Man's holiness cannot be compared A. M. cir. 2484. : JOB. ships as the eagle that hast- and mine own 27 If I say, I will forget my heaviness, and comfort myself: C 28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. 29 If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain? 30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make hands never so clean; my 31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, Ch. vii. 13. Ps. cxix. 120.– d Exod. ii. 22. Or, make me to be abhorred. Isai. xlv. 9. Jer. xlix. 19. Rom. ix. 20. a Hab. i. 8. xx. 7. e Jer. * Eccles. vi, 10. than a runner. The light-footed messenger or courier who carries messages from place to place. They flee away] The Chaldee says, My days are swifter than the shadow of a flying bird. So swiftly do they flee away that I cannot discern them; and when past they cannot be recalled. There is a sentiment like this in VIRGIL, Geor. lib. iii., ver. 284 : Sed FUGIT interea, FUGIT IRREPARABILE tempus! "But in the meanwhile time flies! irreparable time flies away!" h 32 For he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. 33 Neither is there any day's-man betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both. 34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me: 35 Then would I speak, and not fear him; m but it is not so with me. h Ver. 19. 1 Sam. ii. 25. —i Heb. one that should argue. all my workes. Even were I to cease from com- Thou wilt not hold me innocent.] Coverdale, after the Vulgate, For E knowe thou favourest not an ebil doer; but this is not the sense of the original: Thou wilt not acquit me so as to take away my afflictions from me. Verse 29. If I be wicked] If I am the sinner you suppose me to be, in vain should I labour to counVerse 26. As the swift ships] x x oniyoth ebeh. terfeit joy, and cease to complain of my sufferings. Ships of desire, or ships of Ebeh, says our margin; Verse 30. If I wash myself with snow water] Supperhaps more correctly inflated ships, the sails belly-posed to have a more detergent quality than common ing out with a fair brisk wind, tide favourable, and water; and it was certainly preferred to common the vessels themselves lightly freighted. water by the ancients. Of this we find an example The Vulgate has, Like ships freighted with apples. in an elegant but licentious author: Tandem ergo Ships laden with the best fruits.-TARGUM. Ships well discubuimus, pueris Alexandrinis AQUAM in manus adapted for sailing.—ARABIC. Shipes that be good under || NIVATAM infundentibus, aliisque insequentibus ad pedes. sale.-COVERDALE. Probably this relates to the light-PETR. Satyr., cap. xxxi. "At length we sat down, fast-sailing ships on the Nile, which were made of and had snow water poured on our hands by lads of reeds or papyrus. Alexandria," &c. Perhaps the idea to be seized is not so much the swiftness of the passage, as their leaving no trace or track behind them. But instead of nax ebeh, na eybah, hostile ships or the ships of enemies, is the reading of forty-seven of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., and of the Syriac Version. If this be the true reading, what is its sense? My days are gone off like the light vessels of the pirates, having stripped me of my property, and carried all irrecoverably away, under the strongest press of sail, that they may effect their escape, and secure their booty. The next words, As the eagle that hasteth to the prey, seem at least to countenance, if not confirm, the above reading: the idea of robbery and spoil, prompt attack and sudden retreat, is preserved in both images. Verse 27. I will forget my complaint] I will forsake or forego my complaining. I will leave off my heaviness. VULGATE, I will change my countenance-force myself to smile, and endeavour to assume the appearance of comfort. Verse 28. I am afraid of all my sorrows] Coverdale translates, after the Vulgate, Then am I afrayed of Mr. Good supposes that there is an allusion here to the ancient rite of washing the hands in token of innocence. See Ps. xxvi. 6: I will WASH my hands in INNOCENCY; and lxxiii. 13: Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and WASHED my HANDS IN INNOCENCY. And by this ceremony Pilate declared himself innocent of the blood of Christ, Matt. xxvii. 24. Verse 31. And mine own clothes shall abhor me.] Such is thine infinite purity, when put in opposition to the purity of man, that it will bear no comparison. Searched and tried by the eye of God, I should be found as a leper, so that my own clothes would dread to touch me, for fear of being infected by my corruption. This is a strong and bold figure; and is derived from the corrupted state of his body, which his clothes dreaded to touch, because of the contagious nature of his disorder. Verse 32. For he is not a man as I am] I cannot contend with him as with one of my fellows in a court of justice. Verse 33. Neither is there any day's-man] mm beyneynu mochiach, a reprover, arguer, or umpire between us. DAY'S-MAN, in our law, means an arbi Remarks on the constellations CHAP. IX. trator or umpire between party and party; as it were bestowing a day, or certain time on a certain day, to decree, judge, or decide a matter.-Minshieu. DAY is used in law for the day of appearance in court, either originally or upon assignation, for hearing a a matter for trial.-Idem. But arbitrator is the proper meaning of the term here: one who is, by the consent of both parties, to judge between them, and settle their differences. Instead of x lo yesh, there is not, fifteen of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., with the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic, read w ↳ lu yesh, I wish there were; or, O that there were! Eige nv o peσirns nuwv, και ελέγχων και διακόνων αναμεσον αμφοτερων. Ο that we had a mediator, an advocate, and judge between us both! SEPT. Poor Job! He did not yet know the Mediator between God and man: the only means by which God and man can be brought together and reconciled. Had St. Paul this in his eye when he wrote 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6? For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all. Without this Mediator, and the ransom price which he has laid down, God and man can never be united: and that this union might be made possible, Jesus took the human into conjunction with his divine nature; and thus God was manifest in the flesh. Verse 34. Let him take his rod away] In the Masoretic Bibles, the word aw shibto, his rod, is written with a large u teth, as above; and as the letter in numerals stands for 9, the Masora says the word was thus written to show the nine calamities under which Job had suffered, and which he wished God to remove! As a shebet signifies, not only rod, but also sceptre or the ensign of royalty, Job might here refer to God sitting in his majesty upon the judgment-seat; and this sight so appalled him that, filled with terror, he was unable to speak. When a sinful soul sees God in his majesty, terror seizes upon it, and prayer is impossible. We have a beautiful illustration of this, Isai. vi. 1—5: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Then said I, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." I Verse 35. But it is not so with me. ] I am not in such circumstances as to plead with my Judge. believe the sense of these words is nearly as Coverdale has expressed it:-For as longe as I am in soch fearfulnesse, I can make no answere. A natural picture of the state of a penitent soul, which needs no additional colouring. supposed to be alluded to. 32; of which the principal stars are Aldebaran the bull's eye, and Antares, the scorpion's heart. Knowing, therefore, the longitudes of these stars, at present, the interval of time from thence to the assumed date of Job's trial will give the difference of the longitudes; and ascertain their positions then, with respect to the vernal and autumnal points of intersection of the equinoctial and ecliptic; according to the usual rate of the precession of the equinoxes, one degree in 71 years. See that article, vol. i., p. 185. "The following calculations I owe to the kindness and skill of the respectable Dr. Brinkley, Andrew's Professor of Astronomy in the University of Dublin. "In A. D. 1800, Aldebaran was in 2 signs, 7 degrees, east longitude. But since the date of Job's trial, B. C. 2338, i. e., 4138 years, the precession of the equinoxes amounted to sign, 27 degrees, 53 minutes; which, being subtracted from the former quantity, left Aldebaran in only 9 degrees, 7 minutes longitude, or distance from the vernal intersection; which, falling within the constellation Taurus, consequently rendered it the cardinal constellation of spring, as Pisces is at present. "In A. D. 1800 Antares was in 8 signs, 6 degrees, 58 minutes, east longitude; or 2 signs, 6 degrees, 58 minutes, east of the autumnal intersection: from which subtracting as before the amount of the precession, Antares was left only 9 degrees, 5 minutes east. Since, then, the autumnal equinox was found within Scorpio, this was the cardinal constellation of autumn, as Virgo is at present. "Such a combination and coincidence of various rays of evidence, derived from widely different sources, history, sacred and profane, chronology, and astronomy, and all converging to the same focus, tend strongly to establish the time of Job's trial, as rightly assigned to the year B. C. 2337, or 818 years after the deluge; 184 years before the birth of Abraham; 474 years before the settlement of Jacob's family in Egypt; and 689 years before their exode or departure from thence.' New Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii., p. 57. Now all this is specious; and, were the foundation sound, we might rely on the permanence of the building, though the rains should descend, the floods come, and the winds blow and beat on that house. But all these deductions and conclusions are founded on the assumption that Chimah and Chesil mean Taurus and Scorpio: but this is the very point that is to be proved; for proof of this is not offered, nor, indeed, can be offered: and such assumptions are palpably nugatory. That wy ash has been generally understood to signify the Great Bear; Kesil, Orion; and Kimah, the Pleiades; may be seen On the names of the constellations mentioned ver. every where: but that they do signify these constel9, and again chap. xxxviii. 31, &c., much has been lations is perfectly uncertain. We have only conwritten, and to little effect. I have already, in thejectures concerning their meaning; and on such connotes, expressed my doubts whether any constellation jectures no system can be built. Genuine data, in be intended. Dr. Hales, however, finds in these Dr. Hales's hands, are sure to be conducted to legitinames, as he thinks, astronomical data, by which he mate conclusions: but neither he nor any one else ascertains the time of Job. I shall give his words: can construct an astronomical fabric in the limbus of “The cardinal constellations of spring and autumn, conjecture. When Joв lived is perfectly uncertain: in Job's time, were Chimah and Chesil, or Taurus but that this book was written 818 years after the and Scorpio; noticed ix. 9, and again, xxxviii. 31, deluge; 184 years before the birth of Abram, and 689 In what many learned men have written on this subject, I find as much solidity and satisfaction as from what is piously and gravely stated in the Glossa Ordinaria : and expostulates with God. years before the exodus; and that all this is demon- | occulta, status Anachoretarum, hominum aspectus destrable from Chimah and Chesil signifying Taurus clinantium. "These different constellations signify and Scorpio, whence the positions of the equinoxes various states of the church. By Arcturus, which at the time of Job's trial can be ascertained; can always appears above our horizon, is signified the never be proved, and should never be credited. apostolic state, which still remains in episcopacy. By Orion, which is a tempestuous sign, is signified the state of the martyrs. By the Hyades (kids) which indicate rain, the state of the doctors, pouring out the rain of doctrine, is signified. And by the inner Qui facit Arcturum. Diversæ sunt constella-chambers of the south, which are hidden from us, the tiones, varios status ecclesiæ signantes. Per Arcturum, qui semper super orizontem nostrum apparet, significatur status apostolorum qui in episcopis re- Much more of the same allegorical matter may be manet. Per Oriona, qui est tempestatis signum, sig- found in the same place, the Glossa Ordinaria of nificatur status martyrum. Per Hyadas, quæ signi- | Strabus of Fulda, on the ninth chapter of Job. But ficant pluvios, status doctorum doctrinæ pluvium how unreal and empty are all these things! What effundentium. Per interiora austri, quæ sunt nobis an uncertain sound do such trumpets give! state of the Anchorets (hermits) is signified, who always shun the sight of men." CHAPTER X. Job is weary of life, and expostulates with God, 1-6. He appeals to God for his innocence; and pleads on the weakness of his frame, and the manner of his formation, 7—13. Complains of his sufferings, and prays for respite, 14—20. Describes the state of the dead, 21, 22. A. M. cir. 2484. B. C. cir. 1520. Ante I. Ol. cir. 744. MY days, A. M. cir. 2484. B. C. cir. 1520. Ante I. Ol. cir 744. c.767. Ya soul is b of weary 4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or my life; I will leave my com- e seest thou as man seeth? Ante U.C.c.767. plaint upon myself; I will 5 Are thy days as the days Ante U.C. c. 767. speak in the bitterness of mysoul. of man? are thy years as man's 2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. 3 Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despised the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? NOTES ON CHAP. X. Verse 1. My soul is weary of my life] Here is a proof that wo nephesh does not signify the animal life, but the soul or immortal mind, as distinguished from ʼn chai, that animal life; and is a strong proof that Job believed in the distinction between these two principles; was no materialist; but, on the contrary, credited the proper immortality of the soul. This is worthy of observation. See chap. xii. 10. I will leave my complaint] I will charge myself with the cause of my own calamities; and shall not charge my Maker foolishly: but I must deplore my wretched and forlorn state. 6 That thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? 7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand. thine hands? Ps. cxxxviii. 8. Isai. lxiv. 8.- -e1 Sam. xvi. 7.- Heb. It is upon thy knowledge.- - Ps. cxxxix. 1, 2. gratification to thee to distress the children of men, as if thou didst despise the work of thy own hands. And shine upon the counsel] For by my afflictions the harsh judgments of the wicked will appear to be confirmed: viz., that God regards not his most fervent worshippers; and it is no benefit to lead a religious life. Verse 4. Hast thou eyes of flesh?] Dost thou judge as man judges? Illustrated by the next clause, Seest thou as man seeth? אנוש Verse 5. Are thy days as the days of man] enosh, wretched, miserable man. Thy years as man's days; gaber, the strong man. Thou art not Verse 2. Do not condemn me] Let me not be short-lived, like man in his present imperfect state; afflicted in thy wrath. nor can the years of the long-lived patriarchs be compared with thine. The difference of the phrase Shew me wherefore thou contendest] If I am afflicted because of my sin, show me what that sin is. Godology in the original justifies this view of the subject. never afflicts but for past sin, or to try his followers; or for the greater manifestation of his grace in their support and deliverance. Verse 3. Is it good unto thee] Surely it can be no Man in his low estate cannot be likened unto thee; nor can he in his greatest excellence, though made in thy own image and likeness, be compared to thee. Verse 6. That thou inquirest] It is becoming thy He speaks of his A. M. cir. 2484. B. C. cir. 1520. cir. 744. b CHAP. X. curious formation. A. M. cir. 2484. 8 a Thine hands have made thy visitation hath preserved B. C. cir. 1520, me and fashioned me together Ante U.C.c.767. round about; yet thou dost destroy me. 9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? 10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. 12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and Ps. cxix. 73.- b Heb. took pains about me.- .c Gen. . 7. iii. 19. Isai. Ixiv. 8.- Ps. cxxxix. 14, 15, 16. Heb. hedged. Ps. cxxxix. 1.- - Isai. iii. 11.- h Ch. infinite dignity to concern thyself so much with the affairs or transgressions of a despicable mortal? A word spoken in the heart of most sinners. Verse 7. Thou knowest that I am not wicked] While thou hast this knowledge of me and my conduct, why appear to be sifting me as if in order to find out sin; and, though none can be found, treating me as though I were a transgressor? Verse 8. Thine hands have made me] Thou art well acquainted with human nature, for thou art its author. my spirit. 13 And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee. g Ante 1. Ol. cir. 744. Ante U.C. c. 767.. h '14 If I sin, then 'thou markest me, and thou 16 For it increaseth. * Thou huntest me as ix. 12, 15, 20, 21. - iPs. xxv. 18. k Isai. xxxviii. 13. Lam. iii. 10. semine accipiunt, quod ipsa tanquam natura emulget, ac dein concrescere in utero ac coalescere jubet. I make no apology for leaving this untranslated. The different expressions in this and the following verse are very appropriate: the pouring out like milk--coagulating, clothing with skin and flesh, fencing with bones and sinews, are well imagined, and delicately, and at the same time forcibly, expressed. If I believed that Job referred to nutrition, which I do not, I might speak of the chyle, the chylopoietic organs, the lacteal vessels, and the generation of alt the solids and fluids from this substance, which itself is derived from the food taken into the stomach. But this process, properly speaking, does not take place till the human being is brought into the world, it being previously nourished by the mother by means of the funis umbilicus, without that action of the And fashioned me together round about] All my " Verse 10. Hast thou not poured me out as milk] After all that some learned men have said on this subject, in order to confine the images here to simple nutrition, I am satisfied that generation is the true Lotion. Respicit ad fetus in matris utero primam firmationem, quum in embryonem cæ utriusque parentis semine coalescit.-Ex semine liquido, lac quodammodo referente, me formasti.—In interpretando, inquit Hieronymus, omnino his accedo qui de genitali Verse 12. Thou hast granted me life and favour} Thou hast brought me from my mother's womb; given me an actual existence among men; by thy favour or mercy thou hast provided me with the means of life; and thy visitation-thy continual providential care, has preserved me in life—has given me the air I breathe, and furnished me with those powers which enable me to respire it as an agent and preserver of life. It is by God's continued visitation or influence that the life of any man is preserved; in him we live, move, and have our being. Verse 13. And these things hast thou hid in thine heart] Thou hast had many gracious purposes concerning me which thou hast not made known; but thy visitations and mercy are sufficient proofs of kindness towards me; though for purposes unknown to me thou hast sorely afflicted me, and continuest to treat me as an enemy. Verse 14. If I sin] From thee nothing can be hidden; if I sin, thou takest account of the transgression, and canst not hold me for innocent when thou knowest I am guilty. Verse 15. If I be wicked] I must meet with that punishment that is due to the workers of iniquity. If I be righteous] I am only in the state which my duty to my Creator requires me to be in; and I cannot therefore suppose that on this account I can An awful description of the A. M. cir. 2484. on me. : a JOB. с е abode of separate spirits. A. M. cir. 2484. cir. 744. a fierce lion and again thou | been; I should have been carshewest thyself marvellous up-ried from the womb to the grave. 20 Are not my days few? Ante U.C.c.767. 17 Thou renewest thy wit-d cease then, and let me alone, nesses against me, and increasest thine in- that I may take comfort a little, dignation upon me; changes and war are against me. 18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! 21 Before I go whence I shall not return, 'even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; 22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any 19 I should have been as though I had not order, and where the light is as darkness. Verse 20. Are not my days few?] My life cannot be long; let me have a little respite before I die. Verse 21. I shall not return] I shall not return I am full of confusion] I am confounded at my state and circumstances. I know that thou art mer-again from the dust to have a dwelling among men. ciful, and dost not afflict willingly the children of men; I know I have not wickedly departed from thee; and yet I am treated by thee as if I were an apostate from every good. I am therefore full of confusion. See thou to my affliction ; and bring me out of it in such a way as shall at once prove my innocence, the righteousness of thy ways, and the mercy of thy nature. Verse 16. For it increaseth.] Probably this refers to the affliction mentioned above, which is increased in proportion to its duration. Every day made his escape from such a load of evils less and less probable. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion] As the hunters attack the king of beasts in the forest, so my friends attack me. They assail me on every side. To the land of darkness] See the notes on chap. iii. 5. There are here a crowd of obscure and dislocated terms, admirably expressive of the obscurity and uncertainty of the subject. What do we know of the state of separate spirits? What do we know of the spiritual world? How do souls exist separate from their respective bodies? Of what are they capable, and what is their employment? Who can answer these questions? Perhaps nothing can be said much better of the state than is here said, a land of obscurity, like darkness. The shadow of death] A place where death rules, over which he projects his shadow, intercepting every light of every kind of life. Without any order, □ ×SI velo sedarim, having no arrangements, no distinctions of inhabitants; the poor and the rich are there, the master and his slave, the king and the beggar, their bodies in equal corruption and disgrace, their Mr. souls distinguished only by their moral character. Stripped of their flesh, they stand in their naked sim Thou shewest thyself marvellous] Thy designs, thy ways, thy works, are all incomprehensible to me; thou dost both confound and overpower me. Good translates thus: "For uprousing as a ravenous lion dost thou spring plicity before God in that place. upon me. And again thou showest over me thy vast power." Verse 17. Thou renewest thy witnesses] In this speech of Job he is ever referring to trials in courts of judicature, and almost all his terms are forensic. Thou bringest witnesses in continual succession to confound and convict me. Changes and war] I am as if attacked by successive troops; one company being wearied, another succeeds to the attack, so that I am harassed by continual warfare. Verse 18. Wherefore then] Why didst thou give me a being, when thou didst foresee I should be exposed to such incredible hardships? See on chap. iii. 10, &c. Verse 19. I should have been as though] Had I given up the ghost as soon as born, as I could not then have been conscious of existence, it would have been, as it respects myself, as though I had never been; being immediately transported from my mother's womb to the grave. Verse 22. Where the light is as darkness.] A palpable obscure: it is space and place, and has only such light or capability of distinction as renders "darkness visible." The following words of Sophocles convey the same idea: Iw Kotos Eμoi paog "Thou darkness be my light." It is, as the Vulgate expresses it, Terra tenebrosa, et operta mortis caligine: Terra miseria et tenebrarum, ubi umbra mortis, et nullus ordo, sed sempiternus horror inhabitat: “A murky land, covered with the thick darkness of death a land of wretchedness and obscurities, where is the shadow of death, and no order, but sempiternal horror dwells every where." Or, as Coverdale expresses this last clause, whereas is no ordre but terrible feare as in the darknesse. A duration not characterized or measured by any of the attributes of time; where there is no order of darkness and light, night and day, heat and cold, summer and winter. It is the state of the dead! The place of separate spirits! It is out of time, out of probation, beyond change or mutability. It is on the confines of eternity! But |