CHAPTER IV _Eliphaz answers; and accuses Job of impatience, and of_ _despondence in the time of adversity_, 1-6; _asserts that no innocent man ever perished, and that the wicked_ _are afflicted for their sins_, 7-11; _relates a vision that he had_, 12-16, _and what was said to him on the occas... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:2. IF _WE ASSAY TO COMMUNE WITH THEE_] As if he had said, Should I and my friends endeavour to reason with thee ever so mildly, because we shall have many things to say by way of reprehension, thou wilt be grieved and faint; and this we may reasonably infer from the manner in which thou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:3. _THOU HAST INSTRUCTED MANY_] Thou hast seen many in affliction and distress, and thou hast given them such advice as was suitable to their state, and effectual to their relief; and by this means thou hast _strengthened the weak hands_, and _the feeble_ _knees_-the desponding have been... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:5. _BUT NOW IT IS COME UPON THEE_] Now it is thy turn to suffer, and give an example of the efficacy of thy own principles; but instead of this, behold, thou faintest. Either, therefore, thou didst _pretend_ to what thou hadst not; or thou art not making a proper use of the principles wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:6. IS _NOT_ THIS _THY FEAR_] I think _Coverdale_ hits the true meaning: _Where is now thy feare of God, thy stedfastnesse, thy_ _pacience, and the perfectnesse of thy life_? If these be genuine, surely there is no cause for all this complaint, vexation, and despair. That this is the mean... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:7. _REMEMBER, I PRAY THEE_] Recollect, if thou canst, a single instance where God abandoned an innocent man, or suffered him to perish. Didst thou ever hear of a case in which God abandoned a righteous man to destruction? Wert thou a righteous man, and innocent of all hidden crimes, woul... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:8. _THEY THAT PLOUGH INIQUITY_] A proverbial form of speech drawn from nature. Whatever seed a man sows in the ground, he reaps the same kind; for every seed produces its like. Thus Solomon, Proverbs 22:8: "He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity." And St. Paul, Galatians 6:7: "Be not... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:9. _BY THE BLAST OF GOD THEY PERISH_] As the noxious and parching east wind blasts and destroys vegetation, so the wicked perish under the indignation of the Almighty.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:10. _THE ROARING OF THE LION_] By the roaring lion, fierce lion, old lion, stout lion, and lion's whelps, tyrannous rulers of all kinds are intended. The design of Eliphaz in using these figures is to show that even those who are possessed of the greatest _authority_ and _power _- the _k... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:11. _THE OLD LION PERISHETH_] In this and the preceding verse the word _lion_ occurs _five times_; and in the original the words are all different: - 1. אריה aryeh, from ארה _arah_, to tear off. 2. שחל shachal, which as it appears to signify _black_ or _dark_, may mean the _black lion_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:12. _NOW A THING WAS SECRETLY BROUGHT TO ME_] To give himself the more authority, he professes to have received a vision from God, by which he was taught the secret of the Divine dispensations in providence; and a confirmation of the doctrine which he was now stating to Job; and which he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:13. _FROM THE VISIONS OF THE NIGHT_] "It is in vain," says Mr. _Good_, "to search through ancient or modern poetry for a description that has any pretensions to rival that upon which we are now entering. Midnight-solitude - the deep sleep of all around - the dreadful chill and horripilat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:17. _SHALL MORTAL MAN_] אנוש _enosh_; Greek βροτος. poor, weak, dying man. _BE MORE JUST THAN GOD?_] Or, האנוש מאלוה יצדק _haenosh meeloah_ _yitsdak_; shall poor, weak, sinful man be justified before God? _SHALL A MAN_] גבר _gaber_, shall even the _strong_ and _mighty_ _man_, be pure... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:18. _BEHOLD, HE PUT NO TRUST IN HIS SERVANTS_] This verse is generally understood to refer to the fall of angels; for there were some of those heavenly beings _who kept not their first_ _estate_: they did not persevere to the end of their probation, and therefore fell into condemnation,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:19. _HOW MUCH LESS_] Rather, with the VULGATE, _How much_ _more_? If angels may be unstable, how can man arrogate stability to himself who dwells in an earthly tabernacle, and who must shortly return to dust? _Crushed before the moth_? The slightest accident oftentimes destroys. "_A fly... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:20. _THEY ARE DESTROYED FROM MORNING TO EVENING_] In almost every moment of time some human being comes into the world, and some one departs from it. Thus are they "destroyed from morning to evening." _THEY PERISH FOR EVER_] יאבדו _yobedu; peribunt_, they _pass by_; they _go out of sigh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 4:21. _DOTH NOT THEIR EXCELLENCY - GO AWAY!_] Personal beauty, corporeal strength, powerful eloquence, and various mental endowments, pass away, or are _plucked up by the roots_; they are no more seen or heard among men, and their memory soon perisheth. _THEY DIE, EVEN WITHOUT WISDOM._]... [ Continue Reading ]