w. >

JOB.

NEW TRANSLATION

OF

THE BOOK OF JOB

¦WITH AN

INTRODUCTION,

NOTES CHIEFLY EXPLANATORY-.

Bt GEORGE R. NOYES. D. D.,
Hakcoce Fbof. 07 Heobew, etc., ind Dzxtsb Leotubeb i« Hasvabd
University.

muti astirtton.
CAEEFULLT BE-VISED.

BOSTON:
JAMES MUNEOE AND COMPANT.

Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1861 by
Geobob B.. Notes,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

CAUBBTDOE :
MILES & DILLINGHAM,
Pfintera and Steteptypers.

TO
FREDERIC HUIDEKOPER,
OF MEADVILLE, PA.,
THIS VOLrME IS DEDICATED,
IN TOKEN OF THE ESTEEM AND FEIENDSHIP
OF
GEORGE R. NOYES.

PREFACE.

In this third edition of the New Translation of the
hook of Job, of 'which the first appeared about thirty-four
years ago, I have carefully revised the -whole, re-examin
ing -with special attention the more obscure and difficult
passages, availing myself of wliatever light has been
thrown upon them by recent Biblical scholars, such as
Ewald, Hirzel, Heihgstedt, Schlottmann, Conant, Renan,
and others. When I differ from any of them on any
important passage, it is after a deliberate examination of
the reasons for their view of it. I have added some notes,
altered others, and modified some of the language of the
Introduction. It is pleasant to find a very prevalent
coincidence between my views, in respect to various
points both in the Introduction and the Translation, and
those of the distinguished French orientalist, M. Renan,
the most recent translator of Job. The principal point on
which his opinion dififers from mine, viz., the genuineness
of the speech of Elihu, is of no great importance. Whether
this speech be an interpolation or not, it is highly im-
fvii]

vm

probable that on questionable internal grounds it will
ever be separated from the rest of the poem.
I had made an arrangement to publish a re-vised edition
ofthe New Translation ofthe Hebrew Prophets in con
nection with the present work. But the death of the late
Mr. Munroe has caused it to be given up. I take the
liberty, therefore, to mention that I have carefully revised
the New Translation of the Hebrew Prophets, made a
considerable addition to the notes, and written a new and
enlarged Introduction, containing an essay on the Pro
phetic dispensation among the Hebrews, including the
Messianic predictions, in which I have aimed to leave no
important question unanswered. Though necessarily com
pressed, I hope it will be found sufficiently comprehensive
and complete to be a guide to such as have a desire to
know the truth in relation to a difficult subject, upon
which no satisfactory treatise exists in the English lan
guage. Whenever any publisher will undertake the
printing of the work, the manuscript will be ready.
Cambridge, June 26, 1861.

INTRODUCTION.

I'HE work, which it is the design of the present volume to
illustrate, is in many respects one of the most remarkable pro
ductions of any age or country. It is, without doubt, in its
general plan, as well as in the rhythmical construction and high
poetic character of its language, a work of art. Deep thought
and long continued study must have been united with genius in
its production. Yet has it, in a much higher degree than most
compositions, the freshness of an unstudied effusion of the soul
of the author ; a soul full of the sublimest conceptions of the
Parent of nature and his glorious works, and of true and deep
sympathy with all that is great and amiable in the character, and
affecting in thS condition, of man. The imagination of the
author seems to have ranged freely through every part of the
universe, and to have enriched itself from almost every depart
ment of nature and of art. \'Ciether he attempt to describe the
residence of Him " who maintaineth peace in his high places,"
or " the land of darkness and the shadow of death," the passions
and pursuits of man, or the nature and features of the animal
creation, the phenomena of the air and the heavens, or the dark
operations of the miner, he is ever familiar with his subject, and
seems to tell us what our eyes have seen and our ears have
heard. And not more remarkable are the richness and vigor of
his imagination than his power in representing the deep emotions
and the tender affections of the soul. Admirable, too, in a
poem of so high antiquity, is the skill with which he makes all
the delineations of the human heart and all the descriptions of
external nature subservient to the illustration of one important
moral subject; thus uniting the attributes of the poet and
1 [11

2 INTRODUCTION.
philosopher. It is true, that we miss the perfection of Grecian
art in the structure of this work ; and his plan required him to
set forth the general workings of the human heart, rather than
to delineate the nicer shades of human character. It was in.
harmony with the ethical nature of the composition, that his
characters should make speeches, rather than converse. Yet no
one can fail to perceive the unity of design which pervades the
work, and the adaptation of the various parts to its completion.
The first place among the Hebrew poets has usually been as
signed to Isaiah. But in what respect the Great Unknown, the
author of the book of Job, can be regarded as inferior to any
Hebrew poet, or any other poet, unless perhaps we except Shak
speare, I am at a loss to conceive. In comprehensiveness of
thought, and richness and strength of imagination, he seems to
me to be unsurpassed, and in depth and tenderness of feeling
incomparable, when we consider that female loveliness con
stitutes no part of the interest of the work. Almost every
Christian poet has felt his influence in respect both to thought
and expression. But to delineate the excellences and beauties
of the book of Job is a task far beyond my capacity. They
must be understood and felt, rather than described.
There has been much discussion in former times, in regard to
the particular department of poetry and literature, under which
the book of Job should be classed. Undue importance has,
without doubt, been attached to this question ; a,nd the scope
and spirit of the work have in a degree been lost sight of, in the
eagerness to establish its claim to a particular name, or its place
in a particular department of poetical composition. The truth
is, that there is nothing that bears an exact resemblance to it in
Grecian, Roman, or modern literature. It has something in
common not only with different forms of composition, but with
different departments of literature. Those, who have given it
the appellation of an epic poem, have applied to it a term the
least suited to its character, and the most unjust to its claims,
as a work of art. They have made unimportant circumstances
in regard to its form of raore consequence than its substantial

INTRODUCTION. 3
character, spirit, and design. Nothing can be more evident
than the fact, that to excite interest in the personal fortunes of
Job, as the hero of a poem, was not the principal design of the
writer. Still less was it his design to unfold characteristic traits
in the other personages introduced into the work. Some, it is
true, have discovered, as they supposed, striking characteristic
traits in Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar
the Naamathite, and have pointed out the different degrees of
severity which they exhibited towards their friend in his dis
tress. It appears to me that these writers have drawn largely
upon their own imaginations to make out their representations.
There is, no doubt, some diversity in the manner and substance
of the discourses of the friends of Job. The author may have
put the longest and best speeches into the mouth of an inhaibitant
of a city so famous for its wisdom as Teman ¦* ; and to young
Elihu, whom some regard as an interloper, thrtist into the place
he occupies by a later writer than the author, he certainly assigns
the language ofa young man who has made rather an extravagant
estimate of his abilities and his consequence. But I seek in
vain for evidence that the author made it a principal object to
excite an interest in the actions or characters of the personages
whom he introduces.
There is more plausibility in the views of those who have re
garded and named the book of Job a dramatic poem. For, un
doubtedly, the character of Job has a tragic interest, and reminds
one of the most interesting characters of Grecian tragedy, suffer
ing by the will of the Gods, or the necessities of Fate, especially
the Prometheus Vinctus of .^Bschylus. In regard to its form, there
is something resembling dialogue, and something which bears a
distant resemblance to a prologue and epilogue. The author
has also skilfully introduced into various parts of the work hints
having reference to the final issue of the fortunes of Job, similar
to those which occur in the best of the Greek tragedies, such as
the CEdipus Tyrannus. See ch. viii. 6, 7; xvi. 19 ; xix. 25,
&c., compared with ch. xiii. Still, to give the name of a drama
* Jer. xlix. 7.

4 INTRODUCTION.
or a tragedy to this production is to give it a name from what
is incidental to it, rather than from its pervading spirit and
prominent design. In fact to call it a poem of any kind fails to
suggest the characteristic feature of the work, though it contains
poetry, which, perhaps, has never been surpassed.
If we have regard to the main design, the substance and
spirit of the work, we shall refer it to the department of moral
or religious philosophy. It contains the moral or religious
philosophy of the time when it was produced. It is rather a
philosophical religious discussion in a poetical form, than an
epic poem or a drama. It is more nearly allied to the Essay on
Man than to Paradise Lost, or Prometheus Vinctus. It is the
effusion of the mind and heart of the author upon a moral sub
ject which has agitated the human bosom in every age. Still,
the author was a poet, as well as a religious philosopher. In the
mode of presenting the subject to his readers, he aimed, like
other poets, to move the human feelings by exhibitions of
passion and scenes of distress, and to please the taste by the
sublime flights of his imagination. He aimed to give the highest
interest to his subject by clothing his thoughts in the loftiest
language of poetry, and arranging them in the measured rhythm
which is one of the characteristics of Hebrew poetry.
It might be interesting to analyze the pure religious doctrines,
which the author held, and with wonderful liberality for one of
his nation ascribed to Arabians, but this we must leave to the
attentive reader of the book. It seems particularly remarkable
that the author should ascribe Divine inspiration to Eliphaz
the Temanite.
The special subject of this unique production is the ways of
Providence in regard to the distribution of good and evil in the
world, in connexion with the doctrine of a righteous retribution
in the present life, such as seemed to be contained in the Jewish
religion. It sets forth the struggle between faith in the perfect
government of God, or in a righteous retribution in the present
life, and the various doubts excited in the soul of man, by what
it feels or sees of human misery, and by what it knows of the

INTRODUCTION. 5
prosperity of the contemners of God. These doubts the author
expresses in strong and irreverent language from the lips of Job ;
while the received doctrine of retribution, which pervades the
Jewish religion, is maintained and reiterated from the personages
introduced as the friends of Job.
The subject is one which comes home to men's business and
bosoms. Even under the light of Christianity, perhaps there
are few who have not in peculiar seasons felt the strife between
faith in the perfect government of God, and the various feelings
excited in the mind by what they have experienced or witnessed
of human suffering. The pains of the innocent, of those who
cannot discern their right hand from their left hand, the pro
tracted calamities which are often the lot of the righteous, and
the prosperity which often crowns the designs of the wicked,
have at times excited wonder, perplexity, and doubt in almost
every thinking mind. We, as Christians, silence our doubts,
and confirm our faith, by what experience teaches us of the
general wisdom and benevolence of the Creator, by the con
sideration that affliction comes from the same merciful hand
which is the source of all the good that we have ever enjoyed,
by the perception of the moral and religious influences of ad
versity, and especially by the hope of the joy in a better world
set before those who endure to the end. The Apostle could
say, for the consolation of himself and his fellow-sufferers, " For
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared 'with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
And every Christian knows that the Captain of his Salvation
ascended to his throne of glory from the ignominious cross.
The cross is the great source of the Christian's consolation.
But let us suppose ourselves to be deprived of those sources of
consolation which are peculiar to a disciple of Christ, and we
may conceive of the state of mind of the author of the book of
Job, upon whom the sun of righteousness had never dawned.
Is it strange that the soul of a pious Jew, who lived before
" life and immortality were brought to light through the gospel,"
should have been agitated by the conflict between such a faith
1*

6 INTRODUCTION.
in retribution as his religion seemed to require, and the doubts
and murmurings excited by what he felt and saw of the calami
ties of the righteous, and witnessed of the prosperity of the
wicked ? One of the most enlightened of the Romans, when
called to mourn the early loss of the children of his hopes, was
led, as he says, almost " to accuse the gods, and to exclaim that
no providence governed the world." An Arabic poet, quoted
by Dr. Pococke,* writes :
Qaot intelleotu prsestantes in angustias rediguntur !
Et summe stolidos invenies prospere agentes !
Hoc est quod auimos perplexos relinquit,
Et egregie doctos Sadducseos reddit.
How many wise men are reduced to distress !
How many fools ¦will you find in prosperity !
It is this that leaves the mind iu perplexity.
And raakes Sadducees of very learned men.
We think that many have stated too strongly the argument
for the immortality of the soul, drawn from the apparent in
equalities of the present state. To maintain that there is little
or no retribution in this part of the Creator's dominions appears
to me not the best way of proving that there will be a perfect
one in another part of them. But the sentiments referred to
may serve to illustrate the mental condition of a pious man of
exalted genius, who appears to have had no conception, or at least
no belief, of a state after death that was desirable in comparison
with the present life.
In Ps. Ixxiii. we have the thoughts which passed through the
raind of another upon the same subject :
Yet my feet almost gave way ;
My steps had well nigh slipped;
For I was envious of the profane.
When I saw the prosperity of the 'wicked, &c.
Ps. xxxvii. may also be considered as being upon the same
* Not. in Port. Mos. C. vli. Opp. p. 214,

INTRODUCTION. 7
subject, and in fact, the book of Ecclesiastes, though a more
skeptical spirit seems to pervade the latter than either of those
psalms, or the book of Job.
Such being the subject which filled the mind of the author of
Job, the question arises, how he has treated it, or what he
aimed to accomplish in regard to it. That, in his own view, he
had solved all the difficulties which embarrass the human un
derstanding in regard to it is not very probable. But that he
proposed to establish some truths in relation to it, as well as to
inculcate the duty of entire submission to God, and unreserved
faith in him, is, I think, clear. I do not believe, with De
Wette, that he means to leave the subject an utter mystery, and
merely to bring man to a helpless consciousness of his ignorance.
The most prominent part of the author's design is, indeed, to
enforce the duty of unqualified submission to the will of God,
and of reverential faith amid all the difficulties, which perplex
the understanding. A part of it is, also, to illustrate the truth,
that moral character is not to be inferred from outward condition ;
that afflictions are designed as the trial of piety, and that they lead
in the end to higher good than would otherwise be obtained, and
thus to assert eternal providence, and justify the ways of God to
man. And while he enforces the duty of entire submission to
God, he also plainly intimates that unfounded censures and un
kind treatment of a friend in distress are more offensive to the
Deity than those expressions of impatience which affliction may
wring from the lips of the pious.
The author aims to show that, in the distribution of good and
evil in the world, God is sometimes influenced by reasons which
raan can neither discover nor comprehend, and not solely by the
merit or demerit of his creatures ; that the righteous are often
afflicted, and the wicked prospered ; but that this course of
providence is perfectly consistent with wisdom, justice, and
goodness in the Deity, though man is unable to discern the
reasons of it ; that afflictions are often intended as the trials of
piety and the means of moral improvement ; that man is an in
competent judge of the divine dispensations ; that it is his duty.

8 INTRODUCTION.
instead of rashly daring to penetrate, or to censure, the counsels
of his Creator, to submit to his 'will, to reverence his "character,
and to obey his laws ; and that the end will prove the wisdom
as well as the obligation of such submission, reverence, and
obedience. In this view, I have taken the whole book, as we now have it,
to be genuine. I think this supposition is attended with the
fewest difficulties. Those who discard the speech of Elihu, the
twenty-eighth chapter, and part of the twenty-seventh, and the
prose introduction and conclusion, must give, of course, an ac
count of it somewhat different.
In order to accomplish the design, or express the views, which
I have exhibited, in such a manner that his work should possess
the highest interest for his readers, the author employs a form of
composition resembling that of the drama. He brings forward
a personage, celebrated probably in the traditions of his country
as distinguished for the excellence of his character, and the
vicissitudes through which he had passed. In the delineation
of the character and fortunes, of this personage, he uses the
liberty of a poet in stating everything in extremes, or painting
everything in the broadest colors, that he might thus the better
illustrate the moral truth, and accomplish the moral purpose,
which he had in view.
He introduces to the reader an inhabitant of the land of Uz,
in the northern part of Arabia, equally distinguished by his
piety and his prosperity. He was pronounced by the Searcher
of hearts an upright and good man ; and he was suiTounded
by a happy family, and was the most wealthy of all the inhabi
tants of the East.
If virtue and piety could in any case be a security against ca
lamity, then must Job's prosperity have been lasting. Who
ever had more reason for expecting continued prosperity, the
favor of men, and the smiles of providence ? " But when he
looked for good, evil came." A single day produces a complete
reverse in his condition, and reduces him from the height of

INTRODUCTION. 9
prosperity to the lowest depths of misery. He is stripped of
his possessions. His children, a numerous family, for whom
he had never forgotten to offer to God a morning sacrifice, are
buried under the ruins of their houses, which a hurricane
levels 'with the ground ; and finally he is affiicted, in his own
person, with a most loathsome and dangerous disease. Thus
the best man in the world has become the most miserable man
in the world.
The reader is made acquainted in the outset with the cause of
the aflBictions of Job. At an assembly of the sons of God, or
the inhabitants of heaven, in the presence of the Governor of
the world, an evil spirit, Satan, the adversary in the court of
heaven, had come, on his return from an excursion over the earth
to present himself, or to stand in readiness to receive the com
mands of God. Jehovah puts the question to Satan, whether
he had taken notice of the model of human excellence exhibited
in the character of his servant Job, and sets forth the praise of
the good man in terms so emphatic, as to excite the envy and
ill-will of that suspicious accuser of his brethren. Satan in
timates that selfishness is the sole motive of Job's obedience ;
that it was ¦with views of profit, and not from sentiments of
reverence toward God, that he paid him an outward service ;
that if Jehovah should take away the possessions of him whom
he believed so faithful, he would at once renounce his service.
" Doth Job fear God for nought?" To establish the truth of
what he had said in commendation of his servant, Jehovah is
represented as giving permission to Satan to put the piety of
Job to the test, by taking away at once all his possessions and
all his children. But the evil spirit gains no triumph. Job re
mains true to his allegiance. He sins not even with his lips.
There is yet another assembly of the heavenly spirits, and here
the hateful spirit, the disbeliever in human virtue, will have it,
that it is love of life, the dearest of all possessions to man,
which retains Job in his allegiance. Satan therefore is repre
sented as ha'wng permission to take from Job all that can be
called life, except the mere consciousness of existence, and the

10 INTRODUCTION.
ability to express his sentiments, in the condition to whic'n he
is reduced, by the infliction of a most loathsome disease. And
yet this good man, in this lowest point of depression, is repre
sented as remaining patient so long, that when his wife, whom
Satan appears to have spared to him for no good purpose, tempt
ed him to renounce his allegiance to God, he calmly answers,
" Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not
receive evil ?" Thus far, he did not sin with his lips.
But when the fame of Job's sufferings had spread abroad, and
had drawn around him a company of his friends, who had left
their distant homes to sympathize with him in his calamities, he
is represented as giving vehement utterance to his long repress
ed impatience, and pouring oul his complaints and doubts in
rash language, with which the reader is prepared to sympathize,
only by the account which has been given of the cause of his
afflictions in the introductory chapters.
But the friends of Job, who, of course, are not acquainted
with the cause of his sufferings in the occurrences of the heavenly
assembly, are thrown into amazement at the condition in which
they find their friend, and the expressions uttered by him, whom
they had heretofore looked upon as a wise and good man.
They are silent while they witness only his dreadful sufferings ;
but when they hear the vehement and rash complaints which
are extorted from him by the severity of his distress, they refrain
no longer from expressing their sentiments respecting the cause
of his calamities. Thus commences a discussion respecting the
causes of human sufferings between Job and his friends. They
are represented as holding the doctrine of a strict and perfect
retribution in the present life ; as maintaining that misery al
ways implies guilt ; and hence, instead of bringing him comfort
and consolation, they accuse him of having merited his misfor
tunes by secret wickedness. They exhort him to repentance, as
if he were a great sinner, suffering the just punishment of his
crimes. Job repels their insinuations with indignation, and firmly
maintains his innocence. He knows not why he suffers. He

INTRODUCTION. 11
complains of severe treatment, and asserts that God afflicts
equally the righteous and the wicked. His friends are offended
at his sentiments, and undertake to vindicate the conduct of the
Deity towards him. They repeat with greater asperity their
charges of wickedness and impiety, and even go so far as to
accuse him of particular crimes. But the more they press their
accusations, the more confident is he in his assertions of his in
nocence, or of the justice of his cause. He avows his conviction
that God will one day manifest himself as the vindicator of his
character. He appeals to him, as the witness of his sincerity ;
denies the constancy, and even the frequency of his judgments
upon wdcked men, and boldly asks for an opportunity of plead
ing his cause with his Creator, confident that he should be ac
quitted before any righteous tribunal. His friends are reduced
to silence, Bildad closing their remarks by a few general maxims
respecting the greatness of God and the frailty of man, and
Zophar not undertaking to say anything.
The spirit of Job is somewhat softened by their silence, and
he retracts some of the sentiments, which, in the anguish of his
spirit, and the heat of controversy, he had inconsiderately
uttered. " He proceeds with calm confidence, like a lion
among his defeated enemies." He shows that he could speak
of the perfections of God, and express all that was true in their
positions, in a better style than any of them. He now admits,
what before he seemed to deny, that wicked men are often
'visited by severe punishment. But from his main position he
does not retreat, that misery is not always the consequence of
wickedness, and that God has a hidden wisdom in regard to the
distribution of happiness and misery, which it is impossible for
man to fathom. He then proceeds, with a melting pathos, to
describe his present, in contrast with his former condition, and
to give a most beautiful picture of his character and life, very
pardonable in one of whom the reader knows what has been
said by the Governor of the world before the angels of heaven.
From this he is led to renewed protestations of his innocence,
and of his desire to have his cause tried before the tribunal of
his Creator.

12 INTRODUCTION.
In this stage of the discussion, a new disputant is brought for
ward, probably for the purpose of expressing some thoughts of
the author on the design of afflictions, and for the purpose
of forming a contrast, in respect to style and manner, with the
manifestation of the Deity which follows. Elihu is represented
as a young man coming forward with an air of great confidence,
though in words he ascribes the burden, with which his breast
was laboring, to the inspiration of God. " Like most inspired
men of the same sort, he is assuming, bold, and supercilious."
He does, indeed, bring forward some thoughts on the moral in
fluence of afflictions which had not been uttered by the friends
of Job, maintaining that, though they may not be the punish
ment of past offences, nor evidence of guilt, they may operate
as preventives of those sins which the best of men sometimes
commit, and as a salutary discipline, for the correction of those
faults of which a man may be unconscious, until his attention is
awakened by adversity. Thus he gives a more rational con
jecture than the three friends of Job, in regard to the precise
cause of his afflictions, but does not give the true account of it,
as it is stated in the introductory chapters. He is also as far
from solving the great problem of evil in the world as any of
the preceding speakers. No one thinks it worth while to reply
to Elihu.
Human wisdom, the learned wisdom of age, and the unbiass
ed genius of youth have now been exhausted upon the subject.
At length, therefore, the Supreme Being himself is represented
as speaking from the midst of a tempest, and putting an end to
the controversy ; the dignity of his introduction being rendered
more impressive by the self-confident egotism with which Elihu
had entered into the contest. ¦*
* "How vast the difiference," says Herder, " between the words of
Jehovah and the language of Elihu ! It is but the feeble, prolix babbling
of a child, in comparison with the brief and majestic tones of thunder in
which the Creator speaks. He disputes not, but produces a succession of
living pictures ; surrounds, astonishes, and overwhelms the faculties of
Job with the objects of his inanimate and animated creation."

INTRODUCTION. 13
The Creator decides the controversy in favor of Job. Jehovah
does not, however, condescend to explain or vindicate to him
the ways of his providence ; but with overpowering force con
vinces him of his inability to fathom the divine counsels, de
monstrates the necessity of faith in a wisdom which he cannot
comprehend, produces in him a sense of his weakness and igno
rance, and leads him to profound repentance on account of the
rashness of his language; and thus prepares the way for the
final vindication of his faithful servant. Ina strain of sublime
irony he requests him, who had spoken with such confidence
and boldness of the ways of God, to give an explanation of some
of the phenomena which were constantly presented to his view ;
of the nature and structure of the earth, the sea, the light, and
the animal kingdom. If he were unable to explain any of the
common phenomena of nature, how could he expect to compre
hend the secret counsels and moral government of the Author
of nature .'
But having shown the. reasonableness of entire confidence in
his unsearchable wisdom, and submission to his darkest dis
pensations, the Supreme Judge does decide the controversy in
favor of Job. He declares that he had spoken that which was
right, that is, in maintaining that his misery was not the con
sequence of his guilt, or that character is not to be inferred
from external condition ; and that the friends of Job had not
spoken that which was right, in condemning him as a wicked
man on account of his misery, or in maintaining that suffering
always implies guilt. The cause of Job's afflictions has already
been communicated to the reader in the introductory chapters,
namely, that they were appointed as a temporary trial of his
virtue, in order to vindicate the judgment of Jehovah concern
ing him, and to prove against all gainsayers the disinterestedness
of his piety. Finally, Jehovah bestows upon Job double the
prosperity which distinguished him before his aifliction, and thus
compensates him for the calamities he had suffered, thereby
showing, for the consolation of all who endure affliction, that
the end of the good man will .show his <visdom.
2

14 INTRODUCTION.
If the general design of this wonderful production be such as
I have described, the question, whether Job was a real, or a
fictitious character, becomes almost too unimportant to be dis
cussed. Truth was illustrated and duty enforced by parable as
well as by history, by him who spake as never man spake.
Certainly some of the circumstances of the life of Job have the
air of fiction, and may have been invented for the promotion of
the moral and religious design which we suppose the author to
have had chiefly in view.
That the sentiments of Job, and of the different disputants,
as well as those which are represented as proceeding from the
lips of the Creator, must all be regarded as the effusions of the
poet's own mind, is also too plain to need argument. The
whole structure and arrangement, thoughts and language, form
and substance of the work, must all have proceeded from one
and the same mind.
The supposition, that so beautiful and harmonious a whole,
every part of which bears the stamp of the highest genius, was
the casual production of a man brought to the gates of the grave
by a loathsome disease, and of three or four friends who had
come to comfort him in his affliction, all of them expressing
their thoughts in poetical and measured language ; that the
Deity was actually heard to speak half an hour from the midst
of a violent storm ; and that the consultations in the heavenly
world were actual occurrences, is too extravagant to need re
futation. On the other hand, it is against probability and against
analogy, to suppose that no such person as Job ever existed,
and that the work has no foundation in fact. The epic and
dramatic poets, ancient and modern, have usually chosen his
torical rather than fictitious personages as their principal
characters, as being better adapted to secure the popular sym
pathy. It is probable that tradition had handed down the
name of such a person as Job, distinguished for his piety and
his trials, his virtue and its reward. This tradition the poet
used and embellished i» a manner adapted to promote the chief
object of his work.

INTRODUCTION. 15
A more important question afthe present day relates to the
integrity of the work ; whether we have it as it came from the
author, or whether various additions have been made to it in
later times.
The genuineness of the introductory and concluding chapters
in prose, of ch. xxvii. 7 — ch. xxviii., and of the speech of
Elihu, has been denied, with great confidence, by several Ger
man scholars upon what I cannot but regard as very insufficient
grounds. Well knowing the array of learned critics from
whom I differ, I cannot but have some distrust in my own
judgment. But I will endeavor to examine with fairness the
arguments which have been adduced against the genuineness of
the above-mentioned parts of Job.
Against the prologue and epilogue it is urged, " that the
perfection of the work requires their rejection, because they
solve the problem which is the subject of the work, by the idea
of trial and compensation ; whereas it was the design of the
author to solve the question through the idea of entire submission
on the part of man to the wisdom and power of God." Thus,
from a part of the work, it is concluded what was the whole
design of the author, and then whatever is inconsistent with this
supposed design is rejected. But there is no necessity for the
supposition of such an entire unity of purpose as this objection-
supposes. Much more probable is it, that the author not only
designed to establish the necessity of unhesitating faith and un
wavering submission, but also to throw all the light in his
power upon the subject, for the benefit of the understanding.
If he has not completely solved the question which forms the
principal subject of discussion, it does not follow that he did
not undertake to do it ; or, at least, to remove from it all the
difficulties whicb he could remove. If it were even admitted,
which I do not admit, that there is not a perfect consistency and
unity in the views of a poet writing upon a very deep subject,
he would not be the only one who has written inconsistently on
the origin and design of evil. Would it be reasonable to reject
as ungenuine all those parts of Soame Jenyns's work on the

16 INTRODUCTION.
origin of evil which Dr. JohnSon points out as inconsistent with
its main design, or with other parts of it ?
Far more reasonable is it to gather the author's design from
a view of the whole work ; especially as there is no inconsis
tency in the supposition that he endeavored to clear up the sub
ject in view of the understanding, as well as to illustrate the
necessity ofthe entire submission of the heart to God's will.
Besides, the prologue is important, not only as containing, in
part, the solution of the subject, but as a preparation for the
reader in estimating the character and language of Job. We
could hardly sympathize with the imprecations with which he com
mences, or with his irreverent language toward the Deity, or
even with his bold assertions of his innocence, unless we were
assured, upon higher authority than his own, that he was, what
he professed to be, an upright and good man. The whole takes
afar deeper hold upon our sympathy, when we know that he, who
is in a state of such extreme depression, suffering reproach and
condemnation from fallible men, has a witness in heaven and a
record on high, having received the praise of an upright and
good man from the Searcher of hearts before the angels in
heaven. The objection against ch. xxvii. and xxviii. is, that there is
an apparent inconsistency between the language of Job here as
signed to him, and what he has uttered in ch. xxi. This in
consistency is obvious, and was long ago observed by Kennicott.
See his note on ch. xxvii. 7. And if the object of the poet
was to represent merely a persevering, unbending character,
like the Prometheus of .iEschylus, there might be some force in
the objection. But if the design of the work be, as we have
represented it, to throw all possible light upon a moral subject,
it is well that Job should retract what he had uttered in the
heat of passion, and admit all that he could admit with truth,
and in consistency with his main position, that he was innocent
or that misery is not always a proof of guilt. The great object
of the poem is in fact advanced by such a course, and by Job's
anticipating in some measure, in ch. xxviii., the arguments of

INTRODUCTION. 17
the Supreme Judge. All that Job admits is not really incon
sistent -with what he says in ch. xxix., xxx., xxxi., and does not
bring the subject to a crisis too soon.
In regard to the speech of Elihu, it is objected, that it differs
in style from that of the other speakers ; that it is weak, prolix,
studied, obscure ; that it is distinguished from the genuine parts
of the book by the use of favorite expressions, and by reminis
cences from the thoughts of some of the other speakers. That
there is some difference between the language of Elihu and that
of the other speakers is conceded ; especially when he is repre
sented as speaking of himself. But when he has entered upon
the subjec, this thoughts are as weighty and as well expressed as
those of the other speakers. But the true answer is, that this dif
ference was designed ; that a different style was assumed by the
author. There is some difference of manner in the speeches of
the other adversaries of Job. It is more marked in the speech
of Elihu, because he was a young man. Youthful forwardness
was more inconsistent with Eastem feelings and manners than
with ours. See ch. xxix. 8. And it is not strange that the
poet should represent a young man appearing upon such an
occasion, as giving indications of youthful confidence in matters
of theology.
It is rather e'vidence of skill in the poet, that he renders the
sublime manifestation and language of the Deity more striking,
by contrast with the flourish and confidence exhibited in the
manner and language of young Elihu. In regard to favorite
expressions, and the reminiscences of the language of the other
speakers, I should think they were circumstances of little im
portance. They may, at any rate, be the result of design, as
part of the manner of Elihu, or they may be the result of in
advertence. It is objected, secondly, that the speech of Elihu weakens the
speeches of Job and of the Deity, in ch. xxix., xxx., xxxi.,
xxxviii., &c., obscures the relation in which these stand to each
other, and, in part, anticipates what that of the Deity contains.
We have already replied to this in part, by the observation, that
2*

18 INTRODUCTION.
the majesty of the Divine appearance is heightened by contrast
with that of Elihu. It may be observed, too, that all the speakers
have anticipated more or less of the argument of the Deity, and
could not well say anything of the Creator, or his works, without
doing it. But, as a whole, the speech of the Deity is remark
ably distinguished from any of them. As to the interruption of
the connexion between the speech of Job and that of the Deity,
it is not very important. But let it be conceded, for the sake of
argument, that the omission of the speech of Elihu would con
tribute to the perfection of the work, or that it is in itself some
what inferior to other parts of it. What then ? Do not the
critics and reviewers imagine that they can improve many of the
productions of genius by the addition of a part here, or the sub
traction of a part there ? Some portions of Paradise Lost are in
ferior in strength and majesty to others ; and the inferiority of
Paradise Regained is generally recognized. But no one thinks
of doubting their genuineness on that account. Besides, the
author does give one view of the cause of human suffering in
this discourse, which is not distinctly stated elsewhere. See ch.
xxxiii. 14 - 28.
It is objected, in the next place, that Elihu perverts the lan
guage of Job, a thing which would have been done only by a
person who was not the author of the work. To this it may be
replied, that, though the particular passages, which Elihu pre
tends to quote, are somewhat perverted, yet he hardly ascribes
to Job worse sentiments than he had elsewhere expressed, as in
ch. xxi. Besides, it is not unnatural in a disputant, espscially
a young one, to misapprehend a question, or to pervert the lan
guage of an opponent.
It is said, again, that Elihu receives no answer. I apprehend
that it was agreeable to Eastern feelings that such a forward
young raan should receive no answer. At any rate, this objection
has little weight. It is said that Job is mentioned by name in
the speech of Elihu, and not elsewhere. But surely so unim
portant a circumstance, occurring in a speech where difference
of manner was to be expected, affords very slight ground for
.¦iuspectinp; its !Tpiiinn»npsfi.

INTRODUCTION. 19
Lastly, it is said, Elihu is not mentioned in the prologue and
epilogue. It is sufficient answer to this, to say, that the author
thought it proper to have but three speakers in the principal
part of the debate, and to give a special introduction to Elihu
in ch. xxxii. His judgment on this point may not have been
as good as that of his modern critics ; but I see not why we
should alter his plan on that account. As to the fact that he
is not mentioned in the epilogue, it may have been for the
reason above assigned for his receiving no reply from Job, or
because nothing occurred to the author which was particularly
appropriate to be said to him.
On the whole, if it were even admitted, what I have no in
clination to deny, that the style of Elihu is so diverse from that
of the rest of the poem as to be somewhat remarkable, or not
wholly explained by what has been said, yet when we consider
the strong presumption that such a work as the book of Job
would not be tampered with by his countrymen, and especially
by a poet of no mean pretensions, I cannot help doubting
whether there is sufficient reason for rejecting the passages
under consideration. I can well conceive of additions being
made to annals or history. It is also . true that some whole
compositions, or independent portions, of the Old Testament are
ascribed to those who did not write them. This was the case
with many of the Psalms, the book of Daniel, and with several
prophecies in the book of Isaiah. But this is a very different
thing from introducing so large an addition into the midst of
one poetical composition. It it easy to conceive that composi
tions should be ascribed to Virgil, Milton, Shakspeare, which
they did not write. But that one should undertake to make
an interpolation of many pages into the very midst of one of
their best poems, is much more improbable, both on account of
want of sufficient motive, the difficulty of execution, and the
obstacle^ in the way of the reception of such an interpolation.
It appears to me that a Jew, and especially a Jewish poet, must
have had too great a reverence for this noble production to
undertake to improve it by such an addition, and that the early

20 INTRODUCTION.
readers of the work would not have given it a universal recep
tion. While, therefore, I readily concede a degree of inferiority
in respect to poetic merit, of the speech of Elihu to other por
tions of the book, I think it is not of so very extraordinary and
marked a nature, so different from what occurs in the works of
other poets, as to be unaccountable except-on the supposition of
the spuriousness of the speech.
As to the country of Job, or, in other words, the scene of the
poem, there has been a diversity of opinion amongst distinguish
ed scholars. I was formerly inclined to adopt the opinion of
those who supposed it to be Idumea. I now think that Lam.
iv. 21, which, at first view, seems to favor this supposition, in
fact indicates that the land of Uz was not a part of Idumea,
and that the prophet speaks of the Edomites as having gained
possession of a country which did not belong to them. It ap
pears to me, too, that Jer. xxv. 20, is also decisive of the ques
tion ; else why does the prophet speak of the kings of the land
of Uz, and of Edom, in the next verse, as separate nations, to
whom he was to extend the cup of indignation ?
I now think it more probable that the land of Uz was in the
northeastern part of Arabia Deserta, between Palestine, Idumea,
and the Euphrates. Ptolemy speaks of a tribe in this region,
called 'Awakai, which may perhaps have been written 'Avavcai. ;
(see Ros. Com. in Job, p. 30 ;) and the Septuagint renders Uz,
'Avalxv;. This country would then be near the Chaldeans and
Sabeans, by whose incursions the property of Job is said to have
been lost. It is more properly entitled to the appellation of the
East than Idumea, which was nearly south of Palestine. The
beautiful valley of Damascus, which Jahn supposes to have
been the country of Job, could hardly have been so extensive
as to account for the expression, " all the kings of the land of
Uz," in Jer. xxv. 20.
A more interesting question remains to be spoken of, namely,
in what country, and in what age, did the author live ?
I shall not enter into a discussion of the various conjectures

INTRODUCTION. -i I
which have been offered in regard to the author of the book.
Why should we seek to form an opinion, where there are abso
lutely no data on which to ground it ? To me it seems highly
probable that the author of this incomparable production was
one of whom we have no records and no other remains. The
opinions of those who have undertaken to name the author are
widely diverse. Lowth attributes it to Job hiraself ; Lightfoot
and others, to Elihu ; some of the Rabbinical writers, as also
Kennicott, Michaelis, Dathe, and Good, to Moses ; Luther,
Grotius, and Doedeiiein, to Solomon ; while Warburton ascribes
it to Ezra.
Respecting the age in which the author lived, it might seem,
at first view, that some judgment could be formed on internal
grounds. But, in consequence of our imperfect acquaintance
with the state of civUization, knowledge, opinions, and manners
in ancient times, it is difficult to form a satisfactory opinion
upon the subject.
Some eminent scholars, as Lowth, Eichhorn, and Ilgen, have
supposed that the author lived before the settlement of the
Israelites in the land of Canaan. The principal argument in
favor of this opinion is the absence of allusions to the institu
tions, rites, and ceremonies introduced by Moses, and to re
markable events in the history of the Jewish nation. This
argument would be more satisfactory, if the characters, as well
as the author, of the work, had been Hebrews. But as they
were Arabians, who had nothing to do with the institutions of
Moses, it is plain that a writer of genius would not have been
guilty of the absurdity of putting the sentiments of a Jew into
the mouth of an Arabian, at least, so far as relates to such
tangible matters as institutions, positive laws, ceremonies, and
history. To me it seeiris that the author has manifested abun
dant e'vidence of genius and skill in the structure and execution
of the work, to account for his not having given to Arabians the
obvious peculiarities of Hebrews who lived under the institu
tions of Moses, at whatever period it may have been written.
Even if the characters of the book had been Hebrews, the argu-

2-2 INTRODUCTION.
ment under consideration would not have been perfectly conclu
sive ; for, from the nature of the subject, we might have expect
ed as little in it that was Levitical or grossly Jewish, as in the
book of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes, or in several of the Prophets.
A poet may nominally belong to a church of forms and cere
monies, and yet give very little evidence of it in his compositions.
The argument for the Antemosaic orgin of the book seems,
therefore, wholly destitute of weight. On the contrary, we find
a very strong argument against that opinion in the abstruse
nature of its subject, and its speculative and. philosophical spirit
which seem to imply a different stage of civilization, and a
different state of society from what we suppose to have existed
among the wandering Jews to whom Moses gave the law upon
Sinai. It is to be kept in mind that the poet wrote for his con
temporaries, and that the spirit of the readers, as well as of the
writer, must be reflected from the work. It was agreeable to
the spirit of Moses to say. Thus saith Jehovah, Ye shall do this,
and, Ye shall not do that ; and to accompany these commands
and prohibitions with the most terrible sanctions, rather than to
indulge in such bold speculations as are contained in this book.
See Ex. xx. 5. A very different kind of poetry, if any, seems
also to be proper to the circumstances of the Jews in and before
the age of Moses. There is more uncertainty in regard to
particular religious conceptions. Those respecting angels, con
tained in the following verses, are supposed by De Wet*" to be
inconsistent with the Mosaic age : — iv. 18 ; v. 1 ; xv. iS ; xxi.
22 ; xxxiii. 23, &c. ; xxxviii. 7, comp. i. 7, ii. 2, &c. But it
may be doubted whether this argument is valid. The manners
and condition of society referred to or implied in some, at least,
of the following passages, adduced by De Wette, seem to point
to a much later period of Jewish history than the Antemosaic
or Mosaic age. It strikes me as rather inconsistent with the
simplicity of the patriarchal age, that Job should be represented
as the ruler or judge of a city, ch. xxix. 7, 8, 9 ; that there
should be an allusion to the written sentence of a judge, ch. xiii.
26 ; to the signing of a bill of defence or complaint, to be

INTRODUCTION. 2.T
brought into court, ch. xxxi. 35 ; to the recording of facts in a
register, or book-roll, or upon tablets of stone, ch. xix. 23, 24 ;
to the custom of holding courts in the gates of walled cities, ch.
V. 4, xxix. 7 ; to desolate cities, ch. xv. 28 ; to cities, ch. xxiv.
12, xxxix. 7 ; to various kinds of armor, ch. xx. 24, 25, and to
the war-horse, ch. xxxix. 21-25 ; to splendid palaces, or tombs,
ch. iii. 14 ; to the deposition of kings, ch. xii. 18 ; to the laying
up of wealth in the form of money, ch. xx. 15, xxii. 24, xxiii.
10, xxvii. 16, xxxi. 24; and to the mining operations, in ch.
xxviii. These allusions may not be perfectly conclusive ;
modern discoveries respecting the ancient Egyptian civilization
may in some degree lessen their conclusiveness ; but they cer
tainly do not harmonize with our notions of the life and manners
of the Hebrew patriarchs before the time of Moses. They
suggest to us a later age.
In regard to the age of Solomon, or the period which in
tervenes between Solomon and the captivity at Babylon, which
is assigned to it by some writers, there is no very decisive ob
jection. Even if the work is supposed to have a national object,
or to have been designed for the encouragement and consolation
of the Jewish people, as a nation, while in a state of calamity,
there are several periods before the captivity, when such a work
would have been appropriate ; for instance, the period of Ha-
bakkuk, whose expostulation 'with the Deity, and' what follows
in his prophecy, have a reserablance to the subject and senti
ments of the book of Job. There is no necessity, however, for
supposing the work to have a national object. If this had been
the case, I think it would have been made more distinctly to
appear by the author. The subject is one which the vicissitudes
of individual experience render as interesting and pertinent in
the highest period of national prosperity, as at the lowest point .
of national depression.
There is one consideration, however, which has inclined the
best Hebrew scholars, of late, to assign the period of the cap
tivity at Babylon as the age of the author of Job, namely, the
Chaldaizing character of the language ; for instance ni)), to

'-1 INTRODUCTION.
answer, applied to one who begins a discourse. The plural
form of n^D, p^D ; D'E'lp, the holy ones, applied to angels ; "ViiO,
xvi. 19 ; e]pn, xiv. 20, xv. 24 ; ysn, xxi. 21, xxii. 3; HJa, vii. 3;
no, not, xvi. 6, comp. xxxi. 1 ; 'Wp for ''Vp, xviii. 2 ; TP for ]n, xii.
4 ; Z^ as a prefix, xix. 29, &o. ; 1DX, to command. From these
and other instances, Gesenius, De Wette, and Umbreit have re
ferred the book of Job to the time of the captivity ; a period
assigned to it by Le Clere, Warburton, Heath, Garnet, and Rabbi
Jochanan among the older critics. But from the few reraains of
Hebrew literature that have come down to us, and our imperfect
acquaintance with the history of the language, it follows, that
it is by no means certain that the words and forms above
mentioned may not have been in use in some parts of Judea be
fore the time of the captivity. B* as a prefix occurs in the book
of Judges ; see vi. 17.
The introduction of Satan, in the historical introduction in
prose, is certainly a strong argument against the high antiquity
of the work. For there is no mention of such a being, by the
name of Satan, in any of the Hebrew writings composed before
the exile in Babylon ; and there is good reason for believing
that it was from the Chaldeans that the Jews derived the con
ception of such a being. This argument seems to be conclusive
against the high antiquity of the work. For it is hardly
credible that the Hebrews should have had the conception of an
evil spirit before the time of Moses, and that it should not once
occur in the writings which preceded the exile. But it may be
doubted whether this argument be conclusive against the sup
position that the book of Job was written a short tirae before
. the exile. As to the opinion of Schultens, Herder, Dathe,
Kichhorn, and others, that the Satan of the book of Job was a
good angel, it is now universally rejected as untenable.
The question may be asked, whether the perfection of the
work is not inconsistent with the state of Hebrew literature
during the captivity. Notwithslanding the .strong language (if

INTRODUCTDN. 23
Bishop Lowth on this point, I think it may justly be inferred from
the Psalms composed during this period, that this question should
be answered in the negative. See Ps. cxxxvii. ; also Is. xl - Ixvi.
On the whole, it appears to me that there are no data upon
which one can form a very confident opinion in regard to the
precise age of the book of Job. The latest period assigned for
it appears to me far more probable than the earliest, and indeed
the most probable ; but that it may not have been written some
time between the age of Solomon and the captivity is more than
any one, who has surveyed the subject carefully, will confident
ly assert. If a time of national distress is deemed probable,
why should not the period of the Assyrian invasion, or that
which followed it, have given birth to the work ?
One more point remains to be considered, namely, the country
of the author of Job. For it has been maintained that he was
not a Hebrew, but an Arabian, and that the work is a transla
tion from the Arabic.
In opposition to this opinion, it is to be observed, in the first
place, that there is no external evidence in favor of it. The
work is now found in Hebrew alone, in the collection of what
remains of ancient Hebrew literature, a collection which has
been held sacred by the Jews as far back as we can trace their
sentiments respecting it. Nor is there any history or tradition
which intimates that the work ever existed in a different lan
guage. I doubt whether the spurious appendage to the Sep
tuagint translation, worthless as it is, intimates that the book
was translated from the Syriac.
It is found, too, in the sacred literature of a people peculiarly
proud of their religious prerogatives, and regarding with cold
ness, jealousy, and often with aversion and hatred, all other
nations. It is extremely improbable that any Jew would have
had the inclination to transfer the production of a heathen into
the Jewish literature, or that he would have been permitted to
do it.
In the next place, the work is not only in the Hebrew lan
guage, but in the best style of Hebrew composition. The
3

26 INTRODUCTION.
parallelism is uniform and well sustained ; the sentences are
pointed ; the style is fresh and vigorous, and bears not, in its
general characteristics, the slightest mark of a translation.
In opposition, then, to the external evidence, and to the
general style of the composition, what are the reasons which
have induced some distinguished men in modern times to regard
the work as the production of an Arabian, and as translated
from the Arabic ?
They are, in the first place, the words, which occur in it
more frequently than in other books of the Old Testament,
which are regarded as Arabic in a Hebrew dress, or which may
be illustrated from the Arabic. But these words are very few
in relation to the whole work, and are not the less Hebrew be
cause they may be illustrated from the Arabic. With the ex
ception of the few forms which resemble the Aramaean, the book
of Job is in as pure Hebrew as any other part of the Scriptures.
It appears to me that the remark of Jahn is perfectly just and
satisfactory in regard to this topic : " It is not at all surprising
that in a lofty poem we find raany of the less common words
and ideas, which the Hebrew, through the poverty of its litera
ture, has lost, while they have been preserved by the Arabic, the
richest of the sister dialects." *
It has been said that, if the author had been a Hebrew, more
of a Levitical or ritual character would have been found in the
book. This consideration seems to me to have a satisfactory
answer in what has been said on page 22 against the high an
tiquity of the poem.
The other argument, in support of the opinion that an
Arabian was the author of the poem, is drawn from the various
allusions to Arabian manners and customs which are scattered
through it. In regard to this argument, there are two things
to be observed. First, we have reason to believe that the
manners of the Jews, in some parts of Palestine, very much
^resembled those of the Arabs. As they sprung from the same
* Jahn's Introduction, § 196.

INTRODUCTION. 27
stock, why should this not be the case, except so far as the Jews
were distinguished by their religious institutions ?
We are apt to form our conceptions of the whole Jewish
nation from what we learn in the Scriptures of the inhabitants
of cities, of Jerusalem in particular. It is to be recollected that
the Hebrews were originally and " essentiaUy a nomadic people ;
their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had ever been so ;
they were emphatically Bedouins, removing with their flocks
and herds from place to place, as occasion might require. In
Egypt they had ever been shepherds, — their province of Goshen
was adapted to pasturage, and not to tillage ; and now, when
they had come out into the deserts, with their flocks and herds,
they were still the nomadic race they had ever been, — a people
resembling those by whom these desert plains, and valleys, and
mountains are possessed to this day." * It is not singular that
the manners of Bedouins should have been in a measure retain
ed by those Hebrews who dwelt out of cities.
It follows from the preceding consideration that the author
of Job, having determined to make his characters Arabians, and
to lay the scene of his work in Arabia, would find no difficulty
in suiting the manners and sentiments of his characters, and his
local aUusions, to the scene which he had chosen ; so that his
only difficulty would be to exclude from his work obvious
references to the Jewish history and religion. If, in addition to
this, we suppose, what is perfectly reasonable, that the Hebrew
philosopher had, like Plato, travelled into Egypt, and through
Arabia, for the purpose of enriching his mind with all the know
ledge of those countries, I think we shall find no difficulty in
the supposition, that a Hebrew, of such genius and skill as are
manifested in this work, might have been the author of it. A
recent commentator on Job, Hirzel, has conjectured that the
author was a Hebrew captive, carried into Egypt by Pharaoh
Necho. See 2 Kings, xxiii. 29, &c.
But this is not all. It seems to me, that, though Arabian
* See BibUcal Repository, No. VIII. p. 787.

28 INTRODUCTION.
manners and scenes are the superficial characteristics of the
work, yet in its general spirit, and in many less obvious
characteristics, the author has manifestly shown himself to be a
Hebrew poet. The very subject ofthe work is just what might
have been expected to arrest the attention of a Hebrew philoso
pher, educated in the religion of Moses. It is similar to that of
other Hebrew compositions, as has been observed before. In
fact, if we regard the spirit and scope of the work, the remark
of De Wette appears not too strong, that it is Hebrew through
and through.
There are also many particular sentiments which we know to
be appropriate to a Hebrew, possessing an acquaintance with
the Hebrew literature and religion, which we do not know to
have been appropriate to an Arabian. Such are the following,
which are more or less satisfactory. Ch. ix. 5-9 ; xii. 10 ; xv.
7 ; xxvi. 5, &c. ; xxxviii. 4, &c. ; — iv. 19 ; x. 9 ; xxvii. 3 ; — iv.
17, &c. ; viii. 9 ; ix. 2 ; xiii. 26 ; xiv. 4 ; xv. 14 ; xxv. 4, 6 ; —
iv. 18 ; V. 1 ; xv. 15 ; xxi. 22 ; xxxviii. 7 ; — xxxi. 26, 27 ; — vii.
7, &c. ; x, 21, &c. ; xiv. 10, &c. ; xvi. 22 ; xxx. 23 ; xxxviii.
17. Add to these the mention of the Jordan as an instance of
a great stream, ch. xl. 23, and the use of the name of Jehovah in
the introduction and conclusion of the work. The sentiments
and some of the expressions, contained in the preceding re
ferences, are common in other parts of the Scriptures. Some of
the sentiments may, it is true, have been held by the Arabians
in common with the Hebrews ; but we do not know it. The
presumption, therefore, is, that they proceeded from one who
was familiar with Hebrew literature, that is, from a Hebrew.
The following instance of resemblance .to passages in the
Psalms and Proverbs are also of weight with those who do not
believe that the work is of very high antiquity, and translated,
and incorporated into the Hebrew literature, so early, that the
authors of the Psalms and Proverbs borrowed from it. To me
it seems more probable that these common thoughts and peculiar
expressions indicate only that the books in which they occur
belong to a common literature, the literature of the same

INTRODUCTION. 29
nation. Ch. v. 16, xxu. 19, comp. Ps. cvii. 42. Ch. xii. 21,
24, comp. Ps. cvii. 40. Ch. xiii. 5, comp. Prov. xvii. 28. Ch.
XV. 16, xxxiv. 7, comp. Prov. xxvi. 6. Ch. xxii. 29, comp.
Prov. xvi. 18, xviii. 12, xxix. 23. Ch. xxvi. 5, comp. Prov. ii.
18, xxi. 16. Ch. xxvi. 6, comp. Prov. xv. 11. Ch. xxvii. 16,
&c., comp. Prov. xxviii. 8. Ch. xxviii. 18, comp. Prov. viii.
11. Ch. xxviii. 28, comp. Prov. i. 7. ri'tt'in Ch. v. 12, vi. 13,
xi. 6, xii. 16, xxvi. 3, xxx. 22, comp. Prov. ii. 7, iii. 21, viii.
14, xviii. 1. run Ch. vi. 2, xxx. 13, comp. Prov. xix. 13.
niSann Ch. xxxvii. 12, comp. Prov. i. 5, xi. 14, and often.
On the whole, it appears to me that the internal evidence
alone makes it more probable that the author was a Hebrew
than that he was a foreigner ; and when to this we add the ex
ternal evidence in favor of this opinion, there seems to be very
little room for doubt.
It may seem remarkable that the author of a work, which, for
reach of thought, richness of imagination, depth and tenderness
of feeling, and skill in its plan and execution, surpasses any
production of Hebrew literature which has come down to us,
should yet be unknown. But, when we consider the vicissitudes
through which the Jewish nation has passed, the wonder is that
we retain the work itself.
" But who," says the eloquent Herder, " shall answer our
inquiries respecting him, to whose meditations we are indebted
for this ancient book, this justification of the ways of God to
man, and sublime exaltation of humanity, — who has exhibited
them, too, in this silent picture, in the fortunes of an humble suf
ferer, clothed in sackcloth, and sitting in ashes, but fired with the
sublime inspirations of his own wisdom ? Who shall point us
to the grave of him, whose- soul kindled 'with these divine con
ceptions, to whom was vouchsafed such access to the counsels of
God, to angels and the souls of men, who erabraced in a single
glance the heavens and the earth, and who could send forth his
living spirit, his poetic fire, and his human affections, to all that
3*

30 INTRODUCTION.
exists, from the land of the shadow of death to the starry
firmament, and beyond the stars ? No cypress, flourishing in
unfading green, marks the place of his rest. With his unutter-
ed name he has consigned to oblivion all that was earthly, and,
leaving his book for a raemorial below, is engaged in a yet
nobler song in that world where the voice of sorrow and mourn
ing is unheard, and where the morning-stars sing together.
" Or, if he, the patient sufferer, was here the recorder of his
own sufferings, and of his own triumph, of his own wisdom,
first victorious in conflict, and then humbled in the dust, how
blest have been his afflictions, how araply rewarded his pains !
Here, in this book, full of imperishable thought, he stUl lives,
gives utterance to the sorrows of his heart, and extends his
triumph over centuries and continents. Not only, according to
his wish, did he die in his nest, but a phoenix has sprung forth
from his ashes, and from his odorous nest is diffused an incense
which gives, and will forever give, reviving energy to the faint,
and strength to the powerless. He has drawn down the
heavens to the earth, encaraped their hosts invisibly around the
bed of languishing, and made the afflictions of the sufferer a
spectacle to angels, has taught that God, too, looks with a
watchful eye upon his creatures, and exposes them to the trial
of their integrity for the maintenance of his own truth, and the
promotion of his own glory. ' Behold, we count them happy
which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have
seen the end of the Lord, (the happy end which the Lord
appointed for him,) that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender
mercy.' " *
In regard to the use of this book, it is hardly necessary, after
what has been said of its character and design, to remind the
reader that the instruction which it contains is to be derived
from its general spirit and design, as a whole, and not from
particular verses or passages. Job was censured by the Deity
for the rashness of his language, and his friends were con-
* Herder's Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, Marsh's Translation , 'Vol. I. p. 120.

INTRODUCTION. 31
demned by the same unerring Judge, as not having spoken that
which -was right. If we regard independent sentences or
speeches, those uttered by the friends of Job must be regarded
as more consistent with Divine revelation, and more respectful
to God, than much of the language of Job. It was in the ab
soluteness of the application of their general maxims that they
were wrong ; in endeavoring to prove by them that Job was a
bad man because he was miserable ; or, in general, that misery
is a proof of guUt

SYNOPSIS.

I. HiSXOBICAI. INTKODtrCTION IN PBOSE. Ch. I., II.
II. CONTBOVEBST IN VEKSE. Ch. III.  XLII. .7.
The speech of Job, in which he curses his birth-day, is suc
ceeded by
I. The pikst sebies of conteoveest. IV. — XIV.
1. Speech of Eliphaz. Ch. IV., V.
2. Answer of Job. Ch. VL, VII.
3. Speech of BUdad. Ch. VIII.
4. Answer of Job. Ch. IX., X.
5. Speech of Zophar. Ch. XI.
6. Answer of Job. Ch. XIL, XIV.
II. Second sEEiEs OP conteoveest. Ch. XV. — XXI.
1. Speech of Eliphaz. Ch. XV.
2. Answer of Job. Ch. XVL, XVIL
3. Speech of Bildad. Ch. XVIII.
4. Answer of Job. Ch. XIX.
5. Speech of Zophar. Ch. XX.
6. Answer of Job. Ch. XXI.
III. Thied SEBIES OF conteoveest. Ch. XXII.  XXXI.
1. Speech of Eliphaz. Ch. XXII.
2. Answer of Job. Ch. XXIII., XXIV.
3. Speech of BUdad. Ch. XXV.
4. Answer of Job. Ch. XXVI. — XXXI.
IV. Speech of Elihu. Ch. XXXII. —XXXVII.
V. The speech of the Deity, which terminates t5e
DISCUSSION. Ch. xxxviii.— XLII. 7.
III. The CONCLUSION in peose. Ch. XLII. 7. to the end.
[33]

JOB. I.
Job's trials. — Ch. i., ii.
1 In the land of Uz lived a man whose name was Job.
He was an upright and good man, fearing God and
2 departing from evil. He had seven sons and three
3 daughters. His substance was seven thousand sheep,
three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five
hundred she-asses, and a great number of servants ; so
that he was the greatest of all the inhabitants of the
East.
4 Now it was the custom of his sons to make a feast in
their houses, each on his day, and to send and invite
5 their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And
when the days of their feasting had gone round. Job
used to send for them and sanctify them, and to rise
up early in the morning and offer burnt-offerings ac
cording to the number of them all ; for Job said. It
may be that my sons have sinned, and have renounced
God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
6 Now on a certain day the sons of God came to pre
sent themselves before Jehovah, and Satan also came
7 among them. And Jehovah said to Satan, Whence
comest thou ? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and
said. From wandering over the earth, and walking up
8 and down in it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast
[35]

36 * JOB. [Cb. 1.
thou observed my servant Job, that there is none like
him in the earth, an upright and good man, fearing
9 God and departing from evil? Then Satan answered
10 Jehovah, Is it for nought that Job feareth God ?
Hast thou not placed a hedge around him, and around
his house, and around all his possessions ? Thou hast
prospered the work of his hands, and his herds are
11 greatly increased in the land. But only put forth thy
hand, and touch whatever he possesseth, and to thy
12 face will he renounce thee. And Jehovah said to Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power ; but upon
him lay not thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of Jehovah.
13 Now on a certain day the sons and daughters of Job
were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's
14 house, when a messenger came to Job, and said. The
oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them,
15 and the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away ;
the servants also they slew with the edge of the sword ;
16 and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was
yet speaking, there came also another, and said. The fire
of God hath fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the
sheep, and the servants, and consumed them ; and I
17 only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet
speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chal
deans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels,
and carried them away ; the servants also they slew with
the edge of the sword ; and I only am escaped alone to
18 tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also
another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were
eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house ;
19 and, lo ! there came a great wind from the desert, and
smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the
young men, and they are dead ; and I only am escaped

Ch. II.] JOB. 37
20 alone to tell thee. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle,
and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground,
21 and worshipped ; and said, Naked came I forth from my
mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. Jeho
vah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away ; blessed be
the name of Jehovah ! In all this Job sinned not, nor
uttered vain words against God.
1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came
to present themselves before Jehovah ; and Satan came
also among them to present himself before Jehovah.
2 And Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou ? And
Satan answered Jehovah, and said. From wandering
3 over the earth, and walking up and down in it. Then
said Jehovah to Satan, Hast thou observed my servant
Job, that there is none like him upon the earth, an up
right and good man, fearing God and departing from
e'vil ? And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although
thou didst excite me against him to destroy him without
4 a cause. And Satan answered Jehovah, and said. Skin
for skin, yea, all that a man hath, will he give for his
5 life. But put forth now thine hand, and touch his bone
and his flesh, and to thy face will he renounce thee.
6 And Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand ;
but spare his life.
7 Then Satan went forth from the presence of Jeho
vah, and smote Job with sore biles from the sole of his
8 foot to his crown. And he took a potsherd to scrape
himself withal, and sat down among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife to him, Dost thou still retain thine
10 integrity ? Renounce God, and die. But he said to her.
Thou talkest like one of tho foolish women. What !
shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we
not receive evil ? In all this Job sinned not with his
lips.

38 JOB. [Ch. III.
11 Now three friends of Job heard of all this evil that
was come upon him, and came each one from his home ;
Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and
Zophar the Naamathite ; for they had agreed to come
12 to mourn with him, and t0| comfort him. And they lift
ed up their eyes at a distance, and knew him not ; then
they raised their voices and wept, and rent each one his
mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward
13 heaven. And they sat down with him upon the ground
seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word to
him ; for they saw that his grief was very great.

II.
Job's complaint. — Ch. iii.
1 At length Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day
2 of his birth. And Job spake and said :
3 Perish the day in which I was born.
And the night which said, " A man child is conceived !"
4 Let that day be darkness ;
Let not God seek it from above ;
Yea, let not the light shine upon it !
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death redeem i-;
Let a cloud dwell upon it ;
Let whatever darkens the day terrify it !
6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it ;
Let it not rejoice among the days of the year ;
Let it not come into the nuinb^.r oF the months !

Ch. ui.] JOB. 39
7 O let that night be unfruitful !
Let there be in it.no voice of joy ;
8 Let them, that curse the day, curse it.
Who are skilful to stir up the leviathan !
9 Let the stars of its twilight be darkened ;
Let it long for light, and have none ;
Neither let it see the eyelashes of the morning !
10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb.
And hid not trouble from mine eyes.
11 Why died I not at my birth ?
Why did I not expire when I came forth from the womb ?
12 Why did the knees receive me.
And why the breasts, that I might suck ?
13 For now should I lie down and be quiet ;
I should sleep, then should I be at rest.
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth.
Who built up for themselves — ruins !
15 Or with princes that had gold,
And filled their houses with silver ;
16 Or, as a hidden untimely birth, I had perished.
As infants which never saw the light.
17 There the -wicked cease from troubling ;
There the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners rest together ;
They hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and the great are there.
And the servant is free from his master.
20 Why giveth He light to him that is in misery
And life to the bitter in soul,
21 Who long for death, and it cometh not,
And dig for it more than for hid treasures ;
22 Who rejoice exceedingly,
Yea, exult, when tbey cau find a grave ?

¦10 JOB. (Ch. iv-
23 Why is light given to a man from whom the way is hid.
And whom God hath hedged in ?
24 For my sighing cometh before I eat.
And my groans are poured out like water.
25 For that which I dread overtaketh me ;
That, at which I shudder, cometh upon me.
26 I have no peace, nor quiet, nor respite ;
Misery cometh upon me continually.

IIL
First speech of Eliphaz. — Ch. iv. , v.
1 Then spake Eliphaz the Temanite, and said :
2 If one attempt a word with thee, ¦wilt thou be of
fended ?
But who can refrain from speaking ?
3 Behold, thou hast admonished many.
Thou hast strengthened feeble hands ;
4 Thy words have upheld him that was falling.
And thou hast given strength to feeble knees.
5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou .faintest ;
It toucheth thee, and thou art confounded !
6 Is not thy fear of God thy hope.
And the uprightness of thy ways thy confidence ?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being inno
cent .'
Or where have the righteous been cut off?
8 According to what I have seen, they, who plough in
iquity,
And sow mischief, reap the same.

Cu. v.] JOB. 41
9 By the blast of God they perish.
And by the breath of his nostrils they are consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion.
And the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The fierce hon perisheth for lack of prey.
And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
12 A word was once secretly brought to me.
And mine ear caught a whisper thereof.
13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night.
When deep sleep falleth upon men,
14 A fear and a horror came upon me.
Which made all my bones to shake ;
15 Then a spirit passed before my face ;
The hair of my flesh rose on end ;
16 It stood still, but its form I could not discern ;
An image was before mine eyes.
There was silence, and I heard a voice :
17 " Shall mortal man be more just than God ?
" Shall man be more pure than his Maker ?
18 " Behold, he putteth no trust in his ministering spirits,
" And his angels he chargeth -with frailty ;
19 " What then are they who dwell in houses of clay,
" Whose foundation is in the dust,
" Who crumble to pieces, as if moth-eaten !
20 " Between moming and evening are they destroyed ;
" They perish forever, and none regardeth it.
21 " The excellency that is in them is tom away ;
" They die before they have become wise."
1 Call now, see if any one will answer thee ;
And to which of the holy ones wilt thou look ?
2 Verily grief destroyeth the fool.
And wrath consumeth the weak man,

42 JOB. [Ch. v.
3 I have seen an impious man taking root.
But soon I cursed his habitation.
4 His children are far from safety.
They are oppressed at the gate, and there is none to
deliver them.
5 His harvest the hungry devour.
Carrying it even through the thorns.
And a snare gapeth after his substance.
6 For affliction cometh not from the dust.
Neither doth trouble spring up from the ground ;
7 Behold, man is born to trouble.
As the sparks fly upward.
8 I would look to God ;
And to God would I commit my cause ;
9 Who doeth great things and unsearchable ;
Yea, marvellous things without number ;
10 Who giveth rain upon the earth,
And sendeth water upon the fields ;
11 Who placeth the lowly in high places.
And restoreth the afflicted to prosperity ;
12 Who disappointeth the devices of the crafty.
So that their hands cannot perform their enterprises ;
13 Who taketh the -wise in their own craftiness.
And bringeth to nought the counsel ofthe artful.
14 They meet -with darkness in the daytime ;
They grope at noon as if it were night.
15 So he saveth the persecuted from their mouth.
The oppressed from the hand of the mighty ;
16 So the poor hath hope,
And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth ;
Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Al
mighty.

Ch. VI.] JOB. 43
18 For he bruiseth, and bindeth up ;
He woundeth, and his hands make whole.
19 In six troubles will he deliver thee,
Yea, in seven shall no evil touch thee.
20 In famine he will redeem thee from death.
And in war from the power of the sword.
21 Thou shalt be safe from the scourge of the tongue.
And shalt not be afraid of destruction, when it cometh.
22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh.
And of the wild beasts of the land shalt thou not be
afraid.
23 For thou shalt be in league -with the stones of the field.
Yea, the beasts of the forest shall be at peace -with thee.
24 Thou shalt find that thy tent is in peace ;
Thou shalt visit thy dwelling, and not be disappointed.
25 Thou shalt see thy descendants numerous.
And thine offspring as the grass ofthe earth.
26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in full age.
As a shock of corn gathered in its season.
27 Lo ! this we have searched out ; so it is ;
Hear it, and lay it up in thy mind !

IV.
Answer of Job. — Ch. vi., vn.
1 Then Job answered and said :
2 O that my grief were weighed thoroughly !
That my calamities were put together in the balance !
3 Surely they would be heavier than the sand of the sea ;
On this account were my words rash.

44 JOB. |Ch. VI.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me ;
Their poison drinketh up my spirit ;
The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
5 Doth the wild ass bray in the midst of grass ?
Or loweth the ox over his fodder ?
6 Can that which is unsavory be eaten ¦without salt ?
Is there any taste in the white of an egg ?
7 That which my soul abhorreth to touch
Hath become my loathsome food.
8 O that I might have my request.
And that God would grant me that which I long for !
9 That it would please God to destroy me,
That he would let loose his hand, and make an end of
me!
10 Yet it should still be my consolation.
Yea, in unsparing anguish I would exult.
That I have not denied the commands of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should hope.
And what mine end, that I should be patient ?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones ?
Or is my flesh brass ?
13 Alas, there is no help within me !
Deliverance is driven from me ! .
14 To the afflicted kindness should be shown by a friend,
Else he casteth off the fear of the Almighty,
15 But my brethren are faithless like a brook ;
Like streams of the valley that pass away ;
16 Which are turbid by reason ofthe ice.
And the snow, which hides itself in them.
17 As soon as they flow forth, they vanish ;
When the heat cometh, they are dried up from their place.
18 The caravans turn aside to them, on their way,
Thev go up into the desert, and perish.

Ch. vii.] JOB. 4iJ
19 The caravans of Tema look for them.
The companies of Sheba expect to see them ;
20 They are ashamed that they have relied on them ;
They come to their place, and are confounded.
21 So ye also are nothing ;
Ye see a terror, and shrink back.
22 Have I said, Bring me gifts ?
Or, Give a present for me out of your substance ?
23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand ?
Or, Rescue me from the hand of the violent ?
24 Con^vince me, and I ¦will hold my peace ;
Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How powerful are the words of truth !
But what do your reproaches prove ?
26 Do ye mean to censure words ?
The words of a man in despair are but wind.
27 Truly ye spread a net for the fatherless ;
Ye dig a pit for your friend.
28 Look now upon me, I pray you ;
For to your very face can I speak falsehood ?
29 Retum, I pray, and let there be no unfairness ;
Yea, retum ; — still is my cause righteous.
30 Is there iniquity on my tongue ?
Cannot my taste discern what is sinfiil ?
1 Is there not a war-service for man on the earth ?
Are not his days as the days of a hireling ?
2 As a servant panteth for the shade.
And as a hireling looketh for his wages,
3 So am I made to possess months of affliction,
And wearisome nights are appointed for me.
4 If I Ue down, I say.
When shall I arise, and the night be gone ?

4t) JOB. [Ch. vii.
And I am full of restlessness until the dawning of the
day.
6 My flesh is clothed ¦with worms and clods of dust ;
My skin is broken and become loathsome.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle ;
They pass away without hope.
7 O remember that my life is a breath ;
That mine eye shall no more see good !
8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no
more;
Thine eyes shall look for me, but I shall not be.
9 As the cloud dissolveth and wasteth away.
So he that goeth down to the grave shall arise no more ;
10 No more shall he return to his house.
And his dwelling-place shall know him no more.
11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth ;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I a sea, or a sea-monster.
That thou settest a watch over me ?
13 When I say. My bed shall relieve me,
My couch shall ease my complaint,
14 Then thou sparest me with dreams.
And terrifiest me with visions ;
15 So that my soul chooseth strangling.
Yea, death, rather than these my bones.
16 I am wasting away ; I shall not live alway ;
Let me alone, for my days are a vapor !
17 What is man, that thou shouldst make great account of
him.
And fix thy mind upon him ?
18 That thou shouldst visit him every moming.
And prove him every moment ?

Ch. viii.] job. 47
19 How long ere thou wilt look away from me.
And let me alone, till I have time to breathe ?
20 If I have sinned, what have I done to thee, O thou
watcher of men !
Why hast thou set me up as thy mark.
So that I have become a burden to myself?
21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression,
And take away mine iniquity ?
23 For soon shall I sleep in the dust ;
And thou shalt seek me, but I shall not be.

V.
First speech of Bildad the Shuhite. — Ch. viii.
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said :
2 How long wilt thou speak such things ?
How long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong
wind?
3 WiU God pervert judgment ?
Or ¦will the Almighty pervert justice ?
4 As thy children sinned against him.
He hath given them up to their transgression.
5 But if thou ¦wilt seek early to God,
And make thy supplication to the Almighty,
6 If thou wilt be pure and upright,
Surely he ¦will yet arise for thee.
And prosper thy righteous habitation ;
7 So that thy beginning shall be small.
And thy latter end very great.

48 JOB. [Ch. VUL
8 For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age.
And mark what hath been searched out by their fathers ;
9 (For we are of yesterday and know nothing.
Since days upon earth are but a shadow ;)
10 Will not they instruct thee, and tell thee.
And utter words from their understanding ?
11 " Can the paper-reed grow up without mire ?
" Can the bulrush grow without water ?
12 " While it is yet in its greenness, and is not cut down,
" It withereth before any other herb.
13 " Such is the fate of all who forget God ;
" So perisheth the hope of the ungodly.
14 " His confidence shall come to nought,
" And his trust shall prove a spider's web.
15 " He shall lean upon his house, and it shall not stand ;
" He shall lay fast hold on it, but it shall not endure.
16 " He is in full green before the sun,
" And his branches shoot forth over his garden ;
17 " His roots are entwined about the heap,
" And he seeth the place of stones ;
18 " When he shall be destroyed from his place,
" It shall deny him, saying, ' I never saw thee.'
19 " Lo ! such is the joy of his course !
" And others shall spring up from his place."
20 Behold, God will not cast away an upright man ;
Nor will he help the evil-doers.
21 While he filleth thy mouth with laughter.
And thy lips with gladness,
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame.
And the dwelling-place of the wicked shall come to
nought.

Ch. IX. JOB. 49
VI.
Answer of Job  Ch. ix., x.
1 Then Job answered and said :
Ji a truth, I know tha"t it is so ;
/ox how can man be just before God ?
J If he choose to contend with him.
He cannot answer him to one charge of a thousand.
4 He is excellent in wisdom, mighty in strength ;
Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered ?
5 He removeth the mountains, and they know it not ;
He overtumeth them in his anger.
6 He shaketh the earth out of her place.
And the pillars thereof tremble.
7 He commandeth the sun, and it riseth not.
And sealeth up the stars.
8 He alone spreadeth out the heavens.
And walketh upon the high waves ofthe sea.
9 He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiads,
And the secret chambers of the South.
10 He doeth great things past finding out.
Yea, wonderful things without number.
11 Lo ! he goeth by me, but I see him not.
He passeth along, but I do not perceive him.
12 Lo ! he seizeth, who can hinder him ?
Who will say to him. What doest thou ?
13 God will not turn away his anger ;
The proud helpers are brought low before him.
14 How much less shall I answer him,
And choose out words to contend with him ?
15 Though I were innocent, I would not answer him ;
I would cast myself on the mercy of my judge.

50 JOB. [Ch. IX.
16 Should I call, and he make answer to me,
I could not believe that he listened to my voice ;
17 He, that falleth upon me with a tempest,
And multiplieth my wounds without cause !
18 That will not suffer me to take my breath.
But filleth me with bitterness !
19 If I look to strength, " Lo ! here am I !" [saith he,J
If to justice, " Who shall summon me to trial ? "
20 Though I were upright, yet must my own mouth con
demn me ;
Though I were innocent. He would prove me perverse.
21 Though I were innocent, I would not care for myself;
I would despise my life.
22 It is all one ; therefore I will affirm.
He destroyeth the righteous and the wicked alike.
23 When the scourge bringeth sudden destruction.
He laugheth at the sufferings of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hands of the wicked ;
He covereth the face of the judges thereof;
If it be not he, who is it ?
25 My days have been swifter than a courier ;
They have fled away ; they have seen no good.
26 They have gone by like the reed-skiffs ;
Like the eagle, darting upon his prey.
27 If I say, I will forget my lamentation,
I will change my countenance, and take courage,
28 Still am I in dread of the multitude of my sorrows,
For I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
29 I shall be found guilty ;
Why then should I labor in vain ?
30 If I wash myself in snow,
And cleanse my hands with lye.

Ch. X.] JOB. 61
81 Still wilt thou plunge me into the pit.
So that my own clothes will abhor me.
32 For He is not a man, as I am, that I may contend with
him.
And that we may go together into judgment ;
33 There is no umpire between us.
Who may lay his hand upon us both.
34 Let him take from me his rod.
And not dismay me with his terrors,
35 Then will I speak, and not be afraid of him ;
For I am not so at heart.
1 I am weary of my life ;
I will let loose within me my complaint ;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me !
Show me wherefore thou contendest with me !
3 Is it a pleasure to thee to oppress.
And to despise the work of thy hands,
And to shine upon the plans of the wicked ?
4 Hast thou eyes of flesh.
Or seest thou as man seeth ?
5 Are thy days as the days of man.
Are thy years as the days of a mortal,
6 That thou seekest after my iniquity.
And searchest after my sin,
7 Though thou knowest that I am not guilty.
And that none can deliver from thy hand ?
8 Have thy hands completely fashioned and made
me
In every part, that thou might'st destroy me ?
9 0 remember that thou hast moulded me as clay !
And wilt thou bring me again to dust ?

52 JOB. [Ch. X.
iti Thou didst pour me out as milk.
And curdle me as cheese ;
11 With skin and flesh didst thou cloth me.
And strengthen me with bones and sinews ;
12 Thou didst grant me life and favor,
And thy protection preserved my breath ;
13 Yet these things thou didst lay up in thy heart ;
I know that this was in thy mind.
14 If I sin, then thou markest me.
And wilt not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am wicked, — then woe unto me !
Yet if righteous, I dare not lift up my head ;
I am ftill of confusion, beholding my affliction ;
16 If I lift it up, like a Hon, thou huntest me.
And again showest thyself terrible to me.
17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me.
And increasest thine anger toward me ;
New hosts continually rise up against me.
18 Why then didst thou bring me forth from the womb ?
I should have perished, and no eye had seen me ;
19 I should be as though I had not been ;
I should have been borne from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few ? O spare then.
And let me alone, that I may be at ease a little while,
21 Before I go, — whence I shall not retum, —
To the land of darkness and death-shade,
22 The land of darkness, like the blackness of death-shade.
Where is no order, and where the light is as darkness.

Ch. XI.] JOB. 53
VII.
First speech of Zophar the Naamathite. — Ch. xi.
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said :
2 Shall not the multitude of words receive an answer ?
Shall the man of words be justified ?
3 Shall thy boastings make men hold their peace ?
Shalt thou mock, and none put thee to shame ?
4 Thou sayest, My speech is pure ;
I am clean in thine eyes, [0 God !]
5 But O that God would speak.
And open his lips against thee ;
6 That he would show thee the secrets of his wisdom,
His wisdom, which is unsearchable !
Then shouldst thou know that God forgiveth thee many
of thine iniquities.
7 Canst thou search out the deep things of God ?
Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection ?
8 'T is high as heaven, what canst thou do ?
Deeper than hell, what canst thou know ?
9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth.
And broader than the sea.
10 If he apprehend, and bind, and bring to trial.
Who shall oppose him ?
11 For he knoweth the unrighteous ;
He seeth iniquity, when they do not observe it.
12 But vain man is without understanding ;
Yea, man is bom a wild ass's colt.
13 If thou direct thy heart.
And stretch out thy hands, toward him.

54 JOB. [Cb. xii.
14 If thou put away iniquity from thy hand.
And let not wickedness dwell in thy habitation,
15 Then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot ;
Yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and have no fear.
16 For thou shalt forget thy misery.
Or remember it as waters that have passed away.
17 Thy life shall be brighter than the noon-day ;
Now thou art in darkness, thou shalt then be as the
moming.
18 Thou shall be secure, because there is hope ;
Now thou art disappointed, thou shalt then rest in safety.
19 Thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid ;
And many shall make suit to thee.
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall be wearied out ;]
They shall find no refuge ;
Their hope is — the breathing forth of life.

VIII.
Answer of Job. — Ch. xn. , xiii. , xiv.
1 Then Job answered and said :
2 No doubt ye are the whole people !
And wisdom will die ¦with you !
3 But I have understanding as well as you ;
I am not inferior to you ;
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these ?
4 I am become a laughing-stock to my friend ;
I, who call upon God, that he would answer me !
The innocent and upiight man is held in derision !

Ch. xii.] job. 55
5 To calamity belongeth contempt in the mind of one at
ease ;
It is ready for them that slip with the feet.
6 The tents of robbers are in prosperity.
And they who provoke God are secure,
Who carry their God in their hand.
7 For ask now the beasts, and they will teach- thee ;
Or the fowls of the air, and they will tell thee ;
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct thee ;
And the fishes of the sea will declare to thee ;
9 Who among all these doth not know
That the hand of Jehovah doeth these things ?
10 In whose hand is the' soul of every living thing.
And the breath of all mankind.
11 Doth not the ear prove words,
As the mouth tasteth meat ?
12 With the aged is wisdom.
And with length of days is understanding.
13 With Him are wisdom and strength ;
With him counsel and understanding.
14 Lo ! he pulleth down, and it shall not be rebuilt ;
He bindeth a man, and he shall not be set loose.
15 Lo ! he withholdeth the waters, and they are dried up ;
He sendeth them forth, and they lay waste the earth.
16 With him are strength and wisdom ;
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leadeth counsellors away captive.
And judges he maketh fools.
18 He looseth the authority of kings.
And bindeth their loins with a cord.
19 He leadeth priests away captive.
And overthroweth the mighty.
20 He removeth speech from the trusty.
And taketh a^^vay judgment from the elders.

66 JOB. [Ch. xiii.
21 He poureth contempt upon princes.
And looseth the girdle of the mighty.
22 He revealeth deep things out of darkness.
And bringeth the shadow of death to light.
23 He exalteth nations, and destroyeth them ;
He enlargeth nations, and leadeth them captive.
24 He taketh a^w'ay the understanding of the great men of
the land.
And causeth them to wander in a wildemess, where is
no path ;
25 They grope in the dark without light ;
He maketh them stagger like a drunken man.
1 Lo ! all this mine eye hath seen ;
Mine ear hath heard and understood it.
2 What ye know, I know also ;
I am not inferior to you.
3 But 0 that I might speak with the Almighty I
O that I might reason with God !
4 For ye are forgers of lies ;
Physicians of no value, all of you !
5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace
This, truly, would be wisdom in you.
6 Hear, I pray you, my arguments ;
Attend to the pleadings of my lips !
7 Will ye speak falsehood for God ?
Will ye utter deceit for him ?
8 Will ye be partial to his person ?
Will ye contend earnestly for God ?
9 Will it be well for you, if he search you thoroughly ?
Can ye deceive him, as one raay deceive a man ?
10 Surely he will rebuke you,
If ye secretly have respect to persons.-

Ch. xiii.] job.
11 Doth not his majesty make you afraid.
And his dread fall upon you ?
12 Your maxims are words of dust ;
Your fortresses are fortresses of clay.
13 Hold your peace, and let me speak,
And then come upon me what ¦will !
14 Why do I take my flesh in my teeth.
And put my life in my hand ?
15 Lo ! he slayeth me, and I have no hope !
Yet will I justify my ways before him.
16 This also shall be my deliverance ;
For no unrighteous man ¦will come before him.
17 Hear attentively my words.
And give ear to my declaration !
18 Behold, I have now set in order my cause ;
I know that I am innocent.
19 Who is he that can contend with me ?
For then would I hold my peace, and die !
20 Only do not to me two things.
Then ¦will I not hide myself from thy presence ;
21 Let not thy hand be heavy upon me.
And let not thy terrors make me afraid !
22 Then call upon me, and I will answer ;
Or I will speak, and answer thou me.
23 How many are my iniquities and sins ?
Make me to know my faults and transgressions.
24 Wherefore dost thou hide thy face.
And account me as thine enemy ?
25 Wilt thou put in fear the driven leaf ?
Wilt thou pursue the dry stubble ?
26 For thou writest bitter things against me,
And makest me inherit the sins of my youth.

58 JOB. [Ch. xiv.
27 Yea, thou puttest my feet in the stocks.
And watchest all my paths ;
Thou hemmest in the soles of my feet.
28 And I, like an abandoned thing, shall waste away ;
Like a garment which is moth-eaten.
1 Man, that is born of woman.
Is of few days, and full of trouble.
2 He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down ;
He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
3 And dost thou fix thine eyes upon such -an one ?
And dost thou bring me into judgment with thee ?
4 Who can produce a clean thing from an unclean ?
Not one.
6 Seeing that his days are determined.
And the number of his months, with thee,
And that thou hast appointed him bounds, which he can
not pass,
6 O turn thine eyes from him, and let him rest,
That he may enjoy, as a hireling, his day !
7 For there is hope for a tree.
If it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender branches will not fail ;
8 Though its root may have grown old in the earth,
And though its trunk be dead upon the ground,
9 Through the scent of water it will bud.
And put forth boughs, like a young plant.
10 But man dieth, and he is gone !
Man expireth, and where is he ?
11 The waters fail from the lake.
And the stream wasteth and drieth up ;
12 So man lieth down, and riseth not ;

Ch. xiv.] JOB. 59
Till the heavens be no more, he shall not awake,
Nor be roused from his sleep.
13 O that thou wouldst hide me in the under-world !
That thou wouldst conceal me till thy wrath be past !
That thou wouldst appoint me a time, and then remem
ber me !
14 If a man die, can he live again ?
All the days of my war-service would I wait,
TiU my change should come !
15 Thou wilt call, and I will answer thee !
Thou ¦wilt have compassion upon the work of thy hands !
16 But now thou numberest my steps ;
Thou watchest over my sins.
17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag ;
Yea, thou addest unto my iniquity.
18 As the mountain falling cometh to nought.
And the rock is removed from its place,
19 As the waters wear away the stones.
And the floods wash away the dust of the earth,
So thou destroyest the hope of man.
20 Thou prevaUest against him continually, and he per
isheth ;
Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
21 His sons come to honor, but he knoweth it not ;
Or they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not.
22 But his flesh shall have pain for itself alone ;
For his soul alone shall it mourn.

l30 J.OB. [Ch. XV.
IX.
Second speech of Eliphaz the Temanite. — Ch. xv.
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said :
2 Should a wise man answer with arguments of wind ?
Or fill his bosom with the east wind ?
3 Should he argue with speech that helpeth him not.
And with words which do not profit him ?
4 Behold, thou makest the fear of God a vain thing.
And discouragest prayer before him.
5 Yea, thy own mouth proclaimeth thine iniquity.
Though thou choosest the tongue of the cra^y.
6 Thy own mouth condemneth thee, and not I ;
Thy own lips testify against thee.
7 Art thou the first man that was born ?
Wast thou formed before the hills ?
8 Hast thou listened in the council of God,
And drawn all wisdom to thyself?
9 What dost thou know, that we know not also ?
What dost thou understand, that is a secret to us ?
10 With us are the aged and hoary-headed ;
Much older than thy father.
11 Dost thou despise the consolations of God,
And words so fuU of kindness to thee ?
12 Why hath thy passion taken possession of thee ?
And why this winking of thine eyes ?
IS For against God hast thou turned thy spirit.
And uttered such words from thy mouth.

Ch. XV.] JOB. 61
14 What is man, that he should be pure.
And he that is bom of woman, that he should be inno
cent?
15 Behold, He putteth no trust in his ministering spirits,
And the heavens are not pure in his sight ;
16 Much less, abominable and polluted man.
Who drinketh iniquity as water !
17 Hear me, and I will show thee.
And that which I have seen will I declare ;
18 Which the wise men have told.
And have not kept concealed, having received it from
their fathers,
19 To whom alone the land was given.
And among whom not a stranger wandered.
21) " All his days the wicked man is in pain ;
" Yea, all the years, that are laid up for the oppressor.
21 " A fearful sound is in liis ears ;
" In peace the destroyer cometh upon him.
22 " He hath no hope that he shall escape from darkness j
" He.is set apart for the s^word.
23 " He wandereth about seeking bread ;
" He knoweth that a day of darkness is at hand.
24 " Distress and anguish fiU him with dread ;
" They prevail against him, like a king ready for the
battle.
25 " Because he stretched forth his hand against God,
" And bade defiance to the Almighty ;
26 " And ran against him with outstretched neck,
" With the thick bosses of his bucklers ;
27 " Because he covered his face with fatness,
" And gathered fat upon his loins,
" And dwelt in desolated cities,
" In houses which no man inhabiteth,
6

62 JOB. [Ch. xvi.
" That are ready to become heaps.
29 " He shall not be rich ; his substance shall not endure,
" And his possessions shall not be extended upon the
earth.
30 " He shaU not escape from darkness,
" And the flame shall dry up his branches ;
" Yea, by the breath of His mouth shaU he be taken
away.
31 " Let not man trust in vanity ; he wiU be deceived ;
" For vanity shall be his recompense.
32 " He shall come to his end before his time,
" And his branch shall not be green.
33 " He shall shake off his unripe fruit like the vine,
" And shed his blossoms like the olive-tree.
34 " The house of the unrighteous shall be famished,
" And flre shall consume the tents of bribery.
35 " They conceive mischief, and bring forth misery,
" And their breast de^viseth deceit."

X.
Answer of Job. — Ch. xvi. , xvn.
1 But Job answered ftnd said :
2 Of such things as these I have heard enough !
Miserable comforters are ye all !
3 Will there ever be an end to words of wind ?
What stirreth thee up that thou answerest ?
4 I also might speak like you,
If ye were now in my place ;

Ch. xvii.) JOB. G3
I might string together words against you.
And shake my head at you.
5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
And the consolation of my Ups should sustain you.
6 If I speak, my grief is not assuaged.
And if I forbear, it doth not leave me.
7 For now He hath quite exhausted me ; —
Thou hast desolated all my house !
8 Thou hast seized hold of me, and this is a witness against
me ;
My leanness riseth up and testifieth against me to my
face.
9 His anger teareth my flesh, and pursueth me ;
He gnasheth upon me with his teeth ;
My adversary sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
10 They gape for me with their mouths ;
In scom they smite me on the cheek ;
With one consent they assemble against me.
11 God hath given me a prey to the unrighteous.
And delivered me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease, but he hath crushed me ;
He hath seized me by the neck, and dashed me in pieces ;
He hath set me up for his mark.
13 His archers encompass me around ;
He pierceth my reins, and doth not spare ;
He poureth out my gall upon the ground.
14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach ;
He rusheth upon me like a warrior.
15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin.
And thrust my horn into the dust.
16 My face is red with weeping.
And upon my eyelids is deathlike darkness.

(; I JOB. [Ch. xvii.
17 Yet is there no injustice in my hands.
And my prayer hath been pure,
18 O earth, cover not thou my blood.
And let there be no hiding-place for my cry !
19 Yet even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And he that knoweth me is on high.
20 My friends have me in derision.
But my eye poureth out tears unto God.
21 O that one might contend for a man with God,
As a man contendeth with his neighbor !
22 For when a few years shall have passed,
I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
1 My breath is exhausted ;
My days are at an end ;
The grave is ready for me.
2 Are not revilers before me ?
And doth not my eye dwell upon their provocations ?
3 Give a pledge, I pray thee ; be thou a surety for me
with thee ;
Who is he that will strike hands with me ?
4 Behold, thou hast bUnded their understanding ;
Therefore thou wilt not suffer them to prevail.
5 He that delivers up his friends as a prey.
The eyes of his children shall fail.
6 He hath made me the by-word of the people ;
Yea, I have become their abhorrence.
7 My eye therefore is dim with sorrow.
And all my limbs are as a shadow.
8 Upright men will be astonished at this,
And the innocent will rouse themselves against the
wicked.

Ch. xviii.] JOB. 65
9 The righteous ¦will also hold on his way.
And he that hath clean hands will gather strength.
10 But as for you all, retum, I pray !
I find not yet among you one wise man.
11 My days are at an end ;
My plans are broken off.
Even the treasures of my heart.
12 Night hath become day to me ;
The light bordereth on darkness.
13 Yea, I look to the grave as my home ;
I have made my bed in darkness.
14 I say to the pit. Thou art my father !
And to the worm. My mother ! and. My sister I
15 Where then is my hope ?
Yea, my hope, who shall see it ?
16 It must go down to the bars of the under-world.
As soon as there is rest for me in the dust !

XI.
Second speech of Bildad the Shuhite. — Oh. x'viii.
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said ;
2 How long ere ye make an end of words ?
Understand, and then we will speak !
3 Why are we accounted as brutes,
And reputed vile in your sight ?
4 Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger !
Must the earth be deserted for thee.
And the rock removed from it.^ place ?

66 JOB. [Ch. xviii.
5 Behold, the light of the ¦wdcked shaU be put out.
And the flame of his fire shall not shine.
6 Light shall become darkness in his tent.
And his lamp over him shall go out.
7 His strong steps shall be straitened.
And his own plans shall cast him down.
8 He is brought into the net by his own feet,
And he walketh upon snares.
9 The trap layeth hold of him by the heel,
And the snare holdeth him fast.
10 A net is secretly laid for him on the ground,
And a trap for him in the pathway.
11 Terrors affright him on eveiy side,
And harass him at his heels.
12 His strength is wasted by hunger.
And destruction is ready at his side.
13 His limbs are consumed.
Yea, his limbs are devoured by the flrst-born of death.
14 He is torn from his tent, which was his confidence.
And is borne away to the king of terrors.
15 They, that are none of his, shall dwell in his tent ;
Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
16 His roots below shall be dried up.
And his branches above shall be withered.
17 His memory perisheth from the earth.
And no name hath he in the land.
18 He shall be thrust from hght into darkness.
And driven out of the world.
19 He hath no son, nor kinsman among his people.
Nor any survivor in his dwelling-place.
20 They that come after him shall be amazed at his fate.
As they that were before them were struck with horror.
21 Yea, such is the dwelling of the unrighteous man ;
Such is the place of him that knoweth not God I

Ch. xix] JOB. 67
XII.
Answer of Job. — Ch. xix.
1 But Job answered and said :
2 How long ¦will ye vex my soul.
And break me in pieces with words ?
3 These ten times have ye re^viled me ;
Ye stun me without shame !
4 And be it, indeed, that I have erred.
My error abideth with myself.
5 Since, indeed, ye magnify yourselves against me.
And plead against me my reproach,
6 Know then that it is God, who hath brought me low ;
He hath encompassed me with his net.
7 Behold, I complain of wrong, but receive no answer ;
I cry aloud, but obtain no justice.
8 He hath fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass.
And hath set darkness in my paths.
9 He hath stripped me of my glory.
And taken the crown from my head.
10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone !
He hath torn up my hope like a tree.
11 He kindleth his anger against me.
And counteth me as his enemy.
12 His troops advance together against me ;
They throw up for themselves a way to me,
And encamp around my dwelling.
13 My brethren he hath put far from me,
And ray acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
14 My kinsfolk have forsaken me.
And my bosom friends have forgotten me.

68 JOB. [Ch. XI.X.
15 The foreigners of my house, yea, my own maid-servants,
regard me as a stranger ;
I am an alien in their eyes.
16 I call my servant, and he maketh no answer ;
With my own mouth do I entreat him.
17 My breath is become strange to my wife.
And 1 am loathsome to my own mother's sons.
18 Even young children despise me ;
When I rise up, they speak against me.
19 All my bosom friends abhor me.
And they whom I loved are turned against me.
20 My bones cleave to my flesh and my skin.
And I have scarcely escaped with the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon rae, 0 ye ray friends, have pity upon me.
For the hand of God hath smitten me !
22 Why do ye persecute rae like God,
And are not satisfied with my flesh ?
23 O that my words were now written !
O that they were marked down in a scroll !
24 That with an iron pen, and with lead.
They were engraven upon the rock forever ! —
25 Yet I know that my Vindicator liveth.
And will hereafter stand up on the earth ;
26 And though with my skin this body be wasted away,
Yet without my flesh shall I see God.
07 Yea, I sluill see him my friend ;
My eyes shall behold him, and not another.
For this my soul panteth ¦within me.
28 Since ye say, " How may we persecute him.
And find grounds of accusation against him ? "
29 Be ye afraid of the sword ;
For malice is a crimi.' for the sword ;
That ye may know that judgment cometh,

Ch. XX. j JOB. U',1
XIII.
Second speech of Zophar the Naamathite. — Ch. xx.
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said :
2 For this do my thoughts lead rae to reply.
And for this is ray ardor within me.
3 I have heard my shameful rebuke.
And the spirit, from my understanding, answereth for me.
4 Knowest thou not, that from the days of old.
From the time when man was placed upon the earth,
5 The triumphing of the ¦wicked hath been short.
And the joy of the impious but for a moment ?
6 Though his greatness mount up to the heavens.
And his head reach to the clouds,
7 Yet shall be perish forever, and be mingled with dust ;
They who saw him shall say. Where is he ?
8 He shaU flee away like a dream, and shall not be found;
Yea, he shall disappear like a vision of the night.
9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more.
And his dwelling-place shall never raore behold him.
10 His sons shall seek the favor of the poor.
And their hands shall give back his wealth.
11 His bones are full of his youth.
But they shall lie down with him in the dust.
12 Though ¦wickedness be sweet in his mouth.
Though he hide it under his tongue,
13 Though he cherish it, and will not part with it.
And keep it fast in his mouth.

70 JOB. [Cb. XX.
14 Yet his meat shall be changed within him,
And become to him the poison of asps.
15 He hath glutted himself with riches.
And he shall throw them up again ;
Yea, God shall cast them out of his body.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps ;
The tongue of the vi[)er shall destroy him.
17 He shall never see the flowing strearas.
And the rivers of honey and milk.
18 The fruits of his toil he shall give back, and shall not
enjoy them ;
It is substance to be restored, and he shall not rejoice
therein.
19 Because he hath oppressed and abandoned the poor,
And seized upon the house which he did- not build ;
20 Because he knew no rest in his bosom.
He shall not save that in which he delights.
21 Because nothing escaped his greediness.
His prosperity shall not endure.
22 In the fulness of his abundance he shall be brought low ;
Every hand of the wretched shall come upon him.
23 He shall, indeed, have wherewith to fill himself;
God shall send upon him the fury of his anger.
And rain it down upon him for his food.
24 If he fleeth from the iron weapon.
The bow of brass shall pierce him through.
25 He draweth the arrow, and it coraeth forth from his body.
Yea, the glittering steel cometh out of his gall.
Terrors are upon him ;
26 Calamity of every kind is treasured up for him.
A fire, not blown, shaU consurae hira ;
It shrtU con-^ume whatever is left in his tent.

Ch. xxi.] job. 71
27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity.
And the earth shall rise up against him.
28 The substance of his house shall disappear ;
It shall flow away in the day of His wrath.
29 Such is the portion of the wicked man from God,
And the inheritance appointed for him by the Alraighty.

XIV.
Answer of Job. — Ch. xxi.
1 But Job answered and said :
2 Hear attentively ray words ;
And let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me, that I may speak ;
And after I have spoken, mock on !
4 Is my complaint concerning man ?
Why then should I not be angry ?
5 Look upon me, and be astonished !
And lay your hand upon your mouth !
6 When I think of it, I am confounded ;
Trembling taketh hold of my flesh.
7 Why is it that the wicked live,
Grow old, yea become mighty in substance ?
8 Their children are established in their sight with them,
And their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are in peace, without fear,
And the rod of God coraeth not upon them.
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not ;
Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

72 JOB. [Ch. xxi.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.
12 They sing to the timbrel and harp.
And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their days in prosperity.
And in a moment go down to the underworld.
14 And yet they say unto God, " Depart from us !
" We desire not the knowledge of thy ways !
15 " Who is the Almighty, that "we should serve him ?
" And what will it profit us, if we pray to him ? "
16 [Thou sayest,] " Lo ! their prosperity is not secure in
their hands !
" Far from me be the conduct of the wicked ! "
17 How often happens it, that the lamp of the wicked is
put out.
And that destruction cometh upon them,
And that He dispenseth to them tribulations in his anger ?
18 How often are they as stubble before the wind.
Or as chafF, which the whirlwind carrieth away ?
19 " But," [say ye,] " God layeth up his iniquity for his
children."
Let hira requite the offender, and let him feel it !
20 Let his own eyes see his destruction ;
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty !
21 For what concern hath he for his household after him,
When the number of his own months is corapleted ?
22 Who then shall impart knowledge to God,
To him that judgeth the highest ?
23 One dieth in the fulness of his prosperity.
Being wholly at ease and quiet ;
24 His sides are full of fat,
And his bones moist with marrow.

Ch. xxii.] JOB. 73
25 Another dieth in bitterness of soul.
And hath not tasted pleasure.
26 Alike they Ue down in tbe dust,
And the worms cover them.
27 Behold, I know youi" thoughts.
And the devices by which ye wrong me.
28 For ye say, " Where is the house of the oppressor,
" And where the dwelling-places of the wicked ? "
29 Have ye never inquired of travellers.
And do ye not know their tokens,
30 That the ¦wicked is spared in the day of destruction.
And that he is borne to his grave in the day of wrath ?
31 Who 'will charge him with his conduct to his face.
And who ¦will requite him for the e'vil he hath done ?
32 Even this man is borne with honor to the grave ;
Yea, he watcheth over his tomb.-
33 Sweet to him are the sods of the valley.
And all men move after him.
As multitudes without number before him.
34 Why then do ye offer your vain consolations ?
Your answers continue false.

XV.
Third speech of Eliphaz the Temanite. — Ch. xxii.
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said :
2 Can a man, then, profit God ?
Behold, the wise man profiteth himself.
7

74 JOB. [Ch. xxii.
3 Is it a pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art right
eous ?
¦Or a gain to him, that thou walkest uprightly ?
4 Will he contend with thee because he feareth thee ?
WUl he enter with thee into judgment ?
5 Hath not thy wickedness been great ?
Have not thine iniquities been numberless ?
6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother unjustly,
And stripped the poor of their clothing.
7 Thou hast given the weaiy no water to drink.
And withholden bread from the hungry.
8 But the man of power, his was the land.
And the honorable raan dwelt in it.
9 Thou hast sent widows away erapty.
And broken the arms ofthe fatherless.
10 Therefore snares are round about thee.
And sudden fear cohfoundeth thee.
11 Or darkness, through which thou canst not see.
And the flood of waters covereth thee.
12 Is not God in the height of heaven ?
And behold the stars, how high they are !
13 Hence thou sayest, " What doth God know ?
" Can he govern behind the thick darkness ?
14 " Dark clouds are a veil to him, and he cannot see ;
" And he walketh upon the arch of heaven."
15 Wilt thou take the old way
Which wicked men have trodden,
16 Who were cut down before their time,
And whose foundations were swept away by a flood ?
17 Who said unto God, " Depart from us ! "
And, " What can the Almighty do to us ? "
18 And yet he fiUed their houses with good things I —
Far from me be the counsel of the wicked !

Ch. xxii.] JOB. 75
19 The righteous see their fate, and rejoice.
And the innocent hold them ir>, derision.
20 " Truly our adversary is destroyed,
" And fire hath consumed his abundance !"
21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace ;
Thus shall prosperity retum to thee.
22 Receive, I pray thee, instruction from his raouth.
And lay up his words in thy heart.
23 If thou retum to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up ;
If thou put away iniquity fi'om thy tent.
24 Cast to the dust thy gold.
And the gold of Ophir to the stones of the brook,
25 Then shall the Almighty be thy gold.
Yea, treasures of silver unto thee ;
26 For then shalt thou have delight in the Almighty,
And shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt pray to hira, and he shall hear thee.
And thou shalt perform thy vows.
28 The purpose which thou formest shall prosper with thee.
And Ught shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When men are cast down, thou shalt say, " There is
lifting up ! "
And the humble person he will save.
30 He will deliver even him that is not innocent ;
The purity of thy hands shall save him.

76 JOB. [Ch. xxiu.
XVI.
Anstrer of Job. — Ch. xxiii., xxiv.
1 Then Job answered and said :
2 Still is my complaint bitter ;
But my wound is deeper than my groaning.
3 O that I knew where I raight find hira !
That I might go before his throne !
4 I would order my cause before him.
And fill my mouth with arguments ;
5 I should know what he would answer me.
And understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me with his mighty power ?
No, he would have regard to me.
7 Then would an upright man contend with him.
And I should be fully acquitted by my judge.
8 But, behold, I go eastward, and he is not there ;
And westward, but I cannot perceive hira ;
9 To the north, where he worketh, but I cannot behold
hira ;
He hideth hiraself on the south, and I cannot see him.
10 But he knoweth the way which is in my heart ;
When he trieth me, I shall eome forth as gold.
11 My feet have trodden in his steps ;
His way I have kept, and have not turned aside from it.
12 I have not neglected the precepts of his lips ;
Above ray own law have I esteemed the words of his
mouth.
13 But he is of one raind, and who can turn him ?
And what he desireth, that he doeth.

Ch. .\xiv.] job. 77
14 He performeth that which is appointed for me ;
And many such things are in his mind !
15 Therefore I am in terror on account of him.
When I consider, I am afraid of him.
16 For God maketh my heart faint ;
Yea, the Almighty terrifieth me ;
17 Because I was not taken away before darkness came.
And he hath not hidden darkness frora raine eyes.
1 Why are not times treasured up by the Almighty,
And why do not they, who know him, see his days ?
2 They remove landmarks ;
They take away flocks by violence, and pasture them. .
3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless.
And take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They push the needy from the way ;
All the poor of the land are forced to hide themselves.
5 Behold, Uke wild asses of the desert, they go forth to
their work ;
They search for prey ;
The wildemess supplieth them food for their children.
6 In the fields they reap the harvest.
And gather the vintage of the oppressor.
7 They lodge naked, without clothing.
And without covering frora the cold.
8 They are drenched ¦with the mountain showers.
And embrace the rock for want of shelter.
9 The fatherless are torn frora the breast.
And the garment of the needy is taken for a pledge.
10 They go naked, without clothing.
And carry the sheaf hungry.
11 They make oil within their waUs,
And tread the ¦wine-vat, yet suffer thirst.

78 JOB. [Ch.xxiv.
12 From anguish the dying groan,
And the wounded cry aloud ;
And God regardeth not their prayer !
13 Others hate the light ;
They know not its ways.
And abide not in its paths.
14 With the light ariseth the murderer ;
He killeth the poor and needy ;
In the night he is as the thief.
15 The eye of the adulterer watcheth for the twilight ;
He saith, " No eye will see me,"
And putteth a mask upon his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses ;
In the daytime they shut themselves up ;
They are strangers to the light.
17 The morning is to them the very shadow of death ;
They are familiar with the terrors of the shadow of
death.
18 Light are they on the face of the waters ;
They have an accursed portion in the earth ;
They come not near the vineyards.
19 As drought and heat consume the snow waters,
So doth the grave the wicked.
20 His own mother forgetteth hiai ;
The worm feed eth sweetly on him ;
He is no more remembered,
And iniquity is broken like a tree.
21 He oppresseth the barren, that hath not borne,
And doeth not good to the widow.
22 He taketh away the mighty by his power ;
He riseth up, and no one is sure of life,

Ch. xxv.] JOB. 79
23 God giveth them security, so that they are confident.
And his eyes are upon their ways.
24 They are exalted ; — in a little while they are gone !
They are brought low, and die, like all others ;
And like the topmost ears of com are they cut off.
25 If it be not so, who will confute me,
And show my discourse to be worthless ?

XVII.
Third speech of Bildad the Shuhite. — Ch. xxv.
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said ;
2 Dominion and fear are with Him ;
He maintaineth peace in his high places.
3 Is there any numbering of his hosts ?
And upon whom doth not his Ught arise ?
4 How then can man be righteous before God ?
Or how can he be pure that is bom of woman ?
5 Behold, even the moon, it shineth not.
And the stars are not pure in his sight.
6 How much less, man, a worm !
And the son of man, a reptile !

30 JOB. [Ch. xxvi.
XVIIL
Answer of Job. — Ch. xxvi.
1 Then Job answered and said :
2 How hast thou helped the weak.
And strengthened the feeble arm !
3 How hast thou counselled the ignorant !
And revealed wisdora in fulness !
4 For whom hast thou uttered these words ?
And whose spirit spake through thee ?
5 Before Him the shades tremble
Beneath the waters and their inhabitants.
6 The under-world is naked before him.
And destruction is without covering.
7 He stretcheth out the north over empty space.
And hangeth the earth upon nothing.
8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds.
And the cloud is not rent under them.
9 He covereth the face of his throne.
And spreadeth his clouds upon it.
10 He hath drawn a circular bound upon the waters,
To the confines of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
And are confounded at his rebuke.
12 By his power he stilleth the sea.
Yea, by his wisdom he smiteth its pride.
13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens ;
His hand hath formed the fleeing Serpent.
14 Lo ! these are but the borders of his works ;
How faint the whisper we have heard of him !
But the thunder of his power who can understand ?

Ch. xxvii.) JOB. 81
XIX.
Answer of Job to all three of his opponents. — Ch. xxvn., xxviii.
1 Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said :
2 As God Uveth, who hath rejected my cause.
And the Almighty, who hath afflicted my soul ;
3 As long as my breath is in me.
And the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
4 Never shall my Ups speak falsehood.
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
5 God forbid that I should acknowledge you to be just ;
To my last breath ¦will I assert my integrity.
6 I wiU hold fast my innocence, and not let it go ;
My heart reproacheth me for no part of my Ufe.
7 May mine enemy be as the wicked.
And he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous I
8 For what is the hope of the wicked, when God cutteth
off his web.
And taketh away his life ?
9 Will he listen to his cry.
When trouble coraeth upon him ?
10 Can he deUght himself in the Almighty,
And caU at aU times upon God ?
11 I ¦will teach you conceming the hand of God ;
That which is ¦with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 Behold, ye yourselves have all seen it ;
Why then do ye cherish such vain thoughts ?
13 This is the portion of the wicked man from God ;
The inheritance which oppressors receive from the Al
mighty.

82 JOB. [Ch xxviri.
14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword ;
And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15 Those of them that escape shall be buried by Death,
And their widows shall not bewail them.
16 Though he heap up silver as dust.
And procure raiment as clay, —
17 He may procure, but the righteous shall wear it,
And the innocent shall share the silver.
18 He buildeth his house like the moth.
Or like the shed which the watchman maketh.
19 The rich raan lieth down, and is not buried ;
In the twinkling of an eye he is no more.
20 Terrors pursue him like a flood ;
A tempest stealeth him away in the night.
21 The east wind carrieth him away and he perisheth ;
Yea, it sweepeth him away from his place.
22 God sendeth his arrows at him, and doth not spare ;
He would fain escape from His hand.
23 Men clap their hands at him.
And hiss him away from his place.
1 Truly there is a vein for silver.
And a place for gold, which men refine.
2 Iron is obtained frora earth.
And stone is melted into copper.
3 Man putteth an end to darkness ;
He searcheth, to the lowest depths.
For the stone of darkness and the shadow of death.
4 From the place where they dwell they open a shaft ;
Forgotten by the feet.
They hang down, they swing away from men.
5 The earth, out of which cometh bread.
Is torn up underneath, as it were by fire.
6 Her stones are the place of sapphires.
And she hath clods of gold for man.

Ch. xxvm] JOB. 83
7 The path thereto no bird knoweth.
And the vulture's eye hath not seen it ;
8 The fierce wild beast hath not trodden it ;
The lion hath not passed over it.
9 Man layeth his hand upon the rock ;
He upturn eth mountains from their roots,
10 He cleaveth out streams in the rocks.
And his eye seeth every precious thing ;
11 He bindeth up the streams, that they trickle not.
And bringeth hidden things to light.
12 But where shall wisdom be found ?
And where is the place of understanding ?
13 Man knoweth not the price thereof;
Nor can it be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep saith. It is not in me ;
And the sea saith. It is not with me.
15 It cannot be gotten for gold.
Nor shall silver be weighed out as the price thereof.
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17 Gold and crystal are not to be compared with it ;
Nor can it be purchased with jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of crystal,
For wisdom is raore precious than pearls.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it.
Nor can it be purchased with pure gold.
20 Whence then cometh wisdom ?
And where is the place of understanding ?
21 Since it is hidden from the eyes of all living.
And kept close from the fowls of the air.
22 Destruction and Death say.
We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.

84 JOB. [tJH. XXIX.
23 God knoweth the way to it ;
He knoweth its dwelling-place.
24 For he seeth to the ends of the earth.
And surveyeth all things under the whole heaven.
25 When he gave the winds their weight.
And meted out the waters by measure ;
26 When he prescribed a law to the rain.
And a path to the thunderflash ;
27 Then did he see it, and make it known ;
He established it, and searched it out ;
28 But he said unto man,
Beholdj the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.
And to depart from e^vil is understanding.

XX.
Job's review of his past life. — Ch. xxix.-xxxi.
1 Moreoveb Job continued his discourse, and said :
2 0 that I were as in months past.
In the days when God was my guardian !
3 When his lamp shined over my head.
And when by his light I walked through darkness !
4 As I was in ray autumn, days
When the friendship of God was over my tent ;
5 When the Alraighty was yet with me.
And my children were around me ;
6 When I bathed ray steps in milk.
And the rock poured me out rivers of oil !

Ch. xxix.] JOB. 85
7 When I went forth to the gate by the city.
And took my seat in the market-place,
8 The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the aged arose, and stood.
9 The princes refrained from speaking,
And laid their hand upon their mouth.
10 The nobles held their peace.
And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth,
11 When the ear heard rae, then it blessed me.
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me.
12 For I delivered the poor, when they cried.
And the fatherless, who had none to help him.
13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon
me.
And I caused the heart of the widow to sing for joy.
14 I clothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed it
self with me ;
And justice was my robe and diadem.
15 I was eyes to the blind.
And feet was I to the lame ;
16 I was a father to the poor.
And the cause of him I knew not I searched out ;
17 And I broke the teeth of the wicked.
And plucked the spoil from his jaws.
18 Then said I, " I shall die in ray nest ;
" I shall multiply ray days as the sand.
19 " My root is spread abroad to the waters,
" And the dew abideth on ray branches.
20 " My glory is fresh with rae, ^
" And ray bow gathereth strength in my hand."
21 To me raen gave ear, and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel.
22 To my words they made no reply.
When my speech drooped down upon them.

86 JOB. [Cb. xxx.
23 Yea, they waited for me as for the rain ;
They opened their mouths wide as for the latter rain.
24 If I smiled upon them, they believed it not ;
Nor did they cause the light of my countenance to
fall.
25 When I came among them, I sat as chief ;
I dwelt as a king in the midst of an army ;
As a comforter among mourners.
1 But now they that are younger than I hold me in de-
ri^on.
Whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the
dogs of my flock.
2 Of what use to me is even the strength of their hands,
To whom old age hath perished ?
3 By want .and hunger they are famished ;
They gnaw the dry desert.
The darkness of desolate wastes.
4 They gather purslain among the bushes.
And the root of the broom is their bread.
5 They are driven from the society of men ;
There is a cry after them as after a thief.
6 They dwell in gloomy valleys.
In caves of the earth and in rocks.
7 They bray among the bushes ;
Under the brambles are they stretched out.
8 An impious and low-born race,
Theyare beaten out of the land.
9 And now I am become their song ;
Yea, I am their by-word !
10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me ;
They forbear not to spit before my face.
11 Yea, they let loose the reins, and humble me ;
They cast off' the bridle before me.
12 On my right hand riseth up a brood ;

<'ii. XXX.] JOB. 87
They thrust away my feet ;
They cast up against me their destructive ways.
13 They break up my path ;
They hasten ray faU ; —
They, that have no helper !
14 They corae upon me as through a wide breach ;
Through the ruins they rush in upon me.
15 Terrors are turned against me ;
They pursue my prosperity like the wind.
And my welfare passeth away like a cloud.
16 And now my soul poureth itself out upon me :
Days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 By night my bones are pierced ; they are torn from me.
And my gnawers take no rest.
18 Through the ¦violence of my disease is my garment
changed ;
It bindeth me about like the collar of my tunic.
19 He hath cast me into the mire.
And I am becorae Uke dust and ashes.
20 I caU upon Thee, but thou dost not hear me ;
I stand up before thee, but thou regardest me not.
21 Thou art become cruel to me ;
With thy strong hand dost thou lie in wait for me.
22 Thou liftest me up, and causest me to ride upon the
wind;
Thou meltest me away in the storm.
23 I know that thou ¦wilt bring rae to death.
To the place of assembly for all the living.
24 When He stretcheth out his hand, prayer availeth noth
ing ;
When He bringeth destruction, vain is the cry for help.
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble ?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor ?

88 JOB. [Ch. xxxi.
26 But when I looked for good, then evil came ;
When I looked for light, then came darkness.
27 My bowels boil, and have no rest ;
.Days of anguish have come upon rae.
28 I ara black, but not by the sun ;
I stand up, and utter ray cries in the congregation.
29 I am become a brother to jackals.
And a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin is black, and falleth from me.
And my bones burn with heat.
31 My harp also is turned to mourning.
And my pipe to notes of grief.
1 I made a covenant with mine eyes ;
How then could I gaze upon a maid ?
2 For what is the portion appointed by God from above.
And the inheritance allotted by the Almighty from on
high !
3 Is not destruction for the wicked.
And ruin for the workers of iniquity ?
4 Doth He not see my ways.
And number all my steps ?
5 If I have walked with falsehood,
And if my foot hath hasted to deceit,
6 Let him weigh rae in an even balance.
Yea, let God know ray integrity !
7 If my steps have turned aside from the way,
And my heart gone after mine eyes.
Or if any stain hath cleaved to my hand,
8 Then may I sow, and another eat.
And wliat I plant, may it be rooted up !
9 If my lieart hath been enticed by a woman.
Or if I have watched at ray neighbor's door,

Ch. .N-Kxi.l JOB. 89
10 Then let ray wife grind for another.
And let other raen lie with her !
11 For this were a heinous crime.
Even a transgression to be punished by the judges ;
12 Yea, it were a fire, that would consume to destruc
tion.
And root out all my increase.
13 If I have refused justice to my man-servant or maid
servant.
When they had a controversy ¦with me,
14 Then what shall I do when God riseth up.
And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him ?
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him ?
Did not one fashion us in the womb ?
ic If I have refused the poor their desire.
And caused the eyes of the widow to fail ;
17 If I have eaten my morsel alone.
And the fatherless hath not partaken of it ;
18 Nay, from my youth he grew up with me, as with a
father.
And I have helped the widow frora ray mother's womb ;
19 If I have seen any one perishing for want of clothing.
Or any poor man without covering.
20 If his loins have not blessed me.
And he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my
sheep ;
21 If I have shaken my hand against the fatherless.
Because I saw my help in the gate,
22 Then may my shoulder fall from its blade.
And my fore-arm be broken from its bone ?
23 For destruction from God was a terror to me.
And before his majesty I could do nothing.
8*

90 JOB. [Oh. xxxi.
24 If I have made gold my trust.
Or said to the fine gold. Thou art my confidence ;
25 If I have rejoiced, because my wealth was great.
And my hand had found abundance ;
26 If I have beheld the sun in his splendor.
Or the raoon advancing in brightness,
27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed.
And my mouth hath kissed my hand, —
28 This also were a crime to be punished by the judge ;
For I should have denied the God who is above.
29 If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated
me,
And exulted when evil carae upon him ;
30 Nay, I have not suffered my mouth to sin,
By asking with curses his life.
31 If the men of my tent have not exclaimed,
" Who is there that hath not been satisfied with his
meat?"
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street ;
I opened my doors to the traveller.
33 Have I, after the manner of men, hidden my transgres
sion.
Concealing my iniquity in my bosom,
34 Then let me be confounded before the great multitude !
Let the contempt of families cover me -with shame !
Yea, let me keep silence ! let me never appear abroad !
35 O that there were one who would hear me !
Behold my signature ! let the Alraighty answer me.
And let mine adversary write down his charge !
36 Truly I would wear it upon ray shoulder ;
I would bind it upon me as a crown.
37 I would disclose to him all ray steps ;
I would approach him like a prince.

Ch. xxxu.] JOB. 91
38 If my land cry out against rae,
And its furrows bewail together ;
39 If I have eaten of its fruits without payment.
And wrung out the life of its owners ;
40 Let thorns grow up instead of wheat.
And noxious weeds instead of barley.
The words of Job are ended.

XXI.
Speech of Elihu. — Ch. xxxii. - xxxvn.
1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he
2 was righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the
wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the
family of Ram ; against Job was his wrath kindled,
because he accounted himself righteous, rather than
3 God. Against his three friends also was his wrath
kindled, because they had not found an answer, and yet
4 had condemned Job. Now Elihu had delayed to reply
5 to Job, because they were older than himself. But
when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth
6 of these three men, his wrath was kindled. Then spake
EUhu, the son of Barachel, the Buzite, and said :
I am young, and ye are very old ;
Therefore I was afraid.
And durst not make known to you my opinion.
7 I said " Days should speak,
" And the multitude of years should teach wisdom."

02 JOB. [Ch. xxxii.
8 But it is the spirit in man.
Even the inspiration of the Almighty, that giveth him
understanding.
9 Great men are not always wise,
Nor do the aged always understand what is right.
to Therefore, I pray, Usten to me ;
I also will declare my opinion.
11 Behold, I have waited for your words,
I have listened to your arguments.
Whilst ye searched out what to say ;
12 Yea, I have attended to you ;
And behold, none of you hath refuted Job,
Nor answered his words.
13 Say not, then, " We have found out wisdom ;
" God must conquer him, not man."
14 He hath not directed his discourse against me.
And with speeches like yours will I not answer him.
15 They were confounded ! they answered no more !
They could say nothing !
16 I waited, but they spake not ;
They stood still ; they answered no more !
17 Therefore will I answer, on my part ;
I also will show ray opinion.
18 For I am full of matter ;
The spirit within me constraineth me.
19 Behold, my bosom is as wine that hath no vent ;
Like bottles of new wine, which are bursting.
20 I will speak, that I may be relieved ;
I will open my lips and answer. •
21 I will not be partial to any man's person.
Nor will I fiatter any man.
22 For I know not how to flatter ;
Soon would my Maker take me away.

Ch. xxxm.] JOB. 93
1 Hear, therefore, my discourse, I pray thee, O Job,
And attend to all ray words !
2 Behold, I am opening my mouth ;
My tongue is now speaking in my palate.
3 My words shall be in the uprightness of my heart ;
My Ups shall utter my knowledge purely.
4 The spirit of God made me.
And the breath of the Almighty gave rae life ;
5 If thou art able, answer rae ;
Set thyself in array against me ; stand up !
6 Behold, I, like thee, am a creature of God ;
I also was formed of clay.
7 Behold, my terror cannot dismay thee.
Nor can my greatness be heavy upon thee.
8 Surely thou hast said in my hearing,
I have heard the sound of thy words :
9 " I am pure, and without transgression ;
" I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
10 " Behold, he seeketh causes of hostiUty against me ;
" He regardeth me as his eneray.
11 " He putteth my feet in the stocks ;
" He watcheth all my paths."
12 Behold, in this thou art not right ; I will answer thee ;
For God is greater than man ;
13 Why dost thou contend with Him ?
For he giveth no account of any of his doings.
14 For God speaketh once, '
Yea, twice, when man regardeth it not ;
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night.
When deep sleep falleth upon men.
In slumber upon the bed ;
16 Then openeth he the ears of men.
And sealeth up for them admonition ;

94 JOB. [Ch. xxxiii.
17 That he may turn man from his purpose.
And hide pride from man.
18 Thus he saveth hira from the pit.
Yea, his life from perishing by the sword.
19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed.
And with a continual agitation of his bones,
20 So that his mouth abhorreth bread.
And his taste the choicest food ;
21 His flesh is consumed, that it cannot be seen.
And his bones, that were invisible, are naked ;
22 Yea, his soul draweth near to the pit.
And his life to the destroyers.
23 But if there be with hira a raessenger.
An interpreter, one of a thousand.
Who may show unto man his duty,
24 Then will God be gracious to him, and say,
" Save him from going down to the pit,
" I have found a ransom."
25 His flesh shall become fresher than a child's ;
He shall return to the days of his youth.
26 He shall pray to God, and he will be favorable to him.
And permit him to see his face with joy.
And restore unto man his righteousness.
27 He shall sing among men, and say,
" I sinned, I acted perversely,
" Yet hath he not requited me for it ;
28 " He hath delivered me from going down to the pit,
" And ray life beholdeth the light."
29 Lo ! all these things doeth God,
Time after time, with man,
30 That lie may bring him back from the pit.
That he may enjoy the light of the living.

Ch. xxxiv.] JOB. 95
31 Mark well, O Job, hearken to me !
Keep silence, and I will speak.
32 Yet if thou hast any thing to say, answer me !
Speak ! for I desire to pronounce thee innocent.
33 But if not, do thou listen to rae !
Keep silence, and I will teach thee wisdom !
1 And Elihu proceeded, and said :
2 Hear my words, ye wise men !
Give ear to me, ye that have knowledge !
3 For the ear trieth words.
As the mouth tasteth meat.
4 Let us examine for ourselves what is right ;
Let us know among ourselves what is true.
5 Job hath said, " I am righteous, •
" And God refuseth rae justice.
6 " Though I am innocent, I am made a liar ;
" My wound is incurable, though I am free frora trans
gression."
7 Where is the man like Job,
Who drinketh impiety like water ;
8 Who goeth in corapany with evil-doers,
And walketh with wicked men ?
9 For he hath said, " A raan hath no advantage,
" When he delighteth himself in God."
10 Wherefore hearken to me, ye men of understanding !
Far be iniquity frora God !
Yea, far be injustice from the Almighty !
11 For what a man hath done he will requite him.
And render to every one according to his deeds.
12 Surely God will not do iniquity.
Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.

96 JOB. [Ch. xxxiv,
13 Who hath given him the charge of the earth ?
Or who hath created the whole world ?
14 Should he set his heart against man.
Should he take back his spirit, and his breath,
15 All flesh would then expire together ;
Yea, man would return to the dust.
16 If thou hast understanding, hear this !
Give ear to the voice of my words !
17 Shall he, that hateth justice, govern ?
Wilt thou then condemn the just and mighty One ?
18 Is it fit to say to a king. Thou art wicked ;
Or to princes. Ye are unrighteous ?
19 How much less to hira that is not partial to princes,
Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor ?
For they are all the work of his hands.
20 In a moment they die ; yea, at midnight
Do the people stagger and pass away,
And the mighty are destroyed, without hand.
21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man ;
He seeth all his steps.
22 There is no darkness, nor shadow of death.
Where evil-doers may hide themselves.
23 He needeth not attend long to a man,
That he may go into judgment before God ;
24 He dasheth in pieces the mighty without inquiry.
And setteth up others in their stead.
25 Therefore he knoweth their works.
And in a night he overthroweth them, so that they are
destroyed.
26 On account of their wickedness he smiteth them.
In the presence of many beholders ;
27 Because they turned away from him,
And had no regard to his ways,

Ch. XXXV.] JOB. 97
28 And caused the cry of the poor to come before him ;
For he heareth the cry of the Oppressed.
29 When he giveth rest, who can cause trouble ?
And when he hideth his face.
Who can behold hira ?
30 So is it with nations and individuals alike !
So that the wicked may no more rule.
And may not be snares to the people.
31 Surely thou shouldst say unto God,
" I have received chastisement ; I will no raore offend !
32 " What I see not, teach thou me !
" If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more."
33 Shall he recorapense according to thy mind.
Because thou refusest, or because thou choosest, and not
he?
. Speak, if thou hast knowledge !
34 Men of understanding.
Wise raen, who hear rae, will say,
35 " Job hath spoken without knowledge,
" And his words are without wisdom."
36 My desire is, that Job may be tried to the last.
For answering like wicked men.
37 For he addeth impiety to his sin ;
He clappeth his hands among us.
And multiplieth words against God.
1 Moreover Elihu proceeded, and said ;
2 Dost thou then think this to be right ?
Thou hast said, " I am more righteous than God."
3 For thou askest, " What advantage have I ?
" What have I gained, more than if I had sinned ?"
4 I will answer thee.
And thy companions with thee.
9

98 JOB. |*-ii. .\.\-\vi.
s Look up to the heavens, and see !
And behold the clouds, which are high above thee !
6 If thou sinnest, what doest thou against Him ?
If thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou to
him?
7 If thou art righteous, what dost thou give him ?
Or what receiveth he at thine hand ?
8 Thy wickedness injureth only a man like thyself ;
And thy righteousness profiteth only the son of man.
9 The oppressed cry out on account of the multitude of
wrongs ;
They cry aloud on account of the arm of the mighty ;
10 But none saith, " Where is God, my Maker,
" Who giveth songs in the night ;
11 " Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth,
" And maketh us wiser than the birds of heaven ?"
12 There they cry aloud on account of the pride of the
wicked.
But he giveth no answer.
13 For God will not hear the vain supplication,
Nor will the Almighty regard it ;
14 Much less, when thou sayest thou canst not see him !
Justice is with hira, only wait thou for him !
15 But now, because he hath not visited in his anger,
Nor taken strict note of transgression,
16 Therefore Job hath opened his mouth rashly.
And multiplied words without knowledge.
I Elihu also proceeded, and said :
2 Bear with me a little while, that I may show thee !
For I have yet words in behalf of God.
3 I will bring my knowledge from afar,
And assert the justice of my Maker.

Cu. xxxvi.J JOB. 99
4 Truly my words shall not be false ;
A man of sound knowledge is before thee.
5 Behold, God is great, but despiseth not any ;
Great is he in strength of understanding.
6 He suffereth not the wicked to prosper.
But rendereth justice to the oppressed.
7 He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous.
But with kings upon the throne
He establisheth them for ever, and they are exalted.
8 And if they be bound in fetters.
And holden in the cords of affliction,
9 Then showeth he them their deeds,
And how they have set him at defiance by their trans
gressions ;
10 He also openeth their ears to admonition.
And commandeth them to retum from iniquity.
11 If they obey and serve him.
They spend their days in prosperity.
And their years in pleasures.
12 But if they obey not, they perish by the sword ;
They die in their own folly.
13 The corrupt in heart treasure up wrath ;
They cry not to God, when he bindeth them.
14 They die in their youth ;
They close their lives with the unclean.
15 But he delivereth the poor in their distress ;
He openeth their ears in affliction.
16 He will bring thee also from the jaws of distress.
To a broad place, where is no straitness,
And the pro^vision of thy table shall be fiill of fatness.
17 But if thou art full of the judgment of the wicked.
Judgment and justice shall take hold on thee.

100 JOB. [Ch. xxxvi.
18 For if wrath be with h^m, beware lest he take thee away
by his stroke.
So that a great ransom shall not save thee !
19 Will He esteem thy riches ?
No ! neither thy gold, nor all the abundance of thy
wealth.
20 Long not thou for that night.
To which nations are taken away from their place.
21 Take heed, turn not thine eyes to iniquity !
For this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.
22 Behold, God is exalted in his power ;
Who is a teacher like him ?
23 Who hath prescribed to him his way ?
Or who can say to him, " Thou hast done wrong " ?
24 Forget not to magnify his work.
Which men celebrate with songs.
25 All raankind gaze upon it ;
Mortals behold it from afar.
26 Behold, God is great ; we cannot know him.
Nor search out the number of his years.
27 Lo ! he draweth u[) the drops of water.
Which distil rain from his vapor ;
28 The clouds pour it down.
And drop it ypon man in abundance.
29 Who can understand the spreading of his clouds.
And the rattling of his pavilion ?
30 Behold, he spreadeth around himself his light.
And he clotheth himself with the depths of the
sea.
31 By these he punisheth nations.
And by these he giveth food in abundance.
32 His hands he covereth with lightning ;
He giveth it commandment against an enemy ;

Ch. xxxvii.] job. lOl
33 His thunder maketh him known.
Yea, to the herds, as he ascendeth on high.
1 At this my heart trembleth,
And leapeth out of its place.
2 Hear, O hear, the thunder of his voice.
And the noise which goeth forth from his mouth !
3 He directeth it under the whole heaven.
And his lightning to the ends of the earth.
4 After it the thunder roareth ;
He thundereth with his voice of majesty.
And restraineth it not, when his voice is heard.
5 God thundereth with his voice marvellously ;
Great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
6 For he saith to the snow, " Be thou on the earth ! "
To the shower also, even the showers of his might.
7 He sealeth up the hand of every man.
That all men whom he hath made may acknowledge
him.
8 Then the beasts go into dens, .
And abide in their caverns.
9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind.
And cold out of the north.
10 By the breath of God ice is formed.
And the broad waters become narrow.
11 Yea, with moisture he burdeneth the clouds ;
He spreadeth abroad his lightning-clouds.
12 They move about by his direction.
To execute all his commands throughout the world ;
13 Whether he cause them to come for punishment.
Or for the land, or for mercy.
14 Give ear to this, O Job !
Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God !

L02 job. [Ch. xxxvu.
5 Dost thou know when God gave commandment to them.
And caused the lightning of his cloud to flash ?
6 Dost thou understand the balancing of the clouds.
The wondrous works of him that is perfect in knowledge ?
7 How thy garments becorae warm.
When he maketh the earth still by the south ¦wind ?
8 Canst thou like him spread out the sky.
Which is firm like a molten mirror ?
9 Teach us what wc shall say to him !
For we cannot address him by reason of darkness.
0 ShaU it be told hira that I would speak ?
ShaU a raan speak, that he may be consumed ?
1 For now men do not look upon the light.
When it is bright in the skies.
When the wind hath passed over them, and made them
clear ;
2 From the north cometh gold ; —
But with God is terrible majesty !
3 The Almighty, we cannot find him out ;
Great is he in power and justice.
Abundant in righteousness, he doth not oppress.
4 Therefore let raen fear hira !
Upon none of the wise in heart will he look.

Cii. .\xxvui.] job. 103

XXII.

Jehovah's reproof of Job — Ch. xxxviii. , xxxix.
1 Then spake Jehovah to Job out of the whirlwind,
and said :
2 Who is this, that darkeneth counsel by words without
knowledge ?
3 Gird up thy loins like a man !
I will ask thee, and answer thou me !
4 Where wast thou, when I laid the foundations of the
earth ?
Declare, if thou hast understanding !
5 Who fixed its dimensions, that thou should'st know it I
Or who stretched out the line upon it ?
6 Upon what were its foundations fixed ?
And who laid its comer-stone,
7 When the morning-stars sang together.
And all the sons of God shouted for joy ?
8 And who shut up the sea with doors.
When it burst forth as from the womb ?
9 When I made the clouds its mantle.
And thick darkness its swaddling-band ;
10 When I appointed for it my bound.
And fixed for it bars and doors ;
11 And said. Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther.
And here shall thy proud waves be stayed I
12 Hast thou, in thy life, given charge to the morning.
Or caused the day-spring to know its place, —

104 job. [Ch. xxxviii.
13 That it should lay hold of the ends of the earth.
And shake the wicked out of it ?
14 It is changed as clay by the seal ;
And all things stand forth as in rich apparel.
15 But from the wicked their light is withheld.
And the high-raised arm is broken.
IB Hast thou visited the springs of the sea,
And walked through the recesses of the deep ?
17 Have the gates of death been disclosed to thee.
And hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death ?
18 Hast thou surveyed the breadth of the earth ?
Declare, if thou knowest it all !
19 Where is the way to the abode of light ?
And darkness, where is its dwelling-place ?
20 That thou should'st lead it to its boundary,
And that thou should'st know the paths to its mansion !
21 Surely thou knowest ! for thou wast then born !
And the number of thy years is great !
22 Hast thou visited the store-houses of the snow,
Or seen the treasuries of the hail,
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble.
Against the day of battle and war ?
•24 What is the way to where light is distributed.
And the east wind spread abroad upon the earth ?
25 Who hath prepared channels for the rain.
And a path for the thnnder-flash,
26 To giye rain to the land without an inhabitant,
To tlie wilderness, wherein is no man ;
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground,
And cause the tender herb to spring forth ?

Ch. xxxix.] job. 105
28 Hath the rain a father ?
Or who hath begotten the drops of the dew ?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice ?
And who hath gendered the hoar-frost of heaven ?
30 The waters are hid as under stone.
And the face of the deep becometh solid.
31 Canst thou fasten the bands of the Pleiads,
Or loosen the chains of Orion ?
32 Canst thou lead forth the Signs in their season.
Or guide the Bear with her sons ?
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens ?
Hast thou appointed their dominion over the earth ?
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds.
So that abundance of waters will cover thee ?
35 Canst thou send forth lightnings, so that they will go.
And say to thee, " Here we are " ?
36 Who hath put understanding in the reins.
And given intelUgence to the mind ?
37 Who nurabereth the clouds in wisdom ? .
And who poureth out the bottles of heaven,
38 When the dust flows into a molten mass,
And the clods cleave fast together ?
39 Canst thou hunt prey for the lioness.
Or satisfy the hunger of the young lions,
40 When they couch in their dens,
And Ue in wait in the thicket ?
41 Who pro^ddeth for the raven his food.
When his young ones cry unto God,
While they wander about without food ?
1 Knowest thou the time ¦when the wild goats of the
rock bring forth ?
Or canst thou observe when the hinds are in labor '!

106 JOB. [Ch. xxxix.
2 Canst thou number the months they fulfil,
And know the season when they bring forth ?
3 They bow themselves ; they bring forth their young ;
They cast forth their pains.
4 Their young ones are strong ; they grow up in the
fields ;
They go away, and return not to them.
5 Who hath sent forth the wild ass free ?
Who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass,
6 To whom I have given the wilderness for his house.
And the barren land for his dwelling-place ?
7 He scorneth the tumult of the city.
And heedeth not the shouting of the driver ;
8 The range of the raountains is his pasture ;
He seeketh after every green thing.
9 Will the wild-ox consent to serve thee ?
Will he pass the night at thy crib ?
10 Canst thou bind the wild-ox with the harness to the fur
row?
Or will he harrow the valleys after thee ?
11 Wilt thou rely upon him because his strength is great,
And commit to him thy labor ?
12 Wilt thou trust him to bring home thy grain.
And gather in thy harvest ?
13 The wing of the ostrich mov eth joyfully ;
But is it with loving pinion and feathers ?
14 Nay, she layeth her eggs on the ground.
She warmeth them in the dust,
15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them.
And that the wild beast raay break them,
16 .She is cruel to her young, as if they were not hers ;
Her labor is in ^ain, yet she feareth not;

Ch. xxxix.] job. lv
17 Because God hath denied her wisdom.
And hath not given her understanding.
18 Yet when she lasheth herself up on high.
She laugheth at the horse, and his rider.
19 Hast thou given the horse strength ?
Hast thou clothed his neck with his trembling mane ?
20 Hast thou taught him to bound like the locust ?
How majestic his snorting ! how terrible !
21 He paweth in the valley ; he exulteth in his strength,
And rusheth into the midst of arms.
22 He laugheth at fear ; he trembleth not.
And turneth not back from the sword.
23 Against him rattleth the quiver,
The flaming spear, and the lance.
24 With rage and ftiry he devoureth the ground ;
He will not believe that the trumpet soundeth.
25 At every blast of the trumpet, he saith. Aha !
And snuffeth the battle afar off ;
The thunder of the captains, and the war-shout.
26 Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk flieth.
And spreadeth his ¦wings toward the south ?
27 Doth the eagle soar at thy command.
And build his nest on high ?
28 He dwelleth and lodgeth upon the rock.
Upon the peak of the rock, and the strong-hold.
29 From thence he spieth out prey ;
His eyes discern it from afar.
30 His young ones suck up blood.
And where the slain are, there is he.

108 JOB. [Ch XI,.
XXIII.
Jehovah's question, and Job's reply. — CH. XL. 1-5.
1 Moreover Jehovah spake to Job, and said :
2 Will the censurer of the Almighty contend with him ?
Will the reprover of God answer ?
3 Then Job answered Jehovah, and said :
4 Behold, I am vile ! what can I ansvrer thee ? —
I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
5 Once have I spoken, but I will not speak again ;
Yea, twice, but I will say no more.

XXIV.
Jehovah's continued reproof of Job. — Ch. xh. 6-xli.
6 Then spake Jehovah to Job out of the whirlwind,
and said :
7 Gird up now thy loins Uke a man !
I will ask thee, and do thou instruct me !
8 Wilt thou even disannul my right ?
Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayst be righteous ?
9 Hast thou an arm like God's ?
Or canst thou thunder with tliy voice like him ?

Cu. XI,.] JOB. 109
10 Deck thyself with grandeur and majesty,
And array thyself m splendor and glory !
11 Send forth the fiiry of thy wrath !
Look upon every proud one, and abase him !
12 Look upon every proud one, and bring him low ;
Yea, tread down the wicked in their place I
13 Hide them in the dust together ;
Shut up their faces in darkness !
14 Then, indeed, will I give thee the praise.
That thine own right hand can save thee.
15 Behold the river-horse, which I have made, as well as
thyself ;
He feedeth on grass like the ox.
16 Behold, what strength is in his loins !
And what force in the muscles of his belly !
17 He bendeth his tail, like the cedar.
And the sinews of his thighs are twisted together.
18 His bones are pipes of brass.
And his limbs are bars of iron.
19 He is chief among the works of God ;
He that made him gave him his sword.
20 For the mountains supply him with food,
Where all the beasts of the field play.
21 He Ueth down under the lote-plants.
In the covert of reeds, and in the fens.
22 The lote-plants cover him with their shadow,
And the willows of the brook compass him about.
23 Lo ! the stream overfloweth, but he starteth not ;
He is unmoved though Jordan rush forth even to his
mouth.
24 Can one take him before his eyes.
Or pierce his nose with hooks ?
10

110 JOB. [Ch. XLl.
1 Canst thou draw forth the crocodile with a hook.
Or press down his tongue with a cord ?
2 Canst thou put a rope into his nose.
Or pierce his cheek with a hook ?
3 Will he make many entreaties to thee ?
Will he speak soft words to thee ?
4 Will he make a covenant with thee ?
Canst thou take hira for a servant forever ?
5 Canst thou play with him, as with a bird ?
Or canst thou bind him for thy maidens ?
^ Do men in company lay snares for hira ?
Do they di^vide him among the merchants ?
7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons.
Or his head with fish-spears ?
8 Do but lay thy hand upon him, —
Thou wilt no more think of battle !
9 Behold, his hope is vain !
Is he not cast down at the very sight of him ?
10 None is so fierce that he dare stir him up ;
Who then is he that can stand before me ?
11 Who hath done me a favor, that I must repay him ?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 I will not be silent concerning his limbs.
And his strength, and the beauty of his armor.
13 Who can uncover the surface of his garment ?
Who will approach his jaws ?
14 Who will open the doors of his face ?
The rows of his teeth are terrible !
15 His glory is his strong shields.
United with each other, as with a close seal.
16 They are joined one to another,
So that no air can come between them.

Cu. xLi.] JOB. Ill
17 They cleave fast to each other.
They hold together, and cannot be separated.
18 His sneezing sendeth forth light.
And his eyes are Uke the eyelashes of the moming.
19 Out of liis mouth go flames,
And sparks of fire leap forth.
20 From his nostrils issueth smoke, as from a heated pot,
or caldron.
21 His breath kindleth coals.
And flames issue from his mouth.
22 In his neck dwelleth Strength,
And Terror danceth before him.
23 The flakes of his flesh cleave fast together ;
They are flrm upon him, and cannot be moved.
24 His heart is solid Uke a stone ;
Yea, solid Uke the nether millstone.
25 When he riseth up, the mighty are afraid ;
Yea, they lose themselves for terror.
26 The sword of him that assaileth him doth not stand,
The spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.
27 He regardeth iron as straw.
And brass as rotten wood.
28 The arrow cannot raake hira flee ;
Sling-stones to him become stubble ;
29 Clubs are accounted by him as straw ;
He laugheth at the shaking of the spear.
30 Under him are sharp potsherds ;
He spreadeth out a thrashing-sledge upon the mire.
31 He maketh the deep to boil like a caldron ;
He maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 Behind him he leaveth a shining path ;
One would think the deep to be hoary.

112 JOB. [Ch. XLII.
33 Upon the earth there is not his master ;
He is made -without fear.
34 He looketh down upon all that is high ;
He is king over all the sons of pride.

XXV.
Job's entire submission to Jehovah. — Ch. xlii. 1-6.
1 Then Job answered Jehovah, and said :
2 I know that thou canst do every thing.
And that no purpose of thine can be hindered.
3 Who is he that darkeneth counsel by words without
knowledge ?
Thus have I uttered what I understood not ;
Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not ;
4 Hear thou, then, I beseech thee, and I will speak !
I will ask thee, and do thou instruct me !
5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear,
But now hath mine eye seen thee ;
6 Wherefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.

Ch. XLII.] JOB. 113

XXVI.
Jehovah's vindication of Job, and the happy issue of his trials. —
Ch. XLII. 7-17.
7 And when Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job,
he said to Eliphaz the Temanite : " My wrath is kin
dled against thee, and against thy two friends ; for ye
have not spoken conceming rae that which is right, as
8 hath ray servant Job. Take ye, therefore, seven bul
locks, and seven raras, and go to my servant Job, and
offer for yourselves a burnt-offering, and ray servant Job
shall pray for you ; for to him alone will I have regard ;
that I deal not with you according to your folly.
For ye have not spoken conceming me that which is
right, as hath my servant Job."
9 So EUphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite,
and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as Jehovah
commanded them ; and Jehovah had regard to Job.
10 And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job, when he
prayed for his friends, and Jehovah gave him twice as
11 much as he had before. Then came to him all his
brethren, and all his sisters, and all his former acquain
tances, and ate bread with him in his house ; and con
doled with him, and comforted him over all the evil
which Jehovah had brought upon him ; and every one
gave him a kesita, and every one a ring of gold.
12 Thus Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than
the beginning ; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six
thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thou-
13 sand she-asses. He had also seven sons, and three
10*

114 JOB. [Ch xm.
14 daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemima,
of the second Kezia, and of the third Kerenhappuch.
15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the
daughters of Job ; and their father gave them an inher-
16 itance among their brethren. And Job lived after this
a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his
17 sons' sons, even four generations. Then Job died, being
old and satisfied with days.

NOTES.

I.

In the first two chapters is contained a brief account of the excellent
character and flourishing condition of Job; — of the afflictions decreed in
heaven to be sent upon him, and the design of those afflictions, namely, to
prove the disinterestedness and firmness of his integrity and piety ; — of
the actual occurrence of these afflictions, and of Job's conduct under
them; — and of the visit of three of his friends to mourn with him and
comfort him.
The character of this introduction, so far as it relates to the upper
world, is thus given by Scott : " This is not history, but a piece of allegori
cal scenery. The noble instruction which it veileth is, that God governs the
world by the instrumentality of seoond causes, that the evils of human life
are under his direction, and that the afflictions of good men are appointed
by him for the illustration of their virtue, and for advancing, by that
means, the honor of religion." The learned Mr. Poole also observes;
" You must not think that these things were really done, . . . but
it is only a parabolical representation of that great truth, that God, by his
wise and holy providence, doth govern all the actions of men and devils to
his own ends." Considered as a part of the whole work, the design of
these chapters is, to suggest the subject of discussion, and, in part, to
illustrate it; and also to dispose the reader to a favorable opinion of Job.
See introduction, p. 24 .
Ch. I. 1. — Job. The most probable meaning of the name is persecuted,
harassed See Ges. ad verb.
3. — three thousand camels. The Arabs used these animals in war, in
their caravans, and for food. One of their ancient poets, whose hospitality
grew into a proverb, is reported to have killed yearly, in a certain month,
ten camels every day, for the entertainment of his friends. Scott, from
Schultens and Pococke. We have here the description of the wealth of an
Arab ruler, or chief, similar to those who at the present day are callel
Emirs. [1 !•'••]

116 . NOTES.
4. — each on his day ; i e. on the day in which it fell to him in course
to give a feast.
5. — sanctify : by ablutions and other observances. See Exod. xix. 10,
14; Josh. ¦vii. 13. — renounced God in their hearts: i. e. been unmindful
of him, dismissed him from their thoughts, or withheld the reverence and
homage which are his due. It is hardly credible that Job suspected his
children of cursing God. He was only apprehensive lest the gayety of a
festival had made them forget God, aud neglect his service and worship.
The term 1]13 generally signifies to bless. It was the term of salutation
between friends at meeting and parting. See Gen. xxviii. 3, xlvii. 10. In
the latter use of it, it corresponded to the English phrase to bid farewell
to, and like that, came to be used in a bad sense for to renounce, to aban
don, to dismiss from the mind, to disregard. It may imply disregard,
neglect, renunciation, or abhorrence, according to the connection in -which
it is used. Xu'iquv in Greek, and valere in Latin, are used in the same way.
Thus Eurip. Med. 1044.: On dijr' 'tyuiyi- jfuipf'ro ^ovf.ei'uara. And Cicero,
in a letter to Atticus (Vill. 8 ) , in whioh he complains of the disgraceful
flight of Pompey, applies to him a quotation from Aristophanes : vraXlit
XaiQBiv ti/tiiv Tm ¦y.uXC), bidding farewell to honor, he fled to Bruudusium.
Another instance of this use of valere is in Ter. And. IV. 2. 14.: Valeant,
qui inter nos dissidium volunt. Also in Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1. 44. near the
end : Deinde si maxime talis est Deus, ut nulla gratia, nulla hominum
caritate teneatur, valeat !
6. — sons of God : i. «. the angels. See ch. xxxviii. 7; Dan. iii. 25, 28.
— Satan. There has been a question whether by the person denomi
nated Satan in this chapter is denoted the malignant spirit, the enemy of
God and man, otherwise called the Devil; or one of the sons of God, a
faithful, but too suspicious, servant of Jehovah.
This latter opinion has been defended by some critics, because they
could not easily account for the presence of the Devil in heaven amongst
the angels of God, and for his fi-ee conversation with Jehovah; by others,
because they regarded the belief in the Devil as having had no existence
amongst the Jews until their return from the Babylonish captivity, and,
consequently, as inconsistent with their opinion of the high antiquity of
the book. But the disposition ascribed to Satan in the narrative is not
very consistent with this view. Nor is there any strong argument to show
that a belief in evil spirits may not have arisen among the Jews at least a
short time before the captivity, in consequence of their intercourse with
foreigners. Satan appears, in this passage, in the oflice indicated by his
name, that ofthe adversary, the accuser, the oflice uniformly ascribed to
him by the later Jews. See Zeoh. iii. 1, 2; Eev. xii. 10. See also Christian
Examiner, for May, 1886, p. 2.36. Tt is observed by Rosenmiiller, that
in the life of Zoro-ister,(s?e Zenil-ivesla, by J. G. Kleukner, vol. iii. p. 11,)

NOTES. 117
the prince ofthe evil demons, ihe angel of death, called Engremeiiosh, is
said to go about the earth for the purpose of opposing and injuring good
men. 11. — will he renounce thee. The phrase is stronger here than in verse
5. It imports an utter and public renunciation of religion as a vain thing.
Scott. 16. — Sabeans : inhabitants of Sheba, a country of Arabia Felix, abound
ing in spices, gold, and precious stones. 1 Kings x. 1, &c. ; Is. Ix. 6; Ps.
Ixxu. 10, 15.
16. — fire of God : i. e. lightning ; which has a similar appellation in
Eurip. Med. 144. : Salt).
Alas ! alas ! May the fire of heaven
Strike through my head I
17. — Chaldeans : a fierce and warlike people, who originally inhabited
the Carduchian mountains, north of Assyria, and the northern part of
Mesopotamia, portions of whom settled in Babylonia and founded a mighty
empire. They are described in Hab. i. 6-11.
20. — rent his mantle, and shaved his head. The custom of rending the
mantle, as an expression of grief, is said to prevail at the present day in
Persia, and, like that of shaving the head, to have been common amongst
several nations of antiquity. Herodotus (II. 26.) remarks, that the latter
was the practice of all nations except the Egyptians, in cases of mourning.
21. — my mother's womb : i. e. the womb of the earth, the universal
mother ; for he speaks of returning thither. The same figure is found in
several languages. See Cic. de Nat. Deor. II. 26. — blessed be the name,
SfC. Here the contrast is observable between the object of Satan, which
was to induce Job to renounce God, and the issue of the temptation, in
which Job blesses God.
Ch. II. 4. Skin for Skin, Src This is a proverbial expression, im
porting, as is generally supposed, that any man will give the skin or life
of another, whether animal or man, to save his own. The observation of
Satan will then imply that Job gave up aU, without complaint, from the
selfish fear of exposing his own life to danger. Others understand the
term '• skin " to denote " the life." The proverb will then be, " Life for
life "; i. c. Nothing is so precious as life. All other calamities are light,
compared with those which threaten one's own life. Others, like for like,
i. e. what a man holds as dear as his skin, i. e. his life, he will give for his
life. 7. It is generally supposed that Job was afflicted with that species of
leprosy called elephantiasis, the elephant disease ; so called from its cov
ering the .skin with dark scales, and swelling the mouth, legs, and feet to

118 NOTES.
an enormous size, although the body at the same time is emaciated. See
Deut. xxviii. 35. The pain is said not to be very great, but there is a
great debility of the system, and great uneasiness and grief. See Jahn's
Archaeology, § 189.
9. Renounce God, and die : i. e. since you must die. Since your
exeraplary piety has been of no use to you, give it up; renounce God; de
sist from your idle prayers and praises, and look to death as the only ter
mination of your miseries, the only fruit of your virtue which you will
ever receive. Schultens. See i. 5, and the note.
But, perhaps, the common meaning of the verb ^jia, to bless, has some
claim to consideration. According to this rendering. Job's wife ironically
exhorts him to go on blessing God, since he received such precious returns
for it. Bless God, and die : i. e. Bless God ever so much, thou wilt die
after all. I am inclined to believe, however, that the term means here
what it does in the nearly connected passages, ver. 5 and 11.
10. In all this Job sinned not with his lips. The author repeats this
circumstance a second time, in order to excite the attention of the reader
to what follows, viz., the conduct of Job ¦with respect to his reverence for
the Deity, and the changes which accumulated misery might produce in
his temper and behavior. Accordingly we find that another still more se
vere trial of his patience yet awaits him, and which, indeed, as the writer
' seems to intimate, he scarcely appears to have sustained with equal firm
ness; namely, the unjust suspicions, the bitter reproaches, aud the violent
altercations of his friends. Lowth.
11. — Temanite. Teman was one of the principal cities of Edom, or
Idumea, distinguished for its wise men. See Jer. xlix. 7 ; Obad. 8, 9.
Amos. i. 12. — Shuhite. Shuah, a son of Abraham by Keturah, was
sent by him into the East country. Gen. xxv. 2, 6. From him may have
descended the Shuhites. Gresenius observes that the country of the
Shuhites was not improbably the same with the :Faxxa' < of Ptolemy, 5,
15, eastward of Batanea. — JVaamathite an inhabitant of Naamah, a
place whose situation is unknown. It could not be the same which is men
tioned in Josh. XV. 41.
12, 13. When they saw him, at the distance at which they could for
merly recognize him without difficulty, disease had so altered his appear
ance, that at first sight they knew him not. The expression of his grief
resembles, in several circumstances, that of Achilles, when informed of the
death of Patroclus. Iliad, xviii. 21 - 27.
Seven days was the customary time of mourning among the Orientals.
See Gen. 1. 10; 1 Svim. xxxi 13; and Ecclesiasticus, xxii. 13. " Seven days
do men mourn for him that is dead." It is not meant that they remained
in the same plaoe and posture for the space of seven days, but that they
mourned with him during that time, in the usual way. — and none spake

NOTES. 119
a word to him. Poole remarks that the meaning probably is, that no one
spake a word to him about his afflictions, and the causes of them. But as
this is not in the text, it seems more probable that the seven days' silence
is only a poetical or oriental exaggeration, designed to express the pro
found amazement of the friends of Job, on accountof the condition iu
which they found him. It may be compared with Ch. xlii. 12, 13, 14.

II
At the end of the seven days of mourning, when no hopes of recovery
from his afflicted condition were entertained by Job, and not a word of con
solation had been offered by his friends, he unburdens his heart in the
strongest language of complaint, lamentation, and despair. He curses the
day of his birth, and longs for death, as the only refuge from his miseries.
The poet has secured the sympathj' of the reader in favor of Job by the
introductory chapters upon the cause of his afflictions, and by the declara
tion of Jehovah, that he was " an upright and good man; " so that in this
plaoe, and throughout the poem, we are more inclined to pity him for his
afflictions than to censure him for his irreverent language.
Ch. III. 2. — spake. The verb njj?, used of a person beginning to speak,
appears, says Gesenius, to be peculiar to the later Hebrew.
3. — the day, ^c. The birth of a son was one of three great occasions
of festivity among the Arabians. The other two were the birth of a foal
of a valued race, and the rising up of a poetical genius in any of their
tribes. When au Arabian gave his daughter in marriage to a person whom
he approved, he used the benediction, " Facilis sit tibi partus, et masculos
parias, non foeminas ! " Pococke. Spec. Hist. Arab. pp. 160, 337. — And
the night, ^c. ;-i. e. which was privy to my conception ; a bold personifloa-
tion, as iu verse 10, and xxx. 17. The Arabic poets delight to personify
the day and the night in this way, as is sho'wn by various quotations in
Schultens ad loc. See also Burder's Oriental Customs, No. 490.
4. — seek it. This is the primary meaning of the word tl'TI, and admits
of a good expl '.nation. The post seems to conceive of the d.ay as sunk
beneath the horizon, or in the deep waters by which he supposed the earth
to be surrounded. He prays that God may not seek it, and bring it from
its dark abode. The secondary meaning, regard, care for, though perfectly
allowable, is less poetic.
5. — shadow of death : i. e. thick darkness ; or, a black and dark shadow,
like that of the dead. — redeem it:i. e. resume their dominion over it,
excluding the light. Thus the cgmmon meaning of 'jSJ ,;'to highly

120 NOTES.
poetical sense to the Hne. — whatever darkens the day : lit. obscurations
of the day. By obscurations of the day, I suppose he understands eclipses,
dreadful storms, &o. Less probably, deadly heats of the d,ay : i. e. in
tolerable sultriness, which causes pestilence. Some writers suppose that
there is a reference here to the poisonous wind Samum, or Samiel, which is
feared in the hottest months of summer. But it appears from the testi
mony of modern travellers that the injurious effects of this wind have been
very much exaggerated. See Robinson's Calmet, Art. Wind. Other
wise, the bitterness, or the misfortunes of the day ; 2 being considered only
as the particle of emphasis, as it is often used.
7. O let that night be unfruitful ! i. e. May there be no births in that
night ! See Ch. xxx. 3, and the note. — no voice of joy : i. e. on account ¦
of the birth of a son. See note on verse 3.
8. Who are skilful to stir up the leviathan ! In all other parts ofthe
sacred writings, in which the word JfT'l'? occurs, it denotes an animal.
Nearly all the ancient versions, and nearly all the modem critics, consider
it as the name of an animal here. It seems to be a common name to denote
monstrous animals of different kinds, as a huge serpent, the crooodUe, &c.
Here it may denote a monstrous serpent. In Ch. xii. 1, the crocodile. See
Ges. ad verb. The verse probably refers to a class of persons who were
supposed to have the power of making any day fortunate or unfortunate,
to control future events, and even to call forth the most terrific monsters
from impenetrable forests, or from the deep, for the gratification of their
own malice, or that of others. Balaam, whom Balak sent for to curse
Israel, affords evidence of the existence of a class of persons who were
supposed to be capable of produoting evil by their imprecations. See
Numb. xxii. 10, 11. Job calls upon the most powerful of these sorcerers
to assist him in cursing the day of his birth.
9. JVeither let it see the eyelashes of the morning! This is the literal
version, and contains an image too beautiful to be thrown away. So Soph.
Antig. 104. . itpufSt]? nor', oi xQvala?
uuiQag ^XiipaQoi , Jigyixi-
tov VTZEQ Qif&fJujv ^toXovaa.
So in Milton's Lycidas :
 " ere the high lawns appeared
Under the Opening eyelids of the dawn.
We drove afield,"
The sun, when above the horizon, is called by the poets the eye of day :
hence his earUest beams, before he is rigen, are the eyelids, or eyelashes, of

NOTES. 121
the morning. Schultens observes, tiat the Arabian poets compare the suu
to an eye, and attribute eyelashss to it. See ad loc.
12. Why did the knees receive me t Why did the officious midwife
receive me, and lay me upon her lap, and not suffer me to fall to the
ground and perish ? Or it may refer to the father, as it was usual for him
to take the child upon his knees as soon as it was born, and thus to
declare that it was his own, aud that he intended to bring it up. Gen. 1.
23. See Jahn's Archaeol. § 161.
14. "Who built up for themselves — rxtins ! i. e. splendid palaces, or,
perhaps, tombs, destined soon to fall into ruins. See Is. xliv. 26. In the
form of expression, the line is similar to Hab.. ii. 13 ; Jei-. li. 58.
That nations shall labor for fire.
And kingdoms weary themselves for nought.
i. e. for that which shall be burnt up, &e. Otherwise, The repairers of
desolated places ; a circumstance mentioned to show their wealth, grandeur
and glory. See Is. Iviii. 12, Ixi. 4 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 10.
20. The name of the Supreme Being is often omitted in this book, and
the pronoun made to supply its place. In such cases the pronoun is
printed, in this version, with a capital letter. This corresponds to the
custom in Scotland, where they say, " May His will be done ! " " May
His name be praised ! " without an antecedent to the pronoun. So in
Scott's Black Dwarf, near the end of Chap. VII. :
" 0, my child, before you run on danger let me hear you but say, ' His
will be done ! ' "
" Urge me not, mother — not now. ' ' He was rushing out, when, looking
back, he observed his grandmother make a mute attitude of affliction. He
retumed hastily, threw himself into her arms, and said, •' Yes, mother, I
can say, ' His wUl be done ! ' since it ¦will comfort you. "
' ' May He go forth — may He go forth with you, my dear bairn : and 0 ,
may He give you cause to say, on your return, ' His name be praised ! ' "
23. — from whom the way is hid, S;c. : i. e. who knows not which way
to turn himself ; who can see no way of escape from the miseries, which,
in the latter clause of the verse, are represented as surrounding him, ns
with a high wall or hedge.
24. — my sighing cometh before I eat : i. e. it cometh on when I begin to
eat, and prevents my taking my necessary nourishment. So Juv. Sat. xiii.
211. : Perpetua anxietas, nee mensse tempore cessat.
25. for that which I dread, SfC. I understand this as referring to con
tinual fears caused by the disease, which fears are said not to be greater
then his actual miseries. See note on ii. 7, where uneasiness and grief are
said to be caused by the disease.
11

122 NOTES.

Ill

In the fourth and fifth chapters, Eliphaz, oneof the three friends who had
come to comfort Job, is represented as constrained by his intemperate
language to exprese those sentiments, and vent those suspicions, which the
view of his miserable condition had suggested, and which, from pity and
delicacy, had been hitherto suppressed. The inhumanity of Eliphaz and
the other friends of Job, which by mauy is thought unnatural, serves to
introduce and help forward the' discussion of the moral question which it
was the main design of thf poem to illustrate.
He reproves Job's impatience, and exhorts him not to give way to grief
aud despondency, but to put in practice those lessons whieh he had so
often recommended to others. He then advances the doctrine which he and
.his friends maintain throughout the poem, that misery implies guilt ; and
insinuates that the wickedness of Job was the cause of his present afflic
tions. Ch. iv. 2-11. In support of his views he brings forward a
revelation which he professes to have formerly received in a vision. This
revelation asserts the exceeding imperfection of human virtue, the absolute
rectitude of God, and the impiety of arraigning the justice of his moral
government. The oraole itself is therefore excellent. It is the application
of it in which Eliphaz is mistaken. He has erroneous notions of what the
justice of God requires. He supposes that it implies that all suffering
must be the punishment of sin ; and he seems to condemn Job not only
for his actual complaints, but also for not regarding and acknowledging
his afflictions to be the merited punishraent of his transgressions. 12-21.
In the fifth chapter he is more direct, as well as more severe, in his
censures, and exhorts Job to humble himself before God, and repent of his
sins. He assures him that, by such a course, he may regain his former
prosperity. Ch. IV. 5. But now it, i. c. calamity, SfC.
6. Is not thy fear, |-c. These words may be understood as a friendly
admonition to Job to recollect his religious principles, and to support him-
self by the clearness of his conscience. On the other hand, they may im
port that no good man would fall into despair under affliction, as he had
done. There is an appearance of art in this ambiguity. Scott.
As the substantive verb is understood, some critics prefer to render it
thus : Was not thy fear of God thy hope ?
And the uprightness of thy ways thine expectation ?
i. e. Did not thy piety and integrity spring froin the hope of reward,
from a regard to thine own interest, rather than from the love of God ?
So Meroier, and Castalio, -whose version is.

NOTES. 123
Nimirum tantum religionis, quaStuin expectationis;
Quantum spei, tantum habebas integritatis morum.
This corresponds with the question of Satan, " Is it for nought that Joh
feareth God?"
1, 8. These expressions, also, may be understood as a consolatory argu
ment to confirm the hope whioh consoious integrity should inspire : " Good
men are sometimes chastised severely for their crimes, but not destroyed;
calamities which end in destruction are the portion of the wicked only."
On the other hand, his meaning may be : " Calamities like yours being
the lot of wicked men only, some wickedness of yours must needs have
brought these calamities upon you." Here, then, we have another in
stance of artful ambiguity. Scott.
10. Unjust and rapacious men are in Scripture frequently called lions.
See Ps. xxxiv. 10; Iviii. 6. •
19. Who crumble to pieces, as if moth-eaten ! Lit. They crumble
them to pieces, as the moth a garment. So Ros., who remarks, after
Schultens and Noldius, that the particle 'Js'? often has the meaning, as,
Uke, tanquam. Thus, 1 Sam. i. 16, " Regard not thy servant as a daugh
ter of Belial." The Sept. has it, ojjtos tjotiov, and theoldVulg., tanquam
tinea; the Vulg., sicut a tinea. Comp. ch. xiii. 28; Is. i. 9, li. 8.
20. Between morning and evening, SfC. The meaning is. They live
scarcely a single day. See Ex. xviii. 14; Isa. xxx-viii. 12. Itis not the
frequent occurrence of death in the course of a day, but the shortness of
man's life, that is meant to be expressed. So Pindar, Pyth. viii. 135. -.
"EnufiEQot. t/ di iig; ri d' ov riq;
2xtag Sj-a^ ar^(Ju>-/Toi.
Beings of a day ! What is man .' What is he not ?
He 's the dream of a shadow !
— and none regardeth it. The destruction of mankind by death is not re
garded, or minded, by the rest of the creation. This is only a rhetorical
way of representing how insignificant a creature man is, compared with
the higher orders of beings.
Ch. V. 1. See if any one, Ifc. i. e. will take thy part, and advocate
thy cause.
— to which of the holy ones wilt thou look ? i. e. whom amongst the
heavenly host wUt thou persuade to be thine advocate, or to take thy part,
in a controversy 'with the Almighty ? The words call and answer are
used in this judicial sense in oh. xiii. 22, xiv. 15, and in other places.
Another less probaAile meaning is that of Grotius and others, who suppose
that Eliphaz, having triumphantly produced a divine revelation in support
of his views respecting the conduct of Job, calls upon him to bring for-

1-24 NOTES.
ward something of the same kind iu his defence, if he could, — to call and
see if any of the heavenly spirits would answer him, and -give a revelation
in his favor.
2. Verily grief destroyeth the fool. Grief and wrath hasten the destruc
tion of the foolish man, either by preying upon his spirits, or by drawing
down upon him severe punishment from the Almighty. His sufferings are
the fruit of his own criminal passions. The terms foolish and wea,k are
often, in Scripture, applied to impious and wicked men.
3. — I cursed his habitation. This may mean, I predicted his downfall.
See Gerard's Inst., § 882. Or, I actually witnessed the sudden ruin of
his fortunes, and pronounced his habitation accursed.
4. — at the gate : i. e. in tbe courts of justice, which used to be held at
the gates of cities. See Jahn's Arohseol., § 247.
5. — the thorns : i. e. the hedge of thorns.- ,
6. For affliction cometh not, SfC. The meaning appears to be. The
afflictions of life are not to be ascribed to chance, or to merely natural
causes, but to the will of Heaven.
7. Behold, man is born to trouble : i. e. men are born under a law, or
•with a constitution, which subjects them to sorrow as soon as they be
come transgressors. Bishop Patrick's paraphrase is, " God hath made it
.as natural for man to suffer, (having offended him,) as it is for the sparks
to fly upward." CIB'T ''J3, sons of flame, or of lightning, may denote
sparks, or birds swift as lightning. As birds have not been mentioned, the
former seems the closest rendering.
15. — oppressed. This version is obtained by altering the points 3inD
{from the sword) to Jino, hophal participle from 3in. This amendment
of the text is adopted by Durell, Michaelis, Dathe, Doederlein, Eichhorn,
and others.
16. — iniquity stoppeth her mouth : i. e. unrighteous and insidious op
pressors are confounded and struck dumb, when they see their schemes
frustrated, and find themselves entangled in the snares which they have
laid for others. See Ps. cvii. 41, 42.
23. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: i. e. thou
shalt be secure from injury from the stones in walking, journeying, &c.
See Ps. xci. 11, 12. Dr. Shaw observes : "The custom, which still con
tinues, of walking either barefoot or with slippers, requires the ancient
compliment of bringing water, upon the arrival ofa stranger, to wash
his feet." — "The feet, being thus unguarded, were every moment liable
to be hurt and injured ; and from thence perhaps the danger, without the
divine assistance, which ever protects us from the smallest misfortunes,
of dashing ihem against a stone, Ps. xci. 12, which, perhaps may further
illustr.ate that difficult text, Job v. 23, of being in league with the stones

NOTES. 125
of the field." Shaw's Travels, &o. Vol. 1. p. 428. Or, Thy field shall be
free from stones, whioh would make it barren.
24. — tent. There is some doubt whether ^ns should be rendered tent,
V
according to its primary meaning, or house, habitation, its secondary
meaning. For in ch. xxix. 7, and other passages. Job is represented as
dwelling in a city. — and not be disappointed, hit. miss; used of slingers,
Judg. XX. 16 : i. e. thou shalt find all thy household affairs in such a con
dition as meets thy best wishes and expectations. t]1J here rendered thy
dwelling, may denote thy fold or pasture. It occurs in the Scriptures in
both senses. But as it is parallel with tent, and occurs in verse third of
this chapter in the sense of habitation, I prefer the latter sense here.

IV.

In reply to the harsh censures and insinuations of Eliphaz, Job justifies
the boldness of his complaints by the severity of the afflictions which ex
torted them from him. Ch. vi. 2 - 13. He complains of the unkindness
of his friends in pronouncing him guilty because he was miserable, and in
coming to him ¦mlth reproaches instead of consolations. 14-23. He re
quests them to treat him with fairness ; to examine his oase, and not to
condemn hiin on account of his miserable condition. 24 - 80. He pro
ceeds to speak of the miseries and of the shortness of human life, from
which he passes to his own condition, and expostulates with the Deity
upon the greatness of his afflictions, and their long continuance. Ch. vii.
Ch. VI. 2. — my grief: i. b. my distress or my aflliction. He wishes
that his afflictions, together with the distress of mind caused by them,
might be put into one scale, and weighed against the sand of the sea in
the other. This is only a poetical way of saying that they were insup
portable. 3. — rash. See Ges. Lexicon, upon Hi'S.
4. For the arrows. His distress, arising from his other afflictions as
well as his disease, is compared to that of a person shot with poisoned ar
rows. He exaggerates his distress by the circumstance that these arrows
are hurled by the arm of the Almighty.
5. Doth the -wild ass bray, S;c. As the lower animals do not complain
by braying and lowing, when they have plenty of food, so neither should I
complain, were it not for the insupportable weight of my afflictions.
11*

126 NOTES.
6. Can that which is unsavory, ^c. Men usually complain of their
food, when it is unsavory ; but how much greater reason have I to com
plain, when I am obliged to bear those afflictions at the very thought of
whioh I used to shudder ! Some critics, however, suppose that he here
lashes Eliphaz for his harangue on the blessings of patience, and charac
terizes his discourse as insipid, impertinent, and disgusting. — white of an
egg. It may be that the term niD^n, which occurs not elsewhere in the
Scriptures, rather denotes purslain, an herb which was proverbial for its
insipidity among the Arabs, Greeks, and Romans. The literal meaning
will theu be. Is there any taste in purslain saliva 1 a contemptuous
expression for -purslain broth. But as the comparison is more expressive
to thB English reader according to the common version, and has the
support of the Rabbins and Targums, I retain it.
7. What my soul, SfC. In order to justify this rendering, which in
sense is that of the Common Version, it is not necessary to decide whether
there is an ellipsis of the relative lisx or not; or whether such an ellip
sis is an allowable idiom of Hebrew Grammar, or not. It is certainly most
probable that rrsfl refers to the calamities or sufferings, expressed in
verses 2-4. My version sufficiently expresses this reference without ad
ding anything which is not implied in the connection.
9. — let loose his hand. Lit. loosen his hand, which, when inactive, is
figuratively regarded as bound, and when exerted, as set free, — make
an end of me ! a metaphor, which seems to be borrowed from the practice
of a weaver, who cuts off the web, when it is finished, from the thrum,
by which it was fastened to the beam.
10. — I would exult : lit. leap. 1^70 occurs only once in the Scriptures,
except as a proper name. I now prefer the rendering exult, as better
supported by tradition, and rather better suited to the parallelism and the
connection, than the former rendering, be consumed, lit. burn. The Sept.
has it iiXXoiiriv ; the old Latin,*aZte4ara ; the Chald. exultarem. It is
also supported by a similar word in the Arabic. See Ges. Lex. in verb.
11. — Mnd what mine end, ihat I should be patient? i. e. How distant
mine end ? How long have I to live .' Or, since my end, threatened by my
disease, is so near, why should I not prefer to die at once, and invoke
destruction, rather than bear continued calamities with patience. Am I
not so much exhausted, and brought so near my end, as to have reason to
be impatient ?
13. Qxn is used as an adverb of exclamation in this and other passages.
See Ges. In the Vulg. ecce ! For the rendering deliverance, see Ges.
So the Sept., {fot'jS^iu Ss ai' niov ^-mariv. Arab, salus.
14. Else: The particle 1 is so rendered in the common version, in

NOTES. 127
Ps. li. 1 6 : Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. — he : i. e.
the friend who does not show kindness to the afflicted.
15-20. But my brethren, ^c. This simile is exquisitely beautiful,
considered as a description of a scene of nature in the deserts of Arabia.
But its principal beauty lies in the exact correspondence of all its parts to
the thing it is intended to represent. The fulness, strength, and noise of
these temporary streams in winter answer to the large professions made to
Job in his prosperity by his friends. The drying up of the waters, at the
approach of summer, resembles the failure of their friendship in his
affliction. And the confusion of the thirsty caravans, on finding the
streams vanished, strongly illustrates his feelings, disappointed as he was
of the relief he expected in these men's friendly counsels. Scott.
Schultens observes that the Arabs compare a treacherous friend to one
of these torrents, and hence say, " I put no trust in the flowing of thy
torrent ; " and, " 0 torrent, thy flo^wing subsides." — that pass away;
Com. xi. 16.
16. — the ice : i. e. which melts on the hills and fiows into them.
— hides itself in them : i. e. melts and flows into them. Scott observes that
these streams are first formed by the autumnal rains. The warmth and
rains of the spring, melting the ice and snow on the mountains, increase
them. They then rush down into the valleys, in a large body of turbid
water, and assume the appearance of deep rivers. The beds of these
winter rivers are also called torrents. Bishop Pococke saw several of them
perfectly dry, in his joumey to Mount Sinai in the month of April. See
Pocooke's Description of the East, Vol. I. pp. 139-141.
17. — flow forth : i. e. as soon as the snowwater is exhausted, the
streams disappear. The contrast is between streams from natural peren
nial fountains, and those which proceed from torrents of melted snow and
ice. 18. The caravans, SfC. : i. e. The caravans turn aside to them ¦with the
expectation of finding a supply of water, but are disappointed, and obliged
to pursue their journey without a supply in the desert, where they perish
with thirst. Thus it agrees, in its general meaning, with the following
verses. — go up into ihe desert : which, like the sea, seems to rise to him
that beholds it.
20. — their place : i. e. the place or channel of the streams, where they
flowed before they were dried up.
21. — terror ; i. e. my terrible sufferings.
22. — a present : i. e. to the judge, to secure his good-will by a bribe.
25. — what do your reproaches prove 1 i. e. what guilt do they convict
me of .'
26. Do ye mean to censure words 7 i. e. Do ye think it reasonable to
carp at mere words, extorted from me by extreme misery ? You ought to

128 NOTES.
consider that a man in the extremity of misery utters many inconsiderate
expressions, which ought not to be severely censured, but rather laid to
the account of human infirmity, and regarded as idle wind.
27. Truly ye spread, (fc. The expressions in this verse are proverbial,
and refer to the cruelty of his friends in bringing unfounded charges
against his moral character.
28. Look now upon me, I pray you. He may be understood literally,
as requesting them to look in his face, and see if he betrayed any signs of
falsehood or guilt ; or figuratively, as requesting them to be more favora
ble to him, and to give him a hearing ; to judge from his appearance
whether he was false or guilty.
29. Return, ^c. : i. e. to the discussion.
30. Is there iniquity, S^c. : i. e. Is there any falsehood or wickedness in
what I have said, or am about to say ? Have not I the capacity of dis
tinguishing right from wrong, and truth from falsehood, as well as your
selves ; and if I had said or done anything wrong, should I not be
conscious of it ?
Ch. VII. 1. 7s there not a war-service. The word NDS is rendered
warfaie, in Is. xl. 2, in the common version. The Vulg., Syr., and Arab.
render it so in this verse. But the expression has particular reference to
the hard and wearisome service which the military life required, and to
the longing of the soldier to see the end of it.
5. My flesh, S^c. Maundrell, describing ten lepers whom he saw iu
Palestine, says : " The whole distemper, indeed, as it there appeared, was
so noisome, that it might well pass for the utmost corruption of the human
body on this side the grave." Maundrell's Journey, p. 252, &c. Amer.
edit. 7. 0 remember, ^c. He here turns to the Deity, and pleads the short
ness of life as a reason why he should be relieved from his sufferings. In
ver. 9, 10, he urges, for the same reason, the certainty that he should not
return to life.
8. Thine eyes shall look for me. See note on ver. 22.
9. — the grave. lAt. to sheol, the underworld.
12. Am la sea, SfC. He complains that God treated him as though he
were some furious tyrant, whom only the most severe inflictions could
restrain from exceeding the bounds of justice, and spreading destruction
among mankind. " Am I as fierce and dangerous as the raging sea, or as
some strong and ungovernable sea-monster, both of which must be re
strained by great exertions, and watched with unceasing vigilance, lest
they should spread destruction and death?" Michaelis thinks that by
ihe sea Job meant the Nile, which, when it rises beyond a certain height.

NOTES. 129
becomes an inundation, and causes immense damage. Schultens quotes
Arabsjah, an Arabic poet, who calls Tamerlane " a vast sea, swallowing up
everytMng. " Burder observes : " Crocodiles are very terrible to the in
habitants of Egypt ; when, therefore, they appear, they watch them with
great attention, and take proper precautions to secure them, so that they
may not be able to avoid the deadly weapons afterwards used to kill them.
To these watchings and those deadly after-assaults I apprehend Job
refers." 15. — rather than these my bones. Lit. rather than my bones : i. e.
than the wretched skeleton, whioh is nearly all that is left of me.
16. Iam wasting away. The Hebrew word, thus rendered, is transla
ted melt away, in the common version, in Ps. Iviii. 7. The Arab., accord
ing to Walton, is. Jam viribus defectus sum.
17, 18. Job suggests that it was beneath the character of the infinite
God to bestow so much time and attention, aud such vigilant inspection,
upon so insignificant a being as man ; and this for no other purpose than to
mark and punish all his defects and failures.
19. — look away from me : i. e. turn away thine angry countenance
from me, or cease to afflict me. So xiv. 6.. " This is a metaphor drawn
from combatants, who never take their eyes off from their antagonists."
Schultens. — till I have time to breathe. I have substituted this for the
proverb, which is literally rendered in the common version, and whioh has
been retained in Arabia to the present day, by which they understand,
" Give me leave to rest after my fatigue." There are two instances
(quoted by Schult. in loc.) in Hariri's JVarratives, entitled the
Assembly. One is of a person who, when eagerly pressed to give an ac
count of his travels, answered vrith impatience, " Let me swallow down
my spittle, for my journey hath fatigued me." The other instance is of a
quick return made to one who used that proverb ; " Suffer me," said the
person importuned, " to swallow down my spittle ; " to which his friend
replied, " You may, if you please, swallow down even tbe Tigris and
Euphrates ; " that is. You may take what time you please. Burder.
20. If I have sinned, Ifc. : i. e. " Suppose, for a moment, that I have
sinned, yet as I can have done thee no injury, as my sins cannot have
affected thy safety or happiness, I see not why I should be treated with
such severity, and even set up for a mark at which thou mayst shoot thine
arrows. ' ' The particle DX, if, is often understood. The Sept. has supplied
it here : el iyoi i'.uaQrov. So the Arab, and Syr. See Ges. Gram. § 152. 4. —
what have I done to thee ? i. e. what injury have I done to thee ? The verb
niJ'i' signifies to do aninjury,m Exod. xiv. 11; Gen. xix. 8, xx ii. 12. This
sentiment agrees better with the context, and is also found in ch. xxxv. 6 — O
thou w-itcher of men ! i. e. 0 thou that watchest men strictly, and markest

130 NOTES.
all their sins. The word is undoubtedly used in an invidious sense, and
not merely to express the general truth that God takes notice of human ac
tions. See ver. 12, and xiv. 16. Dr. Kennicott renders it, O thou spy
upon men! Theword "^-ii, inspector, is rendered vMtchman, 'm 2 Kings
xvii. 9, in the common version; and in ch. xxvii. 18, of this poem, it de
notes the watchman of a vineyard. The Sept. has it, o imaruuevog rov rovv
Tii-,i' AvS-gti/iMi'. The same sentiment is expressed in ch. x. 6, xiii. 27, and
elsewhere. The word might be rendered preserver, in another connection,
since a person sometimes watches a, thing for its preservation ; but not
properly here, where the Deity is represented as the avenger of sin. — So
that Ihave become a burden to myself? The Sept. renders the two last
lines. Why hast thou set me up for thy mark.
And why have I become a burden to thee ?
The Hebrew copy, from whicii they translated, had !rhy instead of ^'^^.
' ... T - T
The Masorites also place this amongst the eighteen passages which they
say were altered by transcribers. In this case the reading preserved by
the Sept. may have been altered by some transcriber who supposed the
sentiment which it conveyed to be irreverent to the Deity. But, as the re
ceived text is supported by all the versions except the Sept. , and by all the
Hebrew manuscripts hitherto examined, it may be retained, notwithstand- .
ing the intrinsic probability that the Sept. has preserved the true reading.
22. Soon shall I sleep in the dust. He urges the shortness of the term
of life whieh yet remained to him, as a reason why he should be relieved
from his afflictions ; and he intimates, in the latter clause of the verse,
that death would, as it were, put it out of the power of the Deity to favor
him, should he relent and be inclined to mercy, since he should be uo
longer in existence. So Castalio explains it ; " Nisi mihi in hac vita bene-
facias et condones, non erit post mortem locus." So Poole : " When thou
shalt diligently seek for me, th.at thou mayst show favor to me, thou wilt
find that I am dead and gone, and so wilt lose thy opportunity. Help,
therefore, speedily."

In chapter eighth, Bildad, another of Job's professed friends, comes for
ward as a disputant, interrupting him iu his discourse, and reproving
him with severity for the boldness of his language in regard to his afflic
tions, and for his firm protestations of his innocence, as if he had thereby
called in question the justice of the Deity. He holds the opinion that, un
der the government of a being infinitely 'wise and good, afflictions cannot
take place, unless for the purposes of vindictive justice. Hence he asserts

NOTES. 131
that the children of Job had perished on account of their wickedness ;
although he had no grounds for the assertion, but that of their ruin. He
tells Job that if he were in reality the devout and upright man he pro
fessed to be, he would again be restored to prosperity. He quotes a pas
sage from an ancient poem, representing by striking images the miserable
condition of the wicked, and holds out to Job the hope of the renewed
favor of God, as the reward of repentance.
These exhortations to repentance, addressed, as they were, to one whom
Jehovah had pronounced au upright and good man, are to be regarded as
au indirect mode of charging him with perverseness and guUt. Thus it
appears that Bildad agrees with Eliphaz in the opinion that misery is a de
cisive proof of wickedness.
Ch. VIII. 2. — like a strong wind ? The same figure is found in
Aristoph. Ran. 872. : Tvipaigy'cxQ ix^aintv naqaaxtvutirac A tempest of
words is preparing to burst forth. So in Sil. Italicus, XI. 581. :
— qui tanta superbo
Facta sonas ore, et spumanti turbine perflas
Ignorantum aures.
6. — thy righteous habitation : i. e. the abode where thou shalt dwell , a
righteous man. Bildad insinuates, says Schultens, that the dwelling of
Job had hitherto beeu the abode of wickedness.
7. So that thy beginning shall be small : i. c. thy former prosperity
shall appear small, compared with that which thou shalt hereafter enjoy,
if thou art pure and righteous. So the Sept., "Earai r'u u'lr nqthra aov
oXiya. So Castalio, Adeo ut fuerit tua prior conditio tenuis, pra ut
posterior amplificabitur. Thus the poet puts into the mouth of Bildad a
reference, undesigned on his part, to what is afterwards recorded to have
taken place in the fortunes of Job : " Jehovah blessed the latter end of
Job more than the beginning." xlii. 12. Bildad had no prophetic an
ticipation of this, but merely utters a general promise, naturally suggested
by the subject; while the writer intended that it should refer to the subse
quent history of Job. The skill of the poet is manifested in this way in
several passages, and reminds one of tJie admirable use made of this ex
pedient to give interest and pathos to their compositions by the most cele
brated Greek dramatists, as by Sophocles, for instance, in his CEdipus
Tyrannus. 11.  paper-reed: mxnuQoc, Se^t See Ges. We are entertained here,
says Mr. Scott, with a specimen of the manner of conveying moral instruc
tions, in the oldest times of the world. They couched their observations in
pithy sentences, or wrapped them in concise similitudes; and cast them
into metre to fix them in the memory. Bp. Lowth mentions the words of
Lamech to his two wives, (Gen. iv. 23, 24,) as the oldest e-xample of this
kind on record.

132 ^^OTES.
17. — heap. I now prefer this rendering, as favored by the parallelism,
and by its connection with the verb entwined.  dnd he seeth the place of
stones : i. e. taketh deep root in the earth. Thus the verse denotes the
floiirishing, and apparently durable, condition of the wicked man. So
Mercier, Doed., Ges. See Ps. i. 3, xxxvii. 35; Jer. xvii. 8.
18. The particle DN, translated if in the common version, is often
used for emphasis, or asseveration, and, according to the conneotion, may
be rendered, truly, indeed, yea, yet, behold! lo ! &c., or occasionally
omitted . See Noldius in verb.
19. — from his place. Lit. from the earth or soil from which the tree
was removed. Thus others shall fill the place and enjoy the wealth of the
wicked man who is taken away. See xxvii. 16, 17, and Eccles. ii. 18. So
Merc, Ros. But Dathe and Eichhorn, and another shall spring up in
his place ! i. e. other wicked men, not deterred by his dreadful fate, shall
take his place, and follow his example.
21. Instead of ^J;, it is better to alter the point, and read y^. So
Houb. , Michaelis, De Wette.

VI.
In reply to Bildad, who had charged him -with virtually denying the jus
tice of God, Job remarks that he knows full well the greatness and holi
ness of God, and the weakness and sinfulness of man; intimating that he
does not pretend to be free from the infirmities and sins which are common
to the human race. But these, in his view, are incident to the best of
men, so that no one can answer to one charge of a thousand in a contro
versy with God. Admitting this, however, it by no means follows that
one whom God pleases to afflict is a wicked man ; or, that he is a great sin
ner who suffers great affliction. Ch. ix. 1-3. He maintains that in the
distribution of happiness and misery God is an absolute sovereign, influ
enced by no consideration but that of his own inscrutable and irresistible
will ; that his afflictions, therefore, ought not to be attributed to the jus
tice of God, but rather to be ranked with those acts of Providence which
confound all our reasonings. 4 - 14. He says, that though he is conscious
of no guilt which should draw down upon him the afflictions whioh he suf
fered, yet he will not attempt to defend himself before the majesty of God;
that he is weak; that the contest is unequal; that, were his cause ever so
just, he could not hope to prevail ; that, though he is consoious of inno
cence, he would not enter into a controversy with God in order to save his
life. 15 - 21. (It may be observed here, that, when Job asserts his inno
cence, he does not lay claim to entire freedom from fault. He means only

NOTES. 133
that he is innocent of the charges of secret crimes brought against him by
his friends; that he is free from uncommon guilt, whioh his friends held
to be the cause of his great misery ; that he is, in fine, a sincere, upright
man.) Reaffirms that misery, far from being a proof of uncommon guilt,
is equally the portion of the righteous and of the wicked. 22-24. Passing
to the contemplation of his own misery, he asserts that his righteousness
avails him nothing; that his cause cannot be brought to a fair trial ; and
that the m-ajesty and power of God reduce him to silence. 25 - 35. Then
with great earnestness and pathos he expostulates with the Deity on ac
count of his severity to the work of his own hands, continues to assert his
innocence, and urges the shortness of the term of life which yet remained
to him, as a reason why he should be relieved from his miseries. Ch. i.
In regard to apparent inconsistencies in the language of Job, it may be
observed here that he is represented as agitated by various contending emo
tions. Fear and hope, despair and confidence, the spirit of submission and
of bold complaint, by turns have possession of his mind; and, as either
predominates, it gives, of course, a character to his language. Truth in
the exhibition of opposite feelings and passions requires some inconsistency
in language and sentiment. Disregard of this obvious truth led Dr. Kenni
cott to propose some alterations of the text, which, if adopted, would great
ly injure the poem.
Ch. IX. 3. If he choose : i. e. If God choose to mark strictly the sins of
which all men are guilty, and accuse them of these sins ; or, if man
choose to enter into controversy with God.
5. He removeth the mountains, and they know it not. This is a Heb.
idiom, meaning. He removeth them suddenly or unexpectedly ; as it were,
before they, i. e. the mountains, are aware of it. So in Ps. xxxv. 8, where,
inthe Hebrew, the expression " ai unawares " 'is " le> him not know."
Schultens remarks that the same idiom occurs frequently iu the Koran.
6. — the pillars thereof. The earth is represented as an edifice, sup
ported by pillars, resting on foundations, having a corner-stone, &o. See
ch. xxxviii. 4-6. Earthquakes seem to make these pillars tremble. Ac
cording to the same mode of conception respecting the earth, it is repre
sented as standing forever, Eoc. i. 4, and as reeling like a drunkard, and
moving like a hammock, in Is. xxiv. 20.
7. He commandeth, SfC. Some suppose the allusion is to the effects of
an eclipse ; others, to those of a continued storm, as in Acts xxvii. 20;
and others, that he asserts that light and darkness depend upon God ; that,
ifhe forbid, the sun and the stars cease to shine. To seal up, or to shut
up as -with a seal, I suppose to be a figurative expression, denoting great
or total obscuration. The expression to seal up is used with great latitude
of signification. See ch. xxxiii. 16, xxxvii. 7.

134 NOTES.
S.— spreadeth out, ^c. Comp. Is. xl. 22. Otherwise, 6o«)p//i down the
heavens. See Ps. xviii. 9-15. This latter version would denote the
descent of black, heavy clouds, in a great storm. — walketh upon the
high wa ves. The Egyptian hieroglyphic for what was not possible to be
done was a man walking on the water. Bnrder.
9. — the Bear, Orion, andthe Pleiads. The Hebrew names are Ash,
Chesil, and Chimah. See note upon oh. xxxviii. 31, 32. — secret chambers
ofthe South : i. e. the remotest regions ofthe South, the constellations of
which are invisible to the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere.
12. seizeth : as a lion his prey.
13. God ivill not turn away his anger : i. e. on account of any opposi
tion which may be made to it. Dei irrevocabilis ira est. Castalio.
15. — I could not answer him. The word is used in a judicial sense,
and means, I would not undertake to make my defence.
16. Should Icall, and he make answer to me. The words Nip and r\iy
are supposed by Schultens, and by most critics sinoe his time, to be used
in a judicial sense. Si in jus vocarem, ut actor, et responderet mihi oom-
pellatus, seque sisteret. If, as plaintiff, I should summon him to trial,
and he should make answer, and consent to stand as defendant, I could
scarcely believe it; for although I am consoious of uprightness, yet, from
the severe afflictions under which I suffer, I have reason to conclude that
he will act no other part towards me than that of an absolute sovereign
who will give no account of his doings.
19. If I look to strength. Lit. If to, or concerning, the strength of
the mighty : i. e. if it be a question of strength, &c. See Jer. xlix. 19, 1.
44. If we adopt the various reading, found in the Sept. and Syr , 1 instead
of 1, we may translate. If I look to strength, lo, he is strong I
If to justice, who shall summon him to trial ?
Thus Dathe and Eichhorn render the verse.
20, 21. Though I were upright, %c. The meaning probably is, Thotigh
1 am conscious of no guilt, and though my cause is just, yet were I as
pure as au angel, I should not be able to sustain myself, and make good
my defence before the brightness of the divine majesty; notwithstanding
the testimony of my conscience, I would give up all care for myself, every
effort to preserve my life, rather than enter into a vain controversy with a
Being infinitely above me, so superior in strength.
22. It is all one. The meaning may be either. All things are now
alike to me; I am indiftcront as to what may happen to me; or. It is all
one whether a person be righteous or wicked, so far as his fortune is con-
ceined. Some suppose, however, that XTI-ntlN should be rendered, He is

NOTES. 135
the one; unicus est: i. e. He is unlike all others; he stands alone; he is
bound by no rules, and gives no account of his matters. Comp. ver. 32.
24. — covereth the face of the judges. Either, God treats them as con
demned malefactors, overwhelming them with calamities, disgrace, and
ruin, Job himself being one example of this melancholy truth. Scott.
See 2 Sam. xv. 30; Esth. vii. 8; Jer. xiv. 3. Is. xxii. 17; Mark xiv. 65.
Thus the meaning of the verse will be, God commonly advances wicked
men to honor and power, and casts down men of true worth and virtue
from their seats. Or, to cover the face qf the judges may have the same
meaning as the phrase, to blind their eyes, so that they are partial, un
just, and oppressive. — If it be not he, who is it? So the Sept., bI Si filj
uPTiJs (OTI , TIS iariv ; If it be not God who doeth the strange things which
I have mentioned, who is it that doeth them ?
25. JHy days have been swifter than u, courier, SfC. Time and enjoy
ment, that are succeeded by great misery, appear as an instant that is
past. The depth of his present affliction makes him forget his former
prosperity, and to say that he had seen no good during his life. The
common pace of travelling in the East is very slow. Camels go little more
than two miles an hour. Those who carried messages in haste moved very
differently. Dromedaries, a sort of camel which is exceedingly swift, are
used for this purpose; and Lady M. W. Montague asserts that they far
outrun the swiftest horses. Lett. II. 65. There are also messengers who
run on foot, and who sometimes go an hundred and fifty miles in less than
twenty-four hours ; with what energy then might Job say, ' J\Iy days are
swifter than a courier ! ' Instead of passing away with a slowness of mo
tion like that ofa caravan, my days of prosperity have disappeared with a
swiftness like that ofa messenger carrying dispatches." Harmer.
26. — reed-skiffs : i. e. " boats or skiffs made of the papyrus of the Nile,
in common use amoug thie Egyptians and Ethiopians, and famous for their
lightness and swiftness. Thus Pliny, xiii. 11, Ex ipso quidem papyro
navigia texunt ; vi. 56, Etiam nunc [naves] in Britannico oceauo vitiles
corio ciroumsiitae sunt ; in Nilo ex papyro, et scirpo, et arundine. And
Lucan. Pharsal. iv. 136, Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro.
Heliodorus, .^thiop. x. 460, speaks of such boats, noQ.9uctoig Ix xuXiuotv
7ii.ion,uiiaic, ashaving been very swift, oJuiJyo/iwTuia. They maybe
compared in this respect to Indian canoes."
27, 28. If I say, ^c. . i. e. If I resolve within myself that I will cease
complaining, and endeavor to be more cheerful, I find all such endeavors
vain ; for if my griefs be suspended for a short time, yet my fears con
tinue, for thou, 0 God, wilt not clear my innocence, by reraoving those
afflictions which make them judge me guilty of some great crime. Poole.
29. I sliall be found guiliy, SfC. .- i. e. Whether I be holy or wicked, if
I dispute with thee, I shall be found guilty. Why then should I trouble

136 NOTES.
myself with clearing mine innooency ? Poole. Or, I must pass for a
wicked person ; I am treated as suoh by God, and condemned by man.
All my labor, therefore, to clear myself will be to no purpose.
30. If I wash, ^c. By'wushing himself, i^c, and cleansing his hands,
IfC, he asserts the purity of his heart, and innocence of his life. Thus
Zophar understood him : " 2^01* sayest, ' J\Iy speech is pure ; I am clean
in thine eyes.' " The Psalmist also declares his own integrity in terms
somewhat similar : " I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my
hands in innoeency. " Ps. Ixxiii. 13.
31. Still wilt thou plunge me, SfC. The meaning is, that his calamities
would cause him to be looked upon by all his intimate friends as an
abominable wretch, smitten of God, and accursed. No protestations of in
nocence, no appeals, no defence whatever, could overcome that prejudice
against him. — my own clothes. This circumstance is added, I imagine,
as a heightening of the image of impurity ; to represent more strongly the
infamy with which his character was blackened by his overthrow. Scott.
32. For He is not, SfC. : i. e. He is infinitely superior to me in majesty
and power, so that I cannot venture to contend wiih him : i. c. to debate
my cause with him, or to answer his allegations against me ; neither can
we go together into judgment : i. e. meet each other face to face, and plead
upon equal terms before a superior and indifferent judge.
33. Who may lay his hand upon us both : i. e. who may have authority
and power to control either of us who shall exceed the limits of propriety
in the controversy, and also to oblige us to stand to his decision.
34. — his rod : i.e. my present afflictions. — Ais terrors .- i. e. the
terror of his majesty and power.
35. — and not be afraid of him : i. b. as an opponent in a judicial con
troversy. I should not fear but that I bhould be able to make good my
cause, and prove my innocence. — For I am not so at heart : i. e. as to
have any reason to fear the result of debating my cause with him upon
equal terms. So Schult., Le Clere, Ros. Ov yog avvnt'inr^iucu ifiavrm
aSixov Sept. : I am not conscious to myself of unrighteousness. But
this is paraphrastic.
Ch. X. 1. — give myself up, IfC. .- lit. let loose complaint upon myself.
2. — Do not condemn me : i. c. Do not pronounce me guilty and punish
me with such severity, without showing me wherein I have offended, and
what I have done to deserve my sufferings.
4-7. Hast thou eyes, S^c. : i. b. Seest thou as imperfectly as man? or does
thy life pass a.way as swiftly as that of man ? One might suspect this from
thy searching after sins in me so thoroughly and so suddenly ; i. e. from
thy inflicting upon me such heavy blows aud in such quick succession, to
bring me to a confession of sin. Umbreit.

NOTES. 137
8. Have thy hands completrly fashioned, SfC. His argument now is,
thatit looks like caprice to bestow great skill and labor on a work, and
then on a sudden, and without just cause, dash it in pieces. This is what
he meant also in verse 3, "Is it a pleasure to thee . . . to despise the
work of thy hands ? " Scott.
9. O remember, ^c. Here he pleads the common mortality. He must
soon die, as all other men ; what occasion then for so much torture to dis
patch him ? Scott.
10 - 12. The argument in these verses is taken from God's creating and
providential goodness towards him, as not being consistent with his present
treatment of him. Scott.
13. Yet these things thou didst lay up in thy heart. By these things he
means his calamities ; and insinuates that God had given him being with
a secret purpose to make him miserable ; and had advanced him so high
in order to render his fall the more terrible. Scott. — in thy mind: lit.
with thee ; a phrase repeatedly used in this book, and in other parts of
Scripture, to denote what was in the mind of God, i. e. what was his in
tention, or purpose. See ch. xiv. 5, xxiii. 14 ; Ps. 1. 11 ; John xvii. 5.
15. If I am wicked, as my friends suppose me, then am I indeed un
done ! yet though I am righteous, I derive no benefit from it. It is all
one, whether I am good or bad.
16. — like a lion thou huntest me. The allusion, iu this and the follow
ing verse, is to that manner of hunting the lion, wherein the hunters,
armed with spears and javelins, formed themselves in a ring about the
beast, and threw their weapons at him one after another. By this image
Job represents, in lively colors, the violent and rapid succession of his
calamities. Scott. Another explanation, and perhaps the best, is. Thou
huntest me, as a furious lion pursues his prey ; but, whereas the lion
tears his prey speedUy, and so ends its torments, thou renewest my calam
ities again and again.
17. Thou renewest thy witnesses : i. e. thy judgments — my afflictions,
which my friends regard as an evidence of wickedness. — JVew hosts : lit.
changes anda host, by the figure hendiadys, for hosts constantly recruited.
Or, changes may mean afflictions ; and the sense may be, a host of afflic
tions. According to the former rendering, new hosts figuratively denote
miseries constantly succeeding each other. Exercitus immutas contra
me. Arab, and Syr.
18, 19. 'Why ihen, SfC. But for thine agency I should have perished,
unseen and unknown, and have avoided my present misery and disgrace.
So in Euripides, Troad. 637, Andromache utters similar sentiments.
20. Are not my days few 7 ^c. . i. e. My life is short, and hastens
apace to au end. Do not then continue my afflictions to the last moment
12*

138 NOTES.
of my existence. Let the very short term of life, which remains to me, be
a season of rest and enjoyment.
21,22. Before I go — whence I shall not return, — IfC. These verses
contain a description of sheol, or hades, the under- world, the place of all
the dead. So Sen. Hero. Furens, 861. :
Stat chaos densum, tenebrseque turpes,
Et color nootis malus, ac silentis
Otium mundi, vacuaeque nubes.
Sera uos illo referat senectus !
Nemo ad id sero venit, unde nunquam.
Cum semel venit, potuit reverti.

VII.

Is the eleventh chapter, Zophar the Naamathite, the third of Job's
friends, comej forward in reply to him. He censures him with severity, as
guilty of using vain, arrogant, and irreverent language in his bold pro
testations of his innocence, and in his loud complaints of unkind treatment
from the Almighty. 1-4. He speaks of the unfathomable counsels and
infinite knowledge of the Deity, and, like his predecessors in the contro
versy, intimates plainly that the sufferings of Job were the punishment of
wickedness which the Deity had seen in him, and of whioh he might easily
convict him. 5-12. He assures him that, ifhe would put away his
wickedness, he inight hope to regain his former prosperity ; at the same
time threatening him with severe judgments if he should continue in his
sins. 13-20.
Ch. XI. 3. Shall thy lies : i. e. thy false assertions respecting thine
innocence, and concerning the ways of Providence.
4. Thou sayest, J\Iy speech, or discourse, is pure : For thou pretendest
not to have offended in word or deed, and that God himself can find no
reason to condemn thee. Patrick. See ch. x. 7.
6. His wisdom, which is unsearchable ! This rendering expresses the
sense, whether we regard D'SsD as signifying complicated, intricate, or
double, 'i.e. manifold. See Ges. in verb. — God forgiveth thee many of
thine iniquities. With Ros. and Ges., I tiike XVt'i in the sense to forget.
God causeth thee to forget of thine iniquities, i. e. forgiveth a part of them,
7. — the deep things of God ? See ipn in Ges. Secretum Dei, Arab.
Inquisiiionem Dei, Syr.

NOTES. 139
8. Deeper than hell : i. e. than sheol or hades, the place of the dead
without distinction of character. See note upon oh. xxvi. 6.
10. If he apprehend, and bring to trial. The judgments of God upou
the wicked are here represented by figurative language drawn from the
arrest, imprisonment, and trial of a criminal. The word ^Tlp''!, rendered
and bring to trial, means, literally, and gather together, as in the common
version ; it refers to the ancient custom of gathering au assembly of the
people for the trial of a criminal. See Prov. v. 14 ; Ezek. xvi. 39, 40,
xxiii. 46. — Who shall oppose him ? i. e. Who shall, by entering into au
argument with the All-wise, defend the criminal with any prospect of
delivering him ? or, Who shall by force deliver a criminal from his hands '?
11. He seeth iniquity, when they do not observe it. The words pl3n' x'?!
have been explained in a great variety of ways. I ouppose the verb
to refer, by an enallage of number, to the unrighteous, in the preceding
line, or to man understood ; and that the meaning is, that God sees in
iquities of which the thoughtless and wicked persom who commits them
has no knowledge. In this, as in the next verse, I suppose Zophar to make
general remarks with particular reference to the case of Job, who had so
boldly asserted his innocence. Another mode of understanding the line,
which has perhaps equal claims with that whioh I have adopted, is that of
Cocceius : He seeth iniquity, though he attend not to it : i. e. without an
effort of attention ; without looking carefully for it.
12. But vain man is without understanding, SfC. 33T seems to be
used in a privative sense, as the word is used in Piel in Cant. iv. 9. :
" Thou hast deprived me of my heart ;" as it were Thou hast hearted
me. It has been said that there is no instance in which the privative
signification of Piel is transferred to Niphal. But, in the last edi
tion of his lexicon, Gesenius observes that in Arabic there are instances in
which other forms of the verb are used in the same way. It is therefore
probable that a similar usage prevailed in the Hebrew, although from
the paucity of its remains no other instance occurs. Schultens and Dathe
render, Let then vain man be wise.
And the wild ass's colt become a man.
According to this version, the wild ass's colt is used figuratively for a
perverse and obstinate man.
15. Then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot. He describes the
happy change of his condition by its effects in his countenauce ; contrast
ing his present dejected face, sullied aud disfigured by terror, grief, and
tears, with the look he shall theu assume, erect, flrm, and clear as the

110 NOTES.
polished mirror. He may refer to the words of Job, x. 15, " I dare not
lift up my head." Scott.
17. JVow thou art in darkness. So Merc, Schult., Ges. Ch. x. 22 ;
Amos iv. 13. The Chald. has it, Obscuriias tenebrarum quasi lux matu-
tina erit. The Syr., Et caligo sicut aurora erit.
18. Thou shalt be secure, ^c. : i. e. Thou shalt feel secure that thy
prosperity will be permanent, on account of the bright hopes whioh present
themselves. — JVow thou art disappointed, ^c. The Sept. has it, Ix Si
u^nliivtjc; xui tpoutr'iSug avctipaviLrut tiQtjin].
19. Thou shall lie down, ^c. A metaphor borrowed from flocks lying
down in the pastures. As in Ps. xxiii. 2, "He maketh me to lie down in
green pastures."
20. But the eyes of the wicked shall be wearied out : i. e. by anxiously
looking for relief from their miseries. — Their hope is — the breathing
forth of life : i. e. They expect no deliverance from their miseries, but in
death. Or, Death shall be the issue of their hopes.

VIII.
Job begins his reply to Zophar, and his other friends, with a severe
sarcasm upon the airs of superiority which they had assumed ; and com
plains that he had become the object of their contempt, for no other reason
than his miserable condition. Ch. xii. 1-6. He reasserts his opinion re
specting the point in dispute, maintaining that the worst of men, far from
receiving the punishment which they deserve, often live in the enjoyment
of ease and prosperity. 6. They had spoken to him of the wisdom and
power of God, as if he were entirely ignorant on the subject. Hence he is
led to say that what they had advanced on this topic is trite and obvious ;
and to discourse upou the power and providence of God, in ;i, style of
eloquence well suited to make them ashamed of their pretensions to supe
rior intelligence. This discourse may be designed to illustrate generally
the power aud wisdom of God, as contrasted with the weakness of man ; and
also to show that, in the distribution of good and evil, God acts from his
sovei-eign will and pleasure alone, and not, as the opponents of Job contended
from a regard to the merit or demerit of men ; that he treats the righteous
and the wicked alike ; and consequently, that nothing which he or thty
might advance on the subject of the wisdom and power of God could prove
him guilty, or that his misery was the punishment of his sins. 7 - xiii. 2.
He longs to transfer his cause from partial and misjudging man to the
omniscient and righteous Judge, confident that, if he could have an oppor
tunity of pleading his cause before him, he should not fiiil to vindicate his

NOTES. 141
innocence. 3. He accuses his friends of partiality and injustice ; of
taking part against him from selfish motives and a slavish fear of God's
power, rather than from honest conviction and a disinterested regard to God's
honor. 4-11. With the most earnest protestations of innocence, the most
fervent appeals to the Deity in regard to the justice of his cause, and the
most pathetic description of his sufferings, he closes ch. xiii. He then
proceeds to give an affecting view of the miseries of human life, especially
insisting upon the shortness of it , as a reason why man should be exempted
from constant and extraordinary sufferings, xiv. 1-6. He complains
that man's condition is worse than that of the vegetable creation ; since
the plants, when the hand of death has apparently been upon them, come
forth again with renovated beauty ; but that to pass from a life of wretch
edness to the never-ending sleep of death is -d, condition too hard to be
borne. He intimates that, if he had the hope of a second life, he might
be encouraged to bear with patience his heavy load of afflictions, in the
hope that, at some future time, a favorable change in his condition might
take plaoe. But not entertaining this hope, he implores the Deity to grant
him a trial, so that his true character may appear before he dies ; and
earnestly expostulates with the Deity on account of his dealings towards
him. 7-22.
This chapter, as well as many passages scattered through the poem,
renders it highly probable, either that Job had no belief in the resurrec
tion of the dead, or in a future state of existence equally desirable with the
present life ; or that the author of the poem excluded from it all regard to
a future state, as inconsistent with its general plan and design. It con
tains several assertions of man's ceasing to exist, so far as real desirable
life is concerned. It is true, that, if we make some allowance for the lan
guage of strong emotion in which he expresses himself, we may suppose
that he had some vague notions of the existence of the disembodied spirit,
in a half-conscious, inactive state, in the interior of the earth, such, for
instance, as prevailed among the ancient Greeks, but more gloomy and less
definite ; an existence wholly undesirable, and offering no equivalent for
the loss of present enjoyments aud of the present life. See ch. x. 21, 22,
and the note. It is almost impossible for the human soul to conceive that
its consciousness will be wholly lost. See note on xiv. 22. The separate
existence of the soul seems also to be implied in the distinction whioh is
made between sheol and the gr.ave ; the former being represented as a vast
subterraneous cavern, where all the spirits of the dead dwell together.
The belief in some sort of existence of the soul after death seems also to be
implied in the credit which the ancient Hebrews gave to the art of
necromancy. See 1 Sam. xxviii. 3- 10. But the language of this chap
ter appears to be wholly inconsistent with the supposition that .Job had any
expectation of a desirable existence after death. It was reserved for tho

142 NOTES.
Prince of life, the author and finisher of our faith, to bring the glad
tidings of great joy to the aching hearts of men — to bring life and im
mortality to light.
Some critics have endeavored to lessen the force of Job's express denials
of a future life, in this chapter, by the remark that he only meant that he
could not hope to live again in the present world; but that he might still
have believed that he should exist hereafter in a better world. I admit
that a second life in this world was what he intended to deny ; but I
think it was besause he was sceptical in regard to a happy state of existence
after death. Heaven he evidently regards as the abode of Jehovah and
his angels alone ; and hades, or the under-world, as a place of gloom and
horror. If, as he asserts, the hope of living again in this world would
have afforded him consolation and comfort under his afflictions, then surely
the hope of a happier state of being than the present life might have
afforded him still greater comfort and consolation. How can it possibly be
accounted for that he should sink into despair, because he could not hope
to enjoy the doubtful good of living again in this world of sin and misery,
whilst at the same time he believed in the existence of a world of happi
ness and purity, to whioh the righteous were to be admitted ? See note
upon ch. xix. 25. Inch. x. 21, 22, we have a description ofthe place
where Job expected to be after death.
Ch. XII. 2. — the whole people ? i. e. ye have engrossed all the wisdom
in the world, and all others are mere brutes or fools '.
4. 1, who call upon God, that he would answer me 7 i. e. I, who am
so conscious of my uprightness, that I am not afraid to appeal to God, and
to desire that my cause may be brought to trial, aud that the Deity would
bring his charges against me, and show me the reasons of my afflictions ;
the words call and answer, or at least the latter, being used in a judicial
sense, as in ix. 16, xiii. 22, xxiii. 5, xxxi 35. Castalio and Dathe, how
ever, give the same translation as the preceding, but understand the words
in their common acceptation, which is less suited to the connexion.
6. Who carry their God in iheir hand : i. e. Who trust to their strength
and their weapons, and have no regard to the Supreme Being. See Hab.
i. 11, and note.
7 - 9. These verses are probably to be regarded as a continuation of
verse 8 ; the intermediate verses being parenthetical. In reference to the
discourse of Zophar, who had spoken, with considetable parade, of the
wisdom of God, and had affected to consider Job as ignorant of it, or as
having called it in question, he remarks that what Zophar wished to teach
him was so obvious that it might be learned frora the lower animals. They
made it evident, by their properties, actions, and modes of life, that God
created the world by his wisdom, and that he governed it with absolute

NOTES. 143
dominion ; so that it was not necessary to ascend to heaven, or to go down
to the under-world, to obtain such knowledge. See xi. 7-9. Others suppose
the meaning to be, that, in the distribution of happiness and misery, God
is so far from having a regard to moral distinctions, that even of the
lower animals the mischievous and rapacious fare well, while the useful
and gentle meet with harsh treatment from man, or are the prey of the
rapacious of their own kind.
9. — among all these : i. e. these irrational creatures, which are repre
sented in the preceding verses as teaching, declaring ,^c., and in this verse
in the way of poetical exaggeration, as knowing the wisdom and power of
the Deity, which they so plainly declare. It is said that " with the Hin
doos, he who refuses instruction, and will not be convinced, is told to ask
the cattle." Or, in reference to the second exposition of verses 7-9, these
things may refer to such things as are referred to in ver. 6. See Is. xxii.
11. Otherwise — hath made these things : i. e. the heaven and earth and
all things therein, to which Job may be supposed to have directed the at
tention of his hearers by the motions of his hands, or of his eyes. So
Schult. and Cocc. Thus Job declares that the wisdom of God is so plain,
that all nature, as it were, feels and acknowledges it ; but he means to
deny that this has anything to do with the question of his guilt or in
nocence. 11, 12. Doth not the ear, Igc. . i. e. As the palate distinguishes the
sweet from the bitter, so the ear, or rather the mind by the ear, discerns
truth and falsehood in discourse ; and wisdom is the attribute of age and
experience. The connection and application of these proverbial maxims are
by no means so clear as their general meaning. It is probable that he
means by them to censure his friends for not hearing and weighing his
observations with more attention, candor, and impartiality, instead of
despising and rejecting them at once.
14. Lo ! he pulleth down, ^c. None ean repair what He tears down,
whether houses, castles, or cities. — He bindeth, fyc : i. e. None can
extricate the man whom he casts into difficulties and straits. Patrick-
See oh. xxxvi. 8.
15. Lo ! he withholdeth the waters : whether from the clouds or springs.
— and they are dried up. The waters may be said, in a popular sense, to
be dried up, when they cease to exist in their fountains, and when the
heavens seem to be changed into brass, and the earth into iron, according
to the expression in Deut. xxviii. 23. — He sendeth tliem forth. This
clause describes an inundation, such as might happen, in Job's country,
from the torrents caused by too great an abundance of rain. Scott.
16. The deceived and the deceiver. A proverbial expression, says
Gesenius, denoting every description of men. — are his: i. b. all alike
depend upon him for their powers ; the subtle and the weak are alike sub
ject to his control, and subservient to the purposes of his providence.

144 NOTES.
17. He leadelh counsellors away captive. Statesmen, who promised
themselves success and victory, as the result of their plans, he disappoints
and leads into captivity ; and judges he deprives of their peculiar attribute,
reason or discernment. Or, judges may denote rulers, whom he infatuates,
and leads to the adoption of measures whioh end in their own ruin.
18. He dissolveth, SfC. . i. e. He dethroneth kings, and leadeth them,
bound in chains, into servitude. So Mer., Schult., Ges. But Dathe
renders the verse. He looseth the gridle of kings.
And he encircleth their loins with a belt :
i. e. He takes away their authority, and he invests them with it. But
usage does not favor this explanation, as Ros. observes. See Gen. xlii.
24 ; Judg. XV. 13 ; Ps. cxlix. 8.
19. And overthroweth the mighty : i. e. the mighty men of war, in battle.
20. He sealeth up the lips : lit. He taketh away the lips. — the trusty :
i. e. persons of tried wisdoni and long experience, to whom the people are
wont to repair for advice.
31. And looseth ihe girdle of the mighty. As the Orientals wore long and
flowing robes, they were unfit for fighting, or for auy kind of active service
until they had girded up their loins. Hence to loose the girdle of « per
son is to take away his strength, or power of resisting an enemy. Schul
tens and others suppose the girdle to be a badge of office, and that to loose
it means to deprive those who wore it of their dignity and honors.
22. He revealeth deep things oui of darkness. Some understand this as
a general remark, setting forth the infinite knowledge and power of God,
who can bring to light the most secret things ; as iu Matt. i. 26. So
Merc. Others suppose particular secrets are referred to, such as plots,
conspiracies, or the deep-laid plans of princes. Others, the hidden designs
of God himself, whioh in course of time are brought to light.
24, 25. He taketh away, SfC. Divine infatuation of the governing
powers is here described in forcible language and striking resemblances.
In their confusion, mistakes, perplexity, and distress, they resemble
persons who have lost themselves in the Arabian solitudes, without a path,
without a waymark, without a light to guide them ; and their irresolution
and unstable counsels are like the reeling motions of a drunken man.
Scott. Ch. XIII. 4. — forgers of lies : i. e. in maintaining that great afflic
tions are peculiar to the wicked ; and that I am guilty because I am
miserable.

NOTES. 145
8. Will ye be partial to his person 7 i. e. Will ye utter falsehoods from
partiality to him ? The phrase to receive or accept persons was probably
borrowed from the practice of corrupt rulers or judges, who received or
admitted to their presence those who came with gifts, and favored their
cause. 9. Will it be well for you, if he search you thoroughly 7 i. c. If he
search you thoroughly, will he not find that your condemnation of me has
sprung not so much from honest conviction, as from the selfish desire of
winning his favor ?
11. Doth not his majesty make you afraid 7 i. e. Is it not a slavish
fear of what God can do to you that induces you to condemn me without
proof ?
14. Why do I take my flesh in my teeth. HD-'y. To take the flesh in
the teeth," and " to put the Ufe in the hand," evidently mean " to risk
the life," as what is carried in the teeth or the hand is liable to be
dropped. See 1 Sam. xxviii. 21 ; Ps. cxix. 109. The meaning is. Why
do I risk my life by asserting -my integrity before God, unless because I
am fully consoious of it.
15. — Ihave no hope! This is the literal rendering of the received
text. • The common version adopts the various reading 'fl, in him, instead
of that of the text kS, not. I prefer the latter, as the more difficult
reading, and yet quite as well suited to the context, and to the general
plan of the book.
16. This also shall be my deliverance. An opportunity of appearing
before God, and pleading my cause, will lead to my deliverance, i. e. to
my vindication fi'om the charges of wickedness and guilt which have been
brought against me. — For no unrighteous man will come before him :
i. c. For I shall not go before him an unrighteous man. Others suppose the
meaning to be. My readiness to appear before God, and to plead my cause
before him, ought to be considered a proof of my innocence ; for no un
righteous man would dare to do it.
18. — that I am innocent : i. e. that my cause is just ; or, that I am in
nocent of the charge of gross wickedness, whioh is alleged against me as
the cause of my calamities.
19. — contend with me: i. e. maintain the cause successfully against
me. 22. Then call upon me, SfC. These expressions import that he aimed to
dispute his cause, uot merely before God as a judge, but -unth God as a
party. Scott.
26 For thou writest : A judicial term, referring to the custom of writing
the sentence of a person condemned, i. e. decreeing his punishment. See
Ps. cxlix. 9 ; Jer. xxii. 30 ; John xix. 22. So the Greeks used the ex-
13

146 NOTES.
pression ygiifeaSai Sixtjv ; and amongst the Arabs a writing is a term
commonly used for a judicial sentence.
27. Thou watchest all my paths : i. e. all the paths by which I might
escape. The allusion is to a prisoner who is not only fettered, or in the
stocks, but closely watched by sentinels. — Thou hemmest in the soles of
my feet : i. e. by a trench, beyond which thou wilt not suffer me to pass ;
i. e. thou hast stopped my way. See xix. 8 ; Lam. iii. 8, 9.
28. And I : lit. And he. Upon this change of persons in the Hebrew,
see Ges. Heb. Gram. § 217. ; Storr's Observ. § 23. The Greek idiom, by
which raSi 'omSiJi is used for iuoi, has some resemblance to it.
Ch. XIV. 1. — born of woman : This is said in conformity with the
Oriental sentiments in regard to the inferiority of the female sex, in
ancient and modern times. See ch. xv. 14, xxv. 4.
3. And dost thou fix thine eyes upon such an one 7 This expression
denotes, in Zech. xii. 4, to look angrily at another. Scott. It refers here
probably, to vigilant inspection for the sake of discovering faults. — And
dost thou bring me into judgment with thee ? i. e. Dost thou treat me as a
criminal, and decree against me severe punishments ?
4. Who can produce a clean thing from an unclean ? He now pleads
for lenity on account of the natural weakness of man's moral powers.
Who can expect so frail and weak a being as man to be without faults ?
Who can expect frail man to be as pure as au angel ? Vitiis sine nemo
nasoitur. 6. That he may enjoy, as a hireling, his day ! i. e. That he may enjoy
his term of life, at least to that degree in which the hireling enjoys his
term of service. The Sept. favors this mode of translating the verse :
' AnooTa an' aihov, tva SiOv/aatj, xa't evSox/jOtj amuv tot ^ior, oiant^ 6
fiia.9(in6g. Otherwise, Until he shall, as a hireling, have completed his day.
To complete or accomplish, is a less common meaning of riXl, but not
without support. See Lev. xxvi. 34, 41, 43 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21 ; Is. xl.
2. Others render. Until, as a hireling, he shall rejoice in his day : i. e.
the day of his death. Let him be exempt from afflictions during the com
mon short term of human life, until, weary and worn with service, he
shall rejoice in the day of his death, as a hireling rejoices in the day of his
release from service.
7-12. Compare the well known passage of Moschus. Epitaph. Bion. 105.
The meanest herb we trample in the fleld.
Or in the garden nurture, when its leaf.
At Winter's touch, is blasted, and its plaoe
Forgotten, soon its vernal buds renews.

NOTES. 147
And, from short slumber, wakes to life again.
Man wakes no imore I — mm, valiant, glorious, wise.
When death once chills him, sinks in sleep profound,
A long, unconscious, never-ending sleep. Gisborne.
See also in Dr. Beattie's Hermit :
'T is night, and the landscape is lovely no more ;
I mourn, but, ye woodlands, I mourn not for you ;
For morn is approaching, your charms to restore.
Perfumed with fresh fragrance, and glittering with dew.
Nor yet for the ravage of winter I raourn ;
Eind nature the embryo blossom will save ;
But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn ?
0 when shall it dawn on the night of the grave ?
10. — and he is gone ! !£;7PV. This word means to be so entirely pros
trated, overthrown, or weakened, as not to be able to recover. Man, when
dead, has no strength or vital principle remaining in him, by which he can,
like a tree that is felled, return to life. A more literal rendering, such as
pass away, waste away, is by English usage, synonymous with death ;
Gesenius renders it, dahin ist, ii is all over vyith him.
12. Till the heavens be no more : i. e. Never. For things unchange
able and eternal are in Scripture compared in duration to the heavens. See
Ps. Ixxii. 5, 17, Ixxxix. 29, 36, 37, cxlviii. 6 ; Jer. xxxi. 35, 36. Dr.
Good supposes that the phrase refers to a definite period, that of the gene
ral resurrection. But this supposition is inconsistent with Scripture usage,
and with the context, and is not countenanced by the most respectable of
those critics who suppose the general resurrection to be referred to in ch.
xix. 25.
13. O that thou wouldst hide me in the under-world ! i. c. in sheol or
hades. Schultens takes great pains to show that Job, by this expression,
does not wish for death, but only to be shut up alive in hades. But if we
understand him to wish for a temporary death, the connection of this verse
with the 14th will be closer. Under the influence of passionate emotion
he expresses the thought, that, if he were by death removed out of the
sight of the Deity for a time, his wrath might subside, like man's resent
ment, whioh time and the absence of the object of it weaken or extinguish .
14. If a man die, can he live again 7 Here he checks his wish for
death by a question which is equivalent to a negation. A man once dead
cannot live again. Else, or if it were so, I might have strength and
patience to endure all my present afflictions, until my change should come,
i. e. until I should be relieved from my hard service by new recruits, or
from my wearisome station by a fresh guard ; i. e. until a favorable

148 NOTES.
change in my condition should take place. Or, war-service may relate to
his wished-for residence in the lower world, ver. 13, and his change to his
restoration to the upper world, when his character should be vindi
cated, and his happiness restored. The poet probably means here to make
another allusion to the actual history of Job in the close of the poem.
15. Call upon me, and Iwill answer thee ! So Le Clere, Schultens, Ros.,
De Wette. Unable to bear the thought of going out of the world under such
a load of infamy, and having uo hope of coming back into it again to clear
his innocence, he earnestly begs of God to relent towards his creature, and
to bring him to immediate trial. The terms call and answer ought surely
to be taken in the same judicial sense as in ch. ix. 16, xiii. 22, xxxi. 14 ;
the former denoting the action of bringing the complaint ; the latter, the
part of the defendant in replying to it. Scott.
16, 17. As a contrast to the regard which he pleaded for in the foregoing
verse, and as a reason for his urging an immediate trial, he here sets forth
the severity with which God treats him now.
16. — thou numberest my steps: i. e. thou makest strict inquiry into my
actions, that thou mayst find out all my errors, and punish them.
— Thou watchest over my sins: i. b. Thou watchest for my baitings or
miscarriages, as if thou wert glad of an occasion to punish me. Poole.
17. My transgression is sealed up in a bag: i. e. as writings, money,
or other choice things, that they may be safely kept, and brought forth
upon occasion, and that not one of them may be forgotten or lost. See
Hos. xiii. 12. " The money, that is collected' together in the treasuries of
eastern princes, is told up in certain equal sums, put into bags, and
sealed." Chardin. — thou addest unto my iniquity. Either, thou
addest one sin to another, the sins of my youth to those of my riper age, so
as to swell the number laid up against me, and thus to increase my pun
ishment ; or, thou makest my iniquity greater than it is. Gesenius
renders it, perhaps correctly, (see in the Hebrew, xiii. 4 ; Ps. cxix. 69,)
thou inveniest (falsehood) unto mine iniquity : i. e. thou chargest me with
iniquity falsely . The rendering which I have adopted may be considered
as a milder way of expressing the same idea. It is that of the old Geneva
version, i. e. the English version made in the time of queen Elizabeth ;
which, in several passages of this poem, is more correct than the common
version. The Chald. has it, accumulas super iniquitates meas.
19. So thou destroyest the hope of man : i. e. the hope of living again
after death.
22. Bat his flesh shall have pain, IfC. By a bold, but not unnatural
personification, the dead man in his grave is represented as conscious of
his own miserable condition, and of that alone. He knows not of the
miseries of his living relatives, but his body consumed by worms feels its
own pain, and the soul in the underworld mourns its own sad condition.

NOTES. 149

IX.

Eliphaz begins his reply to Job with bitter sarcasms and reproaches.
He censures particularly the assertions of Job respecting the indiscrimi
nate distribution of happiness and misery, as tending to undermine
religion, and to encourage men in the neglect of prayer He says that the
assertion of such opinions is sufficient evidence of his guilt. Ch. xv. 1 - B,
He then lashes him severely for pretending to understand the ways of God
better than those who were his elders ; and for his passionate complaints
concerning God's dealings toward him. He repeats, for his admonition,
the substance of the oracle which he had brought forward in his former
discourse. 7 - 16. He proceeds to give, as a quotation from an ancient
poem, a highly wrought description of the misery which in various ways
pursues the wicked man. The drift of the whole is to vindicate Providence
to condemn Job as an object of divine wrath on account of his wickedness,
and to terrify him, if possible, into a confession of his guilt. 17-35.
Ch. XV. 4. And discouragest prayer before him. Literally, lessenest
prayer. The meaning is, that Job, by maintaining that God treated the
righteous and the wicked alike, sapped the very foundations of religion ;
since, in that case, the wicked would have nothing to fear, and the righte
ous nothing to expect from him.
5. Though thou choosest th'e tongue of the crafty. He gives this invidi
ous turn to Job's protestations of innocence, prayerSjIind appeals to God ;
which he represents as an artful address to the passions of his hearers, in
order to blind their judgment, and deceive them into a favorable opinion
of his piety.
7. Art thou the first man, S[C. .- i. e. Hast thou lived ever since the
creation of the world, and treasured up the experience of all ages in thy
own breast, that thou speakest so arrogantly, and with such contempt of
other men ? Poole.
8. Hast thou listened in the council of God : i. e. in such a council as
is described in the first and second chapters of this poem, where the
angels are represented as assembled around Jehovah for the purpose of
giving an account of their ministry, and of receiving orders respecting
the govemment of the world. Eliphaz sarcastically inquires, whether in
consequence of being admitted into God's council, he, of all men in the
world, is acquainted with his purposes. For wisdom seems here, as in oh.
xxviii., to have special, though not exclusive, reference to the wisdom or
purposes of God, by which he governs the world. For the rendering
drawn all wisdom, see Ges. Thes. ad jnj.
13*

150 NOTES.
11. — consolations of God, Eliphaz may here refer to the oraole, ch.
iv. 17-21. — words so full of kindness: So Cocc, Schult, Ges. By
their consolations, and words of kindness, he means their distant in
timations of his guilt, their warnings insinuated in the way of examples,
and their exhortations to confession and amendment. Scott.
12. — winking of thine eyes. To urink vrith the eyes, according to
Hebrew usage, denoted arrogance, haughtiness, and contempt. See Ps.
XXXV. 19; Prov. vi. 13.
19. To whom alone, l[c. .-i.e. the ancient inhabitants of Arabia, who
had not been corrupted by intercourse with foreigners. It was uo modern
or imported doctrine, but that which prevailed amongst the earliest an4
best inhabitants of the country. Le Clere. Eliphaz here speaks like a
genuine Arab, whose pride is in his tongue, his sword, and his pure blood.
Umbreit. 20. And the number of his years is hidden from the oppressor : i. e. he
is in constant fear of death. He is not secure of his life for a moment, his
guilty conscience continually conjuring up fears of assassination or vio
lence of sorae kind. He is in the situation of Dionysius of Sicily :
Distriotus ensis cui super impia
Cervice pendet, non Siculae dapes
Dulcem elaborabunt saporem ;
Non avium citharseque cantus
Soranum reducent. Hor. Carm. HI. i. 17.
With this description of the condition of the wicked compare that of
Juvenal, Sat. xiii. 192.
21. In peace the destroyer cometh upon him. Schultens and others un
derstand this. When there are no signs of invasions, insurrections, or plots
against him, his disturbed imagination is continually presenting destruc
tion to him. Post equitem sedet atra cura.
22. — darkness : a common metaphorical expression for calamity.
His despair of escaping some unhappy end, assassination for instance, is
described here. Schult. — set apart, l;c. : i. b. destined to a violent
death. So, in substance, the Sept., hriraxTai y'aq JJdi/ itg jf^toac aiSt^Qov.
26. And ran against him with outstretched neck: i. e. -with his neck
stooping and stretched out, the attitude of a combatant running upon his
adversai'y. — With the thick bosses of his bucklers. Schultens has shown
that to turn the boss of one's buckler against a person is a proverbial ex
pression among the Arabs, meaning to become his deadly enemy. The.se
metaphors drawn form the single combat, which was much in practice in
the ancient wars, are intended to express the most daring impiety, atrocious
yiolatiou of God's laws, and contempt of his vindictive justice.

NOTES. 151
27. Because he covered his face vrith fatness. This is a graphical des
cription of a luxurious and licentious person.
30. — darkness: i. e. ruin, destruction. — Ais branches: i. e. his
wealth, power, glory, all with which he was adorned, as a tree 'with its
branches. — by the breath of His mouth : i. e. of God's mouth. The des
truction of the wicked man seems to be represented under the image of a
tree destroyed by a burning wind, (see note upon oh. iii. 5,) or by light
ning ; or torn up by a tempest sent by the Deity. See ch. iv. 9 ; Ps. xviii.
15 ; Is. xi. 4.
31. — vanity. The term vanity has two meanings, and therefore well
represents the original. In the first line of the verse it denotes wickedness ;
in the second, the consequences of wickedness, or misery.

X.

The speech of Eliphaz was admirably fitted to carry on the design of the
poem, by irritating the passions of Job, and inflaming his discontent -with
the ways of Providence. In his reply he gives a pathetic representation of
the inhumanity of his friends, and of his other severe afflictions. He then
makes the most solemn protestations of innocence, and expresses an
eamest desire that his cause may be tried, and his innocence vindicated,
before he goes the way whence he shall not return. Ch. xvi. He dwells
upon nearly the same topics iu ch. xvii., and ends his reply with the
strongest expressions of grief and despair.
Ch. X'VI. 4. — string together : lit. tie together ; nectere verba, Some
prefer the rendering, make a league with words : i. e. raise a host of
words. 7. For now He, SfC. : i. e. God, whom he addresses in the next line.
8. Thou hast seized hold qf me : ¦'JDDpn. See ch. xxii. 16, and Ges.
Lex. The meaning of both clauses of the verse is, that the afflictions of
Job made his friends believe that he was a bad man.
9. His anger : i. e. God's. The image is drawn ftom a wild beast
tearing the flesh of a person whom he is pursuing. — J\Iy adversary : i. e.
God. See oh. xiii. 24, xix. 11. — sharpeneth his eyes : i.e. darts pierc
ing looks at me, or looks upon me with fierce and sparkling eyes.
10. They gape : i. b. My friends, the instruments of God's anger.
. — they assemble : i. e. like conspirators, to effect my ruin.
15. And thrust my horn. See Ges. Rosenmiiller supposes the meta
phor to be borrowed from some strong and noble animal lying dead, with

152 NOTES.
its horn thrust into the ground ; and that the meaning is. My wealth,
power, and glory are prostrate in the dust. See Deut. xxxiii. 17; Ps.
Ixxv. 5.
16. — deathlike darlcness. See note on ch. iii. 5.
18. O earih, cover not thou my blood. He compares his accumulated
miseries to blood unjustly shed, aud prays that his injuries may not be
concealed from man or Heaven, nor remain unavenged. — And let there
be no hiding-place for my cry ? i. 6. May nothing hinder my cry for
redress from ascending to heaven ' See ch. xix. 7. In the height of his
emotion he forgets that it is God who hath laid him low.
19. And he that knoweth me : ¦'iriK', lit. my witness : I paraphrase it to
avoid repetition. The Sept. has it, 6 (juvinrcog pov, probably for the same
reason. Cranmer's Bible, And he that knoweth me is above in ihe height.
21. O thai one might contend: i. e. in a judicial cojitroversy. His
meaning is, that if the Deity would bring his charges against him, he
should be able to clear himself, and vindicate his integrity. See ch.
xvii. 3.

Ch. XVII. 3. Give a pledge, ^c. The terms in this verse are obscure,
on account of our ignorance of the ancient forms of trial. Job seems
again to challenge the Deity to enter into a judicial contest with him in
regard to the uprightness of his character ; and desires the Deity to give
u, pledge that he would not avail himself of his almighty power in the
contest, but deal with him upon fair and equal terms, so that the cause
might be decided according to strict justice, and without regard to the rank
of the parties concerned. — 'Who is he that will strike hands with me f
i. e. Who, by the usual form of striking hands, will agree with me to be
surety for thee ? See Prov. vi. 1, xvii. 18, xxii. 26. This challenge, says
Mr. Poole, savors of too much boldness and irreverence to God ; yet see
ing Job expresses the same desire, almost in the same manner, in ch. ix.
32, 33, and is sharply reproved by God for contending with him, in xl. 2,
I see no inconvenience in ascribing the same .thing to him here.
4. Therefore thou wilt not suffer them to prevail : i. e. to gain the
victory in this contest. Thou wilt rather pronounce me innocent, and
censure them.
5. He that delivers up his friend as a prey, 'hvh, for a prey. So
used in Gen. xiv. 24 ; 1 Sam. xxx. 24.
6. — iheir abhorrence ; nsfl, from the Chald. tl^ri, to spit out. xat
ajz^(i>iv ai'roig yiXwg. Sept.
8. — . at this : i. e. at seeing so good a man oppressed with such a heavy
load of afflictions. —And the innocent, ^n. . i. b. the innocent will

NOTES. 15'6
resolutely oppose the -wicked, when he judges the worse of piety because of
my afflictions. Patrick.
10. — return : i. e. to the debate.
11. Even the treasvei^es of my heart: i. e. what most occupied my
heart. 12. Jilight hath become day to me : i. e. I have sleepless nights. I am
as much awake by night as by day. — The tight bordereth on darkness :
i. e. The day seems very short. The daylight seems to go as soon as it is
come. 13. Yea: DN, a particle of asseveration. Hos. xii. 11 ; Prov. xxiii. 18.
See Ges. ad verb. — / have made my bed in darkness : i. e. the darkness
of the grave. I shall soon lie down in the grave, the only plaoe in which
I can expect repose.
14. / say io the pit, S;c. By these strong expressions he intimates how
near he believed himself to be to death. I have already made so near an
alliance -with death, that my father and mother and nearest kindred are
nothing so near to me as the grave and worms. Others suppose him to
express a strong desire of death in this verse.
16. — bars of the under-world : Sheol, the gates of which are fastened
by massive bars, so that those who have entered it cannot return. See ch.
xxxviii. 17; Is. xxxviii. 10; Ps. ix. 13, cvii. 18. Some render i^3 solitudes
or -wastes, -with less probability. See Hos. xi. 6. 'When together there is
rest, SfC. Othervrise, Yea, we shall descend together into the dust ! i. e. I
and my hopes shall be buried in the same grave. So the Sept. , >j o/io^u-
^aS'ov illi /iitfiarog xaTa^rjao^e^a. This is a figurative way of saying that
all his expectations would end in misery, death, and corruption ; or that
these were all he had to expect.

XI.

In the eighteenth chapter Bildad again comes forward, full of resent
ment against Job, on account of the low estimation in which he held their
discourses. He accuses him of pride and arrogance. He reasserts the
general doctrine, maintained by the friends of Job, that misery implies
guilt, by giving a highly wrought description of the calamities which, as
he contends, are the portion of the wicked. This description contains
some particulars closely adapted to the circumstaflces of Job, and was,
without doubt, designed to intimate that Job must resemble in character
those whom he so much resembled in condition.

1-54 NOTES.

Ch. XVin. 2. When will ye make, ^c. Though the pronoun is in the
plural, there can be little doubt that Job is the person addressed. — Under
stand : i. e. Consider and weigh our arguments.
3. He refers to what Job had said in oh. xvii. 4, 10.
4. Thou that tearest thyself : lit. He teareth, ^c. This is a common
Hebrew idiom. See oh. xii. 4, xvi. 7, xvii. 10, xxxU. 15, xii. 9. — Must the
earth be deserted for thee ? SfC. When the Orientals would reprove the pride
or arrogance of any person, it is common for them to desire him to oaU to
mind how little and contemptible he and every mortal is, in these or similar
apophthegms :
¦What though Mohammed were dead ?
His Imams (or ministers) conducted the affairs of the nation.
The universe shall not fall for his sake ;
The world does not subsist foi- one man alone. Lowth , Lect. 34.
Most critics, however, suppose the verse to have a more definite meaning.
" Tliese are proverbial forms of speech for altering what is fixed and un
changeable. The meaning is, if I mistake not, that God must give up his
moral kingdom among men, or violate the immutable laws of justice by
which it is administered, if such a man as Job escaped punishment. This
interpretation makes au easy transition to the other part of the discourse,
which is designed to prove that, by an unchangeable rule of Providence,
the signally wicked shall signally perish." Scott.
5. Behold, the light : — ihe flame, SfC. These metaphors denote, in
general, splendor, prosperity, glory, or festivity. There is an allusion, in
the latter clause of the verse, to what the Arabian poet calls the fires of
hospitality ; these were beacons lighted upon the tops of hills by persons
of distinction among the Arabs, to direct and invite travellers to their
houses and tables. Hospitality was their national glory ; and the loftier
aud larger these fires were, the greater was the magnificence thought to be.
See Pooocke in Carm. Tograi, p. iii. A wicked rich man, therefore, would
alfect this piece of state from vanity and ostentation. Another Arabian
poet expresses the perraanent prosperity of his family almost in the very
words of our author : " Neither is our fire, lighted for the benefit of the
night-stranger, extinguished." Hamasa, p. 473. Scott. See also the
note on ch. xxxi. 17.
6. — lamp : He refers to the lamp which hung from the ceiling of the
ap:irtment. The Arabs are fond of this image. Thus they say : " Bad
fortune hath extingulAed my lamp ; " and concerning a man whose hopes
are remarkably blasted ; "He is like a lamp, which is immediately extin
guished if you let it sink into the oil." See Schult.

NOTES. 166
7. His strong steps shall be straitened : i. e. Instead of advancing freely
and firmly, in a wide path, he shall be reduced to the necessity of going
timidly, in a narrow way, full of obstacles, where there is great danger of
stumbling. This is a very common metaphor in Oriental poetry to denote
the loss of power, prosperity, &c., as Schultens has shown by numerous
quotations. Strong steps are free, firm, unimpeded steps.
11. Terrors are here represented as allegorical persons, like the Furies
in the Greek poets.
13. His limbs : Iliy '^S : lit. The limbs of his skin : i. e. of his
body. — the first-born of dt ath : i.e. the most terrible death.
14. — the king of terrors. This is probably to be regarded as a poet
ical personification of death, considered as a resident of the underworld,
comp. xxx. 23. It is not to be considered as a mythical person. For there
are in the Hebrew imtings no clear traces of a king of Hades, correspond
ing to the king of the infernal regions in Grecian and Roman mythology.
— Otherwise, Terror pursueth him like a king. But the rendering
" pursueth" does not appear to have sufficient support from usage.
15. Brimstone is scattered upon his habitation : i. e. it is destroyed, like
Sodom and Gomorrha, by fire and brimstone from heaven. Grotius, Le
Clere, Schult., and Ros. think that lightning is referred to both in this
passage and in Gen. xix. 24 ; Deut. xxix. 23 ; Ps. xi. 6. Pliny says,
(Hist. Nat. xxxv. 15,) Fulmina et fulgura quoque sulphuris odorem habent
ac lux ipsa eorum sulphnrea est. And Persius, Sat. ii. 24, 25. .
 At sese non clamet Jupiter ipse ?
Ignovisse putas, quia, cum tonat, ocyus ilex
Sulphure discutitur sacro, quam tuque domusqu
 graves halantes sulphuris auras. Lucret. 'VI. 222.
Bildad may refer to the circumstance that a part of Job's property waa
consumed by lightning. Ch. i. 16.
18. And driven out of the world : i. e. He is uot conducted out of life,
as Plato expresses it, with funeral pomp, by a numerous train of relatives
and citizens, but is cast out of human society like a malefactor, and thrown
under ground with infamy and execration. Scott.

que !

150 NOTES.

XII.

Job begins his reply to the harsh and passionate invective of Bildad with
pathetic complaints of the inhumanity of hia friends, in regarding his
afflicted condition as unquestionable evidence of guilt. He maintains that
his sufferings are not to be charged upon himself, but upon God, who had
overwhelmed him with calamities, though he had done nothing to deserve
them, and though he had often desired to be brought to trial. Perceiving
that the representation of his misery had no effect upon his hard-hearted
friends, he suddenly turns from them, and expresses the earnest desire
that all which he had said in his defence might be recorded upon some last
ing monument, so that posterity, at least, might do him justice ; or that it
might remain uneffaoed till the event should justify it. But his conscious
ness of innocence does not allow him to stop here. He is not satisfied
with the tardy justice which posterity may render to his memory ; and he
gives utterance to the firm and triumphant conviction, that, low as he is
reduced by sorrow and disease, he shall yet live to see the Deity stand up
in his favor, and vindicate him from the unfounded charges which have
been brought against him. He also warns his friends that the time -will
come, when they shall be put to shame for their injustice and cruelty to
ward him.
Ch. XIX. 2. — break me in pieces : a metaphor drawn from the pound
ing of kemeis in a mortar, or from breaking rocks in pieces by repeated
blows of the hammer.
4. My error abideth -with myself: i. e. I alone shall bear the con
sequences of my error.
Mihi dolebit, non tibi, siquid stulte fecero. Plant. MensBoh. ii. 3.
5 — my reproach : i. b. my calamities, which bring reproach and dis
grace upon me.
7. Behold I complain of wrong. He certainly means wrong or violence
done to him by God. This language is extremely harsh, and utterly in
excusable. It is, however, nothing more than what he had already said in
effect, in ch. ix. 17, x. 3, xvi. 18. Indeed if such rash speeches as these
had not come from his lips, what ground would there have been for

NOTES. 157
those cutting reproaches in xl. 8 : " Wilt thou even disannul mi/ judg
ment ? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayst appear righteous 7 ' '
Scott. 9. Atid taken the crown from my head : i. e. deprived me of all my
dignity and honors. See Prov. iv. 9.
10. — Iam gone : i. e. I am near death. See x. 21, xiv. 20; Gen. xv.
2 ; Ps. xxxix. 13. — like a tree ;¦ which, being plucked up by the roots,
does not grow again.
12. His troops, SfC. He represents his calamities by metaphors drawn
from the siege of a city.
15. — foreigners, SfC. .- or sojourners : i. e. servants not born in his
house ; or, perhaps, clients, persons who looked to him for protection ;
persons connected with his family, but not residing under his roof.
Schultens says that the same word is used by the Arabian poets to denote
the dependents of a great man, who are adopted into his family and taken
under his protection. But the first meaning seems to agree better -with
the connection.
17. Uly breath is become strange, ^c. i. e. My wife denies me her
company on account of my offensive breath and sores. Otherwise, My
spirit is become a stranger : 'i.e. Iam become a stranger. — children
of my own mother : lit. children of my womb : i. e. of the same womb
from which I came.
20. And I have scarcely escaped with the skin of my teeth. A proverbial
expression, denoting the utmost emaciation from disease.
22. Why do ye persecute me like God ? i. e. without giving any reason
or account of your conduct, accusing me of crimes without proof, and
condemning me without trial.  ind not rest satisfied with my flesh :
i. e. with the consumption and torment of my whole body, but add to it
the vexation of my spirit, by your grievous reproaches and calumnies.
Or, according to Schultens, Why are ye uot satisfied with the reproaches
and slanders with which ye have already tormented me.'' Schultens
remarks that to eat the flesh of another is an Arabian phrase for calumniat
ing him. One of their poets has the line, " I am not addicted to slander,
nor am I one who devours the flesh of his friend. " Another, speaking of
his calumniator, says, " Who worries my flesh, and yet has not satisfied
his avidity." The phraseology is taken from a, wild beast rending his
prey. 23. O that my words : i. e. all my discourses, all that I have said in my
defence, my protestations of innocence, my appeals to God, &c., so that
all ages may be able to judge between me and my accusers, and to 'know
the justice of my cause.
24. — and with lead : i. e. infused into the letters engraven in the
rock, in order to make them plain and legible. See Jer. xvii. 1.
14

158 NOTES.
25 - 27. The design of this passage appears to be the same with that of
xvi. 19, where Job exclaims, " My witness is in heaven, and he that
knoweth me is on high ; " and of the numerous passages in which he de
sires and prays that his cause may be brought to trial, and that the Deity
may pronounce judgment respecting the integrity of his character. This
design is, to express, in a striking manner, the depth and sincerity of Job's
conviction of his own innocence. So strong . and clear is the testimony of
his conscience in his favor, that what has heretofore been the object of his
ardent wishes and prayers is now become the object of his confident ex
pectation ; and he expresses the firm persuasion that God will be the
vindicator of his integrity from the charges of his friends ; that he will
stand up on the earth, as a judge, and decide the cause in his favor ; that
though his body be wasted away to a mere skeleton, yet without his flesh, i. e.
in his emaciated state, he shall see God, interposing in his favor and taking
his side in the controversy. I have, in this edition, preferred to give the
sense without to ID, as the particle is used in xi. 15, xxi. 9. The render
ing of the Common Version " in my flesh" may be defended, as to its
sense, by taken JD in its usual meaning of from, and understanding Job
to say that he, looking out from his flesh, should see God. Whichever
rendering be preferred, the expectation of Job refers to a time before his
death. It appears more consistent with Job's character, and with the design
of the poem, to suppose that the main object of his confident expecf>
ation was, not restoration to general prosperity, but the vindication of his
character from false imputations. He has the conviction that a just and
good God will yet make it appear that his misery is no proof of his guilt.
Throughout the poem he seems to regard all other evils light, in compar
ison with the loss of character ; and to desire not so much deliverance from
misery, as from the imputation of guilt ; and thus he refutes the insinua
tion of Satan, that his piety was founded in selfish motives.
Whether Job connected the recovery of his health, and his restoration to
general prosperity, with the vindication of his character by the Deity, it is
not very important to decide. One objection to this supposition appears to
be very futile. Job could not have hoped for recovery from his disease, or
for restoration to prosperity, say some critics, for he had said, more than
onoe that he had no hope, and that he was near his grave. As if a
person, who is represented as agitated by the most violent and opposite
emotions, could be expected to be consistent in his sentiments and lan
guage. What can be more natural than that Job, in a state of extreme
depression, arising frora the thought of his wrongs, the severity of his
afflictions, and the natural tendency of his disease, should express himself
in the language of despair, and yet that he should be animated, soon after.

NOTES. 159
by conscious innocence, and the thought of God's justice, goodness, and
power, to break forth into the language of hope and confidence ?
But, for the reasons before mentioned, it is probable that the main, if
not the sole, object of Job's confident expectation was the vindication of
his character by the Deity. The writer, however, without doubt, intended
that the whole passage should have relation to the concluding part of the
poem, where the Deity is represented as appearing and vindicating the
character of Jpb by calling him four times his servant ; by rebuking his
calumniators, and pardoning them through his intercession ; by declaring
that he, and not his friends, had spoken that which was right, i. e. in
regard to the question whether misery was a proof of guilt ; and by
giving him temporal blessings in two-fold greater abundance than before
his affliction. This interposition of the Deity appears to have been kept
in view by the -writer throughout the poem, and thus the mind of the
reader is prepared for it.
Of the objections to the supposition that Job here expresses his confident
expectation of a resurrection to a life of happiness, a few will be briefly
mentioned. They are entirely independent of the question , what was the
general belief of the Hebrews in regard to the state of thS soul after
death. The author of the poem may have been more sceptical than
others. 1. The supposition is inconsistent with the general design of the poem,
and with the course of argument. The belief in a future state of retribu
tion would have, in some measure, solved the difficulty respecting the
affiictions of the good, and the prosperity of the wicked. But no one of
the speakers alludes to it in the course of the poem. If it be a declara
tion of that doctrine, it is a. single independent declaration of it, in a
work, in which, from the nature of the subject, it might have been expected
to occur upon every page.
2. It is inconsistent with the connection of the discourse. Zophar,
who replies to Job, makes no allusiWn to it, but goes on to assert the
temporal miseries which are the portion of the wicked and of their child
ren. So, too, verses 23 and 24 lose their force, if we suppose the state
after death to be referred to in the passage.
3. It is inconsistent with several express declarations of Job in other
parts of the poem. See ch. vii. 7, 8, x. 20 - 22, xiv. throughout, and xvii.
11 - 16. When he wishes for death, he speaks of it as the termination of
his miseries, and not as the introduction to a life of happiness. Ch. iii.
It is, moreover, too much to suppose that the influence of feeling would
have led him to deny so important a doctrine, had he believed in it. Under
the influence of opposite emotions, one may be expected to express
different opinions respecting his condition, prospects, &c , but not to deny
so important an article of his faith. So good a man as Job would naturally

160 NOTES.
have been led, in his affliction, to cling the more closely to the doctrine of
a future life of happiness, had he believed in it ; or rather, had he been
represented by the poet as believing in it.
4. It is not urged as a topic of consolation by either of the three friends
of Job, nor even by Elihu, who acts the part of an umpire in the contro
versy, and who gives a more philosophical account than either of the
speakers of the design of afflictions. Nor is it alluded to by God himself
in the decision of the controversy.
5. The Jewish commentators, who sought for every shadow of proof of
the doctrine of a future life in the Old Testament, do not consider this as
one of the passages by which it is supported. The same remark applies to
most of the Greek fathers. Chrysostom speaks expressly of Job as " a
righteous man, who knew nothing of the resurrection." Ep. ii. ad Olymp.,
&c. The supposition that this doctrine is contained in the passage
derives its chief support from the mistranslation or misappUcation of
certain expressions in it. See also the prefatory remarks to ch. xii., xiii.,
xiv. 6. Ewald, in his notes on the passage, being convinced that it cannot
refer to the resurrection of the dead , brings forward a new hypothesis,
namely, that Job's hope is- iu the happy existence , of the disembodied
spirit after death ; the immortality of his soul in Sheol, the underworld.
To us this view seems still more contrary to the expressed opinions of the
whole book, than that which supposes a reference to a resurrection of the
body. It is liable to the preceding objections to a bodily resurrection, aud
is more specially contradicted by the author's representation of the state
of the disembodied soul in Sheol. We have already stated, p. 123, that
the author of Job entertained the comraon belief on the Hebrews in a cer
tain future existence of the soul in Sheol. But it was as a mere shade of
its former existence iu the upper world. It was without hope. xiv. 19,
xvii. 11 -16, xxi. 26, and had a mere consciousness of existence, vrithout
activity or enjoyment, x. 21, 22, xiv»ll -14. So in Ps. vi. 6. "In Sheol,
who can give thee thanks ? " Is. xiv. 10. "Art thou also become weak as
we ? "
No doubt it would be agreeable to every Christian interpreter to find the
doctrine of a blessed immortality beyond the grave in every ancient book.
But why believers iu Christ should wish to force it into books where it
does not exist, it is not easy to perceive,
25. — my Vindicator: "'Ssj. This term, in its primitive sense, was
applied to the person whose duty it was to maintain the rights, interests,
and reputation of a near relative, either by repurchasing his mortgaged
inheritance, by marrying his widow, and saving his family from extinction,
by redeeming him from servitude, or by avenging his blood. In this
passage it is figuratively applied to the Deity, as taking the part and

NOTES. 161
vindicating the character of Job against the cruel treatment and false
accusations of his friends. It is elsewhere applied to the Deity in the more
general sense of a deliverer from calamities of any kind. The term
redeemer might be retained, as a figurative expression for a deliverer
from reproach and calumny, but it would be less inteUigible than the
term vindicator, and more likely to be misapplied. That there is no
allusion to Christ in the term, nor to the resurrection to a life of happiness
in the passage, has been the opinion of the most judicious and learned
critics for these last three hundred years ; such as Calvin, Meroier,
Grotius, Le Clere, Patrick, Warburton, DureU, Heath, Kennicott, Doeder
lein, Dathe, Eichhorn, Jahn, De Wette, Heiligstedt, Hirzel, and many
others. — And will stand up : i. b. appear or interpose to decide the con
troversy. Ps. xii. 5, "For the sighing ofthe needy now wiU I arise,
(or stand up,) said the Lord." xliv. 26, " Arise, (or stand up,) for our
help, and redeem us." xoiv. 16 ; Jer. ii. 27. — hereafter, or, at last;
or, at length ; tandem, Dathe ; postremo. Cast. ; posthcec, Doed. pinx is
used adverbially, 3 or 'j being omitted. See Is. viii. 23, xxx. 8 ; Numb. ii.
31; 1 Sam. xxix. 2; Prov. xxix. 11, xxxi. 25. The rendering ofthe
common version is entirely unsupported by usage. — on the earth.
"13j;-7j>. See ch. xxxix. 14, xii. 25. Lit. upon dust. Possibly the ex
pression dust is emphatic, as contrasted with heaven, the usual residence
of the Creator.
26. And though with my skin this body be wasted away. So Ros.,
Eich., aud De Wette. Or, the pronoun nXT may agree with '''11J>, and the
line be rendered, .ind after ihis skin, or body, of mine is wasted away.
According to either rendering, the meaning will be. Although I should be
reduced by disease and sorrow to a still lower condition than I am at
present. The rendering which Gesenius adopts in his Thesaurus does not
strike me favorably : And after my body is wasted away, this — supply
shall happen. The expression wasted away does not imply the death of
Job, but only that he should be extremely reduced by disease ; — without
my flesh, i. e. reduced to a skeleton.
27. — my friend : ¦'^, lit. for me, or on my side. It is so rendered in
Ps. cxxiv, 1, " If it had not been the Lord, who was on our side," &c. —
and not another SfC i. b. iu my absence, after I am dead. An emphatic
expression of Job's confidence that before his death he should see the
fiivor of God. — For this my soul panteth within me : lit. my reins are
co-nsumed : i. e. with desire to see that happy day. So Patrick, Dathe,
Ros., De Wette, Ges. See Ps. Ixxxiv. 2, cxix. 81, 82, cxliii. 7.
28. And find grounds of accusation against him ? So the Sept. and
Vulg. So Ros. and Ges. 14 *

11)2 NOTES.

XIII.

ZoPHAB, not softened by the earnest and pathetic appeals of Job, nor
convinced by his solemn protestations of innocence, but rather provoked
by the impressive warning with which he had closed his last discourse,
proceeds to portray, by new images and striking examples, the calamities
which in all ages had been the lot of the wicked. He infers that Job re
sembles those in character whom he resembles in condition.
Ch. XX. 10. His sons shall seek ihe favor of the poor : i. e. the poor
whom their father had plundered, and who may require satisfaction or
reparation. Or it may mean, generally, that they shall be so much
reduced as to seek the good-will and assistance of the most destitute and
abject ; a stronger expression than if he had merely said that they should
become poor. It is placing them below poverty itself — And their hands :
i. e. the hands of the children of the oppressor : lit. his hands. The
singular pronoun is in Hebrew not unfrequently thus used. So Deut. xxi.
10, " When thou goest forth against thine enemies, and God gives him
into thine hand." See Gesenius' Gram. § 143.
11. His bones are full of youth: i. e. of youthful vigor. So Ges.
The same word is used in ch. xxxiii. 25 ; Ps Ixxxix. 45. The meaning is.
He shall be cut off in his youth — in the fulness of his strength. So the
Sept. The Syr. and Arab, have it marrow. The Chald., strength.
12. Though wickedness, SfC. The wickedness iu which he takes so
much pleasute is avarice, with its accompanying crimes, oppression, in
justice, and cruelty. The pleasure which a depraved mind has in the in
dulgence of its criminal inclination is compared to an epicure's enjoyment
of some delicious morsel.
14. Yet his meat shall be changed -within him: i. e. changed into some
thing of an opposite nature as from sweet to bitter, from nutritious to
poisonous. His meat is riches acquired by oppression ; but it is poisoned.
A curse is connected with iniquitous acquisition. This is the poison of asps
to him, even the Divine vengeance. Soott.
15. He hath glutted, ^c. The original word is very forcible. The
metaphor included in it is drawn from a ravenous beast devouring his
prey, denoting great voracity.  ind he shall throw them up again : as
an epicure does that which he has drunk or swallowed with greediness and
delight. The sudden loss of his ill-gotten wealth, and the intolerable
anguish of his mind in suffering such loss, are involved iu this strong

NOTES. 163
metaphor. The curse or vengeance of God will briug this punishment ;
God shall cast them out of him.
16. He shall suck the poison of asps. That which he greedily swallowed,
as pleasant nutriment, shall be as destructive to him as the poison of asps.
17. — rivers of honey and milk. These are Oriental emblems of
abundance and felicity. The wicked man shall not have that secure and
permanent enjoyment of the good things of this life which he expected, or
which is promised to the good.
18. It is substance to be restored. See Ges. upon miDn. So De
Wette. " '
20. Because he knew no rest, IfC : i. e. because his cupidity was in
satiable. 21. Because nothing escaped his greediness : i. e. his rapacity. So
Heath, Ros., aud De Wette. — His prosperity shall not endure. JVon
durabit bonum ejus. Syr. JVihil permanebit de bonis ejus. Vulg.
oi^x m-&i'(OEi avrov ru aya-&'u. Sept.
22. Every calamity of the -wretched : lit. Every hand of the wretch
ed : i. e. Every blow or wound which cometh upon the wretched. So iu
ch. xxiii. 2, " My wound is deeper," SfC, is, in the original. My handis
deeper, SfC. ; the instrument being used for the effect. Omnis dolor.
Vulg. nana aray-xr]. Sept.
23. He shall, indeed, have wherewith to fill himself. This is said
sarcastically. The next line shows what sort of food he was to have.
— for his food. IDinSs. So Schult., Ges., and Ros. See Ps. xi. 6.
Similar images occur in the Koran. Thus : Qui occultant quod Deus
revelavit, illi non edent in ventribus suis nisi ignem.
24. He fleeth, SfC. This was probably a proverbial expression, like
that in Latin, Incidit in ScyUam, cupiens vitare Charybdim.
26. — is treasured up for him : lit. is hidden, or laid up, for his
treasures. See Rom. ii. 5.  ifire, unkindled: i. e. not kindled by man,
but sent from heaven : i. e. lightning.
27. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity : i. e. by lightning, for in
stance, such as destroyed the herds of Job, or by storms of vrind, suoh as
destroyed his children. — And the earth shall rise up against him : i. e.
when wild beasts, venomous serpents, or bands of robbers shall destroy
his substance.

164 NOTES.

XIV.

The opponents of Job had persisted in maintaining that great calamities
were a proof of uncommon guUt ; that they were the portion of the
wicked, and of them only. This position Job overthrows, by adducing
instances of impious men who pass their lives in ease and prosperity, enjoy
a comfortable old age, and are favored with an easy death. Ch. xxi. 6 - 15.
They might object, that the fear of reverses must mar the enjoyment of
the guilty ; but he contends that such reverses happen so seldom, that
the bad have not more reason to fear them than the good. 16 - 18. They
might say that the children of the impious man suffered, if he did not ;
but he asserts, with justice, that this is no punishment to the offender who
is numbered with the dead. 19 - 21 He maintains, that, of two persons
of the same character, one might be seen enjoying uninterrupted prosper
ity, and the other, suffering misery without cessation ; and that both came
to the same end. 22-26. Perceiving by their looks that they were not
satisfied, but still regarded his miserable condition as evidence of his guilt,
he appeals to the testimony of travellers, who would mention instances of
great oppressors who had escaped in a time of general destruction, and
died a peaceful death ; who had been buried with great pomp, and had
had so splendid a, monument erected to their memory that they almost
seemed to flourish and live again in their very tombs. 27 - 34.
Ch. XXI. 2. And let this be your consolation : i. e I jvill regard your
candid attention as an equivalent for those consolations which I had reason
to expect from you.
4. Is my complaint concerning man 7 The preposition 7 means of or
concerning , in Gen. xx. 13, and elsewhere. See Ges. He seems to in
timate that he had not so much reason to complain of man or of his friends,
as of the severe afflictions which he received from God, whilst so many
wicked men enjoyed prosperity. — Why ihen should I not he angry ?
liiari UV -dvua^i'iaofiai ; Sept. He seems to consider the fact that his
misery was sent upon him by God, notwithstanding his endeavors to please
him, as a sufficient reason for his impatience and complaints.
5. Look upon me, SfC. Silent astonishment, instead of censure, should
be the effect of beholding a man of integrity and piety in my afflicted
condition, while so many contemners of God, and oppressors of his crea
tures, are happy in life and fortunate in death.
6. When I think qf it : i. b. of what follows, viz., the prosperous
condition of the wicked.

NiJTES. 165
12. They sing, ^c. ^i«L'^ , -ieW. h'\^ , atiollunt vocem. See Is. xlii. 2.
13. And in a moment, SfC. This assertion is opposed ta Zophar's re
presentation of the terrible death of suoh men, in ch. xx. 24, 25. See also
ch. xviii. 12, 13. This is that sudden and easy death, in a green old age,
without pain , without lingering sickness, and while their families are
flourishing around them, which Tiresias predicts to Ulysses in the shades :
" Death shall come to thee from the sea. It shall be a gentle death. It
shall come when thou art subdued by a happy old age, and thy people
about thee are happy." Odyss xi. 133, &o. Scott. So Suetonius, after
describing the death of Augustus, says : Sortitus est exitum facilem, et
qualem semper optaverat. Nam fere, quoties audisset cito ac nuUo
cruciatu de unctum quempiam, sibi et suis iJ&araaiav similem (hoc enim et
verbo uti so'ebat) precabatur. Life of Augustus, § 99.
16. Thou sayest, SfC. There can be no doubt that, in the first line, at
least, of this verse. Job refers to the sentiments advanced by his opponents,
and probably in both. Some suppose that the first line is ironical ; and
that, in the second. Job expresses his abhorrence of wickedness, notwith
standing the prosperity which often accompanies it.
17. How often happens it, SfC. This question is equivalent to the
assertion that the wicked are seldom in adversity and misery. It is thus
an answer to the assertion in the preceding verse.
21. — is completed: i.e. according to Cocceius, is reckoned in full
tale : i. b. when he has lived out the whole term of human life.
22. Who t' en shall impart knowledge to God, SfC. Shall we be so bold
as to instruct God how to govern the world, and to tell him that he is not
just, unless he punish the wicked when we expect it ? He judges the
highest beings, and therefore surely knows how to govern us. He, that
rules the world of spirits, surely knows how to manage the little concerns
of mankind.
24. His sH^s, ^c. Otherwise, His pastures are full of milk. See
Ges. upou t'DJ?. Lalera ejus plena adipe. Arab, and Syr. ra Si cyxaia
uvTov TiXijoij (Ttiaroc, Sept. Viscera ejus plena sunt adipe. Vulg.
28. For ye say, %c. Although these questions relate to tyrannical
princes in general, and to other wicked men in high stations, they are in
tended to be applied to Job's overthrow in particular. His adversaries
still insisted that destructive calamities are the usual portion of the wicked;
and that, such calamities being his portion, there was wanting no other
evidence of his guilt. But the testimony of traveUers, as he tells them,
shows the falsity of their premises, and therefore of the conclusion drawn
from them. Scoti.
30. That the wicked is spared in the d-iy of destruction : i. e. when
destruction comes upon other men. So Merc , Schult , Pat., Ros., and

1 ;,; NOTES.
Ges. — And that he is borne to his grave in the day of wrath. See ver.
32, aud X. 19. He dies a uatural, peaceful death.
32. Even ihis man, SfC. He is too powerful to be called to account by
man, and, not meeting with chastisement from God, he goes to the grave
with all the honors of interment usually paid to personages of the highest
rank. Scott. — Yea, he still watches over his tomb. So Dathe, Ros.,
Eichhorn, and De "Wette. He enjoys, as it were, a second life upon his
tomb, in the honors paid to his memory, his splendid monument, and the
fame he leaves behind him. xat oi'tus lni ni.iijoyy ijQi'uriiasr. Sept.
Et super congeriem vigilabit. Chald. Et in congerie mortuorum vigila-
bit. Vulg.
33. — the sods of the valley, Sgc. These words also seem to suppose
that the person who is buried may partake, in some respects, of the pros
perous state of the tomb whioh contains him. See the note on ch. xiv.
22. Such an idea seems to have been indulged by Sultan Amurath the
Great, who died in 1450. " Presently after his death, Mahomet his Sonne,
for feare of some innovation to be made at home, raised the siege, and re
turned to Hadrianople : and afterwards with great solemnitie buried his
dead body at the west side of Prusa, in the suburbs of the citie, where he
now lieth, in a chappell without any roofe, his grave nothing differing
from the manner of the common Turks ; which, they say, he commanded
to be done, in his last will, that the mercie and blessing of God (as he
termed it) might come unto him by the shining of the sunne and moone,
and falling of the reine and dew of heaven upon his grave." Knolles's
Hist, of the Turks, p. 332. Burder's Oriental Customs, No. 507. — And
all men, ^c. In going do-wn to the grave he does but share the common
lot of mortals. Innumerable multitudes have gone thither before hire,
and the succeeding generations of men shall follow hipi to the same plaoe
of assembly for all the living. Others suppose a funeral procession to be
referred to. -

XV.

Here begins the third series of controversy. Eliphaz, unable to refute
the reasoning in Job's last discourse, founded as it was on undeniable facts,
proceeds to misrepresent his sentiments, and even to charge him with par
ticular crimes. He begins with an attempt to expose to ridicule Job's com
plaints respecting his afflictions, his assertions of his innocence, and his
appeals to the Deity, as if he had set up arrogant claims upou the divine

NOTES. 167
justice, and had demanded a reward for his goodness. Ch. xxii. 1 - £
He goes ou to assert that Job's wickedness, and not injustice on the part
of the Deity, was the cause of his misery, and charges him with a variety
of enormous crimes. 6- 11. He also accuses him of having adopted the
corrupt principles of those impious men, who, in former times, had
perished by a flood, and warns him not to piirsue their course, and thus
incur their punishment. 12-20. In conclusion , he exhorts him to re
pentance, and gives a splendid picture of the prosperity to whioh.he might
look as a reward. 21 - 30.
Ch. XXn. 2. Behold, the wise man profiteth himself. Comp. xxxv. 7
Prov. ix. 12 Whatever wisdom or goodness a man has, he has the benefit
of it, not God.
4. ^ Will he contend, SfC. ? i. e. in a judicial controversy. Is he afraid
that his character will suffer by thy complaints, unless, in obedience to thy
citation, he submit to a trial, and argue his cause before some tribuna! ?
7. Thou hast refused, SfC. Among the eastern nations hospitality was,
and still is, regarded as a duty of the most sacred obligation.
8. But the man of power had the land : i. e. The rich were always
welcome to Job ; his house was open to them, and his land before them,
while the poor were driven away from his house and territories. Or per
haps it is >¦- more general proverbial expression, denoting the partiality
and honor with which Job regarded the great and powerful. Or the
meaning may be. Through your connivance, or influence, the great were
sure to gain their cause, when they set up a claim to the land of the poor.
9. And broken the arms : i e. thou hast taken away all their support.
All the ancient versions render X3T' in the second pers. sing., whioh
makes it probable that N3in was formerly in the text.
10, 11. — snares. This was a common metaphor for danger and des
tructive calamities ; as darkness and floods of water for overwhelming
misery. 12-20. What Job had said, in the preceding chapter, of the general
impunity and prosperity of the wicked, was matter of fact. But this
calumniator misrepresents his discourse, as a denial of a divine providence
grounded on most absurd notions of the Supreme Being, as though he
were limited in his presence, and could not see what passeth in our world.
— The immense distance of heaven, the habitation of God, is represented
by its being far above the stars. Scott.
13. Can he govern behind the thick darkness ? Can he see, through
the thick clouds, the crimes that are committed on earth, and thus inflict
the punishraent which they merit ?

iLij NOTES.
14. And he walketh upon the arch of heaven : i. b. He is afan immense
distance from the earth, and wholly occupied in the concerns of the
heavenly world. So Lucretius, Lib. II. 646.
15. Wilt thou take the old way, SfC. . i. e. Are you wilUng to ado, t
the principles of those impious men who lived in the time of the deluge ?
16. — cut down. Lit. seized, hurried away.
17. By describing the impiety of these men in the very terms used by
Job ih ch. xxi. 14, 15, he confronts their exemplary destruction to Job's
assertion of the impunity and felicity of suoh characters. Scott.
18. — counsel : i. b. purposes, plans, &c.
24. Cast io the dust thy gold, SfC. : i. e. When thou shalt regard gold as
of no account, and cease to plaoe thy dependance upon earthly treasure,
as thou hast done, and shalt place thy trust upon God alone, then, &c.
27. And thou shalt perform thy vows : i. e. Thou shalt obtain those
blessings for which thou didst make thy vows, and accordingly perform
them. 28. And light shall shine upon thy ways: i. e. Thou shalt have
success and prosperity in all thy pursuits.
29. When men are cast down, SfC. The meaning probably is, When
men are in affliction, or in low circumstances, such shall be the efficacy of
thy prayers, that God will raise them up.
30. — him that is not innocent. The particle ix, rendered island in
the common version, is used as a negative in 1 Sam. iv. 21. It is so
rendered here, in the Chald., and by Le Clere, Ros., Ges., and De Wette.
The same sentiment is fouud in Gen. xviii. 24 ; Ezek. xxii. 30 ; Jer. t. 1.
Ros. also observes, that it may be designed to refer to ch. xlii. 8, &c.,
where it appears that Jehovah forgave the friends of Job on account of
his intercession. See the note on ch. viii. 7.

XVI.

This reply of Job is the effusion of a mind agitated by various strong
emotions ; by deep grief, ch. xxiii. 2 ; by an earnest desire to argue his
cause with God, since he could obtain neither justice nor mercy from his
friends, 3 - 7 ; by distress, that he could not obtain his desire, 8, 9 ; by
consolation in the testimony of his conscience, 10-12 ; aud by consterna
tion and despair, arising from the thought of God's absolute dominion,
andthe immutability of his designs, 13-17. Having in some measure

NgTES. 169
reUeved his mind by the foregoing effusions, he makes one effort more to
convince his adversaries by reasoning with them. He denies the constancy
and even the frequency, of the judgments of God upon wicked men. He
produces a catalogue of enormous crimes, such as theft, oppression of the
poor, murder, adultery, and tyranny, at which, as he thinks, the Gover
nor of the world seems to connive, by forbearing to punish the authors of
them ; by suffering them to flourish during life, and to be fortunate and
happy in the time and circumstances of their death. Ch. xxiv.
Ch. XXin. 2. — tny wound: Ut. my hand: i. e. the hand of God upon
me. 3. O that I knew, SfC. He desires to go before the tribunal of God, as
» man, whose character has been assailed, may demand a trial at an
earthly bar.
6 Would he contend, SfC. 7 i. e. He would not overawe me, or put me
down, by his superior power, but would rather listen to what I might offer
in my defence. — would have regard: Dt!'', I'sS being understood. See
iv. 20, xxxiv. 23.
7. Then would an upright man, Ifc. He speaks of himself in the
third person.
8, 9. These words are designed to express, not the mere invisibility of
the Deity, but the earnest desire of Job, conscious, as he was, of his in
nocence, to obtain some visible manifestation of the Deity, and to expostu
late with him, face to face, upon his unmerited sufferings. Scott. The
Hebrews, like some other of the Oriental nations, in speaking of the
different quarters of the heavens, regarded themselves as fiicing the East,
the rising sun. Backward would theu be West ; the left. North ; and the
right, -South See Ges. Thes. ad linx. — where he worketh : Some
r
suppose that God is represented as working in the places northward from
Job , because mankind were there most numerous, and most attentive in
observing the works of God. But may there not here be an allusion to
an opinion, which is known to have prevailed amongst the ancient eastern
nations, that iu the farthest regions of the north was a high mountain,
corresponding to the Olympus of the Greeks, where was the seat or
peculiar residence of God, or the Gods ? See Is. xiv. 13 ; Ezek. i. 4, and
the notes, aud the dissertation on the subject of the Oriental opinion above
referred to, appended to Gesenius's Comment, on Isaiah, vol. III. p. 316.
10. But he knoweth, SfC. But my consolation is, that God seeth my
heart and my conduct. — he trieth me : i. e. he examineth and proveth
my character.
12. Above my own law : i. e. above what my own desires dictated.
14. He performeth, ^c. : i. e. without regard to my expostulations,
16

170 NOTES.
pleadings, and protestations, he proceeds to inflict upon me what he had
purposed to inflict. Comp. ch. i. 13, 14. — such things : i. e. proceedings
of God's providence, as dark and unaccountable as his dealings toward
me. 17. — darkness: i. e. affliction, misery.
Ch. XXIV. 1. Why are nottimes, S;c. — days : i. b. such as those ofthe
deluge, the destruction of Sodom, &c. days of God are days, when he
manifests himself in retribution or judgment for sin. Why are not the
-wicked visited with signal punishments, whioh the righteous may recog
nise as such ? For the meaning given to flj?, see Is. xiii. 22 ; Jer. xxvii.
7 ; Ezek. xxx. 3 ; Eco. ix. 11, 12.
2. — and pasture them. They are so shameless, that they pasture, in
publio view, the flocks which they have stolen from the helpless.
4. — from Ihc^ way. The proud rieh men push the poor from the way,
when they meet, and oblige them to retreat, as it were to hide themselves.
5. — ihey go forth io their work: i. e. the poor and needy, of the pre
ceding verse, who go forth to their daily toil of seeking such roots and
vegetables as the woods and mountains afford for their miserable subsis
tence. So Cocceius and Schultens, who refer to Ecclesiasticus xiii. 19.
6. — ihe harvest : lit. his harvest, referring to oppressor, in the next
line. 7. Dr. Shaw tells us that in Arabia Petrsea the day is intensely hot,
aud the night intensely oold. Travels ; p. 438. 4to. Scott.
8. And embrace the rock. This exactly agrees with what Niebuhr says
of the modern wandering Arabs, near Mount Sinai, Voyage en Arabic,
tom. I. p. 187. ; " Those who cannot afford a tent spread out a cloth
upon four or six stakes ; and others spread their cloth near a tree, or
endeavor to shelter themselves from the heat and the rain in the cavities
of the rocks. ' ' Burder.
10, 11. So Addison, in his Letter from Italy ;
The poor inhabitant beholds in vain
The reddening orange and the swelling grain ;
Joyless he sees the growing oils and wines.
And in the myrtle's fragrant shade repines ;
Starves, in the midst of nature's bounty curst,
And in the loaden vineyard dies for thirst.
12. And God regardeth not iheir prayer ! D'K'', for Jt Sj> Wtl/", to lay
to heart, to regard. Ps. 1. 23. And, by altering the points, nSsH, /oM^,

NOTES. 171
becomes nbsn, " prayer ; which is the reading of two manuscripts,
and of the Syriac version. So Doed. and Dathe. Others, And God
regarded not ihe wickedness.
13. Others hate the light, ^c. . lit. These, i. e. the following, are
among those who hate, SfC. So Merc. This is a description of criminals
who practise their deeds of violence and injustice under the protection of
darkness. 14. With the light, SfC. : i. e. Very early, by day-break. Micah ii. 1 ,
" Wo to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds ! in the
light of the morning they practise it."
15. Atid putteth a mask upon his face. So Juv. Sat. viii. 144. :
 si noctumus adulter

Tempora Santonico velas adoperta cuouUo.
16. In the daytime they shut themselves up. See Ges. upon DOn.
iotpuyiouv savrovg, Sept.
17. The morning, which discovers their evil deeds, is as terrible and
hateful to these criminals as the shadow of death, or the grossest darkness,
is to other people. — They are familiar with : i. e. They like and desire
the terrors of midnight darkness : i. e. midnight darkness which is terrible
to others. So Merc. , Poole and Ros.
18. Light are they, SfC. . This line expresses the speed with which he
is hurried away as a retribution for his crimes, like a Ught substance, or
a stream ; or the speed with which the person escapes after the commission
of a crime. — accursed portion, l;c. .- i. e. They dwell in desert and un
cultivated places. — the vineyards : i. e. the abodes of civilized men,
lest they be apprehended. The explanation of this and the following
difficult verses is thivt adopted by Meroier, Patrick, and Ros.
20. And iniquity, SfC. i. e. The unrighteous man is destroyed as
completely as a tree, which, once broken or out down, cannot grow again.
21. He oppresseth the barren, SfC. He adds affliction to one who has no
children to help her, and who is already afflicted with that which in those
days was regarded as a curse and reproach.
22. He taketh away : i. b. destroyeth. See Ps. xxviii. 3 ; Ezek. xxxii.
20. He riseth up : i. e. against the mighty, and every one of them fears
for his life. Ros.
23. God giveth. : 'ht. He giveth. See note on ch. iii. 20. — And his eyes
arc upon their ways : i. e. God seems to smile upon them and prosper
them in all their enterprises.
24. They are exalted, SfC. The complaint is, 1. that the wicked are

172 NOTES.
advanced to great preiiminance ; 2. that they are favored with a death
quick and easy, whioh is preceded by no reverse of their prosperity, is
brought on by no disease, and is embittered by no sharp and Ungering
pains. This indulgent circumstance is happily illustrated by the beautiful
simile which closes the period. Scoti.

XVII.

The short reply of Bildad, in the twenty-fifth chapter, asserts, in a
lofty strain, the awful majesty, supreme dominion, and infinite perfection
of the Deity. Hence he infers the excessive arrogance of justifying one's
self before God, and impeaching the rectitude of his government. His
remarks are directed against the conduct of Job in calUng upon God for a
trial, and in using arguments whioh seemed to call in question God's
justice. He does not attempt to answer the assertions of Job, iu the last
chapter, respecting the prosperity of the wicked. These were founded on
facts whioh could not be denied , and whioh could not be explained on the
principles of Job's opponents. It is, therefore, probable, that the poet
assigned this last feeble effort to Bildad, merely in order to give occasion
to the triumph of Job in the chapter foUowing.
Ch. XXV. 2. He maintaineth peace in his high places : i. e. He ruleth
all the inhabitants of heaven in peace and harmony. Ch. xxi. 22.
S. — his hosts ? i. B. the stars, as is probable from the parallel Une ; or
his angels. See Dan. iv. 35. — And upon whom doth not his light arise ?
Some suppose that this line is intended to set forth the glory of God in
general, as manifested in the universal diffusion of light ; as, in ch.
xxxvi. 30, he is said to spread aroutid himself his light, and, elsewhere,
to cover himself with light, as with a garment, and io dwell in the light
which no man can approach unto. Others, that it expresses the omnis
cience of God ; that it represents his light as penetrating everything, and
making everything known. Others, that his light here denotes his sun.
5. Behold, even ihe moon, SfC. So the Vulg., Ecce, luna etiam non
splendet. Comp. Is. xxiv. 23.

NOTES. 173

XVIII.

Job begins his reply with sarcasms upon his last opponent, as having
offered nothing relevant to the subject in dispute. He theu endeavors to
show that, if the question related to the power and perfections of the
Deity, he could speak in as lofty a style as his opponents of the effects of
the divine power in heaven, earth, and the regions under the earth. His
purpose is to show that his confident assertions of his innocence are by no
means inconsistent vrith the most exalted views of the wisdom and power
of the Governor of the world ; that he adores the perfections of God, and
yet denies that his misery is a proof of his guilt.
Ch. XXVI. 2. — the weak. There has beeu a doubt to whom this
ironical expression is to be applied ; whether to Jo'6, to the other two
opponents of Job, or to the Deity. From the connection, verse 4, and
from the design and tenor of the whole chapter, it seems most probable
that Job refers to himself
4, For whom, ^c. : i. e. Do you think me ignorant of the perfections
of God, that you address me on the subject with suoh a magisterial air ?
or By whom, i. e. by whose aid, &c. — And whose spirit spake through
thee ? i. e. To what extraordinary inspiration canst thou pretend ?
5. — the shades : i. e ghosts, departed spirits, the inhabitants of Hades,
or the under-world, whom the ancient Hebrews conceived of as without
strength and with little sensation, inere shadows of what they onoe were ;
iXSmXa xcifiurrmr. See Ps. Ixxxvui. 10 ; Prov. ii. 18, ix. 18, xxi. 16 ; Is.
xiv. 9, 10, xxvi. 14, 19. — tremble: i. e. at the majesty and power of
God. The verb Sin is often used in this sense, and ij so rendered in the
common version, in Hab. iii. 10. — the waters, SfC. : i. b. the seas and all
the monsters that inhabit their lowest depths.
6. TTie under-world — Destruction. These are different words, ex
pressing the sarae thing, viz. the abode of departed spirits, wh:ch was
supposed to be a vast cavern, far in the interior of the earth. See the
pas-sages referred to in the preceding note, and Jahn's Archseology, §§ 203
and 207. With this description of the Hebrew poet, compare the passage
on the same topic, quoted by Longinus from Homer, as one of unrivalled
sublimity. Iliad, xx. 61.
7. He stretcheth out the JVorth : i. «=. the nortlierr hemisphere, or the
15*

174 NOTES.
whole visible heaven, Uke a canopy or tent. Is. xl. 22. — upon no'hing:
i. E. without anything to support it.
And earth self-balanced from her centre hung.
8. He bindeth, ^c. : i. e. He coUecteth the waters into the clouds, as
it were, in bottles or vessels, which do not let them fall until he is pleased
to send them, drop by drop, upon the earth.
9. — the face of his throne : i. e. the clear sky, which is sometimes
covered with clouds. Is. Ixvi. 1, " The heaven is my throne."
10. He hath drawn u, circular bound, SfC. Ihe ancients seem to have
believed that only the northern hemisphere enjoyed the light of the sun,
and that all below the horizon was iu perpetual darkness. They also
supposed that the earth was surrounded by water, upon which the concave
of heaven seemed to rest, and hence the idea of a circular bound, drawn,
as it were, by compasses at the extreme verge of the celestial hemisphere,
where the light was supposed to end, and the darkness to begin. See
Virg. Georg. I. 247.
11. The pillars of heaven tremble. Some suppose that the mountains
of the earth, upon which the sky seems to rest, are intended ; but it is
more probable tha,! the vault of heaven is represented as an immense
edifice, supported on lofty columns, like a temple. — his rebuke : i. e.
thunder, lightning, and tempestuous winds, which were supposed to be
tokens of God's displeasure.
12. — he smiteth its pride : i. e. he restrains its rage, and turns a
storm into a calm. So Is. li. 15.
13. — the fleeing Serpent : i. e. the fugacious, fugitive serpent ; an
epithet borrowed from the Uving serpent, but referring to the consteUation
of the great Serpent or Dragon in the Northern hemisphere. The reader
will remark the coincidence of this epithet with the word elabitur in
Virgil, Georg. I. 244.
14. Lo ! these are but the borders of his works : i. b. We are acquaint
ed only with the surface and outlines of the works of God. — How faint
the whisper, SfC. : i. e How very little do we know concerning the divine.
operations ! — Bui the thunder of his power. By this expression I under
stand the higher exertions of his power, as opposed to its ordinary opera
tions, vrith which we are in some measure acquainted. The meaning thus
will be, that what is known of God's works is to that which is unknown
as a whisper to a peal of thunder. Others suppose that the thunder of
his power means the loudest and most terrible thunder. But it is not
probable that he referred to literal thunder, as a special mystery among
the works of God.

NOTES. 175

XIX.

The three ftiends of Job uow gives up the discussion. Bildad, his last
opponent, had said but a few words, and those in the manner of a retreat
ing adversary. He had also been triumphantly driven, as It were, from his
ground by Job. Zophar, therefore, is represented as thinking it prudent
to make no reply. From this discomfiture of his opponents, Job, taking
courage, goes on to express his feeUngs and views, in a more calm, but
not less decided manner than before. He begins with a renewed and
solemn declaration of his innocence, and expresses the most resolute
determination to assert it against all who may call it in question, to the
very last moment of his Ufe. Ch. xxvii. 2-7. On account of what he
had said of the prosperity of the wicked, his opponents had accused him
of approving them, and of envying their condition. He therefore ex
presses his abhorrence of a vicious character, nnd speaks of the satisfac
tions arising from virtue and piety, to which the wicked man is a stranger.
8-10. He had all along maintained, in opposition to his friends, that
this world is not the scene of a regular distribution of good and evil ; that
virtue is often oppressed, and vice triumphant ; and that the greater part of
-wicked men go unpunished, grow old in ease and affluence, and at length
die in peace. But now, having reduced his opponents to silence, he
frankly owns that there are some examples of divine vengeance, such as
they had asserted ; that the evils which sometimes, though not always, as
they contended, are the consequences of guilt, are sufficient to deter him
from envying the condition of the wicked, and from following their evil
courses. 11 - 23. The inconsistency of Job is only apparent, proper
allowance being made for strong expressions elicited by the heat of con
troversy. He concedes not his main position, viz., that the innocent often
suffer. He holds fast his innocence, and wiU not let it go. He admits not
the main conclusion of his opponents, viz., that human suffering always
implies guilt, or that he is wicked because he is a sufferer. His present
deliberate position is, that, as the virtuous do suffer, there is some
mysterious cause of human suffering besides the vices of raen, while he
admits the correctness of the representations of his opponents respecting
the ordinary consequences of sin. Thus the dispute is brought to a crisis.
Without this concession, compromise, or apparent inconsistency in the
language of Job, there could have been no end to discourses on the miseries
of »in, on the one hand, and the prosperity of the wicked, on the other.

176 NOTES.
The difficulty, therefore, which has puzzled so many critics, and led Dr.
Kennicott to propose an important alteration in the text, proves to be a
necessary part of the plan of the profound and ingenious author of the
book. The subject of the next chapter is wisdom : i. e. that high, absolute
Divine wisdom, whioh formed the plan, and directs all the concerns of
the Universe. Job had allowed, in the former chapter, that God makes
examples of some wicked men. He had maintained, in ch. xxi., that
others equally guilty escape with impunity. He had also asserted, in ch.
ix. 22, that general calamities involve the best and the worst men in one
common destruction. These are perplexing appearances. Hence his
thoughts are naturally led up to those impenetrable counsels which direct
all this seeming confusion. The powers of the human mind have made
surprising discoveries in natural things. Man has penetrated the bowels
of the earth, and surmounted the greatest obstacles for the purpose of
obtaining the treasures hidden in those regions of darkness. But all the
riches of the world cannot purchase, nor the highest genius and industry
of man attain, the knowledge of the whole plan of Providence in the
administration of the world, or the reasons for which he sometimes sends
calamities upon individuals. Only He cau comprehend the whole to
whom are known all his works from the beginning. The inference is, that
instead of prying into mysteries which he cannot imderstand, the duty of
man is to adore his Maker, and obey his commandments. This is the
wisdom proper to man.-
Ch. XXVII. 2. — who hath rejected my cause : i. e. who hath refused
me justice.
4. — deceit : i. e. the deceit of confessing guilt, of whioh he is not
conscious. 6. / will hold fast, ^c. I will continue to assert it, or I will not
acknowledge that I am guilty. I will be as tenacious of it as a good
soldier is of his shield. The original term for hold fast is the same as
that used in Ps. xxxv. 2, in connection vrith a shield.  My heart, ^c.
ov yiio ai'voiSa ifiavTot arona nQuiag. Sept. JVeque enim reprehendit me
cor meum in omni vitA me&. Vulg.
8. — cutteth off his web, SfC. This metaphor seems to be drawn from
the weaver, who, when his web is finished, cuts it off from the thrum by
which it was fastened to the beam. See vi. 9 ; and Is. xxxviii. 12.
Otherwise, ujAen he hath gotten plunder. — taketh away his life. Ut.
draweth out his life : i. e. as a sword from its sheath. Schuurrer con
jectures that Sii*' is contracted for '7NK'', in whioh ease the meaning will
I?e, demandeth hia life.

NOTES. 177
12. — vain thoughts : i. e. such as they had expressed, when they main
tained that suffering was a sure proof of guilt, or that Job was suffering
the punishment of a grossly wicked man, such as he goes on to describe
See the introductory remarks to this chapter.
13. The passage from this verse to the end of the chapter presents a
difficulty ; since, at first view. Job seems to renounce his former senti
ments, and to adopt those of his opponents. One method of explaining
it, satisfactory to me, is given in the introduction to this chapter.
14. — it is for the sword : i. b. they shall be slain in war.
15. — shall be buried by Death: i. e. they shall have no grave-digger
but Death, or, they shall be unburied. See Jer. xvi. 4. Others render it,
shall be brought io the grave by the pestilence. &ivarog sometimes has
this meaning in the Apocalypse.
16. And procure raiment as clay. It was the custom of the ancients
to lay up raiment in their treasuries as well as gold and silver. So Virgil
of Messapus, .En. ix. 26. -.
Dives equQm, dives pictal vestis et auri.
It is customary through all the East, says Sir J. Chardin, to gather to
gether immense quantities of fumiture and clothes ; for their fashions
never alter.
18. — like ihe moth. The house and family of the oppressor shall not
be more durable than the slight fabric which the moth makes in a garment
and whioh is destroyed when the garment is moved or shaken. See Dr.
Harris's Nat. Hist, of the Bible, p. 297. — Or like the shed, Sgc : which
was made for the watchman of a garden, whose business it was to defend
the fruit from birds and beasts while it was ripening, and whioh was
taken down when the fruit was gathered. See Is. i. 8. Niebuhr, in his
Description of Arabia, p. 139, says, " In the mountains of Yemen they
have a sort of nest in the trees, where the Arabs sit to watch their fields
after they have been planted. But in the Kehama, where there are but
few trees, they build a Ught kind of scaffolding for this purpose." Mr.
Southey opens the fifth part of his Curse of Kehama witb a similar
allusion, quoted by Dr. Good :
Evening comes on ; arising from the stream.
Homeward the tall flamingo wings his flight ;
And where he sails athwart the setting beam.
His scarlet plumage glow.s with deeper light.
The watchman, at the wished approach of night.
Gladly forsakes the field, where he, all day.
To scare the winged plunderers from their prey.
With shout and sling, on yonder clay-buUt height.
Hath borne the sultry ray.

178 NOTES,
19. The rich man lieth down : i. e. dies. — and is not buried : lit.
not gathered ; i.e. as the slain are gathered in battle for burial. — In the
twinkling of an eye he is no more : Ut. He openeth his eyes and is no
more. So Merc, Ges., and Ros.
Ch. XXVIII. 2. And stone is melted into copper. So Pliny, Nat.
Hist, xxxiv. 1, 22, and xxxvi. 27, 66 : Ms fit ex lapide seroso, quem
vocant Cadmiam ; et igne lapides in ses solvuntur.
3. Man putteth an end to darkness : i. e. The darkest recesses of the
earth are made Ught by torches, carried thither by man. — For the
stone of darkness. Schultens supposes the centre of the earth to be
denoted by this expression. Others, the metallic ore in the darkest parts
of the earth.
4. From the place where they dwell : 1J-DJ>D. Following Schultens,
who assigns to IJ a meaning from the Arabic, I formerly rendered these
words. From the foot of the mowitain. The present rendering is accord
ing to the common meaning of the Hebrew terms. Gesenius supposes the
expression to be elliptical for DU' "U II^X D^D, lit. From there where one
dwells : i. e. From the surface of the earth, the abode of man. This cor
responds with the last line of the verse, iftci/ swing away from -men. — a
shaft : i. e. a passage leading into a mine. — Forgotten by the feet • i. e.
unsupported by the feet. They do not descend by their feet, but are let
down by ropes or baskets.
6. — torn up, ^c. : i. e. Effects are produced by man, in excavating
the earth, similar to those produced by subterranean fires. So Pliny :
Persequimur omnes ejus (terrse) fibras, vivimusque super excavatam. . . .
Imus in viscera ejus, et in sede Manium opes quserimus, tanquam parum
benignk fertilique, quaqua calcatur [perhaps, secatur]. Hist. Nat. xxxiii. 1.
7. The path thereto : i. e. to the place of sapphires, gold ore, &c.
Verses 7 and 8 are probably designed to illustrate the intrepidity of man
in penetrating these dangerous regions of darkness. The most far-sighted
birds could not see them, or find their way to them. The most daring
beasts of prey would not venture into them. Vulture : I think it better
to rely on the Sept. and other anoient versions as to this meaning than
on uncertain etymological conjecture.
9. Man layeth his hand, SfC. This and the following verses describe
the immense labor and difficulty of working a mine. Man overcomes
every obstacle which nature has placed in his way.
10. He causeth streams, ^c. This was done either for the purpose of
drawing off the water whioh impeded their operations, or of washing the
impure ore.

NOTES. 179
11. — bindeth up the streams, SfC. . i. b. the water which trickles down
the shaft of the mine.
12. But where shall wisdom be found 7 Having given an imposing
view of the powers of man in regard to natural things, he proceeds to
give as emphatic a representation of his inability to fathom the counsels of
God, or to understand the reasons which direct him in the government of
the world, particularly in the distribution of happiness and misery.
13. Man knoweth not the price thereof: i. e. He hath no means or
abUity to obtain it.
21. And kept close from the fowls of the air : i. e. The residence of
wisdom is beyond the flight of the svriftest and strongest birds. This is
saying, m a poetical, and perhaps a proverbial manner, that this wisdom
is not to be found vrithin the limits of our world. Scott.
22. Destruction and Death : i. e. the under-world, Hades. — We
have heard a rumor, SfC. : i. e. It is at such an immense distance from us,
that we have only heard a rumor respecting it.
23. God knoweth the way to it : i. e. God only knoweth the reasons of
his dispensations to men.
27. — and make it known : i. e. to his angels. Or, He made hia
vrisdom visible in his works.
28. — that is wisdom : i. e. The vrisdom of man does not consist in
the knowledge of the reasons of the divine govemment, but in piety and
holiness.

XX.

Job now returns to his own oase, as a striking illustration of the mys
terious ways of Providence, of which he had spoken in the last chapter.
His aim is to show that all his pleadings and complaints were well founded.
He beautifully descants upon his former prosperity, ch. xxix., and
exhibits the striking contrast between it and his present affliction and de
basement, ch. xxx. Lastly, in answer to the unfounded insinuations and
false charges of his friends, he relates the principal transactions of his
past life, asserts his integrity, as displayed in the discharge of aU his
duties relating to God aud man, and again appeals to the omniscience and
justice of God in attestation of his sincerity. Ch. xxxi. Lowth.

180 NOTES.

Ch. XXIX. 3. When his lamp shone over my head. The houses of
Egypt, according to Maillet, are never without Ughts in the night-time. If
such were the ancient custom, not only of Egypt, but of the neighboring
countries of Judea and Arabia, it will strongly illustrate this passage.
Mr. Scott, however, thinks that there is probably an allusion to the lamps
which hung from the ceiling in the banqueting rooms of the wealthy
Arabs. — walked through darkness. Here is reference probably to the fires,
or other lights, which were carried before the caravans in their night-travels
through the deserts. The extraordinary favor of God and his protecting
care are denoted by the metaphors in both parts of this verse.
4. My autumn: r*;? axft.i,g uov, i. e. my ripeness, the flower of my
age. Comp. the Greek onw^a. Or autumn may refer to the time of his
greatest outward prosperity ; of the ripest fruits of life.
6. When I bathed, SfC. : i. o. When streams of milk met me, as it were,
wherever I went. Olive groves and abundance of cattle made the prin
cipal wealth of the Arabs. The best oUves grew upon the rooky
mountains. Hence the bold figures by which the Arabs express a condi
tion of uncommon feUcity. See Deut. xxxii. 13, 14. Scott.
7. — to the gate : i. e. the forum, or place where the courts were held.
— And took my seat, SfC. "Job here speaks of himself as a civil magis
trate, who had a sejt erected for him to sit upon whilst he was hearing
and trying causes ; and this was set up in the street, in the open air,
before the gate of the city, where great numbers might be convened , and
hear and see justice done. The Arabs, to this day, hold their courts of
justice in an open plaoe under the heavens, as in a field, or a market
place." Burder's Oriental Customs, No. 615.
8. The young men, SfC. Savary, in his Letters on Egypt, Vol. I. p.
149, says, " The chUdren are educated in the woman's apartment, aud do
not come into the hall, especially when strangers are there. Young
people are silent when in this haU ; if men-grown, they are aUowed to
join the conversation ; but when the Sheik begins to speak, they cease,
and attentively Usten. If he enters an assembly, all rise ; they give hira
way iu publio, and everywhere show him esteem and respect." — And
ihe aged arose and stood. This is a most elegant description, and exhibits
most correctly the great reverence and respect which was paid, even by
the old and decrepit, to the holy man in passing along the streets , or when
he sat in publio. They not only rose, which in men so old and infirm was
a great mark of distinction, but they stood ; they continued to do it,
though the attempt was so difficult. Lowth.
14. / clothed myself, SfC. i. e. I was clothed with righteousness, as
wiih a garment without, and it wholly filled me within. I was altogether

NOTES. 181
righteous within and without. This meaning is made probable by the
paronomasia of the Hebrew, and also by such expressions as Judges vi.
34. ' ' The spirit of Jehovah put on Gideon. By altering the vowel
points so as to change the conjugation from kal to hiphil, one might sustain
the rendering of the common version. — robe and diadem. A proverb
still in use among the Arabs is, " Knowledge is a diadem to a young
person, and a chain of gold about his neck." Scott, referring fo
Schultens. 18. — / shall die in my nest. Schultens remarks that the image is
taken from the eagle, who builds hife nest ou the summit of a rock.
Security is the point of resemblance intended. See oh. xxxix. 27, 28 ;
Numb. xxiv. 21 ; Obad. ver. 4.
19. My root is spread, ^c. A tree planted by the rivers of waters,
and bringing forth its fruit in its season, is a beautiful emblem of pros
perity. See Ps. i. 3. The dews, whioh fall very plentifully in the night,
contribute greatly to the nourishment of vegetables in those hot climates
where they have scarcely any rain during the summer. Scott.
20. My glory is fresh. A flourishing evergreen was the image in the
preceding verse, and is carried on in this. — And my bow gathers strength
in my hand. By the state of the weapons commonly used, the Orientals
express the condition, as to strength or weakness, prosperity or adversity,
of the person who uses them. See Gen. xlix. 23, 24. The figure is very
common in Arabic poetry, as may be seen in Schultens' note upou this
verse. 22. When my speech dropped down upon them. So Deut. xxxii. 2,
"My doctrine shall drop as the rain." So Homer speaks of Nestor's
eloquence, lUad, I. 249. ;
Tov xal artii yXajaatjg ytXirog yXvx'iwv ^iiv aijSt'i'
Words, sweet as honey, from his lips distiUed. Pope.
So also Milton, Par. Lost, II. 112. :
 though his tongue
Dropt manna, &c.
23. They waited, SfC. .- i. e. They waited for my opinion with the same
eager desire with which the husbandman doth the showers after he hath
sown his seed ; they gaped for it, as the thirsty earth doth for the latter
rain to plump the corn. Patrick. Among the Egytians, the heavens
pouring down rain or dew was the hieroglyphic of learning and instruc
tion. Burder.
24. ff I smiled upon them, they believed it noi. The reverence in
16

182 NOTES.
which I was held was so great, that, if I laid aside my gravity and was
famUiar with them, they could scarcely believe that they were so highly
honored ; my very smiles were received with awe. — JVor did they cause
the light of my countenance to fall. In the Scriptures to lift up the light
of the countenance means to show favor. The opposite expression, there
fore, io cause the light of ihe countenance to fall, must mean to provoke
displeasure by unbecoming behavior ; to bring a cloud upon the counte
nance. 25. When I came among them . lit. / chose their way ; the particle
DX being understood. Or rather it is a common idiom of the Hebrew to
omit the conditional particle, just as when in English one puts the verb be
fore the pronoun. Smiled I upon ihem, then they believed it not. Came
I among them, then I sai, ^c.
Ch. XXX. 1. — younger than I. The veneration paid to the aged by
the Orientals quickened their sensibility vrith respect to contempt and in
dignities offered by the young.
2. Of what use, ^c. : i. e. If I have a mind to employ them, they are
so reduced and enfeebled by their wretched condition as to be incapable of
rendering me service. Old age, SfC. . i. e. who are so much emaciated by
famine, as to have no hope or prospect of old age.
3. — famished: HtoSj, primarily, hard; and is applied to a dry,
stony soil ; and hence it denotes, barren, dry, emaciated, according to the
connection. It occurs in ch. xv. 84, and Is. xlix. 21. — The darkness of
desolate wastes : more literally. Darkness, wasting, and desolation ; or,
The night of wasting and desolation. See note on ch. iii. 7. See Merc.
or Ges. upou a'DN.
4. — purslain. Itis most probable that it denotes the plant airipZea;
halitnus, or sea-orach, or purslain, which Dioscorides describes as a kind
of bramble without thorns, the leaves of which used to be boiled and
eaten. It has a saltish taste. n-lSn is a denominative from pSd, salt.
So we have in English salad, and in French, German, ItaUan, salade,
salat, insalaia. See Harris's Nat. Hist, ofthe Bible, p. 285. — the
broom. This is a plant abounding in the desert and sandy plains of
Egypt and Arabia. Its root is very bitter. See Ros.
8. — beaten : i. b. driven out with blows.
10. — spit before myface. The association between spitting and shame
is suoh now in the East that we can scarcely conceive of it. Monsieur
d'Arvieux tells us, " The Arabs are sometimes disposed to think, that,
when a person spits, it is done out of contempt ; and that they never do it
before their superiors." But Sir J. Chardin 's MS. goes mucli faither.

NOTES. 183
He tells us, in a note on Numb, xii 14, that " spitting before any one, or
spitting upon the ground in speaking of any one's actions, is, through the
East, an expression of extreme detestation." It was probably all that the
law requu-ed in Deut. xxv. 9. ''J33 often denoting before one, in one's
presence. See Josh. xxi. 44, xxiu. 9 ; Esth. ix. 2. See Harmer's Observ.
ch. xi., obs. xcviii.
11. They let loose the reins, and afliici me. They insult and affiict me
-without restraint, aud in an unbridled manner. Thus the raeaning is the
same as that of the other clause of the verse.
-12. — the brood. The youth are thus called by way of reproach.
— They raise up ways for my destruction. More literally. They raise up
their ways of destruction, or destructive ways, against me. The metaphor
is drawn from the advance of a besieging army against a city .
18. They break up my path : i. e They oppose all my plans, and
hinder me from taking any course for my relief or benefit. — They that
have no helper ! Schultens has shown that the phrase, one who has no
helper, was proverbial amongst the Arabs, and denoted a worthless person,
or one of the lowest class. It is probably so used here.
15. They pursue my prosperity : i. e. They come upon me with
unrelenting violence, destroying my peace. The image is borrowed from a
person buffeted by a violent storm.
16. — is poured out in grief. So in Ps. xlii. 4. In our language we
say that one is dissolved in grief. The foundation of the metaphor is,
that in excessive grief the mind loses, as it were, all consistence. The
Arabians style a fearful person one who hath a watery heart, or whose
heart melts away like water.
17. — mi/ gnawers : i. e. my gnawing pains. Et qui me comedunt non
dormiunt. Vulg.
18. — is my garment changed : i. e. his skin which was affected by the
leprosy, so that he could scarcely be recognised. Some, however, suppose
the meaning to be that his outer garment, the mantle, had become close
like the tunic. Schultens renders it, it (pain) hath become my garment.
He has shown that it is a common metaphor in Arabic poetry. It agrees
well with the parallel clause. — like the collar of my tunic. The
allusion probably is to that kind of Eastern tunic which was seamless, and
all of a piece, and had an opening at the top, with a sort of collar whioh
was fastened close around the neck. Comp. Exod. xxviii. 32.
19. — I am become like, SfC. : i. e. more like a mass of inanimate matter
than a living man. See ch. ix. 31, and note.
20. / stand up. Standing being the usual posture of prayer amongst the
Hebrews, to stand, or sta7id up, is sometimes used for to pray, as Grotius
remarks in his note on Matt. vi. 5. See Gen. xviii. 22; Jer. xv. 1. Scott.

184 NOTES.
22. Tliou liftest me up, SfC. He represents his miseries under the image
of a person caught up into the air by a tempest and driven like stubble, or
like a cloud, by the wind. — Thou tneliesi me away : i. e. my strength uf
body aud mind. Thou leavest nothing solid or firm in me. Some think this
to be a continuation of the metaphor in the first clause, rcfei-ringto a cloud,
which, having been driven about by tbe wind, melts away and disappears.
— in the storm : or more literally, the rattling, or clashing, or noise of
the tempest. With considerable hesitation I have concluded to adopt this
rendering, proposed by Stuhlmann, in his Translation published in Ham
burg, 1804, as being on the whole more probable than any of th? various
meanings assigned to the Hebrew in ancient or modern versions. The rend
ering of the Comraon Version — my substance, or the similar rendering — my
safety — my strength, SfC. involves the unusual construction, Thou meltest
me away as to substance or safety, and besides i? not in accordance with the
preceding figure. By altering ¦ the vowel points so as to read nttyn, and
regarding this as equivalent to nXK'n, or nx-lg'n, whioh is found in the
plural in xxxv. 29, referring to the noise, rattling, or clashing of Jehovah's
tabernacle, aud xxxix. 7 referring to the shoutings of the driver, and in
Is. xxii. 2 to the tumult of a multitude, and in Zech. ix. 7 to shouts of
joy. As to the omission of the X, which this rendering supposes, it
occurs often in Job. See xxii. 29, xxxi. 35, xxxiii. 17, xxxiv. 36, xxxix.
7. A considerable number of modern Hebraists, such as Ewald, Heiligstedt,
Hirzel, Schlottman, and others have adopted this rendering. If it be
liable to objections, are not other renderings Uable to greater?
24. For a defence of this rendering, see Ros., and Ges. Lex. upon '^3.
It is also adopted by De Wette.
26. But when I looked, SfC. He expected to be made happy all his Ufe,
through the divine benediction, on account of his charity and other
virtues ; but, instead of that, he was made most miserable.
27. My boivels boil, SfC. These expressions, iu their literal meaning,
describe the violent inward heat caused by his inflammatory disease.
They may likewise include the ferment of his mind ever since his afflictions
came upon him. The heart and ihe reins, in the Oriental figurative style,
denote the thoughts and passions. Scott.
28. I am black, bui not by the stm. His disease had made his com
plexion as swarthy as that of the poor laborers in the field, who are
exposed to the scorching sun in that hot climate ; and so sharp were his
pains, that he was obliged to shriek out, even in a public assembly.
29. 7 am become a brother to jackals : i. e. I am like the jackal with
respect to his mournful cries. Dr. Shaw observes that jackals make a

NOTES. 185
hideous howling in the night. Dr. Pooocke observes, in his note upon
Micah i. 8, " The ancient Syriac describes it by a word, which, in that
language, as their own authors tell us, signifies a kind of wild beast,
between a dog and a fox, or a wolf and a fox, which the Arabians call,
from the noise they make, Ebn Awi, or wawi, and our English travellers
and other Europeans, by a name borrowed from the people of those
countries, where they are more known than in Europe, jackales, which,
abiding in the fields and waste places, make in the night a lamentable
howUng noise, insomuch that travellers, unacquainted with them, would
think that a company of people, women or children, were howling one to
another, as none that have travelled in those parts of Syria, &o., can be
ignorant. This translation seems to carry more reason with it than the
rendering it dragons; because of the hissing of dragons, as of othei'
serpents, we hear and read, but nowhere in any creditable author of their
howling, or making such a noise as may be called wailing, or like to it. "
See also in in Ges. Lex., and Harris's Nat. Hist. p. 113. — And a com
panion to ostriches. Companion is used like brother in the preceding line,
to denote resemblance. See Gtes. upon njj?'. " During the lonesome part
of the night," says Dr. Shaw, " they (the ostriches) make very doleful and
hideous noises ; which would sometimes be like the roaring of a Uon ; at
other times it would bear a nearer resemblance to the hoarser voice of
other quadrupeds, particularly of the bull and the ox. I have often heard
them groan as if they were inthe greatest agonies." Shaw's Travels,
Vol. II. p. 348. 8vo.
30. — is black, and falleth from me: Ut. is black from upon me
Construct. Prseg.
31. My harp, SfC. These were probably proverbial expressions,
denoting a change from happiness to misery.
Ch. XXXI. The apology of Job in this chapter, says Mr. Scott, which
turns chiefly on his behavior in private life, is not the effusion of vanity
and self-applause. It is, in regard to his antagonists, necessary self-
defence and solid refutation. Yet I think, from its connection with the
foregoing account of his sufferings, and from verses 35 - 37, his favorite
design evidently is to show that God had multiplied his wounds witho-ui
cause. In this view he is chargeiible with justifying himself more than
God ; that is, with making his own cause to be more just than that of
Providence. If we except this fault, however, the picture which he has
drawn is a masterly piece of moral painting. Nothing can be more
finished and amiable than the character here represented. It is an
exemplification of the most disinterested virtue, inspired and ennobled by
16*

186 NOTES.
the most rational and exalted piety. In short, this apology may be justly
styled a fine epitome of morality and religion.
1. How then, SfC. . or. That I would not, SfC.
6. Let him weigh me, ^c. Some suppose this verse to be parenthetical,
and that the imprecation in verse 8 relates to verse 5, as weU as to verse
7. Others, that this verse includes a, tacit imprecation : Lei him weigh
tne, SfC, and if I am found guilty. May he do so to me, and more also !
7.  from the way ; i. e. of rectitude. — Or if any stain: i. e. auy
unjust gain. If I have taken the property o'f others by fraud or violence.
The Sept. renders the clause. If I have touched gifts with my hands : i. e.
taken bribes.
9. _a woman. A woman here means a married woman. It stands
opposed to a maid in verse 1, and is rendered wifcin ver. 10. — watched^
^c, to see when the husband was absent, and when there was an oppor
tunity for committing adultery.
10. Then let my wife grind for another : i. b. let her be his abject
slave. The ancients ground their corn with hand-mills. This was the
work of female servants. See Ex. xi. 5 ; Is. xlvu. 2 ; Matt. xxiv. 41.
12. Yea, it were a fire, ^c. The commission of such a crime would
have provoked God to send destruction, like a consuming fire, upon my
family and estate. See Ps. Ixxxiii. 14.
14. — riseth up : i. e. as a judge, to inquire into and punish the sins of
men. 16. Or caused the eyes of the widow lo fail : i. e. If I refused her the
relief whioh she implored of me with earnest eyes.
17. Have I eaten my morsel alone 7 "No sooner was our food pre
pared, whether it was potted flesh, boUed with rice, » lentil soup, the red
pottage. Gen. xxv. 30, or unleavened cakes, served up with oil or honey,
than one of the Arabs, after Ijaving placed himself on the highest spot of
ground in the neighborhood, calls out thrice with a loud voice to all their
brethren, the sons of the faithful, to come and partake of it, though none
of them were in view, or perhaps within a hundred miles of them."
Shaw's Travels, Vol. I. p. xx. Burckhardt informs us that in Kerekj a
city in Arabia, " when a stranger enters the town, the people almost come'
to blows with one another, in tlierr eagerness to have him for their guest,
and there are Turks who every other day kill a goat for this hospitable
purpose. ' '
18. — helped ihe widow : lit. assisted her, the antecedent being in verse
16.. 21 . Because I sate my help in the gate : i. b. When, on account of
my influence in the courts of justice, I could commit any act of injustice
with impunity.
22. .ind my fore-arm, SfC. There is a striking grandeur in this im-

NOTES. 187
precation on the arm that was lifted up to threaten an orphan in a court
of justice. Scott. — J'rom its bone : i. e. from the upper arm, to which it
was appended.
26. If I have beheld, tfc. See Deut. iv. 19. Sabaism, or the worship
of the heavenly bodies, was doubtless the most ancient species of idolatry.
The Arabs went early into it. They adored the sun and moon, the planets,
and the fixed stars. See Encyclop. Amer Art. Sabaism.
27. And my mouth have kissed my hand. Kissing the idol was an act
of religious homage. The Mahometans, at the present day, in their
worship at Mecca, kiss the black stone, which is fastened in the corner of
the Beat-Allah, as often as they pass by it, in their rapid walks rouud that
sacred building. If they cannot come near enough to kiss it^ they touch
it with their hand, and kiss that. This seems to be a remnant of the
ancient idolatry, though not practised as such by them. The heavenly
bodies, being at too great a distance for a salute of the mouth, their wor
shippers substituted kissing their own hands in place of that ceremony.
Scott. Minutius Felix (De Sacrif., ca;p. 2, ad fin.) remarks, that, when
CseciUus observed the statue of Serapis, " according to the custom of the
superstitious vulgar, he moved his hand to his mouth, and kissed it with
his lips."
32. The stranger, SfC. See note on ver. 17.
33. — after the manner of men. See Is. viii. 1 ; Ps. Ixxxii. 7. Other
wise, Have I, like Adam, hidden my transgressions.
34. I have followed Schultens, Dathe, and Scott, in rendering this
verse in the imprecatory form. Some confine the imprecation to the last
line of the verse.
35-37. Job here renews the wish, which he had expressed in ch. xvii.
3, and elsewhere, that God would enter into judgment with him. He is
convinced that the result of a trial would be honorable to him. " Bolder
words than these Job had not uttered in the whole dispute. These pro
voked Elihu to renew the debate, and these are the expressions for which
the Almighty chiefly reprimanded him, in oh. xl. 2, 8, taking little or no
notice of the rest. " Michaelis.
35. — signature, )r\. This is the name of the Hebrew letter n, which
has the form of a cross in the Phoenician Alphabet, and on the coins of
the Maccabees. See in Stuart's Grammar the Hebrew coin-letter. This
mark, or cross, was used, probably, to denote the name of the person who
used it, when he was unable to write his name. Hence it denotes a sub-
scripticjn to a writing of complaint or defence, or, by metonymy, the
writing itself, as in this passage. I should understand it here a biU of
defence, rather than of complaint, as Ges. explains it. Job hardly goes
so far as to offer to bring a bill of complaint against God. It is more
probable that he offers a bill of defence, and invites the Deity to answer

188 NOTES.
him, i. e. to refute what he has said in his defence, if he can, and to bring
what charges he can against him. — And let mine adversary, ^c. .- i. e.
Let the Almighty, as adversary or opponent in court, charge me with any
sins on account of which I suffer my extraordinary afflictions.
36. Truly I would wear it upon my shoulder, SfC. : i. e. Instead of
being ashamed of it, or endeavoring to conceal it, I would wear it as an
ornament about my person. I would glory in it, as affording me the long
desired opportunity of vindicating my character.
37. — all my steps : i. e. the whole course of my life. — I would ap
proach him like a prince : i. e. with confidence and cheerfulness, as being
conscious of innocence, and not as a self-condemned malefactor, as I am
regarded by my friends.
38-40. It is not improbable that these verses have accidentaUy been
transferred from their original place in the chapter, and that the speech
of Job ended with verse 37. The natural place for the passage, according
to modern ideas of arrangement, would be after verse 23, or 25.
38. — cry out against me : i. e. to God for vengeance, because I have
obtained it from its rightful owners by fraud or -riolence. See Gen. iv. 10;
Hab. ii. 11. — bewail together : i. e. of my injustice in keeping the land
dishonestly acquired.
89. — without paytnent : i. e. without paying the price which I promised
to give the owner of the land. Or, without paying the laborers their
wages. — And wrung out the life of its owners : Literally, caused the life
of the owners to breathe forth: i. b. by depriving them of their land;
drained their life-blood, as we should say. The common version gives the
literal meaning of the words. But the expression is probably hyperbolical,
meaning to inflict great distress.
40. — noxious weeds : ntJ'XS, from B'X3, to liave a bad smell. So the
Chald,

XXI.

With chapter thirty-second commences a new division of the poem, the
design of which seems to be to prepare the way for the appearance of the
Deity in the latter part of it. A new speaker is introduced, of whose
extraction, and of whose motives for renewing the debate, an account is
given in the first five verses. Inthe last chapter .lob had triumphantly
closed his defence against the accusations of his friends, and they are

NOTES. 189
now represented as renouncing the discussion with him, " because he
vas righteous in his own eyes; " that is, because he contended thathe
had been guilty of no wickedness whioh could call down upon him the
heavy vengeance of God. Elihu now steps forward, as a sort of mediator,
ur arbiter in the controversy. He expresses his dissatisfaction with
both parties ; with Job, " because he had pronounced himself righteous,
rather than God," that is, because he had defended so vehemently the
justice of his own cause, that he seemed in some measure to arraign the
justice of God ; and with the three friends ' ' because they had not found
aa answer, and yet had condemned Job ; " that is, they had concluded, iu
their own minds, that Job was impious and wicked, although they had
nothing specific to object against his assertions of his own innocence, or
upon whicb they might safely ground their accusation.
Elihu professes, after a slight prefatory mention of himself, to reason
with Job, unbiassed either by favor or resentment. He therefore reproves
Job from his own mouth, because he had attributed too much to himself ;
because he had insisted too strongly upon his freedom from guilt and de
pravity; because he had presumed to contend with God, and had not
scrupled tp insinuate that the Deity was hostile to him. He asserts that it
is not necessary for God to explain and develop his coimsels to men; that
he takes many occasions of admonishing them, not only by visions and
revelations, but also by the visitations of his providence, by sendiiig
calamities and diseases upon them, in order to repress their arrogance, an4
turn them from those evil purposes which would end in their ruin. He
seems to regard afflictions, not as punishment for past offences, nor as
evidence of a guilty character; but rather as preventives of those sins
which the best men sometimes commit, and as salutary discipline for the
corection of those faults of which a man may be unconscious, until his
^ittention is awakened by adversity. Ch. xxxiii. He next rebukes Job,
because he had pronounced himself innocent, and affirmed that God had
acted iuimically, if not unjustly, towards him. He brings forward various
considerations to show that the Governor of the world can do nothing in
consistent with justice and benevolence. From these considerations he
infers the duty of a man in Job's situation. Ch. xxxiv. He theu objects
to Job, that, from the miseries of the good aud the prosperity of the
wicked, he has falsely and perversely concluded that there is no advantage
to be derived from the practice of virtue. On the contrary, he affirms,
that, when the afflictions of the just continue, it is because they do not
place a proper confidence in God, ask reUef at his hands, patiently expect
it, nor demean themselves before him with becoming humility and sub
mission. This observation alone, he adds, very properly, (xxxv. 4,) is at
once a sufficient reproof of the contum.acy of Job, and a full refutation of
the unjust suspicions of his friends. Ch. xxxv. Lastly, he ex;ibiins the

190 NOTES.
purposes of the Deity in chastening men, which are, in general, to prove
and amend them, to repress their arrogance, to afford him an opportunity
of exemplifying his justice upon the obstinate and rebellious, and of show
ing favor to the humble and obedient. He supposes God to have acted in
this manner towards Job; on this account he exhorts him to humble him
self before his righteous Judge, to beware of appearing obstinate or con
tumacious in his sight, and of relapsing into a repetition of his sin. He
entreats him, from the contemplation of the divine power and majesty, to
endeavor to retain a proper reverence for the Almighty, and to submit to
his mysterious allotments. Ch. xxxvi., xxxvii. To these frequently in
termitted and often repeated admonitions of Elihu, Job makes no reply.
Lowth. Bouillier observes that EUhu did not hit upon the precise cause
of Job's afflictions, though he gave amore rational conjecture than the
three friends of Job. Thus one purpose of the poet is answered, viz. that
of showing, that it is better to submit to the wisdom of Providence than
curiously to pry into it.
Ch. XXXII. 2. Then was kindled the wrath. These expressions do
not mean that he was in a passion. They are the strong Oriental manner
of denoting high disapprobation. At most, they signify no more than a
becoming warmth. Scoti. — Elihu . . . the Buzite. We know nothing
more of Elihu than is here mentioned. Buz was the seoond son of Nahor,
the brother of Abrahara; and the city of this name, probable derived
from the same family, is mentioned in Jer. xxv. 23, in conjunction with
Dedan, which we know to have been in Idumsea. Good,
4. — till Joh had spoken : Supply, and his three friends.
8. — the spirit in man. By supposing rai to mean fAe divitie spirit,
so as to be synonymous with the inspiration of ihe Almighty, in the other
clause of the verse, the parallelism is preserved, and a sense well suited
to the conneotion afforded. Having said, iu the preceding verse, that he
had expected to find wisdom in age and in experience, he now intimates
that he is disappointed; that he finds that wisdom is not the attribute of
age or station ; that it is the gift of God ; and that what is denied to the
great and the aged may be found in a youth. The expressions, the
spirit, and the inspiration of the Almighty, may denote the divine gift of
natural genius and endowments, or extraordinary illumination from the
Father of lights. The connection seems to be in favor of the latter sense
here. The ancients used to ascribe all extraordinary endowments to divine
assistance. Thus in Homer, a person is wise by the assistance of Minerva,
ka. Milton has a similar sentiment in the preface to the Reason of Church
Oovernment, urged against Prelaiy : " And if any man think I under
take a task too difficult for my years, I trust, through the supreme en-

NOTES. 191
lightening assistance, far otherwise ; for my years, be they few or manyj
what imports its ? So they bring reason, let that be looked on." Some
render the verse thus :
There is, indeed, a spirit iu man.
But it is the inspiration of the Almighty that giveth understanding.
13. God must conquer him, not man : i. e. Do not excuse your ceasing
to reply, by alleging that the wisest course which can be taken with Job
is to leave him to be humbled by God, as being too obstinate to be re
claimed by man. So Scott, though not with the best taste.
Say not, " 'Tis vrisdom that we leave to God
To humble this stiff sinner with his rod ! ' '
Othervrise, God hath thrust him down, not man : i. b. Say not that ye have
gone to the root of the matter, and proposed an unanswerable argument
against Job, and proved him to be a bad man, by the assertion that his
misery is inflicted by a just God. So Merc.
14. And with speeches like yours will I not answer him. Their
speeches were levelled against his whole moral character, aiming to prove
him a wicked man from the simUarity of his sufferings to those of noto
riously wicked men. Elihu takes another course. He limits his censure
to Job's answers in this dispute. He fixes upon some of the most obnox
ious passages, such as seemed to betray too high conceit of his own virtue,
want of respect to God, and dishonorable sentiments of Providence, and
takes occasion from these passages to vindicate the divine goodness, equity,
and justice. Scott.
15. They were confounded ! SfC. Elihu here ridicules the friends of
Job, because they were unable to answer him. Some suppose that EUhu
here addresses au audience who were listening to the discussion, and de
sires them to observe the confusion of the three friends. There is no
objection to this explanation, except that it is unnecessary. For the third
person is often used for the first or second in Hebrew poetry, and particu
larly when censure or contempt is expressed. See ch. xiii. 28, xviii.
4, xU. 9.
18. The spirit within : i. e. My soul, whioh is full of ardor, and
powerfully impelled to make known my views.
19. Like bottles of new wine : literally, new bottles. These bottles,
being made of skin, were liable to burst, when they had become old, and
were filled with new vrine. See Mat. ix. 17.
21. / will not be partial, Sfc. : i. e. I will deliver my sentiments with
freedom and impartiality.
22. — take me away : i. e. destroy me.

192 NOTES.

Ch. XXXIII. 3. — knowledge purely : This may mean that he utters
. what he knows sincerely, or that he gives a true view of the subject.
4. The spirit of God made me, SfC. : i. e. I am thy fellow-creature, de
pendent Uke thee upon God, and therefore fit to discourse with thee upou
equal terms.
6. Behold, I, like thee, am a creature qf God. Lit. I, like thee, am
hy God, i. e. created by God. This meaning accords with that of the
parallel clause. He intimates that Job might engage him upon equal
terms, having nothing to fear but the strength of his arguments.
7. Behold, my terror, SfC. . i. e. You are in no danger of being con
founded by the terror of my appearance, or of being borne down by the
weight of my authority. In order to see the force of this declaration , we
must call to mind the bold challenge of Job in ch. ix. 34, 35, xiii. 20 - 22.
9. Iam pure, and without transgression. Job had not used these
very expressions, but he had used others equivalent to them, in ch. ix.
30, X. 7, xiu. 23, xvi. 17.
10. Behold, he seeketh causes of hostility against me, SfC. See Ges.
upon nX!^n, and Ros. He refers to the language of Job in ch. xiu. 24,
25, xiv. 16, 17, xix. 11.
11. He putteth my feet, ^c. See ch. xiii. 27.
12. Behold, in this thou ari not right : i. e. Your language to the
iteity is wholly inexcusable. It is inconsistent with the reverence which
is due to so great a Being. — God is greater than man. " This is one
of those expressions which imply much more than is expressed. There is
a kind of ironical castigation in it. As if he had said, " You talk to God
as an equal ; but methinks he is somewhat superior to us. " Scott.
13. Why dost thou, S/c. To convince Job how culpable his behavior
is, Elihu argues that it is irreverent and fruitless. God, says he, will
never stoop to defend his measures against murmurers, nor vrill he com
municate the reasons of them to those who cavil at his dispensations.
Scott. 14. For God speaketh, SfC. He alleges another argument against
striving with God. There is no just cause for it. God has sufficiently
manifested his goodness and care of mankind, by the inethods which he
takes to show them their duty, to recover them from their wanderings,
and thereby to save them from destruction. Scott.
16. — sealeth up, SfC. .- i. e. secretly admonishes them.
17. And hide pride from man. Pride may comprehend insolence
towards God and towards man. But I apprehend that Elihu had his eye
on the forraer ; and that he glances at Job's too high opinion of his own
rectitude and merit, which gave rise to his complaints against God.
Scott.

NOTES. 193
18,22. — his life — his soul. These words denote the person himself,
and are equivalent to the personal pronoun he. See Stuart's Gram. § 186.
22. — the destroyers-: i. e. angels of death, or the instruments or causes
of death generally.
23. — a messenger, an interpreter: X'Sd IxSd. Some render these
words a mediating atigel, so caUed from being the medium of communica
tion between God aud man. As Satan is represented as going round the
earth, and accusing the pious before God, it is said to be natural that
good angels should be employed on errands of mercy. This may be the
true meaning. But as a prophet or religious teacher is often called by
this name, (see Eccl. v. 6 ; Hag. i. 13 ; Mal. u. 7,) and is the usual per
son employed for the instruction of men, it is most probable that such a
person is denoted here. Elihu may refer to himself, and to the office
which he was then performing towards Job. Throughout his speech he is
represented as thinking very highly of himself, and I am persuaded tliat
he was thinking of himself here. — an interpreter : i. e. a teacher, one
who makes known the vriU of God. — one of a thousand: i. e. a rare
person, one well qualified to be a religious monitor. See Eccl. vii. 28.
— hie duty : i. e. what reason and religion require of a man in his situa
tion ; repentance, submission, and prayer to God for pardon. In Cran
mer's Bible, to show him the right way. The instruction is supposed tb
be effectual, as appears from the following verses.
24. — and say. Save him : i. e. he shall be saved. — / nave found a
ransom : i. e. I am satisfied with his repentance ; he has been sufficiently
bumbled by his afflictions. "Whatever is a means of averting punishment,
or of procuring deliverance from evU, and conciliating the divine favor, is
tei-med in Scripture a ransom, or atonement. The intercession of Moses
and the aot of Phineas are so called, and here the sick man's repentance.
See Ex. xxxii. 30 ; Numb. xxv. 13. So Ecclesiasticus xxxv. 3, "To
depart from wickedness is a thing pleasing to the Lord ; and to forsake
unrighteousness is a propitiation " (iiiXanuog).
26. — to see his face, SfC: i. ei. to enjoy his favor. The expression is
borrowed from Oriental ideas respecting kings and great men ; to be
admitted into whose presence, or to see whose faces, was esteemed a mark
of favor, a privilege. — And restore unto man his innocence : i. e. regard
and treat him as innocent.
27. He shall sing. See Ges. upon y^.
29. Time after time : lit. Twice and thrice. The Sept. renders it,
WatJs xQcig, three ways, referring to three ways in which men are said to
be admonished, viz. by dreams, ver. 15, by sickness, ver. 19, and by a
reUgious teacher, ver. 23. 17

194 NOTES.
Ch. XXXIV. 6. — / am made a liar : i. e. I am regarded as a wicked
man on account of my misery, notwithstanding my innocence. See ch.
xvi. 8. — My wound, Sfc, See ch. ix. 17.
8. Who goeth in company, SfC, : i. e. Who speaks Uke the wicked
men, who call Providence in question.
" Marmoreo tumulo Licinus jaoet, at Cato nuUo ;
Pompeius parvo. Quis putet esse Decs ? "
9. A man hath no advantage, SfC. Job had not used this language,
but in ch. ix. 22, and ch. xxi., he had expressed nearly the same senti
ment. 13. Who hath given him the charge, SfC. Elihu's first argument, to
prove that God cannot be unjust, is taken from his independence. Were
God a subordinate governor, he might be tempted to commit injuries, to
gratify the avarice or resentment of his superior. Scott.
14. Shotdd he set his heart against man : i. e. Should he deal severely
with him. His second argument is from the divine benevolence. If God
were unjust, revengeful, and cruel, the earth would be a dreadful scene
of universal desolation. So in Wisdom of Sol. xi. 24-26, "For thou
lovest all things that are, and abhorrest nothing which thou hast made ;
for never wouldst thou have made anything, if thou hadst hated it. And
how could anything have endured, if it had not been thy will ; or been
preserved, if not called by thee ? But thou sparest all; for they are thine,
0 Lord, thou lover of souls ! ' ' Others render the line. If he had regard
for himself alotie.
17. Shall he, that hateth justice, govern? The argument is similar to
that of Abraham, " ShaU not the Judge of all the earth do right .' " Gen.
xvii. 25. If God were unjust, there would be nothing but disorder and
confusion in the world.
19. How much less, SfC. So Wisdom of Sol vi. 7,8, " For he who is
Lord over all shall fear no man's person, neither shall he stand iu awe of
any man's greatness ; for he hath made the small and great, and careth
for all aUke. But a sore trial shall come upon the mighty."
20. — yea, at m.idnight, SfC The allusion seems to be to some capital
city overthrown by an earthquake. — and pass away : i. e. into the grave.
— without hand : i. e. by no human hand ; by the invisible power of God.
See Lam. iv 6 ; Dan. ii. 34.
23. He needeth not attend long to a man : lit. He doth not fix his
mind long upon u man; I'sS being understood .ifter . D'lI'V So Ges.,
Dathe, and Ros. The circumstance is mentioned to illustrate the omni-
f^oicnce of God, and the suddenness with which he often inflicts punish
ment. He, in whose sight all things are naked and open, has no need of

NOTES. 195
a long aud formal examination into a man's character before he proceeds
to punish him.
24. — tvithout inquiry : i. e. -without judicial investigation, such as must
be resorted to by men.
26. In the presence, SfC : lit. In the place of spectators.
28. And caused, ^c. Others render, So that he ( God) caused the cry
of the poor to come upon them.
29. Atid when he hideth his face, who can behold him ? i. e. When he
vrithdraws his favor, who can expect or obtain help from him ?
¦ 31, 32. It is observed by Scott that the petition and confession, which
Elihu recommends to Job, would be highly improper for one who knows
himself to be guilty of heinous crimes, but highly flt for a person who,
though good iu the main, has reason to suspect somewhat amiss in his
temper and conduct, for which God is displeased with him. It appears
plainly that Elihu did not suppose Job to be a -wicked man, suffering for
his oppressions, bribery, inhumanity, and impiety, with which his three
friends had charged him.
33. — and not he: Ut. and not I ; by Mimesis. See Glass, p. 315 ;
Stuart's Gram. § 212 ; ch. xviii. 4; xxxv. 3.
36. — i. B. that he may not cease to be tried with afflictions, untU he is
humble or penitent.
Ch. XXXV. 2. I am more righteous than God. Job had not used
these words, but this was the amount of his complaints against God, and
his justification of himself. See ch. ix. 30-35, x. 15.
3. He had already brought the charge contained in this verse, in ch.
xxxiv. 9. But there he censured the complaint of Job, as an arraign
ment of the justice of God. Here it is considered as implying that God
was under obligation to him. The charge is, that Job had in effect said :
I have been more just to God than he hath been to me. I have discharged
my duty to him, but have not met with a proper return from him. My
innocence hath been of no advantage to me. EUhu replies, first, that so
great a Being cannot possibly be hurt by the sins, or benefited by the
services of men; and, secondly, that our vice and virtue can harm or
profit our fellow-mortals only. Scott.
4. — thy companions : i. e. those who entertain the same unworthy
sentiments of God and his providence.
5. Look up to the heavens, (fC, This is a subUme sentiment in a plain
dress. One view, says he, of ^he magnificent scenery of the lofty sky will
extinguish all low conceptions of its almighty Author. It will strike tlie
mind with a vast idea of his infinite superiority to all other beings, and of
the impossibiUty of his gaining or suffering by the good or bad behavior
of his reasonable creatures. Scott.

VM NOTES.
9. The oppressed cry out, SfC. He now passes to another topic, viz.
Job's complaint of God's disregard of the numerous oppressions committed
in the world, fhe authors of which he suffers to escape with impunity.
Elihu replies, that when God avenges not the oppressed it is owing to their
want of piety. He neglects them, because they neglect him. They mur
mur, but they do not pray. They are clamorous, but they are not humble.
This seems an oblique hint to Job that the continuation of his sufferings
was ovring to his unsubmitting behavior. Scott.
10. Who giveth songs in the night. Songs are thanksgivings to God
for deliverance. The term night metaphoricaUy denotes affliction, as in
oh. xxxiv. 25.
14. Much less : i. e. shalt thou be heard. He aUudes tothe complaints
of Job in ch. xxiii. 8, &c.  Tustice is wiih him, SfC. .- i. e. Although
thou complainest that God does not appear to thee for thy deliverance, yet
be assured that thy cause is known to him, and that thou shalt receive
justice from him, if thou wilt only commit thyself to him.
15. transgressions. See Ges. upon B'S. TrajdirTwiiu, Sept. and Theodo-
tion ; naQanrwfiaTa, Symmaohus ; scelus, Vulg. Dr. Durell thinks
\['35 to be a corruption for y:t>3X Some suppose that he refers to the
transgressions of Job by this expression, particularly to his irreverent
speeches, &c Others, that he refers to the transgressions of the vricked,
which Job had asserted to be committed with impunity.
Ch. XXXVI. 3. / will bring my knowledge from afar : i. e. from
remote times, places, and things. I vrill not confine my discourse to thy
particular case, but will justify God by declaring his great and glorious
works of creation and providence, both in heaven and earth, and his
manner of dealing with men in other parts and ages of the world. Poole.
4. A man of sound knowledge. Elihu refers to himself, and meane
that be is unbiassed by prejudice, and wiU not seek to baffle Job by
sophistical arguments.
6. — but despiseth not any. He may refer to Job's expressions in ch.
X. 3, &c
12. — the sword : i. e. the sword of divine justice.
13. — treasure up tor ath. This may mean that they retain anger, or
persevere in the exercise of angry feelings, or that they treasure up the
wrath of God against them. See Rom. ii. 5. — when he bindeth them :
i. e. bringeth affliction upon them. See verse 8.
14. with the unclean. D'tl^'IpS. See Ges. ad verb.
20. — that JVight: i. b. the night of death. He warns him against
impatient wishes for death, and murmuring against God.
21. But let thy sufferings teach thee caution, and make thee afraid to

NOTES. 197
go on to provoke offended justice ; for thou hast done if too much ah-eady,
in choosing rather to accuse divine Providence ^lan to submit patiently to
his chastisements. Patrick,
22. Who is iL teacher like hitn ? rig yixQ iort xur' uvt'ov Svvuarrig ;
Sept. Et nuUtis ei similis in legislatoribus, Vulg. The object of the
remaining portion of Elihu's discourse appears to be to convince Job of
his ignorance of the ways of Providence, by his ignorance of the works of
creation, and to humble him for finding fault with what he did not, and
could not, understand.
24. — Ais ivork : i. e. that which he does in the natural world, accord
ing to the following description. — celebrate with songs, TTW. See ch.
t
xxxiii. ; 27. de quo cecinerunt viri. Vulg. quod laudaverunt viri jus/i.
Chald. See Schult. and Ges.
27. — draweth up the drops of teaier : i. e. by means of the sun, which
changes water into vapor, and causes it to ascend into the air. — Which
distil rain : i. b. These minute particles of water, drawn up by the sun
ia the form of vapor,/orm, or, more literally, ptrar out, rain.
29. And the rattling of his pavilion: i. e. the thunder. By his
pavilion, or tabernacle, the clouds are intended. See Ps. xviii. 1 1.
30. — Ais light. See Ps. civ. 2.  ind he clotheth himself vnth the
depths of the sea : i. e. whioh he draws up to heaven, and forms into the
dark clouds whioh are his habitation, y^j) is to be supplied from the pre
ceding line. Comp. ver. 32. Otherwise, And he covereth the bottom of
ihe sea : i. o. with darkness. The power of God in the highest and the
lowest regions is denoted.
31. By these : i. b. the clouds, rain, &c.
33. flis thunder, SfC. Lit. His noise maketh known concerning
him. Yea, to ihe herds concerning him, who ascendeth on high. 1. e.
the thunder proclaims God even to the herds as he ascends in the tempest.
This rendering adopted by Ges., Hitzig, and De Wette, seems closer to the
original than any previous one. Though not entirely satisfactory, it
may be accepted as the most probable.
Ch. XXXVII. 1. At this, i. b. the thunder, lightning, &c., of which
he was speaking.
2. Hear, 4-e. Some suppose, that, while Elihu was speaking, thunder
is represented as being heard, and the tempest as begun, from which the
Deity waa about to address Job.
4. And restraineth ii tiot ; i. e The lightning.
7. He sealeth up, 4-c. .- i. e. The labors of the field are interrupted in
consequence of these heavy aud continual rains, and the husbandmen
reraain at home, with their hands, as it were, in their bosom, —men whom

198 NOTES.
he hath made : Ut. men of his ivork. — may acknowledge him ; or may
have knowledge ; viz. of their dependence upon the mighty power of God ;
or, that it is he who commands the snow, &c.
9. — the Souih : Ut. the secret chamber. See ix. 9.
10. — breath of God. The air seems to have been regarded as put in
motion by the breath of God, and hence this appeUation is given to the
wind, here a cold wind. When the ice is formed, the water is regarded as
contracted ; or what remains of it is brought into a narrower compass.
But some regard the parallelism of this verse as antithetical, and suppose
the meaning to be that the breath of God forms ice by cold winds, and
dries up the waters by hot winds, like the Simoon.
12. They move about : i. e. The clouds, rain, lightning, &c.
13. Or for the land: i. e. what is necessary, in the course of nature,
for fertUizing the earth.
16. — ihe balancing of the clouds : i. e. how .the clouds are suspended
in the air in such a variety of forms, and are not borne to the ground by the
weight of water which they contain. From our ignorance of the works of
nature, Elihu infers our incapacity of judging ofthe divine counsels. The
same kind of reasoning is pursued in the Essay on Man :
Presumptuous man ! the reason wouldst thou find.
Why formed so weak, so little, and so blind ?
Ask of thy mother earth, why oaks were made
Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade.
Or ask of yonder argent fields above.
Why Jove's satellites are less than Jove.
18. — firm like a molten mirror. It must be recollected that mirrors
in ancient times were made of metal highly polished. It may be asked,
what conception the author of Job entertained respecting the sky, which
led him to describe it as firm like a molten mirror. It has been thought
that in the book of Genesis the firmament, or blue vault of heaven, is
represented as a solid surface, in whioh the stars are fixed at equal dis
tances from the earth. The chief support of that opinion is, I think, to be
derived not so much from the Hebrew teim itself, as from the circum
stance that a body of waters, like a sea or ocean, seems to be represented
as resting upon the firmament, which God made. Comp. Ps. cxlviii. 4.
Tlie Hebrew tsvin y"a^, firmament, may denote a solid body, as it were,
hammered out, or, secondarily, any substance spread otit. See Ges. Lex.
ad verb.
19. Teach us, SfC. This seeins to be addressed to Job ironically, by
way of reproof for his presumption ; as if he had said. We should like to
learn from you, you are so well acquainted with tie character and pur-

NOl'ES. 199
poses of God, in what manner we should address him or discourse with
him. — darkness : i. e. the darkness of our minds, or of the subject,
or both.
20. If I should speak, SfC. : i. b. WiU any one venture to repeat to
him my discourses, if I undertake to complain of the ways of Providence >
If any one should carry my complaints to his ear, he would certainly be
destroyed for his rashness.
21. If the splendor of the firmament, illuminated by the sun , is too
bright for man to behold, how can he endure the glorious majesty of its
Author ?
22. From ihe JVorth cometh gold. This is the Uteral rendering, and,
as the ancients regarded the regions of the North as the peculiar plaoe for
gold, Herod. IIL 116, Plin. Nat. Hist. 6,11, 33, 4, we need not seek a
figurative sense, however weU such a sense might meet the connection.
It is rather harsh to use gold to denote golden brightness : harsher still to
make the JVorth denote the JVorthern hemisphere, or sky. The idea is
that men can fiud out where gold is even in the most distant regions, and
procure it ; but cannot comprehend God, or endure his majesty. Comp.
ch. xxviii.
23. The Almighty, ^c. This sentiment seems to be the conclusion of
the whole discourse in vindication of God. We know but very little of his
nature and designs, and it is wrong to censure what we do not understand
in his dispensations ; especially, since we have abundant proof of his jus
tice aud goodness. — he doth not oppress : otherwise, he giveth no account
of his doings, SfC. Instead of Tfiy, some ancient and valuable mauscripts
read nV- See xxxiii. 13.
24. Upon the wise in heart he will tiot look : i. e. who confide too much
in their wisdom. I prefer the present rendering of this ambiguous line,
because it better suits the paralleUsm. Otherwise, When none of the wise
in heart can behold : i. e. they cannot endure the brightness of his majesty.
See Ros. ad loc.

XXII.
Whilst EUhu was yet speaking, Jehovah himself is represented as in
terposing, and addressing Job from the midst of a tempest. He does not,
however, at first, address him in the language of encouragement and ap
probation, which Job's consciousness of integrity had led him to anticipate.
Joh had defended a good cause in an improper manner. The design of
thi.« discourse of the .\lmighty is, therefore, to reprove his complaints re-

200 NOTES.
specting the ways of Providence ; to bring him into a proper temper of
mind, and thus to prepare the way for his final vindication. Jehovah
does not condescend to explain or vindicate the ways of his providence,
but aims to convince Job of his inability to judge of them. He requires
him, who had spoken so rashly of the divine counsels, to give an expla
nation of some of .the works of nature whioh are constantly presented to
his view ; of the nature and structure of the earth, the sea, the Ught, and
the animal kingdom. If he were unable to explain any one of the most
common phenomena of nature, it followed that he was guilty of great pre
sumption in finding fault with the secret counsels and moral govemment
of God. He then pauses for an answer from Job.
Ch. XXXVIII. 2. — that darkeneth counsel: viz. my counsels or pur
poses, i. B. speaketh of them in an obscure, erroneous, and improper man
ner. Gesenius supposes that to darken is a metaphorical expression for
to censure.
7- When the morning-stars, SfC. It was the custom to celebrate the
laying of the corner-stone of an important building with music, songs,
shouting, &c. See Zech. iv. 7 ; Ezra iii. 10, 11. Hence the morning-stars
are represented as celebrating the laying of the corner-stone of the earth.
'ihey are called morning-staTS on account of the greater brightness which
they have just before the dawn. Some suppose that morning-stars denote
angels, and that the expression has the same meaning as sons of God in
the next Une.
12. Hast thou, in thy life, given charge to ihe morning, SfC. The
transition from the sea to the morning is not so abrupt as it appears. For
the ancients supposed that the sun sets in the ocean, and at his rising
oomes out of it again. The morning and day-spring seera to mean the
same thing ; and the regularity of the appearance of the morning iu the
east is here referred to.
13. That they should lay hold, ^c. The first light of the sun, as it
strikes upon the verge of the horizon, is represented as laying hold of the
ends of the earth, and shaking the wicked out of it, as dust from a sack ;
light being hostile to thieves and malefactors of every kind, as darkness
is favorable to them. See ch. xxiv. 14-17
14. It is changed, SfC : i. b. The earth, which in the darkness of night
is a mere blank, but which, when iUuminated by the sun, exhibits a great
variety of beautiful objects, aud appears like sealing-clay which has receiv
ed the stamp ofthe seal. — And all things stand forth as in rich apparel.
See Cocc. Comment., and Ges. upon a>oS. Otherwise, And iliey (the
morning and day-spring) comeforth as a garment upon it.
15. — their light is tciihheld. Darkness is the Ught of the wicked, i. b.
that whieh enables tbem to accompli.-ih their evil designs, Thus the

NOT IS. 201
strength and courage of the wicked are prostrated by the Ught, which
discovers their evU practices.
17. — gates of death : i. e. of hades, the under- world.
19, 20. For similar conceptions see Hesiod, Theog, 748.
24. — light : i. e. the light of the rising sun, which, in a moment, as it
were, pervades and illuminates the whole hemisphere.
27. The word Xi"b probably denotes growth, not bud, and may be
omitted in the connection. Literally, And cause ihe growth of the tender
herb to spring forth.
31. — fasten the bunds, ^c. Here niJ1J?D is supposed to be by metathe
sis the same as ni1JJ?0 , from ijj;, to tie, io bind. In support of this ren
dering, Ges. observes that the Asiatic poets often speak of the band of the
Pleiades. The Sept. has it, Stap'ov nXsiuSog- and the Chald., 'Tut', chains.
— the Pleiads (in Hebrew, Chimah: i. e. a heap, a term corresponding
to what we call a cluster) are a consteUation in the sign Taurus, and make
their appearance early iu the spring ; hence they were called by the Ro
mans Vergllia. — Orion (Chesil, in Heb., i. e. the fool, or impious one)
made its appearance early in the winter, and was considered the precursor
of storms and tempests, and is hence called by Virgil nimbosus Orion.
Ma. I. 535. According to the rendering sweet infl.uences, as in the com
mon version, the meaning is. Canst thou forbid the sweet flowers to come
forth, when the Seven Stars arise in the spring .' or open the earth for the
husbandman's labor, when the vrinter season, at the rising of Orion, ties
up their hands ? Patrick. But the purport of the questions evidently is
to ask Job whether his power could do what is actually done by the
Almighty. 82. — the Signs. ni1-JD, equivalent to ni^-ID, lodgings, viz. of the sun,
in the twelve successive months of his course ; thus denoting the twelve
signs of the zodiac. — the Bear with his sons. Bear is not the Uteral
meaning of the Hebrew t!'''J>, which rather denotes u. bier, which is the
name given by the modern Arabians to the consteUation of the Great
Bear. They also call the three stars in its tail daughters qf ihe bier. Here
these three stars are called sons. See JViebuhr's Description of Arabia,
pp. 113, 114.
83. — ordinances of the heavens : i.e. the laws regulating the plaoes,
motions, and operations of the heavenly bodies. — iheir dominion : i. b.
the influence which they have in producing the changes of the seasons.
36. The transition from the phenomena of the heavens to the mind of
m.-m appeared so great, that in the first edition I departed, with others,
from the usu-il meaning ofthe words, rendering this verse. Who hath im-

202 NOTES.
parted under statiding to clouds, and given to meteors intelligence 7 the
words being supposed to denote the regularity of the clouds in coming and
going, and affording the due proportion uf rain to the earth. I now re
gard the rendering clouds and tneicors far too uncertain to be adopted.
For ni'ntfl plainly denotes reins, in Ps. li. 8 Besides, if we suppose the
reference to be to the mind of 3db in particular, the intelUgence vrith
which he was able to see and admire all the phenomena which had been
recounted, the transition will not appear so very violent. See Ges. Lex.
ad verb. ni'nD and ''Di:;.
37. Who numbereth the clouds, S[C. The collecting and arrangement
of the clouds is expressed by a metaphor taken from a civil or military
enrolment. See Ps. cxlvii. 4 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 10. The clouds are meta
phorically caUed bottles, as containing rain.
38. — flows into a molten mass : i. e. when, on account of the copious
rains, the dry dust melts, as it were, into one mass.
41. — the raven. Bochart observes that the raven expels his young
from the nest as soon as they are able to fly. In this condition, being un
able to obtain food by their own exertions, they make a croaking noise,
and God is said to hear it, and to supply their wants.
Ch. XXXIX. 1. — wild goats : i. e. the ibex or mountain-goat. It Is,
no doubt, the same kind of goat as that described by Burckhardt, in his
Travels iu Syria, p. 571. : " As we approached the summit of the moun-
tiiin, (St. Catherine, adjacent to Mount Sinai,) we saw at a distance a
.¦^mall flock of mountain-goats feeding among the rocks. One of our Arabs
left us, aud by a widely circuitous route endeavored to get to the leeward
of them, and near enough to fire at them ; he enjoined us to remain in
sight of them, and to sit down in order uot to alarm them. He had nearly
reached a favorable spot behind a rock, when the goats suddenly took to
flight. They could not have seen the Arab ; but the wind changed, and
thus they smelt him. The chase of the beden, as tho wild goat is called,
resembles that of the chatnois of the Alps, ^d requires as much enterprise
and patience."
3. — iheir pains : i. b. their young, which cause their pains.
5. The following account of the wild ass is given in Robinson's Calmet,
on the authority of the Russian professors, Pallas and Gmelin : " These
animals inhabit the dry and mountainous parts of the deserts of Great Tar-
tary, but not higher than about lat. 48°. They are migratory, and arrive
in vast troops to feed, during the summer, in the tracts to the east and
north of the sea of Aral. About autumn they collect in herbs of hun
dreds, and even thousands, and direct their course southward towards
India, to enjoy a warm retreat during the winter. But they more usuaUy

NOTES. 203
retire to Persia, where they are found in the mountains of Casbin, and
where part of them remain the whole year. . . They assemble in troops
under the conduct of a leader or sentinel, and are extremely shy and vigi
lant. Tbey will, however, stop in the midst of their course, and even
suffer the approach of man for an instant, and then dart off with the
utmost rapidity. They have been at all times celebrated for their svrift
ness. Their voice resembles that of the common ass, but is shriller."
" Xenophon says, Cyrop. Lib. I., that he has long legs, is very rapid iu
running, swift as a whirlwind, having strong and stout hoofs. . . Martial
gives the epithet handsome to the wild ass, * Puloher adest onager,' L.
xiii., Epig. 100 ; and Oppian describes it as ' handsome, large, vigorous,
of stately gait, aud his coat of a silvery color, havmg a black band along
the spine of his back ; and on his fianks patches as white as snow.' Mr.
Morier says, ' ^We gave chase to two wild asses, which had so much the
speed of our horses, that, when they had got at some distance, they stood
still and looked behind at us, snorting with their noses iu the air, as if in
contempt of their endeavors to catch them.' " Robinson's Calmet.
9. — the wild-ox : CI, reem. Othervrise, the rhinoceros. See Harris's
Nat. His. p. 421 . According to others, the wild oryx. But it is probable,
from the nature of the description, that an animal of the beeve kind is
intended ; i. e. one which appears, from its form and strength, to be
qualified to do the business of the tame ox. So the wild ass is, by impli
cation, compared vrith the tame, in verse 7. In other passages where it
occurs, it is parallel with animals of the beeve kind, and is mentioned as
having homs, whereas the rhinoceros has but one short one. See Numb.
xxiu. 22, xxiv. 8 ; Deut. xxxiu. 17 ; Ps. xxu. 21, xxix. 6, xcii. 10 ; Is.
xxxiv. 7. For other arguments, see a long and highly satisfactory article
in Robinson's Calmet.
13. The wing of the ostrich moveth joyfully. For an exceUent de
scription of the ostrich, see Harris's Nat. His. p. 318. Dr. Shaw ob
serves : " When I was abroad, I had several opportunities of amusing
myself with the actions and behavior of the ostrich. It was very divert
ing to observe with what dexterity and equipoise of body it would play
and frisk about on all occasions. In the heat of the day, particularly, it
would strut along the sunny side Of the house vrith great majesty. It
would be perpetually fanning and priding itself with its quivering, ex
panded wings, and seem, at every turn, to admire and be in lo^¦e with its
own shadow. Even at other times, when walking about, or resting itsi'lf
on the ground, the wings would continue their fanning and vibrating
motions, as if they were designed to mitigate and assuage that extraor
dinary heat wherewith their bodies seem to be naturally affected." — B^t
is it with loving pinion and feathers ? This is the most literal meaning,
and now most generally received by commentators ou Job. The allusion

204 NOTES.
is to the stork, which was called the affectionate or loving bird on account
of her extreme devotedness to her young. She was called avis pia by
the Romans. But because pia is a good represent-itive of the Hebrew
HTDn, it does uot follow that pious is; as some translators render it.
The point of the allusion is, that the ostrich, which resembles the stork
so much in the structure of her body and the color of her wings, should yet
be destilute of affection for her young.
14. — she layeth her eggs on ihe ground. The verb 3 tj?n here means,
I suppose, to commit to or to desposite upon, not to abandon in. The
meaning is, that the ostrich, instead of building her nest on some high
rock or tree, like other birds, deposites them upon the ground, where they
are exposed to the view of every traveller, and the foot of every wild beast.
— She warmeth them in ihe dtist. I do not understand the meaning to be,
that she abandons her eggs, to be hatched by the vvarmth of the sun
heating the sand or dust ; but rather that she broods over them in so ex
posed a place. The fact is, that the ostrich usuaUy sits upon her eggs as
other birds do ; but then she so often wanders, and so far, in search of
food, that frequently the eggs are addle by means of her long absence from
them. To this account we may add, when she has left her nest, whether
through fear, or to seek food, if she light upon the eggs of some other
ostrich, she sits upon them and is unmindful of her own. The Arabian
poets often allude to this peculiarity of the ostrich. The following is
quoted from Nawabig by Schultens :
There are, who, deaf to nature's cries.
On stranger tribes bestow their food ;
So her own eggs the ostrich flies.
And, senseless, rears another's brood.
" Notwithstanding the stupidity of this animal," says Dr. Shaw, " its
Creator hath amply provided for its safety, by endowing it with extraor
dinary s-wiftness, aud a surprising apparatus for escaping from its enemy.
' They, when they raise themselves up for flight, laugh at the horse and
his rider.' They afforded him an opportunity only of admiring at a dis
tance the extraordinary agility, and the stateliness, Ukewise, of their
motions, the richness of their plumage, and the great propriety there
was in aseribirg to them an expanded, quivering wing. Nothing,
certainly, ean be more entertaining than suoh a sight; the wings, by
their rapid but unwearied vibrations, equally serving them for sails and
oars ; while their feet, no less assisting in conveying them out of sight,
are no less insensible of fatigue." Travels, Svo. Vol. II. p. 343.
" The surprising swiftness of the ostrich is expressly mentioned by
Xenophon in his Ai^abasis; for, speiikiug of the desert of Arabia, h«

NOTES. 205
states that the ostrich is frequently seen there ; that none could take
them, the horsemen who pursue them soon giving it over; for they escaped
far away, maldng use both of their feet to run, and of their wings,
when expanded, as a saU to waft them along " Robinson's Calmet.
In regard to the proverbial stupidity of the ostrich, Dr. Shaw observes,
that, in addition to her neglect of her young. " she is likewise incon
siderate and foolish in her private capacity, particularly in the choice of
food, which is frequently highly detrimental and pernicious to it ; for she
swaUows everything greedily and indiscriminately, whether it be pieces of
rags, leather, wood, stone, or iron. When I was at Oran, I saw one of
these birds swallow, without any seeming uneasiness or inconveniency,
several leaden bullets, as they were thrown upon the floor, scorching hot
from the mould." Shaw's Travels, 8vo. Vol. II. p. 345.
16. She is cruel, SfC. " Ou the least noise or trivial occasion," says
Dr. Shaw, " she forsakes her eggs, or her young ones, to which perhaps
she never returns; or if she does, it may be too late either to restore life
to the one, or to preserve the lives of the others. Agreeable to this
account, the Arabs sometimes meet with whole nests of these eggs undis
turbed ; some of them are sweet and good, others are addle and corrupted ;
others, again, have their young ones of different growth, according to the
time, it may be presumed, they have been forsaken of the dam. They
often meet with a few of the little ones, no bigger than well-grown
pullets, half-starved, straggling and moaning about, like so many dis
tressed orphans for their mother." Travels, 8vo. Vol. II. pp. 344, 345.
This want of affection is also recorded in Lam. iv. 3. — Her labor, ^c. .
i. e. in laying her eggs. The ostrich is naturally a timid bird, but it is
here said that she feareth not : i. e. she has no affectionate fear for her
young; she abandons her nest vrithout fears of what may happen to it.
17. — hath denied her wisdom. The Arabs have the proverbial expres
sion. More foolish than an ostrich.
18. — lifteth herself up : i. e. Ufteth up her head and body, and spread
eth her wings, inr order to escape the pursuer. The expression does not
imply that her feet quit the ground.
19. — horse. The whole description refers to the horse as he appears
in war. — Hast thou clothed his neck wiih his trembling mane ? I am
now convinced that the rendering thunder is untenable. The neck of the
horse must be regarded as clothed with what is addressed to the sense of
sight. It is not a natural metaphor to represent the neck as clothed with the
sound of neighing which comes from the mouth. The noise made by the
horse is referred to in another line, nojn denotes trembling, quivering,
and is used poetically to denote the mane of a horse, which appears to
quiver ou the neck of a high-bred one on account of its fatness, or which
is erect and trembles in the excitement of running. So the mane of a
18

203 NOTES.
horse or lion is in Greek called (pofitj. See Ges. Lex. ad rtDJH. Some sup
pose trembling to denote that whioh causes trembling in the spectator,
i. E. terror. But this is harsh, and wholly against the usus loquendi in
Hebrew. Umbreit renders the line, Hast thou clothed his neck with lofti
ness ? supposing the word T\OJ)') to be formed from the Chald. DJH, equiva
lent to the Hebrew Dll. But this is conjecture.
20. How majestic his snorting ! how terrible! There may, at first view,
appear something ludicrous in speaking of the majestic snorting of a
horse. But let one conceive of the war-horse, and suppose, moreover, that
he has, or vrill, come against him in war, and the associations wUl be dif
ferent. It is to be recollected, too, that the horse was peculiarly au object
of terror to the Hebrews, on account of their ignorance of horsemanship.
See Is. xxxvi. 8, and the note. Jeremiah says, ch. viu. 16,
From Dan is heard the snorting of their horses.
At the sound of the neighing of their steeds the whole land
trembleth.
See Virg. Georg. III. 85, &c ^n. XL 496.
24. — he devoureth the ground. This expression is still used in Arabia
to denote prodigious swiftness. See also Virg. Georg. HI. 143. He will
not believe, SfC, i. e. he is so full of joy when he hears the sound of the
trumpet that he scarcely trusts his ears. Comp. ix. 16; xxix. 24.
26. — towards the south. Most of the species of hawks are said to be
birds of passage. The instinct which teaches such birds to know the
proper time for migrating in search of food, or of a warmer climate, or
both, is probably referred to.
29. — discern it from afar. See Iliad, xvii. 674 :
— oiffT* a^cTOS, ov ^a rt (paaiv
'O^vraTov Siqxta^ai vtzovqavlmv TzsrtTjvaiv,
As the bold bird , endued vrith sharpest eye
Of all that wing the mid aerial sky. Pope,

NOTES, 207

XXIII., XXIV.

The Almighty is now represented as pausing, and demanding of Job an
answer to his questions, and inviting him to defend his cause. But the
admonitions of Elihu and of the Almighty have produced their proper
effect; Job is impressed vrith the most profound reverence of the majesty
of God; he has lost that boldness and presumption with which he once
chaUenged the Almighty to a controversy, and he acknowledges his weak
ness, aud the rashness of his complaints, and bold appeals to God. But
to make his submission aud penitence more complete and impressive, the
Almighty is represented as addressing him in a still severer tone of re
prehension. In reference to his boldness in desiring to enter into a con
troversy vrith him, the Deity challenges him to emulate a single exertion
of the Divine power. He adds the description of the river-horse, and the
crocpdUe, by whioh his power is strikingly Ulustrated. From the whole
discourse it follows, that it is better for man to submit vrithout murmuring
to the wiU of so great a Being, than to contend with him, and require him
to give an account of his doings.
Ch. XL. 15. — the river-horse. This animal is usually mentioned by
the ancients in connection vrith the crocodile, which is supposed to be
denoted by the leviathan. The description seems to apply to the river-
horse rather than to the elephant, in several particulars, whioh are well
stated by Herder.* " In general, the description is undoubtedly that of
an animal whose usual resort is the river, sinoe it is introduced, as some
thing singular, that he eateth grass like the ox, that the mountains bring
him forth food, and the beasts ofthe field play around him. He sleeps
among the reeds, and lies concealed among the marshes on the shore of the
river, which clearly does not suit a description of the elephant. He goes
against the stream, as if he would drink up the river with his enormous
mouth, a character not well fitting a land-animal. His strength too is in
his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly, where, on the contrary,
the elephant is weakest. He that made him has furnished him with a
sword ; for the sharp-pointed and projecting tusks of the hippopotamus
may be considered his weapons ; and the language applies better to th^se
than to the weapons of the elephant. Since, moreover, the name behemoth
"¦Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, Vol. I. p. 107, Marsh's Translation.

208 NOTES.
itself is probably the Egyptian name of this animiil, p-ehe-mouth, (river-
ox,) here modified, as aU foreign words were by the Hebrews and Greeks,
to suit their own forms, and since, in company with the crocodile, it is
placed apart from the laud-animals, which also are arranged in a separate
discourse by themselves, and represented, as all creatures of the watery
realm are by the Orientals, as something foreign and monstrous, it seems
to me that this opinion has at least a balance of probabilities in its favor,
and will soon become the prevailing one." See Robinson's Calmet, Art.
Behemoth, where is an interesting description, extracted from the Travels
of Riippell, the German naturalist, of the capture of one of these animals,
which measured from the snout to the end of the tail fifteen feet; and his
tusks ft'om the root to the point, along the external curve, twenty-eight
inches. See also, in Dr. Shaw's Travels, Vol. ii. p. 294, or Montfauoon's
Antiquities, Vol. vii. p. 476, an engraving of the mosaic pavement at Prse-
neste, in which the river-horse and crocodile are placed in company, the
former being in the midst of reeds and fens, and plants, which correspond
to the descriptions of the Egyptian lotus.
17. — like the cedar. " The tail of the hippopotamus, although short,
is thick, aud may be compared with the cedar for its tapering, conical
shape, and its smoothness, thickness, and strength. But although it is
thick, short, and very firm, yet he moves and twists it at pleasure; which
is considered, in the sacred text, a proof of his prodigious strength."
Scheuchser. 19. — Ais sword. This refers to the long, bending teeth of the animal,
with which he, as it were, mows the grass. The aQtitj, i. e. the sickle, or
scythe, was ascribed to this animal by some of the ancient Greek writers.
Thus Meander, Theriac ver. 566, quoted by Ros. ;
"H 'itiTiov, r'ov NtiXog vtveQ Suiv ui&aXSecam'
Boaxei, oQovQi^otv Ss xaxi^v iTrtflaXXtrat a()nt]v.
In the next verse the reason of his being fHirnished with it is given, viz.
that, although he was an aquatic animal, he procured his food, not from
the rivers, but from the grassy mountains.
21. It has been doubted whether whi^-i denotes the lote-tree, Rhamnus
lotus, Linn., or the lote-plant, the Egyptian waterJily, whieh grows in
the water, or in places overflowed by water. See note on ver. 15, and.
Wilkinson's Customs and Manners, &c. VoL HI. p. 71.
23. — Jordan : i. e. a river as large as the Jordan; for the river-horse
could uot have lived upou the Jordan. Undoubtedly, the author under
stood, that, Uke the crocodile, he was fijund upon the Nile. He mentions
the Jordan as an instance of a great river ; and it seems to be an argu-

NOTES. 209
ment that the writer was a native of Palestine, and wrote for those who
were familiar with the Jordan, that he mentions it as an instance of a
great stream. The overflowing of it would not frighten the river-horse,
becanse he was amphibious.

Ch. XLI. 1. — the crocodile. See note on ch. iu. 8. The crocodile is
here described in the hyperbolical style of Eastern poetry. See Harris's
Nat. Hist., p. 245. The following description of the crocodile is from
Shaw's Zoology, Vol. III. p. 184 : "The crocodile, so remarkable for its
size and powers of destruction, has in all ages been regarded as one of the
most formidable animals of the warmer regions. It is a native of Asia
and Africa, but seems to be most common in the latter ; inhabiting large
rivers, as the Nile, the Niger, &c., aud preying principally on fish, but
occasionally seizing on almost every animal which happens to be exposed
.to its rapacity. The size to which the crocodile sometimes arrives is pro
digious ; specimens being frequently seen of twenty feet in length ; and
instances are commemorated of some whioh have exceeded the length of
thirty feet. The armor, with which the upper part of the body is covered
may be numbered among the most elaborate pieces of Nature's mechanism.
In the full-grown animal it is so strong and thick as easily to repel a
musket-ball. The whole animal appears as if covered with the most
regular and curious carved work. The mouth is of vast width, the gape
having a somewhat flexuous outUne, and both jaws being furnished with
very numerous, sharp-pointed teeth. The number of teeth in each jaw is
thirty or more, and they are so disposed as to alternate with each other,
when the mouth is closed. The legs are short, but strong and muscular.
In the glowing regions of Africa, where it arrives at its full strength
aud power, it is justly regarded as the most formidable inhabitant of the
rivers. It lies iu wait near the banks, and snatches dogs and other
animals, swallovring them instantly, aud theu plunging into the flood, and
seeking some retired part, where it may be concealed, till hunger again
invites it to its prey." — Or press down, SfC. . i. e. Canst thou put a cord
into his mouth, so as to draw him with it as vrith a bridle ? See Ges. upon
2. — a rope — a ring : i. e. by which he might be fastened to the laud,
after he was caught.
6. — for thy maidens : i. e. for their amusement.
6. — lay snares for him ? ^c. .- i. e. Do the fishermen in company catch
him, and sell him like fish ?
8. Thou will no more think of batile : i. e. thy first attack on the
monster will have such an issue, that thou wilt not dare to try a second.
9. Behold, his hope : The third person for the second. The meaning is,
18*

210 NOTES.
Thy hope (of taking him) is vain. See ch. xxxii. 15, and note. See also
Glass. PhU. Sac. pp. 318, 647. Ed. Dath.
13. — his garment: i. e. his skin. — his jaws: Ut. his double bridle,
which his jaws resembled.
1 5. — shields : i. e. scales.
18. — eyelashes of the morning. This may happen, says Schultens,
when the crocodile lifts his head above water in the night. His staring
eyes, which are the first object that strikes the beholder, may then be com
pared to the dawning light. The eyes of the crocodile are said to be sma_.
But, as Bochart observes, they are so remarkable, that, when the
Egyptians would represent the morning by a hieroglyphic, they painted a
crocodile's eye.
19-22. Here the crocodile is .described as in pursuit of his prey on
land. His mouth is then open, his blood infiamed, his breath thrown out
with prodigious vehemence, like volumes of smoke, aud heated to such a
degree as to seem a flaming fire. Strength and Terror are represented as
animated beings, the one seated on his neck, and the other bounding
before him.
20. — heated : Lit. blown up.
23. — flakes : i. e. the pendulous parts of his flesh.
26. — doth not hold : i. b. will not pierce him and remain fixed in him,
but is repelled and beaten back by the excessive hardness of his skin.
30. — potsherds. His scales are compared to fragments of broken
earthen vessels. — thrashing-sledge, vnn. His outer skin, or coat of
mail, is represented as rough and pointed like a thrashing-sledge. This
was an instrument for rubbing or beating out grain upon the thrashing-
floor. It consists of three or four rollers of wood, iron, or stone, made
rough, and joined together in the form of a sledge or dray ; and is drawn
by oxen over the grain iu order to separate the kernels from the ear.
See Ges. ad verb.
32. — shining path : viz. the white foam which he stirs up in his
pa.s.'sage through the water.
34. He looketh down, SfC, : i. e. Although a reptile, he is not afraid of
the fiercest wild beasts.

NOTES. 211

XXV., XXVI.

Job is now represented as impressed with a deep sense of his presump
tion and irreverence in his former discourses, and expressing his penitence
in the strongest terms of self-condemnation. The way is thus prepared
for the vindication of the integrity and piety of Job by the Deity, and
consequently for the decision of the question which had been the great
subject of controversy. The Almighty decides that the friends of Job
had tiot spoken ihat which was right, in contending that the misery of Job
was infiicted by God as the punishment of his sins ; and that Job had
spoken the truth, in maintaining that no man's character can be ascertain
ed by his external condition. He confirms his decision by restoring him
to his former prosperity.
Ch. XLII. 3. Who is he, SfC. This is repeated from ch. xxxviii. 2,
where the question is asked by the Deity. As if Job had said, Alas ! who
is it, as thou sayest, that hideth. Sea. I am the presumptuous man.
4. Itmll ask thee, ^c. I will no more dispute and endeavor to con
tend with thee with the pride of an equal, but inquire of thee with the
humility of a scholar. The words which Jehovah had spoken to Job by
way of challenge, ch. xxxviii. 3, and xl. 7, Job uses in the spirit of deep
submission. 5. — hearing ofthe ear — eye seen. This may mean only, that Job
had a much more perfect knowledge of the Deity than before, as knowl
edge which is gained by seeing is proverbially more accurate and thorough
than that which comes to us by the report of others. It is said that
Jehovah spake from the whirlwind, but no visible form is mentioned.
6. — / abhor myself: i. b. on account of my former rash speeches
respecting thee. The general meaniog will not be altered if we supply
" it " instead of myself as the object of the verb.
7. — ye have not spoken concerning me that which is right, as hath my
servant Job. This language is to be understood comparatively, for Job
has just been censured for rashly complaining of the ways of God ; and it
is to be understood relatively, i. e. with reference to the raain subject of
discussion. They had not spoken right, in maintaining that misery is

212 NOTES.
always a proof of guilt, aud in condemning an apparently upright and
good man, merely because he was afflicted. They had not spoken so weU,
in supporting such a proposition, and in heaping unmerited reproach upon
a good man, as Job had, in denying the proposition, and iu maintaining
his innocence. See Introduction, p. xx.
10. — turned the captivity, SfC. . i. e. delivered him from his distress,
and restored to him his former prosperity.
11. — a kesita — a ring of gold : i. e. as tokens of regard. This pro»
bably denoted a lump of silver of « certain weight. Gesenius, from a
comparison of Gen. xxxiii. 19, xxui. 16, supposes it to be about 4 shekels.
14. The names of Job's daughters have reference to their loveliness;
Jemima denoting dove, or, as some suppose,/oir as the day ; Kezia, cassia;
and Kerenhappuch, horn of beautiful paitit, i. e. beautiful as those whose
persons are adomed to the utmost extent.
15. — among their brethren. This, being contrary to custom, is men
tioned for the purpose of shovring the extent of Job's wealth, as weU as
the excellence of his daughters. See Numb, xxvii. 8.