2. Power and terror, that is, terror-inspiring power.
peace in his high places--implying that His power is such on high as to quell all opposition, not merely there, but on earth also. The Holy Ghost here shadowed forth Gospel truths ([Col 1:20]; [Ep 1:10]).
3. armies--angels and stars ([Is 40:26]; [Jr 33:22]; [Ge 15:5]; "countless," [Da 7:10]).
his light--([Jas 1:17]).
4. ([Job 4:17], ; ; ).
5. "Look up even unto the moon" ([Job 15:15]). "Stars" here answer to "saints" (angels) there; "the moon" here to "the heavens" there. Even the "stars," the most dazzling object to man's eye, and the angels, of which the stars are emblems ([Job 4:18]; [Re 9:1]), are imperfect in His sight. Theirs is the light and purity but of creatures; His of the Creator.
6. (Job 4:19-21; 15:).
worm ... worm--Two distinct Hebrew words. The first, a worm bred in putridity; alluding to man's corruption. The second a crawling worm; implying that man is weak and grovelling.
Chapter 26
THIRD SERIES.
Job 26:1-14. Job's Reply
2-3. without power ... no strength ... no wisdom--The negatives are used instead of the positives, powerlessness, &c., designedly (so [Is 31:8]; [De 32:21]). Granting I am, as you say ([Job 18:17]; ), powerlessness itself, &c. "How hast thou helped such a one?"
savest--supportest.
4. For whose instruction were thy words meant? If for me I know the subject (God's omnipotence) better than my instructor; [Job 26:5-14] is a sample of Job's knowledge of it.
whose spirit--not that of God ([Job 32:8]); nay, rather, the borrowed sentiment of Eliphaz (Job 4:17-19; 15:).
5-14. As before in the ninth and twelfth chapters, Job had shown himself not inferior to the friends' inability to describe God's greatness, so now he describes it as manifested in hell (the world of the dead), [Job 26:5], ; on earth, [Job 26:7]; in the sky, [Job 26:8-11]; the sea, [Job 26:12]; the heavens, [Job 26:13].
Dead things are formed--Rather, "The souls of the dead (Rephaim) tremble." Not only does God's power exist, as Bildad says ([Job 25:2]), "in high places" (heaven), but reaches to the region of the dead. Rephaim here, and in [Pr 21:16] and [Is 14:9], is from a Hebrew root, meaning "to be weak," hence "deceased"; in [Ge 14:5] it is applied to the Canaanite giants; perhaps in derision, to express their weakness, in spite of their gigantic size, as compared with Jehovah [Umbreit]; or, as the imagination of the living magnifies apparitions, the term originally was applied to ghosts, and then to giants in general [Magee].
from under--Umbreit joins this with the previous word "tremble from beneath" (so [Is 14:9]). But the Masoretic text joins it to "under the waters." Thus the place of the dead will be represented as "under the waters" ([Psa 18:4], ); and the waters as under the earth ([Psa 24:2]). Magee well translates thus: "The souls of the dead tremble; (the places) under the waters, and their inhabitants." Thus the Masoretic connection is retained; and at the same time the parallel clauses are evenly balanced. "The inhabitants of the places under the waters" are those in Gehenna, the lower of the two parts into which Sheol, according to the Jews, is divided; they answer to "destruction," that is, the place of the wicked in [Job 26:6], as "Rephaim" ([Job 26:5]) to "Hell" (Sheol) ([Job 26:6]). "Sheol" comes from a Hebrew root--"ask," because it is insatiable ([Pr 27:20]); or "ask as a loan to be returned," implying Sheol is but a temporary abode, previous to the resurrection; so for English Version "formed," the Septuagint and Chaldee translate; shall be born, or born again, implying the dead are to be given back from Sheol and born again into a new state [Magee].
Chapter 27
[Job 27:1-23].
It was now Zophar's turn to speak. But as he and the other two were silent, virtually admitting defeat, after a pause Job proceeds.
1. parable--applied in the East to a figurative sententious embodiment of wisdom in poetic form, a gnome ([Psa 49:4]).
continued--proceeded to put forth; implying elevation of discourse.
2. ([1Sa 20:3]).
taken away ... judgment--words unconsciously foreshadowing Jesus Christ ([Is 53:8]; [Ac 8:33]). God will not give Job his right, by declaring his innocence.
vexed--Hebrew, "made bitter" ([Ru 1:20]).
3. Implying Job's knowledge of the fact that the living soul was breathed into man by God ([Ge 2:7]). "All the while." But Maurer, "As yet all my breath is in me" (notwithstanding my trials): the reason why I can speak so boldly.
4. ([Job 6:28], ). The "deceit" would be if he were to admit guilt against the witness of his conscience.
5. justify you--approve of your views.
mine integrity--which you deny, on account of my misfortunes.
6. Rather, my "heart" (conscience) reproaches "not one of my days," that is, I do not repent of any of my days since I came into existence [Maurer].
7. Let ... be--Let mine enemy be accounted as wicked, that is, He who opposes my asseveration of innocence must be regarded as actuated by criminal hostility. Not a curse on his enemies.
8. "What hope hath the hypocrite, notwithstanding all his gains, when?" &c. "Gained" is antithetic to "taketh away." Umbreit's translation is an unmeaning tautology. "When God cuts off, when He taketh away his life."
taketh away--literally, "draws out" the soul from the body, which is, as it were, its scabbard ([Job 4:21]; [Psa 104:29]; [Da 7:15]). Job says that he admits what Bildad said ([Job 8:13]) and Zophar ([Job 20:5]). But he says the very fact of his still calling upon God ([Job 27:10]) amid all his trials, which a hypocrite would not dare to do, shows he is no "hypocrite."
9. ([Psa 66:18]).
10. Alluding to [Job 22:26].
always call--He may do so in times of prosperity in order to be thought religious. But he will not, as I do, call on God in calamities verging on death. Therefore I cannot be a "hypocrite" ([Job 19:25]; ; [Psa 62:8]).
11-23. These words are contrary to Job's previous sentiments (see on [Job 21:22-33]; [Job 24:22-25]). Job 21:22-33; 24:). They therefore seem to be Job's statement, not so much of his own sentiments, as of what Zophar would have said had he spoken when his turn came (end of the twenty-sixth chapter). So Job stated the friends' opinion ([Job 21:17-21; 24]:). The objection is, why, if so, does not Job answer Zophar's opinion, as stated by himself? The fact is, it is probable that Job tacitly, by giving, in the twenty-eighth chapter, only a general answer, implies, that in spite of the wicked often dying, as he said, in prosperity, he does not mean to deny that the wicked are in the main dealt with according to right, and that God herein vindicates His moral government even here. Job therefore states Zophar's argument more strongly than Zophar would have done. But by comparing [Job 27:13] with [Job 20:29] ("portion," "heritage"), it will be seen, it is Zophar's argument, rather than his own, that Job states. Granting it to be true, implies Job, you ought not to use it as an argument to criminate me. For ([Job 28:1-28]) the ways of divine wisdom in afflicting the godly are inscrutable: all that is sure to man is, the fear of the Lord is wisdom ([Job 28:28]).
by the hand--rather, concerning the hand of God, namely, what God does in governing men.
with the Almighty--the counsel or principle which regulates God's dealings.
Chapter 28
Job 28:1-28. Job's Speech Continued
In the twenty-seventh chapter Job had tacitly admitted that the statement of the friends was often true, that God vindicated His justice by punishing the wicked here; but still the affliction of the godly remained unexplained. Man has, by skill, brought the precious metals from their concealment. But the Divine Wisdom, which governs human affairs, he cannot similarly discover ([Job 28:12], &c.). However, the image from the same metals ([Job 23:10]) implies Job has made some way towards solving the riddle of his life; namely, that affliction is to him as the refining fire is to gold.
1. vein--a mine, from which it goes forth, Hebrew, "is dug."
place for gold--a place where gold may be found, which men refine. Not as English Version, "A place--where," (Mal 3:3). Contrasted with gold found in the bed and sand of rivers, which does not need refining; as the gold dug from a mine does. Golden ornaments have been found in Egypt, of the times of Joseph.