_JOB, ACKNOWLEDGING GOD'S JUSTICE, SHEWETH THAT THERE IS NO CONTENDING WITH HIM. MAN'S INNOCENCY IS NOT TO BE CONDEMNED BY AFFLICTIONS._ _Before Christ 1645._ _JOB 9:1. THEN JOB ANSWERED AND SAID_— In reply to Bildad, Job begins with hinting that their opinions seemed a little to clash; Eliphaz ha... [ Continue Reading ]
IF HE WILL CONTEND— To _contend_ is a judicial term, and signifies properly to _wage law. To answer him one of a thousand,_ signifies to justify himself for one of the thousand crimes which shall be charged against him. Though the uncharitableness and reproaches of Job's friends transported him into... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY KNOW NOT— _And they are not broken to pieces:_ an instance of the power of the Almighty, who can remove whole mountains as easily as the least pebble. See Heath, and Judges 8:16. Schultens and Houbigant render it, _on a sudden, unawares._ See Psalms 35:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PILLARS THEREOF TREMBLE— The image is taken from a man in so great fear, that all his limbs tremble and shake like a leaf.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH COMMANDETH THE SUN, AND IT RISETH NOT— Bishop Warburton supposes that this alludes to the miraculous history of the people of God; such as the Egyptian darkness, and the stopping of the sun's course by Joshua. But surely there is no necessity, from the words themselves, to suppose any allusion... [ Continue Reading ]
AND TREADETH UPON THE WAVES OF THE SEA— Mr. Heath (following the reading of the Hebrew found in a correct copy) agrees with Houbigant in rendering this, _who treadeth on the heights of the clouds;_ which, as he justly observes, makes a more elegant image. See ch. Job 22:14.Isaiah 14:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH MAKETH ARCTURUS, &C.— _Who maketh the constellation of the northern hemisphere, as well as the hidden chambers of the south, i.e._ the furthest part of the south, or those constellations which are toward the south pole. The various and unsatisfactory attempts of learned men to ascertain the se... [ Continue Reading ]
LO, HE GOETH BY ME, &C.— _Who, if he passeth by me, I cannot behold him:_ yea, _while he glideth swiftly away, I perceive him not._ Houbigant and Heath.... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD HE TAKETH AWAY, &C.— _But if he should take any thing away, who shall prevent him, or cause him to make restitution._ Houbigant and Heath.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF GOD WILL NOT WITHDRAW HIS ANGER— _He is not a God who will restrain his anger; they stoop beneath him, who have surrounded themselves with strength: i.e._ his majesty is most dreadful and inaccessible, which nothing can resist, and to which every thing that dares to oppose it must submit. Houbiga... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CHOOSE OUT MY WORDS TO REASON WITH HIM— _And choose out arguments against him._ This is in the judicial stile, and signifies the pleadings of the person accused. _To my judge,_ in the next verse, should be rendered, _to my adversary._ Heath. Houbigant renders the word which we translate _answer,... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I HAD CALLED, AND HE HAD ANSWERED ME— _But if I should call, that he might answer me, I could not easily believe that he would hear my voice;_ Job 9:17. _Since he hath broken me with a tempest, and inflicted many wounds upon me without cause,_ Job 9:18. _Nor hath given me space to take my breath,... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I SPEAK OF STRENGTH— _If we were to plead by strength, he is most strong; if by law, or judgment, who shall bear testimony for me?_ Houbigant. The meaning is, says Heath, "If I think to right myself by force, it is in vain; for he is infinitely stronger than I: if I choose to decide our dispute b... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I JUSTIFY MYSELF— _If I call myself righteous, my mouth shall condemn me: if innocent, it shall prove me perverse;_ Job 9:21. _Innocent,_ or _being innocent, yet would I not make trial; nor would my soul be less weary of life._ Houbigant and Schultens. The meaning of the 21st verse is sufficientl... [ Continue Reading ]
HE COVERETH THE FACES OF THE JUDGES— _He hath covered the face of the judgments which are done in it; but the cause of his anger who shall declare?_ That is, Who can set forth the reasons why God is angry at miserable mortals, and why he permits _the earth to the wicked?_ Houbigant. Heath, after the... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE SWIFT SHIPS, &C.— There are but two places that I remember, says Mr. Peters, in the book of Job, where there is any allusion to navigation. One in the present passage, where Job compares the course of human life, and the rapidity wherewith it passes, to the _swift ships,_ [_swiftest ships, mo... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM AFRAID OF ALL MY SORROWS— _I shudder in all my limbs._ Heath, after the LXX.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I BE WICKED, &C.— _I shall be esteemed as guilty; why, therefore, should I take so much pains?_ Houbigant. _Let me be condemned, why should I,_ &c. Heath.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I WASH MYSELF, &C.— i.e. Though I should appeal to my former life, spent in a religious, holy, and virtuous manner, yet this will be in vain; as I find, from the increase of my calamities, that I shall perish under them; and, being plunged into an immature death, shall have all my former ornament... [ Continue Reading ]
ANY DAY'S-MAN— _There is no one who may judge between us; who may lay his hand,_ &c. Houbigant. The laying the hand on both parties, implies a coercive power to enforce the execution of his decrees. This no one could have over the Almighty: it was in vain, therefore, to contend with Him. Heath. In s... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IT IS NOT SO WITH ME— _For thus I am not myself._ Houbigant. _But I am not sufficient master of myself._ Heath. REFLECTIONS.—1st, Without a reflection on the insinuations of his unkind friend, Job enters directly into the argument. 1. He admits God's justice as a sure truth, nor dared to questi... [ Continue Reading ]