Job 35 commentary

Elihu reproves Job for justifying himself more than God, and called his attention to the heavens. They are far above us, and God is far above them; how much then is he out of the reach, either of our sins or of our services! We have no reason to complain if we have not what we expect, but should be thankful that we have better than we deserve.

Job complained that God did not regard the cries of the oppressed against their oppressors. This he knew not how to reconcile the justice of God and his government. Elihu solves the difficulty. Men do not notice the mercies they enjoy in and under their afflictions, nor are thankful for them, therefore they cannot expect that God should deliver them out of affliction. He gives songs in the night; when our condition is dark and melancholy, there is that in God's providence and promise, which is sufficient to support us, and to enable us even to rejoice in tribulation. When we only pore upon our afflictions, and neglect the consolations of God which are treasured up for us, it is just in God to reject our prayers. Even the things that will kill the body, cannot hurt the soul. If we cry to God for the removal of an affliction, and it is not removed, the reason is, not because the Lord's hand is shortened, or his ear heavy; but because we are not sufficiently humbled.

As in prosperity we are ready to think our mountain will never be brought low; so when in adversity, we are ready to think our valley will never be filled up. But to conclude that to-morrow must be as this day, is as absurd as to think that the weather, when either fair or foul, will be always so. When Job looked up to God, he had no reason to speak despairingly. There is a day of judgment, when all that seems amiss will be found to be right, and all that seems dark and difficult will be cleared up and set straight. And if there is Divine wrath in our troubles, it is because we quarrel with God, are fretful, and distrust Divine Providence. This was Job's case. Elihu was directed by God to humble Job, for as to some things he had both opened his mouth in vain, and had multiplied words without knowledge. Let us be admonished, in our afflictions, not so much to set forth the greatness of our suffering, as the greatness of the mercy of God.

CHAPTER 35

Job 35:1-16.

2. more than--rather as in Job 9:2; 25:4: "I am righteous (literally, my righteousness is) before God." The English Version, however, agrees with Job 9:17; 16:12-17; 27:2-6. Job 4:17 is susceptible of either rendering. Elihu means Job said so, not in so many words, but virtually.

3. Rather, explanatory of "this" in Job 35:2, "That thou sayest (to thyself, as if a distinct person) What advantage is it (thy integrity) to thee? What profit have I (by integrity) more than (I should have) by my sin?" that is, more than if I had sinned (Job 34:9). Job had said that the wicked, who use these very words, do not suffer for it (Job 21:13-15); whereby he virtually sanctioned their sentiments. The same change of persons from oblique to direct address occurs (Job 19:28; 22:17).

4. companions--those entertaining like sentiments with thee (Job 34:8, 36).

5-8. Elihu like Eliphaz (Job 22:2, 3, 12) shows that God is too exalted in nature to be susceptible of benefit or hurt from the righteousness or sin of men respectively; it is themselves that they benefit by righteousness, or hurt by sin.

behold the clouds, which are higher than thou--spoken with irony. Not only are they higher than thou, but thou canst not even reach them clearly with the eye. Yet these are not as high as God's seat. God is therefore too exalted to be dependent on man. Therefore He has no inducement to injustice in His dealings with man. When He afflicts, it must be from a different motive; namely, the good of the sufferer.

9. (Ec 4:1.) Elihu states in Job's words (Job 24. 12; 30. 20) the difficulty; the "cries" of "the oppressed" not being heard might lead man to think that wrongs are not punished by Him.

10-13. But the reason is that the innocent sufferers often do not humbly seek God for succor; so to their "pride" is to be laid the blame of their ruin; also because (Job 35:13-16) they, as Job, instead of waiting God's time in pious trust, are prone to despair of His justice, when it is not immediately visible (Job 33:19-26). If the sufferer would apply to God with a humbled, penitent spirit, He would hear.

Where, &c.--(Jr 2:6, 8; Is 51:13).

songs--of joy at deliverance (Psa 42:8; 149:5; Ac 16:25).

in the night--unexpectedly (Job 34:20, 25). Rather, "in calamity."

14. Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him--(as a temporal deliverer; for he did look for a Redeemer after death, Job 19:25-27; which passage cannot consistently with Elihu's assertion here be interpreted of "seeing" a temporal "redeemer"), Job 7:7; 9:11; 23:3, 8, 9; yet, judgment ... ; therefore trust ... But the Hebrew favors Maurer, "How much less (will God ... regard, Job 35:13), since thou sayest, that He does not regard thee." So in Job 4:19. Thus Elihu alludes to Job's words (Job 19:7; 30:20).

judgment--that is, thy cause, thy right; as in Psa 9:16; Pr 31:5, 8.

trust--rather, "wait thou" on Him, patiently, until He take up thy cause (Psa 37:7).

15. As it is, because Job waited not trustingly and patiently (Job 35:14; Nu 20:12; Zep 3:2; Mi 7:9), God hath visited ... ; yet still he has not taken (severe) cognizance of the great multitude (English Version wrongly, "extremity") of sins; therefore Job should not complain of being punished with undue severity (Job 7:20; 11:6). Maurer translates: "Because His anger hath not visited (hath not immediately punished Job for his impious complaints), nor has He taken strict (great) cognizance of his folly (sinful speeches); therefore," &c. For "folly," Umbreit translates with the Rabbins, "multitude." Gesenius reads with the Septuagint and Vulgate needlessly, "transgression."

16. Apodosis to Job 35:15.

in vain--rashly.

My righteousness is more than God's? - This would indeed be a blasphemous saying; but Job never said so, neither directly nor constructively: it would be much better to translate the words צדקי מאל tsidki meel, I am righteous Before God. And Job's meaning most certainly was, "Whatever I am in your sight, I know that in the sight of God I am a righteous man;" and he had a right to assume this character, because God himself had given it to him.

What advantage will it be unto thee? - As if he had said to God, "My righteousness cannot profit thee, nor do I find that it is of any benefit to myself." Or perhaps Elihu makes here a general assertion, which he afterwards endeavors to exemplify: Thou hast been reasoning how it may profit thee, and thou hast said, "What profit shall I have in righteousness more than in sin?"

I will answer thee - I will show thee the evil of a sinful way, and the benefit of righteousness; and supply what thy friends have omitted in their discourses with thee.

Look unto the heavens - These heavens, and their host, God has created: the bare sight of them is sufficient to show thee that God is infinitely beyond thee in wisdom and excellence.

Behold the clouds - שחקים shechakim, the ethers, (Vulgate, aethera), from שחק shachak, to contend, fight together: the agitated or conflicting air and light; the strong agitation of these producing both light and heat. Look upon these, consider them deeply, and see and acknowledge the perfections of the Maker.

If thou sinnest - God is not benefited by thy righteousness, nor injured by thy iniquity, howsoever multiplied it may be.

Thy wickedness may hurt - It is better to translate this literally:

To a man like thyself is thy wickedness:

And to the son of man, thy righteousness:

That is: -

Thou mayest injure thyself and others by thy wickedness,

And thou mayest benefit both by thy righteousness;

But God thou canst neither hurt nor profit.

By reason of the multitude - Or rather, "From among the multitude" the oppressed clamor, יזעיקו yaziku: they shout, ישועו yeshavveu, because of the mighty. The wicked rich oppress the wicked poor; these cry aloud because of their oppressors; but they have no relief, because they call not upon God.

Where is God my Maker - They have no just apprehension of his being; they do not consider themselves his creatures, or that he who created them still preserves them, and would make them happy if they would pray unto him.

Who giveth songs in the night - This is variously translated. "Before whom the high angels give praise in the night." - Chaldee. "Who sets the night-watches." - Septuagint. "Gives meditations in the night." - Syriac and Arabic. "And that shyneth upon us that we might prayse him in the night." - Coverdale.

A holy soul has continual communion with God: night and day its happiness is great; and God, from whom it comes, is the continual subject of its songs of praise.

Who teacheth us more than the beasts - "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know me, my people do not consider;" Isa 1:3. Beasts, bards, fowls, and in many cases pond-fishes, know and seem thankful to the hand that feeds them; while man, made much more noble than they, gifted with the greatest powers, privileged with the most important benefits, considers not the Lord, nor discerns the operation of his hand. Quadrupeds, reptiles, and fowls, have more gratitude to their masters than man has to his God.

There they cry - They bewail their calamities, but sorrow not for the cause of them; they cry against their oppressors, but they call not upon God.

Because of the pride of evil men - Or מפני mippeney, from the face, presence, or influence, of the pride of wicked men. They cry for deliverance from the pride of wicked men; but they are not heard, because they cry not to God.

Surely God will not hear vanity - He will not attend to such vain cries; they cry from their oppressions, but they cry not to God.

Thou sayest thou shalt not see Him - Several MSS. have "Thou shalt not see me," and the Septuagint, and one other, "Thou shalt not see us," but without the points, תשורנו, the original may be read see Him or see Us, the third person singular, or the first person plural.

Yet judgment is before him - Rest assured that God has not forgotten either to punish or to save; therefore trust in him; choose to be a monument of his mercy, rather than of his justice.

But - because it is not so - Rather, "But now, because he visiteth not in his anger." This is more literal than the versions generally proposed; and the sense of the place appears to be this: Because vengeance is not speedily executed on an evil work, therefore are the hearts of the children of men set in them to do iniquity. This is, in effect, the charge which Elihu brings against Job.

Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain - God will execute vengeance when it may best serve the ends of his justice, providence, and mercy. The delay of judgment is not proof that it shall not be executed; nor is the deferring of mercy any proof that God has forgotten to be gracious.

He multiplieth words without knowledge - However this may apply to Job, it most certainly applies very strongly and generally to the words, not only of Job's three friends, but to those also of Elihu himself. The contest is frequently a strife of words.

Thou saidst - Not that Job said this in express terms, but he said those things from which this might seem to follow, as that God had punished him more than he deserved.

Thou saidst - Another imputation upon God. Unto thee - Unto me; such changes of persons being frequent in the Hebrew language. What profit, &c. - God does not reward so much as I deserve. But it was not fair to charge this upon Job, which he had neither directly nor indirectly affirmed.

Clouds, &c. - They are far above us, and God is far above them. How much then is he out of the reach either of our sins or our services?

Cry - Thus one man's wickedness may hurt another.

None - Few or none of the great numbers of oppressed persons. God - They cry out to men, but they seek not God, and therefore if God do not hear their cries it is not unjust. Maker - Who alone made me, and who only can deliver me. Who when our condition is ever so dark and sad, can turn our darkness into light, can quickly put a new song in our mouth, a thanksgiving unto our God.

Who - This is an aggravation of mens neglect of God in their misery. God hath given men, what he hath denied to beasts, wisdom to know God and themselves. Therefore they are inexcusable, for not using that wisdom, by calling on God in the time of trouble.

Because - God doth not answer their cries, because they are both evil, wicked and impenitent, and proud, unhumbled for those sins for which God brought these miseries upon them.

Vanity - Vain persons, that have no wisdom or piety in them.

See him - Thou canst not understand his dealings with thee. Here Elihu answers another objection of Job's: and tells him that though God may for a season delay to answer, yet he will certainly do him right. Judgment - Justice is at his tribunal, and in all his ways and administrations. Trust - Instead of murmuring, repent of what is past, humble thyself under God's hand, wait patiently in his way, 'till deliverance come; for it will certainly come if thou dost not hinder it.

Because - Because Job doth not acknowledge God's justice and his own sins. He - God. Anger - Hath laid grievous afflictions upon him. He - Job is not sensible of it, so as to be humbled under God's hand.

2. Thinkest thou this to be right , that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than Gods ?

Canst thou in thy Conscience upon second Thoughts approve of what thou hast said?

Not that Iob said this in express terms, but he said those things from which this might seem to follow, as that God punished him more than he deserved or expected, all things considered; and that if he might be admitted to debate his cause with or before God he did not doubt to carry it, and to obtain that ease and favour from God which otherwise God would not afford him. But this charge against Iob he proves in the next Ve[illegible: 1+ letters]e.

3. For thou saidst , what advantage will it be unto thee ? and and what profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin ?

This Verse contains the proof of the foregoing charges: Iob had oft affirmed, that he was and still continued to be righteous, though he had no present benefit by it, but much bitterness with it: and God was not kind to Iob notwithstanding all his former and present Piety, but dealt with him as if he had been a most wicked Man: which was in effect to sa[illegible: 1+ letters] that he was more righteous▪ than God.

To wit, his righteousness last mentioned.

i. e. Unto me, such changes of Persons being very frequent in the Hebrew Language.

Or, by the exp[illegible: 1+ letters]ation of my sin: for the same Hebrew word signifies both to s[illegible: 1+ letters]t and to purge out or ex[illegible: 1+ letters]iate sin. Or, by it (to wit, by my righteousness) more than by my si[illegible: 1+ letters]. So the sence is, I have no more present benefit by all my care to please and serve God than wicked men have by their sins against him. God regards my cries no more than theirs, and shews no more kindness or pity to me, than he doth to the most pro[illegible: 1+ letters]ligate wretches. But still remember Iob speaks not here of the future life, wherein he knew he should have much advantage, as he professed before, but onely of this present state.

Marginal references: Ch 34. 9.; [illegible: 1 span].

4. I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.

i. e. Those who are of thy opinion, or with whom thou dost associate thy self in those speeches and carriages. Which seems to be meant not of Iob's three Friends (as many understand it, for their opinions were contrary to Iob's in this point) but of wicked men, with whom Iob is said to walk and go in company for this same opinion or assertion, Chap. 34. 8, 9. And these men he here calls Iob's companions, partly because they are very forward to harp upon the same string, and to accu[illegible: 1+ letters]e God and justifie themselves upon all occasions; and partly, that he might awaken Iob to a more serious review of his former assertions by representing to him whose cause he pleaded and who were his consederates and colleagues in this Opinion.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span].

5. Look unto the heavens, and see, and behold [illegible: 1+ letters]he clouds which are higher than thou .

How much more is God who is far above all Heavens, higher than thou? And therefore God is out of the reach of all profit or loss by thy actions; if thy goodness do not profit thee, it is certain it doth not profit him, and therefore doth not lay any Obligation upon him to indulge or recompence thee for it, save only so far as he hath graciously obliged himself; and therefore thou canst not accuse him of injustice for afflicting thee, nor pretend that thou hast deserved better usage from him. And this infinite distance between God and thee, should cause thee to think and speak more modestly and reverently of that glorious Majesty.

Marginal references: Ch. 22. 12.; Heb. [illegible: 1 word].

6. If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him ? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

Thy sins do him no hurt, and therefore thy righteousness brings him no benefit, as it follows.

7. If thou be righteous what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand ?

He gaineth nothing by it, nor can indeed receive any good from thee, because all thy good comes from him. And therefore thou hast no reason to boast of, nor to upbraid God with thy Piety, which is much to thy advantage, but nothing to his.

Marginal references: Ch. 22. 3. Psal. 16. 2. Rom. 11. 35.

8. Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art , and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.

If God were such an one as thou art, he might have benefit or hurt by thine actions: but being an infinite, independent and selfsufficient being, he is far exalted above all thy good or evil.

9. By reason of the multitude of oppressions, they make the oppressed to cry : they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty .

Or, greatness. This Verse is supposed to contain an argument to prove what he said, v. 8. that one Mans wickedness may hurt another. But he rather seems to begin a new matter, and having answered one of Job's Objections to proceed to another which may be either 1. that which Job had oft complained of, that he cried to God, and God did not hear his cry, which Elihu answers by a Parallel case of men, crying out for oppression; whom yet God doth not hear, nor help, and that for just reasons. which he leaves to Job to apply to himself. Or, 2. that which Job had alledged, Chap. 24. 12. and which might seem to reflect upon God's Providence. This therefore Elihu repeats in this Verse, and answereth in the following.

Not onely to murmur and complain, but to cry out by reason of sore oppression, and to cry to the Oppressours, or others for pity and help.

Because their Oppressours are too strong for them.

10. But none saith , where is God my Maker ? who giveth songs in the night !

Few or none (for few are oft can [illegible: 1 word] and accounted as none both in Scripture and other Authors) of the great numbers of Oppressed Persons.

To wit, seriously or sincerely and it may be not so much as in word and profession.

They howl and cry out of men, and to men, but they seek not after God they do not acknowledge him in all their ways: they praise him not for that ease, and liberty, and estate and other mercies which God gave them; and by this unthankfulness they forfeit their mercies; and therefore if God suffer Oppressoars to take them away, they have no cause to complain of God, but only of themselves: they will not vouchsafe to pray to God seriously and fervently, either to continue or to restore their lost mercies; and therefore if God do not hear, nor regard their brutish cries arising only from a natural sense of their misery, it is not strange nor unjust.

Who alone made me, and whose power and providence preserveth me every day, and who only can protect and deliver me. All which were Obligations upon them to praise God and pray to him, and depend upon him, and aggravations of their gross neglect of God. Heb. my Makers, in the Plural number. Which being used not only here, but also, Ecclis. 12. 1. Isa. 54. 5. and that without any necessity, when it might aswell have been put in the singular number, yea though Elohim be Plural, at it is, Gen. 1. 1. plainly implies a Pl[illegible: 1+ letters] rality of Persons in the Divine Essence, of which see on Gen. 1. 26.

i. e. Matter of Songs: great occasion to rejoyce and praise God.

Either I metaphorically taken, i. e. in the night of affliction imply▪ ing that they want not cause to bless God even in their afflictions. Or rather 2. properly, as this word is always used in Job one place excepted which is doubtful, to wit, Chap. 36. 20. which he may mention rather than the day; either because oppressed Persons who in the day time are cruelly used by their Oppressours are permitted to rest in the night: or because the hand and mercy of God is more manifest in the preservation, and rest, and sleep of the night, than in the Blessings of the day which are procured by Mans industry: or because the day is the time of Action, the Night of contemplation, when we do and ought to remember God's Mercies with thanksgiving; compare Psal. 42. 8. & 119. 62.

Marginal references: P[illegible: 1+ letters]l. 42. 8.

11. Who teacheth us more then the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser then the fowls of heaven.

This is mentioned as a further aggravation of Mens neglect of God in their misery. God hath given to men those gifts which he hath denied to Beasts, Reason and Religion, Wisdom to know God and themselves, and their Obligations to God, and their dependance upon him. And therefore it ill becometh them to lye like Brute-creatures, roaring and crying out in their miseries without taking any notice of God in way of Prayer or Praise; and if they do so, it is no wonder if God takes no notice of them.

12. There they cry, (but none giveth answer) because of the pride of evil men .

Or, Then, as this Particle is used, Psal. 14. 5. Eccles. 3. 17. Zeph. 1. 14 In that time or condition.

Either 1. of the Oppressours. So this is the reason not of the last Clause, why none answereth, but of the former why they cry, the latter Clause being therefore shut up within a Parenthesis, and the words thus are to be transposed; as some place them; There they cry, because of the pride of evil men, but none giveth answer. The reason whereof followeth in the next Verse. Or rather 2. of the oppressed Persons. And so there is no need of any Parenthesis, or transposition. And so these words contain one reason of the words immediately foregoing, which is most natural and easie, and usual, to wit, why none giveth answer, i. e. why God doth not answer nor regard their cries, because of their Pride, &c. because they are both evil, wicked and impenitent, and proud, unhumbled for those sins for which God brought these miseries upon them, and unsubdued to the Obedience of God.

13. Surely God will not hear vanity , neither will the Almighty regard it.

Either 1. vain and light Persons, that have no true Wisdom or solid Piety in them, but are wholly addicted to vain and worldly things, rejoycing immoderately when they have them, and crying out for want of them, as here they do. Or 2. vain cries, which proceed not from Faith or Piety, but only from self-love and a natural sense of their misery; which is common to them with brute-beasts. The abstract is here put for the concrete▪ as wickedness is oft put for wicked men, and pride for proud Persons, and the like.

Though God be able to help them, as this title of God implies, and though he be the Judge of the World, as the former Name of God signifies, to whom therefore it belongs to right the Oppressed against the Oppressour, yet in this case he justly re[illegible: 1+ letters]useth to help them.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 27. 9. [illegible: 1 word]. 1. 28. [illegible: 1 word] 29. [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 1. 13. [illegible: 1 word]. 11. 11.

14. Although thou sayest, thou shalt not see him , yet judgment is before him , therefore trust thou in him .

Or, thou canst not see him, the future Tense of the Indicative Mood being oft put poten[illegible: 1+ letters]lly, i. e. Thou canst not have thy desire in appearing and pleading thy cause before him. So this is a new matter, and Elihu answers another Objection of Iobs: of which see, Chap. 23. 8, 9. and tells him that he is not to judge of God by present appearance; because though God may for a season hide his Face, and delay to give him an answer, yet he will certainly do him right.

i. e. Before God, or in his presence or at his Tribunal, or in all his ways and administrations: And judgment is put for Justice or just judgment▪ as it is Job 8. 3. Psal. 37. 28. & 99. 4. and oft elsewhere. So the sense is, God is and will shew himself to be just in all his ways, and therefore thou dost wickedly in reflecting upon God▪ justice. Or, yet judge thy self before him, instead of accusing God, condemn thy self, acknowledge thy sins, and then thou mayst hope for Mercy. Compare 1 Cor. 11. 31.

In stead of murmuring against him, put thy trust in him. Repent of what is past, and humble thy self under God'[illegible: 1+ letters] hand, and do not despond for the future, but wa[illegible: 1+ letters]t upon God patiently in his way till deliverance come to thee; for it will certainly come if thou dost not hinder it.

15. But now because it is not so , he hath visited in his anger , yet he knoweth it not in great extremity .

i. e. Because Iob doth not acknowledge God's justice and his own sins, and wait upon God in his way for Mercy, according to the last advice given to him, v. 14.

To wit, God, to whom this great work of visiting is ascribed every where in Scripture.

i. e. Hath laid grievous afflictions upon him; all which is too little to bring Job to compliance with God.

Job is not sufficiently sensible of it, so as to be humbled under God's hand.

Or, though (which Particle is sometimes understood▪ of which examples have been before) in great extremity, or ab[illegible: 1+ letters]dance, to wit, of afflictions. Though Job hath hitherto been and still is exercised with very sore Calamities, yet they have not brought Job to the knowledge of God and of himself. But this Verse is and may be rendred thus; A[illegible: 1+ letters]d now know that his (i. e. God's) ang[illegible: 1+ letters]r hath visited thee little or nothing, (to wit, in comparison of what thou hast deserved and mightest reasonably expect) neither hath [illegible: 1 word] known (i. e. judged or punished, as this word is used, Prov. 10. 9. and elsewhere) thee in or according to (as the prefix [illegible: 1 word] is sometimes used) [illegible: 1 word] great ab[illegible: 1+ letters]dance, to wit, of thy sins. And therefore thy complaints against God are very unrighteous and un[illegible: 1+ letters]easonable.

Marginal references: That is God.; That is Job.

16. Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain : he multiplieth words without knowledge .

Hence it is manifest.

i. e. Four forth his complaints without any success, and gets no [illegible: 1+ letters]ase by [illegible: 1+ letters]hem.

Thereby discovering his ignorance of God and of himself.

Job 35:1-4   1  Then began Elihu, and said:   2  Dost thou consider this to be right,

Sayest thou: my righteousness exceedeth God’s,   3  That thou sayest, what advantage is it to thee,

What doth it profit me more than my sin?   4  I will answer thee words,

And thy companions with thee.

The neutral זאת, Job 35:2, refers prospectively to כּי־תאמר, Job 35:3: this that thou sayest. חשׁב with acc. of the obj. and ל of the predicate, as Job 33:10, comp. Job 13:24, and freq. The second interrogative clause, Job 35:2, is co-ordinate with the first, and the collective thought of this ponderous construction, Job 35:2, Job 35:3, is this: Considerest thou this to be right, and thinkest thou on this account to be able to put thy righteousness above the divine, that, as thou maintainest, no righteousness on the side of God corresponds to this thy righteousness, because God makes no distinction between righteousness and the sin of man, and allows the former to go unrewarded? צדקי (for which Olsh. wishes to read צדקתּי, as Job 9:27 אמרתי for אמרי) forms with מאל a substantival clause: justitia mea est prae Deo (prae divina); מן comparative as Job 32:2, comp. on the matter Job 34:5, not equivalent to ἀπό as Job 4:17. כי־תאמר is first followed by the oratio obliqua: what it (viz., צדקך) advantageth thee, then by the or. directa (on this change vid., Ew. §338, a): what profit have I (viz., בצדקי), prae peccato meo; this מן is also comparative; the constantly ambiguous combination would be allowable from the fact that, according to the usage of the language, “to obtain profit from anything” is expressed by הועיל בּ, not by הועיל מן. Moreover, prae peccato meo is equivalent to plus quam inde quod pecco, comp. Psa 18:24, מעוני, Hos 4:8 אל־עונם. We have already on Job 34:9 observed that Job has not directly said (he cites it, Job 21:15, as the saying of the ungodly) what Elihu in Job 35:3 puts into his mouth, but as an inference it certainly is implied in such utterances as Job 9:22. Elihu’s polemic against Job and his companions (רעיך are not the three, as lxx and Jer. translate, but the אנשׁי און, to whom Job is likened by such words as Job 34:8, Job 34:36) is therefore not unauthorized; especially since he assails the conclusion together with its premises. In the second strophe the vindication of the conclusion is now refuted.

Job 35:5-8   5  Look towards heaven and see,

And behold the ethereal heights: they are high above thee.   6  If thou sinnest, what dost thou effect with Him?

And if thy transgressions are many, what doest thou to Him?   7  If thou art righteous, what dost thou give Him,

Or what doth He take from thy hand?   8  To man like thee thy godlessness availeth,

And to thee, a son of man, thy righteousness.

Towards heaven he is to direct his gaze, to obtain from the height of heaven a notion of the exaltation of God who dwells above the heavens. The combination הבּיט וראה is like Psa 80:15 and freq. שׁחקים (שׁחק, Arab. sḥq, to rub in pieces, make thin, therefore the opposite of עבים) are the thin transparent strata of the atmosphere above the hanging clouds. מן after גּבהּ denotes the height that is on the opposite side to the beholder. From the exaltation of God it is then further inferred that it is impossible to exercise any human influence upon Him, by which He might suffer. The pointing wavers here between תּפעל (the common fut. form) and תּפעל(as a contraction of תּפעל after the form אזעם, Num 23:8). Human wrong or right doing neither diminishes nor increases His blessedness; injury or advantage is only on the side of man, from whom it proceeds. Others, whom his conduct affect, are not included in Job 35:8 : righteous or ungodly doing, Elihu means to say, as such and with its consequences, belongs solely to the doer himself, the man “like thee” (לאישׁ with Munach, כּמוך with Munach), the son of man, i.e., man, capable of evil as of good, and who always, after deciding in favour of the latter or the former, determines his fortune or misfortune, in distinction from God, who ever remains unchangeably the same in His perfect righteousness. What Elihu here says we have already heard from Eliphaz, Job 22:2., and Job even expresses himself similarly in Job 7:20; but to Elihu’s mind it all becomes for Job new and powerful motives to quiet submission, for what objection should Job raise in justification of his complaints concerning his affliction against such sentiments as these, that goodness bears its reward and evil its punishment in itself, and that God’s reward of goodness is not a work of indebtedness, nor His punishment of evil a work of necessity? Before such truth he must really hold his peace.

Job 35:9-13   9  By reason of the multitude of oppressions they raise a cry,

They call for help by reason of the arm of the great, 10  But none saith: Where is Eloah my Creator,

Who giveth songs of praise in the night, 11  Who teacheth us by the beasts of the earth,

And maketh us wise by the fowls of heaven? 12  Then they cry, yet He answereth not,

Because of the pride of evil men. 13  Vanity alone God heareth not,

And the Almighty observeth it not.

In Job 35:9 the accentuation of מרוב with Dechî, according to which Dachselt interprets: prae multitudine (oppressionum) oppressi clamabunt, is erroneous; it is to be written מרב, as everywhere else, and this (according to Codd. and the editions of Jablonski, Majus, Michaelis, and others) is to be accented with Munach, which is followed by עשׁוּקים with a vicarious Munach: prae multitudine oppressionum (עשׁוקים like Ecc 4:1, and probably also Amo 3:9) edunt clamorem (Hiph. in the intensive Kal signification, as e.g., הזנה, to commit fornication, Hos 4:10). On זרוע, Job 35:9; רבּים are the great or lords (Arab. arbâb). The plur. with a general subj. is followed by the sing. in Job 35:10: and no one says (exactly as in האמר, Job 34:31). Elihu weakens the doubt expressed by Job in Job 24:12, that God allows injustice to prevail, and oppressed innocence remains without vindication. The failure of the latter arises from the fact of the sufferers complaining, but not seeking earnestly the only true helper, God their maker (עשׂים, intensive plur., as Isa 22:11; Isa 54:5; Psa 149:2), who gives (to which may be compared a passage of the Edda: “Wuodan gives songs to the Scalds”) songs (זמרות, from the onomatopoetic זמר) in the night, i.e., who in the night of sorrow puts songs of praise concerning the dawning light of help into the mouth of the sufferers. The singing of the glory of the nightly heavens (Stick., Hahn) is to be as little thought of as the music of the spheres; the night is, as Job 34:20, Job 34:25, the time of unexpectedly sudden change.

In Job 35:11 most expositors (last of all Schlottm.) take the two מן as comparative. Elihu would then, since he feels the absence of the asking after this God on the part of the sufferers, mean the conscious relation in which He has placed us to Himself, and in accordance with which the sufferer should not merely instinctively complain, but humbly bow himself and earnestly offer up prayer. But according to Job 12:7 (comp. Pro 6:6, וחכם), it is to be translated: who teaches (מלּפנוּ = מאלּפנוּ, comp. 2Sa 22:40, Psalter i. 160) us from the beasts of the earth (so that from them as a means of instruction teaching comes to us), and makes us wise from the birds of heaven. The fut. interchanging with the part. better accords with this translation, according to which Job 35:11 is a continuation of the assertion of a divine instruction, by means of the animal creation; the thought also suits the connection better, for of the many things that may be learned from the animal creation, prayer here comes under consideration, - the lions roar, Psa 104:21; the thirsty cattle cry to God, Joe 1:20; the ravens call upon God, Psa 147:9. It we now determine the collective thought of Job 35:10, that affliction does not drive most men to God the almighty Helper, who will be humbly entreated for help: it is more natural to take שׁם (vid., on Job 23:7) in the sense of then (τότε), than, with reference to the scene of oppression, in the sense of there (lxx, Jer.: ibi). The division of the verse is correct, and H. B. Starcke has correctly interpreted: Tunc clamabunt (sed non respondebit) propter superbiam (insolentiam) malorum. מפּני is not to be connected with יענה in the sense of non exaudiet et servabit, by which constr. praegnans one would expect מן, Psa 22:22, instead of מפני, nor in the sense of non exaudiet propter (Hirz., Schlottm.), for the arrogant רעים are not those who complain unheard: but, as the connection shows, those from whom the occasion of complaint proceeds. Therefore: not allowing themselves to be driven to God by oppression, they cry then, without, however, being heard of God, by reason of the arrogance of evil men which they have to endure. Job 35:13 gives the reason of their obtaining no answer: Only emptiness (i.e., mere motion of the lips without the true spirit of prayer) God heareth not, and the Almighty observeth it not. Hahn wrongly denies אך the significations certo and verumtamen; but we prefer the restrictive signification (sheer emptiness or hollowness) which proceeds from the affirmative primary significationVid., Hupfeld in the Zeitschr. für Kunde des Morgenl. ii. 441f. here, to the adversative (nevertheless emptiness), since the adversative thought, verumtamen non exaudit, has found its expression already in ולא יענה.

Job 35:14-16 14  Although thou sayest, thou seest Him not:

The cause lieth before Him, and thou mayest wait for Him. 15  Now, then, if His wrath hath not yet punished,

Should He not be well acquainted with sullenness? 16  While Job openeth his mouth without reason,

Without knowledge multiplieth words.

The address is not direct to Job exclusively, for it here treats first of the acts of injustice which prevail among men and remain apparently unpunished; but to Job, however, also, so far as he has, Job 23:8-10, comp. Job 19:7; Job 30:20, thus complained concerning his prayer being unanswered. אף כּי signifies elsewhere quanto minus, Job 4:19, or also quanto magis, Pro 15:11, but nowhere quanto minus si (Hirz., Hlgst.) or quanto magis si (Hahn), also not Eze 15:5, where it signifies etiamne quum. As it can, however, naturally signify etiam quum, it can also signify etiamsi, etsi, as here and Neh 9:18. This quamvis dicas (opineris) is followed by the oratio obliqua, as Job 35:3. The relation of the matter - says the conclusion, Job 35:14 - is other than thou thinkest: the matter to be decided lies before Him, is therefore well known to Him, and thou mightest only wait for Him (חולל instead of יחל or הוחיל only here, comp. Psa 37:7, והתחולל לו); the decision, though it pass by, will not fail. In Job 35:15, Job 35:15 is taken by most modern commentators as antecedent to Job 35:16, in which case, apart from the distortions introduced, two interpretations are possible: (1) However now, because His (God’s) wrath does not visit ... Job opens his mouth; (2) However now, because He (God) does not visit his (Job’s) wrath (comp. on this reference of the אפּו to Job, Job 18:4; Job 36:13, Job 36:18)...Job opens, etc. That a clause with a confirmatory כי is made to precede its principal clause is not without example, Gen 3:14, Gen 3:17; but in connection with this arrangement the verb is accustomed always, in the principal clause or in the conclusion, to stand prominent (so that consequently we should expect ויפצה איוב), although in Arabic this position of the words, ואיוב יפצה, and in fact Arab. fâyûb instead of wâyûb (in connection with a difference of the subj. in the antecedent and in the conclusion, vid., De Sacy, Gramm. Arabe, §1201, 2), is regular. Therefore for a long time I thought that Job 35:15 was to be taken interrogatively: And now (ועתּה as logical inference and conclusion, which is here its most probable function, Ew. §353, b) should His wrath not punish (פּקד as absolute as Job 31:14), and should He not take notice, etc., כּי interrogative as 1Sa 24:20; 1Sa 28:1; 1Ki 11:22, as הכי (is it so that, or: should it be so that), Job 6:22, and freq., in connection with which, what is said on Gen 21:7 concerning the modal use of the praet. might be compared on the two praett. But by this rendering the connection of Job 35:16 with what precedes is awkward. Ewald has given the correct rendering (apart from the misunderstanding of פּשׁ): Therefore, because His wrath has not yet punished, He does not know much about foolishness! Job 35:15 requires to be taken as the conclusion to Job 35:15, yet not as an exclamation, but as an interrogative. The interrogative use of ולא is not unusual, 2Sa 20:1; Eze 16:43, Eze 16:47, Eze 16:56; Eze 32:27; and just as here, this interrogative ולא is found after a hypothetical antecedent clause, 1Sa 20:9; Exo 8:22.

In connection with this interrogative rendering of Job 35:15, it still remains questionable whether it refers to Job’s sin, or sin which prevails among men. The theme of this third speech of Elihu requires the latter reference, although perhaps not without a side-glance at Job’s won arrogant behaviour. The translation shows how suitably Job 35:16 is connected with what precedes: Job 35:16 is a circumstantial clause, or, if one is not willing to take it as a subordinate clause, but prefers to take it as standing on a level with Job 35:15, an adversative clause attached with Waw, as is frequently the case: but (nevertheless) Job ... ; פּצה פּה of opening the mouth in derision, as Lam 2:16; Lam 3:46; הבל is the acc. of closer definition to it (= בּהבל), and the הכבּיר, which occurs only here and Job 36:31, signifies without distinction magnificare and multiplicare: Job multiplies high emotional words. As this יכבּיר is, so to speak, Hebraeo-Arabic (Arab. akbara), so is Job 35:15 full of Arabisims: (1) The combination אין פּקד, which has not its like in the Hebrew language (whether it be originally intended as relative or not: non est quod visitaverit, Ew. §321, b), corresponds to the popular Arabic use of lys for lâ, Ges. Thes. i. 82, b; probably אין has the value of an intensive negation (Carey: not at all). (2) The combination ידע בּ, to know about anything, to take knowledge of anything (differently Job 12:9, but comp. Job 24:12 on the idea), is like the Arab. construction of the verb ( alima with bi (concerning) or bianna (because that) of the obj.; מאד (on this vid., on Psa 31:12) belongs not to בפשׁ (which is indeed possible), but, according to Psa 139:14, to ידע. (3) פּשׁ is especially to be explained from the Arabic. The signification a multitude (Jewish expositors, after פּוּשׁ, Niph. se diffundere, Nah 3:18) is not suitable; the signification evil (lxx, Jer., and others: פשׁ = פשׁע) presents a forcibly mutilated word, and moreover one devoid of significance in this connection; whereas the Arab. fšš (but not in its derivatives, fashsh, empty-headed; fâshûsh, empty-headedness, imbecility, with its metaphorical sense) indicates a development of signification which leads to the desired end, especially in the Syro-Arabic usage most natural here. The Arab. verb fšš (פשׁשׁ, cogn. Arab. fšr, frš, to extend, expandere) is used originally of water (fashsh el - mâ): to overflow its dam, to overflow its banks, whence a valley by the lake of el-Hîgâne, into which the waters of the lake flow after the winter rains, is called el - mefeshsh ; then of a leathern bottle: to run out (tarf mefshûsh, an emptied bottle), of a tumour (waram): to disperse, disappear, and tropically of anger (el - chulq): to break forth, vent itself on anything, hence the phrase: dost thou make me a mefeshshe (an object for the venting) of thine anger? From this Arab. fšš (distinct from Arab. faš med. Waw, to swim on the surface, trop. to be above, not to allow one’s self to be kept down, and med. Je, comp. פושׁ, Hab 1:8, Jer 50:11, Mal 4:2, signifies to be proud) is פּשׁ, formed after the forms בּד, מד, מס, a synon. of זדון, or even of עברה in the signification of excessive haughtiness, pride that bursts forth violently.The signification expandere also underlies the noun fishshe, the lungs (in Egypt.); the signification discutere (especially carminare, to card wool), which the Talmud. פשׁפשׁ also has, is only a shade of the same signification; the origin of the trop. signification fatuum esse is clear from 'gaus fashûsh , empty nuts. The rice from the Palestine valley of Hûle, it is somewhere said, is worse than the Egyptian, because (what is a fault in the East) in cooking tufeshfish, i.e., it bursts, breaks in pieces (comp. on the other hand: if the seed for sowing sinks to the bottom when put into water, it is good; if it swims on the surface, jefûsh, it is bad). The Piel of this fashsha signifies to cause the water to overflow, trop. fashshasha qalbahu, he gave air to his heart, i.e., he revealed a secret which burdened him. A proverb says: the market (with its life and changing scenes) is a feshshâsh of cares, i.e., consoles a trouble heart. In the Hiph. one says in like manner proverbially, el - bukâ jufishsh, weeping removes the anguish of the soul. - Wetzst.

Thus, even at the close of this third speech of Elihu, the Arabic, and in fact Syro-Arabic colouring, common to this section with the rest of the book, is confirmed; while, on the other hand, we miss the bold, original figures which up to Job 31:1 followed like waves one upon another, and we perceive a deficiency of skill, as now and then between Koheleth and Solomon. The chief thought of the speech we have also heard already from the three friends and Job himself. That the piety of the pious profits himself without involving God in any obligation to him, Eliphaz has already said, Job 22:2.; and that prayer that is heard in time of need and the unanswered cry of the godly and the ungodly are distinct, Job said, Job 27:9. Elihu, however, deprives these thoughts of their hitherto erroneous application. If piety gives nothing to God which He ought to reward, Job dare not regard his affliction, mysterious as it is to him, as unjust; and if the godly do not directly experience the avenging wrath of God on the haughtiness of their oppressors, the question, whether then their prayer for help is of the right kind, is more natural than the complain of a want of justice in God’s government of the world. Job is silent also after this speech. It does not contain the right consolation; it contains, however, censure which he ought humbly to receive. It touches his heart. But whether it touches the heart of the idea of the book, is another question.

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

1 Elihu spake moreover, and said, 2 Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God's? 3 For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin? 4 I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee. 5 Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou. 6 If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? 7 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand? 8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.

We have here,

I. The bad words which Elihu charges upon Job, v. 2, 3. To evince the badness of them he appeals to Job himself, and his own sober thoughts, in the reflection: Thinkest thou this to be right? This intimates Elihu's confidence that the reproof he now gave was just, for he could refer the judgment of it even to Job himself. Those that have truth and equity on their side sooner or later will have every man's conscience on their side. It also intimates his good opinion of Job, that he thought better than he spoke, and that, though he had spoken amiss, yet, when he perceived his mistake, he would not stand to it. When we have said, in our haste, that which was not right, it becomes us to own that our second thoughts convince us that it was wrong. Two things Elihu here reproves Job for:—1. For justifying himself more than God, which was the thing that first provoked him, ch. xxxii. 2. "Thou hast, in effect, said, My righteousness is more than God's," that is, "I have done more for God than ever he did for me; so that, when the accounts are balanced, he will be brought in debtor to me." As if Job thought his services had been paid less than they deserved and his sins punished more than they deserved, which is a most unjust and wicked thought for any man to harbour and especially to utter. When Job insisted so much upon his own integrity, and the severity of God's dealings with him, he did in effect say, My righteousness is more than God's; whereas, though we be ever so good and our afflictions ever so great, we are chargeable with unrighteousness and God is not. 2. For disowning the benefits and advantages of religion because he suffered these things: What profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin? v. 3. This is gathered from ch. ix. 30, 31. Though I make my hands ever so clean, what the nearer am I? Thou shalt plunge me in the ditch. And ch. x. 15, If I be wicked, woe to me; but, if I be righteous, it is all the same. The psalmist, when he compared his own afflictions with the prosperity of the wicked, was tempted to say, Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, Ps. lxxiii. 13. And, if Job said so, he did in effect say, My righteousness is more than God's (v. 9); for, if he got nothing by his religion, God was more beholden to him than he was to God. But, though there might be some colour for it, yet it was not fair to charge these words upon Job, when he himself had made them the wicked words of prospering sinners (ch. xxi. 15, What profit shall we have if we pray to him?) and had immediately disclaimed them. The counsel of the wicked is far from me, ch. xxi. 16. It is not a fair way of disputing to charge men with those consequences of their opinions which they expressly renounce.

II. The good answer which Elihu gives to this (v. 4): "I will undertake to answer thee, and thy companions with thee," that is, "all those that approve thy sayings and are ready to justify thee in them, and all others that say as thou sayest: "I have that to offer which will silence them all." To do this he has recourse to his old maxim (ch. xxxiii. 12), that God is greater than man. This is a truth which, if duly improved, will serve many good purposes, and particularly this to prove that God is debtor to no man. The greatest of men may be a debtor to the meanest; but such is the infinite disproportion between God and man that the great God cannot possibly receive any benefit by man, and therefore cannot be supposed to lie under any obligation to man; for, if he be obliged by his purpose and promise, it is only to himself. That is a challenge which no man can take up (Rom. xi. 35), Who hath first given to God, let him prove it, and it shall be recompensed to him again. Why should we demand it, as a just debt, to gain by our religion (as Job seemed to do), when the God we serve does not gain by it? 1. Elihu needs not prove that God is above man; it is agreed by all; but he endeavours to affect Job and us with it, by an ocular demonstration of the height of the heavens and the clouds, v. 5. They are far above us, and God is far above them; how much then is he set out of the reach either of our sins or of our services! Look unto the heavens, and behold the clouds. God made man erect, coelumque tueri jussit—and bade him look up to heaven. Idolaters looked up, and worshipped the hosts of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars; but we must look up to heaven, and worship the Lord of those hosts. They are higher than we, but God is infinitely above them. His glory is above the heavens (Ps. viii. 1) and the knowledge of him higher than heaven, ch. xi. 8. 2. But hence he infers that God is not affected, either one way or other, by any thing that we do. (1.) He owns that men may be either bettered or damaged by what we do (v. 8): Thy wickedness, perhaps, may hurt a man as thou art, may occasion him trouble in his outward concerns. A wicked man may wound, or rob, or slander his neighbour, or may draw him into sin and so prejudice his soul. Thy righteousness, thy justice, thy charity, thy wisdom, thy piety, may perhaps profit the son of man. Our goodness extends to the saints that are in the earth, Ps. xvi. 3. To men like ourselves we are in a capacity either of doing injury or of showing kindness; and in both these the sovereign Lord and Judge of all will interest himself, will reward those that do good and punish those that do hurt to their fellow-creatures and fellow-subjects. But, (2.) He utterly denies that God can really be either prejudiced or advantaged by what any, even the greatest men of the earth, do, or can do. [1.] The sins of the worst sinners are no damage to him (v. 6): "If thou sinnest wilfully, and of malice prepense, against him, with a high hand, nay, if thy transgressions be multiplied, and the acts of sin be ever so often repeated, yet what doest thou against him?" This is a challenge to the carnal mind, and defies the most daring sinner to do his worst. It speaks much for the greatness and glory of God that it is not in the power of his worst enemies to do him any real prejudice. Sin is said to be against God because so the sinner intends it and so God takes it, and it is an injury to his honour; yet it cannot do any thing against him. The malice of sinners is impotent malice: it cannot destroy his being or perfections, cannot dethrone him from his power and dominion, cannot disturb his peace and repose, cannot defeat his counsels and designs, nor can it derogate from his essential glory. Job therefore spoke amiss in saying What profit is it that I am cleansed from my sin? God was no gainer by his reformation; and who then would gain if he himself did not? [2.] The services of the best saints are no profit to him (v. 7): If thou be righteous, what givest thou to him? He needs not our service; or, if he did want to have the work done, he has better hands than ours at command. Our religion brings no accession at all to his felicity. He is so far from being beholden to us that we are beholden to him for making us righteous and accepting our righteousness; and therefore we can demand nothing from him, nor have any reason to complain if we have not what we expect, but to be thankful that we have better than we deserve.

9 By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. 10 But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night; 11 Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? 12 There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men. 13 Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.

Elihu here returns an answer to another word that Job had said, which, he thought, reflected much upon the justice and goodness of God, and therefore ought not to pass without a remark. Observe,

I. What it was that Job complained of; it was this, That God did not regard the cries of the oppressed against their oppressors (v. 9): "By reason of the multitude of oppressions, the many hardships which proud tyrants put upon poor people and the barbarous usage they give them, they make the oppressed to cry; but it is to no purpose: God does not appear to right them. They cry out, they cry on still, by reason of the arm of the mighty, which lies heavily upon them." This seems to refer to those words of Job (ch. xxiv. 12), Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out against the oppressors, yet God lays not folly to them, does not reckon with them for it. This is a thing that Job knows not what to make of, nor how to reconcile to the justice of God and his government. Is there a righteous God, and can it be that he should so slowly hear, so slowly see?

II. How Elihu solves the difficulty. If the cries of the oppressed be not heard, the fault is not in God; he is ready to hear and help them. But the fault is in themselves; they ask and have not, but it is because they ask amiss, James iv. 3. They cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty, but it is a complaining cry, a wailing cry, not a penitent praying cry, the cry of nature and passion, not of grace. See Hos. vii. 14,, They have not cried unto me with their heart when they howled upon their beds. How then can we expect that they should be answered and relieved?

1. They do not enquire after God, nor seek to acquaint themselves with him, under their affliction (v. 10): But none saith, Where is God my Maker? Afflictions are sent to direct and quicken us to enquire early after God, Ps. lxxxviii. 34. But many that groan under great oppressions never mind God, nor take notice of his hand in their troubles; if they did, they would bear their troubles more patiently and be more benefited by them. Of the many that are afflicted and oppressed, few get the good they might get by their affliction. It should drive them to God, but how seldom is this the case! It is lamentable to see so little religion among the poor and miserable part of mankind. Every one complains of his troubles; but none saith, Where is God my Maker? that is, none repent of their sins, none return to him that smites them, none seek the face and favour of God, and that comfort in him which would balance their outward afflictions. They are wholly taken up with the wretchedness of their condition, as if that would excuse them in living without God in the world which should engage them to cleave the more closely to him. Observe, (1.) God is our Maker, the author of our being, and, under that notion, it concerns us to regard and remember him, Eccl. xii. 1. God my makers, in the plural number, which some think is, if not an indication, yet an intimation, of the Trinity of persons in the unity of the Godhead. Let us make man. (2.) It is our duty therefore to enquire after him. Where is he, that we may pay our homage to him, may own our dependence upon him and obligations to him? Where is he, that we may apply to him for maintenance and protection, may receive law from him, and may seek our happiness in his favour, from whose power we received our being? (3.) It is to be lamented that he is so little enquired after by the children of men. All are asking, Where is mirth? Where is wealth? Where is a good bargain? But none ask, Where is God my Maker?

2. They do not take notice of the mercies they enjoy in and under their afflictions, nor are thankful for them, and therefore cannot expect that God should deliver them out of their afflictions. (1.) He provides for our inward comfort and joy under our outward troubles, and we ought to make use of that, and wait his time for the removal of our troubles: He gives songs in the night, that is, when our condition is ever so dark, and sad, and melancholy, there is that in God, in his providence and promise, which is sufficient, not only to support us, but to fill us with joy and consolation, and enable us in every thing to give thanks, and even to rejoice in tribulation. When we only pore upon the afflictions we are under, and neglect the consolations of God which are treasured up for us, it is just with God to reject our prayers. (2.) He preserves to us the use of our reason and understanding (v. 11): Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, that is, who has endued us with more noble powers and faculties than they are endued with and has made us capable of more excellent pleasures and employments here and for ever. Now this comes in here, [1.] As that which furnishes us with matter for thanksgiving, even under the heaviest burden of affliction. Whatever we are deprived of, we have our immortal souls, those jewels of more worth than all the world, continued to us; even those that kill the body cannot hurt them. And if our affliction prevail not to disturb the exercise of their faculties, but we enjoy the use of our reason and the peace of our consciences, we have much reason to be thankful, how pressing soever our calamities otherwise are. [2.] As a reason why we should, under our afflictions, enquire after God our Maker, and seek unto him. This is the greatest excellency of reason, that it makes us capable of religion, and it is in that especially that we are taught more than the beasts and the fowls. They have wonderful instincts and sagacities in seeking out their food, their physic, their shelter; but none of them are capable of enquiring, Where is God my Maker? Something like logic, and philosophy, and politics, has been observed among the brute-creatures, but never any thing of divinity or religion; these are peculiar to man. If therefore the oppressed only cry by reason of the arm of the mighty, and do not look up to God, they do no more than the brutes (who complain when they are hurt), and they forget that instruction and wisdom by which they are advanced so far above them. God relieves the brute-creatures because they cry to him according to the best of their capacity, ch. xxxviii. 41; Ps. civ. 21. But what reason have men to expect relief, who are capable of enquiring after God as their Maker and yet cry to him no otherwise than as brutes do?

3. They are proud and unhumbled under their afflictions, which were sent to mortify them and to hide pride from them (v. 12): There they cry—there they lie exclaiming against their oppressors, and filling the ears of all about them with their complaints, not sparing to reflect upon God himself and his providence—but none gives answer. God does not work deliverance for them, and perhaps men do not much regard them; and why so? It is because of the pride of evil men; they are evil men; they regard iniquity in their hearts, and therefore God will not hear their prayers, Ps. lxvi. 18; Isa. i. 15. God hears not such sinners. They have, it may be, brought themselves into trouble by their own wickedness; they are the devil's poor; and then who can pity them? Yet this is not all: they are proud still, and therefore they do not seek unto God (Ps. x. 4), or, if they do cry unto him, therefore he does not give answer, for he hears only the desire of the humble (Ps. x. 17) and delivers those by his providence whom he has first by his grace prepared and made fit for deliverance, which we are not if, under humbling afflictions, our hearts remain unhumbled and our pride unmortified. The case is plain then, If we cry to God for the removal of the oppression and affliction we are under, and it is not removed, the reason is not because the Lord's hand is shortened or his ear heavy, but because the affliction has not done its work; we are not sufficiently humbled, and therefore must thank ourselves that it is continued.

4. They are not sincere, and upright, and inward with God, in their supplications to him, and therefore he does not hear and answer them (v. 13): God will not hear vanity, that is, the hypocritical prayer, which is a vain prayer, coming out of feigned lips. It is a vanity to think that God should hear it, who searches the heart and requires truth in the inward part.

14 Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him. 15 But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity: 16 Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.

Here is, I. Another improper word for which Elihu reproves Job (v. 14): Thou sayest thou shalt not see him; that is, 1. "Thou complainest that thou dost not understand the meaning of his severe dealings with thee, nor discern the drift and design of them," ch. xxiii. 8, 9. And, 2. "Thou despairest of seeing his gracious returns to thee, of seeing better days again, and art ready to give up all for gone;" as Hezekiah (Isa. xxxviii. 11), I shall not see the Lord. As, when we are in prosperity, we are ready to think our mountain will never be brought low, so when we are in adversity we are ready to think our valley will never be filled, but, in both, to conclude that to morrow must be as this day, which is as absurd as to think, when the weather is either fair or foul, that is will be always so, that the flowing tide will always flow, or the ebbing tide will always ebb.

II. The answer which Elihu gives to this despairing word that Job had said, which is this, 1. That, when he looked up to God, he had no just reason to speak thus despairingly: Judgment is before him, that is, "He knows what he has to do, and will do all in infinite wisdom and justice; he has the entire plan and model of providence before him, and knows what he will do, which we do not, and therefore we understand not what he does. There is a day of judgment before him, when all the seeming disorders of providence will be set to rights and the dark chapters of it will be expounded. Then thou shalt see the full meaning of these dark events, and the final period of these dismal events; then thou shalt see his face with joy; therefore trust in him, depend upon him, wait for him, and believe that the issue will be good at last." When we consider that God is infinitely wise, and righteous, and faithful, and that he is a God of judgment (Isa. xxx. 18), we shall see no reason to despair of relief from him, but all the reason in the world to hope in him, that it will come in due time, in the best time. 2. That if he had not yet seen an end of his troubles, the reason was because he did not thus trust in God and wait for him (v. 15): "Because it is not so, because thou dost not thus trust in him, therefore the affliction which came at first from love has now displeasure mixed with it. Now God has visited thee in his anger, taking it very ill that thou canst not find in thy heart to trust him, but harbourest such hard misgiving thoughts of him." If there be any mixtures of divine wrath in our afflictions, we may thank ourselves; it is because we do not behave aright under them; we quarrel with God, and are fretful and impatient, and distrustful of the divine Providence. This was Job's case. The foolishness of man perverts his way, and then his heart frets against the Lord, Prov. xix. 3. Yet Elihu thinks that Job, being in great extremity, did not know and consider this as he should, that it was his own fault that he was not yet delivered. He concludes therefore that Job opens his mouth in vain (v. 16) in complaining of his grievances and crying for redress, or in justifying himself and clearing up his own innocency; it is all in vain, because he does not trust in God and wait for him, and has not a due regard to him in his afflictions. He had said a great deal, had multiplied words, but all without knowledge, all to no purpose, because he did not encourage himself in God and humble himself before him. It is in vain for us either to appeal to God or to acquit ourselves if we do not study to answer the end for which affliction is sent, and in vain to pray for relief if we do not trust in God; for let not that man who distrusts God think that he shall receive any thing from him, James i. 7. Or this may refer to all that Job had said. Having shown the absurdity of some passages in his discourse, he concludes that there were many other passages which were in like manner the fruits of his ignorance and mistake. He did not, as his other friends, condemn him for a hypocrite, but charged him only with Moses's sin, speaking unadvisedly with his lips when his spirit was provoked. When at any time we do so (and who is there that offends not in word?) it is a mercy to be told of it, and we must take it patiently and kindly as Job did, not repeating, but recanting, what we have said amiss.

CHAP. XXXV. Verſe 1. Elihu ſpake moreover, and ſaid.]

HIs ſpeech was for God, as before; and therefore he ſpake moreover: For, as Auſtin faith of the Feaſt of Pentecoſt, Gaudet produci haec ſolennitas; ſo we may ſay of a Diſcourſe of this nature, Gaudet produci haec ſerm[illegible: 1 letter]cina[illegible: 1 letter]io; the longer it is, the better; ſith of God and his righteous dealing, Non ſatis unquam dici poteſt, as Lavater here hath it; never can enough be ſpoken. For although we all yeeld that God is juſt, yet if any croſſe befall us, we are apt to queſtion it, and to think our ſelves hardly dealt with.

Verſe 2. Thinkeſt thou this to be right?] Heb. Reckoneſt thou this to be right? q.d. I appeal to thine own conſcience. This is a ſigne of great confidence in the Appealer, yet may it be done by men of corrupt minds, deſtitute of the truth: Witneſſe that bold Anabaptiſt,Scult. Annal. that in a ſolemn Diſpuation at Tigure, appealed to Zuinglius, as if convinced in his own conſcience, he had inwardly favoured Anabaptiſm. And thoſe impudent Papiſts,Gagge of the New Goſpel. Preface. that report themſelves to our conſciences, to tell them, Whether our condemnation be not ſo expreſly ſet down in our own Bibles, and ſo clear to all the world, that nothing more needs thereto, then that they know to read, and to have their eyes in their heads at the opening of our Bible: To tell them more-over,Idem ibid. whether England hath not brought forth within theſe few yeares paſt, to the number of twenty ſeveral ſorts of Bibles, farre different one from another.

That thou ſaidſt, My righteouſneſſe is more then Gods] Heb. My righteouſneſſe is before Gods. Diodate rendreth it, My Righteouſneſſe is from God; that is, I am ſure God will juſtifie me, though men condemn me. But it is better to render it, Prae Deo, more then Gods (ſee a like expreſſion, Heb. 12.24.) underſtanding it of the juſtice of his Cauſe, and not of his Perſon. But taking it ſo too, when and where did Job ever ſay that his righteouſneſs was more then Gods? No where ſurely in ſo many words, for then doubtleſſe Satan, and not Job, would have carryed away the victory in this conflict. Neither ſurely could this be rightly gathered out of Jobs words, but detorted and miſconſtrued. Elihu therefore reproved him with two great auſterity, neither can any thing be pleaded for him but this, that he pleaded for God; of whoſe glory he was ſo very tender, that he could not brook or bear with any ſyllable of a word that ſeemed to detract from it.

Verſe 3. For thou ſaidſt, What advantage will it be unto thee?] Here he indeavours to prove the charge, grounding upon ſome words of Jobs, as chap. 9.22. and 10.15. which ſeem to hold out thus much, that no good was to be gotten by leaving evil wayes, ſith good men and bad ſuffer and periſh together. But we muſt know, that Job herein reaſoned not of thoſe things that fall out after death, but only of the proſperous or unhappy eſtate of this life preſent; denying, and that rightly, that we are hereby to judge of Gods love or hatred, or of any mans honeſt or diſhoneſt converſation; Neither yet did he ſtand in defence of his own righteouſneſs againſt God, but only appealed to God as a moſt wiſe and juſt Judge, againſt the falſe accuſations of his fo-friends, who by powring oyle into the fire, as it were, very much vexed and diſquieted him all along.

Or what profit ſhall I have if I be cleanſed from my ſin?] Or, What profit ſhall I have by it more then by my ſin? This, if Elihu could have proved that Job had ſaid, he might very well have juſtified what he had wiſhed to him, and affirmed of him in the two laſt verſes of the precedent Chapter.

Verſe 4. I will anſwer thee and thy companions with thee] Thy three friends, (who have not ſo well quit themſelves in this Controverſie, as having anſwered little or nothing to this unſavoury ſaying of thine) and to the reſt of the by-ſtanders, which approve of thine opinion, as people are apt to favour the weaker ſide (as it is reputed) and to encourage them. Thus it befel Luther, when he began firſt to reform.

Verſe 5. Look unto the heavens and ſee] Yea, look into them, if thou couldſt, as did Steven the Proto-Martyr, Act. 7.56. and as our Saviour Chriſt, as man, could do (ſay ſome) with his bodily eyes; and as a believer by the eye of his faith, through the Perſpective glaſs of the Promiſes, may do doubtleſſe. The further we can look unto heaven (or into it) the better ſhall we conceive of that infinite diſtance that is betwixt God in heaven, and men on earth. God is far above the higheſt heavens, therefore higher then any mortal can attain to him, much leſſe contribute any thing unto him by his righteouſneſſe; or aſſault him by his wickedneſs. Herodotus writeth, That the Thracians once were ſo mad againſt their god Jupiter, for raining downe upon them when ready to joyn battle with the enemy, that they threw up their darts againſt heaven, which ſhortly returned upon their own heads. And of Caligula the Emperour it is ſtoried that he thundred and lightned with certain Engines he had; and if at any time a thunderbolt fell from heaven, ipſe contrà jaci[illegible: 1 letter]bat lapidem, Dioin vit. Calig he on the other ſide threw up a ſtone, and uſed that Hemiſtich in Homer, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Either do thou kill me, or I'll kill the[illegible: 1 letter], if I can. And what leſſe then this upon the matter do thoſe monſters and miſcreants amongſt us, who ſet their mouthes againſt heaven, when things go croſſe with them eſpecially; and their tongues walk through the earth, Pſal. 73.9? As Hacket did, who lifting up his eyes to heaven▪ and grinning againſt God, blaſphemed him, and threatned him, even when he had the rope about his neck, Anno 1591. Now, as in the water face anſwereth to face,Cambd. Eliz. fol 403. ſo doth the face of a man to a man. And as there were many Marii in one Caeſar, ſo there are many Caligula's and Hackets in the beſt of us all, if God reſtraine us not from ſuch horrid outrages. But Elihu would have us here to know; that God is far above our reach, neither can we throw this high and lofty one out of his throne, utcunque fremamus & ferociamus: for how ſhould any thing that wee ſilly. Creatures can do, reach to God; when as we cannot reach up to the viſible heavens?

And behold the clouds which are higher then thou] Eminent prae te. The clouds are Gods Chariot whereon he rideth, and wherein he manifeſteth much of his Majeſty. Theſe Elihu would have Job to contemplate in their height, even ſuperiores nub[illegible: 1 letter]s, as Tremellius rendreth it, the upper clouds; or, as others, the Starry Heaven, Heb. The thin of heavens. So Bildad before had called upon him to behold the Moon and the Stars, chap. 25.5. And ſurely the very ſight of heaven over us (to the which all that we are or can, can bring no help or hurt at all) ſhould admoniſh us of our meaneſſe, and make us think moſt modeſtly of God, whom we are ſo infinitely below; and not dare either to complain of him, or to boaſt us before him; &c. For this cauſe it is that Elihu ſo preſſeth Job here with this heap of words, that he may henceforth know and keep his diſtance; and not ſo preſumptuouſly call God (as it were) to reckoning, touching expences and receipts.

Verſe 6. If thou ſinneſt, what doſt thou againſt him?] What more then ſhew thy teeth? or ſhoot at a rock, where the Arrow rebounds upon thee? In the ſack of Conſtantinople, the Image of the Crucifix was taken down by the Turks, and a Turks Cap put upon the head thereof, and ſo ſet up, and ſhot at with their arrowes;Turk hiſt. 347 and afterwards in great deriſion, carried about in the Camp, as it were in Proceſſion, with Drums playing before it, rayling and ſpitting at it, and calling it the God of the Chriſtians; But what was all this to Chriſt? He that ſitteth in the heavens (extra jactum) laughed at them, the Lord had them in deriſion, Pſal. 2.4.Etſi navitès peccas. Do wicked ſinners, when they work hardeſt againſt God (as the word here ſignifieth) and take greateſt paines to go to hell; do they, I ſay, provoke the Lord to anger? Do they not provoke themſelves to the confuſion of their own faces? Jer. 7.19 And may we not well ſay to ſuch, as Ʋlyſſes his companions ſaid to him, when he would needs provoke Polydamas. [non-Latin text not transcribed].Hom. Odyſ. God can eaſily get him a name in the utter overthrow of a rabble of rebels conſpiring againſt him, as at the Flood, tower of Babel, Sodom, Egypt, Moab, &c. who were trodden down under him, as ſtraw is trodden down for the dunghil, Iſai. 25.10. And in the next verſe, The Lord ſhal ſpread forth his hands in the midſt of them, as he that ſwimmeth ſpreadeth forth his hands to ſwim, (that is, with greateſt facility; for violent ſtroaks rather ſink then ſupport a ſwimmer) and he ſhall bring downe their pride, together with the ſpoiles of their hands: And the fortreſſe of the high fort of their wals ſhall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the duſt, Iſai. 25.11, 12.

Verſe 7. If thou be righteous, what giveſt thou him?] Nothing, ſith he is ſelf-ſufficient, and independent. He needeth us not, neither doth our righteouſneſſe reach him, Pſal. 16.2. The Phariſees dreamt of an over-doing the Law, and making God beholding to them. The Papiſts alſo, thoſe modern Phariſees, talk of works of ſuper-erogation, and of merit of congruity and merit of condignity. But theſe are mere fictions, Chimaera's, abſurd Doctrines, ſuch as Elihu never heard of. He that doth righteouſneſs is righteous, 1 John 3.7. but he addeth nothing thereby to God, let him do his utmoſt. Indeed whoſo offereth praiſe, glorifieth God, Pſal. 50.23. ſo he is pleaſed to account it, and call it: but his glory is as himſelf is, eternal, infinite, immenſe. The Sun would ſhine in its own brightneſſe, though all the world were blind, and ſhould wilfully wink: ſo here. God accepts not our perſents, but to returne them us back with intereſt, as the raine aſcends in thinne vapours, but comes downe againe in thick ſhowres.

Or what receiveth he of thine hand?] If any thing, it is of his own, as David thankfully acknowledgeth, 1 Chron. 29.14. and beſides that, our ſweeteſt Incenſe ſmelleth ſtrong of the hand that offereth it.

Verſe 8 Thy wickedneſs may hurt a man as thou art] Wicked men are many wayes miſchievous to others; and have much to anſwer for their other mens ſins. How many are undone by their murders, adulteries, robberies, falſe teſtimonies, blaſphemies and other rotten ſpeeches, to the corrupting of good manners, &c? What hurt is done daily by the Divels factours, to mens ſouls, bodies, names, eſtates? Beſides that they betray the land wherein they live into the hands of divine Juſtice, whiles they do wickedly with both hands earneſtly, Mic. 7.3. That I ſpeak not of the manifold miſeries, they pull upon themſelves.

And thy righteouſneſſe may profit the ſon of man] Thy ſelf and others: for the Juſt liveth by his own faith, he maketh a living of it, and a good one too. And as for his Charity, it is the mother of all manner of good works, whereof others have the benefit. Papiſts, and ſome as ſilly, have ſhrunk up charity to an hands breadth, to giving of Almes: But beſides that, a good man draweth out, not only his ſheaf, but his ſoul to the hungry.1 Theſſ. 5.14. He alſo warneth the unruly, comforteth the feeble minded, ſupporteth the weak, and tradeth all his talents for the good of others: He is a common bleſſing to all that art about him. As Plutark ſaid of the neighbour-Villages of Rome, in Numa's time, That ſucking in the aire of that City, they breathed [non-Latin text not transcribed], Righteouſneſſe; ſo may it be ſaid of the City of God, and her Citizens.

Verſe 9 By reaſon of the multitude (or magnitude) of oppreſſions, &c.] Or, Of the oppreſſed, whom they (that is, whom the Oppreſſours, not worthy to be named, as neither is that rich glutton, Luke 16.) make to cry. Job had ſaid, chap. 24.12. Men groan out of the City, and the ſoul of the wounded cryeth out; yet God layeth no[illegible: 1 letter] folly to them; He puniſheth not the wrong-dealers according to their deſerts as Elihu interprets Job; and here refuteth him, as one that accuſed God of injuſtice, becauſe he heareth not the cryes of the oppreſſed. But this is meerly their own fault, faith Elihu; becauſe they cry not to God with truth and devotion: They ask and miſs, becauſe they ask amiſs. For God never faileth to be with his afflicted, Pſal. 91. to preſerve the ſimple, as David found by experience, Pſal. 116. to hear thoſe that call upon him in truth, Pſal. 145. &c. he requireth nothing of them but lawful petitions, and honeſt hearts, and then they are ſure to have out their prayers, either in money, or moneys worth; either the ſame thing they ask, or a better.

They cry out by reaſon of the arm of the mighty] Magnatum. Such as was Pompey, of whom the Romans cryed out, Noſtrâ miſeria [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 letter]o Magnus. We rue by thy greatneſſe, and are ruined. The greater any man is, unleſſe gratious alſo, the more he thinks he may oppreſs the meaner ſort. They eate up my people,Videri poſſu[illegible: 2 letters] magnates non[illegible: 1 letter] alio loco habe[illegible: 1 letter] tenuas quam minutos piſcic[illegible: 1 letter] los, quos confe[illegible: 1 letter] tim & pleno o[illegible: 1 letter] pro deliciis eſ[illegible: 1 letter] tent. Merl. as they eate bread, Pſal. 14. as ſo many Canibals; and as the bigger fiſhes devour the leſſer: they lay load upon them without mercy or meaſure, they beat them with a ſtrong arm, and make them cry aloud, filling the air with their complaints, as nature teacheth even bruit beaſts to do when they are hurt. It was not patience but pertinacy, an obſtinate ſtiffeneſs of mind, that made ſome Heathens, as Mithridates, Marius, Epicurus, &c. forbear crying, when grievouſly tormented.

Verſe 10. But none ſaith, Where is God my maker?] Heb. My makers: to note the Trinity, ſay ſome: others think, that he ſpeaks of God in the plural number only for honours ſake. They call not upon God as their Creator, they praiſe him not as their Preſerver and Benefactor, ſaith Elihu in this and the next verſe: but expreſs a g[illegible: 1 letter]eat deal of pride and vanity, verſe 12, 13. and thence it is, that their prayers are unanſwered, and themſelves unrelieved. The oppreſſed ſhould not only make moan and fill the air▪ vagis clamoribus, with bruitiſh out-cryes (the fruit of the fleſh for eaſe, rather than of the ſpirit for grace) but beg help of God by faithful prayer,Qui nos fecit, idem ille eſt qu[illegible: 1 letter] nos fovet, co[illegible: 2 letters]ſervat ae ſuſtentat, &c. Brent. Englands Elizabeth. and ſay, Where is God my maker? as Eliſha once ſaid, Where is the Lord God of Eliah? Did he not make me, and will he not maintain me? built he not the earthly houſe of this tottering Tabernacle, and is not he bound to repairs? will he caſt off the care of his own handywork? Is he not my Maſter, as well as my Maker? and ſhall other Lords beſides him have Dominion over me, and do with me at their pleaſure? Lord, look upon the wounds of thy hands (ſaid Q Eliz. whiles ſhe was a Priſoner at Woodſtock and had like to have been burnt in her bed, one night) and deſpiſe not the work of thine hands. Thou haſt written me down in thy book of Preſervation with thine own hand: Oh read thine own hand-writing, and ſave me, &c.

Who giveth ſongs in the night] As the oppreſſed pray not, and therefore are not eaſed, (they are deſervedly miſerable, that might, but will not make themſelves happy by asking) ſo they praiſe not God for former deliverances by day and night conferred upon them. Thou haſt compaſſed me about, ſaith David with ſongs of deliverance, Pſal. 32.7. that is, Thou haſt given me plentiful matter of praiſing thy name. So here, Qui dat Pſalmorum argumentum de n[illegible: 1 letter]cte as Tremellius tranſlateth it: who giveth cauſe to praiſe him with Pſalms by night, as David did Pſal. 119.62. and as Paul, and Silas, Act. 16.25. and as Mr. Philpot and his fellows did in the Biſhop of London's Coal-houſe. In the night-ſeaſon it is,Act. and Mon. that God giveth his beloved ſleep; and keepeth them and theirs then in ſafety. Or, if he hold them waking, he filleth them with many ſweet meditations, (their reines at that time eſpecially, inſtructing them, Pſal. 16.7.) ſhineth upon them by his Moon and Stars (which praiſe God in their courſes, and twinkle as it were at us to do the like) and inmindeth them by the melody made by the Nightingale, which ſingeth for fifteen nights and dayes together without intermiſſion,Plin. l 10. c. 29[illegible: 1 letter] Luſcinia diciu[illegible: 1 letter] quia ante lucep[illegible: 1 letter] canit. Nec quantum luſciniae dormiunt. Proverb. In En[illegible: 1 letter]hir. if Pliny may be believed: putting a thorn to her breſt to keep her waking, for that purpoſe. Hereupon Epictetus hath this ſavoury ſaying, Si luſcinia eſſem, facerem quod luſcinia; Cum antem homo rationalis ſim, qui[illegible: 1 letter] faciam? Laudabo Deum, nec ceſſabo unquam; Vos verò ut idem faciatis hortor: that is, if I were a Nightingale, I would do as the Nightingale doth; But ſince I am a man endued with reaſon, (ſith God hath taught me more than the fowles of heaven, as Elihu hath it in the next verſe) what ſhall I do? I will unceſſantly praiſe God; and I exhort you to do the like. But this is not done, ſaith Elihu here, or very ſlenderly; and hence it is that men complain of their many and mighty oppreſſions, without remedy from God, who ſeeth that his favours and benefits would be even loſt and ſpilt upon them; according to that of the Philoſopher, Ingrat[illegible: 1 letter] quicquid donatur deperditur; All is caſt away, that is conferred upon an ungrateful perſon.

Verſe 11. Who teacheth us more then the beaſts of the earth?] This many wretched people never conſider; and are therefore heavily, but worthily, vexed by oppreſſours, ut vexatio det intellectum, that ſmart may make wit; and that they may not bellow as beaſts do, when they feel pain: but flie to God by well-prepared prayer, not ſo much for eaſe, as for the uſe of what they ſuffer. Now, bleſſed is the man whom God chaſteneth, and withal teacheth him out of his Law: that he may give him reſt from the dayes of adverſity, Pſal. 94.12, 13. Hereunto, not only Reaſon is required, (the Mercy here mentioned, and celebrated) but Religion alſo; which is the true Philoſophers ſtone that makes golden afflictions, 1 Pet. 1.7. and as Moſes his hand, turneth a Serpent into a Rod. The truth is, Religion is the higheſt reaſon, (neither is any thing more irrational than irreligion, 2 Theſſ. 3.2) and this alſo God alone teacheth. For, Cathedram habet in coelo qui corda docet, ſaith Auſtin. And again, Quando Chriſtus Magiſter, quàm citò diſcitur quod docetur? It is God above, who teacheth the heart: and this if he once undertake, it is ſoon diſpatcht. All this, if ſinful men would well weight, and be thankful for, as they ought, God would ſurely help them, and not ſuffer them ſo to be held under.

And maketh us wiſer than the fowles of heaven] Sapientificat. Some Birds are very ſilly,Plin. l. 10. c. 1. as the Struthiocamelus, that having thruſt his head into a thicket, and ſeeing no body, thinketh that therefore none ſeeth him, and ſo maketh himſelf a prey. Doves ſit in their dove-cotes, and ſee their neſts deſtroyed, their young ones taken away and killed before their eyes: neither ever do they offer to reſcue, or revenge. Mention is made by Writers, of a certain nameleſſe little Bird, which for fear leſt the Heavens ſhould fall upon her,Cael. Rhod. puts alwayes, when ſhe ſleepeth, one foot upon her head: How much better the Bird Onocrotalus? of whom it is reported, that out of expectation of the Hawk to grapple with her, ſhe ſleepeth with her beak exalted, as if ſhe would contend with her adverſary. Something there is that the wiſeſt may learn from the fowles of the air, to whom therefore they are ſent and ſet to ſchoole, Mat. 6.26. Jer. 8.7. yet generally God hath put more underſtanding into men: ſo that as he ſhould not do like them by preying upon others, ſo he ſhould not cry unto God only in diſtreſſe, as the young Raves do when hunger-bit: but pray alwayes, and in every thing give thanks; for which purpoſe it is, that God hath given us reaſon, ſpeech, and much matter and meanes, far above the unreaſonable Creatures. Vae igitur ſtupiditati hominum in calamitatibus torpentium.

Verſe 12. There they cry, but none giveth anſwer] Cry they do, but not to the true God, Jon. 1.5. The Papiſts have their he-ſaints, and ſhe-ſaints, for ſeveral uſes. Or if to the true God, yet not in a due manner: not in faith, and with remorſe for their miſdoings. And hence it is, that either they are not heard and helped: or not in mercy, but for a further miſchief, and to furniſh out their indictment at the laſt day: and on their death-beds, God will not come at them, or be intreated by them, Prov. 1.28. Pſal. 18.42.

Becauſe of the pride of evil men] i. e. Becauſe theſe oppreſſed ones that thus cry, are not ſo poor as proud; humbled they are, but not humble; low, but not lowly. Plectuntur, ſed non flectuntur: they have loſt the fruit of their afflictions, and are not a button the better for all that they have ſuffered.

Verſe 13. Surely God will not hear vanity] Prayer without Faith, is but an empty ring, a tinkling cymbal. Neque enim omnes qui citharam habent, ſunt citharoedi; Every ſound is not Muſick, neither is every complaint and out-cry of men in extremity, an effectual Prayer. Thoſe in Hoſea, when pined almoſt, howled as Dogs, growled as Swine, bellowed as Bulls, ſcreeched horribly as the Ravens of Arabia, Hoſ. 7.14 but becauſe they cryed not to God with their hearts, he heard them not. It is not the labour of the lips, or the loudneſſe of the voice, but the travel of the heart, and truth in the inward parts that he regardeth: Pſal. 51.6. Wilt thou not know, O vain (or empty) man, that Faith without Works is dead? ſaith St. James chap. 2.20. ſo that prayer without faith is to no purpoſe? Men may cry aloud in diſtreſſe, and make their voices to be heard on high; they may chatter out a charm when Gods chaſtening is upon them, yea, be with child, as it were, of a prayer, yet bring forth nothing better than wind, work no deliverance at all in the earth, Iſai. 26.16, 17, 18. God may turn them off, and juſtly, with Depart ye workers of iniquity; get you to the gods whom ye have choſen, let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation: for I will deliver you no more, Judg. 10. verſ. 13, 14.

Neither will the Almighty regard it] Heb Look intently into it. It is other, and better fruit of affliction that he looketh for. Whereof miſſing, he looketh another way, as it were, and taketh no notice of their prayers, or preſſures. Hence they deny, or at leaſt doubt of the divine providence: and are ready to let fly at God, as the Chineſes whip their gods, if they help them not at a call.

Verſe 14. Although thou ſaieſt thou ſhalt not ſee him, &c.] This is that tertium Jobi pronuntiatum, Jobs third ſpeech, which Elihu taketh upon him to reprehend and refute: It is taken out of chap. 23.8, 9. and the ſenſe is, that God would never appear to do him right. But although thou ſaieſt ſuch a thing, and ſo ſeemeſt to chime in with thoſe wicked ones who deny Gods providence; yet thou oughteſt to be better preſwaded of his preſence with thee, and providence over thee: for judgement is before him, and he will certainly do right; only thou muſt give glory to God, and wait his time.

Yet judgement is before him] Or, Judge thy ſelf in his ſight; give glory to God, and confeſſe thy ſin: and then, ſtepping from the Bar to the Bench, judge thy ſelf worthy to be deſtroyed, 1 Corinth. 11. verſ. 31. This do, and then

Truſt thou in me] For ſafety here, and ſalvation hereafter; acting thy Faith upon the precious promiſes,Pia & ſalubris adhortatio. Mercer. and hopefully expecting the performance thereof in due time. This was excellent counſel indeed, and worthy of all acceptation.

Verſe 15. But now, becauſe it is not ſo, he hath viſited in his anger] Becauſe thou haſt not yet done as I have preſcribed, God is forced thus to treat thee, and to encreaſe his plagues upon thee in great diſpleaſure at thine incorrigibleneſſe. Thus is good Job miſcenſured, whom God ſuffered ſo to be afflicted for his tryal, and not for his puniſhment; though there wanted not in him cauſe enough, if God ſhould have taken advantags. But know now, that his anger hath viſited thee but a little; (this is Beza's tranſlation of the whole verſe) neither hath he made any great inquiſition. Piſcator readeth this and the next verſe thus; But now, because his anger hath not viſited, neither hath he taken notice of the multitude of his ſins very much: therefore doth Job open his mouth with vanity, and heap up words without knowledge. Tremellius thus, For now, becauſe there is nothing of theſe, doth his anger viſit thee: viz. becauſe thou neither rightly judgeſt thy ſelf, nor waiteſt upon God: but lookeſt upon thy ſelf as utterly undone, caſting away all hope of better, therefore art thou yet held under.

Yet he knoweth it not in great extremity] Job perceiveth not (ſo blind he is) though he have his back-burden of afflictions, and knows not how to be rid of them. This, Elihu ſpeaketh to the company, by an angry Apoſtrophe.

Verſe 16. Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain] Dilarat, divaricat, rictum diducit ut bellua. An open mouth is oft a purgatory to the Maſter: digito compeſce labellum.

He multiplieth words without knowledge] Eliphaz had charged Job with malice and blaſphemy, chap. 22. Elihu only with vanity, and ignorance. We may not make the worſt of things, but give a favourable interpretation.