XXVI. (1) THEN ANSWERED JOB. — Job himself has virtually said much the same as Bildad (Job 9:2; Job 14:4), so he makes no further comment on his remarks here, but merely asks how he has helped him thereby, or others like him in a weak and helpless condition.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THING AS IT IS? — Rather, _How hast thou plentifully declared sound knowledge? _... [ Continue Reading ]
_(_4_)_ TO WHOM. — That is, “Is it not to one who had said the same thing himself? Was it not my own breath, my own teaching, that came forth from you?” He then proceeds to show that it is not only the starry heavens that declare the glory of God, but the under world likewise, and the universe gener... [ Continue Reading ]
DEAD THINGS ARE FORMED. — The Hebrew word is _the Rephaim,_ who were among the aboriginal inhabitants of the south of Palestine and the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, and it is used to express the dead and the inhabitants of the nether world generally. The word rendered _are formed_ probably means e... [ Continue Reading ]
HE STRETCHETH OUT THE NORTH OVER THE EMPTY PLACE, AND HANGETH THE EARTH UPON NOTHING. — If these words mean what they seem to do — and it is hard to see how they can mean anything else — then they furnish a very remarkable instance of anticipation of the discoveries of science. Here we find Job, mor... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BINDETH UP THE WATERS. — The idea of the waters being bound up in the clouds, so that the clouds are not rent thereby, is similar to that in Genesis 1:7. The conception is that of a vast treasury of water above the visible sky, which is kept there in apparent defiance of what we know as the laws... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HOLDETH BACK THE FACE. — Or, _covereth the face of his throne in the heavens, spreading his rack of cloud upon it. _... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH COMPASSED THE WATERS WITH BOUNDS. — Rather, _He hath described a circle upon the face of the waters, unto the confines of light and darkness._ The phenomenon described is that of the horizon at sea, which is a perfect circle, and which is the limit apparently of light, and beyond which is da... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PILLARS of HEAVEN TREMBLE. — The phenomenon of storm and tempest is alluded to.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DIVIDETH THE SEA. — The word is taken in the two opposite senses of _stirring up_ and _calming;_ perhaps the latter is more appropriate to the context, which seems to speak of God’s _mastery_ over nature. BY HIS UNDERSTANDING HE SMITETH THROUGH THE PROUD. — Literally, _Rahab,_ which certainly is... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CROOKED SERPENT. — By this expression is doubtless meant the forked lightning-flash, though it is difficult to determine whether any, or what mythological ideas may underlie the expression, or whether it is anything more than a figure derived from the natural world, which suggested the similitud... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE ARE PARTS. — Literally, _ends_ — just the merest outskirts. For “is heard” we may render _do we hear;_ and for “the thunder of His power,” _the thunder of His mighty deeds._ We can only hear the faintest whisper of His glory, and cannot understand or endure the full-toned thunder of His majest... [ Continue Reading ]