CHAPTER XXIV _Job asserts that there are various transgressors whose_ _wickedness is not visited on them in this life; and_ _particularizes the adjust and oppressive_, 1-6; _those who are cruel to the poor_, 7-13; _the murderer_, 14; _the adulterer_, 15; _thieves and plunderers_, 16, 17. _Ne... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:2. SOME _REMOVE THE LANDMARKS_] Stones or posts were originally set up to ascertain the bounds of particular estates: and this was necessary in open countries, before _hedges_ and _fences_ were formed. Wicked and covetous men often removed the landmarks or _termini_, and set them _in_ o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:4. _THEY TURN THE NEEDY OUT OF THE WAY_] They will not permit them to go by the accustomed paths; they oblige them to take circuitous routes. When the Marquis of H. was made ranger of Richmond Park, he thought it his duty to shut up a pathway which had existed for a long time; and thos... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:5. _RISING BETIMES FOR A PREY_] The general sense here seems plain enough. There are some who live a lawless roaming life: make a predatory life their employment; for this purpose, frequent the wilderness, where they seize on and appropriate whatsoever they find, and by this method they... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:6. _THEY REAP EVERY ONE HIS CORN IN THE FIELD_] This is perfectly characteristic. These wandering hordes often make sudden irruptions, and carry off the harvest of grain, olives, vines, c., and plunge with it into the wilderness, where none can follow them. The _Chaldee_ gives the same... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:7. _THEY CAUSE THE NAKED TO LODGE WITHOUT CLOTHING_] Or rather, _They spend the night naked, without clothing; and without_ _a covering from the cold_: another characteristic of the wandering Arabs. They are _ill-fed, ill-clothed_. and often miserable off, even for _tents_. They can hav... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:8. _THEY ARE WET WITH THE SHOWERS OF THE MOUNTAINS_] Mr. _Good_ thinks that _torrents_, not _showers_, is the proper translation of the original זרם _zerem_; but I think _showers of the_ _mountain_ strictly proper. I have seen many of these in mountainous countries, where the tails of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:9. _THEY PLUCK THE FATHERLESS FROM THE BREAST_] They forcibly take young children in order that they may bring them up in a state of _slavery_. This verse is the commencement of a new paragraph, and points out the arbitrary dealings of oppressors, under despotic governors. _TAKE A PLED... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:10. _THEY CAUSE_ HIM _TO GO NAKED_] These cruel, hard-hearted oppressors seize the _cloth_ made for the _family wear_, or the _wool_ and _flax_ out of which such _clothes_ should be made. _AND THEY TAKE AWAY THE SHEAF_] Seize the _grain_ as soon as it is reaped, that they may pay thems... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:11. _MAKE OIL WITHIN THEIR WALLS_] Thus stripped of all that on which they depended for _clothing_ and _food_, they are obliged to become _vassals_ to their lord, labour in the fields on scanty fare, or _tread their wine-presses_, from the produce of which they are not permitted to quen... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:12. _MEN GROAN FROM OUT OF THE CITY_] This is a new paragraph. After having shown the oppressions carried on in the _country_, he takes a view of those carried on in the _town_. Here the miseries are too numerous to be detailed. The _poor_ in such places are often in the most wretched... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:13. _THEY - REBEL AGAINST THE LIGHT_] Speaking of wicked men. They rebel against the light of God in their consciences, and his light in his word. They are tyrants _in grain_, and care neither for God nor the poor. _They know not the ways thereof _- they will not learn their duty to God... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:14. _THE MURDERER RISING WITH THE LIGHT_] Perhaps the words should be read as Mr. _Good_ has done: - With the daylight ariseth the murderer; Poor and needy, he sheddeth blood. This description is suitable to a _highwayman_; one who robs in daylight, and who has been _impelled_ by _po... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:15. _THE EYE ALSO OF THE ADULTERER_] This is another sin particularly of the city. The _adulterer_ has made his _assignation_; he has _marked the house_ of her into whose good graces he has _insinuated himself_, called _digging through the house_; he _waits_ impatiently _for the dusk_;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:16. _IN THE DARK THEY DIG THROUGH HOUSES_] Thieves in Bengal very frequently dig through the _mud wall_ and under the _clay floors_ of houses, and, entering unperceived, plunder them while the inhabitants are asleep. Mr. _Good's_ version of this paragraph I shall lay before the reader:... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:18. _HE_ IS _SWIFT AS THE WATERS_] Literally, _Light is he on_ _the face of the waters: and cursed shall be their portion on the_ _earth_, which Mr. _Good_ translates: - Miserable is this man on the waters: Deeply miserable the lot of those on dry land. _HE BEHOLDETH NOT THE WAY OF T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:19. _DROUGHT AND HEAT CONSUME THE SNOW-WATERS_] The public cisterns or large tanks which had been filled with water by the melting of the snow on the mountains, and which water was stored for the irrigation of their lands, had been entirely exhausted by the intensity of the heat, and th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:20. _THE WOMB SHALL FORGET HIM_] The mother that bare him shall have no affection for him, nor be afflicted at his death. But the word רחם _rechem_ signifies _compassion, mercy_. _Mercy_ _shall be unmindful of him_. How dreadful such a state! When mercy itself forgets the sinner, his pe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:21. _HE EVIL ENTREATETH THE BARREN_] I believe the original word ולה should be translated _he feedeth_, and so the _Vulgate_ understood the word: _Pavit enim sterilem_. He has been kind to the barren woman; but he has done no good to the widow. He has shown no mercy to _large families_;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:22. _HE DRAWETH ALSO THE MIGHTY_] _Calmet_ gives the following version of the original: "He draws with him guards for his defense; he raises himself up, and does not feel assured of his life." In the midst even of his guards he is afraid; and dares not put confidence in any person. This... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:23. THOUGH _IT BE GIVEN HIM_ TO BE _IN SAFETY_] The _Vulgate_ gives this verse a singular turn: _Dedit ei Deus locum_ _paenitentiae, et ille abutitur eo in superbiam_, "God gave him space for repentance, but he has abused it through pride." This is by no means conformable to the origina... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:24. _THEY ARE EXALTED FOR A LITTLE WHILE_] Such tyrants are exalted for a time, for God putteth down one and raiseth up another; but he turns his hand against them, and they are gone. They are removed by his justice as all of the same character have been and shall be; time and judgment... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 24:25. _AND IF_ IT BE _NOT_ SO _NOW_] Job has proved by examples that the righteous are often oppressed; that the wicked often triumph over the just, that the impious are always wretched even in the midst of their greatest prosperity; and he defies his friends to show one flaw in his argum... [ Continue Reading ]