XXII. (1) THEN ANSWERED ELIPHAZ. — Eliphaz proceeds to reply in a far more exaggerated and offensive tone than he has yet adopted, accusing Job of definite and specific crimes. He begins by asserting that the judgment of God cannot be other than disinterested, that if, therefore, He rewards or puni... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HE THAT IS WISE. — It is probably an independent statement: “Surely he that is wise is profitable, &c.”... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL HE REPROVE THEE. — That is, _Because He standeth in awe of thee. Will He justify his dealings with thee? _... [ Continue Reading ]
IS NOT THY WICKEDNESS GREAT? — This was mere conjecture and surmise, arising simply from a false assumption: namely, that a just God can only punish the wicked, and that therefore those must be wicked whom He punishes.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST TAKEN A PLEDGE FROM THY BROTHER. — These specific charges, false as they were, show the depth to which Eliphaz had sunk.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AS FOR THE MIGHTY MAN. — By the “mighty and the honourable” man is probably meant Job. Some understand the words from Job 22:5 inclusive, as the words spoken by God on entering into judgment with Job (Job 22:4); but this hardly seems probable.... [ Continue Reading ]
SNARES... ABOUT THEE. — That is, _Fear troubleth thee, or darkness, &c._ “If darkness and abundance of waters cover thee so that thou canst not see, is not God in the high heavens, though thou canst not see Him. God is too great to take note of the affairs of men, their sin or their good deeds. He i... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU MARKED THE OLD WAY...? — Rather, _Dost thou keep the old way which the wicked men trod? Dost thou hold their tenets? _... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH WERE CUT DOWN OUT OF TIME. — Or, _which were snatched away before their time._ It is generally supposed that there is an allusion here to the history of the Flood; if so, the reference is of course very important in its bearing on the age of that record, since the Book of Job can hardly fail t... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH SAID UNTO GOD, DEPART FROM US. — Here again he attributes to Job the very thoughts he had ascribed to the wicked (Job 20:14).... [ Continue Reading ]
YET HE FILLED THEIR HOUSES. — The bitterness of his irony now reaches its climax in that he adopts the very formula of repudiation Job had himself used (Job 14:16).... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RIGHTEOUS SEE IT. — That is, _the destruction of the wicked, as in the days of Noah. _... [ Continue Reading ]
_(_20_)_ WHEREAS OUR SUBSTANCE... — These are probably the words of the righteous and the innocent: “Surely they that did rise up against us are cut off, and the remnant of them the fire hath consumed.” The rendering in the Authorised Version is probably less correct, though in that also these words... [ Continue Reading ]
ACQUAINT NOW THYSELF WITH HIM. — As he himself had done in Job 5, and as Zophar had done in Job 11, Eliphaz proceeds to give Job some good advice. “Thereby good shall come unto thee,” or “Thereby shall thine increase be good;” or perhaps he means that peace and rest from the obstinate questionings h... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAW FROM HIS MOUTH. — It would be highly interesting to know whether by this _law_ (Torah), the Law, the Torah, was in any way alluded to. One is naturally disposed to think that since Job seems to be the one Gentile book of the Old Testament, the one book in which the literature of Israel touch... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT PUT AWAY INIQUITY. — All this implies the imputation of apostasy and iniquity to Job.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOLD OF OPHIR. — And, moreover, that the wealth for which he was so famous among the children of the East was the accumulation of iniquity and wrong-doing. The sense probably is, “Put thy treasure on a level with the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks”: that is, reckon it... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ALMIGHTY SHALL BE THY DEFENCE. — Rather, _And the Almighty shall be thy treasure, and precious silver unto thee._ The word thus qualifying silver occurs only three other times in the Bible: Psalms 95:4, “The _strength_ of the hills”; Numbers 22:23, “the _strength_ of a unicorn.” Its original ide... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALT THOU HAVE THY DELIGHT IN THE ALMIGHTY. — Zophar had told him the same thing, that he should lift up his face _without spot_ (Job 11:15).... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT ALSO DECREE A THING. — As, for instance, in the memorable case of Abraham’s intercession for Sodom, to which there is not improbably an allusion here.... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS LIFTING UP. — This may be its meaning, but some understand it in a bad sense: “When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, It was pride that caused their fall.”... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL DELIVER THE ISLAND OF THE INNOCENT is undoubtedly an error for _He shall deliver him that is not innocent:_ that is, either God shall deliver, or the humble person, if that is the subject of the former clause; the humble-minded man would have saved them. “He would have delivered him that is... [ Continue Reading ]