INTRODUCTION TO JOB 42 This chapter contains Job's answer to the last speech of the Lord's, in which he acknowledges his omnipotence, and his certain performance of his purposes and pleasure; owns his own folly and ignorance, and confesses his sins; for which he abhorred himself, and of which he re... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN JOB ANSWERED THE LORD, AND SAID. For though he had said he would answer no more, Job 40:5; yet he might mean not in the manner he had, complaining of God and justifying himself; besides he might change his mind without any imputation of falsehood or a lie; see Jeremiah 20:9; to which may be ad... [ Continue Reading ]
I KNOW THAT THOU CANST DO EVERY [THING],.... As the works of creation, and the sustentation of them, show; so the Targum, "thou sustainest all things,'' and can manage, every creature made by him, even such as were not tractable by men, such as behemoth and leviathan, the creatures last instanced... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO [IS] HE THAT HIDETH COUNSEL WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE?.... It may be understood, and supplied, as it is by Cocceius, "thou didst say"; as the Lord had said, or to this purpose, Job 38:2; to which Job here replies, I am the foolish man that has done it, I own it with sorrow, shame, and confusion: or it m... [ Continue Reading ]
HEAR, I BESEECH THEE, AND I WILL SPEAK,.... Not in the manner he had before, complaining of God and justifying himself, but in a way of humble entreaty of favours of him, of confession of sin before him, and of acknowledgment of his wisdom, goodness, and justice in all his dealings with him, which b... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE HEARD OF THEE BY THE HEARING OF THE EAR,.... From his ancestors, who in a traditionary way had handed down from one to another what they knew of God, his will and worship, his works and ways; and from those who had the care of his education, parents and tutors, who had instilled the principle... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE I ABHOR [MYSELF],.... Or all my words, as Aben Ezra; all the indecent expressions he had uttered concerning God; he could not bear to think of them; he loathed them, and himself on account of them: sin is abominable in its own nature, and makes men so; it is loathsome to God, and so it is... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT WAS [SO],.... What follows came to pass: THAT AFTER THE LORD HAD SPOKEN THESE WORDS UNTO JOB; which he spake to him out of the whirlwind, and after he had heard Job's confession, and the declaration he made of his humiliation and repentance: THE LORD SAID TO ELIPHAZ THE TEMANITE; who with h... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE TAKE UNTO YOU NOW SEVEN BULLOCKS, AND SEVEN RAMS,.... Creatures used in sacrifice before the giving of the Levitical law, Genesis 4:4; and the same number of the same creatures were offered by Balaam in the country of Moab, not far from where Job lived, nor at any great distance of time fr... [ Continue Reading ]
SO ELIPHAZ THE TEMANITE, AND BILDAD THE SHUHITE, [AND] ZOPHAR THE NAAMATHITE, WENT,.... Having taken the above creatures for sacrifice, as directed, they went to Job with them; AND DID ACCORDING AS THE LORD COMMANDED THEM; offered them by Job for a burnt offering, and desired him to pray for them.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD TURNED THE CAPTIVITY OF JOB,.... Not literally, in such sense as Lot's captivity was turned, Genesis 14:12; for Job's person was not seized on and carried away, though his cattle were: nor spiritually, being delivered from the captivity of sin; that had been his case many years ago, whe... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CAME THERE UNTO HIM ALL HIS BRETHREN, AND ALL HIS SISTERS,.... Which may be taken not in a strict sense, but in a larger sense for all that were related to him; the same with his kinsfolks, Job 19:14; AND ALL THEY THAT HAD BEEN OF HIS ACQUAINTANCE BEFORE; that knew him, visited him, conversed... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THE LORD BLESSED THE LATTER END OF JOB MORE THAN HIS BEGINNING,.... Which verified the words of Bildad, Job 8:6; though they were spoken by him only by way of supposition. All blessings are of the Lord, temporal and spiritual; and sometimes the last days of a good man are his best, as to temporal... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HAD ALSO SEVEN SONS, AND THREE DAUGHTERS. The same number of children, and of the same sort he had before, Job 1:2; and according to Nachman the very same he had before, which the additional letter in the word "seven" is with him the notification of; so that the doubting of what he had before, Jo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CALLED THE NAME OF THE FIRST JEMIMA,.... That is, the name of the first and eldest daughter was called by Job Jemima; which either signifies "day", so the Targum interprets it, and most do, and so is the same with Diana; or, as Spanheim u observes, it may be the same with the Arabic word "jem... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN ALL THE LAND WERE NO WOMEN FOUND [SO] FAIR AS THE DAUGHTERS OF JOB,.... Either in the whole world, which is not improbable: or it may be rather in the land or country in which they dwelt; and which may be gathered from their names, as before observed. The people of God, and children of Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THIS LIVED JOB AN HUNDRED AND FORTY YEARS,.... Not after he had arrived to the height of his prosperity; not after the birth of his children, and they were grown up, and had their portions given them, which must take in a considerable number of years; but after his afflictions were over, and h... [ Continue Reading ]
SO JOB DIED,.... As every man does, though he lived so long, and as Methuselah the oldest man did, Genesis 5:27; and though a good man, the best of men die as well as others: so Job died, as a good man, in the Lord, in faith and hope of eternal life and happiness; and so he died in all his outward p... [ Continue Reading ]