66 firmly stood this shock of his wife's tongue; though it was so provoking as to let loose the reins of his temper, which he had hitherto restrained, and with some warmth obliged him to rebuke her, saying, "Thou talkest like a weak woman: shall we rejoice in prosperity, when it pleases God to bless us with it; and shall we not patiently bear adversity, when he is pleased to visit us?" Thus did the Almighty preserve and support Job under the loss of his estate and children; under the extremity of his pains, the desertion of his friends and relations, the neglect of his servants, and the provocation of his wife. All which torments crowding one upon another, could not betray him to entertain the least offending thought, or utter an indecent word. The afflictions that befel Job, being so remarkable, soon spread about the neighbouring courries, and from thence to more distant regions; till at last they reached the ears of his old friends Eliphaz the Temanite,* Bildad Job should propose such an expedient. The radical idea of 2 is To couch, or lie down or kneel, and is therefore used for blessing-to bow as it were the knee to God, and ascribe one's happiness to him. Some Lexicons have absurdly given to this verb the sense of cursing, as in 1 Kings xxi. 10. 13. Job i. 5. 11. and ii. 5. 9. As to the two first, the LXX render 772 in both by suλoyew, and the Vulgate by benedico, to bless. And though Jezebel was herself an abominable idolatress, yet as the law of Moses was still in force, she seems to have been wicked enough to have destroyed Naboth upon the false accusation of blessing the (Heathen) Aleim and Moloch, which subjected him to death, according to Deut. xiii. 6. xvii. 2-7. Job's fear concerning his children was, lest his sons should have blessed the false Aleim, so Aquila uλoynaav and the Vulg. benedixerint. The meaning of Job's wife seems to have been Dost thou yet retain thy integrity, thy regard for the true God, nai Dinhx 772-blessing the Aleim and dying, or to death. i. e. Do you still go on blessing him who curses you, with every misery, even to death? Well might Job say "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What! shall we receive good at the band of the Aleim, and shall we not receive evil?" See Parkburst's Heb. Lex. on the word ברך • Temarite. So called from Teman, grandson to Esau by his son Eliphaz, Gen. xxxvi. 10, 11. the Shuhite,* and Zophart the Naamathite, who no sooner heard of the sad condition of their friend Job, than they made an appointment to go together and pay him a visit to comfort him. These three persons being men of figure and condition, it must take up some time to make the appointment, and then to travel together to see Job; so that he must continue a considerable time in this painful condition before his friends could arrive. When they came within sight of him, they found him so much. altered, that they could not assure themselves who it was, so unlike himself was the poor disfigured Job. But when they came nearer, and saw the miserable condition he was in, they burst into tears; and rending their mantles, they sprinkled dustý upon their heads towards heaven, to express their sorrow for him. And observing the extreme grief and pain under which he laboured, they sat down upon the ground by him, seven days and nights, and spake not a word to him; their own sorrow suppressing their speech, or their sense of his misery making them think it unreasonable to speak to him, till he began. At length Job brake silence, in cursing the day of his birth, wishing he had never been born, or that he had immediately died. Job's three friends having already conceived an unfavourable opinion of him, from the unaccountable greatness of his affliction, which they concluded must be the hand of God in judgment upon him, either for some deep hypocrisy, or secret heinous sin, they begin to treat him with prodigious severity in their successive discourses. *Shubite. Descended from Shuah, the youngest son of Abraham by Keturah, Gen. xxv. 2. + Zopbar. His descent is not easily traced, though some would derive him from Esau. Figure. The Septuagint call the first and last of these three friends of Job, kings; and the second tyrant; which is a term equivalent to that of king. Dust, &c. By this rite or custom they signified the utmost confusion, expressed by their mixing air and earth together. Eliphaz in three* orations, Bildad in as many,† and Zophar in two, from common topics argue, that such afflictions as his could proceed only from the immediate hand of God, and, that it is not consistent with the justice of the Divine Being to afflict without a cause, or punish without guilt. Then they charge Job with being a grievous sinner, and a great hypocrite, endeavouring if possible to extort a confession of guilt from him. But Job, immoveable in his sincerity towards God, and innocence towards man, confidently maintains his integrity in responsory speeches, successively to each of theirs; defends his innocence; refutes their unkind suggestions; and smartly reprehends their injustice and want of charity; yet generally observing a submissive style and reverence, when he spake of God; of whose secret end in permitting this trial to come upon him being ignorant, he often importunately begged a discharge from this life, lest the continuance of his pains might drive him to impatience. During this argument between Job and his three mistaken friends, there was present a young man, named Elihu, § who having heard the discourse on both sides, was pleased with neither; for he thought Job insisted too much on his own justification; and that they condemned him before they had convicted him he therefore undertakes the matter; and after a prefatory excuse for his interposing, who was a young man in comparison of them, and for the plainness of speech he intended to use, attacked Job in a long oration;** and reprehending him *Three. See Job iv. and v. xv. and xvii. Many. See ibid. ch. viii. xviii.`and xxix. Two. See ibid. ch. xi. and xx. Elibu. He was descended from Buz, the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother, Gen. xxii. 21. and of the kindred of Ram, or Aram, Nahor's grandson, from whom the Aramites or Syrians came. Excuse. See cb. xxxii. **Oration. Continued from cb. xxxiii, tọ xxxvij for insisting so much in his own vindication endeavoured to convince him, by arguments drawn from God's unlimited sovereignty and unsearchable wisdom, that it is not inconsistent with his justice to lay his afflicting hand upon the best and most righteous of men. And therefore that it is the duty of all men to bear such exercises, when any befal them, without murmuring or complaining, and to acknowledge the justice of God therein. Job heard all this with great attention, but made no reply; probably, lest he might be drawn to utter some unguarded expression, which the inhuman treatment of his three friends might have extorted from him. Therefore, when they were all silent, the Lord himself took up the matter, and out of a whirlwind directed his speech to Job: wherein, with the highest amplifications, describing his omnipotence in the formation and disposition of the works of the creation, he so effectually convinced Job of his own weakness, and inability of himself to understand the ways and designs of God, that Job, in the most profound humility, exclaims, "Behold I am vile and contemptible in comparison of thee? What shall I answer thee? I "will lay my hand upon my mouth: once have I spoken, "but I will not answer: yea, twice, but I will proceed "no further." Then Job proceeded to a more ample. confession of the supremacy, power, and wisdom of God, to this effect: "I know thou canst do every thing; and that no thought can be hid from thee. Well mightest "thou ask, Whot he was that darkened counsel by words without knowledge? For I am sensible I have uttered "what I understood not, things too wonderful for me, "which I knew not. But henceforward I desire to learn <of thee; therefore hear I beseech thee when I speak, " and declare unto me what I ask. I have heard of thee "before, by the hearing of the ear, (which gave me but a "distant knowledge of thee;) but now I have obtained "a more clear and certain knowledge of thee, for mine Creation. See from cb. xxxviii. to xli. + Further. See ch. xlii. eyes have seen thee: wherefore I reprove myself for " what I have done amiss, and repent in dust and ashes.” God was so well pleased with this free and humble acknowledgment of Job, that he declared himself in favour of him, against his injurious friends, who by their unjust and uncharitable reflections, instead of being his comforters, had proved his tormenters. "Wherefore (said God to Eliphaz the Temanite) "my wrath is kindled against thee and thy two friends; for ye have not spo"ken of Me the thing that is right, as my servant Job "hath. Therefore now take seven bullocks, and seven "rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for your"selves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray "for you; for his prayers will I accept; lest I deal with you as ye deserve, for not speaking the truth, as my "servant Job hath." Job's three friends alarmed with the menaces of an angry God, made haste to provide a sacrifice to appease the divine vengeance which they dreaded; and when they offered, God was pleased to accept Job's intercessiont in their behalf. After this, God was pleased to considert Job, by putting a period to his sufferings, and to reward his faith and piety with a much greater estate than he ever possessed before; doubling his former stock in every respect, except that of his children; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yokes of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. He had also seven sons, who with three beautiful daughters, every day * Seen. See cb. xlii. 5. This is not meant of ocular demonstration, for God is invisible; but the eyes meant are the eyes of the mind, or understanding, to which God had revealed himself. + Intercession. Job may not improperly here be considered a type of that christian perfection which the Gospel requires in praying for enemies as well as friends. Consider. The text calls this change of Job's condition, "The turning of his captivity;" which is a scripture phrase frequently used to signify an end or finishing of misery, and restoration of joy and felicity. |