CHAPTER XXIII _Job answers; apologizes for his complaining; wishes to plead_ _his cause in the presence of his Maker, from whom he knows he_ _should receive justice; but regrets that he cannot find him_, 1-9. _He, however, gives himself and his cause up to God, with the_ _conviction of his own... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:2. _EVEN TO-DAY_ IS _MY COMPLAINT BITTER_] Job goes on to maintain his own innocence, and shows that he has derived neither conviction nor consolation from the discourses of his friends. He grants that his complaint is bitter; but states that, loud as it may be, the affliction which he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:3. _O THAT I KNEW WHERE I MIGHT FIND HIM!_] This and the following verse may be read thus: "Who will give me the knowledge of God, that I may find him out? I would come to his establishment; (the place or way in which he has promised to communicate himself;) I would exhibit, in detail,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:5. _I WOULD KNOW THE WORDS_ WHICH _HE WOULD ANSWER ME_] He would speak nothing but what was true, decree nothing that was not righteous, nor utter any thing that I could not comprehend.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:6. _WILL HE PLEAD AGAINST ME_] He would not exhibit his majesty and his sovereign authority to strike me dumb, or so overawe me that I could not speak in my own vindication. _NO; BUT HE WOULD PUT STRENGTH IN ME._] On the contrary, he would treat me with tenderness, he would rectify my... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:7. _THERE THE RIGHTEOUS MIGHT DISPUTE WITH HIM_] נוכח _nochach_, might _argue_ or _plead_. To _dispute with God_ sounds very harsh. _SO SHOULD I BE DELIVERED FOR EVER_] Mr. _Good_ translates: "And triumphantly should I escape from my condemnation." The Hebrew word לנצח _lanetsach_ may... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:8. _BEHOLD, I GO FORWARD_] These two verses paint in vivid colours the distress and anxiety of a soul in search of the favour of God. No _means_ are left _untried_, no _place unexplored_, in order to find the object of his research. This is a true description of the conduct of a genuine... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:9. _ON THE LEFT HAND, WHERE HE DOTH WORK_] In these two verses Job mentions the four cardinal points of the heavens: the EAST, by the word קדם _kedem_, which signifies _before_; the WEST, by אחור _achor_, which signifies _after_, or the _back part_; the NORTH, by שמאל _semol_, which si... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:10. _BUT HE KNOWETH THE WAY THAT I TAKE_] He _approves_ of my conduct; my ways _please_ him. He tries me: but, like gold, I shall lose nothing in the fire; I shall come forth more pure and luminous. If that which is reputed to be gold is exposed to the action of a strong fire, if it be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:11. _MY FOOT HATH HELD HIS STEPS, HIS WAY HAVE I KEPT_] I have carefully marked his _providential dealings_; and in his _way _- his pure and undefiled religion - have I walked. I have not only been _generally_ but _particularly_ religious: I have attended carefully to the _weightier_ ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:12. _THE COMMANDMENT OF HIS LIPS_] The written law that proceeded from his own mouth. _I HAVE ESTEEMED THE WORDS OF HIS MOUTH_] Mr. _Good_ has given a better version of the original: _In my bosom have I stored up the_ _words of his mouth_. The Asiatics carry every thing precious or val... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:13. _BUT HE_ IS _IN ONE_ MIND] The original is והוא באחד _vehu beechad_, and is literally, _But he is in one_: properly rendered by the _Vulgate, Ipse enim solus est. But he is alone_. And not badly rendered by _Coverdale_. - _It is he himself alone_. He has no partner; his designs are... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:14. _FOR HE PERFORMETH_ THE THING THAT IS _APPOINTED FOR ME_] _Coverdale_ translates: - _He rewardeth me into my bosome, and many_ _other thinges mo doth he, as he maye by his power_. חקי chukki may as well be translated _bosom_ here as in the 12th verse; Job 23:12; but probably it may... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:15. _THEREFORE AM I TROUBLED_] I do not as yet see an end to my afflictions: he has not exhausted his means of trial; therefore, when I consider this, I am afraid of him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:16. _FOR GOD MAKETH MY HEART SOFT_] Prostrates my _strength_, deprives me of _courage_, so that I sink beneath my burden, and I am troubled at the thought of the Almighty, the self-sufficient and eternal Being.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 23:17. _BECAUSE I WAS NOT CUT OFF_] "O, why can I not draw darkness over my face? Why may not thick darkness cover my face?" Mr. _Good_. This verse should be read in connection with the preceding; and then we shall have the following sense. Ver. Job 23:16: "The Lord hath beaten down my st... [ Continue Reading ]