Job 21 commentary

Job comes closer to the question in dispute. This was, Whether outward prosperity is a mark of the true church, and the true members of it, so that ruin of a man's prosperity proves him a hypocrite? This they asserted, but Job denied. If they looked upon him, they might see misery enough to demand compassion, and their bold interpretations of this mysterious providence should be turned into silent wonder.

Job says, Remarkable judgments are sometimes brought upon notorious sinners, but not always. Wherefore is it so? This is the day of God's patience; and, in some way or other, he makes use of the prosperity of the wicked to serve his own counsels, while it ripens them for ruin; but the chief reason is, because he will make it appear there is another world. These prospering sinners make light of God and religion, as if because they have so much of this world, they had no need to look after another. But religion is not a vain thing. If it be so to us, we may thank ourselves for resting on the outside of it. Job shows their folly.

Job had described the prosperity of wicked people; in these verses he opposes this to what his friends had maintained about their certain ruin in this life. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Even while they prosper thus, they are light and worthless, of no account with God, or with wise men. In the height of their pomp and power, there is but a step between them and ruin. Job refers the difference Providence makes between one wicked man and another, into the wisdom of God. He is Judge of all the earth, and he will do right. So vast is the disproportion between time and eternity, that if hell be the lot of every sinner at last, it makes little difference if one goes singing thither, and another sighing. If one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, the worm that dies not, and the fire that is not quenched, will be the same to them. Thus differences in this world are not worth perplexing ourselves about.

Job opposes the opinion of his friends, That the wicked are sure to fall into visible and remarkable ruin, and none but the wicked; upon which principle they condemned Job as wicked. Turn to whom you will, you will find that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, Jude 1:14, 15. The sinner is here supposed to live in a great deal of power. The sinner shall have a splendid funeral: a poor thing for any man to be proud of the prospect of. He shall have a stately monument. And a valley with springs of water to keep the turf green, was accounted an honourable burial place among eastern people; but such things are vain distinctions. Death closes his prosperity. It is but a poor encouragement to die, that others have died before us. That which makes a man die with true courage, is, with faith to remember that Jesus Christ died and was laid in the grave, not only before us, but for us. That He hath gone before us, and died for us, who is alive and liveth for us, is true consolation in the hour of death.

CHAPTER 21

SECOND SERIES.

Job 21:1-34. Job's Answer.

2. consolations--If you will listen calmly to me, this will be regarded as "consolations"; alluding to Eliphaz' boasted "consolations" (Job 15:11), which Job felt more as aggravations ("mockings," Job 21:3) than consolations (Job 16:2).

3. literally, "Begin your mockings" (Job 17:2).

4. Job's difficulty was not as to man, but as to God, why He so afflicted him, as if he were the guilty hypocrite which the friends alleged him to be. Vulgate translates it, "my disputation."

if it were--rather, "since this is the case."

5. lay ... hand upon ... mouth--(Pr 30:32; Jud 18:19). So the heathen god of silence was pictured with his hand on his mouth. There was enough in Job's case to awe them into silence (Job 17:8).

6. remember--Think on it. Can you wonder that I broke out into complaints, when the struggle was not with men, but with the Almighty? Reconcile, if you can, the ceaseless woes of the innocent with the divine justice! Is it not enough to make one tremble? [Umbreit].

7. The answer is Ro 2:4; 1Ti 1:16; Psa 73:18; Ec 8:11-13; Lu 2:35-end; Pr 16:4; Ro 9:22.

old--in opposition to the friends who asserted that sinners are "cut off" early (Job 8:12, 14).

8. In opposition to Job 18:19; 5:4.

9. Literally, "peace from fear"; with poetic force. Their house is peace itself, far removed from fear. Opposed to the friends' assertion, as to the bad (Job 15:21-24; 20:26-28), and conversely, the good (Job 5:23, 24).

10. Rather, "their cattle conceive." The first clause of the verse describes an easy conception, the second, a happy birth [Umbreit].

11. send forth--namely, out of doors, to their happy sports under the skies, like a joyful flock sent to the pastures.

little ones--like lambkins.

children--somewhat older than the former.

dance--not formal dances; but skip, like lambs, in joyous and healthful play.

12. take--rather, "lift up the voice" (sing) to the note of [Umbreit].

timbrel--rather, "tambourine."

organ--not the modern "organ," but the "pipe" (Ge 4:21). The first clause refers to stringed, the latter, to wind instruments; thus, with "the voice" all kinds of music are enumerated.

13. wealth--Old English Version for "prosperity."

in a moment--not by a lingering disease. Great blessings! Lengthened life with prosperity, and a sudden painless death (Psa 73:4).

14. Therefore--rather, "And yet they are such as say," &c., that is, say, not in so many words, but virtually, by their conduct (so the Gergesenes, Mt 8:34). How differently the godly (Is 2:3).

ways--The course of action, which God points out; as in Psa 50:23, Margin.

15. (Compare Jr 2:20; Pr 30:9, Margin, Ex 5:2).

what profit--(Job 35:3; Mal 3:14; Psa 73:13). Sinners ask, not what is right, but what is for the profit of self. They forget, "If religion cost self something, the want of it will cost self infinitely more."

16. not in their hand--but in the hand of God. This is Job's difficulty, that God who has sinners prosperity (good) in His hand should allow them to have it.

is--rather, "may the counsel of the wicked be far from me!" [Umbreit]. This naturally follows the sentiment of the first clause: Let me not hereby be thought to regard with aught but horror the ways of the wicked, however prosperous.

17. Job in this whole passage down to Job 21:21 quotes the assertion of the friends, as to the short continuance of the sinner's prosperity, not his own sentiments. In Job 21:22 he proceeds to refute them. "How oft is the candle" (lamp), &c., quoting Bildad's sentiment (Job 18:5, 6), in order to question its truth (compare Mt 25:8).

how oft--"God distributeth," &c. (alluding to Job 20:23, 29).

sorrows--Umbreit translates "snares," literally, "cords," which lightning in its twining motion resembles (Psa 11:6).

18. Job alludes to a like sentiment of Bildad (Job 18:18), using his own previous words (Job 13:25).

19. Equally questionable is the friends' assertion that if the godless himself is not punished, the children are (Job 18:19; 20:10); and that God rewardeth him here for his iniquity, and that he shall know it to his cost. So "know" (Ho 9:7).

20. Another questionable assertion of the friends, that the sinner sees his own and his children's destruction in his lifetime.

drink--(Psa 11:6; Is 51:17; La 4:21).

21. The argument of the friends, in proof of Job 21:20, What pleasure can he have from his house (children) when he is dead--("after him," Ec 3:22).

when the number, &c.--Or, rather, "What hath he to do with his children?" &c. (so the Hebrew in Ec 3:1; 8:6). It is therefore necessary that "his eyes should see his and their destruction" (see Job 14:21).

cut off--rather, when the number of his allotted months is fulfilled (Job 14:5). From an Arabic word, "arrow," which was used to draw lots with. Hence "arrow"--inevitable destiny [Umbreit].

22. Reply of Job, "In all these assertions you try to teach God how He ought to deal with men, rather than prove that He does in fact so deal with them. Experience is against you. God gives prosperity and adversity as it pleases Him, not as man's wisdom would have it, on principles inscrutable to us" (Is 40:13; Ro 11:34).

those ... high--the high ones, not only angels, but men (Is 2:12-17).

23. Literally, "in the bone of his perfection," that is, the full strength of unimpaired prosperity [Umbreit].

24. breasts--rather, "skins," or "vessels" for fluids [Lee]. But [Umbreit] "stations or resting-places of his herds near water"; in opposition to Zophar (Job 20:17); the first clause refers to his abundant substance, the second to his vigorous health.

moistened--comparing man's body to a well-watered field (Pr 3:8; Is 58:11).

26. (Ec 9:2).

27. Their wrongful thoughts against Job are stated by him in Job 21:28. They do not honestly name Job, but insinuate his guilt.

28. ye say--referring to Zophar (Job 20:7).

the house--referring to the fall of the house of Job's oldest son (Job 1:19) and the destruction of his family.

prince--The parallel "wicked" in the second clause requires this to be taken in a bad sense, tyrant, oppressor (Is 13:2), the same Hebrew, "nobles"--oppressors.

dwelling-places--rather, "pavilions," a tent containing many dwellings, such as a great emir, like Job, with many dependents, would have.

29. Job, seeing that the friends will not admit him as an impartial judge, as they consider his calamities prove his guilt, begs them to ask the opinion of travellers (La 1:12), who have the experience drawn from observation, and who are no way connected with him. Job opposes this to Bildad (Job 8:8) and Zophar (Job 20:4).

tokens--rather, "intimations" (for example, inscriptions, proverbs, signifying the results of their observation), testimony. Literally, "signs" or proofs in confirmation of the word spoken (Is 7:11).

30. Their testimony (referring perhaps to those who had visited the region where Abraham who enjoyed a revelation then lived) is that "the wicked is (now) spared (reserved) against the day of destruction (hereafter)." The Hebrew does not so well agree with [Umbreit] "in the day of destruction." Job does not deny sinners' future punishment, but their punishment in this life. They have their "good things" now. Hereafter, their lot, and that of the godly, shall be reversed (Lu 16:25). Job, by the Spirit, often utters truths which solve the difficulty under which he labored. His afflictions mostly clouded his faith, else he would have seen the solution furnished by his own words. This answers the objection, that if he knew of the resurrection in Job 19:25, and future retribution (Job 21:30), why did he not draw his reasonings elsewhere from them, which he did not? God's righteous government, however, needs to be vindicated as to this life also, and therefore the Holy Ghost has caused the argument mainly to turn on it at the same time giving glimpses of a future fuller vindication of God's ways.

brought forth--not "carried away safe" or "escape" (referring to this life), as Umbreit has it.

wrath--literally, "wraths," that is, multiplied and fierce wrath.

31. That is, who dares to charge him openly with his bad ways? namely, in this present life. He shall, I grant (Job 21:30), be "repaid" hereafter.

32. Yet--rather, "and."

brought--with solemn pomp (Psa 45:15).

grave--literally, "graves"; that is, the place where the graves are.

remain in--rather, watch on the tomb, or sepulchral mound. Even after death he seems still to live and watch (that is, have his "remembrance" preserved) by means of the monument over the grave. In opposition to Bildad (Job 18:17).

33. As the classic saying has it, "The earth is light upon him." His repose shall be "sweet."

draw--follow. He shall share the common lot of mortals; no worse off than they (He 9:27). Umbreit not so well (for it is not true of "every man"). "Most men follow in his bad steps, as countless such preceded him."

34. falsehood--literally, "transgression." Your boasted "consolations" (Job 15:11) are contradicted by facts ("vain"); they therefore only betray your evil intent ("wickedness") against me.

Let this be your consolations - ותהי זאת תנחומתיכם uthehi zoth tanchumotheychem may be translated, "And let this be your retractations." Let what I am about to say induce you to retract what you have said, and to recall your false judgments. נחם nacham signifies, not only to comfort, but to change one's mind, to repent; hence the Vulgate translates et agite paenitentiam, "and repent," which Coverdale follows in his version, and amende yourselves. Some suppose the verse to be understood ironically: I am now about to give you consolations for those you have given me. When I have done, then turn them into mockery if you please.

As for me - האנכי heanochi, "Alas for me!" Is it not with a man that I speak? And, if this be the case, why should not my spirit be troubled? I do not reply against my Maker: I suffer much from God and man; why then may I not have the privilege of complaining to creatures like myself?

Mark me, and be astonished - Consider and compare the state in which I was once, with that in which I am now; and be astonished at the judgments and dispensations of God. You will then be confounded; you will put your hands upon your mouths, and keep silent. Putting the hand on the mouth, or the finger on the lips, was the token of silence. The Egyptian god Harpocrates, who was the god of silence, is represented with his finger compressing his upper lip.

I am afraid - I am about to speak of the mysterious workings of Providence; and I tremble at the thought of entering into a detail on such a subject; my very flesh trembles.

Wherefore do the wicked live - You have frequently asserted that the wicked are invariably punished in this life; and that the righteous are ever distinguished by the strongest marks of God's providential kindness; how then does it come that many wicked men live long and prosperously, and at last die in peace, without any evidence whatever of God's displeasure? This is a fact that is occurring daily; none can deny it; how then will you reconcile it with your maxims?

Their seed is established - They see their own children grow up, and become settled in the land; and behold their children's children also; so that their generations are not cut off. Even the posterity of the wicked continue.

Neither is the rod of God upon them - They are not afflicted as other men.

Their bull gendereth - עבר ibbar, passes over, i.e., on the cow, referring to the actions of the bull when coupling with the female. Their flocks multiply greatly, they bring forth in time, and none of them is barren.

They send forth their little ones - It is not very clear whether this refers to the young of the flocks or to their children. The first clause may mean the former, the next clause the latter; while the young of their cattle are in flocks, their numerous children are healthy and vigorous, and dance for joy.

They take the timbrel and harp - ישאו yisu, they rise up or lift themselves up, probably alluding to the rural exercise of dancing. תף toph, which we translate timbrel, means a sort of drum, such as the tom-tom of the Asiatics. כנור kinnor may mean something of the harp kind. עוגב ugab, organ, means nothing like the instrument now called the organ, though thus translated both by the Septuagint and Vulgate; it probably means the syrinx, composed of several unequal pipes, close at the bottom, which when blown into at the top, gives a very shrill and lively sound. To these instruments the youth are represented as dancing joyfully. Mr. Good translates: "They trip merrily to the sound of the pipe." And illustrates his translation with the following verse: - "Now pursuing, now retreating,Now in circling troops they meet;

To brisk notes in cadence beating,Glance their many twinkling feet."

The original is intended to convey the true notion of the gambols of the rustic nymphs and swains on festival occasions, and let it be observed that this is spoken of the children of those who say unto God, "Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have if we pray unto him?" Job 21:14, Job 21:15. Is it any wonder that the children of such parents should be living to the flesh, and serving the lusts of the flesh? for neither they nor their parents know God, nor pray unto him.

They spend their days in wealth - There is a various reading here of some importance. In the text we have יבלו yeballu, they grow old, or wear out as with old age, terent vetustate; and in the margin, יכלו yechallu, they consume; and the Masora states that this is one of the eleven words which are written with ב beth and must be read with כ caph. Several editions have the former word in the text, and the latter in the margin; the former being what is called the kethib, the latter keri. יבלו yeballu, they grow old, or wear out, is the reading of the Antwerp, Paris, and London Polyglots; יכלו yechallu, they accomplish or spend, is the reading of the Complutensian Polyglot, thirteen of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., the Septuagint, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Vulgate has ducunt, "they lead or spend," from which our translation is borrowed. I incline to the former, as Job's argument derives considerable strength from this circumstance; they not only spend their days in faring sumptuously every day; but they even wear out so as to grow old in it; they are not cut off by any sudden judgment of God. This is fact; therefore your doctrine, that the wicked are cut off suddenly and have but a short time, is far from the truth.

In a moment go down to the grave - They wear out their years in pleasure; grow old in their gay and giddy life; and die, as in a moment, without previous sickness; or, as Mr. Good has it, They quietly descend into the grave.

They say unto God - This is the language of their conduct, though not directly of their lips.

Depart from us - Let us alone; we do not trouble thee. Thy ways are painful; we do not like cross-bearing. Thy ways are spiritual; we wish to live after the flesh. We have learned to do our own will; we do not wish to study thine.

What is the Almighty - What allegiance do we owe to him? We feel no obligation to obey him; and what profit can we derive from prayer? We are as happy as flesh and blood can make us: our kingdom is of this world; we wish for no other portion than that which we have. Those who have never prayed as they ought know nothing of the benefits of prayer.

Their good is not in their hand - With all their boasting and self-dependence, God only lends them his bounty; and though it appears to be their own, yet it is at his disposal. Some of the wicked he permits to live and die in affluence, provided it be acquired in the ordinary way of his providence, by trade, commerce, etc. Others he permits to possess it for a while only, and then strips them of their illegally procured property.

The counsel of the wicked is far from me - Some understand the words thus: "Far be it from me to advocate the cause of the wicked." I have nothing in common with them, and am not their apologist. I state a fact: they are often found in continual prosperity. I state another fact: they are often found in wretchedness and misery.

How oft is the candle of the wicked put out? - The candle or lamp is often used, both as the emblem of prosperity and of posterity. Oftentimes the rejoicing of the wicked is short; and, not unfrequently, his seed is cut off from the earth. The root is dried up, and the branch is withered.

God distributeth sorrows in his anger - He must be incensed against those who refuse to know, serve, and pray unto him. In his anger, therefore, he portions out to each his due share of misery, vexation, and wo.

They are as stubble before the wind - "His fan is in his hand; he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, but shall be like the chaff which the wind driveth away." Were not this a common thought, I should have supposed that the author of this book borrowed it from Psa 1:4. The original signifies that they shall be carried away by a furious storm; and borne off as booty is by the swift-riding robbers of the desert, who make a sudden irruption, and then set off at full speed with their prey.

God layeth up his iniquity for his children - This is according to the declaration of God, Exo 20:5 : "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." This always supposes that the children, who are thus visited, have copied their parents' example; or that ill-gotten property is found in their hands, which has descended to them from their wicked fathers; and of this God, in his judgments, strips them. It is, however, very natural to suppose that children brought up without the fear of God will walk in the sight of their own eyes, and according to the imaginations of their own hearts.

He rewardeth him, and he shall know it - He shall so visit his transgressions upon him, that he shall at last discern that it is God who hath done it. And thus they will find that there would have been profit in serving him, and safety in praying unto him. But this they have neglected, and now it is too late.

His eyes shall see his destruction - He shall perceive its approach, and have the double punishment of fearing and feeling; feeling a Thousand deaths in fearing One.

He shall drink of the wrath - The cup of God's wrath, the cup of trembling, etc., is frequently expressed or referred to in the sacred writings, Deu 32:33; Isa 51:17-22; Jer 25:15; Rev 14:8. It appears to be a metaphor taken from those cups of poison which certain criminals were obliged to drink. A cup of the juice of hemlock was the wrath or punishment assigned by the Athenian magistrates to the philosopher Socrates.

For what pleasure hath he in his house after him - What may happen to his posterity he neither knows nor cares for, as he is now numbered with the dead, and numbered with them before he had lived out half his years. Some have translated the verse thus: "Behold how speedily God destroys the house of the wicked after him! How he shortens the number of his months!"

Shall any teach God knowledge? - Who among the sons of men can pretend to teach God how to govern the world, who himself teaches those that are high - the heavenly inhabitants, that excel us infinitely both in knowledge and wisdom? Neither angels nor men can comprehend the reasons of the Divine providence. It is a depth known only to God.

One dieth in his full strength - In this and the three following verses Job shows that the inequality of fortune, goods, health, strength, etc., decides nothing either for or against persons in reference to the approbation or disapprobation of God, as these various lots are no indications of their wickedness or innocence. One has a sudden, another a lingering death; but by none of these can their eternal states be determined.

His breasts are full of milk - The word עטיניו atinaiv, which occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, is most likely an Arabic term, but probably so provincial as to be now lost. (Arabic) atana signifies to macerate hides so as to take off the hair: hence Mr. Good thinks it means here, that sleekness of skin which is the effect of fatness both in man and beast. But as the radical idea signifies to stink, as leather does which is thus macerated, I cannot see how this meaning can apply here. Under the root עטן atan, Mr. Parkhurst gives the following definitions:" עטן occurs, not as a verb, but as a noun masculine plural, in construction, עטיני atiney, the bowels, intestines; once Job 21:24, עטיניו atinaiv, his bowels or intestines, are full of, or abound with, חלב chalab, fat. So the lxx.: Τα δε εγκατα αυτου πληρη στεατος. The Vulgate: Viscera, ejus plena sent adipe, 'his intestines are full of fat.' May not עטינים atinim be a noun masculine plural from עטה atah, to involve, formed as גליונים gailyonim, mirrors, from גלה galah, to reveal? And may nor the intestines, including those fatty parts, the mesentery and omentum, be so called on account of their wonderful involutions?" I think this conjecture to be as likely as any that has yet been formed.

They shall lie down alike in the dust - Death levels all distinctions, and the grave makes all equal. There may be a difference in the grave itself; but the human corpse is the same in all. Splendid monuments enshrine corruption; but the sod must lie close and heavy upon the putrefying carcass, to prevent it from becoming the bane of the living.

I know your thoughts - Ye still think that, because I am grievously afflicted, I must therefore be a felonious transgressor.

For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? - In order to prove your point, ye ask, Where is the house of the tyrant and oppressor?

Are they not overthrown and destroyed? And is not this a proof that God does not permit the wicked to enjoy prosperity?

Have ye not asked them that go by the way? - This appears to be Job's answer. Consult travelers who have gone through different countries; and they will tell you that they have seen both examples - the wicked in great prosperity in some instances, while suddenly destroyed in others. See at the end of the chapter, Job 21:34 (note).

Do ye not know their tokens - Mr. Good translates the whole verse thus: "Surely thou canst never have inquired of men of travel; or thou couldst not have been ignorant of their tokens. Hadst thou made proper inquiries, thou wouldst have heard of their awful end in a thousand instances. And also of their prosperity." See at the end of this chapter, Job 21:34 (note).

That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? - Though every one can tell that he has seen the wicked in prosperity, and even spend a long life in it; yet this is no proof that God loves him, or that he shall enjoy a prosperous lot in the next world. There, he shall meet with the day of wrath. There, the wicked shall be punished, and the just rewarded.

Who shall declare his way to his face? - But while the wicked is in power, who shall dare to tell him to his face what his true character is? or, who shall dare to repay him the evil he has done? As such a person cannot have his punishment in this life, he must have it in another; and for this the day of wrath - the day of judgment, is prepared.

Yet shall he be brought to the grave - He shall die like other men; and the corruption of the grave shall prey upon him. Mr. Carlyle, in his specimens of Arabic poetry, Translations, p. 16, quotes this verse, which he translates and paraphrases, והוא לקברות יובל "He shall be brought to the grave," ועל גדוש ישקוד And shall watch upon the high-raised heap." It was the opinion of the pagan Arabs, that upon the death of any person, a bird, by them called Manah, issued from the brain, and haunted the sepulcher of the deceased, uttering a lamentable scream.

This notion, he adds, is evidently alluded to in Job 21:32. Thus Abusahel, on the death of his mistress: - "If her ghost's funereal screech

Through the earth my grave should reach,

On that voice I loved so well

My transported ghost would dwell."

The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him - Perhaps there is an allusion here to the Asiatic mode of interment for princes, saints, and nobles: a well-watered valley was chosen for the tomb, where a perpetual spring might be secured. This was intended to be the emblem of a resurrection, or of a future life; and to conceal as much as possible the disgrace of the rotting carcass.

Every man shall draw after him - There seem to be two allusions intended here:

1. To death, the common lot of all. Millions have gone before him to the tomb; and כל אדם col adam, all men, shall follow him: all past generations have died, all succeeding generations shall die also.

2. To pompous funeral processions; multitudes preceding, and multitudes following, the corpse.

How then comfort ye me in vain - Mr. Good translates: "How vainly then would ye make me retract!" See the note on Job 21:2. I cannot retract any thing I have said, as I have proved by fact and testimony that your positions are false and unfounded. Your pretensions to comfort me are as hollow as the arguments you bring in support of your exceptionable doctrines.

This chapter may be called Job's triumph over the insinuated calumnies, and specious but false doctrines, of his opponents. The irritability of his temper no longer appears: from the time he got that glorious discovery of his Redeemer, and the Joyous hope of an eternal inheritance, Job 19:25, etc., we find no more murmurings, nor unsanctified complainings. He is now full master of himself; and reasons conclusively, because he reasons coolly. Impassioned transports no longer carry him away: his mind is serene; his heart, fixed; his hope, steady; and his faith, strong. Zophar the Naamathite is now, in his presence, as an infant in the gripe of a mighty giant. Another of these pretended friends but real enemies comes forward to renew the attack with virulent invective, malevolent insinuation, and unsupported assertion. Him, Job meets, and vanquishes by pious resignation and fervent prayer. Though, at different times after this, Job had his buffetings from his grand adversary, and some seasons of comparative darkness, yet his faith is unshaken, and he stands as a beaten anvil to the stroke. He effectually exculpates himself, and vindicates the dispensations of his Maker.

There appears to be something in the Job 21:29 which requires to be farther examined: Have ye not asked them that go by the way? And do ye not know their tokens? It is probable that this verse may allude to the custom of burying the dead by the way-side, and raising up specious and descriptive monuments over them. Job argues that the lot of outward prosperity fell alike to the just and to the unjust, and that the sepulchral monuments by the wayside were proofs of his assertion; for his friends, as well as himself and others, had noted them, and asked the history of such and such persons, from the nearest inhabitants of the place; and the answers, in a great variety of cases, had been: "That monument points out the place where a wicked man lies, who was all his lifetime in prosperity and affluence, yet oppressed the poor, and shut up the bowels of his compassion against the destitute; and this belongs to a man who lived only to serve his God, and to do good to man according to his power, yet had not a day of health, nor an hour of prosperity; God having given to the former his portion in this life, and reserved the recompense of the latter to a future state."

The Septuagint render the verse thus: - Ερωτησατε παραπορευμενους ὁδον, και τα σημεια αυτων ουκ απαλλοτριωσατε, "Inquire of those who pass by the way, and their signs [monuments] ye will not alienate." That is, When ye hear the history of these persons, ye will not then assert that the man who lived in prosperity was a genuine worshipper of the true God, and therefore was blessed with temporal good, and that he who lived in adversity was an enemy to God and was consequently cursed with the want of secular blessings. Of the former ye will hear a different account from those who dare now speak the truth, because the prosperous oppressor is no more; And of the latter ye shall learn that, though afflicted, destitute, and distressed, he was one of those who acknowledged God in all his ways, and never performed an act of religious service to him in hope of secular gain; sought his approbation only, and met death cheerfully, in the hope of being eternally with the Lord.

Neither good nor evil can be known by the occurrences of this life. Every thing argues the certainty of a future state, and the necessity of a day of judgment. They who are in the habit of marking casualties, especially if those whom they love not are the subjects of them, as tokens of Divine displeasure, only show an ignorance of God's dispensations, and a malevolence of mind that would fain arm itself with the celestial thunders, in order to transfix those whom they deem their enemies.

Hear, &c. - If you have no other comfort to administer, at least afford me this. And it will be a comfort to yourselves in the reflection, to have dealt tenderly with your afflicted friend.

Speak - without interruption. Mock - If I do not defend my cause with solid arguments, go on in your scoffs.

Is - I do not make my complaint to, or expect relief from you, or from any men, hut from God only: I am pouring forth my complaints to God. If - If my complaint were to man, have I not cause?

Mark - Consider what I am about to say concerning the prosperity of the worst of men, and the pressures of some good men, and it is able to fill you with astonishment. Lay, &c. - Be silent.

Remember - The very remembrance of what is past, fills me with dread and horror.

Moment - They do not die of a lingering and tormenting disease.

Therefore - Because of their constant prosperity. Say - Sometimes in words, but commonly in their thoughts and the language of their lives.

Lo - But wicked men have no reason to reject God, because of their prosperity, for their wealth, is not in their hand; neither obtained, nor kept by their own might, but only by God's power and favour. Therefore I am far from approving their opinion, or following their course.

Often - I grant that this happens often though not constantly, as you affirm. Lamp - Their glory and outward happiness.

Layeth up - In his treasures, Rom 2:5. Iniquity - The punishment of his iniquity; he will punish him both in his person and in his posterity.

See - He shall be destroyed; as to see death, is to die.

For, &c. - What delight can ye take in the thoughts of his posterity, when he is dying an untimely death? When that number of months, which by the course of nature, he might have lived, is cut off by violence.

Teach - How to govern the world? For so you do, while you tell him that he must not afflict the godly, nor give the wicked prosperity. That he must invariably punish the wicked, and reward the righteous in this world. No: he will act as sovereign, and with great variety in his providential dispensations. High - The highest persons, on earth, he exactly knows them, and gives sentence concerning them, as he sees fit.

Another - Another wicked man. So there is a great variety of God's dispensations; he distributes great prosperity to one, and great afflictions to another, according to his wise but secret counsel.

Alike - All these worldly differences are ended by death, and they lie in the grave without any distinction. So that no man can tell who is good, and who is bad by events which befall them in this life. And if one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, they will meet in the congregation of the dead and damned; and the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched will be the same to both: which makes those differences inconsiderable, and not worth perplexing ourselves about.

Me - I know that your discourses, though they be of wicked, men in general, yet are particularly levelled at me.

Them - Any person that passes along the high - way, every one you meet with. It is so vulgar a thing, that no man of common sense is ignorant of it. Tokens - The examples, or evidences, of this truth, which they that go by the way can produce.

They - He speaks of the same person; only the singular number is changed into the plural, possibly to intimate, that altho' for the present only some wicked men were punished, yet then all of them should suffer. Brought - As malefactors are brought forth from prison to execution.

Declare - His power and splendor are so great, that scarce any man dare reprove him.

And - The pomp of his death shall be suitable to the glory of his life. Brought - With pomp and state, as the word signifies. Grave - Heb. to the graves; to an honourable and eminent grave: the plural number being used emphatically to denote eminency. He shall not die a violent but a natural death.

Valley - Of the grave, which is low and deep like a valley. Sweet - He shall sweetly rest in his grave. Draw - Heb. he shall draw every man after him, into the grave, all that live after him, whether good or bad, shall follow him to the grave, shall die as he did. So he fares no worse herein than all mankind. He is figuratively said to draw them, because they come after him, as if they were drawn by his example.

How - Why then do you seek to comfort me with vain hopes of recovering my prosperity, seeing your grounds are false, and experience shews, that good men are often in great tribulation, while the vilest of men prosper.

2. Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations .

Or This shall be your consolations; i. e. I shall accept of your patient and diligent attention to me in stead of all those consolations which you owed to me in this condition, and which I expected from you.

3. Suffer me that I may speak , and after that I have spoken, mock on .

Without such interruption as you have given me. Chap. 20. 2.

If I do not defend my Cause with solid and convincing Arguments, go on in your scoffs if you please.

Marginal references: Ch. 16. 10▪ & 17. 2.

4. As for me, is my complaint to man ? and if it were so , why should not my spirit be troubled ?

Or, of man; for the prefix Lamed commonly signifieth both to and of: And this question implies a Denial, or that his Complaint is not to, or of man; to wit, only, but to, or of God; as is here sufficiently implied, and oft elsewhere expressed by Iob in this Book. So the sense seems to be either 1. this, I do not make my moan or complaint unto, or expect relief from you, or from any men, but from God onely: and therefore you have reason patiently to hear me when I am pouring forth my Complaints to God. Or rather 2. this, do I onely complain, or have I reason to complain onely of you, and your unmerciful carriage to me; or of men who have dealt barbarously with me? Chap. 1. & 30. 1. 9. &c. Surely no: But my complaint is of God, and of his hard and severe dealing with me. It is he who hath alienated my Friends affections from me, and stirred up mine enemies against me: And though it hath been my chief care and business to please and serve him, yet he hath also set himself against me, and shot all his Arrows into me. And therefore my Expostulations with him (which here follows, v. 7.) is the more reasonable; and if you will hear me calmly and patiently, you will find that I have cause of complaining.

i. e. If my complaint were only of man, I have cause to be troubled. Or, if it be so, i. e. If I do not complain of man, but of God, it is no wonder if my Spirit be greatly oppressed, and you ought to allow me the liberty of easing my troubled mind, and modestly pleading my Cause before God,

Heb. be shortned or straitned; i. e. either grieved, or vexed, as this word signifies, Exod. 6. 9. Num. 21. 5. Iudg. 10. 16. & 16. 16. The heart is enlarged by joy and contracted by sorrow; as appears by Philosophy and Experience.

Marginal references: Heb. shortned.

5. Mark me, and be astonished , and lay your hand upon your mouth .

Consider what I am about to say concerning the wonderful prosperity of the worst of men, and the intolerable pressures of some good men, such as I have manifested, and shall prove that I am, and it is able to fill you that are but Spectators with astonishment and horrour at the strange and mysterious course of Divine Providence herein; and therefore it is no wonder, if I who suffer such things from that God whom I have so faithfully served, am overwhelmed with the sense of it.

i. e. Be silent, as this Phrase is oft used, as Chap. 40. 4. Prov. 10. 32. Mich 7. 16. for shame forbear to vex me with your words: Or, you will lay, &c. the Imperative being put for the Future, as is usual. I am perswaded you will be silenced and convinced by what I shall say.

Marginal references: Heb. look unto me.

6. Even when I remember , I am afraid, and trembling taken hold on my flesh.

What I have partly observed, and partly felt of these things. The very remembrance of what is past, fills me with dread and horrour.

7. Wherefore do the wicked live , become old ▪ yea, are mighty in power?

He expostulates this matter partly with his Friends; If things be as you say, how comes this to pass, &c. partly with God himself, wherefore doth the righteous God distribute things so unequally?

To wit, long and happily; as living is oft taken, as Levit. 18. 5. 1 Sam. 10. 24. & 25. 6. Psal. 38. 19. a painful and afflicted life being a kind of death, and oft so called, as Deut. 30. 15, 19. Prov. 15. 10. & 19. 16. 1 Cor. 3. 22. & 15. 31.

To wit, in their prosperous estate.

Marginal references: Ch. 12. 6. Psal 17. 10. & 73. 3, 12. Jer. 12. 1. Hab. 1. 16.

8. Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their off-spring before their eyes.

Either 1. the Fruits of their ground: Or, rather 2. their Children; as it is explained in the next branch of the Verse, the words both here and there used, being commonly so understood.

i. e. They multiply and prosper greatly.

Which is a great addition to their happiness.

9. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them .

They neither fear nor feel any disturbance.

Marginal references: Heb. are peace from fear.

11. They send forth their little ones like a flock , and their children dance.

Of Sheep or Goats, as the word signifies; in great numbers, and with sweet concord: which is a singular delight to them and to their Parents.

13. They spend their days in wealth , and in a moment go down to the grave.

In good; i. e. in the enjoyment of all the good things of this life, without any mixture of evil.

They do not die of a lingring and tormenting Disease, as I now, and many other good men die, but suddenly and sweetly like Lambs; as is usually said in such cases.

Marginal references: Or▪ in [illegible: 1 word].; Heb. Hill.

14. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy Laws .

Because of their constant prosperity. Heb. And: or Yet. Though God be so gracious to them, yet they say and do thus to him.

Sometimes in words, but commonly in their thoughts and affections, and the language of their lives: See Psalm 14. 1. & 36. 1, 2. Mal. 3. 14, 15. Tit. 1. 16.

Much less the practise.

Marginal references: Chap. 22. 17.

15. What is the Almighty , that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

What excellency is there in him? and what advantage have we, or can we expect from him?

Marginal references: Ch. 35. 3. Mal. 3. 14.

16. Lo, their good is not in their hand : the counsel of the wicked is far from me .

This seems to be an answer to the foregoing Question, and a Confutation of that ungodly Opinion and practise, v. 14, 15. Wicked men (saith he) have no reason to neglect and reject God, because of their prosperity, for their good; i. e. all their wealth and felicity, is not in their hand; i. e. it neither was obtained, nor can be kept, by their own might, but only by God's power and favour upon whom they wholly depend for it. Or, the sense is, Though they have riches, and power, and glory in their hands, yet their true and proper good is not in their hand; i. e. They are destitute of that in which their true happiness lies; to wit, in God's love and favour; and all the comforts which they enjoy are attended with God's wrath and curse, and therefore not to be envied by any man in his wits. They say to God, depart from us, when indeed their true and onely felicity consists in the enjoyment of him. Compare Psalm 4. 6, 7.

Therefore I am far from approving their Opinion, or following their course, or enjoying their prosperity, or desiring to partake of their Delicates upon such terms▪

17. How oft is the candle of the wicked put out? and how oft cometh their destruction upon them? God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

This Phrase notes, either 1. the rarity and seldomness of it. This, I confess, sometimes happens, but not oft. Or rather 2. the frequency of it; I grant that this happens oft, though not constantly, as you affirm. And this seems best to agree both with the use of this phrase in Scripture, where it notes frequency; as Psalm 78. 40. Matth. 18. 21. Luke 13. 34. and never seldomness; and with the foregoing words, as a reason why the counsel of the wicked was far from him; because they oft times pay dear for it in this life, and always in the next life; and with the following Verses, wherein he discourseth largely not of the prosperity of the Wicked (as he should have done, if the sense of these words were this, that such were but seldom afflicted) but of their Calamities.

Or, lamp; i. e. their glory and outward happiness; as Chap. 18. 6. 2 Sam. 21. 17. Psalm 132. 17.

Who is manifestly understood out of the following words, this being God's work and proceeding from God's anger.

Marginal references: Or, lamp.

18. They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm f carrieth away ?

i. e. Their destruction shall be speedy, certain, and irrecoverable.

Marginal references: Psal. 1. 4. & 35. 5. Isa. 29. 5. Hos. 13 3.; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] away.

19. God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it .

To wit, in his Treasures, Rom. 2. 5.

Or rather, the punishment of his iniquity; i. e. He will punish him both in his person and in his posterity.

i. e. He shall live to see the destruction of his children.

Marginal references: That is, [illegible: 1 word] punishment of his [illegible: 1 word].; Exod. 20. 9

20. His Eyes shall see his destruction , and he shall drink of the Wrath of the Almighty.

i. e. He shall be destroyed, as to see death, is to die, Psal. 89. 48. Heb. 11. 5. and to see affliction, or any kind of evil, is to feel it, Psal. 90. 15. Lament. 3. 1. and to see good, is to enjoy it, Ch. 7. 7. & 9. 25. Psal. 34. 12. Or this Phrase may be emphatical, he shall foresee his Ruine hastening towards him, and not be able to prevent or avoid it; he shall sensibly feel himself sinking and perishing: which aggravates his misery:

Not sip or taste, but drink; which word commonly notes the abundance of the thing spoken of.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1+ letters]l▪ 75. 8. [illegible: 1 word]. 25. 15. [illegible: 1 word]. 14. 10. [illegible: 1 word] 19. 15.

21. For what pleasure hath he in his House after him , when the number of his Months is cut off in the midst ?

Or, For what desire, or care, or study hath he for, or concerning (as Beth is oft used) his House, i. e. his Children. When he is dead and gone he cares not what becomes of his Children, as Irreligion commonly makes men unnatural, he is not concerned nor affected with their Felicity or misery. See Ch. 14. 21. And therefore God doth punish both him and his Children whilest he lives, v. 19, 20. Or thus: What delights can he take in the thoughts of the Glory and Happiness of his Posterity, when he finds that he is dying a violent and untimely Death? So this is a farther proof that this man is neither happy in himself, nor with reference to his Posterity.

When that number of Months which by his Constitution, and the course of Nature, he might have lived, is diminished and cut off by the hand of Violence.

22. Shall any teach God Knowledge ? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

i. e. Discretion, or how to govern the World? For so you do, whilest you tell him that he must not sorely afflict the Godly, nor give the wicked much and long prosperity here.

Either 1. The highest persons, whether in Earth, as the greatest Kings, or in Heaven, as the Angels, he judgeth them, i. e. he exactly knows them, and accordingly gives sentence concerning them, as he sees fit; and therefore it is great folly and presumption in us to direct or correct his Judgments. Or 2. Those things that are high, and deep, and far out of our reach, as Gods secret Counsels and Judgments are.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 13. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word] 11. 34. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1+ letters]. 16.

23. One dieth in his full strength , being wholly at ease and quiet.

To wit, either 1. One of these wicked men, of whose condition he is here speaking. Or, 2. Any one man, whether good or bad.

In a state of perfect Health, and Strength, and Prosperity; all which this Phrase implies.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span].

24. His Breasts are full of Milk, and his Bones are moistened with Marrow .

The Hebrew word is not elsewhere used, and therefore it is diversly translated; either 1. Breasts. But that seems very improper here, because mens Breasts do not use to be filled with Milk. Or 2. Milk-Pails. But their fulness is common, and no sign of eminent plenty, which is here designed. Besides, the following Branch, which in Iob and elsewhere frequently explains the former, implies that it signifies some part of mans Body, as all the ancient Interpreters render it, either the sides, as some of them have it, or the bowels, as others. But for the following Milk, they read Fat; the Hebrew Letters being exactly the same in both words: and the Hebrews by the name of Milk do oft understand Fat.

Which is opposed to the dryness of the bones, Job 30. 30. Psal. 102. 3. which is caused by Old-age, or grievous Distempers or Calamities.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span]

25. And another dieth in the bitterness of his Soul , and never eateth with Pleasure .

Either 1. Another wicked man. Or 2. Any other man promiscuously considered, either good or bad. So hereby he shews how indifferently and alike, God deals the concerns of this Life to one and another, to good and bad. So he shews that there is a great variety in Gods Dispensations, that he distributes great Prosperity to one, and great afflictions to another no worse than he, according to his wise but secret Counsel.

i. e. With Heart-breaking Pains and Sorrows.

i. e. Hath no pleasure in his Life, no not so much as at Meal-time, when Men usually are most free and pleasant.

26. They shall lie down alike in the dust , and the Worms shall cover them.

All these worldly differences are ended by Death, and they lie in the Grave without any distinction, till the time of General Resurrection and Judgment comes. So that no man can tell who is good, and who is bad by any Events which befall them in this Life.

27. Behold, I know your thoughts , and the Devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me .

I perceive what you think, and will object, and say for your own defence.

Or, evil Thoughts, for so this word is oft used, as Prov. 12. 2. & 14. 17. & 24. 8. Isa. 32. 7.

Or, wrest, or, violently force. For they strained both Iobs words, and their own thoughts, which were byassed by their prejudice and Passion against Iob.

For I know very well that your discourses, though they be of wicked men in the general, yet are particularly levelled at me.

28. For ye say , where is the House of the Prince ? and where are the Dwelling-places of the wicked ?

To wit, in your minds.

i. e. It is no where, it is lost and gone. This is spoken either 1. Of Iob, or his eldest Son, whose house God had lately overthrown, Or rather, 2. In general of wicked Princes or Potentates, as the following answer sheweth. So the meaning of the question is, That it was apparent from common observation, that eminent Judgments, even in this Life were sooner or later the portion of all ungodly Men.

which is added to limit the former Expression, and to shew that he spake only of wicked Princes.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] of the Tabernacles of the wicked.

29. Have ye not asked them that go by the way ? and do ye not know their Tokens ?

These are the words, either 1. Of Iob's Friends, who thus continue their former Discourse by a second Enquiry: Or rather 2. Of Iob himself,, who answers one question with another. You may learn this, which is the matter of our debate, to wit, that good men are oft afflicted, and that wicked men do commonly live and die in great prosperity, and are not punished in this World, even from them that go by the way, i. e. either from Travellers, who having seen, and observed many Persons, and places, and events, are more capable Judges of this matter; or from any person that passeth along the high-way, from every one that you meet with. It is so vulgar and trivial a thing, that no man of common sense is ignorant of it.

i. e. The Examples, or Evidences, or Signs of this truth, which they that go by the way can produce. They will shew here and there in divers places the goodly Houses and Castles, and other Monuments of Power and dignity, which wicked Potentates have erected, and to this day do possess, and in which divers of them live and die. He alludes here to those Tokens▪ which are set up in high ways for the direction of those who travel in them.

30. That the wicked is reserved to the day of Destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of Wrath .

This is the thing which they might learn of Passengers.

Or with-held or kept back, to wit, from falling into common Calamities, though in truth he be not so much kept from Evil, as kept for evil, he is reserved from a less▪ that he may be swallowed up in a greater misery, as Pharaoh was kept from the other Plagues that he might be drowned in the Sea.

He speaketh of the same person; only the singular number is changed into the plural, possibly to intimate, that although for the present only some wicked men were punished, yet then all of them should suffer.

To wit, by the conduct of Gods Providence and Justice, as malefactors are brought forth from Prison to Judgment and Execution, though they be brought to it slowly, and by degrees, and with some kind of Pomp and State, as this word signifies.

Heb. To the day of Wrath, i. e. of special and extraordinary Wrath, either to some terrible and desolating Judgments, which God sometimes sends upon wicked Princes or People: Or, to the day of the last and general Judgment, which is called in Scripture the day of Wrath: For the day of the general Resurrection and Judgment was not unknown to Iob and his Friends, as appears from Ch. 19. 25, &c. and other passages of this Book.

Marginal references: Prov. 16. 4.; Heb. the day of Wrath.

31. Who shall declare his way to his face ? and who shall repay him what he hath done ?

i. e. Plainly, and whilest he lives, as the same Phrase is used, Deut. 7. 10.

No man can bring him to an account or punishment.

p i. e. His wicked course and actions, and whither they lead him. His power and splendour is so great, that scarce any man dare reprove him for his sin, or shew him his danger.

32. Yet shall he be brought to the Grave , and shall remain in the Tomb .

Heb. And. The pomp of his death shall be suitable to the glory of his Life.

With Pomp and State, as the word signifies.

Heb. to the Graves, i. e. to an honourable and eminent Grave: The plural number being oft used Emphatically to note Eminency, as Iob 40. 10. Prov. 1. 20. Lam. 3. 22. He shall not die a violent but a natural Death, and shall lie in the Bed of Honour.

Heb. Shall watch, (i. e. have a constant and fixed abode, as Watchmen have in the watching-place) in the heap, i. e. in his Grave, which is called an heap, either because the Earth is there heaped up, or because it was adorned with some Pyramid, or other Monument raised up to his Honour. His Body shall quietly rest in his Grave or Monument, where he shall be embalmed and preserved so entire and uncorrupted, that he might rather seem to be a living Watch-man, set there to guard the Body, than to be a dead Corps.

Marginal references: Heb. Graves.; Heb. watch in the heaps.

33. The clods of the Valley shall be sweet unto him , and every man shall draw after him , as there are innumerable dead before him.

i. e. Of the Grave, which is low and deep like a Valley.

He shall sweetly rest in his Grave, free from all cares, and fears, and troubles, Ch. 3. 17, 18.

Heb. He shall draw every man after him, to wit, into the Grave, i. e. All that live after him, whether good or bad, shall follow him into the Grave, i. e. shall dye as he did. So he fares no worse herein than all Mankind. He is figuratively said to draw them, because they come after him, as if they were drawn by his Example.

34. How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth Falshood ?

Why then do you seek to comfort me with vain hopes of recovering my prosperity if I repent, seeing your grounds are manifestly false, and common Experience sheweth, that good men are very oft in great tribulation, while the vilest of men thrive and prosper in the World.

Marginal references: Heb. transgression.

Job 21:1-6   1  Then began Job, and said:   2  Hear, oh hear, my speech,

And let this be instead of your consolations.   3  Suffer me, and I will speak,

And after I have spoken thou mayest mock.   4  As for me, then, doth my complaint concern man,

Or wherefore should I not become impatient?   5  Turn ye to me and be astonished,

And lay your hand upon your mouth.   6  Even if I think of it I am bewildered,

And my flesh taketh hold on trembling - :

The friends, far from being able to solve the enigma of Job’s affliction, do not once recognise the mystery as such. They cut the knot by wounding Job most deeply by ever more and more frivolous accusations. Therefore he entreats them to be at least willing to listen (שׁמעוּ with the gerund) to his utterance (מלּה) respecting the unsolved enigma; then (Waw apodosis imper.) shall this attention supply the place of their consolations, i.e., be comforting to him, which their previous supposed consolations could not be. They are to bear with him, i.e., without interruption allow him to answer for himself (שׂאוּני with Kametz before the tone, as Jon 1:12, comp. קחהוּ,   1Ki 20:33, not as Hirz. thinks under the influence of the distinctive accent, but according to the established rule, Ges. §60, rem. 1); then he will speak (אנכי contrast to the “ye” in שׂאוני without further force), and after he has expressed himself they may mock. It is, however, not תלעיגוּ (as Olshausen corrects), but תלעיג (in a voluntative signific. = תלעג), since Job here addresses himself specially to Zophar, the whole of whose last speech must have left the impression on him of a bitter sarcasm (sarkasmo’s from sarka'zein in the sense of Job 19:22), and has dealt him the freshest deep blow. In Job 21:4 שׂיחת is not to be understood otherwise than as in Job 7:13; Job 9:27; Job 10:1; Job 23:2, and is to be translated “my complaint.” Then the prominently placed אנכי is to be taken, after Eze 33:17, Ges. §121, 3, as an emphatic strengthening of the “my”: he places his complaint in contrast with another. This emphasizing is not easily understood, if one, with Hupf., explains: nonne hominis est querela mea, so that ה is equivalent to הלא (which here in the double question is doubly doubtful), and ל is the sign of the cause. Schultens and Berg, who translate לאדם more humano, explain similarly, by again bringing their suspicious ל comparativumIn the passage from Ibn-Kissaï quoted above, p. 421, Schultens, as Fleischer assures me, has erroneously read Arab. lmchâlı̂b instead of kmchâlı̂b, having been misled by the frequent failing of the upper stroke of the Arab. k, and in general Arab. l is never = k, and also ל never = כ, as has been imagined since Schultens. here to bear upon it. The ל by שׂיחי (if it may not also be compared with Job 12:8) may certainly be expected to denote those to whom the complaint is addressed. We translate: As for me, then, does my complaint concern men? The אנכי which is placed at the beginning of the sentence comes no less under the rule, Ges. §145, 2, than §121, 3. In general, sufferers seek to obtain alleviation of their sufferings by imploring by words and groans the pity of sympathizing men; the complaint, however, which the three hear from him is of a different kind, for he has long since given up the hope of human sympathy, - his complaint concerns not men, but God (comp. Job 16:20).An Arabian proverb says: “The perfect patience is that which allows no complaint to be uttered ila el - chalq against creatures (men).”

He reminds them of this by asking further: or (ואם, as Job 8:3; Job 34:17; Job 40:9, not: and if it were so, as it is explained by Nolde contrary to the usage of the language) why (interrogative upon interrogative: an quare, as Psa 94:9, אם הלא, an nonne) should not my spirit (disposition of mind, θυμός) be short, i.e., why should I not be short-tempered (comp. Jdg 10:16; Zec 11:8, with Prov. 13:29) = impatient? Dürr, in his commentatio super voce רוּח,   1776, 4, explains the expression habito simul halitus, qui iratis brevis esse solet, respectu, but the signification breath is far from the nature of the language here; רוח signifies emotional excitement (comp. Job 15:13), either long restrained (with ארך), or not allowing itself to be restrained and breaking out after a short time (קצר). That which causes his vexation to burst forth is such that the three also, if they would attentively turn to him who thus openly expresses himself, will be astonished and lay their hand on their mouth (comp. Job 29:9; Job 40:4), i.e., they must become dumb in recognition of the puzzle, - a puzzle insoluble to them, but which is nevertheless not to be denied. השׁמו is found in Codd. and among grammarians both as Hiph. השׁמּוּ hashammu (Kimchi) and as Hoph. השּׁמּוּ, or what is the same, השּׁמּוּ hoshshammu (Abulwalid) with the sharpening of the first radical, which also occurs elsewhere in the Hoph. of this verb (Lev 26:34.) and of others (Olsh. §259, b, 260). The pointing as Hiph. (השׁמּוּ for השׁמּוּ) in the signification obstupescite is the better attested. Job himself has only to think of this mystery, and he is perplexed, and his flesh lays hold on terror. The expression is like Job 18:20. The emotion is conceived of as a want arising from the subject of it, which that which produces it must as of necessity satisfy.

In the following strophe the representation of that which thus excites terror begins. The divine government does not harmonize with, but contradicts, the law maintained by the friends.

Job 21:7-11   7  Wherefore do the wicked live,

Become old, yea, become mighty in power?   8  Their posterity is established before them about them,

And their offspring before their eyes.   9  Their houses have peace without fear,

And the rod of Eloah cometh not upon them. 10  His (the evil-doer’s) bull gendereth and faileth not;

His cow calveth easily, and casteth not her calf. 11  They let their little ones run about as a flock,

And their children jump about.

The question in Job 21:7 is the same as that which Jeremiah also puts forth, Job 12:1-3. It is the antithesis of Zophar’s thesis, Job 20:5, and seeks the reason of the fact established by experience which had also well-nigh proved the ruin of Asaph (Ps 73: comp. Mal 3:13-15), viz., that the ungodly, far from being overtaken by the punishment of their godlessness, continued in the enjoyment of life, that they attain to old age, and also a proportionately increasing power and wealth. The verb עתק, which in Job 14:18; Job 18:4 (comp. the Hiph. Job 9:5; Job 32:15), we read in the signification promoveri, has here, like the Arabic ‛ataqa , ‛atuqa , the signification to become old, aetate provehi; and גּבר חיל, to become strong in property, is a synonym of השׂגּה חיל, to acquire constantly increasing possessions, used in a similar connection in Psa 73:12. The first feature in the picture of the prosperity of the wicked, which the pang of being bereft of his own children brings home to Job, is that they are spared the same kind of loss: their posterity is established (נכון, constitutus, elsewhere standing in readiness, Job 12:5; Job 15:23; Job 18:12, here standing firm, as e.g., Psa 93:2) in their sight about them (so that they have to mourn neither their loss by death nor by separation from their home), and their offspring (צאצאים, a word common only to the undisputed as well as to the disputed prophecies of Isaiah and the book of Job) before their eyes; נכון must be carried over to Job 21:8 as predicate: they are, without any loss, before their eyes. The description passes over from the children, the corner-stones of the house (vid., Ges. Thes., s.v. בנה), to the houses themselves. It is just as questionable here as in Job 5:24; Isa 41:3, and elsewhere, whether שׁלום is a subst. (= בשׁלום) or an adj.; the substantival rendering is at least equally admissible in such an elevated poetic speech, and the plur. subject בּתּיהם, which, if the predicate were intended to be taken as an adj., leads one to expect שׁלומים, decides in its favour. On מפּחד, without (far from) terrifying misfortune, as Isa 22:3, מקשׁת, without a bow, vid., on Job 19:26. That which is expressed in Job 21:9, according to external appearance, is in Job 21:9 referred to the final cause; Eloah’s שׁבט, rod, with which He smites in punishment (Job 9:34; Job 37:13, comp. Isa 10:24-26, where שׁוט, scourge, interchanges with it), is not over them, i.e., threatens and smites them not.

Job 21:10 comes specially to the state of the cattle, after the state of the household in general has been treated of. Since שׁורו and פּרתו are interchangeable, and are construed according to their genus, the former undoubtedly is intended of the male, not also epikoi'noos of the female (lxx ἡ βοῦς, Jerome, Saadia), as Rosenm., after Bochart, believes it must be taken, because `br is never said de mare feminam ineunte, but always de femina quae concipit. In reality, however, it is with עבר otherwise than with עדה, whose Pael and Aphel certainly signify concipere (prop. transmittere sc. semen in a passive sense). On the other hand, עבר, even in Kal, signifies to be impregnated (whence עובר, the embryo, and the biblical אבוּר, like the extra-biblical עבּוּר, the produce of the land), the Pael consequently to impregnate, whence מעבּרא (from the part. pass. מעבּר) impregnated (pregnant), the Ithpa. to be impregnated, as Rabb. Pual מעבּרת, impregnated (by which עברת also signifies pregnant, which would be hardly possible if עבר in this sexual sense were not radically distinct from עבר, περ-ᾶν). Accordingly the Targ. translates עבּר by מבטין (impraegnans), and Gecatilia translates שׁורו by Arab. fḥlhm (admissarius eorum), after which nearly all Jewish expositors explain. This explanation also suits לא יגעל, which lxx translates οὐκ οὀμοτόκησε (Jer. non abortivit), Symm. in a like sense οὐκ ἐξέτρωσε, Aq. οὐκ εξέβαλε, Saad. la julziq. The reference of שׁורו to the female animal everywhere assumed is incorrect; on the contrary, the bullock kept for breeding is the subject; but proceeding from this, that which is affirmed is certainly referred to the female animal. For גּעל signifies to cast out, cast away; the Hiph. therefore: to cause to cast out; Rabb. in the specified signification: so to heat what has sucked in that which is unclean, that it gives it back or lets it go (לפלוט הבלוע). Accordingly Raschi explains: “he injects not useless seed into her, which might come back and be again separated (נפלט) from her inward part, without impregnation taking place.” What therefore עבּר says positively, ולא יגעיל says negatively: neque efficit ut ejiciat.The Aruch under גּעל, quotes a passage of the Tosefta: מוזרות נפשׁ היפה תאכלם גיעולי ביצים מותרים באכילה, the cast away (Würflinge) eggs (i.e., such as have fallen away from the hen from a stroke on the tail of some other cause, and which are not completely formed) are allowed as food; he may eat them who does not loathe them.

It is then further, in Job 21:9, said of the female animal which has been impregnated that she does not allow it to glide away, i.e., the fruit, therefore that she brings forth (פּלּט as מלּט, המליט), and that she does not cause or suffer any untimely birth.

At the end of the strophe, Job 21:11, the poet with delicate tact makes the sufferer, who is become childless, return to the joy of the wicked in the abundance of children. שׁלּח signifies here, as Isa 32:20, to allow freedom for motion and exercise. On עויל, vid., on Job 16:11; Job 19:18. It has a similar root (Arab. ‛âl , alere) to the Arab. ‛ajjil (collect. ‛ijâl), servants, but not a similar meaning. The subj. to Job 21:12 are not the children, but the “wicked” themselves, the happy fathers of the flocks of children that are let loose.

Job 21:12-16 12  They raise their voice with the playing of timbrel aud harp,

And rejoice at the sound of the pipe 13  They enjoy their days in prosperity,

And in a moment they go down to Sehol. 14  And yet they said to God: “Depart from us!

We desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. 15  What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? -

And what doth it profit us that we should importune Him?” - 16  Lo! they have not their prosperity by their own hand,

The thought of the wicked be far from me! קולם is to be supplied to ישׂאוּ in Isa 42:11, and instead of בּתף with בּ of the musical accompaniment (as Psa 4:1, Psa 49:5), it is to be read כּתף after the Masora with Kimchi, Ramban, Ralbag, and Farisol,The Masora observes לית כותיה (not occuring thus elsewhere), and accordingly this כתף is distinguished in the Masoretic אב מן חד חד נסבין כף ברישׁיה (alphabetic list of words which take at one time the prefix כ and at another the prefix )ב, from בתף, which occurs elsewhere. The Targ. has read בטף; the reading of Raschi and Aben-Ezra is questionable. but not with Rosenm. to be explained: personaut velut tympano et cythera, but: they raise their voice as the timbrel and harp sound forth simultaneously; כּ, as Isa 18:4 (which is to be transl.: during the clear warmth of the sunshine, during the dew-clouds in the heat of harvest). תּף (Arabic duff, Spanish adufe) is τύμπανον (τύπανον), כּנּור, (Arab. canare) κινύρα or κιθάρα) Dan 3:5), עוּגב or עגב, Job 30:31 (from עגב, flare; vid., on Gen 4:21), the Pan-pipe (Targ. from a similar root אבּוּבא, whence the name of the ambubajae). In Job 21:13 and Keri gives the more usual יכלּוּ (Job 36:11) in place of the Chethib יבלּוּ, though יבלּוּ occurs in Isa 65:22 without this Keri; יכלו signifies consument, and יבלו usu deterent: they use up their life, enjoy it to the last drop. In connection with this one thinks of a coat which is not laid aside until it is entirely worn out. It is therefore not, as the friends say, that the ungodly is swept away before his time (Job 15:32), also a lingering sickness does not hand him over to death (Job 18:13), but בּרגע, in a moment (comp Job 34:20, not: in rest, i.e., freedom from pain, which רגע never signifies), they sink down to Hades (acc. loci). The matter does not admit of one’s deriving the fut. יהתּוּ here, as Job 39:22, Job 31:34, from the Niph. of the verb חתת, terrore percelli; it is to be referred to נחת or נחת (Aram. for ירד), which is the only certain example of a Hebrew verb Pe Nun ending with ת, whose fut. ינחת, Psa 38:3, also יחת (Pro 17:10, Jer 21:13), instead of יחת, and in the inflexion its ת sti  (after the analogy of יצּתּוּ, Isa 33:12) is doubled; as an exception (vid., Psalter, ii. 468), the lengthening of the short vowel (יחתוּ, Olsh. §83 b) by Silluk does not take place, as e.g., by Athnach, Job 34:5.

The fut. consec. ויּאמרוּ, in which Job 21:14 is continued, does not here denote temporally that which follows upon and from something else, but generally that which is inwardly connected with something else, and even with that which is contradictory, and still occurring at the same time, exactly as Gen 19:9, 2Sa 3:8, comp Ew. §231, b: they sink down after a life that is completely consumed away, without a death-struggle, into Hades, and yet they denied God, would not concern themselves about His sways (comp. the similar passage, Isa 58:2), and accounted the service of God and prayer (פּגע בּ, precibus adire) as useless. The words of the ungodly extend to Job 21:15; according to Hirz., Hlgst., Welte, and Hahn, Job 21:16 resumes the description: behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? i.e., is it not at their free disposal? or do they not everywhere carry it away with them? But Job 21:16 is not favourable to this interrogative rendering of לא (= הלא). Schlottm. explains more correctly: behold, their prosperity is not in their power; but by taking not only Job 21:16 (like Schnurrer), but the whole of Job 21:16, as an utterance of an opponent, which is indeed impossible, because the declining of all fellowship with the godless would be entirely without aim in the mouth of the opponent. For it is not the fnends who draw the picture of the lot of the punishment of the godless with the most terrible lines possible, who suggest the appearance of looking wishfully towards the godless, but Job, who paints the prosperity of the godless in such brilliant colours. On the other hand, both sides are agreed in referring prosperity and misfortune to God as final cause. And for this very reason Job thinks that בּרך את־האלהים, which he makes the godless, in Job 21:14, Job 21:15, express in their own words, so horrible.Job 21:16 is therefore to be taken as Job’s judgment, and Job 21:16 as the moral effect which it produces upon him. הן introduces the true relation of things, טוּבם signifies, as Job 20:21, their prosperity, and לא בידם (the emphatic position of בידם is to be observed) that this is not in their hand, i.e., arbitrary power, or perhaps better: that it is not by their own hand, i.e.,that it is not their own work but a gift from above, the gift even of the God whom they so shamelessly deny. That God grants them such great and lasting prosperity, is just the mystery which Job is not able to bring forth to view, without, however, his abhorrence of this denying of God being in the slightest degree lessened thereby. Not by their own hand, says he, do they possess such prosperity - the counsel    (עצת similar to Job 5:13, Job 10:3, Job 18:7 : design, principle, and general disposition, or way of thinking) of the wicked be far from me, i.e., be it far from me that so I should speak according to their way of thinking, with which, on the contrary, I disavow all fellowship. The relation of the clauses is exactly like Job 22:18, where this formula of detesation is repeated. רחקה is, according to the meaning, optative or precative (Ew. §223, b, and Ges. §126, 4*), which Hahn and Schlottm. think impossible, without assigning any reason. It is the perf. of certainty, which expresses that which is wished as a fact, but with an emotional exclamative accent. In ancient Arabic it is a rule to use the perf. as optative; and also still in modem Arabic (which often makes use of the fut. matead of the perf.), they say e.g., la cân, i.e., he must never have been! The more detestable the conduct of the prosperous towards Him to whom they owe their prosperity is, the sooner, one would think, the justice of God would be called forth to recompense them according to their deeds, but -

Job 21:17-21 17  How rarely is the light of the wicked put out,

And their calamity breaketh in upon them,

That He distributeth snares in his wrath, 18  That they become as straw before the wind,

And as chaff which the storm sweepeth away!? 19  “Eloah layeth up his iniquity for his children!”

May He recompense it to him that he may feel it. 20  May his own eyes see his ruin,

And let him drink of the glowing wrath of the Almighty. 21  For what careth he for his house after him,

When the number of his months is cut off?

The interrogative כּמּה has here the same signification as in Psa 78:40 : how often (comp. Job 7:19, how long? Job 13:23, how many?), but in the sense of “how seldom?!” How seldom does what the friends preach to him come to pass, that the lamp of the wicked is put out (thus Bildad, Job 13:5), and their misfortune breaks in upon them (יבא, ingruit; thus Bildad, Job 18:12 : misfortune, איד, prop. pressure of suffering, stands ready for his fall), that He distributes (comp. Zophar’s ”this is the portion of the wicked man,” i.e., what is allotted to him, Job 20:29) snares in His wrath. Hirz., Ew., Schlottm., and others, translate הבלים, after the precedent of the Targ. (עדבין, sortes), "lots,” since they understand it, after Psa 16:6, of visitations of punishment allotted, and as it were measured out with a measuring-line; but that passage is to be translated, “the measuring-lines have fallen to me in pleasant places,” and indeed חבל can signify the land that is allotted to one (Jos 17:14, comp. Jos 17:5); but the plural does not occur in that tropical sense, and if it were so intended here, חבליהם or חבלים להם might at least be expected. Rosenm., Ges., Vaih., and Carey transl. with lxx and Jer. (ὠδῖνες, dolores) “pains,” but הבלים is the peculiar word for the writhings of those in travail (Job 39:3), which is not suited here. Schnurr. and Umbr. are nearer to the correct interpretation when they understand חבלים like פחים, Psa 11:6, of lightning, as it were fiery strings cast down from above. If we call to mind in how many ways Bildad, Job 18:8-10, has represented the end of the godless as a divinely decreed seizure, it is certainly the most natural, with Stick. and Hahn, to translate (as if it were Arabic ḥabâ'ilin) “snares,” to be understood after the idea, however, not of lightning, but generally of ensnaring destinies (e.g., חבלי עני, Job 36:8).

Both Job 21:17 with its three members and Job 21:18 with two, are under the control of כמה. The figure of straw, or rather chopped straw (Arab. tibn , tabn), occurs only here. The figure of chaff is more frequent, e.g., Psa 1:4. Job here puts in the form of a question what Psa 1:1-6 maintains, being urged on by Zophar’s false application and superficial comprehension of the truth expressed in the opening of the Psalter. What next follows in Job 21:19 is an objection of the friends in vindication of their thesis, which he anticipates and answers; perhaps the clause is to be spoken with an interrogative accent: Eloah will - so ye object - reserve his evil for his children? אונו, not from און, strength, wealth, as Job 18:7, Job 18:12; Job 20:10; Job 40:16, but from און, wickedness (Job 11:11) and evil (Job 15:35), here (without making it clear which) of wickedness punishing itself by calamity, or of calamity which must come forth from the wickedness as a moral necessity comp. on Job 15:31. That this is really the opinion of the friends: God punishes the guilt of the godless, if not in himself, at least in his children, is seen from Job 20:10; Job 5:4. Job as little as Ezekiel, ch. 18, disputes the doctrine of retribution in itself, but that imperfect apprehension, which, in order that the necessary satisfaction may be rendered to divine justice, maintains a transfer of the punishment which is opposed to the very nature of personality and freedom: may He recompense him himself, וידע, that he may feel it, i.e., repent (which would be in Arab. in a similar sense, faja'lamu; ידע as Isa 9:8; Hos 9:7; Eze 25:14).

Job 21:20 continues in the same jussive forms; the ἅπ. γεγρ. כּיד signifies destruction (prop. a thrust, blow), in which sense the Arab. caid (commonly: cunning) is also sometimes used. The primary signification of the root כד, Arab. kd, is to strike, push; from this, in the stems Arab. kâd , med. Wau and med. Je , Arab. kdd , kdkd , the most diversified turns and applications are developed; from it the signif. of כּידוד, Job 41:11, כּידון, Job 39:23, and according to Fleischer (vid., supra, pp. 388) also of כּידור, are explained. Job 21:20, as Psa 60:5; Oba 1:16, refers to the figure of the cup of the wrath of God which is worked out by Asaph, Psa 75:9, and then by the prophets, and by the apocalyptic seer in the New Testament. The emphasis lies on the signs of the person in עינו (עיניו) and ישׁתּה. The rather may his own eyes see his ruin, may he himself have to drink of the divine wrath; for what is his interest (what interest has he) in his house after him? מה puts a question with a negative meaning (hence Arab. mâ is directly used as non); חפץ, prop. inclination, corresponds exactly to the word “interest” (quid ejus interest), as Job 22:3, comp. Isa 58:3, Isa 58:13 (following his own interest), without being weakened to the signification, affair, πραγμα, a meaning which does not occur in our poet or in Isaiah. Job 21:21 is added as a circumstantial clause to the question in Job 21:21: while the number of his own months ... , and the predicate, as in Job 15:20 (which see), is in the plur. per attractionem. Schnurr., Hirz., Umbr., and others explain: if the number of his months is drawn by lot, i.e., is run out; but חצץ as v. denom. from חץ morf, in the signification to shake up arrows as sticks for drawing lots (Arab. sahm, an arrow and a lot, just so Persian tı̂r) in the helmet or elsewhere (comp. Eze 21:26), is foreign to the usage of the Hebrew language (for מחצצים, Jdg 5:11, signifies not those drawing lots, but the archers); besides, חצּץ (pass. חצּץ) would signify “to draw lots,” not “to dispose of by lot,” and “disposed of by lot” is an awkward metaphor for “run out.” Cocceius also gives the choice of returning to חצץ, ψῆφος, in connection with this derivation: calculati sive ad calculum, i.e., pleno numero egressi, which has still less ground. Better Ges., Ew., and others: if the number of his months is distributed, i.e., to him, so that he (this is the meaning according to Ew.) can at least enjoy his prosperity undisturbed within the limit of life appointed to him. By this interpretation one misses the לו which is wanting, and an interpretation which does not require it to be supplied is therefore to be preferred. All the divers significations of the verbs חצץ (to divide, whence Pro 30:27, חצץ, forming divisions, i.e., in rank and file, denom. to shoot with the arrow, Talm. to distribute, to halve, to form a partition), חצה (to divide, Job 40:20; to divide in two equal parts), Arab. hṣṣ (to divide, whence Arab. hṣṣah , portio), and Arab. chṣṣ (to separate, particularize) - to which, however, Arab. chṭṭ (to draw, write), which Ew. compares here, does not belong - are referable to the primary signification scindere, to cut through, split (whence חץ, an arrow, lxx 1Sa 20:20, σχίζα); accordingly the present passage is to be explained: when the number of his months is cut off (Hlgst., Hahn), or cut through, i.e., when a bound is set to the course of his life at which it ends (comp. בּצּע, of the cutting off of the thread of life, Job 6:9; Job 27:8, Arab. ṣrm). Job 14:21., Ecc 3:22, are parallels to Job 21:21. Death is the end of all clear thought and perception. If therefore the godless receives the reward of his deeds, he should receive it not in his children, but in his own body during life. But this is the very thing that is too frequently found to be wanting.

Job 21:22-26 22  Shall one teach God knowledge,

Who judgeth those who are in heaven? 23  One dieth in his full strength,

Being still cheerful and free from care. 24  His troughs are full of milk,

And the marrow of his bones is well watered. 25  And another dieth with a sorrowing spirit,

And hath not enjoyed wealth. 26  They lie beside one another in the dust,

And worms cover them both.

The question, Job 21:22, concerns the friends. Since they maintain that necessarily and constantly virtue is rewarded by prosperity, and sin by misfortune, but without this law of the divine order of the world which is maintained by them being supported by experience: if they set themselves up as teachers of God, they will teach Him the right understanding of the conduct which is to be followed by Him as a ruler and judge of men, while nevertheless He is the Absolute One, beneath whose judicial rule not merely man, but also the heavenly spirits, are placed, and to which they must conform and bow. The verb למּד, instead of being construed with two acc., as in the dependent passage Isa 40:14, is here construed with the dat. of the person (which is not to be judged according to Job 5:2; Job 19:3, but according to διδάσκειν τινί τι, to teach one anything, beside the other prevailing construction). With והוא a circumstantial clause begins regularly: while He, however, etc. Arnh. and Löwenth. translate: while, however, He exaltedly judges, i.e., according to a law that infinitely transcends man; but that must have been מרום (and even thus it would still be liable to be misunderstood). Hahn (whom Olsh. is inclined to support): but He will judge the proud, to which first the circumstantial clause, and secondly the parallels, Job 35:2; Job 15:15; Job 4:18 (comp. Isa 24:21), from which it is evident that רמים signifies the heavenly beings (as Psa 78:69, the heights of heaven), are opposed: it is a fundamental thought of this book, which abounds in allusions to the angels, that the angels, although exalted above men, are nevertheless in contrast with God imperfect, and therefore are removed neither from the possibility of sin nor the necessity of a government which holds them together in unity, and exercises a judicial authority over them. The rule of the all-exalted Judge is different from that which the three presumptuously prescribe to Him.

The one (viz., the evil-doer) dies בּעצם תּמּו, in ipsa sua integritate, like בעצם היום, ipso illo die; the Arabic would be fı̂ ‛yn , since there the eye, here the bone (comp. Uhlemann, Syr. Gramm. §58), denote corporeality, duration, existence, and therefore identity. תּם is intended of perfect external health, as elsewhere מתם; comp. תּמימים, Pro 1:12. In Job 21:23 the pointing שׁלאנן (adj.) and שׁלאנן (3 praet.) are interchanged in the Codd.; the following verbal adjective favours the form of writing with Kametz. As to the form, however (which Röd. and Olsh. consider to be an error in writing), it is either a mixed form from שׁאנן and שׁלו with the blended meaning of both (Ew. §106, c), to which the comparison with שׁליו (= שׁלו) is not altogether suitable, or it is formed from שׁאנן by means of an epenthesis (as זלעף from זעף, aestuare, and בלסם, βάλσαμον, from בשׂם), and of similar but intensified signification; we prefer the latter, without however denying the real existence of such mixed forms (vid., on Job 26:9; Job 33:25). This fulness of health and prosperity is depicted in Job 21:24. The ancient translators think, because the bones are mentioned in the parallel line, עטיניו must also be understood of a part of the body: lxx ἔγκατα, Jer. viscera; Targ. בּיזוי, his breasts, βυζίαVid., Handschriftliche Funde, 2. S. V. (for Hebr. שׁדים, שׁד); Syr. version gabauh (= ganbauh), his sides in regard to עטמא, Syr. ‛attmo = אטמא, side, hip; Saad. audâguhu, his jugular veins, in connection with which (not, however, by this last rendering) חלב is read instead of חלב: his bowels, etc., are full of fat.Gesenius in his Thes. corrects the אודאגה which was found in Saadia’s manuscript translation to אודאעה, Arab. awdâ‛uhu , which is intended to mean repositoria ejus, but is really not Arabic; whereas אודאגה is the correct plur. of Arab. wadaj : his jugular veins, which occurs not merely of horses, but also of animals and men. Saadia, with reference to the following מלאוּ חלב, has thought of the metaphorical phrase Arab. ḥalaba awdâjahu : “he has milked his jugular vein,” i.e., he has, as it were, drawn the blood from his jugular veins = eum jugulavit , vid., Bibliotheca Arabo-Sicula, p. 563: “and with the freshly milked juice of the jugular veins, viz., of the enemy (Arab. w - mn ḥlb 'l - 'wdâj), our infant ready to be weaned is nourished in the midst of the tumult of battle, as soon as he is weaned.” The meaning of Saadia’s translation is then: his jugular veins are filled with fresh blood swollen with fulness of blood. - Fl.

But the assumption that עטיניו must be a part of the body is without satisfactory ground (comp. against it e.g., Job 20:17, and for it Job 20:11); and Schlottm. very correctly observes, that in the contrast in connection with the representation of the well-watered marrow one expects a reference to a rich nutritious drink. To this expectation corresponds the translation: “his resting-places (i.e., of his flocks) are full of milk,” after the Arab. ‛aṭanor ma‛ṭin. which was not first compared by Schultens and Reiske (epaulia), but even by Abul-walid, Aben-Ezra, and others.

But since the reference of what was intended to be said of the cattle at the watering-places to the places where the water is, possesses no poetic beauty, and the Hebrew language furnished the poet with an abundance of other words for pastures and meadows, it is from the first more probable that עטיניו are large troughs, - like Talm. מעטן, a trough, in which the unripe olives were laid in order that they might become tender and give forth oil, that they may then be ready for the oil-press (בּד), and עטן denotes this laying in itself, - and indeed either milk-tubs or milk-pails (שׁחולבין לתוכן), or with Kimchi (who rightly characterizes this as more in accordance with the prosperous condition which is intended to be described), the troughs for the store of milk, which also accords better with the meaning of the verb עטן, Arab. ‛aṭana, to lay in, confire.The Arab. verb 'tn, compared by the Orientals themselves with Arab. wtn, cognate in sound and meaning, has the primary signification to lie secure and to lay secure, as Arab. 'atan, a resting-place of camels, sheep, and goats about the watering-places, is only specifically distinct from Arab. watan, a cow-shed, cow-stall. The common generic notion is always a resting-place, wherefore the Kamus interprets 'attan by wattan wa-mebrek, viz., round about the drinking-places. Arab. ma'tin as n. loci, written m'atén by Barth in his Wanderungen durch die Küstenländer des Mittelmeeres, Bd. i. (vid., Deutsch. Morgenländ. Zeitschrift, iv. S. 275) S. 500, 517, is similar in meaning. The Arab. verb 'atana, impf. j'attunu, also j'attina, n. act. 'uttûn, a v. instrans., signifies, viz., of camels, etc., to lay themselves down around the drinking-troughs, after or even before drinking from them. On the other hand, Arab. 'atana, impf. j'attinu, also j'attunu, n. act. 'attn, a v. trans. used by the dresser of skins: to lay the skins in the tan or ooze (French, confire; low Latin, tanare, tannare, whence French, tanner, to tan, tan, the bark) until they are ready for dressing, and the hairs will easily scrape off. Hence Arab. 'atina, impf. j'attanu, n. act. 'attan, a v. intrans. used of skins: to become tender by lying in the ooze, and to smell musty, to stink, which is then transferred to men and animals: to stink like a skin in the ooze, comp. situs, mould, mildew, rest. - Fl. Starting from the latter signification, macerare pellem, Lee explains: his bottles (viz., made of leather); and Carey: his half-dressed skins (because the store of milk is so great that he cannot wait for the preparation of the leather for the bottles); but the former is impossible, the latter out of taste, and both are far-fetched.

From the abundance of nutriment in Job 21:24, the description passes over in Job 21:24 to the well-nourished condition of the rich man himself in consequence of this abundance. מח (Arab. muchch, or even nuchch, as נף = מף, naurag = מורג) is the marrow in the bones, e.g., the spinal marrow, but also the brain as the marrow of the head (Psychol. S. 233). The bones (Pro 3:8), or as it is here more exactly expressed, their marrow, is watered, when the body is inwardly filled with vigour, strength, and health; Isaiah, Isa 58:11, fills up the picture more (as a well-watered garden), and carries it still further in Isa 66:14 (thy bones shall blossom like a tender herb). The counterpart now follows with וזה (and the other, like Job 1:16). The other (viz., the righteous) dies with a sorrowful soul (comp. Job’s lament, Job 7:11; Job 10:1), i.e., one which is called to experience the bitterness of a suffering life; he dies and has not enjoyed בּטּובה, any of the wealth (with partitive Beth, as Psa 141:4, comp. supra, Job 7:13), has had no portion in the enjoyment of it (comp. Job’s lament, Job 9:25). In death they are then both, unrighteous and righteous, alike, as the Preacher said: מקרה אחד comes upon the wise as upon the fool, Ecc 2:15, comp. Job 9:2. They lie together in the dust, i.e., the dust of the grave (vid., on Job 19:25), and worms cover them. What then is become of the law of retribution in the present world, which the friends maintained with such rigid pertinacity, and so regardless of the deep wound they were inflicting on Job?

Job 21:27-31 27  Behold I know your thoughts

And the stratagems, with which ye overpower me! 28  When ye say: Where is the house of the tyrant,

And where the pavilions of the wicked - : 29  Have ye not asked those who travel,

Their memorable things ye could surely not disown: 30  That the wicked was spared in the day of calamity,

In the day of the outburst of wrath they were led away. 31  Who liketh to declare to him his way to his face?

And hath he done aught, who will recompense it to him?

Their thoughts which he sees through, are their secret thoughts that he is such an evil-doer reaping the reward of his deeds. מזמּות (which occurs both of right measures, good wise designs, Pro 5:2; Pro 8:12, and of artful devices, malicious intrigues, Pro 12:2; Pro 14:17, comp. the definition of בּעל מזמּות, Pro 24:8) is the name he gives to the delicately developed reasoning with which they attack him; חמס (comp. Arab. taḥammasa, to act harshly, violently, and overbearingly) is construed with על in the sense of forcing, apart from the idea of overcoming. In Job 21:28, which is the antecedent to Job 21:29, beginning with כּי האמרוּ (as Job 19:28), he refers to words of the friends like Job 8:22; Job 15:34; Job 18:15, Job 18:21. נדיב is prop. the noble man, whose heart impels (נדב, Arab. nadaba) him to what is good, or who is ready and willing, and does spontaneously that which is good (Arab. naduba), vid., Psychol. S. 165; then, however, since the notion takes the reverse way of generosus, the noble man (princely) by birth and station, with which the secondary notion of pride and abuse of power, therefore of a despot or tyrant, is easily as here (parall. רשׁעים, comp. עשׁיר, Isa 53:9, with the same word in the parallel) combined (just so in Isa 13:2, and similarly at least above, Job 12:21, - an anomaly of name and conduct, which will be for the future put aside, according to Isa 32:5). It is not admissible to understand the double question as antithetical, with Wolfson, after Pro 14:11; for the interrogative איּה is not appropriate to the house of the נדיב, in the proper sense of the word. Job 21:28, משׁכנות is not an externally but internally multiplying plur.; perhaps the poet by byt intends a palace in the city, and by אהל משׁכנות a tent among the wandering tribes, rendered prominent by its spaciousness and the splendour of the establishment.Although the tents regularly consist of two divisions, one for the men and another for the women, the translation “magnificent pavilion” (Prachtgezelt), disputed by Hirz., is perfectly correct; for even in the present day a Beduin, as he approaches an encampment, knows the tent of the sheikh immediately: it is denoted by its size, often also by the lances planted at the door, and also, as is easily imagined, by the rich arrangement of cushions and carpets. Vid., Layard’s New Discoveries, pp. 261 and 171.

Job thinks the friends reason a priori since they inquire thus; the permanent fact of experience is quite different, as they can learn from ערי דרך, travellers, i.e., here: people who have travelled much, and therefore are well acquainted with the stories of human destinies. The Piel נכּר, proceeding from the radical meaning to gaze fixedly, is an enantio'seemon, since it signifies both to have regard to, Job 34:19, and to disown, Deu 32:27; here it is to be translated: their אתת ye cannot nevertheless deny, ignore (as Arab. nakira and ankara). אתת are tokens, here: remarkable things, and indeed the remarkable histories related by them; Arab. âyatun (collective plur. âyun), signs, is also similarly used in the signification of Arab. ‛ibrat, example, historical teaching.

That the כּי, Job 21:30, as in Job 21:28, introduces the view of the friends, and is the antecedent clause to Job 21:31 : quod (si) vos dicitis, in tempora cladis per iram divinam immissae servari et nescium futuri velut pecudem eo deduci improbum (Böttcher, de fin. §76), has in the double ל an apparent support, which is not to be denied, especially in regard to Job 38:23; it is, however, on account of the omission of the indispensable תאמרו in this instance, an explanation which does violence to the words. The כּי, on the contrary, introduces that which the accounts of the travellers affirm. Further, the ל in ליום indicates here not the terminus ad quem, but as in לערב, in the evening, the terminus quo. And the verb חשׂך, cohibere, signifies here to hold back from danger, as Job 33:18, therefore to preserve uninjured. Ew. translates Job 21:30 erroneously: “in the day when the floods of wrath come on.” How tame would this הוּבל, “to be led near,” be! This Hoph. signifies elsewhere to be brought and conducted, and occurs in Job 21:32, as in Isa 55:12 and elsewhere, of an honourable escort; here, in accordance with the connection: to be led away out of the danger (somewhat as Lot and his family by the escort of angels). At the time, when streams of wrath (עברה, the overflowing of vexation = outburst of wrath, like the Arab. ‛abrt, the overflowing of the eye = tears) go forth, they remain untouched: they escape them, as being under a special, higher protection.This interpretation, however, is unsatisfactory, because it does not do justice to the twofold ל, which seems, according to Job 38:23, to be intended to indicate the terminus ad quem; perhaps Job 21:29 and Job 21:30 are to be transposed. If Job 21:30 followed Job 21:28, it would retain its natural sense as belonging to the view of the friends: “For the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity, and to a day of wrath they are led” (יובלו as Isa 53:7; Jer 11:19). Then והוא לקברות יובל also adds a suitable echo of the contradiction in Job’s mouth. Böttch. rightly calls attention to the consonance of יובל with יובלו, and of עברות with קברות.

Job 21:31 is commonly taken as a reflection on the exemption of the evil-doer: God’s mode of action is exalted above all human scrutiny, although it is not reconcilable with the idea of justice, Job 9:12; Job 23:13. But the מי ישׁלּם־לו, who will recompense it to him, which, used of man in relation to God, has no suitable meaning, and must therefore mean: who, after God has left the evil-doer unpunished - for which, however, הוּא עשׂה would be an unsuitable expression - shall recompense him, the evil-doer? is opposed to it. Therefore, against Ew., Hirz., and Hlgst., it must with most expositors be supposed that Job 21:31 is a reflection referable not to God, but to the evil-doer: so powerful is the wicked generally, that no one can oppose his pernicious doings and call him to account for them, much less that any one would venture to repay him according to his desert when he has brought anything to a completion (הוּא עשׂה, intentionally thus seriously expressed, as elsewhere of God, e.g., Isa 38:15). In the next strophe, that which is gathered from the accounts of travellers is continued, and is then followed by a declamatory summing up.

Job 21:32-34 32  And he is brought to the grave,

And over the tomb he still keepeth watch. 33  The clods of the valley are sweet to him,

And all men draw after him,

As they preceded him without number. .   .   .   .   .   . 34  And how will ye comfort me so vainly!

Your replies are and remain perfidy.

During life removed at the time of dire calamity, this unapproachable evil-doer is after his death carried to the grave with all honour (יוּבל, comp. Job 10:19), and indeed to a splendid tomb; for, like משׁכנות above, קברות is also an amplificative plural. It is certainly the most natural to refer ישׁקד, like יוּבל, to the deceased. The explanation: and over the tomb one keeps watch (Böttch., Hahn, Röd., Olsh.), is indeed in itself admissible, since that which serves as the efficient subject is often left unexpressed (Gen 48:2; 2Ki 9:21; Isa 53:9; comp. supra, on Job 18:18); but that, according to the prevalent usage of the language, ישׁקד would denote only a guard of honour at night, not also in the day, and that for clearness it would have required גּדישׁו instead of גּדישׁ, are considerations which do not favour this explanation, for שׁקד signifies to watch, to be active, instead of sleeping or resting; and moreover, the placing of guards of honour by graves is an assumed, but not proved, custom of antiquity. Nevertheless, ישׁקד might also in general denote the watchful, careful tending of the grave, and the maqâm (the tomb) of one who is highly honoured has, according to Moslem custom, servants (châdimı̂n) who are appointed for this duty. But though the translation “one watches” should not be objected to on this ground, the preference is to be given to a commendable rendering which makes the deceased the subject of ישׁקד. Raschi’s explanation does not, however, commend itself: “buried in his own land, he also in death still keeps watch over the heaps of sheaves.” The lxx translates similarly, ἐπὶ σωρῶν, which Jerome improperly, but according to a right sentiment, translates, in congerie mortuorum. For after the preceding mention of the pomp of burial, גּדישׁ, which certainly signifies a heap of sheaves in Job 5:26, is favoured by the assumption of its signifying a sepulchral heap, with reference to which also in that passage (where interment is likewise the subject of discourse) the expression is chosen. Haji Gaon observes that the dome (קבּה, Arab. qbbt, the dome and the sepulchral monument vaulted over by it)Vid., Lane’s Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (translated by Zenker). erected over graves according to Arab custom is intended; and Aben-Ezra says, that not exactly this, but in general the grave-mound formed of earth, etc., is to be understood. In reality, גדישׁ (from the verb גדשׁ, cumulare, commonly used in the Talmud and Aramaic) signifies cumulus, in the most diversified connections, which in Arabic are distributed among the verbs jds , kds , and jdš , especially tumulus, Arab. jadatun (broader pronunciation jadafun). If by grave-mound a mound with the grave upon it can be understood, a beautiful explanation is presented which accords with the preference of the Beduin for being buried on an eminence, in order that even in death he may be surrounded by his relations, and as it were be able still to overlook their encampment: the one who should have had a better lot is buried in the best place of the plain, in an insignificant grave; the rich man, however, is brought up to an eminence and keeps watch on his elevated tomb, since from this eminence as from a watch-tower he even in death, as it were, enjoys the wide prospect which delighted him so while living.“Take my bones,” says an Arabian poem, “and carry them with you, wherever you go; and if ye bury them, bury them opposite your encampment! And bury me not under a vine, which would shade me, but upon a hill, so that my eye can see you!” Vid., Ausland, 1863, Nr. 15 (Ein Ritt nach Transjordanien).

But the signification collis cannot be supported; גדישׁ signifies the hill which is formed by the grave itself, and Job 21:33 indeed directs us to the wady as the place of burial, not to the hill. But if גדישׁ is the grave-mound, it is also not possible with Schlottm. to think of the pictures on the wall and images of the deceased, as they are found in the Egyptian vaults (although in Job 3:14 we recognised an allusion to the pyramids), for it cannot then be a גדישׁ in the strict sense that is spoken of; the word ought, like the Arabic jdṯ (which the Arab. translation of the New Testament in the London Polyglott uses of the μνημεῖον of Jesus), with a mingling of its original signification, to have been used in the general signification sepulcrum. This would be possible, but it need not be supposed. Job’s words are the pictorial antithesis to Bildad’s assertion, Job 18:17, that the godless man dies away without trace or memorial; it is not so, but as may be heard from the mouth of people who have experience in the world: he keeps watch over his tomb, he continues to watch although asleep, since he is continually brought to remembrance by the monument built over his tomb. A keeping watch that no one approaches the tomb disrespectfully (Ew.), is not to be thought of. שׁקד is a relative negation of the sleep of death: he is dead, but in a certain manner he continues to live, viz., in the monument planting forward his memory, which it remains for the imagination to conceive of as a mausoleum, or weapons, or other votive offerings hung upon the walls, etc. In connection with such honour, which follows him even to and beyond death, the clods of the valley (est ei terra levis) are sweet (מתקוּ is accentuated with Mercha, and לו without Makkeph with little-Rebia) to him; and if death in itself ought to be accounted an evil, he has shared the common fate which all men after him will meet, and which all before him have met; it is the common end of all made sweet to him by the pageantry of his burial and his after-fame. Most modern expositors (Ew., Hirz., Umbr., Hlgst., Welte) understand the ימשׁך, which is used, certainly, not in the transitive signification: to draw after one’s self, but in the intransitive: to draw towards (lxx απελεύσεται), as Jdg 4:6 (vid., Ges. Thes.), of an imitative treading of the same way; but כּל־אדם would then be an untrue hyperbole, by which Job would expose himself to the attack of his adversaries.

In Job 21:34 Job concludes his speech; the Waw of ואיך, according to the idea (as e.g., the Waw in ואני, Isa 43:12), is an inferential ergo. Their consolation, which is only available on condition of penitence, is useless; and their replies, which are intended to make him an evil-doer against the testimony of his conscience, remain מעל. It is not necessary to construe: and as to your answers, only מעל remains. The predicate stands per attractionem in the sing.: their answers, reduced to their true value, leave nothing behind but מעל, end in מעל, viz., באלהים, Jos 22:22, perfidious sinning against God, i.e., on account of the sanctimonious injustice and uncharitableness with which they look suspiciously on him.

Job has hitherto answered the accusations of the friends, which they express in ever-increasingly terrible representations of the end of the godless, presenting only the terrible side of their dogma of the justice of God, with a stedfast attestation of his innocence, and with the ever-increasing hope of divine vindication against human accusation. In him was manifest that faith which, being thrust back by men, clings to God, and, thrust back by God, even soars aloft from the present wrath of God to His faithfulness and mercy. The friends, however, instead of learning in Job’s spiritual condition to distinguish between the appearance and the reality in this confidence, which comes back to itself, see in it only a constant wilful hardening of himself against their exhortations to penitence. It does not confound them, that he over whom, according to their firm opinion, the sword of God’s vengeance hangs, warns them of that same sword, but only confirms them still more in their conviction, that they have to do with one who is grievously self-deluded.

Zophar has painted anew the end of the evil-doer in the most hideous colours, in order that Job might behold himself in this mirror, and be astonished at himself. We see also, from the answer of Job to Zophar’s speech, that the passionate excitement which Job displayed at first in opposition to the friends has given place to a calmer tone; he has already got over the first impression of disappointed expectation, and the more confidently certain of the infallibility of divine justice he becomes, the more does he feel raised above his accusers. He now expects no further comfort; careful attention to what he has to say shall henceforth be his consolation. He will also complain against and of men no more, for he has long since ceased to hope for anything for himself from men; his vexation concerns the objective indefensibility of that which his opponents maintain as a primeval law of the divine government in the world. The maxim that godlessness always works its own punishment by a calamitous issue, is by no means supported by experience. One sees godless persons who are determined to know nothing of God, and are at the same time prosperous. It is not to be said that God treasures up the punishment they have deserved for their children. The godless ought rather to bear the punishment themselves, since the destiny of their children no longer concerns them after they have enjoyed their fill of life. That law is therefore a precept which human short-sightedness has laid down for God, but one by which, however, He is not guided. The godless who have lived prosperously all their days, and the righteous who have experienced only sorrow, share the common lot of death. One has only to ask persons who have had experience of the world: they can relate instances of notorious sinners who maintained their high position until death, and who, without being overtaken by divine judgments, and without human opposition and contradiction, were carried in honour to the grave, and their memory is immortalized by the monuments erected over their tomb. From this Job infers that the connection into which the friends bring his suffering with supposed guilt, is a false one, and that all their answers are, after all, reducible to an unjust and uncharitable judgment, by which they attack (מעל) God.

Job has more than once given expression to the thought, that a just distribution of prosperity and misfortune is not to be found in the world, Job 9:22-24; Job 12:6. But now for the first time he designedly brings it forward in reply to the friends, after he has found every form of assertion of his innocence unavailing, and their behaviour towards him with their dogma is become still more and more inconsiderate and rash. Job sins in this speech; but in order to form a correct judgment of this sinning, two things must be attended to. Job does not revel in the contradiction in which this lasting fact of experience stands to the justice of divine retribution, he had rather be ignorant of it; for he has no need of it in order, in spite of his affliction, to be able to hold fast the consciousness of his innocence. No indeed! if he thinks of this mystery he is perplexed, and shuddering comes over him, Job 21:6. And when he depicts the prosperity of sinners, he expresses his horror of the sins of such prosperous men in the words: The counsel of the ungodly be far from me! (Job 21:16), in order that it may not be erroneously imagined that he lusts after such prosperity.

If we compare Zophar’s and Job’s speeches one with another, we are obliged to say, that relatively the greater right is on the side of Job. True, the Scriptures confirm what Zophar says of the destruction of the evil-doer in innumerable passages; and this calamitous end of one who has long been prosperous and defiant, is the solution by which the Old Testament Scriptures (Ps. 37, 73; Jer 12:1-3; Hab. 1:13-2:1) remove the stumbling-block of the mysterious phenomenon of the prosperity of the evil-doer. But if we bear in mind that this solution is insufficient, so long as that calamitous end is regarded only outwardly, and with reference to the present world, - that the solution only becomes satisfactory when, as in the book of Ecclesiastes, in reply to a similar doubt to that which Job expresses (Ecc 7:15; Ecc 8:14), the end is regarded as the end of all, and as the decision of a final judgment which sets all contradictions right, - that, however, neither Zophar nor Job know anything of a decision beyond death, but regard death as the end whither human destiny and divine retribution tend, without being capable of any further distinction: we cannot deny that Job is most in the right in placing the prosperous life and death of the godless as based upon the incontrovertible facts of experience, in opposition to Zophar’s primeval exceptionless law of the terrible end of the godless. The speeches of Zophar and of Job are both true and false, - both one-sided, and therefore mutually supplementary. The real final end of the evil-doer is indeed none other than Zophar describes; and the temporal prosperity of the evil-doer, lasting often until death, is really a frequent phenomenon. If, however, we consider further, that Job is not able to deny the occurrence of such examples of punishment, such revelations of the retributive justice of God, as those which Zophar represents as occurring regularly and without exception; that, however, on the other hand, exceptional instances undeniably do exist, and the friends are obliged to be blind to them, because otherwise the whole structure of their opposition would fall in, - it is manifest that Job is nearer to the truth than Zophar. For it is truer that the retributive justice of God is often, but by far not always, revealed in the present world and outwardly, than that it never becomes manifest.

Wherein, then, does Job’s sin in this speech consist? Herein, that he altogether ignores the palpably just distribution of human destinies, which does occur frequently enough. In this he becomes unjust towards his opponent, and incapable of convincing him. From it, it appears as though in the divine government there is not merely a preponderance of what is mysterious, of what is irreconcilable with divine justice, but as though justice were altogether contradicted. The reproach with which he reproaches his opponents: Shall one teach God understanding? is one which also applies to himself; for when he says that God, if He punishes, must visit punishment upon the evil-doer himself, and not on his children, it is an unbecoming dictation with regard to God’s doing. We should be mistaken in supposing that the poet, in Job 21:19-21, brings forward a concealed contradiction to the Mosaic doctrine of retribution; nowhere in the Old Testament, not even in the Mosaic law, is it taught, that God visits the sins of the fathers on the children, while He allows them themselves to go free, Exo 20:5, comp. Deu 24:16; Eze 18:1; Jer 31:29. What Job asserts, that the sinner himself must endure the punishment of his sins, not his children instead of him, is true; but the thought lying in the background, that God does not punish where He ought to punish, is sinful. Thus here Job again falls into error, which he must by and by penitently acknowledge and confess, by speaking unbecomingly of God: the God of the future is again vanished from him behind the clouds of temptation, and he is unable to understand and love the God of the present; He is a mystery to him, the incomprehensibility of which causes him pain. “The joyous thought of the future, which a little before struggled forth, again vanishes, because the present, into the abyss of which he is again drawn down, has remained perfectly dark the whole time, and as yet no bridge has been revealed crossing from this side to that.”

The Reply of Job to Zophar. (b. c. 1520.)

1 But Job answered and said, 2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. 3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on. 4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? 5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth. 6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.

Job here recommends himself, both his case and his discourse, both what he suffered and what he said, to the compassionate consideration of his friends. 1. That which he entreats of them is very fair, that they would suffer him to speak (v. 3) and not break in upon him, as Zophar had done, in the midst of his discourse. Losers, of all men, may have leave to speak; and, if those that are accused and censured are not allowed to speak for themselves, they are wronged without remedy, and have no way to come at their right. He entreats that they would hear diligently his speech (v. 2) as those that were willing to understand him, and, if they were under a mistake, to have it rectified; and that they would mark him (v. 5), for we may as well not hear as not heed and observe what we hear. 2. That which he urges for this is very reasonable. (1.) They came to comfort him. "No," says he, "let this be your consolations (v. 2); if you have no other comforts to administer to me, yet deny me not this; be so kind, so just, as to give me a patient hearing, and that shall pass for your consolations of me." Nay, they could not know how to comfort him if they would not give him leave to open his case and tell his own story. Or, "It will be a consolation to yourselves, in reflection, to have dealt tenderly with your afflicted friend, and not harshly." (2.) He would hear them speak when it came to their turn. "After I have spoken you may go on with what you have to say, and I will not hinder you, no, though you go on to mock me." Those that engage in controversy must reckon upon having hard words given them, and resolve to bear reproach patiently; for, generally, those that mock will mock on, whatever is said to them. (3.) He hoped to convince them. "If you will but give me a fair hearing, mock on if you can, but I believe I shall say that which will change your note and make you pity me rather than mock me." (4.) They were not his judges (v. 4): "Is my complaint to man? No, if it were I see it would be to little purpose to complain. But my complaint is to God, and to him do I appeal. Let him be Judge between you and me. Before him we stand upon even terms, and therefore I have the privilege of being heard as well as you. If my complaint were to men, my spirit would be troubled, for they would not regard me, nor rightly understand me; but my complaint is to God, who will suffer me to speak, though you will not." It would be sad if God should deal as unkindly with us as our friends sometimes do. (5.) There was that in his case which was very surprising and astonishing, and therefore both needed and deserved their most serious consideration. It was not a common case, but a very extraordinary one. [1.] He himself was amazed at it, at the troubles God had laid upon him and the censures of his friends concerning him (v. 6): "When I remember that terrible day in which I was on a sudden stripped of all my comforts, that day in which I was stricken with sore boils,—when I remember all the hard speeches with which you have grieved me,—I confess I am afraid, and trembling takes hold of my flesh, especially when I compare this with the prosperous condition of many wicked people, and the applauses of their neighbours, with which they pass through the world." Note, The providences of God, in the government of the world, are sometimes very astonishing even to wise and good men, and bring them to their wits' end. [2.] He would have them wonder at it (v. 5): "Mark me, and be astonished. Instead of expounding my troubles, you should awfully adore the unsearchable mysteries of Providence in afflicting one thus of whom you know no evil; you should therefore lay your hand upon your mouth, silently wait the issue, and judge nothing before the time. God's way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters. When we cannot account for what he does, in suffering the wicked to prosper and the godly to be afflicted, nor fathom the depth of those proceedings, it becomes us to sit down and admire them. Upright men shall be astonished at this, ch. xvii. 8. Be you so."

Prosperity of the Wicked; Abuse of Earthly Prosperity. (b. c. 1520.)

7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? 8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. 10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. 11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. 12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. 13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. 14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? 16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

All Job's three friends, in their last discourses, had been very copious in describing the miserable condition of a wicked man in this world. "It is true," says Job, "remarkable judgments are sometimes brought upon notorious sinners, but not always; for we have many instances of the great and long prosperity of those that are openly and avowedly wicked; though they are hardened in their wickedness by their prosperity, yet they are still suffered to prosper."

I. He here describes their prosperity in the height, and breadth, and length of it. "If this be true, as you say, pray tell me wherefore do the wicked live?" v. 7.

1. The matter of fact is taken for granted, for we see instances of it every day. (1.) They live, and are not suddenly cut off by the strokes of divine vengeance. Those yet speak who have set their mouths against the heavens. Those yet act who have stretched out their hands against God. Not only they live (that is, they are reprieved), but they live in prosperity, 1 Sam. xxv. 6. Nay, (2.) They become old; they have the honour, satisfaction, and advantage of living long, long enough to raise their families and estates. We read of a sinner a hundred years old, Isa. lxv. 20. But this is not all. (3.) They are mighty in power, are preferred to places of authority and trust, and not only make a great figure, but bear a great sway. Vivit imo, et in senatum venit—He not only lives, but appears in the senate. Now wherefore is it so? Note, It is worth while to enquire into the reasons of the outward prosperity of wicked people. It is not because God has forsaken the earth, because he does not see, or does not hate, or cannot punish their wickedness; but it is because the measure of their iniquities is not full. This is the day of God's patience, and, in some way or other, he makes use of them and their prosperity to serve his own counsels, while it ripens them for ruin; but the chief reason is because he will make it to appear there is another world which is the world of retribution, and not this.

2. The prosperity of the wicked is here described to be,

(1.) Complete and consummate. [1.] They are multiplied, and their family is built up, and they have the satisfaction of seeing it (v. 8): Their seed is established in their sight. This is put first, as that which gives both a pleasant enjoyment and a pleasing prospect. [2.] They are easy and quiet, v. 9. Whereas Zophar had spoken of their continual frights and terrors, Job says, Their houses are safe both from danger and from the fear of it (v. 9), and so far are they from the killing wounds of God's sword or arrows that they do not feel the smart of so much as the rod of God upon them. [3.] They are rich and thrive in their estates. Of this he gives only one instance, v. 10. Their cattle increase, and they meet with no disappointment in them; not so much as a cow casts her calf, and then their much must needs grow more. This is promised, Exod. xxiii. 26; Deut. vii. 14. [4.] They are merry and live a jovial life (v. 11, 12): They send forth their little ones abroad among their neighbours, like a flock, in great numbers, to sport themselves. They have their balls and music-meetings, at which their children dance; and dancing is fittest for children, who know not better how to spend their time and whose innocency guards them against the mischiefs that commonly attend it. Though the parents are not so very youthful and frolicsome as to dance themselves, yet they take the timbrel and harp; they pipe, and their children dance after their pipe, and they know no grief to put their instruments out of tune or to withhold their hearts from any joy. Some observe that this is an instance of their vanity, as well as of their prosperity. Here is none of that care taken of their children which Abraham took of his, to teach them the way of the Lord, Gen. xviii. 19. Their children do not pray, or say their catechism, but dance, and sing, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. Sensual pleasures are all the delights of carnal people, and as men are themselves so they breed their children.

(2.) Continuing and constant (v. 13): They spend their days, all their days, in wealth, and never know what it is to want—in mirth, and never know what sadness means; and at last, without any previous alarms to frighten them, without any anguish or agony, in a moment they go down to the grave, and there are no bands in their death. If there were not another life after this, it were most desirable to die by the quickest shortest strokes of death. Since we must go down to the grave, if that were the furthest of our journey, we should wish to go down in a moment, to swallow the bitter pill, and not chew it.

II. He shows how they abuse their prosperity and are confirmed and hardened by it in their impiety, v. 14, 15.

1. Their gold and silver serve to steel them, to make them more insolent, and more impudent, in their wickedness. Now he mentions this either, (1.) To increase the difficulty. It is strange that any wicked people should prosper thus, but especially that those should prosper who have arrived at such a pitch of wickedness as openly to bid defiance to God himself, and tell him to his face that they care not for him; nay, and that their prosperity should be continued, though they bear up themselves upon that, in their opposition to God; with that weapon they fight against him, and yet are not disarmed. Or, (2.) To lessen the difficulty. God suffers them to prosper; but let us not wonder at it, for the prosperity of fools destroys them, by hardening them in sin, Prov. i. 32; Ps. lxxiii. 7-9.

2. See how light these prospering sinners make of God and religion, as if because they have so much of this world they had no need to look after another.

(1.) See how ill affected they are to God and religion; they abandon them, and cast off the thoughts of them. [1.] They dread the presence of God; they say unto him, "Depart from us; let us never be troubled with the apprehension of our being under God's eye nor be restrained by the fear of him." Or they bid him depart as one they do not need, nor have any occasion to make use of. The world is the portion they have chosen, and take up with, and think themselves happy in; while they have that they can live without God. Justly will God say Depart (Matt. xxv. 41) to those who have bidden him depart; and justly does he now take them at their word. [2.] They dread the knowledge of God, and of his will, and of their duty to him: We desire not the knowledge of thy ways. Those that are resolved not to walk in God's ways desire not to know them, because their knowledge will be a continual reproach to their disobedience, John iii. 19.

(2.) See how they argue against God and religion (v. 15): What is the Almighty? Strange that ever creatures should speak so insolently, that ever reasonable creatures should speak so absurdly and unreasonably. The two great bonds by which we are drawn and held to religion are those of duty and interest; now they here endeavour to break both these bonds asunder. [1.] They will not believe it is their duty to be religious: What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Like Pharaoh (Exod. v. 2), Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? Observe, First, How slightly they speak of God: What is the Almighty? As if he were a mere name, a mere cipher, or one they have nothing to do with and that has nothing to do with them. Secondly, How hardly they speak of religion. They call it a service, and mean a hard service. Is it not enough, they think, to keep up a fair correspondence with the Almighty, but they must serve him, which they look upon as a task and drudgery. Thirdly, How highly they speak of themselves: "That we should serve him; we who are rich and mighty in power, shall we be subject and accountable to him? No, we are lords," Jer. ii. 31. [2.] They will not believe it is their interest to be religious: What profit shall we have if we pray unto him? All the world are for what they can get, and therefore wisdom's merchandise is neglected, because they think there is nothing to be got by it. It is vain to serve God, Mal. iii. 13, 14. Praying will not pay debts nor portion children; nay, perhaps serious godliness may hinder a man's preferment and expose him to losses; and what then? Is nothing to be called gain but the wealth and honour of this world? If we obtain the favour of God, and spiritual and eternal blessings, we have no reason to complain of losing by our religion. But, if we have not profit by prayer, it is our own fault (Isa. lviii. 3, 4), it is because we ask amiss, Jam. iv. 3. Religion itself is not a vain thing; if it be so to us, we may thank ourselves for resting in the outside of it, Jam. i. 26.

III. He shows their folly herein, and utterly disclaims all concurrence with them (v. 19): Lo, their good is not in their hand, that is, they did not get it without God, and therefore they are very ungrateful to slight him thus. It was not their might, nor the power of their hand, that got them this wealth, and therefore they ought to remember God who gave it them. Nor can they keep it without God, and therefore they are very unwise to lose their interest in him and bid him to depart from them. Some give this sense of it: "Their good is in their barns and their bags, hoarded up there; it is not in their hand, to do good to others with it; and then what good does it do them?" "Therefore," says Job, "the counsel of the wicked is far from me. Far be it from me that I should be of their mind, say as they say, do as they do, and take my measures from them. Their posterity approve their sayings, though their way be their folly ( Ps. xlix. 13); but I know better things than to walk in their counsel."

Certain Punishments of the Wicked; Divine Sovereignty. (b. c. 1520.)

17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. 18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. 19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it. 20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? 22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high. 23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. 24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. 25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. 26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

Job had largely described the prosperity of wicked people; now, in these verses,

I. He opposes this to what his friends had maintained concerning their certain ruin in this life. "Tell me how often do you see the candle of the wicked put out? Do you not as often see it burnt down to the socket, until it goes out of itself? v. 17. How often do you see their destruction come upon them, or God distributing sorrows in his anger among them? Do you not as often see their mirth and prosperity continuing to the last?" Perhaps there are as many instances of notorious sinners ending their days in pomp as ending them in misery, which observation is sufficient to invalidate their arguments against Job and to show that no certain judgment can be made of men's character by their outward condition.

II. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Though wicked people prosper thus all their days, yet we are not therefore to think that God will let their wickedness always go unpunished. No, 1. Even while they prosper thus they are as stubble and chaff before the stormy wind, v. 18. They are light and worthless, and of no account either with God or with wise and good men. They are fitted to destruction, and continually lie exposed to it, and in the height of their pomp and power there is but a step between them and ruin. 2. Though they spend all their days in wealth God is laying up their iniquity for their children (v. 19), and he will visit it upon their posterity when they are gone. The oppressor lays up his goods for his children, to make them gentlemen, but God lays up his iniquity for them, to make them beggars. He keeps an exact account of the fathers' sins, seals them up among his treasures (Deut. xxxii. 34), and will justly punish the children, while the riches, to which the curse cleaves, are found as assets in their hands. 3. Though they prosper in this world, yet they shall be reckoned with in another world. God rewards him according to his deeds at last (v. 19), though the sentence passed against his evil works be not executed speedily. Perhaps he may not now be made to fear the wrath to come, but he may flatter himself with hopes that he shall have peace though he go on; but he shall be made to feel it in the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. He shall know it (v. 20): His eyes shall see his destruction which he would not be persuaded to believe. They will not see, but they shall see, Isa. xxvi. 11. The eyes that have been wilfully shut against the grace of God shall be opened to see his destruction. He shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty; that shall be the portion of his cup. Compare Ps. xi. 6 with Rev. xiv. 10. The misery of damned sinners is here set forth in a few words, but very terrible ones. They lie under the wrath of an Almighty God, who, in their destruction, both shows his wrath and makes known his power; and, if this will be his condition in the other world, what good will his prosperity in this world do him? What pleasure has he in his house after him? v. 21. Our Saviour has let us know how little pleasure the rich man in hell had in his house after him, when the remembrance of the good things he had received in his life-time would not cool his tongue, but added much to his misery, as did also the sorrow he was in lest his five brethren, whom he left in his house after him, should follow him to that place of torment, Luke xvi. 25-28. So little will the gain of the world profit him that has lost his soul.

III. He resolves this difference which Providence makes between one wicked man and another into the wisdom and sovereignty of God (v. 22): Shall any pretend to teach God knowledge? Dare we arraign God's proceedings or blame his conduct? Shall we take upon us to tell God how he should govern the world, what sinner he should spare and whom he should punish? He has both authority and ability to judge those that are high. Angels in heaven, princes and magistrates on earth, are accountable to God, and must receive their doom from him. He manages them, and makes what use he pleases of them. Shall he then be accountable to us, or receive advice from us? He is the Judge of all the earth, and therefore no doubt he will do right (Gen. xviii. 25, Rom. iii. 6), and those proceedings of his providence which seem to contradict one another he can make, not only mutually to agree, but jointly to serve his own purposes. The little difference there is between one wicked man's dying so in pain and misery, when both will at last meet in hell, he illustrates by the little difference there is between one man's dying suddenly and another's dying slowly, when they will both meet shortly in the grave. So vast is the disproportion between time and eternity that, if hell be the lot of every sinner at last, it makes little difference if one goes singing thither and another sighing. See,

1. How various the circumstances of people's dying are. There is one way into the world, we say, but many out; yet, as some are born by quick and easy labour, others by that which is hard and lingering, so dying is to some much more terrible than to others; and, since the death of the body is the birth of the soul into another world, death-bed agonies may not unfitly be compared to child-bed throes. Observe the difference. (1.) One dies suddenly, in his full strength, not weakened by age or sickness (v. 23), being wholly at ease and quiet, under no apprehension at all of the approach of death, nor in any fear of it; but, on the contrary, because his breasts are full of milk and his bones moistened with marrow (v. 24), that is, he is healthful and vigorous, and of a good constitution (like a milch cow that is fat and in good liking), he counts upon nothing but to live many years in mirth and pleasure. Thus fair does he bid for life, and yet he is cut off in a moment by the stroke of death. Note, It is a common thing for persons to be taken away by death when they are in their full strength, in the highest degree of health, when they least expect death, and think themselves best armed against it, and are ready not only to set death at a distance, but to set it at defiance. Let us therefore never be secure; for we have known many well and dead in the same week, the same day, the same hour, nay, perhaps, the same minute. Let us therefore be always ready. (2.) Another dies slowly, and with a great deal of previous pain and misery (v. 25), in the betterness of his soul, such as poor Job was himself now in, and never eats with pleasure, has no appetite to his food nor any relish of it, through sickness, or age, or sorrow of mind. What great reason have those to be thankful that are in health and always eat with pleasure! And what little reason have those to complain who sometimes do not eat thus, when they hear of many that never do!

2. How undiscernible this difference is in the grave. As rich and poor, so healthful and unhealthful, meet there (v. 26): They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them, and feed sweetly on them. Thus, if one wicked man die in a palace and another in a dungeon, they will meet in the congregation of the dead and damned, and the worm that dies not, and the fire that is not quenched, will be the same to them, which makes those differences inconsiderable and not worth perplexing ourselves about.

Punishment of the Wicked. (b. c. 1520.)

27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. 28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? 29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, 30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. 31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? 32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. 33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. 34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

In these verses,

I. Job opposes the opinion of his friends, which he saw they still adhered to, that the wicked are sure to fall into such visible and remarkable ruin as Job had now fallen into, and none but the wicked, upon which principle they condemned Job as a wicked man. "I know your thoughts," says Job (v. 27); "I know you will not agree with me; for your judgments are tinctured and biassed by your piques and prejudices against me, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against my comfort and honour: and how can such men be convinced?" Job's friends were ready to say, in answer to his discourse concerning the prosperity of the wicked, "Where is the house of the prince? v. 28. Where is Job's house, or the house of his eldest son, in which his children were feasting? Enquire into the circumstances of Job's house and family, and then ask, Where are the dwelling-places of the wicked? and compare them together, and you will soon see that Job's house is in the same predicament with the houses of tyrants and oppressors, and may therefore conclude that doubtless he was such a one."

II. He lays down his own judgment to the contrary, and, for proof of it, appeals to the sentiments and observations of all mankind. So confident is he that he is in the right that he is willing to refer the cause to the next man that comes by (v. 29): "Have you not asked those that go by the way—any indifferent person, any that will answer you? I say not, as Eliphaz (ch. v. 1), to which of the saints, but to which of the children of men will you turn? Turn to which you will, and you will find them all of my mind, that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the other world than for this, according to the prophecy of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, Jude 14. Do you not know the tokens of this truth, which all that have made any observations upon the providences of God concerning mankind in this world can furnish you with?" Now,

1. What is it that Job here asserts? Two things:—(1.) That impenitent sinners will certainly be punished in the other world, and, usually, their punishment is put off until then. (2.) That therefore we are not to think it strange if they prosper greatly in this world and fall under no visible token of God's wrath. Therefore they are spared now, because they are to be punished then; therefore the workers of iniquity flourish, that they may be destroyed for ever, Ps. xcii. 7. The sinner is here supposed, [1.] To live in a great deal of power, so as to be not only the terror of the mighty in the land of the living (Ezek. xxxii. 27), but the terror of the wise and good too, whom he keeps in such awe that none dares declare his way to his face, v. 31. None will take the liberty to reprove him, to tell him of the wickedness of his way, and what will be in the end thereof; so that he sins securely, and is not made to know either shame or fear. The prosperity of fools destroys them, by setting them (in their own conceit) above reproofs, by which they might be brought to that repentance which alone will prevent their ruin. Those are marked for destruction that are let alone in sin, Hos. iv. 17. And, if none dares declare his way to his face, much less dare any repay him what he has done and make him refund what he has obtained by injustice. He is one of those great flies which break through the cobwebs of the law, that hold only the little ones. This emboldens sinners in their sinful ways that they can brow-beat justice and make it afraid to meddle with them. But there is a day coming when those shall be told of their faults who now would not bear to hear of them, those shall have their sins set in order before them, and their way declared to their face, to their everlasting confusion, who would not have it done here, to their conviction, and those who would not repay the wrongs they had done shall have them repaid to them. [2.] To die, and be buried in a great deal of pomp and magnificence, v. 32, 33. There is no remedy; he must die; that is the lot of all men; but every thing you can think of shall be done to take off the reproach of death. First, He shall have a splendid funeral—a poor thing for any man to be proud of the prospect of; yet with some it passes for a mighty thing. Well, he shall be brought to the grave in state, surrounded with all the honours of the heralds' office and all the respect his friends can then pay to his remains. The rich man died, and was buried, but no mention is made of the poor man's burial, Luke xvi. 22. Secondly, He shall have a stately monument erected over him. He shall remain in the tomb with a Hic jacet—Here lies, over him, and a large encomium. Perhaps it is meant of the embalming of his body to preserve it, which was a piece of honour anciently done by the Egyptians to their great men. He shall watch in the tomb (so the word is), shall abide solitary and quiet there, as a watchman in his tower. Thirdly, The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him; there shall be as much done as can be with rich odours to take off the noisomeness of the grave, as by lamps to set aside the darkness of it, which perhaps was referred to in the foregoing phrase of watching in the tomb. But it is all a jest; what is the light, or what the perfume, to a man that is dead? Fourthly, It shall be alleged, for the lessening of the disgrace of death, that it is the common lot: He has only yielded to fate, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him. Note, Death is the way of all the earth: when we are to cross that darksome valley we must consider, 1. That there are innumerable before us; it is a tracked road, which may help to take off the terror of it. To die is ire ad plures—to go to the great majority. 2. That every man shall draw after us. As there is a plain track before, so there is a long train behind; we are neither the first nor the last that pass through that dark entry. Every one must go in his own order, the order appointed of God.

2. From all this Job infers the impertinency of their discourses, v. 34. (1.) Their foundation is rotten, and they went upon a wrong hypothesis: "In your answers there remains falsehood; what you have said stands not only unproved but disproved, and lies under such an imputation of falsehood as you cannot clear it from." (2.) Their building was therefore weak and tottering: "You comfort me in vain. All you have said gives me no relief; you tell me that I shall prosper again if I turn to God, but you go upon this presumption, that piety shall certainly be crowned with prosperity, which is false; and therefore how can your inference from it yield me any comfort?" Note, Where there is not truth there is little comfort to be expected.

CHAP. XXI. Verſe 1. But Job anſwered and ſaid.]

Diſproving and refuting that Propoſition of theirs concerning the infelicity of the ungodly by Reaſon, by Experience, and by Divine Authority: All which evince and evidence, that neither is proſperity a proof of mens innocence, nor adverſity a mark of their wickedneſſe, as Zophar and his fellowes would have it. And that they might not any more interrupt him, nor think him too rough, he uſeth a gentle Preface, craving attention, and preſſing them thereunto by many Arguments in the ſix firſt verſes.

Verſe 2. Hear diligently my ſpeech] Heb. In hearing hear. The Greek hath it, Hear, hear; that is, hear me out, have ſo much patience with me as not to interrupt me any more; yea, hear with underſtanding: Let your [non-Latin text not transcribed] and [non-Latin text not transcribed] meet: draw up your inward ea[illegible: 1 letter]es to your outward, that one ſound may pierce both. Lay aſide paſſion and prejudice,Gravis rationis humanae morbus eſt, quòd plerungue ſoleat ea damnare qua aut non intelligat, aut non placu[illegible: 1 letter]rit. Brent. ſuffer a word of information, for it is but one word that I have to ſay, &c. the Hebrew is ſingular, and promiſeth brevity. Only this one word Job would that they ſhould heafe double; ſcil. by an after deliberate meditation, as David did, Pſal. 62.11. God hath ſpoken once, twice have I heard that &c.

And let this be your conſolations] Comfort me this way at leaſt, that you wil give me the hearing. Hither you came as Comforters, but by your galling ſpeeches you have grieved and vexed me above meaſure. Now make me ſome amends, and remembring your Office as friends, and your deſign, which was to condole with me, and to comfort me, hear me hardly, and this I ſhall take as kindly, as if in tendereſt compaſſion you had drunk to me in a Bowle of Nepenthes, or had given me a oup of conſolation, as Jer, 10.7. The Vulgar Latine rendreth it, (but not well) Hear I pray for my ſpeech, and repent. The Hebrew robe ſignifieth firſt to repent, and then to comfort, 1 Sam. 15.35. Iſas. 40.1. became the penitent only, get ſound comfort.

Verſe 3. Suffer me that I may ſpeak] Say that it be ſuffering to you to hear me (for now I ſee you have, as they write of ſome Creatures, feb in [illegible: 2 letters]re;) yet put your ſelves to the pain of hearing me, and beat me though I am burdenſome to you, though my ſpeeches croſſe the graine of your ſpirits. See 2 Cor. 11.1. I will promiſe you to ſpeak nothing worthy of a ſcoff, ſuch as was that of Theophraſt[illegible: 2 letters], Let him ſhun the [illegible: 4 letters]tive man who would not be put into a [illegible: 1 letter]it of a feavee.Theoph. Charact [illegible: 1 word] de garrul. Or that of Ariſtotle, before whom when one having made a long and idle diſcourſe, concluded it thus, I doubt I have been too tedious unto you, Sir Philoſopher,Plut. de garrn. lit. with my many words In good ſooth, ſaid Ariſtotle, you have not been tedious to me, for I gave no heed to any thing you ſaid.

And after I have ſpoken, mock on] Heb. M[illegible: 3 letters] thou on, thou Zoph[illegible: 1 letter]r, (to whom he turned his ſpeech, and very likely his eye alſo) if thou canſt find in thy heart to mock at ſo much reaſon, as I ſhall alledge in mine owne defence, I gainſtand thee not. He wanted no wit that ſaid, If a wiſe man ſpeak evil of thee, or to thee,Chryſoſt. endure him; if a fool, ſlight him. Sile, & funeſtam dediſti plagam, trouble not thy ſelf at his taunts, and thou puniſheſt him ſufficiently.

Verſe 4. As for me, is my complaint to man?] Vult dicere. ſaith Lavater, Jobs meaning is, that he complained not to man, but to God himſelf, who well knew his heart and his innocency, though men miſ-judged him. And this being ſo, how could he be otherwiſe then anxious and ſolicitous, ſith if a man be but to ſpeak to an earthly Prince, he will be afraid? It is ſaid of Charles the Fifth, Emperour, that he ſpake more to God then to men. Job did ſo, it ſeemeth: and this he alledgeth to the ſhame of his hard-hearted friends, who put him to it in this ſort.

Verſe 5. Mark me, and be aſtonied] Heb. Look upon me. He had ſaid before, Hear and hear, now, Behold and ſee if there be any ſorrow like unto my ſorrow. Mark it I ſay, and ſtand amazed at it. Did you ever find any on this ſide hell ſo ſore afflicted as I am? Is it not becauſe you are not duly affected with my miſeries, that ye are ſo regardleſſe of my diſcourſe. Strange, that my ſorrowes ſhould be great enough to work aſtoniſhment, and yet not great enough to deſerve attention. O mark firſt what I ſuffer, and then what I ſpeak.

And (this once done) lay your hand upon your month] Be ſwift to hear but ſlow to ſpeak: yea, ſpare to ſpeak at all in this caſe. The Greek Proverb admoniſheth men either to be ſilent, or to ſpeak ſomething that is better then ſilence. Harpocrates the heatheniſh god of ſilence, was pictured with his finger laid upon his lips.

Verſe 6. Even when I remember I am afraid] Surprized I am with a moſt formidable amazement, when I call to mind and conſider how ill (by the divine Providence) it fareth with me, how well with many wicked; and how little you pity me, or ſeek by ſound reaſon to ſettle my mind; I am ready to cry out, Oh the depth of Gods ſtupendious diſpenſations! Confer Pſal. 73. where David delivereth himſelfe to like purpoſe.

And trembling taketh hold on my fleſh] Heb. My fleſh hath taken hold on trembling. Totus horreo, Horrour hath taken hold on me, Pſal. 119.53. ſuch as makes my body to ſhake and ſhudder. So Habak. 3.16. With chap. 1.3, 13. Job had called upon his friends to mark and be aſtoniſhed: here he propoundeth himſelfe to them for an example. Quod juſſit, & geſſit, as Bernard ſaith of Another. See chap. 18.20.

Verſe 7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old?] Vivunt, veteraſcunt, they are lively and long lived, ſo that they out-laſt many better then themſelves; being as ſound as Roches, and as vivacious as the ſnail, the property whereof is to live a long while even after the head is off, and the heart out. Of ſome creatures we uſe to ſay, that they have nine lives: of ſome wicked men it may be thought ſo, they do evil an hundred times, and yet their dayes are prolonged, Eccleſ. 9.12. Manaſſeh raigned longeſt of any King in Judah. Pope John the 22 (that Monſter and Mortalliſt) lived longeſt of any Pope, and dyed richeſt. God gives wealth, health, and long life to many wicked, Non aliter ac ſiquis crumenam ingentem auro plenam lutrine injiciat, Gaſp. E[illegible: 2 letters]. ſaith One: No otherwiſe then as when a man caſts a great Purſe filled with Gold into a Jakes. Now if any ſhall ask, with Job, Why all this? The Apoſtle anſwereth one Queſtion by another, Rom. 922. What if God willing to ſhew his wrath, and to make his power known, endure with much long-ſuffering the veſſels of wrath fitted to deſtruction? What hath any man to ſay to that? And again, who knows not that the Lord hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteouſneſſe, even that day of the Revelation of the righteous judgement, Acts 17.31. Rom. 2.5. The Judge of the earth keepeth his petty Seſſions now, letting the Law paſſe upon ſome few, reſerving the reſt till the great Aſſizes, 1 Tim. 5.24.

Yea, are mighty in power.] Or, Prevaile in wealth, which maketh them mighty: for money is the Monarch of this preſent world, and carryeth all before it.

Verſe 8. Their ſeed is eſtabliſhed in their ſight with them] Some underſtand it of their ſeed ſowne in the fields; not blaſted or waſted, but timely gathered into their Barnes and Granaries; and ſo by Off ſpring, Germina, they taking it literally, conceive to be meant their plants,Multos, ſanos, vegetos, & vivaces. trees, flowers, fruits, all which come kindly, and grow to their minds; But better interpret it of their children and nephews, whom they have many, healthy, luſty and lively, and not unfitly compared to ſeed; as if the parents were but only the husks: and to branches or ſprigs, becauſe they may be, and muſt be bent betime to the beſt things, before they be aged and crooked in their evil practiſes, refuſing to be rectified.

And their Off-ſpring before their eyes] This is the ſame with that before, and is repeated, becauſe a ſingular happineſſe, to ſee their children proſper as much as themſelves. This is a third time inſtanced, ver. 11.

Verſe 9. Their houſes are ſafe from fear] Seculi Latitia eſt impunita nequitia. No domeſtical ſcords, no forraign diſturbances, but peaceable poſſeſſion and enjoyment of that they have; as much welfare as David wiſhed to Nabal, 1 Sam. 25.5. Thus ſhall ye ſay to him that liveth (that is, that liveth proſperouſly, for that's the only life) Peace be to thee, and to thine houſe, and to all that thou haſt.

Neither is the rod of God upon them] So that they ſeem to themſelves and others to be out of the reach of Gods rod. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men: Therefore pride compaſſeth them about as a chain,Auguſt. &c. Pſa. 73.5, 6. Vermis divitiarum eſt ſuperbia, It is hard for the rich not be high-minded, 1 Tim. 6.17.

Verſe 10. Their Bull gendreth and faileth not, &c.] All things hit, and nothing miſſeth to make them happy and wealthy; they have profit and pleaſure at will, the world comes tumbling in upon them, as Townes were ſaid to come in to Timotheus his toyles,Plu[illegible: 1 letter]. in Syll. whiles he ſlept; and ſo they ſeem to be the only heires of thoſe Promiſes (Exod 23.26. There ſhall nothing caſt their young, nor be barren in the Land. So Deut. 7.14) whereunto notwithſtanding they are perfect ſtrangers; Laban and Nabal for inſtance.

Verſe 11 They ſend forth their little ones like a flock.] Sunt quide eorum vitulis intelligunt recens natis, ſaith Mercer, Some underſtand it of young Calves, but better of young children, which have here their name from a root which ſignifieth wickedneſſe, naughtineſſe, to ſhew what little ones are, not Innocents, as we call them, not pueri quaſi puri; [non-Latin text not transcribed], is both a fool and a child. The firſt blanket wherein a child is wrapt, is woven of ſin, ſhame, blood and filth, Ezek. 16.4, 6. Hence Infants were circumciſed, and their foreskin caſt away, to ſhew, that themſelves had deſerved to be ſo ſerved. Parents therefore ſhould ſtrive to mend that by education, which they have marred by propagation. Wicked parents think not on this, though they ſend out their little ones like a flock, but tend them not, keep them not from the Wolf of hel, who ſeeketh to devour them.

And their children dance] Exiliunt, vitulantur, ch[illegible: 1 letter]reas ducunt, they skip and leap up and down,Nemo ſobrius ſaltat. Cic. as young cattle, and are taught to dance Artificially, which no ſober man will do, ſaith Cicero: And the better Dancer, the worſe man, ſaid Diogenes.

Verſe 12. They take the Timbr[illegible: 1 letter]l and the Harp] They take them, and are taken with them, being melted in ſenſual delights, which wiſe men ſlight. The Philoſopher told the Fidlers, that he could be merry without Muſick. Ariſtotle ſaid, Jupiter is happy,Plut, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and yet no Muſician. One in Plutarch ſaith of the Scythians, That though they had no Muſick nor Vines amongſt them, yet they had God. It is here alledged as a piece of their laſciviouſneſſe and luxury, that they took or touched the Timbrel, &c. Not but that Muſick is lawful, for it is the giſt of God, and a noble Note there) theſe wicked and their children lived in pleaſure upon earth (which is not a place for ſuch a purpoſe: God did not caſt man out of one Paradiſe; that he might make himſelf another) James 5.5. and were like the people of T[illegible: 1 letter]mbu[illegible: 3 letters] in Affrica, who are ſaid to ſpend their whole time in ſinging and dancing. It is not good for men to take pleaſure in pleaſure, to ſpend too much time in it, as Salomon did, and afterwards Cleopatra. It was not ſimply a ſin in Eſau to go a hunting: but yet the more he uſed it, the more profane he waxed, and came at length to contemn his birth-right.

They rejoyce at the ſound of the Organ] Their mirth was meerly carnal, they did rather revel then rejoice. Their chearfulneſſe did not end in thankfulneſſe; their Muſick made them not more heavenly minded, as it did that late Learned and holy Mr. Eſty, who when he ſat and heard a ſweet conſort of Muſick,D. Hall Art of Div. Medit. ſeemed upon this occaſion, carried up for the time before hand to the place of his Reſt, ſaying very paſſionately, What Muſick may we think there is in heaven? The Inſtrument here mentioned, hath its name (as Mercer noteth) Ab amore oblectatione, & luſu; From love, delight and ſport. Amabit ſapiens, cupient caters, ſaith S[illegible: 1 letter]utea.

Verſe 13 They ſpend their dayes in wealth.] Or, in mirth: Hebr. In good. They wallow in wealth, and have the world at will, even more then heart could wiſh, as David phraſeth it in Pſalm 73. which may well ſerve for a Comment upon this Text; And the rich glutton for an inſtance. He in his life-time received his good things, and in a moment went down to the grave, Luke 16.25. True it is, that this is not every wicked mans caſe: for ſome of them live wretchedly, and dye lamentably, being held long upon the rack of a torturing Diſeaſe (as Jehoram) all which is to them no other then a Type and foretaſte of hell, whither they are haſting.

And in a moment they go down to the grave] Ad inferna, to hell, ſaith the Vulgar, they ſpend their dayes in wealth, and end their dayes in woe; their merry dance determineth in a miſerable downfall. Thus that rich man dyed, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, &c, Luke 16.22, 23. But though the ſame Hebrew word ſignifieth hell and the grave (both which have their names from their unſatiableneſſe, Prov. 30.15, 16) yet here, in a ſutableneſſe to what went before, the grave is to be underſtood; and the ſenſe is, Dicto citius mori[illegible: 2 letters]tur, they dye eaſily, ſuddenly, ſweetly, without much pain of body or trouble of mind: there are no bonds in their death, ſaith David, Pſal. 73. They dye without much ado, like a lamb, or like a lamp, that goeth out of it ſelf when the oyle faileth: they go quickly and quietly to the grave: ſome wicked perſons indeed dye piece-meal by a complicate Diſeaſe, and a long lingring Death, as did Antiochus, Herod, Philip 2 of Spain, &c. Dionyſius the Tyrant is ſaid to have envyed a beaſt, whoſe throat he ſaw cut, becauſe he dyed ſo ſoon. Julius Caeſar wiſhed he might dye ſpeedily, ſaith Suetonius. Pliny commendeth ſudden death as the chief felicity of life.M[illegible: 1 letter]rs jucunda cujus nulla praceſſes expectatio aut me[illegible: 3 letters]. That's a good death to nature which is neither feared nor expected, yet that is the beſt death which hath been longeſt expected and prepared for. Happy is he that after due preparation, is paſſed through the gates of death, ere he be aware. Happy is he that by the holy uſe of long ſickneſſe, is taught to ſee the gates of death afar off, and addreſſeth for a reſolute paſſage. The one dyeth like Eliah, the other like Eliſha, both bleſſedly.

Verſe 14. Therefore they ſay unto God, Depart from us.] Leſt any ſhould think, ſaith Merlin here, that Job ſpeaks of ſuch wicked as uſed a moderation in ſinning, and (as the Hiſtorian ſaid of the Emperour) rather wanted vice, then were vertuous.Magis extra vitia, quam cu[illegible: 2 letters] vir[illegible: 1 letter]utib[illegible: 1 letter]m. Tacit. He deſcribeth their great impiety by a rhetorical imitation, expreſſing the language of their heart, which is moſt baſe and blaſphemous. For firſt they beſpeak God as if he were ſome low-prized ſcoundrel; Apage, Be packing: thus they reject his acquaintance, and would be rid of his company. Porro rejiciunt Deum quot quot verbum e[illegible: 1 letter]us contemnunt, ſaith Brentius here: Now they reject God, who ſlight his Word, and caſt his commands behind them, Pſal. 50.17. Hence it follows by way of explication.

For we deſire not the knowledge of thy wayes.] Lo, they proſeſſe themſelves to be of the number of thoſe, Qui us liberius peccent, libenter ignorant, who are wilfully ignorant, and like not to retain God in their knowledge. Rom. 1.28. or if they profeſſe to know him, yet in works they deny him, being abominable, diſobedient, and to every good work reprobate, Tit. 1.16. Wicked men cannot abide God, ſuch is their evil heart of unbelief, Heb 3.12. they get as far from him as they can, with Cain, and not only deſire him to depart out of their coaſts with thoſe ſwiniſh Gergefires, but churliſhly ſay unto him, as here, Avaunt, Room for us. They will neither have God in their heads, Pſal. 10.4. nor hearts, Pſal. 14.1. nor words, Pſal. 12.4. nor works, Tit. 1.16. See this exemplified in thoſe perverſe Jewes, lying children, children that would not hear the Law of the Lord; which ſaid to the Seers, ſee not, —Get ye out of the way, turn aſide out of the path; i.e. out of this tract of truth in dealing ſo plainly, and reproving us ſo roundly, Cauſe the Holy One of Iſrael to ceaſe before us, let us henceforth hear no more of him, Iſai. 30.10, 11. Now for ſuch miſcreants as theſe, who can ſay, it is otherwiſe then righteous, that God ſhould regeſt one day upon them, Depart from me, ye wicked? (He loves to retaliate.) And that they who now ſay unto him, We deſire not the knowledge of thy wayes, ſhould hear from him, I tell you, I know you not, Luke 13.27?

Verſe 15. What is the Almighty that we ſhould ſerve him?] Here the rotteneſſe of their hearts bliſtereth out at the lips of theſe rich wretches, theſe fat Bulls of Baſan, ſuch as was Pharaoh that ſturdy rebel, who asked this very queſtion in the Text, What, or Who is the Almighty,He ſeemeth to rehearſe the very words of Pharoah. Diod. &c? Exod. 5.2. and had a large Reply made him by one plague upon another, till he was compelled to anſwer himſelf, The Lord is righteous. Forced he was to ſpeak fair whiles held upon the Rack, if for nothing elſe, yet that he might get off. Such Queryings as this carry greateſt contempt in them, and would lay the Almighty quite below the required duty: as if Almighty were but an empty title, and that he could do neither good nor evil, Zeph. 1.12. that it was to no purpoſe or profit to ſerve him, that the gaines would not pay for the paines, &c.

And what profit ſhould we have if we pray unto him?] Hebr. If we meet him, viz. by our prayers, Jer. 7.16. Am. 4.12. ſee Mal. 3.14. with the Note. Children will not ſay their prayers unleſſe they may have their Breakfaſt; nor hypocrites pray, but for ſome profit. They pretend ſometimes to meet God, but they draw not near with that true heart, mentioned, Heb. 10.22. in ſeeking God they meerly ſeek themſelves, as Spira ſaid he did. In Parabola ovis capras ſuas quaerunt; No penny, no Pater Noſter. And as the Wolfin the Fable, having ſpelled Pater, and being bid put together, ſaid Agnus: ſo when theſe pray, their hearts are upon their halfe penny Ezek. 33. They follow Chriſt for the loaves, and ſerve him no longer, then he ſerves their turnes.

—Rarae fumant ſoelicibus arae.

Verſe 16. Lo their good is not in their hand] that is, They are not inriched by their own induſtry, Prudence, Piety, &c. but God hath exalted them thus, that he may bring them down again with the greater poiſe: So ſome ſenſe the Text. Others thus, Their good is not in their hand; that is, they are not Maſters of them, but are maſtered by them: they are ſervants to their wealth, as the Perſian Kings were to their Wives or Concubines,Plut. Captivarum ſuarum caprivi: And as thoſe ſtall-fed beaſts in the Goſpel, the Recuſant Gueſts I mean, that had bought Farmes, Oxen, &c or rather were bought of them. —Difficile eſt opibus non tradere m[illegible: 1 letter]res. Others make this the ſenſe, and I concur with them, Theſe wicked rich men, buried in a bog of ſecurity, contemne God as if they had their happineſſe in their own hands, and were petty-gods within themſelves. But they are deceived; All is in Gods hand, who can take away their wealth when he pleaſeth. Theſe men may fall ſooner then whey roſe, ſith they ſubſiſt meerly by Gods manutenſion, and he may do with his own as he liſteth.

The counſell of the wicked is far from me] I am ſo far from envying their proſperity, that I cannot approve of their courſe of life, for all their wealth. I am not of their judgment, I like not of their way. Oh my ſoul come not thou into their ſecret. Let their money periſh with them (ſaid that noble Italian Convert to a Jeſuit,Caracciol[illegible: 2 letters]. who tempted him with a great ſum) who eſteem all the gold in the world worth one dayes ſociety with Jeſus Chriſt, and his Holy Spirit; and curſed be that Religion for ever, &c.

Verſe 17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out?] q.d. Diod. I confeſſe that which you ſay concerning Gods judgements upon the wicked to be ſometimes true in this world; yet it is not ſo continually, nor ordinarily, but very oft their lamp is extinguiſhed, their comforts damped, and hopes of better daſhed: they are all on the ſudden left in the dark, caſt into ſtraits inextricable, plunged into ſorrowes inexplicable, and yet all theſe are but the beginning of ſorrows. For

How oft cometh deſtruction upon them?] Utmoſt deſtruction, irreſiſtible ruine, that comes on in manner of a black cloud, or fierce ſtorme, undoing calamity, overflowing ſcourge, a tempeſt from which there is no covert. The Vulgar renders it thus, How oft is there an inundation upon the wicked!

God diſtributeth ſorrowes in his anger] Gives them their lot of greateſt ſorrowes, as by a line, Luke 12.46. ſuch ſorrowes as a travelling woman ſuffereth,Spec. bell. ſac. or ſuch as were thoſe of Monſieur Mylius, an ancient Miniſter at Heidelberg, when taken by the Spaniard, firſt they abuſed his daughter before his eyes, and then they tyed a ſmall cord about his head, which with truncheons they wreathed about till they ſqueezed out his braines. The Text implyeth that though in this world many ſorrowes are to the wicked, yet theſe are no ſuperſedias to their ſufferings in hell;Pſal. 32.10. but now they receive only a ſmall portion or part of their puniſhments, there they ſhall be paid to the full: here they ſip of the top only of Gods cup, there they ſhall ſuck up the dregs thereof, though they have eternity to the bottom. This ſhall be the portion of their cup, and but a portion, Pſal. 11.6.

Verſe 18. They are as ſtubble before the wind] Leſt any man ſhould ſay, How can theſe things befal thoſe that are ſo ſtrongly ſet, & firmly built? Well enough, ſaith Job, ſith when they are beſt bottomed or underlaid, they are but as ſtubble before the wind, &c. Haec conſideranda, ſaith Mercer, theſe things would be laid to heart, for hereby it appeareth that the wicked ſhall be deſtroyed ſuddenly, and certainly, certò, citò, penitus, Iſai. 17.13. That they can no more ſtand before a puniſhing God, then thiſtle-down before a whirle-wind, or a glaſſe-bottle before a Cannonſhot.

Verſe 19. God layeth up his iniquity for his children] that is, the puniſhment of his iniquity, whilſt he viſiteth the ſins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate him, Exod. 20.5. Neither doth this contradict that of the Prophet Ezekiel, The ſon ſhall not dye for the iniquity of his farher, chap. 18.17. Nor that of the Apoſtle, Every man ſhall bear his own burden, Gal. 5.6. for the meaning of thoſe worlds is, that no man be damned for the ſin of his father, nor one man for the ſin of another, unleſſe by commiſſion or approbation, or ſome way or other he make it his own. But for temporal puniſhments there is none but (by occaſion of others ſins) may have their portion in them: and wicked parents leave Jobs Legacy to their children (ſee 2 Sam. 3.29.) yea though they prove to be good children, 1 King. 14.12, 13. for whom God layeth up their parents iniquity in the treaſures of his juſtice to be produced in due time.

He rewardeth him.] For every tranſgreſſion and diſobedience; that is, every Commiſſion and Omiſſion, receiveth a juſt recompence of reward, Heb 2.2. God will abate him nothing.

And he ſhall know it.] Know it to his coſt; Vexation ſhall give underſtanding: he that before this judgement came, would know nothing of the bitter effect of ſin upon him and his, now hath his eyes forced open (as the blind Mole is ſaid to have by the pangs of death) and cryes out with the Lyon in the ſnare, Si praſciviſſem, Oh! if I had foreknown the miſchief, &c. The wicked are wiſe too late, the fool paſſeth on, and is puniſhed: he knows not the evil of ſin, till he feels it.

Verſe 20. His eyes ſhall ſee his deſtruction.] His ſlaughter, ſaith the Greek, his breaking to pieces, ſaith the Chaldee: this he ſhall ſee with his eyes, the deſtruction of his perſon, and ruine of his Family. The ſight of evil is a grief to ſee, as well as the feeling of it is a pain: and that's complete deſtruction which is not only felt but ſeen. Zedekiah firſt ſaw all his children ſlain, and then had his eyes put out. Mauric[illegible: 1 letter]us had the like woful ſight, and then was ſtewed in his own broth by the Traytor Ph[illegible: 2 letters]as.

And he ſhall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.] Heb. The ſcalding hot wrath, worſe than that Cup of boyling Lead turned down the throat of a certain drunken man, by the command of the Turkiſh Baſhaw. Jeruſalem drank wrath to drunkenneſs, and had none to guide her; as a drunken man had need to have, Iſa. 51.17. The Nations were to drink it to madneſs, Jer. 25.10. Babylons brats ſhall drink of the wine of God's wrath, Rev. 14.10. (Poyſon in wine works more furiouſly than in water) their irreparable ruine is ſet forth to the eye as it were, when Rev. 18.21. an Angel, a mighty Angel taketh a ſtone, a great stone, even a milſtone, which he caſteth and with impetuous force thruſteth into the bottom of the ſea, whence it cannot be buoyed up. Now what is a mighty Angel to the Almighty God, who hath his, Name Shaddai, from deſtroying, as ſome are of opinion?

Verſe 21. For what pleaſure hath he in his houſe after him?] Hoc est, Omnia impiorum, etiam poſt mortem eorum, maledicta erunt, ſaith Brentius; All that belongs to the wicked ſhall be accurſed, even after their death, though ſome are ſo deſperately ſet upon wickeneſs, that they will have their ſwinge whatſoever come of it, either to themſelves, or their children after them. Sic fere [non-Latin text not transcribed] ſunt improbi, ſo unnatural they are many of them, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Sueton de T[illegible: 1 letter]berio. that, ſo they may ſatisfie their own ſinful and ſenſual deſires, let their poſterity ſink or ſwim, let them ſhift as they can, they care not. Dives in Hell ſeemed ſomewhat careful of his brethren; but ſelf-love moved him to it: for he knew well, that if they were damned, he ſhould be double damned, becauſe they had ſinned by his example and encouragement.

When the number of his months ſhall be cut off in the midſt.] Mortis periphraſis; that is, when he ſhall die, ſaith one. But that's not all. Impius moritur importunè, The wicked dieth in an ill time for himſelf; then when it were better for him to do any thing, then to die. Many of them live not out half their dayes, Pſal. 55.25. Eccleſ. 7.17. God cut off Elies two ſons in one day; and further threatned their father that there ſhould not be an old man left in his houſe for ever, 1 Sam. 2.32. Hezekiah, when he thought he ſhould die, complained that he had cut off his life like a Weaver, Eſa. 38.12. who cuts off the Web from the Thrum. But the Saints (ſuch as he was) die not till the beſt time, not till that time when, if they were rightly informed, they would even deſire to die.

Verſe 22. Shall any teach God knowledge?] None but a preſumptuous Fool will take upon him to do that: ſuch as was Alphonſo the wiſe (the Fool rather) who feared not to ſay openly,Roderic. ſanct. H[illegible: 1 letter]ſt. Hiſpan. p. 4. ch. 5. That if he had been of Gods Council at the Creation, ſome things ſhould have been better made, and marſhalled. The wiſeſt men are benighted in many things; and what light ſoever they have, it is from the Father of Lights, whoſe judgements are unſearchable, and his wayes paſt finding out: what a madneſs were it therefore for any mortal to preſcribe to the Almighty, or to define whom, when, by what means, and in what meaſure he muſt puniſh offendors? Herein Jobs friends took too much upon them; and he gives them the telling of it, wiſhing them to be wiſe to Sobriety, and not to give Laws to God, who well knoweth what he hath to do, and how to order his earthly kingdom. To diſallow of his dealings, is to reach him knowledge; which is greateſt ſawcineſs.

Seeing he judgeth thoſe that are high.] Excelſos in exc[illegible: 1 letter]lſis, the Angels, who are ſo far above us in all manner of excellencies, and yet are ignorant of the wiſdom of Gods wayes, which they know but in part; for how little a portion is heard of him? Job 26.14. His judgements therefore are rather to be adored, than pryed into: Mirarioportet, non rimari, let us reſt contented with a learned ignorance.

Verſe 23. One dieth in his full ſtrength.] Iſte moritur, There's one dieth in his very perfections; or, in the ſtrength of his perfection, when he is in the Zenith, in the higheſt degree of earthly felicity: And he ſeemeth to point at ſome one eminent wicked perſon, well known to them all. Confer Eccleſ. 9.2. God is pleaſed to do wonderful contradictory things in mans reaſon: ſo that we muſt needs confeſs an unſearchableneſs in his wayes. In hoc opere, ratio humana talpâ magis caec[illegible: 1 letter]eſt, ſaith Brentius; In this work of his, humane reaſon is blinder then a Mole: Averroes turned Atheiſt upon it: and Ariſtotle was little better, as being accuſed at Athens and baniſhed into Chaelcis, quod de divinitate malè ſentiret.

Being wholly at eaſe and quiet.] At eaſe in body and quiet in minde. The common ſort ask, What ſhould ayle ſuch a man? The Iriſh, What ſuch an one meaneth to die?

Verſe 24. His Breſts are full of milk, and his Bones, &c.] He is well lined within, as we ſay, having abundance of good blood, and freſh ſpirits in his body: fat and plump, and well liking. He is encloſed in his own fat, Pſal. 17.10. His back is well larded, and his bones are moiſtened with marrow; which Plato ſaith, Plat. in Tim[illegible: 2 letters]. is not only the ſourſe and ſeminary of generation, but the very ſeat of life. Now ſuch a ſtate of body as is here deſcribed, is no defence at all againſt death, ſaith Job: Nay, it is a preſage, and a forerunner of it many times. For ultimus ſanitatis gradus eſt morbo proximus, ſay Phyſicians; the higheſt degree of health is neareſt to ſickneſs: We many times chop into the earth before we are aware; like a man walking in a field covered with Snow, who falleth into a pit ſuddenly.

Verſe 25. And another dieth in the bitterneſs of his ſoul.] Heb. And this dieth with a bitter ſoul; in a ſad and ſorrowful condition: having ſuffered many a little death all his life long, (as godly men eſpecially uſe to do, being deſtitute, afflicted,Heb. 11. tormented, ſeldom without a croſs on their backs) and then dieth not only in the ſorrows of death, but in the ſorrows of life, which to him hath been a liveleſs life, becauſe a joyleſs life.

And never eateth with pleaſure.] Either becauſe he hath but Priſoners pittance, which will neither keep him alive, nor ſuffer him to die. Or, if he ſit at a full table, yet his body is ſo ill affected by ſickneſs, or his mind with ſorrow, that he finds no good reliſh in what he eateth. That it is better with any of us, ſee a mercy and be thankful.

Verſe 26, They ſhall lye down alike in the duſt; and worms, &c.] Death and Afflictions are common to them both, as Eccleſ. 9. How then do ye pronounce me wicked, becauſe afflicted, and free among the dead, free of that company, &c?

And the worms ſhall cover them.] Who haply were once covered with coſtlieſt cloathing. The beſt are but worms-meat: why then should we pamper and trick up theſe Carcaſſes, &c[illegible: 1 letter]

Verſe 27. Behold I know your thoughts.] ſc. By your words; as it is no hard matter for a wiſe man to do, Prov. 20.5. for otherwiſe, God only knoweth the heart, 1 Pet. 1.24. Pſal. 139.3. it is his royalty: But when men diſcover their thoughts by their diſcourſes, looks, geſtures, &c. we may ſay as Job doth here, I know your thoughts; and that by the wicked wretch deſcribed by you, my ſelf is intended: this I am well aware of, though you hover in generals, and ſpeak in a third perſon.Lib. 1. [non-Latin text not transcribed], oblig. Bartolus writeth of Dr. Gabriel Nel[illegible: 1 letter], [illegible: 1 letter]hat by the only motion of the Lippes, without any utterance, he underſtood any mans thoughts: The like ſome ſay they can do by looks. The Italians have a proverb, That a man with his words cloſe, and his countenance looſe, may travel undiſcovered all the world over.

And the devices which you wonderfully imagine againſt me.] viz. To take away, as it were by violence, my Credit and Comfort: this is the fouleſt theft; avoid it.

Verſe 28. For ye ſay, Where is the houſe of the Prince?] Ye ſay, though not in ſo many words, yet upon the matter, Where is this mans (Jobs) princely pomp and port, that but even now was ſo ſplendidous? A Prince they called Job in a jear,Per ironi[illegible: 1 letter]m & antiphrafin. Va[illegible: 1 letter]ab. and by contraries (ſaith Vatablus,) becauſe he had been rich, and ſhould have been liberal, and munificent, but had not been ſo. The Apoſtle calleth the Phariſees and Philoſophers in like ſort, Princes of this world, 1 Cor. 2.8.

And where are the dwelling places.] The Palaces, large and lofty,Junius. ut ſunt pratoria et principum aedes, as the houſes of Princes uſe to be. Lavater rendreth it,Taber[illegible: 2 letters]cillum babitacul[illegible: 1 letter]t [illegible: 1 word] The Tabernacle of Tabernacles, as Gentlemens houſes amongſt us are called, Places, Halls, Courts. &c.

Of the Wicked?] viz. Of Job and his Children; the eldeſt ſons eſpecially, which was blown down, chap. 1.18. As if it might not befal a good man alſo to have his houſe plundered, burnt, his children brained, &c. They had often in their diſcourſes jerked at Jobs children.

Verſe 29. Have ye not asked them that go by the way?] The cauſe of that their raſh judgement, Job ſheweth here to be their ignorance of things known to every ordinary paſſenger, and ſuch as whereof there are many pregnant proofes and Examples every where. Some by them that go by the way, underſtand men by experience ſuch as have gone many voyages, &c. made many obſervations in their Travels of things remarkable: their notes are here called their tokens. By thoſe that go by the way, others underſtand Abraham the Hebrew (ſo he is called, Gen. 14.13. that is, that Tranſ-Euphrataean; Or, He that paſſed over the River Euphrates, when he paſſed by the way from Chaldea to Canaan) and his Progeny Iſaac and Jacob, who were paſſengers and pilgrims; and could tell by experience, that men greatly afflicted may be yet favoured of God, and in due time delivered. Abraham had ten ſore trials, and yet the friend of God. Iſaak, beſides many other ſharp afflictions all along his pilgrimage, was blind for above twenty years before his death. Few and evil were the dayes of the years of Jacob, his whole life almoſt one continuate affliction; and yet it was, Jacob have I loved. Of all this, Job likely was not ignorant, and why ſhould his friends?

And do ye not know their tokens?] Or, Their tokens you ſhall not be eſtranged from, Broughton thus; So ye would not make their ſignes ſtrange. There will be ſo much evidence of truth in what they ſay, that you will not be able to gainſay it.

Verſe 30. That the wicked is reſerved to the day of deſtruction] Here's the Paſſengers verdict; viz that wicked men ſhal ſcape ſcot-free, and flouriſh for a ſeaſon: nevertheleſſe their preſervation is but a reſervation (as Pharaoh, Sennacherib, and others have found it,) and if they flouriſh for the preſent, it is that they may be deſtroyed for ever, Pſal. 92.7. Others read this verſe more ſuitably to the next, thus, That at the day of deſtruction the wicked is kept back and they are carried out in the day of wrath; that is, they are oft ſpared whey the teſtimonies of Gods wrath are rife againſt others.

Verſe 31. Who ſhall declare his way to his face; &c?] Who ſhall be ſo bold, as to deal plainly with this rich wretch, and tell him his own? Divitibus ideo deeſt amicus, qu[illegible: 1 letter]a nihildeeſt. Great men have many flatterers, and not a few mutterers againſt them, but very few that will faithfully ſhew them their ſin, and forewarn them of their danger, leſt they meet with the ſame hard meaſure, that the Hares in the Fable did, who taking upon them to reprove the Lion, were torn in pieces by him for the ſame. Truth breedeth hatred: and although ſhe be a good Miſtreſſe, yet they that follow her too cloſe at heels, may hap to have their teeth-ſtruck out. But truth, downright truth, muſt be ſpoken, however it be taken. Elias dealt roundly and impartially with wicked A[illegible: 1 letter]ab, Jeremy with [illegible: 2 letters]ſiah [illegible: 1 letter]s ſons and ſucceſſours, the Baptiſt with Herod. Chriſt with the Elders and Phariſees, that noble General Tra[illegible: 1 letter]an, with Valens the Arian Emperour, telling him, That by his perſecuting the Orthodox, he had loſt the day, abandoning the Victory, and ſending it away to the enemy.

And who ſhall repay him what he hath done?] q.d. Men dare not, (for who will take a Lion by the beard, or a Bear by the tooth?) God will not puniſh him here, therefore he muſt needs ſcape unpuniſhed. This is by Gregory fitly referred to Antichriſt, who may not be admoniſhed, and wil not be puniſhed: but thinks to bear out his moſt malap[illegible: 1 letter]rt miſdemeanour, becauſe it is —facinus majoris abolle, the fact of a great one.

Verſe 32 Yet ſhall he be brought to the grave.] He that was erſt ſo ſtern and terrible, ſhal ſhortly be laid low enough, and then le[illegible: 1 letter]ni mortuo vel mus inſultabi[illegible: 1 letter], Though he were ſuch a ſon of Belial, that none could ſpeak to him (as Nabal was, 1 Sam. 25.17) yet death will ſpeak with him, and confute this proud haughty Scorner, that dealeth in proud wrath.Hiſt. of World. When death comes (ſaith Sir Walter Raleigh) which hates and deſtroyes men, that's believed and obeyed; But God, that loveth and maketh men, he is not regarded. O mighty death! O eloquent death! whom none could adviſe, thou art able to prevail with.

And ſhall remain in the Tomb] Heb. He ſhall watch over the heap, ſuper tu [illegible: 2 letters]lum o[illegible: 1 letter]mul[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 word] in area conſtructo ſimilem; as a Watch-man, there he is fixed and keeps this place.Lavat. Or, He ſhall be watched in the Tomb.

Verſe 33. The clods of the valley ſhall be ſweet unto him] Here he ſaith the ſame as before, but more poetically, and is variouſly rendred. The Vulgar alluding to an old Poeticall Fable, readeth it thus. He ſhall he ſweet to the ſand of Cocytus, which is fained to be one of the Rivers of Hell, or an infernal Lake, ſo called from the moan there made by damned Ghoſts, who ſhould be glad, of his arrival there. Hell from be [illegible: 2 letters]ath as [illegible: 3 letters]ured for him to meet him at his coming, as 'tis ſaid of the Aſſyrian Tyrant, Iſai. 14.9. Others better expound it thus, He ſhall taſte ſo much bitterneſs whiles he treads upon the clods of the earth, that the clods under the earth ſhall be reckoned ſweet unto him. And Oh how well pleaſed would he be if he might forever lye hidden there, and never riſe up again to come to judgement!Caten. Grac. And as it is with one wicked man departed, ſo it is with all other, whether they dyed before, or ſhall dye after.

Verſe 34. How then comfort ye me in vain?] Sith ye apply nothing rightly to me, nor affirm nothing rightly of me, but inſtead of comforting me, which you came for, ye trouble me? And ſuch are all thoſe conſolatiunculae creaturulae, (as Luther finely phraſeth it) petty-creature-comforts; wateriſh, and empty buſineſſes, an unſubſtantial ſuſtance, as one ſaith of the bulruſh.

Seeing in your anſwers remaineth falſe-hood.] Or, Provarication, or double-dealing: fowle miſtakes, and little leſſe then malice.