"Nothing more transpired for a year and a half or more; when one morning a person knocked at his Grace's gate, and with a peculiar earnestness desired to see him. The archbishop ordered the stranger to be brought in. He entered the room where his lordship was; but had scarce advanced a few steps before his countenance changed, his knees tottered, and he sank almost breathless on the floor. On recovering, he requested an audience in private. The apartment being cleared, 'My Lord,' said he, 'you cannot have forgotten the circumstances at such a time and place; gratitude will never suffer them to be obliterated from my mind. In me, my lord, you now behold that once most wretched of mankind; but now, by your inexpressible humanity, rendered equal, perhaps superior, in happiness to millions. Oh, my lord,' tears for awhile preventing his utterance, "tis you, 'tis you, that have saved me, body and soul; 'tis you that have saved a dear and much loved wife, and a little brood of children whom I tendered dearer than my life. Here are the fifty pounds; but never shall I find language to testify what I feel. Your God is your witness; your deed itself is your glory; and may heaven and all its blessings be your present and everlasting reward. I was the younger son of a wealthy man; your lordship knows him: his name was My marriage alienated his affection: and my brother withdrew his love, and left me to sorrow and penury. A month since my brother died a bachelor and intestate. What was his, is become mine; and, by your astonishing goodness, I am now at once the most penitent, the most grateful, and happiest of my species." See Prince Hoar's life of Granville Sharp, Esq. p. 13. I HAVE no doubt there have been several cases of a similar kind, when the first step in delinquency was urged by necessity: but few of such wretched adventurers have met with an Archbishop Sharp. An early and pious education is the only means, under God, to prevent such dangerous steps, which generally lead to the most fearful catastrophe. Teach a child that whom God loveth he chasteneth. Teach him that God suffers men to hunger and be in want, that he may try them if they will be faithful, and do them good in their latter end. Teach him, that he who patiently and meekly bears providential afflictions shall be relieved and exalted in due time. Teach him that it is no sin to die in the most abject poverty and affliction, brought on in the course of divine providence; but that any attempts to alter his condition by robbery, knavery, cozening, and fraud, will be distinguished with heavy curses from the Almighty, and necessarily end in perdition and ruin. A child thus educated is not likely to abandon himself to unlawful courses. NOTES ON CHAPTER XXV. Verse 1. Bildad the Shuhite] This is the last attack on Job: the others felt themselves foiled, though they had not humility enough to acknowledge it; but would not again return to the attack. Bildad has little to say; and that little is very little to the point. He makes a few assertions, particularly in reference to what Job had said in the commencement of the preceding chapter, of his desire to appear before God, and have his case tried by him, as he had the utmost confidence that his innocence should be fully proved. For this Bildad reprehends Job with arguments which had been brought forth often in this controversy, and as repeatedly confuted, chap. iv. 1S. and xv. 14, 15, 16. Verse 2. Dominion and fear are with him] God is an absolute sovereign; his fear is on all the hosts of heaven; and, by his sovereignty, he establishes and preserves order in the heavens, and among all the inhabitants of the eternal world:-How canst thou, therefore, dare to appeal to him, or desire to appear before him? Verse 3. Is there any number of his armies?] He has troops innumerable; he can serve himself of all his creatures; every thing may be a mean of help or destruction according to his divine will. When he purposes to save, none can destroy; and when he is determined to destroy, none can save. It is vain to trust in his creatures against himself. Upon whom doth not his light arise?] That is, his 3 Is there any number of his armies ? and upon whom doth not his light arise? 4 b How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? 5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. 6 How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm? &c. Psa. 130. 3. & 143. 2.-c Psa. 22. 6. providence rules over all; he is universal Lord; he causes his sun to arise on the evil and good, and sends his rain on the just and unjust. Verse 4. How then can man be justified?] Or, u-mah, With what shall a man be justified with God? Though this is no conclusion from Bildad's premises, yet the question is of the highest importance to man. Neither Bildad, nor any of his fellows, could answer it: the doctrine of redemption, through the blood of the cross, was then known only through types and shadows. We, who live in the Gospel dispensation, can readily answer the question, With what shall miserable man (≈ Enosh) be justified with God?-Ans. By bringing forward by faith, to the throne of the divine justice, the sacrificial offering of the Lord Jesus Christ; and confiding absolutely in it, as being a full, sufficient, and complete atonement and sacrifice for his sins, and for the salvation of a lost world. How, or, with what ( u-mah) shall he be clean that is born of a woman?-Ans. By receiving that grace, or heavenly influence, communicated by the power and energy of the eternal Spirit, applying to the heart the efficacy of that blood which cleanses from all unrighteousness. This, and this only, is the way in which a sinner, when truly penitent, can be justified before God; and in which a believer, convinced of indwelling sin, can be sanctified, and cleansed from all unrighteousness. This is the only means of justification and sanctification, without which there can be no glorification. And these two great works, which constitute the whole of salvation, have been procured for a lost world by the incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was delivered for our offences, and rose again for our justification. To whom be glory and dominion now and for evermore, Amen! Verse 5. Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not] It is continually changing its appearance. It never appears twice in its whole revolution with the same face: it is ever waxing or waning; and its face is variegated with opaque spots. Its changeableness can never be compared with the unchangeable nature of God. Yea, the stars are not pure in his sight?] Whatever their excellence may be as stars, it is nothing in comparison with him from whom they have derived their being and splendour. See the notes on chap. iv. 18. and xv. 14-16. The Targum reads: "Behold, the moon is as yet spotted in her eastern part; the sun shines not; and the stars are not pure in his sight." Some think that by stars are meant those angels who kept not their first estate: this may be so; but I cannot see it in the text. It may, however, mean the heavenly host, as it is supposed to do, chap. xxviii. 7. but I still must hesitate on the propriety of such applications. Tis probable this speech of Bildad was delivered in the night season, when clouds interrupted the bright shining of the moon. The third verse seems to refer immediately to the stars, which, to the naked eye, are innumerable. The sun is not mentioned because of his absence. This speech of Bildad is both confused and inconclusive. His reasoning is absurd, and he draws false conclusions from his premises. In the third verse, he says, "Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom does not his light arise ?" But how absurd is the conclusion which he draws from his questions: "How then can a man be justified with God, or he be clean who is born of a woman?" This has no relation to the premises: but still to us the question is not difficult, and has already been answered in the notes. "A man can be justified with God," through the blood of Christ-" And he can be clean who is born of a woman," through the sanctification of the Spirit. Verse 6. How much less man, that is a worm] Or, as the Targum:-"How much more man who in his life is a reptile; and the son of man who in his death is a worm." Almost all the versions read: “Truly man is corruption, and the son of man a worm." The original is degradingly expressive: "Even because un enosh, miserable man, is no rimmah, a crawling worm; and the son of Adam, who is nyn toleah, a worm, or rather maggot, from its eating into, and dividing, certain substances." Parkhurst. Thus endeth Bildad, the Shuhite, who endeavoured to CHAPTER XXVI. Job, perceiving that his friends could no longer support their arguments on the ground they had assumed, sharply reproves them for their want both of wisdom and feeling, Shows that the power and wisdom of God are manifest in the works of crea tion and providence; gives several proofs; and then adds, that these are a small specimen of his infinite skill, and unlimited power, 5-14. Ante 1. OL QUT Job and said, eir. 744. Ante U. C. cir. 5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. 5 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. 7h He stretcheth out the north over the B2 How answethou helped him that empty place, and hangeth the earth upon 767. is d without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength? 3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is? 4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee? d Neh. 5. 5-e 1 Sam. 2 9.- Or, with the inhabitants.-g Psa. 139. 8, 11. Prov. 15. 11. Heb. 4. 13.-h Ch. 9. 8. Psa. 24. 2. & 104. 2, &c. -i Prov. 30. 4. speak on a subject which he did not understand; and, having got on bad ground, he was soon confounded in his own mind, spoke incoherently, argued inconclusively, and came abruptly and suddenly to an end. Thus Job's three friends being confounded, he was left to pursue his own way: they trouble him no more, and he proceeds in triumph to the end of the thirty-first chapter. NOTES ON CHAPTER XXVI. Verse 2. How hast thou helped him] This seems a species of irony. How wonderfully hast thou counselled the unskilful, and strengthened the weak! Alas for you! ye could not give what ye did not possess! In this way the Chaldee understood these verses:- Why hast thou pretended to give succour, when thou art without strength? And save, while thy arm is weak? Why hast thou given counsel, when thou art without understanding? And supposest that thou hast shown the very essence of wisdom!" Verse 4. Whose spirit came from thee?] Mr. Goode renders the verse thus: From whom hast thou pillaged speeches? And whose spirit hath issued forth from thee? The retort is peculiarly severe; and refers immediately to the proverbial sayings, which, in several of the preceding answers, have been adduced against the irritated sufferer; for which see chap. viii. 11-19. xv. 20-35. some of which he has already complained of, as in chap. xii. 3. and following. I concur most fully, therefore, with Dr. Stock in regarding the remainder of this chapter as a sample, ironically exhibited by Job, of the harangues on the power and greatness of God; which he supposes his friends to have taken out of the mouths of other men, to deck their speeches with borrowed lustre. Only, in descanting on the same subject, he shows how much he himself can go beyond them in eloquence and sublimity. Job intimates that, whatever spirit they had, it was not the Spirit of God; because in their answers falsehood was found. Verse 5. Dead things are formed from under the waters.] This verse, as it stands in our version, seems to convey no meaning; and the Hebrew is obscure DNA Ha-rephaim, "the Rephaim," certainly means not dead things; nor can there be any propriety in saying that dead things, or things without life, are formed under the waters; for such things are formed every where in the earth, and under the earth, as well as under the waters. The Vulgate translates:-Ecce gigantes gemunt sub aquis, et qui habitant cum eis. Behold the giants, and hose who dwell with them, groan from under the waters. The Septuagint :-Mn yiyarres pacwinσovrai vzOKATWOEY ύδατος, και των γειτόνων αυτόν. Are not the giants and their companions formed from under the waters? אפשר וגבריא ומתמזמזין יתברין ואנון מליע-:The Chaldee nothing. 8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick 10 He hath compassed the waters with k Ch. 38. 8. Paa. 33. 7. & 104. 9. Prov. 8. 29. Jer. 5. 22- Heb. until the end of I greatly question whether sea-monsters be not intended, sea monsters mentioned above. Verse 6. Hell is naked before him] Sheol, the place of the dead, or of separate spirits, is always in his view: And there is no covering to Abaddon, the place of the destroyer, where destruction reigns, and where those dwell who are eternally separated from God. The ancients thought that hell or Tartarus was a vast space in the centre, or at the very bottom of the earth. So VIRGIL, En. vi. 5. Tum Tartarus ipse Bis patet in præceps tantum, tenditque sub umbras, Pitt. And some have supposed that there is an allusion to Verse 7. He stretcheth out the north over the empty > Eposhar de-gibraiya de-mithmazmezin yithbareyan ve-innun millerâ le-maiya u-mashreiyate-it." hon. "Can the trembling giants be regenerated, when they and their hosts are under the water ?" The Syriac and Arabic:-" Behold the giants are slain, and are drawn out of the water." None of these appear to give any sense by which the true meaning can be determined. There is probably here an allusion to the destruction of the earth by the general deluge. Moses, speaking concerning the state of the earth before the flood, says, Gen. vi. 4. There were giants a nephalim in the earth in those days." Now it is likely that Job means the same by OND rephaim, as Moses does by the nephalim; and both may refer to the antediluvians, who were all, for their exceeding great iniquities, overwhelmed by the waters of the deluge. Can those mighty men, and their neighbours, all the sinners who have been gathered to them since, be regenerated from under the waters, by which they were judicially overwhelmed? Mr. Goode thinks, the shades of the heroes of former times, the gigantic spectres, the mighty or enormous dead, are meant. Hangeth the earth upon nothing] The Chaldee says: Verse 9. He holdeth back the face of his throne] Though Verse 10. He hath compassed the waters with bounds] ,id taklith aor tum chashelk ער תכלית אור עם חשך here "until the completion of light with darkness." Or, if we take on taklith, here to be the same with non tekleth, Exod. xxv. 4. and elsewhere, which we translate blue, it may mean that sombre sky-blue appearance of the horizon at the time of twilight, i. e. between light and darkness; the line where the one is terminating, and the other commencing; or, he so circumscribes the waters, retaining them in their own place, that they shall not be able to overflow the earth until day and night, that is, time itself, come to an end. Verse 11. The pillars of heaven tremble] This is probably a poetical description either of thunder, or of an earthquake: "He shakes creation with his nod; Earth, sea, and heaven, confess him God." But there may be an allusion to the high mountains, which were anciently esteemed by the common people as the pillars on which the heavens rested; and, when these were shaken with earthquakes, it might be said the pillars of heaven tremble. Mount Atlas was supposed to be one of those pillars; and this gave rise to the fable of Atlas being a man who bore the heavens on his shoulders. The Greek and Roman poets frequently use this image. Thus SILIUS ITALICUs, lib. i. ver. 202: Atlas subducto tracturus vertice cœlum: And from his jaws the rushing torrents pour.-J. B. B. C. 13 P By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand? Ps. 74. 13. & 78. 13. Jer. 31. 35.-0 Heb. pride-p Ps. 33. 6.—q Isa. 27. 1. the sun's oblique path in the zodiac in the words, His hand hath formed the crooked serpent. Others have imagined that the allusion is to the lightning in that zig-zag form which it assumes, when discharged from one cloud into another, during a thunder storm. This is, at once, a natural and very apparent sense. To conduct and manage the lightning is most certainly a work which requires the skill and omnipotence of GOD, as much as garnishing the heavens by his spirit, dividing the sea by his power, or causing the pillars of heaven to tremble by his reproof. Others think that the act of the creation of the solar system is intended to be expressed; which is, in several parts of the Sacred Writings, attributed to the Spirit of God, Gen. i. 2. Psa. xxxiii. 6. And that the crooked serpent means either Satan, who deceived our first parents, or huge aquatic animals, for in Isa. xxvii. 1. we find the leviathan and dragon of the sea called mens nachash bariach, the very terms that are used by Job in this place. In that day the Lord with his sore, and great, and strong sword, shall punish leviathan, the piercing serpent, (2 w nachash bariach) even leviathan that crooked serpent (pnbpy was nachash âkallaton,) and he shall slay the dragon (on ha-tannim) that is in the sea. And we know that in Gen. i. 21. Don ha-tannim ha-gedolim, which we translate great whales, includes all seamonsters, or vast aquatic animals. Calmet who, without hesitation, adopts this sentiment, says, "I see no necessity to have recourse to allegory here. After having exhibited the effects of the sovereign power of God in the heavens, in the clouds, in the vast collection of waters, in the sea, it was natural enough for Job to speak of the production of fishes." The intelligent Dr. Sherlock gives another interpretation. After strongly expressing his disapproba Verse 12. He divideth the sea with his power] Heretion of the opinion that Job should descend, after speaking is a manifest allusion to the passage of the Red sea by the Israelites, and the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host; according to the opinion of the most eminent critics. He smiteth through the proud] 2 Rahab, the very name by which Egypt is called Isa. ii. 9. and elsewhere. Calmet remarks:-"This appears to refer only to the passage of the Red sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh. Were we not prepossessed with the opinion that Job died before Moses, every person at the first view of the subject must consider it in this light." I am not thus prepossessed. Let Job live when he might, I am satisfied the Book of Job was written long after the death of Moses, and not earlier than the days of Solomon, if not later. The farther I go in the work, the more this conviction is deepened; and the opposite sentiment appears to be perfectly gratuitous. Verse 13. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens] See the observations below. Verse 14. Lo, these are parts of his ways) np ketsoth, the ends, or extremities, the outlines, an indistinct sketch, of his eternal power and Godhead. How little a portion is heard] you shemets, a mere whisper; admirably opposed, as Mr. Goode has well observed, to by raam, the thunder, mentioned in the next clause. As the thunder is to a whisper; so are the tremendous and infinitely varied works of God to the faint outlines exhibited in the above discourse. Every reader will relish the dignity, propriety, and sense, of these expressions. They force themselves on the observation of even the most heedless. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens] Numerous are the opinions relative to the true meaning of this verse. Some think it refers to the clearing of the sky after a storm, such as appears to be described ver. 11, 12. and suppose his spirit means the wind, which he directs to sweep and cleanse the face of the sky, by which the splendour of the day or the lustre of the night is restored. And by the crooked flying or arial serpent, (as it is variously rendered) the ecliptic is supposed to be meant, as the sun's apparent course in it appears to be serpentine in his approach to, and recession from, each of the tropics. This tortuous line may be seen on any terrestrial globe. Many will object to this notion as too refined for the time of Job; but this I could easily admit, as astronomy had a very early existence among the Arabians, if not its origin. But with me the chief objection lies against the obscurity of the allusion, if it be one; for it must require no small ingenuity, and almost the spirit of divination, to find out of the creation of the heavens and their host, to the formation of snakes and adders, he supposes "that Job here intended to oppose that grand religious system of Sabaism which prevailed in his time, and to which, in other parts of this book, he alludes; a system which acknowledged two opposite independent principles by which the universe was governed; and paid divine adoration to the celestial luminaries. Suppose, therefore, Job to be acquainted with the fall of man, and the part ascribed to the serpent of the introduction of evil, see how aptly the parts cohere. In opposition to the idolatrous practice of the time, he asserts God to be the Maker of all the host of heaven. By his spirit he garnished the heavens. In opposition to the false notion of two independent principles, he asserts God to be the Maker of him who was the author of evil, His hand hath formed the crooked serpent; you see how properly the garnishing of the heavens, and the forming of the serpent, are joined together. That this is the ancient traditionary explication of this place we have undeniable evidence from the translation of the Septuagint, who render the latter part of this verse, which relates to the serpent, in this manner:-poṣaypari de abavarwaɛ opakovтa ажо5arny, By a decree he destroyed the apostate dragon. The Syriac and Arabic versions are to the same effect: They say, And his hand slew the flying serpent. These translators apply the place to the punishment inflicted on the serpent: and it comes to the same thing; for the punishing the serpent is as clear an evidence of God's power over the author of evil, as the creating him. We need not wonder to see so much concern in this book to maintain the supremacy of God, and to guard it against every false notion; for this was the theme, the business, of the author." Bp. Sherlock, on Prophecy, Diss. ii. From the contradictory opinions on this passage, the reader will no doubt feel cautious what mode of interpretation he adopts, and the absolute necessity of admitting no texts of doubtful interpretation as vouchers for the essential doctrines of Christianity. Neither metaphors, allegories, similies, nor figurative expressions of any kind, should ever be adduced or appealed to as proofs of any article in the Christian faith. We have reason to be thankful that this is at present the general opinion of the most rational divines of all sects and parties; and that the allegory and metaphor-men are every where vanishing from the horizon of the church. Scriptural Christianity is prevailing with a strong hand, and going forward with a firm and steady step. 3 All the while my breath is in me, and "the spirit of God is in my nostrils; 4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. W 5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove my integrity from me. 6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live. 7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous. r Heb. added to take up-s Ch. 34. 5-t Heb. made my soul bitter. Ruth 1. 20. 2 Kings 4. 27. That is, the breath which God gave him. Gen. 2. 7.-v Ch. 29. & 13. 15- Ch. 2. 3-x Acts 24. 16-y Heb. from my days.—z Matt. 16. 26. Luke 12. 20. NOTES ON CHAPTER XXVII. Verse 1. Continued his parable] After having delivered the preceding discourse, Job appears to have paused to see if any of his friends chose to make any reply: but, finding them all silent, he resumed his discourse, which is here called meshalo, his parable, his authoritative weighty discourse; from SD mashal, to exercise rule, authority, dominion, or power. Parkhurst. And it must be granted that, in this speech, he assumes great boldness, exhibits his own unsullied character, and treats his friends with little ceremony. Verse 2. Who hath taken away my judgment] Who has turned aside my cause, and has not permitted it to come to a hearing, where I might have justice done to me; but has abandoned me to the harsh and uncharitable judgment of my enemies. There appears to be a great want of reverence in these words of Job: he speaks with a degree of irritation, if not bitterness, which cannot be justified. No man should speak thus of his Maker. Verse 3. All the while my breath is in me] As Job appears to allude to the creation of Adam, whom God made out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living soul, the whole of Job's assertion here may be no more than a periphrasis for, As long as I live and have my understanding. Indeed no nishmati, may be rendered, my mind or understanding, and m ruach Eloah, the breath of God, the principle of animal life; that same that he breathed into Adam; for it is there said, Gen. ii. 7. He breathed into his nostrils, on no nismat chayim, the breath of lives, or that principle from which animal and spiritual life proceeds; in consequence of which he became le-nephesh chaiyah, an intelligent or rational animal. Verse 4. My lips shall not speak wickedness] As I have hitherto lived in all good conscience before God, as he knoweth; so will I continue to live. Verse 5. God forbid] halilah li, far be it from me that I should justify you; that I should now, by any kind of acknowledgment of wickedness or hypocrisy, justify your harsh judgments. You say that God afflicts me for my crimes: say, and God knows its truth, that I have not sinned so as to draw down any such judgment upon me. Your judgment, therefore, is pronounced at your own risk. Verse 6. My righteousness I hold fast] I stand firmly on this ground; I have endeavoured to live an upright life, and my afflictions are not the consequence of my sins. My heart shall not reproach mej I shall take care so to live that I shall have a conscience void of offence before God and man. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God, 1 John iii. 21. This seems to be Job's meaning. Verse 7. Let mine enemy be as the wicked] Let my accuser be proved a lying and perjured man, because he has laid to my charge things which he cannot prove, and which are utterly false. Verse S. What is the hope of the hypocrite] The word pchaneph, which we translate, most improperly, hypoerite, means a wicked fellow, a defiled polluted wretch, a rascal, a knave, a man who sticks at nothing in order to gain his ends. In this verse it means a dishonest man, a rogue, who by overreaching, cheating, &c. has amassed a fortune. When God taketh away his soul] Could he have had any well-grounded hope of eternal blessedness, when he 9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? 10b Will he delight himself in the Almighty; will he always call upon God? 11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. 12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain? 13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. 14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. 15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and 'his widows shall not weep. a Ch. 35. 12. Psa. 18. 41. & 109. 7. Prov. 1. 28. & 28. 9. Isai. 1. 15. Jer. 14. 12. Ezek. 8. 18. Micah 3. 4. John 9. 31. James 4. 3.-b See Chap. 22. 26, 27.-c Or, being in the hand, &c.-d Chap. 20. 29.-e Deut. 28. 41. Esther 9. 10. Hos. 9. 13. f Psa. 78. 64. was acquiring earthly property by guilt and deceit ? And of what avail will this property be when his soul is summoned before the judgment-seat. A righteous man yields up his soul to God; the wicked does not, because he is afraid of God, of death, and of eternity. God, therefore, takes the soul away, forces it out of the body. Mr. Blair gives us an affecting picture of the death of a wicked man. Though well known, I shall insert it as a striking comment on this passage: How shocking must thy summons be, O death, The Chaldee has:- What can the detraeter expect, who has gathered together mamon dishekar, the mammon of unrighteousness, when God plucks out his soul? The Septuagint :-ris yap esiv etɩ ednis ɑoebel, nti eπexel ; Mn Teñoιows εni Kupiov ei apa σwongerai: For what is the hope of the ungodly that he should wait for? shall he, by hoping in the Lord, be, therefore saved? Mr. Goode translates differently from all the versions : Yet what is the hope of the wicked that he should prosper, I believe our version gives as true a sense as any; and the words appear to have been in the eye of our Lord, when he said, “For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matt. xvi. 26. Verse 11. I will teach you by the hand of God] Relying on divine assistance, and not speaking out of my own head, or quoting what others have said, I will teach you what the mind of the Almighty is; and I will conceal nothing. Job felt that the good hand of his God was upon him; and that, therefore, he should make no mistake in his doctrines. In this way the Chaldee understood the words beyad el, by the hand of God, which it translates N n binebuath Elaha, by the prophecy of God. Those who reject the literal meaning, which conveys a very good sense, may adopt the translation of Mr. Goode, which has much to recommend it:-"I will teach you cencerning the dealings of God." Verse 12. Ye yourselves have seen it] Your own experience and observation have shown you that the righteous are frequently in affliction, and the wicked in affluence. Why then are ye thus altogether vain?] The original is very emphatical: ann an hebel teheballu, and well expressed by Mr. Goode:-"Why then should ye thus babble babblings?" If our language would allow it, we might say vanitize vanity. Verse 13. This is the portion of a wicked man] Job now commences his promised teaching; and what follows is a description of the lot or portion of the wicked man and of tyrants. And this remuneration shall they have with God in general; though the hand of man be not laid upon them. Though he does not at all times show his displeasure against the wicked, by reducing them to a state of poverty and affliction: yet he often does it, so that men 16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; 17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. 18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and h a booth that the keeper maketh. as 19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not. 20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. 21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. 22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: *he would fain flee out of his hand. g Prov. 23. 8. Eccles. 2. 26.-h Isai. 1. 8. Lam. 2. 6. may see it yet, at other times, he seems to pass them by, reserving their judgment for another world, that men may not forget that there is a day of judgment and perdition for ungodly men, and a future recompense for the righteous. Verse 14. If his children be multiplied] As numerous families were supposed to be a proof of the benediction of the Almighty, Job shows that this is not always the case; for the offspring of the wicked shall be partly cut off by violent deaths, and partly reduced to great poverty. Verse 15. Those that remain of him] seridaiv, his remains, whether meaning himself personally, or his family, Shall be buried in death] Shall come to utter and remediless destruction. Death shall have his full conquest over them, and the grave its complete victory. These are no common dead. All the sting, all the wound, and all the poison, of sin, remains: and so evident are God's judgments in his and their removal, that even widows shall not weep for them: the public shall not bewail him; for, when the wicked perish there is shouting. Mr. Goode, following the Chaldee, translates: entombed in corruption, or in the pestilence. But I see no reason why we should desert the literal reading. Entombed in corruption gives no nervous sense, in my judgment; for an corruption are the high and the low, the wicked and the good, entombed: but buried in death, is much more nervous and expressive. Death itself is the place where he shall lie; he shall have no redemption, no resurrection to life. Death shall ever have dominion over him. The expression is very similar to that in Luke xvi. 22. as found in several versions and MSS. The rich man died and was buried in hell; and lifting up his eyes, being in torment, he saw, &c. See my note there. Verse 16. Though he heap up silver] Though he amass riches in the greatest abundance, he shall not enjoy them. Unsanctified wealth is a curse to its possessor. Money, of all earthly possessions, is the most dangerous, as it is the readiest agent to do good or evil. He that perverts it is doubly cused, because it affords him the most immediate means of sinful gratification; and he can sin more in an hour through this, than he can in a day or week by any other kind of property. On the other hand, they who use it aright, have it in their power to do the most prompt and immediate good. Almost every kind of want may be speedily relieved by it. Hence, he who uses it as he ought, is doubly blessed; while he who abuses it is doubly cursed. Verse 17. The just shall put it on] Money is God's property. "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord;" and though it may be abused for a time by unrighteous hands, God, in the course of his providence, brings it back to its proper use; and often the righteous possess the inheritance of the wicked. Verse 18. He buildeth his house as a moth] With great skill, great pains, and great industry; but the structure, however skilful, shall be dissolved; and the materials, however costly, shall be brought to corruption. To its owner it shall be only a temporary habitation, like that which the moth makes in its larve or caterpillar state, during its change from a chrysalis to a winged insect. As a booth that the keeper maketh] A shed which the watchman, or keeper of a vineyard, erects to cover him from the scorching sun, while watching the ripening grapes, that they may be preserved from depredation. Travellers in the East have observed, that such booths or sheds are made of the lightest and most worthless materials; and, after the harvest or vintage is in, they are quite neglected, and by the winter rains, &c. are soon dissolved and destroyed. Verse 19. The rich man shall lie down] In the grave. But he shall not be gathered] Neither have a respectable burial among men, nor be gathered with the righteous in the kingdom of God. He openeth his eyes] In the morning of the resurrection. 23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place. CHAPTER XXVIII. Job, in showing the vanity of human pursuits, in reference to human wisdom, mentions mining for and refining gold and silver, 1. Iron and other minerals, 2 The diffi culties of muning, 3, 4. Produce of grain for bread from the earth, and stones of the from ander it, 5. Speaks of precious stones and gold dust, 6. Of the instinet of fowls and wild beasts in finding their way, 7, 8. And of the industry and successful attempts of men in mining and other operations, 9-11. But shows that with all their industry, skill, and perseverance, they cannot find out true wisdom, 12. Of which he gives the most exalted character, 13-22 And shows that God alone, the fountain of wisdom, knows and can teach it, 23-27. And in what this true wisdom consists, 28. Ante I. OL eir. 744. SURELY there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where Aute U. C. cir. they fine it. 767. 2 Iron is taken out of them earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. i Ch. 18. 11.-k Heb. in fleeing he would fee.-1 Or, a mine.-m Or, dust. And he is not] He is utterly lost and undone for ever. This seems to be the plain sense of the passage; and so all the versions appear to have understood it; but Reiske and some others, by making or yeasaph, an Arabic word, signifying, not the idea of gathering, but care, anxiety, &c. have quite altered this sense of the passage: and Mr. Goode, who copies them, translates thus: Let the rich man lie down, and care not. I see no manner of occasion to resort to this interpretation, which, in my judgment, gives a sense inferior to that given above, or to the following; The rich man shall lie down, go to his rest fully persuaded that his property is in perfect safety. But he shall not be gathered, or, he shall not gather, make any farther addition to his stores; he openeth his eyes in the morning, when he is not; marauders in the night have stripped him of all his property, as in the case of Job himself; a case quite probable, and not unfrequent in Arabia, when a hostile tribe makes a sudden incursion, and carries of an immense booty. But I prefer the first meaning, as it is obtained without crucifying the text. Coverdale translates: the rich man dyeth, he carieth nothinge with him: he is gone in the twincklinge of an eye. hen Verse 20. Terrors take hold on him as waters] They come upon him as an irresistible flood; and he is overwhelmed as by a tempest in the night, when darkness partly hides his danger, and deprives him of discerning the way to escape. Verse 21. The east wind carrieth him away] Such as is called by Mr. Goode, a levanter, the euroclydon, the eastern storm of Acts xxvii. 14. Verse 22. God shall cast upon him] Or rather the storm mentioned above shall incessantly pelt him, and give him no respite; nor can he by any means escape from its fury. Verse 23. Men shall clap their hands at him] These two verses refer to the storm which is to sweep away the ungodly: therefore, the word God in ver. 22. and men in this verse, should be omitted. Ver. 22. "For it shall fall upon him, and not spare: flying from its power, he shall continue to fly. Ver. 23. It shall clap its hands against him, and hiss va-yisrok, shriek, him out of his place." Here the storm is personified, and the wicked actor is hissed and driven by it from off the stage. It seems it was an ancient method to clap the hands against and hiss a man from any public office, who had acted improperly in it. The populace, in European countries, express their disapprobation of public characters who have not pleased them in the same manner, to the present day, by hisses, groans, and the like. NOTES ON CHAPTER XXVIII. Verse 1. Surely there is a vein for the silver] This chapter is the oldest and finest piece of natural history in the world; and gives us very important information on several curious subjects: and could we ascertain the precise meaning of all the original words, we might, most probably, find out allusions to several useful arts which we are apt to think are of modern, or comparatively modern, invention. The word ND motsa, which we here translate rein, signifies, literally, a going out, i. c. a mine, or place dug in the earth whence the silver ore is extracted. And this ore lies generally in veins, or loads, running in certain directions. A place for gold where they fine it] This should rather be translated, A place for gold which they refine. Gold ore has also its peculiar mine, and requires to be refined from earthy impurities. Verse 2. Iron is taken out of the earth] This most useful metal is hidden under the earth, and men have found out the method of separating it from its ore. Brass is molten out of the stone.] As brass is a factitious metal, copper must be the meaning of the Hebrew word en nechushah: literally, the stone is poured out for brass. If we retain the common translation, perhaps |