Matthew Poole and continuators on Job 11

2. Should not the multitude of words be answered ? and should a man full of talk be justified ?

Doest thou think to carry thy Cause by thy long and tedious discourses consisting of empty words without weight or reason?

Shall we by our silence seem to approve of thy Errors? Or shall we think thy Cause the better, because thou usest more words than we do?

Marginal references: Heb. a man of lips.

3. Should thy lies make men hold their peace ? and when thou mockest , shall no man make thee ashamed ?

i. e. Thy false Opinions and Assertions both concerning thy self and thy own Innocency, and concerning the Counsels and Ways of God.

As if thy Arguments were unanswerable.

Both God, Chap. 10. 3. and us, and our friendly and faithful Counsels, Chap. 6. 14, 15, 25, 26.

By discovering thy Errors and Follies.

Marginal references: Or, devices.

4. For thou hast said , my doctrine is pure , and I am clean in thine eyes .

Concerning God and his Providence.

i. e. True and certain.

I am innocent before God; I have not sinned either by my former actions▪ or by my present expressions. Thou standest wholly upon thy justification. But Zopha[illegible: 1+ letters] aggravates and perverts Iob's words, for he did not deny that he was a sinner in God's [illegible: 1+ letters]ght, Chap. 7. 20, 21. & 9. 2, 3. & 10. 14. but only that he was an Hypocrite or ungodly man, as they made him.

Marginal references: Chap. 6. 10.; Chap. 10. 7.

5. But, O that God would speak, and open his lips against thee ;

i. e. Plead with thee according to thy desire, Chap. 9. 32, &c. He would soon put thee to silence and shame.

6. And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom , that they are double to that which is ! know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth .

i. e. The unknown and unsearchable depths of God's Wisdom and Counsels, in dealing with his Creatures.

i. e. That they are far more and greater (the word double being used indefinitely for manifold, or plentiful; as Isa. 40. 2. & 61. 7. Ier. 17. 18. Zech. 9. 12.) then that which hath a being or existence; i. e. The secret Wisdom of God is infinitely greater than that which is revealed to us by his Word or Works: The greatest part of what is known of God, is the least part of those Perfections that are in him. And therefore thou doest rashly and foolishly in passing such a bold censure upon God's ways, and judging so harshly of his proceedings with thee, because thou doest not comprehend the reasons of them, and in judging thy self innocent, because thou doest not see thy sins; whereas the all-knowing God sees innumerable sins in thee, for which he may utterly destroy thee, though thou discernest them not: But the words are and must be rendred, either thus, that he hath double; id est, abundant wisdom; For so this Hebrew word signifies, Chapter 6. 13. and 12. 16. Proverbs 2. 7. and 3. 21. Or, that they are double to, or in that being or essence; to wi[illegible: 1+ letters], to God, of whom he is here speaking: Or, to the being; i. e. to God, who calls himself by the Name I am, Exod. 3 14. which signifies being, and who appropriates being to himself, Isa. 45. 18. I am, and there is none else besides me; as elsewhere he is said to be the onely wise, and onely Potentate, and on[illegible: 1+ letters]y immortal being, 1 Tim. 1. 17. & 6. 15, 16.

Heb. God l[illegible: 1+ letters]nds or gives, or forgives thee part of thine iniquity, or of thy punishment. So far is he from dealing worse than thou deservest, as thou doest most falsly and wickedly accuse him.

Marginal references: Ezra 9. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]

7. Canst thou by searching find out God ? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

i. e. Discover all the Depths of his Wisdom, and the reasons of all his Actions.

Marginal references: Eccles. 3. 11. Rom, 11. 33.; Ch. 26. 14.

8. It is as high as heaven , what canst thou do ? deeper than hell, what canst thou know ?

Thou canst not measure the heights of the visible Heavens, much less of the Divine Perfections.

To wit, to find him out.

Concerning him and his ways, which are far out of thy sight and reach.

Marginal references: Heb. the heights of h[illegible: 1+ letters]aven.

9. The measure thereof is longer than the earth , and broader than the sea .

From one end to the other.

Which is called the great and wide sea, Psalm 104. 25.

10. If he cut off , and shut up , or gather together , then who can hinder him ?

To wit, a Person or a Family.

In a Prison, or in the hands of an Enemy. This shutting up, is opposed to the opening of the prisondoors, and to that enlargement, which God is elsewhere said to give to men.

Either 1. in a way of judgment, as a like word is used, Psalm 26. 9. Gather not my soul with sinners. Or rather 2. in a way of mercy, as this word is generally used in Scripture; this being every where promised by God to his people, as an eminent mercy that he would gather them together. So this is opposed to the former actions, and the sense of the place is, whether it pleaseth God to scatter a Family, or to gather them together from their dispersions.

From doing what he pleaseth and designeth with his own Creatures? Who can restrain him either by giving Law to him, or by force and power? Or, who can contradict or answer him, or object against him, or retort or return upon him; i. e. charge him with injustice in such proceedings? Which sense may seem to agree best both with the scope of the place, and state of the question between him and Iob; which was not whether any man could resist God's power, but whether he could question his justice; and with the following Verse.

Marginal references: Chap. 9. 12.; Or, make a change.; Heb. who can turn him away?

11. For he knoweth vain man : he seeth wickedness also , will he not then consider it ?

Though men know but little of God, and therefore are very unfit Judges of all his Counsels and Actions, yet God knows man exactly, and his vanity, or [illegible: 1+ letters]abhood, or folly, or rashness; for all these this word signifies. He knoweth that every man in the World is guilty of much vanity and folly, and therefore seeth sufficient reason for his severity against the best men; such as thou, O Iob, fanciest thy self to be; and if thou wert so, thou hast no reason to wonder at or quarrel with his proceedings: And if thy quarrel be that he shuts thee up, or cuts thee off, when he gathers others under his wing and protection, whom thou thinkest or knowest to be worse than thy self, while thou doest impeach his justice, thou doest but betray thy own vanity and folly: For he knows both whom he chastiseth, and whom he spareth, and why he doth it, though he do not acquaint thee with the reasons of all his actions.

As he knoweth the vanity of all men, so he exactly perceiveth the wickedness of evil men, though it be covered with the Veil of Religion. He seeth thy evil heart which discovers it self by such wicked and scandalous speeches against the justice and goodness of his Providence, which gives him just cause to continue and encrease thy miseries. Though thou art partial and flatterest thy self with a conceit of thy own Integrity, yet he knoweth thy hypocrisie and wickedness.

Shall he only see it as an idle Spectator, and not observe it as a Judge to requite and punish it?

Marginal references: Ps. 10. 11, 14. & 35. 22.

12. For vain man would be wise , though man be born like a wild asses colt .

Or, Yet (or But vain or empty man (that foolish Creature that since the fall is void of all true wisdom and solid knowledge, and judgment of the things of God) would be wise; i. e. pretends to be, and would be thought wise and able to pass a censure upon all God's ways and works. Or thus▪ But vain man is foolish, or without heart; i. e. without understanding, unable to judge aright of the ways and things of God. For a Verb very like this, and coming from the same Root, signifies to have ones heart taken away Cant. 4. 9.

And man is born; i. e. he is by his birth such; this evil is now natural and hereditary, and therefore common to all men: and therefore it is not strange if Iob partake of the common distemper.

i. e. Ignorant, and dull, and stupid, as to the knowledge of divine things, and withal heady and untractable; and therefore very incompetent to judge of these high affairs.

Marginal references: Heb. empty or hollow.; Ps. 73. 22. & 92. 6. Eccl. 3. 18.

13. If thou prepare thine heart , and stretch out thine hands towards him ;

O Iob, thy business is not to quarrel with thy Maker, or his Works, but to address thy self to him.

To wit, to seek God, as it is expressed, 2 Chron. 19. 3. & 30. 19. Psalm 78. 8. If thou prepare thy heart, by sincere repentance for all thy hard speeches of God, and fins against him, and with a pure and upright heart seek unto him; without which thy prayers will be in vain. Or, If thou directest or rectifiest thine heart, turning thy bold contentions with God into humble and sincere supplications to him.

i. e. Pray, which is here described by its usual gesture, as Chap. 15. 25. Psalm 88. 9.

i. e. To God, as appears both from the nature of the thing, and from the Context.

Marginal references: Ch. 5. 8. & 22. 21.

14. If iniquity be in thine hand , put it far away , and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles .

Either 1. If thou hast in thine hand or possession, any Goods got by injury or oppression, as it seems they supposed that he had. Or 2. more generally, If thou allowest thy self in any sinful practises. The hand is put for action, Whereof it is the Instrument.

Keep thy self a[illegible: 1+ letters] a great distance not only from such actions, but also from the very occasions and appearances of them.

Let it not have a quiet and settled abode or allowance.

i. e. In thy habitation; i. e. either in thy self, or in thy family; whose sins Iob was obliged as far as he could to prevent or reform; as he had done, Chap. 1. 5. He saith Tabernacles, because anciently the habitations of great men consisted of several Tents or Tabernacles, as we see Gen. 24. 67. & 31. 33.

15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot , yea, thou shalt be stedfast , and shalt not fear.

Which notes chearfulness, and holy boldness and confidence; as a dejected Countenance notes grief and shame. See Gen. 4. 5, 6. 2 Sam. 2. 22. Iob 22. 26. Luke 21. 28.

Or, Being without spot: So it is only an Ellipsis of the Verb Substantive, which is most frequent. And this fitly follows as the ground of his confidence, because he should in this case have a clear and unspotted Conscience, and a sense of his own innocency. Or without blemish, as the word properly signifies; i. e. without any sense of guilt, or any shame consequent upon it either from God or men. The ground of the expression is this, That when mens faces are spotted with dirt, they are ashamed to shew them. And Iob was charged by his friends, as having many spots upon him, yea, such as were not the spots of God's Children.

Or, firm or fixed: Either 1. as to his outward Condition, which should be constantly prosperous. Or rather as to his Mind, which should have strong and comfortable assurance of God's favour, and of his own safety and happiness: For this stedfastness is opposed unto that fear, which is incident to wicked men; who, even when they are free from actual miseries, yet oft-times are tormented with the dread of them.

16. Because thou shalt forget thy misery , and remember it as waters that pass away :

Thou shalt be free from fear, because thy great and settled prosperity shall banish out of thy mind all those sad and irksom thoughts of thy former Calamities which naturally ingender fears of the continuance or return of them. Persons blessed with eminent Deliverances and an happy settlement, are frequently said in Scripture to forget their former sorrows; as Gen. 41. 51. Isa. 54. 4. Iohn 16. 21. not that they simply forget them, but because they have no sad or frightful remembrance of them: For remembring and forgetting in Scripture, do not simply note acts of the mind, but also affections and practises suitable to them, as is well known.

Thou shalt remember them no more, than men remember either a Land-stood▪ which as it comes so it goes away suddenly, and leaves few or no footsteps or memorials behind it, or the waters of a River, which as soon as they are out of sight, are out of mind, because of the new waters which immediately come in their stead.

17. And thine age shall be clearer than the noon-day ; thou shalt shine forth , thou shalt be as the morning .

i. e. The remainder of thy life and time in this world.

Heb. shall arise: Men are said to fall into troubles, and to arise out of them.

Or, above the noon-day; or above the Sun at Noon day, when it is at its highest pitch, as well as in its greatest glory.

Light in Scripture commonly signifies Prosperity and Glory; as Esth. 8. 16. Iob 18. 5. 6 & 38. 15. Pro[illegible: 1+ letters]. 4. 18. Or, if thou art in darkness, as this word properly signifies, Iob 10. 22. Amos 4. 13. i. e. If thou comest into any distress and trouble.

i. e. That Night of trouble shall certainly and speedily be followed with the Morning of Deliverance and Comfort, which like the Morning-light shall shine brighter and brighter, until the perfect day.

Marginal references: Heb. shall arise above the noon-day.; Ps. 37. 6. & 112. 4. Isa. 58. 8.; Or, [illegible: 1 word] 17. Isa. 40. 31.

18. And thou shalt be secure because there is hope ; yea, thou shalt dig about thee , and thou shalt take thy rest in safety .

i. e. Thy mind shall be quiet and free from terrours, because thou shalt have a firm and well-grounded hope and confidence in God's merciful and providential care of thee. Or, thou shalt be confident that thou shalt have what thou [illegible: 1+ letters]pest for; the act hope, being put for the ob[illegible: 1+ letters]ect, as is very usual. i. e. Thou shalt have assurance in and from God, that thy hopes shall not be disappointed but fulfilled. This is opposed to that fear, vers. 15.

Either to fix thy Tents, which after the manner of the Arabians were removed from place to place for conveniency of Pasturage for their Cattel; or to find out water for thy Cattel, as they did, Gen. 26. Or to plough the Ground, as he had done, Chap. 1. 14. Or to make a Fence about thy Dwelling. For both the foregoing and following passages express his secure and safe condition.

Free from dangers and the fear of them; because of God's fatherly Providence watching over thee when thou canst not watch over thy self.

Marginal references: Lev. 26. 5, 6. Ps. 3. 5. & 4. 8. Prov. 3. 24.

19. Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee ▪

Desiring thy favour and friendship, because of thy great power and riches, and eminent felicity: See Gen. 26. 26, &c.

Marginal references: Heb. intr[illegible: 1+ letters] thy face. Ps. 45. 12.

20. But the eyes of the wicked shall fail , and they shall not escape , and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost .

Or, be consumed, either with grief and tears for their sore Calamities: Or with long looking for what they shall never attain, as this phrase is taken, Psalm 69, 3. Ier. 14. 6. Lament. 4. 17. And this shall be thy condition, O Iob, if thou persistest in thine impiety.

They shall never obtain deliverance out of their Distresses, but shall perish in them.

i. e. Shall be as vain and desperate as the hope of life is in a man, when he is at the very point of death. Or, as a puff of breath, which is gone in a moment without all hopes of recovery.

Marginal references: Heb. flig[illegible: 1+ letters] shall perish from them.; Ch. 8. 14. & 18. 14.; Or, a p[illegible: 1+ letters]ff of breath.