John Trapp on Job 42:6

Verſe 6. Wherefore I abhor my ſelf] Aſpernor illa; ſo Tremellius: I utterly diſlike thoſe my former baſe and bald conceits of thee, my hard and unſauoury ſpeeches, mine impatient and imprudent carriages. Horreo quicquid de meo eſt, ut meus ſins, as Bernard expreſſeth it. Reprobo meipſum, ſo Brentius; I do utterly reject my ſelfe, I condemn mine own folly: I eat thoſe words of diſcontent at thy righteous proceedings, Dignaſanè quae per jugulum redeant. Abiicio vitam meam, ſo Mercer and Lavater render it.Diſpliceo mihimetipſi, ac pervelim ut aliter dixiſſem ac feciſſem. Lavat. Jerem. 6.26. and 25.34. Virg. Aeneid. lib. 12. I caſt away my life, and look upon it as loſt, if thou ſhouldſt take the forfeiture: I humbly put my ſelf into the hands of juſtice, yet in hope of mercy.

I repent in duſt and aſhes] As in an expreſſe and publick pennance. I throw my ſelf here upon the ground, I put my mouth in the duſt, Lam. 3.24. Canitiem i[illegible: 2 letters]mundo perfuſam pulvere turpo, I ſprinkle duſt and aſhes upon mine head, in token, that I have deſerved to be as far under ground, as now I am above ground; I repent my preſumptuous misbehaviour with as lowly a ſpirit, as ever I ſinned with an high. Lo this was paenitentiam agere, quod eſt pro malo bonum reponere, ſaith Brentius; This was true repentance to change evil for good; as piety for blaſphemy, chaſtity for fornication, charity for envy, humility for pride, Chriſt for Satan, And Reformation is the beſt Repentance, ſaith Luther: Such as ſo repent, are ſure of comfort. The word here rendred, I repent, ſignifieth alſo to take comfort, as Ezek. 32.31. It is repentance unto life. Acts 11.18. and ſuch as accompanieth ſalvation, Hebr. 6.9. Neither is it wrought in any man but by a ſaving ſight of Almighty God in his Greatneſs and Goodneſs; ſuch as may make him at once to tremble and truſt, as Job did here, and Iſaiah chap. 6.1, 5.