Job 8 commentary

Job spake much to the purpose; but Bildad, like an eager, angry disputant, turns it all off with this, How long wilt thou speak these things? Men's meaning is not taken aright, and then they are rebuked, as if they were evil-doers. Even in disputes on religion, it is too common to treat others with sharpness, and their arguments with contempt. Bildad's discourse shows that he had not a favourable opinion of Job's character. Job owned that God did not pervert judgment; yet it did not therefore follow that his children were cast-aways, or that they did for some great transgression. Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, sometimes they are the trials of extraordinary graces: in judging of another's case, we ought to take the favorable side. Bildad puts Job in hope, that if he were indeed upright, he should yet see a good end of his present troubles. This is God's way of enriching the souls of his people with graces and comforts. The beginning is small, but the progress is to perfection. Dawning light grows to noon-day.

Bildad discourses well of hypocrites and evil-doers, and the fatal end of all their hopes and joys. He proves this truth of the destruction of the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to former times. Bildad refers to the testimony of the ancients. Those teach best that utter words out of their heart, that speak from an experience of spiritual and divine things. A rush growing in fenny ground, looking very green, but withering in dry weather, represents the hypocrite's profession, which is maintained only in times of prosperity. The spider's web, spun with great skill, but easily swept away, represents a man's pretensions to religion when without the grace of God in his heart. A formal professor flatters himself in his own eyes, doubts not of his salvation, is secure, and cheats the world with his vain confidences. The flourishing of the tree, planted in the garden, striking root to the rock, yet after a time cut down and thrown aside, represents wicked men, when most firmly established, suddenly thrown down and forgotten. This doctrine of the vanity of a hypocrite's confidence, or the prosperity of a wicked man, is sound; but it was not applicable to the case of Job, if confined to the present world.

Bildad here assures Job, that as he was so he should fare; therefore they concluded, that as he fared so he was. God will not cast away an upright man; he may be cast down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for ever. Sin brings ruin on persons and families. Yet to argue, that Job was an ungodly, wicked man, was unjust and uncharitable. The mistake in these reasonings arose from Job's friends not distinguishing between the present state of trial and discipline, and the future state of final judgment. May we choose the portion, possess the confidence, bear the cross, and die the death of the righteous; and, in the mean time, be careful neither to wound others by rash judgments, nor to distress ourselves needlessly about the opinions of our fellow-creatures.

CHAPTER 8

FIRST SERIES--FIRST SPEECH OF BILDAD, MORE SEVERE AND COARSE THAN THAT OF ELIPHAZ.

Job 8:1-22. The Address of Bildad.

2. like a ... wind?--disregarding restraints, and daring against God.

3. The repetition of "pervert" gives an emphasis galling to Job (Job 34:12). "Wouldst thou have God," as thy words imply, "pervert judgment," by letting thy sins go unpunished? He assumes Job's guilt from his sufferings.

4. If--Rather, "Since thy children have sinned against Him, and (since) He has cast them away (Hebrew, by the hand of) for their transgressions, (yet) if thou wouldst seek unto God, &c., if thou wert pure, &c., surely [even] now He would awake for thee." Umbreit makes the apodosis to, "since thy children," &c., begin at "He has cast them away." Also, instead of "for," "He gave them up to (literally, into the hand of) their own guilt." Bildad expresses the justice of God, which Job had arraigned. Thy children have sinned; God leaves them to the consequence of their sin; most cutting to the heart of the bereaved father.

5. seek unto God betimes--early. Make it the first and chief anxiety (Psa 78:34; Ho 5:15; Is 26:9; Pr 8:17; 13:24).

6. He would awake for thee--that is, arise to thy help. God seemed to be asleep toward the sufferer (Psa 35:23; 7:6; Is 51:9).

make ... prosperous--restore to prosperity thy (their) righteous habitation. Bildad assumes it to have been heretofore the habitation of guilt.

7. thy beginning--the beginning of thy new happiness after restoration.

latter end--(Job 42:12; Pr 23:18).

8-9. The sages of the olden time reached an age beyond those of Job's time (see on Job 42:16), and therefore could give the testimony of a fuller experience.

10. teach thee--Job 6:24 had said, "Teach me." Bildad, therefore, says, "Since you want teaching, inquire of the fathers. They will teach thee."

utter words--more than mere speaking; "put forth well-considered words."

out of their heart--from observation and reflection; not merely, from their mouth: such, as Bildad insinuates, were Job's words. Job 8:11-13 embody in poetic and sententious form (probably the fragment of an old poem) the observation of the elders. The double point of comparison between the ungodly and the paper-reed is: 1. the luxuriant prosperity at first; and, 2. the sudden destruction.

11. rush--rather, "paper-reed": The papyrus of Egypt, which was used to make garments, shoes, baskets, boats, and paper (a word derived from it). It and the flag, or bulrush, grow only in marshy places (such as are along the Nile). So the godless thrives only in external prosperity; there is in the hypocrite no inward stability; his prosperity is like the rapid growth of water plants.

12. not cut down--Before it has ripened for the scythe, it withers more suddenly than any herb, having no self-sustaining power, once that the moisture is gone, which other herbs do not need in the same degree. So ruin seizes on the godless in the zenith of prosperity, more suddenly than on others who appear less firmly seated in their possessions [Umbreit] (Psa 112:10).

13. paths--so "ways" (Pr 1:19).

all that forget God--the distinguishing trait of the godless (Psa 9:17; 50:22).

14. cut off--so Gesenius; or, to accord with the metaphor of the spider's "house," "The confidence (on which he builds) shall be laid in ruins" (Is 59:5, 6).

15. he shall hold it fast--implying his eager grasp, when the storm of trial comes: as the spider "holds fast" by its web; but with this difference: the light spider is sustained by that on which it rests; the godless is not by the thin web on which he rests. The expression, "Hold fast," properly applies to the spider holding his web, but is transferred to the man. Hypocrisy, like the spider's web, is fine-spun, flimsy, and woven out of its own inventions, as the spider's web out of its own bowels. An Arab proverb says, "Time destroys the well-built house, as well as the spider's web."

16. before the sun--that is, he (the godless) is green only before the sun rises; but he cannot bear its heat, and withers. So succulent plants like the gourd (Jon 4:7, 8). But the widespreading in the garden does not quite accord with this. Better, "in sunshine"; the sun representing the smiling fortune of the hypocrite, during which he wondrously progresses [Umbreit]. The image is that of weeds growing in rank luxuriance and spreading over even heaps of stones and walls, and then being speedily torn away.

17. seeth the place of stones--Hebrew, "the house of stones"; that is, the wall surrounding the garden. The parasite plant, in creeping towards and over the wall--the utmost bound of the garden--is said figuratively to "see" or regard it.

18. If He (God) tear him away (properly, "to tear away rapidly and violently") from his place, "then it [the place personified] shall deny him" (Psa 103:16). The very soil is ashamed of the weeds lying withered on its surface, as though it never had been connected with them. So, when the godless falls from prosperity, his nearest friends disown him.

19. Bitter irony. The hypocrite boasts of joy. This then is his "joy" at the last.

and out of the earth--others immediately, who take the place of the man thus punished; not godly men (Mt 3:9). For the place of the weeds is among stones, where the gardener wishes no plants. But, ungodly; a fresh crop of weeds always springs up in the place of those torn up: there is no end of hypocrites on earth [Umbreit].

20. Bildad regards Job as a righteous man, who has fallen into sin.

God will not cast away a perfect man--(or godly man, such as Job was), if he will only repent. Those alone who persevere in sin God will not help (Hebrew, "take by the hand," Psa 73:23; Is 41:13; 42:6) when fallen.

21. Till--literally, "to the point that"; God's blessing on thee, when repentant, will go on increasing to the point that, or until, &c.

22. The haters of Job are the wicked. They shall be clothed with shame (Jr 3:25; Psa 35:26; 109:29), at the failure of their hope that Job would utterly perish, and because they, instead of him, come to naught.

Bildad the Shuhite - Supposed to be a descendant of Shuah, one of the sons of Abraham, by Keturah, who dwelt in Arabia Deserta, called in Scripture the east country. See Gen 25:1, Gen 25:2, Gen 25:6.

How long wilt thou speak these things? - Wilt thou still go on to charge God foolishly? Thy heavy affliction proves that thou art under his wrath; and his wrath, thus manifested, proves that it is for thy sins that he punisheth thee.

Be like a strong wind? - The Arabic, with which the Syriac agrees, is (Syriac) rucholazomati, the spirit of pride. Wilt thou continue to breathe forth a tempest of words? This is more literal.

Doth God pervert judgment! - God afflicts thee; can he afflict thee for naught? As he is just, his judgment is just; and he could not inflict punishment unless there be a cause.

If thy children have sinned - I know thy children have been cut off by a terrible judgment; but was it not because by transgression they had filled up the measure of their iniquity?

And he have cast them away - Has sent them off, says the Targum, to the place of their transgression - to that punishment due to their sins.

If thou wouldest seek unto God - Though God has so severely afflicted thee, and removed thy children by a terrible judgment; yet if thou wilt now humble thyself before him, and implore his mercy, thou shalt be saved. He cut them off in their sins, but he spares thee; and this is a proof that he waits to be gracious to thee.

If thou wert pure and upright - Concerning thy guilt there can be no doubt; for if thou hadst been a holy man, and these calamities had occurred through accident, or merely by the malice of thy enemies, would not God, long ere this, have manifested his power and justice in thy behalf, punished thy enemies, and restored thee to affluence?

The habitation of thy righteousness - Strongly ironical. If thy house had been as a temple of God, in which his worship had been performed, and his commandments obeyed, would it now be in a state of ruin and desolation?

Though thy beginning was small - Thy former state, compared to that into which God would have brought thee, would be small; for to show his respect for thy piety, because thou hadst, through thy faithful attachment to him, suffered the loss of all things, he would have greatly multiplied thy former prosperity, so that thou shouldest now have vastly more than thou didst ever before possess.

Inquire - of the former age - לדור רישון ledor rishon, of the first age; of the patriarchs; the first generation of men that dwelt upon the earth: not of the age that was just past, as Mr. Peters and several others have imagined, in order to keep up the presumption of Job's high antiquity. Bildad most evidently refers to an antiquity exceedingly remote.

For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing - It is evident that Bildad refers to those times in which human life was protracted to a much longer date than that in which Job lived; when men, from the long period of eight or nine hundred years, had the opportunity of making many observations, and treasuring up a vast fund of knowledge and experience. In comparison with them, he considers that age as nothing, and that generation as being only of yesterday, not having had opportunity of laying up knowledge: nor could they expect it, as their days upon earth would be but a shadow, compared with that substantial time in which the fathers had lived. Perhaps there may be an allusion here to the shadow projected by the gnomon of a dial, during the time the sun is above the horizon. As is a single solar day, so is our life. The following beautiful motto I have seen on a sundial: Umbrae Sumus! "We are shadows!" referring to the different shadows by which the gnomon marked the hours, during the course of the day; and all intended to convey this moral lesson to the passengers: Your life is composed of time, marked out by such shadows as these. Such as time is, such are you; as fleeting, as transitory, as unsubstantial. These shadows lost, time is lost; time lost, soul lost! Reader take heed! The writer of this book probably had before his eyes these words of David, in his last prayer, 1Chr 29:15 : "For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were; our days upon earth are as a Shadow, and there is no expectation. There is no reason to hope that they shall be prolonged; for our lives are limited down to threescore years and ten, as the average of the life even of old men.

Shall not they teach thee - Wilt thou not treat their maxims with the utmost deference and respect? They utter words from their heart - what they say is the fruit of long and careful experience.

Can the rush grow - The word גמא gome, which we translate rush, is, without doubt, the Egyptian flag papyrus, on which the ancients wrote, and from which our paper derives its name. The Septuagint, who made their Greek translation in Egypt, (if this book made a part of it), and knew well the import of each word in both languages, render גמא gome by παπυρος papyrus, thus: Μη θαλλει παπυρος ανευ ὑδατος; Can the Papyrus flourish without water? Their translation leaves no doubt concerning the meaning of the original. They were probably writing on the very substance in question, while making their translation. The technical language of no science is so thoroughly barbarous as that of botany: the description of this plant by Linnaeus, shall be a proof. The plant he calls "Cyperus Papyrus; Class Triandria; Order Monogynia; Culm three-sided, naked; umbel longer than the involucres; involucels three-leaved, setaceous, longer; spikelets in threes - Egypt, etc. Involucre eight-leaved; general umbel copious, the rays sheathing at the base; partial on very short peduncles; spikelets alternate, sessile; culm leafy at the base; leaves hollow, ensiform." Hear our plain countryman John Gerarde, who describes the same plant: "Papyrus Nilotica, Paper Reed, hath many large flaggie leaves, somewhat triangular and smooth, not much unlike those of cats-taile, rising immediately from a tuft of roots, compact of many strings; amongst the which it shooteth up two or three naked stalkes, square, and rising some six or seven cubits high above the water; at the top whereof there stands a tuft or bundle off chaffie threds, set in comely order, resembling a tuft of floures, but barren and void of seed;" Gerarde's Herbal, p. 40. Which of the two descriptions is easiest to be understood by common sense, either with or without a knowledge of the Latin language? This plant grows in the muddy banks of the Nile, as it requires an abundance of water for its nourishment.

Can the flag grow without water? - Parkhurst supposes that the word אחו achu, which we render flag, is the same with that species of reed which Mr. Hasselquist found growing near the river Nile. He describes it (p. 97) as "having scarcely any branches, but numerous leaves, which are narrow, smooth, channelled on the upper surface; and the plant about eleven feet high. The Egyptians make ropes of the leaves. They lay the plant in water, like hemp, and then make good and strong cables of them." As אח ach signifies to join, connect, associate, hence אחי achi, a brother, אחו achu may come from the same root, and have its name from its usefulness in making ropes, cables, etc., which are composed of associated threads, and serve to tie, bind together, etc.

Whilst it is yet in his greenness - We do not know enough of the natural history of this plant to be able to discern the strength of this allusion; but we learn from it that, although this plant be very succulent, and grow to a great size, yet it is short-lived, and speedily withers; and this we may suppose to be in the dry season, or on the retreat of the waters of the Nile. However, Soon Ripe, soon Rotten, is a maxim in horticulture.

So are the paths - The papyrus and the rush flourish while they have a plentiful supply of ooze and water; but take these away, and their prosperity is speedily at an end; so it is with the wicked and profane; their prosperity is of short duration, however great it may appear to be in the beginning. Thou also, O thou enemy of God, hast flourished for a time; but the blast of God is come upon thee, and now thou art dried up from the very roots.

The hypocrite's hope shall perish - A hypocrite, or rather profligate, has no inward religion, for his heart is not right with God; he has only hope, and that perishes when he gives up the ghost. This is the first place in which the word hypocrite occurs, or the noun חנף chaneph, which rather conveys the idea of pollution and defilement than of hypocrisy. A hypocrite is one who only carries the mask of godliness, to serve secular purposes; who wishes to be taken for a religionist, though he is conscious he has no religion. Such a person cannot have hope of any good, because he knows he is insincere: but the person in the text has hope; therefore hypocrite cannot be the meaning of the original word. But all the vile, the polluted, and the profligate have hope; they hope to end their iniquities before they end life; and they hope to get at last to the kingdom of heaven. Hypocrite is a very improper translation of the Hebrew.

Whose hope shall be cut off - Such persons, subdued by the strong habits of sin, hope on fruitlessly, till the last thread of the web of life is cut off from the beam; and then they find no more strength in their hope than is in the threads of the spider's web. Mr. Good renders, Thus shall their support rot away. The foundation on which they trust is rotten, and by and by the whole superstructure of their confidence shall tumble into ruin.

He shall lean upon his house - This is all allusion to the spider. When he suspects his web, here called his house, to be frail or unsure, he leans upon it in different parts, propping himself on his hinder legs, and pulling with his fore claws, to see if all be safe. If he find any part of it injured, he immediately adds new cordage to that part, and attaches it strongly to the wall. When he finds all safe and strong, he retires into his hole at one corner, supposing himself to be in a state of complete security, when in a moment the brush or the besom sweeps away both himself, his house, and his confidence. This I have several times observed; and it is in this that the strength and point of the comparison consist. The wicked, whose hope is in his temporal possessions strengthens and keeps his house in repair; and thus leans on his earthly supports; in a moment, as in the case of the spider, his house is overwhelmed by the blast of God's judgments, and himself probably buried in its ruins. This is a very fine and expressive metaphor, which not one of the commentators that I have seen has ever discovered.

He is green before the sun - This is another metaphor. The wicked is represented as a luxuriant plant, in a good soil, with all the advantages of a good situation; well exposed to the sun; the roots intervolving themselves with stones, so as to render the tree more stable; but suddenly a blast comes, and the tree begins to die. The sudden fading of its leaves, etc., shows that its root is become as rottenness, and its vegetable life destroyed. I have often observed sound and healthy trees, which were flourishing in all the pride of vegetative health, suddenly struck by some unknown and incomprehensible blast, begin to die away, and perish from the roots. I have seen also the prosperous wicked, in the inscrutable dispensations of the Divine providence, blasted, stripped, made bare, and despoiled, in the same way.

If he destroy him from his place - Is not this a plain reference to the alienation of his inheritance? God destroys him from it; it becomes the property of another; and on his revisiting it, the place, by a striking prosopopoeia, says, "I know thee not; I have never seen thee." This also have I witnessed; I looked on it, felt regret, received instruction, and hasted away.

Behold this is the joy of his way - A strong irony. Here is the issue of all his mirth, of his sports, games, and pastimes! See the unfeeling, domineering, polluting and polluted scape-grace, levelled with those whom he had despised, a servant of servants, or unable to work through his debaucheries, cringing for a morsel of bread, or ingloriously ending his days in that bane of any well-ordered and civilized state, a parish workhouse. This also I have most literally witnessed.

Out of the earth shall others gross - As in the preceding case, when one plant or tree is blasted or cut down, another may be planted in the same place; so, when a spendthrift has run through his property, another possesses his inheritance, and grows up from that soil in which he himself might have continued to flourish, had it not been for his extravagance and folly. This verse Mr. Good applies to God himself, with no advantage to the argument, nor elucidation of the sense, that I can see. I shall give his translation, and refer to his learned notes for his vindication of the version he has given: - "Behold the Eternal (הוא) exulting in his course;

Even over his dust shall raise up another."

In this way none of the ancient versions have understood the passage. I believe it to be a strong irony, similar to that which some think flowed from the pen of the same writer: Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth; and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes. But know thou, that for all these God will bring thee into judgment; Ecc 11:9. These two places illustrate each other.

Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man - This is another of the maxims of the ancients, which Bildad produces: "As sure as he will punish and root out the wicked, so surely will he defend and save the righteous."

Till he fill thy mouth with laughing - Perhaps it may be well to translate after Mr. Good "Even yet may he fill thy mouth with laughter!" The two verses may be read as a prayer; and probably they were thus expressed by Bildad, who speaks with less virulence than his predecessor, though with equal positiveness in respect to the grand charge, viz., If thou wert not a sinner of no mean magnitude, God would not have inflicted such unprecedented calamities upon thee. This most exceptionable position, which is so contrary to matter of fact, was founded upon maxims which they derived from the ancients. Surely observation must have, in numberless instances, corrected this mistake. They must have seen many worthless men in high prosperity, and many of the excellent of the earth in deep adversity and affliction; but the opposite was an article of their creed, and all appearances and facts must take its colouring. Job's friends must have been acquainted, at least, with the history of the ancient patriarchs; and most certainly they contained facts of an opposite nature. Righteous Abel was persecuted and murdered by his wicked brother, Cain. Abram was obliged to leave his own country on account of worshipping the true God; so all tradition has said. Jacob was persecuted by his brother Esau; Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers; Moses was obliged to flee from Egypt, and was variously tried and afflicted, even by his own brethren. Not to mention David, and almost all the prophets. All these were proofs that the best of men were frequently exposed to sore afflictions and heavy calamities; and it is not by the prosperity or adversity of men in this world, that we are to judge of the approbation or disapprobation of God towards them. In every case our Lord's rule is infallible: By their fruits ye shall know them.

Strong wind - Boisterous and violent.

Doth God - Heb. The might God, as this word signifies, the Almighty, or All - sufficient God, as the next name of God implies. These names are emphatically used, to prove that God cannot deal unjustly or falsely with men, because he hath no need of it, nor temptation to it, being self - sufficient for his own happiness, and being able by his own invincible power to do whatsoever pleaseth him. Pervert - Judge unrighteously? No, this is inconsistent with God's nature, and with his office of governor of the world.

Betimes - Heb. rise early to seek him, if thou wouldest seek him speedily, early and diligently.

Habitation - The concerns of thy house and family; which thou hast got and managed with righteousness.

Search - Seriously and industriously search the ancient records.

We, &c. - But lately born, and therefore have but little knowledge and experience. We live not so long as they did, to make observations on the methods of Divine Providence.

Utter - Not partially, but sincerely, speaking their inward thoughts; not rashly, but from deep consideration; not by hearsay, but their own knowledge.

Can, &c. - The hypocrite cannot build his hope, without some false, rotten ground or other, any more than the rush can grow without mire, or the flag without water.

Greenness - Whereby it promises long continuance. Tho' no man cut it down, it withers of itself, sooner than other herbs.

Paths - Of wicked men. By their paths he doth not understand their manner of living, but the events which befall them, God's manner of dealing with them.

Hope - Whose wealth and outward glory, the matter of his hope, and trust, shall be cut off suddenly and violently taken away from him. Web - Which tho' it be formed with great art and industry, is easily swept down, or pulled in pieces.

House - He shall trust to the multitude of his children and servants, and to his wealth, all which come under the name of a man's house in scripture. Hold it - To uphold himself by it. But his web, that refuge of lies, will be swept away, and he crushed in it.

He - The secure and prosperous sinner may think himself wronged, when he is compared to a rush or flag. Compare him then to a flourishing and well - rooted tree. Yet even then shall he be suddenly cut off. Green - Flourisheth in the world. Before the sun - Publickly and in the view of all men. Branch - His children, who are here mentioned as additions not only to his comfort, but also to his strength and safety. Garden - A place where it is defended from those injuries to which the trees of the field are subject, and where, besides the advantages common to all trees, it hath peculiar helps from the art and industry of men. So he supposes this man to be placed in the most desirable circumstances.

Heap - Of stones. This circumstance is added, to signify its firmness and strength, that it was not in loose and sandy ground, which a violent wind might overthrow, but in solid ground, within which were many stones, which its numerous and spreading roots embrace, folding and interweaving themselves about them. Seeth - The tree reacheth thither, takes the advantage of that place for the strengthening of itself.

He - God, who is the saviour of good men, and the destroyer of the wicked. It - The place; to which denying him, and seeing him, are here ascribed figuratively. Not seen - He shall be so utterly extirpated and destroyed, that there shall be no memorial of him left.

Behold - This is the issue of the flourishing state. This all his joy comes to. And, &c. - Out of the same earth or place shall another tree grow.

Behold - God who will not help the evildoer, will not cast away a good man, tho he may be cast down. Yet it may be, he will not be lifted up in this world: and therefore Bildad could not infer, that if Job was not restored to temporal prosperity, he was not a good man. Let us judge nothing before the time, but wait 'till the secrets of all hearts are revealed, and the present difficulties of providence solved, to universal and everlasting satisfaction.

'Till, &c. - And what I have said in general of good men, shall be made good to thee, if thou art such: God will not forsake thee, nor desist from doing thee good, 'till he give thee abundant matter of rejoicing.

2. How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind ?

i. e. Boisterous and violent, swelling and furious, opposing all persons and things that stand in thy way, not sparing either God or men.

3. Doth God pervert judgment ? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?

Heb. The mighty God, as this word signifies, the Almighty, or Alsufficient God, as the next name of God here implies. These Names are emphatically used, to prove that God cannot deal unjustly or falsly with men, because he hath no need of it, nor temptation to it, being self-sufficient for his own happiness, and being able by his own invincible power to do whatsoever pleaseth him; unless men will impudently say, that God doth falsly for meer love to falshood, without any necessity of it, or advantage to himself by it; than which nothing can be more absurd and ridiculous: for this makes him worse than the vilest of men, who act unjustly and falsly because they cannot otherwise accomplish their designs.

i. e. Overthrow the course of Justice in giving judgment; or, judge unrighteously? No, this is inconsistent with God's Nature, which is essentially and necessarily just, and with his Office of Governour of the World, Gen. 18. 25.

Marginal references: Gen. 18. 25. Deut. 32. 4. Cap. 34. 17. 2 Chron. 19. 7. Dan. 9. 14. Rom. 3. 5.

4. If thy children have sinned against him , and he have cast them away for their transgression :

What though thou wast in a great measure innocent, thy Children, upon whom a great part of these Calamities fell, might be guilty of great sins; and therefore God is not unrighteous in these proceedings.

Or, Hath expelled, or cast them out (to wit, out of the world, or out of his favour; as a man gives his Wife a Bill of Divorce, of which this word is used) by means, (Heb. by the hand, which is oft so used) of their wickedness. Or, hath left them in the hand of their sin; to wit, to be punished by it, and for it. Comp. Num. 32. 23. Your sin shall find you out.

Marginal references: Heb. in the hand of their transgressions

5. If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes , and make thy supplication to the Almighty;

But God hath spared thee, whom he might justly have destroyed with thy Children, and thou art yet capable of his favour if thou seek for it: And therefore cease from these causeless and unthankful complaints.

Heb. rise early to seek him, i. e. if thou wouldest seek him speedily, early and diligently. See Ch. 5. 8. & 7. 18, 21. But this may be understood of the time past; and this verse being connected with the next, may be thus rendred and understood; If thou hadst sought (for the future tense in the Hebrew is ost put for the past) unto God b[illegible: 1+ letters]tivies (as thou didst seem to do, Ch. 1. 5.) and made supplication to the Almighty; If withal thou hadst been pure and upright, i. e. If thy prayers had been accompanied with purity and uprightness of heart and life, they should have been heard and answered. But because thou didst regard iniquity in thy heart, therefore God would not hear, and did not answer thy prayers, but answered thee with a curse instead of a blessing, as he useth to deal with Hypocrites.

Marginal references: Chap. 11. 13. & 22. 23.

6. If thou wert pure and upright , surely now he would awake for thee , and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

If thou wert in truth what thou pretendest, and hast been thought by others to be. pure and upright, i. e. of a sincere heart, and blameless life towards God and men. But God's severe dealing with thee is an evident token, that notwithstanding all thy fair shews, thou art but an Hypocrite and secret sinner▪ And this sense may seem to agree both with the same charge brought in against Iob by Eliphaz, Ch. 4. 6, 7. and with the following discourse, particularly with v. 13, 20. Or thus, If thou wouldest be pure and upright; i. e. if thou wouldest joyn Reformation to thy Supplication. And this sense may seem best to suit with the foregoing verse, according to the common Translation.

i. e. Bestir himself to help thee, as being his faithful friend and servant, whom he could not in honour or justice forsake; whereas now he shews a deep sleep, and wholly neglects thee, and turneth a deaf Ear to all thy prayers; which sheweth what opinion he hath of thee.

i▪ e▪ The concerns of thy house and family: An usual Metonymy.

Either 1. which thou hast go[illegible: 1+ letters] and managed with righteousness; so he calls it by way of supposition; if it were so, God would prosper thee accordingly. But because thou doest not prosper, it gives us cause to suspect that thou hast got thy estate by fraud and oppression. Or 2. Which thou shalt now manage with justice, and not wrongfully, as thou hast done.

7. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly encrease .

The se[illegible: 1+ letters] se is either 1. Though thou hadst possessed but very little at first, yet God would have wonderfully blessed and increased thy estate. Whereas now God hath brought thee down from a great estate almost to nothing. Which is an evidence of his displeasure and thy hypocrisy. Or 2. Though the beginning of thy future fortunes, or, tho what thou hast left be now very small, yet if thou dost repent and seek God it shall vastly increase.

8. For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age , and prepare thy self to the search of their Fathers .

i. e. Of our predecessors, who had the advantage of longer life and more experience besides more frequent revelations from God, than we have Who also will be more impartial Judges of this cause then we may be thought to be. Inform thy self from them by the instructions which they left either in word or writing what their opinion was about the manner of Gods dealings with men.

Do not slightly, but seriously and industriously search the antient Records.

Marginal references: Deut. 4. 32. Chap. 15. 18.

9. (For we are but of yesterday , and know nothing because our days upon earth are a shadow .

But lately born, and therefore have but little knowledge and experience, as it follows.

This is meant either. 1. Of their lives in particular, which were far shorter than the lives of their ancestors, the Patriarchs, whose long lives gave them opportunity to know and see the course of Gods providence towards Good and bad men, and the differing ends and issues of their lives. Or, 2. Of mens lives in general; Which being very short, mens observation reacheth but to very few events in comparison of those which may be known by the records and testimony of all former ages.

Marginal references: See ch. 7. 6. Gen. 47. 9. 1 Chro. 29. 15. Psal. 39. 5. & 144. 4.; Heb. not

10. Shall not they teach thee , and tell thee, and utter words out of their hearts s?

Assuredly they will inform thee that it is as we say. Not partially, but sincerely, speaking their inward thoughts; Not rashly, but from deep consideration; Not by hearsay from others, but their own knowledge and experience.

11. Can the rush grow up without mire ? can the flagg grow without water?

i. e. If it be not in moist and miry ground. This and what follows hementions as it were in the person of those antients to whom he had referred him, of whom he saith that they would give him such instructions as these.

Or, the grass: or the mead[illegible: 1+ letters] as this word is used, Gen. 41. 2. i. e. The grass of a meadow. But our translation seems the best, because it is compared with other herbs.

Marginal references: Heb. lift up it self.

12. Whilest it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb .

Whereby it promiseth long continuance.

Though no man cut it down, it withered of itself, and will save a man the labour of cutting or plucking it up. It gives not a man so much warning that he can cut it down in time, as other green things do, but suddenly withered.

i. e. Sooner than other herbs or in their presence, or they surviving; in which sense it seems to be said that Ishmael died in the presence of his brethren, Gen. 25 18. The rest of the herbs looking upon it and admiring this sudden change. For actions of sense and understanding are oft ascribed to lifeless creatures both in Scripture and in other Authors.

Marginal references: Psal. 129. 6. Jer. 17. 6.

13. So are the paths of all that forget God , and the Hypocrite's hope shall perish :

i. e. Of wicked men who are branded with this same character, Psal. 9. 17. & 50. 22. Or Hypocrites, as the next words explain it, who are described by their first and fundamental miscarriage which is, that they forget, i. e. neglect, forsake, and despise (for so this phrase is commonly understood, as Deut. 6. 2. & 8. 11, &c. & 32. 18. Ier. 2. 32. & 23. 27.) God, i. e. his presence, and commands, and worship, and providence; and therefore break forth into manifold sins. But by their paths he doth not understand the course of their actions, or manner of their living, but the events which befall them, called their paths objectively, because they are the paths of God or the methods of his providence or manner of his dealing with them. Now this may be accommodated to the foregoing similitude in this manner; such is the prosperity of wicked men, because it wants the solid foundation of their piety, and of Gods promise and blessing consequent thereupon, it quickly vanisheth into nothing.

i. e. He shall lose what he hoped for, (hope being oft put for its object) even uninterrupted and abiding felicity, and with it all hope of restitution.

Marginal references: Ch. 11. [illegible: 1 word]. & 18. 14. [illegible: 1 word]. 112. 10. [illegible: 1 word]. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. 25.

14. Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a Spiders web .

i. e. Whose wealth and outward glory, which is the matter of his hope, and trust, shall be cut off, i. e. suddenly and violently taken away from him. Whose hope shall be i[illegible: 1+ letters]k some or tedious to him, by the succession of earnest expectation and great disapointment.

Which though it be formed with great art and industry, and may do much mischief to others, yet is most sle[illegible: 1+ letters]der and feeble and easily swept down or pulled in peices, and unable to defend the spider that made it. The application is obvious.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word].; Heb. a Spider's [illegible: 1 word] Isa. 59. 5, 6.

15. He shall lean upon his house , but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

i. e. He shall trust to the multitude and strength of his Children and servants, and to his wealth, all which come under the name of a mans house in Scripture-use.

i. e. Not be able to uphold itself nor him that trusted to it.

Or, he shall take fast hold of it, not to uphold it, but to strengthen and uphold himself by it, as it is in the former branch.

e Either the spider: Or rather the wicked man signified by it.

Marginal references: Chap. 27. 18.

16. He is green before the Sun , and his branch shooteth forth in his garden o.

Either 1. the perfect man here understood out of v. 20. where it is expressed: Or rather 2. the hypocrite, of whom he hath hitherto treated, to whom this and the following verses very well agree; Whom he before compared to a Rush, and then to a spiders web and now to a Tree, which is of a more solid substance and more durable; as if he said, as some wicked men are quickly cut off in the very beginnings of their prosperity; so there are others who seem to be more firmly grounded, and yet they also at last come to ruine.

i. e. Flourisheth in the world.

Either 1. publickly and in the view of all men, who observe it with admiration, and applause, and envy. Comp. 2 Sam. 12. 12. Or rather 2. notwithstanding all the scorching heat of the Sun, which quickly withers the Rushes and Herbs of which he spake before, but doth onely cherish and refresh the Tree. And so doth many a wicked man secure himself, and thrive and prosper even in times of great danger and trouble, and in spight of all opposition.

Or, His branches, the singular number for the plural; either 1. properly, and so this belongs to the description of a flourishing Tree, by the spreading of its branches here, as by the depth of its Root, v. 17. Or 2. metaphorically, to wit, his Children, which are here mentioned as additions not onely to his comfort, but also to his strength and safety.

n A place where it is defended from those injuries to which the Trees of the field are subject from men and beasts, and where besides the natural advantages common to all Trees, it hath peculiar helps from the Art and industry of men, by whom it is watered and assisted, as need requires. So he supposeth this man to be placed in the most desirable circumstances.

Marginal references: Ch. 29. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].

17. His roots are wrapped about the heap , and seeth the place of Stones.

To wit, of stones, which word may be here understood out of the latter Branch of the Verse, as is very usual in Scripture-use. This Circumstance of the Tree is added, to signifie either 1. Its firmness and strength, that it was not in loose and sandy ground, which a violent Wind might overthrow, but in solid and hard ground, within which were many stones, which its numerous and spreading Roots embrace, solding and interweaving themselves severally about several stones. Or, 2. Its singular and extraordinary growth in spight of all disadvantages and oppositions; that every stony-ground, which is very prejudicial to Trees, Matth. 13. 5. doth not hinder its growth, but only add to its strength. So God and Man seem to conspire, and all things concur to secure and perpetuate this Man's happiness. Some render the words, His roots are wrapped, or folded, or spread, or about, or [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters] spring, as the Hebrew gal sometime signifies; as Ioshua 15. 19. Cant. 4 12. i. e. A moist ground, which is much to its advantage: See Psalm 1. 3. Ier. 17. 8.

He, i. e. the Tree whose Roo[illegible: 1+ letters] he last mentioneth, reacheth thither, spreadeth himself so far, takes the advantage of that place for the strengthning of its self. Seeing is oft put for enjoying, and is frequently attributed to lifeless things, by a known Figure, called Prosopopeia.

Heb. the house, which is oft used for a place; as 2 Sam. 6. 17. 1 Kings 8. 6. Others render the words thus, He looketh upon the house of stones; i. e. made of stones for greater beauty and strength. He standeth proudly, and looketh boldly upon its Owners house, nigh unto which it is placed, even in his Garden, as was said before.

18. If he destroy him from his place , then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee .

Either God, who is the Saviour of good men, and the Destroyer of the wicked: Or, the Owner: or any other man; for this is an indefinite speech, and may be taken passively and impersonally; which is very common in the holy Text and Language.

In which he was planted.

i. e. The place; to which denying him, and seeing him, are here ascribed figuratively, as we have oft seen.

i. e. I do not know, nor remember that ever thou wast planted here. He shall be so utterly extirpated and destroyed, that there shall be no Footstep nor Name, nor Memorial of them left there.

19. Behold, this is the joy of his way , and out of the earth shall others grow .

This is the joyful and happy issue of the flourishing course, state, and condition (which is frequently called a way) of this Tree, or of the Hypocrite manifestly represented by it and expressed, v. 13. It is a Sarcasm or Irony, and is to be understood contrariwise of his sad and unhappy end.

i. e. Out of the same earth or place shall another Tree grow; which could not be, if there had been but a stump of it left though under ground. So it notes the total extirpation of the Tree, and of the Hypocrite, that his Person and all his Children and Family shall be utterly extinct, and so a stranger shall come into his place, and enjoy the fruit of his labours. But the words are and may be otherwise rendred very agreeably to the Hebrew Text, And out of other ground they (i. e. Plants or Trees, of which he is here speaking) shall grow, or, others shall grow, or, plants shall grow; the Noun being contained in the Verb: So the sense is, This Tree shall be rooted up, and the very ground of it so cursed, that nothing shall grow o[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1+ letters]rive in it; but other ground shall be fruitful, and other Trees that stood round about it shall stand still and flourish in their places. His design in all this is to prove Iob to be an Hypocrite, because he meets with their lot, which is total destruction.

20. Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:

Heb. Not despise or reject; i. e. He will not deny them his help, as appears by the opposite and following Branch of the Verse: He will not suffer them to be utterly lost.

i. e. Deliver them out of their troubles: Hence it may seem that thou, O Iob, art not a perfect or upright man, but an evil-doer: But this is certain, if for the future thy heart and way be not perfect, and thou doest not cease to do evil, thou wilt be utterly and irrecoverably lost; as on the contrary, if thou doest repent and reform, he will help and deliver thee, and restore thee to thy former glory and happiness; which Promise though it be not here expressed, is sufficiently implied in the contrary threatning, as is evident from the following words which plainly suppose it, and have a reference to it: such Ellipses of Contraries being not unusual in Scripture, as we shall see hereafter, especially in the Book of the Proverbs.

Marginal references: Heb take the [illegible: 1 word] by the [illegible: 1 word].

21. Till he fill thy mouth with laughing , and thy lips with rejoycing.

And what I have said in general of all perfect men, shall be made good to thee, if thou beest such an one; God will not forsake thee, nor desist from doing thee good, till he fill, &c. i. e. God will give thee such abundant matter of rejoycing, that thy heart shall not be able to hold it, but it shall break out at thy mouth and lips.

Marginal references: Heb. shout [illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1 word] joy.

22. They that hate thee shall be cloathed with shame , and the dwelling-place of the wicked shall come to nought.

That rejoyce in thy Calamities.

i. e. Shall be wholly covered with it, shall be utterly confounded, when they shall observe thee whom they have despised and insulted over, to be so wonderfully and surprizingly restored to thy former or a greater Felicity.

Either particularly of thy Enemies who dealt so unworthily and wickedly with thee: Or more generally of all wicked men. Having shewed what good God would do to the perfect man, he now declares the contrary Portion of the Wicked, and as he said, that God would not help them, v. 20. so here he adds, that God will bring not onely them but their house; i. e. their Family and Estate to nought.

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

Job 8:1-4   1  Then began Bildad the Shuhite, and said:   2  How long wilt thou utter such things,

And the words of thy mouth are a boisterous wind?   3  Will God reverse what is right,

Or the Almighty reverse what is just?   4  When thy children sinned against Him,

He gave them over to the hand of their wickedness.

BildadNothing can be said respecting the signification of the name בּלדּד even as a probable meaning, unless perhaps = בל־דד, sine mammis, i.e., brought up without his mother’s milk. begins harshly and self-confidently with quousque tandem, עד־אן instead of the usual עד־אנה. אלּה, not: this, but: of this kind, of such kind, as Job 12:3; Job 16:2. כּבּיר רוּח is poetical, equivalent to גּדולה רוּח, Job 1:19; רוּח is gen. comm. in the signification wind as well as spirit, although more frequently fem. than masc. He means that Job’s speeches are like the wind in their nothingness, and like a boisterous wind in their vehemence. Bildad sees the justice of God, the Absolute One, which ought to be universally acknowledged, impugned in them. In order not to say directly that Job’s children had died such a sudden death on account of their sin, he speaks conditionally. If they have sinned, death is just the punishment of their sin. God has not arbitrarily swept them away, but has justly given them over to the destroying hand of their wickedness, - a reference to the prologue which belongs inseparably to the whole.

Job 8:5-7   5  If thou seekest unto God,

And makest supplication to the Almighty,   6  If thou art pure and upright; Surely!

He will care for thee,

And restore the habitation of thy righteousness;   7  And if thy beginning was small,

Thy end shall be exceeding great.

There is still hope for Job (אתּה, in opposition to his children), if, turning humbly to God, he shows that, although not suffering undeservedly, he is nevertheless pure and upright in his inmost mind. Job 8:6 is so intended; not as Mercier and others explain: si in posterum puritati et justitiae studueris. אל־אל שׁחר, to turn one’s self to God earnestly seeking, constr. praegnans, like אל־אל דּרשׁ, Job 5:8. Then begins the conclusion with כּי־עתּה, like Job 13:18. “The habitation of thy righteousness” is Job’s household cleansed and justified from sin. God will restore that; שׁלּם might also signify, give peace to, but restore is far more appropriate. Completely falling back on שׁלם, the Piel signifies to recompense, off like being returned for like, and to restore, of a complete covering of the loss sustained. God will not only restore, but increase beyond measure, what Job was and had. The verb. masc. after אחרית here is remarkable. But we need not, with Olsh., read ישׂגּה: we may suppose, with Ewald, according to 174, e, that אהרית is purposely treated as masc. It would be a mistake to refer to Pro 23:32; Pro 29:21, in support of it.

Job 8:8-10   8  For inquire only of former ages,

And attend to the research of their fathers -   9  For we are of yesterday, without experience,

Because our days upon earth are a shadow - 10  Shall they not teach thee, speak to thee,

And bring forth words from their heart?

This challenge calls Deu 32:7 to mind. לבּך is to be supplied to כּונן; the conjecture of Olshausen, וּבונן, is good, but unnecessary. רשׁון is after the Aramaic form of writing, comp. Job 15:7, where this and the ordinary form are combined. The “research of their fathers,” i.e., which the fathers of former generations have bequeathed to them, is the collective result of their research, the profound wisdom of the ancients gathered from experience. Our ephemeral and shadowy life is not sufficient for passing judgment on the dealings of God; we must call history and tradition to our aid. We are תּמול (per aphaeresin, the same as אתמול), yesterday = of yesterday; it is not necessary to read, with Olshausen, מתּמול. There is no occasion for us to suppose that Job 8:9 is an antithesis to the long duration of life of primeval man. לב (Job 8:10) is not the antithesis of mouth; but has the pregnant signification of a feeling, i.e., intelligent heart, as we find לבב אישׁ, a man of heart, i.e., understanding, Job 34:10, Job 34:34. יוציאוּ, promunt, calls to mind Mat 13:52. Now follow familiar sayings of the ancients, not directly quoted, but the wisdom of the fathers, which Bildad endeavours to reproduce.

Job 8:11-15 11  Doth papyrus grow up without mire?

Doth the reed shoot up without water? 12  It is still in luxuriant verdure, when it is not cut off,

Then before all other grass it with 13  So is the way of all forgetters of God,

And the hope of the ungodly perisheth, 14  Because his hope is cut off,

And his trust is a spider’s house: 15  He leaneth upon his house and it standeth not,

He holdeth fast to it and it endureth not.

Bildad likens the deceitful ground on which the prosperity of the godless stands to the dry ground on which, only for a time, the papyrus or reed finds water, and grows up rapidly: shooting up quickly, it withers as quickly; as the papyrus plant,Vid., Champollion-Figeac, Aegypten, German translation, pp. 47f. if it has no perpetual water, though the finest of grasses, withers off when most luxuriantly green, before it attains maturity. גּמא, which, excepting here, is found only in connection with Egypt (Exo 2:3; Isa 18:2; and Isa 35:7, with the general קנה as specific name for reed), is the proper papyrus plant (Cypeerus papyyrus, L.): this name for it is suitably derived in the Hebrew from גּמא, to suck up (comp. Lucan, iv. 136: conseritur bibulâ Memphytis cymba papyro); but is at the same time Egyptian, since Coptic kam , cham , signifies the reed, and 'gôm , 'gōme, a book (like liber, from the bark of a tree).Comp. the Book of the Dead (Todtenbuch), ch. 162: “Chapter on the creation of warmth at the back of the head of the deceased. Words over a young cow finished in pure gold. Put them on the neck of the dead, and paint them also on a new papyrus,” etc. Papyrus is here cama: the word is determined by papyrus-roll, fastening and writing, and its first consonant corresponds to the Coptic aspirated g. Moreover, we cannot omit to mention that this cama = gôme also signifies a garment, as in a prayer: “O my mother Isis, come and veil me in thy cama.” Perhaps both ideas are represented in volumen, involucrum; it is, however, also possible that goome is to be etymologically separated from kam, cham = גמא. אחוּ, occurring only in the book of Job and in the history of Joseph, as Jerome (Opp. ed. Vallarsi, iv. 291) learned from the Egyptians, signifies in their language, omne quod in palude virem nascitur: the word is transferred by the lxx into their translation in the form ἄχι (ἄχει), and became really incorporated into the Alexandrian Greek, as is evident from Isa 19:7 (ערות, lxx καὶ τὸ ἄχι τὸ χλωρόν) and Sir. 40:16 (ἄχι ἐπὶ παντὸς ὕδατος καὶ χείλους ποταμοῦ πρὸ παντὸς χόρτου ἐκτιλήσεται); the Coptic translates pi - akhi , and moreover ake, oke signify in Coptic calamus, juncus.The tradition of Jerome, that אחו originally signifies viride, is supported by the corresponding use of the verb in the signification to be green. So in the Papyr. Anastas. No. 3 (in Brugsch, Aeg. Geographic, S. 20, No. 115): naif hesbu achach em sim, his fields are green with herbs; and in a passage in Young, Hieroglyphics, ii. 69: achechut uoi aas em senem.t, the beautiful field is green with senem. The second radical is doubled in achech, as in uot-uet, which certainly signifies viriditas. The substantive is also found represented by three leaf-stalks on one basis; its radical form is ah, plural, weaker or stronger aspirated, ahu or akhu, greenness: comp. Salvolini, Campagne dè Rhamsès le Grand, p. 117; and Brugsch, above, S. 25. יקּטף לא describes its condition: in a condition in which it is not ready for being gathered. By אשׁר, quippe, quoniam, this end of the man who forgets God, and of the חנף, i.e., the secretly wicked, is more particularly described. His hope יקוט, from קטט, or from קוט, med. o,Both are possible; for even from קטט, the mode of writing, יקוט, is not without numerous examples, as Dan 11:12; Psa 94:21; Psa 107:27. in neuter signification succiditur. One would indeed expect a figure corresponding to the spider’s web earlier; and accordingly Hahn, after Reiske, translates: whose hope is a gourd, - an absurd figure, and linguistically impossible, since the gourd or cucumber is קשּׁוּא, which has its cognates in Arabic and Syriac. SaadiaVid., Ewald-Dukes’ Beiträge zur Gesch. der ältesten Auslegung, i. 89. translates: whose hope is the thread of the sun. The “thread of the sun” is what we call the fliegender Sommer or Altweibersommer, i.e., the sunny days in the latter months of the year: certainly a suitable figure, but unsupportable by any parallel in language.Saadia’s interpretation cannot be supported from the Arabic, for the Arabs call the “Altweibersommer” the deceitful thread (el - chaitt el - bâttil), or “sunslime or spittle” (lu‛âb es - schems), or chayta‛ûr (a word which Ewald, Jahrb. ix. 38, derives from Arab. chayt = יקוט, a word which does not exist, and ‛ûr, chaff, a word which is not Arabic), from chat‛ara, to roam about, to be dispersed, to perish, vanish. From this radical signification, chaita‛ûr, like many similar old Arabic words with a fulness of figurative and related meaning, is become an expression for a number of different things, which may be referred to the notion of roaming about and dispersion. Among others, as the Turkish Kamus says, “That thing which on extremely hot days, in the form of a spider’s web, looks as though single threads came down from the atmosphere, which is caused by the thickness of the air,” etc. The form brought forward by Ew., written with Arab. t or t̬ , is, moreover, a fabrication of our lexicons (Fl.).

We must therefore suppose that יקוט, succiditur, first gave rise to the figure which follows: as easily as a spider’s web is cut through, without offering any resistance, by the lightest touch, or a breath of wind, so that on which he depends and trusts is cut asunder. The name for spider’s web, עכּבישׁ בּית,The spider is called עכבישׁ, for ענכבישׁ, Arabic ‛ancabuth, for which they say ‛accabuth in Saida, on ancient Phoenician ground, as atta (thou) for anta (communicated by Wetzstein). leads to the description of the prosperity of the ungodly by בּית (Job 8:15): His house, the spider’s house, is not firm to him. Another figure follows: the wicked in his prosperity is like a climbing plant, which grows luxuriantly for a time, but suddenly perishes.

Job 8:16-19 16  He dwells with sap in the sunshine,

And his branch spreads itself over his garden. 17  His roots intertwine over heaps of stone,

He looks upon a house of stones. 18  If He casts him away from his place,

It shall deny him: I have not seen thee. 19  Behold, thus endeth his blissful course,

And others spring forth from the dust.

The subject throughout is not the creeping-plant directly, but the ungodly, who is likened to it. Accordingly the expression of the thought is in part figurative and in part literal, יחזה אבנים בּית (Job 8:17). As the creeper has stones before it, and by its interwindings, as it were, so rules them that it may call them its own (v. Gerlach: the exuberant growth twines itself about the walls, and looks proudly down upon the stony structure); so the ungodly regards his fortune as a solid structure, which he has quickly caused to spring up, and which seems to him imperishable. Ewald translates: he separates one stone from another; בּית, according to §217, g, he considers equivalent to בּינת, and signifies apart from one another; but although חזה = חזז, according to its radical idea, may signify to split, pierce through, still בּית, when used as a preposition, can signify nothing else but, within. Others, e.g., Rosenmüller, translate: he marks a place of stones, i.e., meets with a layer of stones, against which he strikes himself; for this also בּית will not do. He who casts away (Job 8:18) is not the house of stone, but God. He who has been hitherto prosperous, becomes now as strange to the place in which he flourished so luxuriantly, as if it had never seen him. Behold, that is the delight of his way (course of life), i.e., so fashioned, so perishable is it, so it ends. From the ground above which he sprouts forth, others grow up whose fate, when they have no better ground of confidence than he, is the same. After he has placed before Job both the blessed gain of him who trusts, and the sudden destruction of him who forgets, God, as the result of the whole, Bildad recapitulates:

Job 8:20-22 20  Behold! God despiseth not the perfect man,

And taketh not evil-doers by the hand. 21  While He shall fill thy mouth with laughing,

And thy lips with rejoicing, 22  They who hate thee shall be clothed with shame,

And the tent of the ungodly is no more. “To take by the hand,” i.e., ready to help as His own, as Isa 41:13; Isa 42:6. Instead of עד (Job 8:21), there is no great difficulty in reading עוד: again (as e.g., Psa 42:6) He will fill; but even עד is supportable; it signifies, like Job 1:18; Psa 141:10, while. On the form ימלּה, vid., Ges. §75, 21, b. This close of Bildad’s speech sounds quite like the Psalms (comp. Psa 126:2 with Job 8:21; Psa 35:26; Psa 109:29; Psa 132:18, with Job 8:22). Bildad does all he can to win Job over. He calls the ungodly שׂנאיך, to show that he tries to think and expect the best of Job.

We have seen that Job in his second speech charges God with the appearance of injustice and want of compassion. The friends act as friends, by not allowing this to pass without admonition. After Job has exhausted himself with his plaints, Bildad enters into the discussion in the above speech. He defends the justice of God against Job’s unbecoming words. His assertion that God does not swerve from the right, is so true that it would be blasphemy to maintain against him that God sometimes perverts the right. And Bildad seems also to make the right use of this truth when he promises a glorious issue to his suffering, as a substantial proof that God does not deal unjustly towards him; for Job’s suffering does actually come to such an issue, and this issue in its accomplishment destroys the false appearance that God had been unjust or unmerciful towards him. Bildad expresses his main point still more prudently, and more in accordance with the case before him, when he says, “Behold! God does not act hostilely towards the godly, neither does He make common cause with the evil-doer” (Job 8:20), - a confession which he must allow is on both sides the most absolute truth. By the most telling figures he portrays the perishableness of the prosperity of those who forget God, and paints in glowing colours on this dark background the future which awaits Job. What is there in this speech of Bildad to censure, and how is it that it does not produce the desired cheering effect on Job?

It is true that nothing that God sends to man proceeds from injustice, but it is not true that everything that He sends to him comes from His justice. As God does not ordain suffering for the hardened sinner in order to improve him, because He is merciful, so He does not ordain suffering for the truly godly in order to punish him, because He is just. What we call God’s attributes are only separate phases of His indivisible holy being, - ad extra, separate modes of His operation in which they all share, - of which, when in operation, one does not act in opposition to another; they are not, however, all engaged upon the same object at one time. One cannot say that God’s love manifests itself in action in hell, nor His anger in heaven; nor His justice in the afflictions of the godly, and His mercy in the sufferings of the godless.

Herein is Bildad’s mistake, that he thinks his commonplace utterance is sufficient to explain all the mysteries of human life. We see from his judgment of Job’s children how unjust he becomes, since he regards the matter as the working out of divine justice. He certainly speaks hypothetically, but in such a way that he might as well have said directly, that their sudden death was the punishment of their sin. If he had found Job dead, he would have considered him as a sinner, whom God had carried off in His anger. Even now he has no pleasure in promising Job help and blessing; accordingly from his point of view he expresses himself very conditionally: If thou art pure and upright. We see from this that his belief in Job’s uprightness is shaken, for how could the All-just One visit Job with such severe suffering, if he had not deserved it! Nevertheless אתה וישׁר זך אם (Job 8:6) shows that Bildad thinks it possible that Job’s heart may be pure and upright, and consequently his present affliction may not be peremptory punishment, but only disciplinary chastisement. Job just - such is Bildad’s counsel - give God glory, and acknowledge that he deserves nothing better; and thus humbling himself beneath the just hand of God, he will be again made righteous, and exalted.

Job cannot, however, comprehend his suffering as an act of divine justice. His own fidelity is a fact, his consciousness of which cannot be shaken: it is therefore impossible for him to deny it, for the sake of affirming the justice of God; for truth is not to be supported by falsehood. Hence Bildad’s glorious promises afford Job no comfort. Apart from their being awkwardly introduced, they depend upon an assumption, the truth of which Job cannot admit without being untrue to himself. Consequently Bildad, though with the best intention, only urges Job still further forward and deeper into the conflict.

But does, then, the confession of sin on the part of constantly sinful man admit of his regarding the suffering thus appointed to him not merely not as punishment, but also not as chastisement? If a sufferer acknowledges the excessive hideousness of sin, how can he, when a friend bids him regard his affliction as a wholesome chastisement designed to mortify sin more and more, - how can he receive the counsel with such impatience as we see in the case of Job? The utterances of Job are, in fact, so wild, inconsiderate, and unworthy of God, and the first speeches of Eliphaz and Bildad on the contrary so winning and appropriate, that if Job’s affliction ought really to be regarded from the standpoint of chastisement, their tone could not be more to the purpose, nor exhortation and comfort more beautifully blended. Even when one knows the point of the book, one will still be constantly liable to be misled by the speeches of the friends; it requires the closest attention to detect what is false in them. The poet’s mastery of his subject, and the skill with which he exercises it, manifests itself in his allowing the opposition of the friends to Job, though existing in the germ from the very beginning, to become first of all in the course of the controversy so harsh that they look upon Job as a sinner undergoing punishment from God, while in opposition to them he affirms his innocence, and challenges a decision from God.

The poet, however, allows Bildad to make one declaration, from which we clearly see that his address, beautiful as it is, rests on a false basis, and loses its effect. Bildad explains the sudden death of Job’s children as a divine judgment. He could not have sent a more wounding dart into Job’s already broken heart; for is it possible to tell a man anything more heart-rending that that his father, his mother, or his children have died as the direct punishment of their sins? One would not say so, even if it should seem to be an obvious fact, and least of all to a father already sorely tried and brought almost to the grave with sorrow. Bildad, however, does not rely upon facts, he reasons only à priori. He does not know that Job’s children were godless; the only ground of his judgment is the syllogism: Whoever dies a fearful, sudden death must be a great sinner; God has brought Job’s children to such a death; ergo, etc. Bildad is zealously affected for God, but without understanding. He is blind to the truth of experience, in order not to be drawn away from the truth of his premiss. He does not like to acknowledge anything that furnishes a contradiction to it. It is this same rationalism of superstition or credulity which has originated the false doctrine of the decretum absolutum. With the same icy and unfeeling rigorism with which Calvinism refers the divine rule, and all that happens upon earth, to the one principle of absolute divine will and pleasure, in spite of all the contradictions of Scripture and experience, Bildad refers everything to the principle of the divine justice, and indeed, divine justice in a judicial sense.

There is also another idea of justice beside this judicial one. Justice, צדקה or צדק, is in general God’s dealings as ruled by His holiness. Now there is not only a holy will of God concerning man, which says, Be ye holy, for I am holy; but also a purpose for the redemption of unholy man springing from the holy love of God to man. Accordingly justice is either the agreement of God’s dealings with the will of His holiness manifest in the demands of the law, apart from redemption, or the agreement of His dealings with the will of His love as graciously manifested in the gospel; in short, either retributive or redemptive. If one, as Bildad, in the first sense says, God never acts unjustly, and glaringly maintains it as universally applicable, the mystery of the divine dispensations is not made clear thereby, but destroyed. Thus also Job’s suffering is no longer a mystery: Job suffers what he deserves; and if it cannot be demonstrated, it is to be assumed in contradiction to all experience. This view of his affliction does not suffice to pacify Job, in spite of the glorious promises by which it is set off. His conscience bears him witness that he has not merited such incomparably heavy affliction; and if we indeed suppose, what we must suppose, that Job was in favour with God when this suffering came upon him, then the thought that God deals with him according to his works, perhaps according to his unacknowledged sins, must be altogether rejected.

God does not punish His own; and when He chastises them, it is not an act of His retributive justice, but of His disciplinary love. This motive of love, indeed, belongs to chastisement in common with trial; and the believer who clearly discerns this love will be able to look upon even the severest affliction as chastisement without being led astray, because he knows that sin has still great power in him; and the medicine, if it is designed to heal him, must be bitter. If, therefore, Bildad had represented Job’s affliction as the chastisement of divine love, which would humble him in order the more to exalt him, then Job would have humbled himself, although Bildad might not be altogether in the right. But Bildad, still further than Eliphaz from weakening the erroneous supposition of a hostile God which had taken possession of Job’s mind, represents God’s justice, to which he attributes the death of his children, instead of His love, as the hand under which Job is to humble himself. Thereby the comfort which Job’s friend offers becomes to him a torture, and his trial is made still greater; for his conscience does not accuse him of any sins for which he should now have an angry instead of a gracious God.

But we cannot even here withhold the confession that the composition of such a drama would not be possible under the New Testament. The sight of the suffering of Christ and the future crown has a power in calming the mind, which makes such an outburst of sorrow as that of Job impossible even under the strongest temptation. “If the flesh should murmur and cry out, as Christ even cried out and was feeble,” says Luther in one of his consolatory letters (Rambach, Kleine Schriften Luthers, S. 627), “the spirit nevertheless is ready and willing, and with sighings that cannot be uttered will cry: Abba, Father, it is Thou; Thy rod is hard, but Thou art still Father; I know that of a truth.” And since the consciousness of sin is as deep as the consciousness of grace, the Christian will not consider any suffering so severe but that he may have deserved severer on account of his sins, even though in the midst of his cross he be unable clearly to recognise the divine love. Even such uncharitable, cold-hearted consolation as that of Eliphaz and Bildad, which bids him regard the divine trial as divine chastisement, cannot exasperate him, since he is conscious of the need for even severer divine chastisement; he need not therefore allow the uncharitableness of the friend to pass without loving counter-exhortations.

Hengstenberg observes, in the Excursus to his Commentary on the Psalms, that the righteousness on which the plea to be heard is based in the Psalms, like Psa 17:1-15; Psa 18:21., Psa 44:18-23, is indeed a righteousness of conduct resting on righteousness by faith, and also this again is only to be considered as the righteousness of endeavour; that moreover their strong tone does not sound altogether becoming, according to our consciousness. We should expect each time, as it happens sometimes urgently (e.g., Psa 143:2), the other side, - that human infirmity which still clings to the righteous should be made prominent, and divine forgiveness for it implored, instead of the plea for deliverance being based on the incongruity of the affliction with the sufferer’s consciousness of righteousness towards God. We cannot altogether adopt such psalms and passages of the Psalms as expressive of our Christian feeling; and we are scarcely able to read them in public without hesitation when we attempt it. Whence is this? Hengstenberg replied, “The Old Testament wanted the most effectual means for producing the knowledge of sin - the contemplation of the sufferings of Christ. The New Testament, moreover, possesses a more powerful agency of the Spirit, which does not search more into the depths of the divine nature than it lays open the depths of sin. Hence in Christian songs the sense of sin, as it is more independent of outward occasions than formerly, so it is also more openly disclosed and more delicate in itself; its ground is felt to lie deeper, and also the particular manifestations. It was good that under the Old Covenant the cords of sinful conviction were not strung too rightly, as the full consolation was still not to be found. The gulph closed up again when the sufferings were gone.”Vid., Hengstenberg’s Commentary on the Psalms, iii., Appendix. p. lxiii. Clark’s Foreign Theological Library. 1654.

Such is the actual connection. And this development of the work of redemption in the history of mankind is repeated in the individual experience of every believer. As the individual, the further he progresses in the divine life, becomes the more deeply conscious of the natural depravity of man, and acquires a keener and still keener perception of its most subtle working; so in the New Testament, with the disclosure of actual salvation, a deeper insight into sin is also given. When the infinite depth and extent of the kingdom of light is unveiled, the veil is for the first time removed from the abyss of the kingdom of darkness. Had the latter been revealed without the former in the dispensation before Christ, the Old Testament would have been not only what it actually was in connection with the then painful consciousness of sin and death, - a school of severe discipline preparatory to the New Testament, a school of ardent longing for redemption, - but would have become an abyss of despair.

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

1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, 2 How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind? 3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice? 4 If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression; 5 If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty; 6 If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. 7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

Here, I. Bildad reproves Job for what he had said (v. 2), checks his passion, but perhaps (as is too common) with greater passion. We thought Job spoke a great deal of good sense and much to the purpose, and that he had reason and right on his side; but Bildad, like an eager angry disputant, turns it all off with this, How long wilt thou speak these things? taking it for granted that Eliphaz had said enough to silence him, and that therefore all he said was impertinent. Thus (as Caryl observes) reproofs are often grounded upon mistakes. Men's meaning is not taken aright, and then they are gravely rebuked as if they were evil-doers. Bildad compares Job's discourse to a strong wind. Job had excused himself with this, that his speeches were but as wind (ch. vi. 26), and therefore they should not make such ado about them: "Yea, but" (says Bildad) "they are as strong wind, blustering and threatening, boisterous and dangerous, and therefore we are concerned to fence against them."

II. He justifies God in what he had done. This he had no occasion to do at this time (for Job did not condemn God, as he would have it thought he did), or he might at least have done it without reflecting upon Job's children, as he does here. Could he not be an advocate for God but he must be an accuser of the brethren? 1. He is right in general, that God doth not pervert judgment, nor ever go contrary to any settled rule of justice, v. 3. Far be it from him that he should and from us that we should suspect him. He never oppresses the innocent, nor lays a greater load on the guilty than they deserve. He is God, the Judge; and shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Gen. xviii. 25. If there should be unrighteousness with God, how should he judge the world? Rom. iii. 5, 6. He is Almighty, Shaddai—all sufficient. Men pervert justice sometimes for fear of the power of others (but God is Almighty, and stands in awe of none), sometimes to obtain the favour of others; but God is all-sufficient, and cannot be benefited by the favour of any. It is man's weakness and impotency that he often is unjust; it is God's omnipotence that he cannot be so. 2. Yet he is not fair and candid in the application. He takes it for granted that Job's children (the death of whom was one of the greatest of his afflictions) had been guilty of some notorious wickedness, and that the unhappy circumstances of their death were sufficient evidence that they were sinners above all the children of the east, v. 4. Job readily owned that God did not pervert judgment; and yet it did not therefore follow either that his children were cast-aways or that they died for some great transgression. It is true that we and our children have sinned against God, and we ought to justify him in all he brings upon us and ours; but extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces; and, in our judgment of another's case (unless the contrary appears), we ought to take the more favourable side, as our Saviour directs, Luke xiii. 2-4. Here Bildad missed it.

III. He put Job in hope that, if he were indeed upright, as he said he was, he should yet see a good issue of his present troubles: "Although thy children have sinned against him, and are cast away in their transgression (they have died in their own sin), yet if thou be pure and upright thyself, and as an evidence of that wilt now seek unto God and submit to him, all shall be well yet," v. 5-7. This may be taken two ways, either, 1. As designed to prove Job a hypocrite and a wicked man, though not by the greatness, yet the by the continuance, of his afflictions. "When thou wast impoverished, and thy children were killed, if thou hadst been pure and upright, and approved thyself so in the trial, God would before now have returned in mercy to thee and comforted thee according to the time of thy affliction; but, because he does not so, we have reason to conclude thou art not so pure and upright as thou pretendest to be. If thou hadst conducted thyself well under the former affliction, thou wouldst not have been struck with the latter." Herein Bildad was not in the right; for a good man may be afflicted for his trial, not only very sorely, but very long, and yet, if for life, it is in comparison with eternity but for a moment. But, since Bildad put it to this issue, God was pleased to join issue with him, and proved his servant Job an honest man by Bildad's own argument; for, soon after, he blessed his latter end more than his beginning. Or, 2. As designed to direct and encourage Job, that he might not thus run himself into despair, and give up all for gone; there might yet be hope if he would take the right course. I am apt to think Bildad here intended to condemn Job, yet would be thought to counsel and comfort him. (1.) He gives him good counsel, yet perhaps not expecting he would take it, the same that Eliphaz had given him (ch. v. 8), to seek unto God, and that betimes (that is, speedily and seriously), and not to be dilatory and trifling in his return and repentance. He advises him not to complain, but to petition, to make his supplication to the Almighty with humility and faith, and to see that there was (what he feared had hitherto been wanting) sincerity in his heart ("thou must be pure and upright") and honesty in his house—"that must be the habitation of thy righteousness, and not filled with ill-gotten goods, else God will not hear thy prayers," Ps. lxvi. 18. It is only the prayer of the upright that is the acceptable and prevailing prayer, Prov. xv. 8. (2.) He gives him good hopes that he shall yet again see good days, secretly suspecting, however, that he was not qualified to see them. He assures him that, if he would be early in seeking God, God would awake for his relief, would remember him and return to him, though now he seemed to forget him and forsake him—that if his habitation were righteous it should be prosperity. When we return to God in a way of duty we have reason to hope that he will return to us in a way of mercy. Let not Job object that he had so little left to being the world with again that it was impossible he should ever prosper as he had done; no, "Though thy beginning should be ever so small, a little meal in the barrel and a little oil in the cruse, God's blessing shall multiply that to a great increase." This is God's way of enriching the souls of his people with graces and comforts, not per saltum—as by a bound, but per gradum—step by step. The beginning is small, but the progress is to perfection. Dawning light grows to noonday, a grain of mustard seed to a great tree. Let us not therefore despise the day of small things, but hope for the day of great things.

8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: 9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:) 10 Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart? 11 Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water? 12 Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. 13 So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish: 14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web. 15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure. 16 He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden. 17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones. 18 If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee. 19 Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.

Bildad here discourses very well on the sad catastrophe of hypocrites and evil-doers and the fatal period of all their hopes and joys. He will not be so bold as to say with Eliphaz that none that were righteous were ever cut off thus (ch. iv. 7); yet he takes it for granted that God, in the course of his providence, does ordinarily bring wicked men, who seemed pious and were prosperous, to shame and ruin in this world, and that, by making their prosperity short, he discovers their piety to be counterfeit. Whether this will certainly prove that all who are thus ruined must be concluded to have been hypocrites he will not say, but rather suspect, and thinks the application is easy.

I. He proves this truth, of the certain destruction of all the hopes and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to antiquity and the concurring sentiment and observation of all wise and good men; and an undoubted truth it is, if we take in the other world, that, if not in this life, yet in the life to come, hypocrites will be deprived of all their trusts and all their triumphs: whether Bildad so meant or no, we must so take it. Let us observe the method of his proof, v. 8-10.

1. He insists not on his own judgment and that of his companions: We are but of yesterday, and know nothing, v. 9. He perceived that Job had no opinion of their abilities, but thought they knew little. "We will own," says Bildad, "that we know nothing, are as ready to confess our ignorance as thou art to condemn it; for we are but of yesterday in comparison, and our days upon earth are short and transient, and hastening away as a shadow. And hence," (1.) "We are not so near the fountain-head of divine revelation" (which then for aught that appears, was conveyed by tradition) "as the former age was; and therefore we must enquire what they said and recount what we have been told of their sentiments." Blessed be God, now that we have the word of God in writing, and are directed to search that, we need not enquire of the former age, nor prepare ourselves to the search of their fathers; for, though we ourselves are but of yesterday, the word of God in the scripture is as nigh to us as it was to them (Rom. x. 8), and it is the more sure word of prophecy, to which we must take heed. If we study and keep God's precepts, we may by them understand more than the ancients, Ps. cxix. 99, 100. (2.) "We do not live so long as those of the former age did, to make observations upon the methods of divine providence, and therefore cannot be such competent judges as they in a cause of this nature." Note, The shortness of our lives is a great hindrance to the improvement of our knowledge, and so are the frailty and weakness of our bodies. Vita brevis, ars longa—life is short, the progress of art boundless.

2. He refers to the testimony of the ancients and to the knowledge which Job himself had of their sentiments. "Do thou enquire of the former age, and let them tell thee, not only their own judgment in this matter, but the judgment also of their fathers, v. 8. They will teach thee, and inform thee (v. 10), that all along, in their time, the judgments of God followed wicked men. This they will utter out of their hearts, that is, as that which they firmly believe themselves, which they are greatly affected with and desirous to acquaint and affect others with." Note, (1.) For the right understanding of divine Providence, and the unfolding of the difficulties of it, it will be of use to compare the observations and experiences of former ages with the events of our own day; and, in order thereto, to consult history, especially the sacred history, which is the most ancient, infallibly true, and written designedly for our learning. (2.) Those that would fetch knowledge from the former ages must search diligently, prepare for the search, and take pains for the search. (3.) Those words are most likely to reach to the hearts of the learners that come from the hearts of the teachers. Those shall teach thee best that utter words out of their heart, that speak by experience, and not by rote, of spiritual and divine things. The learned bishop Patrick suggests that Bildad being a Shuhite, descended from Shuah one of Abraham's sons by Keturah (Gen. xxv. 2), in this appeal which he makes to history he has a particular respect to the rewards which the blessing of God secured to the posterity of faithful Abraham (who hitherto, and long after, continued in his religion) and to the extirpation of those eastern people, neighbours to Job (in whose country they were settled), for their wickedness, whence he infers that it is God's usual way to prosper the just and root out the wicked, though for a while they may flourish.

II. He illustrates this truth by some similitudes.

1. The hopes and joys of the hypocrite are here compared to a rush or flag, v. 11-13. (1.) It grows up out of the mire and water. The hypocrite cannot gain his hope without some false rotten ground or other out of which to raise it, and with which to support it and keep it alive, any more than the rush can grow without mire. He grounds it on his worldly prosperity, the plausible profession he makes of religion, the good opinion of his neighbours, and his own good conceit of himself, which are no solid foundation on which to build his confidence. It is all but mire and water; and the hope that grows out of it is but rush and flag. (2.) It may look green and gay for a while (the rush outgrows the grass), but it is light and hollow, and empty, and good for nothing. It is green for show, but of no use. (3.) It withers presently, before any other herb, v. 12. Even while it is in its greenness it is dried away and gone in a little time. Note, The best state of hypocrites and evil-doers borders upon withering; even when it is green it is going. The grass is cut down and withers (Ps. xc. 6); but the rush is not cut down and yet withers, withers before it grows up (Ps. cxxix. 6): as it has no use, so it has no continuance. So are the paths of all that forget God (v. 13); they take the same way that the rush does, for the hypocrite's hope shall perish. Note, [1.] Forgetfulness of God is at the bottom of men's hypocrisy, and of the vain hopes with which they flatter and deceive themselves in their hypocrisy. Men would not be hypocrites if they did not forget that the God with whom they have to do searches the heart and requires truth there, that he is a Spirit and has his eye on our spirits; and hypocrites would have no hope if they did not forget that God is righteous, and will not be mocked with the torn and the lame. [2.] The hope of hypocrites is a great cheat upon themselves, and, though it may flourish for a while, it will certainly perish at last, and they with it.

2. They are here compared to a spider's web, or a spider's house (as it is in the margin), a cobweb, v. 14, 15. The hope of the hypocrite, (1.) Is woven out of his own bowels; it is the creature of his own fancy, and arises merely from a conceit of his own merit and sufficiency. There is a great deal of difference between the work of the bee and that of the spider. A diligent Christian, like the laborious bee, fetches in all his comfort from the heavenly dews of God's word; but the hypocrite, like the subtle spider, weaves his out of a false hypothesis of his own concerning God, as if he were altogether such a one as himself. (2.) He is very fond of it, as the spider of her web; pleases himself with it, wraps himself in it, calls it his house, leans upon it, and holds it fast. It is said of the spider that she takes hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces, Prov. xxx. 28. So does a carnal worldling hug himself in the fulness and firmness of his outward prosperity; he prides himself in that house as his palace, fortifies himself in it as his castle, and makes use of it as the spider of her web, to ensnare those he has a mind to prey upon. So does a formal professor; he flatters himself in his own eyes, doubts not of his salvation, is secure of heaven, and cheats the world with his vain confidences. (3.) It will easily and certainly be swept away, as the cobweb with the besom, when God shall come to purge his house. The prosperity of worldly people will fail them when they expect to find safety and happiness in it. They seek to hold fast their estates, but God is plucking them out of their hands; and whose shall all those things be, which they have provided? or what the better they will be for them? The confidences of hypocrites will fail them. I tell you, I know you not. The house built on the sand will fall in the storm, when the builder most needs it and promised himself the benefit of it. When a wicked man dies his expectation perishes. The ground of his hopes will prove false; he will be disappointed of the thing he hoped for, and his foolish hope with which he buoyed himself up will be turned into endless despair; and thus his hope will be cut off, his web, that refuge of lies, swept away, and he crushed in it.

3. The hypocrite is here compared to a flourishing and well-rooted tree, which, though it do not wither of itself, yet will easily be cut down and its place know it no more. The secure and prosperous sinner may think himself wronged when he is compared to a rush and a flag; he thinks he has a better root. "We will allow him his conceit," says Bildad, "and give him all the advantage he can desire, and bring him in suddenly cut off." He is here represented as Nebuchadnezzar was in his own dream (Dan. iv. 10) by a great tree. (1.) See this tree fair and flourishing (v. 16) like a green bay-tree (Ps. xxxvii. 35), green before the sun, it keeps its greenness in defiance of the scorching sun-beams, and his branch shoots forth under the protection of his garden-wall and with the benefit of his garden-soil. See it fixed, and taking deep root, never likely to be overthrown by stormy winds, for his roots are interwoven with the stones (v. 17); it grows in firm ground, not, as the rush, of mire and water. Thus does a wicked man, when he prospers in the world, think himself secure; his wealth is a high wall in his own conceit. (2.) See this tree felled and forgotten notwithstanding, destroyed from his place (v. 18), and so entirely extirpated that there shall remain no sign or token where it grew. The very place say, I have not seen thee; and the standers by shall say the same. I sought him, but he could not be found, Ps. xxxvi. 36. He made a great show and a great noise for a time, but he is gone of a sudden, and neither root nor branch is left him, Mal. iv. 1. This is the joy (that is, this is the end and conclusion) of the wicked man's way (v. 19); this is that which all his joy comes to. The way of the ungodly shall perish, Ps. i. 6. His hope, he thought, would in the issue be turned into joy; but this is the issue, this is the joy. The harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow, Isa. xvii. 11. This is the best of it; and what then is the worst of it? But shall he not leave a family behind him to enjoy what he has? No, out of the earth (not out of his roots) shall others grow, that are nothing akin to him, and shall fill up his place, and rule over that for which he labored. Others (that is, others of the same spirit and disposition) shall grow up in his place, and be as secure as ever he was, not warned by his fall. The way of worldlings is their folly, and yet there is a race of those that approve their sayings, Ps. xlix. 13.

20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers: 21 Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing. 22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

Bildad here, in the close of his discourse, sums up what he has to say in a few words, setting before Job life and death, the blessing and the curse, assuring him that as he was so he should fare, and therefore they might conclude that as he fared so he was. 1. On the one hand, if he were a perfect upright man, God would not cast him away, v. 20. Though now he seemed forsaken of God, he would yet return to him, and by degrees would turn his mourning into dancing (Ps. xxx. 11) and comforts should flow in upon him so plentifully that his mouth should be filled with laughing, v. 21. So affecting should the happy change be, Ps. cxxvi. 2. Those that loved him would rejoice with him; but those that hated him, and had triumphed in his fall, would be ashamed of their insolence, when they should see him restored to his former prosperity. Now it is true that God will not cast away an upright man; he may be cast down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for ever. It is true that, if not in this world, yet in another, the mouth of the righteous shall be filled with rejoicing. Though their sun should set under a cloud, yet it shall rise again clear, never more to be clouded; though they go mourning to the grave, that shall not hinder their entrance into the joy of their Lord. It is true that the enemies of the saints will be clothed with shame when they see them crowned with honour. But it does not therefore follow that, if Job were not perfectly restored to his former prosperity, he would forfeit the character of a perfect man. 2. On the other hand, if he were a wicked man and an evil-doer, God would not help him, but leave him to perish in his present distresses (v. 20), and his dwelling-place should come to nought, v. 22. And here also it is true that God will not help the evil-doers; they throw themselves out of his protection, and forfeit his favour. He will not take the ungodly by the hand (so it is in the margin), will not have fellowship and communion with them; for what communion can there be between light and darkness? He will not lend them his hand to pull them out of the miseries, the eternal miseries, into which they have plunged themselves; they will then stretch out their hand to him for help, but it will be too late: he will not take them by the hand. Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed. It is true that the dwelling-place of the wicked, sooner or later, will come to nought. Those only who make God their dwelling-place are safe for ever, Ps. xc. 1; xci. 1. Those who make other things their refuge will be disappointed. Sin brings ruin on persons and families. Yet to argue (as Bildad, I doubt, slyly does) that because Job's family was sunk, and he himself at present seemed helpless, therefore he certainly was an ungodly wicked man, was neither just nor charitable, as long as there appeared no other evidence of his wickedness and ungodliness. Let us judge nothing before the time, but wait till the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest, and the present difficulties of Providence be solved to universal and everlasting satisfaction, when the mystery of God shall be finished.

CHAP. VIII. Verſe 1. Then anſwered Bildad the Shuhite, and ſaid]

BIldad (who was of the poſterity of Shuah Abrahams ſon by Keturah, Gen. 25.1, 2.) interrupteth Job, and indeavours to maintain what Eliphaz had ſpoken: Nevertheleſs it appeareth by this chapter, verſe 5, 6, 20, 21. that his opinion was not ſo rigid, as that of Eliphaz: for he grants that a righteous man may be afflicted, but yet ſo, that if God reſtore him not ſpeedily, he may be cenſured, caſt and condemned as unrighteous. He paſſeth (as they do all) ſome hard cenſures upon Job; and is paid in his own coyn by him: who ſaith, that he was according to his name, a wicked kinſman: for [non-Latin text not transcribed] is naught, and [non-Latin text not transcribed] an Uncle. With what judgment men judg, they ſhall be judged. Mat. 7 2.

Verſ. 2. How long wilt thou speak theſe things?] Quonſque effaberis iſta? q. d. Tremel. Haſt thou nothing better then this to utter? Be ſilent for ſhame, or forbear at leaſt to vent thy ſpleen againſt God, of whoſe proceedings with ſhee thou haſt heavily complained: thy words have been ſtout againſt the Lord, and thou haſt taken too much liberty of language in this tempeſt of talk.

And how long ſhall the words of thy mouth be like a ſtrong wind?]Mercer. Big and boiſterous, rude and [illegible: 1 letter]robuſtuous, as if thou wouldſt Dominum impetere, evertere, & dejicere blow down God and his proceedings at a breath. The Tigurine tranſlation is, Quanaiu verba oris [illegible: 1 letter]ui ſo[illegible: 1 letter]abu[illegible: 1 letter]t pertinacia[illegible: 1 letter]? How long ſhall the words of thy mouth ſound out thine obſtinacy? If evil thoughts be majoris reatus, of greater guilt, as the Schools ſpeak; yet evil words and works are majoris infamia, of greater ſcandal, and do more corrupt others. This Bildad was ſenſible of, and conceiving that Job complained of God as dealing hardly with him, and unjuſtly afflicting him: he addeth,

Verſe 3. Doth God pervert judgment?] By not puniſhing the wicked: or doth the Almighty pervert juſtice? by not rewarding the righteous (ſo the Hebrews expound it) Why no: neither did Job ever ſay ſuch a thing; only he had pathetically ſet forth the greatneſs of his pain, and the unkindneſs of his friends, and wiſhed to die rather then to endure it. Now this was conſtrued for blaſphemy, or little leſs: and Bildad is very hot in his invective againſt Job, as good reaſon he had, if he had not been ſo miſtaken. Here he wreſteth in a moſt true propoſition (commondam ſanè ſed non acc[illegible: 1 letter]mmodam) but yet ſuch a one as very little concerned this preſent diſputation: and he doth it with as ſmall wiſedom and diſcretion, ſaith Beza, as with great pride and confidence. For doth it either argue Job and hypocrite, and wicked man, or charge God with injuſtice if it be ſaid, that Job for his ſins was not ſo afflicted by God (whereas he in the mean time denieth not himſelf to be a ſinner, and to have deſerved Gods heavy hand upon him) but rather proved and tryed by him according to his good pleaſure? yet Bildad goeth on as if he had done very well: and in the next verſe in plain words boldly avoucheth that Jobs children were by Gods judgment deſtroyed with the fall of the houſe, whatever betid their ſouls.

Verſ. 4. If thy children have ſinned againſt him] As what man is he that liveth and ſinneth not? But Bildad meant that Jobs children had hainouſly ſinned, had been grievous ſinners againſt their own ſouls (as afterwards were Core and his complices) had not ſinned common ſins, and therefore died not common deaths: indeed they died early and ſuddenly, and eating and drinking (wherein there might be ſome exceſs) and before ſacrifice offered for them, as formerly: all this was ſad, and moved Job more then any thing elſe. But did it therefore follow that God haſt caſt them away? &c.

And he have caſt them away for their tranſgreſſion] Or, And he have expelled or abandoned them into the hand (ſo the Hebrew hath it elegantly) of their transgreſſions or rebellions, Pagnin. as ſo may executioners. Some render it thus, He hath driven them out of the world for their transgreſſion. The Chaldee Paraphraſt goeth further, interpreting hand here for place. If God have ſent them, ſaith he, into the place of their wickedneſs, that is, into hell prepared for the wicked. Now ſurely, ſaith Lavater, Inhumaniſſimus fuit Bildad, qui iſta calamitoſiſſimo objicere non dubitabat: Bildad was a moſt unmerciful man, who doubted not to lay theſe things in the diſh of him that was before ſo heavily afflicted, and to heap more load upon him who was ready to ſink under his burden: but he did it, ſay ſome, of a good intent, to bring Job to a ſenſe of his ſin, and to put him in hope of appeaſing Gods wrath, who had yet ſpared his life that he might make his peace, and not ſuddenly ſlay him as he had done them: and therefore he aſſureth him in the following verſes, as Eliphaz had done before, that all things ſhall go well with him if he repent. Albeit thy children have ſinned, &c. yet

Verſe 5. If thou wouldſt ſeek unto God betimes] If warned by the evil end that befell thine unhappy children, thou wouldſt early and earneſtly ſeek unto God for mercy, for which purpoſe it may ſeem that thy life hath been graciouſly ſpared, when thy children have been deſtroyed, that thou mightſt be made wiſe at their expence. Such counſel as this is, Eliphaz had given Job before, chap. 5.8.

And make thy ſupplication to the Almighty] Pray for mercy out of free-grace alone, ſo the Hebrew word ſignifieth: plead for pity, ſpeak ſupplications as the poor man doth, Prov 18.23. Be poor in ſpirit, a ſtark beggar and bankrupt, leſſe then the leaſt of all Gods mercies, Gen. 32.10. and in this mind addreſſe thy ſelf to the All-ſufficient, the Cornucopia, the God rich in mercy to all that call upon him, for pardon of thy great ſin in ſtanding out in contention with his Majeſty, and reſiſting his fatherly viſitation.

Verſe 6. If thou wert pure and upright] If thou didſt lift up pure hands to God in prayer, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Hom. &c.

Pura Deus ment eſt, purâ vu[illegible: 1 letter]t mente vocari: Et puras, juſſit p[illegible: 2 letters]dus haber[illegible: 1 letter], preces.

The fountain of goodneſſe will not be laden at with foul hearts and hands, Jer 4.14. Jam. 4.8. Iſai. 1.15, 16. Joh. 9.31. 1 Tim. 2.8. [illegible: 1 word], an heathen Philoſopher, being at ſea in a great ſtorm, and perceiving many wicked wretches with him in the ſhip calling upon the gods, Silete, inquit, ne Dii vos hic navigare ſent[illegible: 1 letter]ant, Hold your tongues, ſaid he, pray not, leſt the gods take notice that you are here, and we all periſh for your ſakes. There are that take theſe words for Reformation, as the former verſe for Humiliation, thoſe two parts of true repentance: if thou wert pure and upright, as a right penitentiary would be; if thou wouldſt break off thy ſins by repentance, and eſpecially thine hypocriſie which hath brought this puniſhment upon thee from the Lord. If thou wouldſt not only repent for thy ſins, but alſo from thy ſins, and frame to lead a new life, which is, Optima & aptiſſima poenitentia, ſaith Luther, the beſt and ſoundeſt repentance.

Surely now he would awake for thee] Thou ſhouldſt undoubtedly find ſpeedy and unmiſcarrying returns of thy prayers, and all good acceptance of thy ſervices: he will hear thee for deliverance, ſo the Septuagint render it: he will up and do it, he will ariſe and have mercy upon Zion (Pſalm 102.13.) for now that ſhe prayeth and purgeth her ſelf from all filthineſſe of fleſh and ſpirit, the time to favour her, yea, the ſet time is come. I am come for thy words, ſaith the Angel to Daniel, chap. 10.12.

And make the habitation of thy righteouſneſſe proſperous] i. e. He will bleſſe thy well ordered family, and whatſoever thou doſt therein ſhall proſper, Pſalm 1.3. Thy children and ſervants ſhall live together in peace, and all good agreement: thy ſtock alſo, and thy ſtore ſhall be increaſed. He ſhall reſtore it to, or repair it for thee. as the Septuagint here render it: peace, plenty and proſperity ſhal be heaped upon thee; [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Sept. this is the import of the word [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Some of the Hebrews by habitation of righteouſneſs, here underſtand the ſoul, in which dwelleth righteouſneſs. Others of them take it for the body, the habitation of the ſoul, wherein righteouſneſſe is ſeated. But theſe ſenſes are far fetcht.

Verſe 7. Though thy beginning was ſmall, yet thy later end ſhould greatly increaſe] Thy late loſſes God will recompence with intereſt: and the felicity which the prepareth for thee ſhall be far greater then that, the loſſe whereof thou doſt now regret; for he will enrich thee to admiration, thy later end ſhall be ineffable (ſo the Septuagint have it) ſuch as none ſhall be able to utter or deſcribe. See chap. 40.10, 12. [non-Latin text not transcribed] The day of ſmall things is not to be deſpiſed, Zech. 4.10. Every former mercy is a pledg of a future; and to him that hath ſhall be given. God delighteth to help his people with a little help at firſt, to crumble his mercies to us, as one phraſeth it: to give us his bleſſings by retail, to maintain trading and communion between him and us. So the cloud emptieth not is ſelf at a ſudden burſt, but diſſolveth upon the earth drop after drop.

Verſe 8. For enquire, I pray thee] Bildad ſpeaks fair, as Eliphaz had done, whom he all along imitateth.

Above majori diſcit arare minor.

Of the former age] The generations afore-going▪ the Kadmonim, as the Jews called their Anceſtors, and uſed this ſaying concerning them, Cor priſcorum fuit ſicus porta &c. the heart of our progenitors was as the gate of the porch of the Temple,Rara datur longo prudentia temporis uſu. Talmud. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Rheto. lib. 1. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Seris venit uſus ab annis. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Diod. Sic. ample and beautiful: but the heart of their poſterity, is as the eye of a needle, narrow and of no receipt in compariſon. Of witneſſes Aristotle witneſſeth, that the more ancient they are, the more creditable, becauſe leſſe corrupt. Nihil mihi antiquius, ſay the Latines; Nothing is more ancient to me, that is, more highly reputed. And New things are nothing, ſay the Greeks. Siculus maketh mention of an Egyptian Prieſt, who ſaid to Solon one of the Greek Sages, you Grecians are very boyes (ye are but of yesterday, as it is in the next verſe) neither is there an old man (that is, a man verſed in ancient hiſtories, or acquainted with antiquities) to be found amongſt you all. Much of the ancient Divinity was traditional, till Moſes ſet pen to paper: the mind of God was either immediately revealed, or handed down and tranſmitted from father to ſon, from generation to generation. Hence Bildad here bids Job enquire of the former ages: and thereto refers him for further information: ſo doth Moſes the Iſraelites, Deut. 4.20. and 32.7. Antiquity, ſo it be right, is of no ſmal authority: that's a received rule, Quod antiquiſſimum veriſſimum, that is trueſt which is ancienteſt: as we prefer the neweſt Philoſophy, ſo the ancienteſt Divinity. The Papiſts boaſt much of Antiquity (as the Gibeonites did of old ſhooes and mouldy bread): but when they come to prove it; they go no higher then to about a thouſand years ago. They ſcornfully look upon us as Novellers, and ask where our religion was before Luther? We anſwer them, that our religion was alwaies in the bible▪ where their religion never was. This is the old commandment, ſaith St. John, which was from the beginning, 1 John 2.7

An[illegible: 1 letter] prepare thy ſelf to the ſearch of their fathers] Or fit thy ſelf, fix thy mind upon it, as Pſam 100.1. We muſt not think to find truth, but upon a ſerious ſearch, Prov. 2.3. Anaxagoras complained omnia eſſe ci[illegible: 1 letter] cumfuſa tenebris, that all things were full of darkneſſe. Empedocles, that the inlets of the ſenſes were very narrow. Democritus, that Truth lay hid as it were in a deep pit that could hardly be fathomed. St. Paul cryes out, O the depth! How unſearchable are Gods judgments, and his wayes paſt finding out! Prepare therefore to this ſearch after God; and pray as that, poor man did that cryed after Chriſt; and when he was asked what wouldſt thou have? Lord, ſaid he, that mine eyes might be opened.

Verſe 9. For we are but of yeſterday] Heb. We are yesterday, that is, yeſterdays off-ſpring, upſtarts, muſhrooms, novices, of very ſmall ſtanding in the would. And yet they were old men, chap. 15.10. Eliphaz is eſteemed to be an hundred and fifty; Bildad and hundred and forty; Zophar an hundred and twenty years old; and yet, in compariſon of he fathers before the flood, they were but of yesterday, they had lived but a very little while, and were but of late time.

And know nothing] Neque experti ſumus, ſaith Tremellius: the greateſt part of our knowledg is but the leaſt part of our ignorance: how can we know much, when our abode here is ſo ſhort, our experience ſo little? Ars long, vita brevis, ſaid Hippocrates, life is ſhort, and art is long. Themiſtocles though he lived an hundred and ſeven years; yet at his death complained, ſaying, Now I am to die when I begin to be wiſe. Solon ſaid, that though old, yet he thought not himſelf too old to learn: and Julian the Lawyer was wont to ſay, that when he had one foot in the grave, yet he would have the other in the School.

Becauſe our dayes upon earth are a ſhadow] Fluxa, inſtabilis, & ipſa ultro abiens, ſaith Junius, unſubſtantial, unſetled, uncertain, there is no hold nor tack in it, Pſalm 102.11. 1 Chron. 29.15. What is man but a dream of a ſhadow, ſaith Pindarus, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Tſillah. umbra ipſius. [illegible: 1 letter] a ſhadow of ſmoke, ſaith Sophocles; a ſhadow of a ſhadow, ſaith Aeſchylus. He is therefore not a man, but a ſhadow of man (as Lamechs ſecond wives name was Zillah a ſhadow of a wife; and as Menander calleth a falſe friend [non-Latin text not transcribed], the ſhadow of a friend) he hath not ſo much as ſhadow of reaſon or true underſtanding, who by ſpending the ſpan, by waſting the ſhadow of this ſhort life, after the wayes of his own heart, bereaveth himſelf of a room in that city of pearls, and loſeth the comforts of that life which laſteth for ever.

Verſe 10. Shall they not teach thee, and tell thee] They, that is, the forefathers, verſe 8. theſe, though dead and gone, yet by their records and monuments, by their Apopthegmes and Oracles (for the words of dying men are living oracles) do ſtill teach us and tell us their minds, as if they were yet living, Heb. 11.4. Luke 16.29. Books are mute, matters, ſilent voices. The way to be wiſe, ſaid an Heathen, is to converſe with the dead. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Hiſtories are faithful Counſellors, and by the reading of them, many young men have attained to more underſtanding then their elders; as Auguſtus, Theodoſius, Maca[illegible: 1 letter]ius, who was ſirnamed [non-Latin text not transcribed], the oldyouth, for his wiſedom and gravity above his years gotten by reading and prayer, as ſaith Nicephorus.

And utter words out of their hearts] Diſcourſes digged out of their own hearts, things new and old,è cordibus, non è codicibus. thrown out of that good treaſure: they were egregiè cordati homines, hearty-good men, and their ſpeeches were heart-ſprung, dipt in their hearts, and there recalled ad limam, priuſquam ad ling[illegible: 1 letter]am, weighed before uttered. They ſpake not as thou doſt Job, raſhly and at random; but judiciouſly, ſolidly, oraculouſly: conſult them therefore, and as they ſpeake from their own heart, ſo let them ſpeak to thine. With the ancient is wiſedom, and in length of dayes underſtanding, chap. 12.12.

Verſe 11. Can the ruſh grow up without mire?] Jam ſubjungit quod illi exploratum habuerant & perſpectum, ſed eleganti ſimilitudine, ſaith Mercer: That is, here Bildad ſetteth forth what the fathers had obſerved, taught, and told them: and this he doth by three elegant ſimilitudes, which was a way of teaching uſual among the ancients, ut quod per ſimplex praeceptum teneri non poſſit, per ſimilitudines teneretur, Hieron. in cap. 19. Matth. that that which could not be remembred by ſimple precepts, might be retained by ſimilitudes drawn from natural things, which are as ſhadows to us of ſpiritual. And firſt from the ruſh, which hath its name from drinking; becauſe it lives in liquor, it loves and delights in a mooriſh ſoyle. Can the ruſh (or bul-ruſh, Exod. 2.3. Iſai. 18.2.) grow up? Heb. peirk and pride it ſelf, bear the head aloft, ſhoot up amain, without mire or moisture, ſuch as are the fennes, chap. 40.21.? The meaning hereof is, ſaith Ferus, Look how the ruſh and flag grow not but in miry places; remove them to dry and firm ground, and they ſoon wither: So the wicked hypocrite in proſperity maketh a great ſhew of piety; but in adverſity he loſeth that very ſhew, and by his impatiency maketh the hollowneſſe of his heart appear to all men: and herein Bildad aimed at the making of Jobs caſe odious, whom he now held for an hypocrite.

Can the flag] Or graſſe of the meadow? Gen. 41.2. it hath its name from brotherhood, becauſe many piles of graſs or ſedg, grow from one and the ſame root,Sic mala quaedam olitores Germanitatis vocant. but not without water. See 1 Kings 18.5.

Verſe 12. Whilſt it is yet in his greenneſſe &c.] And ſo withereth not through age, as being but in its ſhooting up.

And not cut downe] Or, cropt off, either by the hands of men, or teeth of beaſts.

It withereth] for want of water, without ſtore whereof it cannot live. The Hypocrite is a ſenſualliſt, Judg. 18.19. Job 21.11. Hoſ. 4.11. he liveth in ſuch miry places, as cannot be healed by the waters of the Sanctuary, Ezek. 47.11. He ſaith, as the Vine and the Olive in Jothams parable, I cannot leave my wine, my fat and ſweet ſins; take away my liquor, you take away my life: He ſerveth not the Lord Jeſus Chriſt (whatever he pretendeth) but his own belly, Rom. 16. He followeth Chriſt for the loaves only.

Before any other herb] That is, of leſſe ſhew, but better rooting: theſe retain their verdure, and look on, as it were, to ſee the ruſh wither; ſo David did by Doeg, Pſalm 52.5, 6, 8.

Ver. 13. So are the paths of all that forget God] To remember God is as neceſſary as to draw breath, ſaith Chryſostome. This the wicked man doth not, Pſalm 9.17. He will neither have God in his head, Pſalm 10.4. nor heart, Pſalm 14.1. nor words, Pſalm 12.2. nor wayes, Tit. 1.16. What wonder then though his paths wither, though his life, health, wealth, power, periſh, ſith he is in ſuch a poſture of diſtance from, and defiance with the fountaine of living waters, the Father of all mercy and conſolation; by whoſe favour ſuch flouriſh for a time ſed exoriuntur, ut exurantur?

And the hypocrites hope ſhall periſh] Every wicked man is an hypocrite; and if there were nothing elſe to evince it, yet his very hope and groundleſſe confidence in the mercies of God without warrant of a promiſe, would undoubtedly prove it. Praeſumendo ſperai, & ſperando perit, ſaith an Ancient; he preſumptuouſly hopeth, and by hoping periſheth; he layes his own ſhadow for a bridg, and ſo muſt need fall into the brook: Truſt thou in the Lord and do good, ſaith David, Pſalm 37.3. But this man, though he cannot tell of one tear for ſin, nor one hour ſpent in the practice of mortification; yet he affirmeth deeply of going to heaven, and is ready to rap, yea bounce at heaver-gate with Lord, Lord, open unto us: Pſal. 125.5. But what ſaith the Pſalmiſt? As for ſuch as turn aſide unto their crooked wayes (though they do it never ſo ſlily, as if they would ſteal a paſſage to hell, and the world never the wiſer) the Lord ſhall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity, with groſſe offenders as malefactors are led forth to execution: and when the filthy ſinner (ſo the word here rendred hypocrite ſignifieth) goes damned to hell; what ſhall become of the zealous profeſſor, with all his fall hopes and poſſibilities? Surely God rejecteth their confidences; they ſhall not proſper in them, Jer. 2.37.

Verſe 14. Whoſe hope (or whoſe folly, that is, whoſe fooliſh hope) ſhall be cut off] The Latine tranſlation hath it, his folly ſhall not pleaſe him, ſc. when once he ſeeth by the diſappointment of his high hopes, what a fools paradiſe he had wrought himſelf into, what pains he hath taken to go to hell, his hope ſhall be cut off: and that is the greateſt cut in the world.Hypocritis nihil ſtupidius. This, Bildad telleth the hypocrite twice over: becauſe he will hardly be drawn to believe it. But that he telleth Job ſo, as if he were this hopeleſſe hypocrite, he is quite beſide the cuſhion, as we ſay.

And whoſe truſt ſhall be a spiders web] Wherein there is much artifice, but no ſtrength. Truſt is ſomewhat more then hope: it is a bearing a mans ſelf bold upon aſſurance that all ſhall be well: ſuch was that of Babylon in their proviſion, laid in to [illegible: 1 letter]old out a ſiege of 20 years laſting. ſuch alſo is that of myſtical Babylon, who ſaith, I ſhall ſee no ſorrow,Iſa. 59.5. Rev. 18.6. But this truſt never triumpheth. It is (by a ſecond) compariſon) here fitly ſet forth by a spiders web, Heb. a ſpiders houſe; ſo called becauſe therein the ſpider lodgeth her ſelf, as if ſafe, and out of harms way, which is nothing ſo. A Reverend man cleareth the compariſon thus; Firſt, the ſpiders web is made out of her own bowels, (her motto was mihi ſolidebe[illegible: 1 letter] ) ſo is the hypocrites hope meerly from his own brain and imagination. Secondly, though this web be curiouſly framed, yet it only catcheth flies: ſo do hypocrites look after ceremonies, and not ſubſtance. Thirdly, the ſpider is full of poyſon, and remaineth in a duſty naſty hole, though ſhe work never ſo curiouſly: ſo doth the hypocrite abide in his unregeneracy &c. Fourthly, ſhe gets to the top of the window, as high as ſhe can: and then when ſhe falls, ſhe falls to the bottom, for nothing ſtayes her: ſo here. Fifthly, when the beſome comes, ſhe and her web are ſwept away, and ſhe is trodden under foot: ſo are all preſumptuous hypocrites. Beckets friends adviſed him (for his ſecurity) to have a Maſſe in honour of Saint Steven, to keep him from the hands of his enemies: he did ſo, but it ſaved him not. Contrarily, a poor perſecuted Hugonot in the Maſſacre at Paris had crept into a hole, a ſpider comes and weaves a cobweb over it. The murtherers therefore preſumed him not there; and ſo he was preſerved. What cannot the Lord do by the weakeſt means that may be?

Verſe 15. He ſhall lean upon his houſe] The ſpider ſhall; ſo Vatablus taketh it: but better, the hypocrite leaneth, or layeth his whole weight upon his houſe, that is, wealth, children, friends, clients, tenants &c. as did Doeg, P[illegible: 1 letter]al. 52.7. Haman, Eſth. 4.11. That profane Earl of Weſtmorland, who ſaid, that he needed not at all to pray to God; for he had tenants enow to pray for him. Bildad probably glanceth here at Job, as if he had once truſted in his riches, relations &c. which yet Job diſavoweth, chap. 31.

But it ſhall not ſtand] No more then the ſpiders houſe doth, born down ſometimes by her very waight, and not only by the wind. Hypocrites ruine their own houſes by their ſins, and particularly by relying on them. Though thou build thy palace as high as heaven, ſaid the Oracle to Phocas, yet ſin that lieth at the bottom will be the ruine of it.

He ſhall hold it faſt] Mordicùs tenebit, he ſhall hold it, not with his hands only, but with his teeth alſo, as Cynegiras did the Perſian ſhip, or as a drowning man doth the branch of a tree.

But it ſhall noe endure] All will not do; riches avail not in the day of wrath &c. An hypocrite runs in his trouble to former falſe refuges; he truſted to his legs, or repairs to his buſhes, as the hunted hare doth to the places that ſhe uſed when ſhe lived at quiet, thither ſhe flies when ſhe knows not how elſe to eſcape; but all to no purpoſe.

Verſe 16. He is green before the Sun] Succoſus eſt, ſaith Tremellius, he is ſappy and juicy, having a confluence of all kind of comforts and contentments, even more then heart could wiſh, as David expreſ[illegible: 2 letters]th it, Pſalm. 73.7. The hypocrite is all this; the height of whoſe happineſſe is here ſet forth by a third ſimilitude, leſt any ſhould think that the two former did not reach home to the thing intended. Look how, ſaith Bildad, a great and tall tree, having many roots and branches, may be ſo cut up and thrown down, that no foot-ſtep, or ſign of it may any more appear: So may it fare with a wicked man, though he be as a tree green or juiceful before the Sun, or when the Sun ſhineth hotteſt upon him: the ruſh may then wither, but not the tree. See Pſalm 37.35. Any hypocrite may abound exceedingly in outward proſperity; yea he may be green for a while before the Sun of perſecution, as was Alexa[illegible: 1 letter]d[illegible: 2 letters] the Copperſmith, Acts 19.32. with 2 Tim. 4.14. The thorny ground ſtood out the heat of the Sun-beams, and ſhrank not in the wetting &c.

And his branch ſhooteth forth in his garden] Mr. Broughton tranſlates, His ſuckers ſprout out over his orchyard, that is, he growes luxuriouſly eminent in the place where he liveth, which he hath made to become a kind of a paradiſe, or garden of delight. By garden here we are to underſtand, ſaith Mercer, all thoſe waies and means whereby a wicked man fenceth and increaſeth his own greatneſſe. Some of the Jew-Doctors, and others alſo after them, think that Bildad here beginneth to ſpeak of the godly mans happineſſe; and they read the text thus, But the perfect man (ſo they ſupply the text out of verſe 20.) is green before the Sun, and his branches &c. His roots are wraped near the fountain, and he windeth himſelf about the ſtony building; (that is, it ſpreadeth and twiſteth its boughs round about the fountain-vault, being ſtrongly built with ſtone) ſhall he be taken out of his place, which may deny, ſaying, I have not ſeen thee? No, that cannot be. Lo this ſhall be that joy of his way, even out of his mould ſhall others grow, i. e. his very duſt ſhall live and grow up after him. Thus Beza, and after him Diodate: He is like an exquiſite tree ſet in a pleaſant garden in ſight of his maſters palace, ſucking the ſweet moiſtneſſe of the quick-ſprings, without ever fading or withering, pſalm 1.3. Jer. 17.8. That is to ſay, he ſhall have a lively root of faith, continually nouriſhed by Gods grace; under his ſafe-guard and favour he ſhall be ſtrong in all aſſayes, abundant in good works, and all manner of bleſſings. Ʋterque ſenſus egregius eſt, ſaith Mercer; this alſo is a good ſenſe, but the former I conceive to be the better, and more agreeable to the letter of the text.

Verſe 17. His roots are wrapped about the heap &c.] i. e. they are deeply intrenched, and ſtrongly incorporated into the ground, wreathed in with the heap, as thorns about a hedge. The hypocrite ſeemeth to be notably well rooted, not in the world only, but in the Church too, which we may compare (as Plato doth man, Intricantu[illegible: 1 letter]. whom he calleth [non-Latin text not transcribed], an heavenly plant) to a tree inverted, with the root above, and the branches below. Our Saviour ſpeaketh of branches in him (ſeemingly ſo) that bear not fruit, John 15.2. Theſe are hypocrites, who think themſelves to be rooted in Chriſt, and others alſo think no leſſe of them, but it proves otherwiſe, for they are fruitleſſe; as a poll fixed in the earth, but not rooted there, as a rotten leg cleaves to the body, but is no part of it; or as wens and ulcers which are taken away without any loſſe to it. How farre an hypocrite may go, ſee the parable of the ſtony and thorny grounds, Matth. 13. See alſo Heb. 6.4, 5. and 16.29 2 Pet. 2.20, 21. He may come as far as Kadeſh-barnea, within eleven dayes journy of the heavenly Canaan, and yet fall ſhort of it: he may ſeem to be ſtedfaſt and unmoveable, as a tree whoſe roots are wrapped about a rock.

He ſeeth the place of ſtones] Mr. Brougthton rendreth it, He platteth about the houſe of ſtone: Others, He looketh into the houſe of ſtone; he looks in at the windowes, and ſo hindreth the light, annoying the maſters houſe both below and above, who therefore reſolves to have him down: as it followeth.

Verſe 18. If he deſtroy him from his place] If he ſtub up this green tree, no better ſurely then the Cyparit, of which Pliny writeth that it beareth fruit to no purpoſe,Plin. lib. 10. ſmall berries, bitter leaves, that it yeilds an ill ſmell, and no pleaſant ſhade: or as the box-tree, green indeed all the year about, but of an offenſive ſmell, no fruit, and ſuch a ſeed as all living creatures hate. Now if he, that is, Almighty God, deſtroy him, that is, the hypocrite, as he will do queſtionleſſe (totally and ſpeedily ſwallowing him up) what then?

Then it ſhall deny him, ſaying, I have not ſeen thee] Heb. It ſhall tell a lie of him &c. the place as aſhamed to own him, ſhall feign and ſay, We have not ſeen him, we know not what is become of him. So Pſalm 37.35, 26. As they have denyed the Lord that bought them, 2 Pet. 2.1. So they ſhall one day be denied by the places they have bought or builded, by the people that once clawed them, and cryed them up.

Verſe 19. Behold, this is the joy of his way] q.d. A goodly joy! ſure the hypocrites joy is but the hypocriſie of joy, a little counterfeit complexion, like a ſlight daſh of rain, a handful of bruſh wood, or ſear thorn under the pot, Eccleſ. 7.6. or as weeds that grow on the top of the water, floating aloft, but touch not the bottome. Ʋt canes ſolent quando peregre adveaienti Domino adulantur. Though it be an exulting joy, (as the word ſignifieth) a leaping joy (ſuch as is that of dogs leaping upon their maſters returning home after a journey) yet it is not laſting; it goes out as ſnuffe, or as a blazing ſtar, or at beſt as the fire of thornes, Pſalm 118.12.Naz. Yea, though for the time it hath been ſo great, that if it had continued but a while, it would have overwhelmed them, ſo that their ſpirits would have expired, as ſome Apoſtates have profeſſed; they have thought themſelves in heaven ſometimes, and have rejoyced accordingly. [non-Latin text not transcribed].

And out of the earth ſhall others grow] Alii qui alieni erunt ab eo. Others who had no relation to him ſhall ſucceed him,Druſ. enjoy his eſtate, and eat the ſweet of all his labours, chap. 27.16, 17. Eccleſ. 2.18. and 4.8. Prov. 12.3. A man ſhall not be eſtabliſhed by wickedneſſe; but the root of the righteous ſhall not be moved. See another ſenſe of this, and the three foregoing verſes, verſe 16.

Verſe 20. Behold God will not caſt away a perfect man] Epilogus ſermonis Bildad: This is the Epilogue or cloſe of Bildads ſpeech to Job; and it hath been the tartneſſe of a threatning mixed with the ſweetneſſe of the promiſe: ſowre and ſweet, we ſay, make the beſt ſawce. The ſtrong God will not uſe, or rather, abuſe his power, to the rejecting or reprobating (as the Septuagint render it) of an upright perſon: but will help him by taking him by the hand, as it followeth in the next clauſe, and taking it ill if others do not ſo too,Mercer. Iſa 51.18. He will never leave them (or if ſometimes he ſeem to leave them, yet) he will not forſake them, Heb. 13.5. forſake them he may, in regard of viſion, but not of union; deſert them for a time (as he did Chriſt himſelf) but not diſ-inherite them. When they be in the land of their enemies (and ſo may ſeem quite caſt away) I will not caſt them away, neither will I abhor them to deſtroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God, Lev. 26.44. Lo this is the portion of a perfect man. As for hypocrites (who are ſemiperfectae virtutis homines, as Philo calleth them, cakes half-baked, Hoſ. 7.8. Chriſtians almoſt, but not altogether, Acts 26.29.) My God will caſt them away, becauſe they did not hearken unto him, Hoſ 9.15.

Neither will he help the evil doers] Heb. He will not lay hold upon the hand, viz. to help them; or he will not take by the hand the evil-doers that make a trade of ſin;Non porriget manum malignis. Vulg. he will have no communion or commerce with ſuch, he will not ſtrike hands, or joyn hands with them, but waſh his hands of them for ever, ſhake them off with a Diſcedite, Depart ye, be packing: ſo ſhould we. See D[illegible: 1 letter]vids both practice Pſal. 26.4, 5 and prayer, verſe 9. Gather not my ſoul with ſinners &c. It was once the prayer of a good Gentlewoman, when ſhe was to die, being in much trouble of conſcience, O Lord, let me not go to hell where the wicked are; for, Lord, thou knoweſt I never loved their company here.

Verſe 21. Till he fill thy mouth with laughing &c.] Here he applies the promiſe of the divine help to Job, and that which is here ſpoken, debent & reliqu[illegible: 1 letter] fideles ad ſe transferre, ſaith Lavater, every true believer muſt take home to himſelf: God will turn all their ſadneſſe into gladneſſe, all their ſighing into ſinging, all their tears into triumphs, their ſorrowful out-cryes into joyful jubilees. In the tranſgreſſion of an evil man there is a ſnare or a cord, viz. to ſtrangle his joy with, to check and choak all his comforts; but the righteous ſing and rejoyce Prov. 29.6. They may do ſo here amidſt all their troubles, 2 Cor. 7.4. As the Lily looks freſh and beautiful, and blithe, though among thorns: they ſhall do ſo hereafter, when they enter into the joy of their maſter. See Iſa. 65.13. A joy fitter to be believed, then poſſible to be diſcourſed. See a ſhadow of it, Pſalm 126.1, 2.

Verſe 22. They that hate thee ſhall be clothed with ſhame] It ſhall cover their faces, Pſalm 69.7. yea, over-cover the whole man; when beyond all expectation they ſhall ſee thee reſtored to thy former proſperity. Where it is worth conſidering, ſaith one, how truly this fell out touching Job, and theſe his friends; he was reſtored, and they by Gods reproving them, covered with ſhame, as it appeareth chap. 42.

And the dwelling place of the wicked ſhall come to nought] Heb. ſhall not be. See ver 18. Underſtand it not of his tabernacle only, or dwelling-place, but of his whole eſtate, both temporal and ſpiritual, all ſhall come to wrack and ruine. God ſhall utterly overturn them, as Z[illegible: 1 letter]ſca did thoſe three hundred Monaſteries, and among the reſt that famous Monaſtery called, the Kings Court, a mile from Prague: in the walls whereof,Mr. Clark in his life. the whole Bible was moſt exquiſitely written in letters of gold. The houſe of the wicked ſhall be overthrown, but the tabernacle of the upright ſhall flouriſh, Prov. 14.11.