Job 10 commentary

Job, being weary of his life, resolves to complain, but he will not charge God with unrighteousness. Here is a prayer that he might be delivered from the sting of his afflictions, which is sin. When God afflicts us, he contends with us; when he contends with us, there is always a reason; and it is desirable to know the reason, that we may repent of and forsake the sin for which God has a controversy with us. But when, like Job, we speak in the bitterness of our souls, we increase guilt and vexation. Let us harbour no hard thoughts of God; we shall hereafter see there was no cause for them. Job is sure that God does not discover things, nor judge of them, as men do; therefore he thinks it strange that God continues him under affliction, as if he must take time to inquire into his sin.

Job seems to argue with God, as if he only formed and preserved him for misery. God made us, not we ourselves. How sad that those bodies should be instruments of unrighteousness, which are capable of being temples of the Holy Ghost! But the soul is the life, the soul is the man, and this is the gift of God. If we plead with ourselves as an inducement to duty, God made me and maintains me, we may plead as an argument for mercy, Thou hast made me, do thou new-make me; I am thine, save me.

Job did not deny that as a sinner he deserved his sufferings; but he thought that justice was executed upon him with peculiar rigour. His gloom, unbelief, and hard thoughts of God, were as much to be ascribed to Satan's inward temptations, and his anguish of soul, under the sense of God's displeasure, as to his outward trials, and remaining depravity. Our Creator, become in Christ our Redeemer also, will not destroy the work of his hands in any humble believer; but will renew him unto holiness, that he may enjoy eternal life. If anguish on earth renders the grave a desirable refuge, what will be their condition who are condemned to the blackness of darkness for ever? Let every sinner seek deliverance from that dreadful state, and every believer be thankful to Jesus, who delivereth from the wrath to come.

CHAPTER 10

Job 10:1-22. Job's Reply to Bildad Continued.

1. leave my complaint upon myself--rather, "I will give loose to my complaint" (Job 7:11).

2. show me, &c.--Do not, by virtue of Thy mere sovereignty, treat me as guilty without showing me the reasons.

3. Job is unwilling to think God can have pleasure in using His power to "oppress" the weak, and to treat man, the work of His own hands, as of no value (Job 10:8; Psa 138:8).

shine upon--favor with prosperity (Psa 50:2).

4-6. Dost Thou see as feebly as man? that is, with the same uncharitable eye, as, for instance, Job's friends? Is Thy time as short? Impossible! Yet one might think, from the rapid succession of Thy strokes, that Thou hadst no time to spare in overwhelming me.

7. "Although Thou (the Omniscient) knowest," &c. (connected with Job 10:6), "Thou searchest after my sin."

and ... that none that can deliver out of thine hand--Therefore Thou hast no need to deal with me with the rapid violence which man would use (see Job 10:6).

8. Made--with pains; implying a work of difficulty and art; applying to God language applicable only to man.

together round about--implying that the human body is a complete unity, the parts of which on all sides will bear the closest scrutiny.

9. clay--Job 10:10 proves that the reference here is, not so much to the perishable nature of the materials, as to their wonderful fashioning by the divine potter.

10. In the organization of the body from its rude commencements, the original liquid gradually assumes a more solid consistency, like milk curdling into cheese (Psa 139:15, 16). Science reveals that the chyle circulated by the lacteal vessels is the supply to every organ.

11. fenced--or "inlaid" (Psa 139:15); "curiously wrought" [Umbreit]. In the foetus the skin appears first, then the flesh, then the harder parts.

12. visitation--Thy watchful Providence.

spirit--breath.

13. is with thee--was Thy purpose. All God's dealings with Job in his creation, preservation, and present afflictions were part of His secret counsel (Psa 139:16; Ac 15:18; Ec 3:11).

14-15. Job is perplexed because God "marks" every sin of his with such ceaseless rigor. Whether "wicked" (godless and a hypocrite) or "righteous" (comparatively sincere), God condemns and punishes alike.

16. increaseth--rather, "(if) I lift up (my head) Thou wouldest hunt me," &c. [Umbreit].

and again--as if a lion should not kill his prey at once, but come back and torture it again.

17. witnesses--His accumulated trials were like a succession of witnesses brought up in proof of his guilt, to wear out the accused.

changes and war--rather, "(thou settest in array) against me host after host" (literally, "changes and a host," that is, a succession of hosts); namely, his afflictions, and then reproach upon reproach from his friends.

20. But, since I was destined from my birth to these ills, at least give me a little breathing time during the few days left me (Job 9:34; 13:21; Psa 39:13).

22. The ideas of order and light, disorder and darkness, harmonize (Ge 1:2). Three Hebrew words are used for darkness; in Job 10:21 (1) the common word "darkness"; here (2) "a land of gloom" (from a Hebrew root, "to cover up"); (3) as "thick darkness" or blackness (from a root, expressing sunset). "Where the light thereof is like blackness." Its only sunshine is thick darkness. A bold figure of poetry. Job in a better frame has brighter thoughts of the unseen world. But his views at best wanted the definite clearness of the Christian's. Compare with his words here Re 21:23; 22:5; 2Ti 1:10.

My soul is weary of my life - Here is a proof that נפש nephesh does not signify the animal life, but the soul or immortal mind, as distinguished from חי chai, that animal life; and is a strong proof that Job believed in the distinction between these two principles; was no materialist; but, on the contrary, credited the proper immortality of the soul. This is worthy of observation. See Job 12:10.

I will leave my complaint - I still charge myself with the cause of my own calamities; and shall not charge my Maker foolishly: but I must deplore my wretched and forlorn state.

Do not condemn me - Let me not be afflicted in thy wrath.

Show me wherefore thou contendest - If I am afflicted because of my sins, show me what that sin is. God never afflicts but for past sin, or to try his followers; or for the greater manifestation of his grace in their support and deliverance.

Is it good unto thee - Surely it can be no gratification to thee to distress the children of men, as if thou didst despise the work of thy own hands.

And shine upon the counsel - For by my afflictions the harsh judgments of the wicked will appear to be confirmed: viz., that God regards not his most fervent worshippers; and it is no benefit to lead a religious life.

Hast thou eyes of flesh! - Dost thou judge as man judges?

Illustrated by the next clause, Seest thou as man seeth?

Are thy days as the days of man - אנוש enosh, wretched, miserable man. Thy years as man's days; גבר gaber, the strong man. Thou art not short-lived, like man in his present imperfect state; nor can the years of the long-lived patriarchs be compared with thine. The difference of the phraseology in the original justifies this view of the subject. Man in his low estate cannot be likened unto thee; nor can he in his greatest excellence, though made in thy own image and likeness, be compared to thee.

That thou inquirest - Is it becoming thy infinite dignity to concern thyself so much with the affairs or transgressions of a despicable mortal? A word spoken in the heart of most sinners.

Thou knowest that I am not wicked - While thou hast this knowledge of me and my conduct, why appear to be sifting me as if in order to find out sin; and though none can be found, treating me as though I were a transgressor?

Thine hands have made me - Thou art well acquainted with human nature, for thou art its author.

And fashioned me together round about - All my powers and faculties have been planned and executed by thyself. It is thou who hast refined the materials out of which I have been formed, and modified them into that excellent symmetry and order in which they are now found; so that the union and harmony of the different parts, (יחד yachad), and their arrangement and completion, (סביב sabib), proclaim equally thy wisdom, skill, power, and goodness.

Yet thou dost destroy me - ותבלעני vatteballeeni, "and thou wilt swallow me up." Men generally care for and prize those works on which they have spent most time, skill, and pains: but, although thou hast formed me with such incredible skill and labor, yet thou art about to destroy me! How dreadful an evil must sin be, when, on its account, God has pronounced the sentence of death on all mankind; and that body, so curiously and skilfully formed, must be decomposed, and reduced to dust!

Thou hast made me as the clay - Thou hast fashioned me, according to thy own mind, out of a mass of clay: after so much skill and pains expended, men might naturally suppose they were to have a permanent being; but thou hast decreed to turn them into dust!

Hast thou not poured me out as milk - After all that some learned men have said on this subject, in order to confine the images here to simple nutrition, I am satisfied that generation is the true notion. Respicit ad fetus in matris utero primam formationem, quum in embryonem ex utriusque parentis semine coalescit - Ex semine liquido, lac quodammodo referente, me formasti - In interpretando, inquit Hieronymus, omnino his accedo qui de genitali semine accipiunt, quod ipsa tanquam natura emulget, ac dein concrescere in utero ad coalescere jubet. I make no apology for leaving this untranslated. The different expressions in this and the following verse are very appropriate: the pouring out like milk-coagulating, clothing with skin and flesh, fencing with bones and sinews, are well imagined, and delicately, and at the same time forcibly, expressed. If I believed that Job referred to nutrition, which I do not, I might speak of the chyle, the chylopoietic organs, the lacteal vessels, and the generation of all the solids and fluids from this substance, which itself is derived from the food taken into the stomach. But this process, properly speaking, does not take place till the human being is brought into the world, it being previously nourished by the mother by means of the funis umbilicus, without that action of the stomach by which the chyle is prepared.

Thou hast granted me life and favorer - Thou hast brought me from my mother's womb; given me an actual existence among men; by thy favor or mercy thou hast provided me with the means of life; and thy visitation - thy continual providential care, has preserved me in life - has given me the air I breathe, and furnished me with those powers which enable me to respire it as an agent and preserver of life. It is by God's continued visitation or influence that the life of any man is preserved; in him we live, move, and have our being.

And these things hast thou hid in thine heart - Thou hast had many gracious purposes concerning me which thou hast not made known; but thy visitations and mercy are sufficient proofs of kindness towards me; though for purposes unknown to me thou hast sorely afflicted me, and continuest to treat me as an enemy.

If I sin - From thee nothing can be hidden; if I sin, thou takest account of the transgression, and canst not hold me for innocent when thou knowest I am guilty.

If I be wicked - I must meet with that punishment that is due to the workers of iniquity.

If I be righteous - I am only in the state which my duty to my Creator requires me to be in; and I cannot therefore suppose that on this account I can deserve any thing by way of favor from the justice of my Maker.

I am full of confusion - I am confounded at my state and circumstances. I know that thou art merciful, and dost not afflict willingly the children of men; I know I have not wickedly departed from thee; and yet I am treated by thee as if I were an apostate from every good. I am therefore full of confusion. See thou to my affliction; and bring me out of it in such a way as shall at once prove my innocence, the righteousness of thy ways, and the mercy of thy nature.

For it increaseth - Probably this refers to the affliction mentioned above, which is increased in proportion to its duration. Every day made his escape from such a load of evils less and less probable.

Thou huntest me as a fierce lion - As the hunters attack the king of beasts in the forest, so my friends attack me. They assail me on every side.

Thou showest thyself marvelous - Thy designs, thy ways, thy works, are all incomprehensible to me; thou dost both confound and overpower me. Mr. Good translates thus: - "For uprousing as a ravenous lion dost thou spring upon me.

And again thou showest over me thy vast power."

Thou renewest thy witnesses - In this speech of Job he is ever referring to trials in courts of judicature, and almost all his terms are forensic. Thou bringest witnesses in continual succession to confound and convict me.

Changes and war - I am as if attacked by successive troops; one company being wearied, another succeeds to the attack, so that I am harassed by continual warfare.

Wherefore then - Why didst thou give me a being, when thou didst foresee I should be exposed to such incredible hardships? See on Job 3:10 (note), etc.

I should have been as though - Had I given up the ghost as soon as born, as I could not then have been conscious of existence, it would have been, as it respects myself, as though I had never been; being immediately transported from my mother's womb to the grave.

Are not my days few? - My life cannot be long; let me have a little respite before I die.

I shall not return - I shall not return again from the dust to have a dwelling among men.

To the land of darkness - See the notes on Job 3:5. There are here a crowd of obscure and dislocated terms, admirably expressive of the obscurity and uncertainty of the subject. What do we know of the state of separate spirits? What do we know of the spiritual world? How do souls exist separate from their respective bodies? Of what are they capable and what is their employment? Who can answer these questions? Perhaps nothing can be said much better of the state than is here said, a land of obscurity, like darkness. The shadow of death - A place where death rules, over which he projects his shadow, intercepting every light of every kind of life. Without any order, ולא סדרים velo sedarim, having no arrangements, no distinctions of inhabitants; the poor and the rich are there, the master and his slave, the king and the beggar, their bodies in equal corruption and disgrace, their souls distinguished only by their moral character. Stripped of their flesh, they stand in their naked simplicity before God in that place.

Where the light is as darkness - A palpable obscure: it is space and place, and has only such light or capability of distinction as renders "darkness visible." The following words of Sophocles convey the same idea: Ιω σκοτος εμοι φαος; "Thou darkness be my light." It is, as the Vulgate expresses it, Terra tenebrosa, et operta mortis caligine: Terra miseriae et tenebrarum, ubi umbra mortis, et nullus ordo, sed sempiternus horror inhabitat: "A murky land, covered with the thick darkness of death: a land of wretchedness and obscurities, where is the shadow of death, and no order, but sempiternal horror dwells everywhere." Or, as Coverdale expresses this last clause, Wheras is no ordre but terrible feare as in the darknesse. A duration not characterized or measured by any of the attributes of time; where there is no order of darkness and light, night and day, heat and cold, summer and winter. It is the state of the dead! The place of separate spirits! It is out of time, out of probation, beyond change or mutability. It is on the confines of eternity! But what is This? and where? Eternity! how can I form any conception of thee? In thee there is no order, no bounds, no substance, no progression, no change, no past, no present, no future! Thou art an indescribable something, to which there is no analogy in the compass of creation. Thou art infinity and incomprehensibility to all finite beings. Thou art what, living, I know not, and what I must die to know; and even then I shall apprehend no more of thee than merely that thou art E-T-E-R-N-I-T-Y!

Shall I - Shall I give over complaining?

Condemn - Or, pronounce me not to be a wicked man, neither deal with me as such, as I confess thou mightest do in rigorous justice: O discover my integrity by removing this stroke, for which my friends condemn me. Wherefore - For what ends and reasons, and for what sins; for I am not conscious to myself of any peculiar sins by which I have deserved to be made the most miserable of all men. When God afflicts, he contends with us: when he contends with us, there is always a reason for it. And it is desirable to know, what that reason is, that we may forsake whatever he has a controversy with us for.

Good - Dost thou take any pleasure in it? Far be it from Job, to think that God did him wrong. But he is at a loss to reconcile his providences with his justice. And so other good men have often been, and will be, until the day shall declare it.

Eyes of faith - No. Eyes of flesh cannot see in the dark: but darkness hideth not from God. Eyes of flesh are but in one place at a time, and can see but a little way. But the eyes of the Lord are in every place, and run to and fro thro' the whole earth. Eyes of flesh will shortly be darkened by age, and shut up by death. But the eyes of God are ever the same, nor does his sight ever decay. As man - Man sees the outside only, and judges by appearances: but thou seest mine heart.

Man's - Man's time is short and uncertain, and therefore he must improve it, and diligently search out the crimes of malefactors, lest by death he lose the opportunity of doing justice: but thou art eternal, and seest at one view all mens hearts, and all their actions present and to come; and therefore thou dost not need to proceed with me in this manner, by making so long a scrutiny into my heart and life.

Searchest - Keeping me so long upon the rack, to compel me to accuse myself.

Wicked - An hypocrite, as my friends account me. Deliver - But thou art the supreme ruler of the world; therefore I must wait thy time, and throw myself on thy mercy, in submission to thy sovereign will.

Clay - As a potter makes a vessel of clay; so this may note both the frailty of man's nature, which of itself decays and perishes, and doth not need such violent shocks to overthrow it; and the excellency of the Divine artifice commended from the meanness of the materials; which is an argument why God should not destroy it. Again - I must die by the course of nature, and therefore while I do live, give me some ease and comfort.

As milk - Thus he modestly and accurately describes God's admirable work in making man out of a small and liquid, and as it were milky substance, by degrees congealed and condensed into that exquisite frame of man's body.

Clothed - Covered my inward and more noble parts; which are first formed. So he proceeds in describing man's formation gradually. Bones - The stay and strength of the body; and some of them, as the skull and ribs, enclose and defend its vital parts.

Life - Thou didst not only give me a curious body, but also a reasonable soul: thou didst at first give me life, and then maintain it in me; both when I was in the womb (which is a marvellous work of God) and afterward when I was unable to do anything to preserve my own life. Favour - Thou didst not give mere life, but many other favours, such as nourishment by the breast, education, knowledge, and instruction. Visitation - The care of thy providence watching over me for my good, and visiting me in mercy. Preserved - My life, which is liable to manifold dangers, if God did not watch over us every day and moment. Thou hast hitherto done great things for me, given me life, and the blessings of life, and daily deliverances: and wilt thou now undo all that thou hast done? And shall I who have been such an eminent monument of thy mercy, now be a spectacle of thy vengeance.

Hid - Both thy former favours and thy present frowns. Both are according to thy own will, and therefore undoubtedly consistent, however they seem. When God does what we cannot account for, we are bound to believe, there are good reasons for it hid in his heart. It is not with us, or in our reach to assign the cause; but I know this is with thee.

Markest - If I am a wicked man, I cannot hide it from thee; and thou wilt punish me for it.

Wicked - An hypocrite, as my friends esteem me. Righteous - An upright man; so whether good or bad, all comes to one. Yet - Yet I have no comfort, or hopes of any good. Confusion - I am confounded within myself, not knowing what to say or do. Let my extremity move thee to pity, and help me.

Lion - Which hunteth after his prey with great eagerness, and when he overtakes it, falls upon it with great fury. Returnest - The lion tears its prey speedily, and so ends its torments; but thou renewest my calamities again and again, and makest my plagues wonderful both for kind and extremity, and continuance.

Witnesses - Thy judgments, which are the evidences both of my sins, and of thy wrath. Indignation - My miseries are the effects of thine anger. Army - Changes may denote the various kinds, and an army the great number of his afflictions.

Cease - My life is short, and of itself hastens to an end, there is no need that thou shouldest grudge me some ease for so small a moment.

1. MY soul is weary of my life , I will leave my complaint upon my self ; I will speak in (or of) the bitterness of my soul .

So the sense is: My Soul is weary of dwelling in this rotten and miserable Carkass: Or, I am from my heart, or with my very soul weary of my life; and therefore I may be excused if I complain: Or, My soul is cut off while I live: i. e. I am dead whilest I live; I am in a manner buried alive.

So the sense is, I will complain, and the burden or hazard of so doing I will take upon my self, and be willing to bear it: I must give my sorrows vent, let come on me what will, as he saith, Chap. 13. 13. But the words may be read interrogatively, Shall I then (or, how can I then) leave my complaint (i. e. give over complaining) within or concerning (as the Hebrew al oft signifies) my self? Or they may be rendred thus, I will strengthen (as this Verb signifies, Neh. 3. 8.) my complaint against my self; whereby he implies, that he would not complain against God, so as to accuse him of injustice, but only against himself, or against his own life; or concerning my self; i. e. I must renew and encrease my Complaints, as God renews and encreases my Sorrows.

My extream misery forceth my complaints from me.

Marginal references: Chap. 7. 16.; Or, c[illegible: 1+ letters]t off while I live.

2. I will say unto God, Do not condemn me ; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

Or, pronounce me not to be a wicked man, as my Friends do, neither deal with me as such, as I confess thou mightest do by thy soveraign power and in rigorous justice: O discover my Integrity by removing this stroke, for which my Friends so highly censure and condemn me.

i. e. For what ends and reasons, and for what sins; for I am not conscious to my self of any peculiar and eminent sins by which I have deserved to be made the most miserable of all Mortals.

3. Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress ? that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands , and shine upon the counsel of the wicked ?

Dost thou take any pleasure in it? Hast thou any advantage or honour by it? Dost thou think it right and just, and becoming the Ruler of the World?

By thy absolute and irresistible power, without any regard to that justice, and equity, and clemency, by which thou usest to govern mankind.

i. e. Shew thy contempt of them, either by denying them common favour and protection; or by destroying them.

Which every Workman loves and maintains.

i. e. By the Methods of thy Providence seem to favour the courses and practises of wicked men, to whom thou givest prosperity and success, whilest thou frownest upon me and other good men. This may have reference, either to Iob's Friends, whose ungodly censures God seemed to approve, by continuing Iob's Afflictions upon him: Or to the Chaldeans and Sabeans, who had succeeded in their wicked attempts upon Iob: But it seems to be more generally meant of wicked men.

Marginal references: Heb. the labour of thine hands.

4. Hast thou eyes of flesh ? or seest thou as man seeth ?

i. e. Of a man, who is called flesh, as Gen. 6. 13. Isa. 40. 6.

Man seeth outsides onely, and judgeth by appearances, and is liable to many mistakes, and cannot search out secret faults without forcing men by cruel usage to accuse themselves. But thou needest none of these Arts, thou seest mine heart and mine uprightness, which my Friends do not see, who therefore are more excusable in charging me with hypocrisie: But thou knowest all things, thou needest not examine me by Tortures, as thou now doest, v. 6. For, thou knowest that I am not wicked, as he saith, v. 7. and therefore do not thou deal with me as if I were wicked.

Marginal references: 1 Sam. 16. 7.

5. Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as mans days ?

Man's time is short and uncertain, and therefore he must improve his time, whilest he hath it, and diligently search out the Crimes of Malefactors, and punish them whilest he may, lest by Death he lose the opportunity of doing justice, and the criminal get out of his power: But it is not so with thee, thou art eternal and unchangeable, and seest at one view all mens hearts, and all their actions present and to come; and therefore thou doest not need to proceed with me in this manner by making so long and so severe a scrutiny into my heart and life.

6. That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin ?

Keeping me so long as it were upon the Rack to compel me to accuse my self, as men sometimes do.

Marginal references: Ch. 14. 16.

7. Thou knowest that I am not wicked , and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand .

i. e. An Hypocrite, or an ungodly man, as my Friends account me; and therefore deal not with me as such.

The sense is, either 1. Thou dost not need to keep me fast in thy Prison, lest I should make an escape, or any should rescue me out of thy hands, which none can do; Therefore take off thy hand from me: Or, 2. If thou doest not help and deliver me, none else can do it; Therefore do not thou fail me▪ which considering God's merciful Nature, is a good Argument. If any man oppress another, he may have relief from thee, who art higher than his Oppressor, Eccles. 5. 8. But thou art the supreme and uncontrollable Ruler of the World, and therefore thou must needs do right, Gen. 18. 25. And therefore do not thou oppress me: See above Verse 3.

Marginal references: Heb. i[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word].

8. Thine hands have made me, and fashioned me together round about ; yet thou dost destroy me .

i. e. All of me, all the faculties of my soul, and all the parts of my body, which are now over-spread with Sores and Ulcers; I am wholly thy Creature and Workmanship, made by thee and for thee.

Or, swallow me up; to wit, without cause, or any eminent provocation of mine; as if thou didst delight in doing and undoing, in making and then destroying thy Creatures; which doth not become thy Wisdom or Goodness.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] pai[illegible: 1+ letters]s [illegible: 1 word].

9. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay , and wilt thou bring me into dust again ?

i. e. Of the Clay, the Note of similitude here expressing the truth of things, as it doth, Iohn 1. 14. and elsewhere, as hath been before observed: Or, as a Potter maketh a Vessel of the Clay; and so this may note both the frailty of man's Nature, which of it self decaies and perisheth, and doth not need such violent shocks and storms to overthrow it; and the Excellency of the Divine Artifice commended from the meanness of the Materials out of which it was made; which is an Argument why God should not destroy it.

Wiltst thou now causlesl[illegible: 1+ letters] and violently destroy thy own Work? But the words are and may be read without an Interrogation; And thou wilt bring me into du[illegible: 1+ letters]l again. out of which I was made: I must die by the course of Nature, and by the sentence of thy Law; and therefore whilest I do live give me some ease and comfort.

Marginal references: Gen. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. & 3. 19.; Or, [illegible: 1 word].

10. Hast thou not poured me out as milk! and crudled me like cheese ?

Thus he modestly and accurately describes God's admirable Work in making Man out of a small and liquid, and as it were Milky substance, by degrees congealed and condensed into that exquisite Frame of Man's Body.

Marginal references: Ps. 139. 14. 15, 16.

11. Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews .

i. e. Covered my inward and more noble parts; which, as Philosophers and Physicians observe, are first formed. So he proceeds in describing Man's Formation gradually.

Which are the stay and strength of the Body; and some of them, as the Skull and Ribs, enclose and defend its vital and most noble parts.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word].

12. Thou hast granted me life and favour , and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit .

Thou didst not onely give me a curious Body, but also a living and a reasonable Soul: Thou didst at first give me life, and then maintain it in me; both when I was in the Womb (which is a marvellous Work of God) and afterward when I was unable to do any thing to preserve my own life.

Or, benignity, or bor[illegible: 1+ letters] ty, or mercy, or kindness; which is here, as ost elsewhere, put for its fruits or effects. Thou didst not give a meer Life, but many other Favours necessary, or convenient, or belonging to it, such as Nourishment by the Breast, Education, Knowledge, and Instruction, &c.

i. e. The Care of thy Providence watching over me for my good, and visiting me in mercy; as God's visiting is understood, Exod. 4. 31. Luke 1. 78. though elsewhere it is an Act of Punishment.

i. e. My Soul or Life, which is liable to manifold Casualties and Dangers, if God did not watch over us and guard us every day and moment. Thou hast hitherto done great things for me, given me Life, and the Blessings of Life, and daily Preservations and Deliverances: And wiltst thou now undo all that thou hast done? And shall I who have been such an eminent Monument of thy Mercy, now be made a Spectacle of thy Vengeance, and that without cause?

13. And these things hast thou hid in thine heart : I know that this is with thee .

This place may be understood, either 1. of Iob's present Afflictions: So the sense is this; Yet in the midst of all those Manifestations of thy Grace and kindness to me, thou didst retain a secret purpose of changing thy course and carriage towards me, and of bringing these dreadful Calamities upon me. Or, rather 2. of his former Mercies, these things, to wit, last mentioned; thou hast hid them in thy heart; i. e. thou dost exactly remember them, as this phrase is used, Psalm 119. 11. Luke 2. 51. So the Argument is this; Let the remembrance of thy former great Favours vouchsased to me, move thee to give me further Blessings, and a speedy Deliverance. For this is usual both with God and Men, to choose a[illegible: 1+ letters]d delight to do more good to those to whom they have done much good already; which is the ground of that known passage, Mat. 13. 12. To him that hath shall be given.

i. e. In thy mind and heart; thou hast not forgot it: So the same thing is here repeated in other words.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 59. [illegible: 1 word]

14. If I sin , then thou markest me , and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity .

If I commit the least sin; as who is there that liveth, and sinneth not?

Thou doest not wink at or pass by my sins, as thou usually doest other mens, but doest severely and diligently observe them all▪ that thou mayest punish them: Compare Chap. 14. 16. & 31. 4.

I perceive thou art resolved to punish me with rigour, and that thou wiltst not pardon, and pity, and help me: Words of great impatience and distrust.

15. If I be wicked , wo unto me ; and if I be righteous , yet will I not lift up my head : I am full of confusion , therefore see thou mine affliction.

i. e. An ungodly Hypocrite, as my Friends esteem me.

Then I am truly and extremely, and must be eternally miserable.

i. e. An upright and good man: So whether good or bad, all comes to one; I have no relief.

Or, yet ca[illegible: 1+ letters] I not, &c. The Future Tense being used potentially: Yet I have no comfort, nor confidence, or hopes of any good. Lifting up [illegible: 1+ letters]he head or face, is oft mentioned as a sign of comfort and confidence; as Psalm 3. 3. Luke 21. 28. As on the contrary, Grief and Shame are described by its dejection or casting down.

Or, [illegible: 1 word], from my Friends, and from others, Chap. 30. 1, &c. and from God too, who [illegible: 1+ letters]asts me off and makes me contemptible: I have abundance of shame in the disappointment of all my hopes▪ and the continuance and aggravation of my misery, notwithstanding all my prayers to God to remove or mitigate it: And I am confounded within my self, not knowing what to say or do. Let my extremity move thee to pity, and help me.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word].

16. For it encreaseth: thou huntest me as a fierce lion ; and again thou shewest thy self marvellous upon me .

Which hunteth after his prey with great eagerness, and when he overtakes it falls upon it with great fury.

Heb. And thou returnest and shewest thy self marvellous upon, or in, or against me. The [illegible: 1+ letters]ion tears its prey speedily, and so ends its torments; but thou renewest my Calamities again and again, and makest my Plagues wonderful both for kind and extremity, and continuance.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. 13. [illegible: 1 word]

17. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and encreasest thy indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.

i. e. Thy judgments, which are the Witnesses and Evidences both of my sins, and of thy wrath.

i. e. My miseries the effects of thine anger. These words are added to explain what he meant by renewing witnesses.

Or, changes and an army; which may be a Figure called Hendiadis, for the changes of an army; i. e. many miseries succeeding one another, like Companies of the Souldiers of an Army in Battel: Or changes may note the various kinds, and an army the great numbers of his Afflictions.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] is, thy [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] 21. Chap. 16. 8.

18. Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? O that I had given up the Ghost, and no eye had seen me .

To wit, alive; i. e. that I had never been born alive.

Marginal references: Chap. 3. 11.

19. I should have been as though I had not been, I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

Or, O that I had been: And so in the following branch, O that I had been carried. For why should not these Verbs of the Future Tense be so rendred here, as that v. 19. is, the reason being wholly the same?

20. Are not my days few ? cease then , and let me alone , that I may take comfort a little:

My life is short, and of its self hastens apace to an end, * there is no need that thou shouldest push it forward, or grudge me some [illegible: 1+ letters]ase for so small a moment.

Or, lay aside, or remove thy hand or anger from me.

Marginal references: See Ch. 7. 6: & 8. 9.; Psal. 39. 13.

21. Before I go to the place whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness, and the shadow of death .

Into this World and Life: See on Chap. 7. 9. 10.

i. e. A dark and dismal shade: See on Chap. 3. 5.

22. A land of darkness , as darkness it self, and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.

Either in things, without any succession of Day and Night, Winter and Summer: Or among persons where great and small are in the same condition, Chap. 3. 19.

* Where there is no difference between Light and Darkness, where the Day is as dark as the Night, where there is nothing but perpetual and uninterrupted darkness.

Marginal references: Heb. as the gloominess of the shadow of death, and without order; and it shineth as darkness.

Job 10:1-2   1  My soul is full of disgust with my life,

Therefore I will freely utter my complaint;

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.   2  I will say to Eloah: Condemn me not;

Let me know wherefore Thou contendest with me!

His self-consciousness makes him desire that the possibility of answering for himself might be granted him; and since he is weary of life, and has renounced all claim for its continuance, he will at least give his complaints free course, and pray the Author of his sufferings that He would not permit him to die the death of the wicked, contrary to the testimony of his own conscience. נקטה is equivalent to נקטּה ot tnel, Eze 6:9, after the usual manner of the contraction of double Ayin verbs (Gen 11:6-7; Isa 19:3; Jdg 5:5; Eze 41:7; vid., Ges. §67, rem. 11); it may nevertheless be derived directly from נקט, for this secondary verb formed from the Niph. נקט is supported by the Aramaic. In like manner, in Gen 17:11 perhaps a secondary verb נמל, and certainly in Gen 9:19 and Isa 23:3 a secondary verb נפץ   (1Sa 13:11), formed from the Niph. נפץ (Gen 10:18), is to be supposed; for the contraction of the Niphal form נקומה into נקמה is impossible; and the supposition which has been advanced, of a root פצץ = פוץ in the signification diffundere, dissipare is unnecessary. His soul is disgusted (fastidio affecta est, or fastidit) with his life, therefore he will give free course to his plaint (comp. Job 7:11). עלי is not super or de me, but, as Job 30:16, in me; it belongs to the Ego, as an expression of spontaneity: I in myself, since the Ego is the subject, ὑποκείμενον, of his individuality (Psychol. S. 151f.). The inner man is meant, which has the Ego over or in itself; from this the complaint shall issue forth as a stream without restraint; not, however, a mere gloomy lamentation over his pain, but a supplicatory complaint directed to God respecting the peculiar pang of his suffering, viz., this stroke which seems to come upon him from his Judge (ריב, seq. acc., as Isa 27:8), without his being conscious of that for which he is accounted guilty.

Job 10:3-7   3  Doth it please Thee when Thou oppressest,

That Thou rejectest the work of Thy hands,

While Thou shinest upon the counsel of the wicked?   4  Hast Thou eyes of flesh,

Or seest Thou as a mortal seeth?   5  Are Thy days as the days of a mortal,

Or Thy years as man’s days,   6  That Thou seekest after my iniquity,

And searchest after my sin?   7  Although Thou knowest that I am not a wicked man,

And there is none that can deliver out of Thy hand.

There are three questions by which Job seeks to exhaust every possible way of accounting for his sufferings as coming from God. These attempts at explanation, however, are at once destroyed, because they proceed upon conceptions which are unworthy of God, and opposed to His nature. Firstly, Whether it gives Him pleasure (טּוב, agreeable, as Job 13:9) when He oppresses, when He despises, i.e., keeps down forcibly or casts from Him as hateful (מאס, as Psa 89:39; Isa 54:6) the work of His hand; while, on the contrary, He permits light to shine from above upon the design of the wicked, i.e., favours it? Man is called the יגיע of the divine hands, as though he were elaborated by them, because at his origin (Gen 2:7), the continuation of which is the development in the womb (Psa 139:15), he came into existence in a remarkable manner by the directly personal, careful, and, so to speak, skilful working of God. That it is the morally innocent which is here described, may be seen not only from the contrast (Job 10:3), but also from the fact that he only can be spoken of as oppressed and rejected. Moreover, “the work of Thy hands” involves a negative reply to the question. Such an unloving mood of self-satisfaction is contrary to the bounty and beneficence of that love to which man owes his existence. Secondly, Whether God has eyes of flesh, i.e., of sense, which regard only the outward appearance, without an insight into the inner nature, or whether He sees as mortals see, i.e., judges, κατὰ τῆν σάρκα (Joh 8:15)? Mercier correctly: num ex facie judicas, ut affectibus ducaris more hominum. This question also supplies its own negative; it is based upon the thought that God lookest on the heart (1Sa 16:7). Thirdly, Whether His life is like to the brevity of man’s life, so that He is not able to wait until a man’s sin manifests itself, but must institute such a painful course of investigation with him, in order to extort from him as quickly as possible a confession of it? Suffering appears here to be a means of inquisition, which is followed by the final judgment when the guilt is proved. What is added in Job 10:7 puts this supposition aside also as inconceivable. Such a mode of proceeding may be conceived of in a mortal ruler, who, on account of his short-sightedness, seeks to bring about by severe measures that which was at first only conjecture, and who, from the apprehension that he may not witness that vengeance in which he delights, hastens forward the criminal process as much as possible, in order that his victim may not escape him. God, however, to whom belongs absolute knowledge and absolute power, would act thus, although, etc. על, although, notwithstanding (proceeding from the signification, besides, insuper), as Job 17:16 (Isa 53:9), Job 34:6. God knows even from the first that he (Job) will not appear as a guilty person (רשׁע, as in Job 9:29); and however that may be, He is at all events sure of him, for nothing escapes the hand of God.

That operation of the divine love which is first echoed in “the labour of Thy hands,” is taken up in the following strophe, and, as Job contemplates it, his present lot seems to him quite incomprehensible.

Job 10:8-12   8  Thy hands have formed and perfected me

Altogether round about, and Thou hast now swallowed me up!   9  Consider now, that Thou has perfected me as clay,

And wilt Thou turn me again into dust? 10  Hast Thou not poured me out as milk,

And curdled me as curd? 11  With skin and flesh hast Thou clothed me,

And Thou hast intertwined me with bones and sinews; 12  Life and favour Thou hast shown me,

And thy care hath guarded my breath.

The development of the embryo was regarded by the Israelitish Chokma as one of the greatest mysteries (Ecc 11:5; 2 Macc. 7:22f.). There are two poetical passages which treat explicitly of this mysterious existence: this strophe of the book of Job, and the Psalm by David, Psa 139:13-16 (Psychol. S. 210). The assertion of Scheuchzer, Hoffmann, and Oetinger, that these passages of Scripture “include, and indeed go beyond, all recent systemata generationis,” attributes to Scripture a design of imparting instruction, - a purpose which is foreign to it. Scripture nowhere attempts an analysis of the workings of nature, but only traces them back to their final cause. According to the view of Scripture, a creative act similar to the creation of Adam is repeated at the origin of each individual; and the continuation of development according to natural laws is not less the working of God than the creative planting of the very beginning. Thy hands, says Job, have formed (עצּב, to cut, carve, fashion; cognate are חצב, קצב, without the accompanying notion of toil, which makes this word specially appropriate, as describing the fashioning of the complicated nature of man) and perfected me. We do not translate: made; for עשׂה stands in the same relation to ברא and יצר as perficere to creare and fingere (Gen 2:2; Isa 43:7). יחד refers to the members of the body collectively, and סביב to the whole form. The perfecting as clay implies three things: the earthiness of the substance, the origin of man without his knowledge and co-operation, and the moulding of the shapeless substance by divine power and wisdom. The primal origin of man, de limo terrae (Job 33:6; Psa 139:15), is repeated in the womb. The figures which follow (Job 10:10) describe this origin, which being obscure is all the more mysterious, and glorifies the power of God the more. The sperma is likened to milk; the חתּיך (used elsewhere of smelting), which Seb. Schmid rightly explains rem colliquatam fundere et immittere in formam aliquam, refers to the nisus formativus which dwells in it. The embryo which is formed from the sperma is likened to גּבינה, which means in all the Semitic dialects cheese (curd). “As whey” (Ewald, Hahn) is not suitable; whey does not curdle; in making cheese it is allowed to run off from the curdled milk. “As cream” (Schlottm.) is not less incorrect; cream is not lac coagulatum, which the word signifies. The embryo forming itself from the sperma is like milk which is curdled and beaten into shape.

The consecutio temporum, moreover, must be observed here. It is, for example, incorrect to translate, with Ewald: Dost Thou not let me flow away like milk, etc. Job looks back to the beginning of his life; the four clauses, Job 10:10, Job 10:11, under the control of the first two verbs (Job 10:8), which influence the whole strophe, are also retrospective in meaning. The futt. are consequently like synchronous imperff.; as, then, Job 10:12 returns to perff., Job 10:11 describes the development of the embryo to the full-grown infant, on which Grotius remarks: Hic ordo est in genitura: primum pellicula fit, deinde in ea caro, duriora paulatim accedunt, and by Job 10:12, the manifestations of divine goodness, not only in the womb, but from the beginning of life and onwards, are intended. The expression “Life and favour (this combination does not occur elsewhere) hast Thou done to me” is zeugmatic: He has given him life, and sustained that life amidst constant proofs of favour; His care has guarded the spirit (רוּח), by which his frame becomes a living and self-conscious being. This grateful retrospect is interspersed with painful reflections, in which Job gives utterance to his feeling of the contrast between the manifestation of the divine goodness which he had hitherto experienced and his present condition. As in Job 10:8., ותּבלּעני, which Hirzel wrongly translates: and wilt now destroy me; it is rather: and hast now swallowed me up, i.e., drawn me down into destruction, as it were brought me to nought; or even, if in the fut. consec., as is frequently the case, the consecutive and not the aorist signification preponderates: and now swallowest me up; and in Job 10:9 (where, though not clear from the syntax, it is clear from the substance that תשׁיבני is not to be understood as an imperfect, like the futt. in Job 10:10.): wilt Thou cause me to become dust again? The same tone is continued in the following strophe. Thus graciously has he been brought into being, and his life sustained, in order that he may come to such a terrible end.

Job 10:13-17 13  And such Thou hast hidden in Thy heart,

I perceive that this was in Thy mind: 14  If I should sin, Thou wouldst take note of it,

And not acquit me of my iniquity. 15  If I should act wickedly, woe unto me!

And were I righteous, I should not lift up my head,

Being full of shame and conscious of my misery. 16  And were I to raise it, Thou wouldst hunt me as a lion,

And ever display on me Thy wondrous power, 17  Thou wouldst ever bring fresh witnesses against me,

And increase Thy wrath against me,

I should be compelled to withstand continuously advancing troops and a host.

This manifestation of divine goodness which Job has experienced from the earliest existence seems to him, as he compares his present lot of suffering with it, to have served as a veil to a hidden purpose of a totally opposite character. That purpose - to make this life, which has been so graciously called into existence and guarded thus far, the object of the severest and most condemning visitation - is now manifest. Both אלּה and זאת refer to what is to follow: עמּך זאת used of the thought conceived, the purpose cherished, as Job 23:14; Job 27:11. All that follows receives a future colouring from this principal clause, “This is what Thou hadst designed to do,” which rules the strophe. Thus Job 10:14 is to be rendered: If I had sinned, Thou wouldst have kept me in remembrance, properly custodies me, which is here equivalent to custoditurus eras me. שׁמר, with the acc. of the person, according to Psa 130:3 (where it is followed by the acc. of the sin), is to be understood: to keep any one in remembrance, i.e., to mark him as sinful (Hirzel). This appears more appropriate than rigide observaturus eras me (Schlottm.). ושׁמרתני, according to Ges. §121, 4, might be taken for לי ושׁמרת (viz., חטּאתי); but this is unnecessary, and we have merely translated it thus for the sake of clearness. His infirmities must not be passed by unpunished; and if he should act wickedly (רשׁע, of malignant sin, in distinction from חטא), woe unto him (comp. οἰαί μοι, 1Co 9:16). According to the construction referred to above, וצדקתי is praet. hypotheticum (Ges. §155, 4, a); and the conclusion follows without waw apodosis: If I had acted rightly, I should not have raised my head, being full of shame and conscious of my misery. The adjectives are not in apposition to ראשׁי (Böttcher), but describe the condition into which he would be brought, instead of being able (according to the ethical principle, Gen 4:7) to raise his head cheerfully. ראה constr. of ראה, as שׂבע or שׂבע. It is needless, with Pisc., Hirz., Böttch., and Ewald, to alter it to ראה, since ראה is verbal adjective like יפה, נכה, קשׁה. Moreover, וּראה cannot be imperative (Rosenm., De Wette); for although imperatives, joined by waw to sentences of a different construction, do occur (Psa 77:2; 2Sa 21:3), such an exclamation would destroy the connection and tone of the strophe in the present case.

Job 10:18-22 18  And wherefore hast Thou brought me forth out of the womb?

I should have expired, that no eye had seen me, 19  I should have been as though I had never been,

Carried from the womb to the grave. 20  Are not my days few? then cease

And turn from me, that I may become a little cheerful, 21  Before I go to return no more

Into the land of darkness and of the shadow of death, 22  The land of deep darkness like to midnight,

Of the shadow of death and of confusion,

And which is bright like midnight.

The question Wherefore? Job 10:18, is followed by futt. as modi conditionales (Ges. §127, 5) of that which would and should have happened, if God had not permitted him to be born alive: I should have expired, prop. I ought to have expired, being put back to the time of birth (comp. Job 3:13, where the praet. more objectively expressed what would then have happened). These modi condit. are continued in Job 10:19 : I should have been (sc. in the womb) as though I had not been (comp. the short ellipticalכלא is there = לא כאשׁר, like ללא, Isa 65:1 = לא לאשׁר [vid. Ges. §123, 3], and כּ is used as a conjunction as little as ל (vid., on Psa 38:14). expression, Oba 1:16), i.e., as one who had scarcely entered upon existence, and that only of the earliest (as at conception); I should have been carried (הוּבל, as Job 21:32) from the womb (without seeing the light as one born alive) to the grave. This detestation of his existence passes into the wish, Job 10:20, that God would be pleased at least somewhat to relieve him ere he is swallowed up by the night of Hades. We must neither with the Targ. translate: are not my days few, and vanishing away? nor with Oetinger: will not my fewness of days cease? Both are contrary to the correct accentuation. Olshausen thinks it remarkable that there is not a weaker pausal accent to ימי; but such a one is really indirectly there, for Munach is here equivalent to Dechî, from which it is formed (vid., the rule in Comm. über den Psalter, ii. 504). Accordingly, Seb. Schmid correctly translates: nonne parum dies mei? ideo cessa. The Keri substitutes the precative form of expression for the optative: cease then, turn away from me then (imper. consec. with waw of the result, Ewald, §235, a); comp. the precative conclusion to the speech, Job 7:16., but there is no real reason for changing the optative form of the text. ישׁית (voluntative for ישׁת, Job 9:33) may be supplemented by ידו, פניו, עיניו ,פ, or לבו (Job 7:17) (not, however, with Hirz., שׁבטו, after Job 9:34, which is too far-fetched for the usage of the language, or with Böttch., מחנהו, copias suas); שׁית can however, like שׂים, Job 4:20, signify to turn one’s self to, se disponere = to attend to, consequently מן שׁית, to turn the attention from, as מן שׁעה, Job 7:19, Ps. 39:14 (where, as here, ואבליגה follows).

He desires a momentary alleviation of his sufferings and ease before his descent to Hades, which seems so near at hand. He calls Hades the land of darkness and of the shadow of death. צלמות, which occurs for the first time in the Old Testament in Psa 23:4, is made into a compound from סלמוּת, and is the proper word for the obscurity of the region of the dead, and is accordingly repeated later on. Further, he calls it the land of encircling darkness (עפתה, defective for עיפתה, from עוף, caligare, and with He parag. intensive for עיפה, in Amo 4:13, who also uses הבליג, Job 5:9, in common with Job), like midnight darkness. אפל cannot mean merely the grey of twilight, it is the entire absence of sunlight, Job 3:6; Job 28:3; Psa 91:6; comp. ex. Job 10:22, where the Egyptian darkness is called אפלה חשׁך. Böttch. correctly compares אפל and נפל: mersa ad imum h.e. profunda nox (the advancing night). Still further he calls it (the land) of the shadow of death, and devoid of order (סדרים, ἅπ. λεγ. in the Old Testament, but a common word in the later Hebrew), i.e., where everything is so encompassed by the shadow of death that it seems a chaos, without any visible or distinct outline. It is difficult to determine whether ותּפע is to be referred to ארץ: and which lights (fut. consec. as the accent on the penult. indicates, the syntax like Job 3:21, Job 3:23; Isa 57:3); or is to be taken as neuter: and it shines there (= and where it shines) like midnight darkness. Since ותּפע (from יפע = ופע, to rise, shine forth; vid., on Psa 95:4), as also האיר, does not occur elsewhere as neuter, we prefer, with Hirzel, to refer it to ארץ ot, as being more certain. Moreover, אפל is here evidently the intensest darkness, ipsum medullitium umbrae mortis ejusque intensissimum, as Oetinger expresses it. That which is there called light, i.e., the faintest degree of darkness, is like the midnight of this world; “not light, but darkness visible,” as Milton says of hell.

The maxim of the friends is: God does not pervert right, i.e., He deals justly in all that He does. They conclude from this, that no man, no sufferer, dare justify himself: it is his duty to humble himself under the just hand of God. Job assents to all this, but his assent is mere sarcasm at what they say. He admits that everything that God does is right, and must be acknowledged as right; not, however, because it is right in itself, but because it is the act of the absolute God, against whom no protest uttered by the creature, though with the clearest conviction of innocence, can avail. Job separates goodness from God, and regards that which is part of His very being as a produce of His arbitrary will. What God says and does must be true and right, even if it be not true and right in itself. The God represented by the friends is a God of absolute justice; the God of Job is a God of absolute power. The former deals according to the objective rule of right; the latter according to a freedom which, because removed from all moral restraint, is pure caprice.

How is it that Job entertains such a cheerless view of the matter? The friends, by the strong view which they have taken up, urge him into another extreme. On their part, they imagine that in the justice of God they have a principle which is sufficient to account for all the misfortunes of mankind, and Job’s in particular. They maintain, with respect to mankind in general (Eliphaz by an example from his own observation, and Bildad by calling to his aid the wisdom of the ancients), that the ungodly, though prosperous for a time, come to a fearful end; with respect to Job, that his affliction is a just chastisement from God, although designed for his good. Against the one assertion Job’s own experience of life rebels; against the other his consciousness rises up with indignation. Job’s observation is really as correct as that of the friends; for the history of the past and of the present furnishes as many illustrations of judgments which have suddenly come upon the godless in the height of their prosperity, as of general visitations in which the innocent have suffered with the guilty, by whom these judgments have been incurred. But with regard to his misfortune, Job cannot and ought not to look at it from the standpoint of the divine justice. For the proposition, which we will give in the words of Brentius, quidquid post fidei justificationem pio acciderit, innocenti accidit, is applicable to our present subject.

If, then, Job’s suffering were not so severe, and his faith so powerfully shaken, he would comfort himself with the thought that the divine ways are unsearchable; since, on the one hand, he cannot deny the many traces of the justice of the divine government in the world (he does not deny them even here), and on the other hand, is perplexed by the equally numerous incongruities of human destiny with the divine justice. (This thought is rendered more consolatory to us by the revelation which we possess of the future life; although even in the later Old Testament times the last judgment is referred to as the adjustment of all these incongruities; vid., the conclusion of Ecclesiastes.) His own lot might have remained always inexplicable to him, without his being obliged on that account to lose the consciousness of the divine love, and that faith like Asaph’s, which, as Luther says, struggles towards God through wrath and disfavour, as through thorns, yea, even through spears and swords.

Job is passing through conflict and temptation. He does not perceive the divine motive and purpose of his suffering, nor has he that firm and unshaken faith which will keep him from mistaken views of God, although His dispensations are an enigma to him; but, as his first speech (ch. 3) shows, he is tormented by thoughts which form part of the conflict of temptation. The image of the gracious God is hidden from him, he feels only the working of the divine wrath, and asks, Wherefore doth God give light to the suffering ones? - a question which must not greatly surprise us, for, as Luther says, “There has never been any one so holy that he has not been tormented with this quare, quare, Wherefore? wherefore should it be so?” And when the friends, who know as little as Job himself about the right solution of this mystery, censure him for his inquiry, and think that in the propositions: man has no righteousness which he can maintain before God, and God does not pervert the right, they have found the key to the mystery, the conflict becomes fiercer for Job, because the justice of God furnishes him with no satisfactory explanation of his own lot, or of the afflictions of mankind generally. The justice of God, which the friends consider to be sufficient to explain everything that befalls man, Job can only regard as the right of the Supreme Being; and while it appears to the friends that every act of God is controlled by His justice, it seems to Job that whatever God does must be right, by virtue of His absolute power.

This principle, devoid of consolation, drives Job to the utterances so unworthy of him, that, in spite of his conviction of his innocence, he must appear guilty before God, because he must be speechless before His terrible majesty, - that if, however, God would only for once so meet him that he could fearlessly address Him, he would know well enough how to defend himself (ch. 9). After these utterances of his feeling, from which all consciousness of the divine love is absent, he puts forth the touching prayer: Condemn me not without letting me know why Thou dost condemn me! (Job 10:1-7).

As he looks back, he is obliged to praise God, as his Creator and Preserver, for what He has hitherto done for him (Job 10:8-12); but as he thinks of his present condition, he sees that from the very beginning God designed to vent His wrath upon him, to mark his infirmities, and to deprive him of all joy in the consciousness of his innocence (Job 10:13-17). He is therefore compelled to regard God as his enemy, and this thought overpowers the remembrance of the divine goodness. If, however, God were his enemy, he might well ask, Wherefore then have I come into being? And while he writhes as a worm crushed beneath the almighty power of God, he prays that God would let him alone for a season ere he passes away into the land of darkness, whence there is no return (Job 10:18-22).

Brentius remarks that this speech of Job contains inferni blasphemias, and explains them thus: non enim in tanto judicii horrore Deum patrem, sed carnificem sentit; but also adds, that in passages like Job 10:8-12 faith raises its head even in the midst of judgment; for when he praises the mercies of God, he does so spiritu fidei, and these he would not acknowledge were there not a fidei scintilla still remaining. This is true. The groundwork of Job’s faith remains even in the fiercest conflict of temptation, and is continually manifest; we should be unable to understand the book unless we could see this fidei scintilla, the extinction of which would be the accomplishment of Satan’s design against him, glimmering everywhere through the speeches of Job. The unworthy thoughts he entertains of God, which Brentius calls inferni blasphemias, are nowhere indulged to such a length that Job charges God with being his enemy, although he fancies Him to be an enraged foe. In spite of the imagined enmity of God against him, Job nowhere goes so far as to declare enmity on his part against God, so far as אלהים ברך. He does not turn away from God, but inclines to Him in prayer. His soul is filled with adoration of God, and with reverence of His power and majesty; he can clearly discern God’s marvellous works in nature and among men, and His creative power and gracious providence, the workings of which he has himself experienced. But that mystery, which the friends have made still more mysterious, has cast a dark cloud over his vision, so that he can no longer behold the loving countenance of God. His faith is unable to disperse this cloud, and so he sees but one side of the divine character - His Almightiness. Since he consequently looks upon God as the Almighty and the Wrathful One, his felling alternately manifests itself under two equally tragical phases. At one time he exalts himself in his consciousness of the justice of his cause, to sink back again before the majesty of God, to whom he must nevertheless succumb; at another time his feeling of self-confidence is overpowered by the severity of his suffering, and he betakes himself to importunate supplication.

It is true that Job, so long as he regards his sufferings as a dispensation of divine judgment, is as unjust towards God as he believes God to be unjust towards him; but if we bear in mind that this state of conflict and temptation does not preclude the idea of a temporal withdrawal of faith, and that, as Baumgarten (Pentat. i. 209) aptly expresses it, the profound secret of prayer is this, that man can prevail with the Divine Being, then we shall understand that this dark cloud need only be removed, and Job again stands before the God of love as His saint.

Job's Reply to Bildad. (b. c. 1520.)

1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me wherefore thou contendest with me. 3 Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? 4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? 5 Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days, 6 That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? 7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

Here is, I. A passionate resolution to persist in his complaint, v. 1. Being daunted with the dread of God's majesty, so that he could not plead his cause with him, he resolves to give himself some ease by giving vent to his resentments. He begins with vehement language: "My soul is weary of my life, weary of this body, and impatient to get clear of it, fallen out with life, and displeased at it, sick of it, and longing for death." Through the weakness of grace he went contrary to the dictates even of nature itself. We should act more like men did we act more like saints. Faith and patience would keep us from being weary of our lives (and cruel to them, as some read it), even when Providence has made them most wearisome to us; for that is to be weary of God's correction. Job, being weary of his life and having ease no other way, resolves to complain, resolves to speak. He will not give vent to his soul by violent hands, but he will give vent to the bitterness of his soul by violent words. Losers think they may have leave to speak; and unbridled passions, as well as unbridled appetites, are apt to think it an excuse for their excursions that they cannot help them: but what have we wisdom and grace for, but to keep the mouth as with a bridle? Job's corruption speaks here, yet grace puts in a word. 1. He will complain, but he will leave his complaint upon himself. He would not impeach God, nor charge him with unrighteousness or unkindness; but, though he knew not particularly the ground of God's controversy with him and the cause of action, yet, in the general, he would suppose it to be in himself and willingly bear all the blame. 2. He will speak, but it shall be the bitterness of his soul that he will express, not his settled judgment. If I speak amiss, it is not I, but sin that dwells in me, not my soul, but its bitterness.

II. A humble petition to God. He will speak, but the first word shall be a prayer, and, as I am willing to understand it, it is a good prayer, v. 2. 1. That he might be delivered from the sting of his afflictions, which is sin: "Do not condemn me; do not separate me for ever from thee. Though I lie under the cross, let me not lie under the curse; though I smart by the rod of a Father, let me not be cut off by the sword of a Judge. Thou dost correct me; I will bear that as well as I can; but O do not condemn me!" It is the comfort of those who are in Christ Jesus that, though they are in affliction, there is no condemnation to them, Rom. viii. 1. Nay, they are chastened of the Lord that they may not be condemned with the world, 1 Cor. xi. 32. This therefore we should deprecate above any thing else, when we are in affliction. "However thou art pleased to deal with me, Lord, do not condemn me; my friends condemn me, but do not thou." 2. That he might be made acquainted with the true cause of his afflictions, and that is sin too: Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me. When God afflicts us he contends with us, and when he contends with us there is always a reason. He is never angry without a cause, though we are; and it is desirable to know what the reason is, that we may repent of, mortify, and forsake the sin for which God has a controversy with us. In enquiring it out, let conscience have leave to do its office and to deal faithfully with us, as Gen. xlii. 21.

III. A peevish expostulation with God concerning his dealings with him. Now he speaks in the bitterness of his soul indeed, not without some ill-natured reflections upon the righteousness of his God.

1. He thinks it unbecoming the goodness of God, and the mercifulness of his nature, to deal so hardly with his creature as to lay upon him more than he can bear (v. 3): Is it good unto thee that thou shouldst oppress? No, certainly it is not; what he approves not in men (Lam. iii. 34-36) he will not do himself. "Lord, in dealing with me, thou seemest to oppress thy subject, to despise thy workmanship, and to countenance thy enemies. Now, Lord, what is the meaning of this? Such is thy nature that this cannot be a pleasure to thee; and such is thy name that it cannot be an honour to thee. Why then dealest thou thus with me? What profit is there in my blood?" Far be it from Job to think that God did him wrong, but he is quite at a loss how to reconcile his providences with his justice, as good men have often been, and must wait until the day shall declare it. Let us therefore now harbour no hard thoughts of God, because we shall then see there was no cause for them.

2. He thinks it unbecoming the infinite knowledge of God to put his prisoner thus upon the rack, as it were, by torture, to extort a confession from him, v. 4-6. (1.) He is sure that God does not discover things, nor judge of them, as men do: He has not eyes of flesh (v. 4), for he is a Spirit. Eyes of flesh cannot see in the dark, but darkness hides not from God. Eyes of flesh are but in one place at a time, and can see but a little way; but the eyes of the Lord are in every place, and run to and fro through the whole earth. Many things are hidden from eyes of flesh, the most curious and piercing; there is a path which even the vulture's eye has not seen: but nothing is, or can be, hidden from the eye of God, to which all things are naked and open. Eyes of flesh see the outward appearance only, and may be imposed upon by a deceptio visus—an illusion of the senses; but God sees every thing truly. His sight cannot be deceived, for he tries the heart, and is a witness to the thoughts and intents of that. Eyes of flesh discover things gradually, and, when we gain the sight of one thing, we lose the sight of another; but God sees every thing at one view. Eyes of flesh are soon tired, must be closed every night but the keeper of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps, nor does his sight ever decay. God sees not as man sees, that is, he does not judge as man judges, at the best secundum allegata et probata—according to what is alleged and proved, as the thing appears rather than as it is, and too often according to the bias of the affections, passions, prejudices, and interest; but we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth, and that he knows truth, not by information, but by his own inspection. Men discover secret things by search, and examination of witnesses, comparing evidence and giving conjectures upon it, wheedling or forcing the parties concerned to confess; but God needs not any of these ways of discovery: he sees not as man sees. (2.) He is sure that as God is not short-sighted, like man, so he is not short-lived (v. 5): "Are thy days as the days of man, few and evil? Do they roll on in succession, or are they subject to change, like the days of man? No, by no means." Men grow wiser by experience and more knowing by daily observation; with them truth is the daughter of time, and therefore they must take time for their searches, and, if one experiment fail, must try another. But it is not so with God; to him nothing is past, nothing future, but every thing present. The days of time, by which the life of man is measured, are nothing to the years of eternity, in which the life of God is wrapped up. (3.) He therefore thinks it strange that God should thus prolong his torture, and continue him under the confinement of this affliction, and neither bring him to a trial nor grant him a release, as if he must take time to enquire after his iniquity and use means to search after his sin, v. 6. Not as if Job thought that God did thus torment him that he might find occasion against him; but his dealings with him had such an aspect, which was dishonourable to God, and would tempt men to think him a hard master. "Now, Lord, if thou wilt not consult my comfort, consult thy own honour; do something for thy great name, and do not disgrace the throne of thy glory," Jer. xiv. 21.

3. He thinks it looked like an abuse of his omnipotence to keep a poor prisoner in custody, whom he knew to be innocent, only because there was none that could deliver him out of his hand (v. 7): Thou knowest that I am not wicked. He had already owned himself a sinner, and guilty before God; but he here stands to it that he was not wicked, not devoted to sin, not an enemy to God, not a dissembler in his religion, that he had not wickedly departed from his God, Ps. xviii. 21. "But there is none that can deliver out of thy hand, and therefore there is no remedy; I must be content to lie there, waiting thy time, and throwing myself on thy mercy, in submission to thy sovereign will." Here see, (1.) What ought to quiet us under our troubles—that it is to no purpose to contend with Omnipotence. (2.) What will abundantly comfort us—if we are able to appeal to God, as Job here, "Lord, thou knowest that I am not wicked. I cannot say that l am not wanting, or I am not weak; but, through grace, I can say, I am not wicked: thou knowest I am not, for thou knowest I love thee."

8 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. 9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? 10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. 12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. 13 And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.

In these verses we may observe,

I. How Job eyes God as his Creator and preserver, and describes his dependence upon him as the author and upholder of his being. This is one of the first things we are all concerned to know and consider.

1. That God made us, he, and not our parents, who were only the instruments of his power and providence in our production. He made us, and not we ourselves. His hands have made and fashioned these bodies of ours and every part of them (v. 8), and they are fearfully and wonderfully made. The soul also, which animates the body, is his gift. Job takes notice of both here. (1.) The body is made as the clay (v. 9), cast into shape, into this shape, as the clay is formed into a vessel, according to the skill and will of the potter. We are earthen vessels, mean in our original, and soon broken in pieces, made as the clay. Let not therefore the thing formed say unto him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? We must not be proud of our bodies, because the matter is from the earth, yet not dishonour our bodies, because the mould and shape are from the divine wisdom. The formation of human bodies in the womb is described by an elegant similitude (v. 10, Thou hast poured me out like milk, which is coagulated into cheese), and by an induction of some particulars, v. 11. Though we come into the world naked, yet the body is itself both clothed and armed. The skin and flesh are its clothing; the bones and sinews are its armour, not offensive, but defensive. The vital parts, the heart and lungs, are thus clothed, not to be seen—thus fenced, not to be hurt. The admirable structure of human bodies is an illustrious instance of the wisdom, power, and goodness of the Creator. What a pity is it that these bodies should be instruments of unrighteousness which are capable of being temples of the Holy Ghost! (2.) The soul is the life, the soul is the man, and this is the gift of God: Thou hast granted me life, breathed into me the breath of life, without which the body would be but a worthless carcase. God is the Father of spirits: he made us living souls, and endued us with the power of reason; he gave us life and favour, and life is a favour—a great favour, more than meat, more than raiment—a distinguishing favour, a favour that puts us into a capacity of receiving other favours. Now Job was in a better mind than he was when he quarrelled with life as a burden, and asked, Why died I not from the womb? Or by life and favour may be meant life and all the comforts of life, referring to his former prosperity. Time was when he walked in the light of the divine favour, and thought, as David, that through that favour his mountain stood strong.

2. That God maintains us. Having lighted the lamp of life, he does not leave it to burn upon its own stock, but continually supplies it with fresh oil: "Thy visitation has preserved my spirit, kept me alive, protected me from the adversaries of life, the death we are in the midst of and the dangers we are continually exposed to, and blessed me with all the necessary supports of life and the daily supplies it needs and craves."

II. How he pleads this with God, and what use he makes of it. He reminds God of it (v. 9): Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me. What then? Why, 1. "Thou hast made me, and therefore thou hast a perfect knowledge of me (Ps. cxxxix. 1-13), and needest not to examine me by scourging, nor to put me upon the rack for the discovery of what is within me." 2. "Thou hast made me, as the clay, by an act of sovereignty; and wilt thou by a like act of sovereignty unmake me again? If so, I must submit." 3. "Wilt thou destroy the work of thy own hands?" It is a plea the saints have often used in prayer, We are the clay and thou our potter, Isa. lxiv. 8. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me, Ps. cxix. 73. So here, Thou madest me; and wilt thou destroy me (v. 8), wilt thou bring me into dust again? v. 9. "Wilt thou not pity me? Wilt thou not spare and help me, and stand by the work of thy own hands? Ps. cxxxviii. 8. Thou madest me, and knowest my strength; wilt thou then suffer me to be pressed above measure? Was I made to be made miserable? Was I preserved only to be reserved for these calamities?" If we plead this with ourselves as an inducement to duty, "God made me and maintains me, and therefore I will serve him and submit to him," we may plead it with God as an argument for mercy: Thou hast made me, new—make me; I am thine, save me. Job knew not how to reconcile God's former favours and his present frowns, but concludes (v. 13), "These things hast thou hidden in thy heart. Both are according to the counsel of thy own will, and therefore undoubtedly consistent, however they seem." When God thus strangely changes his way, though we cannot account for it, we are bound to believe there are good reasons for it hidden in his heart, which will be manifested shortly. It is not with us, or in our reach, to assign the cause, but I know that this is with thee. Known unto God are all his works.

14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity. 15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction; 16 For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me. 17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me. 18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me! 19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. 20 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, 21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; 22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.

Here we have,

I. Job's passionate complaints. On this harsh and unpleasant string he harps much, in which, though he cannot be justified, he may be excused. He complained not for nothing, as the murmuring Israelites, but had cause to complain. If we think it looks ill in him, let it be a warning to us to keep our temper better.

1. He complains of the strictness of God's judgment and the rigour of his proceedings against him, and is ready to call it summum jus—justice bordering on severity. That he took all advantages against him: "If I sin, then thou markest me, v. 14. (1.) If I do but take one false step, misplace a word, or cast a look awry, I shall be sure to hear of it. Conscience, thy deputy, will be sure to upbraid me with it, and to tell me that this gripe, this twitch of pain, is to punish me for that." If God should thus mark iniquities, we should be undone; but we must acknowledge the contrary, that, though we sin, God does not deal in extremity with us. (2.) That he prosecuted those advantages to the utmost: Thou wilt not acquit me from my iniquity. While his troubles he could not take the comfort of his pardon, nor hear that voice of joy and gladness; so hard is it to see love in God's heart when we see frowns in his face and a rod in his hand. (3.) That, whatever was his character, his case at present was very uncomfortable, v. 15. [1.] If he be wicked, he is certainly undone in the other world: If I be wicked, woe to me. Note, A sinful state is a woeful state. This we should each of us believe, as Job here, with application to ourselves: "If I be wicked, though prosperous and living in pleasure, yet woe to me." Some especially have reason to dread double woes if they be wicked. "I that have knowledge, that have made a great profession of religion, that have been so often under strong convictions, and have made so many fair promises—I that was born of such good parents, blessed with a good education, that have lived in good families, and long enjoyed the means of grace—if I be wicked, woe, and a thousand woes, to me." [2.] If he be righteous, yet he dares not lift up his head, dares not answer as before, ch. ix. 15. He is so oppressed and overwhelmed with his troubles that he cannot look up with any comfort or confidence. Without were fightings, within were fears; so that, between both, he was full of confusion, not only confusion of face for the disgrace he was brought down to and the censures of his friends, but confusion of spirit; his mind was in a constant hurry, and he was almost distracted, Ps. lxxxviii. 15.

2. He complains of the severity of the execution. God (he thought) did not only punish him for every failure, but punish him in a high degree, v. 16, 17. His affliction was, (1.) Grievous, very grievous, marvellous, exceedingly marvellous. God hunted him as a lion, as a fierce lion hunts and runs down his prey. God was not only strange to him, but showed himself marvellous upon him, by bringing him into uncommon troubles and so making him prodigy, a wonder unto many. All wondered that God would inflict and that Job could bear so much. That which made his afflictions most grievous was that he felt God's indignation in them; it was this that made them taste so bitter and lie so heavy. They were God's witnesses against him, tokens of his displeasure; this made the sores of his body wounds in his spirit. (2.) It was growing, still growing worse and worse. This he insists much upon; when he hoped the tide would turn, and begin to ebb, still it flowed higher and higher. His affliction increased, and God's indignation in the affliction. He found himself no better, no way better. These witnesses were renewed against him, that, if one did not reach to convict him, another might. Changes and war were against him. If there was any change with him, it was not for the better; still he was kept in a state of war. As long as we are here in this world we must expect that the clouds will return after the rain, and perhaps the sorest and sharpest trials may be reserved for the last. God was at war with him, and it was a great change. He did not use to be so, which aggravated the trouble and made it truly marvellous. God usually shows himself kind to his people; if at any time he shows himself otherwise, it is his strange work, his strange act, and he does in it show himself marvellous.

3. He complains of his life, and that ever he was born to all this trouble and misery (v. 18, 19): "If this was designed for my lot, why was I brought out of the womb, and not smothered there, or stifled in the birth?" This was the language of his passion, and it was a relapse into the same sin he fell into before. He had just now called life a favour (v. 12), yet now he calls it a burden, and quarrels with God for giving it, or rather laying it upon him. Mr. Caryl gives this a good turn in favour of Job. "We may charitably suppose," says he, "that what troubled Job was that he was in a condition of life which (as he conceived) hindered the main end of his life, which was the glorifying of God. His harp was hung on the willow-trees, and he was quite out of tune for praising God. Nay, he feared lest his troubles should reflect dishonour upon God and give occasion to his enemies to blaspheme; and therefore he wishes, O that I had given up the ghost! A godly man reckons that he lives to no purpose if he do not live to the praise and glory of God." If that was his meaning, it was grounded on a mistake; for we may glorify the Lord in the fires. But this use we may make of it, not to be over-fond of life, since the case has been such sometimes, even with wise and good men, that they have complained of it. Why should we dread giving up the ghost, or covet to be seen of men, since the time may come when we may be ready to wish we had given up the ghost and no eye had seen us? Why should we inordinately lament the death of our children in their infancy, that are as if they had not been, and are carried from the womb to the grave, when perhaps we ourselves may sometimes wish it had been our own lot?

II. Job's humble requests. He prays, 1. That God would see his affliction (v. 15), take cognizance of his case, and take it into his compassionate consideration. Thus David prays (Ps. xxv. 18), Look upon my affliction and my pain. Thus we should, in our troubles, refer ourselves to God, and may comfort ourselves with this, that he knows our souls in adversity. 2. That God would grant him some ease. If he could not prevail for the removal of his trouble, yet might he not have some intermission? "Lord, let me not be always upon the rack, always in extremity: O let me alone, that I may take comfort a little! v. 20. Grant me some respite, some breathing-time, some little enjoyment of myself." This he would reckon a great favour. Those that are not duly thankful for constant ease should think how welcome one hour's ease would be if they were in constant pain. Two things he pleads:—(1.) That life and its light were very short: "Are not my days few? v. 20. Yes, certainly they are, very few. Lord, let them not be all miserable, all in the extremity of misery. I have but a little time to live; let me have some comfort of life while it does last." This plea fastens on the goodness of God's nature, the consideration of which is very comfortable to an afflicted spirit. And, if we would use this as a plea with God for mercy ("Are not my days few? Lord, pity me"), we should use it as a plea with ourselves, to quicken us to duty: "Are not my days few? Then it concerns me to redeem time, to improve opportunities, what my hand finds to do to do it with all my might, that I may be ready for the days of eternity, which shall be many." (2.) That death and its darkness were very near and would be very long (v. 21, 22): "Lord, give me some ease before I die," that is, "lest I die of my pain." Thus David pleads (Ps. xiii. 3), "Lest I sleep the sleep of death, and then it will be too late to expect relief; for wilt thou show wonders to the dead?" Ps. lxxxviii. 10. "Let me have a little comfort before I die, that I may take leave of this world calmly, and not in such confusion as I am now in." Thus earnest should we be for grace, and thus we should plead, "Lord, renew me in the inward man; Lord, sanctify me before I die, for otherwise it will never be done." See how he speaks here of the state of the dead. [1.] It is a fixed state, whence we shall not return ever again to live such a life as we now live, ch. vii. 10. At death we must bid a final farewell to this world. The body must then be laid where it will lie long, and the soul adjudged to that state in which it must be for ever. That had need be well done which is to be done but once, and done for eternity. [2.] It is a very melancholy state; so it appears to us. Holy souls, at death, remove to a land of light, where there is no death; but their bodies they leave to a land of darkness and the shadow of death. He heaps up expressions here of the same import to show that he has as dreadful apprehensions of death and the grave as other men naturally have, so that it was only the extreme misery he was in that made him wish for it. Come and let us look a little into the grave, and we shall find, First, That there is no order there: it is without any order, perpetual night, and no succession of day. All there lie on the same level, and there is no distinction between prince and peasant, but the servant is there free from his master, ch. iii. 19. No order is observed in bringing people to the grave, not the eldest first, not the richest, not the poorest, and yet every one in his own order, the order appointed by the God of life. Secondly, That there is no light there. In the grave there is thick darkness, darkness that cannot be felt indeed, yet cannot but be feared by those that enjoy the light of life. In the grave there is no knowledge, no comfort, no joy, no praising God, no working out our salvation, and therefore no light. Job was so much ashamed that others should see his sores, and so much afraid to see them himself, that the darkness of the grave, which would hide them and huddle them up, would upon that account be welcome to him. Darkness comes upon us; and therefore let us walk and work while we have the light with us. The grave being a land of darkness, it is well we are carried thither with our eyes closed, and then it is all one. The grave is a land of darkness to man; our friends that have gone thither we reckon removed into darkness, Ps. lxxxviii. 18. But that it is not so to God will appear by this, that the dust of the bodies of the saints, though scattered, though mingled with other dust, will none of it be lost, for God's eye is upon every grain of it and it shall be forth-coming in the great day.

CHAP. X. Verſe 1. My ſoul is weary of my life.]

BEcauſe it is a lifeleſſe life. Mortis habet vires, a death more like. Life is ſweet, and every creature maketh much of it, from the higheſt Angel in heaven, to the loweſt worm on earth. The Scripture ſetteth it forth as a ſweet mercy, Gen. 45.28. Lam. 3.39. Esth. 7.3. Jer. 39.18. and 45.5. But God can ſo imbitter it with outward and inward troubles, that it ſhall become a burthen. I am weary of my life (ſaith good Rebecca, Gen. 27.46.) and what good ſhall my life do me? David forced to be in bad company, cryes, Oh that I had the wings of a dove &c. Wo is me that I ſojourn in Meſhech &c. Elias fleeing from Jezabel, requeſted for himſelf that he might dye, ſaying, It is enough Lord, take away my life, for I am not better then my fathers, 1 Kings 19.4. No:Heb. 1[illegible: 1 letter]. but God had provided ſome better thing for him (as the Apoſtle ſpeaketh in another caſe) for he was ſhortly after tranſlated and taken out of the reach both of Jezabel whom he feared, and of death which he deſired; Sed multi magni viri, ſub Eliae junipero ſedent, ſaith one, Many good men ſit under Eli[illegible: 1 letter]s his juniper, wiſhing to be out of the world, if God were ſo pleaſed, that they might reſt from their labours, and be rid of their many burdens and bondages; as in the mean while, they rather endure life then deſire it, as holding it little better then hell, were it not for the hopes they have of heaven hereafter.

I will leave my complaint upon my ſelf] Liberty I will take to complain, whatever come of it. I will lay the reins in the neck, and let my paſſions have their full ſwinge at my peril. See the like chap. 13.3. Verùm Job hac in re nimius, ſaith Mercer, but Job was too blame in doing and ſaying thus; and it is to be attributed to the infirmity of his fleſh, wherewith, although the ſpirit do notably combat, yet the fleſh ſeemeth ſometimes, and in ſome ſort to get the better; Nimis augusta res eſt, [illegible: 2 letters]ſpaim errare, ſaith one;Barclai. Euphorm. Triste mortalitatis privilegium eſt; licere aliquando peccare, ſaith another. The ſnow-like ſwan hath black legs: and in many things we offend all: Gold is not to be refuſed becauſe it wanteth ſome grains, and hath a crack &c.

I will ſpeak in the bitterneſſe of my ſoul] And ſo ſeek to eaſe my grief by giving a vent unto it. But it is evident, that ſuch out-burſts and overflowings of the gall and ſpleen come from a fulneſſe of bad humours.

Verſe 2. I will ſay unto God, Do not condemn me] You may ſay ſo, as an humble ſuppliant, but not as holding your ſelf innocent, and therefore harſhly dealt with. The Hebrew is, Do not make me wicked: rather do good, ô Lord, to thoſe that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts; but lead me not forthwith the workers of iniquity, as a melefactor is led forth to execution, Pſal. 125.5.

Shew me wherefore thou contendeſt with me] i. e. Quare ſic me affligas, ſaith Vatablus, why thou thus afflicteſt me, whether for ſin, or for triall; and this Job deſired to know, not to ſatisfie his curioſity, but his conſcience, as one well obſerveth; and that the world might be ſatisfied, the raſh judgment of his friends confuted, and anſwered by a determination from heaven.

Verſe 3. [illegible: 1 word] it good unto thee that thou ſhouldſt oppreſſe?] It is the guiſe of wicked judges to take this counſel, to follow this courſe; whom thou, being a moſt juſt and righteous judge,Beza. canſt not confirm or encourage by thine own example, as it were by a light ſhining from above. Thus Job rhetoricateth; his complaints are high, yet ever with an allay or mixture of modeſty.

That thou ſhouldſt deſpiſe the work of thine hands] i. e. Me thy poor creature; wilt thou do and undo? make a man, and unmake him again for thy minds ſake? Builders uſe not to ruin what they have built: Artificers love and plead for their own handy-work: Fathers foſter their children with all tenderneſſe. Some Authors dote upon their own doings, as Laurentius Valla did upon his Logick, as if there had been none ſuch; calling it in a bravado Log[illegible: 1 letter]c[illegible: 1 letter]m Laurentinam: and as Ca[illegible: 1 letter]pian the Jeſuite did upon his ten leaden reaſons, which he deemed and boaſted to be unanſwerable. Heliod[illegible: 1 letter]rus would rather be unbiſhopped, then yeild that his Ethiopick hiſtory (a toileſome toy, but the brat of his brain) ſhould be aboliſhed. The Saints are Gods building, 1 Cor. 3.9. Handy-work; Epheſ. 2.18. Children, Job 1.12. Epiſtle known and read of all men, 2 Cor. 3.2, 3. This if we plead, when ſorely afflicted (as the Church did Iſa. 64.8. And David, Pſalm 138.8. and Job here) we may have any thing. See that notable text Iſaiah 45.11. And that other Iſai. 59.16.

And ſhine upon the counſel of the wicked] That is, favour and further their deſigns: God makes his Sun to ſhine upon ſuch, but himſelf never ſhineth upon them: he may be angry enough with men, though they outwardly proſper; yea, to proſper in ſin is a moſt heavy judgment. See Zac[illegible: 1 letter]. 1.15. with the note there.

Verſe 4. Haſt thou eyes of fleſh?] Which ſee but the ſurface of things, and not that neither in the dark. Haſt thou not fiery eyes Rev. 1.14. that need no outward light, but ſee by ſending out a ray, and pierce the inward parts alſo? Haſt thou not made the eye? yea the optick vertue in the eye, which ſeeth all, and is ſeen of none? If the Sun be the eye of the world, God is much more; the Greeks give him his name from ſeeing, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. becauſe he ſeeth through and through: eyes he hath, but not of fleſh: he ſeeth, but not as man.

Or ſeeſt thou as man ſeeth?] Art thou ſubject to errour, ignorance, partiality, popularity, &c. Proceedeſt thou not according to truth (yea, truth in the inward parts) and not according to opinion or appearance? Of a good Judg it is ſaid, that he doth neque ſuſpicere, nec deſpicere, nec reſpicere, nec circumſpicere; neither look up nor down, nor this way nor that, but ſtraight forward to the cauſe, and not to the perſon. Of a juſt law it is ſaid, that it is an heart without affection, an eye without luſt, a mind without paſſion, a treaſurer which keepeth for every man what he hath, and diſtributeth to every man what he ought to have; ſo and much more then ſo is God, whatever thoughts might ariſe ſometimes in Jobs heart to the contrary.

Verſe 5. Are thy dayes as the dayes of man?] Art thou mortal and ſhort-lived as ſorry man is, that thou proceedeſt in this ſudden and ſevere manner, as if thou ſhouldeſt not have time enough to try me, and to take an order with me? Art not thou eternal, and doſt thou not know in the indiviſible moment of thine eternity, all what hath been, is, and ſhall be? Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world, Acts 15.18. yea, long before. The truth is, neither foreknowledg, nor remembrance are properly in God, ſith all things both paſt and future are preſent with him, Rom. 4.17. 2 Pet. 3.8. Jer 1.5, 6, 7. Pſal. 139.2. and all things without him are but as a point or ball, which with as much eaſe he diſcerneth, as we turn our eyes.

Are thy years as many dayes;] It is well obſerved that Gods time is ſet out by years, mans by dayes; his time is ſo ſhort, that it is reckoned by the ſhorteſt compleat time, a day. The dayes of our years are threeſcore and ten, Pſalm 90.10. As for God, he is not only the Ancient of dayes, Dan. 7.9. But the dayes Ancient, for he made the day.

Verſe 6. That thou enquireſt after mine iniquity &c.] viz. By ſtrong pains, and mighty terrours: as judges ſometimes make inquiſition by torture, to find out treaſon or other hainous offence. What, wouldſt thou that I ſhould confeſſe my ſelf a wicked perſon?

Verſe 7. Thou knoweſt that I am not wicked] A lewd liver, and a rank hypocrite as theſe men would make of me; a ſinner I am, but I allow not, wallow not in any known ſin: there is no way of wickedneſſe found in me; hypocriſie reigns not in my heart: Haeret in regenitis peccatum, ſaith one, ſin abideth in the beſt; yet they may not, they muſt not be called wicked.Cyril. lib. 9. i[illegible: 1 letter] Julian. Julian the Apoſtate affirmed that Peters halting at Antioch, was ſo taxed by Paul, that Peter muſt needs be an hypocrite; but this cavil and calumny can never be proved from Pauls words, for not every one that through infirmity diſſembleth ſometimes, is preſently an hypocrite. It is upon thy knowledge, ſaith Job, that however I am weak, yet wicked I am not: my great ſcumme is not in me, Ezek. 24.11, 12. The good heart admits not the mixture of any ſin; like right wine or hony, as the ſcumme ariſeth, it ever caſteth it out: as ſpring-water worketh it ſelf clean: as the ſea will endure no poiſonful thing, but caſts it up upon the ſhore, ſo a Chriſtian cleareth himſelf of ſin. Well it may cleave to it for a while, as droſſe doth to ſilver, but it entreth not into the frame and conſtitution: Job is confident of that, and will venture all upon it.

And there is none (or nothing) that can deliver out of thine hands] q. d. Thus thou, Lord, knoweſt it to be with me, that I have no wicked heart: but for this,Junius. I expect not to be delivered, for thou canſt ſtill find matter in me for which to lay thine hand upon me: But the more I ſubmit my ſelf, the more mild ſhouldſt thou ſurely be in thy dealings toward me; as a Lion to a man crouching to him: as Paul ſaid, I know nothing by my ſelfe, yet am I not thereby juſtified 1 Cor. 4.4. So Job ſaith, Lord, thou knoweſt nothing by me, yet hereby I cannot be delivered.

Verſe 8. Thine hands have made me,] Or throughly and accurately wrought me, as it were, with much pains and labour: thou haſt exactly faſhioned all my members; not that God either hath hands, or putteth himſelf to pains; for he doth his worke without either tool or toil, Iſai. 40.28. But this is attributed to him after the manner of men, to ſhew the curious workmanſhip ſhewed in mans creation, the maſterpiece of all his works of wonder. This David ſweetly s;ingeth of Pſalm 139. and Galen admireth in that excellent book of his De uſu partium humani corporis, ſetting forth the praiſes of that God whom he knew not, and ſinging an hymn unto him.Lib 3. Man, ſaith one, is cura divini ingenii, he is Gods ſcutcheon wherein he hath portrayed all the titles of the moſt excellent beauties of the world. The Sun, Moon, and Stars, are but the works of Gods fingers, Pſalm 8. but man is the work of his hands, Pſalm 139.14. He is the moſt beautiful building of a moſt wiſe architect, ſaith Euripides: the bold attempt of daring nature, ſaith another heathen: the greateſt of all miracles, ſaith a third. David ſpeaking of him, and of Gods goodneſs to him, begins to wonder before he ſpeaketh, and leaves off to ſpeak, but not to wonder, Pſalm 8.[illegible: 1 letter], 9.

And faſhioned me together round about] A metaphor from potters, who make their work by turning it round till it be all finiſhed. Jer. 18 3. Thou haſt faſhioned me, and made me in every point, ſo Broughton rendreth it. Totum me, non dimidium. Thou haſt made the whole, and every part of me from top to toe, not my nailes excepted, (as Mercer hath it) with extraordinary care and cunning, beſtowing upon me mercies enow betwixt head and foot, to fill a volume. Who is there (ſaith Galen) which looking but upon the skin only of mans body, wondreth not at the artifice of the Creator? but eſpecially he was amazed at the manner of the motion of the lungs by Syſtole and Diastole, and would needs offer hecatombs to that God whoſoever he were, that was Author of ſo admirable and excellent a piece of work.

Yet thou doſt deſtroy me] And this ſeemeth ſtrange to me, Doſt thou yet deſtroy me? (ſo ſome read this text) wilt thou ſwallow me up quick and devour me, as the greater fiſhes do the leſſer? (See the Note on verſe 3.) Careſt thou not that I am thy workmanſhip created unto good works, Eph. 2.10? One in whom thou haſt erected the fair fabrick of the new man? for this alſo Job may here very likely referre to.

Verſe 9. Remember, I beſeech thee, that thou haſt made me as the clay:] Remembrance and foreknowledg are not properly in God, as was noted before on verſe 5. But he is ſaid to remember us, when he relieveth us, Pſalm 136.23. and 9.18. 1 Sam. 1.19. That thou haſt made me &c. viz. in thoſe Protoplaſts, my firſt parents, formed out of the ground, Gen. 2.7. whence the Heathen Philoſopher could ſay, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Arian. in Epict. that man is nothing elſe but a piece of clay weakly made up: or thou haſt wrought me like clay, ſc. in the womb, where thou haſt framed and formed my body, as the potter worketh his clay, well-tempered, into an earthen veſſel. Here then Job in-minds the Lord (by the matter whereof he was made) of the frailty, vility and impurity of his nature (Lutum enim conſpurcat omnia, ſic & caro) to move him to a mitigation of his miſery. See Pſal. 103.14. and 78.39.

Wilt thou bring me into the duſt again] viz. By thoſe grievous torments: Or, And that thou wilt bring me into duſt againe: for ſo thou haſt ſaid, to duſt ſhalt thou return, Gen. 3.19. And it is appointed for all men once to die, Heb. 9.27. Oh therefore that I might have ſome ſmall reſt and reſpite, before I go hence, and be no more ſeen, Pſal. 39.12, 13.

Verſe 10. Haſt thou not poured me out as milk] Or, melted me, that is, made me of ſome ſuch thing as liquid and white milke. Generationem hominis deſcribit; Man is a very mean thing in his firſt conception, modeſtly here ſet forth by the making of cheeſes.Vatab.

Ʋnde ſuperbit homo, cujus concept[illegible: 1 letter]o turpis, Naſci poena, labor vit[illegible: 1 letter], neceſſe mor[illegible: 1 letter]?

Concerning mans formation in the womb, ſee the Naturalliſts, and Lactantius de Opificio Dei cap. 12. but eſpecially Pſalm 139. where, and in this text there is enough ſpoken to ſatisfie us about this great natural myſtery, ſaith Mercer: that is a good Moral that one maketh of it; God ſtrains out the motes of corruption from a godly-man, while his heart is poured out like milk with grief and fear, whereby the iniquity of Jacob is purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his ſinne, Iſa. 27.9.

And crudled me like cheeſe] Siccaſtiſſimo ore, & elegantibus metaphoris, ſaith an Interpreter,Bodin. theat. natur. 434. Ariſt. de gen. anim. cap. 20. i. e. Thus in a moſt modeſt manner, and with elegant metaphors, doth Job, as a great Philoſopher, ſet out mans conception in the womb. Ariſtotle (whoſe manner is obſcurioribus obſcura implicare, as Bodin obſerveth) hath ſome ſuch expreſſion as this, but nothing ſo clear and full.

Verſe 11. Thou haſt clothed me with skin and fleſh] Out of that ſoft and liquid ſubſtance (the ſlime of my parents loins) groſſed firſt into a rude fleſhy maſſe, and conſolidated, Thou haſt made not only a thin skin, and firm fleſh, but alſo hard bones, and knitting nerves; and all this for a garment or guardment to thoſe more noble inward parts, the brain, heart, liver, &c. which Job here accounts to be the man, when he ſaith, Thou haſt clothed me, that is, my vital parts with the upper garment of skin, and with the under-garment of fleſh, all which, and the reſt of the parts, both ſimilar and organical, are in their original but the ſame matter which God hath thus diverſified, and all by the book, Pſalm 139.16. Had he left out any member in his common-place-book, thou hadſt wanted it, ſaith one.

And haſt fenced me with bones and ſinews] Bones are the pillars of the body, giving it ſtability, ſtraightneſſe and forme. The Rabbines ſay, there are as many of them in mans body, as there are affirmative precepts in the law, that all his bones may ſay, Lord, who is like unto thee &c? Pſal 35.10. By the ſinews are the bones knit together, that upon them man may move from place to place, as he pleaſeth. Senſe alſo and Motion is by theſe, in their wonderful and inexplicable conjugations, conveyed to the reſt of the parts. It is God alone that knoweth how the bones (think the ſame of the ſinews, arteries, veins, griſtles, fleſh and blood &c.) do grow in the wombe of her that is with child, Eccleſ. 11.5. The Anatomiſts find out every day almoſt new wonders; and an Ancient ſtileth Man the miracle of miracles. Beſides what is ſeen,Mr. Caryl. God hath pack many rarieties, myſteries, yea, miracles together in mans cheſt. And ſurely, ſaith one, if all the Angels in heaven had ſtudied to this day, they could not have caſt man into a more curious mould, or have given a fairer, or more [illegible: 1 word] edition of him.

Verſe 12. Thou haſt granted me life] i. e. Into my body thus formed and organized, thou haſt infuſed a ſoul,Vatab. that principle of life quickned me in the womb, and brought me alive out of it: which becauſe it is a miracle of mercy, therefore [illegible: 1 word] addeth favour, thou haſt granted me (Heb. thou haſt wrought with me) life and fav[illegible: 3 letters]. Thou haſt dealt life and goodneſſe unto me; that is, thou haſt given me life accompanied with thy goodneſſe and bleſſings; ſo Beza ſenſeth it. Some underſtand it of the reaſonable ſoul; others of the beauty of the body according to Iſa. 40 6.

And thy viſitation hath preſerved my Spirit] i. e. Thy good providence hath ſafe guarded me from innumerable deaths and dangers. Puerilitas eſt periculorum pelagus, children are apt to run into miſchief; and thoſe of riper years are ſubject to a thouſand diſaſters and evil-occurrences. Gods ſpecial care is exerciſed over his, as is ſweetly expreſſed Pſalm 121. and Pſalm 23. (Davids paſtoral:) and Pſalm 3. where David doubteth not of ſafety, though aſleep, and in the midſt of enemies, becauſe God ſuſtained him: when as Samſon and Iſhboſheth, a ſleep in the midſt of friends, were circumvented, becauſe deſerted by him: oh pray, pray, that the Lord Jeſus Chriſt would be ever with our ſpirits: viſit him in duty, that he may viſit us in mercy.

Verſe 13. And thoſe things haſt thou hid in thine heart] Legendum hoc cum ſtomach[illegible: 1 letter], ſaith Mercer: And haſt thou indeed hid theſe things in thine heart? What things meaneth Job? his afflictions, which God was long before preparing for him, and now took his time to lay load upon him, to be revenged on him at unawares, and at greateſt advantage. If this be the fenſe of Jobs words (as ſome would conclude from the next verſes) he was mightily miſtaken; and this was atrox querimonia, a grievous complaint, and unworthy of God, who lieth not at the catch, nor pretendeth fair, when he intendeth otherwiſe. A Cain may do ſo to Abel, Eſau to Jacob, Abſolom to Amn[illegible: 1 letter]n, Joab to Amaſa &c. The Creator needs not daub or prevaricate thus with his creatures: if Job thought he did with him, Job was utterly out, though for confirmation he adde, I know that this is with thee; I am ſure that thou haſt dealt thus cloſely and covertly with me, and that thy plagues have ſurprized me. O theſe ſtill revenges! Merlin and others underſtand by thoſe thing hid in Gods heart, and which he was well aſſured could not have befallen him without Gods will and decree, the mercies which in the former verſes Job had recounted and reckoned up, viz. his conception, quickening, preſervation; all which he looked upon as love-tokens coming out of the heart of God, and from the ſpring of ſpecial love. Here then we ſee whence we may fetch comfort when moſt hardly beſtead: namely, from thoſe effects whereby God ſealed up his love to us in forming us in the womb; but eſpecially in his Covenant of Grace, that bee-hive of heavenly honey, whereby he hath ingaged to be our God even from the womb to the tomb; yea, to all perpetuity. Hereunto Job had reſpect, and ſo had David, Pſalm 22.10, 11. and Pſalm 25.10.

Verſe 14. If I ſin, then thou markeſt me] Though through humane frailty only I offend (& ni[illegible: 1 letter]is dedignatur mortalitatem qui peccaſſe erubeſcit,)Enphorm. thou ſoon noteſt it, thou followeſt me up and down, as it were, with pen, ink and paper, to ſet down my faults. How then, ſay ſome, that God ſees not ſin in his children? Job thought the Lord was over-ſtrict with him (which yet could not be) and that he put no difference betwixt him and thoſe that were notoriouſly wicked, as the next words import.

And thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity] That is, from the puniſhment of mine iniquity. Verba diffidentis, ſaith Mercer: words ſpoken according to the judgment of the fleſh, ſaith Diodate, which holdeth Gods viſitations to be puniſhments and vengeances.

Verſe 15. If I be wicked, wo unto me] Here he bringeth a Dilemma, whereby he declareth himſelf every way miſerable, faith Mercer; whether he be bad or good, ſuffer he muſt without remedy. If I be wicked, woe unto me; wo is the wicked mans portion; tell him ſo from me, ſaith God, Iſai. 3.10, 11. Though he love not to hear on that ear, but can bleſſe himſelf in his heart, when God curſeth him with his mouth, Deut. 29.19. And a godly man ſetteth the terrour of ſins woes before his fleſh, that ſlave, that muſt be frighted at leaſt with the ſight of the whip. Wo be to me, ſaith Paul, if I preach not the Goſpel, 1 Cor. 9.16. Or if, when I have preached to others, I my ſelf ſhould be a caſt-a-way verſe 27. which to prevent, he kept under his body (his corruption) and gave it a blue eye: for we are not debters to the fleſh, ſaith he, Rom. 8.10. We owe nothing but ſtripes and menaces, curſing it in every cruſe &c.

And if I be righteous, yet I will not lift up my head] Indeed I cannot, becauſe I am ſo bowed down with changes of ſorrows, armies of afflictions: my pains are continued, and I ſhall ſurely ſink under them: much adoe I have now to keep head above water. Others make this a deſcription of Jobs humility, I will not lift up my head, viz. in pride, but humble my ſelf to walk with my God, as that poor publican did who ſtood afarre off, and would not lift up ſo much as his eyes to heaven, Luk. 18.13.

I am full of confuſion] Caſt upon me by my friends, who reproach me for an hypocrite, and make my cheeks glow. The fulneſſe of an aſperſion may poſſibly put an innocent perſon to the bluſh: and it is the property of defamations to leave a kind of lower eſtimation many times, even where they are not believed. This was the confuſion that Job complained of, the ſtomack of his mind was full of it, even to ſatiety and ſurfet.

Therefore ſee thou mine affliction] My preſſing and piercing affliction, ſee it and remedy it, as Pſalm 119.153. Let not all my trouble ſeem little unto thee, as Nehem. 9.32. See Lord, ſee, behold it is high time for thee to ſet in.

Verſe 16. For it increaſeth] Heb. For it lifteth up it ſelf: it even boyleth up to the height, or it waxeth proud, as the proud ſurges of the ſea: Broughton rendreth it, Oh haw it fleeth up! Why how? Surely, as a fierce lion, ſo it hunteth me: it riſeth upon me, as a Lion rampant doth upon his prey, or as a Lion when he is purſued, gives not place, hides not his head, but comes into the open fields as holding it a diſgrace to withdraw, ſo ſome ſenſe it: Or,

Thou hunteſt me as a fierce Lion] Tanquam [illegible: 1 letter]e. God when he afflicteth men, is oft compared to a Lion: or Tanquam leonem, as if I were a ravening Lion; ſo thou hunteſt me,Iſa. 38.13. Hoſ. 5.14. Hoſ. 13.7. ſetting thy nets and toyls, making thy ſnares and pits ut capiar ad occiſionem (ſo the Septuagint) that I may be taken and deſtroyed, as 2 Pet. 2 12.

And again thou ſheweſt thy ſelf marvellous upon me] Heb. And thou returneſt. Here Job ſheweth, ſaith an Interpreter, what a confidence he had, that God returning to him in mercy would do wonderfully for him in the end: the word turning here,Ab. Ezr. and the turning his captivity, chap. 42. ſo aptly anſwering the one to the other to approve this expoſition. But others underſtand it of the continued or repeated acts of Jobs affliction unâ vi[illegible: 1 letter]e poſt aliam; as if he ſhould ſay, thou clappeſt on one affliction upon another: my pains know not only no period, but no pauſe: thou layeſt upon me extraordinary ſorrows, as if thou wouldſt declare in me alone, quàm mirus ſis artifex, what an excellent artiſan thou art when thou pleaſeſt, and what thou canſt do againſt a poor creature: ſurely thou haſt made my plagues wonderfull, Deut. 28.59. So the Apoſtles were made a gazing-ſtock, a theatre, a ſpectacle of humane miſery, 1 Cor. 4.9.

Verſe 17. Thou reneweſt thy witneſſes againſt me] Theſe freſh witneſſes were divels ſay ſome; Jobs friends, ſay others, his dolorous ſufferings rather, ſaith Austir, thoſe open witneſſes of ſome ſecret wickedneſſe in Job, as the world would eſteem them. See chap. 16.8. Ruth 1.21. Thus the Jewes cenſured our Saviour, Iſa. 53.3, 4. The Barbarians Paul, Acts 28. and thoſe in the Goſpel them that periſhed by the fall of the tower of Siloam. And how many precious men as well as Job, have been caſt upon this evidence for traitors and rebels againſt the higheſt majeſty? J[illegible: 2 letters]u[illegible: 1 letter] thinks, that when Job uttered the words of this text, he felt ſome new pains growing upon him and increaſing.

Thou in reaſeſt thine indignation upon me] Or within me, as chap. 6.4. and this was it that put a ſting into his ſufferings; Gods heavy diſpleaſure ſeemed to be kindled againſt him. Be not thou a terrour unto me ô Lord, ſaid Jeremy, and then I ſhall do well enough with the reſt.

Changes and warre (or armies) are upon me, or againſt me] Variety of troubles come trooping and treading, as it were, on the heels of one another: fluctus fluct[illegible: 1 letter]um [illegible: 1 letter]rudi[illegible: 1 letter]: there is a continual ſucceſſion of my ſorrows, freſh forces ſent againſt me &c. We ſee then that Job complained not without cauſe, though he kept not alwaies within compaſſe, as appeareth by that which followeth.

Verſe 18. Wherefore haſt thou brought me forth out of the womb?] Why? but was not that a mercy? David eſteemed it ſo, and gives God the glory, Pſalm. 22.9. But diſcontent is an utter enemy to thankfulneſſe. The bird ſings not till ſhe have taken up her ſtand to her mind. Some mens eyes are ſo bleared and glazed with tears for what they want, that they cannot ſee what good they have, cannot ſee mercies for bleſſings. Job here in a diſtemper wiſheth himſelf, (as he had done before, chap. 3. Who can underſtand his errors? Pſalm 19.12.) either unborn, or preſently dead, without the diſtance of one day betwixt his birth and his burial. In quo errorem erravit non levem, vir alioqui pientiſſimus; this was a worſe wiſh then if he had deſired that his life might be preſently taken away from him, for herein he ſheweth himſelf unthankful to God for all his former benefits: and not ſo only, but angry with God for the good he had done him: thus we have ſeen dogs in a chafe fly at their maſters, and children in a pelt ſtrike at their parents. But theſe were the voices of the fleſh luſting againſt the ſpirit, which afterwards (being juſtly reprehended for them, firſt by Elihu, and then alſo by God himſelf) he repreſſed and repented of in duſt and aſhes, Pſalm 42.6.

Oh that I had given up the ghoſt, and no eye had ſeen me] ſc. with delight; for what pleaſure is there in ſeeing a dead corps, eſpecially a ſtill-born child? ſee Gen. 23.4. with the Note. This text teacheth us, ſaith an Interpreter, what ſad effects extreme grief and pain worketh in the very beſt: it diſtempereth their ſpirits, and ſo diſturbeth them, that their complaints look like the blaſphemies of the wicked, and they ſometimes wiſh abſurd things, diſhonourable to God, and prejudicial to themſelves.

Verſe 19. I ſhould have been as though I had not been] Here he ſings the ſame ſong as chap. 3. and 6. It is hard to ſay how oft a child of God may diſcover the ſame infirmity. Our lives are fuller of ſins then the firmament is of ſtars, or the furnace of ſparks.

I ſhould have been carried from the womb to the grave] He makes mention of the grave as a deſirable place, which yet in the two laſt verſes he deſcribeth as a place of darkneſſe and diſorder. Thus Job himſelf was in the dark; and in his paſſion he throweth out words without wiſedome; Itaque ſolicitè orandus eſt Dius, ſaith one here, God is therefore to be earneſtly intreated, that when we are hard put to't with pain and miſery, we may not give way to unruly paſſion, nor ſuffer our tongues to out-laſh, as they will be apt to do. See Pſal. 39.1. confer Pſal. 22.77.88 & 89. and we ſhall ſee David well nigh as far out, as Job in his complaints and wiſhes; but God can put a difference between the godly and ſin in them, as between poiſon and the box that holdeth it. He can alſo pity them, as we do poiſon in a man, which yet we hate in a toad &c.

Verſe 20. Are not my dayes few?] And oh that they might not be alſo evil! ſith I ſhall not much trouble the world, oh that I might not find much trouble in the world! What man is he that would fain ſee good dayes, ſaith David, Pſalm 34.12? What man is he that would not, ſaith Austin in anſwer to him? Job and David joyn in one and the ſame ſuit for a truce from trouble, ſith their time here was ſo very ſhort, Pſalm 39.13. and 89.47.

Ceaſe then, and let me alone] After he had vented his paſſions, he fals again to his prayers. Ye have done all this wickedneſſe (ſaith Samuel to the people who had been over-importunate for a King) yet turn not aſide from following the Lord &c. 1 Sam. 12.20. Whileſt prayer ſtands ſtill, the whole trade of godlineſſe ſtands ſtill. Saints, though they have ſinned, yet muſt not reſtrain prayer, but go home to God again with ſhame in their faces, and tears in their eyes, and he will ſpeak peace; only they muſt be ſenſible that their Father hath ſpit in their faces &c.

That I may take comfort a little] A modeſt requeſt: the poor man ſpeaks ſupplications, begs a farthing. They who are lowly, make low demands. Oh that I were but a door keeper! oh that Iſhmael might live in thy ſight &c.

Verſe 21. Before I go whence I ſhall not return] Before I go out of this world, never more to return hither to enjoy the comforts that are here to be had. Death is a departure hence, 1 Pet. 1.15. Luke 9.31. And ſo the Ancients (Irenaeus, Clement, and others) uſed to call it: I ſhall change my place, but not my company, ſaid that dying Saint who had here walked with God in uprightneſſe,Tertul. and was now to bid adieu to all worldly intereſts. The old Romans were wont to ſay of a dead friend, Abiit, & everſurus eſt, He is gone, and will come again. It ſeems hereby that they had ſome darke notions of a Reſurrection; whence alſo their Poets called a dead body, a ſoul; — animamque ſepulchro condimus. The Hebrews did the like,Virg. Aeneid. Numb. 5.2. and 9.10. and 19.11. Hag. 2.14. as having a more ſure word of Propheſie: and Job was clear in this point, firmly believing the reſurrection of his body, chap. 19.26, 27. It muſt needs be therefore that he ſpeaks here of not returning into this world. See the like chap. 16.22. Pſalm 39.13. 2. Sam. 12.23.

Even to the land of darkneſſe &c.] See the Note on verſe 22.

Verſe 22. [illegible: 2 letters]land of darkneſſe &c.] This is not a deſcription of hell, and of the ſtate of the damned (as ſome would have it) for Job never meant to come there, no more then Jacob did, Gen. 37.35. and 42.38. But it is ſuch an elegant deſcription of the grave, [illegible: 1 word] exceedeth the phantaſie of Poets, and the rhetorick of all heathen Orators. There is ſomething like it in Davids Pſalms, eſpecially Pſalm 88.11, 12. where the grave is called a place of perdition, a land of forgetfulneſſe, and of darkneſſe, whereinto they who deſcend; praiſe not God, Pſalm 115.17. In reſpect of their bodies they do not, they cannot, Iſai. 38.18. Hell, indeed, is much more a land of darkneſſe, as darkneſſe it ſelf; it is that outer-darkneſſe; a darkneſſe beyond a darkneſſe, as the dungeon is beyond the priſon; and the pains of hell are the chains of darkneſſe. now death is [illegible: 1 letter]e[illegible: 3 letters]a[illegible: 1 letter]binger to the wicked, and hence it is ſo dreadful in the apprehenſion and approach of it, that mens hearts do even die within them, as Nabals did, through fear of death; and they tremble thereat as the trees of the wood, or leaves of the forreſt, with Ahaz, Iſai. 7.2. Darkneſſe we know, is full of terrour: the Egyptians were ſorely a frighted by their three dayes thick darkneſſe, in ſo much as that none ſtirred off his ſtool all that while, Exod. 10.23. and it was the more terrible, doubtleſſe, becauſe they had no warning of it, as they had of other plagues. How oft do men chop into the chambers of death (their long-home the grave) all on the ſudden, as he that travelleth in the ſnow, may do over head and ears into a marle-pit? Death of any ſort, is unwelcome to nature, as being its ſlaughterman: but when ſudden, It is ſo much the more ghaſtly; and thoſe that deſperately dare death to a duel, cannot look it in the face with blood in their cheeks: only to thoſe that are in Chriſt, the bitterneſſe of death is paſt, the ſting of it pulled out, the property altered, as hath been already noted. Chriſt, the Sun of Righteouſneſſe, ſaith a Learned Expoſitor here, lay in the grave, and hath left perpetual beams of light there for his purchaſed people.Mr. Caryl. The way to the grave is very dark, but Chriſt hath ſet up lights for us &c.

And of the ſhadow of death] The ſhadow is the dark part of the thing; ſo that the ſhadow of death is the darkeſt ſide of death, death in its moſt hideous and horrid repreſentations: the ſhadow of death is the ſubſtance of death, or death with addition of greateſt deadlineſſe.

Without any order] Heb. and not orders, What then? confuſion ſurely, without keeping to rules or ranks: mens bones are mingled in the grave; whether they have been princes or peaſants, it cannot be diſcerned: Omnia mors aequat; as cheſſe-men are put up all together in the bag when the game is ended, without diſtinction of King, Duke, Biſhop. &c. ſo here: Junius rendreth it, expertem viciſſitudinum, without any interchanges, diſtinctions, viciſſitudes, or varieties (as of day, night, ſummer, winter, heat, cold, &c.) of which things conſiſteth the greateſt part of the brevity of this world.

And where the light is [illegible: 1 word] darkneſſe] How great then muſt needs be that darkneſſe? as our Saviour ſpeaketh in another caſe, Matth. 6.23. Surely when by the return of the Sun; there is light in the land of the living; in the grave all is abyſſed and ſunk into eternal might: as the bodies of thoſe two ſmothered Princes were by their cruel Uncle Richard the third, in the black-deeps, a place ſo called at the Thames-mouth: in the grave light and darkneſſe are both alike: and as the Images in Popiſh Temples ſee nothing, though great wax candles be lighted up before them: ſo the cleareſt light of the Sun ſhining in his ſtrength would be nothing to thoſe that are dead and buried. Let this be much and often thought on: mors tu[illegible: 1 letter], mors Christi &c. Cyrus that great Conqueror lying on his death-bed, praiſed God, ſaith Xenophon, that his proſperity had not puffed him up; for he ever conſidered that he was but mortal, and muſt bid adieu to the world. Charls the fifth Emperour of Germany cauſed his ſepulcher and grave clothes to be made five years before his death, and carried them cloſely with him whitherſoever he went. Samuel ſent Saul newly annointed to Rachels ſepulcher, 1 Sam. 10.24. that he might not ſurfet upon his new honours, &c.