Job 13
PAT.From the foregoing observations, Job still continues to assert, first, his own understanding to be equal, or rather superior, to theirs; who had better therefore learn of him, and know that God was not pleased to have his providence defended by untruths; nor to see men partial, though it was in his behalf; and, secondly, his own integrity to be such, that he would ever defend it against all accusers, even before God himself: whom he desires to take cognizance of the cause, and to let him understand what the crimes were for which he was thus severely handled. For he protests that he was ignorant of them; though the punishments he had endured were more than sufficient to awaken the sense of his guilt, he being almost consumed by them. This chapter concludes the book, with an account how Job completed the submission which he had begun before to make to God: whose pardon he sorrowfully begs; confessing and repenting of his fault; resigning himself entirely to be instructed by him;.but resolving never hereafter to complain, nor to move any questions about his providence. This repentance God accepts; and for his sake grants a pardon also to his friends, whom he condemns as more faulty than Job. Who after this receives extraordinary marks of God’s favour; and hath such an. ample recompenee made him for his losses, as may encourage all posterity to persevere in well-doing and pa- Digitizect by Microsoft ® CHAP. XLII.] THE BOOK OF JOB. tient suffering; believing steadfastly that nothing can be done or permitted by God, without.much reason (whose wisdom shines so gloriously in all his works), and humbly - expecting a comfortable issue out of all our troubles. wherein the Holy Ghost came upon the day of Pentecost And, lastly, he saw likewise, in all probability, the appearance of some visible, majesty, (xlii. 5.) suppose in a glorious cloud, (as the LXX. seem to understand it, xxxviii. 1.) or something like that which Moses beheld in the bush, when God first called unto him out of the midst of it, (Exod. iii. 4.) Which need not at all puzzle our belief; when we con* sider that the church in those days was catholic, and not as yet confined to any one family or nation. God was pleased, indeed, to shew an extraordinary grace to Abraham, in calling him out of his own country and father’s house, where idolatry had taken a deep root, or had been long growing without any hope of amendment. For if we may give any credit to Kessaeus, a Mahometan writer, or to Elmacinus, a Christian, they were infected with it in the days of Heber, who stoutly opposed it, but with so little effect, that though God sent a whirlwind, which threw down all their idols, and broke them in pieces, that false worship still prevailed. But this doth not warrant us to imagine that God utterly rejected and neglected all other people; to whom he revealed himself in a very familiar manner, and gave many demonstrations of his Divine presence among them, till they corrupted themselves by such abominable idolatries, that they became altogether unprofitable, and unfit for the society of that Holy Spirit which ofttimes moved them. Even among the Canaanites, into whose country God led Abraham, we find Melchisedec was then a priest of the most high<2od; a greater person than that prophet, and the minister of that oracle (some fancy) which Rebekah went to consult when she felt the twins struggling in her womb, Gen. xxv. 22. To whom I might add several others, if I had a mind to prolong this discourse. And though the book beforementioncd (Seder Olam Rabba, cap. 21.) is pleased to say, that the Holy Ghost ceased to inspire men of any other nation, after the giving of the law; yet it is easy to shew, that therein it contradicts even its own affirmation elsewhere, which is grounded on good reason, that Balaam was a prophet divinely moved among the Syrians in Mesopotamia. He was a man, indeed, of naughty affections, and inclined to superstition, but still had many illuminations and motions from the Most High; as appears, not only by his predictions, but by the express words of Moses, who says, " the Spirit of God came upon him/’ Numb. xxiv. 2. To which, if I should add his own testimony concerning himself, that he Iieard the words of God, and saw the vision of the Almighty, and that in an extraordinary manner, having his eyes open in his ecstasy, I see no reason why it should be rejected; especially since he declared at the first, when the princes of Midian importuned him to go with them, that he would be wholly guided by the Lord in the business; and when he was come to Balak, constantly went to meet the Lord, to ask him what he should say, and professed his care to speak what the Lord had put in his mouth, (xxii. 8. xxiii. 3. 12. 15, &c.) These considerations, to which many more might be added, are sufficient to shew, that there is little, if any, ground for the opinion of Theodorct; who resolves, (Quaestl 39. in Num.) that Balaam did not inquire of the true God, though the answer was given by him of whom he was ignorant, not by him whom he invoked; and that the conclusion of St, Basil, vol. in. (Epist. 80. ad Eustath.) or Greg. Nyssen (Lib. de Trinitate; it is uncertain whose work it is wherein we find it), is more remote from truth, who determines, that when the Scripture saith he went to consult with God, we are thereby to understand the devil. For should we allow the word Elohim, or God, to be.so equivocal, that it may be applied not only to other excellent beings besides the Divinity, but to the devil himself (which is the. foundation there. laid for that conclusion), yet the word Jehovah or Lord is never so used; and Balaam always says that he would go. and meet with him. And accordingly, the Lord is said to.put a word. in his mouth, even^then when just before we read that God met him, xxiii. 4, 5. Where it is most reasonable by God to understand the angel mentioned xxii. 35.,whom the Lord employed to deliver his mind unto him.. All which I have said to shew, that God did not quite desert the gentile world, as long as there were any considerable relics of the ancient religion remaining among them; and they did not wholly divert to fables, a.nd deliver up themselves to the guidance of evil spirits, against the apparent testimony of the Holy Spirit of God; who spak$ to them. by such good men as Job, in whose days those sinners were not only reproved, bnt punished also by the judges, who worshipped the sun, moon, and stars; which seems to have been the oldest idolatry;of, all.other, as not only Maimonides, but Diodorus Siculus, observes/ And if they had listened to such instructions, and^ not suffered themselves to be led merely by sense, to which those heavenly bodies appeared in such an amazing brightness that struck with admiration (as the last named author speaks, they fancied them to be Beovg cuSfov? re kcu irpojrovg, both eternal and the first Gods);, we cannot conceive that they would have sunk so low, as to fall into image-worship: which in Job’s country doth not seem to have obtained in his days. But the chiefest part of the wisdom of this prophet consisted in his piety; of which he proved a rare example, as I have said already; especially in adversity: wherein he behaved himself with such admirable virtue, that though the apostle to the Hebrews does not mention him among those who were famous for their faith (he not being of their race to whom the promises were made), yet St. James in the next epistle highly magnifies and applauds his patierice. And not only propounds him, together with the prophets and holy men, " who had spoken to them in the name of the Lord," (ver, 10.) as a pattern pf well-doing, and contented suffering, to the Christian Hebrews; but numbers him among those blessed souls, whose worthy deeds wc praise, and whose happiness we admire: (ver. 11.) or rather he names him alone, as an example of a happy pan; who endured more thap we read of in ancient times, and in the end found the Lord so mercifully gracious and bounty ful to him, that it may encourage all pious men to enduro with such a wonderful submission as be did. Who, when he lost his goods, his frouse, his children, his health, nay, was all over ulcerous, and in great pain; and, moreover, was solicited by his wife to speak irreverently, if not irreligiously, of God, and to deny his providence; and by his friends was upbraided as a hypocrite, nay, accused in their passion as a tyrannical oppressor; whereby they endeavoured to bereave him, as St Ambrose observes, (lib. i. de Interpol, cap, 4.) of that great comfort APPENDIX TO in afflictions, culpa vacare, to be conscious of no enormous crime, and to make him appear to himself as the author of his calamity; at which his inferiors mocked and scoffed, who had formerly had him in great veneration: nay, it exposed him to the scorn of those who were not worthy to be set with the dogs of his flock; so that ho looked as if he had been deserted by God, and mado an example of his heaviest displeasure: yet he bare all at the very first (when men arc wont to be shaken, nay overthrown, by the sudden news of such dreadful disasters), not only with much resolution and resignation, but with hearty thanksgiving; and, through the whole course of his calamity, committed no error that I can discern, but what the indiscreet and uncharitable censures of his friends provoked him unto: which put him upon too frequent and long justifications of himself, and perplexed him extremely (which seems his greatest trouble), that he could not find out the reason why God afflicted him so severely. But in the issue God revealed to him what it was fit for him to think in this matter also: and thereby hath given us such satisfaction in that great controversy, and difficult question about God’s providence, as is no where to be met withal but in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even prudent men,- as St. Ambrose observes, (lib. ii. do Interpellatione, cap. 1;) in a book he hath written about Job, are apt to be extremely moved when they see the wicked abound with good things, and the just very much afllicted: and truly, says he, it is lubricus locus, a slippery place, in which the saints have scarce been able to tread in the path of a true opinion,- as we see in David, and Job, who maintained a long conflict with his three ancient friends that came to comfort him upon this subject. And God himself brought the dispute at last to such a conclusion, as may fully settle the minds of all those who meet with this book, and preserve them from being scandalized, or in the least offended, on such occasions. The Mahometans themselves seem to be fully satisfied, as we read in the Lives of the Fathers, written in the Arabian language by Kessaeus; who brings in the Most High, speaking to Job’s friends after this manner, (Hotting. Hist. Orientalis, lib. i. cap. 3.) " Do you not know that Job is a prophet of God, whom he hath chosen to his apostleship, and to whom he hath committed his inspiration? God would not have you think that he is angry with him; as you seem to gather from this afflicted state wherein he lies. For you know that God is wont to prove the prophets, the just, the martyrs, and other good men; wherein notwithstanding there is no indignation, or contempt of them, but honour rather with God most high/’ Thus St. Chrysostom I find most elegantly represents him as a far more glorious spectacle when he sat on the dunghill, than the greatest prince, without his virtue, is when he sits upon a throne. " His ulcers (says he, Horn, v. ad Populum Antiochenum) were far more valuable in my account than all their precious stones. For what profit do we receive by them? What necessity, what want do they supply? But these ulcers of his are the comfort of all manner of heaviness that can seize upon us. You may know this to be true, if, when a man hath lost his genuine and only son, you shew him a thousand jewels and precious stones, which give no comfort at all to his grief, nor in the least assuage his trouble and pain. But in this case, if you remember him of the wounds of Job, he presently finds some ease; when you ask him, saying, Why dost thou weep and lament, O man, on this fashion? Thou hast lost one son, but that blessed man lo<t all the children he had: and, together with that blow, received a stroke in his flesh, and sat naked in the dung, besmeared all over with the filth that ran out of his wounds; in a deep consumption, which by little and little wasted that just, that true, that devout man, who abstained from all manner of evil, and had God himself for the witness of his virtue. If thou dost but speak these words, instantly thou extinguishest the heaviness of the mourner, and riddest him out of all his grief; and so the ulcers of that righteous man become more profitable to him than jewels. " Do you therefore conceive now that you have that champion before your eyes; and that you see the dung and him sitting in it; a statue of gold, of diamonds, I am not able to say of what: for there is nothing so precious as to be worthy to be compared with that ulcerated body, whose sores shine more brightly than the beams of the sun; which enlighten only the eyes of the body, but these illuminate the eyes of the mind. They make us see, and they made the devil quite blind: for after he had given those wounds in his body, he fled and appeared no more. See here, beloved, how great the gain of affliction is! For when that righteous man was rich, and enjoyed his ease, the devil had something to say against him: though falsely indeed, yet this he had to say; f Doth Job serve God for nought?’ But after he had stripped him naked, and made him a beggar, he had not a word to say; he durst not so much as open his mouth against him. When he was rich, then;he. adventured to wrestle with him, and threatened to supplant him; but after he had made him poor, deprived him of all he had, and reduced him to the extremest grief and sorrow, he ran away, and durst not renew the assault When his body was sound then he laid violent hands on him; but when he had filled it with w r ounds, he was routed and fled away vanquished. By this thou seest how much poverty may provebctter than riches, weakness than health, temptation than ease and quiet, to those that are vigilant and watchful: who make a profit of all these; and by fighting grow more illustrious and courageous. Who ever saw, who ever heard, such noble combats?" But there is none, that I have met withal, who represents him in such lively colours, as the great St. Basil; who, in a sermon of his (torn. i. Homil. xxiii. p. 565, &c. the latter part of which was occasioned by a lamentable fire, that happened near their church, and put it in danger), exhorts all the rich, who were untouched by the flames, to relieve their poor neighbours, whose goods were consumed in them; and then addressing himself to those, who had saved themselves, but nothing else, beseeches them, " Not to take their loss too heavily, nor to let their minds be disturbed; but to shake off the misty cloud of sorrow, and to strengthen their souls with such generous and manly thoughts, as might turn this accident into an occasion of crowns. For which end, he advises them >to put themselves in mind of the constancy of Job; and to say to themselves, as he did, € The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so it is come to pass.’ And by no means (says he) let any of you be moved with what hath happened, either to say, or think, there is no Providence which rules our affairs; or presume to accuse the dispensation and judgment of the Lord; but let him fix his eyes on that champion, and make him his counsellor, who will advise him to better thoughts.. " Let him recount in order all the agonies he endured, and then observe how bravely he came off; and how the devil threw all his darts at him in vain; not one of them giving him a deadly wound. First he set upon his goods, and endeavoured to overwhelm him with the doleful news of various calamities, which came tumbling, like the waveg of the sea, one upon the neck of another; but all to no purpose, for the just man received them as a rock doth the fury of a tempest; turning the rage of the waves into froth, and standing itself immoveable. He said not a word, that we read of; he made no complaints of these disasters; or if he said any thing, we may well presume, it was those decent and becoming words which we read in the conclusion, * The Lord’gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so is it come to pass/ But he did not think any of those calamities that befel him to be worth his lamenting with his tears. “■ Well, but there comes one afterward that tells him a most dismal story, of the death of all his children by the fall of the house wherein they were making merry. At this, it is true, he rent his garments; and it is the first expression of his grief that we meet withal, in compliance -with the passions of nature, and to declare himself a most tender father. But he set some bounds to his grief, and adorned what had happened with those pious words,’ The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away/ &c. As if he should have said, I was called their father, as long as he that made me. so pleased. But now he hath taken off this crown of children from my head, and it is not lit for me to contend and dispute with him about his own. Let that be which seemeth best to the Lord. He it was that formed them, I was but the instrument. Why should I, who am but a servant, foolishly complain of my master; and repine at that decree, which I cannot alter? " With such words as these that righteous man wounded the devil; and, as one would say, shot a dart quite through his heart, which so enraged him, that, seeing him still a conqueror, he made an “assault upon his body; which he turned into corruption, and made it become such a bag of worms, that from a throne it was cast upon a dunghill. And yet the good man remained immoveable: and when his body was torn, preserved still the hidden treasure of piety in his soul, of which the devil could not rob him. And therefore, not knowing what to do more, he betook himself to his old stratagem; and instigating his wife to entertain irreligious and blasphemous thoughts, attempted that way to overthrow this champion. For she, tired with the long continuance of his calamities, came to him, and clapping her hands at what she beheld, upbraided him with these lamentable fruits of his piety, and rehearsing his former prosperity, and then pointing at this present misery, asked him, if this was the reward which he received from the Lord for all his sacrifices? With abundance of such-like words, which were enough to disturb the most composed, and subvert the most steady and resolved mind. I am a vagabond, said she, and am forced to crouch to others like a slave; I, who was a queen, am constrained to depend upon my servants for relief; I, who maintained many liberally, am now nourished myself out of other folks’ cha* Digitized, by rity. Adding, that it would be far better for him, to provoke his angry Creator, by impious wotds, to cut him off, than by an unprofitable patience thus to prolong both his and her misery. " But he, more offended with these words than any of his former sufferings, with eyes full of indignation, looked upon her as an enemy, and asked what ailed.her to talk thus like one of the foolish women”? Lay aside, said he, these thoughts, and let me hear no more of this advice, which makes me appear to myself as if one half of me were wicked and irreligious. <i What, shall we receive good at the hands of the Lord; and shall we not suffer evil?’ Remember all the past happiness thou hast enjoyed, and oppose better unto worse. No man’s life is entirely and’ thoroughly happy. To Sta iravrog tv 7rpuTruv, fi6vov 0tov. To be always as well as ive can Wish, belongs to God alone. If thou art grieved at.what is present, fetch thy comfort from what thou hast received before. Now thou wecpest, but formerly thou didst laugh; now thou art poor, but there was a time when thou wantedst nothing. Then thou drankestof the pure fountain of life; be content, and drirak now the more patiently of the troubled waters. Behold the rivers, their streams are not clear iu all places; and our life thou knowest is like to one of them, which slides away continually, and is ofttimes full of waves, ivhich come rolling one upon another: one part of this river is passed by, and another is running on its course. This part of it is gushing out from the fountain, and the next is ready to follow it as soon as it is gone. And thus we are all making great haste to the common sea; death, I mean, which swallows up all at last. " If wc receive good from the hands of the Lord, shall we not bear evil? Think of that again. Shall we go about to compel the Judge to afford us just the very same things for ever? Shall we presume to instruct our Lord and Master how he ought to conduct our life? He hath the power of his own decrees and orders as he pleases, so he appoints our portion for us. And we know that he is wise, and that ho dispenses to his servants what is most profitable for them. Do not then curiously pry into the counsels and resolutions of thy Lord and Governor; only take in good part, and affectionately embrace, whatsoever is ordered by his wisdom. Love his administration; and whatsoever ho is pleased to give, receive it with pleasure. Demonstrate now in a sorrowful condition, that thou wast worthy of all the joy which thou hadst formerly in a better. “Thus Job discoursing, he baffled the devil onccmore; and gave him such a repulse, that he made him perfectly. ashamed to sec himself thus vanquished. And what ensfted after this? why, when the devil was beaten, his disease fled away too, having assaulted him in vain, and got no ground of him. His flesh began to recover into a second youth; he flourished also in his estate, which was restored to him with increase. For riches flowed so plentifully into his house, that they were double to what he had before: first, that he might be no loser by his affliction; and, secondly, that ho might have a merciful reward of his patience under it. Therefore it was that his horses, mules, and camels, and sheep, and all the rest of his revenue, were doubled, only his children were no more than equal to the number he had before, seven sons and three daughters. The reason was because his beasts, indeed, perished entirely; but Microsoft® APPENDIX TO THE BOOK OF JOB. the better part of his children still survived, when they were taken from him. And therefore being again adorned with as many sons and daughters as formerly he enjoyed, he had a double portion of them also; those who are present with him here, and those who expected him in the other world. Behold then what good things this just man, Job, heaped up to himself, by his patient submission to God. And do thou, therefore, if thou hast suffered grievously in this fire, which the malice of the devil kindled, bear it constantly, and lenify the affliction with these better thoughts; according to that which is written,’ Cast all thy care upon the Lord, and ho will sustain thee/ " To this purpose that great person, St. Basil, discourses, when he represents how Job received the first assaults of his affliction, and how happily it ended. And there is great reason to think that he did not, in the progress of it, swerve from those good beginnings, which had so blessed a conclusion; but whatsoever expressions fell from him, when he was engaged in the heat of disputation, he still preserved such a religious temper of mind, as made him not cease to submit himself reverently to God’s will, and to thank him for all the benefits he had formerly received from his bounty. Nor do I find any cause for the censures which Maimonides (More Nevoch. par. iii. cap. 23. and out of him Manasseh ben Israel, lib. i. de Resurrectione, cap! 16.) hath passed upon the disputation between him and his four friends, about Divine Providence, which he hath thus stated: * " • * “Job (saith he) maintains that mankind is so vile a sort of being, that God doth not regard the best of them any more than he doth the worst; but it is all one to him, when a calamity comes, whether it light upon the offenders, or upon the innocent. Nay, more than this, he affirms that there is no expectation after death, and consequently no hope remaining for him.” Which are such blasphemies, that Maimonides is fain to seek excuses for him; and for that end, alleges a common saying among their wise men, that " A man is not apprehended, or seized on, because of his grief;’* that is, what he says in extremity of pain is not imputed to him for sin. But there is no need of this apology; for the places he alleges do not prove him guilty of uttering such things, as (to speak in his words) are evil in the highest degree. Though Manasseh ben Israel is so presumptuous, as to charge him with such a profane denial of Divine Providence, at least here below the moon, that he makes him impute all his misery to the malignant aspect of the planets, under which he was conceived and born. To which opinion of Job, say they, every one of his friends opposed a particular opinion of his own, differing each of them from the other. And, first, Eliphaz endeavours to establish this for a certain truth, " That as afflictions do not coine by chance, but by the providence of God,* so they are sent for the sins of men;” and therefore, without all doubt, Job was a great offender, which was the cause he was handled in this manner. " This opinion (says Maimonides) heheld to the last; only was fain to add, in conclusion, that all the ways whereby we deserve punishment do not appear.” Then after him (when Job had argued against this) comes Bildad, who produces a new opinion, grounded upon the doctrine of permutation, or recompence, as they speak; that is, “He believed the evils which Job endured here, should, if ho proved innocent, bo changed into good things; and, hi the issue, be highly serviceable to him in another world.” After. whom succeeds Zophar, with a different resolution from all these; which was, “That God acts according to his own pleasure, and that we are not to search for any cause of his actions out of his own will; nor to say, why doth he this, and not that? In short, we arc not to seek the way of equity, and the decree of wisdom in his doings; for it necessarily belongs to his essence that he do what he will; and our understanding is too shallow to comprehend the secrets of his wisdom,whbse right and property it is that he may do according to his pleasure, and for no other cause.” And these four opinions about Providence, Maimonides undertakes to shew have had their several assertors since, who have propagated them among their scholars. Job’s opinion, he saith, is the same with Aristotle’s, who attributed all to accident. Bildad was followed by the sect of Mutazali (a kind of pharisees among the Ishmaelites),who ascribed all to wisdom. Zophar, by the sect of Assaria, who attributed all to will and pleasure. And Eliphaz, he fancies, held the opinion of the law; which is, that God deals with men according to their works. But when that all these men had disputed, nothing moved Job, there “stands up another, whose name was Elihu, “who first proves the providence of God from prophetical dreams, (xxxiii. 15.) and to those things which Eliphaz had said, adds, according to the imagination of Manasseh ben Israel, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, (which he labours to find in ver. 14.) and thereby, in a wonderful way, says he, resolves all the doubt, by determining that Job, and other just men, may be punished for sins which they committed in a former body!” But as there is no footstep, that I can see, for this fond conceit, which he honours with the name of a m3 r stery; so it is evident these men follow their own vain inventions in all this discourse, directly contrary to the book itself. For they make Job’s opinion tho very worst of all the rest; when the Lord himself tells Eliphaz, in the conclusion of the book, (xlii. 7.) that ho was angry with him and his two other friends, because they had not spoken of him so rightly as.Job had. And it doth not appear by their speeches, that they held several opinions abontProvidence, and took every one of them a different way (that is a mere rabbinical subtlety) to solve the doubt, wherein Job’s unusual sufferings had perplexed them. But they seem to have harped all of them upon one and the same string, as I have represented in the arguments before each chapter. From whence tho conclusion of Maimonides will be very evident (which is the best thing he says), that u The scope of the book is, to establish the great article of providence; and thereby to preserve us from error, in thinking that God’s knowledge is like our knowledge, or his intention, providence; and government, like our intention, providence, and government. Which foundation being laid, nothing will seem hard to a man whatsoever happens: nor will he fall into dubious thoughts concerning God, whether he knows what is befallen us or not, and whether he takes any care of us. But rather he will be inflamed the more vehemently in the love of God; as it is said in the end of this prophecy,’* Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes/ So say our wise men,‘They that act out of love, will rejoice in chastisements/ " PREFACE TO THE PSALMS. THE BOOK OF PSALMS. TO ALL DEVOUT CHRISTIANS, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT FREQUENT THE, DAILY PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, THE AUTHOR DEDICATETH THIS PARAPHRASE UPON THE BOOK OF PSALMS; Wishing them increase of grace ami comfort, by " singing praises unto God with xtndcrstanding” (Ps. xlvii. 7.) PREFACE. J_ HE work itself proves so long, that I must make the preface the shorter; which shall be confined to these two heads: First, A brief account of the Book of Psalms; Secondly, Of my paraphrase upon it. I. For the first, The book is a most admirable piece of poetry, which moves more powerfully, and touches the mind more sensibly, than sentences in prose; especially when it is in such perfection, as we find it in these Divine inspirations. For, as Melancthon truly speaks, this is the most elegant work extant in the world; and hath performed that, I may add, which Plato himself wished for, but confessed was above the reach of mere men. There was no more efficacious way, that philosopher clearly saw, of instructing youth, than by odes and songs; about which he discourses at large, and gives a great many cautions in his second book of Laws; but, after all, concludes at last, (p. 657. edit. Scrran.) tovto §£ Qtov, rj Sdov tlvoc, av tiy. Tliis must be the work of God, or of some Divine man: wherein he plainly acknowledges the defect of their institution (though certain poems were pretended then to have been anciently made by their goddess Isis), and marvellously justifies the Hebrew discipline, who taught their children or scholars by hymns. Which Moses, the man of God, began to compose, (Exod. xv. Dcut. xxxii.) and other inspired persons afterward imitated, (Judg. v. 1 Sam. ii.) but was brought to perfection by David. Who, as he was an admirable artist in music, (1 Sam. xvi. 18.) and himself invented some musical instruments, as we learn from the prophet Amos, vi. 5. so was an incomparable poet, (2 Sam. xxiii. 1, 2.) and took all occasions to exercise this faculty, not on such low subjects as those to which it is commonly debased, but in abundance of Divine meditations, which arc gathered together in this book; wherein he calls upon them to listen unto him, saying, " Come, ye children, hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord," (Psal. xxxiv. 11.) It is called, in their language, Sepher Tehillem, the Book of Psalnis, or Hymns; i. e. Praises of the Lord: because, though there are many complaints, and imprecations, and prayers, in it, yet the greatest part are praises or thanksgivings unto God: and in those other, there are many mixtures of acknowledgments what God had formerly done for him, or of confidence what he would still do, or.ofvresolutions how thankful he would be, when God granted him deliverance. Which gave them such a strange power " to cure heaviness, to extirpate grief, to wipe away sorrow, to lay asleep troublesome thoughts and passions, to ease us of our cares, to recreate those who are oppressed with any sort of pains, (they are the words of Proclus, archbishop of Constantinople," Serm. dc Incarn. Dom.) as well as to move compunction for sin, and to stimulate unto piety;" that no book in the world is to be compared with it for these purposes. And as it is called the Book of Psalms, or Praises, from the major part, so they arc called David’s Psalms, because he made the most of them; though it must be confessed, there were several other authors, by whom some of them were composed. In the Hebrew they are divided, like Moses’s law, into five books, as I shall shew in due place, and so may be called a second Pentateuch: which seem to have been collected by several persons (as will appear in the preface to each of them); for no other reason but that can be given, why all that belong to one subject were not put together; or, at least, all those composed by David placed by themselves, and not so mixed, as they arc, with those made by other authors. Some think they were gathered together by the friends of Hezekiah, before the captivity. But if they had been so, they would, in all probability, have been disposed in such order as they were penned; all the sacred books being preserved in the temple, as Josephus witnesses, (Antiq. lib. iii. cap. 1.) with great care; from whence they might have taken the copies of them, with the names of all their authors, which now, in many of thcin, are wanting. Which makes it more likely, that, after’the temple and the sacred records were burnt by the king of Babylon’s army, some pious persons collected as many as they could find, by inquiring among their friends, in those good men’s hands who had transcribed them heretofore for their own private use, every one as he had most need. For the Songs of Zion the people were very well acquainted withal, though it lay desolate, as it appears by the hundred and thirty-seventh Psalm, where the Babylonians desire to hear one of them sung by the mournful captives. Who preserved them, no doubt, to their comfort in that sad condition, and added to Digitized by microsoft ® PREFACE TO THE PSALMS. them such as were made by Divine men, during its continuance, and after their return from captivity. When, as St. Athanasius (torn. ii. p. 86.) resolves in his Synopsis (following the Hebrew tradition), Ezra put them together in one volume, as avo now have them, which is not affirmed without reason: for we find that the foundation of the second temple was no sooner laid, but Ezra (as the Hebrews call him) restored the ancient custom of psalmody, or singing psalms of praise, (Ezra ill* 10, 11.) which David had appointed to accompany the sacrifices as soon as the ark was settled, (1 Chron. vi. 31. xvi. 17. Ecclus. 1. 15, 1G, &c.) and which Solomon continued after he had built the temple, and brought the ark into it, (2 Chron. v. 12, 13.) Now, when all those bloody sacrifices were abolished, by the. offering which Christ made of himself, the sacrifice of praisa alono remained, as the principal service of the Christian church: several persons being inspired, not only to pray divinely, but to prophesy also, or to sing psalms and hymns of praise; as we read in the First Epistle to the. Corinthians, xi. 5. xiv. 15. 2G. And in the book of the Revelations, we find the apostles and elders thus employed, Rev. iv/9 — 11. in which the people bare a part; as we learn from the next chapter, v. 9. 13. xiv. 1 — 3, So that St. Austin might tellJanuanus,(Epist.cxix. cap.l8.)that “concerning singing hymns and psalms, we have instructions, and examples, and precepts, both of our Lord himself, and of his apostles.” According to which, the churches of Africa sang Divina cantica prophetarum, the Divine songs of the prophets, while the drunken Donatists sang the composures of human wit. Nor can I see, saith he, what Christians can do more profitably, and more holily than this, when they meet together, and arc not reading, preaching, or praying. Those Divina cantica, no doubt, were principally the Psalms of David, in singing of which Christian people delighted above all other exercises of devotion. The manner of their singing, also, was like that in Ezra’s time: (Ezra iii. 11.) one beginning the hymn, and the rest answering the to. aKpoarl-xta, extremes, or last words of it, as the author of the Apostolical Constitutions tells us, (lib. ii. cap. 57.) which Eusebius calls the’AKporcXturfa rtov v/xvu)v, the last part of the hymns, which he expressly says were sung by the Avhole company, who hearkened in silence to him that sang the rest, till he came to the close, which they all repeated together, (lib. ii. Eecles. Hist, cap. 17.) And when that manner of singing the Psalms, which we now use in our choirs, was brought in. by Flavianus and Diodorus, who, at Antioch, divided the choir into two parts (singing the Psalms of David, k SmSox^c, alternately, one verse by this half of the choir, and the next by the’other); it thence spread itself, as it were by a joint consent, all the world over. Thus Theodoret informs us in his Eecles. Hist, book ii. chap. 19. By which means the people came to be so well acquainted with them, that (as the same Theodoret tells us in his preface to this Book of Psalms) both in city and country this was the employment of Christian people. They that minded no other book of the Scriptures, yet had this so by heart, that both in their houses, and in the streets, and in the highways, they were wont to recreate themselves with the singing of these holy songs, But I must not enlarge any further on this subject, nor fill this preface with the high commendations which the ancients give both of psalmody and of this Book of Psalms; Avhich St. Basil (who alone would furnish me with the sense of all the rest, if it were fit to transcribe his preface to it) calls the common treasure of all good precepts (containing the perfections of all the rest of the Scriptures), lioeXqtrfac
Job 13:1
JLdO, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it. I have said nothing, I would have you know, but what I myself have observed; or received from credible reports, which I have found to be certainly true. JL HEN Job answered the Lord, mid said.’] These words so livelily represented the power and wisdom of God in his works, that Job, seeing his error more clearly than ever, submitted himself unto the great Lord of all; and said, IV OW when the evening was come, his servants made haste to depart, and Bagoas shut his tent without.
Job 13:2
What ye know, the same do I know also: lam not inferior unto you. Whereby you may see 1 had reason to say, that I know as much as you, and am not to learn of yon. I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.] I am abundantly satisfied that thy power is as large as thy will; and that nothing can hinder thee from eifecting every thing which thou designest: but, as thou hadst reason to cast me down, so thou canst restore me and lift me up again. Ju OR he doth scourge, and hathmercy, he leadeth down to hell, and bringeth up again.] We meet with the like sentiment, Wisd. xvi. 13. Thou hast power of life and death, thou leadest to the gates of hell, and bringest up again. The expression in both places seems to be taken from 1 Sam. ii. 6. The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. " What consolation do these words administer to one of sound faith; and how refreshing is it to the afflicted servants of God, to be assured that the chastisement by which he proves their virtue tendeth to their good, and will end happily at the last! To murmur at God’s dispensations is a sure mark of a weak faith, since the same hand that leadeth down to the gates of death, is as mighty to save, and to bring from thence him that is ready to perish. A consideration that should induce us under all afflictions to cast our care upon him who caretli for us.” (Port-Royal com. in loc.) This prayer of Tobit’s, in which he foretells not only what should happen to Israel, and to the holy temple at Jerusalem, but also the future triumphant state of God’s church, was probably inserted by his son Tobias, who, from the beginning of this chapter, continues the history to the two last verses. Munster’s Hebrew copy has at the entrance of it, In tempore Mo scrijmt Tobias omnes sermones istos cum gaudio, dixitque Tobias, beliedictus Dominus, &c. And Judith ivas left alone in the tent, and Holof ernes lying along upon his bed; for he was filled with wine.] Covcrdale’s rendering here seems preferable, as it sets this interview in a much stronger light; Now wlien it was late in the night, his servants made haste every man to his lodging, and Bagoas shut flie chamber-door, and went his vjay, for they were all overladen with wine: so was Judith alone in the chamber. As for Holofernes he lay upon the bed all drunken, and of very drunkenness fell asleep. Here are many particulars very observable: — 1. That the tents of the great generals in the east were very spacious, having several apartments, and for their grandeur and magnificence not unlike palaces. 2. It is probable that lamps were burning all night in Holofernes’s chamber, without which Judith could not have seen to have managed and conducted her enterprise. 3. When it is here said that Bagoas shut the doors of his tent without, it must be understood with this reserve, that Judith had liberty to go out; for, to prevent suspicion, she had the cunning and precaution to acquaint Bagoas beforehand with her intention of going forth that very night as on the preceding ones. 4. Judith’s servant is ordered* to wait without, not at the door of Holofernes’s tent, as some expositors would have it, that she might be ready at call, and to give any notice or assistance that was necessary, but at that of her own bedchamber, which carried less suspicion with it. Nor docs it appear that she had acquainted her waiting-woman with the great design in hand; it seems more probable, from her not communicating it to the elders of Bcthulia, when she set out on this enterprise, that she kept it as an impenetrable secret, wholly in her own breast, for fear of any discovery or miscarriage. The foregoing circumstances suggest this useful reflection, That the wisdom of God often makes even the vices and irregularities of men to serve, in a surprising manner, to the execution of his own great purposes. Judith would never have been able to have cut off Holofernes’s head, if she had not been alone with him in his tent, and, even when alone, could not have accomplished so desperate a design, if an excess of wine had not quite stupified and laid asleep Holoferncs and his officers, so as not to be capable of mistrusting any thing; much less to hinder what she was about to effect. One sees also by the event, how brutal lust and pure Jove were differently rewarded: Judith, inflamed with the love of her country and its afflicted people, is transported beyond her-* self at the thoughts she had conceived of their deliverance,’ and with great presence of mind, and undauntcdncss of spirit, happily accomplishes it. Holofernes, on the other hand, whose intentions were base and dishonourable, intoxicated with wine, falls a sacrifice to his lusts, a victim to that heroine whom he meant to abuse.
Job 13:3
Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. Would to God I might speak with him, and lay my Teasons open before him; and be troubled with your discourses no longer… Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I kneio not.] I am sensible also of the justice of the reproof which thou hast given me, (xxxviii. 2.) and do confess I very much forgot myself, when I adventured to talk so ignorantly of thy wise administrations. It was that which made me so rash as to discourse of things far above my reach; wonderful things, which’ I ought humbly to admire, not arrogantly censure. Confess him before the gentiles, ye children of Israel, for he hath scattered us among them."] The Jews were carried away from their own land by Shalmaneser and Tiglath-Pileser, kings of Assyria, and dispersed in Jill the provinces of the kingdom of Babylon, (Esth. iii. 8.) and through various parts of the east;’this was done, says the Vulgate, thatthey might publish the wonderful works of God in the land of their captivity, and convince the heathen, " Quia non est alius Deus omnipotens praeter eum." As the wisdom of God knows how to raise his own glory from events seemingly indifferent, so the captivity of the Israelites contribute to spread his honour among the nations in several respects. First, They were, or might be, convinced of the power and justice of God, in that they saw almost.an entire nation delivered over to captivity, and reduced to a state of slavery and bondage, as a punishment for their sins, even by the confession of the captives themselves. Secondly, Hereby the law of the Lord, the Scriptures his word, and the prophecies contained in them,M r ere spread and propagated through all Asia, which would one day dispose that people to know and return to the Lord God, and embrace his true worship: which was the more probable, as many of the captives were likewise persons of great note and authority. (Sec i. 13. 21, 22.) And that they wanted neither care nor diligence to improve every opportunity to recommend their religion, wo may learn from the books of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Thirdly, God wrought special miracles in favour of his people, in countries where his name was unknown, in order to affect the minds and senses of the heathen, and to render them inexcusable in their excesses, which were so many Witnesses and arguments in behalf of true religion against error and idolatry. Fourthly, The Almighty, in thus dispersing his chosen people, thereby fulfilled the prophecies which he had pronounced by the mouth of many of his prophets, that he would thus deal with them if they persisted in their iniquities. (See also Joseph. Antiq. lib. viii. 2.) Lastly, The firm attachment of the prophets, Ezekiel and Daniel, to the law of their God, and the solid piety of Tobit, Mordecai, Esther, the companions of Daniel, and many others, in their captivity, as it did credit to their religion, so was it as signal a robuke, and a public condemnation, of tho reigning vices of the Assyrians and Babylonians.
Job 13:4
But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. For your conclusions are false; and, like unskilful physicians, you exasperate the diseases which you cannot cure. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.] Be not angry with me, I beseech thee, but graciously hear me speaking in thy own words. I do not pretend to give an account of thy wonderful works, and of thy providence; and therefore ask ine no more questions, (xxxviii. 3.) but let me learn of thee, and do thou instruct my ignorance. Then Judith, standing by his bed, said in her heart, O Lord God of all power, look at this present vpon the works of mine hands, for the exaltation of Jerusalem.] Judith shews, by, this prayer, directed to the God of all power, that it was not upon herself, or her own management or force that she depended for success, but on the allpowerful hand of God, from whom, she expected that assistance which she stood so much in need of at this time. Her prayer seems conceived in this or the like manner:—* " I know and experience, O Lord, that in myself I am nothing but weakness, and incapable to execute what I have undertaken; I therefore now, in thy presence, disclaim all pretence to the merit or glory of an action, which is far above me to achieve; but 1 believe, at the same time, and have a firm faith and assurance, that what I cannot do by myself, thou wilt do in and by me, and make thy power the more known and conspicuous, as the instrument thou art pleased to employ is proportionably weak and insufficient." Judith prayed thus, it is said, in her heart, not that she had any fear or apprehension of being overheard by a vocal prayer, as Holoferncs was so insensible and stupified by his excessive debauch; but the expression denotes, that God, being a spirit, hears not the articulato
Job 13:5
Oh that you would altogether hold your peace; and it should be your wisdom. The best proof of your wisdom would be. to say never a word more of these matters. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee.] Something I did know before of thy greatness, and mightiness, and wisdom; but nothing so clearly as I do now, by this revelation and visible appearance of thy dreadful majesty.
Job 13:6
Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips. But listen a little to me, 1 beseech you, and hear by what reasons I mil defend myself. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.] Which touches me with a.sensible displeasure against myself for my indecent complaints, and vehement expostulations, and eager desires to die, or to be delivered: I condemn them all (together with whatsoever I have spoken too boldly about thy government), and in the most sorrowful manner repent, that I have justified myself so much, and thee so little. Therefore see what he will do for you.’] The Vulgate has, Aspiciteergo, quce fecit nobiscum; to which agrees the Syriac. The Greek, teal StaaaaSe a noi-fati /utfl’ t^oiv, sed contemplabimini quce facturus est erga vos; i. e. If you turn to him with your whole heart, then will lie turn to you, and ye shall see what great things he will do for you* Fagius’s Hebrew copy has, Adeo tit demiremini multitudinem miraculorum, £t rerum mirabilium qnas faciet vobiscum; fieO* ifxu>v may mean, Ye shall see what he will do with you; i. e. he will shew his power in gathering you out of all nations, and bring you back to your own country. Our ver* sion here is flat, and wants the spirit of the other. That of Geneva is preferable, If you deal uprightly before him, lie will not hide his face from you, and ye shall liear what he will do with you. In the land of my captivity do I praise him, and declare his might and majesty to a sinful nation.] Whom are we to understand by a sinful nation, either the Israelites or Assyrians? Tho Vulgate seems to point out the Israelites, now captives on account of their sins. According to this acceptation, Tobit blesses God, and magnifies his justice and power, not for favours to, but his chastisement of, an ungrateful people, laden with iniquity, who had rendered themselves unworthy of his mercy. Herein Tobit acted agreeably to the character of the true servants of God, who bless him even in and for the afflictions he is pleased to visit them with, and acknowledge the justice of his conduct towards them, though he distinguishes not between them and sinners by any particular exemption. If they are fellow-sufferers with the ungodly in any national calamity, they are not so conceited of their own righteousness, as to complain of any hard lot, or to think that their innocence ought to have protected them from sharing the common fate with tho rest. As applied to the Assyrians, the meaning cither is, That ho took a pleasure to publish the noble acts ofthcLord, and to shewforth all his praise, amidst that idolatrous people with whom he was in bondage; or he here refers in particular to that signal overthrow of the Assyrians some few years before, when tho angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand; (2 Kings xix. 35.) an event, in which the Divine Majesty and Omnipotence most
Job 13:7
Will you speak wickedly for God? and talk der ceitfully for him?. Doth God stand in need of untruths to justify his proceedings? cannot he.be righteous unless I be wicked? And it was so, that, after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.] Which ingenuous confession pleased the Lord so much, that he did not chide Job any farther: but turning his voice to Eliphaz (his principal accuser), he said, I am angry with thee and with thy two friends: for you have made a perverse construction of the afflictions I sent upon Job; whom, notwithstanding all his errors, I acknowledge to be my servant, and to have spoken better of me than you have done. And approached tohis bed, and took hold of the hair of his head, and said, Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day.
Job 13:8
Will you accept Jiis person? will ye contend for God?. Hath he so little right on his side, that,you must shew him favour? or do you think to oblige his majesty by doing me wrong. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer zip for yourselves a burnt-offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept; lest Ideal with you after yonr folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.] And therefore take no less than seven bullocks, and as many rams, and carry them to my servant Job; whom I appoint to be your priest, to offer for you a burnt-offering, in token of my absolute dominion over all creatures. And that faithful servant of mine shall pray for you, and obtain your pardon: fori have a great love to him, and will be favourable to you for his sake. Do not fail to go about this, lest I inflict some grievous punishment upon you; because, as I said, you have mad^ an ill representation of my providence, and repeated those things confidently which my servant Job shewed you to be false. *.: And she smote twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away his head from him.’] Excess of wine had made Holofernes not only sleepy and drowsy, but even insensible; by his not waking or stirring during the whole action, he seems to have lost all sense, even that of feeling, which gave Judith time, who was not able to take off his head at one blow, to strike a second, and to complete what she had begun. One shall hardly hear or read of an instance, where such a rough and violent assault passed seemingly unfelt and unperceived. When Sisera was smote by Jael, the text says, At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down; which seems to import, that at the first stroke he started and lifted up his body (his sleep being only occasioned by fatigue and weariness), and shewed some sign of life and motion, but being very much stunned, he fell down again, and by a second stroke on so sensible part (for the very manner of the expression denotes a repetition of the blow) he fell down dead. Holofemes’s death was not quite so immediate, nor from the nature of the part wounded could the dire business be so quickly dispatched; but during the whole bloody process of his decollation, no struggle appears, no groan is ut: tered; he lay, as it were, in a continued coma, or rather slept, as it really proved, the sleep of death. Herein they both agree, that they fell ingloriously by the hand of a woman, and by a like instance of treachery. When Polyphemus lay in the like circumstances, inebriated and in a deep sleep with the copious draughts of Ulysses’s generous wine, the wise chief, to whom some god, says Homer, imparted courage for the design, took the advantage of his drowsiness and stupidity, and contrived cunningly the putting out his eye, which alone occasioned such anguish in him, that, as the same poet says, — 2fizp$a\iov Si fiiy qfjuugcv’ 7npl 8’ tax irlrpij. (Odys. IX.) It is observable, that Virgil, mentioning the same.story of the Cyclops, adds, that the persons who were engaged in the design first prayed to the gods to assist them in the attempt — " Nam simul, expletus dapibus, vinoque sepultus, Cervicem inflexam posuit, — nos, magna precati v Nuinina, sortitique vices, una undique circum Fundimur, et telo lumen terebramus acu,to."’(iEn. iii.) The history of Judith is so far similar, that she had her revenge likewise upon a monster of cruelty, and prayed to God to strengthen her hand for the execution of her design. With respect to the act itself, the advocates of this history justify it from the command of God, Deut. xiii. 6. and folr lowing verses..In pursuance of this law, Judith, or any other inhabitant of Bethulia, inspired with the like courage and magnanimity, might lawfully, they maintain, endeavour to counterplot the designs of any, even with the death of the person, who, in a hostile manner, should come not only to invade their civil rights and liberties, but to extirpate their religion^ and compel them by force of arms to receive an idolatrous form of worship, which neither they nor their fathers knew.
Job 13:9
Is it good that he should search you out? or, as one man mocketh another, do you so mock him?. Will it be to your advantage, think you, that God should strictly examine all you have said? or can he be deceived with your flatteries, as frail men may be? r So Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job.] So Eliphaz and his two companions submitted themselves also unto God. and went, as he commanded them, and desired Job to intercede for them. And the Lord heard hia prayer, and was reconciled to them. And tumbled his body down from the bed.] One cannot well guess at the reason which induced Judith to tumble the dead body from the bed upon the ground, unless it was that so frightful a spectacle might strike the greater terror and consternation in those that should behold it, and that the fright and dejection of spirit, communicated from one to another upon the occasion, might at length affect the Assyrian army in general for the loss of their chief, as in reality it did some time after, and occasion their sudden flight, and a successful pursuit after them. And pulled down the canopy from the pillars.] The ancients, especially in warm countries, made the curtains of their beds of a very fine network, which coming round the whole bed, shut them in in such a manner as to have the benefit of the air without the trouble of flies, which could not get through them. Such seems to have been round the bed of Holofernes, called here Kwvwn-eXov, and by the Vulgate, conopeum; which “was a sdrt of veil made in the. form of a fine net, wliich left a passage for the light, and at the same time kept out the flies. The Egyptians used this kind of net-work all round their beds, to guard against the inconvenience of certain flies or gnats, which are called wowing. The ponds and marshes, with which Egypt abounded, bred a great number of these insects. They who translated the history of Judith into Greek, probably Alexandrian Jews, seem to speak after their country manner, when they say here, that Judith pulled down the conopeum of Holofemes’s bed after she had cutoff his head.’
Job 13:10
He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons. No; he will severely chastise you, for designing to gratify him by condemning me. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends; also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.] And at that very time when Job was performing this charitable office for his friends, the Lord was pleased to begin to restore to him all thosethings which had been taken away from him: and never ceased, till he had not only established him in his former splendour, but made him twice as rich as he was before. Praise the everlasting King, that his tabernacle tnay be builded in thee again with joy.’) If this is to be understood literally of the destruction of the city and temple, as all the interpreters expound it, it mu^t refer to that in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and took it, and burnt it with the temple. (2 Kings xxv.) Now this did riot happen till above a hundred years after the history here related: to prevent, therefore, so great an anachronism, it will be more consistent to understand Tobit here as speaking pro* phetically, that the ruin of the house and kingdom of David should precede the coming of the Messias, but that the breaches thereof should be repaired and built again at his coming. The captivity of Zedekiah by the Chaldeans perfected the fall of David’s kingdom, whiqh could not rise before the return from that captivity, and was to rise, as seems to be implied, before a new captivity began. But after the Babylonian captivity was over, none of David’s race was of any great account: this, therefore, most probably relates to the days of the Messias; and the meaning seems to be, That God would restore the kingdom to the house and family of David in the person of the Messiah, and recover that family, which, for several years before his coming, was reduced to a mean and obscure condition, (Micah v. 2. Luke i. 48.) to its ancient splendour and dignity. Tobit bcre seems to refer to Amos ix. 11. In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen down; and, keeping to the met&phor of a tabernacle or building, prays, that God would raise up this tabernacle or building, and close up the breaches of it; that at a certain future time he would again exalt David’s kingdom, which, for awhile, had lain in a desolate and forsaken condition; or, in other -words, he prays for or foretells the happy days of the Messiah, l when, the time of that age they were then under being fulfilled, the miserable and captive Jews, whose condition answered to the ruinous materials in the prophet, will have great reason to rejoice in the blessed change, (see Bishop Chandler’s Def. p. 175, &c.) and that the accomplishment of this long-wished-for event, viz. another and more complete return, than that from Babylon, made a part of their prayer, whilst the sacrifice was consuming. (See 2 Mace, i. 20, 27. 20. ii. 17, 18.)
Job 13:11
Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?. The incomparable excellence of God, one would think, should have frighted away such a thought; and his dreadful majesty made you not presume to imagine he wanted your patronage. Then.came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house; and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an ear-ring of gold.] All his kindred likewise, and his familiar acquaintance, (whom his unusual affliction had estranged from him,,xix. 3.) when they heard of the wonders the Lord had done for him, came to visit him and feast with him: and after they had condoled his misery, and testified their sorrow for all that had befallen him, they congratulated his happy recovery; and, in token of their joy, every one of them presented him with a piece of money and a pendant of gold. Many nations shall come from far to the name of the Lord, ivith gifts in their hands, even gifts toJhe King of heaven.’] This relates to the calling of the gentiles, as does xiv. 7. who shall emb’race the true Teligion, that, of Jesus Christ, as should seem from the mention of gifts, by way ®f homage, which probably has a distant glance at the offering of the wise men. Matt. ii. 11. Or thus, God shall call the gentiles to enter into covenant with him, and make those of them that shall be called by his name to become his people and possession, (see Bishop Chandler’s Dqf. p. 112.) and to be part of the restored kingdom of David, to supply the many families that were lost from his heritage, and the place of the ten tribes that fell off first from David’s kingdom, and of many of the two tribes that never returned from their dispersion. This Amos expresses by the remnant of Edom and of all the heathen being possessed by the Lord, and called by his name, Amos ix. 12. It is very observable, that in Fagius’s Hebrew copy, the very words of Psal. lxxii.10. to which likewise Tobit may probablyallude, are inserted at length. Calmet understands this, as connected with the two foregoing verses, of the great respect paid to the holy city after the captivity by the greatest princes of the w r orld, Cyrus, Darias, Artaxerxes, Alexander the Great, the kings of Egypt and Syria, and even some of the Roman emperors testified their value for it and the temple, by great presents and offerings sent thither; that since the establishment of Christianity, the great regard for this holy place has not diminished; many emperors and kings have contributed to enlarge its beauty or privileges, and have prided themselves in being styled its protectors. Hence the several crusades and holy wars which catholics have engaged in, to rescue the holy land from the possession and profanation of infidels: hence those many voyages and pil-> grimages, which Christians of all ranks have taken, merely to have the pleasure to see that holy city which Jesus Christ honoured with his presence and miracles: hence the great care to preserve its venerable remains, and to consecrate even the very dust; (see August, de Civit. Dei, lib. xxii. cap. 8.) but the first sense is most natural. Then said Judith afar off to the watchmen at the gate, Open, open now the gate: God, even our God is with us, to shew his power yet in Jerusalem, and his forces against the enemy.] Kai icparog Kara twv ix®pvv> which would be better rendered, And his force against the enemy, or his enemies, as the Geneva version has it. Judith, exulting with joy for the happy success of her enterprise, is impatient till the watchmen open the gates for her admittance, that she may communicate the important news to the ciders of the
Job 13:12
Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay. Whose remonstrances, on his behalf, are no better than dust; and the arguments you accumulate but like so many heaps of dirt. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job.more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.] Thus the Lord impoverished this good man only to make him richer. For, instead of seven thousand sheep which he had before his troubles, he found he had fourteen thousand when they were ended; and for three thousand camels “which were taken from him, the Lord gave him six thousand; and multiplied his yokes of oxen, which were but five hundred, into a thousand; and his she-asses in the same proportion.
Job 13:13
Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will. Keep silence, therefore, and do not disturb me in my speech; for I will omit nothing. He had also seven sons and three daughters.] His wife also became very fruitful, and brought him as many children as he had lost; seven sons and three daughters.
Job 13:14
Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?. And I am so conscious to myself of my innocence, that I must still wonder why I suffer such enraging miseries, and am exposed to so many dangers. And he cdltyd the name of the first Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Keren-happneh.] And to preserve the memory of so marvellous k deliverance (of which they were so many living monuments), he called the name of the first Jemima, that is, the day; becauseof the felicity wherein he now shone, after a sad night of affliction, wherein he had lain; and the second Digitized py MicrQsoft ® APPENDIX TO Kczia (a spice of an excellent smell), becauso God had healed his filthy stinking ulcers, which made even his wife refuse to corao near him; (xix. 17.) and the last he called Kercn-happuch, i e. plenty restored, or a horn of varnish, because God had wiped away the tears which fouled his face, (as he complains, xvi. 16.).. Vcr. 15. And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.] The beauty also of these women proved as bright as their names; for there were none so amiable in all that country: and their father did not (as the manner was) endow them with a small portion of his goods, but (having a large estate, and a great affection to them) he made them coheirs with their brethren, in the inheritance which he left them..
Job 13:15
Tltough he slay me, yet will I trmt in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Assure yourselves I will never forego this plea; but still maintain mine innocence, though I were at the last gasp, and had no hope of life.
Job 13:16
He also shall be my salvation: for a hypocrite shall not come before him. And I am confident God him- After this lived Job a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations.]‘After which glorious restitution of him and his family, his years were multiplied as well as his estate; for the Lord added almost an age and a half (no less than a hundred and forty years) to those he had lived before; so that he had the pleasure to sec his children’s children to the fourth generation. Jbr Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stone: thy walls, and towers, and battlements, of pure gold.] Tobit having prefigured, under the image of rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem after tho captivity, the far more glorious establishment of the Christian church, immediately passes on to the description of the new and heavenly Jerusalem, or the church triumphant above. The magnificence and pompousness of the expressions leave no room to doubt that this is not to be understood literally, but of that spiritual building, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. (Eph. ii. 20.) This description very much resembles that, Rev. xxi. 10. 18. 23. of the new Jerusalem, so called to distinguish it from the earthly city of that name, jind is there described as coming down from God, and adorned with all those gifts and graces which can render it glorious and durable, which are metaphorically represented ^under the figure of a solid, four-square, and beautiful structure, consisting all of. gold and precious stones; having the glory of God upon it, and appearing with so remarkable a difference, that as that to -the Israelites was like devouring fire, terrible to behold; this should have nothing of terror in it, but only a pleasing, delightful splendour, like unto that of the most beautiful jasper, clear as crystal, whose glory and lustre should be 4N2
Job 13:17
So Job died, being old, and full of days. And departed not out of the world till he was so fully satisfied^ that he desired not to live any longer. APPENDIX. JuLEIlE ends the book of Job; whose short sufferings (for the space of twelve months, as the Hebrews reckon in Seder Olam) were recompensed with a very long life in great prosperity. If we could rely upon all their traditions, this might have been added to the paraphrase upon the last words, That the whole time of his life was two hundred and ten years. For in the Jerusalem Targum upon Exod. xii. 40. and in Bereschith Rabba upon Gen. xlii. 2. they make account that the Israelites stayed just so long in Egypt: and in the Chronicle forcnamed, and in Bava Bathra, and other books, they tell us, that Job was born that very year when Jacob went with his family down thither to sojourn; and died that same year when they were delivered from thence by the hand of Moses. But this agrees neither with what other of their authors say, whom I mentioned in my preface; nor with the LXX. who, in the last verse but fine of this book, insert this clause, u All the days of his life were two hundred and forty years.” This, indeed, might be easily reconciled with the account beforementioned, if we did but rectify their numbers in tho beginning of that verse by the Hebrew truth, and cutoff the thirty years which they have added to the true time that he lived after his recovery from his sickness; for then this passage also must be corrected, and instead of two hundred and /orty we must set down two hundred and ten. Which we might also prove in this manner (out of Seder Olam, cap. 3.) to be the right account of his age; because it is said (vcr. 10. of the last chapter) that the Lord added to Job the double of what he had before; and therefore, if a hundred and forty years w r ere added, he had seventy before, which in all make two hundred and ten. But it is not worth our while to trouble ourselves with such uncertainties; much less is it safe to rely upon any thing which is supported by no stronger authority than the Hebrew tradition: the vanity of which appears most notoriously in this, that Manasseh ben Israel saith, (lib. i. de Resurrect, cap. nit.) it is evidently certain, by tradition, that the Mahometans at this day pay a great reverence to this holy man’s sepulchre, and honour it at Constantinople with much religion and devotion; w r hen all men that have any considerable acquaintance with other authors, besides those of their own nation (upon which the Hebrews dote),, may easily know, that the Job whom the Turks honour was a captain of the Saracens, w T ho w r as slain w T hcn they besieged that city, in the year of Christ 675. It will be to better purpose if I take notice of an observation of theirs, which hath more certainty in it, because clearly founded upon the Holy Scriptures; which is, that Job was a prophet among the gentiles, and a prophet of very eminent quality and degree: who deserved to have been at least mentioned by Josephus in his book of Antiquities, where he hath not vouchsafed to name him; nay,, to have been praised by the son of Sirach, in his catalogue of famous men, (Ecclus. xliv. &c.) who were honoured in their generations, and were the glory of their times. But, according to the humour of tho Jew r s, he magnifies only, those of their own country, or such from whom they were directly descended: not considering, how much it was for their honour, that, by the care of their noble ancestors, the history of Job, and his excellent virtues, had been preserved: which ho ought not therefore to have omitted, but to have celebrated him among the chief of those worthy, persons, “by whom God wrought great glory; such as, did bear rule iu their kingdoms, men renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understanding, and declaring prophecies/’ &c. (Ecclus. xliv. 2, 3.) Nay, his friends deserved a short remembrance, who seem nothing inferior to the wise men. among the Jews (though they mistook in the applicatipn of many excellent truths), but are acknowledged by themselves to have been prophets among the gentiles. And not without reason; for Eliphaz, we read, (iv. 13, &c.) had night-visions, an apparition of an angel, and secret whispers, like the still small voice which Elijah heard, (1 Kings xix. 12.) which made R. Sol.- Jarchi not fear to say, that the Schechinah was upon him. And Elihu, it is. easy to discern, felt a Divine power working in him mightily, (xxxii, 8. 18,19.) which was not altogether a stranger, he shews, (x^xiii. 15, 10.) to other men; whom God in those days instructed by dreams, amongst other ways tji^t he had of communicating his mind to them. But there was none equal to that wherein he made himself known tp Job, who in three things seems to have had the pre-eminence among all the gentile prophets. First, in that God yyas pleased to speak to him aloud by a voice from heaven, xxxviii. 1. (which the Jews call the Path Col) and not merely in such silent whispers, as he did to Eliphaz, Secondly, that this voice was at-, tended with a notable token of a Divine presence, from whence it came; viz. a whirlwind, which I take to have been something like that sound as of a rushing mighty wind K
Job 13:18
I will drink, noiv, my lord, because my life is magnified in me this day, more than all the days since I was born. The glory of which Judith speaks, was that springing from the hopes of victory, which sho entertained over Holoferncs, the person who aimed to triumph over her chastity; a conquest, not of her eyes, but the effect of her courage; a satisfaction not arising from love, but hatred. For a woman so religious, so attached to the love of her country, and of the sanctuary in particular, was, we may be assured, averse to the addresses of this alien and barbarian, and very far from regarding it as an honour to serve and please him, whose design was, as she mentions in her prayer, to defile the sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle, where the great and glorious Name rested, and to cast down the horn of the altar, (ix. 8.) She could never have any thoughts or inclination to respect and honour one so wicked, whom with such earnestness she implored God to give her grace to despise, and strength to subdue. As she had anticipated victory in her mind, and reflected on it as a glorious instance of the power of God, that the wicked and proud Assyrian should fall merely by the hand of a woman, she had reason to regard that day, when she should.cut off the head of the grand adversary of her country, as the most glorious in her whole lifel
Job 13:20
And Holofernes took great delight in her, and drank much more wine than he had drank at any time in one day since he was born. I cannot better illustrate this than by St. Ambrose’s reflection upon it: — " Temperantia virtus est foeminarura. Inebriatis vino viris, et somno sepultis, abstulit vidua gladiura, exseruit manum, bellatoris abscidit caput, per medias hostium acies intemerata proccssit. Advertitis igitur quantum mulieribus nocere possit ebrietas, quando viros vina sic solvunt, ut vineantur a fceminis?- Esto igitur vidua temperans; casta primum a vino, ut casta possit esse ab adultero. Nequaquam te ille tentabit, si vina non tentcnt. Nam si Judith bibisset, dormisset cum adultero. Sed quia non bibit, haud difficile ebrios exercitus unius sobrictas et vincere potuit, et cludere.” (De Viduis,).