AFTER THIS - Dr. Good renders this, “at length.” It means after the long silence of his friends, and after he saw that there was no prospect of relief or of consolation. OPENED JOB HIS MOUTH - The usual formula in Hebrew to denote thc commencement of a speech; see Matthew 5:2. Schultens contends tha... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JOB SPAKE - Margin, as in Hebrew, “answered.” The Hebrew word used here ענה _‛__ânâh_ “to answer,” is often employed when one commences a discourse, even though no question had preceded. It is somewhat in the sense of replying to a subject, or of speaking in a case where a question might appro... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE DAY PERISH - “Perish the day! O that there had never been such a day! Let it be blotted from the memory of man! There is something singularly bold, sublime, and “wild” in this exclamation. It is a burst of feeling where there had been long restraint, and where now it breaks forth in the most... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THAT DAY BE DARKNESS - Let it not be day; or, O, that it had not been day, that the sun had not risen, and that it had been night. LET NOT GOD REGARD IT FROM ABOVE - The word rendered here “regard” דרשׁ _dârash_ means properly to seek or inquire after, to ask for or demand. Dr. Good renders it... [ Continue Reading ]
LET DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH - The Hebrew word צלמות _tsalmâveth_ is exceedingly musical and poetical. It is derived from צל _tsêl_, “a shadow,” and מות _mâveth_, “death;” and is used to denote the deepest darkness; see the notes at Isaiah 9:2. It occurs frequently in the sacred Scripture... [ Continue Reading ]
As for “that night.” Job, having cursed the day, proceeds to utter a malediction on the “night” also; see Job 3:3. This malediction extends to Job 3:9. LET DARKNESS SEIZE UPON IT - Hebrew, Let it take it. Let deep and horrid darkness seize it as its own. Let no star arise upon it; let it be unbroken... [ Continue Reading ]
LO, LET THAT NIGHT BE SOLITARY - Dr. Good, “O! that night! Let it be a barren rock!” Noyes, “O let that night be unfruitful!” Herder, “Let that night be set apart by itself.” The Hebrew word used here גלמוּד _galmûd_ means properly “hard;” then sterile, barren, as of a hard and rocky soil. It does... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM CURSE IT WHO CURSE THE DAY - This entire verse is exceedingly difficult, and many different expositions have been given of it. It seems evident that it refers to some well-known class of persons, who were accustomed to utter imprecations, and were supposed to have the power to render a day... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE STARS OF THE TWILIGHT THEREOF BE DARK - That is, be extinguished, so that it shall be total darkness - darkness not even relieved by a single star. The word here rendered “twilight” נשׁף _nesheph_ means properly a breathing; and hence, the evening, when cooling breezes “blow,” or gently brea... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE IT SHUT NOT UP ... - That is, because the accursed day and night did not do it. Aben Ezra supposes that God is meant here, and that the complaint of Job is that he did not close his mother’s womb. But the more natural interpretation is to refer it to the Νυχθήμεροι _Nuchthēmeroi_ - the nig... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY DIED I NOT FROM THE WOMB? - Why did I not die as soon as I was born? Why were any pains taken to keep me alive? The suggestion of this question leads Job in the following verses into the beautiful description, of what he would have been if he had then died. He complains, therefore, that any pain... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY DID THE KNEES PREVENT ME? - That is, the lap of the nurse or of the mother, probably the latter. The sense is, that if he had not been delicately and tenderly nursed, he would have died at once. He came helpless into the world, and but for the attention of others he would have soon died. Jahn su... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR NOW SHOULD I HAVE LAIN STILL - In this verse Job uses four expressions to describe the state in which be would have been if he had been so happy as to have died when an infant. It is evidently a very pleasant subject to him, and he puts it in a great variety of form. He uses thc words which expr... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH KINGS - Reposing as they do. This is the language of calm meditation on what would have been the consequence if he had died when he was an infant. He seems to delight to dwell on it. He contrasts it with his present situation. He pauses on the thought that that would have been an honorable repo... [ Continue Reading ]
OR WITH PRINCES THAT HAD GOLD - That is, he would have been united with the rich and the great. Is there not here too also a slight evidence of the fondness for wealth, which might have been one of the errors of this good man? Would it not seem that such was his estimate of the importance of being e... [ Continue Reading ]
OR AS AN HIDDEN UNTIMELY BIRTH - As an abortion which is hid, or concealed; that is, which is soon removed from the sight. So the Psalmist, Psalms 58:8 : As a snail which melteth, let thom dissolve; As the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun. Septuagint ἔκτρωμα _ektrōma_,... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE THE WICKED CEASE - from “troubling.” In the grave - where kings and princes and infants lie. This verse is often applied to heaven, and the language is such as will express the condition of that blessed world. But as used by Job it had no such reference. It relates only to the grave. It is lan... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE THE PRISONERS REST TOGETHER - Herder translates this, “There the prisoners rejoice in their freedom.” The Septuagint strangely enough, “There they of old (ὁ αἰώνιοι _hoi_ _aiōnioi_) assembled together (ὁμοθυμαδόν _homothumadon_) have not heard the voice of the exactor.” The Hebrew word ש... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SMALL AND THE GREAT ARE THERE - The old and the young, the high and the low. Death levels all. It shows no respect to age; it spares none because they are vigorous, young, or beautiful. This sentiment has probably been expressed in various forms in all languages, for all people are made deeply s... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE IS LIGHT GIVEN TO HIM THAT IS IN MISERY? - The word “light” here is used undoubtedly to denote “life.” This verse commences a new part of Job’s complaint. It is that God keeps people alive who would prefer to die; that he furnishes them with the means of sustaining existence, and actually... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH LONG FOR DEATH - Whose pain and anguish are so great that they would regard it as a privilege to die. Much as people dread death, and much as they have occasion to dread what is beyond, yet there is no doubt that this often occurs. Pain becomes so intense, and suffering is so protracted, that... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH REJOICE EXCEEDINGLY - Hebrew “Who rejoice upon joy or exultation” (אל־גיל _'el_-_gı̂yl_), that is, with exceedingly great joy. WHEN THEY CAN FIND THE GRAVE - What an expression! How strikingly does it express the intense desire to die, and the depth of a man’s sorrow, when it becomes a matter... [ Continue Reading ]
Why is light given “to a man uhose way is hid?” That is, who does not know what way to take, and who sees no escape from the misery that surrounds him. WHOM GOD HATH HEDGED IN - See Notes, Job 1:10. The meaning here is, that God had surrounded him as with a high wall or hedge, so that he could not m... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR MY SIGHING COMETH BEFORE I EAT - Margin, “My meat.” Dr. Good renders this,” Behold! my sighing takes the place of my daily food, and refers to Psalms 42:3, as an illustration: My tears are my meat day and night. So substantially Schultens renders it, and explains it as meaning, “My sighing com... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE THING WHICH I GREATLY FEARED - Margin, As in the Hebrew “I feared a fear, and it came upon me.” This verse, with the following, has received a considerable variety of exposition. Many have understood it as referring to his whole course of life, and suppose that Job meant to say that he was a... [ Continue Reading ]
I WAS NOT IN SAFETY - That is, I have, or I had no peace. שׁלה _shâlâh_ Septuagint, οὔτε εἰρήνευσα _oute_ _eirēneusa_ - “I had no peace.” The sense is, that his mind had been disturbed with fearful alarms; or perhaps that at that time he was filled with dread. NEITHER HAD I REST - Trouble co... [ Continue Reading ]