MY SOUL IS WEARY OF MY LIFE - compare the note at Job 7:16. The margin here is, Or,” cut off while I live.” The meaning in the margin is in accordance with the interpretation of Schultens. The Chaldee also renders it in a similar way: אתגזרת נפשי - my soul is cut off. But the more correct interpreta... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL SAY UNTO GOD, DO NOT CONDEMN ME - Do not hold me to be wicked - תרשׁיעני אל _'al_ _tarshı̂y‛ēnı̂y_. The sense is, “Do not simply hold me to be wicked, and treat me as such, without showing me the reasons why I am so regarded.” This was the ground of Job’s complaint, that God by mere sovereig... [ Continue Reading ]
IS IT GOOD UNTO THEE THAT THOU SHOULDEST OPPRESS - The sense of this is, that it could not be with God a matter of personal gratification to inflict pain wantonly. There must be a reason why he did it. This was clear to Job, and he was anxious, therefore, to know the reason why he was treated in thi... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU EYES OF FLESH? - Eyes like man. Dost thou look upon man with the same disposition to discern faults; the same uncharitableness and inclination to construe everything in the severest manner possible, which characterizes man? Possibly Job may have reference here to the harsh judgment of his... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE THY DAYS AS THE DAYS OF MAN - Does thy life pass on like that of man? Dost thou expect soon to die, that thou dost pursue me in this manner, searching out my sins, and afflicting me as if there were no time to lose? The idea is, that God seemed to press this matter as if he were soon to cease to... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THOU INQUIREST AFTER MINE INIQUITY - Art thou governed by hu man passions and prejudices, that thou dost thus seem to search out every little obliquity and error? Job here evidently refers to the conduct of man in strictly marking faults, and in being unwilling to forgive; and he asks whether i... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU KNOWEST THAT I AM NOT WICKED - That is, that I am not a hypocrite, or an impenitent sinner. Job did not claim perfection (see the note at Job 9:20), but he maintained through all this argument that he was not a wicked man, in the sense in which his friends regarded him as such, and for the trut... [ Continue Reading ]
THINE HANDS HAVE MADE ME - Job proceeds now to state that he had been made by God, and that he had shown great skill and pains in his formation. He argues that it would seem like caprice to take such pains, and to exercise such amazing wisdom and care in forming him, and then, on a sudden, and witho... [ Continue Reading ]
REMEMBER, I BESEECH THEE, THAT THOU HAST MADE ME AS THE CLAY - There is evident allusion here to the creation of man, and to the fact that he was moulded from the dust of the earth - a fact which would be preserved by tradition; see Genesis 2:7. The fact that God had moulded the human form as the po... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU NOT POURED ME OUT AS MILK? - The whole image in this verse and the following, is designed to fur nish an illustration of the origin and growth of the human frame. The Note of Dr. Good may be transcribed, as furnishing an illustration of what may have possibly been the meaning of Job. “The... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST CLOTHED ME WITH SKIN AND FLESH - This refers, undoubtedly, to the formation of man in his foetal existence, and is designed to denote that the whole organization of the human frame was to be traced to God. Grotius remarks that this is the order in which the infant is formed - that the skin... [ Continue Reading ]
THY VISITATION HATH PRESERVED MY SPIRIT - Thy constant care; thy watchful providence; thy superintendence. The word rendered visitation (פקדה _p__e__qûddâh_) means properly the mustering of an army, the care that is manifested in looking after those who are enlisted; and then denotes care, vigilan... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THESE THINGS HAST THOU HID IN THINE HEART - This may either refer to the arrangements by which God had made him, or to the calamities which he had brought upon him. Most expositors suppose that the latter is intended. Such is the opinion of Rosenmuller, Good, Noyes, and Scott. According to this... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I SIN - The object of this verse and the following is, evidently, to say that he was wholly perplexed. He did not know how to act. He could not understand the reason of the divine dealings, and he was wholly unable to explain them, and hence, he did not know how to act in a proper manner. It is e... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I BE WICKED, WOE UNTO ME - The meaning of this in this connection is, “I am full of perplexity and sorrow. Whether I am wicked or righteous, I find no comfort. Whatever is my character, my efforts to be happy are unavailing, and my mind is full of anguish. Woe follows if I have been guilty of sin... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IT INCREASETH - Our translators understand this as meaning that the calamities of Job, so far from becoming less, were constantly increasing, and thus augmenting his perplexity and embarrassment. But a somewhat different explanation is given to it by many interpreters. The word rendered “increas... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU RENEWEST THY WITNESSES AGAINST ME - Margin, “that is, plagues.” The Hebrew is, “thy witnesses” - עדיך _‛__ēdeykā_. So the Vulgate. The Septuagint is, “renewing against me my examination,” τὴν ἐξέτασίν μου _tēn_ _ecetasin_ _mou_. Rabbi Levi supposes that the plague of the leprosy is inten... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE THEN HAST THOU BROUGHT ME FORTH - See the notes at Job 3:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
I SHOULD HAVE BEEN CARRIED FROM THE WOMB TO THE GRAVE - See the notes at Job 3:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE NOT MY DAYS FEW? - My life is short, and hastens to a close. Let not then my afflictions be continued to the last moment of life, but let thine hand be removed, that I may enjoy some rest before I go hence, to return no more. This is an address to God, and the meaning is, that as life was necess... [ Continue Reading ]
BEFORE I GO - from where “I shall not return.” To the grave, to the land of shades, to “That undiscovered country, from whose bourne No traveler returns.” TO THE LAND OF DARKNESS - This passage is important as furnishing an illustration of what was early understood about the regions of the dead. T... [ Continue Reading ]
A LAND OF DARKNESS - The word used here (עיפה _‛__êyphâh_) is different from that rendered “darkness” השׁך _chôshek_ in the previous verse. That is the common word to denote darkness; this seldom occurs. It is derived from עוּף _‛__ûph_, to fly; and then to cover as with wings; and hence, the no... [ Continue Reading ]