XIX. (2) HOW LONG? — Job begins as Bildad himself had begun in both cases. His last speech had been so offensive and unfeeling that Job may well ask “How long will ye _vex my soul,_ and break me in pieces with _words?”_ Moreover, Bildad had infused a kind of personal malice into his charges, which... [ Continue Reading ]
KNOW NOW THAT GOD HATH OVERTHROWN ME. — Bildad had spoken a great deal about the wicked being snared by his own sin, and now Job, without actually quoting his words — for he uses a word for _net_ that Bildad had not used — speaks to their substance. It is _God_ who has taken him in His net and compa... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD I CRY OUT OF WRONG. — The description he now gives of himself as persecuted and forsaken by God is necessary to enhance the value of the confession he is about to make. Severely has God dealt with him, but that severity of dealing has only drawn him nearer to God and made him trust the more.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH ALSO KINDLED... — Comp. Job 16:9; Job 16:12, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH PUT MY BRETHREN FAR FROM ME. — The Psalmist has apparently copied this in Psalms 88:8. The sense of human desertion is hardly less terrible than that of being forsaken by God, and this has been added to him. It is not easy to read these sad complaints of Job without seeing how fitly they app... [ Continue Reading ]
THOUGH I INTREATED FOR THE CHILDREN’S SAKE OF MINE OWN BODY. — Rather, _and so is my affection or kindness_ (see Psalms 77:10, where the same word occurs) _to the children of my mother’s womb, i.e., my brethren._ Others render, _I am become offensive to,_ &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
MY INWARD FRIENDS. — That is, _my intimate friends: the men of my counsel who are familiar with my secret affairs. _... [ Continue Reading ]
_(_20_)_ MY BONE CLEAVETH TO MY SKIN AND TO MY FLESH in one indistinguishable mass, and I have escaped with the skin of my teeth, because the teeth have no skin, or, as others explain, because the teeth have fallen out. This expression, which is by no means clear in the context, has passed into a pr... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE PITY UPON ME. — Now comes once more an exceeding great and bitter cry. (Comp. Job 16:20.)... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY DO YE PERSECUTE ME AS GOD? — Comp. Job 16:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
OH THAT MY WORDS WERE NOW WRITTEN! — Some understand this to refer to the words he is about to utter; by others they are interpreted generally. The former view is probably owing to the Christian acceptation given to them, and the consequently great importance attaching to them. Since, however, the t... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVETH. — _We_ must carefully note all the passages which lead up to this one. First, we must bear in mind that Bildad (Job 18:17) had threatened Job with the extinction of his _name and memory,_ so he now appeals to the verdict of futurity, and with what success we ourse... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOUGH AFTER MY SKIN. — The word _skin_ is probably put by the common metonymy of a part for the whole for _body._ “After they have thus destroyed my skin,” or “after my skin hath been thus destroyed” — or, “and after my skin hath been destroyed — this shall be: that even from my flesh I shall s... [ Continue Reading ]
MY REINS BE CONSUMED WITHIN ME. — _i.e.,_ with longing to see Him; literally, _my reins are consumed in my bosom._ The words “in my flesh” may mean _from my flesh,_ or, w_ithout my flesh._ Taken in the former sense and applied to the future, it is hard not to recognise in them, at the least, some di... [ Continue Reading ]
SEEING THE ROOT OF THE MATTER. — This verse is variously understood, according as “the root of the matter” is interpreted of the cause of suffering or the essence of piety. “For ye say, How we will persecute him, and that the root of the matter is found in me.” The Authorised Version takes the other... [ Continue Reading ]
BE YE AFRAID... — Job threatens his friends with that condign punishment of which they regarded him as a conspicuous example.... [ Continue Reading ]