CHAPTER XXI _Job expresses himself as puzzled by the dispensations of Divine_ _Providence, because of the unequal distribution of temporal_ _goods; he shows that wicked men often live long, prosper in_ _their families, in their flocks, and in all their substance,_ _and yet live in defiance of G... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:2. _LET THIS BE YOUR CONSOLATIONS._] ותהי זאת תנחומתיכם _uthehi zoth tanchumotheychem_ may be translated, "And let this be your retractations." Let what I am about to say induce you to _retract_ what you have said, and to _recall_ your false judgments. נחם nacham signifies, not only to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:4. _AS FOR ME_] האנכי _heanochi_, "Alas for me!" Is it not with a man that I speak? And, if this be the case, why should not my spirit be troubled? I do not reply against my _Maker_: I suffer much from God and man; why then may I not have the privilege of complaining to creatures like m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:5. _MARK ME, AND BE ASTONISHED_] Consider and compare the state in which I was once, with that in which I am now; and be astonished at the judgments and dispensations of God. You will then be confounded; you will put your hands upon your mouths, and keep silent. _Putting the hand on th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:6. _I AM AFRAID_] I am about to speak of the mysterious workings of Providence; and I tremble at the thought of entering into a detail on such a subject; my very flesh trembles.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:7. _WHEREFORE DO THE WICKED LIVE_] You have frequently asserted that the wicked are invariably punished in this life; and that the righteous are ever distinguished by the strongest marks of God's providential kindness; how then does it come that many wicked men live long and prosperousl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:8. _THEIR SEED IS ESTABLISHED_] They see their own _children_ grow up, and become settled in the land; and behold their _children's children_ also; so that their generations are not cut off. Even the posterity of the wicked continue.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:9. _NEITHER_ IS _THE ROD OF GOD UPON THEM._] They are not afflicted as other men.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:10. _THEIR BULL GENDERETH_] עבר _ibbar, passes over_, i.e., on the cow, referring to the actions of the bull when coupling with the female. Their flocks multiply greatly, they bring forth in time, and none of them is barren.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:11. _THEY SEND FORTH THEIR LITTLE ONES_] It is not very clear whether this refers to the _young of the flocks_ or to their _children_. The first clause may mean the former, the next clause the latter; while the _young_ of their _cattle_ are in flocks, their numerous _children_ are healt... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:12. _THEY TAKE THE TIMBREL AND HARP_] ישאו _yisu_, they _rise_ _up_ or _lift themselves up_, probably alluding to the rural exercise of dancing. תף toph, which we translate _timbrel_, means a sort of _drum_, such as the _tom-tom_ of the Asiatics. כנור kinnor may mean something of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:13. _THEY SPEND THEIR DAYS IN WEALTH_] There is a various reading here of some importance. In the text we have יבלו _yeballu,_ _they grow old_, or wear out as with old age, _terent vetustate_; and in the _margin_, יכלו yechallu, they consume; and the _Masora_ states that this is one of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:14. _THEY SAY UNTO GOD _] This is the language of their _conduct_, though not directly of their _lips_. _DEPART FROM US_] Let us alone; we do not trouble thee. Thy ways are painful; we do not like cross-bearing. Thy ways are spiritual; we wish to live after the flesh. We have learned t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:15. _WHAT_ IS _THE ALMIGHTY_] What allegiance do we owe to him? We feel no _obligation_ to _obey_ him; and what profit can we derive from _prayer_? We are as happy as flesh and blood can make us: our kingdom is of this world; we wish for no other portion than that which we have. Those... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:16. _THEIR GOOD_ IS _NOT IN THEIR HAND_] With all their boasting and self-dependence, God only _lends_ them his bounty; and though it appears to be their own, yet it is at his disposal. Some of the wicked he permits to live and die in _affluence_, provided it be acquired in the ordinary... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:17. _HOW OFT IS THE CANDLE OF THE WICKED PUT OUT?_] The _candle_ or _lamp_ is often used, both as the emblem of _prosperity_ and of _posterity_. Oftentimes the rejoicing of the wicked is short; and, not unfrequently, his _seed_ is cut off from the earth. The _root_ is dried up, and the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:18. _THEY ARE AS STUBBLE BEFORE THE WIND_] "His fan is in his hand; he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, but shall be like the _chaff_ which the wind driveth away." Were not this a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:19. _GOD LAYETH UP HIS INIQUITY FOR HIS CHILDREN_] This is according to the declaration of God, Exodus 20:5: "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." This always supposes that the _children_, who are thus visite... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:20. _HIS EYES SHALL SEE HIS DESTRUCTION_] He shall perceive its approach, and have the double punishment of _fearing_ and _feeling; feeling_ a THOUSAND deaths in _fearing_ ONE. _HE SHALL DRINK OF THE WRATH_] The cup of God's wrath, the cup of trembling, c., is frequently expressed or... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:21. _FOR WHAT PLEASURE_ HATH _HE IN HIS HOUSE AFTER HIM_] What may happen to his posterity he neither knows nor cares for, as he is now numbered with the dead, and numbered with them before he had lived out half his years. Some have translated the verse thus: "Behold how speedily God de... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:22. _SHALL_ ANY _TEACH GOD KNOWLEDGE?_] Who among the sons of men can pretend to teach GOD how to govern the world, who himself teaches _those that are high_-the heavenly inhabitants, that excel us infinitely both in knowledge and wisdom? Neither angels nor men can comprehend the reason... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:23. _ONE DIETH IN HIS FULL STRENGTH_] In this and the three following verses Job shows that the inequality of fortune, goods, health, strength, c., decides nothing either for or against persons in reference to the approbation or disapprobation of God, as these various lots are no indica... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:24. _HIS BREASTS ARE FULL OF MILK_] The word עטיניו _atinaiv_, which occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible, is most likely an _Arabic_ term, but probably so _provincial_ as to be now lost. [Arabic] _atana_ signifies to macerate hides so as to take off the hair: hence Mr. _Good_ think... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:26. _THEY SHALL LIE DOWN ALIKE IN THE DUST_] Death levels all distinctions, and the grave makes all equal. There may be a difference in the grave itself; but the human corpse is the same in all. Splendid monuments enshrine _corruption_; but the _sod_ must lie close and heavy upon the pu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:27. _I KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS_] Ye still think that, because I am grievously afflicted, I must therefore be a felonious transgressor.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:28. _FOR YE SAY_, WHERE IS _THE HOUSE OF THE PRINCE?_] In order to prove your point, ye ask, _Where is the house of the_ _tyrant and oppressor_? Are they not overthrown and destroyed? And is not this a proof that God does not permit the wicked to enjoy prosperity?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:29. _HAVE YE NOT ASKED THEM THAT GO BY THE WAY?_] This appears to be Job's answer. Consult travellers who have gone through different countries; and they will tell you that they have seen both examples - the wicked in great prosperity in some instances, while suddenly destroyed in other... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:30. _THAT THE WICKED IS RESERVED TO THE DAY OF_ _DESTRUCTION?_] Though every one can tell that he has seen the wicked in prosperity, and even spend a long life in it; yet this is no proof that God loves him, or that he shall enjoy a prosperous lot in the next world. There, he shall meet... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:31. _WHO SHALL DECLARE HIS WAY TO HIS FACE?_] But while the wicked is in power, who shall dare to tell him to his face what his true character is? or, who shall dare to repay him the evil he has done? As such a person cannot have his punishment in this life, he must have it in another;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:32. _YET SHALL HE BE BROUGHT TO THE GRAVE_] He shall die like other men; and the corruption of the grave shall prey upon him. Mr. Carlyle, in his specimens of Arabic poetry, Translations, p. 16, quotes this verse, which he translates and paraphrases, והוא לקברות יובל "He shall be brough... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:33. _THE CLODS OF THE VALLEY SHALL BE SWEET UNTO HIM_] Perhaps there is an allusion here to the Asiatic mode of interment for princes, saints, and nobles: a well-watered valley was chosen for the tomb, where a perpetual spring might be secured. This was intended to be the emblem of a _r... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 21:34. _HOW THEN COMFORT YE ME IN VAIN_] Mr. _Good_ translates: "How vainly then would ye make me retract!" See the note on Job 21:2. I cannot _retract_ any thing I have said, as I have proved by fact and testimony that your positions are false and unfounded. Your pretensions to comfort me... [ Continue Reading ]