Job 3:20-26. He Complains of Life because of His Anguish
20. Wherefore giveth he light--namely, God; often omitted reverentially ([Job 24:23]; [Ec 9:9]). Light, that is, life. The joyful light ill suits the mourners. The grave is most in unison with their feelings.
23. whose way is hid--The picture of Job is drawn from a wanderer who has lost his way, and who is hedged in, so as to have no exit of escape ([Ho 2:6]; [La 3:7], ).
24. my sighing cometh before I eat--that is, prevents my eating [Umbreit]; or, conscious that the effort to eat brought on the disease, Job must sigh before eating [Rosenmuller]; or, sighing takes the place of good ([Psa 42:3]) [Good]. But the first explanation accords best with the text.
my roarings are poured out like the waters--an image from the rushing sound of water streaming.
25. the thing which I ... feared is come upon me--In the beginning of his trials, when he heard of the loss of one blessing, he feared the loss of another; and when he heard of the loss of that, he feared the loss of a third.
that which I was afraid of is come unto me--namely, the ill opinion of his friends, as though he were a hypocrite on account of his trials.
26. I was not in safety ... yet trouble came--referring, not to his former state, but to the beginning of his troubles. From that time I had no rest, there was no intermission of sorrows. "And" (not, "yet") a fresh trouble is coming, namely, my friends' suspicion of my being a hypocrite. This gives the starting-point to the whole ensuing controversy.
Chapter 4
Job 4:1-21. First Speech of Eliphaz
1. Eliphaz--the mildest of Job's three accusers. The greatness of Job's calamities, his complaints against God, and the opinion that calamities are proofs of guilt, led the three to doubt Job's integrity.
2. If we assay to commune--Rather, two questions, "May we attempt a word with thee? Wilt thou be grieved at it?" Even pious friends often count that only a touch which we feel as a wound.
3. weak hands--[Is 35:3]; [2Sa 4:1].
5. thou art troubled--rather, "unhinged," hast lost thy self-command ([1Th 3:3]).
6. Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, &c.--Does thy fear, thy confidence, come to nothing? Does it come only to this, that thou faintest now? Rather, by transposition, "Is not thy fear (of God) thy hope? and the uprightness of thy ways thy confidence? If so, bethink thee, who ever perished being innocent?" [Umbreit]. But [Lu 13:2], shows that, though there is a retributive divine government even in this life, yet we cannot judge by the mere outward appearance. "One event is outwardly to the righteous and to the wicked" ([Ec 9:2]); but yet we must take it on trust, that God deals righteously even now ([Psa 37:25]; [Is 33:16]). Judge not by a part, but by the whole of a godly man's life, and by his end, even here ([Jas 5:11]). The one and the same outward event is altogether a different thing in its inward bearings on the godly and on the ungodly even here. Even prosperity, much more calamity, is a punishment to the wicked ([Pr 1:32]). Trials are chastisements for their good (to the righteous) ([Psa 119:67], 71, 75). See Preface on the Design of this book (see Introduction).
8. they that plough iniquity ... reap the same--([Pr 22:8]; [Ho 8:7]; ; [Ga 6:7], ).
9. breath of his nostrils--God's anger; a figure from the fiery winds of the East ([Job 1:16]; [Is 5:25]; [Psa 18:8], ).
10-11. lion--that is, wicked men, upon whom Eliphaz wished to show that calamities come in spite of their various resources, just as destruction comes on the lion in spite of his strength ([Psa 58:6]; [2Ti 4:17]). Five different Hebrew terms here occur for "lion." The raging of the lion (the tearer), and the roaring of the bellowing lion and the teeth of the young lions, not whelps, but grown up enough to hunt for prey. The strong lion, the whelps of the lioness (not the stout lion, as in English Version) [Barnes and Umbreit]. The various phases of wickedness are expressed by this variety of terms: obliquely, Job, his wife, and children, may be hinted at by the lion, lioness, and whelps. The one verb, "are broken," does not suit both subjects; therefore, supply "the roaring of the bellowing lion is silenced." The strong lion dies of want at last, and the whelps, torn from the mother, are scattered, and the race becomes extinct.
12. a thing--Hebrew, a "word." Eliphaz confirms his view by a divine declaration which was secretly and unexpectedly imparted to him.
a little--literally, "a whisper"; implying the still silence around, and that more was conveyed than articulate words could utter ([Job 26:14]; [2Co 12:4]).
13. In thoughts from the visions of the night--[So Winer]. While revolving night visions previously made to him ([Da 2:29]). Rather, "In my manifold (Hebrew, divided) thoughts, before the visions of the night commenced"; therefore not a delusive dream ([Psa 4:4]) [Umbreit].
deep sleep--([Ge 2:21]; 15:12).
16. It stood still--At first the apparition glides before Eliphaz, then stands still, but with that shadowy indistinctness of form which creates such an impression of awe; a gentle murmur: not (English Version): there was silence; for in [1Ki 19:12], the voice, as opposed to the previous storm, denotes a gentle, still murmur.
17. mortal man ... a man--Two Hebrew words for "man" are used; the first implying his feebleness; the second his strength. Whether feeble or strong, man is not righteous before God.
more just than God ... more pure than his maker--But this would be self-evident without an oracle.
18. folly--Imperfection is to be attributed to the angels, in comparison with Him. The holiness of some of them had given way ([2Pe 2:4]), and at best is but the holiness of a creature. Folly is the want of moral consideration [Umbreit].
19. houses of clay--([2Co 5:1]). Houses made of sun-dried clay bricks are common in the East; they are easily washed away ([Mt 7:27]). Man's foundation is this dust ([Ge 3:19]).
before the moth--rather, "as before the moth," which devours a garment ([Job 13:28]; [Psa 39:11]; [Is 50:9]). Man, who cannot, in a physical point of view, stand before the very moth, surely cannot, in a moral, stand before God.
20. from morning to evening--unceasingly; or, better, between the morning and evening of one short day (so [Ex 18:14]; [Is 38:12]).
They are destroyed--better, "they would be destroyed," if God withdrew His loving protection. Therefore man must not think to be holy before God, but to draw holiness and all things else from God ([Job 4:17]).
21. their excellency--([Psa 39:11]; ; [1Co 13:8]). But Umbreit, by an Oriental image from a bow, useless because unstrung: "Their nerve, or string would be torn away." Michaelis, better in accordance with [Job 4:19], makes the allusion be to the cords of a tabernacle taken down ([Is 33:20]).
they die, even without wisdom--rather, "They would perish, yet not according to wisdom," but according to arbitrary choice, if God were not infinitely wise and holy. The design of the spirit is to show that the continued existence of weak man proves the inconceivable wisdom and holiness of God, which alone save man from ruin [Umbreit]. Bengel shows from Scripture that God's holiness (Hebrew, kadosh) comprehends all His excellencies and attributes. De Wette loses the scope, in explaining it, of the shortness of man's life, contrasted with the angels "before they have attained to wisdom."
Chapter 5
Job 5:1-27. Eliphaz' Conclusion from the Vision
1. if there be any, &c.--Rather, "will He (God) reply to thee?" Job, after the revelation just given, cannot be so presumptuous as to think God or any of the holy ones ([Da 4:17], "angels") round His throne, will vouchsafe a reply (a judicial expression) to his rebellious complaint.
2. wrath ... envy--fretful and passionate complaints, such as Eliphaz charged Job with ([Job 4:5]; so [Pr 14:30]). Not, the wrath of God killeth the foolish, and His envy, &c.
3. the foolish--the wicked. I have seen the sinner spread his "root" wide in prosperity, yet circumstances "suddenly" occurred which gave occasion for his once prosperous dwelling being "cursed" as desolate ([Psa 37:35], ; [Jr 17:8]).
4. His children ... crushed in the gate--A judicial formula. The gate was the place of judgment and of other public proceedings ([Psa 127:5]; [Pr 22:22]; [Ge 23:10]; [De 21:19]). Such propylæa have been found in the Assyrian remains. Eliphaz obliquely alludes to the calamity which cut off Job's children.
5. even out of the thorns--Even when part of the grain remains hanging on the thorn bushes (or, "is growing among thorns," [Mt 13:7]), the hungry gleaner does not grudge the trouble of even taking it away, so clean swept away is the harvest of the wicked.
the robber--as the Sabeans, who robbed Job. Rather, translate "the thirsty," as the antithesis in the parallelism, "the hungry," proves.
6. Although--rather, "for truly" [Umbreit].
affliction cometh not forth of the dust--like a weed, of its own accord. Eliphaz hints that the cause of it lay with Job himself.
7. Yet--rather, "Truly," or, But affliction does not come from chance, but is the appointment of God for sin; that is, the original birth-sin of man. Eliphaz passes from the particular sin and consequent suffering of Job to the universal sin and suffering of mankind. Troubles spring from man's common sin by as necessary a law of natural consequences as sparks (Hebrew, "sons of coal") fly upward. Troubles are many and fiery, as sparks ([1Pe 4:12]; [Is 43:2]). Umbreit for "sparks" has "birds of prey;" literally, "sons of lightning," not so well.
8. Therefore (as affliction is ordered by God, on account of sin), "I would" have you to "seek unto God" ([Is 8:19]; [Am 5:8]; [Jr 5:24]).
11. Connected with [Job 5:9]. His "unsearchable" dealings are with a view to raise the humble and abase the proud ([Lu 1:52]). Therefore Job ought to turn humbly to Him.