_A.M. 2484. B.C. 1520._
Job proceeds to plead with God for some mitigation of his miseries,
from the consideration of the shortness of life, and the trouble that
naturally belongs to it, Job 14:1. Especially considering, that when
he was once dead, he could not revive as the plants, or come into th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Man that is born of a woman_ A weak creature; and, withal, corrupt
and sinful, and of that sex by which sin and all other calamities were
brought into the world. _Is of few days_ Few at the most, in
comparison with the days of the first patriarchs, much more in
comparison with the days of eternity.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He cometh forth like a flower_ Tender and delicate, fair and
beautiful, his faculties and members opening and expanding themselves
by degrees; _and is cut down_ By the scythe of some spreading malady;
or cropped by the rude hand of some ruthless distemper; or nipped and
withered by the frost of som... [ Continue Reading ]
_And dost thou open thine eyes on such a one?_ Dost thou, the infinite
Jehovah, the self-existent, independent, and supreme Lord of all, the
Almighty, open thine eyes on such an insignificant and helpless
creature? Dost thou, the immutable, the eternal God, behold and take
account of such a frail, c... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?_ I confess I am an
unclean creature, and therefore liable to be abhorred by thy holiness,
and condemned by thy justice, if thou wilt deal rigorously with me.
But, remember, this is not my peculiar case, but the common lot of
every man, who descended fr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seeing his days are determined_ Limited to a certain period. _The
number of his months is with thee_ Exactly known to thee, and in thy
power and disposal. _Thou hast appointed his bounds_, &c. Thou hast
appointed a certain end of his days, beyond which he cannot prolong
his life. _Turn from him, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down_ If the body of a tree
be cut down, and only the stem or stump be left in the ground, yet
there is hope; _that it will sprout again_ Hebrew, יחלי Š,
_jachalip, will yet renew itself_, will revive and flourish as the
spring comes on. _Though the root wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_As the waters fail from the sea_ This may mean, either, 1st, _As the
waters go_, or _flow out from the sea_, and return not thither again,
Ecclesiastes 1:7: or, 2d, _As waters_, that is, some portion of the
waters, are exhaled from the sea by the sun, or are received and sunk
into the dry and thirs... [ Continue Reading ]
_So man lieth down_ In his bed the grave, sleeping the sleep of death.
_And riseth not till the heavens be no more_ That is, until the time
of the general resurrection and restitution of all things, when these
visible heavens shall pass away, and be no more, at least in the same
form in which they a... [ Continue Reading ]
_O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave_ The grave is not only a
_resting-place_, but a _hiding-place_ to the children of God: Christ
has the key of the grave to open and let in now, and to let out at the
resurrection. God hides his people in the grave as we hide our
treasure in a place of secrec... [ Continue Reading ]
_If a man die, shall he live again?_ He shall not in this world, but
he shall in another and better; and, therefore, _all the days of my
appointed time will I wait_ Hebrew, צבאי, _tsebai_, of my
_warfare_, namely, with my spiritual enemies, or of _my service_ and
_suffering_, or of the _station_ and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt call and I will answer thee_ 1st, At death, thou shalt
call my body to the grave and my soul to thyself, and I will
cheerfully answer, _Here I am._ Gracious souls readily answer death's
summons, and appear to his writ. Their spirits are not forcibly
_required of them_, as was that of the... [ Continue Reading ]
_For now_ Or rather, _But now_, for this seems to be added by way of
opposition, as if he had said, I believe thou wilt pity, help, and
deliver me, and even wonderfully change my person, state, and place;
but, for the present, it is far otherwise with me. Thus Job returns to
his complaints; and, tho... [ Continue Reading ]
_As the mountain falling cometh to naught_, &c. As when a great
_mountain falls_, by an earthquake or inundation, it _moulders away
like a fading leaf_, (as the Hebrew ward signifies,) _and_ as _the
rock_, when, by the violence of winds or earthquakes, it _is removed
out of its place_, and thrown do... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou prevailest for ever against him_ When once thou takest away this
life, it is gone for ever; for he speaks not here of man's future and
eternal life in another world. _And he passeth_ That is, he dieth:
man's death is often called a _passage_ or a _going_, to intimate that
it is not an annihila... [ Continue Reading ]
_His sons come to honour_ Hebrews יכבדו, _jicbedu:_ increase
either in number or in greatness. The LXX. render it, πολλων
δε γενομενων, _become many;_ and the word ויצערו,
_vejitzgnaru, and they are brought low_, they interpret in the
opposite sense, εαν δε ολιγοι γενωνται, _if they be
diminished_,... [ Continue Reading ]
_But his flesh upon him shall have pain_ Or, _while his flesh is upon
him; and his soul within him_ While the soul is clothed with, or
united to, the body, he feels sharp pains in his body, and bitter
grief in his soul. Dying work is generally hard work; dying pangs sore
pangs. It is folly, therefor... [ Continue Reading ]