Job 9

God will not desert the upright, nor will he uphold the wicked. Vcr. 21. Till he fill thy month with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing. Thou thyself (if thou art upright) shalt still be so blessed by him, that thou shalt not be able to contain thy joy within thy heart; but it shall appear in thy countenance, and burst out into joyful songs. Vcr. 22. Tfiey that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling-place of the wicked shall come to nought.’] They that rejoiced at thy fall shall be perfectly confounded at thy happy restoration, and never recover themselves, but utterly perish. Job allows what Bildad had well spoken in the beginning of his speech: and very religiously adores the justice, wisdom, and sovereignty of the Almighty, with whom be protests he had no intention to quarrel or dispute, but only to assert the contrary maxim to that which they maintained, that piety will not secure us from all calamitics, which do not ever fall upon those that deserve them. Witness, on one hand, the prosperous estate, of wicked princes, vcr. 24. (particularly of one great prince, who then somewhere reigned in their neighbouring countries); and, on the other hand, his own infelicity, notwithstanding his known integrity, ver. 25. About this he confesses he was very much unsatisfied; though be knew it was in vain to arguo with God about it, nor would his affliction suffer him to do it. disowned thera. To which he makes this reply, in the following words, Why then, or But why, have ye provoked trie, &c. (Compare ver. 5. of this chapter.); The prophet bewails the manifold sins of the Jews, especially their falsehood -and deceit, and threatens God’s judgments, both against them and their neighbouring countries. He exhorts them to glory in God alone, and - not in any worldly acquisitions, which they would find by sad experience to be altogether vain and unprofitable. [chap. IX. Ver. 1G. And I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.] A judgment mentioned by Moses, (Lev. xxvi. 33.) and fulfilled upon several of the Jewish captives in Egypt, and elsewhere. (See xliv. 27. Ezek. v. 2. THE BOOK OF JUDITH. GG5 observes, that the description in these verses of this foul act, and its consequences, arc described poetically, and that it is probable, that this writer had read the poets, as -appears from xvi. 7.

Job 9:1

L HEN Job answered and said.* When he had done, Job began again, and replied in this manner: Vcr. 2. I kiww it is so of a truth; but how should man be just with God?] There need not so many words to prove what thou saidst in the entrance of thy speech; for I know very well that God never perverts judgment, and that frail man cannot justify himself before him. Vcr. 3. Jfhe will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.] If he should go about to answer to a thousand things which may be objected to him, he would hardly clear himself in one. \J THAT my head were waters, &c] The prophet sympathizes with the calamities of his people, as before iv. 39. viii. 21. and thereby excites them to a sense of their own misfortunes, that they may humble themselves under the mighty hand of God: according to that rule of thecritic, u Si vis meflere, dolcndum est Primum ipsi tibil" U NCOVERED the sackcloth wherewith she was clothed.] y EyvfjLV(i)(TBv Sv EveStSutmro o-okkov* i. e. She discovered the sackcloth she had upon her, by taking off some upper garment, which she probably put onoccasionally, out of compliment to the elders that came to her. The Syriac makes her to tear her upper garment, Scidit tunicam etiam, et apparuit saccus quo induta erat. According to Calmet the sense is, She resumed her sackcloth, which she had put off to receive the governors of the city. Thus also Junius takes it, Imposuit cilici urn, posita,quaminduerat, veste; and Grotius, who restores the Greek text, which he thinks corrupt, to this sense, and makes the true reading to be, ical yvfivoHjafjiivT) zvidiSvaKiro (tukkov. The Geneva version, which has, She put off the sackcloth wherewith she was clothed, seems faulty here, and not to be reconciled with the context, which mentions prostration, putting ashes on her head, and tho like instances of humiliation, to recommend and enforce her suit more effectually to God. Vcr. 2. O Lord God of my father Simeon, to whom thou gavest a sword to take vengeance of the strangers, who loosened the girdle of a maid to defde her.] Judith here begs of God to inspire her with a zeal, like that of Simeon, who massacred the Sichemites, to punish the violation of his sister’s honour, in order to take vengeance of the blasphemous Assyrians, and to deliver his people from their present sad state, and the imminent danger that threatened them. But does not the book of Genesis acquaint us, that this action of Simeon and Levi very much displeased Jacob their father, and that ho condemned it as cruel and unjust? (Sec Gcn.xlix. 5, C. compared with xxxiv. 30.) How then can we excuse Judith for commending this fact of Simeon, whom Jacob cursed for the very barbarity of it? But in answer it maybe said, that these words do not necessarily imply, that she applauded the fact, nor does tho phrase of God’s giving a sword to take vengeance, mean any thing more than his permitting an action to be done* As he may be said to put the like means of destruction into the hands of tyrants, whom he occasionally makes his scourges. The like may be said of other wicked persons, whom he sometimes permits in his anger to execute his justice upon a people, often not more abandoned and undeserving than themselves. (See Jer. xxv. 9.) And thus he is said to arm his creatures to avenge his honour, or to make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies, Wisd. v. 17. (Sec also Joel ii. 25.) So that nothing can be concluded for the merit of the person, that is occasionally made the instrument of God’s vengeance. Judith rather praises God for his justice, in revenging such an instance of brutal lust, though executed by the sword of cruel Simeon: she only commendeth the zeal or just indignation shewn on the occasion/but by no means justifies the cruel manner of revenging the affront. The resentment of such an injury was just; but the involving such a number of people in its punishment, was a criminal excess of zeal, and an instance of great barbarity.

Job 9:2

For they be all adulterers. The expression seems here metaphorical, implying, that they were apostates from God, to whose service they were engaged by the most solemn bond and covenant. (See the notes on ii. 2. and compare Hos. vii. 4. Matt. xvi. 4. James iv. 4.) J±ND go to Rages of Media to Gabael.] According to the Vulgate, Sara, with whom they now were, lived at Ragds, Sara filia Raguelis in Rages civitate Medorum. (iii. 7.) How, therefore, docs Tobias ask Raphael to go to Rages? I answer, That this is either a mistake, or all the country or province about Ecbatane was called Rages; and accordingly, where our translation has Rages, a city of Media, (i. 14.) the marginal reading is, in tlie land or country of Media; and the Geneva. version has expressly in the text, in the land of Media; or GabacI might live in the city particularly called by that name, answering to the great or county town of one of our shires. But the truth is, Raguel lived at Ecbatane, (iii. 7. vii. 1.) which was at a distance from Rages, (vi. 9. vii. 1.) and Raphael and GabacI are represented as returning from a journey to Raguel’s house, ver. 2. 6. As to the objection which is founded on the Vulgate rendering, iii. 7. it is to be observed, that the Greek has there, lv EicfiaTavotQ rng MrjSi’ae; as also our version. (See note on iii. 7.)

Job 9:3

They bend their tongue like their bow, for lies. Sothe Psalmist compares’ the tongue to a boiv, and words of calumny and falsehood to arrows, Psal. lxiv. 3, 4. (See IkJow, ver. 8.* of* this -chapter.)* • ■’ For they proceed from evil to evil.] From one degree of wickedness to a greater. (See PsaL.lxix. 7.) vol. in. Wherefore thou gavest their rulers to be slain, being deceived.] The difference between the people of God and idolatrous nations, was visible in the point of lust and carnal uncleanness, from the first separation of them, as appears by the zeal of Simeon and Levi, here mentioned, for their sister dishonoured. The idolatrous nations, who were abandoned to the service of strange gods, as the Sichemites were, looked upon all uncleanness of this nature as a thing indifferent, and made no account of it, but in. civil regards, as it dishonoured the house, or tainted the issue; being deceived or mistaken in considering it in this respect only; but the Israelites, being bred in the knowledge of the true God, and of the abomination, in which he hath all such acts of uncleanness, regarded them in a moral or religious view; and if they acted herein, as the idolaters, or seemed to countenance them in others, by overlooking them, thought they could no longer be taken for God s people. Hence Simeon and Levi proceeded probably to revenge the injury offered to their sister, considering it as an act, which God had forbidden, which his trucscrvants abhorred, and was a pollution of the holiness of their blood, which distinguished them from idolaters. (Sec Thorndike, of the Laws of the Church, p. G2.) Calmet

Job 9:4

He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength; who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?. I adore also his wisdom and power as well as bis justice; and am sensible that no men can be safe who obstinately oppose him.

Job 9:5

Wliich removeth the mountains, and they know not; which overturneth them in his anger. Though they were as big and as strong as the mountains, he can hastily overturn them in a moment before they think of it. Ver. G. JVhich shakcth the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof trembled] For he is able to remove the wholo earth out of its place, and shatter the very foundations of it. Vcr. 7. Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and scaleth up the stars.] Nor are the heavens less subject to his power: for neither sun nor stars can shine if he forbid them. And weary themselves to commit iniquity.] They take more pains to carry on their ill designs, than the practice of truth and integrity would cost them.. So Raphael went out and lodged ivith Gabael, and gave him the hand-writing, who brought forth bags which were sealed up, and gave them to him.’] Tobias, seeing himself pressed by Raguel his fatlicr-in-law, to stay with him fourteen days, was unwilling to refuse him, on account of the handsome manner in which hei had been received and entertained by him, and especially his new relation to him; but as it was absolutely necessary to send to GabacI, and to exhibit to him the note or hand-writing, in order to receive the money, the fear he had of disobliging his own parents, if he deferred his return too long, and his desire of testifying his grateful acknowledgments to his father-in-law, by continuing with him the time requested, made him contrive a method to satisfy at once both these obligations. He applies to, and prevails upon, Raphael, the holy companion of his journey, of whoso wisdom, affection, and fidelity, he had had sufficient experience, to 7 undertake the management of this commissionhimself, and to set forward without him, but sufficiently authorized to receive this money, which he speedily and happily accomplishes. The Vulgate adds, that Tobias’s regard for Raphael was so great and extraordinary, for having conducted him through the journey so successfully, and brought about a match so advantageous to him, and for delivering him from the jaws of the voracious fish, and the fury and malice of the demon Asmodeus, that he professed to him, that if he was for the future to be his slave in return, he could not sufficiently repay the obligations. It has been a matter of much inquiry among the commentators, whether this money was deposited and lodged only with Gabael at Rages, as a place possibly of greater security at that time, as the Greek and Hebrew copies mention, or was really lent to him, probably to traffic with occasionally, as the Vulgate represents it; be this as it will, Gabael shewed himself an honest and punctual man, by returning the ten talents instantly on a proper demand; and Tobit proved himself no less a good man, as St. Ambrose observes, by asking only the principal, without any consideration for the greatness of the sum, or the length of the time. jy OW I care for nothing my son, since I have let thee go.] Ob fiiku fxot t£kvqv, on a^F/ica <rc. It is generally agreed that the reading of the Greek here is corrupt. Various conjectures have been proposed for restoring the true one, mc fx&u pot, and o* fxiXn fioi. The last seems preferable, as being confirmed by Fagius’s Hebrew copy, the Syriac, Vulgate, and Junius’s version, all of which render to this effect; Ehen! Pcenitetme,fili,quoddimiserimte. And thus COverdalc, Woejs me, my son: O what ailed ns to send 4M2 For thou’hast wrought not only those things, but also the things which fell out before, and which ensued after: thou hast thought upon the things which are now, and which are to come.’] The Geneva rendering here comes nearer the Greek For thou hast wrought the things afore, and these, and the things that shall be after; i. e. As thou wast the author of all the miracles done in our forefathers’ days, so thou art no less of those that now come to pass, or shall hereafter. All events succeed one another by the ordering of thy wise providence,, which has so disposed them according to thy eternal counsel. The last clause the Vulgate renders indeterminately, Ilia post ilia cogitasti, which seems to imply such a succession of thoughts in God, as is observable in the human mind; but I conceive the meaning there to be, that God executcth the things that are present at the same time, in the Divine mind, at different successive times; or that all things done gradually in time, were at once and all together in his sight and knowledge.

Job 9:6

Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit. The words of God to the prophet. And Tobias blessed his ivife,] Various are the senses given of this passage; Uxoreni suain gravidam fecit, says Badwell, and the Geneva version expressly has, Tobias begat his wife with child. Grotius conjectures, from the authority of St. Jerome, that the reading of the Greek formerly was, koI cvXoy»j<7£ (‘Payv^X) Twj3iav, kol rrjv yvvaTica airrovf i. e. abeuntibus beneprecatus est; but it does not appear that they were then setting forward, the fourteen days were not yet near expired. His blessing them on their departure follows after, (x. 11.) Junius’s rendering, inserted in the margin, seems more probable, Benedixit Gabahel Tobicc et uxori ejus: That Gabael, at his arrival with Raphael, wished Tobias and his wife all possible joy and happiness in their new condition. Fagius’s Hebrew has, Ad quorum adventum adhuc magis benedictus fuit Tobias aim Sara nxore sua, That upon the coming of these guests to the wedding, Tobias and Sara were more pleased and happy* Calmet, lastly, makes the sense to’be, That Tobias blessed, or was the cause of blessing and happiness to his wife, by the advantage which he received from this marriage, particularly his freeing her from the tyranny of the evil demon, and taking away the reproach which before had attended her; instead whereof it would now be. said, as a common form of benediction at future weddings, to the bride, " May you be as happy as was Sara, the wife of Tobias." chap’ X. Yea, what things thou didst determine were ready at hand, and said, Lo, we are here: for all thy ways are prepared, and thy judgments are in thy foreknowledge.’] The Geneva version is clearer, For the things which thou dost purpose are present, and say, Behold, we are here: for all thy ways are ready, and thy judgments are foreknown; i. e. Thy infiniteprescience foresaw all things with their events, and what thou didst at any time determine to effect, must necessarily come to pass, For thou oxecutest without any difficulty whatever thou pleasest; no obstacle lies in thy way, thy measures are never wrong, nor thy designs ever ill. concerted; nor is it possible that they should be discovered, or disappointed by thine enemies, as the means that thou employest are sure and infallible. The mighty pOAver of God in producing, as it were instantaneously, whatever his wisdom determines to have done, is beautifully described in the following words, What things thou dost determine are ready at hand, and say, Lo, we are Mere. (Sec Job xxxviii. 35.) The Syriac rendering of them is much to be admired, Tu cogitasti, et facta sunt;, consultasti, et steterunt coram te; vocasti, et dixerunt, Ecce hie sumus. The observation in the latter part of the verse about the Divine prescience, is parallel to that, Actsxv..18. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Seneca has almost literally expressed the same sentiment, " Notaest illis (sc. Diis) operis sui series: omnium, illis rerum per manus suas iturarum scicntia in aperto est; nobis ex abdito subit: et qucerepentina putamus, illis pracvisa veniunt,ac familiaria." (De Beneftc. iv. 32.)

Job 9:7

Behold I will melt and try them. I will cast them into the furnace of affliction, that I may purify them from their dross. (See vi. 29, 30. Isa. i. 25.) For how shall I do for the daughter of my people?] What can I do else for my people, but by all means try to save some out of the common destruction? For, behold, the Assyrians are multiplied in their power; they are exalted tvith ho^se and man; they glory in the strength of their footmen; they trust in shield and spear.] *HX7r«rav iv a<nn’§i koL Iv yato# gcesum, or gasus, was a javelin used among the Gauls. (See Caesar, de Bell. Gall. lib. iii.) And from them the Greeks and Romans borrowed the word. We meet with it in the LXX. Josh. viii. 18. which the author of the book of Ecclesiasticus, reciting the same story, renders by po/upata, or a sword, xlvi. 3. (See Hody, de Vers! Groec. auth. lib. ii.)’ But Symmachus and the Vulgate render it by a shield. This verse seems not well connected with the foregoing; the Vulgate expresses it clearer, and illustrates it by the example of the Egyptians, whom God destroyed for their self-sufficiency and presumption, Respice castra Assyriorum nunc, sicut tunc castra Mgyptiorum videre dignatus es, quando post servos tuos armati currebant, confidentes in qnadrigis, et in equitatu suo, et in multitudine.bellatorum; sed aspexisti super castra corum, et tenebrce fatigaverunt eos. Tenuit pedes eorum abyssus, et aquce operuerunt eos. Sic fiant et isti, qui confidunt in multitudine sua, &c.

Job 9:8

Which alone spreadeth out theheavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. He alone commands the clouds to cover them, and makes the sea swell and lift up its waves. Vcr. 9. Wliich maketh Arcturts, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the’ south.]’ All the constellations of heaven obey him in their several seasons: both those which we see, and those in the other hemisphere. Vcr. 10. Wliich doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders ivithout number.] In short, I agree with Eliphaz, (v. 9.) that the wonders he doeth arc innumerable, and past my comprehension.

Job 9:9

Shall I not visit them’ for these things? saith the Lord. See v. 9. 29. *.

Job 9:10

For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamenta^ Hon, &c;. The prophet laments that general desolation which he sees coming upon the whole land, which will in*- volve all the parts of it, both high and low, in one common destruction. (Compare iv.24 — 2G.) The words which arc translated, The habitations of the wilderness, the margin more properly renders, Hie pastures of the wilderness. (Compare J ocl i. 19. ii. 22.) The xvilderness sometimes signifies the plain or cbampaigne country, and is] opposed to the mountains. (See Isa. lxiii. 13. Lam. iv. 19. Joel i. 19.) Because they are burnt up.] Destroyed with fire and sword. (Compare Isa. xlii. 25.) Or we may understand the place of the great drought mentioned in this prophecy, xiv. 1. Smite by the deceit of my lips the servant with the prince, and the prince with the servant.]?. e. Prosper the stratagem which I have laid, to lead the enemy into a mistake by my words, and inflame their general with such a fond love of me as may prove a snare to deceive and ruin him. But how could Judith entertain any hopes of success from such a Tequest? Can we suppose, consistently, that God would approve of either of these ways? Can the God of truth patronize falsehood, or the most pure Being favour any attempt towards impure lust? To this it is answered, on the other hand, that the reading of some Greek copies is, 7rara£ov Ik xetAewv aya-n-ng fiov, and not airarrig, as our version has it; and so the Vulgate*expressly renders, Capiatnr laqueo oculorum suorum in me, etpercuties eum ex labiis caritatis mea. Secondly, That it was the opinion of those times, that, in a lawful war, surprise, stratagem, deceit, and craft, were fair and allowable; that one might disguise, dissemble,, counterfeit, and use all possible means to conceal a design, which the enemy has no right to know; and that if, through misrepresentation or equivocation, he be led into any mistake prejudicial to his safety or interest, there is no just ground of complaint, according to that old maxim, " Dolus, an virtus, quis in hoste requirat?" Thus Jael prevailed, by the deceit of her lips, against Sisera, Judg. iv. 18. 21. And Grotius thinks the men of Jabesh-Gilead used the like deceit towards the Ammonites, ISam. xi. 10. And thus Elisha deluded the Syrians, 2 Kings vi. 18, 19. (See Grotius, de Jure Belli et Pacis, cap. 1. sect. 17.) But however some casuists may gloss over mental evasions, equivocations, untruths, and officious lies, as they term, them, yet the case is widely different, when one forges express lies, with a direct intention to betray men into wrong measures, and evil counsels, to their, ruin; especially when religion is made an accomplice in the cheat, when it is pretended that what is spoken is by inspiration of God, and from a zeal for his religion and glory; (see xi. lb, 17. 19.) when studied arts and allurements are made use of to stir up impure love, and kindle an unlawful flame, and thereby to destroy the soul tfs w r ell as the body; than which complicated mischief, nothing can be more cruel or more contrary to the law of God. It is well known in what an exemplary manner God treated the Midianites, for following the evil counsel of Balaam, to send their daughters into the camp of the children of Israel; what vengeance he took of the false prophet that gave that ensnaring advice, and of the Midianites that followed it, and of the Israelites that were seduced and corrupted thereby. (Numb. xxxi. 16.) " For these, and the like reasons (says Calmet), we cannot approve, ip all respects, cither the prayer or action of Judith; we com-

Job 9:11

JjO, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not. He sets them before my eyes continually, and yet I am not able to understand them. I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den ofdra*. gons.] The word tannin, translated here dragons, among several other significations, is taken for a serpent, such as. are usually found in ruins and desolate places. (Compare li. 37. Psal; xliv. 19. Isa. xiii. 22. xxxiv. 13.) Ver. 12/ Who is the ivise man that may understand this? &c.]. Is there none of you so well acquainted with the will of God, and the methods of his providence,- as to be able to declare the reasons, why he has given such. severe instances of his anger against this land?, namely, for the sins. - of those who inhabit it.. (Compare ver. 10. and the following verses.).. *

Job 9:12

Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, Wliat doest thou?. If he snatch away any thing suddenly, who can make him restore it, or cause him to give an account why he did it? Vcr. 13. If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.] If he will continue his displeasure, there is no remedy; but the proudest undertakers must confess their inability" to relieve us/

Job 9:13

And the Lord saith, Because they havefor saken my law, &c.* God himself declares the reasons of his judgments by the mouth of his prophet, viz. because they have forsaken his law,, and followed the* devices of their own hearts, and the idolatrous customs which they learned from their fathers. > .,.,.

Job 9:14

How much less shall I answer him, anil choose out my words to reason with him?. What am I then, poor wretch, that I should contend with his anger? or where shall I find out words choice enough to plead with him? After Baalim.] See the note on ii. 23.

Job 9:15

Wliom, though I were righteous,‘yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge. It is not fit for me to open my mouth before him in the justcst cause, unless it be to supplicate his favour when he judges me. Ver. 1G. If I had called, and he had ansivered vie; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.] And if I had made supplication, and he had granted my desire, I would not think my prayer had done the business (or believe myself to be out of all danger). I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.] I will turn their plenty into scarcity of all things. Compare this ex T pression with that of Psal. Ixxx. 5. Thou feedest them with the bread of tears, and givest them plenteousness of tears to drink; and 1 Kings xxii. 27. Feed him with the bread of affliction, and with water of affliction; that is, uso him with the most severe and rigorous treatment. The Hebrew word which.we here translate gall, properly signifies an herb, growing among com, which is as bitter as gali; it is translated hemlock, Hos. x. 4. and both here and elsewhere joined with wormwood. (See Deut. xxix. 18. Lam. iii. 19. Amos vi. 12.) In this last text, the word laanah’, commonly rendered wormwood, is translated hemlock…….

Job 9:17

For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds ivithout cause. For I am not conscious of any guilt; and yet you see with what violent blasts he hath shattered me and my family in pieces, and given me one wound after another. Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, &c] Consider tho evil circumstances you arc in, which call for mourning and lamentation: and since you yourselves are not sufficiently affected with the dangers that threaten you, send for those women whose profession it is to make public lamentations at funerals, and upon other Sorrowful occasions, and let their mournful ditties excite and stir up true sorrow in you. The prophets elsewhere allude to this practice. (See xlviii. 17. Ezek. xxviii. 31.) Particularly the custom of hiring public mourners to attend tho funerals of their friends, is mentioned xxii. 18. 2 Sam. i. 24. 2 Chron. xxxv.25. Eccles. xii. 5. Matt, ix.23. compared with Mark v. 28. Such were the Fraficce among the Romans.

Job 9:18

He will not suffer me to take my breath, butfilleth me with bitterness. No sooner was one past, but another immediately followed; which have left me not the least pleasure in life. 1 And send for cunning women.] Such as were skilful in lamentation, as Amos calls the common mourners, that were hired upon solemn occasions, (Amos v. 1G.)

Job 9:19

If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong; andifof judgment, who shall set me a time lo plead?. If I stand upon my might, alas! it is not to bo named with his: if lipoa my right; what judge is there above him to appoint us a day of hearing? For a voice of wailing is heard out ofZion, &c.) The prophet instructs them to bewail their state of captivity, in these and such-like expressions. Because ice have forsaken the land; because our dwellings have cast us out.] We are forced to leave our native country: our land hath spewed us out, according to the expression of Moses, (Lev. xviii. 28.) and would no longer bear with our abominations.

Job 9:20

If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I a m perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. If I should justify myself, there would be something in my very plea to condemn me: it will render my cause worse to pretend I am innocent* TJie harvest is past; the summer is ended; and ice* are not saved.] Another complaint of the people, that the summer, the season for marching an army, is past, and yet there is no prospect of assistance from Egypt, or any other of our allies. Ye hear the word of the Lord, O ye women.] God now speaks to the women in general, as being of more tender hearts than men, and calls them all seriously to mourning, and bids them instruct their daughters to join with them in a general lamentation; not only to act a part, as those who are mourners by profession.

Job 9:21

Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul; I would despise my life. Though I were so, yet I would not be mine own judge in the case: I do not value my life so much as to contend about it.‘Ver* 22. This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.] All that I affirm is this, and I persist in that opinion, that he lets the innocent suffer sad things as well as the guilty. <& CHAP. X.] THE BOOK OF JOB. For the hurt of the daughter of my people, Iain hurt.] See iv. 19. ix. 1. The words in the original run thus, For the breach of the daughter of my people, I am broken. (See xiv. 17.) J am black.] I look ghastly, as those who are dying. (Compare xiv. 2. Joel ii. G. Nahum ii. 10.) •’ For death is come up into our windows, and is Entered into our palaces.] Neither our houses, nor our palaces, or fortifications can defend us against our enemies: but though w r e barricado our doors, the soldiers, or their murdering instruments, will find a way to enter by our windows, and assault us. (Compare Joel ii. 9.) To cut offtlie children from without.] See note on vi. 11. The expression is elliptical, and may be thus supplied [it proceeds] to cut off the children, &c.

Job 9:22

Is there wo balm in Gilead? &c. Gilead was famous for balm or turpentine [for that is the proper meaning of the Hebrew tsori], and such-like healing gums. (See xlvi. 11. Gen. xxxvii. 25.) This made a great many physicians and surgeons to resort thither. The prophet applies this metaphorically to the state of the Jews, which Was all over corrupted: (compare Isa. i. 6.) and asks, whether there have been no methods used to heal these mortal wounds and distempers; or, if there have, how comes it to pass they should have so little success? implying, that God had sent his prophets, as so many spiritual physicians, and they had given the best advice: but the fault lay wholly in the patients themselves, who refused to submit to their prescriptions; so we may apply the words spoken concerning Babylon (li. 9.) to the present case: We would have healed Babylon, but she is not, or rather, she tvonld not be healed. The words may likewise be understood of temporal deliverance, to this purpose; Is this people forsaken both of God and men, that there is no remedy left for their deliverance? (Compare xxx. 12—14.) As the handful after the harvest-man, and none shall gather them.] We read Deut. xxiv. 19. that if a sheaf was forgot and left behind in the field, the owner should not go back to fetch it, but leave it to be taken up by the poor: this law made the harvest-men not so exact in gathering up the sheaves which they happened to drop, that they might give occasion for this sort of charity. The prophet makes use of this comparison to illustrate the number of slain that should He about the fields, only with this difference; that whereas the poor used to gather up the sheaves left behind in the fields, these human bodies should rot upon the ground, without any ono to take care of their burial. (See the note on viii. 2.)

Job 9:23

If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent. When a plague comes which kills in a moment, he regards not though it fall on the innocent. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty 7tian glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he undcrstandeth and knoweth m&, &c] Let not men value themselves for their wisdom, strength, or riches, which are things in themselves of a very uncertain continuance, and such calamities arc coming (see ver. 25,2G.)ii> which they will stand the owners of them in very little stead. The only true valuable endowment is the knowledge of God, not as he is in himselfy which is too high an attainment for poor mortals to pretend to, but with respect to hi3 dealings with men; to havo a serious sense of his mercies to the penitent, of his judgments to the obstinate, aud of his truth and integrity, in making good his promises and threatcnings to both. It is in the exercise of these attributes God chiefly delights; and it is by these he desires to make himself known to the world; and he that forms an apprehension of God, chiefly with regard to these his per T fections, will always demean himself suitable towards him. Judgment and righteousness are often equivalent terms; but if we distinguish them here, judgment denotes God’s severity against the wicked, and righteousness his truth or holiness.

Job 9:24

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; Af not, where, and ivho is he?. And, on the other side (so false is your discourse), we see the government of the earth given into the hands of a wicked prince, who blinds the eyes of his judges. If you deny this, tell me, where is the man, and what is his name, who administers things uprightly?

Job 9:25

Now my days are swifter than a post; they flee away, they see no good. I myself was in prosperity, but it is fled away^swifter than a post; and there is not the least footstep of it remaining… Y t. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish the circumcised with the uncircumcised.] Or, with the uncircumcision, as it is in the Hebrew: so the Greek’Ak-pofivaria is used by St. Paul for the persons who are uncircumcised. (See Rom. ii. 2G, 27. iii. 30.- Gal. ii. 7. Col. iii. 11.) Because the Jews valued themselves so much upon their circumcision; God tells them, when he sends his judgments abroad in the world, they shall find no more favour than those who are not circumcised.

Job 9:26

They, are passed away as the stvift ships; as the eagle that hasteth to the prey. The ships that are carried with the most rapid stream, or the hungry eagle in chase of her prey, do not make/more haste away. l.%..j Ver.- 27. If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself] I think sometime with myself, that I will forget the miseries of which I complain, and be more cheerful and courageous:. »

Job 9:28

lam afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. But then my grief frights away that resolution; knowing thou wilt not release me, but make me still groan; under them., f *\ Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, &c] See these judgments denounced more at large, xxv. 18, &c. The prophet places Judah among the heathen nations, because they were in effect uncircumcised as well as they; contenting themselves with the outward sign of circumcision, without endeavouring after. the inward purity signified by it. And all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in tlie wilderness.] The marginal reading is to be preferred before that of the text, They that have the corners of their hair polled. (Compare xxv. 23, 24. xlix. 32.) The expression denotes those Arabians who cut their hair upon the forepart of the head round, and let the hair behind grow long; which custom of theirs, Herodotus mentions in his Thalia, chap. 8. and tells us they did it in imitation of Bacchus. Others take notice that the Saracens used the same fashion in wearing their hair, dedicating it to Saturn. Plutarch saith, in the life of Theseus, that he cut his hair after the same manner, when he consecrated it to Apollo. In allusion to the same custom, the SolymaM, a colony of Phoenicians, are called TpoxoKovpa&g, roundheads, in Chcerilius, ap. Joseph, lib. i.eontr. App.and theAbantes in Homer, Iliad. j3. o7r&£v KOfxouvTtg, wearing their hair growing behind. And it is probable, that that precept in Lev. xix.27. Ye sliall not round the corners of your heads, hath reference to this custom, which was a rite in several countries near Judea, whereby they dovotod themselves to the worship of some false god. For all these nations are unciratmcised, and the house of Israel is uncircumcised in their heart.] The Israelites, by breaking God’s law, have made their circumcision became uncircumcision, as St. Paul speaks, (Horn. ii. 25.) while they retain only the outward sign, and neglect the iuward purity signified by it. (Horn, ii.29. sec iv.4. of this prophecy.)

Job 9:29

If I bexvicked, why then labour I in vain?. I am wicked in thine account, and therefore it is to no purpose to vindicate mine innocence. t j,,.; > Verl 30. If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my hands never so clean.] Were I never so pure and clean from all filthiness in heart and life; ■..;.-./

Job 9:31

Yet shalt thou plunge me in the. ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. Thou wouldest notwithstanding cover me with filthy ulcers, and make my nearest rcla-. tions abhor to approach me. Ven 32. For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together Jn judgment.] For God is not like me, that we should dispute upon even terms….’* >

Job 9:33

Neither is there any day’s~man betivixt us, that might lay his hand upon tis both. Nor is there any body above us both to compose our differences arid command silence, when cither of us exceeds our bounds.

Job 9:34

Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me. As for myself, his rod, which is upon me, keeps me in such awe, that I cannot speak freely.

Job 9:35

Then would I speak, and not fear him: but it is not so with me. “Let him remove that, and then I shall utter my mind with less dread: for I am not so bad as you imagine.: #: ii t i.