Job protests his innocence The third speaker, Zophar, fails to come forward; and Job, after a pause, resumes his discourse. This discourse is necessary in order to give this third cycle of speeches the same form as the previous two had. In each case Job in his third speech directly attacks the prev... [ Continue Reading ]
_my judgment_ As above, MY RIGHT. God has taken this away by afflicting Job unjustly. The state of Job's mind here is altogether the same as before. He still cleaves to God and swears by His name, and still charges Him with iniquity in His treatment of himself. _vexed my soul_ lit. _embittered_, i.... [ Continue Reading ]
Job with the solemnity of an oath by God declares that he speaks in sincerity when affirming his innocence. Till he die he will not admit his guilt; his conscience reproaches him for no part of his life. Job 27:2-4 read, 2. As God liveth who hath taken away my right, And the Almighty who hath mad... [ Continue Reading ]
_all the while_ The sense is rather as given above, according to the parallel passage, 2 Samuel 1:9. The phrase "my life" in the first clause is lit. _my breath_. The words are parenthetical, and are thrown in to add weight to the affirmation of his rectitude which Job is about to make (Job 27:4); t... [ Continue Reading ]
_my lips shall not_ Rather, DO NOT. These words contain Job's oath. He swears that he is sincere and speaks truly; comp. ch. Job 6:28. The words refer to his utterances in general, especially in regard to himself, but naturally in the main, as the connexion requires, to his assertions in regard to h... [ Continue Reading ]
_should justify you_ i. e. concede that you are in the right, viz. in charging me with evil. _remove my integrity_ i. e. give up my blamelessness refrain from asserting my innocence.... [ Continue Reading ]
The second clause of Job 27:6 reads, My heart reproacheth not one of my days, or, _my heart reproaches_(_me) not since I was alive_, i. e. during all my life. Of course the words have reference to the kind of charges laid against Job by his friends (e.g. ch. Job 22:6-9), and not to the sinfulness... [ Continue Reading ]
In Job 27:2 Job protested his sincerity in affirming his innocence. With Job 27:7 commences a description of the misery of mind, and the outward destruction at the hand of God, which are the portion of the unrighteous. The "wicked" is the subject throughout to the end of the chapter; therefore in th... [ Continue Reading ]
The dreary and desolate condition of the mind of the wicked man in affliction.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse most probably means, For what is the hope of the godless man when God cutteth off, When he taketh away his soul? lit. _when He cutteth off, when God draweth out his soul_. The comfortless state of the ungodly man (A. V. hypocrite, see on ch. Job 8:13), who has no trust in God, is descri... [ Continue Reading ]
_will he delight himself_?] Or, DOTH he delight himself? The wicked man has no consolation, no resource, in the manifold conditions of life when men need higher help than their own; he has no pleasure in God nor fellowship with Him, and cannot appeal to Him. It is manifest that in these verses the... [ Continue Reading ]
The disastrous fate of the wicked man at the hand of God. Job 27:7-10 drew a contrast between the internal state of the mind of the speaker and that of the sinner; in these verses the contrast is pursued in a terrible picture of the external history and fate of the sinner at the hand of God. From J... [ Continue Reading ]
_by the hand of God_ Rather, CONCERNING the hand of God. In a brief preface Job intimates that he will instruct his friends regarding the hand of God, that is, His operation, His method of dealing with the wicked. _with the Almighty_ There is no just ground for restricting the phrase _with_the Almig... [ Continue Reading ]
_are ye thus altogether vain?_ i. e. wherefore do ye cherish and express opinions regarding me so foolish? "Two things are surprising here," says Dillmann, "first, that Job should undertake to teach the three friends what they had always affirmed; and second, that he should say the opposite of what... [ Continue Reading ]
The utter destruction of the wicked man is exhibited in three turns: his children and descendants are destined for the sword, and become the prey of famine and pestilence (Job 27:13); his wealth and possessions pass into the hands of the righteous, and his home perishes (Job 27:16); and he himself i... [ Continue Reading ]
With the sentiment of this verse compare Job's former words in regard to the wicked, "Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They spend their days in wealth," ch. Job 21:8 _s... [ Continue Reading ]
_buried in death_ "Death" is here, as often (Jeremiah 15:2; Jeremiah 18:21; Jeremiah 43:11) _pestilence_. Those that sword and famine spare (Job 27:14) become the prey of the pestilence, and their burial shall be such as those so dying receive, without funeral rites and with no accompaniment of lame... [ Continue Reading ]
The "dust" and "clay" or _mire_are images that express extreme abundance, Zechariah 9:3; 1 Kings 10:27. Great wardrobes of costly garments are a usual element of Oriental wealth, Genesis 24:53; Joshua 7:21; 2 Kings 7:8; Matthew 6:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
When the ungodly are swept away the righteous remain and enter into their possessions, and the meek inherit the earth, Psalms 37:29; Psalms 37:34.... [ Continue Reading ]
The "booth" of the "keeper" referred to is the flimsy hut erected in the vineyard or other gardens as a post for the watchman, who protects the fruit from theft or destruction by wild beasts. As described by Wetzstein (Del. _Comm. on Job_, Trans, ii. p. 74, 2nd ed. p. 348), it is built of four poles... [ Continue Reading ]
_the rich man shall lie down_ "Rich" is equivalent to "wicked," Isaiah 53:9. The words might be rendered, _he lieth down rich_. _shall not be gathered_ The parallel in the next clause, _he is not_, suggests the general sense, _he shall rise no more_. Perhaps the most probable sense is that he shall... [ Continue Reading ]
The figure of overwhelming waters is a natural one in the East and common in Scripture, Psalms 18:16; Nahum 1:8. Comp. the language of Eliphaz to Job, ch. Job 22:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
The east wind is gusty and tempestuous, ch. Job 38:24; Psalms 48:7. See Wetzstein's note in Del. _and as a storm hurleth_ Or, AND IN STORM HURLETH. With this which Job says of the sinner compare what he says of himself, ch. Job 9:17; Job 30:22, "Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ri... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall cast upon him_ i. e. shall shoot down upon him His destroying arrows, Numbers 35:20. Comp. again what Job says of himself, ch. Job 6:4; Job 16:13, "His arrows compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins _and doth not spare._... [ Continue Reading ]
_men shall clap their hands_ Clapping the hands is a token of malignant gladness, Lamentations 2:15, and "hissing" a token of scorn and dislike, Jeremiah 49:17. See ch. Job 18:18; Job 20:27. Comp. what Job says of his own treatment by men, ch. Job 17:6; Job 30:9-14.... [ Continue Reading ]