is not fuperfluous, it afterts tiie unity of God, in oppofi- 
 tion to polytheifm. 
 
 the waves] the high places^ or heights. Our trandators render it high places 
 in Dcut. xxxii. 1:5. He made him to ride on the high places of the earth ; that is, 
 the mountains. The high places^ or heights, c///?p^y>rt mull therefore mean, its bil- 
 lows rifing to a vaft height in a ftorm. The prodigious fwell, agitation, and 
 tumult of the fea, during an earthquake, may be referred to iiere. Both the 
 heavens and the fea were greatly affecfted by the earthquake in Martinico, Aug. 
 13. 1766. About ten at night, we are told, the whole horizon was darkened -, 
 the wind blowing fiercely from the N. W. The clouds vomited torrents 
 mingled with flaming fulphur : the waves, intermingled with the clouds, 
 daihed upon the coaft, and beat to pieces all the veflels in the harbour '. . 
 
 ireadeth] or, as it is rendered Habbak. iii. 15, walketh'"-, where it is applied 
 to the motion of the Almighty's chariot. The magnificent image of our au- 
 thor is diftinftly opened by the prophet : Thou didjl walk through the fea with thy 
 horfes (the horfes of thy chariot) through the heap of great waters. 
 
 Ver. 9. lyhich maketh Arfmrus, &c.] Shepherds feem to have been the firft 
 
 Aftronomers. 
 
 " "03 '" ^^'<^' S° o""" pu'^lic verfion turns it in Pf. xviii. 9. In that pfalm, verfes 7 — 15 
 defcribe at large the fcene which is drawn in miniature by our author in this 8th verfe. 
 Martinico Gazett!, Aug. 21, 1766. 
 
 ■" *)1"I. It may denote a very rapid progreffive motion, as well as the verb '^T\ in 
 Pf. civ. 3. ttifl uialketh upon tin uings of the wind.
 
 Chap. IX. THE BOOK OF JOB. XS 
 
 The vernal Pleiades his will perform, 
 And Hern Orion wakes his wintry llorm: 
 While, far below, the fouthern heav'n proclaims 
 His glory fparkling in ten thoufand flames, 
 lo. Wonders by him, and mighty deeds are wrought', 
 Beyond all number, and above all thought. 
 
 II. He 
 
 Aftronomers, The pafloral life of the Arabs led them very early to obferve 
 the rifing and fetting of the ilars, in relation to the changes of weather that 
 enfued ". The heat of their climate obliged them to feed their fiocks by night : 
 and the clearnefs and beauty of their nofturnal iky drew their attention and ad- 
 miration". 
 
 ArHurus^^ Orion'^, and Pleiades \'] It is uncertain whether the firft, /i'?-;,?/??-^, 
 was any particular conftellation, or the north pole with its furrounding lumina- 
 ries, or the whole northern hemiiphere. The next, Orion, probably means, 
 in general, the ftars which rife in winter : and the laft, thofe which ufher in 
 the fpring. chap, xxxviii. 31. Canji thou bind the fweet influences of Pleiades ? 
 or loofe the bands of Orion. 
 
 "The chambers of the South'] the fouthern hemifphere'. 
 
 Ver. 10. Which doeth great things^ &c.] Eliphaz had produced this fublime 
 charadter of the fupreme Being ', as a ground of truft in him in the mod dif- 
 trefling fituations. Job's view, in repeating it, is, to fhew that his afflictions 
 ought not to be laid to the juftice of God -, but to be ranked among thofe adls 
 of his providence, which confound allour reafonings. He, accordingly, fub- 
 joineth his own cafe as an inftance of that kind ; as well as a further argument^ 
 that he would not dare to contend with fuch a power. 
 
 " Pocock. Specim. hiji. Arab. p. 7. 
 
 * Dr. Shaw tells us, that the (ky in Arabia Petrsa is ufually clear. Travels, p. 438. 410. 
 
 P t:X '' b'DD- ' nS'lT- See th& Commentary of tlie learned Schultens; 
 
 and Clodii Lex. Heb. SeU£l. 
 
 ' Trn- It fignifies properJy, in Hebrew, the moft interior and private rooms in a houfe, 
 Exod. vii. 2S. Judges iii. 24. II Chron. xxii. 1 1. Prov. xxiv. 4. In Arabic, "'|^f*^^3K 
 denotes the under part of a wheel. Golii Grants Arab. p. 369. 
 
 ^ Chap. V. 9.
 
 54 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. IX. 
 
 11. He finotc me, like a whirlwind in his courfe ; 
 Himfclf unfcen, but terrible his force : 
 Again he fraotc ; lofl in a boundlefs maze, 
 My reafon toils in vain t' explore his ways : 
 
 12. He feiz'd; who wrefts the feiziu-e from his hand? 
 Or, " wherefore was the deed," who dares demand ? 
 
 13. God's formidable wrath will ne'er fubfide. 
 Till down he tread the banded pow'rs of pride. 
 
 14. I, then, fliall I againfl: a Pow'r fo great 
 Prefume to rife, and ftudy bold debate? 
 
 15. My caufe, though juft, I never would defend 
 
 Were he the plaintiff, but a fuppliant bend: 
 
 16. Or 
 
 Ver. II, 12. Lo, be goeth, &c.] I think, the tranflation of thefe two verfes 
 fliould have been as follows ; 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . Lo, he fell upcn " me ; hut I faw him not : 
 He Jlrook " me alfo, but I underjiood him not. 
 Behold, Hefeized " ; who can make him rejlore ^ ? 
 Who jJd all fay unto him, what hafi thou done ? 
 He referreth to tlie fuddenefs and violence of his overthrow. 
 Ver. \ I. the proud helpers'] In tht hehrev/, the helpers of pride ^. Theproudeft 
 and moft powerful combinations againfl: the fchemes of Providence can avail 
 nothing. 
 Ver. 15. Whom though I were., &c.] whom, though I am righteous^, I will not 
 
 anfwer. 
 
 " 'by "^DV- It fhould have been rendred by our tranflators to fall uptm, in Zech. ix. 8. 
 " ^brr trandated tojltuie through. Judges v. 26. and Job xx. 24. 
 " 'jDn' Tee Judges xxi. 21. where it is englifhed, to catch. 
 ' IJD'ty' S' tuhojhall caufe him to return F fc. with the fpoil. 
 
 ^ rahab. Symmachus turns it by aAa^dwia infolence. The fcptuagint nercr, I think, 
 trandates this word as a proper name. 
 * 'Dpi j» tranllated /» ^^y«/? in ver. 2. SeeProv. xvili. 17. *
 
 Chap. IX. TH E BOO K OF JOB. 5s 
 
 16, Or flioiild I bring the hardy aiStion, he 
 Humble his greatnefs in refponfive plea ; 
 I never would believe my voice had found 
 17. 18. Audience of him ; who fmote me to the ground 
 With tempeft unprovok'd ; and urges ftill, 
 Not fuif'ring me to breathe, with lliarpcll ill/ 
 
 19. Can 
 
 anfwer. Although I have a good caufe, and know myfelf to be innocent of 
 wickednefs ; I will not put in my defence againft him. 
 
 to my judge'] to my adverfary^. Mr. Heath. The hebrew word, in a difFer- 
 ent conjugation, i$ turned to plead together, in Ifaiah xliii. 26. where it means 
 the parts both of plaintiff and defendant, let us plead together : declare thou, 
 that thou mayeji be jujlified. It leems here to fignify to go to la'u;, to bring an . 
 adtion againft another. 
 
 Vcr. 16. If I had called, &c.] li'ljhculd call', a7idheJhould anfwer me. The 
 judicial ftyle is ftill carried on. I'd call evidently importeth here the aftion of 
 the plaintiff; and to anfxer, the part of the defendant. 
 
 that he had hearkened, &c.] that he would give a favourable hearing to my 
 plea. To ftand on my defence would provoke that power, which hath alrea- 
 dy, without any provocation, done fuch terrible things unto me ; as it follows 
 in the next verfe. 
 
 Ver. 1 7. he breaketh me, &c.] He refers to his paft calamities, and their effeft 
 in his prefent fuiferings. 
 
 -juithout caitfe'] This, methinks, is juftifying himfelf in pretty ftrong terms; 
 not very confiftently with what he had been fayingjuft before. But, as the ju- 
 dicious Michaelis obferves \ He muft be a trifler of a poet, who would repre- 
 fent a man in the diftrefles of defpair always talking confiftently. 
 
 •^ ♦lOOli'O.jn jus eunt't mecum, as Cocceius tranflateth it. Schultens remarks, that it is 
 in the form of the third conjugation of the Arabians; which exprefleth a reciprocal action 
 between two perfons. See his Commentary. 
 
 " N^p It anfwers to the Greek law-terms cr-oc-xaXs;**! and K>.-n-rivtit, which fignify to citr 
 an adverfary before the proper magiftrate. Vid. Potter's Jrchal. vol. i. p. 114. 
 
 '•' Not. in Prseleft. Lowthi. p. 206. 8vo.
 
 $6 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. IX. 
 
 19. Can force avail? th' Almighty Ihakes the rod: 
 Can juflice? who fliall be the judge of God? 
 
 20. Though jufl my caufe, ev'n innocence mull wear 
 A blufla before him, if difputing there : 
 
 With him difputing, virtue's plea is vain ; 
 The pica itfclf the pleader will arraign. 
 
 21. My heart, and furely my own heart I know. 
 Tells me I'm upright ; yet my portion 's woe : 
 Woe is my portion, in fevere degree. 
 
 And life is made a heavy load to me. 
 
 22. From 
 
 Ver. 19. If I fpeak of Jlrengthy &CC.'] Here he reprefents the peculiar hardfhip 
 of his cafe j in that he had to do with an adverfary, againft whom it was im- 
 poffible to vindicate himfelf akliough ever fo innocent. Even to plead his inno- 
 cence, in conteft with God, would be criminal; as he complains in the next 
 verfe : 
 
 'Though 1 am righteous % my own mouth would condemn me : 
 Though lam upright ', it would prove me perverfe. 
 
 Ver.2 1 . Though I were, &c.] lam upright : do I not know myfelf^ ? yet 1 loath ^ 
 ray life. Though my own heart witneiTeth to my integrity, I am, notwith- 
 ftanding, made fo miferable that I am weary of my life. 
 
 = "inV{< fo in ver. 15. though 1 am righteous \ and ver. 2. howjliouldmanbejuji, or righte- 
 ous, againft God. When this verb fignifies to juftify, it is in the conjugation />//;<■/, or in 
 kiphil. 
 
 ' nrn upright, it ftands oppofcd to ividcd ver. 22. See Prov. x. 9. he that walketh up- 
 rightly, vaalketh furely. 
 
 E 'JJ>3J J^ltJ N*? omilfion of the interrogative fl is very common. Vid. Noldium. 
 
 jynj with the affixes forms the reciprocal pronoun yi-i^, rtiyflf, ihyfcf, himfelf, &c. in 
 Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic. See Job xviii. 4. Jer. li. 14. Teftament.Syr. in Matt. iv. 6. 
 Schaaf's Lex. Syr. and Pocock. Carm. Tograi p. 230. 
 
 h DXrilJ^ rendred chap. vii. 5. is lecome loathfom. Its primary idea, in Arabic, is, con- 
 tabefcere ulceratus : thence the fecondary ideas, hathfomnefs, contempt, and abhorrence. Vid. 
 Schultens' Comm, p. 199, 207.
 
 Chap. IX. THEBOOKOFJOB. 5"7 
 
 2 2. From this flrange facfl I argue ; that he blends 
 Righteous and wicked when his fcourgc he fends: 
 
 23. War, plague, and earthquake, with infulting fweep, 
 Th' unguilty in the mingling carnage heap: 
 
 24. Earth to the tyrant's fury is refign'd ; 
 
 To fliame, the princely fathers of mankind. 
 
 Is 
 
 Ver. 22. This is one thifig. Sec] This is ajirange thing' ; that I, an innocent 
 man, am forced to abhor my life: therefore Ifaid, within my felf% hedejlroyeth 
 the upright and the wicked, he concluded from his own cafe, that all things come 
 alike to all: there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked. Thus he intro- 
 duceth, very naturally, the dodtrine of an unequal providence^ which he after- 
 wards fupporteth at large ''. 
 
 Ver. 23. If the fcotirge., &c.] If the fcourge Jlay fiiddenly, it will laugh at the 
 trial cf the innocent. By x\\tt fcourge is meant public calamities, war ', for inftance, 
 peftilence, &:c. which, involving all characters in one common deftruftion, are 
 faid, by a noble perlbnifying figure, to laugh at the fufferings of the innocent. 
 
 Ver. 24. the judges^ &c.] Thefe being in contraft here with the w/f^f^ (that 
 is a tyrannical ruler'') muft mean good governors ; who adminifterjuftice im- 
 partially to all. Thus a man^ fignifies one who has the virtues proper to the' 
 male fex •, awcman\ one who is adorned with the qualities becoming the fair 
 fex : And a king"^ is a king indeed, who afteth worthy of his royal dignity. Of 
 thefe good rulers he fays, God covereth their faces " ; that is, God treats them as 
 condemned malefaftors, overwhelming them in calamities, difgrace, and ruin ) 
 himfelf being one example of this melancholy truth. 
 
 // 
 
 ^ nriN tinicum, a fingular thing ; which is without a parallel, for difficulty of folution. 
 Vid. Pocock. in Caim. Tograi p. 204. 
 E Chap. xxix. 18. and ver. i~. of this ninihchap. 
 " Chap. xii. xxi. xxiv. 
 ' Ifaiah xxviii. 18. 
 
 " y tJ'"! it fignifies a doer ef wrong in Exod. ii. 1 3. In the book of Job, it generally means 
 an epprejfor, or tyrant. 
 
 ' Ecclef. vii. 28. See alfo, Prov. xviii. zi. 
 
 " Prov. xvi. 10. 
 
 ^ II Sam, XV. 30. Eflher vii. S, Jer. xiv. 3. Ifaiah xxii. 17. Micah iii. 7. Markxiv. 65. 
 
 I
 
 j8 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. IX. 
 
 Is this not providence? if not, difclofe 
 From whom fuch intricate confufion grows. 
 
 25. My days have fpeeded with a courier's haftc, 
 A glance at pleafare, not allow'd to tafte ; 
 
 26. Swift as a rufli-boat down the fwelling Nile, 
 Swift as an eagle darts upon his fpoil. 
 
 27. If fweet hope whifper, " thy lamenting tongue 
 " The flyle of forrow Ihall forget ere long ; 
 
 " Thy 
 
 Jf not., &c.] If it be not God, who doeth thefe ftrange things ; where and 
 who is the perfon who doeth them ■" ? 
 
 Ver. 25. Now my days, &c.] His own unhappy ftate being an inftance of that 
 inequality, in the diftribution of good and evil, which he had been aflerting , 
 he naturally falls into a defcription of his milerable fituation. 
 
 are fwifter, &c.] my days have been fwifter, &c. they have fled away : they have 
 notfeen good. Time and enjoyment that are fucceeded by great mifery, appear 
 as an inftant that .is pad. This is what he reprefents by three expreflive- 
 images of celerity, which rife one above the other in beautiful gradation. 
 
 Ver. 26. the fivift /hips'\ in the hchrcw, JIjips of cane "^i probably thofe light 
 veflels, made of the papyrus, which the Egyptians ufedon the Nile ^ 
 
 Ver. 27. If I fay, &c.] IVhen' I fay (within myfelf) Ifhallleave off 7r}y counte- 
 nance {this fad countenance) and fhcll look chearfuV. He endeavoured fome- 
 tim.es to raife in himfelf a pleafmg hope of deliverance from his alTiidions : But 
 the number and circumftances of them bore down his courage, and funk him in 
 defpair; as he laments in the following verfe. Compare Jerem. viii. 18. 
 
 P LXX. £> ii liri atT'.s Ef, Ti,- srifj Jf it is not He, who is il ? 
 
 ^ HDN nVJi< which Schultens trandates wrjz'rt />rt/>vr(7rc«'.- For r'3{^fig"'fiss, in Arabic, 
 rreds, anA a placf where the papyrus grows ; as he proves from the Arabian Lexicographers^ 
 Vid. his Comment. 
 
 ' S uch, no doubt, were the vejfels of btdrujiies in Ifaiah xviii 2. See Shaw's TraveU 
 p. 437. 4to- 
 
 ' D>s 'I'jhen. \'iJ. Noldium. 
 
 ' nj*''DK- Schultens, in his Origlnes Hcbraa, has proved, that It figiiifies, in Arabic^ 
 tojliine out again, ns the fun after it hath been. clouded. It alfo. means, in the ifl conjuga- 
 tion, ilhtxit aurora \ and in the id, liStitia perfudlt. Vid Caflcli. Le.t. Hept.
 
 Chap. IX. THEBOOKOFJOB. 5^ 
 
 " Thy brow remove its cloudy veil, like morn, 
 " And placid fmile thy open face adorn ; 
 28, Then all my fufF'rings rife ; I fmk with fear, 
 Defpairing thy abfolving voice to hear. 
 
 2g. Yes, I am wicked — — wherefore walle I time. 
 In fruitlefs labour to difprove my crime ? 
 
 30. Unfully'd as if wafli'd in melted fnow, 
 Thefe harmlefs hands I never blufli'd to fliow : 
 
 31. Yet drown'd in mire by thee I'm fo impure, 
 Not my own garments will ray touch endure. 
 
 32. Is 
 
 Ver. 28. Thou tijilt not hold me, Sec. '\ Tbou wilt not declare vie innocent', by 
 removing my affliftions ; which have fixed upon me the imputation of guilt. 
 He had not the leaft expeiflation that God would appear at the clofe of this de- 
 bate to vindicate his innocence. 
 
 Ver. 29. If I be wicked'] If is inferted by our tranflators. The hebrew is, / 
 am wicked, I muft pafs for a wicked perfon : T am treated as fuch by God, 
 and condemned by men. All my labour, therefore, to clear myfelf will be to 
 no purpofe. He uttered this fentiment with a deep figh, and not without in- 
 dignation. 
 
 Ver. 30, 31. If I waf}}, &c.] When I had wafhed myfdf vnih fnow water; 
 and made my hands clean in purity " .- Then thou didjl plunge me in a ditch, fo that 
 mine own clothes abhor me ". By wofloing hinifcf, &c. and making his ha/ids clean-, 
 
 &c. 
 
 ' '"jiin it is equivalent to p'" i'H *" mflfyt '" a:<iuit. ExoJ xxxiv. 7. that will by no 
 fneam clear the guilty. 
 
 " -3 ?""■">> or purcnefs, as in ciiap. xxB. 30. it is delivend by the pursnefs of thint hands. 
 Compare Pl'al. xxvi. 6. 
 
 " 'JIDVn • • . ♦j'^DJOD- That learned nnd ingenious Critic Michaelis remarks; that 
 in the ancient ftate of the hebrew tongue, both the future and preterite of its verbs were, 
 probably, aorifts, and were ufed, like the Greek aorifts, for the paft, prefent, and future 
 tim^. Not. in Pralcii. p. 7S, 79. 8vo. 
 
 I 2 Thus
 
 6o THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. IX. 
 
 32. Is lie a man my fellow r can wc nicer, 
 Parties in doubtful flrifc, at judgcment'b feat ? 
 
 33. Who fliall, as arbiter, between us ftand, 
 To lay on both his reprehenfivc hand i 
 
 34. Let 
 
 &c. he alTerts the purity of his heart and innocence of his life. Thus Zophar 
 underftood him " Thou bnjl faid my virtue is pure^ and I am clean in thine eyes." 
 The Pfahnift alfo exprefleth his own integrity, in terms fomewhat fimilar ; / 
 have cleanfed my heart in vain, and 'u:ajl:)ed tny hands in innocency. 
 
 Tlien thou didft plunge me, &c.] The meaning is, that his calamities caufed 
 him to be looked upon, by his intimate friends, as an abominable wretch, fmit- 
 ten of God and accurfed. No proteftations of innocence, no appeals, no de- 
 fence whatever could overcome that prejudice againft him. 
 
 mine oivn clothes, &:c.] This circumftance is added, I imagine, as a heightning 
 of the image of impurity ; to reprefent more ftrongly the infamy, v/ith wliich 
 his characfler was blackened by his overthrow. 
 
 Ver. 3«, ^3. For he is not, &c.] In thefe verJfes he afilgns another reafon, 
 why he laboured in vain to clear his innocence: in his cafe there could not h~ 
 a third perfon, to fit as judge between him and his great adverfary God. 
 
 we Jhould come together, &c.] that is, come together to a tryal " of our caufe. 
 
 * day/man'] Our Author's word doth not fignify an umpire, but an authoriied 
 judge ^ It has this meaning, I apprehend, in Amos v. 10. where it is en- 
 gliihed, him that rehuketh : They hate him that rebuketh in ihe gale, that is, the 
 court of jullice. compare Prov. xxiv. 23 — 25. 
 
 that 
 
 Thus in Deut. xxxii. 10. the hebrew futures are turned juftly in the paft time. He founds 
 he led, he injirttiled, &c. And in Job v. 7. the liebiew future is engliflied in the prefent 
 tenfe, Alan is born toforroiu. 
 
 ^ This is what the Greeks exprefied by Eij-aytiv t>i» ^Mr.t-m to Jixaripoii to enter the catije into 
 thecourt- Pottei's jirchal. vol. i. p. 113, 116. 
 
 D3tt'!^ is (1) the caufe to be tried, ch. xxxiv. 4. (2) the trial itftif, Prov. xviii. 17. Job 
 ix. 32. {3) the fciitence paflcd. Job xxxvi. 17. where, and in many other pafTages of Scrip- 
 ture, it implies the execution of the fentencc. 
 
 >■ nOID ^" Prov. xxiv. 25. it is englifhed to rebuke, viz. in a court of juftice, by pafiing 
 a juft fentence on the guilty. For it is oppofcd to acquitting the wicked ver. 24. He that 
 faith unto the wicked, thou art righteous, kc. But to them that rebuke him (uLM'^ID'?) &c.
 
 Chap. X. T H E IJ O O K O F J OB. 6i 
 
 34. Let Ixim remove his rod, nor let the blaze 
 Of Godhead Hun mc with its dreadful rays ; 
 Then fearlefs I would plead : but thus dillreft,. 
 All is confufion in my guililcfs bread. 
 
 OJ- 
 
 Chap. 
 
 X. 
 Ver. I. Sick, fick of living, my complaint I'll loofe, 
 
 I will the anguifh of my foul efTufe j 
 
 2. Will 
 
 that might lay his hand, &c.] The laying the hand on both parties implies co- 
 ercive power to inforce the execution of his decrees. This no one could have 
 over the Almighty : it was therefore vain to contend with him. Mr. Heath. 
 
 Ver. 34, 35. Let him, &:c.] He doubts not but that he fhould be able to 
 prove his innocence to God himfelf, provided he could debate the matter with 
 him on equal terms. But alas ! how loon hath he forgotten that worthy and 
 devout relolucion which he declared ver. 15. 
 
 his red — his fear} by the red he means his prefent afflidions ; and hy his fear, 
 the tremendous circumftances ufually attending the appeai-ance of the Divinity. 
 
 it is not fo with me'\ Mr. Heath turns it, / am not fuff dent " mafter of myfelf. 
 He was all in confufion : his pains and apprehenfions deprived him of ftlf- 
 command. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Ver, I. Iwill leave my corn-plaint, &c.] In a freer verfion it would be, I will 
 let jny complaint have dominion over rne^ ; that is, I will not reftrain it, but give it 
 full liberty. Thefentiment is the fame as in chap. vii. 11. Therefore I will 7iot 
 refrain my mouth, &c. 
 
 " ^DT^'/V. So Noldius underftands it in Judges xxi. 14. They found enow for them. 
 Crinfcz renders it, in the verfe before us, dans fetat oiije me trouve—in my prefent condition. 
 
 " '"icy penes me, in my civn power, polTefled of myfelf. Crififoz, _/V re fuis point a moi- 
 meme. Vid. Noldium, p. 742. 
 
 ' ♦'^y rDT>*K. The verb 2TJ^ fignifies, as Schultens remarks, to let go free; in the pro- 
 verbial phrafe ^Ijyi "iViJ? '■'* '^"t isjljut up, and he tht is let go free. The prcpofition /J?' 
 importeth dominion, in Gen. ix. 2. xxxvii. 8.. Vid, Noldium.
 
 6z THEBOOKOFJOB. Cuap. X. 
 
 2. Will fay to God, condemn not mc untry'd -, 
 Ah ! why from me my accufation hide ? 
 
 3. Canfl thou by arbitrary will be led? 
 Lay guilt's demerit on the guiltlefs head ? 
 Hate thy own workmanfliip ? and dart thy ray 
 
 ' On daring fmners, who blafpheme thy fway ? 
 
 4. Is man's grofs eye, and partial vifion, thine ? 
 Live human paflions in the mind divine? 
 
 5. Is 
 
 Ver. 2. Shew me ii-herefore, &c.] It feems evident from thefe expreffions, 
 and from what follows, that he wifhed not to refer the difpute between him and 
 his three friends to God; but to argue his caufe -^ith God himl'elf He want- 
 ed to know, what God had to lay to his charge ; that he might put in his an- 
 fwer to it. 
 
 Ver. 3. Is it good, &c.] He argues here from the honour and interefl of re- 
 ligion. To treat him as a wicked man, who had led an innocent life, was giv- 
 ing reputation to the principles of infidels who deny a providence. 
 
 Ver. 4 — 7. Haji thou, &c.] The origin of our knowledge is from fenfation. 
 we judge by appearances, feniual paffions biafs our judgement, human life 
 is fhort. we are obliged to ftudy charafters, in order to know them : and are 
 prone to ufe violent means, to force confeflion from lufpefted perlbns. But 
 none of thefe imperfcftions can belong to an Eternal Being. God, therefore, 
 had no need of fuch methods to difcover, whether Job was a wicked man. 
 This is the argument in thefe verles. 
 
 Ver. 8. "Thine hands have made' me, &c.] His argument now is -, that it looks 
 like caprice, to beftow great fkill and labour on a work, and then, on a fudden 
 and without juft caufe, dafli it in pieces. This is what he meant alio in ver, 3. 
 is it good .... that thou JkouUeJt defpife (hate) the work of thine hands? 
 
 " 'JIDW- This verb fignifies in Syriac, cotijiringere, to lie together : whiih alfo is its pri- 
 mary nation in Arabic, in which language, Schukens iiifoims us, it is ufcd particularly of 
 the contexture of the human body. The word together cxxtxtifcth the coi)juii£lion of the 
 parts when tied : the words round about denote the univerfal cxadlnefs of the Work: and the 
 wotdfujhtoned conveys the idea of a thing compkatly framed.
 
 Chap. X. THEBOOKOFJOB. 6$ 
 
 5. Is thy cxiftence like a mortal's fpan ? 
 
 Are thy years bounded, as the years of man ? 
 
 6. That time and torture muft to thee reveal 
 Sufpectcd treafon, which my wiles conceal. 
 
 7. Thy knowledge clears me; yet thy boundlefs might. 
 By none evaded or by force or flight, 
 
 8. Deftroys my frame ; which thy own matchlefs art 
 Fafliion'd with curious ties of part to part. 
 
 9. Remember, O remember, that like clay 
 Whofe fliapes the workman's plaflic will obey, 
 My form thou moulded ft from its earthy grain ; 
 And thou wilt crumble mc to earth again. 
 
 10. O think of thofe kind moments, when began 
 Thy hands to fketch the rudimental man ; 
 Curdled the milky drop, my limbs defin'd, 
 
 11. With flefli and ilcin my tender fubftance lin'd. 
 With fmews brac'd, and fenc'd with folid bone : 
 
 12. Compa(5led thus, to natal vigour grown. 
 
 Thy 
 
 Ver. 9. Remember, &c.] Here he pleads the common mortality. He muft 
 foon die, as all other men ; what occafion then for fo much torture to diC- 
 patch him ? 
 
 Ver. 10, II. Ilaji thou not poured me, &c.] Does not this beautiful defcription, 
 of the origin and formation of the human body, exaftly agree with anatomy ^ 
 Can the modern difcoveries in that fcience quahfy a good poet to give a more 
 juft account of the principles of an embryo ; and of the feveral ftages of its 
 growth to a perfeft foetus ? Was not our Author, and Job liimfelf, indebted to- 
 the Egyptians for their anatomical knowledge ? 
 
 Ver. 12. my fpirit'] my breath, fo our tranflators turn it, in Chap. xii. 10. xvii, 
 I. The argument, in this and the foregoing verfe, is taken fjom God's creat- 
 
 3 i^S
 
 64 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. X. 
 
 Thy care educ'd mc, and thy favour crown'd ; 
 And flill thy pow'r upholds on living ground. 
 
 13. Yet, well I know, the fecretof thy mind 
 Thcfc evils, in rcfcrve, for me defign'd ; 
 
 14. Refolv'd to follow me with watchful eyes, 
 Each fin to notice, and each fin chaflife : 
 
 15. If wicked, the predeflin'd woe comes down; 
 Righteous, I droop beneath thy fatal frown, 
 Full of confufion, and o'erwlielm'd with fcorn, 
 By all beholders, as a wretch forlorn. 
 
 16. Chac'd 
 
 ing and providential goodnefs towards him ; as not being confiftent with his 
 prefent treatment of him, which he defcribeth with too great liberty of Ipecch. 
 ver. 13 — 17. 
 
 Ver. 13. And thefe thifigs^Szc.'] Yet thefe thhigs thou d'ldji treafure up'", &c. 
 Here he finneth with his lips and chargeth God foolifhly. By thcfe things he 
 means his calamities : and infinuates, that God had given him being with a fe- 
 cret purpol'e to make him miferable ; and advanced liim fo high to render his 
 fall miore terrible. 
 
 this is ivith thee] a phrafe, whicli denotes the fecret decree of God chap, 
 xxiii. 14. 
 
 Ver. 14 — 17. i/" /_/?«, &c.] This is harfli language. He accufeth the divine 
 government of extreme rigour. He alfo complaineth, that his piety had been 
 of no benefit to him ; and that, notwithftanding his humanity and jiiftice, he 
 was purfued by God to deftruftion, as though he had been fome lion-like tyrant. 
 I believe, Elihu had his eye particularly on this obnoxious palTage. chap. 
 XXXV. 2, 3. 
 
 Ver. 15. And if I be righteous, &c.] though" I am righteous I cannot lift up 
 my head., &c. 
 
 therefore 
 
 ^ ni3i '^•"'" didjllay up (or trcafure up) as in chap. xxi. 19. Prov. x. 14. 
 ' T though, as in Ruth ii. 13. Vid Noldium.
 
 Chap.X. the book of job. 6s 
 
 i6. Chac'd like a lion, hotly chac'd by thee, 
 
 Thy plagues, ftupendous plagues, were hcap'd on me: 
 
 17. Jav'lins, on jav'lins hurl'd, the war renew, 
 And woes fucceeding woes my life purfue. 
 
 18. Why 
 
 therefore fee thcu^ &c.] If, with the ingenious Mr. Peters ', we join to this 
 claufe the word which begins the next verfe (rendredjV // increafeth) the tran- 
 flation will come out eafy and clear, as follows ; 
 
 And the fpeSlator ' of my affiiSlion alfo infulteth '. 
 In thefe words he complains of the grofs affronts put upon him, efpecially hy 
 his three friends •, in treating him as a wicked man on account of his affliction. 
 
 Ver. 16. as a fierce lion\ that is, as though I were a fierce lion, compare 
 chap. iv. 10. The allufion, in this and the following verfe, is to that manner 
 of hunting the lion, wherein the hunters, armed with fpears and javelins, form- 
 ed themfelves in a ring about the beaft ; and threw their weapons at him one 
 after another. By this image Job reprefents, in lively colours, the violent and 
 rapid fucceffion of his calamities. 
 
 And again, &c.] Mr Heath's tranflation is, thou even repeatefl thy wondrous 
 firokes upon me. 
 
 Ver. 17. Thou renerrefi thy ivitneffes, &c.] What have witnefles to do in the 
 hunting of the lion ? Our Author's word may be tranflated '■ji'eapons, or attacks, 
 or troops ^. in any of thefe ways of turning it, the allufion to the chace will be 
 preferved. 
 
 Changes 
 
 '' Critical DiJ/irt. p. zoo. 4to. 
 
 * ^^'\ fpe^aior ; a noun fubflantive in the regimen ftate, from the root PX"^ to fee. 
 
 ^ nKJl'1 'lie T may be redundant, or be rendred alfo. Vid. Noldium The verb is 
 turned by the LXX. in Jer. xlviii. 29. (Francfort edition) by t€fi{u contumelia officio. Our 
 tranflators there englifh it, he is proud. 
 
 ' D'lJ' The Syriac interpreter turns it here by ^'J'| weapons of war (fee Teft. Syr. Job. 
 xviii. 3.) and the verb, in Arabic, fignifies ornare. This very noun is ufcd for ornaments in 
 Ezek.xvi. 7. as Schultens remarks : itthere'Jndeed means^i'wa/^flrwflTOrw/i. but it is a general 
 term for whatever is called ornament, armour and weapons are the drefsof a warrior. In 
 Arabic the noun alfo fignifies attack -j and a body of men rujhing to the attack. Vid. Giaflell. 
 Lex. Hept, 
 
 K
 
 66 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. X. 
 
 1 8. Why did I breathe I O happy I had been, 
 Had I this world of forrow never feen i 
 
 19. A being, and no being;, from the womb 
 Hurry'd in midnight filence to the tomb. 
 
 20. Ah! 'tis a little, which of life remains; 
 O fpare that little, O remove my pains : 
 
 21. Ere, never to return, my foot defcends 
 
 To realms where death his horrid fhade extends : 
 
 22. Realms, which in fliades of dolefome darknefs lie; 
 Cold denfe obfcurity, without a fky ; 
 
 Without a twinkling liar, and where the light 
 Is one eternal noon of difmal night. 
 
 CflAP, 
 
 Changes ^Lmi 'war'] that is, changes of ivar; or fucceflions "^ of war. he means 
 die war of the chace carried on by repeated attacks. 
 
 l^bou renewejl'] The hebrew word does not feem to denote iteration here ; but 
 rather, as the learned Schultens remarks, the producing fomewhat new, fome- 
 what never done before, fee Ifaiah xliii. 19. Such were Job's calamities, taken 
 in all their circumftances. Never before was a perfon of his exemplary life fo 
 overthrown. 
 
 Ver. 20. that I may take comfort'] that I may lock chearfuV. it is the fame word 
 that we met with chap. ix. 27. fee the note there. 
 
 ' Ver. 21, 22. Before I go, &c.] The original of this gloomy pidlure, drawn in 
 the deepeft fhades of horror, is, I fliould think, the fubterraneous chambers of 
 the fcpulchral grottos. But if thele verfes are a delcription of Sheol, as the 
 
 learned 
 
 "" mS'^n The learned Profeflbr Chappelow has ohferved, that it is rendred ccurfes in 
 I Kinos V. 14- where it is ufed of Solomon's workmen, who wrought in Lebanon by turns, 
 or in fuccefiions, tenthoufand a month. 
 
 " Aquila tranflates it fiiiJiaw /ay57i/7if. Wii.Txomnin Concordant, fub voce Jiaifea. Sec alfo 
 Schultens' Origines Hcl/r. vol. i. p. 4.3.
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB. C; 
 
 Chap. 
 XL 
 J, 2, Zophar, inflam'd, replies: Is noifc defence ? 
 
 Artful harangue a proof of innocence .' 
 
 5. Shall 
 
 
 learned Windet" underftands them, Job muft have entertained as melancholy 
 an idea of that world of ghofts as the heathens had of the realms of Pluto. 
 
 pigro (s^iX 
 
 Nox atra mundo. Cunfta msrore horrida : 
 
 Ipfaque morte pejor eft mortis locus. 
 
 Ilerciiks Fiirens. ver. 704. 
 Gloomy night divells in that motionlefs "world. A melancholy horror fpreadeth over all : 
 and the habitation of death is wcrfe than death itfelf. 
 
 Ver. 22. ivithout any order] Mr. Heath renders it, where there are no conjlel' 
 lations'. 
 
 trifles One fole domes 
 
 difmal habitations that have no light. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 It is too much the praftice of difputants, to pafs over, in filence, fuch argu- 
 ments of an adverlary as they are not able to anl'wer : Inftead of defence, they 
 fly into a paflion, and pour out illiberal abufe. Zophar's reply is in that call. 
 He feems to have been more irafcible and vehement than the others. The len- 
 timent he utters in ver. 5, 6. difcovers his ferocity : He there wifheth, that 
 God would indeed appear ; to let this unhappy man know, that his fufferings 
 were not the half of what he defcrved. 
 
 He takes not the leaft notice of Job's aflertion of an unequal providence "" ; 
 becaufe he could not difprove it. He anfwers only, and with much virulence, 
 to Job's alTeverations of his innocence ° ; and to his queftioning God about the 
 reafon of his afflidlions °. The remainder of his diicourfe ^ is an exhortation to 
 repentance, with large promifes if he obeyed; and concludes with a fevere 
 threatning, if he continued obftinate. 
 
 * De/iatu -jita dsfuniiorum, p. 12. 
 
 ^ DmO tranflated by the LXX. i?.-r/«s light. It has, in Arabic, the iignification of 
 dazdiiig. Vid. Caftell. Lex. Hept. and Schultens' Comment. 
 
 » Chap. ix. 22—24. * Ver, 2, 3, 4. « Ver, 5—12. » Ver. 13—20. 
 
 K 2
 
 68 THE BOOK 01? JOB. Chap. XI. 
 
 3. Shall vain boafls filcnce us ? no fpcakcr rife ? 
 No honefl tongue thy infolence chaftife ? 
 
 4. Thy boldnefs clamours to the throne divine, 
 
 *' Pure is my confciencc, fpotlefs virtue mine." 
 
 5. O would th' Almighty, to thy wifh, appear! • 
 Expofe thy guilt, and thunder in thy ear 
 
 6. Vengeance, that wifdom from our world conceals. 
 Double the worfl which here the linner feels : 
 Taught then, that juflice hath rcquir'd, as yet. 
 Not half the value of thy penal debt. 
 
 7. Wouldfl 
 
 Ver. 3. thy lies'] Thyfalfe boafts ''. It hath plainly this acceptation in Jeremiah, 
 xlviii. 29, 30. 
 
 Ver. 4. my do£frine] Job had faid nothing about the purity of his dodtrine. 
 This idea, therefore, is impertinent here. Mr, Crinfoz turns it, jny confcience ; 
 and the feptuagint, my works, either of which verfions will agree with the import 
 of the hebrew word '. 
 
 lam dean, &c.] He refers to thefe expreffions ; lam righteous- — lam upright — 
 when Ihadwajhedmyfelfinfnow-water, and made my hands clean in purity — Thou 
 knowtjt that I am not wicked \ 
 
 Ver. 5. O that God would /peak, &c.] This is a bitter reflection on Job's pre- 
 fumptuous wifli to debate his caufe with God himfelf. Chap. ix. 34, 35, x. 2. 
 
 Ver. 6. And that he would Jhew thee, &c. ] This is a very obfcure paffage, I have 
 metwith no fatisfaftory explanation of it. One thing however feems clear, namely, 
 
 that 
 
 ' "j'"l^ the verb carries in it the idea of filjhood and forgery; and is engliflicd to feign, 
 in Nehem. vi. 8. 
 
 ' 'np/ I" Arabic nnp 7 fignifie^^iic m/H^/, impregnated with excellent principles and 
 bringing forth the noble fruits of virtue. It is a metaphor from the meal of the male 
 palm tree ; which being fpiinkled upon the opening cluftcrs of the female, fecundates thcqi, 
 and renders the dates fweet and flnvourous. Vid. Caitell. Lex, ILpt. Schultcns' CommenU 
 and Shaw's Tr(jVf/f, p. 141. <)to. 
 
 ' Ch.ip, ix. 15,21, 30. x. 7. *
 
 Chap. Xr. THEBOOKOFJOB. 69 
 
 7. Wouldft thou th' Eternal with thy Hne explore ? 
 Fathom almighty thought, and find its fliore ? 
 
 8. Go, mete heav'n's height, the depth of Hades found, 
 
 9. Span the wide earth, and reach o'er ocean's bound. 
 10. He fmites, imprifons, executes : what tongue 
 
 Shall dare to mutter, " hall thou done no wrong :" 
 
 II. He 
 
 that the fubjecl treated here, and to the end of verfe 1 2, is divine pinijlxinents. 
 By fFifdom, therefore, I underfland the counfels of God, that fix the kind and 
 meafure of his punifhments : by thefecrets of ivifdcm., his punifhments in a fu- 
 ture world, which are a fecret to us at prefent. Thofe future punifhments are 
 declared to be double to that which is ' ; that is, they are far more fevere and ter- 
 rible than any fufferings of finners in the prefent flate. Hence he would have 
 Job to learn, that what he now luffered was lefs than his iniquity deferved. 
 
 Ver. 7. Canji thou, &c.] He now takes him in hand for his prefumptuous 
 queftioning of God about his ways ". The judgements of God, he tells him, 
 are as inlcrutable in their reafons and the full extent of their defigns ; as they 
 are rapid and irrefiflable in their execution "• It is fufficient for us to know, 
 that he punifheth men for their fins •, and that, in punifhing, he aims to cure 
 their pride, and to break their intradtable fpirits to his yoke". 
 
 Ver. 8. It is as high, &c.] When we cannot comprehend a thing; we fay it is 
 beyond our reach, or it is too high or too deep for us. But in what a noble 
 manner does Zophar here exprefs fuchan impofiibility [ How much fuperior iS' 
 the language of poetry to common profe *■ ! 
 
 beJl] Sheol, the world of the dead. If /?>?// meaneth here the place of punifh- 
 ment, ic is a tranflation of Sheol as inadequate, as the grave by which it is ren- 
 dered in chap. vii. 9. See the Appendix. Numb. II. 
 
 Ver. 10. If he cut off, andfhui up, and gather together] The firft of riiefe ex- 
 
 prefilons, 
 
 • r 'll'in id quod extat, that ivh'uh h. The Septuagint renders if, tip? Kan «, thyihin^j', 
 that is, thy fufferings. See Dr. Scott's excellent Notertn the G of pel of St, Matthetv, p. z. 
 
 " Chap. iii. ii, 12, 2c, 23. vii. la — 21. x. 2, 18. 
 
 " Ver. 7 — 10. » Ver. 11, 12. 
 
 y Bp. Lowth produces this pafljge as an example of the gr.ind manner in which tht 
 hebi .w poets fpejk of the attiibutes of God, abfolutely confidered, without particular 
 mention of iheojierations and cfTecls that flow from them. See his tine obfervations in4h& 
 PraliStiina, p. 19 ,&c. Svo.
 
 70 TF!E BOOK OF JOB. Ciiap. XI. 
 
 11. He knows !inpofl.ors: fliall he not requite 
 The fin clanclcftine, acftcd in his fight: 
 
 12. That fools niay be reclaina'd, found fenfe fupply'd 
 To fill the void of ignorance and pride -, 
 
 And natures as the Zebra's colt untam'd, 
 Subdu'd by reafon, into men be frara'd. 
 
 13. Thou, 
 
 prefTions, be cut off (or rather, he fmite') fignifies the apprehenfion of the cri- 
 minal, by fome calamity which divine juftice inflifts upon him. 
 
 The nextphrafe, Jhut up ', denotes the effeft of the ftroke; he becomes the 
 prifoner of providence. 
 
 The laft, gather together (or rather, gather an affewbly ^) exprefleth the exe- 
 cution. It is an alkifion to the cuftom of aflembling the people, to be witnefles 
 and affiftants at the execution of a notorious offender. The meaning here is, 
 that God makes a public example of great finners; by the fignal circumftances 
 of their deftrudion. Zophar intended this ftroke for Job. 
 
 who can hinder him] It may be tranflated, v/ho Jhall caufe him to rejiore''? 
 who fliall wrefta criminal out of his hands ? Or, who Jhall anfwer him' ? by 
 cavilling at his judgements, 
 
 Ver. II. vain men] falfe men*; that is, impoflors. He glanceth at Job, as 
 a perfon who, notwithftanding his charader for piety, had lived in the practice 
 of fecret wickednefs ; particularly injuftice % 
 
 Ver. 12. For vain man] 
 
 That 
 
 " Pj*?!!' See the note on chap. ix. 11. 
 ' Ifaiah xxiv. 22. 
 
 " '?'np' See Ezek. xvi. 39 — 41. Jofliua vii. 2j. VId. Schultens' Comment. See alfo 
 Job xxxi. 34. and the note. 
 
 * IJ^^ty' ^^ the note on chap. ix. 12. 
 
 • ' Shall anfiuer him, as in chap, xxxii. 14. xxxiii. 1^. 
 
 •' XlSy TDD LXX. a/oftc. tranfgrejfours. but KIK' a'fo fignifies faljhood, in Zech. x. 2. 
 .and have told falfe dreams ; i. e. dreams which they falfely pretended to have received by in- 
 Ipiration- Compare alfo Pf. xxvi. 4, 5. 
 
 ' See ver. 14. and chap. xxii. 5 — 9. 5
 
 Chap. Xr. THEEOOKOFJOB. ^i 
 
 1 3. Thou, therefore, quell thy haughty fpirit ; bend. 
 Bend thy ftifF knee; thy fuppliant hands extend : 
 
 14. Shake out the bribe, th' unrighteous gain expcll, 
 
 Nor fuiFer rapine in thy tents to dwell. 
 
 ij". Un- 
 
 That the -proud ' may be made ici/e. 
 
 And the colt of the wild afs ^ become ^ a man \ 
 
 Thefe expreffions charadlerife wicked men ; as void of found underflanding, 
 opinionated, felf-willed, and intra(5lable as the wildeft inhabitants of the defert. 
 The intention of divine punifhments, he fays, is to recover them to folid reflec- 
 tion; and bring them into fubjeftion to reafon and the laws of God. 
 
 Ver. 13 — 20. If thou prepare^ tic.'] This exhortatory part of his difcourfe is, 
 for fubftance, the fame with that of Eliphaz "^ ; but diverfified by his manner of 
 defcribingtrue repentance, and by the beautiful imagery in which he expreflerh 
 its glorious reward. 
 
 Ver. 14. imquity — wickednefs'] he means, by thefe terms, riches acquired by 
 fraud, or by taking bribes, or by any methods of violence and oppreflion : for 
 this they fuppofed to have been the peculiar iniquity, which had drawn down 
 the vengeance of God upon his head '. 
 
 tabernacle] Tents having been the ancient dwellings of men, the term was re- 
 tained after the invention of more durable and fixed habitations. Job, it is cer- 
 tain, lived in a city " : yet his houfe is called a tabernacle, or tent ", 
 
 ' 2l^2i The verb, in Arabic, fignifies to behave haughtily. Vid. Clodii Lex. Heb. SeleSi. 
 and 313J in Hebrew is, in the literal fenfe, hollow. Exod. xxvii. 8. in metaphor, a perfit 
 •Viid of undirjlanding, vain-glorious. 
 
 8 Compare Pf. xxxii. g. Jer. xxxi. 18. Job xxxix. 5 — 8. 
 
 * I'^V ""y 1" horn. j. e. may be rendred, or may become. It is an Arabian phrafeology : 
 LeHlieuild ajjis colt be born a man, that is, (as they explain it) Let a man who is iiitraclable, 
 become gentle, humane, and docile. Vid. Schultens' CommcKt. See alfo the ufe of this 
 wcrd in Prov. xvii. 17. and Bp. Patrick's note in his Paraphrafe. 
 
 ' j1 man, i. e. one who afts according to reafon. Ifaiah xlvi. S. We meet with a fimilar 
 expreflion in Horace : 
 
 Nee fi retradus erit, jam 
 
 Fiet homo Art. Poet. ver. 469, 
 
 Nor if you bring him off this folly, -will he thereupon become a ma:r, i e a£l a rational part for 
 the future. 
 
 ^ Chap. V. 8, &c. ' Chap. XV. 34. xx. 15, 19. xxii. 5 — 10. 
 
 *• Chap. xxix. 7. ■ Chap. xxix. 4.
 
 76 THE BOOK Of JOB. Chat. XI. 
 
 15. Unclouded then, and unconfus'd with fear. 
 Thy face erccft and fparkling fliall appear : 
 
 16. Woe in thy memory fliall leave no trace, 
 Like violent waters vanifli'd from their place : 
 
 17. A happier age fuccecds ; emerging foon 
 Fair as the morn, more luminous than noon : 
 
 18, 19. For 
 
 Ver. 15. ThcupaU lift up thy face, &c.] He defcribes the happy change of 
 his condition, by its effedts in his countenance •, contrafting his prefent dejefted 
 face, fuUicd and disfigured by terror, grief, and tears, with the look he fhall 
 then aflume, erect, firm, and clear as the poliflied mirror. He refers, no doubt, 
 to thofe words, I cannot lift up my head °. 
 
 Thoufhalt /peftedfafi] The hebrew word is a metaphor, taken from metals 
 fined by fufion ^ ; and, therefore, may include lujtre as well zsfirmncfs. 
 
 Ver. 16. And remember it as waters, &c.] That is, as Crinfoz explains it, thou 
 (halt not remember it at all : The memory of thy affliftions will be wholly effaced i 
 like the winter torrents, which are utterly evaporated in the beginning of fummer^. 
 Ver. 17. And thine age, &c.] This period will become clearer in the follow- 
 ing difpofition ' and tranflation. 
 
 And a happy age ^ fhall arife ' ; 
 thoufhalt be as the morning, 
 ^houfloalt blaze out " more than noon. 
 
 The 
 
 " Chap. X. IS- 
 
 I" pVtD fee chap, xxviii. 2. xxxvii. 18. xxxviii. 38. 
 
 - Chap. vi. 15, 17. 
 
 The perfpicuity of this arrangement will be, I hope, its juftification. 
 
 " I'yn '"^ age or Jiate of durable felidty; fo it fignifies in Arabic. Vid. Schultens' C«w- 
 
 ment. and Michaelis in Fr^ckSi. Lowthi, p. 99. 
 
 ' Dip' Jhall arife ; as in Dan. ii. 39. 4f^er thee fhall arife another kingdom- 
 
 " nsyn corufcatis, Ezek. xxxii. 10. IFhen I Jhall caufe my fword to Jiajb in tSnr/aces. 
 
 Mc- Heath.
 
 Chap. XI. THE BOOK OF JOB. 73 
 
 18, 19. For thou, known favourite of ccleftial pow'r. 
 
 Safe in the waking and the flumb'ring hour, 
 
 Around 
 
 The meaning is, " Thy afflidions fliall be fucceeded by a ftate of durable 
 felicity : its beginning Ihall be as the morning of a bright day : it fhall increafe 
 as the light, until it arrive to its highell point ; when it fhall exceed the luftre 
 of the fun at noon." The thought is the fame, but far more nobly expreffed, 
 with that of Bildad, Chap. viii. 7. Compare Prov. iv. 18. 
 
 Ver. 18, 19. Jnd thoujhalt befecure, &c.] Thefe two verfes contain, if I mif- 
 take not, a pleafing rural fcene ; green paftures, wells of water, flocks and 
 herds couched round them, and a little camp of Arabian Shepherds inclofing 
 the whole. 
 
 The expreffion thou Jhalt dig refers moft probably, as Mr. Heath remark.^, 
 to digging of wells or fprings ; a circumftance frequently mentioned in the pa- 
 triarchal hiftory ". The word tranflated thou Jhalt lie down ' denoteth properly 
 the decumbent pofture of cattle, after they have well fed -, and when they re- 
 pofe at night. As to the encampment; It was the cuftom, as Mr. Heath ob- 
 ferves, of the eaftern people to pitch their tents nigh wells ; for the conveniency 
 of water for their cattle. The fecurity alfo, here promifed, exprefleth the pro- 
 tedion wanted to defend them from wild beafts and from the incurfions of the 
 thievifh Arabs of the defert. 
 
 becaufe there is hope] The hope here mentioned as a ground of fecurit}', can be 
 no other than hope in God : that firm dependance on divine protedlion, 
 which good men are warranted to entertain. 
 
 many Jhall make fuitf &c.] The mighty '> Jhall makefuit, &c. Princes and other 
 great men fhall court an alliance with thee. See Gen. xxvi. 26 — 29. 
 
 " Gen. xxvi. 13 — 22. 
 
 " nVDT Pf. xxiii. 2. He maketh metolie downin greenpafturesy lie. See alfo Pocock. 
 in Carmen Tograi. p. 95. The learned Chappelow remarks, that this word is likewil'e ap- 
 plied by the Arabians to x\\zjhcpherdsy lying down to reft in the fame place with their flocks. 
 Comment, on yob. The fubflantive, however, is ufed fynonimous with a man's dive/ling in 
 Prov. xxiv. 15, where it is englifhed re/ling place. But in Cant. i. 7. the verb '^21 's ^kd 
 in the fame fenfe as in Arabic. 
 
 ' CI31 ^If' Heath's verfion is, The mighty Jhall intnat thy favour. 
 
 L
 
 74 THE BOOK OF JOB, Chap. XL 
 
 Around thy wells, thy couching flocks around, 
 Shall range thy tents along the grafly ground: 
 No terror fliall thy peaceful camp alarm. 
 And prmcely chiefs fhall court thy pow'rful arm. 
 20. But llubborn Ihmers watch with weary'd eyes. 
 Help, far away, from their diflrefles flies,- 
 And death's black fhades, their laft fad refuge, rife. 
 
 
 Chap. 
 XII. 
 I, 2. Yes, anfwer'd Job, ye are th* enlighten'd few, 
 
 Fav'rites of Wifdom ! will fhe die with you ? 
 
 3. And 
 
 Ver. 20. Their hope Jhall be as, &c.] The original fays, their hope Jhall be the 
 giving up of iheghojt: that is, their diftrefs and defpair fhall make them wifh to 
 be out of the world. He evidently reflefts on Job's paflionace wifhes for death, 
 which he reprefents to be the praflice oi tvicked meti. 
 
 CHAP. XIL 
 
 Job's reply in this chapter is in a vein of plaintive argumentation. He alledg- 
 eth fafts relative partly to himfelf ^, and partly to all mankind ' j which demon- 
 ftrate a ftrange inequality and feeming confufion in the diftribution of good and 
 evil : Whence it follows, that a man's worldly condition, whether profperous 
 or affli(5led, is no criterion of his moral character. This reafoning is in point. 
 For his three antagonifts had concluded him to be wicked merely from his being 
 wretched. 
 
 Ver. 2. Te are the people, &c.] He chaftifes them for afliiming fuch airs of 
 fuperiority over him. In the ftyle of Arabia, the people of riches are richmenj 
 
 and the people of knowledge, men of learning '. 
 
 » Ver. 4. " Ver. 11 — 25. 
 
 '' Sca'iger's Proverb. Arab, Cent. ii. ?:• Pocock. Spec. Hift. Arab. p. i53»
 
 Chap. XII. TPIE BOOK 01- JOB. 75 
 
 3. And yet, my portion of the mental ray 
 Is not inferior to your boafted day. 
 
 Stale faws, and tales of tyrants overthrown, 
 
 Thofe vulgar themes — to whom are thofe unknown ' 
 
 4. Tlie man derided by his friend, am I j 
 
 " To God he clamours, and let God reply." 
 
 This infult, for integrity's appeals, 
 
 This cruel taunt, the man of juflice feels. 
 
 5. Contempt purfues the fall'n ; exalted eafe 
 
 With fcornful eye unhappy virtue fees, 
 
 6. Peace 
 
 yer, 4. lamas one, &c.] The original is, 
 
 The derijion of his friend atn 1, 
 
 " He calleth to God, and let him anfwer him ;'* 
 
 Thejujl upright man is a derifton. 
 Thederifion, or infult, is contained in the middle claufe; 
 
 " He calleth to God, and let him anfwer him." 
 Thus Eliphaz had infulted him for his complaint, call now, there is one that 
 anfweretb thee ' ; And thus Zophar had infulted him, But O that God would 
 fpeaky and open his lips againft thee '' ; deriding him for what he had faid chap. 
 ix. 35. X. 2. 
 
 Ver. 5. He that is ready, &c.] Adverfity finks a man into contempt with tho 
 profperous. The literal verfion of the hebrew will be. 
 For calamity ' contempt is ready. 
 In the thoughts of him who is at eafe\ 
 For them who flip with their feet ', 
 
 Calamity 
 
 ' Chap. V. 1. Seethe note. '' Chap. xi. ;. 
 
 * "T£37 a word compounded of the prepofition ^for and the noun fubflantive T5 '^^''- 
 m'tty; or ruin, [as it is engliflied Prov. xxiv. zz. It might have been rendred (o in Job xxxi. 
 29. If I rejoiced at the calamity, or ruin, of, &c. 
 
 ' ^ir\ nyitD SoPf. xvIH. 36. (heb. 37.) Thou hajl enlarged my fleps under me, that my fett 
 did not flip, 
 
 L 2
 
 76 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XII. 
 
 6. Peace dwells with robbers ; they enjoy their fpoil, 
 Provoke God's wrath, and revel in his fmile. 
 
 7. Queftion the flocks and herds, whofe land they feed? 
 Fowls, for whofe riot they increafe their breed i 
 
 8. Earth, to whofe wealthy magazines fhe yields 
 Her flowing vintage and her cultur'd fields ? 
 And nations of the fcale, whofe tafte to pleafe 
 Their fins in millions cut the ftreams and feas ? 
 
 9. Dulnefs itlelf may, from thefe teachers, know 
 Th' imperial hand which governs all below j 
 
 iQ. The hand, which holds, as by its pow'r began,. 
 All life, from vegetative up to man. 
 
 II. Now let a. knowing ear the fl:rain attend, 
 
 To loftier themes my tow'ring thoughts afcend. 
 
 Taflei 
 
 Calamity is here put for the calamitous, or afflifled ; exprefled in the laft claufe 
 by them is:ho jlip° "with their feet ^ the fallen : he points particularly to himfelf j as 
 he docs to his. three friends in the middle fentence, him isoho is at eafe. 
 
 Ver. 6 — ic. The tabernacles, ice.'] Thefe verfes are a contraft of the foregoing: 
 
 He who had exercifed himfelf to have always a confcience void of offence 
 
 Towards God and towards men, was utterly ruined ; and abandoned to cruel in- 
 
 fults : but thofc who had plundered his eftate, and murdered his fervants,- en.,. 
 
 joyed the proteftion and blefTings of providence in abundance. 
 
 Ver, 7 — 10. But ajk now the beafts, &c.] This beautiful apollrophifing of the 
 inanimate and brute creation is only a poetical way of faying, that the great 
 author and difpofer of life had given into the hands of robbers the beafts of the 
 field, and the fowls of the heaven, &c. Such men, he complains, poflefs the 
 largeft property and ufe of the brute creation and the produce of the earth ; 
 which they abufe to the purpofes of luxury and riot. 
 
 * n;,*T*2 them who ftp. This yiroid {'\gnifiestofall into adverfiy, Pfal. xxvi. i. where ilia 
 rcndeied toficle.
 
 Chap. XII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 77 
 
 Taftes the found palate tries, the knowing ear, 
 Difcourfe examines and decides as clear; 
 
 12. And Ihould not judgement be the crown of age? 
 And fnow-white locks befpeak th' experienc'd fage ? 
 
 13. Sapience and pow'r to God alone belong ; 
 Wife are his counfels, and his arm is ftrong : 
 
 14. He overturns, what hand erefls again ? 
 
 He binds ; who burfts his adamantine chain ? 
 1 j*. He checks the waters ; all is defert round : 
 He fends them out j they defolate the ground. 
 
 16. Sapience 
 
 Ver. 12. With the ancient is, &c.] TFith the ancient fhould be wifdom-y &c. As 
 the palate diftinguifheth the agreeable and difagreeable taftes in food ; fo the ear, 
 or rather the mind by the ear, difcerneth truth and falfehood in difcourfe : And 
 we juftly expedt to find this difcerning power, moft perfeft in perfons of years 
 and experience. He glances at Eliphaz, and the other two, for talking fo ig- 
 norantly of the ways of providence. 
 
 Ver. 1 3 — 25. With him, &c.] The defign of this grand difcourfe on the ways 
 of God to m'en is, I apprehend, to eftrablilh his pofition. Chap. ix. 22. He de- 
 Jlroyeth theperfe£f and the wicked. That propofition is here proved by induction : 
 He alledgeth thofe great and general calamities, drought, inundation and the 
 overthrow cf kingdoms ; which make no diftinction between the innocent and the 
 guilty, but involve the mofl: refpeftable charaders, and the nobleft and mod im- 
 portant talents, in diftrefs, difgrace, and ruin. 
 
 Ver. 13, 14. With him is wifdom, &c.] Thefe two verfes feem to be an intro- 
 diiftion to the following ; being a general aflertion of the fupreme, abfolute, 
 and irrefiftable dominion of God ; whenever he decreeth the deftrudion of fom.s 
 flourifhing city and kingdom j or of any particular family, or man, of great 
 eminence and power. 
 
 Ver. 15. Behold he witholdeth, &c.] Tliis firfl fentence of the period is a conr^ 
 cife defcription of a general drought and famine -, fuch as his own country fuf- 
 
 fered
 
 7G THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XII. 
 
 1 6. Sapience and pow'r are his: he rules all ill, 
 Miflcader and miflcd his plan fulfill : 
 
 17. Watchmen of realms, and guardians of their rights, 
 He drags to bondage, he with madnefs fmites. 
 
 18. He 
 
 -fered upon the failure of the equinoflial rains : or fuch as Egypt was afflidted 
 with, when the Nile did not rife high enough to overflow the lands. 
 
 Alfo he fendeth, &c,] This claufe defcribes an ?»<7Wa//(j;7, fuch as might hap- 
 pen in Job's country from the torrents caufed by too great an abundance of rain : 
 Or fuch as does fo much mifchief in Egypt •, when the Nile rifech beyond a 
 certain height, and pours a body of water, on the fields, too large to be drain- 
 ed off by their canals. 
 
 Ver. 16. JVith him is Jlrength and ivifdoni'] With great judgement our admir- 
 able poet repeats thefe attributes of the Deity, to fix our attention to thefe : for he is 
 going to defcribe a fcene of public calamity and diftraftion, which is the effed: 
 of uncontrollable power direfted by counfels infinitely above our comprehenfion. 
 
 the deceived and the deceiver are his] The terms in the original are metaphors 
 taken from fheep ^ wliich through the negligence and mifcondud of their fhep- 
 herds go aftray to their deftruftion. 
 
 'The deceiver^ therefore, or he that caufeth to err., fignifies foolifh and wicked 
 rulers ; who by their male-adminiftration bring deftruftion upon themfelves and 
 their country. The deceived or erring are the people fo mifguided and ruined. 
 The fentence afierts, that God overrules all this madnefs and mifchief to ferve 
 the wife ends of his own infcrutable providence. 
 
 Ver. 17 — 21. He.leadeth, &c.] Thefum of this whole paragraph is, that no 
 policy, eloquence, heroifm, or extent of dominion can preferve a ftate ; which 
 God has decreed to overturn. But the chief point in view is, that, in fuch a 
 cataftrophe, dignity, excellence, and the moft noble talents for public utility 
 are overwhelmed with ignominy and ruin. 
 
 Ver. ly.Comfellors— Judges'] The former mean, I fuppofe, the great Statef- 
 
 men. 
 
 ^ "i^WQ^ JJ5J^ Ezek.xxxiv. 2—6. Ecclef. x. 5. compare Ifaiah xix. 13, «4. See alfo 
 theufc of nJii'D 'nDcutxxvii. 18. Prov. xxviii. 10. T
 
 Chap. XII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 79. 
 
 1 8. He breaks the rod of majefly, he flings 
 
 The captive's cord around the loins of kings : 
 
 19. Diftrads the viceroy chiefs, and whehns them all^ 
 Ev'n ftouteft warriors, in the common fall : 
 
 2 I. He 
 
 men, who compofe the council of the fovercign ; the latter, thofe who prefide 
 in the adminiftration of juftice. 
 
 He kadetb away ' fpoiled^ — and maketh fools'] He delivers them into the hands 
 of their enemies to be fpoiled, and carried into captivity : And by this deplor- 
 able reverie of condition, he diftradts them with terror and defpair. 
 
 Ver. 1 8. He loofeth the bond "" ofkings\ He deftroys their binding power, their 
 authority, by dethroning them. The expreflion may allude to the royal belt 
 one of the infignia of majefty. compare Ifaiah xlv. i. 
 
 andgirdeth", &c.] The tenor of the difcourfe requires thefe exprefiions to be 
 taken in a calamitous fenfe. The girdle, therefore, muft here mean the cord, 
 or chain, that was tied about the waift of captives. The manner of making war 
 in our days, is very different from what it was in ancient times : We now lee no 
 fuch cataftrophes as princes and their people led into captivity; but thefe were 
 the ufualeffefts of conqueft in former ages. 
 
 Ver. 19. princes'] Governors of provinces, viceroys, fuch, probably, was 
 Potipherah, prince of On and father-in-law of Jofeph ° : and fuch were the fons 
 of David ^i. 
 
 and overthroweth'] in battle; or, in general, he abandons them to deftrudion, 
 the word is oppofed to divine protedion in Prov. xiii. 6. 
 
 The 
 
 ' "1'VJ3 '' 's ufed in the fenfe of carrying into captivity II Chron. xxxvi. 6. See alfo 
 II Kings xxiv. 15. 
 
 "^ 'i'^W LXX. axf^aAOTs; captives, 
 
 ' ^^^TV h' makethmad. LXX. i|crio-£, he maketb them hefide them/elves. 
 
 " "ID1!3 Its root "ID' figniiies coercive power , political difcipUne, in I Kings xii. 11. where 
 it is engliflied to chajilfe. 
 
 " "iCt^' So Pf. cxlix. 8. To bind their tings with chains, &C, 
 
 • Gen. xli. 50. P 11 Sam. viii. i3.
 
 8o THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XIL 
 
 20. He ftrikes the patriot dumb; in vex'd debate 
 Confounds the hoary fages of the flate; 
 
 21. He 
 
 Ithe mighty^'l The mighty men of war. 
 
 Ver. 20. the trujly ""j The patriotic orators ; who in tlie general diftradion 
 of their country lofe pofleflion of their mental powers, and are no longer able to 
 exert their eloquence. 
 
 the aged] the elders; that is, fenators. 
 
 Ver. 21. princes'''] The hebrew is a different word from that which is tranflated 
 princes in rer. 19^ It denotes perfons of a noble, generous temper ; and is ren- 
 dred liberal in Ifaiah xxxii. 5, 8. 
 
 Even this benevolent character cannot protect the poflefTor of it, in general 
 calamities. This brings to my remembrance the unhappy fate of the good 
 Axylus fo movingly defcribed by Homer. 
 
 Next Teuthras' fon diftain'd the fands with blood, 
 
 Axylus, hofpitable, rich, and good : 
 
 In fair Arijha's walls (his native place) 
 
 He held his feat; a friend to human race. 
 
 Fall by the road, his ever-open door _^ j 
 
 Oblig'd the wealthy, and reliev'd the poor. 
 
 To ftern Tydides now he falls a prey. 
 
 No friend to guard him in the dreadful day! 
 
 Breathlefs the good man fell, and by his fide 
 
 His faithful fervant, old Calefius dy'd'. 
 
 p D'Jn*N i' 's ^^^^ 3-5 an epithet of a torrent in Amos v. 24. Let "Judgement run down at 
 -waters, and righteoujnefs as a mighty Jlream. Homer compares the impetuofity of his warriors 
 to a torrent, 11. v. >*7, &c. 
 
 ^ D'l'DN'J Mr. Heath derives it from DKi to /peak. 
 
 ' DO'"li englifhed wiHlng Exod. xxxv. 5. whofoever is of a luilllng heart, kt him bring 
 it, an offering of the Lord; gold, andftlver, and hrafs. In Prov. xix. 6, It is fynonimoLis 
 with him thatgiveth gifts (Heb. the man of gifts) and ought to have been rendered there the 
 liberal man. 
 
 ' Pope's Homer's Iliad, b. yi. ver. 15, &c. in the Original, ver. 12, &c.
 
 Chap. XII. T H E B O O K OF JOB. 8i 
 
 2 1. He pours contempt on every gen'roiis name. 
 And eloaths all mortal excellence with fliame. 
 
 22. Thus, fwift and fudden, from the womb of night. 
 His deep defigns he ufliers into light ; 
 
 As though the hoiTors of infernal fhadc 
 He caft abroad, and o'er the world difplay'd. 
 
 23. The nations with his fatal mifls he blinds, 
 Then fweeps, and fcatters into all the winds. 
 
 24, 2j. Their 
 
 Ver. 21. the mighty '] It is a different word in the original from that which is 
 thus turned in ver. 19. It fignifies, in Arabia, perfons eminent for any illuf- 
 trious quality knowledge, courage ", &c. very proper therefore to clofe the fore- 
 going feries; as it comprehends all therein mentioned or omitted. 
 
 He weakneth the flrength] rather, as the learned Schukens trandates it. He 
 loofeth the girdle " .• that is, he ftrips thefe illuftrious perfonages of their dignity 
 and honours, and overwhelms them with difgrace in a ftate of captivity. 
 
 Ver. 22. He difcovereth, &c.] This verfe is a refleflion on the foregoing events, 
 and forms an eafy tranfition to the remainder of the fubjecfl. Yet, I muft own, 
 it feems to me out of its proper fituation : I think it would better have clofed 
 the whole difcourfe. The fentiment is, that while thefe terrible revolutions re- 
 main in the divine counfels; they are darknefs, utter darknefs to us, deep im- 
 penetrable fecrets : And when they are difcovered in the execution, they afto- 
 Jiilh and terrify mankind j as though fepulchral darknefs covered the face of the 
 earth. The prophet Daniel fpeaks in like figurative language of the counfels 
 of God relating to the four great Empires of the world. Chap. ii. 2 i, 22. 
 
 Ver. 23. He increajeth, &c.] The calamitous fate of the illuftrious perfon- 
 ages 
 
 ' D'p'DN- ' Vid. the Commentary of Schulcens. 
 
 * P't.tS Buxtorf in his hebrew Concordance renders it z^?;;?, o <rirdU, as our public veifion 
 turns it in Pfalm cix. 19. The root, fays Schuhens, is HIT > and NFIIT in the SyriacteftA- 
 ment, A£ts xxv. 23. fignifies pomp of drefs, and other royal magnificence. 
 
 M
 
 82 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XII. 
 
 24, Sj*. Their leaders he bereaves of foul, who llray 
 In a vaft patlilefs wild without a guiding ray : 
 In a vaft wild their difnial way they feel, 
 Perplex'd, diftreftj from doubt to doubt they reel, 
 Bewilder'd by ftrong energy divine, 
 Like men who ftagger with the fumes of wine. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 aces abovementioned, involves in it the ruin of a whole nation. There had 
 been inftances, even before tlie times of Job, of a whole people carried away 
 by the conqueror from their own country ". Such a fcene is defcribed in this- 
 verfe. The verfion, if I miftake not, ihould be as follows ; 
 
 He caufeth the nations to err'', and deftroyeth them : 
 He fcattereth "^ the nations, and leadeth them away *. 
 
 God caufeth a nation to err, when he fuffers their rulers to miflead them by 
 deftruftive counfels. He fcattereth them, when he fends them captives into 
 other countries. 
 
 Ver. 24, 25. He taketh away, &c.] divine infatuation of the governing Pow- 
 ers is here defcribed, in forcible language and ftriking refemblances. Priva- 
 tion of judgement and courage is exprefled by God's taking a-way their heart: In 
 theirconfufion, miftakes, perplexity, and diftrefs, they refemble perfons who have 
 loft themfelves in the Arabian folitudes; without a path, without a way-mark, 
 without a light to guide them : and their irrefolution and unftable counfels are 
 like tlie reeling motions of a drunken man. 
 
 * See Gen. xiv. 
 
 1 I follow the feptuagint, w^alu> he caufeth to err : they read piJiyD as in ver. i5. See 
 Deut. xxvii. 18. in the hebrew and in the Greek. 
 
 ^ niO " It is ufed in the fenfe of fpreading, ihzt is, fcattering ; in Jer. viii. 2. The LXX. 
 render it in the vcrfe before us by KaTa,-fiii!,i> projiernens, overthrowing. 
 
 a pnj it is a metaphor from a flock of fheep driven away by an enemy : this is the accept- 
 ation of the word in 11 Kings xviii. 1 1. .And the king of Jfjyria did carry away Jfrael unto 
 Jjjyria, and put them in (led them, as captives, into) Habor, &:c. Whe.n this word is takcnin a 
 good meaning, itdenoteth leading flieep into proper places of refiefliment; as in Pf xxitLz. 
 He leadeth mc in the paths of righteotfncfs. Compare ver. 1,2.
 
 THEBOOKOFJOB. 83 
 
 Chap. 
 XIII. 
 Ver. I. All this my eyes atteft ; and faithful fame, 
 
 Tut'ring my curious ear, attells the fame : 
 
 2. Nor knowledge can you boall to me unknown, 
 Nor challenge fenfe fuperior to my own. 
 
 3. O how it would my longing foul elate, 
 Might I with God himfelf my caufe debate ! 
 
 4. But you, all you, are wranglers ; your replies 
 Are pompous trifles, and defaming lies. 
 
 5. 6. Be 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 By the fadts produced in the foregoing chapter, he had demolifhed the hypo- 
 thefis of his antagonifts concerning the courfe of providence. But he continues 
 difiatisfied with its meafures towards himfelf. He wants to carry his caufe to 
 the bar of God : And after a fevere reprehenfion of the futility of their difcourfes, 
 and the unfairnefs of their management of the controverfy \ declares his refo- 
 lution fo to do -, let what will be the confequence^ Accordingly he breaks our, 
 at the twentieth verfe of this chapter, in thefreefteffufion of felf-defence, plead- 
 ing, and complaint ; which he purfues to the end of the next chapter. All this 
 part of his difcourfe is the language of the paflions. 
 
 Ver. I, 2. Lomine eye, &c.] Thefe twoVerfes ought not to have been disjoin- 
 ed from the former chapter. They authenticate the fadts alleged in it. 
 
 Ver. 4. ye are forgers of lies'] By lies he means their falfe accounts of the ways 
 of providence towards bad men and good. He calls them forgers, or rather 
 Marnifhers ^, becaufe they had fet off their untruths in the glaring colours of 
 rhetoric. 
 
 * Ver. 3—12. <: Ver. 13 — 19. 
 
 * ''jED It fignifies ia the Chaldee toplai/ler. Vid. Caftell. Lex. Hept. 
 
 M 2
 
 84 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XIII. 
 
 5, 6, Be dumb, fo prove your wifdom ; dumb receive 
 Sharp caftigation, which my lips fliall give. 
 7- On God's behalf thefe methods will you dare ; 
 
 Unjuft in judging, in difpute unfair ? 
 8. To him be partial, half the truth conceal ; 
 
 Then fanflify the fraud and call it zeal ? 
 <). Can you abide his teft ? will foothing flyle, 
 Which men deceives, th' Almighty's ear beguile ? 
 
 lo. If 
 
 Ver. 6. Hear tio-w, &c.] Hear now my reproofs, and hearken to the cenfures' of 
 my lips. 
 
 Ver. 7, 8. Will you fpeak wickedly, tx.c.'\ They fpokezvickedly for God, becaufe 
 to juftify him they were unjuft to their friend ; to fave the honour of providence, 
 they condemned an innocent man. They talked deceitfully for God; becaufe they 
 cunningly kept out of fight the truths that made againft their own caufe ; name- 
 ly, that many very wicked men profper throughout life, and that many inno- 
 cent perfons perifh with the wicked in general calamities. Thus they were par- 
 tial to God; they accepted his perfon, as it is exprefied in the next verfe. 
 
 Ver. 8. Will ye contend for God?] Do you take upon you to be advocates for 
 God? and to defend his providence in this iniquitous manner? Will this pre- 
 tended zeal for his honour proted: you from his refentment? 
 
 Ver. 9. do ye fo mock him] The hebrew word fignifies,. among other meaoings, 
 to flatter^ a perfon's humour at the expence of truth. It is the higheft indignity 
 that can be offered to God, to imagine that we gratify him by bigotry, par- 
 tiality, and unjuft methods of defending religion. 
 
 ' nnDin LXX a=-/x'? reprocj. This is the ufual acceptation of the word in the book of 
 Proverbs. The verb is engliflied to reprove, in the tenth verfe of this chapter. 
 
 • ni>3"l LXX. xfiiTi; reddrgutlo, cenfure. ' 
 
 ^ S~in the derivative noun, rnS"in,!2» 'S engliflied deceits in Ifaiah xxx. 10. it there 
 plainly imports untruths that flatter mens wifties. 6
 
 Chap. XIII. THEBOOKOFJOB. 8j: 
 
 10. If partial thoughts work fecretly within, 
 Tremble ; be certain he will mark the fin. 
 
 11. Shall not his majcfly your fears alarm ? 
 Nor yet the thunder of his lifted arm ? 
 
 I*. What are your boafled maxims? what your heap 
 
 Of fwelling promifcsr I hold them cheap: 
 
 Light as the duft before the rifmg gale ; 
 
 Molehills of fand, as worthlefs and as frail. 
 13. Peace ; unmolelling, while I pour abroad 
 
 My honeft pleadings, by no peril aw'd: 
 
 14. Befall 
 
 Ver. 12. Tcur rememl/rances. Sec.'] Tour memorable fnyings^. Their difcourfes 
 were made up of common-place obfervations, maxims, and proverbs, concern- 
 ing the judgements of God on wicked men ; and of pompous, romantic decla« 
 mations on the worldly felicity of good men. To exprefs his contempt of them, 
 he compares them to dirt ^ndfivelling heaps of mud; which are ealily blown away 
 or fwept down. 
 
 your bodies', &c.] your {"jjelUng heaps are fwelling heaps of mire ^. he means 
 their fwelling heaps of words V their high-flown difcourfes, in particular, on the 
 happy condition of pious and virtuous perfons even in the prefent world '. 
 
 Ver. 13. let ccme on me -what will] We meet with a fimilar mode of Ipeech in 
 the Arabian Anthologia : " I will wipe off this difhonour with my fword, let the 
 decree of God draw upon me what it will""." The meaning is, I will revenge 
 
 the 
 
 •" D3'3~^3T Harir ufes it in his firft dilTertation for a faying of the Koran. Vid. Gol. 
 Gram. Arab, p. 218. 
 
 • D2'2J yourhigh-flomndifciurfiSy^h-Hezxh. vos dlfeurs nifltz, your bomhaji harangues, 
 Crinfoz. Buxtorf, in his Concordance, tranflates it alfttates. It properly fignifies a high 
 htiildlng, Ezek. xvi. 24. Thou haft aljo built unta thee an eminent place. 
 
 k "ij^n i^ud, or mire. Ifaiah x. 6, 
 
 ' Chap. V. 19 — 26. xi, 15—19. " Antholog, p. 355.
 
 86 THEBOOKOFJOB. Ceiap. Xlil. 
 
 14. Befall what will ; I'll put within my hand 
 My trembling life, and every danger fland. 
 
 i^-. Yes, he will flay me (other hope were vain) 
 Yet to his face I will my caufe maintain, 
 
 16. And plead not guilty: his abfolving voice 
 With fweet falvation will my foul rejoice : 
 
 None 
 
 the affront at the hazard of my life. This manner of Ipeaking imports defperate 
 rcfolution. 
 
 Ver. 14. IVherefore'^, Sec] ^t all events I ivill take my flefi iii my teeth^ and 
 put my life in my hand. Thefe are proverbial expreffions : The former is equivalent 
 to, I ivill eat my own fiejh ; that is, I will be my own deftroyer". He means, 
 that he would maintain his ways before Cod., though he were certain to perifli in 
 the attempt. Accordingly lie refolves to expofe himfelf to that danger; I will 
 put my life in my hand": What is carried in the hand may eafily flip out, or be' 
 fnatched away. However faulty thefe fentiments may be in other refpe(5ts ; 
 there is yet a magnanimity in them, which difcovers, in a wonderful manner, 
 the animating force of a clear confcience. 
 
 Ver. 15. 'Though he flay me., &c.] L.0 he will flay me., I expeSl nothing elfe^: »^-' 
 verthekfs I ivill maintain mine own ways before him. He expedled nothing elfe, 
 but that God would cut him off by his prefent difeafe : Yet he refolves, in the 
 face of certain death, to juftify his innocence even to God himfelf. 
 
 Ver, 16. He alfo ^d.\\ be tny falvation'] Mr. Crinfoz remarks, thzt falvation "* 
 
 here 
 
 ■^ nS ^V Super quocumque tandem eventu, notwithjianding any thing, at all events ; as 
 the learned Schultens explains it. He proves that ^y fignifies non objlante in chap. x. 7. 
 "]ny"l ^V notwithjtanding thy knowledge that I am not uuicked. See his Commentary. 
 
 ' Ifaiah ix. 2c. Ecclef. W. 5. 
 
 " Judges xii. 3. See alfoMr. Merrick on the Pfalins, p. 235. 4to. 
 
 ' This is Mr. Heath's tranflation of 'J^Op' \T\ '"HW* K'^ it is agreeable to the text. 
 whereas our Tranflators follow the marginal correiSlion ^\yn l'^ /it/// truji in him. 
 
 '' nyV-* in the Pfalms it fignifies temporal deliverance ; and in Pf. Ixii. 6. it means parti- 
 cularly deliverance from falfe accufers : compare ver. 4. of that pfalm.
 
 Chap. XIII. THE B O O K OF JOB. 87 
 
 None but the wicked his tribunal dread, 
 Guilt in his prefence dares not lift its head. 
 17, 18. Hear, hear, my pleading hear ; the plann'd defence, 
 AfTur'd of noble triumph, I commence ; 
 
 19. Stand forth, accufcr; thy inditemcnt prove, 
 I'll yield to die ; nor will one murmur move. 
 
 20. On two conditions (O indulge that grace) 
 I'll feek no fhelter from thy awful face: 
 
 21. Remove thy crufliing hand far off; and dart. 
 No dreadful radiance to di{lra(5t my heart : 
 
 22. Thou- 
 
 here fignifies the deliverance, or abfalution^ of an accufed perfon ; whofe inno- 
 cence is acknowledged by his judge. Nothing but confcious integrity, and the 
 moft exalted fentiments of the divine equity, could give birth to this noble con- 
 fidence. Our admirable poet has the art of fuftaining the pious character of his 
 chief perfon age, in the midft of the moft daring excefles. 
 
 for an hyprocrite, &c.] But a -prcfligate ^ Jhall not come before him. A wicked 
 man, fuch as you have reprefented me, will not dare to venture on fuch an at- 
 tempt-, much lefs fucceed in it. 
 
 Ver. 17. my declaration'] This is plainly a judicial term, it denotes opening 
 his caufe, or fliewing the matter of his complaint. 
 
 Ver. 19. IVho is be, Sec] Who will appear as plaintiff, or accufer, againft me? 
 
 for now, &c.] for now I will be filent, and will die ; that is, as Mr. Heath ex- 
 plains it, if an accufer appear, and prove his chargej I will notfpeak one word 
 more, but be content to fuffer death as a convid. 
 
 Ver. 20, 21. Only, &c.] See the note on Chap. ix. 34, 35. 
 
 ' ?pn See the note on chap. viii. 13.
 
 S8 THEBOOKOFJOB. Ciiat. XIII. 
 
 2 2. Thou then arraign; I'll anfwer with my pica: 
 Or deign thou anfwer, while I queftion thee : 
 
 23. What, and how many, arcmyfms? reveal 
 
 My crimes, my trcafons, which thy rolls conceal. 
 
 24. What provocation veils thy face in frown r 
 Why me profcribe as rebel to thy crown ? 
 
 25. Shall pow'r almighty give the whirlwind law 
 To tofs a leaf, and perfecute a flraw ? 
 
 26. Decrees fcvere ! my youthful follies thefc 
 
 Now feel thy vengeance O fevere decrees ! 
 
 27. With 
 
 Ver. 22. Then call thou, &c.] This is a flat contradiction to his refolution 
 Chap, ix. 15. But no wonder; he was not mafter of himfelf. A reader who 
 cxpedts coolnefs and confiftency from a man under the agitation of fo many 
 vehement paflions, can hardly be himfelf in his fober fenfes. 
 
 The expreflions clearly import, that he aimed to difpute his caufe, not meer- 
 ly before God as a judge, but with God as a party. For explication of the terms, 
 fee the note on Chap. ix. 16. 
 
 Ver. 23 — 25. Ho-ji} many, tec.'] Here is a rapid fuccelTion of interrogations, 
 •which carries an air of petulance in it. The ftyle is too fplrited to confift with 
 reverence. 
 
 Ver. 24. Wherefore, tcc-l He remonftrates againfl: the treatment he met with, 
 as incongruous to the behaviour he had maintained: juft as if a loyal fubjeft were 
 frowned upon by his prince, and punifhed as a rebel. 
 
 Ver. 25. Wilt thou break, &c.] Here he alleges the difproportion of the 
 means to the end. To employ fuch numerous and fevere afflidtions, to crulh 
 fo feeble a creature, was like raifing a temped to blow away a leaf or a draw. 
 
 Ver. 16. For then writ eft \ &c.] Now he urges the difproportion of the pu- 
 
 nifhment 
 
 ' thou ■wriuft, i. e. thou decreeft. It is a law-term. Compare liaiah Jxv. 6.
 
 Chap. XIII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 89 
 
 27. With bonds, and ftripes, and durance hard, by thee 
 The punifhment of Haves is laid on me : 
 
 28. To rottenncfs and worms a living prey, 
 Like a moth-eaten vefl I wafle away. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 nifliment to the fault. He was confcious of no other fins but the follies of his 
 youth. He imagines he was now fuffering for thofe inadvertencies ; which he 
 thinks extremely hard, as his youth had been in the main a courfe of virtue, fee 
 chap. xxxi. 18. 
 
 Ver. 27. Thouputtejl, &c.l He complains that he was ufed by God as men 
 were wont to ufe their fugitive flaves. that is, his affliftions had expofed him to 
 indignity and infamy equal to what was inflifted on the vileft of mankind. 
 Elihu chaftifeshim for thefe irreverent expreflions chap, xxxiii. 11. 
 
 in theftocksl Mr. Heath's tranflation of this verfe is as follows; 
 
 I'hou putt eft my feet alfo in a cleg\ 
 
 Thou watcheft all my paths. 
 
 Thou fett eft a mark " on the foles " of my feet. 
 
 Thefe expreflions, he thinks, allude to the cuftom of putting a clog on the 
 feet of fugitive flaves, with the owner's mark, that they might be traced and 
 found. Some kind of ignominious punifhment, either of flaves or other male- 
 faftors, is doubtlefs referred to. But till that can be oh good authority afcer- 
 tained, this verfe will remain obfcure. 
 
 A'cr. 2S. And he as a rotten thing, ^cc."] The learned Michaelis" reckons this 
 among the paflages, which refer to Job's difeafe. It certainly anfwers to the 
 defcription chap. vii. 5. It is equally certain, that his difeafe was one confider- 
 
 able 
 
 ' "ID The verb is preferved in Arabic; in which language it fignifies ohftr.uere, to ohftruii^ 
 to put an obftacle in a perfon's way. See Schultens' Comment. 
 
 " I^pnnn The verb ppn properly means to fijrw, or cut with a graving tool J I Kings 
 vi. 3;. with gold fitted upon the carved work, 
 
 * *w*^ti' '/•'^ ^ooti. a man ftands upon the foles of his feet, as a tree on its roots. 
 
 " Not, in PrakiJ, p. 202. 
 
 N
 
 90 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XIV. 
 
 Chap. 
 XIV. 
 Vcr. I. Frail native of the womb, his age a fpan 
 
 Fill'd full with trouble, is thy creature man : 
 
 2. A tender flow'ret, gather'd in its prime, 
 A fhadow gliding o'er the plain of time. 
 
 3. Does this weak thing employ thy jealous eye r 
 
 Its faults the bus'nefs of thy bar fupply ? 
 
 4. From 
 
 able part of his fufFerings, and caufe of the contempt into which he was fallen. 
 But the difficulty lies in the fudden change of the perfon, He as a rotten thing, 
 &c. fuch changes, however, are very common in the facred poems. The ufage 
 alfo of the third perfon for the firft is very frequent in the tragedies of Sopha- 
 cles, This man for /and f}te-\ as the learned Schultens has obferved "". 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 An air of fad folemnity is diffuled over this whole chapter. It is a train of 
 gloomy ideas, rifing fucceflively in a melancholy mind •, and clofing with a 
 fcene highly tragical, the deplorable condition of man in the grave. 
 
 Ver. 2. like a flower — as a JhaJczv} The firft of thefe fimilies beautifully re- 
 prefents the tender compofition of man's elegant frame, which is eafily de- 
 Itroyed by the fmalleft accident: The other illuftrates the emptinefs of his enjoy- 
 ments, and the celerity with which his life is continually hailing to its period. 
 This image in the latter comparifon may be the fhadow caft by the fun upon 
 the earth : But Cocceius underftands it rather of the Ihadow on the fun-dial". 
 Sun-dials were probably as early as the times of Job, being an invention which 
 would naturally occur to the Egyptians or Chaldeans ; who were fuch great 
 Aftronomers. 
 
 Ver. 3. doji thou open thine eyes upon, &c.] This expreffion denotes in Zeeh. 
 
 xii. 
 
 '' CEJipu^ Color.iis. ver. 6-6, 139-1., 154^5 '616, i6;'9. See feveral examples of this idiom 
 among the Greeks and Orientals in Mr. Merrick's note on Pf. xxxiv. 7. 
 
 ^ Mr. Grey, Chappelow, and Heath, are for removing this verfe, and placing it next after 
 the fecond verfe of the following chapter.
 
 Chap. XIV. THEBOOKOFJOB. gt 
 
 4. From a foul fpring can limpid waters run ? 
 Lives there a man from failings pure ? not one. 
 
 5. His date is fliorten'd, and his term aflign'd, 
 The bound unpafTable by thee defin'd : 
 
 6. Yield him fome refpite; turn, O turn away, 
 And leave this hireling to enjoy his day. 
 
 7. A 
 
 xii. 4. to look angrily at another: In that day, faith the lord, I will open mine 
 eyes upon the houfe of Judah, and "will finite every houfe of the people with blind- 
 nefs, 
 
 me'] Mr. Heath renders it /->/;«, as correfponding beft to fucb a one in the 
 former claufe. 
 
 Job argues here, that it is too fevcre to increafe the ordinary affliftions of hu- 
 man life; by animadverting with rigour on luch a frail and fhort-lived creature 
 as man. he fpeaks in general terms, but points in particular to his own cafe. 
 
 Ver. 4. Who can bring, &c.] He now pleads for lenity on account of the na- 
 tural weaknefs of man's moral powers : Imperfedion is entailed on man by his 
 birth. Can fuch a creature be without failures ? 
 
 Ver. 5, 6. Seeing his days^, &c.] He alledges the contrafted limits of human 
 life, and the impoffibility of extending it beyond thofe bounds, as a motive for 
 the intermiflion of his fuiferings; and for allowance of lome little enjoyment to 
 fuch a fhort exiftence. 
 
 ' 'nS me. Air. Heath remarks, that all the ancient verfions, except the Chaidee, read 
 
 ' are determined] CVTH are cut Jl^ort. we tranflate it maimed in Lev. xxii. 22. where it 
 feems to mean the lofs of a limb, or fome part of the body, by amputation, compare the 
 ufe of this word in Ifaiah x. 23. with the LXX, and with Rom. ix. 28. Job probably 
 thought of the longevity of the antediluvian men, and the prefent abbreviation of human 
 life. 
 
 N 2
 
 -,)2 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap.XIV, 
 
 7. A tree "which falls beneath the wounding ftcel^ 
 Hopes a new growth the cruel wound to heal : 
 
 8. Yea though its faplefs bole with age decay, 
 
 The roots half mould'ring in th' unwater'd clay j 
 ^. Touch'd by the vital llreain it buds around, 
 
 Like a young plant, with flow'rs and fruitage crown 'dr. 
 10. But man, expir'd, what latent pow'rs reftore ? 
 Man difappears, and who beholds him more ? 
 
 II. The 
 
 Ver. 7 — 12. For there is hope, &c.] He inforceth his petition for eafe (ver. 6.) 
 by another confideration : There is no coming back from the grave into this 
 world ; to enjoy a fecond life, whofe felicity might make amends for the mifery 
 and infamy he now fufFered. That this is his meaning, appears by the ilurtra- 
 tions which he employs. If a tree, he fays, be cut down to the ground 1 it 
 ■will fpring again from its root, where ? on the very fpot on which it grew be- 
 fore, it is not fo with man when he dieth. If alfo a pool, or lake, which 
 feedeth fome river, be by any accident dried up ; the waters will indeed conti- 
 nue to exift fomewhere, but they will run no more in their former channel : fo 
 is it with man, when he difappeareth from this world; into which he fliall 
 never return. 
 
 Ver. 9. like a plant'] Like one newly planted ; fo the Septuagint tranflates it %. 
 and the fenfe requires. 
 
 Ver. 10. wajleth away^'] The hebrew word fignifies, to be fointirely fubdued 
 and weakened as not to be able to recover. Man when dead has not any 
 llrength or vigorous principle, like the root of a tree that is felled, ranaining 
 in him to renew his life. 
 
 * vio^in-05. Vulg. quafl turn priraum plantatum eft, ai though it were thenfirji planted. 
 
 ■' tybn* See Exod. xvii. 13. Ifaiah xiv. 12. In the former of thefe paflages it is eng- 
 liftied to difcornfit ; in the latter, to iveaken. In Joel iv. 10. * the noun is turned by theLXX. 
 ahtxroi the iveak, or impotent. It fecms to correfpond e.xadtly to the vaatfii x»i*arTai jii!).-i'7r»; 
 Homer. II. y. 278, compare II. ^^. 71, 72, 444. 
 
 • LXX. iu. Id.
 
 Chap. XIV. THE BOOK OF JOB. 9$: 
 
 11. The pool its water lofes, and the ftream 
 Dries to a defert, in the fcorching beam ; 
 
 12. So man is loft: in duft fupine he lies, 
 
 Nor, till the fpheres forget to wheel, fliall rife : 
 While day and night their beauteous order keep, 
 Death binds him faft in ever-during lleep. 
 
 13. O hide me, fcreen me in fepulchral fhade ; 
 Till this fierce tempeft of thy wrath be laid : 
 Set me a feafon, when, with accent mild, 
 Thy voice fliall waken thy remember 'd child. 
 
 14. But 
 
 "Ver. II. the fea] fo the orientals ftyle a lake, or any large body of water, 
 fee the note on ver. 7 — 12, alfo the note on chap. vii. 12. 
 
 Ver. 12. rifeth not, &c.] that is, he rifethnot to a fecond life in this world. 
 See the above note on ver. 7 — 12. and compare chap. vii. 9, 10. 
 
 Ver. 13. 0, thai, &c.] In chap. vii. 9, 10, 11. refledlion on the impolTibi- 
 lity of coming back from the grave into this world, to enjoy a fecond and hap- 
 pier life, and more efpecially to clear his innocence-, had caft him into a 
 paroxyfm of defpair. The fame reflection now occurring again produceth the 
 fame effeft. This paffionate wifh fomewhat refembles that of lo, who in an 
 agony of diftrefs cries out to Jupiter j " Confume me with fire, or hide me 
 under ground, or give me to be food to the fea-monfters '". 
 
 in the grave} injheol. Seethe Appendix to thefe notes. Numb. IT. 
 
 untillthy wrath be pajl} This is ftrange language. His perturbation of mind 
 is fo great, that he fcarce knows what he fays. He thinks God is angry with 
 bim ; and that his anger will continue, fo long as he is in the prefent world : 
 but that if he were removed out of it, God's wrath would fubfide, and in time 
 
 ' In the Prometheus of iEfchylus.
 
 94 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XIV. 
 
 14, But fliall a carcafc, rotted in the tomb, 
 
 Quicken, and flourilli with a rccond bloom ? 
 Patient of Hfc, throughout my fufF'ring flate, 
 I would that blifsful renovation wait. 
 
 15. O 
 
 go off; like man's refentment, when the object of it is kept a confiderable while 
 out of his figlu. 
 
 appoint me a fet time, &c.] He feems to fuppofe, that the flate of death is a 
 (late of infenfibility ' : and begs he may remain in that condition but for a fixed 
 term; and then recover his confcioufnefs, and therewith the favour of God and 
 enjoyment of felicity in a lecond life in the prefent world. This wiQi contra- 
 difts what he had faid but a little before of the impoffibility of returning from 
 the grave to live here again. But we fliould remember the diftradted ftate of 
 his mind. He prcfently however recovers himfelf, fo far as to fee the abfurdity 
 of fuch a wifh : Jf a man die, Jhall he live again ? 
 
 Ver. 14. If a man die Jhall he live again?] He feems to corre6l himfelf for his 
 vain requeft in the foregoing verfe. The fame thought as in ver. 1 2, of the 
 iinpoffibility of a man's returning into the world to live in it again, is here ex- 
 preil in the form of an interrogation. 
 
 all the days, &c.] 
 
 Jll the days of r,iy appointed time ^ I ivoidd ivaity 
 Untill my renovation ^ come. 
 
 He means, I tliink, that if there were a refurreftion to a new life in this world 
 to be hoped for, he would bear his prefent heavy affliflions with unfhaken 
 patience. By his appointed time I underfi;and his now fuffering condition : and 
 by his renovation, his refloration to a fecond life here for the vindication of Jiis 
 character, and the enjoyment of fome happinefs. The tenor of his whole dif- 
 courfe appears to me to fuggeft this interpretation. 
 
 ' Compare Pfa!. vi. ;. 
 
 ^ 'tJDi' my war fare, or appointed time of afHiclion. See chap. vii. i. 
 
 '' '713*711 myfprouting again, it is a metaphor from a tree fpringing again, afier it has 
 been cut down; ver. 7. it willfprout again. The fcptuagint turns it in the verlb before us 
 la-; ai 7ra?j> yivaf/.x\ till I exi/t again.
 
 Chap. XIV. THE BOOK OF JOB. gs 
 
 J 5. O hafte, arraign me, my warm pleadings hear ; 
 And with a father's heart incline thy ear. 
 
 16. Ah! toofevere, obfervant of my ways, 
 Thy mcm'ry numbers every Hep that ftrays : 
 
 17. All annall'd in thy rolls, beneath thy feal, 
 My fms are treafur'd, and thy wrath I feel. 
 
 18. Thy wrath lays defolate this earthy ball, 
 Its rocks are funder'd and its mountains fall. 
 
 19. Thy 
 
 Ver. 15. I'boujhalr call., &c.] Unable to bear the thought of going out of 
 the world under fuch a load of infamy, and having no hope of coming back 
 into it again, to clear his innocence ; He earneftly begs of God to relent 
 towards his creature, and to bring him to immediate trial. 
 
 Call thou, and I will anfwer; 
 
 Have thou a deftre to the work of thine hands. 
 
 The terms call znd anfwer ought furely to be taken in the fame judicial lenfe as 
 in chap. v. 1. xiii. 22. the former denoting the afVion of bringing the com- 
 plaint ; the latter the part of the defendant in replying to it. 
 
 Ver. 16, 17. Fcrnow, &c.] as a contraft to the tender regard he pleaded for 
 in the foregoing verfe, and as a reafon for his urging an immediate trial ; he 
 here fets forth, in judicial exprefllons, the feverity with which God treated 
 him now. 
 
 Ver. 16. For now, &c,] His complaint here fhews, that his difcontent 
 with the ways of providence is ftill incre.ifing : And thus the bufinefs of the 
 poem, which is to expofe that offence, is going forward. 
 
 Ver. 17. thou fowejt up 'mine iniquity. "l Thou recordeji ' inine iniquity. This cir- 
 cumftance, though mentioned lad, comes in order before the other : for the 
 record muft be made up, before it is fealed and put in a place of fecurity. 
 
 Ver. 1 8 — 22. Andfnrely, &c.] Here is an abrupt tranfition to Ibme other mat- 
 ter, 
 
 ^ ^fJiSn " "o*^ '" aregijler, as Mr. Heath turns it ; anJ fo the LXX. iinsmiivx.
 
 ^6 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XIV. 
 
 1 9. Thy headlong torrents through the vaUies found, 
 Burft the ftonc bridges, fcoop the folid ground, 
 
 Ravage 
 
 ter, after the manner of the Arabian poets ^ He pafTeth, if I miftake not, 
 from his own particular affliilions to the calamitous ftate of this world in ge- 
 neral; inftancing earthquakes, inundations, and the wafte of mankind by death: 
 all which he confiders as effedts of the wrath of God againft the fins of men '. 
 compare ver. 1 3. 
 
 Ver. 18. The mountain falling, &c.] by an earthquake, fee the note on chap, 
 ix. 5. 
 
 Ver. 19. I'heivaters^ &c ] I underftand this verfe to be a defcription of defo- 
 lating land-floods, or torrents, occafioned by the falling of the autumnal or ver- 
 nal rains in too great abundance. 
 
 The -waters dojh in pieces "" theftones. 
 
 Their overflowijigs " wajh away the foil of the earth, 
 
 And thou dejlroyejl the hope of man. 
 
 the hope of man'] that is, the hope of the hufbandman; the fruits of the ground, 
 whether in the vineyard or in the fields. 
 
 The yellow harvefts of the ripen'd year, 
 And flatted vineyards, one fad wafle appear: 
 When Jove defcends in fluicy flieets of rain. 
 And all the labours of mankind are vain. 
 
 Pope's Horn. II. v. 117, &c. 
 
 ^ Vid. Pocock in carmen Tograi. p. 50. 
 
 ' See chap. ix. 5,6. Homer alfo reprefents deluges as divine punifhments of injufiice. 
 11. xvi. 38^, &c. 
 
 "" Tpnti' it fignifies not a gentle but a violent attrition and diflipation, as appears by the 
 literal and figurative ufe of this word in the hebrew bible. See Exod. xxx. 36. Pf. xviii. 43. 
 
 " n*n'.>'D The verb fignifies in Chaldee /a ;w?w/^ ; in Arzh'tc, to pour out. Vid. Caftell. 
 Lex Hept. with regard to the conftrudtion, the mafculiiie plural n'n'3D 's the nominative to 
 the verb 'pt^n fingular and feminine : and the affix n refers to the dual number C\'3 as 
 its antecedent. Thefe are common enallages in the Ar.ibic language. Vid. Shultens' 
 Comment. i
 
 Chap. XIV. THE BOOK OF JOB. 97 
 
 Ravage the fields, and with impetuous fway 
 Hurry the rural hope of toiling man away. 
 
 90. O'er weeping man thy legion'd ills prevail, 
 His face thou changell into fickly pale : 
 Then fudden to the nether fhades he's hurl'd. 
 Cut oflF from all communion with the world ; 
 
 21. Unknowing what befalls his children here, 
 Unfharing in the triumph and the tear : 
 
 28. His corfe, meanwhile, in forrow waftes away, 
 
 And his loft breath laments its mould'ring clay. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Ver. 20. Thou prevaileft, &c.] This expreflion referreth to the conftant and 
 irrefiftable operation of the fentence of mortality, which is pafled upon all 
 men, 
 
 'Thou changeji, &c.] Too often we behold, with a figh, this funeral prefage 
 in the altered looks of our valuable friends and beloved relations, 
 
 Ver. 21, His fans, &c,] The heart of every tender parent feels the force of 
 tiiis pathetic fentiment. 
 
 Ver, 22, But his flejh^ &c.] As the two foregoing verfes fpoke of man de- 
 parted into another world, it is moll natural to underiland this verfe to relate to 
 the fame fubjeft. According to the following tranllation', which the original 
 will allow, we are prefented with a tragical pidlure of man's condition in the 
 grave : 
 
 But over ^ him his flejh jhall grieve % 
 And over him his breath 'Jhall mourn. 
 
 In 
 
 • Suggefted in part by the learned Schultens. 
 
 f V?^ over, ox for, him Amos vi. 6. they are not grieved for the affliSllcn ofjofeph. Vid. 
 Noldium. 
 
 '' D^?^ to beforrovful, as in Prov. xiv. 13. ihe heart isforrouful. The adjective bears the 
 fame acceptation in Arabic. See the Arabic vcrfion of the Pfalms, Pf. xxxiv. 17. 
 
 ' 1{i^S3 his breath, ch, xli. 21, (Hcb. ver. 13.) his breath kindleth coals. 
 
 o
 
 9« THE BOOK OF JOB, Chap. XV. 
 
 Chap. 
 XV. 
 I, 2. T]ic Tcmanite reply'd: What florm is this, 
 
 From our wife man, of pride and emptinefs ! 
 
 This, wifdom's language ? is a wife man's mind 
 
 Big with the poifon of an eaftern wind > 
 
 2' And will he thus abufe the pow'rs of breath. 
 
 To vent opinions raifchievous as death.' 
 
 4. Death 
 
 In the daring fpirit of oriental poetry, the fejh, or body, and the breath are 
 made confcious beings ; the former lamenting its putrefaftion in the grave, the 
 latter mourning over the mould'ring clay which it once enlivened. 
 
 C H A P. XV. 
 
 The poem is now all in a flame. Even Eliphaz has loft temper. He vents 
 himfelf in bitter farcafms and reproaches ; charging Job's replies with impiety, 
 felf-fufficiency, contempt of his elders, and intolerable arrogance towards God 
 himfelf. ver. i. to the end of ver. 16. 
 
 The fecond part of the fpeech, ver. 1 7 — 30, is a citation of an old Arabian 
 poem ', the fubjeft whereof is the vengeance of God on fome tyrannical princes: 
 For Eliphaz and his companions fuppofed Job to be of that charafter. 
 
 He concludes, by way of application, with his own comminations on all who 
 abufe the power intrufted to them, and make a fale of juftice. The drift of 
 the whole is to vindicate providence, to expofe Job as an objeft of divine wrath, 
 and to terrify him, if poflible, into a confeffion of his guilt, ver. 31 — 35. 
 
 Ver. 3. unprofitable — can do no good] Thefe negative expreffions muft here 
 fignify highly per/iicious, by a figure of fpeech called meiofis. otherwife the 
 thought in this verfe will fink into fiatnefs. for in the foregoing verfe, he had 
 charafterifed Job's opinions by the ftrong image of the eafi wind. In thoffe 
 climates, both in fpring and fummer, if the eaft-wind blows for fome days ', all 
 
 the 
 
 ' — ■ — ' ' I p ' III ■ ■ 
 
 ' See Michaclis on the Pralci'fions, 
 ' Rlichaelis in Pra-l(S?. p. 23. n. 22.
 
 Chap. XV. THE BOOK OF JOB, 99 
 
 4. Death to religion, to all virtue bane. 
 
 Thy words the lifted hand of pray'r reflrain. 
 
 £. Thy mouth bewrays, fpite of its glozing art^ 
 Th' impiety clofe-lurking in thy heart : 
 
 6. By thy own mouth condemn'd, what need of mine ? 
 Sufficient voucher for thy guilt is thine. 
 
 7. Born 
 
 the fields are burnt, fo as that fcarce any green thing remains ; moft of the 
 civers and fountains are dried up, and nature itfelf feems almoft to die, 
 
 Ver. 4. Tea thou cafteth off f ear ^ &c.] He taxeth Job's dodrine of an unequal 
 providence with impiety. It tended, he fays, to fubvert religion j by confound- 
 ing all diftinftionof charafters in the diftribption of good and evil. That he 
 refers to this doftrine, appears by his afking Job, in ver. 7, 8, whether he had 
 been in the council of God ; fince he pretended to be better informed in the plan 
 of providence than they ? 
 
 Thou cafteth off] The hebrew word imports difannulling^ or making void" a 
 moral bond or obligation. The obligation of religion is broken, he fays, by 
 Job's principle that God deftroyeth the perfeSl and the -wicked ". The wicked, 
 then, have nothing to fear ; nor the pious any thing to hope from him. In 
 Ihort, the providence which Job contended for, was, in this man's account, 
 no providence at all ; and nothing better than downright atheifm. 
 
 Ver. 5, 6. For thy mouth, &c.] Behold the progrefs of bigotry and unchari- 
 tablenefs. He firft falfely accufeth his friend of having vented atheillical prin- 
 ciples ; and then concludes, that there wanted no other evidence to prove him 
 a wicked man. 
 
 Thou chufeft the tongue of the crafty"] He gives this invidious turn to Job's pro- 
 teftations of innocence, prayers, and appeals to God ; which he reprefents as 
 an artful addrefs to the pafllons of the hearers ; to blind their judgement, and 
 deceive them into a favourable opinion of his piety. 
 
 " "ISn Numb. XXX. 14, 15. But if he (the hufband) Jhallany ways mah tUm (the vow» 
 if the wife) void, afttr that ht hath heard them, &c. 
 
 * Chap. ix. zi. 
 
 O Q.
 
 100 THE BOOK OF JO^. Chap. xV. 
 
 7. Born before Adam, fliw thy favour'd eyes 
 The wood-crown'd hills from eldeft ocean rife ? 
 
 8. Hall thou in the celeftial fynod flood ? 
 
 The counfels heard, th' Almighty's edids view'd * 
 Doll thou polTefs the fecrets of his rule ? 
 Thou only wife, and every man a fool ? 
 9, 10. What boafts thy knowledge above ours? Behold, 
 With us the head in grave experience old ; 
 Yea th' old old man, to whofe low-bending years 
 Thy father's wrinkled age as youth appears. 
 II. Mean are divine emollients? held for vile, ..* 
 
 ■ Friendfliip's monitions couch'd in friendly flyle? 
 
 12. Whither 
 
 Ver. 7 — 10. Art thou., &c.] He now chaftifeth him for having prefumed 
 to underftand the ways of God, better than they who were fo much his elders. 
 
 Art thou the firji man., &c.] Waft thou born before Adam ' .? The farcafm in 
 this, and in the following verfe, is fevere but noble : perfeftly in the lofty man- 
 ner of this fpeaker. The quellion amounts to aflcing, if he was fome fuperior 
 being who exifted before the world? compare Pfalm xc. 2. Prov. viii. 25. 
 
 Haft thou, heard., &c.] Hafi thou been a hearer in the counciV of God? Haft thou 
 been prefent, when the angelic afiembly were in waiting before the throne of 
 God '•, to give account of their miniftry ; and to receive frefli orders refpeding 
 the affairs of providence in our world ? 
 
 Ver. II. the confohtions of God] So he Ityles their promifes of a fpeedy re- 
 
 eftablinimenc 
 
 C^ii pll""in 'i-f i TO? TM Ada;*. The Chaldce turns this claufe, wert ihrn bom in the 
 times b.fore Adam, wthout father and mother F Had the meaning been aii ih:u iheJir/1 man^ 
 the original niuft have run •|1ti>»"P ClJ^H (Vid. Schultcns' Comment ) as -j^lp C-l.N the 
 fir/l man, in the Targum on Pf. Ixxiv. 10. 
 
 *' "t'lDIl '''■ tl'^ ccur.cil, or ajjembly as our Tranflators render it in Pf, cxi. i. Jer. vi. 11. 
 1 1 ought alfo to have been turntd council (not counfel) in Jer. x.xiii. 18. 
 '- Job i. f'.
 
 Chap. XV. THE BOOK OF JOB. loi 
 
 12. Whither will headlong pride impell thy foul ? 
 How fiercely wild thy flafhing eye-balls roll, 
 
 13. Thy fpirit turning upon God again, 
 And pafllon raving in audacious ftrain ! 
 
 14. <' What, purenefs challeng'd by a child of dull ? 
 " By woman-born, the lofty ftyle of juft? 
 
 15. " Not 
 
 eftablifliment of his felicity, on condition of his repentance. He gives them 
 the pompous appellation of divine confolations, on account of their pretended 
 excellence. 
 
 Is there any. Sec] According to Schultens the tranQation fhould be ; 
 
 ^nd gentle ' difcourfe ^ to thee ? 
 
 He means hy gentle difcourfe their dijiant intimations of his guilt, their warnings 
 infinuated in the way of examples, and their exhortations to^ confeffion and 
 amendment. On all which, as well as on their confolations. Job had poured 
 contempt; particularly in chap.xiii. 12. 
 
 Ver. 12,13. ^^h '^^^ thine heart, &c.] This reprehenfion points in parti- 
 cular to thofe too high-fpirited expoftulations, in chap. xiii. 22, tkc. 
 
 and vjhat do thine eyes loink at .<*] Wherefore do thine eyes lock fierce " ? Excruci- 
 ating pain, anguilh of mind, and indignation at their cruel treatment had given, 
 perhaps, an air of wildnefs and tiercenels to his countenance; which this inhu- 
 man cenfor attributes to paflion againll God. 
 
 ' DX*? ad knitudinem, ge/it/y; as our cnglifli bible turns it, in II S.-jm. xviii. 5. Denl 
 gently for my fake rvttb th^ young man. The root h 'C^^H lints full, fo it fignifies in Arabic. 
 Vid. Comment. Schulrens. . .• 
 
 '' "^m a fcries of words, or tali as it is rendrcd in vcr. 3. unprofitable talk. 
 
 ' T\tIlT Ttiis word is no where clfs found in the hebrcw bible. It is, however, hap- 
 pily prelerved in the Arabic language: where, according to Schulicns, it fignifies to he in a 
 rage, to fccivl, to have a wild and thrcotning Icok ; being a metaphor either from the growling 
 of a bead of prey, or froai theafpcdt and rumbling of a thunder-cloud.
 
 ^oi THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XV, 
 
 15. " Not pure, not juft, before his piercing fight, 
 " Are ev'n his holy miniflers of light : 
 
 16. " How then, that foul abominable thing, 
 
 " Who fins as eager as he quaffs his fpring ?" 
 
 17. Hear thou my dodrine, what thefe eyes atteft, 
 
 18. By ancient bards in living verfe exprefl: 
 A line of worthies, in fucceffion long, 
 
 With faithful voice roll'd down th' immortal fong ; 
 
 19. For 
 
 Ver. 14,15. Wbai is man. Sec.'] His citation of the oracle (chap. iv. 17, &c.) 
 a fecond time, is intended as a reproach of Job's difobedience to it by perfifling 
 to juftify himfelf to God. 
 
 How much more abominable, &c,] In the firft recital of the oracle, the appli- 
 cation was addrefled to mankind in general (chap. iv. 19.) But the words abo- 
 viinable'^ znd fl(hy% which he now ufeth, are, in fcripture, epithets of the 
 vileft fins and finners : And the ftrong phrafe which drinketh iniquity like water [ 
 implies committing crimes without reluctance, yea with eagernefs and guft; 
 which is an effeft of inveterate habits only. All this perfeftly agrees with their 
 injurious idea of Job ; to whom the application is now perfonally made. 
 
 How much lefs^ (clean in his fight, ver. 15.^ is the abominable and filthy man^y 
 tvho drinketh iniquity like water ? 
 
 Ver. 17 — 19. Iwilljhew thee, &c.] Bildad had quoted half a dozen lines of 
 
 the 
 
 ' n'^t^J See Levit. xviii. 30. Pfalm xiv. f, 3. 1 Pet. iv. 3. 
 
 ' Prov. xix. 28, The mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity. 
 
 ' 'D ^K Chap. ix. 14. Hoiv much lefs Jhall I anfiver him P 
 
 » ty'X the man. Pf.cxii. i. niH' JlN N"i' ti"N Hti'K Bleffid h the man thztftardb 
 iht Lird. t
 
 Chap. XV. THE BOOK OF JOB. 103 
 
 19. For wifdom fam'd, on whofe high-favour'd land 
 Invafion's foot was never known to ftand. 
 
 20. " The tyrant, all his days of dreaded pow'r, 
 
 " In dark fufpicion of its fatal hour, 
 
 *' His 
 
 the ancient poetry, that were in the proverbial ik.y\t '. Eliphaz is going to cite a 
 much larger number ; of the defcriptive kind, and in a fublimer ftrain. He pre- 
 faceth the citation with obferving ; firft, that the fafts alledged in thefe verfes 
 were verified by his own experience ; that "dihich I have feen, I will declare, fe- 
 condly, that thefe verfes contain the obfervations of the wife in very ancient 
 ages i and iiad been carefully conveyed down by oral tradition to the prefent 
 times -, which wife men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it : and third- 
 ly, that thefe traditional verfes had been preferved pure and perfeft, by means 
 of the peculiar circumftances of the perfons through whofe hands they had palT- 
 ed: for no foreign colony had intermixed with them; titito whom alone the land- 
 was given. Neither had their country ever been conquered, and no flranger came 
 upon tbctn^; characters, which determine the country, fpoken of, to he Arabiit 
 Felix ' ; and confequently the cited poem to be an Arabian poem. 
 
 Ver. 18. have told] that is, have expreffed in memorial verfes : for this was 
 the ancient mode of conveying inftrudlion "". Poetry was the favourite ftudy of 
 the Arabs in the earlieft times, and was ufed as the vehicle of all their know- 
 ledge ". 'Tis further obfervable, that Eliphaz fays, have told, not have written : . 
 He fpeaks therefore of times anterior to the invention of letters. 
 
 Ver.. 20, &c. The wicked man. Sec] We have here the pleafure of reading a 
 
 piece 
 
 ' Chap. viii. 1 1, iz, 13. 
 
 *" BSin^ "ir ^DV is} LXX. «« t7ir,\6it awioyim? Ew' ttv.a.:, 210 fivanger came upon them. 
 See Joel iii. 17. Heb. iv, 17. 
 
 ' Mr. Le Clerc fuppofes, with great probability, thztihe wife men, whom Eliphaz fpeaks • 
 of, were the JoSianida, the pure original Arabs, defcendants of Jocktan the fon of Eber ; . 
 who fettled in jlrabia Felix, which they enjoyed ahne : They became famous for their wif- 
 dom, that is, philofophy. Vid. Pocock. Specim^ hijl. Arab, p. 3, 6. and 1 Kings iv. 30.. 
 The Queen of Sheba was of this country. 
 
 " See the note on chap. viii. 10. 
 
 * Pocock. Spedm. hiji. Arab. p. 138, 159,
 
 104 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XV. 
 
 «' His own foul tortures with divining fears : 
 2 1." He flarts, dire noifes cccho in his ears ; 
 
 " He hears the ruflEian's ilep, in peace profound, 
 " He trembles at th' imaginary wound ; 
 
 22. " His confcious heart defpairing to evade 
 
 " The midnight vengeance of the watching blade ; 
 
 23. " An exile now, unfriended, hard belled, 
 
 " Wand'ring, inquiring, crouching low for bread ; 
 
 " He 
 
 piece of poetry, that was the produftion of Arabia Felix ; more ancient, per- 
 haps, than the old Caananitifh fong quoted by Mofcs", and no lefs admirable 
 for its fublimity than venerable for its age. The citation ends with the thir- 
 tieth verfe : For that verfe clofeth the defcription which begins at this twentieth 
 verfe. 
 
 travelleth with pain] tcrmentetb himfelf^. He is in perpetual dread of fome 
 tragical cataftrophe. 
 
 Ver. 2\. A dreadful foundy &c.] A dreadful found is in his ears, that in peace'* 
 the defrayer will come upon him. When there are no figns of invafions, infurrec- 
 tions, or plots againft him, his difturbed imagination is continually prefenting 
 deftrudion to him. This is ftrong painting. 
 
 Ver. 22. He helieveth not, &c.] His delpair of efcaping fome unhappy end, 
 aflafllnation for inftance, is defcribed here : 
 
 He helieveth not that he fhall return out of darknefs. 
 But (believeth) that he is watched for' of the fword. 
 
 Ver. 23. He wandereth, &c.] This abrupt tranfition, 10 the punifhment of the 
 
 wicked 
 
 " Numb. xxi. 27, zS. 
 
 P bVinnrj t^-^-'M Ti/AafBasw? tormenting himfelf, as Grotius explains it. Buxtorf, in his 
 Hebrew concordance, renders it, dolor e je conficit. It is engtilhed was exceedingly grieved, in 
 Edher iv, 4. 
 
 '' CI/jyD St. Jerom's verfion is free and clear ; et cum pax fit, ille femper inftdias fufpi'^ 
 cotur, and ivhcn there is peace, be is always fufpicious of plots. 
 
 ' l£3i Pf- xxvii. 32. Tlie wicked ivatcheth the righteous, andfeektth to fay him.
 
 Chap, XV. THEBOOKOFJOB. lo^ 
 
 *' He knows, he knows his predctermin'd doom, 
 " Sees it arriv'd, the day of direful gloom : 
 
 34. *' Gigantic 
 
 wicked oppreflbr, admirably exprefleth the fuddennefs of the event ; and prefents 
 him to our very fight in a moll: deplorable ftate of calamity. It was no uncom- 
 mon thing, in ancient times, to fee bad princes expelled their dominions, and 
 reduced to beggary in a foreign land. Homer alludes to fuch examples, in thofe 
 beautiful lines v/here Achilles fays to king Priam ; 
 
 Two urns by Jove's high throne have ever floods 
 The fource of Evil one, and one of Good ; 
 From thence the cup of mortal man he fills, 
 BlefTings to thefe, to thofe diftributes ills •, 
 To moft he mingles both : The wretch decreed 
 To tafte the bad, unmix'd, is curft indeed ; 
 Purfu'd by wrongs, by meagre famine driv'n. 
 He wanders, outcaft both of earth and heav'n, 
 
 Mr. Pope's Iliad, B. xxiv. 563 ', &c. 
 
 He itioweth, &c.] He knoweth by experience', that a day of darknefs was de- 
 creed " ; it hprefent to him ". He had lived in terrible apprehenfions of this da^ 
 of darknefs, or time of vengeance \ He now finds by experience, that fuch a 
 fatal day was preordained to his crimes. The day of the wicked means the 
 time appointed in the counfels of God for the punifhment of his wickednefs. 
 Pf xxxvii. 13. 
 
 ' In the original, ver. 527, &c. 
 
 ' W He knoweth by experience: fo it fignifies chap. v. 25. Thou Jhalt know alfo that thy 
 feed Jljoll be great, &c. 
 
 " pDJ decreed, eftablifhed by the decree of God, Gen. xli. 32. the thing is ejlahlijhed by 
 God. 
 
 ' 1*1*3 '*' is in his hand, i. e. before him, in his prefence. Thus in the apocryphal book 
 of Efther, chap. xiv. 4. the queen fays to God, my danger is in mine hand. In Arabic the 
 phrafe V"l* ]'3 's frequently ufed for coram eo, in his prefence. See the Arabic verfion of 
 flie Pfalms, Pf. v. 5. ix. 3. 
 
 * Ver. 22. He believeth not that htjhall return out of darknefs, 
 
 P
 
 io6 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XV. 
 
 24. " Gigantic Woe and defperatc Remorfe 
 
 " AfTail, diftract, o'crpow'r him; liJce the force " 
 *' Of fome great fultan, when he pours his might 
 " On the bold fatrap who provokes the fight. 
 
 25. " This is the daring criminal, whofe pride 
 " With lofty arm the thunderer defy'd; 
 
 26. " Who 
 
 Ver. 24. Trouble and anguijh, &c.] One of theft terms meaneth, I fuppofe, 
 his outward calamities ; the other, his defpair. To exprefs both in the language 
 of lubUmity, and withal to give a ftrong idea of the number and irrefiftable 
 violence of his difhrefTes, the Poet reprefents trouble and anguijh as perlbns, and 
 leaders of a formidable army of evils ; attacking and overpowering this high, 
 delinquent. He illuftrates this thought by the fimile of a monarch, who with, 
 his whole force falls upon one of his great lords that is in open rebellion againlt 
 him i as Grotius explains the comparilbn : as a kiiig ready to the battle. 
 
 Ver. 25 — 28. For he ftretcheth out, &c.] The poet breaks the thread of his 
 defcription of this wicked man's ^kht/Zimw;/, to delineate his crimes;, which are 
 impiety'', luxury % and rapacity ". 
 
 He Jlretcheth out, &c.] Thefe images are borrowed from the fingle combat^ 
 which was much in praftice in the ancient wars. Stretching out the hand is the 
 attitude of defiance : ftrengtbening himfelf, or behaving hintfelf infolently, mzy 
 denote the haughty terms of the challenge j and running, &c. the intrepidity 
 and fury of his attack. Thefe bold metaphors are intended to exprefs the moft 
 daring impiety, atrocious violation of the laws of God with contempt of his 
 vindiftive juftice. The whole may be thus ttanflated,. 
 
 For he Jlretched out his hand agaiitft Gad^ 
 And lade defiance "■ to the Almighty.. 
 
 1 Ver. 2;, *6. 2. Ver. 27. • Ver. 28. 
 
 * So Mr. Fleath turns l^.in' The LXX. render it by rpx"'^*'-* which fignifies, fays 
 Drufius, calluin attollo, fuperblo, ferocio. The Hebrew word in this conjugation imports lite- 
 rally, to make himfelf a mighty man. The idea, which it contains, is opened and extended 
 in Pf. xii. 3, 4, s, 3
 
 Chap. XV. THEBOOKOFJOB. 107 
 
 26. " Who flretching out his neck, in open field, 
 " Rufli'd on the terrors of the blazing fliicld. 
 
 27. " His heav'n was riot, and his god was wine, 
 
 " Fat cloath'd his ample face, and fat his fpreading loin: 
 2.8. " By rapines rich, by defolations great, 
 
 " The ruin'd city and the pillag'd flate. 
 29. " 'Tis wealth accurs'd, pow'r for a feafon tall, 
 
 " On canker'd root, afpiring but to fall : 
 
 30. *' Dark 
 
 He ran upon him with his neck''. 
 Upon the thick bofs of bis buckler. 
 
 Homer gives to Jupiter a fpear and a Ihield. The fcripture poets arm the Al- 
 mighty with a fhield, afword, and a bow. 7' "■' ' 
 
 Ver. 27. hecoveretb—andmakethy&cc.'] he covered — and made, ^c. This verfe 
 is a graphical defcription of luxury, compare Pf. Ixxiii. 7, 8. 
 
 Ver. 28. And he dwelleth, &c.] And he dwelled, &c. The foregoing verfe 
 marked the fenfuality of this wicked man. The charafter would have been left 
 unfinilhed, had the poet added nothing concerning the oppreffions by which that 
 luxury was fupported. I think therefore, that by dwelling in defolate cities, &c. 
 muft be underftood his getting pofleflion of them by conqueft ; and depopulat- 
 ing them partly by his fword, and partly by fevere contributions and taxations. 
 
 Ver. 29. Hejhall not, &c.] The poem here returns to the defcription of this 
 man's catajlrophe. 
 
 He Jhall not continue to be rich ■*, 
 
 Neither 
 
 ' ■^XVi'l cum prono cello, with his neck ftooping and ftretched out; the very attitude of 
 a combatant running upon his adverfary, as Mr. Le Clerc, I think, has remarked. 
 
 '' "lii'y K? Hejhall rut continue to be rich. A verb is fometimes to be underftood of the 
 continuation of the ailion exprefled by that verb. V id. GuasinsG rammat.Hel'. vol. i. 
 p. J. 8. 
 
 P 2
 
 io8 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XV. 
 
 30. " Dark clouds involve him, on his branching head 
 *' Devouring flames fierce devailation fpread : 
 
 '' Uprooted by the furious breath of heav'n, 
 
 " Impetuous down his mountain's lleep he's driv'n." 
 
 31. Woe to the man who by oppreffion climbs. 
 Drunk with fuccefles, and fecure in crimes : 
 
 32. For 
 
 Neither Jhall Bis power ' endure. 
 
 Neither Jhall their profperity^ Jirike,rooti upon the earth. 
 
 This is a negative manner of exprefllng the total overthrow of fuch men's great- 
 nefs and felicity. 
 
 Ver. 30. He Jloall not depart, &c.] he fliall not come out of his calamities. 
 The deftruftion of the tyrant, vsrith his whole family and fort\ines, is here repre- 
 fented by that of a lofty tree -, which on fome dark tempelluous day is fired by 
 Jightning, torn up by the wind, and hurled down the precipice on which it 
 grew. 
 
 Ver. 31. Let not him, &c.] Efiphaz now fpeaks in his own perfon, and de- 
 nounceth a commination, grounded on the example in the lines juft cited, againffi 
 all who raife themfclves to wealth and power by iniquitous means ; pointing in 
 particular to Job. 
 
 Let him not trujl inprofperity ^, who is intoxicated ' therewith : 
 
 For 
 
 ' 7'n fignifiss/iojwr very frequently. 
 
 ' ObiS their profperity, as Mr. Heath turns it. The root n?J 's in Arabic, ajfecutus 
 tft, bhiinuit votumfcopumque. T\1^'Q therefore isfuccefs, or a ftate in which all things go 
 according to a man's wifhes and endeavours. Schultens. 
 
 ^ T\\y i< 7 fi'^i^ *'ot extend, viz. its roots ; nan radices aget in terram, Schultens : more 
 arborum quae radices fuas longe lateque extendunt. Drufius. 
 
 '■ "ityD it fignifies in Arabic, an equUibriurn, and is applied to the fun in his meridian 
 altitude ; and in metaphor denotes the height of profperity. Schultens. 
 
 ' ni'nj qui eiindriatus infanit.^ Ifaiah xxviii. 7^ xix. 13, 14. Hof. iv. 12. Schultens.
 
 Chap. XV. THEBOOKOFJOB. ie<> 
 
 32. For bitter change fhall come: untimely blafl 
 His boughs {hall wither, and his fruit fhall cafl: ; 
 
 33. As when the vine her half-grown berries fhow'rs, 
 Or poifon'd olive her unfolding flow'rs. 
 
 34. Know all the wicked, all the venal crew, 
 
 Their fplendid tents the Ikulking bribe fliall rue : 
 A fire it kindles, and the flame fupplies, 
 Till the gay fcene a difraal defert lies. 
 
 ^S' S^ee 
 
 For his change ^ Jhall be mifery '. 
 
 Ver, 32. It Jhall be^ ^c] It, the calamitous change before mentioned _/5(7//^tf 
 eccomplijhed before his time; that is, before his days are fulfilled : He Ihall perifh 
 by an untimely death. 
 
 His branch Jball not be green'\ Jhallnot cantiitue green "". His fate fhall be like 
 that of a vine, or olive, that is withered by drought, or by a poifonous eaft- 
 wind ; as it follows in the next verfe. 
 
 Ver. 33. He Jhall fiake off., &c.] The green grapes Ihew themfelves early in 
 the fpring ", in thofe hot climates ; and the olive bloHbrns in June and July ° j. 
 in which months a burning peftilential eaft-wind bloweth there p. 
 
 Ver. 34. Hypocrites'] Profligates, it is clear, th.z.x. the congregation of hypocrites 
 and the tabernacles of bribery mean one and the fame charafler ; fuch impious. 
 
 oppreflbrs 
 
 k irm^n it is engllfhed «vA(7»g'^ chap, xxviu. 17. and the exchange of it Jhall not be for 
 jewels of flue gold. A change of condition, from good to bad, is like an exchange of a valu- 
 able commodily for another that is nothing worth. 
 
 ' NVw vanity^ that is, mifery. So it is ufed chap vii. 3. / am made to pojfefs. months ff/T 
 mfcry. 
 
 ■>■ So in ver. 29. He ftyall net continue to be rich. See the note. 
 
 » Cantic- ii. n, 1 ;. vii. 12. 
 
 • See Johnfon's Herbal. 
 
 p Ch.ip xxvii. 2. ■ Ezek. xvii, 10. Jonah \v. 7, 8. Vid. Michaelis in FreeleST. p. 39j> 
 B. 41. Schultens in Job xxvii. 22.
 
 iiiD THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XV. 
 
 35. See now oppreflion, (and its boafted gain) 
 Conceiv'd and ulher'd into birth in vain: 
 The flatt'ring crime, with fo much anguifli bred, 
 Tm-ns all its plagues on its own parent's head. 
 
 Chap. 
 XVI. 
 i, 2. Dull ecchos of dull things too long, reply'd 
 
 The fufF'ring man, my patient ear have try'd. 
 
 Officious 
 
 oppreflbrs as are defcribed in the Arabian poem, which he had been reciting. 
 See the note on chap. viii. 13. 
 
 Ver. 35. I^hey conceive., &c.] 
 
 They conceive mif chiefs, and bring forth iniquity ' : 
 But their belly prepared a cheat ' to themfclves. 
 
 Mifchief and iniquity, that is, mifchievous iniquity, undoubtedly mean the 
 fchemes of injuftice which they ccnceiie : and they are laid to bring forth thofe 
 fchemes, when they carry them into execution. But it turns out, that the 
 wrong, which tney defign and do to others, proves a cheat ; that is, the caufe 
 of their own dellruftion. That this is a true explication of the words, appears 
 from the parallel paflage •, Pf. vii. 14, 16. (Heb. ver. 15, 17.) Behold he tra- 
 vaileth' with iniquity ", and hath conceived '" mifchief, and brought forth afalfhood ''. 
 His mifchief fhall return upon bis own head, and his violent dealing ' fhall come down 
 upon bis own pate. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 Such a fpeech as the foregoing was admirably fitted to carry on the defign of 
 the poem, by irritating die paffions of Job, and inflaming his difcontent with the 
 ways of providence. In this part of his reply, he exprefieth his refentment in a 
 
 moving 
 
 b^y ' r»* . ' no-ID ' b:^rv 
 
 pK * nin ' bus " np::? * lOan
 
 Chap. XVI. THEBOOKOFJOB. m 
 
 Officious to torment I find you all, 
 
 Your documents are flings, your comforts gall. 
 
 3. "With endlefs brawl lliall declamation roar I 
 What rous'd thy paffion to one terapefl more ? 
 
 4. Would I thus pour rough anfwers in your ear. 
 Hard as your hearts, and as your ftyle fevere. 
 Or fhake the fcomful head, fliould Heav'n aflign 
 Your fouls the miferable place of mine ? 
 
 5. Ah ! no foft pity fliould infpire my phrafe, 
 
 I'd footh your forrows and your courage raife. 
 
 6. For me O what fliall mollify my grief? 
 
 Nor plaining yields, nor filence yields relief: 
 
 7. And now, I faint beneath its fwelling load. 
 Thy fland'rous tongue unpeoples my abode : 
 
 8. I'm 
 
 moving reprefentation of their Inhumanity' ; in vehement defcription of tlieir 
 brutal ufage' ; and in affecting remonftrances to God, for delivering him into- 
 the hands of thefe unmerciful men ". He concludes with renewed and moft 
 folemn aficvcrations of his innocence", and an earneft petition to be brought to 
 immediate trial before God . 
 
 . Ver. 4, 5. lalfo could fpeak, &c.] This reproof is inimitably tender, and at 
 the fame time exquifitely keen. 
 
 Ver. 7. But now he hath, &c.] But now it (my grief" ver. 6.) bath made me 
 vceary. My affliflion is become infupportablc, fincel can find no relief either 
 
 from 
 
 .■— — — ^ — — < — »^ 
 
 =^ Ver. 1—6. » Ver. 7— ic. '' Ver. 11 — 16. 
 
 ' Ver. 17, 18, 19, 20. * Ver. 21, 22. 
 
 « The latin vulgate juflly fupplks the word ^r/^ from the foregoing verfe ; nuncaulart 
 tpprfjftt me dolor meus^
 
 112 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XVI. 
 
 8. I'm feiz'd, as though a homicide, by thee ; 
 Then blacken'd v/ith thy daring calumny: 
 
 Fierce 
 
 from filence or lamentation. Moreover, I am, by this man's calumnies, de- 
 prived even of the comfort of a friend to pity me. 
 
 ^hou haft made defolate\ &c.] Thou Eliphaz (fo the tenor of die difcourfe re- 
 quires us to underftand the addrefs) by thy (landers, fandified by thy years and 
 character, driveft away the few friends my adverfity had left to me. It is fup- 
 pofed, he alludes to the words in chap. xv. 34. The congregation of profligates 
 Jhall be de folate. 
 
 Ver. 8. And thou haft, &c.] This obfcure verfe will become clearer, I think, 
 in the follov/ing verfion ; 
 
 "Thou alfo haft apprehended me ^, as a malefaftor. 
 He is become a witnefs againflme: 
 Tea he that belieth me ", rifeth up againft me^ 
 He accufeth me to my face. 
 
 Thou haft apprehended me, &c. J He ftill directs his fpeech to Eliphaz ; who had 
 fet him forth as a cruel tyrant, and an example of divine vengeance. This 
 treatment he compares to feizing and binding a notorious offender. 
 
 He is become, &c.] By a fudden change of the perfon, exprefllve of great 
 emotion, he turntth fro.n Eliphaz to the audience ; and inftead of continuing 
 his addrefs to him, complaineth bitterly of him. He, this man, my profelled 
 friend, is become my falle accufer. 
 
 ' niOtSTl If '^1^ ■■<'°t' n32ty» properly fignifies, as Schultens affirms, t) he blafled by 
 lightning, ox by afcouhing wind; it affords a ftrong and beautiful metaphor to exprefs the 
 effeiS of the breath of flander. 
 
 ^ 'u^Jpn LXX. iTTEXa^B fti-. Thou haft laid hold on mc. Grotius remarks, that it is a 
 judicial term, denoting the feizure of a fuppofed criminal ; in order to bring him to a trial. 
 It fignifies in Chaldee and Syriac to hind (Caftell. Lex.) and in Arabic, to tie the hands and feet, 
 alfo to bind a captive ; Schultens. We tranflate it to be cut down chap. xxii. 16. But I know 
 of no authority for that verfion ; any more than for rendering it here, thou haji filled me xvitb 
 wrinkles. Thefe are the only places where tD^p occurs in the hcbrew bible. 
 
 *" '£ynD Symmachus reads it as a participle of the prefent tenfe in Kal. for he turns it 
 KaTa4-si;Jo^£»o? belying me. It is englifhed to lye, Hof. iv. 2. The fubftantive denotes a lye toJd 
 i)y informers and falfe accufers, Hof viL 3. Nahum iii. i. See alfo Pf lix. 13.
 
 Chap. XVr. THE BOOKOFJOB. 113 
 
 Fierce in my face this lying witnefs flies, 
 9. He grinds his teeth, rage lightens from his eyes : 
 
 10. All rufh with open jaws, all tear my name, 
 And glut their fury on my murder'd fame. 
 
 1 1. Ah ! fo it pleas'd th' Almighty to ordain, 
 Ev'n to expofe mc, in his fliaming chain, 
 To fons of Belial, to licentious throngs, 
 And the rude infult of reviling tongues. 
 
 12. I 
 
 Ver. 9. He teareth tne, &c.] This is a lively piece of painting : He reprefents 
 thefe men as fo many beafts of prey, greedily worrying him to death with their 
 flanders and comminations ". 
 
 Ver. 10. they have fmit ten, &c.] A proverbial form of fpeech for atrocious 
 defamation. Lam. iii. 30. 
 
 They have gathered themfelves together, &c.] This is flat. The original de- 
 notes excefllve greedinefs 'in devouring; and, in the metaphor, a malirrnant 
 fatisfa(flion. They have glutted, or gorged, themfehes'upontne. 
 
 Ver. II. God, &c.] He now complains of God, for having by means of his 
 afflicftion expofed him to this barbarous ufage. 
 
 The ungodly — the wicked] They had painted him in thefe black colours. He 
 might, with much more juftice, retort the charge upon them -, if utterino- the 
 fouleft calumnies will denominate a perfon wicked. 
 
 delivered 
 
 •' The royal poet defcribes the abufe and flanders with which he was worried in fimihr 
 language; Pf. xxxv. i ^, i6. But what our Bible there renders, with hypoaiti cat mockers at 
 feafts, is perhaps more juftly turned by Caftellio, impurorum heluonum ritu, after the manner 
 of profligate gluttons. 
 
 'It bears this ftrong meaning in Exod. xv. 9. 7ny luft jhall be fatufied (fatiated) upin 
 them. 'ti^SJ, here rendred my luji, (hould, I think, have been turned, my appetite ; as in 
 Prov. xxiii. 2.
 
 114 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XVI. 
 
 iz. I once was happy but his forceful hand 
 
 Seiz'd, fliook me, hurl'd me from my lofty fland ; 
 Then, bruis'd and dafli'd to pieces, ftill on me, 
 Fix'd for his mark, he wreaks his ftern decree : 
 
 13. His unrelenting bowmen hem me round, 
 
 Pierce, cleave me, flied my vitals on the ground. 
 
 14. 'Tis 
 
 delivered me — turned me over] The terms in the original are exprefTive of 
 the moft ignominious ufage. They are metaphors taken from the punifhment 
 of a malefaftor : The former ^ is I'uppofed to denote the putting an iron collar 
 about kis neck., the other ' cafting him down into a deep and miry dungeon. 
 
 Ver, 12. I ijoas at eafe"^] It is obfervable, that he does but juft mention his 
 former profperity. He exprefleth it by a fingle word, as though it were nothing, 
 whereas he dwells upon his calamities, and defcribes them in the ftrongefl: terms 
 that language could fupply. This is perfectly agreeable to the nature of dif- 
 trefs. 
 
 He hath broken me afunder, &c.] He defcribeth the ruin of his fortunes and 
 family, the difeafe inflicled on his perfon, and the cruel attack of his charadler 
 by his three friends. He compares his cafe to that of a man who is fcized by 
 the hair of his head, and thrown down a precipice ; then, with his limbs all bro- 
 ken, and fcarce able to breathe, is fet up for a mark to be fhot to death with 
 arrows. Whether thcfe highly tragical images exifted only in the poet's fancy, 
 
 or 
 
 ^ '3"^i''jD' See the note on chap xi. 10. in the Commentary of the learned Schuhens. 
 
 ' 'Jl)"^' In ^■''■° Arabic language J3" ") for ]y\i fignifies tofi-k in a bog (o as not to be able 
 to get out, as Schultens informs us; who turns it here in baruih- um me dejecit, he kath thrown 
 me dcivn itito a dung:on; fuch for inftance as Jeremijh was caft into Jer. xxxviii. 6. Vid. 
 Comment. Schultens and the note of the learned Dr. Hunt in PralecJ. p. 213. The LXX. 
 render it by a vfry llrong woid iiflt he hath hurled me. 
 
 " ^V"' t'>^ word rhV:^ is that by which Nebuchadnezzar cxprcflcih his untroublei 
 profperity. Ban. iv, 4. Heb. ver. 1. 5
 
 Chap. XVI. THEBOOKOFJOB. 115 
 
 14. 'Tis he ev'n he, th' Ahnighty, is my foe, 
 
 His flrong arm hews me, thund'riiig blow on blow. 
 
 I J. Grief's fable weed to my flay'd body grows, 
 Grief on my honour'd head foul aflies throws : 
 
 16. Grief marrs my face with fcalding tears, and night 
 Black as the grave fits heavy on my fight. 
 
 17. Yet 
 
 Or whether they allude to a real mode of punifhment, pra<5i:ifed in that countrj' 
 and in thofe times •, I leave to the decifion of abler judges. 
 
 Ver, 14. He hreaketh", &c.] He reprefents the rapid fucceflion of his calami- 
 ties, and God as the fupreme author of them •, whom he compareth to a mighty 
 warrior attacking a city, or fortrefs, with a powerful army. 
 
 Ver. 15. I have foiaed fackcloth, &c.] He had put on this liabit of mourners, 
 we may fuppofe, upon receiving the news of his children's death. He had worn 
 it ever fince. he had worn it fo long, that by means of his ulcers it ftuck faft 
 to his fkin. 
 
 I have defiled my horn p, &c.] Or, / have defiled my head with dufi. This was 
 another rite of mourning among the Arabians, chap. ii. 12. who derived it, per- 
 haps, from the Egyptians. It was in ufe alfo among the ancient Greeks. Priam 
 lamented the death of He(5tor by covering his head with dull, and alfo rolling 
 himfclf in the duft. Achilles, in the extravagance of his grief for Patrocles, 
 fprinkled embers, inftead of aflies, upon his head. 
 
 Ver. 16. on my eye lids, &c.] His eyes had the appearance of a dying man : 
 He thought himfelf to be near his end. See the nrft verle of tlie next chapter. 
 
 " Vli)' Prov. XXV. 2S. a city that is broken dcwn, (n'ill^) and without walls. 
 
 p The Syriac renders it, as Mr. Heath obferves, my head. The Chal.lee interpreter turns 
 it, fny glory. His head which of late wjs fo liighly exalted, and aJorncd peih.ps wi;h ihe 
 tiara, now hung down j covered with fordid duft, or aflies. Compare Pfalm l:cxv. 6. 
 cxii. 9. 
 
 0^2
 
 ii6 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XVI. 
 
 17. Yet arc tliefe hands with no injuftice flain'd, 
 
 Pure from thefe Hps {till flows the pray'r unfcign'd : 
 
 i8. O earth, the blood accufing me reveal; 
 Its piercing voice in no recefs conceal: 
 
 15. My witnefs lives in heav'n, whofe confcioiis view 
 Does all my goings and my thoughts purfue. 
 
 20. The 
 
 Vcr. 17. Nor for .'iny injujtice, &c.] He exculpates himfclf from the charge 
 of cppreffion, in this firft ciaufe ; and from impiety, in the latter claufe. Eliphaz 
 had accufed him in open terms of impiety chap. xv. 4 — 6. and of opprejfion, 
 by infinuation ver. 20, &c. 
 
 Ver. 1 3. O earthy &c.] He confirms the foregoing proteftation, by a folemn 
 imprecation delivered in noble and accumulated figures of fpeech. The earth 
 is made a perfon, then addrefled in vehement apoftrophe. The blood of the 
 murdered is imagined lying and reeking on the ground, and a loud voice is 
 given to it which pierceth into heaven. This is the fbyle of the grand poetry: 
 this is the language of the higher pufiions. 
 
 my blcod — my cry'] The blood fhed by me, and its cry againft me for venge- 
 ance. Ezcki xxiv. 6, 7, 8. Gen. xviii. 2c, 21. iv. 10. 
 
 cover not, &c.] This is equivalent to faying, let not the blood which I have 
 fpilled be unrevenged. When the Arabian poets would fay, a m.urder has been 
 unrevenged ; their exprefllon is, the blood of the murdered perfon moiftens the 
 ground like dew : tliat is, it lies uncovered, and being exhaled by the fun falls 
 down in dew. Vid. the XxtOox^vl Antholcgia, 'wiixxxxXtdi Hamafa, p. 417. n. ad 
 ver. I . 
 
 But wh.y does Job exculpate himfelf from the crime of murder ? Who had 
 accuTed him of it ? Eliphaz had done fo virtually, by repref:rnting him as a ty- 
 rant : for v/ho ever heard of an unbloody tyrant ? 
 
 Vcr. 19. my rcccrJ', &c.] rather. He who is privy to tr.y anions is on high, as 
 Mr. Heath tranllaces it. 
 
 1 inti^ The. LXX. rcrnier it by Swiri'f hi that is confcious to tfiy OLiioiis. It fignifies in 
 Arabic, Tiys Schuhtrns, ti-Jiis oculctus, a): eyc-uitnefs.
 
 Chap. XVf. THE BOOK OF JOB. 117 
 
 20. The paftimc of my friends, my flreaming eye 
 
 Looks up for pity to the Povv'r on high : 
 21.0 might I argue in his ear, and free 
 
 As in a mortal court maintain my plea ! 
 
 22. For my jQiort life's fliort remnant foon muft end, 
 
 And I th' irremeable way defcend. 
 
 Chap, 
 
 Ver. 21. O that, &c.] He earneftly wiflieth he might plead his caufe with 
 God, with the fame freedom that a man defends himfelf in a court of human 
 judicature. 
 
 O that a man might plead '' "UJtth God, 
 As a man pleadeth with his fellow man. 
 
 "By a man, in the firft claufe, he means himfelf. The fentiment coincides with 
 what he had expreft before, chap. ix. 32. For he is not a man^ &c. and chap. 
 xiii. 3. furely I dejire to reafon with Gcd. 
 
 Ver. 2 2 . When a few years are come, &c ] He did not expet5l to live a few 
 years longer, nor even a few days. ver. 16. and ver i. of the next chapter, fee 
 alfo chap. vii. 21. This verfion therefore cannot be right. The tranllacio.T fhould 
 be, I think J 
 
 For^ my few years are ccme^ to an end. 
 And I go the way whence Ipall not return. 
 
 He urgeth this confideration as a motive for haftening his trial before God, 
 
 ^ "13^7 nOV^ In the orifntal tongue?, when an imperfonal verb (as nOV here) is 
 followed by a dative of the noun (as "l^^.T* here) ihat dative is often the nominative cafe to 
 the verb, thus Prov. xiii. i;. '^ ^3!!' he jhall be dejlroyed. Exod. xviii. 2/. "^ 'I'^'l "'"' 
 heivent. fo in the fyriac teftament, ve-lo timan le-hun, and that they Jhould not faint. Luke 
 xviii. I . fee alfo Luke x, 34. 
 
 ' D1K (2 ""J") indefinitely; as {^il'i*11 in Syriac. 
 
 ''3 It is frequently a particle of ratiocination, yir. Vid. Noldium. 
 
 ' VDN' Oft come. *^bnK I g^' The learned reader may recollcdl the obfervation of 
 Michaelis, that in the ancient ftate of the language the futures were aoriib. The LXX. 
 tranflate the firft member of the verfe, iT-n afAf^tna. rxac-tt my numbrcd years are come, i. e. to 
 the end of their number. The vulgate turns the whole verfe, ecce cnim breves anni tranfierunf, 
 ctfemitam^ per quam mn revertar, ambulo.
 
 ii8 THE BOOK. OF JOB. Chap.XVU. 
 
 Chap. 
 XVII. 
 Ver. I. My breath is almofl fpent my vital date 
 
 " Expires for me the burial chambers wait. 
 
 2, Sarcaftic tongues my dying couch furround, 
 Vex my laft hours, and fcofF me into ground. 
 
 3. Fix, 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 An attentive reader will obferve, that the ftyle in the firft ten verfes of this 
 chapter exprefleth great difcompofure. There are frequent and fudden changes 
 of the perfon. The tranfitions are abrupt, without the joining particles : and 
 the fentiments follow one another in a hurry, with little or no connexion, jufl 
 as the tumultuous and ftiifting emotions of his mind fuggefted them. 
 
 From the eleventh verfe to the end of the difcourfe, all is in the moving ftrain 
 of elegy. With a melancholy calmnefs he refigns himfelf to defpair and the 
 grave. 
 
 Ver. I. My breath, &c.] He feels the powers of his body failing, and appre- 
 hends himfelf to be drawing near his end. The fentences are very (hort and 
 broken, like the fpeech of a man wlio panteth for breath. This verfe ought 
 not to have been feparated from the laft verfe of the foregoing chapter, with 
 which it is clofely connedied in fenfe. 
 
 is corrupt'] is dejlroyed". it is on the point of being exhaufted. Mr. Heath's 
 verfion is. My life draweth near to dejlruilion. 
 
 The gra'ves'"'\ The cells or holes in the fepulchral chambers for the coffins. 
 The walls of thefe fubterraneous rooms hewn in the rock were fometimes fcooped 
 into rows of cells, like the holes in a pigeon-houfe, wide and deep enough to 
 receive a coffin of feven or eight feet long *. 
 
 Ver. 2. Are there not mockers, &c.] The thought of their injurious ufage of 
 
 him 
 
 " nb^n Prov. xiii. 15. He that dejpifeth the word Jhall be dejlroyed. 
 
 * CD""!2p The cells in the fides of the fepulchral chambers. So this word plainly figni- 
 lies in Ezek. xxxii. 22, 23. though it be there alfo tranfl.ited graves. 
 
 " MiVinireWs journey to Aleppo^ p. 21, 22. Sandy's travels, p. 175. Shaw's traveh, 
 p. 263, Sec, 4to.
 
 Chap. XVII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 119 
 
 3. Fix, fix my trial; cheerful I'll appear 
 Before thy face, my injur'd fame to clear. 
 Who fliall arife, who give his plighting hand, 
 As advcrfe party, in this flrife to Hand ? 
 
 4. Not thefe ; for thcfe thou leave ft to a mind 
 Bemaz'd in error and with paflion blind: 
 Thefe thou wilt ne'er exalt, nor fuch ordain 
 Thy caufe to argue and thy ways explain. 
 
 5. Whoe'er 
 
 him roufeth his indignation ; and caufeth him to colled all the breath he had, 
 to utter this and the following lentimencs, to the end of the tenth verfe, with 
 fpirit and vehemence. 
 
 doib not mine eye, &c.] His eye had been for a long time, and ftill was vexed 
 with their infulting geftures j as his ear had been with their provoking ipeeches. 
 See chap. xvi. 4, 5. 
 
 Ver. 3. Lay do'n-n now, &c.] Appoint, I pray, my fure.y^ with thee. Thefe 
 are law-terms, and allude to the cuftom of a perfon s giving bail for his appear- 
 ance in court on the day of trial. The thought of the injur}- done 'o hiS cha- 
 rader, by thefe cenfors, makes him break out on a fv.idden in this pafiionate re- 
 queft i that God would fix a time for his trial before him fpeedily. 
 
 ■ Who is he that willftrike hands \ &c.] In the days of ancient fimplicity, flrik- 
 ing hands was thought a fiifficient ratification of the moft folemn engagements ^ 
 The meaning is. Who fliall undertake the part of plaintirFin this caufe; or be 
 advocate for God, to juftify the ways of his providence towards me.? 
 
 Ver. 4. Far thou baft hid, &c.] He excepts to the appointment of any one 
 
 of 
 
 '' n.2'2^ appoint tkou. Exod.xxi. i^. I will appoint thee a place whither thou /halt fee. 
 
 ' 'JD"13^ It may be read as a participial noun from y\'J fpofpondit, to be bound for ano- 
 ther, to befurcty. ' 
 
 * Prov. vi. I. 
 
 *" We learn from Oedipus Coknus, ver. 646, that a treaty of peace was ratified by the 
 contrading powers giving the right hand to one another.
 
 120 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap, XVII. 
 
 5. Whoe'er with libel flabs his weeping friend, 
 His race iliall friendlefs to the grave defcend : 
 
 6. This 
 
 of his three antagonifts to plead the caufe of God. They had proved themfelves 
 linqiialified for that honour, by their ignorance in the courfe of providence j 
 and by their prejudice againfl: him. 
 
 thou Jhalt not exalt them] If we add the word which in the hcbrew begins the 
 next verfe % as the Syriac interpreter has done, the fenfe will be compleat '' : 
 
 For thou haft hid their heart from underjianding. 
 Therefore thou wilt not exalt them to a part. 
 
 He means, they were not worthy of the honour oi apart in this caufe ; that is, 
 of being parties, or advocates, in behalf of God. So Elihu ufeth the very fame 
 word chap, xxxii. 17./ ^iJuill alfo anfwer my part. 
 
 Ver. 5. He that fpeaketh, &c.] The word which, in the hebrew, begins this 
 vcrfe, being removed to the end of the foregoing verfe; there will come out the 
 following clear tranflation. 
 
 He uttereth malicious things % 
 And the eyes of his children fhall fail. 
 
 In this abrupt manner he points particularly at Eliphaz, as likewife in the next 
 verfe. Eliphaz was uppermofl in his thoughts, not only as the lafl: who fpoke 
 againft him ; but as the ringleader in thefe malicious afperfions. 
 
 The 
 
 ' pVn? to a part. Our Tranflators render itj?a«^ry. The Syriac interpreter alfo, though 
 he hath reftored it to its right place, miflook its meaning: for he turns it, hy divifmi. The 
 LXX. rightly render it td fx-pji to apart. 
 
 •' The diftich alfo will be compleat : for as the firft verfe is an iambic of nine fyllables, 
 by this means the fecond will be fo too : 
 
 botya DJcy uT-ib o 
 
 ' CV"! LXX. xaxia;. They read D'J?"1 evil things. It Cignifies malicious ajptrfons in 
 Pfnlm lii, 3, 4. Thou loveji evil ( j:"i) more than good, and lying rather than to fpeak righteouf- 
 nefs : TIjou hvcfi all devouring words, thou deceitful tongue.
 
 Chap, XVIL THE BOOK OF JOB. JiU 
 
 6. This bold defamer fhews me for a fign, 
 A dire example of the wrath divine: 
 
 7. Hence my wan look, and eye with forrow dim, 
 Hence like a fliadow feems each wafted limb. 
 
 8. Doubtlefs thejuft, aftonifli'd at the fight, 
 
 'Gainft the proud fcorncr will their zeal excite : 
 
 9. The 
 
 The eyes % &c.] This denunciation appears to me, founded only in Job's ob- 
 fervation of what frequently happens in the world. The infamy which a pa- 
 rent draws upon himfelf by fome flagrant crime, ufually involveth his children 
 in its unhappy confequences. 
 
 Ver. 6. He hath made me alfo a hy-'jsord\ His inveftives have marked me out 
 for a proverbial example of divine vengeance, compare Jerem. xxix. 22. 
 
 And afore time I was as a tabret, &c.] And I am become a gazing Jlock^ in their 
 ftght \ He means, that in confequence of the flanderous fpeeches of this vene- 
 rated man, Eliphaz, he fhould be looked upon by all mankind as an objeft of 
 horror. 
 
 Ver. 8, 9. Upright men., &c.] The fcandal which his fufferings would bring 
 
 upon 
 
 * There feems to me fome word wanting in the firft verfe of this diftich, to fill up the 
 metre i perhaps inVlV (againji his friend) was originally inferted. 
 
 ( inn"? ) on nu' 
 
 Thus each fentence of the period will be an iambic verfe of feven fyllables. The Syriac 
 verfion fupplies H^'DH ('• e. inin'7) in the firft fentence, and in general has hit the mean- 
 ing, A friend infulteth his friend. 
 
 ^ nSD The LXX. render it yiAi>« a laughing-flock. But it rather denotes an objeft that 
 caufeth aftonifhment and horror, a prodigy (or portent) as Mr. Heath turns it ; who derives 
 it from ri3% which in Chaldee fignifies, according to Caftell. demonfiravit. It feems to be 
 fynonimous with PSlDi which we englifh a wonder in Deut. xxviii. 46. and they (the fear- 
 ful curfes aforementioned) fhall he upon thee for a fign and a wonder., &c. In fliort, ri£3n 
 feems to anfwer exa£tly to i/wXyfuz in St. Peter, II Pet. ii. 6. St. Jerom had this id«a 
 of ritjrij for hetranllates it exemplumy an example; namely, of divine vengeance. 
 
 *■ CS^^S'? Vuig. (oram cis. Mr. Heath fuppofes it to be a contradion of Dn'J£)^ LXX. 
 
 R
 
 ira^. THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XVII. 
 
 9. The friends of virtue will their way purfue. 
 And fearlefs innocence its force renew. 
 
 10. But you, all you, repent; your thoughts revife: 
 Shall I not find ev'n one among you wife I 
 
 11. 'Tis pafl — O life, farewell — my blifsful fchemes 
 
 Are broken oiF — ah too, too plealing dreams ! 
 
 12. All- 
 
 upon religion, now dccurs to his thoughts. Good men, no doubt, would be 
 Ihocked, to fee fo good a man abandoned by God to thefe affliftions and cruel 
 ufage. Upright men ivill he aftonijhed at this. But when he adds, and the inno- 
 cent Jhalljiir up himfelf againft the profligate, &c. he muft be underftood to fpeak 
 ironically, as Caftalio and Mr. Heath have remarked. The irony ftrongly 
 marks the indignation of the fpeaker ; and is a keen rebuke of his antagonifts, 
 for occafioning fuch prejudice to the interefts of religion by their injurious ufage 
 of him. 
 
 Jhallfiir up himself., &c.] Doubtlefs they will triumph in their advantage, 
 over impious men, from the bleffings of religion. 
 
 the hypocrite^'\ the profligate. It (lands oppofed here to the upright^ the inno- 
 tent, and the righteous; and muft therefore denote men of no religion. See the 
 note on chap. viii. 13. 
 
 Ver. II — 16. My days are pafl ., Sec] Whether he meant tofhew the vanity 
 of the hopes which thefc men had fet before him ; or to paint more ftrongly the 
 cruel difappointment of his own expeftations of the divine benediftion on his 
 
 virtue. 
 
 ' "I'^yn* It is ufcd in the fenfc of exulting over an opponent in chap. xxxi. 29. where it is 
 trandated lift up myfelf; If I rejoiced at the de/iru£iion of him that hated tne, or lift up myfelf 
 when evil found him. 
 
 ■^ Pi J Hi LXX. iraf.-«o,u,c5- a tranfgrejfor. They often turn it our&r.^f an impiaus man; and 
 twice only uTroxfiri;?, an hypocrite. 
 
 ' Oedipus, being about to die, bids farewell to life in much the fame ftrain ; o>.t.'Xi yvp J,) 
 »a>Ta ra ffia, &c. all my affairs and coiineilions with the world arc perijlndy &c. Oedipus 
 Colon. 16S4.
 
 Chap. XVir. THE BOOK OF JOB. wj 
 
 12. All-cheering fun, adieu. Sepulchral night, '- 
 Blot the bright vifion ; and be thou my light j 
 
 13. My hope another bed, another home, 
 
 A bed in darknefs, and my houfe the tomb. 
 
 14. Thou 
 
 virtue, he now moft pathetically takes his leave of the world, and embraces 
 death in a ftrain of elegy full of defpairing grief and horror. 
 
 tny purpofes", &c.] He means, I fuppofe, his pious and virtuous defignsi_ 
 from which he had promifed himfelf high enjoyment and a long train of divine 
 bleffings : For he calls thefe purpo/es, in the next fentence, the pojfejfors" of bis 
 heart, to exprefs how much he had fet his mind upon them. 
 
 Ver. 12. 'Tbey change. Sec.'] The obfcurity of this period will, I imagine, be 
 cleared away by the following tranflation ; 
 
 Night is appointed ° to me for day. 
 Light is near from the face of darknefs p. 
 
 That is. Henceforth the day which I am to enjoy is the night of death: and the 
 light which is ordained for me, is the darknefs of the tomb. The expreffion is 
 in the lofty ftyle of iEfchylus and Sophocles. In common profe he would have 
 faid, The only comfort left me, and the only thing I have to hope for, is death 
 and a grave. 
 
 Ver. 13. The grave, &c.] There is a mixture of horror in the folemnity of 
 thefe images. 
 
 the grave] Shetl. See the Appendix, iV«»;^. II I think, 6'M/ muft fignify 
 
 here 
 
 " 'm2T It often means wicked deftgns, but is evidently ufed here in a good fenfe. Ic 
 fignifies wfe thought or intention, as appears from chap. xlii. 2. no thaught of thine can be bin' 
 dered: and from Prov. xxxi. 16. where we render the verb QQf to confider. 
 
 " 'ty^TS the thoughts, as our public verfion turns it. But this is too faint. It fignifies 
 tlje pojjejfors, thoughts which had gotten pofTeiTion of his heart; from 'Cy to inherit. 
 
 " ID'K^' it feems to be ufed here imperfonallyi as ^^^^^* and iniJ' ch. xviii. iS. 
 Hejhall be driven — and chafed. Sec. 
 
 * This is Schultens' verfion, and is literal. 
 
 R 2
 
 it4 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XVIL 
 
 14. Thou art my father, Grave : my mother's claim 
 Be thine, O Worm, and thine a fiflcr's name : 
 jj-, 16, My hope ! where is it ? who my hope fliall fee ? 
 It Ihall defcend the winding grots with me : 
 
 Behold 
 
 here xht fepukhral grot, or tomb. For where his bed was to be, there his houfe 
 alfo was. but his bed was to be in darknefs, that is, the fepulchral chamber. 
 See chap. x. 21, 22. and Pfalm. Ixxxviii. 12, 13. where dejtruolioriy darknefs, 
 and the land of forgetfulnefs are but various terms for the grave. 
 
 Ver. 14. 7 have /aid, &c.] He transferreth all his filial and fraternal affec- 
 tions to the grave and worm; Ihewing, by this ftrong and beautiful mode of ex- 
 prefTion, how welcome death and dilTolution would be to him. Solomon has 
 expreft a high degree of affedion in much the fame manner, Prov. vii. 4. A 
 greater than Solomon has given his fanftion to this phrafeology. Matt. xii. 50. 
 I may add, the Roman Tragedian has marked the mighty power of another 
 pafllon, hatred, by the fame images ; " One thing is left me, dearer than bro- 
 ther, father, and mother, &c. even hatred of thee '^." 
 
 to corruption'} to the pit, as our tranQators turn it in chap, xxxiii. 18, 24. 28, 
 30. but in ver. 22. of that chapter the grave. The fepulchral grot is thus de- 
 nominated as being the place of corruption. 
 
 Ver. 15. where is now my hope, &c.] By his hope he here means, I apprehend, 
 the durable bleffings and honours, which he had expecfled as a reward of his ex- 
 emplary virtue'. Thcfe lively interrogations exprefs with great force the feverity 
 of his difappointment. But the figurative language rifeth much higher in the 
 rext verfe j where he gives perfonality to his hope, and reprefcnts this imaginary 
 being as lying down with him in the fleep of death. This is faying in a poetical^ 
 manner, that all his expedations ended in mifery, death, and putrefaction. 
 
 •una res fupereft mihi. 
 
 Fratrc ac parcnte carior, regno ac lare. 
 
 Odium tui. Hercules Fur ens. 380, 
 
 ' nnji^ we render it a ditch chap. ix. jr. It there means a deep pit of filthy mire. It 
 fignifies the fcpulchrc in Pfalin xxx. 9. and in many other places. 
 
 ' Chap. xxix. 18, &C.
 
 Qhap. XVn. THE BOOK OF JOB. 125 
 
 Behold and wonder ! there my hope and I 
 On the fame couch of dull repofing lie. 
 
 Chap. 
 XVIII. 
 I, 2. The Shuhite anfwer'd: Thou and thy clan, how long 
 
 Shall v/ords evalive lurk beneath your tongue ? 
 
 Affirm 
 
 Ver. 16. Theyjfoall go down*, &c.] It (my hope, ver. 15.) Jhall go down^ &c. 
 
 to the bars of the pit] The word tranflated the pit is Sheol, which here alfo mull 
 fignify furely the grave: for he fays. That his hope by going down tofieolihaW 
 reft together with him in the duji. The bars fhould, I think, be rather turned 
 the branches. Our Author's word feems to denote literally the branches of a tree"', 
 and thence is applied to other things which have a fimilar relation of parts to 
 their refpedlive whole, the members of an animal body " for inftance, and here 
 the fepulchral chambers ; which open in the fide of the fubterraneous grot, and 
 go off from it as branches from the trunk of a tree. 
 
 IVben, &c.] Verily'^ our reft together will be/» tbedttft. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 I cannot call this fpeech oratio morata, a fpeech that marks the peculiar tem- 
 per of the fpeaker. It might, for all I can fee, have come with equal propriety 
 from the mouth of Zophar. It exprefleth, however, very ftrongly the progrefs 
 and effed: oi a?iger. The courfe of the difpute has heated this phlegmatic man : 
 His introduction ver. i — 4. is full of high refentment; And the reft of his 
 difcourfe fhews that his paffion greatly elevates his poetry. 
 
 In 
 
 " njTin If^ this were the third perfon plural feminine of the future tenfe, they Jhall go 
 ihwn, it would require a nominative plural, ortwofingular nouns, in the fame gender: 
 But no fuch nominative is found eicher in this or the preceding verfe. I take it therefore to 
 be the third ^snon fingular feminine, with the paragogical fyllable Hi '•''e Hjn'^ti'n A* 
 fut forth. Judges v. 26. The nominative to the verb nillD 's TllpD my hope, ver. i j. 
 " Ezek. xvii. 6. // became a vine, and brought forth branches, D'H^ 
 * Chap. xli. 12. (ver. 4. in the hebrew) I will not conceal his parts, i.e. his limbs V^^ 
 ' CK V.'e englifli ity«r^.^ in Pfalm cxxxix. 19. Vid.NoIdiura.
 
 126 Tit* BOOK O^ JOS. Chap. XVIIIr' 
 
 AfErm the righteous pwiifiod^ we'll oppofe. 
 3. What, merit we the fcorn thy ttiouth beflows ; 
 
 Defpis'd, 
 
 In ver. 5, 6. he lays down his general pofition, the common and favourite 
 principle of all the three, that dejlru5five calamities are the portion of the wicked, 
 great opprefTors in particular, and of fuch only. 
 
 He confirms and illuftrates his point by a new example, after the manner of 
 Eliphaz, ver. 7 — 21. 
 
 But he hath fo varied his choice of images, fo heightened his colouring, adapt- 
 ed fome particulars fo clofdly to the cafe of Job, and wrought up the whole 
 fcene to fuch a pitch of tragical terror, that no reader of tafte will, I imagine, 
 be tired with his fpeech. 
 
 .i Ver. 2. How long, &c.] How long will ye put infnaring words'' ? By infnaring 
 •words he means artful harangues to catch the paflions, and divert the attention 
 cf the hearer from the main point in difpute. In this view he confidered Job's 
 declamations on his innocence and fufferings. It is remarkable that Bildad ad- 
 dreffeth himfelf to a plurality of perfons, how long will ye put, &c. either becaufe 
 he had obferved fome of the audience giving figns of favouring the part of Job ; 
 or intending, as Schultens thinks, to reprefent him as the leader of an infidel fe£i: 
 If fo, by infnaring words muft be meant fophiftical evafions. 
 
 mark', Sec.'] Mr Heath turns it, /peak your meaning plaiyily, and afterwards 
 lae will reply . " Give a diredt and clear anfwer to the queftion, who ever pe- 
 r'ljhed being innocent ""j &c." If you affirm it, we are ready to argue the point 
 with you. 
 
 Ver. 3. Wherefore are we counted, &c.] He refers to that contemptuous reflec- 
 tion on their underftandings in chap. xvii. 4, 10. 
 
 '^ ^'b*^7 'i'ip \l!!Dti>n ponctis laqiicos (mtcupia) vcrborum- The word 'i'Jp is found no 
 where elfe in the Hebrew bible. But the verb in Arabic fignifies to hunt, to ley nets andfnares^ 
 and is applied, as Schultens (hews, to the ufing cf deceitful arts. See his Commentary. The 
 noun \*JX1|5 is afnare. Vid. Caftell. Lex. Hept. 
 
 * IJ'DD 'l<"''^ oc diferte loquamini, fpeak clearly and to the point. Explain yourfelves. This 
 is Schultens' interpretation, who refers us to ch. vi. 24. and Dan. viii. it. as examples of 
 this fignification. we englilh it there to caufe to underfland^ to make to underjlond* 
 
 * Ch:yi. iv. 7. 7
 
 CHAT.XVm. THE BOOK OF JOB. izy 
 
 Defpis'd, and vilify 'd as void of mind. 
 Dull as the dullefl of the grazing kind ? 
 4. O thou whofe paflion at the ways of God 
 
 Rends thy own foul, fhall he renounce his rod, 
 Defert our world ; or change his fix'd decrees, 
 As the rock fix'd, thy murmurs to appeafe ? 
 
 ^, 6. Know thou, one dreadful moment fliall deftroy 
 The wicked in his glitt'ring fcenes of joy : 
 
 His 
 
 Ver. 4. He teanth himfeJf in his anger] He retorts the exprefllon which 
 Job direfted to Eliphaz, chap. xvi. 9. He teareth me in his urath who hatetb 
 tne. 
 
 jhall the earth, &c.] Thefe are proverbial forms of fpeech, for altering what 
 is fixed and unchangeable. The meaning is, if I miftake not, that God mufl 
 give up his moral kingdom among men, or violate the immutable laws of juftice 
 by which it is adminirtred; iffuch a man as Job efcaped puniihment. This in- 
 terpretation makes an eafy tranfition to the other part of the dilcourfe, which 
 is deligned to prove, that by an unchangeable rule of providence the fignally 
 wicked (hall figrrally perilh. 
 
 Ver. 5, 6. I'ea, the light, &c.] Thefe metaphors denote, in general, thefplen- 
 dor and feftivity in which fuch men live. There is however an allufion I think, 
 'in the fifth verfe, to what the Arabian poet calls the fires of hofpitality : Thefe 
 were beacons lighted upon the tops of hills by perfons of diftindtion among the 
 Arabs ; to diredband invite travellers to their houi'es and table. Holpitality was 
 their national glory : And the loftier and larger thefe fires were, the greater was 
 the magnificence thought to be •■". A wicked rich man therefore would afFed: 
 this pie.ce of ftate, from vanity and oftentatioH. 
 
 Another Arabian poet exprefleth the permanent profperity of his family al- 
 
 moft 
 
 ' Vid. Pocock. in Carm. Tograi, p.m.
 
 ,2g -THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XVITii 
 
 His fcflal fire, his lamp's high-fparkling light. 
 Shall be cxtinguifli'd in eternal night. 
 
 7, Strong like a lion, and as proud his gait. 
 The tyrant is pufli'd headlong on his fate 
 
 8, 9, 10. By 
 
 mod in the very words of our author: " Neither is our fire, lighted for the be» 
 nefit of the night-ftranger, extinguifhed ^" 
 
 Ver. 6. and his candle, &c.] And his lamp over him' Jhall be put out'. He 
 refers to the lamps which hung from the ceiling of the banqueting room, in 
 their nofturnal revels : for the Arabian entertainments were in the night. 
 
 Ver. 7 — 15. The fteps., &c.] If the defcription contained in thefe verfes, were 
 copied by the pencil j it would form a pjiSbure of terror in three parts. 
 
 In the firft piece, this wicked man of opulence appears in the midft of his 
 beautiful gardens and ftately walks; caught by the foot in one of the innumer- 
 able fnares which furround him. He is in the attitude of ftruggling to get loofe. 
 This reprefents the numberleis evils to which men of his charadter areexpofed, 
 and points at the overthrow of Job. ver. 7 — 10. 
 
 In the fecond piece. He is feen again in the fame fituation. A groupe of Fu- 
 ries are in purfuit of him ; He is feized by a Fury of enormous fize and ftrength 
 who is devouring him. His countenance is diftorted with pain, and his features 
 wild with horror. This reprefents Job's dreadful difeafe. ver. u, 12, 13. 
 
 In the third, an army of Furies are deflroying his vineyards and corn-fields, 
 his flocks and herds. A party of them have poflefled themfelves of his fuperb 
 manfion, which is fet on fire by a fhower of flaming fulphur. This reprefents 
 the various calamities by which Job's fortunes and family were deflroyed. ver, 
 M, 15- 
 
 Ver. 7. Thejleps of his ftrength, &c.] In regard to his power and pride, he it 
 compared to a lion ; which is remarkable for its ftrong and ftately walk. 
 
 are 
 
 ■• Hamafa, p- 473. « vVv LXX. iw" «uV. V u\g. fuper if fum. 
 
 ^ Compare Prov. xx. 20,
 
 Chap. XVIir. THEB00K0FJ013. iiy 
 
 8,p, 10. By his own coiinfels. Where aloft he ftalks, 
 The toils ileal on and circumfcribe his walks : 
 Clofe-lurking gins and cover'd pits around 
 Befet his paths, o'er all his guilty ground. 
 He ruflieth to his prey : but unaware 
 Treads on the mefhes of the ambufli'd fnare : 
 His foot is caught in the tough tangling fold, 
 He flruggles hard to burfl its llubborn hold. 
 II. Fell furies then, who hung upon his rear, 
 •Surround and fliake him with diftrafting fear: 
 
 12. One 
 
 arejlraitened'] According to the greek verfion, are bunted^. This idea agreeth 
 beft to the others that follow, being all of them allufions to the chace. 
 
 His own counfel, &c.] His oppreflions bring the vengeance of God and men 
 upon him ; as a lion is taken in a net while he is in purfuit of his prey. See 
 Ezek. xix. 6, 7, 8. 
 
 Ver. 9. the robber \ &c.] What have robbers to do here ? The tranflation 
 Ihould be, and the entangling cord holdeth him f aft. He is now caught. This 
 verfe therefore, as Mr. Heath remarks, fhould be placed after the next. It fi- 
 nifheth this branch of the defcription. 
 
 Ver. 1 1. Terrors] Terrible calamities. The poet here makes them allegori- 
 cal perfons. Homer calls them the Furies, the minifters of divine vengeance'. 
 
 andjhall drive him, &c.] and Jhall Jhake^ him at his feet. He is purfiied by 
 
 thefe 
 
 t erpvcra.aai. They read ITa' for ITi* Compare Pfal. cxl. , , 11, 12. 
 
 " D'SV funis inipLxus, from the root D*J!» pkiUcre, as Schultens Ihews from the Arabic. 
 See his Commentary. 
 
 * II. ix. 454. XV. =04. 
 
 '' \**5n It is fynoninious with ^'SJ, which fignifies in Arabic, among other fenfes, to if 
 Jbakcn with an ague. Caftell. Lex. Hept. 
 
 s
 
 13© THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XVIIL 
 
 12. One faflens on his fide, voracious ill, 
 
 It gnaws his flefh, commiflion'd flow to kill : 
 
 13. It rends his brawny limbs, it fucks his blood, 
 Death's eldeft born and fiercell of his brood. 
 
 14. Furies, 
 
 thefe Terrors, or Furies. They are clofe at his heels. He trembles with 
 horror. 
 
 Ver. 12, 13. His Jirength, &CC.'] His pain \ ov painful difeafe. The poet thus 
 ftyles one of the Furies, to raife the idea, he adds, Vijhall hehunger-hitten., furious 
 as a beaft of prey in the rage of hunger. He next names it deJtruElion -, and fays, 
 it was decreed to his fide; to fignify that it was of an extraordinary kind, fent by 
 the immediate hand of God, and would prove mortal : And to compleat the 
 climax, he.iiy\e^itthefirji -born of death, an exprelTion that denotes the exceed- 
 ing terriblenefs of the death in which this difeafe will end. That a bodily afflic- 
 tion, fome terrible and mortal difeafe, is intended, appears from its being repre- 
 fented devouring the flrength of his Jkin. 
 
 Ver. 12. ^^iMih^ ready at his f:de'\ is decreed'^, or appointed, to bis fide'', that 
 is, to his body. This exprefTion is another proof that a deftruSlive difeafe is the 
 thing intended. 
 
 Ver. 13. It fiali devour, bcz-l 
 
 The members ° of his body it devours. 
 Death's eldeft-born devoureth his members. 
 
 his body] In the hebrew, his Jkin ; which by a metonymy is here put for the 
 whole body, as in Chap. ii. 4. Jkin for Jkin, i. e. body for body, and in Exod. 
 
 xxii. 
 
 ' 1it< it is the fame with ]"lS*j v,'hich we englifh ajiieiion, chap. v. 6. The Arabic inter- 
 preter renders it, in the veife before us, iy\ difeafe; The Syriac, 3KD which fignifies any 
 ■painful difeafe, in the bowels, the loins, the head, &c. alfo the le^rofy. Vid. Caftell. Lex. 
 Hept. 3SO 
 
 " \\'2l See the note on chap. XV. 23. 
 
 " Thus Sophocles ufcth -nhivfn for Zwjk,*, Trcio? ffXsufa» fiafaiiwn an ofllStlon that emaciates the 
 fide. 
 
 ° 'ID '^-^ tnembers, and in the next claufe VID ^'^ memlers. See the note on chap, 
 xvii. 16. i
 
 Chap. XVIII. THE B O OK O F JO B. 131 
 
 14. Furies, in numbers like a black'ning hofl 
 Led by their fcepter'd chief, invade his boaft ; 
 
 15. Dwell in his dwelling, and with raging hade 
 Lay all the beauty of his Eden wafte : 
 
 Accurs'd 
 
 xxii. 27. // is his raiment for his Jkin, that is, his body. But thejkin is particu- 
 larly mentioned, as being the feat of the leprofy. Job's difeafe ^. ^fchylus '' 
 defcribes the fame difeafe in almoft the fame highly figurative language ; " Le- 
 profies, making progrefs over the flelh and devouring with lavage jaws the for- 
 mer habit of the body." 
 
 the firji-born of death'] The fentence of death, pronounced on all mankind, 
 gave birth to difeafes ; which therefore by a fublime allegory are ftyled the off- 
 fpring of death ; and the moft horrible dileafe, that which hath the prehemi- 
 fience in cruelty, K\.% firji-born, his might, and the beginning of his ftrength. 
 
 Ver. 14. His confidence'] All that he gloried in, and trufted to; his nume- 
 rous family and great pofllflions. 
 
 Itfhall bring him, &c.] Terrors fhall march againfi him' like a king '; that is, 
 tike a king at the head of his army, laying wafte an enemy's country with fire 
 and fword. He borrows this comparifon from Eliphaz. See chap. xv. 24. 
 
 Ver. 15. ItfJiall dwell, &c,] They (the Terrors, ver. 14.) JI:) all dwell' in his ta- 
 bernacle. 
 
 f See the note on chap. ii. 7. 
 s In his Chcpphtne. 
 
 ' irn'yVD g<''>dientur in turn, Schuhens. Its nominative is Hlil'^^ (for there is no 
 other) which is in the plural number ; whereas the verb is in the fingular. But, as he re- 
 marks, we have an example of the fame conftruifkion chap, xxvii. io. JTiri/i • ■ . . 
 inj'jyn Terrors take hold on him. 
 
 ' "^T^ like a king. So Levit. xiii. 2. like the plague (VJi'") of leprofy. Vid. Nold. 
 
 ' p32/n here again we have a verb fingular to ninVjl a nominative plural. Nothing 
 is more common than this conflruftion in the Arabic language ; to mention one .inltance 
 out of the Koran, Sur. ii. f 9. Kafat kokubo-com, indurata ejl corda vejha, your hearts is (are) 
 bi.rder.ed. where the nominative is mafculine and plural > but the verb, fingular and even 
 feminine. 
 
 .S 2
 
 132 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XVIII. 
 
 Accurs'd it lies, a dire example fhown, 
 
 Like Sodom's field with barren fulphur ftrown. 
 \6. As a tall oak, which fire ethereal bm-ns, ; 
 
 Sinks down, and to a fmoking ruin turns, 
 17. He pcrifheth. Him no memorial pile 
 
 Saves from oblivion, with infcriptive ilyle : 
 
 18. Purfu'd 
 
 bernacle^ tecaufe mthifig (hMbeMtfor Mm"' Thefe Furies are commilTioned 
 to make an utter deftrudtion. 
 
 hrimjlone, &c.] This is fuppofed to allude to the overthrow of Sodom and 
 Gomorrah; which the hebrew poets and prophets, Bp. Lowdi remarks ", ufed 
 as an image of all other defolating judgements of God. 
 
 Ver. 16 — 20. His roots, &c.] He had reprefented the punifhment of this 
 wicked man to be extermination. He dwells upon that horrible idea, and opens 
 the particulars contained in it. In the 16th verfe he defcribes it by an image 
 taken from the vegetable world, a lofty tree fuddenly killed " by lightning, as I 
 fuppofe. Silius Italicus, quoted here by Schultens, has drawn the image at 
 large : 
 
 Tandem cum toto cecidit, &c. 
 
 At laft he fell, with all his kindred band; 
 
 A name fo long renown'd in Umbrian land. _ 
 
 So falls an oak, beneath whofe lofty fhade 
 
 Our anceftors their mighty limbs defplay'd : 
 
 Struck by Jove's bolt it fmokes, the fulph'rous flame 
 
 Rages with crackling havock o'er its frame: 
 
 Subdu'd by heav'n it finks, and fpreads the ground 
 
 With its fear'd trunk and arms a fpacious ruin round. 
 
 L. X. 164. 
 
 " "h 'VdD the phrafe is elliptical. Schultens has produced the entire form, from Deufc 
 xxviii. ,-5. ^2 "il "IWii'n '^113 huauSehc hath nothing Uft him. 
 * PralcH. p. 106. 
 ^ Amos ii 9.
 
 Chap. XVIII. THEBOOKOFJOB. 133 
 
 18. Purfu'd with hiffings and reproach he's hurl'd 
 To {hades below, vile ejedl of the world : 
 
 19. Nor fon to him, nor grandfon fliall remain, 
 Nor one poor vaflal of his cringing train. 
 
 20. Our lires the vengeance faw with facred fear, 
 And rifmg ages tremble while they hear. 
 
 21. Such 
 
 Ver. 18. He /hall be driven, &c.] He Ihall not be condu£led out of life, as 
 Plato expreffeth it >', with funeral pomp, by a numerous train of mournincr ci- 
 tizens and relations ; but Ihall be call out of human fociety like a malefactor, 
 and thrown under ground with infamy and execration. 
 
 Ver. 19. nephew"] Or fon^s fon, as in Gen. xxi. 23. 
 
 Nor any remainingy &c.J All his dependents will be involved in his deftrudlion. 
 The original word for d-iveUings fignifies, fays the learned Schultens, a terri- 
 tory of refuge for ft angers. The great men among the Arabs called their refpec- 
 tive diftridts by this name -, becaufe they took under tlieir protedtion all defence- 
 lefs and neceflitous perfons who fled thither. They prided themfelves in hav- 
 ing a great number of thefe clients, or dependents. This was an ancient cuftom 
 in Arabia, and continues to the prelent day '. 
 
 Ver. 20. they that -went before ^ &c.] the ancients; who were eye-witnefles of 
 this dreadful cataftrophe. Hence it appears that Bildad had been fpeaking of 
 things which happened long before his own times. Why then does he exprefs 
 himfelf in the future tenfe .'' Becaufe he and his companions eflablifhed thefe paft 
 cafes into precedents; and inferred from them that general maxim which he lays 
 down in the laft verfe. Surely fuch are the dwellings, &c. 
 
 On comparing this oration of Bildad with his former, in chap. viii. I am 
 
 ready 
 
 y Quoted by Longinus, cap. :8. 
 
 » The Arabian Poets fiequently refer to this cuHom. See the Jrahian Anthologia^ 
 p. 424. n. 
 
 * D':D"1p They of aid. Thus nViDIp things of old. Ifaiah xliii. i8.
 
 ,34 THE BOOK OF JOB. CiiAr. XVIII, 
 
 21. Such is the portion to the wretch aflign'd, 
 AUen from God and foe of human kind. 
 
 Chap. 
 XIX. 
 I, 2. Job anfwer'd quick : Unfeeling men, how long 
 
 Mean you to cut and crufli me with the tongue J 
 
 3. Infults enow I've born: Hill, loft to fliame, 
 
 Stubborn defiance do your looks proclaim? 
 
 4- Be 
 
 ready to apply to him what LonginusTays of Euripides ; " He was not formed 
 by nature for the fublime : yet by mighty efforts and ftraining his powers, 
 when his fubjefl required grandeur, he had reached that noble elevation." What 
 ambition effefted in Euripides, pafllon feems to have produced inBildad. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 Is It pofTible to read from the firfl: to the twenty-fecond verfe of this chapter, 
 without feeling the moft tender emotions of compafllon for this good unhappy 
 man ? we may thence infer, that the defign of this portion of his reply was to 
 melt, if pofllble, his hard-hearted friends ; by a moft pathetic reprefentation of 
 their inhumanity and his own deplorable condition. 
 
 Defpairing, however, to make any imprefllon on them, he on a fudden ele- 
 vates his voice ; and, with a wonderful erediion of ipirit, confoles himfelf in 
 the faith and expe6lation of a future judgement, which will do juftice to 
 his innocence and reward his virtue, ver. 23. — 27. He concludes with warn- 
 ing them of the-punifhment which calumny will receive, in that day of right- 
 eous retribution ; ver. 28, 29. 
 
 Ver. 3. Thefe ten times'] that is, over and over. Men who are greatly moved 
 are not Avont to fpeak with precifion. The upbraiding ftyle is always exagge- 
 rating. 
 
 '■ De fublim. chap. xv.
 
 Chap. XIX. THEBOOKOFJOB. 13^ 
 
 4. Be it, fome error, incident to all. 
 
 Is mine ; my error on myfelf mufl: fall. 
 
 5. What, flill abufe me? and, with cruel flrifc, 
 Urge my afflidlion to condemn my life ? 
 
 6. Learn then j that God, the fatal caufe unknown, 
 Hath me purfu'd, and in his toils o'erthrown. 
 
 7. I cry aloud of wrong, no anfwer gain j 
 
 For juftice call, no juftice can obtain : 
 
 8. But 
 
 Ver. 4. mine error remaineth ■*, &c.] The fentiment is like that in the Romao. 
 poet, 
 
 Mihi dolebit, non tibi, fi quid ego ftulte fecero '. 
 
 ** If I do a foolifh adlion, it is I who Ihall fufFer for it, not you.'* 
 
 Ver. 5. magnify your/elves againfi, &c.] The exprefllon fignifies to treat X, 
 perfon with infolence. Pfalm xxxv. 26. Zeph. ii. 10. 
 
 my reproach'] my ignominious calamities. 
 
 Ver. 6, 7. Know now, &c.] He freely owns that his overthrow was by the 
 hand of God: but infifteth that he had done nothing to deferve it; and that he 
 had often begged to be brought to his trial ; though hitherto without effedt. 
 
 of wrong] he certainly means wrong, or violence, done to him by God. This 
 language is extremely harlh, and utterly inexcufable. It is however no- 
 thing more than what he had already faid in effeft chap. ix. 17. x. 3. xvi. 17. 
 
 Indeed 
 
 '' ]»Vn Zech. V. 4. // (t'je curfe) Jhall remain in thi midjl of his houfe, and jhall cen^ 
 fume it, 
 
 Ver. -■,. that ye make yourfelvesjirange, &c.] Are ye not ajhamedto be fo very objiinate againjl 
 me? Mr. Heath. IIDnP to be fo very objinate. the root is fuppofed to be H^n 5 one of 
 ■whofe derivative nouns in Arabic fignifies vehemence, another of them impudence. Vid. 
 Caftcll. Lex. 
 
 ' Plautus in Menachmi ASi, xu Jc, iii.
 
 X36 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XIX. 
 
 8. But in dark dungeon he confines me faft, 
 With boks and walls that never can be pafs'd. 
 y, lo. O bitter change ! how happy I and great! 
 Till he in ruins laid my glorious ftatc, 
 Rent the tiara from my princely head, 
 
 And fwept my all now hurls me to the dead : 
 
 I leave 
 
 Indeed if fuch rafli fpeeches as thefe had not come out of his lips, what ground 
 would there have been for thofe cutting reproaches chap. xl. 8. JVilt thou alfo 
 difannull my judgement? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayeft be righteous? 
 
 Ver. 8 — 2o. He hath fenced, &c.] This paragraph is a mournful amplifica- 
 tion of the fuppofed 'K'rwz^ ver. 7. He reprefents his hopelefs condition, ver. 8.— 
 the utter ruin God had brought upon him, ver. 9, 10. — the unprovoked violence 
 with which it was executed, ver. 1 1, 12. — the efFedt it had in caufing his rela- 
 tions, acquaintance, the partner of his bed, and his moft intimate friends to 
 .'defert him ; yea his dependents, fervants, flaves, to defpife him, ver. 13. to 
 the end of ver. 19. — And laftly, the deplorable Hate to which all thefe afflic- 
 tions, his dileafe in particular, had reduced his body, ver. 20. 
 
 Ver. P. He hath fenced up^ &c.] He compares his fituation to that of a con- 
 demned malefatflor, who is thruft down into a dark dungeon; and there bolted 
 in, fo as that it is impofiible for him to efcape. The mournful prophet, per- 
 fonating his country, defcribes its defperate condition by the fame image \ 
 
 Ver. 9. the crown'] This may mean the richer kind oiturbant, which is worn 
 by perfons of diftindion among the Arabs at this day. The turbant appears 
 from medals and ftatues to have been the fame with the tiara, or diadem ^. Or 
 the expreflion may be metaphorical; and the glory and the crozi-n may denote 
 his dignity, and the honours paid to his authority, juftice, and beneficence. 
 
 Ver. 10. I tim gone} I atn going, to the grave. So the word is ufed chap. x. 
 21. xvi. 22. 
 
 mine 
 
 ' LametUations iii. 7 — 9. 
 
 s Shnvv's Travels, p. 226. 4:0.
 
 Chap, XIX. TH E BO K OF JOB. 137 
 
 I leave my hope behind, hke fome fair tree ^ 
 
 Uptorn by tempefl, when its boughs you lee > 
 
 Rich laden with a blooming progeny. j 
 
 II, 12. Me haplefs obje(5t of his hate he chofe, 
 
 Me (fo he will'd) he numb'red with his foes : 
 
 His ire he kindled, and his armies fent 
 
 On rapid march to my devoted tent: 
 
 His legions round my harralefs dwelling form'd 
 
 Dreadful encampment, and with fuf y form'd. 
 
 13. My brethren and acquaintance fled afar> 
 With horror fled, from this ftupendous war: 
 
 14. My kindred lliunn'd me, of my boafting friends 
 Who now my unremember'd grief attends i 
 
 15. The 
 
 mm hope] all his expeftations, as to this world, from the divine benedidion 
 on his virtue. See the note on chap. xvii. 15. 
 
 like a tree] which, when full of bloflbms, is uprooted by a ftorm ; or deftroy- 
 ed by lightning. Chap. xv. 30. xviii. 16. This is one of thofe abrupt fimiles, 
 which leave to the reader's imagination thepleafure of difcovering the point of 
 likencfs. We meet with a few inftances of this kind in Homer : Speaking, for 
 inftance, of the appearance of the white plumes on Hector's helmet, and allud- 
 ing alfo to his lofty ftature, he fays ; " he rufhed on, like a mountain cover- 
 ed with fnow ''." 
 
 Ver. 12. his troops] of evils. The metaphors which follow, are borrowed 
 from the works caft up by a befieging army j for the annoyance of a city with 
 
 their 
 
 ' II. xiii. 754.
 
 isB THEBOOROFJOB. Chap. XIX. 
 
 15. The flrangers whom I flichcr'd in my fliade, 
 The maidens who my awful nod obey'd, 
 
 Pafs me as though unknown, oi- gaze me o'er 
 
 As fome ftrange thing from fome (trangc diftant fliore: 
 
 16. My meaneft flave with flupid infult flares, 
 Deaf to my calls, regardlefs of my pray'rs. 
 
 17. Ev'n file whom wedlock's charities fhould move, 
 Naufeates my breath ; the tend'reft notes of love 
 Unheeding, though conjur'd, in mournful llrain, 
 By the dear mem'ry of our children llain. 
 
 18. Yea 
 
 their arrows and engines of war. Ifaiah xxxvii. 33. The art of war mufl furely 
 have made a confiderable progrefs in thofe early days. 
 
 Ver. 15. They that dzveW] The clients' of my koufe. Our author's word, as 
 the learned Schukens hath fhown, is that by which the Arabs denote fiich as 
 pot themlelves under a great man's proceftion, are adopted into his family, and 
 become dependent on him for their maintenance and fccurity. See the note on 
 chap, xviii. 19. 
 
 Ver. 17. isjlrange'] " is become loathfome ^ ." This way of tranflating the ex- 
 preflion turns the complaint into a tender apology, by imputing her avoidance 
 of him to the exceffive naufeoufnefs of his difeafe. The married ladies are in- 
 debted to the learned Schukens for this candid and polite remark. 
 
 Untreated^'] The hebrew word implies in it tlie mod tender emotions of pa- 
 rental affeftion. 
 
 It 
 
 ' '"jjl Vid. Hciitufci, p. 423. n. " Fortune has deprived me of a brave man whofe 
 c'ieiit ("IXj) was not contemptible." 
 
 ^ n")f m Atiihic/q/iiditus e/l, computruitfpiritusmeus, Schu]tens i>i dmrnefit. 
 
 ■ TlJn ^^^ ""oo' \^r\ fignifies, in Arabic, to be tnovedwith natural affeSl ion; being a me- 
 taphor from the tender modulation of the voice by which the camel expreffeth fondnefs to 
 her young one. Caftcll. Z,w. Pocock. in Carmen Tcgr, p. 29. Cimme/itariumSch^ikens,
 
 CifAP. XrX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 139 
 
 18. Yea flav'ry's fpawn, beneath my tabic fed, 
 Pufh me afide, and flout mc to my head. 
 
 19. All who the fecrets of my foul pofTcfs'd, 
 All whom affedion cherifh'd in my brcall, 
 Are turn'd againft me ; as a wretch impure 
 Whom God abominates, and men abjure. 
 
 20. Thus left, my bone jufl: ftarting from within 
 Through the poor remnant of my tatter'd fkin, 
 
 21. Pity 
 
 It is obfervable that he never makes mention of his children except here and 
 chap. xxix. 5. The thought of their tragical death was too painful to be dwelt 
 upon, or often fpoken of. 
 
 Ver. 18. Tea, young'^ children deffifed me'] Thefe were, I imagine^ the chil- 
 dren of his (laves, born in his family. Nothing could fo touchingly reprefent 
 the contempt into which he was fallen, as this circumftance, 
 
 I arofe] " I am prefent"." The moment I appear (as Crinfoz turns it) they 
 give me abufive language. 
 
 Ver. 20. My bone cleaveth, &c.] The learned Michaelis obferves °, that his 
 ofFenfive breath ver. 17. the loathfomenefs and infedion of his whole body 
 ver. 19. his atrophy mentioned in this twentieth verfe, and the torn condition of 
 his fkin ver. 26. arc all circumftances attending the elephantiafis. Job's dif- 
 eafe. 
 
 I am efcaped, &c.] The learned Profcffor Chappelow tranflates, I am efcaped 
 
 "xith 
 
 "> D'7'1J/ The verb in Arabic fignihes to maintain a numerous family. The noun there- 
 fore muft denote in general thofe who were fed from his table; but as h\s fervants, or flaves, 
 were mentioned ver. 16. he may be fuppofed to mean here the young children of his fervant!, 
 or flaves. Vid. Comment. SchuUens. 
 
 " HDIpN ''^<'' The LXX. turn it irafirnfti in Dan. vii, lo. 
 " Net. in PrakH, p. 202. 
 
 T 2
 
 14° THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XIX. 
 
 21. Pity me, pity; let my urgent need, 
 
 Let ancient friendfliip for compallion plead, 
 For fmitten by th' immortal arm I bleed. 
 
 2 2. Will you (ah why f) your perfecutions join 
 To thofe I fuffer by a hand divine ; 
 Infatiate ftill, Hill eager to defame 
 And glut your rancour with my worry'd name ? 
 
 I 
 
 23. O that, fair written in a faithful fcroll 
 
 Time in his archives would my words enroll ! 
 
 24. O 
 
 with a torn Jkin^. Job defcribes the efFcd of his difeafe on his fkin in much 
 the fame manner in ver. 26. my Jkin-vobich is thus torn, &c. See the note. 
 
 Ver. 22. and are not fatisfied with my flejh'\ that is, why are ye not fatisfied 
 with the reproaches and flanders, with which ye have already worried me ? The 
 learned Schultens remarks ^ that to eat the fief j of another is an Arabian phrale 
 for calumniating him. " I am not addifted to flander, or one who devoureth the 
 flelh of his friend." So one of their poets fings. Another, fpeaking of his 
 calumniator, fays-, who worries my flejh, and yet has not fatisfied his avidity'. 
 The phraleology is taken from a wild beaft rending his prey. This image of 
 a furious defamer is drawn at full length chap. xvi. 9, 10. where' the exprefiion 
 They have filled [or fatiated) themfelves upon me is plainly fimilar to why are ye not 
 fatisfied with my fief. See the note there. 
 
 This interpretation of the words of Job makes a natural tranfition to the fol- 
 lowing declaration of his faith in a future judgement, for the vindication of his 
 charafter. 
 
 Ver. 23. that my words, tccl He means, furely, fuch of his words as 
 
 would 
 
 p »Jty ~ny a torn fin, Mr. Chappclow derives 'Jjy from the Arabic pjy; which 
 fignifies in its feventh conjugation according to CaftcU. vctufus, triiiis fttit uier, ccrrugata 
 fult cutis fenis. 
 
 ■) In his Commentary. 
 
 ' Hamafa, or the Arabian Jnthologia, p. 591. and the nettoi Schultens.
 
 Chap. XIX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 141 
 
 24. O furrow them in lead ; their letters give 
 Through endlefs ages in the rock to live. 
 
 25. / 
 
 would come within the compafs of an infcription upon a rock; the words, there- 
 fore, which he delivers in ver. 25, 26, 27. 
 
 were now writteii] Sir Ifaac Newton ' fuppofes. If I remember right, that 
 letters were invented by the Edomites ; from whom Mofcs learned them, when 
 he fled into Arabia from the wrath of Pharaoh. 
 
 O that they were printed in a iook !] O that they were noted'- in a regifter"! 
 He wilheth that his memorable words might be tranfmitted to pofterity ; firft, by 
 writing, tlie ufual method of prefcrving paft tranfadions : fecondly, by the ftill 
 fafer method of lodging this writing in the public archives : thirdly, by infcrib- 
 ing them on lead, as more durable than linen or paper ; and laflly, by engrav- 
 ing them in the natural rock as the mofl durable of all. 
 
 were written'] on linen perhaps. Painting upon linen was very ancient 
 among the Egyptians. Their paper, made of the papyrus, was a later iaven- 
 tion '•. 
 
 Ver. 24. and lead] to grave upon with the iron pen, orftyle\ The learn- 
 ed Gottingen Profefibr '' fays, he does -not underftand what the hebrew word 
 means which we englifh lead. We are certain, however, that it is clafled with 
 metals ; gold, filver, iron, and tin ^ : Alfo that it fignifies a fubllance ponde- 
 rous ' and fufible •». It muft therefore denote fome heavy metal or mineral. We 
 
 learn. 
 
 ' In his Chrcnok^y. 
 
 ' IPn' "^'re infcribcd, or noted z^ in Ifaiah xxx. 8. note it in a bcok, that it may be for the 
 time to come, for ever and ever. 
 
 " *1DD a regifter. In Ezra iv, 15. the hook of records ( K'j"<D"I "IDD ) means the ar- 
 chives of the kingdom, the roll, 01 book., of the chronicles, as it is called Eflher ii. 2j. 
 
 » Greaves on the pyramids, p. ;o. Piinii Hi/i. Nat. lib. xiii. c. 11. 
 
 " See Gale's account of the Jiyli and forts of paper ufed by the ancients, in Philofoph. ■ 
 Tranfaiiions abridged, vol. vii. part iv. p. 18. 
 
 y Michaelis, in Epimet. Pralen, Loivthi xxxVi. p. 211. Svo. 
 
 ^ Numb. xxxi. 22. ' Exod. xv. 10. * Jer. vi. 29.-
 
 142 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap.XIX. 
 
 25. / hwiu^ that He ivhofe yean can ne'er decay 
 Will from the grave redeem my Jleeplng clay. 
 When the lajl rolling fun Jh all leave the jkies., 
 He •u.'illfiir'uive-, and o^er the dufl arfe : 
 s6, 2y. Then fhall this mangled Jkin neiv form ojfufue. 
 This flefh thenfloiirifh in immortal bloom ; 
 My raptur'd eyes the judging GodfljallfeCi 
 Eflrang'd tio morCy but friendly then to me. 
 
 H01V 
 
 learn, further, from Dr. Shaw % that very probably there are lead-mines in the 
 mountains of Arabia Petrasa: For he found among thofe rocks plenty of Sele- 
 rtiies, or moon-ftone, which is faid to be a certain fign of lead-ore underneath. 
 Add to all this, Pliny '' informs us that writing on leadvf&s of high antiquity, and 
 came in praftice next after writing on the bark and leaves of trees, and was ufed 
 in recording public tranfaftions. 
 
 in the rock] Dr. Pocock met with hieroglyphic charaflers cut in the rock, in 
 the fepulchres of the kings of Thebes ^ Greaves ' alfo makes mention of an in- 
 fcription of one line in thofe facred Egyptian charadlers, which he obferved in 
 the fecond pyramid. As to the IVritten Mountains, in the defert of Sinai, which 
 are covered with unknown charafters; that accurate traveller the Honourable 
 Edward Wortley Mountagu =, who nicely examined them, has offered good 
 arguments to prove they were the work of chriftian pilgrims in the firit ages of 
 chriftianity. 
 
 Yer. 25, 26, 27. Fori know, &c.] I would beg leave to offer the following 
 
 literal 
 
 ' Travels, p. 442. 410. 
 
 *■ HiJ. Nat. lib. xiii. c. ii. 
 
 ' Defcriptton of the Eqft, vol. i. p. 98, 99. 
 
 ' Defcriptton of the Pyramids, p. 106, 107. 
 
 « See his Journey to the IVritten Mountains,
 
 Ghap.XIX. the book OF JOB. t^^ 
 
 Hoiv does the lofty hope my foul infpire ! 
 1 bum^ I faint ivith "vehement defire, 
 
 28. Be warri'd ; no more my innocence purfue : 
 Its caufe fhall triumph in that jufl review. 
 
 29. Tremble ; thefe wrongs th' avenging fvvord demand, 
 The fword which arms th' ahnighty ruler's hand : 
 You then fliall know, that injur'd virtue's figh 
 Found audience with an equal judge on high. 
 
 Chap; 
 
 ZrVtfra/.tranflation of this famous paflage ; and refer the reader to the Appendix. 
 Numb. III. for explication of it. 
 
 Ver. 25. For I knov)^ my redeemer is the living one y 
 
 And be, the Lajl, will o'er the duji Jiand up : 
 
 Ver. 26. Audmyjkin which is thus tortt, (hall be another ; and in myflejh 
 Ijhalljee God. 
 
 Ver. 27. Whom I Jhallfee., even mine eyes Jhall behold, on my fide, and not 
 ejlranged: my reins are confumed --jjithin me. 
 
 Ver. 28. But ye Jhould fay, &c.] Wherefore ye Jhould fay, why Jhall we perfecute 
 him ? that is, why fhall we continue in our perfecution of him .'' feeing the root 
 of the matter '^ will be found in 'me : that is, when the matter, or caufe between 
 you and me, fliall come into judgement before God-, its root, its bafis and 
 fupport, which is truth, will be found on my fide of the queftion. 
 
 Ver. 29. Be ye afraid of the fword] The fword in the hand of earthly ma- 
 giftrates is the emblem of punitive juftice. The fcripture, accordingly, puts a 
 fword into the hand of God, the fupreme magiitrate, to fignify his vindi(5live 
 juftice \ And the greateft of all teachers reprefents the future punifhments of 
 
 wicked 
 
 ^ TUT the matter, in difpute. It fignifics n caife, or matter for judicial inquiry, Exod. 
 xviii. 16, when they have a matter they come unt} me, and I judge between one ami another. 
 
 ' Pf. vii. 12, 13. Ifaiah xxvii. i.
 
 144 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XIX. 
 
 Chap. 
 XX. 
 I, 2. Therefore, the fierce Naamathitc reply'd, 
 
 My thoughts, returning with impetuous tide, 
 
 3. Impell 
 
 wicked men, in terms of allufion to the punifhments inflifted by the courts of 
 human judicature. Matt. v. 22. 
 
 for wrath brhigetb, &c.] Mr. Heath's verfion is, for thefe are crimes punijhable 
 by the fivord^. that is, your inhumanity, uncharitablenefs, and calumnies are 
 capital crimes before God ; and will meet with levere punifhment in the day of 
 the revelation of his righteous judgement. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 Some readers perhaps, of an over delicate tafte, may grow tired with thefe 
 repeated declamations on the tranfient profperity and fearful cataftrophe of great 
 opprcflbrs. Eat thefe three men having the fame ideas of the courfe of provi- 
 dence, and of the cafe of their unhappy friend, muft of necelTity fpeak with a 
 general uniformity on the fubjeft. In the mean while thefe very repetitions pro- 
 mote the defign of the poem. They teaze and exafperate the good man's fpirit, 
 and carry him further in thofe excefies of complaint and felf-juftification ; which 
 excefles, being afterwards properly reprefented to him, prove the very means 
 of his conviction and repentance. 
 
 The fubjedt, however, in this fecond fpeech of Zophar is placed in fo many 
 different views, and reprefented by emblems and metaphors fo intirely his own, 
 that thefe at lead have the charms of novelty. 
 
 Upon the whole, there is great poetical merit in this fpeech. It is a torrent 
 of oriental eloquence, rufhing on with the vehemence of a fiery temper inflamed 
 by refentment and miftaken zeal. 
 
 '' He reads nSH ^'*<^» thefe ; (the pronoun of the third perfon plural mafculine with a 
 paragogic n) inftead of HwH wrath, 
 
 Hac enim funt crimina gladii, fc digna gladio. 
 In Pfal. xvii. 13. "^mn yty"^ (implus gladii tut) is turned by the Chaldee "jfi'DS SltOp 
 3'nnKT ?"' ''fi ifl occifioms (ut occidatur) gladio iuo, who is wortiiy to hejlain by thyfword.
 
 Chap. XX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 145 
 
 3. Impell one anfwcr more; Nor heeds my car 
 Thy warning, nor thy menace will I fc:ir. 
 
 4. Art thou unknowing, that the voice of Time, 
 Since man was planted in this earthly clime, 
 
 5. Proclaims ; The fong of profligates is fhqrt, 
 
 Th' opprelTor's feflal but a moment's fport .' 
 
 6. Advancing 
 
 Ver. 2. Therefore, &c.] namely, becaufe we know there is a judgement, with 
 ^hich you threaten us. 
 
 my thoughts, &c.] a multitude of agitating thoughts impell me to make a re- 
 ply. The word which we render I make hajle^, imports great eagernefs and im- 
 petuofity in Habak. i. P. 
 
 Ver. 3. the check of my reproach^ my reproachful correSlionK He refers to the 
 commination in the laft verfe of the foregoing chapter. 
 
 the fpirit of my underfianding^ Thefpirit which is within me "" , Mr. Heath. 
 
 The meaning is, that he has the courage" to anfwer him, in defiance of his 
 minatory warning. Chap. xix. 29. 
 
 Ver. 4 — II. He comprifcth (ver. 4, 5.J the fubjed of his diicourfe in afen- 
 tentious aphorifm, founded on a feries of fafts deduced from the earlieft times 
 of the world. He then opens the contents of that aphorilin, viz. the gradual in- 
 creafe of the oppreflbr's greatnefs to its acme, ver. 6. its ignominious period, 
 ver. 7. a refleftionon the emptinefs and tranfient duration of his felicity, ver. 
 8, 9. the calamities of his family, ver. 10. and his untimely death ver. ir. 
 
 Ver. 5. the hypocrite"] the profligate. It is a variation of the K^/V^fi in the for- 
 mer 
 
 ' 'nS/D "nDlJi The latter of two fubftantives in this conftrudlion is convertible into 
 Jii adjective. Vid. Guarin Gram. Heb. lib. ii. cap. 2. can. 3. 
 
 " 'ri^'HO It is a prepofuion compounJed of t^frcm and the chaldee Xli'^ inler^ intra., 
 iiUKuig, within. 
 
 " nn We tranflate it courage in Jofhua ii. 11. but fpirit (in the fenfc of courage) in 
 chiip. V. I. of that book. Mr. Heath rcil-rs us to both thofc paff.igcs. 
 
 u
 
 146 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XX. 
 
 6. Advancing and advancing let him rife, 
 Till his proud climax touch the Harry fkies : 
 
 7. Behold his fall ! like his own ordure tofl 
 Into oblivion, from the world he's loft : 
 
 And wond'ring throngs, who faw his envy'd height, 
 Afk, " whither has the meteor wing'd its flight ? 
 
 8. He's vanifli'd, as a dream ; he's chas'd away, 
 Like a night-vilion by the waking day. 
 
 9. No eye that glanc'd him fliall the glance renew, 
 His place no more its haughty mafter view, 
 
 10, II. For full of manhood's fap his bones robuft 
 
 Lie in the grave, and with him rot in duft : 
 
 Heirs 
 
 mer claufe ; another term to exprefs the fame idea. See the note on chap. viii. 
 
 Ver. 7. like his own dung "] This fimile may perhaps be thought too indelf- 
 cate. There cannot however be a ftronger image of the odioufnefs, contempt, 
 and infamy of a -wicked and mifchievous character, exaft refemblance is the 
 principal beauty in all comparifons p. 
 
 Ver. 9. the eye which Jaw '^ hint] The eye which hath caught a glance of him. 
 Mr. Heath. 
 
 This is a beautiful paraphrafe of the moment in ver. 5. The latter claufe, nei- 
 ther Jhall his place any more behold him, is an explication of the phrafe in ver. 7. 
 Hejhallperijhfor ever. 
 
 Yer. 10. His children jhall feek to fleafe' the poor'] This is much ftronger than 
 
 if 
 
 • Compare I Kings xiy. 10. Zeph. i. i7- Pfal- Ixxxiii. ic 
 
 * See Mr. Pope's note on U. xi. ver. 669, of his tranflation. 
 
 ' yrV So in II Chron. x. 7. If thou he kind to this people, and phafe them ( Dri'VII <"idi 
 (ondliaJe their a£ii}ion}, andfpeak£Cod words unto them, &c..
 
 Chap. XX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 147 
 
 Heirs of his woes, his helplefs orphans flee 
 For Ihelter to the huts of poverty. 
 
 12, 13. Sweet was his fin, the greedy lufl of wrong, 
 A lufcious viand, roU'd beneath the tongue ; 
 
 The 
 
 if he had faid, they Jhall become poor. It is placing them below poverty itfelf. 
 They fhall court the good-will and affiftance of the moft deftitute and abjedt. 
 
 his hands'] his o-Jin hands fiall recompenfe' his iniquity'. He Ihall by his oppref- 
 fions be the caufe of ruin to himfelf and family. 
 
 Vcr, II. his bones, &c.] 
 
 His bones are full of his youth °, 
 
 And It fhall lie down " with him in the grave. 
 
 This is faying, in the language of animated poetry. He fhall be cut off in his 
 youth and the fulnefs of his ftrength. 
 
 Ver. 12 — 28. Though wickednefs, &c.] The m;»f of this delinquent having 
 not been fpecifiedy and his punifhment but lightly touched -, it was neceflary to 
 refume thofe topics, and enlarge upon them, in order to make a deeper impref- 
 fion of terror. This amplification begins with the twelfth verfe, and ends with 
 tlie twenty-eighth verfe. 
 
 . Vcr. 12. Though wickednefs, &c.] The wickednefs., in which he takes fo much 
 pleafure, is a rapacious avarice; he hath fiv allots: ed down riches ver. 15. This is 
 the crime which they fuppofe Job to have lived in the pradtice of. The great 
 force of a vicious habit is ftrongly marked in this and the following verle : The 
 pleafure which a corrupt mind feels in the indulgence of its criminal inclination, 
 is compared to an epicure's high enjoyment offome delicious morfel. 
 
 ' rUDK^n Jbo^l recompenfs; or rtquitet as in Gen. 1. ij. He will certainly requite us all 
 the evil which we did to him. 
 
 ' IJIt* his iniquity, as in chap. xxi. lo. and Pfalm xciv. 23. He Jhall Iring (^2\t}^^ he 
 Jhall requite) upon them their cwn iniquity. Sec. 
 
 " VD^^V '^'f yn'b, chap, xxxiii. 25- O'liyO childhood, D'^lVv ycuth, and D'JpT old 
 agt, are lingular nouns ; with a plural termination, and probably of the common gender. 
 
 " 3^t^'n its nominative mull be O'^lVy There is no other nominative, Angular and 
 fc«iiiiinc, 10 agree with this verb. 
 
 U 2
 
 148 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XX. 
 
 The cud of" pleafure, and tenacious chew'd, 
 Spar'd in the mouth, its flavour oftrenew'd: 
 
 14. But, foon as fwallow'd, it to poifon turns ; 
 
 And darting through his veins with fury burns : 
 
 15. The wealth his vail avidity devour'd 
 
 He fhall difgorge ; from out his entrails pour'd 
 With tort'ring violence by the force of God, 
 The wicked plunder lliall be cafl: abroad. 
 
 16. A deadly potion he fliall drain; the wine 
 Of vipers gall, the cup of wrath divine. 
 
 17. Forbid, juft Heav'n, that e'er his eye behold 
 
 Thy cheerful bleiTings round his manlion roU'd ; 
 
 That 
 
 Ver. 14. his meat} his meath riches acquired by opprefTion. but his meat 
 jg poilbned. A curfe is mixed with iniquitous acquifitions. This is the gall 
 of afps within him, even the divine vengeance. Deut. xxxii. 33, 34. 
 
 Ver. 15. be hath fwallo-wed down] The original word is very forcible : it de- 
 notes vaft avidity and rapacity, being a metaphor from a ravenous beaft devour- 
 ing his prey, compare Jerem. li. 34. 
 
 and he Jhall vomit them up again] as an epicure his poifoned draught, or morfel. 
 The fudden lofs of his wicked wealth and intolerable anguifh of miod in fuf- 
 fering fuch lofs, are involved in this powerful metaphor. The curfe, or ven- 
 geance, of God will bring this punifhment ; Godjhall cafi them out of his belly. 
 
 Ver. 16. He floall fuck the poifon^ &c.] The poifon of afps and the viper' s' tongue 
 are only variations oi the gall cf afps ver. 14. all mean the curfe and vengeance 
 of God that mingle with his riches; and which in time will work the deftruftion 
 of them and of hisperfon, he dwells upon the punifiment of this criminal, and 
 on its caufes. 
 
 Ver. 17. He Jhall not fee the rivers, &c.] that is, he fhall not continue to fee 
 
 the rivers, &c. j Thefe figurative expreflions undoubtedly reprefent fome part of 
 
 2 his
 
 Chap. XX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 That fountains flow for him, and rivers foam 
 From the fweet dairy and the fweeter comb. 
 
 18. Yea, ev'n his guilt le/s treafures, won with toil, 
 (No weeping widow's wrong, no orphan fpoil) 
 Shall fwell his forfeit: in that humbling hour. 
 He fhall not boafl his opulence and pow'r : 
 
 T49 
 
 19. For 
 
 his punifhment. Rivers, honey, and milk are oriental emblems of felicity^ : 
 And it ij poiTible, that the utter lofs of all his former abundance and enjoyments 
 may be intended. But I very much fufpeft, that a worfe punifhment is here 
 threatened; even exclufion from r/'fy?rt/i of the blejfed. The blcffings of reli- 
 gion and the future happinefs of good men are reprefented in fcripture by thele 
 pleafant images \ Similar to thefe is the defcription of paradife in the Koran % 
 " Therein are rivers of incorrtiptible water, and rivers of milk, the tafte whereof 
 changeth not -, and rivers of wine, plealant unto thofe who drink; and rivers of 
 clarified honey '." If this 1 7th verfe be underftood of happinefs in z future world, 
 it is certainly out of its place ; and will enter more properly next after ver. 25. 
 The laft fentence of that verfe, ( think, relates to future punifhment s : Terrors 
 are upon him. The trandation will then be. 
 
 And terrors apprehend his flitting foul. 
 
 For never never fhall his eyes behold 
 
 The happy fields, where brooks of liquid gold 
 
 Gufh from the comb, and where on milky ftreams 
 
 The purple light expands its pureft beams. 
 
 Ver. 18. That which be laboured for, &c.] He flmll reft ere the labour which ^ 
 
 he 
 
 * Chap. xxix. 6. Ifaiah vii. 2:. 
 
 '' Ifaiah Iv. i, 2. Joel iii. 18. Revel, vii. 17. xxii. i, 2. 
 
 ^ Surat. xlvii. 16, 17. 
 
 » Mr. Sale's Tranjlation. 
 
 ^ y 7^' Kl^ The 1 converts the future uito a preterite ; and at the fame time does the 
 ofEce of the relative xvhich, as in chap. xv. 9 what knovucji thou that (which) we have net 
 known ? what underjtandeft ihiu, which is t:ct in us ? Vid. Noldium.
 
 150 THE BOOK OF JOB. CMAr. XX. 
 
 1 9. For on the weak his iron hands he threw, 
 By cruel wrongs his wicked rent-roll grew ; 
 
 20. Yet, 
 
 be did not fwallo'ia down. To fwallow down is the phrafe in ver. 15. for poffeff- 
 ing by rapacity. The labour therefore, or fruit of indulby, mufl: mean that part 
 of his fortunes which was not acquired by iniquitous meafures. He ftiall, how- 
 ever, be plundered even of this innocent part of his wealth, as an aggravation 
 of his punifhment. 
 
 According to his fubjlance, &c.] In the riches ' 0/ his exchange^ he Jhall not re- 
 joice'. This is a literal verfion of the hebrew, and makes a farcaftic ineiojis. He 
 fhall have no caufe to boaft of his wealth, or power ; when he comes to exchange 
 his profperity for that terrible reverfe, which divine vengeance has prepared for 
 him. 
 
 There is a fine pafTage in Oedipus Tyrannus, where old Tirefias ufeth this 
 flinging figure of fpeech to that unhappy prince : " I fay, that the very man 
 whom thou art feeking, and whom thou haft threatened with public maledic- 
 tion for the murder of Laius, is here prefent. He is called indeed a foreigner, 
 but he (hall be known hereafter to be a native of Thebes ; neither fhall he rejoice 
 in the difcovery." The difcovery of the birth of Oedipus plunged him imme- 
 diately in the depth of mifery. 
 
 Ver. 1 9 — 2 I . Becaufe he hath oppreffed., &c.] In thefe verfes he fpeaks, with 
 more particularity, both of the crime and the utter impoverilhment with which 
 it is puiiiJJ:ied. the circumftances of the one are contrafted with correlponding 
 circumftances of the other. 
 
 Yer, 19. he hath opprejcd and fjath forfaken'] He hath opprejfed, he hath 
 
 grievoujly 
 
 ' I follow the Syriac interpreter in reading VtIJI in the riches, or power. 
 
 * iT^ISn a change, or exchange, fee the note on chap xv. 31. The Syriac verfion, If I 
 miftake not, is, Jnd by the riches of his change he Jhall nst he pinfted. 
 
 " rhy NVi The copulative 1 is here either redundant as in chap. xxi. 6. TlbPISJI 
 / am afraid; or it is tranlpofed, and ought to have begun the fentence ; and in the riches of 
 1ms exchange he Jhall not rejalce. There is a like tranTpofuion in chap. iv. 6. Tl)y hope and the 
 uprigktnefs of thy -ways, for And thy hope the uprightnf: of thy ways.
 
 Chap. XX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 151 
 
 20. Yet, reftlefs, greedy, ftill he crav'd for more; 
 
 See now the balance of his boundlefs flore, 
 31. A cypher ! Not a prey unfeiz'd remains ; 
 
 Therefore no heir fhall feck his blafled gains ; 
 27. * His crime is witnefs'd by the flormy fkies, 
 The hoftile earth againft his crime will rife ; 
 
 28. And 
 
 grievoujly affliSed ', Sec. This is an epitome of tyrannical government. Com- 
 pare I Sam. xii. 3. Zech. xi. 17. 
 
 the poor] The weak. They are not abfolutely poor; for they are fuppofed to 
 poflcfs houfes, which the oppreflbr taketh violently away. 
 
 Ver. 20. Hejhall not feel qnietnefs in his Mfy] Neither is his belly fatisfied, as 
 the Vulgar Latin turns it?, his i;/Vf is defcribed : 'Tis an infatiablc appetite of 
 rapine. 
 
 HeJJjall not fave, &c.} By his co-jetoufnefs '' hejhall bring forth nothing '. This 
 exprefleth the punijhment o{ his rapacious avarice. All the wealth which he lb 
 greedily amafled, by every method of violence, fhall come to nothing. 
 
 Ver. 21. There Jhall none of his meat be left] The hebrew is, There is none left 
 for his prey''. Mr. Heath's freer verfion exprefleth the fen fe. Nothing could 
 efcape his rapacity. His vice is here marked, in language more forcible than 
 in the foregoing verfe. 
 
 therefore flmll no man look for his goods'] His puni(hment fhall tally with his 
 crime : He plundered every one, and left nothing to any ; therefore nothing, 
 fhall be left to him, no eftate, or effects, for any heir to expeft. 
 
 * See the note on thefe verfes, 27, 28. 
 
 ' DTV In Arabic ^'i'J, which anfwers to 21'^^ fignifies to forwent. This idea rifes above 
 the foregoing he hath opprijfed : whereas he hathforfaken is flat, and finks below the other. 
 
 ^ Nee fatiatus eft venter ejus. 
 
 *■ ^''iV2Ty'2. h f^'f^o'v-'toufnifs. "icn fignifies, in Hebrew and Chaldee, /» wv/-/. Thus the 
 Targumof Onkelos, inExod. xx. i;, thoujhalt not covet (TSnn Vh) *h neighbout's houfe. 
 
 ' dVD' NV he Jhall bring forth a nothing. ^^ nothing, 2iS\n chz^. v'u 21. o'^a fignifies 
 to bring forth, Ifaiah xxxiv. 15. There Jhall the great owl make her nefl, and lay (DTSAi 
 and hatch. 
 
 ^ -^^'2^^ his prey. Chap. ix. 26. as the eagle hajlcth ia theprej^
 
 TJ2 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XX. 
 
 28. And his whole fortunes, that avenging day, 
 
 Like torrents rattling down the rocks lliall rufli away. 
 
 22. In the full feafon of exulting pride, 
 Diilrefs fliall flraiten him on every fide : 
 
 23. Ev'n while he gluts his avarice, when its feaft 
 Is to the height of luxury increas'd ; 
 
 All ills fliall burfl upon him, like the fliow'rs 
 
 Of flaming fulphur on Gomorrah's tow'rs : 
 
 24. Flight 
 
 Ver. 22 — 25. Intkefulnefs,^c.'\ Here the defcription marks the y^(7yj;«, in 
 which this drea'dful ruin of all his fortunes will eome upon him ; namely in the 
 very height of his profperity. to this is added the deftrudion of his perfon by 
 feme fearful judgement of God. 
 
 Ver. 2 2. In the fuhtefs of his fufficiency'] In thefulnefs of his exuUation\ 
 
 every hand of the tvicked, &c.] cuery hand of the miferable '^ fhall come upon him'. 
 
 That is, all whom his opprefTions have made mifera^ble, fliall fuddenly combine 
 
 to ftrip him of his plunder. 
 
 Ver. 23. When he is abeiit to fill his belly'] He pall be filling his belly" ; that 
 ife, fwallowing down riches -, committing new depredations ; when the divine 
 vengeance fliall furprife him, a vengeance terrible and exterminating like that 
 on Sodom and Gomorrah. God fhall caft the fury of his wrath upon him, and 
 fhall rain it upon him. Sec. compare Pfalm xi. 6. upon the wicked he fhall 
 rain , . . fire and brimflone, and an horrible tempefi. 
 
 while he is eating] glutting his rapacious avarice, and enjoying new plunder. 
 
 ' "IpSD ^'* exultation. Its root fignifies to dap the hands, which is an adt of applaufe and 
 triumph : Chap, xxxiv. 37. He clappeth his hands amongft us. 
 
 "' 7Dy the miferable. Chap, iii. :o. to him that is in mifry. The Stjptuagint however 
 render it by a»a-/«v; every kind of di/irefs nuax. ai^yx.r» They read 7i^y inijery, forrow, trouble. 
 
 Chap. V. 6. neither doth trouble fpring out of tie ground, 
 
 " lltlO abob 'n' It ''5 a p-rlphrafis of the future tcnfc ^{^•_2' he /hall fill Thus 
 1! Sam. xviii. 3. Thou fnalt fiiccour us "HTy , 12*7 iTHn- This criticifin belongs to Coc- 
 ceius.
 
 Chap. XX. TH E B OOK OF J O B. 153 
 
 24. Flight unavails, immortal arms purfuc, 
 
 The brazen bow fliall flrike his vitals through: 
 ZS- The fhaft of God from out his body gleams, 
 
 And glowing with his boiling liver fleams ; 
 
 In fhades of night his dying eye-balls roll, 
 
 And Terrors apprehend his flitting foul. 
 
 26. Woes, 
 
 Ver. 24. He Jljall flee, &■€.] He "^•ould flee" from the iveapons^, but the bra- 
 ■zen '^ bow fliall jlrike him through. God is at war with him. The fcripture arms 
 the divine being with a fword, a bow, and arrows, to reprefent his vengeance. 
 Pfalm vii. 12, 13. (compare chap. vi. 4. xv. 24. fee alio the note on chap, 
 xviii. 14.) all his efforts to ward off the calamities which fall upon him will be 
 ineffeftual. The Arabian writers are very fond of the idea o{ a bo-j:, and fre- 
 quently ufd it to image extraordinary, inevitable, and deftrudive calamities from 
 the hand of God. The learned Schultens hath favoured us with feveral ex- 
 amples from their poets, in his note on diis verfe. 
 
 Vcr. 25. // is drawn, &c.] This lively piece of poetical painting is an 
 extenfion of the lad claufe of the foregoing verfe, the brazen boiv floall flrike him 
 through. The ftroke is mortal, and brings on a terrible death. 
 
 // is drawn] He draweth', and it comet h cut of his body ; even the glittering ar- 
 ro'-sO' out of his gall. hegoeth\ that is, expireth. 
 
 Terrors are upon him] A Greek or Roman poet would have faid. The Furies 
 
 feize 
 
 • ni3* he would flee, as in chap, xxvii. 22. he would fain flee out of his hands. 
 
 ^ ptyj It fignifies arms, or weapons of every fort, as tlie bow, fliielJ, arrows, fpears, 
 &c. (Ezek. xxxix. 9.} and is here put for the armed hoft, viz. of evils. 
 
 '^ ilti'ini hrafs. Gen. iv. 22. II Kings xxv. 13, 14. Anciently all armour was made of 
 brafs. The Pfalmift mentions a ^ffTfff/"^-^?/}, Pfal. xviii. 35. njl^irij HB'p 
 
 ' Pj /^ ^' draweth, the arrow fliot into him by the brazen bow. 
 
 ' p*13 ^he lightning, the arrow which glitters like lightning. 
 
 ' "l/H he goeth, that is, dieth. Chap. xiv. 20, Thou prevallejl for ever agabifl him, and 
 hegoeth, &c. 
 
 X
 
 154 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XX. 
 
 26. Woes, horrid woes, as yet of unknown name. 
 For him are treafur'd ; a devouring flame, 
 
 Prepared 
 
 feize him. But what, can thefe Terrors be, which are upon him the moment his 
 breath is out of his body ? Surely the punifliments of a future world". Imme- 
 diately after thefe words, and before the following verfe, we may introduce 
 ver. 17. He Jhall not fee the rivers, Sic. provided that verfe is to be underftood 
 of his exclufion from the manfions of the blefled. 
 
 Ver. 26. This verfe is an amplification of the terrors ver. 25. 
 
 all darkncfs, &c.] every kind of mifery. 
 
 is hidden] The nature and circumftances of future punifhments are concealed" 
 from us in this world. 
 
 in his fecret places'] for his treafures'^ •■, fo our tranflators turn the fame word 
 in Pfalm xvii. 14. where the facred poet is fpeaking of the punilhment which. 
 God referves for the wicked; ivhofe belly thoufillefi with thy hid treafure. The 
 apoftle alfo adopts this metaphor Rom. ii. 5. But . . . treafurefl upmtothyfelf 
 iLrath Ggainfi the day of wrath, &c. 
 
 J fire] This is one of thofe terrible images, by which the fcripture reprefents 
 the future punifliments of the wicked. 
 
 not blown ■ ] it is unquenchable fire : for it is not kindled by the breath of 
 man, but of God. 
 
 it fhallgo illzvith him that is left, &c.] While he himfelf isfuffering the wrath, 
 of God in another world, vengeance purfues the family he left in this world, 
 to utter extermination. 
 
 " The Greeks afligned to the Efi^iE; the Furies the offices of driving wicked fouls down to 
 Erebus the place of punifhment. See Windct de vita furMcruTn Jlatu. p. 118. rnn'73 
 feems to mean future punifhments in Pfal. Ixxlii. 19. Vid. Targum on ver. zo. of that 
 Pfalm. 
 
 '^ See the note on chap. xi. 6. 
 
 " V^JlSjf lis x<iot^\gni^\es to lay up in fori. Chap. xxi. 19. God layeth up his iniquity for 
 his children. See alfo Cant. vii. 14. 
 
 1 f-irjj ^ aaCroti unquenchable, as the Alexandrian Scptuagint turns it. Symmachus 
 renders it (*» f «j>i6.» ; Thcodotion «»sw ipytrnftaTK, 7iot kindled by the breath, or ivind..
 
 Chap. XX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 155 
 
 Prepar'd of old in fecrec cells beneath, 
 A flame not kindled by a mortal breath, 
 Shall feed upon him ; and a curfe be lent 
 To the poor lone furvivor in his tent. 
 
 29. Such heritage, by jufl decree, mufl fall 
 
 To fuch delinquents, from the judge of all. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Ver. 27, 28. The heaven, &c.] The defcription of h\s punijhment was corn- 
 pleated in the foregoing verle, with folemnity and terror. But thefe two verfcs, 
 in their prefent fituation, are an inelegant, diforderly, and frivolous return to 
 the lofs of his temporal poflefilons. I think, they will come in next after ver. 
 21. with propriety, as explanatory of the means by which the diffipation of his 
 fortunes fhall be accomplilhed : The means are the operations both of the hea- 
 vens and the earth. 
 
 Ver. 27. The heaven Jhall reveal, &c.] The heavens fhall publifh his guilt, 
 by lightning, for inftance; fuch as deftroyed Job's fheep: and by florins of 
 wind, luch as deftroyed his children. 
 
 And the earth, &c.] The earth will rife up againfl him, when thofe whom he 
 hath plundered fhall in their turn plunder him : or when, as- in the cafe of Job, 
 the thieves of thedefert fhall make incurfions and carry off his cattle. 
 
 Ver. 28. The increafe. Sec] The effeft of the combined operations of the hea- 
 vens and the earth againft him, is the fwifc and violent difTipation of his whole 
 cftate. 
 
 The increafe of his boufe Jkall roll away ', 
 like torrents', in the day of bis wrath. 
 
 ' hy If we readya^f/inftead of jigel, the root will be V'7J1 devohlt. Accordingly Mr. 
 Heath turns it, J}:aU roil away. Thus we gain a powerful metaphor, which fuggelled the 
 ilill more powerful idea of torrents. 
 
 " miJl3 "t aqua fluentes, as Grotius renders it ; or according to Mr. Heath, like the 
 torrents; the particle of comparifon 3 (Hie, as) is undcrftood : fo chap. xi. 12. like <? zt/W 
 ajjes colt. xxiv. 5. as wild ajjes in the defart. If we read nigroth, it is a fubftantive, the 
 plural of nigrah; which in the Chaldee, as Mr. Heath obferves, flgnifics atorrer.t. Vid. 
 
 X 2 Buxtorf.
 
 156 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXI. 
 
 Chap. 
 XXI. 
 1, 2. Then Job: Give audience, audience I implore, 
 
 Be that your charity ; I afk no more: 
 
 3. Indulge me utt'rance then infult again. 
 
 4. Shall I of man, cenforious man, complain? 
 
 The 
 
 C II A P. XXL 
 
 This chapter Is argumentative. The three antagonifts ftill infifted, that, hy 
 a conftant rule of providence, great and deftruftive calamities are the portion 
 of wicked men ; and of them only. He overthrows that pofition, by adducing 
 many inftances of atheiftical men, who pafs their lives in affluence and eafe, are 
 favoured with a gentle death, and have all the honours of fepulture paid to their 
 remains. This is a folid confutation of their falfe idea of the divine government, 
 and, at the fame time, of their unjuft cenlures of him founded on that miftakerr 
 notion. 
 
 We are not to imagine, however, that his reafoning is calm and cool. It is 
 the reafoning of a man in great emotions of mind. It is mixed with a fort of 
 indignation at his own miferable lot. Thus the great defign of the poem is go- 
 ing forward ; His difcontent with the ways of providence is inflamed, by the 
 very arguments -which prove the ul'ual and eftablifhed order of its difpen- 
 fations. 
 
 Ver. 4. is my complaint to^ man] is my complaint of man? This is an intima- 
 tion. 
 
 Buxtorf. Lex. Talmud. KIJJ- By this reading alfo the latter fentence of the period will 
 confift exaftly of fix fyllables, and will tally with the former j according to the manner of 
 the hebrcw poetry. 
 
 Jlsel 1 jcbul I Bct-o I 
 
 Nigroth I he-jom \ app-o | 
 
 But our Trandators have followed the Maforetic pointing nlggaroth ; which is the feminine 
 plural of the participle in n'lphal. They turn it, Jhall flotv away. The conftruction how- 
 ever is imperfc<St, and they are forced to infert the fupplemental words and his goods, to com- 
 pleat the fenfc. The root is IJJ (as it alfo is of iiigrah) which is ufeJ of water rufliing 
 down a precipice ; Micah i. ^. as thewaUrs that are poured dozun { □'"IJ2 ) ojiiep place. 
 
 ^ C"l}^7 The prcpofition 7 fignifies of or concerning in Gen. xx. 13. Say of me ('7) hi 
 is n,y brother. V'id. Noldiura.
 
 Chap. XXI. THE BOOK OF JOB. 157 
 
 The cruel flanders which my fame defile. 
 Would jullify refentment's fharpefl ftyle. 
 
 5. Ob ferve me, -wonder, and in filent fear 
 The myftic ways of Providence revere. 
 
 6. Aflonilh'd, trembling, I the fcene review; 
 Which truth difplays and mem'ry wakes anew. 
 
 7. Why live the wicked, and wax old in pow*r, 
 
 Their wealth augmenting to the mortal hour j 
 
 8. Live, 
 
 tion, that the difcourfe he was entring upon was a complaint againft God. It 
 is indeed partly an cxpoftulation with God for treating fo many wicked men with, 
 fuch favour, and him with fo much rigour. 
 
 uhy Jljouldnot my jp'rit, &c.] luby jhould I not be angry" ? If his fubjedl were 
 the ufage he met witli from man, he fhould be juftificd, he fays, in expreffing 
 the ftrongeft refentment. 
 
 Ver. 5. be aftonijhed, &c.] Silent aftonifhment, he tells them, inllead of cen- 
 fure, fliould be the effect of their refleftions on his cafe -, a man of piety and 
 virtue made miferable, while fo many profligate wretches are made happy. Thefe 
 meafures of providence, he adds in the next verfe, filled liis own mind with, 
 the utmoft confternation. 
 
 Ver. 7 — 1:. Wherefore^ &c.] We have here a lively defcription of worldly 
 felicity, drawn from the manners of Arabia; and adapted to the mode of wealth 
 and fenfual gratification in ancient times. 
 
 Ver. 7. Wherefore do the -wicked live^ &c.] Schultens has remarked the climax 
 of fentiments in this verfe : The wirked are happy ■*, they grow old in happi- 
 neli, tlieir Iiappinefs is continually advancing. 
 
 ' TtTl T:fpn tuhyjhould I not beangryl This is Mr. Heath's verfion. He follows the 
 LXX. ^.a -t a ivj.^r^a(u>.i -^ it is juftified by Prov. xiv. zg. He that is hajiy cf ffiiit ( XW~\ 
 Ti'p) exalteth folly. 
 
 •i Vn' "^by do the wicked live ^ grow old, you increafe in wealth ? 
 
 *1"13J t^'^y i'lcreafe. This verb denotes continual augmentation, Gen. vii. 19, :a>. 
 vhere wc englifh it to prevail. 
 
 '7»n poivery or ivealth..
 
 158 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXI. 
 
 8. Live, while the children of their children rife. 
 And the flrong nurflings flaoot before their eyes ? 
 
 9. They dwell feciirely, all is peace fincere, 
 
 The rod of heav'n knows no commiffion there : 
 10. Whofe trufty bull, ne'er butts his amorous fpoufe, 
 But, full of genial fire, abfolves his vows : 
 Whofe heifer calves, with no untimely throe, 
 And lively births in all their paftures low : 
 
 II. Fruitful 
 
 Ver. S. Their feed is eftablified, &c.] This ingredient in their felicity, fofvveet 
 to every tender parent, ftands oppofed to Bildad's aflertion chap, xviii. 19. and 
 to Zophar's chap. xx. 10. Eliphaz had reprefented this as the peculiar bleff- 
 ing of good men, chap. v. 25. 
 
 Ver. 9. Iheir houfes, &c.] They and their families live in perfeft peace and 
 fecurity, and enjoy firm and permanent health. By fear, I apprehend, is meant, 
 alarms from tlie incurfions of the Arabs of the defert and from the ravages of 
 wild bcafts. By the rod of God is principally intended difeafes : For Job expref- 
 feth his own grievous diftemper by this fignificant phrufe '. Other calamities 
 however, which come immediately from heaven, are not excluded ; the mil- 
 chiefs, for inftance, done by lightning, by ftorms of wind, .ind by inundations. 
 Eliphaz had r^'prefented this protcdion to be the peculiar privilege of good 
 men '. 
 
 Ver. 10. 'Their hull^ gendereth^ and faileth not~\ This verfe defcribes the pro- 
 fperous increafe of their wealth, which in thofe countries confifted chiefly of 
 cattle. 
 
 ' Chap. ix. 34. f Chap. v. 19 — 24. 
 
 ^ llty This word fignifies a In^rje, whether male or female; but when it is put along 
 with the female, as here, it conflantly, if I miftake not, means the bull. 
 
 *" ^iV tranfsvit. This mod naturally exprefleth the a<Si: of the male in propagation. 
 The next term vyj (Jaileth not) Jlj/lidivit, may be well unJcrftood de laiigiiore quadrupe- 
 dum venerem averfantium, as Codurcus explains it. The Chaldee paraphrafe is fomcwhat 
 obfcure, ^"73' ^<'7^ ^'tDJ3J3 nmn *" C"^ gravidat (concipere fecitj ttec erifiet (nee in 
 irritum jacit femeiii as the latin verfion in the Polyglot turns it).
 
 Chap. XXI. THE BOOK OF JOB. 159 
 
 11. Fruitful their fold; alike in fruitful pains, 
 
 Their wives with young fucccflion fill their plains j 
 
 A fry undifciplin'd, that flcip around, 
 
 Like wanton kids, upon the houfliold gi'ound : 
 
 12. Mean while the fires, with mufic's lighteft airs, 
 Flute, harp, and timbrel, laugh at human cares j 
 
 13. A 
 
 Vcr. ir. They fend forlh] The word which our author ufes is a metaphor, I ' 
 think, from thriving trees, which throw out plentiful fhoots '. But this idea 
 being not iufficient to exprels the increafe of their families, he fuddenly changes 
 the image-, and compares their multiplication to that of fheep, like a flock. By 
 this management we alio gain another circumllance of their profpericy, the fruit- 
 fulnefs of their fheep and goats -, They fend forth their little ones, as xhtw flock. 
 
 Their children dance'] Their children Jkip^ , like lambs. This is a very natural 
 and pleafing domeftic pidture. 
 
 Ver. 12. They take the timbrel, &c.] This mufl, I imagine, be underftood of 
 the gay feftival life led by the Parents : for they are the principal lubjedts of the 
 dilcourle. The timbrel, tabret, or tabour was an inflrument of mufic as old 
 as the days of Jacob and Laban '. It was portable, and of a foft tone: for it 
 was carried and uied by women of quality". It was played upon with the 
 the hand", and feems to have been a kindof fmall drum. They uled it both 
 in their religious and civil feftivals, Exod. xv. 20. Pf cl, ^. If. xxiv. 
 8, g. 
 
 rejoice] The charadler of the perfons obliges us to underfbmd this to mean 
 riotous and diflblute mirth. Compare Ifaiah v. 11, 12. xxiv, 8. 
 
 the 
 
 ' in/SS'^ See Pfal. Ixxx. ii. (Hcb. ver. 12.J Jerem. xvii. S. InProv. xxix. 15. nbwtS 
 is rendered Uft to hiinfelf, i. e. not corrected. 
 
 '' The word is fo tranflated in Pfal. cxiv. 4. 
 
 ' Gen. xxxi. 27. ^ Exod, xv. :o. 
 
 " The prophet defcribing the women in their public lamentations fmitingon their breafts^ 
 and keeping time perhaps in that adion, ziW^'w ialair.g upon their bnajis^ Nahum ii. 7.. 
 (Heb. ver. 8. J
 
 i6o THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXI. 
 
 13. A long, long life in fcnfual blifs confumc, 
 Then inflant drop, full mellow'd for the tomb. 
 14, 15. Bold therefore to blafpheme, " Away (they cry) 
 " Thou phantom of weak fear, call'd Deity j 
 " Our necks the burden of thy yoke difdain, 
 " Vain is our incenfe, and our vows are vain." 
 16. Not their own hand their bleffings could bellow, 
 Their bleffings from a higher fount muft flow ; 
 
 But, 
 
 the organ °] the pipe. The organ is a compound of pipes, and of later inven- 
 tion, ;is Mr. Heath remarks. 
 
 Ver. 13. in ii'ealtb'] in good f, that is, worldly felicity. 
 
 in a moment^ &c.] This afTcrtion is oppofed to Zophar's reprefentation of the 
 terrible death of fuch men cliap. xx. 24, 25. See alfo chap, xviii. i^, 13. 
 This is that ludden and cafy death, in a green old age, without pain, without 
 lingering ficknefs, and while their families are flourifhing around them, which 
 Tirefias predifts to UlyfTes in the fliades : " Death fhall come to thee from the 
 fea : It flmll be a gentle death. It fliall come, when thou art fubdued by a 
 happy old age, and thy people about thee are happy"'." 
 
 Ver. 14, 15. Therefore^ &c.] It was to the advantage of his argument, and 
 agreeable to the difcontented temper he was in^ to fpecify more circumftan- 
 tially the chara£fer of thefe profperous men. 
 
 Ver. 16. Lo, their goody ^c^] They could not be the authors of their own 
 felicity : It is intirely the work of providence. The fcntiment appears to me 
 tlie fame as in chap. xii. 9. JVho knoiveth not in all thefe, that the hand of the 
 Lord hath wrought this? This interpretation is confirmed by chap. xxii. 18. 
 
 where 
 
 " HJl'^y The Chaldce interpreter renders it abuba, a pipe, oijiute: whence, as Buxtorf 
 obferves, the Romans by inferting m formed their ambubaia. The ambubn'us in Horace were 
 Syrian courtezans, who played on flutes. Buxtorf. Lex, Talmud. Dacier's Haraci, fat. ii. 
 lib. I. 
 
 P 31 J3 good, as in chap. ix. 25. My days .... they flee away, they fee no good. 
 
 s Odyjf. xi. ver. 133. &c.
 
 Chap. XXI.1 THE BOOK OF JOB. i6i 
 
 But, O my foul, from their afTcmbly flee, 
 Far be their counfels and their lot from me. 
 
 17. Oft mourn thefc mifcreants their high-fparkling light 
 Extinguilh'd? Often in tempefluous night 
 Are they involv'd ? For them hath vengeance ilor'd, 
 Of plagues enormous a peculiar hoard ? 
 
 18. Arc 
 
 where Eliphaz fneeringly retorts thefe words ; Tet he filled their houfes tvith good 
 things : but the counfel of the wicked is far from me. 
 
 the counfel. Sec] He declares his abhorrence of their principles and practices. 
 This fentiment is ' thrown in, to prevent an ill conftruftion of his difcourie ; 
 as though he was arguing againft a providence, by giving a true account of its 
 adminiftrations. 
 
 Ver. 17 — 21. How of t is the candle of the wicked, &cc.] He feems, in this 
 branch of his difcourfe, to contrail with the great majority of wicked men who 
 are happy in the world, the few examples of other wicked men who are cala- 
 mitous. 
 
 Ver. 17. How oft] The fenfe of this verfe and the next depends much on 
 the right explication of this particle how oft; which muft be underftood to be 
 repeated at the beginning of every fentence. How oft comelh, &c. how oft dotb 
 God difiribute, &c. how oft are they asflubble, &:c. 
 
 If we take it for a particle of exaggeration, and lay the ftrefs of the pronunci- 
 ation upon oft, how ott is the candle of the wicked put out! The meaning will be, 
 it is put out very often ; Inftances ot the fad cataftrophes of fuch men arc very 
 frequent and common. But this explication cannot be right : becaufe it puts 
 into the mouth of Job an aflertion, which flatly contradicts what he had been 
 juft faying in the former part of the fpeech. It is the very doftrine of his an- 
 tagonifts, and the ground of their condemnation of him. 
 
 Whereas 
 
 ' The Hebrew particle is Ht^Di which admits of the fame variation of the accent anJ thf- 
 fenfe as the eiigllQi how eft ; canunab how oft, cammah how ott. 
 
 Y
 
 iGi THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXL 
 
 1 8. Are tlicy like ftubble, when the tempefl roars ? 
 
 Like chafF, when fweepy whirlwinds cleanfc the floors ? 
 
 J 9, 20. You'll urge " God treafures vengeance for their feed." 
 But he, the criminal, bimfclf, fliould bleed: 
 
 Living, 
 
 Whereas if we iindeilland this to be a particle of interrogation, and lay the 
 accent upon how, hov/ oft, or hovf raany times, the anfwer will ht7iot often, feldom. 
 as in chap, xiii, 13. when Job afks, hoiv majiy are my fins? he means, they 
 were not many. Mr. Heath therefore did well in tranflating how oft, hovo fel- 
 dom. This interpretation agrees with faft, and with Job's fentiments, overthrows 
 tlie pofition of his adverfaries, and fubverts the foundation of their cenfures. 
 
 The firft fentence, h6%o oft is the candle of the wicked put out? is a reply in 
 particular to Bildad's aflertion chap, xviii. 5, 6. fee the note. The next fen- 
 tence, how oft Cometh their deflruclion, &c. points to another propofition in 
 that fpeech of Bildad, ver. 1 1. deflrtiSiion fliall be ready at his fide. 
 
 Godi diflrihuteth, &c.] How oft doth he diflribiite forrows, ^z. The original 
 word for y^j-rca'^ fignifiesy;/r7r^j, that is, mifchiefs, calamities. This metaphor 
 had been ufed by Bildad chap, xviii. 8. &c. 
 
 Ver. 18. 'They are, &c.] How oft are they as fltihhle before the zvind, and as 
 chaff that the fiorm carrieth away ? Or, are they as fltihhle, ?>Lz. We cannot enter 
 into the propriety and beauty of thefe images, unlefs we recoUeft the praftice 
 in the eaft of threfhing their corn in the open field ; fo that if the wind happen 
 to rife, thefhattered ftraw and chaff are eafdy carried away'. 
 
 Ver. 19 — 21. Godlayeth up, &c.] Thefe verfes are not without their difficulty. 
 But the difficulty, I think, will vanifh, if v/e allow the ingenious conje*5ture of 
 Cocceius ; that the firfl: fentence is the evafion of his antagoniils. They are 
 i'uppofed to alledge, that when God doth not punilh the perfons of the wicked, 
 he punifheth them in their pojicrity. 
 
 " Cod layeth up his iniquity (his punifhment) for his children." 
 
 The anfwer of Job is. The tranfgrellor himfclf ought to be the fufFerer, accord- 
 
 ing 
 
 ' Shaw' T/<7Vi'A, p. 138, fee ^to.
 
 Chap. XXI. TH E B O K OF JO B. 163 
 
 Living, himfelf fhould his own trcafon rue, 
 And his own eyes his tragedy fhould view; 
 While at his Hps the wrathful cup he fees, 
 Compell'd to drain it with its bitter lees: 
 
 21. For when his number'd months their tale have fpcnt, 
 When to oblivion's land himfelf is fent ; 
 
 Arc then the fortunes of his houfe his care ? 
 Feels he its triumph or its forrow there ? 
 
 22. Shall man inftru6l, in his prcfuming fchool. 
 
 The Lord of heav'n this petty orb to rule? 
 
 23. Here 
 
 ing to your own principles. What punifhment is it to him, that his children 
 fufFer ? He has no concern about them, when he himfelf is gone into another 
 world' . 
 
 Ver. 19. " God layeth up his punifiment for his children." 
 
 He (God) fiould recorapenfe him (the criminal himfelf) 
 
 And he (the criminal )/jc«/i^ know it (fhould feel punifhment^. 
 
 20. His eyes JJoould fee his own defiruSfion, 
 
 And he (himfelf) fhould drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 
 
 2 1 . For what careth he for his family, when the number of his 
 months is fulfilled ' ? 
 
 IVhat careth he for his family^ This is Mr, Heath's verfion. 
 
 is fulfilled '''\ Our Tranflators turn it, is cut off in the mi dfl. But the originnl 
 fignifies, is reckoned in full tale. The whole expreflion denotes the living out 
 the full term of human life : When the number of his months is reckoned out. 
 
 Ver. 22 — 26. Shall any teach God., &c.] In thefe verfes he takes notice of the 
 
 ftrange 
 
 ' See the Commentary of Schultcns, and Mr- Heath's tranfl.ition of thefe vei fcs. 
 
 " VaVn It 'S an allufion (fays Cocceius) to the ancient way of computing, h\; pelhles 
 
 ( Vi'n) or by tfrr«zw (I'n) 
 
 Y 2
 
 i64 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXI. 
 
 23. Here one prolongs voluptuous life in eafc, 
 Deflow'r'd by no misfortune or difcafe : 
 
 24. Sweet in his veins his fatt'ning dairy flows, 
 
 And death's foh dews his flumb'ring eyelids clofe. 
 
 sj-. Anothei*, 
 
 Itrangc inequality in diefe mcafures of God towards perfons of the fame deme- 
 rit; in profpering fo many of them, and making examples of fo few. It con- 
 founds all our notions of juftice. Yet it mufl: needs be right. 
 
 Vev. 22. Shall any teach God] Who will prefume to amend his difpenfations ? 
 Or as IVlr. Pope ftrongly exprefles it, 
 
 Snatch from his hand the balance and the rod, 
 Rejudgc his juftice, be the judge of God. 
 
 EJfay on Man. 
 
 Seeing hejudgeth., &"c.] To y«^(? often fignifies in fcripture to govern. It 
 comprehends the whole office of a fupreme magiftrate ''. The argument here 
 is from the greater to the lefs : He that ruleth the higher world of intelleftual 
 beings, knows furely how to manage the little affairs of human kind. This 
 is a noble fentiment, and ought to have filenced his own murmurings. But his 
 mind was too much difcompofed by his paffions, to be conilantly influenced by 
 his better principles. 
 
 Ver. 23, 24. One die(h. Sec.'} He here fummeth up in few words, the happy 
 circumftances of the major part of wicked men ; which he had defcribed at 
 large ver. 7 — 13. 
 
 In his full Jirengthf &c.] In his very perfeHion"; that is, in full pofleffion of 
 all worldly felicity. 
 
 his 
 
 " I Sam. viii. 5, 6. I Kings iii. 9. 
 
 ' ion tDVyi- CD^i? anfwers to the englifli emphatical particle very Gen, vii. 13. m 
 the f elf-fame day (in that very clay) entered Noah, iic. 
 
 Dn denotes the intirenefs of feme whole, integrity of parts, the compleat condition of 
 a perfon or thing : Thus in the title of the Arabic verfion of the Table of Cebes, nJIKD 
 fignifies compleat : That title is, " What a wife .iian is to do that he may be happy with a 
 compleat (or perfefl) happinefs." S
 
 Chap. XXI. THE BOOK OF JOB. • 165 
 
 25. Another, comfortlefs, and hard befled, 
 
 With forrow worn, with fighingeats his bread ; 
 Long while in pain and pining iicknefs lies, 
 Then with deep groans and violent druggie dies : 
 
 26. Both equal In the grave ; on both is fpread 
 The worm for covering, and the clay their bed. 
 
 27. I penetrate your thoughts ; refolv'd in wrong, 
 Harfh anfwer Hill fprings forward on your tongue ; 
 
 28. "His 
 
 his hreajis, &c.] There is no authority for this tranflation, and the fenfe ic 
 yields is abfurd. It ought to be turned, His paftures'' are full of milk ; that is, 
 of flocks and herds. He dies in opulence. 
 
 his hones, &c.] This claufe reprefents the hale and vigorous ftate of his body 
 to the laft moment of his life. 
 
 Ver. 25. another dieth, &c.] that is, another wicked man. For he fpeaks of 
 fuch throughout the whole difcourfe, and plainly, I think, points in this verfe to 
 fome few examples of wicked men made miferable. This was fufEcient to fhew 
 the perplexing inequality of the ways of God to men. 
 
 Ver. 26. I'hey fhalllie do-uin alike, &c.] Our obfervation can reach no further 
 than to the grave. But there we behold him who had lived happily and him 
 who had lived in mifery (though both alike wicked) in the fame deplorable 
 ftate of corruption. So that this feeming dilbrder in the adminiftrations of pro- 
 vidence is not reftified in the compafs of our view. 
 
 Ver. 27, 28. Behold, &c.] It feems to me, that he intended to have ended 
 his difcourfe, of the profperity of the wicked, with the foregoing verfe. But, 
 
 I imagine, 
 
 'f Vi'DJ^ This word is no where elfe found in the hebrew bible. It is however preferved 
 in the Arabic language : in which it fignifies, as the learned Schultens has proved, the places 
 about ponds where camels andjhcep go to ilrink : thence it came to be iifcd for a I.irge abundance 
 
 of thofe things which arc accounted riches in Arabia, ^\iq\\ ■».% extenfive pajliires well Jlcckcd V 
 
 v)hh cattle. Mr. Heath therefore was not out of the way in tranflating it his granges, that is, «v»-' 
 
 his farms.
 
 i56 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXI. 
 
 28. " His own fad flory will his caufe difgrace, 
 
 " Why mourns our Emir his extinguifli'd race ? 
 
 " Where is th' encampment of the wicked Great, 
 
 " The circling clan, and roomy tent of ftate ?" 
 
 2;, 30. Hath traveling wifdom never won your ear, 
 
 With foreign hiflories imported here ? 
 
 Scorn 
 
 I imagine, he perceived, by their looks and geftures, that they gave no credit 
 to what he had been faying ; and that they ftill infifted on his overthrow as an 
 evidence of his guilt. Whereupon he turns fliort upon them with indignation, 
 and refers them to the teflimony of fenfible travellers ; which confirmed his af- 
 fertions by what happened in other countries. 
 
 Ver. 27. I know your thoughts, &c.] your reafonings, and the harjh fentiments^ 
 which you unjujlly conceive againft me. 
 
 Ver. 2P. For ye fay, ivhere is, &cc.] Although thefe queflions relate to tyran- 
 nical princes in general, and to other wicked men in high ftations ; they are in- 
 tended to be applied to Job's overthrow in particular. His adverfaries ftill in- 
 fifted, that dcftrudive calamities are the uf'ual portion of the wicked; and 
 that fuch calamities being his portion, there wanted no other evidence of his 
 guilt. But the teflimony of travellers, he tells them, fhews the falfity of their 
 prcmifTes, and, therefore, of the conclufion drawn from them. 
 
 where are the dwelling places, &c.] The hebrew is, where is the tent of the ta- 
 bernacles of wicked men. The mode of expreffion alludes to an Arabian encamp- 
 ment, in which the pavilion of the Emir, or chief, was furrounded by the tents 
 of his clan. Job did not live in tents. But his fituation anfwered literally to 
 thefe exprelTions, v/hen he went upon any military expedition. 
 
 Ver. 29. Their tokens'] their arguments'", or allegations. By thephrafe /^^»» 
 
 that 
 
 ' nV.^tJD 'he harfh fentiments, cruda, as Schultens turns it. He obferves that it is a me- 
 taphor from unripe fruit. Symrnachus tranflates the whole verfe, oioa Ta; £:9:f4>-,c-ii; tM»>, "o' 
 ■:^<, iv/oiK? vy.m Ta, aJiKa? xaT i/xa, / know your rcafoningi, and your unjujl thoughts agairjl me. 
 
 ' nn^ Tliis word is generally tranflated ii;/xiicir by the LXX under which term Ari- 
 
 ftotle
 
 Chap. XXI. THE BOOK OF JOB. i6y 
 
 Scorn you their allegations ? " That the day 
 " Whofe vengeance fweeps the fick'ning tribes away, 
 " Spares the lewd tyrant ? Witli caroufal high, 
 " His riots the deftroying fcourge defy. 
 
 31. " Who dares reprove his crimes ? what hand prefume 
 " To fign the mighty malefacflor's doom ? 
 
 32. " With pomp he's carry 'd to the grave; his name 
 " There lives afrefli, in monumental fame : 
 
 33. " There 
 
 that go hy the -way \s meant travellers, Prov. vii. 19. be is gone ^ Journey ; in the 
 original, i>e is gone by the -joay. The travellers to whom Job appeals, were pro- 
 bably the caravans of Tema and Sheba trafficking to Egypt. See chap. vi. 
 19. and the note. 
 
 Ver. 30. the wicked is referved to the day, &c.] The original will admit, and 
 his argument requires the tranflation to be. 
 
 The wicked is preferved^ in " the dr.y of deJlruHion. 
 
 They JhaJl be brought forth, &c.] They are feajied, or they feaft in the day of 
 vrrath. The hebrew will, I think, bear this fenfe, perfedtly agreeing with the 
 renor of the whole difcourfe ; which is intended to fhew, that multitudes of 
 wicked men live in fplendor and feflivity even in the mod calamitous times. 
 
 Ver. 32. Tetfhall he be brought, &c.] Mr. Heath's verfion exprefTeth the whole 
 
 force 
 
 ftotle (in his Rhetoric, lib. i. cap. 2.) comprthends all kinds of evidence. Sophocles alfo 
 (in Oedipus Tyraiinus ver. 72!;.) ufes st^lim for convincing prccfs. The Pfalmift means by 
 XS\\H evidence in general, Pfal. Ixxxvi. 17. 
 
 ' ItJTT is preferved, isffared, is withdrawn. Tt is ufed in the fenfe of fparing, or pre- 
 ferving, in chap, xxxiii. iS. where it is englifhed to keep back. He keeptth back (fpareth) hi^ 
 fcul from the pit. So in Pfal. Ixxviii. 50. he fpared nU their foul from death. In the Syriac 
 Teftament ptyUnX fignifies to efcnpf, to be prefrved, Afls xxvir. 21. ive Jhould have been 
 prefervedfrom this lofs and this dijlrefs. Symmachus turns it in this vcrfe of Job rtmiffiTai, 
 is kept; Aquila, wii^i(:ir,a;-raijhall be withdrawn, drawn out of the way of danger. 
 
 ' DV , Pfal- Ixxxi. .'. in, or en, the day, Prov .vii. 20. he will ccme hame at the day (or
 
 i6S THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXI. 
 
 33. " Tliere he enjoys, in fome delicious vale, 
 " Turf ever green and fprings that never fail ; 
 
 *' Preceded, 
 
 force of the original, Even this very manJJoall be carried^ in pomp to the fepulchrey 
 &c. he is too powerful to be called to account by man, and not meeting with 
 chaftifement from God, he goes to the grave with all the honours of inter- 
 ment paid to perfonages of the higheft rank. 
 
 mdfaall remain " in the tomh] Mr. Heath's verfion is, and Jh all rejt undijlurbed 
 in the tomb. But our author's word never fignifies to remain, or to reft tin- 
 diftu^bed; either in the hebrew bible or in the dialefts. I think the tranflation 
 might be and he flourijheth in the tomb. He enjoys as it were a fecond life, in 
 the tomb: he lives in fame, by means of his fuperb fepulchre and its delightful 
 fituation. 
 
 in 
 
 on the day) appointed. Exod. xxiii. 15, in the time appointed of the month Jbib. See alfo 
 IlChror. viii. 13. and Pfal. lix. 15, 17. '^.'VJT in the evening, "1p37 in the morning. Alfo 
 Pfal. Ixxi. 9. riV"? inthetitne; and in the Chaldee, y^yJ in the time, fc. of old age. The 
 ChalJee again, in Pf xcix. 5, 9. ri*jb in ihe botife, "IID? '" the mountain. The learned 
 Schultens therefore is juftificd in turning this clauCe, Profe£io in die exitii Juhducitur malus, 
 verily the wicked is withdrawn in the day of deJiruSlion. See alfo Ifaiah x. 3. in the day of 
 vifitation, and Habak. iii. 16. in the day of trouble. 
 
 they are feajied] T^^V 'f vit rzTxi juballu the root will be '^t'^^ to anoint, Pfal. xcli. 10. 
 / fhali be anointed with frejh oil: And as perfumes made a diftinguifhed part in the eaftern 
 banquets, hence the word might naturally come to {\gn\Cyfea/Iing. Accordingly, in Arabic, 
 the fubilantive noun 773 is convivium, a banquet. Vid. Caftell. Lex. 
 
 ^ 73V i^ carried in pomp. The future is often ufed for the prefent tenfe. So vcr. 30. 
 "jJJTT '-f referved. 
 
 ' "ITpSy' The noun fubftantive Tp^ fignifies /t<'<7/OTo«(//rcc. Why may not the verb be 
 deiived from that root, and mean to flawipi as the almond tree, and in genera! tofiourijh? If 
 this be not admitted, let the verb be tranflated he is aivuke, or watcheth (Pfal. tii. 7 ) in the 
 tomb. It will then be a metaphor denoting life, in oppofuion Xoflceping the common meta- 
 phor for the (late of death. The meaning, according to this interpretation, comes out the 
 fame as before: he is axvake in the tomb ; he liveth flill, he livcth in the fplendid memorial of 
 him, his magnificent ro:iib. See the note of the learrud Schultens on one of the poems in 
 \.\\^ Arabian Anthologij., intituled Hr.nutfa, p. 56D. Mr. Htaib's \crfion \% taiceii from Le 
 Clerc, and is founded on the change of '^\^p'^ into mpjy* quirjcct.
 
 Chap. XXI. THE BOOK OF JOB. i6^ 
 
 ♦' Preceded, foUow'd, to his dufty bed, 
 
 " By all the former, all the future dead." 
 
 34. Ceafe 
 
 /;; the tomb ^] The Hebrew word fignifies firfl: a heap of ccrn that is cut down ; 
 and thence in metaphor the heap oi dead bodies^ and tUefepulcLre or place where 
 they are depofited. It is ufed here in the laft acceptation ; and in the firft, 
 chap. V. 26. where it is cngliflied ajhock of corn. 
 
 Ver. 33. The clods of the i-alley fhall be fweet to him] The foft clods ^ of the val- 
 ley (made foft and tender by gentle fhowers) are fiveet to him. Their fepul- 
 chral grots were frequently in vallies, cut in the bottom of rocky hills. Such 
 a fituation of a tomb, together with fprings of water or moderate rains to keep 
 the turf perpetually green, was accounted a happy fepulture among the Ara- 
 bians; as being a means of preferring the remembrance of the deceafed in ho- 
 nour. Schultens, in his notes on this verfe, cites the beginning of an Arabian 
 poem ' to this purpofe. 'Tis an elegy on a perfon celebrated for his beneficence 
 and liberality : and if we except one epigrammatic conceit, it is a beautiful com- 
 pofition. As it is fhort, the reader will not perhaps be difpleafed with the fol« 
 lowing faithful tranflation of the whole. 
 
 Come, let us vifit Maan's lov'd remains ; 
 Say to his tomb, may mollifying rains 
 "Water thy hallow'd turf ! O narrow bound. 
 Bounty her grave in thee, thee only, found. 
 Bounty, which fiU'd the fpacious earth and fea, 
 O tomb of Maan, how inclos'd in thee ! 
 Yes, Bounty thou doft hold, but Bounty dead ; 
 Which living would defpife thy fcanty bed. 
 Maan's aname whofe generous gifts furvive 
 The noble giver, and immortal live ; 
 
 As 
 
 « ty'lJ the tomb, as in the Arabian poem ; 
 
 " Let ever-dropping fhowers water 
 The tomb (E^HJ) of Aryb." 
 Vid. Hamofa., p. 567. 
 
 ' '2Jn thefift clods, Mr. Heath ; gleba molles, Schultens. It fignifies, in Arabic, earth 
 that is made foft and ttnder by rain. Vid. Comment. Schultens. 
 
 In Hamafa, p. 555, 
 
 z
 
 170 tHE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXI. 
 
 34. Ceafe then ; nor falfities for comforts vend, 
 Alike to truth unfaithful and your friend. 
 
 Chap. 
 XXII. 
 I, 2. When man is wife, the Teman Sage reply'd, 
 
 'Tis for himfelf : does Heav'n the gain divide ? 
 
 3. Mufl 
 
 As wlien fonie rich o'erflowlng ftream recedes. 
 It leaves behind a verdant wealth of meads. 
 But ah! with Maan Bounty funk in duft; 
 The glory of munificence is loft. 
 
 every man fa all draw^ after him\ I take the meaning to be, that in going down 
 to the grave he does but fhare the common lot of mortals. Innumerable mul- 
 titudes have gone thither before him, and the fucceeding generations of me.n 
 fhall follow him to the fame houfe of all living. 
 
 in your anfiaers there remaineth faljhood'] Their exhortations to repentance were 
 founded on a falfe fuppofition of his guilt. The hopes they gave him of refto- 
 ration, were on condition of his repentance. The blefllngs they promifed him, 
 on that condition, were romantic : and in fliort, the whole of their anfwers pro- 
 ceeded on falfe ideas of the adminiftrations of Providence. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 This laft fpeech of Eliphaz puts an end to the controverfy on the part of Job's 
 antagonifts. It is in the true fpirit of a baffled difputant. Unable to invalidate 
 
 Job's 
 
 " 'W'y ffjcll draw; rather, he fall draiv every iiian, &c. It is a tranfitive verb, and is 
 ufcd of a number of perfons following one another in long and clofe fuccefTion (Judges xx. 
 37.) as Cocceius remarketh. Seneca ufeth iraho in much the fume fejife as "Ijy.O here. 
 Megara apoflrophifing her hufband Hercules, who was gone down to the realms of Pluto, 
 
 fays; 
 
 aut omnes tuos 
 
 Defcnde reditu fofpes, aut omnes trahc. Hercules Furens, ver. 306. 
 
 Either come bacifafe from the realms of death, and proteSf all your family ; or dram us all 
 thither after you.
 
 Chap. XXII. THE BOOK O F JOB. 171 
 
 3. Mufl; God high value on thy virtue fet ? 
 If thou art jufl, is Providence in debt ? 
 
 4. And will he, trembling, from his throne defcend, 
 To ftill thy cavils and his ways defend? 
 
 j". Arc 
 
 Job's defence, he flies out in abufive language and the moft atrocious calumnies, 
 ver. 2. to the end of ver. 11. 
 
 Unable alfo to refute the reafoning in Job's laft difcourfe, he endeavours 
 to render it invidious, he taxes it with atheilm, and warns him, by the example 
 of the old world, of the vengeance men of his principles are to expeft. ver. 1 2. 
 to the end of ver. 20. 
 
 However, that he might quit the field with the air of a viftor, and a reputa- 
 tion for charity, he once more exhorts him to repent-, and in magnificent terms 
 affures him he ftiould become happy andgreat on that condition, ver. 21. to the 
 end of the chapter. 
 
 Ver. 2. Can a man be profitable^ &c.] This verfion yields a very juft fentiment, 
 which perfeftly agrees with what Elihu fays chap. xxxv. 7. If thou be righteous^ 
 zvhat givejl thou hiin^ &CC. compare Pfalm xvi. 2. Rom. xi. 35. 
 
 as he that is ivife may be profitable, &c.] Sophocles puts the like fentiment into 
 the mouth of Oedipus "", 
 
 " What sood man is not a friend to himfelf?" 
 
 Ver. 3. Is it any pleafure to the Almighty, &c.] Is it a matter of care'' to the Al- 
 mighty that thou fhculdft be righteous, &c. Is it a thing which he fets his heart 
 upon as an afi^air in which his interefb and happinefs are deeply concerned? Eli- 
 phaz intends to expofe to ridicule Job's complaints and j unification of himfelf, 
 as arrogant claims upon God. 
 
 ' pD' can he be profitable ? It evidently has this meaning chap, xxxiv. 9. For he hath 
 faid, it profit, th a man nothing, that he fiiould delight himfelf in God. 
 
 " Oedipus Colcnus, ver. 313. 
 
 ■ \'iir\ a matter of care- In chap. xxi. 21. it fignifies <-<7r^ anxiety. So the LXX. under- 
 ftood it here, 7. ya^ <«?« t« xvf.i, &c. what careth the Lord, if thou ivtrt blamelcfs in thy 
 work} F 
 
 Z 2
 
 172 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXII. 
 
 5. Art thou unconfcious of thy vafl: offence ? 
 Is not the number of thy fins immenfe ? 
 
 6. Extortions from thy kin defile thy hands, 
 The fhivering loin its rag from thee demands. 
 
 7. To 
 
 Ver. 4. Will he reprove thee. See"! Will he reafon" with thee for fear of thee ? 
 will he enter with thee into judgement ? Is he afraid his charader will luffer by thy 
 complaints, unlefs, in obedience to thy citation, he fubmit to a trial and argue 
 his own caufe ? This is ftrong irony, and manifeftly defigned to ridicule thofe 
 rafli expreffions in chap. ix. 32 — ^5. xiii. 22, &c. 
 
 Ver, 5 — II. Is not thy wickednefs, &c.] There is no occafion for God to 
 vindicate the meafures of his providence towards thee. Thy own wickednefs 
 is manifeftly the caufe of all thy fufferings. Hitherto this magifterial cenfor 
 had dealt in diftant hints and general infmuations : But being now reduced to 
 his laft ftiifts, he has the temerity to charge his friend openly with particular 
 crimes. This violent proceeding admirably ferves the purpofe of the poem : 
 for it gives a fair occafion for that circumftantial defence (chap, xxxi.) in the 
 clofe whereof difiatisfaftion with the ways of God and felf-juftification are 
 carried to the higheft pitch that the poet intended. 
 
 Ver. 6. Thou hcji taken a pledge, &c.] He is here charged with fuch rapa- 
 city, as to force even his relations to give fecvirity to him for debts which they 
 did not owe •, and with feizing the upper garment of the poor for pawn, 
 which anfwers to a creditor among us taking a poor man's bed from under 
 him for payment ; for the poor in thofe countries had no other covering at 
 night, when they flept, than their outward garnient ^ which they wore in 
 the day % 
 
 naked] 
 
 ' n'DV It fignifies io plead one i caufe, chap. xiii. 3- / defire to reaf:n with God. The 
 other phrafe, ^KriT/w/oyW^f/Tz^n/, is alfo judicial; ^t\A mf&n% to come io a trial. Chap ix. 3?. 
 He is ««/« wan Of / am that . . . xve Jhould come together in iudgement. 
 
 p The Arabs call their upper garment a hyke; which is a blanket, or gown, five or fix 
 yards long, and five or fix yards bro.id. This is v/rapped over the tunic, or clofe-bodied 
 frock, (which is the innes garment) and girded about their waift in time of work or adlion. 
 Shaw's Travels, p. 226, &c. 410. 
 
 "i Dcut. xxiv. i^^
 
 Chap. XXII. THEBOOKOFJOB. 173 
 
 7. To thee the thirfty fu'd, the famifli'd figh'd, 
 Seal'd was thy fountain, and thy cruft deny'd. 
 
 8. A fav'rite name enjoy 'd his fpoil fecure, 
 The llrongefl arm ftill made the title fure ; 
 
 p. While the wrong'd widow pour'd her fruitlefs moan, 
 And orphans crufli'd by thy injuflice groan. 
 10. Hence ambufli'd ills about thy path were fet. 
 Hence the dire fweep of defolation's net : 
 
 II. Hence 
 
 naked] By taking away their blanket, or upper garment, he left them naked ; 
 according to the mode of fpeaking in the eafl: ' : that is, he left them only 
 their tunic and fhirt. A perfon alfo who was ill-clad, or in rags, was faid to 
 be naked; as Seneca tells us '. 
 
 Ver. 7. T'hou hajl ttot given, &c.] Entertainment of travellers and charity to 
 the poor were looked upon by the Arabs, and by the ancient Greeks, as duties, 
 of the moft facred obligation. The Odyflee has fome noble fentiments on . 
 this iubjevfl : and the poems of the Arabs abound with them. Wherefore 
 the vileft of all charaders among tliem was the inhofpitable and avaricious 
 man. 
 
 Ver. 8, 9. But as for the mighty man, &c,] Here he accufes him of fhameful 
 partiality in the adminiftration of juflice. The great were certain to carry 
 their caufe, when they fet up a claim, however groundlefs, to the land of 
 fome defencelefs widow or orphan. 
 
 the earth] the land, which he pretended to have a right to. 
 
 The honourable man] In theoriginal. He whofe perfon is accepted; that is, who 
 is favoured on account of his wealth and power. 
 
 Ver. 10. fnares] This was an eftablifhcd metaphor for deftruftive calamities ; 
 as alfo darknefs and floods of water for overwhelming niiiery. Old Tirefias the 
 
 foothlayer 
 
 ' I Sam. xix. :4. II Sam. vi. 20. Ifaiah xx. 2 — 4. Mic. i. 8. John xxi. 7. 
 ' Qui male veflitium et p.innofum, nudum fe vidifle dicic. De Bene/, lib. v. 13. quoted 
 by Dr. Shaw, p. 226. of his Tiavdi. 6
 
 H> 
 
 174 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXII. 
 
 11. Hence black defpair, like night, around thee fpread. 
 And booming waters billowing o'er thy head. 
 
 12. Beholds not God, from his ethereal feat, 
 The ftars dim-twinkling far beneath his feet ? 
 Yet mark tlie diftance, how immcnfely far, 
 From this low dwelling to the nearcR flar ! 
 
 1 3. Thy frenzy argu'd ; can the ways of men 
 
 Lie in the compafs of his bomided ken ? 
 
 14. Grofs 
 
 foothfayer foretells the calamities that were coming on the royal family of 
 Thebes in the following language : 
 
 " The deftroying minifters of vengeance lie in zvait fc?- thee, and thcu JJjalt 
 he caught in the fame calamities v/ith which thou haft overwhelmed others '." 
 
 abundance of inaters, &c.] A drowning man, or a fhip foundering at fea, 
 feems to be the image alluded to. The neighbourhood of thefe men's country to 
 the Mediterranean and Arabian feas, and to the rivers Jordan and Nile, might 
 furnifli them with thefe emblems of calamity : or they might be fupplied with 
 luch ideas by the torrents from their own mountains. 
 
 Ver. 12 — 20. Is not God, &c.] What Job had faid in the foregoing chapter, 
 of the general impunity and profperity of the wicked, was matter of fadl. 
 But this calumniator mifreprefents his difcourfe, as a denial of a divine provi- 
 dence grounded on moft abllird notions of the fupreme Being ; as though he 
 were limited in his preience, and could not fee what pafTeth in our world. Job 
 therefore, in this man's account, held the fame atheiftical principles with the 
 wicked who were deftroyed by the flood ; whofe deftruftion is here mentioned 
 in vindication of the juftice of God, and as an admonition to him of his ap- 
 proaching fate if he did not fpeedily repent. 
 
 Ver, 12. Is not God in the height, &c.] The immenfe diftance of heaven, the 
 habitation of God, is repiefented by its being far above the ftars. 
 
 Ver. 13. Ai:d thou faycft, &c.J Therefore thou faiJjl". Thy folly drew from 
 
 its 
 
 ■ Antigone, ver. ic86, &c. 
 
 " rilwXT therefore thou faidjl. "] therefore, as in chap. v. 17. therefore defpife not thou tb« 
 chiifh-nitig of the Almighty,
 
 Chap. XXir. THE BO OK O F J O B. 175 
 
 14. Grofs atmofpheie, with interpofing fcrecn, 
 Conceals the profpefl of this earthly fcene : 
 He, veil'd in clouds, to his own cares confin'd, 
 Walks round his azure realms unheeding human kind. 
 
 I j-. Haft thou, in boldeft profligacy bold, 
 
 Follow'd the path trac'd out by atheifts old ? 
 
 16. Whom vengeance feiz'd before the mortal day^ 
 Whofe column'd domes the deluge fwept away ; 
 
 17. Whofe 
 
 its own abfurd idea of God, as a finite being, a conclufion no lefs abfurd; that 
 he is ignorant of the affairs of human kind. 
 
 Ver. 15. Haft thou marked, &c.] Haft thou kept" the old way, &c. Haft thou 
 taken up the principles of thofe impious men, who lived at the time of the de- 
 luge ? This interrogative form of expreffion is a vehement affirmation. 
 
 Ver. 16. Which were cut down] This verfion is authorifed by the Taro-um, 
 "which were abolifhed from the earth." The Greek Bible renders the word, more 
 agreeably to its true meaning ', which were taken ', or apprehended, as male- 
 fadors. 
 
 out of time ^^ The Chaldee turns it, " when their time was not yetj" that is, 
 the time, or period, to which they might have lived according to the courfe of 
 nature. They perifhed by an untimely deatli. 
 
 Ver. 16. whofe fcundaticn] whofe hclitatiorl; denominated here from its ef- 
 fential part j the better to exprefs the durable materials of which their palaces 
 were framed. 
 
 with a flood] The original makes ufe of the ufual word for a river : But 
 that it was alfo ufed for the waters of the fea, appears from Jonah ii. 3. For 
 
 thoii 
 
 " ~\^ZZ'D haft thou irpt ? Chap, xxiii. ii. his ivay have I L'pt. 
 " ItiVjp ivce apprehended. See the note on chap. xvi. 8. 
 
 " r\V ab^ See chap. xv. 32. Ecclefiaflcs vii. i-. why Jbouldeft tkau die btfert thy timt.
 
 176 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXII. 
 
 17. Whofe madnefs faid, "Away, thou deity, 
 
 " What bleffings can our wants receive from thee ?" 
 
 18. Ingrates ! their fulnefs from his bounty flow'd ; 
 Far be their counfcls, far from my abode. 
 
 15. Then fang the righteous, glorying in the fight, 
 Atheifts o'erthrown, and God's avenging inight ; 
 20. Thus fell thofe ancient rebels ; but by fire 
 
 The wicked remnant Ihall at lail expire. 
 
 21. Humble 
 
 thou hadft cajl me into the deep., in the midfi of the feas^ and the floods ^ compajfed 
 me about, 
 
 Ver. 17. Depart from us, &c.] By defcribing the impiety of thefe men in 
 the very terms of Job (chap. xxi. 14, 15.) he confronts their exemplary de- 
 ftruftion to Job's affertion of the impunity and felicity of fuch charadlers. 
 
 Ver. iS. But the counfel, &c.] This is fneer. See the note on chap. xxi. 1 5. 
 
 Ver. 19. 'The righteous fee it, &:c.] 
 
 The righteous faw % and zvere glad : 
 And the innocent laughed them to fcorn. 
 
 As we are to vinderfVand the foregoing verfe of the deluge, by the righteous aru3 
 innocent muft be meant, Noah and his family. Ariftotle remarks, that " no 
 good man is troubled, when parricides, for inftance, meet with their deferved 
 puniftiment: for it is our duty to rejoice in fuch occafions." 
 
 Ver. 20. Whereas our fubftance, &c.] I apprehend the tranflation fhould be, 
 IVas not " their rebellion ' punijhed with deftruSlion ' ? 
 
 Schultens 
 
 ' "in3 I' '= "f^'^'' '" '''2 plural number as fynonimous with D»2' thefeas, Pfal. xxiv. 2. 
 " The LXX. trandate the verbs in thepaft time. 
 
 * ^ n>\ annon ? D}^ is frequently interrogative. Vid. Noltlium. See chap. iv. 17. 
 vi. 30. 
 
 ' 1JCP '^•"'"' rekJUon. (1) On the authority of the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate 
 vcrfions 1 read CS'p (-) Cp is turned o^/wqi by the Syriac interpreter. It may fignify 
 i>ifurre£lion, or rebellion; as C'Jp fignifies infurgents, or rebels, Pf, iii. 1. Ixxiv. 23. 
 
 *■ in^i It is englilhed to be cut off, chap. iv. 7.
 
 CiiAP. XXir. THE BOOK OF JOB. 177 
 
 21. Humble thyfelf to God, refign thy prey ; 
 Rich harveft follows the repenting day: 
 
 22. Embrace 
 
 Schiikens gives a very animated turn to this vcrfe, by fuppofing it to be the 
 burden of a triumphal hymn, fung by Noah and his family on this av/ful oc- 
 cafion. 
 
 but the remnant of them, &c.] but the remnant of them the fire /hall confume'. 
 Some interpreters apply thcfe exprefiions to the deftruftion of Sodom and Go- 
 morrah. But how could the inhabitants of thofe cities be llyled the remnant, 
 or all the remainder of the wicked? Whereas if we underftard it of the wicked 
 that fliall be found remaining on the earth at the end of the world, we are prc- 
 fented in this verfe with the two moft memorable and dreadful fcenes of divine 
 vengeance, the deluge and the conflagration. Noah might learn the final de- 
 ftrudion of the wicked from the prophecy of Enoch, recorded by Jude ver. 
 14. and the manner of it from fome revelation to himfelf. 
 
 Ver. 2 1 . Acquaint thyfelf with him] Crinfoz turns it fubmit thyfelf to him ; 
 Mr. Heath to the fame effeft, humble thyfelf before him, grounding his verfion 
 on the Arabic fenfe of the word. 
 
 ani be at peace] and make rejlitution '. It is a vulgar error, to imagine that 
 Job was abfolutely impoverifhed. He ftill maintained a numerous family ; 
 and his three cenfors fuppofe him to have amafled great treafures by bribery 
 and extortion, which they exhort him to refund ^. 
 
 ' n^DK y^"// confume. It is the preter tenfe turned into the future by the influence of "i at 
 the beginning of this claufe. Befides, according to the remark of Michaelis, the preterite 
 and future were aorifts in the ancient ftate of the hebrew language. Michaelis in Praeieti. 
 p. 78. 8vo. 
 
 ' D'72^ Mr. Heath reads it Jhallem, in the conjugation pihel, make rejiitution. Or if 
 we follow the Maforetic pointing Jhdom, in the conjugation kal, yet as the fignification of 
 this verb in kal, to fi lijh, is communicated to its conjugation pihel, I Kings ix. 25. On the 
 contrary its fignification in pihel^ to make rejlitution, might be communicated to its conju- 
 gation kal. 
 
 * Chap. xi. 14. XV. 34, 
 
 A a
 
 178 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXU, 
 
 22. Embrace his lefTons, his imperial word 
 Deep in the table of thy heart record. 
 
 23. Vagrant from God, return ; with fparkling eyes 
 Then fee thy bow'r renew'd in beauty rife : 
 But hallow'd be thy tents, expell from thence 
 All cover'd crime and manifeft offence. 
 
 24. Leave Ophir's gold in her own llreams to fhine, 
 
 25. God all-fuificient be thy boundlefs mine. 
 
 26. To 
 
 Ver. 22. the lain — his zvords'] The divine revelations conveyed down by tra- 
 dition from Noah, Abraham, &c. alfo perfonal favours of the fame kind to 
 Job ""j to Eliphaz ', and to others ^. 
 
 Ver. 23. Tboujhalt be hiiilt up '] He affures him of a re-eftablifliment of his 
 ruined affairs, and particularly of a new race of children in fupply of thofe he 
 had loft. 
 
 thoujhalt put away iniquity'] By iniquity he means that which he fuppofed to 
 have been Job's favourite fin, rapacity. The tranflation, I think, fhould be^ 
 put thou away itjiquity, &c. the future being often ufed for the imperative. He 
 exhorts him to keep both himfelf and his family, for the time to come, from 
 tlie vice of covetoufnefs ; as well as from all other wickednefs. 
 
 Ver. 24. Thou /halt lay up^ &c.] He recommends to him a contempt of riches." 
 But our public verfion makes him promife, that his avarice fhall be gratified 
 to the full, how abfurd is this ! Mr. Heath's verfion is more juft to the ori- 
 ginal. 
 
 ^ Chap. vi. 10. xxix. 4. 
 ' Chap. iv. 12, &c. 
 " Chap, xxxiii. 14, 1;. 
 
 ■ See the ufe of this metaphorical expreflron in Jer. xxxi. 4. xxxiii. 7. Gen. Xvi. 2. it 
 may he that I may obtain children (marg, be builded) by her.
 
 Chap. XXir. THE BOOK OF JO a 179 
 
 26. To him, in bleft fruition of his grace, 
 Noble affiance Ihall creft thy face. 
 
 27. He'll crown thy pray'r, mature thy vows in praife, 
 
 28. Thy edids flablifli, and illume thy ways. 
 
 29. The 
 
 ginal, Count'' the fine gold as" duji^ and the goldofO-phir as theftcnes ( or pebbles) 
 tif the brooks, 
 
 Ophir] The Ophir here fpoken of muft be that which was in Arabia, on the 
 coaft of the red fea °. Arabia had formerly its golden mines. We are aflured 
 by Sanchoniathon ^, fays Mr. Crinfoz, that the Phoenicians carried on a confi- 
 derable traffic to this Ophir even before the days of Job. 
 
 Ver. 25. Tea the Almighty, hcJ] " Yea the Almighty fliall be thy fine gold', 
 and choice filver ' unto thee." The verfe thus tranflated contains a fublime fen- 
 timent. The favour of God fliall be thy treafure, an inexhauftible mine of fe- 
 licity. 
 
 Ver. 2S. Thott Jhalt alfo decree a thing, &c.] Here he promifeth the reftora- 
 tion of his princely authority. The word tranflated a thing fignifies a decree «» 
 an authoritative edid. 
 
 and 
 
 ■ "^Sy bv n'ti' Set fine gold with duft, that is, count it of no more value than duft. 
 This verb is ufed in the fame fenfe chap. xxx. i. whofe fathers I would have difdained to have 
 fit ( n^tyb ) w///^ the dogi of my flock. 
 
 " Vy this prepofition is ufed for Dy with in Exod. xxxiv. 25. Thou Jhalt not ofcr the 
 Hood of my facrifice with (7^) leaven. See Levit. ii. 2, 16. iv. 11. It is alfo ufed in a 
 comparative fenfe in Levit. xxv. 31. But the houfes of the villages . . . Jhallhe counted as (7j;) 
 the fields of the country. 
 
 ' Bochart. Phaleg. * and by Herodotus, quoted by Eufebius. 
 
 ' "^*"^lf 3 (b"t 3^1 'he ancient verfions read *^"1 j»2 ) it is the fame word that is englifhed 
 gold in the preceding verfe. 
 
 ' mfiyin t\DD choice filvcr. The LXX. turn it ufyvfm vtirv^uftivot, filver that hath b rt 
 tried in the fire. It fignifies, as Schultens hath fliewn, filver that is dug with great I ._ -ur 
 out of the deepeft mines. 
 
 * "Ifif* " decree. See chap. xx. 29. his decree, in the margin ; that is, decreed to him by 
 God. The verb "^fj, to decree^ is alfo ufed of a royal ediii, or proclamation. Efthcr ii. i. 
 
 A a 2
 
 i8o THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXII. 
 
 29. The proud fliall fink, on thy complaint depreft; 
 Affliction iing, redeem'd at tliy requeft : 
 
 30. The righteous man fiiall Hay th' Almighty's hand. 
 And turn the thunder from a linning land. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 and the light, &c.] WilHom, fuccefs, joy, are all included in this beautiful me- 
 taphor. I'he adminiftration of thy public and pi .vate affairs fhall be ever pro- 
 fperous and illuftrious. 
 
 Ver. 29. JVhen men are c aft downy &c.} He affurcs him of the prevalence of 
 his prayers with God, both for the overthrow of infolent oppreflbrs and deliver- 
 ance of the opprefled. This is an. exalted idea of the high importance of a 
 good man to Ibciety. The following verfe exalts it fiiil higher. The prefent 
 verfe will admit of the following tranflation. 
 
 Verily men are caft down ", iiohen thou Jhalt fay there is pride''.. 
 And the deje^ed perfon % he will fave. 
 
 Ver. 30. He Jhall deliver, &c.J The obfcurity of this verfe will vanifh, if 
 we turn it 
 
 "ithe innocent Jhall deliver a country ^ : 
 
 And it fimll be delivered by the purenefs of his hands ^. 
 
 Mea of exemplary piety and virtue are fometimes the faviours of a whole 
 
 people. 
 
 ' '3 virily, fure/yy a.s in chap. viii. 6. funly noiv, &c. Chap, xxviii. \. furely there ii a 
 vein for the f liver. 
 
 " ib'StiTl they are cajl down; as li?^'^' If. i. 1%.. they Jhall be white. Drufius. 
 
 ' mj pride. Ifaiah xxv. 11. he Jhall bring down (^31^111) their pride ("iniNilJ 
 
 " CD^J'y nty " perfm of downcajl looks. The verb is ufed of a perfon who is bowed down 
 uith grief. Plal. xxxv. 14. xxxviii. 7. 
 
 '' 'K a country; Ifaiah xx. 6. the inhabitant of this country; as it is engUQied in the 
 
 margin. ■,,'..'.. " 
 
 ■■•- 'y^'2 thy hands. The S^'riac and Arabic verflons read' V53 his hands. If we follow 
 our prefent Hebrew text thy hands, there will be a very abrupt change of the perfon ; and 
 Eiiphaz muft be imagined to addrefs thefc words to Job' on fuppofitioa of bis becoming a. 
 pious and virtuous man.
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB. 581 
 
 Chap. 
 
 xxiir. 
 
 1,2. The mourner anfwer'd, in lamenting drain ; 
 Still is it flifF rebellion to complain ? 
 Alas ! the mountain-weight of woes I feel, 
 Nor groans can equal, nor complaint reveal. 
 
 3. Guide 
 
 people, by means of their favour with God. This grand idea of the efficacy 
 of true religion, and the vafl: utility of virtuous men, is derived from the Pa- 
 triarchal hiftory. See Gen. xviii. 23, &c. 
 
 CHAP. xxni. 
 
 This firft part of Job's reply is the effufion of a mind agitated by various 
 ftrong emotions : 
 
 By indignation, at the cruel flanders in the foregoing fpeech, ver. 2. 
 
 By vehement defire to argue his caufc to God, ver. 3. to the end o€ 
 ver. 7. 
 
 By diftrefs, in that he could not obtain his defire, ver. 8, 9. 
 
 By confolation, in: the teftimony of his confcience, ver. lo, ir, 12. 
 
 By conflernation and defpair, on recolkdling God's abfolute dominion and 
 the immutability of his defigns, ver. 13, 14, 15. 
 
 And by apprehenfion tliat his life was preferved for additional fufferings, 
 ver. 16, 17. 
 
 Ver. 2. Even to-day, &c.] 5//7/*/j my compLnnt rebellion^ ? Am I ftill to 
 be taxed with iniolence and impiety ", for complaining of the ways of God ? 
 
 Alas ! 
 
 ' DVn ft'tl- Pfal. cxix. 91. They continue Jiill { DVH) according to thine ordinances. 
 
 ^ *'^Q Grinfozanti Mr. Heath juftly render it rebellion^ for the root is H^JD '* rebel. It 
 cannot be derived from "1"1Q to be bitter; there being no nouns in this form that are de- 
 ji»ed from verbs which double their fecond radical. Vid. Guarin. Gr.wi, Htb. vol. i. p. 3931, 
 398. 
 
 * Chap. xxii. 2, 3, 4,
 
 iSz THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIII. 
 
 5. Guide me, O guide me to his dark recefs, 
 Ev'n to his throne of judgement I would prefs ; 
 
 4. A thoufand reas'nings, regular and flrong, 
 The flow of innocence, fhall fill my tongue. 
 
 5. His anfwer, welcome to my longing ear. 
 
 Would the ftrange caufc of thefc ftrange fufF'rIngs clear, 
 
 6. Will he confound me with his dreadful might ? 
 No, but my courage at his bar excite : 
 
 7. There bold integrity may urge its plea. 
 And there fliall triumph be ordain'd for me. 
 
 8, 9. Ah ! 
 
 Alas! myjlroke^is heavier than my groaning. His infliftions on me would 
 juftify heavier complaint. 
 
 Ver. 3. O that I knew, &c.] He wilheth he could go to the tribunal of God, 
 as one may go and demand trial at a human bar. Crinfoz. See chap. ix. 
 32—35. X. 2. 
 
 Ver. 6. Will he plead againjl me, &c.] He will not bear me down with his 
 authority, inftead of reafons : neither will he intimidate me with his great 
 power. He will on the contrary exert his power to ftrengthen my mind, that 
 I may have courage and compofure to argue my caufe with him. This is a 
 worthy and fublime idea of the equity and condefcenllon of God. 
 
 he would put ftrength in me.'] The original is elliptical. Our Tranflators 
 fupply the 'word, ftrength to perfeft the fenfe. Other interpreters give a fome- 
 what different turn to the fentence, *' he will lay down reafons againft me' ; that 
 is, he will fhew me his reafons for thus afflifling me. But I think he had ex- 
 prefled this lentiment in ver. 5. / Jhould know the words which be would anfwer 
 me, &c. 
 
 ^ '*t' my hand. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic verfions read /w AijW, "n» 
 
 ' O t^go'ilft me. Numb. xxi. 7. Wc bavefpohn againjl the Lord (niri-S) ^"d agairi/l
 
 CHAP.XXnr. THE BOOK OF JOB. x% 
 
 8, 9. Ah ! ihould I journey this terreftrial round, 
 He no where in its eaftern coaft is found : 
 In vain I feek him on the weftern fhore, 
 In vain his footfteps in the north explore, 
 Or in the fouth : He, working in his might, 
 Wrapt in impervious Ihades eludes my fight. 
 
 10. But, nor unknowing in my ways, he knows 
 My truth his utmofl proving undergoes 
 
 As 
 
 Ver, 7. Sojhould I be delivered^ &c.] Sojball I be delivered^ for ever f by ^ my 
 judge. 
 
 He exprefleth the fulleft confidence that God would put an utter end to the 
 difpute, by xn honourable acquittal of him ; provided God would favour him 
 with an opportunity of making his defence to him. 
 
 Ver. 8, 9. Behold J gi forward, &c.] Thefe verfes are not a meer defcription 
 of the invifibility of God. They are intended to exprefs the vehement defire 
 of confcious integrity to obtain fome vifible nianifeftation of the Deity, and to 
 expoftulate with him face to tace on its unmerited fuffcrings. 
 
 The language will be more poetical, if, with the Chaldee Paraphrafe, we 
 turn the words forward^ backward, on the left hand, en the right hand ; to the 
 eafl, to the weft, to the north, in the fouth. 
 
 Ver. 10 — 12. But he knaweth, &c.] This is the glorious language of confcious 
 piety. It derives powerful confolation from the omnifcience of God. The ftyle., 
 
 however. 
 
 ' niD7D^s apalUtah, in the conjugation/)//;^/. But in that conjugation it is a tranfitiveverb 
 aftive to diiii/er ; and requires after it an accufative of the perfon or thing delivered. I 
 imagine our Tranflators read eppalttah in Niphal, or appulUtah, in pyhal, I Jhall be (U- 
 livered. 
 
 s riii*? LXX. e ! teXo? to an end. But eifewhere, ti« nxot unto viHery. 
 
 ^ *D£3K^!D by my judge ; or, as the Targum turns it, by him who judgeth me. The prc-< 
 pofition O is ejiglifhed by in Gen. xlix. 24. by the kandi of tkt mighty God ofjuiob.
 
 :S4 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. IXXIU. 
 
 As gold the furnace j and like gold fliall rife, 
 Emerging, with new luihc, to his eyes. 
 II, 12. ]\Iy foot hath been the follower of his own, 
 
 Unftraying from the path himfelf hath fhown: 
 Unfwerving from his high commands, I llor'd 
 Deep in my bofom his imperial word. 
 
 13. But who fliall him, fole potentate, controll? 
 Refolv'd, he adts the purpofe of his foul ; 
 
 14. And will compleat my meafur'd woes, aflign'd 
 
 By the deep counfels of his awful mind : 
 
 In 
 
 however, may be thought fomcwhat too lofty for an imperfeft mortal. By the 
 expreffion I Jhall come forth cs gold, he cannot be underftood to mean that he 
 fhould be delivered out of his afflidtions -, otherwiie tiian by death, he utterly 
 defpairs, to the very laft, of recovering his health and profperity. The fenfeof 
 the comparifon is, I apprehend, that his piety and virtue were like gold, and 
 would endure the fevereft teft. 
 
 Ver. 12. the words of his mouth'] See the remark on Chap. xxii. 22. 
 
 Ver. 13. He is in one mind.'] In the original, HehoneK He inferreth from 
 the unity of God, that his dominion is abfolute, and his decrees immutable, as 
 well as the reaibns of them impenetrable. The Providence of fuch a Being 
 oft times proceeds in meafures, that confound all our ideas of wifdom, juflice, 
 and goodnefs. 
 
 Ven f4. For he performeth, &c.] Therefore he ivill bring to perfeHion, that 
 which he hath decreed concerning me. So Mr. Heath tranllates. Homer expref- 
 
 feth 
 
 * "inX3 Targ. 'STn' unicus, the only one. Y\i\g.folus eft. It is the ablative put 
 for the nominative, as in Exod. xviii. 4. '"ITJ/^ my help, and Exod. xxxii. 22. y*13 mlf- 
 chievQus. This enallage is very common in the Arabic language. The Arabians ufe in 
 potetite (or potens, in crcdente for credens, in negligsnte for negligens, Vid. Erpenii Prov. Arab, 
 itnt, i. 67. Koran, fur, ii. ver. 69.
 
 CiTAP. XXm. THE BOOK OF JOB. i?^. 
 
 In a(5ts like tliefe, oft wont he to difplay 
 His boundlefs, abfolute, myflerious fvvay. 
 IS, 1 6. Hence doubting, dreading, in confufion toft, 
 My courage melts and in amaze I'm loft: 
 17. For ftillin horrid ills I draw my breath, 
 Dcny'd a refuge in the gloom of death. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 feth the fame fentiment in almofl: the fame language : " But Jupiter will accom- 
 plifh the evils, which he meditates both againft the Greeks and the Trojans *•■." 
 many fuch things, &c.] many defigns and proceedings of his Providence, as 
 myfterious and unaccountable as his ways towards me. 
 
 Ver. 15. Therefore ami, &c.] Therefore am I troubled by ^ him; that is, re- 
 fleflion on fuch perplexing meafures of Providence dalhes all the hopes which 
 innocence fhould give ; and overfets me with prefaging fears, which guilt only 
 ought to feel. 
 
 Ver. 17. Becaufe I ivas not cut off, &c.] Becanfe I have not been cut off by'^^ 
 the darknefs. By darhiefs^ in this member of the period, he means his afflic- 
 tion. Darknefs is an eftablifhed metaphor for calamity, not only among the 
 facred poets but alfo arnong all others. 
 
 Neither hath he covered, &c.] But be cover eth the darknefs from my face. The 
 term, in the original, for darknefs here, is different from the foregoing. Ic 
 is that by which Job exprefleth the darknefs of the fepulchral grot chap, x, 22. 
 By covering the darknefs from his face, he means his not being permitted to fee 
 death. God, he complains, denies him the only refuge from his forrows, a 
 grave. 
 
 He was to the lafl degree amazed, fays Mr. Heath, how he was able to fup- 
 
 port 
 
 ^ AA?u» ***a f forfai TEXftaifiTai a/ifoT^foia-ii'. II. vii. JO, Wld, Sihol. 
 
 \ VJDJi hi as in Judges vi. 6. Ifrael was greatly impovcrijhtd hy ( ♦JfiQ ) the Midi- 
 unites. 
 
 ^ 'JSD See the foregoing note. 
 
 B b
 
 iZe THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIV. 
 
 Chap. 
 XXIV. 
 Ver. I. Why does thefultan of the world refrain, 
 
 By vengeful feafons to aflcrt his reign? 
 Why fee not now obfervers of his ways 
 His drowning flood, or lliow'ring fulphur's blaze ? 
 
 2. Landmarks- 
 port fuch a load of calamity ; and that it did not put an end to his life : he 
 dreaded further milery, for which he doubted he was referved. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 Having fomewhat eafed his mind by the foregoing effufions, he makes one 
 effort more -to convince his adverfaries by recifoning vi\t\\ them. The laft verfc 
 demonftrates that he oppofeth their fentiments. And if it be not fa nowy whs 
 will make me a liar? The firft verfe fl:iews that the point he difputes with them 
 is the conftancy, and even the frequency, of the public judgements of God on 
 wicked men. He produceth a catalogue of outrageous immoralities, which are 
 fatal to the peace of fociety and threaten its diflblution. He inftanceth invafion 
 of propert)', cruel opprefllon of the poor, adultery, murder, and tyranny. 
 Yet the Governor of the world feems to connive at thefe enormities, by forbear- 
 ing to punifh the authors of them. Toleration of fuch evils is by no means 
 reconcileable to our notions of wiidom and juftice, and is utterly repugnant to 
 the fyllem of providence maintained by his three antagonifts. 
 
 A fpirit of vehemence and indignation runs through the whole difcourfe. He 
 could not fpeak of the lenity of God to the worft of men, and at the fame time 
 think of his own fufferings, without a confiderable deal of warmth. 
 
 Ver. I. Why, feeing times, &c.] Wljy are not Jiated times" referved ° by the 
 Almighty ? And why do they that know him not fee his days " ? 'Qy Jiated times and 
 
 his 
 
 ' Ifaiah xiii. 22. Ezek. xxx. 3. Schultens. 
 
 " 1332fJ "''* referved; are laid up ; as in chap. xxi. ig. The primary idea, fays Mr. 
 Heath, \sfepofult, to ft apart: the fecondary idea is «iv«/ifflwV, to hide; recondidit, to lay up. 
 See Pfal. xxxi. 19, 10,
 
 Chap. XXIV. THE BOOK OF JOB. 187 
 
 2. Landmarks rcmov'd, and ravifh'd fields behold ! 
 The fhepherd captiv'd with his blearing fold. 
 
 3. Orphans lament, th' infolvent widow weeps, 
 Their only beaft feme riuhlefs harpy fweeps. 
 
 4. Wrong'd 
 
 his days are meant fignal feafons of divine vengeance. Such were thofe of the 
 deluge and the deftruction of Sodom. He aflcs, what is the reafon why Hke 
 difplays of divine juftice do not recur; as often as a like general corruption 
 of morals prevaileth in the world ? 
 
 Ver. 2. Some remove the land-marks^ &c.] As their paftures and corn-fields 
 were not inclofcd'', they had no other way of diftinguifliing the limits of each 
 man's grounds but by boundary ftones. He here defcribeth that fort of injuf- 
 tice which the prophet complains of, They covet fields.^ and take them by violence; 
 and houfes, and take them away : So they opprefs a man and his boufe^ even a man 
 and his heritage. Mic. ii. 2. 
 
 and feed '^xhzrtoi] and him that feedeth it. Mr. Heath. Juvenal complains 
 of the rapines committed by the 'governors of the Roman provinces in language 
 like this of our facred poet •, 
 
 Nunc fociis juga pauca bourn, grex parvus equarum, 
 Et pater armenti capto eripiatur agello. 
 
 Sat. viii. L. iii. ver. icS. 
 
 Ver. 3. The afs — the ox'] This is another fpecies of wrong. They deprive the 
 fatherlefs and the widow of their only means of fupporting themfelves; who 
 could not prepare their little farm for lowing, without an ox, or beeve, to till 
 
 itj 
 
 P See a late ingenious Publication, intituled Obfcrvations on divers Pajfages of Scripture^ 
 
 &C. p. 2l6. 
 
 ^ iy^*1 The Maforetic punduation makes it the third perfon plural in the future of 
 Kal. But Mr. Heath reads it in the third perfon Angular. He takes 1 for an aflSx, put 
 inftead of "\n, and fuppofeth an ellipfis of the relative "Ityj^ ivho, he ■who. The LXX. 
 probably read in the fame manner : for they tranflate it, <rm mijim together uith tht 
 Jhepherd, 
 
 Bb 2
 
 i88 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIV. 
 
 4. Wrong'd at tribunals, vex'd on every fide. 
 The fighing poor in friendly deferts hide: 
 
 5. There, like wild aflcs, in the dawn they flray, 
 Hard toiling for the pittance of the day: 
 
 They browze the nioiintain roots, the fylvan food 
 Stills the loud clamours of their craving brood. 
 
 6. Others 
 
 it ; or bring in their corn, if they had any, without an afs to carry the 
 burden. 
 
 Ver. 4, 5. They turn the needy\ &c.] Thefe two verfes reprefent moil iniqui- 
 tous and oppreflive proceedings in the courts of juftice: infomuch that inoffcn- 
 five' and defeneelefs' perfons, having no protedtion from the laws, are forced 
 to flee into the defert; for the fecurity of their lives, or to fave themfelves from 
 flavery. 
 
 Ver. 4. cut of the zuayl that is, the way or courfe of juftice. The very magi- 
 ftrates refufe to redrefs their grievances, and to proteft their property and per- 
 fons. Compare Ifaiah x. 1,2. Amos ii. 7. 
 
 hide themfelves'] In the caves of the defert. Compare Hebrews xi. 38. 
 
 Ver. 5. Behold, as wild njfes, &c.] He defcfibes the hardfliips which they fuf- 
 fer in the wildernefs. The fimile, as wild cjfes, fhews that he is not fpeaking 
 cf the thievifh Arabs of the defert : for the wild afs is not a beaft of prey, but 
 is iti'elf the prey of the liom. It is a folitary timorous animal, whole only defence 
 is in the fwiftnefs of its heels. This is no fit emblem of the pillaging Arabs, 
 but a very proper one for fuch harmlefs perfons as are mentioned in the forego- 
 ing verfe. 
 
 go forth to their work] Their daily toil in fearching for roots, and fuch vege- 
 tables as the woods and mountains afforded for their miferable fuftenance. 
 
 for 
 
 ' 'IJj^ the inoffcnfive ; LXX. w^asi; the meek, 
 
 ' D'j'^{< the defencelefs; LXX. euvinrni the weak, perfons without power 'to defend 
 their rights. 
 
 ' Ecckfiafticus xili. 19.
 
 Chap. XXIV. THE BOOK OF JOB. 18^ 
 
 6. Others collect the grapes, or bind the flieaves, 
 Of fome hard churl, who not a gleaning leaves : 
 
 7. Deny'd a flielt'ring hut in midnight cold, 
 
 Deny'd a rug about their limbs to fold ; 
 
 8. On 
 
 for a prey'] for -meat \ or eatables. Prov. xxxi. 15. andgiveth meat • to her 
 houjhold. 
 
 Ver. 6 — S. They reap, Src] The complaint in thefe three verfcs turns upon 
 the barbarous ufage of the labouring poor^ who work, in the fields and vine- 
 yards. 
 
 Ver. 6. They reap every one his corn ", &c.] They reap every one in a field 
 which is not his o^jjh ". The perfons defcribed in this verfe are fuch as are 
 compelled by their poverty to work for wages in the fields and vineyards of 
 the rich.. The barley-harveft in thofe countries was in March ; and their whear- 
 harveft was over by the latter end of May or the beginning of June "■. Their 
 vintage began in September and ended in Odtober ". 
 
 they gather'] without wages and without food, as the Septuagint explains it \ 
 They are defrauded of both by their opprefllve mafters. 
 
 of the zvicked] of the opp-ejfcr. The word frequently occurs in this accepta- 
 tion in our author >'. It is alfo ufed in this fenfe Ezek. xxxiii. 1 5. If the 
 wicked reflore the pledge. It properly fignifieth a doer of wrong Exod. ii. 13. 
 Hefaid to him that did the wrong % why fmitefi thou thy fellow ? 
 
 Ver. 7. They caufe the naked, &c.] See the note on chap, xxii, 6. 
 
 they have no covering] no raiment for their bedding, nor tent nor miferable 
 
 hovel 
 
 " 'h'h'2 his corn. But the Chaldee Paraphraft and the LXX. read ^^ '72 non fill : ■ 
 For the former turns it 'inbl Kb^!3 vshich is not their own; and the LXX. a* avn'. cnx. . 
 The vulgar Latin, agrum mnfmrm. 
 
 * Olfervations on divers Parages of Scripture, $ic. p.27,4;,S-i* 
 y See pariicularly chap. xv. 20,
 
 190 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIV. 
 
 8. On the damp clay, in dripping caves, they lie, 
 And hug that refuge left to poverty. 
 
 9. See orphans from the pap to bondage drawn, 
 The peafants vefl detain'd in cruel pawn : 
 
 10, Witli naked limbs they toil, and llarving bear 
 The golden burden of the foodful year: 
 
 ir. To 
 
 hovel to fheker them, they are forced therefore to ifleep on the damp ground^ 
 in the caverns of the mountains adjacent to the fields aad vineyards where thd|^ 
 flaved in the day. 
 
 in the cold] In thofe climates a very hot day was often fucceeded by a very 
 cold night ". 
 
 Ver. 8. with the Jhowers, &c.] The heavy rains which fall in fpring and 
 autumn produce torrents and inundations in that mountaiaous country. Thefe 
 opprefled v/retches were obliged to fecure themfelves from thofe floods in holes 
 of the rocks. 
 
 Ver. 9, 10, II. They pluck, &c.] The injuftice reprefented here is that of 
 unmerciful creditors ; who feize the perfons of their poor infolvent debtors, and 
 make them their (laves. 
 
 Ver. 9. and take a pledge, &c.] and take that which is upon * the poor for a 
 pledge ; that is, liis upper garment or hyke, for lecurity for a debt. See the 
 note on chap. xxii. 6. 
 
 Ver. 10. They caufe him] Namely, the poor man whofe garment they keep 
 in pawn, and the orphans whom they endaved. They compel the former to 
 drudge in their fields and vineyards in the moft violent heats, to redeem their 
 pawn : and they ufe the latter, as foon as they become capable of fervile works, 
 in the fame cruel manner. 
 
 and 
 
 * Genefis xxxi. 40. Shaw's Travels, p. 439. 410. Dr. Shaw tells us, that in Arabia 
 Petraea, Job's country, the day is intenfely hot and the night intenfely cold. Travtlsj 
 ■p. 438. 
 
 * 'Jy ^V id quod ejifupra pauperem, veftimentum ejus. R. Levi apud Schultens.
 
 Chap. XXrv. THE BOOK OF JOB, 191. 
 
 11. To noon-day labours in the vineyard curfl, 
 
 And while they (lamp the wine-vat die with third. 
 
 12. The city groans through all her (Ireets, the cries 
 Of wrongs and wounds and death alTail the £kies: 
 In vain ; unheeded by the Pow'r above, 
 
 His wrath they wake not, nor his thunder move. 
 
 13. There 
 
 and they take a-way, &c.] and thofe who arejlarving with hunger carry the 
 Jheaves. Mr. Headi. They are not fuffered to eat fo much as an ear of the 
 corn they carry in. 
 
 Ver. II. which make oil. Sec.'] who labour in their vineyards" at noon-day'^. 
 This was a grievous aggravation of the opprefTion. The vintage began in 
 September. From the beginning of May to the end of September, the air in 
 thofe countries is in general fo hot, that it feems as if it came out of an oven. 
 What then n\uft it be at noon-day? See Dr. Rufiel's Natural hijtory of Aleppo^ 
 p. 14. 
 
 and tread, &c.] Mr. Addifon, in his letter from Italy, defcribeth the mifery 
 of the opprefled peafants with the fame beautiful energy : The poor inhabit- 
 ant of that rich country 
 
 Starves, in the midft of nature's bounty curft. 
 And in the loaden vineyard dies for thirll. 
 
 Ver. 12 — 20. Men groan, &c.] The principal kene of the foregoing vio-- 
 lences was the country. In this paragraph he dwells upon the enormities which 
 are committed in great cities, and their environs ; under the very eye of the 
 magiftrate. 
 
 ' Dnilty Our public verfion turns it their walls; that is, the ftbne-walls with which 
 they inclofed their vineyards. Prov.xxiv. 3c, 31. In Arabic it figaifies, according to 
 Schuhens, the rows pf poles on which the vines were fupporteJ. 
 
 ^ l"i^rii' tl"'y lohour at noon-day. CDnrii in Hebrew figniiies noon-ti-U. thence was 
 formed th^ verb TnVn to work during the noon- tide, .is Mr. Heath renders it. This fcnla 
 is eftabliilied by the Arabic ufe of the lame verb ; as Schulccns has proved.
 
 ip2 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIV. 
 
 13. There arc, like night's wild foragers, who Hum 
 Light's public walks, and bus'nefs of the fun : 
 
 14. The ruffian, when the pilgrim quits his reft, 
 Skulks in the dawn, and ftabs the harmlefs breaft: 
 In the dead hour of ileep, no bolts withftand 
 
 The practis'd cunning of his pilf 'ring hand. 
 
 IS, 16. Th' 
 
 Ver. 12. T'et God layetb not foUy \ &c.] The negleft of human rulers, to 
 punifli the authors of fiich crimes, feemed to render the interpofition of divine 
 juftice neceflary; for the very prefervation of fociety. But God takes no 
 notice, he fays, of thefe flagrant violations of right and order : God layeth 
 not folly to them. 
 
 Ver. 13. They are of thofe who rebel, &c>] There are thofe who rebel' agamfi 
 the light, &c. This verfe is a defcription of thofe criminals, who fcek the pro- 
 teftion of privacy and darknefs for the commiflion of their evil deeds. By 
 light I underfland here the fun, as it is tranflated in chap. xxxi. 26. 
 
 Ver. 14. with the light"] very early, by break of day; as the light £\gVLi?^e% 
 in Mic. ii. i. wo to them that devife iniquity, and work evil upon their beds: in 
 the light of the morning they praitife it. 
 
 as a thief ^'l a very thief; or a per fell thief. 
 
 ' n'^Sn fo^fy- (1) If, with Mr. Heath, we derive it from n^Q tafeparate, his tranfla- 
 tion will be right; Gcd maketh no diJliyUiion. (2) If, with Schultens, we talce '?£3n 
 vain, futile, for the root, the verfion muft be ; God regardetb mt their vairi compluints. or 
 (3) If we follow Kimchi's etymology, and deduce the word from ^C7£3 to do a wonderful 
 thing, we may tranflute ; Godfts no extraordinary mark upon them. The fenfe comes out the 
 fame in all thefe interpretations j namely, that God does not feem to pay any regard to thefe 
 outrages. 
 
 ^ "^IK n"1'33 hcifugts, perfons who fliun the light; as Grotius turns it. I take the 
 ablative niUD to be put for the nominative, as in chap, xxiii. 1 3. "inNJH for Ini?- See 
 the note. 
 
 s 33J13 the caph 3 is here what the Grammarians call taph veritatis : It denotes not fmi- 
 Jltude, but emphajis only, i
 
 Chap. XXIV. THEBOOKOFJOB. 195 
 
 15, 16. Th' adulterer, conceal'd all day, prepares, 
 
 Watching for evening dulk, his fatal fnares : 
 Fearful of jealous eyes, in twilight gloom 
 Muffled he fteals into the guilty room : 
 
 17. Stranger 
 
 Ver. 15. difguifeth his face] The hebrew is, he putteth a covering upon his 
 face. This covering was probably the hood of the burnoofe : fo the Arabs call 
 the cloak which they fometimes throw over their other garments ; and which 
 has a hood or cowl to it *■. The Arab drefs was in all likelihood the fame in the 
 days of Job as now : For thefe people are remarkable for not having changed 
 their cuftoms for thefe three thotifand years '. The Roman fatyrift defcribes 
 the adulterer juft as our facred poet has done here. 
 
 Si nofturnus adulter 
 Tempora fantonico velas adoperta cucullo. 
 
 Juv. Sat. vlii. 144. 
 
 If you fir oil about theflreets a rank adulterer., -with your head muffled in a Gallic 
 hood. 
 
 Ver. 16. In the dark they dig through houfes,'] If I remember right, the 
 fenfible author of the Obfervations on divers Paffages of Scripture, &c. remarks 
 on this paflage ; that their houfes being built of clay dried in the fun, it was 
 eafy to force a way into them in this manner. But I rather imagine, that the 
 exprefiion is figurative ; and is intended to exprefe ftealing into the houfe of 
 the adulterefs like a thief in the night. 
 
 which they had marked, &c.] They conceal themfelves in the day-time^. They 
 dare not appear in fuch houfes in the day : For they know not the lights when 
 they praftife their lewd amours. 
 
 " Shaw's Travels, p. 226. 410. 
 
 ' Ockley's Preface to an Account of Scutb-wejl Barbary. 
 
 '' IJ^b \!2nn D?iV which Symmachus tranflates ij; f <7^e*-/iJ. xfv^na-tv laum;, they hide 
 themfelves as uith afeal, i. e. they keep as clofe as if they were fliut up, and a feal put upon 
 the door of the room. 
 
 Cc
 
 194 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIV. 
 
 17. Stranger to light, he dreads the morning beams; 
 The morn to him as death's black fhadow fcems : 
 And, haply by fome confcious glance betray'd, 
 Death's horrors his diftradied foul invade. 
 
 18. Light as a bubble on the rolling fea, 
 
 His pow'r fliould vanifli, and his glory flee : 
 Curfc fliould his gardens and his fields purfue, 
 Ne'er Ihould his eye the flowing vintage view. 
 
 19. On 
 
 Ver, 18 — 20. Heis fmft, &c.] I do not apprehend that he here pafleth to 
 another vicious charadter. He declareth in thefe verfes, if I miftake not, the 
 punilhments which ought to overtake all the foregoing delinquents, and efpe- 
 cially the adulterer. He had a particular abhorrence of the adulterer, as appears 
 from chap. xxxi. 9, 10, ii, i2. The verfe before us fliould, I think, be 
 turned ; 
 
 Let him le as a light thing upon the water ' .' 
 Let their ■portion in the earth be accurfed : 
 Let him not behold the way of the vineyards. 
 
 Let him he as a light thing, &c.] The image which the facredpoet had in his 
 thoughts feems to be the fame that the author of the Wifdom of Solomon has 
 
 expreflcd : 
 
 ' D'3 'i£3 ^y Nin Vp He is light upon the watery Aapfo; m, fays the LXX. Sym- 
 machus renders CQ 'JQ 7'J ewiwXsm fJan a thing footing on the water. 1 have ventured 
 to tranfiate. Let him he as a light thing upon the water. The Arabians exprefs their benedictions 
 and imprecations in the preter tenfe inftead of the imperative mood : Thus they fay, he hath 
 reigned, for let him reign ; Thou haft had an eafy labour, for mayeft thou have an eafy labour j and, 
 thou hajl not hi.d an eafy labour, for let not thy labour be eafy to thee. Pocock. Spec. Hiji. Arab. 
 P- 5*^1 S7> 337' The Syrians alfo fometinies ufcd the preter tenfe for the imperative mooJ; 
 thus in the Syriac Teftament, I Cor. iv. 1. r;2'tt>n ^HH 'UJe have been accoimtedof; for let 
 vs be accounted of. We likewife meet with fome examples in the Hebrew Bible of the impe- 
 rative put for the preterite, as in Pfal. viii. z. njn forDiJ^J '■> ^^^ of the preterite put for 
 the imperative, as in Pfal xxii. 22. 'J/Tjy Thou hajl heard me, for hear thou me. See J3p». 
 Hare's note on Pfal. viii. 2. and xxii. 22. z
 
 Chap. XXIV. THEBOOKOFJOB. 195 
 
 19. On fuch, all fuch, the yawning ground lliould clofc, 
 As hot fands fwallow the difTolving fnows: 
 
 20. Such, unremembcr'd by the parent womb. 
 
 Should feafl the worm, hale vidiras of the tomb: 
 
 Then' hated names fliould die ; like trees o'crthrown, 
 
 A fliiver'd ruin on the mountain llrown. 
 
 21. Unhappy 
 
 cxprefled : For the hope of the ungodly is . . . like a thin froth that is driven 
 away with thejtorm. 
 
 Let their portion, &c.] I have followed the Septuagint, in tranflating this and 
 the fubfequent member of the period in the imprecatory form '". 
 
 Let him not behold, &c.] Or let him not behold the treading ' of the vintfards ; 
 that is, fuch tranfgreflbrs ought not to enjoy the produce of the vineyards, 
 or any other felicity. The thought and turn of the expreffion refemble what 
 Zophar had faid chap. xx. 1 7. " Let him not fee the rivers, the floods, the brooks 
 of honey and butter. 
 
 Ver. 19. The drought. Sic.'] Drought and heat fnatch a'Ji^ay the fnow-waters : 
 fo fhould the grave thofe who have finned. According to our notions of juftice, 
 a fwift and general deftruftion, he fays, fhould fweep away from the earth fuch 
 enemies to the peace of fociety. The image, by which he illuftrates a fwift 
 r.nd utter deftruftion, is very exprefRve : The fnow which melts on the Ara- 
 bian mountains at the approach of fummer, rufhes down in torrents which are 
 quickly fucked up by the burning fands of the valleys. See the defcription in 
 chap. vi. 15 — 18. 
 
 The grave} Sheol. It may here denote in general the region of death. See 
 the Appendix Numb. II. 
 
 Ver. 20. The womb, &c.] This verfe ftrongly paints an utter extermination. 
 
 The 
 
 " "]~\"1 The verb was ufed in the nth verfe for treading the ivine-prefs. The noun fub- 
 ftantive in Syriac is applied to the treading of corn, which was the caftcrn way of thrcfliing it, 
 in Levit. xxvi. j. 
 
 C c 2
 
 196 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIV. 
 
 21. Unhappy flic, whofe fteril womb denies 
 A filial patron in her caufe to rife : 
 
 Unhappy 
 
 The verbs had better be tranllated in the imprecatory form, as the Latin Vul- 
 gate has rendered them : 
 
 Let the womb forget him. 
 Let the worm feed fweetly on him. 
 Let him be no more remembered^ 
 Let wickednefs be broken as a tree. 
 
 Or we may turn the verbs in Mr. Heath's manner, The womb fhould forget him^ 
 The worm fhould feedy &cc. 
 
 Let the womb, &c.] What a ftrong idea do thefe expreffions give us, of the 
 deteftation due to the profligate charafters aforementioned ; and of the oblivion 
 in which they fhould be funk ? The mothers of fuch criminals Ihould for ever 
 cafl: them out of their remembrance, afhamed to have given birth to thofe mon- 
 Ilrous productions. 
 
 Let the worm°, 8t.c.'\ Or, let his fweetnefs become corruption. In either way 
 of turning the fentence the meaning is, let him become the food of worms 
 while his body is perfeftly found ; that is, let him die in his full ftrength. But 
 I think our verfion by far the moft poetical. 
 
 Let wickednefs. Sec] His adverfaries had aflerted, that atheiftical and pro- 
 fligate men are fuddenly and totally defl:royed ; like a tree that is torn up by a 
 v/hirlwind or confumed by lightning ^. Job here replies. It ought to be fo, but 
 is not generally fo. 
 
 Ver. 21 — 24. He evil ifitreateth, Sic.'] This remaining part of the fpeech is 
 exceedingly obfcure. The twenty- fecond verfe, however, feems plainly to de- 
 fcribe a tyrannical prince who is a plague and terror to his people. The twenty- 
 
 firft 
 
 " IpnD Our Tranflators underftood it to be the verb in the preter tenfe (put for the 
 future in the imperative fenfe, as ^p in ver. 18.) with the affix of the third perfon fingular, 
 7hethak-o. It may however be a noun, if we read mothk-o, and be rendered his fiveelnefs, 
 i\f2r\ is turned the worm in our verfion : but it rather fignifies corruption breeding worms. 
 
 » Chap. XV. 30. xviii. 16.
 
 Ckap. XXIV. THE BOOK OF JOB. 197 
 
 Unhappy flie, whofe folitary tear 
 Bewails a guardian on a hufband's bier : 
 22. Each is the tyrant's prey. His favage might 
 Makes ev'n the ftrongeft tremble in his fight : 
 Doubtful of life, they hang upon his breath, 
 His brow is terror, and his voice is death. 
 
 23, 24. Yet 
 
 firft verfe, therefore, fo clofely connefled to it in fenfe and conftruftion, is, I 
 think, the beginning of the defcription. A tyrant falls upon the weak and 
 defencelefs, before he ventures to attack the great and powerful among his 
 fubjefts. 
 
 It was very judicious to clofe a catalogue of enormities, which threaten de- 
 ftruftion to fociety, with tyranny. When kings and fupreme magiftrates abufe 
 their power, by ruining thofe whom it is their duty to proteft, there feems an 
 abfolute necefTity for the governor of the univerfe to interpofe. Strange then ! 
 that even tyrants are allowed by providence to reign profperoufly and die in 
 peace. 
 
 Ver. 21. He evilintreateth'^y &c.^ The want of fome word of tranfition is one 
 caufe of the obfcurity of this whole paragraph. We may tranllate. Another 
 evilintreatetb^ &c. juft as our Tranflators fupply the y/ord fome in ver. ii. fome 
 remove the land-marks, &c. 
 
 Ver. 22. He drawetb, &c.] He ptdleth down' alfo the mighty -x'ith bis power: 
 When be rifeth up^ ("to judge) there is no being fure of life. Ezekiel ftyles a ty- 
 rant the terror of the mighty\ From a fpirit of jealoufy or avarice He invents 
 accufations againft them, and then condemns them to death. 
 
 "■ nyi ^' ^'l intreateth; rather, he devoureth, i. e. impoveriflies by his oppreflions. 
 Mich. V. 5,6. They Jhall iva/ie (lyi they Jhall devour, depafcent) \}c\z land of Affyria vjith the 
 fword. 
 
 ' nSi'S detraxit, he draggeih doxvn \ fo the Vulgate turns it : but the LXX. «aT,rf4" he 
 overthroweth, Ezek. xxxii. zo. Draw her {pull her down) and all her multitudes. Compare 
 Pfal. xxviii. 3. 
 
 ' Cip' *' rifeth upy to pafs fentence of judgement j as in chap. xxxi. 14, Pfal. Ixxxii. 8, 
 » Eaek. xxxii. 27.
 
 i^S THiE BOOK OF JOB, Chap. XXIV. 
 
 23, 24. Yet fafein hcav'n's indulgence, bold in crime, 
 Thefe mifcreants to height of glory climb, 
 God looking on -, In height of glory, fall 
 Soft to a peaceful grave, the home of all: 
 Sudden and foft, as when fome gentle hand 
 Lops the tall ears that ripe for harveft: fland. 
 
 25". Rife 
 
 Ver. 23. Though it he given hm^ &c.] It is given" (permitted) to him (the 
 tyrant) to be in fafety ; whereon he refteth : and his eyes (the eyes of God) are 
 upon their ways. It is ufiial with this writer to mention the Supreme Being in 
 this abrupt manner "'. God, he fays, fufFers thefe wretches to continue in their 
 profperity, and feems an unconcerned fpedlator of their cruelties and op- 
 prelfions. 
 
 Ver. 24. They are exalted, &c.] We may tranflate and point this period as 
 follows J 
 
 They are e*calted ; a little while and they are gone ; 
 " After they are laid low ^ as all others, they are buried * .• 
 And they are cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. 
 
 Here the com[)laint is, that the v/icked are advanced to great preheminence ; 
 They are exalted : Secondly, that they are favoured with a death quick and 
 cafyi which is preceded by no reverfe of their profperity, is brought on by no 
 
 difeafe. 
 
 » m» // is given. The imperfonal form feems moft proper here, as well as y^ti^ n'? (in 
 ver. 22.) there is no being fure. 
 
 " Chap, xxiii. 3. xxv. 2. xxvi. 6. 
 
 " 1 after. So in Jofhua vii. 25. and burned them with fire, after they had floned them with 
 Jiones. Vid. Noldium. 
 
 y l^rjjn they are laid low, fc. by death. This verb fignifies in tlie Syriac Teftament 
 (Lulc. iii. 5.) to level a hill. Our poet ufetb it in a metaphorical fcnfe, in oppoCtion to the 
 exaltation in the firft fentence, they are levelled. 
 
 ^ IIVDP'' literally, they are jhut up, i. e. in a fepulchre. Pfal. Ixxvii. 10. Hath he in 
 anger Jhut up ( Vflp ) his tender mercies ? Or we may fuppofe it fynonimous with the Syriac 
 DSp '* g(»il^^'' "/"j or inclofc a dead body in bandages, in order to inter it j AiSs v. 10.
 
 Chap. XXIV. THE BOOK OF JOB. ipp 
 
 25. Rife now, antagoniil; who dares maintain 
 
 My fadts are falfhoods, and my reas'nings vain? 
 
 Chap. 
 XXV. 
 
 I, a. Bildad once more replies ; To dictate law 
 
 High on a throne fuprcme, to hold in awe 
 
 Superior worlds, and order to maintain 
 
 Through boundlefs regions of ethereal reign, 
 
 3. Belongs 
 
 difeafe, nor imbittered with fharp and lingering pains ; a little while and they 
 are gone. Tliis indulgent circumftance is happily illuftrated, by the beautiful 
 fimile which clofeth the period, they are cut off as the tops of the ears of corn : 
 
 And when they are brought to a level with all others by death, their bodies, 
 inftead of being expofed a prey to dogs and vultures, are honoured with the 
 rites of fepulture ; Jfier they are brought low as all others., they are buried. 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 This fhort reply of Bildad reprefents, in a very lofty ftrain, the terrible ma- 
 jefty, fupreme dominion, and infinite perfeftion of the Deity. Thence he infers 
 the infufferable arrogance of a creature fo frail and impure as man, to juftify 
 himfelf to God and impeach the reftitude of his government. He infinuates, 
 that Job had thus done-, and probably intended to imprefs the flanders-by with 
 a perfuafion, that the fole point in difpute between Job and his opponents was; 
 *' Who was in the wrong. He, or God ?" 
 
 This fpeech is no fort of anfwer to the fadts adduced in the foregoing chapter. 
 They were indeed undeniable, and on the principles of thefe antagonifts infol- 
 vable. I therefore incline to think, that the poet put Bildad on making this 
 laft feeble effort ; merely to give occafion to the triumph of Job in the fubfequent 
 ch.apter. 
 
 Ver. 2. He maketh peace'] His celeftial kingdom is preferved in order, peace, 
 and felicity, by an abfolute and univerfal obedience to his laws. 
 
 in his high places] in the high heavens, as the Chaldee Paraphraft turns it. So 
 
 ic
 
 200 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXV. 
 
 3. Belongs to God. What numbers can define 
 His winged armies, which around him (hine ? 
 Does not his glory fill thofe realms of day. 
 And each bright feraph glitter with his ray ? 
 
 4. To this grand Being fliall a mortal's tongue 
 Audacious fay, " thy providence is wrong, 
 *' My ways are equal ?" Shall a thing of dull 
 Aflume the lofty attribute of juft ? 
 
 5. Before his blaze the moon, abafli'd, retires j 
 Before his blaze fade all the ilarry fires : 
 
 6. Yet fhall pollution's worm his beam endure? 
 The child of woman in his fight be pure I 
 
 Chap. 
 
 it fignifiies in chap. xvi. 19. my witnefs is in heaven^ and my record is in the high 
 
 flaces. 
 
 Ver. 3. his armies'] his angels-, who are called /^^ army of heaven, Dan. iv. g^;.' 
 He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of 
 the earth. 
 
 upon whom doth not his light arife .?] God is faid to cover himfelf with light as 
 with a garment ' ; and to dwell in the light which no man can approach unto ''. His 
 angels alfo are &y\ed flames off re ' : But their luftre is only a faint reflexion of 
 his light. It is he who maketh them flames of fire. 
 
 Ver. 5. Behold, &c.] The fading of the fun (included here among the ftars) 
 and the moon when God appears in his vifible glory, is a circumftance by 
 which the prophet Ifaiah heightens his grand defcription of the divine majefly : 
 Then the moon fljall he confounded, and the fun afJiamed, when the Lord of hofls fhall 
 reign in mount Zion . . . and before his ancients glorioufly. 
 
 > Pfal. civ. 2. k I Tim. vi. 16. 
 
 * Pfal. civ, 4. Hebrews i. 7.
 
 THE BOOf; OF JOB. 2oi 
 
 Chap, 
 
 XX vr. 
 
 I, 2. Job anfwer'd keen: Incomparable tongue ! 
 
 The babe in knowlege, with fuch aid, how Ih-ong ! 
 3. Light of the blind ! what fluency! what force! 
 What erudition beams in tliy difcourfe ! 
 
 4. Of 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 Job infults his retreating adverfary •, then takes up the fubjecl fo imperfcdiy 
 touched by him. For whereas Bildad had fpoken only of God's kingdom in 
 heaven ; Job adds the counterpart, his kingdom in Hades, the world ot death. 
 Thence he afcends to the creation, the origin and foundation of divine dominion ; 
 and finifheth with a diiplay of Ibme illuftrious operations of providence for the 
 benefit and prefervation of our fyftem. 
 
 His defign in all this was not to make oftentation of his own fuperior eloquence : 
 Schultens judicioufly remarks, that he had nobler views : He aimed to remove 
 the ill imprefllons made on the audience by the Ipeeches of his opponents. He 
 fhews them, that he firmly believed in the all-wife and almighty maker and go- 
 vernor of the world ; and had too great and venerating ideas of his adorable 
 perfcftions to be capable of being an atheift, as Eliphaz had cruelly painted 
 him'', or of entering into a conteft with fuch a formidable Being, as Bildad had 
 injurioufly reprefented him ^ 
 
 Ver. 2, 3. How haft thou helped^ &c.] The irony here is ftrong and excefllvely 
 flinging. The expreflions are moft of them proverbial ; and arc intended to 
 expofe the impertinent officioufnefs of perfons, who without talents are vain 
 enough to fet up for inftrucftors of others ; and to offer their afiiftance where it 
 is not wanted. 
 
 and haft plentifully declared^ &c.] and how haft thou Jheiun fubjlantial fenfe ' in 
 
 abundance ! 
 
 •■ Chap. xxii. 12—20. ' Chap. xxv. 
 
 ' n^jyvn it is cn^lthtA found wlftJom in Prov. ii. 7. He layeth up found wifdem for th 
 rlghtteui. and again in Piov. iii. 21. ktep found vjifdom \ LXX. Cha^ counfd. 
 
 D d
 
 Z02 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXVI. 
 
 4. Of whom haft thovi harangu'd? whofe breath has caft 
 Such wond'rous wil'dom from thy mouth at laft I 
 
 5, 6. God reigns above, beneath ; yea far below 
 The deep abyfs, in dark abodes of \voe: 
 
 Hades 
 
 abmdance ! Tie ridicules the futility of Bildad's pompous harangue, as being 
 nothing at all to the point in difpute. 
 
 Vcr. 4. To 'u;hc»i, &c.] Or, Of^ -juhom haft thou uttered ivords? Thou haft 
 prefumed to teach me how to conceive and fpeak worthily of God. The fub- 
 ject is too lofty for thy abilities, neither do I need thy inftruftion in the 
 matter. 
 
 and isihofe fpir'it «, &c.] He laughs at him for giving himfelf the airs of a per- 
 fon who fpoke by infpiration. 
 
 Ver. 5. Dead things, Szc-I Seized with a glorious enthufiafm, he breaks out 
 all at once in a magnificent defcription of God's almighty power and univerfal 
 dominion. In this and the following veffe, he difplays God's terrible kingdom 
 in Sheol, The region of the dead •, that is, the grave and the manfions of de- 
 parted fouls. The tranQation I think fhould be, 
 
 Ver. 5. The Giants are in anguijh under the waters^ 
 together ivith their faniil.es. 
 
 Ver. 6. Sheol is naked before him, 
 
 and deftruSiion hath no covering. 
 
 The Giants "] The mighty men of renown in the old world, who filled the 
 
 earth 
 
 f J-|{^ ofy or concerning. I Sam xii. 7. that I may reafon with you of all the righteous ails of 
 ihc Lord. Mr. Heath. 
 
 ^ nCti'J fpirit. We turn it in chap, .\xxii. 8. infpiration ; the infpiration of the Almighty 
 giveth them under/landing. _ 
 
 ' tZi'iS'j'^n the Rephaim, rendered by the Chaldce {^HDJ the giants, or the mighty men ; 
 by Symmachus Hiofixxa ihofe who warred againft God; by the Vulgate Gigantes. 
 
 It Is fynonimouE with Nephilim and Einim who were a race of men of great ftature and a 
 terror to all others. Gen. vi. 4, rj. Numb. xiii. 33. Dcut. ii. 10, 20. 
 
 Hence
 
 Chap. XXVI. THEBOOKOFJOB. 203 
 
 Hades and regions of perdition lie 
 Unveil'd, and naked to his flaming eye : 
 
 There 
 
 earth with violence, and periflied by the deluge. The punHliment of rl-.cie 
 wicked men in Sheol is here mentioned, I imagine, as a fample and proof cf 
 the fufferings of all other bad men in chac invifible world. 
 are in anguijh '] or are trembling, 
 
 tinier the zveitc'/s] I fuppofe he means the ahfs, or fubterrancous waters; 
 which our poet calls thefprings of the [ea^ and places thereabouts //jif^/r/fj of the 
 fbadovj of death ^^ that is, the entrance into Shdcl. The expreflion under, or 
 from beneath, the waters is equivalent, but more explicit, to the depths of Sheol 
 Prov. ix. 8. and to Sheol from beneath in Ifaiah xiv. 9. and to the lovjefi part 
 of Sheol, in Deut. xxxii. 22. where our englifh bible turns it the lowejl he'V. 
 For afire is kindled in mine anger, andfloall burn unto the lovoefi hell. In conformity 
 to this popular creed of the ancients about the fituation oi Sheol, and in parti- 
 cular 
 
 Hence tyrannical princes came to be ftvled Rephaim ; not indeed on account of their huge 
 bulk, but for their caufing terror by the power of their arms in the land of the living. 
 Ifaiah fpcaking of the king of Babylon fublimely fays. Hell, (Sheol) from beneath is moved 
 for thee to meet thee at thy coming : itfiirreih up the dead (Rephaim) for thee, even all the 
 chief ones of the earth ; it hath raifed up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. Compare 
 Ezek. xxxii. 21, 23. It (hould feem alfo from Prov. ix. 18. that \he manes, orghofts, of all 
 wicked men were called Rephaim: But he knoweth not that the dead (Rephaim) are there, 
 and that her (the harlot's) guefis are in the depths of hell (Sheol) : Likewife, Prov. xxi. 16. 
 in the congregation of the dead (Rephaim LXX. yiyxtrut.) 
 
 ' ibbin' it is turned by the Chaldee *»*,t2T3n/'21 v:ho are trembling; by the Vulgate 
 gemunt, they groan. If the root be 7Tn it is the Word by which the prophet exprefl'eth the 
 fufferings of the Mefliah, Ifaiah liii. 5. where our bible tranflates it he ivas wounded. But 
 in Deut. ii. 2;. where it is in the conjugation Kal, we render it to be in anguijh : and in 
 Habak. iii. 10. where it is in hiphil, it is englifhed to tremble : The mountains faw thee, and 
 they trembled. 
 
 The word will likewife mean to be in a flate of fuffering, if we derive it from ^hv^ '» 
 pierce or wound, Pfal. cix. 22. my heart is wounded ivithin me- 
 
 ^ Chap, xxxviii. 16, 17. 
 
 ' ji'nnn biNc^ 
 
 D d 2
 
 204 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXVI. 
 
 There the old giants feel his wrath, and there 
 All wicked ghofls are trembling with defpair. 
 7. He o'er the void heaven's lofty arch extends, 
 
 His arm the earth's unwieldy mafs fufpends, 
 
 8. Self- 
 
 cular of that portion of it which is allotted to wicked fouls ", St. Luke calls the 
 proper habitation of the devils the abyfs" ; and St. John the pit of the abyfs °. 
 
 together with their families ■■] Or, and their fellows ; thofe who dwelled on 
 the eai'th at the fame time with them. 
 
 Ver. 6. Sheol is naked, &c.] The meaning is not merely that the region of 
 death lies in profped to him ; but that it is under his eye as part of his domi- 
 nion. Death is the effed of his moral kingdom : and the confequences of 
 death, tlie deftruftion of the body in the grave and the difpofal of unbodied 
 fouls in Sheol, are operations of his power. 
 
 "\''er, 7. He f.retcheth out, &c.] The Poet now brings us out of the realms of 
 darknefs and fcenes of putrefadtion, to contemplate the glories of the creation ; 
 the origin and fubjeft of divine dominion. 
 
 He jlretcheth out the north, &c.] The fouth in chap. ix. 9. means the fouthern 
 hemifphere of the heavens. By the north therefore he here intends the northern 
 half of the heavens. The expreffion he Jlretcheth out is that which the hebrew 
 poets generally ufe, when they celebrate the formation of the heavens. It is a 
 metaphor from a fuperb pavilion. Ifaiah xl. 22. It is he . . . that Jlretcheth 
 cut the heavens as a curtain, and extendeth them as a tent to dwell in. 
 
 upon 
 
 "^ Some of the Jewifti Rabbis place Gehenna under the waters, which waters they fuppofe 
 to be lower than the earth, and the earth to float in them like a fliip. Vid. Windet de vita 
 j'urMovtaii fiatu, p. 243. 
 
 " Luke viii. 31. the deep, n; ir., atvcct.\t. 
 
 " Revel, ix. i. the hottomkfs pit, ts f pare.? t>!? atvasn the pit of the abyfs. Compare Revel. 
 
 XX. 2, 3. 
 
 ' Cn'i!D"l{i'1 their fiimiliis. So the v/ord fignifies in Arabic, their dom'Jlici. Vid. 
 Pocock. in Ceirm, Tograi, p. 18. 
 
 Riit Symmach'js turns it, -^ a >t.Tcirf.: *vTti; and their neighbours.
 
 Chap. XXVI. THEBOOKOFJOB. 2©; 
 
 8. Self-pois'd, on nothing. High in liquid air. 
 His floating aquedudls their burden bear ; 
 
 So firm fuftain'd, with fuch ftrong prefTure bound, 
 Their pendent waters burfl not on the ground. 
 
 9. When empty fountains, and the with'ring plains, 
 Afk the full bev'rage of nutritious rains ; 
 
 The fplendors of his fapphire throne he flirouds, 
 With wat'ry vapours, and a veil of clouds. 
 
 10. Old 
 
 upon nothing] without any thing to fupport it, as the Chaldee explains the 
 hebrew word. Ovid, quoted here by Grotius, hit upon this great idea: 
 Terra pilae fimilis nullo fulcimine nixa. 
 I'he earth hanging like a ball without any fupporter. 
 
 And earth felf-balanc'd on her center hung. Milton. 
 
 Ver. 8. He bindeth up, &c.] He here refers to the work of the fecond day- 
 of creation ; the formation of the atmofphere, and the clouds to float in it. 
 This verfe, in fhort, comprehends the whole procefs of almighty power in mak- 
 ing the air, raifing the watry vapours, condenfing them into clouds, and fuf- 
 taining them in that form by a due balance of their prefTure with that of the 
 fluid in which they fwim, fo as their contents may not burft all at once uporr 
 the earth. 
 
 the cloud is not rent, &c.] as It was at the deluge, when the clouds burft in 
 torrents upon the earth for the fpace of forty days. 
 
 Ver. 9. He hcldeth beck the face of bis throne'] He fhutteth'^ up the face of his 
 throne. The heaven, or Iky, is ftyled in Scripture the throne of Cod' ; which 
 he fhuttcth up by fpreading his clouds upon it. We arc here prefented with 
 
 the 
 
 *• TnXJD he Jhututh up. So in Nehem.vii. 3. let them Jkut the ikon. Schultens. The 
 Syriac nnK 's "fed in the fame fenfe Rev. xx. 3. And cqfl him into ti':r hottcmlef pit, and- 
 flint him up, HnN") See alfo Rev xxi. 2j. 
 
 ' Ifaiah Ixvi. i. 5
 
 ;o6 THE BOOK OP JOB. Chap. XXVL 
 
 10, Old ocean, bounded by his circling line, 
 
 Reveres the limits which his laws define: 
 
 And (hall revere them, till the rolling light 
 
 Fulfil its periods and is loft in night. 
 
 1 1 . Yet, 
 
 the fame fcene of nature which is defcribed in chap, xxxvi. 32. -with clouds he 
 cover eth the lights and commandelh it not tojhine, hy the cloud that comet ' betwixt. 
 This is the magnificent preparation and fignal of Providence for the defcent of 
 fruitful fliowers on the thirfly ground. Pfal. cxlvii. 8. ^ho covereth the heaven 
 •with clouds^ who prefareth rain for the earth, who makelh grafs to grow upon the 
 fimaitains. Cloud-ajfembling Jove ' is one of the lofty titles which Homer gives 
 to the fupreme Being. 
 
 Vcr. 10. He hath ccmpajfed the waters, Sec] From the atmofphere, which 
 furrounds this terraqueous globe, he pafTeth naturally to the ocean ; which more 
 immediately encompafleth the earth. Mr. Heath's verfion preferveth more ex- 
 a£Hy the image chofen by the infpired writer. He hath defcribed a circle = on the 
 face of the waters. The powerful decree, or law, which God gave to the fea, 
 that the waters fhould not pafs his commandment, determined the limits of 
 that immenfe body of water with as much precifion, and keeps it within thole 
 prccinfts as exa£lly, as if a circle had been drawn round it. 
 
 until the day and night, &c.] Or according to the Chaldee, until the end " of 
 the tight and darknefs. By expreffing the confummation of all things in this 
 manner, the po'^t turns our thoughts to another wonderful operation of Provi- 
 dence ; the conftant viciffitudes of day and night : and this leads us up to 
 the immediate natural caufe of that vicifTitude, the diurnal revolution of the 
 earth. 
 
 ' Jin pn he hath defcribed a circle. Jfl) or JjlHs which our bible tranflation renders bounds, 
 fignifies a <:;Vf/^, or raiher its circumference ; chap. xxii. 14. where it is engliflied //;^Wrf«;/ ; 
 Ilai.ih xl. 22. where it is turned the circle, pn he hath compaffed, (according to our public 
 verfion) ^\'gx\\n(L% ta d> ata Utters, to write, chap. xix. 23. that theywere printed (infcribcd) 
 in a book ! Sec alfo Ifaiah xxx. 8. note (infcribe) it in a b?ck. When therefore this verb is 
 joined wi;li Jini '.' "^o^ naturally means ta draiv, ordefciibe, a circle. 
 
 " n'VDn, Targ. PjlQ the end.
 
 Chap. XXVI. THE B O O K OF J OB. 207 
 
 1 1. Yet, when his anger bids the thunder roar, 
 
 And his fierce Hghtnings flafli from fliore to fliore ; 
 Heav'n's column'd frame with vafl amazement quakes, 
 
 12. Wild horror the tumultuous ocean fliakes: 
 Through his great pow'r, with huge commotion rife 
 The mountain billows foaming to the fkies. 
 
 13. His 
 
 Ver. II — 13. The pillars, &c.] His mention of the atmofphere and ocean 
 fuggefts to his thoughts thofe terrible commotions in both, which feem to 
 threaten the diflblution of the whole frame of nature and the reduflion of all 
 things to their original confufion. This gives him occafion to celebrate the 
 wifdom and power of God in ftilling thefe tumults, and reftoring the order he 
 at the firft eftabliflied. 
 
 The pillars of heaven tremble., &c.] I incline to think with Calvin, that 
 the figurative exprelTion, the pillars of heaven, reprefents the heavens un- 
 der the idea of an immenfe fabric fupported on ftately columns. Their 
 trembling and afionifhment is the animated ftyle of fublime poetry, to denote 
 violent concuflions of the air and agitation of the clouds. The caufe is God's 
 reproof, that is, thunder, lightning, and tempeftuous winds ; which are repre- 
 fented, by the heathen as well as facred poets, effefts and tokens of God's 
 dilpleafure at the fins of men. 
 
 Ver, 12. he divideth the fea, &c.] A ftorm at fea, produced by thofe violent 
 commotions in the atmofphere, and the laying of the ftorm, are painted here. 
 Both are elTcc^s of divine agency. The firft fentence of the period, I think, 
 exprefteth the calm •, and the other the ftorm. For according to tlie moft judi- 
 cious interpreters the tranflation fliould be. 
 
 He quieteth " the fea by his povier. 
 
 When 
 
 ' * yj*! LXX. xaTnra.v-1 he qiiieteth. Our bible tranflation renders it to reft in Jer. xlvij. 
 6, thcufvOordof the Lord . . . reft and be Jlill. And likewife in If?.iah xxxiv. 14. Tlie 
 learned Dr. Hunt hath eftabliflied this import of the wcvJ, and confumed it by the Arabic. 
 Vid. Lowthi i'r<pA'J7. p. 104. n.
 
 2o8 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXVI. 
 
 13. His drying gale refines heav'n's troubled fcene, 
 Ilenew'd in beauty fmiles the blue ferene ; 
 
 The 
 
 When by bis tmderfianding'he hath dajhed 
 ; together ' the •proud ^ waves. 
 
 We meet with a parallel. paflage in Ifaiah li, 15. / am the Lord thy God 'jcht 
 quiet eth the fea, ivhen the tvaves thereof roar. 
 
 Ver. 13. Byhisfpiyit,8>cc.] If I miftake nor, the firfl member of this period 
 dcfcribeth a bright and ferene fl-cy, in oppolition to its troubled ftatc in ver. 1 1. 
 and the fecond.the floating of large and dead fifhes on the furface of the lea, the 
 effeft of the florm and calm in ver. 1 2. 
 
 By his fpirit he hath gartiijloed, &c.] According to this verfion we are fent 
 back again to the creation of the heavens mentioned ver. 7. But furely if this 
 had been the poet's fentiment, he would have inferred it immediately after that 
 feventli verfe. The original will admit of a tranflation, which defcribeth the 
 ftate of the heavens after laying the tempeft in ver. 11, 12. 
 
 By his wind * the heavens become ferene ', 
 
 The 
 
 * \*nO Symachus turns it-XtynAa he da/heth together, and the LXX. in II Sam. xxii. 39. 
 ix%u to dafh in pieces. In Arabic it fignifies, as Schultens has fliewn, to agitate a fluid violently, 
 the water in a well, for inftance, by plunging a bucket into it ; or milk, by Ihaking violently 
 the veflel that contains it. See his Commentary and his Origines Hebr. 
 
 '' im the formidable pride, or the proud and formidable v/2ive%, I'orgueil defesfots zsCrin- 
 foz turns it. It is engiifhed /^^/ij-^W in chap. ix. 13. where it imports both haughtinefs and 
 power. In Arabic it generally denotes terror. Egypt is ftiled Rahab in fcripture, becaufe it 
 was a haughty and formidable power. But there is no evidence that Egypt had this appel- 
 lation in the days of Job. 
 
 ^ im~12 by his wind, as in chap, xxxvii. 21. the wind paffith and cleanfeth them; and in 
 many other places. 
 
 ' n^lSJi' It may be a noun fubflantive, and fo be rendered ferenity, as Mr. Heath oblerves. 
 Or it may be a verb in pihel, and then it fignifies to be ferene, or to make ferene. In Arabic 
 this word, as Schiilttns remarks, is particularly applied to the whitenefi and ckarnefs of tht 
 fky. It is ufed by the elegant Harir of a beautiful woman unveiling and fliining out to her 
 admirers. Harir Confcll'. v. p. 9;. n. In Chaldee, N"\DW 's btauty, and 1'fi{y beautifkl. 
 Targ. in ch. xlii. 14, i;.
 
 Chap. XXVr. TH E B OOK OF JO B. aop- 
 
 The billows meekly, at Jiis voice, fubfide, 
 And wrecks of monflers float along the tid e 
 
 14. Thefc 
 
 The fky is cleared of clouds by a drying wind, and the fun fliineth out again 
 in his glory. Chap, xxxvii. 21. y^ttd now men cannot look on the lujlre which is 
 in thejky\ when the wind hath -pajfed and cleanfed it. By means of the north wind 
 (cleanfing the heaven of clouds) the golden fun cometh forth. 
 
 Sic ait, et dicfto citius tumida squora placat, 
 Collectafque fugit nubes, folemque reducir. 
 
 .Sneid. I. 146. 
 
 The firft line may ferve for a tranflation of the firft fentence of ver. 12. in our 
 author. He in a moment qiiieteth the fea by his power : Virgil fays, he quieteth the 
 fuuelling fea fooner than he could utter the command. 
 
 The colle£lafque — nuhes expreffeth the colleftion of clouds which the Almighty 
 fpreadeth over his throne ver. 9 -, and the chafing them away (fugit) and cau- 
 fing the fun to break out again [folemque reducit) is the very image in this 13th 
 rer. by his wind the heavens become ferette., or fhine out with clearnefs. 
 
 His hand hath formed., &CC.'] The appearance of theyXj, after laying the fore- 
 mentioned ftorm, is the fubjedl of the former claufe. It is reafonable to expedt 
 that the appearance which the /^<2 prefents, is contained in this claufe. The 
 paflage is extremely obfcure. But our expeftation is gratified, and the connec- 
 tion well preferved, by the interpretation which Schultens offers. According 
 to that penetrating Critic, the words exprefs the deftrudlion made among the 
 fea-monfters by the ftorm, and neceffarily imply the floating of their carcaffes 
 on the furface of the water in the enfuing calm. Let us fee how the originnl 
 will bear this meaning. The tranflation may be. 
 
 His hand flay eth ^ the bar-ferpent '. 
 
 The 
 
 *" n'^bh The bible tranflation is, his hand hath formed; the Chaldee, created; but the 
 LXX. followed by the Syriac, iSa»aTi7.= hefleiv. This fignification feems beft adapted to 
 the context. Our Tranflators were obliged to render the adjeflive, derived from this verb, 
 thefain, in Ezek. xxxii. 21, 22, 23, &c. 
 
 ' m^ ti'ni ftrangely rendred here in our bible tht crooked ferpcnt, and in the Vulgate 
 
 coluUr 
 E e
 
 210 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXVI. 
 
 14. Thefe are his ways, in thefe exterior lines 
 What wonders open ! and what glory fliincs ! 
 
 Yet, 
 
 The word fcrpent, fays the learned Gataker ', is in the hebrew a general term 
 common to all living creatures, in water or on land, that glide along in the one, 
 and on the other, with a wriggling kind of motion, without ufe of feet or fins. 
 The bar-ferfient is fome large fifli. It is one of the dcfcriptive characters of Le- 
 viathan in the pafTage cited from Ifaiah in the marginal note: who alio there 
 calls it the dragon, that is, the great i'erpent of the fea. If by the fea the prophet 
 means the Nile, which is fometimes fo called. Leviathan, the bar-ferpent, is the 
 crocodile. But li the fea fignifies the Mediterranean, the bar-ferpent is that 
 other Leviathan which is mentioned in Pfalm civ. 25, 26, and which proba- 
 bly is the tunnie: for the tunnie is the largeft fiili in that fea, is of the whale 
 kind % and the biggeft fifli, we may fuppofe, that Job and our poet were ac- 
 quainted with. By GoAh flaying the bar-ferpent ftems, from the connexion, 
 to be meant his dafliing them againft the rocks, and deftroying them in the 
 ftorm mentioned ver. 12. 
 
 The Pfalmift thought fuch a q;c&nA fea-piece to be a magnificent difplay of 
 divine power: for he made choice of it as a proper emblem of the deftrudtion 
 of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. 
 
 Pfalm Ixxiv. 13, 14. Thou didji divide the fea by thy ftrength : Thou brakeft the 
 heads of the dragons in the "paters. Thou brakeft the heads cf Leviathan in pieces y 
 iind gaveft him to be meat to the people inhabiting the ivildernefs. 
 
 The reader it is hoped, will pardon the length of this note, when he confiders 
 the difficulty of the paflage which it aims to explain. 
 
 Ver. 14. Lo, thefe are parts, ^cP^ Lo, thefe are the extreme parts* of bis nvaysy 
 
 and 
 
 coluber tortuofiis. HID (o"" H'*!^, 'or the plural is Q^nHi) fignifies a bar. perhaps 
 ftraitnefsof flnpe, as well as penetrating force, is intended by this epithet. Our Tranf- 
 lators however have turned it much better the piercitrg ferper.t in Ifaiah xxvii. i. Leviathan, 
 that piercing ferpent. The Septuagint gives it here Jf-axcra a^srsir^v, that is, tht fugitive fer- 
 fent, cpr (pi-.ymTx, in If. xxvii. i. 
 
 ^ See his Annotations on Ifaiah xxvii. i. 
 
 • See Mr, Merrick's Annotations on Pfal. Ixxiv. i j> 14.' 
 
 ' mVp ''■'^ eutlines. Mr. Heath,
 
 Chap. XXVL THEBOOKOFJOB. ^u 
 
 Yet, beyond thefc, what cndlefs wonders grow ! 
 For who the thunder of his might can know ? 
 
 Chap. 
 XXVII. 
 Vcr. I. He paiis'd ; and then purfu'd his conqu'ring flrains : 
 
 z. By him. Eternal Potentate, who reigns 
 
 Above i 
 
 and-abat a feries of noble things ^ have ive heard of him ! hut the thunder of his 
 foiver^ &c. 
 
 This is a fublime conclufion of a fublime difcourfe. We are acquainted only 
 with the furface and outlines of the works of God. Thefe indeed are grand ; 
 but the thunder of his power, the higher exertions of his power, in tlie internal 
 ftrucflure of natural bodies, and the whole fuin of their properties, and manner 
 of their operation, are matters far beyond our reacli. 
 
 Among the Greeks, when a great orator exerted the powers of his eloquence 
 in their full ftrength, he was faid to thunder. The Arabians were no ftrangers 
 to this lofty metaphor \ 
 
 CHAR XXVII. 
 The foregoing chapter treated chiefly of God's dominion over the material 
 world. Here the difcourfe turns to his moral kingdom, or providence; I mean 
 that branch of his providence which had been the fubjeft of altercation between 
 . Job and the three friends, the ways of God to-ii-ard "wicked men in the prefent flate. 
 He had all along maintained, in oppofition to the others, that this world is 
 not the fcene of a regular diftribution of good and evil, that virtue is often 
 opprefled and vice triumphant ; and that the major part of wicked men go un- 
 punifhed here, aad even grow hoary in affluence and eafe, and at length die 
 
 in 
 
 ^ "12T ("..{y. for '^'^Jif, fee the note on chap. iv. J 2, "|21 fignifies not only « w^r^, 
 but alio a tkin^, or Tmtter. 
 
 ^ Schultens. 
 
 E e 3
 
 zii THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXVII. 
 
 Above; who judgement in my caufe delays, 
 And who my foul imbitters with his ways, 
 3. I fwear; that while this bofom fhall inhale 
 The nurture of his animating gale ; 
 
 4. Falfliood 
 
 in peace'. But now, having reduced his opponents to lilence, he frankly owns» 
 there are fome examples of fuch fort of divine vengeance on bad men in the pre- 
 fent life as they had aflerred. Left, however, this acknowledgement fhould 
 be conftrued a giving up the caufe to his antagonifts, and fubfcribing to their 
 condemnation of him ; he prefaceth his concejjlon with a Iblemn declaration of 
 his innocence, of his refolution to defend it witli his lateft breath, and of his 
 abhorrence of a wicked character which they had endeavoured to fix upon 
 him. 
 
 Ver. I. His parahle] His poetical ftrain ; or his commanding eloquence, 
 as the ingenious Mr. Peters ^ explains the original term. 
 
 Ver. 2. As Godliveth, &c.] The folemnity and vehemence of this oath cha- 
 racterife the warmth and emotion of the fpeaker. It alfo fhews the aftonifhing 
 force of innocence opprefied by afflidion and calumny ; and gives a fublime 
 idea of the fenfe a good man has of the ineftimable value of virtue, and of his 
 own felicity in the pofleffion of it. 
 
 ijuho hath taken away^ my judgement'] that is, refufeth to do mejuftice. Thefe 
 are harfli expreffions indeed, but not more harth than thofe in chap. ix. 1 7. 
 X. 3. I have however followed the fofter turn given to them by Codurcus, 
 Who hath fufpended my trial. But the words even thus qualiiied are a complaint, 
 and carry in them a refledlion on the juftice of God which merited Elihu's caf- 
 tigation chap, xxxiv. 5 — 7. 
 
 tny judgement] Judgement here Rgm^es the /r/a/ ia general, or the paj/ing fen- 
 ience, which finilheth the trial. 
 
 * Chap. ix. 22—24. Chap. xii. xxi. xxiv. 
 
 * Critical Dljfertation, p. 45. 
 
 ' "!'Dn It fignifies to put away, or rttnovef vet. 5. / tuill not remove my integrityfrom mtt
 
 Chap. XXVn. THE BOOK OF JOB. zi^ 
 
 4. Falfliood and guile fhall ne'er employ my tongue 
 
 To flatter you, and my own confcience wrong : 
 J*. To juftify your part, my own betray, 
 
 I. 
 
 6. Forbid it, Hcav'n ! Firm to the mortal day 
 I'll hold my virtue, nor abate my zeal 
 hi fl:rong apology and bold appeal : 
 My heart, which never yet a cenfure knew 
 From its own voice, difdains reproach from yoia. 
 
 7. Wickedy 
 
 Ver. 4. wickednefs — deceif\ The»fe are general terms for all kinds of iniquity 
 and falfliood. But they are limited by the tenor of the difcourfe to the particular 
 crimes of calumny and falfe accufationi that is, a man's calumniating and falfely 
 accufing himfelf. He means, that he does not intend, by the conceflion he 
 was about to make, to confeis guilt whereof he was not confcious. 
 
 Ver. 5. God forbid^ &c.] God forbid that I JJjould jujlify you, in your notion 
 of the courfe of providence ; much lefs in your condemnation of me grounded 
 upon that falfe principle. No -, I will not to my dying day part with my 
 claim to the charader of an honeft man j //// 1 die I will not remove my inta- 
 grity from me. 
 
 Ver. 6. My right eoufnefs Iholdfafi "", &c.] I will be as tenacious of m.y inno- 
 cence as a good foldier is of his ftiield. 
 
 My heart flmll not reproach " me, &c.] My own confcience has never yet up- 
 braided me with any wickednefs : and I am fure, it never Ihall upbraid me • 
 with the wickednefs of lubfcribing to your verdift againft me. 
 
 as long as I live ''J throughout my life. It denotes the whole time of a man's - 
 
 life. 
 
 '^ 'nptnn ^(^X.xxxw, z. Take holdof{^^\r[';\)JhieU and budkr. Schultens. 
 
 " t\"in' N*? '^'"''' ""' reproacht-d me fine e my life began, or in all my life ( V^^JJ ). The 
 future is here ufed for the preter tenfe. Accordingly the Vulgate turns it, Neqie tnim rc~ 
 prehendit me cor meum in omni vita mca.
 
 ii4 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXVII, 
 
 7. Wicked, profane — thofe hateful names beflow, 
 
 Worft execration, on my deadly foe: 
 S. The wicked Great although his eyes behold 
 
 His bouiidlefs treafiu-es of unrighteous gold ; 
 
 What can he hope, when Hern decrees expell 
 
 His trembling fpirit from its earthy flaell ? 
 9. In that hard inftant, will his piteous cry 
 
 Pierce the deaf ear of angry Deity ? 
 
 10. Will 
 
 life, in chap, xxxviii. 12. IJaji thou command~d th; morning fince thy days ■■ ? that 
 is, in any part of thy life-time. 
 
 Ver. 7. Let mine enemy % &c.] Here he exprefleth, in very ftrong terms, his 
 abhorrence of a wicked charadler; which the three antagonifts had endeavoured 
 to fix upon him. He gives his reafon in the three following verfes, for detefl:-- 
 ing fuch a character. 
 
 Ver. 8. For what is the hope of the hypocrite ', &c.] For what is the hope of a 
 frofligate, &c. hypocrite here is evidently of the fame import with wicked and 
 unrighteous in the foregoing verfe. 
 
 though he hath gained] though he has been ever fo fucccfsful in accumulat- 
 ing wealth, and enjoyed it throughout a long life '. 
 
 fFhen God taketh away his foul] Is there not in this verfe a clear intimation of 
 
 a future 
 
 "• LXX. Let my enemies be as the overthroiv cf the ungodly ; and thofe that rife up againji me, 
 OS the ieJiruSiion of tranfgreffors. 
 
 ■ ' LXX. a<7£?T; ungodly; the Chaldee renders ?|in throughout this book ntD^^^T- a f«ife- 
 accufer. Mr. Heaj.h tranflate? it here ahypocriie, but every where elfe a profligate. 
 
 ' Vi'D* The I^XX. turn it trt^^' '" habemlo exfupcrat he hath an overabundatjce ; the other 
 Greek verfions (fays Olympiodorus) -rrhioviy.rn he hath more than enough ; the Vulgate, T/awrtr/ 
 yapiat if he greedily hcsp up riches by rapine. 
 
 ' Chap. xxi. 6
 
 Chap. XXVir. THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 10. Will he then triumph in almighty pow'r, 
 Unfought, unheeded in the profp'ring hour r 
 
 11. Attend, while I my inmoU thought revealj 
 JufI: to the ways of God I'll none conceal : 
 
 12. Perfift to credit what your eyes attefl: ; 
 Why trifle you in proving things confefl: ? 
 
 iq. There 
 
 v> 
 
 a future ftate of punifhment and reward ? The queflion what is the hope., &c. 
 obvioufly imports, that the happinefs of the inoil profperous wicked man end- 
 eth with his life. The queflion feemeth aho to imply, not merely that he hath 
 no felicity to hope for in another world, but further tlia't he will there be mifer- 
 able. It certainly implies that a righteous man hath hope in his death. 
 
 Will God hear his cr}\ &c ] His cries to God for mercy will then be unavailing. 
 See Prov. i. 24 — 21. 
 
 Ver. 10. Will he delight Mm/L'/f, Sec] This verfe feems to affignthe reafon of 
 God's being inexorable to him : For the tranflation may be. 
 Did he delight himfelf" in the Almighty ? 
 Did he alviays call'' upon Cod ? 
 
 to delight one's felf in the Almighty fignifies to feek his favour as our fupreme 
 felicity ". He who does fo will be a fmcere v/orfhipper of him ; not only in di 
 time of diftrefs, but throughout his whole life. See Pfalm xxxvii. 4. 
 
 Ver. IX, 12. I will teach you, ^c] What is he going to teach them? fbme- 
 what relating to the adminiftrations of providence, which he calls the hand of 
 Cod; I will teach you concerning the hand of Cod'''. But what does he mean to 
 
 teach 
 
 " iJVn* d'ld he delight himf elf ? 
 
 " X^p* did he call? The future and the preterite of the hebrew verbs were probably 
 aorirts in the primitive ftate of the language ; and are to be rendered in the prefent, part, or 
 future tenfe, as the context requires. See Michaelis on Bp. Lowth's Prele£iions, p. 78. 8vo. 
 
 " See chap. xxii. 26. 
 
 y T^ The prcpofition 3 fignifies «/■ or ««r('rn/n^ in chap. xxvi. 14. hozu little a portion is- 
 heard of him F See Noldius. By the hand of God is meant the operation of his power in lus^ 
 works of creation and providence.
 
 2i6 THE BOOK OF JOB. CiiAr. XXVII. 
 
 13. There are, I yield, fome dire examples giv'n. 
 Some chofen vidlims of the wrath of hcav'n j 
 
 14. Some lofty tyrants, fromwhofe fatal bed 
 A race increafmg for the fword is bred : 
 Vagrant and llarving fee the downward line ; 
 
 15. See the laft thin remains their breath refign. 
 
 Without 
 
 teach them concerning thofe adminiftrations ? not furely what they had been 
 teaching him ; namely that great wicked men are generally overtaken by divine 
 vengeance in the prefent world. He had proved this pofition to be falfe. By 
 teaching, therefore, he means not concealing that which is with ^ the Almighty ; that 
 is, not fuppreffing the meafures which the Almighty purfues towards fome ty- 
 rannical princes and families ia the prefent ftate. Thus, confiftently with his 
 former aflertion of a promifcuous diftribution of good and evil % and of the 
 worldly felicity of multitudes of bad charadlers '' ; he acknowledgeth that there 
 are examples enow of God's vindidtive juftice here, to deter him and every 
 one elfe from following fuch evil courfes. 
 
 Ver. 14. If his children^ &c.] Statius introduceth the unhappy Oedipus 
 thus apoftrophifing one of the Furies, 
 
 natofque tibi, fcis ipfa, paravi. Theb. i. gj. 
 
 'thou thy f elf know efl, that I have brought up children for thy vengeance. Hiflory 
 furnifheth feveral examples of this kind. They fupplied fubjefts to the tragic 
 poets. 
 
 Ver. 15. ffjall he buried in death] Or ly death, that is, they Ihall have no bu- 
 rial. The mode of exprelTion is Angular and forcible. It probably compre- 
 hends 
 
 * See chnp. xxiii. 14. 
 
 » Chap. ix. 21. xii. 17, &c. 
 
 ^ Chap, xxi 7, kc. 
 
 » Compare Hof. ix. 13. E^hraimjhall bring forth his thildrcn to the murderer.
 
 pHAP. XXVII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 217 
 
 Without a folemn dirge, without a bier, 
 Without a gi-ave, without a widow's tear. 
 
 16. Where lie the fdver heaps, and purple dies, 
 The proud progenitor's extorted prize; 
 
 17. Amafs'd as dufl ? A worthier Hneage wears 
 The robes of purple, and the fdver heirs. 
 
 18. Wretch! as a moth, that ravages the looms. 
 
 Weaves her frail bow'r, and, as flie weaves, confumes; 
 
 Or as the hireling warder of the vines 
 
 His green booth, lodging of a fummer, twines ; 
 
 With like vain toil, for a like fleeting date. 
 
 He builds his grandeur, and enjoys his Hate : 
 
 19. Wealthy 
 
 hends all thofe tragical circumftances which are accumulated in Jerem. xvi. 4. 
 Theyjhall die of grievous deaths, theyjhall not be lamented, neither Jhall they be bu- 
 ried : but they Jhall be as dung upon the face of the earth, and theyjhall be confumed 
 by thej-joord, and by famine, and their carcafes Jhall be meat for the fowls of heaven^ 
 and for the heafis of the earth. 
 
 Ver. 18. as a moth] He who buildeth his fortunes and greatnefs by methods 
 of injuftice, is fuch a builder as the moth j which, by eating into the garment 
 wherein it makes its habitation, deftroys its own dwelling. The fimile reprefents 
 the oppreflbr as working ruin to his own unrighteous acquifitions. 
 
 as a booth] The fimile of the booth illuftrates the fhort duration of fuch men's 
 profperity. A booth was an extempore hut made of boughs and reeds; It 
 ferved for a fhelter from the violent heat to the fervant who guarded the fummer 
 fruits, when nearly ripe, from the birds, and other creatures of prey. As foon 
 as the harveft or vintage was over, it was taken down or fuffered to perifh of 
 itfelfo. 
 
 * This cuftom is ftill kept up in Barbary. Shaw's Travels, p. 138. 410. 
 
 F f
 
 2i8 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXVII^ 
 
 19. Wealthy he lays hira down, no more to rife, 
 He wakes, he fees the glitt'ring Heel, he dies^ 
 
 20. But O the terrors, which, that night, invade 
 His foul, and drive him to infernal Ihade ! 
 Sudden and furious like a midnight flood ; 
 
 Fierce as theftorm which tears the mountain wood: 
 
 21 — 23. Upon him all at once the florra is cal!, 
 
 Boift'rous and burning as an eallern blallt 
 
 Fain 
 
 Ver. 19. "The rich man Jhall lie down] Hejhall lie down {on his bed) a rich 
 man, hut Jh all no more". It is for the laft time, as Mr. Heath turns the original. 
 He continueth indeed in his profperity fo long as he liveth : But then his death 
 is fudden and terrible, in the night, and probably by afiaffination. He is awak- 
 ened by the noife of the confpirators rufhing in upon him, but he openeth his 
 eyes only for a moment to fee his own deftrucflion ; and then clofeth them for 
 ever. So Mr. Heath well explains he openeth his eyes and he is not, 
 
 Ver. 20 — 23. Terrors^ &c.] I think thefe verfes are an amplification of his 
 fudden and terrible death; and not a reprefentation of his punilhment in another 
 world. For Jirjl, Job had told his opponents ver. 12. that he was going to fpeak 
 of what themfelves Z'^i^Z/f^w. fccondly, the image, wtx. lo. oi tht tempejl Jiealing 
 him away in the night is proper to exprefs a fudden and violent death in the 
 night; but has no affinity with the punifhments of a future ftate. And thirdly, all 
 that the tempefl and the torrent efFedt is, hurling him out of his place, ver. 21. 
 which muft be underftood offending him out of this world, not of what he fuf- 
 fers in another. 
 
 Ver. 20. Terrors, &c.] He refumes the topic of his fudden and violent death 
 mentioned in the foregoing verfe. A fudden land-flood in the night, no uncom- 
 mon thing in Arabia, and a furious ftorm of wind, are the ftrong images by 
 which he reprefents fuch a death. 
 
 Ver. 21. Theeaft wind, &c.] He fpecifies the eajl wind, only to heighten our 
 
 idea 
 
 ' ^DS* LXX. B fffoaO^o-ft he Jhall not add ; viz. to lie down; he Jhall lie down no more. 
 They read OQ' jofip. So chap, xxxiv. 32. If I have done iniquity, I ivill do fo no more.
 
 Chap. XXVII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 219 
 
 Fain would he flee, the winged wrath purfues, 
 Augments its vengeance, and its ftrokes renews : 
 The ftorm purfues him with remorfelefs rage, 
 
 And with loud infults whirls him off the ftage. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 idea of the tempeft ver. 20. An eaft wind is the moft boifterous and the moft 
 defl:ru6tive wind that blows in thofe countries ^ (Seethe note on chap. xv. 2.) 
 It is moft violent in the night ^. 
 
 Ver. 22. For God Jhall c aft upon hint] Our Tranflators have inferted the word 
 God which is not in the original. The agent fpoken of in this and the following 
 verfe is the eaft -wind, as Mr. Heath remarks. // (the eaft wind) fliall caft itfelf 
 upon him, and not /pare. His violent death is the fubjed ftill, but carried on in 
 a ftyle of increafing force and exaggeration. 
 
 He would fain flee, &c.] he ivould fain flee out of its hand. He forefees the 
 ftorm -. His guilt prefages tliis fatal cataftrophe. He takes every meafure of 
 human prudence to prevent it; but to no purpofe. The ftorm is irrefiftable, 
 and his deftrudlion inevitable. 
 
 Ver. 23. Men fhall clap their hands, &c.] Men is not in the hebrew. The 
 verbs too are in the fingular number. Their nominative is ftill the eaft wind. 
 
 It fhall clap its haJids at him 
 And it fhall hifs, &c. 
 
 The contempt with which this enemy to God and man is hurried out of the 
 world, is here expreft in the boldeft ftyle of oriental poetry. The eaft-wini 
 is made a perfon, is clothed with a human body, and has geftures and a voice 
 afcribed to it fignificant of exultation and fcorn ''. A Greek or Roman poet, 
 inftead of hazarding fo daring a profopopeia, would have feigned the wind to 
 be a divinity ; and attributed pafTions and aftions to it proper to the occafion: 
 latus Eois Eurus equis, the eaft-wind exulting in his oriental ft eeds. 
 
 fhall 
 
 * See Michaelis on Bp. Lowth's PrakSiicns, p. 39. 8vo. 
 
 5 Hamafa, p. 548. n. 
 
 ^ Compare Pfal, xcviii. 8. Kaiah !v. 12. 
 
 F f 2
 
 220 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXVIII. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 xxviir. 
 
 J. The vein of filver, and the golden mine, 
 And how the metal from its ore to fine, 
 
 2. T' educe 
 
 Jhall hifs him out of his place] This conclufion of the defcription clearly 
 fhews, that the whole turneth upon the vengeance which fometimes overtakes 
 fuch high delinquents in the prefent world. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 The noble fubjeft of this chapter is wifdom; that is (if I do not miflake) 
 knowledge of the entire plan of providence, fo as to be able to account for all 
 its difpenfations. The tranfition to this fubjeft is abrupt, after the manner of 
 the Arabian writers ', But a fmall degree of attention will difcover the con- 
 nexion. He had allowed in the former chapter, that God makes examples of 
 fome great wicked men in the prefent life : He had maintained in chap. xxi. 
 that multitudes of others, equally culpable, efcape with impunity and flourilTi 
 to the lafl. He had alfo afTerted chap. ix. 22. that general calamities involve 
 the beft and the worft charafters in one common deftruftion. Thefe are perplex- 
 ing appearances. Hence his thoughts are naturally led up to thofe impenetra- 
 ble counfels whicli diredl all this feeming confufion. The powers of the human 
 mind and perfevering application of tliem have made furprifmg difcoveries, and 
 performed wonders in «d/«rfl//&«^j; forinftance, in penetrating the bowels o£ 
 the earth, and furmounting prodigious obftacles to come at the wealth concealed 
 in thofe regions of darknefs ^ But neither can all thefe riches purchafe, nor 
 the utmoft force of human genius and indviftry attain the knowledge of the 
 whole plan of the divine adminiftration of our world '. A future ftate will afford 
 fome imperfedt revelation of it"". But only he can comprehend the whole, to. 
 whom are known all his works from the beginning". 
 
 The inference is, that, inllead of prying into myfteries which we cannot 
 underftand, the duty of man is to adore his IVIaker and praflife univerfal virtue 
 
 in 
 
 ' See Pocock. in Carm. Tegra'i. p. 50. 
 
 * Ver. 1 — II. ' Ver. 12—21. >" Vcr. 22. " Ver. 23— 27.
 
 Ckap. XX\iri. THE BOOK OF JOB. 221 
 
 a. T'educe hard iron from the rocky mafs, 
 And turn the flonc by fufion into brafs, 
 
 3. To 
 
 in obedience to his commandments. This is the Wifdom proper to man: for 
 this is the only means of his happinefs °. 
 
 Ver. I — II. Surely there is a vein for thejiher, &c.] This firfl: verfe fpeaks 
 ofmtTies: The eleventh verfe, which concludes the paragraph, mentioneth man's 
 bringing the riches of them into day-light: The intermediate verfes, therefore, 
 muft in all reafon be fuppofed to relate to the fame fubjeft. The Poet is here 
 difplaying the wonderful force of human genius and induftry. With great 
 judgement has he chofen this fpecimen of both, as it furnifhed him with a 
 profufion of glittering ideas wherewith to illuftrate the value of wifdom. 
 
 Ver. I. a f lace for gold] fo the Arabians called the mine. Gold, fays one. 
 of their poets, is thrown away like earth in its places ^. 
 
 It has no value in the mine. 
 
 yf\\tYC they fine '^ \t] ratlier, which (both the filver and the gold) they fin? ^ 
 Neither filver nor gold are fined in the mine itfelf. The fining of thefe metals 
 is mentioned as another inftance of man's ability, diftinft from his fearching 
 them out in the mine. Arabia Felix had anciently its mines of gold. Pfal. 
 Ixxii. 15. to him fhall be given of the gold of Sheba; in the Septuagint and 
 Arabic verfions, the gold of Arabia. Slieba was the ancient naaie of Arabia 
 Felix. Job, who dwelt in Arabia Petriea, could be no ftranger to the riches 
 of that neighbouring country. 
 
 Ver. 2. brafsl He means, I imagine, the natural or red brafs, which- is 
 copper. It was obtained, by fufion, ou: of two kinds of ftone called caduiia 
 
 and 
 
 • Ver. 28. 
 
 P Pocock. in Carm. Tograi. p. i6o. 
 
 ■J 1pl> LXX. Ji)i9£iTai percolatur. The Greek word fignifies /* flrcin through a ivicier' 
 Jieve, ButOlympiodorus has x=^ni0.i (:««/?r?/«r, isfufed. The hebrev/ word denotes repara- 
 tion, of the ftony earth which adheres to the metal, by the atfbon of fire ; in Pfal. xii, 6, 
 Oi filver tried in a furnace of earth, purified ( ppfO refined) feven times.
 
 22ij THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXVIIL 
 
 3, To man are known. Man, with gigantic pains, 
 Explores the depths where ancient darknefs reigns, 
 Limits her kingdom, and with light invades 
 
 The marble caverns of the central fliades. 
 
 4. They fcoop the rock, and pendulous defcend ; 
 
 Loft from the fun their mazy way they bend, 
 
 4. Through 
 
 and chalcites \ The modern brafs, which the French name yellow copper, is 
 facftitious ; being made of copper fufed with the calamine ftone '. But where 
 are we to look for thefe iron and copper mines within the compafs of Job's 
 geographical knowledge? Pliny fays, that mines of iron ore are to be found 
 almoft every where': and as to brafs or copper, he fays, it was firft difcovered 
 in the idand of Cyprus. The traffic both of the Egyptians and Phoenicians 
 to that ifland might be the means of Job's acquaintance with its produdtions. 
 
 Ver. 3. He fetteth an end to darkjiefs^ &c.] The ftones of darknefs and the fha- 
 doiv of death muft furely mean the metallic ore in the deep and dark parts of 
 the earth. The agent, then, who fearcheth them out muft be man. He alfo 
 it is, whofe power and prefumption /^//^^/?> an end to darknefs^ that is, contra6ts 
 its bounds by carrying light into the fubterraneous caverns when he works the 
 mines. 
 
 He fearcheth out all perfeHion^ &c.] Or as Cocceius more clearly tranflates 
 it. He fearcheth to every extremity " the Jlones of darknefs. Sec He follows the 
 vein of metallic ore as far as it goes. 
 
 Ver. 4. The flood, &c.] This is excefllvely obfcure. By the affiftance of 
 
 Cocceius 
 
 ' Plin. Hif- Kat. xxxiv. 10. Namque ipfc lapis, ex quo ft as, cadmia vacatur: And in 
 cap. 2. of that book, Fit et ex aliolapide, quern chaldten vacant in cypro, uhi prima fuit arts 
 inventio. 
 
 ' See Chambers' DiiJionary, 
 
 ' Plin. xxxiv. 14. 
 
 " n'bsn '^'' ^"d, or extremity. Both the Chaldce and Syriac render it K51D '^^ '•*- 
 iremity. It is ufed in the fame fenfe Nehcm. iii. 21. even to the end ( H vDJl ) 2/" the hcufe 
 0/ Eliafhib.
 
 Chap.XXVIII. the book OF JOB. 223 
 
 5. Through burning naphtha in the bowell'd earth, 
 Whofe bofom gives the nodding harvefl birth : 
 
 6. Where 
 
 Cocceius and Schultens, we gain a more intelligible tranflation, agreeing hap- 
 pily with the context : 
 
 He breaketh up " the valley * near the bottom of the mountain '' ; 
 
 They are forgotteti of the foot: 
 
 Tbey fink down ^ ; they wander from men. 
 
 The firfl: word, he breaketh «/>, denotes opening the ground for a paflage into 
 tlie mine. 
 
 The flace is marked in the next words, the valley near the bottom of the moun- 
 tain. 
 
 The manner of going down into the mine is intimated by that poetical ex- 
 preflion, they are forgotten of the foot. They do not defcend by their feet, but. 
 are let down by ropes or bafkets. 
 
 The depth of the defcent and their gradual, difappearance are defcribed in 
 the third fentence, they fink down. 
 
 And by the lall fentence, they wander from men, may be meant their winding, 
 progrefs in the fubterraneous paflages according to the courfe of the metalhc 
 vein. 
 
 Ver. 5. Js for the earth, &ce.'\ Here, I imagine, he reprefents the dangers 
 to which miners are expofed, and which avarice is bold enough to venture 
 
 through. 
 
 * Y"13 '" "lake a breach, to break up, or through. It fignifies to make a breach in the wall 
 of a vineyard, Pfal. Ixxx. 13. 
 
 " 7ni '^' valley. This is one known acceptation of the word. 
 
 5" "^J DyO near the bottom of the mountain, de cum pede montis. Schultens. I fir.d iu 
 Golius and Caftell. that 1J in Arabic fignifies the foot of a mountain. 
 
 ^ 17"T they ftnk down, fubfidunt. Cocceius. According to Caftell. 'j'^"] in Arabic figni- 
 fies to humble or dcprefs another; and in the fifth conjugation to let one's [elf down, to be fub- 
 miffive. In the hebrew bible tiiis verb occurs but feven times, and fignifies, among otb.er 
 fenfes, to be rer'ucedto a low condition, Pfal, cxvi. 6. cxlii. 7. 7 he noun 7"! denotes perfons 
 of a lovir rank, the vulgar. Judges vi. 15. I Sam. ii. 8. Hence we may conjedurc with 
 probability that the primary idea was local defcent.
 
 2 24 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXVllL 
 
 6, Where fpangled lapphires in her flints are bred. 
 And golden glebes extend their jQiining bed: 
 
 7. A path, which fowl of rapine never try'd, 
 Not by the vulture's piercing eye defcry'd ; 
 
 8. Which 
 
 through. The furface of the earth produceth corn and other fruits for the fuf- 
 tenance of man and beaft : But underneath it is turned •" to be as it -joere fire. Its 
 caverns abound with inflammable minerals, for inftance fulphur. The fulphu- 
 reous air in mines has been known fometimes to take fire from the candles of 
 the workmen, and to dellroy the miners. Or perhaps he referreth to thefiime- 
 ■pits in the 'vale of Siddim ^ near the place which was afterwards turned into a 
 lake and called the dead fea. Thole flime-pits were holes out of which ifTued 
 a liquid bitumen or naphtha, an oily fubftance. Hanway, in his 'Travels into 
 Perjia, defcribes fome fountains of Naphtha which were aftually burning near 
 Baku on tlie weftern coaft of the Calpian fea. Chaldea abounded with them. 
 The walls of Babylon were cemented with this bitumen or flime. 
 
 Ver. 6. The Jiones of it are the place., &c.] Here is the temptation to rifle 
 the aforementioned dangers : The rocky earth in thofe fubterraneous caverns is 
 the country and birth-place oifapphires, and other precious ftones. There alfo 
 men ?Lnd glebes of gold, or golden ore. 
 
 Ver. 7, 8. There is a path, &c.] Thefe two verfes are a poetical illuftration 
 of man's intrepidity in penetrating thefe dangerous regions of darknefs. The 
 fierceft and mofl: daring creatures of prey would not venture into them : A 
 path which " the fowls of prey know not, &c. He means the path which leads 
 to the place of fapphires and golden ore ; the way into the mines. 
 
 HO 
 
 - *l2p\] // is turned or changed. Chap, xx- 14. his meat in his bcivels is turned, it is the 
 gall of afps within him. The tranllation may be, But the lower parts thereof ( HTinn ) "re 
 turned 10 he ("]3n2) "^ '' were fire. The anomaly of a verb fingular conftruded with a 
 nominative plural is common in Arabic. 
 
 * Genefis xiv. 10. See alfo the Notes of Michaelis on the Prehnions, p. ic8. 8vo. 
 ' IVT ^b yPi^ here is an eJlipfis. The comp'.eat conftru£tion is lyT Jj"? "ISJ'k'* 
 5TIJ
 
 CHAP.XXVIir. THE BOOK OF JOB. 225;- 
 
 8. Which beads of iierceft countenance would fear, 
 Nor dares to ftalk the bold black lion here. 
 
 9. Man this explores: his hardy hand o'erthrows 
 The marble roots whereon the mountain grows : 
 
 10. He 
 
 710 fciijl] no fo-jcl of prey '. The exprefTion comprehends all the kinds of 
 ravenous birds. In the next fentence tbe vulture is fpecified as being one of 
 the moft rapacious and moft daring. 
 
 Ver. 8. Tbe lion's whelps] The wild beafts ^ as Mr. Heath rightly turns it. 
 In the following claufe the black lion is particularly mentioned, as one of the 
 fierceft and moft intrepid : nor the black lion ' walked upon it. 
 
 Ver. 9 — II. He puttcth forth, Sic] Thefe verfes, I apprehend, defcribe the 
 prodigious labour of working a mine : for the effedbs of the operations here 
 fpecified is, man's bringing forth to light the thing that is hid ; that is, the 
 hidden treafure of the earth. 
 
 Ver. 9. He overturneth the mountains. Sec.'] The operation, defcribed here, 
 feems to be the breaking in pieces and diflodging, in order to come at the ore, 
 the hardeft flint or marble ; wliich are the roots, that is, the foundation of the 
 mountain. Or perhaps the poet means a ftill greater work ; fuch as Pliny, quoted 
 by Schultens, ftrongly paints : " Yet the labour of hewing the reck is compa- 
 ratively eafy. For there is an earth compounded of a kind of clay and grit, that 
 is almoft impenetrable. This the miners affail with iron wedges and mallets. 
 Nothing is imagined to be harder, except the infatiable hunger after gold, which 
 of all things is the hardeft to lubdue. Having finifhed this labour they cut the 
 
 props 
 
 « J3»y avis rapax a fowl of prey, or ravenous bird, as it fignifiesGen. xv. ir. and as our 
 bible tranflates it Ifaiah xlvi. u. Indeed it comprehends all rapacious animals, quadrupede 
 and volatile, being derived from a root in Arabic which fignifies to ^^ upcn the prey. See 
 Hicroza'u. p. i. 838. and p. ii. i6j. 
 
 ^ I'nsy 'J2 '^''' children f pride, as our Tranflators turn it, chap. xli. 34. where it plainly 
 fignihes, wild and fierce creatures. Vntu^ '" Arabic denotes in general elevation, and, when 
 applied to the mind, />r;W^, />r<-f«^. Hieroz. p. i. 719. 
 
 ' Vnjy See the note on chap. iv. 10. 
 
 G g
 
 a26 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXVIII. 
 
 10. He cleaves deeo channels in the rocky ground, 
 Collefts the ftreams of all the fprings around, 
 And bids the torrent with impetuous roar 
 Rend off the cruft, and bare the precious ore : 
 
 11. Then with new law th' unruly flood reflrains, 
 
 To the laft drop its raging waters drains -, 
 
 Breaks the ftrong feal of nature, and to light 
 
 Triumphant brings the fulgent fpoils of night. 
 
 12. But 
 
 props of their arch-work, the prelude and fignal of the fall of the mountain. 
 The fentinel on the top of the mountain perceiving the ground under his feet 
 to fink, immediately gives notice of it to the workmen below by his voice and 
 repeated thumps. Away he flies. The mountain fplits, and falls with a con- 
 tinued thundering found and an incredible blaft of wind. The viftorious miners 
 gaze upon the overthrow of nature :." 
 
 Ver. 10. He cutteth out riz-ers, &c.] The next operation is to clear away 
 the ftones and rubbifh, that his eye may fee every precuus thing; that is, lay 
 bare the precious gems and the gold. The means by which tliis is accom- 
 plifhed, is turning a large body of water upon the ruins. But lo wonderful is 
 man's invention and fo indefatigable his avarice, that he cuts a pafTage even 
 through rocks to colled and convey a ftrong ftream down to the mine for that 
 purpofe. " Towafli'the ruins, fays Pliny'', they bring rivers from the tops 
 of mountains a hundred miles off". They carry aquedufts over the valleys, 
 and fometimes hew a way for thole pipes through the rocks : They gather the 
 waters into large refervoirs, make fiuice gates to thofe refervoirs; then let out 
 fuch a torrent as bears down the largeft ftones with the violence of its courfe." 
 
 Ver. 11. He bindeth the floods, &c.] There remaineth ftill a third operation to 
 exercife the art of man. The fubterraneous waters fometimes burft into the 
 mine in great abundance. Thefe he muft thoroughly drain off by machines, 
 before be can bring forth into light the hiddoi treafures. 
 
 « HiJl.Kat. xxxlii. 4. *■ ////?. Nat. xxxiii. 4.
 
 Chap. XXVIir. THEBOOKOFJOB. 827 
 
 12. But where is Wifdom found ? what happy coafl 
 The glory of this lovely birth can boafl:? 
 
 13. No mortal her unbounded value knows, 
 Her value in no mortal climate grows : 
 
 14. The great abyfs through her dark regions cries, 
 " Not in my rich domains the purchafe lies ;" 
 
 15. Ocean, " nor yet in mine." Not golden fand. 
 Nor filver ingots the exchange command : 
 
 t6. Not 
 
 Ver. 12 — 14. But where Jhall wifdom be found, &c.] Having largely fet forth 
 the invention and powers of mania natural things^ he now difplays, with rheto- 
 rical amplification, man's utter inability to dive into the counfels of providence. 
 That is what he meaneth here by wifdom and imderflanding: for he fays, it is not 
 attainable by man ', and that it is to be found in God alone ''. In this fcnfc 
 alfo Eliphaz had ufed the word wifdom: Haft thou heard the fecret of Cod? and 
 dofl thou refrain wifdom to thyfelf? 
 
 Ver. 13. Man knoweth not the price thereof] that is. He hath no ability or 
 means to obtain this wifdom. 
 
 wither is it found in the land of the living] This affertion clearly proves, that 
 by this wifdom Job did not mean religion; as fome interpreters have underftood 
 him. 
 
 Ver. 14. The depth faith — thefea faith, See] T/^^ ^6'/i//j being here diftinguiflied 
 from the y^fl, by the former fiirely is mcTLtit the great aiyfs, the fubterraneous 
 waters : by the latter, the ocean. The intention of this grand profopopeia feems 
 to be, tliat were man mafter of the moft abftrufe fecrets of nature, and pofleft 
 of its moft hidden wealth, he would be never the nearer to underftanding the 
 rcafons of the divine difpenfations. 
 
 Ver. 15 — 19. It cannot be gotten for goldy &c.J It appears probable to me, 
 
 that 
 
 ---"■■■ III . 1 II — 
 
 ' Ver. 13. '^ Ver. 23— z6. Compare Prov. viii. 22, &C. 
 
 Gg 2
 
 22g THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXVIII. 
 
 i6. Not Ophir's wealth, nor the clear fapphire's flcy, 
 Nor diamond's lightning with her beam may vie: 
 
 17. Or chryftal vafc, with golden circles bound, 
 Or gold that heaves tvith fculptur'd life around. 
 
 18. Beryls 
 
 that by a noble figure the alyfs and the ocean are reprefented flill fpeaking; and 
 declaring that all tlie riches in the depths of the earth and in the bottom of the 
 fea are infufficient to purchafe this ivifdom. 
 
 Ver. 15. li cannot he gotten fcr gold-, &c.] The profiifion of brilliant and 
 coftly things here fpread before us highly entertains the imagination. At the 
 fame time it fets off", with glorious eloquence, the ineftimable worth of the 
 fublime knowledge here intended ; and the utter unattainablenefs of it by 
 man. 
 
 Ver. 16. the gold of Ophir'} See the note on chap. xxii. 24. 
 
 the precious oj7yx] It was obferved on ver. i. that Arabia Felix, now called 
 Yaman, had formerly its golden mines. It ftill boafteth its gems. We are 
 affured by an eye-witnefs ', that precious ftones for rings and bracelets are 
 brought thence in great quantities, to the annual fair held at Mecca during 
 the laft ten or twelve days of the ftay of the pilgrims there. 
 
 It is doubtful what gem is meant by that which we tranflate the onyx " : The 
 epithet precious, asSchultens remarks, gives a diftinftion to it; which the onyXt 
 a fort of agate ", does not merit. The Chaldee interpreter renders it i^cryls. 
 The berj'l of the ancients was a tranfparent gem of a fea-green colour ". 
 
 the Japphire] The fapphlre is of a beautiful fky-blue. Some will Iiave the 
 Hebrew word to fignify the ruby ; others the carbuncle^ which is a ftone of the 
 ruby kind, very rare, and of a rich glowing blood-colour ^. 
 
 Ver. 1 7. "The gold and the cryjlal] that is, a cryjlalvafe ornamented with gold. 
 
 Schultens. 
 
 ' Pitts in his Account of the Mabonutans, p. 142. 
 
 " Chambers' DlSflonary. • IbiJ. f Ibid.
 
 Chap. XXVIir. THE BOOK OF JOB. 229 
 
 18. Beryls and orient pedttls no more be nam'd, 
 
 19. The blulh of rubies, or the topaz fam'd 
 Arabia's verdant pride : nor crowns be laid 
 In loaded fcale, with wifdom to be weigh'd. 
 
 20. Where 
 
 Schtiltens. But Dr. Shaw '' thinks the diamond beft anfwers the meaning of our 
 author's term '. It may however be queflioned, whether that gem was tlie 
 produce of any country that Job was acquainted with. 
 
 jewels of fine gold] Thefe muft furely be fome ornaments or vefTcls of gold 
 that were of high value for the workmanfhip as well as for the materials. 
 
 ' Ver. 18. coral — pearls'] The bottom of the red fea is in fome parts covered 
 with groves of coral '. But this is no gem. It is a marine plant. Pearls indeed are 
 valued in the eaft beyond all other jewels '. It muft however be owned that 
 the fignification of the hebrew words, tranflated coral and pearls, is altogether 
 uncertairL 
 
 ruMes] Either thefe or fome other precious ftone of a red colour muft be 
 intended. For the prophet compares the florid complexion of the Jewifli Na- 
 zarites to this gem ". 
 
 Ver. 19. The Topaz of Ethiopia] The topaz of CufJj. Cujh, according to 
 Bochart", was that part of Arabia which bordered on the Red Sea, and was 
 inhabited by the Saracen Arabs. Topaz was an adjacent iOand in the fame fea,. 
 and gave name to the precious ftone which grew there. Pliny fays, it is of a 
 Ongular green colour, and, when firft found, was preferred to all other gems \ 
 Chambers '' tells us, the topaz is tlie third in order after the diamond ; and that 
 it is tranfparent, and its colour a beautiful yellow, or gold colour. But we 
 
 may 
 
 1 Travels y p. 54. 4to. 
 
 ' n'DID* lufire, purity. ' Dr. Shaw's Travels. 
 
 ' Arabian Proverhy cent. i. 15. n. 
 
 " Lament, iv. 7. * Geogrofh. Sacra. 
 
 » iVaX. Hifl. xxxvii. 8. 
 
 y Diiiionary,
 
 «3o THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXVIIT. 
 
 20. Where, tlien, is wifdom found ? what happy coafl 
 The glory of this lovely birth can boafl ? 
 
 21. Hid from all living, far beyond the height 
 Of ilrongell pinion in its loftiefl flight. 
 
 22. Death and Dcftrudtion call, " learn fomew^hat here, 
 " The voice of wifdom vibrates in our ear :" 
 
 23. Herfelf 
 
 may reconcile this feemlng coniradidion between the ancient and modern 
 writer by obferving, that there were two kinds of topaz : In the one % the 
 prevailing colour was green ; in the other % gold. 
 
 Ver. 21. It is hid from all living] See ver. 13. 
 
 and kept clofe from the fowls of the air] The refidence of wifdom is beyond the 
 flight of the Iwifteft and ftrongeft birds. This is faying in a poetical, and 
 perhaps a proverbial, manner, that this fublime wifdom is not to be found 
 within the limits of our world. If any thing more is intended, it may be, as 
 Crinfoz underftands it, that the moft exalted geniufes, the Aftronomers for in- 
 ftance, are not able to reach this wifdom. 
 
 Ver. 22. DeJlru£fion and death fay, we, &c.] Let it be remembered that he 
 had before faid, this wifdom is not found in the land of the living ; and again, 
 it is hid from the eyes of all living. Let it alfo be obferved, that the phrafe, 
 we have heard the fame thereof with our ears, imports imperfeH knowledge j 
 like the evidence of report compared with the evidence of fight ^ Hence the 
 natural meaning of this verfe feems to be, that the dead know more of this 
 wifdom than the living : yet even their knowledge of it is imperfeft. A fu- 
 ture ftate, by its exadt retributions, will clear fome of the prefent difficulties 
 in the ways of Providence '. But comprehenfion of the whole plan is the pre- 
 rogative 
 
 » Called prafoides. 
 
 » Chryfopteros. Pliny, ubi fupra. 
 
 * See chap. xlii. y. 
 
 « Wait the great teacher death, and God adore. Effhy on Man.
 
 Chap. XXVIir. THE BOOK O F JOB. 231 
 
 S3. Herfelf acceflible to God alone. 
 
 To him her birth-place and her ways are known : 
 
 24. Earth's utmofl bounds lay fpread before his view, 
 He with a glance look'd all creation through : 
 
 25. The wild winds balanc'd, weigh 'd the fwelling feas, 
 
 26. And gave the vapour and the cloud decrees ; 
 When rains fhould fall, when ruddy lightning fly, 
 And the big thunder roar along the fky : 
 
 27. He faw the whole, he numbcr'd every part, 
 The finifh'd fyllem of Almighty art, 
 
 Approv'd, 
 
 rogative of him alone who formed it, as the following verfes remark. If, with 
 the judicious Schultens, we fuppofe Death and Dejlruciion to utter them, it will . 
 greatly add to the folemnity of the inftruiftion. 
 
 Ver. 23 — 24. God undei-ftandeth^ &c.] God alone fees at one view the whole 
 extent of the univerfe. He created it one perfeifl whole, and formed and placed 
 every part in exact fitnefs to the defign of the whole. He alone therefore is 
 capable of knowing the ufe of every portion and appearance of nature, and the 
 reafon of every meafurein his worrt/adminiftration. 
 
 Ver. 25, 26. To make the vjeight for the tvinds, &c.] Thefe are feleifled as 
 fpecimens of the admirable wifdom with which all the members of the univerfe 
 were framed. The winds, themafs of waters, the rain, the lightning and thun- 
 der, are endowed with their feveral qualities, and directed by diftinCl: laws in 
 moft accurate fitnefs to the defigns of providence in cur world, and in regard to 
 the whole creation. 
 
 Ver. 27. Then did he fee it, hcJ] {i) Then did he fee it, viz. wifdom. When 
 he created the world, the entire plan lay in clear view before him. (2) ht 
 declared it; or rather, he calculated it. He took an exaci rur\ey of all the parts 
 of the plan J or of the various fyftems which prefented themfelves to his mind. 
 (3) He prepared it •, or, he eflabltfhed it. He fixed his plan, by choofuig that 
 (yjleni which v/as upon the whole the wifeft and befl. 
 
 I 0£
 
 232 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XX VIII. 
 
 Approv'd, and ftablifli'd his imperial plan : 
 2S. Then fpoke this Icflbn to his creature man; 
 " Thy mighty Maker fear, from evil flee, 
 " This, Adam, is the wifdom left to thee." 
 
 Chap. 
 
 XXIX. ^ ^ ^ 
 
 1,2, O happy months, and happy days, long lied! 
 
 When God, the guardian of my honour'd head, 
 
 3. Shin'd 
 
 Of fyftems poffible, if 'tis confeft 
 
 That Wifdom infinite miift form the beft. 
 
 (4) 2^ea, andfearchedit cut; rather, for he had thoroughly fearched it out. He 
 determined upon the prefent fyftem from unerring knowledge that it was the 
 beft. 
 
 Ver. 28. utito man he faid, &c.] Either to Adam by a vocal revelation j or 
 to him and all his pofterity by the clear didtate of right reafon, 
 
 that is wifdom'] Wifdom is the knowledge and choice of the befl ends 
 and moft fitting means. The beft end that man can chufe is his own everlafting 
 happinefs : the only means of obtaining it is the praftice of his duty. This 
 therefore is the wifdom proper for man. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 The connection with the foregoing chapter is eafy. His own cafe was an 
 inftance of thofe incomprehenfible ways of providence of which he had been 
 difcourfing. He now gives an intire view of it"", as a kind of Epinicium, or 
 fongof vidlory, as Schultens fpeaks. His aim is to fhew, that all his pleadings 
 and complaints were juftly founded. In the prefent chapter he fcts forth his 
 former felicity in the fingular favour of God to hisperfon, family, and fortunes; 
 and in the veneration paid to him by his tribe for the wifdom of his counfels 
 
 and 
 
 '' Chap xxix. xxx, xxxi.
 
 Chap. XXIX. T II E B O O K OF J OB. 233 
 
 3. Shin'd on his favourite with diilinguifli'd rays, 
 Difpell'd all darknefs, and illum'd my ways: 
 
 4. In autumn of my glory, when the Pow'r 
 Trufted his counfcls to my hallow'd bow r : 
 
 S. While 
 
 and the juftice of his adminiftration. To which he adds the pleafing hope he 
 had entertained of the permanence of all that happinefs, in reward of his 
 virtue. 
 
 Ver. 3. TFben his candle, &cc.'] The extraordinary favour of God, and its 
 cffefts, namely, conftant cheerfulnefs, profperity of condition, and luftre of 
 charafter, feem to be all comprehended in thefe beautiful metaphors. The 
 former, his candle, or rather his lamp, is probably an allufion to the lamps 
 which hung from the ceiling of the banqueting rooms of the wealthy Arabs \ 
 The latter, by his light I walked through darknefs, refers, it is lilcely, to the fires, 
 or other lights, which were carried before the caravans in their night travels 
 through the deferts '. 
 
 darknefs'] times of general calamity ; war, famine, peftilence. The divine 
 protection and guidance were his conftant fecurity and delightful confidence in 
 luch feafons of danger. 
 
 Ver. 4. in the days of my youth'] In my autumnal days ^ ; that is, as Mr. Heath 
 freely turns it, in the days of my profperity. Autumn is a pleafant feafon in 
 thofe hot climates : the heats are then abated, the rains fall, and the grapes 
 and other fruits are in perfeftion. 
 
 When the fecret of God ^ &c.] Among men, communication of one's fecrets 
 
 is 
 
 * See the note on chap, xviii. 6. 
 
 f See Pitts' Account of tke Mahometans, p. 150. 
 
 "^ 'QTn 'J3'2 '" ^1'^ ^°P of my autumn. In the Arabic verfion of the Pfalms (Ixxiii. i3 ) 
 Pi>"^n ftands oppofed tnfummer, and denotes ti:e zvtnter half year. It alfo fignifies, in that 
 language, the autumnal feafon. (See Schultens, and Caftell. ifr.J The author of rt« £}^/ji 
 towards a new TranJIation of the Bible remarks, that this word ihould be rendered the autumn 
 in Gen. viii. 22. it being the time of plowing, Prov. xx. 4. p. 187. 
 
 ^ ^lum meo tabernacuh familiaris cfft Deus. Cafallo. 
 
 Hh
 
 -34 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIX, 
 
 5. While yet each morn his vifits he renew'd, 
 While yet, around me, I my children view'd ; 
 
 6. While plenty ilream'd in rivers through my foil, 
 With milk my vallies, and my rocks with oil. 
 
 7. O 
 
 is a mark of the higheft confidence and mofl intimate friendfhip. Accordingly 
 the Pfalmift expreffeth the friendfhip of God to all good men by faying, The 
 fecret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he willfhew them his covenant '. 
 The meaning is, I fuppofe, he will lead them into a clear knowledge of his 
 will and of his gracious defigns in favour of piety and virtue. A prophet en- 
 joyed this divine intercourfe in a fuperior degree : floall I hide from Abraham that 
 thing which Ido"^? I incline to think, that Job was thus diftinguilhed, and had 
 the honour of being a divinely commiflioned minifter of religion to his tribe. 
 Compare chap, vi, 10. 
 
 upon my tabernacle'] in, or within ', my tabernacle. 
 
 Ver. 5. When my children ", &c.] He fetched a deep figh, I doubt not, 
 on mentioning this happy circumftance of his once happy condition. The 
 fentiment is exquifitely tender. He could not bear to dwell upon it. 
 
 were about me] he probably refers to their fitting at table with him in a 
 circle, after the eaftern mode taken notice of by Shaw and Le Bruyn ". 
 
 Ver. 6. When Iwafhed my Jleps, &c.] Olive groves and abundance of cattle 
 made the principal wealth of the Arabs. The beft olives grow upon the rocky 
 
 mountains. 
 
 ' Pfal. XXV. 14. 
 
 '' Gen. xviii. 17. Compare John xv. 15. James ii. 23. 
 
 ' 'bjf '"> or within. The prepofition 7j; is equivalent to ^ /«, Exod. xxix. 3. Exod. 
 xxxiii. zi. upon a rock, rather within the rock. See ver. 22. Nold. p. 698. 
 
 "" *iyj my young people, i.e. my children : fo it fignifies in chap. i. 19. // (the houfe) 
 fellupon the young men ; rather the young people, his fons and his daughters, ver. 18. CaftalJO 
 there renders it juveues. It is ftrange that he renders it hete/amuli mei, my domejiics, 
 
 ■ See Obfervatiom on divers Pajfages of Scripture, &c. p. 189.
 
 Chap. XXIX. T H E B O O K OF JO B. 235 
 
 7. O high enjoyment ! on the folemn day, 
 When, with a princely train, I took my way 
 
 To the full forum, through the hailing flrcct, 
 
 And in the fenate fill'd a fovercign feat. 
 
 8. The 
 
 mountains ". Hence thefe bold figures, v/hereby the Arabs expreffed a con- 
 dition of uncommon felicity. A Roman Poet would have conveyed the fame 
 thought in the language of Perfius ; 
 
 quicquid calcaverit hie, rofa fiat ^ 
 
 Let rofes fpring beneath his feet. It is a proverbial exprefiion, fays the commen- 
 tator, for the higheft felicity. I am indebted to Schultens for great part of this 
 note. 
 
 Ver. 7 — 17. IFhen Twenty &c.] Having defcribed his domeftic happinefs, he 
 proceeds to reprefent the honours paid him in public life. This reprefentation 
 is judicioufly intermingled with an account of his impartial and intrepid admi- 
 niftration of juftice ; which is a noble anfwer to the particular accufation laid 
 againft him by Eliphaz, chap. xxii. 6 — 9. 
 
 Ver. 7. to the gat e^ the court of juftice. But the Septuagint turns it, in the 
 morning'^. Among the ancients the public afTemblies for adminiftring juftice 
 and tranfafting other public bufmefs were held early in the morning. Thus in 
 the Odyfley, Telemachus goes to council at that time of the day. 
 
 through the city 'j Mr. Heath turns it, nigh the place of public refort^ the forum, 
 or market-place. 
 
 in the flreet'\ It fliould feem that thefe public aflemblies were held in the open 
 air, and in the wideft and moft frequented part of the city, compare Prov. viii. 
 3. Ruth iv. I, &c. 
 
 • Dent, xxxii. 13, 14. 
 
 p Sat. ii. 38. 
 
 '• "^V'jy the gate ; LXX. officio! early in the morning. It was "int^ 'n their copy. 
 
 ' mp the place of public refort: for X'^p is to call together ; and nip fignifies fi««rrrr/ te 
 meet. 
 
 Hh 2
 
 236 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIX. 
 
 8. The youths, abafli'd, rctir'd ; and, bent \Yidi age, 
 In dumb refpcd up rofe the hoary fage: 
 9, 10. The ranks of pow'r ilood all attention round, 
 And every tongue in every mouth was bound, 
 Princes and peers ; all waiting to receive 
 The fentence wifdom in my voice fliould give : 
 
 11. Rapture in every ear the fentence rais'd, 
 And every eye with look applauding gaz'd: 
 
 12. The fatherlefs and friendlefs and diflreft 
 
 13. Call'd me their faviour, while my name they blefs'd: 
 Their bleflings crown'd me ; for I heal'd their wrongs, 
 And tun'd the widow's heart to grateful fongs. 
 
 14. My robe was juftice, juflice jny tiar y 
 This was my majefty, renown'd afar : 
 
 15. The feeble found in me a pow'rful Hay, 
 
 16. The poor a father, and the blind man day: 
 
 The ftranger's friend, I weigh'd his /lighted caufe; 
 
 17. Broke rapine's teeth, and fnatch'd him from its jaws. 
 
 18. Thence 
 
 Ver. 14. tny Judgement was as a rohe, Sic] His decifions in the court of juftice 
 procured him all the honour given to a king, without the drefs and title. This 
 beautiful manner of fpeaking is ftill preferved among the Arabs : One of thtrir 
 proverbs is, Knozvkdge is a diadem to a young per fon^ and a chain of gold about lis 
 
 neck '. 
 
 Ver. If. / ivas eyes to the blind, &c.] When the caufe of an ignorant and 
 friendlefs perfon came before him, he affifted him, by Iiis counfel and protec- 
 tion, to make his defence. 
 
 • Erpenii Prov. Arab, cent, ii. 2Z.
 
 Chap. XXIX. TH E B OOK O F J OB. 237 
 
 18. Thence I too fondly argu'd; here fhall reft 
 My dying head, in this my lofty ncft : 
 
 But countlefs as the fands my days fliall run, 
 Without a cloud to their laft fetting fun. 
 
 19. The noble palm, whofe laden boughs on high 
 Suck the fweet raoillure of the midnight fliy, 
 Whofe op'ning roots imbibe the cryftal rill, 
 Fearlefs of droughts, fliall be my emblem ilill : 
 
 20. Still 
 
 Ver. 18 — 25. Tbcn I faid, Scc.l At the eighteenth verfe begins a third divi- 
 fion of this chapter, and reaches to the end. Here he exprefleth his hope of 
 the continuation Oi^ his profperity throughout a long life. I think, the whole 
 paragraph is to be underftood in the future time, not in the paft. It contains 
 the fubjeft matter of his hope '. 
 
 Ver. 18. I Jhall die in my nefi'l Schultens remarks that the image is taken from 
 the eagle who buildeth her neft on the fummit of a rock. Security is the point 
 of refemblance intended". Longevity is exprefled in the following claufe, / 
 Jhall multiply, &c. 
 
 Ver. 19. My root wnsfpread, &c.] ;;;_y root Ihall he fpread, &c. the dew IhalL 
 lay ", &c. A tree planted by the rivers of waters, and bringing forth its fruit 
 in its feafon, is a beautiful emblem of profperity. See Pfalm i. 9. The dews,, 
 which fall in tlie night very plentifully, contribute greatly to the nourifliment 
 of vegetables in thole hot climates j where tlicy have fcarce any rain all fummer 
 long \ 
 
 ' As Schultens obfcrveth. 
 
 " SecNumb. xxiv. 21. Obad. ver. 4. Jobxxxix. 27, 28. Horace ufeth this metaphor^ 
 
 Quicunque celfaMiidum Acherontis, fc tenent, Od. iii. 4. 
 
 "« W-}i Jhall lay all night. 
 » Shaw's Travels, p. 439, &c. 4to»
 
 238 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIX. 
 
 20. Still frefli in luftrc fliall my glory grow. 
 And new in vigour be my conq'ring bow. 
 
 CI. My eloquence fliall flow, by all defir'd. 
 Be heard with facred filcnce, and admir'd: 
 
 22. Be heard without reply, and joy infufe 
 Like heav'n defcending in nutritious dews : 
 
 23. Crowds fhall be eager to devour the flrain, 
 As the chapt foil to drink autumnal rain. 
 
 24. My 
 
 Ver. 20. My glory was frejh, &c.] My glory Jhall be frejh'^, &c. and my botv 
 fiall he renewed., &CC, He promifed himfelf a perpetuity of power, fufficient to 
 fubdue all who refifted his authority or invaded his pofiefTions. A flourifliing 
 ever-green was the image in the foregoing verfe, and is carried on in the firft 
 member of this verfe-, my glory Jhall be frejh in me. The warlike image in the 
 fecond fentence, my ho\Jo., &c. is equally happy : It denotes increafing power and 
 conqueft. The eaftern writers are fond of this image, as Schukens has fhewn. 
 
 Ver. 21. gave ear — waited — hep ftleyice^ &c.] will give ear — will wait — will 
 keep filcnce.) &c ''. 
 
 He refers to the attention with which he was wont always to be heard, when 
 he fpoke in the public aflembly ver. 9, 10. He flattered himfelf that this vene- 
 ration of his wifdom and eloquence would continue j and therewith his public 
 influence and utility. 
 
 Ver. 22. After my words they f pake not., &c.] 'They will not fpeak again^—my 
 fpeech flxdl drop" upon them. 
 
 Ver. 23. as for the rain— the latter raiti] They will wait., &c. and will open^ 
 
 &c. 
 
 " {y^^ Jhall befrejh. This verb is here in the preter tcnfe : but as it lies between two 
 futures, yy Jhall Iny, and ^^p,f\ Jhall be reneived, it is to be conflrued, according to a 
 known rule of the hcbrew grammar, in the future tenfe. 
 
 ' lycK^, iVnn, lain
 
 Chap. XXIX. THE B O O K OF JO B. 239 
 
 24. My fmile fhall tranfport raife, but check with awe 
 Left the bright funfliinc fliould in clouds withdraw. 
 
 25. Their guide in council, and in war their chief, 
 In wants their father, and their hope in grief, 
 
 I'll 
 
 &c. In the foregoing vei-fe, the fofc infinuating force of his political and reli- 
 gious inftruftion was compared to the dropping dew ''. Here the copioufnefs 
 of his eloquence is likened to the abundant rains which fall in autumn in 
 thofe countries ' ; and the high acceptablenefs of it, to the avidity with which 
 the earth, burnt up by the fummer's drought, devours thofe rains. The alter- 
 ation which they produce in the withered fields is fo aftonifliingly great, that 
 Dr. Ruflel fcruples not to call it a refurre£lion of vegetable nature. 
 
 The fame ingenious Author informs us, that the firft rains fall about the 
 middle of September ; the fecond, or latter, about twenty or thirty days after. 
 The firft are inconfiderable, the latter fall in great abundance. 
 
 They opened their mouth ivide] This is a pidurefque defcription of eager atten- 
 tion. 
 
 Ver. 24. Jf I laughed. Sec.} If I/hall laugh. Sec''. His authority and charafter 
 were fo much reverenced, and his favour, which he calls the light of his counte- 
 nance, was fo highly valued, that even familiarity did notleflen their veneration. 
 His very fmiles were received with awe. 
 
 The light of my countenance they did not, &c.] The light of my countenance they 
 will not caufe to fall". In the hebrew idiom, to lift up the light of the countenance 
 fignifies to (hew favour ^ The oppofite phrafe therefore, the falling ofthelighty 
 &c. denotes difpleafure ; and to caufe it to fall mu&: mezn, to provoke difplea- 
 fure by unbeco-.Tiing behaviour. 
 
 Ver. 25. I chofe out their way. Sec.} Ifhallchoofe — I fhalld'-Ji}ell,Si:c. He had 
 
 flattered 
 
 '' See Deut. xxxii. 2. 
 
 ' Dr. Ruflel's Natural Hiftory of Aleppo, p. 14, 148, 154, 158, 159, i6i, 
 
 * Compare Prov. xvi. ij. 3
 
 240 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXIX. 
 
 I'll rule my tribe ; and iflue my commands, 
 Great as a king amidft his martial bands. 
 
 Chap. 
 XXX. 
 Ver. I. Now I'm become the game of boys: too bafc 
 
 I held their fathers with my dogs to place. 
 
 In 
 
 flattered himfelf that he fliould continue to be, v/hat he once was -, the director 
 of their public councils, the commander in chief of their military expeditions, 
 and a fupport to them in all dillreffing emergencies. 
 
 The phrafe of choofing out their way denotes fupremacy both in the ftate and 
 in the affairs of religion. Exod. xviii. 20. 
 
 The next fentence reprefents him encamped with his fubjedts, on fome military- 
 expedition; v/ith the authority of a royal general: IJJmllptch ^ rny tent as a king 
 in the army. 
 
 The laft claufe, as one that comforteth the mourners., may mean, animating 
 his troops when they were difplrited : or, in a larger and more noble fenfe, his 
 being the father of his people -, ever touched with their diftreiTes, and ready 
 to exert his utmoft ability for their relief. 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 This chapter is the contrail of the foregoing. It is a moving reprefentation 
 of the miferable difappointment of his hope^, the infults he received, the deplo- 
 rable condition of his body, and the delpairing flate of his mind. The whole 
 is in a ftrain highly querulous •, and the paflions exprefled in it are grief and 
 indignation. 
 
 Ver. I — i^. But now, &c.] This feftion is, I apprehend, a ftrong and fpirited 
 defcription of thofe villanous Arabs, who, when Job was in his prolperity, 
 
 had 
 
 ^ pDiyi*. literally I fiall pitch my tent ; as Mr. Heath renders it. 
 '' Chap. xxix. iS— zj.
 
 OiAP. XXX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 241 
 
 In midnight fcntry o'er my fleeping fold, 
 
 2. A flotliful crew, in profligacy old. 
 
 3. The howling dcfert was of late their haiinr, 
 Where, flung with hunger, and with famine gaunt, 
 
 4. They brows'd the bitter weeds, and hard befled 
 On broom and berries of the 'fore It fed : 
 
 5. Outlaws 
 
 had felt the fevericy of his juftice ; and fled into the lurking places cf the dcfert. 
 Upon the lofs of his authority, thefe mifcreants came out of their dens, to 
 revenge themfelves upon him by the moll fcurrilous abufe. 
 
 In drawing their charafter, he infifteth much on the mifery of their habita- 
 tion and way of living, as circumftances very expreflive of the turpitude and 
 barbarity of their manners. 
 
 Ver. I. Younger, &c.] The vaft refpeft paid to their elders by the eafterns, 
 quickened their fenfibility of contempt from their juniors. 
 
 Ver. 2. Tea whereto^ &c.] The context obliges us to underftand a reproach to 
 be here intended : and the fathers of thefe wretches being the neareft antecedent, 
 the reproach, is probably defigned for them. He reprefcnts them as an idle 
 good for nothing crew, who were grown old in profligacy : in whom old age' is 
 profligate^. So I think the tranflation ought to be. 
 
 Ver. 3. For want, &c.] The defcription returns to the hopeful ofi'spring of 
 fuch worthy parents. Here, and in the following verfe, it reprefents the wretched 
 fuftenance which they had in the defert wliere they fliulked. 
 
 For 
 
 ' n'^D old age, rendered chap v. 26. in a full age. See the note there. 
 
 ^ n3X is profligate. It feems to anfwer to the latin perditus abandoned. The hebrew 
 "l^N has the fignification of perdo to corrupt in Ecckf. vii. 7. a gifl dejlroyeth (corrupteth) 
 the heart. 
 
 I i
 
 nj^Q THE BOOK. OF JOB. Chap. XXX. 
 
 J. Outlaws and thieves, with outcry chas'd from men 
 6. To flooded vales and the dark mountain den : 
 
 7. To 
 
 For want cud extrcvie ^ famine, they lately"' gnawed'' the Kildernefs" wajie and 
 dcj'olate. ■ 
 
 He mentions their beggarly condition, as a heightening of the indignities of- 
 fered to a perlbn of his rank and charafler by fuch rabble. 
 
 Ver. 4. Who cut up mallows, &c.] who cut up the brackijh herbs among the 
 Jhrubs, that grow in the wild heath. Thofe deferts abound with faline particles 
 which give a faltifli bitter tafte to the few hardy plants that live there. The 
 orio-inal word denotes either in general all fCich brackifli vegetables; or fome 
 particular plant of the defert that camels are exceeding fond of. See Schukens, 
 and Pocock's Specimen, p. y^. 
 
 and juniper roots'] The hebrew word, tranflated_;«;z/^^r, is I'etem; and in Ara- 
 bic ratam, which is thought to be the fame with the Spanifli retama broom; and 
 the name is fuppofed to have been imported into Spain by the Saracens when 
 they conquered that country. It is fometimes high and large enough to afford 
 {hade ; and might therefore be the plant under which Elijah relied himfelf and 
 
 flept 
 
 1 ^T.^'^J It is ufed in Arabic of a bare rock on which nothing grows, as Schuitensfiiews 
 in his note on chap. iii. 7. It feems to be here an epithet oi famine, and to exprefs the 
 feverity thereof. 
 
 '" \l?ti^ ^^>'i yfflirday, the other day. 
 
 " tZ)'P*iyn ^^^^y gnawed. This verb fignifies-in Arabic fo g}iaw, a bone for inftance 
 (CaflcH.) In Chaidee tofiee. But the former fenfe feems mod eligible in this place. 
 
 » n'i» the ivildermfs. The hebrew word fignifies c/rff:<^/;/, or a dry place; itisadenomi- 
 rvation of the defert from the fcarcity of frefli water there. The two other term? HXtJ'D") 
 V<l\\\V-> wajle and dcfolate, denote, that hardly any thing grows there. But I apprehend 
 that the danger from wild beads is alfo i:iiplied in rtiofe epithets : for they fjgnify tumultuous 
 uproar, thst isj the confufed yellings of thofc favage natives of the. deftjt. The noun 
 ri'lKii'D is rendered noife (it fhould be noifcs) in chap, xxxvi. :g. it there means claps of 
 thunder. The verb HKii' in Ifaiah xvii. 13 is tranfl.ited ftf rw/S. It there means the tu- 
 multuous uproar of the fca in a ftorm, and of torrents rulhing down the rocks. Compare- 
 ■xer. 12.
 
 Chap. XXX. TH E BOO K O F J O B. 243 
 
 7. To flicltVing thorns in groaning crowds they prefs, 
 And huddled in vile heaps the thicket blefs .- 
 
 8. A 
 
 flept in the wiklernefs, I Kings xlx. 4, 5 ?. As to the juniper tree^ Gerardc in. 
 his Herbal fays, on the authority of Diofcorides, it comes up for the moft 
 part in rough places and near to the fea. But whether it is found in the Arabian 
 defcrts, I know not. 
 
 Ver. 5. They were driven forth, &c.] They were call out of civil fociety \ as 
 pefts not to be endured : and whenever they were difcovered lurking about 
 towns, an outcry was raifed againft them as againft the pilfering Arabs of the 
 defert ; with whom, it is likely, they herded. 
 
 Ver. 6, 7. To divell, &c.] To paint their infamous manners flill more ftrongly, 
 he returns to the defcription of the difmal places to which they were banifhed, 
 and the hardfhips they fuffered there, 
 
 Ver. 6. iti the clefts cf the values'] In the hollows gulled by the winter 
 torrents. 
 
 in caves of the earth and the rocks'] Their habitation was fometimes under 
 ground; at other times in the caverns of the mountains: There is a large ca- 
 vern in mount Sinai '. The rocks of Arabia Petrsa abound with caves \ At 
 this day, the Arabs who dwell in the mountains of that country are a .bad 
 people, the v/orftof all the Arabs-, as Dr. Pococke informs us '. 
 
 Ver. 7. They brayed] like wild afles pinched with hunger. This metaphor 
 exprefleth forcibly their diftrefs for want of food. See chap. vi. 5. 
 
 amotjg 
 
 P See Schultens, and Mr. Merrick's Annotations on Pfalm c\x. 4. 
 
 ' M *iO frof" among men. In the Syriac Teftament A6ls ii. ^4. KIJl denotes the community. 
 
 ' Exod. xxxiii. 22. 
 
 ' Michaelis in PraleSf. p. 28. 8vo. 
 
 < Travels into Egypt, &c. vol.i. p. 137. 
 
 Ii 2
 
 2^4: THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXX> 
 
 8. A herd of varlcts, vagrants, without name, 
 Flay'd by the lafli, the fpurious brood of fliame. 
 
 9. Now their lewd doggrcl jefts my name profane, 
 10. They ftare aloof as though my breath were bane : 
 
 1 1 . They 
 
 among (be nettles'' they were gathered together "] It is not known what fpecies 
 of plant is meant by the word tranflated nettles. It was, probably, fome wild 
 Ihrub of the heath", which they thronged to for a forry fuftenance. Thickets of 
 Ihrubs are fometimes met with in thefe deferts. See Delia P'alle's voyage to the 
 Eajl Indies, p. 262. fol. 
 
 Ver. 8. children of fools, &c.] He fums up their charafter in a few words j 
 flagitious '', bafe-horn '^, they tvere fcourged out of the land ". 
 
 Ver. 9 — 14. And now, &c.] Having concluded their charafter, he proceeds 
 to reprefent their contumelious ufage of him. His indignation kindles as he 
 goes along j. and as that increafes, his exprefllons grow more vehement and 
 rife to lofty metaphors. But when were thefe infulcs offered to him ? From 
 the time that he was fmitten with his difeafe, he was furely confined to his 
 houfe. This treatment therefore muft have happened to him before that 
 time, yet after his overthrow. Whence it Teems probable, there was a confi- 
 
 derable 
 
 " '^nn The Vulgate renders it fentisa brier. In Syriac J^^IIH fignifies a kind of 
 fmall vetch. Cqfldl. 
 
 " "inSD' tli'5 word fignifies io officiate with, Ifaiah xiv. i. They Jliall cleave to (ajjhciate 
 with) the houfe of Jacob. 
 
 " The LXX. turn it o^-j-yxvy, aypx zvild Jhrubs, 
 
 ' 73J 'J^ Caftcliio renders it infani fools. But. 7JJ is ufcd of an incejiuous perfoa 
 IlSam. xiii. 13. of a llafphemer Plal. Ixxiv. 22. and of a malefaSlor worthy of death IlSam, 
 iii. 33. It muft therefore mean here very. profligate felloivs. 
 
 ^ Cti^ 'Vd 'J3 Perfons of ohfcure parentage, owned by no fa.iiilj", inrolled in no 
 tribe, a fpurious brood. Caftellio tranflates it irglorii.. - 
 
 " \nj<in ]?^1t03 turned by Schuhcns fla^elhiti furJ e terra ; by Mr. Heath, they were 
 whipped cut cf the country. The verb HDJ fignifies in Exisd. v. 16. to. heat Haves with- an. 
 jftilrument of correclion. Caflellio's verfion is mortalium infimi the meaneft of mankind..
 
 Chap. XXX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 24J 
 
 II. They hoot, tliey fpir, for God hath cafl: me down; 
 Hence their contempt of my once dreaded frown. 
 
 12, 13. The 
 
 derable interval between his firft calamities and that laft affliction •, durinor 
 which interval he met with thele affronts, whenever he appeared abroad ; as 
 Cocceius, if I remember right, has obferved. 
 
 Ver. 9. now am I their fojig, &c.] This and what follows to the end of ver. 
 14. is an amplification of the derijion mentioned in ver. i. here he tells us, they 
 made him their mujical ifijirumeni' to -phy upon a.nd divert themfelves ; and 
 then I'y-zvord^, the fubjedl of their lewdjefts. 
 
 Ver. 10. They abhor me, they flee far from me] Thefe expreffions, doubtlefs, 
 are fignificant of the higheft averfion and contempt. But I cannot think, with 
 Michaelis, that they refer to his leprofy : becaufe it is not likely he would or 
 could appear in public with fuch a difeafe as his v/as \ 
 
 Ver. 1 r. becaufe he hath loofed my ccrd % &c.] that is, God hath deftroyed 
 my authority by the afflictions he hath laid upon me. Therefore thefe profli- 
 gates bid me defiance, and fliew the utmoft contempt of me in my prefence. 
 The phrafe he hath loofed my cord feems equivalent to that other in chap. xii. 
 li^ he loofeth the bond of kings. 
 
 they have let loofe the bridle before mel Or as the Greek verfion turns it,. t ley 
 have cafl aivay the bridle of my countenance '. My very look was wont to curb 
 their licentioufnefs ; but they have now cafl off all reipeit, and infult me to 
 my face. 
 
 = Cnyj3 LXX. Ki^x;a. a-jrut their harp. It is allowed to mean a flringed injirument, in 
 the titles of Pfal. iv. and vi. Compare Lament, iii. 14, 63. 
 
 " nbS LXX. fljyMr.ita proverbium vulgi. 
 
 '■ See the notes on chap ii. 7. vii. j. 
 
 '^ T^JVi tiut in the marginal corredtion '"in* ; as alfo theChalJee interpreter read, for he 
 tranflatcs it my chain. The fyoonimous words rnDID " ^aW and r\^V " "'''^ denote poli^ 
 tical authority, in Pfal. ii» 3. 
 
 'JDO '□"! '*' ^'''dlf of my face is the fame cojiftruQion as lZH^S- !3">n the fword of theie 
 mouth, chap. v. 15.
 
 24^ THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXX. 
 
 iz, 13. The fpawn of vice ilart up, her fliouting throng 
 Pelt me with fawcy malice of the tongue ; 
 
 Befiege 
 
 Vcr. 12. theyoulh'] Such as he mentions ver. i. they that are yaunger then 
 I have me in derifion. The infult they offered to him was reviling him, and 
 giving him a kick when he chanced to be in their way; they fujh away my feet. 
 Mr. Heath tranflates it, they trip up my heels. 
 
 they raife againjl me, &c.] In this fentence and throughout the two following 
 verfes he compares his fituation, lurrounded by thele mifcreants and over- 
 whelmed with abufe, to that of a town which is befieged and ftormed. Their 
 deftroying troops % caji up "^ an high^way againjl me ; alluding to the throwing up 
 of intrenchments and mounts by the befiegers, in order to engage the enemy 
 on their walls, and more efFeftually to annoy the town with arrows and engines 
 of war. 
 
 Ver. 13. They mar my path} They dejlroyed my path. Thefe expreflions feem 
 to denote, in their literal meaning, the deftruftion of the fine walks, gardens, 
 and vineyards about a town, by the befiegers as they make their approaches. 
 In the metr.phor, the words may import the havock thefe villains made in his 
 charader and dignity, by their opprobrious fcurrilities. Their hideous hoot- 
 ings are reprefented by the fliouts and exultations of the befieging army, when 
 they have made a wide breach in the walls; they triumphed ' in my calamity. His 
 
 being 
 
 ^ nni3 The learned Schultens hath fhewn from the Arabian writers, that this word 
 fignifies a haftard. The phrafe on my right hand they rife up denotes their reviling language. 
 They abufed his charader with foul reproaches. Thus Pfal. cix. 6. Set thou a -wicked man 
 over him, and let afufe cccufer (in the Hebrew, Satan) Jiand at his right hand. 
 
 ^ DTH mn"lK '^^ troops of their de/iruiiion, i. e. their troops of deJiruElion. We meet 
 with the like tranrpofitioh of the pronoun affix in the Syriac Teftament, Luke xvi. 2. 
 "imn'Il nil"l thyjlcivardjkip. nirnX chap. vi. 19. ne troops of Tema. 
 
 *■ 17D* It fignifies to moke a caufnvay : the noun n7Dl3 '^ highway, or caufeway, is under- 
 ftood. Compare Ifaiah Ivii 14. with Ixii. 10. When the word is ufed as a military term, 
 it means the works which are caft up by a befieging army, Ifaiah xxxvii. 33. £zek. xvii. 17. 
 
 ' ib'yV Mr. Heath's verfion of this word, they triumph, agrees with the Syriac; They 
 rejoiced (lin) '" ''■'«' which hath befallen me. That interpreter read ♦rTn'^i as it is in our 
 
 printed
 
 Chap. XXX. THE B OOK OF JOB. 247 
 
 Beficge me, and with foulcft fcorn invade 
 My walks of honour, now bereft of aid, 
 Like war; when, roaring through the burilen wall, 
 14. It rolls with fury o'er the city's fall. 
 
 15. O the diflradling terrors of that hour! 
 
 When evil like a whirlwind broke my pow'r j 
 
 When 
 
 being deftitute of proteftors againft this outrage, he compares to the diftrefs 
 of a city that is without alTiftance in its utmoft extremity : There is no helper 
 againft ^ them. And in the next verfe, he refembles their numbers, rage, and 
 violence, to the fury with which the troops of the enemy pour through the 
 breach, and fpread devaftation over the unhappy town : They came on as to a 
 wide breach ', they rolled themfelves along as "" defolation. See Mr. Heath. 
 
 Ver. 1 5 — 3 1 . Terrors are turned, &c.] He now pafleth to a general review of 
 his other afflidlions, which takes up the remainder of the chapter. The ilyle 
 here abates fomewhat in its vehemence, and is more the language of defpair- 
 \r\" grief than of indignation. This fifteenth verfe may be tranflated, 
 
 Terrors were turned " upon me : 
 They purfued my dignity ° as wind : 
 
 And 
 
 printed Hebrew text, iti co quod acctdit tn'ihi; which the marginal correvflion changes into 
 if^Tn*? "» >^y calamity. Mr. Heath remarks, that Schultens hath illuftrated iVvV in his 
 commentary on Prov. x. i. and (hewn that it fignifies eulmen fcandere to be at the heighth of 
 their wljhes. 
 
 k y;^ again/} them. The prepofition fignifies agairift in chap. viii. 4. If thy children have 
 Jinttedagain/i him {'['7). See alfo chap. xx. 27. 
 
 I y"13 It is ufed for a breach in a wall 1 Kings xi. 27. and Ifaiah xxx. 1 3. 
 
 "" nnn it denotes fimilitudc in chap, xxxiv. 26. Hcjii':;ih them ai wicked men. 
 
 " "IDnn were turned, ft"l")ri they purfued- The firft of thefe verbs is fingular and mafcu- 
 line : the other is fingular and feminine : yet the nominative to both verbs is rnH/JS plural 
 and feminine. This is an Arabic idiom. 
 
 " 'n21J The Chaldee turns it 'nijDI my hrdjVtp. ^'"U is ^/-r/W chap, xxxiv. 18. 
 Job has that title given him chap, xxi. 28. H^HJ therefore means his princely dight'ty.
 
 2^d THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXX, 
 
 When my blifs vanifli'd — like a cloud of rain 
 Big ^vith falfe prorniic to the thirfty plain. 
 16- And now my foul in forrow melts away, 
 
 Left luifufLain'd in ill's dillrefling day; 
 
 17. My 
 
 yfnd ray zvelfare ■' pajfed away as a cloud. 
 
 The terrible change which had befallen him, is exprefled in general terms in 
 the firfl: member of the period ; Terrors, &c. the particular lofs of his au- 
 thority in the fecond ; and in the laft, the ruin of his whole felicity. 
 
 as v:inS\ that is, afioriny -wind ' as the chaldee turns it. That this is the image, 
 is evident from ver. 22. I'hoii lift eft me up to the wind : thou caufcji me to ride 
 tipcnit, &c. 
 
 as a cloud'] tranfient duration is exprefled by the fame emblem chap. vii. 9. 
 But here difappointment may be alfo included ' : For Schultens obferves, that 
 it is ufual with the Arabian writers to compare hopes and promifes which are 
 not fulfilled, to a cloud which railes expcftation of a plentiful fliower but is 
 prefently difperfed by the wind. If we lived in the parched country of Arabia, 
 we fliould be more fenfible of the propriety and force of this comparifon. 
 
 Ver. 16. ttpon me'] ifi me' -, zs in Pfalmxlii. 4. fVhen I remember thefe things, I 
 pour out my foul in me \ We fay in our language, at leaft in poetry, fuch a one 
 is diffohed in grief The foundation of the metaphor is, that in exceflive grief, 
 as well as fear, the mind lofes all confillency. The Arabians ftyle a fearful 
 perfon, one who hath a watry heart ; or whofe heart melts away like water ". 
 Compare Exod. xv. 1 5. 
 
 p »j-iy;_^» my welfare. It denotes in Arabic, as Schultens fhews, all that amplitude of 
 fortunes which conftitutes a compleat worldly felicity. 
 
 <! m-| Chald. XSyt a furious florin See Pfal. xviii. 43. where again the Targum has 
 l?QyT Compare Job iv 9. where a fudden and deftrudlivc calamity is likenedto the havock 
 made by a ftorm of wind. 
 
 ' Jude ver. 12. Clouds without water. 
 
 ' 'by 
 
 « ^'^y in me. Scour bible renders '';7yj3 ver. 17. my bones are pierced in me. 
 " Pococke in Carm, Tograi. p. 10 1.
 
 Chap. XXX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 249 
 
 17. My pain ne'er flumbers, all night long I gi'oan, 
 It racks each finew, and corrodes each bone : 
 
 18. My mantle, by my llrong difcafe pofTeil:, 
 
 Hath chang'd its form, and girds me like my vefl: ; 
 
 19. I'm 
 
 Ver. 17. My hones, &c.] This and the next verfe relate to his difeafe, 
 which tortured him by night as well as by day without intermiflion. Some of 
 the fymptoms which he defcribes, refemble thofe of the rheumatifm. They 
 might however, I fuppofe, all be the effeds of his ulcers. See the note on 
 chap, ii. 7. vii. 5. 
 
 myjtneivs] The hebrew word tranflated Jinews occurs no more. I rather 
 think, it fhould be turned my gnawing pains ". 
 
 Ver. 18. By the great force, &c.] He here giveth us a ftrong idea of the vio- 
 lence and naufeoufnefs of his difeafe. Foul matter ilTued from his ulcers in fucli 
 abundance, as to foak through his robe and change its form. It no longer 
 appeared like a garment, much lefs like a loofe upper garment; but ftuck as 
 clofe to him as his tunic. 
 
 By the great force of my difeafe my upper 
 
 garment is changed^ : 
 
 It bindeth me about as ^ my tunic. 
 
 The 
 
 " *p"lV Tny gnawers. It feems to be the aiSlive participle of the verb p")V which fignifies 
 Xagnau) ver. 3. gnawing thexvUdernefs, that is, the roots of wild plants. See the note there. 
 Caftellio fecms to have underftood 'p"iy to mean my tormentors : for his verfion is, itifeflorque 
 fine ulla intermiffione. The Chaldee renders it ^DVO '% which gnajh their teeth : The Vul- 
 gate, et qui (dolores) me comedunt, non dormiunt. And thofe (pains) which prey upon me, take 
 no rej}. 
 
 ^ tt'£3nn' ii changed. It fignifies to put off a garment, alfo to alter one's form and 
 appearance, to difguife. See I Sam. xxviii. 9. I Kings xx. 38. ti^tjnn^ is here ufed paf- 
 fively, as CSOnn' '^^^ warmed chap. xxxi. 20. Crinfoz turns the firft member of this 
 verfe, Mes habits font tous penetrez de la matiere qui fort en abandanu de mes plaies. 
 
 y '£)3 as. The Chaldee interpreter confidered '£) as expletive, 'Jin3 2iii fcundum 
 tunicam meam after the manner if my tunic. Our bible tranflation renders it according to in 
 Exod. xvi. 2 1. according as in Malachi ii. 9. 
 
 K k
 
 2^0 THE BOOK OF JOB. , Chap. XXX^ 
 
 19. I'm held impure, as one bemir'd all o'er ; 
 The public fcorn, like fweepings of the floor. 
 
 20. To thee my fervent fupplications cry, 
 Deaf is thy ear, and pitilefs thine eye. 
 
 2 I . Thou 
 
 The coat, or tunic, was a clofe-bodied frock. T\\t garment, being here diftin- 
 o-uifhed from th.it, muft mean the byke, or loofe gown, which was worn over 
 the tunic''. 
 
 Ver. 19. He hath cafi me, &c.] Here he complains of God, whom he men- 
 tions abruptly as in other places. See chap. xvii. 4. xxiii. 3. The complaint 
 is that the grofleft turpitude was thrown on his charafter, by means of his 
 affliiflions. He was held in abomination : He appeared to men as morally foul, 
 as one appears foul in a literal fenfe who hath been rolled in mud •, and as con- 
 temptible as the dirt of the ftreets and the fweepings of the hearth. This in- 
 famy lay heavy on his mind. Even his hope in the future judgement could 
 not make him eafy to leave the world with the horrid character of a wicked 
 wretch accurfed of God. He had often, therefore, and importunately begged 
 of God to bring him to a trial before he died, but without effedl; as he com- 
 plains in the next verfe. 
 
 into the mire] He had reprefented the odium which his calamities had brought 
 upon him, by the fame image and in the fame complaining way chap. ix. 31. 
 2'ct haft thou fhinged me in a ditch, fo that tnine own clothes abhor me. 
 
 like ditft and afies] This feems to be a proverbial expre.Tion for vilencjs and 
 contewptiblenefs. Gea. xviii. 27. 
 
 Ver. 20 3 1 . / cry unto thee, &c.] He now turns direftly to God, whom he 
 
 addreffeth on the fubjeft of his affliftions in very moving terms, to the end of 
 the thirty-firft verfe. 
 
 Ver. 20. I ftandup,"] ftanding being the ufual pofture in prayer among the 
 Hebrews, toftajid, or ftand up, is fometimesput ior topray, as Grotius remarks 
 in his note on Matt. vi. 5. See Gen.. xviii. 22. Jerem. xv. i. 
 
 = Sec Shaw's Travels, p. 216. 410,
 
 Chap. XXX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 2^1 
 
 21. Thou once waft gracious, why fo aker'dnow, 
 To me fo alter'd, fo fevere thy brow ? 
 Cruel to me ; me, fo belov'd of late, 
 Thy ftrong hand crufhes with its dreadful weight. 
 
 82. Rous'd by almighty force, a furious ftorm, 
 Commiflion'd thy ftern purpofe to perform, 
 Upcaught me, whirl'd me on its eddying guft, 
 Then dafh'd me down, and fliatter'd me to duft. 
 
 23. I 
 
 Ver. 21. Thou art become cruel \ &c.] This language to God is crude and 
 irreverent. His fpirit is far from being humbled as yet. The embarraffment 
 of the poem is flill kept up, but is on the eve of a folution. 
 
 thou oppofeji thyfelf^, &c.] The differing verfions of the hebrew word fhew 
 its ambiguity. Mr. Heath preferrs the fenfe it bears in the Ethiopia, tbou haft 
 overwhelmed me. 
 
 Ver, 22. Thou lifteft me up, &c.] Thou liftedft me up, thou caufedft, &c. thou 
 dijfolvedft, &c. He refers to his cruel overthrow •, which he reprefents by the 
 forcible image of being caught up high into the air, by a ftorm of wind, then 
 thrown down and dafhed in pieces on the ground. 
 
 my fubftance '] The hebrew word feems to import all that he once was, and 
 pojfejfed; his riches, his authority, his honours, his health, and his good 
 name. 
 
 • "ITiDS cruel. LXX. atAir)iM>uf unmercifully. We turn it fierce in chap. xli. lo. (Heb. 
 ver. 2 ) but cruel in Ifaiah xiii. 9. Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath 
 and fierce anger. See alfo Deut. xxxii. 33. 
 
 ^ 'aUtyn LXX. fif Efiaoya.<ra; thou hafl fcourged me, Chaldee 'JJDTJin ihou threaienejl 
 me. Vulgate, adverfiiris mihi, thou oppofefi thyfelf againjl me. Syriac, 'jnOiOD thou haft 
 bound me with fetters. 
 
 " n'jyin quod fat mihi, from ^>fuit, Cocceius. 
 
 Kk 2
 
 252 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXX. 
 
 23. I know, that, foon, thy unrelenting doom 
 
 Will bring me to man's common home the tomb: 
 
 24. But, O afTwage thefe pains, with gentle hand 
 In peace difmifs me to that dreary land : 
 
 25. Was 
 
 Ver. 23. For I know, &c.] If I do not miftake, he exprefleth here a firm 
 perfuafion that his difeafe would prove mortal'': I think he begs in the next 
 verfe for a mitigation of his tortures, and an eafy death : And in the 25th 
 verfe he urges his petition for that mercy, by the companion which he himfelf 
 had always felt for the wretched. 
 
 Ver. 24. Howheity &c.] The firfl: fentence of this obfcure period lies very- 
 clear in the Clialdee, Only let him not fend his Jiroke " in hot anger ' ; that is, let 
 him not inflidl upon nic a hard denth. The Pfalmift, praying to God not to 
 affliifl him in feverity, exprefleth himfelf in fimilar terms: Pfalm vi. i. O 
 Lord rebuke me not in thine anger, neither cbajien me in thy hot dif^lea- 
 fure. 
 
 The hebrew text in the fecond fentence appears to me depraved. But not 
 one of the ancient verfions will affift us to reftore it. Poffibly the following 
 tranflation may give it a fenfe which agrees with the context -, O that s there 
 
 might 
 
 * See chap. vi. 21. xvi. 22. (confult the note) xvii. i. 
 
 ' The hebrew is T Pt/Ly K^ ^^' l"f ""' fi^d ihejlroh. In chap, xxiii. 2. "!♦ a Jlroke, 
 denotes his fufferings in genera!. Here the connedtion fhews it to mean tht Jlroke of 
 
 f Knn"13 '« '-'^' anger. The hebrew is 'J/i for 'yi3> ^^ ellipfis of the prepofition 
 being very common in the poetical books. NilDI 'S a metaphor for violent anger from the 
 bnling of water over the fire. See chap. xli. 31 • Heb. ver. 23. 'j;^ may alfo be a meta- 
 phor for wrath, taken from the fame thing : for it may be derived from HJ^D '" caufeto boil- 
 Ifaiah Ixiv. 2. Heb. ver. i. 
 
 s Cc< utlnam ! The englifh bible renders CTJ^f that inlChron. iv. 10. that thou 
 luculdtjl blefs me indeed, &c.
 
 Chap. XXX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 2S3 
 
 25. Was I unfeeling of another's woe? 
 
 Did not my forrow with the mourner's flow ? 
 
 26. Bright were the vifions, which my fancy fram'd, 
 Of heav'ns unclouded and of hopes unfham'd : 
 But foul adveriity, with fudden night. 
 
 Blotted thofe lovely vifions from my fight. 
 
 27. Since when, my tortures no remiflion find. 
 Fire in my veins, and tumult in my mind : 
 
 28. I mourn, 
 
 might he., in his dejlreyingjlroke^, an alleviation' of thefe^ pains! He prayeth. 
 earnertly for a gentle death. 
 
 \''er. 26. fVhen I looked., &c.] He expedled to be made happy all his life 
 through the divine beneciiftion on his charity and other virtues. But inftead 
 of that, he was made moft miferable. This is his complaint here. The verfcs 
 which follow, are an enlargement on his miferable condition. 
 
 Ver. 27. My bowels boiled., &c.] My inward parts boil without intermijjion : 
 evil times have befallen me '. Thefe expreffions, in their literal meaning, defcribe 
 the violent inward heat caufcd by his inflammatory difeafe. They may like- 
 wife include the ferment of his mind ever fince his afP.iftions came upon him. 
 
 "The 
 
 *" ITD his dtJiruSlion. It means a calamity that brings death. For the verb in Arabic 
 fignifies to die, and in its fourth conjugation tojlay. Vid. Caftell. Compare Job xxxi. 19. 
 Prov. xxiv. 22. his deftruEiton means the deftruiSion irflifled by him, i. e. God. 
 
 • VIC^ cm alleviation. Schultens illuftrates this word by the Arabic, and has made appear,, 
 with probabiHty, that it means (1) eafement of "the throat from a ftoppage; (2) eafement in- 
 any other cafe of diftrefs. See his Commentary. 
 
 '' 'iTO OS to thefe things. The want of an antecedent to this pronoun is one caufe of the- 
 difHculty of the whole fentence. But it cannot be thought, that a man in the moft violent' 
 agitations of grief {hould exprefs himfelf with accuracy. The antecedent was in his own 
 mind. He had been fpeaking of his tortures : Thefe were the things from which he wanted, 
 to be relieved. 
 
 ' Ciftcllio. 6
 
 -j-4 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXX. 
 
 28. I mourn, with fweltcr'd countenance I mourn, 
 In hotter flames than hotteft funs I burn ; 
 And among crowds, unable to contain, 
 Shriek in the anguifli of outrageous pain. 
 
 29. In lonefome wafles, where mournful creatures yell, 
 Where wails the fcreaming ollrich, let me dwell ; 
 
 30. A 
 
 The heart and the reins, in the oriental figurative ftyle, denote tlie thoughts and 
 palTions. 
 
 Ver. 28. I went mourning., &c.] / am grown black ", but not with the fun". 
 IJland up, andfiriek out in the ajfembly. His diftemper had made his complexion 
 as fwarthy as that of the poor labourers in the field, who are expofed to the 
 fcorching fun in thofe hot climates : and fo fharp were his pains, that he was not 
 able to forbear flirieking out before company. 
 
 Ver. 29. / am a brother, &c.] Affinity in difpofition and circumftances, as 
 well as in blood, is denoted by this term among the eaftern nations. 
 
 dragons — owls'\ dragons — ofiriches. The hebrew name which is tranflated 
 dragons is Tannim, or Tannin'', and Tannot °. What fpecies of animals is in- 
 tended by it, has not yet been determined with certainty. Its being coupled 
 with the ojirich here, and in feveral other places'", Ihews it to be an inhabitant 
 of the defert. It is exprefsly called fo, in Mai. i. 3. the dragons of the wilder- 
 
 nefs i 
 
 " Mr. Heath. TlDbn *npj lip fignifies black chap. vi. 16. JVhich are black by reafon 
 of the ice. The verb "iVn denotes cujlom and habit. So it is ufed in the conjugation hith- 
 pael Pfal. xxxv. 14. 
 
 " Lament, iv. 3. Tannin, which is with the Chaldee termination of the plural number; 
 The marginal corredion, however, rezds Tannim. 
 
 ' Malachi i. 3. 
 
 p Ifaiah xiii. 21, 22. xxxiv. 13. xliii. 20. The reader will be pleafed to take notice, that 
 this word Tannim is twice ufed as a noun fingular, viz. Ezek. xxix. 3. xxxii. 2. In the 
 former of thefe two places our bible turns it « </r/Jfe« ; but in the latter, a uhale. But it 
 fignifies in ho\.h.<he crocodile.
 
 Chap. XXX. THE BOOK OF jOBv uss^ 
 
 30. A Ikeleton, of bones bak'd dry within, 
 Scarce fhaded with a fwart and fhrivell'd fkin : 
 
 31. My pipe is broken, and my harp is dumb, 
 Grief with her weeping train to rae is come: 
 
 And 
 
 Mefs ; where by the wildernefs is meant the deferts of Arabia Petrasa, the 
 country ot Elau and of Job. It alfo is a creature that has a mournful voice, 
 Micah i. 8. / will wail and howl . . . I will make a wailing like the dragons, 
 and mourning like the oftriches. Laftly, the female hath breads, and fuckles its- 
 young. Lamentations iv. 3. Our Tranflators, fenfible that the defcription 
 there cannot agree to the dragon, render it fea-mojifiers. Even the fea-monjlers 
 (Tannin) draw out the breajl, they give fuck to their young ones : the daughter of 
 my people is become cruel like the oftriches in the wildernefs. The ingenious Dr. 
 Shaw is of opinion, that Tannim, 'Tannin, and Tamiol are to be taken for Jack- 
 alls '* i which make a hideous howling in the night '. 
 
 Owls'] in the margin, oftriches. The hebrew term is lenot jaanah ', the 
 daughters of vociferation. The males, are called _/«««/»/ (Lament, iv. 3.) which 
 our Tranflators render Oftriches. Dr. Shaw was an ear-witnefs to the hideous 
 noifes which ollriches make in the night : " During the lonefome part of the 
 night, fays that entertaining traveller, they often made very doleful and hide- 
 ous noifes ; which would fometimes be like the roaring of a lion, at other 
 times it would bear a nearer refemblance to the hoarfer voice of other quadru- 
 peds, particularly of the bull and the ox. I have often heard them groan as 
 if they were in the greateft agonies." Travels, p. 450 — 455. 410. 
 
 Ver. 30. My Jkin, &c.] As his difeafe made fo large a part of his deplorable 
 condition, he mentions again the violence of it ; in the change it had effefted 
 in his complexion, and the intolerable heat which had dried, as it were, the 
 very marrow in his bones. 
 
 ' Travels, p. 4" i. tIo. 
 
 ' See the cnglifh tranfTation of Bulbequius, p. 58, ^9. where there is an account of 
 Jackalls. 
 
 • " njy vociferation, from pl^V exdamare, damare fortiur. Exod, xsxil. iS. It ii not the 
 tmite of them that Jhout ( mi J? ) far majiery.
 
 25^ THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXX. 
 
 And fighs, and plaintive founds, and funeral dole 
 Are now the mufic of my fadden'd foul. 
 
 Chap. 
 XXXI. 
 Ver. I. In folemn league I bound my roving eye ; 
 
 " Bevrare the lovely maid, from beauty fly :" 
 
 2, 3. For 
 
 Ver. 31. My harp^ &c.] Tbefe feem proverbial exprefTions for a moft melan- 
 choly change of condition from happy to wretchecj. We cannot form an ade- 
 quate idea of the force of the latter exprefiion, the voice of them that -Lueep., 
 without reading the accounts which travellers have given us of the excefiive 
 lamentations of the eafterns in their funeral procefTions. See Dr. Ruffel's 
 Natural Hijtory of Aleppo, and Pitt's Account of the Mahometans, 
 
 tny organ'] my pipe. See the note on chap. xxi. 12. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 The apology contained in this chapter, and which turns chiefly on his behaviour 
 in private life, is not the effufion of vanity and felf-applaufe. It is, in regard to 
 his antagonifts, necelTary felf-defence and folid refutation. Yet, I think, from 
 its connection with the foregoing account of his fufferings, and from verfes 35, 
 36, 37, his favourite defign evidently is to fliew, that God had multiplied his 
 wounds without caufe '. In this view he is chargeable with juftifying himfelf 
 more than God ; that is, making his own caufe to be more juft than that of 
 Providence. However, if we except this fault, the pifbure he has drawn is a 
 mafterly piece of moral painting. Nothing can be more finiflied and amiable 
 than the chara6ler here reprefented. It is an exemplification of the moft bene- 
 volent virtue, infpired and ennobled by the moft rational and exalted piety. 
 In fliort, this apology may be juftly ftyled a fine epitome of morality and 
 religion. 
 
 There is a manifeft diflocation of the 35th, 36th, and 37th verfes-, which 
 are a bold defire of an inditement from God, and an appeal to this account of 
 
 his 
 
 ' Chap. ix. 17.
 
 Chap. XXXr. THE BOOK OF JO B. 25.7 
 
 2, 3. For O what ruin, from the Pow'r above, 
 
 Hangs o'er the lewd, and burfls on lawlcfs love ! 
 
 4. Could 
 
 his life as an anfwer to it. Thofe verfes therefore ought to clofe the whole. 
 The 38th, 39th, and 40th verfes, which are an exculpation of himfelf from 
 the charge of oppreffion, come in very improperly after them ; and fliould 
 rather be fubjoined to fome other articles of injufliice. The order in which I 
 have ventured to arrange the feveral heads of his defence, is what appeared to 
 me moft natural : 
 
 Firft, Lewdnefs, falftiood, and adultery; ver. i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12. 
 
 Secondly, Injuftice, in its feveral kinds ; ver. 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 
 38, sg, 40. 
 
 Thirdly, Refentment of injuries ; ver. 29, 30. 
 
 Fourthly, Inhumanity; ver. 16 — 20, 31, 32. 
 
 Fifthly, Avarice; ver. 24, 25. 
 
 Sixthly, Idolatry; ver. 26, 27, 28. 
 
 Seventhly, Froteftation of fincerity in this defence; ver. 33, 34. 
 
 Laftly, His offer to bring his caufe with God to an iflue on the footing of 
 this apology ; ver. 35, 36, 37. 
 
 It is hoped, that the above tranfpofitions will be excufed ; fince they do not 
 prejudice the fenfe, nor alter even a word of the infpired writer. 
 
 Ver. I. PFiy then, &c.] ibatl I would not " gaze upon '^ a maid. Compare 
 Matt. V. 28. 
 
 Sir 
 
 " HOT Caftellio renders nJ3 nequaquam ; pailioiiem fed cum meis ocuUs nequaquam afpicert 
 virgines. This particle frequently fignifies mn in the Koran. It is alfo ufed in the fenfe 
 of ne in Cant, viii- 4. that yejlir not (HD) *(?> ""■ (illDl) awake my love, &c. See likewife 
 Pocock. in Carm. Tegr. p. 107. 
 
 " ^2^3^^t it means to look wijlfully upon, in Pfal. xxxvii. 10. where it is englifticd t» 
 tonfider diligently. It ought to have been rendered in fome fuch way in ver. 20. of the fore- 
 going chapter ; IJland up and thou laokejl wijlfully upon me, without affording me any affifl- 
 ance. 
 
 L 1
 
 258 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXI. 
 
 4. Could fliades conceal me ? or, ^vhene'er I ftray'd. 
 One flep his all-obferving fight evade? 
 
 j: If e'er I walk'd with Falfhood, e'er my feet 
 
 Stole to the winding paths of bafe Deceit ■ ■ 
 
 6. Let 
 
 Sir Richard Steel has juftly remarked, that when a man isaccufed, it is allow- 
 able not only to fay as much as will refute his adverfaries -, but, if he can, he 
 may aflert things of himfelf praife-worthy : which ought not to be called. 
 vanity in him, but juftice againfb his opponent; by proving it is not only falfe 
 what is faid as to the fault laid to his charge, but alfo that he hath exerted the 
 contrary virtue. 
 
 Ver. 2. portion — iiiheritance] Thefe are terms for divine punifhments, chap. 
 XX. 29. xxvii. 13. 
 
 Ver. 3. the wicked — workers of iniquity'] Thefe general expreflions are limited 
 by the context to mean debauchers of virgins. 
 
 aflrange pi'.ni/hment *] The hebrew word comprehends all the tragical things 
 intended by dufcridfion in the former fentencc. 
 
 Ver. 5. ivith vanity'] falJJjood^'. Falfhood and deceit being here placed imme- 
 diately after tlie crime of corrupting virgins, import, I apprehend, the falf& 
 promifes and other deceiving arts praflifed by the feducers of women. Other- 
 wife, they may be underftood as oppofed to that prchiiy which he had main- 
 tained in all his focial intcrcourfe. Itmay be proper to obferve, this and all' 
 the following articlesof defence are delivered in the form of a folemn oath; 
 If I have dene thus and thus, God do fo and more to me. The imprecatory claufe- 
 of the oath is for the moft part exprefled tliroughout the apology : And where 
 it is omitted, it is underftood ; as in this place and fome few more. 
 
 // tny foot hath hajied, &c.] To hafle to deceit can fignify nothing lefs 
 than promptitude and eagernefs to deceive; which is the efFeft of inveterate 
 
 habit. 
 
 " 1DJ '" many copks. It meajis in Arabic ^//tW^a; iiffiiSiions, m'lfery. Vid. SchuUens' 
 Comnidnta^y 
 
 1 ^^*^iy It nieans cliffimuln'nn zmA falfe. profeffwn in Pfulm xii. ?. Theyfpiak vanity (Klty) 
 (v.iy ■■>■■■/ ivith bis vei^hhciif : \\\ih f.illa-iii^ /ipSj and u- ill? a double heart do thiy fpeai. See 
 ilfo PfjI. cxliv. S. xwi. 4.
 
 Chap. XXXr. THE BOOK OF JOB. 259 
 
 6. Let God, vi-lio knows me upright from my youth, 
 Weigh me in his impartial fcale of truth. 
 
 9. If, fir'd by wedded charms, the fav'ring hour 
 I watch'd, in ambufh at my neighbour's bow'r ; 
 
 10. May 
 
 'habit. But a vindication of himfelf from a halit of deceiving would be faint 
 indeed. The tranflation I apprehend ought to have been, if my foot huth gone 
 in fiknce'^ to deceit. The expreffion to go in filence charaderifes the ftill and 
 private manner of executing fchemes of fraud and feducftion. 
 
 Ver. 7. If my ft ep, &c.] The firft fentence cxprefleth the commifllon of fome 
 unjuft action: for the k;^)' denotes the vjay of juftice\ The fecond fentence 
 mentions the corrupt defire and purpofe excited by fome vifible objeft. The 
 laft fpecifies the tempting objedl, namely a bribe; and if any thing^ hath cleaved 
 to my hands, that is, as the Greek verfion explains it, If I have touched gifts zvith 
 my hands. His adverfaries gave broad hints that he had been guilty of this 
 crime, chap. xi. 14. xv. 34. xxii. 8. 
 
 Ver. 8. let my offspring, &c.] He now had no offspring. If this tranflation 
 therefore be right, the meaning of the imprecation muft be -, that he fliould 
 have deferved the extirpation of his family, in cafe he had taken gifts to per- 
 vert the ways of judgement. But this latter member of the period will better 
 tally with the former, if we turn the hebrew word according to its primary 
 ficrnification i let my produce" be rooted up; by floods or other caufes of defo- 
 lation. 
 
 X tt'nn flcnter ivit, from nj^n fl^'"'^- Mercer well expreffeth the meaning, (t furtive ac 
 flcnti pcde adfraudem ivi. 
 
 '■ Amos ii. 6, 7. Prov. xvii. 23- A wicked man iaketh a gift out of the bofom, to pervert the 
 ways of judgement. 
 
 b DIXO ^"y thing. It feems to be the fame with HQINti '" Deut. xiii. 17. And there 
 JhcU cleave nought ( X*? lUSlNO ""' ^"V ti''"g) "f the curfed thing to thine hand. 
 
 ' 'K^NV my produce. The Chz\iiee renders It the Jhoots of my young pla7!ts ; Crinfoz, qu'cn 
 arrache entierement tout ce que }e planterai. We englilh it that which cometh out of the earthy 
 in Ifaiah xlii. 5. 
 
 L 1 2
 
 o6o THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXI. 
 
 JO. May the poor captive's lot my wife difgrace, 
 Mean tafks by day, by night a forc'd embrace : 
 
 II. For 'tis a crime, ye judges, which fliould fhare 
 The fliarpeft vengeance of the fword you bear : 
 
 12. For 
 
 Ver. 9. If mine heart, &c.] If mine heart was allured^ by {towards^) another 
 man's wife '. A woman here means a married woman. It ftands oppofed to a 
 maid, in ver. i. and is englilhed wife in ver. 10. my wife; in the hebrew, 
 my woman. 
 
 Ver. 10. Let my wife grind, &c.] I meet with no evidence that the term grind- 
 is ufed in fcripture in an obfcene fenfe. The ancients ground their corn with 
 hand-mills. This was the work of female fervants « ; and captives were em- 
 ployed in all fervile works *". Some underftand the whole verfe of voluntary 
 projlituticn. An idea fo fhocking could fcarce enter into his heart. I rather 
 think, he refers to the compulfive meafures that w€re ufed towards womeO' 
 captives \ 
 
 Ver. 1 1, an iniquity to be punifhed by the judges'] This verfion appears truly 
 to exprefs the fenfe of the original. The hebrew word for judges ' clearly 
 means an authoritative judge in Exod. xxi. 22.^ and the phrafe an iniquity of 
 the judges ^ mult furely fignify an iniquity fit to be puniihed by legal judges '. 
 
 "■ nriDi inefcatur. Schultens. 
 
 ' 'jy It denotes the motion of the heart towards the alliuing objeft, in Cant. vii. 1 1. his 
 dtftre is towards ( 7J? j me. 
 
 ' r\\i?iit LXX. SI i^r,xo>M%r,cit D xafha, (ua yjvaixi aiJ^o; srsfB, If my heart wvitqftcr the wife of 
 another man. 
 
 e Exod. xi. 5. See alfo the Odyfley xx. 105, &c. 
 
 *■ See Iliad, r. ni; — 51. 
 
 ' D'b'bS Alfo the verb in I Sam. ii. 2;. fignifies to e,\ecute the office of a judpeby 
 Irgal authority : If one man fm agalnft amther the judge {,^T\1^) fiall judge him (I'j'^fll) 
 
 '• D''7'7i3 pj/ on iniquity of the judges. 
 
 ' So ch.ip. xix. 29. 2*in mjIV iniquitits oftkefuvd, that is, ivortJ>y of the punijhment 
 tj thifn'crd.
 
 Chap. XXXI. THE BOOK OF JOB. 261 
 
 12. For 'tis a flame, whofe furious wrath would ftioot 
 Through all my fubftance and devour the root. 
 
 7. If, when I faw fome glitt'ring prize difplay'd, 
 My eyes defir'd it, and my heart obey'd; 
 
 And, turning from the path where Juftice flandS;, 
 The tempting bribe defil'd my venal hands ; 
 
 8. Perilhmy crops ! or let my harvefts feed 
 The wafteful riots of an alien breed. 
 
 jj. If I defpis'd my flave, controlling righr 
 
 By will imperious and a mailer's might ; 
 J4. Howlhall I face the righteous Judge of all. 
 
 Or how defend me at his dreaded call ? 
 15. Was not our Maker one ? and one our frame ? 
 
 Was not the womb his mould ? and mine the fame ? 
 
 21. If 
 
 Ver. 12. Afire^ &c.] The pfalmift reprefents ruinating calamities by the. 
 fame fimile. Pfal. Ixxxiii. 14. 
 
 Ver. 14. when God rifetb up] to judgement. The phrafeology feems to be 
 taken from human judicatures. A judge, I fuppofe, flood up when he pafled 
 lentence. The fcripcure frequently exprefleth God's judicial interpofitions in 
 this manner. See Pfal. iii. 8. vii. 6. ix. 20. xii. 7. 
 
 Ver. 15. Bid not he that made, &c.] I have met with this humane fentiment 
 fomewhere in Seneca, but cannot now recoiled the paflage. The equality of' 
 all men by nature, is a Itrong argument againft tyrannical abufe of thofe di-.- 
 flindlions, which divine Providence has eftablillied in the world for the good . 
 of fociety. 
 
 tne] one God and father of all, who is no refpefter of perfons. 
 
 Ver. 18. For from my youth, &c.] His natural temper was humane, and 
 
 grew to a habit in early life. The tranflation of this difficult verfe Ihould be, 
 
 7 1 apprehend.
 
 a6a THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXI. 
 
 21. If at an orphan's head I fliook my hand, 
 Secure the hall of judgement to command; 
 
 22. That arm be fliatter'd, let my flioulder's ball 
 Disjointed from its guilty mortife fall : 
 
 23. I fear'd deftrucStion : could my pow'r contend 
 With pow'r almighty the wron^'d orphan's friend ? 
 
 38. Its 
 
 I apprehciid. For compajfion " grew up wilb me, I brought it " frcr,i my mother'' s 
 ivomb. 
 
 Ver. 2r. my help in the gat e'\ He means his authority and influence in the 
 court of judicature, in which he prefided. See chap. xxix. ver. 7, &c. 
 
 Ver. 22. Then let mine arm, Sec] Then let my Jhoulder fall from the Jhoulder- 
 -hlade, and my arm be broken from the elbow". There is a ftriking grandeur in 
 this imprecation on the arm that was lifted up to threaten ■■ an orphan in 
 a court of jufticc. 
 
 Ver. 26 — 28. If when I beheld the fun, &c.] Sabiifm, or the worfhip of the 
 heavenly bodies, was doubtlefs the moft ancient fpecies of idolatry. The 
 Arabs went early into it. They adored the fun, the moon, the planets, and 
 the fixed ftars. The principles on which this falfe religion was founded, were, 
 that' man muft not approach the fupreme Being without a mediator — That the 
 angels are our mediators, who prefent our worfhip to God and convey his 
 'falefTings to us — And that thofe intelligences, the angels, inhabit the fixed 
 
 ftars 
 
 "" ^tO The Syriac renders it dohres; the Vulgate, m'tferatio; .Caftellio, mifcrlcordia. 
 They all read ^{<fD which in the Syriac teftament (Rom. ix. z.) denotes forrow for ano- 
 ther's mifery. The verb alfo in Hebrews x. 34. fignifies /5 companionate : Ye had compaffion 
 of w?, TID? ^KD Greek cvK-nx^r^ax-zi. 
 
 " ninJN V. c^rf^j eft: Caftellio, earn (mifericordiam) eduxi. The pronoun affix Hi 
 is feminine ; becaufe the antecedent 350, like feveral other noun fubftantives with a maf- 
 culine termination, was probably of the feminine or elfe of the common gender. Vid. 
 Guarin's Grmr.mat. Hebr. vol. i, p. 51. 
 
 ■° P3p LXX. TB osyxwo;. 
 
 p See Ifaiah x. 32.
 
 Chap, XXXr. THE BOOK OF JOB. 263 
 
 38. Its rightful owner if my land bemoan, 
 
 Held in hard bondage if its furrows groan ; 
 
 39- If 
 
 ftars and planets, the fun, and the moon; which are to them what our bodies 
 are to our fpirits, and are the medium of their communication with us 1. 
 
 Ver. 26. the moon walking., &c.] He fcems to mention the moon with a fort 
 of diflinflion and preheminence; perhaps, becaufe the Arabs computed their 
 year by the periodical revolutions of that planet, and regulated their religious., 
 feflivals by her motion. 
 
 Ver. 27. hath been fecretly enticed, &c.] hath been enticed in fecret. Thii^ 
 circumftance delerves attention. It leads to a right explanation of the following 
 verfe. He fpeaks, you find, of an inclination of the heart, which no man . 
 knoweth ; and of a fubfequent aftion done in privacy, which no man was 
 witnefs of. I am obliged to the judicious Mr. Peters' for the fubftance of this 
 remark. 
 
 or my mouth., &c.] and my mouth" hath kijfed my hand. KiflTng the idol was' 
 an aft of religious homage '. At this day the Mahometans, in their worfliip- 
 at Mecca, kifs the black ftone which is faftened in the corner of the Beat- Allah, 
 as often as they pals by it in their rapid walks round that facred building. If 
 they cannot come near enough to kifs it, they touch it with their hand and kifs- 
 that'. This feems a remain of the ancient idolatry, though not praiftifed as 
 fuch by them. 
 
 The heavenly bodies being at too remote a diftance for a falute of the mouth, 
 their wovfhippers fubftituted kifling their own hand in the place of that cere-- 
 jnony. 
 
 Ver. 28. This alfq, &c.] Even this"; even this inclination of the heart and . 
 kifTing the hand, on looking at the fun and moon, were an heinous crime. 
 
 am 
 
 '■ Pocock. Spccim. Hijl. Arab. ■p. 5, 138 to 14;. 
 ' See his excellent Dijfertation on the book of 'Job. 
 ' I Kings xix. 18. 
 
 < Piti's Account cf the Mahometans, Sale's PreUmtnary Dlfcoiirfe. Reland dt Rc/J.':^ 
 Moham . 
 " Klfl CJ even this. See the like emphatical fenfe of CDJl '« Gen. xx. 5, Piov xxh'i. ij.
 
 zC^^ THE BOOK OV JOB. Chap. XXXL 
 
 39. If the defrauded peafant curs'd my field, 
 Or blood of innocence ray title feal'd; 
 
 40. May 
 
 an uii^uity to be punifhed by the judge] I apprehend the tranflation fliould 
 be; Even this were iniquity to be pumpedhy tny judge"; or, which comes to the 
 lame meaning, even this were iniquity, O my judge. By ^/j^aJg^^ hemufl furely 
 mean God : For who elfe can take cognizance of the motions of the heart, 
 or of hidden aflions ? ver. 27. It appears therefore clearly to me, that he is 
 not fpeaking of idolatry as a crime punifhable by human vtagijirates ; but as 
 worthy of puniflament by God. 
 
 for I JJjouId have denied, &c.] Polytheifm is a dire 6b denial of the unity of 
 God : And idolatry is, in every fpecies of it, a renunciation of his fole title 
 to the religious homage of his reafonable creatures. 
 
 Ver. 29, 30. If I rejoiced, &c.] Not to rejoice in the ruin of an implacable 
 enemy, nor even to allow ourfelves to give him reproachful language, or fo 
 much as to wifh him ill, is virtue in no inconfiderable degree. But to wilh 
 well to him, and to do him good offices, is a pitch of virtue known only to 
 tlie moft benevolent of all religions ; and recommended only by the greateft of 
 all teachers and the moft perfeifl of all examples. 
 
 Ver. 31. If the men of my tabernacle, &c.] He appeals to his own domeftics 
 for his bounty towards them and liberality to all others. Ikenius, quoted by 
 Schultens, hath given the cleareft tranflation of this verfe : If the men of my 
 tabernacle do not fay, who can produce " a perfon not fatisfied from his flejh '' ? 
 
 that 
 
 ■^ 'b'VO my judge. We had D'b'VS the judges ver. 11. the fingular number of which 
 is not '"^'bC For the plural of that, according to grammatical analogy, would be CT 73 
 ^1^^ is its fingular number. Wherefore ^b'^S is '^^^ fingular noun with the pronoun 
 affix of the firft perfon, my judge. Vid. Guarin's Grammat. Hebr. vol. i. p. 64. 
 
 » in' *Ji ?"" dablt, i. e. cxhibebit, as in chap. xiv. 4. Schultens. 
 
 T il^'Jl^ from, or cf, hisfejh, that is, the flefli of his camels and fheep which he flew 
 for entertainment of ftrangers, as well as for the fuftenance of his own family. Schultens 
 compares the expreflion with that fimilar one in I Sam. xxv. 11. Shall I then take my bread^ 
 end my water, andmyfejh Cnn^D myjlaughter) that I have killed for my Jhearers,iic.
 
 CuAv.XKXL THE BOOK OF JOB. 26^- 
 
 40. May brambles, foi- a harveft, choke the foil. 
 
 And -weeds unwhohbmc mock the ploughman's toil ! 
 
 -2.9. If when misfortune fmote my deadly foe, 
 I fmil'd in fecret, and enjoy 'd his woe ; 
 
 30. I, who forbad my tongue the fpiteful word, 
 And ev'n a revengeful wifli abhorr'd 
 
 16. Did I repulfe the lowly-bending poor? 
 
 Or went the widow weeping from my door? 
 
 17. Have I e'er feafted with a churlifh pride 
 Alone, without an orphan at my fide ? 
 
 18. Humane affecHiion from the womb I drew. 
 And with my growth the tender paflion grew : 
 
 19. Whene'er a naked wretch before me pafs'd. 
 His ftarv'd limbs fliivering in the wintry blaft ; 
 
 20. Has the warm life, new bounding in his veins, 
 Not blcfs'd the woolly riches of my plains i 
 
 31. If my own houfc attefl; not; " When he din'd, 
 
 " Who, unrepleniQi'd from his table, pin'd V 
 
 33. My gate flew open at the pilgrim's voice. 
 Beneath my roof I bade his heart rejoice. 
 
 24. If 
 
 that is from his provifions. The Claaldee interpreter underftood it in the fame 
 manner, " who cutteth of his flefli iinfatisfied ?" 
 
 Ver. 32. The Jl ranger, '&LC.'] His family, he fays, were witnefles of his hofpi- 
 tality. This virtue was, and ilill is, the national charadier of the Arabs. They 
 
 M m value
 
 e66 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXI;- 
 
 24. If I e'er whifpcr'd to the precious dufl:, 
 Be thou my idol, thou my fovereign truft ; 
 
 25. Or glory 'd in the pow'r vafl wealth beftows. 
 My pulfc high beating as my treafurc rofc 
 
 26. If on the riiing fun, or lilver moon 
 Majeftic walking to her ftarry noon, 
 
 27. I look'd ; and, in the folly of my foul, 
 My palm the kifs of filent homage ftole ; 
 
 28. This, O my Judge, were treafon ; this denies 
 Thy fole dominion in the earth and fkies. 
 
 33. If my defence, like Adam's, is but art, 
 
 While, unconfeft, guilt rankles in my heart ; 
 
 34. Witli 
 
 value themfelves upon it as their higheft glory. One of their poets exprefleth 
 himfelf very warmly on this fubjeft: " How often, when eccho gave me notice 
 of a ftranger's approach, have I ftirred my fire that it might give a clear blaze. 
 1 flew to him as to a prey, through fear that my neighbours fhould get pofleflion 
 of him before me." 
 
 The learned Schultens, who has favoured us with this quotation from the 
 Arabian Anthologia, remarks, that the eccho, here mentioned, refers to the 
 practice of a ftranger who travels in Arabia by night. He imitates the bark- 
 ino- of a dog, and thus fets all the curs in the neighbourhood a barking. Where- 
 upon the people rufti out from all parts, llriving who fliall get the ftranger for 
 his gueft. 
 
 Ver. 33. like Adam'] The Cbaldee Paraphraft very juftly underftands him 
 here, to appeal to God for the honefty of the defence he had been making. " If 
 I have covered my tranfgreffion before him like Adam." Adam, when called to 
 by God to give account of what he had done, endeavoured to palliate his crime. 
 But how did Job come to the knowledge of tliat tranfaflion .' Adam might 
 
 I relate
 
 Chap. XXXI. THE BOOK OF JOB. 267 
 
 34. With vengeance let th' afTembled clans purfue 
 My name ; and, exil'd from the pubHc view, 
 In lonely filence may I veil my head, 
 O'erwhelm'd with terror and with fhame o'erfpread ! 
 
 35-. Who now an umpire in my caufe will find I 
 Behold my plea, with my own fignet fign'd : 
 
 Let 
 
 relate it to Methufelah, into whofe times he lived. From Methufelah the tra- 
 dition might pafs to Noah, then to Shem ; from Shem to Abraham, and fo to 
 the feveral branches of the Abrahamic family j from which the three friends of 
 Job defcended, and probably Job himfelf. 
 
 Ver. 34. Did I fear, &c.] This paflage feems to intimate, that it was 
 ^uftomary among the Arabs to afiemble all the families in a tribe for trying a 
 delinquent of high rank. Job imprecates on himfelf fuch afolemn condemna- 
 tion, in cafe he had concealed, in this apology, any crime whereof he had been 
 guilty. The original will admit of the imprecatory form adopted by Schul- 
 tcns and Mr. Heath : Verily let me fear the great multitude, and let the contempt 
 of families terrify me: let me keep filence, and not go out of the door. The punifli- 
 mcnt which he imprecates, is, execration by his whole tribe, a life of oblcurity, 
 and perpetual imprifonment in his own dwelling. 
 
 Ver. 25 — 3r Ob that one would hear me, &c.] His difcontent with the 
 ways of Providence, and his juftification of himfelf, rife here to the highefl 
 pitch that the poet defigned ; and that the charadber of piety would allow. 
 To ufe the words of the great Michaelis % " He challenges God to come into 
 judgement with him, and to give his reafons for treating him with fuch feveritv. 
 If God would condefcend to this, nothing could be more defirable or more 
 honourable for Job. For it would be evident from God's very accufation, th.nt 
 he was guilty of no fault but what is common to human frailty. Bolder v.'ords 
 
 than 
 
 * In his Ncta on Dr. Loivth"; Prt'eltions, p. 216. 8vo. 
 
 M m 2
 
 'O 
 
 268 THE BO OK OF JO B. C ji ap. XXXP. 
 
 '■'' Let God vouclifafe his anfwcr; or indite, 
 
 * And the jufl roll of my offences write : 
 
 36. Th' 
 
 than thefe Job had not uttered in the whole difpute. Thcfc provoked Elihu 
 to renew the debate: and thefe. are the expreffions, for which the Ahnighty 
 chiefly reprimanded him '; taking little or no notice of the rell." 
 
 Ver. 35. Oh that one ivould hear me "' .'] He wifhes for a third perfon autho- 
 rifed to try the caufe between God and himfelf. Compare chap. ix. 32, 33. 
 and fee the note. 
 
 behold my deftre IS,'] Behold my fignature, ox my feal\ This is a figurative way 
 of exprelTing his readinefs and engagement to take his trial. The figure is 
 evidently borrowed from die forms oi law ; and alludes to fome inftrument 
 figned by the accufed party, whereby he gave fecurity for his appearance on 
 the day of trial. 
 
 that the Almighty would anfwer me'\ Let the Almighty acciife " me. This is 
 the fame challenge as that in chap. xiii. 22. 'Then call thou, and I will anfwer. 
 See the note. 
 
 and that mine adverfary, &c.] and let my adverfary ' write a bill of accufa- 
 
 tion '. By his adverfary he muft mean his accufer, that is, the Almighty ; 
 
 mentioned as fuch in the foregoing fentence. An adverfary in law is ths 
 plaintiff. 
 
 " Chap. xl. 2, 8. 
 
 * y^U^i a hearer. It is plainly the fame in fenfe here as n01'.3 chr.p. ix. 33. 
 
 "^ 'in Michaclis tranflates it_y;^/AW« ?//f«OT; Caftellus, deftgnatio m^a, fc. ad caufam meam 
 defendendam. In Kzck, ix. 4, it denotes a fignalure made by a feal : and he called to the 
 man . . . luhlch had the writer's inkhorn by his fide . . . fet a mark { in ) "-P"^ the foreheads 
 of the men that figh, he. Compare Rev. vii. 3. Olearius informs us, in his Travels, that 
 the king of Perfia feals his refcripts with ink inftead of wax j and is therefore always attended 
 by his fccretary with a feal and inkhorn. 
 
 *" 'Jjy Itisufed in thefenfeofrtcca/7«'_j^, or teflifyhig againjly in chap. xv. 6. and Deut. 
 xix. 16. 
 
 ' on ty\H 
 
 ' "IQD " l"'"^ or ^'"11') rendered by LXX. (rtyypf » ; by Grotius, fcn'pta accufatio ; by Mi- 
 haelis, adafatio.
 
 Ghap. XXXI. THE BOOK OF JOB. 269 
 
 ^6. Th' acciifing bill, upon my flioulder born, 
 
 Or as a crown about ray temples worn, 
 37. I'll fliow ; and, dauntlcfs in the noble flrife. 
 
 To the great Plaintiff I'll difplay my life. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Ver. 36. Surely I would take it, &c.] The original is much (Ironger, If I do 
 not take it, &c. This is an oath. God do fo and more to me, if I do not take 
 the bill of accufation upon my fhoulder, as a badge of honour. He means that 
 it would afford himmatter of trmmph: For he was fure it would contain no 
 criminal charge; 
 
 and hind it, &c.] The fentiment rifeth in dignity. He fays now, the roll of 
 accufation would be as magnificent an ornament to him as a crown. 
 
 Ver. 37. I "would declare, &c.] The a<5tions of his whole life, or this very 
 defence, fhallbe, he fays, his anfwer to the inditement, 
 
 as a prince^] This noble expreflion denotes the courage and magnanimity, 
 with which he would meet his great antagonift. 
 
 However daring and culpable this whole paflage may be juftly thought ; 
 yet it mud be owned to have an aftonifhing grandeur, when it is confidered as 
 the language of confcious integrity and lupereminent virtue. 
 
 Ver. 38 — 40. If my land, &c.] A fmall degree of attention will, I imagine, 
 convince any one, that the fpeech ended witli the foregoing verfe. Thele 
 verfes therefore are out of their original fituation. They would enter properly 
 among the articles o? injujlice. Mr. Heath has placed them next after ver.- 2 5. 
 They might better, perhaps, be introduced next after ver. 23. 
 
 Ver. 38. If my l^nd cry, &c.] His land could not reproach him with having 
 gotten it by unlawful means, nor witli defrauding of their wages thofe who 
 tilled it for him ; much lefs with having taken away any man's life by falfe ac- 
 cufation, or otherwife, in order to confifcate his eftate. Compare James v. 4. 
 Habak. ii. ii. I Kings xxi. 
 
 ' *TJJ Its verb in Arabic fignifies _/«/><-rflx;V, vicit; animofus, Jlrenuus, mngKanlmusfuit. 
 Golii Lex, Arab.
 
 270 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXII. 
 
 Chap. 
 XXXII. 
 Ver. 1 . Job ended ended his defence — They ceas'd reply — 
 
 He flood abfolv'd in his own partial eye. 
 
 2, 3. A 
 
 Ver. 40. thiftles] thorns \ It doubtlefs means fome plant that has flrong 
 and {harp prickles. Chap. xli. 2. caiiji thou . . . bore his jaw through with a 
 thorn^. Heb. xl. 26. 
 
 cockle '] This is well known, being a common and hurtful weed in our corn. 
 But what particular fort of weed, or fhrub, is intended by the hebrew word, 
 cannot eafily be determined. 
 
 In general, however, he imprecates barrcnnefs upon his land. We meet 
 with an imprecation of the fame kind in CEdipus Tyrannus ver. 478. " Let not 
 the ground bring forth any harveft to them." 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 We left Job, in the clofe of the foregoing chapter, in high fpirits, triumph- 
 ing in the goodnefs of his caufe againft providence itfelf. We are now enter- 
 ing on the fecond part of the poem ; which prepares the way for changing his 
 too high opinion of his own reflitude into felf-abafement, and his complaint 
 of the ways of God into penitence and fubmiffion. For the management of 
 tliis part, the poet introduceth a new perfonage ; of whofe extraction, and 
 
 motives 
 
 '■ nin LXX. render it xhJ^ 7?f///«; Symmachus, «xa>ea a kindof ^:V^i^j*rHi j Chaldce, 
 'wD thorns ; Vulgate and Caftellio, tiihulus land-caltrops; fo called from its refemblance or 
 a military iiiftrumeiit, which has three fpilces contrived in fuch manner that whatever way 
 it falls on the ground it has one fpike uppermoft. It is thrown in paffes to annoy the feet 
 of the enemy's horfes. Sec Gerarde and Johnfon's Herbal, and Dr. Scott's edition of Bai- 
 ley's DiSi'wnary. 
 
 ' nti'NIS It is fome noxious and {linking weed. Forj^'j^^ in Hebrew fignifies a foetid 
 
 Jmell Joel ii. 20. and ^'^''^ in Chaldee is mijchitf. Tee verb alfo fignifies to Jl'mk Exod. 
 
 vii. 21. and its fifth conjugation in Syriac todo harm. LXX. render Hti'i^^ '°-^"; theblack- 
 
 berry btijh; Caflcllio, tbulus dwarf- elder ; Symmachus, any.ta^^r.ra plants which brin^ 
 
 no fruit unto perfcilion; Chaldee, »,'2Jn noxious herbs. See Buxtorf's L(x. Talm. under
 
 CHAP.XXXII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 271 
 
 2, 3. A youth attentive fate, Elihu nam'd, 
 
 Againfl them all with holy zeal inflam'd : 
 'Gainfl him, who full of felf-exalting praife, 
 Above his Maker's juflify'd his ways ; 
 Them, who, inglorious, left this high difpute ; 
 Fierce to accufe, but feeble to confute. 
 
 4. Silent 
 
 motives for renewing the debate, he gives a brief account in the firft five • 
 verfes. 
 
 Ver. I. becaufe he was righteous*'y &c.] This tranflation alTigns the reafon of 
 the filence of the three friends to Job's laft difcourfe. They looked upon him 
 as too felf-conceited and obftinate for convifbion. But Mr. Heath gives a 
 different turn to the fentiment ; wherefore Job was jujiified hi his own eyes. 
 This tranQation reprefents him as confirmed, by their filence, in his conceit of 
 the goodnefs of his caufe againft God. 
 
 Ver. 2. Then was kindled the wrath, &c.] Thefe exprefTions do not mean, 
 that he was in a pafllon. They are the ftrong oriental manner of denoting 
 high difapprobation. At moft, they fignify no more than a becoming 
 warmth. 
 
 the Buzite '] The Buzites were a Syrian or elfe an Arab family. Their fettle- 
 ment was probably in the neighbourhood of Dedan, Jer. xxv. 23. And De- 
 dan was a city of Idumasa, Jer. xlix. 8. " Idumaea was that part of Arabia 
 Pecrasa where Job lived °. 
 
 iecaufe 
 
 * P'Ti* tnnocens, as Caftellio tranfiates it. It fignifies in Prov. xviii. 17. one who has the 
 better caufe, or right on his fide ; He that iifi'Ji in his own caufe isju/l ( p^Hi') tut his neigh- 
 bour Cometh, and fcarchelh him. 
 
 ' The LXX. feem to have reud !n their copy nj/3, inllead of '11311 • for thtir verfion 
 
 is, Tr? Ayo-iTiJo; X'^f^5 "f '^'' land of Uz, 
 
 " See Bp Lowth's PraleSf, p. 417. n. 
 
 * See ncte on chap, i. i.
 
 2^2 THE. BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXH. 
 
 4. Silent he fate, while Job his caufc difplay'd; 
 
 This honour to refpecled age he paid: 
 
 5- At 
 
 hecaufe he juflifeJ. himfelf, &c.] becaufe he made Inmfelf mere juft than God" ; 
 that is, he had ,d<ircnded his own innocence in fuch manner, as to reprefent God 
 to have done him wrong. Eliphaz thought the very complaint, chap, iii, im- 
 plied as much. See chap. iv. 17. With greater reafon did Elihu put the fame 
 conllruftion on the f\ir more querulous language that Job uttered after that, and 
 on many daring expreflions which he dropped, efpecially his prefumptuous chal- 
 lenge chap. xxxi. 35 — 37. Here then .we haye one of Elihu's motives for en- 
 tering into this difpute, namely, zeal for the honour of divine providence. The 
 other motive is fpecified in the fubfequent verfe: It was the wrong meafures 
 which the triumvirate had taken; who, to juftify God, had condemned Job 
 for a wicked man. They had fo done without evidence: neither were they now 
 able to offer any thing, in reply to the defence which he had made, 
 
 Ver. 4. had ii'aited till Job had fpokeit] This is obfcure. We may offer two 
 other tranilations; either of which is clearer, and connefis better with the fol- 
 lowing member: And Elihu waited to gii:e an atifwer to Job^, &c. He paufed 
 a while, before he would anfwer Job; to fee whether any of the three friends 
 would anfwer him. 
 
 Or thus, Noiv Elihu had waited for Job during the difpute'^ ; that is, he had 
 
 refrained 
 
 « D'nVi^'J Iti'SJ IpTi by For the fenfe of the verb y^'i fee the fignification of the 
 noun "j'ly in the marginal note on the word righteous in the foregoing verfe. Caftellio's 
 verfion is clear, qui Juam caufam jujViorem ejji contenderet quam Dei. 
 
 P This is the Septuagint verfion f^l«; is \m'n>nn Jarai awovpo-r.' \uZ (Alex, tw uS) In the He- 
 brew, C"ID"1JII 2V^< nX nSn The Septuagint verfion goes contrary to all the other 
 ancient verfions in making C"\3l^ (rendered Su>cti amx^iait) the objedl of the verb nDH ; 
 and governed of it by the intervention of the prepofition ^ Whereas when this veib ia 
 tranfitive, it conftantly governs its objeiSt by 7, except Hofea vi. 9. where it has no prepo- 
 fition after it ; as troops of robbers wait for a man, Ji>»}^ OHD- In fhort, the Septuagint 
 tranflate as if the Hebrew had been, 2VN HN D'^ilD n^PI '■'<' waited for difputatiom 
 with Job. 
 
 1 D'"li"13 In fcrmonihns. The verb "l^T fignifies to plead, or difpute, chap. xiii. j. 
 furely I ivould /peak to (dfpute ivith) the Almighty, and I dftre to reafon with God- Q'13"7 
 the difputations, as in cliap. xxxi. iilt. the words (tloe pleadings or difputatiom) of fob are ended. 
 It is ufcd again iii the fame fenfc vcr. 1 1. of this xxxii. chap.
 
 Chap. XXXII. THEBOOKOFJOB. C73 
 
 5. At length, none anfw'ring fuch a vain defence, 
 Ardent he rofe, and gave his modcfl fenfe. 
 
 6. Fathers, my youth, thus long, through bafliful fear, 
 
 Rcf rain'd to reafon in your aged ear : 
 
 7. Reply, 
 
 refrained from attacking him, fo long as the debate was kept up between him 
 and his antagonifts. 
 
 becaufe they were eldei' than he'] This refpecft for his feniors, and fuperiors, 
 which the author himklf afligns as the reafon of Elihu's filence, is an honour- 
 able teftimony to his modejly. 
 
 Ver. 6. And EUhtt . . . anfwered and faid] Profeflbr Michaelis is very feverc 
 upon Elihu and his fpeech, as Codurcus had been before him. He charges this 
 .young man with high conceit of himfelf, and cenfures his difcourfe as little or no- 
 thing to the purpofe of the queftion in debate. But the facred writer bears 
 witnefs to his »;c7^^_)', in the foregoing verfe : and Job's patient attention to his 
 long fpeech, without offering a word of reply, is a ftrong prefumption of the 
 pei-tinence of it. Its good fenfe will perhnps further appear in thecourfe of thefe 
 notes. I will, now, only add that Elihu's plan for humbling Job is purfued and 
 compleated by the Almighty. 
 
 / am young, &c.] For a youth to fpeak in fuch an alTembly, on fo delicate and 
 difficult a fubjeft, and after that his fuperiors in age, and men renowned for 
 their wifdom, had given up the difpute; was an allonifliing phenomenon in 
 Arabia'. Elihu was confcious of this vaft weight of prejudice againft him. 
 Like a fkilful orator he endeavours to remove that obftacle, and to fecure the 
 favour and attention of his hearers, before he enters on the queftion in debate. 
 To this end, he reprefents to the three elders his bafliful timidity, his reverence 
 of age, and exped:ation of inftruclion from them. He next alleges, that found 
 judgement is the gift of heaven; that this quality is not a neceflary effect of 
 years ; and that, with all the wifdom for which they were famed, they had failed 
 
 in 
 
 ' See ver. 15.. and compare chap. xxix. 8. 
 
 Nn
 
 274 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIL 
 
 7. Reply, I thought, bcfeem'd the head of fnow, 
 And wifdom's voice from ancient hps fliould flow*. 
 
 8. But wifdom is a gift, the breath divine 
 Moves on the foul and calls the light to fliine:. 
 
 9. The fam'd for wifdom are not always wife. 
 Nor in grey locks the pow'r of judgement lies. 
 
 10, II. Hear, then, myfenfe: I waited; while you fought 
 
 For anfwers, and exhaufted all your thought : 
 
 12. Yea 
 
 in this difpute. He therefore begs their indulgence of him to deliver his fenti- 
 ments — He had patiently attended to them — They had not convifted Job- 
 Neither was their argument, that his affliifions "were fufficient evidence of his guilty 
 a proper means of conviilion. This appears to me the fum of his addrefs to the 
 three antagonifts, from ver. 6. to the end of ver. 14. 
 
 Ver. 8. But there is afpirit in man', &c.] He had taken notice in the fore- 
 going verfe, of the wifdom to be expefted in a natural way from age and expe- 
 rience. Here he feems to oppofe to that a fuperior fagacity derived from divine 
 afTiftance. The ancients afcribed all extraordinary endowments to fuch an in- 
 fluence. This fentiment occurs frequently in Homer. 
 
 Ver. 9. Great me};, &c.] This is an indirect and modeft intimation, that they 
 had miftaken Job's cafe and treated it in an improper way. He therefore in- 
 treats them, in the next verfe, to hear his fentiments of it. 
 
 Ver. 10. I faid, hearken, &c.] He had not faid fo before. The tranflation 
 fliould be in theprefent time, I fay'': I now therefore beg to be heard. 
 
 hearken 
 
 ' Caftellio's tranflation is, verum offlalu agnniur homines \ but men are a£fed by a divine in- 
 Jluence, &c. 
 
 ' 'niSt^ This indeed is the preterite. But the hebrew preterites were aorifts in the 
 original ftateof the language, as hath been obferved, from Michaelis, more than once in 
 the courfeof thefe notes. Our bible tranflation renders them frequently in the prefent time. 
 See chap, xxviii. 4. Hefettctb — bt'cakctk, &c,
 
 Chap. XXXir. THEBOOKOFJOB. 275- 
 
 12. Yea ilill I wait, attentive — but I find 
 Nor Job confuted, nor reply defign'd : 
 
 13. Say not; " 'Tis wifdom, that we leave to God 
 " To humble this ftifF finner with his rod — " 
 
 14. His words, unaim'd at me, fhall meet reply 
 Unlike to yours ; a diff'ring path I'll try. 
 
 15. Amaz'd 
 
 l>earke}i] hearken ye"*. He ftill addrefleth the three elders, as appears from 
 the following verfe. 
 
 Ver. 12. or that anjivered his words] Not one of you hath anfwered his laft 
 words; his bold apology, wherein he offers to defend his caufe againft God 
 himfelf. 
 
 Ver. 13. Leji ye Jhoulii fay, &c.] fay not''\ Sec. Do not excufe your ceafing 
 to reply, by alleging, that the wifcft courfe to be taken with Job is to leave 
 him to be fitted and humbled by God, as being too obftinate to be reclaimed 
 by man. ive have found out wifdom ; 'tis God mufi confute him"^., not man. So 
 Mr. Heath tranQates the hebrew. 
 
 Ver. 14. Now he hath not dircHed, &c.] His aim in this obfcrvation is 
 to fliew, that he enters not into the difpute with any perfonal animofity againft 
 Job, or with any other prejudice wliatloever. 
 
 neither 
 
 " 7^V^^ ^forken thou- But all the ancient verfions, except the Chaldee (fays Mr. Heath) 
 read "WDV hearken ye. The MS. Oxford Bodley Archiv. A. 97. reads in this manner. 
 
 " 1"lDNn \^ f'>y not. The particle ^Q here fignifies «/j it is difluafive. The fame fenfe 
 it has Ifaiah xxxvi. 18. Jer. Ji. 46. Mr. Heath. 
 
 " liDT Let (God) pujh him dawn. CafteJlio has hit the fenfe, eutn a Deo pcrfequendum 
 he muft be purfued by God. We englifli the participle, driven to and fro. chap. xiii. ;j. 
 
 It fignifies in Arabic fa f.-7>(/ cotton, by fliaking it with a proper inftrument. Hence I 
 imagine Schultens took his excntio. Dens cxcutiet eum God will fncke him tharoughly. Vid. 
 Caftell. Lex. Hep. Horace ufeth the fame metaphor; te ipfum cotitite, &c. examine you) f elf ^ 
 .whether you have mt faults eithtr natural or acquired. Sat. i. 3. vfi. 3-j. 
 
 N n 2
 
 276 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIL. 
 
 ij-. Amaz'd, confiis'd, they fit; bcrcav'd of tongue — 
 
 1 6. Patient of this delay, I've waited long — 
 
 Dumb 
 
 fieither if ill I anfwer kim ivilh your fpeecbcs] Their fpeeches were levelled- 
 againft his whole moral charader ; aiming to prove him a wicked man, from 
 the fimilarity of his fufferings to thofe of iiotorioufly wicked men. Elihu 
 takes another courfe. He limits his cenfure to Job's anfwers in this difpute. 
 He fixes upon fome of the moft obnoxious paflages ■, fuch as feemed to betray 
 too high conceit of his own virtue, want of refpedt to God, and difhonour- 
 able fentiments of Providence. He takes occafion from thofe paflages to 
 vindicate the divine goodnefs, equity, and juftice. Towards the clofe, he 
 gives a magnificent rcprefentation of the power and wifdom of the Deity in 
 his works ''. The whole difcourfe is admirably fitted to filence Job's mur- 
 murs, to humble his vanity, and to produce in him reverent fubmiffion under 
 the rod of the Almighty. 
 
 Ver. 15, 16. They were amazed, &c.] Tofuppofe, with Ibme, that the author 
 here fpeaks in his own perfon, would be to make a very inelegant and 
 unufual hiftorical parenthefis in the middle of a dramatic fpeech. Yet on no 
 better foundation ftands the notion, that Elihu was the writer of this poem. 
 It is much more natural to tranflate thefe verfes in theprefent time, as Caftellia 
 and Schultens have done. 
 
 Ver. 15. They are amazed '^ ; Jlill they a7ifwer not : 
 Words are removed ^ from them. 
 
 Ver. 16. And I wait; but they ffeak not : 
 
 But they are at a ftand ; ftill they anfwer not. 
 
 Here Elihu turns to the audience ; defiring them toobferve theconfufion of 
 the three feniors, who, though he had waited and was ftill waiting for their 
 
 reply 
 
 ^B^^—^^.— ■■■!■■■ I ■ ■ I Ml ■■ II. I a I Mil ■ - IMI I ■■■ ■ »■■■■» !■ I ■ I I IM.. — II-IIB ■■■■l^».» ■■— ——^ 
 
 y Chap, xxxvi. 24. to the end of chap, xxxvii. 
 
 ^ inn thty are in conjlcrnation. This and the reft of the verbs in thefe verfes are in the 
 preter tenfe j which is here ufed for the prefent. See the marginal note on ver. 10. 
 
 " Ip'nyn ^^^ removed. The original is, they have removed words from them. The im- 
 perfonal active is very frequently ufed for the paffivc. Tliis is the word which we englifti 
 ta remove^ chap. ix. j.
 
 Chap. XXXIL THE ROOK OF JOB. 277 
 
 Dumb they remain — not one efTays to fpeak — 
 
 1 7. My meaner voice muft, mull the ftlence break : 
 18.. My foul, fo deeply and fo long attent, 
 
 Is crowded full, and labours for a vent : 
 19. My thoughts ferment like wine ; reflraint is vain — 
 
 Pierce, pierce the vefTel, or 'twill burft in twain: 
 
 20—22. My 
 
 reply to Job, had nothing to offer. That there were others prcfent at the meet- 
 ing of the three friends at Job's houfe, is certain : For Elihu was prefent. It 
 feems not improbable, that this was an aflembl)', like thofe which the literati 
 among the Arabs ufed to hold, for conferences on points of philofophy, 
 poetry, &c. Harir, the Cicero of the Arabians, intituled his work, from that 
 ciiftom, the ajfemhlies. 
 
 Ver. 17. I faid, I -will anfwer, &c.] The words I /aid are not in the hebrew. 
 They are very improperly inferted. Elihu is going on in his addrefs to the audi- 
 ence ; whofe benevolence he endeavours to obtain, by pleading the fulnefs' of 
 his thoughts and the irrefiftable impulfe he was under to give them vent. 
 
 Ver. 18. The/pirit within me, &c.] I do not fee that thefe exprefllons import : 
 a claim to infpiration, any more than thofe of Zophar, chap. xx. 3. The/pirit 
 Toithin me caiifeth me to anftver. The words imply courage, ftrong emotion, 
 and powerful impulfe of the thoughts. 
 
 Ver. 19. my belly'] The hebrew word is the fame that is englifhed -within me 
 in the foregoing verfe. It denotes the interior part of the man, the tnitid. Prov. 
 xxii. 1 8. For it is a plea/ant thing, if thou keep them (the words of the wife, ver: 
 17.) within thee ; in the hebrew, in thy belly, i.e. thy mind. The Arabian > 
 writers ufe this expreflion for the mind : One of them, fpeaking of the great" 
 ttrefs which fome laid on the ablutions prefcribed in the Koran, obferves, that 
 while they were fo fcrupuloufly nice about the exterior purity of the body, the in- 
 ward part lies uncultivated and over- run with pride, ignorance, and hypocrify''. 
 
 as 
 
 ^ Pocock. Specimen, Hijh Aral. p. 303, |J;33.
 
 278 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIL 
 
 OQ — 2 2. My lips iliall eafe mc, lliall cffiifc abroad 
 This honeft heart by no man's pcrfon aw'd : 
 Unfkill'd in courtly titles, plain and free 
 My phrafe, expecTt no foothing arts from mc j 
 Left he, who gives my heaving limgs to breathe, 
 That inftant hurl me to the fhades beneath. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 as wine, &c.] he means new wine ' that is fermenting- This is a moft lively 
 image of a benevolent mind full of important thoughts, and impatient to com- 
 municate them for the benefit of others. 
 
 like new bottles] Their bottles being made of fkins, either drefTed or undrefled, 
 were not liable to burft till they were grown old. Compare Jof. ix. 13. with 
 Matt. ix. 17. Grotius, in his note on Matt. ix. 17. inclines to underftand 
 new bottles here of bottles that have new wine in them. 
 
 Ver. 21. Let me not, &c.] He here affiires the audience that he will deliver 
 his fentiments with that noble freedom and impartiality, which truth and the 
 honour of providence demanded. 
 
 Ver. 22. flattering titles^] The Arabs make court to their fuperiors by care- 
 fully avoiding to addrefs them by their proper names ; inftead of which, they 
 falute them with fome title, or epithet, expreffive of refpeft '. 
 
 my maker tvoiild foon, &:c.] The crime which he apprehended would cxpofe 
 him to fuch danger, could be no other than that refpeft to the perfons of men, 
 which would make him timid and unfaithful in the caufe of truth and God. 
 
 ' Symmachus, tcr.TEf otvosvioc; fo likewife Chaldee and Vulgate. LXX. tranflate the whole 
 fentence u^jmf aaxo<; yTMVKd'; (iuv hlifiat,: at a Icathem bottle/f.ll of fiveet wine upon fl}efrct, and 
 clofe tied, 
 
 *' njD Vid. Pocock, in Carm. Togr, not, p. 3, 
 
 * Id, ubi/upra.
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB. 279 
 
 Chap. 
 XXXIII. 
 Ver. I. Attend, OJob; with no unheeding foul 
 
 Receive my reas'ning, patient of the whole: 
 
 2, 3. Unmix'd with pafllon, from a tongue fincere, 
 
 No mean monition ihall invite thy car. 
 
 4. That forming fpirit which all flefli infpires, 
 Breathes in my lungs and feeds the vital fires; 
 
 5. Me anfwer, if thou can ; thy plea difpofe, 
 Stand firm, and with thy fellow mortal clofe. 
 
 6. I to thy wifli arife, for God I fpeak ; 
 Failiion'd like thee, of elements as weak ; 
 
 7: My 
 
 CHAP. XXXIIL 
 
 Ver. 1—7. Elihu proceeds with caution in this delicate affair. He now ad- 
 dreffeth himfelf to Job, and foHcits his candid attention by feveral engaging mo- 
 tives. Is this the manner of a vain prefumptuous fpeaker? 
 
 Ver. 3. My words, &c.] According to this verfion, he promiieth to deliver 
 his fentiments with honefty zndperfpicuity. But the latter claufc may be turned, 
 and my lips jhall utter knowledge purely. Good intention znA found inftruEiion feem 
 to be the qualities, which, he fays, fhall recommend his difcourfe. 
 
 Ver. 4. The fpirit of God, &c.] He repeats this fentiment in ver. 6. I alfo am 
 formed out of the clay. It intimates that Job might engage fuch an udverfary on 
 equal terms; having nothing to fear but the ftrength of his arguments. 
 
 The Spirit ofGodh of the fame import with the breath of the Almighty ! juft 
 as hath made me is fynonimous with hath given me life. Tradition had con- 
 veyed to thefe men the knowledge of man's formation. Compare Gen. ii. 7. 
 Pi", xxxiii. 6. 
 
 Ver. 6. according to ihy wifh'\ See chap. xvii. 3. and the note. He may alfo 
 
 poffibly refer to thofe words in ch.ap. xxxi, ^c^. Let the Almighty teftify agalnft me: 
 
 I let
 
 28o THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIII. 
 
 7. My arm no thunder wields, my face difplays 
 No godhead terrors and o'erwhehning blaze. 
 
 8, 9. I've heard thee vaunt thy purenefs, heard thee claim 
 Unfully'd virtue and a faultlefs name ; 
 ■10, 1 1. Heard thee accufe thy God, of hate complain. 
 And lludy'd quarrel, and his cruel chain. 
 
 12. Are 
 
 let mine adverfary "write a bill of accufation. Elihu fays, I am in Cod's Jiead, and 
 rife to /peak in behalf of Cod: I will teflify againjl thee. 
 
 Ver. 7. Behold my terror, &c.] You are in no danger of being confounded by 
 the terror of my appearance, nor of being born down by the greatnefs of my 
 authority. We cannot enter into the beauty of this delicate reprehenfion, un- 
 lefs we recoiled thofe daring exprelTions in chap. ix. 34, 35. xiii. 20 — 22. 
 
 Ver. 9 — II. I am clean, &c.] Thefe verfes contain the objed of Elihu's 
 cenfure in the prefent chapter. The language of the ninth verfe favours too 
 much of pride. The tenth and eleventh verfes are a complaint of harfli treat- 
 ment, which reflefts on the goodnefs of God. 
 
 Ver. 9. lam clean. Sec] Job had not ufed thefe very exprelTions, but he had 
 uled others equivalent to them. Chap. ix. 30. Verily I have tvafjed myfelfivith 
 fnow water, and have made my hands clean in innocence, and ver. 21./ amperfeSf, 
 chap. X. 7. Thou knoweft that 1 am not wicked, chap. xvi. 17. Not for any 
 injiifticein ntine hands: alfo my prayer is pure. chap. xiii. 23. How many are mine 
 iniquities and fins ? make me to know my tranfgreffion and my Jin. 
 
 Ver. 10. he findeth occajions againft tne'] He invent eth harfh things* againfl me. 
 I'hefe words are plainly fynonimous with thofe in chap. xiii. 26. For thou writ- 
 ejl bitter things agaitijl me, and makeft me to poffefs the iniquities of my youth. 
 
 and 
 
 ^ niKUD harj}) things. hXX. jA-ca^iv accufation ; Chaldee, /natters of complaint ; \'ulg. 
 querelas. In Arabic, the verb, according to CaftelL fignifies in one conjugation crudam 
 reliquit, nee coxit cariiem ; in another conjugation multuis inirnicitias cum illo cxtrcuit. See 
 j,!l'o tht Commentary of Schul'.ens.
 
 Chap. XXXriI. THEBOOKOFJOB. 281 
 
 12. Are thefca juft man's murmurs ? Mortal, know, 
 God reigns above, ourblindnefs creeps below: 
 
 13. Why doft thou wrangle with a Pow'r, whofe throne 
 Will juflify its myftic ways to none i 
 
 14. Once, yea again, when thoughtlefs man offends, 
 Th' Almighty Sire his warning meflage fends : 
 
 But, 
 
 and chap. xxx. 21. Thou art become cruel to me, &c. Ellhu doubtlefs glances 
 at thefe obnoxious pafTages. 
 
 Ver. 10. He count eth me for his enemy'] Chap. xiii. 24. 
 
 Ver. II. Heputtethmyfeet^icc.'] Chap, xiii, 27. 
 
 ■ Ver. 12. in this thou art not juft] notjuftified. this language is utterly 
 indefenfible. it is no evidence of your piety, it is too querulous and irre- 
 verent to be ufed to fo great a Being as God. 
 
 Cod is greater than man] This is one of thofe modes of fpeaking which 
 imply much more than is expreffed. There is a kind of ironical caftigation 
 in it. as if he had faid. You talk to God as to an equal; but methinks he is 
 fomewhat fuperior to us. 
 
 Ver. 13. Why doft thoujlrive, &c.] Job's extravagant juftification of himfelf 
 and murmurs againfl: providence (ver. 9, 10, 11.) are what Elihujuftly calls 
 ftriving againft God. The Almighty pafleth the fame cenfure upon them chap. 
 xl. 2. To convince Job how wrong and culpable this behaviour is ; Elihu argues, 
 firfl, that it is irreverent, and fruitlefs : God, fays he, will never ftoop to defend 
 his meafures againft murmurers, nor will communicate the reafons of them to 
 thoie wlio cavil at his difpenfations. For he giveth not account of^ any oj his 
 matters. 
 
 Ver. 14 — 18. For God fpeakethj&cc] He alledges another argument againft 
 
 ftriving 
 
 * TMV N*? f'e w/' «'' defend. It is ufed for anfwering to a charge. Chap. xiii. Z2. 
 
 Oo
 
 2S2 THEBOOROFJOB. Ckap. XXXIII. 
 
 But, if defpis'd, his monitory lore 
 Sollicits the averted ear no more. 
 
 15. In midnight fhadc, when flccp on mortal eyes 
 Sinks heavieft down, he bids the vifion rife : 
 
 16. The vifion, with celeflial imprefs fign'd, 
 Conveys high mandate to the waking mind ; 
 
 17. To 
 
 Jirivingwith God. There is no juft caufe for it. God has fufEciently manifefl- 
 cd his goodnefs and care of human kind, by the methods which he takes to 
 fliew them their duty, to recover them from their wanderings, and thereby to 
 fave them from deftruftion. One method is, to reveal his will to them in a 
 dream. By mentioning this, and dwelling upon it, he feems tacitly to reprove 
 Job, for not having paid regard to the dream ofEliphaz. Chap. iv. 12, &c. 
 That old Gentleman could not fail of being pleafed with this piece pf refpeft 
 ihewn to him. 
 
 Ver. 14. God fpeaketh once,, &c.] The Latin Vulgate has given, I apprehend, 
 a more juft tranflation. God fpeaketh once, but be does not repeat^ the fame thing 
 afecond time. If the revelation be difregardcd, we are not to exped a favour 
 of that kind any more. 
 
 Ver. 15. in a dream'] See Gen. xv. 12. xx. 6. xxviii. 12. xxxi. 24. The 
 heathens, fomehow or other, came to the knowledge of God's revealing his 
 will to men in this way. Agamemnon's dream, in the fecond book of the Jliadf 
 is a proof of the high antiquity of the notion among them. 
 
 Ver. 16. andfealeth, &c.] He puts his fignet to the inftrudlion. Thefe divine 
 dreams were accompanied with fufficient evidence of their original, and of the 
 authority of the inflrudion they conveyed. 
 
 •> ni"lW* nV ^^e will not repeat it. The author of the Vulgate veai jejhor inftead of 
 jijhur, whom Mr. Heath follows. The root ofjefoor is "TliJ^, which in the Syriac language 
 fignifies confirmavit (vid. Cajhll.) Jlahilivit. God voill not confirm it, by a feconJ revelation. 
 «^nK^ in Chaldee is f.rmum, raittm. Cojlell. CaftelUo's veriion alfo agrees with the Vul- 
 jate, fiq^nidan femel h'luutui Dius, iterare nefciL.
 
 CiiAP. XXXIir. THE BOOK OF JOB. z2'> 
 
 17. To heal man's follies, to abafe his pride, 
 
 18. And turn the level'd fliaft of death afide. 
 
 19. Or elfc, his grace coramifTions fierce difeafe 
 The finner in his lully bloom to feize. 
 
 Caft on his bed he groans in griding pain, 
 While raging fever boils in every vein : 
 
 20. The 
 
 Ver. 17. his purpofe'] rather, his doing, or work as the margin of our bibles 
 has it; viz. all aftions and words which proceed from pride mentioned in the 
 next claufe, or from any other corrupt afFedlion. Pride may comprehend info- 
 lence towards God, and towards man. But I apprehend Elihu had his eye on 
 the former ; and that he glances at Job's too high opinion of his own reditude 
 and merit, which gave rile to his complaints againft God. Elihu thought, 
 that fome of his expreffions favoured of this vanity ; and that liis afflidion was 
 fent to correft that fault, and to teach him humility. See chap, xxxii. 2. 
 xxxiv. 27- 
 
 Ver. 18. the /word'] The Cword of t/je deJ}royers{vcv, 22.) tha.t is the dt&roy' 
 ing angels. See Appendix, Numb. IV". 
 
 the pit ''] This is one of the names of the fepulchral grot, denoting it to be a 
 place of putrefaftion. See Bp. Lowth's Prelections, p. 87. n. 8vo. 
 
 Ver. 19 — 30. He is chajiened alfo\ Sec] He pafTeth now to another method 
 iifed by the goodnefs of God for healing moral diforder in his human offspring; 
 namely, the difcipline of bodily affliflion. This comes home to the circum- 
 ftances Job was in. Tlie painting is ftrong, and the whole defcripcion highly 
 
 graphical 
 
 ' rhti^ *'-'^ 'nijjive tveapon, Vulg. ^ladiiis the /word. It fignifies in Arabic any weapon of 
 war. Pocock. Specim. Hift. Arab. p. 3^6, 
 
 ^ nnty *l-e pit. The verb nHK'J fignifies to he corrupted., or rotted, la Jer. xiii. 7- where 
 it is englifhed uas marred. 
 ' 1, this copulative denoteth here tranfition to a new topic It is well rendered by LXX- 
 
 OO 2
 
 284 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIII. 
 
 20. The languid flomach turns, with fick'ning hate. 
 From the plain viand and the flav'rous catc. 
 
 21. His flefh confumcs away, the bones within 
 Tranfparent ilarting through his flirivel'd ikin j 
 
 22. His foul now trembles on the verge of fate, 
 And death's dread angels for the fignal wait. 
 
 23. If then fome delegate of heav'n, renown 'd 
 For facred Ikill (rare gift on human ground) 
 
 24. The 
 
 graphical and affefting. It does honour to the powers of Elihu, or rather of 
 the Poet. 
 
 Ver. 19. and the multitude of his bones, bccl The original is, and'^ (when) 
 the tnultitude of his bones isjirong ". The hebrew word for pain, in the firft fen- 
 tence, fignifies affliolion " in general. He is feized with fome dangerous diftem- 
 per, when he is in his full ftrength. 
 
 Ver. 20. His life — his foul] Thefe terms denote the perfon himfelf. They 
 are equivalent to the perfonal pronoun He. Both the Greeks and Romans ufed 
 this manner of fpeaking p. 
 
 Ver. 22. His foul — his life'] See the note on ver. 20. 
 
 the dejlroyersl See the note on ver. 18, and the Appendix, Numb. IV. 
 
 Ver. 23. a niejfenger '''] One fent by the providence of God, or by fpecial 
 
 commiilion 
 
 " 1 here fignifies the circumftance of time, ivben ; as in chap. i. 13. And there was a day 
 ivhen ( T ) his fons, &c. 
 
 » So the Chaldee. 
 
 ' m^^^0 LXX. turn it f*a>,«xi«. It fignifies a violent bodily affliiiion in Pfal. xxxviii. 
 18. Compare ver. 3, 4, 5. 
 
 p Arrw* C105 for Xiirai robbers. Omnem medicorum vitam for omnes medicos ; Nq/ira vita for 
 igo. Vid. Merrlc^s Anmt. on Pfalms, p. 182. 
 
 '' 1K7.!D amcffenger. This is the proper and very frequent meaning of the word. It is 
 alfo frequently uied for an angel, becaufe angels are the mclTengera of God. But there is 
 
 nothing
 
 Chap. XXXIir. THEBOOKOFJOB. 2^s 
 
 24. The fick his duty fliew ; the fav'ring Pow'r 
 Salvation wills : 
 
 " Fly,' Health, to yonder bow'r, 
 " Contrition hath appeas'd my wrath ; go, fave 
 *' The penitent, and difappoint the grave." 
 
 25. His 
 
 commifllon from him, to aflift the fick man with his inftrudlions and prayers. 
 I cannot fee any thing in the charaifler and office of the perfon introduced here, 
 but what will agree to any good man eminent for wifdom and piety ; and much 
 more to a prophet. 
 
 en Interpreterl an eloquent -perfon '. 
 
 his uprightne/s'l his duty, what right reafon and religion required from a man 
 in his fituation -, repentance, fubmiflion, and prayer to God for pardon. The 
 inftruftion is fuppofed to be efFedlual ; as appears from the follov/ing verfes. 
 
 Ver. 24. Then he is gracious, &CC.] God mercifully accepts his repentance, 
 and faith Deliver him, &c. that is, he Ihall be delivered /re»;^w'«g- down to the 
 pit. 
 
 a ranfom'] or, atonement ; as it is in the margin. Whatever is a means of 
 averting punifliment and conciliating the divine favour, is termed in fcripture 
 an atonement. The interceffion of Mofes' and the adl of Phineas" are fo calledi 
 and here the fick man's repentance". 
 
 nothing in this paflage, or in the context, which obliges us to fuppofe that Elihu meant an 
 angel. It is alfo remarkable, what Mr. Heath informs us ; that in the Manufcript Oxon. 
 Laud. A. 262. the word "Ik'^S here is not acknowledged by the pointer j being not pointedj 
 but dotted over ("^^'70) he fuppofing it to be interpolated. 
 
 ' Y''7D on eloquent perfon, fo it fignifies in Chaldee. Vid. Caflell. Lex, 
 
 • llty* his duly, fuum offcium as Caftellio turns it. 
 
 ' Exod. xxxii. 30. » Numb. xxv. 13. 
 
 "^ Ecclefiafticus xxxv. 3. To depart from xuicktdnefs, is a thing pleajing to ths Lord; and i^ 
 forfake unrighteoufnefs^ ii a propitiation.
 
 2^6 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIII. 
 
 25. His flefli, rcplenifli'd with young juices, grows. 
 And with a fccond prime his afpecft glows : 
 
 26. Now in th' afTembly of the juft he ilands, 
 Before God's akar, with uphfted hands : 
 
 His pray'r afcends, the Pow'r looks fmiling do"^n 
 On new-born virtue, and with blifs will crown. 
 
 27. Sweet fwells the carol'd hymn j 
 
 " With loudcft praife 
 " I fing thy mercy, and adore thy ways : 
 
 (( 
 
 On 
 
 Ver, 25. Hisflefh, &c.] A beautiful defcription of the fick man's recovery. 
 The word tranflated fiall be frejher'^^ is an elegant metaphor from plants, 
 which having being withered by a long drought, recover their vigour and ver- 
 dure upon the falling of a fhower of rain. 
 
 Ver. 26. He JJmll pray, &c.] He is here reprefented offering a facrifice to 
 God, in the aflembly for divine worfliip, accompanied with a prayer and a 
 hymn. The face, or prefence, of God means the place where he is publicly 
 worfhipped ''. To fee the face of God with jay is to offer up a thankfgiving hymn 
 in the worfliipping aflembly'": and God's acceptance of him, and blefilng him 
 for returning to his obedience, is exprefled by rendering unto man his rightg- 
 oufnefs. 
 
 Ver. 27, 28. He looketh upon men, &c.] He fJoallfing =■ before men, and fay. Sec. 
 
 This 
 
 * tyflD"! isfrejher, revirefcens augefcit ; fo Cocceius happily renders it. For, according 
 to Schultens, it is a compound of two Arabic verbs; tarab (by tranfpofiUon ratah) vtguit 
 recenti fucco ; and pujh, crcv'tt. 
 
 y Gen. iv. 14. Exod. xxiii. 15. in the hebrew. Pfal. xlii. 3. in the Hebrew. 
 
 ^ Pfal . xlii. 4. / had gone ivith the muhitude, I went with them to the houfe of God, with the 
 voice of joy and praife, with a imdtitude that kept holy-day. See alfo Pial. xcv. 1,2. C. 2. 
 Come before his prefence with fmging. 
 
 ^ "ljy» cantahit. It bears this fcnfc in the conjugation yfrt/, Pfal. vii. i. Ixxxvii, 7. I Sam. 
 jLviii. 6. Schultens.
 
 CsAP. XXXIII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 287 
 
 " On me, a flnner thy rebuke was laid ; 
 
 " Light was the chafl'ning, with the trefpaCs weigh'd : 
 
 28. " Snatch'd from the gaping pit, unworthy I 
 *' Live, and again falute the cheering fky." 
 
 29. In all thcfe works, the Great Paternal Mind 
 Oft manifefts his care of human kind j 
 
 30. And calls his offspring, when their footfleps ftray, 
 From fhadcs of death to live beneath his ray. 
 
 31. This 
 
 This refers to the joy ver. 26. The words of his confefTional and thankfgiv- 
 inghymn, or rather thcfubftance and burden of it, are; I have finned^ i>cc, 
 
 and it profited me twt] rather, and have .not received according to my defer t^: 
 f(Jr he bath delivered my ' fou! from going into the pit, and my ' life beholdeth the 
 light. 
 
 Ver. 2S. my foul— my life'] that is, me— I; be hath delivered me — I behold 
 the light. See the note on ver. 20. 
 
 Ver. 29. oftentimes'] in the margin, t-vuice, thrice; a manner of fpeakinn- 
 wliich feems to import variety rather than frequency. The Greek verfion 
 turns it, three ways'^; namely, dreams, ver. 15. bodily affli^ion, ver. 19. and a 
 divine mejfenger, ver. 23. 
 
 Ver. 50. To bring back his foul, &CC.'] He repeats from ver. 18. The merciful 
 defign of divine admonitions and corredions ; in order to fix the perfuafion of 
 it in the mind of Job. Eliphaz and Zophar had hinted this, chap. v. 17, 18. 
 xi. II, 12. But Elihu expatiates on the fubjccl. His aim likewife differs 
 from theirs. The reclaiming of a Kicked man, fuch as they fuppofed Job to be, 
 
 was 
 
 " 'b mty iih Vulg. turns it, ttt eramdi^r.ns, nonrccepl; Caftellio, ilium nonfibi par retulifje. 
 rT\Ly imports equality between two things that are compared together, as in Prov. xxvii. 15. 
 Ifaiah xlvi. 5. To whom will ye liketi me, and make me equal? So here, the finner confeireth 
 that his chaftifement was not equal to his offence. In the Syriac Tcftament, Luke xii. 48. 
 A£ls xxviii. 18. it denotes dcfett of punifhmcnt, -worthy of Jiripes, vjot thy of death. 
 
 ' '2^33, ''r\''r\ So it is in the text, and fo LXX. and Syriac read. Our marginal tranf- 
 lation alfo adopts that reading. 
 
 ' jybU' Cz-VS '"•'•' ^i'/'^h thrici. Gr. Schol. uiwtjiuj Tara* r^avuv. Fid. Druiium*
 
 288 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIII. 
 
 31. This ponder'd well ; hear me, O Job, agam, 
 
 32. Or anfwer make, if anfwer fit remain : 
 To jufl defence I pledge a candid ear, 
 Full loth to cenfure, but o'erjoy'd to clear. 
 
 33. Elfe give me audience ; and the friendlhip prize, 
 Which Ihews thee where the path of wifdom lies. 
 
 ■=3 
 
 Chap, 
 XXXIV. 
 
 1. He paus'd ; then fpake again, with zeal fevere : 
 
 2. Sages and men for knowledge fam'd, give ear ; 
 
 3- A 
 
 was the point they had in view. Whereas Elihu fpeaks of thefe divine rebukes^ 
 as applied to the cure of faults which are not inconfiftent with general good- 
 nefs. 
 
 Ver. 32. I defrre to jujlify thee] I deftre that thou Jhouldji be juftified". It will 
 be a pleafure to me to find you innocent of arraigning the goodnefs of God. 
 
 Thefe exprefTions of Elihu difcover a candour and ingenuity too feldom to be 
 met with in religious difputes. 
 
 Ver. 33. I Jhall teach thee wifdoni] This language may appear too afTuming 
 for a young man to ufe to his fuperior. But it Ihould be confidered, that he 
 thought it inconfiftent with his duty to refpeift any man's perfon in fuch a caufe 
 as th's. In the next place, the filence of Job was a tacit acknowledgement of 
 the pertinence of wliat Elihu had already advanced : and thirdly, the words 
 amount to nothing more, than an engagement to otfer further what Job would 
 ftill approve as found fenfe and falutary inftrudion. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 In the foregoing chapter Elihu vindicates the goodnefs of God ; in this chap- 
 ter his Jujlice. 
 
 ' "lpT:f LXX. ^ixaiiGcjai a-i ; Vulg- Folo te apparerejujlum ; Caftellio, nam equidem it in- j| 
 fontem e£i cupio. j "
 
 Cii AP. XXXIV. T H E U O O K O F J B. -89 
 
 3. A fkilful car its tcfl to words applies, 
 
 As the found palate diff'ring fapors tries: 
 
 4. Let calm debate our wary fentence guide. 
 
 And truth's own voice this weighty caufe decide. 
 
 S, 6. " My innocence, unheard (thus Job complains) 
 " Heav'n dooms to fulTer a delinquent's pains ; 
 ♦' Unmeriting I mourn a mortal wound." 
 
 7. Where can this fcoflcr's parallel be found r 
 So lavifliing of tongue, fo bold to think, 
 His pride a dropfy, cavilling his drink : 
 
 3. He 
 
 Ver. I — 4. Hear my words, ye it^ifemen, &c.] Job remaining filent, Elihu 
 renews his addrefs to the three feniors ; and appeals to their judgement. By 
 this refpeftfiil method of interefting them in the debate, he effectually engages 
 their favourable attention. 
 
 Ver. 5. I am righteous, and God hath taken away, &c.] See chap. ix. 15, 
 20, 21. xvi. 17. xxvii. 2. and the notes. His expreffions imported in their 
 obvious meaning an impeachment of the jujiice of God. 
 
 Ver. 6. Should J lie againji my right .?] Contrary to my right, I am coft ' in 
 my caufe. He had complained, that God treated him as a wicked man, know- 
 ing him at the fame time not to be fo. Chap. x. 2, 3, 7, 15. 
 
 my wound is incurable, &c.] See chap. vi. 4, 26. ix. 17. 
 
 Ver. 7, 8. What man, &c.] Elihu's expreffions may fcem too fevere in this 
 
 place. 
 
 ' iT3X caufa cado, damnor, as Schultens interprets it. Caftellio takes it in the fame 
 fenfe, Duiljohus . . , fihl in fuo jure injurlam fieri. It has the fignification of ffzw7A/-9i:'///j 
 in cliap. xxiv. 2;. who will make me a liar ? who can overthrow what I have alledged ?
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIV. 
 
 8. He walks with atheifls, he adopts their flrainj 
 
 9. " Vain is all virtue, all religion vain." 
 
 10. Ye fages, hear me: Let us far remove 
 Injuftice from the fccpter'd Pow'r above : 
 
 II. Whofe 
 
 place. But they are only a ftrong way of faying, that Job's complaints were 
 too much akin to thofe of atheiftical men, who revile providence and ridicule 
 religion. 
 
 Marmoreo tumulo Licinus jacet, at Cato nuUo, 
 
 Pompeius parvo. Qiiis putet elTe Deos. 
 
 Licinus lies in a tomb of marble^ Cato has none, Pompey a little one. Who can 
 fuppofe that there are Gods? Licinus was a famous Roman barber whom 
 Auguftus made a fenator for his hatred to Pompey ^. 
 
 Ver. 9. For he hath faid, it profit eth^ &c.] Job, fo far from ufing fuch in- 
 fidel language, had entered his proteft againll it chap. xxi. 14, 15, 16. Not- 
 withftanding which, his complaint of hard meafure from God, and of the 
 fruftration of all the hopes he had formed of a reward to his virtue, would 
 fcarce admit of any other conftruftion. See chap. xix. 10. xxix. 18. xxx. 
 21, 26. 
 
 that he Jhould delight himjelf^, &c.] Or, that he Jhould fet his affection ' upon 
 God. It is not the fame word in the original with that in chap. xxii. 26. thou 
 fialt have delight ^ in the Almighty. But the meaning feems to be alike. It 
 fignifies to efteem the favour of God our fupreme felicity, and to take plea- 
 fure in doing what will be pleafing to him. 
 
 Ver. 10 — 30. Therefore hearken^ &c.] He enters on his defence of the 
 d'w'mejufiice, and continues it to the end of ver. 30. 
 
 s Dacier's notes on Horace's Art of Poetry, ver. 301. 
 
 *■ Cn^K DV inj»1!35 n^l occurs but once more conftrufled with tDjT, namely ia 
 Pfal. L. 18. then thou confcntedjl with him. The interlineary verfion there is, dcUiiabarii eoy 
 thou vjafl delighted with him. 
 
 ' So our bible renders HiT 'n I Chron, xxix. 3. I Lave fet my affeSiion /« (i) the bouft 
 of my God.
 
 Chap. XXXIV. THEBOOKOFJOB. zji 
 
 ir. Whofc retributions, with cxacflefl plan, 
 Anfwcr to virtue and to vice in man. 
 
 12. God injures none: his independent might 
 Difdains to bend th' eternal rule of right. 
 
 13. Or is he viceroy of this puny ball ? 
 
 Who, then, the founder of the world's vafl All ? 
 
 14. Were God a tyrant, would he not refume 
 
 His quick'ning fpirit ? terrible the doom ! 
 
 15. Which 
 
 Vtr, 10. far be it from God, &c.] In our conception of an infinitely perfefl 
 bcin"-, we are to remove injuftice and tyranny to an infinite diftance from him. 
 This pofition is the fame with Bikiid's chap. viii. 3. But Elihu llipports it 
 by feveral new arguments. 
 
 Ver. 1 1. For the work of a manfJMll he, &c.] This is a necefiary confcquenca 
 from the foregoing propofi,tion, 
 
 Ver. 12. will ttot do wickedly'] will not do wrongfully \ He will not injure 
 any. 
 
 Arguaient I. 
 
 Ver. 13. who hath given him a charge'", &c.] Elihu's firft argximent, to prove 
 that God cannot be unjuft, is taken from his independence. Were God a ilib- 
 ordinate governor, he might be tempted to commit injuries to gratify the 
 avarice or refentments of his fuperior. 
 
 or who hath difpofed, &c.] Or who hath made " the whole world ? If the God 
 whom we worfhip be a delegated governor, who is the God above him, the 
 maker of the univerfe ? 
 
 ' V'tyi' Exod. ii. 13. He fold to him that did the wrong "^^"^ 
 
 " npQ ITaiah X. 28. to Alichmajh he hath committed (1^p2») his carriages. Job xxxvi. 
 23. IVho hath enjoined him his way? "iDIT V^V *Tp3 '2 What fuperior hath prefcribed to 
 him Rules for his adminiftration. See alfo II Chron. xii. jo. 
 
 » D{J> condidit, Caftellio. See Exod. iv. n. 
 
 Pp 2
 
 2^2 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIV. 
 
 IS' Which ill a moment would impcople earth, 
 And into duft rcfolve all flcllily birth. 
 
 16. This rcas'ning ponder, and its fcquel weigh: 
 
 17. Unjuft and cruel is almighty fway ? 
 
 18. CrueL 
 
 Argument II. 
 
 Ver. 14, 15. If hefet his heart upon man, &c.] If he jet his heart againfi'^ 
 ;nnn, &c. He argues now from the divine benevolence. Tyrants are malig- 
 nant, revengeful, and cruel. If God were fo, this earth, inftead of being 
 full of the eoodnefs of the Lord, would become a dreadful fcene of defolation: 
 inftead of preferving, he would extinguifh the finful race of man. The 
 author of the IVifdc}}} cf Solonwn p reafons in much the fame maimer on God's 
 tender mercies over all his v/orks : For thou loveji all the things that are, audaby 
 horrefi nothing which thou haft made : for never v.ouUft thou have made any thing, 
 if thcu hadft hated it. And how could any thing have endured, if it had not been 
 thy will ? or been preferved, if not called by thee ? But thou fpar eft all ; for they are 
 thine, O Lord, thou lover cf fouls. 
 
 Ver. 16. If now thou haft underftanding] This methinks is a rough kind of 
 addrefs. Mr. Heath's verfion foftens k, feeing then it isfo, refteli '^ ; 
 
 Argument III. 
 
 Ver. 17, I S. Shall even he that hateth right govern .?] Is the governor of the 
 •worid a hater of juftice ? This is a third argument to prove that God cannot 
 commit wrong. The reafoning is fimilar to that of Abraham, fhall not the 
 judge of all the earth do right ? 
 
 and wilt thou condemn him, &c.l He infers from the foregoing, argument the 
 culpablenefsof impeaching the juftice of a Being who is fupereminently great 
 and -(Uft. Compare chap. xl. 8. 
 
 ° bx ^g'^i'ft' Exod xiv. ;. T/je heart of Pharaoh . , . vjos turned againft the people. 
 Job i. li. Haft thiu fet thy heart again Jl myfivant "Job. 
 
 p th''-P xi. 24, 25, 2^ . 
 
 '' ni'D C""" nmn) '^^e imperative in hil>h!l with a paragogic H and an aphsrifes of the 
 cliariittriftic litter. (Vid. Guaiin's Hebrew Grammar, vol. i. p. z^i.) Pral_ v. 2. eanfsder 
 (n J'3J '">' nieihatlon.
 
 Chap. XXXIV. THE BOOK O F JOB. S93 
 
 18. Cruel, unjuft — in fuch audacious ftyle, 
 
 What rudenefs would an earthly prince revile ?■ 
 
 19. Yet him revile, who, higheO: of the high, 
 Sees prince and peafant with impartial ey^, 
 
 29. Maker of both ! His equal judgements fweep 
 An impious city, in the midnight ileep: 
 
 Then 
 
 Ver. iS. Is it fit to fay to a king, &c.] He illuftratcs the infiifferable infolence 
 of taxing God with injuftice. Such an affront even to an earthly fovereion is 
 not to be endured ; 
 
 Argument IV'. 
 
 Ver. 19. How much lefs to him that accepteth not, &c.] He pafTeth toafourth 
 argument, the impartiality of God in bispunijhments. If this verfe needed a conT 
 ment, there cannot be a better than the following one of the Wifdom of Solomon '.- 
 For be ivho is Lord over all fhall fear no man^s perfon, neither fhall hefiand in awe of 
 any tnan^s greatnefs: for he hath made the f mall and great, and.careth for all alikx 
 But afore trial fhall come tcpon the mighty. 
 
 Ver. 20. In a moment, &c.] This verfe is exceedingly obfcurc. For the 
 clearing of it we may obferve, 
 
 (i) The connexion fhews, that it is a confirmation by example, of God's iar- 
 fartiality in his punifhments. 
 
 (2) The punilhment defcribed is capital and inllantaneous. In a momi.;.^ 
 they die. 
 
 (3) To increafe the terror, it is inflicted in the night, th: people fhall be troulkd . 
 at midnight. 
 
 (4) It caufeth a general conlternation and uproar, the people fijall It 
 trcubUd. 
 
 (5) Perfons of the higheft rank pcrifli by it, as well as the. meaneft. tht 
 mighty are taken away. 
 
 Laftly, 
 
 ' Chap. vi. 7.
 
 £71 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIV. 
 
 Then uproar reigns; die mighty and the mean 
 That inflant perifli, by a hand unfeen. 
 21. For human ways He open to his view, 
 
 Each winding path his critic eyes purfuc : 
 
 22. Nor 
 
 Laftly, The flroke is given by an invifible and fupernatural agent, without 
 band. 
 
 It muft be owned, that all thefe circumftances may poffibly fuit the deftruc- 
 tion of Sennacherib's army by an angel of the Lord in the night ', But the 
 times of Job and his friends, who lived long before that cataftrophe, forbid the 
 application. May not the overthrow of fome capital city, in the night, by an 
 earthquake, fully anfwer the defcription ? An earthquake is reprefented chap. 
 ix. 5, 6. as an eifeft and token of the wrath of God ; and therefore the Power 
 which is the firft agent in producing it, is invifible and divine. The (laughter 
 of all the firft-born of the Egyptians may perhaps be thought by fome to be 
 the calamity alluded to. But if the age of Job was pofterior to that event, or 
 coincident with it, one might expeft a clearer allufion to that and other fubfe- 
 quent miracles, in a poem of this caft. But I can find no fuch allufions. 
 
 Jhallbe troubled^'] This does not exprefs the full force of the author's word; 
 which is a metaphor borrowed from the commotions of an earthquake", or 
 from the tumultuous agitation of the fea in a ftorm". 
 
 without hand} by an invifible and fupernatural power. Lament, iv. 6. Dan. 
 11. 34. 
 
 Argument V, 
 
 Ver. 2 1 — 23. For his eyes, &c.] His fifth argument is taken from the divine 
 cmnifcience. God perfecftly knows the perfons of men, all their mod fecret 
 adliions, and all the motives of them. He cannot therefore, through ignorance, 
 punifli the innocent, nor the guilty beyond their true demerit. 
 
 • II Kings xix. 35. 
 
 ' Ijyjrjl' ■ Pfal xviii. 8. 
 
 '^ Jercm. v. 22.
 
 Chap. XXXIV. THE BOOK OF JOB. 295 
 
 22. Nor dark difguife, nor cv'n the central fhade, 
 Can hide the guihy, or his reach evade .- 
 
 23. Nor will he punifh fave the foul mifdced, 
 Nor will his arm in punifhing exceed. 
 
 24. He, without procefs, hurls a tyrant down. 
 And to a foreign line tranllates his crown : 
 
 25. Awaken'd by their crimes his anger burns, 
 A night of evil he againft them turns; 
 
 26. W.th 
 
 Ver. 23. that he pculd enter ifito judgement^ &c.] that man (hould have any 
 jiift complaint to bring againft his maker. 
 
 Ver. 24 — 30. He Jhall break in pieces^ &c.] That God will not except the 
 perfons of men in judgement, Elihu further proves from the examples of divine 
 vengeance on tyrannical princes and other powerful opprefTors. Not that he 
 means to infinuate, that Job came under that character and v/as fufferino- for 
 offences of that kind : For then he would have violated his engagement ch; p. 
 xxxii. 14. neither will I anfwer him with your fpeeches. His only view is to 
 eftablifli the impartial jujlice of God, and thereby to convince Job of his pre ■ 
 fumption in arraigning it. 
 
 Ver. 24. He Jhall break in pieces. Sec] He hreaketh in pieces'', &c. andfetteth 
 ethers'', &c. Elihu refers to fom.e noted inftances of fuch cataftrophes; which 
 fhewed, in his opinion, that it is the way of God to punifh tyrants by dethron- 
 ing and deftroying them. 
 
 Ver. 24. without number'] The marginal verfion, without fearching, is better. 
 He in whofe fight all things are naked and open, ftandeth not in need of a long 
 and formal examination to convi£t the guilty \ The judgements of God are as 
 rapid as they are unerringly juft. 
 
 " yi», 1!2V'. Our Tranflators might as well have rendered thefe futures in the prefcnt 
 time, as they have T^' '" 'he next verfe, hi kiioweih. 
 
 " Grotius. S
 
 2(,6 THE BOOK OF JOB. Ghap. XXXIV. 
 
 26. With infamy thofc proud delinquents fall, 
 
 Exampled vengeance, in the gaze of all : 
 
 2y, 28. For hlind and impious they mifrul'd-, the groan 
 
 Of fufF'ring innocence aflail'd his throne : 
 
 He heard it, ever to affliction's cry 
 
 Ilis ear is open and his vengeance nigh. 
 
 29. When 
 
 Vcr. 25. Therefore., &CC.'] For '^ he knoweth their deeds., and therefore * he tum- 
 eth the night ^ upon them; fo that they are deflroyed". He brings upon them a 
 fatal reverfe of condition, a calamity which ends in their utter ruin. The 
 vight and darhiefs are in this and other writers ufual metaphors for times of 
 great aflliftion. See chap, xxxvi. 20. where it means the night of death. 
 
 Vcr. 26. He fli'iketh them, Sec.] Their punifhment is open and exemplar)'. 
 It is the triumph of providence over tyrants. The exprefiions of the facred 
 writer allude to the public execution of malefactors. What is englifhed in the 
 open fight of ethers, is, in the original, in the place of fpe^ators. And what is 
 rendered he flriketh them is literally he clappeth his hands at them^ as in chap. 
 xxvii. 23. and in the laft verfe of the prefent chapter. It is a gefture of ex- 
 ultation and derifion. Compare Lament, ii. 15. Ezek. xxv. 6. 
 
 Vcr. 27, 28. Becaufe they turned hack, &c.] The crimes which drew deftruc- 
 tion upon them were impiety and opprefTion. They paid no regard to the laws 
 of God ver. 27. nor to the rights of men ver. 28. The manner of exprelTing 
 their impiety ver. 27. feeais to charge them with idolatry. Compare Pfalm 
 xliv. 17, 18, 20. 
 
 » Obj Vulg. enim. Noldius, quia, 
 =■ T, Vulg. // idcirco. NoldiuF, idco. 
 
 * rh^b "IQn he turmth tke ni^ht. Mr. Heath renders it, he iurmth the night full upon 
 ihcm- The Vulgate has, indued no£lem, 
 
 « For the Lord knoweth all them that fin againji him, and therefore deliverith he them unto death 
 and deftruSiion, II EfJras xv. :6. 
 
 ■" DPSD) t^'C f'lnie with l^"'Vy p£)^' chap, xxvii. 23.
 
 CttAB. XXXiy.. T.i^RB.OOK OF JOB.. 297 
 
 29. When on a man. or people, he bellows 
 
 His peace, what pow'r can trouble their repofc. ? 
 And when he dooms to ruin and the grave 
 A people or a man, what- pow-'r can feve-? 
 
 30. Thus 
 
 Ver. 29, 30. fV/jenbegive/h,&cc.] Thefe two verfes are the epiphonema ; or 
 a concluding of his difcourfe, thus far, on th^jujiu.e of God wit!) a weighty 
 aphorifm. iThe aphorilm- is, tliat the decifions of l)i?. j^-iftice, in abfolving or 
 <;ondenn>jng nations, or ipdjyi^vJ^lSj, wi.lli take.effeft in fpite of all oppofition: 
 And thati ill: hip punjllinipnj:^ as-well ^Srin hi? benedidiqns he hath ever in view 
 the welfare of hufrj^n. l^ind. 
 
 "Vfer^ 29. gi-i\(tl>-quietne/s--:Cfln make^ troMble]^Wken! he. acqui(te{h\,ijvboJball 
 condemn '? IVfr.. Heat^. I^ut., t^e cpaqexjpn.lhevv?,, th^t to coiidemn CigniEes here 
 to. oM»r^.;. and^ therefore, to.acquii muii here mean (0 deliver from oppre^^on^ 
 tha.tiSy to give ^iqelnefs, or reflr. Pfalm xciv. 13. That thou mayeft'give- him reft 
 from the days of'adverfity. 
 
 when he^hideth l^is face, who can behold him?] Our Tranflators feem to have 
 mifled the fenfe. They have inferred his, thereby determinihg the face to mean 
 the face of Qod, I apprehend the rendering flioiild be. 
 
 When, he hfdeth the face ^, who;ca^ behold it ^., 
 
 To 
 
 ' tDptf' Syriac, he forgiveih ; Arabic, he lettetb go, 
 
 ' VuI'T LXX, xaTao^xa5■rral Jhall condemn ; in which meaning all the other ancient vef- 
 fions interpret the word. 
 
 * D'JD "inD* he covereththeface. 
 
 ' ^^''\y^^ fliall behold it. D'JD the face, is one of thofe nouns which are plural in their 
 termination but fingular in their fenfe. Such nouns fometimes regulate the agreement of 
 the verb, adjective, or affix, to them by their plural termination ; and fometimes by their 
 fenfe. DTl'^N God is plural in its termination: but as it means one being, the verb, 
 &c. joined to it is for the mod part fingular. Vid.Guarin's Heb.. Grammar, vol. j.p ^4. 
 I may add that it is a common idiom in the Arabic language, for the pronoun affix to diiTer 
 from its antecedent noun in number and gender.
 
 298 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIV. 
 
 30. Thus he exerts his juftice and his care, 
 Dethrones vile kings, and burfts the people's fnare. 
 
 31. 'Tis fitting, furely, unto God to fay ; 
 
 ♦' O fparc the humble, for, behold, I pray : 
 
 32. " My 
 
 To hide, or cover, the face of a perfon fignifies to treat him as a condemned 
 malefaftor '. It correfponds Xo Jhall condemn in the foregoing member. 
 
 To behold it, that is, to uncover the face that is hidden, fignifies to reverie 
 the fentcnce of condemnation ; to fave the condemned party. This anfwers to 
 giving quielnefs, or delivering from opprelTion and deftrudion. 
 
 I take the meaning to be, that when God appoints a nation, or fingle man» 
 to calamity and death, no power in heaven or earth can fave them. 
 
 Ver. 30. That the hypocrite, &c.] That the profligate^ reign not. Hypocrite is a 
 very abfurd denomination of an openly profane and tyrannical prince, which is 
 the character Elihu is fpeaking of ver. 24 — 28. 
 
 left the people be enfnared] The original is, that therebeno fnares^ of the people; 
 that is, that the people may be delivered from the calamities which they fuffer 
 under the government of a tyrant. By deflroying fuch wicked rulers, God ma- 
 nifefts his abhorrence of injuftice and his care of human fociety. 
 
 The connexion of this verfe with the foregoing ftands thus : God's dethroning 
 tyrants is the effeft of his covering the face of fuchj that is, adjudging them to 
 deflrudion: And his deliverance of an opprefled people is the effect oi\vis acquit- 
 tal of them. It is giving quietnefs to them. 
 
 Ver. 31 — 33. Surely it is 'meet, ^c.'\ He infers, from his dodrine of God's 
 goodnefs znd juftice, the duty of a perfon in Job's fituation. The petition and 
 tonfelTion which he recommends to him are remarkable. That which I fee not., 
 teach thou me; \ilhave done iniquity, &c. This would be very improper language 
 
 for 
 
 ' Chap. ix. 24. and the note. See alfo Efther vii. 8. 
 
 *" ^in Sec the note on chap. viii. 13. 
 
 ' 'Ji'pT'J fnares., a metaphor for deflru£fivt ntlfthiefs, chap, xviii. 8, 0, 10.
 
 Chap. XXXIV. THEBOOKOFJOB, $99 
 
 3J. " My blindnefs heal, my latent fin explore, 
 « In ought offending I'll ofTend no more." 
 
 33* His 
 
 for a man who knows himfelf to be guilty of heinous crimes ; but highly fit 
 for a perfon, who, though in the main good, has reafon to fufpeft fomewhac 
 amifs in his temper and conduit for which God is difpleafed with him. The 
 pious Pfalmill prays in fimilar language, Cleanfe thou me from fecret faults. 
 Again, Search vie, O God, and know my heart : try me, and know my thoughts. 
 And fee //there be any wicked way in me : and lead me in the way everlajling. Pf. 
 xix. 12. cxxxix. 23, 24. 
 
 It appears plainly, that Elihu did not fuppofe Job to be a wicked man, and 
 to be fufFering for his oppreflions, bribery, inhumanity and impiety ; which the 
 three friends had accufed him of. 
 
 Ver. 3 1 . I have born chaftifement, / will not offend "", &c.] I lift up my hands, 
 letme not be dejlroyed". Mr. Heath. 
 
 I prefer 
 
 ■" 'DNtJ'i Jlf' "P" '^^^^ 's the word which is ufed for lifting up the hands in prayer 
 
 Lament, ii. 19. The woids my hands, which Mr. Heath fupplies, have at lead as good a 
 
 claim as the word chafUfmait which our Tranflators have inferted. The authority of Ifaiah 
 
 xxxvii. 4. will warrant alfo the infertion of my prayer inftead oi my hands; lift up thy prayer 
 
 for the remnant. And here, / lift up my prayer. 
 
 " bDnK The Maforites have pointed it in the conjugation kal, and thereby have made 
 it a word of two fyllables, and embarralTed both the meafure and the fenfe. Mr. Heath 
 reads it in the future of niphal. It then becomes a word of three fyllables, ehahd, and fig- 
 nifies tohe deftroyed; Prov. xiii. 13. as it does alfo \npyhal, Ifaiah x. 27. and in pihcl to de- 
 Jiroy, Ifaiah xxxii. 7. By making it a word of three fyllables, ehabel in fut. of «.•>/;.;/, or 
 ehubbal (tit. of pyhal, this ver. 31. in conjundlion with ver. 32. forms a ftanza of four lines; 
 the firft line anfwering in its cadence or metre to the third, and the fecond to the fourth ; 
 according to Bp. Hare's idea of the hebrcw metre. 
 
 Feet. 
 Ver. 31. cf el 1 el he I dinar - - - - 3 trochaic. 
 
 nafa ] ti lo | eha | bel - - - - 3 J iambic. 
 
 Ver- 32. bil ya | dc eh | zeh at | tah ho | reni - - - S trochaic, 
 im ya I vel pa | alti 1 lo 6 1 fip - - - 44 iambic, 
 
 Bp- Hare remarks, (in the preface to his edition of the Pfalms, p. 4S.) That the Maforites in 
 pointing the verbs are frequently miftaken, by making a verb to be in one conjugation when 
 the metre requires it to be in another.
 
 300 THE BOOK OF JOB. CnAr. XXXIV. 
 
 33. His rod chaftifes lome offence of tnihe; 
 
 Scorn or fubmiffion be thy -choice, not mine; 
 Reveal thy thought. 
 
 ■■Of:.. 
 
 34- Ye men of prudence, €peak; 
 
 S^.^Are not Job''s anfwers libertine and weak ? 
 
 .36. Again 
 
 I prefer Mr. Heath's verfion, becaufe it avoids the tautology I wiH not offend 
 any mori ver. 31. I wiil db no more iniquity ver. 32. and beeaul'e I cannot find 
 that the word which our bible renders to offend-, has any where that accepta- 
 tion. 
 
 Ver. 33. Should it bfe according to., &c.] The hebrew leads us to the following 
 tranflation, 
 
 He hath requited that which is from thee., hut thou hajl defpifed it. 
 
 But thou muji chufe, and not T. -. 
 
 ^oerefore fpeak what thou knotveft. 
 
 The meaning feems to be, " God has chaftened thee for fome fault of thine. 
 I have Veebmmended to thee fubmiflioni and mentioned a form of confefilon. 
 But thou muft chufe for thyfelf whether to fubmit or not, and not I for thee. 
 Speak therefore what thy confcience didlates." 
 
 i>ath requited:, &c.] Elihu fuppofed that afflidlion is always correUion. So /ar 
 he was under the fame miftake with the three friends. But though he believed 
 the fufferings of Job to be a divirie chaftifemeht bf foifiethihg wrong in him, 
 he did not join with thofe cenfors in concluding from his ilifferliigs thdfc he was 
 a wicked man. 
 
 that which h from lhee'\ fomewhat found in thee which has offended God. 
 
 thou hafi defpifed it] It is the fame word by which Elipnaz exprefleth contu- 
 wt^fj under divine correftions. chap. v. 17. 
 
 Ver. 34, o^c^. Let iiien of undetfianding, &e.] He appeals to the fcnfible and 
 
 judicious hearers, whether he had not clearly rrovcd Job's expreffions to be 
 
 6 fElfh
 
 CHAP;XXXrV. THE BOOK dF JOB. 301 
 
 36. Again (I counfcl) let lis tty their fenfe ; 
 
 37. Try to the utriAdft: fof hii fir ft offence 
 Is grown rebellion ; petlilaiit to bod 
 
 This babbler ttiumpHis, and infults his rod. 
 
 I r 
 
 Chap. 
 
 XXXV. . 
 
 I, 2. And wilt thou join prefumpmous ifTue here; 
 
 " The wrong is God's, my jiifter caufe is clear ?'* 
 
 3. Yet 
 
 rafh and foolifh. He withal begs they would go along with him in a thorough 
 examination of Job's fpecfches, becohfe of M^ ahf-wers for ^, or after the rrianner 
 of, wicked men. His complaints Were too much in the fpirit and ftyle of infi- 
 dels, and gave too much countenance to the catils of fuch againft the ways of 
 dod. 
 
 Ver. 37. For he addeth, Sec.] ^dh'i difcbhtent with the meafu res of Provi- 
 dence towards him broke out in his very firft fpeech, grew rnore loud and vehe- 
 ment in the cotirfe of the difpute; and Arrived to its height in his prefumptlious 
 challenge of God chap. xxxi. 35—^37. Thisprogrefs and increafe are what Eli- 
 hu marks by the expreffion, he addeth rebellion to his fin. The phrafeolbgy de- 
 notes continual augmentation ; like that in Pfalm Ixix. 27. add iniquity to their 
 iniquity. Compare Pfalm Ixxxiv. 7. 
 
 He clappeth his hands, Sec] He ejtults not only over his three opponents, 
 but alfo over God himfelf, particularly in chap. xxxi. 35 — 37. 
 
 C H A P. XXXV. 
 
 In this chapter Elihu correfteth Job for talking fo highly of his own virtue 
 and importance ^ ; and for complaining of God's neglect to punifli the wrongs 
 
 and 
 
 * 'jyjJi^ LXX. render 3 uTrsfias, Hie: They feem to have read 3 inftead of 3. Rut 
 Mr- Heath remarks that 3 denotes fimilitude in Ifaiah xliv. 4. as among the grafs, xlviii. 10. 
 not asfilver. 
 
 * Ver. 2—8.
 
 308 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXXV. 
 
 3. Yet fpeaks thy murmur lefs ? " what boafted hire, 
 *' Better than fm's, can virtue's toils acquire V 
 4, J-. Thee and thy fedl I anfwer : Infedl, rife ; 
 Look from thy duft, furvey yon lofty ikies : 
 
 6. Trembles 
 
 and violence which are committed in the world '', He is ftill vindicating the 
 jujlice of God. 
 
 Ver. 2, 3. tboufaidji my righteoufnefs, &c.] He had brought this charge 
 againft Job before, chap, xxxiv. 9. But there he cenfured the complaint as an 
 anzionmcnt of the jujlice of God. Here he takes it in another point of view, 
 namely, as laying God under obligation. The charge is, that Job had 
 in effeft faid, " I have been more juft to God than he hath been to me. I 
 have difcharged my duty to him, but have not met with a proper return from 
 him: My innocence hath been of no advantage to me." Elihu rephes, firft, 
 that fo great a Being cannot poffibly be hurt by the fins, or benefited by the 
 fervice of men : And fecondly, that our vice and virtue can harm or profit our 
 fellow mortals only. ver. 5 — 8. 
 
 Ver. 2. thinkeft thou this to be right] thinkejl thou this to be a caufe', or mat- 
 ter of difpute; a queftion fit to be tried j " Whether thy righteoufnefs is more 
 than God's?" 
 
 my righteoufnefs is more than God's] He had not faid thefe very words. But 
 this was the amount of his vehement complaints againft God and juftification of 
 himfelf. See particularly chap. xiii. 18, 22, 23, &c. 
 
 Ver. 3. what advantage, &c.] See the note chap, xxxiv. 9. 
 
 what prof t, &lC.] what am I prof ted by not having Jinned'} See chap. ix. 30, 
 31. x. 15. 
 
 Ver. 4. thy companions] Thofe who entertain the fame unworthy fentiments 
 of God and his providence. Chap, xxxiv. 8. 
 
 ' Ver. 9 — 13. 
 
 ' D?tyi3 a caufe^ or matter of litigation, chap. xiii. 18. xxiii. 4. 
 
 ' 'riKiDnO '' peccato meo. The fenfe feems to require us to read it as an infinitive with the 
 prefix a, a not! peccando, or quodnon peccavi. eafteilio turns the whole verfe with elegance 
 and freedom, Nfgans tibi prodejfe aut conductre innocentiam.
 
 Chap. XXXV. THEBOOKOFJOB. 303 
 
 6. Trembles his empire, if thy fms increafe : 
 
 7. Or to thy virtue muft he owe his peace ? 
 
 8. Thy fins, Tain worm, a fellow worm may wound ; 
 Thy virtue blefs a brother of the ground. 
 
 9. " This earth (thou cavilFft) is fill'd full with wrong, 
 " Cries of the weak, abandon'd to the flrong." 
 
 10. But 
 
 Ver. 5. Look unto the heavens, &c.] This is a fublime fentiment in a plain 
 drcfs. One view, fays he, of the magnificent fcenery of the lofty fky will ex- 
 tinguifh all low conceptions of its Almighty author. It will ftrike the mind 
 with a vafl: idea of his infinite fiiperiority to all other beings, and of the impof- 
 fibility of his gaining or fuffering by the good or bad behaviour of his realbn- 
 able creatures. 
 
 behold the clouds, &c.] behold thejky ', which is, 8cc. 
 
 Ver. 7. If thou be righteous, what givejl thou him .?] Eliphaz had touched this 
 argument chap. xxii. 2, 3. 
 
 Ver. 9 — 13. By reafon of the multitude, &c.] He pafleth abruptly to another 
 topic. Job's complaint of God's difregard of the numerous opprefllons commited 
 in the world "; the authors of which he lufFers to efcape with impunity. Elihu 
 replies; that when God avengeth not the opprefTed, it is owing to their want 
 of piety. He negledleth them, becaufe they negledl him. They murmur, but 
 they do not pray. They are clamorous but they are not humble '. This feems 
 an oblique hint to Job, that the continuation of his fufFcrings was owing to his 
 unfubmitting behaviour. 
 
 Ver. 9. By reafon of the multitude, &c.] By reafon of violence'' the oppreffed^ 
 try, &c. 
 
 « Cpnti^ ather, as Caftellio turns it. It is another word for the heavens. Pfal. Ixxxix. 
 38. E. T. ver. 37. 
 » Chap. xxiv. 1 — 12. * Ver. 10—13. 
 
 * 2n violence, Mr. Heath, It anfwers Xo the arm of the mighty in the next member of 
 the period. ^"\ is rendered fia, violence, by LXX. in Ifaiah Ixiii. i. 
 
 " D'p'lJi'y '^^ opprefj'ed' It is the paflive participle in kal, as Schultens remarks.
 
 304 THEBOOKOFJOB. CfiAi?: XXXV. 
 
 10. But none their Maker and his "vvays ^.?fo^, 
 Whofe gracious at^is th,c midnight ix^g in^fg^e.: 
 
 11. Him they negle<^} ■sy^.ip dignify d ov.r mind 
 With reafon far. aboy^ tJ^e, ijppechlefs, i^in(;lj: 
 
 12. Their cry is clamour of imhumbled grief, 
 
 13. Qod hears not clamour, nor will deign relief. 
 
 14. Thou fay'fl; " He gives no midnight fong to me, 
 
 His healing day I ne'er, alas ! lliall fee." 
 
 ' ' ' ■ ' ' Submit, 
 
 Ver. 10. zvhereis.God my maker. Sec} Xliej(,negje6t th^.mpfhob^ioug tii«i|ai;e 
 of reafon; come, letus w'orfiip^ ajttdjhw.deviifi;. kt,u^^kv^?l-b^pr£,thie,Lofd,fiUf 
 maker. 
 
 who give thfongs in the night'] The tiight.vavj fignify.hpr.e.as in.qljap, xx;^iy^._25. 
 a tijn.e, qf-cakmity. TJ^e fongs^^xe tKaj|kigivjngs to^Gpdfor^^ deliverance. Com- 
 pare Pfalm xxxii. 6, 7. xl. 2, 3. 
 
 Buf if: the. night. is. to be taken, literally, thfrf .may be. a reference to the noc- 
 turnal devotions, qf the pio.us. See. Pfalm xlii. 8. Ixiii. 5, 6. Ixxvii. 6. cxlix. 4, 
 5, Ifaiah xjcj^. 29. 
 
 Ver. II. fFho teachith uj, &c.} By, bellowing. the. qoble gift of reafop, God 
 hath qualified us for religion ; and laid 4s uncjer the higheft. Qbligatipn| to.be 
 religious. 
 
 Ver. 12. There they cry, ^c] There tixy cry ; but he .anfwereth not^ lecaufe-.of 
 the pride of evil men. The fufferers themiclves are perlbns of no religion, and 
 too proud to apply humbly unto God- for^deliveraace. Therefore lie pays no 
 regard to their complaints, which are vanity " fas they are termed in the next 
 verfe) that is, void of real piety. The wicked through the pride of h^counte- 
 nance will not feek after God : God is in none of his thoughts. Pfalm x. 4. 
 
 Ver. 14. Thou fayefl thou fljalt not fee him, &:c.] He endeavours to recover 
 
 Job 
 
 " "^yti} neqtiu'ia, as Caftellio turns it. The Chaldee renders it by ^"^Ti^, faljhood; by 
 the fame word that interpreter "tranffates |TJ^ /w/yi/ry.
 
 Chap. XXXV. THE BOOK OF JOB,^ 3©^ 
 
 Submit, and hope ; thy caufe before him lies. 
 
 1 5. As yet unchaften'd for his flout replies, 
 
 16. Or lightly chaften'd, Job exalts his tone. 
 
 Loquacious trifler with vain-glory blown. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Job from his defpalr, and to infpire him with hope of reftoration on condition 
 of humble trufl: in God for dehverance. To fee God mufl: here mean to enjoy his 
 faving power. The Syriac tranflation however is clearer, and the hebrew will 
 warrant it ; Thou fay eft tboufhalt not praifehim'. " He will give no fong in the 
 night to me." 
 
 Elihu, it is plain, did not underftand the words in chap. xix. 25 — 27. to 
 cxprefs a hope of temporal deliverance. He fuppofeth Job to be ftill in defpair 
 of fuch a reftoration. 
 
 judgement is before him] The caufe is before him. So our bible engliflietli the 
 fame hebrew word in Pfalm ix. 4. For thou haft maintained my right and my 
 caufe: thou fit teft in the throne judging right, cxl. 12. The Lord luill maintain 
 the caufe of the affli£ied. 
 
 Ver. 15. But now, &c.] This whole pafTageis very dark. The ancient ver- 
 fions differ widely. Not one makes any tolerable fenfe of it. Perhaps the fol- 
 lowing tranflation may meet with acceptance: 
 
 Ver. 15. But now becaufe his anger bath not vijited, neither hath noticed^ great 
 exceffes " ; 
 
 Ver. 1 6. Therefore doth Job open his mouth, &c. 
 
 Ehhu 
 
 ' U^ltyn Vh thou /halt notftng unto him. It is the fame word which fliould have been 
 rendered hefwgeth, chap, xxxiii. 27. See the note. 
 
 * V"T N*? ^'"'^ ""^ noticed. It is ufcd for taking into confideration, chap, xxxiv. 4. ti take 
 cognifance, or judicial notice, of; Pfal. i. 6. but there in order to reward, here in order to 
 puni{h. Crinfoz renders it, ijf quit ne prend point connoiffance de I'exds de vos plaintes. 
 
 '^ tKO ti^fl3 great excejfes ; that is, Job's intemperate fpeeches both of complaint and felf- 
 juftification. Schultens remarlcs, that the verb fignifies literally in Hebrew to be overgrown 
 with fat, Jer. 1. 1 1. Cromarus obferves, that in Arabic the verb fignifies to haft; one of its 
 derivative nouns, a bcafter ; and another of them, boajling, or vain-g/ory. The verb in Chal- 
 dee (in the conjugation aphel) fignifies to caufe to increafe. See the Tar^um on Pfal, cv. 24, 
 
 R r
 
 3o6 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVI. 
 
 Chap. 
 XXXVI. 
 
 I — 4. Indulge me flill ; much argument remains 
 
 On God's behalf, and lofty are the ftrains, 
 
 rii 
 
 Elihu cenfures Job's behaviour as having been the very reverfe of patient 
 ■waiting on God. It was murmur ; it was vain-glorious exaltation of himfelf. 
 God however had not manifefted his difpleafure againft him for it, or not in 
 any fevere degree. But this lenity (Elihu adds) has but encouraged Job to be 
 more bold and clamorous. 
 
 Ver. 1 6. in vain ■"] rajhly. Mr. Heath. It anfwers to laords without know- 
 ledge in the next fentence. The Almighty pafleth the fame cenfure on Job's 
 co.mplaints ". They did but difcover his ignorance and prefumption. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 At the third verfe Elihu refumeth his defence of tbejujiice of God, and clofeth 
 it with the twenty-third. He had given us his idea of the juftice of God 
 ver. II. of the xxxivth chapter. For the work of a man fjall he render unto him^ 
 and catife every tnan to find according to his ways. God's punifhments and ble/T- 
 ings correfpond to the moral behaviour of men. 
 
 At the twenty fourth- verfe, he enters on a train of fublime refleftions on the 
 natural works of God, that come within the reach of our obfervation. He pur- 
 fues this fubjeft throughout the fubfequent chapter. 
 
 Ver. 2. Suffer me a little} Literally, wait for' me a little; wait a little longer 
 for the ending of my difcourie to you. 
 
 Ver. 3. I will fetch, &c.] In a free trandation we might render it, I will cany 
 back my refieSfions to what I began with ? (chap, xxxiv. 10.) namely, juftifica- 
 tion of my Maker i and will afcribe righteoufnefs to my Maker. 
 
 But 
 
 -■ ■ ■■ — i.-i.. .■_.■■■ I .■■■■ —...—■I.W. .^MMl. ■■■■■■■■ ^ 
 
 * 72rt> LXX. iA.a.TMui fooUfhly. 
 
 ' Chap, xxxviii. 2. 
 
 ' »V inD^ The Targum turns it, 1^ tDO^? wait for me; in like manner LXX. /»ti«»^; 
 Vulgate, fujiine me hear vulth me; Mr. Heath, have patience with me. Itfignifies in Chaldee 
 and Syriac pra/lolatus ejl; Caftellus. In the Syriac Teft. Rev. xvii. jo, "IflJ is the tranf- 
 lation of iuna to tarry. 
 
 * pimD*? 'jn Nil'X Vulgate, Repttam fcltntiam tneam a principio.
 
 Chap. XXXVL THE BOOK OF JOB. ^07 
 
 I'll juflify my Maker, without art. 
 Truth I explore, and faithful I impait. 
 
 J. Th' Almighty Mind, in all perfe(5tions great, 
 Above low envy and capricious hate. 
 
 6. An 
 
 But perhaps the original will warrant the following verfion, / -will utter * ("or 
 will go on to utter) my knowledge of that which is high'-, that is, of a fublime fub- 
 jcft. He may well honour his fubjefV, which is thejujlice of God, with the epithet 
 fublime. He had difcourfed on it in the two preceding chapters, he had drop- 
 ped it during his addrefs to Job and the audience chap, xxxiv. ver. 31 — 37. 
 and interrupted it again chap. xxxv. 14 — 16. Now he fays, he will re- 
 fume it. 
 
 Ver. 4. He that is perfe^ in knowledge, &c.] One who will honeftly fpeak the 
 fentiments of truth in difcourfing with thee; He that is upright'^ in knowledge is 
 with thee. Elihu means himfelf. See chap, xxxiii. 3. 
 
 Ver. 5. God is mighty, and defpifeth not any, &c.] He aflerts that God cannot 
 be warped by prejudice or caprice in his adminiftrations of juftice. The ar- 
 gument to prove the aflertion is, that fuch weaknefles are incompatible with 
 
 the tranfcendent wifdom and grandeur of the divine mind', 
 
 defpifeth 
 
 >■ — ■ — " 
 
 ' NlfJ^ I vAU utter. So it fignifies Num. xxiii. 7. although it is there englifhed/s /(J^# «/>. 
 
 ' pin'^S'? of '•*"' t*-'hich is high. ^ is fometiines the particle of the genitive cafe ; as a 
 ffalm of David, (Tib) a pfalm of praife mi n"? "11210- It alfo fignifies </<?, of, or con- 
 cerning, Efther iii. 2. Gen. xx. 13. pTn"l!3 longinquum, denotes great diftance in refpedl 
 toheightxtr.i'^. and in refpe<a to /f«»<*, I Kings viii. 41, 46. In metaphor it may denote a 
 high and extenfive fubje£t. A fublime and boundlefs matter of enquiry is compared to the 
 height of heaven, the depth of hell, the length of the earth, and the breadth of the fea, chap. 
 xi. 7-9. 
 
 * D'Sn "pright, (II Sam. xxii. 1^.) fecum agitur fmcerisfentcntiis, Caftellio. 
 
 ' ^b nD T23 mighty in ftrength of heart, ox underftanding. Mr. Crinfoz finely remarks, 
 that the expreflions in the original denote an elevation of mind, which is not capable of any 
 thing unbecoming a noble, generous, and magnanimouschara£ler. But, fays he, thcfe are 
 epithets too much beneath the Deity, to be ufed when we fpeak of him. Cafteliio's verfion, 
 however, is beautiful; ^umfit Deus exccllens, quumftt inquam et cxcelltns et magnanimus. 
 
 Rr 2
 
 So§ THE BOOK OF JOB. € hap. XXXVI. 
 
 6. An equal judge, no faviour of th' unjuft, 
 Upraifes weeping virtue from its duft. 
 
 7. He marks the righteous whom the fhade conceals, 
 
 Inthrones with kings, as blazing noon reveals 
 
 Their worth, and bids recording Time proclaim. 
 
 Their titled offspring and imperial name. 
 
 8, 9, 10. 
 
 defpifeth not anyl he refers, no doubt, to Job's own exprefTions chap. x. 3. Is 
 it good u>!to thee that thou fioiddji opprejs? that thou Jhculdjl defpife the work of 
 thine hands ? and Jhine upon the counfel of the wicked? To defpife there means to 
 take up an a^'crfion to a perlbn without caufe, from caprice. 
 
 Ver. 6 — 15. He preferveth not the life, &c.] He proceeds to eftablilh thejuf- 
 tice of God by /^^j in the courfe of providence. It is proper to carry along 
 with us Ellhu's idea of divine juftice chap, xxxiv. 11. For the work of a man 
 Jhall he render unto him, and caufe every man to find according to his ways. 
 
 Ihe wicked are, in this book, perfons whofe charadler is in general bad, but 
 particularly oppreffors. The poor mean not merely indigent perfons, but all who 
 are injured, and withal innocent and friendkfs. To preferve the life of the wicked 
 is to proteft and profper the wicked and injurious : And to give right to the 
 poor is to redrefs the wrongs of the innocent and humble. 
 
 Ver. 7. He withdraweth not, &c.] The fufferings of religious and virtuous 
 men are apt to raife in our minds hard thoughts of the Providence of God. Job 
 had difcovered fentiments of that nature. When therefore we behold men of 
 excellent piety and moral worth remarkably delivered from their afRlAions, 
 drawn out of their obfcure condition, and advanced to high and illuftrious fta- 
 tions; fuch inftances ought, in all reafon, to be confidered as proofs of God's 
 rendering unto man according to his work. Elihu, I fuppofe, refers to fome known 
 examples of fuch a ftrunge revolution in Arabia, or in Egypt, or in fome other 
 neighbouring country. 
 
 but with kings, ^c."] but he fetteth them with kings en the throne, and they art 
 
 exalted for ever. Mr. Heath, who thus tranflates the pafTage, remarks, that 
 
 the allufion is certainly to David and his pofterity. Strange indeed ! that this 
 
 7 excellent
 
 Chap. XXXVI. THE BOOK OF JOB. 309. 
 
 8, 9, 10. When erring mortals in his bonds he holds, 
 Their ear he touches, and their fins unfolds; 
 Humbles their pride, their felf-deception breaks, 
 And flumb'ring confcience to its charge awakes. 
 
 11. If to his liigh commands their ear they bow, 
 And faithful keep the penitential vow ; 
 Sweet days enfue, bright is their evening fcene. 
 And death comes late and with a look ferene. 
 
 12. Indocile elfe, and ilubborn in their ways, 
 A fatal blow their heavy forfeit pays. 
 
 13. For Ilubborn finners but augment their pain. 
 Sullen or fuming in th' Almighty's chain: 
 
 14. Inflam'dj 
 
 excellent poet fhould fo far confound times and charadlers, as to make Job and 
 his friends acquainted with the hiftory of that monarch. Grotius fuppofes, 
 with much greater probability, that Elihu alludes to the advancement of 
 Jofeph. 
 
 Ver. 8 — 14. ^»/ if they be bound, &c.] He leems to pafs here to another 
 character, the oppofite of the foregoing, the doers of unrighteoufnefs. God 
 caufetb fuch alfo to find according to their ivays. He afflicts them ; but with a mer- 
 ciful defign to reclaim them. If they are penitent, their repentance makes a 
 change in their charadler, and a correfponding change in God's treatment of 
 them : he reftores them to their former felicity. But if they prove too corrupt 
 and ftubborn to be reclaimed, he cuts them off by fome calamitous death. 
 Thus he manifcfts his juftice, by rendering to every man according to his work. 
 Compare chap, xxxiii. 26. 
 
 Ver. 12. by the fword] by the fword of the angel of death. See the note on 
 chap, xxxiii. 18. 
 
 Ver. 13. the hypocrites in heart} the profligates in heart; men of very corrupt 
 
 minds.
 
 310 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVI. 
 
 14. Inflam'd, the holy minifters of death 
 
 By violent pangs prefs out their guilty breath. 
 
 ij". How fwift his faving arm, when meekly flill 
 
 The man of forrow learns celeftial will ! 
 
 16. Thee too he calls ; for thee prepares releafe, 
 
 Fulnefs, and feafl, and virtue's heav'n-born peace : 
 
 17. But 
 
 minds, incurably wicked, who will not humble themfelves under the mighty 
 hand of God when he hindeth them in the cords of affliiiion. It is a variation of 
 the exprefTion in ver. 1 2 . if they obey not, 
 
 Ver. 14. They die in youthy &c.] This is an iiVn^YihcdXionoi they^allperijhby 
 the fwordwzx^ 12. The tranflation of this verfe fhould be, I apprehend. 
 Their breath dieth by violence 
 And their life is defiroyed by the holy beings. 
 
 See the Appendix, Numb. IV. 
 
 Ver. 15 — 23. He delivereth, SccI The obfervation in ver. 15. is an epitome 
 of ver. 10, II. He introduceth it as being the leaft ofFenfive tranfition to the 
 exhortation, which he addreffeth to Job in this portion of his difcourfe. For 
 it would have been too harfli to make the application immediately after thofe 
 fevere expreffions in ver. 13, 14. But the profligates in heart heap up wrath^ 
 &c. 
 
 the poor'^1 This paflage clearly fliews, that by the poor are meant perfons 
 in a fuffering condition zvhofe ears are opened, that is, who humbly receive the 
 admonition which the difcipline of heaven conveyeth to them. 
 
 Ver. 16. Even fo, tec.'] //.'^7?rrt///>/«cemeaneth his prefentafflidled condition; 
 ihe broad place his deliverance : The phrafe where there is noftraitnefs exprefleth 
 the completenefs of the deliverance : And the table furnifhed with fatted things^ 
 fignifies the affluence and enjoyment in which he fhould fpend the remainder of 
 his life. The parallel palTages are Pfalm cxviii. 5. xxiii. 5. 
 
 " 'jy Ic is rendered by LXX. irfx\n mcei, Zach. ix. 9. Compare Pfal. xxxiv. 7. 
 Izxxvi. i<
 
 Chap.XXXVL the book OF JOB. S'l 
 
 17. But thou, litigious (not the wicked more) 
 
 Wilt wrangle for thy right, thy wrongs deplore ; 
 Thy right is yielded thee, thy fuiF'rings laft, 
 And juftice in her fetters holds thee faft.' 
 
 18. Curb thy impatience, wrath already burns j 
 Beware its fury, which no ranfom turns : 
 
 19. Wrath, which defpifes all the wealth of kings 
 And all the force that wide dominion brings. 
 
 20. Wifh not that difmal night, which fweeps away 
 The race of mortals from the walks of day. 
 
 21. Leave, leave thy murmurs ; thefe thy peevifli tongue 
 More than affliction's ftyle has lov'd too long. 
 
 22. God 
 
 Ver. 17. But thou baft fulfilled, &c.] But thou art full oftheftriving" of the 
 •wicked. The fenfe is the fame as in chap, xxxiv. 36. his anfwers like wicked 
 men. Thou haft abounded in wranglings with Providence, after the manner 
 of irreligious men. Elihu tells him, that the continuance of his fufferings was 
 owing to his murmurs ; Judgement and juftice take held on thee. 
 
 Ver. iS, 19, Becaufe there is -wrath, &c.] Verily there is -arath, &c. God is 
 highly offended with your undutifiil behaviour in this trial. Take heed, left 
 yourperfeverance in this froward temper provoke him to cut you off by fome 
 exemplary deftrudion. If things come to that extremity, not all the wealth 
 and power of the world will be able to fave you. 
 
 Ver. 20, 21. Befire not the night, &c.] He farther warns him, both againft 
 his impatient wiflies for death and murmurings at God. This was Job's iniquity. 
 by the night is meant the night of deaths 
 
 " yijiriving, orftri/e. Compare Ecclef. vi. 10. This noun it engVtihedftii/e, Piov. 
 2[xii. 10.
 
 3^-2 THE BOOK OF JOB/ Chap. XXXVC 
 
 22. God reigns fupreme, above the flarry fky, 
 Where is the fovereign who with him may vie ? 
 
 23. Who gave his fcepter, and his fteps o'erfees? 
 Who dares pronounce, *' unjuft are thy decrees ?" 
 
 24. O Job, the grandeur of his work admire, 
 Hymn'd in loud anthems by the righteous choir : 
 
 25. Aloft 
 
 Yer. 2 2, 23. Behold God exalietb, Scc.'\ Thefe verfes contain the argument 
 by which he enforceth the foregoing admonition. God is the fupreme lawgiver. 
 His dominion is abfolute. It tranfcends all comparifon, and is above all difpute 
 and objedion. The verfion of ver. 22. fhould be. Behold God is exalted" in 
 his power : vjho is a lawgiver ^ like unto him ? 
 
 Ver. 23. PFohath enjoined, &c.] God is not a deputy governor of the world. 
 He is fupreme, independent, accountable to none. It is the higheft infolence 
 to tax him with doing wrong, the expreflion who hath enjoined him bis way, 
 is of the fame import with who hath given him a charge over the earthy chap, 
 xxxiv. 13. See the note there. 
 
 Ver. 24. Remember, &c.] This verfe ought to have begun a new chapter : 
 for it begins a new head of difcourfe, which is continued to the end of theenfu- 
 ing chapter. The fubjeft is the incomprehenfible wifdom and power of God, 
 in forming the meteors of rain, thunder, &c. and ufing them to ferve the ends 
 of his moral government. The fcope of the difcourfe is, to convince Job of 
 his ignorance oi the ways of Providence by his ignorance of /i'f works of creation ; 
 and to humble him for his prefumption in finding fault with what he did not, 
 could not, underftand. 
 
 his work] the vifible creation, the heavens in particular ; in which he has 
 
 made 
 
 ° THDD D'Jw" Vulg. cxcdfui in fortitudine fua, \S&^. mayy^ii it iaxvi^ oL^i-tv mighty in his 
 power. 
 
 p n"(1S5 'UKX. rtnitt It ^mafK a potentate ; Vulg. nullus eiftmilii in legijlatoribus. mifl 
 is the law, TVi^^ '-"^ ^^"^ maketh the law.
 
 Chap. XXXVr. THEBOOKOFJOB. 313 
 
 25*. Aloft prefentcd to all mortal eyes, 
 
 Above all mortal thought his wonders rife : 
 
 26. The work proclaims ; the workman is divine, 
 Whofe boundlefs years no numbers can define. 
 
 27. Refin'd by him the wat'ry atoms rife, 
 Run into clouds, and flow along the Ikies : 
 
 28. And 
 
 made manifeft his eternal power and godhead. Pfalm xix. i. cii. 25. Rom. 
 i. 20. 
 
 "ivbicb men behold'] which mencelebrate with fangs'^. It is the fame word that 
 (hould have been rendered toftng chap, xxxiii. 27. xxxv. 14. See the notes. 
 
 Ver. 25. Every man may fee^ &c.] feeth — heholdeth. The phrafe beholdeth 
 /7/«r 0/" denoteth literally a vaft diftance, and figuratively incomprehenfibility. 
 Our fightof anobjeft which is afar off is very indiftind; our knowledge of the 
 works of God is very imperfeft. 
 
 Ver. 26. Behold God is greats &c.] The creation demonftrates its author to 
 be an eternal, almighty, incomprehenfible being. 
 
 Ver. 27. For be maketh fmalU &c.] The tranflation, I apprehend fliould 
 be. 
 
 He draweth up' the exhalations' of water ^ 
 
 Which 
 
 ' ^'y^'l* Targum, ivhiJ) righteous men do praife. Vulgate, di quo cecinerunt vlri. The 
 root is ^ity cecinit. It is here in the conjugation pihe/. 
 
 ' y^Jl' Vulgate aufert carrieth, or taketh, avuay, Schultens has (hewn that yi;i fignifies 
 in Ariihicforpjit, fublimavit. 
 
 ' '5'OJ The root in Arabic figmfies Jlillavit, de/?illav!t, exjillavit, prxfertira per exfoda- 
 tionem f< exhalationem. Schultens. 
 
 S f
 
 3 T4 T H E B O O K O F J O B. Chap. XXXVI» 
 
 28. And thence diflilling in benignant rain, 
 
 Swell the brown harveft of the fliouting fwain. 
 
 2% 30. What 
 
 Which are fined ' for the rain op his cloud '. 
 
 'The exhalations of water are the watery vapours. Thefe are the materials of 
 (louds and rain. 
 
 According to Profeflbr Hamilton", evaporation is nothing more than the 
 gradual foluticn of water in air, produced and promoted by attraftion, heat, 
 and motion, by which other folutions are effeded. The attradive power of the 
 air Jrazvs up the watery particles that are in contaft with it. By attracting 
 them, the air at the fame iimsfineth them ; feparating and leaving behind their 
 faline and other heterogeneous parts. By this divine chymiftry they become 
 qualified for the purpofes of a 7'ai>iy cloud. When the air has drawn up the 
 watery vapours, it diffolves them, that is, unites them witli itfelf. It keeps 
 them fufpended, in this ftate of folution, until by cold or fom.e other caufe it 
 is forced to let fome of them go. They then run together by their own mutual 
 attraction and form a cloud. They continue in that form until the cloud is fo 
 much accumulated, by afrefh acceffion of more watery vapours, as to become 
 heavier than the air; or until the heat or denfity of the air itfelf is fo diminifhed 
 as to become lighter than the cloud. The cloud then falls in drops of rain. 
 
 This beautiful theory is advanced by the very ingenious Dr. Hamilton, who 
 has fupported it by a train of curious and accurate experiments, obfervations, 
 and realbnings. 
 
 But ftill attraHicn, which is fuppofed to be the firft mechanical agent in this 
 ■wonderful procefs, is itlelf little underftood. For who will prefume to define 
 
 the 
 
 ' Ipt' The LXX. turn it in the paffive voice but miffed its meaning, £7rixv'0>i<7(i.T«i. pp\ 
 5s properly to fine metals by fufion, chap, xxviii. 1. 
 
 » ^ of, as in Pfal. cxlviii. 14. the horn of his people, "my*? 
 * In the firft of his fhilofophical Effayt.
 
 Chap. XXXVr. THE BOOK OF JOB. 315 
 
 29, 30. "What lofty genius can the fcene unfold, 
 When his dark tent of vapours is unroll'd ? 
 About their king aerial clangors found, 
 Thick-burfling flames fprcad terribly around, 
 Tempcftuous winds th' affrighted ocean fweep, 
 
 And from its bed upheave the roaring deep. 
 
 31. Thcfc 
 
 the precife bulk and fliape of thofe minute particles of the air, which endow 
 them with an attradtive power: and as for heat and cold, fo inftrumental in pro- 
 ducing rain, who knows what are the firfl natural caufes of them ? Rain there- 
 fore, which is the origin of fountains and rivers, and one principal means of 
 carrying on vegetation and fupporting animal life, muft ftill be reckoned among 
 the great and incomprehenfible works of God. 
 
 Ver. 29, 30. Alfo can any underjiand the fprcadings'', &c.] that is, covering 
 the fky with clouds, the prelude to a thunder-fhower. Thefe two verfes are a 
 lofty defcription of a ftofm of thunder and lightning: the great Author of nature 
 is reprefented fitting in a pavillion of clouds. The clouds burft, the lightning 
 flaflies, the tliunder roars, and tempeftuous winds turn up the fea from its 
 bottom. 
 
 Ipfe pater, media nimborum in no<fle, corufca 
 
 Fulmina molitur dextra-^— Georg. I. 328, &c. 
 
 The father of the gods his glory flirouds, 
 
 Involv'd in tempefts and a night of clouds ; 
 
 And from the middle darknefs flafliing out. 
 
 By fits he deals his fieiy bolts about. Dryden. 
 
 the noife of his tabernacle'] By his tabernacle are meant the clouds. Pfal. 
 xviii. II. He 'inade darknefs his fecret place : his pavillion round about him were 
 
 dark 
 
 T »jy"lS*3 the fpreacUngs, It is a metaphor taken from extending the curtains of a tent, 
 
 Sf 2
 
 3i6 THE BOOR OF JOB. Chap. XXXVI. 
 
 31. Thcfe are his fcrvants ; thcfe for wifefl ends, 
 To feaft the nations, or aflliiSl:, he fends : 
 Tlicfe meteors his judicial will perform, 
 Blefs in the fhow'r, and punifli in the llorm, 
 
 32. God holds a flaming dart with both his hands, 
 Forbids its flight where'er a fuppliant ftands ; 
 
 33- But 
 
 dark waters, and thick clouds of the Jkies. See the following verfes. At the 
 brightnefs, &c. the noife " is well rendered by Crinfoz the claps of thunder. 
 
 Ver. 30. Behold he fpreadeth, &CC.] Behold his lightning'' burjieth^ around him' -y 
 he turneth up '' the bottom of the fea. Mr. Heath. The latter fentence, he turn- 
 eth up, &c. reprefents the efFeds of a thunder-ftorm upon the ocean. 
 
 Ver. 31. jBy themjudgethhe, &c.] FruitfuHhowers, continual rains with con- 
 fequent inundations, thunder, lightning, and tempeftuous winds (ver. 27 — 30) 
 are employed by God in his moral government, for the benefit or punifliment 
 of men according to their moral behaviour. 
 
 To judge a people is the phrafe ufed by die Pfalmift for punifliing them, Pfalm 
 ix. 19. Compare ver. 15, 16. 
 
 Ver. 32, 33. With clouds, &c.] Thunder and lightning being looked upon, 
 in thoie ancient times, as the moft awful token of the divine difpleafure againft 
 
 the 
 
 ' mKtJTl t^^ no'tfti. pSt!^5 which is derived from the fame root nNJi^) denotes the 
 rparing of the fea in a ftorm Pfal. Ixv. 8. According to Caftell. pKJJ! fignifies Jlrepitus, 
 qui irruptionem et ruirwm confequitur. 
 
 ' "1*11K It fignifies lightning, and is fo rendered chap, xxxvii. 3. 
 
 ' *1"11K £^"13 hefcattereth his lightning. 2^"1D, parai, fignifies to break a whole into parts 
 and difperfe them abroad. Ezek. xvii. 21. 
 
 * Vbv LXX. tat' atlw cwr A//«. Vulgate, defuper. Crinfoz, autour de lul. Prov. vi. 22, 
 it Jhall keep watch around thee "l'Vy> See Noldius. 
 
 '' r^D^ fo^'t- By this word the Samaritan Pentateuch renders "l^n inGen. xxvi. 22, 
 Mr. Heath.
 
 Chap. XXXVI. THE BOOK OF JOB, 317 
 
 33. But hurls the forked vengeance at the proud, 
 
 And deep-mouth'd thunder fpeaks his wrath aloud. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 the fins of men, Elihu takes up that fubjecft again ; and dwells upon it to the 
 end of ver. 5. of the fubfequent chapter. I can make no fenfe however of our 
 bible tranOation of thefe verfes 32, 33. 
 
 They will be more intelligible, and of a piece with the context, in the follow- 
 ing verfionj 
 
 Ver. 32. He boldetb ° the lightning with both his hands ^, 
 
 And giveth it commandment concerning him that-prayeth «, 
 
 Ver. 33. His thunder'' announce th, concerning him, Jealoujy and anger* again^ 
 the impiousK 
 
 The 
 
 * HDD ^f hidethy or covereth; that is, he holdeth fo as to cover, with his hands, the 
 lightning. 
 
 e VJ2,1D maphgi)} him that prayeih. This verfion, which is fupported by the Chaldee, 
 prcfents a fine contraft between the impious at whom the thunderbolt is levelled, and him that 
 prayeth whom it is commanded to fpare. yj3 in Za/fignifies to pray, chap. xxi. 15. Bur, 
 if I miftake not, the author of the IViJdom of Solomon, cited in the note, read miphga'^ a 
 marky as in chap. vii. 20. The tranflatioa then muft be, 
 
 God holds with both his hands a flaming dart. 
 
 Gives it command to ftrike th' offending part ; 
 
 Then hurls the forked vengeance at the proud. 
 
 And deep-mouth'd thunder fpeaks his wrath aloud. 
 
 * '\'i'^fragor ejus (a j;i"1, or yn c/anxit, perfniiii) his noife ; Mr. Heath turns it, with' 
 more dignity, his thunder ; which certainly is the particular no//^ intended. 
 
 ' t)S njpO jialoujy and anger; fo the Targum renders it. njpa for NipD, as HIpD 
 nttum, filatum for NlpD- See Guarin's Hebrew Grammar, vol. i. p. 400. 
 
 * nbiy , y ogainji, or upon, the impious. The Syriac read yavlah and Co did LXX. 
 who render it aJmia unrighteoufnrjs, i. e. the unrighteous, as the Arabic turns it. 
 
 But it comes to the fame thing, if we follow the Maforetic pointing J?oleh elattts, him that 
 is high; who in the pride of his countenance will not humble hi mfelf before God. Com- 
 pare chap. xl. 11 — 13.
 
 Si8 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVII, 
 
 Chap. 
 XXXVII. 
 Ver. I. Ev'n while I paint this dreadful fccnc, I ftart ; 
 
 My bofom fcarce can hold its panting heart. 
 
 2. Hark ! 
 
 The Divine Being is reprefented here in the attitude of vengeance, holding a 
 tJiunderbolt with both his hands, and aiming it at the appointed mark, the ob- 
 flinately wicked. I fancy the author oi the in/dcm of Solomon chap. v.. 17, 21. 
 had this paflage in view : Hejhall take to him his jealoufy for compJeat armour^ 
 and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies, then fhiiU the 
 ri^rht-aiming thunderbolts go abroad^ and from the clouds, as from a ivell-draiim bcju, 
 fhall they fly to the mark. 
 
 Ver. 33. Jealoufy and anger] Thofe appearances in nature which carry terror in 
 them, and are calamitous to mankind, were ever thought, by pagans as well 
 as worfbippers of the true God, to be figns of divine wrath. 
 
 But Jove averfe the figns of wrath difplay'd. 
 And fliot red lightning thro' the gloomy fliade : 
 Humbled they ftood ; pale horror feiz'd on all. 
 While the deep thunder fliook th'aerial hall. 
 
 Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. vii. 573, &c. Gr. ver. 478, 9. 
 
 The fource of thefe apprehenfions, with regard to thunder, was perhaps a 
 tradition, that the firft thunder heard by man was immediately after his difobe- 
 dience. ney heard the voice of the Lord God going in the garden. Gen. iii. 8. The 
 knowledge of this fadt was tranfmitted, it is probable, by the ions of Noah to 
 their poftcrity. "The voice of the Lord is thunder. Job xxxvii, 2, 4. Pfalm xxix. 
 3, &c. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 Ver. 2. Hear attentively, &c.] If thefe words are to be underflood literally^ 
 an addrefs to the ear; we muft adopt Mr. Heath's ingenious conjefture, that 
 it now began to thunder and lighten from the cloud in which the Almighty was 
 about to make his appearance. Such an incident would greatly heigliten the 
 propriety and animation of this fublimc deicription. The addrefs, hov/ever, 
 3 "lay
 
 Chap. XXXVII. T H E B K O F J B. 313 
 
 2. Hark ! tremble ; murmurs in the diftant air, 
 Whifpcr of God, his awful way prepare : 
 
 3. He fires the heav'ns, earth to her utmoft fliores 
 Feels the broad flaflaes, now his thunder roars ; 
 
 4. His voice, exalted with majeftic found, 
 Augments its terror through the vaulted round : 
 
 We 
 
 may be to the imagiKation only, after the poetic manner of reprefenting tliino-s 
 as though diey were aftually prefent. 
 
 S^ke jjoife'] The hebrevv word is not that which is tranflatcd noife chap, xxxvi. 
 29. It fignifies the firft grumbling, or lower found, of the thunder which 
 gives warning of louder and more terrible explofions '. 
 
 The learned Dr. Hunt, however, inclines to render this claufe. Hear atten- 
 tively bis voice with trembling "". 
 
 The found"] If the foregoing word rendered the noife muft give way to the 
 authority of Dr. Hunt's criticifm, we recover the idea of a murmur^ or low- 
 grumbling noife, in the word which is here tranflatcd the found. 
 
 Ver. 3. He dire^etb it^ Sec] The tranflarion fhould have been. The fiafh° 
 thereof is under the whole heaven ; even his lightning unto the ends of the earth. 
 
 The eleElric matter, which, when difcharged from a cloud, we call lightning, 
 moves with fuch a velocity as we cannot meafure : for it has been found to pafs 
 through a wire two miles and a half in length, as it were inftantaneoufly f. 
 
 ' 'j*l the murmur. Schultens in his commentary affixes this fenfe to it from the Arabic. 
 
 " Dr. Hunt is of opinion that the verb yjJty does not here govern TJIi bccaufe in that 
 conftru(!;iion, viz. when it is followed by 3, it fignifies to obey. Bp. Lowth's PreleSfionsy 
 457. n. 
 
 » P^n the murmur. See Clodii Lex. Sele5tum. Crinfoz renders it le grondement. The 
 verb njn f'S'^''^^^ tofpeak with a low voice, Pfal. cxv. 7. 
 
 f "^^^1, reilus impetus ejus. ChalJ. n'mjfnn Vid. Cff»wfl«?f. Schulten?, 
 I Tit. Hamilton's Phihfiphieai EJi^ys, p. 135.
 
 320 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVil. 
 
 We hear, "we fliudder, but in vain enquire 
 
 How forni'd his voice, and how inflam'd his fire. 
 
 j". Great is the thund'ring God, and great his deeds, 
 Nor lefs his work our loftiefl: thoughts exceeds, 
 
 6. When he commands ; " defcend, my fleecy fnow, 
 ** On the fown fields thy rich manure befiow : 
 " Heav'n, ope thy fluiccs ; ye impetuous rains, 
 " Pour dovirn my ftrength upon th' autumnal plains.*' 
 
 7. Seal'd 
 
 \'er. 4. And he will not Jiay them, &c.] They cannot he fearcbed out ""j when his 
 Toice is heard. 
 
 The eleftric matter, which by its violent difcharge produceth both the flafli 
 and the explofion, is but imperfeftly known : it is far from being fearched out. 
 Some few properties and effefts of it have been difcovered. The difcovery 
 ferves to enlarge and aggrandize our ideas of the Almighty Maker, and to con- 
 vince us how little we underftandof his boundlefs works. 
 
 Ver. 5. great things, &c.] He proceeds to mention other wonderful opera- 
 tions in the natural world, which we can but very imperfeftly account for. 
 
 Ver. 6 — 8. To the fnow, &c.] Here he paints a w inter- fcene. The fon of 
 Sirach gives a beautiful defcription of a fhower of fnow : As birds flying he 
 fcattereth the fnow ; and the falling down thereof is as the lighting of graff- 
 boppers. 
 
 Snow and heavy rains are joined together, as here, by the prophet Ifaiah '; 
 
 who 
 
 ' D^py The Vulgate turns it, tion invefligahitur. Symmachus led the way, nx, 
 ,tij(;nai7Diic.T2i. The imperfonal aflive, with an accufative of the noun after it, is ufcd for 
 the paffive with the nominative of the fame noun. 3pJ? figniiies to track. It is here a me- 
 taphor, from the chafe, and means io invejiigate. 
 
 ' Chap, xliii. 17.
 
 Chap. XXXVII. THEBOOKOFJOB. 321 
 
 7. Seal'd is each rural hand, rcftrain'd from toil, 
 That men may own the fovcreign of the foil: 
 
 8. Then 
 
 who reprefents them as inftrumcnts of providence for promoting vegetation, cf 
 bread-corn in particular. 
 
 Homer, in the beginning of the tcntli book cf his Iliad, mentions a ftorm 
 of thunder and lightning in Ihowy weather. Barnes, in his note, toils us, that 
 he .himfelf had feen the fame phaenomenon at London ; and quotes Bofiu as 
 another witnefs of the like appearance at Senlis in France. 
 
 " Sometimes the clouds are frozen before their particles are gathered into 
 drops, and then fmall pieces of them, being condenfed and made heavier by 
 the cold, fall down in thin flakes of fnow, which appear to be fragments of a 
 frozen cloud : but if the particles be formed into drops before they are frozen, 
 they become hail-Jiones '." 
 
 to the fmall rain, &c.] to the great rain ', even to the great raim ofhisjirengtb. 
 
 He defcribes the winter rain, called the latter rain. It was periodical, and 
 fell in great abundance, foon after feed-time, in the month of Oftober ". It 
 caufed the feed which had been fown to take root ; and by filling the ponds and 
 cifterns furnifhed a fupply of water for the winter feafon. Its fliowers therefore 
 are ^\\ed Jho'xers of MeJJing, Ezek. xxxiv. 26 ". 
 
 Ver. 7. He feakth up, &c.] The lands being laid under water by thefe heavy 
 and continual rains, a prefent flop is thereby put to the works cf the field. 
 This is the meaning of that beautiful metaphor he feakth up the hard, &c. 
 
 ' Dr. Hamilton's Philofopbical Effhys, p. 30. 
 
 * Dil'Jl a heavy Jhotuer, I Kings xviii. 45. The epithet overflowing is given to ir, Ezek. 
 xiii. II. 
 
 " Or the latter end of September, Joel ii. 23. See the ncte on chap, xxix. 23. of tiiis 
 book. 
 
 * See Cant. ii. 1 1. Ifaiah Iv. 10. Jer. v. ^4. LXX. rendersTJ^ Cti'J ;i:".i"-»«'iTo{ //'« 
 J} or my rain. 
 
 T t
 
 322 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXX VH, 
 
 8, Then beafls of rapine to the mountains feud, 
 Couch in their dens, and fall a while from blood. 
 
 9. Sharp wind, no longer in its cells controll'd, 
 Scatters abroad his all-fubduing cold: 
 
 10. Keen blows the breath of God, the floods congeal 
 To folid pavement like refulgent fleel : 
 
 rr. The 
 
 Ver. 8. T!^hen the hecjls, &c.] This is pifturefque. The low grounds are 
 covered with water. Tlie beads of prey flee to the caverns of the mountains 
 for fafety. they couch there ; and watch impatiently for the drying of the 
 valleys. 
 
 Ver. 9, 10, II. Out of the fct'.th, &c.] Thefe verfes are a defcription of ftor- 
 my, cold, and frofty weather. Wind, cold, and freezing are ftill among the 
 great things which God doeth, and zvhich zve cannot comprehend. The general caufe 
 oi ii'ind, which is only air put in motion, is faid to be the atmofphere's being 
 heated over one part of the earth more than over another. For in this cafe the 
 warmer air, being rendered fpecifically lighter than the reft, rifes up into the 
 fuperior parts of the atmofphere, and there diffufes itfelf every way-, while the 
 neighbouring inferior air rufhes in from all parts at the bottom, to reftore the 
 equilibrium *. But yet it holds true, that the wind bloweth where it lijleth, and 
 we hear the fotmd thereof, but cannot tell whence it Cometh^ nor whither it goeth. 
 
 As to cold, philofophcrs are not agreed in their definition of if : And the va- 
 rious hypothefes to zccownzfor freezing ^, fhew that it has not yet been account- 
 ed for. 
 
 Ver. 9. Out of the fouth, SccI The marginal rendering is jufter. The period 
 will then be, 
 
 Ouf 
 
 » Rowning's Natural Philofophy, part ii. ii6, 
 1 See Chambers' Didionary, art. Cold. 
 •-' Id. art. Freezing^
 
 Chap. XXXVII. TH E B O OK OF J OB. 323 
 
 II. The burnifli'd ether fheds a fmarter day, 
 
 And not a cloud endures the vivid ray. 
 
 12. The 
 
 Out of the chatnler'' cornel h the Jform ""j 
 And cold from the difperfing ' winds. 
 
 The chamber^ or ratlier the ferret chamber^ denotes thofe unknown regions 
 whence the winds have their origin. Or the meaning may be, that winds are 
 part of the treafures of God ; which he hath always in readinefs wherever he 
 pleafes to employ them. He bringeth the "vuind out of his treafuries . . . flonny 
 ivivd fulfilling his word. Pfalm cxxxv. 7. cxlviii. 8. 
 
 The difperfing winds are fuppofed to be thofe which blow from the northern 
 points, and by fcattering the clouds or difTolving them, make llich a clear fky 
 in Iharp frofty weather, as is defcribed ver. 1 1. 
 
 Ver. 10. the breath of Go^ The ftormy, cold, freezing winds mentioned in 
 the preceding verfe. A tenipeftuous wind is, in the lofty ftyle of the eaftern 
 poetry, called the breath of God chap. iv. g. 
 
 isflraitned] This verfion cannot be right. Water is not ftraitned by frecz- 
 "Ing, but dilated. It takes up more room, when frozen, than in its ftate of 
 fluidity-! •, as hath been proved by many experiments. The tranflation, I appre- 
 hend, fliould be, 
 
 Jnd the broad "waters become hard". 
 
 Snow, 
 
 * "innn ]iO LXX. m rasinw, cut of thejiore-houfes. T\X\ 's properly the inner and men; 
 retired apartment of a dwelling-houfe Gen. xliii. 30. Thence it was applied to the remote 
 and unknown regions of fpace. In chap. ix. 9. it is coupled with '■^2^ ihefouth, and thcrt 
 means thefouthern hemlfpheie. 
 
 •> Chap. xxi. 18, xxvii. 20. HfllD thefiorm. 
 
 ' mp Dni!3 Caftell. in his Lexicon turns it (Ufpcrgentes fiigus, the winds that fcaticr 
 cold. He feems to have underftood □'-) jrj to be the adive participle in pihel of the veib 
 mt differgere, and pr\\> to be governed by it. 
 
 ^ Chambers' Didionary, art. Freezing. 
 
 ' p^>1D3 '" a ftate of hardnefs, or cohefton. Chap, xxxviii. 38. ivhen the daft grozvcth Into 
 hardnefsy ^"^X^^ It is a metaphor from fufed metals, %vhichj when cookd, cohere into a 
 firmer mais. 
 
 Tt 2
 
 324 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVII. 
 
 t2. The Lord of nature at her helm prefides, 
 
 Her fcafons turns, the circling meteors guides ; 
 
 While 
 
 Snow, cold, froft, and ice were no ftrangers in Judaea "^j which bordered on 
 Arabia Petrzea, Job's country : nor yet in Arabia Petrsea. Seechap. vi. i6. 
 
 the waters^ the ponds, lakes, and winter rivers. It may be thought incredible, 
 that there fliould ever be fuch fevere cold in thofe warm climates as to freeze 
 lakes and rivers. But the Rev. Mr. Dawes informs us, that in 1756-7 at Aleppo 
 (Lat. 52°. O' North) they had a very Iharp winter, which deftroyed all the 
 fruits of the earth. The cold was fo very intenfe, that the mercury in Fharen- 
 heit's thermometer, expofed a few minutes to the open air, funk entirely into 
 the ball of the tube. Millions of olive trees, that had withfhood the feverity 
 of fifty winters, were blafted in this: and thoufands of fouls perilhed merely 
 through cold. 
 
 Was not this a froll fufficient to freeze a lake, or river? And yet Aleppo is fo 
 warm a climate, that the fame author tells us, " They were obliged to fleep on 
 the terrace of their houfes in the fummer «." 
 
 Ver. II. /Ilfo by "watering, &c.] Here we have a pidure of the fky in a clear, 
 
 fliarp-frcczing day, 
 
 JIfo the clear /ky ^ difpelleth ' the thick cloud. 
 
 His fim^fcattereth the extended clouds '. 
 
 The 
 
 f I Chron. xi. 22. Pfal. cxlvii. 16, 17. 
 • Letter to Dr. Littleton. 
 
 ^' '"12 tf-i clear fky. The interlineary verfion renders it yfrw/<7j; Targum, in puritate. 
 This is the acceptation of it in Arabic, according to Schultens in his Commentary and Po- 
 cocke in Carm. Togr. p. 123. Its root Barea fignifics, fays Schultens, to give a high and 
 degant polifli to the furf.ice of bodies. 
 
 ' n'"l*0' '" Arabic difpelUt. Schultens. 
 
 '' 1"ni^ his fun, as in chap. xxxi. 26. It comes however to the fame thing, whether we 
 iindcrftanJ it of the body of the fun or of his rays. 
 
 ' PV traSlus nullum. Vid. Scliultens on cliap. iii. 5. A colleiflion and arrangement of 
 clouds, chap, xxxviii. 9. The Maforites have pointed pj; In regimine. But LXX. read it in 
 the ahfolutc form, Jiai^xcpm vijo; (p^i; a^ra hli light dfperfeth the cloud. Thus "T1X 's the nomi- 
 n.'.tivc to the verb V'3', and the parallelifm of the diftich becomes perfedl: For *11J^ 
 and nD> Y'2' and nHDS pV* a^J D> correfpond to each other.
 
 Chap. XXXVir. THEBOOKOFJOB. 325 
 
 While thefc and thofc his high behcRs obey, 
 And through earth's peopled climes afTcrt his fway ; 
 13. Whether as fcourges of a rebel race. 
 Or fent as tokens of paternal grace. 
 
 14. O Job 
 
 The clearnefs of the ficy in frofty weather is owing to the check of evapora- 
 tion by cold. Hence the air becomes tranfparent, and the heavenly bodies 
 are feen through it with undiminifhed fplendourj there being nodenfe vapours 
 to refleft back the rays of light, and thereby prevent their coming all down to 
 us. (See 'Dr.HzmAx.on's Pbilofophical EJfays, p. 18, 19.) In the language of 
 poetry, therefore, the clear Jky may be faid to difpell the thick clouds, and the fun 
 to fcatter them. 
 
 Ver. 12. And it is turned round, &c.] 
 
 And he turneth the revolutions by his counfels, 
 
 That they may do all which he commandeth them on the habitable parts 
 of the earth. 
 
 This noble fentiment reprefents the governor of the univerfe direfbing all its 
 motions ; and guiding the periodical returns of fummer and winter, heat and 
 cold, fair and foul weather, thunder and lightning, fo as they fhall prove pu- 
 nilhments or bleffings to mankind in proportion to their moral conduft. 
 
 the revolutions ""] or circuits. 
 
 hy his counfels "] literally, by his fteerings ". 
 
 upon the face, &c.] upon the habitable parts of the earth ° 
 
 Ver. 13. Whether for correction, &c.] The moral \iic which God makes of 
 
 meteors. 
 
 " Vnblinns Symmachus turns it £> rn xvtifn.(rii atn-a by his piloting. He unJerflood 
 the word as modern interpreters do, to be a metaphor from navigating ajhip. 72nn ^T is 
 ajhip-majier, ot fleer f man, Jonah i. 6. 
 
 " n';i"l^ bDn SoProv. viii. 31. 'l^f"^^^ b^f^ '« ''•'^ habitable part of his earth, i. e. the 
 part inhabited by men. "^^n isufedfor mankind, or the world of mankind, Ifaiahxiii. 11.
 
 326 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap.XXXVU. 
 
 14. O Job, thefe wonders weigh; ere(5l thy mind, 
 More wonders rife in boundlefs view behind: 
 
 15. Knows thy weak reafon, how he ftains his bow 
 When among clouds its fevenfold colours glow ? 
 
 16. Or 
 
 meteors, wind, rain, &c. can be but twofold. They are either for correSlioUy 
 or for mercy. The fituation of the words or for his land between thofe members 
 of the partition, feems very uncouth and perplexes the fenfe. A fmall tranf- 
 pofition will render the period clear and ealy. 
 
 Whether for correHion or for mercy. 
 
 Verily ^ for his earth he caufeth it "^ to come. 
 
 z7] that is, corre5Jion or mercy ; the work which he commandeth the meteors to 
 do upon the habitable parts of the earth. 
 
 Ver. 1 5. Dofl thou knozv, &c.] By God's difpofing them he means God's dif- 
 pofing hi> wondrous works^ or operations (ver. 14) in fuch manner as to produce 
 fuch and fuch effefts. 
 
 and caufeth the light of his cloud, &c.] and caufeth his luminous clouds' to fhine. 
 He means perhaps, thofe bright clouds, fringed with gold and flained with the 
 richeft tints, which often in a fummer evening attend the fetting fun. Some 
 eminent commentators explain this paflTage of the rainbow. The expreffions in- 
 deed may appear too vague to allow that limitation. Neverthelefs, as it feems 
 very unlikely fuch a wonderful phenomenon as the rainbow fhould be taken 
 no notice of in this poem, and as this is the only place where it can be fuppofed 
 to be mentioned ; I have adopted this fenfe in the verfe tranflation. 
 
 We know that thefe beautiful appearances are caufed by various reflexions 
 and refradions of the fun-beams. But why fome rays are more refrangible than 
 
 others, 
 
 f Of{ certe. Schultens. See alfo Noldius. 
 
 ^ inN>'.3' The relative affix "iH " refers to £33ty and "V^TS for its antecedents takep 
 feparately. 
 
 ' y^Vi "IIN ^f^fm nuh'ts ejus, i. e. uuhem ejus lucidam ; or rather nubes ejus lucidas: for Jjy 
 is a ran^e of clouds, as Schultens ihews in his Commentary on chap. iii. 5,
 
 Chap.XXXVII. the book OF JOB. 337 
 
 16. Or knows, what balancings thofe clouds confine, 
 Amazing workmanfhip of art divine ? 
 
 17. How fouthing day inflames the breathlefs air, 
 When fcarce thy limbs their glowing raiment bear ? 
 
 18. Art 
 
 others, how their different refrangibility produceth difFerent colours, and what 
 peculiar texture in the fmall parts of bodies fitteth fome to refleft one kind of 
 rays, others anothel" kind, are problems which philofophy is not able to 
 folve. 
 
 Ver. 1 6. the balancings of the clouds] The clouds remain fufpended, fo long 
 as their prelTure is exaftly balanced by the counter-preflure of the air which is 
 underneath them. When theequipoife is deftroyed, either by a diminution of 
 the denfity and weight of the fupporting air, or by condenfation of the watery 
 vapours; they often precipitate in rain. But the law of the equilibrium and 
 the caufcs which deftroy the balance, are fo myfterious in their operation, that 
 our knowkge of thefe matters is extremely fuperficial. Elihu argues all along 
 from our ignorance of the works of nature to our incapacity forjudging of the 
 counl'els of providence. The fame kind of argumentation is beautifully purfued 
 in the EJlay on Man. 
 
 Prefumptuous man ! the reafon wouldft thou find. 
 
 Why form'd fo weak, fo little, and fo blind .'' 
 
 Afk of thy mother earth, why oaks were made 
 
 Taller or ftronger than the weeds they fhade ? 
 
 Or afk of yonder argent fields above. 
 
 Why Jove's fatellites are lefs than Jove. 
 
 Ver. 17, 18. How thy garments are ivarm, &c.] He defcribes an Arabian 
 noon-day in the heighth of fummer ; when the fun is in his full ftrength and not 
 a breath of wind ftirring to cool the fultry air. 
 
 When he bringeth a calm upon the earth from thefouth*. that is, from the fouth 
 quarter of the heavens; when the fun is in the meridian. 
 
 The 
 
 ' cm the fouth. Ecclef. i. 6. the wind goeth towards the fouih, and turneth about to the 
 vorth. I cannot find that the word ever fignifies the fetab'wind, Befules, a fouth-wind is 
 
 5 tempeftuou?
 
 323 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXXVII. 
 
 18. Art thou afTiding, while he fpreads the niafs 
 Of ether fplcndent as the poHfli'd brafs, 
 Bright as the mirror, as the metal flrong ? 
 
 I p. O man of com'agc, aid our fault'ring tongue ; 
 Confus'd we cannot reafon in his ear. 
 Dark cloud defcends, the coming God we fear. 
 
 20. Should 
 
 The exceffive heat and bright tranfparency of the air in a fummer's noon, 
 cfpecially in the warmer climates, perplex philofophy with many difficult quef- 
 tions. How do the fun's rays operate, to produce calmnefs in the air and a 
 fcrene fky? What quality in bodies raifes in us. the fenfation of heat? And how 
 does that quality aft upon our nerves ; and by what procefs is the fenfation 
 excited in our minds? 
 
 Ver. i§. Hajl thou "with him fpread cut^ &c.] Dojl thou, or wilt thou, 
 with him fpread cut, &c.] Wilt thou undertake to be his affiftant, in giving 
 to the noon-day fummer fky its high polifli and infufferable effulgence? 
 The elegant fimile of the mirror cannot be underftood, without recoUefting 
 that their looking-glafles were made of metal highly polifhed. 
 
 The ftate of the flcy in a long drought feems more particularly the fubjeft 
 of the defcription. The heaven that is over thy headjhall be brafs, and the earth 
 that IS under thee ihM he iron. Deut. xxviii. 23. 
 
 Ver. 19 — ult.] Thefe verfes are the peroration: wherein he reprefents to 
 Job the rafhnefs and danger of difputing with God, fets forth the incomprehen- 
 fibility of the fchemes of providence, infills that they are planned and executed 
 with moll perfeft equity and juftice; and exhorts him and all mankind to anni- 
 hilate themfelves before their Maker, in profogndeft reverence of his adorable 
 majefly. 
 
 tempeftuous in thofe climates, Ifaiah xxi. i. It muft, however, be owned, that in the 
 {ummer feafon a fouth wind produced heat in thofe climates, Lukexii. 55. Dr. Ruflel 
 remarks, that the coldeft winds at Aleppo in the winter, bring with them, when they blow 
 from the very fame points from May to the end of September, a degree and kind of heat 
 which one woirid imagine came out of an oven. Natural Hift. of jiUppo, p. 14.
 
 Chap. XXXVU. THEBOOKOFJOC. 329 
 
 20. Should fome bold mouth prefume to fpeak for mine, 
 Perdition will confound the rafli dcfign. 
 
 21, 22. When 
 
 Ver. 19, 20. Teach us, &c.] I do not clearly underftand thefe verfes. 
 Cur nefcire, pudens prave, quam difcere malo? 
 
 We may however, partly by the affiftance of Schultens, make out the follow- 
 ing explanation : 
 
 Teach us what we Jhallfay to him. 
 
 This is an ironical reprimand of Job, for wifliing the Almighty would appear 
 by fome vifible manifeftation, that he might reafon, that is, difpute, with 
 him''. 
 
 We cannot order ' our fpeech. 
 
 He declares himfclf to be in too much terror and confufion to fpeak to God at 
 all, much more to difpute the fitnefs of his proceedings. 
 
 He next afligns thecaufe of his perturbation: 
 
 ly reafon of the darknefs. 
 
 meaning perhaps the dark cloud which now overfhadowed them, and which 
 was the fign of the Deity's near approach''. This is Mr. Heath's remark. If 
 the darknefs is to be taken literally, the remark appears probable, and is withal 
 fo ingenious and beautiful, that I have formed the verfe-tranflation upon 
 it. 
 
 Elihu adds, to fhew the danger of difputing with God about his ways; 
 
 If any one fpeak, furely he Jhall be defiroyed^. 
 
 If 
 
 " Chap. xiii. 3. 
 
 " *i*iy It fignifies (i) to form, a"? an army does when it prepares for battle, chap. vi. 4. 
 The terrors of God do fet themfehes in array againji me. (:) to be in readinefi for engaging in 
 a difpute, chap, xxxiii- 5- If thou can/} anfwer me, fet thy words in order before me,Jland: Put 
 thyfelf in readinefs to difpute with me. (3) to arrange arguments in pleading, chap. xiii. i8. 
 
 ^ See the note on chap. xiii. 5. 
 
 ' y'jD' I' is rendered to dejiroy, chap. ii. 3. In the Syriac Teftament, Rev. viii. iz. 
 is the tranflation of tnwXiyr, and fignifies to be fmitten fp as to be dcftroyed. 
 
 Uu
 
 330 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXXVIL 
 
 21, 22. When heav'n's expanfe the fweeping north-wind clears, 
 And, flaming forth, the golden fun appears, 
 Whofe optic on the dazzling fcene can gaze I 
 How, then, abide a God's terrific blaze ? 
 
 -3- In 
 
 If any one fliould venture to be my proxy, and carry my complaint? of God 
 to his ear •, he will certainly perifh for his rafhnefs. By fpeakiftg we muft under- 
 ftand fpeaking of God as Job had done, cavilling at his providence. Other- 
 wife it would not have merited fuch a punilhment. 
 
 Ver. 2 1, 22. /^^iwow, &c.] Heilluftrates the terrible majeftyof Godin avi- 
 fible manifeftation of it, which Elihu feems to be now expecting. 
 
 Ver. 2 1. men fee not, &c.] men cannot look ^ at the bright light which is in the 
 fky'^t when the wind hath pajfed and cleanfed it \ That is, when the fky 
 is in fuch a clear and dazzling ftate as he had defcribed ver. 1 8. He beau- 
 tifully applies that refplendent image to the purpofe of fhewing the infufferablc 
 fplendor of the Divine Majefty. 
 
 Ver. 2 2. Fair weather ^^ Our Tranflators meant, I fuppofe, \yj fair weather 
 fuch a ferene fky as is painted in the foregoing verfe. But the original prefents 
 us with a new and more glorious object, the fun itfelf. 
 
 By means of the north-wind'' ( clean fing the fky ver. 2i.) the golden fun comet b 
 forth : with God is terrible majefty. 
 
 "" IkXT i<b ihey cannot look at, as ver. 19. "]"1J?J ^sh we cannot order our fpeech. ^uum nt 
 fulgentem quidcm lucem afpicere poffmt homines, qute eft in ether e. Caftellio, 
 
 " D'pntJ* the fky. It is tranflated fo ver. 18. 
 
 '' In ver. 22. he calls it the north-wind. The winds that blow from the northern parts' 
 bring with them a large quantity of dry air, which drives before it the faturated air and 
 clouds ; or imbibes the watery vapours which the faturated air, whofe place thefe dry winds 
 occupy> had let go. In this manner the wind pajjeth and clcanfeth the fky. 
 
 ' DHT .?^/'^' The connexion {hews that theyl/;; is meant by this term. For it is thecaufe 
 o( tht dazzling brightnefs in the fky, ver. 21. and is brought in between that and God's terrible 
 majefty ; with a view to heighten the infinitely fuperior luftre of the latter. 
 
 ^ tIDV '''•'^ north, that is the north-wind as in Cant. iv. 16. If we tranflate, asfome, the 
 gcld-n fun cometh out of the north, that is, the northern parts of the heavens ; the meaning 
 
 6 will
 
 Chap. XXXVir. THE B O O K O F J O B. 331 
 
 23. In vain we pry, in vain our rcafon toils, 
 Immenfity the force of rcafon foils : 
 Juflicc and boundlcfs pow'r exalt his throne, 
 Beneficent to all, unjufl to none. 
 
 24. Therefore let men adore him -, in his eyes 
 To nothing flirinks the wifdom of the wife. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Ver. 23. Touching the Almighty^ &c.] This great and worthy fentiment is the 
 fum of his whole fpeech in jiiftification of God. The incomprehenfibility and 
 infinite perfedtion of God filence all obieftions to his government. This is a 
 fufficient anfwer even to thofe two perplexing difficulties in the meafures of 
 providence, which Job had darted; the deftrudtion of the righteous with the 
 wicked in general calamities, and the profperity of fo many profligate men to 
 the very end of their lives. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, fo are 
 his ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our thoughts ' : And the wayj 
 and thoughts of an infinitely perfed Being cannot be otherwife than right. 
 
 Whatever is, is right. EJfay on Man. 
 
 he will not affliSf] He will not opprefs\ See chap. x. 3. 
 
 Ver. 24. men do therefore fear him] Let men therefore fear him, who beholdetb 
 all the wife in heart as a nothing ^. 
 
 This 
 
 will be, that he rifeth on the northern points of the compafs, or to the north of the eaft, as 
 he does throughout the fummer. But the fun at his rifing is not bright enough to fhed a 
 dazzlitig light on the (ky : And the fun in his full ftrength, upon or near the meridian, is 
 the only proper objed to fet forth the glory of the Divine Majefty. 
 
 ' Ifaiah Iv. 9. 
 
 * njy ^?'? ^^ '""'H not opprcfs. It fignifies to afflicl unjuftly and tyrannically, ExoJ. i. 11. 
 Pful. Ixxxix. 23. 
 
 K {^'7 a nothing, fo Schultens renders it here. And fo it fignifies and is engliflied, chap. 
 v-i. 21. 
 
 Uu 2
 
 332 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVIII. 
 
 Chap. 
 XXXVIII. 
 Ver. 1. Now the black fhadowing cloud, defccnding faft» 
 
 Shot fiercer flames and roar'd a ftormy blaft : 
 
 The 
 
 This great inftrudion is the point of aim throughout Elihu's fpeech. Thi* 
 is the fublime moral of the whole poem. To eftablidi this primary duty of all 
 religion by his own authority, the Deity himfelf at laft appears ; the defign 
 of whofe fpeech to Job is to reduce him to this reverent fubmiffion ; and by his 
 example to enforce it upon all others. 
 
 1 appeal now to the fenfible reader, whether upon a review of this difcourfc 
 of Elihu it does not appear pertinent and judicious. Job certainly thought it 
 fo. He never once interrupts him. He remains filent. It certainly therefore 
 made fome impreffion upon him. He was convinced by it, that he liad exceed- 
 ed both in his juftification of himfelf and in his complaint of God. The con- 
 vidtion however was not full and ftrong enough, to produce the requifite humi- 
 liation. A higher authority was wanted to work that effedti and to bring the 
 poem to its crifis. Hence appears the necefllty of the Almighty's interpo- 
 hire. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 The poem is now haftening to its cataftrophe. Elihu's difcourfe had pre^^ 
 pared the mind of Job for the change that v/as to be wrought in him. The 
 fpeech of the Almighty bears down all obllacles, that remained in the way of 
 his repentance and fubmiffion. 
 
 The defign of this appearance of the Almighty is not to vindicate the in- 
 jured character of his fervant Job. That is done by a fecond appearance, 
 which was afterwards made to Eliphaz fingly •■, and which comes not within 
 the limits of the poem. 
 
 Neither is it the defign of this fpeech to decide the controverfy, in the dia- 
 logue, about the ways of providence : For the decifion of that difpute was not 
 
 intended 
 
 * Chap. xlii. 7—9.
 
 Chap. XXXVIII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 333 
 
 The voice almighty through the whirlwind broke. 
 And thus to Job with lofty accent fpoke : 
 
 2. Who this, whofe blindnefs, in fo bold a ftrain, 
 Judges my ways, and teaches God to reign ? 
 
 3. Advance, 
 
 intended by the poem; but was referved for the fubfequent hiftory. The fcope 
 of the fpeech is to humble Job; and to teach others, by his example, to ac- 
 quiefce implicitly in the difpofals of God, from an unbounded confidence in his 
 wifdom, equity, and goodnefs. This furely is an end worthy of the interpofi- 
 tion of the Deity. 
 
 dignus vindice nodus. 
 
 The method taken in the fpeech to accomplifli its defign, is a feries of quef- 
 tions and defcriptions, relative to natural things, admirably fitted to convince 
 this complainant, and all others, of their incapacity to judge of God's moral 
 adminiftration, and of the danger of ftriving with their Maker. 
 
 The poet had given, in tlie courfe of the poem, glorious fpecimens of his 
 talent for the fublime. But he feems to have relerved the full exertion of his 
 powers to thisconcluding part. Here he has collefted all liis fire, as it were, in a 
 focal point. I imagine it will be eafily granted, that, for majefly of fentiment 
 and ftrength of exprefHon, this fpeech has nothing equal to it in the moft admired 
 produftions of Greece or Rome. 
 
 Dr. Young has tranflated it with dignity and Ipirit. Nothing but the pro- 
 priety of making an unifcrm verfion of the whole poem could have prevailed on 
 me to attempt this part after fo great a mafter. 
 
 Ver. I. cut of the whirl-wind] out of the Jiormy cloud \ That the Almighty 
 
 manifefted himfelf on this occafion by fome vifible token of his prefence, may 
 
 be inferred, I fliould think, from what Job fiys, chap. xlii. 5. But now mine eye 
 
 feeththee: And <z c/<?W was generrally his mode of appearance. Compare Ezek. 
 
 i. 4. Nahum i. 3. 
 
 Ver. 2. that darkeneth counfel, &c.] The reproof is, that he had taken upon 
 
 him 
 
 » n"iyD> LXX. Jia ^al^anro; kJ «?>u. (AIS. Alex, nfm) in a Jiorm and a cloud. It fignifjes a 
 florm atfea, which is always attended with dark clouds, Jonah i. 4.
 
 334 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVIII, 
 
 3. Advance, difplay the hero, gird thy loin ; 
 My part the learner's, to inflrucTt me thine. 
 
 4. Where thou, when earth's foundations I began ? 
 Say, knowing creature, how defign'd the plan : 
 
 5. Who laid its meafures, and the line apply'd .' 
 Did thy vaft genius o'er the work prciide ? 
 
 6. What ground fuftains the mafTy pile? who plac'd 
 The corner-ftone, and its flrong framing brac'd ? 
 
 7. Myriads of Harry forms the builder fang. 
 
 My raptur'd fons, and heav'n with chorus rang. 
 
 8. Where 
 
 him to judge the ways of God, the reafons whereof he was utterly in the dark 
 about: And that he had given vent to his ralh judgement in complaints equally 
 ralh and inconfiderate. A free trandation of this paflage mighty be. 
 
 Who is this that judgelh in the dark^, and whofe words are without knowledge. 
 
 Ver. 3. / will demand of thee, &c.] Thefe expreffions refer, no doubt, to 
 that daring challenge. Then call thou, and I will anfwer : or let me fpeak, and 
 anfwer thou me. chap. xiii. 22. 
 
 Ver. 4 — 7. Where waft thou, &c.] The fentiment conveyed in thefe pungent 
 interrogations is, that only He who made the world, or at leaft was prefent 
 and affifling in that great affair, is capable of judging how it ought to be go- 
 verned. Thefe verfes, 4, 5, 6, 7, fpeak of the creation of the earth, and in terms 
 of architedure, which denote exad: proportion, nice arrangement and durable 
 folidity. 
 
 Ver. 7. The morningftars'] They are ftyled the fons of God in the next fcntence. 
 
 The 
 
 ^ n'/V TK'nr.S Sytnmachusturnsito-«:«-fi»o5y»«/»i!o/"(j(/flr/_/Wff^m?H/, or underftanding. 
 
 nxy Teems to mean here thought in general, or thoughts in the form q{ judgments or pro- 
 
 pofuions
 
 Chap. XXXVIII. THEBOOKOFJOB. 335 
 
 8, Where thou, when ocean from the womb I fent, 
 
 When burlling forth roar'd the huge element ? 
 
 g. A 
 
 The fonsof'God are the angels'. I fuppofe, they are called the morning flars on 
 account otthe kiminous vehicles with which they are cloathed. The morninor 
 ftar is exceedingly bright. What a grand appearance does the poet here prefent 
 to our view, ten thoufand times ten thouland and thoufand of thoufands of 
 glittering angels attending the birth of our world, and finging hallelujahs to the 
 Almighty Father. 
 
 Ver. S — 1 1. Or ^hojhut up thefea, &c.] The waters were coaeval with the 
 earth, and covered it in the beginning. The gathering them together into 
 a proper receptacle was the great work of the third day of creation. They 
 then took, the denomination oi feas, or the fea, and likewife retained the name of 
 the deep. This operation of Almighty power, together with themeafures taken 
 to prevent the fea from overflowing the earth, is the fubjedt of thefe verfes, 8, 
 9, 10, II. 
 
 Ver. S. "with doors] ver. 10. and fct ba" s and doors. The fliores ", promon- 
 tories in particular, and high rocky coaft, are a reftraint upon the ocean and a 
 lecurity to the earth. Thefe are the barred docrs^ which in part keep the waters 
 of the fea within the bounds affigned to them. 
 
 When it brake forth"] The original word denoteth an impetuous eruption. It 
 is the fame that is ufed in Dan. vii. 2. the four winds of the heaven flrove {rufhed 
 ' forth) upon the great fea. The prophet's defcription is like that in Virgil, 
 
 Una EurufqueNotufque ruunt, creberque procellis 
 Africus: et vaftos volvunt ad iittora fluftus. 
 
 out of the ■womb'] Had the creation of the whole mafs of waters been the thing 
 fpoken of, by the womb muft be meant nihility, non-entity. But the fubjeft here 
 
 is 
 
 pofitions in the mind; more particularly Job's thoughts about the ways of God. HVJ? 
 
 ?*tyn.!3 is one who judgeth darkly, as "ly^f U'JO'O ""^ that goctb zutH, or movetb gracefully, 
 rov. XXX. 29. 
 
 ' Chap. i. 6. ii. i. 
 
 ■ Prov. viii. tg. Jerem. v. 22. 
 
 • in'J2> LXX. tfjMijjMacit impcttifertbatur^
 
 5^6 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXX VIIL 
 
 p. A night of fwathing clouds I threw around, 
 And in thofe folds the wond'rous infant bound : 
 ID. Its fury tam'd with laws, with rocky land 
 
 Embarr'd the raging flood, then gave command ; 
 
 II. " Thus 
 
 js the colktSlion of part of the mafs into a channel, to form xhtfea and furround 
 the earth. "The womb therefore, out of which the waters of theyf^ iflued, feems 
 to have been the fubterraneous abyfs, the fea under grou):d, as the Arabs call it ^. 
 Thus Drufius explains it, "The Abyfs was as it were the womb thereof. 
 
 Dr. Woodward fuppofeth, that there is an immenfe cavern in the earth, and 
 that this is the one place into which the whole mafs of waters was gathered on 
 the third day. He further fuppofeth the abyfs to communicate with the bottom 
 of the fea, by vaft hiatufes or chafms in the earth '. Through thefc paflages, 
 we may conceive, the waters of the abyfs brake forth and filled the channel of 
 the fea. 
 
 Ver. 9. When I made the cloudy &c.] The poet had compared the eruption 
 of the fea from the great abyfs, to the breaking forth of an infant out of the 
 womb. This aftonilhing image gave rife to the garment and the fwadling band; 
 to which he refembles thofe thick and dark clouds, which frequently arife over 
 the fea and encompafs it. 
 
 Ver. ID. and brake up for it my decreed place] If the boundary or channel of 
 the fea had been intended by our author, he would have faid, I imagine, its 
 decreed place. I prefer therefore the marginal verfion, 
 
 And 
 
 ° Shaw's Travels, 67. 4to. That curious traveller informs us, that even in the Sahara 
 (the defert, fouth of the kingdom of Algiers) by digging wells to the depth of one hundred, 
 and fometimes two hundred fathoms, they never want a plentiful ftream. In order therefore 
 to obtain it, they dig through different layers of fand and gravel, till they come to a flealcy 
 ftone, like flate, which is known to lie immediately above i\\e fea Lelow ground, as they call 
 the abyfi. This is eafily broken through ; and the flux of water, which follows the ftroke, rifes 
 generally fo fuddenly and in fuch abundance, that the perfon let down for this purpofe bacb 
 fometimes, though raifed up with the greateft dexterity, been overtaken and fuffocated. 
 
 f See Chambers' D;(f7;#Kar;', art. Abyss.
 
 CiiAP. XXXVIII. THE BOOK OF JOB. 337 
 
 1 1. " Thus far, ye mountain waves, no further, roll, 
 " My bulwarks thall your haughty foam control.'' 
 
 12. Ancient of days, did Morn thy voice obey 
 From whence to journey with the dawning ray ? 
 
 13, 14. Mantled 
 
 And ejlahlijhed my decree upon it ^ The decree which God impofed on the 
 mighty ocean, is that wonderful law of gravitation in fluids, by which all the 
 parts of them exerting an equal prefllire upon one another, the equilibrium of the 
 whole mafs is maintained. 
 
 Ver. II. And faidy Hitherto^ &c.] "What a fublime conception does this 
 command give us of the power and majefty of that Being who fpeaks it ! 
 
 Ver. 12 — 15. Haft thou commanded the morning., &c.] The tranfition fromi 
 t\\e.fea to the morning is not fo abrupt as it appears. For the ancients thought,- 
 that the fun fets in the ocean, and at his rifing cometh out of it again. Thefe 
 verfes however are difficult. But I apprehend, the morning is delcribed here by 
 three remarkable characters ; Firft, its conftant return to its appointed fta- 
 tion the eaft. 
 
 Secondly, its making vifible the forms and colours of things, which arc 
 confounded and loft in the night. 
 
 Thirdly, its being the time of the day when juftice was adminiftered. 
 
 Ver. 12, 13. the morning — the day-fpring\ 
 
 Ver. 1 2. 
 
 *" 'pn vbl^ *^3^^f This furely is a phrafe of the fame import with that in Prov. viii. 29. 
 ^pn D'b TtiljyD JVhen he gave to the fca his decree. "|^£> to break ojf, which our author 
 ufes inftead of '0X2^ eonjlituit, is fynonimous with V'^r\ pracidit^Jlatuit, decrevit, Daniel ix. 
 j6. defolaticns are determined, rii"inj> But as l^jy alfo fignifies figuratively to w«x'/7/(' or 
 break the force oi a thing; Crinfoz tranflates, Lorfqite je la domptai par mes /«/>, when I 
 tamed it hy my laws, 
 
 X s
 
 S3? THE BOOK OP JOB. Chap. XXXVIIf^ 
 
 13, 14. Mantled ia.gold ilic wings her beamy flight, 
 Holds in her hand the beauteous feal of light, 
 From eaft to well the clear impreflion gives, 
 And earth like clay the colour 'd forms receives : 
 
 15. Then 
 
 Ver. 12. Haft thou commanded the morning in thy life-time 'f 
 Haft thou caufed the day-fpring to knoiv its plajce ? 
 
 Ver. I J. To take hold of the ends cf the earth, 
 
 That the uncksd might he foaken out of it ? 
 
 In ver. 12. The mornifig and the day-fpring are but different terms for one finglc 
 thing -, break of day until fun-rifing. Its regular appearance in the eaft is here 
 marked. In the firft fentence.of ver. 13. the diffufion of the morning light 
 over the whole fxce of the earth, is exprefTed by the beautiful figure of 
 iakitig held of the ends cf the earth.. In the fecond fentence, t\\^ mcral benefit 
 t)f the morning to mankind, is taken notice of; That the wicked might- be ftsakea 
 out of it. In tliofe times and countries the courts of Juftice fate in the morning '. 
 This fingular circumftance gives a dignity and importance to the defcription of 
 the morning, worthy tocomefiom tiie mouth of the righteous governor of the 
 world. 
 
 Ver. 14. It is turned as day, &c.] 
 
 It (the earth) is changed' as clay hy the feal., 
 
 When they f^iho. rooming and the day-fpring) prefent themfdves as ii'. 
 were in magnificent attire. 
 During the darknefsof the night the earth is a perfeft blank; in which ftate it 
 rclembles clay that has no impreflion. By the morning light falling upon the 
 
 earth,. 
 
 ' T2^« «/''i^ t^io. Caftellio. 
 
 ' JuJges vi. 31. Pfal. ci. 8. I iviil early (in the mornitij;) deftroy all the ivicked of the land>. 
 Alfo, J<r, xxi. 1 2. 
 
 ' "l^ri-Hn- Venitur terra et miitatur ut lutum figilli ; quod facile cedit, et varias for* 
 tn?.s recipit pro lilwdine imprimentis aiiquid in eo. Drufius. 
 
 "J3n denotes a change from one (late to another that is oppofitcj when the fca^ for iji- 
 ftancc, was turned, or changed, into dry land, Pfal. Ixvi. 6.
 
 Chap. XXX Vlir. THE BOOK OF JOB. 3;,$> 
 
 T j-. Then jiiftice from the world ejeds the vile, 
 And breaks the giant arm inur'd to fpoil. 
 
 16. Haft 
 
 earth, innumerable objefts make their appearance upon it : It is then changed, 
 like clay which has received the llamp of the feal. Thus I underftand this 
 elegant fimile. Sealing upon clay is ftill pracfliled in the eaft. When the corn- 
 granary at Grand-Cairo, belonging to the Sultan, is full ; the rnfpeclors (fays 
 Mr. Norden) having fliut the door, put on their leal, upon a handful of clay, 
 which they make ufeof inftead of wax". 
 
 They frefent themfelves^ as it ivere in magnifice7U attire \ In tlie original the 
 verbis plural, merely in conformity to grammatical conftrU(5\ion; there bein'^ 
 two nominatives to it, the mornifig and the day-fpring vcr, 12. But as thofe two 
 nominatives mean but one thing, namely, the morning ; the tranflation would be 
 juftified, and the fenfe clearer, if the verb is turned in the fingular number: Jhe 
 j>refents her f elf ^ &c. 
 
 We have here a grand poetical image. The Mormng, in the figure of a 
 beautiful perfonage, cloathcd in a garment of light, prefents herfelf in the eaft: 
 She holds a feal in her liand, as the minifter of providence ; and is on the wing 
 to enlighten the earth, and to renew with her feal the appearance of things in their 
 proper forms and colours. 
 
 Ver. 15. And from the wicked, &c.] The poet blends together in his defcrip- 
 tion of the morning, the moral and natural benefits of it. He now returns to 
 the moral benefits, which he began to mention ver. 13. By cutting ofFfome 
 wicked men, in the morning, and putting a flop to the oppreffions committed 
 by others, a happy change is made in the ftate of fociety ; correfponding to the 
 beautiful change in the face of nature, when the morning effaces the horrors of 
 night and reftores tlie pleafing fcenes of day. 
 
 " Norden's Travels, p. 72. 8vo. 
 
 * 1J2>'n' they prefent themfehes, to perform their mlniftry, as in chap. i. 6. ii. i. 
 
 ■^ tyiD*? TOD for ti^lD'ji ^'Q2■ The ellipfis of the prepofition is very common in the 
 poetical books of fcripture. See an inftance in chap, xxxviii. 30. the vjaicrs are kid as with 
 ajoiie, ]'2^2' Schultens has obfervcd, that tyiD? fignilies niagnijimit appard in Eilher 
 \'\. 8, 10, 11, 
 
 Xx z
 
 340 THE BOOK or JOB. Chap. XXXVIIi; 
 
 1 6. Hall thou gone down th' immeafurable fleep > 
 Travcrs'd the windings of the central deep ? 
 
 17. Unbarr'd death's portal? and from thence furvey'd 
 The gholls that colonize the world of fhade ? 
 
 18. Or 
 
 Ver. 16, 17. Haji thou entered^ Sec] We now defcend into the lower parts 
 of the earth. For I apprehend ( 1 ) that by thefea, or deep, we are to underftand 
 tht fea belciv ground, the waters of the great abyfs. (2) that by the gates cf 
 death and the doors of the Padoiu of death is meant the entrance into Sheol the 
 world of ghofts. (3) that in the creed, at lead the poetical creed, of thefe 
 men, Sheol was placed under the waters of the abyfs. The interrogation there- 
 fore is, Haft thou gave down into Sheol? The reproof contained in this interroga- 
 tion is, that it is folly and prefumption to interpofe our judgement upon the 
 difpenfations of good and evil in the prefent world-, unlefs we perfeftly knew 
 the connecftion of thefe difpenfations with a future world, the world of final 
 reward and punifhment.. 
 
 Ver. 1 6. the fprings of the fea^"\ This verfion is fupported by the Septuagint, 
 which turns it the fountain of the fea: By the fountain, or fprings of the fea, is 
 meant, I fuppofe, the abyfs, or mafs of waters in the bowels of the earth. See 
 the note on ver. 8. But I rather think the tranflation fhould be, the intricatt 
 ■paths of the fea, i. e. of the abyfs. 
 
 in the fear eh ^ of the depth'] in the depths of the abyfs. Mr. Heath. 
 
 Ver. 1 7. the gates of death — the doors, &c.] Ifaiah calls them the gates of Sheol-; 
 that is, the entrance into the region of the dead, the world of departed fouls. 
 The Hebrews named it Sheol, and the Gv&tks Hades. The Septuagint verfion 
 of thefecond fentence. Haft thcufeen the doors of the fhadoiv of death, is remark- 
 able and ftrilving •, Were the door-keepers of Hades terrified' -johen they f aw thee*' ? 
 
 What 
 
 '' 02i the intricate paths. The Chaldee turns it the intricate places. That interpreter 
 akes the root to be •]3J to Le entangled in difficult ways, Exod. xiv. 3. 
 
 ' 1pn» LXX. £wi ix'^iriv in the paths; CrinfoK, les gouffres, 
 
 * Ifaiah xxxviii. 10. 
 
 TH
 
 Chap. XXX Vlir. THE BOOK OF JOB. 541 
 
 18. Or is the furface of the globe, fo wide, 
 A landfkip in thy view from fide to fide ? 
 Do thy paternal eyes, flill watching o'er, 
 Vifit each clime, and coaft along each fliore? 
 
 19. The palace where imperial light renews 
 Her golden trelTcs, and her glitt'ring hues ; . 
 
 The fliadowy realm whence darknefs from her bed 
 Afcends, new horrors on the world to fprcad, 
 
 20. Reveal i 
 
 What Hebrffvv text this interpreter followed I cannot guefs. But he is certainly- 
 right in underftanding it of Sheol\ For as the gates of death are here connedted 
 •with the abyfs ; .io in chap. xxvi. 5, 6. the ghofts of the old giants, which are 
 in Sheol, are faid to be under the "abaters: And that by the waters are meant the 
 waters in the cavern of the earth, the ahyfs^ is evident; inafmuch as Ifaiah gives 
 xa^heolr^t. epithet /row beneath ^^ and Ezekiei C2\\% it the nether farts of the 
 earth and the -pit'. Alfo in the Apocalypfe^ The keys of Hades and death ('cliap. i. 
 1^.) are ftiled(chap. ix, 1.) The keys of the pit of the abyfs. 
 
 Ver, 18. HaJ} thou perceived. Sec] We now afcend from below the center 
 of the earth to its furface; from the region of death to the world of life. 
 Haji thou confJered' the breadth of the earth, &c. The queftion relates not to 
 a fpeculative knowledge of the earth's extent, but to a providential furvey of 
 it; fuch as he alone can take who created it, and who alone is a competent judge 
 how it ought to be provided for and governed. 
 
 Ver. 19 — 21. Where is the -way 'where light dwelleth ?'] This queftion differs 
 from that in ver. 12 — 15. That related to the fnmnivg and its benefit to man- 
 kind, 
 
 * See W'tndetde vita Jun^orumJIatu. p. 73— 75' 
 
 ■■ Ifaiah xiv. 9- DnnD blNJl' Hi^l (Sheol) /rem kneaih. 
 
 ' Ezekiei xxxi. 14, )6, 18, 
 
 ' DJOann Uajl thuu anfidmd? chap. x.\xii. 12. Yta., I attended {y^y^Ts^) untayttt.
 
 ^iz THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVIII. 
 
 20. Reveal: their well-diflinguifli'cl paths define, 
 Guide us along th' inviolable line. 
 
 21. Skill in all this, O antemundane fage, 
 Befecms thy venerable length of age. 
 
 22. Inform us if thy curious travels know ' 
 My treafur'd hail, and magazines of fnow; 
 
 ^13. Spar'd 
 
 ilnd, this to fettling the precife boundary of light and darknefs, that is, day 
 and nirrht. One half of the earth is enlightened, the other half is in darknefs 
 at the lame inftant. This is owing to the fphsroidical form given to the earth 
 at its creation. Job is now aflced, whether he was witnefs to this operation by 
 which the limits of light and darknefs were fixed, and knew the extent both of 
 die one and the other. But the queftion is drefled in the glorious ornaments 
 of fublime poetry : Light and Darknefs are reprefented as perfons : Each has 
 its feparate dwelling and peculiar jurifdidion: The bounds of one never encroach 
 on thofe of the other. 
 
 Ver. 19. Which is the way to the hahitation of light? and theplace of darknefs ^ 
 -where is // ? 
 
 Ver. 20. Surely thou canjl guide (take) us to its border ; yea, certainly thou canji 
 fhew the roads which lead to its houfe, 
 
 Ter. 21. Thou muft knoiv, for thou wert horn at that time; as to the number of 
 
 thy years, they are ;«rt/;_y. Mr. Heath. 
 This is lofty irony. 
 
 Ver. 22 — 38. Haft thou entered, &c.] This whole paragraph relates to thofe 
 chano-es in the ftate of the atmofphere, which we call the weather. 
 
 Ver. 22. The treafures of the fnow, &c.] Snow is the watery vapours frozen 
 in the cloud; hail the fame vapours frozen after they have run into drops large 
 cnouo-h for rain. The clouds therefore are the treafures, or rather treafuries^ 
 of fnow and hail. Job is ironically aflced whether he has ever been among 
 ■jflicm, to affift in, or at leaft obferve, thofe v/onderful operations.
 
 Chap. XXXVIIL THEBOOKOFJOB. 343 
 
 23. Spar'd for the day of evil, when with florms 
 Winter the foreft and the fields deforms: 
 Or when ftrange battel on my foes I pour, 
 And armies perifli in the wrathful fhow'r. 
 
 S4. When the hot eafl-wind wheels its boift'rous courfe. 
 Who drives the tempeft and dirccfls its force ? 
 Or by what arm is ruddy lightning hurl'd? 
 How burfl the flaflies, and inwrap the world ? 
 
 25—27. Wha 
 
 Ver. 23. JJ'^bich I have referved, &c.] The infpired poet ftill keeps in view 
 the moral purpofes for which the Deity employs his ««/«rd/ works. The time of 
 irouhh may fignify not winter in general ; but thofe fevere winters, in which 
 there falls luch abundance of fnow and hail as docs infinite damage to the fruits 
 of the earth, to cattle, and to human kind. 
 
 Leo Africanus aflui-es us, that the caravans which travel through the African 
 deferts, are fometimes fuddenly overtaken with fuch furious ftorms of fnow, 
 that their beafts and carriages and themfelves are caft away in it. 
 
 the day of battle and war] Thefe exprelTions may only import that in fuch a 
 time of trcuble as was mentioned in the former fentence, God himfelf makes war 
 upon his enemies; that is, puniflies the fins of men by ufing fnow and hail to 
 deftroy their fuftenance. Extraordinary and miraculous fnow or hail may alio 
 be intended, like that with which he puniflied the Egyptians and the Canaan- 
 kes'. There might be inftances of the fame kind before thofe times, and which., 
 might fall within the compafs of Job's experience or information. 
 
 Ver, 24 — 27. By ivkat way, &c.] The wind, rain, and thunder which ac- 
 company, or immediately follow the light here mentioned, might have led 
 our Tranflators to render it the lightning, as in chap, xxxvii. 3. 
 
 Th.it. 
 
 ' Exod. ix. 2-},* Jof.x, II,
 
 344 THE BOOK or JOB. Chap. XXXVIII; 
 
 25 — 27- Who fafliioii'd the canals, which fpout the rain 
 In flame and thunder on the dcfert plain ? 
 The howling wild, by human foot untrod, 
 Pours out green pafture from each teeming clod. 
 
 28. Tell 
 
 That ingenious traveller and naturaliil Dr. Ruflell informs us, in his obfer- 
 vacions on the weather at Aleppo, that March 1743 fet in with variable fpring 
 weather (though fomewhat cooler than ufual) which continued till the 23d i 
 from which t'ime till the end a great quantity of rain, hail and thunder. 
 
 On the 16th of October, at night, the fecond rains fell with a good deal of 
 thunder. 
 
 In January 1753 more rain fell in the day time than ufual in this month. 
 Wind generally north-eajl or eaft, and moderate ^. 
 
 Ver. 24. the light'] rather the lightning. How imperfedl a folution of this 
 phsnomenon'philofophy is able to give, fee in the remark on chap, xxxvii. 4. 
 
 which fcattereth^ &c.] when the eaft windfcattereth itfelf, or is fcattered^ ; &c. 
 
 Ver. 25. Who hath divided a izater-courfe, &c.] Who prepared' an aqueduSt 
 for conduit^) for the overfloiving ofivaters. The fublime metaphor oithe aquedu^ 
 fignifies, I fuppofe, the ways through the atmolphere, in which the power of 
 God condufts the heavy inundating clouds to their appointed vent. 
 
 for the lightning cf thunder] for the blaze^ of thunder. Mr. Heath. 
 
 s Dr. RulTcli's Natural Hiftory of /lleppo. 
 
 ^ "3> LXX. oiocKiuumrai is fcattcred. Verbs aftive which have no nominative expreftor 
 uiidc'rftood, mud be turned in the paffive voice. 
 
 ' 'I'^S i'repared. So Mr. Heath renders it, and remarks that LXX. tranflate it trotnaa-'.,. 
 T-he root jVS' ^^ ^^Y^t (igniftes fparavit, divijit ; and has likewife the fignification of felting 
 aAart to a particular life. I could wifli however he had produced a voucher for the latter 
 acceptation. 
 
 " Thvr\ Some Greek verfions rendered it v^^xyuyov an aqueduSl, or conduit, as our bible 
 lurns it in II Kings xx. 20. 
 
 't'ln f^' blaz,e. But Aquila renders it xti'tiv the crack ; Symmachus %1'oipo. the found. But 
 
 iit fignifies in Arabicylv«/V crenatim to cut a thing like the jagged edge of a leaf . The noun t»fn 
 
 y denotes
 
 Chap. XXXVIir. THE BOOK OF JOB. 345 
 
 28. Tell, who the father of the rain ; and who 
 The plaftic parent of the dropping dew. 
 
 29. What is the womb of ice ? and whence is born 
 Hoar-frofl, that whitens in the wint'ry morn ? 
 
 30. A 
 
 Ver. 26, 27. to caufe it to rain, &c.] This cii-cumftance, where no man is, 
 &c. is dwelt upon, to fhew the provifion which the creator makes for the fufte- 
 nznce of wild hajis. Compare Pfalm civ, jo, 11, Joel ii. 22. This inftance 
 of the power and providence of God might alfo be intended to fuggeft, that lie 
 who turns the barren wildernefs into fruitful pafture, is equally able to change 
 a miferable condition into a happy one. Such an inftrudion is a ftrong motive 
 to confidence in God in the moft defperate fituation, as Job thought his own to 
 be. Compare chap. v. g — 1 1. and fee the note there. 
 
 Ver. 2^. Hath the rain a father f] The queftion cannot be whether the rain 
 hf.th a father, but who is the father of the rain " ? as appears by the next fen- 
 tence, or who hath begotten the drops of the dew ? 
 
 The firft mechanical agents in the production of rain and dew arc known 
 only to him whofe name is wonderful. With regard to rain., fee the remark 
 on chap, xxxvi. 27. As to dew, all the difcoveries of philofophy concerning ic 
 are couched in thefe few words ; " If the vapours, after they are exhaled from 
 off the waters, do not rife very high in the atmofphere, but hover near the fur- 
 face of the earth, they then conftitute what we call a fog. If they fall to the 
 earth, being condenfed by the cold of the night, without uniting into drops 
 large enough to be called rain, they are then faid to fall in dew''." 
 
 Ver. 29. the ice — the hoary froji] lloar-frojt, or white-froft, is the dew frozen 
 
 or 
 
 denotes a flajli of lighttilng as it appears in the hot climates, in a jagged or zigzag form Our 
 englifli bible tranflates it bright clouds; but in the margin lightnings, in Zach. x. i. The Lord 
 [hall make bright clouds, and give them Jhowers of rain. It certainly means there flajhes of 
 lightning burfling from the clouds, the prelude and concomitant of rain. 
 
 • jyn " there? LXX. {i>' »,2 ^u t.-ir, who is? fo likewife the Vulgate, ^uis ejl? 
 * SJU'^^'^^^^^olural Philofophy, p. ii. 142. Chambers' D/^^/i/.'a'^, article Dew, 
 
 Yy
 
 34<5 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXXVIII. 
 
 30. A marble covering on the flreams is caft, 
 And the broad lake with cold is fetter'd faft. 
 
 
 When milder ftars the gentle feafon bring, 
 Canfl thou withold the beauties of the fpring 
 
 Or 
 
 or congealed early in cold mornings ; chiefly in autumn''. Our ignorance in 
 the mechanical production of ice and froft was taken notice of in the remark 
 onchap. xxxvii. 9, 10, 11. 
 
 Ver. 30. Tbs waters are hid, &c.] Mr. Heath turns it, 'The waters cover 
 themfehes' as it were with ajione. The fon ofSirach has given a beautiful 
 defcription of this wonderful operation and appearance of nature : When the 
 cold north wind bloweth, and the water is congealed into ice ; it abideth upon every 
 gathering together of water ^ and clotbeth the water as with a breajt-plate^ Eccle- 
 fiaft, xliii. 20. 
 
 the deep'] The deep cunnot here mea.n the fea. A frozen fea was never feen 
 in Arabia or its neighbourhood. Neither could fuch a phsenomenon be fo much 
 as heard of in thofe days j when navigation had not reached to the high nor- 
 tiu-rn latitudes. But our author's word fignifies, in the Arabic language, any 
 deep gathering together of water, whether fountain, river, or lake. A frozen 
 lake, &c. might be known even in Arabia, or in fome of the adjacent countries. 
 See the remark on chap, xxxvii. 10. 
 
 Ver. 31, 32. Ca-fiji thou bind, &c.] He is now afked, whether he has power 
 over the heavenly bodies, to direfl their motions, control their aftion upon 
 the earth, and prevent the feafons and weather which they are wont to produce. 
 
 The 
 
 ^ Chambers' Dliilonary, article Hoar-frost. 
 
 ' IKSnn* The Vulgate feems to have read li^fipH* congelantur ; having rendered iJ 
 elurantur. 
 
 ' mnri it is ufed for any large body of water. The ftreams which ran from the rock 
 fmitten by the rod of Mofes, are called p'l^l'^ NVJiriD g''iot deeps, or fluxes of water j in 
 the Targum on Pfal. Ixxviii. i;.
 
 Chap. XXXVIir. THEBOOKOFJOB. 347 
 
 Or when Orion lifts his flormy fphere, 
 
 Canft thou with flow'rs adorn the frofl-bound year ? 
 
 32. By monthly ftages doft thou learn the fun, 
 Through the vaft orbit of the figns to run? 
 Or lead Ar(5turus and his fons, to roll 
 
 In fhining ranks around the northern pole ? 
 
 33. Thy laws do thefe fulfil ? with pow'rs from thee. 
 Hold they dominion in the earth and fea ? 
 
 34, 35. Come, 
 
 The guefles of- the learned concerning thofe aftronomical terms which wc 
 trannate Pleiades., Orion, and ArSlurus, were mentioned in the note on chap. ix. 
 9. Chryfoflom explains Mazzaroth ' of the twelve Jigns of the zodiac. Our 
 marginal verfion adopts that explanation. Bringing forth the twelve figns each 
 in its feafon, or month, is an expreffion accommodated to the then received fyf- 
 tem of the world. The earth was fuppofed to be at reft in the center; and the 
 heavens to revolve annually round it, carrying with them the fun, planets, and 
 fixed ftars. 
 
 Ver. 31. the fweet influences, ^c.'] The fweet influences are the pleafant feafon 
 of fpring; the bands are the rigours of winter when the earth is bound with froft. 
 The chief attention of the Arabs was not fo much to the planets, as to the fixed 
 ftars, their rifing and fetting, and their fuppofed influence in producing rain, 
 wind, he;it, cold, and all other changes of weather. See Pocockc's Specimen Hift. 
 Arab. 164. where we are told, that one of the three branches of knowledge 
 which the ancient Arabs chiefly applied themfelves to, was the influence of the 
 ftars in producing rainy weather. 
 
 Ver. 33. the ordinances of heaven, &c.] By heaven is meant the celeftial fphere, 
 or the heavenly bodies contained in ir. The ordinances of heaven are tlie laws 
 
 by 
 
 ' milts Some will have the root to be *1TX to t;i>ii. '\^^ii \s n girdle. Hence (fays 
 Caftcll.) rn^TSn "IITK the glrdU., or belt, of the conftellations, i. e. the zodiac. See other 
 derivations in Clodius' Lexicon Schiium, p. 335. 
 
 Yy 2
 
 348 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVIIL 
 
 S4» Si"' Come, to its pitch thy thund'ring voice extend, 
 Summon the clouds from heav'ns far-diftant end : 
 Involv'd in darknefs, and begirt on high 
 With feas of vapours, bid the hghtnings fly: 
 Hark! do they anfwer, " Here?" and diftant beat 
 Thy awful mandates through the trembHng air? 
 
 36. Vague 
 
 by which thofe bodies perform their revolutions : And the dominion thereof in 
 the earth denotes their real, or fuppolcd, adion and effeds upon our atmo- 
 fphere and terraqueous globe. 
 
 Ver. 34 — 38. Canji thou lift up thy voice, &c.] Thunder-fhowers were' the fub« 
 je£t in ver. 25 — 27. The fame fubjeft ieems to be refumed here. But there 
 the operation was, the guiding of the rainy clouds, through the air, to the 
 place appointed for the difcharge of their contents : Here a body of dark 
 clouds is coUefted, to form, as it were a pavillion for the Lord of thunder. 
 The rain is mentioned there as poured down on the defert, for the benefit of 
 wild beads: Here it is fent to mollify the hardened glebe, and prepare the field- 
 for plowing and fowing. The lightnings alfo are here fent forth with greater 
 pomp of divine majefty. One is apt however to think, that thefe verfes 
 fhould have been fubjoined immediately after ver. 27. and that this divifion of 
 thefpeech would be clofed with more propriety and dignity by verfes 31, 32,. 
 qg. which mention the courfe of the fun, and thofe conftellations which were 
 thought to produce rain and all the other variations of weather. 
 
 Ver. 34. Canfl thou lift up, &c.] What can be more humiliating than fuch 
 interrogations as this ? What muft Job, what muft any man, think of himfelf, 
 for daring to enter into a ftrife with God,, and to find fault with his ways; 
 when his own ignorance is thus contrafted with his wifdom, his own weaknefs: 
 with his power, and his own littlenefs with his tremendous majefty ? 
 
 Ver. 35. Here we are] This furprizing figure of fpeech, which gives intelli- 
 <Tence and a voice to the lightnings, exprefll-th, with great lubli:nity, the punc- 
 tuality with which inanimate creatures obferve the laws prefcribed to them, and 
 perform the feyvice enjoined them by their Creator. The author oi Baruch 
 
 has
 
 Chap. XXXVIIT. Til E B 00 K O F J O B. 349 
 
 ^6. Vague meteors, wild phenomena, who taught 
 Thefc not to err, as though endow'd with thought ? 
 
 37. Who ranges the celeflial urns, and pours 
 Inwifdom's feafon their emolUent fhow'rs ; 
 
 38. The 
 
 has imitated this wonderful profopopeia, chap. iii. 34. The Jiars Jhined in their 
 -matches, and rejoiced: -when he calleth them they fay. Here we be. 
 
 Ver, 36. Who hath put wifdom, &c,] This profe may be turned into the fol- 
 lowing diftich. 
 
 Who planted reafon in die human breaft? ^ 
 
 Who on the mind ideal forms imprefs'd? 
 
 But the fentiincnt bears no fort of analogy to what goeth before and cometh. 
 after. The learned Schultens therefore has, by the help of the Arabic, offered 
 another tranilation -, which carries on the grand figure that clofed the preceding 
 verfe. 
 
 Who put wifdom in wild motions ° ? 
 
 Or who bath given to a phenomenon " undtrjianding ? 
 
 By wild motions and a phenomenon are meant thunder, lightning, rain, and 
 other meteors. Their motions are faid to be wild and vague, becaufe they 
 feem fo to us. Philolophy has not been able to reduce their operations to any 
 certain theory. Neverthelels they are governed by laws, as Heady as thole 
 which regulate the motions of the heavenly bodies. This the poet has fuggefted 
 by the noble expreflions, putting wifdom and underjlanding into thefe wild pha:- 
 nomena. 
 
 Ver. 37, 38. Who can number, &c.] The work of providence defcribed in 
 
 thefc 
 
 " ninLD!3 ivild motions. The root KPO i» Arabic fignifies vagari, obnrare fine certa 
 lege. 
 
 " 'IDty a phanomenon, or apppearance, adfpeSlabile, apparens. The root r^D'fi^ is in Chal- 
 AeQ, Jpeitavit, imaglnatus eft. The noun nVDty •» Ilaiati ii. i6. fignifies fpe^acula, oji 
 J^eilabilesfigura, piitura, Vid, Schultens, & Clodii Lex. Hileit.
 
 3JO THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVIII. 
 
 38. The glebe to loofen, when the glowing ray- 
 Hath harden'd into rock the binding clay ? 
 
 ^(). Does thy all-pow'rful impulfc drive along 
 
 The mother llonefsy fo fwift and llrong ? 
 
 Furious 
 
 thefe verfes is, the collefling and arranging the clouds in the moft fitting feafon, 
 and then difpofing them in the moft proper manner for emptying themfelves in 
 beneficent (howers upon the arable lands. The beautiful images with which the 
 defcription is adorned, are as follow : ( i ) l^he colleSfing and arrangement of 
 the clouds is expreft by a metaphor taken from a civil or military enrolment, 
 v;ho can number, &c. See II Sam. xxiv. 10. (2) The clouds themfelves are 
 compared tothofe earthen jars in which theeaftern people keep their water and 
 their wine, the bottles {or pitchers) of heaven. Seel Sam. x. 3. Ifaiah xxx. 
 14. Lament, iv. 2. (3) The difpofing the clouds in a proper manner for empty- 
 ing themfelves, is denoted by the pofuion into which a pitcher, or jar, is put for 
 pouring out its contents: who can /^jy fl/o«j- the pitchers of heaven? This 
 image is fimilar to the inclined urn which the heathen poets place in the hand 
 of a river-god. The urn reprefents the fountain from which the river flows; 
 and what fountains are to rivers, the clouds are to rain. I am indebted to 
 Schultens for the fubftance of this note. 
 
 Ver, 38. JVheu the duji, &c.] Thefe fhowers are fent to mollify the glebe, 
 and prepare it for plowing; when it has been baked and hardened by the long 
 drought of fummer. Compare Pfalm Ixv. 9 — 13. 
 
 Ver. 30, 40. ff^ilt thou hunt, Sec."] Verfe 39 fhould have begun a new chap- 
 ter. For we there pafs to quite a new topic, the brute animals which inhabit 
 the air, the land, and the water. This fubjeft is continued, with a few Ihort 
 interruptions, unto the end of the Almighty's fpeech. The judicious Poet has 
 fele£ted thofe fpecies of animals, in which the wifdom, power, and providen- 
 tial care of the Creator are moft eminently difplayed. The tendency of the 
 defcriptions is, to raife in our minds fuch admiring fentiments of the Deity as 
 will efFeftually extinguifh difcontent, and filence murmurings againft his dif- 
 penfations. 2
 
 Chap. XXXVIII. THEBOOKOFJOB. 351 
 
 Furious at eve Ihe hunts the yelling wood, 
 And fwells her empty pap with milky food. 
 Is it thy hand the lion colts fuftains, 
 And pours the carnage through their greedy reins ; 
 40. When couchant in the fhaggy mountain lair, 
 In watch of quarry, o'er the vale they glare ? 
 
 41. Lo, 
 
 "^l^. '^g. Wilt thou bunt, &c.] Wilt thou bunt the prey for the lionefs^ ? The 
 queftion turns. upon making provifion for the lionefs and her family of fucking 
 whelps. The wonderful providence of God effedts this, by the tender feelinc^s 
 of parental afFedlion which he has infufed into this favage animal, and the pecu- 
 liar fiercenefs and fwiftnefs which he has given to it, to hunt the prey that fhe 
 may have a fupply of milk for her young. 
 
 Or fill the appetite^ &c.] This is a different queftion. It relates to qualifying 
 the young weaned lions '' to provide for themfelves. 
 
 Ver. 40. When they couch, &c.] Statius finely defcribes a lion in jthis atti" 
 tude : 
 
 Qiialis ubi primam leo mane cubilibus altis 
 
 Erexit rabiem, & f^evo fpeculacur ab antro 
 
 Aut cervum aut nondum bellantem fronie juvencam '. 
 
 So the fierce lion, at the rifing day. 
 His hunger wakes, and meditates the prey : 
 Clofe ambufh'd in the movmtain den he lies. 
 And darts along the vale his glaring eyes ; 
 If chance fome ftately ftag his claw invite. 
 Or heifer yet unbudded for the fight. 
 
 * J}'^77 Vulg. kctna. See Ezek. xix. 2. and Hieroz, part i. -Jg. 
 T D'TM. Ezek. xix. 3. Hieroz. ubi fupra. 
 » Thcb. vii. 760,
 
 352 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXVIII. 
 
 41. Lo, the young ravens, from the neft exil'd. 
 On hunger's wing attempt th' aerial wild : 
 Who leads their wand'rings, and their feafl; fupplies ? 
 To God afcend their importuning cries. 
 
 Chap. 
 XXXIX. 
 
 Ver. I. When did the mountain goat, or bounding roe^ 
 
 In their hard travail thy afliftance know? 
 
 2. Thou 
 
 Ver. 41. J^'^ho provideth for the raven, &c.] The raven, one is apt to think, 
 has flipped in here by miflake. Should he not rather have been joined with 
 fome of his feathered relations, in the fubfequent chapter ? But perhaps he is 
 mentioned here, becaufe he lives on carrion, and may be fuppofed to feed on 
 the carcafles which the lion leaves. The difficulty of meeting with fuch kind 
 of food renders the divine power more illuftrious in preferving this fpecies of 
 creatures. Compare Pfalm cxlvii. 9. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. 
 
 Ver. I. Knowejl thou — canji thou mark} Not meer knowledge, but providen- 
 tial care and protedtion is intended here\ To know is ufed in this fenfe in Pf. 
 xxxi. 7. The other expre/Tion canji thou mark, &c. fliould have been canji thou 
 watch over, or preferve^, the calving of the hinds ^ i. e. the hinds when they 
 calve. 
 
 the wild goats ' of the rocks] The kind o£ wild goats here mentioned is the Ii>ex, 
 the Eveck. Its habitation is on the tops of the higheft rocks, where its perpe- 
 tual 
 
 ^» See verfes 26, 27. 
 
 ^ Chap. X. 12. Thy v'lfitation hath preferved {,TT\'2>^) my fpirit. Grotius expounds 
 ■^iDtyri m'^'N z'^Hj ■^'^ oijletricari potes cervis fceminis ? 
 <■ 'VyS V. ibices.
 
 Chap. XXXIX. THE BOOK OF JOB. S55 
 
 2. Thou to their fwelHng womb its moons ordain ? 
 
 Thou watch the burden to the hour of pain ? 
 3. Bending they ilrain t' emit the flruggUng birth. 
 And caft their forrows on the rugged earth : 
 
 4. Fafl 
 
 tual leaping from precipice to precipice, together with the kids, expofes them 
 to fo many perils, that without a Angular care of providence the breed mufl: 
 perifli. It is remarkable for its fwifcnefs and agility, for the largcnefs of its 
 horns, which bend backward and extend to the buttocks, and for its afFeclion to 
 its parents and young''. 
 
 the hinds] The hind, or roe, is the female of the hart. It is a lovely creature, 
 of an elegant fiiape, and its hair is of great price. It is noted for its fwiftnefs 
 and the furenefs of its ftep. The ruttingtime is atthe comingin of autumn. They 
 go eight months in their pregnancy, and bring forth in the fpring. This crea- 
 ture is timorous, perpetually fleeing from wild beads or men, and jumping 
 #mong the rocks '. 
 
 Vcr. 2. Cdfiji thou numher — knowejl thou, &:c.] Canjl thou number is here equi- 
 valent to CanJl thou appoint the number, &c. See chap. xiv. 5. And knowing 
 means operative providential care, as in ver, i. 
 
 Ver. 3. ^hey bo-vo thewfehes. Sec] The difficulty with which thefe creatures 
 bring forth their young, is taken notice of by Pliny ', as Grotius remarks. That 
 difficulty is here painted by our poet in very expreflive terms : 
 
 They boiv them/elves, they burft ' ivith their pangs, they coji out ^ their 
 young ones. 
 
 ' I Sam. xxiv. 3. Pfal. civ. 18. Hieroz. p. i-9i7 — 920. 
 
 * II Sam. xxii. 3+. Pfal. xviii. 34. Cant. ii. 8,9. viii. i). Habak. iii. 19. Hicroz. p. i. 
 Jib. iii. cap. 1 7. 
 
 f Kat. Hijl. lib. viii. 3:. 
 
 * njnVCTI and njn?^' Mr- Heath obferves, that thefe words are marked in fomt 
 jySS. with a circle (o) to fhew, as he imagines, that they have changed places. 
 
 Z z
 
 354 '^^^E BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIX. 
 
 4. raft the hale infants thrive ; then leave their home. 
 Hang o'er the clifTs, and through the vallies roam. 
 
 5. Who from \\\z forejl-nfs his collar broke, 
 And manumis'd his fhoulder from the yoke ? 
 
 6. Wild 
 
 Ver. 4. are in good liking ''] This verfion gives the force of the original word, 
 which denotes healthfidnejs and plumpnefs. 
 
 They groiv up iviib corn] Tbey grew up in the defer t '. Bochart remarks ', that 
 in Aribiathe corn is cut (or plucked up) in March and April, at which time 
 thefe kids and fawns are not yet brought forth,^or but juft littered. They grow- 
 up therefore not with corn, but with the few fhrubs and hardy plants which 
 the deferts afford: a circumftance which renders their prefervation and ^<?c<i- 
 liking the more wonderful. 
 
 They go foyth'\ into the wide world to cater for themfclves. 
 
 return not unto thern] unto their parents. 
 
 Ver. 5. the "xild afs] The beautiful variety in the works of God is apparent 
 in this animal, which though ranked under the fame genus with the domeftic afs,. 
 differs widely from it; in the liberty it enjoys, the place of its habitation, and 
 its manners. 
 
 free] The word does not imply here an antecedent ftate of bondage. It fig- 
 nifies freedom in oppofition to flavery ; an exemption from the fervitude to 
 which the domeflic afs is made fubjed: ■, which exemption is cxprefTed in the 
 next fentence by loofing the hands of the wild afs. 
 
 •> l^bn* In theSyriac Teftament III John 2. Q»7n Hin 's tlie tranflation of •jy\an!K, 
 Clodius alfo in his Lexicon Sehilum obferves, that this verb fignifies both in Syriac and 
 Arabic to be fat. 
 
 > "^2 It fignifies the ckfat in the Arabic Pfalter, Pfalm x!ix. 1 1. as likewife n'"13 Pralra 
 xxviii. 7- Caflcll. likewife informs us in his ic.v. that "lii^K ^^'i 's xuUdhonej. And. 
 j^-(2 nVn aJ'c /^-f J<"'W biof.-y the kafis if the defer!, in tlic Targum on Pfilm i.vviii.,
 
 Chap. XXXIX. THE BOOK OF JOfi. 35^- 
 
 6. Wild tenant of the wafte, I fcnt him there, 
 Among the flirubs, to breathe in freedom's air. 
 
 7. Swift as an arrow in his fpeed he flies, 
 Sees from afar the fmoking city rife ; 
 
 Scorns the throng'd llreet, where Ilav'ry drags her load. 
 The loud-voic'd driver and his urging goad : 
 
 8. Where'er the mountain waves its lofty wood, 
 A boundlefs range, he feeks his verdant food. 
 
 9. The favage reern^ in thy own deferts bred, 
 Shakes the tall terrors of his horned head : 
 
 The 
 
 Ver. 6, tHe zvilJernefs] The deferts of Arabia, as well as Africa and India, 
 are the habitation of this creature. He is a gregarious animal: For they go in 
 herds to pafture and to watering. Yet in Hof. viii. 9. he is faid to be folttary 
 becaufe he frequents lonely places. In fome countries the wild afs is very tall 
 and beautifully ftriped, in others they are grey or of an alh colour and low of 
 ftature *. 
 
 The barren land] In the hebrew, fait fhccs. The foil of deferts, thofe of 
 Arabia in particular, abounds with fait-, as appears from the brackifh tafle of 
 the fprings and plants that are found there. Salt was a metaphor to exprefs 
 barrennefs, becaufe the plains bordering on the lake of Sodom are the mod bar- 
 ren fpots in all Paleftine. When Jordan ov rflows its banks this lake alfo over- 
 flows the neighbouring fhores, and leaves a coat of fait upon the land '. 
 
 Ver. 7. Hefcorneth^ &c.] This is a very animated amplification of the freedom 
 mentioned ver. 5. which freedom is here contrafted with the bondage and drud- 
 ^ry of the time afs. 
 
 ^ Hieroz. p. i. lib. ill. cap, i6. 
 
 ' See Judges ix. 45. Jer. xvii. 6. Michaelis in Prjeleift. p 40. n. 42. and MaundrelV 
 Jeurncyi fee, 
 
 Z Z 2
 
 3i6 THE BOOK OT JOB. Chap.XXXIX. 
 
 Tlic mighty monarch of the mountain groves, 
 And brawny-limb'd, with furious gait he moves. 
 AVill he forget his ficrcenefs, at thy call ? 
 Accept thy hire, and ilumber in thy flail ? 
 
 10. Foam 
 
 Ver. 9. the umconi] the wild bull. Tlie hcbrew name is Reem, which appears 
 from the allufions to it in fcripture to be a creature of great flrength, with high 
 and terrible horns, and of the beeve kind "". It cannot therefore be the uni- 
 corn, which is a fifli in the north feas. the land unicorn is a meer fiftion. 
 Neither can it be tUc Rhinoceros^ which hath but one horn, and that averyfhort 
 one placed ju ft over the nofe ". Neither is it the Arabian Reem., which is a 
 fpecies of roe and a weak timid animal. It is moft probably the wild hull, bred 
 in the Syrian and Arabian deferts-, which anfwers perfeftly well to the charac- 
 ters of xhtfcripture Reem. The Arab poets are very copious in their defcrip- 
 tions of the hunting of this animal, and borrow many images from its beauty, 
 fwiftnefs, ftrength, and the loftinefs of its horns. They reprefent it a yeiy 
 fierce and untameable beaft, white on the back, with large Ihining eyes. The 
 reader however ought to be informed, that one of the Arabian poets joins it 
 with the roes •, perhaps becaufe they are both wild axatures. Damir, tlieir 
 great naturalifc, in the chapter which he entitles Of the ivild bull, defcribes no 
 other than atvildftag. But fo Csefar fpeaking of theZ/r/^j', of the black foreft 
 in Germany, calls it bos cervifgnra, a beeve Jloaped like a flag °. The Rcems are 
 Ln effeft called ivild bulls by the Pfalmlft Pfalm xxii. For thofe whom lie ftiles 
 
 bulls 
 
 '" Numb, xxiii. zr. xxiv. 8. DeiU. xxxiii. 17. Pfal. xxii. 13, 22. xxix. 6. xcii. u. 
 ^Ifaiah xxxiv. 6, 7. 
 
 " We learn from Dr. Parfons, in the Phil'.fiph'ical TranfaSi'ions for the year 1743, that 
 there is in Africa a fpecies of Rhinoceros that hath always a double horn upon the nofe. 
 The doftor produced to the members of the Royal Society a double harp,, of this crciture, 
 brought from the Cape of Good Hope. But neither Job nor the writer of the poem can be 
 fuppofed to have heard of fuch an animal; nor will this circumftance of a double honi 
 intitle it to tlic defcription of the Reem. 
 
 " Schultens in loc. HieroT.. p. i. 965, 966. Glodius in his Lex. Selefl. fays, that tiic 
 Reem occurs nine times in the hebrev.' bible ; and that its name is derived from D1") aitcau- 
 sffe,. on account of the tallnefs of its ftatuce or the loftinefs. of its hdrjis..
 
 Chap. XXXIX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 35;^. 
 
 10: Foam in thy harncfs, tremble at thy rod, 
 
 Harrow the vale and break tlie flubborn clod ? 
 
 11. Wilt thou, relying on his force, demand 
 His hoof to threlli the harvefl: of thy land ? 
 
 12. Or to his flioulder trull the loaded wain, 
 Wliich fills thy garners with the precious grain ? 
 
 13. The caviel-bird, with her broad quivering vans. 
 In ftately pride, her heated body fans : 
 
 But 
 
 ^a/.V of BcJImn^ i. e. cf the mountnins of Bafhan, ver. 13. he calls Reems ver. 2 1. 
 as though they were fynonimous terms. In fliort the Reem miUt be fuppofed 
 to be oithe heeve kind; fince it is reprefented in our autlior's defcription as qua- 
 lified by its make and ftrength for the bufinefs of agriculture like the tame 
 ox. 
 
 Ver. 9. or abide by thy crib .?] The original may be rendered, or ivill he lie all 
 night on thy threjlnng fccr? i. e. to guard it. Mr. Metric has made it appear 
 probable, that bulls weroin the earlieft ages employed, as dogs, to guard fields. 
 Oxen are actually put to this ufe by the Hottentots \ 
 
 Ver. II. thy labour^ the labour of threfhing the corn. The eaftern nation.*! 
 do not bring their corn in the ftraw to the barn.. They feparate the grain on a 
 round level plat of ground, in or near the field where it grew, and in the open 
 air. Neither do tliey ufe a flail, but the hoofs of beeves to tread it out ■". 1 his 
 is ftill the pradice in Syria, Egypt, and Barbary ; excepting thr.t in the lat- 
 ter country they employ horfes and mules, inftead of beeves, in this fervice '. 
 
 Ver. 12. g^.ther it into thy barti] The original is, and gather thy threJJnng-floor \,. 
 that is, the increafe, or produce, of thy threfhing-floor, as in Numb, xviii. 
 3c. Will he cart thy corn, after it has been threflied, to thy barn ? 
 
 p See Mcrric's AnnotaUmi on the PJalms, p. 2S. 
 
 s Deut. XXV. 4. Hof. X. 11. 
 
 "■ bhaw's Travels, p. J 39. 4to. Pococke's Defcnption of tht Eofl, vol. i. p. 20S.
 
 358 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIX. 
 
 But does her wing the ftork's wife indincl lliare ? 
 14. For to the fand flie trulls her oval care ; 
 
 15. Warms 
 
 Ver. 13— I S. Gaveft thou the goodly iviiigs'] The great dcfciiptive powers of 
 our facred poet fliine out with increafing luftrc-. This Ihort deicription of the Of- 
 trich is rich in poetical ornaments, and is a finilhed piece of miniature painting. 
 
 Ver, 13. Gaveft thou the goodly wings, &c.] The words gaveft thou are inferred 
 by our tranflators. Mr. Heath renders thefentence more juftly, 
 
 The wing of the oftrich ' is triumphantly expanded'. 
 
 The word which our englidi bible renders the peacock is one of the hebrew 
 names ' of the Oftrich '. The peacock was not known in Syria, Paleftine, or 
 Arabia before the reign of Solomon, who firft imported it. It was originally 
 from India. Befides, the oftrich, not the peacock, is allowed on all hands to be 
 the fubjeft of the following parts of the defcription. Neither is the peacock 
 remarkable for its wing, but for the beauties of its tail: Whereas the trium- 
 phantly expanded, or as Dr. Shaw turns it, the quivering expanded wing is one of 
 the charaftcriftics of the Oftrich. " When I was abroad (fays this entertaining 
 writer) I had feveral opportunities of amufing myfelf with the adions and beha- 
 viour of the Oftrich. It was very diverting to obferve, with what dexterity and 
 equipoife of body it would play and frifk about on all occafions. In the heat of 
 the day particularly, it would ftrut along the funny fide of the houfe with great 
 majefty. It would be perpetually fanning and priding itfelf with its quivering 
 expanded wings, and feem at every turn to admire and be in love with its own 
 Jhadow. Even at other times, when walking about or refting itfelf on the ground, 
 the wings would continue thefe fanning and vibrating motions, as if they were 
 
 defigned 
 
 .^ ■ . . __ 
 
 ' D'Ji^' The other name is nJV- Thefe two names diftinguifli this creature by its 
 vociferation, the noifcs it makes being loud and fonorous. The verbs p*l and njy fignify 
 exclamare, clamarefortiter. In Arabic pi fignifies fonum tremulum et ttnnulum edidit, cla- 
 rfiavit, quod Struthiones foeminsmaxime faciunt. Hieroz p. ii. lib. ii. cap. 16. Shaw's 
 Travels, p. ^50 — 455. 410- Ciodii Lex. SeleSI. p. 480. See the note on chap. xxx. 29. 
 
 ' nobyj- ^' 's engliftied to >-ejoice in chap. xx. 18. and to folace one" i felf in Prov. vii. i'. 
 According to Buxtorf, \n\^K Concordance, it anfwers to the Litln exfuUare ; which denotes 
 joy exprtfling itftlf in leaping and dancing.
 
 Chap. XXXIX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 2S9 
 
 15. Warms it a while, improvidently leaves, 
 Nor peril from the crufliing paw conceives : 
 
 16. Unus'd 
 
 tlefigned to mitigate and a/Twagc that extraordinary heat wherewith their bodies 
 Icem to be naturally affeflcd." 
 
 The OJlrich is called by the Perfians the Camel-Bird : becaufe it refembles a 
 camel in its neck, height, and walk-, and a bird in its bill and feathers. See 
 Sha.^'s Travels p. 450, &c. ^to- and Hieroz. p. ii. lib. ii. c,i6. 
 
 Or wings and feathers, &€.] The tranflation, I apprehend, fhould be. 
 
 Is ii the pinion and feathers oftheflork^? 
 
 The Oftrichprideth herfelf in her quivering expanded wing, but without reafoni^^ 
 fince it does not,, like the wing of the y?cr^ provide for the fccurity and. 
 education of her young. Natural afFeftion is as remarkable in xhsjlcrk as the 
 want of it is reprefented to be (ver. 16.) in the Oflrich. 
 
 Ver. 14, 15. Which leavetb, &c.] As for theflork, the lofty fir-trees are her 
 houfe. But the improvident Ollrich depojiteth " her eggs in the earth. 
 
 The Oftrich buildeth her neft on fome fandy hillock, in the mofl barren and 
 iblitary recefles of the defert ; expofed to the view of every traveller and the foot 
 of every wild beaft.. She fits upon her eggs, as other birds do ; but then flie fo 
 often wanders, and fo far, infearch offood, that frequently the eggs are addle by 
 means of her long abfence from them ". Leo Africanus fays, they lay about 
 ten ot a doMn eggs at a time. But Dr. Shaw fays, that by the repeated ac- 
 counts 
 
 • HaiT m'Dn m^kV ZDH -^ '' the pinion of the ftork^ and the feathers ? Caftellio turns 
 the whole verCe, Ulrum gcnerofiores funt a'a Jii uthio-aimeli, an pcnna plutrutque ciconiee ? 
 CK is interrogative in chap, xxxviii. 33. Canjl thou Jet D'SfTl DS^> 3"^ 'f> rnany other 
 places. See Noldius. n"lDt< or *^3X fignifies a iving, or pinicn, and Ha J feathers, in 
 Ezelc. xvii. 3. n")2J^ is here ufed in the abfolute form inftead of the conftru<St. Guarin- 
 produces feveral inftances of this anomaly ; in his hebrew grammar, vol. i.p. 1:1. rTTDPT 
 thejhri, is fo rendered in the margin, and elfewhere by our tranflators. See Pfal. civ. 17. 
 Jer. viii. 7. 
 
 ' 2tyn A>^ leaveth^ Dr. Shaw juflly renders it Jhe depo/iteth : for the word fignifies /• 
 tru/}, or commit^ tOy in ver. 1 1 . wilt thou leave thy labour to him ? 
 
 *- Hieroz. i^art ii* Z53,.2;7. 3.
 
 36o THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIX. 
 
 1 6. Unus'd a mother's tender fears to feci, 
 Afar flie wanders for her morning meal ; 
 Adopts, in her return, fome cafiial brood, 
 
 Mother in vain, and cruel to her blood. 
 
 17. God 
 
 counts which he received from his condudors, as well as from Arabs of differ- 
 ent places, he liad been informed they lay from thirty to fifty. He adds " We 
 are not to confider this large colledlion of eggs, as if they were all intended for 
 a brood. They are the greateft part of thera referred for food, which the dam 
 breaks and difpofeth of according to the number and cravings of her young 
 cnes." 
 
 Ver. 16. Sbe is hardened"', &c.] " On the leaft nolfe (fays Dr. Shaw) or tri- 
 vial occafion, fhe forfakes her eggs, or her young ones : to which perhaps flie 
 never returns ; or if fhe doe?, it may be too late either to reflore life to the 
 one or to preferve the lives of the others. Agreeable to this account, the Arabs 
 meet fometimes with whole nells of thefe eggs undifturbed : fome of them are 
 fweet and good, others are addle and corrupted i others again have their young ones 
 of different grov/th, according to the time, it may be prefumed, they have 
 been forfaken of the dam. They (the Arabs) oftner meet with a few of the 
 little ones, no bigger than well grown pullets, half ftarved, ftraggling and 
 moaning about like fo many diftreffed orphans for their mother. In this man- 
 ner, ihe OJirich may be faid to be hardened aga'mjl her young ones, as though they 
 were not hers ; her labour (in hatching and attending them fo far) being in vain, 
 -jcithout fear, or the leaft concern of what becomes of them afterwards. This 
 want of affedlion is alfo recorded Lament, iv. 3. ^he daughter of my -people 
 is become cruel, like the Oflriches in the wildernefs'^" 
 
 To this account we may add. When fhe has left her neft, whether through 
 fear or to feek food, if flie lights upon the eggs of fome other Oftrich, flie fits 
 upon them, and is unmindful of her own". 
 
 y n^tl'pn Vid. If. Ixiii. 17. priTilwiisfuit, phyficc & moraliter. Arab. flLJ'p ^n^l HK'I' 
 idem no;ant. conf. Schuk. ad h. 1. Clodii Lex. Selc£l. 
 
 ^ Dr. Shaw, in the pages of his Travels above referred to, 
 
 » Hieroz. p. ii. 254, 25;,
 
 Chap. XXXIX. T HE B O O K OF JOB, 361 
 
 17. God in his wifdom form'd this flupid kind. 
 Creation's fool, all body without mind. 
 
 18. Yet when her fudden enemy flie fceSy 
 Uprifmg like a tow'r away flie flees ; 
 
 In 
 
 Ver. 17. Becaufe God halb deprived her, Scc-I Natural afTeftion and fagacious 
 inftindt are the grand inftruments, by which providence continueth the race of 
 other animals : But no limits can be fet to the wifdom and power of God. He 
 preferveth the breed of the Oftrich without thofe means, and even in a penury 
 of all the necefTaries of life. 
 
 " Thofe parts of the Sahara (the defert) which thefe birds chiefly frequent, 
 are deftitute of all manner of food and herbage; except it be fome few turfs of 
 coarfe grafs, or elfe a few other folitary plants of the laureola, apocynum and 
 fome other kind, each of which is deftitute of nourilhment, and, in the Pfal- 
 mift's phrafe, even ivitberetb afore it is plucked^. Sothat confidering the great 
 voracity of this Camel-Bird, 'tis wonderful not only how the little ones, after 
 they are weaned from the provifion I have mentioned % fhould be brought up 
 and nouriflied ; but even how thofe of fuller growth, and much better quali- 
 fied to look out for themfelves, are able to fubfift ''." 
 
 Ver. 18. When Jhe lifteth up herfelf, tec.'] " Notwithftanding the ftupidity of 
 this animal, its Creator hath amply provided for its fafety •, by endowing it with 
 extraordinary fwiftnefs, and a furprizing apparatus for efcaping from its enemy. 
 They, ivhen they raife themfelves up ' for flight, laugh at the horfe and his rider. 
 They afford him an opportunity only of admiring at a diftance the extraordinary 
 agility, and the ftatelinefs likewife, of their motions, the richnefs of their plum- 
 
 * Pfjl cxxix. 6. 
 
 ' The eggs. See the note on ver. 14; 
 
 " Shaw's 7>flw/f, p.4;o — 455. 4to. 
 
 ' t*''^an DnSD LXX. a vi^u v\uln^ Vulg. in ahum alas erlgit, I\Ir. Heath, wha 
 fi^e (xtindcth herfelf in height, 
 
 A a a
 
 5^2 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXXfX. 
 
 In clouds of whirling fantl, to fav'iing gales 
 She fpreads the volumes of her plumy fails: 
 With native fpurs fhe ftimulates her fpced. 
 And mocks, aloof, the hunter and his fleed. 
 
 1 9. Haft thou with prowefs fill'd the martial horfe ? 
 Thou ton'd his throat with roaring thunder's force ? 
 
 20. Light 
 
 aoe and the oreat propriety there was in afcribing to them an expanded quiver- 
 in'^ wing. Nothing certainly can be more entertaining than luch a fight; the 
 wincrs, by their rapid but unwearied vibrations, equally ferving them for fails 
 and oars -, while their feet, no lefs afiifting in conveying them out of fight, 
 are no lefs infenfible of fatigue." 
 
 Ver. 19 — 25. Haji thou given the horfe, &c.] The fire and fublimity of this 
 paffage are perhaps no where equalled, except by the great authoi' himfelf inhis 
 dcfcription of Leviathan. The prefent fituation however of verfes 22, 23. 
 throws the whole into confufion. For thole parts of the defcription which 
 precede and follow ver. 22, 23. reprefent the horfe in his rank, fmelling the 
 battle afar off; and paint him in every attitude of ardour and impatience for 
 the fight. But in ver. 22, 23. he is in the very midft of the engagement, in- 
 trepidly keeping his ground againft all its terrors. In propriety of order there- 
 fore thofe verfes, 22, 23. fiiould conclude the defcription. 
 
 Ver. 19. hafl thou clothed his neck, &c.] I underftand this of the neighing of 
 the war-horfe, which though flirill is compared to thunder for its loudnefs and 
 terror. An ingenious gentleman afilired me, that he has heard his own horfe 
 - perfeftly roar when he was provoked by blows. 
 
 The neck is here put for the throat through which the voice pafleth, as in 
 Vircril (quoted by Bochart) when he is defcribing the fwans : 
 
 Dum fefe a paftu referunt, et longa canoros 
 Dant per coUa modos — ^ 
 
 I'hundtr
 
 Chap. XXXIX. THE BOOK OF JOB. 363 
 
 20. Light as the locufl, in the field he bounds ; 
 His fnorting with majcUic terror founds: 
 
 21. Ardent 
 
 Thunder ^ means the terrible modification of the voice of the war-horfc 
 when he neigks. 
 
 His throat is faid to be clothed ivitb thunder ; which may feem a harfh expref- 
 fion. But the hebrews denoted any permanent quality or circumftance by this 
 metaphor. Thus it is faid in Ezek. xxvi. 1 6. they Jhall clothe thernfehes icl/b 
 trembling ; that is, they {hall tremble every moment. 
 
 Ver. 20. Canjl thou make him afraid, &c.] CanII thou make him leapt as the 
 locuft '■ ? This agility expreffeth his joy to find himfelf in the rank of battle, 
 ^lian fays of the war-horfe, " when he hears the founding of the reins and the 
 clattering of the bits, and fees the breaft-plates and forehead-pieces, he neighs, 
 and leaping makes the ground to ring with his hoofs ' ." The fimile of the 
 locuft is illuftrated by Dr. Shaw. This infeft, he fays, hath the two hinder- 
 moft of its legs, or feet, much ftronger, larger, and longer than any of the 
 foremoft : In them the knee, or articulation with the leg and thigh, is diftin- 
 guilhed by a remarkable bending, or curvature, whereby it is enabled, when- 
 ever prepared to jump, to fpring and raife itfelf with great force and adlivity ^ 
 
 the 
 
 f niSVl Theodotion renders it x(^i*""^i^'" neighing; and the Vulgate i;'««/V«OT. It may 
 be DV"^, thunder, with a feminine termination ; as "Uf^ n"lD}< ^ wing, and "nf^ miJC 
 light, according to Bochart's remark in Hieroz. P. i. p. i ;6. I find in Caftell. Lex. that the 
 verb DVT fignifies in Syriac, iratus eji, in/remuit, tonare fecit ; and CDy"1, in Arabic, ira 
 percitus eft, vociferatus eft camelus. Caftellio's verfion is, aut ejus clamofam cervicem induifti ? 
 
 % {yiy"inn The verb is ufed for the dancing motion of the ground in an earthquake, Pf. 
 Ixviii. 9- The noun for the brandijhing of a fpear. Job xli. 21. 
 
 k ^;^'^{<, always in other places rendered the locuft. It feems to denote the genus. 
 There are three fpecies of them, as Dr. Shaw remarks ; DJ^'^Dj '?jnn> an«^ ^JH- 
 
 • Hieroz. p. i. 122. 
 
 > Shaw's Travels, p. 4:0. 410. 
 
 A a a 2
 
 364 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XXXIX. 
 
 21. Ardent for fame, and glorying in his mighr, 
 He paws, he ftamps, impatient for the fight : 
 
 i.^, 25. The ground he fwallows in his furious heat. 
 His eager hoofs the diftant champain beat : 
 He fcarce beHeves that the llirill trumpet blows ; 
 He neighs exuking as the blaft flill grows ; 
 Ti-embling with rapture, when the fhouts from far 
 And thunder of the chiefs aroufe the war: 
 
 22. Deriding 
 
 the glory of his noftrih, &c.] the ftrength^ of his fnorting ■" is terrible. Mr. 
 Heath. This aftion of the horfe denotes joy heightened to a pitch of fury. 
 Et fremitum patulis fub naribus edit ad arma. Lucret. 
 
 m IFhen by fierce alarms 
 
 He fnorts, mid bears his rider on to arms. Creech. 
 
 Ver. 21. Hepaweth in the valley'] The valley, or plain ", is mentioned, becaufe 
 cavalry cannot a£t in a hilly country. His pawing exprefleth his impatience for 
 the fignal of battle. 
 
 He rejoiceth in his Jlrength] confcious of his powers, and fiU'd with the profped 
 of vidtory and glory. 
 
 He goeth on to meet, &c.] He izouLi go out ^ to meet the armed men. He can 
 hardly keep his rank, fo eager is he to charge the enemy. 
 
 ' *1in ^^ vlgore quoque ac whementia vocis dicitur yob xxxix. 20. ubi de equo, magnifi- 
 tentia ronchi ejus cjl tenibiiitai, Clodii Lex. Seled. 
 
 •" Tini his fnorting. The feminine is fo rendered Jer. ix. i6. The word for nojlrih is 
 Cn*n3 Job xli. iz. 
 
 " pay, LXX. a -nXa. 
 
 J{^>♦ he ivould go out, fo in chap. xx. 24. n'^^' fliould be rendered, ke ivouldfice. The 
 Hebrews having no optative, or fubjundive, or potential mood, often employ their fimple 
 fatiwe indicative to exprefs the powers of them all.
 
 Chap. XXXIX. THEBOOKOFJOB. 365 
 
 22. Deriding death, he rufiics undifmay'd 
 
 Where flames with horrid wheel the flaught'ring blade, 
 
 23. Where quivers clang, and whizzing arrows fly. 
 And fpears and jav'lins lighten in his eye. 
 
 26. Does 
 
 Ver. 22, 23. neither turneth he hack, &c.] The f-xord from which he turmth 
 not back, muft furely be the fword lifted up to ftrike him, the fword therefore 
 of the enemy : and the quiver -which rattleth againjt him, muft mean the quiver 
 and arrows v^hich rattle againfthim, or are fliot at him, when the battle Ls be- 
 gun. His courage and daring fpirit, which urge him on amidft thefe horrors, 
 is plainly the anifliing ftroke in the defcriptlon. Accordingly Dr. Young has in 
 his tranflation clofed the defcriptlon with thefe two verfes, and I have followed 
 his example.^ 
 
 Ver. 23. thejhield] the javelin, which is a fliortfpcar. It undoubtedly means 
 fome fuch oftenfive weapon, in Jofh. viii. 18, 26. where it is tranflated a 
 fpear. 
 
 Ver. 24. Hefwallo'weth the ground, &c.] This verfe fliould have been joined 
 to ver. 21. There the horfe was reprefented in the utmoft eagernefs to go cut to 
 meet the armed men. Here his impatience grows ftronger, his imagination de- 
 vours the fpace between him and the hoftile army, and he fancies himfelf in the 
 midft of the engagement. 
 
 Stare adeo miferum eft, pereunt veftigia mille 
 
 Ante fugam, abfentemque fcrit gravis ungula campum. 
 
 Thcbaid. VI, 
 Delay fuch mifery is ; that ere he ftarts 
 A thoufand fteps are vanifh'd, and his hoof 
 Smites the far diftant plain. 
 
 neither believeth he, &c.] This fentence and the fubfequent verfe mark the paf- 
 fions of this noble animal, when the trumpets found a charge. He doubts, he 
 hopes, he is tranfported ; and at Lift is fixed in his conviftion and joy, by hcar- 
 iflg the thunder ot the captains and the flioius of the foldiers coming on to bat- 
 tle. Then mocking at fear, he bears his rider with impetuofity on tlie foe : 
 neither turiiclh he back from the Whtd fword, &c. ver. 22, 23. 
 
 neither
 
 366 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XXXIX. 
 
 26. Does thy contrivance on ihe/alcon'a wing 
 Bellow its fwiftnefs, and unweary'cl fpring i 
 Or guide his voyage, when he ilioots away 
 With outfprcad pinions to the fouthern ray ? 
 
 27. Mounts the imperial ea^k with thy might, 
 When among clouds he bounds his tracklefs flight ? 
 
 28. On 
 
 neither believeth he, &c.] When fome great good fortune befalls us, in our 
 tranfport we fcarce believe it. It is too good, we fay, to be true. Thus Job 
 xxix. 24. If I Jmiled on them, they believed not. This animated figure applied to 
 the horfe, reprelents with energy and beauty his excefs of joy. 
 
 Ver. 25. Among the trumpets'] When the trumpet foundeth amain f. Mr. 
 Heath. 
 
 He fmelleth, &c.] The fenfe offmelling, when perfeft, is exceeding quick 
 and fubtile. Hence in other languages, as well as the hebrew, it is ufed to de- 
 note fagacity of mind, acutenefs of difcernment, and found judgement. The 
 war-horfe immediately concludes from the thunder of the captains, &c. that 
 the engagement is on the point of being begun. 
 
 Ver. 2 6. Doth the hawk, &c.] Moft of the fpecies of hawks, we are told, 
 are birds of paflage ■>. The hawk therefore is produced here as a fpecimen of 
 that aftonilhing inftinfl, which teacheth birds of paffage to know their times 
 and feafons, when to migrate out of one country into another for the benefit 
 of food, or [a warmer climate, or both. The ftork is of this kind, Jerem. 
 viii. 7. 
 
 by thy wifdom — at thy command] Thefe exprefllons clearly prove, that the 
 queftions in this fpeech do moftly relate, not to fpeculative knowledge but 
 providential power and government. 
 
 her 
 
 * "l£3ty '"ID Inftiffcientiatuba, when tht trumpet foundeth loud and long. Drufjus. 
 ' Hierez. p. ii. 270. 5
 
 Chap. XXXIX. THEBOOKOFJOB. 367 
 
 28. On the fliarp rock's fharp edge he builds his dome, 
 The craggy fummit forms his pleafing home : 
 
 29. From that flrong citadel, he darts abroad 
 His eyes on earth and o'er th' aerial road: 
 
 30. His glance is inftant death ; his callow brood 
 Gape at the prey, and lap the reeking blood. 
 Where chance the carcafe flings, his banquet fee y. 
 And where the field of flaughter, there is he. 
 
 Chap. 
 XL. 
 Ver. I. Th' Almighty paus'd ; then queftion'd Job again : 
 
 2. Dumb is the man who dar'd ray ways arraign ? 
 
 The 
 
 her tieji] his tiejl, he dwelleth, he feeketh, &c. as the word our Author ufcth 
 for the eagle denotes the kind, it feems moft proper to follow him in employing 
 the mafculine, rather than the feminine, gender, as the moft noble. 
 
 Ver. 28. abideth'] deligbtetb himfelf '. 
 
 Ver. 29. her eyes behold afar off\ From the higheft promontories, and his 
 loftieft flights, he difcerns his prey on the ground '. 
 
 - Ver. 30. Her young ones alfofuck up blood'] He fees and pounces his prey and 
 bears it alive to his neft almoft in the fame inftant. The eagle is fond of flefh 
 and fucks the blood, with both which he nouriflies his young '. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 Ver. I. Moreover the Lord, &c.] The infertion of thefe words feems to imply, 
 that the Almighty paufed a while ; and upon Job's remaining filent refumed 
 his difcourfe. 
 
 ' pbn* tile fe plait, Crinfoz. 1^ in Arabic fignifies OT«///V/tt//. Schultens ad c xxxix. 
 12. In the Arabic Pfalter (Pfal. xxiv. 14. Heb. xxv. 13.) Dyj', in the fecond conjuga- 
 tion deleSlarifaciat, is the rendering of V 7n fliall dwell at tafe. 
 
 ' Hieroz. p. ii. 174, 175.
 
 S68 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XL. 
 
 The difputant with God, no anfwer find ? 
 
 3, 4. Ah ! ivbat am I? ivhat anfiver (Job rejoin'd) 
 Shall I prefumc ? my guilty lips I clofe, 
 And humble filence on 7ny tongue impofe : 
 
 S.Toc 
 
 Ver. 2. Shall he that contendeth, &c.] It is clear from Job's reply, that he 
 iinderftood thefe exprefTions to be a demand of an anfwer from him ; What, fays 
 he, Jhall I anfwer? The terms in which the demand is made, are a fevere farcafm 
 on his courage in daring to enter into a conteft with God ; and on his prefump- 
 tion in having defired to reafon ' with the Almighty about his ways. The 
 tranflation, I think, fhould be ; 
 
 Bees he that contendeth -with the Almighty draw hack " ? 
 Let the difputer " with God, anfwer him *. 
 
 The anfwer required was, a fblution of the foregoing queftions relative'-to the 
 natural works of God. He who cannot account for thefe, much lefs perform 
 or amend them, is utterly incapable to folve the difficulties in God's moral pro- 
 vidence ; and is therefore guilty of the higheft prefumption in complaining 
 againft it. Job now felt the force of this inference. 
 
 Ver. 3 — 5. The): Jch, &:c.] The nature of the preceding interrogations, the 
 pungency of their rapid fucceffion, the majefly of the fpeaker, and the circum- 
 
 ftances 
 
 ' Chap. xiii. 3. 
 
 " TiDS J'JP"'-) fi>^^ inflfuS}, from the root *nQ'. But the LXX. read ^■y^i jafur, from 
 the root "no rec^jfu: for they turn it v<y.-Kv.ii declinat. The Vulgate alfo gives a fenfe ex- 
 preflive of the fame reading, tam facile conquiefcit ? is he that contendeth with God, fo eafily 
 fatisfied, or ftilled > Mr. Heath in his note has, Jhouldhe draw back ? though he does not ap- 
 prove that tranflation- 
 
 V pji^iQ Cclui qui vouloit difputer, Crinfoz. It is a partfcipial noun derived from the verb 
 p|i3"lp(, which fignifies to reafon, to argue a point, chap. xiii. 13. Surely I would fpeak to the 
 Almighty, and I defire to rcrfon (nDIH) with God. 
 
 X nijy T'he Chaldee, the Complutenfian LXX, and Vulgate read 1J2y» refpondehit ei. 
 The meaning however will be the fame, if we tranflate the prefent hebrew text, as Schultens, 
 rifpondeat ad hocce, let him reply to this, to the forejjoing queftions relating to the natural 
 works of God.
 
 Chap. XL. THE BOOK OF JOB. 369 
 
 5. Too op I/poke^ too rajloly fpoke hefoi^\ 
 I •will not anfiver-, Pll offend no more. 
 
 6. Again the whirlwind roar'd, in lofty tone 
 Again th' Almighty from his cloudy throne : 
 
 7. Advance, difplay the hero, gird thy loin ; 
 My part the learner's, to inftrudl me thine. 
 
 8. Wilt thou my judgement difannul ? and muft, 
 To prove thee righteous, I be prov'd unjuft ? 
 
 9. Hafl 
 
 fiances of terror that accompanied his fpeaking, could not fail of having a 
 powerful effedl. Job now begins to be fenfible of his own blindnefs, weaknefs, 
 and littlenefs ; of the rafhnefs of his complaints, and the excelTes of his felf. 
 juftification. Thefe convictions produced the confefTion here related. 
 
 Ver. 4. I am vile] This tranflation appears to me too flrong for our author's 
 word; which does not import, I think, a moral pravity^ hux. lightnefs of ejiima- 
 tion. He retrafts by this expreffion the too high value he had fet on his owa 
 refticude. I am of Jm all account^ in the immenfity of thy works, and am fo 
 now in my own eyes. 
 
 Ver. 5. Once have I fpoken — yea twice] This is an acknowledgement of all hia 
 rafli fpeeches, his complaints, his demands of a trial, and his offers to defend 
 the juflice of his caufe againfl God himfelf. 
 
 but I -will not anfwer] Tg anfiver means here to put in a defence, as in chap. xiii. 
 22. Then call thou, do thou bring the accufation, and I "Lvill anfiver. He retradls 
 that daring expreffion, and declares he will not be guilty of offering to juflify 
 himfelf any more ; I will proceed no further. 
 
 Ver. 6. Then anfwtred the Lord] It feems, the foregoing confefllon was not 
 
 thought 
 
 ^ ^n?!? Levis, (J nuUiusfum prttii. Aq. !^a?>fn9>;i h-visfa^usfum, 
 
 Bbb
 
 570 THE BOOK OP JOB. Ciiap. XL, 
 
 g. Haft thovi an arm omnipotent, like mine ? 
 And like my voice, does thunder burfl in thine ? 
 
 lo — 12. Go, 
 
 tTiouglit adequate to the offence. A deeper humiliation and more compleat fub- 
 ■'miflion were required. To effe<ft this, the Almighty afliimes a fevcrer tone, 
 and fets before this man ihe danger he had incurred by contending with his 
 Maker. 
 
 Ver. 8. Wilt thou dfo dif annul my judgement, Sec] By difmnnllrng God's Judge- 
 mtent is meant condemning ^ God, as the latter fentence explains it. Job's com- 
 jjlaints and manner of juftifying liinilUf amounted to charging God with in- 
 Juftice. 
 
 Ver. 'S — 14. Haft thou an arm, &c.] Here the weaknefs and littlcnefs of mor- 
 tal man are brought into comparifon with the almighty power and majefty of 
 God. By this means the infinite difparity becomes more glaring-, and the pro- 
 digious madnefs of entering into a competition with fuch a Being is difplayed 
 Twith overwhelming convidion \ 
 
 Ver. 10. Deck thyfelf, &c.] The magnificent fcenery prefented to us in this 
 ^nd the four following verfes, is the Almighty, arrayed in the fplendors of 
 divine majeily, exerting his fupreme dominion, and manifefling his righteous 
 vengeance; by thundering and lightning on the heads of haughty tyrants, 
 •and hurling them down to the bottom of Hades. In the fame grand manner, 
 the fublime prophet defcribeth the vengeance of God upon the AiTyrian monarch. 
 See Ifaiah xxx. 30. 
 
 v/ith majefty and excellency — ivith ghry^ &c.] Job is ironically required to inveft 
 liimfelf with the attributes of Deity, and to afilime the glorious infignia of di- 
 vine majefty ; that be may execute judgement on proud oppreflbrs, and other 
 profligate men, of whofe impunity and profperity he had to loudly complain- 
 ed*"- The terms majefty and excelleiuy ' mean, I think, thofe high perfedions, 
 
 natural 
 
 ■» 'jy5J>*in» Symm. aJixo* /*£ wciJiff-Eic; tvUt thou make me unjuji? 
 
 ■» See Bp. Lowth's Prele^fiofis, p. zoo. 8vo. 
 
 * Chap.xxi. 7, &c. and chap. xxiv. throughout.
 
 Chap. XL THE BOOK OF JOB/ 57^ 
 
 10—12. Go, deck thyfelf with pomp, afTume the rod. 
 And fulgent form, and majefly of God ; 
 Thron'd amidft fplendors heav'n and earth control, 
 Thy "wrath in flaming inundation roil j 
 Abafe the lofty, wither by a frown 
 The towring crefl, and dafli fierce tyrants down : 
 13. Down in the dufl rebelling nations throw. 
 And whelm them all in endlefs fhades below : 
 
 14. Then 
 
 natural and moral, which exalt the pofleffor to the fummit of all being, power, 
 and dominion : The other terms, glory and beauty % when ufed of mortal po- 
 tentates, fignify the external pomp of royalty ; the crown, the fcepter, the 
 purple robe, the guards, &c. But when applied to God, they denote, I fup- 
 pofe, the Shechinahy the numberlefs retinue of angels, thundering clouds, light- 
 ning, &c. 
 
 Ver. II. the rage of thy wrath'] In the original, torrents 1 ofwratb-^ that is, 
 lightning. Compare Exod. xv. 7. 
 
 Ver. 12. Look on every one that is proud] This is that j/opj/oi/ o/*;U« (as i^fchy- 
 lus ' calls it) " that formidable look, at which the mountains, the earth, the 
 depths of the fea, and the height of heaven tremble." Compare Pfalm civ< 
 
 tread down] break in pieces ^. 
 
 * 
 
 * mm mn 
 
 * rn"12y torrents', exundatlones, from '\y^ tranfivit to pa fs over, fc. its banks, when a 
 river is alluded to, as here : for ^'SH '"fi abroad has for its theme VIJ) excrevity exundavitque^ 
 equa. Vid. Schultens ad h. I. 
 
 ' Qyoted from Clemens Alexandrinus by Mr. Merrick, in his Annotations on Pfal. civ. 32. 
 
 * "l^nn Clodius, in his Lexicon Seleiium, compares it with the Arabic badaka contrivit^ 
 jsde etiam diruit, fc. aedificium, a conterendo & comminuendo. 
 
 Bbb 3
 
 irt: THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XL. 
 
 14. Then own'd by me thy deity fhall ftand. 
 Safe in the prowefs of thy own right hand. 
 
 IS' Behold my Behemoth his bulk uprear, 
 Made by thy Maker, grazing like a fteer. 
 
 16. \Vhat 
 
 in (heir place] In the very place of their exaltation, as Crinfoz explains it. 
 
 Ver. 13. Hide them in the duji., &c.] Call them down from their fplendid ele- 
 vation into the obfcure abodes of death, as condemned malcfadtors. 
 
 J'o hind the face is a phrafe for treating a perfon as a convifb condemned ta 
 die ''. 1'he dujt is the grave ' ; and the fecret place (bind their faces in the fecret 
 place) is another expreffion for the fepulchre; or elfe it means the fecret abodes 
 oi Sheol, the receptacle of departed fouls. 
 
 Ver. 14. that thy otvn right hand can fave thee *=] That thou art felf-fuffi- 
 cient, the author and preferver of thy own happinefs ; therefore a God, and a 
 match for me. This humiliating farcafm makes way for another mortifica- 
 tion; For the Almighty next fends him to two of his creatures Behertioth and 
 Leviathan, and bids him prove his high courage in an open encounter with 
 either of them. 
 
 Ver. 1 5. Behemoth '] This name frgnifies the beajt by way of eminence, or the 
 greatejl among beafts. The Elephant and the River-horfe lay claim to it, and to 
 the honour of being the original of the following grand defcription. But with 
 regard to the name, the River-horfe feems to have no title to it : For Leo 
 
 Africanus 
 
 ' See the note on chap. ix. 24. 
 
 * Chap. xvii. 16. 
 
 * y'ti^in can make thee happy. Schultens informs us, tl/at the nouns jrjj^:) and T\W 'i- 
 Arabic fignify pofjfffion of ell the ingredients of happinefs. Comment, ad cap. v. 4. 
 
 ' niOn^ This is the plural of n'jnUi which in Arabic (fays Clodius in Lex. Selefl.) 
 Signifies a dumb animal, from DHD bahama, in conjug. iv. clauft, in conjug. x- obinutttlt. 
 The plural number was fometimes ufed by the Hebrews to Acnoxz greittnefs and piekemineHct^ 
 So that mOriD 'S bejliarum maxima, Vid. Guaria's Ihb. Grammar, vol. i. p. 476, 477.
 
 Chap. XL. THE BOOK OF JOB. m 
 
 1 6. What ilrength is featcd in each brawny loin ! 
 
 "What mufcles brace his ampUtude of groin ! 
 
 17. Huge 
 
 Africanus aflures us, that both in the NUe and the Niger they are no bigger 
 than an afs. Thevenot indeed, quoted by Mr. Heath, fays, he faw one of thefe 
 animals at Cairo, that was as tall as a camel with a body twice as large as that 
 of an ox. But this was an extraordinary phsenomenon. Nor did even this equal 
 the bulk of a full-grown Elephant. Moreover, feveral charadlers in the defcrip- 
 tion of the Behemoth by no means agree to the River-horfe, whereas all of them, 
 if I miftake not, are applicable to the Elephant. The principal objediorrto 
 the Elephant feems to be, that this animal was never feen in thefe parts of Afia 
 before the reign of Seleucus Nicanor, about A. D. 312. to whom an Indian 
 prince made a prefent of five hundred of them ". To this we may reply thac 
 Elephants breed in thofe parts of Africa which border upon Egypt". They 
 were therefore well known to the Egyptians ; and by the intercourfe of Palef- 
 tine and Arabia with Egypt were doubtlefs.knowaalfo to Job and his friends, 
 and to the writer of this poem. 
 
 whom I made with thee] whom I made thy fellow-creature. This is a hum- 
 bling ftroke. 
 
 He eateth gra/s, &c.] The expreflion feems to imply, that grafs is his con- 
 ftant food -,_ aiid the wonder is, how a creature of fuch enormous bulk can be 
 fupported by a meet vegetable diet. The fimile, oj an ox, naturally leads one 
 to fuppofe fome analogy in the form of the Behemoth to that of an ox. Accord- 
 ingly the Romans called it Bos LticOy the Lucanian beeve-, Lucania being 
 that part of Italy into which Pyrrhus, in his war with the Romans, brought 
 them, and where the Romans firlt faw this creature. The Elephant is known 
 to be of the grazing kind. But the ufual food of die River-horfe is fifh v^ 
 though he will fometimes fteal out of the river in the night into the neighbour- 
 ing fields of corn, and devour a vaft quantity. The River-hcrfe is carnivorous 
 and a beall of prey, the Elephant is net ". 
 
 Ver. 16, 17. Lo nowy his Jlrength, &c] I apprehend, thefe verfes are de-- 
 
 fcriptivc _• 
 
 •" Hieroz. p. i. 256. 
 
 * Plin. Nat. Hjji. lib. vili. cap. \u 
 
 • Schiiltcns' Comment,
 
 374- THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XU 
 
 17. Huge like a cedar fee his tail arife, 
 
 Large nerves their mefhes wreathe about his thighs: 
 
 18. His 
 
 criptive of the great powers and mighty apparatus witli which the Behemoth is 
 furnifhed for propagating his kind. In the Elephant the organs of generation 
 doubtlefs bear proportion, in their magnitude and ftrength of texture, to the 
 huge bulk of that animal ; and therefore far exceed thofe of the River-horfe, 
 and confequently better correfpond to the defcription. 
 
 his ftrength — his force^'] that is, as Mr. Heath explains thefe terms, his ge- 
 nerative vigour. He might have produced, in fupport of his interpretation. 
 Gen. xlix. 3. Reuben^ thou art my Jirft-born, my might % and the beginning of 
 my ftrength '. 
 
 Ver, 1 6. in the navel ' of his belly] in the ligaments of his belly. Mr. Heatli. 
 The ftrong mufcular fibres of his belly are not mentioned as rendering the crea- 
 ture impenetrable in thofe parts, but as qualifying him with extraordinary 
 vigour for propagation. 
 
 Ver. 17. He moveth his tail like a cedar] Mr. Heath tranflates. He ereEleth^ 
 his tail like a cedar. In the literal fenfe, the tail both of the Elephant and the 
 River-horfe is too contemptible to be compared to a cedar, or even at all taken 
 notice of in this defcription. It is therefore to be underftood figuratively for 
 the principal organ of generation; likethe latin canda ; according to tlie remark 
 of Mr. Mudge quoted by Mr. Heath. I wonder that neither of thofe learnecj 
 gentlemen alleged the following paflage in Horace, 
 
 -qum 
 
 ' n^lty This is not the hebrew word for the navel. The root in Syriac fignifies to he 
 firm andftrong. One of the derivatives in Arabic is n">J<"ltyN "P^^ pkxum ex junco, xvider- 
 tvork. wherefore *"jntJ^ moft probably denotes the mufcular fibres varioufty twined together. 
 
 ' VSn* he ercBcih. Three MSS. mentioned by Mr. Heath read fDn'- Now Tflili he 
 obferves, fignifies, in the eighth conjugation in Arabic, cum impetu crupit,fe prortpuit. The 
 Vulgate feems to have had fome fuch idea of ^rjn or T5n- I''o'' that author tranflates it, 
 Jlringit he unjhcathi his tail. LXX. iTr,jiv fp" ''« xt"i-«fia-<7or> He ereHeth his tail like a cyprefs.
 
 Chap. XL. THE BOOK OF JOB. 37^ 
 
 18. His ribs are channels of unyielding brafs, 
 His chine a bar of iron*s harden'd mafs : 
 
 1 9. My fovereign work -, prime of the beftial kind 
 In pow'r of body, and in gifts of mind, 
 
 I with a tufky falchion arm'd his jaw. 
 
 His foe to humble, and the defert awe : 
 
 20. In 
 
 quln etiam Illud 
 
 Accidit, ut cuidam teftes caudamque falacem 
 
 Demeteret ferro. Sat. 1. 2. ver. 45. 
 
 ihe/inewsy &c.] tbefinews ° of his thighs " are twifted together. Mr. Heath, 
 
 Ver. iS. His bones^ &c.] The defcription feems too ftrong for the River-horfe. 
 vhofe teeth indeed are remarkably hard, as likewife are thofe of the Elephant-, 
 But the former cannot enter into competition with the latter, for the largcnefs 
 and iron-like ftrength of its ribs, fpine, and thigh-bones, Mr. Heath's tranfla- 
 lion is. 
 
 His bones are like brazen pipes ", 
 His back-bone ■ is like a bar of iron, 
 
 Ver. 19. He is the chief &c.] that is, the chief of all the beafts which God 
 "hath made. The grandeur of the Elephant and his mental endowments give 
 him furely the fole title to this charader of preheminence. 
 
 He that made him, &c.] He that made him, hath fumijhed'^ him with his 
 
 fcythe. 
 
 ' ■'Ti LXX. uv(oc the nerves. 
 
 ■" nn3 his thighs. So it fignifies in Arabic, as Bochart has proved. There is not fuffi- 
 cient warrant for ourenglifli veifion of this word. 
 
 » ip'^vj tubl, Cocceius. p'lJS fignifies, among other things, ths channel of a river. . 
 
 f VQ'IJ LXX. r, oz ftt-x'i ««•» his back-hcne. 
 
 " C^/» Vm^Z- ^'pl'cabit gladitim ejus. It fignifies to Be hrought info clo/e contaff, chzp.-xVi. id, 
 ^Heb. ver.-7.) ene fs fo near to another; rathef, they (his fcales) are in clofe contact (1C7J*) 
 ave with another . It fignifies /» put into, ta infcrt, to make fajl by infertion, II Sam. iii. 34, 
 Skykaitdsuure net hound, r.or thy feet put into feUeru S
 
 576 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XL. 
 
 20. In peaceful majefty of might he goes, 
 
 And on the mountain tops his forage mows : 
 Where beafts of every favage name refort, 
 And in wild gambols round his greatnefs fport. 
 
 21, 22. In 
 
 fcythe. Mr. Heath. The River-horfe has two tufks with which he cuts the 
 corn, when he chufes that diet. But the Elephant has alfo two teeth, much 
 larger, wliich projeft from his jaws, are Ihaped like a fickle, and which Non- 
 nus, in his defcription of this animal, calls a Jharp fivord. With this inftru- 
 ment the Elephant defends himfelf when attacked ^ by any other beaft. 
 
 Ver. 20. Surely the mountains^ &c.] Three characters oi tht Behemoth are mark- 
 ed here ( i ) He frequents the mountains. This is fo true of the Elephant^ 
 that one fort are called mountaineers. (2) The mountains fupply him with 
 food. The Elephant lives there upon grafs, plants, and the tender branches of 
 trees which he breaks off with his trunk. (3) He is a gentle and fociable ani- 
 mal. The Elephant will graze freely with other animals whether wild or tame. 
 Among the latter, if they are near enough to be hurt by his fudden movement 
 he puts them gently by with his probofcis. None of theie characters fuit the 
 River-horfe, who is a folitary creature, never goes far from the river, and 
 leaves it only in the night ; who has no mountains on the banks of the Nile, 
 frequented by wild beafts '' to refort to, were he inclined to vifit fuch eminences, 
 and who is of a favage nature and carnivorous. 
 
 * Their long teeth Nature hath given them for their defence. Their trunks are to them 
 as a hand by which they feed themfelves: With thefe they tear ofF boughs from trees, and 
 eat the tendereft part of them. With thefe alfo they pull up green corn and grafs by the 
 roots, and then againft their legs beat off the earth and duft that hangs about them before 
 they eat thereof. See A Voyage to Eaft India by Sir T. Roe's Chaplain. . 
 
 •* Beafts of prey are very rare in Egypt. Bp. Pococke mentions only a few tygers and 
 Ahenas, which haunt the deferts near Alexandria. Defcription of the Eaft, vol. i. p. 207. 
 Moreover the mountains on each fide the Nile are barren rocks. See Sandys' TraveUy 
 p. 92.
 
 Chap. XL. TH E B 00 K OF JOB. 2>n 
 
 ■2;, 22. Ill moory vales, bcfide the reedy pools. 
 
 Deep plung'd in oo/e his glowing flanks he cools; 
 
 Or in umbrageous groves enjoys repofc, 
 
 Or bow'r'd in willows Vvrhere the torrent flows, 
 
 23. Not fwelling rivers can his heart difmay, 
 
 He ftalks fccure along the wat'ry way: 
 
 Should 
 
 Ver. 2 1, 22. The JImdy /?-^fj% &c.] Thefe verfes defcribe the Behevwth'% 
 places of (helter and repofe. If the vegetables here mentioned did necefTarily 
 mean fuch as grow on the banks of the Nile, the River-horfe might juftly lay- 
 claim to this part of the defcription. But they fignify in general marfli- 
 plants, as reeds, tamarifks, and others, that grow in fens and by the fides of 
 lakes and torrents in thofe countries. The Elephant is called by iElian the 
 Fen-animal, becaufe he is fond of retiring to marlliy places, in the heat of 
 the day, to cool his body in the ooze. He loves the banks of rivers, and Hand- 
 ing waters in the fandy deferts. 
 
 Ver. 21. He lieth, &c.] It is objefled to the Elephant xh&t he never lies down. 
 But our author's word*" denotes ajleeping or refiing pojlure. The Elephant's is 
 kneeling. Bochart allows this. After all, it is certain that Elephants lie 
 down and rife again at their pleafure as other beafts do % 
 
 Ver. 23. Behold^ &c.] What is faid here, feems intended to convey a fublimc 
 idea of the lofty ftature, great force, and intrepidity of the Behemoth. 
 
 £ehold 
 
 I — ■ — -^ — . — * 
 
 « 13»*7N':» Jhady trees. Schultens fays, this is an Arabic word, and the name of the Lotus 
 tree. He adds, the Lotus tree grows plentifully in the Cyrenaica (now the kingdom of 
 Barca) the country of Elephants. It is a tall, prickly tree. 
 
 *" DDK'' It is ufed oi feeping, without any reference to the pofture, in Prov. xxiv. 33. 
 a little folding of the hands tojleep, ^Dti^'? 
 
 * We are aflured of this fa£l by Sir T. Roe's Chaplain in the Eaft Indies. See his Voyage 
 tt Eafl India., publifhed along with Delia Valle's Travels, p. 381. Yfbrants Ides attefts the 
 fame, in his Travels, p. 80. As alfo does Mr. Bell in his, vol. ii. p. 26. 
 
 C c c
 
 378 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XL. 
 
 Should Jordan heap its overflowing waves 
 Againfl his mouth, the foaming flood he braves. 
 
 24. Go 
 
 Behold a river overjlo'voeth ', yet he maketh not hafte ^ . 
 
 Although Jordan breaketh forth ^ againji his mouthy he is in fecurity. 
 
 We may remark on this paflage (i j that the common height of the Elephant is 
 ten feet and a half. There were fome in the flables of Cofroes king of Perfia,. 
 twelve cubits high '. A credible traveller aflures us that in Indoftan he had feen 
 fome which he conceived to be at the leaft twelve feet high, and was informed 
 there were others fourteen or fifteen feet in height. Voyage to Eajl India by 
 Sir T. Roe's Chaplain, p. 380. The Elephant thereforecanford moft rivers. 
 
 (2) He will walk with great compofure through deep and rapid rivers, pro- 
 vided he can but carry his trunk, through which he draws in frefh air, above 
 water ''. 
 
 (3) The Jordan is here mentioned,. not as frequented by Elephants, but only 
 as put for any deep and violent river: for fuch the Jordan is in the time.of its 
 overflowing. This river is inftanced rather than any other, as being in the 
 neighbourhood of Job's country,, and therefore well known to him. 
 
 Laftly, This part of the defcriprion will appear trifling, if applied to the 
 River-horfe. For where is the wonder, that a native of the Nile (compared 
 
 to 
 
 ' pti'V '« opprejl, to do wrong by violence. By a grand metaphor this is applied to a river, 
 
 V-hich breaks over its banks and deftroys the neighbouring fields. The Arabians aflbciated 
 
 thefe ideas injitjilce and an inundation For the worJ v/hich in their language fignifies to 
 
 .D^prefs, is alfo uled of the overjiowing of a river, Schultens. LXX. ixt yivr,Txt ■n^.rijA.fi.vfx 
 
 if there he an inundation. 
 
 ^ riDH* maheth hajle, or is afraid. The word, in the Hebrew ufe of it, denotes, fays 
 
 Schuliens, to make h'ajie, or to be in a hurry, through fear. 
 
 ^ n'J' breaketh forth It denotes a violent eruption., chap, xxxviii. 3. when it (the fqa) 
 iraki forth, as if // had 'fjued out of the womb. 
 
 ' HiecQZ. p. i. 27.1. 
 
 '' The E'f-phants del;s;ht much to bath-? themfelves in water ; in which, when they find 
 depth enough, they fwim as well aa any other creature. Voyage to Eaji India by SirT. Roe's 
 Chaplain, p. 381. 8
 
 Chap. XL. THEBGOKOFJOB. 379 
 
 24. Go now, thy courage on this creature try, 
 Dare the bold duel, meet his open eye : 
 Sublime on thy gigantic captive ride, 
 And with a (lender Uring his vadnefs guide. 
 
 Chap. 
 
 to which the Jordan is a brook) which ftems that river in its mofl furious rapi- 
 dity, fhould not fhrink at Iwiinming or walking through any other much fmaller 
 body of water ? 
 
 Ver. 24. He taketh^ &c.] Job is here called upon, in moft humiliating 
 irony, to try his courage on this huge and powerful creature, to take him by 
 open force, and guide him when taken, with a cord, as he ufed to manage his 
 , camels. 
 
 if/ a man take him openly ', 
 
 Let him draw ^ a cord " through his tio/e. 
 
 The fecond fentence alludes, I imagine, to the hair-noofe, or ringle, which the 
 Arabs put through the nofe of their camels ; and by which, a line being faftened 
 to it, they bring them to their beck". 
 
 In juftice to the learned Schulten', I murt: apprize the reader that moft 
 of the foregoing remarks, relative to the Behemoth, are extrafted from his 
 Commentary j where proper authorities for the feveral particulars are to be met 
 ■wi^h. 
 
 ' VyV3 in oculis ejus, i. e. aperte, non ex injtdiis. Schultens. 
 
 " ipy let him perforate., or pierce through. 
 
 " Q'SyPISS vjithfnares. By an eafy figure it might come to be ufed for cords, the ma- 
 terials of which fnares are made. Both LXX. and Symmachus read the word in the fingular 
 number. The former tranflates, it^y.iy.avoy.tMi rp-.a-u pia, Let a twijled line bore his nofe. But 
 Symmachus underftood tJ'pTtD to mean the boring inftrument, ir ■^nfon TfWTrxGnsriTai tv f,i» 
 Let his nofe be bored with a bodkin, 
 
 * Hamafa, p. 325. n. 
 
 C CO 2
 
 38o THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XLL 
 
 Chap. 
 XLI. 
 1, 2. Doubtlefs, with hook and cordage, thou art bold 
 
 To drag Leviathan from his wat'ry hold j 
 
 To' 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 The irony is continued. Job is now addreiTed as a man of prowefs fufE- 
 cient to combat and fubdue another creature, much more formidable than the 
 Behemoth \ in regard of the armour with which it is furnifhed, both for defend- 
 ing itfelf and attacking its enemy. This creature is named 'Leviathan. The 
 Crocodile has found fo powerful an advocate in Bocharr, that all other claim- 
 ants are put to filence. Tlie charafters in the defcription perfeftly correfpond 
 to that animal, allowance being made for poetical ornaments and heightenings. 
 The defcription is not intended for a difplay of the author's fublime talents,, 
 and meerly to embellifh his poem. It lus a nobler defign. That defign is clearly 
 explained ver. lo. None ii, fo fierce that dare ftir him up : who then is able to ft and 
 before me ? Hence Job is taught to tremble at his danger, in having provoked, 
 by his murmurs and litigation^, the difpleafure of the Maker of this dreadful ani- 
 mal. His high fpirit is now brought down, his conviiftion is completed, and 
 his repentance and fubmiffion fatisfy the Almighty, 
 
 Ver. I, 2. Cavft thou drazv out^ Sec.'] It is no eafy matter to fix the precife 
 meaning of the feveral terms here ufed. They feem however in general to de- 
 note the inftruments to be made ufe of partly for taking him alive in the water, 
 and partly for governing him when brought on the land. 
 
 with a hook^'] The irony will be ftronger, if we turn this and the following 
 
 verfe in the affirmative form. Thou canft draw out "* Leviathau, &c. or thou 
 
 canft f often a rope in his tongue. 
 
 Or 
 
 r ;i3n o ^'"o^- LXX. £» ayjorp. It occurs but twice more, viz. Ifaiah xix. 8. and 
 Habb. i. 14, 15. Our bible there renders it an angle. But it rather ligniiies, I apprehend, 
 fi fijh-hook. 
 
 q ng^t^n Thou can/} draw up. Jer. xx-xviii. i^. fo they drew up (T^Sy,^'"!) Jeremiah with 
 ttrdsy oiid ieoi him up out of the dungeon.
 
 Chap. XLI. TH E BOO K OF J O B. 381 
 
 Todrain the noofe about his dreadful jaw, 
 And tame his fiercenefs with domeftic law. 
 
 3. Will he, in humble parle, before thy feer, 
 With mollifying words thy grace intreat ? 
 
 4. And, if thy clemency his life but fpare, 
 
 Eternal fervice to his vidtor fvvear? 
 
 S- What 
 
 Or bis tottgue^ &c.] Or thou canft faften^ a rope in his tongue. Thefe expref- 
 fions import, I fhould think, a way of taking this creature in the water differ- 
 ent from the foregoing, and more dangerous ; namely,, faftening a rope within 
 his mouth, ^he tongue is put for the whole infide of the mouth, as Mr. Heath 
 remarks. 
 
 Ver. 2. Canjl thou put a hook, &c.] Ajfuredly thou canji put a muzzle ' on 
 bis nofe, and bore his jaw through with a thorn '. Tlie muzzle was to fecure 
 his mifchievous jaws, when he was landed: and the thorn, Mr. Heath fays, 
 was to make the muzzle faft; by pinning it, I fuppofe, to his cheeks. 
 
 Ver. 3, 4. Will he make., &c.] Here the irony is very apparent. The fa- 
 cred poet Ihews a wonderful addrefs in managing this deriding figure of fpeech 
 in fuch manner, as not to leflen the majefty of the great Being into whofe mouth 
 he puts it. 
 
 Ver. 4. a fervant for ever] There is no necefllry of underftanding this to be 
 a reference to the Mofaic law of perpetual bondage. The allufion in thefe 
 verfes, 3, 4, is evidently to a perfon or people, who offer to fubmit to an ene- 
 my on certain terms, and to yield perpetual allegiance to him. 
 
 ' ypJPn I' fignifies in Chaldee_y?r/n/V^r infixit. Caftell. Lex* 
 
 ' V^ya a pool, reeds and rujlui growing near pools, and ropei made of rufhes. Schultcns. 
 We englifti it a rnjh, Ifaiali ix. 14. a bulrujh, Ifaiah Iviii. <;. iMiny informs us (lib, xix. 
 cap. 2.) ihat the Greeks atfirft made their ropes of ruflies. Probably the Egyptians did the 
 fame. They certainly made boats of the paper-reed, which Ifaiah (xviii. 2,) calls vejjels 
 of bulrujhes. 
 
 ' {X\T\ This word fignifies properly a thorn upon a plant ; probably made uie of for bod- 
 kins : Or their bodkins were called by this name from fimilitude of form.
 
 ^S3 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap, XLI. 
 
 5. What duty wilt thou to this flave aflign? 
 Ty'd Hke a houfliold bird, with fitken twine, 
 His gamefome mood thy weighty cares may eafe, 
 Or his foft touch thy gemlc damfels pleafe. 
 
 6. Or wilt thou fend him into foreign lands, 
 Barter 'd to Zidon's fliips or Tenia's bands ? 
 
 7. Is open war thy choree ? what fame is won, 
 If thou invade him baflcing in the fun ! 
 
 Surely 
 
 Ver. ::, 6. JViJt thou play with him, &c!] Here he is afked, how he will dif- 
 pol'c of his captive : Whether he will retain him in his family, for his own 
 amufcmenc and the diverfion of his maidens ; Or whether he will fell him, as 
 a rare ctiriofity, either to the Pha;nician merchants or to the caravans. 
 
 Ver. 6. Shall the companions, &c.] Will the companies of merchants " drive a bar- 
 gain" for him? fhall he be portioned out " among the Canaanites? By the companies of 
 merchants Mr. Heath underftands the caravans who traded to Egypt by land ; 
 By the Canaanites '', I fuppofe, are meant the Phsniciansof Zidon who traffick- 
 ed thither by fea. 'The dividing, ot portioning him out, among the latter, means, 
 I apprehend, felling this creature in feparate pieces or members. 
 
 Ver. 7 — II. Canfi thou fill, &c.] Thefe verfes relate, I think, to attacking 
 this formidable creature two ways ; ( i ) At a diftance, as he lieth funning him- 
 
 ifelf 
 
 " Clin the companies of merchants. So Mr. Heath tranflates it. It iign\?\ti ajjiciates, 
 perfons who join in any undertaking and are united in their counfels and deftgns. See 
 Judges XX. II. Cant. viii. 13. Ifaiah i. 23. 
 
 " IID* Mr. Heath remarks that it is the future in kalo( the root n"lD which fignifies 
 to buy, Deut. ii. 6. Hofea iii. 2. It has, however, a different conftrudlion in thofe paf- 
 fagcs. 
 
 " imynS a7cfao-w11.at.T0r, they vjtll purchafe him, Theodotion. 
 
 '' D'.3yJ3 LXX. (fmtKuii i^n, the Phcenician people. Aquila, fttralw x"""'*""* omong the 
 Canaanites.
 
 Chap. XLr. TH E BO OK OF JO B. 383 
 
 Surely thy javelins will tranfpierce his hide, 
 And fliow'rs of fang'd harpoons his Ikull divide. 
 
 8. AfTail him, but remember well the foe, 
 Fell him at once, or aim no fecond blow. 
 
 9. Deceiving hope ! his look thy heart appalls, 
 The foe appears, the fwooning champion falls. 
 
 ro. Not ev'n the ficrcefl chief, with war's whole pow'r. 
 
 Dares roufe this creature in his flumb'ring hour. 
 II. Who then fliall face my terrors ^ where is he, 
 
 Whofe rafli prefumption will contend with me ? 
 
 "Where is the giver to whofe gifts I owe, 
 
 Owner of all above and all below ? 
 
 12. Come 
 
 felfonthe mud iflands in the Nile. Pococke and Norden faw many of thein 
 in thofe places in their voyage up that river. (2) Engaging him in clofe fight, 
 when he lieth on the bank of the river, ver. 8. 
 
 Ver. 7. barbed irons — fijh-fpears\ The impenetrability of Zmrt/Z'^jw's fkin Ts 
 here intimated, and is afterwards defcribed at large. The attempt to wound 
 him with miffile weapons is ridiculed. This is acircumftance which will agree to 
 no animal fo well as to the crocodile. The weapons mentioned are undoubtedly 
 fuch as fifhermen ufed, for ftriking large fifh atadiftance. Thtfijhfpsars nxa. 
 fuppofed by Schultens to be harpoons. 
 
 Ver. 8. Ley thine hand upon him, &c.] An engagement hand to hand is plainly 
 marked in this verfe. 
 
 Ver. 9. The hope of hint] The hope, of maftering.hi:Ti is abfurd.. 
 
 Ver. II. Who hath prevented me^ &c.] The fcntimcnt in this verfe demon- 
 ftrates the folly and impiety of contending with God, as J ->b had done. He is 
 all-fufficient and independent, and therefore cannot be indebted to any for theis 
 
 fervice.
 
 P^ TTIE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XU. 
 
 1 2. Come forth. Leviathan, liarnefs'd for the fight, 
 In all thy dread hahilimcnts of might: 
 Behold his limbs, their fymmetry furvey, 
 
 For war how well adjuiled his array : 
 
 13. The temper'd morion, o'er his vifage brac'd, 
 
 \Vhat hardy valour ever yet unlac'd I 
 
 Who 
 
 fervice. He is the proprietor of all beings : He therefore cannot injure any 
 one by taking away his pofTeffions and enjoyments : For he takes only what he 
 o-ave. Submiffive refignation, therefore, to his difpofals, is the duty of every 
 reafonable creature. 
 
 Ver. 12. / will not conceal, &c.] We now enter upon the defcription of Levi- 
 athan ; which takes up the remainder of the fpeecli, and is immediately fol- 
 lowed by Job's fubmiflion that clofeth the poem. 
 
 It is not beneath the dignity of the great Creator to difplay his own wonder- 
 ful work ; and to call upon man to obferve the feveral admirable particulars 
 in its formation, that man may be impreft with a deeper fenfe of the power of 
 his Maker. 
 
 Ver. 13. Who can difcover, &c.] This verfe is obfcure. The firft fentence 
 however feems to defcribe that terrible helmet which covers the head and face 
 of the Crocodile. The tranQation might be, Who can uncover his mailed face ^? 
 If in Job's days they covered their war-horfes in complete armour, the queftion 
 
 wiU 
 
 " 1ii>13b *Ji3 faclcm lot ha ejus, i. e. fac'iem ejus hricatam. The latter of two fubftantives 
 in this conftru<Stion is frequently to be conftrued as an adjective. Thus ver. 19. burning 
 lamps, \n xht o{\g\n2L\ lamps of fit e. Schultens alfo refers us to Deut. i.4f. Ifaiah ii. 20. 
 Ezek. xxvi. 16. for other inftances of the fame hebraifm. tyi^V fignifies in general a 
 garment, but the garment, or cloathing, of a warrior and a war-horfe is a coat of mail. 
 Such probably was that which Joab had on, II Sam. xx. 8. and fuch a garment feems alluded 
 to, Ifaiah lix. 17. Ixiii. i. as that learned commentator remarks.
 
 Chap. XLI. THE BOOK OF JOB. 385 
 
 Who near his mouth, with double rein, will draw, 
 14. And lift the huge portcullis of his jaw ? 
 Behold he yawns, the hideous valves difclofc 
 Death's iron teeth imbattled rows on rov/s. 
 1 j*, 16. Proud o'er his mailed back his fcales are clafs'd 
 Like ferried fliields, lock'd each in each fo faft, 
 
 And 
 
 will refer to the taking off the armour, and Leviathan\ fkin be reprefented by 
 fuch an image. Then the fecond fentence may denote bridling him, after his 
 armour is ftripped off, for fome other fervice. The moft eafy verfion of this 
 , latter fentence is that which our englilh Bible and Schultens give. 
 
 Who will bring ^ bis double bridle ? 
 
 Or, Who will come with his double bridle ? 
 
 Ver. 14. His teeth^ &c.] The apparatus of teeth in the crocodile, to the 
 number of threefcore% perfectly fatisfies this formidable defcription. 
 
 Ver. 15 — 17. His fcales, &c.] The indilToluble texture, and perhaps the 
 iargenefs alfo, of the fcales, which compofe the Crocodile's hide, are reprefented 
 by the powerful images and figures in thefe verfes. 
 
 Ver. 15. His/cales are his pride] rather. His body' isYikt ftrongjhi elds \ that 
 is, his back and fides are covered with fcales that refemble the ftrong plates of 
 ftuelds. 
 
 '' .3 Nli* veniet in, &c. Fenire in vel cum aliqua re is a common eaftern phrafe for earn 
 aiducere. Schultens. 
 
 « Hieroz. p. ii- 778- 
 
 '' mS^J Aquila, whom the Vulgate follows, renders it o-ifwt atrs hi$ body. They per- 
 haps read iniNJl (taking K for a vowel) from nU gevah the body, as in chap, xx. 25. Bo- 
 chart and Mr. Heath turn it, his back, from 1J dorfum. 
 
 * D*3;i,2 '|5'3K> LXX. arTriJi; x«^<«"» brazen (i. e. ftrong) Jhields. 
 
 Ddd
 
 386 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XLT. 
 
 And feal'd together, that no breath of wind 
 
 17. Infmuates : So clofe the plates are join'd, 
 
 So folder'd, that the llouteft force were vain 
 
 To pierce the tight-wedg'd joints and burft the chain; 
 
 18. His fneeze is lightning, from his eye the ray 
 Streams like the pupil of emerging day. 
 
 ip, 20. He belches flame, and fire at every blafl 
 
 Leaps fparkling out: A fmoke his noflrils cafl,. 
 Like clouds which from a boiling caldron rife,. 
 
 Or marilh mift beneath the morning Ikies. 
 
 21. His 
 
 Ver. 17. 'They are joined] They (the fliields, or fcales) are foldered^ one ta 
 
 another. 
 
 Ver. I 9. By his neejings a light doth flnne] Such is the violence and heat of 
 the air, that is repelled from his nofe when he fneezes, that it fparkles in the 
 fun-beams. This circumftance marks the force and fury of the Crocodile. 
 
 his eyes, &c.] This may happen, fays Schultens, when the Crocodile lifts his 
 head above water in the night. His flaring eyes, which are the firft objeft that 
 ftrike the beholder, may then be compared to the dawning light. The eyes 
 of the Crocodile are faid to be fmall. But, as Bochart obferves, they are fo re- 
 markable ; that when the Egyptians would reprefent the morning by an hiero- 
 glyphic, they painted a Crocodile's eye ^. 
 
 Ver. 19 — 22. Out of his mouth, &c.] Here the creature is defcribed in pur- 
 
 fuit of its prey on the land; as appears, I think, from ver. 22. BeftruElion 
 
 danceth before him. His mouth is then open, his blood inflamed, his breath is 
 
 . thrown out with prodigious vehemence, it appears like volumes of fmoke, and is 
 
 heated 
 
 ♦ 
 
 f tp^l* fcrniminantur they arc foldered, Ifaiah xli. 7. // is ready for the folderlng, py\. 
 
 Schultens. 
 
 « Mieroz. p. ii. 781.
 
 Chap. XLI. THE BOOK OF JOB. .387 
 
 21. His breath enkindles coals ; fo hot it fleams, 
 That his wide mouth a furious furnace feems. 
 
 22. Strength on his neck is thron'd ; where'er he turns, 
 Woe fprings before him and the carnage churns. 
 
 23. His flefli coheres in flakes, with finews barr'd 
 
 Compact: as ftcel, indiflblubly hard : 
 
 24. His 
 
 lieated to that degree as to feem a flaming fire. The images which the facred 
 poet here ulcth, are indeed exceflive llrong and hyperbolical ; elpecially that 
 in ver. 21. his breath kindkth coals. But Ovid '' did not fcruple to paint the 
 enraged boar in figures equally bold : 
 
 Fulmen ab ore venit, frondefque adflatibus ardent. 
 
 Lightning ijfueth from his mouth, and the boughs are fet on fire by his breath. 
 
 Ver. 22. In his neck, &c.] Strength and DeftruSiion are here reprefented as 
 animated beings. The former is feated on the neck of the Crocodile, to fignify 
 the extraordinary inflexibility of that part. The other leaps and dances before 
 him, when he purfues his prey, to exprefs the terrible flaughter which he 
 makes. 
 
 Strength abideth upon his neck. 
 
 And DeJiruSion ' danceth '' before him, 
 
 Ver. 23, 24. The flakes, &c.] The mufcular flefh and vifcera of this animal, 
 are here reprefented to have a firmnefs of cohefion like that of ilone and metal '. 
 The fentiment ftript of its poetical drefs amounts to no more, than that the 
 flefli and inward parts are remarkably compaft and tough. Theocritus, quot- 
 ed by Schultens, fays of a robufl: gigantic man " he hath flefli of iron." 
 
 " Quoted by Schultens. 
 
 ' n^NT* LXX. aT«Xii« dejiruliion. 
 
 ^ Vnn liopeth for joy. ^H is the word by which the Syriac Teftament tranllates the 
 Greek o-xifrai, Luke i. 41, +4. vi, 23. 
 
 D dd 2
 
 388 THE BOOK OF JOB. CiiAr. XLT. 
 
 » 
 
 24. His heart is from the quarry hewn, comprefs'd 
 Hard as the nether milftone in his cheft. 
 
 25. The vahant tremble, when he hfts his head, 
 
 Down fmk the mighty, impotent with dread.. 
 
 26. The 
 
 Ver. 24. his heart is as firm ', &c.] Thefe ftrong fimiles may denote not only 
 a material but alfo a moral hardnefs, his favage and unrelenting nature, ^li- 
 an, quoted by Schultens, calls the Crocodile a voracious devourer offlejh and the 
 
 moft pitikfs of animals. 
 
 Ver. 25 — 30. When he raifeth tip himfelf, &:c.] The terror of this creature 
 debilitates the ftouteft heroes. For no arms or weapons can fecure them, or 
 make any impreffion on him. They know him to be invulnerable in every 
 part but his belly, whiqh is not eafy to be come at. This impenetrability is 
 amplified in a rich vein of fublime poetry. 
 
 Ver. 25. When he raifeth up himfelf '"'\ When he lifts his head above water, a^ 
 though he meant to come out on the fliore. 
 
 l>y reafon of breakings", &c.] for very terror they fall to the ground °. Mr. 
 Heath. 
 
 ' The word engliflied are firm ver. 23. is firm ver. 24. is pIV'j which is a metaphor bor- 
 rowed from fufed metals. See I Kiags vii. 46. Job xxviii. 2. In the firft of thefe pafTages 
 Dpi" is rendered did caft, them, viz. the vefTels of brafs, in the latter p')^,'> is molten. 
 
 " inji'S The root is Xi,^"^ fuJluUt, to lift up. It does not necefiarily import great ele- 
 vation ; for it is ufed to exprefs lifting i/p the feet in walking, Gen. xxix. i. Jacob went on 
 kis journey ; the hebrew is, If ted up his feet, 
 
 " C"12liV^> Crinfoz paraphrafes it, through fear of being torn in pieces. The Vulgate 
 turn it territi, as though it were the participle in pyhal mejhubbarim. The root is "I3{J^ 
 fraiKreie. But as Bochart obfervcs, words which {\gn\iy frangere fignify alfo timere, as nnPt 
 in hebrew, znifraSlus in latin. Caftellio's verfion \s,fraSfi; which is fynonimous with territi 
 in the Vulgate. Schultens tranflates it, pra confri^ilionibus, i. t.flragibus ; by reafon of the 
 deJiruSiion, which he makes. "IQty fieber fignifies defirudion, in Ifaiah xv. 5. Jer. iv. 20. 
 I>ament. iii. 47. 
 
 " ISUnn' labefaSlantur, Caftellio. Their fear is fo great, that they have not power to 
 flee, but inftantly drop down. This agrees with ver. 9. Shall not one be caft down even at 
 the fight of Inm. It is alfo countenanced by the fenfe of KDH in Arabic, iapfus ej}. Vid. 
 Hamafa, 4). 446. 7
 
 Chap. XLT. THE BOOK OF JOB. 389 
 
 i?6. The fword at hand, the miffile arms from far, 
 Will thunder on his fkin an idle war: 
 The fword breaks iliorr, the blunted fpears rebound, 
 And harmlcfs clank the javelins on the ground. 
 27. Iron as ftraw, and brafs as mould'ring wood, 
 28, 29. He fcorns; nor flees, nor flinches to elude 
 The whurring fliaft : as flubble is the ftone, 
 From the flrain'd fling with forceful eddies thrown; 
 As fl:ubble is the pounding mace, his hide 
 Death's every brandiflli'd weapon will deride. 
 
 30. Sharp ragged pebbles are his downy bed, 
 On pointed rocks his flimy couch is fpread. 
 
 o 
 
 r^i. What 
 
 o 
 
 Ver, 26. the habergeon] rather, the javelin^. 
 
 Ver. 29. Darts] The club^ ovmace'^. 
 
 Ver. 30. Sharp jlones, &c.] The belly of the Crocodile is penetrable by a 
 bullet, and perhaps alfo by a fword. Neverthelefs it is hard enough to be infen- 
 fible of pain when he lieih on fliarp ftones and ragged rocks which are in the bed 
 of the Nile. In that part of the Nile where the catarads are, and which the 
 Crocodiles moftly frequent, its bed is of granite marble -, as is evident from the 
 ridge of granite rocks, which there runs acrofs its channel and is the caufe of 
 thofe falls of the water. See Norden's travels into Egypt, p. 115. 8vo. and 
 Pococke's Defcription of the Eajl, vol. i. p. 114, 115, 122. 
 
 ■" nnsy fp'uulum. Bochart obferves that it is fo explained by the Arabian Lexico- 
 graphers. 
 
 ■* nmn LXX. cpfo. trmlUts. Bochart renders it fujlis, from the Arabic nm/o/?^ 
 percuffit.
 
 D 
 
 90 THE BOOK 04? JOB. Chap.XU. 
 
 31. What time he flounces in the wave and mire, 
 He boils the water like the rage of fire : 
 The boiling water to a tliick perfume 
 Works, as he daflies the difcolour'd fpume. 
 
 32. The flood turns hoary while his way he cleaves. 
 And in his rear a fhining path he leaves. 
 
 33- Dire 
 
 Ver. 51, 32. lie maketh the deep to boil, &c.] To give us a further idea of 
 ^he force of this creature, the poet defcribes the efFe<5ls of its motion in the 
 water. By the fea is meant the Nile, which is called the fea by the hebrew 
 prophets and by the Arabs '. The deep is the deep places in that river. When 
 a Crocodile fifty feet in length ' dives to the bottom, the violent agitation of 
 the water is juftly compared to liquor boiling in a cauldron. The mud raifed 
 by that agitation thickens the water and gives it a confiftency like that of oint- 
 ment: He maketh the fea (the Nile) to boil like a pot of ointment. The fimile will 
 be ftill more exaft, if, as it is faid, the Crocodile emits a ftrong fcent when he 
 plungeth into the river '. When a Crocodile of the fize above-mentioned is 
 Iwimming upon or near the furface, he cuts the water like a fiiip ; and makes 
 it white with foam. At the fame time his tail, like a rudder, caufeth the 
 waves behind him to froth and fparkle like a trail of light : He maketh a path 
 to fhine after him, &c. Thefe images are common among the poets. 
 
 tumultuous boil the waves : 
 
 They tofs, they foam, a wild confufion raife. 
 Like waters bubbling o'er the fiery blaze ". 
 
 ' Hieroz, p. ii. 787^ &c. See alfo the note on Job vii. 12. 
 
 " Captam Norden faw, in the upper Egypt, twenty Crocodiles extended on banks of fand 
 in the Nile. They were, he fays, of different fizes, namely, from fifteen to fifty feet. 
 gravels, p. 61. 8vo. 
 
 • Hieroz. p. ii. 787. 
 
 " Pope's Odyfl". b. xii. ver. 282, &c. in the original, ver. 235 — 237.
 
 Chap.XLL the book OF JOB. 
 
 33. Dire reptile, on the dufl without a peer, 
 Fill'd with a foul incapable of fear ; 
 All beafts of lofty ftature he difdains, 
 And ficrccfl o'er the fierce fupreme he reigns. 
 
 ZSi 
 
 Chap; 
 
 Ver. 33, 34. Upon earth, &c.] The defcription clofeth with three charaflers, 
 ■which complete our idea of this creature as the mod terrible of animals, 
 
 1. He hath not his match among any of the creatures upon earth. Upon earth 
 there is not his like, either for defence or attack. 
 
 2. He is a ftranger to fear, Who is made "diithout fear. This may feem an 
 objeftion to the Crocodile's claim. Pococke and Norden tell us, that thofe 
 v?hich they faw on themud-iflands in the Nile went flowly into the waterat the 
 approach of their fhips, and when (hot at plunged in ". But had any one of 
 thofe animals been in a fituation for feizing his prey, he would have fet the 
 crew of both veflfels and all their fire-arms at defiance. 
 
 3. He defpifeth and as it were holds in fubjedion the tallefl: and fiercefl ani-i- 
 inals. 
 
 He beholdeth all that is high : ■ 
 
 He is king over all the creatures offierceft'^ look. 
 
 The firfl: of thefe fentences defcribes a look of contempt, as in chap. xl. u. 
 ichold every one tha.t is proud, and abafe him. The other fentence declares the 
 fuperiority of his power. No animal, not even the tallefl: or the moft favage, 
 can cope in fight with the Crocodile. Bochart produce. !i feveral vouchers to 
 prove, that this creature will attack and bring down with his tail not only 
 men, but camels, and even elephants and tigers, when they approach his river''. 
 This confirms the aflercion, that he is made without fear. 
 
 " Defiiiptlon of the Eaji, vol. i. p. 111, 114, 202. Norden f^ys, that fome, before he 
 could get within gun-fliot of them, darted themfehes into the water. Travels, p. 84. 8vo. 
 
 " Vnty 'J2 The word ^nj!^ in Arabic implies in it both lie!g/ji ofjlaturt zndfitrccnefs cf 
 afpeil. Vid. Schultens'C«a7flf/7/. Hieroz. p. !• 718. 
 
 '' Hieroz. p. ii. 750.
 
 39-2 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap. XUI. 
 
 C'HAP. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 1,2. Jehovah ceas'd. Then Job, fubmifs, reply'ch 
 / knoiu 'tis thine to hximhk human pride ; 
 Thine is the poixj'r Abiiighty, thine the throne 
 . Whofe counfcls are controllable by none. 
 3. " Who he., that "with impenetrable Jkiil 
 
 *' P lam the high piirpofe of his fov reign ivill F** 
 
 ris 
 
 CHAP. XLir. 
 
 Ver. I — 6. Then Job anfwered, &c.] A new chapter lliould not have begun 
 here, but at ver. 7. 
 
 This complete fubmiffion contains the following particulars : 
 
 I. A full acknowledgment of God's almighty power and fupreme domi- 
 nion. 
 
 Ver. 2. I know that thou canji do every thing, and that no piirpofe of thine \ 
 can be hindered. 
 
 By thus glorifying the fovereign authority of God, he tacitly condemns himfelf 
 for not having meekly fubmitted to it. 
 
 II. A like acknowledgment of the unfearchable wifdom of divine providence, 
 with an explicit condemnation of himfelf for his objedions and murmurings 
 againft it. 
 
 Ver. 3. Who is he that hideth counfel -which cannot be known ? 
 
 Therefore have I uttered that 1 underftood not, things too wonderful for 
 me which I could not know. 
 
 The 
 
 * Hwt'J 1-^ ^^'^ marginal tranflation, r.o thought of thine can be hindered, is juftified by 
 Gen. xT. 6. Nothing of theirs (^3 DH,^ k"? ) which they have purpofed (lOi* "IJl^N) 
 •w'lllbe hindered, "l>3'. T\'2V2 f'gnifies wife thought or pur p of e, prudential fchemes, in Prov. v. 
 2. viii. 12. where it isengliftied ^//?«//«n, z.x\A vcitty invention. HS? bears the fame fenfe in 
 Job xvii. 1 1. my purpofa.
 
 Chap. XLII. THEBOOKOFJOB. 393 
 
 ^T'ls fo — I cenfur\l ivhat the ivife adore ^ 
 
 Wonders ivhicbfar above my reafon foar. 
 
 4. Indulge my prayer, a gracious ear incline ^ 
 
 " My part the learner* s, to injlrucl me thine:'** 
 
 5. Before^ 
 
 The Almighty began his fpeech to Job with a fharp reprimand of his pre- 
 fumptuous complaints againd providence: IVho is this that darkneth counfel by 
 words without knowledge » ? that is, who is this ignorant man, that difcovers 
 his ignorance by finding fault with what he knows nothing of? Job, in this 
 reply, turns that reproof into a noble acknowledgment of God's infcrutable 
 coLinfels, and in fuch manner as neceflarily implies humble acceptance of the 
 reproof. 
 
 1. By changing the expreflion who is this that darkneth counfel, into who is 
 this that hideth counfel? The former is a phrafe for an ignorant man, one 
 whole thought, or mind, is in the dark; the latter denotes one who is fecret 
 in counfel, or whofe counfel is fecret'', which is a charafter of wifdom. 
 
 2. By omitting the terms by words, which could not be introduced here with 
 any propriety. Thefc two remarks belong to Schultens, 
 
 " 3. By altering the fenfe of the exprefTion without knowledge, into beyond' 
 knowledge, or which cannot be known. 
 
 Here then he condemns the rafhnefs of his interrogating God concerning the 
 reafons of his infliclions. JFho is he that is fecret in counfel, beyond my knowledge ? 
 Therefore, &c. 
 
 HI. He humbly begs of God to vouchfafe a gracious audience to his con- 
 feflion, and to inftruft him further in his duty. 
 
 Ver. 
 
 " Chap, xxxviii. 2. See the note there. 
 
 '' nVy C'^J'Ti li-hofe counfelis hidden, or who is ftcret in counfel, as in Ifaiah xxviii. 29. 
 N7i)ri n W li' '^ v-'onderjul in counfel, or hii counfel Is wonderful. 
 
 " 'bH This particle, fays iMr. Heath, fignifles htre fupra, ultra; fo Ifaiah v. 14. pn 
 »73 fufra modum, 
 
 E e c
 
 594 THEBOOKOFJOB. Chap. XLII. 
 
 5. Before^ I knetv thee by the ear alone ; 
 By njifton now^ and in thy glory knoivn. 
 
 6. Lo., Jelf-detejl'ing in th^ duji I lie, 
 
 And mourning breathe the penitential Jigh. 
 
 Ver. 4. Hear I hefeech thee, that I may fpeak : 
 1 will afi of thee, and do thou injlruol me. 
 He refers to the farcafm in chap, xxxviii. 3. 
 
 IV. He declares, that this -vijible manifeftation of the Almighty to him had 
 imprefl him with a deeper and more reverent fenfe of the divine perfedion 
 and majefty, than what he had before conceived by means q{ inJlruStion only. 
 
 Ver. 5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, &cc. 
 
 In which words there is an implied comparifon of the evidence of report 
 with the evidence of fight, greatly to the advantage of the latter, 
 
 Segnius irritant animos demiflaper aurem, 
 Qiiam quas funt oculis fubjedla fidelibus 
 
 But what we hear moves lefs than what we fee. Rofcommon. 
 
 Laftly, He exprefleth his repentance in the ftrongeft terms of felf-condemna- 
 tion and humble forrow : 
 
 Ver. 6. Wherefore I abhor myfelf'', &c. 
 
 This complete fubrniffion may not improperly be called the catafirofheoiths 
 poem. It is not indeed a change of Job's outward condition. It is an altera- 
 tion infinitely more important and beneficial ; an alteration, I mean, in 
 the temper and ftate of his mind. He is brought back, to his duty, and his 
 foul returns to its reft. The reftoration of his health and profperity quickly 
 followed, and is the fubjeft of the enfuing narrative. 
 
 '' D5<DN) LXX. £(f!a^^lo•a Ep.ai'Ttj / clefpifc myfelf. It is added >C ira\r,y and I am d'lfjohing, 
 which is another fenfe of DKQ a"*^ fecms to be a marginal glofs that crept into the text. 
 
 7. THE
 
 Chap. XLir. THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 395 
 
 7. THE cloud now difappcar'd. But when tlie Sun 
 Had a few more diurnal flages run, 
 God call'd to Eliphaz : Difplcas'd I heard 
 What thou and thy aflbciates have averr'd, 
 Erroneous, of my ways ; not thus oiFend 
 The reas'nings of your ralhly-cenfur'd friend, 
 
 8. iMy 
 
 Ver. 7, 8. yind ii was h, &c.] The poem being finilhed, the flyle chano-es 
 here to hiftorical profe ; and the tranfition is made by a form of fpeech fami- 
 liar to the hebrevv hiftorians, when they begin a narration, Jfid ii njoas fo, or 
 And it came to pafs. 
 
 When the Almighty had ended his fpeech to Job, and Job his confeffion; 
 the cloud, I fuppofe, afcended out of fight, and the aflembly broke up. After 
 ■which, it pleafed God to reveal his mind perfonally to Eliphaz, who had taken 
 the lead in the uncharitable difpute with Job. The contents o{ the revelation 
 are related in thefe verfes, 7, 8. and are as follQw ; 
 
 Firji, A condemnation of their unrighteous cenfures, and a decifion of the 
 controverfy about the courfe of providence. 
 
 Te have not fpoken of me the thing that is right, as myfervant Job hath. 
 
 They had reprefented Job's affli<5tions as laid upon him by God for his wick- 
 ednefs. This w-as not right. 
 
 They likewife grounded their cenfure on a notion, that wicked men never 
 profper long in the prefent world ; and thence inferred, that great calamities are 
 proofs of great antecedent guilt. This was not right. 
 
 Job on the contrary had maintained, that all things happen alike to all ; and 
 that therefore no man's moral character can be afcertained by his external con- 
 dition. This was right, and is here pronounced to be the truth. 
 
 E e e 2 Bp.
 
 396 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap, XLII. 
 
 8. My fervant Job. Go, let fev'n heifers bleed, 
 Scv'n rams in fecial facrifice fucceed: 
 My fervant Job, while yet your victims burn, 
 Shall with atoning pray'r my vengeance turn : 
 Him 1 accept ; your folly, clfe, fliall rue 
 Thofc falilioods which my fervant Job o'erthrew. 
 
 9. They all obey'd, and fought the Pow'r Divine ; 
 The Pow'r, appeas'd, difplay'd the fav'ring fign. 
 
 10. Then God began the mourner to reflore, 
 
 And gave, and doubled what he gave before. 
 
 1 1. His 
 
 Bp. Hare remarks ^, that Elihu's fpeech is neither praifed nor cenfured by the 
 Almighty : and thence concludes, that Elihu was the writer of the poem. But 
 Elihu is not commended, becaufe he was in the main of the fame opinion, con- 
 cerning the courfe of providence, with the three friends. Neither is he blamed> 
 becaufe he had not condemned Job for a wicked man, but cenfured only his 
 behaviour towards God in his afRidion. 
 
 Secondly, The Almighty now vindicates the innocence of Job, by ftyling him 
 three times my fervant ; that is, my fincere worfliipper. 
 
 'thirdly. The three falfe accufers are commanded to offer a facrifice in ac- 
 knowledgment of their offence : To which is added the mortifying declaration, 
 that their injured friend (hould make intercefllon for them, and on that condition 
 their facrifice fhould be accepted and their fin forgiven. 
 
 Ver. 9. "The Lord alfo accepted Job'] that is, accepted his intercefllon for his 
 three adverfaries ; and began his reftoration from the time of his performing 
 that charitable office, as appears by the next verfe. 
 
 Ver. 10 — 17. And the Lord turned, &c.] Here we have an account of Job's 
 
 reftoration 
 
 ' Not. ad Pfal. evil. 40.
 
 Chap. XLII. THEBOOKOFJOB. 597 
 
 1 1. His brethren, fitters, friends, a cheerful band, 
 With golden gifts in each faluting hand, 
 Crowded his houfe ; on the rich feaft regal'd, 
 Condord his forrows, his deliv'rance hail'd. 
 
 12. Job noAv, beyond his former bleflings bleft, 
 Number'd twice o'er the wealth he firft pofTefs'd: 
 
 13. Seven fons his patriarchal fway rever'd 
 
 His houflaold cares three lovely daughters cheer'd ; 
 
 14. Diftinguifli'd each, by fome cxpreflive name, 
 IS- All grac'd with beauty of unrival'd fame : 
 
 And 
 
 reftoration to a ftate of profperity far fuperior to that from which he had fallen, 
 of his enjoyment of it to a very great old age, and of his peaceful conckifion 
 of the fcene in an eafy death. 
 
 Ver. 10. turned the captivity, &c.] This feems to have been a proverbial 
 phrafe for a happy reverfe of condition. For certainly it here includes all that 
 God did for this excellent man ; and among other blefTings, giving him a new 
 family of children equal in number to thofe he had loft. 
 
 Ver. II. every man alfo gave, &c.] It was an ancient cuftom, which is ftill 
 obferved in the eaft, never to vifit a perfon of diftin<5lion without paying him 
 the compliment of a prefent. It is uncertain whether one kind of prefent made 
 to Job on this occafion, was afoeep, ox a piece of money' that liad the figure of 
 a (heep ftamped upon it. 
 
 Ver. \i. fourteen thoufand Jheep, &c.] Michaelis ' remarks, that this exadl 
 doubling of his former pofiefTions, and alfo giving him exaftly the fame num- 
 ber of children that he had before, looks more like fidlion than hiftory. Such 
 precifion is feldom known in the ordinary courfe of things. 
 
 ' H'O'ti'pj LXX. afUMx an etve lamb. But by comparing Gen. xxxiii. 19. with Adis 
 vii. 16. one would rather imagine it to have been fome fpecies of current coin. 
 
 f In Pr.fhn. p. i;''. 2
 
 398 THE BOOK OF JOB. Chap, XLTI. ' 
 
 And each beyond a daughter's dowry fhar'd, 
 
 For each the portion of a brother heir'd. 
 i6. Twice feventy years, from this bright azra, flied 
 
 Heakh and pure joys upon his favour'd head : 
 
 His chidren's children flourilli'd at his fide, 
 17. Then, full of days, in hoary peace he dy'd. 
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 [ Z99 ] 
 
 A P P E N D I X. 
 
 NUMBER I. 
 
 Queries and Obfervations concerning the Author of the Book of Job ; 
 in order to determine -whether be nvas an Arabian, or a Hebrew 
 Prophet. 
 
 IN the narrative part of this book, that is to fay, the firft and fecond chap- 
 ters, and the eleven hft verfes of the concluding chapter (all which are 
 written in profe) the name Jehovah, the Lord, is ufed no lefs than twenty-fix 
 times. But in the poem, which begins with the third chapter and endeth with 
 the fixth verfe of the forty-fecond chapter, this name occurreth only in chap, 
 xxxviii. I. and xl. i, 3, 6. and xlii. i. where the writer fpeaks in his own 
 perfon ; and once in the dialogue of the poem, chap. xii. 9. where this name is 
 put into the mouth of Job : The hand of Jehovah (the Lord) hath done this. 
 Thus Hands the faci, on which we may ground the following queries and 
 remarks : 
 
 I. Why is the name Jehovah fo cautioufly avoided in the dialogue of the 
 poem ? 
 
 The reafon, I think, muft be, that the perfons of the dialogue, being Ara- 
 bians, were not acquainted with this appellation of the Supreme Being, which 
 was pecuhar to the Hebrew nation. If then the author of the poem was an* 
 jirab, no wonder that he did not ufe this name of God in framing his dialogue. 
 If the author was a Jew, he has fliewn great judgment in fuch exaft attention 
 to propriety of charadler in his fpeakers. 
 
 II. How
 
 400 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 II. How happened it, that this name, Jehovah, is found once in the dialoguet 
 and there in the mouth of Job ? 
 
 This muft have happened, furely, either jthrough a miftake of the fcribe or 
 a flip of the author. If the former was the cafe ^, the author of the poem 
 might be an Arabian, and a different perfon from the writer of the hijlory. 
 But if the name Jehovah flipped into the dialogue through cafual inattentidn 
 of tlie author, it will follow, I prefume, that the poet and hiftorian were one 
 perfon, and he a Jew. For how fliall we account for fuch a lapfe; otherwife 
 than by fuppofing the ufe of the name Jehovah to have been fo habitual to this 
 writer, that in fpite of all his caution it did for once, improperly, fall from 
 his pen ? 
 
 III. If the author of the whole book was not an Hebrew and a reputed prophet, 
 how fhall we account for its admifllon into the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures ? 
 The Hebrew nation was exceedingly jealous of its religious prerogatives. 
 Unto them were committed the oracles of God. Would they have inroUed in their 
 facred volume a poem written concerning a foreigner by a foreigner ? 
 
 IV. But how came this wary and judicious writer to put the name Jehovah 
 three times into the mouth of Job the Arabian, in the narrative part of his 
 work, chap. i. 21? 
 
 Perhaps he judged, that the laws of hifliory are not fo fevere in this particu- 
 lar as the laws of a dramatic poem. 
 
 V. Doth not t\\tjiyle of the poem indicate its origin from an hebrew pen? 
 
 This poem, after the manner of all the hebrew poems *■, is broken into fliort 
 periods, confifling, in general, of two fhort fentences ; the latter of which cor- 
 refponds to the former, cither as fynonimous with it, or antithefis to it, or agree- 
 ing in the number and difpofition of the words. Till therefore the learned 
 
 produce 
 
 i Perhaps the learned Dr. Kennicott's various lections, when the world fliall be favoured 
 with that invaluable labour, will determine this queftion. 
 
 * See that learned and elegant work, Bp. Lowth's Prekiliom on the facred poetry of the 
 Hehreivs, p. 39. 8vo.
 
 APPENDIX. 401 
 
 produce a very old Jrabian poem, in the fame caft of ftyle with this •, may we 
 not juftly fuppofe, that i. hebrew poet \^i% the author oitht poem in the book 
 of Job? 
 
 VI. Doth the hrguage of the poem prove the writer to have been an Ara- 
 bian ? 
 
 Tliere are, I confefs, many words, phrafes, and idioms in this compofition, 
 which appear no where elfe in the hcbrew bible : Neither can they be explained 
 without the affiftance of the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic dialeds. The Ara- 
 bic, more efpecially, has preferved thofe and many other remains of the pri- 
 mitive tongue. But, I apprehend, the argument only proves the great abi- 
 lity and addrefs of this author. He was perhaps matter oi th& old language; 
 and the perfons of his dialogue being known to have lived in very early times, 
 he has given a venerable antique air to his poem, by making them fpeak the 
 language which was fpoken in their days. 
 
 F f f NUMBER
 
 402 APPENDIX. 
 
 NUMBER II. 
 
 An inquiry into the fiotion of Sheol in the book of Job. 
 
 S^ IRST, Sheol is reprefented to be a portion of fpace, vaft and deep. 
 
 Chap. xi. 8. It (the counfelof God) is as high as heaven what canfi thou do? 
 deeper than hell (Sheol) ijuhat canjl thou know ? 
 
 Secondly, Sheol is fpoken of as the common receptacle of human fouls after 
 death. 
 
 Chap. vii. 9. K% the cloud is confuincd, a'lid vanijheth away, fo he that goeth 
 down to the grave (Sheol) floall come up no more. 
 
 Job defired earneftly to be there : 
 
 Chap. xiv. 13. O that thou wouldfi hide me in the grave, (Sheol) &c. 
 The wicked alfo po down tliither : 
 
 Chap. xxi. 13. In a moment they go doivn to the grave iSihtol). 
 
 xxiv. T9. Drought and heat conjurne the fnow-waters : fo fliould the grave 
 (Sheol) thofe which have finned. 
 
 Thirdly, This region of difembodied fouls feems to be placed in the bowels 
 of the earth, under the great abyfs : 
 
 Chap. xxvi. 5, 6. The Replaim are in anguijh under the wr.ters, together 
 with their families. Hell (Sheol) is naked before him, &c. See the note on 
 this pauage. 
 
 I apprehend, that this paflage not only determines the fituation oi Sheol; but 
 alfo implies, that wicked fouls are in a ftate offuffering there, and confequently 
 are feparated from the good : whofe refidence therefore is fuppofed to be in a 
 different part of this fubterraneous region. Thus Virgil, in the fixth book of 
 
 his
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 40; 
 
 his yEr.eiJ, placeth the Ely/tan fields and Tartarus in the bowels of the earth, 
 but aliotieth to each a feparate fituation. Thus likewife the Chaldee Paraphrafe 
 (Job xxviii. 6.) divides S/yeclinto Cebtma and Paradife, and reprefenteth both 
 to be under ground. 
 
 It feems to have been a very ancient opinion among the Hebrews, that the 
 dwelling of unbodied fouls is within the earth : For in I Sam. xxviii. 13. 
 the wirch of Endor fays to Saul, I faw the judge {Szmud, ver. 14.) afcmding 
 out of the earth. 
 
 I beg the favour of the reader to turn back to the note on chap, xxxviii. 
 16, 17. 
 
 Fourthly, It appears to me doubtful, whether Job and his friends believed 
 gcodio\A% in Sbeol to be in a Rate oi confciotifnefs zwd enjoyment. The contrary 
 opinion feems implied in chap. xiv. i j. 
 
 O that thou wouldji hide me in Sbeol, that thou wotildjl keep mefecret, until 
 thy wrath be paft, that thou ivouldjl appoint me a fet time, and remember 
 me! See the note. 
 
 The famous pafllige however chap. xix. 25 — 26. leads one to imagine, that 
 they expedled fome future period ; when the fouls of good men will be removed 
 omof Sheollnto a more happy fituation. 
 
 It is not my bufinefs to impugn or defend thefe notion^;, but only to trace 
 out the ideas affixed to the v/ord Shesl'm my author. If tlie reader defires a more 
 enlarged view of the Hebrew notions of the ftate of the dead, he will meet with 
 full fitisfaclion in the ingenious Mr. Peters' Critical Dijfertation on the book of Job. 
 And if he would be entertained with an account of the conformity between 
 the Sheol of the Hebrews and the Hades of the Greeks, let him peiufe Windet's 
 learned treatife de Vita Funclorum Statu. 
 
 Lajily, The fepulchral grot, being a part of the world of death, is fometimes 
 called Sheol. 1 think, Sheol is rightly rendered the ^raw chap. xvii. 13 — 16. 
 (fee the note) and that this is the land of darknefs dcfcribed widi fuch folemn 
 horror chap. x. 21, 22. 
 
 F f f 2 The
 
 404 APPENDIX. 
 
 The foregoing account of the fituatlon of the manfion of fouls departed, 
 may perhaps be thought inconfiftent with what Solomon fays in Ecclefiaft. iii. 
 2 1 . Who knoweth the fpirit of man that goetb upward, and the fpirit of the beaji 
 that goeth downward to the earth ? But thefe words, I apprehend, relate not at 
 all to the habitation of departed fouls j but either ( i ) to their exijlence after death 
 " Who confiders the great difference between a human fpirit and that of a 
 bead ? the former is immortal, the latter perifheth with its body." Or (2) the 
 expreffions relate to the accountablenefs of human fouls to God ; " Who confi- 
 ders that the fpirit of man returneth to God who gave it, to render account of 
 the deeds done in the body ? whereas beafts are not free agents, not therefore 
 under moral government, nor fubjefts of reward or punifliment." 
 
 NUMBER
 
 APPENDIX. 405 
 
 NUMBER III. 
 
 Explication of Chap. xix. 25-, 26, 27. 
 
 Ver. 25. 7^0 R I know^ my redeemer is the living one: and he the Laft will 
 over the duft rife up. 
 
 Ver. 26. Andmyjkin, which /j /^«j /orH, fliall become another : and in my 
 flefli Jfiallfee God, 
 
 Ver. 27. Whom IJhallfee, even mine eyesjhall behold, on my fide andnot efiranged, 
 my reins are consumed laithin me. 
 
 Some interpreters underftand this famous pafiage, of a temporal falvation. 
 But Job had all along defpaired o^fuch a deliverance. Even after uttering thefe 
 words, he continued in the fame defpair. Se6 the note on chap, xxx. 23, 24. 
 Moreover, Elihu addrefleth to him as a perfon (till without hope of a recovery. 
 See the note on chap. xxxv. 14. xxxvi. 20. This therefore cannot be the true 
 interpretation of the words. 
 
 Neither can they bejuftly applied to the manifeftation of God in his favour, 
 which is related chap. xlii. 7, S. For that manifeftation is not faid to have been 
 a viftble one : and if it were, Job faw it not. It was made to Eliphaz alone. 
 
 Neither can this pafTage be referred to God's appearance to Job himfelf in 
 the poem. For the whole defign of that appearance was to reprimand and 
 humble him. There is not the moft diftant hint in the Almighty's fpeech of 
 an intention to vindicate and rcftore him. 
 
 In fliort, thefe words are no anticipation of the hijlcry which is fubjoined to 
 the poem ; much Icfi of the cataftrophe of the poem icfelf : for the cataflrophe of 
 the poem is Job's repentance. See the note on chap. xlii. i — 6. 
 
 It remains therefore, that in this pafTage the good m.an is fupporting himfelf, 
 
 under a heavy load of calumny and other affliclions, by the faith of a refurrec- 
 
 tion from the grave and 2. future judgement; when liis innocence iliould be 
 
 fully cleared and his integrity amply rewarded. 
 
 3 Let
 
 4o6 A P P E N D I X. 
 
 Let us now examine the foregoing verfion of thefe words. 
 
 Ver. 25. my redeemer, &c.] The term redeemer denotes in general a deliverer '. 
 The fenfe in which Job ftyles God his redeemer or deliverer muft be determined 
 by the nature of the deliverance defcribed in the words that follow. 
 
 The epithet the living one ' is a title of the fupreme Being, exprefling his 
 eternity ; as likewife thi^ other epithet the Laji '. Thefe titles have a peculiar 
 propriety and emphafis here •, on fuppofition that Job is fpeaking of the refur- 
 reftion and final judgment. 
 
 The dtift fignifies the grave, in chap. xvii. 16. By a common figure of 
 fpeech it is put for them who dwell in the duft, the dead. Pfalm xxx, 9. Shall 
 the dujt praife thee? Shall it declare thy truth ? 
 
 The expreflion Jhall rife up prefents to us an idea of God afling in the capa- 
 city of judge of the world. It is ufed again, and, if I miftake not, in refer- 
 ence to the general judgment, chap. xxxi. 14. What then jhall I do when 
 Cod rifeth up ? The phrafeology feems to be derived, as Mr. Peters obferves, 
 from the cuftom among human judges to Jland up when they pronounced fen- 
 tence. Here then Job declares his belief, that the everlafting God will raife 
 the dead and judge them. 
 
 Ver. 26. And my Jkin which is thus torn'^, &c.] According to this tranfla- 
 tion, which is taken from the learned Michaelis, Job here compares his body 
 
 in 
 
 ' 'VXJ It is rendered by LXX. • !K?itfii'fiEf4!^>.M, He that Jhall deliver me ; by the Chaldee, 
 'p'13 "'y deliverer. 
 
 ^ 'n? LXX. aj»ao; eternal. SeeDeut. xxxii. 40. Jofhua iii. 10. 
 
 ' P"inX t^^ LaJl, Ifaiah xliv. 6. 
 
 ^ nti! IDpi my "inXT That great critic Michaelis in his notes on the Pyeknlom 
 (p. 211. Svo.) reads ahlier alius, inftead of ahhar pojl, pojiquam ; and s\^'^'^ nikpah laceratia, 
 tiiftead of ISpJ- His tranflation is. Alia erlt cutis mea, hcec laceratio, i. c. haec mea cutis, 
 inera jam laceratio (qualis efle in elephantiafi folet) alia tunc nova fiet. He obferves from 
 Schultens, that the verb hpj in Arabic fignifies the laceration of the Jkin. Mr. Heath 
 remarks, that n3pJ '» hebrew is ufed for a rent in Ifaiah iii. 24. But I fee no occafion to 
 change ll^pj which may as well be rendered is torn, as "inSin* jehdopiihu (they Jlmll 
 
 diivt
 
 APPENDIX. /I07 
 
 in its prcfent ftate, torn and mangled by his ulcerous difcafe, witli the 
 advantageous renovation of it at the refurreiStion. By feting Cod he means, 
 I apprehend, feeing God with the vifual organ of the new refurreftion body : 
 for he fays in my flejh, that is, in my body % Ifcc:Jl fee God. When it is faid, 
 that Nadab and Abiiiu and feventy of the Eiders of Ifrael yizw the Cod of IfraeU 
 it is explained of a vifible reprefencation of the divine majefty : and there was 
 unda- his feet, as it were a paved work of afapphire ft one., and as it were the bcdy 
 cfheaiien in his clearnefs°. Job expefted to behold the glorious vifible repre- 
 fentacion in which the Deity will manifeft himfelf when he fhall coir.e to 
 raife and judge the dead. This, I think, is \\\^ face, and likenefs, or repre- 
 fentation, of God which the Pfalmiil alfo hoped to behold ; Pfalm xvii. 15. As 
 for me, \ fhall behold thy face in righteoufmfs : \ fhall be fatisfied, 'Jihtii 1 awake, 
 with thy likenefs. 
 
 Ver. 27. IVhovi I fhall fee, even ?nine eyes, &c.] This is not fuperfluous repe- 
 tition. It is a more emphatical and explicit declaration of his faith, that in 
 a re-embodicd ftate he fliould fee the glory of God. 
 
 on my fide ^, and not eftrangcd'^] By the former exprefTion on my fide, or for 
 me, he means the protection and blefllng which he fhall receive from God in 
 the future judgment. By the latter expreflion he reprefents God's prefent 
 feeming alienation from him. Aflonifhing is the force of a good confcienre, 
 that could enable him, under fuch prodigious difcouragements, to entertain a 
 confidence in God fc fublime as this. 
 
 my 
 
 .'I'-jehim) be rendered he is driven, chap, xviii. iS. If however a nominative, or agent, 
 niuft be fupplied, it may be iL-orms ; which worms have thus tern. Pj'pj in Arabic fignities, 
 e>:efus a teredlne, worm-eaten. Vid. CaftcU. Lex, nX? is an adverb thuSffg, m this manntr. 
 Gen. xliv. 1-. as Mr. Heath obferves. 
 
 " Cafteliio, ex meo corpore. 
 
 ° Exod. xxiv. 10, 1 1. 
 
 ^ ^^ for Tru, onmyfidc, Pfal. Ivi. 10. xciv. 16 cxviii. 6. Mr. Heath. 
 
 1 It ejlran::^ed. It is rendered aftranger ver. 15. It may however be the participle of the 
 verb TiT which is tranflated ver. 17. hftrange. Comp. Pf. Ixix. 3. (heb. 9.) It fignifies in 
 the Targiim on Pi. xliv. 15. acafu!, aliinated in ajfeStian.
 
 4oB APPENDIX. 
 
 my reins, &;c.] This phrale denotcth vehement and alnnofl infupportuble de- 
 firc. It is equivalent to the Pfalmifl's language. My foul fainteth for thy folva- 
 tion '. The word there rcndcrcdfaintetb, is the fame wliich is here tranllaced are 
 ccnfumed. 
 
 It will, perhaps, be afked, how Job knew all the foregoing particulars. I 
 anfwer. The prophecy of Enoch ' revealed a future judgment. The murder of 
 Abel fuggefted the idea of a reward for the righteous in ano:her world : and 
 Enoch's tranflation led direclly to the belief, that good men will enjoy the felici- 
 ty of that better world in an embodied ftate. That prophecy and thofe fadls, we 
 may reafonably fuppofe, were prelerved in the Abrahamic family. Job's de- 
 fcent from that family, or connexions with it, might bring him to an acquaint- 
 ance with all thefe important truths. Plis own obfervations on the unequal dil- 
 tributions of Providence here, confirmed his faith : and the teflimony of con- 
 fcience to his integrity, afTured him of his own glorious intereft in thefe great 
 futurities. 
 
 If the above explication of this paflage does not fatisfy the reader, I muft re- 
 fer him to the excellent defence of it by Mr. Peters in his Critical Differtation. 
 
 ' Pfal. cxix. 8 1. ' Jude, ver. 14, 15. 
 
 NUMBER
 
 APPENDIX. 409 
 
 NUMBER IV. 
 
 An attempt to rejlore the original text in cliap. xxxvi. 14. 
 
 T N this paflage, as it ftands in the prefent hebrew text, a tvord is nianifeftly 
 miffing ', whicli is however preferved in the Septuagint verfion. 
 
 Dti'flj "wn r„t2n 
 CD'cynpn [ ] Drrm 
 
 AttoQxvoi^ toivvv ev vboti^ti ij 
 
 lpLip(^>7 CtUTUV '. 
 
 II fife ^uyj avTuv [riTfuo'y.of^svx] 
 VTTO uyyeXuv. 
 
 Firji, The loft word, anfwering to Tir^tctTKOf/.tvyi, I take to be nbbn cmfoffa. 
 For bbn is rendered by LXX. rerpw^si/oj confojfus in Numb. xxxi. ly. Jolliua 
 xi. 6, in the Aldine and Complutenfian editions. 
 
 Secondly, Inftead of kedeJJoim the unclean, LXX. read kedo/him the holy bc' 
 ings : for they render it ayyiXuv the angels, as tlie word with thofe vowels 
 fignifies chap. V. i. xv. 15. compared with iv. 18. See alfo Dan. iv. 17. 23. 
 (Heb. ver. 14, 20.) and Jude ver, 14. 
 
 The text thus reftored, and the trandation, will be as follows ; 
 
 Dtt-'CJ -iy:n n!:n 
 
 Their breath dieth in youth. 
 
 And their life \is dejlroyed} by the holy beings. 
 
 Thus 
 
 • It is certain, fays a learned and fenfible writer, that feveral letters and fome whole words 
 of the old teftament have been loft by the negligence of tranfcribers. Ejjayfor a new tranf- 
 lation of the bible, by R. H. 1702. p. 2.7. 
 
 The word 'jy is dropt in the hebrew Pf. xi. *,• but is preferved by the LXX. h,- tot vrnxa, 
 Alfo a whole hemiftich is loft in Pf. xiii. 6. which likewife is found in LXX. as Bp. Lowth 
 lias remarked. See Merrick's Annotations, p. 15, 19. 
 
 Ggg
 
 4IO APPENDIX. 
 
 Thus the correfpondence between the two members of the period, fo ufual in 
 tlie hebrew poetry, is recovered : For now n'7bn anfwers to nOfl, as well as 
 DD'n to 1Z:L^•S^ But ftill Cti>ip:i does not tally with Ijrjn. I am inclined 
 therefore to follow Schultens, in tranflating "IVJ^ cum excuffione "-^-ith Jhaking 
 out ', i. e. with violence. The holy beings correfpond to the •violence, as they 
 are the minifters of it. So then a violent death, inflicted by angels, is de- 
 fcribed in this pafTage. And now the tranflation will be. 
 
 Their breath dieth by lioleiue, 
 
 Ayid their life is dejlroyed by the holy beings. 
 
 The notion that the angels are employed by Providence to infiicfl death upon 
 mankind, probably took its rife from the well-known deftrudtion of Sodom 
 and the cities of the plain by their miniftry. 
 
 This notion is referred to, if I millake not, chap, xxxiii. 22. His foul draivetb 
 near to the grave, and his life to the deftrcyers, that is, the deftroying angels. 
 The hebrew word is DTIiS^D rendered by the Vulgate viortiferis. The Seventy 
 indeed turn it iv ah' But in their verfion, or rather paraphrafe, of the firft 
 fentence of the next verfe, we find traces of the fame opijiion : iuv uan ^aXiol 
 uyyiXct 6avxTYi;:of.ot, E(f xutuv a ij.vi rpwo-ij uvjov, Jlthough there be a thoufand 
 angels ivho inflia death, let not one of them wound him. 
 
 This notion kept its ground among the Jews. For in the Apocryphal Hiflory 
 of Sufannah, Daniel fays to one of the two elders, ver. 5^, even now the angel 
 of God hath received the fentence of God to cut thee in two -, and likewife to the 
 other, ver. 59. the angel cf God waiteth -with the fivord to cut thee in two, that 
 he may dejlroy thee. 
 
 To conclude. This/aw^ of the deftroying angel is, I appreliend, alluded to 
 in chap, xxxiii. 18. and xxxvi. 12. and in Plal. xxxv. 5, 6. 
 
 ' Inchap.xxxviii. i^ t^-e verb "Ij/J in Klphd is rendered tobefiakenout, and ii there 
 ufed of a violent death by the haad of human jufticc. 
 
 FINIS,
 
 
 
 C R R E C 
 
 T 
 
 I N 5', 
 
 
 page 
 8 
 
 : line 
 28 
 
 for 
 credulity 
 Exod. xi. 
 
 
 read 
 
 credibility 
 Exod. ix. 
 
 
 25 
 
 29 
 
 36 
 42 
 60 
 
 2S 
 29 
 
 14 
 30 
 32 
 
 IT. 47. 
 fod 
 
 Mecca, In 
 fun. 
 xxxiv. 14, 
 
 
 T. 447- 
 fhod 
 
 Mecca, near 
 fur. 
 xiii. 18. 
 
 
 72 
 
 '4 
 
 US 
 
 154 
 
 32 
 
 3 
 
 22 
 26 
 
 p. 99. 
 fli.ll 
 
 Patrocles 
 offices 
 
 
 P 67. 
 
 Ihalt 
 
 Patroclus 
 
 office 
 
 
 J73 
 
 31 
 
 vertitium 
 
 
 veftiium 
 
 p- 
 
 249 
 
 292 
 
 40. 1. penult. 
 
 29 
 
 32 
 Erafe cht 
 
 xxviii. 9. 
 
 aphjerifes 
 
 ip. xxxvi, 24. 
 
 xxviii. 8. 
 aphaerefis 
 , and that whole cit; 
 
 
 gaze 
 
 kA9« incl 
 
 •jfiv-ly. 
 
 
 
 p- 
 p- 
 
 77. 1. I. Erafi 
 158. 1. 6. Era 
 
 c comma 
 fe comma 
 
 after ear, 
 after tulL 
 
 
 
 ERRATA in the Hebrew leuers". 
 
 Pag. 
 
 lin. 
 
 pro 
 
 le<^e 
 
 44 
 
 28 
 
 (1^) 
 
 (iS) 
 
 54 
 
 29 
 
 D' 
 
 ',2 
 
 126 
 
 31 
 
 VJNip 
 
 V:p3 
 
 214 
 
 23 
 
 '::'rni 
 
 TOv::n 
 
 233 
 
 28 
 
 /Di'n 
 
 'Din 
 
 251 
 
 27 
 
 ♦octi>n 
 
 »:,t:t:j:'n
 
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