Job 8

Ver. 2. How long wilt thou speak these things?]

This is the first time of Bildad’s speaking. There is something peculiar in the manner of his address, which is sudden, passionate, and without preface. Chappelow.

—a strong wind?]

Boisterous and violent, swelling and furious, opposing all persons and things that stand in thy way. Poole. The meaning of the verse is, Why dost thou persist to talk in this manner, and with such vehemence expostulate with God? Bp. Patrick.

Job 8:4

4. If thy children have sinned against him,] Though ’tis true thy children are destroyed, yet thou art still in a capacity to receive mercy, if thou seekest to God for it, and desistest from those causeless and unthankful complaints. Clark.

Job 8:8

8—13. For enquire, I pray thee, &c.]

This natural and beautiful comparison appears plainly, by the way of introducing it, to have been a proverbial saying delivered down from their forefathers, and perhaps taught them from their cradles, “Enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, &c.” Have not they then transmitted to thee this wise lesson? that as the rush cannot grow up without mire, nor the flag without water, so neither can any thing flourish or prosper long without the blessing of Almighty God: and how shall the ungodly or hypo-

Job 8:11

11. Can the rush grow up without mire?] The word rendered “rush,” is probably the papyrus, which, having been anciently manufactured for the purpose of writing on, has given name to our paper. It grows in marshy grounds; formerly in great plenty in the canals of the Nile, where it is now scarce; but, according to Bruce, it abounds in the waters of Abyssinia. Script. illustr. Expos. Ind. Lucan describes the papyrus by the epithet “bibulus,” drinking, soaking, thirsty: which corresponds with great exactness to the nature of the plant, and to its Hebrew name, derived from its remarkably supping up the water in which it grows, according to this passage in Job. It is the same plant of which Moses’ ark was made, Exod. ii. 3. The “flag,” next spoken of, appears to be a sort of reed, described by Hasselquist as growing near the Nile. Parkhurst.

Job 8:12

12. — it withereth before any other herb.] These marsh vegetables required a great deal of water: when they were not supplied with their usual moisture, they perished sooner than any other plants. What a just image is this of transient prosperity! Scott.

Job 8:13

13. So are the paths of all that forget God; &c.] We may observe, that they who forget God shall quickly wither, how great and flourishing soever they are. Caryl. Though this be true, yet it was wrong in its application to Job. Bp. Wilson.

Job 8:14

14. Whose hope shall be cut off, &c.] A proverbial expression. The same occurs Isaiah lix. 5, “they weave the spider’s web.” Grotius. — a spider’s web.] Wrought indeed with great labour, but so thin, that the texture of it is easily broken and dissolved. See Isai. lix. 5. In the Koran, Infidels, that is, those who do not believe in Mahomet, but particularly Christians, are compared to a spider, which prepareth a house; but verily, it is there said, “a spider’s house is the weakest of all houses, did they, the Infidels, but know or consider it.” Chappelow.

Job 8:15

15. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand.] He may fancy his family to be so great and potent that it will support him; but it shall fall as well as himself: he may endeavour to keep it up by strong alliances, but to no purpose. Bp. Patrick.

Job 8:16

16—18. He is green before the sun, &c.] The hypocrite was first compared to a rush, secondly to a spider’s web, but now to a goodly tree. This third similitude grants the hypocrite the best of his condition, and puts him in the fairest posture that can be imagined, and yet all proves nought: his root is but rottenness, and his blossom shall go up as the dust, or his branches shall be cut down, and his root stubbed up. Caryl.

Job 8:17

17. His roots are wrapped about the heap.] The heap of stones; this denotes his thriving against all opposition: heaps of stones are hindrances to the growing of a tree, to the rooting of it; therefore we set or plant trees in places free from stones: but to shew that he may even overcome, conquer, and subdue those difficulties which hinder his growth, it is here said, that his roots are wrapped about the stones: he grows in places of greatest disadvantage. Or the words may signify the firmness and the seeming strength of his standing. He is rooted, not in some loose and sandy earth, or in tougher clay, but his roots are wrapped about a heap of stones. Caryl. — about the heap.] Or, “about a spring,” so our translators render the original word in Cant. iv. 12. It seems to allude to a plant, throwing out suckers by the water side. “The place of stones” is, in the original, “the house of stones,” which is a Hebrew idiom for strong ground. “Seeing the place of stones” is an animated phrase for growing in a strong soil. Scott. — and seeth the place of stones.] That is, he lives, abides, converses or dwells even where there seems to be the least probability of his stay; he stayeth in the place of stones. Caryl.

Job 8:18

18. If he destroy him &c.] That is, if God shall put forth His hand, and touch him, he shall be forgotten. Bp. Wilson. Mr. Heath justly refers this action to the sun, mentioned ver. 16. The plant endureth the sun, so long as the spring, that nourisheth its roots, continueth to flow; but when that is dried by the increasing heat, his parching beams destroy the plant. Scott. — it shall deny him.] His place shall deny him. Rosenmüller. This is a strong manner of expressing utter abolition. The figure is a bold personification. Scott. Compare Ps. cii. 16.

Job 8:19

19. How long wilt thou not depart from me,] Must I endure fatigue and trouble to such an excess as to hope for no intermission? Shall my spirits be quite spent and exhausted without being allowed time to take my breath? Chappelow.

—nor let me alone, till I swallow down my spittle?]

This is now a proverbial expression among the Arabs, and signifies the same as “give me time to breathe.” Dr. Durell.

19. Behold, this is the joy of his way.] This is that firm and secure happiness which he promised to himself in this life. Bildad, with keen irony, calls the destruction of the hypocrite “the joy of his way.” Capellus. — others grow.] Other plants shall succeed to his place: that is, his estate shall pass into another family. Scott.

Job 8:20

20. I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee,] Job having in the former part of this chapter contested with his friends, and expostulated the matter with God, now turns himself to another posture, even to humble his soul, and make confession of his sin. He had justified himself against the accusations of men, but now he accuses and judges himself in the presence of God. Caryl.

—why hast thou set me as a mark against thee,] A mark to intercept Thy arrows upon my breast, so that I know not what to do, I am so burdensome to myself. Hence we may remark, that what presses and burdens the soul above all, is the apprehension that God is against us. Caryl.

20, 21. Behold, God will not cast away &c.] The meaning is, If you are what you pretend to be, God will certainly restore you to your former happy state. Bp. Wilson. The whole passage may be connected thus: God will not befriend the hypocrite, but will rather destroy him, and not desist till he has granted to thee such Job sheweth there is no contending with God. Before CHRIST about 1520. shouting for joy. not be.

Job 8:21

21. And why dost thou not pardon my transgression,] Why dost Thou not remove the punishment of my transgression? if Thou dost not come speedily to help me, it will be too late. Clark.

—for now shall I sleep in the dust;] For now I am dying; and when that event is past, if Thou wouldest make farther use of me, for the manifesting of Thy power and my patience, I shall not be at all. Bp. Hall.

In this chapter we are reminded of the vanity and shortness of human life, and of the numerous miseries to which man is here exposed. This truth Job teaches us, when he says, “that there is a time appointed to man upon earth,” ver. 1; and when he sets before us his own example, and the greatness of his sufferings. If such is our condition in this world, and Job, a man so holy and so acceptable to God, was treated thus, we ought not to set our hearts too much upon things here below, nor be surprised if God exposes us to divers

VOL. I.

21. — thy mouth] This sudden turn of the style to the second person is spirited, and catches the attention by surprise. See Bishop Lowth’s note on Deut. xxxii. 5. “The mouth being filled with laughter,” denotes that smile of joy which is spread over the countenance in some happy change of condition, Psal. cxxvi. 2. Scott. It is perfectly true, as Bildad here observes, that God is just and wise in all His dispensations; that He is gracious to those who diligently seek Him; and that the wicked always feel the effects of His wrath. Still it is not to be believed that the righteous are never

afflicted: and though Bildad’s observations be generally true, yet he was hasty and rash in concluding that

Job was not acceptable to God, because he was in adversity. God often exposes good men to very great evils, in order to try them, and to make them examples to others; though after all, according to the remark of Bildad, “He will not cast away a perfect man.” Osterwald. Chap. IX, X. The unkind speech of Bildad, the obvious charges of irreligion and hypocrisy, and the taunting irony with which it concludes, overpowered the patience of Job, and in his reply betray him into

inconsistencies; at one time he acknowledges the Divine justice, and his own submission to its decrees; at

another he seems to arraign it, and complains rather

impatiently of his sufferings, as greater than he deserved, and wishes for a publick trial before God with

his calumniators, to clear his innocence before his speedy death. Dr. Hales. Chap. IX. ver. 2. I know it is so of a truth:] Job alludes here to the oracle urged against him by Eliphas, chap. iv. 17, which he thinks totally irrelevant to the present question. I never thought, he says, of charging God with injustice. I was well aware that no injustice

could attach to Him. And how could man be just before his Maker? Who denies that the Deity possesses

the right of inflicting, if it please Him, severe sufferings on frail and corrupt man? But does it follow from hence, that I am wicked, or a crafty pretender to piety? Rosenmüller.