Matthew Poole and continuators on Job 20

2. Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer , and for this I make hast .

For this thy severe sentence and denunciation of God's judgments against ut, Chap. 19. 29. which much more justly belongs to thy self and is actually executed upon thee; and because of thy reproaches, as it followeth, v. 3.

I thought to have troubled my self and thee with no further discourses, considering how exceptious and incorrigible thou art, but my thoughts or consideration of thy reproachful words force me to break silence and to answer thee as the matter requires.

I speak sooner than I intended, because I am not able to contain my self longer, and fear lest I should forget what is in my mind. Possibly he interrupted Iob, when he was proceeding further in his discourse. Or, he prevented some of his brethren who made an offer to speak.

3. I have heard the check of my reproach and the spirit out of my understanding causeth me to answer .

From thy mouth. Or, shall I hear? to wit, with patience and without a reply? Who can endure it?

i. e. Thy shameful and opprobrious reproofs of us, as if we and all thy Friends were void of all humanity and natural affection towards thee, and were haters and cruel Persecuters and even Devourers of thee, Chap. 19. 19, 22. and as if we were guilty of most hainous Crimes, and might expect God's Vengeance upon us.

i. e. My Soul or Mind.

Or, because of (for so the Hebrew Mem oft signifies) my understanding; i. e. Out of, or because of that certain knowledge which I have of this matter from study and experience: I have not spoken, and I shall not speak out of ignorance, or prejudice, or passion and rage against Iob, as he asperseth us, but only what I evidently know, and yet hope that I can and shall convince thee of.

i. e. Forceth me to speak. Or, answereth for me; i. e. either vindicates me against thy Calumnies: or, suggesteth an answer to me.

4. Knowest thou not this of old , since man was placed upon earth ?

i. e. This which I am now about to say: How canst thou, thou I say, who pretendest to such an exact and universal knowledge of men and things, be ignorant of so notorious a thing which wicked men sensibly feel, and good men diligently observe, and all men are forced to acknowledge one time or other?

i. e. From the experience of all former ages.

i. e. Since the World was made, and there were any men to observe God's Government of it.

5. That the triumphing of the wicked is short , and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

Heb. is from near; i. e. from, or for a little time: They have not long enjoyed it, and it will shortly vanish.

This he adds by way of reflection upon Iob, who though he did clear himself from gross wickedness, yet might be guilty of deep hypocrisie.

Marginal references: Psal. 37. 35, 36.; Heb. from near.

6. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens : and his head reach unto the clouds:

Though he be advanced to great Dignity and Authority in the World.

Marginal references: Isa. 14. 13, 14. Obad. 3, 4.; Heb. cloud.

7. Yet he shall perish for ever, like his own dung ; they which have seen him shall say, where is he ?

Which men cast away with contempt and abhorrency. Compare 1 Kings 14. 10. & 2 Kings 9. 37.

With admiration at his felicity.

i. e. He is no where to be found; he is utterly lost and gone.

8. He shall fly away as a dream , and shall not be found : yea, he shall he chased away as a vision of the night .

Which for the present makes a great shew and noise, and highly affects the Fancy, but hath nothing solid nor permanent in it; for as soon as the man awakes, all vanisheth, and the remembrance of it is quickly lost.

The man will be utterly lost and gone together with all his riches and glory.

Which appears to a man in the night and in his sleep.

Marginal references: Psa. 73. 20.

9. The eye also which saw him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him .

i. e. It shall not acknowledge nor contain him. A figure called Prosopopeia, as Iob 7. 10. Or neither shall it (i. e. the Eye last mentioned) behold him any more in his place.

Marginal references: Ch. 7. 8, 10. Psal. 37. 36. & 103. 16.

10. His children shall seek to please the poor , and his hands shall restore their goods .

Either 1. to get some small relief from them in their extream necessity. Or rather 2. lest they should revenge themselves of them for the great and many Injuries which their Father did them; or seek to the Magistrate for reparations.

By the sentence of the Judge, to whom the oppressed poor will appeal notwithstanding all their entreaties and endeavours to disswade them from so doing.

Marginal references: Or, the p[illegible: 1+ letters] shall oppress [illegible: 1 word] children.

11. His bones are full of the sin of his youth , which shall lie down with him in the dust.

i. e. His whole Body, even the strongest parts of it, which may seem most remote from danger.

Heb. of his youth; i. e. of his youthful pleasures and lusts, by a Metonymy of the subject. And this may be understood either 1. of the sins themselves▪ that he shall persevere in his youthful lusts even in old age, and shall die without repentance. Or rather 2. of the punishment of his sins, of which he is speaking both in the foregoing and following Verses. He shall feel the sad effects of those sins in his riper years, as riotous sinners commonly do; and, as it follows, attended him to his grave. Or, with his secret ways or sins, as others render it. Whereby he possibly intimates, that Iob though he appeared righteous before others, yet was guilty of some secret wickedness for which God was now reckoning with him.

Marginal references: Chap. 12▪ 26. Psa. 90. 8.

12. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth , though he hide it under his tongue ;

i. e. To his tast, though it greatly please him for the present.

As an Epicure doth a sweet Morsel, which he is loath to swallow, and therefore keeps and rolls it about his mouth that he may longer enjoy the pleasure of it. Though he be highly pleased with his lusts, and cleave to them in hearty love, and resolve to hold them fast, and improve them to the greatest delight and advantage.

13. Though he spare it , and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth .

i. e. Will not part with it; or gratifie and obey it, instead of subduing and mortifying it.

To suck out all the sweemess or benefit of it, though it be very delightful to him.

Marginal references: Heb. in the midst of his palate.

14. Yet his meat in his bowels is turned , it is the gall of asps within him.

Into another nature or quality, from sweet to bitter.

i. e. Exceeding bitter and pernicious. Gall is most bitter; the Gall of Serpents is full of poyson, which from thence is conveyed to their mouths by Veins as Pliny observes; and the poyson of Asps is most dangerous, and within a few hours kills without remedy.

15. He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again : God shall cast them out of his belly .

i. e. Be forced to restore them with great shame and torment, as Gluttons sometimes do loath, and with grief and pain cast up that meat which they have eaten and swallowed down with much greediness and delight.

If no mans hand can reach him, God shall find him out and punish him severely.

16. He [illegible: 1+ letters] shall suck the poyson of asps , the vipers tongue shall slay him.

That which he hath greedily and industriously sucked in as pleasant and wholsom nourishment, shall in the issue be as ungrateful and destructive to him as the poyson or head (for the Hebrew word signifies both, and the poyson lies in the head) of asps would be to one that sucketh it.

Together with its teeth in which the poyson lurks which it conveys by biting a man.

17. He shall not see the rivers, the flouds, the brooks of honey and butter .

i. e. Not enjoy, as that word is oft used; as Psalm 106. 5. Eccles. 2. 1.

That abundant satisfaction and comfort (oft signified by these or such like Metaphors; as Psalm 36. 8. & 46. 5. Isa. 7. 15, 22. & 41. 18.) either which he promised to himself from that great Estate which he had got by deceit and oppression; or which good men through God's blessing may and commonly do enjoy.

Marginal references: Or, streaming brooks.; Or, cream.

18. That which he laboured for , shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down : according to his substance shall the restitution be , and he shall not rejoyce therein .

Heb. Labour; i. e. the goods which were gotten with labour, either 1. by the labour of others; or rather 2. by his own labour: Which may relate as well to the goods of others which he got not without pains and difficulty; or to his own goods honestly gotten by the sweat of his Brows. And this is an aggravation of his misery, that he was forced to restore not only other mens goods which were in his hands, but his own also to make reparation for their damages.

To wit, so as to hold it; for otherwise he did swallow it, but withal did speedily vomit it up again, v. 15. which was as if he had not swallowed it. He shall not possess it long, nor to any considerable purpose.

i. e. He shall be forced to part with all his Estate to make compensation for his wrongs done to others.

i. e. He shall not enjoy what he had gotten, because it shall be taken from him.

Marginal references: Heb. according to the substance of his exchange.

19. Because he hath oppressed, and hath forsaken the poor , because he hath violently taken away an house which he built not :

By his oppression he brought men to utter poverty, and then forsook or left them in that forlorn estate, affording no mercy nor help to them. Or, some he made poor by his oppression, and others that were poor he suffered to perish for want of that relief which he should and might have afforded them; which is a crying sin in God's sight, and one of those sins for which God destroyed Sodom, Ezek. 16. 49. and therefore fitly mentioned here as one of the sins for which God punished this wicked man. Or, He oppresseth and leaveth poor; as Broughton renders it.

i. e. Which was none of his. Heb. He hath violently taken away an house, and (or, but) did not build (or, repair, as building is oft used) it; to wit, that House for his own use; i. e. he did not build or possess that House as he intended to do, but was cut off by God's hand before he could enjoy the fruit of his oppressions.

Marginal references: Heb. crushed.

20. Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly , he shall not save of that which he desired .

i. e. He shall have no peace nor satisfaction in his mind in all his gains, partly because of his perpetual fears and expectations of the wrath of God and man, which his guilty Conscience knoweth that he deserves: and partly because they shall be speedily taken away from him. He still continueth the Metaphor of a Glutton, whose Belly is not quiet until it hath vomited up that wherewith he had oppressed it.

i. e. Any part of his good and desirable things, but he shall forfeit and lose them all.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 5. 13, 15.; [illegible: 1 word]. know.

21. There shall none of his meat be left , therefore shall no man look for his goods .

For his own future use; but he shall be stript of all.

It being publickly known and observed that he was totally ruined, none of his Kindred or Friends shall trouble themselves to seek for any relicks of his Estate, as is usually done after mens deaths. But this Verse is and may be rendred otherwise: There shall none be left for his meat (i. e. He shall leave no Heir who shall possess or enjoy his goods) because (for so the Hebrew Particle Al-chen is oft used; as Gen. 38. 26. Num. 14. 43. Psalm 42. 7. Ier. 48. 36.) none of his goods shall remain, either for his Heir, or any other; all shall be utterly lost.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] shall [illegible: 1 word] for [illegible: 1 word].

22. In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits : every hand of the wicked shall be upon him.

In the height of prosperity and abundance he shall be distressed and tormented either by the horrours of an unquiet Mind and guilty Conscience, which makes him every moment expect Divine Vengeance to fall upon his head: Or rather, because of the sudden and unexpected assault of other men combining against him, and spoiling all his goods, as it follows.

Who lives by injury and the spoiling of others, and by God's Providence are directed to fall upon him. Or, of the labourer, whose wages possibly he hath detained: Or, of such as are in trouble or misery, as this word signifies, Iob 3. 20. who may joyntly invade him, either because their necessity tempts and drives them to spoil others; or rather because they were such as had been brought into their Calamity by his Oppressions, and therefore now take Reparations from him.

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

23. When he is about to fill his belly , God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating .

i. e. When he hath enough and abundance to satisfie all his Appetites, and shall design to take the pleasure of all his gains, and to spend his days in Epicurism and sensuality.

Who is oft understood in this Book where he is not expressed; and so he is here, as appears from the following words; because there is no other person here expressed, who was to inflict these evils upon him; and because they are said to be rained down upon him; which implies their coming from heaven, or from God.

Some dreadful and destructive judgment.

This Phrase notes both the Author of his Plagues, God, and the nature and quality of them, that they shall come upon him like rain; i. e. with great vehemency, and so as he cannot prevent or avoid it.

As it fell upon thy Sons, Chap. 1. 18, 19. Compare Psalm 78. 30, 31.

24. He shall flee from the iron weapon , and the bow of steel shall strike him through .

i. e. From the Sword or Spear; and so shall think himself out of danger.

An Arrow shot out of a Bow, a distant place and unknown hand shall unexpectedly fall upon him: So that he shall only go from one danger to another.

which is of great strength, and therefore sendeth forth the Arrow with greater force. Compare Ps. 18. 34. Or, of brass, as the word properly signifies: which the Ancients did so temper and harden, that their Bows were commonly made of it.

i. e. Mortally wound him.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 24. 18. [illegible: 1 word]. 48. 43. [illegible: 1 word] 5. 19.

25. It is drawn and cometh out of the body , yea, the glistering sword cometh out of his gall ; terrors are upon him .

Either 1. a Sword, which may be understood cut of this Hebrew Verb, which is for the most part used of that Weapon; as Num. 22. 23, 31. Iudg. 8. 20, &c. and out of the following Branch of the Verse. Or 2. the Arrow last mentioned, which had entred into his body, and now was drawn out of it either by himself, or by some other person; as is frequent in that case, if peradventure he might be cured.

Or, out of his body; i. e. the body of the wounded man; as appears both by the next Clause of the Verse, which is added to explain the former; where it is, out of his gall: and from the use of this Hebrew word, which signifies a mans body or carkass; as Iudg. 14. 8. 1 Sam. 31. 12. Isa. 5. 25. Nahum 3. 3.

The word properly signifies lightning, and thence a glistering weapon, the bright Sword or Spear; as Deut. 32. 41. Ezek. 21. 10, 15. Nah. 3. 3 Habak. 3. 11. Whereby it is implyed, that he was doubly wounded first, by the Arrow, and then to make more sure work, with the Sword or Spear thrust into him. But the word may as well signifie the bright and sharp point of an arrow, of which he spoke hitherto; and having in the general said, that it came out of his body, now he determines the part of the body, the gall; which sheweth that the Wound was both deep and deadly, as they are in that part. It is probable he mentions this in reference to the like expression of Iob, Ch. 16. 13.

Into which it had entred, and wherewith it was coloured.

To wit, the terrours of Death; because he perceived by the tincture of his Gall upon the Weapon, that his Wound was incurable. Or horrours of Conscience, because he cannot live, and dare not die.

Marginal references: Heb. the lightning cometh. Nah. 3. 3. H[illegible: 1+ letters]b. 3. 11.; Ch. 18. 11.

26. All darkness shall be hid in his secret places , a fire not blown shall consume him, it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle .

i. e. All sorts of miseries both of Soul and Body, and Estate.

Or, is id or laid up; to wit, by God for him. This Phrase may note, that though it be not actually upon him, yet it is reserved and treasured up for him, and is kept as in a sure place, and shall infallibly overtake him.

Either 1. In his hid treasures, as this very word signifies, Psalm. 17. 14. He treasures up wealth, and with God's wrath and curse. Or 2. in those places where he confidently hopes to hide and secure himself from all evils and enemies: yet even there God shall find him out. Or, for, or in stead of (or with, for both ways the prefix Lamed is oft used) his hid treasures

To wit, by man, but kindled by God himself, as that was, Chap. 1. 16. He thinks by his might and violence to secure himself from men, but God by his own immediate hand, or in some unknown and unexpected manner will find him out. Some understand it of Hell-fire; of which see Isa. 30. 33.

i. e. with his Posterity or Family, who shall inherit his Curse as well as his Estate.

27. The heaven shall reveal his iniquity , and the earth shall rise up against him.

i. e. God shall be a swift witness against him by some extraordinary judgments; still he reflects upon Iob's Case, and the Fire from Heaven, Chap. 1.

i. e. All Creatures upon earth shall conspire with God to destroy him.

Marginal references: Ch. 16. 18, 19.

28. The encrease of his house shall depart , and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath .

Either 1. his Posterity; or rather 2. his Estate got by the labour, and employed for the use of his Family.

Shall be lost or taken away from him: See 2 Kings 20. 17.

Like Waters; to wit, swiftly and strongly, and so as to return no more.

i. e. Of God's wrath; when God shall come to execute judgment upon him.

29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God , and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

Who like a wise Master of a Feast gives to every man his proper portion, and as a just Judge distributes to him according to his deserts.

Heb. the heritage (i. e. the Portion, as before, called here an heritage; partly to note the stability and assurance of it, that it is as firm as an Inheritance to the right Heir; and partly in opposition to that Inheritance which he had gotten by fraud and violence) of his word; either 1. of God's Word, i. e. which is allotted to him by the word or sentence of God. Or 2. of the wicked man's word, the reward of his speeches; which, like his actions, are and may well be presumed to be wicked and blasphemous, and many ways offensive to God: And he instanceth in his speeches rather than his actions, to meet with Iob, who, though he made some colourable excuses for his actions, yet was manifestly guilty of hard and sinful speeches against God; which he would hereby intimate, that they were not such harmless and excusable things as Iob pretended, as appeared by these severe judgments which they brought upon wicked men.

Marginal references: Ch. 27. 13.; Heb. of his decree from God.