Job 22 commentary

Eliphaz considers that, because Job complained so much of his afflictions, he thought God was unjust in afflicting him; but Job was far from thinking so. What Eliphaz says, is unjustly applied to Job, but it is very true, that when God does us good it is not because he is indebted to us. Man's piety is no profit to God, no gain. The gains of religion to men are infinitely greater than the losses of it. God is a Sovereign, who gives no account of his conduct; but he is perfectly wise, just, faithful, good, and merciful. He approves the likeness of his own holiness, and delights in the fruits of his Spirit; he accepts the thankful services of the humble believer, while he rejects the proud claim of the self-confident.

Eliphaz brought heavy charges against Job, without reason for his accusations, except that Job was visited as he supposed God always visited every wicked man. He charges him with oppression, and that he did harm with his wealth and power in the time of his prosperity.

Eliphaz would have Job mark the old way that wicked men have trodden, and see what the end of their way was. It is good for us to mark it, that we may not walk therein. But if others are consumed, and we are not, instead of blaming them, and lifting up ourselves, as Eliphaz does here, we ought to be thankful to God, and take it for a warning.

The answer of Eliphaz wrongly implied that Job had hitherto not known God, and that prosperity in this life would follow his sincere conversion. The counsel Eliphaz here gives is good, though, as to Job, it was built upon a false supposition that he was a stranger and enemy to God. Let us beware of slandering our brethren; and if it be our lot to suffer in this manner, let us remember how Job was treated; yea, how Jesus was reviled, that we may be patient. Let us examine whether there may not be some colour for the slander, and walk watchfully, so as to be clear of all appearances of evil.

CHAPTER 22

THIRD SERIES.

Job 22:1-30. As Before, Eliphaz Begins.

1. Eliphaz shows that man's goodness does not add to, or man's badness take from, the happiness of God; therefore it cannot be that God sends prosperity to some and calamities on others for His own advantage; the cause of the goods and ills sent must lie in the men themselves (Psa 16:2; Lu 17:10; Ac 17:25; 1Ch 29:14). So Job's calamities must arise from guilt. Eliphaz, instead of meeting the facts, tries to show that it could not be so.

2. as he that is wise--rather, yea the pious man profiteth himself. So "understanding" or "wise"--pious (Da 12:3, 10; Psa 14:2) [Michaelis].

3. pleasure--accession of happiness; God has pleasure in man's righteousness (Psa 45:7), but He is not dependent on man's character for His happiness.

4. Is the punishment inflicted on thee from fear of thee, in order to disarm thee? as Job had implied (see on Job 7:12; Job 7:20; and Job 10:17).

will he enter ... into judgment?--Job had desired this (Job 13:3, 21). He ought rather to have spoken as in Psa 143:2.

5. Heretofore Eliphaz had only insinuated, now he plainly asserts Job's guilt, merely on the ground of his sufferings.

6. The crimes alleged, on a harsh inference, by Eliphaz against Job are such as he would think likely to be committed by a rich man. The Mosaic law (Ex 22:26; De 24:10) subsequently embodied the feeling that existed among the godly in Job's time against oppression of debtors as to their pledges. Here the case is not quite the same; Job is charged with taking a pledge where he had no just claim to it; and in the second clause, that pledge (the outer garment which served the poor as a covering by day and a bed by night) is represented as taken from one who had not "changes of raiment" (a common constituent of wealth in the East), but was poorly clad--"naked" (Mt 25:36; Jas 2:15); a sin the more heinous in a rich man like Job.

7. Hospitality to the weary traveller is regarded in the East as a primary duty (Is 21:14).

8. mighty--Hebrew, "man of arm" (Psa 10:15; namely, Job).

honourable--Hebrew, "eminent, or, accepted for countenance" (Is 3:3; 2Ki 5:1); that is, possessing authority. Eliphaz repeats his charge (Job 15:28; so Zophar, Job 20:19), that it was by violence Job wrung houses and lands from the poor, to whom now he refused relief (Job 22:7, 9) [Michaelis].

9. empty--without their wants being relieved (Ge 31:42). The Mosaic law especially protected the widow and fatherless (Ex 22:22); the violation of it in their case by the great is a complaint of the prophets (Is 1:17).

arms--supports, helps, on which one leans (Ho 7:15). Thou hast robbed them of their only stay. Job replies in Job 29:11-16.

10. snares--alluding to Job's admission (Job 19:6; compare Job 18:10; Pr 22:5).

11. that--so that thou.

abundance--floods. Danger by floods is a less frequent image in this book than in the rest of the Old Testament (Job 11:16; 27:20).

12. Eliphaz says this to prove that God can from His height behold all things; gratuitously inferring that Job denied it, because he denied that the wicked are punished here.

height--Hebrew, "head of the stars"; that is, "elevation" (Job 11:8).

13. Rather, And yet thou sayest, God does not concern Himself with ("know") human affairs (Psa 73:11).

14. in the circuit of heaven--only, not taking any part in earthly affairs. Job is alleged as holding this Epicurean sentiment (La 3:44; Is 29:15; 40:27; Jr 23:24; Eze 8:12; Psa 139:12).

15. marked--Rather, Dost thou keep to? that is, wish to follow (so Hebrew, 2Sa 22:22). If so, beware of sharing their end.

the old way--the degenerate ways of the world before the flood (Ge 6:5).

16. cut down--rather, "fettered," as in Job 16:8; that is, arrested by death.

out of time--prematurely, suddenly (Job 15:32; Ec 7:17); literally, "whose foundation was poured out (so as to become) a stream or flood." The solid earth passed from beneath their feet into a flood (Ge 7:11).

17. Eliphaz designedly uses Job's own words (Job 21:14, 15).

do for them--They think they can do everything for themselves.

18. "Yet" you say (see on Job 21:16) that it is "He who filled their houses with good"--"their good is not in their hand," but comes from God.

but the counsel ... is--rather, "may the counsel be," &c. Eliphaz sarcastically quotes in continuation Job's words (Job 21:16). Yet, after uttering this godless sentiment, thou dost hypocritically add, "May the counsel," &c.

19. Triumph of the pious at the fall of the recent followers of the antediluvian sinners. While in the act of denying that God can do them any good or harm, they are cut off by Him. Eliphaz hereby justifies himself and the friends for their conduct to Job: not derision of the wretched, but joy at the vindication of God's ways (Psa 107:42; Re 15:3; 16:7; 19:1, 2).

20. The triumphant speech of the pious. If "substance" be retained, translate, rather as the Septuagint, "Has not their substance been taken away, and ... ?" But the Hebrew is rather, "Truly our adversary is cut down" [Gesenius]. The same opposition exists between the godly and ungodly seed as between the unfallen and restored Adam and Satan (adversary); this forms the groundwork of the book (Job 1:1-2:13; Ge 3:15).

remnant--all that "is left" of the sinner; repeated from Job 20:26, which makes Umbreit's rendering "glory" (Margin), "excellency," less probable.

fire--alluding to Job (Job 1:16; 15:34; 18:15). First is mentioned destruction by water (Job 22:16); here, by fire (2Pe 3:5-7).

21. Eliphaz takes it for granted, Job is not yet "acquainted" with God; literally, "become a companion of God." Turn with familiar confidence to God.

and be--So thou shalt be: the second imperatively expresses the consequence of obeying the first (Psa 37:27).

peace--prosperity and restoration to Job; true spiritually also to us (Ro 5:1; Col 1:20).

good--(1Ti 4:8).

22. lay up--(Psa 119:11).

23. Built up--anew, as a restored house.

thou shalt put away--rather, "If thou put away" [Michaelis].

24. Rather, containing the protasis from the last clause of Job 22:23, "If thou regard the glittering metal as dust"; literally, "lay it on on the dust"; to regard it of as little value as the dust on which it lies. The apodosis is at Job 22:25, Then shall the Almighty be, &c. God will take the place of the wealth, in which thou didst formerly trust.

gold--rather, "precious" or "glittering metal," parallel to "(gold) of Ophir," in the second clause [Umbreit and Maurer].

Ophir--derived from a Hebrew word "dust," namely, gold dust. Heeren thinks it a general name for the rich countries of the South, on the African, Indian, and especially the Arabian coast (where was the port Aphar. El Ophir, too, a city of Oman, was formerly the center of Arabian commerce). It is curious that the natives of Malacca still call their mines Ophirs.

stones of the brooks--If thou dost let the gold of Ophir remain in its native valley among the stones of the brooks; that is, regard it as of little worth as the stones, &c. The gold was washed down by mountain torrents and lodged among the stones and sand of the valley.

25. Apodosis.

Yea--rather, Then shall the Almighty be, &c.

defence--rather, as the same Hebrew means in Job 22:24 (see on Job 22:24)--Thy precious metals; God will be to thee in the place of riches.

plenty of silver--rather, "And shall be to thee in the place of laboriously-obtained treasures of silver" [Gesenius]. Elegantly implying, it is less labor to find God than the hidden metals; at least to the humble seeker (Job 28:12-28). But [Maurer] "the shining silver."

26. lift up ... face, &c.--repeated from Zophar (Job 11:15).

27. (Is 58:9, 14).

pay thy vows--which thou hast promised to God in the event of thy prayers being heard: God will give thee occasion to pay the former, by hearing the latter.

28. light--success.

29. Rather, When (thy ways; from Job 22:28) are cast down (for a time), thou shalt (soon again have joyful cause to) say, There is lifting up (prosperity returns back to me) [Maurer].

he--God.

humble--Hebrew, "him that is of low eyes." Eliphaz implies that Job is not so now in his affliction; therefore it continues: with this he contrasts the blessed effect of being humble under it (Jas 4:6; 1Pe 5:5 probably quote this passage). Therefore it is better, I think, to take the first clause as referred to by "God resisteth the proud." When (men) are cast down, thou shalt say (behold the effects of) pride. Eliphaz hereby justifies himself for attributing Job's calamities to his pride. "Giveth grace to the humble," answers to the second clause.

30. island--that is, "dwelling." But the Hebrew expresses the negative (1Sa 4:21); translate "Thus He (God) shall deliver him who was not guiltless," namely, one, who like Job himself on conversion shall be saved, but not because he was, as Job so constantly affirms of himself, guiltless, but because he humbles himself (Job 22:29); an oblique attack on Job, even to the last.

and it--Rather, "he (the one not heretofore guiltless) shall be delivered through the purity (acquired since conversion) of thy hands"; by thy intercession (as Ge 18:26, &c.). [Maurer]. The irony is strikingly exhibited in Eliphaz unconsciously uttering words which exactly answer to what happened at last: he and the other two were "delivered" by God accepting the intercession of Job for them (Job 42:7, 8).

Can a man be profitable unto God - God does not afflict thee because thou hast deprived him of any excellency. A man may be profitable to a man, but no man can profit his Maker. He has no interest in thy conduct; he does not punish thee because thou hast offended and deprived him of some good. Thy iniquities are against justice, and justice requires thy punishment.

Is it any pleasure to the Almighty - Infinite in his perfections, he can neither gain nor lose by the wickedness or righteousness of men.

For fear of thee? - Is it because he is afraid that thou wilt do him some injury, that he has stripped thee of thy power and wealth?

Is not thy wickedness great? - Thy sins are not only many, but they are great; and of thy continuance in them there is no end, אין קץ ein kets.

Thou hast taken a pledge - Thou hast been vexatious in all thy doings, and hast exacted where nothing was due, so that through thee the poor have been unable to procure their necessary clothing.

Thou hast not given water - It was esteemed a great virtue in the East to furnish thirsty travelers with water; especially in the deserts, where scarcely a stream was to be found, and where wells were very rare. Some of the Indian devotees are accustomed to stand with a girbah or skin full of water, on the public roads, to give drink to weary travelers who are parched with thirst.

But as for the mighty man, he had the earth - איש זרוע ish zeroa, the man of arm. Finger, hand, and arm, are all emblems of strength and power. The man of arm is not only the strong man, but the man of power and influence, the man of rapine and plunder.

The honorable man - Literally, the man whose face is accepted, the respectable man, the man of wealth. Thou wert an enemy to the poor and needy, but thou didst favor and flatter the rich and great.

The arms of the fatherless - Whatever strength or power or property they had, of that thou hast deprived them. Thou hast been hard-hearted and cruel, and hast enriched thyself with the spoils of the poor and the defenceless.

Therefore snares - As thou hast dealt with others, so has God, in his retributive providence, dealt with thee. As thou hast spoiled, so art thou spoiled. Thou art taken in a net from which thou canst not escape. There is an allusion here to the hunting of the elephant: he is driven into an inclosure in the woods, passing from strait to strait, till brought into a narrow point, from which he cannot escape; and then his consternation is great, and his roaring terrible. God hath hunted thee down, as men hunt down those wild and dangerous beasts. See on Job 18:21 (note).

Or darkness, that thou canst not see - The sense of this passage, in the connection that the particle or gives it with the preceding verse, is not easy to be ascertained. To me it seems very probable that a letter has been lost from the first word; and that או o which we translate Or, was originally אור or Light. The copy used by the Septuagint had certainly this reading; and therefore they translate the verse thus: Το φως σοι εις σκοτος απεβη; Thy Light is changed into darkness; that is, Thy prosperity is turned into adversity.

Houbigant corrects the text thus: instead of או חשך לא תראה o chosech lo tireh, or darkness thou canst not see, he reads חשך לא אור תראה chosech lo or tireh, darkness, not light, shalt thou behold; that is, Thou shalt dwell in thick darkness. Mr. Good translates: "Or darkness which thou canst not penetrate, and a flood of waters shall cover thee." Thou shalt either be enveloped in deep darkness, or overwhelmed with a flood.

The versions all translate differently; and neither they nor the MSS. give any light, except what is afforded by the Septuagint. Coverdale is singular: Shuldest thou then send darcknesse? Shulde not the water floude runne over the? Perhaps the meaning is: "Thou art so encompassed with darkness, that thou canst not see thy way; and therefore fallest into the snares and traps that are laid for thee."

Is not God in the height of heaven? - It appears, from this and the following verses, that Eliphaz was attributing infidel and blasphemous speeches or sentiments to Job. As if he had said: "Thou allowest that there is a God, but thou sayest that he is infinitely exalted above the heavens and the stars, and that there is so much dense ether and thick cloud between his throne and the earth, that he can neither see it nor its inhabitants." These were sentiments which Job never held, and never uttered; but if a man be dressed in a bear's skin, he may be hunted and worried by his own dogs. Job's friends attribute falsities to him, and then dilate upon them, and draw inferences from them injurious to his character. Polemic writers, both in theology and politics, often act in this way.

He walketh in the circuit of heaven - He confines himself to those infinitely exalted regions and cares nothing for the inhabitants of the earth.

Hast thou marked the old way - This is supposed to be another accusation; as i! he had said, "Thou hollowest the same way that the wicked of old have walked in." Here is an evident allusion to the Flood, as is particularly noted in the next verse.

Whose foundation was overflown with a flood - The unrighteous in the days of Noah, who appear to have had an abundance of all temporal good, (Job 22:18), and who surpassed the deeds of all the former wicked, said in effect to God, Depart from us. And when Noah preached unto them the terrors of the Lord, and the necessity of repentance, they rejected his preaching with, What can the Almighty do for us? Let him do his worst; we care not for him, Job 22:17. For למו lamo, to Them, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic have evidently read לנו lanu, to Us. This reading quotes their own saying; the former reading narrates it in the third person. The meaning, however, is the same.

But the counsel of the wicked is far from me - Sarcastically quoting Job's words, Job 21:14, Job 21:16. Job, having in the preceding chapter described the wicked, who said unto the Almighty, "Depart from us," etc., adds, But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. Eliphaz here, having described the impious, among whom he evidently ranks Job, makes use of the same expression, as if he had said, "Thank God, I have no connection with you nor your companions, nor is my mind contaminated by your creed."

The righteous see it, and are glad - They see God's judgments on the incorrigibly wicked, and know that the Judge of all the earth does right; hence they rejoice in all the dispensations of his providence.

Whereas our substance is not cut down - We, who fear the Lord, still continue in health and peace; whereas they who have departed from him are destroyed even to their very remnant. Mr. Good thinks that קימנו kimanu, which we translate our substance, is the same as the Arabic (Arabic) our people or tribe; and hence he translates the clause thus: "For our tribe is not cut off; while even the remnant of these a conflagration consumed." The reference here is supposed to be to the destruction of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah. A judgment by a flood took off the world of the ungodly in the days of Noah. Their remnant, those who lived in the same ungodly way, were taken off by a judgment of fire, in the days of Lot. Eliphaz introduces these two examples in order to terrify Job into a compliance with the exhortation which immediately follows.

Acquaint now thyself with him - Perhaps the verb הסכן hasken should be translated here, treasure up, or lay up. Lay up or procure an interest now with him, and be at peace. Get the Divine favor, and then thou wilt be at peace with God, and have happiness in thy own soul.

Thereby good shalt come unto thee - בהם bahem, "in them," shall good come unto thee. That is, in getting an interest in the Divine favor, and in having thy soul brought into a state of peace with him; thereby, in them, that is, these two things, good will come unto thee. First, thou wilt have an interest in his favor, from which thou mayest expect all blessings; and, secondly, from his peace in thy conscience thou wilt feel unutterable happiness. Get these blessings now, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Reader, hast thou these blessings?

Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth - Some, who wish to place Job before the law given by Moses, say that this means the Noahic precepts; others, that the law of nature is intended! Stuff and vanity! The allusion is plainly to the law given by God to the children of Israel, called here by way of emphasis, תורה torah, the Law, which contained אמריו amaraiv, his Words, the words or sayings of God himself; consequently, it is not the Noahic precepts, nor the law of nature, neither of which were ever written or registered as the words of God's mouth.

Thou shalt be built up - God will restore thee to thy wonted state of prosperity; and thou shalt again have a household, not only of servants, but of children also. So much may be Implied in the words, Thou shalt be Built Up. See my sermon on Job 22:21-23.

Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust - The original is not fairly rendered in this translation, ושית על עפר בצר veshith al aphar batser, which Montanus renders: Et pone super pulverem munitionem, "And fix a tower upon the dust;" ובצור נחלים אופיר ubetsur nechalim Ophir, et in petra torrentes Ophir, "and in the rock, the torrents of Ophir." The Vulgate is widely different: Dabit pro terra silicem, et pro silice torrentes aureos, "He will give thee flint for earth: and torrents of gold for flint;" which Calmet thus paraphrases: "Instead of brick thou shalt build with solid stone; and for ornaments, instead of stone as formerly, thou shalt have massive gold!" All the versions are different. Mr. Good translates: "Then count thou treasure as dust: then shall he make fountains to gush forth amidst the rocks."

Coverdale is different from all: We shal give the an harvest which, in plenty and abundance, shal exceade the dust of the earthe, and the golde of Ophir like ryver stones.

Thou shalt have plenty of silver - Here again the versions and critics vary. The critics may disagree; but the doctrine of Eliphaz is sufficiently plain: "To those whom God loves best he gives the most earthly good. The rich and the great are his high favorites: the poor and the distressed he holds for his enemies." In the above verses there seems to be a reference to the mode of obtaining the precious metals:

1. Gold in dust;

2. Gold in streams from the hills and mountains;

3. Silver in mines; כסף תועפות keseph toaphoth, "silver of giddiness," of mines so deep as to make one giddy by looking into them. See Mr. Good.

For then shalt thou have thy delight - Thou shalt know, from thy temporal prosperity, that God favors thee; and for his bounty thou shalt be grateful. How different is this doctrine from that of St. Paul and St. John! "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus." "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father!" "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God." "We glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us." "We love him because he first loved us." Tribulation itself was often a mark of God's favor.

Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him - תעתיר tatir, thou shalt open or unbosom thyself. And when the heart prays, God hears; and the person, being blessed, vows fidelity, prays on, is supported, and enabled to pay his vows.

Thou shalt also decree a thing - Whatsoever thou purposest in his strength, thou shalt be enabled to accomplish.

When men are cast down - There is a great difficulty in this verse; the sense, however, is tolerably evident, and the following is nearly a literal version: When they shall humble themselves, thou shalt say, Be exalted, or, there is exaltation: for the down-cast of eye he will save. The same sentiment as that of our Lord, "He that exalteth himself shall be abased; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

He shall deliver the island of the innocent - The word אי ai, which we translate island, is most probably the Arabic particle (Arabic) whosoever, whatsoever, any, whosoever he may be, as (Arabic) ai rajuli, whatsoever man he may be. And it is most probable that both words are Arabic, (Arabic) or (Arabic) any innocent, chaste, pure, or holy person; for the word has the same meaning both in Hebrew and Arabic. The text may therefore be translated, He shall deliver every innocent person: He, the innocent person, shall be delivered by the pureness of thy hands; i.e., as thou lovest justice, so thou wilt do justice. Instead of כפיך cappeyca, thy hands, the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic have read כפיו cappaiv, his or their hands. Mr. Good thinks that אי ai signifies house, as (Arabic) and (Arabic) in Arabic signify to reside, to have a home, etc.; and therefore translates the passage thus: "The house of the innocent shall be delivered; and delivered by the pureness of thy hands." The reader may adopt which he pleases; but the word island must be given up, as it cannot make any consistent sense.

Thus ends Eliphaz the Temanite, who began with a tissue of the bitterest charges, continued with the most cruel insinuations, and ended with common-place exhortations to repentance, and promises of secular blessings in consequence: and from his whole speech scarcely can one new or important maxim be derived. Blessed be God for Moses and the prophets! for Jesus, the evangelists and the apostles! Their trumpet gives no uncertain sound: but by that of Job's friends who can prepare himself for the battle?

Can, &c. - Why dost thou insist so much upon thy own righteousness, as if thou didst oblige God by it.

Is it - Such a pleasure as he needs for his own ease and contentment. Nay, God needs not us, or our services. We are undone, forever undone without him: but he is happy, forever happy without us.

Reprove - Punish thee. Because he is afraid, lest if he should let thee alone, thou wouldst grow too great and powerful for him: surely no. As thy righteousness cannot profit him, so thy wickedness can do him no hurt.

Evil - Is not thy evil, thy affliction, are not thy calamities procured by, and proportionable to thy sins.

Surely - He speaks thus by way of strong presumption, when I consider thy unusual calamities, I conclude thou art guilty of all, or some of these crimes. Brother - Of thy neighbour. Nought - Without sufficient and justifiable cause. Stripped - By taking their garment for a pledge, or by robbing them of their rights, all other injuries being comprehended under this.

Dwelt - Either by thy sentence or permission, he had a peaceable and sure possession of it, whether he had right to it, or no.

Arms - Their supports, and rights.

Or - Either thou art troubled with fear of further evils or with the gross darkness of thy present state of misery. Waters - Variety of sore afflictions, which are frequently compared to water.

Heaven - And from that high tower looketh down upon men, to behold, and govern, and recompense all their actions, whether good or bad. How high - Yet God is far higher than they, and from thence can easily see all things.

Walketh - His delight is in heaven, which is worthy of his care, but he will not burden himself with the care of earth: which was the opinion of many Heathen philosophers, and, as they fancied, was Job's opinion also.

Old way - Heb. the way of antiquity, of men living in ancient times, their end or success.

Out of - Before their time. A flood - Who, together with their foundation, the earth and all their supports and enjoyments in it, were destroyed by the general deluge.

Who - He repeats Job's words, chap.21:14,15, but to a contrary purpose. Job alleged them to shew that they prospered notwithstanding their wickedness; and Eliphaz produces them to shew that they were cut off for it.

Yet - Yet it is true, that for a time God did prosper them, but at last, cut them off in a tremendous manner, But - He repeals Job's words, chap.21:16, not without reflection: thou didst say so, but against thy own principle, that God carries himself indifferently towards good and bad; but I who have observed God's terrible judgments upon wicked men, have much more reason to abhor their counsels.

Because - Because when wicked men are destroyed, they are preserved. He should have said their substance; but he changes the person, and saith, our substance; either as including himself in the member of righteous persons, and thereby intimating that he pleaded the common cause of all such, while Job pleaded the cause of the wicked, or because he would hereby thankfully acknowledge some eminent and particular preservation given to him amongst other righteous men. Remnant - All that was left undestroyed in the general calamity. Fire - Sodom and Gomorrah. As if he had said, thou mayest find here and there an instance, of a wicked man dying in peace. But what is that to the two great instances of the final perdition of ungodly men, the drowning the whole world, and the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Him - With God, renew thy acquaintance with God by prayer, and repentance for all thy sins, and true humiliation under his hand, and hearty compliance with all his commands, and diligent care to serve and enjoy him. It is our honour, that we are made capable of this acquaintance, our misery that by sin we have lost it; our privilege, that through Christ we may return to it; and our unspeakable advantage, to renew and cultivate it. And be at peace - At peace with God, and at peace with thyself, not fretful or uneasy. Good shall come unto thee - All the good thou canst desire, temporal, spiritual, eternal.

Receive - Take the rule whereby thou governest thy thoughts, and words, and whole life, not from thy own imaginations or passions, but from God, from his law, which is written in thy own mind, and from the doctrines and instructions of the holy men of God. And do not only hear them with thine ears, but let them sink into thy heart.

If - The Hebrew phrase is emphatical, and implies a thorough turning from sin, to God, so as to love him, and cleave to him, and sincerely devote a man's self to his fear and service. Built - God will repair thy ruins, and give thee more children, and bless thee with prosperity. Thou shalt - It is either, a spiritual promise, if thou dost sincerely repent, God will give the grace effectually to reform thyself and family: or, a temporal promise, thou shalt put away iniquity, or the punishment of thy sins; as iniquity is very often used: far from thy tabernacles; from all thy dwellings, and tents, and possessions.

Lift up - Look up to him, with chearfulness and confidence.

Make - The word is, thou shalt multiply thy prayer. Under all thy burdens, in all thy wants, cares and fears, thou shalt send to heaven for wisdom, strength and comfort. Pay - Thou shalt obtain those blessings for which thou didst make vows to God, and therefore, according to thy obligation, shalt pay thy vows to him.

Established - Thy purposes shalt not be disappointed, but ratified by God. And in all thy counsels, and actions, God shall give thee the light of his direction and governance, and of comfort and success.

Cast down - All round about thee, in a time of general calamity. There is - God will deliver thee. He - God.

He, &c. - God will have so great a respect to thy innocency, that for thy sake he will deliver those that belong to thee, or live with thee, or near thee, thought in themselves they be ripe for destruction. Their hands - By thy prayers proceeding from a pure heart and conscience. So Eliphaz and his two friends, who in this matter were not innocent, were delivered by the pureness of Job's hands, chap.42:8.

2. Can a man be profitable unto God , as b he that is wise may be profitable to himself c?

i. e. Add any thing to his Perfection or Felicity, to wit, by his Righteousness, as the next Verse shews. Why then dost thou insist so much upon thy own Righteousness, as if thou didst oblige God by it, or as if he could not without injury afflict thee who supposest thy self to be a righteous person, though indeed thou art not so, as he saith, v. 5, 6, &c. but if thou wert really so, God is not thy debter for it. Or, because; or, but; or yea rather: so this latter Clause is to be read without an Interrogation, and the former with it. A wise or good man (for these in Scripture-use are one and the same) doth much good to himself, he promotes his own Peace, and Honour, and Happiness by his Goodness; and having so great a reward for his Virtue, God is not indebted to him, but he is indebted to God for it.

Marginal references: Chap. 35. 7. Psal. 16. 2. Luk. 17. 10.; Or, if he may be profitable, doth his good success depend thereon?

3. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? Or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect ?

i. e. Such a pleasure as he needs for his own ease and contentment, without which he could not be happy, as appears by the foregoing and following words: For otherwise God is oft said to delight in the good actions of his People, to wit, so far as to approve and accept them.

That thy Life is free from blemish, as thou pretendest, but falsly, as I shall shew.

4. Will he reprove thee for fear of thee ? Will he enter with thee into Judgment ?

Will, or doth, or would he reprove thee? i. e. punish thee: For this word is frequently used of real Rebukes or Chastisements, as hath been oft noted.

Because he is afraid, lest if he should let thee alone, thou wouldst grow too great and powerful for him, as Princes oft times crush those Subjects of whom they are afraid? Surely no. As thy Righteousness cannot profit him, so thy wickedness can do him no hurt. Or, for thy Piety or Religion, which is commonly called by the name of Fear? Doth he punish thee because thou fearest and servest him, as thou dost insinuate? No surely, but for thy sins, as it follows.

And condemn thee, to wit, for the reason last mentioned, as appears from the Hebrew Text, where the words lie thus, Will he for fear of thee reprove thee, or enter with thee into Iudgment?

5. Is not thy wickedness great, and thine iniquities infinite ?

Thy great sins are the true and only causes of thy misery. The words may very well be rendred thus, Is not thy evil (i. e. thy punishment or affliction, which is frequently expressed by this very word) great, because (the particle and being oft used causally, as it is Gen. 18. 13. & 22. 12. & 24. 56. Isa. 39. 1. & 64. 5.) thine Iniquities are infinite? Are not thy calamities procured by, and proportionable to thy sins? Thy own Conscience tells thee they are so. And therefore thou hast no reason to accuse God, nor any person but thy self.

Marginal references: Heb. no end to thine Iniquities.

6. For thou hast taken a pledge from thy Brother for nought , and stripped the naked of their Cloathing .

Or, Surely thou hast taken. He speaks thus by way of conjecture, or strong presumption, when I consider thy grievous and unusual calamities, I justly conclude thou art guilty of all or some of these following crimes, and do thou search thine own Conscience, whether it be not so with thee.

i. e. Either of thy Neighbour, or of thy Kinsman; which are both called by the name of Brother. This is added to aggravate the offence.

i. e. Without sufficient and justifiable cause. Which he might do many ways, either by taking what he ought not to take, Deut. 24. 6. or from whom he ought not, to wit, the poor to whom he should give, Prov. 3. 27. or when, and in such manner as he ought not, of which see on Deut. 24. 10, 11. or by keeping it longer than he should, as when the poor mans necessity requires it, or when the debt is satisfied, Ezek. 18. 16.

Either by taking their Garment for a pledge, against the Law, Exod. 22. 26. or otherwise by robbing them of their Rights, all other injuries being Synecdochically comprehended under this. Qu. How could he strip the naked? Answ. He calls them naked, either 1. Because they had but very few and mean Cloaths, such being oft called naked, as Deut. 28. 48. 1 Cor. 4. 11. Iam. 2. 15. Or 2. From the effect, because though he did not find them naked, yet he made them so. The like Phrases we have Isa. 47. 2. grind Meal, i. e. by grinding Corn make it Meal; Amos 8. 5. falsifying the deceitful Ballances, i. e. by falsifying making true ballances deceitful: And so here, to strip the naked, is by stripping them to make them naked.

Marginal references: Heb. stripped the cloaths of the naked.

7. Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast with-holden Bread from the hungry .

Surely thou hast been so hard hearted as to deny a Cup of cold Water to those that needed and desired it. Water was oft times scarce and precious in those hot Countries, and was appropriated to particular persons, without whose leave other persons might not take it.

i. e. To him who by reason of hard labour or Travel is weary and thirsty. So this word is used, Prov. 25. 25.

To whom it was due by Gods Law, Prov. 3. 27. which also was known to Iob by the light of Nature. Hereby he intimates the greatness of this Sin of Uncharitableness, by ranking it with heinous crimes, whereas Iob (as he thought) esteemed it but a small fault, if any.

8. But as for the mighty man, he had the Earth and the honourable man dwelt in it .

Heb. And, or but the man of Arm, or Strength, or Power, to him was the Earth, or the Land, i. e. he had the firm possession, or free enjoyment of it. Which is meant either 1. Of Iob, of whom he speaks invidiously in the third person. The mighty man Iob possessed, and enlarged, and enjoyed his Estate without any compassion to the poor. Or rather 2. Of other rich and potent men, who had the Earth or Land, either 1. By Iob's judicial Sentence, which was generally given in favour of the rich, and against the poor: Or 2. By Iob's kindness and courtesie. The rich were always welcom to him, his house was open to them, his Land was before them, when the poor were driven away from his House and Territories.

Either by thy sentence or permission, he had a peaceable and sure possession of it. He repeateth the same thing in other words.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word].; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] or, [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 2 Kings 5. Isa. 3. 3.

9. Thou hast sent Widows away empty , and the Arms of the Fatherless have been broken.

Whose helpless Estate called for thy pity. Exod. 22. 22. Deut. 24. 17, 19.

Either by denying them that Relief which their poverty required, or that right which their cause deserved; or by spoiling them of their Goods, because thou knewest them to be unable to oppose thee, or to right themselves.

i. e. All their supports and comforts, and rights. An heinous sin, but falsly charged upon Iob.

10. Therefore Snares are round about thee , and sudden fear troubleth thee;

For these and the like crimes. The cause of thy ruine is not secret from Gods soveraign Power, and unsearchable Judgments, (as thou pretendest) but plain and manifest, even thy own crying sins.

Thou art encompassed with dangers and calamities.

Beside thy present miseries thou art tormented with the dread and expectation of further and sorer Judgments.

11. Or darkness that thou canst not see, and abundance of Waters cover thee.

Either 1. A darkness and confusion of mind, so great that thou canst not discern the true cause and use of all thy sufferings Or 2. Grievous Calamities, which are oft called darkness, which are such that thou canst see no way nor possibility of escaping. Either thou art troubled with fear of further evils, as it is said, v. 10. or with the gross darkness of thy present state of misery.

i. e. Plenty and variety of sore afflictions, which are frequently compared to Waters, as Psal. 18. 16. & 66. 12. Isa. 43. 2.

12. Is not God in the height of Heaven ? and behold the height of the Stars how high they are .

Surely he is; and from that high Tower he looketh down upon men, Psal. 14. 2. to behold, and govern, and recompense all their actions. whether good or bad. And therefore O Iob, thou art grosly mistaken, in thinking that all things in this lower world are managed by chance, and without any regard to Justice, or to just men, and not by the wise and holy Providence of God: For this is the genuine Consequence of thy great Principle, that good men suffer as deeply as any others, whilest the vilest of men are exalted and flourish.

Yet God is far higher than they, and from thence can easily spy all men and things here below; as the highest places afford the best prospects.

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

13. And thou sayest , how doth God know ? can he judge through the dark Cloud ?

Or, Therefore: From this true and certain principle thou drawest this false and wicked Conclusion. Or, Yet, notwithstanding this undeniable Argument.

Thou reasonest thus within thy self, as it may seem by thy discourses.

i. e. God cannot discern, and therefore doth not mind things so far below him and distant from him.

i. e. Through those immense and innumerable Clouds which lie between the Heaven and the Earth, although our eyes see but few of them.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word]; * Psal. [illegible: 1 word] & [illegible: 1+ letters]9. [illegible: 1+ letters]. & 73. 11. & [illegible: 1 word] 7.

14. Thick clouds are a covering to him that he seeth not, and he walketh in the circuit of heaven .

His conversation and business and delight is in the higher and heavenly World, which is worthy of his care, but he will not disparage nor burden himself with the care of this contemptible spot of earth: which was the opinion of many heathen Philosophers, and, as they fancied, was Iob's opinion also.

15. Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have troden?

Heb. The way of antiquity, i. e. of men living in ancient times, or former ages: By this way is here meant, either 1. their course or common practice: Or 2. their end or success; as the way is taken, 1 Sam. 9. 6, 8. and as death, which is, and is called the end of all men, Eccles. 72. is also called the way of all the earth, Jos. 23. 14. 1 Kings 2. 2.

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

16. Which were cut down out of time , whose foundation was overflown with a floud .

i. e. Before their time; who died a violent and untimely death.

Who together with their foundation; to wit, the earth and all their supports and enjoyments in it, were destroyed by the general Deluge; which doubtless was very well known to them, because they lived not long after it; and which was most proper for this Argument. Or, whose foundation, i. e. all their power, and riches, and policy, upon which they build all their hopes and happiness, was like a flood poured forth; which made a great shew and noise for a time, but speedily vanished and came to nothing.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span].

17. Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them ?

He reports Iob's words, Chap. 21. 14, 15. (where they are explained) but to a contrary purpose. Iob alledged them to shew that they prospered notwithstanding their professed wickedness; and Eliphaz produceth them to shew that they were cut off for it.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span].; [illegible: 1 span].

18. Yet he filled their houses with good things : but the counsel of the wicked is far from me .

Yet it is true, that for a time God did prosper them, as he did thee; which also was the aggravation of their sin, and that which hastned their ruine: but at last, and in due time, God cut them off in a tremendous and exemplary manner▪ as he will also do thee, if thou dost not repent.

He repeats Iob's words, Ch. 21. 16. not without reflection and some kind of derision: Thou didst say so, but without sufficient reason and against thy own principle, that God carries himself indifferently towards good and bad; but I who have observed God's terrible judgments upon wicked men, have much more reason to abhor their counsels which had so sad an issue.

Marginal references: Ch. 21. 16.

19. The righteous see it , and are glad : and the innocent laugh them to scorn .

Whom God oft spares in common Calamities, and makes them to survive and see the destruction of the wicked; as Noah, Lot, &c.

Not that they insult over, or rejoyce in the ruine of any men, but because they delight in the vindication of God's honour, and justice, and holiness, which is conjoyned with the destruction of his enemies, and which is and ought to be dearer to them than all the interests of men.

They justly deride them or their vain and yet strong confidences which are now destroyed, and for their profane contempt of God and of his judgments which now they feel, and for their deep and crafty counsels which are now frustrated and turned against themselves.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 107. 42.

20. Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

Or, when; or, seeing that, or Because: for this Hebrew particle Im, is oft used for Chi. And so the following words may contain the reason of the joy and laughter of the Innocent mentioned, v. 19. because when wicked men are destroyed, they are preserved; because our substance, i. e. our souls and bodies, and subsistence was not cut down. He should have said their substance, i. e. the substance of the righteous; but he changeth the person, and saith, our substance; either as including himself in the number of righteous persons, and thereby intimating that he pleaded the common cause of all such, whilest Iob pleaded the cause of the wicked, as is elsewhere observed: or because he would hereby thankfully acknowledge some eminent and particular preservation given to him amongst other righteous men: or because he and his brethren were of the same substance with, and descended from the loyns of them whom God had miraculously preserved, when others round about them were cut off; as God had done for Abraham and his posterity, of which race these are conceived to have been. And a like change both of person and number we find, Hos. 12. 4. He found him (i. e. Iacob in Bethel) and there he spake with us; i. e. with him, as representing us, and for all our good.

All that was left undestroyed in the general calamity. Or, their excellency, all their desirable and delectable things.

i. e. Of those who are opposed to the righteous, and in whose destruction the righteous rejoyced.

z To wit, of God's wrath: some dreadful judgment, either proper fire, possibly that which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, which such knowing and inquisitive persons could not be ignorant of as a thing done near their times and places; or some other sore calamity; for such oft come under the name of fire. But this whole Verse is and may be otherwise rendred, and that Interrogatively▪ Is not, (or rather, Was not, the Hebrew Prefix, he, being here understood, after the manner of the Language, from v, 15. where it is expressed) our substance (i. e. almost all our nature and kind) cut off (almost all destroyed in the flood) and did not the fire consume a remnant of them; i. e. of Mankind, and of ungodly men, in Sodom and Gomorrah?

Marginal references: Or, state.; Or, their [illegible: 1 word].

21. Acquaint now thy self with him , and be at peace : thereby good shall come unto thee .

i. e. With God, as appears both from v. 23. where he is expressed, and from the nature of the thing, there being no other way to happiness. Renew thy acquaintance and converse with God by prayer, which thou hast restrained, Chap. 15. 4. and repentance for all thy sins, and true humiliation under his hand, and hearty compliance with all his Commands, and diligent care to serve and enjoy him; and be no longer estranged from God, as thou now art.

This is either 1. a promise, the Imperative being put for the Future of the Indicative Mood, and so thou shalt have peace; i. e. Prosperity and happiness: Or, rather 2. a Counsel or Command, If God be an enemy to thee, as thou sayst he is, reconcile thy self to him by true repentance, and earnestly seek his favour and friendship, and do not provoke him further by thy false and wicked speeches of him, or by thy froward carriage to him: And whereas thou art full of unquietness and rage against God, learn to possess thy soul in patience, give over murmuring against him, and get a composed▪ and quiet, and submissive mind and heart; which is called peace, Iudg. 6. 23. & 19, 20. Isa. 57. 21. Thus far is the Command or Exhortation; now followeth the Promise.

i. e. By following these Counsels.

Thou shalt be freed from all thy Calamities, and enjoy all the happiness which thy heart can desire.

Marginal references: That is, with God.

22. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth , and lay up his words in thine heart .

Take the Law and Rule whereby thou governest thy thoughts and words, and whole life, not from profane Heathens, whose Opinion concerning God's Providence thou hast embraced, nor from thy own vain imaginations or violent passions, which have led thee into thy present errours and miscarriages, but from God, and from his Word, and from his Law which is written in thy own mind, and from the Doctrines and Instructions of the holy men of God; who are all of our mind in this matter.

i. e. Do not only hear them with thine ears, but let them sink into thy heart, being received there by hearty affection, and fixed by serious and frequent, and practical consideration of them, Psalm 119. 11. Matth. 13. 19, &c. Luke 2. 19, 51.

23. If thou return to the Almighty , thou shalt be built up , thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles .

Or, home to the Almighty; or, so as to reach to the Almighty and be joyned to him. The Hebrew Phrase is extraordinary, and emphatical, and implies a thorough and effectual turning not only from sin (which an Hypocrite may do in great part at least for a time upon carnal Motives, and without any respect or love to God) but also unto God, so as to love him and cleave to him, and sincerely devote a man's self to his fear and service. And he expresseth it in this manner, because he thought Iob to be an Hypocrite, and therefore counselleth him to turn to God in another and better manner than he had done; to wit, with all his heart, and not feignedly.

God who hath pulled thee down in thy Estate and Honour, and Children, will repair thy Ruines, and give thee more Children, which is oft called building; as Gen. 16. 2. Exod. 1. 21. Ruth. 4. 11. and bless thee with prosperity and happiness, as building signifies, Ier. 42. 10. & 31. 4.

This may be either 1. a Condition upon which God makes the following Promises, If (which Particle may be repeated out of the former part of the Verse) thou shalt put away, &c. i. e. If thou shalt effectually purge thy self and family from all sin, and keep thy self and them, as far as thou canst, from all appearances and occasions of sin▪ which is the duty of all, and the practice of true Penitents. Whereby he seems to reflect upon Iob as if he had been faulty and negligent in the government of himself or Children, notwithstanding his sacrificing for them, Chap. 1. Or rather 2. a Promise, because the Conditions required had been expressed together, v. 21, 22. and in the beginning of this Verse, after which he comes to the Promises, and begins with this, thou shalt be built up, and so proceeds to other Promises; and therefore it seems not probable that he should return to the Conditions again, and mix the Conditions and Promises together, which he hath so carefully separated in these Verses. And so it is either 1. a spiritual Promise, If thou dost sincerely repent, God will give thee more grace effectually to reform thy self and family, according to that rule, To him that hath, shall be given. Or 2. a temporal Promise, Thou shalt put away iniquity or injury, or perverseness (i. e. either perverse and injurious men: Or God's judgments, or the punishments of thy sins; as iniquity is very oft used) far from thy tabernacles; i. e. from all thy Dwellings, and Tents, and Possessions; no hand of violence shall come near them, no evil plague shall come upon thy own habitation, or upon the habitations of thy Children, as lately it did for thine and their sins.

Marginal references: Ch. 8. 5, 6. & 11. 13.

24. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust , and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brook.

Solid or choice Gold, as the word signifies.

i. e. In great abundance. Or, upon the dust, or ground: It shall be so plentiful, and therefore vile, that thou shalt not lock it up in Chests and Treasuries, but scatter it any where, and let it lie even upon the ground.

As plentifully as if the pieces of Gold were but so many pebble stones, which are to be found in and near every Brook. Or, for the stones, i. e. in stead of them. Or, in the rock, or among the rocks: Gold shall be so abundant that thou mayst lay it any where, even upon or among the Rocks.

Marginal references: Or, in the dust; Heb. in, or among the stones.

25. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence , and thou shalt have plenty of silver .

God by his special and watchful Providence shall protect thee from all dangers and calamities. Heb. thy defences or munitions. One God shall keep thee as safely as many munitions.

Heb. silver of strength, i. e. which by God's blessing shall be thy defence, Eccles. 7. 12. Or, silver of heights, i. e. high and heaped up like a Mountain.

Marginal references: Or, gold.; Heb. silver of strength.

26. For thou shalt have thy delight in the Almighty , and shalt lift up thy face unto God .

So this Verse contains a Reason why he might confidently expect all those former outward blessings, because he should have God's favour, which is the spring and foundation of them. Or, Surely: Or, Yea moreover; for this Particle chi, is sometimes used by way of aggravation or amplification, as Gen. 45. 26. 1 Sam. 14. 41. Isa. 7. 9. & 32. 13. And this suits very well here; yea God will do greater things than these for thee.

Thou shalt find delight not only in these outward comforts, but also and especially in God, whose Face shall shine upon thee, who shall give thee these things not in anger and wrath, as he doth to wicked men, but as pledges of his love and favour to thee, and of those greater and eternal blessings which he hath in store for thee; and accordingly thou shalt delight thy self in worshipping, enjoying, obeying, and serving God in and with all his mercies.

i. e. Look up to him by meditation and prayer, not as now thou dost, with horrour and grief, which is signified by a dejected Countenance, 2 Sam. 2. 22. Luke 18. 13. but with chearfulness and confidence, as this Phrase oft notes, as Luke 21. 28. See on Iob 11. 15.

Marginal references: Ch. 11. 15.

27. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee , and thou shalt pay thy vows .

i. e. Answer thy prayers, and not disregard them, and hide himself from thee, as now he doth.

i. e. Thou shalt obtain those blessings for which thou didst make Vows to God, and therefore according to thy Obligation, shalt pay thy Vows to him. The Antecedent is here supposed and understood out of the Consequent.

Marginal references: Psal. 50. 14, 15.

28. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee, and the light shall shine upon thy ways .

Thy purposes and designs shall not be disappointed, but effected and ratified by God; which is a great satisfaction,

In all thy counsels, and courses, and actions, God shall give thee the light of his direction and governance, and of comfort and success; and thou shalt not be in such a dark and doubtful, and perplexed condition as now thou art.

29. When men are cast down , then thou shalt say , There is lifting up : and he shall save the humble person .

Heb. When they (i. e. they who do this work. It is an Indefinite and impersonal speech, which is very common in the Hebrew Language) shall cast down or overthrow; either 1. proud and wicked men, as may be guessed by the opposition of the humble and innocent, who should be saved, whilest these were destroyed. So the sense is, when there shall come a general calamity which shall sweep away all the wicked round about them. Or 2. Thee or thine; which Pronoun is oft understood. So the sense is, when through God's permission thou shalt be brought into some trouble, which God sees fit for thee.

Within thy self with good assurance and confidence.

Or, there shall be lifting up, either 1. for them, if they repent and humble themselves, they shall be preserved or restored. And this thou wilest assure them of from thy own experience. Or 2. for thee and thine: God will deliver thee, when others are crushed and destroyed.

Or, for, this Particle being oft put causally, as hath been formerly noted. So the following words contain a Reason why he might confidently say, that there would be such a lifting up for a person so humbled.

i. e. God, unto whom onely salvation belongeth, Psalm 3. 8.

Either 1. eternally; or 2. temporally; to wit, from the evils here mentioned.

Heb. Him that hath low or cast down eyes: Which phrase may here note, either 1. humility and lowliness of mind and disposition, as pride is oft expressed by high or lofty looks, as Psalm 18. 27. & 101. 5. & 131. 1. Prov. 6. 17. And so this is a tacit admonition and reproof for Iob, whom, for his confident justification of himself, and his contemptuous expressions and censures concerning them, they judged to be guilty of intolerable pride of heart. Or 2. Lowness of Estate or Condition, as Iames 1. 10. So it notes him whose Eyes and Countenance are dejected by reason of his great troubles and miseries; as on the contrary, prosperity makes persons lift up their Eyes and Faces.

Marginal references: Jam. 4. 6. 1 Pet. 5. 5.; Heb. him that hath low eyes.

30. He shall deliver the Island of the innocent : and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands .

i. e. God, as v. 29. whose Prerogative it is to give deliverances.

To wit, upon thy request, as the following Clause sheweth: God will hear thy prayers even for others: which is a great honour and comfort; and much more for thy self.

Not onely thy self, when thou shalt become innocent and pure, but for thy sake he will deliver the whole Island (or Country, that word being oft used not onely for such Lands or Countries as were separated from Canaan by the Sea, as is commonly observed, but also for such as were upon the same Continent with it, as appears from Gen. 10 5, &c. Psalm 72. 10. & 97. 1. Isa. 41. 5.) in which thou dwellest▪ Or, the guilty, or him that is not innocent: For the word here rendred Island, is sometimes used for not, both in Scripture, as 1 Sam. 4. 21. Prov. 31. 4. So the sense is, God will have so great a respect to thy innocency and purity, that for thy sake he will deliver those that belong to thee, or live with thee or near thee, though in themselves they be sinful Creatures and ripe for destruction. See Gen. 18. 32.

To wit, the Island. Or, he, i. e. the guilty person.

i. e. By thy prayers proceeding from a pure heart and conscience, when thou shalt lift up pure hands to God in prayer, as it is expressed, 1 Tim. 2 8. Whereby as he asserts the prevalency of the righteous man's prayers with God▪ for mercy both for himself and others; and by this Argument he perswadeth Iob to repentance: so withal he alledgeth this as an Argument or evidence that Iob did not stretch out pure hands to God in prayer, as he pretended, because his prayers could not prevail for the preservation of himself or his Children, and much less for others at a greater distance.

Marginal references: ‖ Or, the innocent shall deliver [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]

Job 22:1-5   1  Then began Eliphaz the Temanite, and said:   2  Is a man profitable unto God?

No, indeed! the intelligent man is profitable to himself.   3  Hath the Almighty any profit if thou art righteous,

Or gain if thou strivest to walk uprightly?   4  Will He reprove thee for thy fear of God,

Will He go with thee into judgment?   5  Is not thy wickedness great,

Thine iniquities infinite?

The verb סכן, in the signification to be profitable, is peculiar to the book of Job (although also סכן and סכנת elsewhere, according to its primary signification, does not differ from מועיל, מועילה, by which it is explained by Kimchi); the correct development of the notion of this verb is to be perceived from the Hiph., which occurs in Job 21:21 in this speech of Eliphaz (vid., Ges. Thes.): it signifies originally, like שׁכן, Arab. skn, to rest, dwell, especially to dwell beside one another, then to become accustomed to one another (comp. שׁכן, a neighbour, and Arab. sakanun, a friend, confidant), and to assist one another, to be serviceable, to be profitable; we can say both סכנתּי, I have profit, Job 34:9, and סכן, it is profitable, Job 15:3; Job 35:3, here twice with a personal subj., and first followed by ל, then with the על usual also elsewhere in later prose (e.g., טוב על,   1Ch 13:2, comp. supra, Job 10:3, to be pleasant) and poetry, which gladly adopts Aramaisms (as here and Psa 16:6, שׁפר על, well-pleased), instead of ל, whence here עלימו, as Job 20:23, pathetic for עליו. The question, which is intended as a negative, is followed by the negative answer (which establishes its negative meaning) with כּי; משׂכּיל is, like Psa 14:2, the intelligent, who wills and does what is good, with an insight into the nature of the extremes in morality, as in Pro 1:3 independent morality which rests not merely on blind custom is called מוסר השׂכל. היה חפץ ל, it is to the interest of any one (different from 1Sa 15:22, vid., on Job 21:21), and היה בצע ל, it is to the gain of any one (prop. the act of cutting, cutting off, i.e., what one tears in pieces), follow as synonyms of סכן. On the Aramaizing doubling of the first radical in the Hiph. תתּם (instead of תתם), vid., Ges. §67, rem. 8, comp. 3. It is translated an lucrum (ei) si integras facias vias tuas. The meaning of the whole strophe is mainly determined according to the rendering of המיּראתך (like המבינתך, Job 39:26, with Dechî, and as an exception with Munach, not removed to the place of the Metheg; vid., Psalter, ii. 491, Anm. 1). If the suff. is taken objectively (from fear of thee), e.g., Hirz., we have the following line of thought: God is neither benefited by human virtue nor injured by human sin, so that when He corrects the sinner He is turning danger from himself; He neither rewards the godly because He is benefited by his piety, nor punishes the sinner because by his sinning he threatens Him with injury. Since, therefore, if God chastises a man, the reason of it is not to be found in any selfish purpose of God, it must be in the sin of the man, which is on its own account worthy of punishment. But the logical relation in which Job 22:5 stands to Job 22:4 does not suit this: perhaps from fear of thee ... ? no, rather because of thy many and great sins! Hahn is more just to this relation when he explains: “God has no personal profit to expect from man, so that, somewhat from fear, to prevent him from being injurious, He should have any occasion to torment him with sufferings unjustly.” But if the personal profit, which is denied, is one that grows out of the piety of the man, the personal harm, which is denied as one which God by punishment will keep far from Himself, is to be thought of as growing out of the sin of the man; and the logical relation of Job 22:5 to Job 22:4 is not suited to this, for. Job 22:5 assigns the reason of the chastisement to the sin, and denies, as it runs, not merely any motive whatever in connection with the sin, but that the reason can lie in the opposite of sin, as it appears according to Job’s assertion that, although guiltless, he is still suffering from the wrath of God.

Thus, then, the suff. of המיראתך is to be taken subjectively: on account of thy fear of God, as Eliphaz has used יראתך twice already, Job 4:6; Job 15:4. By this subjective rendering Job 22:4 and Job 22:5 form a true antithesis: Does God perhaps punish thee on account of thy fear of God? Does He go (on that account) with thee into judgment? No (it would be absurd to suppose that); therefore thy wickedness must be great (in proportion to the greatness of thy suffering), and thy misdeeds infinitely many. If we now look at what precedes, we shall have to put aside the thought drawn into Job 22:2 and Job 22:3 by Ewald (and also by Hahn): whether God, perhaps with the purpose of gaining greater advantage from piety, seeks to raise it by unjustly decreed suffering; for this thought has nothing to indicate it, and is indeed certainly false, but on account of the force of truth which lies in it (there is a decreeing of suffering for the godly to raise their piety) is only perplexing.

First of all, we must inquire how it is that Eliphaz begins his speech thus. All the exhortations to penitence in which the three exhaust themselves, rebound from Job without affecting him. Even Eliphaz, the oldest among them, full of a lofty, almost prophetic consciousness, has with the utmost solicitude allured and terrified him, but in vain. And it is the cause of God which he brings against him, or rather his own well-being that he seeks, without making an impression upon him. Then he reminds him that God is in Himself the all-sufficient One; that no advantage accrues to Him from human uprightness, since His nature, existing before and transcending all created things, can suffer neither diminution nor increase from the creature; that Job therefore, since he remains inaccessible to that well-meant call to penitent humiliation, has refused not to benefit Him, but himself; or, what is the reverse side of this thought (which is not, however, expressed), that he does no injury to Him, only to himself. And yet in what except in Job’s sin should this decree of suffering have its ground? If it is a self-contradiction that God should chastise a man because he fears Him, there must be sin on the side of Job; and indeed, since the nature of the sin is to be measured according to the nature of the suffering, great and measureless sin. This logical necessity Eliphaz now regards as real, without further investigation, by opening out this bundle of sins in the next strophe, and reproaching Job directly with that which Zophar, Job 20:19-21, aiming at Job, has said of the רשׁע. In the next strophe he continues, with כי explic.:

Job 22:6-9   6  For thou distrainedst thy brother without cause,

And the clothes of the naked thou strippedst off.   7  Thou gavest no water to the languishing,

And thou refusedst bread to the hungry.   8  And the man of the arm-the land was his,

And the honourable man dwelt therein.   9  Thou sentest widows away empty,

And the arms of the orphan are broken.

The reason of exceeding great suffering most be exceeding great sins. Job must have committed such sins as are here cited; therefore Eliphaz directly attributes guilt to him, since he thinks thus to tear down the disguise of the hypocrite. The strophe contains no reference to the Mosaic law: the compassionate Mosaic laws respecting duties towards widows and orphans, and the poor who pledge their few and indispensable goods, may have passed before the poet’s mind; but it is not safe to infer it from the expression. As specific Mohammedan commandments among the wandering tribes even in the present day have no sound, so the poet dare not assume, in connection with the characters of his drama, any knowledge, of the Sinaitic law; and of this he remains conscious throughout: their standpoint is and remains that of the Abrahamic faith, the primary commands (later called the ten commands of piety, el-felâhh) of which were amply sufficient for stigmatizing that to which this strophe gives prominence as sin. It is only the force of the connection of the matter here which gives the futt. which follow כי a retrospective meaning. חבל is connected either with the accusative of the thing for which the pledge is taken, as in the law, which meets a response in the heart, Exo 22:25.; or with the accus. of the person who is seized, as here אחיך; or, if this is really (as Bär asserts) a mistake that has gained a footing, which has Codd. and old printed editions against it, rather אחיך. lxx, Targ., Syr., and Jer. read the word as plural. ערוּמים (from ערום), like γυμνοί, Jam 2:15, nudi (comp. Seneca, de beneficiis, v. 13: si quis male vestitum et pannosum videt, nudum se vidisse dicit), are, according to our mode of expression, the half-naked, only scantily (vid., Isa 20:2) clothed.

Job 22:10-11 10  Therefore snares are round about thee,

And fear terrifieth thee suddenly; 11  Or percievest thou not the darkness,

And the overflow of waters, which covereth thee?

On account of this inhuman mode of action by which he has challenged the punishment of justice, snares are round about him (comp. Bildad’s picture of this fate of the evil-doer, Job 18:8-10), destruction encompasses him on every side, so that he sees no way out, and must without any escape succumb to it. And the approaching ruin makes itself known to him time after time by terrors which come suddenly upon him and disconcert him; so that his outward circumstances being deranged and his mind discomposed, he has already in anticipation to taste that which is before him. In Job 22:11, לא תראה is by no means to be taken as an eventual circumstantial clause, whether it is translated affirmatively: or darkness (covers thee), that thou canst not see; or interrogatively: or does darkness (surround thee), that thou seest not? In both cases the verb in the principal clause is wanting; apart from the new turn, which או introduces, being none, it would then have to be explained with Löwenthal: or has the habit of sinning already so dulled thy feeling and darkened thine eye, that thou canst not perceive the enormity of thy transgression? But this is a meaning forced from the words which they are not capable of; it must have been at least או חשׁך בּעדך, or something similar. Since או חשׁך (to be accented without Makkeph with Mûnach, Dechî) cannot form a principal clause of itself, תראה is without doubt the verb belonging to it: or (או as Job 16:3) seest thou not darkness? Because, according to his preceding speeches, Job does not question the magnitude of his sufferings, but acknowledges them in all their fearfulness; therefore Hahn believes it must be explained: or shouldst thou really not be willing to see thy sins, which encompass thee as thick dark clouds, which cover thee as floods of water? The two figures, however, can only be understood of the destruction which entirely shrouds Job in darkness, and threatens to drown him. But destruction, in the sense in which Eliphaz asks if Job does not see it, is certainly intended differently to what it was in Job’s complaints. Job complains of it as being unmerited, and therefore mysterious; Eliphaz, on the other hand, is desirous that he should open his eyes that he may perceive in this darkness of sorrow, this flood of suffering, the well-deserved punishment of his heinous sins, and anticipate the worst by penitence. לא תכסּךּ is a relative clause, and belongs logically also to חשׁך, comp. Isa 60:2, where שׁפעת is also found in Job 22:6 (from שׁפע, abundare; comp. Arab. šf‛ , ספק, Job 20:22). Eliphaz now insinuates that Job denies the special providence of God, because he doubts the exceptionless, just government of God. In the second strophe he has explained his affliction as the result of his uncharitableness; now he explains it as the result of his unbelief, which is now become manifest.

Job 22:12-14 12  Is not Eloah high as the heavens?

See but the head of the stars, how exalted! 13  So then thou thinkest: “What doth God know?

Can He judge through the thick cloud? 14  Clouds veil Him that He seeth not,

And in the vault of heaven He walketh at His pleasure.”

Because Job has denied the distribution of worldly fortune, of outward prosperity and adversity, according to the law of the justice that recompenses like for like, Eliphaz charges him with that unbelief often mentioned in the Psalms (Psa 73:11; Psa 94:7; comp. Isa 29:15; Eze 8:12), which denies to the God in heaven, as Epicurus did to the gods who lead a blessed life in the spaces between the worlds, a knowledge of earthly things, and therefore the preliminary condition for a right comprehension of them. The mode of expression here is altogether peculiar. גּבהּ שׁמים is not acc. loci, as the like accusatives in combination with the verb שׁכן, Isa 57:15, may be taken: the substantival clause would lead one to expect בּגבהּ, or better בּגבהי (Job 11:8); it is rather (similar to Job 11:8) nomin. praedicati: Eloah is the height of the heavens = heaven-high, as high as the heavens, therefore certainly highly, and indeed very highly, exalted above this earth. In this sense it is continued with Waw explic.: and behold (= behold then) the head of the stars, that, or how (כּי as in Gen 49:15; 1Sa 14:29, quod = quam) exalted they are. וּראה has Asla (Kadma) in correct texts, and רמו is written רמּוּ (râmmu) with a so-called Dag. affectuosum (Olsh. §83, b). It may be received as certain that ראשׁ, the head (vertex), beside ראה (not ספר), does not signify the sum (Aben-Ezra). But it is questionable whether the genitive that follows ראשׁ is gen. partitivus: the highest among the stars (Ew., Hirz., Schlottm.), or gen. epexegeticus: the head, i.e., (in relation to the rest of the universe) the height, which is formed by the stars, or even which they occupy (Ges. coelum stellatum); the partitive rendering is to be preferred, for the Semitic perception recognises, as the plural שׁמים implies, nearer and more distant celestial spheres. The expression “head of the stars” is therefore somewhat like fastigium coeli (the extreme height, i.e., the middle of the vault of heaven), or culmen aereum (of the aether separating the strata of air above); the summit of the stars rising up into the extremest spheres is intended (we should say: the fixed stars, or to use a still more modern expression, the milky way), as also the רמו naturally refers to ראשׁ כוכבים as one notion (summitas astrorum = summa astra).

The connection of what follows with Waw is not adversative (Hirz., Ew., and others: and yet thou speakest), it is rather consecutive (Hahn: and since thou speakest; better: and in consequence of this thou speakest; or: thus speakest thou, thinkest thou then). The undeniable truth that God is exalted, and indeed absolute in His exaltation, is misapplied by Job to the false conclusion: what does God know, or (since the perf. in interrogative sentences frequently corresponds to the Latin conjunctive, vid., on Psa 11:3) how should God know, or take knowledge, i.e., of anything that happens on earth? In Job 22:13 the potential takes the place of this modal perfect: can He rule judicially behind the dark clouds, i.e., over the world below from which He is shut out? בּעד (of like verbal origin with the Arab. b‛da , post, prop. distance, separation, succession, but of wider use) signifies here, as in Job 1:10; Job 9:7, behind, pone, with the secondary notion of being encompassed or covered by that which shuts off. Far from having an unlimited view of everything earthly from His absolute height, it is veiled from His by the clouds, so that He sees not what occurs here below, and unconcerned about it He walks the circle of the heavens (that which vaults the earth, the inhabitants of which seem to Him, according to Isa 40:22, as grasshoppers); התלּך is here, after the analogy of Kal, joined with the accus. of the way over which He walks at His pleasure: orbem coelum obambulat. By such unworthy views of the Deity, Job puts himself on a par with the godless race that was swept away by the flood in ancient days, without allowing himself to be warned by this example of punishment.

Job 22:15-18 15 Wilt thou observe the way of the ancient world,

Which evil men have trodden, 16 Who were withered up before their time,

Their foundation was poured out as a stream, 17 Who said unto God: Depart from us!

And what can the Almighty do to them? 18 And notwithstanding He had filled their houses with good-

The counsel of the wicked be far from me!

While in Psa 139:24 דרך עולם prospectively signifies a way of eternal duration (comp. Eze 26:20, עם עולם, of the people who sleep the interminably long sleep of the grave), ארח עולם signifies here retrospectively the way of the ancient world, but not, as in Jer 6:16; Jer 18:15, the way of thinking and acting of the pious forefathers which put their posterity to shame, but of a godless race of the ancient world which stands out as a terrible example to posterity. Eliphaz asks if Job will observe, i.e., keep (שׁמר as in Psa 18:22), this way trodden by people (מתי, comp. אנשׁי, Job 34:36) of wickedness. Those worthless ones were withered up, i.e., forcibly seized and crushed, ולא־עת, when it was not yet time (ולא after the manner of a circumstantial clause: quum nondum, as Psa 139:16), i.e., when according to God’s creative order their time was not yet come. On קמּטוּ,This קמטו, according to the Masora, is the middle word of the book of Job (חצי הספר). vid., on Job 16:8; lxx correctly, συνελήφθησαν ἄωροι, nevertheless συλλαμβάνειν is too feeble as a translation of קמט; for as Arab. qbṣ signifies to take with the tip of the finer, whereas Arab. qbḍ signifies to take with the whole bent hand, so קמט, in conformity to the dull, emphatic final consonant, signifies “to bind firmly together.” In Job 22:16 יוּצק is not perf. Pual for יצּק (Ew. §83, b), for this exchange, contrary to the law of vowels, of the sharp form with the lengthened form is without example; it must at least have been written יוּצּק (comp. Jdg 18:29). It is fut. Hoph., which, according to Job 11:15, might be יצּק; here, however, it is with a resolving, not assimilation, of the Jod, as in Lev 21:10. The fut. has the signification of the imperfect which it acquires in an historic connection. It is not to be translated: their place became a stream which has flowed away (Hirz.), for the היה which would be required by such an interpretation could not be omitted; also not: flumen effusum est in fundamentum eorum (Rosenm., Hahn, and others), which would be ליסודם, and would still be very liable to be misunderstood; also not: whose foundation was a poured-out stream (Umbr., Olsh.), for then there would be one attributive clause inserted in the other; but: their solid ground became fluid like a stream (Ew., Hlgst., Schlottm.), so that נהר, after the analogy of the verbs with two accusative, Ges. §139, 2, is a so-called second acc. of the obj. which by the passive becomes a nominative (comp. Job 28:2), although it might also be an apposition of the following subj. placed first: a stream (as such, like such a one) their solid ground was brought into a river; the ground on which they and their habitations stood was placed under water and floated away: without doubt the flood is intended; reference to this perfectly accords with the patriarchal pre-and extra-Israelitish standpoint of the book of Job; and the generation of the time of the flood (דור המבול) is accounted in the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament as a paragon of godlessness, the contemporaries of Noah are the απειθοῦντες, סוררים, κατ ̓ ἐξοχήν (comp. 1Pe 3:20 with Psa 68:19).

Accordingly they are now here also further described (Job 22:17) as those who said to God, “Depart from us,” and what could the Almighty do to them (למו instead of לנוּ, which was to be expected, since, as in Job 19:28, there is a change from the oratio directa to obliqua)! Olshausen explains with Hahn: “with respect to what thou sayest: and what then does the Almighty do to them (for it)? He fills their houses with prosperity, while the counsel of the wicked is far from me (notwithstanding I am unfortunate).” But this explanation is as forced (since ומה without a אמרת or תאמר standing with it is taken as the word of Job) as it is contrary to the syntax (since the circumstantial clause with והוא is not recognised, and on the other hand ועצת וגו, instead of which it ought at least to have been וּממּנּי וגו, is regarded as such an one). No indeed, just this is an exceedingly powerful effect, that Eliphaz describes those godless ones who dismiss God with סור ממנו, to whom, according to Job’s assertion, Job 21:13., undimmed prosperity is portioned out, by referring to a memorable fact as that which has fallen under the strict judgment of God; and that with the very same words with which Job, Job 21:16, declines communion with such prosperous evil-doers: “the counsel of the wicked be far from me,” he will have nothing more to do, not with the wicked alone, but, with a side glance at Job, even with those who place themselves on a level with them by a denial of the just government of God in the world. פּעל ל, as the following circumstantial clause shows, is intended like Psa 68:29, comp. Job 31:20; Isa 26:12 : how can the Almighty then help or profit them? Thus they asked, while He had filled their houses with wealth - Eliphaz will have nothing to do with this contemptible misconstruction of the God who proves himself so kind to those who dwell below on the earth, but who, though He is rewarded with ingratitude, is so just. The truly godly are not terrified like Job 17:8, that retributive justice is not to be found in God’s government of the world; on the contrary, they rejoice over its actual manifestation in their own case, which makes them free, and therefore so joyous.

Job 22:19-20 19  The righteous see it and rejoice,

And the innocent mock at them: 20  “Verily our opponent is destroyed,

And the fire hath devoured their abundance.”

This thought corresponds to that expressed as a wish, hope, or anticipation at the close of many of the Psalms, that the retributive justice of God, though we may have to wait a long time for it, becomes at length the more gloriously manifest to the joy of those hitherto innocently persecuted, Psa 58:11. The obj. of יראוּ, as in Psa 107:42, is this its manifestation. למו is not an ethical dative, as in Psa 80:7, but as in Psa 2:4 refers to the ungodly whose mocking pride comes to such an ignominious end. What follow in Job 22:20 are the words of the godly; the introductory לאמר is wanting, as e.g., Psa 2:3. אם־לא can signify neither si non, as Job 9:24; Job 24:25; Job 31:31, nor annon, as in a disjunctive question, Job 17:2; Job 30:25; it is affirmative, as Job 1:11; Job 2:5; Job 31:36 - an Amen to God’s peremptory judgment. On נכחד (he is drawn away, put aside, become annulled), vid., supra, p. 398. קימנוּ (for which Aben-Ezra is also acquainted with the reading קימנוּ with קמץ קטן, i.e., צירי) has a pausal â springing from ê, as Job 20:27, מתקוממה for מתקוממה; Rth 3:2, לרמותנו; Isa 47:10, ראני (together with the reading ראני, comp. 1Ch 12:17, לרמותני). The form קים is remarkable; it may be more readily taken as part. pass. (like שׂים, positus) than as nom. infin. (the act of raising for those who raise themselves); perhaps the original text had קמינו (קמינוּ). יתרם is no more to be translated their remnant (Hirz.) here than in Psa 17:14, at least not in the sense of Exo 23:11; that which exceeds the necessity is intended, their surplus, their riches. It is said of Job in b. Megilla, 28 a: איוב ותרן בממוניה הוה, he was extravagant (prodigus) with his property. The fire devouring the wealth of the godless is an allusion to the misfortune which has befallen him.

After this terrible picture, Eliphaz turns to the exhortation of him who may be now perhaps become ripe for repentance.

Job 22:21-25 21  Make friends now with Him, so hast thou peace;

Thereby good will come unto thee. 22  Receive now teaching from His mouth,

And place His utterances in thy heart. 23  If thou returnest to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up again;

If thou puttest away iniquity far from thy tents. 24  And lay by in the dust the gold ore,

And under the pebbles of the brooks the gold of Ophir. 25  So shall the Almighty be to thee gold ore in abundance,

And silver to thee of the brightest lustre.

The relationship of the verbs סכן, שׁכן, and Arab. sakana , has been already discussed on Job 22:2 : the Hiph. signifies to be on friendly terms with any one; to enter into, or to stand in, an intimate relationship to any one (Psa 139:3); then also (as the Greek φιλεῖν) to get accustomed to, to be used to (Num 22:30). The second imper. is consecutive, as e.g., Pro 3:4 : and have as the result of it peace (Arab. fa'âslam) = so shalt thou have peace, Ges. §130, 2. In Job 22:21 the first thing to be done is to clear up the form תּבואתך or (according to another reading which is likewise well attested) תּבואתך. Olshausen (in Hirz. and in his Gramm.) and Rödiger (in Thes. p. 11, suppl.) explain this form the same as the other forms which come under consideration in connection with it, viz., תּבואתה (veniat), Deu 33:16, and ותּבאתי, Keri ותּבאת (et venisses, addressed to Abigail), 1Sa 25:34, as errors in writing; whereas Ew., §191, c, sees in תּבואתך the erroneous form תּבואה = תּבוא with a superfluous feminine termination, in תּבואתה an extension of the double feminine by the unaccented ah of intention, and in תּבאתי a transfer of the inflexion of the perf. to the fut. Confining ourselves to the form which occurs here, we refer to what was said above: תבואתך is not a forma mixta from תּבואך and בּאתך, but the mistaken double feminine תּבואה with suff., the ah of which, although the tone is on the penult., is not He voluntativum, as Isa 5:19, but He femin. The exception of such double feminines is made as certain in Hebrew by the regular form נגלתה ( = נגלת with a second feminine termination), and by examples like Pro 1:20; Eze 23:20, and also Jos 6:17; 2Sa 1:26; Amo 4:3 (comp. even Olsh. in his Gramm. S. 449), as the double plural and its further formation by a feminine termination in Arabic. It is therefore unnecessary, with Olsh. and Röd., after the precedent of the ancient versions, to read תּבוּאתך (which is found in 19 Codd. in de Rossi): proventus tuus bonus erit. The suff. in בּהם, as Isa 64:4; Eze 23:18, comp. עליהם, Isa 38:16, is intended as neuter, as the fem. is used elsewhere (e.g., Isa 38:16, בּהן): by it, i.e., by such conduct, good (prosperity) shall come to thee, and indeed, as the בוא construed with the acc. implies, in a sudden change of thy previous lot, coming about without any further effort on thy part. In the certainty that it is God’s word which he presents to his friend (the very certainty which Eliphaz also expresses elsewhere, e.g., Job 15:11), he further admonishes him (Job 22:22) to receive instruction from God’s mouth (מפּיו as Pro 2:6), and to allow His (God’s) utterances a place in his heart, not to let them die away without effect, but to imprint them deeply on his mind.

Job 22:26-30 26  For then thou shalt delight thyself in the Almighty,

And lift up they countenance to Eloah; 27  If thou prayest to Him, He will hear thee,

And thou shalt pay thy vows. 28  And thou devisest a plan, and it shall be established to thee,

And light shineth upon thy ways. 29  If they are cast down, thou sayest, “Arise!”

And him that hath low eyes He saveth. 30  He shall rescue him who is not guiltless,

And he is rescued by the purity of thy hands. כּי־אז might also be translated “then indeed” (vid., on Job 11:15), as an emphatic resumption of the promissory והיה (tum erit), Job 22:25; but what follows is really the confirmation of the promise that God will be to him a rich recompense for the earthly treasures that he resigns; therefore: for then thou shalt delight thyself in the Almighty (vid., the primary passage, Psa 37:4, and the dependent one, Isa 58:14; comp. infra, Job 27:10), i.e., He will become a source of highest, heartfelt joy to thee (על as interchanging with בּ by שׂמח). Then shall he be able to raise his countenance, which was previously depressed (נפלוּ, Gen 4:6.), in the consciousness of his estrangement from God by dearly cherished sin and unexpiated guilt, free and open, confident and joyous, to God. If he prays to Him (תּעתּיר may be thus regarded as the antecedent of a conditional clause, like יברח, Job 20:24), He will hear him; and what he has vowed in prayer he will now, after that which he supplicated is granted, thankfully perform; the Hiph. העתּיר (according to its etymon: to offer the incense of prayer) occurs only in Ex 8-10 beside this passage, whereas גּזר (to cut in pieces, cut off) occurs here for the first time in the signification, to decide, resolve, which is the usual meaning of the word in the later period of the language. On ותגזר (with Pathach, according to another reading with Kametz-chatuph), vid., Ges. §47, rem. 2. Moreover, the paratactic clauses of Job 22:28 are to be arranged as we have translated them; קוּם signifies to come to pass, as freq. (e.g., Isa 7:7, in connection with היה, to come into being). That which he designs (אמר) is successful, and is realized, and light shines upon his ways, so that he cannot stumble and does not miss his aim, - light like moonlight or morning light; for, as the author of the introductory Proverbs, to which we have already so often referred as being borrowed from the book of Job (comp. Job 21:24 with Pro 3:8), ingeniously says, ch. Job 4:18 : “The path of the righteous is as the morning light (כּאור נגהּ, comp. Dan 6:20), which shineth brighter and brighter into the height of day (i.e., noonday brightness).”

Third Address of Eliphaz. (b. c. 1520.)

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, 2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? 3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect? 4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

Eliphaz here insinuates that, because Job complained so much of his afflictions, he thought God was unjust in afflicting him; but it was a strained innuendo. Job was far from thinking so. What Eliphaz says here is therefore unjustly applied to Job, but in itself it is very true and good,

I. That when God does us good it is not because he is indebted to us; if he were, there might be some colour to say, when he afflicts us, "He does not deal fairly with us." But whoever pretends that he has by any meritorious action made God his debtor, let him prove this debt, and he shall be sure not to lose it, Rom. xi. 35. Who has given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again? But Eliphaz here shows that the righteousness and perfection of the best man in the world are no real benefit or advantage to God, and therefore cannot be thought to merit any thing from him. 1. Man's piety is no profit to God, no gain, v. 1, 2. If we could by any thing merit from God, it would be by our piety, our being righteous, and making our way perfect. If that will not merit, surely nothing else will. If a man cannot make God his debtor by his godliness, and honesty, and obedience to his laws, much less can he by his wit, and learning, and worldly policy. Now Eliphaz here asks whether any man can possibly be profitable to God. It is certain that he cannot. By no means. He that is wise may be profitable to himself. Note, Our wisdom and piety are that by which we ourselves are, and are likely to be, great gainers. Wisdom is profitable to direct, Eccl. x. 10. Godliness is profitable to all things, 1 Tim. iv. 8. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, Prov. ix. 12. The gains of religion are infinitely greater than the losses of it, and so it will appear when they are balanced. But can a man be thus profitable to God? No, for such is the perfection of God that he cannot receive any benefit or advantage by men; what can be added to that which is infinite? And such is the weakness and imperfection of man that he cannot offer any benefit or advantage to God. Can the light of a candle be profitable to the sun or the drop of the bucket to the ocean? He that is wise is profitable to himself, for his own direction and defence, his own credit and comfort; he can with his wisdom entertain himself and enrich himself; but can he so be profitable to God? No; God needs not us nor our services. We are undone, for ever undone, without him; but he is happy, for ever happy, without us. Is it any gain to him, any real addition to his glory or wealth, if we make our way perfect? Suppose it were absolutely perfect, yet what is God the better? Much less when it is so far short of being perfect. 2. It is no pleasure to him. God has indeed expressed himself in his word well pleased with the righteous; his countenance beholds them and his delight is in them and their prayers; but all that adds nothing to the infinite satisfaction and complacency which the Eternal Mind has in itself. God can enjoy himself without us, though we could have but little enjoyment of ourselves without our friends. This magnifies his condescension, in that, though our services be no real profit or pleasure to him, yet he invites, encourages, and accepts them.

II. That when God restrains or rebukes us it is not because he is in danger from us or jealous of us (v. 4): "Will he reprove thee for fear of thee, and take thee down from thy prosperity lest thou shouldst grow too great for him, as princes sometimes have thought it a piece of policy to curb the growing greatness of a subject, lest he should become formidable?" Satan indeed suggested to our first parents that God forbade them the tree of knowledge for fear of them, lest they should be as gods, and so become rivals with him; but it was a base insinuation. God rebukes the good because he loves them, but he never rebukes the great because he fears them. He does not enter into judgment with men, that is, pick a quarrel with them and seek occasion against them, through fear lest they should eclipse his honour or endanger his interest. Magistrates punish offenders for fear of them. Pharaoh oppressed Israel because he feared them. It was for fear that Herod slew the children of Bethlehem and that the Jews persecuted Christ and his apostles. But God does not, as they did, pervert justice for fear of any. See ch. xxxv. 5-8.

Job Accused of Various Crimes. (b. c. 1520.)

5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? 6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. 7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. 8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. 9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; 11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee. 12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! 13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? 14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Eliphaz and his companions had condemned Job, in general, as a wicked man and a hypocrite; but none of them had descended to particulars, nor drawn up any articles of impeachment against him, until Eliphaz did so here, where he positively and expressly charges him with many high crimes and misdemeanours, which, if he had really been guilty of them, might well have justified them in their harsh censures of him. "Come," says Eliphaz, "we have been too long beating about the bush, too tender of Job and afraid of grieving him, which has but confirmed him in his self-justification. It is high time to deal plainly with him. We have condemned him by parables, but that does not answer the end; he is not prevailed with to condemn himself. We must therefore plainly tell him, Thou art the man, the tyrant, the oppressor, the atheist, we have been speaking of all this while. Is not thy wickedness great? Certainly it is, or else thy troubles would not be so great. I appeal to thyself, and thy own conscience; are not thy iniquities infinite, both in number and heinousness?" Strictly taken, nothing is infinite but God; but he means this, that his sins were more than could be counted and more heinous than could be conceived. Sin, being committed against Infinite Majesty, has in it a kind of infinite malignity. But when Eliphaz charges Job thus highly, and ventures to descend to particulars too, laying to his charge that which he knew not, we may take occasion hence, 1. To be angry at those who unjustly censure and condemn their brethren. For aught I know, Eliphaz, in accusing Job falsely, as he does here, was guilty of as great a sin and as great a wrong to Job as the Sabeans and Chaldeans that robbed him; for a man's good name is more precious and valuable than his wealth. It is against all the laws of justice, charity, and friendship, either to raise or receive calumnies, jealousies, and evil surmises, concerning others; and it is the more base and disingenuous if we thus vex those that are in distress and add to their affliction. Eliphaz could produce no instances of Job's guilt in any of the particulars that follow here, but seems resolved to calumniate boldly, and throw all the reproach he could on Job, not doubting but that some would cleave to him. 2. To pity those who are thus censured and condemned. Innocency itself will be no security against a false and foul tongue. Job, whom God himself praised as the best man in the world, is here represented by one of his friends, and he a wise and good man too, as one of the greatest villains in nature. Let us not think it strange if at any time we be thus blackened, but learn how to pass by evil report as well as good, and commit our cause, as Job did his, to him that judgeth righteously.

Let us see the particular articles of this charge.

I. He charged him with oppression and injustice, that, when he was in prosperity, he not only did no good with his wealth and power, but did a great deal of hurt with them. This was utterly false, as appears by the account Job gives of himself (ch. xxix. 12, &c.) and the character God gave of him, ch. i. And yet,

1. Eliphaz branches out this charge into divers particulars, with as much assurance as if he could call witnesses to prove upon oath every article of it. He tells him, (1.) That he had been cruel and unmerciful to the poor. As a magistrate he ought to have protected them and seen them provided for; but Eliphaz suspects that he never did them any kindness, but all the mischief his power enabled him to do,—that, for an inconsiderable debt, he demanded, and carried away by violence, a pawn of great value, even from his brother, whose honesty and sufficiency he could not but know (v. 6), Thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, or, as the LXX. reads it, Thou hast taken thy brethren for pledges, and that for nought, imprisoned them, enslaved them, because they had nothing to pay,—that he had taken the very clothes of his insolvent tenants and debtors, so that he had stripped them naked, and left them so (the law of Moses forbade this, Exod. xxii. 26, Deut. xxiv. 13),— he had not been charitable to the poor, no, not to poor travellers, and poor widows: "Thou hast not given so much as a cup of cold water (which would have cost thee nothing) to the weary to drink, when he begged for it (v. 7) and was ready to perish for want of it, nay, thou hast withholden bread from the hungry in their extremity, hast not only not given it, but hast forbidden the giving of it, which is withholding good from those to whom it is really due, Prov. iii. 27. Poor widows, who while their husbands were living troubled nobody, but now were forced to seek relief, thou hast sent away empty from thy doors with a sad heart, v. 9. Those who came to thee for justice, thou didst send away unheard, unhelped; nay, though they came to thee full, thou didst squeeze them, and send them away empty; and, worst of all, the arms of the fatherless have been broken; those that could help themselves but little thou hast quite disabled to help themselves." This which is the blackest part of the charge, is but insinuated: The arms of the fatherless have been broken. He does not say, "Thou has broken them," but he would have it understood so, and if they be broken, and those who have power do not relieve them, they are chargeable with it. "They have been broken by those under thee, and thou hast connived at it, which brings thee under the guilt." (2.) That he had been partial to the rich and great (v. 8): "As for the mighty man, if he was guilty of any crime, he was never questioned for it: he had the earth; he dwelt in it. If he brought an action ever so unjustly, or if an action were ever so justly brought against him, yet he was sure to carry his cause in thy courts. The poor were not fed at thy door, while the rich were feasted at thy table." Contrary to this is Christ's rule for hospitality (Luke xiv. 12-14); and Solomon says, He that gives to the rich shall come to poverty.

2. He attributes all his present troubles to these supposed sins (v. 10, 11): "Those that are guilty of such practices as these commonly bring themselves into just such a condition as thou art now in; and therefore we conclude thou hast been thus guilty." (1.) "The providence of God usually crosses and embarrasses such; and snares are, accordingly, round about thee, so that, which way soever thou steppest or lookest, thou findest thyself in distress; and others are as hard upon thee as thou hast been upon the poor." (2.) "Their consciences may be expected to terrify and accuse them. No sin makes a louder cry there than unmercifulness; and, accordingly, sudden fear troubles thee; and, though thou wilt not own it, it is guilt of this kind that creates thee all this terror." Zophar had insinuated this, ch. xx. 19, 20. (3.) "They are brought to their wits' end, so amazed and bewildered that they know not what to do, and that also is thy case; for thou art in darkness that thou canst not see wherefore God contends with thee nor what is the best course for thee to take, for abundance of waters cover thee," that is, "thou art in a mist, in the midst of dark waters, in the thick clouds of the sky." Note, Those that have not shown mercy may justly be denied the comfortable hope that they shall find mercy; and then what can they expect but snares, and darkness, and continual fear?

II. He charged him with atheism, infidelity, and gross impiety, and thought this was at the bottom of his injustice and oppressiveness: he that did not fear God did not regard man. He would have it thought that Job was an Epicurean, who did indeed own the being of God, but denied his providence, and fancied that he confined himself to the entertainments of the upper world and never concerned himself in the inhabitants and affairs of this.

1. Eliphaz referred to an important truth, which he thought, if Job had duly considered it, would have prevented him from being so passionate in his complaints and bold in justifying himself (v. 12): Is not God in the height of heaven? Yes, no doubt he is. No heaven so high but God is there; and in the highest heavens, the heavens of the blessed, the residence of his glory, he is present in a special manner. There he is pleased to manifest himself in a way peculiar to the upper world, and thence he is pleased to manifest himself in a way suited to this lower world. There is his throne; there is his court: he is called the Heavens, Dan. iv. 26. Thus Eliphaz proves that a man cannot be profitable to God (v. 2), that he ought not to contend with God (it is his folly if he does), and that we ought always to address ourselves to God with very great reverence; for when we behold the height of the stars, how high they are, we should, at the same time, also consider the transcendent majesty of God, who is above the stars, and how high he is.

2. He charged it upon Job that he made a bad use of this doctrine, which he might have made so good a use of, v. 13. "This is holding the truth in unrighteousness, fighting against religion with its own weapons, and turning its own artillery upon itself: thou art willing to own that God is in the height of heaven but thence thou inferrest, How doth God know?" Bad men expel the fear of God out of their hearts by banishing the eye of God out of the world (Ezek. viii. 12), and care not what they do if they can but persuade themselves that God does not know. Eliphaz suspected that Job had such a notion of God as this, that, because he is in the height of heaven, (1.) It is therefore impossible for him to see and hear what is done at so great a distance as this earth, especially since there is a dark cloud (v. 13), many thick clouds (v. 14), that come between him and us, and are a covering to him, so that he cannot see, much less can he judge of, the affairs of this lower world; as if God had eyes of flesh, ch. x. 4. The interposing firmament is to him as transparent crystal, Ezek. i. 22. Distance of place creates no difficulty to him who fills immensity, any more than distance of time to him who is eternal. Or, (2.) That it is therefore below him, and a diminution to his glory, to take cognizance of this inferior part of the creation: He walks in the circuit of heaven, and has enough to do to enjoy himself and his own perfections and glory in that bright and quiet world; why should he trouble himself about us? This is gross absurdity, as well as gross impiety, which Eliphaz here fathers upon Job; for it supposes that the administration of government is a burden and disparagement to the supreme governor and that the acts of justice and mercy are a toil to a mind infinitely wise, holy, and good. If the sun, a creature, and inanimate, can with his light and influence reach this earth, and every part of it (Ps. xix. 6), even from that vast height of the visible heavens in which he is, and in the circuit of which he walks, and that through many a thick and dark cloud, shall we question it concerning the Creator?

Judgments Executed on the Wicked. (b. c. 1520.)

15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? 16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: 17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? 18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. 20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

Eliphaz, having endeavoured to convict Job, by setting his sins (as he thought) in order before him, here endeavours to awaken him to a sight and sense of his misery and danger by reason of sin; and this he does by comparing his case with that of the sinners of the old world; as if he had said, "Thy condition is bad now, but, unless thou repent, it will be worse, as theirs was—theirs who were overflown with a flood, as the old world (v. 16), and theirs the remnant of whom the fire consumed" (v. 20), namely, the Sodomites, who, in comparison of the old world, were but a remnant. And these two instances of the wrath of God against sin and sinners are more than once put together, for warning to a careless world, as by our Saviour (Luke xvii. 26, &c.) and the apostle, 2 Pet. ii. 5, 6. Eliphaz would have Job to mark the old way which wicked men have trodden (v. 15) and see what came of it, what the end of their way was. Note, There is an old way which wicked men have trodden. Religion had but newly entered when sin immediately followed it. But though it is an old way, a broad way, a tracked way, it is a dangerous way and it leads to destruction; and it is good for us to mark it, that we may not dare to walk in it. Eliphaz here puts Job in mind of it, perhaps in opposition to what he had said of the prosperity of the wicked; as if he had said, "Thou canst find out here and there a single instance, it may be, of a wicked man ending his days in peace; but what is that to those two great instances of the final perdition of ungodly men—the drowning of the whole world and the burning of Sodom?" destructions by wholesale, in which he thinks Job may, as in a glass, see his own face. Observe, 1. The ruin of those sinners (v. 16): They were cut down out of time; that is, they were cut off in the midst of their days, when, as man's time then went, many of them might, in the course of nature, have lived some hundreds of years longer, which made their immature extirpation the more grievous. They were cut down out of time, to be hurried into eternity. And their foundation, the earth on which they built themselves and all their hopes, was overflown with a flood, the flood which was brought in upon the world of the ungodly, 2 Pet. ii. 5. Note, Those who build upon the sand choose a foundation which will be overflown when the rains descend and the floods come (Matt. vii. 27), and then their building must needs fall and they perish in the ruins of it, and repent of their folly when it is too late. 2. The sin of those sinners, which brought that ruin (v. 17): They said unto God, Depart from us. Job had spoken of some who said so and yet prospered, ch. xxi. 14. "But these did not (says Eliphaz); they found to their cost what it was to set God at defiance. Those who were resolved to lay the reins on the neck of their appetites and passions began with this; they said unto God, Depart; they abandoned all religion, hated the thoughts of it, and desired to live without God in the world; they shunned his word, and silenced conscience, his deputy. And what can the Almighty do for them?" Some make this to denote the justness of their punishment. They said to God, Depart from us; and then what could the Almighty do with them but cut them off? Those who will not submit to God's golden sceptre must expect to be broken to pieces with his iron rod. Others make it to denote the injustice of their sin: But what hath the Almighty done against them? What iniquity have they found in him, or wherein has he wearied them? Mic. vi. 3; Jer. ii. 5. Others make it to denote the reason of their sin: They say unto God, Depart, asking what the Almighty can do to them. "What has he done to oblige us? What can he do in a way of wrath to make us miserable, or in a way of favour to make us happy?" As they argue, Zeph. i. 12. The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. Eliphaz shows the absurdity of this in one word, and that is, calling God the Almighty; for, if he be so, what cannot he do? But it is not strange if those cast off all religion who neither dread God's wrath nor desire his favour. 3. The aggravation of this sin: Yet he had filled their houses with good things, v. 18. Both those of the old world and those of Sodom had great plenty of all the delights of sense; for they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, &c. (Luke xvii. 27), so that they had no reason to ask what the Almighty could do for them, for they lived upon his bounty, no reason to bid him depart from them who had been so kind to them. Many have their houses full of goods but their hearts empty of grace, and thereby are marked for ruin. 4. The protestation which Eliphaz makes against the principles and practices of those wicked people: But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. Job had said so (ch. xxi. 16) and Eliphaz will not be behind him. If they cannot agree in their own principles concerning God, yet they agree in renouncing the principles of those that live without God in the world. Note, Those that differ from each other in some matters of religion, and are engaged in disputes about them, yet ought unanimously and vigorously to appear against atheism and irreligion, and to take care that their disputes do not hinder either their vigour or unanimity in that common cause of God, that righteous cause. 5. The pleasure and satisfaction which the righteous shall have in this. (1.) In seeing the wicked destroyed, v. 19. They shall see it, that is, observe it, and take notice of it (Hos. xiv. 9); and they shall be glad, not to see their fellow-creatures miserable, or any secular turn of their own served, or point gained, but to see God glorified, the word of God fulfilled, the power of oppressors broken, and thereby the oppressed relieved—to see sin shamed, atheists and infidels confounded, and fair warning given to all others to shun such wicked courses. Nay, they shall laugh them to scorn, that is, they justly might do it, they shall do it, as God does it, in a holy manner, Ps. ii. 4; Prov. i. 26. They shall take occasion thence to expose the folly of sinners and show how ridiculous their principles are, though they call themselves wits. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; and see what comes of it, Ps. lii. 7. Some understand this of righteous Noah and his family, who beheld the destruction of the old world and rejoiced in it, as he had grieved for their impiety. Lot, who saw the ruin of Sodom, had the same reason to rejoice, 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8. (2.) In seeing themselves distinguished (v. 20): "Whereas our substance is not cut down, as theirs was, and as thine is; we continue to prosper, which is a sign that we are the favourites of Heaven, and in the right." The same rule that served him to condemn Job by served him to magnify himself and his companions by. His substance is cut down; therefore he is a wicked man; ours is not; therefore we are righteous. But it is a deceitful rule to judge by; for none knows love or hatred by all that is before him. If others be consumed, and we be not, instead of censuring them and lifting up ourselves, as Eliphaz does here, we ought to be thankful to God and take it for a warning to ourselves to prepare for similar calamities.

The Good Counsel of Eliphaz; Encouragements to Return to God. (b. c. 1520.)

21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. 22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. 23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. 24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. 25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. 26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. 27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. 28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. 29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. 30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

Methinks I can almost forgive Eliphaz his hard censures of Job, which we had in the beginning of the chapter, though they were very unjust and unkind, for this good counsel and encouragement which he gives him in these verses with which he closes his discourse, and than which nothing could be better said, nor more to the purpose. Though he thought him a bad man, yet he saw reason to have hopes concerning him, that, for all this, he would be both pious and prosperous. But it is strange that out of the same mouth, and almost in the same breath, both sweet waters and bitter should proceed. Good men, though they may perhaps be put into a heat, yet sometimes will talk themselves into a better temper, and, it may be, sooner than another could talk them into it. Eliphaz had laid before Job the miserable condition of a wicked man, that he might frighten him into repentance. Here, on the other hand, he shows him the happiness which those may be sure of that do repent, that he might allure and encourage him to it. Ministers must try both ways in dealing with people, must speak to them from Mount Sinai by the terrors of the law, and from Mount Sion by the comforts of the gospel, must set before them both life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse. Now here observe,

I. The good counsel which Eliphaz gives to Job; and good counsel it is to us all, though, as to Job, it was built upon a false supposition that he was a wicked man and now a stranger and enemy to God. 1. Acquaint now thyself with God. Acquiesce in God; so some. It is our duty at all times, especially when we are in affliction, to accommodate ourselves to, and quiet ourselves in, all the disposals of the divine Providence. Join thyself to him (so some); fall in with his interests, and act no longer in opposition to him. Our translators render it well, "Acquaint thyself with him; be not such a stranger to him as thou hast made thyself by casting off the fear of him and restraining prayer before him." It is the duty and interest of every one of us to acquaint himself with God. We must get the knowledge of him, fix our affections on him, join ourselves to him in a covenant of friendship, and then set up, and keep up, a constant correspondence with him in the ways he has appointed. It is our honour that we are made capable of this acquaintance, our misery that by sin we have lost it, our privilege that through Christ we are invited to return to it; and it will be our unspeakable happiness to contract and cultivate this acquaintance. 2. "Be at peace, at peace with thyself, not fretful, uneasy, and in confusion; let not thy heart be troubled, but be quiet and calm, and well composed. Be at peace with thy God; be reconciled to him. Do not carry on this unholy war. Thou complainest that God is thy enemy; be thou his friend." It is the great concern of every one of us to make our peace with God, and it is necessary in order to our comfortable acquaintance with him; for how can two walk together except they be agreed? Amos iii. 3. This we must do quickly, now, before it be too late. Agree with thy adversary while thou art in the way. This we are earnestly urged to do. Some read it, "Acquaint thyself, I pray thee, with him, and be at peace." God himself beseeches us; ministers, in Christ's stead, pray us to be reconciled. Can we gainsay such entreaties? 3. Receive the law from his mouth, v. 22. "Having made thy peace with God, submit to his government, and resolve to be ruled by him, that thou mayest keep thyself in his love." We receive our being and maintenance from God. From him we hope to receive our bliss, and from him we must receive law. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Acts ix. 6. Which way soever we receive the intimations of his will we must have our eye to him; whether he speaks by scripture, ministers, conscience, or Providence, we must take the word as from his mouth and bow our souls to it. Though, in Job's time, we do not know that there was any written word, yet there was a revelation of God's will to be received. Eliphaz looked upon Job as a wicked man, and was pressing him to repent and reform. Herein consists the conversion of a sinner—his receiving the law from God's mouth and no longer from the world and the flesh. Eliphaz, being now in contest with Job, appeals to the word of God for the ending of the controversy. "Receive that, and be determined by it." To the law and to the testimony. 4. Lay up his word in thy heart. It is not enough to receive it, but we must retain it, Prov. iii. 18. We must lay it up as a thing of great value, that it may be safe; and we must lay it up in our hearts, as a thing of great use, that it may be ready to us when there is occasion and we may neither lose it wholly nor be at a loss for it in a time of need. 5. Return to the Almighty, v. 23. "Do not only turn from sin, but turn to God and thy duty. Do not only turn towards the Almighty in some good inclinations and good beginnings, but return to him; return home to him, quite to him, so as to reach to the Almighty, by a universal reformation, an effectual thorough change of thy heart and life, and a firm resolution to cleave to him;" so Mr. Poole. 6. Put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle. This was the advice Zophar gave him, ch. xi. 14. "Let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacle. Put iniquity far off, the further the better, not only from thy heart and hand, but from thy house. Thou must not only not be wicked thyself, but must reprove and restrain sin in those that are under thy charge." Note, Family reformation is needful reformation; we and our house must serve the Lord.

II. The good encouragement which Eliphaz gives Job, that he shall be very happy, if he will but take this good counsel. In general, "Thereby good shall come unto thee (v. 21); the good that has now departed from thee, all the good thy heart can desire, temporal, spiritual, eternal good, shall come to thee. God shall come to thee, into covenant and communion with thee; and he brings all good with him, all good in him. Thou art now ruined and brought down, but, if thou return to God, thou shalt be built up again, and thy present ruins shall be repaired. Thy family shall be built up in children, thy estate in wealth, and thy soul in holiness and comfort." The promises which Eliphaz here encourages Job with are reducible to three heads:—

1. That his estate should prosper, and temporal blessings should be bestowed abundantly on him; for godliness has the promise of the life that now is. It is promised,

(1.) That he shall be very rich (v. 24): "Thou shalt lay up gold as dust, in such great abundance, and shalt have plenty of silver (v. 25), whereas now thou art poor and stripped of all." Job had been rich. Eliphaz suspected he got his riches by fraud and oppression, and therefore they were taken from him: but if he would return to God and his duty, [1.] He should have more wealth than ever he had, not only thousands of sheep and oxen, the wealth of farmers, but thousands of gold and silver, the wealth of princes, ch. iii. 15. Abundantly more riches, true riches, are to be got by the service of God than by the service of the world. [2.] He should have it more sure to him: "Thou shalt lay it up in good hands, and hold that which is got by thy piety by a surer tenure than that which thou didst get by thy iniquity." Thou shalt have silver of strength (for so the word is), which, being honestly got, will wear well—silver like steel. [3.] He should, by the grace of God, be kept from setting his heart so much upon it as Eliphaz thought he had done; and then wealth is a blessing indeed when we are not ensnared with the love of it. Thou shalt lay up gold; but how? Not as thy treasure and portion, but as dust, and as the stones of the brooks. So little shalt thou value it or expect from it that thou shalt lay it at thy feet (Acts iv. 35), not in thy bosom.

(2.) That yet he shall be very safe. Whereas men's riches usually expose them to danger, and he had owned that in his prosperity he was not in safety (ch. iii. 26), now he might be secure; for the Almighty shall be thy defender; nay, he shall be thy defence, v. 25. He shall be thy gold; so it is in the margin, and it is the same word that is used (v. 24) for gold, but it signifies also a strong-hold, because money is a defence, Eccl. vii. 12. Worldlings make gold their god, saints make God their gold; and those that are enriched with his favour and grace may truly be said to have abundance of the best gold, and best laid up. We read it, "He shall be thy defence against the incursions of neighbouring spoilers: thy wealth shall not then lie exposed as it did to Sabeans and Chaldeans," which, some think, is the meaning of that, Thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle, taking it as a promise. "The iniquity or wrong designed against thee shall be put off and shall not reach thee." Note, Those must needs be safe that have Omnipotence itself for their defence, Ps. xci. 1-3.

2. That his soul should prosper, and he should be enriched with spiritual blessings, which are the best blessings.

(1.) That he should live a life of complacency in God (v. 26): "For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty; and thus the Almighty comes to be thy gold by thy delighting in him, as worldly people delight in their money. He shall be thy wealth, thy defence, thy dignity; for he shall be thy delight." The way to have our heart's desire is to make God our heart's delight, Ps. xxxvii. 4. If God give us himself to be our joy, he will deny us nothing that is good for us. "Now, God is a terror to thee; he is so by thy own confession (ch. vi. 4; xvi. 9; xix. 11); but, if thou wilt return to him, then, and not till then, he will be thy delight; and it shall be as much a pleasure to thee to think of him as ever it was a pain." No delight is comparable to the delight which gracious souls have in the Almighty; and those that acquaint themselves with him, and submit themselves entirely to him, shall find his favour to be, not only their strength, but their song.

(2.) That he should have a humble holy confidence towards God, such as those are said to have whose hearts condemn them not, 1 John iii. 21. "Then shalt thou lift up thy face to God with boldness, and not be afraid, as thou now art, to draw near to him. Thy countenance is now fallen, and thou lookest dejected; but, when thou hast made thy peace with God, thou shalt blush no more, tremble no more, and hang thy head no more, as thou dost now, but shalt cheerfully, and with a gracious assurance, show thyself to him, pray before him, and expect blessings from him."

(3.) That he should maintain a constant communion with God, "The correspondence, once settled, shall be kept up to thy unspeakable satisfaction. Letters shall be both statedly and occasionally interchanged between thee and heaven," v. 27. [1.] "Thou shalt by prayer send letters to God: Thou shalt make thy prayer" (the word is, Thou shalt multiply thy prayers) "unto him, and he will not think thy letters troublesome, though many and long. The oftener we come to the throne of grace the more welcome. Under all thy burdens, in all thy wants, cares, and fears, thou shalt send to heaven for guidance and strength, wisdom, and comfort, and good success." [2.] "He shall, by his providence and grace, answer those letters, and give thee what thou askest of him, either in kind or kindness: He shall hear thee, and make it to appear he does so by what he does for thee and in thee." [3.] "Then thou shalt by thy praises reply to the gracious answers which he sent thee: Thou shalt pay thy vows, and that shall be acceptable to him and fetch in further mercy." Note, When God performs that which in our distress we prayed for we must make conscience of performing that which we then promised, else we do not deal honestly. If we promised nothing else we promised to be thankful, and that is enough, for it includes all, Ps. cxvi. 14.

(4.) That he should have inward satisfaction in the management of all his outward affairs (v. 28): "Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee," that is, "Thou shalt frame all thy projects and purposes with so much wisdom, and grace, and resignation to the will of God, that the issue of them shall be to thy heart's content, just as thou wouldst have it to be. Thou shalt commit thy works unto the Lord by faith and prayer, and then thy thoughts shall be established; thou shalt be easy and pleased, whatever occurs, Prov. xvi. 3. This the grace of God shall work in thee; nay, sometimes the providence of God shall give thee the very thing thou didst desire and pray for, and give it thee in thy own way, and manner, and time. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt." When at any time an affair succeeds just according to the scheme we laid, and our measures are in nothing broken, nor are we put upon new counsels, then we must own the performance of this promise, Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto thee. "Whereas now thou complainest of darkness round about thee, then the light shall shine on thy ways;" that is, "God shall guide and direct thee, and then it will follow, of course, that he shall prosper and succeed thee in all thy undertakings. God's wisdom shall be thy guide, his favour thy comfort, and thy ways shall be so under both those lights that thou shalt have a comfortable enjoyment of what is present and a comfortable prospect of what is future," Ps. xc. 17.

(5.) That even in times of common calamity and danger he should have abundance of joy and hope (v. 29): "When men are cast down round about thee, cast down in their affairs, cast down in their spirits, sinking, desponding, and ready to despair, then shalt thou say, There is lifting up. Thou shalt find that in thyself which will not only bear thee up under thy troubles, and keep thee from fainting, but lift thee up above thy troubles and enable thee to rejoice evermore." When men's hearts fail them for fear, then shall Christ's disciples lift up their heads for joy, Luke xxi. 26-28. Thus are they made to ride upon the high places of the earth (Isa. lviii. 14), and that which will lift them up is the belief of this, that God will save the humble person. Those that humble themselves shall be exalted, not only in honour, but in comfort.

3. That he should be a blessing to his country and an instrument of good to many (v. 30): God shall, in answer to thy prayers, deliver the island of the innocent, and have a regard therein to the pureness of thy hands, which is necessary to the acceptableness of our prayers, 1 Tim. ii. 8. But, because we may suppose the innocent not to need deliverance (it was guilty Sodom that wanted the benefit of Abraham's intercession), I incline to the marginal reading, The innocent shall deliver the island, by their advice (Eccl. ix. 14, 15) and by their prayers and their interest in heaven, Acts xxvii. 24. Or, He shall deliver those that are not innocent, and they are delivered by the pureness of thy hands; as it may be read, and most probably. Note, A good man is a public good. Sinners fare the better for saints, whether they are aware of it or no. If Eliphaz intended hereby (as some think he did) to insinuate that Job's prayers were not prevailing, nor his hands pure (for then he would have relieved others, much more himself), he was afterwards made to see his error, when it appeared that Job had a better interest in heaven than he had; for he and his three friends, who in this matter were not innocent, were delivered by the pureness of Job's hands, ch. xlii. 8.

CHAP. XXII. Verſe 1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite anſwered and ſaid.]

ABruptly, without any Preface he ſets upon Job; (as doth likewiſe Bildad; chap, 25.) acting the part of a ſpiteful Caviller, rather then of an ingenuous Accuſer; reckoning and ranking juſt Job among the wicked, not covertly, as before, but overtly and expreſly: and then thinking to ſalve all by an exhortation to repentance, backed with a faire promiſe of a full reſtauration. Pulcherrima pa[illegible: 1 letter]aneſis, ſed quid ad Johum, ſaith Brentius? A very good exhortation, but ill applyed. We ſhall do well to take notice what a dangerous thing it is to give way to unruly paſſions, which like heavy bodies down ſteep hills, once in motion, move themſelves, and know no ground but the bottom.

Verſe 2 Can a man be profitable unto God?] No, neither doth Job ſay he can but the contrary, chap. 21.22. Howbeit the God of glory, (as he is called, Act. 7.2. although his glory is as himſelf, infinite and eternal, and therefore not capable of our addition or detraction (the Sun would ſhine, though all the would were blind;) yet to try how we prize his glory, and what we will do for him, he hath declared that he accounteth himſelf made glorious by us, when we get ſo far as to conceive of him above all creatures.

As he that is wiſe may be profitable to himſelf?] Or, But he that is wiſe. &c. See Prov. 9.12. which Solomon ſeemeth to have taken hence. Natural reaſon taught Plantus to bring in a Countrey-man animating his ſon chearfully to follow his buſineſſe thus, Thou ploweſt, harroweſt, ſoweſt, and reapeſt for thy ſelf,Prudentiam ſelicit as ferè ſequitur. Iſai. 52.13. to thee ſhall this labour bring in joy. The word here rendred wiſe, ſometimes ſignifieth proſperous, quòd prudentibus omnia feliciter cedant, becauſe prudent perſons do uſually proſper.

Verſe 3. Is it any pleaſure to the Almighty that thou art righteous?] Num volup[illegible: 1 letter] eſt Omnipotenti, &c? Is any thing added to his joy? Or needeth he thy manners and vertues to the making up of his perfection? Nothing leſſe ſurely. True it is, that he ſolliciteth ſuitors, John 4.23. and is well pleaſed with our performances, Pſal. 51.6. But it is for our ſakes, and to our benefit, and not his own. Like as the Sun when he caſteth abroad his beames in the world, ſeemeth to receive light from ſome other creatures; whereas in truth they all receive light from him, and not he from them; ſo it is here: And as the ſame Sun draws up vapours from the earth, not for it ſelf, but to render them again to the earth, to moiſten and fatten it. So God, the true Sun of our ſouls, draweth from us our ſighs and ſervices, not for his own profit, but to rain them down again upon us in ſo many bleſſings.

Verſe 4. Will he reprove thee for fear of thee?] Doth he plague and puniſh thee thus, for fear that in time thou maiſt grow ſo over-good, that he cannot reward thee, or ſo over-great, that he cannot command thee? No ſuch marter. Others read it thus: Would he reprove thee for thy Religion? Would he come into judgement with thee? q.d. Vox timoris ſive religionis activè ſumitur, &c. Merlin. [illegible: 1 word] Surely God would not deal thus harſhly with thee if thou didſt truly fear him: But thou art a wicked wretch, as verſe 5. Either God puniſheth thee for thy piety or thy ſinfulneſſe. Not for the former, doubtleſſe, (for piety is profitable to all things, &c.) therefore for the latter. This is Eliphaz his Argument here.Vel ad demonſtrationem debitae miſeriae, vel ad emendationem labilis vitae vel ad exercitationem neceſſariae patientiae, &c. But Auſtin makes anſwer (beſides what Job doth in the two following Chapters) Fract. in Joan. 124. God chaſtiſeth his beſt children ſometimes for his own glory, as John 9.3. ſometimes for their good; as namely for prevention, probation, purgation, preparation, either to the performance of ſome ſpecial ſervice; or to the receipt of ſome ſpecial bleſſing, &c.

Will he enter with thee into judgment?] This ſeemeth to be the ſame in ſenſe with the former Hemiſtich: and then it ſhewes Eliphaz his confidence, though he were in an error.

Verſe 5. Is not thy wickedneſſe great?] Why no: God of his grace had kept Job innocent of the great tranſgreſſion, Pſal. 19.13. and that wicked one had not touched him: 1 John 5.18.Tactu qualitativo, Ca[illegible: 1 letter]etan. ſcil. with a deadly couch; had not thruſt his ſting into him, or transformed him into ſinnes image. Had Eliphaz ever found Job to be ſuch a one as here he maketh him? Or doth he not by theſe interrogatories, cunningly come over him (in kindneſſe, as we ſay) to make him confeſſe it? Had all been true that is alledged, Jobs wickedneſſe muſt needs have been great, and his iniquity infinite. But to be accuſed is not enough to render a man guilty; for then who ſhould be innocent? Novit ſapiens ſe ad hoc ſcamma productum, u[illegible: 1 letter] depugnet cum[illegible: 1 letter] i[illegible: 1 letter]s qui maledict is aluntur, ut venenis capreae. Cato was two and thirty times accuſed, and as often abſolved.

And thine iniquities infinite?] Heb. There is no end of thine iniquities: and hence it is that thy miſeries are ſo many and ſo long laſting; commerniſt[illegible: 1 letter] tanta tuis ſc[illegible: 1 letter]leribus. The wicked indeed are eternally tormented; 1. Becauſe being worthleſſe, they cannot ſatisfie Gods Juſtice in any time: 2. Becauſe they have an infinite deſire of ſinning againſt God.Conjecturà duntaxat, non rei veritate nititur. But neither of theſe could be truly affirmed of Job, That ſo grave a man as Eliphaz. (whom the Jew-Doctors account a Prophet) ſhould fall ſo fowle upon his innocent friend: and taking occaſion by his great afflictions onely, conjecture and conclude him ſo hainous an Offendor, cannot poſſibly be excuſed.

Verſe 6. For thou haſt taken a pledge, &c.] Bona verba, quaeſo, Eliphaz. How well might Job have cryed out, as David afterwards did, Pſal. 35.11. Falſe witneſſes roſe up, they laid to my charge things that I knew not. Here he ſtands accuſed, 1. Of inhumanitie and crueltie; 2. of Irreligion and Impiety. But he fully cleareth himſelf of both,Ruffin. lib. 10. c. 15. chap. 30. and 31. Athanaſius in like ſort was falſely accuſed of Adultery in the Counſel of Tyre, Anno 3.43. Euſtathius Biſhop of Entioch, was injuriouſly deprived for the ſame cauſe, about the latter end of Conſtantine the Great. Adultery,Acts & Mon. Hereſie and Treaſon were objected to Archbiſhop Cranmer. Parricide to Mr. Philpot, Sedition to Father Latimer; to which he anſwereth. As for Sedition, for ought that I know, me thinks I ſhould not need Chriſt, if I might ſo ſay.

For nought] Or, unconſcionably, as one rendreth it: and herein lay the fault. See Deut. 24.6, 10.

And ſtripped the naked of their cloathing] If naked, how could he ſtrip them, hilde them, as the word ſignifieth? Chryſoſtom uſeth this Proverb, Nudus nec a c[illegible: 2 letters]tum viris ſpoiliatur, He that is naked cannot be ſtripped by an hundred men. We alſo have a Proverb, Where nothing can be had the King muſt loſe his right. And again, He is like to get little Who robbeth a Spittle.

In the late Germane Wars, the Crabats, at Altroff an Univerſity, plundered the Scholars,Life of the King of Sweden. and put poor Genus and Species to their Ranſome. Micah inveyeth againſt ſuch Canibal Princes, as pluckt the skin from the fleſh, and the fleſh from the bones of the poor oppreſſed, chap. 3.2, 3. See the Note there. That which Eliphaz here chargeth Job with, but without truth, is that he ſcript off the cloathing of the naked; that is, that finding them poor enough, he left them yet poorer: hardly having a rag to hang on their backs, through his extortion.

Verſe 7. Thou haſt not given water to the weary to drink] But haſt ſlain him with thirſt; when thou mighteſt have ſaved him with a cup of cold water. Qui non, cum poteſt, ſervat, occidit: Not to do good (when it is in the power of a mans hand) is to do evil; and not to ſave a life is to deſtroy it, Mark. 3.4. Not robbing only, but not relieving of the beggar, was the rich mans ruine, Luk. 16. who for a cup of cold water, duely given, might have had heaven, Matth. 10.42. But, what meant Eliphaz to charge innocent and munificent Job with ſuch a cruelty? 1 The man was angry; and Imp[illegible: 1 letter]dit ira animum nè poſſit cernere verum.Horat. 2: He ſeems not directly to charge him with theſe crimes;Neceſſe eſt, ut fatcaris t[illegible: 1 letter] aut hoc, aut illud, aut omnia commifiſſe, &c. Junius. but to urge him to conſider and confeſs, that he could not be but a grievous ſinner, who was ſo great a ſufferer. Surely God would never handle thee ſo hardly, unleſs thou wert deeply guilty of theſe or the like enormities.

Thou haſt with-holden Bread from the hungry.] Bread thou hadſt enough and to ſpare: but, like a greedy-gut Pamphagus, thou wouldſt part with none, though it were to ſave the life, not of thine enemy (which yet thou ſhouldeſt have done, Prov. 25.21. Eliſha feaſted his Perſecutors, 2 Kings 6. Iſaac his wrong-doers, Gen. 26.39. by a noble revenge) but of thy fellow-friend and brother by race, place, and grace. Thou haſt hidden thine eyes from thine own fleſh, when thou ſhouldeſt have dealt thy Bread to the hungry, Eſa. 58.7. Yea, drawn, out thy ſoul (and not thy ſheafe only) famelic[illegible: 1 letter], to the hunger-ſtarved, and ſatisfied the afflicted ſoul, verſ. 10.

Verſe 8. But as for the mighty man, he had the Earth.] Heb. But as for the man of Arm, he had the Land. This the vulgar applieth to Job: as if by his power he had wrought all others out, and ſeated himſelf alone in the Land;Pauperes non dignaris pane: at potentibu[illegible: 1 letter] poſſeſſiones [illegible: 1 word] offers, &c. Vatab. ſuffering none to dwell by him, but thoſe that he could not over-match. Others by the mighty man underſtand the ſtrong and wealthy; who are ſaid to be gracious with Job, ſharing with him in his Poſſeſſions, and partaking of his Priviledges, when the poor were ſlighted and could not have Juſtice, much leſs Mercy. Here then Eliphaz accuſeth Job of Pride and Partiality.

And the honorable man dwel[illegible: 1 letter] in it.] Heb. Eminent, or accepted for countenance: that is, he who came commended by his wealth, friends, great alliances, honours, &c. was in great requeſt with Job, and might eaſily carry any cauſe with him. Hac ſunt peccate graviſſima, quae non reputant homines, ſaith Vatablus, Theſe are very great ſins, though men little think of it.

Verſe 9. Thou haſt ſont Widows away empty.] A Widow is a calamitous name,Vi[illegible: 1 letter]u[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 word] et de[illegible: 1 letter]elict[illegible: 1 letter] nihil eſt humiliu[illegible: 1 letter]: ex p[illegible: 1 letter]oinde peculiariter viduarum [illegible: 1 letter]udex et vindex eſt Deus. Bain. in Prov. 15. 2 Sam. 14.5. I am indeed a Widow-woman and my Husband is dead. As a Tree whoſe root is uncovered thriveth not: ſo it fareth with a widow. R. Jon[illegible: 1 letter] obſerveth, That in Hebrew ſhe hath her name from dumbneſs, quòd m[illegible: 1 letter]rit[illegible: 1 letter] mortuo reſpondere non poſſit adverſariis, et ſe adverſus eos tueri, becauſe now that her Husband is dead, ſhe cannot anſwer her adverſaries, or defend her ſelf againſt them. God therefore hath taken them and their Orphans into his tuition, owning them as his Clients, and commanding all men to be good to them. Theſe if Job had indeed ſent away empty, not only not releiving their neceſſities, but raviſhing their eſtates, adding the miſery of poverty to that of their condition, he had ſurely ſubjected himſelf to the feirce wrath of God, their P[illegible: 1 letter]tro[illegible: 1 letter] by a ſpecialty.

And the arms of the fatherleſs have been broken.] Immanis injuria, ſi ita res haberet, ſed calumnia erat, ſaith Mercer. This had been a crying crime, if it could have been proved againſt Job; but he was not the man: Some from theſe words conclude him a Judge; others a King. Doubtleſs he was a porent perſon, and by his greatneſs could have borne out his ſouleſt outrages, breaking through the lattice of the Laws, as the bigger Flyes do through a Spider-web. Sed alia de ſe infrà profi[illegible: 2 letters]bi[illegible: 1 letter]ur, ſaith Mercer here: But Job ſhall clear himſelf in the following Chapters: where we ſhall finde him deſcribed and charactered to have been the Oracle of Wiſdom, the Guardian of Juſtice, the Refuge of Innocency, the comet of the Guilty, the patron of Peace, and pattern of Piety, to Magiſtrates eſpecially, in the wiſe managing of all publick Affairs, both of Judgement and Mercy.

Verſe 10. Therefore ſnares are round about thee.] Flagitium & flagellum ſunt ſicut acus et filam. Sin and Puniſhment are tyed together with chains of Adamant. Eliphaz having with more earneſtneſs than truth ſet forth Jobs ſins, now diſcourſeth of his ſnares. Four puniſhments he aſſureth him of, and every one worſe than other. 1. He ſhall be Inſnared. 2. Frighted. 3. Benighted. 4. Overwhelmed, if Repentance ſtep not in and take up the matter, as verſ 22. And tis as if he ſhould ſay, Seek not after any other cauſe of thy Calamities than thy forementioned wickedneſſes: neither ſeek any other way to get off, than by confeſſing and forſaking them, that thou mayſt have mercy.

And ſudden fear troubleth thee:] Fear is a troubleſome Paſſion: and ſudden evils are very terrible, becauſe they expectorate a mans abilities, and render him helpleſs, ſhiftleſs, comfortleſs. See this in Saul, who ſurprized with ſudden horrour at his deſtiny read him by the Devil, fell ſtraightway all along on the earth like an Ox, and was ſore afraid, and there was no ſtrength in him, 1 Sam. 28.20. Job alſo had his fears, but then he had his cordials too, that kept him from falling under them.

Verſe 11. Or darkneſs, that thou canſt not ſee.] Sunt tenebrae ſupplicia, et damnatorum deſperationes, ſaith Brentius here; By darkneſs are meant puniſhments temporal, and eternal. Others underſtand the text of blindneſs and confuſion of minde, that can neither ſee the cauſe of trouble, nor finde an iſſue.

And abundance of waters cover thee] So that although thou ſhouldeſt eſcape the ſnares, out-live the fears, run away in the dark, yet how wilt thou avoid the Deluge of Deſtruction, the over-flowing ſcourge that carrieth all before it?

Verſe 12. Is not God in the height of Heaven?] Some adde out of the next verſe, theſe words, Sayeſt thou; making Jobs Atheiſtical ſpeeches (here mimetically fathered upon him by Eliphaz) an argument of his great wickedneſs; as if Job ſhould ſay, and ſo diſcover himſelf (for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth ſpeaketh, Matth. De Dii[illegible: 1 letter], utrum ſint, non auſim affirmare. Prot. 12.) to be of Protagoras his opinion, who doubted of a Deity: Or of Diagoras his, who flatly denied it: Or at leaſt of Ariſtotles, who pent up God in heaven; and taught that he took little or no care of things done on earth. But what ſaith the Pſalmiſt? (and Job was of the ſame minde, whatever the Jew-Doctors affirm of him to the contrary,)Pſal. 115.3. Pſal. 113.4, 5, 6, 7. Our God is in the Heavens: he hath done whatſoever he pleaſed in heaven and in earth. The Lord is high above all Nations: and his glory above the Heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high: who humbleth himſelf to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth? He raiſeth up the poor out of the duſt,2 Chron, 16.9. &c. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth to ſhew himſelf ſtrong,Rom. 1.18. &c. His wrath is revealed from heaven againſt all ungodlineſs and unrighteouſneſs of men. Job had frequently acknowledged and celebrated the power and providence of God, his judgements upon the wicked, his fatherly chaſtiſements upon himſelf; deeply deteſting all ſuch thoughts and ſpeeches as he is here wrongfully made the Author of.

And behold the height of the Stars.] Heb. The head of the ſtars; thoſe that are the very higheſt, and at the top of the viſible heaven, the eighth heaven, beyond which ſome of the Ancients acknowledged not any other. Ariſtotle ſaith, That beyond the aſpectable and moveable heavens,Decoel. Text. 99. there is neither body, nor time, nor place, nor vacuum. But the ſcripture teacheth us, That there is beyond the Stars (how high ſet ſoever) a third heaven, a heaven of heavens, the Throne of God, and habitation of the Bleſſed: The ſtarry sky is but as the brick-wall encompaſſing this lofty Palace, the glorious and glittering rough-caſt thereof.

How high they are.] Ʋt vix [illegible: 1 letter]ò noſter poſſit aſpectus pertingere, ſo high that our eyes can hardly reach them.Mercer. It is a wonder, that we can look up to ſo admirable a height, and that the very eye is not tyred in the way. Now God is far, far above the ſtars, omnium ſupremus, altiſſimorum altiſſ[illegible: 1 letter]mus, The high and lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity,Propterea quod tantum Chaos ſit in[illegible: 1 letter]er nos et De [illegible: 3 letters]. Vat. Iſa. 57.17. dwelleth in light inacceſſible, 1 Tim. 6.16. ſuch as whereof no natural knowledge can be had, nor any help by humane Arts, Geometry, Opticks, &c. How then can he ſee from ſuch a diſtance what is here done on earth, ſaith the Atheiſt? who thinks to hide himſelf from God, becauſe he hath hidden God from himſelf? Hear him elſe in the next verſe. See alſo Ezek. 8.12. and 9.9.

Verſe 13. And thou ſayeſt, How doth God know?] A bruitiſh queſtion, Pſal. 94.7, 8. and never of Jobs making. There are a fort of ſuch miſcreants as believe nothing but what they ſee with their bodily eyes: and indeed, for a finite creature to believe the infinite Attributes of God, he is not able to do it throughly, without ſupernatural grace; which therefore muſt be begged of God, Jam. 1.5. that he would give us the ſpirit of wiſdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of our underſtanding being enlightened, &c. Epheſ. 1.17, 18. For want whereof, the wicked, blinded with ſin, ask ſuch ſenſeleſs and blaſphemous queſtions as this in the text, and thoſe like this, Pſal. 10.11. Zeph. 1.12. See the Note there.Plin. 1.2. c. 7. It is a ridiculous thing, ſaith Pliny, to think that the higheſt Majeſty taketh care of humane affaires, a ſervice (doubtleſs) far below him, and unworthy of his greatneſs.

Can he judge through the dark cloud?] Can he diſcern through ſuch a dark medium? Sicut pueri vultum obvelant, putantes ſeſe tum non conſpici. Lavat. Men cannot ſee God; and therefore ſome fools are apt to think that neither can he ſee them. But that Job was far from any ſuch thought, ſee chap. 21.16.22. To blame therefore was Eliphaz to charge him with ſuch a wickedneſs: and all becauſe he had ſaid, that in this life bad men oft proſper, and better men ſuffer, which yet is verum tanquam ex tripode, very true; and not at all derogatory to the divine providence.

Verſe 14. Thick clouds are a covering to him.] He lyeth cloſe hid among the clouds, and ſeeth nothing. But be the clouds never ſo thick, Chriſt's eyes are a flaming fire, Rev. 1.14. And the School of Nature teacheth, That the fiery eye needeth no outward light, but ſeech extra-mittendo, by ſending out a ray, &c. He will freely blot out the ſins of his people as a cloud, and their tranſgreſſions as a thick cloud, Eſa. 44.22. & 43.25. but the clouds cannot hinder him from ſight of their ſins; for he is All-eye: and darkneſs and light are both alike to him, Pſal. 139.12. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. A cloud may come between the body of the Sun and us: and the whole. Hemiſphere may be masked and over-caſt as we call it, but nothing can keep God from eying and ordering all things.

And he walke h in the circuit of heaven.] Where it ſeemeth thou thinkeſt he only manageth matters and beareth rule, and not below. So indeed the Peripateticks thought, and taught. Agreeably whereunto Lyſippus made Alexanders picture looking up to heaven, with this Poſie, Juppiter, aſſerui terram mihi, tu aſſere coelum.

With which picture Alexander was ſo delighted,Plin. l. 6. c. 16. that he proclaimed that none ſhould take his picture but Lyſippus.

Auguſtus alſo heard with delight, Diviſum imperium cum Jove Caeſar habet.Virgil. vita.

And the Great Turk, vexed at his great loſs in the laſt Aſſault of Scodra, moſt horribly blaſphemed againſt God, ſaying,Turk. Hiſt. fol, 423. That it were enough for him to have care of heavenly things, and not to croſs him in his worldly actions. The Atheiſt here taketh it for granted, That God hath enough to do to walk from place to place in Heaven, (as Princes do in their Progreſs) and to order thoſe heavenly bodies how they ſhall affect theſe lower bodies, by their light, heat, and influence, &c. Fain they would confine him to that circuit or circle (the heavens are ſuppoſed to be ſphaerical and circular) that he might meddle no further. Fain they would perſwade themſelves and others, That God hath caſt off the care of earthly buſineſs, and committed all to Fate and Fortune: that many might live far more comfortable, if they were leſs conſciencious: that it dothing concerneth God, whether men do or not do this or that, &c. Such duſt-heap[illegible: 1 letter]s as theſe may be eaſily found in every corner; for all places are full of them, and ſo is hell too. As for Job, the Counſel of theſe wicked ones was far from him, chap. 21.16. he was the worſe to think of them: whatever Eliphaz (by miſtake of his meaning at the leaſt) thought of him.

Verſe 15. Haſt thou marked the old way?] Heb. The way of old. Broughton rendreth it, the way of the old world: of thoſe ungodly ones before the Flood. Hereby it appeareth, ſay our Learned Annotatours, that Job lived before the deliverance out of Egypt, becauſe he mentioneth the Creation and the Flood, but not that deliverance; which had he knowne, it would have affo[illegible: 1 letter]ded him an excellent Argument to prove that godly men might be in great afflict on, as the Iſraelites were in Egypt; and his friends a plauſible argument that God uſeth to deſtroy wicked men for their ſin, as he did the Egyptians in the red ſea.

Which wicked men have trodden.] Heb. Mortals of iniquity, or vanity. Viri nequam & nequaquam, vel nibili; Men of wickedneſſe with a witneſſe. The face of the old world was grown ſo fowle, that God was fain to waſh it with a flood. All was out of order in family, State and Church. In the Family was found Luxury, and unlawful Marriages. In the State, Tyranny, violence, rapacity and injuſtice. In the Church, contempt of Gods Word, and a fond opinion that God did not order all by his Providence. but that a man might do well enough without him. Now that this was the Opinion of thoſe Antediluvian Belialiſts, ſome have gathered from this Text, which they read thus, Wilt thou follow the old way; that is, the Tenet of thoſe old ſinners againſt their own ſouls, whom God for their damnable ſecurity and licentiouſneſs (the products of ſuch a portentous opinion) buried all together in one univerſal grave of waters?

Verſe 16.Intempeſta morte abrepti. Jun. Which were cut down out of time] Or, Which grew full of wrinkles (as thoſe that have long lien in the water are apt to do) and not time; that is, before that time of life that they had promiſed themſelves on earth; or before they had fulfilled the dayes of their forefathers, who though wicked above meaſure many of them, yet the flood could not come, till Methuſelah (the laſt liver of the ten Patriarks) were laid up. God cuts off ſome notoriouſly wicked betime, when in the courſe of Nature they might have lived longer, that they may do no more hurt, as the Gardener deſtroyeth young Henbane, and the Country man young Vermins.

Whoſe foundation was overflown with a flood] Heb. A river was powred upon their foundation. This ſome underſtand of that River of Brimſtone and fire powred from heaven upon Sodom and her ſiſters: But better take it of thoſe in Noahs dayes, whoſe foundation (that is, the earth, that foundation of mankind: or their wealth and proſperity, whereon they thought themſelves firmely founded, or their lives, &c.) were everſlowne with a flood; which came ruſhing in upon them with mighty force, and drowned the Univerſe. And here the Hebrewes make to be the middle of this Book of Job, wherein they reckon in all One thouſand and ſeventy verſes.

Verſe 17. Which ſaid unto God, Depart from us] Atheiſts, thoſe Antediluvians were; if not Dogmatical, yet practical, ſuch as Job had deſcribed, ſpeaking the like language of hell, chap. 21.14. Et malicioſe eum Eliphazus talium atheorum numero accenſet, ſaith Mercer, And maliciouſly doth Eliphaz reckon Job among thoſe odious Atheiſts, ſo thinking to cut his throat with his owne ſword, and confute him with his own words. Malice cares not how truly things are ſet forth, ſo it may gall or kill.

And what can the Almighty do for them?] that is, They asked, what can the Almighty do for them? As if God neither could nor would reward their ſervices: as if he would do them neither good nor evil. The Seventy render it, [non-Latin text not transcribed] What will he bring upon us? q.d. He threatneth us with a flood, but when trow, and how? Let the day of the Lord come? Iſai. 5 19. Where is the promiſe of his coming, &c? 2 Pet 2. Thus they jeered when it was fitter they ſhould have feared? but what was the iſſue?

Verſe 18 Yet he filled their houſes with good things] Heb. With good; that is, with all precious and pleaſant riches, whereof he gave them both plenty and propriety, but no otherwiſe then as Joſeph cauſed his cup to he conveyed into Benjamins ſack the better to furniſh out an Indictment againſt him. And as Benjamins pretended theft was held more hainous, by how much his welcome was the greater, for he had a five-fold portion: ſo ſhall it one day fare with ſuch rich wretches, as whoſe bellies God filleth with his hid treaſure, and whoſe houſes he filleth top full with good things. —Eutrapelus cuicunque nocere volebat. Veſtiment a d[illegible: 1 letter]bat pretioſa—Horat. Well might Eliphaz add, all things reckoned.

But (or yet) the counſel of the wicked is (or be it) far from me] See theſe words expounded, chap 21.16. where Job hath the very ſame. Sed ea vult illi eripere Eliphaz. ſaith a learned Interpreter. But Eliphaz will needs take them away from him: and it is as if he ſhould ſay, Thou, O Job, ſeemeſt by thy words, and with thy mouth to deteſt the counſel of the wicked; but thy doings declare the contrary. Whilſt thou ſo many wayes celebrateſt the proſperity of the ungodly. To me therefore, and to all righteous men, who do heartily hare the wicked, and do ſeriouſly ſet forth Gods juſt judgments againſt them, doth this ſpeech better agree, and more truly appertaine, &c. And as for theſe righteous men, let me tell thee further,

Verſe 19. The righteous ſee it, and are glad] And as for my ſelf, The counſel of the wicked is far from me: I do therefore abominate their preſent proſperity, becauſe they ſhall ſhortly be for a laughing ſtock to all good men: The upright ſhall ſee it and be glad, and all iniquity ſhall ſtop her mouth, as ſelf-condemned, and therefore by the Saints (ſwallowed up with a zeal of Gods glory) rightly derided, Pſal. 52 6. and 58.11.

And the Innocent laugh them to ſcorn] Not out of ill will, or envy, or other corrupt affection: But 1. For the glory of God, whoſe Power, Juſtice and Goodneſſe is hereby evinced and evidenced. 2. For the good of others, who ſtumble at the proſperity of the ungodly, or elſe are eaſed of their cruelty. 3. And hereunto, That it is never the worſe for the wicked themſelves, that God taketh them off. For if they be Elect, they repent ere they dye: as if Reprobates, they are kept hereby from adding to their ſin, and ſo to their torments, which ſhall be proportionable thereunto. Thoſe that underſtand this verſe of Noah and his ſons, rejoycing when they ſaw the reſt drowned, and themſelves preſerved, render the words thus, The righteous ſaw it and were glad, and the innocent laughed them to ſcorn. A late reverend man of God amongſt us, Mr. Jeremy Dyke p 183. in a Diſcourſe of his about the benefit of a good conſcience in times of common calamity, brings in Noah and thoſe with him in the Ark, inſulting over the periſhing old world thus: Now Jubal let us hear one of your merry ſongs, pipe now, and make your ſelf merry, as you were wont in gybing at Noahs folly in making a Ship to ſaile on dry land. What aileſt thou Jubal, to howle and wring thine hands thus? Where is thy Harp and Organs now? Now the flood is come, now Noah is in his Cabbin, and the water begins to be chin-deep, tell me, O Jubal, whether building of Tents, or building of an Ark be the wiſer work? Would you not give all the ſhooes in your ſhop, all the tools in your tents, all the cattel in your flocks, to be but where Noahs dog lies? And now Sirs, you that were ſuch men of Renown, Gen. 6.4. you that were the brave Gallants of the earth, now tell me who is the fool, and who is the wiſe man now. Thus he. Piſcator takes the next verſe, Where as (or, though) our ſubſtance is not cut down, but (or, yet) the remnant of them the fire conſumeth, to be ſpoken in the perſon of Noah, whom he makes the innocent man here mentioned; and adds, Saying, in the beginning of the next verſe; As if Noah coming out of the Ark ſhould waſh his feet in the blood of thoſe wicked; and ſay. God hath preſerved me and mine, (our ſincerity hath prevailed for our ſafety) and in his wrath deſtroyed the ungodly. But I rather concur with Tremellius, and Merlin, and others, who make this verſe coherent with, and preparatory to the following famous Exhortation to Repentance, Verſe 21, 22, 23, &c. Acquaint thy ſelf now with him, and be at peace, &c. But be ſure thou do it now, that is ſpeedily and timouſly.

Verſe 20. When as our ſubſtance is not cut down] that is, Whiles life laſteth, and whiles it is called to day; before death cometh: and after death, judgement: when the remnant of the wicked fire ſhall conſume. Where we have a forcible motive to repent, becauſe we muſt either [illegible: 1 letter]urn or burn, Aut poenitendum, aut pereundum, See Acts 17.31. 2 Cor. 5.10, 11. Heb. 12.28, 29. Eliphaz ſeemeth here on purpoſe to have mentioned that fire wherewith wicked men ſhall be tormented at the laſt day, and before (for every mans deaths-day is his doom-day) and to have changed the perſon.

The remnant (or excellency) of them the fire conſumeth] That it might the more effectually move men to repent, that they may be delivered from the wrath to come. And here I could willingly take up Chryſoſtomes wiſh, Vtinam ubique de Gehenna diſſereretur! Oh that men would talk more every where of hell fire unquenchable, intolerable, and the fuel thereof made of the moſt tormenting temper, Iſai. 30.33. It was a ſpeech of Gregory Nyſſen, He that does but hear of hell, is without any further labour or ſtudy taken off from ſinful pleaſures, and ſet upon the practice of mortification. But mens hearts are grown harder now adayes, and he that ſhall obſerve their impiety and impenitency, may well ſay to them, as Cato once did to Ceſar, Credo quae de inferis dicuntur falſa exiſtimas, I believe thou thinkeſt all but a fable that is ſaid concerning hell.

Eſſe aliquos Manes, &c. Nec pueri credunt niſi qui nondum aere lavantur.Juven. Sat. 2.

Verſe 21. Acquaint now thy ſelf with him] Accommoda [illegible: 1 word] nune illi[illegible: 1 letter] aſſ[illegible: 1 letter]eſce cum illo. Converſe with God in an humble familiarity; ſet him at the right hand, Pſal 16.8. be ever at his hand, Ʋt famulus ſon accenſus, as Attendant upon his perſon. In all thy wayes acknowledge him, and let him direct thy paths, Prov. 3.6. Ask counſel at his mouth, aime at his glory, be thou in his fear all the day long, Prov. 23.17. Account it thine happineſſe to be in communion with him, and conformity to him, in all parts and points of duty. The Lord is with you, if you be with him, 2 Chron. 15.3.

And be at peace,] Return to him by repentance, from whom thou haſt ſo deeply revolted, and againſt whom thou haſt ſo ſhamefully rebelled. For Eliphaz here takes it for granted,Acquieſce ei. that Job had eſtranged himſelf from God, and therefore could not poſſibly be at peace till better acquainted with him, and acquieſcing in him, as the Vulgar here hath it. No creature is more fearful then a fiſh, flying at the ſhadow of a man; yet it feareth not the roaring Ocean, (which yet Lions, and other fierce creatures feare) becauſe it is of its own nature and acquaintance. A ſheep feareth not his ſhepherd; nor ſhall we God, if once acquainted with him: Pe[illegible: 2 letters]e ſhall be within thy walls, and proſperity within thy Tabernacles.

Thereby good ſhall come unto thee] Happy ſhalt thou be, and it ſhall be well with thee, Pſal. 128.2. A Coruncopia, a confluence of all manner of comforts and contentments ſhall betide thee: but then thou muſt humble thy ſelf to walk with thy God, Mi[illegible: 1 letter]. 6.8. by faith walk with God, and by reflection walk with thy ſelfe: Compone, & emenda vias tu[illegible: 2 letters] coram Domino, and then thou needeſt not ſay with the worldling, Who will ſhew us any good? Pſal. 4.6. for God himſelf will ſay unto thee, as once he did to Moſes, when he gave him but a glimpſe of himſelf and his glory, Oſtendam tibiomne bonum, I will make all my goodneſſe paſſe before thee, Ex[illegible: 1 letter]d. 33.19.

Verſe 22, Receive, I pray thee, the Law from his mouth] Now he ſpeaks Job fair, whom before he had ſufficiently rippled up, and rough-hewed, without mercy, or ſo much as truth. That which he here perſwadeth him to, is to depend upon God for direction and ſucceſſe in all his enterprizes: to conſult with him upon all occaſions, and not to do ought without his warranty and approbation. Gods teſtimonies were Davids delight, and his Counſellors, Pſalm 119.24. All that adviſe not with theſe, muſt needs be without underſtanding, a Nation void of counſel, Deut. 32.28.

And lay up his words in thine heart.] Heb. Put his word, as the Tables were put in the Ark; mingle Gods Word with faith in thine heart, as in a veſſel: Cor autem ſit carnen[illegible: 1 letter] fide; the flinty heart is made flaſhly by faith, and capable of divine impreſſions.

Verſe 23. If thou return to the Almighty, thou ſhalt be built up.] By ſin men run from God, by repentance they return to him. Break off thy ſins by repentance, and put away iniquity far from thy Tabernacle (for iniquity and repentance cannot cohabit, and he is no true Penitentiary, that reformeth not his family, that ſetteth not up God, wherever he hath to do) ſo ſhalt thou be built up; that is, thou ſhalt be reſtored, and all thy loſſes in wealth and Children ſhall be made up again: prorſus erigeris qui [illegible: 1 letter]am collapſus es: thou, who art now down on all four, ſhalt be new ſet up, and made to ſtand in thy former ſtrength. Only thou muſt return uſque ad Om [illegible: 1 letter]potentem, all out as far as to the Almighty, thou muſt not give the half-turn only as hypocrites do, but with thy whole heart; and as Joel 2.12. ſee the Note there. Thus Eliphaz diſcourſeth very well, and handſomly of the buſineſs in hand: Only he was out in this, That he looked upon Job as an impenitent perſon, and upon his family as ill-ordered, As alſo, in that he conceived that true repentance is ever rewarded with outward and inward proſperity: whereas a penitent perſon may continue under croſſes, though God will ſurely ſave the humble, as he ſaith afterwards, verſe 29. and, repentance can turn croſſes into comforts: and like the Philoſophers ſtone, make golden afflictions, 1 Pet. 1.7. As ſcarlet pulls out the teeth of a Serpent, ſo this takes away the ſting of a judgement. As wine draweth a nouriſhing vertue from the fleſh of Vipers, &c.

Verſe 24. Then ſhalt thou lay up gold as duſt] Which is as much as to ſay (ſaith One) thou ſhalt make pavements of gold; ſee 2 Chron. 1.15. Pſal. 68.30. Then ſhalt thou have thy deſire; for thou ſhall be rich with content, which is worth a million, as another paraphraſeth it. Beza rendreth it thus, Caſt thy gold on the ground, (even that worldly pelf, whereto thou haſt been wholly addicted) and let the gold of Op[illegible: 1 letter]ir beunt thee as the peeble-ſtonts of the brooks, (make no more account of it than of thoſe ſmall ſtones) and let the Almighty be thy tower, let him be unto thee as plenty of ſilver. The Spaniards are ſaid to have found in the Mines of America, more Gold than Earth. Perhaps Eliphaz here promiſeth Job, that upon his return to God, his Land ſhould have many rich veines of Gold: And ſo One paraphraſeth this text thus; Then ſhall you acquit your ſelf of all your loſſes,Senault. and you ſhall recover with uſury what was taken from you: for, for barren lands which could being forth nothing, you ſhall have ſuch as in their intrails ſhall produce Porphyry: and in ſtead of thoſe unprofitable Rocks which made a part of your Eſtate, you ſhall have fertile Mines, from whence ſhall iſſue Rivers of Gold. Agreeable whereunto is that Expoſition of Bren[illegible: 1 letter]ius, Repo[illegible: 2 letters]etur pro pul[illegible: 1 letter]er[illegible: 1 letter] aurum, pro vili precioſum[illegible: 1 letter] pro fluv[illegible: 1 letter]is ar[illegible: 1 letter] nam trabentibus, terrentes a[illegible: 1 letter]eis lapillis impleti; Thou ſhalt have for Duſt Gold: for vile things thoſe that are precious: for ſandy rivers, golden torrents. An byperbolical expreſſion.

And the Gold of Ophir.] Where the beſt Gold grew: poſſibly the ſame with Peru, the letters only tranſpoſed. Ophir, Gen. 10. was one of the ſons of [illegible: 1 letter]oktan, who came of Shem, from whom, ſaith Joſephus, a Country in India abounding with Gold, had its name. Him aurum obrizune dictum, quaſe Ophirizum: Ophir, is here put for the Gold of Ophir: for the word Gold is not in the original.

Verſe 25. Yea, the Almighty ſhall be thy defence.] Or, thy Gold, for the ſame word ſignifieth both: chap. 36.19. becauſe Gold is the worldly mans defence, Prov. 18.11. though but a [illegible: 1 letter]o[illegible: 2 letters]y one, Zeph. 1.18. Prov. 11.4. Ezek. 7.19. It is as if he ſhould ſay, Either thou ſhalt have gold Gods plenty; or elſe, then ſhalt have that which is better than gold, viz. God the Maker and Maſter of all the world, ſaith [illegible: 1 word], who rendreth the [illegible: 1 word]; And the Almighty: ſhall be thy choiceſt gold, and ſilver, and ſtrenght to [illegible: 1 word] He ſhall be all that heart can wiſh, or need require. A friend of Cyrus, in [illegible: 1 letter]eno p[illegible: 1 letter]on, being asked where him Treaſure was? Anſwered, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Where Cyrus is my friend: Let us anſwer, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Where God is my friend. When David had ſaid, The Lord is my portion, he ſubjoyned in the next verſe, The [illegible: 1 span] pleaſant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage, Pſal. 10.5, 6. When God had ſaid to Abraham, Law thy ſ[illegible: 2 letters]i[illegible: 2 letters], he eaſily ſlighted the King of Sol[illegible: 1 letter]o[illegible: 3 letters]ith offers.

And whom [illegible: 1 word] have [illegible: 1 span] ] Heb. Silver of ſtrengths, or of heights [illegible: 1 word] that is, at the rulgar interp[illegible: 1 letter]epe[illegible: 1 letter]h it; [illegible: 1 span] coacer[illegible: 1 letter]abit[illegible: 2 letters] tibi; thou ſhalt have high heapt of ſilver, ſtore of money [illegible: 1 span] hath the promiſes of both lives: and if godly men are not [illegible: 1 span], it is, that godlineſs may he adtmired for it ſelf? And they muſt know[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 span] in remporals, ſhall be made up in ſpirituals; according to [illegible: 1 word] which folleweth.

Verſe 26. For then ſhalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty.] As in thine onely Portion. Thou ſhalt enjoy him which is the top of humane happineſs: ſolace thy ſelf in the fruition of him, ta[illegible: 2 letters]e and ſee how good the Lord is, and thereupon love him dearly, Pſal. 18.1. not only with a love of deſire, as Pſal. 42.1, 2. but of complacency, as Pſal. 73.25, 26. affecting not only an union, but an unity with him: and converſing with him, as we may, in the mean while, in a fruitful and chearful uſe of his holy Ordinances.

And ſhalt lift up thy face unto God.] Wrapping thy ſelf in Chriſts righteouſneſs, thou ſhalt draw nigh to God with an humble boldneſs in duty, and not doubt but he will draw nigh to thee in mercy.Melch. Ad. in vita. It is ſaid of Luther, that he pray'd with ſo great reverence as unto God; and yet with ſo great confidence, as to his friend.

Verſe 27. Then ſhalt make thy prayer unto him, and he ſhall he[illegible: 1 letter]r thee.] Yea, though thou multiply prayer and intorceſſion for thy ſelf and others (as the word ſignifieth,Multiplicabis verba tua. Mer. and as afterwards Job did for Eliphaz and his fellows, or elſe it bad gone worſe with them) yet he ſhall hear thee in all: Thou ſhalt as his favourite, have the royalty of his eare, and he ſhall ſay unto thee ſeriouſly as Z[illegible: 3 letters]kiah did once to his Courtiers ſoothingly, The King can deny you nothing. Iſte viz potuit ap[illegible: 1 letter]d D[illegible: 1 letter]um quod [illegible: 1 letter]oluit, ſaid One concerning Luther, That man could have of God whatſoever he lifted. This David took (as well he might) for a ſingular mercy, Pſal. 13. ult. Pſal. 66. ult.

And thou ſhalt pay thy vows.] i.e. Thou ſhalt return thy thanks, and ſo ſhalt drive an holy trade, as it were, betwixt heaven and earth. Nulla tibi a Deo niſi gratias agendi accaſio dabitur. Thou ſhalt have unmiſcarrying returns of thy ſuits; ſo that thou muſt be ready with thy praiſes [illegible: 2 letters]ter their prayers; for that is all thou ſhalt have to do.Pſal. 65.1, 2. Praiſe wai[illegible: 2 letters]th for thee, O God, in Zion; and unto thee ſhall all the vow be performed. O thou that heaveſt prayers, note thee ſhall all flaſh come, with their thanks in their hands as it were.

Verſe 28. Thou ſhalt alſo de[illegible: 2 letters]es a thing and it ſhall be eſtabliſhed unto thee.] God will be better to thee than thy Prayers: and proſper all thy Counſels, effect thy deſignes. The ungodly are not ſo, as is to be ſeen in thoſe revolted Iſraelites, Judg. 2. in King Saul, and in our King Jobs. O[illegible: 1 letter] if they have their deſignes, it is for a further miſchief to them: As, if the godly he croſſed, it is in mercy: like as it is ſtoried of our Queen Iſabel, that being to repaſs from Z[illegible: 1 letter]land into Eagland with an Army, they hath [illegible: 1 word] been utterly caſt away, had ſhe [illegible: 1 span] being there expected by her enemies. But providence, againſt her will, brought her to another pla[illegible: 2 letters],Mr. Clark in his Life p. 262. where ſhe ſafely [illegible: 1 word]. The like is reported of Biſhop Jo[illegible: 1 letter]el, that being ſought for by the Popiſh Perſecutors, he had been caught, but that going to London, he [illegible: 2 letters]ſt his way.

And the light ſhall [illegible: 1 word] upon thy wa[illegible: 2 letters] ] That is to ſay, God will inſpire thee with good counſel and direction in all thine affairs;Diod. and turn thin[illegible: 1 letter] ill counſels into good unto thee (as the Heathens thought Minerva did to her Athenians, and as the Romans fancied of their God [illegible: 1 letter]eſ[illegible: 1 letter] Vibilia, that ſhe ſet them in their right way when they were wandering) or will ſhine over them with his bleſſing, contrary to thy complaint, chap. 19.8.

Verſe 20. When me[illegible: 1 letter] are [illegible: 1 span] ] And that by the [illegible: 1 word] of thy Faith; the [illegible: 1 span] out of another, [illegible: 1 span] diſtreſſes, [illegible: 1 word] 32.36.) and to believe God upon his [illegible: 1 span] and that againſt [illegible: 1 span] things [illegible: 1 span] in [illegible: 1 span] thou [illegible: 1 span] and ſaving of [illegible: 1 span] eyes down: whereof ſome makes this to be the ſenſe; [illegible: 1 span] be able out of his own experience to [illegible: 1 span] who likewiſe humble themſelves. Junius rendreth this, and the following verſe, [illegible: 1 span] and [illegible: 1 span] upon [illegible: 1 span] they be [illegible: 1 span] and 18.24. And hence Jobs interceſſion [illegible: 1 span]

And he ſhall ſave the humble perſon.] Heb. Him that is low of eyes, as was Job at this time and the Publican, Luk. 18.13. An high look, and a proud heart go together, Pſal. 101.5. And as God reſiſteth ſuch, Jam. 4.4. 1 Pet. 5.5. ſo he giveth grace to the humble; and not grace only, but glory too; as here; ſafety here, and ſalvation hereafter.

Verſe 30. He ſhall deliver the Iſland of the innocent.] Or. He ſhall deliver th[illegible: 1 letter] not innocent; him that i[illegible: 1 letter] not guiltleſs: and even ſuch ſhall be delivered for the purity of thine handi. Thus God gave Z[illegible: 1 letter]ar to Lot, and all the ſouls in the ſhip to Paul, and the guilty Iſraelites to Moſes. See Jer. 5.1. Or, the innocent ſhall deliver the Iſland: Or, Liberabitur v[illegible: 1 letter] innocentis, The innocent ſhall be freed from affliction: ſo Brentius.

And it is delivered by the pureneſs of thine hands.] i. Of thy works, or by the pure hands liſted up in Prayer. Semen ſanctum ſtatu[illegible: 3 letters] terra, the Saints bear up the ſtate, Iſa. 6.13. they uphold the pillars of the earth by their Piety and Prayers: and therefore when God is unchangeably reſolved to ruin a people, he ſilenceth his Saints, as Jer. 7.16. or removeth them out of the world; as he did Methuſelah the year before the Flood. And as one Sinner may deſtroy much good, Eccl. 9.18. So one Praying Saint may ſave an Iſland, a whole Country: it is delivered by the pureneſs of thy hands. It may be, the work ſticks at thee: why then is not thy ſhoulder at the wheel, when the cart is ſtalled?