e

23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

Ps. xc. 12. Heb. A sound of fears. c 1 Thess. v. 3. racter of a BAD man; he hungers and thirsts after SI on the contrary, the GOOD man hungers and thirsts after RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Verse 17. I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare] Eliphaz is now about to quote a whole collection of wise sayings from the ancients; all good enough in themselves, bat sinfully misapplied to the case of Job.

Verse 19. Unto whom alone the earth was given] He very likely refers to the Israelites, who got possession of the promised land from God himself; no stranger being permitted to dwell in it, as the old inhabitants were to be exterminated. Some think that Noah and his sons may be intended; as it is certain that the whole earth was given to them, when there were no strangers—no other family of mankind, in being. But, system apart, the words seem to apply more clearly to the Israelites.

Verse 20. The wicked man travaileth with pain] This is a most forcible truth: a life of sin is a life of sery; and he that WILL sin MUST suffer. One of the Targums gives it a strange turn :-"All the days of the ungodly Esau he was expected to repent, but he did not repent; and the number of years was hidden from the sturdy Ishmael." The sense of the original, un mithcholel, is, he torments himself: he is a true heautontimoreumenos, or self-tormentor; and he alone is author of his own sufferings, and of his own ruin.

Verse 21. A dreadful sound is in his ears] If he be an oppressor or tyrant, he can have no rest; he is full of suspicions that the cruelties he has exercised on others shall be one day exercised on himself; for even in his prosperity he may expect the destroyer

to rush upon him.

Verse 22. That he shall return out of darkness] If be take but a few steps in the dark, he expects the digger of the assassin. This appears to be the only meaning of the place. Some think the passage should be understood to signify that he has no hope of a resurrection; he can never escape from the tmb. This I doubt: in the days of the writer of this book, the doctrine of a future judgment was derstood in every part of the East where the knowledge of the true God was diffused.

Verse 23. He wandereth abroad for bread] He is

end of the oppressor.

A. M. cir. 2484.
B. C. cir. 1520.
Ante I. Ol.

24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king Ante U.C. c. 767. ready to the battle.

cir. 744.

25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers;

d Ps. lix. 15. cix. 10.- e Ch. xviii. 12.- -f Ch. xvii. 10. reduced to a state of the utmost indigence; he who was once in affluence requires a morsel of bread, and can scarcely by begging procure enough to sustain life.

Is ready at his hand.] Is ¬ beyado, in his hand-in his possession. As he cannot get bread, he must soon meet death.

Verse 24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid] He shall be in continual fear of death; being now brought down by adversity, and stripped of all the goods which he had got by oppression, his life is a mark for the meanest assassin.

As a king ready to the battle.] The acts of his wickedness and oppression are as numerous as the troops he commands; and when he comes to meet his enemy in the field, he is not only deserted but slain by his troops. How true are the words of the poet:

Ad generum Cereris sine cæde et vulnere pauci
Descendunt reges, et sicca morte tyranni.
Juv. Sat., ver. 112.

"For few usurpers to the shades descend By a dry death, or with a quiet end." Verse 25. He stretcheth out his hand against God] While in power he thought himself supreme. He not only did not acknowledge God, by whom kings reign, but stretched out his hand-used his power, not to protect, but to oppress those over whom he had

supreme rule; and thus strengthened himself against

the Almighty.

Verse 26. He runneth upon him] Calmet has pro

perly observed that this refers to God, who, like a

mighty conquering hero, marches against the ungodly,

rushes upon him, seizes him by the throat, which the neither his shield nor spear can save him when the mail by which it is encompassed cannot protect; Lord of hosts comes against him.

lived in luxury and excess; and like a man overVerse 27. Because he covereth his face] He has loaded with flesh, he cannot defend himself against

the strong gripe of his adversary.

The Arabic, for maketh collops of fat on his flanks,

aiyuk, a proverbial expression for, His ambition is boundless; He aspires as high as heaven; His head touches the stars; or, is like the giants of old, who were fabled to have attempted to scale heaven by placing one high mountain upon another :

Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam
Scilicet, atque Ossæ frondosum involvere Olympum.
Ter Pater extructos disjecit fulmine montes.
VIRG. Geor. i., ver. 281.

32 It shall be accomplished B. C. cir. 1520.

"before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

Ante I. OL.

cir. 744. Ante U.C.c.767.

33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

e Ps. vii. 14. Isai. lix. 4. Hos. x. 13.-fOr, iniquity.

Verse 31. Let not him that is deceived] 7. He has many vain imaginations of obtaining wealth, power, pleasure, and happiness; but he is deceived, and he finds that he has trusted xw≥ bashshav, in a lie; and this lie is his recompence.

strove

To scale the steepy battlements of Jove;
And thrice his lightning and red thunder played,
And their demolished works in ruins laid.

DRYDEN.

To the lust of power and the schemes of ambition there are no bounds; but see the end of such persons: the haughty spirit precedes a fall; their palaces become desolate; and their heaven is reduced to a chaos.

Verse 28. He dwelleth in desolate cities] It is sometimes the fate of a tyrant to be obliged to take up his habitation in some of those cities which have been ruined by his wars, and in a house so ruinous as to be ready to fall into heaps. Ancient and modern history afford abundance of examples to illustrate this.

Verse 29. He shall not be rich] The whole of what

The

follows, to the end of the chapter, seems to be directed against Job himself, whom Eliphaz indirectly accuses of having been a tyrant and oppressor. threatened evils are, 1. He shall not be rich, though he labours greatly to acquire riches. 2. His substance shall not continue-God will blast it, and deprive him of power to preserve it. 3. Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof—all his works shall perish, for God will blot out his remembrance from under heaven.

Verse 30. He shall not depart out of darkness] 4. He shall be in continual afflictions and distress. 5. The flame shall dry up his branches-his children shall be cut off by sudden judgments. 6. He shall pass away by the breath of his mouth; for by the breath of his mouth doth God slay the wicked.

there shall be no scion from his roots; all his posterity shall fail.

Verse 33. He shall shake off his unripe grape] 10. Whatever children he may have, they shall never survive him, nor come to mature age. They shall be like wind-fall grapes and blasted olive blossoms. As the vine and olive, which are among the most useful trees, affording wine and oil, so necessary for the worship of God and the comfort of man, are mentioned here, they may be intended to refer to the hopeful progeny of the oppressor; but who fell, like the untimely grape or the blasted olive flower, without having the opportunity of realizing the public expectation.

Verse 34. The congregation of hypocrites] 11. Job is here classed with hypocrites, or rather the impious of all kinds. The congregation, or у adath, society, of such, shall be desolate, or a barren rock,

galmud. See this Arabic word explained in the note

on chap. iii. 7.

Fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.] 12. Another insinuation against Job, that he had perverted justice and judginent, and had taken bribes.

Verse 35. They conceive mischief] The figure here is both elegant and impressive. The wicked conceive mischief, from the seed which Satan sows in their hearts; in producing which they travail with many pangs (for sin is a sore labour); and at last their womb produces fraud or deception. This is an accursed birth, from an iniquitous conception. St. James gives the figure at full length, most beautifully touched in all its parts: When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death; Jam. i. 15, where see the note.

Job reproves his friends for their

uncharitable conduct towards him.

tend with! His body wasted and tortured with sore disease; his mind harassed by Satan; and his heart wrung with the unkindness and false accusations of his friends. No wonder he was greatly agitated,

NOTES ON CHAP. XVI. Verse 2. I have heard many such things] These sayings of the ancients are not strange to me; but they do not apply to my case: ye see me in affliction; ye should endeavour to console me. This ye do not; and yet ye pretend to do it! Miserable comforters are ye all.

Verse 3. Vain words] Literally, words of air. What emboldeneth thee] Thou art totally ignorant of the business; what then can induce thee to take part in this discussion?

If you

Verse 4. I also could speak] It is probably better to render some of these permissives or potential verbs Eterally in the future tense, as in the Hebrew: I cles WILL speak. Mr. Good has adopted this mode. If your soul were in my soul's stead] were in my place, I also could quote many wise sayings that might tend to show that you were hypocrites and wicked men; but would this be fair? Even when I might not choose to go further in assertion, I might shake my head by way of insinuation that there was much more behind, of which I did not choose to speak; but would this be right? That such sayings are in memory, is no proof that they were either made for me, or apply to my case.

Verse 5. I would strengthen you with my mouth] M. Good translates thus:

"With my own mouth will I overpower you, Till the quivering of my lips shall fail."

for which rendering he contends in his learned notes. This translation is countenanced by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic Versions.

7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.

8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles,

d Ps. xxii. 7. cix. 25. Lam. ii. 15.- Heb. what goeth from me?

Verse 6. Though I speak] But it will be of no avail thus to speak; for reprehensions of your conduct will not serve to mitigate my sufferings.

Verse 7. But now he hath made me weary] The Vulgate translates thus:-Nunc autem oppressit me dolor meus; et in nihilum redacti sunt omnes artus mei. "But now my grief oppresses me, and all my joints are reduced to nothing." Perhaps Job alluded here to his own afflictions, and the desolation of his family. Thou hast made me weary with continual affliction; my strength is quite exhausted; and thou hast made desolate all my company, not leaving me a single child to continue my name, or to comfort me in sickness or old age. Mr. Good translates :

"C 'Here, indeed, hath he distracted me ; Thou hast struck apart all my witnesses.” Verse 8. Thou hast filled me with wrinkles] If Job's disease were the elephantiasis, in which the whole skin is wrinkled as the skin of the elephant, from which this species of leprosy has taken its name, these words would apply most forcibly to it; been variously rendered. Calmet unites it with the but the whole passage, through its obscurity, has preceding, and Houbigant is not very different., He translates thus: "For my trouble hath now weakened all my frame, and brought wrinkles over me he is present as a witness, and ariseth against me, who telleth lies concerning me; he openly contradicts me to my face." Mr. Good translates nearly in the same way; others, still differently.

Verse 9. He teareth me in his wrath] Who the person is that is spoken of in this verse, and onward

a Ch. x. 16, 17.

b Ch. xiii. 24.- - Ps. xxii. 13. d Lam. iii. 30. Mic. v. 1.

to the end of the fourteenth, has been a question on which commentators have greatly differed. Some think God, others Eliphaz, is intended: I think neither. Probably God permitted Satan to show himself to Job; and the horrible form which he and his demons assumed increased the misery under which Job had already suffered so much. All the expressions, from this to the end of the fourteenth verse, may be easily understood on this principle; e. g., Ver. 9: "He (Satan) gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me." Ver. 10: They (demons) have gaped on me with their mouth; they have gathered themselves together against me." Ver. 11: "God hath delivered me to the ungodly (by avil, to the EVIL ONE), and turned me over into the hands of the wicked." He hath abandoned me to be tortured by the tempter and his host.

If we consider all these expressions as referring to Job's three friends, we must, in that case, acknowledge that the figures are all strained to an insufferable height, so as not to be justified by any figure of speech.

arrows.

Verse 13. His archers compass me] r rabbaiv, "his great ones." The Vulgate and Septuagint translate this, his spears; the Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldee, his On this and the following verse Mr. Heath observes: "The metaphor is here taken from huntsmen: first, they surround the beast; then he is shot dead; his entrails are next taken out; and then his body is broken up limb from limb."

Verse 15. I have sewed sackcloth] pw sak, a word that has passed into almost all languages, as I have already had occasion to notice in other parts of this work.

Defiled my horn in the dust.] The horn was an emblem of power; and the metaphor was originally taken from beasts, such as the urus, wild ox, buffalo, or perhaps the rhinoceros, who were perceived to have so much power in their horns. Hence a horn was frequently worn on crowns and helmets, as is evident on ancient coins; and to this day it is an

cruelty of his adversaries.

12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

h

A. M. cir. 2484. B. C. cir. 1520. Ante I. Ol. cir. 744. Ante U.C.c.767.

13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. 14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant. 15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and i defiled my horn in the dust. 16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death.

e Ps. xxxv. 15.

fCh. i. 15, 17. -g Heb. hath shut me up. Ch. xxx. 19. Ps. vii. 5.

h Ch. vii. 20. appendage to the diadem of the kings and chiefs of Abyssinia. In the second edition of Mr. Bruce's Travels in Abyssinia, vol. viii., plates 2 and 3, we have engravings of two chiefs, Kefla Yasous, and Woodage Ashahel, who are represented with this emblem of power on their forehead. Mr. Bruce thus describes it: "One thing remarkable in this cavalcade, which I observed, was the head-dress of the governors of provinces. A large broad fillet was bound upon their forehead, and tied behind their head. In the middle of this was a horn, or a conical piece of silver, gilt, about four inches in length, much in the shape of our common candle extinguishers. This is called kirn, or horn; and is only worn in reviews, or parades after victory. This, I apprehend, like all others of their usages, is taken from the Hebrews; and the several allusions made in Scripture to it arise from this practice. 'I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn.' 'Lift not up your horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck; for promotion cometh not,' &c. But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn.' And the horn of the righteous shall be exalted with honour.' And so in many other places throughout the Psalms." In a note on the same page we have the following observation: "The crooked manner in which they hold their neck when this ornament is on their forehead, for fear it should fall forward, perfectly shows the meaning of 'Speak not with a stiff neck when you hold the horn on high (or erect), like the horn of the unicorn."-Bruce's Travels, vol. iv., p. 407.

Defiling or rolling the horn in the dust, signifies the disgrace or destruction of power, authority, and eminence.

Mr. Good translates, I have rolled my turban in the dust, which he endeavours to justify in a long note. But in this, I think, this very learned man is mistaken. The Hebrew keren is the same as the Ethiopic kirn, and both mean exactly, in such connexion, what Mr. Bruce has noticed above. The horn on the diadem is the emblem of power, authority, and eminence.

Verse 16. On my eyelids is the shadow of death]