CHAPTER XXXVI _Elihu vindicates God's justice, and his providential and_ _gracious dealings with men_, 1-9. _Promises of God to the obedient, and threatenings to the_ _disobedient; also promises to the poor and afflicted_, 10-16. _Sundry proofs of God's merely, with suitable exhortations and_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:2. _THAT_ I HAVE _YET TO SPEAK ON GOD'S BEHALF._] I have other proofs to allege in behalf of God's justice and providence.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:3. _I WILL FETCH MY KNOWLEDGE FROM AFAR_] למרחוק _lemerachok,_ "from the distant place," meaning probably both _remote antiquity_ and _heaven_; see below. I will show thee that all antiquity and experience are on my side. I can bring proofs from the remotest ages and from the most dista... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:4. _MY WORDS_ SHALL _NOT_ BE _F__alse_] My words shall be truth without falsity. _HE THAT IS PERFECT IN KNOWLEDGE_ IS _WITH THEE._] "The perfection of knowledge is with thee." Thou art a sensible, well-informed man, and will be able to judge of what I say.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:5. _GOD IS MIGHTY AND DESPISETH NOT ANY_] He reproaches no man for his want of knowledge. _If any man lack wisdom, he may come_ _to God, who giveth liberally, and upbraideth not_. I prefer this to the _passive_ sense, _will not be despised_. HE IS _MIGHTY_] Literally, "He is mighty in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:6. _HE PRESERVETH NOT THE LIFE_] He will not give _life_ to the wicked; all such forfeit life by their transgressions. _BUT GIVETH RIGHT_] Justice will he give to the afflicted or _humble_, עניים aniyim.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:7. _HE WITHDRAWETH NOT HIS EYES_] Exactly similar to those words of David, Psalms 34:15: "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous." _BUT WITH KINGS_ ARE THEY _ON THE THRONE_] I think the words should be read thus:-"But with kings upon the throne shall he place them; and they shall... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:8. _AND IF_ THEY BE _BOUND IN FETTERS_] These are _means_ which God uses, not of _punishment_, but of _correction_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:9. _HE SHOWETH THEM THEIR WORK_] He shows them the exceeding sinfulness of sin. _THAT THEY HAVE EXCEEDED._] יתגברו _yithgabbaru_, "that they have strengthened themselves," and did not trust in the living God; and therefore they would not help themselves when trouble came.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:10. _HE OPENETH ALSO THEIR EAR_] He gives them to _understand_ the reason why they are thus corrected, and commands them to _return_ from those iniquities which have induced him to visit them with afflictions and distresses.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:11. _IF THEY OBEY AND SERVE_ HIM] There may appear in the course of Providence to be some exceptions to this _general rule_; but it is most true, that this is literally or spiritually fulfilled to all the genuine followers of God. Every man is happy, in whatsoever circumstances, whose h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:12. _BUT IF THEY OBEY NOT_] This also is a _general rule_, from which, in the course of Providence, there are only few, and those only _apparent_, deviations. Instead of _they shall perish by_ _the sword_, the meaning of the Hebrew בשלח יעברו _beshelach yaaboru,_ is, "By a dart they sha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:13. _BUT THE HYPOCRITES IN HEART_] חנפי _chanphey, the_ _profligates, the impious_, those who have neither the _form_ nor the _power_ of godliness. The _hypocrite_ is he who has the _form_ but not the _power_, though he wishes to be thought as _inwardly_ righteous as he is _outwardly_ c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:14. _THEY DIE IN YOUTH_] Exactly what the psalmist says, "Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out _half their days_," Psalms 55:23. Literally, the words of Elihu are, "They shall die in the youth of their soul." _THEIR LIFE_ IS _AMONG THE UNCLEAN._] בקדשים _bakedeshim_, among the w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:15. _AND OPENETH THEIR EARS IN OPPRESSION._] He will let them know for what end they are afflicted, and _why_ he permits them to be oppressed. The word יגל _yigel_ might be translated _he shall_ _make them exult_, or _sing with joy_, in oppression; like the three Hebrews in the burning... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:16. _EVEN SO WOULD HE HAVE REMOVED THEE_] If thou hadst turned to, obeyed, and served him, thy present state would have been widely different from what it is.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:17. _BUT THOU HAST FULFILLED THE JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED_] As thou art acting like the wicked, so God deals with thee as he deals with them. Elihu is not a whit behind Job's other friends. None of them seems to have known any thing of the permission given by God to Satan to afflict and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:18. _BECAUSE_ THERE IS _WRATH_] This is a time in which God is punishing the wicked; take heed lest thou be cut off in a moment. Redeem the time; the days are evil. _THEN A GREAT RANSOM_] When he determines to _destroy_, who can _save_?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:20. _DESIRE NOT THE NIGHT_] Thou hast wished for _death_; (here called _night_;) desire it not; leave that with God. If he hear thee, and send _death_, thou mayest be cut off in a way at which thy soul would shudder.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:21. _REGARD NOT INIQUITY_] It is sinful to entertain such wishes; it is an insult to the providence of God. _He_ sends affliction; he knows this to be best for thee: but _thou_ hast preferred _death_ to _affliction_, thereby setting thy wisdom against the wisdom of God. Many in afflicti... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:22. _GOD EXALTETH BY HIS POWER_] He has brought thee low, but he can raise thee up. Thou art not yet out of the reach of his mercy. Thy affliction is a proof that he acts towards thee as a merciful Parent. He knows what is best to be done; he teaches thee how thou shouldst suffer and im... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:23. _WHO HATH ENJOINED HIM HIS WAY_] Has God taken instructions from any man how he shall govern the world? _THOU HAST WROUGHT INIQUITY?_] Who can prove, in the whole compass of the creation, that there is one thing _imperfect, superabundant_, or _out of its place_? Who can show that t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:24. _REMEMBER THAT THOU MAGNIFY HIS WORK_] Take this into consideration; instead of fretting against the dispensations of Divine providence, and quarrelling with thy Maker, attentively survey his works; consider the operation of his hands; and see the proofs of his _wisdom_ in the _plan... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:25. _EVERY MAN MAY SEE IT_] He who says he can examine the earth with a philosophic eye, and the heavens with the eye of an astronomer, and yet says he cannot see in them a system of infinite skill and contrivance, must be ignorant of science, or lie against his conscience, and be utter... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:26. _GOD_ IS _GREAT_] He is _omnipotent_. _WE KNOW_ HIM _NOT_] He is _unsearchable_. _NEITHER CAN THE NUMBER OF HIS YEARS BE SEARCHED OUT._] He is _eternal_. These three propositions are an ample foundation for endless disquisition. As to paraphrase and comment, they need none in thi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:27. _HE MAKETH SMALL THE DROPS OF WATER_] This appears simply to refer to _evaporation_, and perhaps it would be better to translate יגרע _yegara_, "he exhales;" detaches the smallest particles of the aqueous mass from the surface in order to form _clouds_, as _reservoirs_ for the purpo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:28. _WHICH THE CLOUDS DO DROP_] In proportion to the _evaporation_ will be the _clouds_ or _masses of volatilized_ and _suspended vapour_; and in proportion to this will be the quantum of _rain_ which in different forms will fall upon the earth. There is a remarkable addition to this v... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:29. _CAN_ ANY _UNDERSTAND THE SPREADINGS OF THE CLOUDS_] Though the _vapour_ appear to be fortuitously raised, and subject, when suspended in the atmosphere, to innumerable _accidents_, to different winds and currents which might drive it all to the _sandy_ _deserts_, or direct its cour... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:30. _HE SPREADETH HIS LIGHT UPON IT_] Or, as Mr. _Good_ translates, "He throweth forth from it his flash." These two verses may both have an allusion to the sudden rarefaction of that part of the atmosphere whence the thunder proceeds, by the agency of the electric fluid; the _rushing i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:31. _BY THEM JUDGETH HE THE PEOPLE_] He makes storms, tempests, winds, hurricanes, tornadoes, thunder and lightning, drought and inundation, the instruments of his justice, to punish rebellious nations. _HE GIVETH MEAT IN ABUNDANCE._] Though by these he punishes offenders, yet through... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:32. _WITH CLOUDS HE COVERETH THE LIGHT._] This is all extraordinary saying, על כפים כמה אור _al cappayim kissah or_, which Mr. _Good_ translates, "He brandisheth the blaze athwart the concave." The _Vulgate_, with which all the other _versions_ less or more agree, has, _In manibus absco... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 36:33. _THE NOISE THEREOF SHOWETH CONCERNING IT, THE CATTLE_ _ALSO CONCERNING THE VAPOUR._] I think this translation very unhappy. I shall give each hemistich in the original: - יגיד עליו רעו _Yaggid alaiv reo_ מקנה אף על עולה _Mikneh aph al oleh._ I think this may be translated witho... [ Continue Reading ]