John Trapp on Job 1:14

Verſe 14. And there came a meſſenger] A ſad relater, not a divel in the ſhape of a man, as the Rabbines would have it (let that paſſe for a Jewiſh fable) but one of Jobs own ſervants, or ſome other eye-witneſſe, to make Job believe, belike, that as an evill man, he only ſought rebellion, ſith ſuch cruel meſſengers were ſent againſt him, Prov. 17.11.

The oxen were plowing, and the aſſes feeding &c.] i.e. We were none of us either idle, or ill-occupied: but taking pains, and tending our cattle, when this diſaſter befell us. Fools, becauſe of their tranſgreſſion, and becauſe of their iniquities, are afflicted, Pſalm 107.17. they create themſelves croſſes, ſuch as muſt therefore needs come with a ſting in them. See Gen. 42.21. But Jobs ſervants were honeſtly employed when plundered and aſſaſſined; which ſheweth, that his loſſes were not penall, but probationall.

And the aſſes feeding beſide them] Peter Martyr upon the firſt of Samuel, Com. in 1 Sam. 12. wittily applyeth this text to prelates and non-reſidents; who, when put in mind of their duty would uſually anſwer, that they had ſubſtitutes and curates to do their buſineſſe for them; It[illegible: 1 letter] labor aliorum eſt, & proventus ipſorum; So that others took the paines, and they the profit (ſaith he) and as it is in the book of Job, The axen plow, and the aſſes feed beſide them.