Job 5
PATEliphaz still prosecutes the very same argument; endeavouring to confirm it from the opinion and observation of other men, as well as from his own. And thereupon exhorts him to repentance, as the surest way to.find mercy with God; and to be not only restored to hisformer prosperity, but to be preserved hereafter from the incursions of savage people, or of wild beasts, and Digitized. by Microsoft® [chap. v. from nil the rest of the disasters which had befallen him. Of this he bids him, in the conclusion, be assured; for it was a point he had studied. child, &c] Hero Jerusalem is very pathetically described by the character of a woman under the pangs of her first child-birth, when her pains as well as her fears aro greatest: such, saith the prophet, is the anguish of Jerusalem, bewailing the loss of her children, by the devouring sword of the Chaldeans, and in vain imploring comfort and assistance. To spread out the hands, is a gesture of begging or importuning. (See Isa. i. 15. Ixv. 2. Lam. i. 17.) The voice of the daughter of Zion.] The daughter of Zion, or of Jerusalem, is the same with Zion or Jerusalem. (Sec vi.2. 23. Lam.i.G. ii.l.) So the daughter of mi/ people is to be understood, vcr. 11. of this chapter, and the daughter of Babylon, Psal. exxxvii. 8. Cities and countries are commonly represented as mothers, and their inhabitants as their children… This chapter contains a vehement expostulatiou with the Jews, for the manifold corruption of their manners, and the disorders both of their civil and ecclesiastical go vern T ment. And as a punishment for all these enormities, God threatens the invasion’ of the Chaldeans. Veir.l. JthUN ye to and fro in the streets of Jerusalem— and seek in the broad places thereof [the streets of the greatest concourse], if ye can find a man, &c] The prophet describes a general corruption of manners in much the same terms with those of the Psalmist, There is none that doeth good, no not one, (Psal. xiv. 3.) And yet the same Psalm afterward mentions the generation of the righteous, and those who made the Lord, their refuge, ver. 5, 6. So that we may reasonably in both places understand the expressions, as only denoting the great scarcity of good inch. (Compare viii.6.) And I will pardon it.] I will pardon the wicked for the sake of the righteous, if there be any number of the latter. (Se<5 Gen. xviii. 26, &c.) (CHAP.. \] UPON JEREMJAJL are no better than wind and vanity, and that their prophecies, being nothing but their own imaginations, shall return upon their.own heads, and they shall feel the judgments themselves which they threaten to others.. THE BOOK OF TOBIT. God’s extraordinary providence here, all the difficulty is at once removed. A COMMENTARY UPON [chap. V. weighed about three shillings of our money. If we suppose this Greek version of Tobit to bo made from the Chaldee by some Alexandrian Jew, then, as every Alexandrian drachm contained two Hebrew drachms, one drachm of Alexandria will be of our money eighteen-penee. Ver. 1G. Go thou tuith this man, and God, which dwelleth in heaven, prosper your journey, and the angel of God keep you company.] As indeed ho did, according to the representation of this history, though Tobit in faith spoke this. This pious wish, no less than Raphael’s example and presence, shews us the opinion of the Jews at least, that God has given his angels the charge of mankind, and that he makes use of their ministry to conduct them through this life, in the midst of the many dangers that accompany them. Our Saviour intimates such a tutelar care with respect to little children in particular, Matt, xviii. 10. But it does not from hence follow, that the angels have such a knowledge of human affairs, or power over them, as that prayers should be offered up to them, or their intercession with God should be requested, or that any reliance should be had on their merits, as the popish expositors on this book would infer; for however highly favoured, still they are but servants of God, and his ministering spirits, and have neither omniscience, nor omnipresence, nor any attribute to make them fit objects. to be addressed to in a manner which is incommunicable to the Divinity. Tobit’s affectionate charge here greatly resembles Abraham’s commission to his servant, Gen. xxiv. 40. upon his sending him to.fetch a wife for his son Isaac; TJie Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house. In this particular also of a wife the resemblance holds; for though Raphael had nothing in commission relating to Sara, yet he happily crowned his journey by concluding a match for his master’s son, who sent him in quest of money only. So they went forth, and the young man’s dog with them.’] This clause is wanting here, both in Munster’s Hebrew copy and in the Vulgate. The latter, indeed, inserts it, vi. 1. It is most probable that the dog went with them, as it is mentioned in all the Greek copies, the Syriac, and Fagius’s Hebrew, as going and returning with them, xi.4. This circumstance of the dog, though of no great moment, is neither absurd nor unusual, as it is according to the simplicity of ancient times. But it may be the more necessary not to pass over this incident of the dog without some farther remark, since no less a critic than Mr. Pope has passed some raillery upon it. As he very ingeniously entertains himself and his friend (see letter to Mr. Cromwell), in satirizing some of the follies and failings of men, by setting forth the contrary virtues and good qualities of dogs; in the flow of his wit he observes, with relation to the book of Tobit, that there was no manner of reason to take notice of the dog, but the humanity of the author; Now, to call the introducing the dog an instance of the authors humanity, is certainly a very odd conceit; so odd, that it seems plain we are to consider it as a hasty stroke of fancy, not the result of Mr. Pope’s judgment; indeed, were he serious, there is as little truth as candour in this censure. Tobias was to take a long journey into a strange country, and to bring a large sum of money back with him, attended only with one other person, who, though an angel, w r as not discovered by him to be such; and does not the reason of the thing speak itself, that the dog was thought a proper guard under these circumstances, and therefore taken by Tobias, Comesque via dominique satelles? Pliny thinks it worth his while to remark this use of dogs, and gives an instance of a master preserved in his journey from thieves by his dog. (Nat. Hist. lib. viii. cap. 40.) And this we apprehend is sufficient to shew, that the mentioning the dog at the entering upon their journey was not impertinent. As to the significancy of introducing him again at their return, there is no reason why we should admire such a circumstance as natural and beautiful in Homer, and yet low and trifling in our author. Take the two passages together: " Tunc pnecueurrit eanis qui simul fuerat in via, et quasi nuncius adveniens, blandimento suae caudac gaudebat:" Atj t6tz y wg Ivorjaev’OSuac^a lyybg Iowa, Ovpij piv p oy Strive. (Odyss. P.) It would indeed argue great want of taste to put these two cases quite upon a parallel: Ulysses was in disguise, and entirely unknown to every human creature; yet the sagacity of this animal at once discovers him under all the changes that twenty years’ absence and fatigues, together with all that art and design could contribute farther to his concealment, had brought upon him. This is a very beautiful and striking circumstance in the poet, and though we find nothing in the historian to correspond with it, yet there remains likeness sufficient to secure him from ridicule. To which we may add, that, after the eagerness and impatience of the parent for the return of her son, we are affected with a very sensible pleasure to see it removed at once, and changed into joy by the appearance of that faithful guard, which, upon his master’s approaching home, ever naturally hastens to be the harbinger of it. It may not be amiss to’observe, that the passage quoted above from the Vulgate, receives great confirmation from the Syriac version, which makes Anna see the dog first, before she saw her son, (xi. 6.) upon which she flies to Tobit, to tell him they were coming. Nor does the Greek disagree with this; for it says, not that she saw Tobias himself, but vpocrevoricrtv avrbv Iqx^I xzv0v > • e * knew it, or perceived it by some token, to wit, this of the dog. We should not have dwelt so long upon a circumstance seemingly so trifling, nor have been induced to have taken so much notice of it, had not this circumstance been represented as if the dog was introduced into the history foolishly, and without any sort of reason for it. THE BOOK OF TOBIT " Multae simul Concummtsuspiciones, quaemeum animum diversum trahunt: Viae crepidines periculosae, adolesceiitis parum Circumspecti imperitia: turn hospes, cujus fidei creditus est, Ignotus saltern spectatae fidei viro Commisisset, cum ipsi salute filii pecunia Prior esset. O insaturabilem habendi sitim! Quasi non multo satius fuisset, paululum Perdere pecuniae, quam filium, unicam Nostrae senectutis requiem, vitae subire pendulum." (InTob. act. iii.) deliver you out of my hands? But that of churlish Nabal, 1 Sam. xxv. 10. comes nearest the point, JVJio is David? and who is the son of Jesse? But the nioro the Assyrians despised the Jews, the more must they be surprised, and the greater their confusion, when they beheld their proud and insulting general vanquished and killed, with the far greater part of his army, by tho means of one single woman among that people, whom they would seem even not to know, in order to depress and undervalue them the more. What king is set over them, or captain of their army?] The Vulgate has only, Quis rex militia illorum, without the distinction. The latter clause seems cxegetical of part of the office of a king; viz. his leading out and going forth before his people to battle. (2 Sam. xxi. 17.) Holofernes might possibly ask the question,. who was their king, as Manasscs’s captivity might be a secret to him, who was not carried to Nineveh or Susa, but to Babylon. THE BOOK OF JUDITH. which Procopius mentions, may refer; “We are some of those people who fled before that robber, Joshua, the son of Nun/’ Though the tradition be very old, that the Gergesenes fled out of the land of Canaan when Joshua entered it, nevertheless it is certain, that a good number of them stayed behind; since Joshua himself informs us, that he subdued the Girgashites, (Josh. xxiv. 11.) and they whom he overcame were certainly on this side Jordan. It may be, therefore, that they who fled into Afrie were the Girgashites, who dwelt beyond the sea of Tiberias, and that the others continued in the country; and both these maybe meant and included in the expression here, All the Gergesites. By the Siehemites, mentioned just before, the Hivites seem to be intended.
Job 5:1
xjALL now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?. If thou dost not believe me, thou mayest inquire of others. There is no good man but is of this opinion: and if an angel should appear to thee (as there did to me), thou wouldcst have no other information but this: jcjLNDhadlaid impedimentsin the champaigne countries.’] The word <TKav$a\ov here used has many significations: it sometimes signifies, in general, any obstacle or hinderance laid in a man’s way, by which a passenger is detained or stopped: here it is peculiarly taken to signify those sharp stakes, or other instruments, which in time of war men were wont to put in the fields, where the enemy was expected to follow^ to wound their feet or legs with, and thereby to retard their passage, and therefore here properly called impediments. Against which accident, being so usual and ordinary ill war, anciently they used greaves of brass to defend their feet or legs. (See 1 Sam. xvii. 6.)
Job 5:2
For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy stayeth the silly one. That God in his anger and indignation destroys the wicked, and him that errs from his precepts.. And though they say,- TJie Lord liveth; yet surely they swear falsely.] Even those that do not swear by false gods, (as many among them do; see ver. 7.) yet will venture to call the true God to bear witness to what is not true. A sign that even the professors of the true religion have no inward sense of it.. Wherewith he was very angry, and called all the princes of Moab, and the captains of Ammon.] He applied to these more particularly, says Calmet, as he presumed, that the Moabites and Ammonites, being neighbours to the Hebrews, could better inform him of the truth than any other persons.
Job 5:3
I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly J cursed his habitation. This is so certain, that I have predicted bis downfall, when he seemed most firmly settled in his prosperity. O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth?] Thou scarchest the hearts, and clearly discernest men’s real dispositions from their hypocritical pretences, and therefore art perfectly acquainted* with the obstinacy and stubborn temper of this people. Tliou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved, &c] All those heavy judgments thou hast brought upon tbem, have not wrought in them any true remorse for their sins, nor engaged them to amend their evil ways. (Sec ii. 30.) ( < iSeEK thee a man which may go with thee, whilst I yet live*] Besides that of our version, there are other renderings of this sentence, according to the pointing of the Greek. The Vulgate has, TJt>dum adhuc vivo, recipiaspecuniam. Fagius’s Hebrew copy, Fortasse redibitis, me adhuc vivente. And the Greek and Syriac, Dabo ei mercedem duui vivo. The Vulgate properly enough inserts fidelem here, Inquire tibi aliquem fidelem virum, qui eat tecum; i. e. Inquire for somebody of trust and probity to go with you: for every idle person or vagrant was not proper to be sent on such an errand, or joined in a commission of receiving such a sum of money. (See ver. 8.) Tell vie now who this people is that dwelleth in the hill country.] It may seem strange, and scarce to be credited, that a general of the Assyrians, such a one as Holofernes was, should be ignorant of the people of the Jews, and ask the questions which are here mentioned concerning them; but it is probable that Holofernes was not of the number of those captains of the king of Assyria, whom the Lord sent to carry Manassch into captivity, and therefore possibly he might not understand cither their constitution and discipline, or the situation and extent of their country, much less the genius of the people, their original and genealogy; since even Tacitus the historian, who had conferred both with Titus and Vespasian, who overthrew Jerusalem, seems unacquainted with their genealogy, when he affirms, that they came froni Ida, a mountain of Crete. (Hist. lib. v.) The questions here proposed to the princes of Moab, and the captains of Amnion, seem not to have proceeded from any ignorance of this people, nor to have been really asked for information’s sake; for, considering the trophies, and spoils, and number of captives, brought from Judea not very many years before, by those powerful kings of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmaneser, and Sennacherib, such particulars relating to the Jews could not but be known. But they are questions rather of a sneering and insulting general, despising the enemies he had to deal with, as of no note or consequence, and not worthy of any regard. Not unlike that expression of the proud Pharaoh,- speaking of the God of Israel with great contempt, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? (Exod. v.) and that’ of Nebuchadnezzar, (Dan, iii.) WIio is that God that shall JL Hi far. obpavbv tzixtq. subaud. x<>Q<$ The like ellipsis occurs Job xviii. 4. Luke xvii. 24. in LXX. Prov. viii. 28. 2 Mace. ii. 18. in Addit. Esth, xiii. 10.
Job 5:4
His children arc far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them. His children also fell with him; justice took hold of them, and would not let them escape. TJierefore I said, Surely these arc poor; they are foolish, &c] I thought at first, saith the prophet, that such anunconccrnedncss for the duties of religion could be only charged upon the rude and ignorant vulgar, who have neither leisure nor opportunity of learning their duty. He found Raphael that was an angel.
Job 5:5
llliose haivest the hungry eateth up, and talceth it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance. The hungry soldier devoured their harvest, there was no fence could secure it; but the rest of their riches became a prey to the robber. Ver. G. Although affliction comcth not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.] For we are not to ascribe the trouble and.misery of mankind merely to earthly causes, which are but the instruments of God’s justice. I will get me to the great men, and speak unto them, &c] One might expect from men of better education a truer sense of religion. But, alas! the great men of the world bid open defiance to Gods laws, and cast off all obligations of duty and conscience; like headstrong oxen, that will riot be brought under the yoke, but breakthrough any bonds whereby you would restrain them, or bring them under discipline. (Compare vii. 24. 2G.) Vcr. 6. Wlicreforc a lion out of the forest shall slay them, &c] He compares their enemies to beasts of prey. (See ii. 15. iv. 7. Isa. xv. 9. Nahum ii. 11— 13. Habak. i. 8.) But he knew not.’] i. e. He knew him not to he such, having assumed a human form, of no mean or common appearance, but,” as the Vulgate adds, having an air of majesty and greatness, which he looked upon as his natural mien, and not as the reflection of a heavenly glory, as he found it afterward to be. That good angels are appointed by God to be the guardians of particular men, and in execution of this their office, do frequently assume human shapes, to guide them in their journeys, and to deliver them from all dangers, is a doctrine as ancient as the patriarch Jacob’s time, embraced by Christians, and believed by the wisest heathens. (Gen. xlviii. 1G. Psal. xxxiii. 8. Matt viii. 10. Acts xii. 15. Hes. Oper. et Die. lib. i. Plato, do Leg. lib. x.) Hence Mercury was fabled to be the messenger of the gods and guide df the way; and as such was said to have wings on his arms and his feet, A learned writer observes, that this story of Tobias and the angel has a wonderful relation and a great conformity, both in the ideas and the style, with Mercury’s descending in the shape of a young man, and conducting Priam in his journey to the pavilion of Achilles, 11. G. where their conversation on the way is described. And tho example of Homer, so long before Tobit, proves, that this opinion of God’s sending his angels to the aid of man was very common, and much spread among the pagans in those former times, as will appear to any one that consults their theology. (Dacier’s note, in loc. cit.) The part which the angel acts in this history is attended with some difficulties, and has been made a principal objection to the authority of the book; for though it be true, that angels have sometimes actually assumed the form or appearance of men, upon some extraordinary or high errand from God to man, yet this has been in appearance only: our Saviour himself seems to say as much; for when, upon his entering into the room where his disciples were assembled, and the doors shut, they were terrified, and thought they saw a spirit, he puts the proof of its being really himself, and no mere appearance, that a spirit has not flesh and bones, as they might actually feel and experience him to have. But it may be thought incredible, that Tobias should so long travel, and eat and lodge, with an immaterial form or appearance, and after so many occasions as must unavoidably ofler for sensible touch, not only to himself, but in the family of llaguel, &c. no discovery should be made, nor so much as any suspicion raised of the thing. In answer to all which, it may, I presume, be very justly replied, first, with regard to the angel’s appearing at all in this transaction, that it was an occasion vindice digna Deo; for whether we consider the greatness of Tobit’s virtues, who was probably the most illustrious instance of piety and charity amongst the whole ten captive tribes, or the loss of his fortunes first, and his eyes after, and so the greatness of his sufferings also; if we attend farther to the particular situation of himself and his countrymen, which required uncommon supports to keep up their spirits, and maintain a proper dependance and hopes in God, it could be no ways unworthy God’s wise and good providence in such circumstances, to send a messenger from heaven, and to make this a sensible example, that he had neither cast off his people, nor would at any time be wanting in the care of good men under their afflictions. As to the other part of the difficulty, which arises from an immaterial being conversing and cohabiting under a corporeal appearance only, without any discovery, or so much as suspicion, that it was not a real body, we answer, that the angel’s skill and address, ever awake to his business, and not subject to such absence and inadvertencies as ourselves, would easily prevent or divert the occasions of discovery. And if, as we have a right, we farther include I will declare unto thee the truth;… and there shall no lie come out of the mouth of thy servant.] Such instances as these are not to be considered as tautology; they arc used to shew the earnestness of the speaker, and to gain an easier belief by a more vigorous manner of expression. There arc many instances in Scripture of this manner of reduplication. See Deut.ix.7. 2Kingsix.3. Matt, xxviii.14. Markxiv. 61. Lukei. 2CT. ix. 45. John i. 20.. Acts xiii. 11. xiv. 8. xviii. 9. 1 Thcss. v. 5. Apoc. iii. 16. and particularly 1 John ii. 27. which very much resembles the passage before us; as does that of Plato, tptiSurOai, koL fxij raX^dil Xiyuv, who has also, airuOovvrtg, teal fxrj TruOofitvoi; and so Virgil, Non adversata petenti Annuit; and instances are still more frequent among the Greek poets, particularly Homer, Euripides, Sophocles, and Aristophanes. Captain of all the sons of Ammon.] Under the general title of the sons of Ammon, some conceive to be comprised the Edomites, or Idumeans, who may be considered as brethren of the Jews, being descended from Esau, the brother of Jacob; and that they chose to pass under that name at this time, to avoid the odium of being engaged against and invading the Israelites their kinsmen. Achior, the chief of these people, it may be presumed, was an Idumeau likewise, and, having a perfect knowledge of all that concerned the Jews, was the spokesman to Holofernes, and gave him all the light and intelligence concerning them that is mentioned in this chapter; and from the detail here given of them, it appears that he very well understood their history. One cannot but take notice of the open manner in which he speaks to. the Assyrian general of the people of the Jews, and of the God of Israels impartial and just dealing with them, according as their conduct deserved; an observation tending greatly to his glory, and scarce to be expec’ild from this Ammonite. And there seems to be something providential in it, and not merely chance, that he should find admittance and protection among this people, and even be made one of them by the rite of circumcision, where in all human appearance he might rather have expected’ to have been cvil-entrcated, or to have suffered death as a! spy, or an enemy in disguise.
Job 5:6
This people are descended of the Chaldeans. We read, Gen. xi. 31. that Terah took Abraham his son, and Lot the son of Ilaran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughterin-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth with them, /rom Ur of the Chaldces, to go. into the land of Canaan. Hence the children of Israel arc said here to be descended of the Chaldeans, as claiming Abraham for their father, who was a Chaldean: and probably it was with design to render Holofernes favourable to the Jews, that Achior represents to him, in the beginning of his speech, that they were descended of the Chaldeans, as Holofernes himself was a subject of the Assyrian monarch, the prince of that country. * For they departed from thee on foot, and were led away of their enemies; but God bringeth them unto thee exalted with glory, as children of the kingdom.’] i.e. As a royal race, or children of kings, riding in triumph,* aiid in a most magnificent procession. Ezra gives us the number and quality of the persons that returned, their horses, mules, camels, &c. employed on the occasion, (ii. 66.) And it appears, from 1 Esd. v. 2. that Darius himself sent a thousand horsemen to conduct them back safely to Jerusalem, with musical instruments. Isaiah describes their return from Babylon in the most pompous manner, andin vol. iv. terms scarcely inferior to a real triumph, (xlix. 22, 23. lxvi. 20.) " Their transport of mirth and jollity on this occasion (says Josephus) was as great, as if the day of their redemption and return had been the firstday of anew life." (Antiq. lib. xi. cap. 4.)
Job 5:7
Yet man is born unto trouble, as the spai’ks fly upward. Who hath made it as natural to man to suffer (having offended him), as it is for the sparks to fly upward. How shall J pardon thee for this?] God appeals to themselves, whether they can think it consistent with nis justice, to let such enormous offences as these go unpunished? Thy children [see ii. 30.] have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods.] Compare Deut. xxxii. 21. Swearing is a solemn act of religion, and an appeal td God’s power, justice, and truth..(See iv. 2.) So thai to give such an honour to idols, is to rob God of his essential attributes. For this reason the Jews were strictly enjoined, not to make mention pf the names of false gods, that they might not be tempted to swear by them. (See Exod. xxiii. 13. Josh, xxiii. 7. Psal.XYi. 4.) Wlienlfedthem to the full, they then committed adultery— they were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbours wife.] They abused the plenty which God ^ave them, thereby making provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof. Expositors arc very much divided in explaining two words of the Hebrew text here, mejuzzanim or muzanim (for the word is differently read), translated fed; and mashkim, rendered by our translators, in the morning: but the sense they give of the whole verse is much the same. I shall therefore refer the curious reader to the critical remarks upon those two words, which may be found in Pool’s Synopsis. For God hath appointed that every high MIL] By opog and fiowbg, we are here to understand those who are lofty, proud, and supercilious, who exalt. themselves from a conceit of worldly wisdom: the meek, on the contrary, are represented as prostrate and humble, casting aside every high thought, and adoring, with holy reverence, mysteries that are above them. This refers to a known custom of great kings, who, when they travelled, had their bSonotoi, or harbingers, sent before them to make the way plain and commodious, by filling up deep places, and levelling those that were high, and smoothing those that were rough. And so Josephus says, that when Titus came to the wars, there went before him all the royal aids, and all the military men, [and those who planed the way (de Bell. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 6. 12.) for the coming of the Roman army. The words here “seem to refer to Isa. xl. 4. where the prophet, describing the return of the people from their captivity to their own country, expresses it by " the former deliverance and passage out of Egypt, through uneven craggy ways in the desert, which yet, by God’s conduct, was made passable to them, and they brought at last to a happy Canaan.” Thus the Targum on Canticles saith, the cloud went before the Israelites in the wilderness three days’ journey, to take down their hills, and fill up their valleys before them. Mystically, or by way of metaphor, this expression, of casting down every high hill, means also, the removing of all obstacles to one’s happiness or designs, as in those verses of Sibylla Erythraea, set down by St. Austin, De Civit. Dei, lib. viii. where, foretelling the coming of the King from heaven in the flesh, it follows: " Dcjicict colles, valles extollet ab imo; Non erit in rebus hominum sublime, vel altum; iEquantur campis montes." Which is almost the same with the passage cited from Isaiah. Compare also Luke iii. 5. The same metaphor is used by Homer, II, o. ver, 260. where Apollo, promising to assist Hector, saith, Avrap lyw 7rpOTrapo&e Kitov, “nnroiai KtXevSov VLaaav Xuav(o), I will go before and make smooth all passages..
Job 5:8
I would seek unto God, and unto God tvould I commit my cause. Whereforo, if I were in thy case, I would humbly address myself to God, and desire him to order all things as he pleases. For they left the way of their ancestors, and worshipped the God of heaven, the God whom they knew; so they cast them out from the face of their gods; and they fled into Mesopotamia, and sojourned therefor many days.] As these nations had been long infected with idolatry, and were under a government that established and supported idolatrous worship, the. ancestors of Abraham and his family were expelled this land for worshipping the God of heaven, and leaving the way of their forefathers; aland so famous for superstition and idolatry, that Chaldeans and magicians were synonymous terms. From henco they passed into Mesopotamia, t. e. into a province so called from its situation between the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates; and on account of their relation to Abraham, the Jews arc said to sojourn with him there.. For as they are mentioned in the foregoing vefsc to be descended from the, Chaldeans, because Abraham, from whom their stock was derived, was a Chaldean, so are they here represented on the same account, as accompanying him and settling with him in Mesopotamia. St. Stephen, Acts vii. 2 — 4. greatly illustrates what Achior here adds; when speaking to the Jews, he says, Hie Godof glory appeared unto Abraham, and ordered him to depart this country, &c. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran; and. from thence, when his father was dead, he removedinto the land of Canaan. Abraham’s stay at Charran is supposed, by the most exact chronologers, to be about two years; but Achior’s expression, lie sojourned there many days, seems to imply a much longer time, as appears from the same phrase, ver. 16. Every sweet-smelling tree shall overshadow Israel.] i.e. God will furnish his people with all sorts of accommodations for their return home; in particular, that they should not be incommoded with heat, a calamity very incident to travellers in hot countries; God would plant woods, as it were on purpose to shelter his chosen in their return, from the scorching heat of the sun. This undoubtedly refers to Isa. xli. 19. where God says, I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah-tree, the myrtle, and the olive-tree, &c. conducting the people home almost in the same marvellous manner, as he did his chosen in the wilderness, by the shadow of a cloud to defend them from the heat. Or, without having recourse to a miracle, this may be understood of his appointing their return at such a season, when the trees afforded most shade; or that they 4U
Job 5:9
Wliich doetli great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number. For he is the author of all those wonderful things, whose causes we can no more find out than we can count their number. Shall I not visit for these things? &c.] Do not such crimes as these deserve some remarkable judgments as their punishment? (See ver. 7.). Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?] God’s anger and vengeance signify in Scripture the execution of his justice; the effects of which are as terrible against obstinate sinners, as if they proceeded from the highest resentment. (Compare xliv. 22. Ezek. v. 13. vi. 9. and see the note upon Isa. xxx. 27.) *Sb he catted Mm, and he came in, and they saluted one another.
Job 5:10
JVJio giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields. Of the rain, for instance, in its season; and’of the springs which run in the fields: Go ye up upon her toalls, &c.] God gives a commission to the Chaldeans to besiege and take Jerusalem. The sins it hath been guilty of make him disown the relation he formerly did bear to it, and he now declares, that he hath put it out of his protection, and delivered it up to the will of its enemies. But make not a full end.] See. vcr. 18. Then Tobit said tiiito him, Brother, shew me of what tribe and family thou art] The Vulgate is fuller and more explicit as to the salutation, Dixit, gaudium tibi sit semper. Et ait Tobias, Quale gaudiitmmihi erit, qui in tenebris sedeo, et lumen cceli non video. Ctii aitjuvenis, Forti animo esto; in proximo est, ut a Deo cureris: preparing the reader for the accomplishment of this, chap. xi. The term brother is not to be taken strictly; the Jews called all those of their own tribe or nation brethren: Tobit, who uses this appellation in several places of this chapter, speaks to Kaphael according to his human appearance, as one of the brethren. But when a famine covered all the land of Canaan, they went down into Egypt.] Caltnet observes, that Achior, in his narration, seems to confound the going of Abraham into Egypt with that of Jacob’s thither: but there is not much weight in this observation, as the account hereis of the Jewish people and their concerns collectively, rather than of Abraham personally. However this he, it reminds me to illustrate a like instance, Acts vii. 16. where St. Luke, in reciting St. Stephen’s speech, either puts Abraham for Jacob, (sec Vitring. in Isai. Prolegom. p. 23.) or Abraham must be used here patronymically, for Jacob, his descendant; or possibly the name Abraham crept into the text, as Beza suspects, from a marginal annotation.. -
Job 5:11
To’set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety. -Whereby men of low condition are enriched and grow great; as the plants and corn shoot out of the earth, after they are moistened with showers. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me.] Sec the note on iii. 20, Vcr. 12. They have’ belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us, &c] They have spoken unjustly and dishonourably of God, denying his government over human affairs; ascribing his judgments to chance or fortune, and disbelieving all thrcatcnings of sword and famine, which the prophets have denounced in his name, which is in effect to give him the lie. (Sec xiv. 13.). Vcr. 13. And the prophets shall become wind, &c] They r encourage the people to despise God*s t messages by his prophets, telling them that the prophets and their words Dost thou seek for a tribe or family, or a hired man to go with thy son?] i. e. Why dost thou trouble thyself about my tribe or family? content thyself; without any farther inquiry, that thou hast got a good guide for thy son, ad votum tuum mercenarium, according to Munster’s Hebrew copy. Of what service will it be, in the intended journey, to know my family? Dost thou want the family, or a hireling only, that is well acquainted with the way, to conduct thy son? And thus the Port-Royal comment explains it, Est-ce la familte du mercenaire, qui doit conduire v6- trefds, ou le mercenaire lui-m&me que vous cherchez? There is, however, more in this question than may seem at first hearing; it is not merely a question of curiosity, natural to old men, but Tobias being young and inexperienced, the intention of the good old man, his father, was, by this inquiry, to get all the intelligence and assurance he could possibly of the condition and credit of one, to whom he was about to entrust a son, whom he had been all along careful to bring up in the fear of the Lord, and with an abhorrence of evil company: and when Tobit asks Raphael of what family he was, it was in effect only to demand who and what he was himself; for from the good or evil disposition of the stock, or heads of the family, may with great probability be inferred the temper and manners of the children and dependants; as we form a judgment from the tree itself what fruit may be expected from it. Terentius Christianus expresses this conference more clearly: " Tob. Amabo, hospes, Cujas es? aut quibus parentibus, quaeso, Prognatus? Raph. Quorsum id percontare? Nil refert Ad id quod agimus nunc. Tob. Nc id mihi, precor, frater, Succenseas, quod curiosius stirpem Tuam expiscari non erubuerim. Scis qudm Non sit tutum cuiquam, hoc rerum statu, quicquam Committere ignoto: et curse est mihi gnatus.” (In Tob. act.ii.)
Job 5:12
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. And, on the contrary, he defeats the craftiest designs of subtle men to raise themselves; and it is not in their power to effect that which they have mostwiscly contrived. I am Azarias, the son of Ananias the Great, and of thy brethren.] k e. An Israelite. See vii. 3. where ho makes himself to be of the tribe of NephthaJi. Many Greek copies read here very corruptly, lyw rb yhog’AZapiov koI *Avaviov tov fxtyakov; but the reading followed by our version is confirmed by vi. 8. vii. 8. ix. 2. It may be more material to inquire, how Raphael is Azarias, and with what propriety or truth he styles himself so? To this objection several answers may be given:— 1. That angels having no proper name, but what is derived from the office and ministry they are employed about, and Azarias, according to the Hebrew signification, meaning a helper from God; this name may agree very well to the angel Raphael, who was sent for this very purpose to be instrumental in curing Tobit’s blindness, and to be a guide and assistant to Tobias in his journey, and therefore very prudently concealed his quality of an angel, that he might more conveniently execute his commission. The giving of proper names to persons derived from some accident, quality, or office, belonging to them, was very ancient, and customary among the Hebrews. There are many instances of this kind in Scripture, particularly Gen. xxx. where the names given to Jacob’s children are very observable and expressive, if considered in this view. Secondly, As the angel had assumed the form and person of Azarias, he may be supposed to speak according to his appearance only; as the author of the first book of Samuel saith, That Samuel spake to’ Saul, seeking his counsel by the witch of Endor, because the person that appeared was in Samuel’s habit, and the witch, or at least king Saul, did repute him to be so. In like manner this angel, personating Azarias, for a time bare his name: or thus, as the picture is usually called by the person it represents, and he who in the tragedy acts the part of Cyrus, does for that time go under his name, so Raphael, personating Azarias in the form and appearance of a young man, was in that capacity to act and speak as if he had been such. Thirdly, The following instance may likewise serve to illustrate this, viz. When Joseph was sent after his brethren to Sichem, and had lost his way, there met him a person, (Gen. xxxvii. 15, 16.) that directed him where to find them, which the Targum of Jonathan on the place pronounces to be the angel Gabriel. As this concealed angel had the appearance of a man, and is indeed so called in that text, and under that form was assisting in directing the way, we may hence perhaps conceive, how the same person here should be the angel Raphael and yet Azarias also.
Job 5:13
He tdketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. Nay, they produce that which they studied to avoid; and wben they think themselves sure, make too much haste to their ruin. My brother, thou art of a good stock.] It may seem surprising, that Tobit, hearing the name of Ananias the Great, did not think proper to inquire how it happened, that Azarias, the son of so considerable a person, was so reduced in his circumstances, and to such a state of meanness, as to be obliged to get a poor livelihood, by occasionally hiring himself. To say nothing of the vicissitude of fortune, which God has placed in his own power, it may be sufficient to answer, That in a time of captivity, such as was that of the Israelites at present, all distinction of families is lost, or however not considered, the greatest and most considerable are confounded with the meanest; as they are carried away promiscuously from their country, so they are equally stripped of their possessions and fortunes, and condemned by the merciless victor to the same instances of hardship and servility.
Job 5:14
They meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope in the noon day as in the night. They trip in the plainest way, and sco not their danger, when it is Visible to everybody but themselves. Behold, I will make my words in fhy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.] The effect of those threatenings which are denounced by thy mouth, shall be as speedy and certain as that of fire is when put to dry wood. To the same sense are those words of Hosea, (vi. 5.) I have heived them by my prophets. Thus Christ is described as having a sharp sivord proceeding out of his mouth, (Rev. i. 16.) because the judgments he denounce^ against the wicked are like the sentence of a judge, which is certainly followed with execution. Wilt thou a drachm a day.] It appears by the gospel of St. Matthew, that a ebrew drachm was the fourth part of a shekel, i. e. ninepencc of our money; for there, xvii. 24. the tribute-money, annually paid to the temple by every Jew, which was half a shekel, is called Si’Spaxjuov (4. e. the two drachm piece); and therefore, if a half shekel contained two drachms, a drachm must have been the quarter of a shekel, or ninepence, as every shekel 4L2
Job 5:15
But he savcth the poor, from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.J Whereby many a helpless man is delivered, both from the open force, and from the treacherous flatteries or calumnies of those that are too strong for them. Ver. 1G. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.] And therefore ho that is oppressed should not despair, nor should the oppressors boast themselves; for there is hope that God will save the one to the utter destruction of the other.. I bring upon you a nation from far.’] Babylon is called afar country, Isa.xxxix. 3. Perhaps it is called a far country here, in comparison of the Philistines, Moabites, Amoritcs, and other borderers, who before were the Jews’ oppressors. The words house of Israel are, after the captivity of the ten tribes, applied to the two tribes remaining. (See vi. 9. ix. 26. x. 1. Ezek. xiii. 5. xviii. 31.) It is an ancient nation.] Babylon was built about a hundred years after the flood: and in a little time after Nimrod erected a kingdom there: whereupon that country is called the land of Nimrod, Micah y. 6. A nation whose language thou knotvestnot, &c] Another part of that judgment denounced Deut. xxviii. 49. This is a great aggravation of the miseries of a foreign conquest, that there is no parleying or treating with such a conqueror, nor moving him to compassion, because they understand not each other’s language. v The. common people. among the Jews before the captivity did not understand the Chaldee tongue, called by them the Syrian’ language. (See 2 Kings xviii. 26.)
Job 5:16
Their quiver is an open sepulchre. All their arrows shall do execution, so that their quiver. may be looked upon as a common grave to their enemies. And all the Gergesites.] The Gergesencs, or Girgashites, were an ancient people of the land of Canaan; their habitation was beyond the sea of Tiberias, where we find some footsteps of their name in the city of Gergesa, upon the lake of Tiberias. The rabbins inform us, that, when Joshua first came into the land of Canaan, the Gergesencs took a resolution rather to forsake their country than to submit to the Hebrews. They are also of opinion, that Joshua proposed the following conditions to the Canaanites, viz. flight; subjection, or war. The Gergesencs resolved to fly, and accordingly, retired into Afric; and to this flight possibly that inscription in Phoenician characters,.
Job 5:17
Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. Behold then, how little reason there is to complain of God’s chastisements, which if thou dost not refuse ho is able to turn to thy good. * And they shall eat tip thy harvest, and thy bread.] Bread is here put for bread-corn; and so it is used, Isa. xxviii. 28. xxx. 23. Is he not the staff of our hand, in going in and out before us?] This is a Hebraism. We meet with the like phrase, Numb, xxvii. 17* The sense here is, Is he not the staff of our age, in managing our affairs, and taking care for us? And thus the Geneva version, Is he not the staff of our hand to minister unto us? And so Junius, Nonne scipio maims nostra est, res nostras agens arbitratu nostro? Fagius’s Hebrew copy.has, Promus et condtis est domus nostra; i. e. He is theproveditor or steward of our family; and the Vulgate, -Baczdumsenectutis nostra. Terentius Christianus well expresses the sense of this and the following verse: — And whilst they sinned not before their God, they prospered, because Ahe God that hateth iniquity ivas with them. V fc er. 18. But when they departed from the way which he appointed them, they were destroyed in many battles very sore.] This observation of Achior’s was framed according to the known experience of those times; for the rise and fall, the prosperity or adversity, of the Jewish people, was, in the apprehension of other nations, as well as their own, always proportionable to their own religious behaviour, and not to be measured by any rules of policy or the effect of it The ground of this observation was God’s first promise to Abraham, Gen. xii. 2, 3. which promise, as it principally concerned the temporal state of the Jews, was to be limited according to the tenor of Achior’s speech, and did then only take effect, when they followed Abraham’s footsteps, and lived in a faithful obedience to God’s laws; or, having transgressed them, did turn again with their whole hearts to seek the God of their fathers. And it was their love of sin, so displeasing tmto God, which brought them so often into subjection unto their enemies, according to that of the Psalmist, Ixxxi. 14, 15. O that my people would have hearkened unto vie; for if Israel had walked in my ways, I should soon have put doivn their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries; and that of Solomon, Prov. xvi. 7. When the ways of a man please the Lord, he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him. As the nati^ms round about Judea waited all such opportunities to tak revenge of the Jews, when God by their misery and calamities seemed to forsake them, so, for the same reasons, were the nations round about as earnestly bent to hinder the re-edifying of Jerusalem after their return from the captivity, as fearing lest this people’s good fortune should rise again with their city walls, as Nehemiah expressly intimates, vi. 1G. that after the enemies had heard that the wall was finished, they were afraid, and their courage failed them, for they knew that this work ivas wrought of God. (See Jackson’s Works, vof.i. p. 86.) Hence did the wise men of Chaldea, upon the first notice of the Jews beginning to recover themselves, and fortune turning for them, read Hainan’s destiny, but too late, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. (Esth. vi. 13.) See also Ezra viii. 22. which comes noarer this place. A very learned prelate observes of “this speech of Achior’s to Ilolofernes (whether truly uttered or feigned, sayshe,by the penman of the history), thatit was framed and grounded upon the confessed observations of those times, and contained such advices as a faithful counsellor, well vol. iv. acquainted with the affairs of the Jews, should have given to his lord, who did not so well understand them. (Patrick’s Cora, on Esth. vi. 13.) •
Job 5:18
For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he tvoundeth, and his hands make whole. For he doth not merely wound, but, like a wise chirurgeon, by that very means he cures and heals. Nevertheless, in those days, I will not make a full end with you.] Or, yet even in those days, &c. i. e. I have.still some judgments in reserve, viz.’ the destruction of your city and temple, and the carrying away the remainder of the nation captive to Babyloti. (See iv. 27.) Be not greedy to add money to money.’]‘Apyiptov t£ apyvpty fitj
Job 5:19
He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall ho evil touch thee. Thy troubles cannot be so many, but, if thou submissively accept them, he will free thee from them. And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wlierefore doth the Lord our God all those things unto us?] Those that fall under the severity, of God’s judgments are apt to think so favourably of themselves, as to wonder why they should be singled out for examples of the Divine vengeance, and of terror, to others. And particularly the Jews thought this severe proceeding scarce consistent with those many gracious promises God had made unto their nation. TJieh thou shall answer’them, See] As much as to say, All God’s promises were made upon condition of your obedience, and if y6u forsake God, you are not to expect that the promise of dwelling in this land should be made good to you any longer. [,* Now they are returned to their God, and are come up from the places where they were scattered.] As what is said in the foregoing verse seems best understood of the Assyrian captivity in the time of Manasseh, when the Jews were dispersed into different parts, and left their country desolate, so the return from their dispersion here mentioned seems better to bereferred to the restoration of that prince, when Jerusalem, which had been for a time in the hands of the Assyrians, was restored to him, and the temple, which was desolate and in a manner destroyed, recovered its former lustre, being again frequented and purified, and its holy service re-established. There is nothing in this exposition but what is agreeable to the history of Manasseh, as far as can be collected from the short account which we have in the’books of Kings and Chronicles, and it is liable to fewer objections, than understanding the place of the restoration of the Jews to their own land, after the Babylonish captivity, which happened later.. 4P
Job 5:20
In famine he shall redeem thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword. He will feed thee in the best barren years, and defend thee in the day of battle.
Job 5:21
TJiou shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it Cometh. False accusers shall not be able to hurt thee; and when whole countries are depopulated, thou shalt be secure. Winch have eyes and see not;, which have ears and hear not.] Who make no use of the senses and understanding which God hath given them. (See Isa. vi. 9.) Thou hast much wealth, if thou fear God.] This sentiment is so exalted, that, as the Port-Royal comment observes, one would think that it was spoken by some Christian father to his son, in the times of the gospel. It is not unlike that of St. Paul, Godliness with contentment is great gain. Tobit had lost his sight, was a captive, and reduced to low circumstances; and yet, in the full assurance of faith, from the good treasure of his heart, he pronounces this encouraging maxim to all others in the like distressed circumstances, Thou hast much tvealth, if thou fear God. God will either return with usury to a persecuted and afflicted servant, what he may at any time have lost, especially for the sake of his truth, and bless his latter end, as he did that of Job, with the greater flow of prosperity; or having proved his soul by a great trial of afflictions, reserve for him a treasure in the heavens, with which temporal goods are not worthy to be compared. St- Austin, full of admiration of Tobit’s devout behaviour in a state of poverty, says, " Quam laudabilis sit Sanctus Tobias, scriptura docemur, cujus devotionem nee captivitas minuit, nee ocu-’ lorum amissio, quominus Deo benediceret, persuasit. Neque, cxhausta substantia, a via justitiae ct veritatis avertit. Necessitas enim probat justum. In egestate aequitateni servare, vera et perfeeta justitia est. Unde enim quorundam devotio minuitur, inde augmentum facit laude dignus Tobias.” (Quaest. 119.) How happy would the case of the poor be> if, like Tobit, they had ever this excellent maxim in their minds, which he here gives in charge to his son! It may not be amiss to observe, and place in one view, the several admirable precepts given by a religious father to his son in this chapter: 1. To remember God, and to praise him devoutly for his blessings. 2. To pay a reverence and regard to parents, for the kindness received from them. 3. To shew charity to the poor. 4. To avoid fornication and every species of lewdness; 5. To abhor all pride. G. To be just towards all, and in particular to give the labourer his hire. 7. To honour good and just men, and to pay a respect to their memory by a decent funeral. 8. To ask counsel of the wise, and follow it. 9. To trust in God’s goodness, even in the midst of poverty.
Job 5:22
At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. When nothing is to be seen but wild beasts, whom famine forces from their dens, thou shalt be cheerful and undaunted. Which have placed the sand for a bound to the sea by a perpetual decree, &c.] The keeping the waters within bounds, so that tjicy cannot overflow the earth, is pften mentioned in Scripture, as an immediate effect of.God’s overruling power aud providence.* (See Job xxxviii. jlO, 11. Psal.xxxiii.7. civ. 9. Prov. viii. 29.) For water being specifically, lighter than earth, by the common laws of gravitation, it should rise above it and overflow it. And then the adjusting the proportion of the tides, that they rise no higher to the prejudice of the lower grounds, is another remarkable instance of God’s especial providence.
Job 5:23
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. For the stony parts of the country shall not fail to bring forth its fruits plentifully; and the beasts of the field shall not devour them.
Job 5:24
And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle slutlt be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. Wheresoever thou pitehest thy tent, thou shalt find it in safety: and when thou takest an account of thine estate, all things shall answer thine expectation. Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain.] The vicissitude of seasons, of cold and heat, of drought and moisture, so wisely fitted for the growth of the fruits of the earth, and other uses of human life, is such a proof of a God and providence, as is obvious to the meanest capacity: upon which account it is frequently insisted on by the holy writers. (See Psal. cxlvii. 8. Matt, v. 45.- Acts xiv. 17.) Both the former and the latter rain in its season.] The former rain came just after sowing time, to make the seed take root: the latter rain was just before harvest, to plump and fill the ears, called the latter rain in the first month, Joel ii. 23. at which time the harvest began. (See Deut. xvi.9.)’ -
Job 5:25
Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth. Thou shalt find thy posterity also very great and numerous, like the grass; though now thou art as bare as the earth in winter. Ver. 2G. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season.] Thou shalt not die a violent and untimely death; but be carried to thy grave as corn is to the barn when it is full ripe and fit to be gathered. • Your iniquities have turned away these things, &c] See iii. 3.
Job 5:26
They lay wait as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. They use all the arts of fraud and cozenage, whereby they may overreach others, and make a prey of them and their substance. (See the following verse.)
Job 5:27
Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good. Doubt not of this, for we have thoroughly considered it, and find it so: receive it therefore, and keep it in memory.
They overpass the deeds of the wicked. They exceed the common instances of injustice and oppression, and make no conscience of enriching themselves with the spoils of the fatherless, and those who have most need of their charity and kindness.
Shall I not visit for these things? saith.the Lord.* The sins of oppression are commonly called crying sins; such as cry to heaven for vengeance against those that are guilty of them. (See Mai. iii. 5. James v. 4.)
Tlie prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, &c. Both priests and prophets agree to speak pleasing things to the people, thereby to keep up their interest and authority with them; and what can this end in, but a total corruption of manners? the consequence of which must be utter ruin and destruction.