Job 7 commentary

Job here excuses what he could not justify, his desire of death. Observe man's present place: he is upon earth. He is yet on earth, not in hell. Is there not a time appointed for his abode here? yes, certainly, and the appointment is made by Him who made us and sent us here. During that, man's life is a warfare, and as day-labourers, who have the work of the day to do in its day, and must make up their account at night. Job had as much reason, he thought, to wish for death, as a poor servant that is tired with his work, has to wish for the shadows of the evening, when he shall go to rest. The sleep of the labouring man is sweet; nor can any rich man take so much satisfaction in his wealth, as the hireling in his day's wages. The comparison is plain; hear his complaint: His days were useless, and had long been so; but when we are not able to work for God, if we sit still quietly for him, we shall be accepted. His nights were restless. Whatever is grievous, it is good to see it appointed for us, and as designed for some holy end. When we have comfortable nights, we must see them also appointed to us, and be thankful for them. His body was noisome. See what vile bodies we have. His life was hastening apace. While we are living, every day, like the shuttle, leaves a thread behind: many weave the spider's web, which will fail, ch. 8:14. But if, while we live, we live unto the Lord, in works of faith and labours of love, we shall have the benefit, for every man shall reap as he sowed, and wear as he wove.

Plain truths as to the shortness and vanity of man's life, and the certainty of death, do us good, when we think and speak of them with application to ourselves. Dying is done but once, and therefore it had need be well done. An error here is past retrieve. Other clouds arise, but the same cloud never returns: so a new generation of men is raised up, but the former generation vanishes away. Glorified saints shall return no more to the cares and sorrows of their houses; nor condemned sinners to the gaieties and pleasures of their houses. It concerns us to secure a better place when we die. From these reasons Job might have drawn a better conclusion than this, I will complain. When we have but a few breaths to draw, we should spend them in the holy, gracious breathings of faith and prayer; not in the noisome, noxious breathings of sin and corruption. We have much reason to pray, that He who keeps Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps, may keep us when we slumber and sleep. Job covets to rest in his grave. Doubtless, this was his infirmity; for though a good man would choose death rather than sin, yet he should be content to live as long as God pleases, because life is our opportunity of glorifying him, and preparing for heaven.

Job reasons with God concerning his dealings with man. But in the midst of this discourse, Job seems to have lifted up his thoughts to God with some faith and hope. Observe the concern he is in about his sins. The best men have to complain of sin; and the better they are, the more they will complain of it. God is the Preserver of our lives, and the Saviour of the souls of all that believe; but probably Job meant the Observer of men, whose eyes are upon the ways and hearts of all men. We can hide nothing from Him; let us plead guilty before his throne of grace, that we may not be condemned at his judgment-seat. Job maintained, against his friends, that he was not a hypocrite, not a wicked man, yet he owns to his God, that he had sinned. The best must so acknowledge, before the Lord. He seriously inquires how he might be at peace with God, and earnestly begs forgiveness of his sins. He means more than the removing of his outward trouble, and is earnest for the return of God's favour. Wherever the Lord removes the guilt of sin, he breaks the power of sin. To strengthen his prayer for pardon, Job pleads the prospect he had of dying quickly. If my sins be not pardoned while I live, I am lost and undone for ever. How wretched is sinful man without a knowledge of the Saviour!

CHAPTER 7

Job 7:1-21. Job Excuses His Desire for Death.

1. appointed time--better, "a warfare," hard conflict with evil (so in Is 40:2; Da 10:1). Translate it "appointed time" (Job 14:14). Job reverts to the sad picture of man, however great, which he had drawn (Job 3:14), and details in this chapter the miseries which his friends will see, if, according to his request (Job 6:28), they will look on him. Even the Christian soldier, "warring a good warfare," rejoices when it is completed (1Ti 1:18; 2Ti 2:3; 4:7, 8).

2. earnestly desireth--Hebrew, "pants for the [evening] shadow." Easterners measure time by the length of their shadow. If the servant longs for the evening when his wages are paid, why may not Job long for the close of his hard service, when he shall enter on his "reward?" This proves that Job did not, as many maintain, regard the grave as a mere sleep.

3.--Months of comfortless misfortune.

I am made to possess--literally, "to be heir to." Irony. "To be heir to," is usually a matter of joy; but here it is the entail of an involuntary and dismal inheritance.

Months--for days, to express its long duration.

Appointed--literally, "they have numbered to me"; marking well the unavoidable doom assigned to him.

4. Literally, "When shall be the flight of the night?" [Gesenius]. Umbreit, not so well, "The night is long extended"; literally, "measured out" (so Margin).

5. In elephantiasis maggots are bred in the sores (Ac 12:23; Is 14:11).

clods of dust--rather, a crust of dried filth and accumulated corruption (Job 2:7, 8).

my skin is broken and ... loathsome--rather, comes together so as to heal up, and again breaks out with running matter [Gesenius]. More simply the Hebrew is, "My skin rests (for a time) and (again) melts away" (Psa 58:7).

6. (Is 38:12). Every day like the weaver's shuttle leaves a thread behind; and each shall wear, as he weaves. But Job's thought is that his days must swiftly be cut off as a web;

without hope--namely, of a recovery and renewal of life (Job 14:19; 1Ch 29:15).

7. Address to God.

Wind--a picture of evanescence (Psa 78:39).

shall no more see--rather, "shall no more return to see good." This change from the different wish in Job 3:17, &c., is most true to nature. He is now in a softer mood; a beam from former days of prosperity falling upon memory and the thought of the unseen world, where one is seen no more (Job 7:8), drew from him an expression of regret at leaving this world of light (Ec 11:7); so Hezekiah (Is 38:11). Grace rises above nature (2Co 5:8).

8. The eye of him who beholds me (present, not past), that is, in the very act of beholding me, seeth me no more.

Thine eyes are upon me, and I am not--He disappears, even while God is looking upon him. Job cannot survive the gaze of Jehovah (Psa 104:32; Re 20:11). Not, "Thine eyes seek me and I am not to be found"; for God's eye penetrates even to the unseen world (Psa 139:8). Umbreit unnaturally takes "thine" to refer to one of the three friends.

9. (2Sa 12:23).

the grave--the Sheol, or place of departed spirits, not disproving Job's belief in the resurrection. It merely means, "He shall come up no more" in the present order of things.

10. (Psa 103:16). The Oriental keenly loves his dwelling. In Arabian elegies the desertion of abodes by their occupants is often a theme of sorrow. Grace overcomes this also (Lu 18:29; Ac 4:34).

11. Therefore, as such is my hard lot, I will at least have the melancholy satisfaction of venting my sorrow in words. The Hebrew opening words, "Therefore I, at all events," express self-elevation [Umbreit].

12. Why dost thou deny me the comfort of care-assuaging sleep? Why scarest thou me with frightful dreams?

Am I a sea--regarded in Old Testament poetry as a violent rebel against God, the Lord of nature, who therefore curbs his violence (Jr 5:22).

or a whale--or some other sea monster (Is 27:1), that Thou needest thus to watch and curb me? The Egyptians watched the crocodile most carefully to prevent its doing mischief.

14. The frightful dreams resulting from elephantiasis he attributes to God; the common belief assigned all night visions to God.

15. Umbreit translates, "So that I could wish to strangle myself--dead by my own hands." He softens this idea of Job's harboring the thought of suicide, by representing it as entertained only in agonizing dreams, and immediately repudiated with horror in Job 7:16, "Yet that (self-strangling) I loathe." This is forcible and graphic. Perhaps the meaning is simply, "My soul chooses (even) strangling (or any violent death) rather than my life," literally, "my bones" (Psa 35:10); that is, rather than the wasted and diseased skeleton, left to him. In this view, "I loathe it" (Job 7:16) refers to his life.

16. Let me alone--that is, cease to afflict me for the few and vain days still left to me.

17. (Psa 8:4; 144:3). Job means, "What is man that thou shouldst make him [of so much importance], and that thou shouldst expend such attention [or, heart-thought] upon him" as to make him the subject of so severe trials? Job ought rather to have reasoned from God's condescending so far to notice man as to try him, that there must be a wise and loving purpose in trial. David uses the same words, in their right application, to express wonder that God should do so much as He does for insignificant man. Christians who know God manifest in the man Christ Jesus may use them still more.

18. With each new day (Psa 73:14). It is rather God's mercies, not our trials, that are new every morning (La 3:23). The idea is that of a shepherd taking count of his flock every morning, to see if all are there [Cocceius].

19. How long (like a jealous keeper) wilt thou never take thine eyes off (so the Hebrew for "depart from") me? Nor let me alone for a brief respite (literally, "so long as I take to swallow my spittle"), an Arabic proverb, like our, "till I draw my breath."

20. I have sinned--Yet what sin can I do against ("to," Job 35:6) thee (of such a nature that thou shouldst jealously watch and deprive me of all strength, as if thou didst fear me)? Yet thou art one who hast men ever in view, ever watchest them--O thou Watcher (Job 7:12; Da 9:14) of men. Job had borne with patience his trials, as sent by God (Job 1:21; 2:10); only his reason cannot reconcile the ceaseless continuance of his mental and bodily pains with his ideas of the divine nature.

set me as a mark--Wherefore dost thou make me thy point of attack? that is, ever assail me with new pains? [Umbreit] (La 3:12).

21. for now--very soon.

in the morning--not the resurrection; for then Job will be found. It is a figure, from one seeking a sick man in the morning, and finding he has died in the night. So Job implies that, if God does not help him at once, it will be too late, for he will be gone. The reason why God does not give an immediate sense of pardon to awakened sinners is that they think they have a claim on God for it.

Is there not an appointed time to man - The Hebrew, with its literal rendering, is as follows: הלא צבא לאנוש עלי ארץ halo tsaba leenosh aley arets, "Is there not a warfare to miserable man upon the earth?" And thus most of the versions have understood the words. The Septuagint: Ποτερον ουχι πειρατηριον εστι ὁ βιος ανθρωπου επι της γης; "Is not the life of man a place of trial upon earth?" The Vulgate: Militia est vita hominis super terram, "The life of man is a warfare upon earth?" The Chaldee is the same. N'y a-t-il pas comme un train de guerre ordonne aux mortels sur la terre? "Is there not a continual campaign ordained for mortals upon the earth?" French Bible. The German and Dutch the same. Coverdale: Is not the life off man upon earth a very batayle? Carmarden, Rouen, 1566: Hath man any certayne tyme upon earth? Syriac and Arabic: "Now, man has time upon the earth." Non e egli il tempo determinato a l'huomo sopra la terra?" "Is there not a determined time to man upon the earth?" Bib. Ital., 1562. All these are nearer to the true sense than ours; and of a bad translation, worse use has been made by many theologians. I believe the simple sentiment which the writer wished to convey is this: Human life is a state of probation; and every day and place is a time and place of exercise, to train us up for eternal life. Here is the exercise, and here the warfare: we are enlisted in the bands of the Church militant, and must accomplish our time of service, and be honorably dismissed from the warfare, having conquered through the blood of the Lamb; and then receive the reward of the heavenly inheritance.

Earnestly desireth the shadow - As a man who labors hard in the heat of the day earnestly desires to get under a shade, or wishes for the long evening shadows, that he may rest from his labor, get his day's wages, retire to his food, and then go to rest. Night is probably what is meant by the shadow; as in Virgil, Aen. iv., ver. 7:

Humentemque Aurora polo dimoverat Umbram. "The morning had removed the humid shadow, i.e., night, from the world."

Where Servius justly observes:

Nihil interest, utrum Umbram an Noctem dicat: Nox enim Umbra terrae est, "It makes no difference whether he says shadow or night; for night is the shadow of the earth."

So am I made to possess - But night is no relief to me, it is only a continuance of my anxiety and labor. I am like the hireling, I have my appointed labor for the day. I am like the soldier harassed by the enemy: I am obliged to be continually on the watch, always on the look out, with scarcely any rest.

When I lie down - I have so little rest, that when I do lie down I long for the return of the light, that I may rise. Nothing can better depict the state of a man under continual afflictions, which afford him no respite, his days and his nights being spent in constant anguish, utterly unable to be in any one posture, so that he is continually changing his position in his bed, finding ease nowhere: thus, as himself expresses it, he is full of tossings.

My flesh is clothed with worms - This is perhaps no figure, but is literally true: the miserably ulcerated state of his body, exposed to the open air, and in a state of great destitution, was favorable to those insects that sought such places in which to deposit their ova, which might have produced the animals in question. But the figure is too horrid to be farther illustrated.

Clods of dust - I believe all the commentators have here missed the sense. I suppose Job to allude to those incrustations of indurated or dried pus, which are formed on the tops of pustules in a state of decay: such as the scales which fall from the pustules of the smallpox, when the patient becomes convalescent. Or, if Job's disease was the elephantiasis, it may refer to the furfuraceous scales which are continually falling off the body in that disorder. It is well known, that in this disease the skin becomes very rigid, so as to crack across, especially at the different joints, out of which fissures a loathsome ichor is continually exuding. To something like this the words may refer, My Skin is Broken, and become Loathsome.

Swifter than a weaver's shuttle - The word ארג areg signifies rather the weaver than his shuttle. And it has been doubted whether any such instrument were in use in the days of Job. Dr. Russell, in his account of Aleppo, shows that though they wove many kinds of curious cloth, yet no shuttle was used, as they conducted every thread of the woof by their fingers. That some such instrument as the shuttle was in use from time immemorial, there can be no doubt: and it is certain that such an instrument must have been in the view of Job, without which the figure would lose its expression and force. In almost every nation the whole of human existence has been compared to a web; and the principle of life, through the continual succession of moments, hours, days, weeks, months, and years, to a thread woven through that web. Hence arose the fable of the Parcae or Fates, called also the Destinies or Fatal Sisters. They were the daughters of Erebus and Nox, darkness and night; and were three in number, and named Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. Clotho held the distaff; Lachesis spun off the thread; and Atropos cut it off with her scissors, when it was determined that life should end. Job represents the thread of his life as being spun out with great rapidity and tenuity, and about to be cut off.

And are spent without hope - Expectation of future good was at an end; hope of the alleviation of his miseries no longer existed. The hope of future good is the balm of life: where that is not, there is despair; where despair is, there is hell. The fable above mentioned is referred to by Virgil, Ecl. iv., ver. 46, but is there applied to time: -

Talia Secla, suis dixerunt, currite, fusis

Concordes stabili fatorum numine Parcae. "The Fates, when they this happy thread have spun

Shall bless the sacred clue, and bid it smoothly run."

Dryden.

Isaiah uses the same figure, Isa 38:12 : -

My life is cut off, as by the weaver:

He will sever me from the loom.

In the course of the day thou wilt finish my web.

Lowth.

Coverdale translates thus: My dayes passe over more spedely then a weaver can weave out his webbe and are gone or I am awarre.

A fine example of this figure is found in the Teemour Nameh, which I shall give in Mr. Good's translation: - "Praise be to God, who hath woven the web of human affairs in the loom of his will and of his wisdom, and hath made waves of times and of seasons to flow from the fountain of his providence into the ocean of his power." The simile is fine, and elegantly expressed.

My life is wind - Mr. Good translates, "O remember that, if my life pass away, mine eye shall turn no more to scenes of goodness;" which he paraphrases thus: "O remember that, if my life pass away, never more shall I witness those scenes of Divine favor, never more adore thee for those proofs of unmerited mercy, which till now have been so perpetually bestowed on me." I think the common translation gives a very good sense.

Shall see me no more - If I die in my present state, with all this load of undeserved odium which is cast upon me by my friends, I shall never have an opportunity of vindicating my character, and regaining the good opinion of mankind.

Thine eyes are upon one, and I am not - Thou canst look me into nothing. Or, Let thine eye be upon me as judged to death, and I shall immediately cease to live among men.

As the cloud is consumed - As the cloud is dissipated, so is the breath of those that go down to the grave. As that cloud shall never return, so shall it be with the dead; they return no more to sojourn with the living. See on the following verses.

He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more - He does not mean that he shall be annihilated but that he shall never more become an inhabitant of the earth. The word שאול, which we properly enough translate grave, here signifies also the state of the dead, hades, and sometimes any deep pit, or even hell itself.

Therefore I will not refrain - All is hopeless; I will therefore indulge myself in complaining.

Am I a sea, or a whale - "Am I condemned as the Egyptians were who were drowned in the Red Sea? or am I as Pharaoh, who was drowned in it in his sins, that thou settest a keeper over me?" Targum. Am I as dangerous as the sea, that I should be encompassed about with barriers, lest I should hurt mankind? Am I like an ungovernable wild beast or dragon, that I must be put under locks and bars? I think our own version less exceptionable than any other hitherto given of this verse. The meaning is sufficiently plain. Job was hedged about and shut in with insuperable difficulties of various kinds; he was entangled as a wild beast in a net; the more he struggled, the more he lost his strength, and the less probability there was of his being extricated from his present situation. The sea is shut in with barriers, over which it cannot pass; for God has "placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it," Jer 5:22. "For thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth;" Psa 104:9. "Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors; and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed;" Job 38:8. Here then is Job's allusion: the bounds, doors, garment, swaddling bands, decreed place, and bars, are the watchers or keepers which God has set to prevent the sea from overflowing the earth; so Job's afflictions and distresses were the bounds and bars which God had apparently set to prevent him from injuring his fellow creatures. At least Job, in his complaint, so takes it. Am I like the sea, which thou hast imprisoned within bounds, ready to overwhelm and destroy the country? or am I like a dragon, which must be cooped up in the same way, that it may not have the power to kill and destroy? Surely in my prosperity I gave no evidence of such a disposition; therefore should not be treated as a man dangerous to society. In this Job shows that he will not refrain his mouth.

Thou sparest me with dreams - There is no doubt that Satan was permitted to haunt his imagination with dreadful dreams and terrific appearances; so that, as soon as he fell asleep, he was suddenly roused and alarmed by those appalling images. He needed rest by sleep, but was afraid to close his eyes because of the horrid images which were presented to his imagination. Could there be a state more deplorable than this?

Chooseth strangling - It is very likely that he felt, in those interrupted and dismal slumbers, an oppression and difficulty of breathing something like the incubus or nightmare; and, distressing as this was, he would prefer death by this means to any longer life in such miseries.

I loathe it; I would not live alway - Life, in such circumstances, is hateful to me; and though I wish for long life, yet if length of days were offered to me with the sufferings which I now undergo, I would despise the offer and spurn the boon. Mr. Good is not satisfied with our common version, and has adopted the following, which in his notes he endeavors to illustrate and defend: Job 7:15 So that my soul coveteth suffocation,And death in comparison with my suffering. Job 7:16 No longer would I live! O, release me!How are my days vanity!

What is man that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? - Two different ideas have been drawn from these words: -

1. Man is not worth thy notice; why therefore dost thou contend with him?

2. How astonishing is thy kindness that thou shouldest fix thy heart - thy strongest affections, on such a poor, base, vile, impotent creature as man, (אנוש enosh), that thou shouldest so highly exalt him beyond all other creatures, and mark him with the most particular notice of thy providence and grace!

The paraphrase of Calmet is as follows: "Does man, such as he at present is, merit thy attention! What is man that God should make it his business to examine, try, prove, and afflict him? Is it not doing him too much honor to think thus seriously about him? O Lord! I am not worthy that thou shouldest concern thyself about me!"

Till I swallow down my spittle? - This is a proverbial expression, and exists among the Arabs to the present day; the very language being nearly the same. It signifies the same as, Let me draw my breath; give me a moment's space; let me have even the twinkling of an eye. I am urged by my sufferings to continue my complaint; but my strength is exhausted, my mouth dry with speaking. Suspend my sufferings even for so short a space as is necessary to swallow my spittle, that my parched tongue may be moistened, so that I may renew my complaint.

I have sinned; what shall I do - Dr. Kennicott contends that these words are spoken to Eliphaz, and not to God, and would paraphrase them thus: "You say I must have been a sinner. What then? I have not sinned against thee, O thou spy upon mankind! Why hast thou set up me as a butt or mark to shoot at? Why am I become a burden unto thee? Why not rather overlook my transgression, and pass by mine iniquity? I am now sinking to the dust! To-morrow, perhaps, I shall be sought in vain!" See his vindication of Job at the end of these notes on this book. Others consider the address as made to God. Taken in this light, the sense is plain enough. Those who suppose that the address is made to God, translate the Job 7:20 thus: "Be it that I have sinned, what injury can I do unto thee, O thou Observer of man? Why hast thou set me up as a mark for thee, and why am I made a burden to thee?" The Septuagint is thus: Ει εγω ἡμαρτον, τι δυνησομαι πραξαι, ὁ επισταμενος τον νουν των ανθρωπων; If I have sinned, what can I do, O thou who knowest the mind of men? Thou knowest that it is impossible for me to make any restitution. I cannot blot out my offenses; but whether I have sinned so as to bring all these calamities upon me, thou knowest, who searchest the hearts of men.

And why dost thou not pardon - These words are spoken after the manner of men. If thou have any design to save me, if I have sinned, why dost thou not pardon my transgression, as thou seest that I am a dying man; and to-morrow morning thou mayest seek me to do me good, but in all probability I shall then be no more, and all thy kind thoughts towards me shall be unavailing? If I have sinned, then why should not I have a part in that mercy that flows so freely to all mankind? That Job does not criminate himself here, as our text intimates, is evident enough from his own repeated assertions of his innocence. And it is most certain that Bildad, who immediately answers, did not consider him as criminating but as justifying himself; and this is the very ground on which he takes up the subject. Were we to admit the contrary, we should find strange inconsistencies, if not contradictions, in Job's speeches: on such a ground the controversy must have immediately terminated, as he would then have acknowledged that of which his friends accused him; and here the book of Job would have ended.

Is there not - Job is here excusing what he cannot justify, his passionate longing for death. A time - Is there not a time limited by God, wherein man shall live in this sinful, and miserable world? And is it a crime in me, to desire that God would bring me to that joyful period? Our time on earth is limited and short, according to the narrow bounds of this earth. But heaven cannot be measured, nor the days of heaven numbered. Hireling - Whose time is short, being but a few years, or days, whose condition is full of toil and hardship.

Shadow - That is, the sun - set, the time allotted for his rest.

Worms - Which were bred out of Job's corrupted flesh and sores. Dust - The dust of the earth upon which he lay. Broken - By ulcers in all parts of it.

Swifter - The time of my life hastens to a period. Shuttle - Which passes in a moment from one end of the web to the other. Hope - Of enjoying any good day here.

No more - In this mortal state: I shall never return to this life again. Am not - If thou cast one angry look upon me, I am not; thou canst look me into eternity.

No more - Never until the general resurrection. When we see a cloud which looked great, as if it would eclipse the sun, of a sudden dispersed and disappearing, say, Just such a thing is the life of man, a vapour that appears for a while and then vanisheth away.

Any more - He shall no more be seen and known in his former habitation. It concerns us to secure a better place when we die: for this will own us no more.

Therefore - Since my life is so vain and short, and when once lost, without all hopes of recovery. I will plead with God for pity before I die; I will not smother my anguish within my breast, but will ease myself by pouring out my complaints.

A sea - Am I as fierce and unruly as the sea, which, if thou didst not set bounds to it, would overwhelm the earth? Or, am I a vast and ungovernable sea - monster? Which thou must restrain by thy powerful providence. That, &c. - That thou shouldest guard and restrain me with such heavy and unexampled miseries? We are apt in affliction to complain of God, as if he laid more upon us than there is occasion for: whereas we are never in heaviness, but when there is need, nor more than there is need.

What, &c. - What is there in that poor, mean, creature called man, miserable man, as this word signifies, which can induce thee to take any notice of him, or to make such account of him? Man is not worthy of thy favour, and he is below thy anger; that thou shouldest concern thyself so much about him, as one near and dear to thee?

And try, &c. - What is man that vain, foolish creature, that thou shouldest magnify or regard, or visit him, (with thy mercy and blessings, that thou shouldest so far honour and regard him, as by thy visitation to preserve his spirit, or hold his soul in life) and try him, which God doth not only by afflictions, but also by prosperity and both inward and outward blessings? That thou shouldst observe his motions every moment, as in care for him, and jealous over him?

How long - How long will it be ere thou withdraw thy afflicting hand? Swallow - That I may have a breathing time: a proverbial expression.

Sinned - Although I am free from those crying sins, for which my friends suppose thou hast sent this judgment upon me, yet, I freely confess I am a sinner, and therefore obnoxious to thy justice. What, &c. - To satisfy thy justice, or regain thy favour? Who dost know and diligently observe all mens inward motions, and outward actions; and therefore, if thou shalt be severe to mark mine iniquities, I have not what to say or do unto thee. My case is singular, none is shot at as I am.

Pardon - Seeing thou art so gracious to others, why may not I hope for the same favour from thee? Dust - If thou dost not speedily help me, it will be too late. But I shall not be - It will be to late to shew me favour.

1. IS there not an appointed time to man upon Earth ? are not his daies also like the daies of an hireling ?

Is there not a certain and short time limited by God wherein man shall live in this sinful, & vain, and miserable world, after which he shall live in an holier and happier place and state? And is it a crime in me to desire that God would give me some ease and respite for the present, and bring me to that blessed and joyful period?

Whose time is limited and short, being but for a few years, Isa. 16. 14. & 21. 16. and sometimes but for daies, Iob 14. 6. Matth. 20. 1, 2. and whose condition is full of toil and hardship.

Marginal references: Or, a warfare.; Chap. 14. 13, 14. Psal. 39. 4.

2. As a Servant earnestly desireth the shadow , and as an Hireling looketh for the reward of his work :

i. e. The Sun-set, or the Night, the time allotted for his rest and repose, Psal. 104. 23. And why may not I also desire the time of my rest?

Heb. his work; which is oft put for the reward of it, as Levit. 19. 13. Isa. 40. 10. & 49. 4. Or, the end of his work.

Marginal references: Heb. gapeth after.

3. So am I made to possess months of vanity , and wearisom nights are appointed to me.

This so respects not so much the desire and expectation of an hired Servant, which is expressed, v. 2. as the ground and reason of it, which is plainly implied there, to wit, his hard toil and service, which makes him thirst after rest.

God by his soveraign Power and Providence hath given me thus as my lot and inheritance.

So he calls them rather than daies, to note either the irksomness and tediousness of his affliction, whereby every day seemed a month to him, or their length and continuance, which, as some infer from hence, had now been upon him some months

Empty and unsatisfying, or false and deceitful, not giving me that ease and rest, which they promised me, and I expected.

He mentions nights, because that is the saddest time for sick and miserable persons; the darkness and solitude of the night being of themselves uncomfortable, and giving them more opportunity for solemn and sorrowful thoughts and reflections upon their own miseries.

4. When I lie down , I say, when shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day .

To get some rest and sleep.

Heb. the evening. The part put for the whole, as it is, Gen. 1. 5.

From side to side in the Bed, as men in grievous pains of body, or anxiety of mind use to be.

So this Hebrew word is used also, 1 Sam. 30. 17. Psal. 119. 147.

Marginal references: Deut. 28. 67. Chap. 17. 12.; Heb. the Evening be measured.

5. My flesh is clothed with worms , and clods of dust ; my skin is broken , and become loathsom.

i. e. Covered all over as with a garment.

Which oft breed and break forth in divers parts of living bodies, as history and experience witnesseth, and which were easily bred out of Iob's corrupted flesh and sores.

Either the dust of the earth upon which he lay, which his sores would quickly lick up; or the scabs of his sores, which by degrees mouldred away into dust.

By Ulcers breaking forth in all parts of it.

6. My daies are swifter than a Weavers Shuttle , and are spent without hope .

The time of my life hastens to a period; And therefore vain are those hopes which you give me of a restitution to my former prosperity in this world.

Which passeth in a moment from one end of the web to the other.

To wit; of enjoying any good day here.

Marginal references: Ch. 9. 25. [illegible: 1 word] 16. 22. & 17. 11. Psal▪ 90. [illegible: 1 word] & 102. 11. & 103. 15. & 144. 4 Isa▪ 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. 12. & 40. 6. James 4. 14▪

7. O remember that my life is wind ; mine eye shall no more see good .

He turneth his speech to God as appears from v. 8. 12. 14.

i. e. vain, Isa. 57. 13. Hose. 8 7. quickly passing away so as never to come again, as is said Psal. 78. 39.

i. e. Enjoy (for so seeing is sometimes used, as Psal. 34. 12. Ier. 17. 6.) good, to wit, in this world, as my friends flatter me. Compare Ch. 14. 12. & 19. 26, 27.

Marginal references: Psal. 89. 47.; Heb, shall [illegible: 1 word] return.; To see, that is, to enjoy.

8. The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not .

In this mortall state: I shall never return to this life again.

Either, 1. If thou doest but cast one angry look upon me, I am not, i. e. I am a dead man. So that phrase is used, Gen. 5. 24. & 42. 13. & 44. 20. Psal. 103. 16. Ier. 31. 15. Or, 2. When thine Eyes shall be upon me, (i. e. when thou shalt look for me to do me good, thou wilt find that) I am not, that I am dead and gone, and uncapable of that bounty and goodness which thou givest to men in this world▪ Comp. v. 21. Psal. 10. 15. Ier. 50. 20.

Marginal references: That is, [illegible: 1 word] live no [illegible: 1 word].

9. As the Cloud is consumed and vanisheth away ; so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more .

Being dried up or dissolved by the heat of the Sun.

Never returneth again.

To live a natural mortal life amongst men. For, that he doth not deny a future life is manifest from Ch. 19. 25, &c.

Marginal references: 2 Sam. 12▪ [illegible: 1 word]; Heb. H[illegible: 1+ letters].

10. He shall return no more to his house , neither shall his place know him any more .

To enjoy his house and possessions again.

i. e. He shall no more be seen and known in his former habitation and condition by his friends and neighbours. The place put for the men of the place, as Ch. 8. 18. & 20. 9. Psal. 37. 10.

Marginal references: Psa. 103. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].

11. Therefore I will not refrain my mouth▪ I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul .

Since my life is by the common condition of mankind so vain and short, and when once lost, without all hopes of recovery, and withal extremely miserable, I will plead with God for pity and relief before I die; knowing that I must now speak, or else for ever after hold my peace as to requests of this nature.

I will not smother my bitter anguish within my own breast, which will make it intollerable, but I will give it vent, and ease my self by pouring forth complaints, and expostulating with my God, who, as I hope, will hear and help me one way or other.

12. Am I a Sea, or a Whale , that thou settest a watch over me ?

Am I so great, and powerful, and dangerous a creature, that thou needest to use extraordinary power and violence to rule and subdue me? Am I as fierce and unruly as the Sea, which, if thou didst not set a watch over it, and bounds to it, would overwhelm the earth, and destroy mankind upon it? Or, am I a vast and ungovernable Sea-monster, which, if thou didst not restrain it by thy powerful providence, would overturn ships, and destroy men in it, and devour all the lesser fishes? Have I behaved my self towards thee, or towards men, with such rage and violence, as to need such chains to be put upon me? Or, is my strength so great as that of the Sea, which can endure so many and long storms one after another, and yet can subsist under them, and after them? or, of a Whale, that can laugh at Darts and Spears? as is said ch. 41. 29. No Lord, thou knowest that I am but a poor weak creature, which thou canst crush with the least touch of thy finger, without these violent and unsupportable pains and miseries; and that I have not been so fierce and boisterous in my carriage as to need or deserve these extraordinary calamities.

That thou shouldest guard and restrain me with such heavy and unexampled miseries, lest I should break into rebellion against thee, or into cruelty towards men.

13. When I say, my Bed shall comfort me, my Couch shall ease my complaint :

By giving me sweet and quiet sleep, which may take off the sense of my torments for that while.

Marginal references: Ch. 9. 27, 28.

14. Then thou scarest me with dreams , and terrifiest me through visions .

With sad and dreadful dreams arising either from that melancholy humour which is now so fixed in me and predominant over me, or from the Devils malice who by thy permission disturbs me in this manner; So that I am afraid to go to sleep, and my remedy proves as bad as my disease.

The same thing with dreams: for there were not only day-visions, which were offered to mens sight, when they were awake; but also night-visions, which were presented to mens Fancy in their sleep and dreams. See Gen. 28. 12. & 41. 1, 2. Dan. 2. 1, 31. & 4, 5, 10.

15. So that my Soul chooseth strangling , and death rather than my life ,

Not simply and in it self, but comparatively, rather than such a wretched life.

The most violent, so it be but a certain and sudden death.

Heb. than my bones, i. e. than my body, formerly the Soul's dear and desired companion, or than to be in the body, which commonly consists of skin and flesh, and bones, but in Iob was in a manner nothing but a bundle of bones; for his skin was every where broken, and his flesh was quite consumed; as he oft complains, and his bones also were not free from pain and torment: for as Satan's Commission reached to Iob's bones, Iob 2. 5. so doubtless his Malice and wicked Design would engage him to execute it to the utmost.

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

16 I loath it. I would not live alway: let me alone, for my days are vanity .

To wit, my life last mentioned.

In this World, if I might, no not in prosperity; for even such a life is but vanity, much less in this extremity of misery. Or, Let me not live for ever, lingring in this miserable manner, as if thou wouldest not suffer me to die, but hadst a design to perpetuate my torments. Or, let me not live out mine age, or the full time of my life, which by the course of nature, I might do; for so the Hebrew word Olam, is oft used: but cut me off, and that speedily.

i. e. Withdraw thy hand from me, either 1. thy supporting hand which preserves my life, and suffer me to die: Or rather 2. thy correcting hand, as this same phrase is used, v. 19.

Either 1. my life is in it self, and in its best estate a most vain, unsatisfying, uncertain thing: do not add this evil to it to make it miserable. Or, 2. My life is a vain, decaying, and perishing thing, it will of it self quickly vanish and depart, and doth not need to be forced from me by such exquisite torments.

Marginal references: Ch. 10. 1.; Ch. 10. 20. & 14. [illegible: 1+ letters]. Psal. 39. 13.

17 What is man that thou should'st magnifie him ? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him ?

What is there in that poor, mean, contemptible Creature called Man, miserable man, as this word signifies, which can induce or incline thee to take any notice of him, to shew him such respect, or to make such account of him? Man is not worthy of thy Favour, and he is below thy Anger. It is too great a condescention to thee, and too great an honour for man that thou wiltst contend with him, and draw forth all thy forces against him, as if he were a fit match for thee; whereas men use to neglect and slight mean Adversaries, and will not do them the honour to fight with them. Comp. 1 Sam. 24. 14. Therefore do not, O Lord, thus dishonour thy self, nor magnifie me. I acknowledge that even thy corrections are mercies and honours, but, Lord, let me be no more so honoured.

i. e. Have any regard to him so far as to afflict him, which though it be grievous in it self, especially when it is aggravated as mine is, yet unto thy people it is a great mercy and blessing, as being highly necessary and useful to humble them, and purge them from sin, and prepare them for glory: as on the contrary, those wicked men whom thou doest despise and hate, and design to destroy, thou doest forbear to punish or afflict them.

Marginal references: Psal▪ 8. 4. & 144. 3. Heb. 26.

18. And that thou shouldest visit him every morning , and try him every moment?

To wit, punish or chasten him, as the Word is oft used, as visiting is oft used, as Exod. 20. 5. and 32. 34. and 34. 7.

i. e. Every day. But he mentions the morning, either because that is the beginning of the day, and so is put synecdochically for the whole day, as the evening, v. 4. is put for the whole night: Or he speaks of God after the manner of men, who rest and sleep in the night, but in the morning rise and go about their business, and visit or inspect those persons and things which they have a respect for, or care of.

i. e. Afflict him, which is oft called trying, because it doth indeed try a man's faith and patience, and perseverance. But this and the former Verse may possibly be otherwise understood, not of afflictions, but of mercies. Having declared his loathing of life, and his passionate desire of death, and urged it with this consideration, that the days of his life were meer vanity; he now pursues it with this expostulation, What is man, that vain, foolish Creature▪ that thou shouldst magnifie or regard, or visit him, (to wit, with thy mercy and blessings, of which those words are commonly used, i. e. that thou shouldst so far honour and regard him, as by thy visitation to preserve his Spirit, or hold his Soul in life) and try him, which God doth not only by afflictions, but also by prosperity and outward blessings, which commonly detect a mans hypocrisie, and discover that corruption which before lay hid in his heart? Therefore, O Lord, do not thus magnifie, and visit me with thy mercy, but take away my life.

19. How long wilt thou not depart from me , nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle e?

How long will it be ere thou withdraw thy afflicting hand from me? e i. e. for a little time; or that I may have a breathing time: A proverbial expression, like that Spanish Proverb, I [illegible: 1 word] not time or liberty to spit out my spittle. Or this expression may have respect to Iob's distempered and calamitous condition wherewith he was so overwhelmed, that he either had not strength, or could not take heed to spit out his spittle as he should have done, but swallowed it down, as sick and melancholy persons often do.

20. I have sinned , what shall I do unto thee , O thou preserver of men ? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to my self ?

Although I am innocent and free from those cr[illegible: 1+ letters]ing sins, for which my friends suppose thou hast sent this uncommon judgment upon me, yet if thou beest strict to mark what is amiss, I freely confess that I am a sinner, and therefore obnoxious to thy justice, and I humbly beg thy pardon for it; as it follows, vers. 21. And therefore accept of this Confession.

to satisfie thy Justice, or regain thy Favour. I can do nothing to purchase or deserve it, and therefore implore thy mercy to pardon my sins.

O thou who, as thou wast the Creator of man, delightest to be, and to be called the Preserver and Saviour of men; and that waitest to be kind and gracious to men from day to day, as occasion requires; do not deal with me in a way contrary to thy own Nature and Name, and to the manner of thy dealing with all the rest of Mankind. Oth. O thou Observer of men; thou who dost exactly know and diligently observe all mens inward motions, and outward actions; and therefore if thou shalt be severe to mark mine iniquities, as thou seemest to be, I have not what to say or do unto thee. Compare Iob 9. 3, 15, 29. & 14. 4. Into which thou wiltst shoot all the Arrows of thy indignation.

i. e I am weary of my self, and of my life, being no way able to resist or endure the assaults of so potent an Adversary.

Marginal references: Chap. 16. 12. Psal. 21. 12. Lam. 3. 12.

21. And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity ? for now shall I sleep in the dust ; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be .

Seeing thou art so gracious to others, so ready to preserve and pardon them, why may not I hope for the same favour from thee?

If thou doest not speedily help me, it will be too late, I shall be dead, and so uncapable of those blessings which thou usest to give to men in the land of the living.

i. e. When thou shalt diligently seek for me, that thou maiest shew favour to me, thou wilt find that I am dead and gone, and so wilt lose thy opportunity: Help therefore speedily.

Job 7:1-3   1  Has not a man warfare upon earth,

And his days are like the days of a hireling?   2  Like a servant who longs for the shade,

And like a hireling who waits for his wages,   3  So am I made to possess months of disappointment,

And nights of weariness are appointed to me.

The conclusion is intended to be: thus I wait for death as refreshing and rest after hard labour. He goes, however, beyond this next point of comparison, or rather he remains on this side of it. צבא is not service of a labourer in the field, but active military service, then fatigue, toil in general (Isa 40:20; Dan 10:1). Job 7:2 Ewald and others translate incorrectly: as a slave longs, etc. כּ can never introduce a comparative clause, except an infinitive, as e.g., Isa 5:24, which can then under the regimen of this כּ be continued by a verb. fin.; but it never stands directly for כּאשׁר, as כּמו does in rare instances. In Isa 5:3, שׁוא retains its primary signification, nothingness, error, disappointment (Job 15:31): months that one after another disappoint the hope of the sick. By this it seems we ought to imagine the friends as not having come at the very commencement of his disease. Elephantiasis is a disease which often lasts for years, and slowly but inevitably destroys the body. On מנּוּ, adnumeraverunt = adnumeratae sunt, vid., Ges. §137, 3*.

Job 7:4-6   4  If I lie down, I think:

When shall I arise and the evening break away?

And I become weary with tossing to and fro unto the morning dawn.   5  My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of earth;

My skin heals up to fester again.   6  My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

And vanish without hope.

Most modern commentators take מדּד as Piel from מדד: the night is extended (Renan: la nuit se prolonge), which is possible; comp. Ges. §52, 2. But the metre suggests another rendering: מדּד constr. of מדּד from נדד, to flee away: and when fleeing away of the evening. The night is described by its commencement, the late evening, to make the long interval of the sleeplessness and restlessness of the invalid prominent. In נדדים and מדד there is a play of words (Ebrard). רמּה, worms, in reference to the putrifying ulcers; and גּוּשׁ (with זעירא )ג, clod of earth, from the cracked, scaly, earth-coloured skin of one suffering with elephantiasis. The praett. are used of that which is past and still always present, the futt. consec. of that which follows in and with the other. The skin heals, רגע (which we render with Ges., Ew., contrahere se); the result is that it becomes moist again. ימּאס, according to Ges. §67, rem. 4 = ימּס, Psa 58:8. His days pass swiftly away; the result is that they come to an end without any hope whatever. ארג is like κερκίς, radius, a weaver’s shuttle, by means of which the weft is shot between the threads of the warp as they are drawn up and down. His days pass as swiftly by as the little shuttle passes backwards and forwards in the warp.

Next follows a prayer to God for the termination of his pain, since there is no second life after the present, and consequently also the possibility of requital ceases with death.

Job 7:7-11   7  Remember that my life is a breath,

That my eye will never again look on prosperity.   8  The eye that looketh upon me seeth me no more;

Thine eyes look for me, - I am no more!   9  The clouds are vanished and passed away,

So he that goeth down to Sheôl cometh not up. 10  He returneth no more to his house,

And his place knoweth him no more. 11  Therefore I will not curb my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

We see good, i.e., prosperity and joy, only in the present life. It ends with death. שׁוּב with ל infin. is a synonym of הוסיף, Job 20:9. No eye (עין femin.) which now sees me (prop. eye of my seer, as Gen 16:13, comp. Job 20:7; Psa 31:12, for ראני, Isa 29:15, or ראני, Isa 47:10; according to another reading, ראי: no eye of seeing, i.e., no eye with the power of seeing, from ראי, vision) sees me again, even if thy eyes should be directed towards me to help me; my life is gone, so that I can no more be the subject of help. For from Sheôl there is no return, no resurrection (comp. Psa 103:16 for the expression); therefore will I at least give free course to my thoughts and feelings (comp. Psa 77:4; Isa 38:15, for the expression). The גּם, Job 7:11, is the so-called גם talionis; the parallels cited by Michalis are to the point, Eze 16:43; Mal 2:9; Psa 52:7. Here we first meet with the name of the lower world; and in the book of Job we learn the ancient Israelitish conception of it more exactly than anywhere else. We have here only to do with the name in connection with the grammatical exposition. שׁאול (usually gen. fem.) is now almost universally derived from שׁאל = שׁעל, to be hollow, to be deepened; and aptly so, for they imagined the Sheôl as under ground, as Num 16:30, Num 16:33 alone shows, on which account even here, as from Gen 37:35 onwards, שׁאולה ירד is everywhere used. It is, however, open to question whether this derivation is correct: at least passages like Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5; Pro 30:15., show that in the later usage of the language, שׁאל, to demand, was thought of in connection with it; derived from which Sheôl signifies (1) the appointed inevitable and inexorable demanding of everything earthly (an infinitive noun like אלוהּ, פּקוד); (2) conceived of as space, the place of shadowy duration whither everything on earth is demanded; (3) conceived of according to its nature, the divinely appointed fury which gathers in and engulfs everything on the earth. Job knows nothing of a demanding back, a redemption from Sheôl.

Job 7:12-16 12  Am I a sea or a sea-monster,

That thou settest a watch over me? 13  For I said, My bed shall comfort me;

My couch shall help me to bear my complaint. 14  Then thou scaredst me with dreams,

And thou didst wake me up in terror from visions, 15  So that my soul chose suffocation,

Death rather than this skeleton. 16  I loathe it, I would not live alway;

Let me alone, for my days are breath.

Since a watch on the sea can only be designed to effect the necessary precautions at its coming forth from the shores, it is probable that the poet had the Nile in mind when he used ים, and consequently the crocodile by תּנּין. The Nile is also called ים in Isa 19:5, and in Homer ὠκεανός, Egyptian oham (= ὠκεανός), and is even now called (at least by the Bedouins) bahhr (Arab. bahr). The illustrations of the book, says von Gerlach correctly, are chiefly Egyptian. On the contrary, Hahn thinks the illustration is unsuitable of the Nile, because it is not watched on account of its danger, but its utility; and Schlottman thinks it even small and contemptible without assigning a reason. The figure is, however, appropriate. As watches are set to keep the Nile in channels as soon as it breaks forth, and as men are set to watch that they may seize the crocodile immediately he moves here or there; so Job says all his movements are checked at the very commencement, and as soon as he desires to be more cheerful he feels the pang of some fresh pain. In Job 7:13, ב after נשׂא is partitive, as Num 11:17; Mercier correctly: non nihil querelam meam levabit. If he hopes for such repose, it forthwith comes to nought, since he starts up affrighted from his slumber. Hideous dreams often disturb the sleep of those suffering with elephantiasis, says Avicenna (in Stickel, S. 170). Then he desires death; he wishes that his difficulty of breathing would increase to suffocation, the usual end of elephantiasis. מחנק is absolute (without being obliged to point it מחנק with Schlottm.), as e.g., מרמס, Isa 10:6 (Ewald, §160, c). He prefers death to these his bones, i.e., this miserable skeleton or framework of bone to which he is wasted away. He despises, i.e., his life, Job 9:21. Amid such suffering he would not live for ever. הבל, like רוּח, Job 7:7.

Job 7:17-19 17  What is man that Thou magnifiest him,

And that Thou turnest Thy heart toward him, 18  And visitest him every morning,

Triest him every moment? 19  How long dost Thou not look away from me,

Nor lettest me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

The questions in Job 7:17. are in some degree a parody on Psa 8:5, comp. Psa 144:3, Lam 3:23. There it is said that God exalts puny man to a kingly and divine position among His creatures, and distinguishes him continually with new tokens of His favour; here, that instead of ignoring him, He makes too much of him, by selecting him, perishable as he is, as the object of ever new and ceaseless sufferings. כּמּה, quamdiu, Job 7:19, is construed with the praet. instead of the fut.: how long will it continue that Thou turnest not away Thy look of anger from me? as the synonymous עד־מתי, quousque, is sometimes construed with the praet. instead of the fut., e.g., Psa 80:5. “Until I swallow my spittle” is a proverbial expression for the minimum of time.

Job 7:20-21 20  Have I sinned - what could I do to Thee?!

O Observer of men,

Why dost Thou make me a mark to Thee,

And am I become a burden to Thee? 21  And why dost Thou not forgive my transgression,

And put away my iniquity?

For now I will lay myself in the dust,

And Thou seekest for me, and I am no more.  “I have sinned” is hypothetical (Ges. §155, 4, a): granted that I have sinned. According to Ewald and Olsh., אפעל־לך מה defines it more particularly: I have sinned by what I have done to Thee, in my behaviour towards Thee; but how tame and meaningless such an addition would be! It is an inferential question: what could I do to Thee? i.e., what harm, or also, since the fut. may be regulated by the praet.: what injury have I thereby done to Thee? The thought that human sin, however, can detract nothing from the blessedness and glory of God, underlies this. With a measure of sinful bitterness, Job calls God האדם נצר, the strict and constant observer of men, per convicium fere, as Gesenius not untruly observes, nevertheless without a breach of decorum divinum (Renan: O Espion de l'homme), since the appellation, in itself worthy of God (Isa 27:3), is used here only somewhat unbecomingly. מפגּע is not the target for shooting at, which is rather מטּרה (Job 16:12; Lam 3:12), but the object on which one rushes with hostile violence (בּ פּגע). Why, says Job, hast Thou made me the mark of hostile attack, and why am I become a burden to Thee? It is not so in our text; but according to Jewish tradition, עלי, which we now have, is only a סופרים תקון, correctio scribarum,Vid., the Commentary on Habakkuk, S. 206-208; comp. Geiger, Urschrift und Uebersetzungen der Bibel, S. 308ff. for אליך, which was removed as bordering on blasphemy: why am I become a burden to Thee, so that Thou shouldest seek to get rid of me? This reading I should not consider as the original, in spite of the tradition, if it were not confirmed by the lxx, εἰμὶ δὲ ἐπὶ σοὶ φορτίον.

It is not to be objected, that he who is fully conscious of sin cannot consider the strictest divine punishment even of the smallest sin unjust. The suffering of one whose habitual state is pleasing to God, and who is conscious of the divine favour, can never be explained from, and measured according to, his infirmities: the infirmities of one who trusts in God, or the believer, and the severity of the divine justice in the punishment of sin, have no connection with one another. Consequently, when Eliphaz bids Job regard his affliction as chastisement, Job is certainly in the wrong to dispute with God concerning the magnitude of it: he would rather patiently yield, if his faith could apprehend the salutary design of God in his affliction; but after his affliction once seems to him to spring from wrath and enmity, and not from the divine purpose of mercy, after the phantom of a hostile God is come between him and the brightness of the divine countenance, he cannot avoid falling into complaint of unmercifulness. For this the speech of Eliphaz is in itself not to blame: he had most feelingly described to him God’s merciful purpose in this chastisement, but he is to blame for not having taken the right tone.

The speech of Job is directed against the unsympathetic and reproving tone which the friends, after their long silence, have assumed immediately upon his first manifestation of anguish. He justifies to them his complaint (ch. 3) as the natural and just outburst of his intense suffering, desires speedy death as the highest joy with which God could reward his piety, complains of his disappointment in his friends, from whom he had expected affectionate solace, but by whom he sees he is now forsaken, and earnestly exhorts them to acknowledge the justice of his complaint (ch. 6). But can they? Yes, they might and should. For Job thinks he is no longer an object of divine favour: an inward conflict, which is still more terrible than hell, is added to his outward suffering. For the damned must give glory to God, because they recognise their suffering as just punishment: Job, however, in his suffering sees the wrath of God, and still is at the same time conscious of his innocence. The faith which, in the midst of his exhaustion of body and soul, still knows and feels God to be merciful, and can call him “my God,” like Asaph in Ps 73, - this faith is well-nigh overwhelmed in Job by the thought that God is his enemy, his pains the arrows of God. The assumption is false, but on this assumption Job’s complaints (ch. 3) are relatively just, including, what he himself says, that they are mistaken, thoughtless words of one in despair. But that despair is sin, and therefore also those curses and despairing inquiries!

Is not Eliphaz, therefore, in the right? His whole treatment is wrong. Instead of distinguishing between the complaint of his suffering and the complaint of God in Job’s outburst of anguish, he puts them together, without recognising the complaint of his suffering to be the natural and unblamable result of its extraordinary magnitude, and as a sympathizing friend falling in with it. But with regard to the complaints of God, Eliphaz, acting as though careful for his spiritual welfare, ought not to have met them with his reproofs, especially as the words of one heavily afflicted deserve indulgence and delicate treatment; but he should have combated their false assumption. First, he should have said to Job, “Thy complaints of thy suffering are just, for thy suffering is incomparably great.” In the next place, “Thy cursing thy birth, and thy complaint of God who has given thee thy life, might seem just if it were true that God has rejected thee; but that is not true: even in suffering He designs thy good; the greater the suffering, the greater the glory.” By this means Eliphaz should have calmed Job’s despondency, so as to destroy his false assumption; but he begins wrongly, and consequently what he says at last so truly and beautifully respecting the glorious issue of a patient endurance of chastisement, makes no impression on Job. He has not fanned the faintly burning wick, but his speech is a cold and violent breath which is calculated entirely to extinguish it.

After Job has defended the justice of his complaints against the insensibility of the friends, he gives way anew to lamentation. Starting from the wearisomeness of human life in general, he describes the greatness of his own suffering, which has received no such recognition on the part of the friends: it is a restless, torturing death without hope (Job 7:1-6). Then he turns to God: O remember that there is no second life after death, and that I am soon gone for ever; therefore I will utter my woe without restraint (Job 7:7-11). Thus far (from Job 6:1 onwards) I find in Job’s speech no trace of blasphemous or sinful despair. When he says (Job 6:8-12), How I would rejoice if God, whose word I have never disowned, would grant me my request, and end my life, for I can no longer bear my suffering, - I cannot with Ewald see in its despair rising to madness, which (Job 7:10) even increases to frantic joy. For Job’s disease was indeed really in the eyes of men as hopeless as he describes it. In an incurable disease, however, imploring God to hasten death, and rejoicing at the thought of approaching dissolution, is not a sin, and is not to be called despair, inasmuch as one does not call giving up all hope of recovery despair.

Moreover, it must not be forgotten that the book of Job is an oriental book, and therefore some allowance must be made of the intensity and strength of conception of the oriental nature: then that it is a poetical book, and that frenzy and madness may not be also understood by the intensified expression in which poetry, which idealizes the real, clothes pain and joy: finally, that it is an Old Testament book, and that in the Old Testament the fundamental nature of man is indeed sanctified, but not yet subdued; the spirit shines forth as a light in a dark place, but the day, the ever constant consciousness of favour and life, has not yet dawned. The desire of a speedy termination of life (Job 6:8-12) is in Job 7:7-11 softened down even to a request for an alleviation of suffering, founded on this, that death terminates life for ever. In the Talmud (b. Bathra, 16, a) it is observed, on this passage, that Job denies the resurrection of the dead (המתים בתחיים איוב שׁכפר מכאן); but Job knows nothing of a resurrection of the dead, and what one knows not, one cannot deny. He knows only that after death, the end of the present life, there is no second life in this world, only a being in Sheôl, which is only an apparent existence = no existence, in which all praise of God is silent, because He no longer reveals himself there as to the living in this world (Psa 6:6; Psa 30:10; Psa 88:11-13; Psa 115:17). From this chaotic conception of the other side of the grave, against which even the psalmists still struggle, the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead had not been set forth at the time of Job, and of the author of the book of Job. The restoration of Israel buried in exile (Ezek 37) first gave the impulse to it; and the resurrection of the Prince of Life, who was laid in the grave, set the seal upon it. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was first of all the actual overthrow of Hades.Mortis seu inferni, observes Brentius, in accordance with Scriptures, ea conditio est, ut natura sua quoscunque comprehenderit tantisper teneat nec dimittat, dum Christus, filius Dei, morte ad infernum descenderit, h.e. perierit; per hunc enim devicta morte et inferno liberantur quotquot fide renovati sunt. This great change in the destiny of the dead was incomplete, and the better hope which became brighter and brighter as the advent of death’s Conqueror drew near was not yet in existence. For if after death, or what is the same thing, after the descent into Sheôl, there was only a non-existence for Job, it is evident that on the one hand he can imagine a life after death only as a return to the present world (such a return does, however, not take place), on the other hand that no divine revelation said anything to him of a future life which should infinitely compensate for a return to the present world. And since he knows nothing of a future existence, it can consequently not be said that he denies it: he knows nothing of it, and even his dogmatizing friends have nothing to tell him about it. We shall see by and by, how the more his friends torment him, the more he is urged on in his longing for a future life; but the word of revelation, which could alone change desire into hope, is wanting. The more tragic and heart-rending Job’s desire to be freed by death from his unbearable suffering is, the more touching and importunate is his prayer that God may consider that now soon he can no longer be an object of His mercy. Just the same request is found frequently in the Psalms, e.g., Psa 89:48, comp. Psa 103:14-16 : it involves nothing that is opposed to the Old Testament fear of God. Thus far we can trace nothing of frenzy and madness, and of despair only in so far as Job has given up the hope (נואשׁ) of his restoration, - not however of real despair, in which a man impatiently and forcibly snaps asunder the bond of trust which unites him to God. If the poet had anywhere made Job to go to such a length in despair, he would have made Satan to triumph over him.

Now, however, the last two strophes follow in which Job is hurried forward to the use of sinful language, Job 7:12-16 : Am I a sea or a sea-monster, etc.; and Job 7:17-21 : What is man, that thou accountest him so great, etc. We should nevertheless be mistaken if we thought there were sin here in the expressions by which Job describes God’s hostility against himself. We may compare e.g., Lam 3:9, Lam 3:10 : “He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, He hath made any paths crooked; He is to me as a bear lying in wait, a lion in the thicket.” It is, moreover, not Job’s peculiar sin that he thinks God has changed to an enemy against him; that is the view which comes from his vision being beclouded by the conflict through which he is passing, as is frequently the case in the Psalms. His sin does not even consist in the inquiries, How long? and Wherefore? The Psalms in that case would abound in sin. But the sin is that he dwells upon these doubting questions, and thus attributes apparent mercilessness and injustice to God. And the friends constantly urge him on still deeper in this sin, the more persistently they attribute his suffering to his own unrighteousness. Jeremiah (in Lamentations 3), after similar complaints, adds: Then I repeated this to my heart, and took courage from it: the mercies of Jehovah, they have no end; His compassions do not cease, etc. Many of the Psalms that begin sorrowfully, end in the same way; faith at length breaks through the clouds of doubt. But it should be remembered that the change of spiritual condition which, e.g., in Psa 6:1-10, is condensed to the narrow limits of a lyric composition of eleven verses, is here in Job worked out with dramatical detail as a passage of his life’s history: his faith, once so heroic, only smoulders under ashes; the friends, instead of fanning it to a flame, bury it still deeper, until at last it is set free from its bondage by Jehovah himself, who appears in the whirlwind. Bildad’s First Speech - Job 8We will give an example here of our and Ewald’s computation of the strophes. “In the speech of Bildad, ch. 8,” says Ewald, Jahrb. ix. 35, “the first part may go to Job 8:10, and be divided into three strophes of three lines each.” This is right; but that the three strophes consist of three lines, i.e., according to Ewald’s use of the word, three (Masoretic) verses, is accidental. There are three strophes, of which the first consists of six lines = stichs, the second of seven, the third again of six. “Just so them,” Ewald proceeds, “the second part, Job 8:11-19, is easily broken up into like three strophes,” viz., Job 8:11-13, Job 8:14-16, Job 8:17-19. But strophes must first of all be known as being groups of stichs forming a complete sense (Sinngruppen). They are, according to their idea, groups of measured compass, as members of a symmetrical whole. Can we, however, take Job 8:14-16 together as such a complete group? In his edition of Job of 1854, Ewald places a semicolon after Job 8:16; and rightly, for Job 8:16-19 belong inseparably together. Taking them thus, we have in the second part of the speech three groups. In the first, Job 8:11-15, the godless are likened to the reed; and his house in prosperity to a spider’s web, since its perishableness, symbolized by the reed, is proved (אשׁר, Job 8:14). In the second, Job 8:16-19, follows the figure of the climbing plant which Job 8:19 (יצמחוּ) seems to indicate. In the third, Job 8:20-22, the figure is given up, and the strophe is entirely epimythionic. Of these three groups, the first consists of ten, the second of eight, and the third of six lines = stichs. The schema is therefore as we have given it above: 6. 7. 6. 10. 8. 6. We are only justified in calling these groups strophes by the predominance of the hexastich, which occurs at the beginning, middle, and close of the speech.

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

1 Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of a hireling? 2 As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work: 3 So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me. 4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day. 5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome. 6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

Job is here excusing what he could not justify, even his inordinate desire of death. Why should he not wish for the termination of life, which would be the termination of his miseries? To enforce this reason he argues,

I. From the general condition of man upon earth (v. 1): "He is of few days, and full of trouble. Every man must die shortly, and every man has some reason (more or less) to desire to die shortly; and therefore why should you impute it to me as so heinous a crime that I wish to die shortly?" Or thus: "Pray mistake not my desires of death, as if I thought the time appointed of God could be anticipated: no, I know very well that that is fixed; only in such language as this I take the liberty to express my present uneasiness: Is there not an appointed time (a warfare, so the word is) to man upon earth? and are not his days here like the days of a hireling?" Observe, 1. Man's present place. He is upon earth, which God has given to the children of men, Ps. cxv. 16. This bespeaks man's meanness and inferiority. How much below the inhabitants of yonder elevated and refined regions is he situated! It also bespeaks God's mercy to him. He is yet upon the earth, not under it; on earth, not in hell. Our time on earth is limited and short, according to the narrow bounds of this earth; but heaven cannot be measured, nor the days of heaven numbered. 2. His continuance in that place. Is there not a time appointed for his abode here? Yes, certainly there is, and it is easy to say by whom the appointment is made, even by him that made us and set us here. We are not to be on this earth always, nor long, but for a certain time, which is determined by him in whose hand our times are. We are not to think that we are governed by the blind fortune of the Epicureans, but by the wise, holy, and sovereign counsel of God. 3. His condition during that continuance. Man's life is a warfare, and as the days of a hireling. We are every one of us to look upon ourselves in this world, (1.) As soldiers, exposed to hardship and in the midst of enemies; we must serve and be under command; and, when our warfare is accomplished, we must be disbanded, dismissed with either shame or honour, according to what we have done in the body. (2.) As day-labourers, that have the work of the day to do in its day and must make up their account at night.

II. From his own condition at this time. He had as much reason, he thought, to wish for death, as a poor servant or hireling that is tired with his work has to wish for the shadows of the evening, when he shall receive his penny and go to rest, v. 2. The darkness of the night is as welcome to the labourer as the light of the morning is to the watchman, Ps. cxxx. 6. The God of nature has provided for the repose of labourers, and no wonder that they desire it. The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, Eccl. v. 12. No pleasure more grateful, more relishing, to the luxurious than rest to the laborious; nor can any rich man take so much satisfaction in the return of his rent-days as the hireling in his day's wages. The comparison is plain, the application is concise and somewhat obscure, but we must supply a word or two, and then it is easy: exactness of language is not to be expected from one in Job's condition. "As a servant earnestly desires the shadow, so and for the same reason I earnestly desire death; for I am made to possess, &c." Hear his complaint.

1. His days were useless, and had been so a great while. He was wholly taken off from business, and utterly unfit for it. Every day was a burden to him, because he was in no capacity of doing good, or of spending it to any purpose. Et vitæ partem non attigit ullam—He could not fill up his time with any thing that would turn to account. This he calls possessing months of vanity, v. 3. It very much increases the affliction of sickness and age, to a good man, that he is thereby forced from his usefulness. He insists not so much upon it that they are days in which he has no pleasure as that they are days in which he does not good; on that account they are months of vanity. But when we are disabled to work for God, if we will but sit still quietly for him, it is all one; we shall be accepted.

2. His nights were restless, v. 3, 4. The night relieves the toil and fatigue of the day, not only to the labourers, but to the sufferers: if a sick man can but get a little sleep in the night, it helps nature, and it is hoped that he will do well, John xi. 12. However, be the trouble what it will, sleep gives some intermission to the cares, and pains, and griefs, that afflict us; it is the parenthesis of our sorrows. But poor Job could not gain this relief. (1.) His nights were wearisome, and, instead of taking any rest, he did but tire himself more with tossing to and fro until morning. Those that are in great uneasiness, through pain of body or anguish of mind, think by changing sides, changing places, changing postures, to get some ease; but, while the cause is the same within, it is all to no purpose; it is but a resemblance of a fretful discontented spirit, that is ever shifting, but never easy. This made him dread the night as much as the servant desires it, and, when he lay down, to say, When will the night be gone? (2.) These wearisome nights were appointed to him. God, who determines the times before appointed, had allotted him such nights as these. Whatever is at any time grievous to us, it is good to see it appointed for us, that we may acquiesce in the event, not only as unavoidable because appointed, but as therefore designed for some holy end. When we have comfortable nights we must see them also appointed to us and be thankful for them; many better than we have wearisome nights.

3. His body was noisome, v. 5. His sores bred worms, the scabs were like clods of dust, and his skin was broken; so evil was the disease which cleaved fast to him. See what vile bodies we have, and what little reason we have to pamper them or be proud of them; they have in themselves the principles of their own corruption: as fond as we are of them now, the time may come when we may loathe them and long to get rid of them.

4. His life was hastening apace towards a period, v. 6. He thought he had no reason to expect a long life, for he found himself declining fast (v. 6): My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, that is, "My time is now but short, and there are but a few sands more in my glass, which will speedily run out." Natural motions are more swift near the centre. Job thought his days ran swiftly because he thought he should soon be at his journey's end; he looked upon them as good as spent already, and he was therefore without hope of being restored to his former prosperity. It is applicable to man's life in general. Our days are like a weaver's shuttle, thrown from one side of the web to the other in the twinkling of an eye, and then back again, to and fro, until at length it is quite exhausted of the thread it carried, and then we cut off, like a weaver, our life, Isa. xxxviii. 12. Time hastens on apace; the motion of it cannot be stopped, and, when it is past, it cannot be recalled. While we are living, as we are sowing (Gal. vi. 8), so we are weaving. Every day, like the shuttle, leaves a thread behind it. Many weave the spider's web, which will fail them, ch. viii. 14. If we are weaving to ourselves holy garments and robes of righteousness, we shall have the benefit of them when our work comes to be reviewed and every man shall reap as he sowed and wear as he wove.

7 O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good. 8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. 9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. 10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. 11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12 Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me? 13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint; 14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions: 15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. 16 I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.

Job, observing perhaps that his friends, though they would not interrupt him in his discourse, yet began to grow weary, and not to heed much what he said, here turns to God, and speaks to him. If men will not hear us, God will; if men cannot help us, he can; for his arm is not shortened, neither is his ear heavy. Yet we must not go to school to Job here to learn how to speak to God; for, it must be confessed, there is a great mixture of passion and corruption in what he here says. But, if God be not extreme to mark what his people say amiss, let us also make the best of it. Job is here begging of God either to ease him or to end him. He here represents himself to God,

I. As a dying man, surely and speedily dying. It is good for us, when we are sick, to think and speak of death, for sickness is sent on purpose to put us in mind of it; and, if we be duly mindful of it ourselves, we may in faith put God in mind of it, as Job does here (v. 7): O remember that my life is wind. He recommends himself to God as an object of his pity and compassion, with this consideration, that he was a very weak frail creature, his abode in this world short and uncertain, his removal out of it sure and speedy, and his return to it again impossible and never to be expected—that his life was wind, as the lives of all men are, noisy perhaps and blustering, like the wind, but vain and empty, soon gone, and, when gone, past recall. God had compassion on Israel, remembering that they were but flesh, a wind that passeth away and cometh not again, Ps. lxxviii. 38, 39. Observe,

1. The pious reflections Job makes upon his own life and death. Such plain truths as these concerning the shortness and vanity of life, the unavoidableness and irrecoverableness of death, then do us good when we think and speak of them with application to ourselves. Let us consider then, (1.) That we must shortly take our leave of all the things that are seen, that are temporal. The eye of the body must be closed, and shall no more see good, the good which most men set their hearts upon; for their cry is, Who will make us to see good? Ps. iv. 6. If we be such fools as to place our happiness in visible good things, what will become of us when they shall be for ever hidden from our eyes, and we shall no more see good? Let us therefore live by that faith which is the substance and evidence of things not seen. (2.) That we must then remove to an invisible world: The eye of him that hath here seen me shall see me no more there. It is hades—an unseen state, v. 8. Death removes our lovers and friends into darkness (Ps. lxxxviii. 18), and will shortly remove us out of their sight; when we go hence we shall be seen no more (Ps. xxxix. 13), but go to converse with the things that are not seen, that are eternal. (3.) That God can easily, and in a moment, put an end to our lives, and send us to another world (v. 8): "Thy eyes are upon me and I am not; thou canst look me into eternity, frown me into the grave, when thou pleasest." Shouldst thou, displeased, give me a frowning look, I sink, I die, as if with lightning struck. Sir R. Blackmore . He takes away our breath, and we die; nay, he but looks on the earth and it trembles, Ps. xiv. 29, 30. (4.) That, when we are once removed to another world, we must never return to this. There is constant passing from this world to the other, but vestigia nulla retrorsum—there is no repassing. "Therefore, Lord, kindly ease me by death, for that will be a perpetual ease. I shall return no more to the calamities of this life." When we are dead we are gone, to return no more, [1.] From our house under ground (v. 9): He that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more until the general resurrection, shall come up no more to his place in this world. Dying is work that is to be done but once, and therefore it had need be well done: an error there is past retrieve. This is illustrated by the blotting out and scattering of a cloud. It is consumed and vanisheth away, is resolved into air and never knits again. Other clouds arise, but the same cloud never returns: so a new generation of the children of men is raised up, but the former generation is quite consumed and vanishes away. When we see a cloud which looks great, as if it would eclipse the sun and drawn the earth, of a sudden dispersed and disappearing, let us say, "Just such a thing is the life of man; it is a vapour that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." [2.] To return no more to our house above ground (v. 10): He shall return no more to his house, to the possession and enjoyment of it, to the business and delights of it. Others will take possession, and keep it till they also resign to another generation. The rich man in hell desired that Lazarus might be sent to his house, knowing it was to no purpose to ask that he might have leave to go himself. Glorified saints shall return no more to the cares, and burdens, and sorrows of their house; nor damned sinners to the gaieties and pleasures of their house. Their place shall no more know them, no more own them, have no more acquaintance with them, nor be any more under their influence. It concerns us to secure a better place when we die, for this will no more own us.

2. The passionate inference he draws from it. From these premises he might have drawn a better conclusion that this (v. 11): Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak; I will complain. Holy David, when he had been meditating on the frailty of human life, made a contrary use of it (Ps. xxxix. 9, I was dumb, and opened not my mouth); but Job, finding himself near expiring, hastens as much to make his complaint as if he had been to make his last will and testament or as if he could not die in peace until he had given vent to his passion. When we have but a few breaths to draw we should spend them in the holy gracious breathings of faith and prayer, not in the noisome noxious breathings of sin and corruption. Better die praying and praising than die complaining and quarrelling.

II. As a distempered man, sorely and grievously distempered both in body and mind. In this part of his representation is he is very peevish, as if God dealt hardly with him and laid upon him more than was meet: "Am I a sea, or a whale (v. 12), a raging sea, that must be kept within bounds, to check its proud waves, or an unruly whale, that must be restrained by force from devouring all the fishes of the sea? Am I so strong that there needs so much ado to hold me? so boisterous that no less than all these mighty bonds of affliction will serve to tame me and keep me within compass?" We are very apt, when we are in affliction, to complain of God and his providence, as if he laid more restraints upon us that there is occasion for; whereas we are never in heaviness but when there is need, nor more than the necessity demands. 1. He complains that he could not rest in his bed, v. 13, 14. There we promise ourselves some repose, when we are fatigued with labour, pain, or traveling: "My bed shall comfort me, and my couch shall ease my complaint. Sleep will for a time give me some relief;" it usually does so; it is appointed for that end; many a time it has eased us, and we have awaked refreshed, and with new vigour. When it is so we have great reason to be thankful; but it was not so with poor Job: his bed, instead of comforting him, terrified him; and his couch, instead of easing his complaint, added to it; for if he dropped asleep, he was disturbed with frightful dreams, and when those awaked him still he was haunted with dreadful apparitions. This was it that made the night so unwelcome and wearisome to him as it was (v. 4): When shall I arise? Note, God can, when he pleases, meet us with terror even where we promise ourselves ease and repose; nay, he can make us a terror to ourselves, and, as we have often contracted guilt by the rovings of an unsanctified fancy, he can likewise, by the power of our own imagination, create us much grief, and so make that our punishment which has often been our sin. In Job's dreams, though they might partly arise from his distemper (in fevers, or small pox, when the body is all over sore, it is common for the sleep to be unquiet), yet we have reason to think Satan had a hand, for he delights to terrify those whom it is out of his reach to destroy; but Job looked up to God, who permitted Satan to do this (thou scarest me), and mistook Satan's representations for the terror of God setting themselves in array against him. We have reason to pray to God that our dreams may neither defile nor disquiet us, neither tempt us to sin nor torment us with fear, that he who keeps Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps, may keep us when we slumber and sleep, that the devil may not then do us a mischief, either as an insinuating serpent or as a roaring lion, and to bless God if we lie down and our sleep is sweet and we are not thus scared. 2. He covets to rest in his grave, that bed where there are no tossings to and fro, nor any frightful dreams, v. 15, 16. (1.) He was sick of life, and hated the thoughts of it: "I loathe it; I have had enough of it. I would not live always, not only not live always in this condition, in pain and misery, but not live always in the most easy and prosperous condition, to be continually in danger of being thus reduced. My days are vanity at the best, empty of solid comfort, exposed to real griefs; and I would not be for ever tied to such uncertainty." Note, A good man would not (if he might) live always in this world, no, not though it smile upon him, because it is a world of sin and temptation and he has a better world in prospect. (2.) He was fond of death, and pleased himself with the thoughts of it: his soul (his judgment, he thought, but really it was his passion) chose strangling and death rather than life; any death rather than such a life as this. Doubtless this was Job's infirmity; for though a good man would not wish to live always in this world, and would choose strangling and death rather than sin, as the martyrs did, yet he will be content to live as long as pleases God, not choose death rather than life, because life is our opportunity of glorifying God and getting ready for heaven.

17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? 18 And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment? 19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? 20 I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? 21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

Job here reasons with God,

I. Concerning his dealings with man in general (v. 17, 18): What is man, that thou shouldst magnify him? This may be looked upon either, 1. As a passionate reflection upon the proceedings of divine justice; as if the great God did diminish and disparage himself in contending with man. "Great men think it below them to take cognizance of those who are much their inferiors so far as to reprove and correct their follies and indecencies; why then does God magnify man, by visiting him, and trying him, and making so much ado about him? Why will he thus pour all his forces upon one that is such an unequal match for him? Why will he visit him with afflictions, which, like a quotidian ague, return as duly and constantly as the morning light, and try, every moment, what he can bear?" We mistake God, and the nature of his providence, if we think it any lessening to him to take notice of the meanest of his creatures. Or, 2. As a pious admiration of the condescensions of divine grace, like that, Ps. viii. 4; cxliv. 3. He owns God's favour to man in general, even when he complains of his own particular troubles. "What is man, miserable man, a poor, mean, weak creature, that thou, the great and glorious God, shouldst deal with him as thou dost? What is man," (1.) "That thou shouldst put such honour upon him, shouldst magnify him, by taking him into covenant and communion with thyself?" (2.) "That thou shouldst concern thyself so much about him, shouldst set thy heart upon him, as dear to thee, and one that thou hast a kindness for?" (3.) "That thou shouldst visit him with thy compassions every morning, as we daily visit a particular friend, or as the physician visits his patients every morning to help them?" (4.) "That thou shouldst try him, shouldst feel his pulse and observe his looks, every moment, as in care about him and jealous over him?" That such a worm of the earth as man is should be the darling and favourite of heaven is what we have reason for ever to admire.

II. Concerning his dealings with him in particular. Observe,

1. The complaint he makes of his afflictions, which he here aggravates, and (as we are all too apt to do) makes the worst of, in three expressions:—(1.) That he was the butt to God's arrows: "Thou hast set me as a mark against thee," v. 20. "My case is singular, and none is shot at as I am." (2.) That he was a burden to himself, ready to sink under the load of his own life. How much delight soever we take in ourselves God can, when he pleases, make us burdens to ourselves. What comfort can we take in ourselves if God appear against us as an enemy and we have not comfort in him. (3.) That he had no intermission of his griefs (v. 19): "How long will it be ere thou cause thy rod to depart from me, or abate the rigour of the correction, at least for so long as that I may swallow down my spittle?" It should seem, Job's distemper lay much in his throat, and almost choked him, so that he could not swallow his spittle. He complains (ch. xxx. 18) that it bound him about like the collar of his coat. "Lord," says he, "wilt not thou give me some respite, some breathing time?" ch. ix. 18.

2. The concern he is in about his sins. The best men have sin to complain of, and the better they are the more they will complain of it. (1.) He ingenuously owns himself guilty before God: I have sinned. God had said of him that he was a perfect and an upright man; yet he says of himself, I have sinned. Those may be upright who yet are not sinless; and those who are sincerely penitent are accepted, through a Mediator, as evangelically perfect. Job maintained, against his friends, that he was not a hypocrite, not a wicked man; and yet he owned to his God that he had sinned. If we have been kept from gross acts of sin, it does not therefore follow that we are innocent. The best must acknowledge, before God, that they have sinned. His calling God the observer, or preserver, of men, may be looked upon as designed for an aggravation of his sin: "Though God has had his eye upon me, his eye upon me for good, yet I have sinned against him." When we are in affliction it is seasonable to confess sin, as the procuring cause of our affliction. Penitent confessions would drown and silence passionate complaints. (2.) He seriously enquires how he may make his peace with God: "What shall I do unto thee, having done so much against thee?" Are we convinced that we have sinned, and are we brought to own it? We cannot but conclude that something must be done to prevent the fatal consequences of it. The matter must not rest as it is, but some course must be taken to undo what has been ill done. And, if we are truly sensible of the danger we have run ourselves into, we shall be willing to do any thing, to take a pardon upon any terms; and therefore shall be inquisitive as to what we shall do (Mic. vi. 6, 7), what we shall do to God, not to satisfy the demands of his justice (that is done only by the Mediator), but to qualify ourselves for the tokens of his favour, according to the tenour of the gospel-covenant. In making this enquiry it is good to eye God as the preserver or Saviour of men, not their destroyer. In our repentance we must keep up good thoughts of God, as one that delights not in the ruin of his creatures, but would rather they should return and live. "Thou art the Saviour of men; be my Saviour, for I cast myself upon thy mercy." (3.) He earnestly begs for the forgiveness of his sins, v. 21. The heat of his spirit, as, on the one hand, it made his complaints the more bitter, so, on the other hand, it made his prayers the more lively and importunate; as here: "Why dost thou not pardon my transgression? Art thou not a God of infinite mercy, that art ready to forgive? Hast not thou wrought repentance in me? Why then dost thou not give me the pardon of my sin, and make me to hear the voice of that joy and gladness?" Surely he means more than barely the removing of his outward trouble, and is herein earnest for the return of God's favour, which he complained of the want of, ch. vi. 4. "Lord, pardon my sins, and give me the comfort of that pardon, and then I can easily bear my afflictions," Matt. ix. 2; Isa. xxxiii. 24. When the mercy of God pardons the transgression that is committed by us the grace of God takes away the iniquity that reigns in us. Wherever God removes the guilt of sin he breaks the power of sin. (4.) To enforce his prayer for pardon he pleads the prospect he had of dying quickly: For now shall I sleep in the dust. Death will lay us in the dust, will lay us to sleep there, and perhaps presently, now in a little time. Job had been complaining of restless nights, and that sleep departed from his eyes (v. 3, 4, 13, 14); but those who cannot sleep on a bed of down will shortly sleep in a bed of dust, and not be scared with dreams nor tossed to and fro: "Thou shalt seek me in the morning, to show me favour, but I shall not be; it will be too late then. If my sins be not pardoned while I live, I am lost and undone for ever." Note, The consideration of this, that we must shortly die, and perhaps may die suddenly, should make us all very solicitous to get our sins pardoned and our iniquity taken away.

CHAP. VII. Verſe 1. Is there not an appointed time to m[illegible: 1 letter]n upon the earth?]

THere is certainly: Our bounds are preſcribed us; and a pillar ſet by him who beares [illegible: 1 letter]p the heavens, which we are not to tranſpaſſe. Stat ſua cuique dies, (ſaid the He[illegible: 1 letter]then Poet; our laſt day ſtands, the reſt run. It is ſaid of the Turkes,Virg. Aeneid. 10. Sr. H. Blounts Voyage into Levant. Humanae vitae terminus non eſt de[illegible: 1 letter]reto ſimplici & abſoluto [illegible: 1 span] Heming. that they ſhun not the company of thoſe that have the prague, but pointing upon their fore-heads [illegible: 1 letter]ay, it was written there at their birth when they ſhould die. Now if there be an appointed time &c. what meane the Lutherans to teach that God hath not determined the period of mens dayes, but it is in mans power to lengthen or ſhorten them: In this one verſe we have two metaphors, both which do evince the contrary. The [illegible: 1 word] is from ſouldiers, implyed in the word [illegible: 1 word] tranſlated an appointed time, or a warfare, becauſe there was a ſet time for ſouldiers to fight, and a ſet time alſo for them to ſerve. The ſecond is from an [illegible: 1 word].

Are not his dayes alſo like the dayes of an [illegible: 1 word]?] De[illegible: 1 letter]cribit humanae vitae brevitatem, ſaith Vatablus. Here he deſcribeth the ſhortneſſe of mans life, and withall that his dayes are determined, for with an hireling wee agree to worke with us for a certaine time, and uſually for a day, or by the day; and hence we call them day-labourers. It importeth, then that the time of mans life is ſhort and ſet: for hirelings are appointed to an hour. See Job 14.14. Eccleſ. 2.3. John 7.30. Iſa. 38.5. Fifteene yeares juſt were added to Hezekiahs life: our haires are [illegible: 1 word], much more our dayes. This Job alledgeth to ſet forth his own extreme miſery, as one condemned to [illegible: 1 word] torment without any reſpite or refreſhing: and therefore in a worſe caſe then any ſouldier or ſervant.

Verſe 2. As a ſervant earnestly deſireth the ſhadow &c.] Heb. gapeth after, or gaſpeth for the [illegible: 1 word] that is, for ſome place of cool repoſe after his hard labour in the hot ſun-ſhine, as in harveſt; or for the ſhadow, that is; for dark night, or for the evening.

Cum [illegible: 1 span] diſcedens [illegible: 1 span].

And [illegible: 1 span] for the reward of his work] Heb. expecteth his work, Virg. Eclog. that is, his [illegible: 2 letters]ges. Gods work is its own wages: and in doing thereof (not only for doing thereof) there is great reward, Pſal. 19.11. Righteouſneſſe is its own recompence; [illegible: 1 span] for his wages, he ſets his heart upon it, Deut. [illegible: 1 span] and God provideth there, that it be duely paid him: and thoſe that detaine [illegible: 1 span], ſee Jam. 5.4. 'tis a [illegible: 1 letter]rying [illegible: 1 word]. The whole verſe may cohere [illegible: 1 span], and be thus [illegible: 1 letter]endred, Is not man as a ſervant that earneſtly deſireth the ſhadow and is he not as an [illegible: 1 word] that looketh for the reward of his Work? [illegible: 1 letter]ut it is better to [illegible: 1 span] with that when followeth, according to our [illegible: 1 letter]ranſlation.

Verſe 3. So [illegible: 1 span] months of vanity] So, but a great deale worſe [illegible: 1 span]. The labouring ſervant hath his ſhade; the painful [illegible: 1 span]; But I am ſhade to [illegible: 1 word], or have aſſigned to me for [illegible: 1 span], But whole months of vanity, that is, of moleſtation and miſery, [illegible: 1 word] of the l[illegible: 1 letter]aſt comfort o[illegible: 1 letter] hope or amendment. The ſouldier, ſervant [illegible: 1 span]: but with me it is every day worſe then other; and [illegible: 1 span] here would be a little hell to me. From the months of vanity, here mentioned [illegible: 1 span] ſome render [illegible: 1 span] it may be gathered that Jobs calamities laſted a long time, twelve months, ſay the Hebrewes, ſeven years, ſaith [illegible: 1 span] in any ſort, we think our [illegible: 1 span]. For Months of vanity ſome reade [illegible: 1 span] ever in the Eclipſe.

And weariſome nights are appointed to me.] ſc. by God: and that ſo exactly as if he had numbred them to a night. See Dan. 10.1. Pondere, menſurâ, [illegible: 2 letters]mero Deus omnia fecit: It is he that cutteth us out our conditions, that prepareth for us troubleſome dayes and tireſome nights, and purpoſely that he may take us off from the inordinate love of life: like as by ſtrait binding (which mortifieth and deadeth the fleſh) men are made more able to beare the cutting off of a member; ſo ſhall we take our cutting off from this world the more gently, by how much the more painful, pinching dayes and nights we have endured.

Verſe 4. When I, lie down, I ſay, when ſhall I ariſe &c.] Here is a graphicall deſcription of a weariſome night. The night is moſt laborious and irkeſome to ſick people[illegible: 1 letter] then they revolve their troubles, and being free from viſits of friends, they viſit their own afflictions, and ſtudy their owne diſtempers freely, then they lye all night wiſhing for day, telling the clock hearkning for the cock (that natural cloc[illegible: 1 letter]) toſſing to and fro unto the dawning of the day, not able to gee the leaſt wink of ſleep, that nurſe of nature, and ſweet parentheſis of mens griefes and cares. Oh preſent the condition of a reſtleſſe ſick man to your thoughts, (ſaith an Interpreter here) praiſe God for quiet nights, and pity thoſe to whom weariſome nights are appointed.

Verſe 5. My fleſh is cloathed with worms.] Here Job ſheweth how and whence his nights were ſo weariſome and reſtleſſe: he was in his grave-clothes before he died (ſaith one) viz. Mr. Caryl. a gowne of wormes ſet or embroidered with clods of duſt. Covered he was with ſores, and putrified ulcers full of wormes, which made him an abhorring to himſelfe.

And clods of duſt] A fit dreſſe for a dying man. The word ſignifieth, the filings of any metall, or the ſcrapings of an unclean thing. He meaneth then the ſcurfe, ſcraped off from him, or the duſt contracted by his ſitting upon the ground, chap. 2.8.

My skin is broken] Or, cleft and chapt (as the earth is in drought) in moſt loathſome and formidable manner.

And become loathſome] Or melted, as in that diſtemper which Phyſicians call corruptionem totius ſubſtantiae: or as in the leproſie or gangrene, when the fleſh falleth off from the bones. Hinc igitur diſce patientiam in morbis, ſaith Lavater. Hence then learne to be patient under the moſt noyſome and troubleſome diſeaſes. What ſit, not lye, nor live, nor die: was not this holy Jobs condition, and worſe? Remember that there are not a few ſick as heart can hold; ſore all over, and want neceſſary food and phyſick which thou doſt not: conſider that God could, and juſtly might lay more and heavier plagues upon thee, &c. When Dr. Munſter was ſick, and ſome friends came to viſit him, being very ſorry for the paines he was put to lay the ulcers of his body; O my deare friends, ſaid he, theſe biles and blaines gemmae ſun[illegible: 1 letter] & pr[illegible: 1 letter]tioſa ornamenta Dei, are Gods gemmes and Jewels wherewith he adorneth his friends, that hee may draw them to himſelf, which ornaments let us eſteem far more precious then all the gold and wealth of this whole world; ſoon after which ſpeech,Job. Manl. loc. com. 127. Melch. Adam. he piouſly and peaceably fell aſleep in the Lord. graſerus alſo when he ſaw his body begin to ſwell with a dropſie, and other diſtempers, Euge Deo ſit laus & gloria, ſaid he, Oh bleſſed be God, that my deliverance is at hand, & hor[illegible: 1 letter]la gratiſſima, and that ſweet hour that ſhall put an end to all my miſeries.

Verſe 6. My dayes are [illegible: 1 span] ] Which is of a very ſwift and ſudden motion. Nights and dayes paſſe the [illegible: 1 word] of [illegible: 1 word] life forward and backward, to and again. The right caſts it to the day, and the day to the night; between theſe two, time quickly weares off the threed of life. I [illegible: 1 word] cut off like a weaver, my life ſaith good Hezekiah, Iſa. 38.12. And the [illegible: 1 span] this in their fiction of the three ſiſter-Deſtinies, whereof the Poet ſaith, Clotho colum bajulat, Lacheſi[illegible: 1 letter] trahi[illegible: 1 letter], Atropos [illegible: 1 word]

You that are weavers, ſaith Lavater, [illegible: 1 span] of this text, and learn to live holily.

And they are ſpent without hope] Heb. in not hope. I cannot [illegible: 1 word] that I ſhall ever recover, or be [illegible: 1 word]: whatever thou, O Elip[illegible: 3 letters], haſt, [illegible: 1 word] about [illegible: 1 word] put me in hope. All Jobs deſire was death, which he looked upon as the [illegible: 1 word] remedy of all.

Verſe 7. O remember that my life is wind] Before ſwifter or lighter then a weavers ſhuttle (or then a word or ſpeech, as the Septuagint there render it) now, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. my life is a wind, or as a wind (ſo the Chaldee paraphraſeth) that ſpeedily paſſeth away, and returneth not. So St. James, What is your life? ſaith he; It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and th[illegible: 1 letter]n vaniſheth away. Jam. 4.14. One hath well obſerved, that the Holy Ghoſt giveth us very may Items of this (and eſpecially in this book) which ſhewes, that we are very apt to forget it. A point this is eaſie to be known, but very hard to be believed: every man aſſents to it, but few live it, and improve it to reformation.

Mine eyes ſh[illegible: 1 letter]ll no more ſ[illegible: 1 letter]e good] ſc. in this world, for in the world to come hee was confident of the beatificall viſion, chap. 19.27. Hezekiah hath a like expreſſion when ſentenced to die: I ſaid in the cutting off of my dayes; I ſhall not ſee the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living; (that is, in this life preſent, Pſal. 27.13. and 52 5. and 142.5. Iſa. 53.8. called alſo the light of the living, John 9.4. Pſal. 56.13.) I ſhill behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world, Iſa. 38.11. And this, both ſick Job, and ſick Hezekiah tell the Lord, and both of them begin alike with O remember, Iſa. 38.3. God forgetteth not his people and their condition: howbeit he requireth and expecteth that they ſhould be his Remembrancers for their own and others good, Iſa. 62.6, 7. See the Margin.

Verſe 8. Th[illegible: 1 letter] eye of him that hath ſeen me, ſhall ſee me no more] In death we ſhall neither ſee, nor be ſeen, but be ſoon both out of ſight and out of mind too. It is ſtoried of Richard the third, that he cauſed the dead corps of his two ſmothered Nephews to be cloſed in lead, and ſo put in a coffin full of holes, and hooked at the ends with two hookes of iron, and ſo to be caſt into a place called the Black-deeps,Speed 935. at the Thames mouth, whereby they ſhould never riſe up, nor be any more ſeen. Such a place is the grave till the laſt day: for then the ſea ſhall give up the dead which are in it, and death ad he grave ſhall render up the dead that are in them, Rev. 20.13. then ſhall Adam ſee all his nephews at once &c.

Thine eyes are upon me, and I am not] Thou even lookeſt me to death; like as elſewhere God is ſaid to frown men to destruction, Pſalm 80.16. and Pſalm 104.29. they are not able to endure his flaming eyes, ſparkling out wrath againſt them. What mad men therefore are they that ſpeak and act againſt Him who can ſo eaſily do them to death? If God but ſet his eyes upon them for evil (as he oft threatneth to do, Amos 9.4. Job 16.9.) they are undone.

Verſe 9. As the cloud is conſumed and vaniſheth away] A cloud is nothing elſe but a vapour thickened in the middle Region of the aire by the cold encompaſſing and driving it together, pſalm 18.19. veſſels they are as thin as the liquor that is in them; but ſome are waterleſſe: the former are ſoon emptied and diſſolved; the later as ſoon ſcattered by the wind, and vaniſh away. See the Note on verſe 7.

So he that goeth down to the grave ſhall come up no more,] ſc. to live and converſe here with men, as ver. 10. Or he ſhall come up no more, ſc. without a miracle (as Lazarus and ſome others long ſince dead roſe againe) he cannot return to me, ſaid David of his deceaſed child, 2 Sam. 12.23. God could ſend ſome from the dead to warn the living; but that is not now to be expected, as Abraham told the rich man, Luk. 16. Thoſe ſpirits of dead men that ſo oft appeared in times of Popery (requiring their friends to ſing Maſſes and Dirges for them; and that drew this verſe from Theodorus Gaza, ſunt aliquid manes, lethum non omnia finit) were either deluſions, or elſe divels in the ſhape of men. That Job doubted of the Reſurrection, or denied it, (as Rabbi Solomon, and ſome other, both Hebrew and Greek writers conclude from this text) is a manifeſt injury done to this good man, and a force offered to the text, as appeareth by that which next followeth.

Verſe 10. He ſhall return no more to his houſe] Either to diſpatch buſineſſes, or to enjoy comforts: he hath utterly done with the affaires of this world. Melanchthon telleth of an aunt of his, who having buried her husband, and ſitting ſorrowfully by the fires ſide, ſaw (as ſhe thought) her husband coming into the roome, and talking to her familiarly about the payment of certaine debts, and other buſineſſes belonging to the houſe: and when he had thus talked with her a long time, he bid her give him her hand; ſhe at firſt refuſed, but was at length perſwaded to do it: he taking her by the hand ſo burnt it, that it was as black as a coal, and ſo he departed. Was not this the divel?

Neither ſhall his place know him any more] His place of habitation, or his place of honour and ruledome: theſe ſhall no more acknowledge him, and welcome him back, as they uſed to do after a journey. Death is the concluſion of all worldly comforts and relations. Hence wicked people are ſo loth to depart, becauſe there is ſtruck by death an everlaſting parting-blow betwixt them and their preſent comforts, without hope of better. ſpes & fortuna valete, ſaid one great man at his death. Cardinall Burbon would not part with his part in Paris for his part in paradiſe. Fie, ſaid another rick Cardinall, will not death be hired? will mony do nothing? Never did Adam go more unwillingly out of paradiſe, the Jebuſites out of the ſtrong-hold of Zion, the unjuſt ſteward out of his office, or the divels out of the demoniack, then graceleſſe people do out of their earthly tabernacles, becauſe they know they ſhall return no more; and having hopes in this life only, they muſt needs look upon themſelves as moſt miſerable.

Verſe 11. Therefore I will not refraine my mouth.] Heb. I will not prohibite my month, ſc. from ſpeaking, I will bite in my grief no longer: but, ſith death, the certaine end of all outward troubles, is not farre from mee; I will by my further complaints, preſſe the Lord to haſten it, and not ſuppreſſe my ſorrowes, but give them a vent.

I will ſpeake in the anguiſh of my ſpirit] Heb. In the ſtraitneſſe or diſtreſſe of my ſpirit, which is almoſt ſuffocated with grief.

I will complaine in the bitterneſſe my ſoul.] his greateſt troubles were inward: and if by godly ſorrow for his ſinnes he had powred forth his ſoule in an humble confeſſion (as ſome underſtand him here) he had taken a right courſe: but thus boiſterouſly to break out into complaints, ſavoureth of humane infirmity, and ſheweth quantae ſint hominis vires ſibi à Deo derelicti, what a poor creature man is when God leaveth him to himſelf,Mercer. and ſubjecteth him to his judgments.

Verſe 12. Am I a ſea, or a whale] Can I bear all troubles, as the ſea receives all waters, and the whale beares all tempeſts? This (as is well obſerved) was too bold a ſpeech to God from a creature: for when his hand is on our backs, our hands ſhould be upon our mouths, as Pſalm 39.9. I was dumb, or (as others read it.) I ſhould have been dumb — becauſe thou didſt it. But it is a faire ſtep to perfection and victory, when one can kiſſe Gods rod and ſay, as Pſalm 44.17. All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee, nor declined from thy way. Job was not without his impatiencies: but being he was right for the maine, and at length bewailed them, God looked not upon him as he doth upon thoſe refractaries, who to their impatience adde impenitence; and to their paſſive diſobedience, active.

That thou ſet teſt a watch over me?] That thou ſurroundeſt me with ſorrowes, and wilt not ſuffer me to die?Pſal. 191. [illegible: 1 letter]ſal. 141.3. Here Job ſhould have ſet a better watch over his lips then thus boiſterouſly to have bluſtered againſt God (who is [non-Latin text not transcribed], not to be called to an account for his proceedings) like the raging ſea, or unruly whirle-poole. He ſhould have conſidered, that the beſt men have ſomewhat of the ſea in them, that muſt be bounded; and ſomewhat of the whale, that muſt be watched and kept under: and that God never layes more upon a man then there is need, though he may think otherwiſe.

Verſe 13. When I ſay, my bed ſhall comfort me] The bed was the moſt proper and probable meanes of refreſhment: but it is not the bed that can give ſleep, nor the couch, eaſe. Creatures are not able of themſelves to give out the comforts committed to them: their common nature muſt be aſſiſted with a ſpecial word of bleſſing, or elſe they do us no good: Man liveth not by bread only &c. God maketh the merciful mans bed, Pſalm 41.3. So he giveth his beloved ſleep, quiet ſleep: (Shena with an A[illegible: 1 letter]eph quieſcent:) Pſal. 127. He is the God of all mercies, and the Father of all conſolation, 2 Cor. 1.3. It is he that ſhines through the creature, which elſe is but as the aire, without light. Look now the aire lights us not without the Sun; nor fuel heats us not without fire: ſo neither can any man or means comfort or content us without God.

My couch ſhall eaſe my complains] Heb. Shall lift up, or take away, viz. the burthen of my cares and griefe: ſome part of my load at leaſt: but it fell out otherwiſe: for

Verſe 14. Then thou skarest me with dreames] Extremam tentationem deſcribit, ſaith Vatablus; and the divel doubtleſs, had a great hand in this buſineſs, (for it was within his commiſſion, and he would not neglect any part of it;) but Job taketh notice of none but God the chief agent, and to him he applieth himſelf. His providence is exerciſed even about dreams, which in melancholy people, fall out (eſpecially when they are ſick) to be oftentimes very horrid and hideous; as that they fall down from ſome high place, commit ſome capital offence, are ſlain, torn in pieces by divels &c. Biſhop Foliots terrible night-viſion was before mentioned. Richard the third after the murther of his two innocent Nephews, and Charls the ninth of France after the Pariſian maſſacre had ſuch dreadful dreams; that they became a terror to themſelves and to all about them. But to inſtance in better men;Beza in vitae. Calvin in the year of grace 1562 being ſick of the gout, dreamed, that he heard a great noiſe of drums beaten up moſt vehemently, as they uſe to be in warlike marches. Pareus alſo Anno 1618 ſaw in a dream the City of Heidelberg ſet on fire in may places, and the Prince Electors palace all on a light flame: this he ſet down the next morning in his day-book, and added theſe words, O Deus clementiſſime averte ſiniſtrum omen &c. Such fearful dreams cauſe a ſick ſleep, and a worſe waking. This Job complaineth of here:Philip. Par. in vita Patris. and yet more fully in the next words.

Verſe 15. So that my ſoul chuſeth ſtrangling] i. e. Quamvis duriſſimam ſed praeſentiſſimam mortem, any violent or ignominious death, ſo it were a ſpeedy death. Hippocrates telleth us, that may have been ſo affrighted with dreams and apparitions, that they have hanged themſelves, leaped into deep pits, or otherwiſe made themſelves away. Let thoſe that either have not been ſo terrified, or ſo tempted, or ſo deſerted of God, bleſs him for that mercy.

And death rather then life] Heb. Rather then my bones; that is, any kind of death rather then ſuch a body, which is no nothing elſe but a bag of bones: or then ſuch rotten bones full of ſores and ulcers: he maketh mention of his bones, becauſe his pain had pierced as farre as his very bones; the putrefaction had ſunk down into his marrow.

Verſe 16. I loath it, I would not live alway] I loath or abhor it, that is, my life, or I loath them, that is, my bones, verſe 15. I would not live alway, that is,Aug. de civitato Dei, l. 9. c. 10. long in this world, and in this condition. Plotinus the Philoſopher held it a ſpecial mercy of God to men, that they were mortal; and did not alwaies live to labour under the miſeries of this wretched life. Ca[illegible: 1 letter]o profeſſed, that if he might have his age renewed as the Eagles, ſo that he might be made young again, he would ſeriouſly refuſe it.Cic. Cato Major How much better might Job ſay thus, ſith the righteous hath hope in his death; and might well take up that of the Poet.

Ʋſque adeóne mori miſerum eſt?

The dayes of the beſt are ſo full of evil both of ſin and pain, that it is good they are not fuller of dayes; if they ſhould have length of life added to heaps of ſorrows, and perpetuity with all their miſery; how miſerable were they! Chriſt promiſeth it as a point of favour to his, that the dayes of trouble ſhould be ſhortned, Matth. 24.22. and that he may put an end to the world, he diſpatcheth away the generations with all the convenient ſpeed that may be.

Therefore let me alone] Some read thus, I cannot live for ever, or very long,Quod citò ceſſat & deficit. Mercer in Pagnin. therefore let me alone,] that is, give over afflicting me, and let me go quietly to my grave, Pſalm 39.13. Here one well obſerveth, that the world and time, while they continue, are alwaies ceaſing; and therefore have their denomination from this word which ſignifieth to ceaſe.

For my dayes are vanity] Hebel, a puffe of wind, or a bubble on the water. Mans body is a bubble, his ſoul the wind that filleth it. The bubble riſeth higher and higher, till at laſt it breaketh: ſo doth the body riſe from infancy to youth, from youth to age &c. till at length it cracketh and diſſolveth. The life of man is a vain life. This Job often beats upon, and why, ſee the Note on ver. 7.

Verſe 17. What is man that thou ſhouldſt magnify him?] i. e. make ſo much adoe about him, or look upon him as a fit match for the great God to grapple with, Pſalm 14.3. or to take care of his affairs? Debile argumentum, ſaith Vatablus here, a poor argument: but Job maketh uſe of all kind of arguments to move God to make an end of him: Domine fac finem, fac finem, ſaid dying Eraſmus; but what he meant by thoſe words, I know not, ſaith Melancthon, who reporteth it.

And that thou ſhouldſt ſet thine heart upon him?] So as to make any account of ſo mean and miſerable a creature, Pſalm 144.3. to magnifie him whom thou mighteſt rather vilifie, or indeed, nullifie; or, that thou ſhouldst ſet they heart againſt him, ſc. to deſtroy him, as chap. 34.14. That's but an ignoble conteſt; ubi & vincere inglorium eſt, & atteriſordidum.

Verſe 18. That thou ſhouldſt viſit him every morning] Be at ſo much pains, as it were, with him, as to chaſten him: and every morning to do it, that is, certainly and early; God took Job to task ſo ſoon as he was awake every morning; and this hee thought much of, and had rather have been without: but that was his weakneſs, ſith the rod is as neceſſary as food.

And try him every moment] Proving by affliction both what corruption, and what grace is in his heart; this David reckoneth upon the ſcore of Gods favours, and prayeth for, Pſal. 139. ult. This God promiſeth as a ſpecial bleſſing, J[illegible: 2 letters] 9.7. and withall aſſureth, that he will try and [illegible: 1 letter]efine his people, but not as ſilver, Iſa. 48.10. He will not deal with them as in rigour of juſtice he might do, becauſe if he ſhould do ſo, they having more droſs in them then good ore, more corruption then grace, they would ſoon be conſumed in this fiery trial: this God conſidered, and ſo ſhould Job have done, and have given over his growling.

Verſe 19.Pſalm 139.10. How long wilt thou not depart from me?] Here he ſeems deſirous to be rid of Gods company; of his afflicting preſenſe: ſo true is that of the Apoſtle, Heb. 12.11. No chaſtening for the preſent ſeemeth to be joyous, but grievous, till patience come to have her perfect work; and men be brought to cry out, as one did under a great fit of the ſtone, The uſe Lord, the uſe; not ſo much eaſe of my pain, as a good uſe of my ſuffering; this Job came to at length, no doubt: mean while, we have in him, as Mercer obſerveth, mirum ubique ſpecimen, a wonderful inſtance of that conflict between Fleſh and Spirit that is in the Saints.

Nor let me alone, till I may ſwallow down my ſpittle] That is, not afford me the leaſt intermiſſion, no not a ſpitting-while. He will not ſuffer me to take my breath, chap 9.18. Hierome thinks that Job was troubled with a ſquinſey or ſore throat, which hindred the ſwallowing of his ſpittle; neither had he power to ſpit out the corrupt matter that ran down his throat. Oh what a ſweet mercy is health! and how ill able are the beſt without ſpecial ſupport from heaven to bear ſickneſs! the Stoicks, who ſaid, that he who lived honeſtly might live chearfully though under may bodily weakneſſes, ſenſerunt ipſi in morbis ſe magnificentius locutos eſſe quàm verius, ſaith one;Wolſi[illegible: 2 letters]. that is, when it came to their own turn to be ſick, they well perceived, that they had ſpoken rather bravely then truely.

Verſe 20. I have ſinned] or, Have I ſinned? Have I fallen into any foul offence, as theſe men charge me? Am I guilty of any thing more then involuntary failings, unavoidable infirmities? although I know that theſe alſo are downright ſins, fruits of the fleſh properly ſo called, miſſings of the mark, as the word here ſignifieth, and for ſuch I humbly confeſſe them, I put my ſelf into the hands of thy juſtice in hope of thy mercy: and what wilt thou more of thy poor creature?

What ſhall I do unto thee] No ſooner had Job confeſſed his ſin, but he is deſirous to know a remedy. Reprobates can cry Peccavi, I have ſinned: but then they proceed not to ſay as here, What ſhall I do? they open their wound, but lay not on a plaiſter, and ſo the wounds made by ſin are more putrified, and grow more dangerous. Job would be directed what to do for remedy: he would have pardoning grace and prevailing grace upon any terms: and more then this, what can I do unto thee? as the Septuagint render this text. [non-Latin text not transcribed].

O thou preſerver of men?] Of all men, but eſpecially of t[illegible: 1 letter]em that b[illegible: 1 letter]lieve, 1 Tim. 4.10 The Grecians called their Jupiter [non-Latin text not transcribed], the Deliverer or Preſerver of their perſons: and again [non-Latin text not transcribed] from [non-Latin text not transcribed] a wall, as if he were the watch and defender of their houſes. Some tender it O thou obſerver of men. But theſe are praiſes proper to the true God the Keeper of his Iſrael, Pſalm 121.4. The Preſerver of the Faithful, Pſalm 31.23. Whom he keepeth as the apple of his eye, Pſalm 17.8. that tendereſt piece of the tendereſt part, moſt diligently and ſtrongly guarded by nature with [illegible: 1 letter]unicles. It is the wiſedom of a Chriſtian in his addreſſes into God to make choice of fit and appoſite titles and Attributes: for the ſtrengthening of his faith, and increaſing of his fervency.

Why haſt thou ſet me as a mark againſt thee] As a bul-wark, as an object, or as a rock of offence, againſt which thou mayeſt alwaies daſh: ſo Vatablus rendreth it: to the ſame ſenſe Job asketh chap. 19.11. and 13.24. Wherefore holdeſt thou me for thine enemy? So Lam. 3.12. and Job 16.13. Job conceived, that God dealt with him no otherwiſe then the Turks did with the great Crucifix of Conſtantinople, Turk. hiſt. 347 upon the head whereof they put a Turks cap, and ſo ſettting it up in deriſion, ſhot at it with their arrows, calling it the God of the Christians: Or as the ſame Turks at the taking of Tripolis in Barbary, dealt with one John de Chabas a French man, who in the time of the ſiege had ſhot off the hand of the Clark General of the Army.Ibid. 756. They brought him into the town, ſaith the ſtory, and when they had cut off his hands and noſe, they put him quick into the ground to the waſt, and there for their pleaſure ſhot at him with their arrowes, and afterwards cut his throat.

So that I am a burden to my ſelf] How can he be otherwiſe, who is a but-mark for Almighty God, who cleft his very reins a ſunder, and powred our his gall upon the ground, Job 16.13. Job had once before complained, that the poiſon of Gods arrows had drunk up his ſpirits chap. 6. Neither did any thing lie ſo heavy upon him, or was ſo burdenſome to him as this, that God ſeemed to frown upon him, and to fight againſt him with his own hand. The Septuagint and Talmudiſts read thus, So that I am a burthen unto th[illegible: 1 letter]e, viz. with my complaints and expoſtulations: this, ſay they, was the ancient reading.

Verſe 21. And why dost thou not pardon my tranſgreſſion] Heb. Lift up or take away: for ſin was Job[illegible: 1 letter] greateſt burden, which therefore he prayeth to God to pardon: and that not in heaven only, but in his own conſcience: and then no darkneſs can be ſo deſolate, no croſs ſo cutting, no burden ſo importable, but he ſhall by Gods grace, be able to deal with it. Hence this vehement expoſtulation of his for remiſſion and removal of ſin firſt, and then of its evil conſequents; for pardon of ſinne is a voluminous mercy; and being juſtified by faith we can glory in tribulation Rom. 5.1, 3.

For now ſhall I ſleep in the duſt] In the duſt of death: Pſal. 22.15. and therefore muſt have help preſently, or not at all: ſith a man once departed is no more to be found in this world, though never ſo diligently ſought for. See verſe 7, 8. One paraphraſeth theſe words thus, For now I ſhall die, and then when thou lookeſt to receive thy morning ſacrifice of praiſe as aforetime, I ſhall not be found to give it thee.