_ELIPHAZ REPROVES JOB, WHO, HAVING CONSOLED OTHERS IN ADVERSITY, NEVERTHELESS DESPONDS HIMSELF. HE AFFIRMS, THAT IT WAS A THING UNHEARD OF, FOR AN INNOCENT MAN TO PERISH; ON THE CONTRARY, THAT THE WICKED PERISH AT THE BLAST OF GOD, AND ARE DESTROYED FOR EVER._ _Before Christ 1645._ _JOB 4:1. THEN... [ Continue Reading ]
IF WE ASSAY TO COMMUNE WITH THEE, &C.— This verse contains an apology for what Eliphaz was about to say, and is well rendered by Houbigant thus: _If I should attempt a discourse against thee, thou wilt take it ill; but who can refrain from such discourse?_ In the following verses he proceeds to put... [ Continue Reading ]
IS NOT THIS THY FEAR, THY CONFIDENCE, &C.— Eliphaz points out to Job, in these words, the proper refuge of the afflicted; that their trust or confidence should be in God. _Is not thy fear thy confidence,_ &c. that is, "Thy fear of God should be thy confidence." Houbigant renders it, _Was not thy rel... [ Continue Reading ]
REMEMBER, I PRAY THEE, WHO EVER PERISHED, &C.— _Recollect, I pray thee,_ &c. Eliphaz here begins to shew what he suspected. The strong term he uses, _who ever perished, being innocent?_ and his adding what himself had observed of the punishment which sometimes befalls wicked men, contains a shrewd i... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THE BLAST OF GOD THEY PERISH, &C.— _By the breath of God they perish; for, at the blast of his anger, the roarings of the lion, and the growling of the black lion, are hushed, and the teeth of the young lions are broken._ Heath.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OLD LION PERISHETH FOR LACK OF PREY— Schultens imagines, that _this want of prey_ was not so much owing to its scarcity, as to its being torn from the mouth and talons of this ravenous creature. But it may be imputed with more probability to his not daring to venture out of his den in search of... [ Continue Reading ]
MINE EAR RECEIVED A LITTLE THEREOF— The word שׁמצ _shemets_ rendered _little,_ may be derived from an Arabic one, signifying _a string of pearls._ So the oracle that he here mentions was a collection of precious observations delivered to him in the way of vision, says Heath; who renders the verse, _... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THOUGHTS FROM THE VISIONS, &C.— _In the hurry of the visions;_ Heath, who observes from Schultens, that the word properly signifies an absence or confusion of mind, proceeding from a sudden perturbation. Houbigant renders it, _in those appearances of dreams which come by night._... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR CAME UPON ME— As in a poem every thing is or ought to be alive, so _far_ is here made a person, who comes up to him as an officer of justice, and arrests him. See Heath, and Peters, p. 204.... [ Continue Reading ]
IT STOOD STILL, BUT I COULD NOT DISCERN THE FORM THEREOF, &C.— _It stood still indeed, but I knew not its form: the appearance vanished from before mine eyes, but I heard a voice._ Houbigant. Dr. Grey renders it, _he stood, but I knew not his form, nor the image before mine eyes: there was a profoun... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS ANGELS HE CHARGED WITH FOLLY— Schultens observes, that the Hebrew word rendered _charged,_ signifies _to discern_ or _take notice of;_ see Isaiah 41:20.; and that the word rendered _folly,_ signifies a defect or imperfection; not one that implies any degree of viciousness, but only what appears... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW MUCH LESS IN THEM, &C.— _How much more in them._ Heath. The expression, _dwelling in houses of clay,_ is used with great propriety to convey the idea of the frailty of the human nature: _whose foundation is in the dust,_ is a poetical expression to denote the formation of man from the dust of th... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY ARE DESTROYED FROM MORNING TO EVENING, &C.— _From morning until evening they are destroyed; for want of discernment they perish together:_ Heath; who renders the next verse thus: _It not the excellence which was in them pulled up by the roots? They die, but not in wisdom._ This seems to allude... [ Continue Reading ]