_MAN THAT IS BORN OF A WOMAN IS OF FEW DAYS, AND FULL OF TROUBLE._ Woman - feeble, and in the East looked down upon (Genesis 2:21). Man, being born of one so frail, must be frail and WOMAN - feeble, and in the East looked down upon (Genesis 2:21). Man, being born of one so frail, must be frail and... [ Continue Reading ]
_HE COMETH FORTH LIKE A FLOWER, AND IS CUT DOWN: HE FLEETH ALSO AS A SHADOW, AND CONTINUETH NOT._ (Psalms 90:6; note, Job 8:9.)... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND DOST THOU OPEN THINE EYES UPON SUCH AN ONE, AND BRINGEST ME INTO JUDGMENT WITH THEE?_ Open ... eyes upon - not in graciousness; but, "Dost thou sharply fix thine eyes upon?" (Note, Job 7:19; also 1:8.) Is one so frail as man worthy of such constant watching on the part of God? (Zechariah 12:4,... [ Continue Reading ]
_WHO CAN BRING A CLEAN THING OUT OF AN UNCLEAN? NOT ONE._ A plea in mitigation. The doctrine of original sin was held from the first. 'Man is unclean from his birth: how then can God expect perfect cleanness from such a one, and deal so severely with me?' NOT ONE clean person can be brought out o... [ Continue Reading ]
_SEEING HIS DAYS ARE DETERMINED, THE NUMBER OF HIS MONTHS ARE WITH THEE, THOU HAST APPOINTED HIS BOUNDS THAT HE CANNOT PASS;_ Determined - (Job 7:1, "Is there not an appointed time to men upon earth?" Isaiah 10:23; Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:36).... [ Continue Reading ]
_TURN FROM HIM, THAT HE MAY REST, TILL HE SHALL ACCOMPLISH, AS AN HIRELING, HIS DAY._ Turn - namely, thine eyes from watching him so jealously (Job 14:3). HIRELING - (Job 7:1). ACCOMPLISH - rather, 'enjoy.' Give him rest in his short span of life, that he may at least enjoy the measure of rest... [ Continue Reading ]
_FOR THERE IS HOPE OF A TREE, IF IT BE CUT DOWN, THAT IT WILL SPROUT AGAIN, AND THAT THE TENDER BRANCH THEREOF WILL NOT CEASE._ Man may the more claim a peaceful life, since, when separated from it by death, he never returns to it. This does not deny a future life, but a return to the present condi... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOUGH THE ROOT THEREOF WAX OLD IN THE EARTH, AND THE STOCK THEREOF DIE IN THE GROUND;_ _ THOUGH THE ROOT THEREOF WAX OLD IN THE EARTH, AND THE STOCK THEREOF DIE IN THE GROUND;_ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_YET THROUGH THE SCENT OF WATER IT WILL BUD, AND BRING FORTH BOUGHS LIKE A PLANT._ Scent - exhalation, which, rather than the humidity of water, causes the tree to germinate. Hardly does it feel the vapour or scent of the water when it buds. In the antithesis to man the tree is personified, and vol... [ Continue Reading ]
_BUT MAN DIETH, AND WASTETH AWAY: YEA, MAN GIVETH UP THE GHOST, AND WHERE IS HE?_ Man ... man. Two distinct Hebrew words are here used х_ GEBER_ (H1397), a mighty man]; though mighty, he dies х_ 'AADAAM_ (H120), a man of earth]; because earthy, he gives up the ghost. WASTETH - literally, 'is pros... [ Continue Reading ]
_AS THE WATERS FAIL FROM THE SEA, AND THE FLOOD DECAYETH AND DRIETH UP:_ Sea - i:e., a lake, or pool formed from the outspreading of as river. Job lived near the Euphrates; and "sea" is applied to it (Jeremiah 51:36; Isaiah 27:1). So of the Nile (Isaiah 19:5). FALL - utterly disappear by, drying... [ Continue Reading ]
_SO MAN LIETH DOWN, AND RISETH NOT: TILL THE HEAVENS BE NO MORE, THEY SHALL NOT AWAKE, NOR BE RAISED OUT OF THEIR SLEEP._ Heavens be no more. This only implies that Job had no hope of living again in the present order of the world; not that he had no hope of life again in a new order of things. Psa... [ Continue Reading ]
_O THAT THOU WOULDEST HIDE ME IN THE GRAVE, THAT THOU WOULDEST KEEP ME SECRET, UNTIL THY WRATH BE PAST, THAT THOU WOULDEST APPOINT ME A SET TIME, AND REMEMBER ME!_ Job wishes to be kept hidden in the grave until God's wrath against him shall have passed away. So while God's wrath is visiting the ea... [ Continue Reading ]
_IF A MAN DIE, SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN? ALL THE DAYS OF MY APPOINTED TIME WILL I WAIT, TILL MY CHANGE COME._ Shall he live? - The answer implied is, There is a hope that he shall, though not in the present order of life, as is shown by the words following. Job had denied (Job 14:10) that man shall live... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU SHALT CALL, AND I WILL ANSWER THEE: THOU WILT HAVE A DESIRE TO THE WORK OF THINE HANDS._ Namely, at the resurrection (John 5:28; Psalms 17:15). HAVE A DESIRE TO - literally, become pale with anxious desire. The same word is translated "sore longedst after" (Genesis 31:30; Psalms 84:2), imply... [ Continue Reading ]
_FOR NOW THOU NUMBEREST MY STEPS: DOST THOU NOT WATCH OVER MY SIN?_ Rather, 'Yea thou wilt number, etc., and wilt not (as now) jealously watch over my sin.' Thenceforward, instead of severe watching for every sin of Job, God will guard him against every sin. 'Number ... steps' - i:e., minutely atte... [ Continue Reading ]
_MY TRANSGRESSION IS SEALED UP IN A BAG, AND THOU SEWEST UP MINE INIQUITY._ Sealed up - (Job 9:7). Is shut up in eternal oblivion - i:e., God thenceforth will think no more of my former sins. To cover sins is to completely forgive them (Psalms 32:1; Psalms 85:2). Purses of money in the East are usu... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND SURELY THE MOUNTAIN FALLING COMETH TO NOUGHT, AND THE ROCK IS REMOVED OUT OF HIS PLACE._ Cometh to nought - literally, fadeth; a poetical image from a leaf (Isaiah 34:4). Here Job falls back into his gloomy bodings as to the grave. Instead of "and surely," translate 'yet,' marking the transiti... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE WATERS WEAR THE STONES: THOU WASHEST AWAY THE THINGS WHICH GROW OUT OF THE DUST OF THE EARTH; AND THOU DESTROYEST THE HOPE OF MAN._ The Hebrew order is more forcible. 'Stones themselves are worn away by water.' THOU WASHEST AWAY THE THINGS WHICH GROW OUT OF - rather, 'its floods wash away th... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU PREVAILEST FOR EVER AGAINST HIM, AND HE PASSETH: THOU CHANGEST HIS COUNTENANCE, AND SENDEST HIM AWAY._ Prevailest - doest overpower by superior strength. PASSETH - dieth. CHANGEST COUNTENANCE - the change in the visage at death. Differently (Daniel 5:9).... [ Continue Reading ]
_HIS SONS COME TO HONOUR, AND HE KNOWETH IT NOT; AND THEY ARE BROUGHT LOW, BUT HE PERCEIVETH IT NOT OF THEM._ One striking trait is selected from the sad picture of the severance of the dead from all that passes in the world (Ecclesiastes 9:5) - namely, the utter separation of parents and children.... [ Continue Reading ]
_BUT HIS FLESH UPON HIM SHALL HAVE PAIN, AND HIS SOUL WITHIN HIM SHALL MOURN._ "Flesh" and "soul" describe the whole man. Scripture rests the hope of a future life, not on the inherent immortality of the soul, but on the restoration of the body with the soul. In the unseen world, Job, in a gloomy f... [ Continue Reading ]