Presumptive evidence that CHAP. I. Job lived after Moses. easily direct the zig-zag lightning to every part of the | Seeing I have lost my temporal goods, and all my fields where the sheep were feeding, and so destroy domestic comforts, may God alone be all my portion' the whole in a moment. The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Coverdale add, The Lord hath done as he pleased. Verse 17. The Chaldeans made out three bands] The Chaldeans inhabited each side of the Euphrates, near to Babylon, which was their capital. They were also mixed with the wandering Arabs, and lived like them on rapine. They were the descendants of Chesed, son of Nahor and brother of Huz, from whom they had their name Casdim, which we translate Chaldeans. They divided themselves into three bands, in order the more speedily and effectually to encompass, collect, and drive off the three thousand camels: probably they mounted the camels and rode off. Verse 19. A great wind from the wilderness] Here was another proof of the influence of the prince of the power of the air. What mischief might he not do with this tremendous agent, were he not constantly under the control of the Almighty! He seems to have directed four different currents, which, blowing against the four corners or sides of the house, crushed it together, and involved all within in one common ruin. Verse 20. Rent his mantle] Tearing the garments, shaving or pulling off the hair of the head, throwing dust or ashes on the head, and sitting on the ground, were acts by which immoderate grief was expressed. Job must have felt the bitterness of anguish when he was told that, in addition to the loss of all his property, he was deprived of his ten children by a violent death. Had he not felt this most poignantly, he would have been unworthy of the name of man. Worshipped] Prostrated himself; lay all along upon the ground, with his face in the dust. Verse 21. Naked came I out of my mother's womb] I had no earthly possessions when I came into the world; I cannot have less going out of it. What I have the Lord gave: as it was his free gift, he has a right to resume it when he pleases; and I owe him gratitude for the time he has permitted me to enjoy this gift. Naked shall I return thither] Whither? Not to his mother's womb surely; nor does he call the earth his mother in this place. In the first clause of the verse he speaks without a metaphor, and in the latter he speaks in reference to the ground on which he was about to fall. As I came out of my mother's womb destitute of all earthly possessions, so shall I return Пow shammah, THERE; i. e., to the earth on which he was now falling. That mother earth was a common expression in different nations, I allow; but I believe no such metaphor was now in the mind of Job. The Lord gave] The Chaldee has, "The WORD of the Lord, meymera dayai, gave; and the WORD of the Lord, and the house of his judgment, have taken away?" WORD is used here personally, as in many other places of all the Targums. Blessed be the name of the Lord.] The following is a fine paraphrase on the sentiment in this verse: "Good when he gives, supremely good; Nor less when he denies; Afflictions, from his sovereign hand, Are blessings in disguise." Verse 22. In all this Job sinned not] He did not give way to any action, passion, or expression, offensive to his Maker. He did not charge God with acting unkindly towards him, but felt as perfectly satisfied with the privation which the hand of God had occasioned, as he was with the affluence and health which that hand had bestowed. This is the transaction that gave the strong and vivid colouring to the character of Job; in this, and in this alone, he was a pattern of patience and resignation. In this Satan was utterly disappointed; he found a man who loved his God more than his earthly portion. This was a rare case, even in the experience of the devil. He had seen multitudes who bartered their God for money, and their hopes of blessedness in the world to come for secular possessions in the present. He had been so often successful in this kind of temptation, that he made no doubt he should succeed again. He saw many who, when riches increased, set their hearts on them, and forgot God. He saw many also who, when deprived of earthly comforts, blasphemed their Maker. He therefore inferred that Job, in similar circumstances, would act like the others; he was disappointed. Reader, has he, by riches or poverty, succeeded with thee? Art thou pious when affluent, and patient and contented when in poverty? That Job lived after the giving of the law, seems to me clear from many references to the rites and ceremonies instituted by Moses. In chap. i. 5 we are informed that he sanctified his children, and offered burnt-offerings daily in the morning for each of them. This was a general ordinance of the law, as we may see, Lev. ix. 7: "Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin-offering and thy burnt-offering, and make an atonement for thyself and for the people." Ver. 22: "And Aaron lifted up his hands towards the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering the burnt-offering.” This sort of offering, we are told above, Job offered continually; and this also was according to the law, Exod. xxix. 42: "This shall be a continual burntoffering throughout your generations." See also Numb. xxviii. 3, 6, 10, 15, 24, 31. This custom was observed after the captivity, Ezra iii. 5: “ They offered the continual burnt-offering: and of every one that offered a freewill-offering." See also Neh. x. 33. Ezekiel, who prophesied during the captivity, enjoins this positively, chap. xlvi. 13-15: "Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt-offering unto the Lord: thou shalt prepare it every morning." Job appears to have thought that his children might have sinned through ignorance, or sinned privately; and it was consequently necessary to make the due sacrifices to God in order to prevent his wrath and their punishment; he therefore offered the burntoffering, which was prescribed by the law in cases of sins committed through ignorance. See the ordinances Satan a second time JOB. accuses Job. Lev. iv. 1—35, v. 15-19, and particularly Numb. xv. | the law against this sin, Exod. xx. 14, 17: "Thou 24-29. I think it may fairly be presumed that the shalt not commit adultery: thou shalt not covet thy offerings which Job made for his children were in neighbour's wife." Lev. xx. 10: "The man that reference to these laws. committeth adultery with another man's wife shall surely be put to death;" see Deut. xxii. 22. And for the judge's office in such cases, see Deut. xvii. 9-12: "Thou shalt come unto the priests and Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment.” 1 Sam. ii. 25: "If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him." The worship of the sun, moon, and stars, as being the most prevalent and most seductive idolatry, was very expressly forbidden by the law, Deut. iv. 19: "Take heed, lest thou lift up thine eyes to heaven; and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldst be driven to worship them, and serve them." Job purges himself from this species of idolatry, chap. xxxi. ver. 26-28: "If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for I should have denied the God that is above." He clears himself also from adultery in reference to the law enacted against that sin, Job. xxxi. 9-12: "If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door; then let my wife grind to another: for this is a heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges." See The following will, I think, be considered an evident allusion to the passage of the Red Sea, and the destruction of the proud Egyptian king: Job xxvi. 11, 12: "The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof. He divideth the sea with his power; and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud." These, with several others that might be adduced, are presumptive proofs that the writer of this book lived after the giving and establishment of the law, if not much later, let Job himself live when he might. See other proofs in the notes, CHAPTER II. The sons of God once more present themselves before him; and Satan comes also, accusing Job as a person whose stedfastness would be soon shaken, provided his body were to be subjected to sore afflictions, 1-5. He receives permission to afflict Job, and smites him with sore boils, 6-8. His wife reviles him, 9. His pious reproof, 10. His three friends come to visit and mourn with him. A. M. cir. 2484. Ante U.C. c.767. AGAIN there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou a Ch. i. 6.b Ch. i. 7.—c Ch. i. 1,8.- d Ch. xxvii. 5,6. NOTES ON CHAP. II. Verse 1. Again there was a day] How long this was after the former trial, we know not: probably, one whole year, when, as the Targum intimates, it was the time of the annual atonement; which, if so, must have been at least one whole year after the former; and during which period the patience and resignation of Job had sufficient scope to show themselves. This appearance of the sons of God and Satan is to be understood metaphorically-there could be nothing real in it--but it is intended to instruct us in the doctrine of the existence of good and evil spirits; that Satan pursues man with implacable enmity, and that considered my servant Job, that A. M. cir. 2484. Ante U.C.c.767. there is none like him in the 4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. 5 & But put forth thine hand now, and touch e Heb. to swallow him up. Ch. ix. 17.5 Ch. i. 11. he can do no man hurt, either in his person or property, but by the especial permission of God; and that God gives him permission only when he purposes to overrule it for the greater manifestation of his own glory, and the greater good of his tempted followers. Verse 3. To destroy him without cause.] Thou wishedst me to permit thee to destroy a man whose sins have not called for so heavy a judgment. This seems to be the meaning of this saying. The original word, was leballeo, signifies to swallow down or devour; and this word St. Peter had no doubt in view in the place quoted on verse 7 of the preceding chapter: Your adversary the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may DEVOUR; nтwv, тiva kataπiy, seeking whom he may SWALLOW or GULP DOWN. See the note on 1 Pet. v. 8. Verse 4. Skin for skin] That is, A man will part with all he has in the world to save his life; and he will part with all by piecemeal, till he has nothing left on earth, and even be thankful, provided his life be spared. Thou hast only destroyed his property; thou hast left him his life and his health. Thou hast not touched his flesh nor his bone; therefore he is patient and resigned. Man, through the love of life, will go much farther: he will give up one member to save the rest; yea, limb after limb, as long as there is hope that, by such sacrifices, life may be spared or prolonged. This is the meaning given to the passage by the Targum; and, I believe, the true one: hence, ver. 7, the Lord says, Save his life. Verse 5. He will curse thee to thy face.] Literally, If he will not bless thee to thy face or appearances. His piety to thee will be always regulated by thy bounty to him. See the note on chap. i. 11. with sores. A. M. cir. 2484. Ante I. Ol. cir. 744. 8 And he took him a pot- B. C. cir. 1520. sherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the Ante U.C. c.767. ashes. 9 Then said his wife unto him, 'Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? e 2 Sam. xiii. 19. Ch. xlii. 6. Ezek. xxvii. 30. Matt. xi. 21. f Ch. xxi. 15.- -g Ver. 3. perly speaking, no boil or detached inflammation, or swelling, but one uniform disordered state of the whole surface, so that the whole body is covered with loathsome scales, and the skin appears like that of the elephant, thick and wrinkled, from which appearance the disorder has its name. In the small pox it is different: each pock or pustule is a separate inflammation, tending to suppuration; and during this process, the fever is in general very high, and the anguish and distress of the patient intolerable. When the suppuration is pretty far advanced, the itching is extreme; and the hands are often obliged to be confined to prevent the patient from literally tearing his own flesh. Verse 9. Then said his wife] To this verse the Septuagint add the following words: "Much time having elapsed, his wife said unto him, How long dost thou stand stedfast, saying, 'Behold, I wait yet a little longer looking for the hope of my salvation?' Behold thy memorial is already blotted out from the earth, together with thy sons and thy daughters, the fruits of my pains and labours, for whom with anxiety I have laboured in vain. Thyself also sittest in the rottenness of worms night and day, while I am a Verse 6. But save his life.] His body thou shalt have permission to afflict, but against his life thou shalt have no power; therefore take care of his life. The original, ww naphsho shemor, may be trans-wanderer from place to place, and from house to lated, keep his soul: but the word also signifies life; yet in the hands of the destroyer the life of this holy man is placed! How astonishing is the economy of salvation! It is so managed, by the unlimited power and skill of God, that the grand adversary of souls becomes himself, by the order of God, the preserver of that which the evil of his nature incessantly prompts him to destroy! barech house, waiting for the setting of the sun, that I may Here it seems to be a strong irony. Job was exceedingly afflicted, and apparently dying through sore disease; yet his soul was filled with gratitude to God. His wife, destitute of the salvation which her husband possessed, gave him this ironical reproof. Bless God, and die-What! bless him for his goodness, while he is destroying all that thou hast! bless him for his support, while he is casting thee down and destroying thee! Bless on, and die. The Targum says that Job's wife's name was Dinah, and that the words which she spake to him on this occasion were berich meymera dayai umith. Bless the word of the Lord, and die. Ovid has such an irony as I suppose this to have been: Ch. i. 21. Rom. xii. 12. James v. 10, 11.-b Ch. i. 22. Cum rapiant mala fata bonos, ignoscite fasso, Vive pius, moriere pius; cole sacra, colentem In vain to gods (if gods there are) we pray, STEPNEY. Verse 10. Thou speakest as one of the foolish] Thou speakest like an infidel; like one who has no knowledge of God, of religion, or of a future state. The Targum, who calls this woman Dinah, translates thus: "Thou speakest like one of those women who have wrought folly in the house of their father." This is in reference to an ancient rabbinical opinion, that Job lived in the days of the patriarch Jacob, whose daughter Dinah he had married. come to visit him. B. C. cir. 1520. A. M. cir. 2484. Ante I. Ol. cir. 744. Ante U.C. c.767. 12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great. was a city of Edom, Jer. xlix. 7-20; Ezek. xxv. 13; Amos i. 11, 12. Bildad the Shuhite] Or, as the Septuagint, Baldað ¿ Zuxewv Tupavvos, Baldad, tyrant of the Suchites. Shuah was the son of Abraham, by Keturah; and his posterity is reckoned among the easterns. It is supposed he should be placed with his brother Midian, and his brother's sons Sheba and Dedan. See Gen. xxv. 2, 3. Dedan was a city of Edom, see Jer. xlix. 8, and seems to have been situated in its southern boundary, as Teman was in its western, Ezek. xxv. 13. Zophar the Naamathite] Or, according to the Septuagint, Σωφαρ Μιναίων Βασιλευς, Sophar king of the Minaites. He most probably came from that Naamah, which was bordering upon the Edomites to the south and fell by lot to the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 21-41. These circumstances, which have already been mentioned in the introduction, prove that Job must have dwelt in the land of Edom; and that all his friends dwelt in Arabia Petræa, or in the countries immediately adjacent. That some of those eastern people were highly cultivated, we have at least indirect proof Shall we receive good] This we have received in in the case of the Temanites, Jer. xlix. 7: Concerning great abundance for many years : And shall we not receive evil?] Shall we murmur when He afflicts us for a day, who has given us health for so many years? Shall we blaspheme his name for momentary privations, who has given us such a long succession of enjoyments? His blessings are his own: he never gave them to us; they were only lent. We have had the long, the free, the unmerited use of them; and shall we be offended at the Owner, when he comes to reclaim his own property? This would be foolish, ungrateful, and wicked. So may every one reason who is suffering from adversity. But who, besides Job, reasons thus? Man is naturally discontented and ungrateful. In all this did not Job sin with his lips.] The Chaldee adds, But in his heart he thought words. He had surmisings of heart, though he let nothing escape from his lips. Edom thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished? They are celebrated also in Baruch iii. 22, 23. Speaking of wisdom he says: It hath not been heard of in Chanaans neither hath it been seen in Theman. The Agarenes that seek wisdom upon earth, the merchants of Meran and of Theman, the expounders of fables, and searchers out of understanding, none of these have known the way of wisdom. It is evident enough from these quotations that the inhabitants of those districts were celebrated for their knowledge; and the sayings of Job's three friends are proofs that their reputation for wisdom stood on very solid foundation. Verse 12. They rent every one his mantle] I have already had frequent occasions to point out and illus trate, by quotations from the ancients, the actions that were used in order to express profound grief; such as Verse 11. Job's three friends] The first was Eli-wrapping themselves in sackcloth, covering the face, phaz the Temanite; or, as the Septuagint has it, EM-strewing dust or ashes upon the head, sitting upon pal & Dairy Bardens, Eliphaz the king of the the bare ground, &c., &c.; significant actions which Thaimanites. Eliphaz was one of the sons of Esau ; were in use among all nations. and Teman, of Eliphaz, Gen. xxxvi. 10, 11. Teman Verse 13. They sat down with him upon the ground Job laments the CHAP. III. is dead;" Ecclus. xxii. 12. So calamitous was the state of Job, that they considered him as a dead man ; and went through the prescribed period of mourning for him. day of his birth. seven days] They were astonished at the unprece- | Sirach says, "Seven days do men mourn for him that dented change which had taken place in the circumstances of this most eminent man: they could not reconcile his present situation with any thing they had met with in the history of divine providence. The seven days mentioned here were the period appointed for mourning. The Israelites mourned for Jacob seven days, Gen. 1. 10. And the men of Jabesh mourned so long for the death of Saul, 1 Sam. xxxi. 13. 1 Chron. x. 12. And Ezekiel sat on the ground with the captives at Chebar, and mourned with and for them seven days, Ezek. iii. 15. The wise son of They saw that his grief was very great.] This is the reason why they did not speak to him: they believed him to be suffering for heavy crimes; and, seeing him suffer so much, they were not willing to add to his distresses by invectives or reproach. Job himself first broke silence. CHAPTER III. Job curses the day of his birth, and regrets that he ever saw the light, 1-12. Describes the empire of death and its inhabitants, 13-19. Regrets that he is appointed to live in the midst of sorrows, for the calamities which he feared had overtaken him, 20-26. A. M. cir. 2484. Ante I. Ol. cir. 744. Ante U.C.c.767. AR FTER this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. 2 And Job "spake, and said, 3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. a Heb. answered.b Ch. x. 18, 19. Jer. xv. 10. xx. 14. Ch. x. 21, 22. xvi. 16. xxviii. 3. Ps. xxiii. 4. xliv. 19. evii. 10, 14. Jer. xiii. 16. Amos v. S.- _d Or, challenge it. NOTES ON CHAP. III. Verse 1. After this opened Job his mouth] After the seven days' mourning was over, there being no prospect of relief, Job is represented as thus cursing the day of his birth. Here the poetic part of the book begins; for most certainly there is nothing in the preceding chapters either in the form or spirit of Hebrew poetry. It is easy indeed to break the sentences into hemistichs; but this does not constitute them poetry: for, although Hebrew poetry is in general in hemistichs, yet it does not follow that the division of narrative into hemistichs must necessarily constitute it poetry. In many cases the Asiatic poets introduce their compositions with prose narrative; and having in this way prepared the reader for what he is to expect, begin their deevans, cassidehs, gazels, &c. This appears to be the plan followed by the author of this book. Those who still think, after examining the structure of those chapters, and comparing them with the undoubted poetic parts of the book, that they also, and the ten concluding verses, are poetry, have my consent, while I take the liberty to believe most decidedly the opposite. providence: but now, feeling himself the subject of continual sufferings, being in heaviness through manifold temptation, and probably having the light of God withdrawn from his mind, as his consolations most undoubtedly were, he regrets that ever he was born; and in a very high strain of impassioned poetry curses! his day. We find a similar execration to this in Jeremiah, chap. xx. 14-18, and in other places; which, by the way, are no proofs that the one borrowed from the other; but that this was the common mode of Asiatic thinking, speaking, and feeling, on such occasions. Verse 3. There is a man child conceived.] The word harah signifies to conceive; yet here, it seems, it should be taken in the sense of being born, as it is perfectly unlikely that the night of conception should be either distinctly known or published. Verse 4. Let that day be darkness] The meaning is exactly the same with our expression, "Let it be blotted out of the calendar." However distinguished it may have been, as the birth-day of a man once celebrated for his possessions, liberality, and piety, let it no longer be thus noted; as he who was thus celebrated is now the sport of adversity, the most impoverished, most afflicted, and most wretched of human beings. x ai Cursed his day.] That is, the day of his birth; and thus he gave vent to the agonies of his soul, and the distractions of his mind. His execrations have something in them awfully solemn, tremendously Let not God regard it from above] deep, and strikingly sublime. But let us not excuse yidreshehu, "Let Him not require it"-let Him not all the things which he said in his haste, and in the consider it essential to the completion of the days of bitterness of his soul, because of his former well esta- the year; and therefore he adds, neither let the light blished character of patience. He bore all his priva-shine upon it. If it must be a part of duration, let it tions with becoming resignation to the divine will and not be distinguished by the light of the sun. |