WHY, SEEING TIMES ARE NOT HIDDEN FROTH THE ALMIGHTY - Dr. Good renders this, “Wherefore are not doomdays kept by the Almighty. So that his offenders may eye his periods?” Dr. Noyes: “Why are not times of punishment reserved by the Almighty. And why do not they, who regard him, see his judgments... [ Continue Reading ]
SOME REMOVE THE LAND-MARKS - Landmarks are pillars or stones set up to mark the boundaries of a farm. To remove them, by carrying them on to the land of another, was an act of dishonesty and robbery - since it was only by marks that the extent of a man’s property could be known. Fences were uncommon... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY DRIVE AWAY THE ASS OF THE FATHERLESS - Of the orphan, who cannot protect himself, and whose only property may consist in this useful animal. Injury done to an orphan is always regarded as a crime of special magnitude, for they are unable to protect themselves; see the notes at Job 22:9. THEY T... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY TURN THE NEEDY OUT OF THE WAY - They crowd the poor out of the path, and thus oppress and injure them. They do not allow them the advantages of the highway. THE POOR OF THE EARTH HIDE THEMSELVES TOGETHER - For fear of the rich and mighty man. Driven from the society of the rich, without their... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, AS WILD ASSES IN THE DESERT - In regard to the wild ass, see the notes at Job 6:5. Schultens, Good, Noyes, and Wemyss, understand this, not as referring to the haughty tyrants themselves, but to the oppressed and needy wretches whom they had driven from society, and compelled to seek a preca... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY REAP EVERY ONE HIS CORN - Margin, “mingled corn,” or “dredge.” The word used here (בליל _b__e__lı̂yl_) denotes, properly, “meslin,” mixed provender, made up of various kinds of grain, as of barley, vetches, etc., prepared for cattle; see the notes at Isaiah 30:24. IN THE FIELD - They break in... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY CAUSE THE NAKED TO LODGE WITHOUT CLOTHING - They strip others of their clothing, and leave them destitute. THAT THEY HAVE NO COVERING IN THE COLD - All travelers tell us, that though the day is intensely hot in the deserts of Arabia, yet the nights are often intensely cold. Hence, the sufferin... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ARE WET WITH THE SHOWERS OF THE MOUNTAINS - That is, the poor persons, or the travelers whom they have robbed. Hills collect the clouds, and showers seem to pour down from the mountains. These showers often collect and pour down so suddenly that there is scarcely time to seek a shelter. AND EM... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY PLUCK THE FATHERLESS FROM THE BREAST - That is, they steal away unprotected children, and sell them, or make slaves of them for their own use. If this is the correct interpretation, then there existed at that time, what has existed since, so much to the disgrace of mankind, the custom of kidnap... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TAKE AWAY THE SHEAF FROM THE HUNGRY - The meaning of this is, that the hungry are compelled to bear the sheaf for the rich without being allowed to satisfy their hunger from it. Moses commanded that even the ox should not be muzzled that trod out the grain Deuteronomy 25:4; but here was mor... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH MADE OIL WITHIN THEIR WALLS - Or rather, they compel them to express oil within their walls. The word יצהירו _yatshı̂yrû_, rendered “made oil,” is from צחר _tsachar_, to shine, to give light; and hence, the derivatives of the word are used to denote light, and then oil, and thence the word co... [ Continue Reading ]
MEN GROAN FROM OUT OF THE CITY - The evident meaning of this is, that the sorrows caused by oppression were not confined to the deserts and to solitary places; were not seen only where the wandering freebooter seized upon the traveler, or in the comparatively unfrequented places in the country where... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ARE OF THOSE THAT REBEL AGAINST THE LIGHT - That is, they hate the light: compare John 3:20. It is unpleasant to them, and they perform their deeds in the night. Job here commences a reference to another class of wicked persons - those who perform their deeds in the darkness of the night; and h... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MURDERER - One of the instances, referred to in the previous verse, of those who perform their deeds in darkness. RISING WITH THE LIGHT - Hebrew לאור _lā'ôr_. Vulgate “_Mane primo_ - in the earliest twilight.” The meaning is, that he does it very early; by daybreak. It is not in open day, but... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EYE ALSO OF THE ADULTERER WAITETH FOR THE TWILIGHT; - compare the description in Proverbs 7:8, “He went the way to her house; in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night.” AND DISGUISETH HIS FACE - Margin, “setteth his face in secret.” The meaning is, that he put a mask on his... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE DARK THEY DIG THROUGH HOUSES - This refers, probably, to another class of wicked persons. The adulterer steals forth in the night, but it is not his way to “dig” into houses. But the persons here referred to are robbers, who conceal themselves by day, and who at night secretly enter houses fo... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE MORNING IS TO THEM EVEN AS THE SHADOW OF DEATH - They dread the light as one does usually the deepest darkness. The morning or light would reveal their deeds of wickedness, and they therefore avoid it. AS THE SHADOW OF DEATH - As the deepest darkness; see the notes at Job 3:5. IF ONE KNOW T... [ Continue Reading ]
HE IS SWIFT AS THE WATERS - Noyes renders this, “They are as swift as the skiff upon the waters.” Dr. Good, “Miserable is this man upon the waters.” Wemyss, “Such should be as foam upon the waters.” Le Clerc says that there is scarcely any passage of the Scriptures more obscure than this, and the va... [ Continue Reading ]
DROUGHT AND HEAT CONSUME THE SNOW-WATERS - Margin, “violently take;” see the notes at Job 6:17. The word rendered “consume,” and in the margin “violently take” (יגזלו _yı̂gâz__e__lû_), means properly to strip off, as skin from the flesh; and then to pluck or tear away by force; to strip, to spoil,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WOMB SHALL FORGET HIM - His mother who bare him shall forget him. The idea here seems to be, that he shall fade out of the memory, just as other persons do. He shall not be overtaken with any disgraceful punishment, thus giving occasion to remember him by a death of ignominy. At first view it wo... [ Continue Reading ]
HE EVIL ENTREATETH THE BARREN - The woman who has no children to comfort or support her. He increases her calamity by acts of cruelty and oppression. To be without children, as is well known, was regarded, in the patriarchal ages, as a great calamity. AND DOETH NOT GOOD TO THE WIDOW - See the notes... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DRAWETH ALSO THE MIGHTY WITH HIS POWER - The word here rendered draweth (משׁך _mâshak_), means to draw; and then, to lay hold of, to take, to take away, and, hence, to remove, to destroy; Psalms 28:3; Ezekiel 22:20. The idea here seems to be, that his acts of oppression and cruelty were not conf... [ Continue Reading ]
THOUGH IT BE GIVEN HIM TO BE IN SAFETY - That is, God gives him safety. The name God is often understood, or not expressed. The meaning is, that God gives this wicked man, or oppressor, safety. He is permitted to live a life of security and tranquility. WHEREON HE RESTETH - Or, rather, “And he is s... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ARE EXALTED FOR A LITTLE WHILE - This was the proposition which Job was maintaining. His friends affirmed that the wicked were punished for their sins in this life, and that great crimes would soon meet with great calamities. This Job denies, and says that the fact was, that they were “exalted.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF IT BE NOT SO NOW, WHO WILL MAKE ME A LIAR? - A challenge to anyone to prove the contrary to what he had said. Job had now attacked their main position, and had appealed to facts in defense of what he held. He maintained that, as a matter of fact, the wicked were prospered, that they often liv... [ Continue Reading ]