EVEN TO-DAY - At the present time. I am not relieved. You afford me no consolation. All that you say only aggravates my woes. MY COMPLAINT - See the notes at Job 21:3. BITTER - Sad, melancholy, distressing. The meaning is, not that he made bitter complaints in the sense which those words would nat... [ Continue Reading ]
OH THAT I KNEW WHERE I MIGHT FIND HIM! - Where I might find “God.” He had often expressed a wish to bring his cause directly before God, and to be permitted to plead his cause there; see Job 13:3, note; Job 13:20, notes. But this he had not yet been able to do. The argument had been with his three f... [ Continue Reading ]
I WOULD ORDER MY CAUSE BEFORE HIM - Compare the notes at Isaiah 43:26. That is, I would arrange my arguments, or plead my cause, as one does in a court of justice. I would suggest the considerations which would show that I am not guilty in the sense charged by my friends, and that notwithstanding my... [ Continue Reading ]
I WOULD KNOW THE WORDS WHICH HE WOULD ANSWER ME - That is, I wish to understand what would be “his” decision in the case - and what would be his judgment in regard to me. That was of infinitely more importance than any opinion which “man” could form, and Job was anxious to have the matter decided by... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL HE PLEAD AGAINST ME WITH HIS GREAT POWER? - “Will he make use of his mere power to overwhelm me and confound me? Will he take advantage of omnipotence to triumph over me, instead of argument and justice? No: he will not do it. The discussion would be fair. He would hear what I have to say, and... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE THE RIGHTEOUS MIGHT DISPUTE WITH HIM - One who is conscious of his integrity might carry his cause there, with the assurance that he would be heard, and that justice would be done him. There can be no doubt that Job here refers to himself, though. he speaks in the third person, and advances th... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I GO FORWARD - The meaning of these verses is, I go in all directions, but I cannot find God. I am excluded from the trial which I seek, and I cannot bring my cause to his throne. Job expresses his earnest desire to see some visible manifestation of the Deity, and to be permitted to argue hi... [ Continue Reading ]
ON THE LEFT HAND - That is, in the North - at the left hand when the face was turned to the East. So the Chaldee, בצפונא - “on the North.” The other versions, the Vulgate, the Septuagint, the Syriac, Castellio, Luther, etc., render it “on the left hand.” The common term among the Hebrews for the “No... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE KNOWETH THE WAY THAT I TAKE - Margin, “is with me.” That is, “I have the utmost confidence in him. Though I cannot see him, yet he sees me, and he knows my integrity; and whatever people may say, or however they may misunderstand my character, yet he is acquainted with me, and I have the full... [ Continue Reading ]
MY FOOT HATH HELD HIS STEPS - Roberts, in his Oriental Illustrations, and the Editor of the Pictorial Bible, suppose that there is an allusion here to the active, grasping power which the Orientals have in their feet and toes. By constant usage they accustom themselves to make use of them in holding... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER HAVE I GONE BACK - I have not put away or rejected. THE COMMANDMENT OF HIS LIPS - That which he has spoken, or which has proceeded out of his mouth. I HAVE ESTEEMED - Margin, “hid,” or, “laid up.” The Hebrew is, “I have hid,” as we hide or lay up that which is valuable. It is a word often... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE IS IN ONE MIND - He is unchangeable. He has formed his plans, and no one can divert him from them. Of the truth of this sentiment there can be no dispute. The only difficulty in the case is to see why Job adverted to it here, and how it bears on the train of thought which he was pursuing. The... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE PERFORMETH THE THING THAT IS APPOINTED FOR ME - “I am now meeting only what has been determined by his eternal plan. I know not what is the “reason” why it was appointed; but I see that God had resolved to do it, and that it is vain to resist him.” So when we suffer, we may say the same thing... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE AM I TROUBLED AT HIS PRESENCE - The doctrine of divine purposes and decrees “is fitted to impress the mind with awe.” So vast are the plans of God; so uncertain to us is it what will be developed next; so impossible is it to resist God when he comes forth to execute his plans, that they fi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD MAKETH MY HEART SOFT - That is, “faint.” He takes away my strength; compare the notes at Isaiah 7:4. This effect was produced on Job by the contemplation of the eternal plan and the power of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE I WAS NOT CUT OFF BEFORE THE DARKNESS - Before these calamities came upon me. Because I was not taken away in the midst of prosperity, and while I was enjoying his smiles and the proofs of his love. His trouble is, that he was spared to pass through these trials, and to be treated as if he w... [ Continue Reading ]