THEN THE LORD ANSWERED JOB - This speech is addressed particularly to Job, not only because he is the principal personage referred to in the book, but particularly because he had indulged in language of murmuring and complaint. God designed to bring him to a proper state of mind before he appeared o... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO IS THIS - Referring doubtless to Job, for he is specified in the previous verse. Some have understood it of Elihu (see Schultens), but the connection evidently demands that it should be understood as referring to Job. The object was, to reprove him for the presumptuous manner in which he had spo... [ Continue Reading ]
GIRD UP NOW THY LOINS LIKE A MAN - To gird up the loins, is a phrase which has allusion to the mode of dress in ancient times. The loose flowing robe which was commonly worn, was fastened with a girdle when men ran, or labored, or engaged in conflict; see the notes at Matthew 5:38. The idea here is,... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE WAST THOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH? - The first appeal is to the creation. The question here, “Where wast thou?” implies that Job was not present. He had not then an existence. He could not, therefore, have aided God, or counselled him, or understood what he was doing. How pres... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH LAID THE MEASURES THEREOF - That is, as an architect applies his measures when he rears a house. IF THOU KNOWEST - Or rather, “for thou knowest.” The expression is wholly ironical, and is designed to rebuke Job’s pretensions of being able to explain the divine administration. OR WHO HATH... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREUPON ARE THE FOUNDATIONS - Margin, “sockets.” The Hebrew word (אדן _'eden_) means “a basis,” as of a column, or a pedestal; and then also the foundation of a building. The language here is evidently figurative, comparing the earth with an edifice. In building a house, the securing of a proper f... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE MORNING-STARS - There can be little doubt that angelic beings are intended here, though some have thought that the stars literally are referred to, and that they seemed to unite in a chorus of praise when another world was added to their number. The Vulgate renders it, _astra matutina_, mor... [ Continue Reading ]
OR WHO SHUT UP THE SEA WITH DOORS - This refers also to the act of the creation, and to the fact that God fixed limits to the raging of the ocean. The word “doors” is used here rather to denote gates, such as are made to shut up water in a dam. The Hebrew word properly refers, in the dual form which... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN I MADE THE CLOUD THE GARMENT THEREOF - Referring to the garment in which the new-born infant is wrapped up. This image is one of great beauty. It is that of the vast ocean just coming into being, with a cloud resting upon it and covering it. Thick darkness envelopes it, and it is swathed in mis... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BRAKE UP FOR IT MY DECREED PLACE - Margin, “established my decree upon it.” So Herder, “I fixed my decrees upon it.” Luther renders it, “Da ich ihm den Lauf brach mit meinem Damm” - “then I broke its course with my barrier.” Umbreit renders it, “I measured out to it my limits;” that is, the limi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAID, HITHERTO SHALT THOU COME - This is a most sublime expression, and its full force can be felt only by one who has stood on the shores of the ocean, and seen its mighty waves roll toward the beach as if in their pride they would sweep everything away, and how they are checked by the barrier... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU COMMANDED THE MORNING SINCE THY DAYS - That is, in thy lifetime hast thou ordered the light of the morning to shine, and directed its beams over the world? God appeals to this as one of the proofs of his majesty and power - and who can look upon the spreading light of the morning and be in... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT IT MIGHT TAKE HOLD OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH - Margin, as in Hebrew “wings.” Wings are in the Scriptures frequently given to the earth, because it seems to be spread out, and the expression refers to its extremities. The language is derived from the supposition that the earth was a plain, and ha... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS TURNED AS CLAY TO THE SEAL - A great variety of interpretations has been given to this passage. Schultens enumerates no less than twenty, and of course it is not easy to determine the meaning. The Septuagint renders it, “Didst thou take clay of the earth, and form an animal, and place on the e... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FROM THE WICKED THEIR LIGHT IS WITHHOLDEN - While the light thus spreads over the earth, rendering every object beautiful and blessing the righteous, light and prosperity are withheld from the wicked; see the notes at Job 24:17. Or, the meaning may be, that when the light shines upon the world,... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU ENTERED INTO THE SPRINGS OF THE SEA? - The word here rendered “springs” (נבך _nêbek_), occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. It is rendered by the Vulgate _“profunda,”_ the deep parts; and by the Septuagint πηγὴν _pēgēn_ - “fountains.” The reference seems to be to the deep fountains a... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE THE GATES OF DEATH BEEN OPENED UNTO THEE - That is, the gates of the world where death reigns; or the gates that lead to the abodes of the dead. The allusion here is to “Sheol,” or “Hades,” the dark abodes of the dead. This was supposed to be beneath the ground, and was entered by the grave, an... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU PERCEIVED THE BREADTH OF THE EARTH? - How far the earth extends. To see the force of this, we must remember that the early conception of the earth was that it was a vast plain, and that in the time of Job its limits were unknown. One of the earliest and most obvious inquiries would natural... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE IS THE WAY WHERE LIGHT DWELLETH? - Or, rather, where is the way or path to the place where light dwells? Light is conceived of as coming from a great distance, and as having a place which might be regarded as its home. It comes in the morning, and is withdrawn at evening, and it seems as if it... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THOU SHOULDEST TAKE IT TO THE BOUNDS THEREOF - Margin, “or, at.” The sense seems to be this: God asks Job whether he was so well acquainted with the sources of light, and the place where it dwelt, that he could take it under his guidance and reconduct it to its place of abode. AND THAT THOU SH... [ Continue Reading ]
KNOWEST THOU IT, BECAUSE THOU WAST THEN BORN? - This may either be a question, or it may be spoken ironically. According to the former mode of rendering it, it is the same as asking Job whether he had lived long enough to understand where the abode of light was, or whether he had an existence when i... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU ENTERED INTO THE TREASURES OF SNOW? - Snow is here represented as something which is laid up like treasure, and kept in reserve for use when God shall require it. Silver and gold were thus laid up for occasions when they would be wanted, and the figurative sentiment here is, that snow and... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH I HAVE RESERVED - As if they were carefully treasured up to be brought forth as they shall be needed. The idea is, that they were entirely under the direction of God. THE TIME OF TROUBLE - Herder “the time of need.” The meaning probably is, that he had kept them in reserve for the time when h... [ Continue Reading ]
BY WHAT WAY IS THE LIGHT PARTED - The reference here is to the light of the morning, that seems to come from one point, and to spread itself at once over the whole earth. It seems to be collected in the east, or, as it were, condensed or concentrated there, and then to divide itself, and to expand o... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH DIVIDED A WATER-COURSE FOR THE OVERFLOWING OF WATERS - That is, for the waters that flow down from the clouds. The idea seems to be this, that the waters of heaven, instead of pouring down in floods, or all coming down together, seemed to flow in certain canals formed for them; as if they h... [ Continue Reading ]
TO CAUSE IT TO RAIN ON THE EARTH, WHERE NO MAN IS - This is designed to heighten the conception of the power of God. It could not be pretended that this was done by man, for the rain was caused to fall in the desolate regions where no one dwelt. In the lonely desert, in the wastes remote from the dw... [ Continue Reading ]
TO SATISFY THE DESOLATE AND WASTE GROUND - As if it lifted an imploring voice to God, and he sent down the rain to satisfy it. The desert is thus like a thirsty pilgrim. It is parched, and thirsty, and sad, and it appeals to God, and he meets its needs, and satisfies it. OR TO CAUSE THE BUD OF THE T... [ Continue Reading ]
HATH THE RAIN A FATHER? - That is, it is produced by God and not by man. No one among men can claim that he causes it, or can regard it as his offspring. The idea is, that the production of rain is among the proofs of the wisdom and agency of God, and that it is caused in a way that demonstrates his... [ Continue Reading ]
OUT OF WHOSE WOMB CAME THE ICE? - That is, who has caused or produced it? The idea is, that it was not by any human agency, or in any known way by which living beings were propagated. AND THE HOARY FROST OF HEAVEN - Which seems to fall from heaven. The sense is, that it is caused wholly by God; see... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WATERS ARE HID AS WITH A STONE - The solid ice is laid as a stone upon them, wholly concealing them from view. AND THE FACE OF THE DEEP IS FROZEN - Margin, “taken.” The idea is, they seem to take hold of one another (יתלכדוּ _yitlâkadû_); they hold together, or cohere. The formation of ice is... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU BIND THE SWEET INFLUENCES OF PLEIADES? - The seven stars. On the meaning of the word used here (כימה _kı̂ymâh_), see the notes at Job 9:9. In regard to the meaning of the word rendered “sweet influences,” there has been considerable variety of interpretation. The Septuagint renders it, “... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU BRING FORTH MAZZAROTH IN HIS SEASON? - Margin, “the twelve signs;” that is, the twelve signs of the zodiac. There has been much diversity of opinion about the meaning of this word. It occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures, and of course it is not easy to determine its signification. The S... [ Continue Reading ]
KNOWEST THOU THE ORDINANCES OF HEAVEN? - The laws or statutes by which the motions of the heavenly bodies are governed. These were wholly unknown in the time of Job, and the discovery of some of those laws - for only a few of them are yet known - was reserved to be the glory of the modern system of... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU LIFT UP THY VOICE TO THE CLOUDS, THAT ABUNDANCE OF WATERS MAY COVER THEE? - That is, canst thou command the clouds so that they shall send down abundant rain? Bouillier supposes that there is an allusion here to the incantations which were pretended to be practiced by the Magi, by which t... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU SEND LIGHTNINGS? - That is, lightning is wholly under the control of God. So it is now; for after all that man has done to discover its laws, and to guard against it, yet still man has made no advances toward a power to wield it, nor is it possible that he ever should. It is one of the ag... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH PUT WISDOM IN THE INWARD PARTS? - There is great variety in the interpretation of this passage. Jerome renders it, _Quis posuit in visceribus heminis sapienttam? Vel quis dedit gallo intelligentiam?_ “Who hath put wisdom in the inner parts of man? Or who has given to the cock intelligence?”... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO CAN NUMBER THE CLOUDS? - The word here rendered “clouds” (שׁחקים _shachaqiym_) is applied to the clouds as made up of “small particles” - as if they were composed of fine dust, and hence, the word number is applied to them, not as meaning that the clouds themselves were innumerable, but that no... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE DUST GROWETH INTO HARDNESS - Margin, “is poured, or, is turned into mire.” The words used here relate often to metals, and to the act of pouring them out when fused, for the purpose of casting. The proper idea here is, “when the dust flows into a molten mass;” that is, when wet with rain it... [ Continue Reading ]
WILT THOU HUNT THE PREY FOR THE LION? - The appeal here is to the instincts with which God has endowed animals, and to the fact that he had so made them that they would secure their own food. He asks Job whether he would undertake to do what the lion did by instinct in finding his food, and by his p... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY COUCH IN THEIR DENS - For the purpose of springing upon their prey. AND ABIDE IN THE COVERT TO LIE IN WAIT? - The usual posture of the lion when he seeks his prey. He places himself in some unobserved position in a dense thicket, or crouches upon the ground so as not to be seen, and then... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO PROVIDETH FOR THE RAVEN HIS FOOD? - The same thought is expressed in Psalms 147:9, He giveth to the beast his food, And to the young ravens which cry. Compare Matthew 6:26. Scbeutzer (_in loc_.) suggests that the reason why the raven is specified here rather than other fowls is, that it is an... [ Continue Reading ]