John Trapp on Job 4:17

Verſe 17.Miſer, aerumnis et peccatis obnoxius. Shall mortall man] Sorry ſinfull man, a very mixture and hodg-podg of dirt and ſin.

Be more juſt then God?] Or, be juſt rather then God, as Luke 18.14? This is the matter of the viſion; and it is (ſaith Diodate) a revelation of the doctrine of the free remiſſion of ſins, and of the ſinners juſtification by grace, through his faith in the promiſed Mediator. But Eliphaz turns it another way, and miſ-applying it to Job, would there-hence evince, that all his preſent ſufferings were the proceeds of his owne ſin, and ſo from the proceſſe of Gods juſtice. The truth is, Job had blurted out ſome words in the former chapter, that reflected ſomewhat upon God: he had alſo bitterly curſed the day and ſervices of his birth: this latter, if Eliphaz had ſharply reproved Job for, hee had done him a friendly good office: But he waves that part, & quae desperat reniteſcere poſſe, relinquit; the other of clearing Gods juſtice, he takes up and preſſeth it too farre, to prove this unſound poſition; That whoſoever is greatly afflicted by God, and for a long time together, that man is to be numbred with the wicked, though no other evidence or witneſſe appear or ſpeak a word againſt him: for if he be innocent, how ſhall God be juſt that puniſheth him? But Eliphaz ſhould have known, that afflictions are of two ſorts, Penal and probationall; theſe later are not ſimply for puniſhment of mens ſins, but for triall and exerciſe of their graces, to humble them, to prove them, and to do them good at their latter end, Deut. 8.16. Wait but till God have made an end of his work (and we muſt not judge of Gods works, ſaith Peter Martyr, ante quintum Actum, before the fifth Act) and we ſhall ſee the effect both juſt and good. This Job had ſcarce patience to doe, as appeareth by ſundry paſſages of his; howbeit he ever preſerved high and holy thoughts of God, neither at any time queſtioned his juſtice and purity, or complained of his dealings with him, and diſpenſations toward him as unrighteous, though now and then through the extremity of his pain, the anguiſh of his ſpirit, and the provocation of his friends, ſome unwary ſpeeches ſlipt from him.

Shall man be more pure then his maker?] Take man in his prime and pride, in his beſt eſtate, and utmoſt ſtrength, when, and wherein he is moſt a man, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Vir à viribus, a man of the firſt magnitude, of the higheſt elevation (as one fitly phraſeth it) both in parts, gifts and graces; ſhall he be more pure then his Maker? never think it. Man compared with his Maker, hath no purity or righteouſneſſe at all, no, not ſo much as a ſhew or ſhadow of it: juſt he may be, or pure by participation from God, (ſaith Austin) but neither juſt nor pure in compariſon of God; he ſurpaſſeth all notion, and ſurmounteth all creatures, he hath no parallel; ſo true he is, that all men are liars; ſo pure, that all men are filthy; ſo juſt, that all men are wicked; ſo incomparably great and glorious, that the Angels make their addreſſes to him with greateſt ſelf-abaſement. For why?