_Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,_ Ver. 1. _Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said_] Not so much disputing as inveighing against Job in a sharp and angry oration, wherein he elegantly describeth the woe of a wicked man, but wrongfully wresteth the same against good Job, who might wel... [ Continue Reading ]
How long [will it be ere] ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak. Ver. 2. _How long will it be ere you make an end of words?_] First he taxeth Job with being talkative, when he himself talked much, but said little, save only what he had spoken before, Job 8:1,22, though Job had... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore are we counted as beasts, [and] reputed vile in your sight? Ver. 3. _Wherefore are we counted as beasts, &c._] Here he taxeth Job with pride and arrogance; grounding upon those words of his taken at the worst, Job 12:7; Job 17:4; Job 17:10, and not considering his case, that he was full o... [ Continue Reading ]
He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place? Ver. 4. _He teareth himself in his anger_] Here he chargeth Job with desperate madness, as if through extreme impatience he fell foul upon his own flesh, as did that demoniac in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine. Ver. 5. _Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out_] The ensuing description of a wicked man's unhappiness in like, at death, and after death, is very true, and daintily set forth, but falsely and wrongful... [ Continue Reading ]
The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him. Ver. 6. _The light shall be dark in his tabernacle_] The glory of his family shall be obscured; he and his shall come to utter and unexpected ruin, as Haman's did. _ And his candle shall be put out with him_] He a... [ Continue Reading ]
The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. Ver. 7. _The steps of his strength shall be straitened_] That is, saith Vatablus, he shall not do what he would and was wont. He shall lose his courage in the midst of his enterprises, and not be able to effect... [ Continue Reading ]
For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare. Ver. 8. _For he is cast into a net by his own feet_] Wicked men are even ambitious for destruction; judgments need not go to find them out; they run to meet their bane. Divine justice and their own indiscretion undo them. He ha... [ Continue Reading ]
The gin shall take [him] by the heel, [and] the robber shall prevail against him. Ver. 9. _The gin shall take him by the heel_] Or, he shall lay hold on the trap with his heel, so Mercer readeth it; that is, he foolishly runs upon his own ruin, he perisheth by his own oversight. _ And the robber s... [ Continue Reading ]
The snare [is] laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way. Ver. 10. _The snare is laid for him in the ground, &c._] This heap of words, net, snare, gin, trap, cords, showeth that God hath many ways to catch the wicked with, and that _nusquam et nunquam non eis impendeat exitium,_ des... [ Continue Reading ]
_Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet._ Ver. 11. _Terrors shall make him afraid on every side_] These terrors are, as it were, the cruel sergeants and merciless officers of that king of terrors, Job 18:14, arresting him, as it were, in the devil's name, and b... [ Continue Reading ]
His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction [shall be] ready at his side. Ver. 12. _His strength shall be hunger bitten_] Heb. His strength (or wealth) shall be famine, _Fit famelicum robur eius._ Or, Famine shall be his strength. He, who while, having health and wealth at will, fared delic... [ Continue Reading ]
It shall devour the strength of his skin: [even] the firstborn of death shall devour his strength. Ver. 13. _It shall devour the strength of his skin_] _i.e._ His bones, which support his skin; these destruction shall devour or swallow up at a bite, as a hungry monster. _ The firstborn of death sha... [ Continue Reading ]
His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors. Ver. 14. _And his confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle_] Whatsoever he trusteth in about his house shall be pulled up by the roots, or grubbed up. Thus it befell Doeg, Psalms 52:7. And t... [ Continue Reading ]
It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because [it is] none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation. Ver. 15. _It shall dwell in his tabernacles, because it is none of his_] Heb. Not his; Why? the king of terrors hath turned him out of it, and taken it up for a habitation for himself. S... [ Continue Reading ]
His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off. Ver. 16. _His roots shall be dried up beneath, &c._] The meaning is, saith Diodati, he shall be deprived of God's grace, which is the root of all happiness, and of his blessing, which is the top of it.... [ Continue Reading ]
His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street. Ver. 17. _His remembrance shall perish from the earth_] As a tree, when root and branch is gone, is clean forgotten, and no man remembereth where it grew; so shall it be with the wicked, _Non celebrabitur eius nom... [ Continue Reading ]
He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. Ver. 18. _He shall be driven out of light into darkness_] Heb. They shall drive him; _sc._ the devils shall drive him out of the light of life into outer darkness, as they did that rich wretch, Luke 12:20; confer Matthew 8:12... [ Continue Reading ]
He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. Ver. 19. _He shall neither have son nor nephew, &c._] A sore affliction to be written childless, which yet is the portion of some good people, as Abel; many prophets and apostles, for whose comfort that is wr... [ Continue Reading ]
They that come after [him] shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted. Ver. 20. _They that come after him shall be astonied at his day_] Future ages, hearing the relation of his dismal destruction, shall stand aghast, as if they beheld the dirty ruins of some once beauti... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely such [are] the dwellings of the wicked, and this [is] the place [of him that] knoweth not God. Ver. 21. _Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked_] As sure as death it is so; and this is oft inculcated, because hardly believed. Bildad hints at Job in all this, and therefore speaks of the... [ Continue Reading ]