But Job answered and said, Ver. 1. _But Job answered and said_] Eliphaz thought he had silenced him, and set him down with so much reason, that he should have had nothing to reply; yet Job, desirous to disasperse himself, and to clear up his reputation, answered, and said. For indeed _Negligere qui... [ Continue Reading ]
Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! Ver. 2. _Oh that my grief were throughly weighed_] Heb. Were weighed by weighing. The word rendered grief signifieth also anger, and is the same with that wherewith Eliphaz began his speech, Job 5:2, where he sa... [ Continue Reading ]
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up. Ver. 3. _For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea_] How light soever thou, O Eliphaz, esteemest it, as being in a prosperous condition. It is easy to swim in a warm bath; and every bird can sing i... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 4. _For the arrows of the Almighty are within me_] What marvel, then, though his flesh had no rest, but he was troubled on every side, since witho... [ Continue Reading ]
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder? Ver. 5. _Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass?_] _q.d._ Sure they do not. As if these creatures, wild or tame, want necessary food, you give them leave to fill the air with their outcries; yea, you supply their wants;... [ Continue Reading ]
Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there [any] taste in the white of an egg? Ver. 6. _Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt?_] Or, Can that which is unsavoury for want of salt be eaten? Hunger will down with unsavoury or unpleasant food, though salt or sauce be wan... [ Continue Reading ]
The things [that] my soul refused to touch [are] as my sorrowful meat. Ver. 7. _The things that my soul refused to touch, &c._] I suffer such torments even in my very soul, as the very thought of them would heretofore have frightened me. Thus Mr Diodati. Others take soul here for the appetite, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant [me] the thing that I long for! Ver. 8. _Oh that I might have my request!_] How heartily begs Job for death, as a medicine of all his maladies and miseries; as that which would bring him _malorum ademptionem, bonorum adeptionem,_ freedom fro... [ Continue Reading ]
Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! Ver. 9. _That it would please God to destroy me_] That is, to despatch me out of this world, and send me to a better. A dissolution would be far more acceptable to Job than that restitution which Eliphaz... [ Continue Reading ]
Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. Ver. 10. _Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow, &c._] I would take hard on, and bear what befalleth me as well as I could, by... [ Continue Reading ]
What [is] my strength, that I should hope? and what [is] mine end, that I should prolong my life? Ver. 11. _What is my strength, that I should hope?_] _q.d._ Thou hast told me, O Eliphaz, that if I frame to a patient and peaceable behaviour under God's chastisement, I shall go to my grave in a good... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 6:12 [Is] my strength the strength of stones? or [is] my flesh of brass? Ver. 12. _Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?_] Is it made of marble, or of the hardest metal? as it is said of one in Homer, that he was χαλκεντερος, of brazen bowels, and of Julius Scaliger, t... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 6:13 [Is] not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me? Ver. 13. _Is not my help in me?_] Have I not something within wherewith to sustain me amidst all my sorrows, viz. the testimony of my conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity I have had my conversation in the world, 2 Co... [ Continue Reading ]
_To him that is afflicted pity [should be shewed] from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty._ Ver. 14. _To him that is afflicted_] Heb. melted, viz. in the furnace of affliction, which melteth men's hearts, and maketh them malleable, as fire doth the hardest metals, Psa 22:15 Joshu... [ Continue Reading ]
My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, [and] as the stream of brooks they pass away; Ver. 15. _My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook_] Even you, whom I esteemed as my brethren (for to them he applieth this speech, Job 6:21), prove hollow and helpless to me; like the river Araris, th... [ Continue Reading ]
Which are blackish by reason of the ice, [and] wherein the snow is hid: Ver. 16. _Which are blackish by reason of the ice_] Or frost, a black frost we call it, which deceiveth those that tread upon it. Or if, hard enough to bear up passengers, it promise to be a storehouse of preserving snow and wa... [ Continue Reading ]
What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. Ver. 17. What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, &c.] Lo, such is the fruit of creature confidence, of making flesh our arm, of trusting in men or means; whereas _Deo confisi nunquam confusi,_... [ Continue Reading ]
The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish. Ver. 18. _The paths of their way are turned aside_] _i.e._ They being (as it were) cut into divers small rivers running here and there, by little and little, and being resolved into vapours, at length quite vanish away (Beza).... [ Continue Reading ]
The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them. Ver. 19. _The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them_] The troops, that is, the travellers, the caravan or company of merchants from those parts, passing through dangerous and dry deserts, expected relief from... [ Continue Reading ]
They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed. Ver. 20. _They were confounded because they had hoped, &c._] Heb. They blushed, or they were abashed, because disappointed and defeated of their hope and expectation. See Jer 14:3-4 Joel 1:10,11. God's people have a p... [ Continue Reading ]
For now ye are nothing; ye see [my] casting down, and are afraid. Ver. 21. _For now ye are nothing_] _i.e._ To me nothing worth; I have no more joy of you than if you were not at all; ye are not unlike him who said to his friend, I am all yours, except body and goods; ye are not so much as friends... [ Continue Reading ]
Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance? Ver. 22. _Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give, &c._] Did I ever charge you for my reparation or redemption? This interrogation is more emphatic than a simple negation: _q.d._ I never did it, and, therefore, unless you had been at... [ Continue Reading ]
Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty? Ver. 23. Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? &c.] Rescue me, ransom me from those that have robbed and wronged me; fetch back my lost goods by price or force. The word rendered mighty signifieth also formidable, terr... [ Continue Reading ]
Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred. Ver. 24. _Teach me, and I will hold my tongue_] If I be in an error, I am willing to be rectified. Hitherto you have mistook my case; and so your speech hath been to small purpose. But if you will come home to my... [ Continue Reading ]
How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove? Ver. 25. _How forcible are right words_] How sweet, saith the Chaldee, interpreting it by Psalms 119:103. It may be read _Nimletsu_ for _Nimretsu_; but the word is well rendered forcible, potent, valid. It noteth also, saith Mr Caryl... [ Continue Reading ]
Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, [which are] as wind? Ver. 26. _Do ye imagine to reprove words?_] Idle and hasty words, which have more sound than sense? Think you that I do only make a noise, or rave like a madman, and am accordingly to be dealt with? Ye h... [ Continue Reading ]
Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig [a pit] for your friend. Ver. 27. _Yea, you overwhelm the fatherless_] Heb. Ye throw yourselves upon the fatherless, that is, upon miserable me, who am helpless, friendless, comfortless: see Genesis 43:18, that he may roll himself upon us, say they there... [ Continue Reading ]
Now therefore be content, look upon me; for [it is] evident unto you if I lie. Ver. 28. _Now therefore be content, look upon me_] Let it suffice you to have thus hardly handled me; cast now a more benign aspect upon me, and be not henceforth so hot and so harsh. Now therefore be content, regard me,... [ Continue Reading ]
Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness [is] in it. Ver. 29. _Return, I pray you_] Change your minds of me, and your language to me, _Bona verba quaeso; _ I seek good words, what need all this heat of speech, and height of spirit? be better advised, I beseech... [ Continue Reading ]
Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things? Ver. 30. _Is there iniquity in my tongue?_] Yea, or else you shall pass for a perfect man, and well able to bridle the whole body, James 3:2. St Paul, Romans 3:13, anatomizing a natural man, standeth more upon the organs of sp... [ Continue Reading ]