_JOB SETS FORTH, IN A PATHETIC MANNER, THE HAPPINESS OF HIS FORMER PROSPEROUS STATE._ _Before Christ 1645._ _JOB 29:1. MOREOVER, JOB CONTINUED HIS PARABLE_— Job now goes on to finish his defence; and, in order to it, he first sets out his condition in the time of his prosperity, in the present cha... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HIS CANDLE SHINED UPON MY HEAD— See the Reflections.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS I WAS IN THE DAYS OF MY YOUTH— The word חרפי _chorpi,_ signifies the _winter,_ or rather, more precisely, the _wet season,_ such as prevails in the eastern countries. _Oh that I were as in months past,_ says Job, _as I was in the days of my winter;_ in the days of his _moist time;_ that is, _when... [ Continue Reading ]
THE YOUNG MEN SAW ME, AND HID THEMSELVES— Among the honours paid to Job in the time of his prosperity, though he was the greatest of all the men of the east, his cotemporaries, we do not find that prostration was ever used towards him, or so much as thought of. _The young men_ when they saw him, thr... [ Continue Reading ]
I WAS EYES TO THE BLIND, &C.— The writer of the _Observations_ remarks, that when Job would express his readiness to bring forward on their journey those who were enfeebled by sickness, or hurt by accident, and to guide in their way those who were blind, or ignorant of it, he says, _I was eyes to th... [ Continue Reading ]
MY BOW WAS RENEWED IN MY HAND— _Gained strength in my hand._ The word ףּתחלי _tachliph,_ rendered _renewed_ denotes all change, whether from worse to better, or the contrary. See Isaiah 40:31. Heath.... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SPEECH DROPPED UPON THEM— _My speech dropped upon them like the dew._ Houb.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WAITED FOR ME AS FOR THE RAIN— Among the Egyptians, the heavens pouring down rain or dew, was a hieroglyphic of learning and instruction. See Horapollo on Hieroglyph. l. 1. sect. 35 and Heath.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I LAUGHED ON THEM, &C.— _If I was merry with them, they could scarce contain themselves; yet dropped they not their reverence for me._ The word rendered _they could scarce contain themselves,_ signifies properly, to stand firm on the legs. The sense is, they could not refrain from bodily expressi... [ Continue Reading ]
I CHOSE OUT THEIR WAY, &C.— _But if, with them, I sought after serious things, I sat in the chief place: as a king when he cometh to comfort the mourners, so did I dwell in the midst of the company._ Houb.; who makes this and the foregoing verse correspond to each other. Heath translates it very dif... [ Continue Reading ]