In this and the following chapter we have Job's answer to Bildad's
discourse, wherein he speaks honourably of God, humbly of himself, and
feelingly of his troubles; but not one word by way of reflection upon
his friends, or their unkindness to him, nor in direct reply to what
Bildad had said. He wisely keeps to the merits of the cause, and makes
no remarks upon the person that managed it, nor seeks occasion against
him. In this chapter we have,
I. The doctrine of God's justice laid down, ver. 2 .
II. The proof of it, from his wisdom, and power, and sovereign
dominion, ver. 3-13 .
III. The application of it, in which,
1. He condemns himself, as not able to contend with God either in law
or battle, ver. 14-21 .
2. He maintains his point, that we cannot judge of men's character by
their outward condition, ver. 22-24 .
3. He complains of the greatness of his troubles, the confusion he was
in, and the loss he was at what to say or do, ver. 25-35 .
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with
God?
3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a
thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath
hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which
overturneth them in his anger.
6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars
thereof tremble.
7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up
the stars.
8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the
waves of the sea.
9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers
of the south.
10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders
without number.
11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also,
but I perceive him not.
12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say
unto him, What doest thou?
13 If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do
stoop under him.
Bildad began with a rebuke to Job for talking so much, ch. viii. 2 .
Job makes no answer to that, though it would have been easy enough to
retort it upon himself; but in what he next lays down as his principle,
that God never perverts judgment, Job agrees with him: I know it is
so of a truth, v. 2 .
Note, We should be ready to own how far we agree with those with whom
we dispute, and should not slight, much less resist, a truth, though
produced by an adversary and urged against us, but receive it in the
light and love of it, though it may have been misapplied. " It is so
of a truth, that wickedness brings men to ruin and the godly are
taken under God's special protection. These are truths which I
subscribe to; but how can any man make good his part with God?" In
his sight shall no flesh living be justified, Ps. cxliii. 2 . How should man be just with God? Some understand this as a
passionate complaint of God's strictness and severity, that he is a God
whom there is no dealing with; and it cannot be denied that there are,
in this chapter, some peevish expressions, which seem to speak such
language as this. But I take this rather as a pious confession of man's
sinfulness, and his own in particular, that, if God should deal with
any of us according to the desert of our iniquities, we should
certainly be undone.
I. He lays this down for a truth, that man is an unequal match for his
Maker, either in dispute or combat.
1. In dispute
( v. 3 ): If he will contend with him, either at law or at an argument, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. (1.) God can ask a thousand puzzling questions which those that quarrel
with him, and arraign his proceedings, cannot give an answer to. When
God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind he asked him a great many
questions ( Dost thou know this? Canst thou do that?) to
none of which Job could give an answer, ch. xxxviii., xxxix. God can easily manifest the folly of the greatest pretenders to wisdom.
(2.) God can lay to our charge a thousand offences, can draw up against
us a thousand articles of impeachment, and we cannot answer him so as
to acquit ourselves from the imputation of any of them, but must, by
silence, give consent that they are all true. We cannot set aside one
as foreign, another as frivolous, and another as false. We cannot, as
to one, deny the fact, and plead not guilty, and, as to another, deny
the fault, confess and justify. No, we are not able to answer him, but
must lay our hand upon our mouth, as Job did
( ch. xl. 4, 5 ),
and cry, Guilty, guilty.
2. In combat
( v. 4 ):
" Who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered? " The
answer is very easy. You cannot produce any instance, from the
beginning of the world to this day, of any daring sinner who has hardened himself against God, has obstinately persisted in
rebellion against him, who did not find God too hard for him and pay
dearly for his folly. Such transgressors have not prospered or had
peace; they have had no comfort in their way nor any success. What did
ever man get by trials of skill, or trials of titles, with his Maker?
All the opposition given to God is but setting briers and thorns before
a consuming fire; so foolish, so fruitless, so destructive, is the
attempt, Isa. xxvii. 4;
Ezek. xxviii. 24; 1 Cor. x. 22 .
Apostate angels hardened themselves against God, but did not prosper, 2 Pet. ii. 4 .
The dragon fights, but is cast out, Rev. xii. 9 .
Wicked men harden themselves against God, dispute his wisdom, disobey
his laws, are impenitent for their sins and incorrigible under their
afflictions; they reject the offers of his grace, and resist the
strivings of his Spirit; they make nothing of his threatenings, and
make head against his interest in the world. But have they prospered?
Can they prosper? No; they are but treasuring up for themselves
wrath against the day of wrath. Those that roll this will find it
return upon them.
II. He proves it by showing what a God he is with whom we have to do: He is wise in heart, and therefore we cannot answer him at law;
he is mighty in strength, and therefore we cannot fight it out
with him. It is the greatest madness that can be to think to contend
with a God of infinite wisdom and power, who knows every thing and can
do every thing, who can be neither outwitted nor overpowered. The devil
promised himself that Job, in the day of his affliction, would curse
God and speak ill of him, but, instead of that, he sets himself to
honour God and to speak highly of him. As much pained as he is, and as
much taken up with his own miseries, when he has occasion to mention
the wisdom and power of God he forgets his complaints, dwells with
delight, and expatiates with a flood of eloquence, upon that noble
useful subject. Evidences of the wisdom and power of God he
fetches,
1. From the kingdom of nature, in which the God of nature acts with an
uncontrollable power and does what he pleases; for all the orders and
all the powers of nature are derived from him and depend upon him.
(1.) When he pleases he alters the course of nature, and turns back its
streams, v. 5-7 .
By the common law of nature the mountains are settled and are therefore
called everlasting mountains, the earth is established and
cannot be removed
( Ps. xciii. 1 )
and the pillars there of are immovably fixed, the sun rises in its
season, and the stars shed their influences on this lower world; but
when God pleases he can not only drive out of the common track, but
invert the order and change the law of nature.
[1.] Nothing more firm than the mountains. When we speak of removing
mountains we mean that which is impossible; yet the divine power can
make them change their seat: He removes them and they know not, removes them whether they will or no; he can make them lower their
heads; he can level them, and overturn them in his anger; he can spread
the mountains as easily as the husbandman spreads the molehills, be
they ever so high, and large, and rocky. Men have much ado to pass over
them, but God, when he pleases, can make them pass away. He made Sinai
shake, Ps. lxviii. 8 . The hills skipped, Ps. cxiv. 4 . The everlasting mountains were scattered, Hab. iii. 6 .
[2.] Nothing more fixed than the earth on its axletree; yet God can,
when he pleases, shake the earth out of its place, heave it off
its centre, and make even its pillars to tremble; what seemed to
support it will itself need support when God gives it a shock. See how
much we are indebted to God's patience. God has power enough to shake
the earth from under that guilty race of mankind which makes it groan
under the burden of sin, and so to shake the wicked out of it ( Job xxxviii. 13 );
yet he continues the earth, and man upon it, and does not make it, as
once, to swallow up the rebels.
[3.] Nothing more constant than the rising sun, it never misses its
appointed time; yet God, when he pleases, can suspend it. He that at
first commanded it to rise can countermand it. Once the sun was told to
stand, and another time to retreat, to show that it is still under the
check of its great Creator. Thus great is God's power; and how great
then is his goodness, which causes his sun to shine even upon the evil
and unthankful, though he could withhold it! He that made the stars
also, can, if he pleases, seal them up, and hide them from our eyes. By
earthquakes and subterraneous fires mountains have sometimes been
removed and the earth shaken: in very dark and cloudy days and nights
it seems to us as if the sun were forbidden to rise and the stars were
sealed up, Acts xxvii. 20 .
It is sufficient to say that Job here speaks of what God can do; but,
if we must understand it of what he has done in fact, all these verses
may perhaps be applied to Noah's flood, when the mountains of the earth
were shaken, and the sun and stars were darkened; and the world that
now is we believe to be reserved for that fire which will consume the
mountains, and melt the earth, with its fervent heat, and which will
turn the sun into darkness.
(2.) As long as he pleases he preserves the settled course and order of
nature; and this is a continued creation. He himself alone, by his own
power, and without the assistance of any other,
[1.] Spreads out the heaven ( v. 8 ),
not only did spread them out at first, but still spreads them out (that
is, keeps them spread out), for otherwise they would of themselves roll
together like a scroll of parchment.
[2.] He treads upon the waves of the sea; that is, he suppresses
them and keeps them under, that they return not to deluge the earth
( Ps. civ. 9 ),
which is given as a reason why we should all fear God and stand in awe
of him, Jer. v. 22 .
He is mightier than the proud waves Ps. xciii. 4; lxv. 7 .
[3.] He makes the constellations; three are named for all the rest
( v. 9 ), Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and in general the
chambers of the south. The stars of which these are composed he
made at first, and put into that order, and he still makes them,
preserves them in being, and guides their motions; he makes them to be
what they are to man, and inclines the hearts of man to observe them,
which the beasts are not capable of doing. Not only those stars which
we see and give names to, but those also in the other hemisphere, about
the antarctic pole, which never come in our sight, called here the
chambers of the south, are under the divine direction and dominion.
How wise is he then, and how mighty!
2. From the kingdom of Providence, that special Providence which is
conversant about the affairs of the children of men. Consider what God
does in the government of the world, and you will say, He is wise in
heart and mighty in strength. (1.) He does many things and great, many and great to admiration, v. 10 .
Job here says the same that Eliphaz had said
( ch. v. 9 ),
and in the original in the very same words, not declining to speak
after him, though now his antagonist. God is a great God, and doeth
great things, a wonder-working God; his works of wonder are so many
that we cannot number them and so mysterious that we cannot find them
out. O the depth of his counsels!
(2.) He acts invisibly and undiscerned, v. 11 .
" He goes by me in his operations, and I see him not, I
perceive him not. His way is in the sea, " Ps. lxxvii. 19 .
The operations of second causes are commonly obvious to sense, but God
does all about us and yet we see him not, Acts xvii. 23 .
Our finite understandings cannot fathom his counsels, apprehend his
motions, or comprehend the measures he takes; we are therefore
incompetent judges of God's proceedings, because we know not what he
does or what he designs. The arcana imperii--secrets of
government, are things above us, which therefore we must not
pretend to expound or comment upon.
(3.) He acts with an incontestable sovereignty, v. 12 .
He takes away our creature-comforts and confidences when and as he
pleases, takes away health, estate, relations, friends, takes away life
itself; whatever goes, it is he that takes it; by what hand so ever it
is removed, his hand must be acknowledged in its removal. The Lord takes away, and who can hinder him? Who can turn him
away? (Margin, Who shall make him restore? ) Who can dissuade
him or alter his counsels? Who can resist him or oppose his operations?
Who can control him or call him to an account? What action can be
brought against him? Or who will say unto him, What doest thou? Or, Why doest thou so? Dan. iv. 35 .
God is not obliged to give us a reason of what he does. The meanings
of his proceedings we know no now; it will be time enough to know
hereafter, when it will appear that what seemed now to be done by
prerogative was done in infinite wisdom and for the best.
(4.) He acts with an irresistible power, which no creature can resist, v. 13 . If God will not withdraw his anger (which he can do when he
pleases, for he is Lord of his anger, lets it out or calls it in
according to his will), the proud helpers do stoop under him; that is, He certainly breaks and crushes those that proudly help one
another against him. Proud men set themselves against God and his
proceedings. In this opposition they join hand in hand. The kings
of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, to throw off his yoke, to run down his truths, and to persecute his
people. Men of Israel, help, Acts xxi. 28; Ps. lxxxiii. 8 .
If one enemy of God's kingdom fall under his judgment, the rest come
proudly to help that, and think to deliver that out of his hand: but in
vain; unless he pleases to withdraw his anger (which he often does, for
it is the day of his patience) the proud helpers stoop under him, and
fall with those whom they designed to help. Who knows the power of
God's anger? Those who think they have strength enough to help
others will not be able to help themselves against it.
14 How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?
15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
16 If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not
believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds
without cause.
18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with
bitterness.
19 If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of
judgment, who shall set me a time to plead? 20 If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I
say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
21 Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I
would despise my life.
What Job had said of man's utter inability to contend with God he here
applies to himself, and in effect despairs of gaining his favour, which
(some think) arises from the hard thoughts he had of God, as one who,
having set himself against him, right or wrong, would be too hard for
him. I rather think it arises from the sense he had of the imperfection
of his own righteousness, and the dark and cloudy apprehensions which
at present he had of God's displeasure against him.
I. He durst not dispute with God
( v. 14 ):
" If the proud helpers do stoop under him, how much less shall I (a poor weak creature, so far from being a helper that I am very
helpless) answer him? What can I say against that which God
does? If I go about to reason with him, he will certainly be too hard
for me." If the potter make the clay into a vessel of dishonour, or
break in pieces the vessel he has made, shall the clay or the broken
vessel reason with him? So absurd is the man who replies against God,
or thinks to talk the matter out with him. No, let all flesh be silent
before him.
II. He durst not insist upon his own justification before God. Though
he vindicated his own integrity to his friends, and would not yield
that he was a hypocrite and a wicked man, as they suggested, yet he
would never plead it as his righteousness before God. "I will never
venture upon the covenant of innocency, nor think to come off by virtue
of that." Job knew so much of God, and knew so much of himself, that he
durst not insist upon his own justification before God.
1. He knew so much of God that he durst not stand a trial with him, v. 15-19 .
He knew how to make his part good with his friends, and thought himself
able to deal with them; but, though his cause had been better than it
was, he knew it was to no purpose to debate it with God.
(1.) God knew him better than he knew himself and therefore
( v. 15 ),
" Though I were righteous in my own apprehension, and my own
heart did not condemn me, yet God is greater than my heart, and
knows those secret faults and errors of mine which I do not and cannot
understand, and is able to charge me with them, and therefore I
would not answer. " St. Paul speaks to the same purport: I know
nothing by myself, am not conscious to myself of any reigning
wickedness, and yet I am not hereby justified, 1 Cor. iv. 4 .
"I dare not put myself upon that issue, lest God should charge that
upon me which I did not discover in myself." Job will therefore wave
that plea, and make supplication to his Judge, that is, will
cast himself upon God's mercy, and not think come off by his own merit.
(2.) He had no reason to think that there was anything in his prayers
to recommend them to the divine acceptance, or to fetch in an answer of
peace, no worth or worthiness at all to which to ascribe their success,
but it must be attributed purely to the grace and compassion of God,
who answers before we call and not because we call, and gives gracious
answers to our prayers, but not for our prayers
( v. 16 ):
" If I had called, and he had answered, had given the thing I
called to him for, yet, so weak and defective are my best prayers, that I would not believe he had therein hearkened to my voice; I could not say that he had saved with his right hand and answered
me "
( Ps. lx. 5 ),
"but that he did it purely for his own name's sake." Bishop Patrick
expounds it thus: "If I had made supplication, and he had granted my
desire, I would not think my prayer had done the business." Not for
your sakes, be it known to you. (3.) His present miseries, which God had brought him into
notwithstanding his integrity, gave him too sensible a conviction that,
in the ordering and disposing of men's outward condition in this world,
God acts by sovereignty, and, though he never does wrong to any, yet he
does not ever give full right to all (that is, the best do not always
fare best, nor the worst fare worst) in this life, because he reserves
the full and exact distribution of rewards and punishments for the
future state. Job was not conscious to himself of any extraordinary
guilt, and yet fell under extraordinary afflictions, v. 17, 18 .
Every man must expect the wind to blow upon him and ruffle him, but Job
was broken with a tempest. Every man, in the midst of these
thorns and briers, must expect to be scratched; but Job was wounded,
and his wounds were multiplied. Every man must expect a cross daily,
and to taste sometimes of the bitter cup; but poor Job's troubles came
so thickly upon him that he had no breathing time, and he was filled
with bitterness. And he presumes to say that all this was without
cause, without any great provocation given. We have made the best
of what Job said hitherto, though contrary to the judgment of many good
interpreters; but here, no doubt, he spoke unadvisedly with his
lips; he reflected on God's goodness in saying that he was not
suffered to take his breath (while yet he had such good use of
his reason and speech as to be able to talk thus) and on his justice in
saying that it was without cause. Yet it is true that as, on the one
hand, there are many who are chargeable with more sin than the common
infirmities of human nature, and yet feel no more sorrow than that of
the common calamities of human life, so, on the other hand, there are
many who feel more than the common calamities of human life and yet are
conscious to themselves of no more than the common infirmities of human
nature.
(4.) He was in no capacity at all to make his part good with God, v. 19 .
[1.] Not by force of arms. "I dare not enter the lists with the
Almighty; for if I speak of strength, and think to come off by
that, lo, he is strong, stronger than I, and will certainly
overpower me." There is no disputing (said one once to Cæsar)
with him that commands legions. Much less is there any with him that
has legions of angels at command. Can thy heart endure (thy
courage and presence of mind) or can thy hands be strong to
defend thyself, in the days that I shall deal with thee? Ezek. xxii. 14 .
[2.] Not by force of arguments. "I dare not try the merits of the
cause. If I speak of judgment, and insist upon my right, who
will set me a time to plead? There is no higher power to which I
may appeal, no superior court to appoint a hearing of the cause; for he
is supreme and from him proceeds every man's judgment, which he must
abide by."
2. He knew so much of himself the he durst not stand a trial, v. 20, 21 .
" If I go about to justify myself, and to plead a
righteousness of my own, my defence will be my offence, and my own
mouth shall condemn me even when it goes about to acquit me." A
good man, who knows the deceitfulness of his own heart, and is jealous
over it with a godly jealousy, and has often discovered that amiss
there which had long lain undiscovered, is suspicious of more evil in
himself than he is really conscious of, and therefore will by no means
think of justifying himself before God. If we say we have no sin,
we not only deceive ourselves, but we affront God; for we
sin in saying so, and give the lie to the scripture, which has concluded all under sin. "If I say, I am perfect, I am sinless,
God has nothing to lay to my charge, my very saying so shall prove
me perverse, proud, ignorant, and presumptuous. Nay, though I
were perfect, though God should pronounce me just, yet would I
not know my soul, I would not be in care about the prolonging of my
life while it is loaded with all these miseries." Or, "Though I were
free from gross sin, though my conscience should not charge me with any
enormous crime, yet would I not believe my own heart so far as to
insist upon my innocency nor think my life worth striving for with
God." In short, it is folly to contend with God, and our wisdom, as
well as duty, to submit to him and throw ourselves at his feet.
22 This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth
the perfect and the wicked.
23 If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of
the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth
the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?
Here Job touches briefly upon the main point now in dispute between him
and his friends. They maintained that those who are righteous and good
always prosper in this world, and none but the wicked are in misery and
distress; he asserted, on the contrary, that it is a common thing for
the wicked to prosper and the righteous to be greatly afflicted. This
is the one thing, the chief thing, wherein he and his friends differed;
and they had not proved their assertion, therefore he abides by his: "I
said it, and day it again, that all things come alike to all." Now,
1. It must be owned that there is very much truth in what Job here
means, that temporal judgments, when they are sent abroad, fall both
upon good and bad, and the destroying angel seldom distinguishes
(though once he did) between the houses of Israelites and the houses of
Egyptians. In the judgment of Sodom indeed, which is called the
vengeance of eternal fire ( Jude 7 ), far be it from God to slay the righteous with the wicked, and
that the righteous should be as the wicked ( Gen. xviii. 25 );
but, in judgments merely temporal, the righteous have their share, and
sometimes the greatest share. The sword devours one as well as
another, Josiah as well as Ahab. Thus God destroys the perfect
and the wicked, involves them both in the same common ruin; good
and bad were sent together into Babylon, Jer. xxiv. 5, 9 . If the scourge slay suddenly, and sweep down all before it, God
will be well pleased to see how the same scourge which is the perdition
of the wicked is the trial of the innocent and of their faith, which will be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, 1 Pet. i. 7; Ps. lxvi. 10 .
Let this reconcile God's children to their troubles; they are but
trials, designed for their honour and benefit, and, if God be pleased
with them, let not them be displeased; if he laugh at the trial of
the innocent, knowing how glorious the issue of it will be, at
destruction and famine let them also laugh
( ch. v. 22 ),
and triumph over them, saying, O death! where is thy sting? On
the other hand, the wicked are so far from being made the marks of
God's judgments that the earth is given into their hand, v. 24 (they enjoy large possessions and great power, have what they will and
do what they will), into the hand of the wicked one (in the
original, the word is singular); the devil, that wicked one, is called the god of this world, and boasts that into his hands it is
delivered, Luke iv. 6 .
Or into the hand of a wicked man, meaning (as bishop Patrick and
the Assembly's Annotations conjecture) some noted tyrant then living in
those parts, whose great wickedness and great prosperity were well
known both to Job and his friends. The wicked have the earth given
them, but the righteous have heaven given them, and which is
better--heaven without earth or earth without heaven? God, in his
providence, advances wicked men, while he covers the faces of those who are fit to be judges, who are wise and good, and
qualified for government, and buries them alive in obscurity, perhaps
suffers them to be run down and condemned, and to have their faces
covered as criminals by those wicked ones into whose hand the earth is
given. We daily see that this is done; if it be not God
that does it, where and who is he that does it? To whom can it
be ascribed but to him that rules in the kingdoms of men, and gives
them to whom he will? Dan. iv. 32 .
Yet,
2. It must be owned that there is too much passion in what Job here
says. The manner of expression is peevish. When he meant that God
afflicts he ought not to have said, He destroys both the
perfect and the wicked; when he meant that God pleases himself with
the trial of the innocent he ought not to have said, He laughs at
it, for he doth not afflict willingly. When the spirit is heated,
either with dispute or with discontent, we have need to set a watch
before the door of our lips, that we may observe a due decorum in
speaking of divine things.
25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they
see no good.
26 They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my
heaviness, and comfort myself: 28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not
hold me innocent.
29 If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so
clean;
31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes
shall abhor me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay
his hand upon us both.
34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear
terrify me:
35 Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so
with me.
Job here grows more and more querulous, and does not conclude this
chapter with such reverent expressions of God's wisdom and justice as
he began with. Those that indulge a complaining humour know not to what
indecencies, nay, to what impieties, it will hurry them. The
beginning of that strife with God is as the letting forth
of water; therefore leave it off before it be meddled with. When we
are in trouble we are allowed to complain to God, as the Psalmist
often, but must by no means complain of God, as Job here.
I. His complaint here of the passing away of the days of his prosperity
is proper enough
( v. 25, 26 ):
" My days (that is, all my good days) are gone, never to return,
gone of a sudden, gone ere I was aware. Never did any courier that went
express" (like Cushi and Ahimaaz) "with good tidings make such haste as
all my comforts did from me. Never did ship sail to its port, never did
eagle fly upon its prey, with such incredible swiftness; nor does there
remain any trace of my prosperity, any more than there does of an eagle
in the air or a ship in the sea," Prov. xxx. 19 .
See here,
1. How swift the motion of time is. It is always upon the wing,
hastening to its period; it stays for no man. What little need have we
of pastimes, and what great need to redeem time, when time runs out,
runs on so fast towards eternity, which comes as time goes!
2. How vain the enjoyments of time are, which we may be quite deprived
of while yet time continues. Our day may be longer than the sun-shine
of our prosperity; and, when that is gone, it is as if it had not been.
The remembrance of having done our duty will be pleasing afterwards; so
will not the remembrance of our having got a great deal of worldly
wealth when it is all lost and gone. " They flee away, past
recall; they see no good, and leave none behind them."
II. His complaint of his present uneasiness is excusable, v. 27, 28 .
1. It should seem, he did his endeavour to quiet and compose himself
as his friends advised him. That was the good he would do: he would
fain forget his complaints and praise God, would leave off
his heaviness and comfort himself, that he might be fit for
converse both with God and man; but,
2. He found he could not do it: " I am afraid of all my sorrows. When I strive most against my trouble it prevails most over me and
proves too hard for me!" It is easier, in such a case, to know what we
should do than to do it, to know what temper we should be in than to
get into that temper and keep in it. It is easy to preach patience to
those that are in trouble, and to tell them they must forget their
complaints and comfort themselves; but it is not so soon done as said.
Fear and sorrow are tyrannizing things, not easily brought into the
subjection they ought to be kept in to religion and right reason.
But,
III. His complaint of God as implacable and inexorable was by no means
to be excused. It was the language of his corruption. He knew better,
and, at another time, would have been far from harbouring any such hard
thoughts of God as now broke in upon his spirit and broke out in these
passionate complaints. Good men do not always speak like themselves;
but God, who considers their frame and the strength of their
temptations, gives them leave afterwards to unsay what was amiss by
repentance and will not lay it to their charge.
1. Job seems to speak here,
(1.) As if he despaired of obtaining from God any relief or redress of
his grievances, though he should produce ever so good proofs of his
integrity: " I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. My
afflictions have continued so long upon me, and increased so fast, that
I do not expect thou wilt ever clear up my innocency by delivering me
out of them and restoring me to a prosperous condition. Right or wrong,
I must be treated as a wicked man; my friends will continue to think so
of me, and God will continue upon me the afflictions which give them
occasion to think so. Why then do I labour in vain to clear
myself and maintain my own integrity?" v. 29 .
It is to no purpose to speak in a cause that is already prejudged.
With men it is often labour in vain for the most innocent to go about
to clear themselves; they must be adjudged guilty, though the evidence
be ever so plain for them. But it is not so in our dealings with God,
who is the patron of oppressed innocency and to whom it was never in
vain to commit a righteous cause. Nay, he not only despairs of relief,
but expects that his endeavour to clear himself will render him yet
more obnoxious
( v. 30, 31 ):
" If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my integrity ever so
evident, it will be all to no purpose; judgment must go against me. Thou shalt plunge me in the ditch " (the pit of destruction, so
some, or rather the filthy kennel, or sewer), "which will make me so
offensive in the nostrils of all about me that my own clothes shall
abhor me and I shall even loathe to touch myself." He saw his
afflictions coming from God. Those were the things that blackened him
in the eye of his friends; and, upon that score, he complained of them,
and of the continuance of them, as the ruin, not only of his comfort,
but of his reputation. Yet these words are capable of a good
construction. If we be ever so industrious to justify ourselves before
men, and to preserve our credit with them,--if we keep our hands ever
so clean from the pollutions of gross sin, which fall under the eye of
the world,--yet God, who knows our hearts, can charge us with so much
secret sin as will for ever take off all our pretensions to purity and
innocency, and make us see ourselves odious in the sight of the holy
God. Paul, while a Pharisee, made his hands very clean; but when the
commandment came and discovered to him his heart-sins, made him know
lust, that plunged him in the ditch. (2.) As if he despaired to have a fair hearing with God, and that were
hard indeed.
[1.] He complains that he was not upon even terms with God
( v. 32 ):
" He is not a man, as I am. I could venture to dispute with a man
like myself (the potsherds may strive with the potsherds of the earth),
but he is infinitely above me, and therefore I dare not enter the lists
with him; I shall certainly be cast if I contend with him." Note, First, God is not a man as we are. Of the greatest princes we
may say, "They are men as we are," but not of the great God. His
thoughts and ways are infinitely above ours, and we must not measure
him by ourselves. Man is foolish and weak, frail and fickle, but God is
not. We are depending dying creatures; he is the independent an
immortal Creator. Secondly, The consideration of this should
keep us very humble and very silent before God. Let us not make
ourselves equal with God, but always eye him as infinitely above us.
[2.] That there was no arbitrator or umpire to adjust the differences
between him and God and to determine the controversy
( v. 33 ): Neither is there any days-man between us. This complaint that
there was not is in effect a wish that there were, and so the LXX.
reads it: O that there were a mediator between us! Job would
gladly refer the matter, but no creature was capable of being a
referee, and therefore he must even refer it still to God himself and
resolve to acquiesce in his judgment. Our Lord Jesus is the blessed
days-man, who has mediated between heaven and earth, has laid his hand
upon us both; to him the Father has committed all judgment, and we
must. But this matter was not then brought to so clear a light as it is
now by the gospel, which leaves no room for such a complaint as this.
[3.] That the terrors of God, which set themselves in array against
him, put him into such confusion that he knew not how to address God
with the confidence with which he was formerly wont to approach him, v. 34, 35 .
"Besides the distance which I am kept at by his infinite transcendency,
his present dealings with me are very discouraging: Let him take his
rod away from me. " He means not so much his outward afflictions as
the load which lay upon his spirit from the apprehensions of God's
wrath; that was his fear which terrified him. "Let that
be removed; let me recover the sight of his mercy, and not be amazed
with the sight of nothing but his terrors, and then I would
speak and order my cause before him. But it is not so with
me; the cloud is not at all dissipated; the wrath of God still
fastens upon me, and preys on my spirits, as much as ever; and what to
do I know not."
2. From all this let us take occasion,
(1.) To stand in awe of God, and to fear the power of his wrath. If
good men have been put into such consternation by it, where shall
the ungodly and the sinner appear? (2.) To pity those that are wounded in spirit, and pray earnestly for
them, because in that condition they know not how to pray for
themselves.
(3.) Carefully to keep up good thoughts of God in our minds, for hard
thoughts of him are the inlets of much mischief.
(4.) To bless God that we are not in such a disconsolate condition as
poor Job was here in, but that we walk in the light of the Lord; let us
rejoice therein, but rejoice with trembling.
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 9
This and the following chapter contain Job's answer to Bildad, and in this he asserts the strict justice at God; which is such, that no man can be just in his sight, not being able to answer to one charge, or for one sin, of a thousand he is guilty of, Job 9:1; and that such are his wisdom and power, that the most daring man cannot expect to succeed in an opposition to him, Job 9:4; instances are given of his power in the works of nature and providence, Job 9:5; notice is taken of the imperceptibleness of his actions and motions, and of his sovereignty in all his ways, Job 9:11; and of his fierce wrath and anger, which is such as obliges the proudest of men to stoop under him; and therefore Job chose not to contend in a judicial way with him, but in a suppliant manner would entreat him, since his hand was so heavy upon him, Job 9:13; he affirms, in direct opposition to Bildad and his friends, and insists upon it, that God afflicts both the righteous and the wicked; yea, gives the earth to the latter when he slays the former, Job 9:22; he then observes the shortness of his days, and complains of his heavy afflictions, Job 9:25; and concludes, that it was in vain for him to expect his cause to be heard before God, there being no daysman between them; and wishes that the dread of the Divine Majesty might be taken from him, and then he would freely and without fear speak unto him, Job 9:29.
Ver. 1. Then Job answered and said. Without taking notice of Bildad's harsh expressions and severe censures, or his unfriendliness to him; he enters directly into the argument, grants some things, confutes others, and defends himself and his conduct.
Job 9:2
Ver. 2. I know [it is] so of a truth,.... That is, that God is just, and does not pervert justice and judgment, as Bildad had observed, Job 8:3; Job was a man of great natural parts and capacity; he had a large share of knowledge of things, natural, civil, and moral; and he was a good man, in whom the true light of grace shined; and being, enlightened by the spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of divine things, he knew much of God, of his being and perfections, and of the methods of his grace, especially in the justification of men, as appears by various passages in this chapter; he knew that God was just and holy in all his ways and works, whether of providence or grace; and this he kept in sight amidst all his afflictions, and was ready to acknowledge it: he knew this "of a truth"; that is, most certainly; for there are some truths that are so plain and evident that a man may be assured of, and this was such an one with Job; he had no need to be instructed in this article; he was as knowing in this point, as well as in others, as Bildad or any of his friends; nor did he need to be sent to the ancients to inquire of them, or to prepare himself for the search of the fathers, in order to acquire the knowledge of this, to which Bildad had advised; yet, though this was so clear a point, about which there was no room for further contest; but then the matter is,
how should man be just with God? if not angels, if not man in his best estate, in which he was vanity when compared with God; then much less frail, feeble, mortal, sinful men, even the best of men, considered in themselves, and with respect to their own righteousness: for, to "be just" is not to be so through an infusion of righteousness and holiness into men, which in the best of men is their sanctification and not their justification; but this is a legal term, and stands opposed to condemnation, and signifies a man's being condemned and pronounced righteous in a judiciary way; so a man cannot be adjudged, reckoned, or accounted by God upon the foot of works of righteousness done by him; since his best works are imperfect, not answerable to the law, but very defective, and so not justifying; are opposite to the grace of God, by which, in an evangelic sense, men are justified; these would encourage boasting, which is excluded in God's way of justifying sinners; and could justification be by them, the death of Christ would be in vain, and there would have been no need of him and his justifying righteousness: especially, it is a certain thing, that a man can never be "just", or "justified with God", in such a way, or through any righteousness wrought out by him; that is, either he is not and cannot be just in comparison of God; for, if the inhabitants of the heavens are not pure in his sight, the holy angels; and if man, at his best estate, was altogether vanity when compared with him, what must sinful mortals be? or not be just at his bar; should he mark their iniquities, enter into judgment with them, or an action against them, summon them before him to answer to charges he has to exhibit; they could not stand before him, or go off acquitted or discharged: or in his account; for his judgment is according to truth; he can never reckon that a perfect righteousness which is an imperfect one: or in his sight; for, though men may be just in comparison of others, or at an human bar, in an human court of judicature, and in the account of men, and in their sight, to whom they may appear outwardly righteous, as well as in their own sight; yet not in the sight of God, who sees all things, the heart and all in it, every action, and the spring of it; see Ps 143:2 Ro 3:20; in this sense, a man can only be just with God through the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, accounting that to him, putting it upon him, and clothing him with it, and so reckoning and pronouncing him righteous through it; and which is entirely consistent with the justice of God, since by it the law is fulfilled, magnified, and made honourable, and justice satisfied; so that God is just, while he is the justifier of him that believes in Jesus, Ro 3:26.
Job 9:3
Ver. 3. If he will contend with him,.... If God will contend with man, so Sephorno; enter into a controversy with him, litigate and dispute the point in law, whether he is just or not, man cannot answer to the allegations he will produce; or if man should contend with God, a potsherd strive with its maker, to what purpose would it be? he could never avail himself by such a procedure; the match is unequal, there is no striving or contending with God in a judicial, way:
he cannot answer him one of a thousand; which some understand, that God will not answer men; he will not vouchsafe to give an answer to such that plead with him, or talk with him of his judgments in providence, or pretend to vindicate themselves, their ways, and their works, before him; but this sense seems contrary to Jer 12:1; but the meaning is, that man cannot answer God; either not one man out of a thousand, that is, none at all; unless, by one of a thousand, is meant the interpreter, one among a thousand, even the Messiah, the chiefest among ten thousand; the one man of a thousand Solomon found upon search; see Job 33:23; he indeed has made himself responsible for his people, as their surety, and was able to answer for them; and he has answered for them, and made satisfaction for their sins; it was exacted, or required, that is, a full payment of their debts, or a plenary satisfaction for their sins, "and he answered", according to Isa 53:7; but rather the sense is, that a man cannot answer, either one time of a thousand {u}, or one argument to one article exhibited, or to one objection or charge of a thousand brought against him by the law or justice of God; that is, for one sin of a thousand he has committed; so Mr. Broughton renders it, "to one thing of a thousand" {w}; this suggests that the sins of men are numerous; their debts are many, they are more than ten thousand talents, which they are not able to answer to, or pay off, no, not one of them; their iniquities are more than the hairs of their head, they cannot be understood or reckoned: and now a man cannot answer for one of a thousand, or the millions of sins he is guilty of; he cannot deny them, he cannot excuse them, he cannot make satisfaction for anyone of them; they are committed against an infinite Being, and require an infinite satisfaction, which man cannot give; they are violations of a law, and injuries to divine justice, that no man is able to atone for; whatever obedience he is capable of, or does perform, God has a prior right unto it, and therefore can never answer for former transgressions; this being the case, sinful man cannot be just with God upon the foot of his works, which is the thing this observation is made to illustrate: man's obedience is so short, and God's commandment or law so very broad, that these two can never be brought to meet, agree together, or answer to one another; and therefore it may be strongly concluded that a man is justified, if ever he is justified at all, in the sight of God, by faith in Christ and his righteousness, without the deeds of the law, Ro 3:28.
{u} Pla ynm txa "una vice ex millibus", Schmidt. {w} "Ad rem unam ex mille", Beza; "ad unum argumentum ex mille argumentis", Vatablus; so Castalio, Bar Tzemach.
Job 9:4
Ver. 4. [He is] wise in heart,.... Originally, essentially, truly, really, and perfectly so; he is the only, and the all wise God; his understanding is infinite; he is able to traverse all the schemes of men, in things civil or religious, and disappoint all their devices; for though there be ever so many of them, or be ever so deeply laid, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand; for there is no wisdom, understanding, or counsel against him; and therefore it is in vain to contend with him: he is so wise and knowing, that he sees and knows all that is in man, or is done by him, whether in public or in private; there is not a thought in his heart, nor a word on his tongue, nor an action in his life and conversation, but what he is thoroughly acquainted with; and everyone of these he will bring into judgment: how therefore is it possible that sinful men should be just in the sight of such a wise and holy Being, upon the score of his own righteousness?
and mighty in strength; he is the most mighty; he is the Almighty; he has a mighty arm and strong hand; and unless a man had a strong arm like him, his own right hand can never save him, or his own righteousness justify him; wherefore, to what purpose is it for a feeble man to contend and strive with him? and since he is not a man, as he is, how should they come together in judgment? and what a vain thing must it he to set a time for it, since, if we speak of strength, lo, he is strong? see Job 9:19;
who hath hardened [himself] against him, and hath prospered? either by behaving proudly and insolently to him, as Pharaoh, Sennacherib, and others, by speaking hard words against him, as the Jews in the times of Malachi; and such hard speeches ungodly sinners utter against God, Christ, his Gospel, ordinances, people, ways, and worship, of which they will be convinced, and for which they will be condemned at the last judgment; and by bold and daring acts of sin, running upon the thick bosses of his buckler, giving themselves up to commit all uncleanness with greediness, and making a covenant with hell and an agreement with death, and so think themselves safe and secure at all events; but such never prospered and succeeded as they promised themselves, but came to ruin and destruction: or "had peace" {x}, or "found quietness", as Mr. Broughton: there is no peace to wicked men, true, solid peace, either here or hereafter; when they cry "Peace", or promise themselves much of it, destruction comes; and if God sets home the guilt of sin upon their consciences, the lead of it is intolerable; it sinks them into despair, and what then will be the worm that dieth not?
{x} Mlvyw "et pacem habuit", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Bolducius; "et pace frueretur", Cocceius.
Job 9:5
Ver. 5. Which removeth the mountains,.... This and what follow are instances of the power of God, and are full proofs of his being mighty in strength; and may be understood, either literally, not only of what God is able to do if he will, but of what he has done; and history {y} furnishes us with instances of mountains being removed from one place to another; and Scheuchzer {z} makes mention of a village in Helvetia, called Plurium, which, in 1618, was covered with the sudden fall of a mountain, and swallowed up in the earth, with 1800 inhabitants, and not the least trace of it to be seen any more; and in the sacred Scriptures is a prediction of the mount of Olives being removed from its place, one half to the north and the other to the south,
Zec 14:4; and Josephus {a} gives a relation much like it, as in fact; besides, Job may have respect to what had been done in his times, or before them, and particularly at the universal deluge, which covered the tops of the highest mountains and hills, and very probably washed away some from their places: or else it may be understood proverbially, of the Lord's doing things marvellous and surprising, and which are impossible and impracticable with men; see Mt 17:20; or rather figuratively, of kingdoms and mighty kings, as the Targum, comparable to mountains for their height and strength, who yet are removed by God at his pleasure; see Zec 4:7;
and they know not; when they are removed, and how it is done; it is imperceptible; either the mountains are not sensible of it, or the inhabitants of the mountains, as Bar Tzemach; or men, the common sort of men, the multitude, as Gersom: R. Saadiah Gaon interprets it of removing the men of the mountains, and they know it not:
which overturneth them in his anger; for the sins or men, which was the case of the old world: Mr. Broughton renders it, "that men cannot mark how he hath removed them out of their place in his anger".
{y} Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 83. Wernerus, Palmerius, Theophanes "a aurus", in Bolduc. in loc. {z} Physic. Sacr. vol. 4. p. 673. {a} Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 4.
Job 9:6
Ver. 6. Which shaketh the earth out of her place,.... Can do it, and will do it at the last day, when it shall be utterly broken down, clean dissolved, and reel to and fro like a drunkard, and be removed as a cottage, and which John in a vision saw flee away from the presence of him that sat upon the throne, Isa 24:19; for this cannot be understood of earthquakes in common, which are only partial, and do not remove the earth out of its place, only shake some parts of it; and this may also refer to the time of the flood, when the earth received some change and alteration in its situation, as Mr. Burnet in his Theory of the Earth observes; and the Apostle Peter suggests something of this kind, when he distinguishes the present earth from the former, which he says stood out of the water and in it, but the present earth not so, but is reserved for fire, 2Pe 3:5;
and the pillars thereof tremble; the centre or lower parts of it, see
Ps 75:3.
Job 9:7
Ver. 7. Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not,.... Either he could do it if he would, by a word speaking, as he ordered it to stand still in the times of Joshua, Jos 10:13, and caused the shadow to return ten degrees it had gone back in the dial of Ahaz, in the times of Hezekiah, 2Ki 20:11; or else the sense is, it rises not at any other time and place but when and where he commands it; or he commands it not to rise in the same place at one time of the year as at another, and it rises not; or this may be understood of eclipses, or of its being covered with clouds in tempestuous weather for a considerable time together, when it seems as if it was not risen: some think this respects the three days' darkness in Egypt, when the Israelites were there, Ex 10:22, which was a little before, or about the time of Job; or rather it refers to the general flood, in the times of Noah, when it rained forty days and forty nights, Ge 7:12, during which time the sun appeared not, and so seemed as if it was not risen; see Am 8:9; Herodotus {b} relates, from the memoirs of the Egyptians, that the sun rose four times out of its usual course; twice it rose where it now sets, and twice it set where it now rises:
and sealeth up the stars: either by the light of the sun in the daytime, which hides them that they are not visible, or by dark clouds and tempestuous weather in the night; such a season as that was in which the Apostle Paul and the mariners with him were, when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, Ac 27:20, and so the Targum paraphrases it, and
"sealeth up the stars with clouds;''
this may also refer to the time of the flood, during the rain of forty days and nights, Ge 7:4; or to the annual motion of the sun through the ecliptic, which makes the point of the sun's rising and setting vary, and is the reason why some stars appear in summer and are sealed up in winter, and others that are seen in winter are not visible in summer; and so Cocceius interprets it.
{b} Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 149.
Job 9:8
Ver. 8. Which alone spreadeth out the heavens,.... The expanse, or what we commonly translate "firmament"; but has its name in the Hebrew language from its being expanded, spread, and stretched out, over the earth and all around it; and seems chiefly to design the ether or atmosphere, which is a fine thin matter and substance spread around us, and which is sometimes spread with clouds; this is said to be stretched out like a curtain and a tent to dwell in, tents being made of curtains spread out, Isa 40:21; and the allusion may be to a military tent, the pavilion of a general of an army, as Pineda observes, from whence Jehovah plays his artillery upon his enemies, thunder, lightning, hailstones, and coals of fire; see Ps 18:11; this respects not so much the first creation, or spreading of the air or the heavens, as the continuance thereof; God continues to spread them, or to keep them spread, that they may not be rolled up as a scroll; or folded up as a garment, as they will be, Heb 1:12; and this he does alone, without the help of any creature, angels or men; any piece of tapestry or carpet, that is large, is not easily spread alone; but what power must the vast expanse of the heavens require, to be spread alone and continued so? nothing less than infinite; see Isa 44:24; some render it, "which boweth the heavens" {c}, as the same word is rendered in
Ps 18:9; which he does when he fills them with clouds, so that they seem to hang low, and to be inclined towards the earth:
and treadeth upon the waves of the sea {d}; which he did at the first creation, when the waters that covered the face of the earth were, by his order, collected into one place, and there shut up, and restrained from overflowing the earth; and which restraint, as it is an act of power over them, is designed by treading upon them, and a continued act may be the rather meant here; see Ge 1:8; and when the waves of it are lifted up as high as they sometimes are, by strong and stormy winds, the Lord on high is mightier than they, he treads upon them and represses them; he rules their raging, stills their noise, and makes them smooth, calm, and quiet, Ps 65:7; this none but God can do: the Egyptian hieroglyphic of doing a thing impossible was a man's walking upon water {e}; the Heathens chose not to describe even their god of the sea, Neptune, by walking on it, as being too great for him, but by swimming {f}; of Christ's walking upon the sea, see Mt 14:25; it may be rendered, "the high places of the sea": the waves of it, when mounted to a great height by the wind; so Mr. Broughton, "the high waves of the sea", see
Ps 107:25; there is a copy, as the lesser Massorah observes, which reads, "upon the high places of the cloud" {g}, see Isa 14:14; and Gersom interprets these high places, of the heavens, and of God's giving rain from thence.
{c} Mymv hjn "inclinat coelum", Piscator. {d} My ytmb le "super excelsa maris", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. "summitates maris", Tigurine version; "celsos vertices maris", Schultens. {e} Orus Apollo, apud Bolduc. {f} Cicero de Natura Deorum, l. 2. {g} "Legitur et" be "pro" My i.e. "super excelsas nubes", Vatablus.
Job 9:9
Ver. 9. Which maketh Arcturus,.... By which is meant not a single star, but a collection of stars, as Bar Tzemach and Ben Melech, a constellation; hence we read of Arcturus and his sons, Job 38:32. Aben Ezra understands it of the seven stars, but these are thought to be meant by the Pleiades, later mentioned; this constellation is about the Arctic or northern pole, in the tail of the Bear, appears in the beginning of September, and brings stormy weather, when winter is at hand {h}:
Orion and Pleiades; the former of these also is not a single star, but a constellation; by the help of a telescope no less than two thousand are numbered, and in Hebrew it is called "Cesil"; hence the month "Cisleu" has its name, which answers to part of November and part of December, at which time this constellation is seen, and is attended with stormy weather; hence Virgil calls it Nimbosus Orion {i}: and the latter are what we call the Seven Stars, sometimes by writers called Vergiliae, because they appear in the spring; and have their name of Pleiades from sailing, because at this time of year mariners go out with their ships; though some say this constellation is not favourable to them, causing rains and tempests {k}; these three divide the whole year:
and the chambers of the south: the stars in the southern hemisphere, about the Antarctic, or southern pole; and called "chambers", as Aben Ezra observes, because hidden, and are not seen by those in the other hemisphere, as if they were in a chamber: now the making of these is rightly ascribed to God, who made all the stars, Ge 1:16; though this may rather regard the continuance of them in their being, who calls them by name, brings out their host by number, directs their course, keeps them in their orbs, and preserves their influence.
{h} Sophoclis Oedipus, Tyran. ver. 1147. {i} Aeneid. l. 1. Vid. Horat. Carmin. l. 3. Ode 27. Epod. 15. {k} "----pleiadum choro Scindente nubes". Horat. Carmin. l. 4. Ode 14.
Job 9:10
Ver. 10. Which doth great things past finding out,.... In heaven and earth; great as to quantity and quality, not to be thoroughly searched out so as to tell their numbers, nor explain and express the nature of them to the full; even what he has done, and does in creation, providence, and grace:
yea, and wonders without number; such as are amazing to men, who cannot account for them, and so many that they cannot number them. The same things are said by Eliphaz, See Gill on "Job 5:9"; and which Job here repeats, to show that he agreed with him, and was ready to own what was truth, whenever expressed by him or his friends, and especially such as made for the glory of the Divine Being.
Job 9:11
Ver. 11. Lo, he goeth by me, and I see [him] not,.... This is expressive of the invisibility of God; for though the angels in heaven always behold his face, and men, in the works of creation, may see his eternal power and Godhead, and other perfections of it displayed therein; and saints by faith have a comfortable and delightful view of him, of his countenance, his love, grace and mercy in his word and ordinances, and especially in the face and person of Christ, the image of the invisible God, and will in heaven most clearly see him as he is, in the greater display of his glory and his grace; yet his essence is invisible, not only not to be seen with corporeal eyes, but not to be comprehended in the mind:
he passeth on also, but I perceive him not; this "going [and] passing on", as, ascribed to God, must be understood in consistence with his omnipresence; he cannot be thought to move from place to place who is everywhere, who fills heaven and earth with his presence, and there is no going from it: local motion cannot be said of him; but this respects the operations of his providence; he is continually working all around us, by supporting us in being, and supplying us with what we want, and so is near us, and yet we see him not: Job experienced the bounties of his providence, as well as the blessings of his grace, in the time of his prosperity, and now he felt the weight of his afflicting hand upon him; but yet, as to his essence, he could not see him; he was sensible that he was nigh him, and find a concern in all that befell him, but he could neither see nor comprehend him, nor account for his dealings with him: he had "passed by" him in his state of nature, and had looked graciously on him, and had said unto him, Live; he had "passed on" from him, and hid his face so that he could not see him, nor find him backward nor forward, on the right hand, nor on the left, where he used to work, see Job 23:3.
Job 9:12
Ver. 12. Behold, he taketh away,.... There are some things God never takes away from his people; he never takes away his love from them, he always rests in that towards them, let them be in what condition they will; he never takes away his grace from them, when once bestowed on them, or wrought in them; he never takes away his special gifts of grace, particularly the unspeakable gift of his son Christ Jesus, which is that good part, when chosen, which shall not be taken away; nor any of the spiritual blessings wherewith they are blessed in Christ; these are irreversible and irrevocable: but temporal blessings he takes away at pleasure; so he had taken away the children, the servants of Job, his substance, wealth, and riches, and also his bodily health, to which he may have a particular respect; yea, when it pleases him, he takes a man out of the world, as the Targum and Gersom interpret it:
who can hinder him? he does what he pleases in heaven and earth; his will is irresistible, his power is uncontrollable; there is no turning his mind, nor staying his hand, nor turning it back; when he works, none can let or hinder. Mr. Broughton translates it, "who shall make him restore?" {l} if a man takes away what he has no right to, he may be obliged by law to restore it; but whatever God takes away he has a right unto, be it relations and friends, health or wealth; if he pleases he can restore, and does; and as he did to Job, to whom he after gave twice as much as he had before; but then he is not obliged to do it, none can force him to it:
who will say unto him, what doest thou? not one that knows what God is, or that knows himself a creature of his; no person will choose or dare to ask what God does, or why he does this and not another thing, or why this in the manner he does it; for he gives no account of his matters to the sons of men, nor is he obliged to it, and it would be insolent in them to require it, see Job 33:13; this expresses his sovereignty.
{l} So Beza, Pagninus, Montanus, Bolducius, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius.
Job 9:13
Ver. 13. [If] God will not withdraw his anger,.... Or "God will not withdraw his anger" {m}; he is angry, or at least seems to be angry with his own people, in their apprehension, when he afflicts them and hides his face from them, or does not immediately appear to their relief and assistance; but this does not always last, he does not retain or keep anger for ever; but shows great mercies to them, and with everlasting kindness has mercy on them, by discovering his love to them, applying his pardoning grace and mercy, and comforting them with the consolations of his spirit; but then he is angry with the wicked every day, for their continual transgressions; and he never withdraws his anger from them, neither here nor hereafter, but punishes them with everlasting destruction, and casts them into everlasting fire, to which his wrath and anger are compared: the consequence of which is,
the proud helpers do stoop under him; or "the helpers of pride" {n}, or helpers of proud men; proud, wicked, and ungodly men, who combine together and help one another against God, his people, cause and interest; men of power, rule and government, as Aben Ezra explains it; civil magistrates, men in authority, who, instead of being terrors to evil doers, encourage them, and help them forward in their wickedness; but though both those that help, and those that are helped, may continue for a while, and be supported, yet they shall sooner or later fall under the mighty hand of God, his power and wrath, and be crushed by it. Some regard may be had either to the giants, the men of the old world, who filled the earth with violence, and were swept away with the flood, Ge 6:13; or rather to the builders of Babel, who helped one another to build a tower to make them a name, and secure themselves, and in opposition to God; but he being angry with them, made them desist, and they bowed under him, Ge 11:4. Some render it, "the helpers of Rahab"; that is, of {o}, Rahab being a name of ,
Ps 87:4. The devils are meant, whose sin was pride, and by which they fell, and which they have endeavoured to promote and cherish among men; but these proud spirits are cast out of heaven and into hell, where they are reserved in chains of darkness to the great judgment, Jude 1:6; and are obliged, whether they will or not, to stoop to the Lord, and even to the son of God in human nature, which their proud stomachs cannot well bear; but are forced to it, the anger of God lying upon them, and his wrath, which will never be withdrawn from them.
{m} wpa byvy al hwla "Deus non revocabit furorem suum", Pagninus, Beza. {n} bhr yrze "adjutores superbiae", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Schmidt, Michaelis. {o} So Jarchi.
Job 9:14
Ver. 14. How much less shall I answer him,.... Who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, and has done and does the many things before related; who is invisible, passes by, and onwards insensibly; so that there is no knowing where to speak to him, or how to guard against him, since he can come on on every side, at an unawares, and unseen; and who is a sovereign Being, who can do, and does, whatever he pleases; and therefore there is no such thing as disputing any point with him, or calling him to an account for anything done by him: and if the great men of the earth, proud and haughty tyrants, and those prouder spirits, if possible, the infernal principalities and powers, are obliged to bend and stoop to him; how should such a poor, weak, feeble creature as Job was, enter the lists with him, contend with God, and argue with him about his dispensations, or answer to any argument, objection, charge, or article exhibited against him? here Job speaks humbly and meanly of himself, as he in the whole context before speaks highly of God, between whom there was no comparison:
[and] choose out my words [to reason] with him? suggesting, that should he pick out words the most fit and proper to be used, and put them together in the most exact order, and which had the greatest force of persuasion and strength of reasoning in them, yet they would be of no avail with God; these could have no influence upon him to turn his mind, or alter either his purposes or his providences; and therefore concluded it was best for him to be silent and make no reply; but if he said anything, to do it in a supplicating way, as follows.
Job 9:15
Ver. 15. Whom, though I were righteous, [yet] would I not answer,.... This is not to be understood of the righteousness of his cause, that Job made no supposition of, but strongly asserted and determined to hold it fast as long as he lived; nor of his evangelic righteousness, the righteousness of faith he was acquainted with, even the righteousness of his living Redeemer, by which he knew he was, and should be, justified; and by which righteousness he could and did answer God, as every believer may, who, making mention of this righteousness, and of this only, such an one may plead the righteousness of Christ with God as his justifying one, and hold it up against all charges brought against him; yea, by presenting this to God by faith, he answers all the demands of the law of God, both with respect to the precepts and penalty of it, it being magnified and made honourable hereby, and all that the justice of God can require, and with which it is entirely satisfied; yea, this righteousness will answer to God for him in a time to come, in the last judgment: but Job speaks of his own legal and civil righteousness, as a good man, and a good magistrate; as the latter, he put on righteousness, and it clothed him; as the former, having grace, the root of the matter, in him, as he calls it, it taught him to live soberly, righteously, and godly; he was a man that feared God, and eschewed evil; and his sense is, that though he should so well behave in every respect, and so order his conversation aright before men that they could have nothing to lay to his charge, yet he would not bring such a righteousness before God, and pretend to answer him with it; for he knew that such a righteousness is no righteousness in the sight of God, in the eye of his law, and in the account of divine justice, being not only imperfect, but impure; not only rags, but filthy ones, attended with many sins, as well as imperfections; wherefore no good man will put his cause before God on such an issue, however he may before men; nay, Job seems to carry this point yet further, that though he had a sinless righteousness of his own, and were as righteous as Adam before his fall, or the holy angels in heaven, yet he would not insist upon such a righteousness before God, or pretend to answer him with it; for he knew that the inhabitants of the heavens, and so man in his paradise on earth, in his best estate, were not pure in his sight, but chargeable with folly and imperfection, in comparison of him: and when he says he could not "answer" him, his meaning is not that he would not answer to a question that was asked him, but that he would not answer him in a judicial way; that, if he should prefer a bill against him, he would not put in at answer to it, though he knew nothing by himself, and could not charge himself with anything wrong in thought, word, or deed; yet if God charged him with it, he would not reply against him, he would not contradict him, he would not answer again, or litigate the point with him, but give it up; because, though he might not know he had done any thing amiss, or there was imperfection in him, yet God, who was greater than his heart, and knows all things, is the heart searching and rein trying God, he knew better than he did, and therefore was determined to submit to him, and be set down by him what he was:
[but] I would make supplication to my Judge: that is, to God, the Judge of the whole earth; and who is particularly the Judge of his own people, their Patron and Defender, their Judge and Lawgiver, who will save them; for though he is a just God, and a righteous Judge, yet a Saviour; and it is one of the privileges of his people that they can come to him, not only as the God of all grace, and as their God and Father in Christ, but to him as to God the Judge of all, Heb 12:23; and lay their case before him, and entreat his protection; and this Job chose to do rather than contend with him; for by "supplication" prayer is meant, as it frequently is in both Testaments; and it signifies such prayer as consists of petitions for grace and mercy, or for things to be bestowed in a way of grace and mercy; not according to merit, but mercy; not for works of righteousness done, but through the favour and good will of God; and which prayer is put up in an humble supplicant manner, acknowledging a man's unworthiness, that he is not deserving of the least of mercies, nor expects any on account of any worth or worthiness in him, or his services; and in such a way a man prevails more with God, and is most likely to succeed, than by contending with him in a judicial way. Jacob had power with God and prevailed, but it was by weeping and supplication, see Ho 12:4; so Mr. Broughton reads the words,
"my would crave pity of my Judge.''
Some render it, "my adversary" {p}, the opposite party in a court of judicature, whom he would not contest with, but supplicate, and in the way make up matters with him. Job seems resolved to take such a method Christ advises to in civil cases, Mt 5:24.
{p} yjpvml "in jus me vocanti", Cocceius; "ei qui mecum judicatur", i.e. "parti meae adversae", Gussetius, p. 880.
Job 9:16
Ver. 16. If I had called, and he had answered me,.... Mr. Broughton reads the words, "if I cry, will he answer me?" as if Job had some doubt upon his mind whether God would vouchsafe to answer him, though he should make his supplication to him, as he proposed; seeing he had so sorely afflicted him, and still continued his hand upon him; or the words may be rendered, "though I have called, and he has answered" {q}, in times past. Job was a praying person, he had often prayed to God in his closet, and in his family, for himself, and for his children, and for his friends, and he had found God to be a God hearing and answering prayer, but seems to question whether he would answer him now, if he did pray to him:
[yet] would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice, or "would hearken" {r}, at this time, and under the present circumstances; or should he, the mercy would be so great, that he could hardly believe it; so sometimes through joy men cannot believe what they hear and see, as the apostles, when Christ appeared to them after his resurrection; or as it was with the Jews returned from Babylon, they were like them that dream, they could scarcely tell whether their deliverance was a real fact, or whether they only dreamed of it, see Lu 24:41; so Job intimates, that should he pray to God, and be heard and delivered, it would be so astonishing and transporting, that at first he should not be able to give credit to it; or, however, he should not believe that it was for his prayers and supplications, for any worth and value, virtue and efficacy, there was in them, that he was heard; but it must be purely for his mercy's sake, for the sake of the mediation of Christ, and because these prayers were the breathings of his own spirit: or else the sense is, that though he had heard and answered him formerly, when he prayed in a supplicating way, yet if he should contend with him in a judicial way, and insist upon his own righteousness, and present his supplication to God on that account, he could never expect to be heard; and, indeed, he could not believe he should be heard on any account, so long as his present sufferings lasted; which seems to be the sense of what follows, where he gives his reasons for such belief, or rather unbelief.
{q} ynneyw ytarq Ma "etiamsi clamavi et respondit mihi", Schmidt. {r} Nyzay yk "quod exauditurus esset", Schmidt.
Job 9:17
Ver. 17. For he breaketh me with a tempest,.... Which rises suddenly, comes powerfully, and carries all before it irresistibly; hereby signifying the nature of his present sore afflictions, which came upon him at once, pressed him down, and utterly destroyed him, against which there was no standing: perhaps he may have some reference to the storm of wind that blew down the house, by which his children were destroyed. Schultens renders it, "a burning tempest" {s}, such as is common in the eastern countries, which Thevenot {t} often makes mention of; which kills a man at once, and his flesh becomes as black as a coal, and comes off of his bones, and is plucked off by the hand that would lift him up; with which a man is broken to pieces indeed, to which Job may allude:
and multiplieth my wounds without cause; referring, it may be, to the many boils and ulcers upon his body; though it may also respect the multiplicity of ways in which he had wounded or afflicted him, in his person, in his family, and in his substance, and which he says was done "without cause"; not without a cause or reason in God, who does nothing without one, though it may not be known to men; particularly in afflicting men, it is not without cause or reason; it he punishes men, it is for sin; if he rebukes and chastises his people, it is for their transgressions; to bring them to a sense of them, to humble them for them, to bring them off from them, or to prevent them, or purge them away, and to try their graces, wean them from the world, and fit them for himself: but Job's afflictions were without any such cause intimated by his friends; it was not hypocrisy, nor any notorious sin or sins he had been guilty of, and secretly lived and indulged himself in, as they imagined. Job here suggests his innocence, which he always insisted upon, and refers his afflictions to the sovereign will of God, and to some hidden cause in his own breast, unknown to himself and others: however, so long as he dealt with him after this manner, he could not believe his prayers were heard by him.
{s} hrevb "in turbine ardenti", Schultens. {t} Travels, par. 2. B. 1. c. 12. p. 54. B. 3. c. 5. p. 135.
Job 9:18
Ver. 18. He will not suffer me to take my breath,.... Which some think refers to Job's disease, which was either an asthma, or a quinsy in his throat, which occasioned great difficulty in breathing: I should rather think the allusion is to the hot burning winds in those countries before mentioned, which sometimes blew so strongly as almost to take away a man's breath; so the above traveller {u} reports, that between Suez and Cairo (in Egypt) they had for a day's time and more so hot a wind, that they were forced to turn their backs to it, to take a little breath. The design of Job is to show, that his afflictions were continued, and were without any intervals; they were repeated so fast, and came so thick upon him, one after another, that he had no breathing time; the import of the phrase is the same with that in Job 7:19;
but filleth me with bitterness; to the full, to satiety, to loathing, as a man may be with a bitter potion, with wormwood drink, and water of gall, with bitter afflictions comparable to such, whereby Job's life was embittered to him, see Jer 9:15.
{u} Travels. par. 1. B. 2. c. 34. p. 177.
Job 9:19
Ver. 19. If [I speak] of strength, lo, [he is] strong,.... Or think of it, or betake myself to that, and propose to carry my point by mere force, as some men do by dint of power and authority they are possessed of; alas! there is nothing to be done this way; I am a poor, weak, feeble creature in body, mind, and estate; I am not able to contend with so powerful an antagonist on any account, in any way: God is strong, he is the "most strong" {w}, as some render it; he is mighty, is the Almighty; the weakness of God is stronger than men; there is no disputing with God upon the foot of strength:
and if of judgment, who shall set me a time [to plead]? If I think and propose to put things upon the foot of justice, to have the cause between us issued in that way, I cannot expect to succeed by right, any more than by might; he is so strictly just and holy, that no righteousness and holiness of, mine can stand before him; he is God, and I a man, and therefore not fit to come together in judgment; and he a pure and holy Being, just and true, and without iniquity, and I a sinful polluted creature; and besides, there is none superior to him, that I can appeal unto, none that can appoint a place, or fix a time, for the hearing of the cause between us, or that can preside in judgment and determine the matter in controversy; nay, there is not one among the creatures that can be a daysman, an arbiter or umpire; yea not one that can be so much as employed as council, that can take the cause in hand, and plead it, and be a patron for me, and defender of me; so that, let me take what course I will, I am sure to be nonsuited and worsted, see Jer 49:19.
{w} Uyma "robustissimus est", V. L.
Job 9:20
Ver. 20. If I justify myself,.... Seek for justification by his own righteousness, trust in himself that he was righteous, say that he was so, and pronounce himself a righteous man, what would it signify?
mine own mouth shall condemn me; the words of it being sinful, vain, idle, and frothy; and if a man is to be justified, and condemned by his words, he may be sure of the latter: indeed, "if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man", Jas 3:2; but let a man be as careful as he can, and keep ever such a guard upon his lips, such is the imperfection of human nature, that, though a Moses, he will speak unadvisedly with his lips, at one time or another, and in many things will offend; which would be his condemnation, if there was no other way to secure from it; nay, for a sinful man to justify himself, or to say that he is a righteous man by his own righteousness, and insist upon this before God, if he is tried upon it he must be condemned; yea, saying he is so is a falsehood, abominable to God, and enough to condemn him; and besides, a man that knows himself, as Job did, must be conscious of much sin within him, however externally righteous he may be before men; so that, should he say he was righteous, his conscience would speak, or cause his mouth to speak and contradict and condemn him:
[if I say], I [am] perfect; not in an evangelical sense, as he was; but in a legal sense, so as to be free from sin, which no man that is perfect in a Gospel sense is; as Noah, Jacob, David, and others, who were so, yet not without sin; if therefore a man should assert this, he would not say that which was right, but what was perverse, as might be proved:
it shall also prove me perverse; to be a wicked man; either he, God, shall prove, or it, his mouth, as in the preceding clause; for to say this is to tell a lie, which to do is perverseness, see 1Jo 1:8.
Job 9:21
Ver. 21. [Though] I [were] perfect,.... Really and truly so, not conscious of any sin in thought, word, or deed; this is only a case supposed:
[yet] would I not know my soul; I would not own myself to be so before God; I would not insist upon such perfection in his presence, as what would justify me before him; since I am sensible the highest perfection of a creature is imperfection when compared with him: or the sense may be, should I say I were "perfect, I should not know my own soul"; I should plainly appear to be ignorant of myself, as all perfectionists are; they do not know their own souls, the plague of their hearts, the evil of their thoughts, the vanity of their minds; they do not take notice of these things, or do not look upon them as sinful; they know not the nature of sin, and the exceeding sinfulness of it:
I would despise my life; even if ever so innocent, perfect, and just; his meaning is, that he would not insist upon the continuance of it on that account; he had no such value for it, such a love of life as to contend with God upon the foot of justice about it; nor did he think it worth asking for, so mean an opinion had he entertained of it, see Job 7:16.
Job 9:22
Ver. 22. This [is] one [thing],.... Or "one thing [there] is" {x} in the world, as Jarchi adds; or "one measure", as the Targum, to good and bad men; one event alike to the righteous, and to the wicked, Ec 9:2; so that, as others render it, "it is all one" {y}, whether a man righteous and perfect, or whether he is not, he is equally liable to be afflicted and distressed: and "this is one thing, [very] singular" {z}, amazing and astonishing, and very unaccountable; but so it is, and which he differed from his three friends about; as to the justice of God, he agreed with them in that; yea, he believed he was righteous in whatever he did, and even in this, which was so strange and surprising, though he could not account for it: and "this is uniform", as Mr. Broughton translates it; either God acts uniformly in what he does, treating all men alike, good and bad men; or Job was uniform in his sentiments, he was all of a piece, steady and constant, retaining the same sense of things, from which he had not departed, nor could he depart:
therefore I said [it]; with the greatest confidence and assurance, because he believed it, and would say it again, seeing no reason at all to alter his judgment; the thing was quite clear to him, of which he had, at least as he thought, unquestionable evidence; and the thing he has respect to is as follows:
he destroyeth the perfect and the wicked; this is thought by some to be a very bad expression, bordering on blasphemy, and contrary to the nature and perfections of God, and to the methods of his providence,
Ge 18:23; and that Job speaks in the person of one destitute of the grace of God: but nothing is more certain than that this was the real sentiment of his mind, his firm belief, nor could he be persuaded to the contrary; indeed it may be understood in a good sense: by a "perfect" man we are to understand a truly good man, one that has received the grace of God in truth, and is perfectly justified and pardoned through the blood and righteousness of Christ; and by a "wicked" man one that is under the influence of his lusts, is abandoned to them, and never easy but while he is serving them, which he is continually doing. Now the destruction of these is not to be interpreted of everlasting destruction; this indeed will be the case of wicked men, but not of perfect and good men: God by his grace has made a difference between them in this world, and so he will in the next; the one will go into everlasting punishment, the other into everlasting life, and will never come together in the same place or state; nor will the perfect man be destroyed at all in such sense; the grace of God within him, and the righteousness of Christ upon him, will eternally secure him from everlasting wrath and ruin: but it is meant of temporal destruction; sometimes indeed a remarkable distinction is made between the one and the other in a time of general calamity, as Noah, a perfect man, was saved, when the world of the ungodly were destroyed by water, Ge 7:23; and Lot, a righteous man, when Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed by fire, Ge 19:29; but frequently they fall together in the same common distress; good and bad men, among the Jews were alike carried captive into Babylon, signified by Jeremiah's good and bad figs, Jer 24:2; of good men, Ezekiel, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, are instances; though indeed it is on different accounts, and with different views, that the one and the other are destroyed with a temporal destruction, in their persons, their health, their families, or in their estates; such calamities upon good men are not as punishments for their sins, as on the wicked; but as fatherly chastisements, and for the trial of their graces, for their spiritual and eternal good, and that they might not be condemned with the world. Job's view in saying this is to observe, that a man's state God-ward is not to be judged of by his outward circumstances, whether he is a good man or a bad man, since they may both be in the same afflictions and distress, and which he opposes to the sentiments and sayings of Eliphaz and Bildad, Job 4:7.
{x} ayh txa "unum est", Munster, Mercerus, Schmidt. {y} "Perinde est", Cocceius. {z} "Singulare enimvero id!", Schultens.
Job 9:23
Ver. 23. If the scourge slay suddenly,.... Not Satan, as Jarchi and Bar Tzemach; but any sore calamity which surrounds a man, lashes, cuts, and distresses him, as a whip or scourge; such as any of God's sore judgments, the sword, famine, pestilence, or evil beasts, which sometimes come suddenly, unawares, unthought of, and unexpected; and are sometimes only chastisements in love, the scourgings of a father, though generally in wrath and hot displeasure, and are an overflowing scourge, which carry all before them; and therefore some restrain it to wicked men, as the Septuagint version; and some understand it as if they were more mildly and gently dealt with, by being suddenly and at once slain with such a scourge, in their persons, families, and substance, while others have their afflictions protracted, and linger long under them, as in the next clause:
he will laugh at the trial of the innocent; not that are free from sin entirely; for there are none such, no, not newborn infants; though they may be comparatively so, yet they are not in an absolute sense, being conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity: besides, here it means adult persons, good men, that are truly gracious, sincere, upright, harmless in their lives and conversations, whose afflictions are "trials" of their faith and patience, and other graces; and when God is said to "laugh" at them, who seems to be designed here, this must be understood consistent with his pity to his people, his sympathy with them under all their afflictions, he not willingly afflicting or grieving the children of men; nor can it be thought that he has them in derision and contempt, or laughs at their calamities, or in reality, as he does at wicked men; but that he carries it so oftentimes, in the dispensations of his providence, as if he made no difference between them, but mocked at the one as well as the other; seemingly giving no heed to their cries; not hastening to their help and deliverance, but lengthening out their troubles for the trial of their graces; and so indeed is greatly delighted with the exercise of them under them, and with seeing them bear them with so much patience, courage, and greatness of mind and submission to his will. Some interpret this of a wicked man laughing at the calamities of the righteous, as the Ammonites and Edomites rejoiced at the destruction of the Jews; the church's enemy at her fall, and as the Papists will at the witnesses being slain; but the former sense seems best; rather the scourge itself laughs at the trial of the innocent; so Schultens.
Job 9:24
Ver. 24. The earth is given into the hands of the wicked,.... Either the wicked one, Satan, as Jarchi and Bar Tzemach, who is the god of this world; or some wicked tyrant, as Nimrod, or some other known by Job in his time, to whom he may have respect; or wicked men in general, who for the most part have the greatest share of the earth, and earthly things, and of power, dominion, and authority in it; and this they have of God, the powers that be are ordained by him, and therefore to be obeyed; and what any have of the earth, and the fulness of it, they have it from him, whose it is, and who has a right to dispose of it, and therefore being given by him, they have a proper right unto it; but then it is only the things of this world which are given them; they have their portion here, and that is their all; wherefore, as the giving of these is no proof of a man's goodness, so the taking of them away is no evidence of his wickedness; love or hatred are not to be known by these things; this is Job's scope and drift in this and Job 9:23:
he covereth the face of the judges thereof; not Satan, who blinds the minds of such, that they should not understand justice, and do it, as the above Jewish writers interpret it; nor the wicked man that is possessed of riches and wealth, power and authority, who by his substance bribes the judges, and blinds their eyes, or by his power and authority awes them, keeps them from executing true judgment, or discourages persons fit for such an office, and will not advance them, but lets them lie in, and covers them with, obscurity; or such who are honest and faithful, and are not to be bribed and browbeaten, these he either removes from their post, and covers their faces with shame, or takes them away by death, condemns and executes them as malefactors; it being usual in former times, as well as in ours, to cover the faces of such as are executed: but rather this is to be understood of God, who delivers the earth into the hands of the wicked, suffers them to have the rule over it, and permits such things to be done, as already observed; and besides, gives up the judges of the earth to judicial blindness, so that they cannot discern what is right and just, and do it, see Isa 29:10;
if not, where [and] who [is] he? if it is not so as I say, where is the man, and who is he, that can disprove me, and make me a liar? as Aben Ezra; let him come forth and appear, and confute me, and teach me otherwise if he can; or name the place of his abode, and say who he is; or if God does not do this, give the earth into the hands of wicked men, and cover the faces of the judges of it, and suffer wicked men to prevail, and the causes of good men to be subverted, the one to flourish, and the other to be crushed; who does do it? where is the man that has done or can do it? certain it is, that it is done; and who but that God that superintends all things, sits in the heavens, and does whatsoever he pleases, can do such things as these? or could they be done without his will and permission? by such mediums Job proves his assertion, that God destroys the perfect and the wicked; and therefore, by the face of things in providence, no judgment is to be had of a man's character, good or bad, and then instances in himself in the following verses.
Job 9:25
Ver. 25. Now my days are swifter than a post,.... Or "than a runner" {a} in a race, in order to obtain the prize; or than one that rides post, or runs on foot to carry a message, such as were Cushi and Ahimaaz; and such are generally swift of foot, or ride on swift horses, who are so employed; and yet Job says his days are swifter, or passed away more swiftly thorn such; meaning either his days in general; or rather particularly his prosperous days, as Mr. Broughton interprets it; these no sooner came but they were gone:
they flee away; like a shadow, or a dream, or a tale that is told:
they see no good; or he saw, perceived, or enjoyed no good in them; not but that he did see and enjoy much good, even much temporal good, which is what is intended; but this was no sooner had than it was taken away, that it was as if it had never been; the evil days of trouble and sorrow, in which he had no pleasure, came so quick upon him.
{a} Ur-ynm "cursore", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.
Job 9:26
Ver. 26. They are passed away as the swift ships,.... Those that are lightest built, and run swiftest. Bar Tzemach thinks such vessels as are rowed with oars are meant, which may be called "ships of will or desire" {b}, as the words may be rendered, because they may be rowed at pleasure, and be carried to any place where and when a man thinks fit; whereas those that are not depend upon the wind, and that must be waited for; or they design such ships that are so swift in their motion, that they arrive to the haven as soon as men can well wish for and desire. Some render it "pirate ships", or "ships of enmity" {c}; such as are designed for spoil and plunder, and which are light ones, not loaded with goods, and therefore move swiftly: the Targum is,
"ships burdened with precious fruits;''
and the Vulgate Latin version is,
"ships carrying apples:''
now ships loaded with such sort of goods, with perishing commodities, are obliged to make their port as soon as possible. Some leave the word untranslated, and call them "ships of Ebeh" {d}; which, according to Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and others, is either the name of a place, or of a river in Arabia, which ran with a rapid stream, and in which ships were carried with great celerity. Bolducius relates from a traveller of his acquaintance, who finished his travels in 1584, that he saw such a river about Damascus, not far from the sepulchre of Job; but that must be the river Chrysorrhoas, now called Barrady; but there were two rivers of this name Ebeh; one near Cufa, and another in Wasith, a country of Babylon, as Golius observes {e}. Others take the word to have the signification of reed or papyrus, which grew on the banks of the Nile, and of which ships were made, See Gill on "Isa 18:1"; and render the words "ships of reeds" or "of papyrus" {f}, and which, being light, were very swift:
as the eagle [that] hasteth to the prey; the eagle is the swiftest of birds, and therefore persons and things exceeding swift are compared unto them, see Hab 1:8; and it flies the most swiftly when being hungry, and in sight of its prey, and is nearest to it, and flaps upon it, which is the thing referred to, and so may be rendered, "that flies upon the prey" {g}. Job uses these metaphors, which are the most appropriate, to show how fleeting his days of prosperity were, and how soon gone: and a climax may be observed in the words; a runner, though he runs swiftly, a ship moves faster than he, and an eagle, just about to seize its prey, flies swifter than that.
{b} hba twyna "navibus desiderii", Mercerus, Drusius, Schmidt; so Ben Gersom. {c} "Naves inimicitiarum, i.e. "piraticae, vel hostiles"; as some in Drusius; so Broughton. {d} "Navibus Ebeh", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Bolducius, Codurcus. {e} Lexic. Arab. p. 2. {f} "Naves arundinis", Michaelis, "navibus papyraceis", Schultens, Ikenius, in ib. {g} lka le vwjy "involans in escam", Junius & Tremellius; "involat in escam", Piscator, Schultens.
Job 9:27
Ver. 27. If I say, I will forget my complaint,.... The cause of it, the loss of his children, servants, substance, and health, and endeavour to think no more of these things, and cease complaining about them, and attempt to bury them in oblivion, and change his note:
I will leave off my heaviness; his melancholy thoughts, words, airs, and looks; or "forsake my face" {h}, put on another countenance, a more pleasent and cheerful one; the Jewish commentators generally interpret it, "my anger", either at the dispensations of Providence, or at his friends:
and comfort [myself]; that things were not worse with him than they were; or strengthen {i} himself, as the word is rendered in Am 5:9; against his fears, and troubles, and dejection of mind, determining to take heart, and be of good courage, and not sink, and succumb, and faint under his burdens: none but God, Father, Son, and Spirit, can give comfort to distressed ones, whether on temporal or spiritual accounts; but good men may make use of means for comfort, such as hearing the word, reading the Scriptures, prayer, meditation, and conversation with good men.
{h} ynp hbzea "relinquam facies meas", Montanus, Bolducius, Schmidt. {i} hgylba "confirmabo vel roborabo cor meum", Mercerus; so R. R.
Job 9:28
Ver. 28. I am afraid of all my sorrows,.... That they would return upon him, and surround him, and overwhelm him, so that he should not be able to stand up against them, or under them; that they would increase and continue with him, and so he should never be released from them:
I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent: a sudden apostrophe to God as near him; the meaning is not, that he was confident that God would not justify him but condemn him in a spiritual sense; Job did not despair of his everlasting salvation, he knew and believed in his living Redeemer; he knew he should be acquitted and justified by his righteousness, and not be condemned with the world; but he was certain of this, as he thought that God would neither "cleanse" {k} him, as some render the word, from the worms his flesh was clad with, and from the filthy boils and ulcers he was covered with; nor clear him so as that he should appear to be innocent in the sight and judgment of his friends; but go on to treat him as if he was a guilty person, by continuing his afflictions on him, even unto death; he had no hope of being freed from them, and so of being cleared from the imputation of his friends, who judged of him by his outward circumstances.
{k} ynqnt al yk "quod non mundabis me", Montanus, Bolducius, Beza.
Job 9:29
Ver. 29. [If] I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?] If he was that wicked person, that hypocrite, Bildad and his other friends took him to be, it was in vain for him to make his supplications to God, as they advised him; so Gersom gives the sense of the words; since God hears not sinners, such as live in sin, regard iniquity in their hearts, and practise it in their lives, at least secretly, as it was suggested Job did; if he was such an one, it must be all lost labour to pray to God to show favour to him, and deliver him out of his troubles, since he might reasonably expect he would shut his eyes and stop his ears at such a man, and regard not his cries; seeking to him must be in vain; prayer may be fitly enough expressed by labour, it is a striving and wrestling with God, and especially when it is constant, importunate, and fervent: but rather the sense is, that if he was a wicked man in the account of God, or was dealt with as one; if God would not hold him innocent, as he asserts in the latter part of Job 9:28; then it was a vain thing to labour the point in the vindication of himself; since he could never think of succeeding against God, so wise and powerful, so holy, just, and pure. The word "if" is not in the original text, and may be left out, and the words be rendered, "I am wicked" {l}; not in any notorious manner, as having lived a scandalous life, or been guilty of some gross enormities, as his friends insinuated, but in common with other men; he was born a sinner, had been a transgressor from the womb, and though he was renewed and sanctified by the spirit of God, yet sin dwelt in him, and through the infirmity of the flesh he was daily sinning in thought, word, or deed; nor did he expect it would be otherwise with him while in this world; yea, it was impossible for him to be without sin, as Bar Tzemach observes to be the sense of the phrase; and therefore if God would not clear him, or hold him innocent, unless he was entirely free from sin, as it was labouring in vain to attain to such perfection, so it must be to no purpose, and is what he chiefly intends, to attempt to vindicate himself before God: or "I shall be wicked", or "ungodly" {m}; I shall be treated as such not only by his friends, who would reckon him a very wicked man so long as those afflictions continued on him, let him say what he would; but by the Lord himself, who he believed would never release him from them as long as he lived, which in the eye of men would be a tacit condemnation of him; so the Targum,
"I shall be condemned,''
and therefore it was labour in vain, striving against the stream, to go about to vindicate himself; nor was it possible that he could make himself out so clear and pure and perfect, that such an holy Being as God was could find no fault in him, in whose sight the heavens, and the inhabitants of them, were not clean; this is further evinced in the following words.
{l} evra ykna "impius sum", V. L. Pagninus; so Schmidt. {m} "Ego impius ero", Montanus, Mercerus, Bolducius; "ego reus ero", Codurcus; "equidem improbus ero", Schultens.
Job 9:30
Ver. 30. If I wash myself with snow water,.... As it came from heaven, or flowed from the mountains covered with snow, as Lebanon, see
Jer 18:14; or was kept in vessels for such use, as being judged the best for such a purpose; so it was used by the ancients {n}, as being what whitens the skin, and strengthens the parts by contracting the pores, and hindering perspiration; it signifies, in a figurative sense, that let him take what methods he would to cleanse himself from sin, they were all in vain, his iniquity would be seen, and remain marked before God; and indeed there is nothing that a man can do that will make him pure and clean in the sight of an holy God; this is not to be done by ceremonial ablutions, such as might be in use in Job's time, before the law of Moses was given, and to which he may have some reference; these only sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, or only externally, but could not purify the heart, so as to have no more conscience of sin; nor by moral duties, not by repentance, as Sephorno; a fountain, a flood, an ocean of tears of humiliation and repentance, would not wash away sin; if, instead of ten thousand rivers of oil, so many rivers of brinish tears could be produced, they would be of no avail to cleanse the sinner; nor any works of righteousness done by man, for these themselves need washing in the blood of the Lamb; for nothing short of the blood of Christ, and the grace of God, can do it:
and make my hands never so clean; the hands are what men work with, Ec 9:10; and so may design good works, which are sometimes called clean hands; see Ps 24:4; compared with Ps 15:1; and may be said to be so when they are done well, from a pare heart, and faith unfeigned, without selfish and sordid views, with a single eye to the glory of God; which is doing them as well, and making the hands as clean, as well can be; yet these are of no avail with respect to justification before God, and acceptance with him, or with regard to salvation, which is all of grace, and not of works, be they what they will; some render the words, "and cleanse my hands with soap" {o}, which cleanses them best of anything, see Jer 2:22.
{n} "Discubuimus, pueris aquam nivalem in manus infundentibus", Petronius in Satyr. {o} rbb Smegmate, Codurcus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt; so the Targum, and Mr. Broughton.
Job 9:31
Ver. 31. Yet shall thou plunge me in the ditch,.... In the filthy ditch of sin, the pit wherein is no water, the horrible pit, the mire and clay, in which all unregenerate men are, and to which hypocrites return, as the swine to its wallowing in the mire; and in which impurity self-righteous persons are, and are sooner or later made to appear, notwithstanding all their outward righteousness, holiness, purity, and perfection they boast of; and though Job was neither of these, not an unregenerate man, nor an hypocrite, nor a self-righteous person; yet he knew that, in comparison of the perfect purity and holiness of God, he should appear exceedingly impure; and that God would treat him as such, and hold him out to the view of others as the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things, by continuing his afflictions, from whence it would be concluded that he was the most impure person; and indeed by the ditch may be meant the ditch of afflictions, as Sephorno, either his present ones continued, his filthy ulcers and scabs, with which his body was covered all over, or new afflictions he would bring him into, where he would sink in deep mire, there being no standing, Ps 69:2; some understand this of the grave, the ditch or pit of corruption, into which he should be cast, and there putrefy and rot: but the other senses seem best:
and mine own clothes shall abhor me; not his clothes in a literal sense; either while living, his filthy ulcers being such, that were his clothes sensible of them, they would loathe and abhor to touch him, and cover him; or when dead, his sepulchre garments, his shroud, or winding sheet, would disdain to cover such a filthy body, overspread with worms and dust; or as Vatablus paraphrases it, clothes do not become a dead body; or as Mr. Broughton,
"when I go naked to the grave, as though my clothes loathed me:''
but the words are rather to be understood figuratively, either of some of his friends that were as near and as close to him as his clothes, or had been, but now were estranged from him, and loathed and abhorred him, see Job 19:13; or better, of his best works of righteousness, which he put on as a robe, Job 29:14; and which are a covering to the saints before men, and are ornamental to them, though not justifying in the sight of God; and indeed in themselves, and compared with the holy law, and holy nature of God, are imperfect and impure; and if God was to enter into judgment with men, they would be so far from justifying them in his sight, or rendering them acceptable to him, that they would cause them to be abhorred by him, as all self-righteousness and self-righteous persons are, see Pr 21:27; yea, even the best works of men are but dung in the judgment of a good man himself, what then must they be in the account of God? Php 3:8; Job here, and in Job 9:30, has most exalted ideas of the purity, holiness, and majesty of God, so that no creature, nor creature holiness, be they ever so perfect, can stand before him, or be pure in his sight.
Job 9:32
Ver. 32. For [he is] not a man, as I [am],.... For though the parts and members of an human body are sometimes ascribed to him, yet these are to be understood by an anthropopathy, speaking after the manner of men, there being something in him, which in a figurative sense answers to these; otherwise we are not to conceive of any corporeal shape in him, or that there is any likeness to which he is to be compared: he is a spirit infinite, immortal, immense, invisible, pure and holy, just and true, and without iniquity; whereas Job was but a man, a finite, feeble, mortal creature, and a sinful one; and therefore there being such a vast disparity between them, it was in vain to litigate a point with him, to plead his cause before him, or attempt to vindicate his innocence; the potsherds may strive and contend with the potsherds of the earth their equals, but not with God their Creator, who is more than a match for them; he sees impurity where man sees it not, and can bring a charge against him, and support it, where he thought there was none, and therefore it is a vain thing to enter the lists with him:
[that] I should answer him; not to questions put by him, but in a judicial way to charges and accusations he should exhibit; no man in this sense can answer him, for one of a thousand he may bring, and men are chargeable with; wherefore Job once and again determines he would not pretend to answer him, as he knew he could not, see Job 9:3;
[and] we should come together in judgment; in any court of judicature, before any judge, to have the cause between us heard, and tried, and determined; for in what court of judicature can he be convened into? or what judge is there above him, before whom he can be summoned? or is capable of judging and determining the cause between us? there is the high court of heaven, where we must all appear, and the judgment seat of Christ, before which we must all stand; and God is the judge of all, to whom we must come, and by whose sentence we must be determined; but there is no court, no judge, no judgment superior to him and his; there is no annulling his sentence, or making an appeal from him to another; there is no coming together at all, and much less "alike" {p}, as some render it, or upon equal terms; the difference between him and his creatures being so vastly great.
{p} wdxy "pariter", Junius & Tremellius, Drusius.
Job 9:33
Ver. 33. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us,.... Or "one that reproves" {q}; who upon hearing a cause reproves him that is found guilty, or is blameworthy, or has done injury to another; but there is no such person to be found, among angels or men, capable of this, supposing, as if Job should say, I should appear to be the injured person; or there is no "umpire" or "arbitrator" {r}, to whom the case between us can be referred; for, as Bar Tzemach observes, he that stands in such a character between two parties must be both more wise and more mighty than they; but there is none among all beings wiser and mightier than God:
[that] might lay his hand upon us both; and restrain them from using any violence to one another, as contending persons are apt to do; and compromise matters, settle and adjust things in difference between them, so as to do justice to both, and make both parties easy, and make peace between them. Herodotus {s} makes mention of a custom among the Arabians,
"when they enter into covenants and agreements with each other, another man stands in the midst of them both, and with a sharp stone cuts the inside of the hands of the covenanters near the larger fingers; and then takes a piece out of each of their garments, and anoints with the blood seven stones that lie between them; and while he is doing this calls upon a deity, and when finished the covenant maker goes with his friends to an host or citizen, if the affair is transacted with a citizen; and the friends reckon it a righteous thing to keep the covenant.''
To which, or some such custom, Job may be thought to allude. Now, whereas Christ is the daysman, umpire and mediator between God and men, who has interposed between them, and has undertaken to manage affairs relating to both; in things pertaining to God, the glory of his justice, and the honour of his law, and to made reconciliation for the sins of men, and to make peace for them with God by the blood of his cross; which he has completely done, being every way qualified for it, inasmuch as he partakes of both natures, and is God and man in one person, and so could put his hand on both, and make both one; or bring them who were at variance to an entire agreement with each other, upon such a bottom, as even the strict justice of God cannot object unto. Now, I say, Job must not be understood as if he was ignorant of this, for he had knowledge of Christ as a Redeemer and Saviour, and so as the Mediator and Peacemaker; the Septuagint version renders it as a wish, "O that there was a mediator between us!" and so it may be considered as a prayer for Christ's incarnation, and that he would appear and do the work of a mediator he was appointed to, which Job plainly saw there was great need of; or, as others {t}, "there is no daysman yet"; there will be one, but as yet he is not come; in due time he will, which Job had faith in and full assurance of: but there is no need of such versions and glosses: Job is here not speaking of the affair of salvation, about which he had no doubt, he knew his state was safe, and he had an interest in the living Redeemer and blessed Mediator; but of the present dispensation of Providence, and of the clearing of that up to the satisfaction of his friends, so that he might appear to be an innocent person; and since God did not think fit to change the scene, there was none to interpose on his behalf, and it was in vain for him to contend with God.
{q} xykwm "arguens", Montanus, Bolducius, Drusius; "redarguens", Vatablus, Mercerus. {r} "Arbiter", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schultens. {s} Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 8. {t} So some in Caryll.
Job 9:34
Ver. 34. Let him take his rod away from me,.... Not his government over him, of which the rod or sceptre is an ensign, Job did not want to be freed from that; but, his rod of affliction, or stroke, as the Targum, the stroke of his hand, which, though a fatherly chastisement, lay heavy upon him, and depressed his spirits; so that he could not, while it was on him, reason so freely about things as he thought he could if it was removed, and for which he here prays:
and let not his fear terrify me; not the fear of him as a father, which is not terrifying, but the fear of him as a judge; the terror of his majesty, the dread of his wrath and vengeance, the fearful apprehensions he had of him as a God of strict justice; that would by no means clear the guilty, yea, would not hold him innocent, though he was with respect to the charge of his friends; being now without those views of him as a God gracious and merciful; to these words Elihu seeks to have respect, Job 33:6.
Job 9:35
Ver. 35. [Then] would I speak, and not fear him,.... With a servile fear, though with reverence and godly fear; meaning either at the throne of grace, having liberty of access, boldness of spirit, and freedom of speech through Christ the Mediator, and in the view of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; for when the rod of his law and the terror of his justice are removed, and his grace and favour in Christ shown, a believer can speak boldly and freely to God, and not be afraid before him: but rather Job's sense is, that were the rod of his anger taken off and the dread of his majesty, which so awed him that he could not tell his case as it was, and use the arguments he might to advantage; he should speak without fear, and so as to defend himself, and make his cause to appear to be just; to this the Lord seems to refer in Job 38:3; being bold and daring expressions, which Job blushed when made sensible of it, Job 42:5;
but [it is] not so with me; there was no daysman between the Lord and him; the rod was not taken off his back, nor the dread and terror of the Almighty removed from him; and so could not speak in his own defence, as otherwise he might: or it was not so with him as his friends thought of him; he was not the wicked hypocritical man they took him to be, or as the afflictive dispensations of God made him to appear to be, according to their judgment of them: or the words may be rendered, "I am not so with myself" {u}; that is, he was not conscious to himself that he was such a person they judged him; or such were the troubles and afflictions that were upon him, that he was not himself, he was not "compos mentis", and so not capable on that account, as well as others, of pleading his own cause: or "I am not right in" or "with myself" {w}; not in his right mind, being distracted with the terrors of God, and the arrows of the Almighty that stuck in him; or he was not righteous in himself; for though he was clear of hypocrisy he was charged with, he did not pretend to be without sin, or to have such a righteousness as would justify him before God; and therefore desires things might be put upon the foot of grace, and not of strict justice.
{u} ydme ykna Nk al "non sic ego apud me", Pagninus, Montanus, Beza, Vatablus, Mercerus, Schmidt, Schultens. {w} "Quia non probus ego apud me", Bolducius; "quod non sim rectus apud me", Cocceius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
In this answer Job declared that he did not doubt the
justice of God, when he denied himself to be a hypocrite; for how
should man be just with God? Before him he pleaded guilty of sins
more than could be counted; and if God should contend with him in
judgment, he could not justify one out of a thousand, of all the
thoughts, words, and actions of his life; therefore he deserved
worse than all his present sufferings. When Job mentions the
wisdom and power of God, he forgets his complaints. We are unfit
to judge of God's proceedings, because we know not what he does,
or what he designs. God acts with power which no creature can
resist. Those who think they have strength enough to help others,
will not be able to help themselves against it.
In this answer Job declared that he did not doubt the
justice of God, when he denied himself to be a hypocrite; for how
should man be just with God? Before him he pleaded guilty of sins
more than could be counted; and if God should contend with him in
judgment, he could not justify one out of a thousand, of all the
thoughts, words, and actions of his life; therefore he deserved
worse than all his present sufferings.
God acts with power which no creature can
resist. Those who think they have strength enough to help others,
will not be able to help themselves against it.
Sources: Matthew Henry; Gill's Exposition; Matthew Henry Concise
Commentary
Commentary