Job 3
PATthe judgments of God should fall upon him, as they had done upon his father. And the king of Moab being now in rebellion against him, Jchoshaphat perhaps refused to help him, whilst he was a worshipper of Baal. It is much that his mother, who had brought this worship with her from the Zidonians, should suffer him to remove this image; but she was a littlo daunted, perhaps, at the many disasters which had befallen their family, and was contented with worshipping Baal in private. Vcr. 3. Nevertheless, he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son o/Nebat, who made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.’] It was easier to remove the image “of Baal than to put away the calves; for that was new, but the other had been of long standing; and the most likely course they could think of to maintain the division of the two kingdoms. Vcr. 4.” And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master.’] The riches not only of private men, but also of kings, in ancient time consisted much in sheep and cattle: which, I have observed before, they looked after themselves: and their sons kept their sheep, as Bochartus shews in his Hierozoicon, par. i. lib. ii. cap. 44. And thus the greatest part of the world lived, during the space of near four thousand years. Which did not hinder them from being, at the same time, a brave and warlike people, as appears by the ancient Romans, who were thus bred; and subdued all Italy, and at last made themselves masters of the world. For this sort of life was the cause of their great strength, making their bodies robust, arid hardened to labour, and accustomed to a severe discipline. There cannot be a greater instance of this than we have in Cato the Censor, who passed through all the great offices of the republic of Rome, had governed provinces, commanded armies, was a great orator, lawyer, and politician; who did not disdain to write a treatise concerning all the ways that are necessary for the improving lands, and how stables and houses were to be built for several sorts of cattle, and how presses were to be made for wine and oil, &c. Insomuch, that any one may see he was perfectly acquainted with country business, and that he did not write for ostentation, but for the use and service of mankind. And rendered to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool.’] This was a prodigious number, and being rendered unshorn, made them more valuable. But we are to consider that these countries abounded with sheep; insomuch, that Solomon offered a hundred and twenty thousand at the dedication of the temple, (2 Chron. vii. 5.) and the Reubenitcs drove from the Hagarites a hundred and fifty thousand, (1 Chron. v. 21.) For they frequently brought forth two at a time, and sometimes twice a year, as that great man Bochartus shews in the same book, cap. 46. and produces a famous place in Pliny, which shews that this was the most ancient tribute. For he saith in the Censorian Tables, all the rents of the people are called pastures, " quia diu hoc solum vcctigal fuerat/’ (lib. xviii. Nat. Hist. cap. 3.) But Ludolphus hath observed two things for the illustrating this history of the king of Moab, which seem to be very considerable. First; that this was not annual tribute, but satisfaction for damages which the Israelites had sustained in the war with them, or by their revolt from them, as the LXX. understand it. And then the word ajil should not be translated a ram, but aivetJier; for one ram will serve a great many sheep, (lib. i. Comment, in Histor. yEthiop. cap. 3. n. 30.) Here begin the discourses which Job and his friends had nbout his affliction; which arc nil represented, by the author of this book, poetically; not as hitherto, in a plain simple narration, but in most elegant verse. And being overcharged with grief (without the least word of comfort from his friends), he that had for some time borne the weight of his afflictions with an admirable constancy, could not contain himself any longer, but bursts out (to such a degree was tho anguish of his spirit increased) into the most passionate complaints of the miseries of human life. The consideration of which made him prefer death much before it, and wish that either he had never come into the world, or gone presently out of it again, or at least might now forthwith bo dismissed. Vcr. 1. J.FTER this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.] And at the end of seven days Job himself began by complaints to give some vent to his grief, which had stupificd him thus long: but he burst out into such bitter lamentations, that ho wished a thousand times he had never been born. * tius both prefer, and Junius renders accordingly, Achikar vero aluit me, donee profectus esset in Elymaida. There seems to be the like mistake in the LXX. Psal. vi. 7. where hra<HtoOi\v should bo rather InaXaidjOf), to answer to the Hebrew. Ver.ll. And my wife Anna did take women’s works to do.~\ Tobit was at this time extremely poor, and maintained by his nephew Achiachar. It may seem surprising that Tobit, who before had lived in good condition, should fall so soon into a state of poverty: but it may be observed of this holy man, that he did much alms, and was continually employed in some instance or other of charity, till Sennacherib deprived him of the place and employment which he had in the court of Shalmaneser: the ten talents left in trust with Gabael he could not recover, not being able to go into Media through the troubles of the times; he had been at considerable expense to.o for advice and help under the misfortune of blindness, and had doubtless suffered great loss and injury for his care in burying the dead, by a severe persecution on that account. All these joined together; viz. his having lost his employment, bestowing much alms, suffering great oppression and loss, and the expenses incurred for the recovery of his sight, were such drawbacks, as will sufficiently explain the alteration in Tobit’s circumstances; and hence we may account for his wife taking in work, and being necessitated to seek out an employment for her livelihood and subsistence. THE BOOK OF TOBIT. soul from the body, the latter returning to earth, and the.former continuing in a state of separation, even in hades, or the everlasting place, domxts statutaomniviventi, as Fagius expounds here., There is nothing more common even in Scripture, than for the saints, under great tribulation, to express a teedium, or loathing of, life. Holy Job, grieved with the unjust reproaches of his friends, the insults of his wife, and various assaults from Satan, in the bitterness of his soul cries out, My soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life. I loatheit;Jwozild not live always, (vii. 15, 16.) When the prophet Elijah was persecuted by wicked Jezebel, he asks it of God as a favour, that he might die, It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life: (1 Kings xix;4.) and St. Paul, that through trouble he was pressed out of measure, above strength:ut taderet eumvitce, says the Vulgate. It is therefore not at all surprising,- that Tobit, under the misfortune of poverty and blindness, insulted and reflected on by his wife and friends for the good deeds of his past life, should desire to die, and thereby be freed from the unjust scandal cast upon him; but it is observable, that he introduces this request to God with submission to his will, who knew best what was most for his advantage. hasten, she rejects such an intention; and, lastly, ono who appears so religious and well-disposed, cannotbe suspected of any such wicked design as self-murder, which would bo inconsistent with her general character, and the resignation which she expresses to the will of God. Others therefore think that the words, t\rjn)0n <r
Job 3:1
1\ OWJeJioravi thesonpf Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria, the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. Ahaziah his brother, reigned two years, and began his reign in the. seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat: (1 Kings xxii. 51.)’that is, part of the seventeenth year, and part of the eighteenth, which was accounted for two years. In the latter end of which Jehoram his brother began to reign: when Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, had two years reigned with his father. (See i. 17.) it OW there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying.] It is observed by St. Jerome, that Elijah and Elishahad no wives: " Et virgines multi filii prophetarum;" and many of the sons of the prophets were virgins: but it is plain by this place that they were not all so; but had liberty to marry if they pleased. My husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord.] Was a worshipper of the true God, and not of Baal/ nor the calves: which was the reason, it is likely, of his poverty; such men being discountenanced among the idolatrous Israelites. And the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be his bondmen.] Because she was not able to pay his debts: in which case the Hebrews had such a power over their children, that they might sell them (being looked upon as their goods) to pay what they owed; and the creditor might force them to it. And Huetius thinks that from the Jews this custom was propagated to the Athenians; and from them to the Romans. The Hebrew doctors have a fancy, that this prophet w r as Obadiah, (mentioned 1 Kings xviii. 3.) and that the creditor was Jchoram the son of Ahab. Which is utterly ungrounded. *30. they sent ambassadors to him to treat of peace.] i. e. The inhabitants of the sea-coasts, mentioned in the last verse of the foregoing chapter, and people very remote, made solemn and respectful application to him to avert the danger and mischief that might otherwise b£fal them. Curtius mentions the like formal address made by the most distant nations to Alexander the Great, to intercede for peace, and to engage his favour. (Lib. x.) Thus the Gibeonitcs, knowing the success usually attending such dntiful and early application, to save themselves from danger, craftily said to Joshua, Webe come from afar country, we are, thy servants, now therefore make a league with us. (Josh, ix.)
Job 3:2
And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father, and like his mother; for hepiit away the image of Baal which his father had made. He did not break it in pieces, as he would have done if he had heartily hated it, but only put it away out of the temple; being afraid, lest And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me: what hast thou in the house?] Towards the discharge of thy husband’s debt. And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in tlie house, save a pot of oil.] Which was a thing of great use; both for the service of God and of men. And Job spake, and said.] That which he said was to this effect: Vcr. 3. Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, TJiere is a man-child conceived.] Let the day and the night of my birth be never more mentioned, but be quite forgotten/ as if it had never been. We the servants of Nabuchodotwsor the great king.] These people surrendered themselves as vassals to the king of Assyria, called here the great king by way of eminence. This was the usual title given to this monarch. Thus Rab-shakeh, spcakingof hissuperior power, addresses himself to Hczekiah, Thussaith the great king, the king of Assyria, Wliat confidence is that wherein thou trusteth? (2 Kings xviii. 19.) Daniel, speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, (ii. 37.) applies to him the like august terms of sovereignty, Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, andstrength, and
Job 3:3
And he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; bon-ow not a few. As many as she could get, and not small vessels. «
Job 3:4
And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee, and upon thy sons. That none might come in to disturb her in what she was about. Let that day be darkness,- let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.] Let that day be turned into night, and not be counted among the days: let the sun then withdraw its light, andncvershine upon it. Behold, even our cities, and the inhabitants there* of, are thy servants, come and deal with them as seemeth good unto thee.’] As nothing very material occurs in the literal sense of this chapter, Messieurs of Port-Royal have drawn the following allegorical one from the great power of the kiiig of Assyria, represented above in all its terror on the one hand, and the vast panic and abject obsequiousness of the neighbouring nations on the other; " That by Nabuchodonosor, who had decreed to subdue the whole earth; and would be acknowledged and adored as a god by all the nations whom he had conquered, we may pertinently understand the devil, whose grand design is, ever since the withdrawing his own allegiance, and exalting himself as God, to seduce mankind, and to persuade (hem to desert the free and happy service in which they live under their great Creator, and to transfer their obedience to him, as their only lord and master." By Holofernes his general, they conceive, may be aptly meant, " all the agents and emissaries of the devil, who, in compliance with his suggestions or orders, labour through unjust means and wicked arts to’establish bis empire. Such were those idolatrousprinces, who persecuted with fire and sword thetrue servants of God, to oblige them to submit to the power and dominion of the devil, and to renounce 9esus Christ. And to say nothing of the world itself, whose threats, as well as caresses, are alike successful in drawing men from their duty, such especially are all those, who, through the example of a bad life, or the poison and infection of evil principles, seduce others from their duty and steadfastness, to leave the true way of salvation, and to walk in the paths which lead to perdition and death." (Com. in loc.) HEAR the prayers of the dead Israelites.’] This passage has been applied by the Romanists, to countenance their notion, that the saints departed intercede and pray for the living, and has been quoted by Bellarmine, particularly, for that purpose. But the place seems capable of a fair and orthodox interpretation, if we consider the following reasons: 1. By the dead Israelites, we are not to understand such of them who are departed this life, and whose souls arc separated from their bodies, but those who, being yet alive, are dead in trespasses and sins, as St. Paul speaks, Eph. ii. 1. 2. This sense is farther confirmed from ver. 11. where it is said of Israel, How happeneth it that thou art defiled with the dead? that thou art counted with them that go down to the grave? i: e. as one of them that are near the pit, upon account of their great misery and affliction. And the reason for this their suffering follows the question immediately; viz. Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom, for if thou hadst walked in the way of God thou shouldest have dwelt in peace for ever; i. e. shouldest not have been in captivity. 3. It is no uncommon expression to compare persons under a great calamity to dead men, and to account of them as such. See Ezek. xxxvii. where the Israelites in their captivity are represented as dead bones, ver. 11. and their return from their dispersion, as the opening of their graves; and their restoration is described as a resurrection by Isa. xxvi. 15. 4. After the words, Hear the prayers of the dead Israelites, it follows, and of their children, which have sinned before thee; where the Vulgate and our version seem faulty: the Greek renders it by a participle of the present tense, afiapravovTiov, which shews that this is to be understood of the Israelites then alive, and not of those which had sinned and were dead, for then it should have been -nfxaprnKOTwv, in the preter tense. Junius renders here, Exaudi orationem mortuorum Israelitarum, i. e.filiorum qui peccant coram te. Lastly, It is an absurdity for the Israelites to intercede for their intercessor.*, which according to the Romanists’ sense they do, by beseeching God to hear the prayers of the departed Israelites in favour of those that arc alive. (2 Mace. xv. 13, 14.) Mr. Whiston says the" sense is here,— the prayers of those Israelites who were then alive, and interceded with thee, but are since dead. (See ii. 17-)
Job 3:5
And it came to pass when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. As was said before, chap. i. 1. and here again repeated, only to introduce the following history. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.] Let the most dismal darkness and the thickest clouds wholly possess it, and render it terrible to men. Ver. G. As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days oftheyear; let it not come into the number of the months.] And let the night be of the same sort, and both of them quite blotted out of the calendar. Vcr. 7. Lo, let that night be solitary; let no joyful voice come therein.] Let nobody meet together on that night, to feast or make merry. And now thy judgments are many and true, deal with me according to my sins.] How is this consistent with ver. 3. where it is said, Punish me not for my sins and ignorances? there seems some omission or mistake here, probably the negative particle is wanting; the Vulgate takes no notice of this sentence: Fagius’s Hebrew copy has quite a contrary sense, Nee facias nobis juxtainiquitates nostras, et iniquitates patrum nostrorum; and Munster’s, Ne quaso retribuas mihi juxta iniquitates meas, &c. the Geneva version affords anew sense, and a good one, And now thou hast many and just causes to do ivith me according to my sins. Our translation, I think, hath wrongly followed the Complut. in reading 7roiVxov, whereas Alex. Aid. Vat. Syr. and the older Latin versions, read irotrioai, and so the sense and translation will be plain, and more agreeable. Grotius thinks the true reading may be, IS tyt 7roir)o-ov, tolle me de rebus humanis; but as tins sense follows in the next verse immediately, it seems not agreeable to this place. Ver. G. Command my spirit to be taken from me, that I may be dissolved, and become earth; for it is profitable for me to die, rather than to live.] The Vulgate omits what-follows, and finishes the verse here. Tobit begs of God, the sovereign Disposer of life and death, to set him free from the prison of the body: and in this sense of dying, or departing out of this life, we find airoXvt*) frequently used in Scripture and profane authors. (See ver. 13. and Luke ii. 29.) The term dissolution, confirms the distinction of tho
Job 3:6
And kingJehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel. As soon as he was settled in his kingdom, his first business was to raise an army to reduce Moab to obedience.
Job 3:7
And he tvent. After his army was raised, he went out of Samaria. And sent to Jehoshaphat the king ofJudah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go ivith me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.] He returned the very same answer to him which he had given to Ahab his father, when he desired his assistance against Syria, (1 Kings xxii. 4.) wherein he had been so unsuccessful, that it should have made him more cautious how he joined with his son; especially since he seemed to have been afraid to have to do with his brother Ahaziah, (1 Kings xxii. 49.) But Jchoram having -reformed some things, (ver. 2.) it made him, perhaps, have a better opinion of him: and by shewing kindness to him, he might hope to persuade him to proceed further. And besides, the Moabites had lately invaded his country, (2 Chron. xx. 1. 10.) which might move him to embrace an opportunity to chastise them for it. • In Ecbatane, a city of Media.] The Vulgate and the old English translations have here Rages, a city of Media, contrary to vii. 1. If Sara lived at Rages, then Gabael and Sara would have been in the same city, nor would there have been any occasion to have gone from Ecbatane thither, as is mentioned ix. 2. As certain therefore as Raphael went to Rages, so certain also is it that Sara did not live there. So they, and all the country round about received them with garlands, with dances, and with timbrels: yet did he cast down their frontiers.]* i. e. Their frontier-towns, forts, and strong holds, which might otherwise give him opposition and disturbance. The Vulgate is more explicit in rendering the last clause, Nee ista tamenfacienles,ferocitatem ejus pectoris mitigare potuerunt, nam et civitates eorwn destmxit. It should seemj from this account, that it would have been more safe and glorious for these princes and people to have united their forces, and to have joined together to defend themselves against a barbarian, without any bowels of tenderness and compassion, and with whom the greatest submission w r as unavailable any ways to move or affect him. If their villages had been sacked and plundered, they would, however, have had the glory to have defended their liberties at the expense of their lives. But fear seldom reasons truly; (Wisd. xvii. 12.) and those who aro seized with it, without weighing the conscqucuces, follow implicitly what it suggests and dictates. The learned expositors above, here again strike out an allegorical sense, and apply it to the conduct of the wicked: — " The wicked (say they), when they surrender to and enter upon the service of sin and Satan, propose advantageous things to themselves; it is their aim and intention, like the people here mentioned, to procure safety and happiness to themselves in this life; hut herein they are miserably deceived, since the devil in the endis really more cruel and mischievous to those that submit to him, than to those who have ihc virtue and resolution to oppose him. For should this evil spirit, like the enraged Holofernes, threaten to do all the evil imaginable to the latter, should he by violence tako away their lives, a death so precious before God will be rewarded by an immortal life and eternal felicity; or should he aim at what is more dear to them, the subversion of the true religion, his attempt would be fruitless against its great Protector: but with the wicked it is not so; those who go out to meet this fiend, as these nations did Holofernes, and who willingly submit to his empire, and cvfcn rejoice and take a pleasure in his service, prove often unhappy,- even in this life, and have a terrible prospect of ruin before them for the time to come: for they are in the service of a master, who, being, according to the account given of him in Scripture, a murderer from the beginning, continues his implacable hatred against mankind, and is so false a friend, that he gives the most deadly wound to tho soul, at the same time that he outwardly appears to be the most kind and favourable; cunningly advancing the temporal interest and fortunes of those whom he means eternally to ruin. Ashe makes no account of riches, or any of the transitory goods of this life, he is disposed to give/if he had it in his power, all the kingdoms of the world, as he once pretended to offer even to our Saviour, provided he could induce any thereby to fall down and worship him, and, by so doing, to be eternal partners with him in misery and punishment."
Job 3:8
And he said, Which way shall ive go up?. Jehoshaphat having agreed to join with him, it is likely the king of Israel asked this question, and Jehoshaphat made the following answer. And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.] Which he chose, because he would have the assistance of the Edomites, who were his tributaries. And it is probable Moab was but weakly fortified on that side. Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.] Let it be as the day wherein men bewail the greatest misfortune, or the time wherein they see tho most dreadful apparition. Asmodeus the evil spirit.] Some will have it, that Asmodeus is so called from the place which he chiefly haunted, a regno Medorum, ubi dominabatur, and to be the same with the prince of Persia; Dan. x. 13. (Jerom. in loc* et Cassian. in Collat.) but more probably. this is a Hebrew name, signifying a destroyer, evil spirits delighting in mischief, and leading them that worship them into perdition; hence almost all plagues, ordinary and extraordinary, were attributed to them. And it is worth observing, that the natnes of the devil and evil spirits in Scripture, have all a relation to the mischief they do, or occasion; thus Lev. xvii.7. they are called mw, frightful, or/as others render, lustful as goats; Deut. xxxii. 17. DHtf, destroyers, as here; ]®W, an adversary, Job i. G.; &aj3oXoc, a calumniator, Matt. iv. 8.; IxOpbg, an enemy, Matt. xiii. 39.; avOpuwoKTovog, John viii.44.; avrtdtKog, 1 Pet. viii.; \Aj3aSSwv, or’A7roXXv(uv, Rev. ix. 11. the destroyer: the same according to some with Apollo, the famous god of the heathens, whose image accordingly is represented with arrows in its hands, prepared for slaughter and destruction; and, lastly, Kariryopog, an accuser, Rev. xii. 10. According to the notion of the Hebrews, there were also evil angels or genii, whereof some presided over one vice, and some over another, insomuch that there are demons of avarice, demons of pride, and demons of impurity, each endeavouring to ensnare persons with a complexional temptation. The Vulgate insinuates, that the seven husbands who met with their fate the very day of their marriage, were killed by the demon Asmodeus, because lust was their chief motive; for thus Raphael, according to that version, (vi. 17, 18.) explains that accident, Ostendam tibi quibus pravalere potest dcemonium; hi namque qui conjugium ita suscipiunt, nt Dexm a se et a sua mente excludant, etsu<e.libidini ita vacent, ticut equus et mulus, quibus non est intellectus, habet dcemonium potestatem super eos. Grotius supposes, that the pretended Asmodeus here, was only* some ill quality attending Sara’s body, which had proved’ mortal to her other husbands; but that Tobias, by using such fumigations as were prescribed in that case, not only preserved himself from the. fate of the rest, but cured his* wife likewise of a malady that was unknown to physic, and therefore ascribed (as the custom of the Jews was, Luke xi. 14. Matt. ix. 32. with every distemper they could not cure) to the operation of the devil. Hence, or on account, of this bodily infirmity, he conjectures, she is reproached in the words following by her father’s maids, as atroitviyovaa rovg avdpag. (See Dissertation.) Thou hast had already seven husbands, neither wast thou named after any of them.] All of them being killed by the evil spirit before the consummation of marriage. It may perhaps seem surprising, that Sara should have such a succession of suitors, when matching with her was by experience found so very dangerous: the reason that induced them was probably her beauty, or portion of inheritance, or pretended nearness of relation. And what seems to have hastened their fate was, either their immoderate lust, void of all fear, of God, or religious sense of the matrimonial institution, or the illegality of their claim. A learned writer indeed thinks, that the Jews allude to this history of Sara, when.they, speak of seven brethren that had all been married to one wife, Mark xii. 20. > (See Whist. Auth. Rec. vol. ii.) But this seems a fanciful conceit, as in this history no mention is made or intimation given of any such near relation; and from that in the gospels it may, I think, be gathered, that each of the husbands cohabited with the woman at least for a time, which does not suit this account in Tobit: and in reality Sara had eight husbands, including Tobias, whereas seven only are mentioned in the gospels,’ and then the woman, surviving all of them, died also, which does not seem clear of Sara, especially as Tobias died in such an advanced age, as a hundred and seven-and-twenty years old, (xiv. 14.) Cut down their groves…] Where they used to offer sacrifice to their gods or idols, under green trees for the greater solemnity and reverence, as well as the greater secrecy of their mysteries. That among the heathens, trees and groves were the temples of their gods, appears from innumerable passages in sacred and profane history. And in the Roman laws of the twelve tables, in the second law of religion, it was commanded to have groves in the fields. From this idolatrous use of them among the heathens, the Israelites.were bidden in the course of their conquests to* cutthem down, and Deut.xii.3. to burn them; and this law was executed by the good kings of Judah, in obedience to the commands of, the true God. (2 Kings xviii. 4. xxiii.: 6. 14.) They were also forbidden to plant any grove or tree near unto the altar of the Lord. (Deut. vi.21.) JJndcr groves, probably all other monuments of religious use are comprehended, as houses, high-places, temples, (see iv.l.) pillars, statues, and the like. All of which Nebuchadnezzar ordered to be destroyed, as so many rivals of his majesty and greatness. For he had decreed to destroy all the gods of the land, that all nations should ivorship Nabuchodonosor only, and that all tongues and tribes should call upon him as God.] The Assyrian princes, when they rose to the sublimity of empire, were not only despotic in their government, but affected even Divine honours, as may be seen in their history, and set themselves above all the gods of the people they vanquished; and not only presumed to pass sentence by the word of their mouth upon the whole world, but some-’ times required that none other under heaven should be worshipped but themselves. Wc find in the account here given of Nabuchodonosor, that he was resolved not only to subdue the several nations from the Euphrates to Ethiopia, but intended likewise to oblige them to adore and’ acknowledge him only to be God. Accordingly his gene-’ ral, Holofernes, did not content himself with demolishing idols and false gods, but he would remove the true God And to be subject to payments, according to all the iniquities of our fathers.] Elg o<fkrimv. o^Ar/jua and o^Atj- <tig properly signify a debt. Here we may understand unjust exaction,‘as Junius expressly renders, which the Jews in the land of their captivity were exposed to, and probably suffered, being at the will and arbitrary pleasure of those that had them in subjection. According to Calmet, it signifies their being bought or sold into slavery, to satisfy the debts contracted by their fathers. Anciently creditors had a power to sell the children of their debtors for the satisfaction of their debt; (Matt, xviii. 25.) and fathers themselves were sometimes necessitated to sell their children for this purpose. (Exod. xxi/7. Baruch iv. 6.) Or being subject to payments, may here mean usury. God threatens his people, Deut. xxviii. 44. that they should borrow of their enemies upon interest or usury, and thereby become their bondmen or debtors. The first part of the letter of these captives ends with this verse.
Job 3:9
So the king of Israel tvent, and the king ofJudah, and the king of Edom. There was no king at this time in.Edom, as we read in the last chapter of the foregoing book, (ver. 47.) but a viceroy appointed by the king of Judah. * Yet such are called kings, 1 Kings xx. 1. (See Grotius.) And Jehoshaphat, I suppose, now required him with his people to help him in this war. And they fetched a compass of seven days 9 journey.] That they might come upon the backs of the Moabites, where they did not expect them.; And there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.] That drew their carriages. For either there was a great drought in those parts, or they had mistaken their way. Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day.] Let there not so much as a star appear in that night, nor so much light as we see at peep of day. -Vcr. 10. Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s icomb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.] Because it did not bury me in my mother’s womb, and thereby secure me from all these miseries.. Wherefore dost thou beat us for them? If they be dead, go thy ways after them.] All the Greek copies place the interrogation as our version does, pointing the passage thus, ti 77/xac pavriyoTc ttzqX avrtjv; el airiOavov, j3a&£e /xct av-’ rwv. But Junius conjectures it ought to be placed in this manner, rir)^agfia<myoig 7ripl avriov el airiOavov; i. e. Wliy by your blows do you revenge upon us the death of your husbands? And indeed the versions both of Fagius and Muhster confirm this latter construction.
Job 3:10
And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. He doth not cry to God for help/but only bewail the straits into which they were fallen; which his own guilt made him imagine God had contrived for their destruction. Vcr. 11. And Jehoshaphat said, Is not there a prophet of the Lord, that we may inqtiire by him.] This Mas spoken like a pious man; but it was a fault that he did not inquire before Microsoft ® CHAP. III.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. for direction in this war; as he did in that with the Syrians, (1 Kings xxii. 5.) And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son ofShaphat, which poured water, on the hands of Elijah.’] That is, was his servant, and ministered unto him. Wlien she heard these things she was very sorrowful, so that she thought to have strangled herself]‘EAuTnjPr; CT^oSpa Sxrre airay^aa^ai. Our yersion manifestlyimplies, that she had actually thoughts of strangling herself. But though it is certain that grief does sometimes put persons upon desperate courses, yet that any such rash resolution was entered into here, as to design actually to make away with herself, does not appear, but rather the contrary; for the history informs us, that she not only suppressed such a thought, but condemned such a fact, as what would bting great reproach to her family, being the ordinary and common punishment of great malefactors. On her father’s - account too, whose death it would probably occasion or
Job 3:11
Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?. What a misfortune was it, that I did not die before I was born, or at least as soon as I came into the world. Then she prayed towards the window.’] i. e. Of the upper room or oratory, which opened towards Jerusalem. Munster’s Hebrew copy has, She prayed before the Lord; i.e. towards his sanctuary at Jerusalem. The Vulgate is more explicit, Perrexit in superins cubiculum dom&s sua, et tribus diebus, et tribus noctibits non manducavit neqite bibit, sed in lacrymis persistens deprecabatur Deum, Utab isto improperio liberaret earn. Thou art defiled with the dead, thou art counted with them that go down into the grave.] The sense is, that, living among tho Chaldeans, they were in a state of continual, defilement, dwelling as it were among the tombs. He compares the captive Jews, in a strange country, to a person shut up in a grave, or confined in a house with a dead corpse. There is the like expression, Psal. xxviii. 1.
Job 3:12
And Jehoshaphat said, Tlie word of the Lord is with him.\ For no doubt he had been informed how Elijah had chosen him to be his successor; and how he attended him till he was taken up to heaven; and what wonders he had already done. So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, went doivn to him.’] It is uncertain whither they went; but it is very observable, first, how much they honoured the prophet, for whom they did not send to come to them, but went to him. And secondly, how desirous the prophet was to do good, in that he followed the camp into this wilderness. For it is not likely they went back to Samaria to wait on him (where the story last left him, in the last verse of the foregoing chapter), which would have been a seven days* journey; and the army might in the mean time have been lost. Besides, ver. 16. shews he was not far from th em; and the servant in the foregoing verse speaks of him as present; saying, Here is Elisha. Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?] That they who received me from the womb did not let me fall on the ground, or my nurse refuse to give me suck. Vcr. 13. For now should I Jiave lain still and been quiet, Ishould have slept: then had I been at rest.] Then should I have felt none of these miseries which I now endure, but lain quiet and undisturbed. And norv, O Lord, I set mine eyes and my face towards thee, and say, Take me out of tlie earth.] Elirov &no\v<rai jit airo rije yrje. Our version is not very accurate here, it would be better rendered imperatively, And now, OLord, command or speak, elirov, that I may be taken from the earth, and hear no more reproaches, like hrlra%ov hrifSXtyai £7r’ ifst, ver. 15. (sec also viii. 7.) The old Latin version accordingly has, Jube me jam dimitti. The Syriac, indeed, countenances the other rendering;and it may seem to have some support from Isa. xxxviii. 10, 11. With respect to the manner of expression here, and other places of the apocryphal writings, it may be pertinent to observe, that what in pure Greek would be very singular, becomes just and natural, considered cither as the translation of Chaldeeor Hebrew, or as the writing of a Hebrew author used to Hebrew tautology, and to that most peculiar mood, hiphil.
Job 3:13
And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. He refuses with great disdain to entertain any discourse with him; and bids him confer with those who he knew could do him no service. And the king of Israel said, Nay.] That is, I will not consult them; but do thou give us counsel how we may be brought out of this great distress. For the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand ofMoab.] Though he refused to do anything for his sake, yet he beseeches him to have respect to the other two kings, who must perish as well as he, if he did not help them. That I may hear no more the reproach.] TcTcntins Christianus introduces Sara thus lamenting and expostulating: — " Nam quid tandem est, quod in hac vita dhitius Esse velim, aut cur non malim extemplo abolcricr? Quoquo vorsum foras prospicio, passim irridcor Misera, ac conspuor ab omnibus. Imo, quod est longe crudclius, Cuncti mcut portcntum execrantur, horrent ut veneficam. Quin ct diris ut parricidam devovent… et nomen commutant mihi, Pro Sara appellantcs Zaram: videlicet parricidii facinus cxprobrantes." (In Tob. act. i.) We are but a fern left among the heathen, ivhere thou hast scattered us.] Besides the Jews’ decrease by dispersions, who were tossed like vagabonds from one country to another, without any certain settlement; the horrid butcheries which the Jews underwent were innumerable. The Jewish writers, in describing them, cannot find expressions tragical enough to represent them: twice as many, they tell us, perished by the Romans’ cruelty only, as came actually out of Egypt, and thereby completed that malediction, Deut. xxviii. G2. If one considers the miseries with which the Jews were afflicted from the reign of Josias only, they are scarce to be paralleled in any other kingdom, in so short a time. Pharaoh-ncchoh gained a victory over Josias, conquered Judea, and deposed king Jehoahaz, and set up another, and brought away great part of the people, with their king Jehoahaz, into Egypt; four years after the kingdom of Judah was wasted by Nebuchadnezzar, and not long after Jehoiachin was put to death, and many captives brought to Babylon. Jechonias reigned but three months and ten days, and was also brought to Babylon, with a great number of his subjects. In eight or nine years, how many misfortunes, changes, captivities! how many princes murdered, or deposed!
Job 3:14
And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, 6cfore whom I stand. It is observable, that the sons of the prophets are said to sit before their masters the prophets when they instructed them; (iv. 3. 8. and see the foregoing chapter, ver. 3.) but the prophets themselves stood before the Lord, their master, when he sent them upon any message. (See Corn. Bertram, de Rep. Jud. cap. 16.) Surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look towards thee, nor set thee.] He saith nothing of the king of Edom, who was a dependant upon Jehoshaphat; whose piety he esteemed, and had some respect to all that belonged to him. With kings and counsellors of the earth, whicli built desolate places for themselves.] Equal to kings and the greatest persons, who lie alone in the tombs which they built themselves. Slie replied upon me, Where are thine alms, and thy righteous deeds? Behold, thou and all thy works are known.] Tobit, who adhered strictly to justice, and whose maxim was, do uprightly all thy life long, and follow not the zvays of unrighteousness, (iv. 5.) thinking such a present as a kid not usual, above the common wages, suspected that the distressed circumstances they were in put her upon stealing it, and reproached her accordingly with it. Upon this she upbraids him with his tenderness of conscience, and the little good it had done him. " You need indeed reproach me, behold your disgrace is known to every body; the charities which you have exercised all your life long profit you nothing, they have not kept you from blindness, which deprives you of all comfort. You had fine hopes that living so piously you could not fail to be prosperous and happy, and that serving God he would most certainly repay thee, (iv. 14.) But where are your alms and righteous deeds now, that they stand you in no stead? Have they kept blindness or adversity from you? Have not your excessive and indiscreet charities brought us to the distressed condition we are now in?" Fagius and Minister thus expound, and Cyprian comprises all, when he says, " Ubi sunt justitiaetuai? Ecce quae pateris."(De Mortal.) This reproach from his wife, and raillery upon his religious disposition, who might rather have been expected sweetly to have administered consolation to him under his misfortunes; this taunting behaviour to him, from one so nearly allied to him, was almost as insupportable to him as his blindness. It reminds one of that of Job’s friends, or rather of his wife’s behaviour to him under his affliction; Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die, (ii. 9.) as our version briefly has it; but in that of the BXX. we see her outrageous temper more at large. The Vulgate here uses this very comparison, Ilanc tentationem ideo permisit Deus evenire illi, ut posteris daret exemplum patientice ejus, sicut et sancti fob. St. Austin thus draws the parallel, reflecting upon the different conduct of this couple: " How miserable is his condition thought who wants the blessing of sight! When such a sad spectacle appears, censorious and ill-natured persons presently say, He has committed some great crime, and Godwas angry and displeased with him. In this sort of strain Tobit’s wife insulted her husband; the good man exclaims upon the subject of the kid, from a conceived jealousy of its being stolen; his wife replies upon him with great warmth, And what is all your righteous dealing come to? How blind was the woman, and how enlightened her husband! The one enjoyed the outward benefit of the sun, and the other the inward light of justice and the blessed fruits of the Spirit; and can there bo any doubt which of these illuminations to prefer?" CHAP. HI. Ver.l. Jt HEN I being grieved, did weep, and in sorrow prayed, saying — Punish me not for my sins and ignorances.] The foregoing chapter concluded with Tobit’s wife’s taunts, proceeding, no doubt, from his’ suspecting her honesty, which will in some measure plead herexcuse. In this we have a farther instance of his good disposition, and particular sweetness of temper; he does not Teturn railing for railing, but silently, and, as it should seem from the latter end of ver. 17. in some retired place from the house, ho pours forth his complaints to God, of the great injustice, done him, but confesses at the same time, in the spirit of humility, that his sins had deserved a worse treatment. Sins and ignorances are here synonymous, and so the oriental versions generally render them; and thus also ayvorifia is used often by the Hellenistic writers. (See Numb. xii. 11. Judith v. 20. Ecclus.xxiii. 2, 3. 1 Esd. Yiii. 77. 1 Mace. xiii. 39. Heb. ix. 7.) Thou knowest, Lord, that I ampurefrom all sin with man.] The Vulgate is moro full and explicit, Tu sets, Domine, quia nunquam concupivi virum, et mandam servavi animam meant ab omni concttpiscentia. Nunquam cum ludentibus misciti me, neque cum his qui in levitate ambulant, participem meprabuL’ A jiagrnjia here relates to the sin or offenco against chastity in particular, and thus many interpreters understand afiapruXbg, Luke vii.37. (Sec also John viii. 11.) And in this impure sense peccare is used by the Latins, especially the poets. Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, ivhere is understanding, that thou mayest know also ivhere is length of days and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.] By strength, laxPe* * would not here understand, with most interpreters, fortitude or bodily strength, to subdue ene*
Job 3:15
But now bring me a minstrel^. One that could play well upon an instrument of music. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.] Everyone knows that some sort of music wonderfully quiets and composes the spirits, when they are disordered, and raises them when they are fiat and heavy. And therefore holy men did not neglect such helps to make them so sedate and cheerful, that they might be fit to receive Divine inspirations. But it is likely he that played now to Elisha, sung withal some hymn in the praises of God, and of his wonderful works, whereby the spirit of the prophet was sweetly composed, < which Had been disturbed, perhaps more than was fit/by his indignation at the king of Israel. And from hence we may conclude there were excellent musicians in Israel, as well as in Judah, where David had settled Divine music in great perfection. Arid it is very probable; what the Tieathen boast of their muses, was from hence derived. Then the hand of the Lord came upon him.] That is/God wrought in him; and he felt himself moved by’ a Divine inspiration.* Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver.] Having gold and silver in abundance, whereof now they are bereaved. Neitfier any near kinsman, nor any son of his alive, to whom I may keep myself for a wife.] i. e. Her father had no son to inherit his substance, nor any near kinsman or relation, neither brother, nor brother’s son, to whom, as the law required, she might dispose of herself in marriage. Agreeably to this the writer of Judith’s history says, that her husband was not only of the same tribe, but of the same family also. For the women of Israel, who had no brothers of the same blood, were enjoined by the law of Moses to marry the next of kin- As appears particularly in the case of tho daughters of Zclophehad, (Numb, xxxvi.) who were confined not only to the same tribe of their father, but also to the very family of that tribe: and the reason there given is, that the inheritance of the father should not pass unto strangers. A wise provision, not only for preserving the tribes, but the several families likewise entire.
Job 3:16
And he said, TIius saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. This shews they were in a place where the army was encamped in a valley, in which he ordered them to be set at work, to dig large ditches to liold wktcr enough for them alL Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.] Or like an abortive, which was never numbered among men. So the prayers of them both were heard before the majesty of the great God.’] See Titus ii. 13. where there is the like expression. Some copies have only rov fieyakov, which seems an omission. In the Alexandrian MS. f Pa- <parj\is wrongly joined to it, which proper name ought to begin the next verse, as in onr translation. It may be asked, how what is here said, that the prayers of them both were heard before God, can be true?. for both of them prayed to God, if it was his good pleasure, that he w r ould remove them from a world where they saw religion reviled and innocence oppressed; and yet one of these lived to a very advanced age, and the other probably very long with Tobias, as it appears in the sequel of the history. To this it may be answered, that it is true that both of them were heard; not that they obtained precisely the very particular they asked, but God, at their request, granted what was more for their benefit: he did not indeed take life from them, but he made it more easy and agreeable. Or thus, that, as they were entirely resigned to the will and determination of God, their prayers were so effectually heard, that his good pleasure accomplished in them what was most for his own glory. This example, as the Port-Royal comment well observes, affords excellent matter of instruction, assuring us, " that if we pray as Tobit and Sara did, with a spirit of humility and submission, our prayers shall not be rejected; and, though perhaps we may not bo answered at the time or in the manner we expected and wished for, we shall in another way, that may be moro advantageous and better for us, and more agreeable to what he designs us for. And thus it is observable it happens often in life, that one prays to God for health, another for sight, a. third for hearing, without obtaining their particular request; and yet, if their prayer is with faith and a pious resignation, it may truly be affirmed, that their pTaycrs arc heard of God,.who, foreseeing some danger or misapplication of those, faculties, that the blessing of health will be abused, or sight Wliere are theprinces of the heathen become, and such as rxded tlte beasts upon] the earth*?] Grotius understands this of kings who delighted in hunting, and the diversions of the chase; who pleased and sported themselves with animals the most fierce and savage; looking upon themselves as lords in a more especial manner of nature and the creation, and exercising a power beyond the common dominion given to man at the beginning. The Scriptures often put animals in the number of the things over which monarchs have dominion. Accordingly, God, to denote the absolute sovereignty which ho had given to the king of Babylon, says, that he had given the beasts of the field also to serve him. (Jer. xxvii. 6. xxviii. 14.) Judith flatters the pride of Holofernes, by telling him, that not only men shoidd obey him, but also the beasts of the field and the cattle should do homage to him, (xi. 7.)
Job 3:17
For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle; and your beasts. The words belonging to one of our senses are frequently applied to another.: as, to see wind is to feel it, or hear it. And the meaning is, there should no wind stir to blow up clouds (as the south wind commonly did), nor should they see any rain fall; and yet they should have plenty of water in that valley, for themselves and all bolonging to them. I suppose it fell upon the mountains at a distance from them, and came pouring down into the lower ground. lliere the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.] There arc none can hurt us in the grave, though they be never so malicious, nor shall wc toil any more when we come thither.,., They that had their pastime tvith the fowls of the air.~\ If we understand this figuratively, it means such as delighted in high and lofty contemplations, whose towering imaginations played aloft, like the soaring eagle. Grotius expounds it literally of such as delighted in hawking, which w T as a royal pastime in ancient times. A dominion over the fowls of the air is mentioned also in Scripture, as an instance of the sovereignty of princes. Thus Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar, that wheresoever the children of men dwell, God had given bdth the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven into his hand, and made him ruler over f/*em,(Dan.ii.38.) Ezekicl represents the king of Assyria a^ a great cedar, in which all the fowls of heaven made their vests, and tinder whose branches all the beasts of the fieldbrought forth their young. (Ezek.xxxi. G. Judith xi. 7.)
Job 3:18
And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites into your hand. Of which, I suppose, they had no hope, being much dispirited for want of water. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.] The captives, and they who are condemned to hard servitude, take no pains there, and do not dread the voice of the exactor of their labours. * For they that wrought in silver, and were so careful, and whose works are unsearchable.] “On olrb apyiqiov TBtirahovreg, kclI jjLtpifivwvTES, kclI ovk ecrrtv l^tvpemg rwv?pywv avrwv. The Vulgate and Syriac omit on, which indeed perplexes the sense, eludes and disappoints the reader, and, after promising him a reason, he finds nothing that it relates to, or can be assigned as a reason of. It seems not improbable that the true reading may be, hi ol rb apyipiov, k. r. A. which gives a natural and clear connexion to what follows.‘E&vpca^ which Maldonat and some other expositors understand here in the sense of lucrum, is not so proper to this placo: it seems rather to mean the number and delicacy of. the works here spoken of. The sentence, Owe iariv HZtvpzaig t&v epyuv uvtmv, plainly corresponds to tho close of the former verse, oiktart rtXoc ri)c kt()<t£U)$ abr&v, as will appear by laying the two corresponding passages together, " Both they that heaped up riches so extravagantly, that there was no end of their getting, and they that.wrought so accurately in sculpture and engravings, that there is no finding out;” i. e. no counting their number, no equalling the excellence of their curious works, arc all of them vanished, and gone down. to the grave. The author designs tho close of the two verses to givo strength and force to what went before in each, that he may at last more effectually shew the excellence of wisdom or piety, which is so much better and more enduring than these worldly advantages and attainments; that neither the wealth of these men, which was without end, nor their art, which is now inimitable, could ensure to them life and happiness; whereas they that walked in tho way of God (ver. 13.) should dwell in peace for ever.
Job 3:19
And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop up all the wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones. Prophets were to be obeyed, when they commanded things contrary to a positive precept, as some part of this was, (see Deut. xx.19.) Which they had power to dispense withal for a time, though not always, so as to annul the precept, as Maimonides expounds this matter in his preface to Seder-Zeraim. But some think this usage so severe, that they take the prophet’s meaning to be no more than this: that God \yoiild give them such an entire victory, that they might be able to do all this if they pleased; and the Moabites were so ill neighbours, that it is very likely they did this execution upon them, (ver. 25.). The small and great. are there; and the servant is free from his master.] There none are greater than other; but the servant in that place is as free as his master. They are vanished.] This, according to Grotius and Badwell, denotes the transitory and mortal state of kings, as well as other men, who die and are as quickly succeeded by others. Ncwrcpot, in the following verse, docs not mean merely young men, but fresh successors, or new kings. Or it may refer to the curious artists beforementioned, who took such pains to bring their work t6 perfection, and to make it valuable and lasting, that they are vanished, and dead, like others of less figure and taste. \A#avKTfibg is taken absolutely for death, 2 Mace. v. 12. But in those words of the Psalmist, before I go hence, and be no more seen, it is rather a periphrasis of death.
Job 3:20
And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat-offering was offered. When the people of God were praying at Jerusalem, at the time of the morning sacrifice,- Elisha joined his prayers with them for this blessing. That, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.] Whether it came from a sudden collection of a vast number of clouds, which poured’down rain in abundance in the land of Edom, or from some rocks which God caused to gush out water; it came by a miraculous power, when there was no natural cause to produce it. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul.] Is it not strange, that a man should be forced to live when he hath no mind to it? Vcr. 21. Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures.] But wishes for death though in vain, and seeks it more eagerly than the greatest riches?
Job 3:21
And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all thai were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border. Intending to defend themselves; but not to march out of their country to give the enemy battle.
Job 3:22
And they rose tip early in the morning. The next morning, I suppose, after the water filled the valley. 3 P Microsoft ® A COMMENTARY UPON [chap, IV. And the sun shone upon the water, and the Modbites saw the water on the other side as red as blood,’] On tho east side of their country, Ver.‘23. And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.] They knew there was no water there a few days before, and that there had been no rain; and therefore (the sun shining directly in their eyes, which made it look red) they concluded it could be nothing else but blood. And what blood could it be, but that of the three kings’ army, who had fallen out, by reason, perhaps, of their difFererit religion; or vexed at the straits they had brought one another into? And the Moabites easily believing what they wished, imagined they had nothing to do but to go and gather spoil, and not to fight at all. Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave?] Leaping for joy when he can meet with his grave, as far more welcome to him than a mine of silver?, •
Job 3:23
Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?. Not knowing which way to turn himself, but only thither? Vcr. 24. For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the wateis.] This is my condition, whose meat merely sustains a miserable life, which is all sighs and sobs, as loud as the roarings of the lion. The Agarenes that seek tuisdom.] Galled also Ishraaelites. Strabo and Ptolemy call them Agraei. Not only Arabia and the adjacent countries, but the eastern part of the world in general, was famous for the study of wisdom, or philosophy, as it was afterward called. Tho Edomites put in their claim to this character, Is ivisdom “no more in Teman? (Jer. xlix. 7.) In the book of Job, Eliphaz, one of the disputants, is called the Teraanite, as being descended from Teman, Esau’s grandson. Under the burden of Arabia, Isa. xxi.14. the inhabitants of the land of Tcma are mentioned, which Tema is reckoned by Moses among the sons, of Ishmael. As this writer joins Mcran to Teman, there is reason to think that the first is in Arabia as well as the second. TJie authors of fables.] i. e. Ingenious apologues. The margin has expounders, probably of enigmas or riddles. Or it may mean persons skilled in the interpretation of dreams or oneirocritics; a piece of science, but falsely so called, in great request among the Egyptians, Arabians, Persians, Indians, and other eastern nations. (See Mcdcs’s Comment. Apocalypt. lib. iii. p. 451. 1 Kings x. 1.)
Job 3:24
And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them. They entirely routed and dispersed them. But they w€nt forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.] But they did not content themselves with this victory, but pursued them so close, that they got into their country with them, and there made a greater havoc of them. Tlie bones of our kings, and the bones, of our fathers… taken out of their sepulchres.’] It was a custom, both among.Jews and gentiles, to bury with the deceased some of their most valuable effects and ornaments, and sometimes to put into the sepulchre great quantity of money and treasure. On this account, says a learned.writer, " Chaldsei ossa regum Judge, ac principum, nee non sacerdotum ac prophetarum, c scpulcris effoderunt, ad effodiendos nimirum thesauros, qiios in antiquorum sepulcris munifica recondi manu consuctos,ipso experimento edocti prohd norant.” (Alting. Roma Subtcr. p. 93.) How great is the house of God!] How large and extended is his empire! and how great the number of his creatures! the whole earth is his kingdom, all men are his subjects, and all times under his cognizance! but there arc but few that enter into his secrets and partake of. his wisdom. It is observable, that this writer calls the universe, the house of God; because, great as it is, yet the infinite Being is present every where in it, and governs it with as much case as a father or master docs his family.
Job 3:25
And they beat doivn the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it: and they stopped all the tyells of water, and felled all the good trees. According to the permission given them by the prophet, ver. 19." intending, I suppose, to depopulate the whole country,. * Only in Kir-liaraseth left they the stones thereqf.] They left no walls standing, but only these of the royal city, which was exceeding strong. (See Isa. xvi. 7. 11.) Hoivbeit the slingers ivent about it, and smote it.] They raised such batteries against it, that they drove them who defended it from the wall, and made great breaches in it. Ver. 2G. And when the king of Moab saw the battle was too sore for him.] That he was not able to defeud the place any longer. He took ivith him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break, through even unto the king ofEdom: but they could notJ] He made a sally with seven hundred stout men upon the quarters of tho king of Edom (which it seems were the weakest), hoping to break through them and escape. But they were repulsed, and forced to retreat. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.] For the very thing which I dreaded is fallen upon me, notwithstanding all my care to prevent it.
Job 3:26
I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came. I did not confide in my riches, nor in tho least lull myself in security, (chap, i.5.) and yet that did not preserve me from being miserable. There were the giants famous from the beginning.] These great giants, like all others, were under the empire of the sovereign Monarch of the universe; but they were not preferred, or chosen of God to receive the gift of wisdom. God choso before them Noah and his family be-. CHAP. III.] THE BOOK OF BARUCH. fore the flood, and after that time he preferred the Israelites to the Rephaim. And, indeed, throughout both Testaments, the constant tenor of his procedure has been, to prefer the meek and lowly to the mighty or more powerful. Vcr. 28. These ivert destroyed, because they had no wisdom.’] Or wanted the fear of the Lord. The fear of God is the principal wisdom, whence, through the whole book of Proverbs, the wicked man, who neglects the fear of the Lord, is called a fool. That passage, Prov.xxi. 16. comes very near this place, the man that wandereth out of the way of understanding, shall remain in the congregation of tJie dead, or in the assembly of the giants, as it may be rendered from the Hebrew; i.e. shall go and keep them company in that accursed place and condition which they are in.
Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall. Hereupon the king of Moab took his eldest son and made him a sacrifice before them all, as the last desperate remedy, hoping thereby to obtain powerful help from his god, through so precious a sacrifice of the dearest thing he had unto him. For it is well known, not only by: the Holy Scriptures, but heathen writers, that in great distress they were wont to offer their own children upon their altars. Eusebius, lib. v.Praspar. Evangel, and Lactantius, lib. i. Div. Instit. cap. 21. mention several nations who used these sacrifices: and Caesar, lib. vi. de Bello Gallieo, saith of the Gauls, “that’■when they were afflicted with grievous diseases, or in time of war, or great danger, they either offered men for sacrifices, or vowed they would offer them. For they imagined God would not be appeased, " Nisi pro vita hominis reddatur vita honrinis,"«?i/m the life of a man was rendered for the life’ofa man. Abarbincl, indeed, thinks that he offered the eldest son of the king of Edora, whom he took prisoner in the late sally. But it could not be said of him, that this son was to reign in his stead; for the king of Judah mado whom he pleased his deputy over Edom. And this would not have made the three kings withdraw the siege, but prosecute it with greater fury. And Abarbinel acknowledges, that their wise men in Peslktaand the Sanhedrin understand it as I do: and that some of them think he offered him, in imitation of Abraham, to the God of Israel, hoping to move him to bo favourable to him. Which no less man than Grotius follows. And indeed it is highly probable, that this custom of offering human sacrifices sprung from the offering of Isaac, from whence the Moabites, who were neighbours to Canaan, learnt it. And there was great indignation against Israel.] Or, as it may be translated, great repentance upon (or in, or among) Israel. That is, they were extreme sorry and troubled at this barbarous sacrifice, and wished they had not pushed on the war so far; which ended in such a horrid action, which brought an odium upon them. And they departed from him, and returned to their own land.] Hereupon they raised the siege, by common consent, and returned home, for fear any such thing should be done again. / CHAP. IV.
Who hath gone up into heaven. These words allude to and greatly resemble those, of Moses, Deut.xxx. 12, 13. It is not in heaven that thou shouldest say. Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Wlw shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us? To the same efFect with this of Bariich is that of Philo, Whatneedis there of t) fiatcpag bSonroptag, rj tov SaXaTTtittv, either to take long journeys, or to go to sea in search of virtue, seeing we have the root of it within ourselves; or, as Moses expresses it, in our mouth, and in our heart?
He that prepared the earth for evermore, hath filled it with four-footed beasts. The Vulgate reads with a conjunction, Qui prteparavit terram in mterno tempore, et replevit earn pecudibus, et qutidrupedibus. The sense is,* according to Calmet, He that made the earth that it might continue always, or that it might never move at aqy time. The earth was looked upon as the foundation and centre of all the movements and of all the changes that happened here below, without moving or changing itself. Monarchs rise and fall, men die, and others succeed in their place, the seasons change, and arc in continual vicissitude; but the earth continues always the same. According to that observation of Solomon, One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abidethfor ever. (Eccles. i. 4.) Vcr. 33. He that sendeth forth light and it*goeth; calleth it again, and it obeyeth him with fear.] He commands the sun to stop, and it stands still, as it happened under Joshua, x. 12. He commands it to be retrograde, and the shadow returns backward ten degrees, as was the sign-to Hczckiah; (2 Kings xx. 9.) he forbids it to shine at all, and darkness is over all the land, as at our Saviour’s crucifixion. (Matt, xxvii. 45.) What follows in the next verse about the stars is equally sublime, and very much resembles Ecclus. xliii. 10. Psal. cxlvii. 4. tkajvpav r$ iroifoavrt avTovg, is inaccurately rendered in the next verse following, They shewed light unto him that made them; it should rather be, They shined, not for his use, but by his order and appointment, that made them. Ver. 3G, 37. He hath found out the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men.] The author shews, that the Jews were in bondage for deserting that way of wisdom, which, being unknown to idolatrous nations, he that founded the earth by wisdom had made known to his people by his prophets; (sec Ecclus. xxiv. 8.) and intending to exhort them to stick fast to God, and not to fall away to the idols of the nations in their captivity, as the prophets. Isaiah and Jeremiah had warned them before, he puts them in mind, that it was none but.God that could discover that way of wisdom which the law taught Israel; which wisdom, says he, was afterward seen upon earth, dnd conversed among men, viz. in and by the prophets, who spoke by the word and wisdom of God. The expression in the thirty-seventh verse, it must be owned, is very like that of St. Jolin, i. 14. that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us; and is thought to be so close a resemblance of it, that some learned men have fancied, on that account, it was foisted in here by some Christian copyist. A learned writer, who contends for the canonicalness of this book, thinks that this clause, too much favouring the divinity and incarnation of the Messiah, induced the Jews to lay this book aside, soon after Christianity prevailed in the world, which before that time they ever looked upon as sacred and canonical. (Auth. Rec.vol. i. p. 7.) Bishop Chandler thinks.by afterward is meant the latter days, or the days of the Messiah; (see Dan. ii. 29. 45.) the time that all Israel shall be saved by the Deliverer’s coming to Sion, and his manifesting the Jews to be the children of his kingdom. (Def. Christ. p. 55.) Others, who think that the applying this passage to the incarnation and appearance of the Messiah, would hold out too much light for the times of this writer, refer it either to that occurrence, when, after the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, Moses and Aaron, and the seventy elders, were permitted to see the God of Israel, (Exod. xxiv. 9.) and Moses himself to come up into the mount to him; or to the angel of the covenant appearing amongst, and conducting his people in the wilderness forty years. (Estius, in loc.)
I mill make an everlasting covenant with them… and will no more drive my people out of the land. The Jews at Babylon, where this author wrote, did not imagine that the prophecies were at an end in the first return of the Jews under the Persian kings; they, by virtue of the everlasting covenant which God made to drive them no more out of the land, hoped for another more perfect and glorious restoration, as foretold by the prophets,, which should be the.deliverance of God himself, even salvation by their Messiah. (Sec Bishop Chandler’s Defence, &c. p. 53.)