Job 34 commentary

Elihu calls upon those present to decide with him upon Job's words. The plainest Christian, whose mind is enlightened, whose heart is sanctified by the Spirit of God, and who is versed in the Scriptures, can say how far matters, words, or actions, agree with true religion, better than any that lean to their own understandings. Job had spoken as if he meant wholly to justify himself. He that say, I have cleansed my hands in vain, does not only offend against God's children, Ps 73:13–15, but gratifies his enemies, and says as they say.

Elihu had showed Job, that God meant him no hurt by afflicting him, but intended his spiritual benefit. Here he shows, that God did him no wrong by afflicting him. If the former did not satisfy him, this ought to silence him. God cannot do wickedness, nor the Almighty commit wrong. If services now go unrewarded, and sins now go unpunished, yet there is a day coming, when God will fully render to every man according to his works. Further, though the believer's final condemnation is done away through the Saviour's ransom, yet he has merited worse than any outward afflictions; so that no wrong is done to him, however he may be tried.

Elihu appeals directly to Job himself. Could he suppose that God was like those earthly princes, who hate right, who are unfit to rule, and prove the scourges of mankind? It is daring presumption to condemn God's proceedings, as Job had done by his discontents. Elihu suggests divers considerations to Job, to produce in him high thoughts of God, and so to persuade him to submit. Job had often wished to plead his cause before God. Elihu asks, To what purpose? All is well that God does, and will be found so. What can make those uneasy, whose souls dwell at ease in God? The smiles of all the world cannot quiet those on whom God frowns.

When we reprove for what is amiss, we must direct to what is good. Job's friends would have had him own himself a wicked man. Let will only oblige him to own that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. Let us, in giving reproof, not make a matter worse than it is. Elihu directs Job to humble himself before God for his sins, and to accept the punishment. Also to pray to God to discover his sins to him. A good man is willing to know the worst of himself; particularly, under affliction, he desires to be told wherefore God contends with him. It is not enough to be sorry for our sins, but we must go and sin no more. And if we are affectionate children, we shall love to speak with our Father, and to tell him all our mind. Elihu reasons with Job concerning his discontent under affliction. We are ready to think every thing that concerns us should be just as we would have it; but it is not reasonable to expect this. Elihu asks whether there was not sin and folly in what Job said. God is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works, Ps 145:17. The believer saith, Let my Saviour, my wise and loving Lord, choose every thing for me. I am sure that will be wisest, and the best for his glory and my good.

CHAPTER 34

Job 34:1-37.

1. answered--proceeded.

2. This chapter is addressed also to the "friends" as the thirty-third chapter to Job alone.

3. palate--(See on Job 12:11; Job 33:2).

4. judgment--Let us select among the conflicting sentiments advanced, what will stand the test of examination.

5. judgment--my right. Job's own words (Job 13:18; 27:2).

6. Were I to renounce my right (that is, confess myself guilty), I should die. Job virtually had said so (Job 27:4, 5; 6:28). Maurer, not so well, "Notwithstanding my right (innocence) I am treated as a liar," by God, by His afflicting me.

my wound--literally, "mine arrow," namely, by which I am pierced. So "my stroke" ("hand," Job 23:2, Margin). My sickness (Job 6:4; 16:13).

without transgression--without fault of mine to deserve it (Job 16:17).

7. (Job 15:16). Image from the camel.

scorning--against God (Job 15:4).

8. Job virtually goes in company (makes common cause) with the wicked, by taking up their sentiments (Job 9:22, 23, 30; 21:7-15), or at least by saying, that those who act on such sentiments are unpunished (Mal 3:14). To deny God's righteous government because we do not see the reasons of His acts, is virtually to take part with the ungodly.

9. with God--in intimacy (Psa 50:18, Margin).

10. The true answer to Job, which God follows up (Job 38:1-41). Man is to believe God's ways are right, because they are His, not because we fully see they are so (Ro 9:14; De 32:4; Ge 18:25).

11. Partly here; fully, hereafter (Jr 32:19; Ro 2:6; 1Pe 1:17; Re 22:12).

12. (Job 8:3). In opposition to Job, Job 34:5, will not--cannot.

13. If the world were not God's property, as having been made by Him, but committed to His charge by some superior, it might be possible for Him to act unjustly, as He would not thereby be injuring Himself; but as it is, for God to act unjustly would undermine the whole order of the world, and so would injure God's own property (Job 36:23).

disposed--hath founded (Is 44:7), established the circle of the globe.

14-15. "If He were to set His heart on man," either to injure him, or to take strict account of his sins. The connection supports rather [Umbreit], "If He had regard to himself (only), and were to gather unto Himself (Psa 104:29) man's spirit, &c. (which he sends forth, Psa 104:30; Ec 12:7), all flesh must perish together," &c. (Ge 3:19). God's loving preservation of His creatures proves He cannot be selfish, and therefore cannot be unjust.

16. In Job 34:2, Elihu had spoken to all in general, now he calls Job's special attention.

17. "Can even He who (in thy view) hateth right (justice) govern?" The government of the world would be impossible if injustice were sanctioned. God must be just, because He governs (2Sa 23:3).

govern--literally, "bind," namely, by authority (so "reign," 1Sa 9:17, Margin). Umbreit translates for "govern, repress wrath, namely, against Job for his accusations.

most just--rather, "Him who is at once mighty and just" (in His government of the world).

18. Literally, (Is it fit) to be said to a king? It would be a gross outrage to reproach thus an earthly monarch, much more the King of kings (Ex 22:28). But Maurer with the Septuagint and Vulgate reads, (It is not fit to accuse of injustice Him) who says to a king, Thou art wicked; to princes, Ye are ungodly; that is, who punishes impartially the great, as the small. This accords with Job 34:19.

19. (Ac 10:34; 2Ch 19:7; Pr 22:2; Job 31:15).

20. they--"the rich" and "princes" who offend God.

the people--namely, of the guilty princes: guilty also themselves.

at midnight--image from a night attack of an enemy on a camp, which becomes an easy prey (Ex 12:29, 30).

without hand--without visible agency, by the mere word of God (so Job 20:26; Zec 4:6; Da 2:34).

21. God's omniscience and omnipotence enable Him to execute immediate justice. He needs not to be long on the "watch," as Job thought (Job 7:12; 2Ch 16:9; Jr 32:19).

22. shadow of death--thick darkness (Am 9:2, 3; Psa 139:12).

23. (1Co 10:13; La 3:32; Is 27:8). Better, as Umbreit, "He does not (needs not to) regard (as in Job 34:14; Is 41:20) man long (so Hebrew, Ge 46:29) in order that he may go (be brought by God) into judgment." Literally, "lest his (attention) upon men" (Job 11:10, 11). So Job 34:24, "without number" ought to be translated, "without [needing any] searching out," such as has to be made in human judgments.

24. break in pieces--(Psa 2:9; Job 12:18; Da 2:21).

25. Therefore--because He knows all things (Job 34:21). He knows their works, without a formal investigation (Job 34:24).

in the night--suddenly, unexpectedly (Job 34:20). Fitly in the night, as it was in it that the godless hid themselves (Job 34:22). Umbreit, less simply, for "overturneth," translates, "walketh"; that is, God is ever on the alert, discovering all wickedness.

26. He striketh them--chasteneth.

as--that is, because they are wicked.

sight of others--Sinners hid themselves in darkness; therefore they are punished before all, in open day. Image from the place of public execution (Job 40:12; Ex 14:30; 2Sa 12:12).

27-28. The grounds of their punishment in Job 34:26. Job 34:28 states in what respect they "considered not God's ways," namely, by oppression, whereby "they caused the cry," &c.

29. (Pr 16:7; Is 26:3).

make trouble--rather, "condemn" (Ro 8:33, 34). Maurer, from the reference being only to the godless, in the next clause, and Job 34:20 translates, "When God keeps quiet" (leaves men to perish) Psa 83:1; [Umbreit] from the Arabic (strikes to the earth), "who shall condemn Him as unjust?" Job 34:17.

hideth ... face--(Job 23:8, 9; Psa 13:1).

it be done--Whether it be against a guilty nation (2Ki 18:9-12) or an individual, that God acts so.

30. Ensnared--into sin (1Ki 12:28, 30). Or rather, "enthralled by further oppression," Job 34:26-28.

31. Job accordingly says so (Job 40:3-5; Mi 7:9; Le 26:41). It was to lead him to this that Elihu was sent. Though no hypocrite, Job, like all, had sin; therefore through affliction he was to be brought to humble himself under God. All sorrow is a proof of the common heritage of sin, in which the godly shares; and therefore he ought to regard it as a merciful correction. Umbreit and Maurer lose this by translating, as the Hebrew will bear, "Has any a right to say to God, I have borne chastisement and yet have not sinned?" (so Job 34:6).

borne--namely, the penalty of sin, as in Le 5:1, 17.

offend--literally, "to deal destructively or corruptly" (Ne 1:7).

32. (Job 10:2; Psa 32:8; 19:12; 139:23, 24).

no more--(Pr 28:13; Ep 4:22).

33. Rather, "should God recompense (sinners) according to thy mind? Then it is for thee to reject and to choose, and not me" [Umbreit]; or as Maurer, "For thou hast rejected God's way of recompensing; state therefore thy way, for thou must choose, not I," that is, it is thy part, not mine, to show a better way than God's.

34-35. Rather, "men ... will say to me, and the wise man (Job 34:2, 10) who hearkens to me (will say), 'Job hath spoken,'" &c.

36. Margin, not so well, "My father," Elihu addressing God. This title does not elsewhere occur in Job.

tried--by calamities.

answers for wicked men--(See on Job 34:8). Trials of the godly are not removed until they produce the effect designed.

37. clappeth ... hands--in scorn (Job 27:23; Eze 21:17).

multiplieth ... words--(Job 11:2; 35:16). To his original "sin" to correct which trials have been sent, "he adds rebellion," that is, words arraigning God's justice.

The ear trieth words - I do not think, with Calmet, that the inward ear, or judgment, is meant simply. The Asiatics valued themselves on the nice and harmonious collection of words, both in speaking and in writing; and perhaps it will be found here that Elihu labors as much for harmonious versification as for pious and weighty sentiments. To connect sense with sound was an object of general pursuit among the Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian poets; and so fond are the latter of euphony, that they often sacrifice both sense and sentiment to it; and some of the Greek poets are not exempt from this fault.

Let us choose to us judgment - Let us not seek the applause of men, nor contend for victory. Let our aim be to obtain correct views and notions of all things; and let us labor to find out what is good.

Job hath said, I am righteous - Job had certainly said the words attributed to him by Elihu, particularly in Job 27:2, etc., but it was in vindication of his aspersed character that he had asserted his own righteousness, and in a different sense to that in which Elihu appears to take it up. He asserted that he was righteous quoad the charges his friends had brought against him. And he never intimated that he had at all times a pure heart, and had never transgressed the laws of his Maker. It is true also that he said, God hath taken away my judgment; but he most obviously does not mean to charge God with injustice, but to show that he had dealt with him in a way wholly mysterious, and not according to the ordinary dispensations of his providence; and that he did not interpose in his behalf, while his friends were overwhelming him with obloquy and reproach.

Should I lie against my right? - Should I acknowledge myself the sinner which they paint me, and thus lie against my right to assert and maintain my innocence?

My wound is incurable without transgression - If this translation is correct, the meaning of the place is sufficiently evident. In the tribulation which I endure, I am treated as if I were the worst of culprits; and I labor under incurable maladies and privations, though without any cause on my part for such treatment. This was all most perfectly true; it is the testimony which God himself gives of Job, that "he was a perfect and upright man, fearing God and eschewing evil;" and that "Satan had moved the Lord against him, to destroy him, Without a Cause. See Job 1:1; Job 2:3.

The Chaldee translates thus: - "On account of my judgment, I will make the son of man a liar, who sends forth arrows without sin."

Mr. Good thus: - "Concerning my cause I am slandered;

He hath reversed my lot without a trespass."

The latter clause is the most deficient, אנוש חצי בלי פשע; Miss Smith's translation of which is the best I have met with: "A man cut off, without transgression." The word חצי chitstsi, which we translate my wound, signifies more literally, my arrow; and if we take it as a contracted noun, חצי chitstsey for חצים chitstsim, it means calamities. אנוש anush, which we translate incurable, may be the noun enosh, wicked, miserable man; and then the whole may be read thus: "A man of calamities without transgression." I suffer the punishment of an enemy to God, while free from transgression of this kind.

Drinketh up scorning like water? - This is a repetition of the charge made against Job by Eliphaz, Job 15:16. It is a proverbial expression, and seems to be formed, as a metaphor, from a camel drinking, who takes in a large draught of water, even the most turbid, on its setting out on a journey in a caravan, that it may serve it for a long time. Job deals largely in scorning; he fills his heart with it.

Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity - This is an allusion to a caravan: all kinds of persons are found there; but yet a holy and respectable man might be found in that part of the company where profligates assembled. But surely this assertion of Elihu was not strictly true; and the words literally translated, will bear a less evil meaning: "Job makes a track ארח arach, to join fellowship, לחברה lechebrah, with the workers of iniquity;" i.e., Job's present mode of reasoning, when he says, "I am righteous, yet God hath taken away my judgment," is according to the assertion of sinners, who say, "There is no profit in serving God; for, if a man be righteous, he is not benefited by it, for God does not vindicate a just man's cause against his oppressors." By adopting so much of their creed, he intimates that Job is taking the steps that lead to fellowship with them. See Job 34:9.

Far be it from God - Rather, Wickedness, far be that from God; and from iniquity, the Almighty. The sense is sufficiently evident without the paraphrase in our version.

For the work of a man shall he render - God ever will do justice; the righteous shall never be forsaken, nor shall the wicked ultimately prosper.

Who hath given him a charge - Who is it that governs the world? Is it not God? Who disposes of all things in it? Is it not the Almighty, by his just and merciful providence? The government of the world shows the care, the justice, and the mercy of God.

If he set his heart upon man - I think this and the following verse should be read thus: - "If he set his heart upon man, he will gather his soul and breath to himself; for all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust." On whomsoever God sets his heart, that is, his love, though his body shall perish and turn to dust, like the rest of men, yet his soul will God gather to himself.

Shall - he that hateth right govern? - Or, Shall he who hateth judgment, lie under obligation? It is preposterous to suppose that he who lives by no rule, should impose rules upon others. God, who is the fountain of all justice and righteousness, binds man by his laws; and wilt thou, therefore, pretend to condemn him who is the sum of righteousness?

Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? - The sentence is very short, and is thus translated by the Vulgate: Qui dicit regi, Apostata? Qui vocat duces impios? "Who says to a king, Apostate? Who calls leaders impious?" Literally, Who calls a king Belial? Who calls princes wicked? Civil governors should be treated with respect; no man should speak evil of the ruler of the people. This should never be permitted. Even where the man cannot be respected, because his moral conduct is improper, even there the office is sacred, and should be reverenced. He who permits himself to talk against the man, would destroy the office and authority, if he could.

That accepteth not - If it be utterly improper to speak against a king or civil governor, how much more so to speak disrespectfully of God, who is not influenced by human caprices or considerations, and who regards the rich and the poor alike, being equally his creatures, and equally dependent on his providence and mercy for their support and salvation.

In a moment shall they die - Both are equally dependent on the Almighty for their breath and being; the mighty as well as the poor. If the great men of the earth have abused their power, he sometimes cuts them off by the most sudden and unexpected death; and even at midnight, when in security, and least capable of defense, they are cut off by the people whom they have oppressed, or by the invisible hand of the angel of death. This appears to be spoken in reference to Eastern tyrants, who seldom die a natural death.

There is no darkness - In this life; and no shadow of death in the other world - no annihilation in which the workers of iniquity may hide themselves, or take refuge.

For he will not lay upon man - The meaning appears to be this: He will not call man a second time into judgment; he does not try a cause twice; his decisions are just, and his sentence without appeal. Mr. Good translates: - "Behold, not to man hath he intrusted the time

Of coming into judgment with God."

Man's time is not in his own hand; nor is his lot cast or ruled by his own wisdom and power. When God thinks best, he will judge for him; and, if oppressed or calumniated, he will bring forth his righteousness as the light, and do him justice on his adversaries.

He shall break in pieces - In multitudes of cases God depresses the proud, and raises up the humble and meek. Neither their strength nor number can afford them security.

He knoweth their works - He knows what they have done, and what they are plotting to do.

He overturneth them in the night - In the revolution of a single night the plenitude of power on which the day closed is annihilated. See the cases of Belshazzar and Babylon.

He striketh them as wicked men - At other times he executes his judgments more openly; and they are suddenly destroyed in the sight of the people.

Because they turned back - This is the reason why he has dealt with them in judgment. They had departed from him in their hearts, their moral conduct, and their civil government. He is speaking of corrupt and tyrannical rulers. And they did not, would not, understand any of his ways.

So that they cause the cry of the poor - They were cruel and oppressive: the poor cried through their distresses, and against their oppressors; and God heard the cry of the poor. Nothing so dreadful appears in the court of heaven against an unfeeling, hardhearted, and cruel man of power, as the prayers, tears, and groans of the poor. In times of little liberality, when some men thought they did God service by persecuting those who did not exactly receive their creed, nor worship God in their way, a certain great man in Scotland grievously persecuted his tenants, because they had religious meetings in private houses out of the order of the establishment; though he never molested them when they spent their time and their money in the alehouse. A holy, simple woman, one of those people, went one morning to the house of the great persecutor, and desired to speak with him. The servant desired to know her message, and he would deliver it; for she could not be admitted. She told him she could deliver her message to none but his master; said it was a matter of great importance, and concerned himself intimately, and alone. The servant having delivered this message, and stated that the woman appeared to have something particular on her mind, his worship condescended to see her. "What is your business with me?" said he, in a haughty, overbearing tone. To which she answered, "Sir, we are a hantle o' puir folk at - , who are strivin' to sairve God accordin' to our ain conscience, and to get our sauls sav'd: yee persecute us; and I am come to beg yee to let us alane, and in ye dinna, we'll pray yee dead." This rhetoric was irresistible. His lordship did not know what influence such people might have in heaven; he did not like to put such prayers to the proof; wisely took the old woman's advice, and e'en let them alane. He was safe; they were satisfied; and God had the glory. When the poor refer their cause to God, he is a terrible avenger. Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth; but wo to the man that contendeth with his Maker.

When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? - How beautiful is this sentiment, and how true! He ever acts as a sovereign, but his actions are all wise and just. If he give quietness, who dares to give trouble? And if he give to every human being the right to worship himself according to their conscience, for the director of which he gives both his word and his Spirit, who shall dare to say to another, "Thou shalt worship God in my way, or not at all;" or, through a pretended liberality, say, "Thou shalt be tolerated to worship him so and so;" and even that toleration be shackled and limited? Reader, thou hast as much right to tolerate another's mode of worship as he has to tolerate thine: or, in other words, neither of you have any such right at all; the pretension is as absurd as it is wicked. If, however, there be any thing in the religious practice of any particular people that is inimical, by fair construction, to the peace of the country, then the civil power may interfere, as they ought to do in all cases of insurrection; but let no such inference be drawn when not most obviously flowing from the practice of the people, and the principles they profess; and when solemnly disclaimed by the persons in question. Whatever converts sinners from the error of their ways must be good to society and profitable to the state.

Whether it be done against a nation - He defends and supports nations or individuals howsoever weak, against their enemies, howsoever numerous and powerful. He destroys nations or individuals who have filled up the measure of their political or moral iniquity, though all other nations and individuals stand up in their support.

That the hypocrite reign not - The Vulgate translates, Who causes a wicked man to reign because of the sins of the people. This was precisely the defense which Hegiage, the oppressive ruler of the Babylonian Irak, under the caliph Abdul Malec, made when he found the people in a state of insurrection. See at the end of the chapter, Job 34:37 (note).

Surely it is meet to be said unto God - This is Elihu's exhortation to Job: Humble thyself before God, and say, "I have suffered - I will not offend."

That which I see not - "What I do not know, teach thou me; wherein I have done iniquity, I will do so no more."

According to thy mind? he will recompense it - Mr. Good renders the whole passage thus: - "Then in the presence of thy tribes

According as thou art bruised shall he make it whole.

But it is thine to choose, and not mine;

So, what thou determinest, say."

This may at least be considered a paraphrase on the very obscure original. If thou wilt not thus come unto him, he will act according to justice, whether that be for or against thee. Choose what part thou wilt take, to humble thyself under the mighty hand of God, or still persist in thy supposed integrity. Speak, therefore; the matter concerns thee, not me; but let me know what thou art determined to do.

Let men of understanding tell me - I wish to converse with wise men; and by men of wisdom I wish what I have said to be judged.

Job hath spoken without knowledge - There is no good in arguing with a self-willed, self-conceited man. Job has spoken like a man destitute of wisdom and discretion.

My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end - אבי יבחן איוב abi yibbachen Aiyob, "My father, let Job be tried." So the Vulgate, Pater mi, probetur Job. But it may be as in the common translation, I wish Job to be tried; or, as Mr. Good renders it, Verily, let Job be pursued to conquest for replying like wicked men. This is a very harsh wish: but the whole chapter is in the same spirit; nearly destitute of mildness and compassion. Who could suppose that such arguings could come out of the mouth of the loving Savior of mankind? The reader will recollect that a very pious divine has supposed Elihu to be Jesus Christ!

He addeth rebellion unto his sin - An ill-natured, cruel, and unfounded assertion, borne out by nothing which Job had ever said or intended; and indeed, more severe than the most inveterate of his friends (so called) had ever spoken. Mr. Good makes this virulent conclusion still more virulent and uncharitable, by translating thus: - "For he would add to his transgressions apostasy;

He would clap his hands in the midst of us:

Yea, he would tempest his words up to God."

There was no need of adding a caustic here; the words in the tamest translation are tart enough. Though Elihu began well and tolerantly, he soon got into the spirit, and under the mistake, of those who had preceded him in this "tempest of words."

On Job 34:30 I have referred to the case of Hegiage, governor of the Babylonian Irak, under the caliph Abdul Malec. When Hegiage was informed that the people were in a state of mutiny because of his oppressive government, before they broke out into open acts of hostility, he mounted on an eminence, and thus harangued them: - "God has given me dominion over you; if I exercise it with severity, think not that by putting me to death your condition will be mended. From the manner in which you live you must be always ill-treated, for God has many executors of his justice; and when I am dead he will send you another, who will probably execute his orders against you with more rigour. Do you wish your prince to be moderate and merciful? Then exercise righteousness, and be obedient to the laws. Consider that your own conduct is the cause of the good or evil treatment which you receive from him. A prince may be compared to a mirror; all that you see in him is the reflection of the objects which you present before him." The people immediately dropped their weapons, and quietly returned to their respective avocations. This man was one of the most valiant, eloquent, and cruel rulers of his time; he lived towards the close of the 7th century of the Christian era. He is said to have put to death 120,000 people; and to have had 50,000 in his prisons at the time of his decease. Yet this man was capable of generous actions. The following anecdote is given by the celebrated Persian poet Jami, in his Baharistan: - Hegiage, having been separated from his attendants one day in the chase, came to a place where he found an Arab feeding his camels. The camels starting at his sudden approach, the Arab lifted up his head, and seeing a man splendidly arrayed, became incensed, and said, Who is this who with his fine clothes comes into the desert to frighten my camels? The curse of Good light upon him! The governor, approaching the Arab, saluted him very civilly, with the salaam, Peace be unto thee! The Arab, far from returning the salutation, said, I wish thee neither peace, nor any other blessing of God. Hegiage, without seeming to heed what he had said, asked him very civilly "to give him a little water to drink." The Arab in a surly tone, answered, If thou desirest to drink, take the pains to alight, and draw for thyself; for I am neither thy companion nor thy slave. The governor accordingly alighted, and having drank, asked the Arab, "Whom dost thou think the greatest and most excellent of men?" The prophet sent by God, said the Arab, and thou mayest burst with spleen. "And what thinkest thou of Aaly?" returned Hegiage. No tongue can declare his excellence, said the Arab. "What," asked Hegiage, "is thy opinion of the caliph Abdul Malec?" I believe him to be a very bad prince, replied the Arab. "For what reason?" said Hegiage. Because, said the Arab, he hath sent us for governor the most execrable wretch under heaven. Hegiage, finding himself thus characterized, was silent; but his attendants coming up, he rejoined them, and ordered them to bring the Arab with them. The next day Hegiage ordered him to be set at table with himself, and bade him "eat freely." The Arab, ere he tasted, said his usual grace, "God grant that the end of this repast may be no worse than the beginning!" While at meat the governor asked him, "Dost thou recollect the discourse we had together yesterday?" The Arab replied, God prosper thee in all things! but as to the secret of yesterday, take heed that thou disclose it not to-day. "I will not," said Hegiage; "but thou must choose one of these two things; either acknowledge me for thy master, and I will retain thee about my person; or else I will send thee to Abdul Malec, and tell him what thou hast said of him." There is a third course, replied the Arab, preferable to those two. "Well, what is that?" said the governor. Why, send me back to the desert, and pray God that we may never see each other's face again. Cruel and vindictive as Hegiage was, he could not help being pleased with the frankness and courage of the man; and not only forgave him the preceding insults but ordered him 10,000 pieces of silver, and sent him back to the desert, according to his wish.

Ear - The ear, is put for the mind to which things are conveyed by it.

Let us - Not contend for victory, but for truth and equity. Know - Let us shew one another who hath the best cause.

Said - I am so far righteous, that I have not deserved, such hard usage from God. Had taken - So Job had said, chap.27:2, he denies me that which is just and equal, to give me a fair hearing.

Should I lie - So Job had said in effect, chap.27:4,5,6, should I falsely accuse myself of sins of which I am not guilty? Without transgression - Without any such crying, sin, as might reasonably bring down such terrible judgments upon my head.

Like water - Abundantly and greedily: who doth so break forth into scornful expressions, not only against his friends, but in some sort against God himself.

Who goeth - Although I dare not say, that he is a wicked man, yet in this matter he speaks and acts like one of them.

He said - Not in express terms, but by consequence; because he said that good men were no less, nay, sometimes more miserable here than the wicked.

Pervert - As Job hath affirmed.

Who - Who or where is his superior that made the world, and, then delivered the government of it to God? God himself is the sole creator, the absolute Lord of all, and therefore cannot do unjustly: because the creator and Lord of the world must needs have all possible perfections in himself, and amongst others, perfect justice. Disposed - Or, committed, to him, to be governed by him, in the name, of his Lord, to whom he must give an account.

All - The design of this and the foregoing verse is the same with that of ver.13, namely, to declare God's absolute and uncontrollable sovereignty over all men.

Shall he - That is unrighteous. Govern - Elihu's argument is the same with that of Abraham, Gen 18:25, and that of St. Paul, Rom 3:5,6. If God be unrighteous, how shall he judge or govern the world? And the argument is undeniable: if God were unjust, there would be nothing but injustice and confusion in the world, whereas we see there is a great deal of justice administered in the world, and all this must proceed from him who is the fountain of all justice, and rule, and authority. And he that makes men just, shall he be unjust? Most just - God, who hath given so many clear and unquestionable evidences of his justice, in giving just and holy laws, in encouraging and rewarding righteous persons in this life, and inflicting dreadful judgments upon tyrants and oppressors.

Wicked - Though a king may be wicked, yet his subjects neither may nor dare call him so.

For - God doth not destroy either prince or people unjustly, no nor out of his mere pleasure, but for their sins, which he sees exactly, although they use all possible arts to hide them.

As - Because they are wicked men. In the open light - In publick view for their greater shame, and for the greater glory of his justice.

Cry of the poor - Their case is bad, who have the prayers and tears of the poor against them: for these will draw down vengeance sooner or later, on the heads of their oppressors.

Whether - God can carry on his work either of mercy or justice, as irresistible upon an whole nation as upon one particular person.

Reign not - May not continue his tyranny, lest the people be ensnared, lest the people should be longer kept in the the snares of oppression; God doth this to free poor oppressed people from the snares which ungodly men lay for them.

That - The secret sins which I cannot discover, manifest thou to me.

Should it be - Doth God need thy advice how to govern the world, and whom, and when to reward or punish? Refuse - To submit as is expressed, ver.32. Therefore - If thou canst say any thing for thyself, I am ready to hear thy defence.

Let - I am content that any wise man should judge of my words, and let such consider what I say.

End - Throughly and exactly, 'till the cause be brought to an issue. Wicked men - On their behalf; he hath put arguments into their mouths against God and his providence.

Addeth - He sinned before, by impatience under his afflictions, now he is grown obstinate, and instead of humbling himself for his sins, justifies himself, and accuses the blessed God. Clapped - Insulting and triumphing. Against God - In effect, though not directly.

2. Hear my words, O ye wise men , and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.

Who are here present: do you judge of the truth and reason of what I have said, and am further to say: for I am willing to submit all to the judgment of the truly wise.

3. For the ear trieth words , as the mouth tasteth meat.

i. e. Man's mind judgeth of things spoken and heard. The ear, the sense of Discipline is put for the mind to which things are conveyed by it. See the note on Iob 12. 11.

Marginal references: Chap. 6. 30. & 12. 11.; Heb. palate.

4. Let us choose to us judgment : let us know among our selves what is good :

i. e. Justice and Equity, judgment being oft synecdochically used for just judgment, as Iob 8. 3. & 19 7. & 32. 9. Psal. 37. 28. Let us not contend for victory, but only for Truth and Justice. This shall be my only care and business. Let us lay aside all prejudices and animosities, which I perceive have had too great an influence upon thee and thy friends, and impartially consider the naked truth and right of the cause.

i. e. Let us discover or make it known one to another.

Who hath the best cause.

5. For Job hath said, I am righteous : and my God hath taken away my judgment .

Either 1. I am perfectly righteous. But this Iob did not say, but the contrary, Iob 9. 2, 3. & 14. 4. Or 2. I am a sincere Person, no Hypocrite, as my Friends make me. But this Elibu doth not deny. or 3. I am so far righteous, and have been so holy and blameless in my life, that I have not deserved, not had any reason to expect such hard usage from God. And this Iob had oft intimated, and Elihu doth justly blame him for it, that he blazoned his own righteousness with tacit reflections upon God for dealing so severely with him.

For so Iob had said, Ch. 27. 2. i. e. He denies me that which is but just and equal, to give me a fair hearing, to suffer me to plead my Cause with or before him, to shew me the reasons of his contending with me, and what sins besides common infirmities, I have been guilty of whereby I have deserved such extraordinary judgments. Which Elihu justly taxeth him with as a very irreverent and presumptuous expression.

Marginal references: Chap. [illegible: 1 word]

6. Should I lie against my right ? my wound is incurable without transgression .

So Iob had said in effect. Ch. 27. 4, 5, 6. Should I falsly accuse my self of such sins of which I am no way conscious to my self? Should I betray mine own cause and deny my integrity, and say that I deserved worse than I have done?

i. e. Without any great, or hainous, or crying sin, as this word commonly signifies, which might reasonably bring down such terrible judgments upon my Head.

Marginal references: Heb. mine Arrow. Chap. 6. 4. & 16. 12.

7. What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water ?

i. e. Abundantly and greedily: who doth so oft and so easily break forth into scornful and contemptuous expressions, not only against his friends, but in some sort even against God himself, whom he foolishly and insolently chargeth with dealing rigorously with him. The words may be thus read, What Man, being like Iob, would drink up, &c. That a wicked or foolish Man should do thus, is not strange, but that a Man of such Piety, Gravity, Wisdom and Authority, as Iob, should be guilty of such a sin, this is wonderful.

8. Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men ?

Although I dare not say, as his three Friends do, that he is a wicked Man, yet in this matter he speaks and acts like one of them.

9. For he hath said , It profiteth a man nothing, that he should delight himself with God .

Not absolutely and in express terms, but by unforced consequence, and as concerning this life, and with reference to himself; because he said that good Men were no less, nay sometimes more miserable here than the wicked, Ch. 9. 22, &c & 30. 26. and that for his part he was no gainer as to this life by his Piety, but a loser, and that God shewed him no more kindness and compassion than he usually did to the vilest of men. Which was a very unthankful and ungodly opinion and expression, seeing godliness hath the promise of this life as well as of that to come, and Iob had such supports, and such assurances of his own uprightness and of his future happiness, as he confesseth, as were and should have been accounted even for the present a greater comfort, and profit than all which this World can afford.

That he should choose and delight to walk with God, and make it his chief care and business to please him and to do his commandments: which is the true and proper Character of a godly Man.

Marginal references: Chap. 9. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. & 35. 3.

10. Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding : far be it from God that he should do wickedness , and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

You who are present and understand these things, do you judge between Iob and me.

This I must lay down as a Principle that the righteous and holy God neither doth nor can deal unjustly with Iob or with any Man, as Iob insinuates that God had dealt with him.

Marginal references: Heb. men of heart.; Deut. 32. 4. Chap. 8. 3. & 36. 23. Psal. 92. 15. Rom. [illegible: 1+ letters]. 14.

11. For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to [illegible: 1+ letters]ind according to his ways.

i. e. The reward of his work; or according to his work. Iob's aff[illegible: 1+ letters]ons though great and sharp are not undeserved, but justly inflicted upon him both for his Original corruption, and for many actual transgressions which are manifest to God, though Iob through his par[illegible: 1+ letters]lity may not see them. And Iob's Piety shall be recompensed it may be in this life▪ but undoubtedly in the next. And therefore [illegible: 1+ letters]ety is not unprofitable as Iob saith.

Marginal references: Psal. 62. 12. Prov. 24. 12. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1+ letters]2. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. Ezek 33. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. Mat. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. Rom. 2. 6. 2 Cor. 5. 10. 1 Pet. 1. 17. Rev. 22▪ 12.

12. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment .

As Iob hath wickedly affirmed. For the phrase see, on Ch. 8. 3.

13. Who hath given him a charge over the earth ? or who hath disposed the whole world?

i. e. Over the Inhabitants of the Earth, to rule them according to his La[illegible: 1+ letters]s, and to give an account to him of it? Who or where is his Superiour that made the World, and then delivered the Government of it to God? There is no such Person. God himself is the sole Creator, the absolute and supream Lord and Governour of all the World, and therefore cannot do unjustly. The reason is partly because all unrighteousness is a transgression of some Law, and God hath no Law to bound him but his own nature and will: partly because the Creator and Lord of the World must needs have all possible Perfections in himself, and amongst others perfect Justice, and must needs be free from all imperfections and obliquities, and therefore from Injustice: and partly because he is of himself all-sufficient and independent upon all other Persons, and able to do and procure whatsoever pleaseth him, and therefore as he hath no inclination, so he hath no temptation, to any unrighteous actions; this being generally the reason of all unrighteous actions in the World, because the Persons who do them either are obliged to do it to grati[illegible: 1+ letters]ie some Superiour Authority who commands them to do it, or else do want or desire something which they cannot justly obtain. For he is a Monster and not a Man, who will take away any thing by injustice or violence which he may have by right.

Or committed, to wit, to him, to be governed by him in the Name and for the use and service of his Superiour Lord to whom he must give an account.

Marginal references: Heb, all of it.

14. If he set his heart upon man : if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath :

Heb. upon him, i. e. Man, as may seem probable from v. 11. & 15. where Man is expressed, and from the next Clause of this Verse where he speaks of that Spirit and Breath which is in Man. If his eye and heart be upon man, if he diligently and exactly observe him and all his ways, and whatsoever is amiss in him, and which follows upon it of course, resolve to punish him. Or, if he set his heart against (as this Particle el is used, Amos 7. 15. and elsewhere, as hath been noted before) him, to wit, to cut him off.

If it please him to gather to himself, to wit, by death, whereby God is said to take away mens Breath▪ Psal. 104. 29. and to gather mens Souls, Psal. 26. 9. and the Spirit is said to return unto God, Eccles. 12. 7.

i. e. That Spirit and Breath, or that living Soul that God breathed into Man, Gen. 2. 7. and gives to every Man that cometh into the World.

Marginal references: Ps. 104. 29.; Heb. upon him.

15. All flesh shall perish together , and man shall turn again unto dust.

i. e. Every Man, who is called Flesh, Gen. 6. 3, 17. Isa. 40. 6.

Or, alik[illegible: 1+ letters], without any exception, be they great or mean, wise or foolish, good or bad, if God design to destroy them, they cannot withstand his power, but must needs perish by his stroke. The design of this and the foregoing Verse is the same with that of v. 13. (where see the notes) namely, to declare God's absolute and uncontrollable Soveraignty over all men to dispose of them either to life or to death as it pleaseth him, and consequently to shew that Iob had cause to be thankful to God who had continued his life so long to him which he might have taken away as soon as ever he had given it, and had no cause to complain of him, or to tax him with injustice for afflicting him, as he did.

Marginal references: Gen. 3. 19. Eccles. 12. 7.

16. If now thou hast understanding, hear this : he[illegible: 1+ letters]rken to the voice of my words.

As thou art a Man of understanding, hear and consider what I say.

17. Shall even he that hateth right , govern ? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just ?

i. e. That is unrighteous. But this he expresseth in a most emphatical manner, the reason and weight whereof seems to me to be this; If God be unjust, he is not so from fear of any Superiour (as inferiour Magistrates do many unrighteous things against their Consciences to please their Prince or Chief Ruler, or to avoid his displeasure) but meerly from an intrinsecal hatred of Justice, or love of unrighteousness: which being most absurd to imagine concerning God, therefore he cannot possibly [illegible: 1+ letters]e unjust or do any unjust action.

So this word which properly signifies to bind is fitly rendred by most Interpreters, and [illegible: 1+ letters]o it is used, Isa. 3. 7. because Governours have a power to bind their Subjects by Laws and Penalties, and they are as it were the ligaments by which Societies are bound and keep together, which without them would be dissolved and broken to pieces. Elihu's argument here is the same with that of Abraham's, Gen. 18. 25. and that of Saint Pauls, Rom. 3, 5. 6. If God be unrighteous how shall [illegible: 1+ letters]e judge or govern the World? And the argument is undeniable; If God were unjust, there would be nothing but injustice and confusion, and mischief in the World▪ whereas we see there is a great deal of Justice administred by Rulers in the World, and all this must proceed from him who is the Fountain and Author of all Justice, and Rule, and Authority. And as the Psalmist saith, Psal. 94. 9. He that formed the eye, shall not he see? So say I, He that makes men just shall he be unjust?

i. e. God, who hath given so many clear and unquestionable evidences of his Justice, in giving Just and Holy Laws, in encouraging and rewarding very many righteous Persons in this life, and in inflicting dreadful and remarkable Judgments upon Tyrants and Oppressours. Or, him that is just and mighty; for the next Verse speaks of such who were generally in [illegible: 1+ letters]hose times more considerable for their Power and Authority, than for their Justice. So here is a double argument against Iob's censures of God's Justice. He is just, and therefore giveth thee no cause to condemn him, and withal potent, and therefore can punish thee yet far worse for so doing.

Marginal references: Heb. Bind.

18. Is it fit to say to a King, Thou art wicked : and to princes, ye are ungodly?

Or, Thou art Belial or a Son of Belial. Though a King may, really be unjust and wicked, yet there Subjects neither may nor dare presume to call them so, Exod. 22. 28. And therefore if some evil Thought did arise in thee, yet how wast thou not afraid to utter such unworthy and almost blasphemous expressions against God?

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

19. How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes g, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor: for they all are the work of his hands ▪

And therefore of equal worth and price with him, and equally subject to his power and pleasures.

q i. e. To God, who respecteth not the greatest Princes so as to do any unjust thing to gain their favour, or to avoid their anger, to whom Princes and Peasants are equally subject and infinitely inferiour; who therefore is free from all temptation to injustice which commonly proceeds from respect of Persons, Levit. 19. 15. and to whom therefore thou didst owe more reverence, than thy words have expressed.

Marginal references: Deut. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. 2 Chron. [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word]. Act. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. Rom. 2. 11. Gal. 2. 6. Ephes. 6. [illegible: 1+ letters]. Col. 3. 25. 1 Pet. 1. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].; Ch. 31. 1[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪

20. In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight , and pass away : and the mighty shall be taken away without hand .

Whensoever God doth but give the word, and send his Summons for them.

i. e. The Rich and the Prince no less than the poor must submit to the Law of death which God hath imposed upon all men without exception, and they cannot charge God with injury therein.

Whole Nations or People are no less subject to God's power than any particular Persons: their numbers cannot secure them from God's hand.

i. e. disturbed and terrified with those calamities which God shall bring upon them.

Suddenly, and when they are most secure.

Either, 1. go into Captivity, or run, or fly away, they know not whither for their lives. Or, 2. perish or die, as he said before, and as this word is oft used, as Iob 14. 20 Psal. 37. 36. Eccles. 1. 4▪ So the same thing is said of the People, which in the first branch of the Verse was said of the Princes.

Either from their place or power: or out of this life.

Without any hand or help of Man▪ by some secret and stupendious work and judgment of God, which he oft inflicts upon those who are out of the reach of men.

Marginal references: Heb. they that take away the mighty.

21. For his eyes are upon the ways of man , and he seeth all his goings.

This is added as the reason of the Judgments mentioned in the foregoing Verse, God doth not afflict nor destroy either Princes or People unjustly, no nor out of his meer pleasure and absolute Soveraignity (to which Iob seemed to impute his calamities) but for their sins, which God sees exactly, although they use all possible arts and tricks to hide them from him. Therefore no man hath cause to complain of God, but of himself, for all that he may suffer in the World.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1+ letters] Chr. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1+ letters] Ch. 31. [illegible: 1+ letters]. Psal. 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. 119. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. Prov. 5. [illegible: 1+ letters]1. & 15. 3. Jer. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. 1

22 There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves .

They may flatter themselves, or cheat others by covering their wicked actions with plausible pretences and professions, but they cannot deceive God, nor keep their hearts and ways from his sight.

Marginal references: Psal. 139. [illegible: 1+ letters] Amos 9. 2▪ Heb. 4. 13.

23. For he will not lay upon man more than right : that he should enter into judgment with God .

More or heavier punishments than they deserve, or than are proportionable to their sins, which he accurately observes, as was now said, and therefore can suit punishments to them.

Thereby to give him any pretence or occasion of entring into judgment with him, or condemning his proceedings; for which there might seem to be some colour, if God did lay upon Man more than right. And therefore thou, O Iob, hadst no cause for thy complaints against God.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word]

24. He shall break into pieces mighty men without number , and set others in their stead .

Neither their greatness, nor their numbers can secure them from the stroke of God's justice.

i. e. Give away their power and dignity to others who shall come in their place.

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

25. Therefore he knoweth their works , and he overturneth them in the night , so that they are destroyed .

i. e. Hence it appears that he knows all their evil works because he judgeth them, for them. God or men are oft times said in Scripture to know or do a thing when they onely manifest their knowing and doing of it. Or, Because, &c. as this Particle is used. Isa. 26. 14. & 6[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ 7. So this is subjoined as the ground or reason why he punisheth them, as is related both in the foregoing and in the following words, because he sees all their wicked designs and actions.

i. e. When they are at rest and secure, at midnight, as it is v. 20. Or, he turneth or bringeth upon them the night, to wit, of calamity and tribulation, as the next words explain it, and as the words night and darkness are oft used. Or, he turneth the night, to wit, into day, i. e. He knoweth all their deeds of darkness, and bringeth them to light. See above v. 22.

Heb. and (or then, or therefore; for both these ways this Particle is sometimes used) they shall be destroyed, or, broken to pieces.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span].

26. He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others .

i. e. As he useth to smite wicked men, with a grievous and terrible stroke. Comp. Isa. 27. 7. Or, for wicked men, or, because they are wicked men, therefore he destroys them without any regard to their quality.

In publick view for their greater shame, and for the greater glory of God's justice, and for the greater terrour of other oppressours, and comfort of the oppressed.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. in the [illegible: 1 word] of be [illegible: 1+ letters].

27. Because they turned back from him : and would not consider any of his ways .

From the God whom they or their Progenitors had owned, and his Laws which God hath written in the minds of all men, Rom. 2. 14, 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. and it may be from the practice of the true Religion which sometimes they professed.

Or, understand. They did not desire no[illegible: 1+ letters] endeavour to know them, at least practically or to any good purpose.

Either, 1. God's providential ways. They did not lay to heart any of God's judgments inflicted upon such Oppressours as themselves, which should have given them warning, but boldly persisted in the same wicked courses. Or 2. His precepts, oft called his ways, because he hath appointed them for us to walk in. For these ways they were in a special manner obliged to consider and practise: and the next Verse giveth us an instance of their backsliding from these ways.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span]; [illegible: 1 word]. 28. 5. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters] 12.

28. So that they cause the cry of the poor to come , unto him , and he heareth the cry of the afflicted .

Heb. To bring, &c. which is ambiguous, and may be read, either 1. that he, i. e. God, might bring, &c. So this is a reason why God smo[illegible: 1+ letters] them, &c. as is said, v. 26. Or 2. that they i. e. those wicked men, might bring, &c. and so these words contain either 1. a reason of what was last mentioned, to wit, why they would not consider nor walk in Gods ways, because they were resolved to oppress the poor, and give them cause to cry unto God; which they neither would nor could have done if they had throughly understood and considered Gods ways: or 2. an evidence or instance of it wherein it did appear, that they had turned back from God, &c.

i. e. Unto God, as the following words imply, it being God's work to [illegible: 1+ letters]ear the cry and plead the cause of the afflicted or oppressed. Others, Upon him, or upon them, or upon each of them, to wit, of the Oppressours; upon whom the cry of the oppressed is said to come, because the vengeance of God is by that cry brought down upon them.

He delivereth the oppressed by taking the Oppressour away.

29. When he giveth quietnes[illegible: 1+ letters], who then can make trouble ▪ and when he hideth his Face , who then can behold him ? whether it be done against a Nation, or against a man only .

Either to the poor and oppressed Persons last mentioned, or to any other Person or People, as it follows.

No Man or Creature can hinder God's design and work.

i. e. Withdraws his favour and help from them, and [illegible: 1+ letters]ereby exposeth them to all Oppressions or calamities.

i. e. Who can look up to God with chearfulness or confidence▪ to desire or expect his help? Or rather, who [illegible: 1 word] will look upon him▪ or regard him, to wit, so as to pitty or suecour him! I[illegible: 1+ letters] God be against him, what man will or dare be for him? all men will [illegible: 1+ letters]orsake and oppose him, and so he will be utterly lost. For this who answers to the who in the former branch of the Verse, and both of them speak o[illegible: 1+ letters] Man and his act as opposed unto God, and to his act.

The case is the same in both: God can carry on his work either of Mercy or Justice, as easily and as irre[illegible: 1+ letters]istibly upon an whole Nation or People as upon one particular Person.

Marginal references: Chap. 12. [illegible: 1 word].

30. That the hypocrite reign not, lest the People be ensnared .

Having said that God could and would carry on his own work and design effectually, whether against one Man, or against an whole People, he now proceeds to give a further instance of God's mighty power above and against the greatest Monarchs, in whom their own and Peoples strength seem to be united, yet all together cannot oppose God in his work. God when he pleaseth can and doth so order affairs, that the Hypocrite (i. e. the profane wicked Prince, as one of the Kings of Iudah is called, Ezek. 21. 25. Bad Princes being called Hypocrites, because they do commonly cover all their Oppressions, and injuries, and imp[illegible: 1+ letters]eties too, with the specious pre[illegible: 1+ letters]ence of Justice and the publick good, and the discharge of their trust and duty) may not reign, (i. e. may not continue his reign and tyranny, that he may and shall by his Soveraign power and omnipotent Providence be deprived of his Kingdom) [illegible: 1+ letters]est the people be [illegible: 1+ letters]red, i. e. lest the people should be longer, and more and more [illegible: 1+ letters]pt and held in the snares or fetters of tyra[illegible: 1+ letters]ny and oppression: i. e. God doth this to free poor oppressed People [illegible: 1+ letters]rom the snares which ungodly and unrighteous Princes lay for them. Or, that [illegible: 1 word] People be not [illegible: 1 word] any longer, Heb. that there [illegible: 1+ letters]e [illegible: 1+ letters]o snares o[illegible: 1+ letters] or for the People. Or▪ for the [illegible: 1 word], or scandals or [illegible: 1 word] (which are oft so called) of the People. So the sence is, That such a wicked Prince may not continue to reign over that People, although by their sins they had provoked God to give them such a Prince and to continue his power over them.

31. Surely it is meet to be said unto God , I have born chastisement , I will not offend any more .

Certainly it is but fit and reasonable that Man should say thus, to his Maker and Supream Lord▪ and that instead of contending with God he should submit to him, Or (which comes to the same thing) But hath he said? So the sence is, I have shewed the absolute power which God hath over all his Creatures, and that he may justly, and doth o[illegible: 1+ letters]times severely punish all sorts of men as he sees fit: And this Iob should have applied to his own case. But, I appeal to all of you, hath he, i. e. Iob (who is the principal subject of this whole discour[illegible: 1+ letters]e, and [illegible: 1+ letters]o whom he now begins to direct his discourse) said, that which here follows? which is a kind of form of confession or humiliation, which E[illegible: 1+ letters]ihu puts into Iob's mouth, as fit to have been used by him. Nay, hath not his speech and carriage been of a directly contrary nature and tendency? In stead of humbling himself under God's hand which was his duty, hath he not been full of murmurings and complaints against God?

Unto one so much thy Superiour, so mighty and so righteous in all his wa[illegible: 1+ letters]s: with such an one, a weak and sinful Creature (as thou art) should not presume to contest.

Or, I do, or shall bear it, to wit, quietly and contentedly; I will bear the Lords indignation, and accept of the punishment of my own iniquity, and not accuse God falsly and foolishly, as I have done.

Heb. I will not corrupt, to wit, my self or my ways; which is oft understood in like cases. Or, I will take or demand no Pledge: for so this Verb is oft used. So the sence may possibly be, I confess I have been too bold with God in desiring that he would come with me into judgment, and that I could have a Pledge or Surety that he would do so, but I will no longer desire it, but submit my self wholly to him.

32. That which I see not, teach thou me ; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more .

I will no longer maintain mine innocency, but from thy judgments I will conclude and have reason to believe that there are some secret sins in me, for which thou dost chastise me, and which I through mine ignorance or partiality cannot yet discover, and therefore do beg that thou wouldst by thy Spirit manifest them to me.

I will amend my former errours.

33. Should it be according to thy mind ? he will recompense it; whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose , and not I : therefore speak what thou knowest .

Having advised and directed Iob how to behave himself, and what to say to God in his case, he now proceedeth to enforce his advice by solid arguments. Should it (to wit, God's chastening of thee, about which the great controversie was) be according to thy mind? Heb. from with thee, as thou wouldest have it? Shall thy Opinion or Affection give Laws and Measures to God that he shall afflict onely such Persons and in such a manner and measure, and so long as thou wouldst have him? Doth God need or should he seek [illegible: 1+ letters]or thy advice how to govern the World, and whom, and when to reward or punish? Dost thou quarrel with God, because he punisheth thee▪ worse and longer than thou expectest or de[illegible: 1+ letters]rest?

To wit, thy iniquity expressed, v. 32.

Whether thou ar[illegible: 1+ letters] satisfied or offended with his proceedings, he regards not▪ a [illegible: 1 word] being obliged to give thee an account of his matters, whether thou would refuse his punishments or accept of them.

It is [illegible: 1+ letters]ot I, nor thou, that must prescribe to God▪ but he will do what he pleaseth. Or, but not I, i. e. do thou refuse or choo[illegible: 1+ letters]e as thou pleasest▪ and contend with God for doing with thee otherwise than according to thy opinion or good will; but so would not I do, if i[illegible: 1+ letters] were my case, and I can say nothing for this course which thou takest, and therefore do thou speak what thou knowest, or what thou ca[illegible: 1+ letters]st say for it, as it here follows.

If thou canst say any thing for this practice, here I am ready to hear thy defence and to justifie thee as far as I can truly and righteously do. But this Verse is and may well be otherwise rendred, and that very agreeably to the Hebrew, though still the sence will be the same, Shall he, i. e. God, render, or [illegible: 1 word] it (to wit, thy iniquity) according to thy mind, (i. e. no further than thou dost like and consent) because thou refusest? (to wit, his Chastisement. Is he obliged to forbear punishing thee because thou art not pleased with it? Shall not he dispense either favours or afflictions as he sees fit without thy consent?) shalt thou choose, and not I? (So Eli[illegible: 1+ letters] speaks this in the Name and Person of God: such sudden changes of Persons being not unusual in this Book. Shalt thou, O Iob, choose for me▪ and not I for my self?) therefore speak what thou knowest. If this be thy opinion speak what thou canst in defence of it: and here am I ready to plead for God against thee. So here Elihu returns to speak in his own Person.

Marginal references: Heb. should it be from with thee?

34. Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man hearken unto me .

I am content that any wise Man should judge of my words, and let such consider what I say. Or, as others translate the place, M[illegible: 1+ letters]n of Understanding will speak for or with (as the prefix Lamed is sometimes used, as Gen. 46. 26. Numb. 18. 11. Iob 17. 5.) me, and wise men will hearken or assent unto me.

Marginal references: Heb. of heart.

35. Job hath spoken without knowledge , and his words were without wisdom.

Foolishly and inconsiderately.

36. My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end , because of his answers for wicked men .

Either 1. that he may be further tried by God or exercised with Afflictions till he he throughly convinced or humbled. But it seems harsh that he should pray for the continuance or increase of Iob's Afflictions. Or rather 2. that his words and cause which I am now debating may be examined and s[illegible: 1+ letters]fted, that you that are here present or any other wise men may consider and judge thereof, as he desired above, v. 2, 10, 34.

i. e. Thoroughly and exactly, till the cause be brought to an is[illegible: 1+ letters]ue. Or, unto victory, i. e. till judgment be brought forth unto victory.

Or, concerning his answers, or replies or discou[illegible: 1+ letters]s▪ for answering is oft used in Scripture both in the Old and New Testament for speaking. So he limits and changeth the state of the controversie: I do not meddle with Iob's former life nor charge him with Hypo[illegible: 1+ letters]risie, as his three Friends have done, but I justly reprove him for his hard speeches against God whereby he hath reproached his justice and goodness.

i. e. On their behalf or for their use. He hath put arguments into their mouths against God and his Providence. Or, with or among wicked men, as if he were one of them: or such answers as they use to make, which therefore are very unbecoming such a Man as Iob is or pretends to be.

Marginal references: Or, my Father, l[illegible: 1+ letters]t Job be tried.

37. For he addeth rebellion unto his Sin , he clappeth his hands amongst us, and multiplieth his words against God .

He sinned before, as other ways, so by impatience under his afflictions, which may be ascribed to humane infirmity; but now he is grown obstinate and incorrigible, and instead of repenting, and humbling himself for his sins he excuseth them, and justifieth himself and accuseth the blessed God. Or thus For otherwise, unless he be throughly tried and rebuked, he will add rebellion unto his sin, he will break forth into open rebellion against God, and (as it follows) he will clap, &c. For the Hebrew words are of the future tense, although such are oft rendred by the past tense.

In token of joy and victory, as this phrase is used, Psal. 47. 1. & 98. 8. insulting and triumphing not onely over us, as if none of us were able to answer him, but in a sort over God himself, inasmuch as he hath again and again desired leave of God to debate his cause with or before him, and in that case did not doubt to maintain it, but could not obtain the favour or justice of a fair hearing.

Whereas the reverence which he oweth to God and his infinite distance from him should teach him to be very modest and sparing in his speeches of God, Iob on the contrary poureth forth whole flouds of bold and presumptuous expostulations with God and reflections upon Gods proceedings with him.

Job 34:1-4   1  Then began Elihu and said:   2  Hear, ye wise men, my words,

And ye experienced ones, give ear to me!   3  For the ear trieth words,

As the palate tasteth by eating.   4  Let us find out what is right,

Let us explore among ourselves what is good.

After his first speech Elihu has made a brief pause; now since Job is silent, he begins anew. ויען ויאמר, lxx correctly, here as in all other instances where the phrase occurs: ὑπολαβὼν λέγει, taking up the word he said. The wise and the knowing (Arab. ‛ulamâ), whose attention he bespeaks, are not Job and the three (Umbr., Hahn), who are indeed a party, and as such a subject for the arbitrative appearance of Elihu; also not every one capable of forming a judgment (Hirz.); but those in the circle of spectators and listeners which, as is assumed, has assembled round the disputants (Schlottm.). In Job 33:4 Elihu does not expressly mean his own ear, but that of the persons addressed: he establishes his summons to prove what he says by the general thought brought over from Job 12:11, and as there (comp. Job 5:7; Job 11:12), clothed in the form of the emblematic proverb, - that as there is a bodily, so there is also a mental organ of sense which tries its perceptions. לאכל is not intended as expressing a purpose (ad vescendum), but as a gerundive (vescendo). The phrase בּחר משׁפּט, occurring only here, signifies neither to institute a search for the purpose of decision (Schult. and others), since בחר does not signify to decide upon anything, nor to investigate a cause (Hahn), which would be נבחנה, but to test and choose what is right, δοκιμάζειν καὶ τὸ καλὸν κατέχειν, 1Th 5:21, after which the parallel runs: cognoscamus inter nos (i.e., in common) quid bonum.

Job 34:5-9   5  For Job hath said: “I am guiltless, “And God hath put aside my right.   6  “Shall I lie in spite of my right, “Incurable is mine arrow without transgression.”   7  Where is there a man like Job,

Who drinketh scorning like water,   8  And keepeth company with the workers of iniquity,

And walketh with wicked men,   9  So that he saith: “A man hath no profit “From entering into fellowship with God”?!

That in relation to God, thinking of Him as a punishing judge, he is righteous or in the right, i.e., guiltless (צדקתּי with Pathach in pause, according to Ew. §93, c, from צדק = צדק, but perhaps, comp. Pro 24:30; Psa 102:26, because the Athnach is taken only as of the value of Zakeph), Job has said verbatim in Job 13:18, and according to meaning, Job 23:10; Job 27:7, and throughout; that He puts aside his right (the right of the guiltless, and therefore not of one coming under punishment): Job 27:2. That in spite of his right (על, to be interpreted, according to Schultens’ example, just like Job 10:7; Job 16:17), i.e., although right is on his side, yet he must be accounted a liar, since his own testimony is belied by the wrathful form of his affliction, that therefore the appearance of wrong remains inalienably attached to him, we find in idea in Job 9:20 and freq. Elihu makes Job call his affliction חצּי, i.e., an arrow sticking in him, viz., the arrow of the wrath of God (on the objective suff. comp. on Job 23:2), after Job 6:4; Job 16:9; Job 19:11; and that this his arrow, i.e., the pain which it causes him, is incurably bad, desperately malignant without (בּלי as Job 8:11) פּשׁע, i.e., sins existing as the ground of it, from which he would be obliged to suppose they had thrust him out of the condition of favour, is Job’s constant complaint (vid., e.g., Job 13:23.). Another utterance of Job closely connected with it has so roused Elihu’s indignation, that he prefaces it with the exclamation of astonishment: Who is a man like Job, i.e., where in all the world (מי as 2Sa 7:23) has this Job his equal, who ... . The attributive clause refers to Job; “to drink scorn (here: blasphemy) like water,” is, according to Job 15:16, equivalent to to give one’s self up to mockery with delight, and to find satisfaction in it. ארח לחברה, to go over to any one’s side, looks like a poeticized prose expression. ללכת is a continuation of the ארח, according to Ew. §351, c, but not directly in the sense "and he goes,” but, as in the similar examples, Jer 17:10; Jer 44:19; 2Ch 7:17, and freq., in the sense of: “he is in the act of going;” comp. on Job 36:20 and Hab 1:17. The utterance runs: a man does not profit, viz., himself (on the use of סכן of persons as well as of things, vid., on Job 22:2), by his having joyous and familiar intercourse (בּרצתו, as little equivalent to בּרוּץ as in Psa 50:18) with God. Job has nowhere expressly said this, but certainly the declaration in Job 9:22, in connection with the repeated complaints concerning the anomalous distribution of human destinies (vid., especially Job 21:7, Job 24:1), are the premises for such a conclusion. That Elihu, in Job 34:7, is more harsh against Job than the friends ever were (comp. e.g., the well-measured reproach of Eliphaz, Job 15:4), and that he puts words into Job’s moth which occur nowhere verbatim in his speeches, is worked up by the Latin fathers (Jer., Philippus Presbyter, Beda,Philippus Presbyter was a disciple of Jerome. His Comm. in Iobum is extant in many forms, partly epitomized, partly interpolated (on this subject, vid., Hieronymi Opp. ed. Vallarsi, iii. 895ff.). The commentary of Beda, dedicated to a certain Nectarius (Vecterius), is fundamentally that of this Philippus.

Gregory) in favour of their unfavourable judgment of Elihu; the Greek fathers, however, are deprived of all opportunity of understanding him by the translation of the lxx (in which μυκτηρισμόν signifies the scorn of others which Job must swallow down, comp. Pro 26:6), which here perverts everything.

Job 34:10-11 10  Therefore, men of understanding, hearken to me!

Far be it from god to do evil,

And the Almighty to act wrongfully. 11  No indeed, man’s work He recompenseth to him,

And according to man’s walk He causeth it to be with him. “Men of heart,” according to Psychol. S. 249, comp. 254, is equivalent to noee'mones or noeeroi' (lxx συνετοὶ καρδίας). The clause which Elihu makes prominent in the following reply is the very axiom which the three defend, perfectly true in itself, but falsely applied by them: evil, wrong, are inconceivable on the part of God; instead of וּלשׁדּי it is only ושׁדּי in the second member of the verse, with the omission of the praep. - a frequent form of ellipsis, particularly in Isaiah (Isa 15:8; Isa 28:6; Isa 48:14; Isa 61:7, comp. Eze 25:15). Far removed from acting wickedly and wrongfully, on the contrary He practises recompense exactly apportioned to man’s deeds, and ever according to the walk of each one (ארח like דּרך or דּרכי, e.g., Jer 32:19, in an ethical sense) He causes it to overtake him, i.e., to happen to him (המציא only here and Job 37:13). The general assertion brought forward against Job is now proved.

Job 34:12-15 12  Yea verily God acteth not wickedly,

And the Almighty perverteth not the right. 13  Who hath given the earth in charge to Him?

And who hath disposed the whole globe? 14  If He only set His heart upon Himself,

If He took back His breath and His inspiration to Himself: 15  All flesh would expire together,

And man would return to dust.

With אף אמנם (Yea verily, as Job 19:4, “and really”) the counter-assertion of Job 34:11 is repeated, but negatively expressed (comp. Job 8:3). הרשׁיע signifies sometimes to act as רשׁע, and at others to be set forth and condemned as a רשׁע; here, as the connection requires, it is the former. Job 34:13 begins the proof. Ewald’s interpretation: who searcheth, and Hahn's: who careth for the earth beside Him, are hazardous and unnecessary. פּקד with על of the person and the acc. of the thing signifies: to enjoin anything as a duty on any one, to entrust anything to any one, Job 36:23; Num 4:27; 2Ch 36:23; therefore: who has made the earth, i.e., the care of it, a duty to Him? ארצה (Milel) is not to be refined into the meaning “to the earth” (as here by Schultens and a few others, Isa 9:1 by Luzzatto: he hath smitten down, better: dishonoured, to the earth with a light stroke), but is poetically equivalent to ארץ, as לילה (comp. modern Greek ἡ νύχθα) is in prose equivalent to ליל. Job 34:13 is by no means, with Ew. and Hahn, to be translated: who observes (considers) the whole globe, שׂים as Job 34:23; Job 4:20; Job 24:12 - the expression would be too contracted to affirm that no one but God bestowed providential attention upon the earth; and if we have understood Job 34:13 correctly, the thought is also inappropriate. A more appropriate thought is gained, if עליו is supplied from Job 34:13: who has enjoined upon Him the whole circle of the earth (Saad., Gecat., Hirz., Schlottm.); but this continued force of the עליו into the second independent question is improbable in connection with the repetition of מי. Therefore: who has appointed, i.e., established (שׂם as Job 38:5; Isa 44:7), - a still somewhat more suitable thought, going logically further, since the one giving the charge ought to be the lord of him who receives the commission, and therefore the Creator of the world. This is just God alone, by whose רוּח and נשׁמה the animal world as well as the world of men (vid., Job 32:8; Job 33:4) has its life, Job 34:14 : if He should direct His heart, i.e., His attention (שׂים לב אל, as Job 2:3), to Himself (emphatic: Himself alone), draw in (אסף as Psa 104:29; comp. for the matter Ecc 12:7, Psychol. S. 406) to Himself His inspiration and breath (which emanated from Him or was effected by Him), all flesh would sink together, i.e., die off at once (this, as it appears, has reference to the taking back of the animal life, רוח), and man would return (this has reference to the taking back of the human spirit, נשׁמה) to dust (על instead of אל, perhaps with reference to the usual use of the על־עפר, Job 17:16; Job 20:11; Job 21:26).

Only a few modern expositors refer אליו, as Targ. Jer. and Syr., to man instead of reflexively to God; the majority rightly decide in favour of the idea which even Grotius perceived: si sibi ipsi tantum bonus esse (sui unius curam habere) vellet. אם followed by the fut. signifies either si velit (lxx ει ̓ βούλοιτο), as here, or as more frequently, si vellet, Psa 50:12; Psa 139:8, Oba 1:4, Isa 10:22; Amo 9:2-4. It is worthy of remark that, according to Norzi’s statement, the Babylonian texts presented ישׁיב, Job 34:14, as Chethîb, ישׂים as Kerî (like our Palestine text, Dan 11:18), which a MS of De Rossi, with a Persian translation, confirms; the reading gives a fine idea: that God’s heart is turned towards the world, and is unclosed; its ethical condition of life would then be like its physical ground of life, that God’s spirit dwells in it; the drawing back of the heart, and the taking back to Himself of the spirit, would be equivalent to the exclusion of the world from God’s love and life. However, ישׂים implies the same; for a reference of God’s thinking and willing to Himself, with the exclusion of the world, would be just a removal of His love. Elihu’s proof is this: God does not act wrongly, for the government of the world is not a duty imposed upon Him from without, but a relation entered into freely by Him: the world is not the property of another, but of His free creative appointment; and how unselfishly, how devoid of self-seeking He governs it, is clear from the fact, that by the impartation of His living creative breath He sustains every living thing, and does not, as He easily might, allow them to fall away into nothingness. There is therefore a divine love which has called the world into being and keeps it in being; and this love, as the perfect opposite of sovereign caprice, is a pledge for the absolute righteousness of the divine rule.

Job 34:16-20 16  And oh understand now, hear this;

Hearken to the sound of my words. 17  Would one who hateth right also be able to subdue?

Or wilt thou condemn the All-just? 18  Is it becoming to say to a king: Worthless One!?

Thou evil-doer! to princes? 19  To Him who accepteth not the person of rulers,

And regardeth not the noble before the poor:

For they are all the work of His hands. 20  In a moment they die, and at midnight

The people are overthrown and perish,

And they put aside the mighty - not by the hand of man.

This strophe contains several grammatical rarities. At first sight it appears that Job 34:16 ought to be translated: “and if there is understanding (viz., to thee = if thou hast), then hear this.” But בּינה is accented as Milel and with Mercha, and can therefore not be a substantive (Hirz., Hahn, and others); for the retreat of the accent would be absolutely incomprehensible, and instead of a conjunctive, a distinctive, viz., Dechî, ought to be expected. Several of the old expositors, therefore, interpret with Nolde: quod quum ita sit, intellige; but this elliptical ואם, well as it might also be used for Job 21:4, is unsupportable; the Makkeph between the two words is also against it, which rather arises from the assumption that בּינה is the imperat., and אם as an exception, like Gen 23:13, is an optative particle joined to the imper. 2 instead of to the fut.: “and if thou shouldst observe” (= ואם־תּבין). To translate Job 34:17 with Schultens: num iram osor judicii frenabit, is impracticable on account of the order of the words, and gives a thought that is inappropriate here. אף is a particle, and the fut. is potentialis: is it also possible that an enemy of right should govern? (חבשׁ, imperio coercere, as אצר   1Sa 9:17, אסר Psa 105:22); right and government are indeed mutually conditioned, without right everything would fall into anarchy and confusion. In Job 34:17 this is applied to the Ruler of the world: or (ואם, an, as Job 8:3; Job 21:4; Job 40:9) wilt thou condemn the mighty just One, i.e., the All-just? As Elihu calls God שׂגּיא כח, Job 37:23, as the Almighty, and as the Omniscient One, תּמים דּעים, Job 37:16, so here as the All-just One, צדּיק כּבּיר. The two adjectives are put side by side ἀσυνδέτως, as is frequently the case in Arabic, and form one compound idea, Ew. §270, d.

Job 34:21-23 21  For His eyes are upon the ways of each one,

And He seeth all his steps. 22  There is no darkness nor shadow of death

Wherein the workers of iniquity might hide themselves. 23  For He needeth not long to regard a man

That he may enter into judgment with God.

As the preceding strophe showed that God’s creative order excludes all partiality, so this strophe shows that His omniscience qualifies Him to be an impartial judge. He sees everything, nothing can escape His gaze; He sees through man without being obliged to wait for the result of a judicial investigation. שׂים with על does not here signify: to lay upon (Saad., Gecat.), but as Job 37:15, and as with אל (Job 34:14) or בּ (Job 23:6); to direct one’s attention (supply לבּו, Job 1:8) towards anything; the fut. has here a modal signification; עוד is used as e.g., Gen 46:29 : again and again, continuously; and in the clause expressive of purpose it is אל־אל (instead of אליו, a very favourite combination used throughout the whole book, Job 5:8; Job 8:5; Job 13:3, and so on) from the human standpoint: He, the all-seeing One, needs not to observe him long that he should enter into judgment with God - He knows him thoroughly before any investigation takes place, which is not said without allusion to Job’s vehement longing to be able to appear before God’s tribunal.

Job 34:24-28 24  He breaketh the mighty in pieces without investigation

And setteth others in their place. 25  Thus He seeth through their works,

And causeth their overthrow by night, thus they are crushed. 26  He smiteth them after the manner of evil-doers

In the sight of the public. 27  For for such purpose are they fallen away from Him

And have not considered any of His ways, 28  To cause the cry of the poor to come up to Him,

And that He should hear the cry of the needy.

He makes short work (לא־חקר for בּלא, as Job 12:24; Job 38:26 : without research, viz., into their conduct, which is at once manifest to Him; not: in an incomprehensible manner, which is unsuitable, and still less: innumerabiles, as Jer., Syr.) with the mighty (כּבּירים, Arab. kibâr , kubarâ), and in consequence of this (fut. consec.) sets up (constituit) others, i.e., better and worthier rulers (comp. אהר, Job 8:19; Isa 55:1-13 :15), in their stead. The following לכן is not equivalent to לכן אשׁר, for which no satisfactory instance exists; on the contrary, לכן here, as more frequently, introduces not the real consequence (Job 20:2), but a logical inference, something that directly follows in and with what precedes (corresponding to the Greek ἄρα, just so, consequently), comp. Job 42:3; Isa 26:14; Isa 61:7; Jer 2:33; Jer 5:2; Zec 11:7 (vid., Köhler in loc.). Thus, then, as He hereby proves, He is thoroughly acquainted with their actions (מעבּד, nowhere besides in the book of Job, an Aramaizing expression for מעשׂה). This abiding fact of divine omniscience, inferred from the previously-mentioned facts, then serves again in its turn, in Job 34:25, as the source of facts by which it is verified. לילה is by no means an obj. The expositions: et inducit noctem (Jer.), He walks in the night in which He has veiled Himself (Umbr.), convertit eos in noctem (Syr., Arab.), and such like, all read in the two words what they do not imply. It is either to be translated: He throws them by night (לילה as Job 27:20) upon the heaps (הפך as Pro 12:7), or, since the verb has no objective suff.: He maketh a reformation or overthrow during the night, i.e., creates during the night a new order of things, and they who stood at the head of the former affairs are crushed by the catastrophe.

Job 34:29-32 29  If He, however, maketh peace, who will then condemn?

And if He hideth His countenance - who then can behold Him? -

Both concerning numbers and individuals together: 30  That godless men reign not,

That they be not nets to the people. 31  For one, indeed, saith to God, “I have been proud, I will not do evil; 32  “What I see not, show Thou me; “If I have done wrong, I will do it no more”!? -

If God makes peace (ישׁקיט as Psa 94:13, comp. Isa 14:7, הארץ שׁקטה כל־, viz., after the overthrow of the tyrant) in connection with such crying oppression of the poor, who will then condemn Him without the rather recognising therein His comprehensive justice? The conjecture ירעשׁVid., Grätz in Frankel’s Monatsschrift, 1861, i. is not required either here or 1Sa 14:47 (where הרשׁיע signifies to punish the guilty); ירשׁע is also not to be translated turbabit (Rosenm.), since רשׁע (Arab. rs‛ , rsg) according to its primitive notion does not signify “to be restless, to rage,” but “to be relaxed, hollow” (opposite of צדק, Arab. ṣdq, to be hard, firm, tight). Further: If God hides His countenance, i.e., is angry and punishes, who can then behold Him, i.e., make Him, the veiled One, visible and claim back the favour withdrawn? The Waw of וּמי, if one marks off the periods of the paratactic expression, is in both cases the Waw of conclusion after hypothetical antecedents, and. Job 34:29 refers to Job’s impetuous challenging of God. Thus exalted above human controversy and defiance, God rules both over the mass and over individuals alike. יחד gives intensity of the equality thus correlatively (et-et) expressed (Targ., Syr.); to refer it to אדם as generalizing (lxx, Jer. et super omnes homines), is forbidden by the antithesis of peoples and individuals. To the thought, that God giveth rest (from oppressors) and hides His countenance (from the oppressors and in general those who act wrongly), two co-ordinate negative final clauses are attached: in order that godless men may not rule (ממּלך, as e.g., 2Ki 23:33, Keri), in order that they may no longer be (מ( e = מהיות, under the influence of the notion of putting aside contained in the preceding final clause, therefore like Isa 7:8 מעם, Isa 24:2 מעיר, Jer 48:2 מגוי, and the like) snares of the people, i.e., those whose evil example and bad government become the ruin of the community.

In Job 34:31 the view of those who by some jugglery concerning the laws of the vowel sounds explain האמר as imper. Niph. (= האמר), be it in the sense of להאמר, dicendum est (Rosenm., Schlottm., and others, after Raschi), or even in the unheard-of reflexive signification: express thyself (Stick., Hahn), is to be rejected. The syncopated form of the infin. בּהרג, Eze 26:15, does not serve as a palliation of this adventurous imperative. It is, on the contrary, אמר with ה interrog., as Eze 28:9 האמר, and probably also העמוּר Mic 2:7 (vid., Hitz.). A direct exhortation to Job to penitence would also not be in place here, although what Elihu says is levelled against Job. The כּי is confirmatory. Thus God acts with that class of unscrupulous men who abuse their power for the destruction of their subjects: for he (one of them) says (or: has said, from the standpoint of the execution of punishment) to God, etc. Ew. differently: “for one says thus to God even: I expiate what I do not commit,” by understanding the speech quoted of a defiance which reproachfully demands an explanation. It is, however, manifestly a compendious model confession. And since Elihu with כי establishes the execution of punishment from this, that it never entered the mind of the עדם חנף thus to humble himself before God, so נשׂאתי here cannot signify: I have repented (put up with and had to bear what I have deserved); on the contrary, the confession begins with the avowal: I have exalted myself (נשׂא, se efferre, in Hos 13:1; Psa 89:10), which is then followed by the vow: I will not (in the future) do evil (חבל synon. עוה, as Neh 1:7, and probably also supra, Job 24:9), and the entreaty, Job 34:32 : beside that which I behold (elliptical object-clause, Ew. §333, b), i.e., what lies beyond my vision (= נסתּרות or עלמים, Psa 19:13; Psa 90:8, unacknowledged sins), teach me; and the present vow has reference to acknowledged sins and sins that have still to be acknowledged: if I have done wrong, I will do it no more. Thus speaking - Elihu means - those high ones might have anticipated the punishment of the All-just God, for favour instead of wrath cannot be extorted, it is only reached by the way of lowly penitence.

Job 34:33-37 33  Shall He recompense it as thou wilt? For thou hast found fault,

So that thou hast to determine, not I,

And what thou knowest speak out! 34  Men of understanding will say to me,

And a wise man who listeneth to me: 35  “Job speaketh without knowledge, “And his words are without intelligence.” 36  O would that Job were proved to the extreme

On account of his answers after the manner of evil men; 37  For he addeth transgression to his sin,

Among us he clappeth

And multiplieth his speeches against God.

The question put to Job, whether then from him or according to his idea (עם in מעמּך as Job 23:10; Job 27:11, which see) shall God recompense it (viz., as this “it” is to be understood according to Job 34:32: man’s evil-doing and actions in general), Elihu proves from this, that Job has despised (shown himself discontented with it) the divine mode of recompense, so that therefore (this second כּי signifies also nam, but is, because extending further on account of the first, according to the sense equivalent to ita ut) he has to choose (seek out) another mode of recompense, not Elihu (who is perfectly satisfied with the mode with which history furnishes us); which is then followed by the challenge (דּבּר not infin., but as Job 33:32): what (more corresponding to just retribution) thou knowest, speak out then! Elihu on his part knows that he does not stand alone against Job, the censurer of the divine government of the world, but that men of heart (understanding) and (every) wise man who listens to him will coincide with him in the opinion that Job’s talk is devoid of knowledge and intelligence (on the form of writing השׂכּיל as Jer 3:15, vid., Ges. §53, rem. 2).

In Job 34:36 we will for the present leave the meaning of אבי undecided; יבּחן is certainly intended as optative: let Job be tried to the extreme or last, i.e., let his trial by affliction continue until the matter is decided (comp. Hab 1:4), on account of the opposition among men of iniquity, i.e., after the manner of such (on this Beth of association comp. בּקּשׁשׁים, Job 36:14), for to חטּאת, by which the purpose of his affliction is to be cleared up, he adds פּשׁע, viz., the wickedness of blasphemous speeches: among us (therefore without fear) he claps (viz., his hands scornfully together, יספּוק only here thus absolute instead of ישׂפּק כּפּיו fo dae, Job 27:23, comp. בשׂפק Job 36:18 with ספקו Job 20:22)The mode of writing with ס instead of שׂ is limited in the book of Job, according to the Masora, to Job 34:26, Job 34:37. and multiplies (ירב, fut. apoc. Hiph. as Job 10:17, and instead of the full fut., as ישׂר, Job 33:27) his speeches against God, i.e., exceeds himself in speeches which irreverently dictate to and challenge God.

But we now ask, what does that אבי, Job 34:36, signify? According to the accentuation with Rebia, it appears to be intended to signify pater mi (Jer.), according to which Saad. (jâ rabbı̂) and Gecat. (munchiı̂, my Creator) translate it. This would be the only passage where an Old Testament saint calls God אבי; elsewhere God is called the Father of Israel, and Israel as a people, or the individual comprehending himself with the nation, calls Him אבינו. Nevertheless this pater mi for Elihu would not be inappropriate, for what the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb 12:7, says to believers on the ground of Pro 3:11 : εἰς παιδείαν ὑπομένετε, ye suffer for the purpose of paternal discipline, is Elihu’s fundamental thought; he also calls God in Job 32:22; Job 36:3, which a like reference to himself, עשׂני and פעלי - this ejaculatory “my Father!” especially in conjunction with the following wish, remains none the less objectionable, and only in the absence of a more agreeable interpretation should we, with Hirz., decide in its favour. It would be disproportionately repulsive if Job 34:36 still belonged to the assenting language of another, and Elihu represented himself as addressed by אבי (Wolfson, Maur.). Thus, therefore, אבי must be taken somehow or other interjectionally. It is untenable to compare it with אבוי, Pro 23:29, for אוי ואבוי (Arab. âh wa - âwâh) is “ah! and alas!” The Aramaic בייא בייא, vae vae (Buxtorf, col. 294), compared by Ges. to בּי, signifies just the same. The Targ. translates צבינא, I wish; after which Kimchi, among moderns, Umbr., Schlottm., Carey, and others derive אבי from אבה, a wish (after the form קצה, הזה), but the participial substantival-form badly suits this signification, which is at once improbable according to the usage of the language so far as we at present know it. This interpretation also does not well suit the בי, which is to be explained at the same time. Ewald, §358, a, regards אבי as the fuller form of בּי, and thinks אבי is dialectic = לבי = לוי = לוּ, but this is an etymological leger-demain. The two Schultens (died 1750 and 1793) were on the right track when they traced back אבי to בוא, but their interpretation: rem eo adducam ut (אבי = אביא, as it is certainly not unfrequently written, e.g., 1Ki 21:29, with the assumption of a root בי cognate with בא), is artificial and without support in the usage of the language and in the syntax. Körber and Simonis opened up the right way, but with inadequate means for following it out, by referring (vid., Ges. Thes. s.v. בּי) to the formula of a wish and of respect, bawwâk allah , which, however, also is bajjâk. The Kamus interprets bajjâk, though waveringly, by bawwâk, the meaning of which (may he give thee a resting-place) is more transparent. In an annotated Codex of Zamachschari hajjâk allah wa - bajjâk is explained: God preserve thy life and grant thee to come to a place of rest, bawwaaka (therefore Arab. bawâ = bawa'a) menzilan. That אבי (as also בּי) is connected with this bajjâk since the latter is the Piel-form of an old verb bajja (vid., supra, p. 559), which with the forms Arab. bâ'a (whence Arab. bı̂‛at, a sheltering house) and Arab. bw' (bwâ) has one root similar in signification with בוא, the following contributions of Wetzstein will show.

In elucidation of the present passage he observes: The expressions abı̂ tebı̂ , jebı̂ ; nebı̂ , tebû , jebû , are so frequent in Damascus, that they very soon struck me, and on my first inquiry I always received the same answer, that they are a mutilation of Arab. 'bgy , abghi , I desire, etc. [vid. supra, p. 580], until one day a fugitive came into the consulate, and with these words, abı̂ wâlidêk, seized me in that part of the body where the Arabs wear the girdle (zunnâr), a symbolic action by which one seeks some one’s protection. Since the word here could not be equivalent to abghi (“I desire” thy parents), I turned to the person best acquainted with the idiom of the country, the scribe Abderrahmân el-Mîdâni, which father had been a wandering minstrel in the camps for twenty years; and he explained to me that abghi only signifies “I desire;” on the contrary, abı̂, “I implore importunately, I pray for God’s sake,” and the latter belongs to a defective verb, Arab. bayya, from which, except the forms mentioned, only the part. anâ bâj , “I come as a suppliant,” and its plur. nahn bâjin , is used. The poet Musa Rârâ from Krêje in the south of Hauran, who lived with me six months in Damascus in order to instruct me in the dialect of his district, assured me that among the Beduins also the perf. forms bı̂t , bı̂nâ (I have, we have entreated), and the fut. forms tabı̂n (thou, woman ... ), jaben (they, the women ... ), and taben (ye women ... ), are used. In the year 1858, in the course of a journey in his native country, I came to Dîmâs, whither they had brought two strange Beduins who had been robbed of their horses in that desert (Sahra Dîmâs), and one of them had at the same time received a mortal gunshot-wound. As I can to these men, who were totally forsaken, the wounded man began to express his importunate desire for a surgeon with the words jâ shêch nebı̂ ‛arabak, “Sir, we claim the protection of thy Arabs,” i.e., we adjure thee by thy family. Naturally abı̂ occurs most frequently. It generally has its obj. in the acc., often also with the praepos. Arab. ‛ly , exactly like Arab. dchl (to enter, to flee anywhere and hide), which is its correct synonym and usual substitute in common life. It is often used without an obj., and, indeed, very variously. With women it is chiefly the introduction to a question prompted by curiosity, as: abı̂ (ah, tell me), have you really betrothed your daughter? Or the word is accompanied by a gesture by the five fingers of the right hand, with the tips united, being stretched out towards the hasty or impatient listener, as if one wished to show some costly object, when abı̂ signifies as much as: I pray thee wait till I have shown thee this precious thing, i.e., allow me to make one more remark to thee in reference to the matter. Moreover, בּי (probably not corrupted from אבי, but a derived nomen concretum in the sense of dachı̂ l or mustagı̂r, one seeking protection, protégé, after the form אי, צי, from בוה = בוא) still exists unaltered in Hauran and in the steppe. The Beduin introduces an important request with the words anâ bı̂ ahlak, I am a protégé of thy family, or anâ bı̂ ‛irdak, I trust to thine honour, etc.; while in Damascus they say, anâ dachı̂l ahlak , harı̂mak , aulâdak , etc. The Beduin women make use of this bı̂ in a weakened signification, in order to beg a piece of soap or sugar, and anâ bı̂ lihjetak , I pray by thy beard, etc., is often heard.

If now we combine that אבי of Elihu with abghi (from Arab. bgâ, Hebr. בּעה, Aram. בּעא, fut. יבעי, as בּי with בּעי) or with abî = אבא, from the verb bajja = בוא (בי),We cannot in any case, with Wetzst., explain the אבי אבי,   2Ki 2:12; 2Ki 13:14, according to the above, so that the king of Israel adjured the dying prophet by the national army and army of the faithful not to forsake him, as an Arab is now and then adjured in most urgent and straitened circumstances “by the army of Islam;” vid., on the other hand, 2Ki 6:21, comp. Job 5:13; Job 8:9 (בּנך). Here rather, if an Arabian parallel be needed, the usual death wail, bi - abı̂ anta (thou wast dear as a father to me), e.g., in Kosegarten, Chrestom. p. 140, 3, is to be compared. אבי,   1Sa 24:12, might more readily, with Ew. §101, c, be brought in here and regarded as belonging to the North Palestine peculiarities of the book of Kings; but by a comparison of the passages cited, this is also improbable. it always remains a remarkable instance in favour of the Arabic colouring of the Elihu section similar to the rest of the book, - a colouring, so to speak, dialectically Hauranitish; while, on the other hand, even by this second speech, one cannot avoid the impression of a great distance between it and the rest of the book: the language has a lofty tone, without its special harshness, as there, being the necessary consequence of a carefully concentrated fulness of thought; moreover, here in general the usual regularity of the strophe-lines no longer prevails, and also the usual symmetrical balance of thought in them.

If we confine our attention to the real substance of the speech, apart from the emotional and rough accessories, Elihu casts back the reproach of injustice which Job has raised, first as being contradictory to the being of God, Job 34:10.; then he seeks to refute it as contradicting God’s government, and this he does (1) apagogically from the unselfish love with which God’s protecting care preserves the breath of every living thing, while He who has created all things might bring back all created things to the former non-existence, Job 34:12-15; (2) by induction from the impartial judgment which He exercises over princes and peoples, and from which it is inferred that the Ruler of the world is also all-just, Job 34:16-20. From this Elihu proves that God can exercise justice, and from that, that He is omniscient, and sees into man’s inmost nature without any judicial investigation, Job 34:21-28; inaccessible to human accusation and human defiance, He rules over peoples and individuals, even over kings, and nothing turns His just punishment aside but lowly penitence blended with the prayer for the disclosure of unperceived sin, Job 34:29-32. For in His retributive rule God does not follow the discontented demands of men arrogant and yet devoid of counsel, Job 34:33. It is worthy of recognition, that Elihu does not here coincide with what has been already said (especially Job 12:15), without applying it to another purpose; and that his theodicy differs essentially from that proclaimed by the friends. It is not derived from mere appearance, but lays hold of the very principles. It does not attempt the explanation of the many apparent contradictions to retributive justice which outward events manifest, as agreeing with it; it does not solve the question by mere empiricism, but from the idea of the Godhead and its relation to the world, and by such inner necessity guarantees to the mysteries still remaining to human shortsightedness, their future solution.

The Address of Elihu. (b. c. 1520.)

1 Furthermore Elihu answered and said, 2 Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge. 3 For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. 4 Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good. 5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment. 6 Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression. 7 What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? 8 Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men. 9 For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.

Here, I. Elihu humbly addresses himself to the auditors, and endeavours, like an orator, to gain their good-will and their favourable attention. 1. He calls them wise men, and men that had knowledge, v. 2. It is comfortable dealing with such as understand sense. I speak as to wise men, who can judge what I say, 1 Cor. x. 15. Elihu differed in opinion from them, and yet he calls them wise and knowing men. Peevish disputants think all fools that are not of their mind; but it is a piece of justice which we owe to those who are wise to acknowledge it, though our sentiments do not agree with theirs. 2. He appeals to their judgment, and therefore submits to their trial, v. 3. The ear of the judicious tries words, whether what is said be true or false, right or wrong, and he that speaks must stand the test of the intelligent. As we must prove all things we hear, so we must be willing that what we speak should be proved. 3. He takes them into partnership with him in the examination and discussion of this matter, v. 4. He does not pretend to be sole dictator, nor undertake to say what is just and good and what is not, but he is willing to join with them in searching it out, and desires a consultation: "Let us agree to lay aside all animosities and feuds, all prejudices and affectation of contradiction, and all stiffness in adhering to the opinion we have once espoused, and let us choose to ourselves judgment; let us fix right principles on which to proceed, and then take right methods for finding out truth; and let us know among ourselves, by comparing notes and communicating our reasons, what is good and what is otherwise." Note, We are then likely to discern what is right when we agree to assist one another in searching it out.

II. He warmly accuses Job for some passionate words which he had spoken, that reflected on the divine government, appealing to the house whether he ought not to be called to the bar and checked for them.

1. He recites the words which Job had spoken, as nearly as he can remember. (1.) He had insisted upon his own innocency. Job hath said, I am righteous (v. 5), and, when urged to confess his guilt, had stiffly maintained his plea of, Not guilty: Should I lie against my right? v. 6. Job had spoken to this purport, My righteousness I hold fast, ch. xxvii. 6. (2.) He had charged God with injustice in his dealings with him, that he had wronged him in afflicting him and had not righted him: God has taken away my judgment; so Job had said, ch. xxvii. 2. (3.) He had despaired of relief and concluded that God could not, or would not, help him: My wound is incurable, and likely to be mortal, and yet without transgression; not for any injustice in my hand, ch. xvi. 16, 17. (4.) He had, in effect, said that there is nothing to be got in the service of God and that no man will be the better at last for his (v. 9): He hath said that which gives occasion to suspect that he thinks it profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God. It is granted that there is a present pleasure in religion; for what is it but to delight ourselves with God, in communion with him, in concurrence with him, in walking with him as Enoch did? this is a true notion of religion, and bespeaks its ways to be pleasantness. Yet the advantage of it is denied, as if it were vain to serve God, Mal. iii. 14. This Elihu gathers as Job's opinion, by an innuendo from what he said (ch. ix. 22), He destroys the perfect and the wicked, which has a truth in it (for all things come alike to all), but it was ill expressed, and gave too much occasion for this imputation, and therefore Job sat down silently under it and attempted not his own vindication, whence Mr. Caryl well observes that good men sometimes speak worse than they mean, and that a good man will rather bear more blame than he deserves than to stand to excuse himself when he has deserved any blame.

2. He charges Job very high upon it. In general, What man is like Job? v. 7. "Did you ever know such a man as Job, or ever hear a man talk at such an extravagant rate?" He represents him, (1.) As sitting in the seat of the scornful: "He drinketh up scorning like water," that is, "he takes a great deal of liberty to reproach both God and his friends, takes a pleasure in so doing, and is very liberal in his reflections." Or, "He is very greedy in receiving and hearkening to the scorns and contempts which others cast upon their brethren, is well pleased with them and extols them." Or, as some explain it, "By these foolish expressions of his he makes himself the object of scorn, lays himself very open to reproach, and gives occasion to others to laugh at him; while his religion suffers by them, and the reputation of that is wounded through his side." We have need to pray that God will never leave us to ourselves to say or do any thing which may make us a reproach to the foolish, Ps. xxxix. 8. (2.) As walking in the course of the ungodly, and standing in the way of sinners: He goes in company with the workers of iniquity (v. 8), not that in his conversation he did associate with them, but in his opinion he did favour and countenance them, and strengthen their hands. If (as it follows, v. 9, for the proof of this) it profits a man nothing to delight himself in God, why should he not lay the reins on the neck of his lusts and herd with the workers of iniquity? He that says, I have cleansed my hands in vain, does not only offend against the generation of God's children (Ps. lxxii. 13, 14), but gratifies his enemies, and says as they say.

10 Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. 11 For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. 12 Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. 13 Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world? 14 If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; 15 All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

The scope of Elihu's discourse to reconcile Job to his afflictions and to pacify his spirit under them. In order to this he had shown, in the foregoing chapter, that God meant him no hurt in afflicting him, but intended it for his spiritual benefit. In this chapter he shows that he did him no wrong in afflicting him, nor punished him more than he deserved. If the former could not prevail to satisfy him, yet this ought to silence him. In these verses he directs his discourse to all the company: "Hearken to me, you men of understanding (v. 10), and show yourselves to be intelligent by assenting to this which I say." And this is that which he says, That the righteous God never did, nor ever will do, any wrong to any of his creatures, but his ways are equal, ours are unequal. The truth here maintained respects the justice of equity of all God's proceedings. Now observe in these verses,

I. How plainly this truth is laid down, both negatively and positively. 1. He does wrong to none: God cannot do wickedness, nor the Almighty commit iniquity, v. 10. It is inconsistent with the perfection of his nature, and so it is also with the purity of his will (v. 12): God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. He neither can nor will do a wrong thing, nor deal hardly with any man. He will never inflict the evil of punishment but where he finds the evil of sin, nor in any undue proportion, for that would be to commit iniquity and do wickedly. If appeals be made to him, or he be to give a definitive sentence, he will have an eye to the merits of the cause and not respect the person, for that were to pervert judgment. He will never either do any man wrong or deny any man right, but the heavens will shortly declare his righteousness. Because he is God, and therefore is infinitely perfect and holy, he can neither do wrong himself nor countenance it in others, nay more than he can die, or lie, or deny himself. Though he be Almighty, yet he never uses his power, as mighty men often do, for the support of injustice. He is Shaddai—God all-sufficient, and therefore he cannot be tempted with evil (James i. 13), to do an unrighteous thing. 2. He ministers justice to all (v. 11): The work of a man shall he render unto him. Good works shall be rewarded and evil works either punished or satisfied for; so that sooner or later, in this world or in that to come, he will cause every man to find according to his ways. This is the standing rule of distributive justice, to give to every man according to his work. Say to the righteous, it shall be well with them; woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with them. If services persevered in now go unrewarded, and sins persisted in now go unpunished, yet there is a day coming when God will fully render to every man according to his works, with interest for the delay.

II. How warmly it is asserted, 1. With an assurance of the truth of it: Yea, surely, v. 12. It is a truth which none can deny or call in question; it is what we may take for granted and are all agreed in, That God will not do wickedly. 2. With an abhorrence of the very thought of the contrary (v. 10): Far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from us that we should entertain the least suspicion of it or say any thing that looks like charging him with it.

III. How evidently it is proved by two arguments:

1. His independent absolute sovereignty and dominion (v. 13): Who has given him a charge over the earth and deputed him to manage the affairs of men upon the earth? Or, Who besides has disposed the whole world of mankind? He has the sole administration of the kingdoms of men, and has it of himself, nor is he entrusted with it by or for any other. (1.) It is certain that the government is his, and he does according to his will in all the hosts both of heaven and earth; and therefore he is not to be charged with injustice; for shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Gen. xviii. 25. How shall God either rule or judge the world if there be, or could be, any unrighteousness with him? Rom. iii. 5, 6. He that is entitled to such unlimited power most certainly have in himself unspotted purity. This is also a good reason why we should acquiesce in all God's dealings with us. Shall not he that disposes of the whole world dispose of us and our concerns? (2.) It is as certain that he does not derive his power from any, nor is it a dispensation that is committed to him, but his power is original, and, like his being, of himself; and therefore, if he were not perfectly just, all the world and the affairs of it would soon be in the utmost confusion. The highest powers on earth have a God above them, to whom they are accountable, because it is not far from them to do iniquity. But therefore God has none above him, because it is not possible that he should do any thing (such is the perfection of his nature) that should need to be controlled. And, if he be an absolute sovereign, we are bound to submit to him, for there is no higher power to which we may appeal, so that the virtue is a necessity.

2. His irresistible power (v. 14): If he set his heart upon man, to contend with him, much more if (as some read it) he set his heart against man, to ruin him, if he should deal with man either by summa potestas—mere sovereignty, or by summum jus—strict justice, there were no standing before him; man's spirit and breath would soon be gone and all flesh would perish together, v. 15. Many men's honesty is owing purely to their impotency; they do not do wrong because they cannot support it when it is done, or it is not in their power to do it. But God is able to crush any man easily and suddenly, and yet does not by arbitrary power crush any man, which therefore must be attributed to the infinite perfection of his nature, and that is immutable. See here, (1.) What God can do with us. He can soon bring us to dust; there needs not any positive act of his omnipotence to do it; if he do but withdraw that concurrence of his providence by which we live, if he gather unto himself that spirit and breath which was from his hand at first and is still in his hand, we expire immediately, like an animal in an air-pump when the air is exhausted. (2.) What he may do with us without doing us wrong. He may recall the being he gave, of which we are but tenants at will, and which also we have forfeited; and therefore, as long as that is continued of his mere favour, we have no reason to cry out of wrong, whatever other comforts are removed.

16 If now thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words. 17 Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just? 18 Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly? 19 How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands. 20 In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand. 21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. 22 There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. 23 For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God. 24 He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their stead. 25 Therefore he knoweth their works, and he overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed. 26 He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others; 27 Because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways: 28 So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted. 29 When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only: 30 That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.

Elihu here addresses himself more directly to Job. He had spoken to the rest (v. 10) as men of understanding; now, speaking to Job; he puts an if upon his understanding: If thou hast understanding, hear this and observe it, v. 16.

I. Hear this, That God is not to be quarrelled with for any thing that he does. It is daring presumption to arraign and condemn God's proceedings, as Job had done by his discontents. It was, 1. As absurd as it would be to advance one to power that is a professed enemy to justice: Shall even he that hates right govern? v. 17. The righteous Lord so loves righteousness that, in comparison with him, even Job himself, though a perfect and upright man, might be said to hate right; and shall he govern? Shall he pretend to direct God or correct what he does? Shall such unrighteous creatures as we are give law to the righteous God? or must he take his measures from us? When we consider the corruption of our nature, and the contrariety there is in us to the eternal rule of equity, we cannot but see it to be an impudent impious thing for us to prescribe to God. 2. It was as absurd as it would be to call a most righteous innocent person to the bar, and to give judgment against him, though it appeared ever so plainly, upon the trial, that he was most just: Wilt thou condemn him that is righteous in all his ways, and cannot but be so? 3. It is more absurd and unbecoming than it would be to say to a sovereign prince, Thou art wicked, and to judges upon the bench, You are ungodly, v. 18. This would be looked upon as an insufferable affront to majesty and to magistracy; no king, no prince, would bear it. In favour of government, we presume it is a right sentence that is passed, unless the contrary be very evident; but, whatever we think, it is not fit to tell a king to his face that he is wicked. Nathan reproved David by a parable. But, whatever a high priest or a prophet might do, it is not for an ordinary subject to make so bold with the powers that are. How absurd is then to say so to God—to impute iniquity to him, who, having no respect of persons, is in no temptation to do an unjust thing! He regardeth not the rich more than the poor, and therefore it is fit he should rule, and it is not fit we should find fault with him, v. 19. Note, Rich and poor stand upon the same level before God. A great man shall fare never the better, nor find any favour, for his wealth and greatness; nor shall a poor man fare ever the worse for his poverty, nor an honest cause be starved. Job, now that he was poor, should have as much favour with God, and be as much regarded by him, as when he was rich; for they are all the work of his hands. Their persons are so: the poor are made by the same hand, and of the same mould, as the rich. Their conditions are so: the poor were made poor by the divine providence, as well as the rich made rich; and therefore the poor shall fare never the worse for that which is their lot, not their fault.

II. Hear this, That God is to be acknowledged and submitted to in all that he does. Divers considerations Elihu here suggests to Job, to beget in him great and high thoughts of God, and so to persuade him to submit and proceed no further in his quarrel with him.

1. God is almighty, and able to deal with the strongest of men when he enters into judgment with them (v. 20); even the people, the body of a nation, though ever so numerous, shall be troubled, unhinged, and put into disorder, when God pleases; even the mighty man, the prince, though ever so honourable, ever so formidable among men, shall, if God speak the word, be taken away out of his throne, nay, out of the land of the living; they shall die; they shall pass away. What cannot he do that has all the powers of death at his command? Observe the suddenness of this destruction: In a moment shall they die. It is not a work of time, with God, to bring down his proud enemies, but, when he pleases, it is soon done; nor is he bound to give them warning, no, not an hour's warning. This night thy soul shall be required. Observe the season of it: They shall be troubled at midnight, when they are secure and careless, and unable to help themselves; as the Egyptians when their first-born were slain. This is the immediate work of God: they are taken away, without hand, insensibly, by secret judgments. God can himself humble the greatest tyrant, without the assistance or agency of any man. Whatever hand he sometimes uses in the accomplishing of his purposes, he needs none, but can do it without hand. Nor is it one single mighty man only that he can thus overpower, but even hosts of them (v. 24): He shall break in pieces mighty men without number; for no combined power can stand it out against Omnipotence. Yet, when God destroys tyranny, he does not design anarchy; if those are brought down that ruled ill, it does not therefore follow that people must have no rulers; for, when he breaks mighty men, he sets others in their stead, that will rule better, or, if they do not, he overturns them also in the night, or in a night, so that they are destroyed, v. 25. Witness Belshazzar. Or, if he designs them space to repent, he does not presently destroy them, but he strikes them as wicked men, v. 26. Some humbling mortifying judgments are brought upon them; these wicked rulers are stricken as other wicked men, as surely, as sorely, stricken in their bodies, estates, or families, and this for warning to their neighbours; the stroke is given in terrorem—as an alarm to others, and therefore is given in the open sight of others, that they also may see and fear, and tremble before the justice of God. If kings stand not before him, how shall we stand!

2. God is omniscient, and can discover that which is most secret. As the strongest cannot oppose his arm, so the most subtle cannot escape his eye; and therefore, if some are punished either more or less than we think they should be, instead of quarrelling with God, it becomes us to ascribe it to some secret cause known to God only. For, (1.) Every thing is open before him (v. 21): His eyes are upon the ways of man; not only they are within reach of his eye, so that he can see them, but his eye is upon them, so that he actually observes and inspects them. He sees us all, and sees all our goings; go where we will, we are under his eye; all our actions, good and evil, are regarded and recorded and reserved to be brought into judgment when the books shall be opened. (2.) Nothing is or can be concealed from him (v. 22): There is no darkness nor shadow of death so close, so thick, so solitary, so remote from light or sight as that in it the workers of iniquity may hide themselves from the discovering eye and avenging hand of the righteous God. Observe here, [1.] The workers of iniquity would hide themselves if they could from the eye of the world for shame (and that perhaps they may do), and from the eye of God for fear, as Adam among the trees of the garden. The day is coming when mighty men, and chief captains, will call to the rocks and mountains to hide them. [2.] They would gladly be hid even by the shadow of death, be hid in the grave, and lie for ever there, rather than appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. (3.) It is in vain to think of flying from God's justice, or absconding when his wrath is in pursuit of us. The workers of iniquity may find ways and means to hide themselves from men, but not from God: He knows their works (v. 25), both what they do and what they design.

3. God is righteous, and, in all his proceedings, goes according to the rules of equity. Even when he is overturning mighty men, and breaking them in pieces, yet he will not lay upon man more than right, v. 23. As he will not punish the innocent, so he will not exact of those that are guilty more than their iniquities deserve; and of the proportion between the sin and the punishment Infinite Wisdom shall be the judge. He will not give any man cause to complain that he deals hardly with him, nor shall any man enter into judgment with God, or bring an action against him. If he do, God will be justified when he speaks and clear when he judges. Therefore Job was very much to be blamed for his complaints of God, and is here well-advised to let fall his action, for he would certainly be cast or non-suited. It is not for man ever to purpose to enter into judgment with the Omnipotent; so some read the whole verse. Job had often wished to plead his cause before God. Elihu asks, "To what purpose? The judgment already given concerning thee will certainly be affirmed; no errors can be found in it, nor any exceptions taken to it, but, after all, it must rest as it is." All is well that God does, and will be found so. To prove that when God destroys the mighty men, and strikes them as wicked men, he does not lay upon them more than right, he shows what their wickedness was (v. 27, 28); and let any compare that with their punishment, and then judge whether they did not deserve it. In short, these unjust judges, whom God will justly judge, neither feared God nor regarded man, Luke xviii. 2. (1.) They were rebels to God: They turned back from him, cast off the fear of him, and abandoned the very thoughts of him; for they would not consider any of his ways, took no heed either to his precepts or to his providences, but lived without God in the world. This is at the bottom of all the wickedness of the wicked, they turn back from God; and it is because they do not consider, not because they cannot, but because they will not. From inconsideration comes impiety, and thence all immorality. (2.) They were tyrants to all mankind, v. 28. They will not call upon God for themselves; but they cause the cry of the poor to come to him, and that cry is against them. They are injurious and oppressive to the poor, wrong them, crush them, impoverish them yet more, and add affliction to the afflicted, who cry unto God, make their complaint to him, and he hears them and pleads their cause. Their case is bad who have the prayers and tears of the poor against them; for the cry of the oppressed will, sooner or later, draw down vengeance on the heads of the oppressors, and no one can say that this is more than right, Exod. xxii. 23.

4. God has an uncontrollable dominion in all the affairs of the children of men, and so guides and governs whatever concerns both communities and particular persons, that, as what he designs cannot be defeated, so what he does cannot be changed, v. 29. Observe, (1.) The frowns of all the world cannot trouble those whom God quiets with his smiles. When he gives quietness who then can make trouble? v. 29. This is a challenge to all the powers of hell and earth to disquiet those to whom God speaks peace, and for whom he creates it. If God give outward peace to a nation, he can secure what he gives, and disable the enemies of it to give it any disturbance. If God give inward peace to a man only, the quietness and everlasting assurance which are the effect of righteousness, neither the accusations of Satan nor the afflictions of this present time, no, nor the arrests of death itself, can give trouble. What can make those uneasy whose souls dwell at ease in God? See Phil. iv. 7. (2.) The smiles of all the world cannot quiet those whom God troubles with his frowns; for if he, in displeasure, hide his face, and withhold the comfort of his favour, who then can behold him? that is, Who can behold a displeased God, so as to bear up under his wrath or turn it away? Who can make him show his face when he resolves to hide it, or see through the clouds and darkness which are round about him? Or, Who can behold a disquieted sinner, so as to give him effectual relief? Who can stand a friend to him to whom God is an enemy? None can relieve the distresses of the outward condition without God. If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I? 2 Kings vi. 27. Nor can any relieve the distresses of the mind against God and his terrors. If he impress the sense of his wrath upon a guilty conscience, all the comforts the creature can administer are ineffectual. As vinegar upon nitre, so are songs to a heavy heart. The irresistibleness of God's operations must be acknowledged in his dealings both with communities and with particular persons: what he does cannot be controlled, whether it be done against a nation in its public capacity or against a man only in his private affairs. The same Providence that governs mighty kingdoms presides in the concerns of the meanest individual; and neither the strength of a whole nation can resist his power nor the smallness of a single person evade his cognizance; but what he does shall be done effectually and victoriously.

5. God is wise, and careful of the public welfare, and therefore provides that the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared, v. 30. See here, (1.) The pride of hypocrites. They aim to reign; the praise of men, and power in the world, are their reward, what they aim at. (2.) The policy of tyrants. When they aim to set up themselves they sometimes make use of religion as a cloak and cover for their ambition and by their hypocrisy come to the throne. (3.) The danger the people are in when hypocrites reign. They are likely to be ensnared in sin, or trouble, or both. Power, in the hands of dissemblers, is often destructive to the rights and liberties of a people, which they are more easily wheedled out of than forced out of. Much mischief has been done likewise to the power of godliness under the pretence of a form of godliness. (4.) The care which divine Providence takes of the people, to prevent this danger, that the hypocrite reign not, either that he do not reign at all or that he do not reign long. If God has mercy in store for a people, he will either prevent the rise or hasten the ruin of hypocritical rulers.

31 Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: 32 That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more. 33 Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest. 34 Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man hearken unto me. 35 Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom. 36 My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men. 37 For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us, and multiplieth his words against God.

In these verses,

I. Elihu instructs Job what he should say under his affliction, v. 31, 32. Having reproved him for his peevish passionate words, he here puts better words into his mouth. When we reprove for what is amiss we must direct to what is good, that our reproofs may be the reproofs of instruction, Prov. vi. 23. He does not impose it upon Job to use these words, but recommends it to him, as that which was meet to be said. In general, he would have him repent of his misconduct, and indecent expressions, under his affliction. Job's other friends would have had him own himself a wicked man, and by overdoing they undid. Elihu will oblige him only to own that he had, in the management of this controversy, spoken unadvisedly with his lips. Let us remember this, in giving reproofs, and not make the matter worse than it is; for the stretching of the crime may defeat the prosecution. Elihu drives the right nail, and speeds accordingly. He directs Job, 1. To humble himself before God for his sins, and to accept the punishment of them: "I have borne chastisement. What I suffer comes justly upon me, and therefore I will bear it, and not only justify God in it, but acknowledge his goodness." Many are chastised that do not bear chastisement, do not bear it well, and so, in effect, do not bear it at all. Penitents, if sincere, will take all well that God does, and will bear chastisement as a medicinal operation intended for good. 2. To pray to God to discover his sins to him (v. 32): "That which I see not teach thou me. Lord, upon the review, I find much amiss in me and much done amiss by me, but I have reason to fear there is much more that I am not aware of, greater abominations, which through ignorance, mistake, and partiality to myself, I do not yet see; Lord, give me to see it, awaken by conscience to do its office faithfully." A good man is willing to know the worst of himself, and particularly, under affliction, desires to be told wherefore God contends with him and what God designs in correcting him. 3. To promise reformation (v. 31): I will not offend any more. "If I have done iniquity (or seeing that I have), I will do so no more; whatever thou shalt discover to me to have been amiss, by thy grace I will amend it for the future." This implies a confession that we have offended, true remorse and godly sorrow for the offence, and a humble compliance with God's design in afflicting us, which is to separate between us and our sins. The penitent here completes his repentance; for it is not enough to be sorry for our sins, but we must go and sin no more, and, as here, bind ourselves with the bond of a fixed resolution never more to return to folly. This is meet to be said in a stedfast purpose, and meet to be said to God in a solemn promise and vow.

II. He reasons with him concerning his discontent and uneasiness under his affliction, v. 23. We are ready to think every thing that concerns us should be just as we would have it; but Elihu here shows, 1. That it is absurd and unreasonable to expect this: "Should it be according to thy mind? No, what reason for that?" Elihu here speaks with a great deference to the divine will and wisdom, and a satisfaction therein: it is highly fit that every thing should be according to God's mind. He speaks also with a just disdain of the pretensions of those that are proud, and would be their own carvers: Should it be according to thy mind? Should we always have the good we have a mind to enjoy? We should then wrongfully encroach upon others and foolishly ensnare ourselves. Must we never be afflicted, because we have no mind to it? Is it fit that sinners should feel no smart, that scholars should be under no discipline? Or, if we must be afflicted, is it fit that we should choose what rod we will be beaten with? No; it is fit that every thing should be according to God's mind, and not ours; for he is the Creator, and we are creatures. He is infinitely wise and knowing; we are foolish and short-sighted. He is in one mind; we are in many. 2. That it is in vain, and to no purpose, to expect it: "He will recompense it whether thou refuse or whether thou choose. God will take his own way, fulfil his own counsel, and recompense according to the sentence of his own justice, whether thou art pleased or displeased; he will neither ask thy leave nor ask thy advice, but, what he pleases, that will he do. It is therefore thy wisdom to be easy, and make a virtue of necessity; make the best of that which is, because it is out of thy power to make it otherwise. If thou pretend to choose and refuse," that is, "to prescribe to God and except against what he does, so will not I—I will acquiesce in all he does; and therefore speak what thou knowest; say what thou wilt do, whether thou wilt oppose or submit. The matter lies plainly before thee; be at a point; thou art in God's hand, not in mine."

III. He appeals to all intelligent indifferent persons whether there was not a great deal of sin and folly in that which Job said. 1. He would have the matter thoroughly examined, and brought to an issue (v. 36): "My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end. If any will undertake to justify what he has said, let them do it; if not, let us all agree to bear our testimony against it." Many understand it of his trial by afflictions: "Let his troubles be continued till he be thoroughly humbled, and his proud spirit brought down, till he be made to see his error and to retract what he has so presumptuously said against God and his providence. Let the trial be continued till the end be obtained." 2. He appeals both to God and man, and desires the judgment of both upon it. (1.) Some read v. 36 as an appeal to God: O, my Father! let Job be tried. So the margin of our Bibles, for the same word signifies my desire and my father; and some suppose that he lifted up his eyes when he said this, meaning, "O my Father who art in heaven! let Job be tried till he be subdued." When we are praying for the benefit of afflictions either to ourselves or others we must eye God as a Father, because they are fatherly corrections and a part of our filial education, Heb. xii. 7. (2.) He appeals to the by-standers (v. 34): "Let men of understanding tell me whether they can put any more favourable construction upon Job's words than I have put, and whether he has not spoken very ill and ought not to cry, Peccavi—I have done wrong." In what Job had said he thought it appeared, [1.] That he did not rightly understand himself, but had talked foolishly, v. 35. He cannot say that Job is without knowledge and wisdom; but, in this matter, he has spoken without knowledge, and, whatever his heart is, his words were without prudence. What he said to his wife may be retorted upon himself (He speaks as one of the foolish men speak) and for the same reason, Shall we not receive evil as well as good at God's hand? ch. ii. 10. Sometimes we need and deserve those reproofs ourselves which we have given to others. Those that reproach God's wisdom really reproach their own. [2.] That he had not a due regard to God, but had talked wickedly. If what he had said be tried to the end, that is, if one put it to the utmost stretch and make the worst of it, it will be found, First, That he has taken part with God's enemies: His answers have been for wicked men; that is, what he had said tended to strengthen the hands and harden the hearts of wicked people in their wickedness, he having carried the matter of their prosperity much further than he needed. Let wicked men, like Baal, plead for themselves if they will, but far be it from us that we should answer for them, or say any thing in favour of them. Secondly, That he has insulted God's friends, and hectored over them: "He clappeth his hands among us; and, if he be not thoroughly tried and humbled, will grow yet more insolent and imperious, as if he had gotten the day and silenced us all." To speak ill is bad enough, but to clap our hands and triumph in it when we have done, as if error and passion had won the victory, is much worse. Thirdly, That he has spoken against God himself, and, by standing to what he had said, added rebellion to his sin. To speak, though but one word, against God, by whom we speak and for whom we ought to speak, is a great sin; what is it then to multiply words against him, as if we would out-talk him? What is it to repeat them, instead of unsaying them? Those that have sinned, and, when they are called to repent, thus go on frowardly, add rebellion to their sin and make it exceedingly sinful. Errare possum, Hæreticus esse nolo—I may fall into error, but I will not plunge into heresy.

CHAP. XXXIV. Verſe 1. Furthermore Elihu anſwered and ſaid.]

i. e. HE proſecuted his former Diſcourſe,Pronunci[illegible: 1 letter]ns itaque Eliu. Elihu going on ſtill in his anger and ſpeech. he thus pronounced (as the Vulgar hath it) in anſwer to ſome of Jobs former ſpeeches, which he here reciteth, but not ſo candidly; and refelleth, but not ſo mildly, as was meet. True it is, that Job in his heat had let fall very many laviſh and inconſiderate ſpeeches, as is to be ſeen almoſt throughout the tenth Chapter. But yet it was far from him ever to ſay either that himſelf was without ſin, or that God was unjuſt, as Elihu would bear him downe; very odiouſly taking up certain ſayings of his, that way ſounding, and very gravely calling forth the reſt there preſent to give ſentence with him againſt Job. Yet is not Elihu to be cenſured for a proud, arrogant perſon (as ſome make him) but to be eſteemed, Sapiens & egregius vir, as Lavater here ſtileth him, a wiſe and excellent man: though he ſhould have conſidered, That the Spirit of God is neque mendax, neque mordax, a Spirit of truth and of meekneſſe.

Verſe 2. Hear my words, O ye wiſe men] And thoſe are not many, Hoſ. 14.9. He excludeth poor Job, whom yet he had promiſed to teach wiſdome, chap. 33.33. And that he ſpoke not to the many, it is probable, for they have not thoſe aures perpurgatas, that he calleth for in the next verſe. [non-Latin text not transcribed] ferè ſunt, they are heavy eared for moſt part, and of dull apprehenſion: Baeôtum in patria, craſſoque ſub aere nati. To the other three then of Jobs friends he applyeth himſelf: whom becauſe he had ſharply reproved before, and that they may not think that he held himſelf the only wiſe man amongſt them, he thus beſpeaketh to get audience, and makes them Judges of his diſcourſe. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Theog. Men may be wiſe in ſome things, that have carried the matter fooliſhly enough in other.

And give ear unto me, ye that have knowledg] It is an happineſs to have ſuch hearers. I ſpeak as to wiſe men, judge ye what I ſay, 1 Cor. 10.15. Jovianus the Emperor was wont to wiſh, That he might govern wiſe men, and that wiſe men might govern him. But as it was once ſaid, That there was never leſſe wiſdom in Greece then in the dayes of the ſeven wiſe men: So may we now well complain, that there is a very great want of ſound and ſaving knowledg in this great abundance of helps thereunto: So that we may cry out with the Prophet Iſaiah, Whom ſhall we teach knowledg, and whom ſhall we make to underſtand the hearing? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breſts; q.d. We have to do with very babies, children in underſtanding, but not in malice.

Verſe 3. For the ear tryeth words] And for that end we have that excellent ſenſe of hearing given us, that we may hear with judgment, and trying all things, hold faſt that which is good, 1 Theſ. 5.21. taking heed what we hear, Mark 4.24. as by the taſte we may take heed what we let down; for elſe a man may eaſily eat his own bane, drink his poyſon: So here, for the ſoul hath her ſenſes alſo, Phil. 1.9. and theſe habitually exerciſed to diſcern good and evil, Hebr. 5. ult. Which whileſt carnal people want, they are carried away as they are led, 1 Cor. 12.2. Plucked away with the error of the wicked, 2 Pet. 3 17, wherried about with every wind of Doctrine, Heb. 13.9. &c. See the Note on chap. 12.1.

Verſe 4. Let us chuſe to us judgment] Let us ſummon the ſobriety of our ſenſes before our judgments; laying aſide all prejudice: for, Omne judicium à ſe aufert qui praejudicium affert; He can never judg aright, who comes to a Cauſe foreſtalled or prepoſſeſſed.

Let us know amongſt our ſelves what is good] Let us go knowingly to work, according to apparant truth; and not uſe cunningly deviſed Arguments, as many (Mataeologi rather then Theologi) do now adayes in the greateſt Controverſies of Religion: and hereunto let us all contribute our beſt help, for the finding out of truth, and convincing of Job.

Verſe 5. For Job hath ſaid, I am righteous] So he was with a two fold righteouſneſs; imputed, or the righteouſneſſe of Juſtification; and imparted, or the righteouſneſſe of Sanctification. But Elihu underſtood him as if he had ſaid, I am ſinleſs: This Job never ſaid; only he cleared himſelf of foul offences wherewith his friends falſely charged him: and aſſerted his own integrity, whereof he ſeemed to be more ſollicitous, than of giving God the glory of his juſtice: and therein he was to be blamed, as here he is to ſome purpoſe.

And God hath taken away my judgement] ſc. By handling me like a wicked man, and not ſhewing me why: ſee chap. 27.2. where Job had uſed theſe very words, but not in the ſenſe that Elihu urgeth them againſt him.

Verſe 6. Should I lye againſt my right?] Ʋt meam cauſam prodam, R. Levi. ſo as to betray my cauſe, and yield my ſelf guilty, when I know my ſelf innocent? This I will never do, ſaid Job: no more would that peerleſs Lady Elizabeth, when as a traytour ſhe was laid up in the Tower, and preſſed to appeach her ſelf. Better die, than lye.

My wound is incurable without tranſgreſſion] Theſe laſt words, without tranſgreſſion, Elihu ſpitefully thruſteth in, ſaith Beza. Others think they may be gathered out of chap. 9.17. & 16.17. Without preſumtuous ſin, (which David calleth the great tranſgreſſion, the wickedneſs with a witneſs) Job might truly ſay, it may be: for all men are ſinners, yet not all alike; though all have a dyſcraſie, yet every man hath not a feaver; and though none are without ill humors, yet ſome have not a leproſie upon them.

Verſe 7. What man is like Job?] This Elihu ſpeaketh by way of angry admiration,Exclamatio admirativa. Piſc. as if he would make Job a very Non-ſuch, a match-leſs offendor; and that he much wondred with what face he could ſpeak in that ſort. What, ſuch a man as Job do thus? O ſhameful! what? upbraid and reproach Almighty God? who would ever have expected ſuch words from ſuch a mouth? Is the man in his right minde, wot you, that he thus maketh himſelf a common laughing-ſtock, and by-word, and yet maketh nothing of any thing, but doth with as great facility and readineſs ſwallow up mens ſcoffs and taunts, as if he were drinking cold water, and no more is he troubled at them? Why, but is this Job? and is it poſſible that he ſhould have ſo far loſt all fear of God, and ſhame of the world, that he ſhould ſet his mouth againſt heaven, as if he would ſpet in Gods face, and not care though he drink up ſcorning and affronts like water, quaſi maledictis aleretur ut venenis capreae, as if he were much taken and tickled with them? True it is, that Nemo pluris aſti[illegible: 2 letters]vit virtutem, as Seneca ſaith, No man ſetteth a better price upon vertue, than he who will rather part with his good name, than part with his honeſty. But it is alſo as true, that to neglect altogether what others think and ſay of us,Cic. non ſolùm arrogantis eſt, ſed & diſſoluti, is the part not of a proud only, but of a forlorn perſon, ſaith the Oratour.

Verſe 8. Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity] Strange if he ſhould: for the wicked is abomination to the righteous, Prov. 29. ult. Lord gather not my ſoul with ſinners, nor my life with bloody men, ſaith David, Pſal. 26.9. Lord, ſend me not to hell among the wicked, (ſaid a certain good woman upon her death-bed) for thou knoweſt I never liked their company here on earth. But how proveth Elihu this Charge againſt Job, who was ever a terrour to graceleſs Belialiſts? Forſooth he gathereth it from a certain ſpeech of his, if he could tell what, or when it was uttered.

Verſe 9. For he hath ſaid, It profiteth a man not] Did Job ever ſay ſo, or think ſo? Where? and when? He ſaid indeed (and truly) that in this life it is oft ſeen, that bad men proſper, and good men ſuffer. But muſt it needs follow therefore, that it is a courſe of no profit to walk with God? Knoweth not Elihu, that there is nothing that may not be taken with either hand? and that it is a ſpiritual unmannerlineſs to take it with the left? Indeed it is not amiſs to admoniſh good men, what abſurdities may be gathered out of their words: and 'tis fit that they ſhould prevent it, as much as may be. Elihu alſo was the more to be born with (and that made Job let him go on, likely, without a reply) becauſe he pleaded for God, and the glory of his juſtice, which Job had ſomewhat wronged, as cannot be denied, whiles he gave too much way to his grief and other paſſions, and now beginneth to be ſenſible of his out-burſts: But truly, if he ſhould have ſaid as here he is taxed, (and yet David and Jeremy ſaid little leſs) he would have gone in company with thoſe workers of iniquity, Iſai. 58.3. Mal. 3.14, 15. and have lifted at the very foundation of all true Religion, Heb. 11.6. and thence it was, that Elihu was ſo hot. But men muſt take heed of drawing odious conſequences out of other mens ſpeeches; and of forcing them to go two miles, when they would go but one. Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the noſe bringeth forth blood, &c. Prov. 30.33.

That he ſhould delight himſelf with God] Or, When he runneth with God. Tremellius, [illegible: 1 word] Ezek. 1.14 When he ſhall be willing to walk with God. as Gen. 5.22. The Tigurines render the whole verſe thus, Dixit enim, vir non faciet paria, ſi cum Deo curſu contendat. Sure it is n[illegible: 1 letter]c volentis, n[illegible: 1 letter]c volantis, (as a Noble man gave it for his Motto) It is not in him that willeth, nor in him that runneth; no though he could run as faſt as a bird can flye, but in God that ſheweth mercy.

Verſe 16. Therefore hearken unto me ye men of underſtanding] Heb. Ye men of heart; Egregiè cordati Viri. Cor eſt ſedes ſapicuti[illegible: 1 letter]. Mentemque habere qu[illegible: 1 letter]is bonam Et eſſe corculis datum eſt. Having recited Jobs evil ſpeeches, he truneth away from him as it were in great diſpleaſure, and directeth his ſpeech to others. See the like done by Jacob, Geneſ. 49.4. We ſhould abhor that which is evil; and ſhew our deteſtation thereof.

Far be it from God that he ſhould do wickedneſſe, &c.] ſcil. By puniſhing any without a cauſe; and this he double-denyeth for better aſſurance. Cauſe enough there may be found in the very beſt, as well by reaſon of their actual abominations (their omiſſions, commiſſions, and failings in the manner) as of their birth-blot, which ever abideth with them while they are here, and is a ſeed-plot of all ſin. How then can God wrong any one? Surely it is inconſiſtent with Gods 1. Nature, here: 2. Actions, v. 11. 3. Will, v. 12. And although he might, to ſhew his Soveraignty, puniſh men for his pleaſure, Rom. 9.20. yet far be it from us to imagine that he will abuſe his might and power to do any thing unjuſt or unbeſeeming his goodneſſe.

Verſe 11. For the work of a man ſhall he render unto him] This is both his Covenant and his cuſtome: ſo far is he from doing wrong to any, that every man ſhall be ſure to reap as he ſowes, to drink as he brewes, to receive according to that he hath done in the fleſh, whether good or evil, 2 Cor. 5.10. And albeit this is not done forthwith, yet we may write upon it, and reckon that nondum omnium dierum ſoles occiderunt; as ſure as the night followeth the day, a day of account will come, and God will render unto each man reward or puniſhment according to his works.

And cauſe every man to find according to his wayes] According to the courſe of his life, and not according to this or that particular action. A Doeg may ſet his foot as far within the Sanctuary as a David; and a David may in ſome particular out-ſin a fire brand of hell. But the wayes of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings, Prov. 5.21. He conſidereth the bent, frame, and tendency of the heart, and proceeds accordingly.

Verſe 12. Yea ſurely God will not do wickedly] This muſt be laid down for a certain truth, and is therefore ſo reiterated. Job had ſaid as much to this purpoſe as Elihu could do; but then he had ſeemingly daſhed all againe with his inconſiderate complaints and murmurings. This Elihu could not bear, but again and again celebrateth the rithteouſneſſe of God; and when he hath ſaid his utmoſt, ſeemeth to ſay as Cicero once did of Craſſus and Antonius the Roman Orators,Cic. de Orat. l. 3 That if any man think he had ſaid too much in commendation of them, he muſt needs be ſuch an one as either knew them not, or was not able to judge of their worth. As for Job, whom he here confuteth, he ſeemes to ſay of him, as Calvin ſomewhere doth of Luther, That as he excelled with great vertues, ſo he was not without his great failings. Atque utinam recognoſcendis ſuis vitiis plus operae dediſſet; and I would, ſaith he,Calv. ep. Bulling that he had ſpent leſſe time in declaiming againſt others, and more in recognizing his own faults.

Neither will the Almighty pervert judgment] For ſhall not the Judge of all the earth do right? See the Note on chap. 7.3.

Verſe 13. Who hath given him a charge over all the earth?] ſcil. To govern it; Is not he the Maker and Monarch of all men? Who is his Superiour? and to whom ſhall he give account? and who ſhall expoſtulate with him about injuſtice? Or, for fear of whom ſhould he warp or writh? The Emperor cannot do right, ſaith One,Theophil. Inſt. becauſe he hath none to over-awe him, or queſtion him. It is ſaid to Trajan, that he neither feared nor hated any man living. What then ſhall we think of him,Mercer. who is Moderator & Dominator ſupremus ac ſolus,

Or who hath diſpoſed the whole world?] The habitable world: and eſpecially that habitable part of Gods earth, as man is called, Prov. 8.31.

Verſe 14. If he ſet his heart upon man] Viz. For evil, and not for good, and have a purpoſe to unmake him again, which he can as eaſily do, as will it to be done.

If he gather unto himſelf his Spirit and his breath] If he take away his life, which what is it elſe, but a puffe of wind, a vapour, &c. who can ſay he is unjuſt? May not the Potter do with his pot as he pleaſeth? We ſubſiſt meerly by his Manutenſion; and if he but pull back his hand only, we are gone immediately. This is to be ſeen in thoſe that ſwoon ſuddenly away. See Pſal. 104.29. and conſider how little this is conſidered by the moſt. Elihu thought, that Job was wanting herein: for he had heard him chap. 12. diſputing concerning the ſoveraigne and abſolute power of God, almoſt in the very ſame words, which himſelf here uſeth, from ver. 13. to 31.

Verſe 15. All fleſh ſhall periſh together] i. e. All men, called here All fleſh, as Mark 16.16. they are called every creature, a little world. If God command it to be ſo, they ſhall all breath out together.

And man ſhall turn to his duſt again] The body to the duſt whence it was taken, but the Spirit to God who gave it, Eccleſ. 12.

Verſe 16. If now thou haſt underſtanding, hear this] Hear it, and know it for thy good, as chap. 4.27. if at leaſt thou haſt any wit for thy ſelfe, or care of thine own well doing. This is a ſtinging Apoſtrophe to Job. Si vel [illegible: 1 letter]ica eſt in te bonae mentis; unleſſe thou haſt buried thy braines, and loſt thy [illegible: 1 letter]enſes, liſten as for life.

Verſe 17. Shall even he that hateth right govern?] Heb. Bind; ſc. Malefactors, whom Magiſtrates uſe to hamper? Others take it of binding up the wounded after the manner of Chirurgeons. An qui odit judicium, Chirurgos imitaretur? ſo the Tigurines tranſlate: Would he who hateth right, do as Chirurgeons uſe to do? Would God, if he were unrighteous, bind up the broken hearted, or receive into favour (as he doth) a ſinner that repenteth, doing him good again, as if there never had been a breach betwixt them? It hath been noted, That a King hath his name in the Greek tongue from healing; and that Iſai. 3.7. a Governor is called a Healer, or Binder up; the ſame word there as here in the Text. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Medela. But how unfit for ſuch an Office muſt he needs be, who not only doth not right, but hateth it, as did Nero, Caligula, Commodus, &c?

And wilt thou condemn him that is moſt juſt?] Or, That is ſtrong and juſt; illúmne impietatis ſugillabis? None in his right wits would ever do ſo: for what elſe were this,Tigur. but to exalt a mans ſelf above the divine Majeſty? And yet what do they leſſe then this, who grudge at Gods proceedings, and are ready to think that if they had the ordering of things in their hands, they could diſpoſe of them a fair deal better? How abſurd and unſeemely this is in any one, is aptly ſet forth in the next verſe, Is it fit, &c?

Verſe 18. Is it fit to ſay to a King, Thou art wicked?] Heb. Belial; that is, Thou yoakleſſe,Qui dicit regi Apoſtata, Vulg. lawleſſe, maſterleſſe Monſter. Kings are not wont to be ſo accoaſted and aviled, nor is it lawful, Exod 22.28. It is blaſphemy in the ſecond Table, to ſpeak evil of dignities, Jude 8. It was ſome diſadvantage to Saint Paul, that (although provoked and unjuſtly ſmitten) he called the High Prieſt whited wall, Act. 23.3 he was glad to excuſe it by his ignorance. And Luther cryed our Henry 8 mercy, for his uncivil language to him, ſuch as was that, Audi, Domine Rex, edocebo ie, in a jeer.Dan. Hiſt. H[illegible: 1 letter]nry 6. indeed was courſely handled in a tumult, and wounded, but then he was at an under; and being reſtored he freely pardoned the Offendor, ſaying, Alaſs poor ſoul, he ſtruck me more to win favour with others, then of any ill will he bare me: But this was a rare example of patience in a King. Alexander the Great dealt more harſhly with his friends Clitus and Calliſthenes, for their plain-dealing.Se[illegible: 1 letter]. Tiberius put to death a Poet for uttering ſome free words againſt him, though under the perſon of Agamemnon, quem in iragoedia probris laceſſiſſet. Savanarola ſuffered deeply for telling the Pope his own. And Bajazet the ſecond took great revenge upon his Janizaries,Turk hiſt. fol. 444. who, for his caſting Achmetes Baſſa into priſon, they in an uproar inſolently cryed out, that they would by and by teach him as a drunkard, a beaſt, and a Raſcal, to uſe his great Place and Calling with more ſobriety and diſcretion.Plut. Kings muſt be ſpoken to with ſoft and ſilken words, as ſhe ſaid, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. If Elias, or Eliſha, or Iſaiah, or the Baptiſt do otherwiſe that is not a copy for every man to write after. Is it ſafe to take a Lion by the beard, or a Bear by the tooth? Naboth ſuffered, though falſly accuſed to curſe the King: and Shimei had at length his payment for reviling David. If Ezekiel called the King of Judah, Thou wicked and profane Prince, chap. 21.25. that was by an extraordinary ſpirit, and by a ſpecial command of God.

And to Princes▪ ye are ungodly?] Ingenuis. Theſe, as they muſt not be flattered, ſo neither may they be unmannerly advertized of their duty or danger. It is probable, that Joſeph uſed ſome kind of preface to Pharaohs chief Baker in reading him that hard deſtiny, Gen 40.19. ſuch haply as was that of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar; chap 4.19. My Lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, &c. Or ad Philo brings him in with a Ʋ [illegible: 1 letter]inam tale ſomnium non videſſes, I would I had no ſuch dream to interpret unto you. But for the matter he giveth, him a ſound, though a ſharp interpretation.

Verſe 19 How much leſſe to him that accepteth not the perſon of Princes?] How much more both dangerous and undecent muſt it needs be, wrongfully to accuſe God of injuſtice and partiality, which is far below him: ſith he neither doth, nor needeth prefer great ones before meaner men in judgement? See on chap. 13.7. and 52.21.

N[illegible: 2 letters] regardeth the rich more then the poor] The word rendred rich, opulent, or potent, [non-Latin text not transcribed] comes either from a root that ſignifieth to ſave; becauſe it is in the power of ſuch to ſave others from hurt and damage: or elſe from another root, that ſignifieth to cry aloud; becauſe ſuch men uſe to ſpeak their minds more freely and boldly, as having that which can bear them out. [non-Latin text not transcribed] But God acknowledgeth them not as ſuch: only of them to whom much is given, much ſhall be required.

For they are all the work of his hands] Both for their perſons, for they are all equally his creatures; and for their conditions, which God alſo hath cut them out, and apportioned. Thus he is ſaid to have made Moſes and Aaron, that is, to have advanced them, 1 Sam. 12.6. and Chriſt is ſaid to have made the twelve, when he ordained them to the Apoſtleſhip, Mar. 3.14.

Verſe 20. In a moment ſhall they die] Be they mean or mighty, they are, when God pleaſeth, ſuddenly ſwept away by the hand of death: as Cheſſe-men are into the bag, without diſtinction of Kings, Dukes, Biſhops, or Common people.

And the people ſhall be troubled at midnight] as were the Egyptians, when their firſt-born were ſlain in their dead ſleep, Exod. 12.29. not without much terrour and tumult: and as were the Army of Sennacherib, 2 King. 19.35. and Belſhazzar with his Babylon, Dan. 5.30, 31. The people ſhall be troubled, they ſhall be ſhaken as leaves in a great wind, or be carried away as by a mighty torent; when they were moſt ſecure, and dreamt of no ſuch danger. Neither in all theſe alterations and various occurrences is God unrighteous, ſith he is debtour to none, neither doth he any thing without reaſon and right.

And paſſe away] Praeteribunt, id eſt peribunt: they ſhall paſſe into the grave, as Eccleſ. 1.4. One generation paſſeth, and another cometh: or they ſhall periſh, as when it is ſaid, Heaven and earth ſhall paſs away. The Vulgar hath it, Pertranſibunt. It is not tranſibunt, they ſhall paſſe, ſaith Gregory; but pertranſibunt, they ſhall paſs thorow, becauſe the wicked are alwayes paſſing on to perdition, throughout all their lives.

And the mighty ſhall be taken away without hand] That is, without ſeeing the hand that ſmiteth them; which is, ſaith One, a divine force, inviſibly cutting aſunder the thred of their lives in a moment, Pſal. 76.12. The Lord cutteth off the ſpirit of Princes. The Hebrew importeth, that he ſlips them off, as one ſhould ſlip of a flower betwixt his finger; or as one ſhould ſlip of a bunch of grapes, &c. The Original here is, They ſhall take away the mighty, that is, the Angels ſhall (as Luk. 12.20.) hurry them out of the world without hand, that is without mans help, without humane violence.

Verſe 21. For his eyes are upon the wayes of man] Gods Providence (like a well-drawn picture that eyeth each one in the room) obſerveth all things: he ſeeth cauſe enough thus to proceed in judgement againſt a perſon or people, though we ſee it not. And although one man knoweth not another; nor doth any man well know himſelf; yet God, following, as it were, all men hard at the heels; doth with his eyes narrowly obſerve and mark what way every one walketh in, he ſeeth all his goings: Let not men therefore pleaſe themſelves in their ſinful practiſes, as if God ſaw them not, becauſe for a time they ſcape unpuniſhed; Saculi laetitia eſt impunita nequitia; but ſin and puniſhment are tyed together with chains of Adamant, and cannot long be aſunder.

Verſe 22. There is no darkneſs, nor ſhadow of death, &c.] Sinners would fain ſhroud and ſecret themſelves from Gods all-ſeeing eye: for which end they ſearch all corners, with Adam, and hope that their evil pranks and practiſes ſhall never come to light: but that cannot be, for not only darkneſs and the ſhadow of death, but Hell alſo is naked before him, and deſtruction hath no covering, Job 26.6. See the Note there. See alſo Pſal. 139.12. and Amos 9.2, 3. Heb. 4.13. with the Notes.

Where the workers of iniquity may hide themſelves] Either from Gods all-ſeeing eye, or puniſhing hand; Adam is pulled out of the thicket: Manaſſeth from among the thorns: Zedekiah, and his family, from between the two walls: many Jews out of the privies and other lurking-holes where they lay hid, at the laſt deſtruction of Jeruſalem.

Verſe 23. For he will not lay upon man more then right] Plus quàm par eſt. Nam non ſ[illegible: 1 letter] virum ponc[illegible: 1 letter] trà. He cannot over-do likely: no, though he ſhould inflict upon him all the torments here, and tortures in hell, ſith death, in the utmoſt e[illegible: 1 letter]tent of it, is the juſt hire of the leaſt ſin, Romans, 6.23. See Ezr. 9.13. with the Note.

That he ſhould enter into judgement with God] Commence a ſuit againſt him, or challenge him into the ſchools to argue it out with him, as thou Job haſt offered to do: but unadviſedly; ſith God hath juſtice on his ſide; as the very Heathens alſo ſaw, when they ſet Themis their goddeſſe of Juſtice [non-Latin text not transcribed] next of all to Jupiter, their chief god.

Verſe 24. He ſhall break in pieces mighty men, &c.] Infinitè conterit validos, ſo Tremellius rendreth it. He infinitely mawleth the mighty; and breaketh them in pieces like a potters veſſel, Pſal. 2.9.

Without number] Or, Without inquiſition: as knowing all things afore-hand, and not needing any evidences or examination of witneſſes: Or, without end, becauſe their ruine is endleſſe. Ruina majorum ſit cantela minorum.

And ſet others in their ſtead] As is to be ſeen in the riſe, reign, and ruine of the four mighty Monarchies, and others not a few, that had their times, and their turns: as the Kingdom of the ten Tribes, which in a few years fell into nine ſeveral Families: and few of thoſe Kings died a natural death: No more did the Emperours of Rome, till Conſtantine. See Dan. 2.21. Pſal. 113.7, 8.

Verſe 25. Therefore he knoweth their works] It appeareth by their puniſhment, that God took notice of their wicked works; though they thought otherwiſe: yea, when they know not, or are not aware of it, he overthroweth them therefore. This he doth in the night, i. e. ſuddenly and unexpectedly. Others render it, Aſſoon as he hath changed the night, they are cruſhed; that is, as ſoon as he hath brought forth the light which revealeth all things, Epheſ. 5.13. and layeth them open to publick view, who before were taken for better men, they are deſtroyed, as publick Peſts.

Verſe 26. He ſtriketh them as wicked men, &c.] Complodit eos, ſaith Junius, ſcilicet ut inflatas veſical in ſun ipſorum ſede, he ſtriketh upon them, as blown bladders in their own ſeat. This is an elegant ſimilitude, ſetting forth the ſudden overthrow of graceleſs great Ones, as with a kind of noiſe, and not without publick notice; for it followeth,

In the open ſight of others] Heb. In the place of beholders, in proſcenio, as upon a Stage, or Scaffold, Diſcant juſtitiam moniti, & non temnere [illegible: 1 letter]imen: others may hear and fear, and do no more ſo. God is pleaſed for this purpoſe to hang up ſome notorious offendors as it were in gibbets; as Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Antiochus, Herod, Julian, &c. See thoſe Writs of Execution, 1 Cor. 10.5, 6, 7, &c. and be wiſe by others woes: enjoy their follies, and gather, with the Bee, ſweet honey out of thoſe bitter weeds. Poena ad pancos, metus ad omnes.

Verſe 27. Becauſe they have turned back from him] To purſue after lying vanities, broken ciſterns; which whoſoever do, as they fall into two foul ſins at once (ſuch as heaven and earth have cauſe to be aſtoniſhed at, and afraid of) Jeremiah 2.12, 13. ſo they are miſerable by their own Election, Jonah 2. verſ. 8.

And would not conſider any of his wayes] Wiſely conſider them, as David did Pſal. 119.168. All Gods lawes were in his ſight: and all his wayes in Gods ſight. This was the general cauſe of their deſtruction. The ſpecial followeth.

Verſe 28. So that they cauſe the cry of the poor, &c. Theſe they compel, by their oppreſſions, to waſh the earth with their tears, and to importune heaven with their complaints,Senault. as One phraſeth it. The wicked do as it were, bring up to God the cryes of the poor oppreſſed, and ſo pull upon themſelves inevitable deſtruction. for he is the poor mans Patron, and heareth the cry of the afflicted. The grand Signior would have the world take notice, that ſuch as lament unto him, ſhall be ſure to have redreſs and ſuccour from him.Grand Sign. Serag. 147. Wherefore alſo he calleth himſelf Awl[illegible: 1 letter]m Penaw[illegible: 2 letters], The worlds Refuge, A title far more fit for the God of heaven, than for any earthly Monarch, [illegible: 1 word]. Manl. loc. [illegible: 1 word] were he far more gracious than the great Turk, from whoſe courteſie (freely offered him) Luther bleſſed himſelf with a Deus me tutatur à tali benefice Domino; God defend me from ſuch a gracious Lord.

Verſe 29. When he giveth quietneſſe, who then can make trouble] Ipſe tranquillabit, & quis inquietabit? This is like that of the Apoſtle, ſaith Brentius, Rom. 8. If God be for us, who can be againſt us? Who ſhall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect, &c? It is he alone who giveth peace, both of countrey and of conſcience; Peace, peace. Iſai. 26.3. Pacem omnimodam; external, internal, eternal; and then, who can diſturb or unſettle? Surely as Iſaac once ſaid to Eſau, concerning Jacob, He is bleſſed, and he shall be bleſſed: ſo may it be ſaid of ſuch as have made their peace with God; Peace ſhall be upon them and Mercy, contra gentes, whoſoever ſaith nay to it; yea, though it be the Devil himſelf, that [non-Latin text not transcribed] as he is oft called, the Troubleſome one: who, ever ſince he was caſt out of heaven, keeps ado on earth, and ſeeks to diſquiet all ſuch as by patient continuance in well-doing, ſeek for glory, and honour, and immortality, Rom. 2.7.

And when he hideth his face, who then can behold him?] Him? Whom? God: who dare look upon him, or toward him for help, when he is throughly diſpleaſed and looketh irefully? Or, the party frowned on by God: who will ſmile upon him, or ſhew him any favour and furtherance? Here Aben-Ezra giveth a good Note, Averſio vultus Dei, &c. The turning away of Gods pleaſed countenance is the cauſe of all Wars and other diſaſters. The Phyſiologer in Epiphanius telleth of the Bird Charadius, that being brought into the room where a man lyeth ſick, if he look with a ſteddy and fixed eye upon the ſick man, he recovereth: but if he turn away from him, and look another way, the diſeaſe is to death. Apply this to God, and it fitteth.

Whether it be done againſt a Nation, or againſt a man only] All's a caſe (as they ſay) to God; he ſtands not upon multitudes, as men uſe to do in caſe of Mutinies or the like, to puniſh the tenth man or ſo, in terrorem, for a terrour to the reſt. This is not Gods way of puniſhing: but as a thouſand years are to him but as a day, and one day as a thouſand years: ſo when he proceeds to execution of Juſtice, whether it be done againſt a Nation, &c. All Nations to him are but as a drop of a bucket, or duſt of a balance, Iſai. 40. And hence he buried a world full of people in one univerſal grave of waters. And the wicked (be they never ſo many) ſhall be turned into hell: With whole nations tht forget God, Pſal. 9.17. God ſeemeth to ſay, Fiat juſtitia, ruat orbis.

Verſe 30. That the hypocrite reign not] That he reign no longer; Almighty God taketh order, by putting theſe mighties from their ſeats, and exalting them of low degree, Luk. 1.52. And why? 1. Leſt the hypocrite, or the impure and impious man reign: Such as was Jehu, Herod, Julian, our Richard 3. Pope Sixtus Quintus, of whom One ſaith,Spec. Europ. that he was the moſt crouching humble Cardinal that ever was lodg'd in an oven, and the moſt ſtout proud Pope, that ever wore Crown: What pride equal to his, making Kings kiſſe his Pantof[illegible: 1 letter]es? What humility (pretended) greater than his, ſhrieving himſelf daily on his knees to an ordinary Prieſt? He calleth himſelf the ſervant of Gods ſervants: and yet ſtamps in his Coyn, That Nation and Countrey that will not ſerve thee, ſhall be rooted out: he alſo ſuffereth his Paraſites to ſtile him, Our Lord God the Pope. Is not this a notorious hypocrite? and when ſuch a one reigneth and taketh upon him to be Lord of all both in ſpirituals and temporals, may not we conclude that God hideth his face (as in the former verſe) from his people? May we not cry out as Baſil once did,Epiſt. 17. Num Eccleſias ſuas dereliquit Dominus? hath the Lord utterly forſaken his Churches? It is, doubtleſs, a very great judgement upon a people, when an hypocrite or a prophane perſon is ſet over them, who pretends the publick good to his own deſignes and ſelf-intereſts, and by his crafty inventions undoes his ſubjects, robbing them of their lawful liberties, and enſlaving them. Some read the words thus,Vulg. Spe[illegible: 1 letter]. Ab. Ezra. He cauſeth that the hypocrite reigneth for the ſins of the people. It is threatened as an heavy curſe, Levit. 26.17. If you ſtill treſpaſſe againſt me, I will ſet Princes over you that ſhall hate you; miſchievous, odious Princes, odious to God, malignant to the people: Such as was Phocas that bloody Tyrant, who, when he had ſlain his Maſter Mauricius, and reigned in his ſtead, there was an honeſt poor man, ſaith Cedrenus, who was earneſt with God to know a reaſon, why ſuch a thing was ſuffered? to whom it was anſwered, That a worſe man could not be found: and that the ſins of Chriſtians required it. We read of Attilus King of Swethland, that he made a Dog King of the Danes, in revenge of a great many injuries received by them.Sr. Rich. Berkley's Sum. Pon. p. 387. Gunno likewiſe King of the Danes made a Dog King of Norway; and appointed Counſellours to do all things under his Title and Name: That which theſe men did ſpitefully, God ſomtimes doth righteouſly; ſetting up tyrants for a puniſhment to thoſe that were unthankful for better government: and would not have him to reign over them.

Leſt the people be enſnared] Heb. For the ſnares of the people; that is, for the injuries and vexations wherewith that hypocrite oppreſſed the people; to put an end to thoſe, by taking away the Tyrant, who for his cruel craft, and crafty cruelty, is here fitly compared to an hunter or fowler laying ſnares. Sunt autem leges iniquae & exactiones injuſtae principum hypocritarum, laquci & decipulae quibus populum ſibi ſubjectum venantur & capiunt, ſaith Brentius here: i.e. Bad Lawes and unjuſt exactions of hypocritical Princes, are the ſnares and gins wherewith they hunt after, and catch their ſubjects.

Verſe 31. Surely it is me[illegible: 1 letter]t to be ſaid unto God, I have born chaſtiſement] To convince a man of a fault, and not to adviſe him how to do better, is to ſnuff a Lamp and not pour more Oyle into it. Elihu therefore now ſets himſelf to counſel Job, whom he conceiveth he had ſufficiently convinced of injury done to God. Surely it is meet, &c. Par eſt; this is ſupplied by the Tranſlatours to make ſenſe; for the Original is very conciſe and dark, and therefore diverſely interpreted; as is alſo all this latter part of the Chapter. Some render it thus, But to God who ſaith, I pardon, I will not deſtroy, it ſhould be ſaid, That which I ſee not, teach thou me; &c. Some thus, Therefore we ought thus to ſpeak unto God, I ſuffer patiently, I will not break aſunder; viz. Theſe bonds wherewith thou haſt faſt bound me. Others thus; Hath Job ſaid to God, I have born, &c. q.d. Nothing leſſe, as ye all are witneſſes. Others again thus, Hath he; (that is, the Tyrant dethroned, as in the verſe aforegoing) ſaid to God, I have been, &c, Hath he confeſſed his wickedneſſe, and promiſed amendment? No ſuch matter ſurely, therefore is he juſtly puniſhed. This is a very good ſenſe, ſaith Mercer. But to ſtick to our laſt and beſt Tranſlation, Surely it is meet, &c. for is it fit that God ſhould caſt down the bucklers firſt, and not have the better of us? Should we not rather diſarm his juſt indignation by an humble yeeldance?

I have born chaſtiſement] Heb. I have born and will bear, being active in ſuffering, and taking up my croſs.

I will not offend any more] Heb. I will not corrupt, to wit, my wayes, and ſo undo my ſelf.

Verſe 32 That which I ſee not teach thou me] For I am yet in the dark, and know not the right cauſe wherefore thou afflicteſt me. Herein men are very apt to miſtake themſelves, and when God calls one way, to run another, as young Samuel did, 1 Sam. 2. The divel alſo dealeth by the afflicted as the Jewes did by Chriſt, blindfolds them, and then bids them prophecy who ſmote them, and for what? Hence in afflictions we many times grope, as blind men, gueſſing at this cauſe, and at that, but ſeldome faſten on the right. Here then God muſt be ſought unto for direction, and beſought, that he would graciouſly point us to the ſin he ſtrikes at. This Job had done once and again, chap. 10.2. and 13.23. But Elihu would have him to do it yet better.

If I have done iniquity, I will do no more] Thus men muſt both vow and perform to the Lord their God, Pſal. 76.11. and not promiſe amendment as children do when taken up to be whipt; or as men in danger at ſea, or on their ſick beds, uſe to do largely; But then ſciaputo il morbo, fraudato il Santo, as the Italian Proverb hath it, When the Diſeaſe is removed, the Saint is defrauded. Pharaoh promiſed fair whiles upon the Rack; but got off once, he hardned his heart, and would do nothing. So thoſe ſlippery Votaries, Jer. 34.11.

Verſe 33 Should it be according to thy mind] Heb. From with thee: q.d. Muſt things be as thou wilt? And is it fit for thee to preſcribe to the Almighty? (See Hoſ. 8.4.) to ſet the Sun by thy Dial?

He will recompence it, whether thou refuſe, &c.] He will have his pennyworths of thee, whether thou be pleaſed or diſpleaſed.

And not I] Though I foretell thee this, yet it is God that will effect it: therefore think not the worſe of me, no more then a people ſhould of a Herald or the Trumpet as the cauſe of their war.

Therefore ſpeak what thou knoweſt] Viz. In thine one behalf, but ſpeak the word of truth and ſoberneſſe. He was no fool who ſaid, It hath often repented me to have ſpoken, but ſeldome to have held my peace. There are many other readings, and expoſitions of the words. Let every man (for me) take his choice, and abound in his own ſenſe, ſo it diſſent not from the Analogy of faith.

Verſe 34. Let men of underſtanding tell me] Or, Say with me; ſay as I ſay; viz. That Job hath ſpoken without knowledg, as verſ. 35. and that I have ſpoken the thing that is right in vindicating the divine Juſtice, from thy cauſeleſſe criminations.

And let a wiſe man hearken unto me] I preſume there is not one wiſe man alive but will be of my mind: and for fools, the men of this world, ever beſides themſelves in point of ſalvation, I regard not their cenſures, —Equitem mihi plandere curo.

Verſe 35. Job hath ſpoken without knowledge] Inſcienter & inſcite, He hath out-laſhed and overſhot himſelf in ſome words againſt God; yea, amidſt his complaints, he hath let ſlip not a few laviſh and looſe ſpeeches, which thing alſo being reproved by God, he doth ingenuouſly acknowledg, chap. 40. and 42.

And his words were without wiſdome] Heb. Not in wiſdome; and this he here heareth of on both ears, being barely told of it again and again, and not without ſome bitterneſs in the cloſe of this Chapter. Some warmth there muſt be in a reproof (the Phyſick will work the better) but ſcalding hot it muſt not be.

Verſe 36. My deſire is that Job may be tryed unto the end] Or, Ʋnto victory, Ʋſque ad victoriam. Trem. ill he be vanquiſhed and ſet down. It is conceived, that Job by clapping his hands, as verſe 37. or by the ſet of his countenance, or ſome other way had diſcovered his diſlike of, and diſcontent at that which Elihu had ſpoken: He therefore begs of God to continue afflicting him, till he be in a better mind.Crux ſancta eſt, & ſalubris. This he doth by a ſpecial inſtinct for Jobs good, and not out of any deſire for revenge. So Farellus pronounced a curſe upon young Calvins ſtudies,At ego tibi ſtudia tua praetexenti denuncio Omnipotentis Dei nomine, &c Calv. vit. in caſe he ſhould refuſe to joyn with him in the Lords work at Geneva, where a Church had been newly planted: this ſo thunderſtruck him, that be durſt not ſtir there hence to his dying day. Some read it, My Father, let Job be tryed. It is not to be doubted, but thoſe Ancients alſo called God by this ſweet name of Father. See John 8.41. Beza makes Elihu thus beſpeaking Job, for honours ſake, O my Father. Job ſhall be yet ſtill tryed. The Tigurines read, Haec autem in medium affero. Theſe things I produce, that Jobs things may be moſt exactly diſcuſſed, and wicked mens mouthes ſtopped.

Becauſe of his anſwers for wicked men] Who will take liberty by him to excuſe their iniquity, and ſpeak diſhonourably of God, as he hath done.

Verſe 17. For he addeth rebellion unto his ſin] Or, He will adde, viz. unleſſe he be exerciſed and ſubdued by more and longer load of afflictions; there will elſe be no hoe with him, no ground will hold him. The croſſe is of ſingular uſe to tame that rebel Fleſh: and is therefore prayed for by Jeremy for himſelf, chap. 10.24. and here by Elihu for Job, who had before adviſedly choſen affliction rather then ſin, and reckoned it as a mercy to be viſited every morning, and tryed every moment, chap. 7.18.

He clappeth his hands amongſt us] By way of irriſion, and as inſulting over us. This it may ſeem Job had done in a diſdainful way againſt all that had beene ſpoken, which maketh Elihu thus fiercely to charge him.

And multiplyeth his words againſt God] By a ſtrange pertinacy. He delivereth him therefore unto God to be further afflicted; as St. Paul did Hymenaus and Alexander unto Satan to be inwardly buffetted, and bodily tormented (as Act. 13.11. and 19.16) Ʋt caſtigati diſcerent; that they might learn not to blaſpheme, 1 Tim. 1.20.