Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
Reply of Job to Bildad. JOB
IX. No Contending with God,
own hlra. 19. Bitter Irony. The hypocrite boasts of and was therefore &fool, and was chained in the sky as a punishment; for its rising is at the stormy period of the year. He is JVimrod (the exceedingly imjnous rebel) among the Assyrians ; Orton among the Greeks. Sabaisra (worship of tlie heavenly hosts) and hero-worship were blended in his person. He first subverted the patriarchal order of society by substituting a chieftainship based on conquest (Genesis 10.9,10). Pleiades lit., "the heap of stars;" Arabic, "knot of stars." The various names of this constellation in tlie East expresses the close union of the stars in it (Amos 5. 8). chambers of the south—The unseen regions of the southern hemisphere, with its own. set of stars, as distinguished from tliose just mentioned of the northern. The true structure of the earth is liere implied. 10. Repeated from Kliphaz, ch. 5.9. 11'. I see Him not: He passeth on—The image is that of a howling wind (Isaiah 21. 1). L>ke it when it bursts invisibly upon man : so God is felt in the awful effects of His wrath, but is not seen (John 3.8). Therefore, reasons Job, it ia impossible to contend with Him. 13. If "He taketh away," as in my case all that was dear to me, still a mortal cannot call Him to account. He only takes His own. He is an absolute King (Ecclesiastes 8. 4; Daniel 4, Joy. This then is his "joy " at tlie last, and out of tlie eartb- -Otliers immediately, who take the place of the man thus punished. Not jrocZ?^ men (Matthew 3. 9). For "tire place " of the weeds is among stones, where the gardener wishes no plants. But, un(/odly ; a fresh crop of weeci* always springs up in the hooiu of those torn up: there is no end of liypocrites on earth. [Umbkeit.] 30. Bildad regards Job as a righteous man, wlio lias fallen
Into sin. "God will not cast otT for ever a perfect" (or godly man, such as Job was), if he will only repent.
Tliose alone who persevere in sin God will not help" {Hebrew, take by the hand; Psalm 73. 23; Isaiah 41. 13; 42.
8) when fiillen. 31. Till—lit., " to the point tliat;" God's blessing on thee, when repentant, will go on increasing to the point that, or until, &c. aa. The haters of Job are the wicked. They shall be clothed with sliame (Jeremiah
3. 25 ; Psalm 35. 26 ; 1U9. 29), at the failure of their hope, that Job would utterly perish, and because they, instead of him, come to nauglit.
CHAPTER IX,
3'j). 13. If God—Ratlier, "God will not witlidraw His ar.Ksr," t. e., so long as a mortal obstinately resists. [UmBREIT.] tike proud helpers The arrogant, wlio would help one contending witli tlie Almighty, are of no avail against Him. 14. How much less shall II—Wlio am weak—seeing that the mighty have to sloop before Him. Clioose words (use a ivell-chosen speech, in order to reason) with Him. 15. (Ch. 10. 15.) Though I were conscious of no sin, yet I would not dare to say so, but leave it to His judgment and mercy to justify me (1 Corinthians 4.4). 16, 17. "I would not believe that He had liearkened unto my voice, who breaketh me (as a tree stript of its leaves) with a tempest." ly. Umbkeit takes these as the words of God, translating, "What availeth the might of the strong?" "Here (saithhe) behold! wliat availeth justice? Who will appoint me a time to plead ?" (So Jeremiah 49.
FIRST SERIES.
Ver. 1-35. Reply of Job to Bildad. 3. I Iti»ow that It is so—That God does not " pervert justice " (8. 3). But (even though I be sure of being in the right) how can a mere man assert ills right—(be just) with God. The gospel answers (Romans 3. 26). 3. If He (God) will conleud with him—iii., " deign to enter into judgment." he cannot answer, &c.—He (man) would not dure, even if he had a thousand answers in readiness to one question of God's, to utter one of them, from awe of his Majesty. Hebrew, Wise in heart (understanding) ! And miglity in power ! God confounds the ablest arguer by His wisdom, and the mightiest by His power, hardened—viz., himself, or his »iec/k (Proverbs 29. 1); i.e., defied God. To prosper, one must fall in with God's arrangements of providence and grace. 5. and they know not—Hebrew for " suddenly, unexpectedly, before they are aware of it " (Psalm
19). Tlie last words certainly apply better to God llian to Job. The sense is substaniially the same if we make "me," with English Version, apply to Job. The "lo!" expresses God's swift readiness lor battle when challenged. 30. it—(ch. 15. e ; Luke 19. 22) ; or " Ae," God. 31. Lit., here (and in d. 20). "I perfect! I should not know my soul! I would despise (disown) my life;" t.e.. Though conscious of Innocence, I should be compelled, in contending with the intlnite God, to ignore my own soul and despise my past life as if it were guilty. Li^'OSE.v.MULLEii.] 33. one thing—"It is all one; whether perlect <.>v wicked—He destroyeth." This was the point Job maintained against his friends, that the righteous and wicked alike are afflicted, and that great sufl'erlngs here do not prove great guilt (Luke 13.1^; Ecclesiastes 9.2). 33. If— Rather, " While (His) scourge slays suddenly (the wicked, v. 22), He laughs at {disregards ; not derides) the pining away of the Innocent." The only dllt'erence, .says Job, between the innocent and guilty is, the latter are slain by a sudden strolie, the former pine away gradually. The translation, " trial," does not express the antithesis to "slay suddenly," as "pining away" does. [UMliitEiT.] 34. Referring to righteous judges, in antithesis to "the wicked" in the parallel first clause. Whereas the tvickcd oppressor often has the eartli given into his hand, the righteous /i(t/(7C« are led to execulio' , culprits had their /acc.v covered preparatory to execution (Esther 7.8). Thus the contrast of the wicked and rigliteous here iinsweis to that in v. 23. It not, where and wlioT If God be not the cause of these anomalies, u'here is the cause to be found, an<l J(7/o is hef 35. a post—A courier. In the wide Persian empire such couriers, on dromedaries or on foot, were enii)loyed to carry the royal commands to the distant provinces (Esther 3. 13, 15; 8. 14). My days are not lilce the slow caravan, but the fleet post. The days are themselves poetically said to see no good. Instead of Job in them (1 Peter 3. 10). 30. swift ships—Rather, canoes of reeds or papyrus skiffs, used on the Nile, swift from their lightness (Isaiah 18.2). 38. The apodosis to 27—" If I saj', &c." " I still am afl-aid
35. 8); "at unawares;" //eftrew, wiiich he knoweth not of (Joel 2. 14; Proverbs 5. 6). 6. The earth is regarded, poetically, as resting on pillars, which tremble in an earthquake (Psalm 75. 3; Isaiah 24. 20). The literal truth as to tlie earth is given (26. 7). 7. Tlie sun, at His command, dotli not rise viz., in an eclipse, or the darkness that accompanies earth Quakes (u. 6). sealeth up i. e., totally covers, as one would seal up a room, that Its contents may not be seen. 8. spreadcth out—(Isaiah 40. 22; Psalm 104. 2). But throughout it is not so much God's creating, as His governing, power over nature that is set forth. A storm seems a struggle between Nature and her Lord ! Better, tlierefore, " Who bowelh the heavens alone," without help of any other. God descends from tlie bowed-down heaven to the earth (Psalm
18. 9). The storm, wherein the clouds descend, suggests thislmage. In the descent of the vault of heaven, God has come down from His high throne, and walks majestic over the mountain waves {Hebrew, heights), as a conquei-or taming their violence. So tread upon (Deuteronomy 33.
29; Amos 4.13; Mattliew 14.26). The Egyptian hieroglyphic for impossibility is a man walking on wave.s.
9. maketh—Rather, from the Arabic, covereth up. This accords better with tlie context, whicli describes His boundless power as controller rather tlian as creator. [Umureit.] Arctunis—The great bear, wliich always revolves about the pole, and never sets. The Chaldeans and Aral)s, early named and grouped in constellations the stars; often travelling and tending flocks by night, they would naturally do so, especially as the rise and setting of some stars mark the distincti<m of seasons. Brinki.ey, iiresiiming the stars here mentioned to be those of Taurus and Scorpio, and that these were the cardinal conslellalions of spring and autumn In Job's time, calculates, l)y the precession of equinoxes, the time of Job to l)e 818 years after tlie deluge, and 1S4 before Abraham. Orion— Ilehri-w, the fool; in ch. 38.31 lie appears fettered with "bands." The old legend represented this Star an a hero, who presumptuously rebelled against God,