_ELIHU OFFERETH HIMSELF IN GOD'S STEAD TO REASON WITH JOB, IN MEEKNESS AND SINCERITY. HE EXCUSETH GOD FROM GIVING MAN AN ACCOUNT OF HIS WAYS, BY HIS GREATNESS; AND INCITETH JOB TO ATTENTION._ _Before Christ 1645._ _JOB 33:1. WHEREFORE, JOB, I PRAY THEE_— See the note on the first verse of the pre... [ Continue Reading ]
MY WORDS SHALL BE OF THE UPRIGHTNESS OF MY HEART— _My heart is integrity; my words are knowledge; my lips speak that which is pure._ Houb. who renders the second verse in the future: _I will open my mouth; my tongue shall speak eloquently._... [ Continue Reading ]
SET THY WORDS IN ORDER BEFORE ME, &C.— _Set thy arguments in array against me; stand thy ground._ This is a metaphor taken from the drawing up of an army with the purpose of giving battle.... [ Continue Reading ]
I ALSO AM FORMED OUT OF THE CLAY— Houbigant renders this passage, _I, I say, who am formed out of the same clay:_ Job 33:7. _Therefore my terror shall not,_ &c. These, and the 4th verse, seem to contain Elihu's apology for assuming the character of a mediator between Job and his friends, of presumin... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD HE FINDETH OCCASIONS AGAINST ME— The first branch of this passage, _Behold he findeth occasions against me;_ or, as Heath and others render it, _He inventeth cruelties against me,_ is not to be found in Job's speeches; and as for the other branch, which occurs, chap. Job 13:24 we have there o... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, IN THIS THOU ART NOT JUST— _Lo, this I will answer thee, thou art not perfect: therefore, let God be justified, rather than mortal man;_ Job 33:13. _Why dost thou contend against him, since he will not give account of any of his matters?_ The word צדק _tzedek,_ signifies not only _just,_ but... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD SPEAKETH ONCE, &C.— _When God hath spoken once, verily he will not repeat it._ Houb. Elihu, blaming Job for some intemperate expressions that he had used, and for the manner of his offence, which he thought liable to great exception, Job 33:9 observes, that while he pleaded his innocence so... [ Continue Reading ]
HE IS CHASTENED ALSO WITH PAIN— _Or if he is chastened with great pains on his bed, and he crieth out aloud, through great pain in his bones;_ Job 33:20. _And his life abhorreth_—ver. 21 _his flesh wasteth visibly away_—ver. 22 _and his life draweth to those that are slain._—ver. 23. _If there is ni... [ Continue Reading ]