John Trapp on Job 8:11

Verſe 11. Can the ruſh grow up without mire?] Jam ſubjungit quod illi exploratum habuerant & perſpectum, ſed eleganti ſimilitudine, ſaith Mercer: That is, here Bildad ſetteth forth what the fathers had obſerved, taught, and told them: and this he doth by three elegant ſimilitudes, which was a way of teaching uſual among the ancients, ut quod per ſimplex praeceptum teneri non poſſit, per ſimilitudines teneretur, Hieron. in cap. 19. Matth. that that which could not be remembred by ſimple precepts, might be retained by ſimilitudes drawn from natural things, which are as ſhadows to us of ſpiritual. And firſt from the ruſh, which hath its name from drinking; becauſe it lives in liquor, it loves and delights in a mooriſh ſoyle. Can the ruſh (or bul-ruſh, Exod. 2.3. Iſai. 18.2.) grow up? Heb. peirk and pride it ſelf, bear the head aloft, ſhoot up amain, without mire or moisture, ſuch as are the fennes, chap. 40.21.? The meaning hereof is, ſaith Ferus, Look how the ruſh and flag grow not but in miry places; remove them to dry and firm ground, and they ſoon wither: So the wicked hypocrite in proſperity maketh a great ſhew of piety; but in adverſity he loſeth that very ſhew, and by his impatiency maketh the hollowneſſe of his heart appear to all men: and herein Bildad aimed at the making of Jobs caſe odious, whom he now held for an hypocrite.

Can the flag] Or graſſe of the meadow? Gen. 41.2. it hath its name from brotherhood, becauſe many piles of graſs or ſedg, grow from one and the ſame root,Sic mala quaedam olitores Germanitatis vocant. but not without water. See 1 Kings 18.5.