Job 12
PATIn this chapter Job taxes all his three friends with too great a conceit of their own wisdom, which had not; as yet, taught them common humanity to the miserable. And lets them understand, that he needs not come to them to learn, but might rather teach them the falseness of that proposition, wherewith Zopliar had concluded his speech, concerning the infelicity of the wicked. For the contrary, he tells them, was obvious to sense, ver. 7, 8, &c. And as for what Zophar had discoursed of the wisdom and power of God, he would have them know, that he was as well skilled in those points as the best of them, and understood as much of the history of ancient times; particularly of the vain attempt at the tower of Babel, unto which it is probable’hc hath respect in the fourteenth verse; as, in all the following, he seems to have to what you read in Gen. xiv. 5—8. of the rooting out of those fierce giants the Rcphaim, and other such-like barbarous and rapacious people; of the particulars of which we have now no records remaining. came.]‘0 i%act\tpog avTov. Drusius thinks the true reading is, of i£aSc<poi avTov, from tho authority, I presume, of the Vulgate, which has venerunt Achior et Nabath consobrini Tobice. Grotius’s conjecture seems preferable, 6 Kal Na<rj3oc, i. e. he who was called also Nasbas; for it was not unusual for a person to have two names, especially ia a time of captivity. It is certain that Achiacharus was iSaSeA^oc avrov, Tobit’s brother’s son, t\ e< his brother Anacl’s son, i. 21. and it appears from the singular number here being used, that only one person is spoken of. Junius is of the same opinion, as the margin acquaints us. Vcr. 19. And Tobias s wedding tvas kept seven days with ^reatjoy.] It is improperly here called yafxog, which was celebrated at Raguel’s house fourteen days, (viii. 19.) This rather refers to the to iwavXta, or, as the Latins term it, repolia, an entertainment made at the bride’s return, or bringing home. It is no wonder that the wedding was kept with uncommon joy, considering the advantage arising to Tobias by marrying such an heiress, and the many concurring agreeable circumstances which fell out at this time — as, his son’s safe return, his receiving the ten talents by him, and, which was of greater consequence, and more acceptable to him, the recovery of his sight at his age, after being deprived of it eight years, (xiv. 2.) As weddings were attended with extraordinary demonstrations of joy> the Hebrew word, which signifies a wedding, is sometimes rendered by the LXX. Sox*?, a banquet, (Gen. xxvi. 30. Esth. i.3. v. 4.8. 12. 14.) sometimes a feast, and once x a P<*» joy itself. (Esth. ix.17.) And in the gospel the partaking of the marriage-feast, or supper, is called entering into the joy of the Lord. The wedding-house was called Bethtiillala, the house of praise, and the marriage-song, Hillalim, praises. And so Pgal. lxxviii. 63. the words, Tlteir maidens were not given to marriage, nrc by the Chaldee paraphrase rendered, are not celebrated with epithalamiums, and by Aquila, ov\ vixvrfinvav. Vcr. 3. JO OR he hath brought tne again to thee in safety, and made whole my wife, and brought me the money, and likewise healed thee.] The Vulgate reckons up seven good offices which Raphael brought to pass: — 1; Carrying Tobias into Media, and reconducting him safely. 2. Providing him with a good and virtuous wife. 3. Chasing away the evil spirit Asinodcus, and preventing his hurting Tobias. 4; Occasioning great joy to the parents on both sides. 5. Delivering Tobias from the jaws of the great voracious fish. G. Restoring sight to Tobit. 7. Instructing Tobias by wise counsels, and enriching him with tilings spiritual. The extraordinary care which the angel Raphael took of the person under his guidance and direction, is generally understood as a figure of the invisible care which the angels take 6f good men, and as a pattern of the zeal and diligence wherewith the ministers of God ought to watch over the souls committed to their charge. CHAP..XII.] THE BOOK OF TOBIT. nected. It is observable that the Vulgate, Syriac, and Minister’s version omit it in that place. Do that which is good, and no evil shall touch you.’] The sentiment is somewhat like that of St. Paul, We know that all things ivork together for good to them that love t God. (Rom. viii. 28.) To the same purpose the wise son of Sirach, There shall no evil happen to him that feaxeth the Lord. (Ecclus.xxxiii.l.) Tully comes near these writers, when he says, " \unquam viro bono quicquam mali evenirc potest, nee vivo, nee mortuo; nee unqnam ejus res a Diis immortalibus negliguntur." Quia non es cimctatus derelinquere prandium tuum, abiisti, et condidisti mortuum, missus sum tentare te. The Vulgate renders in like manner, or rather more fully, Quando mortuos abscondebas per diem in domo tua, et node sepeliebas eos, ego obtuli orationem tuam Domino; et quia acceptus eras Deo, necessefuit tit probatio tentaret te. Munster reads yet more explicitly, Because qfyour good deeds in burying the dead, therefore God has tried you by this blindness, for so God chooses to prove his faithful servants. The Syriac version is to the same purpose. What makes this interpretation the more probablo is, that after the mention of Tobit’s great zeal in burying the dead, (ii. 7, 8.) immediately follows the account of his blindness, as if by the infliction of it a farther proof was required from him of his faith and patience under afflictions. And it should seem from the context, that his blindness was not by mere accident, but by God’s order and appointment, and perhaps through the ministry, and by the hand of this very angel. This interpretation, at least, has some countenance from the beginning of the next verse. thulia arc guilty, and will suffer as such for their wicked intention." Judith’s design, without doubt, was to impose upon Holofernes, as is plain from ix. 10. 13. and her story was framed to agree with what Achior had before told him, that if the Hebrews had or should sin against their God, he might easily overcomo them: she now shews there was such a sin in their hearts, and soon would be actually committed by them, as would stir up tho anger of their God, the moment they should commit it, and the execution waited only the return of the messengers with the licence, instantly expected, and they would then immediately be given up to destruction, and even Jerusalem itself and all Judea, as the sin would hereby become general, be a prey and spoil unto him. But, to give a shorter answer to this difficulty, may not Judith be supposed to speak here as of a fact already done, to shew her assurance of the certainty of it, and to gain the greater credit with Holofernes? or by a Hebraism the preterit be put for the future, instances of which are not unfrcquent? THE BOOK OF JUDITH. sumption, that a part of most kinds, by way of first-fruits, had been eonsecrated to idols, the rest being by such’firstfraits deemed polluted, as dedicated to them. From the plaees above eited it appears, that the Jews forbore all meats and drinks that eame from the gentiles, in like manner as the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, whom they looked upon as impure and profane, and esteemed it an abomination so to do. (Gen. xliii. 32.) When the enemies of the Jews aimed to vex and displease them, they compelled them to eat swine’s flesh and other forbidden meats; and great was the persecution of them by Antiochus, and other heathen rulers, especially in the times of the Maeeabees. In like manner, Julian the Apostate, to be revenged upon the Christians • at Antioeh, made all the food that was brought to market to be first dedicated at a heathen altar. (Theodoret, lib. i. cap. 14.) Lest there be an offence.’] The word amvdaXov, in general, signifies a stone or block, or something in the way, at which men are apt to stumble and fall;. and accordingly in the Old Testament it is taken for a fall, and sometimes for sin,. the lapse of the soul, as it seems to be, Jiidg. viii. 27. and so the sense here may be, Lest by eating forbidden meats I sin against God, and so be a hinderancc to what God had otherwise decreed to have brought to pass by my means for the public good: or, secondly, offence, or scandal, as it is rendered from the Greek, sometimes signifies a snare; and so another sense of this place may be, That -she would not eat with him, lest his table should prove a snare unto her, an occasion of falling, and an inlet to temptation: or, lastly, we may understand it of her giving offence to others thereby, as the word is used when applied to eating", 1 Cof. viii. 13. This determined the venerable and good Eleazar not to eat even of his own lawful meat and provisions, because, being brought to him secretly, he was apprehensive that many young persons might think that Eleazar, being fourscore years old and ten, was now gone to a strange religion, and so his dissembling prove a snare unto them. (2 Mace. vi. 18— 24.) Romans, all used these washings before their devotions; and from the heathens probably this custom was derived to the Jews. (Spenc. ibid. p. 788. Philo, nzpl
Job 12:1
jtLND Job answered and said. To this Job replied in such words as these: JjiND bade that they shoidd prepare for her of his Own meats.] Svvtralc Karaarpwflijvcu avry airb rwv b^oitotr- /xarwv avTov. Calmet, from the authority of the Syriac, which has, Etjussit stemi ipsi, darique ipsi de convivio suo, &c. thinks the true reading of the Greek, (rvvhaZz Karaorpwaat avrrjv, tcai dovvai avry a7ro rwv, k. t. X. he ordered that a bed or couch should be prepared for her, and that she should sit or lie down, and his own meat and provisions should be given her. ■
Job 12:2
No doubt but you are the people, and Wisdom shall die with ijou. You believe then there arc no men of sense in the world besides yourselves: so that if you were dead, there would be no wisdom left among us. And Judith said; I will not eat thereof] It waS the custom of ancient times (see Grotius on Dan. i. 8. Casaub. ad Athcn. lib. i. cap. 11.) to consecrate all that they did eat or dririk to their gods, by putting part of it on the altar, or casting it into the fire; so that to eat of meats and drinks so consecrated, was in effect to partake of things offered to idols. Whereas, by the laws of Moses, nothing was to be eaten or drank by the children of Israel, but which had been offered to the Lord, cither immediately in itself, or virtually in the first-fruits and offerings. (Lev. xvii. 3. xxiii. 14. Deut. xii. 21. 26.) The Jews, therefore, as appears from the examples of Daniel and his associates at the court of Nabuchodonosor, of Tobit at that of Shalmancser, (i. 11, 12.) and of Nehemiah at that of Artaxerxes, who, being cupbearer to that king, was dispensed with from drinking the wine of the gentiles; the Jews, I say, when they could not avoid conversing with the gentiles, took great care to abstain, not only from things really sacrificed to idols, but from most things that came out of, gentile hands, because there was some pre-
Job 12:3
But I have understanding as well as you; I am Digitized [ by Microsoft ® not inferior to you: yea 9 who knotveth not such things as these?. Let not your vanity abuse you; I have understanding as well and as much as you; and so hath every body else: for I see nothing singular in all you have said.
Job 12:4
I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn. I am not so simple but I seta how you deride your friend, when you bid him call upon God that he may answer him. But this is no new thing, the best of men have been mocked at on this fashion. Ver". 5. He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.] Though he be as a lamp, yet they who are dazzled with the splendour of worldly prosperity despise him: the upright is never acceptable to him who is not steadfast in his goings, i As thy soul liveth, my lord, thine handmaid shall not spend those things that I have, before the Lord work by mine hand the things that he hath determined.’] Messieurs of Port-Royal observe, that there is the less reason to believe that Judith is guilty of lying, as she occasionally confirms what she says by an oath; sometimes swearing by God, and asseverating solemnly, that she was sent from and commissioned by him; at other times by the life. of Nabuchodonosor, and here by that of Holofernes, which, if made use of in confirmation of any falsehood, is inconsistent with that character of her, viii. 8. that she feared God greatly. However this be, it is certain, that throughout almost her whole discourse with this general, she converses dubiously, or in equivocal terras, and particularly here, when she says, that the Lord will work by her hands what he has determined, she speaks of her design to cut off that general’s head, and Holofernes understands her of delivering the Jews into his power.
Job 12:5
So he called the angel, and he said unto him, Take half of all that ye have brought, and go away in safety. Ver. G. Then he took them both apart, and said unto them, Bless God, andprahe him for the things which he hath done unto yok in tht sight of all that live.’] Tobit would have acted like a just man in paying only the wages at first agreed on, viz. a drachm or two drachms a day; but as To-*’ bias was thoroughly convinced that he could not do too much to recompense the services done him by Raphael, he moves his father for a much greater allowance; and ho could not.certainly testify his acknowledgment in a more generous manner, than in ofTering him the half of what they had brought back, and he had been chiefly instrumental in procuring, and to divide the inheritance with him like a brother. After this great offer made him, both by father and son, he immediately takes the opportunity privately to make himself known to them, and to acquaint them that he had no occasion for any part of their substance; that he was pleased with this proof of their gratitude, and tho sense they had 6f the great mercies shewed them, but that the acknowledgment and praise were due only to that great God which sent him, who hath power over unclean spirits; can give sight to the blind, and bring abont the great purposes of his will by means seemingly the most unlikely and improbable. Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept till midnight, and she arose when it was towards the morning-watch, Ver. G. And sent to Holofernes, saying, Let my lord now command that thine handmaid may go forth unto prayer.] According to the Vulgate, Judith asks this favour of going forth to prayer at a distance from the camp, at her first entrance into the tent appointed her, which seems more probable than disturbing Holofernes unseasonably by such a message towards the morning-watch. And indeed Judith had prepared Holofernes to grant this favour, by telling him on the preceding day, thy servant will go out by night into the valley, and pray unto God, (xi. 17.) Judith could as well have prayed within her tent, andGod could as effectually have heard her from the most secret and retired part of it; but persisting out of policy in her first resolution, of going forth at a distancefrom the camp for that purpose, she thought it an instance of more duty and respect to apply for leave afresh. This conduct of Judith, though very artful, was regular, and of a piece, and left Holofernes no room to suspect her fidelity and integrity. For as it was necessary at first to take this precaution, so was it likewise to manage the liberty indulged her, of going forth for three days, in such a manner as to create no jealousy; that after having cut off Holofernes’s head, and accomplished the great design she came upon, she might retire with more ease, safety, and confidence, to Bethulia again, without any stop or molestation. To retire apart for prayer, that it may be performed with more earnestness and attention, and freer from the notice and hearing of the rude and profane, is certainly most laudable; but the true reason of Judith’s procedure at this time, seems rather to be founded on artifice, than on any obligation either from the Jewish law or custom. By this pretext s heinduced Holofernes to think, what was contrived for his ruin to be most advantageous to his great designs, and, under a notion of praying for victory and success in his undertaking, she opened a way to triumph more securely over the grand adversary of her country, and to facilitate her own safe return.
Job 12:6
Tlie taberndc^ of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand Godbringeth abundantly. For they thrive and flourish, though they rob the just; and even such men live without disturbance, as provoke God with those very things which he bestows upon them with his own hand.
Job 12:7
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee. Thon needest not go any farther than to the beasts or birds, to learn how well the wicked fare. It is good to keep close the secrets of a king; but it is honourable to reveal the works of God.’] The counsels of princes should be inviolable and impenetrable, and the secrets of the soul locked up both in themselves and ministers; without this caution their enemies will have a great advantage against them, and the wisest and bestconcerted schemes will fail of success. Where the great affairs which pass in the cabinets of princes arc suffered to transpire, and get abroad through weakness or treachery, in vain docs tho politician lay schemes, or tho general receive orders; foreign courts soon get tho intelligence, and the design proves abortive. The emperor Tiberius, being asked why he was so reserved and cautious in consulting with friends in matters of importance relating to tho state, wisely answered, — " That a prince’s mind should bo known to none, or but a very few; for the generality of persons consulted with had not the gift of secrecy, and could not refrain talking of what was under agitation, whereby a prince was disappointed of his aims, and his counsels frustrated." (Dioin Tiber.) Nor was Metellus’s answer to an inquisitive friend less to bo admired: “I would burn my very shirt, if I thought it was privy to what passed in my breast.” (Pliny, cap. 61. de Viris illustr.) But the works of God, the more they are made manifest and revealed, the more they promote his honour and glory. Neither the malice, power, nor evil designs, of men can frustrate his intentions. He would not be jealous or uneasy lest any should discover his designs, or penetrate into his views, even though the human spirit was capable of entering into and searching the deep things of God. He rather encourages a modest inquiry into his works; and the more they are understood the more they proclaim his glory, and call for a larger tribute of praise and thanksgiving. And accordingly the saints, both of the Old and New Testament, as Moses, Deborah, David, Hezekiah, Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, devout old Simeon, and the blessed Virgin herself, have left behind them eternal monuments of their praise and acknowledgment, in the exalted songs composed by them. In ver. 11. following, this apophthegm, It is good to keep close the secrets of a king, but honourable to reveal the works of God, is repeated. If it was there enclosed in a parenthesis, the sense would be better con- And went out in the night into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water by the camp; and when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel, to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her people.] One is astonished to see here a woman of such beauty go out in the night-time, accompanied only • with her waiting-woman, and pass through the camp of the Assyrians, without any insult or violence offered to her. But it is most probable, that the dread of Holofemes’s resentment, who was captivated with her person, and regarded her as one who would soon crown his warmest wishes, hindered the soldiers from attempting any rudeness or assault. There is no necessity to suppose, with the Komish expositors, that either an angel conducted her at first from Bethulia, or secured her each night from danger when she went out into the valley. The occasion of her going was to wash herself in a fountain, whether that at the foot of the mountain, whose aqueduct, according to the Vulgate, Holofernes cut off from all communication with the City, is not material to determine; it may be more proper to observe, that fountain-water seems particularly enjoined by the law, Lev. xv. 13. where the Chaldee interpreter has, in aquisfontis. Spencer adds this farther reason, Aqua fontana purior, et acrioris ad purganduvi virtutis, adeoque lustrationi magis apta crederetur. (De Purific. pi 774.) Purification, or washing the hands or body before prayers, or sacrifices offered to the Deity, was a very ancient religious ceremony. The Egyptians, Greeks, and 4R2
Job 12:8
Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. The earth brings forth her fruit to.them abundantly; and the fishes of the sea deny them not their service. Prayer is good with fasting, and alms, and righteousness.’] Not that prayer is indifferent or unavailable without fasting and alms, but the meaning is, that prayer is better, or more prevalent, when joined with the other. St. Austin says, that fasting and alms are like two wings to prayer, wafting it up to heaven. Our Saviour joins all three together, Matt. vi. as duties equally to be observed, and helping one another. AiKaiooWi?, or righteousness, seems to have come in here, either from the following sentence or from the margin; it is omitted by St. Cyprian and other fathers quoting this passage.‘EA^/ioowij and ^iKmoavvt), are often in the Greek exegetically put, the one to expound the other, and so we find it in this and the following verse: but in the Hebrew there is but one word for both. Thus in that known place of Dan. iv. 27. where the Vulgate reads, Peccata tua eleemosynis redime, et iniquitates tnas misericordiis paitpertim (and the rendering of the LXX. is in the same manner), our version, following the Hebrew, has, Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor. And so in the Syriac and Arabic translation of the New Testament, alms is expressed by a word signifying righteousness; and the Latin interpreter renders it by justitia. See also Matt. vi. 1. where the Vulgate has, " Attendite nc justitiam vestrain faciatis coram hominibus f Take heed that you do not your righteousness, i. e. alms, before men; and some Greek copies favour this rendering. For this acceptation of righteousness, sec Psal. xxxvii. 21.25, 26. cxii. 6. Prov. x. 2. xi. 4. xxi. 2G. and Mcdc’s Works, b. i. disc. 22.
Job 12:9
Who knotveth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?. Who is so stupid as not to understand by all these that God hath ordered it should be thus? For alms dot?^ deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin: those that exercise alms and righteousness, shall be filled with life.] Though life eternal is not mentioned, yet it is here meant, and is the true sense of the passage. The Vulgate accordingly expresses it, Facit invenire misericordiam et vitam ceternam. Alms certainly arc not a natural means to procure a long and happy life, though God, by blessing the charitable man, is pleased often so to order it. Tobit himself is an instance of the poverty to which those are sometimes reduced, who shew most zeal in exercising works of charity. The verse following confirms this sense, They that sin are enemies to their own life, i. e. they bring upon themselves death and destruction; or, they expose themselves to eternal misery. If we understand this of the natural term of life only, or of the certain happiness of it, the observation is not just, as the wicked and undeserving often enjoy a longer and more prosperous state of life than the righteous; as the Psalmist and holy prophets frequently complain in their writings, and even expostulate with God upon the occasion. When it is here said, that alms shall purge away all sin, we are not to understand these words in so extensive and absolute a sense, as if they implied, that charity shall purge away or cover all’manner of sins and transgressions, how gross and heinous soever, but in such a limited sense, as that passage, 1 Pet. iv. 8. is generally interpreted, Charity shall cover the multitude of sins; i. e. it shall cover many lesser failings and neglects, many sins of infirmity, surprise, and daily incursion, which are properly enough for their number styled the multitude of sins. Solomon has the like observation, expressed almost in the same words, That by mercy and truth iniquity ispurged: (Prov. xvi.G.) and the son of Sirach explains the great efficacy of charity, by a very apt comparison, As water quencheth flaming fire, so alms maketh an atonement for sins, Ecclus. iii. 30. (Sec also Dan. iv. 27.) So she came in clean, and remained in the tent until she did eat her meat at evening J\ It seems from this place, as if Judith, to fervent prayer for the happy success of her enterprise, added likewise strict fasting, to render herself more worthy to effect the deliverance of her people:. for being an Israelite, indeed, serving the God of heaven in spirit, day and night, (xi. 17.) she rightly judged it necessary to purify her heart before God of all that might displease him, as well as to use the outward ceremony of washing. And as thereby she returned purse, so she resolved to continue so both in body and spirit, passing the whole day in severe fasting until the evening, before she took any refreshment; according to the custom of the more religious, who used to fast not only till evening, but even till the stars began to appear. And, nothing but prayer, added to such a severe discipline, say Messieurs of Port- Royal, could have kept one so beautiful, chaste, and virtuous, in the midst of a camp of rude barbarians; or enabled an instrument so feeble to execute a work of such vast danger and importance. St. Ambrose has the same remark, " Non bibebat foemina Judith, jejunans omnibus diebus viduitatis suse. His armis munita processit, et omnem Assyriorum circuravenit exercitum. Sobrii vigore consilii abstulit Holofernis caput, servavit pudicitiam, victoriam reportavit. Haec enim succincta jejunio, in castris praetendebat alienis: ille vino sepultus jacebat, ut ictum vulneris sentiro non posset. Itaque unius mulieris jejunium innumeros stravit exercitus Assyriorum." (De Jejunio.)
Job 12:10
In whose hand is the soid of every living thing, and thebreath of all mankind. Whose right it is to dispose of all creatures, as well as of mankind. Ven 11. Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste meat?] Cannot the mind distinguish truth from false-, hood, as exactly as the palate sweet fro’m bitter? With him is strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.] Nor is his wisdom, as I said, inferior to his power: but the subtlety of those who deceive is as well known to him as the silliness of those who are deceived. He leadeth princes awaij spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.] Their great ministers are carried captives with them; nor are the most powerful forces they can raise able to defend them. And called none of the officers unto the banquet.] i. e. That he might bo more at liberty, and have fewer witnesses of his intemperance and lasciviousness. Most of the copies have, tig ti)v xQi alv > ^ ut ^ e Alexandrian and the Complute, which last our translators generally follow, have, tig n)v k\7)<tiv. Thus in the third book of Maccabees kXtjtoi are guests invited to a feast, to which is opposed ukX^toi in Homer, and invocati in Plautus. In the glossaries we have, kX/jtw^, and 8£<7rvo»cX/jTa>p, tnvitator. And so Matt. xxii. 3. KaXhat rovg kikXiwUvovs, is to be understood, and is an expression like that here, tuaXtetv tig TJV KXlJGlV.
Job 12:11
Bagoas, the eunuch, who had charge over all that he had. Bagoas is not a proper, but a common name for a eunuch, at least for the chief of them; for so the principal ones were called among the Persians and Babylonians, according to Pliny, (lib. xiii.4.) Q. Curtius calls Alexander’s eunuch Bagoas, (lib. x.) Herod also had one called by tho same name. (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xvii. 3. see Sulpit. Sever. Sac. Hist. lib. ii. in Not.) We find eunuchs in vogue among the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, and Persians, and all the eastern princes. They were anciently employed in the most momentous affairs, all places of the greatest trust being filled by such. The term eunuch, therefore, does not always signify a real one, but often an officer at court, and near the king’s person. In the book of Esther, i.10. vi. 2. they v are called chamberlains, that served in the presence of the king; such as was Potiphar to the king of Egypt, as many have supposed. To them the Persian kin&s not only committed the guard of their own persons, (Xen. Cyr. lib. vii.) but likewise the education of their children; it being a custom among them to put the heir-apparent to the crown, as soon as he was born, into the hands of eunuchs, under whose tuition he remained till he attained the seventh year of his age. (Plato in Alcib.) Formerly they were entrusted likewise with the care of some favourito women, and to watch over their conduct. Thus Ovid, " Quem penes est dominam servandi cura Bagoa?." (Amor. lib. ii.) As in later times they have been employed in seraglios. From the words, ttu.gov ttjv yvvcuKa Wjv * Ej3patav, i) i <rn irapa aoY, it seems probable that Bagoas had the care of Judith, and that she lodged with him, or in his tent.
Job 12:12
With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding. And the older we grow, the wiser one would think we should be. Wlien thou didst pray, I did bring the remembrance of your prayers before the Holy One.] The notion that the angels, as ministers of God, presented to him the supplications of mankind, was very ancient; the heathens themselves thought, that the office of angels was to serve as messengers between the gods and men, to present to the former the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to bring back to them orders from above, and to return the fruits of their petitions. The Platonists in particular held, that demons, or angels, were of a middle nature betwixt gods and mortals, that they brought our prayers and offerings to them, and their commands to us. (Plato in Convivio.) " Inter homines (says Apuleius) coelicolasque vectores hinc precum, inde donorum, qui ultro citro portant hinc petitiones, ihde suppetias, cen quidam utri usque interpretes et salutigeri " (De Deo Socrat.) So Lucian describes Mercury as attending upon Jupiter for the like purpose, t<$ Ail Trapsaravai, ical Stafyiptiv rag ayytXlag, rag Trap avrov, avu> Kai Karu. Philo gives us the sentiments of his nation on this subject, describing them as messengers of good things from God to his creatures, and carrying back to God their exigencies and wants. (De Gigant.) Indeed all among the Jews, except the Sadducees, embraced this notion, and from this opinion probably sprung that Srpiiaicda ru>vayyi\u)v, or worship of angels, condemned by St. Paul, Col. ii. IS. And not only the fathers, but even the Scriptures seem to represent the angels as thus commissioned and employed. When Gabriel tells Zachariah that his prayer was heard, (Luke i. 13.) and the angel Cornelius that his prayers and alms were come up for a memorial before God, it seems no improbable conclusion that they have some knowledge at least of the success of the prayers of the saints. But St. John’s vision, if we may argue from thence, and the angel there mentioned was indeed one merely of their order, most strongly countenances what Raphael here mentions of himself: I saw another angel standing at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which teas before the throne. And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel f s hand. (Rev. viii. 3,4.) For it will be shame for our person, if we shall let such a woman go, not having had her company: for if we draiv her not unto its, she will laugh zis to scorn.’] These words of Holdfernes aro capable of a double meaning, and contain either a harmless invitation to the banquet, and innocent freedom of discourse, or in a bad sense they may imply an intention in Holofernes to abuse and debaucli her, in which sense ofu\£a> is often taken by Lucian, Aristotle, and other writers. (See particularly Hist, of Susanna, ver. 54. 58.) The Syriac and Geneva versions understand it in tho former sensethe Vulgate and Sulpitius Severus (Sacr. Hist, lib." iii.) in the latter; which tho conclusion of the verse, and the context, (see ver. 10.) render most probable, and is better adapted to the dissolute character of the person spoken of, to say nothing of the profession. But what a mean and detestable opinion does it givo us of Holofernes’s honour, and of his loose and degenerate manner of acting, to hear him declare, that it will be a reflection and disgrace to him not to have ruined a woman’s virtue! As if it was a commendable triumph, or added to the laurels of a general, to glory in the spoils of beauty, orsignalize himself by debauching innocence. And how degenerato must those or any times be, when rapes are accounted gallantry, and brutal lust an accomplishment! As virtue wears not tho attire of a harlot, so neither was Judith like any of his Assyrian prostitutes; he needed not have been afraid, if he did not draw her, i. e. as the Geneva version has it, allure her to him, that she would
Job 12:13
With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding. But what is all our wisdom to God’s? who (as he knows, so) can do all things; and he never errs in his understanding, or miscarries in his designs. And when thou didst not delay to rise tip, and leave thy dinner, to go and cover the dead, thy good deed was not hid from me; but I was with thee.] Something farther must be contained in these words than what is expressed, or else the sense will be the same with the end.of the foregoing verse. St. Cyprian (de Mortali(ate) reads, The?i Bagoas said, Let not this fair damsel fear to come to my lord, and to be honoured in his presence, and drink wine, and be merry with us, and be made this day as one of the daughters of the Assyrians, which serve in the Itouse of Nabuchodonosor.’] The infamous pander but too well understood his master’s inclination; he therefore invites her freely to drink wine, the great incentive to lust. The Persians were much more free and dissolute at their entertainments than the other nations of the east, who allowed not their women to appear at their banquets, nor to dine with them in public: they generally ate by themselves apart, and did not affect to be introduced on such occasions. One sees in the book of Esther how backward queen Vashti was to attend the royal summons, with what a fierceness of spirit she received the message, and absolutely refused to go into the apartment, where Ahasuerus was dining with his nobles, (i. 12.) In the history of the Hebrews, and that of the Egyptians, we read of no women at their public entertainments, nor among the ancient Greeks; but the Persians took much greater liberties, had women promiscuously among their guests, and were very indiscreet, according to many writers, in their. behaviour and conduct towards them. (Herod, lib. v. cap. 18. Justin, lib. vii.) Even lewd and infamous women sometimes attended to sing and dance before them, and were afterward employed in scenes of wickedness. It is true, that the manners of the Persians and Assyrians were not altogether alike; but they greatly resembled one another, says Calmct, and the liberties taken with w’omen by the one were to be found and paralleled in the other. One need only read the life of Sardanapulus to be convinced of the dissoluteness of their kings, nor have a stronger proof to what abandoned and vile purposes the daughters of Assyria, who served in the house of Nabuchodonosor, were employed, than the proposal made to Judith by this intriguing eunuch. Vcr. 14. Then said Judith unto him, Who am J, that I should gainsay my lord? Surely whatsoever pleaseth him, I will do speedily. ~] It hath been objected against this history, that the author of it makes his heroine act and talk in a manner not so well comporting with that sense of virtue and religion which she professes to have; (xi. 17.) for she seems, from this verse, as a woman devoid of modesty, who endeavoured to ensnare Holoferncs in a sinful amour, and answered to the declaration of a criminal passion, with too.little modesty and reserve. To this it is answered, by its advocates, in favour of her conduct, that her answer to the eunuch’s suggestions she might design for no more than a common compliment, which the situation of her affairs at that time obliged her to make. She might perceive, very likely, the bad design which the Assyrian general had upon her; but she did not think herself concerned to discover that she perceived it. She pretended, in some measure, to be ignorant of it: and to pretend an ignorance in what is proposed, when the thing is faulty, and will not bear an examination, is a point of modesty as^vell as prudence; as, where it will admit of a double construction, there to take it in the better sense, is ever reputed an act of candour and good breeding. Let not this fair damsel fear (says the old pander) to come to my lord, to be honoured in his sight, and to be as one of the daughters of Assyria, who serve in the court of Nabuchodonosor. How the daughters of Assyria, who served in this capacity, were used, Judith very probably had been informed; but since the eunuch put it upon the foot of a great favour and dignation done to her, she could do no less than return him a compliment. But then we all know that the offers of service, which upon every occasion we are so apt to make to one another, and those expressions of submission and respect, which so commonly pass among us, are not to be taken in a literal sense, because they always imply a tacit condition. And, therefore, the answer which the historian puts in Judith’s mouth, Surely whatsoever pleaseth him, I will do speedily, will fairly admit of this construction •:—" Whatever Holofernes shall desire of me, so far as is consistent with my duty, honour, and religion, I will not fail to do." (See Calmet, in loc. and Stackhouse’s History of[the Bible, vol. i.). There is also a farther solution to.be given of this seeming forwardness of Judith, that by her Lord she might mean the Lord God, whom she had all ialong endeavoured to please by her prayers, fastings, and special acts of faith; and might with good reason say to the eunuch, who was sent to her from Holofernes, (C Whatever pleaseth him I will do, and it shall be my joy unto the day of my death;" and her meaning might only be, " I am willing to do what that good and acceptable and perfect will of God requires of me, and it shall be the pleasure of my life to fulfil it; as the accomplishment of it I know will be my happiness’ in this life, and be the means of blessedness in the other." The eunuch, indeed, who spoke to Judith in this manner, regarded his master as the person whom she called her Lord, and being blinded with this persuasion, and inter-, prcting Judith’s answer by the passion of Holofernes, he contributed to make that general fall into the fenare, which was his overthrow, without thinking of any evil consequence.
Job 12:14
Behold, he brcaketh down, and it’cannot be built again; he shuttcth up a man, and there can be no opening. It is not in the power of any creature to repair that which he throws down; nor to extricate that man whom he casts into difficulties and straits. And now God hath sent me to heal thee, and Sara thy daughter-in-law.] i. e. God having visited you with blindness, hath sent me now to restore you; or, having proved you by this great affliction of blindness, and found you perfect, has sent me again to heal you; for so St. Cyprian reads the passage, Iterum vie misit Deus curare te, as if the copy he used had kA trakiv instead of kol vvv, the present reading. With respect to Sara’s cure, the Vulgate is very explicit, Ut Saram uxorem filii tui a dcemonio liberarem. Vcr. 15. I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One,] This expression, like that Matt, xviii. 10. seems only to signify their intimacy in the court of heaven, and their attendance upon God, as his retinue, servants, or messengers, to do his pleasure. Munster’s Hebrew copy makes no mention of seven angels. Some interpreters maintain, that we are not to understand the passage of seven distinct angels precisely, but that seven is put for an indefinite number, as in some places of Holy Scripture. For it is certain, that there are infinitely more than seven angels before the throne of God. In Dan. vii. 10. Rev. v. 11. mention is made of thousand thousands ministering unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand standing beforo him. Others aro of opinion, that there are seven principal angels, the most exalted, most glorious, and chief of the heavenly host, that hold the first rank in the hierarchy of angels, and are as princes in the court of the sovereign Lord of the universe. That some angels were under the command of others., seems probable from Zech. ii. 3. The Jews have an ancient tradition, that there are seven principal angels, which minister before the throne of God, and are therefore called archangels, somo of whose names we have in Scripture; as Michael, whom Daniel styles one of the chief princes, x.3. Gabriel, ix. 21. Luke i. 19. here we have Raphael, and 2Esd. iv. 3G. mention is made of Uriel, or, as others read, Jercmicl, the archangel. Clemens Alexandrinus says expressly, iwra jiiv umv ol ttjv fityi<rrr]v dvvajj.iv £X 0VT£ C> frpwroyovoi ayylXwv apxovreg, i. e. Principes primarii, seu primogeniti angelorum principes. There are several passages in the book of Revelation, which seem’ to confirm this tradition, i. 4, iv. 5. v. G. but the most express is, viii. 2. I saw the seven angels, eu Ivwittov rov Btov larfaaai, an expression very much resembling this of Tobit, I am Raphael, one of the seven angels which stand and minister before the Holy Blessed One, i. c. God. For this, according to a very learned writer, is the true rendering. The Greek indeed hath, ol 7rpo<rava<p(pov(Ti rag wpo<Ttv)(ag twv aytwv, k. t. X. but neither St. Jerome, who translated it out of the Chaldec, - nor Fagius’s ancient Hebrew copy, perhaps translated from the same Chaldee original, hath any such reading; and therefore it seems an addition or liberty of the Greek translator, who thought their ministry to consist in presenting the prayers of the saints, and translated accordingly. (Mede’s Works, disc. 10.) The notion of seven supreme angels, Grotius conceives to be drawn from the seven chief princes of the Persian empire: and indeed the number seven has given rise to some other conjectures — as, that they have the charge over the seven principal parts of the world, as some are pleased to divide it; that they preside over the seven planets, and direct the influences of them, &c. which are speculations rather curious than useful. One of the considerable objections" against the authority of this book is, the representing the angel Raphael here, as offering up the prayers of the saints before the throne of God, which has been thought an invasion upon Christ’s mediatorial office: but if we allow guardian angels, that they pass from heaven to earth’, and from earth to heaven, and make a report of their charge to the Deity, as our Saviour’s own words seem to intimate, the passage may then be defended, so that we attribute to the angels such offering of the prayers of good men, as is merely urro/xK?), not (AaOTHc/j.. Vcr. 16. Then they were both troubled, and fell upon their faces, for they feared. Vcr. 17. But he said unto them, Fear not, for it shall go well with you.] It is easy to imagine their fright upon hearing so surprising a relation, and probably seeing, upon their eyes being opened and rightly disposed, that he, whom they had hitherto took for a man, and had entertained as a hireling, was a quite different sort of being, and that it was an angel of God whom" they had so long conversed with. Upon this discovery, the text says that they fell on their faces; and’no wonder that they were so affected, as it was an opinion among the Jews in those days, that if they saw apparently an inhabitant of the other world, he came to call them away from this; as appears fully from the story of Manoah and his wife, Judg. xiii. 22. (Sec also Gen. xxxii. 30. Exod. xxxiii. 20.) But the angel comforts them, by bidding them fear no harm, or, as others explain it, by wishing them all manner of happiness; as another does Gideon, who cried, Alas, O Lord God, for I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face; by saying, Peace be unto thee, fear not, thou slialt not die. (Judg. vi. 23.) It is an observation of some of the fathers, that good angels comfort those in the event, whom at first they frightened by their appearance; but evil angels, on the contrary, fill those with horror and trouble whom they appear to. Vcr. 18. For not of any favour of mine, but by the will of our God I came; wherefore praise him for ever.] The notion of angels presenting prayers to God, has given rise to the invocation of them, (sec Chemnit. Exam. p. 3. do Sane. Invoc.) and, amongst other passages, the foregoing * CHAP. XII.]’ THE BOOK OF TOBIT. verse is brought to countenance this error. But what Raphael here says of himself, that he came not out of any favour of his own, but by the will of God, the God of angels “and of men, who sent him on this commission, seems to destroy what has been wrongfully built upon it.. For though he mentions his high dignity and office, at the same time he acknowledges himself but a servant; that the commission he was now executing was not by his own” choice; neither his affection nor power had any concern or direction init, but God’s good pleasure. He seems to guard against their paying him any tribute of religious thanks, as being only a messenger in the court of heaven, and by directing them to praise God only for the mercies received; not unlike that exhortation to St. John, who fell down to worship before the feet of theangel, Worship God, Rev. xxii. 8, 9. It may be presumed, indeed, that, in that state of blessedness which they enjoy in the heavenly Jerusalem, from which we are at a great distance, these loving«spirits look upon us favourably, as persons travelling thither; that they are touched with a concern and compassion for us, and, by the will and appointment of God, aid and assist us in our return towards our common country, that we may be blessed and happy with them in the communion of the saints triumphant; but.we are no where warranted to pray to them to conduct us thither. Thus St. Austin, " Attendunt nos peregrinos, et. misercntur nos, ct jussu Domini auxiliantur nobis, ut ad illam patriam communemaliquando redeamus, ct ibi cum illis fonle Dominico veritatis et ceternitatis aliquando saturemur.". (In Psal. lx!xii.) Vcr. 19. All those days I did appear unto you, but I did neither eat.nor drink, but you did see a vision.] The Geneva version seems preferable, I" did neither eat nor drink, but you saw it in vision..The Vulgate here renders, Videbar vobiscum manducare et bibere, sed ego cibb invisibili et potu, qui ab hominibus videri non potest, t utor. See Gen. xviii. 8. xix. 3. where, though the text says of the angels, which were guests unto Abraham and Lot, that they did eat, that must be, and is generally understood by interpreters to be done only seemingly, or in appearance. And thus also some would. understand Luke xxiv. 43. kvunrtov avriov fyaytv, but it seems most probable, that our Saviour did really eat before them after his resurrection, to prove to them that his body was truly raised, and that he was not a phantom. or spirit. St. Austin indeed says, " That we ought not to believe that angels eat only in appearance, when we read of their being entertained hospitably; though it may be true that men are often deceived in supposing them to eat out of necessity, like themselves, as Tobias was in supposing Raphael to eat through necessity like others, and for the support and nourishment of his Jjody. The bodies of the just, when they shall be raised, will have no need of bodily nourishment, as they will have no hunger nor thirst, and though they may have the power to eat, yet will they not, be forced to it by any necessity. After this sort we are to conceive of angels eating, when at any time they have appeared under the sensible and visible figure of a human body; not that they then eat through any necessity or want, but because they chose to do it to familiarize and ingratiate themselves with those for whose service God sent them. The difference between them and mortals in this respect (continues he) may be exemplified by water drawn up and exhaled by the sun, or sucked in by the parched and thirsty earth; the former does it wholly by his power, the latter through necessity and the want of such a refreshment, aliter. absorbet terra aquam sitiens, aliter solis radius candens; ilia indigentia, ista potential (Epist. 99.) But this explanation will not prove the point it was brought to illustrate: for if by eating we understand either the putting meat into the mouth, chewing it, and its going into the stomach, or else the nourishing and turning into the substance of the body what is eaten; in either of these senses, it is certain angels do not really eat, for it is inconceivable how they can perform the first, as what they assume is only an aerial appearance of a body, not gross or carnal, or having any parts proper for mastication or digestion. Secondly, Allowing that angels have no occasion for nourishment, as they perceive no decay of their substance, nor want to repair their strength, as bodies do, through* the loss by exercise and perspiration, yet, upon the supposition that they eat, what becomes, it may be asked, of the viands which they partake of? Calmet therefore, as if sensible of these objections, supposes Raphael to make, what ho seemingly carries to his mouth, to vanish in an instant, and to disappear to the eyes of all present. And, indeed, though it may with some carry the suspicious air of legerdemain, yet how shall we account for what the Scripture affirms on this occasion, without supposing some deceptio visus, or illusion on the senses?
Job 12:15
For then shall thou lift zip thy face without spot; yea, thou shall be steadfast, and shall not fear. ‘For then shalt thou look cheerfully again, and be perfectly freed from this loathsome condition; yea, thou shalt be settled without any fear of losing thy happiness. Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry np; also he sendcth thexn out, and they overturn the earth.] If he deny us rain, the waters themselves dry up: and he sends such floods as break the strongest banks. And her maid laid soft skins on the ground for her, over against Holofernes, that she might sit and eat upon them.~\ E?c to laOutv KaraKkivofxivriv’lTr avrutv. It appears, from hence, that Judith did not eat at the same table with Holoferncs, but apart by herself, and on her own meats; not sitting, as our version has it, but recumbent, Kara- Kktvofiwr), on soft skins spread on the ground, a custom among the ancients, which Homer mentions, II. i. and Strabo, lib. iii. The translator of the LXX. in our Polyglot, has, TJt manducaret accumbens super eas, et ingressa recubuit Judith. Junius renders in like manner. The Jews’ ancient posture at table was sitting. Saul, when he was king, sat upon his seat by the wall. (1 Sam. xx. 24.) And they continued the posture of sitting, for the most part, in the reign of Solomon. (Prov. xxiii. 1.) At the feast of Ahasuerus, the princes lay on magnificent beds, (Esther i.) as they did also at the banquet Esther made for the king and Haman, (chap, vii.) which, though it relates only to the Persians, yet shews the antiquity of this custom of lying at meals in the east: and after the Jews had acquaintance and dealings with the Babylonians, Persians, and Syrians, little or no mention is made of sitting at meals. The posturo of lying at them sprang first from luxury and effeminacy, and as such it is mentioned by the prophets; (Amos vis
Job 12:16
Because thou shall forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass aivay. Which shall be so great, that it shall blot out the remembrance of thy past miseries; or thou shalt think of them as of waters that are run away, and will return no more. God hath sent vie to work things with thee,’ whereat all the earth shall be astonished, and whosoever shall hear it.] This address is so artful, as that the words of it admit of a double meaning: Judith inwardly meant her own enterprise, but Holofernes, from her speech, fondly concluded, that the God of the Hebrews was angry with the Jews, and had given them up to destruction; and this he imagined, through mistake, to be the cause of Judith’s quitting them.
Job 12:17
And thine age shall be clearer titan the noonday; thou shall shine forth, thou shall be as the morning. The rest of thy life shall be more glorious than the sun at noon: even thy darkness shall be like the morning-light. He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, andmaketh [chap, xm. the judges fools.] He defeats tho wisest statesmen, and. infatuates the ablest senators.
Job 12:18
And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope: yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. Thou shalt be confident, though any evil threaten thee, because there is hope God will deliver thee: thou shalt dig wells of water, and none shall disturb thy tents or thy flocks.. - He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.’] So that they are not able to keep. the crown on the head of their kings; but they are stripped of their royal ornaments, and bound in chains. •
Job 12:19
Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee. Thou shalt be in perfect peace, and none’ shall disquiet thee: yea, the multitude shall sue to thee for thy favour, and the greatest persons shall desire thy friendship. I will lead thee through the midst of Judea, until thou come before Jerusalem.] Holofernes flattered himself, from the intelligence and assurance given him by Judith, that he should go up thither himself in triumph; but her reserved meaning was, that his head should be carried thither, and through all Judea, in triumph. And thou shalt drive them as sheep.] This, too, is capable of a double meaning; the secret sense in Judith’s mind was, that he should be the occasion, by the surprise of his death, of the Assyrians’ being driven in this manner, when the Jews should pursue after them, destroy many of them, and spoil their tents. What follows, viz. A dog shall not open his mouth at thee, is also equivocal; and may either mean, that none shall oppose or make any resistance to him, in his victorious march through Judea, or that, when he is dead, and there is no longer any fear of him, he shall give no disturbance or uneasiness to any. It is a proverbial expression, and used in this sense, Exod. xi. 7. Josh. x. 21. For these things were told me according to my foreknowledge, and they were declared.unto me, and I am sent to tell thee.] This is scarcely intelligible, as pur version has it; for what necessity of telling or declaring the thing to her, if she herself had foreknowledge of it? Grotius thinks the true reading of the Greek is, Kara irpoyvtomv Otov, according to the foreknowledge of God: (see ix. 6. xii. 4.) which is.confirmed by the Vulgate, II<ec mihi dicta sunt per providentiam Dei. Whichever reading we follow, she flatters manifestly Holofernes, in making him believe that God watched particularly over him for his good and preservation, by sending a person to him of such great penetration, and filled with the spirit of prophecy.
Job 12:20
But the exjes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost. But the wicked shall in vain look for happiness: they shall not escape their deserved punishment, but their hope of deliverance shall faint away. He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.] Eloquence, fidelity, and the prudence which hath been gained by long experience, signify as little for their preservation. Write all things ivhich are done in a book.] It is commonly believed, that Tobit and Tobias wrote their own history. This opinion is principally founded upon the angel’s commanding them to write all things that were done in a book.: In the Vulgate it is only, Narrate omnia mirabilia ejus; but in the Hebrew, Greek, and the older Latin version it is, Ye shall write, &c. A second argument is, because in the Greek, Syriac, and Hebrew copies, they speak, of themselves, avToirpo<T<*>iro>Q, or in the first person. (See Du Pin’s Prelim. Dissert, p. 120.) Huetius thinks the twelve first chapters were wrote by Tobit the father; the wholq thirteenth chapter and part of the fourteenth, all but thelast two verses, by Tobias the son; and that these, as mentioning his death, were added by some uncertain author, probably one of the family. (Demonstr. Evangel, prop. 4.) After this eclaircissement and explanation, the ordering what passed to be noted in a book, was doubtless to advance and propagate the belief of angelical visions and communications with holy men, according to the received Jewish notions; as what follows in the remainder of the chapter, of future glorious times and of the last and most distinguished state of the church in the new Jerusalem, built as of God with precious stones, was to comfort the afflicted and persecuted Jews, with a prospect of the -approaching rain of their persecutors, and their certain deliverance and exaltation.
Job 12:21
He poureth contempt upon princes, andweakeneth the strength of the mighty. The nobleness of their birth. or their munificence is not at all regarded: and he dissolves the strongest confederacies, into which their friends enter for their support.
Job 12:22
He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. No plot can be so secretly carried but.he discovers it; and brings to light that which hath been contrived. in the greatest obscurity. *Then they confessed the great and tvonderfuf works of God, and how the angel of the Lord had appeared nnto them.’] The rendering of the Vulgate here is very observable; Tunc prostrati per horas tres infaciem benedixerunt Denm. 1 shall conclude this chapter with a fine reflection from the Port-Royal comment, upon the devout behaviour of these persons for mercies purely temporal: " How ought the consideration of this to affect such who know and are persuaded that not one particular angel, but’ the Lord of all those blessed spirits^ hatU, conversed with God hath done well to send thee before the people> that strength might be in our hands, and destruction upon them that lightly regard my lord.] i. e. God’hath dealt favourably and kindly with you, in sending thee hither, for thereby thou wilt save thy life. (See x. 15.) Thus Calmet, Dieu vous a favorisec de vous envoyer ainsi devant ceux de votre nation. The Vulgate has, Benefecit Deus qui misit te ante popidam, nt des ilium tu in manibus nostris. Our version follows the Greek, which is more explicit.
Job 12:23
He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he mlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. Whole nations (as well as their princes) are perfectly under his power; whom he sometimes multiplies, and again diminishes by war, famine, or pestilence. He enlarges their bounds, and, when he pleases, reduces them into narrower limits. And now thou art both beautiful in thy countenance, and witty in thy words; surely if thou do as thou hast spoken, thy God shall be my God.] Junius thinks that Holofernes swears here by her beauty (instances of which, used by lovers, occur in Plautus and other writers), That if she, or, as the Vulgate has it, her God, brought that to pass which she had promised and engaged for, he himself would become a Jew, and adopt her God. It is not easy to think, says Calmet, that Holofernes spoke this seriously, and in good earnest, as his conversion would prejudice his fortune; or he must certainly be ignorant that the God of Israel allowed not any to worship strange gods together with him. He meant only hereby to flatter and please Judith, to insinuate himself into her affections, and to gain her love.. And observing Judith to *be a woman of strict piety, and strongly attached to her religion, he foresaw this would be the principal difficulty in the way of his passion; he declares, therefore, that a difference in religion ought not to create in her any distance or estrangement to his person, as he was ready to become a Jew, as soon as he. saw the accomplishment of what she had assured him of.
Job 12:24
He tqketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. He deprives their leaders both •of courage and judgment; and brings them into such confusion, that they know not which way to turn jthemselves.
Job 12:25
They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man. Blind men see as much as they; and their counsels and motions areas uncertain as those, of a man in drink.