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well-wisher. In all these particulars, and to this extent, Eliphaz, the oldest of Job's friends and their leader, here at the beginning of the third act of the colloquy exhibits progress for the better in his way of thinking-a progress, moreover, to which Job himself contributes by the skill with which he vindicates himself, and the moral superiority of his spirit. On the other hand, however, it must be said that he is guilty of misunderstanding and of misrepresenting in a one-sided manner Job's doubts resulting from the disproportion between human desert and happiness (vers. 13, 14), and so perverts them, as though Job had advanced frivolous epicurean conceptions of the Deity, and thus denied a special Providence, leaving the destinies of men on earth to be ruled over by accident. In close connection with this gross misconception of Job's opinions, and serving to explain it, is the re-affirmation which he makes in the First Divi- | sion through the medium of a downright syllogism (vers. 2-5) of grievous crime on the part of Job as the ground of his sufferings, proceeding so far even as to name particular sins of which he arbitrarily assumes him to be guilty, and pushing his charges to the most outrageous excess (vers. 6-9). In both these respects we see an advance on the part of the speaker in an evil direction, an increasing bitterness, a constant stubborn refusal to entertain the truth. We accordingly find in this discourse in one direction certainly an apparent preparation for a peaceful solution and harmonious reconcilia-proached him with doing), nor that his sins tion of the conflict; but in another direction, and that the very one which is important and decisive, it simply contributes to the heightening of the conflict, and by inciting Job to bitterness, makes it more and more impossible for the sorely tried sufferer to enter upon a truly calm and convincing exhibition of the goodness of his cause, and thus points with a necessity which ever becomes more and more imperative, to the final intervention of a higher Arbiter as the only way of unraveling the entangled coil of the controversy.

2. In consequence of this advance both in a good and an evil direction, this new discourse of Eliphaz bears in a much higher degree than his two former ones the character of a peculiar double-sidedness, and self-contradiction in its expressions. Considered in itself it is "the purest truth, expressed in the most striking and beautiful form; but as an answer to the speech of Job the dogma of the friends itself is destroyed in it, by the false conclusion by which it is obliged to justify itself to itself" (Delitzsch). In one respect its expressions breathe the spirit of a genuine prophet, of a divinely enlightened teacher of wisdom of the patriarchal age. But in another respect, in that, namely, which concerns the sharply malicious tendency which they reveal against Job, they seem like the sayings of a false prophet, and even of a passionate accuser and spiteful suspecter of suffering innocence. They have a double sound to them, like the expressions of one who is at once a Moses and a Balaam. "According to their general substance these speeches are genuine diamonds; according to their special application they are false ones" (Delitzsch).-Eliphaz gives utterance

to the purest and most elevated conceptions of God, and His infinitely wise and righteous dealings. At the very beginning of the first division he describes His blessed all-sufficiency; at the beginning of the second His heaven-high exaltation, His majesty comparable to the unchangeable brilliancy of the stars; and in the third division he sets forth with incomparable and truly impressive power His fatherly gentleness and compassion, which willingly hears the prayer of the penitent sinner. And what he affirms in respect to the inexorable rigor with which the justice of the same God inflicts punishment, as it was manifested in judgment upon the sinners of the primeval world, upon the ungodly antediluvians (vers. 15-18), even that produces an impression all the more deep and forcible in that it has for its setting those splendid descriptions radiating forth their mild brilliancy. Yet after all that inviting description of the divine all-sufficiency is used in the service of a low, external and vulgar theory of retribution, which is deduced from it by an audacious sophism, and an unexampled logical leap (see on ver. 5). After all that admonitory reference to the majestic movement of God as the All-seeing Ruler of the universe, and the inexorable Avenger of the wicked, shoots wide of the mark in so far as it is aimed at Job, for it was neither true that Job had denied the special Providence and Omniscience of God (as Eliphaz in vers. 13, 14, by a crafty process of deduction, rewere of such a character that they could even approximately be compared with those of the insolent blasphemers and deniers of God in Noah's time. Finally, the beautiful words of promise in the closing division, with their reference to God's goodness as Father, and with their counsel to seek the love of this God as the most precious of all treasures (vers. 24, 25), are wanting in all true power of consolation for Job, and lose entirely their apparent value in consequence of that which precedes them. For if Job is to seek God as his heavenly treasure, it is presupposed that hitherto he has loved earthly treasures more than was right, nay, that he has been guilty of the sins and transgressions of grasping tyrants, as was intimated in the first division (vers. 6-9). And if Job had really sinned so wantonly, and subscribed to the atheistic sentiments of the generation that was destroyed by the deluge, then all advice to repent and return to the Heavenly Father would be for him practically useless; at least from the stand-point of Eliphaz, characterized as it was by the pride of legal virtue, such an exhortation, together with the promise of good which accompanied it, could scarcely have been uttered sincerely. [Should we not, however, make allowance for the perplexing dilemma in which the friends found themselves placed? Was there not a constant strife between the deductions of their logic and the instincts of their affection? Is it strange that the rigor of the former should be continually qualified by the tenderness of the latter? And does not our poet skillfully avail himself of this inconsistency to relieve what would otherwise be the intolerable harshness of their position?-E.]

hand, and not a God afar off (Jer. xxiii. 23 seq), for no part of creation is nearer to God than any other.-WOHLFARTH: "God is too exalted to trouble himself about the affairs of men:" thus do many still think, and walk accordingly in the path of unbelief, sin and destruction. Only the Tempter can persuade them to this. Just because God is the most exalted Being, nothing is hidden from Him; and He knows even our most secret actions, our most hidden wishes, our most silent sufferings (Jer. xxiii. 23 seq.; Ps. cxxxix. 1 seq.; Matt. vi. 8; 1 John

3. This two-fold character appertaining to only by a certain force impressed on those things the utterances of Eliphaz, it is evident, increases which are nearest to Himself, and gradually largely the difficulty of the homiletic expounder transmitted from them;-an error which Scripof this chapter, especially if he would not sim-ture refutes when it says that God is a God at ply seize upon and bring forth single pearls or gems, but consider the beautiful glittering jewel as a whole. For in order to a correct appreciation, and a truly fruitful application of the contents of the discourse, which is not wanting in richness, it is indispensable to avoid as much as possible any mutilation of so well-connected a whole, and to note everywhere not only what is true, but also what is false and one-sided in the utterances of the speaker. The Moses and the Balaam sides of the prophet must be exhibited together. Any other treatment, any one-sided favorable representation of the speaker's cha-iii. 20, etc.). racter would contradict the evident purpose of the poet, which is from the beginning to the end of this discourse to present truth and error blended and amalgamated together. This is especially indicated by the circumstance that Eliphaz at the close of the discourse appears wholly in the character of a pseudo-prophet, of the order of Balaam, and is compelled unwillingly to prophesy the issue of the controversy, and that too as one that is decidedly unfavorable to him and his associates. "He who now, considering himself as 'P, preaches penitence to Job, shall at last stand forth, and will be one of the first who need Job's intercession as the servant of God, and whom he is able mediatorially to rescue by the purity of his hands" (Delitzsch-comp. above on vers. 29, 30).

Ver. 17 seq. STARKE: As it is the wish and longing of the godly, that God would draw nigh to them, so, on the contrary, the burden of the song of the ungodly is: "Depart from us!" They would gladly leave to God His heaven, if He would only leave to them their earthly pleasure.God oftentimes seeks to allure the wicked to repentance by multiplying their earthly possessions; if, however, He does not succeed in this, it results only in their heavier condemnation. When they think that they are most firmly established, God suddenly casts them down, and brings them to nought (Ps. lxxiii. 19). Ver. 19. WOHLFARTH: May the Christian also rejoice in the destruction of sinners? Eliphaz, in accordance with the way of thinking in his time, speaks of the pleasure of the righteous when sinners are seized by the hand of the Lord. Christ wept in sight of Jerusalem over its bardened inhabitants, and said: "How often," etc. (Matt. xxiii. 37; Luke xix. 42 seq.). . . When, BRENTIUS: This is indeed a most therefore, the Lord blesses the righteous, rejoice, beautiful exhortation to repentance which Eli-O Christian! but do not mock at the sinner, but phaz here delivers; but what is it to Job? Eli- save him when thou canst do it (James v. 19, phaz therefore sins in this direction, because 20),-when not, mourn for him as thy brother, that by these words he falsely charges Job with whose fate demands pity. iniquity and impiety, and this with no other reason for so doing than that he sees him to be afflicted. . . . Everything is well said, but carnally understood. For carnal wisdom thinks that in this life blessing attends the godly in temporal affairs, but a curse the ungodly; whereas truth teaches that in this life, to the godly, the blessing accompanies the curse, life death, salvation damnation; while, on the contrary, to the ungodly, the curse accompanies the blessing, death life, damnation salvation.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.

Ver. 2 seq.

Ver. 6 seq. STARKE (after the Tübingen Bible and Zeyss): To withhold a pledge which has been received, and to oppress the poor, are heinous sins, which cry out to heaven (Ex. xxii. 26 seq.). To sin against the widows, the orphans, the poor, the needy, etc., infallibly brings down severe punishment from God, as One who has His eye specially on those, Sir. xxxv. 18 seq.

Ver. 12 seq. CoCCEIUS: It is an old error that God dwells in the highest summit of heaven, and touches those things which are lower

Vers. 23-25. STARKE: What sin tears down, God's grace builds up again. Having this, you are rich enough! The world's treasure and comfort are silver and gold, empty and perishable things; but the children of God's only, highest, and best portion is God Himself (Ps. lxxiii. 25 seq.).-V. GERLACH: If thou dost cling with the heart to God, thou canst throw away thy gold, or lose it without concern; the Almighty still remains thy perennial treasure; whereas, on the contrary, without Him the most laborious cares and watchings avail nothing.

Ver. 27. V. GERLACH: The paying of the vows, which is elsewhere presented more as a duty, appears here as a promise: God will ever grant thee so much, that thou shalt be able to fulfill all thy vows!

Ver. 30. Jo. LANGE: The intercession of s righteous man is so potent with God, that on account of it He spares even evil-doers, and visits them not with punishment (Gen. xviii. 23 seq.; Ezek. xiv. 14 seq.).

B.-Job: Seeing that God withdraws Himself from him, and that moreover His allotment of men's destinies on earth is in many ways most unequal, the incomprehensibleness of His ways may hence be inferred, as well as the short sightedness and one-sidedness of the external theory of retribution held by the friends.

CHAP. XXIII-XXIV.

1. The wish for a judicial decision of God in his favor is repeated, but is repressed by the thought that God intentionally withdraws from him, in order that He may not be obliged to vindicate him in this life.

1

2

Then Job answered, and said:

CHAP. XXIII.

Even to-day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. 3 O that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat!

4 I would order my cause before Him,

and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would know the words which He would answer me,

and understand what He would say unto me.

6 Will He plead against me with His great power? No; but He would put strength in me.

7 There the righteous might dispute with Him;

so should I be delivered forever from my judge.

8 Behold I go forward, but He is not there;

and backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

9 on the left hand where He doth work, but I cannot behold Him; He hideth Himself on the right hand that I cannot see Him.

10 But He knoweth the way that I take:

when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

11 My foot hath held His steps,

His way have I kept, and not declined.

12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips;

I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

13 But He is in one mind, and who can turn Him?

and what His soul desireth, even that He doeth.

14 For He performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with Him.

15 Therefore am I troubled at His presence:

when I consider, I am afraid of Him.

16 For God maketh my heart soft,

and the Almighty troubleth me.

17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness,

neither hath He covered the darkness from my face.

2. The darkness and unsearchableness of God's ways to be recognized in many other instances of

1

an unequal distribution of earthly prosperity, as well as in Job's case.

CHAP. XXIV.

Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty,

do they that know Him not see His days?

2 Some remove the landmarks;

they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.
3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless,
they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

4 They turn the needy out of the way;
the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert,

go they forth to their work, rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children. 6 They reap every one his corn in the field:

and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; 11 which make oil within their walls,

and tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst.

12 Men groan from out of the city,

and the soul of the wounded crieth out:

yet God layeth not folly to them.

13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof,

nor abide in the paths thereof.

14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy,

and in the night is as a thief.

15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me :

and disguiseth his face.

16 In the dark they dig through houses,

which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

17 For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: If one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death

18 He is swift as the waters;

their portion is cursed in the earth:

he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters:

so doth the grave those which have sinned.

20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him ;

he shall be no more remembered;

and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not:

and doeth not good to the widow.

22 He draweth also the mighty. with his power:

he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone

and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all others,

and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. 25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL.

Job here recurs first of all to the wish which he

זי

I

hand lies heavy on my groaning: i. e.,
am driven to the continuous outbreak of my
groaning, I must all the time force forth groans
it back; Hirzel). Since this rendering yields a
(not: my hand thrusts down my groaning, forces
meaning that is entirely suitable, and suffers
from no particular difficulty as to the language,
it is unnecessary either with the Targ. [E. V.],
to understand T of "the hand of God which
strikes me" (the suffix '- sensu obj.) or (with
the LXX. and Pesh.) [Merx] to read T. (Ac-
cording to E. V., Ges., Ber., Noyes, Schlottm.,
Ren., Rod., y is comparative:
"the hand upon
me is heavier than my groaning," which gives
a suitable meaning, at least if we take in
the sense of bitterness. The objection to it is,
however, as stated by Delitzsch, that "77)

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1. Instead of replying directly to the injurious accusations of Eliphaz in ch. xxii. 6 sq.; has already uttered several times (especially in chs. ix. and xiii.), that God Himself might manifest Himself as Umpire and as Witness of his innocence, and so end authoritatively the controversy which in each successive stage was becoming more and more involved. This wish is, however, immediately repressed by the thought that God purposely keeps Himself removed from him, in order to make him drink the cup of his sufferings to the dregs (ch. xxiii.). And in connection with the mournful fact that his state is so cheerless and so full of suffering, and furnishes living proof that God withholds the exercise of His retributive justice, he arrays forthwith (in the second and longer division of his is an established phrase, and commonly discourse, ch. xxiv.), numerous facts of a simi- used of the burden of the hand upon any one, lar character, which may be observed in the Ps. xxxii. 4 (comp. ch. xxxiii. 7; and the consphere of human life in general. In particular nection with, 1 Sam. v. 6, and D, 1 Sam. he sets forth many examples of the prosperity of the wicked, continuing to extreme old age, or v. 11").-E.]. It remains to be said that the even to the end of life. He dwells with evident clause defining the time, DD, "even tosatisfaction on his description of these examples, day," belongs to both halves of the verse, and in order in this way to establish and illustrate for the same reason it expresses the more genemost fully the incomprehensibleness of the di- ral sense, "even now, even always," (comp. ch. vine ways. The whole discourse, apart from iii. 24). The supposition that the colloquy had the two principal divisions, which coincide with lasted several days, and that in particular the the customary division by chapters, is divided present third course of the same had begun one into smaller strophes of four verses each (in one day later than the one preceding is scarcely adcase of five) in accordance with the strophe- missible on the strength of their expression, divisions of Ewald, as well as of Stickel and De- which is certainly not to be pressed too far, litzsch, which in the present case are entirely (against Ewald, 2d Ed., and Dillmann). in harmony.

2. First Division. Repetition of the wish, heretofore uttered, that God might appear to rescue and to vindicate him, together with a self-suggested objection, and an expression of doubt whether the wish would be realized: ch. xxiii.

Ver. 3. Oh that I but knew how to find Him.-The Perf. ' with the following Imperf. consec. (YON) expresses the principal notion contained in Job's wish: utinam scirem (locum ejus), et invenirem eum = utinam possim inFirst Strophe: Vers. 2-5. Even to-day my venire eum! Comp. the similar construction in complaint is still bitter.-Both the authority chap. xxxii. 22; also Gesen., 142, (8139), 3, c. of the Ancient Versions, such as the Targ., The rendering of Dillmann: "Oh that I, having Pesh., Vulg. [E. V.], and also the comparison known (where He is to be found), might find with former passages, such as ch. vii. 11; x. 1, Him," (in accordance with Ewald, 357 b) gives favor the view that signifies "bitterness," essentially the same sense.- in the second and is thus synonymous with, the possibility member means by itself, a frame, stand, setting of which is shown by the cognate radical rela-up" here specifically, "seat, throne," i. e., the tion of the verbs and 7, which occa-judgment seat of God, as the sequel shows. sionally interchange forms; comp. Delitzsch on Ver. 4. In regard to the passage. If we take the word however in its ordinary signification of "frowardness, perverseness," we get a suitable meaning: "my complaint is still ever froward" (ever bids defiance, maintains its opposition), i. e., against such exhortations to penitence as those of Eliphaz (or in opposition to God, as Hahn, Olshausen, etc., explain). On the other hand we can make no use of the reading of the LXX.: K T xeipós pov (7), nor yet of Ewald's conjecture by reason of His hand is my complaint" [so Copt. and Merx].-My

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,מִיָּדוֹ derived from it

y, causam instruere, comp. ch. xiii. 18; in regard to ninain (lit. "objections, reproofs ") in the specific sense of "legal arguments, grounds of justification," see Ps. xxxviii. 15 [14]; also above ch. xiii. 3. the possibility of such a protective interposition Second Strophe: Vers. 6-9. The doubt as to of God, begins again to appear. This (ver. 6) tion on the crushing effect which God's majesty takes first of all the form of a shrinking reflecand infinite fulness of power might easily exert upon him; a thought which has already emerged twice before (ch. ix. 34; xiii. 21), and which in

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