Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, Ver. 1. _Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said_] Abruptly, without any preface, he sets upon Job (as doth likewise Bildad, Job 25:1-6), acting the part of a spiteful caviller rather than of an ingenuous accuser; reckoning and ranking just Job among... [ Continue Reading ]
Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? Ver. 2. _Can a man be profitable unto God_] No, neither doth Job say he can, but the contrary, Job 21:22. Howbeit the God of glory, as he is called, Acts 7:2, although his glory is as himself, infinite and eternal,... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 22:3 [Is it] any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or [is it] gain [to him], that thou makest thy ways perfect? Ver. 3. _Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous?_] _Num volupe est Omnipotenti? &c._ Is anything added to his joy? Or needeth he thy manners and... [ Continue Reading ]
Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? Ver. 4. _Will he reprove thee for fear of thee?_] Doth he plague and punish thee thus, for fear that in time thou mayest grow so overly good, that he cannot reward thee, or so overly great, that he cannot command thee? No... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 22:5 [Is] not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? Ver. 5. _Is not thy wickedness great?_] Why, no; God of his grace had kept Job innocent of the great transgression, Psalms 19:13, and that wicked one had not touched him, 1 John 5:18, _sc._ with a deadly touch, _Tactu qualitativ... [ Continue Reading ]
_For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing._ Ver. 6. _For thou hast taken a pledge, &c._] _Bona verba, quaeso,_ I seek good words, Eliphaz. How well might Job have cried out, as David afterwards did, Psalms 35:11, "False witnesses rose up; th... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. Ver. 7. _Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink_] But hast slain him with thirst, when thou mightest have saved him with a cup of cold water. _Qui non, cum potest, servat, occidit:_ Who when ab... [ Continue Reading ]
But [as for] the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. Ver. 8. _But as for the mighty man, he had the earth_] Heb. But as for the man of arm, he had the land. This the Vulgate applieth to Job; as if by his power he had wrought all others out, and seated himself alone in... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. Ver. 9. _Thou hast sent widows away empty_] A widow is a calamitous name: 2 Samuel 14:5, "I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead." As a tree whose root is uncovered thriveth not, so it fareth with a widow.... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore snares [are] round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; Ver. 10. _Therefore snares are round about thee_] _Flagitium et flagellum sunt sicut acus et filum,_ Sin and punishment are tied together with chains of adamant. Eliphaz having with more earnestness than truth set forth Job's... [ Continue Reading ]
Or darkness, [that] thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee. Ver. 11. _Or darkness, that thou canst not see_] _Sunt tenebrae supplicia, et damnatorum desperationes,_ saith Brentius here. By darkness are meant punishments, temporal and eternal. Others understand the text of blindness... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 22:12 [Is] not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! Ver. 12. _Is not God in the height of heaven?_] Some add out of the next verse these words, Sayest thou; making Job's atheistic speeches (here mimetically fathered upon him by Eliphaz) an argument... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? Ver. 13. _And thou sayest, How doth God know?_] A brutish question, Psalms 94:7,8, and never of Job's making. There are a sort of such miscreants as believe nothing but what they see with their bodily eyes; and indeed, for a f... [ Continue Reading ]
Thick clouds [are] a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. Ver. 14. _Thick clouds are a covering to him_] He lieth close hid among the clouds, and seeth nothing. But be the clouds never so thick, Christ's eyes are a flaming fire, Revelation 1:14. And the schoo... [ Continue Reading ]
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? Ver. 15. _Hast thou, marked the old way_] Heb. The way of old. Broughton rendereth it, the way of the old world; of those ungodly ones before the flood. Hereby it appeareth, say our learned annotators, that Job lived before the deliverance... [ Continue Reading ]
Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: Ver. 16. _Which were cut down out of time_] Or, Which grew full of wrinkles (as those that have long lain in the water are apt to do), and not time; that is, before that time of life that they had promised themselves on e... [ Continue Reading ]
Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? Ver. 17. _Which said unto God, Depart from us_] Atheists those antediluvians were; if not dogmatic, yet practical, such as Job had described, speaking the like language of hell, Job 21:14. _Et malitiose eum Eliphazus talium... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet he filled their houses with good [things]: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. Ver. 18. _Yet he filled their houses with good things_] Heb. With good; that is, with all precious and pleasant riches, whereof he gave them both plenty and propriety, but no otherwise than as Joseph caused... [ Continue Reading ]
The righteous see [it], and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. Ver. 19. _The righteous see it, and are glad_] And as or myself, the counsel of the wicked is far from me: I do therefore abominate their present prosperity, because they shall shortly be for a laughing stock to all good me... [ Continue Reading ]
Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth. Ver. 20. _Whereas our substance is not cut down_] That is, while life lasteth, and while it is called today; before death cometh: and after death, judgment; when the remnant of the wicked fire shall consume. Where we... [ Continue Reading ]
_Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee._ Ver. 21. _Acquaint now thyself with him_] _Accommoda te nunc illi, assuesce cum illo._ Converse with God in a humble familiarity; set him at the right hand, Psalms 16:8, be ever at his hand, _ut famulus seu accensu... [ Continue Reading ]
Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. Ver. 22. _Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth_] Now he speaks Job fair whom before he had sufficiently ripped up, and roughly hewen without mercy, or so much as truth. That which he here persuadeth him to is... [ Continue Reading ]
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. Ver. 23. _If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up_] By sin men run from God, by repentance they return to him. Break off thy sins by repentance, and put away iniquity far fr... [ Continue Reading ]
Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the [gold] of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Ver. 24. _Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust_] Which is as much as to say, saith one, Thou shalt make pavements of gold. See 2Ch 1:15 Psalms 68:30. Then shalt thou have thy desire; for thou shalt be rich with... [ Continue Reading ]
Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. Ver. 25. _Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence_] Or, thy gold, for the same word signifieth both, Job 36:19, because gold is the worldly man's defence, Proverbs 18:11, though but a sorry one, Zep 1:18 Pro 11:4 Ezekiel 7... [ Continue Reading ]
For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Ver. 26. _For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty_] As in thine only portion. Thou shalt enjoy him, which is the peak of human happiness; solace thyself in the fruition of him, taste and see how... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. Ver. 27. _Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee_] Yea, though thou multiply prayers, _Multiplicabis verba tua_ (Mer.), and intercessions for thyself and others (as the word signifieth, an... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. Ver. 28. _Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee_] God will be better to thee than thy prayers; and prosper all thy counsels, effect thy designs. The ungodl... [ Continue Reading ]
When [men] are cast down, then thou shalt say, [There is] lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. Ver. 29. _When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up_] And that by the force of thy faith, the nature whereof is to gather one contrary out of another (as life out of dea... [ Continue Reading ]
He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands. Ver. 30. _He shall deliver the island of the innocent_] Or, He shall deliver the not innocent; him that is not guiltless; and even such shall be delivered for the purity of thine hands. Thus God gave Zo... [ Continue Reading ]