CHAPTER VI _Job answers, and vindicates himself; and shows that the great_ _affliction which he suffered was the cause of his complaining,_ _by which life was rendered burdensome to him_, 1-13. _He complains that, whereas he expected consolation from his_ _friends, he had received nothing but t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:2. _O THAT MY GRIEF WERE THOROUGHLY WEIGHED_] Job wished to be dealt with according to justice; as he was willing that his sins, if they could be proved, should be weighed against his sufferings; and if this could not be done, he wished that his sufferings and his complainings might be w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:3. _HEAVIER THAN THE SAND OF THE SEA_] This includes _two_ _ideas_: their _number_ was too great to be counted; their _weight_ was too great to be estimated.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:4. _THE ARROWS OF THE ALMIGHTY_] There is an evident reference here to _wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows_; and to the burning fever occasioned by such _wounds_, producing such an intense parching thirst as to dry up all the moisture in the system, stop all the salivary ducts, thicken... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:5. _DOTH THE WILD ASS_] פרא _pere_, translated _onager_, by the _Vulgate_, from the ονος αγριος of the _Septuagint_, which we properly enough, translate _wild ass_. It is the same with the _tame_ _ass_; only in a wild state it grows to a larger size, is stronger, and more fleet. The mean... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:6. _CAN THAT WHICH IS UNSAVOURY_] Mr. _Good_ renders this verse as follows: _Doth insipid food without a mixture of salt,_ _yea, doth the white of the egg give forth pungency_? Which he thus illustrates: "Doth that which hath nothing of seasoning, nothing of a pungent or irritable power... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:8. _O THAT I MIGHT HAVE_] As Job had no hope that he should ever be redeemed from his present helpless state, he earnestly begs God to shorten it by taking away his life.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:9. _LET LOOSE HIS HAND_] A metaphor taken from _an archer_ _drawing his arrow to the head_, and then _loosing his hold_, that _the_ _arrow may fly to the mark_. See on Job 6:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:10. _THEN SHOULD I YET HAVE COMFORT_] Instead of עוד _od_, YET, three of _Kennicott's_ and _De Rossi's_ MSS. have זאת _zoth_, THIS. _And THIS should be my comfort_. The expectation that he will speedily make an end of me would cause me to rejoice with great joy. This reading is supported... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:11. _WHAT_ IS _MY STRENGTH_] I can never suppose that my strength will be restored; and, were that possible, have I any comfortable prospect of a happy termination of my life? Had I any prospect of _future_ happiness, I might well bear my _present_ ills; but the state of my _body_ and th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:12. _IS MY STRENGTH THE STRENGTH OF STONES?_] I am neither a _rock_, nor is my flesh _brass_, that I can endure all these calamities. This is a proverbial saying, and exists in all countries. Cicero says, _Non enim est e saxo sculptus, aut e ROBORE_ _dolatus HOMO; habet corpus, habet ani... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:13. IS _NOT MY HELP IN ME?_] My help is all in myself; and, alas! that is perfect weakness: _and my subsistence_, תושיה tushiyah, all that is _real, stable_, and _permanent, is driven_ _quite from me_. My _friends_ have forsaken me, and I am abandoned to _myself_; my _property_ is all ta... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:14. _TO HIM THAT IS AFFLICTED PITY_ should be showed _from_ _his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty._] The _Vulgate_ gives a better sense, _Qui tollit ab amico suo_ _misericordiam, timorem Domini dereliquit_, "He who takes away mercy from his friend, hath cast off the fear... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:15. _HAVE DEALT DECEITFULLY AS A BROOK_] There is probably an allusion here to those _land torrents_ which make a sudden appearance, and as suddenly vanish; being produced by the rains that fall upon the mountains during the rainy season, and are soon absorbed by the thirsty sands over w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:16. _BLACKISH BY REASON OF THE ICE_] He represents the waters as being sometimes suddenly frozen, their foam being turned into the semblance of snow or hoar-frost: when the heat comes, they are speedily liquefied; and the evaporation is so strong from the heat, and the absorption so powe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:18. _THE PATHS OF THEIR WAY_] They sometimes forsake their _ancient channels_, which is a frequent case with the river _Ganges_; and growing smaller and smaller from being divided into numerous streams, _they go to nothing and perish _- are at last utterly lost in the sands.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:19. _THE TROOPS OF TEMA LOOKED_] The _caravans_ coming from _Tema_ are represented as arriving at those places where it was well known torrents did descend from the mountains, and they were full of expectation that here they could not only slake their thirst, but fill their _girbas_ or _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:21. _FOR NOW YE ARE NOTHING_] Ye are just to me as those deceitful torrents to the caravans of Tema and Sheba; they were _nothing_ to them; ye are _nothing_ to me. _YE SEE_ MY _CASTING DOWN_] Ye see that I have been hurried from my eminence into want and misery, as the flood from the to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:22. _DID I SAY, BRING UNTO ME?_] Why do you stand aloof? Have I asked you to bring me any presents? or to supply my wants out of your stores?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:23. _OR, DELIVER ME_] Did I send to you to come and avenge me of the destroyers of my property, or to rescue my substance out of the hands of my enemies?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:24. _TEACH ME_] Show me where I am mistaken. Bring proper arguments to convince me of my errors; and you will soon find that I shall gladly receive your counsels, and abandon the errors of which I may be convicted.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:25. _HOW FORCIBLE ARE RIGHT WORDS_] A well-constructed argument, that has truth for its basis, is _irresistible_. _BUT WHAT DOTH YOUR ARGUING REPROVE?_] Your _reasoning_ is defective, because your _premises_ are false; and your _conclusions_ prove nothing, because of the falsity of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:26. _DO YE IMAGINE TO REPROVE WORDS_] Is it some expressions which in my hurry, and under the pressure of unprecedented affliction, I have uttered, that ye catch at? You can find no flaw in my conduct; would ye _make me an OFFENDER for a WORD_? Why endeavour to take such advantage of a m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:27. _YE OVERWHELM THE FATHERLESS_] Ye see that I am as destitute as the most _miserable orphan_; would ye overwhelm such a one? and would you _dig a pit for your friend _- do ye lay wait for me, and endeavour to entangle me in my talk? I believe this to be the spirit of Job's words.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:28. _LOOK UPON ME_] View me; consider my circumstances; compare my words; and you must be convinced that I have spoken nothing but truth.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:29. _RETURN, I PRAY YOU_] _Reconsider the whole subject. Do_ _not be offended. Yea, reconsider the subject; my righteousness is_ _in it _- my argumentation is a sufficient proof of my innocence.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 6:30. _IS THERE INIQUITY IN MY TONGUE?_] Am I not an _honest_ man? and if in my haste my tongue had uttered _falsity_, would not my conscience discern it? and do you think that such a man as your friend is would defend what he knew to be wrong? I HAVE done what I could to make this chapte... [ Continue Reading ]