CHAPTER X _Job is weary of life, and expostulates with God_, 1-6. _He appeals to God for his innocence; and pleads on the weakness_ _of his frame, and the manner of his formation_, 7-13. _Complains of his sufferings, and prays for respite_, 14-20. _Describes the state of the dead_, 21, 22. NOT... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:2. _DO NOT CONDEMN ME_] Let me not be afflicted in thy wrath. _SHOW ME WHEREFORE THOU CONTENDEST_] If I am afflicted because of my sins, show me what that sin is. God never afflicts but for past sin, or to try his followers; or for the greater manifestation of his grace in their suppor... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:3. IS IT _GOOD UNTO THEE_] Surely it can be no gratification to thee to distress the children of men, as if thou didst despise the work of thy own hands. _AND SHINE UPON THE COUNSEL_] For by my afflictions the harsh judgments of the wicked will appear to be confirmed: viz., that God re... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:4. _HAST THOU EYES OF FLESH!_] Dost thou judge as _man_ judges? Illustrated by the next clause, _Seest thou as man seeth_?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:5. ARE _THY DAYS AS THE DAYS OF MAN_] אנוש _enosh, wretched,_ _miserable man_. _Thy years as man's days_; גבר gaber, the strong _man_. Thou art not short-lived, like man in his present imperfect state; nor can the years of the long-lived patriarchs be compared with thine. The difference... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:6. _THAT THOU INQUIREST_] Is it becoming thy infinite dignity to concern thyself so much with the affairs or transgressions of a despicable mortal? A word spoken in the heart of most sinners.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:7. _THOU KNOWEST THAT I AM NOT WICKED_] While thou hast this knowledge of me and my conduct, why appear to be sifting me as if in order to find out sin; and though none can be found, treating me as though I were a transgressor?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:8. _THINE HANDS HAVE MADE ME_] Thou art well acquainted with human nature, for thou art its author. _AND FASHIONED ME TOGETHER ROUND ABOUT_] All my powers and faculties have been planned and executed by thyself. It is thou who hast refined the materials out of which I have been formed,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:9. _THOU HAST MADE ME AS THE CLAY_] Thou hast fashioned me, according to thy own mind, out of a mass of clay: after so much skill and pains expended, men might naturally suppose they were to have a permanent being; but thou hast decreed to turn them into dust!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:10. _HAST THOU NOT POURED ME OUT AS MILK_] After all that some learned men have said on this subject, in order to confine the images here to simple _nutrition_, I am satisfied that _generation_ is the true notion. _Respicit ad_ fetus _in_ matris utero _primam formationem, quum in embryo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:12. _THOU HAST GRANTED ME LIFE AND FAVOUR_] Thou hast brought me from my mother's womb; given me an actual existence among men; by thy favour or mercy thou hast provided me with the means of life; and _thy visitation _- thy continual providential care, has _preserved_ me _in life _- has... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:13. _AND THESE_ THINGS _HAST THOU HID IN THINE HEART_] Thou hast had many gracious purposes concerning me which thou hast not made known; but thy visitations and mercy are sufficient proofs of kindness towards me; though for purposes unknown to me thou hast sorely afflicted me, and cont... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:14. _IF I SIN_] From thee nothing can be hidden; if I sin, thou takest account of the transgression, and canst not hold me for innocent when thou knowest I am guilty.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:15. _IF I BE WICKED_] I must meet with that punishment that is due to the workers of iniquity. If _I BE RIGHTEOUS_] I am only in the state which my duty to my Creator requires me to be in; and I cannot therefore suppose that on this account I can deserve any thing by way of _favour_ fr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:16. _FOR IT INCREASETH._] Probably this refers to the _affliction_ mentioned above, which is increased in proportion to its duration. Every day made his escape from such a load of evils less and less probable. _THOU HUNTEST ME AS A FIERCE LION_] As the hunters attack the king of beasts... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:17. _THOU RENEWEST THY WITNESSES_] In this speech of Job he is ever referring to _trials in courts of judicature_, and almost all his terms are _forensic_. Thou bringest witnesses in continual succession to confound and convict me. _CHANGES AND WAR_] I am as if attacked by successive t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:18. _WHEREFORE THEN_] Why didst thou give me a being, when thou didst foresee I should be exposed to such incredible hardships? See on Job 3:10, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:19. _I SHOULD HAVE BEEN AS THOUGH_] Had I given up the ghost as soon as born, as I could not then have been conscious of existence, it would have been, as it respects myself, as though I had never been; being immediately transported from my mother's womb to the grave.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:20. ARE _NOT MY DAYS FEW?_] My life cannot be long; let me have a little respite before I die.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:21. _I SHALL NOT RETURN_] I shall not return again from the _dust_ to have a dwelling among _men_. _TO THE LAND OF DARKNESS_] Job 3:5. There are here a crowd of obscure and dislocated terms, admirably expressive of the obscurity and uncertainty of the subject. What do we know of the st... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 10:22. WHERE _THE LIGHT_ IS _AS DARKNESS._] A palpable obscure: it is space and place, and has only such light or capability of distinction as renders "darkness visible." The following words of _Sophocles_ convey the same idea: Ιω σκοτος εμοι φαος; "Thou darkness be my light." It is, as t... [ Continue Reading ]