Job 16
PATARGUMENT.’, Job reproves the vanity and obstinacy of Eliphaz, in re- - peating the same things over again, and still persisting in his inhumanity, though he saw his case so pitiable: which he again describes, to make him sensible how.unworthily he was treated by him and the rest of his friends; who, in effect, joined with his enemies, who took this opportunity to rail at him. Whereas there was no crime of his appeared to justify their accusations, and to make good Eliphaz’s argument: which signified nothing, unless he meant to say, that Job was like that wicked tyrant of whom he had discoursed. Which was so far from any show of truth, that he protests he never hurt any body, and was always a sincere lover of God, &c. (ver. 17, 18.) Tho truth of which God knew, to whoso bar he appeals from their unjust sentence. always a more particular and larger share. Some rich pre* sent was also sot apart to the Lord, and consecrated in his temple. (See xvi. 19.) • What remained was usually divided among the soldiers, as well those that guarded the camp as those that were actually in the battle. Judas Maccabeus gave a portion to the maimed, the widows and orphans, of the spoils taken from Nicanor, and the residue was divided. (3 Mace, viii. 2S.) THE BOOK OF JUDITH. honour; and thrust him through with his sword, lest it might be said, that a woman had slain him. (Judg. ix. 54.) pain, and grief, and calamities, that never shall have an end. (Dc Praem.et Pcen.) Instead of Kkavaovrag, the common reading of the place, a learned writer would have, Kavaovrat iv otadtfrct. (Sec Thirlby notes in Just. Apol.) THE BOOK OF JUDITH. preferred to, continual virginity. For as the lapsed, who remained true to the faith after their reconciliation to the church, were the more valued and esteemed, so the widows indeed, who, aftei; casting off their first faith,; continued single and chaste, were counted worthy of double honour. Second marriages, anciently, were looked upon as infamous, especially in women, and, even among the heathens, esteemed faulty, and somewhat criminal; and the reason was, because it brought them under a suspicion of incontinence. Nay, some writers have carried it much farther, and made it a sort of adultery. After the same manner second marriages were condemned by the Jewish rabbins, Filii malieris viduce, filii scortationum sunt; i. e. the children of a woman once a widow are the children of whoredom; and even some of the fathers seem to have been of the same opinion. APPENDIX TO prudential and political views, which hindered him from declaring himself openly against the king of Assyria, and partly to a spirit of humiliation and contrition, which engaged his thoughts and pleased itself in retirement. The last reason Calmct thinks most probable; his system with regard to the date of this history, Judith’s age at the time of Holofcrnes’s death, and the long peace that ensued upon it, as it has been more generally approved and followed, I have explicitly set down, and for more clearness added a short chronological table at the conclusion of the Commentary, of his hypothesis. But against his scheme the following objections have been thought to lie, and to carry with them some considerable weight: 1. From his account the heroine of the story, who by her singular beauty makes such a conquest as is hardly to be paralleled in all history, was at that time at least sixty years old; rather an old woman, than one capable or likely, by the sprightliness of her charms, to captivate such a general. 2. His solution has been objected to, as inconsistent with sacred history. Judith’s death happens, according to him, twenty-nine years after that of Manasses: at the end of this book it is expressly said, that none made the children of Israel any mora afraid for a long time after her death; and yet, in the thirty-third, or at most the thirty-fourth year after the death of Manasses, that is within four or five years after her death, Josiah, king of Judah, found himself under the unfortunate necessity of opposing Pharaoh-Nechoh, who would force a way through his country against the king of Babylon, to whom Josiah had stvorn allegiance and fidelity. In this fatal struggle Josiah fell, and with him, as Prideaux expresses it, " perished all the glory, honour, and prosperity, of the Jewish nation," But these objections I shall have an opportunity to consider, and in some measure reply to, under the following hypothesis; viz. that of Montfaucon, who agrees with Calmet, and the learned chronologcrs above, in placing the siege of Bethulia in the reign of Manasses, but fixes it to the latter part of it: he supposes Judith at this time to be about fortyfivc^ or at most fifty years old, and peace to continue to the end of the reign of Jehoiakim; and by this account there will be sixty years of tranquillity; viz, the sixteen last years of Manasses, two of Amon, thirty-one of Josiah, and eleven of Jehoiakim. In this hypothesis the objection with respect to Judith’s age is somewhat weakened, but if it be thought very rare, that a woman should preserve her beauty in such perfection to fifty, and especially to sixty years, let it be considered, that it is no less surprising, that one of that sex should live to a hundred and five; and that such, whose constitution is so strong and vigorous, as to live to so very long a tCTm of life, generally were better, and preserve their complexion and beauty longer, than other people, cspor cially if they have had no children, nor any of the accidents or infirmities incident to teeming women, as was particularly the case of Judith. I might here add also, what the Vulgate expressly says, though I do not pay an equal regard to it with the catholics, " that God, for the more effectual dcliverancq of his people by her hand, added to the grace and lustre of her beauty at the time when she presented herself before Holofcrnes." But possibly this representation of her, with these additional advantages, may not be thought consistent with the eunuch Bagoas calling her, fair damsel, and the Greek 7ra<8(Wri; (xii. 13.) but there is the lp£S stress to be laid on this, as the LXX. call Ruth v5vic, when she had at that time lived many, at least ten, years with her first husband, and Sarah tvirgoGbmoQ, when she was older than Judith in cither of the reckonings is supposed to be here: as Abraham and David in like manner, each of them is, by the same writers, called 7ra?e, even when somewhat advanced in years. As to the next particular, viz. the long continuance of the peace in and after her time, it is observed by the same learned apologist for the truth of this history, " that the Jews, from their coming out of Egypt, never enjoyed so long a respite and tranquillity as at this time, the whole term being little Jess than sixty years; the happy effect probably of the sincere penitence and contrition of Manasses, and of the great piety of Josiah. Wc find in Herodotus, a farther reason of their long quiet, and placid state of affairs; viz. that the most powerful empires; of the east were then so engaged and employed on ditferent occasions in warlike enterprises, that they were not at liberty to molest their neighbours, which they would not have failed to have done if they had been at peace. Hence the Babylonians and Assyrians were hindered from carrying their arms into Judca; arid hence too it happened, that we read of no war in the books of Kings and Chronicles, after the return of Manasses from his captivity, to the death of Josias:" unless that struggle indeed is to be called a war, wherein Josiah only defended his own borders, and the war was properly and truly, according to the best historians, between the king of Egypt and the king of Assyria. Some indeed perhaps will not be brought to consent, that the peace should be allowed to continue after the death of Josiah, in a reign when the Jews were, tributary to the Babylonians; but, as the paying tribute, though an instance of the people’s weakness, does not always infer war, so the mulct imposed upon the Jews, hinders not, but that all this time may pass for a time of peace and repose, especially with regard to a people so accustomed to slavery as the Jews were; and consequently the eleven years of Jehoiakim are to be included in the long term of peace here mentioned, and their national calamity to be dated from their final transmigration, when there was an end more properly of the Jewish glory and prosperity. Farther, it has been thought a strong presumption of a fiction, as we have the. history of the reigns of Manasses and Josiah twice recorded in Scripture, that we find not the least syllable there, relating to such mighty events, as are mentioned in the book of Judith: and if Josephus had believed them real, it is surprising, that, were he professedly writing the history of those times, he should not take occasion to supply that omission. Josephus’s absolute silence as to this whole transaction, is nrged as increasing the difficulty: had he believed the history to be fact, the taking notice of it was so much for the dignity and glory of his country, so proper to raise the figure of his people, which was the’ grand point he had in view throughout his history, that one would almost as easily believe an able historian could attempt to writo the history of our king Edward HI. and yet quite overlook the battle of Crcssy, the most glorious and distinguished character in it. As for the books of Kings and Chronicles not mentioning this great event, it may be suffi-r. cicnt to reply, that the reason of this perhaps may be, that the sacred history being very concise, a particular account * MDDtfancoD. la VerilS de I’Hisloire de Judilh. THE BOOK OF JUDITH. of all facts relating to the Jewish nation, is not to be expected. It sometimes mentions remarkable occurrences transiently, and in a few words, and sometimes altogether omits things considerable and important. This observation’s particularly applicable to the books of Kings and Chronicles, which speak in general terms, and refer for actions unmentioned to books then extant, but long since lost. (See 1 Kings xiv. 19. 29. 2Kings xvi. 19. 1 Chron. xxix. 29. 2 Chron. ix. 29. xxxiii. 19.) As to that part of the objection drawn from Josephus’s silence, I shall not, in solution of it, urge that the writer says nothing of some other important transactions within the compass of history, as the infanticide, and the actions of Jesus Christ, and John the Baptist, these being rather repugnant to the general design of his writings, but shall set down some, I think not improbable, reasons of this silence. 1. As it was not his design to take in all occurrences that any ways related to the Jewish people, so he professes to confine himself to such things and facts as were recorded in their ancient books, i. e. the Hebrew Scriptures comprised in their canon, and therefore might pass over the circumstances of this history, however known to or believed by him, as not being wrote in that language, nor admitted into the sacred code: and should it be allowed, that he has occasionally inserted in his history some circumstances and facts apocryphal and unrecorded, yet this 3 I conceive, proves more against the veracity of Josephus himself, and his little regard to the profession he makes of a strict attachment to the Hebrew Scriptures only, than it impeaches the credit of the history of Judith. 2. Those who have read Josephus with care must have observed, that inhis history of the times which precede the captivity of Babylon, he scarcely mentions any thing more of the kings of Judah, than what he finds in the books of Kings and Chronicles. And hence probably it happened, that many remarkable facts omitted in those sacred books are likewise omitted by Josephus. It is observable, that he follows these step by step, and possibly he either would not interrupt their series and order, if he knew of Judith’s history, or might not certainly know in what time to place it, “Which is more probable, as he seems not to have had any great knowledge of the history of the Medes, wherein several very considerable omissions are to be discovered. It is certain that the Scythians invaded Asia in the time of Manasses; that they made great devastation there; that they entered even Palestine; robbed and plundered the temple of Venus at Ascalon, and at length settled at Bethsan, a city of Judea, and from their own name called it Scythopolis. Might not one expect, in such a history as that of Josephus, some account, or mention at least, of so great and interesting events? And yet that historian wholly omits them, probably as not being taken notice of in the books of Kings and Chronicles, which are the memoirs he proceeds upon, and are his only guides and authority in the Jewish history* The same answer will in a great measure satisfy another objection, sometimes urged from Josephus, viz. his omitting Joacim in his list of the high-priests, from the times of David to the captivity; for as he omits several of that order, even those mentioned in Scripture, it is no wonder that he should omit a single name which occurs in this history. It appears then from what has been observed, that the objection founded on the silence of Josephus is but of little weight, and that the history of Judith maynotwithstanding be true, though Josephus docs not mention it. It may be proper here also to examine more fully another difficulty, in some measure indeed replied to in its place, founded on the words of Achior, v. 18, &c. who, speaking of the “Jews, says, TJie temple of their God was cast to the ground. From hence some have inferred, that the history of Judith ought to be placed after the captivity, and that the meaning is, that the temple was entirely ruined from the foundation, and that the words they are returned from the places of their captivity, point out their return from the captivity of Babylon. But before I proceed to the objection itself, it may be pertinent to premise, that Achior, who speaks in this place, being a stranger, an Ammonite, too much stress ought not to be laid on his account of Jewish affairs; for possibly he might not be well informed of what passed in Judea, or related to it, and might have heard that the number of Jews returned from their captivity was much greater than it really was, as a report often exaggerates matters, and deceives persons at a distance. But there is no occasion to rest in this general answer, or to have recourse, with Bellarmine, to any supposed corruption of the text; for the Greek, 6 vabg rov Stov avr&v lyzvv9ri hq c’Sa^oc, may fairly admit of another meaning, viz. that the temple had been abused and profaned by gentiles and idolaters, who entered into it, and dealt with it as a common place; Templym Dei ipsorum habitum est ut profanum solum, says Junius, very closely and explicitly; and some more ancient Latin copies, Templum Dei Apsorum factum est in pavimentum. For though dg iSacpog Karaj3aXXeiv in Plutarch, and ug tSa
Job 16:1
J. HEN Job answered and said. Here Job interrupted him, and said, JLLL the people sang after her.] The way of singing alternately, or for the people to join in the chorus, and sing the ak-portAevna, or ends of the verses which the Psaltte began, was a very common and ancient practice; see Exod. xv. 21. where, after the children of Israel had passed the Red Sea, Moses and the men sang a song unto the Lord, and Miriam the prophetess, with all the women, joined in the chorus. (Exod. xv. 20, 21.) So, after David’s victory over Goliath, the general chorus of the women was this, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. (1 Sam. xviii. G, 7.) And in the ceremonies used on the passage of the ark from one place to another, the chorus is generally thought to have been, For his mercy endurethfor ever. (Psal. exxxvi.) Calmet thinks this song of thanksgiving was composed extempore by Judith, animated and inspired by the Spirit of God; and that the people replied in the measure she began, and joined together in the chorus. Others are of opinion, that this was sung publicly in the temple at Jerusalem, when Judith went thither to offer tho trophies of her victory to the Lord, carrying with her the head of Holofernes in triumph.
Job 16:2
J have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. Thou dost but repeat what hath been often said already: such comforters as you are as troublesonic as my sufferings.
Job 16:3
Shallvainwordshaveanend? or what emboldenelh thee that thou answerest?. May not one endlessly pour out such empty discourses? (as I may with more reason call thine than thou didst mine, xv. 3.) I wonder at thy confidence, that, having so little to say, thoushouldest take upon thee to answer. For God breaketh the battles.] Judith, in her prayer to God, chap. ix. to throw down the strength of the Assyrians by his power, and bring down by his wrath the forces of them that were exalted with horse and man, tvho gloried in the strength of their footmen, and trusted in shield and spear, and boiv, and sling, uses this very expression, Thou art the Lord that breakest the battles, the Lord is thy name. And very properly does she here, when her prayer was answered, and she had obtained her request, repeat it, and expatiate, with great pleasure and thankfulness, upon his almighty power and mercy, shewed to her amongst the camps, and in the midst of the people, who threatened to destroy their borders. The Jews, to exalt the almighty power and majesty of their God, sometimes describe him as going forth like a mightyman of war, armed with a sword to take vengeance of his enemies; sometimes as the God of the armies of Israel in particular, and sometimes as the Lord of hosts in general. The Vulgate furnishes us with a new and not improper sense of the remainder of the verse, Qui posuit castrasua in medio populi sui, nt eriperet nos de manu omnium inimicorum; i.e. his ministering spirits watched over the Israelites, and procured their deliverance, by striking a panic into the hearts of the Assyrians, and occasioning their flight. ■ *
Job 16:4
J also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my souVs stead, I could heap up words -against you, and shake mine head at you. I could insult as well as you; and, if we could change conditions, let you sec how easy it would be to oppress you with such words as these, in a grave fashion to mock at your calamities. Assur came out of the mountains from the north.] Though Assyria and the other provinces beyond Euphrates were not directly north of Judea, the prophets notwithstanding usually describe them by the north. (See Isa. xiv.13. 31. xli. 25. Jer.i. 13—15. iii. 12— 18. Ezek.i.4. viii. 3, &c.) It seems to be, because the people beyond Euphrates came into Judca by the defiles of the mountains of Libanus and Hermon, which are north of Judea: tho way through Arabia Deserta, which was the direct and shortest way, was impassable for an army, as having neither water, nor wood, nor forage of any sort, nor any villages. He came with ten thousands of his army, the multitude whereof stopped the torrents.] The Jews often confound the torrents with the valleys through which they pass, the same word ^>rtf > with them signifying both; and so the sense here may be, that the Assyrian army covered all the valleys..The Greek seems to imply, that they maliciously stopped up and spoiled all the springs, wherever they came, that the inhabitants and their cattle might perish with thirst. Or the meaning may rather be, that through the great number of their forces, they had drained and exhausted all the torrents, as Sennacherib boasted, that he had dried up all the rivers of besieged places. (2 Kings xix. 24.) The like is mentioned of Xerxes’s army, Juven. Sat. x. Herod. lib. vii. cap. 108, 109. Ver. G. The Almighty Lord hath disappointed him by the handofa*<)oman.] He who had defied the God of Israel, and had threatened to destroy his people, as one man, ignominiously falls by the hand of a woman. In the like disgraceful manner, Sisera, who was determined to destroy the children of Israel utterly, was given up into the hands of a woman, who slew him with a nail, and the workman’s hammer. (Judg.iv.2I.) Dying by the hand of a woman, was reckoned so ignominious, that Abimelech, being wounded by the hand of a woman, desired his armour-bearer to save his
Job 16:5
But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief. But I abhor the thought of such a guilt: I would not fail to fortify you, in that case, with the best arguments I could invent; and carefully abstain from the least word that should augment your grief.
Job 16:6
Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?. Though as for myself, I find my misery admits of no consolation: for whether I defend my innocence, or silently suffer you to condemn me, it makes no difference.
Job 16:7
But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company. God hatb long Since quite tired me with one trouble upon another. Thou hast not ceased, O God, till thou hast left me neither goods, nor children, no, nor a friend to comfort me. Neither did the sons of the Titans smite him…] Some have formed an objection from this term as taken from the heathen poets; but have not some of the inspired writers borrowed words and even sentences from the poets, especially St. Paul and St. James? And why is this word more to be condemned than the name giant, which is as poetical as that of Titan? for giants are supposed w to be so called, quasi ynytvue, or earth-born, according to poetical fiction: it seems to be used here only to vary the expression. The LXX. and Vulgate have taken the same liberty, and particularly in the book of Job, by inserting the names of the Pleiades, Hyades, Orion, Arcturus, Amalthea, &c. (See note on Wisd. xix. 21-) All, I think, that can with reason be inferred from the use of this term is, that the author of this history, or however the translator of it, had read the Greek poets. By Titans are here meant the Rephaim, giants, often mentioned in Scripture.
Job 16:8
And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a ^vitness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face. The furrows in my face (which is not old) shew the greatness of my affliction; which is extremely augmented by him, who rises up with false accusations to tako away mine honour, as this consumption will do my life.
Job 16:9
lie teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnashes upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. He rends my good name in pieces with a passion equal to his hatred: my enemy is enraged against me, and cruelly sets himself to spy out the least occasion to calumniate me. Her sandals ravished his eyes.] By the shape and size of these, the beauty of the feet was discovered: these shoes or sandals were anciently wont to be set ofF, or adorned with jewels, as we learn from many authors, (see Isa. iii. 18.) and were richer and neater than men’s. The rabbins say, that the Israelites of condition appeared in the temple on solemn days with crimson shoes; Virgil describes Venus in the dress of a Phoenician damsel, with buskins of purple. The bride’s sandals, Cant, vii.l. were probably of this colour, How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! Their shoes did not hide their feet as ours do, but were like the Phoenician buskins, which discovered the foot and part of the leg, the whiteness whereof was set off by the lustre of the purple. Judith, in all probability, had a pair of these buskins on when she appeared before Holofernes. Her beauty took his mind prisoner…] Nothing can be more poetical than this, or express, the power of beauty stronger; see Ecclus. ix. 8. 1 Esd. iv. 26, 27. w r here the words, 7roXXot a7T£vo/j0ijffav rate iStaiG Stavolatc &a rdc yvvaiicac, ml $ov\oi lyivovro Si avrac, sufficiently confirm this passage.
Job 16:10
They liave gaped upon me with their mouths; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me. There is no small number of such as these, who look like so many wild beasts coining to devour me; having already most shamefully abused me, and joined themselves together to givo full satisfaction to their wrath, wherewith thoy are filled against mc. TJie Persians quaked at her boldness, and the Medes were daunted at her hardiness.’] Possibly the Medes and the Persians were at this time subjects to the king of Assyria, and made up part of his army, as they did when Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem, that army consisting of several sorts of nations. (Isa. xxix. 7.) Except we should think that Nebuchadnezzar was foisted in here, and that this expedition was undertaken by Darius, or some other.Persian prince. (See note on ii. 7.) Calmet thinks these two nations submitted to Nabuchodonosor after his victory over king Arphaxad, or Phraortes, (i.13.)
Job 16:11
God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. So God will have it; who hath abandoned the protection of me, and delivered me bound into tt 3 hands of the ungodly, to uso me at their pleasure. Then my afflicted shouted for joy, and my weak ones cried aloud; but they were astonished: these lifted up their voices, but they were overthrown.] L e. The people of Bethulia, her weak and afflicted ones, through want of water •and other necessaries occasioned by the siege, shouted for their deliverance: or, in a more general sense, the Israelites, threatened with ruin and destruction by this proud conqueror, triumphed upon his overthrow. But the Assyrians, as the margin rightly understands it, were astonished at a calamity so sudden, and a defeat so unexpected. The former lifted up their voices in songs and acclamations; and the latter were overthrown by those whom they had insulted for their impotency and weakness. There is a sort of contrast here which heightens the sense, and makes it preferable either to that of the Syriac or Vulgate, which understand the whole of the Assyrians..
Job 16:12
J was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. How happy was I heretofore! and now I am crushed in pieces: from an eminent condition he hath thrown mo down into tho most despicable; and there I am exposed (as a butt to the arrow) to all manner of indignities and miseries. And she tookbranches in her hand, and gave also to the women that were with her.’] Bdpaovg. The thyrsus was a sort of spear twisted about with ivy, used in the mysteries and triumphs of Bacchus. It is probable the Jew’s borrowed this, as they did many other customs, from the heathens, and applied it to their feasts of tabernacles and other solemn occasions. Boughs were made use of by both of them, to adorn and set off the pomp of their solemn processions, and as public ensigns of triumph. When Judas Maccabeus had cleansed the temple from the pollutions which Antiochus Epiphanes brought into it, all the people, to do him honour and to express their own joy, carried branches or boughs in processions, (2 Mace. x. 7.) and sang psahns unto him that had given them good success in cleansing the holy place* The sons of the damsels have pierced them through, and wounded them as fugitives children: they perished by the battle of the Lord.] i. e. Because the Lord fought for Israel. The meaning here is, that raw youths, or children in comparison, overcame these mighty men of valour, so little resistance did they make; so little, that, according to the Geneva version, they fled away from those that wounded them like so many children; or, as the Syriac has it, suffered themselves to be put to death, like timorous women, without returning a blow.
Job 16:13
His archers compass me round about; he clcaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; liepoureth out my gall upon the ground. He is not content to take away all my goods, and destroy my family, but, to the reproach of friends (which strike like so many darts to my very heart), he hath added ulcers in every part of my body, with inward pains, which rack me without intermission; and, in one word, hath so mortally wounded me, as if my bowels were already shed upon the ground. And they put a garland of olive upon her, and her maid that was with her.] Crowns, and particularly those made of olive twigs, were very rare, especially for women. This is the only instance one meets with, says Calmet, among the Hebrews; but nothing was more proper to grace “Judith’s triumph than such a crown. The olive was a tree in much esteem among the ancients, and its boughs used on certain festival occasions; it was also made by them an emblem of peace, and as such now very pertinently applied to distinguish and adorn her who was the happy procurer of it. Pliny mentions the honour paid to it by the Romans, u Oleac honorem Romana majestas magnum tribuit, turmas equitum Idibus Juliis ex eis coronando, item minoribus triumphis ovantes.” (Lib. xv. cap. 4.) And among the Greeks, the reward of the conquerors at certain games was a crown made of olive. (Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Dier. lib. v. cap. 8.) CHAP- XVI.
Job 16:14
He breaketh me with breach upon breach; he runneth upon me like a giant. Before one wound be closed he makes another, and in such violent a manner, that I can make no more resistance than a dwarf can do against a giant..
Job 16:15
J have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust. The sackcloth which I put on at the first now cleaves so fast to mc, as if I had sewed it to my skin; and all my authority and honour is changed into contempt. For the mountains shall be moved from their foundations.] i. e. Such proud princes, who, like the Assyrians, trust in the multitude of their forces, shall be disappointed and oVerthrown. Or it may be applied to the overthrow on which this song, or ImvUtov, was composed.
Job 16:16
My face is foul with weeping \ and on my eyelids is the shadow of death. My face is dirty, arid mine eyes in a manner quite put out by the very tears which have fallen from thence. For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour unto thee, and all the fat is not sufficient for thy burnt-offering; but he thatfeareth the Lord is great at all times.] i. e. Is always in great favour with him. Qui timet Dominum, magni est apud eum semper. This sentence is very remarkable, and a strong proof of the inefficacy and unprofitableness of the ancient sacrifices as such: that God does not regard the sacrifice itself, however nice and costly, so much as the mind and holy disposition of the offerer; nothing but the fear and love of God can render men agreeable to him, or their oblations effectual in his sight.
Job 16:17
Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure. And yet I must still say, I never offered such a violence as this to any man, and was always (so false is Eliphaz’s accusation, xv. 4.) a sincere worshipper of God. The Lord will take vengeance of them in the day of judgment, in putting fire and worms in their flesh…] i.e. The Lord shall slay all the enemies of the Jewish nation, and they shall be like to so many putrefying carcasses lying slain in the field of battle, and overrun with worms and stench. They shall, be a lasting monument of God’s justice, like Sodom, set forth for an example of the Divine vengeance, and of that eternal fire which is prepared for the ungodly. (See Mark ix. 44. Ecclus. vii. 17.) An’ expression of the like import w&meet with in Isa. lxvi. where it is said of the enemies of God, that the worm shall not, die, neither shall the fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. It seems more curious than useful to inquire, \yhether the fire and worms mentioned here and in Scripture, as the punishment of the wicked, arc really material. If by these is to be understood a wicked and polluted conscience only, with the racking reflections that always accompany it, as was the opinion of Origen, there seems but little reason for the wicked to triumph, as the stings of conscience must be a greater torment than any bodily punishment, and will be coeternal with the soul. They shall weep under a sense of their pains for ever.] The ancient Jews held, that the punishment of the wicked in hell should be perpetual, or without end. Josephus informs us, de Bell. Jud. lib. ii. Antiq. lib. xviii. that the pharisees maintained, the souls of (he wicked were to be punished, atSfy Ttfivpiq, with perpetual punishment, and that there was appointed for them, upjfioc ai’Sioc, a perpetual prison. Philo says, the punishment of the wicked is, %rjv tnroOavCvra ati, to live for ever dying, and to be for ever in
Job 16:18
O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place. If this be not true, let my blood be left to the dogs to lick, when I am dead, and let neither God nor man regard my complaint while I am alive. As soon as the people ivere purified, they offered their burnt-offerings.] Seb noto on xii. 7. Philo’s testimony, with respect to the antiquity of this rito of purification, is too particular to be omitted: “Let the person (says he) who is about to offer sacrifice, after he has washed and purified his hands, lay them upon the head of the victim.” (De Vict.) The Psalmist seems to allude to this custom, Psal. xxvi. 6. I will wash mine hands in innocence, and so will I go’ to thine altar. The priests were more particularly and strictly obliged to this purification, when they were to attend the public service, and minister about holy things, Exod. xxx.20. see Gcn.xxxv. 2. where we read that Jacob’s servants, before they performed their devotions in Beth-el, washed themselves and changed their garments. The meaning of this passage is, that the people offered sacrifice as soon as they were purified from the uncleanness which they had contracted from the slaughter of the Assyrians, and the touching their dead bodies, and carrying away their spoils.
Job 16:19
Also now, behold, my witness is in Iieaven, and my record is on high. But what need these imprecations? The great God who rules over all is my witness, and can testify how just I have been towards my neighbours, and how pious towards himself. Dedicated all the stuff unto the Lord.) The reason of this was, to acknowledge God is the giver of all victory. Almost all nations have concurred in this duty of thankfulness and gratitude after some signal success, and called, as Virgil expresses it, in prcedam partemque Jovem. So the Philistines hung up the arms of Saul in the temple of Ashtaroth, and carried the ark into the temple of Dagon. The sword of Goliath, slain by David, mentioned 1 Sam. xxi. 9. to be wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod, is thought by learned men to be dedicated unto God. Thus Josephus understands it, rrjv pofxtyalav av(0t)Kt r$ $e$’ And Sulpitius Sevcrus, Gladium postea in templum posuit. Thus Abraham gave to Melchiscdec, the priest of the most high God, as a return of gratitude to him, Sckct^v rfc \dag, the tenth of all the spoils. (Heb. vii. 4.) And the Jews sometimes offered all the spoils taken in war, 2 Sam. viii. 12. or the first-fruits, 1 Sam. xv. 21. according to the rendering of the LXX. or the tenths, Heb. vii. 4. or hung up in the forefront of the temple, some more remarkable part of the spoils, as shields, &c. in token of victory, and as an instance of gratitude for it, 1 Mace, iv.51. (See Spencer, de Leg. Heb. de Solut. Decim.)
Job 16:20
My friends scorn me; but mine eye poureth oxtt tears unto God. From your judgment therefore (who, instead of comforting my innocence, scornfully set yourselves to defame mc) I appeal to his; and beseech him with perpetual tears to vindicate me. So the people continued feasting in Jerusalem before the sanctuary for the space of three months.’] Such a fact as the killing of Holoferaes, and thereby defeating the whole army of the Assyrians, and rescuing the Jews, not only from the danger of the present siege, but from such farther attacks as might have affected the very being of their state, — was it indeed true, say objectors, one might well expect that some public notice, some standing memorial, besides the temporary rejoicings here’mentioned, though longer indeed than usual (being three months, according to all the versions but the Syriac, which mentions only one), should have been instituted of so auspicious an event. Public blessings of an inferior nature to this were wont to be commemorated by anniversary feasts, and that no such should be appointed in memory of this may seem scarce credible. From the foundation of the Jewish state, and the first giving of the law, scarce any deliverance happened to that people which was of greater consequence than this, if it had been truly such as is here represented, and yet we find no such annual triumph and festivities, though the occasion may seem to demand it. Some Latin editions, indeed, as particularly the Vulgate, conclude this book with the following verse, Dies autem victoria httjus festivitatis, ab Hebrteis in numero sanctorum Dierum accipitur, et colitur a Judms, ex illo tempore usque ad prtesentem diem. But as there is no mention of this in the Greek and other versions, nor any festival taken notice of by tho Jewish writers, as instituted on this occasion, it has been judged a corrupt addition to the text. Huetius thinks this is not a sufficient reason, because in time such a feast might be abrogated and laid aside. (Dem. Evang. prop. 4.) And this, Calmet says, i3 not improbable, as being only a human institution, and therefore it might drop by disuse or other accidents. In liVs manner, as the anniversary festival of Judas Maccabeus’s victory over Nicanor, which in Joscphus’s time was celebrated with great rejoicings, (Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 17. 1 Mace. vii. 2 Mace, xv.) afterward ceased, and it is now many ages since any notice was taken of it. The Babylonish captivity gave so violent a shock to the Jewish state, and occasioned such confusion and disorder, that it is no wonder, during so long an exile, if they forgot and dropped many of their ancient feasts and solemnities, such especially as were not of Divine institution. Scaliger, indeed, mentions, lib. vii. de Emend. Temp, that the churgh of Ethiopia still observes the feast in memory of this victory, and that it is kept on the fourth of August in particular; which agrees very well with the history which places the siege in the time of harvest, and when the season was dry and hot. Which shews that the feast here said to be observed, could not be that of the dedication of the temple, instituted by Judas Maccabeus, as Grotius would have it, since that was confessedly kept in the winter, John x. 22. On which place that learned writer observes, that it was instituted in memory of the purification of the temple from the pollutions of Antiochus. But if this book was composed before that time, (see Prsefat. in Jud.) how can the festival here mentioned possibly relate to it?
Job 16:21
Oh that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!. 1 am so assured of the goodness of my cause (as well as of his justice), that I wish for nothing more than to have it speedily heard and tried by him, in the same manner that pleas are held before earthly judges.
Job 16:22
When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return. For my life cannot last long; and I know that when I am gone I cannot return hither again, for him to dome justice. And many desired her, but none knew her all the days of her life, after that Manasses her husband was dead.] Judith is not more magnified for her severe fastings than she is for her widowhood of so many years, and living with one husband only for the space of so long a life. She continued in the state of widowhood, not from any imbecility of body, or for want of solicitation, but from the magnanimity of her virtue. St. Ambrose admires and celebrates her prudent conduct on this occasion: — " Nee his tamen elata successibus, cui utique gaudere et exsultare licebat, viduitatis reliquit officium; scd contemptis omnibus, qui ejus nuptias ambicbant, vestem jucunditatis deposuit, viduitatis resumpsit. Ncc triumphorum suorum amavit ornatus, illos existimansesse meliores, quibus vitia corporis, quam quibushostiumarraa,vincuntur.” (DcViduis.) Like that holy pattern of widows, Anna the prophetess, a widow about eighty-four years of age, (Luke ii. 38.) whereof sho lived seven only with one husband from her virginity, and continued the rest of the time separated and rotired, serving God with fastings and prayers night and day. Great things are said in the ecclesiastical writings in praise of perpetual widowhood; it is put upon a footing with, and by some
And waxed old in her husband’s house, being a hundred and five years old. Transit autem in domo viri sui annos centum quinque, Vnlgate. Not that she lived so long with her husband, or even in his house, but that her life was prolonged to that term, or that she died at that age.
And the house of Israel lamented her seven days. See Ecclus. xxii. 12. where the son of Sirach says, Seven days do men mourn for him that is dead: and that this was the stated time of mourning among the Jews appears from many instances; see Gen, v. 10. where Joseph’s mourning for his father is said to have been seven days. The like was observed with respect to Saul and his sons, 1 Sam. xxxi. 13. Archelaus performed the accustomed solemnity of seven days’ mourning for his father Herod. And beforeshe died, she did distribute her goods to all them that were near of kin to Manasses her husband, and to them that were nearest of her kindred.] From hence it seems probable, that she had no children by her husband, as she adopted those that were nearest of kin on both sides to inherit her substance. As.barrenness lay under a sort of disgrace among the Jews, her continuing without issue seems to have arose from an abhorrence of a second marriage.
And there was none that made the children of Israel any more afraid in tJte days of Judith, nor a long time after her death,. There is not a greater difficulty in all this history, than to account for so long and continued peace as is here mentioned. For according to the account of this writer, says Dr. Pridcaux, (Conncx. vol. i.) " Peace must have lasted at least eighty years. For allowing Judith to have been forty-five years old at the time of her killing Holofcrncs (and in an older age she cannotwcll be supposed to have beauty enough to charm such a man), there must be sixty years after to the time of her death. But the expression, a long time after, in the text, cannot imply less than twenty years, and so carries the computation still farther.” Calmct endeavours to explain and settle the difficulty thus: " From the death of Holoforncs, A. M. 3348. to that of Manasses, A. M. 3361. we read of no war or considerable disturbance cither in Israel or Judah: Amon, who succeeded him, reigned but two years, he was slain in his own house, but no account of any war in his time. Josias lived in like manner in peace and quiet, during the one-and-thirty years of his reign, to A. M. 3394." According to this reckoning there are forty-six years of continued peace. He supposes farther, as the text says nothing certain of the age of Judith at the time of this assassination, that sho might be sixty-three or sixty years old, being then what we call a fine woman, and having an engaging air and person. In this case, and if this be allowed, he maintains, that from the raising of the siege of Bethulia to the death of Judith, and even some time longer, there was no war, or considerable disturbance in Israel, for the space of sixand-forty years. The following tabic will make his scheme clearer: — A.M. Birth of Judith. Manasses began to reign. He is brought prisoner to Babylon, and after some months sent back to Judea. War between Nabuchodonosor and Arphaxad/ Victory of Nabuchodonosor over Arphaxad. Expedition of Holofernes. Siege of Bethulia.. Death of Manasses, king of Judah. Death of Judith, aged a hundred and five years. Death of king Jpsiah. The last siege of Jerusalem by Nabuchodonosor.. The city taken, the temple destroyed, and the people brought captive to Babylon. APPENDIX COMMENTARY ON JUDITH, A HE time in which the history of Judith is to be placed, is a point the most contested and most difficult of all others to be settled, and is indeed that on which depends the solution of most of the other difficulties usually urged against this book. If one could once fix a certain epoch of the great eyent recorded in this history, the. adversaries of it would have little to object against.its truth and reality. The opinion most followed, and which is countenanced by the best chronologers is, that the date of this history ought to be placed before the last Babylonian captivity. But they arc not generally agreed whether it should be placed in the reign of Zedckiah, Manasses, Amon, Josiah, or Jehoiakim. Our learned Usher fixes it particularly in the time of Manasses; or A. M. 3348. (Per. Jul. 4058. ante Christ. 656.) And the same opinion is espoused and followed by the author of the Index and Tables to the Quarto Bibles, supposed, with good reason, to be the work of the truly great and eminent Bishop Lloyd. But even those that place it under Manasses, arc divided among themselves; some think this event happened while that prince was prisoner at Babylon, and that the history itself countenances this notion by its silence with regard to the prince that then reigned. Others will have it to be a little after his return from thence, and ascribe his absenting from public business, partly to