After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. Ver. 1. _After this_] After so long silence of his friends, and to provoke them to speak, who haply waited for some words from him first, as knowing him wise and well spoken. Or [After this] After that Job's pains were somewhat allayed, so that h... [ Continue Reading ]
And Job spake, and said, Ver. 2. _And Job spake, and said_] Heb. Answered and said. Answered? Whom answered he? The Jewish doctors say, he answered his friends, who having hitherto said nothing to him, and heard as little from him, at length - _rupere silentia voce,_ to destroy a silent voice, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night [in which] it was said, There is a man child conceived. Ver. 3. _Let the day perish wherein I was born_] He curseth his birthday, which the Greeks call γενεθλιον, quasi γενεσιν αθλιον : the beginning of a man's nativity they call the begetting of... [ Continue Reading ]
Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Ver. 4. _Let that day be darkness_] Thick darkness, as that once was in Egypt, Exodus 10:28. A day of trouble and distress, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, Zephania... [ Continue Reading ]
Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. Ver. 5. _Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it_] Let it be _dies luctuosus et lethalis,_ such a deadly dark day, that each man may think it his last day, fatal and feral. Let t... [ Continue Reading ]
As [for] that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. Ver. 6. _As for that night, let darkness seize upon it_] Having spent his spleen upon the day, he now vents himself upon the night, according to that divis... [ Continue Reading ]
Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein. Ver. 7. _Lo, let that night be solitary_] And so consequently sorrowful; for aloneness is comfortless, _et optimum solatium sodalitium._ There is a desirable solitariness, such as was that of Isaac, Genesis 24:63, of Jacob, Genesis 3... [ Continue Reading ]
Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning. Ver. 8. _Let them curse it, that curse the day_] As those _atri et tetri Atlantes_ (before spoken of) curse the rising sun for scorching them, _Non tam cute, quam corde_ Not so much skin as heart, (Aethiopici); as despa... [ Continue Reading ]
Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but [have] none; neither let it see the dawning of the day: Ver. 9. _Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark_] If the stars of its twilight be dark, how great is that darkness! Job would not have this night to have light of... [ Continue Reading ]
Because it shut not up the doors of my [mother's] womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. Ver. 10. Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb] Lest this curse should seem causeless, and he mad without reason, he telleth you here why he thus poureth out his passion; and complaineth so heavily... [ Continue Reading ]
Why died I not from the womb? [why] did I [not] give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Ver. 11. _Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost? &c._] Why was I not forthwith carried _ab utero ad urnam?_ from the womb to the tomb, from the birth to the burial? True it is, th... [ Continue Reading ]
Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? Ver. 12. _Why did the knees prevent me?_] Why did the too officious midwife lay me on her lap, and not let me alone to perish by my fatal helplessness? Man is a poor shiftless creature; and Pliny rails at nature for producing him... [ Continue Reading ]
For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, Ver. 13. _For now should I have lain still and been quiet_] Why, but is it not better to be preserved in salt than to putrefy in sugar? to be emptied from vessel to vessel, than to be at ease, and so to s... [ Continue Reading ]
With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; Ver. 14. _With kings and counsellors of the earth_] _q.d._ Those that here have been most negotious, and (as the nobles of the earth) have had greatest matters in hand, with those should I have been coupled in the... [ Continue Reading ]
Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: Ver. 15. _Or with princes that had gold_] Great store of it. Petrarch reporteth of Pope John XXII, that his heirs found in his coffers no less than 250 tons of gold. Boniface VIII, taken prisoner and plundered by the command of Phi... [ Continue Reading ]
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants [which] never saw light. Ver. 16. _Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been_] As an abortive or miscarrying embryo that falleth from the mother, as untimely fruit falleth off from the tree. See Revelation 6:13. Hidden it is called, beca... [ Continue Reading ]
There the wicked cease [from] troubling; and there the weary be at rest. Ver. 17. _There the wicked cease from troubling_] Here they are restless, as being acted and agitated by the devil, who being a discontented, turbulent creature, maketh ado in the world, and setteth his imps awork to do mischi... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 3:18 [There] the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. Ver. 18. _There the prisoners rest together_] Or alike, as do their cruel creditors and hard taskmasters. There, that is, in the state of the dead, whether by land or sea, the prisoners, or bound persons, the mi... [ Continue Reading ]
The small and great are there; and the servant [is] free from his master. Ver. 19. _The small and the great are there_] In Calvary are skulls of all sizes, say the Hebrews. _Stat sua cuique dies_ (Virg. Aeneid, lib. 1 0). It is appointed for all once to die, be they great or small, low or high. _Mo... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter [in] soul; Ver. 20. _Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery_] Job hath not done yet, though he had said more than enough of this matter; but for want of the oil of joy and gladness his doors move not without crea... [ Continue Reading ]
Which long for death, but it [cometh] not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures; Ver. 21. _Which long for death, but it cometh not_] The bitter in soul long for death, those that are in pain or penury are apt to desire to be dispatched upon any terms, and would freely pardon them, they say, t... [ Continue Reading ]
Which rejoice exceedingly, [and] are glad, when they can find the grave? Ver. 22. _Which rejoice exceedingly_] Joy till they skip again, so Broughton rendereth it. Strange that any should be so glad of death, that last enemy, that slaughterman of nature, and harbinger of hell to the ungodly; but th... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 3:23 [Why is light given] to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? Ver. 23. _Why is light given to a man whose way is hid?_] _i.e._ Why is the light of life continued to him who is in a maze or labyrinth of miseries, whereof he can see no cause, and whereout he can descry no issu... [ Continue Reading ]
For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. Ver. 24. _For my sighing cometh before I eat_] It cometh unsent for, as evil weather useth to do, and most unseasonably surpriseth me at my repast. I mingle my meat with my tears, with every bit of bread I have a mo... [ Continue Reading ]
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. Ver. 25. _For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me_] Heb. I feared a fear, and it came upon me. Had Job been wicked, this had been no wonder, Pro 10:24 Job 15:21. Or had his fear been s... [ Continue Reading ]
I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came. Ver. 26. _I was not in safety_] _i.e._ I counted not myself simply the safer and happier man, because of creature comforts; but knowing their uncertainty, I held at a distance, and hung loose to them all. _ Neither had... [ Continue Reading ]