INTRODUCTION TO JOB 10 Job here declares the greatness of his afflictions, which made him weary of his life, and could not help complaining; entreats the Lord not to condemn him but show him the reason of his thus dealing with him, Job 10:1; and expostulates with him about it, and suggests as if it... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SOUL IS WEARY OF MY LIFE,.... And yet nothing of a temporal blessing is more desirable than life; every man, generally speaking, is desirous of life, and of a long life too; soul and body are near and intimate companions, and are usually loath to part; but Job was weary of his life, willing to pa... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL SAY UNTO GOD, DO NOT CONDEMN ME,.... Not that he feared eternal condemnation; there is none to them that are in Christ, and believe in him as Job did; Christ's undertakings, sufferings, and death, secure his people from the condemnation of law and justice; nor, indeed, are the afflictions of... [ Continue Reading ]
[IS IT] GOOD UNTO THEE THAT THOU SHOULDEST OPPRESS?.... This God does not approve of in others; he dehorts men from it; he threatens to punish those that do so, and to be a swift witness against them; he promises to arise to the help of the oppressed, and to be a refuge for them, and therefore will... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU EYES OF FLESH?.... God has eyes, but not fleshly ones; he has eyes of love, grace, and mercy, which are always upon his people for good, and are never withdrawn from them; and he has eyes of displeasure and wrath on sinful men, to destroy them; these are not made of flesh, or like the eyes... [ Continue Reading ]
[ARE] THY DAYS AS THE DAYS OF MAN?.... No, they are not: not so few; the days of the years of man's life in common are threescore years and ten, Psalms 90:10; but a thousand years with the Lord are but as one day, 2 Peter 3:8; his days are days not of time, but of eternity: nor so mutable, or he so... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THOU ENQUIREST AFTER MINE INIQUITY, AND SEARCHEST AFTER MY SIN?] Narrowly examined every action of his life, to find something amiss in them; and took notice of every weakness and infirmity, and aggravated it, to make it appear as sinful as it could be, and watched every halting and failing, th... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU KNOWEST THAT I AM NOT WICKED,.... Or "in", or "upon thy knowledge a [it is] that I am not wicked"; it is a thing well known, quite clear, and manifest, without making such a search and inquiry: not that he thought himself without sin, and could appeal to the omniscience of God for the truth of... [ Continue Reading ]
THINE HANDS HAVE MADE ME, AND FASHIONED TOGETHER ROUND ABOUT,.... This and what follow are an illustration of and an enlargement upon, the work of God's hands, made mention of in Job 10:3; and suggest reasons why it should not be despised by him, as well as confirm what was just now said, that none... [ Continue Reading ]
REMEMBER, I BESEECH THEE, THAT THOU HAST MADE ME AS THE CLAY,.... Not of the clay, though man was made originally of the dust of the earth, and the bodies of men are houses of clay, earthen vessels, and earthly tabernacles, but "as the clay"; either as the clay is wrought in the hand of the potter,... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU NOT POURED ME OUT AS MILK,.... Expressing, in modest terms, his conception from the seed of his parents, comparable to milk, from being a liquid, and for its colour: AND CURDLED ME LIKE CHEESE? that of the female being mixed with, and heated by the male, is hardened like the curd of which... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST CLOTHED ME WITH SKIN AND FLESH,.... The bones with flesh, which is the under garment, and the flesh with skin, which is the upper; which is artificially composed of intricate little arteries, veins, nerves, and glands, through which the blood continually circulates, and through innumerable... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST GRANTED ME LIFE AND FAVOUR,.... Or "lives" q; natural life; both in the womb, where and when he was quickened, and at his birth, when he was brought into the world, and began to live in it; the rational soul may be intended, by which he lived; which, when created and infused into man, and... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THESE [THINGS] THOU HAST HID IN THINE HEART,.... Meaning, either the mercies and favours he had indulged him with; these he seemed to conceal and suppress the memory of, as if they had never been, by a different conduct and behaviour; or rather, these he had laid up in his mind and memory, and h... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I SIN, THEN THOU MARKEST ME,.... Or "observest me" t; that is, he took notice of his sins, strictly inquired into them and all the circumstances of them, watched the motions and progress of them, and carefully laid them up, in order to bring them out against him another day, and afflict or punish... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I BE WICKED, WOE IS ME,.... In this world, and to all eternity; afflictions will abide me here, and everlasting wrath hereafter: these are the woes that belong to a wicked man; that is, a profane and abandoned sinner, that lives in sin, and gives up himself to all manner of wickedness; the Targum... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IT INCREASETH,.... That is, the affliction increaseth; which is a reason why pity should be shown him, seeing his troubles instead of abating were growing upon him; he had as much, or more, than he could well bear, and yet more was added to it; so that he was an object of compassion: or, "it lif... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU RENEWEST THY WITNESSES AGAINST ME,.... Not the devils, as some, nor Job's friends, as others; but rather afflictions, which were daily renewed, and frequently repeated, new troubles coming continually one upon another; which were brought as fresh witnesses against him, which made the suit tires... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE THEN HAST THOU BROUGHT ME FORTH OUT OF THE WOMB?.... Into this world; this act is rightly ascribed by Job to the Lord, as it is by David, Psalms 22:9; which kind act of God Job complains of, and wishes it had never been, seeing his life was now so miserable and uncomfortable; here he retur... [ Continue Reading ]
I SHOULD HAVE BEEN AS THOUGH I HAD NOT BEEN,.... For though it cannot be said absolutely of such an one, an abortive or untimely birth, that it is a nonentity, or never existed; yet comparatively it is as if it never had a being; it being seen by none or very few, it having had no name, nor any conv... [ Continue Reading ]
[ARE] NOT MY DAYS FEW?.... They are so, the days of every man are but few; see Job 14:1; the remainder of Job's days were but few; considering the course of nature, and especially the sore afflictions he had on him, it could not be thought his days on earth were many; in all likelihood, according to... [ Continue Reading ]
BEFORE I GO [WHENCE] I SHALL NOT RETURN,.... Before he went out of the world, the way of all flesh, to the grave, his long home, from whence there is no return to this world, and to the business and affairs of it; to a man's house, his family and his friends, to converse with them as before, there w... [ Continue Reading ]
A LAND OF DARKNESS, AS DARKNESS [ITSELF],.... Not merely like it, but truly so; as gross thick darkness, like that of Egypt, that might be felt; even blackness of darkness, which is as dark as it possibly can be; not only dark, but darkness, extremely dark: [AND] OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH; which is re... [ Continue Reading ]