_ZOPHAR REPROVES JOB FOR JUSTIFYING HIMSELF: HE DECLARES GOD'S WISDOM TO BE UNSEARCHABLE; BUT THAT IT WOULD BE WELL WITH JOB, IF HE WOULD REPENT._ _Before Christ 1645._ _JOB 11:1. THEN ANSWERED ZOPHAR_— Zophar, highly provoked that Job should dare to call in question a maxim so universally assente... [ Continue Reading ]
SHOULD NOT THE MULTITUDE OF WORDS BE ANSWERED?— The three friends of Job, though they all agree in persecuting him, yet differ somewhat in their character. The speeches of Eliphaz appear artful and insinuating; those of Bildad, grave and mild; of Zophar, fierce and violent: the two former had observ... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST SAID, MY DOCTRINE IS PURE— The Hebrew signifies _my way of life, my morals,_ or _conduct._ Mr. Chappelow rightly observes, that this phrase is the same as is made use of by St. Paul, Acts 26:4. Η'βιωσις μου, _my way of life._... [ Continue Reading ]
OPEN HIS LIPS AGAINST THEE— The purpose of this wish is, that Job might be openly convicted of that wickedness of which they all concluded he must have been guilty, to draw down the wrath of God upon him to such an extraordinary degree.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT HE WOULD SHEW THEE THE SECRETS OF WISDOM— _That he would even tell thee to thy face the secrets of thy craftiness; for they are double to thy real worth. Know, therefore, that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity._ Heath. It is plain that the thing to be discovered was the wickedness o... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU BY SEARCHING FIND OUT GOD?— _Canst thou penetrate into the secrets or depths of God? Canst thou fathom the immensity of the Almighty?_ Houbigant and Heath.... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS AS HIGH AS HEAVEN— The universe was divided by the ancient Hebrews into the upper and the lower, the visible and invisible hemisphere; the one they call שׁמים _shamaiim,_ or _heaven;_ the other שׁאול _sheol,_ which we have no English word to express: these two are opposed to each other in Scri... [ Continue Reading ]
IF HE CUT OFF, AND SHUT UP— _If, by a change of things, he shall confine this man to his house, or grant that man to appear in public, who shall hinder him?_ I have expressed the matter rather paraphrastically for the sake of greater perspicuity. Zophar hints that Job himself had experienced a chang... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR VAIN MAN WOULD BE WISE— _A man who hath understanding will become wise; but he who is as the wild ass hath no prudence._ So Houbigant translates the verse; and he adds, that Zophar here means to say, that a man of a good disposition, if he sins at any time, will become wiser from thence; while,... [ Continue Reading ]
THINE AGE SHALL BE CLEARER THAN THE NOON-DAY— _Thy continuance in this life shall be as the noon-day; thy darkness_ or _thy present obscurity itself as the morning light._ Houbigant and Schultens.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU SHALT BE SECURE, BECAUSE THERE IS HOPE— _Thou shalt also be confident, because hope shall be with thee: thou shalt dig securely; thou shalt have a quiet habitation. Thou shalt dig securely_ alludes to the custom of the eastern people, who pitched their tents near wells for the conveniency o... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EYES OF THE WICKED SHALL FAIL— i.e. "Their hope shall be deferred and utterly disappointed." The latter clause נפשׁ מפח ותקותם מנהם אבד ומנוס _umanos abad minnehem, vethikvatham mappach napesh,_ is literally, _flight perisheth from them, and their hope, the expiation of life._ There is the utmos... [ Continue Reading ]