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been; as infants which never saw light.] Or like an abortive, which was never numbered among men.

Ver. 17. There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest.] There are none can hurt us in the grave, though they be never so malicious, nor shall we toil any more when we come thither.

Ver. 18. There the prisoners rest together, they hear not the voice of the oppressor.] The captives, and they who are condemned to hard servitude, take no pains there, and do not dread the voice of the exactor of their labours.

Ver. 19. The small and great are there, and the serwant is free from his master.] There none are greater than others; but the servant in that place is as free as his master.

Ver. 20. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul?] Is it not strange that a man should be forced to live, when he hath no mind to it?

Ver. 21. Which long for death, but it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures ?] But wishes for death, though in vain, and seeks it more eagerly than the greatest riches?

Ver. 22. Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?] Leaping for joy when he can meet with his grave, as far more welcome to him than a mine of silver?

Ver. 23. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom GOD hath hedged in?] Not knowing which way to turn himself, but only thither?

Ver. 24. For my sighing someth before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.] This is my condition, whose meat merely sustains a miserable life, which is all sighs and sobs, as loud as the roarings of the lion.

Ver. 25. For the thing which 1 greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is came unto me.] For the very thing which I dreaded is fallen upon me, notwithstanding all my care to prevent it.

Ver. 26. 1 was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet, yet trouble came.] I did not confide in my riches, nor in the least lull myself in security, (chap. i. 5.) and yet that did not preserve me from being miserable.

CHAP. IV.

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THE ARGUMENT. - Eliphaz, incensed at this complaint of Job, instead of condoling with him, and pitying the miseries which had put him into this agony, and applying fitting lenitives to his anguish, bluntly rebukes him for not following the good advice that he used to give to others in their adversity; and tells him, he had reason to suspect his piety, because the innocent were not wont to suffer such things, but only wicked oppressors, whom, though never so mighty, God had always humbled. Witness the Horims, who dwelt in Seir, (Deut. ii. 12.) whom the ancestors of Eliphaz (Gen. xxxvi. 11.) had overcome, though they were as fierce as lions. To those beasts of prey, of all sorts, he compares the tyrants whom he speaks of in this chapter, ver.

10. 11. intending, it is likely, to remember him also of the destruction of the Emims by the children of Moab, (Deut. ii. 10. 11.), and of the Zamzummims, (ver. 20. 21.), who were rooted out by the children of Ammon, as the Horims by the children of Esau: from whose grandchild Eliphaz seems to have been descended, and called by the name of the eldest son of Esan. He tells Job also. of a vision he had to confirm the same truth, That man's wickedness is the cause of his destruction.

Ver. r. THEN Eliphas the Temanite answered and said,] Then Eliphaz (one of his most ancient friends, descended from Teman) replied to him, and said,

Ver. 2. If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can with-hold himself from speak ing? We must either still keep silence, or speak what will not please thee.. But truth sure is more to be regarded than friendship; and therefore I must remember thee.

Ver. 3. Behold thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.] That thou, it is well known, hast given good counsel unto others, (and perhaps reproved their impatience), thou hast encouraged those who were dispirited;

Ver. 4. Thy words have upholden bin that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.] And by thy discourse hast supported those whose hearts were ready to sink, and settled those who trembled under their burden.

Ver. 5. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.] And now that thou art fallen into the same condition, thou canst not practise thy own lessons; but faintest, and art struck with consternation.

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Ver. 6. Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy bape, and the uprightness of thy ways?] Is not this the time to exercise thy piety, (so much famed), thy.confi.. dence in God, thy hope, thine integrity?

Ver. 7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off ?] Consult thine own observation, and tell me when thou ever sawest a righteous man forsaken by God.

Ver. 8. Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.] Quite contrary, I have seen the wicked reaping the fruit of their doings.

Ver. 9. By the blast of GOD they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.] God blasts and consumes them as the nipping wind, or the fire doth the corn in the field.

Ver. 10. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken.] Though they be as fierce as the lions, and as strong, their power is broken.

Ver. 11. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lions whelps are scattered abroad.] The greatest tyrants and their posterity, after they have long enjoyed their power, are deprived of all their riches gotten by oppression, and come to nothing.

Ver. 12. Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine car received a little thereof. If these observa

tions be not sufficient to convince thee, hear what God himself secretly whispered to me.

Ver. 13. In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, As I was ruminating one night, when all were asleep, of some visions which I had had,

Ver. 14. Fear came upon me and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.] I was on a sudden seized with such a fear, that it made every joint of my body tremble..

Ver. 15. Then a spirit passed before my face, the hair of my flesh stood up.) Whereupon I saw a spirit pass by me, which made mine hair stand on end.

Ver. 16. It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, I am not able to describe what it was like; for though it stood still, and I saw an image of something, yet I can only tell what I heard in a still voice, saying,

Ver. 17. Shall mortal man be more just than GOD? skall a man be more pure than his Maker? Can any one think that a iniserable man is more righteous than God his judge ? or that it is possible for any body to be more unreprovable than he that made him?

Ver. 18. Behold, be put no trust in his servants; and bis angels be charged with folly:] The heavenly ministers themselves may fail; for they are not perfectly wise, though they have no flesh and blood as we have.

Ver. 19. How much less on them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? How can we pretend to perfection, who dwell in bodies of dirt; which stand upon no firm foundation, but are as subject to be destroyed, as a garment to be fretted with moths?

Ver. 20. They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.] We see continual examples of those that are cut off: they are quite taken away, when nobody thinks of it. Ver. 21. Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die even without wisdom.] Though their dignities be never so great, and their posterity never so numerous, all go away with them, and they die like so many beasts, who have no understanding of their latter end.

CHAP. V.

THE ARGUMENT. Eliphaz still prosecutes the very same argument; endeavouring to confirm it from the opinion and observation of other men, as well as from his own. And thereupon exhorts him to repentance, as the surest way to find mercy with God; and to be not only restored to his former prosperity, but to be preserved hereafter from the incursions of savage people, or of wild beasts, and from all the rest of the disaster's which had befallen

him. Of this he bids him, in the conclusion, be assured, for it was a point he had studied.

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this opinion and if an angel should appear to thee, (as there did to me), thou wouldst have no other information but this;

Ver. 2. For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.) That God in his anger and indignation destroys the wicked, and him that errs from his precepts.

Ver. 3. I have seen the foolish taking root : but suddenly I cursed bis habitation. This is so certain, that I have predicted his downfall, when he seemed most firmly settled in his prosperity.

Ver. 4. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.] His children also fell with him; justice took hold of them, and would not let them escape.

Ver. 5. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns; and the robber swallowed up their substance.] The hungry soldier devoured their harvest, there was no fence could secure it; but the rest of their riches became a prey to the robber.

Ver. 6. Although affliction come not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground:] For we are not to ascribe the trouble and misery of mankind merely to earthly causes, which are but the instruments of God's justice:

Ver 7. Yet man is bornunto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.] Who hath made it as natural to man to suffer, (having offended him), as it is for the sparks to fly upward.

Ver. 8. I would seek unto GOD, and unto GOD would I commit my cause:] Wherefore, if I were in thy case, I would humbly address myself to God, and desire him to order all things as he pleases.

Ver. 9. Which doth great things, and unsearchable, marvellous things without number.] For he is the author of all those wonderful things, whose causes we can no more find out, than we can count their number.

Ver. 10. Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields :) Of the rain, for instance, in its season; and of the springs which run in the fields;

Ver. 11. To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.] Whereby men of low condition are enriched and grow great; as the plants and corn shoot out of the earth, after they are moistened with showers.

Ver. 12. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprize. And, on the contrary, he defeats the craftiest designs of subtle men to raise themselves; and it is not in their power to effect that which they have most wisely contrived.

Ver. 13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried beadlong.] Nay, they produce that which they studied to avoid; and when they think themselves sure, make too much haste to their ruin.

Ver. 14. They meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope in the noon-day as in the night.] They trip in the plainest way; and sce not their danger, when it is visible to every body but themselves.

Ver. rs. But he saveth the poor from the sword, from rbeir mouth, and from the band of the mighty.] Whereby many a helpless man is delivered, both from the open force, and from the treacherous flatteries or calumnies of those that are too strong for them.

Ver. 16. So the poor bath hope, and iniquity steppeth her mouth.) And therefore he that is oppressed should not despair, nor should the oppressors boast themselves; for there is hope that God will save the one, to the utter destruction of the other.

Ver. 17. Behold, bappy is the man whom GOD correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:] Behold then, how little reason there is to complain of God's chastisements, which if thou dost not refuse, he is able to turn to thy good :

Ver. 18. For be maketh sore, and bindeth up: be woundeth, and bis bands make whole.] For he doth not merely wound, but, like a wise chirurgeon, by that very means he cures and heals.

Ver. 19. He shall deliver thee in six troubles ; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.] Thy troubles cannot be so many, but if thou submissively accept them, he will free thee from them.

Ver. 20. In famine be shall redeem thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword.) He will feed thee in the most barren years, and defend thee in the day of battle.

Ver. 21. Thou shalt be bid from the scourge of the tongue : neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh] False accusers shall not be able to hurt thee; and when whole countries are depopulated, thou shalt be secure.

Ver. 22. At destruction and fawnine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth :) When nothing is to be seen but wild beasts, whom famine forces from their dens, thou shalt be chearful

and undaunted:

Ver. 23. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.] For the stony parts of the country shall not fail to bring forth its fruits plentifully; and the beasts of field shall not devour them.

Ver. 24. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.) Wheresoever thou pitchest thy tent, thou shalt find it in safety and when thou takest an account of thine estate, all things shall answer thine expectation.

Ver. 25. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.] Thou shalt find thy posterity also very great and numerous, like the grass; though now thou art as bare as the earth in winter.

Ver. 26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, Eke as a shock of corn cometh in his season.] Thou shalt not die a violent and untimely death; but be carried to thy grave as corn is to the barn when it is fall ripe and fit to be gathered.

Ver. 27. Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; bear it, and know thou it for thy good.) Doubt not of this, for we have thoroughly considered it, and find it so: receive it, therefore, and keep it in memory.

CHAP. VI.

THE ARGUMENT. - Job, not at all convinced by these discourses, justifies the complaint he had made, (chap. iii.), which Eliphaz had now accused; maintaining that his grief was not equal to the cause of it. And therefore he renews his wishes of death; at which, though they might wonder who felt nothing to make them weary of life, yet he had reason, he shews, for what he did; and one more than before, which was their unkindness, who pretended to be friends; but by this rude reproof of him at the very first, without so much as one compassionate word, or the least syllable of consolation, shewed how little sympathy they had with him in his sufferings. These things he desires them to consider, and weigh the cause of his complaint a little better, before they passed any farther judgement on it.

Ver. 1. BUT Job answered and said,] Here Job replied to Eliphaz, and spake in these terms to him,

Ver. 2. O that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!] Would to God some more equal person than you would lay my complaint and my sufferings one against the other, and judge sincerely which is the heaviest!

Ver. 3. For now it would be beavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.] He would soon find, that the sand of the sea is not so heavy as my misery; and that I am not able to complain enough.

Ver. 4. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of GOD do set themselves in array against me.] The Almighty himself hath given me such a wound, that I am dispirited: for nothing but dreadful spectacles present themselves ready armed against me.

Ver. 5. Doth the wild ass bray when be bath grass ? or loweth the ox over bis fodder ?) It is easy for you who feel no pain nor want, to forbear complaints, which is no more than the very ass and other brute creatures do.

salt ?

Ver. 6. Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without or is there any taste in the white of an egg?] But may not he who eats insipid things, call for a little salt to make them go down better? (How much more then may we call for something to qualify that which is bitter ?)

Ver. 7. The things which my soul refuseth to touch, are as my sorrowful meat.) As I do now, who have nothing afforded me for my support, but such discourses as yours, which my very soul loathes.

Ver. 8. Ob that I might have my request! and that GOD would grant me the thing that I long for!] I cannot but cry unto God, and beseech him to grant me my heart's desire:

Ver. 9. Even that it would please GOD to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off Which is, that he would be pleased not to let me lan

guish in this miserable condition, but with one stroke more quite cut me off.

Ver. 10. Then should I yet have comfort, yea, I would harden myself in sorrow; let him not spare, for 1 have not concealed the words of the Holy One.] It would be a great comfort to me, to hope for this, and would strengthen me to endure the severest pains: for I would receive the sentence of death with acclamations of praise, if God would pronounce it against

me.

Ver. 11. What is my strength, that I should bope ? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?) For I have not strength enough to endure any longer; nor any hope of better days in the conclusion, which should make me willing to have my life prolonged.

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Ver. 12. Is my strength the strength of stones ? is my flesh of brass ?] God hath not made me insensible; and therefore do not wonder that I desire to be released from the sharpest pains.

Ver. 13. Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?] Do not think my reason hath forsaken me, and that I do not understand myself.

Ver. 14. To him that is afflicted, pity should be shewn from bis friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.] Were it so, a friend should shew me the more pity; as you would do, but that you fear not God, nor remember that he can afflict you as he

doth me.

Ver. 15. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away:] My dearest friends prove as deceitful as the torrents, which make a great noise, and run with a violent

stream:

Ver. 16. Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is bid.] When the melted ice and snow fall thick into them.

Ver. 17. What time they wax warm, they danish : when it is bot, they are consumed out of their place.] They promise water, but in the summer-time are dried up:

Ver. 18. The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.] So that you can scarce find any mark of the course wherein they ran, they are so perfectly vanished.

Ver. 19. The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.] They that travel into our neighbouring countries expected to quench thirst there, where they had sometimes seen so much wa

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Ver. 23. Or, deliver me from the enemies band? or, redeem me from the hand of the mighty?] I do not expect you should deliver me from these calamities, which as so many mighty enemies oppress me.:

Ver. 24. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue : and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.] Do not mistake me, nor think that I despise the assistance of your counsel and advice: no, I am ready to receive your reproofs, and humbly to submit to them, if you can better inform me.

Ver. 25. How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?] O what power is there in truth! but your reprehensions are ineffectual.

Ver. 26. Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?] You only study to shew your eloquence, and in vain use words to drive me to desperation..

Ver. 27. Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and you dig a pit for your friend. You fall upon him who is already depressed, and without defence, and in a barbarous manner devise counsel against your friend.

Ver. 28. Now, therefore, be content, look upon me, for it is evident unto you if I lie ) But let it please you to consider my case a little better, and then judge if I be in the wrong.

Ver. 29. Return, 1 pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.] Discuss things over again, I beseech you, and do it fairly. I say, let me have a second hearing, it will but the more shew my innocence.

Ver. 30. Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things? Have I said any thing hitherto that is faulty? I do not think my judgement is so corrupted, but that I can discern what is bad, though spoken by myself.

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S there not an IS appointed time man upon earth & are not his days also like the days of an hireling?] 1s not the whole life of miserable man a perpetual conflict with various troubles? And must he not at best undergo much toil, labour, and weari

ness?...

Ver. 2. As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an bireling looketh for the reward of his work:] Why may I not then as passionately wish to see an end of it, as the slave in a hot day grasps for the refreshment of the shade? or the labourer longs for the evening, when he may rest and be paid for his pains?

Ver. 3. So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed me.) I am sure my days are no less void of contentment than theirs, and in the night, when men are wont to forget their sorrows, I can do nothing but restlessly increase them.

Ver. 4. When I lie down, I say, when shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.] I no sooner am laid down, but I wish to be up again; and the night seems very tedious while I toss up and down in unquiet and tormenting thoughts, calling for the morning.

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Ver. 5. My flesh is cloathed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.] How can I do otherwise, when my body is nothing but ulcers, full of worms, and crusted over with scabs; which have made such clefts in my skin, that I am loathsome to myself?

Ver. 6. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.) All my happy days are run away in a moment, and there is no hope I should recover them.

Ver. 7. O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good. O my God, remember how short the most pleasant life is, which, when it is gone, I cannot live over again.

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Ver. 8. The eye of him that bath seen me, shall see me no more : thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.] I can never return to my friends after I have left them: thon dost but frown upon me, and I vanish quite out of the world.

Ver. 9. As the cloud is consumed, and vanisheth away: so be that gocth down to the grave shall come up no more] Just as a cloud dissolves on a sudden before the sun, so doth man sink down into his grave, and appear no more..

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Ver. 10. He shall return no more to bis house, neither sball bis place know bim any more. He must make his habitation there, for hither he cannot return; but others shall take his place, which will no longer acknowledge him the owner of it.

Ver. 11. Therefore I will not refrain my mouth, I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.] Suffer me then to speak freely, and to give vent to my grief, by complaining a little of the inexpressible miseries which oppress

me.

Ver. 12. Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?] Am I like a sea, or a whale, (or wild beast), that must be shut up and confined under these insupportable sufferings, and by no means break through them?

Ver. 13. When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint:] If death may not come and put an end to them, one would have hoped at least to have found some intermission of them by sleep.

Ver. 14. Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:) But then I am haunted with such frightful dreams, and such horrid apparitions,

Ver. 15. So that my soul chuseth strangling and death, rather than my life.) That I had much rather die the

most violent death, than carry this carcase any longer about with me.

Ver. 16. I loath it, I would not live abway: let me alone, for my days are vanity.] It is loathsome to me: I would not, if I might, live always in it. Dismiss me, therefore, since I have no pleasure in life, which of itself will end shortly.

Ver. 17. What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine beart upon him? Is mortal man so considerable, that thou shouldest honour him so much as to contend with him, and set thyself against him?

Ver. 18. And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?] That thou shouldest send new afflictions on him every morning; nay, try his strength and courage every moment?

Ver. 19. How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? It is time to turn away thy displeasure from me; at least for so short a space, as to give me leave to breathe.

Ver. 20. I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why bast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?] I am not able to give thee satisfaction for my offences against thee, O thou observer of men! But why dost thou not remove me quite out of thy sight, if I be a burden to thee?

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THE ARGUMENT. The foregoing apologies of Job, it seems, made little impression on his friends: for he had no sooner done, but another of them, called Bildad, continued the dispute, with as little intermission, as there was between the messengers that brought him (chap. i.) the sad tidings of his calamities. And it doth not appear by his discourse that he differed at all in his principles from Eliphaz: For though he give him very good counsel, yet he still presses this as the sense of all antiquity, (ver. 8.), that God ever prospers the just, and roots out the wicked, be they never so flourishing for a season. And he being descended from Shuah, one of Abraham's sons by Keturah, (Gen. xxv. 2.), seems to me to have a particular respect, in this appeal to history, into the records which then remained of God's blessing upon that faithful man's posterity, who hitherto, and long after, continued in his religion; and of the extirpation of those eastern people, (neighbours to Job), in whose country they were settled, because of their wickedness.

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