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THE BOOK

JOB

LITERAIXY TRANSLATED FROM

€fit (Bviginal fl^rtireto.

AND RESTORED TO

ITS NATURAL ARRANGEMENT;

NOTES CRITICAL AND ILLUSTRATIVEj

AND AN

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION

ON
ITS SCENE, SCOPE, LANGUAGE, AUTHOR, AND OBJECT :

By JOHN MASON GOOD, F.R.S.

MEM. AM. PHIL. SOC. AND F.L.S. OF PHILADELPHIA.

" Immensos Orientis thesauros, amplissimumque Scientiae campum, cursumque
ad laudem patefaciet. " LOWTH.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR BLACK, PARRY, AND CO. LEADENHALL STREET,
By R. WATTS, BROXBOURN PRESS.

1812.

INTRODUCTORY

DISSERTATION

1 HE ensuing poem is, in various respects, the most
extraordinary composition of any age or country; and
has an equal claim to the attention of the theologian,
the scholar, the antiquary, and the zoologist, — to the
man of taste, of genius, and of religion. Amidst the
books of the Bible, it stands alone': and though its
sacred character is sufficiently attested both by the
Jewish and the Christian Scriptures, it is isolated in
its language, in its manner, and in its matter. Ncthing
can be purer than its morality, nothing sublimer than
its philosophy; nothing simpler than its ritual, nothing
more majestic than its creed. Its style is the most
figurative imaginable ; there is no classical poem of
the East that can equal it ; yet its plan is as regular,
its argument as consecutive, as the most finished com-
positions of Greece or Rome: and its opening and its
close are altogether unrivalled in magnificence. It is
full of elevation and grandeur; daring in its concep-
tions ;

(1) " Inter omnia Sacri Codicis monumenta exstare quodammodo
mihi videtur Liber Jobi, quasi singulare qtioddara atque unicum."
Lowth de Sacr. Poes. Hehr, Prael. xxxii.

b

" INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

tions ; splendid and forcible in its images ; abrupt in its
transitions ; and, at the same time, occasionally inter-
spersed with touches of the most exquisite and over-
whelming tenderness. And, to sum up the whole, if
the train of reasoning pursued throughout this Disser-
tation be correct, it is the most ancient of all human
records ; the only book, in existence from which we
can derive any thing like a systematic knowledge of
pure patriarchal religion; — and, hence, that very book
which gives completion to the Bible, by adding the
dispensation of the earliest ages to those of the law and
of the gospel, by which it was successively superseded.
It is the purport of this preliminary Dissertation to
inquire briefly into the scene of the poem; its scope,
object, and arrangement ; its language, and the difli-
culties attending a translation of it; its author and
aera; and the doctrines which it incidentally developes.

SECTION I.

SCENE OP THE POEM.

Upon the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael from the
family of Abraham, who had long resided on the plains
of Mamre or Hebron, Hagar took the road towards
her native country, which was Egypt ; but her stock of
water failing soon after she had entered the wilderness
of Beersheba, it seemed impossible to avoid perishing.
She resigned herself to despair; and placing her son
under a bush, as she could not endure to be a witness
of his death, took an affecting leave of him, and retired
to a distance. At this moment " the angel of God
called to Hagar out of heaven," and she beheld a well

of

■■^«

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Ill

of water close at hand. Being thus miraculously pre-
served, she continued her journey to the wilderness of
Padan, on the borders of the Red Sea, and there took
up her residence. Her son in due time acquired man-
hood, and greatly distinguished himself as an archer ;
and his mother chose for him a wife from among her
own countrywomen, the Egyptians '.

Here the account of Ishmael, or Ismael, ( Ja*/««s1)
breaks off abruptly in the Sacred Writings ; which are
chiefly intended as a liistory of the descendants of
Abraham through the line of Isaac : and we are com-
pelled, in order to fill up the chasm, to have recourse
to the Arabian historians, in whose country Ism?el
was now residing, and of whose tribes he may be
regarded as the head and common father. The
Arabian writers make no mention of his marriage with
an Egyptian, but distinctly relate the miracle of the
well, which they affirm, for obvious r-easons, but with a
palpable deviation from the truth, was performed in the
very spot on which Mecca, the birth-place of Mahomet,
now stands. They assert that at this time the inhabi-
tants of Arabia consisted of two classes ; — an elder,
comprising those who had first taken possession of the
country immediately after the confusion of tongues,
and of whose origin they have no certain information,
but who are commonly supposed to have been
descendants of Ham, comparatively few in number,
and of but little consequence ; — and a class of later
date, and much more powerful and numerous,
descended from Kahtan, or Joktan as he is called in
the Hebrew Scriptures, the son of Heber, and conse-
quently

(1) Gen. ch. xxi. 14 — 20.
b2

IV INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

quently fourth in a right Hne from Shem or Sem.
Kahtan, who had obtained the general sovereignty of
Arabia, had two sons, Yaarab, and Joram : to the
former he allotted the province of Yaman, or Happy
Arabia, and to the latter that of Hajaz, or Stony
Arabia. The Joram ites were by far the most power-
ful people of the two ; and on the arrival of Ismael on
the coast of the Red Sea, were governed by Modad,
supposed to be the eighth in direct succession from
Joram, and, of course, the thirteenth in direct succes-
sion from Sem.

Ismael continued in this spot, where, as it has
already been observed, the Arabian writers placed
Hagar's well, till the death of his mother; after which
he proceeded, with a numerous retinue, to the northern
parts of Arabia, probably to assist his brother Isaac in
the interment of his father'; and on his return to the
south, found that the tribe of the Joramites had over-
run the country he had so lately quitted, and had
actually possessed themselves of the well to which his
mother's name had been given. Ismael immediately
put in his claim to it ; and the dispute was settled by
an alliance between the tribes; Ismael marrying Valla
the daughter of Modad, chief of the Joramites, and
receivingwith her, as a part of her dowry, the well, and
the territories adjoining: by which marriage, according
to the Arabian writers, and not by the Egyptian
alliance, Ismael had the twelve sons which are ascribed
to him in a succeeding part of the book of Genesis;
and who are there called princes, and are placed each
at the head of a distinct town and people, and possessed

of

(1) Gen. XXV. Q.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. V

of a distinct castle. From the abruptness and brevity
with which the Hebrew narrative returns to the his-
tory of Ismael, we have no information as to the
immediate marriage from which these tweh^e sons
proceeded ^ As polygamy was so common in his aera,
it is highly probable that he had more wives than one ;
and the very extensive authority which the Bible state-
ment admits him to have possessed in Arabia, the con-
current testimony of the Arabian historians, and the
minuteness with which the pedigrees of all Arabian
families are preserved from generation to generation,
and appealed to in their courts of law, leave little or
no room to doubt as to the accuracy of the Arabian nar-
rative upon this point.

In reality, the success which had accompanied
Hagar's journey with Ismael into the Arabian pen-
insula seems to have induced all the sons of Abraham,
excepting Isaac, to press forward in the same or a
somewhat similar direction ; and hence, of his six sons
by Keturah, we find, in the names given to different
places in the south-eastern parts of this country, con-
stituting Sandy Arabia, or the province of Najd, as it is
now called, that which in the period before us was
least inhabited, the radicals of their own names, or
those of their immediate progeny ; as, Midian, Shuah,
Sheba, Seba or Saba, and Dedan. Hither also ad-
vanced the two sons of Lot the nephew of Abraham,
Moab and Ammon, and established themselves still
further to the eastward of the same province ; while
Esau, his grandson, who was also called Edom,
pursued a similar track, and, marrying a daughter of

Ismael,

(2) Gen. XV. 12—18.

VI INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

Ismael, at this time the head of the entire country,
fixed himself on the south of the Dead Sea, or Lake
Asphaltitis ; driving away, or extirpating, the Horim,
who had previously possessed this track ; and giving to
it his own name, or the Land of Edom, which, under the
plastic hands of the Greek writers, was afterwards
changed to Idumaea.

Such is the country which forms the scene of the
present poem, and such is a very brief sketch of its
history; — a country, whose religion, at the time we are
now speaking of, must have been that of Abraham, to
a very considerable extent ; and whose language, from
the first not widely differing from that of Abraham,
must have made a considerable approximation towards
it from the successive tides of the Abrahamic race,
which, either directly or collaterally, were perpetually
pouring into its different parts.

Well worthy of attention as to its origin and first
establishment, the country of Arabia is equally worthy
of attention in its present state. It offers a most
extraordinary intermixture, of barren sands, and fruit-
ful and flowery landscape, whose sweet exhilarating
odours not unfrequently spread their fragrance along
the whole line of the Arabian Gulf, from Babelmandel
to Suez. It was perhaps earliest in possession of the
most important arts and sciences, and especially those
which relate to manufactures and commerce. It first
cultivated poetry and eloquence wiih critical attention,
and taught these refinements to Persia, as Persia
afterwards taught them to other parts of Asia. The
general habits, language, and even political forms of
government which it possessed in the time of Ismael,
it possesses, with little variation, in the present day.

Many

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Vll

Many of its tribes are capable of tracing their pedi-
grees as high as to the beginning of the Christian
aera ; and those of the Koreish, the most honourable
and sacred of the whole, with unimpeachable accuracy,
to Adnan, generally supposed to be the ninth in a
direct line from Ismael, and, with some diversity of
reckoning, to Ismael himself; from whom there
seems little doubt, in consequence of the scrupulosity
with which these pedigrees have been compared and
handed down, both by tradition and written records,
that Mahomet himself was descended, in the same
direct line from male to male, and from eldest son
to eldest son. The natives, even to the present hour,
are peculiarly sagacious, intelligent, and courageous.
Without ever having been subdued by foreign inva-
sion, they have themselves given religion and laws to
half Asia and Africa, and to a great part of Europe :
and when all the rest of the world was buried in a
long night of barbarism, the Arabian caliphs protected
and fostered the arts and sciences, with almost unrival-
led magnificence, in the different courts of Bagdat,
Spain, Africa, and Egypt.

The immediate district of Arabia to which the
ensuing poem directs our attention, is the land of Uz,
which by some geographers has been placed in Sandy,
and by others in Stony, Arabia. Bochart took a
lead in the former opinion, and has been powerfully
supported by Spanheim, and the writers of that very
excellent work, the Universal History. The general
argument is as follows : Ptolemy has described a region,
which he calls ^sitae, as situated in this very province,
bounded by the Cauchabeni, who inhabited the

southern

Vlll INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

southern banks of the Euphrates, on the north, and
by the mountains of Chaklaea on the east: and as the
Septuagint, and the Greek writers generally, translate
Uz by AvtriTig {Ausitis), there is a probability, it is
contended, that the Ausitis or Ausitai of the poem of
Job was the same as the ^sitae of Ptolemy: a proba-
bility which is considerably strengthened by our find-
ing, in Ptolemy's delineation of this same province,
three districts denominated Sabe, Thema, and Busitis,
very closely corresponding in sound with the Sabaea,
Teman, and Buz of the same poem. In addition to
which, we are expressly told, in the very opening of the
poem, that the country was often infested by hordes
of Chaldaean bandits, whose mountains form the
boundary line between the Ptolemaic ^sitae and
Chaldaea. In consequence of which it is ingeniously
conjectured, that the land of Uz and of Buz, the
iEsitas and Busitis of Ptolemy, were respectively peo-
pled and named from Uz and Buz, two of the sons of
Nahor, and consequently nephews of Abraham, the
residence of whose father, Terah, was at Haran, or
Charrae, on the opposite bank of the Euphrates, and
necessarily therefore in the neighbourhood of ^sitae.
Yet this hypothesis can by no means be reconciled
with the geography of the Old Testament, which is
uniform in placing the land of Uz, or the Ausitis of
the Septuagint, in Stony Arabia, on the south-western
coast of the Lake Asphaltitis, or the Dead Sea, in a
line between Egypt and Philistia, surrounded by
Kedar, Teman, and Midian, all of them districts of
Stony Arabia ; and, as though to set every remaining
doubt completely at rest, situated in Idumaea or the

land

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. IX

land of Edom or Esau (of whose position there can
be no question), and comprising so large a part of it,
that Idumaea and Ausitis, or the land of Uz, and the
land of Edom, were convertible terms, and equally
employed to import the same region. Thus Jeremiah,
Lam. iv. 21.

Rejoice, and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
That dwellest in the land of Uz.

Whence Eusebius: " Idumaea is the region of Esau,
surnamed Edom: it is that part which lies about
Petra (Stony Arabia), now called Gabalene, and with
some writers is the Ausitis or country of Job':" an
opinion advanced with great modesty, considering that
he himself appears to have concurred in it.

In effect, nothing is clearer than that all the persons
introduced into the ensuing poem were Idumaeans,
dwelling in Idumaea; or, in other words, Edomite
Arabs. These characters are. Job himself, of the land
of Uz, Eliphaz of Teman, a district of as much
repute as Uz; and, upon the joint testimony of Jere-
miah^, EzekieP, Amos*, and Obadiah*, a part, and
principal part, of Idumaea; Bildad of Shuah, always
mentioned in conjunction with Sheba and Dedan, the
first of which was probably named after one of the
brothers of Joktan or Kahtan, and the two last from
two of his sons, all of them being uniformly placed in
the vicinity of Idumaea ; Zophar of Naama, a city

importing

(1) 'I^oi/yuat'a -j^w'joa 'Hcai/ — 'Eoo^t ciKaXeiro. "Fjan Sc d^<j)l Trjy
xltjrpaVyYeloaXijvr] KaXovftev)], »/ Kara rivag A-vctitiq, Y'opa rov Iw/).

(2) Ch, xlix.,7, 20. (3) Ch. xxv. 13. (4) Ch. i. 11, 12.
(5) Ch. V. 8, 9.

X INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

importing pleasantness, which is also stated by Joshua*
to have been situated in Idumaea, and to have lain in
a southern direction, towards its coast, or the shores
of the Red Sea; and Elihu of Buz, which, as the
name of a place, occurs only once in Sacred Writ, but
is there mentioned in conjunction with Teman and
Dedan ', and hence necessarily, like themselves, a
border city upon Ausitis, Uz, or Idumasa.

Nothing therefore appears clearer, than that the
Uz or Ausitis mentioned in the ensuing poem must
have been situate in Stony and not in Sandy Arabia;
and that the ^sitis of Ptolemy could not have been
the same place. In reality, to make it so, Bochart,
and those who advocate his opinion, are obliged to
suppose, first, a typographical error oi j^sitis ^or Ausitis
in the text of Ptolemy; and next, that the position of
^sitis itself is not correctly laid down in Ptolemy's
delineation, which they admit ought to be placed
in a higher northern latitude, by nearly two degrees.
Uz, Buz, Teman, Dedan, and Seba, are names not
unfrequent in the earlier part of the Hebrew Scrip-
tures ; and hence it is by no means difficult to sup-
pose, that, in different provinces of the same coun-
try, similar names may have been given to different
districts or cities. And it is highly probable that the
Seba of Ptolemy was so denominated, not from the
son of Abraham of this name by Keturah, but from one
of the descendants of Cush, who had a son of the
name of Seba, and two grandsons named Shebah and
Dedan ', and who in various places are incidentally

stated

(]) Ch. XV. 21,41. (2) Jerem. ch. XXV. 23. (3) Gen. x. 7-

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XI

stated to have travelled towards the eastern parts of
Happy Arabia, and consequently in the very track in
which the Seba of Ptolemy is situated : a probability
very strongly corroborated from the name of Raamah,
the father of Sheba and Dedan, being also mentioned
by Ezekiel*, as that of a celebrated commercial city
lying in the same track ; by the Septuagint written
Tey/j.a (Rhegma) : and from the same name, with the
Septuagint mode of spelling it, occurring in Ptolemy,
at no great distance from his Seba.

It only remains to be observed, that allowing this
chorography to be correct, there is no difficulty in
conceiving that hordes of predatory Chaldaeans, and
even of the Sabasans of Ptolemy, should occasionally
have infested the country of Idumaea, and carried off
the camels of Job, unlimited as they were in their
rovings, and addicted to general plunder, perhaps, as
Bishop Lowth conjectures, over the whole extent of
country from the Euphrates to Egypt ^

In few words, the country which forms the scene of
the poem before us was almost as richly endowed with
names as Ancient Greece, and, in many respects, from
causes not dissimilar. It was first called Horitis, or
the land of the Horim or Horites, in consequence, as
is generally supposed, of its having been first possessed

and

(4) XXV ii. 22.

(5) " Quid verb prohibet, quo minus Chaldaei jaxta atque Sabaei,
populi rapinis dediti, et praedae causa turmatim longe lateque gras-
santes, per omnes has regiones^ in singulas gentes ac familias potius
quam in nationes et regna divisas, adeoque latrociniis semper infestas,
impune vagari potuerint, et ab Euphrate etiam usque /Egyptum
excurrere V Be Sacr. Poes. Prael. xxxii.

Xll INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

and peopled by a leader of the name of Hor, and his
tribe or family. Among the descendants of Hor, one
of the most distinguished characters was Seir; and
from his aera it was better known by the name of
the land of Seir. This chieftain had a numerous
family of sons and grandsons: among the most signa-
lized of the latter was Uz or Utz; and from him, and
not from Uz the son of Nahor, it seems to have been
called Ausitis, or the land of Uz. The family of
Hor, Seir, or Uz, were at length, however, dispos-
sessed of the entire region, by Esau, or Edom ; who
already powerful on his entering Arabia, rendered
himself still more so by a marriage with one of the
daughters of Ismael ; and the conquered territory was
now denominated Idumsea, or the landof Edom, under
which name it has been generally recognised by the
Greek writers.

SECTION II.

SCOPE AND ARRANGEMENT.

The subject proposed by the writer of the ensuing
poem is the trial and triumph of the integrity of Job ;
a character of whose origin no certain documents have
descended to us ', but who at the period in question

was

(l) At the end of the Greek, Arabic, and Vulgate translations
of the book of Job, is an appendix containing a brief genealogical
account of the patriarch, which is supposed to have been taken
from an old Syrian version, and was certainly received and credited
by Aristeas, Philo, Polyhistor, and several ancient fathers of both
the Greek and Latin churches. It asserts, that he was the son of
Zarah, and the fifth in descent from Abraham by Esau ; that his name
at first was Jobab, and that it was afterwards changed to Job, — a

circumstance

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Xlll

was chief magistrate^, or emir, as we should style him
in the present day, of the city of Uz ; powerful and pro-
perous beyond all the sons of the East, and whose vir-
tue and piety were as eminently distinguished as his
rank. Of the four characters introduced into the poem,
as his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu, the
first three are denominated, in all the Greek translations
of the poem, kings of the respective cities or districts
to which their names are prefixed^; and the last is
particularized, in the Chaldee paraphrase, as a relation
of Abraham *, and was probably, therefore, a descendant
of Buz the second son of Nahor, the brother of
Abraham, as conjectured by Bochart.

There are some critics, however, and of great dis-
tinction for learning and piety, who, in opposition to
these biographical marks, contend that the whole of

the

circumstance by no means uncommon, as we know from similar
changes in the names of Abram and Jacob ; that he reigned in
Idumaea ; and married an Arabian, by whom he had a son named
Enonon.

It is impossible to ascertain whether or not this account be correct.
It was, however, in general belief when Theodotion composed his
Greek version : and if correct, Job must have been nearly contem-
porary with Moses, though possibly something older, the latter
having been fifth in descent from Abraham by Isaac, as the former
was fifth in descent from Abraham by Esau. See Calmet. Dissert,
in Job, and Univers. Hist. vol. III. b. i. ch. 7. See also the Septua-
gint Appendix : Ovrov epjurjyevETat ek ti~}<; ^vpiaK^jc fiijSXov, cV fxey
yy} KUTOiKuv t^ AvatTih, &c.

(2) Vat. cap. ii. 11. 'EXt^a-T o Qaifiavuv fiatriXsv?- BaXMc
(Alex.BaX^aV) 6 2ayi^fw»'(Alex. Av^ewj/) Ti/pavvog- ZaxpapMrivaiuv
I3a(n\svg.

(3) This is clear, from a variety of passages. Compare especially
ch. xix. 9. with the whole of ch. xxix,

(4) Barachel Buzites, de Cognatione Abraham.

XIV INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

the poem, as well in its characters as in its structure,
is fabulous. Such especially is the opinion of Professor
Michaelis; whose chief arguments are derived, from
the nature of the exordium, in which Satan appears
as the accuser of Job; from the temptations and suf-
ferings permitted by the great Governor of the World
to befal an upright character ; from the roundness of
the numbers by which the patriarch's possessions
are described, as seven thousand, three thousand, one
thousand, and five hundred ; and from the years he is
said to have lived after his recovery from disease.

It may perhaps be thought to demand a more
subjugating force than is lodged in these arguments,
to transmute into fable what has uniformly been
regarded as fact, both in Europe and Asia, for per-
haps upwards of four thousand years; which appears
to have descended as fact, in a regular stream of belief,
in the very country which forms the scene of the his-
tory, from the supposed time of its occurrence, to the
present day ; the chief character in which is repre-
sented as having had an actual existence, and is often
associated with real characters, as Noah, Abraham,
Ismael, Isaac, Jacob, and Solomon', in various parts

of

(1) Thus chap. iv. 161. Ji\ lurvjl U^s cJjJl Uj^jI \i\

&c. \J>^j>.^ (j^.1j ti^*^^j \s\yji\^ UJ**^J

*' Verily we have revealed our will unto thee, and we have
revealed it unto Noah, and the prophets who succeeded him ; and
as we revealed it unto Abraham and Ismael, and Isaac and Jacob,

and

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XV

of the book which is there held most sacred, and
which, so far as it is derived from national history or
tradition, is entitled to minute attention ; and (which
should seem long since to have settled the question
definitively) a character which, precisely in the same
manner, is associated with real characters in the
authoritative pages of the Old and New Testament^.

" It is altogether incredible," observes M. Michaelis,
" that such a conversation ever took, place between
the Almighty and Satan, who is supposed to return
with news from the terrestrial regions^" But why
should such a conversation be supposed incredible ?
The attempt at wit in this passage is somewhat out of
place ; for the interrogation of the Almighty, " Hast
thou fixed thy view upon my servant Job, a perfect
and upright man ?" instead of aiming at the acquisi-
tion of news, is intended as a severe and most appro-
priate sarcasm upon the fallen spirit. " Hast thou,
who, with superior faculties and a more comprehensive
knowledge of my will, hast not continued perfect and
upright, fixed thy view upon a subordinate being, far
weaker and less informed than thyself, who has con-
tinued so ?" The attendance of the apostate at the
tribunal of the Almighty is plainly designed to show us,
that good and evil angels are equally amenable to him,
and equally subject to his authority ;— a doctrine com-
mon to every part of the Jewish and Christian Scrip-
tures,

and the ti'ibes ; and unto Jesus, and Job, and Jonas, and Aaron, and
Solomon." A similar association occurs ch. xxi. and ch. xxxviii.

(2) Ezek. xiv. 14, 20. James v. 11.

(3) Note to the Gottingen edition of I.,owth De Sacra Poesi
Hebraeorum, &c.

XVI INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

tures, and, except in the mythology of the Parsees,
recognised by perhaps every ancient vSystem of reHgion
whatever \ The part assigned to Satan in the pre-
sent work is that expressly assigned to him in the case
of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and of our
Saviour in the wilderness ; and which is assigned to
him generally, in regard to mankind at large, by all the
Evangelists and Apostles whose writings have reached
us, both in their strictest historical narratives, and
closest argumentative inductions. And, hence, the
argument which should induce us to regard the present
passage as fabulous, should induce us to regard all the
rest in the same light which are imbued with the same
doctrine ,• — a view of the subject which would sweep
into nothingness a much larger portion of the Bible
than I am confident M. Michaelis would choose to
part with.

The other arguments are comparatively of small
moment. We want not fable to tell us that good and
upright men may occasionally become the victims
of accumulated calamities ; for it is a living fact,
which, in the mystery of Providence, is perpetually
occurring in every country : while as to the roundness
of the numbers by which the patriarch's possessions
are described, nothing could have been more ungrace-
ful or superfluous than for the poet to have descended
to units, had even the literal numeration demanded it.
And, although he is stated to have lived a hundred and
forty years after his restoration to prosperity, and in
an sera in which the duration of man did not perhaps

much

(l) See this Dissertation, Section V.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XVll

much exceed that of* the present day, it should be
recollected, that in his person as well as in his pro-
perty he was specially gifted by the Almighty: that,
from various passages, he seems to have been younger
than all the interlocutors, except' Elihu, and much
younger than one or two of them : that his longevity
is particularly remarked, as though of more than usual
extent ; and that, even in the present age of the
world, we have well-authenticated instances of persons
having lived, in different parts of the globe, to the
age of a hundred and fifty, a hundred and sixty, and
even a hundred and seventy years*.

It is not necessary for the historical truth of the
book of Job, that its language should be a direct
transcript of that actually employed by the different
characters introduced into it ; for in such case we
should scarcely have a single book of real history in
the world. The Iliad, the Shah Nameh, and the
Lusiad, must at once drop all pretensions to such a
description ; and even the pages of Sallust and Caesar,
of Rollin and Hume, must stand upon very questionable
authority. It is enough that the real sentiment be
given, and the general style copied: and this, in truth,
is all that is aimed at, not only in our best reports of
parliamentary speeches, but, in many instances, (which
indeed is much more to the purpose) by the writers
of the New Testament, in their quotations from the
Old.

The

(2) See Paniologia, art. " Life j " and Encydopcedia Britan.
art. " Longevity."

C

XVlll INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

The general scope and moral of the ensuing poem,
namely, that the troubles and afflictions of the good
man are, for the most part, designed as tests of his
virtue and integrity, out of which he will at length
emerge with additional splendour and happiness, are
common to Eastern poets, and not uncommon to
those of Greece. The Odyssey is expressly constructed
upon such a basis ; and, like the poem before us, has
every appearance of being founded upon real history,
and calls in to its aid the machinery of a sublime and
supernatural agency.

But in various respects the poem of Job stands
alone and unrivalled. In addition to every corporeal
suffering and privation which it is possible for man to
endure, it carries forward the trial, in a manner and
to an extent which has never been attempted else-
where, into the keenest faculties and sensations of the
mind; and mixes the bitterest taunts and accusations of
friendship with the agonies of family bereavement and
despair. The body of other poems consists chiefly of
incidents ; that of the present poem of colloquy or
^ argument, in which the general train of reasoning is
so well sustained, its matter so important, its language
so ornamented, the doctrines it developes so sublime,
its transitions from passion to passion so varied and
abrupt, that the want of incidents is not felt, and the
attention is still rivetted^ as by enchantment. In other
poems, the supernatural agency is fictitious, and often
incongruous : here the whole is solid reality, supported,
in its grand outline, by the concurrent testimony of
every other part of the Scriptures ; an agency not

obtrusively

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. xix

obtrusively introduced, but demanded by the magnitude
of the occasion ; and as much more exalted and mag-
nificent than every other kind of similar interference,
as it is more veritable and solemn. The suffering
hero is sublimely called forth to the performance of
his part, in the presence of men and of angels : each
becomes interested, and equally interested, in his con-
duct: the Almighty assents to the trial, and for a
period withdraws his divine aid; — the malice of Satan
is in its full career of activity : hell hopes, earth
trembles, and every good spirit is suspended with
aweful anxiety. The wreck of his substance is in vain ;
the wreck of his family is in vain ; the scalding
sores of a corroding leprosy are in vain ; the
artillery of insults, reproaches, and railing, poured
forth from the mouth of bosom friends, is in vain.
Though at times put in some degree off his guard, the
holy sufferer is never completely overpowered. He
sustains the shock without yielding: he still holds fast
his integrity. Thus terminates the trial of faith : —
Satan is confounded ; fidelity triumphs ; and the
Almighty, with a magnificence well worthy of the oc-
casion, unveils his resplendent tribunal, and crowns
the afflicted champion with his applause.

This poem has been generally supposed to possess
a dramatic character, either of a more or a less perfect
degree ; but, in order to give it such a pretension, it
has uniformly been found necessary to strip it of its
magnificent exordium and close, which are unques-
tionably narrative ; and even then the dramatic cast
is so singularly interrupted by the appearance of the
historian himself, at the commencement of every

c 2 speech.

XX INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

Speech, to inform us of the name of the person who
is about to take up the argument, that many critics,
and among the rest Bishop Lovvth, are doubtful of the
propriety of referring it to this department of poetry,
though they do not know where else to give it a
place.

In the present writer's view of the subject, it is a
regular Hebrew epic ; and, were it necessary to enter
so minutely into the question, it might easily be proved
to possess all the more prominent features of an epic,
as collected and laid down by Aristotle himself; such
as, unity, completion, and grandeur in its action ;
loftiness in its sentiments and language ; multitude
and variety in the passions which it developes. Even
the characters, though not numerous, are discrimi-
nated, and well supported ; the milder and more
modest temper of Eliphaz' is well contrasted with
the forward and unrestrained violence of Bildad ; the
terseness and brevity of Zophar with the pent-up
and overflowing fulness of Elihu ; while in Job him-
self we perceive a dignity of mind that nothing
can humiliate, a firmness that nothing can subdue,
still habitually disclosing themselves, amidst the
mingled tumult of hope, fear, rage, tenderness,
triumph, and despair, with which he is alternately dis-
tracted.

(l) Compare especially the opening of Eliphaz, ch. rv. 2,3. with
the admission of Job himself to this effect^ ch. xvi. 3. in which he
very clearly intimates that the natural temper of Eliphaz was mild-
ness and modesty.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XXI

traded. I throw out this hint, however, not with
a view of ascribing any additional merit to the poem
itself, but merely to observe, so far as a single fact is
possessed of authority, that mental taste, or the internal
discernment of real beauty, is the same in all ages and
nations ; and that the rules of the Greek critic are
deduced from a principle of universal impulse and
operation.

Nothing can have been more unfortunate for this
most excellent composition, than its division into
chapters, and especially such a division as that in
common use ; in which not only the unity of the
general subject, but, in many instances, that of a
single paragraph, or even of a single clause, is com-
pletely broken in upon and destroyed ^ The natural
division, and that which was unquestionably intended
by its author, is into six parts or books ; for in this
order it still continues to run, notwithstanding all the
confusion it has encountered by sub-arrangements.
These six parts are, An opening or exordium, containing
the introductory history and decree concerning Job; —
three distinct series of arguments, in each of which the
speakers are regularly allotted their respective turns; —
the summing up of the controversy; — and the close or
catastrophe, consisting of the suffering hero's grand
and glorious acquittal, and restoration to prosperity
and happiness. Under this view of it I shall proceed

to offer the following analysis.

Part

(2) See especially, among other instances that will occur, the
beginnings of ch.xiv. ch. xvii. and ch. xxxvii.

XXll INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

Part I, constituting the opening or exordium, com-
prises the first two chapters in the ordinary division,
and is full of incident and transition. It commences
with a brief narrative of the principal personage of the
piece, his place of residence, rank in life, and inflexible
integrity. It then suddenly changes to a scene so tran-
scendently lofty and magnificent, that the grandest
descriptions of the most daring poets sink before it ;
and nothing can be put in comparison with it, but a
few passages in Paradise Lost, derived from the same
source. The tribunal of the Almighty is unveiled; —
the hosts of good and evil spirits, in obedience to his
summons, present themselves before him, to give an
account of their conduct. The views of Satan are par-
ticularly inquired into : and the unswerving fidelity of
Job, though a mortal, is pointedly held up to him,
and extolled. The evil spirit insinuates, that Job is
only faithful because it is his interest to be faithful ;
that he serves his Creator because he has been pecu-
liarly protected and prospered by him ; and that he
would abandon his integrity the moment such pro-
tection should be withdrawn. To confound him
in so malicious an imputation, the Almighty delivers
Job into his hands, only forbidding him to touch his
person.

Satan departs from the celestial tribunal ; and, col-
lecting the fury of his vindictive power into one
tremendous assault, strips the righteous patriarch, by
the conjoint aid of hostile incursions, thunder-storms,
and whirlwinds, on one and the same day, and that a
day of domestic rejoicing, of the whole of his property
and of his family, despatching messenger after messenger

with

IXTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XXllI

with a separate tale of woe, till the whole tragedy is
completed. But the patriarch continues inflexible.
He feels bitterly, but he sins not, even in his heart : —
instead of murmuring against his Creator,

— Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head.

And fell on the ground, and worshipped ; and said,

" Naked came I forth from my mother's womb,

" And naked shall I returja thither !

" Jehovah giveth, and /ehovah taketh away ;

" Blessed be the name of Jehovah !"

The celestial session returns. The supreme Creator
again assumes the judgment-seat ; and the hosts of
good and evil spirits are once more arranged before
him, for his commands. The unswerving fidelity of
Job is again pointed out to Satan, and the futility of
his malice publickly exposed. The evil spirit, though
foiled, still continues unabashed, and insinuates that
he had no liberty to touch his person. The Almighty
surrenders his person into his hands, and only com-
mands him to spare his life.

Satan departs from the presence of Jehovah : — and in
the same moment Job is smote from head to foot with
a burning leprosy ; and, while agonized with this
fresh affliction, is tauntingly upbraided by his wife
with the inutility of all his religious services. The
goad passes into his soul, but it does not poison it.
He resists this additional attack with a dignity as well
as a firmness of faith that does honour to human
nature :

As the talk of one of the foolish, is thy talk.
Shall we then accept good from God,
And shall we not accept evil ?

The

XXIV INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

The part closes with what is designed to introduce
the main subject of the poem — a preconcerted visit to
the suffering patriarch of three of his most intimate
friends. And in the simple narrative of their first
seeing him, there is a pathos that beggars all descrip-
tion, and which cannot fail to strike home to every
bosom that is capable of feeling :

For they had appointed together to come.

To mourn with him, and to comtoi t him. —

And they lift up their eyes from afar, and knew him not :

And they raised their voices and wept ;

And rent every one his mantle j

And cast dust upon their heads, towards heaven.

And they sat down with him, on the ground.

Seven days and seven nights :

And no one spake unto him a word.

For they saw that the affliction raged sorely.

This part is peculiarly distinguished by simplicity,
sublimity, and fine feeling. In its diction it exhibits a
perfect contrast to that of the great body of the poem ;
and, in conjunction with the diction that follows,
affords "proof of a complete mastery of style and lan-
guage ;— a mastery unequalled perhaps in any other part
of the Hebrew Scriptures, and altogether unknown to
every other kind of Oriental composition. It is
characteristic, however, of the writer of this tran-
scendent poem, — a fact well worthy of being remem-
bered, as one mean of determining who he was, — that
he uniformly suits his ornaments to the occasion;
that, as though influenced by the rules of the best
Greek critics, he seldom employs a figurative style
where the incident or the passion is capable of sup-
f. porting

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XXV

porting itself, and reserves his boldest images and
illustrations for cases that seem most to require them.
Yet, for want of attending to this distinction,
Schultens*, Lowth, Grey, and a few other translators
of the book of Job, have regarded this first part of the
poem as a mere prosaic preface to the rest, meant to
be detached from it, and utterly destitute of metrical
arrangement; an error from which Dr. Stock is alto-
gether free, but which is punctiliously introduced into
Miss Smith's version.

Part IT. extends from the beginning of the third to
the end of the fourteenth chapter ; and comprises the
first colloquy, or series of argument. Job, completely
overwhelmed, and believing himself abandoned by his
Creator, gives a loose to all the wildness of despon-
dency ; and, in an address of exquisite force and feel-
ing, laments that he ever beheld the light, and calls
earnestly for death, as the only refuge of the miserable.
This burst of agony is filled with the boldest images
and imprecations ; and might, perhaps, be thought, in

some

(1) This is just as obvious in the description of the apparition,
ch. iv. 12 — 16. as in the present part: and other passages will readilj
occur to the recollection of the reader.

(2) " Capitibus i. et ii. stylo pedestri et historico praemissa."
Schult. Praef p. xxxiii.

" Profecto qui litigiosus esset, contendere posset, universum opus
esse ex forma narrativa et dramatica mixtum, cum pars historica
ex auctoris persona prolata negligi non debeat ; veriam cum ea
omnia sint soluto sermone, et mihi videantur argumenti solum loco
esse ad explicanda reliqua, neque poematis partem ullam constituere,
&c." Lowth De Sacr. Foes. Hebr. Praef, xxxiii.

XXVI INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION".

some parts of it, too daring, but that it appears to have
been regarded as a master-piece by the best poets of
Judaea, and is imitated, in its boldest flights, by king
David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel ; of which the
reader will meet with sufficient specimens in the en-
suing Notes.

To this cry of despondency, Eliphaz ventures upon
the first reply : and the little that was wanting to make
the cup of agony brimfull, is now added to it. The
patriarch's friends, stimulated unquestionably by the
secret impulse of Satan, have agreed upon the false
principle, that, in the uniform dealings of Providence,
happiness and prosperity are the necessary marks and
consequence of integrity, and pain and misery of
wickedness ; — and hence the grand argument on their
part consists, first, in charging the sufferer with the
commission of sins which he ought to confess and
repent of; and next, in accusing him of pride and
hypocrisy, because he will not consent to such con-
fession. Eliphaz however is, from natural habit, the
mildest of the accusers ; and his speech begins with
delicacy, and is conducted with the most artful address.
After duly apologizing for breaking in upon the suffer-
ings of his friend, he proceeds to point out the incon-
sistency of a good man's repining under a state of dis-
cipline ; and the absurdity of his not bearing up, who
had so often exhorted others to fortitude. He remarks,
that the truly good are never utterly overthrown ; but
that the ways of Providence are wrapped in inextrica-
ble mystery, and that nothing can be more arrogant
than for so weak, so ephemeral, so insect-like a being
as man is, to impeach them ; a position which is illus-
trated

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XXVll

trated by the most powerful picture of an apparition
that ever was drawn by the pen of any writer in any
age or country, — disclosed to the speaker for the
express purpose of inculcating this solemn maxim.
He concludes with observing, that as neither man
nor angel, without the consent of the Almighty, can
render Job any assistance, wrath and violence are
folly ; and that nothing remains for him, but to seek
unto God, and commit the cause into his hands;
whose correction will then be assuredly succeeded
by a new series of happiness and prosperity.

Job replies to Eliphaz, but is overborne by the
bitterness of his remonstrance; and under his accumu-
lated trials once more wishes to die. He reproaches
his friends for their severity ; and, in a most beautiful
and appropriate simile, compares the consolation he
expected from their soothing intercourse, and the
cruel disappointment he had met with, to the promise
of a plentiful supply of water held out to a parched-up
caravan, by the fall of floods of rain, surveyed at a
distance, but which, on arriving at the place of
their descent, are, found to have entirely evaporated,
or to have branched out over the sands, and become

lost.

What time they wax warm, they evaporate ;

And, when it grows hot, they are dried up in their place :

The outlets of their channel wind about.

They stretch into nothing, and are lost.

The companies of Tema search earnestly.

The caravans of Sheba pant for them :

They are consumed — such is their longing }

They arrive at the place, and sink away. —

Behold ! ye also are a nothing ;

Ye see my downcasting, and shrink back.

Suddenly

XXVlll INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

Suddenly he feels he has been too acrimonious;
apologizes, and intreats their further attention: but is
instantly hurried away by a torrent of opposite pas-
sions ; now, once more longing for death as the
termination of his sufferings, and now urged on by
the natural desire of life. He expostulates warmly,
and at length unbecomingly, with the Almighty : and
at once growing sensible of the irreverence, humbly
confesses his offence, supplicates forgiveness, and im-
plores that his afiiiction may cease.

It is now Bildad's turn to speak ; who commences
with bitter and most provoking cruelty. He openly
charges the whole family of Job with gross wickedness,
on no other ground than their destruction by the
whirlwind; and throws suspicions against the patriarch
himself, in consequence of his being a sufferer in the
calamity. Like Eliphaz, he also exhorts him to
repent, and to look to God for a restoration to pro-
sperity, and never more to depend on himself : observ-
ing, in the language of an apt and exquisite proverbial
saying of the long-lived, perhaps the antediluvian ages,
that the most succulent plants are soonest withered,
and that thfe reliance of the hypocrite is a cobweb.

Job, in the beginning of his reply to this speech,
shows that he has once more recovered himself, and is
superior to the acrimony of its assault. He acknow-
ledges that all power is with God, who alone has
created whatever exists; but maintains, that, as to his
moral government, we are grossly ignorant, and can
account for nothing that takes place ; and that the
good and the v^icked suffer indiscriminately. At one
moment, under the influence of acute agony, he longs

earnestly

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XXIX

earnestly to plead his cause with God, and to defend
his habitual integrity; but awed suddenly by new
ideas of the divine power and purity, and aware that
from both causes he must be overwhelmed;, he shrinks
from so daring a task ; and concludes with an affecting
address to the Almighty, in which he ventures to
expostulate with him, as his creator and preserver.
He grows warmer as he proceeds ; is roused to despe-
ration at the thought that God is become his enemy
and persecutor; and once more vehemently calls for a
termination of his miseries by death.

Zophar now takes his turn in the argument ; and
commences, like Bildad, with violent and rough invec-
tive. He condemns Job severely, for continuing to
assert his innocence before God. He contends, that
the ways of providence are obvious, and that it is
only his own iniquity that makes them appear dark and
mysterious. Like the preceding speakers, he exhorts
him, in fine and figurative language, to *' put away his
iniquity," and lift up his hands to the Almighty ; and
promises that he shall then soon lose all trace of his
present calamity, —

'^ As waters passed by, shalt thou remember it,"

and that his late prosperity and happiness shall be re-
doubled upon him. But if not, he denounces his utter
and irremediable ruin.

Job is stimulated by this repetition of so unjust
and opprobrious an accusation, and for the first time
vents a sarcasm on his part. In return for the pro-
verbial sayings of his companions, he retorts upon
them sayings of a similar kind, many of them possest

of

XXX INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

of far more force and appropriation. He then com-
mences a direct attack upon their own conduct ; and
charges them with declaiming on the part of God,
from the base and unworthy hope of propitiating
him. He grows still warmer as he advances ; and,
under a consciousness of general innocence, demands
to be put to the bar, and to stand his trial with the
Almighty : he boldly summons his accusers, intreats
the Supreme Judge not to overwhelm him with his power
or his awefulness ; and, realizing the tribunal before him.
at once commences his pleading, in an address which,
according to the feeling of the moment, is vehement,
plaintive, argumentative, full of fear, of triumph, of
expostulation, and at last of despondency ; now repre-
senting the Creator, in all his might and supremacy,
as demolishing a driven leaf, and hunting down
parched stubble ; next exhibiting doubts of a future
state ; then exulting in the belief of it ; and, finally,
sinking into utter gloom and hopelessness.

Part III. comprises the second series of controver-
sy, and extends from the fifteenth to the close of the
twenty-first chapter. Eliphaz opens the discussion,
in his regular turn. He accuses Job of vehemence
and vanity; asserts that no man is innocent; and
pointedly observes to him, that, in regard to himself,
his own conduct is sufficient to condemn him : con-
cluding with a train of highly forcible and figurative
apophthegms of great beauty and antiquity, calculated
to prove the certain and irrevocable misery of the
wicked and unrepentant.

Job replies to him, and once more complains

bitterly

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION, XXXI

bitterly of the reproaches and contumelies so unjustly
heaped upon him, but consoles himself in again ap-
pealing to the Almighty upon the subject of his inno-
cence. He accuses his companions of holding him
up to public derision, and intreats them to leave
him and return home : he again pathetically bemoans
his lot, and looks forward to the grave with scarcely
a glimmering of hope, and an almost utter despair of
a resurrection from its ruins.

Bildad next enters into the debate with his cha-
racteristic virulence and violence, at the same time
exhorting Job to be temperate. The whole speech
is a string of generalities, and parabolic traditions of
the first ages concerning the fearful punishments in
reserve for the wicked ; all exquisitely sublime and
beautiful in themselves, but possessing no other re-
levancy to the present case, than that vvnich results
from the false argument, that Job must be a great
sinner because he is a great sufferer.

The reply of the patriarch to this contumelious
tirade, contained in the nineteenth chapter of the
common division, is one of the most brilliant parts of
the whole poem, and exhibits a wonderful intermixture
of tenderness and triumph. It commences with a
fresh complaint of the cruelty of his assailants. The
meek sufferer still calls them his friends ; and in a
most touching apostrophe imploies their pity in his
deep affliction. He takes an affecting survey of his
hopeless situation, as assaulted and broken down by
the Almighty for purposes altogether mysterious and
unknown to him ; and then suddenly, as though a
ray of divine light and comfort had darted across his

soul.

XXXll INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

soul, rises into the full hope of a future resurrection,
and vindication of his innocence ; and in the triumph
of so glorious an expectation, appears to forget his
present wretchedness and misery.

Zophar now takes the lead, but merely to recapitu-
late the old argument under a new form. Job has
not yet confessed the heinous sins for which he
is suffering ; and hence, in bold and terrific pictures,
chiefly, as on many preceding occasions, derived from
the lofty sayings of ancient times, he alarms him with
the various punishments reserved for the impenitent.
Job, in answer to Zophar, appears to collect his
whole strength of argument, as though resolved at
one and the same time to answer all that has been ad-
vanced upon the subject by each of his opponents. He
boldly controverts their principle, that present pro-
sperity is the lot of the good, and present misery that of
the wicked. He asserts, even while trembling at the
thought of so mysterious a providence, that here the
reprobate, instead of the righteous, are chiefly tri-
umphant,— that this is their world, — that they riot
in it unrestrained, and take their full of enjoyment.
They may, perhaps, continues he, be reserved against
a day of future judgment and retribution; but where
is the man that dares attack their conduct to their
face? who is there that does not fall prostrate before
their power and overwhelming influence ? even in
death itself they are publickly bemoaned, and every
individual attends upon their obsequies. — Thus con-
cludes the third part of the poem; and it could not
possibly conclude better.

Part

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XXXUl

Part IV. comprises the third and last series of con-
troversy, and reaches fppm the twenty-second to the
close of the thirty-first chapter. Eliphaz, as usual,
commences ; and, roused by the cogent and argu-
mentative eloquence of the preceding speech, is him-
self incited to a stricter and closer discussion of the
subject than he had hitherto aimed at; and pours
forth his whole spirit into one grand effort of confu-
tation. His argument is full of art, but it is, in a great
degree, the art of the sophist. He charges Job, in
spite of his own guarded declarations to the contrary,
of being an advocate for the wicked, by connecting
wickedness and prosperity in the manner of cause and
effect ; and of course as being, in his heart and pro-
pensities, a party to all the iniquities of the antedilu-
vians, that brought the deluge upon the world. With
the most accomplished subtilty, he dwells upon this
signal judgment, for the purpose of adverting to the
single delivery of the family of righteous Noah, their
great progenitor, as a proof that God neither does nor
will suffer the wicked to escape punishment, nor the
righteous to pass without reward. In addition to
which, he proceeds also to instance the striking rescue
of Lot and his family from the conflagration that de-
voured the cities on the plains ; — thus sophistically
opposing two special and miraculous interpositions
to the general course of divine providence. He con-
cludes, as on various former occasions, with exhorting
Job to confess and abandon his iniquities ; and beauti-
fully depicts, in new and forcible imagery, the hap-
piness that he will then find in reserve for him.

The placid sufferer does not allow him-self to be

d turned

XXXIV INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

turned off his guard. In his rejoinder, he again
bemoans the mercilessness of those around him, and
once more longs earnestly to find out and plead before
the Almjght3\ But all around him, he observes, is
gloom and obscurity : yet gloom and obscurity as it is, he
still beholds him in nature, and in every part of nature;
and, in direct opposition to the opinion of his com-
panions, doubts not that the present affliction is dealt
to him as a trial ; and, rejoicing in the recollection of
his past submission to the divine will, ventures to hope
he shall yet issue from it as pure gold. He then returns
to the argument, and perseveres, to the silencing, if
not to the conviction, of his opponents. He shows,
from a multiplicity of examples, drawn both from the
privacy of retired life and the publicity of crowded
cities, that every thing is suffered to take place at
present in a mysterious and unexplained manner; that,
admitting a variety of exceptions, the wicked are still
generally successful, and prosecute their course un-
controlled ; that even the unsinning embryon in the
womb expires, not unfrequently, as soon as created,
as though neglected or despised by its Maker ; and
that the lonely widow is, in like manner, left to pine
in want and misery. He allows, nevertheless, that
nothing can be more precarious than the pleasures
and prosperity of vice; that God has his eye at all times
upon the wicked; and that often, though not generally,
they are overthrown in a moment, and reduced, from
the utmost height ot splendour, to the lowest abyss
of beggary and ruin.

Bildad, to whom it belongs next to reply, is com-
pletely confounded. He is compelled to admit that

the

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XXXV

the present state of things proves the Deity to work
with absolute sway, and in an incomprehensible man-
ner. But, though driven from his former position, he
still maintains that Job must be wicked, since every
man is wicked and altogether worthless in the sight of
God ; all which, in order to give the greater weight to
his observations, he confirms, by delivering them in
the words of antient and proverbial maxims.

Job, in reply to Bildad, is indignant at his not openly
retracting an opinion which, it was obvious, he could
no longer maintain. He is particularly irritated at
his pretending once more to quote the proverbial
maxims of past times, as though to enlist the wisdom
of the ancients against him ; and sarcastically follows
him up by a string of other traditions of a similar
kind, possessing still more magnificence, and at least as
much general connection. And, having thus severely
reproved him, he returns to the argument, in
chap, xxvii. and asserts, that, distressed as he is, and
forsaken of God, habitual innocency has ever be-
longed to him, and ever shall ; and on this very ac-
count he secretly encourages a hope that he shall not
be ultimately forsaken ; and forcibly points out the
very different situation of the wicked when they also
are overtaken by calamity ; their ruin being, on the con-
trary, utter and irreversible, and even entailed on their
posterity. Under the disappointment their visit had
produced, and the proofs of feebleness and folly it had
exhibited where wisdom and consolation were to have
been expected, he proceeds to a highly figurative and
exquisite description of the value of genuine wisdom^
and the difficulty of searching out its habitation ;

d 2 concluding

XXXVl INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

concluding, as the result of his inquiry, that it alone
resides in and issues from the Creator, and is only
bestowed upon those who sincerely fear him and
depart from evil. He closes with a detailed and
deeply interesting examination into every department
of his life, — an examination that ought to be studied
and copied by every one. He investigates his conduct
in the full sunshine of prosperity, as a magistrate, as
a husband, as a father, as a master ; and, in all these
characters, he feels capable of conscientiously justi-
fying himself. In the course of this historical scru-
tiny, he draws a very affecting contrast between his
past and his present situation ; the period in which all
was happiness and splendour, and that in which all is
trouble and humiliation. He challenges his com-
panions, and the world at large, to accuse him publick-
ly and expressly of a single act of injustice or oppres-
sion ; declares that, so far from shrinking from such
an accusation, he would wear it as a frontlet upon
his shoulder and his turban ; that, like a witness on
the side of his accuser, he wowld furnish him with all
the evidence in his power; and pants earnestly to be
put to the bar, and abide the decision of his country.

Zophar should now have replied in rotation; but
he has already exhausted himself; and the argument
closes.

Part V. contains the summing up of the contro-
versy; which is allotted to Elihu, a new character in the
poem ; but who, though hitherto unnoticed, appears
to have entered before the commencement of the
debate, and to have impartially studied its progress.

The

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XXXVU

The speech of Elihu commences with the thirty-
second chapter of the common arrangement, which
constitutes its peroration, and offers a fine specimen
of the art of bespeaking and fixing attention. He
first adverts to the general irrelevancy of the matter
that has been advanced against Job from every quarter
by which he has been attacked, and then proceeds to
comment upon the patriarch himself. Tacitly admit-
ting the general force of the reasoning by which he
had confounded his opponents, Elihu no where charges
him with former wickedness because of his present
affliction ; but confines himself to his actual conduct,
and the tendency of his replies on the existing occa-
sion, both of which he reprehends with considerable
warmth. In various instances he repeats his words
literally, and animadverts upon them as highly irreve-
verent ; and observes, that the dispensations of pro-
vidence, dark and mysterious as they commonly ap-
pear to us, are always full of wisdom and mercy, and
that in many cases we are made sensible of this even
at the moment; being frequently, by such means,
warned and reclaimed, sometimes publickly, but still
oftener in secret, through the medium of dreams,
diseases, or other providential interferences.

In chap, xxxiv. he attacks the position of Job, that
the present world is the portion of the wicked, and
that here prosperity is more frequently their lot
than that of the righteous ; and, with some degree
of sophistry and disingenuity, turns, like Eliphaz,
this position of the patriarch into a declaration that
he approves of the ways of wickedness as a mean of
prosperity, and has no desire to be righteous, unless

where

XXXVlll INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

where righteousness has a like chance of advancing
his worldly views. Upon this point he attacks him
with great severity ; and in general terms, and general
but beautiful and highly figurative descriptions, adverts
to the frequent and visible interferences of the
Almighty to relieve the poor and the opprest, and to
hurl down the tyrant and the reprobate. He next
exhorts Job to relinquish his present sentiments, and
to confess his transgressions, in full confidence of a
return of the divine favour. Submission he asserts
(chap. XXXV.) to be the only duty of man, and the wisest
course he can pursue ; that God can derive neither
advantage from his obedience nor disadvantage from
his rebellion ; that man alone can profit from the one,
and suffer from the other ; and that had Job suffered
more, he would have disputed less. The remainder
of this exquisite oration points out, consecutively, in
strong and glowing language, full of sublimity and
the finest painting, that God is supreme ; that he is
all in all; and that every thing is subject to him and\
regulated by him, and regulated in wisdom, goodness,
and justice; that hence, instead of reviling, it becomes
us to submit ; that the worst of iniquities is, to wish
for death, in order to escape from a chastisement we are
enduring and have deserved ; and that, living or dying,
it is in vain to fly from the Creator, since all nature
was formed by him, and is the theatre of his power.
The speaker closes with a lofty and transcendent de-
scription of the might and wisdom of the great
Maker, in the works and wonders of the creation ;
the formation of rain, thunder, lightning, snow, clouds,
clear sky, the return of spring, and the general

revolution

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XXXIX

revolution of the seasons : concerning all which we
know nothing, yet the whole of which is but a
faint and reflected light from him who ordained and
commands them :

Splendour itself is with God !

Insufferable majesty !

Almighty ! — we cannot comprehend him — -

Surpassing in power and in judgment !

Yet doth not the might of his justice oppress.

Let mankind, therefore, stand in awe of him :

He looketh all the wise of heart to nothing.

Part VI. The trial of faith, resignation, and inte-
grity, is now drawing to an end. The opponents of
Job, and, through them, the arch-demon by whom they
were excited, have been baffled in their utmost exer-
tions ; yet though silenced, they still sullenly refuse
to retract. The Almighty now visibly appears, to pro-
nounce judgment, and " speaks to Job out of the
whirlwind :" and the address ascribed to him is a most
astonishing combination of dignity, sublimity, gran-
deur, and condescension; and is as worthy of the
magnificent occasion, as any thing can be, delivered
in human language.

The line of argument pursued in the course of this
inimitable address is, that the mighty speaker is Lord
of all, the creator of the heavens and the earth, and
that every thing must bow down before him ; that he
is the God of providence ; and that every thing is formed
by him in wisdom, and bespeaks a mean to an end, —
and that end the happiness and enjoyment of his
creatures. In the develdpement of this reasoning, the
formation of the world is first brought before us, and
described in language that has never been equalled —

the

xl INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

the revolution of the heavenly bodies — and the regular
return of the seasons. The argument then descends
from so overwhelming a magnificence, and confines
itself to phaenomena that are more immediately within
the scope and feeling of the sons of earth. It is God
who supplies the wants of every living creature : it is
he who finds them food in rocks and wildernesses : it
is his wisdom that has adapted every kind to its own
habits and mode of being; that has given cunning
where cunning is necessary ; and, where unnecessary,
has withheld it; — that has endowed with rapidity of
foot, or of wing, where such qualities are found need-
ful ; and where might is demanded, has afforded proofs
of a might the most terrible and irresistible. The
whole of which is exquisitely illustrated by a variety
of distinct instances, drawn from natural history, and
painted to the very life ; the following impressive co-
rollary forming the general close : — God is supreme,
and must be bowed to and adored : his wisdom is
incomprehensible, how vain then to arraign it: his
power omnipotent, how absurd then to resist it : his
goodness universal, how blind then to deny it.

This aweful address is listened to with fearful con-
viction. The humiliated sufferer confesses the folly
of his arrogance and presumption, and abhors himself
for his conduct.

The peripetia, or revolution, immediately succeeds.
The self-abasement of Job is accepted : his three friends
are severely reprimanded for having formed a dis-
honourable judgment concerning him, and having
taken a false and narrow view of the providence of the
Almighty, in contending that he never does or can

permit

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION". xH

permit trouble but in cases of wickedness : a sacrifice
is demanded of them, and Job is appointed to be their
intercessor: upon the accompHshment of which, the
severely-tried patriarch is restored to his former state
of enjoyment^ and his prosperity is in every instance
doubled.

SECTION III.

DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING A TRANSLATION.

The most perplexing Hebrew compositions to be
rendered into a foreign tongue, are, the books of Job,
Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea. All of them are highly
figurative, fervid, magnificent, and full of abrupt trans-
itions ; and it is not always easy to catch hold of their
images, at first sight. The language of Job and Isaiah
is more polished — that of Ezekiel and Hosea more
harsh, and elliptical. But, independently of the
difficulties common to all of them, there are
words, and even idioms, peculiar to the book of Job,
which are no where else to be met with, in the
whole scope of the Hebrew scriptures. Hence the
real meaning of this sublime poem has been found, in
many instances, of very perplext and doubtful inter-
pretation ; and its versions, in a variety of places,
widely different and discordant.

The first method that appears to have been pro-
posed, in order to surmount these last difficulties, was
to strike out the best sense the general passage would
admit of, by giving a guess at the unknown idioms,
from the context ; and by taking a loose meaning
of such Hebrew words, as seemed to approach nearest
in radical structure to those for which there was no

collateral

xlii INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

collateral authority. And it is a method that is still
practised by many interpreters, even to the present hour.

A second plan has been, to collate the different
readings of ancient copyists, and to see whether the
isolated terms may not, in some of .them, have assumed
a more vernacular appearance. This method, how-
ever, has been attended with but little success in the
point immediately before us, although with consi-
derable success in a variety of other points : and it
must be obvious to every one, that it could seldom
have any bearing upon the introduction of exotic
idioms.

A third proposal has been, to inquire whether the
terms and idioms thus anomalously occurring may
not appertain to some sister language or dialect.
" In hoc libro," says Mercer, " multa ex ignota
lingua sunt desumpta :" " In this book many things
are taken from an unknown tongue." Of these lan-
guages, the most obvious to investigate were, the
Chaldee, the Syriac, and the Arabic. The first two,
which were earliest examined, were found to afford
but little help ; though they occasionally give a more
definite signification to a term common to the Hebrew
and to themselves. The Arabic was next investigated,
and with abundant success ; for it has been foijnd ta
ansv/er in a great variety of instances. For the ap-
plication of this key, the world has been hitherto almost
exclusively indebted to the Dutch and German critics,
particularly to the two Schultenses and Reiske ; and it
is with an occasional use of the same clue, that the
translation now offered has been effected.

The original text is unquestionably a mixture of

Hebrew

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. xliii

Hebrew and Arabic, the groundwork being of the former
tongue, but almost every tesselation, whether of words
or idioms, being of the latter, and consisting of pure
genuine Arabic, without the smallest constraint, or the
alteration of a single letter ; the last bearing about
the same proportion to the first, as the Scotticisms of
a good English writer may be supposed to bear to his
native vocabulary, after a residence for many years in
North Britain, and the formation of a family connection,
there ; or, in other words, as the Spanish terms and
phrases in the Lusiad bear to the vernacular Portu-
guese, or the Italian terms of the Hermosura de An-
gelica of Ercilla to the Spanish. There can be no
doubt that the writer of the poem was a Hebrew,
but a Hebrew who, from a close intercourse with
Arabia, or a long residence in some part of it, had
introduced a considerable proportion of the Arabian,
dialect into his native tongue : a fact of no small
importance in ascertaining the real author.

Nor was such an intermixture difficult of accom-
plishment ; or the variegated tissue, which would
hence be produced, of inelegant appearance. It has
already been observed, in the first part of this Disser-
tation, that, on the entrance of Ismael into the Ara-
bian peninsula, the great mass of the existing tribes
were of the stock of Joktan or Kahtan, the son of
Heber, and consequently brother of Peleg, the im-
mediate progenitor of Abraham ; whence it is reason-
able, notwithstanding the dispersion which took place
in the days of Peleg, to regard the Arabic, or language
of Joktan, and the Hebrew, or that of Abraham, as
dialects making a near approach to each other from

the

xUv INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

the first ; and an approach very considerably facilitated
and extended by the subsequent marriage of Ismael
with the daughter of Modad, the chief sovereign of
Arabia, and the ascendancy which he shortly after-
wards acquired over the whole country'.

In addition to which it may be observed, that
throughout almost the whole of Hebrew history,
Uz or Idumaea was regarded by the Jews in the same
light of elegance and accomplishment as Greece was
by the Romans; and Teman, the native city of
Eliphaz, as the Athens of Arabia Petraea^ Whence

not

(1) '^ Profecto non possum hinc aliud quid colligere, quam dialec-
tum Arabicum turn temporis haud multum ab Hebraea fuisse diver-
sam." Cel. Fitring. Olserv. Sacr. 1. i. cap. 4.

" Heber linguae stator, et haeres, turn Hebraeos, turn Arabes Joc-
tariidas, qui Arabiam Felicem insedere, proseminavit. Arabes Isma-
elitae, Midianitae, aliique bene multi, ab Abrahamo, magno Hebrae-
orum parente, originem, simul linguamque traxere. Arabes Idumaei,
qui Petraeam tenuerunt, ex Isaaco per Esauuni exiere, gemini germani
Hebraeorum fratres. Jam verb Utzam, Jobi patriam, in Idumaea
locant plurimi : verier tamen nobis Spanhemiana sententia, Utzidem
banc in Arabia Deserta quaerendam, Jobumqueab Abrahamo descen-
disse, non per Hagaram, et Esauum, sed per Keturam, cujus pal-
lacae filii et nepotes, maximam partem, Arabiam Desertam, nomine
Arabum Scenitarum occuparint." Schult. Praef. xxxi.

Hence this critic supposes the Arabs of Idumaea, being mixt
descendants of Abraham, to have employed vernacularly a mixt
Hebrew- Arabic dialect ; in reality, the very language of the poem
before us, the words of which he conceives to have been delivered
precisely as they have reached us.

(2) Thus Jerem. xlix. 7.

Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of Hosts,

Is wisdom no more in Teman ?

Hath counsel perished from the prudent }

Hath their wisdom vanished ?

So

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. xlv

not only the author of the poem of Job, but all the-
best writers of Judaea, are found occasionally glancing
their eyes in this direction, and enriching their com-
positions with Arabisms, as the Roman orators and
poets enriched their's with Grecisms : though in no
instance have we any thing that will compare with the
lavish use of Arabic terms and idioms, (a use importing
vernacular freedom, rather than mere ornament,) that
occurs in the work before us.

SECTION IV.

AUTHOR AND ^RA.

If the preceding observations be correctly founded,
they may make some progress towards determining
the real author of this sublime composition. In his
style, he appears to have been equally master of the
simple and the sublime ; to have been minutely and
elaborately acquainted with the astronomy, natural
history, and general science of his age ; to have been
a Hebrew by birth and native language, and an Arabian
by long residence and local study.

To these peculiar features, thus incidentally
gleaned from a critical survey of the poem, I
may add, there is intrinsic evidence that, as a
Hebrew, he must have flourished, and have written
the work, antecedently to the Egyptian ej^ody.

The

So Obad. ix.

Shall I not, in that day, saith Jehovah,

Root out even the wisdom of Edom,

And the understanding of the mount of Esau ?

And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, &c.

xlvi INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

The annals of the world do not present to us a single
nation so completely wrapped up in their own history,
as the Hebrews. Throughout every book, both in the
Old and the New Testament, in which it could pos-
sibly be adverted to, the eye of the writer turns to
different parts of it, and dwells upon it with inextin-
guishable fondness. The call of Abraham, the bondage
and miracles in Egypt, tlie journeyings through the
wilderness, the delivery of the law, the establishment
of the priesthood, the passage of the Red Sea and of
the Jordan, the destruction of the Canaanites,Moabites,
and Ammonites, — Aaron, Joshua, Manasses, and Gi-
deon,— Sinai, Carmel, and Sion — Gilead and Gaza —
Ashdod, Ekron, and Askelon, — are perpetually brought
before us, as ornaments or illustrations of the subject
discussed. To none of these, however, does the book
of Job make the smallest reference : but the existence
of Adam, and his concealment from the Almighty in
the garden of Eden ' ; the voice of the blood of Abel
crying from the ground®; the destruction of the world
by the deluge'; the token of the rainbow in the clouds* ;
and the conflagration of Sodom and Gomorrah ' ; are, in
the same love of national history, incidentally glanced at,
or directly brought forward. With this last fact, how-
ever, the poet stops : he descends no lower than to the
overthrow of the cities on the plain, and, consequently,
to the aera of Abraham and Lot ; not a single incident
appertaining either to the family of Isaac or of Ishmael,
of Edom or of Jacob, being adverted to below this

period.

(1) Ch.xxxi. 33. (2) Ch. xvi. 18. (3) Ch. xxii. l6.

(4) Ch. xxvi. 10. (5) Ch. xxii. 20.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. xIvH

period. And hence we have the strongest circumstan-
tial evidence for concluding that the poem, as written
by a Hebrew, must have been composed between the
periods of Abraham's residence at Mamre, and the
miracles wrought by Moses in Egypt.

In addition to this argument, it may be observed,
that, from the general beauty and sublimity of the poem,
it is occasionally quoted or copied by almost every
Hebrew writer who had an opportunity of referring to
it, from the age of Moses to that of Malachi; especially
by the Psalmist, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel ; of which
abundant instances will be found in the Notes subjoined
to the ensuing version ; leading us, by a collateral^
though not quite so direct a train of evidence, to a
similar conclusion, as to its high origin and antiquity.

There are some writers, however, of very great
weight and eminence, who have conceived that the
book of Job does contain a few allusions to historical
facts, posterior to the commencement of the Egyptian
bondage, and, hence, that the date of the poem must
be placed below the Mosaic age : among whom are
Le Clerc, Wesley, Warburton, and Dr. Stock : and
it is hence necessary to pay some attention to the
chief passages adverted to.

Eliphaz, (chap. xv. from ver. 20 to the close,) in
pointing out to Job the accumulated miseries that
await the impenitent, has been supposed to refer to
the obstinacy of Pharaoh, and many of the plagues
of Egypt'. The reader may turn to the passage at

his

(1) Wesley in Jobum, Dissert, v. p. 136. This elaborate writer, than
whom no scholar has entered more deeply into the general scope of

the

Xlviii INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

his leisure; and, it is possible, he may wonder by what
means the most subtle imagination could ever have
traced out the remotest connection.

In like manner ch. xxxiv. 20. (which gives us, in the
words of Elihu, a general description of the abruptness
of the fate which frequently awaits the wicked,) is
supposed by Dr. Stock to be deduced from the ac-
count in Exodus of the destruction of the first-born
of the Egyptians. What, he inquires, are all the linea-
ments of the text, " but the circumstances recorded
by Moses" in relation to this fact ? — " We have, of
course," continues he, " another proof that the writer
of this poem was posterior in time to Moses." — This
question, ' What does the text refer to, but the fact of
the destruction of the first-born of the Egyptians?'
is best answered by Bishop. Warburton, who, with
equal confidence, tells us that it refers to the destruc-
tion of the Assyrian army in the reign of Hezekiah ;
and who in like manner brings forward this very allusion
as aproof of the correctness of his own theory, in regard
to the date of the poem. The two proofs, however,
advanced under such circumstances, destroy each other;
and the only proof that issues from their ashes is, that
they are ingenious fancies, but nothing more.

So again Bp. Warburton conceives that chapter

xxxiii.

the poertij and the critical meaning of its allusions, conceives that
the epoch of Noah is referred to in a variety of other passages than
those just noticed and admitted ; as, for instance, ch. xxii. 22. xxiii.
12. and xxviii. 28. Such references are ingenious^ and all of them
may be well founded ; but the passages themselves contain nothing
that can be construed into real evidence.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION..

xlix

xxxiii. 24, 25. has a reference to the sickness and
recovery of Hezekiah, as related Isai. xxxviii. 1 — 5.,
although the utmost that can be affirmed upon the
subject, is, that the two passages possess some degree
of general parallelism ; and there is much more rea-
son for believing that various parts of Hezekiah's
thanksgiving upon his recovery, as recorded in the
same chapter, are copies from various parts of the
poem before us, as will appear in the ensuing Notes.

It is only necessary to remark farther, that Dr.
Stock, in Job xx. 20. thinks we meet with a distinct
and pointed allusion to the miracle of the quails.
Numbers xi. 32, 33. In no other version, however,
than his own, can the most distant connexion be
inferred by any means. The term 'y^'Qi ; usually, but
not very correctly indeed, rendered quietness; is by
Dr. Stock rendered quail, without the smallest colla-
teral authority for such a change in any of the critics
or translators. But the allusion, he tells us, " has
escaped all the interpreters : and it is the more impor-
tant, because it Jixes the date of this poem, so far as
to prove its having been composed subsequently to
the transgression of Israel at Kibboth-hataavah." —
This, indeed, is a most extraordinary specimen of
correct reasoning for so excellent a scholar : he, first,
brings forward his theory as the basis of his rendering ;
and, then, brings forward his rendering as the basis of
his theory.

These are the chief passages which have been
adduced in proof that the poem was composed at a
date posterior to the Mosaic age : there are various
others, but too loose and irrevelant to be worthy of
any distinct notice. And hence the position advanced

e above

1 INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

above seems rather to be corroborated than shaken, viz,
that we have in the poem itself intrinsic evidence that
its author must have flourished, and have written it,
antecedently to the Egyptian exody.

From this discrepancy of opinion, however, and the
very extensive latitude which it gives to the possible
agra of the composition of the poem, it cannot be
wondered at that it should have been, ascribed to a
variety of persons of very different periods. Of these,
the principal are — Esdras; Soloman ; Elihu; Job him-
self, or, in conjunction with his friends ; and Moses.

Tried by the test of antiquity advanced in the pre-
ceding pages, it is obvious that the pretensions of the
first two of these supposed authors must equally and
instantly fall to the ground. That Soloman was the
writer, rests chiefly on the supposition of Grotius; who
seems to have had no stronger reason for such a belief,
than that the extensive knowledge with which this ex-
traordinary prince w^as gifted, in regard to all scientific
subjects, and the occasional occurrence of Arabisms
in the Proverbs that bear his name, rendered him, in
various respects, qualified for so comprehensive and
learned a poem. But, independently of the general
argument for its higher antiquity, we may observe, in
direct reference to Soloman, that there is no undis-
puted production of his that evinces any thing of the
lofty style or bold transcendent genius of the poem of
Job ; and that the Arabisms introduced into his book
of Proverbs are scattered, comparatively, with a very
sparing hand, and were probably meant to be nothing
more than classical ornaments, like the occasional
Grecisms to be found in Tully and Virgil.

That Ezra — or Esdras, as he is called in the Apo-
crypha—

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Vl

crypha — was the author of the poem, formed a very
early opinion, derived, in Hke manner, from the foreign
character which it so frequently assumes ; an opinion,
however, which seems to have been for many years
exploded and forgotten, till revived by Le Clerc, — and,
since, warmly supported by Bishop Warburton, who
concurs in conjecturing, that the whole work is both
a dramatic and allegorical composition, the character
of Job being a mere fiction, or loosely grounded on
history; that it was written by Ezra, during the
Babylonian captivity, who — under the guise of a just
man, thought evil of, and persecuted equally by his
friends and his enemies — has endeavoured to produce
a pleasing picture of the righteous among the Hebrews
on their being carried into captivity in conjunction
with the wicked'.

That Job was a real character, I have endeavoured
to establish in a preceding part of this Dissertation :
and as the history of him is adverted to by Ezekiel*,
it appears to be self-evident that the book of Job was
in existence, and in common use among the Jews, at
the sera of Ezekiel, — since it will hardly be contended
that the Jews had any other history of him than what
is contained in the present poem : and if so, the con-
jecture of its having been written by Ezra falls to
the ground, like the preceding, of its own accord.

' In

(1) " Fictam et dramaticam personam, sub cujus involucro descri-
batur vir ab omnibus amicis et inimicis juxta pessime habitus^ ut in
eo luculenta extaret imago piorum inter Hebraeos, in captivitatem
Babylonicam una cum impiis avectorum." Cleric, cap. i. See also
Wdrhurtori' s Divine Legation, vol. II.

(2) Ch. xiv. 14, 20.

6-2

In INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

In effect, independently of these general tests of.
the poem's possessing a far higher antiquity than
the date of the Babylonian captivity, there is a consi-
derable range of personal evidence that Ezra has no .
claim to be the author of it. The only work we
can certainly ascribe to him is the book that bears
his name ; though he is said, notwithstanding the
difference of its style, to have compiled the book of
Nehemiah. Both these, indeed, exhibit, like the
book of Job, an intertexture of foreign terms and
idioms : but they are terms and idioms of a different
kind, and derived from a different quarter ; they
have almost uniformly a Chaldee aspect : — while those
in the poem before us have, almost as uniformly, an
Arabic ; a few Syriac words, indeed, being common
to the whole, yet only as they were common to the
Hebrew itself. Nor is there the smallest proof in
the book of Ezra, or of Nehemiah, that the writer of
either of them, any more than Soloman, was endowed
with a poetic style or genius, adequate to the com-
position of so sublime and energetic a production.
Ezra is indeed said to have been also the author of
the two apocryphal books called Esdras : but certainly
without any reason ; the first being a mere re-edition
of the book of Ezra, with a variety of fabulous matter
interwoven into it, — and the second, a palpable im-
posture, acknowledged neither by^ews nor Christians
of any kind ; and both of them much fitter for the
Alcoran than for the Bible, notwithstanding that the
former still holds a place in the canon of the Greek
church. It is to the discredit of Ezra to sup|X)se that
he could have made use of so corrupt and inflated a
style as these books evince ; and to ascribe them to

-him.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. liii

liini, is still farther to disqualify him from having been
the writer of the book of Job.

The remaining characters that have been pitched upon
as authors of this poem, are — Elihu; Job himself, or
in conjunction with the other dialogists ; and Mo«es.

Elihu has been advanced, chiefly by Lightfoot,
from an erroneous rendering of ver. l6, and 17, in
chapter xxxii. and the correction of which puts to
flight all Elihu's pretensions in a moment. Spanheim
supposes Job himself to have been the principal com-
piler of the work; and to have drawn it up, and given
it its present form, after his restoration to prosperity,
upon the strength of his own recollection, assisted by
that of his companions. He supposes also, that it
was originally written in Arabic, — and translated into
Hebrew, before or about the time of Soloman, by
some learned Hebrew, acquainted with the Arabic,
and moved by the divine Spirit to such an under-
taking'. Lowth concurs generally in the opinion
of Spanheim, and supposes Job himself, or some con-
temporary, to have been the author of the poem^.
Albert Schultens, and his friend Hackmann, are, on
the contrary, very positive that we have the work at
present in the words which vsrere actually spoken. The
mixt language of which these words consist, Schultens
calls Hebrew-Arabic : he contends, that it was the
vernacular language of Idumasa, in consequence of its

inhabitants

(l) Hist. Jobi, cap. xvi. par. ix.

■ 2) De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum^ Praelect. xxxii.

liv - INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

inhabitants being a joint progeny, from an Arabic and a
Hebrew stock ; and he conceives, that the fluent genius
and fine imagination of this accomphshed people were
sufficient to have prompted them to an extempora-
,neous dehvery of the entire argument, in both the
words and harmonious order in which it has descended
to us. This, of all the conjectures offered upon the
subject, seems to be the wildest. There are few people
perhaps, observes M. Vogel, who will suffer them-
selves to be thus persuaded.^ Without entering, how-
ever, into any minute detail concerning any of these
last opinions, it is sufficient to remark, that all of them
equally suppose the introduction of a foreign story,
drawn up by a foreigner himself, into the sacred canon
of the Jewish Scripture; — a supposition which is not
countenanced by any other part of the Scriptures, and
to which the national jealousy of the Jews appears
to have formed an insuperable barrier.

It only remains, then, to examine into the claim of
Moses, as the author of the book of Job.

To Moses, in truth, more than to any one, it has
been generally ascribed, in all nations, and perhaps
in all ages : and if we apply to him the tests advanced
above, and which are fatal to all the preceding charac-
ters, we shall find that there is not a single one to which
his history will not adapt itself. I have ventured to
assert, that the writer of this poem must, in his style,
have been equally master of the simple and of the

sublime :

(l) " Paucos fore, existimo, qui sibi hancce sententiam a Schul-
tensio persuader! patieiuur." Olserv, Crit, in Schult,

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. , IV

sublime ; that he must have been minutely and elabo-
rately acquainted with the astronomy, natural history,
and general science of his age ; that he must have
been a Hebrew by birth and native language, and an
Arabian by long residence and local study; and,
finally, that he must have flourished, and composed
the work, before the Eygptian exody. Now it is
obvious, that every one of these features is consum-
mated in Moses, and in Moses alone ; and that the
whole of them gives us his complete lineaments and
portraiture ; — whence there can be no longer any dif-
ficulty in determining as to the real author of the
poem. Instructed in all the learning of Egypt,' it
appears little doubtful that he composed it during
some part of his forty years' residence with the hos-
pitable Jethro, in that district of Idumsea which was
named Midian^

The only plausible exception, perhaps, that can be
advanced against the supposition that this poem was
written by Moses, and that he composed it while in
Midian, is, that it abounds with the word Jehovah-—
a word which does not appear to have been then known
to him ; and which was, for the first time, communi-
cated to him by the Almighty upon the commence-
ment of his undertaking: the deliverance of his Hebrew

brethren.

(2) Upon this point I readily avail myself of the authority of
Professor Michaelis. " I am much inclined to the opinion which
attributes this book to Moses. — If Moses were really the author of
the poem, he composed it about the age of forty : but the rest of
his poems were written between the eighty-fifth and one hundred
and twentieth year of his age." Note to Gottingen edit, of Loirtli
De Sacra Poesi Helrceorum, &c.

Ivi INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

brethren. It is highly probable^ however, that he was
in possession of this name long before the promulga-
tion of his poem ; and the novelty as well as the
honour of the communication might have induced
him at once to exchange whatever term he had ante-
cedently employed for this new and consecrated
term'.

In addition to these external proofs of identity, a little
attention will, I think, disclose to us an internal proof,
of peculiar force, in the close and striking similarity of
diction and idiom which exists between the book of
Job and those pieces of poetry which Moses is usually
admitted to have composed. Dr. Lowth, indeed, en-
deavours to draw one argument against the probability
that Moses was the author of this poem, from the
difference of its style, compared with that of the
avowed Mosaic writings. Upon which Michaelis ob-
serves, in reply, '^^ I am well av/are that there is more
of the tragic, more of strong poetic feeling, in this
book, than in the other relics of Mosaic poetry. But
how different ought to be the language and sentiments
of a man raging in the heights of despair, from those
which are to be sung in the temple of God ! We must

also

(l) The poem of Job is not the only book in which this prolepti-
cal use of the word Jehovah appears to be introduced : for although
we are distinctly told that this term v/as communicated to Moses
for the first time in Exodus vi. 3. it occurs nearly thirty times in
Genesis, and often in the addresses of the Patriarchs therastlvts to
the Supreme Being. In all which cases, it is clear tliat PJoses must
have made use of the same liberty v/hich I am supposing him to
have done in the Book of Job ; and have substituted Jeliovah for
Elohim, Adoni, or whatever other word had been actually employed
at the time. See the Author's Life of Dr. Geddcs, p. 374.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Ivil

also remember, that the poetic style of an author in
the flower of his youth, is very different from that of
his latter days : — nor have I been able to discover any
other difference^."

This point is worth examining : and the few follow-
ing examples may, perhaps, make some progress
towards settling the question, by exhibiting a very
singular proof of general parallelism.

The order of the Creation, as detailed in the first
chapter of Genesis, is precisely similar to that described
in Job xxxviii. 1...20; — the general arrangement,
which occupied the first day ; — the formation of the
clouds, which employed the second; — the separation
of the sea, which took up a part of the third ; — and the
establishment of the luminaries in the skies, which
characterized the fourth.

In this general description, as given in Genesis,
the vapour in the clouds, and the fluid in the sea, are
equally denominated ivaters. Thus v.Q,7 . And God
said, " Let there be a firmament in the midst of the
ivaters, and let it divide the waters from the ivaters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters which
were above the firmament."

Let us compare this passage with Job xxvi. 8, 10.

He driveth together the waters into his thick clouds ;
And the cloud is not rent under them. —
He setteth a bow on the face of the waters,
Till the consummation of light and of darkness.

These

(2) Note to the Gottingen edition of Lowth De Sacr. Poes.
Hebraeor.

Iviii INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

These are, perhaps, the only instances in the Bible
in which the cloudy vapours are denominated uaiers,
before they become concentrated into rain ; and they
offer an identity of thought, which strongly suggests
an identity of person.

The following is another very striking peculiarity
of the same kind, occurring in the same description ;
and is, perhaps, still more in point.

The combined simplicity and sublimity of Gen. i. 3.
" And God said, " Be, light ! and light wasV' has
been felt and praised by critics of every age. Pagan
and Mahommedan, as well as Jewish and Christian ;
and has by all of them been regarded as a characte-
ristic feature in the Mosaic style. In the poem before
us we have the following proof of identity of man-
ner, ch. XXX vii. 6.

Behold ! he saith to the snow, be I
On earth then falleth it. —
To the rain — and it falleth ; —
The rains of his might.

This can hardly be regarded as an allusion, but as an
instance of identity of manner. In the Psalmist we
have an allusion ; and it occurs thus, xxxiii. Q.

■■■ '^n'^"! nD« «^;n

He spake, and it existed:

and I copy it, that the reader may perceive the
difference. The eulogy of Longinus upon the passage
in Genesis is an eulogy also upon that in Job : and

the

(]) I give the more correct and emphatic rendering ot
Wiclif ; for that of the present day is as much feebler as it is more
pleonastic.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Hx

the Alcoran, in verbally copying the Psalmist, has
bestowed an equal panegyric upon all of them :

Dixit, "EsTo/' — et FUiT.'

With reference to the description of the creation, in
the book of Genesis,! shall only farther observe, that the
same simplicity of style, adapted to so lofty a subject,
characteristically distinguishes the writer of the book of
Job, who commonly employs a diction peculiarly plain,
whenever engaged upon a subject peculiarly magnifi-
cent ; as though trusting to the subject to support

itself, without the feeble aid of rhetorical ornaments.
Of this, the description of the tribunal of the Almighty,

given in the first and second chapters of the ensuing

poem, is a striking example ; as, indeed, I have already

remarked : and that of the midnight apparition in the

fourth chapter is no less so.

The following instances are of a more general

nature, and lead;, upon a broader principle, to the

same conclusion :

(l) In a former publication {Life of Dr. Geddes, p. 341) the
author has observed, that the Persians and Arabians have many simi-
lar allusions to this fine and forcible description, of which the
following from Ebn Arabshah is perhaps one of the best :

Fear not ! — what God ordains, thou yet shalt see :

Be ! let him say, and it shall instant be.
Swift as the glancing eye can rest or rove,

The saving Power is present from above.

Ix

INTRODUCTOEY DlSSERTATIOxV.

EXODUS, ch. XV.
Ver. 7. Thou sentest forth thy wrath,
Consuming them as stubble.

8 And witli the blast of thy nostrils

The waters were gathered together.
10 Thou didst blow with thy wind :
The sea covered them.

16 TERROR and DREAD shall fall upon
them :
By the might of thine arm they shall
be still as a stone.

DEUTERONOIWY, ch. xxviii.
92 And Jehovah shall smite thee with a
consumption ;
And with a fever, and with an inflamma-
tion ;
And with an extreme burning.
23 And thy heaven over thy head shall be
brass ;
And the earth under thee, iron.
?4 And Jehovah shall make the rain of thy
land, powder and dust ;
From heaven shall it come down upon

thee.
Until thou be destroyed.

28Jehovah shall smite thee with destruction,
And blindness, and astonishment of
heart.

29 And thou shalt grope at noon-day.
As the blind gropeth in darkness :
And thou shalt not prosper in thy ways :
And thou shalt only be oppressed.
And consumed continually.

S3 And it shall come to pass.
As Jehovah exulted over you.
To do you good, and to multiply you ;
So will Jehovah exult over you
To destroy you, and reduce you to
nought.

JOB.
xiii. 25. Wherefore accountest thou me thine
enemy ?
Wouldst thou hunt down the parched stubble f

iv. 9. By the blast of God they perish ;

And by the breath of his nostrils they are
consumed.

XV. 24. DISTRESS and ANGUISH dismay liim:
They overwhelm him,, as a king ready for
battle.

XX. 26. TERRORS shall be upon him—

Every HORROR, treasured up in reserve for
him.

A tire, unblown, shall consume him.
27 The heavens shall disclose his iniquity.

And the earth shall rise up against him.
xviii. 15. Brimstone sliall be rained down upon

his dwelling.
16 Below shall his root be burnt up.

And above shall his branch be cut off.

xii. 17. Counsellors he leadeth captive.
And judges !;? maketh distracted.

24 He bewildeieth the judgment of the leader*

of the people of a land.
And causeth them to wander in a pathless
desert -.

25 They grope about in darkness, even without

a glimpse :
Yea,hemaketh them to reel like the drunkard.

viii. 17. His roots shall be entangled in a rock ;
With a bed of stones shall he grapple :

18 Utterly shall it drink him up from his place ;
Yea, it shall renounce him, and say, " I ne-
ver knew thee."

19 Behold the Eternal, exulting in his course.
Even over his dust shall raise up another.

In this specimen of comparison, it is peculiarly
worthy of remark, that not only the same train of
ideas is found to recur, but, in many instances, the
same words, where others might have been employed,
and perhaps have answered as well ; the whole

obviously

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

Ixi

obviously resulting from that habit of thinking upon
subjects, in the same manner, and by means of the
same terms, whicli is common to every one, and which
distinguishes original identity from intentional imita-
tion. I will only advert to one instance, — the use of the
very powerful, but not very common verb vDU^, " to
exult," exiiltOs glorior^ yavpioi, which occurs in the last
verse of both the above passages, and is in each in-
stance equally appropriate ; ntiT' tD'^tT'^— ^,;2;^j i^in—
(jlw Jl^- The same term is again employed Job xxxix.
2J. to express the spirited prancing cf the high-
mettled war-horse. The above passage from ch. viii. 1 Q,
has not been generally understood, and has been given
erroneously in the translations. For the rendering
now offered, the reader must turn to the note on the
passage, in its proper place.

JOB.

DEUTERONOMY, ch. xxxii. .
Ver. 7. Reflect on the days of old ;

Contemplate the times of ages beyond

ages: (1)
Inquire of thy father, and he will shew

thee ;
Thine elders, and they will instruct thee.

13 He made him to suck honey out of the

rock,
And oil out of the flinty rock :

14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep.

15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked ;
Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown

thick.
Thou art enveloped with fatness.

.':i I will heap mischiefs upon them ;

I will spend mine arrows upon them.
42 1 will make mine arrows drunk with
blood.

viii. 8. For examine, I beseech thee, the past age.;

Yea, gird thyself to the study of its fore-
fathers ; —
10 Shall not they instruct thee, counsel thee.

And well forth the sayings of their wisdom 1

XX. 17. He shall not behold the branches of the
river ;

Brooks of honey and butter. —
xxix. 6. When my path flowed witii butter.

And the rock poured out for me rivers of oi!.

XV. 27. Though his face he enveloped with fat-
ness.
And heaped up fat on his loins.

vi. 4. The arrowsof the Almighty are within met
Their poison drinketh up my spirit :
The TERRORS of God set themselves in array
against me.

xvi. 13. His arrows fly around me ;

He pierceth my reins without mercy.

(1) Jges beyond ages.'] Such is the passage literally, and with the
same iteraiion, ^'^\^ ^i. The standard version, of " years of many
generations/' does not give us the exact sense.

Jxii

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

The fine pathetic elegy of the ninetieth psalm has
been usually ascribed to Moses ; and Dathe imagines
it was written by him a little before his death.
Kennicott and Geddes have some doubt upon this
point ; chiefly because the ultimate period assigned
in it to the life of man is fourscore years, while Moses
was at his death a hundred and twenty years old, yet
" his eye was not dim, nor his natural tone abated."
Deut. xxxiv. 7-

The following comparison will perhaps have a
tendency to confirm the general opinion, by rendering
it probable that its author and the author of the
t)ook of Job were the same person.

PSALM XC.

Ver. 5. They arc like the passing grass of

tlie morning ;
« In the morning it springeth up and
groweth.
In tlie evening it is cut down and
withereth.
7 For we are consumed by thine anger.

And by thy wrath are we troubled,
i Thou hast set our iniquities before thee ;
Our secret sins, in the light of thy coun-
tenance.

9 Behold, all our days are passed away in

thy wrath.
We spend our years as a tale that is told.

10 Their strength is labour and sorrow ; —
It is soon cut off, and we flee awajr.

li So teach us to number our days.
That we may apply our hearts unto
wisdom.

14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our

days.

15 Make us glad, according to the days of

our afBiction,
To the years we have seen evil :

16 Let thy wonders be shown unto thy

servants.
And thy glory unto their children :

17 And let the beauty of Jehovah, our God,

be upon us ;
And establish thou the work of our
hands.

JOB.

xiv. Q. He springeth up as a flower, and is cut
down;
Yea, he fleeth as a shadow, and endureth not.
S And dost thou cast thine eyes vipon sudi a
one ?
And wouldst thou bring me into judgment
with thyself .'

l6 Yet now art thou numbering my steps ;
Thou overlookest nothing of my sins : —

18 And, for ever, as the ci-umbling mountain

dissolvcth,
And the rock mouldereth away from his place,

19 So consumest thou the hope of man.

Thou iiarassest him continually till he perisli.

vii. 21. Why wilt thou not turn away from my
transgression.
And let my calamity pass by ?

xi. 14. If the iniquity of thy hand thou put away.
And let not wickedness dwell in thy taber-
nacles,—

16 Lo ! then shalt thou forget affliction ;

As waters passed by shalt thou remember it :

17 And brighter shall the time be than noon-

tide ;
Thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt grow vigo-
rous like the day-spring.

The

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Ix

III

The strictly and decidedly acknowledged productions
of Moses are but few ; and, in the above examples, I
have taken a specimen from by far the greater number.
It is, indeed, not a little astonishing, that being so
few, they should offer a resemblance in so many points'.
There may, at times, be some difficulty in determining
between the similarity of style and diction resulting from
established habit, and that produced by intentional
imitation. Yet, in the former case, it will commonly,
if I mistake not, be found looser, but more general ; —
in the latter, stricter, but more confined to particular
words or idioms, the whole of the features not having
been equally caught, while those which have been laid
hold off are given more minutely than in the case of
habit. The manner runs carelessly through every
part, and is perpetually striking us unawares : the copy
walks after it with measured but unequal pace, and
is restless in courting our attention. The specimens
of resemblance now produced are obviously of the
former find: both sides have an equal claim to ori-
ginality, and seem very powerfully to establish an unity
of authorship.

SECTION V.

CREED, DOCTRINES, AND RITUAL.

This inquiry will be found of no small moment
or importance. For if it have succeeded in fixing the
date of the book of Job at a period antecedent to the

Egyptian

(l) The attentive and curious reader may easily find out others:
and he may particularly compare Job. v. 17 — 26, with Deut. xxviii.
3 — 13 ; and Job xv. 20 — 35, and xviii. 5 — 21, with Deut. xxviii.

15—2-1.

Ixiv INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

Egyptian exody, and of course to the Mosaic insti-
tution, and in bringing home the composition to
Moses himself — then does this book immediately be-
come a DEPOSITORY OP PATRIARCHAL RELIGION, the bcst

and fullest depository in the world, and drawn up by
that very pen which waS most competent to do justice
to it. Then^ also do we obtain a clear and decisive
answer to the question which has so often been proposed,
— What is the ultimate intention of the book of Job?
and for what purpose is it introduced into the Hebrew
and Christian canons ? It will then appear, that it is
for the purpose of making those canons complete, by.
uniting, as full an account as is necessary of the dis-
pensation of the patriarchs, with the two dispensations
by which it was progressively succeeded. It will then
appear, that the chief doctrines of the patriarchal re-
ligion, as collected irom different parts of the poem,
were as follow :
I. The creation of the world by one supreme and

eternal Intelligence'.
II. Its regulation, by his perpetual and superintend-
ing providence*.
III. The intentions of his providence carried into
effect by the ministration of a heavenly-
hierarchy \

IV. An

(1) See especially the speech of Jehovah himself, from ch. xxxviii.
to ch. xli. inclusively.

(2) Ch. i. 9, 21. ii. 10. v. 8 — 27. ix. 4 — 13. and in almost every
•^nsuing chapter throughout the book.

C3) Ch. i. 6, 7. iii. 18, I9. v. 1. xxxiii. 22, 23.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. IxV

IV. The heavenly hierarchy, composed of various
ranks and orders, possessing different names,
dignities, and offices*,
v. An apostacy, or defection, in some rank or order
of these powers^: of which Satan seems to
have been one, and perhaps chief*.
VI. The good and evil powers or principles, equally
formed by the Creator, and hence equally de-
nominated " Sons of God ;" both of them
employed by him, in the administration of
his providence ; and both amenable to him
at stated courts, held for the purpose of re-
ceiving an account of their respective mis-
sions^.
VII. A day of future resurrection, judgment;, and re-
tribution, to all mankind^
VIII. The propitiation of the Creator, in the case of
human transgressions, by sacrifices^, and the
mediation and intercession of a righteous per-
son'".
Several of these doctrines are more clearly deve-
loped than others ; yet I think there are sufficient
grounds for deducing the whole of them. Some
critics may perhaps conceive, that the different names
by

(4) As oiec?i7re, servants 5 malacim, angeh; Tz/e/ixim, intercessors j
memitim, destinies, or destroyers j alep, the chiliad or thousand j
kedosim, sancti, the heavenly saints or hosts generally. See ch. iv. 18.
'xxxiii. 22, 23. v. 2. xv. 15. As also p. Ixxiv. of this Dissertation.

(5) Ch. iv. 18. XV. 15.

(6) Ch. i. 6—12. ii. 2—7. (7) Ch. i. 6, 7. ii. l.

(8) Ch. xiv. 13, 14, 15, xix. 25—29. ^xi. 30. xxxi, 14.

(9) Ch.i. 5. xlii. 8. (10) Ch. xlii. 8, 9.

f

Ixvi

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

by which the heavenly host are characterized, may be
mere synonyms, and not designed to import any va-
riety of rank or order. Yet the names themselves,
in most instances, imply distinctions, though we are
not informed of their nature, d^ddo [Memitim) Des-
tinies, or Destroyers, Ministers of Death, cannot pos-
sibly apply to all of them, and appear to be nearly syno-
nymous with the Mopai, Alaai, or Faroe, of the Greek
and Roman writers. The term itself, indeed, is ob-
viously used in a limited and appropriate sense in
ch. xxxiii. 23, and is distinctly opposed to d^5«^d {ma~
lacim) angels ; a^v^^o (melizim) intercessors ; and fi^«
(alep) chiliad or thousand :

As his soul draweth near to the grave.
And his life to the destinies.
Surely will there be over him an angel.
An INTERCESSOR, — one of the thousand.

Our established lection, for destinies, gives de-
stroyers, which is a good word, but less appropriate.
In 2 Sam. xxiv. l6, 17, the ministring spirit employed
is exhibited under the character of the destroying
ANGEL, and in 1 Cor. x. 10. is 6 "OXodpivrdi- ; which, in
our common version, is still rendered the destroyer:
though the verb destroy, which immediately precedes
it, is diruXovTo ; " Neither murmur ye, as some of them
also murmured, and were destroyed o^tyl^ Destroyer."

The general term for the whole of these different
ranks appears to be D^t^ip (kedosim), " sancti, or holy
ones." D^ni? (obedim) " ministers or servants," seems
to convey, in every instance in which it occurs, a sub-
ordinate idea, in office as well as in name, to d''5w^d
(malacim) " angels, thrones, or princedoms." ^^m
(alep) " the chiliad or thousand" distinctly imports a

particular

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Ixvii

particular corps or class ; and is probably denominated,
by a rule common to most countries and languages,
from the number of which it consisted, — as militia,
centurion, decemvir, heptarch, tithingman.

The same general belief has descended, in Arabia, to
the present day ; and forms a distinct and prominent
doctrine of the Alcoran. The Memit, " Destroying
Angel or Destiny," of the poem before us, is there
denominated Azrael; as the " Angel of Resurrection,"
or he who is to sound the trumpet at that solemn
period, is called Israfil. Both these are supposed to
belong to the most dignified order of the heavenly
hierarchy, which is named^zaz//, and of which Gabriel
and Michael are also members. Satan (who is still
thus denominated, as he is also Ehlis or Perdition^ from '
his present hopeless state) is conceived to have been
of the same order, before his defection. In a subordi-
nate order, v/e meet with two angels of considerable
celebrity in the Mahommedan mythology, who are
entitled Examiners, and whose names are Monker and
Nakvr: the title of Examiners being given to them
from their office of examining the dead, immediately
on their decease, preparatory to their happiness or
misery. The doom of Satan, and of those who fell
with him, will not take place till that of mankind, at
the general resurrection; till yvhen, agreeably to the
doctrine of the book of Job, they are permitted,
under the superintendance of the Almighty, to roam
about the world, and prove mankind by temptations
and afflictions ; two guardian angels, however, being in
the mean time assigned to every man for his protection,

f 2 who

Ixviii INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATIOX.

who impartially notice and write down his actions;
and these angels are supposed to be relieved daily.

In addition to this regular hierarchy, the modern
Arabians, and indeed the Mahommedans in general,
believe in the existence of a still lower race of beings,
filling up the intermediate space between men and
angels, whom they denominate Jin, or Genii (^y?-)>
formed, like the angels, of fire, but of a grosser fabric,
who eat and drink, propagate their kind, are both
good and bad, are subject to death, and will, like
mankind, be rewarded or punished at the resurrection ' :
the whole of which is a palpable appendage to the
original tenets of Arabia, and of the patriarchs in ge-
neral, as communicated in the poem before us ; and
was probably borrowed from the Persians.

The general doctrine, indeed, and under the form
here supposed, of a series of ascending orders, has
been common to almost all ages, countries, and reli-
gions, and was in all probability derived, in every
instance, from patriarchal tradition. " The ancient
Persians," observes Mr. Sale, " firmly believe the mi-
nistry of angels, and their superintendence over the
affairs of this world (as the Magians still do), and
therefore assign them distinct charges and provinces,
giving their names to their months, and the days of
their months." Mr. Sale, however, appears to be in
an error, in supposing that the Arabians derived this
general doctrine from the Persian sages ; since it is
obvious, from the present poem, that it existed in

Arabia

(l) Alcoran, sur. xiii. xvii. xxxii. and Ixxix. See also Sale's Pre-
lirainar)' Discourse, Sect. \v.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION, Ixix

Arabia before the earliest date that can be attributed
to either of the Zoroastres, from whom the Persians
derived their rehgion.

From the East the same system flowed successively
into Greece and Rome, and is thus distinctly appealed
to by Hesiod, who calculates the whole number of
heavenly guards, or deputies, appointed to watch over
the earth, at thirty thousand ; Op. et Dies, I. 246.

'Eyyi/c yap Iv dvQpuiroiaiv bovte<;

^Addvaroi Xevcraovaiy, oiroi ffKoXirjcri ^iKrjffi
'AXktjXovg rpifiovai, deuv oiriv ovk dXiyovrcg.
TpU yap fivpioi elffiv ivl -^^dovl irovXvfioTtipri
^AddvaTOi Zrfvog, (j)vXaK£? dvr)TU)V dvQpdiruV
O'l pa (^vXdtraovaiv re ^kag kuI er^f'rXm epya,
'Hcpa iaced^evoi, Trdrrrj (I>oituvts^ iw aiav.
For, watchful, station'd near mankind, the Gods
Behold their mutual contests, the foul wrongs
Oft they commit, regardless of their ire.
Thrice- told ten thousand blest immortals walk.
Guardians of man, around this goodly earth.
And mark his virtues, his transgressions mark ;
Etherial-veil'd, and wand'ring at their will.

WhenceMilton, iir exquisite poetry, vying with Hesiod,
but derived from a superior source ; Par. Lost, IV. 677,

" Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep.
All these, with ceaseless praise, his works behold.
Both day and night. How often, from the steep
Of echoing hill or thicket, have we heard
Celestial voices, through the midnight air.
Sole or responsive to each other's note,
Singing their great Creator ! Oft, in bands.
While they keep watch ; or, nightly walking round.
With heavenly touch of instrumental sounds.
In full harmonic number join'd j their songs
Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to heaven."

The

Ixx INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

The source from which these Hnes are derived, is the
Bible; and it is of far more consequence to us that
the doctrine they develope pervades the Bible, than that
it pervades any other woj-k; and especially that it runs
through the whole of the Scriptures, both Jewish and
Christian, from Genesis to the Revelations — there
being scarcely a book which has not a reference to
it, — and without a single caution or hint that the
language employed is merely figurative, or designed
to convey any other than the obvious and popular idea
which must necessarily have been attached to it by
those to whom it was delivered. Thus especially
Coloss. i. 16. in which we have, in few words, a de-
scription of invisible as well as visible beings inha-
biting the earth, and the different orders of which
the hierarchy consists : " For by him were all things
created that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
VISIBLE and invisible, whether Thrones, or Domi-
nions, or Principalities, or Pow^ers." Whence
Milton iigain. Par. Lost, V. 60O.

" Hear all ye angels,, progeny of light,
Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers ! "

Milton has understood this passage of St. Paul in
the sense in which Mr. Locke laments that all the
different passages of the Scriptures have not been
uniformly understood. " What you say," observes
he, to his friend Mr. Bold, " about critics and critical
interpretations, particularly of the Scriptures, is not
only, in my opinion, true, but of great use to be ob-
served in reading learned commentators, who, not
seldom, make it their business to show in what sense
a word has been used by otfier authors : whereas the

proper

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Ixxi

proper business of a commentator is to show in
what sense it was used by the author himself in that
place ; which, in the Scripture, we have reason to
conclude, was most commonly in the ordinary vulgar
sense of the word or phrase known at that time,
because the books were written and adapted to the
peopled"

Bishop Horsley, in the last sermon he ever com-
posed, and which is full of that boldness of thought,
and manliness of style, so peculiarly characteristic of
his writings, (the text, Dan. iv. J7) seems, in various
parts of it, open to Mr. Locke's animadversion ; and
especially, in contending that the term "Michael," or
" Michael the Archangel," wherever it occurs, is no-
thing more than a name for our Saviour ; and that the
watchers and holy ones of his text import no other than
the different persons of the Trinity. He warmly in-
veighs against the doctrine that " God's government
of this lower world is carried on by the administration
of the holy angels (and those, continues he, who
broached this doctrine could tell us exactly how many
orders there are, and how many angels in each order) —
that the different orders have their different depart-
ments in government assigned to them ; some, con-
stantly attending in the presence of God, form his
cabinet council ; others are his provincial governors ;
every kingdom in the world having its appointed
guardian angel, to whose management it is intrusted :
others again are supposed to have the charge and

custody

(l) Familiar Letters, &c.

Ixxii INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

custody of individuals. This system is in truth no-
thing better than Pagan polytheism, somewhat dis-
guised and quaHfied ; for, in the Pagan system, every
nation had its tutelar deity, all subordinate to Jupiter,
the sire of gods and men. Some of these prodigies
of ignorance and folly, the rabbin of the Jews, who
lived since the dispersion of the nation, thought all
would be well, if, for tutelar deities, they substituted
tutelar angels. From this substitution the system
which I have described arose ; and from the Jews, the
Christians, with other fooleries, adopted it'."

The order of transmission is here strangely con-
fused : for, instead of Christian dotards having obtained
this doctrine from rabbinical dotards, and these again
from Pagan dotards, the plain and common sense of the
terms referred to in the very ancient poem before us —
those of a synonymous kind employed in other books
of the Old and and New Testaments' — the unequivocal
tradition concurrent in all the highest ages of all the
■ most ancient nations in every part of the world — seem
to establish, as clearly as any thing of the kind can be
established, that such a doctrine was of patriarchal
belief, — that it existed among mankind almost, or
perhaps altogether, from their first creation, — and
that it has descended with them, in every ramification

and direction.

The

(1) Sermons, vol.11, p. 412.

(2) See especially 2 Sam. xxiv. i6, 17; the whole prophecy of
Daniel j the vision of Micaiali, 1 Kings xxii. 3 the passages of St.
Paul above noticed, 1 Cor. x. 10; Coloss. i. 16; the Epistle of St.
Jude J and the Apocalypse.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. /XXlll

The whole that can be objected upon the subject
is, that it h;i.s been, at various times and in various
modes, abused ; and this, in truth, after all his appa-
rent opposition, is the whole that appears intended by
Dr. Horsley ; since, immediately afterwards, he as-
serts as follows: ''That the holy angels are often
employed by God in his government of this sub-
lunary world, is indeed clearly to be proved by holy
writ: that they have powers over the matter of the
universe analogous to the powers over it which men
possess, greater in extent, but still limited, is a thing
which might reasonably be supposed, if it were not
declared : but it seems to be confirmed by many pas-
sages of holy writ, from which it seems also evident
that they are occasionally, for certain specific purposes,
commissioned to exercise those powers to a prescribed
extent. That the evil angels possessed, before the
fall, the like powers, which they are still occasionally
permitted to exercise for the punishment of wicked na-
tions, seems also evident. That they have a power
over the human sensory (which is part of the material
universe), which they are occasionally permitted to
exercise, by means of which they may inflict diseases,
suggest evil thoughts, and be the instruments of
temptations, must also be admitted ^"

And, all this being admitted, there seems no great
difficulty in conceiving that a God of oi-der would
arrange the hosts of the invisible as he has those of
the visible world, into gradations of various kinds,

endowed

(3) Id. p. 415,416.

Ixxiv INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

endowed with various powers ; — that " one of these
morning-stars may differ, at present, from another
star in glory/' as we are told the beatified spirits of
mankind will differ, hereafter : and with this admission
there does not appear to be any necessity for wander-
ing, as Dr. Horsley (and before him Mr. Parkhurst)
has done, from the common and obvious sense of his
text, into a recondite and hypothetical explanation.

One of the chief arguments urged by the learned
prelate, in support of his interpretation, that the
terms "watchers" and "holy ones" import the Three
Persons in the Godhead, is, that his text affirms that
" this matter is by the decree of the watchers, and
the DEMAND of the v/ord of the holy ones ;" indi-
cating an authority which none but the Godhead
could possess, since no other being, however exalted,
can decree, although he may execute. This, however,
is to give the text a Hebrew rather than a Chaldaic
bearing, in which last language the English reader
should be informed that it is written. More strictly
rendered, and in the direct order of. the words, it is as
follows : " To the division of the Ourin (pii> watchers,
or those that keep watch) is the decree ; and to the
charge of the Kedosin (ptyiip heavenly host) the in-
trospection ;" i. e. " looking into it," to see that the
decree is carried into effect. It is, in truth, the com-
mon clause with which the imperial decrees of the East
close, even in the present day; and which gives autho-
rity to the ministers appointed to execute them, and
to those appointed to see that they are executed : and
is hence powerfully in favour of an ascending scale of
angels, instead of being adverse to it. The term "T))?

or

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. IxXV

or piv (Our or Ourin, watcher or watchers) is by no
means common ; but, in every instance I am acquainted
with, it imports subordinate luatching, or " keeping
watch," as on a military station, and not supreme in-
tendence, or over-ruHng providence. The same term
occurs in the Syriac, and is uniformly employed in
the same sense, ;aii. and x^jl^^ ; which are the terms
actually made use of in the Syriac version of the New
Testament, 1 Tim. iii. 2. " a bishop must be — vigi-
lant" (•^) ; and Luke xii. 3/. " Blessed are those
whom our Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching"
(i',j^). The term ptynp {Kedosin, heavenly hosts) is
still less applicable to the Godhead ; for in Job xv. 15.
it imports defective angels, or, as rendered in our com-
mon version, " saints in whom the Godhead putteth
no trust ;" and in Job v. 1. it imports the heavenly hosts
generally.

The doctrine of an apostacy among the celestial
orders, which I have ventured to ascribe to the pa-
triarchal religion from the poem before us, is derived
from two or three passages that may perhaps admit
of a different explanation, — but of no other explana-
tion, as it appears to me, that can afford an obvious
sense. In cli. i. and ii. Satan is abruptly, and without
ceremony, introduced as an evil spirit, as though the
writer of the poem felt it unnecessary to offer a syllable
upon the subject, from the general notoriety of the
fact. In ch. iv. 18. the passage runs as follows :

Behold ! he cannot confide in his servants.

And chargeth his angels with default.

What, then, are the dwellers in houses of clay ? — &c.

which^ in St. Jerom^ is rendcred_, " Ecce 1 qui serviunt

ei.

JXXVl INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

ei. non sunt stabiles; et in angelis suis reperit
pravitatem ;" " Behold, those who serve him, are not
STABLE, and in his angels he findeth pravity or de-
fection;"— evidently alluding to those, in the lan-
guage Or ot. Jude, Toi/e fit) Tf]pijiTavTa<; rtjv iavruv dpyrjy,

" Who kept not their first estate ;" and not, even in-
directly, applicable to those who had been tried and
found faithful, though it has been thus explained
occasionally. The Hebrew rhr^T) is by no means suf-
ciently expressed by folly, as in our established
version. Its radical meaning is *^ want of continuity,"
XiTOTtig, as in the interstices of a garment that may be
seen through, ^i^ *fuuj — I should in the text now
offered have preferred defection to default, as being
equally the radical sense of the term ; but was afraid
of being accused of systematizing.

In chap. XV. 15. the same fact is again alluded to,
and in terms equally strong, and equally general, as
though of universal publicity :

Behold ! he cannot confide in his ministers.

And the heavens are not clean in his sight.

How much less, then, abominable and corrupt man ! — &c.

Where, observes Tyndal, *' under the name of the he-
vens understandeth he the aungels;" on which account
the Alexandrine version gives A2TPA ^e ovk dfiifiirra,
" the STARS are not clean" — i. e. the morning stars.
It is, in truth, under this precise image that the same
fact is a third time referred to in the speech of Bildad,
ch. XXV. 5 ; though, for want of due attention, it has
seldom been understood to have this reference :

Behold ! even the moon — and it abideth not,

And the stars are not pure in his sight :

How much less man, a worm !— &c.

The

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Ixxvii

The common close, or burden, drawn from the greater
impurity of man, shows obviously that this is the sense
in which it ought to be understood. And the different
passages, taken collectively, lead, if I mistake not, to a
clear proof that the defection among the heavenly hosts
was generally known at the time the poem was com-
posed, and is, in all of them, generally referred to'.

Concerning the doctrine of an universal resurrec-
tion and retribution, the poem, upon a cursory view,
may in many places appear to be at variance with
itself; for there are several passages which at first
sight seem to point to an opposite conclusion : and
hence a cloud of learned and excellent men in all
ages, from St. Chrysostom and St. Ambrose among
the fathers, to Le Clerc, Reiske, Vogel, Michaelis,
Warburton, Geddes, and Stock, among modern com-
mentators, have denied that any such doctrine is fairly
to be collected from the poem as a whole. The ques-
tion is therefore entitled to be examined with minute
attention.

It

( l) This doclriae, indeed, is among the oldest of those acknowledged
in India, as well as in Arabia ; and is common to the Vedas, and to
the mystical poems which are founded upon their principles. Thus in
Sir W. Jones's Extracts from the Veda, vol. VI. 418, 419.

" But what are tliey ? Others yet greater, Gandawas, Asuras, Raashasas,
companies of spirits, Pisaehas, Uragas, and Grahas, have we seen de-
stroyed.
" But what are they ? Others still greater have been changed— ^wen the
Sufes or angels hurled from their stations."

So in the last book of the Ramayan :

" What being exists but God, who was never seduced — whom nothing has
provoked to wrath, or stimulated to vengeance ? whose fame has never
been blemished by pride ? whom ambition has never captivated with
Jalse views of greatness ?"

IxXViii INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

It must be admitted, that the only person, amidst
all the interlocutors, who distinctly alludes to the
subject, either on the one side or the other, is Job
himself: and it certainly appears not a little extraor-
dinary, that none of his companions, when reminding
him, in succession, of the advantages of real contri-
tion, and a restoration to the favour of the Almighty,
should, even in the remotest manner, direct his attention
to a future as well as to a present reward : and it is
hence, perhaps, but fair to conceive, that the doctrine
of an after-state was no more in universal reception
in the last of what may be denominated the patriar-
chal ages, than it was among the Jews at the advent
of our Saviour ; and that the friends of Job did not
themselves accede to it. Yet, in opposition to such
a conclusion, there are two or three passages in the
different speeches of Job which distinctly refer to it,
as a doctrine in general acceptation, and admitted by
his companions themselves. But let us trace the
principal passages which have any relation to the sub-
ject, in the succession in which they occur : and, in
order to our reconciling the wide difference they ex-
hibit, it should be constantly borne in mind, that they
are only brought forward by a man who, in the midst
of extreme bodily pain, and the most complicated
mental affliction that ever fell to the lot of any one^
is perpetually agitated by every change of contending
passions — hope, fear, confidence, despondency, indig-
nation, tenderness, submission, and triumph ; each
abruptly breaking upon the other, and frequently hur-
rying him away from his habitual principles to an

utterance

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Ixxix

utterance of transitory thoughts, urged by transitory
feelings \

The following are the chief passages against the
existence of a future Hfe :

CHAP. XIV. 18 — 22.
And, for ever, as the crumbling; mountain dissolveth.
And the rock mouldereth away from his place.
As the waters wear to pieces the stones.
As their overflowings sweep the soil from the land,—
So consumest thou the hope of man ;
Thou harassest him continually till he perish ;
Thou weariest out his frame, and despatchest him.
His sons may come to honour, but he shall know it not ;
Or they may be impoverished, but he shall perceive nothing of them :
For his flesh shall drop away fiom him ;
And his soul shall become a waste from him.

CHAP. XVI. 22, CH. XVII. 1.
But the years numbered to me are come.
And I must go the way whence I shall not return :
My spirit is seized hold' of ; my days are extinct 5
Mine are the sepulchres.

CHAP. XVII. 11.
My days, my projects, are all over :
The resolves of my heart are rent asunder.
Night is assigned me for day,
A light bordering on the regions of darkness.
While I tarrj', the grave is my home ;
I am making my bed in the darkness.
I exclaim to corruption, " Thou art my father !"
To the WORM, " My mother ! and my sister '."
And where, in such a state, are my hopes ?
Yea, my hopes ! — who shall point them out ?
To the grasp of the grave must they fall a prey.
Altogether are they below in the dust.

CHAP.

(1) See his confession to this effect, in various places, especially
ch. vi. 24, 26.

IXXX INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

CHAP. XXX. 24, 25.
But not into the sepulchre will he thrust his hand ;
Surely there, in its ruin, is freedom.
Should I not then weep for the ruthless day ?
My soul lament for the rock .'

Upon all these passages it may be observed, that
they rather refer to an insensibility or dissipation of
the soul upon death, than to the question of a re-
existence or resurrection at some future period : and
hence they cannot strictly be said to annihilate this
latter doctrine. In the midst of his deepest despon-
dency, as expressed in these extracts, the speaker still
alludes to his hopes,, though to hopes which, at the
immediate moment, he felt incapable of cherishing ;
still proving, however, that even on such occasions
the DOCTRINE itself was known to him, and existed
before him, and had been agitated by him, although
his fears or his sufferings impelled him at the time to
relinquish it. It should also be observed, that, except
the last of these passages, they are all uttered in the
earlier part of his affliction, when the disease itself
appears to have raged most violently, and the re-
proaches of his companions to have been most bitter.
From chap. xix. he seems in a considerable degree to
have recovered possession of himself: he is conscious of
his superiority over the speeches urged against him ;
and for the most part exchanges his exclamations and
complaints for sound logical reasoning. And, from
this period, the only relapse into a state of despon-
dency and disbelief, in any way discoverable, is con-
tained in the last quotation.

The following are the chief passages in favour of a
future existence :

CHAP.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. IxXXl

CHAP. XIV. 10 — 15.
But man dieth, and mouldereth : —
But the mortal expireth — and where is he ?
As the billows pass away with the tides.
And the floods are exhausted and dried up,
So man lieth down, and riseth not :
Till the heavens be dissolved, they will not awake ;
No — they will not rouse up from their sleep. —
O ! that thou wouldst hide me in the grave,
Wouldst conceal me— till thy wrath be past ;
That thou wouldst appoint me a fixt time, and remember ml '.

But if a man die — shall he, indeed, live again ? —
All the days of my appointment will I wait —
Till my renovation come. —
Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee ;
Thou shalt yearn towards the work of thy hands.

This is a very important passage, in relation to the
general question ; and is, at the same time, full of
poetic beauty of every kind. It proves the tumult of
the speaker's mind, and the abruptness and transition
of his feelings. It is demonstrative of the existence
of the DOCTRINE of a future state, because it is here
fully brought forward, and reasoned upon : but it
shows, also, that though the doctrine was at that era
in existence, it admitted of debate ; and that the
speaker himself, under the immediate pressure of
suffering, at one moment doubted, and at another
was thoroughly convinced.

CHAP. XIX. 23 — 29.
O ! that my words were even now written down ;
O ! that they were engraven on a table ;
With a pen of iron, upon lead !
That they were sculptured in a rock for ever !
For " I know that my Redeemer liveth,
" And will ascend at last upon the earth :
" And, after the disease hath destroyed my skin,
" That, in my flesh, I shall see God :
" Whom I shall see for myself,

g "And

IxXXii INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

" And my own eyes shall behold, and not another's,
" Though my reins be consumed within me."
Then shall ye say " How did we persecute him!"
When the root of the matter is disclosed in me.
O tremble for yourselves before the sword ;
For fierce is the vengeance of the sword :
Therefore beware of its judgment.

For the different senses which have been given to
this sublime passage, I must refer the reader to the
note upon it in the regular order of the poem. Taken
in connection with the preceding, and succeeding pas-
sages, it appears decisive, not only as to the existence
of the doctrine at the era in which the work was
composed, but as to the speaker's complete and tri-
umphant persuasion of it at the moment of its being
uttered. The word " stand upon the earth," as given
in our common version, is a very feeble and inadequate
rendering: theHebrew mp'' signifies, indeed, " to stand,"
but more correctly " to stand up," — ^'^ mount," " rise
up," " ascend." It is here, and in various other places,
a forensic term, and in such instances should always
be rendered " ascend," i. e. to the j udgment-seat. It
is used in the very same sense in chap. xxxi. 14. where
our common lection, instead o^ stand, translates it rise
up ; " when God riseth up ;" which is a better signifi-
cation than the former, but still remote and inade-
quate. The bold and severe apostrophe of the speaker
to his companions, in the passage that immediately
follows, proves obviously that the whole refers to the
solemn judgment of the Almighty.

CHAP. XXI. 28, 30.
For " Where, say ye, is the house of this mighty one ?
" Yea — where, the fixt mansion of the wicked .' —
" Lo ! against the day of destruction are the wicked reserved ;
" In the day of vengeance shall they be brought forth."

CHAP.

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Ixxxiii

CHAP. XXXI. 13, 14.
If I have slighted the cause of my man-servant, or my maid-servant,
In their controversies with me,
What then shall I do, when God ascendeth ;
And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him ?

In the last passage, oip'', as I have ah*eady observed,
is doubtless used forensically, ascendeth, i. e. " to the
tribunal or judgment-seat;" and not " risethup," as in
our established lection. The speaker is immediateU^
adverting to the manner in which he had conducted
himself as emir or chief magistrate of Uz, and the
strict justice he had uniformly endeavoured to admi-
nister at the tribunal of the gate. The passage cannot .
be misunderstood, and seems decisive^ not only of the
existence of the doctrine of a future judgment at the
•era before us, but of the speaker's habitual belief
of it, considering that he was now debating coolly
and argumentatively, and free from the influence of
passion.

The quotation immediately preceding it, may, per-
haps, admit of a different interpretation, if considered
by itself; yet, as it ought not to be considered by it-
self, but in conjunction with collateral passages, the
proper and intended sense is fixt at once. This quo-
tation is of consequence, not only as leading to a proof
of the existence of the doctrine, and the speaker's
assent to it, when dispassionately arguing upon the
subject, but as ascribing the same assent, as a known
and admitted fact, to his companions ; for he puts the
words into their mouths in their own presence.

Upon the whole, it seems clear then, I think, that
the doctrine of a future existence, and state of retri-
bution, was fully known at the age in which the book

g 2 of

Ixxxiv INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

of Job was composed ; and that it was fully acceded
to by Job himself, when free from the influence of
desponding passions: but it does not seem perfectly
clear that it was equally acceded to by his companions.
It seems evident, also, that the whole expectation of
a future state was grounded upon a resurrection of the
body ; and that the doctrine of a separate existence of
the soul — which, in conjunction with that of a corpo-
real resurrection, runs, in my judgment, so plainly
through the entire texture of the Christian scriptures —
is no where supported by the speakers ; and, from va-
rious passages, appears rather to have been disbelieved.
It is curious, therefore, to remark the different
ground of argument assumed in favour of a future
state, in the present poem, — and hence, perhaps, by
the patriarchal times generally, — and that assumed by
the philosophers of Greece and Rome, who assented
to the same doctrine ; the former appealing alone to a
resurrection of the body, and appearing to have no
idea of a distinct immortality of the soul ; and the
latter appealing alone to a distinct immortality of the
soul, and appearing to have no idea of a resurrection
of the body. It remained for that dispensation which
has " brought life and immortality to light," — the
resurrection of the body, and the real nature of the
soul, — to reconcile the discrepancy, and give to each
ground of argument its proper force'.

The

(l) There can be little doubt that the Greeks and Romans derived
their doctrine of a future existence (as dependent upon the soul alone)
from the gymnosophists of India, and that it was imported into

Europe

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. IxXXV

The only existing heresy that occurs to us in the
course of the poem, is that of magic or incantation ;
and the only idolatry that of Sabeism, or the worship
of the heavenly bodies. The first is glanced at in
chap. iii. 8, and the second in chap. xxxi. 26 ; and both,
were additional proofs wanting, would concur in cor-
roborating its high antiquity ; for they are among the
oldest subjects to be met with in history or tradition ; —
the first being known to have been professed and practised

by

Europe by Pythagoras, perhaps by Orpheus, along with the other
tenets derived from the same source : and it is singular to observe
the same doctrine existing in the same quarter, under the same
modification, (and only under that modification) even to the pre-
sent hour : the subsequent Hfe of the soul being allowed, but that of
the body being distinctly and perpetually opposed. Thus, in the
YajurVeid, Sir W. Jones's Works, vol. VI. Extracts from the Feids.
" Since the tree, when felled, springs again, still fresher, from the root,

from what root springs mortal man when felled by the hand of death ?
" Say not he springs from seed : seed surely comes from the living. A
tree, no doubt, rises from seed, and after death has a visible renewal.
" But a tree which they have plucked up by the root, flourishes indivi-
dually no more. From what root, then, springs mortal man, when
felled by the hand of death ?
Say not he was born before : he is born : who can make him spring again
to birth?"

So, in another passage of the same Veid :

" Let my soul return to the immortal spirit of God j and then let my
body, which ends in ashes, return to dust."

It is equally singular, that in Arabia the doctrine of a future being
still exists; and perhaps only exists, as in the poem before us, under
the opposite modification, of the resurrection of the body. To this
doctrine the Alcoran is perpetually appealing : but we meet with no
distinct notice of a separate existence of the soul ; and hence the
point is controverted by different sects and scholars, and in a great
variety of ways explained and denied.

IxXXvi INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

by collegiate bodies in Egypt before the Mosaic era ;
and the second being coinmonly referred^ for its origin,
to a date antecedent to that of Abraham, and by Mai-
monides to a period nearly as early as that of Seth —
his son Sabius, according to the Sabeans themselves,
having invented and propagated it. Be this as it may,
there can be no doubt that it is of much earlier birth
than either image-worship or the deification of heroes,
which have usually, and perhaps correctly, been re-
garded as its abominable progeny. The duration of
Sabeism is also as remarkable as its antiquity ; for, in
the territory of Bassora, it is still to be found in a sect
who denominate themselves, but for what reason is
uncertain, the Christians of St. John.

The form of the present poem, contemplated as
a depository of patriarchal faith, is also entitled to
attention, and is almost as much in favour of a very
early origin as any circumstance that has yet been
noticed. All the religious institutes of the highest
antiquity, of which we have any account, were deli-
vered in poetry, and under the shape of history, real
or fictitious. Such is probably the Zend-Avesta
(though its actual rhythm, like that of Hebrew poetry,
seems no longer to be known), if we may judge from
the Sadder, a book used by the Magi, containing an
account of the laws and precepts of the Parsees,
avowedly drawn up from the Zend-Avesta, and written
in Persian verse'. Such unquestionably are the Vedas,

being

(l) The date of the Zend-Avesta is by no means ascertained with
precision. It is uniformly ascribed to Zoroaster: but there seems

to

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. IxXXVil

being composed in ashloks, or rather 'slocas, or stanzas
of four lines each ; the two first books of which affect an
antiquity superior to that of the Mosaic era. Such,
also, is the Shu-King, compiled by Confucius, and
perhaps the three other Kings, constituting collectively
the theology of the Chinese" ; and such are the Orphic
fragments of Greece, and the Edda of Iceland. It is,
however, peculiarly worthy of remark, that Arabia has
more pretensions, and especially more pretensions of
very high antiquity, to such a mode of communication,
than any other country whatever. Its customs and
manners, the agreeableness of its climate, the beauty
and variety of its prospects, and, above all, the force
and richness and elegance of its language, concurred,
at a very early period, to render poetry an object
of universal attraction ; so that the rise of a poet in
an Arabian tribe was one of the principal sources of
public rejoicing: and hence, as far as almost any nation

canr

to have been two distinguished characters of this name ; one con-
temporary, or nearly so, with Cyaxares I. and who was probably
both spiritual and temporal sovereign of Persia ; and the other,
founder of the Magian hierarchy, coeval with Darius Hystaspes.
The former of these is conceived to be the same with the Heomo
of the Zendish books, or the Horn of the ancient Persian or Pahlavi.
It is conjectured, moreover, that some part of the Zend-Avesta, and
especially its prayers and invocations, is a subsequent additament,
not earlier than the reign of Ardeshir, or Artaxerxes, the founder
of the Sassanian dynasty ; perhaps not much earlier than the Mahom-
medan invasion.

(2) For a concise, but accurate and interesting, account of all
which, the reader cannot possibly be referred to a more excellent
work than " Hor^ Biblic^, Part II." by Charles Butler, Esq.

IxXXViii INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

can look back through the medium of profane history,
we find a sort of poetical academy instituted in this
country, which, with a view of maintaining a due
spirit of emulation, used annually to assemble at
Ocadh, where every poet produced his best composi-
tion ; and where the different tribes, to which the
poets belonged, waited for the award of the judges,
who were appointed to decide on their respective
merits, with as much anxiety as the writers of the
poems themselves. This assembly was suppressed by
Mahommed, partly as interfering with his very oppo-
site views of warfare, but chiefly because many of the
poems recited on such occasions were filled with
severe and appropriate sarcasms upon himself: among
the principal of which were those recited by Caab
Ben Zohair, whose destruction was consequently
panted for by Mahommed with long and unmitigated
eagerness.

The subjects made choice of on these occasions
were religious, moral, or pastoral : in their arrange^
ment they were often argumentative ; and in their
form, either soliloquies, dialogues, or narratives. It is
to this assembly we are indebted for the Moallakat,
or seven pre-eminent casseidas or eclogues, which
were transcribed in characters of gold upon Egyptian
paper, and suspended on the walls of the Caaba, or
principal temple at Mecca. Of these, the sixth and
seventh should be united ; for they constitute two
antagonist declamations or arguments, advanced by
Amru and Hareth, whose names they respectively
bear, in favour of the superior merits of their respec-
tive tribes, and were delivered before Amru, son of

Hinda,

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. Ixxxix

Hinda, king of Hira in Mesopotamia, who undertook
the office of umpire. And in this view of the subject,
they have, so far as relates to external form, a very
near resemblance to the adverse orations or arguments
of which the great body of the ensuing poem consists;
and, like it, are founded on real history.

From the violence, however, with which Mahommed
attacked what may be called the poetical academy of
Ocadh, almost all the most ancient pieces of Arabian
poetry were destroyed or lost ; and we have hence far
nearer approaches towards the general nature of the
poem of Job in Persia and India, (which successively
derived a poetic taste, and cultivated a poetic genius,
from Arabia,) than we have in Arabia itself; and where
also we meet with institutions similar to that held at
Ocadh, for rival recitations, — at which the ancient
Rajahs commonly presided, and at one of which was
first rehearsed the Sacontala, or Fatal Ring, of Calidas.
These poems were collected, and made public, in mis-
cellanies denominated, in Sanscrit, Natac.

In both these countries, therefore, we meet with
an abundance of instances of a very early appropria-
tion of poetry to the purpose of communicating both
moral sentiments and religious tenets; and, as in the
poem before us, through the medium of a slight
string of narrative or biography. Such is the Hito-
padesa of Vishnu-Sarman, which has been elegantly
translated into English by Sir William Jones. As such,
also, we may regard the Bostan, and Gulistan, of the
sentimental Sadi ; and as such, more especially, the
Gitagovinda of Jayadeva, and the " Loves of Laili and
Majnun ;" which last subject has given rise to not less

than

XC INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

than ten or twelve rival attempts among the bards of
Persia, the best and most exquisite of which appear
to be those of Nizami, and Hatafi his scholar. These
attempts are altogether founded upon an Arabian basis ;
for the real name of Majnun, or The Distracted, was
Kais, an accomplished and amiable yout|j, the only
son of an Arabian chieftain who flourished in the first
age of the Mahommedan empire ; while Laili or Laila
(as the Arabians write it) was the daughter of a neigh-
bouring chieftain, and seems to have been equally ac-
complished. Laili, in these poems, is, indeed, mysti-
cally interpreted, by the general consent of the ancient
Hushangis and modern Sufis, as uniformly typifying
the omnipresent spirit of God; and Sir W. Jones
conceives the term to be actually used in this sense in
the Masnavi, as well as in several of the esoteric odes
of Hafiz. The subject of the Gitagovinda, which
constitutes a part of the tenth book of the Bhagavat, is
founded on " the Loves of Crishna and Radha," or
the mystical union of the Creator, in a state of incar-
nation, with the human soul ; for such, according to
the Vedantis, is intended by the word Radha ; the ori-
ginal meaning of which, however, is '^ atonement,
pacification, or satisfaction." And under this narra-
tive, as under the preceding of Laili and Majnun, a
variety of what are conceived in the East to be the
most important doctrines of religion, are purposely,
but irregularly, scattered, in the same manner as the
most important doctrines of the patriarchal religion
appear to be scattered through the book of Job.

It only remains for me to add, that, in endeavouring
to obtain the real meaning of every disputed passage

in

INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. XCl

in the ensuing work, I have not been a niggard in
labour, having minutely examined the text and com-
ment of most of the interpreters of most of the lan-
guages of Europe. To all of them I owe something :
to those who have been best acquainted with the
cognate tongues of the East, and especially with Ara-
bic, I owe most. The ground, however, though so often
ploughed over, and in such a variety of forms, still
appeared to me in a considerable degree new, and
containing virtue which had not yet been brought
into use; — an opinion which, as it formed the real
motive, is the best apology I can advance for the
present attempt. Its direct object is, to offer a trans-
lation more strict, both to the letter and spirit of the
original, than has hitherto been produced in any lan-
guage, admitting fewer circuitous renderings, and
fewer deviations from the Hebrew text ; to preserve
more particularly the real value of the emphatic par-
ticles Dbi«, f]b*, % n, ''::, d«, ii? yea^ what ! lo ! truly ^
forsooth, now, then, indeed, of our own tongue, which,
by many interpreters, have been frequently misunder-
stood, and by others, and still more generally, passed
by without any notice whatever, — though often, not
only in the present case, bat in all impassioned,
and especially in all exclamatory and expostulatory
poetry, the chief seasoning of the feast ; and to de-
part as little as possible, and never without an obvious
reason, from our established version.

In what instances, soever, I may have differed from
those who have preceded me, I trust it will be found
that I have not differed from a mere love of difference.
To detect and point out errors, is the lowest part of

criticism :

XCll INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION.

criticism ; as, to avoid or correct them, and to relish
real excellence, is the highest. Every day offers us
abundant proofs, that almost every man is suffi-
ciently gifted for the former : but how rarely do v^'e
meet with instances of those who are sufficiently
gifted for the latter. I have endeavoured to connect
the two, as well as I have been able ; and hope it will
not often appear that I have given way to the first
without aiming to follow it up with the second.

The present version has also its errors ; — and I have
only to in treat that the same rule may be observed in
regard to them : in which case, not myself alone, but
the public at large, will be benefited by their detec-
tion. To have been without errors, indeed, under cir-
cumstances far more advantageous to general learning
and to general leisure than I can make pretensions to,
would have been impossible : but for those that actu-
ally exist, it may be admitted, perhaps, as some apo-
logy, that the whole of the translation (from the
impracticability of allotting any other time to it) has
been the work of various unconnected hours and half-
hours, stolen occasionally from the mornings and
evenings of the returning Sunday, and never in-
dulged in through any other part of the week;
often, moreover, broken in upon, in spite of every
arrangement to the contrary, by urgent professional
claims that did not admit of postponement. An habi-
tual fondness, however, for Biblical criticism, and
Oriental literature, has impelled me to persevere in
the undertaking as an allowable recreation, and has
at length enabled me to complete it.

PART I.

THE TEMPTATION OF JOB DECREED.

ARGUMENT OF THE FIRST PART.

Brief Narrative of Job The Tribunal of the Almighty — His Remark

to Satan, concerning Job's Fidelity — Satan's Reply — The Almighty
consents to his Temptation — Return of the Celestial Tribunal — The
Fidelity of Job proved and declared — Satan insinuates, that he would
not have stood true, had the Attack been made upon his Person' — ^The
Almighty consents to a Second Trial — The Trial made — Job's utter
Misery — The Visit of his Friends, to condole with him.

The Asterisks refei- to the NOTES.

CHAP. I. JOB. PART I.

Part I.

Chap. I.

1. An the land of Uz* lived a man*, whose name was Job :
And this man was perfect and upright,

And feared God, and eschewed evil.

2. And there were born to him, seven sons, and three daughters.
,3. And his substance was, seven thousand sheep, and three

thousand camels,
And five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses,
And a household of very great multitude*;
So that this man was great, beyond all the sons of the East.

4. And his sons were wont to hold a banquet-house*,
Every one on his birth-day*;

When they sent and invited their three sisters.
To eat and to drink together with them.

5. And it came to pass, as the days of such banquets returned.
That Job sent for, and sanctified them ;

And made ready in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings*.
According to the number of them all :
For (said Job) peradventure my sons

May

CHAP. I. JOB. PART I.

May have sinned, nor blessed God* in their hearts. —
Thus did Job on eveiy such day.

6. And the day came*, when the sons of God*
Went to present themselves before Jehovah*:
And Satan* went also, in the midst of them.

7. And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest thou ?
And Satan answered Jehovah, and said,

From roaming round* the earth, and walking about it.

8. And Jehovah said unto Satan,

Hast thou fixed thy view* upon my servant Job ?
For there is none like him on the earth ;
A man, perfect and upright.
Fearing God, and eschewing evil.

9. And Satan answered Jehovah, and said,
Doth Job, then, fear God for nothing*?

10. Hast thou not made a fence about him*.
And about his house, and about every thing,
Whatever is his, on every side ?
The work of his hands hast thou blessed, v
And his substance hath overflowed the land*.

U. But put forth now thine hand, and smite* all that is his :
Will he then, indeed, bless thee* to thy face? —

12. And Jehovah said unto Satan,

Behold ! all that he hath is in thine hand ;

Only stretch not forth thine hand against himself. —

And Satan departed from the presence of Jehovah.

And

CHAP. I. JOB. PART I.

13. And the day came, when his sons and his daughters
Were eating, and drinking wine, in their eldest brother's

house :

14. And a messenger came unto Job, and said.

The oxen were ploughing, and the she-asses* feeding beside
them,

15. And the Sabean rushed forth, and seized them.

And slew the young men with the edge of the sword ;
And I only am escaped, myself alone, to tell thee, —

16. While this was yet speaking, came also another, and said,
The fire of God * hath fallen from heaven, and burned
Among the sheep, and among the young men, and consumed

them ;
And I only am escaped, myself alone, to tell thee. —

17. While this was yet speaking, came also another, and said.
The Chaldeans made out three bands,

And attacked the camels, and carried them away ;

And have slain the young men with the edge of the sword ;

And I only am escaped, myself alone, to tell thee. —

18. Whil6 this was yet speaking, came also another, and said,
Thy sons and thy daughters were eating, and drinking wine.
In their eldest brother's house ;

1 9. And, lo ! there came a great wind from across the desert.
And smote upon the four corners of the house j

And it fell upon the young people, and they are dead ;
And I only am escaped, myself alone, to tell thee. —

20. And Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head *,

And

CHAP. I. II. JOB. PART I.

And fell on the ground, and worshipped ; and said,

21. Naked came I forth from my mother's womb*.
And naked shall I return thither !

Jehovah giveth, and Jehx)vah taketh away ;
Blessed be the name of Jehovah* !

22. In all this Job sinned not,

Nor vented a murmur against God *.
Chap. II.

1. And the day came*, when the sons of God
Went to present themselves before Jehovah ;
And Satan went also, in the midst of them.

2. And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest thou ?
And Satan answered Jehovah, and said.

From roaming round the earth, and walking about it.

3. And Jehovah said unto Satan,

Hast thou fixed thy view upon my servant Job ?
For there is none like him on the earth ;
A man perfect and upright.
Fearing God, and eschewing evil ;
And still he holdeth fast his integrity.
Although thou hast excited me against him*,
To destroy him without a cause.

4. And Satan answered Jehovah, and said,—
Skin for skin*; yea, all that a man hath
Will he give up for his life*.

3. But put forth now thine hand, and smite all that is his :
Will he then, indeed, bless thee to thy face ?

And

CHAP. II. JOB. PART I.

6. And Jehovah said unto Satan,

Behold ! he is in thine hand : spare only his life.

7. Then Satan departed from the presence of Jehovah,
And smote Job with a burning ulceration*,

From the sole of his foot unto his crown.

8. And he took a potshard, to scrape himself with*;
And sat down among the ashes.

9. And his wife said* unto him,

Even yet dost thou hold fast thine integrity,
Blessing God, and dying*?
10. But he said unto her, —

As the talk of one of the foolish*, is thy talk :
Shall we, then, accept good from God,

And shall we not accept evil ?

Through all this. Job sinned not with his lips.

i 1 . And the friends of Job heard

Of all this evil that had befallen him,

And came, every one from his home :

Eliphaz the Temanite*; and Bildad the Shuhite*;

And Zophar the Naamathite*:

For they had appointed together to come,

To mourn with him, and to comfort him.
12. And they lift up their eyes from afar, and knew him not :

And they raised their voices, and wept ;

And rent, every one his mantle ;

And

CHAP. II.

JOB. PART I.

And cast dust* upon their heads, towards heaven.
13. And they sat down with him, on the ground.
Seven days and seven nights*:
And no one spake unto him a word.
For they saw that the affliction raged sorely*.

PAKT II

FIRST SERIES OF CONTROVERSY.

. ARGUMENT OF THE SECOND PART.

Exclamation of Job, upon his miserable Condition Speech of Eliphaz,

accusing him of want of Firmness, and suspecting his Integrity, on

account of the Affliction with which he is visited Job's Reply ;

reproaching his Friends with Cruelty ; bewailing the Disappointment
he had felt in them ; calling for Death, as the Termination of his
Miseries ; then longing for Life ; expostulating with the Almighty,

and supplicating his Forgiveness Bildad resumes the Argument of

Eliphaz, with great Severity ; openly accuses Job of Hypocrisy, and
exhorts him to Repentance, in order to avoid utter Ruin — Job, in
Reply, longs to plead his Cause before God, but is overwhelmed at the
Idea of his Majesty — He again desponds, and calls for Death, as the
only Refuge from his Sorrows — Zophar continues the Argument on the
Side of his Companions ; condemns Job acrimoniously, for still daring
to assert his Innocence ; and once more exhorts him to Repentance,
as the only Mean of obtaining a Restoration of the Favour of the

Almighty Job is stimulated to a stiH severer Reply — Accuses his

Companions of declaiming on the part of God, with the base Hope
of propitiating him — Boldly demands his Trial at the Tribunal of the
Almighty; and, realizing the Tribunal before him, commences his
pleading in an Address variegated by every Tide of opposite Feelings,
Fear, Triumph, Humiliation, Expostulation, Despondency.

CHAP. III. JOB.

PART II.

Part II.

Chap. III.

1. XXt length*, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day*:

2. And Job. exclaimed, and said,

3. Perish the day* in which I was born !

And the night, which shouted*, " A man-child is brought
forth"!

4. O ! be that day darkness 1

Let God not unclose* it from on high !
3. Yea, let no sun-shine irradiate it !

Let darkness, and death-shade* crush it* !
The gathered tempest pavilion over it* !
The blasts of noon-tide terrify it* !

6. That night! — let extinction* seize it !
Let it not rejoice amidst* the days of the year,
Nor enter into the number of the months !

7. Oh ! that night*! let it be a barren rock*!
Let no sprightliness* enter into it !

8. Let the sorcerers of the day curse it*.
The expertest among them, that can conjure up Leviathan* 1

9. Let the stars of its twilight be extinguished !

Let

CHAP. III. JOB. PART n.

Let it long for the light, and there be none !
Let it not see the glancings of the dawn* !

10. Because it closed not the doors of the womb to me.
Nor shut out affliction from mine eyes.

11. Why did I not expire from the womb ?
Why not perish in passing from the bowels ?

12. Why did the lap anticipate me*?
Or why the breasts, that I was to suck ?

13. For then* should I have lain down, and been quiet;
I should have slept; — rest at once would have been mine*)

14. Among the monarchs and leaders of the earth*.
Who restored to themselves the ruined wastes*;

15. Or among the princes, whose possession was gold*,
Who glutted their store-houses with silver :

16. Or, as an untimely birth, I had perished;
As abortions, that see not the light*.

17. There the wicked cease from troubling;
And there the wearied are at rest*:

1 8. The enslaved rest securely together ;
They hear not the x^oice of the task-master*:

19. The small and the great are therej
And the servant set free from his master.

20. Why is light given to the miserable ;

And life, to the bitter in soul ?

91. Who long for death, and it is not ;

Whl

I HAP. III. IV. JO B. PART II.

Who dig for it, more than for hidden treasures ;
-22. Who rejoice, even to exultation,

And are triumphant*, when they can find out the grave ?
•23. To the man whose path is broken up.

And whose futurity God hath overwhehned * ?

24. Behold*! my sighing takes the place of my food*,
And my lamentations burst forth as the billows.

25. Behold ! the fear, that I feared*, hath even befallen me ;
And what I shrunk back from, hath overtaken me.

26. I had no peace*; yea, I had no rest ;

Yea, I had no respite, as the trouble came on.
Chap. IV.

1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,

2. Surely*, if a word be attempted* against thee, thou wilt

faint*;
Yet, who can refrain from speaking* ?

3. Behold ! thou hast corrected* many.
And hast strengthened the feeble hands ;

4. Thy words have upheld the stumbling,

And the trembling knees hast thou established,
o. But the turn is now thine own*, and thou faintest;
It smiteth upon thee, and thou art confounded*.
. 6. Is thy piety then nothing ? — thy hope* ?

Thy confidence ? — or, the uprightness of thy ways ?

7. Remember, I pray thee, what innocent man hath perished ?
Or, where have the righteous been cut off ?

8. According to what I have seen, the ploughers of iniquity.

And

CHAP. IV. JOB. PART 11.

And the sowers of mischief, reap their own ' kind*:'
9. By the blast of God they perish,

And by the breath,of his nostrils they are consumed.

10. The roaring of the liones?, and the bellowing of the lion,
Aiid the teeth of the young lions, are disappointed*:

11. The lion is destroyed without his prey,

And the whelps of the lioness are dashed to pieces*.

V

12. A thing, too, was imparted to me secretly 5
And mine ear received a whisper along with it*. —

13. Amidst tumults, from visions of the night*,
When deep sleep falleth upon men,

14. A fear fell upon me^ and a horror.

So that the multitude of my bones trembled*.

15. Then glided a spirit before me : —
The hair of my flesh rose on end * : —

16. It stood (but I could not distinguish its form)
A spectre to the evidence of mine eyes * : —
There was silence, — and I heard a voice*:

17. " Shall man be just before God ?
" Shall a mortal be pure before his Maker ?

18. " Behold! he cannot confide in his servants*,
" And chargeth his angels with default*.

19. " What, then, are the dwellers in houses of clay,
" Whose foundation is from the dust ? —
" They are crushed before the moth*;

20. " They are beaten down from morning to evening*;

" They

GHAP. IV. V. JOB. PART II.

" They are for ever perishing without notice*}
21. " Their fluttering round is over with them*}
" They die*— a nothing in wisdom*."
Chap. V.

1. Call now ; which of these* can come forward for thee ?
Or, to whom among the heavenly hosts* wilt thou turn ?

2. For " wrath destroyeth the fool,

" And indignation * consumeth the weak man."

3. I have seen the fool take root,

And straightway I have denounced his habitation.

4. Far off are his children from safety ;

They are borne down at the gate *, and no protector :

5. Their harvest the wild starveling* devoureth ;
He seizeth'it, to the very thorns,

And rigidly* swoopeth up their subsistence.

6. For not from the dust springeth affliction.
And not from the ground sprouteth trouble :

7. Behold ! man is born unto trouble.

As the bird-tribes are made to fly upwards*.

8. Wherefore, I would seek unto God*}
And unto God would I commit my cause }

9. Who performeth things great and unsearchable.
Things marvellous, surpassing number }

10. Who giveth rain to the face of the earth.
And sendeth the waters among the valleys * }

1 1. Advancing the lowly on high.

While the mournful exult in deliverance }

Disap-

CHAP. V. JOB. PART II.

12. Disappointing the devices of the crafty,

So that their hands cannot accomplish the enterprise ;

13. Entangling* the wise in their own cunning,

And dashing headlong the counsels of the crooked.

14. They encounter darkness in the day-time.
And grope in the noon-tide, as in the night.

13. So he saveth the persecuted* from their mouth.
And the helpless from the hand of the violent :

16. So hope existeth for the worn-out.
And iniquity stoppeth her mouth*.

17. Behold ! happy is the man whom God correcteth :
Therefore, despise not thou* the chastening of the Almighty.

18. For he bruiseth, and he bindeth up ;

He woundeth, and his hands make whole.

19. In six troubles shall he deliver thee*;

Yea, in the seventh, the evil shall not overpower thee.

20. In famine, he shall redeem thee from death j
And in war from the power of the sword.

21. From the brandish of the tongue* thou shalt be screened ;
And shalt not be afraid of devastation, when it cometh.

22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh*,
And shalt not dread the wild beasts of the land .

23. Lo* ! with the tribes of the field* shalt thou be in league ;j
Yea, the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

24. Thou shalt prove, also, that thy tabernacle is peace ;
And shalt investigate thy household, and not miscarry*.

Thou

I

XHAP. V. VI. JOB. PART II.

23. Thou shalt see, too, that thy seed is multitudinous.
And thine offspring as the grass of the land.

26. In ripe old age* shalt thou go into the grave.

As the shock of corn is gathered together* in its season.

27. Lo ! this have we searched out, and it is so :
Hear thou it, and experience it for thyself.

Chap. VI.

1. Then Job answered, and said,

2. O that my grief were weighed thoroughly!

That my calamities were put together in the balance*!

3. For now would they be heavier than the sand of the sea* 5
Therefore are my words overwhelmed*.

4. Behold ! the arrows* of the Almighty are within me ;
Their poison drinketh up my spirit :
The TERRORS of God set themselves in array against me.

5. Doth the wild ass* bray in the midst of herbage*?
Or loweth the ox over his fodder?

6. Doth insipid food*, without a mixture of salt.
Yea, doth the white of the egg, give forth pungency? —

7. A thing loathful to the taste of my soul.
This, alas ! is my sorrowful meat.

8. O ! that I might have my request !
And that God would grant my earnest desire*!

9. Yea, that it would please God to destroy me !
That he would redouble his hand*, and put an end to me*!

c Then

GHAP. VI.

JOB.

PART II

10. Then would I already take comfort.

Let him spare not, — and I will leap for joy*:

For I would not resist* the commands* of the Holy One*.

11. What is my strength, that I should hope?

Or what mine end, that I should* prolong my life?

12. Is my strength the strength of stones*?
Or, is my flesh brass?

13. Alas! there is no help to me* in myself ; —
For reason is -utterly driven from me.

14. Shame to the man* who despiseth his friend!

He, indeed, hath departed * from the fear of the Almighty !

15. My brethren have dealt deceitfully, as a flood*.
As the torrent of floods that pass away*.

16. They roll turbid from an ice-hill*.
The snow foams above them*:

17. What time they wax warm, they evaporate;

And, when it grows hot, they are dried up in their place :

18. The outlets of their channel* wind about.
They stretch into nothing*, and are lost.

19. The companies of Tema search "earnestly*.
The caravans of Sheba pant for tlvTin :

20. They are consumed — such is the longing;
They arrive at the place, and sink away*.

21. Behold*! ye also are a nothing:

Ye see 1171/ downcasting, and shrink back*.

Havel

CHAP. VI. VII. JOB. PART II.

22. Have I then said, " Lend me an aid ?"

Or, " Make me a present out of your stores?"

23. Or, " Deliver me from the hand of an enemy?"
Or, " Rescue me from the hand of the mighty?"

24. Instruct me, and I will keep silence j
And wherein I have erred, unfold to me.

23. How forcible* are just arguments!

But what doth the reproof from you reprove*?

26. Would ye, then, take up words for reproof?
The mere venting the moans of despair*?

27. Would ye, truly, press upon the destitute*;
And for your own friend make a pit-fall*?

28. But come now, look upon me;
And, before your faces, am I deceitful?

29. Turn again, I beseech you; — let there be no offence; —
And I will yet continue, and justify myself herein.

30. Can there be iniquity on my tongue.
And my taste not discern the perverseness ?

Chap. VII.

1. Is there not a set time* to man upon earth?
And are not his days as the days of an hireling?

2. Like the servant, he panteth* for the night-shade;
And, like the hireling, he presseth on to his finishing.

3. Thus are periods of joylessness allotted to me*.
Even nights of misery* are mine.

4. What time I lie down, I exclaim,

c 2 " When

CHAP. VII. JOB. PART II.

" When shall I arise, and the night be gone?"
And am full of restlessness to the day-spring*.

5. Worms, and the imprisoning dust*, already clothe my flesh;
My skin is become stiff, and corrupt.

6. Slighter than yarn are my days*.

And they are put an end to, from the breaking of the thread *.

7. O! remember, that, if my life pass away*.

Mine eye shall no more turn to scenes of goodness* !

8. No more shall the eye of him that hath seen me, behold

me! —
Let thine eye be upon me, and I am nothing !

9. As the cloud is dissolved, and vanisheth.

So he, that descendeth to the grave, shall not rise up;

10. No more shall he return to his house.
And his dwelling-place shall know him no more.

1 1. Therefore I refrain not my mouth ;
I speak in the anguish of my spirit.
In the bitterness of my soul do I complain. —

12. Am T a savage beast*, or a dragon*.
That thou shouldst appoint a keeper* over me? —

13. When I exclaim, " My bed shall comfort me,
" My couch shall lighten my distress,"

14. Then dost thou convulse me with dreams,
And terrify me with visions;

15. So that my soul coveteth suffocation*.

And death, in comparison with my sufferings*.

16. No longer would I live*!— O release me* I

How

.CHAP. VII. VIII. JOB. PART II.

How are my days vanity * !

17. What is man, that thou shouldst bnng him up* ;
And that thou shouldst set thy purpose upon him ;

18. That thou shouldst visit him every morning.
And prove him every moment? —

19. Why wilt thou* not turn away from me,

Nor let me alone, till I can swallow my spittle*?

20. I have sinned*! — ^What shall I do unto thee, thou Sur-

veyer of man*!
O! why hast thou set me up as a mark for thee*.
So that I am become a burden to myself* !

21. And why wilt thou not turn away from my transgression.
And let my calamity pass away?

For now shall I lie down in the dust*.
And thou shalt seek me in the morning*, but I shall not be.
Chap. VIII.

1. Then replied Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

2. How long wilt thou thus speak,

And thy mouth utter the spirit of pride*?

3. Will God, then, pervert order*?
Or the Almighty pervert justice? —

4. As thy children have sinned against him,

So hath he cast them away in the midst of their trans-
gression* :

5. And wouldst thou seek betimes* unto God,
And make thy supplication unto the Almighty, —

Wouldst

CHAP. VIII. JOB.

PART II.

6. Wouldst thou — pure and upright indeed*, —
Even yet would he rise up for thee,

And prosper the abode of thy righteousness:

7. And though thy beginning be small*,

Yet should thy latter end increase abundantly.

8. For examine, I beseech thee, the past age;

Yea, gird thyself to the study of its forefathers ; —

9. For ourselves, but of yesterday ! know nothing*;
Our days upon earth a mere shadow ! —

10. Shall not they instruct thee, counsel thee,
And well forth* the sayings of their wisdom?

11. " Can the paper-reed* grow up without ooze?

" Can the bull-rush* grow up without water? —

12. " Yet, in the midst of its own greenness*,

" Uncut, and before every other herb, doth it wither !"

13. " Such the ways of all that forget God !

" So perisheth the confidence of the hypocrite !"

14. Thus shall his support rot away*,

And the building of the spider be his reliance :

15. And upon its building shall he lean*, but it shall not stand;
He shall grasp at it, but it shall not hold.

J 6. Green though he appear to the sun.

And his branches shoot over his garden,

17. His roots shall be entangled in a rock*;
With a bed of stones shall he grapple*.

18. Utterly shalHt drink him up* from his place;

Yea, it shall renounce him, and say, " I never knew thee*."

Behold

CHAP. VIII. IX.

JOB. PART II.

19. Behold the Eternal*, exulting in* his course,
Even over his dust* shall raise up another.

20. Lo ! God will not cast away the upright.
Neither will he strengthen the hand of evil-doers :

21. Even yet* may he fill thy mouth with laughter.
And thy lips with jubilee:

22. They that hate thee may be clothed with shame ;
And the tent of the reprobates be no more.

Chap. IX.

1. And Job answered, and said, —

2. Of a truth, I know that it is so.

But how can man be just before God ?

3. If he condescend* to argue with him.

He could not acquit himself* one time in a thousand.

4. Wise in heart ! and mighty in strength !

Who hath striven against him, and been successful ?

5. It is he who casteth away the mountains, and they have no

trace*;
In such manner* overthroweth he them in his anger:

6. Who shaketh the earth to her foundation*.
So that the pillars thereof startle*:

7. Who commandeth the sun, and he risetb not ',
And setteth his seal upon the stars :

8. Who alone spreadeth out the heavens.

And walketh upon the mountains* of the deep :

9. Who made Arcturus, and Orion*,

And

CHAP. IX. JOB. PART II.

And the Pleiades, and the zones of the South* :

10. Who hath performed great things*, — yea, beyond research;
And wonderful things, — yea, beyond number.

1 1. Behold ! he moveth towards me, but I see nothing;
And he passeth by, but I perceive him not.

12. Behold ! he taketh away : — who can hinder him ?
Who shall say unto him, " What art thou doing* ?" —

13. God would not relax his indignation;
Beneath him sink the supports of the proud.

14. How much less shall I contend with* him !
Shall I arrange my pleadings against him !

15. With whom, though I were righteous, I would not argue ;
I would make supplication to my judge.

16. Should I summon, and he make answer* to me,

I cannot believe that he would enter into my complaint, —

17. He, who is overwhelming me with a tempest,
And multiplying my wounds without a cause ;

18. Not suffering me to take my breath.
Yea, glutting me* with bitternesses.

19. In respect to might, the power is with him;

And in respect to judgment, who would become a witness
for me* ?

20. Should I justify myself, my own mouth would condemn me ;
Myself perfect ! — it would even prove me perverse*.

21. Myself perfect! — 1 could not know my own soul: —
I should disavow* my own being. —

22. This one thing, nevertheless*, I would maintain:

« He

CHAP. IX. JOB. PART II.

" He destroyeth the perfect as well as the wicked :

23. " If he suddenly slay the oppressor*,

" He laugheth at the moanings* of the innocent.

24. " The earth is given over to the hand of Injustice*,
" She hoodwinketh* the faces of its judges." —
Where every one liveth, is it not so* ?

25. O ! swifter* than a courier are my days : \
They flee away, they see no good.

26. As ships, with spread sail*, sweep they on*;
As an eagle swooping upon ravin.

27. If I could say, I will forego* my complaint,

I will change my countenance, and take courage*,

28. The whole of my sorrows should I dread.

I know that thou wouldst not acquit me*j

29. That I must be guilty* : —

Why then should I labour in vain ?

30. Should I wash myself in snow.
And cleanse my hands in purity*,

31. Still wouldst thou plunge me into filth *,
So that my own clothes would abhor me.

32. Behold*! in vain, man as I am, could I* contend with him,
Should we come together into judgment.

33. There is no umpire between us.

Who might lay his controul* over us both.

Woud

CHAP. IX. X. JOB.

PART II.

34. Wopld he withdraw from me his supremacy*.
And not let his terror dismay me,

35. I would speak, and not fear him ; —

But not thus could I, in my present state.
Chap. X,

1. My soul is weary* of my life;

I will let loose from myself* my dark thoughts*;
In the bitterness of my soul will I break forth*.

2. T will say unto God, Thou canst not deal unjustly* to me ; —
Show me for what thou contendest with me ?

3. Is it befitting thee*, that thou shouldst oppress;
That thou shouldst despise the work of thy hands ;
And shine upon the counsel of the wicked ? —

4. Are thine eyes of flesh* ;
Or seest thou as man seeth ?

5. As the days of man are thy days.

Or thy years as the days of mankind * ?

6. That thou searchest after mine iniquity,
And makest inquest for my sin,

7. With thy knowledge* that I am not wicked,
And that none can deliver out of thy hand.

8. Thy hands have wrought me,

And moulded me compact on all sides*,
And wilt thou utterly devour me* ?

9. O remember, that as clay thou hast moulded me, —
And wilt thou reduce me to dust ?

10. Didst thou not mingle me, as milk*.

And

CHAP. X.

JOB. PART II.

And consolidate me, as cheese ?

11. With skin, and' with flesh, hast thou clothed me ;
And fortified me with bones and with sinews ;

12. Life, and favour, hast thou granted me;
And thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

13. Yet these evils hast thou stored up in thy heart :
I am conscious that this is from thee. —

14. Have I utterly fallen away*, that thou hast made a mark of me,
And wilt not acquit me of mine iniquity ?

15. If I be wicked — woe unto me ! —

But if I be righteous, I will not lift vip my head";
Overloaded with ignominy, and drunk with my abasement*.

16. For, uprousing as a ravenous lion*, dost thou spring

upon me;
And again thou showest over me thy vast power;

17. Thou renewest thy trials* against me;
Yea, thou multipliest thy fury upon me :
Fresh harasses and conflict* are about me.

18. Then why didst thou bring me forth from the womb ?
O ! that I had perished ! — and no eye beheld me !

19. That I were as though I had never been !

That I had been borne from the womb to the grave ! —

20. Will my few days never pass away?

O spare me ! that for a little while* I may be at ease,

21. Before I go (and I shall not return)

To a land of darkness and death-shade*;

22. To a land of dissolution, as extinction itself* ;

Death-

CHAP. X. XI. JOB. PART II.

Death-shade, where no order is*,
And where the noon-tide* is as utter extinction.
Chap. XL

1. Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said :

2. To multiply words profiteth nothing*;

• Or else would the man of talk be justified :

3. Before thee would mankind* keep silence.

And thou mightst babble on without restraint* : —

4. " Yea," hast thou said, " my conduct* is pure,
" And I am clean in thine eyes !" —

5. But O ! that it would please God to answer.
And open his lips against thee !

6. And that he would unfold to thee the secrets of wisdom
(For they are intricacies to iniquity*) ,

And the knowledge that God hath withdrawn from thee,
because of thy sins !

7. Canst thou by searching find out God ?
Canst thou find out the Almighty to completion ?

8. The height of heaven — how canst thou know*?

The depth below the grave* — how canst thou understand ?

9. Longer than the earth its measure.
And vaster than the ocean.

10. If he reverse things* — and straiten.
Or multiply, — who can change him* ?

11. Behold ! God* knoweth the men of falsehood*! —
And can he see iniquity, and not notice it ?

Will

CHAP. XI. XII.

J O B. PART II.

12. Will he then accept the hollow-hearted person* ?
Or *' shall the wild-ass-colt assume the man* ?"

13. But if thou prepare thy heart.

And stretch out thy hands towards him, —

14. If the iniquity of thy hand thou put away*.

And let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles, —
13. Lo ! then shalt thou* lift up thy face without spot*;
And firm shalt thou be, and shalt not fear.

16. Lo I then shalt thou forget afHiction :

As waters passed by*, shalt thou remember it:

17. And brighter shalt the time be* than noon-tide ;

Thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt grow vigorous* like the
day-spring.

18. And secure shalt thou be, for substantial the support*;
Yea, thou shalt look around*, thou shalt repose in confi-
dence*.

19. Thou shalt even lie down, and without fear*.
For the multitude shall make suit unto thee.

20. But the doublings of the wicked* shall come to an end;
Yea, they shall not escape ;

Their very confidence a scattered breath*.
Chap. XII.

1 . Whereupon Job answered, and said, —

2. Doubtless ye are the people !

And wisdom shall die with yourselves* !

3. But I have understanding, as well as you ;

In

CHAP. XII. JOB. PART II.

In no respect do I yield* to you.

And with whom are not such sayings as these* ?

4. " Their brother is become a laughing-stock* to his compa-

nions,
" While calling upon God that he would succour him." —
" The just, the perfect man, is a laughing-stock to the proud*,

5. " A derision*, amidst the sunshine of the prosperous*,
" While ready to slip with his foot." —

6. " The tents of plunderers* are unshaken,

" And are fortresses to the provokers of God," —

Of him who hath created all these thin2;s with his hand*.

7. Again : — " Go, ask the beasts*, and they shall teach thee j
" Or the fowls of the air, and they shall instruct thee :

8. " Or consult the earth, and it shall tell thee;

" Or the fishes of the sea shall declare to thee/'

9. What, anlidst all these, knoweth not

That the hand of Jehovah hath made them ?

10. In whose hand is the breath of every living creature.
And the spirit of all human flesh.

11. " Doth not the ear prove words*,
" As the mouth trieth its meat ?"

12. Prove the wisdom of the Ancients*,

And the understanding of the long-lived age ?

13. " With him is wisdom and power!

" With him understanding and counsel !

" Behold,

CHAP. X£I. JOB. PART II.

14. " Behold, he demolisheth, and it cannot be rebuilt j

" He putteth a s.top to a man, and it cannot be removed.

15. *^ Behold, he restraineth the waters, and they cease* 3

" And he letteth them loose, and they overflow the earth.—

16. " With him is might and sufficiency*:

" The beguiled and the beguiler* are his,

17. " Counsellors he leadeth captive*,

" And judges he maketh. distracted*.

18. " The authority of kings he dissolveth*,
" And bindeth their loins with a cord.

19. " He leadeth ministers* captive,
" And prostrateth chieftains*.

20. *' He bewildereth* the speech of the trusty*,
" And taketh away the wisdom of the elders *.

21. " He poureth contempt upon the nobles *,

" And unstringeth the girdle* of the stout-hearted.'* —

22. " He discloseth the recesses of darkness,

" And draggeth the death-shade* into day-light.

23. " He letteth the nations grow licentious*, and destroyeth

them;
" He enlargeth them, and giveth them quiet*.

24. " He bewildereth the judgment* of the leaders of the people

of a land,
" And causeth them to wander in a pathless desert ;

25. " They grope about in darkness*, even without a glimpse*,
*' Yea, he maketh them to reel like the drunkard."

* Lo!

CHAP. XIII.

JOB. PART II.

Chap. X 111.

1. Lo ! all this* hath mine eye seen;.
Mine ear hath heard, and understood it.

2. Whatsoever you know, I myself know as well :
In no respect do I yield to you.

3. But,* would that I could* commune with the Almighty !
That I could direct the argument to God* !

4. For what forgers of fallacies* are ye !
Fabricators of emptiness*, all of you !

5. O, that ye would altogether hold your peace !
This would, indeed, be* as wisdom in you.

6. Hear ye, now, my arguing.

And listen to the fulness of* my lips.

7. Behold, ye would talk wrongfully* for God j
Ye would utter fallacies for him.

8. Ye would, forsooth, make his face favourable.
And therefore for God would ye contend :

9. Yea, it would be profitable that he should take notice of you j
And therefore with the beguiling of man* would ye beguile

10. Thoroughly will he chastise you, '-
For dissemblingly* would ye make his face favourable.

11. Behold, his majesty shall dismay you,
And his dread overpower you*.

12. Dust are your stored-up sayings* ;
Your collections, collections of mire*.

Hold

CHAP. XIII.

JOB. PART II.

13. Hold ye your peace, for I will speak j

I WILL*, and let what may come upon me.

14. Let what may* — I will carry my flesh* in my teeth,
And put my life in my hands.

15. Should he even slay me, 1 would not delay*,
I would still justify* my ways before his face.

16. But God * would to me be a protection j

The wicked alone* shall not come before his face.

17. Mark attentively my words.

And my declaration*, with your ears.

18. Behold, now I am ready for the trial;
I know that I should be acquitted.

19. Who is he that will plead against me*?
For, then, will I be still, and not breathe*.

20. Yet, O ! vouchsafe unto me* two things :

So will I not shrink away from thy presence!

21. Withdraw far from n-,e thy power*.

And let not thine avvefulness* dismay me.

22. Then summon thou, and I will answer.

Or I will thus speak, and reply thou to me :

23. " What are mine iniquities, and my transgressions ?
" My trespasses and my transgressions unfold to me.

24. " Wherefore hidest thou thy face,

" And accountest me thine enemy ?

25. " Wouldst thou demolish* the driven leaf?
^'^ And hunt down the parcjjed stubble?

D " Behold !

CHAP. XIII. JOB. PART II.

26. " Behold ! thou markest out* for me grievous bitterness,
" And makest me chargeable* with the sins of my youth.

27. " Yea, thou pattest my feet into clogs*,
" And eyest all my steps ;

" Thou settest a brand on the soles of my feet.

28. " Well may he dissolve as corruption*,

" The moth-worm feeding upon him, as a garment —
Cii.XIV.

1. '^ Man — the produce of woman,

" Few of days, and full of trouble*.

2. " He springeth up, as a flower, and is cut down j
" Yea, he fleeth as a shadow, and endureth not.

3. " And dost thou cast thine eyes upon such a one ?

" And wouldst thou bring me into judgment with thyself?

4. " Who can become pure ? — free from pollution* ?
*^ No one. — Seeing that his days are determined,

5. " And the number of his months with thee;

" That thou hast fixt his bounds, and he cannot go beyond, —

6. " O ! turn from him, and leave him alone*,

" That he may fill up his day like the hireling.

7. " There is, indeed, hope for the plant*,

" When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
" And that its tender branches will not fail ;

8. " Though its root have grown old in the earth,
" And its trunk become dead over the soil,

9. " Through the fragrancy of water* it may revive,
" And put forth young s||^oots*, as when planted.

« Bui

CHAP. XIV.

JOB. PART II.

10. " But man dieth, and mouldereth*: —

" But the mortal expireth — and where is he?

11. "As the billows pass away with the tides*,

" And the floods are exhausted and dried up*,

12. " So man lieth down, and riseth not* :

" Till the heavens be dissolved* they will not awake:
" No — they will not* rouse up from their sleep'. —

13. " O ! that thou wouldst hide me* in the grave,
" Wouldst conceal me — till thy wrath be past;

" That thou wouldst appoint me afixttime, and remember me !

14. " But if a man die — shall he, indeed, live again* ?
" All the days of my appointment will I wait —

" Till my renovation come. —
13. " Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee;

" Thou wilt yearn* towards the work of thy hands.

16. " Yet now* art thou numbering my steps,
" Thou overlookest nothing* of my sins : —

17. " Mine offence is sealed up in a bundle*,
" Yea, thou tiest together* mine iniquity.

18. " And, for ever, as the crumbling mountain dissolveth,
" And the rock mouldereth away from his place,

19- " As the waters wear to pieces the stones,

" As their overflowings sweep the soil from the land*, —
" So consumest thou the hope of man ;

D ^ " Thou

CHAP. XIV.

JOB.

PART II.

20. " Thou harassest him continually till he perish ;

" Thou weariest out his frame*, and despatchest him*.

21. " His sons may come to honour, but he shall know it not :
" Or they may be impoverished, but he shall perceive nothing

of them :
32. " For his flesh shall drop away from him*;

" And his soul shall become a waste from him.'*

PART III.

SECOND SERIES OF CONTROVERSY.

ARGUMENT OF THE THIRD PART.

Eliphaz commences the Discussion, in his regular turn ; accuses Job of
Vehemence and Vanity ; and asserts that no Man is innocent, and
that his own Conduct sufficiently proves himself not to be so.— Job
replies, and complains bitterly of the unjust Reproaches heaped
upon him ; and accuses his Companions of holding him up to public

Derision He pathetically bemoans his lot, and looks forward to

the Grave with a Hope, glimmering through Despair, of a Resur-
rection from its Ruins.

Bildad perseveres in his former Argument of Job's certain Wickedness,
from his signal Sufferings; and, in a String of lofty Traditions, points
out the constant Attendance of Misery upon Wickedness. — Job rises
superior to this Attack ; appeals to the Pity and Generosity of his
Friends ; asserts the Almighty to have afflicted him for Purposes alto-
gether unknown ; and then soars to a full and triumphant Hope of a
future Resurrection, and Vindication of his Innocence. — Zophar re-
peats the former Charge : and Job replies, by directly controverting
his Argviment ; and proving, from a Variety of Examples, that, in the
present World, the Wicked are chiefly prosperous, and the Just,
for the most part, subject to Affliction.

CHAP. XV. JOB.

PART III.

Part III.

Chap. XV.

' — ^ — ' nr

1. X HEN answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said :

2. Should a wise man return* arguments of wind*?
And swell his bosom* with a levanter*?

3. Vehement in speech, should he produce nothing?
And his words — should there be* no profit in them ?

4. Notwithstanding that* thou castest away* reverence,
And suppressest humiliation* before God,

5. Behold*, thine own mouth shall proclaim thine iniquity.
Though thou makest choice of the tongue of the crafty*:

6. Thine own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I :
Yea, thine own lips shall testify against thee*.

7. What*! — wast thou born first of mankind*;
And begotten before the mountains ?

8. Hast thou, then, listened to the secret councils* of God,
And drawn away wisdom to thyself?

9. What knowest thou, that we know not ?

What CANST thou understand*, that is not with us ?
10. Amongst us are both the hoary-headed and the ancient*.
In days surpassing thy father. —

Are,

CHAP. XV. JOB. PART 111.

11. Are, then, the mercies of God of no account with thee?
Or the addresses of kindness before thee*? —

12. To what* would thy heart hurry thee ?
And to what would thine eyes excite thee*?

13. For thou hast let loose* thy spirit against God,
And hast cast forth remonstrances* from thy mouth.

14. What is man — that he should be clean ?

The produce of woman— ^that he should justif)' himself* ?

15. Behold, HE cannot confide in his ministers*.
And the heavens are not clean in his sight !

1(5. How much less*, then, abominable and corrupt man,
Who drinketh up* iniquity like water 1

17. I will tell thee, — hearken unto me, —
And what I have seen will I declare : —

18. That which the wise have proclaimed.

And withheld not, from the time of* their forefathers —

19. To whom— to whom* alone, the land was given.
When not a stranger wandered amongst them.

20. " All the days* of the wicked he is his own tormenter*;

" And a reckoning of years* is laid up for the oppressor : —

21. "A sound of alarms is in his ears :

" In quiet the despoilcr rusheth upon him :

22. " He cannot hope to escape from darkness*;

" For he is still lurked for by the sword." — '

23. " An outcast is he : — as for bread*, where is it ?

" He

CHAP. XV. JOB.

PART III.

" He feeleth that the day of darkness is straight before him*.

24. " Distress and anguish dismay him :

" They overwhehn him, as a king ready for battle."

25. " Because he stretched forth* his hand against God,
" And fortified himself against the Almighty,

26. " He shall press* upon him at the neck,

" Through the mailed bosses of his buckler."

27. " Though his face he enveloped with fatness,
" And heaped up fat on his loins,

28. " Yet in desolate cities shall he dwell ;
" Houses, never to be restored for him,
" Which are already in ruins." —

29. " He shall not grow rich, for his means shall not last*,
" Nor their Success spread abroad in the land.

30. " He shall not escape from darkness*.

" His green shoots shall the thunderbolt wither ;

" Yea, he shall pass away as the breath of his mouth*."

31. ^' Let not his own ardour make the transgressor confident*,
" For misery shall be his recompence*.

32. " Before his season* shall it be fulfilled*,
" Or ever* his branch become strong.

33. " He shall cast his unripe fruit as the vine,

" And shall shed his blossom as the olive-tree." —

34. "Eehold*,thehouse of the hypocrite shall beabarrenrock*;
" And fire shall consume the tent of the corrupt*.

" Mischief

CHAP. XV. JOB. PART III.

35. " Mischief they conceive, and inisery they bring forth,
" For their womb* worketh up a deceit."
Chap. XVI.

1. But Job answered, and said, —

2. I have heard innumerable sayings like these :
Miserable comforters are ye all.

3. Shall there be no end* to words of air ?

Or what hath emboldened thee*, that thou shouldst reply?

4. But I will talk on* as well as you.

Surely shall your own persons take the place of my person*,
'Against you will I string together old sayings*.
And my head will I shake* at yourselves.

5. With my own mouth* will I overpower you*.
Till the quivering of my lips shall fail*. —

6. Yet, should I talk on, my affliction will not fail* :
Or should I forbear, — what will it avail me*? —

7. Here, indeed, hath he distracted me*. —
Thou hast struck aghast all my witnesses* :

8. And hast cut off* myself from becoming a witness.
Yet my calumniator riseth up against me ;

He chargeth me to the face*.

9. His indignation teareth*, and preyeth upon me:
He grindeth over me with his teeth :

My devourer sharpeneth his eyes upon me :
'0. They gape for me with their jaws ;
They rend my cheeks to tatters*;
They glut themselves together* upon me.

God

CHAP. XVI. JOB.

PART III.

11. God hath made me captive* to the oppressor* ;
And hath delivered me into the hands of the wicked.

12. I was at ease, but he hath broken me up*^

Yea, he hath seized me by the neck, and crushed me*;
He hath even set me up as a mark for him :

13. His arrows fly around me*;

He pierceth my reins without mercy ;

My hfe-gall hath he poured on the ground.

14. He stormeth me* with breach upon breach;
He assaulteth me like a warrior*.

13. Sackcloth have I sev^^ed upon my skin* :
I have rolled my turban* in the dust :

16. My countenance is tarnished* with weeping,
And on mine eye-lids is the death-shade.

17. Yet is there no injustice in my hands ;
And, my service* hath been pure.

18. O Earth ! hide no blood shed by me*,

And be there no lurking-places for cries against me.

19. And here, behold, my appeal is to heaven;
For my witness is on high ! —

20. Deriders of me* are my companions,
But mine eye languisheth towards God :

2 1 . Yea, to argue, though a mortal, with God *,
As the offspring of man doth with his fellow.

But

CHAP. XVI. JOB. PART III.

22. But the years numbered to me are come*,

And I must go the way whence I shall not return.
Ch.XVII.

1. My spirit is seized hold of*; my days are extinct;

Mine are the sepulchres.

f. But are not revilers before me*? —

Alas ! mine eye penetrateth their rebukes. —

3. Come on, then, I pray thee, — stake me against thyself:
Who is he that will strike hands with me ? —

4. Behold! thou hast hid their heart from understanding:
So, assuredly, thou wouldst not prosper them.

5. He that rebuketh his friends with mildness.
Even the eyes of his children shall be accomplished.

6. But he that would make me a bye-word of the people,
Yea, that I should be reckoned* a dotard among the mul-
titude*,

7. Because mine eye is dim with affliction,
And all my limbs are as a shadow : —

8. Upright men shall be astonished at this.

And the pious shall rise up against the wretch.

9. Thus shall the righteous persevere in his path.

And he that hath clean hands shall increase in courage*:
10. But as for all of you — get ye hence, and be gone, I pray*;
For I cannot find a wise man amongst you.

My

CHAP. XVII.

JOB. PART III.

11. My days, my projects, are all over*:
The resolves* of my heart are rent asunder.

12. Night is assigned* me for day,

A light bordering on the regions of darkness *.

13. While I tarry, the grave is my home;
I am making my bed in the darkness.

14. I exclaim to corruption, " Thou art my father !"
To the WORM, " My mother ! and my sister !"

15. And where, in such a state*, are my hopes ?
Yea, my hopes ! — who shall point them out ?

16. To the grasp* of the grave must they fall a prey;
Altogether are they below in the dust.

Chap.XVIU.

1. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, i

2. How long will ye* plant thorns* among words ?
Be temperate*, and then may we argue.

3. Why are we accounted as brutes ?
Held contemptible in your sight ? —

4. Devourer of himself* in his fury ! —

Shall the land, then*, become a wilderness for thee ?
Or the rock be upturned* from its place ?

5. No : — the light of the wicked shall be put out,
And the stream of his fire shall not shine :

6. Day-light shall be darkness in his tent.

And his lamp shall be extinguished over him.

7. The steps of his strength shall be straitened,
And his own counsel shall cast him away.

Lo

CHAP. XVIII. JOB. PART III.

8. Lo ! he plungeth by his feet* into a pit-fall*,
Or walketh about* amidst toils.

9. The springe* shall lay hold of him by the heel,
And rigidly fasten upon him :

10. Its cordage* lieth hid in the ground,
And its snare in the path-way.

11. Devastation* shall terrify him all around,
And shall snatch him from* his feet.

12. Hunger-bitten shall be his strength*,
And'oESTRUCTiON be present at his side :

13. Gluttonously* shall he feed on his skin —

The FIRST-BORN OF DEATH shall feed on him gluttonously,

14. His HOPE shall be uprooted from his tent.

And DISSOLUTION* shall invade him as a monarch; —

15. On his tent shall he fix for its extinction.
Brimstone shall be rained down upon* his dwelling.

16. Below shall his roots be burnt up.
And above shall his branch be cut off.

17. His memory shall perish in the land.

And no trace of him* be in the public streets*.

18. From day-light shall he be driven* into darkness,
And hunted out of the world.

19. No son of his, no kinsman* of his, shall be among his

people ;
Yea, no posterity among his sojournings*.
iO. At his day shall the young* be astonished.
And the aged be panic-struck*. —

Surely

CHAP. XVIII.

J O B. PART III.

21. Surely such is the allotment* of the wicked.

And this the state of the unacquainted with God.
Chap. XIX.

1 . Whereupon Job answered, and said, —

2. How long will ye afflict my soul,
And oveAvhelm me with words ?

3. These ten times have ye reviled me*;

Ye relax not*, ye press forward upon me*.

4. And be it, indeed, that I have transgressed.

That my transgression has harboured * within me, —
3. Will YE, then, forsooth*, triumph over me.
And expose to myself* my own disgrace ?

6. Know, however, that God hath humiliated* me;
And that his toils have encompassed me about :

7. Behold ! I complain of* the wrong, but am not heard ;
I cry aloud, — but no answer.

8. He hath fenced up my way so that I cannot go forward,
And hath set darkness in my paths.

9. He hath strip t me of my glory*.

And overturned the crown* on my head :

10. He demolisheth me on every side— and I am gone;
And he uprootah my hope, like a tree ;

1 1 . Yea, he kindleth his fury against mc,

And accounteth me to him as his enemy.

12. His besiegers* advance in a body*,
And wheel their lines* around me.
And encamp about rtiy dwelling.

My

CHAP. XIX. JOB. PART III.

13. My brethren hath he put aloof* from me,
And my familiars are quite estranged*;

14. My kinsfolk have forsaken me*,
And my bosom-friends forgotten me.

15. The sojourners in my house*.

Yea, my own maid-servants, regard me as a stranger ;
I am reckoned* an alien in their eyes.

16. I call to my man-servant, but he answ^ereth not,
I intreat him to the very face*.

17. My breath is scattered away* by my wife.

Though I implore her by the offspring of mv own
loins.

18. Even the dependants* spurn at me;
I rise up, and they hoot after me*.

19. All my familiar friends abhor me ;

Even they whom* I loved are turned against me.

20. My bones stick out, through* my skin and my flesh;
And in the skin of my teeth am I dissolved*.

21. Pity me ! pity me* ! O ye, my friends !
For the hand of God hath smitten me. —

22. Why, like God*, should ye persecute me,
And not rest satisfied with my flesh* ?

23. O ! that my words were even now* written down ; —
O ! that they were engraven on a table*;

24. With a pen of iron, upon lead* ! —
That they were sculptur'd in a rock for ever*!

For M

CHAP. XIX.

JOB. PART III.

25. For " I know that my redeemer liveth*,
" And will ascend at last upon the earth :

26. " And, after the disease hath destroyed my skin,
" That, in my flesh, I shall see God :

27. " Whom I shall see for myself,

" And my own eyes shall behold, and not another's,
" Though my reins be consumed within me*."

28. Then shall ye say*, " How did we persecute him !"
When the root of the matter is disclosed in me.

29. O, tremble for yourselves before the sword*;
For fierce is the vengeance of the sword :
Therefore beware of its judgment.

Chap. XX.

1 . Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, —

2. Whither would my tumult transport me*?

And how far my agitation within me* ?

3. " I have heard {sayst thou) * the charge of my reproach ;

" And the spirit of my understanding* shall answer for me."

4. What, then* ! knowest thou not this of old.
Ever since man was placed upon earth, *

5. That " short* is the triumph of the wicked,

" And the joy of the hypocrite but a moment ?"

6. Though his pride mount up to the heavens.
And his head reach up to the clouds,

7. In the midst of his exultation* shall he perish for ever.
They who saw him shall say, " Where is he ?"

HAP. XX. JOB. PART 111.

8. He shall flit away as a dream*, and they shall not trace him ;
Yea, he shall vanish as a vision of the night* .

9. The eye shall glance on him, and do no more*;
And his place shall never more behold him.

10. His children shall wander about, beggars*,
And his branches be involved in his iniquity*.

11. His secret lusts shall follow his bones*;
Yea, they shall press upon him* in the dust.

12. " Though wickedness be sweet to his mouth,
" Though he cause it to lurk* under his tongue ;

13. " Though he cherish it*, and will not part with it,
" But hold it fast about his palate ;

14. " His meat in his swallow shall be changed
" To the gall of asps* in his bowels."

15. " Though he glut himself with riches, yet shall he vomit them I

up again :
" God shall cast them forth out of his belly."

IG. " The poison of asps shall he suck;

" The tongue of the viper shall destroy him."

17. " He shall not behold the branches of the river;
"Brooks of honey and butter* :

18. " To labour shall he return, but he shall not eat*;

" A dearth his recompenc e : — yea, nothing shall he taste."

" Becaus(

CHAP, XX.

J O 13. PART III.

19. "Because he crushed the orphans of the needy*,
" Pullnig down the house, Instead of building it up,

20. " Because he knew no bound* to his apjtetitc,
" Never shall he bring forth his lusts :

'21. " Not a vestige* for his greediness,

" For nothing shall his- fortune bring to birth."

22. Amidst the fulness of his belly* shall he be in straits;
Every branch of misery* shall come upon him.

23. Even* in the glut of his stomach

Shall God cast upon him the fury of his wrath,
And rain down upon him while he is eating.

24. Should he flee fiom the clashing steel*,

The bow of brass* shall pierce him through :

25. Let him pluck it out, and it shall come forth from his entrails ;
Yea, the glittering shaft shall come from his life-gall.

" Terrors* shall be upon him —

26. " Every horror*, treasured up in reserve for him.
" A fire, unblown, shall consume him ;

" It shall crackle* through the ruins of his tabernacle.

27. " The heavens shall disclose his iniquity,
" And the earth shall rise up against him.

28. ''^ The substance of his house shall flee away,
" A rack* in the day of his wrath/'

29. Such is the portion of the wicked man from God ;
And the inheritance decreed to him by God.

e; 2 Where-

CHAP. XXI. JOB. PART III.

Ghap. XXI.

1. Whereupon Job answered, and said, —

2. Hear ye diligently my words ;

And may this produce your retraction*!

3. Bear with me while I speak ;

Though, after I have spoken, ye mock on.

4. Woe unto me* I as a man's, are my murmurings :
Yet how, indeed, should my spirit not repine?

3. Listen unto me, and be astonished.

And lay your hand upon your mouth.
C. Even while I think upon it*, I am utterly terrified',

And horror seizeth hold of my flesh.

7. After what manner do the wicked liver

They press forward, and grow mighty in substance*:
. 8. Their offspring is established around them in their presence.
And their posterity before their eyes.

9. Their houses are peace, without alarm.
And the rod of God is not upon them.

10. Their bull gendereth, and refuseth not*;
Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

11. They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their youth revel in dances :

12. They rise up to* the tabor and harp.

And trip merrily to the sound of the pipe*.

13. They wear away their days in pleasure*,

And quietly* descend to the grave.

Therefore

CHAP. XXI. JOB. PART III.

14. Therefore say they unto God*, " Depart from us !
" For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways : -
,15. " What is the Ahnighty, that we should serve him ?

" And what profit should we have, if we pray unto liim ?"

16. But, behold ! not in their own hands* is their prosperity;
(Far from me be the advocacy of the wicked*!)

17. How often doth God put out* the lamp of the wicked,
And bring down their destruction upnn them ?
Hoiv often dispense* tribulations in his anger?

18. Huiv often are they as stubble before the wind.
Or as chaff ransacked by the storm*?

19. * Hoiv often doth God treasure up* for his children?
Hoiv often recompense his iniquity upon himself?

20. So that he proveth, his eyes witness his own disgrace,
While he drinketh of the wrath of the Almighty.

■2.1. Lo! how doth God punish him* in his house after him.
And cut short to him the number of his months !

-2^2. Who, then, shall teach knowledge unto God ?

Uuto the Eternal* that ruleth the heights*?

23. One dieth in the flower of his perfection*.
In his fulness of ease and quiet ;

24. His sleek skin* is filled with milky
And marrow moisteneth his bones ;

£5. And another dieth in bitterness of soul,
And hath never tasted of pleasure : —

Alike

CHAP. XXI. JOB. PART III.

26. Alike lie they down in the dust,
And the worm covereth them over.

27. Behold ! T know your suggestions,

And the objections which ye agitate* against me :

28. For " Where," say ye, " is the house of this mightv one?
'^^ Yea — where, the fixt mansion of the wicked ? ,

•29- " Surely, thou canst never have inquired* of men of travel*,
" Or thou couldst not have been ignorant of their tokens.

30. " Lo ! against the day of destruction are the wicked* reserved;
" In the day of vengeance shall thev be brought forth*."

tI. But \\\\o shall attack* his conduct to his face?

And who shall retaliate to him what he hath committed •

32. Even this man* shall be borne to the grave,
And around his tomb shall ihey keep watch*.;

33. Sweet shall be over him the sods* of the valley ;
And every mortal shall march after him.
As an innumerable procession before him.

34. How vainly, then, would ye make me retract*,
Seeing that your answers are shreds of prevarication !

PART IV.

THIRD SERIES OF CONTROVERSY.

ARGUMENT OF THE FOURTH PART.

F21ipha2,as usual, takes the lead In direct Opposition to Job's Remarks,

towards the Close of the preceding Series, he contends that certain
and utter Ruin is the uniform Lot of the Wicked, and adduces the
Instances of the Deluge, and of the Cities on the Plaui. Job sup-
ports his Position by fresh and still more forcible Examples ; though
he admits, that, in the Mysterj' of Providence, Prosperity and Adver-
sity are often equally the Lot of both the Righteous and the Wicked ;
yet he denies that this ought to be held as an Argument in favour of
the last, whose Prosperity is in the utmost Degree precarious, and
who in Calamity are wholly destitute of all Hope and Consolation.

Bildad replies in a String of lofty but general Apophthegms, tending to
prove that Job cannot be without Sin, since no Man is so in the
Sight of God. — Job rejoins with Indignation ; takes a general Survey
of his Life, in the different Capacities of a Magistrate, a Husband,
a Master ; and challenges his Companions to point out a single Act
of Injustice he has committed.

CHAP. XXII. J O B. PART IV,

Fart IY.

Chap. XXII.

' — V — ' nn

1. X HEN answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, —

2. Can a man, then, become profitable* unto God,
As prudence may become profitable unto himself?

3. Is it an advantage to the Almighty that thou art righteous?
Or a gain, that thou canst justify thy ways ?

4. What ! will he smite thee, through fear of thee ?
With THEE will he enter into judgment?

5. Say — is not thy wickedness enormous ?
Yea, there is no bound to thine iniquities.

6. Behold! " thou wouldst oppress* thy brother without a cause,
" And strip the naked of their clothing."

7. " Thou wouldst not give a draught of water to the weary,
" And from the hungry wouldst thou withhold bread."

8. But the man of power* — the land itself shall be his,
And the dignified person shall take possession of it.

9. Widows wouldst thou drive away empty.

And the means of the fatherless — let them be crushed* 1
10. Therefore shall snares be round about thee.
And consternation terrify* thee of a sudden;

Oi,

CHAP. XXII. JOB. PART IV.

11. Or, darkness*, which thou canst not penetrate,
And a flood of watcr.^, shall cover thee.

12. " But is not* God in the height of the heavens?

" And doth he not look down upon the topmost stars, how-
ever lofty?

13. " How, then," sayst thou, " can God know?
" Can he discern through the dense ether*?

14. *' Thick clouds inclose him, and he cannot see,
" He walketh but in the circuit of the heavens."

15. Verily wouldst thou pursue* the track of old times.
Which the men of wickedness struck out,

1 6. Who were cut off in a moment*,

A flood svveepin_g away their foundation,

17. While exclaiming to God, " Depart from us !"
And "What could the Almighty do for them*?"

18. Though he filled ■their houses with good.

But " far from me be the advocacy of tbc wicked !" —

19. Let the righteous contemplate and exult.
And the innocent hold them in derision:

20. For our tribe* is not cut off.

While even the remnant of these, a conflagration consumed*, i

2 1 . Treasure up, then *, for thyself with Him, and be at peace :
In redundance* shall good come unto thee.

22. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth,
And lay up his words in thv heart.

If

CHAP. XXII.

J O fe. PART IV.

23. If thou turn again to the Almighty, thou shalt be rebuilt ;
If thou put away* iniquity from thy tent,

24. Then count thou treasure as dust* :

Then shall he make fountains to gush forth* amidst rocks:
2.5. Then shall the Almighty be thy treasure*}
Yea, be mountains of silver unto thee*.

26. Behold, then shalt thou delight in the Almighty,
iVnd shalt lift up thy face towards God.

27. Thou shalt unbosom thyself* to him, and he shall hearken

unto thoe;
And thv vows shalt thou accomplish.

28. And tliou slialt determine a purpose, and it shall be esta-

blished unto thee ;
And the light shall shine upon thy ways.

29. Behold, vv'hcn thou speakcst*, the proud shall humble theni-

st'lves.
And ihc lowly shall lift up tlieir eves :

30. The house of the innocent* shall be delivered*.
And delivered bv the pureness of thy hands.

CriAP.XXIII.

1. Whereupon Job ansviered, and said, —

2. " And still is my complaint rebellion*?"
My stroke* is heavier than my murmurs. —

3. Oh, that I knew where I might find him!
That I might go before his tribunal !

1. That I might lay down my cause before him,
And fill my mouth with arguments 1

That

CHAP. XXIII. JOB. PART IV.

5. That I might know the answers he would return to me,
And understand what he would say unto me !

6. Would he contend with me in the mightiness of power ?
No — rather would he concede* to me.

7. There may the righteous argue with him* ;

And triumphantly should I escape from my condemnation.

8. But, behold ! I go forward, and he is not there ;
And backward, but 1 cannot perceive him.

9. On the left hand I feel for him*, but trace him not :

He enshroudeth the right hand, and I cannot see him*.

10. Yet he knoweth the path that I take :

He trieth me, that I may come forth pure gold.

11. In his steps will I rivet my feet* ;

His way have I kept, and will not turn aside :

12. From the voice of his lips*, also, will I not depart;

In my bosom have I stored up* the words of his mouth,

13. But he is above us*, and who can change him ?
As his will listeth, so he accomplisheth.

14. Behold ! he fultilleth my lot* :

And how many such things are there with him I
13. Therefore am I terrified at his presence;
I pause and tremble before him :

16. For God hath made my heart faint* ;
Yea, the Almighty hath sore amazed me.

17. O, why can I not* draw darkness over my face* !
Why mav not thick darkness cover my face !

Wherefore

i

CHAP. XXIV.

JOB. PART IV.

Chap. XXIV.

1. Wherefore are not doomsdays kept* by the Almighty,
So that his offenders may eye his periods*?

2. They remove land-marks*;

They plunder, and destroy flocks* :

3. The ass of the fatherless they lead away ;
They distrain the widow's ox :

4. They thrust aside the destitute;

They make the poor of the earth secrete themselves in a bodv

5. Behold ! as wild-asses of the desert*.
Go they forth to their pursuits,

Rising early for the pillage of the wilderness*,
The bread of themselves, and of their children. —

6. In the field they cut down his corn*.
And crop the oppressor's vineyard.

7. They lodge naked, without clothing,
, And without cover from the cold.

8. Drenched are they with the mountain-torrents*.
And cleave to the rock for want of shelter.

9. They steal the fatherless* from the breast,
And take in pledge the garment of the needy;

10. They make the naked go without clothing,
And the hungry carry the sheaf:

1 1. Between their walls they make them toil at noon-day*;
They make them tread their wine-vats, yet suffer thirst.

Jti

JHAP. XXIV.

JOB. PART IV.

12. In the city* mankind groan aloud,
And the soul of the afflicted cricth out ;
But God regardeth not the supplication*.

13. They arc indignant of the light*;
They respect not its progress ;
And will not return to its paths.

14. With the day-light riseth the murderer ;
Distrest and destitute, he sheddeth blood*:
And at night go forth the thieving tribe*.

15. For the dusk, too, watcheth the eye of the adulterer ;
Exclaiming, " No eye shall behold me."
Then putteth he the muffler on his face;

16. He wormeth* into houses amidst the darkness.
In the day-time they seal themselves up*.
They know not the light :

] 7. For the dawn they reckon* to themselves as the death-shade;
The horrors of the death-shade, as it returneth*.

18. Miserable is fhis man* on the waters :

Deeply miserable the lot of those on dry land. i

i
The progress of the vineyard is interrupted*: '^

19. Drought and heat carry off the snow-waters*, ?!
Thev fail to their lowest depth*. !

20. Of this one* the womb is unmindful ; ,

The worm feedeth daintily on him ; j

Never

CHAP. XXIV.

JOB. PART IV

Never shall he be had in memory :

But the shoot shall be broken off as a tree*.

21. He nourlsheth to no purpose the unproductive*,
And dealeth no good lo the widow.

22. He pulleth down the mighty by his power;
The aspirer* — and he is uncertain of life:

23. He giveth him security, and he is at ease ;
For his eyes are upon their ways.

24. They are exalted, — and instantly are they nothing;
Yea, thev wither away, they are blighted as grain*;
And as the ears of corn are they cut down. —

25. And if it be not so, who will confute me.
Or charge my words with nonsense ?

Chap. XXV.

1. Then answered Bildad the Shuhitc, and said, —

2. " Dominion and dread are with him ;

" He worketh absolutely in his heights*.

3. " Is there any numbering of his hosts ?
" And where* doth his light not arise ?"

4. " And how can man be righteous before God ?

" Yea, how can he be clear, the offspring of a woman ?"
3. " Behold even the moon, — and it abideth not*;

" And the stars are not pure in his sight*."
6. " How much less man, a worm ;

" And the son of man, a reptile 1"

Then

CHAP. XXVI. JOB. PART IV.

Chap. XXVI.

1. Then Job answered, and said, —

2. How hast thou helped the powerless ?
Delivered the arm without strength ? —

3. How hast thou counselled the unskilful,
And explained the matter in controversy* ?

4. From whom hast thou pillaged* speeches ?
And whose spirit hath issued forth from thee ?

5. " Yea, the mighty dead* are laid open from below;
" The floods, and their inhabitants :

6. " Hell is naked before him ;

"And DESTRUCTION hath no covering." —

7. " He spreadeth forth* the North-pole towards space;
" He hangeth the earth upon nothing." —

8. " He driveth together* the waters into his thick clouds ;
" And the cloud is not rent under them.

9. " He withdraweth the face of his throne*,

" He overspreadeth it with his driven cloud :

10. " He sctteth a bow* on the face of the waters,

" Till the consummation of light and of darkness." —

11. " The pillars of heaven tremble,
" And are confounded at his reproof.

12. " By his might he maketh the waters flash*,
" And by his skill he cleaveth the tempest*.

13. " By his spirit hath he garnished* the heavens ;
" His hand incurvated the flying serpent*."

Lo!

CHAP. XXVI.

JOB. PART IV.

14. Lo ! these are the outlines* of his ways,
And the mere whisper* we can hear of him;
But the thunder of his power, O ! who can understand ?
Chap. XXVII.

1 . Moreover, Job continued his high argument, and said ;

2. As God liveth, he hath rejected* my cause;
Yea, the Almighty hath embittered my soul.

3. Yet, as long as my breath is within me,
And the spirit of God in my nostrils,

4. Never shall my lips speak wickedness.
Nor my tongue utter deceit.

3. God forbid that I should justify myself before you*!

Yet, though I die*, will I not cast mine integrity from me.

6. To my righteousness I adhere*, and will not relinquish it;
My heart shall not be reproached* whilst I live.

7. Let mine adversary be reckoned* as unrighteous;
And he that riseth up against me as wicked.

8. Yet what is the hope of the wicked* that he should prosper*?
That God should keep his soul in quiet*?

9. Will God then listen* to his cry,
When calamity cometh upon him ?

10. Doubtless*; would he delight himself in the Almighty;
Would he call upon God continually. —

11. I will teach you concerning the dealings* of God j
What is with the Almighty will I not withhold :

p Lo!

CHAP. ]rxvii. JOB. PART ly.

12. Lo ! ye are all witnesses yourselves ;

Why then should ye thus babble babblings*? —

13. This is the portion of the wicked man with God,

And the heritage which oppressors shall receive from the
Almighty :

14. If his children be multiplied, it is for very ruin*j
And his posterity shall not be satisfied with bread.

15. His remains shall be entombed* in corruption.
And his widows shall make no lamentation.

16. Though he heap together silver as dust.
And lay up raiment as mire*;

] 1' He may lay up, but the just shall put on.
And the innocent shall divide the silver.

18. He buildeth his house like the moth*.
Or like a shed* which the watchman contriveth.

19. Let the rich man lie down, and care not*;
He openeth his eyes, and is nothing*.

20. Terrors lay hold upon him as a flood,

A tempest stealeth him away in the night ;

21. The levanter* carrieth him oiF, as it rusheth.
And whirleth him headlong from his place :

38. Yea, it driveth upon him, and alloweth not

That he should escape from its power by fligljt.

23. Every one clappeth* at him with his hands.
And hisseth at him from his place.

Truly

CHAP. XXVIII.

J O B. PART IV.

Chap. XXVIII.

1. Truly there is a mine* for the silver.
And a bed for the gold which men refine :

2. Iron is dug up from the earth.
And the rock poureth forth copper*.

3. Man delveth into* the region of darkness*,
And examineth, to the utmost limit.
The stones of darkness and death-shade :

4. He breaketh up the veins from the matrice*.
Which, though thought nothing of* under the foot,
Are drawn forth, are brandished among mankind.

5. The earth of itself poureth forth bread ;
But below it, windeth a fiery region* :

Q. Sapphires are its stones.
And gold is its ground :

7. The eagle* knoweth not its pathway, ^
Nor the eye of the vulture descrieth it;

8. The whelps of ferocious beasts have not tracked it.
Nor the ravenous lion sprung upon it*.

9. Man thrusteth his hand into the sparry ore*.
He up-turneth the mountains from the roots :

10. He cutteth out channels* through the rocks.
And his eye discerneth every precious gem :

11. He restraineth the waters from oozing*.
And maketh the hidden gloom become radiance*. —

12. But, O ! where* shall wisdom be found ?
yea, where is the dwelling-place of understanding ?

' F 2 Man

CHAP. XXVIII. JOB. PART IV.

13. Man knoweth not its source*,

For it is not to be found in the land of the living.

14. The sea saith, " it is not in me;'*

And " not in me," saith the abyss, ,

15. Solid gold* cannot be given for it.

Nor silver be weighed out as its purchase.

16. It cannot be bartered for the ingot of Ophir*,
For the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

17. The burnished gold and crystal cannot equal it;
Nor its rival be jewels of pure gold*.

1 8. Talk not of corals or pearls * ;

For the attraction of wisdom is beyond rubies*.

19. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot rival it.
Nor for the pure ingot can it be bartered.

20. But whence, then, cometh wisdom ?

Yea, where is the dwelling-place of understanding ?

21. Since hid from the eyes of every man living.
And invisible to the fowls of the heavens ?

22. Destruction and Death say,

" We have heard of its fame with our ears." —

23. God understandeth its track.
Yea, he knoweth its dwelling-place:

24. For he seeth to the ends of the earth ;
He surveyeth under every part of the heavens. —

25. When he made* a balance for the air.
And adjusted the waters by measure;

When

CHAP. XXVIII. JOB. PART IV.

26. When he fixed a course* for the rain,

And a path for the lightning of the thunder-storm *j

27. Then did he eye it, and proclaim it;

He established it, and thoroughly proved it*:

28. And to man he said,

Behold, THE FEAR OF THE LORD I — that is W^ISDOM j
And TO DEPART FROM EVIL, UNDERSTANDING.
€iiAP. XXIX,

1. And Job continued his grave speech, and exclaimed, —

2. Oh that it were with me as in months past !
As in the days when God watched over me ;

3. When he suffered his lamp to shine upon my head*.
And by its light I illumined* the darkness 1

4. As it was with me in the days of my* perfection,
When God fortified* my tent over me;

5. When my strength was yet* in me;
My children round about me;

6. When my path flowed* with butter.

And the rock poured out for me rivers of oil ! —

7. As I went forth, the city rejoiced at me*;
As I took my seat abroad *,

8. The young men saw me, and shrunk back.
And the aged ranged themselves about me*;

9. The rulers refrained from speaking,
And laid their hand upon their mouth :

10. The renowned* withheld their harangue.

And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.

As

Chap. XXIX. JOB. part iv.

11. As the ear heard, it blessed me ;
As the eye saw, it hung upon me* :

12. For I delivered the poor when they cried.
The fatherless, and him that had no helper.

13. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me,
And I caused the widow's heart to shout for joy.

14k I put on righteousness ; yea, it wrapped me round :
My justice was as a robe and turban*.

15. I was eyes to the blind.
And feet was I to the lame ;

16. I was a father to the destitute,

And the cause of the unknown* I searched intoj

17. And I brake the tusks* of the wicked.
And plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

18. Then said I, " I shall die in my nest*,"

And " I shall multiply my days as the sand*."

19. " My root shall spread abroad to the waters*,
" And the dew shall lodge on my branches."

20. " My glory shall be unfading around me,

" And my bow continue fresh* in my hand." ;

21. To me they gave ear, and attended.
And were silent upon my admonition.

22. After my words, they replied not*;
For my speech dropped down upon them * :

23. Yea, they longed for me, as for the rain ;
They even opened their mouths wide, as for the harvest rain

I smiled

i

CHAP. XXIX.

JOB. PART IV.

24. I smiled upon them, and they were gay*.

And rejected not the light of my countenance*:

25. I scrutinized their ways, and rebuked the lofty*^
And dwelt, as a king, in the midst of a troop j
As one that upholdeth the oppressed.

CitAP.XXX.

1 . But now those that are few of days.
In comparison with myself, mock at me*.

Whose fathers I scorned to rank with the dogs of my flock*.

2. Yet what to me is the value of their taunts'*,
With whom crabbed looks are perpetual,
From hunger, and flinty famine* ?

3. Who were, yesterday*, gnawers of the desert*.
Of the waste and the wilderness ;

4. Plucking nettles* from the bushes,
Or furze-roots*, for their food.

3. They were cast out from the people.

They slunk away* from them like a thief,

6. To dwell in the fearfulness of the steeps.
In dens of the earth, and in caverns*.

7. Among the bushes did they bray;

Under the briars did they huddle together*:

8. A breed of churls ! yea, a breed of infamy.
Scourged out of the land*.

9- But now am I become their song,
And serve them for a bye-word*.
10. They abhor me, they stand aloof from me,

And

CHAP. XXX. JOB. PART IV.

And refrain not to spit in my face.

11. Behold, they loosen* my restraint;

They humble me, and cast away the bridle before me.

12. On the right rise up the younglings*,
They rush into my footsteps.

And redouble upon me their rude inroads.

13. They tear up my pathway* 5
They rejoice in my downfall;
Not an adviser amongst them*.

14. They advance as a vast breaker;
They roll forward, a tumultuous ruin*.

15. The turn is come*: destructions* are upon me;
My nobility* is chased away like the wind,
And my security departeth as a cloud.

J 6. Even now is my soul dissolved throughout me*,
The days of distress have laid hold upon me.

17. My flesh* is nightly eaten off from me.
And my gnawings take no rest :

18. From the abundance of the acrimony* it is changed into a

garment for me,
It wrappeth me round like the folds of my shirt :

19. It hath set me up for corruption,

And I am made a bye-word*, like " dust and ashes.'*

20. I cry unto thee, but thou dost not answer me;
I persevere, but thou lookest on upon me*.

21. Thou art turned into an adversary towards me;

I

CHAP. XXX.

JOB. PART IV.

In the might of thy hand thou breakest me to pieces*.

22. Thou tossest me into the whirlwind*;
Thou makest me to ride upon it ;
And utterly dissipatest my substance.

23. Behold* ! I know that thou wilt bring me to death*.
To the house appointed for all the living. —

24. But not into the sepulchre* will he thrust his hand ;
Surely there, in its ruiri, is freedom*.

25. Should I not then weep for the ruthless day*?
My soul lament for the rock* ?

26. Behold, I looked for good, but there came evil ;
And I longed for light, but there came darkness. —

27. My bowels boil*, and cease not;
The days of anguish press upon me.

28. Forlorn I go forth, without protection*;
I stand up, a bewailer among the people.

29. I am an associate with dragons*.
And a companion to ostriches*.

30. My skin is grown black upon me.
And my bones are burnt up with heat :

31. And my harp is turned to lamentation.
And my pipe to the voice of wailings.

Chap. XXXI.

1. I made a covenant* with mine eyes.
That I would not* gaze upon a maid.

2. Yet what is the allotment of God * from above ?

Or

CHAP. XXXI. J O B.' PART IV.

Or the inheritance of the Almighty from on high ?

3. Is it not the fate* of the wicked ?

Yea, a fate unknown to the workers of iniquity ?

4. But doth not the Eternal * see my ways,

And number all my footsteps ? ;

5. If I have walked with unfaithfulness*.
And my foot hath rushed * to dishonesty, —

6. Let him weigh me in the scales of justice.
That God may discern mine intc^grity.

7. If my step hath strayed towards this course*,
And my heart hath walked after mine eyes.
Or a speck* hath cleaved to my hands, —

8. Let me sow, and another man eat;
And let my branches be uprooted !

9. If my heart hath been enticed by a woman.
Or I have lain wait at my neighbour's door, —

10. May my wife be ground down* by another, ]
And may others cower over her.

11. For this would be a premeditated crime*.
And a profligacy of the understanding* :

12. For this would be a fire, consuming to destruction.
And rooting out all mine increase.

13. If I have slighted the cause of my man-servant, or my

maid-servant.
In their controversies with me*,

14. What then shall I do, when God ascendeth*;

And

;HAP. XXXI.

JOB. PART IV.

And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him ?

15. Did not he who made me in the womb, make them* ?
Yea, did not he fashion us in a like organ* ?

16. If I have kept back the poor from enjoyment,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail ;

17. If I have eaten my morsel alone,

And the fatherless have not eaten of it ;

18. (Behold, from my youth calamity hath quickened me*,
Even from my mother's womb have I distributed it ;)

19. If I have seen any perish for want of clothing.
Or the poor man without raiment,

20. And his loins have not blessed me,

Nor himself grown warm from the wool of my lambs* :

21. If I have withdrawn my hand* from the fatherless.
When I saw my authority in the gate*; —

22. May my shoulder-bone be shivered at the blade.
And mine arm be broken off at the socket.

23. For the punishment of God was a terror to me.
And I was powerless* before his majesty.

24. If I have made gold my reliance.

And have said to the ingot, " Thou art my trust •" —

25. If I have exulted as my substance multiplied.
And as my hand found abundance ; —

26. If I have looked at the sun as he shineth*.
Or the moon progressive in brightness*.

And

CHAP. XXXI. J O B. PART IV.

27. And my heart hath been secretly enticed.

Or my hand hath borne a kiss to my mouth*;

28. (This also would be a profligacy of the understanding*.
For I should deny the God that is above) ; —

29. If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
Or exalted myself when harm hath befallen him ;

30. (But never have I suffered my mouth to transgress*.
By entreating evil* upon his soul) ; —

31. If the men of my tabernacle do not exclaim,

" Who hath longed for* his meat without fulness ?"

32. (The stranger hath never lodged in the street,
To the traveller have I opened my doors ;) —

33. If, like Adam, I have covered* my transgressions,
By hiding mine iniquities in my bosom; —

34. Then let me be confounded before* the assembled mul-

titude,
And let the reproach of its families quash me* :
Yea, let me be struck dumb I let me never appear abroad !

35. Who will consent to summon me* ?

There is my pledge — let the Almighty take notice of me ,•
And let mine adversary write down the charge*.

36. Surely I would wear it on my shoulder*;
I would wind it round me as a turban ;

37. I would disclose to him the whole of my steps,
I would meet him altogether as a witness*.

If

CHAP. XXXI. JOB. PART IV.

38. If my own land* cry out against me.
And its furrows bewail together ; —

39. If I have eaten of its strength without wages.
Or have exhausted the breath of its managers ; —

40. Let the thistle grow up instead of wheat.
And the nightshade* instead of barley, —

The arguments of Job closed*.

PAUT V.

THE SUMMING UP OF THE CONTROVERSY.

ARGUMENT OF THE FIFTH PART.

Zophar, who ought to have concluded the last Series, having declined to
prosecute the Debate any farther, the general Argument is summed
up by Elihu, who has not hitherto spoken, though present from the
first. — He condemns the Subject-matter of the Opponents of Job, as
altogether irrelevant ; and accuses Job himself, not of suffering for
any past Impiety, but of speaking irreverently, during the Contro-
versy,— He contests several of Job's Positions ; asserts that Afflictions
are often inflicted by the Almighty for the wisest and the most mer-
ciful Purposes ; and that, in every Instance, ourDuty is Submission. —
He closes with describing the Creator as supreme, and uncontrol-
able ; and as creating, upholding, and regulating all Nature accord-
ing to his own Will and Pleasure ; incomprehensibly and mysteriously,
yet ever wisely and benevolently.

CHAP. XXXII.

JOB.

Part V.

PART V.

■i^^

Chap. XXXII.

1. JL HEN forbore these three men
From making answer to Job,
Because he was righteous in his own eyes.

2. But kindled was the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel,
A Buzite*, of the family of Ram :
Kindled was his wrath against Job,
Because he had justified his life before God*.

3. Against his three friends, also, was his wrath kindled,
Because they returned no answer.
Although they had condemned Job.

i 4. For Elihu waited, after Job, for a reply,
Since these were older than himself.
5. But Elihu saw there was no answer
In the mouth of the three men.
And kindled was his wrath.

6. Then answered Elihu, the son of Barachel,

The Buzite, and said, —

I am few of years.

But ye are very old :

G Therefore

CHAP. XXXII. JOB. PARTY.

Therefore shrunk I back, and was afraid
To declare my opinion among you.

7. Let days, said I, argue.

And the controversy of years* teach wisdom.

8. But surely there is an afflation* in mankind.

And the inspiration of the Almighty actuateth them :

9. Controvertists* have no skill.
Nor do the aged discern right.

10. Therefore, say I, listen unto me ;
I myself, also, will declare my opinion.

1 1. Behold ! I have attended to your reasonings :
I suspended myself* throughout your discussions.
While yet ye could find arguments :

1 2. Yea, throughout have I pondered you ;
And, behold, there is not a correcter* of Job,
To refute his speeches, among you.

13. Lest ye should exclaim, *' We have found out wisdom," 1
God shall overthrow him, not man.

14. As he hath not directed his words against me,
So will I not reply to him with your speeches ;

15. They are dissipated, they no longer produce effect*.
The words have flitted away from them. —

1(5. As I attended till nothing could be said to him*.

Till there was silence to him, nothing more replied to him

17. I myself will yet reply, on my part*j
I myself, also, will declare* my opinion.

Lc

CHAP. XXXII.

JOB. PART y.

18. Lo ! I am overcharged* with matter,
The spirit of my bosom oppresscth me.

19. Behold, my bosom* is as wine that hath no vent:
As new skin-bottles, it is bursting.

20. I will speak, and liberate myself;

I will open my lips, and make remarks. —

21. Nor will I now flatter men's faces;

I will neither keep silence nor compliment* :

22. For I know not how to compliment,

Lest my Maker should hold me in contempt*.
Chap. XXXIII.

1. Attend, therefore, now, O Job, to my reasonings ;
Yea, to the whole of my argument give ear.

2. Behold, now that I am opening my mouth,
That my tongue is expatiating in my palate,

3. The uprightness of my heart shall find me words*,
And my lips shall utter pure knowledge*.

4. The afflation of God* actuateth me;

The inspiration of the Almighty giveth me impulse.

5. If thou art able, refute me;
Arrange thyself before me; stand firm.

6. Behold! I am thy fellow*: —
I, too, was formed by God out of the clay.

7. Lo ! MY TERROR* shall not dismay thee.
Nor shall my hand be heavy upon thee

8. Surely thou hast said in mine ears.
And I have heard the sound of the words,

G 2 *• I am

CHAP. XXXIII. JOB. PART V.

9. " I am pure, without transgression ;

" I am clean *, and there is no iniquity in me.

10. " Lo ! he hunteth out pretexts* against me,
" He counteth me for his enemy.

11. " He putteth my feet into clogs*,
" He eyeth all my steps."

12. Behold ! this thou hast not made good*.
I will retort to thee : — Since God is greater than man,

13. Why dost thou dispute with him,
Because* he will not account for all his ways ?

14. Yet, at one time, God speaketh out;
And at other times doth he not make it plain ?

15. In a dream, a vision of the night,
When deep sleep falleth upon man* —

In slumberings upon the couch —

16. Then openeth he men's ears.
And impresseth* for their admonition;

17. Turning aside the man of stratagem*.
Or he rooteth out* from a man obstinacy;

18. He restraineth* his soul from the pestilence*.
And his life from perishing by the arrow.

19. Should he, moreover, be chastened with pain upon his bed, J

i
And the agitation of his bone's be violent*, 3

20. So that his life nauseates* food.
And his soul dainty meat ;

21. His flesh is consumed, that it cannot be seen*; A

And J

CHAP. XXXIII. J O B. PART V.

And his bones, that were not seen, stick out; —

22. As his soul draweth near to the grave.
And his life to the destinies*, —

23. Surely* will there be over him an angel.
An INTERCESSOR, one of the thousand*,
To point out to the man his duty*.

24. Then will he be gracious unto him, and say,

" Release him* from going down into the pit;
" I have received an -atonement."

25. And his flesh shall fatten* as a child's ;
He shall return to the days of his youth.

26. He shall give praise to God, and propitiate him ;
Yea, he shall behold his face with shouting,
And shall render unto man his due.

27. He shall sing before mankind, and say,
" I have sinned, and perverted the right,
" But he hath not requited* it unto me.

28. " He hath delivered my soul from going into the pit,
" And my life beholdeth the light."

29. Lo I all these things worketh God,
Time after time*, towards man;

30. To bring back his soul from the pit.

To enlighten with the light of the living.

3 1 . Attend, then, O Job ! hearken unto me ;
Keep silence while I speak.

Bu^

CHAP. XXXIII. JOB. PARTY.

32. But if there can be a reply, answer me,
Speak thou ; for 1 long for thy justification.

33. But if not, hearken thou unto me,

Still keep silence, while I teach thee wisdom.
Chap. XXXIV.

1. So Elihu continued, and said; —

2. Hear my words, O ye wise !
And, ye learned, give ear unto me :

3. For " the ear trieth words,

" As the mouth tasteth foods*."

4. Let us search out ^or ourselves the right*,

Let us ascertain among ourselves what is goodly.

5. Behold ! Job hath said, " I am righteous,"
And " God hath rejected my cause*."

6. " Concerning my cause, T am slandered*. '■
" He hath reversed my lot without a trespass*."

7. What man is there like Job !

" He drinketh up derision like water* !"

8. And " travelleth in company with the workers of iniquity!"
Yea, in the highway, with men of wickedness !

9. " Behold !" saith he*, " a man profiteth nothing
" By his delighting in God."

10. Wherefore, hear me, ye men of understanding !
A truce with wickedness towards God*,

And with iniquity towards the Almighty!

11. According to a man's work*, will he render unto him ;
And according to the ways of a man shall it befall him.

But

CHAP. XXXIV.

JOB. PART V.

12. But surely God will not act wrongfully,
Neither will the Almighty pervert justice.

13. Who inspecteth the earth over him*?
Or who disposeth of the universe ?

14. If he fix his purpose upon him,

He can recall his breath and his spirit :

15. All flesh shall expire together.
And mankind return to the dust.

16. But, touching* wisdom, hear ye this,
Give ear to the voice of my words —

17. Shall, then, the abhorrer of order become a check*?

And wilt THOU, forsooth*, condemn unbounded justice ?

18. Who exclaimeth to a king, Absurdity !
To nobles, Mischievousness! ?

19. Who doth not reverence the persons of princes ?
And not respect the dignified before the mean ?

Behold ! all these* are the work of his hands !

20. In a moment may they perish — even at midnight !
Tremble may the people, and pass away.

And the potentates depart without power :

21. For his eyes are upon the ways of man.

And he seeth all his goings : . ,

22. There is no darkness nor death-shade
For the workers* of iniquity to hide in.

23. Behold ! not to man hath he entrusted the time*
Of coming into judgment with God :

He

CHAP. XXXIV. JOB. PART V.

24. He crusheth the mighty unawares*.

And liftelh up the lowest into their place*.

25. For he knoweth their machinations,

And rolleth round the night, and they are demolished*.

26. Down, culprits*, he smiteth them.
In the public courts* of spectators,

27- Who purposely* departed from following him,

And all his dealings perverted*:
28. So as to make the cry of the poor come before him.

And that he should hear the cry of the oppressed.

^9. But let him give quiet*, and who can make trouble?

Let him hide his face*, and who can descry him ?
Whether in regard to a nation or to an individual?

30. To a corrupt king of mankind.
Or the multitude of the people* ?

31. Therefore say thou unto God*,

" I have suffered,— I will not offend*:

32. " What I see not, O teach thou me !

*' Wherein* I have done evil, I will do so no more I"

33. Then, in the presence of thy tribes*.

According as thou art bruised, shall he make it whole. —
But it is thine to chuse, and not mine;
So what thou determinest — say.

34. Let men of understanding talk with me.
And let the wise man listen to me.

Shouk

CHAP. XXXIV.

JOB. PART V.

33. Should Job answer* without knowledge,
And his words be void of discretion,

36. Verily*, let Job be pursued, even to conquest*.
For replying like wicked men*.

37. For he would add to his transgressions, apostacy:
He would clap his hands in the midst of us ;
Yea, he would tempest his words up to God*.

Chap. XXXV.

1. And Elihu resumed, and said; —

2. Dost thou, then, reckon this to be meet?

Thou hast said, " My righteousness is before God's."

3. Behold ! thou wouldst argue* how it may profit thee;

" What shall I benefit more than by my going astray?"

4. I will return thee an answer.
And thy companions with thee.

5. Look to the heavens, and behold !

And contemplate the skies ; — high are they over thee !

6. If thou go astray, what doest thou against him ?

Yea, should thy transgressions abound, in what canst thou
affect him ?

7. If thou be righteous, what canst thou profit him ?
Or what will he receive from thy hand ? —

8. To man, like thyself, is thine iniquity.
And to the son of man thy righteousness.

9. From amidst the multitude the oppressed* call out;
They cry aloud from the arm of the mighty :

But

CHAP. XXXV. JOB. PART V.

10. But no one exclaimeth, " O ! where is God, my creator,
" Who giveth songs in the night* ?

11. " Who teacheth us * more than the beasts of the earth,
" And maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven ?"

12. Piteously* call they out, but he answereth not.
Notwithstanding the violence of the outcries* |

13. For God will not listen to vanity;
Yea, the Almighty will not notice it.

14. However thou mayst say, " Thou dost not behold us* !"
Judgment is before him, and thou shalt abide it*.

15. But at present, because he hath not mustered up his wrath*.
Nor manifested his fury in excess,

16. Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vanity;
He multiplieth words without knowledge.

Chap. XXXVI.

1. And Elihu proceeded, and said ; —

2. Incline to me*, and I will open unto thee.
Behold I there are yet arguments on behalf of God.

3. I will exert my knowledge to the utmost*,
And do justice to my Creator.

4. Behold ! truth, without error*, shall be my argument;
Soundness of knowledge shall be before thee.

5. Lo ! God is mighty, and will not be despised* :
Mighty in strength of heart*, he will not uphold* the wicked,'

6. But will deal justice to the oppressed.
He withdraweth not his eye from the judge*,

7. Nor even from kings* upon the throne ;

For

-CHAP. XXXYI.

JOB. PART V.

For he returneth them in triumph*, and they are exalted :

8. Or, if they be bound in fetters.

If holden in the cords of affliction,

9. Then showeth he them their deeds.

And their transgressions, wherein they have rebelled j

10. And openeth their ear to correction,

And exhorteth that they return from iniquity.

11. If they listen and obey,

They spend their days in prosperity,
And their years in pleasures :

12. But, if they listen not,
They pass by, as an arrow.
And die without remembrance*.

13. So, let hypocrites toss up the nose*;

They shall not be liberated* when he fettereth them:

14. They shall die in the youth of their soul*.

And their strength shall lie amongst the rabble*.

15. But he will rescue the afflicted in their affliction;
And make their ears tingle with joy* in oppression.

16. So, surely, would he have raised up* for thee, in the midst

of straitness.
Enlargement, unlimited in its extent.

And the lowest of thy tables* would he have filled with plen-
teousness.
17- But thou art consummating* the doom of the wicked;

The doom and the punishment are at hand.
18. Behold the indignation*! lest it urge thee on to ruin,

When

CHAP. XXXVI. JOB. PART V.

When abundance of ransoms shall not extricate thee.

19. Will thy magnificence then avail* ?

Not wealth, nor all the exertions of power. —

20. Neither long thou for the night,

For the vaults* of the nations underneath them.

21. O beware ! — advance not* in wickedness;
For this hast thou preferred to affliction.

22. Behold ! God can raise up by his power;
And who like him can cast down* ?

23. Who inspecteth his way over him* ?

Or who can say, " Thou hast done amiss" ?

24. O reflect ! — that thou mayst* honour his dealings,
Whom mankind jointly celebrate.

25. Every mortal looketh towards him*;
Man gazeth afar off.

26. Behold I God is great — surpassing knowledge :
The number of his years ! surpassing research.

27. Lo ! he exhaleth* the drops of the waters;
They throw off the rain for his tempest.

28. Then down flow* the heavens;
They pour upon man impetuously.

29. But if he heap up* the spreadings of the cloudy-woof,
The tapestry of his pavilion*,

30. Behold ! he throweth forth from it his flash,
And investeth the roots of the very ocean*.

31. Lo ! thus judgeth he the nations;
He passeth sentence amain*.

He

::hap. XXXVI.

JOB. PART V.

32. He brandisheth the blaze athwart the concave*.
And launcheth his penetrating bolt* :

33. Along with it rusheth* his roar,

The fierceness* of wrath, because of wickedness :

Chap. Wrath — at which* my heart trembleth,
IXXXVII.

-V — ' And staggereth* in its post.

2. Hear ! O ! hear ye, the clangour* of his voice,
And the peal that issueth from his mouth.

3. Under the whole heavens is his flash*.
And his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

4. After it pealeth the voice ;
He thundereth with the voice of his majesty;
And there is no limit to them* when his voice soundeth.

5. God thundereth marvellously with his voice*.

Great things doeth he, surpassing knowledge*. —

6. Behold ! he saith to the snow — be* !
On earth then falleth it* : —
To the rain — and it falleth —
The rains of his might.

7. Upon the labour of every man he putteth a seal*.
To the feeling of every mortal * is his work :

8. Even the brute kind* go into covert.
And abide in their dwellings.

9. From the utmost zone* issueth the whirlwind*;
And from the arctic chambers*, cold.

By

CHAP. XXXVir. JOB. PART V.

10. By the blast of God the frost congealeth*.
And the expanse of the waters, into a mirror*.

1 1 . He also loadeth the cloudy- woof with redundance* ;
His effulgence disperseth the gloom*.

12. Thus revolveth he the seasons in his wisdom*,

That they may accomplish whatsoever he commandeth them.
Over the face of the world of earth*.

13. Constantly in succession*, whether for his judgment
Or for mercy, he causeth it to take place.

14. Hearken to this, O Job ! be still.

And contemplate the wondrous works of God.

15. Dost thou know how God ordereth these things ?
. How the light giveth refulgence to his vapour* ?

16. Dost thou know of the balancings of the clouds?
Wonders, perfections of wisdom* !

17. How thy garments grow warm.

When the earth is attempered from the south ?

18. Hast thou with him spread out the heavens.
Polished as a mt)lten mirror ?

19. Teach us how we may address him.
When arrayed in robes of darkness* :

20. Or, if brightness be about him*, how I may commune?
For, should a man then speak, he would be consumed. —

21. Even now we cannot look at the light.
When it is resplendent* in the heavens,

Anc

CPIAP. XXXVII. JOB. PART V.

And a wind from the north hath passed along and cleared
them*:

22. Splendour itself is with God !
Insufferable majesty !

23. Almighty ! — we cannot comprehend him, —
Surpassing in power and in judgment !

Yet doth not the might of his justice oppress.

24. Let mankind, therefore, stand in awe of him :
He looketh all the wise of heart to nothing*.

PART VI.

THE ACQUITTAL AND RESTORATION OF JOB.

H

ARGUMENT OF THE SIXTH PART.

The Almighty appears visibly, to pronounce Judgment ; and speaks to
Job, in a sublime and magnificent Address, out of the Whirlwind-
Job humbles himself before the Almighty, and is accepted of him
—His Friends are severely reproved for their Conduct, during the
Controversy ; a Sacrifice is demanded of them, and Job is appointed
their Intercessor — He prays for his Friends, and his Prayer is assented
to — He is restored to his former state of Prosperity, and his Sub-
stance in every instance doubled.

DHAP. XXXVIII.

JOB. PART VI.

Part VL

:hap. xxxviii.

1. A HEN spake Jehovah to Job,
Out of the whirlwind, and said : —

2. Who is this that darkeneth wisdom
By words without knowledge ?

3. Gird up now, manfully*, thy loins;
For I will ask of thee, and answer thou me.

4. Where wast thou when I founded the earth ?
Declare: — doubtless thou knowest the plan*.

5. Who fixed its measurements ? — for thou knowest*.
Or who stretched the line upon it ?

6. Upon what are its foundations sunk ?
Or who laid its key-stone,

7. When the morning-stars sang together,

I And all the sons of God shouted for joy ?

8. Or who shut up the sea with doors.
When its rush from the womb would have overflowed*, —

9. When I made the clouds its mantle*.
And thick darkness its swaddling-band*j

H S And

CHAP. XXXVIII. JOB. PART VI.

10. And uttered my decree concerning it*.
And fixed a boundary* and doors :

1 1. And said, " Thus far shalt thou come, but no further j
" And here shall the raging of thy waves be stayed*?"

12. Within thy days, hast thou ordained the dawn.
And appointed to the day-spring his post*, —

13. That they should lay gold on the skirts of the earth.
And evil-doers be terrified away from it*?

14. Canst thou cause them to bend round, as clay to the mould*,
So that they are made to set like a garment, —

15. While their lustre is withholden from evil-doers,
And the roving of wickedness* is broken off?

16. Hast thou penetrated the well-springs of the sea*;
Or walked through the depth of the abyss ?

17. Have the gates of death* been disclosed to thee ?
Yea, the gates of the death-shade hast thou beheld ?

18. Hast thou explored throughout the breadths of the earth ?
Declare: — doubtless thou knowest the whole of it.

19. Where, too, is the region* that light inhabiteth ?
And darkness, 'where, too, is its abode, —

20. That thou shouldst lay hold of it in its boundary*.

And that thou shouldst discern the traces of its mansion ?

21. Thou knowest* : — for thou wast then born.
And great is the number of thy days.

Hast

CHAP. XXXVIII.

JOB. PART VI,

22. Hast thou entered Into the treasuries of the snow ?
Or the treasuries of the hail hast thou beheld,

23. Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and of vi^ar ?

24. Where, too, is the region whence the lightning brancheth,
JVhence the levanter* bursteth forth over the earth?

25. Who hath allotted a store-house* for the torrent.
Or made a path* for the bolt of the thunder-clap, —

26. To cause rain on a land where there is no man ;
On a desert, without a mortal in it*:

27. To replenish the waste, and the wilderness.

And make the bud of the tender herb to spring forth ?

28. Who is the father* of the rain ?

And who hath begotten the globules of the dew* ?

29. Out of whose womb came the ice ?

And the hoar-frost of heaven, who hath gendered it ?

30. When the waters grow opake as a stone*.
And the face of the deep becomes fixt,

31. Canst thou compel the sweet influences of the Pleiades*?
And loosen the bands of- Orion ?

32. Canst thou lead forth the Zodiac in his season ?
Or guide Arcturus and his sons ?

33. Knowest thou the laws of the heavens ?

Hast thou, forsooth*, appointed their dominion over the earth ?

Canst

CHAP. XXXVlll. JOB. PART VI.

34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,
And a deluge of waters envelop thee?

35. Canst thou send forth lightnings, — and they go,
And say unto thee, " Here we are !" —

36. Who putteth understanding into the volleys*?
And who giveth to the shafts* discernment?

37. Who, by wisdom, irradiateth the heavens*,
And stayeth the bottles of the skies,

38. When the dust is broken down into glassiness*,
And the clods are impacted together ?

39. Canst thou hunt down prey for the lioness,
And perfect the strength* of the young lions, —

40. When they lie prostrate in the lairs,

When they crouch in the shelter of the covert* ?

41. Who provideth his spoil for the raven,
When his nestlings cry unto God,

When they are famishing* for want of food ?
Chap. XXXIX.

1. Understandest thou the course of byreeding of the moun-

tain-goats*?
Canst thou see into the calving of the hinds ?

2. Wilt thou calculate the months they shall fulfil ?
Yea, understandest thou their course of breeding ?

3. They draw themselves together*; they cast out their youngj
They are delivered from their pangs.

Their

CHAP. XXXIX.

JOB. PART VI=

4. Their nurslings bound away*, they contend over the field.
They go off, and never return to them.

5. Who hath sent forth the wild-ass at large* ?
And the reins of the wild-mule who hath loosed ?

6. Whose house I have made the wilderness.
And his haunts the salt waste.

7. He mocketh at the uproar of the city.

And the jargon of the driver he heedeth not :

8. He traverseth the mountains, his pasturage*;
And hunteth after every green shoot.

9. Will the rhinoceros* submit to serve thee?
Will he, indeed, abide at thy crib ?

10. Canst thou make his harness bind the rhinoceros to the furrow?
Will he, forsooth, plough up the valleys after thee* ?

11. Wilt thou rely on him for his great strength.
And commit thy labour unto him ?

12. Wilt thou trust him that he may bring home thy grain.
And gather in thy harvest* ?

13. The wing of the ostrich-tribe is for flapping,
But of the stork and the falcon for flight*.

14. Behold, she committeth her eggs to the earth,
And letteth them grow warm upon the sand j

15. And is heedless that the foot may crush them*.
Or the beast of the field trample upon them.

Hard-

CHAP. XXXIX. JOB. PART VI.

16. Hard-used are her young, as though not belonging to her;

Vain hath been her travail, without solicitude :
!?• For God hath made her feeble of instinct,

And not imparted to her understanding.

18. Yet, when she rouseth herself to the contest*.
She laugheth at the horse and his rider.

19. Hast thou bestowed on the horse mettle?

Hast thou clothed his neck with the thunder-flash*?

20. Hast thou given him to launch forth as an arrow*? —
Terrible is the pomp of his nostrils :

21. He paweth in the valley, and exulteth* :
Boldly* he advanceth against the clashing host :

22. He mocketh at fear, and trembleth not ;
Nor turneth he back from the sword.

23. Against him rattleth the quiver.
The glittering spear, and the shield :

24. With rage and fury he devoureth the ground.
And is impatient* when the trumpet soundeth.

25. He exclaimeth among the trumpets, "Aha!"
And scenteth the battle afar off, .

The thunder of the chieftains, and the shouting.

26. Is it by thy skill that the falcon taketh flight*.
That she stretcheth her wings towards the South*?

27. Doth the eagle, truly, soar at thy command ?
And therefore* maketh she her nest on high ?

She

CHAP. XXXIX. JOB.

PART VI.

28. She dwelleth in the cliff*,

Yea, broodeth on the peak of the cliff:

29. And thence espieth she ravin :
Her eyes trace the prey afar off,

30. And her young ones swoop up* the blood :
And wherever there are carcases, she is there*.

Chap. XL.

1. And Jehovah added to Job, and said; —

2. Doth it, then, edify* to contend with the Almighty?
Let the reprover of God answer this,

3. Whereupon Job replied to Jehovah, and said ; —

4. Behold, I am vile ! What can I answer thee ? —
j^ I will lay my hand on my mouth. —

< 5. Once have I spoken, but I will not speak again :
Yea, twice ; but I will not persevere.

6. Then spake Jehovah to Job,
Out of the whirlwind, and said ; —

7. Gird up rjow, manfully, thy loins j

For I will ask of thee, and answer thou me.

8. Wouldst thou, truly, demolish my judgment ?
Wouldst thou condemn me, that thyself mayst be justified?

9. And hast thou, indeed, an arm like God ?
And with a voice like his canst thou thunder ?

Put

CHAP. XL. JOB. PART YI.

10. Put on, now, loftiness and pomp,

And array thyself in majesty and glory j
H. Let loose* the excesses of thy wrath,

And eye every proud one, and abase him j

12. Eye every proud one — yea, -prostrate him;
And crush down the wicked to the grave* :

13. Huddle them together* in the dust,
Thrust them down* amidst the huddle :

14. Then, indeed, will I confess* to thee.

That thy right hand may work thee protection.

15. Come, behold Behemoth*, whom I have created as well

as thyself 1
He feedeth on grass like the ox.

1 6. Come, behold his strength in his loins.
And his virility in the navel of his belly*.

17. He moveth his tail like a cedar;

The sinews of his haunches* are braced together:

18. Bars of brass are his bones;
His joints like masses of iron* :

19. He is the chief of the ways of God.

Let HIM but commission him*, he is instant on his ravage ;

20. Lo ! the mountains become food to him.

And all the beasts of the field there are made a mock of.

2 1 . Under the shady trees he reposeth ;

In the covert of the reeds and the ooze :

22. While they overshadow him*, the shady trees tremble;

The

CHAP. XL. JOB. PART VI.

The willows of the river, while they surround him.
63. If the stream rage, he recoileth not ;

He is unmoved, though Jordan rush against his mouth :
24. With his eyes he inviteth him*;

He cutteth through, fiercely, with his scales.
Chap.xli.

1. Canst thou drag forth Leviathan* ?

With hook and line* canst thou delve into his tongue ?

2. Say, canst thou* fix the cord to his snout?
Or pierce his jaw through with the barb ?

3. Will he multiply entreaties to thee ?

Will he, forsooth, speak to thee soft things ?

4. Wilt thou, verily, strike a league with him ?
Wilt thou receive him into perpetual service ?

5. Wilt thou play with him like a bird.
And encage him for thy children*?

6. Shall thy companions rush upon him*?
Shall they allot him to the merchants ?

7. Say, wilt thou fill his skin with harpoons*,
And his head with fish-spears ?

8. Make ready thy hand against him —
Dare the contest; be firm*.

9. Behold ! the hope of him is vain;

It is dissipated* even at his appearance.

10. None is so bold that he dares rouse him. —

Who, then, is he that will array himself against me ?

11. That will stand before me, yea, presumptuously*?

The.

CHAP. XLI.

JOB. PART VI.

The hollow of the whole heavens* is mine :
12. I cannot be confounded* at his limbs and violence,
The strength and structure of his frame.

1^. Who will rip up the covering of his armour ?

Against the doubling of his nostrils* who will advance ?

14. The doors of his face who will tear open ?
The rows of his teeth are terror;

15. The plates of his scales, triumph, —
A panoply, an embossed munition :

16. The one is so compacted with the other.
The very air cannot enter between them j

17. Each is inserted into its next ;

They are rivetted, and cannot be sundered.

18. His snortings are the radiance of light;
And his eyes, as the glancings* of the dawn :

19. Out of his mouth issue torches.
Flashes of flame bound away.

20. From his nostrils bursteth fume.

As from a seething-pot or a cauldron :

21. His breath kindleth coals ;
Raging fire goeth from his mouth*.

22. In his neck dwelleth might ;

And DESTRUCTION exulteth before him*:

23. The flakes of his flesh are soldered together :

It is firm about him, it will in no wise give way*.

24. His heart is as firm as a stone.

Yea,

CHAP. XLI. JOB. PART VI.

Yea, it is firm as the nether mill-stonei

25. At his rising the mighty are afraid;

They are confounded at the tumult of the sea*.

26. The sword of his assailant cannot stand*, —
The spear, the dart, or the harpoon.

27. He regardeth iron as straw, ^
Brass as rotten wood.

28. The bolt from the bow cannot make him flee ;
Sling-stones are turned back from him like stubble :

29. Like stubble is the battle-axe reputed ;

And he laugheth at the quivering of the javelin.

30. His bed is the splinters of flint*.

Which the broken rock scattereth on the mud*.

31. He maketh the main to boil as a cauldron :
He snuffeth up the tide as a perfume*.

32. Behind him glittereth a pathway ;
The deep is embroidered with hoar*.

33. He hath not his like upon earth*,
This creature without fear :

34. He dismayeth all the boastful*.

He is a king* overall the sons of pride.
Chap.XLII.

1. Then Job replied to Jehovah, and said; —

2. I feel that thou art all-powerful,

And that no thought can be withholden from thee.

3 . " Who is this that pretendeth wisdom without knowledge* !" —
Surely I have been presumptuous — I would not understand !

Wonderful

CHAP. XLII. JOB.

PART VI.

Wonderful art thou beyond me, and I know nothing* !

4. " O ! hear thou, then, and I will speak :

*' I will ask of THEE, and declare thou unto me."

5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear.
But mine eye now beholdeth thee :

6. Wherefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.

7. And it came to pass, after Jehovah had spoken
These self-same words unto Job,

That Jehovah said unto Eliphaz the Temanite, —
Enkindled is my wrath against thee,
And against thy two companions ;
For ye have not spoken fitly concerning me.
As hath my servant Job.
8. So take now, for yourselves.

Seven bullocks and seven rams, —

And go to my servant Job,

And offer for yourselves a burnt-offering,

That my servant Job may make intercession for you,

(For his person will I surely accept,)

Lest I deal evil against you.

For ye have not spoken fitly concerning me.

As hath my servant Job.

9. Then went they, Eliphaz the Temanite,

And Bildad the Shuite, and Zophar the Naamathite,

And

CHAP. XLII. JOB. PART VI.

And did as Jehovah spake unto them.—
And Jehovah accepted the person of Job.

10. And Jehovah reversed the affliction* of Job,
After he had made intercession for his friends :
And Jehovah increased all that was Job's to double.

1 1 . Then went forth, and came unto him,
All his brethren, and all his sisters.
And all his former acquaintance ;
And ate bread with him in his house ;

And condoled with him, and comforted him.
Over all the evil which Jehovah had brought upon him.
And every one presented to him a piece of money,
And every one an ear-ring of gold.

1 2. And Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job
More than his beginning :

For he had fourteen thousand sheep.
And six thousand camels.
And a thousand yoke of oxen.
And a thousand she-asses.

13. And seven sons had he, and three daughters :

14. And he called the name of the first Jemima*,
And the name of the second Kezia,

And the name of the third Kerenhapuc.

And,

/

CHAP. XLII. JOB. PART VI.

15. And, in all the land, were there not found
So beautiful women as the daughters of Job.

And their father gave them an inheritance' in the midst of

their brethren. I

'I

16. And Job lived, after this, an hundred and forty years, —
And saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations.

1 7. Then died Job, old and satisfied with days.

END OF THE POEM.

NOTES.

NOTES ON JOB.

Chap. I.

Ver. 1. Ux.'] So written in our standard version. In the

Hebrew f "li? ; whence Lowth, Tremellius, and many others,, Utx, or
Hutz : but if Y be here expressed by tz, it should be so expressed at
all times ; and then, with Beza, for Zophar we should write Tzo-
phar, which is not done by Lowth, and scarcely by any translator
but Beza. In the Septuagint we have iv \i^pq. tjj AvainSi. For
the origin of the term, and the geographical situation of the country,
see the preceding Dissertation.

Ver. 1. — lived a man.'] Heb, rfH ty^j whence it might be rendered
** A man was," MTI signifying equally 'to be/ 'exist,' or 'live.' So
Wiclif, " A man, Joob by name, was in the land of Hus." So the
Italian of Malermi, " Nella terra de Hus era un' huomo ;" and of
Bruccioli, " Nel paese de Us fu un huomo." I prefer, however, the
signification of ' to live,' as more emphatic. Our established version
very unnecessarily opens with the feeble and vulgar expletive there ^
" There was a man." So the Dutch, (where, however, we have
less reason to expect elegance,) " Daer was een man." The French
idiom is still worse, and more dilutely pleonastic, " II y avoit un
homme •" yet it is still suifered to keep its hold.

De Leon, in his Spanish Commentary, conceives that in the term
ty^S he traces something more than is commonly meant by the word
man, and that it exhibits conjointly the idea of dignity or pre-emi-
nence ; whence, instead of simply rendering it omlre, he has written it
varon: "Un varon fue," &c. 'A noble man,' or ' Man of authority .'
Our Enghsh word laron, which, in many of its senses, is still synony-
mous with the Spanish term, was unquestionably derived from the

a 2 sam«

4 NOTES. Chap. 1. 3.4.

same root. This, however, is to criticise with too keen an eye ; and
even De 'Leon himself has condescended to employ the humbler
term omlre, in his translation into triplet rhymes :

" En la region de Hus, en la primera '
Edad, fue un kombre. Job Uamado."

Ver. 3. — a household of very great multitude^ The Hebrew term
n^ilj? (obedah) implies equally 'the work' and ' the workman }' 'the
ground t illed,' and ' the tiller of the ground ; ' and it is hence rendered, m-
d'lscnmimtely , household, or husbandry } the AoM^eAoZc^ of the patriarchal
times chiefly consisting of husbandmen. In Dr. Stock it occurs thus,

" And a train of servants, very great ;"
but this, I think, conveys an idea too modern, as well as too osten-
tatious : vTTtjpeata, SovXsia, otKEria, ate the terms successively em-
ployed by the Septuagint, Aquila, and Symmachus, and much better
comport with the original, which, with a retention of both its signi-
fications, has passed into the Arabic ^Xxc and ^Jojc*. The Latin
terms obedio, obedientia, and their derivatives in modern tongues,
are unquestionably derived from the same source. To this member
of the verse the following passage is added in the Septuagint, kuI
ipya fieydXa iju avra enl rijg yijg, " And great was. their labour
over the land :*' which St. Ambrose seems properly to have regarded 9
as a paraphrase advanced in consequence of the double meaning of
the Hebrew term.

Ver. 4. — were wont to hold a banquet-house.^ Literally, '*' were
wont and held a banquet-house j" which is not exactly an English
idiom. The phrase iT'l HDU/D is literally " a banquet-house," or
" open house for feasting j" and hence Tyndal renders it " made
bankeltes 3" which is not perfectly literal, but far less paraphrastic
than our common rendering, " went and feasted in their houses."

Ver. 4. Every one on his birth-day.'] The Hebrew DV is not
only here, but in many other places, expressly used to import birth-
day; and is hence correctly rendered in this sense by Dr. Stock. In
ch. iii. 1, of the present poem, it is so obvious that the signification
is birth-day, that the term day alone will answer even in English,
for it is thus directly explained only two verses below. In Hosea vii. 5. '
the intended signification is equally obvious.

Ver.

Chap.1.3. notes. 5

Ver. 5. And made ready in the morning, and offered hurnt-offler-
ings.} Thus Homer, in a fine and valuable passage, II, IX. 403.

ffTpeTTTot Bi re Kal Qeol avrot,

Tuv mp KOt fiei^uv dpaTtj, rifxij re, jjirj tb.
Kat fxh Tovg dvcsffffi Kai fi/^w\>/c dyapp<Ti,
A.oiftf} TS, KfiacTJ] re, 7ra par puirida dvdpunroi
A.iffadfX£vot.

" The Gods (the only great and only wise)
Are moved by offerings, vows, and sacrifice :
Offending man their high compassion wins.
And daily prayers atone for daily sins." Pope.

Ver. 5. May have sinned, nor blessed God.} The English reader
will be surpiised to find that I have here rendered the same term
lless (Tli), which, in most of the versions, is rendered curse: but
he will perhaps be still more surprised to learn, that the term here
usually rendered curse is the very same that so fi-equently occurs in
the Psalms and other benedictory parts of Scripture, and is uniformly
rendered bless; as, *' Bless the Lord, O my soul !" — " Blessed is every
one that feareth the Lord }" &c.

In this sense it ought always to have been rendered j and to have
departed from this sense, into its opposite, is a monstrous outrage upon
Hebrew philology. There are indeed, in all languages, a few words
that admit of both a good and a bad sense ; and which may be con-
ceived to justify the different renderings of blessing and cursing
ascribed to Tii. Such is sacer in the Latin tongue ; devote, or devoted,
in English ; segen, and segnen, in German ; and n^« in Hebrew ;
for all these equally import consecration and desecration, according
to the general scope of the sentence in which they are employed.
The connexion, however, between these senses, is clear j the ety-
mon, or radical stock, is obviously one and the same j and the anta-
gonism only results from the derivatives branching off into opposite
directions.

Yet nothing of this kind of reasoning can be urged in favour
of giving to Tii the sense of cursing; all its derivatives running
in the same direction, and to the same shades of signification. In
reality, there are but six cases in the whole Bible in which this sense
can possibly be ascribed to it ; four of them occurring in the present
and the ensuing chapter, and two of them in 1 Kings ii. 10 and 13 :

in

6 NOTES. Chap. 1. 5.

in all of which X^'2 should be as decidedly understood in its proper
sense of llessing as in any other part of the Bible : and its not being
so understood has produced, in every instance, an error in the trans-
lation.

In the two instances in the second chapter of the first book of Kings,
instead of the passages being rendered, as they usually are, with
respect to the accusation brought against Nabal, " Thou didst,"
or " Nabal did blaspheme God and the king j" they should be given,
" Thou didst," or " Nabal did bless or worship the gods, even
Moloch" (H^d) : for such is the word that occurs here, and is ren-
dered KING in our common versions : while tlie Hebrew term for
God, or gods, is in the plural ; in which sense, indeed, it is often
applied to Jehovah himself.

I proceed, then, to justify the use of ^11 in its proper sense, in
the passage immediately before us ; and shall do the same in the
three other passages of the present poem, in tlie respective places
in which they occur.

The necessity urged for using 111 in a bad sense, or as expressive
of cursing, in the passage now under review, is, that the Translators
cannot otherwise give any meaning to the sentence j for we are told,
that if the Hebrew term be rendered in its usual signification, the
passage must of consequence run, " For (said Job) peradventure my
sons may have sinned, and blessed God in their hearts," which would
be nonsense.

I observe, then, that the meaning of the particle 1, here rendered
and, has been as much mistaken as the verb 11:11 blessed. ^ is either
an affirmative or a negative particle, according to the nature of the
proposition in which it occurs ; and whenever it is employed nega-
tively, it has the precise force of, and in its general range mns pre-
cisely parallel with, our own nor, and the Latin nee or neve : and
hence is only an imperfect or half negative, requiring a preceding
negative, as ?ior and nee require, to make the negation complete.

Now I venture to lay it down, as a philological canon, applicable
to all languages whatever, that the imperfect negative may be em-
ployed alone in every sentence compounded of two opposite propo-
sitions, when it becomes the means of connecting the one with the
other : such propositions being in a state of reciprocal negation, and
the former of course supplying the place of an antecedent negative
to th6 subsequent and imperfect connecting particle

"^ As

Ghap.1.5. notes. 7

As examples, let us take the following familiar expressions:
" I am determined to stay at home, nor shall any thing induce me
to alter my determination," — " He is always idle, nor ever thinks
seriously of business for a moment." So in the following couplet of
Mr. Pope, in which he advises a close imitation of Nature :
" But treat the Goddess like a modest fair,
Nor over-dress, nm- leave her wholly bare."
The same canon applies equally to all languages. Let the follow-
ing well-known verse from Horace serve as a general example :
" Serus in coelum redeas : diuque
Laetus intersis populo Quirini :
Neve te nostris vitiis iniquum
Ocyor aura."

Thus lately rendered by my ingenious and learned friend, R. Brad-
street, Esq. See the Appendix to his SaHne Farm :
" O late return to heaven'.— O long.
Joyful amid Quirinus' throng,

Extend thy willing stay : \
Nor let resentment of our crime,
Upon the whirlwind's wing sublime.
Bear thee away '."
The passage before us is, in like manner, compounded of two op-
posite propositions, sinning against and serving or blessing God,
which constitute negations to each other j and are united by an im-
perfect negative particle, whose imperfection is cured or supplied by
the relative negation of the first of the two propositions. And that
the 1, or particle here employed, must have been intended in its
negative sense, is clear ; first from its actual situation, which demands
a negative particle ; and next, because it is universally admitted, that,
without such a sense, the whole passage becomes an absurdity, un-
less we give to the subsequent term bless a forced, and, as I contend,
an unnecessary, unallowable, and monstrous signification.

The Hebrew philologist will excuse the length at which I have
examined this point ; because, if the reasoning be correct, it will, for
the first time, settle the real meaning of a text which has hitherto
proved intractable, and give a clue to almost every other passage in
which the negative or affirmative meaning of 1 has been a source of
controversy.

The necessity of a clear and precise adjustment of this point is
obvious, from the variety of shifts (many of them ingenious, but shifts

never-

8 NOTES. Chap. 1.5.

nevertheless) to which preceding translators have been compelled,
in order to extort a meaning out of the passage, with the particle
regarded as an affirmative. Let us attend to a few of them.

The more common expedient consists, as I have already observed,
in changing blessed into cursed, which is supported by observing
that the Hebrew ^jli has a near resemblance to the Greek ydpttv,
and the Latin valere ; both which are used equally to import vale-
diction and benediction, or lidding farewell, or taking leave, and
felicitating in general. But ' to bid farewell,' or ' to take leave of,'
in a bad sense, in which this phrase is also frequently used, is ' to
renounce or abandon :' and hence y\'2, they contend, is used, in
the passage before us, in the sense of renunciation; whence the
version of Schultens is, " Forsitan peccaverunt filii mei, et valere
jusseriint numen in corde suo :" " My sons have perhaps sinned,
and bidden farewell to God in their hearts :" a sense adopted by
Scott and Dr. Stock, and countenanced by Dr. Lowth : while, at
the same time, we have no proof whatever, not only that Tni was
in any instance used in the sense of renunciation, or the bad sense of
valediction, but that it was ever used in any sense of valediction,
whether bad or good.

Most of the old versions seem to have conceived tliat it possessed
a bad sense as well as a good, not indirectly, as in the preceding
argument, but directly and immediately, as sacer has in Latin, and
devoted in English. Our own estabUshed version, that of Junius and
Tremellius, and those of the Syriac and Arabic, are founded upon
this idea ; while the Septuagint gives us, not very differently, kuko.
ivBvorjaav, " thought evil of God." Upon this view of the ques-
tion I have observed already.

The Greek version of Aquila, St. Ambrose, St. Jerom, and Piscator,
concur in giving us fi/Xoyto-av, benedixerunt, or " blessed," the con-
nective particle being still rendered affirmatively instead oi negatively ,
" AND blessed God;" and many of the modern continental versions
continue the same rendering, especially the Spanish, " Y bendi-
geron ^ Dios en su coracon." All which Luis de Leon endeavours
thus to explain : " Si por caso alegres y contentos digeron ; tengase
Dios su gloria, que a nosotros esto nos basta :" " Lest, merry-hearted
and satiated, they should have said, Let God have his glory, this ban-
quet is enough for vs :" which he thus, however, renders in his tri-
plet versification, as though approving of the more common inter-
pretation :

'^Si

Chap, 1. 6. NOTES. 9

— — " Si por Ventura

Mis hijos allA dentro de suo pecho

Usaron contra Dios de desmesura."
Lest e'er my sons, in heart, and off their guard.
Irreverence to their Maker should have dar'd.

Mr. Parkhurst conceives that the word God should be rendered
gods, and referred to the false gods of the country, which it would
then seem that Job had thought his sons had recreantly blessed
or worshipped : and he gives this interpretation to the Greek and
Latin renderings immediately quoted : whence the interpretation of
Miss Smith, " For he said. Lest my sons should sin, and bless
the gods in their hearts," This, though more ingenious than the
explanation of De Leon, is extremely recondite. The only false
religion we know, from the internal evidence of the poem itself, to
have existed at this period, was that of Sabiism, or the worship of
the heavenly bodies : but there is nothing to render it even probable
that the sons of Job were attached to this. See ch, xxxi. 26, 27.
The explanation, like the rest, is only oiFered by way of expedient.

Ver. 6. And the day came .] QVn TTil. In the Septuagint

uc V ^jxipa avTtj. Tyndal : '' Now upon a tyme," The Chaldee
paraphrase affects to fix the period of the sitting : " Now there was
a day of judgment (or scrutiny) in the beginning of the year ; and
the hosts of angels came and stood in judgment before the Lord."

The power thus referred to, as deputed to different orders of ml-
nistring spirits, together with the return of the tribunal at which
they are to give an account of their missions, is often glanced at in
other parts of the Old and New Testament, but especially in Zeclia-
riah and the Revelations. Sec Zech. iii. 1, 2. and vi. 4 — 7. in which
last passage, as well as in various passages in the Revelations, the de-
puted spirits are represented as travelling with horses and chariots.
See also the preceding Dissertation.

Ver. 6. S071S of God.'] In Miss Smith's translation, *' sons of

perdition;" a phrase obtained by a forced and outrageous derivation,
altogether incongruous with the general description and character of
the solemn tribunal in question ; and leading, in direct inconsistency
with what appears to be the immediate object of the sacred writer,
to the acknowledgment of two co-eternal principles, instead of one }
an eternal principle of evil, as well as an eternal principle of good.

Ver.

10 NOTES. Chap.I. 6— 9.

Ver. 6. lefore Jehovah.'} From the use of the term Jehovah,

in this and various other places of the poem, it should seem, at first
sight, almost decided, that this work, if the production of Moses
at all, could scarcely have been written anterior to the Egyptian
exody ; since it was only on Moses's mission to the Hebrews that
the Almighty vouchsafed to designate himself by this name. Yet it
might have been at the very time of finishing the poem that Moses
received his call, and consequently became acquainted with this new
and peculiar appellation, of which he might be instantly desirous of
availing himself Independently of which, I have already observed,
in the preceding Dissertation, that the book of Genesis itself abounds
with examples of the word Jehovah, which was probably substituted
for some other term, in copies of this first book of the Pentateuch,
made subsequently to the period in question.

Ver. 6. — Satan — .] Jtot^n : so Aquila, literally, larov j while
Theodotion, equivocally, 6 dyTiKci/xero^ (the Adversary) ; and the
Septuagint, in like manner, o cidfioXog (the Devil). And we have
hence another proof, that, in the system of patriarchal theology,
the evil spirits, as well as the good, wei'e equally amenable to the
Almighty, and were equally cited, at definite periods, to answer for
their conduct at his bar. See the preceding Dissertation.

Ver. 7- From roaming round — .] In our common version, " From
going to and fi:o :" but this is not the exact meaning of the Hebrew
\DW ; which, as is well observed by Schultens, imports not so much
the act of going forwards and backwards, as of making a circuit or
circumference j of going round about. It is hence justly rendered
in the Spanish, " De cercar por la tierra" " From encircling or
encompassing the earth :" to which is added, in the Chaldaic para-
phrase, " to examine into the works of the sons of man." The
Hebrew verb toity is still in general use among Arabic writers, and,
in every instance, implies the same idea (l?«.i.) of gyration, or circum-
ambulation.

Ver. 8. Hast thoujixed thy view— ?] Literally, " Hast thou fixed
thy mind ?" ^lV nation " mental view," " attention."

Ver. g. for nothing:] In the original, Djn, " gratis, gratui-
tously, out of mere affection."

Ver,

Chap. I. 10. NOTES. ll

Ver, 10. Hast thou not made a fence about him ?] To give the
original verb the full force of its meaning, it should be derived from
the science of engineering, and rendered " Hast thou not raised a
palisado about him ?" But this last term is not sufficiently colloquial
for mtroduction into the text. The Hebrew verb DDtl^ implies, to
fence with sharp spikes, palisades, or thorns ; and hence the sub-
stantive CD''5ty is used for spikes, paUsades, or thorns themselves.
The Arabian writers employ the same term, and even the same
idiom, still more frequently than the Hebrews. Thus, while
^\.f'.. means horrent with spikes or spears, the substantives cJyL
and d^iJL import a spike, spear, or other pointed instrument of
defence ; and hence, employed figuratively, they imply also power,
strength, security ; whence the proverbial phrase <u£=ji« C^Ja,l,\
He is fortified ly his spear, or, as it might be rendered, ly his pali-
sading, is equivalent to He is protected by his power. In the Arabic
version of the passage before us, the metaphor is varied still farther j
but the observations thus offered will render the variation not diffi-
cult of compi'ehension : thus, instead of being interpreted as above,
" Hast thou not made a fence about him?" it is translated in the
Arabic copy " Hast thou not protected him with thy hand?"

audi cJjJ t^^ JaAia> ^^\ The Syriac runs to the same effect:

>-.oi oao W.\o oiAao V\.\o .wOIoNn y\'\ Ai^ Aj| : whilst the
Chaldee paraphrast translates, " Hast thou not overcovered him with
thy word ?"

Ver. 10. overflowed the land.} In our common version, " is

increased in the land." But this is to give the sense of the original
without the figure, whose force and elegance render it highly worthy
of being retained. The Hebrew pQ (perax) does not simply mean
to increase, but to burst or break forth as a torrent ; and hence to
overflow or exundate its boundaries : so Schultens, Et pecus ejus
copiose pRORUPiT in terra. The word is used in the same rendering
in many parts of the Bible, in which it cannot be otherwise translated.
The following instance may suffice, from the standard English text,
2 Sam. V. 20. " The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies be-
fore me, as the breach of waters : therefore he called the name of
that place JSaaZ-PERAZiM." The Arabians employ to this hour the
very same term to express the mouth or embouchure, the most
rapid and irresistible part of a stream, (jo\jS '■ "i proof of which,

Golius,

li NOTES. Chap. I. 11.

Golius, with much pertinency, brings the following couplet from
Gjanhari, the whole of which is highly applicable, and where the
word mouth in the second line is in the original expressed by this
very term ^ \j3 ( peraz) :

His rushing wealth o'erflowed him with its heaps :
So, at its mouth, the mad Euphrates sweeps.
Dr. Stock has caught something of the idea, thougii it is not so
clearly expressed as it might have been :

" And his possessions burst out through the land."
So the versions of Junius and Tremellius, and Piscator, " Et pecus
ejus in multitudinem eruperit in terra." '* And his cattle, for mul-
titude, have burst forth through the land." MipD, substance, or pos-
session, is often used for cattle, as the earliest substance or possession.
So cattle, among ourselves, is said by the etymologists to be derived
from capitalia.

Ver. 1 1 . But put forth now thine hand, and smite — .] In Schultens,
who is supported by the Septuagint and Beza, " Verum enim vero
laxa, age, manum tuam, et tange. — " " But with-draw now thy
hand, and smite — ." The Hebrew nW will import either " to send
or put forth," or '^to send or put away :" but there is a great awk-
wardness, and perhaps a perfect incongruity, in the two propositions,
"put away," or "withdraw and smite:" whence it appears ob-
vious that the proper sense is that of our established version, which
I have adhered to.

Ver. 11. IFill he then, indeed, bless thee — ?] The original com-
pound term for then indeed is «b-tD«, the first syllable being an
hypothetical or provisional particle, signifjnng " if," " then," or " in
such case," " supposing that," " provided," and the second a direct
negative ; and hence the two, when used in conjunction, import a
strong affirmative, " without an if or then," " unconditionally,"
" assuredly," " most certainly," " indeed." The phrase is hence
frequently employed in swearing ; and when used sarcastically or
ironically, as unquestionably in the present place, is directly synony-
mous with our own phrases " in troth," " i' faith," " forsooth j"
and it is probable that the juster rendering of the passage before us

would be.

Will he then, forsooth, bless thee to thy face ?

but I have exchanged it for the preceding, as being somewhat too

irreverential

Chap. I. 14,15. NOTES. 13

irreverential and familiar, considering from whose mouth it pro-
ceeds, and to whom it is addressed.

These two words, however, may be also regarded as distinct from
each other ; and, in such case, the passage may be rendered in two
diiferent ways, according as the negative K^ is contemplated as re-
ferring to tZ)« or to the subjoined verb. Under the first view, the
sense will run thus :

But put forth now thy hand, and smite all that is his :

If not so — he may bless thee to thy face.
Under the second view.

But put forth now thy hand, and smite all that is his :

If so — he will NOT bless thee to thy face.
In each of these renderings the verb Til retains its proper and uni-
form signification of " to bless :" but in our common version, and
in most others, it is made to signify cursing, renouncing, or aban-
doning j upon which see the preceding Note on ver. 5. The cause
of this general error proceeds from translating the passage affirma-
tively instead of interrogatively ; in which case, assuredly, the idea of
blessing would produce nonsense, unless it be supposed (as some few
of the translators have supposed) that it is used ironically:

Then indeed will he bless thee to thy face !
But I think the interrogative sense is the easiest, and most natural.

Ver. 14. She-asses.'] In our common version, which seems bor-
rowed firom Tyndal, asses: yet why the sex, which is so ex-
pressly mentioned in the original (m^lDi*), and the Septuagint at
0HAEIAI (ivoi, and is copied into every version with which I am
acquainted excepting these two, should be here suppressed, I know
not. Female asses, on account of their milk, were much more
highly esteemed, at all times, in the East, than males, a few of which
only appear to have been kept for continuing the breed ; and hence,
perhaps, they are not noticed in ver. 3 . of this chapter, which gives
us a catalogue of the patriarch's live-stock. She-asses, moreover,
on account of their milk, were generally preferred for travelling.
The ass of Balaam is expressly declared to have been female. Numb,
xxii. 21 ; as is that of Abraham, Gen. xxii. 3.

Ver. 15. ^?id the Sabcean rushed forth .] A poetic expression

for " the Sabaeans," or " Sabaean tribe." It is used in all languages.

Thus Mr, Southey, in his Madoc :

" Thou know'st how dearly the Plantagenet

Atones for Becket's death."— —

The

14 NOTES. ^ Chap. L 16.

The Syriac version gives us Va«s^ ali>suo irruit turla, " a band
or company rushed forth/' the word Sabaean being omitted. The
Arabic, in this, as in most, though not in all instances, follows

closely the Syriac rendering {jLxsA *JJ ^- Saba, or Sheba, was
a town or city of Arabia Deserta ; and the Sabaeans [and Chaldaeans
were wont to wander in distinct bands or hordes, upon predatory
excursions, over the whole of the border country, and perhaps,
at times, as far as from the banks of the Euphrates to the out-
skirts of Egypt, The Bedouin Arabs of the present day present
us with the best specimens of these parties of irregular plunderers.
Both are equally entitled to the appellation of Kedarines ; the root
of which, in Arabic as well as in Hebrew, implies assault, incursion,
tumult (11D and TiT'D) ; and both either have employed, or still con-
tinue to employ, as a covering for their tents, a coarse brown hair-
cloth, obtained from their dark-coloured and shaggy goats : whence
the fair Bride of Solomon, in the Song of Songs, —

" Brown am I, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem !

As the tents of Kedar."

See the Author's Sacred Idyls, I. Note 4.

I have already had occasion to observe, that the manners of the
ancient Arabs continue, with little variation, to the present day. This
will appear still more clearly from the following beit of a very ex-
cellent modern Arabian Poetj in which he intimates, not only
that the country is still infested with hordes of Chaldee rovers, but
that the native tribes are almost as familiar with such incursions as
with the Alcoran :

Descend not bands of Chaldaean horse from Mount Arafat ?

And are not the laws of the Prophet promulgated amidst the tents .' ,

Ver. l6. The fire of God ] Cn^X ty« an expression not

uncommon in the Sacred Writings for a thunderbolt or flash of
lightning, and in this respect synonymous with that of M' tyynhw in
Solomon's Song, viii, 6. The Chaldee paraphrase gives us "fire from
the face of God:" the Septuagint omits the substantive " of God"
altogether, and renders it rrvp vTrtatv h rov ovpdvov, " Fire hath

fallen from heaven,"

Ver,

Chap.I. 20, 21. NOTES. 15

Ver. 20, — and rent his mantle, and shaved his head."] These are two
of the actions by which great distress or agony of mind has, in all ages,
been accustomed to be expressed in the East. In addition to these,
sometimes the hair of the beard was also shaven or plucked off, as
was done by Ezra on his arrival at Jerusalem, on finding that the
Hebrews, instead of keeping themselves a distinct and holy people
after their return from captivity, had intermixed with the nations
around them, and plunged into all their abominations and idolatries.
Ezra ix. 3. And sometimes, instead of shaving the hair of the head,
the mourner, in the fulness of his humiliation and self-abasement,
threw the dust, in which he sat, all over him, and purposely covered
his hair with it. See Job ii. 12. After shaving the head, when this
sign of distress was adopted, a vow was occasionally offered to the
Almighty, in the hope of obtaining deliverance. This seems to have
been a frequent custom with St. Paul, who did both, as well at Cen-
chrea as at Jerusalem, and in both places probably on this very
account. See Acts xviii. IS. and xxi. 24.

Ver. 21, Blessed he the name of Jehovah!'] To which, in per-
fect consonance with Oriental phraseology, the Alexandrine exemplar
and that of Aldus add, " For ever and ever," (f te roi/V aiuvag.) It
is not to be wondered at, that the Syriac and Arabic version should
exhibit the same plenitude of benediction.

Ver. 21 . from my mother's womh.'] Not literally that of his

own mother, because he immediately adds, he " shall return thither j"
but, figuratively, the womb of maternal Earth, or Nature, The origin
of all things from the Earth introduced, at a very early period of
the world, the superstitious worship of the Earth, under the title of
Dameter, or the Mother- Goddess, a Chaldee term, probably com-
mon to Idumaea at the time of the existence of Job himself. It is
hence the Greeks derived their ArjjuijTrjp, (Demeter), or, as they
occasionally wrote it, r»/|W »/r»/yO (Ge-Meter) or Mother-Earth, to whom
they appropriated annually two religious festivals of extraordinary
pomp and solemnity ; for a particular description of which the Reader
may consult Lucretius, lib. ii. 598. as also the Author's Note on the
passage. The superstition in the Roman Poet's time was, perhaps,
common in some shape or other to every country j and, in truth,
had more to plead in its favour than most superstitions. Lucretius,
therefore, finds it often necessary to advert both to the fact and the

fable :

16 NOTES. Chap. 1. 21.

fable : whence it occurs to us not only as above^ ii. 598.
** Qak re magna deAm mater, materque ferarum
Et nostri genetrix haec dicta est corporis una :"
Hence mighty Mother of th' immortal Gods,
Of brutes, and men, is Earth full frequent feign'd :
but again, not to mention a variety of other places, v, 793.
" Linquitur, ut merit 0 matemum nomen adepta
Terra sit, e terrd quoniam sunt cuncta creata."

——Whence, justly. Earth
Claims the dear name of Mother, since alone
Flow'd from herself whate*er the sight surveys.
Among modern writers^ Klopstock seems to have been chiefly fond
of indulging in the same idea. Thus, in his Messiah, V. 838.

" Sey mir gegriisst ! ich sehe dich wieder, die du mich gebabrest,
JErde, mein mutterlich land ! die du mich in kiilendem schoosse
Ein&t bey den schlafenden Gottes begrabst, und meine gebeine
Sanft bedeckest."

Once more I hail thee, once behold thee more.

Earth ! soil maternal ! thee, whose womb of yore

Bore me ; and soon beneath whose gelid breast

These limbs shall sink, in soft and sacred rest.

Not widely different, in the opening of his highly beautiful Ode to
the Lake of Zurich :

" Schon ist. Mutter Natur ! deiner erfindung pracht
Auf die fluren verstreut."— —

Fair is the majesty of all thy works

On the green earth, O Heather Nature, fair.
Schmidius has a paraphrase upon this image of the text, so elegant
and forcible, that I cannot avoid copying it. Speaking of the just,
he says, " Gluemadmodum ante nativitatem inclusi erant in utero, sic
quum moriuntur, non pereunt, sed quasi in uterum matris redeunt,
ut inde denuo excludantur, et felicius, in resurrectione ultima.""
" In the same manner as they were inclosed in a womb before their
birth, so, when they die, they do not perish, but return, as it were,
to their mother's womb, that they may thence again, and more hap-
pily, be extruded, at the last resurrection."

The author of Ecclesiastes has copied the passage almost li,te-
rally, v. 15.

Naked came he forth from his mother's womb :

So shall he return ; he shall go back as he came.

The

Chap. 1. 22. NOTES. 17

The idea seems, indeed, to have been common to all the East, and
from a very early period ; as the foUovi^ing two 'slocas, from a very
fine piece of Sanscrit poetry, entitled Moha Mudgara, or "A Remedy
for Distraction of Mind," will probably demonstrate. The original,
which it is not worth while to copy, will be found in Sir William
Jones's Dissertation on the Orthography of Asiatic Words. Works,
vol. I. 4to,

How soon are we born ! how soon dead !

Hffw long lying in the mother's womh !

How great is the prevalence of vice in this world !

Wherefore, O man ! hast thou complacency here below ?

Day and night, evening and morning.
Winter and spring, depart and return ; ,
Time sports, life passes on.
Yet the vapour of hope continues unrestrained.

Ver. 22. Nor vented a murmur against GocZ.] In Dr. Stock, who
regards rhtin as a forensic term, " Nor gave unto God a plea against
him :" but this wants authority. In the Septuagint Kai ovk Uoikcv
d(])po(Tvvr)v T^ 0£«, " Nor attributed folly to God." In like man-
ner, in our own standard version, " Nor charged God foolishly."
In Tyndal, who gives a better rendering than either of these, " Nor
murmured foolishly against God." The literal rendering is, " Nor
vented froth against God ;" for the Hebrew term vibhin, in its pri-
mitive signification, implies froth, foam, spittle, drivel ; and it is
only in its secondary meaning that it imports insipidity, vanity, ab^
surdity, or folly. With ourselves, the primitive sense is somewhat
too low for use in the present instance ; and I have therefore given
the passage equivalently instead of univocaUy, though I have relin-
quished the metaphor with reluctance.

It is the same word that occurs in Jerem. xxiii. 13. and which, in

our common version, is again translated/o% ; but which, if given

literally, would render the passage thus, and certainly with more

force :

I have seen drivelling in the prophets of Samaria.

So again in the Lamentations, ii. 14. in which ^ani «1U^ ought to be

rendered vanity and froth, if given literally :

Vanity and froth have thy prophets beheld for thee :

i. e. visions Tahi, and vapid as i\\Q froth that bullies from th^ mouth
of the dotard»

h The

J 8 NOTES. Chap. 1. 22.

The Arabians still retain the same word, and still apply it prover-
bially, in the same sense. Thus Hariri, in describing the cautious
Abuzeyd, Cons. vi.

Nojroth his bosom vents.——

Upon which, says the Scholiast, most pertinently, " the allusion here
introduced is to the proverb

** The injured man cannot but \ent Jroth from his bosom."

I am surprised that Schultens, who was aware of this proverbial
phraseology, should still have translated the passage " Neque edidit
futilitatem in Deum." In the following of Dry den's Aurungzebe,
we have a metaphor strikingly similar, and altogether in point :

They were thejrolh my raging folly moved,
When it boil'd up: — I knew not then I loved.

It is curious to observe, that, in many languages, modern as weU
as ancient, wisdom is represented under the character of sapiditiff
or a palatable stimulus ; and folTy, under that of insipidity, or any
thing devoid of stimulus. Thus, among oui^selves, keen, delicate
discernment is denominated taste ; and " the proper use of wit," says
Tillotson, " is to season conversation :" while dulness, ox folly, on
the contrary, are synonymous names with emptiness, or vapidity ;
and a hackneyed jest is said to be stale, jejune, or without relish.
So, while the Hebrew term here employed (^Qfi) means equally
froth, insipidity , folly , or obtuseness of intellect, its opposite, which
is DiJtO, means, in like manner, taste, poignancy, discernment, supe-
riority of intellect 5 terms which the Arabs yet retain, and in both
senses. The elegant and accomplished Greeks proceeded farther
with this double simile; for while, like the Asiatics, and modern
Europeans, they applied the term dlyevarog (literally tasteless, or
without seasoning) to folly and dulness of comprehension, whatever
was replete with grace, spirit, wit, or wisdom, they denominated salt
itself; whence, as Attica was supposed, and with reason, to be the
most intelligent and accomplished of all the Grecian States, to ascribe
the possession of /It tic salt to an author, was to pay him the highest
compliment imaginable.

In a valuable miscellany of Philological Remarks on St Matthew's
Gospel, by a very learned Swede, Dr. Tingstadius, bishop of Suder-

mania.

Chap. 1. 22, NOTES. ' 19

mania, there is a happy application of the same idea to ch. v. 13.
*' Ye are the salt of the earth j" — ye are those, who, by your life,
your doctrine, and conversation, should season and give stimulus to
a thoughtless, depraved, and vapid generation. "The Romans them-
selves," says this excellent prelate, " derived sapientia fwm sapor ;
and by insipidus et insulsus described a foolish and vicious man :
and under one and the same term {ixupaivsLv) the ideas of unsa-
voury and foolish were comprehended in the Greek." I have not
seen this passage so ingeniously or so justly expounded by any other
commentator,

I cannot close this note without adverting, also, to the very cor-
rect and perspicuous translation, as given by this learned critic to
the next clause of the same verse, which, in our own and almost all
modern languages, is, " But if the salt has lost his savour, wherewith
shall it he salted?'' but which, in his own just conception of the
meaning, ought to be, " But if the salt should lose its savour, how
then can we salt with it ? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to
be cast out, and trodden under foot hy men." There can be no doubt,
indeed, that the Greek verb d\iadrj(T£Tai is employed impersonally,
and, hence, that the common rendering is not less obscure than in-
correct. See the bishop's Strodda Filologiska Aumiirkningar ofver
Svenska Tolkningen utaf Matthei Euangelium, Upsal. 1804.

CHAP. II.

Ver. 1 . And the day came — .] The anaphora, or iteration, is a figure
common to Oriental poetry, as well as to that of Greece and Rome :
and upon the different varieties of this figure the Reader may con-
sult the Author's Translation of Lucretius, Notes on B. I. v. 877, and
B. IV. V. 1. The example before us is copied verbally from ch. i. 6.
and following ; and would almost of itself, were there no other evi-
dence, be a sufficient refutation of the opinion of Mr. Grey, and several
other commentators, that the first two chapters are merely prolego-
mena!, and that the poem does not commence till we reach the third.
In the Chaldee paraphrase the passage is thus illustrated j which I
translate, to shew the opinion of the paraphrast, and perhaps of the
generahty of scholars besides himself, at the period in which he wrote,
in respect to the nature of the solemn assize here referred to, " And

1, 2 there

20 NOTES. Chap. II. 3,4.

there was a day of severe judgment, a day of forgiveness of sins :
and the hosts of angels came and stood before the Lord j and Satan
came also, and stood in judgment before the Lord." From which it
should appear, that the return of this grand assize was conceived to
be for the two-fold purpose of pardoning such of the heavenly hosts
as, having erred, or perhaps imperfectly performed their missions,
appeared sensible of their errors, and supplicated forgiveness j and
of condemning the contumacious to punishment. The poem itself
has been supposed, by certain critics, to afford some countenance to
this opinion, in the following couplet, ch. iv. 18. — upon which, how-
ever, see the preceding Dissertation.

Behold ! he cannot confide in his servants.
And chargetli Jus angels with default.

Ver. 3, Although thou hast excited me against him.'] Tyndal
seems strangely to have mistaken the sense of this passage : " Thou
raxjvedest me against hym to punysh hym, — yet it is in vain." Djrr
in the present instance can only mean Supedv, causelessly, or with'
out a cause, as it is accurately rendered in our common version j
although on particular occasions, as in Prov. i. 17- it may also mean
fruitlessly , or in vain.

The passage may remind some of my readers of the speech of
Neptune in favour of ^neas, II. T. 297.

'AXXa Tit) vvv ovTOQ dvaiTioc dlXyea rrda'^Bi,
^Idxp 'tvEK dWoTpiuv d\Ebiv, KEyaptafxiva Z^ ahX
Aoipa QeoIcti ^i^uffi, Tol ovpavov Evpvv ivovffiv j

" And can ye see this righteous Chief atone.
With guiltless blood, for vices not his own ?
To all the Gods his constant vows were paid :
Sure, though he wars for Troy, he claims our aid.
Fate wills not this." PoPE.

Ver. 4, Skin for skin.} The real meaning of this proverb has
"never been satisfactorily interpreted. " Skin after skin " is the ren-
dering of Mr. Parkhurst. " A man," says he, " may bear to part
with all that he has, and even to have his skin, as it were, stripped
off again and again, provided only that his life be safe." And
Schultens, in corroboration of the same idea, observes, that, among
Arabian writers, the verb JmJ " to excoriate, io flea or strip off the

skin" means, to this day, " to plunder a person, or destroy his for-
tune."

Chap, II. 4. NOTES. 21

tune." Aiid it is curious to remark how analogous an idiom to this
Arabism we possess in our own language ; for while the verb to spoil
means, in one of its senses, *' to rob, plunder, or strip a ma7i," the
same word, employed as a substantive, imports not only the booty
obtained, but the actual skin of an animal, cast off or exfoliated.
Yet, as the person of Job had not hitherto been touched, — and as the
(Express reason offered by Satan why he had still preserved his inte-
grity depended upon this very fact, that his person had not been
touched, but only his property, and the persons of his children, — it
does not appear possible that this can be the precise meaning of the
passage. Let us attempt something more in point.

The skins or spoils of beasts, in the rude and early ages of man,
were the most valuable property he covild acquire, and that for
which he most frequently combated. Thus Lucretius, v. 1422.

" Turn if itur pelles, nunc aurum et purpura, curis
Exercent hominum vitam, belloque fatigant."

** Then man for skins contended : purple now.
And gold, for ever plunge him into war."

Skins, hence, became the chief representation of property ; and in
many parts of the world continue so, to the present hour.

Skin, however, in the various parts of the poem before us, imports
the person of a man generally, as well as his property, the whole
living body which it envelopes j as in ch. xviii. 13, xix. 2Q. And it
is upon this double meaning of the same term, and the play which
is here given to it, by employing the term first in the one sense and
then in the other, that the gist of this proverb, as of a thousand
others similarly constituted, depends. " Skin for skin," in this view
of the phrase, is, in plain English, '^ property for person," — or the
*' skin forming property for the skin forming person,"

It may, however, possibly mean, in the first use of the term,
*' family, offspring, children," the derivatives firom the person, all
which Job had now lost ; and in this sense we might vernaculize
the proverb ''skin for skin," yea, all that a man hath, &c. ; or, as it
occurs Mic. vi. 7. " the fruit of the body for the sin of the soul,"

Ver. 4. — for his life.'] In many of the versions, "For his life:"
in the Alexandrian, " For his soul." In Junius and Tremellius, who
have been followed by Beza, " pro seipso,'\ " for his own-self, or

person."

22 NOTES. Chap. II. 7.

person." The Hebrew term WQi is general, and admits equally
all these various renderings. I have preferred the first, as ap-
pearing to me the most appropriate. In the Syriac there is an addi-

7 7 ^

tion to this part of the verse of the term ^X.oiAviOj which is coun-

tenanced in the Arabic by a verb of equal signification, ci-Jju •

" that he may escape .-" but I agree with M. Vogel, that this is rather
an increment, introduced into these versions for the purpose of ex-
planation, than a deficiency dropped through any carelessness in copy-
ing the original.

Ver. /. — with a burning ulceration.'] The Hebrew is in the sin-
gular number, i?1 jTityn. In Tyndal, "With marvellous sore biles."
Most probably, as is indeed generally supposed, the elephas, ele-
phantiasis {cXefapTi, as it is immediately translated in one of the
versions of the Hexapla) or leprosy of the Arabians ; which by
themselves is denominated judhdm, or, as the word is pronounced in
India, juzdm; though the Indians, in vernacular speech, call it khorah.
This dreadful malady, which Paul of ^Egina has accurately charac-
terized as an universal ulcer, was named Elephantiasis by the Greeks,
from its rendering the skin, like that of the elephant's, scabrous and
dark-coloured, and furrowed all over with tubercles. It is said to
produce, generally, in the countenance of the aifected, a grim, dis-
tracted, and lion-like set of features j on which account it is also
sometimes denominated, in the same language, Leontiasis : and the
description seems to be correct ; for the Arabians, like the Greeks,
have not only two terms by which to express this dreadful disorder,
but derive one of them from the very same idea, calling it, in like
manner, daiil' asad, which, in literal English, means lion-lloat : on
which account we are cautioned in the Alcoran, Ferru mina' Imejdhumi,
cama teferru mina' I dsad, " Flee from a person affected with the
judham, as you would flee from a lion," In our own tongue we
have no word by which to distinguish this malady: we therefore
borrow one from the Latin physicians, and call it " Hack leprosy,"
or leprosy of the Arabians, to discriminate it from a more common
disorder, called the " white leprosy," or leprosy of the Greeks j an
affection, however, which the Greeks called Leuce, or whiteness
alone : it is the Beres or Baras of the Arabs.

Ver.

Chap. II. 8. NOTES. 23

Ver. 8. And he took a potshard, to scrape himself with, &c.] This
self-abasement appears to have been common among the Hebrews^
as well as the Arabians or Idumaeans, and was so probably among
other Oriental nations of high antiquity, in cases of deep and severe
affliction. The coarsest dress, as of hair or sackcloth, was worn
on such occasions ; and the vilest and most humiliating situation, as
a dust or cinder heap, surrounded by potshards and other household
refuse, made choice of to sit in. Hence the Psalmist, xxii, 15.

Like z potshard, my substance is dried up :

My tongue cleaveth to my jaws :

And thou hast laid me in the dust of death-

So also Ps, cxiii. 7-

He raiseth the poor from the dust, '■

He lifteth up the desolate from the ashes. ♦

And again, Ixviii. 13.

What though ye have lain among the potshards ;

Behold the wings of the silver-clad dove.

And her feathers irradiate with gold !
*' What though, in your self-abasement, ye have defiled yourselves
with the refuse of a dust-heap j behold ! ye shall have beauty for
ashes ; the chaste whiteness of the silver-clad dove's wings shall be
yours, the brilliancy of her gold-spangled feathers." This appears
to me the true rendering of this much-contested passage : and the
abruptness with which the poet hastens to describe the triumphant
change in the condition of his countrymen adds wonderfully to the
force and spirit of the description. M. L' Avocat's conjecture (a con-
jecture coincided in by Geddes) that the Psalmist here alludes to the
banner of the Assyrians, which was a dove sacred to Astarte or Venus,
in consequence of which he gives the entire passage a very ditferent
import, is highly ingenious, but too far-fetched, and unnecessarily
recondite.

The passage in the text is well rendered by Sandys :

He on the ashes sits, his fate deplores.
And with a potshard scrapes the swelling sores."
It may be easily conjectured what considerable quantities of pot-
shards, or fragments of pottery, must have been collected in the
dust- heaps above referred to, from a recollection, that in the earlier
ages of the world, when the art of metallurgy was but in its infancy,
almost all the domestic utensils employed for every purpose were of

pottery

24 NOTES. Chap. 11. 9,10.

pottery alone. Pottery may hence be fairly supposed the oldest of
the mechanical inventions : and on this account the Hebrew term
here made use of (t^in, a potter, pottery, or potshards) became after-
wards extended to signify wares of every other kind, or their fabri-
cators, and hence artisans in general, whether in brass, iron, wood,
or stone. The same word also, when used in the signification of a
potshard, a fragment or splinter of pottery, was also employed to
import a sharp instrument in general, as a rasp, scraper, or scalpel,
a sense in which it has to this day descended to the Arabs ; for the
word (Jmj^, identically, as to letters, the same as the Hebrew tyin,
as a verb, implies to scrape or rasp with an edged tool (the purpose
to which the U^in or shard was directed in the text) ; and, as a sub-
stantive, a scab, or sharp and morbid incrustation of the "skin — the
olject to which it was applied.

Ver. 9. And his wife said ] The two Greek versions of the

Seventy and Theodotion, as also the Syriac and Arabic, and the Latin
of St. Ambrose, concur in introducing the followmg passage in this
place J which, however, has no foundation in the Hebrew text :

And after much time had elapsed, his wife said unto him,

* How long wilt thou persevere — and exclaim,

* " Lo ! yet a little while will I wait,

* " Still expecting the hope of my recovery?"—

* Behold ! thy memory hath forsaken thee.

* The sons and the daughters,

* The toils and the sorrows of my womb,

* With these have I struggled to no purpose.

* Even thou thyself sittest amidst loathsome worms,

* Passing the night in the open firmament j

* While I, a wanderer, and a drudge,

* From place to place, and from house to house,

* Watch the sun till his going-down, that I may rest
' From the toils and afflictions that now oppress me.

' Utter then some blasphemy against the Lord, and die.*

Ver. 9. Blessing God, and dying?} Such is the correct and ele-
gant rendering of Mr. Parkhurst. Upon the common rendering,
" Curse God, and die," see the Note on ch. i. v. 5.

Ver. 10. — one of the foolish.'] In our common version, '^ one of
the foolish women." The word women is unnecessary j there is

nothing

Chap. 11. 11. NOTES. 25

nothing answerable to it in the original : the term, indeed, admitting
of a difference of genders, is feminine ; but it could not be other-
wise. In English it is also feminine, from its application.

Ver. 11. Eliphaz the Temanite, &:c.] According to the Septua-
gint version, these friends of Job were kings, or chief magistrates of
the cities or districts in which they respectively lived j the reading
being as follows : 'EXt^a^ 6 Qaifiavuy ftaaiXevi;, BaXoa^ o ^avyiojv
rvpavvoc, 1,oj(j)dp Mivaiiov ftaaikivq. " Eliphaz king of the Tema-
nites, Bildad chief of the Sauchites (Shuites), Zophar king of the
Minaites (Naamites).

The first Eliphaz of whom we read, was a son of Esau ; and that
the city or district of Teman was allotted to him by his father, is
pretty clearly ascertained, from his calling his eldest son by this
name. See Gen. xxxvi. 10, 11. And it is probable that the Eliphaz
here alluded to was a descendant, in the right line, from Eliphaz the
son of Esau, and, consistently with the above account in the Septua-
gint, retained tlie princely or patriarchal dignity of his ancestors.
Teman was certainly a city, and appears to have been one of the
chief cities of Edom or Idumaea, and was celebrated for its philo-
sophy and learning. Thus Jerem. xlix. 7-

Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of Hosts :

Is there learning no longer in Teman ?

Hath the counsel of the prudent perished ?

Their wisdom utterly vanished away ?
The same geographical site and moral character is attributed to this
city in Obadiah, v. 8, 9. as well as in various other places. The
Edomites, or Idumaeans, were indeed generally renowned for their
scientific pursuits, as well as their nautical adventures ; but the wis-
dom of Teman appears to have been proverbial. They are generi-
cally denominated Erythreans, by Dionysius, in his Periegesis, either
fi-om their origin, the Greek term being merely a translation of the
Hebrew, or in consequence of their inhabiting the coasts of the Red
Sea. He describes them as follows, v. 907.

Ot rrpuToi vtjeeraiv tTretptjaavro doKdaaij^,

TipuTOi c' ifiTTOplrjc dXi^tveoc ifxvrjffavro,

K.ai padvy ovpaviuv aarpuv vopov i<l>pd(T(xavTO,

They first in vessels dared the dangerous seas.

The trade commercial stretch'd from shore to shore.

And traced the mystic mazes of the stars.

Ver.

56 NOTES. Chap.II. 11, 12.

Ver. 11, Bildad the Shuhite.'] Oi Bildad we know less than of
Eliph iz. The city ot Shuah, ot which, accordhig to the Septuagint,
he was prince or patriarchy was probably the district allotted to Shuah,
the sixth son of Abraham by Ketiirah, and called by his name. If
Shuah accompanied, as in all probability he did, the migratory course
and fortunes of his brothers, he too must have fixed in Idumaea ;
and to this country we are to refer the city and district denominated
from himself, of which Bildad wa> probably at this period chief:
for we expressly know, from different parts of the Bible, that Midian,
one of his brothers, and Sheba and Dedan, the sons of Joktan,
another of his brothers, took this direction. It was to the land of
Midian that Moses fled from the wrath of Pharaoh, after having
killed the Egyptian ; which land must have been in the immediate
vicinity of Mount Horeb, as we are told that he led to this place
the flock of Jethro the Midianite, his father-in-law ; Exod. iii, 1.
Sheba, the native country of the Sabeans, or Shebeans, is mentioned
by Isaiah (Ix, 6.) in connexion with Midian ; and Dedan is scarcely
ever referred to but in conjunction with Teman, and must neces-
sarily have been an adjacent country Jer. xlix. "J, 8. Ezek. xxv. 13.
Shuah, in all probability, therefore, as well as Dedan, Midian, and
Sheba or Sabea, M'as a district of Idumaea, not far distant either from
Uz or Teman, denominated, patronymically, from the sixth son of
Abraham by Keturah, and governed at this time by Bildad, tlie pa-
triarchal name having ceased among his descendants. See the pre-
ceding Dissertation.

Ver. 1 1 , Zophar the Naamathite.^ The city of Naama is expressly
placed by Josliua in a valley, amongst other cities of Idumaea, that
trended toward'^ the coast of the Red Sea, (xv. 33 41.) and was pro-
bably so called in consequence of the beauty of its situation, from
the root t=ii?3 ' sweet,' ' pleasant,' ' delightful ;' whence th^ name
of Naomi, the mother of Ruth, who expressly alludes to this deri-
vation (i. 20.) ; and of Naama, the wife of Rehoboam, the son of
king Solomon, (2 Chron. xii, 13.)

Ver. 12. And cast dust — ,] The original term means rather to
eject or cast forth, than to sprinkle, as in our common version : p^T,
the Arabic ^jj«?, is derived from the same source, and expressly
implies a syringe, or instrument to eject or cast forth a fluid
from a tube. All these various ac'ions, of lamentation, rending the
mantle, throwing the dust upon the hair, and sitting down in it,

were

Chap. II. 12. 'NOTES. 27

were usually united, and exhibited on similar occasions, To most of
them Job himself had had recourse already 5 see Note on ch. i. 20.
In like manner Joshua vii. 6.

And Joshua rent his mantle.

And fell prostrate upon his face before the ark of the Lord,
He and the elders of Israel, even until even-tide.
And put dust upon their heads.
In the following exquisitely pathetic description of Ezekiel, which
represents the general affliction that would be shown on the destruc-
tion of Tyre, the action is still fuller, and more complex ; (ch. xxvii.
30—32.)

And they shall cause their voice to be heard concerning thee ;
And bitterly shall they cry, and cast up dust upon their heads :
They shall wallow themselves in the ashes;
And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee ;
And shall gird themselves with sackcloth ;
And shall weep for thee.
Wailing bitterly in bitterness of heart.

And in their waitings they shall lift up a lamentation for thee ;
And shall exclaim over thee, What desolation is like Tyre !
Like the desolation in the midst of the sea !
It was, in hke manner, usual, among the Romans, for persons pub-
licly accused of any crime to lay aside their ordinary dress, to let
their beards grow, and to put on either mourning, or a sordid, old,
and ragged dress. Cicero in Verr. 58. In this garb they went about
the city, sometimes attended by their friends, who, out of compli-
ment, put on the same dress. Cic. Orat. pro Sext. xiv. When Cicero
was attacked by the intrigues of Clodius, and at length driven into
exile, not only the knights, and many of the young nobility, but
the whole Senate, changed their dress on his account. " Pro me
Senatug hominumque viginti millia vestem mutaverunt." Orat. pro
Red. ad Quirit. iii. And he bitterly complains that an edict of the
Consuls was issued for the purpose of prohibiting so honourable a
testimony of his innocence. See Steuart's Sallust, I. I66.

The custom descended to the Romans through the medium of
the Greeks : and hence the following verses of the Iliad, v/hich
delineate the grief of Achilles upon his hearing of the death of
Patroclus, I. 22,

Tov ^'d'vfoc v£^tKr\ cKCtXvtps /nsXaiva'

^Afl(j)OT£pp(Tt Ee \Ep(7LV bKcjV KOVIV aldaXoEffffa}' ,

Xei/'aro kui: (C£^aX^t, "^aiptv ^' rjayvys Trpoauirov'

Nftc-

28 NOTES. Chap. II. 13.

Ai/Vof ^' iv Kovhiai fieyag fxcyaXuarrl ravvtrdeU
Kftro, <piXr)ai ce Yf/Oiri K6fii}v i}(T\vve. Bai^av.

" A sudden horror shot through all the Chief,
And wrapp'd his senses in the cloud of grief;
Cast on the ground, with furious hands he spread
Tlie scorching ashes o'er his graceful head ;
His purple garments, and his golden hairs.
Those he deforms with dust, and these he tears :
On the hard soil his groaning breast he threw,
And roU'd and grovel'd as to earth he grew." Pope.

Ver. 13. j4nd. they sat down with kim, on the ground, "J
Seven days and seven nights -»

The number seven, probably on account of its answering to the
week of Creation, of which the earliest ages appear to have had
some knowledge, was regarded with peculiar distinction j and hence
selected, on many occasions, as a measure both of solemn fasts and
festivals. Thus Joseph, on the death of his father, ordained a public
mourning for seven days (Gen. 1. 10.) : thus Ezekiel continued for
seven days in a holy trance, amidst the captives of Tel-abib, before
the vision of prophecy was tinfolded to him : hence the obser\'ation
of the author of Ecclesiasticus, (xxii. 12.) " Seven days do men mourn
for him that is dead :" hence, also, seven times every day the pious
Psalmist offered his praises to God (Ps. cxix. l64.) : and the plea-
sures of the nuptial festival were continued for seven days.

Ver. 13. For they saw that the affliction raged sorely."] In the
literal order of the original, " For they saw that greatly the affliction
raged." Our standard version is elegant in itself, but does not give
the real meaning of the original text : " For they saw that his grief
was very great."

CHAP. III.

Ver. I. Jt length .] Commonly rendered " after this:" but

the Hebrew p '•inx is precisely synonymous with our own idiom
" at length" or " at last/' for inn means last, as well as after:'

Ver

Chap. III. 1.3. NOTES. 29

Ver. 1. — cursed his day.'] So Klopstock, Messlas, Ges. III.

'* Wenn num, aller kinder beraubt, die verzweifelnde mutter,
Wuthend dem tag', an dem sie gebahr, und gebohren ward, flucbet."

Of ail her children robb'd.

Now the wild mother curses, in despair.
The day that bore her, and the day she bare.

Ver. 3. Perish the day — /] The strong ungoverned language of
severe affliction, amounting almost to despair. There is nothing
that I know of, in ancient or modern poetry, equal to the entire burst,
whether in the wildness and horror of its imprecations, or the ter-
rible sublimity of its imagery. The boldest and most animated
poets of Jerusalem made it the model of their threnodies or grief-
songs, whenever uttered in scenes of similar distress ; and hence it
is not to be wondered at that Isaiah and Jeremiah should exhibit
frequent imitations of it. The fullest and most direct of which
is the following, delivered by the latter in the full prospect of the
subversion of his native city, and the captivity of his brethren j
which it was his severe lot not only to foresee, but publicly to pre-
dict, ch, XX. 14—18.

Cursed be the day in which I was begotten !

Let the day never be blest in which my mother brought me forth !

Cursed be the man who carried the tidings to my father.

And said a man-child is born unto thee,

Making him exceeding joyful.

Be that man even as the cities

Which Jehovah hath overthrown, and repented not !

Yea, the outcry let him hear in the morning.

And the lamentation at noon-day !

Because he destroyed me not from the womb.

Nor my mother's too-pregnant womb was my grave. — >

Why left I the womb, to see labour and sorrow.

That my days should be consumed with reproach ?

See, for other instances, Lament, iii. 1 — 20. and Jerem. xlviii. 11, 12.
compared with the present chapter, v. 26.

Ver. 3. j^nd the night, which shouted!} In our common version,
"And the night in which it was said :" which is as much less spi-
rited than the original, as it is less correct as a translation. 'IDW is
here used in its primitive sense, "to spread abroad, diffuse," and

consequently

§0 NOTES. Chap. III. 3. 5.

consequently " to publish, cry out, or shout." Scott has entered
into its true sense :

— — " the night which hail'd the new-born man."

"Hiis personification of Day or Night, and the ascription to them
of a power of sympathizing in the joys or sorrows of mankind, is in
the truest vein of Oriental poetry. Thus in the Diwan of Hudeil :

A day of jokes and sports loquacious.
So more particularly in the Hiliato' 1 comeit :

This day be rapture, let no bosom rue !

Son of the Clouds ! the Grape's fair daughter woo.

An elegant personification for water, and wine. So Pindar calls
showers, Trotoaf Nf^f'Xj/c, *■' daughters of the Cloud j" and wine,
vaida 'AfivcXov, " son of the Vine."

Reiske, for 10^, " shouted, or cried out," suggests ''DH, '*" my mo-
ther :" in which case the sense would be —

And the night my mother brought forth a man-child.

In the above quotation from Jeremiah it is certainly ^Dt^ j but iai<
also occurs in the fourth line. The suggestion is ingenious, but alto-
gether unnecessary, and gives a less poetical idea. The text should
by no means be disturbed.

Ver. 3. Lei God not unclose it — / ] The general rendering, " Let
God not regard it," is feeble. The Hebrew term tyn means, in its
primary sense, " to investigate, inquire into, unclose, or open," what-
ever is dark or difllicult ; and, only in a secondary sense, " to inquire
after, care for, or regard." The verb in Arabic has tlie sense here
ascribed to it ; and, in truth, the whole passage is as much Arabic as
Hebrew, ^\ <Lj;Ju iJ (JmJ:.

Ver. 5. — death-shade — .] The Hebrew is a single word, com-
pounded precisely as the term here employed; mobv, from W a shade
or shadow, and niD death ; and hence, as the genius of the English
language will allow me, I choose rather to render it in this manner,

than

Chap. III. 5. NOTES. ' 31

than as it is more generally translated by two distinct terms, umlra
mortis, shadow of death.

Ver. 5. crush it!'] I have followed the version of Reigke ;

and his valuable note in justification of this rendering is well worth
translating : " M^«:i% or, as the Arabians write it, <!;Li> ; let death-
shade suddenly overpower and sti-angle, and utterly destroy, the dayj
as the phantom of the desert J^ {empusa) does the traveller, so
that he never returns from his journey to his household gods, and for
ever is bemoaned by his family, totally ignorant on what account
the phantom destroyed him, or whether he fell by any other
means."

Ver. 5. The gathered tempest pavilion over it!] It is impossible^
by any translation, to equal the lerrible sublimity of the original j
and perhaps equally impossible to find a passage that can comp ire
with it, in all ancient or modern poetry. Our common version is
peculiarly cold, and unjust, to the majesty of the description in the
image before us : " Let a cloud dwell upon if' affords no idea of

which Schultens has well rendered, consistently with the text,

" Tentorium figat super illo nubilatio :" -
yet nubilatio (cloudiness, assemblage of clouds) gives but an imper-
fect meaning of the Hebrew n33i> (oneneh) in which the 3 is dupli-
cated for the express purpose of duplicating the force of the original
term, and consequently implies clouds upon clouds — condensed, im-
pacted, and heaped together ; and hence the gathered tempest, ac-
cumulated and ready to descend in all its fury, but still suspended
and awfully resting over the trembling crowds below. Isaiah has
forcibly imitated this passage in ch. viii. 21, 22. and with a fulness
that may serve for a comment :

And they shall look upwards.

And to the earth shall they look,

But, behold ! distress and obscurity ;

The gloom of horror, and driven darkness !

i.e. driven as snow in a snow-storm, condensed and constipated;

darkness that may be felt and handled ; a " palpable obscure," as

Milton has boldly expressed it, but with less energy than Isaiah : or,

in the fearful language of Ennius,

" Risida

32 NOTES. Chap. III. 5.

— " Rigida constat crassa caligo inferum."
The thick, obdurate dark that hell o'erhangs.

Hence Schultens has well observed, in reference to the term niij^,
ejus derivatio fJi? notat tractum nulium. j^lxci (in plurali) nubium
vocantur late diffusi et expansi earum tractus.
So again, but less powerfully, Isai. xiii, 10.

For the stars of heaven, and its constellations.

Shall not beam forth their light :

The sun shall be darkened at his going forth.

And the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
I have said that the best and boldest poets of Jemsalem, in their
threnodies, or songs of public or private lamentation, had their eyes
almost perpetually directed lo some part of this terrible imprecation :
and, to the instances already added, I shall now add the following,
from the sublime and mysterious Muse of Ezekiel. The passage is
exquisite, whether regarded as an imitation, or on account of its
own intrinsic beauty. It occurs chap. xxii. J, 8, 9.

I will veil the heaven, and make its stars dark ;
, The sun will I veil with a cloud.
And the moon shall not give forth her light.
All the bright lights of heaven will I eclipse over thee,
And set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah.

The term jityn is admirably rendered by Schultens tentorium Jigat —
" let it pitch its tent or paviUon over it 3" the Hebrew verb p\it
{sceneh) uniformly implying a dwelling or residence of this kind,
and constituting the origin of the Greek aKr^vrj, a tent, and our own
scene, or stretched and painted canvas in a theatre. The entire figure
is strictly Oriental 5 and the Arabians have preserved both the figure .
and the word itself ^^ (scene) to the present hour. Thus, in the f
Arabic history of Tamerlane, as quoted by Schultens upon the
present occasion, " Et quum dissolueret obscuritas noctis tentoria
sua } et Aurora pabulatum veluti exiens explicaret sua signa :" " And
when the darkness of the night shall dissipate its tents ; and the Dawn,
marching forth towards her banquet, shall unfold her banners." In
like manner, in another place, " duumque dissoluisset Nox sua ten-
toria, et Dies sua signa extulisset :" "And when the Night shall have
dissipated his tents (or pavilion), and the Day have displayed his en-
signs." Both passages have been referred by the Turkish commen-
tators, and perhaps correctly, to the following of the Alcoran, " Truly

we

Chap. III. 5. NOTES. 33

we have prepared a fire for the wicked, whose pavilion, or dwelling-
place ( VJ^f~j) *^li^'l envelop them j" i. e. " who.se spiial or lambent

flame." Sur. xviii. 28. Ui ^j^ f^'^J c^ O^'^^ J^j>

-«' J

$ UiJ^ c:-'Uf c->l^^l (j*i^

An idea somewhat similar is expressed in tlie following descrip-
tion of the return of Moses to his brethren, after his erection of the
&rk : Exod. xl. 35. " And Moses was not able to enter into the tent
of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, ar,d the glory
of the Lord Ji lied the tabernacle." In the following sublime couplet
of the Psalmist, however, we have not merely an idea similar to that
in the text, but an image perfectly parallel : so parallel, indeed, as
to prove sufficiently that David could no more sutfer this exquisite
description of our poet to pass without copying it, than Isaiah, Jere-
miah, or Ezekiel : Psalm xviii. 11.

He made darkness his secret covert around him ;

His pavilion dark waters, accumulated clouds.

In happy allusion to which. Dr. Warton has thus translated, or

rather paraphrased, the following bold hemistich of Virgil, Georg. i.

328.

ipse pater, media nimborum in node.

" Great Jove himself, whom dreadful darkness shrouds,
Pavilion'd in the thickness of the clouds.

See also the Author's Note on B. V. v. 1260, of his translation of
Lucretius.

Ver. 5. The Masts of noon- tide terrify it!] There is some diffi-
Clllty in this sentence ; and a difficulty which has never hitherto, I
believe, been cleared up by any commentator. Our standard version,
coincidently with most others, renders it, " Let the blackness of the
day territy it." But what are we to understand by the blackness of
the day? Mercer and Schiiiidius, avowing their ignorance, have
chosen to substitute, from the Chaldee paraphrase, ^T'lO for 'T'lDD j
or, in other words, " Let the bitterness" or bitternesses " of the day

c terrify

34 NOTES. Chap. III. 5.

terrify it j" and Schultens has followed their example, translating it
" Contereant eum velut amarulenta diei." But what are the litter"
nesses of the day ? lU-omens, says M. Schultens } " infortunia,
fata acerbiora : " and he especially refers us to such ill-omens as
thunder and lightning, conceiving the expression to be a continuation
of the metaphor of the gathered tempest. The explanation, however,
is not only too far-fetched, but perfectly inconsistent with the expres-
sion, " Let the gathered tempest pat;i/io« over itj" let it rest and
dwell there in mute and awful darkness, and not be dispersed, as it
must be, by a discharge of thunder and lightning. Yet, difficult as
is the interpretation of the phrase " bitternesses of the day," it is
countenanced by the Syriac rendering, which runs thus, mm/vo ■>
|vin. •|Vi horreant earn amaritudines diei. In the Alexandrine
copy, we have it Karapw^Qait} i) rjfxipa, " let the day execrate it j"
in reference, no doubt, to the preceding member of the verse.
Aquila, not being able to elicit any sense from either of the two
phrases, " the blackness of the day," or " the bitternesses of the
day," has cut the knot he could not untie, and suppressed the term
tDV or day, altogether. Accordingly, in his version it stands thus,
£K6afx(ij]aa(rav avTrjv w'c TriKpatTfxol, " let bitternesses terrify it :"
and it is a singular circumstance that the same suppression occurs in the
Arabic copy, though the sense is a little varied, iuJu^\ *JfC djJujJ
" let it be bitterly expected," or " looked for."

The explanation of Cocceius, though not perfectly satisfactory, is
far more ingenious, and much truer to the original. He retains not
only QV but nnf25 j yet, instead of rendering the latter term llack-
ness, or blacknesses, translates it pestilential vapours — the noon-tide
pestilence j or, in the language of the Psalmist, xci. 6. "the de-
struction that wasteth at noon- day," And I perceive a similar
rendering in Bishop Stock's version :

" Let the rolling mists of day search it out."

Mr. Parkhurst renders the term nno5, in the present place, thick
convolved darkness. Yet it is singular, that he understands the same
word (only without its iterative form) in Lam. v. 10, as importing
the idea of a scorching or shrivelling, before scorching or pestilential
winds; his translation of this last verse being, " Our skins are like
a furnace ; i. e. hot and feverish : they are shrivelled before the
scorching blasts (alluding to the Eastern burning, pestilential, winds)
of famine."

I can-

Chap. III. 6. NOTES. 35

I cannot offer a better comment upon the passage before us : and
shall only further observe, that the primary meaning of 1D3 is^ as
here rendered, to contract, shrivel, or wither; and that it only im-
ports to blacken in a secondary sense : and that hence no term, in
perhaps any other language, could so forcibly express the idea here
meant to be conveyed, as 'inoD ; given, more especially, as it is, in
its duplicated form, to denote the superlative degree : — literally, black
blasts, or witherings of the severest kind : — the blasts or vv^itherings
of the pestilential or poisonous Simoom, which, according to Nie-
buhr, as it svi'eeps at noon- day over the deserts of Arabia, the country
before us, not unfrequently destroys whole caravans with instanta-
neous scorching, suffocation, and a most extraordinary blackness of
corruption. See his Description de I'Arabie, p. 7, 8.

Ver. 6. Extinction — .] The Hebrew ^Qi< (opul), as a substantive,
seems to be precisely synonymous with our own term extinction, as
embracing the two ideas of darkness and destruction. The radical
yerb, as Mr. Parkhurst observes, implies to hide or conceal, by in-
terposing some opaque matter ; and hence the substantive might
imply an ecUpse : but something more than a mere eclipse is meant
in the present instance, as is clear from the remainder of the verse,
which proves distinctly that the poet's idea was a total extermination
or expunction — a destruction that should leave the night no longer
to be found, as the year returned ; not a temporary darkness, or in-
terposition of shadow, but a total extinction, as when the flame of a
candle is utterly quenched by the hood of an extinguisher. In
this last sense the very same term is still used by the Arabians for
the darkness of death, or absolute and irretrievable abolition — interi-
tus units perpetuusque. Thus in Hariri, Cons. xv. J Jl {opul) is
directly employed to denote the total extirpation and obliteration of
science. Hence Schultens, and after him Mr. Grey, render the
term before us occasus, — " occupet earn occasus," " let dissolution
seize itj" meaning hereby, according to their own commentary, a
general decline or waiting, a tabes or marasmus, as of an animal
frame. Extinction, however, seems to be a more appropriate term
than occasus ihua employed, as more fully imbued with the idea of
darkntss in the radical sense of the term. The common rendering,
" let darkness seize it;" as applied to a night, is neither very forcible
nor very clear. The term J^l (Va«) is employed, and in the very
same double sense, ch. x, 22,

c 2 Ver.

36 NOTES. Chap. III. 6, 7.

Ver, 6. Let it not rejoice amidst — .] There are two derivations of
the Hebrew term in^ {jihad), here translated rp/oice; — the one is
from the verb in"" to unite or join together : in which case the
phrase must be necessarily rendered, as in our common versions,
" let it not be joined to ;" and the other from the verb mn (hadek)
to rejoice or exult. The latter derivation appears the more forcible
and poetical ; and I have followed Cocceius, Mercer, and Schul-
tens, in admitting it into the text, in opposition to the common
reading.

Ver, 7- Oh! that night!'] — . This seems to be rather the inter-
jection, than lo ! or l;ehold ! So Beza, " O ! si ilia ipsa nox, &c,"

Ver. 7- — a. larren rock /] In our standard rendering, solitary :
in Schultens, dura silice vastior — "more desolate than the rigid
flint." The latter is more correct than the former. The Hebrew
"IID^J is still retained by the Arabians, (^Jc*ir».) which has two
senses ; the one " a rigid, intractable, sterile rock or flint j" and the
other, derived from it, "■ barrenness, or sterility" in general j and in
this last signification the term is often applied to unfruitful sheep or
camels. The derivation of the Hebrew is doubtful, but it is almost
Unquestionable, that, as a compound word, it originally embraced both
these ideas, and hence can only be adequately rendered by some
such term as flint-bare, flint-barren, flint-desolate — petra glabra, vel
sterilis ; and in this sense the same term (IID^J) is rendered by
Aquila and Theodotion, (Job xv. 34.) who have employed the adjec-
tive uKaprroQ (barren or unfruitful) by which to express it most cor-
rectly. This is the more probable, because the Arabian poets still
continue it in this sense; of which the following from Ibn Doreid,
as translated by Schultens, may serve as an example :

" Haud putareni Fortunam reddituram lue
Ad saxum duriiin, quod horreant vel lacertae saxis suetae,"
I could not have conceived that Fortune would have reduced me
To this barren rock, from which newts recoil, though accustomed to rocks.
See Notes on Chap, xv, 34, and xxx, 2. in both which the same
terms recurs.

The word solitary, as employed in our established lection, has a
glance at the same idea, but does not embrace it in its full scope and
origin. The rendering of the Alexandrine copy is, 'AXXa i) yvE, cKtiyri
iitl ocvi't] — " Yea, be that night tribulation ! "

Thus,

Chap.IIT. 7, 8. NOTES. 37

Thus, in the celebrated poem of Amriolkais, forming the first of
the seven which constitute the Moallakat, and were suspended on
the temple at Mecca. The version I take from Sir W, Jones :

" O hideous night ! a night in which the stars are prevented from rising.
As if they were bound to a solid cliff with strong cables."

Ver. 7- Let no sprightliness .] In the Alexandrine copy,

tv(j)po;Tvyt} jLirjoc ^apfxov7], "let neither joy nor rapture — ." Incur
common version, "let no joyful voice — ". The term mil implies,
by its duplication, a brisk, sprightly, vibrating movement, expressive
of mirth or exultation ; and in this sense is often applied to the
vibratory movements or twinklings of light. And hence the expres-
sion may, without any coercion, be construed to signify the dance of
joy, as well as its strain or musical movement, while

" To brisk notes, in cadence beating,

Glance their many -tunnklins; feet :" Gray.

though it seems, by more general consent, to be applied to the
latter j the

" Mussea mele, per chordas organicei quae

Mobilibus digitis expergefacta figurant." LucR. II. 412.

the strain mellifluous ; when the fair.

When flying fingers, sweep th' accordant lyre. .

Dr. Stock translates the passage

" Let no quivering of light be in it."

t

Ver. 8, Let the sorcerers of the day curse it .'] A belief in divina-
tion or enchantment, has, from some cause or other, been exhibited,
from a very early period of time, over every quarter of the globe. To
examine into the nature of such causes, would lead us too far from
the object of our pursuit. It is enough to observe at present, that
various passages in the Bible indicate that such "a sort of super-
natural power was, in the earlier ages of the world, committed to
different persons of very different characters, and even religions.
Melchizedek, an excellent and pious chief, and " priest of the most
high God " in Salem, was thus miraculously endowed, — and blessed
Abram, and prophesied concerning the prosperity of his family: Gen.
xiv. 19. Balaam appears to have been equally endowed. Of his
religion we know but little ; he was a soothsayer or magician of
Pethora, or, as the Greeks called it, Petra, in which city was an
pracular temple; and it is probable he was Archimagus, or high-priest,

of

38 NOTES. Chap. m. 8.

of the college in which the science of divination was taught. His
sorcery appears to have been in the highest repute in his day, and
was followed with execration or blessing, according to the nature of
his charm: and it was on this account, as is well known, he was
sought after by Balak, to blast tiie future happiness of the Israelites.
The science was unquestionably cultivated, even after the death of
our Saviour; as we knew from its profession by Elymas, who seems
to have endeavoured, by his enchantments, to resist the miraculous
powers communicated to St. Paul and St. Barnabas ; (Acts xiii. 8.)
as also from the Jewish exorcists who dwelt at Ephesus at the time
of St. Paul's residence in that city, of whom Scaeva was a di-.tinguished
priest, as perhaps were also his seven sons, all of whom were profes-
sors of the same science : Acts xix. 13. It is probable, to many of
these persons was communicated not only an insight into futurity,
and a consequent spirit of predicting happiness or misery, but a power
of conjuring into open view apparitions of the most hideous mon-
sters} of forms that perhaps had never any real existence, and even
the eUuXa, or images of the dead. The witch or sorceress of Endor
appears to have been endowed with this last power ; and, in conse-
quence, dragged forth the semblance of Samuel from the " vasty
deep," at the request of Saul, who had consulted her in disguise.
The same kind of power seems to have been actually possessed, or
believed to have beenpossest, by the sorcerers of the day, in the time
of Job ; all of whom, it should seem, made pretensions to call forth
the apparitions of monsters of some shape or other j and the expertest
of them, or those most deeply skilled in the science, to drag the
leviathan, the hugest and most terrific monster either of earth or
sea, from the depths of the ocean. It is to the early existence of
this power, and the readiness of mankind, and especially when
uncultivated, to believe in the marvellous, that we are indebted for
all the tales of Gothic and Saracenic sorcery, for the witchcraft in-
troduced into Macbeth, and the enchanted forest of Jerusalem Deli-
vered. Even in the present day, according to the report of the
Missionaries, the same science is professed, and confided in, by the
Otaheitans, and probably by all the tribes of Australasia and Poly-
nesia ) and either the trick is conducted with so much subtilty, or
the effect produced is so universal and impressive, that the missio-
naries themselves were more than half tempted to believe that the
sorcerer is actually possessed of praeterr^atural power, " We hear,"
say they, " that the sick man noticed yesterday is so far recovered,

as

Chap. III. 8. NOTES. ' 39

as to be able to walk about. We are informed, that the condition
the brethren saw him in, was owing to his having been cursed by
the priest, who was chanting over him for his recovery, and a
rateera in the neighbourhood. These two cursed him because he
cursed a canoe which the rateera is preparing for Pomere. There
is such a mystery of iniquity in the execrations used by the natives,
that the wisdom which is from beneath is very manifest by them.
Though we cannot credit all that is reported concerning them, yet
we think that the powers of darkness are busy agents with the exe-
crators and execrated, in a manner beyond their common influences,
and that the bodies of the execrated are in reality affected tkerely."
Transactions of the Missionary Society, vol, T.

Thus explained, the passage is obvious, and the execration won-
derfully forcible and appropriate. But the common lection, " Let
them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their
mourning," is scarcely intelligible, justified by no rendering ex-
cept that of Piscaior j and unquestionably not coincident with the
Hebrew, The term O'lT'DiJn (haotidim) implies readiness only as
it implies expertness or dexterity : it is still used among the Arabians,
and almost always in this last sense : thus <!uUJu> (_^i' JuLO* means
" he was well-skilled or expert in his art:" and so in the Alcoran,
Sur. I. 17. (^jOU u-.>j^ implies an active, accurate or ready sen-
tinel— a sentinel prompt in the duties of his post.

There is more dissonance among the interpreters in regard to the
term \tV^ (liviatan), than in regard to CD'''T'ni?rr (haotidim), chiefly
in consequence of its introduction in this place 5 the Septuagint
translating it jueya KtJTo<; (the great whale); Theodotion, dpuKovra
(the dragon) 3 and Symmachus and the Complutensian editors, not
knowing any Greek synonym for the Hebrew term, leaving it as they
found it, by merely putting the Hebrew term into Greek characters,
the former writing \EvidQav (leviathan), and the latter Xcj3iddav
(lebiathan). The Syrian version pursues the same plan j while the
Arabic translator has chosen to adopt the Chaldee explanation in its
stead, and has exchanged it for the term lamentation or mourning ;
a paraphrase (for it cannot be called a translation) which, probably for
the same reason, has been followed by Piscator, Tyndal, and our pre-
sent established version ; as also by Luis de Leon, who thus renders the
passage, " Maldiganla los que maldicen su dia, dispuestos a despertar
duelo." For this wide departxire, however, from the text, there
does not appear the smallest necessity j sorcerers or enchanters,

either

40 NOTES. Chap. TIL 8,

either real or pretended, being acknowledged, on all hands, to have
existed in early periods of tlic world. T.ie exphina'ion of the
Chaldee paraphrast hcern* to imply that the office of public mourners,
or those who were occasionally hired to weep over the dead with
loud and bitter laa:'tnt.;tions, was at times, and perhaps generally,
united to the profession of sorcery or enchantment ; an idea which
eeems also to have been adopted by the translators of our standard
version ; since, without such an expLination, the reader must be at
a loss to understand what is meant by the latter member of the sen-
tence : " Let them curse it that curse the day — who are ready to
raise up their mourning."

Schullcns, in his very learned and excellent commentary, has
examined and approved of both these ideas, though he inclines to
the latter, without connecting it with the former. He also observer,
that the phrase may apply to the superstitious astrologers of the East,
who were accustomed to designate some days with black, and uthers
with white chalk, as well as ^o the Oriental magicians or enchanters,
" Yet for myself, says he, I would rather understand that class of
men who were wont to be employed to execrate some calamitous
day with the aptest and best- conceived form of words."

Such prceficce, or female mourners, with their naeniae, or lugu-
brious and incondite dirges, were extremely common. Jeremiah
speaks of them expressly, ix. l6. where the niimpD signify the
gesture- mo2irners or actors, and MIDin the expert vocal mourners
who rehearsed the sorrowful chant between the beatings of the
breast and other symphathetic torments. In 2 Chron. xxxv. 25.
these funereal chanters are men as well as women j and an assem-
bly for this purpose, whether of male or female performers, is deno-
minated by the Arabians wL? : obviously derived from the pre-
ceding Hebrew term ma::rr : thus, in the Hamasa, it is elegantly
expressed *jt*J1 ' lJ^^jw " He convened the sorrowful assembly of
dirge-chanters." M. Schultens proceeds to state that these [plaintive
tribes, whether assembled on a national or a domestic calamity, were
accustomed to characterize the fatal day by a black theta, and to
devote it to the execration of every one, by the most abominable
phraseology J and hence his version of the passage, which is adopted
by Mr, Grey, is as follows :

Let tbe execrators of the day, the expertest among them,
Nickname it — " the Leviathan-rouser."

These

Chap. III. 8^12, NOTES. 41

These observations are ingenious ; yet the version, if I mistake not,
is not only more laboured, but less applicable than that offered in
the present text. In Dr. Slock it occurs as follows, wliich 1 shall
notice without a comment :

" Let them execrate it who curse the day.

Even those who are ready to surprise the crocodile."
I shall only add liie translation of Michaelis, which is not essentially
different from that now offered : *' Hatteii die bezaubeier der tage
gie zuruck geflucht, sie die den krokodil hervorrufen konen : " Let
the sorcerers of the day curse it ; they who can call forth the cro-
codile."

Ver. 8. — Leviathan.'] See the preceding Note, as also Note on
Job xli. 1,

Ver. g. — glancings of the dawn.'] " The dawning of the day,"
as in our common version, Is scarcely, true to the spirit of the ori-
ginal inu^ ^Q:i?Qi>a : — iniy is not stiictly the day, but the morning
or daivn of the day, for in its primitive meaning it implies darkness,
duskiness, greyness, and hence the grevness or dusk of the dawn or
morning ; while "iQiJaj?! has nothing to do either with day or dawn,
except in a collateral sense. The radical 'P[)} means " to vibrate,
twinkle, or flutter," and, in its present iterative form, " to vibrate
or twinkle briskly or with rapidity ;" and hence is applied to the
first vibiatory glances or approaches of light in the morning, as it is
also to the glances of the eye- lids, and fience to the eye-lids them-
selves. Schultens has rendered it in this last sense, which the reader
may substitute if he please — " Ne videat palpebras Aurorse :"

Let it not see the eye-lids of the dawn.
Our common marginal version is to the same effect, " the eye-lids
of xhe morning." In the Vulgate, or St. Jerom's version, it is ren-
dered ortum surgentis Aurorce, " the birth of the rising dawn 3"
and with admirable spirit, though not a strictly verbal correctness,
by Tyndal, " the rysynge of the fayre morning."

Ver. 12. Why did the lap anticipate me?] It is impossible to
conceive of any thing more pathetic. Our common version is good,
if the word prevent could be restored generally to its obsolete
meaning. The longing and anxious desire of the yearning mother
£0 nurse her unborn darling has never been so happily expressed

elsewhere.

42 NOTES. Chap. III. 13, 14.

elsewhere. The application of the phrase to the female obstetric
artist is equally injurious and indelicate, though too common to pass
without a cursory notice. It is rendered with such a reference by
Schultens in the following terms : " Quare me qfficiosa exceperunt

genua ?"

Ver. 13. For then .] '' For in that case." nni^ is here used

as an adverb of causation. Now does not give its exact power.

Ver. 13. — rest at once would have been mine."] Such is the literal
rendering of the original ""b mi^ l«.

Ver. 14. — leaders of the earth!] px ''ifi?^ The term is general,
and implies persons of high authority and influence, of what kind or
nature soever. It is hence very often translated ^rjfirjyopot, " orators
or counsellors of the earth 5" in the Syriac version, which I have
chiefly followed, " the princes or leaders of the earth j" in the
Arabic, " the prosperous;" in Tyndal, " the lords." It is im-
possible to know, at this distance of time, the exact idea attached
to this term by the poet : our own version renders it counsellors ;
Reiske, orators. The character and office of these two, however,
were by no means the same, for an evident^ distinction is made be-
tween them in Isai. iii. 3. — ^yet in this last passage I see Dr. Stock
has translated ll^nb dealer in charms ; in which case ""li"))^ might sig-
nify both counsellor (adviser) and orator, or public pleader : though
I think tynb does not fairly mean " enchanter."

Ver. 14. TVho restored to themselves the ruined zaastes."] This de-
scription is intended as a contrast to that contained in the two ensuing
lines j and the same sort of contrast is admirably continued through-
out the entire passage. The grave is the common receptacle of all ; —
of tlie patriotic princes who have restored to their ancient magnifi-
cence the ruins of former cities, and fixed their palaces in them 3 and
of the sordid accumulators of wealth, which they have not spirit to
make use of; — of the wicked, who have never ceased from troubling,
and of those who have been wearied and worn out by their vexations ;
— of the high and the low, the slave and his task-masker, the ser-
vant and his lord. This idea has not, in general, been attended to,
and hence the passage has not been clearly understood. Our com-
mon rendering, *' Which built desolate places for themselves," is

hardlr

Chap. III. 15,16. NOTES. 43

hardly explicit, though it is literally consonant with most of the
versions. Schultens, not adverting to the antithesis intended to sub-
sist between the fourteenth and fifteenth verses, imagines he per-
ceives in the passage a metaphorical reference to the massy pyramids
or sepulchres of the Egyptian monarchs, of which several have de-
scended to our own day ; and this idea has also been generally fol-
lowed. But the conception is too recondite, and far less mipressive,
as it appears to me, than that now offered.

The images and phraseology of this poem, as I have already had
occasion to observe, were often copied by ihe boldest writers of the
Jewish people; by King David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel ; and
the smallest attention to their respective compositions will shew us
that the idea here communicated soon became proverbial ; and that
- the restorer of ruined wastes," or " of ancient ruins," was not
only a phrase in general acceptation, but regarded as a character of
universal veneration and esteem. Thus Isai. Iviii. 12.
And thy descendants shall rebuild the ancient wastes ;
The foundations prostrate for many ages shalt thou raise up ;
And thou shalt be called The repairer of ruins.
The restorer of paths to walk in.

So Ezek. xxxvi. 33.

And 1 will also cause you to dwell in the cities ;

And the ruined wastes shall be rebuilt.
It is useless to quote farther : the parallel passages are almost innu-
merable.

Ver. \5.-whose possession was gold^, The original is unusually
elliptical, onb nnt - gold to them or their's." Perhaps it was ori-
ginally written D^anb IHT - gold-englutted," or " englutted with
• gold," aurosaturati: for OnMs used in this sense, Prov. xvm. and
the term is still retained in the same sense in the Arabic ^ ; which
is uniformly interpreted by the Arabic critics SjA^^ ^1 " he gulped
or swallowed voraciously." The frequent occurrence, moreover of
the O in the next word, where we meet with it not less than three
times (O^f^baon) gives additional force to the conjecture that in its
iteration it has been dropped in onV. But I have not indulged this
conjecture in the text.

Ver. 16. As abortions, that see not the light.-] Thus imitated by
the Psalmist, Iviii. 8. ^^

44 NOTES. Chap. III. 1 7—22.

As melting- wax, let them dissolve away ;

As an abortion, which must not see the hght.
In this verse of the Psalmist, for wax our common version reads
snail; and the Hebrew will justify the reading: but the term snail
seems to be erroneous, for it affords no obvious meaning, and is
exchanged for wax in the Septuagint, Syriac^ Arabic, and Vulgate.

Ver. 17. There the wicked cease from troubling ; ")
And there the wearied are at rest. -»

The antithesis is pointed and admirable. The wicked, who never
cease from troubling ; and the wearied, who are worn out with their
vexations. The version of Schultens wanders unaccountably from
the mark, and loses altogether the beauty of the figure : " Ibi irre-
quieto motu jactati, cessant concuti ; et ibi recumbant fessi virium :"
" There those tossed about by perpetual motion cease to be agitated;
and there the wasted in strength are at rest." In spite of all his
laboured argument to the contrary, i^U^I certainly implies moral guilt
in its general signification, and not mere restlessness or disquiet of
body. It would occupy too much space to engage in a formal dis-
cussion in the present note, but the reader will find the sense fairly
given in Parkhurst. I ought not to forbear to add, however, that
?:1, with which the line closes, and is here and commonly translated
" from troulling," is still preserved by the Arabians without the change
of a letter ( i>- 1) , and implies superlative or most atrocious ini-
quity : which seems to settle the point, without further investigation.
Abu'l Hassan has an exquisite couplet to the same eflfect, though he
does not immediately apply it to the valley of the death-shade :

(^ ^

That vale, once found, shall free from every care j
Trouble or toil shall never touch thee there.

Ver. 18. — task-master.'] Such is the real meaning of ti^Ji. The
Arabians still employ it in the same sense, i>u>-lj and /ujI;^ .

Ver. 22. And are triumphant — .] The original is duplicated to
express peculiar force and energy, W'W> {isisu). The term implies
the pride resulting from a sense of triumph or victory obtained over an
adversarv, or over perplexities of any kind. See Note on ch. xxxix.21.

It

Chap. III. 23, 24. N O T E S. 45

It is still used in this signification by the Arabians, \y^ y^ y
and \a^ »^ J. Our common version, "And are glad," by no means
gives the full sense of the Hebrew idiom.

Ver. 23. whose path is broken up, ^

Jnd whose futurity God hath overwhelmed. J
The passage has not been understood. "iMD means, certainly. In one
of its senses, " to hide or conceal;" and hence the common translation,
" Whose path or way is hid." But it also means " to destroy, demolish,
shatter, or break up," from the Chaldee, and imports the same sense

y

in the Syriac ^^AodJ- The ID'', here rendered " hath overwhelmed,"
seems to have been mistaken in almost all the translations for "]\ifi
" hath fenced or hedged," as in ch. i. 10. — or else the same sense has
unaccountably been ascribed to both verbs. ^D however, in all its
significations, so far as I am acquainted with them, imports the idea
of " covering, whelming, overwhelming, overshadowing," — IIJ)!
"whose futurity, whose hereafter, or after-Ufe ;" (in Arabic if^sc)
has, with equal error, been mistaken for a compound preposition, and
a pronoun, and hence rendered simply " in," or " about," or " about
him." Thus Dr. Stock,

" And God hath made an hedge about him."
And in our standard lection, " Whom God hath hedged in."

Ver. 24. Behold ! ^-.] Such is the emphatic rendering of Reiske,
" Very frequently, (says he) in the present book, as in the ensuing
verse for example, I feel compelled to render ^5 {ci), by lehold ! or

alas ! The Arabic (_^:>. (ci), is the same term, and is a particle of

exclamation or inclamation. It may often be rendered, also, how !

which may be easily distinguished by the interrogative." — See the

Author's Note to his Translation of Lucretius, Book IV. v. 1203.

There are nearly forty renderings of this particle given by Noldius

and other lexicographers, but the present was still wanting, to afford

sense to many passages. In our church Psalter, however, I find the

same term thus rendered occasionally, and with far more emphasis than

in the Bible version. Thus Ps. ciii. 11, 12. instead of " For as the

heaven is high above the earth, &c." and "As far as the east is from

the west," the Psalter gives us, " For, look ! how high the heaven

is above the earth, &c." and " Look ! how wide also the east is from

the west."

Ver.

46 NOTES. Chap.III. 24— 26.

Ver. 24. — my sighing takes the place ofmyfoodJ] So the Psalmist,
probably with a reference to this passage, xlii. 3.
My tears are my meat, day and night.
Not widely different our Saviour, John iv. 34. " My meat is to
do the will of him that sent me." And again, John vi. 33, 34. in
which the same metaphor is recurred to : " For the bread of God is
he who comedi down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him. Lord, evermore give us this bread."

Ver. 25. Behold! the fear, that I feared, &c.] I have iterated the
word fear as it occurs in the original.

Ver. 26. / had no peace, &c.] This verse has been supposed to
be of very difficult interpretation, and hence a great diversity of con-
structions have been allotted to it. Piscator has given it an interro-
gative cast, which is thus copied by Tyndal : " Was I happi ? had I
not quyetnes ? &c." Our common version takes it negatively, " I
was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet ; yet
trouble came." Sbhultens finds in it a very recondite metaphor, de-
rived from a vessel of wine, which, after having deposited its lees,
is suddenly and repeatedly shaken : and hence his version is,
*' Nusquam est defsecatus sum ; nusquam est resido ; et nusquam
est quietus recumbo : incursante concussione." Mr. Grey, who
seldom deviates from Schultens, has in this instance thought proper
to correct him, to this effect : " Non defaecatus sum: non sido : et
non quiesco : et venit concussio."

In a general hunt after some very remote reference, the real
meaning has been uniformly overlooked. I have given the passage
in the letter, and order, and simplicity of the original ; and it is
hence, I think, obvious that it describes, and with touching force,
the series of heavy evils with which, in close succession, the patriarch
was then tried, and which are so feelingly narrated in chap. i.

The redundancy or pleonasm exhibited in the text, not uncommon
to poets of every age and country, has always been peculiarly re-
sorted to by the Asiaiics. Thus in the Hamasa,

»

" Death and devastation, and remorseless disease, and a still heavier and
more terrific family of evils."

So

Chap. IV. 2. NOTES. 47

So the prophet Ezekiel, vii. 26.

Mischief shall come upon mischief.
And rumour shall be upon rumour.

So Lycophron,

At'et Be KttKov KUK^ hrrjpiKTO, '
111 is for ever doom'd on ill to flow.

CHAP. IV.

Ver. 2. Surely .] The Hebrew n seems in this place to be

rather an interjection of affirmation than of doubt, and is so ren-
dered by Schultens, " Levissimum sane tentatur," &c. ; yet in many
versions it is understood in the latter sense, and is hence rendered, as
in Tyndal, " Peradventure thou wilt be discontente ;" or interroga*
tively, as in our common lection, " Wilt thou be grieved ?"

V'-r. 2. — if a zvord he attempted — .] The term HDi, " to
essa^ or attempt," is peculiarly expressive in the Hebrew, and is de-
rived from the sense of smell exercised by hounds and other ani-
mals, in essaying or exploring the track of the prey they are in pur-
suit of. It is still used among the Arabs (llj) for a pleasant smell
or odour. Eliphaz means to insinuate liis desire to select the very
mildest reply he could possibly meet with upon a minute research,
such as, while it answered the purpose of exposing the fallacy of the
patriarch's reasoning, should hurt his feelings as little as possible. ,

Ver. 2. — thou wilt faint.'] In our common version " be grieved.''
The original Hebrew root ^m!? will admit of either idea ; but I have
preferred the former, not only because it expresses more force, but
because the same Hebrew word is rendered by this very term, faint,
in v. 5. of the present chapter, in our common version, to which I
have carefully adhered, so as to translate it, in both cases, univocally.

Ver. 2. — who can refrain from speaking P] In different versions,
" Who can withhold himself — ?" — " Who can withhold his
words >" — " Who can govern or moderate his words?" The varia-
tions are not material ; and the original 1Vi> {ot%er), which signifies,
indiscriminately, to command, govern, or restrain, will equally apply
to any of them.

Ver.

48 NOTES. Chap. IV. 3—6*

Ver. 3. — thou hast corrected — .] In our common version, "thou
hast instructed," probably from the Vulgate, " docuisti multos j"
but the Hebrew DID* does not mean, excepting in a remote sense,
" to instruct," bat immediately " to correct, chastise, or disciphne by
wholesome reprimands j" in which sense it is rendered in the pre-
sent place by the Syriac and Septuagint translators, as also by
Schultens : " Ecce ! cast'wasti multos."

Ver. 5. But the turn is now thine own — .] In our common ver-
sion, " But it is now come upon thee." The Hebrew «;in almost
uniformly implies iteration, rotation, turn or circle :" for the root is
not «1 but ^ii, which, as a verb neuter, signifies to re-turn ; and as
a verb active, to re-^^or^, xe-cover, and also to re-turn. The senti-
ment intended to be conveyed is consistent with the common lan-
guage and phraseology of the day, and is justly rendered by
Schultens " Sed nunc tuae veniunt vices ,-" and explained by Cocceius,
after Ezek. vii. 7 — 10. " Venit circulus ad te."

Ver, 5. — thou art confounded.'] ^mIM, from bTT2, means much
rather to confound, put into a consternation, overwhelm, or terrify,
than simply to be troubled, as rendered in our common version.
Consternaris, in the version of Schultens. Obstupesceres, which is
still better, is that of the Syriac and Arabic.

Ver. 6. Is thy piety then nothing? — thy hope?] I have again foU
lowed Schultens, who alone seems to have given this passage cor-
rectly, and, at the same time, in the verbal order of the original. The
Hebrew iriJ^I', in our common version rendered " thy fear," means
unquestionably " religious fear," reverence," or " piety," andiS so in-
terpreted in almost all the versions. The termimpn, frommp, implies
equally " tendency, hope, expectation, dependence, trust, security;"
and is either derived from the same source, as the Arabic (^jJJ

which is expressly confidentia, or iJij, from ^Ji, prcesidium,"a safe-
guard or place of security," corresponding with the opjur/Tifpioy of
the Greeks. Reiske proposes thus :

Is not then thy piety thy security ?

And the uprightness of thy ways thy confidence .'

But to obtain this sense, the order of the Hebrew text must be
altered very unnecessarily, and in a manner by no means allowable.

Ver.

Chap. IV. 8, 10. NOTES. 49

Ver, 8. reap their own kind^ A proverbial expression, highly

apposite, and equally common to sacred and profane writers} and
probably derived irom this source. Thus Prov. xxii. 8,
He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity.

So Hosea, viii. /.

Behold ! they have sown the wind.

And they shall reap the whirlwind.

No stalk is there, no food shall the blossom yield:

Yea, if it yield it, strangers shall swallow it up.
So again, in terms equally fovcible, Joel iii. 13.

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe ;

Come, haste ye down ! for the wine-press is full :

The vats overflow with the greatness of their wickedness.

Thus the Persian adage,

He that planteth thorns shall not gather roses.
In like manner iEschylus, Sept. ad Theb. 601.

'OfXlkiaq KaKTJg

Ka'ictov oi/ceV, Kapiro<; ov KOfxiiTTEOg.

''Arrjg dpovpa Qdvarov EKKapirLC^Tat.

Nothing worse.

In whate'er cause, than impious fellowship :
Nothing of good is reap'd. For when the field
Is sown with wrong, the ripen'd fruit is death.

So also in Pers. 823.

'T/3^tc yap E^avOovff, eKapiroxTE VTci'^vv

"Artjc, oQsv TrdyKXavrov c^ccfi^ depog.
Vice planted, sprouts, and noxious thorns appear.
And the foul harvest poisons all the year.

Not widely different St. Paul, 1 Cor. iii. 6, 8. " I have planted,
Apolios watered, but God gave the increase. — And every man shall
receive his own reward, according to his own labour." So again.
Gal. vi. 7. " Whatsoever a man soweth, tlaat shall he also reap," &c.

Ver. 10. are disappointed."] In the Hebrew text IJ^DJ, which

I derive, with Mr. Bate, from ni>n, and not, as is usually done,
from J?nb " to break in pieces." The metaphor is obviously a con-
tinuation of the argument urged in the two preceding verses j and
the speaker is still relating, but in florid and Oriental imagery, what

d he

50 NOTES. Chap. IV. 11.

he has seen and observed, — that the violent and unjust have reaped
their own kind, and been destroyed in the very act or prospect of
the enjoyment they had proposed to themselves. The wicked and
the violent, the tyrants and oppressors of mankind, are perpetually-
compared, in Greek and Roman poetry, to the savage beasts of
the forest, greedily hunting for prey, and devouring it without
mercy. In Hebrew and Persian poetry, and especially in the Shah-
nameh, they are not only compared to these ferocious animals, but,
by a bolder flight of the Muse, actually so denominated. And such
was the frequency of this figure among the Hebrews, that it at length
became as common to their prose as to their poetry : whence we
find our Saviour himself applying the term dogs to those who were
out of the pale of the Jewish church, Mat. xv. 26. And hence the
well-known exclamation of St. Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 32. " If, after the
manner of men, (in the common language of mankind) I have fought
with leasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me if the dead rise not r"
The modern Orientals are full of the same figure j see Notes on
ch. X. l6. and xvi. 9. In reality, the imagery of all primitive poetry
bears a great resemblance ; and hence the fragments of antient Celtic
that have yet reached us are often imbued with the same spirit.
Thus, in the exquisitely tender lamentation or dirge of Graine, on the
death of her lover Dargo, the original of which has been preserved
by Dr. Smith, and is given in the Report of the Highland Society
concerning the poetrj' of Ossian :

" Like two plants smiling in the dew.
By the side of the rock, in the warmth of the sun.
With undivided root.
The two plants happy and joyful.

" The maids of Caothan forbore to hurt the plants ;
Beautiful to them was their growth :
The light hinds also spared them.
But the BOAR gave one of Ihem its death.

" Heavy, heavy, with bending head.

Is the one weakly plant which is still alive.
Like the bud withered under the sun.
O ! happy were it, to be without life."

Ver. 11. — are dashed to pieces^ Not " scattered," as usually ren-
dered, but " shattered," " sundered," " dashed to pieces," " rent
to atoms," ^'totally annulled" or *' dissipated ;" for such is the

meaning

Chap.IV. 12, 13. NOTES. 51

meaning of the Hebrew radical 113, as well as of the Arabic j^,
immediately derived from it.

Ver. 12. Jnd mine ear received a whisper along with i/.] A hol-
low, sepulchral, or muttered sound or murmur; and heuce the
Vulgate, " Et quasi furtive suscepit auris mea venas susurri ejus,''
" And my ear, as though privily, received the undulations of its
whisper." The common rendering, " And my ear received a little
thereof," does not give us the fair meaning or beauty of the original.

Ver. 13. Amidst tumults, from visions of the night.) This is the
literal rendering. D''Qi?U?, which, in our common version, is merely
rendered " thoughts," implies rather " tumultuous thoughts," " men-
tal agitations," and is employed in the same sense, ch. xx. 2. to the
note upon which I refer the reader. The kind of vision here alluded
to was so frequent, as to be matter of general notoi iety, and appealed
to by all the speakers a as common fact. Thus Zophar especially,

in ch. XX. S.

He shall vanish as a vision of the night.

It is in vain to search through ancient or modern poetry for a de-
scription that has any pretensions to rival that upon which we are
now entering. Midnight, solitude, the deep sleep of all around,
the dreadful chill, and horripilation or erection of the hair over the
whole body — the shivering, not of the muscles only, but of the
bones themselves — the gliding approach of the spectre — the abrupt-
ness of his pause — his undetined and indescribable form — are all
powerful and original characters, which have never been given with
equal effect by any other writer. The description of the apparition
of Creusa, in the^neid, bears some resemblance to it, but will by
no means stand a comparison ; lib. ii. yy^-

Infelix simulacrum atque ipsius umbra Creiisae

Visa mihi ante oculos, et uota major imago.

Obstupui ; steteruntque comae, et vox faucibus haesit.

Turn sic afFari.

" Creusa still I call : — at length she hears,
And sudden through the shades of night appears, —
Appears no more Creusa, nor my wife,
But a pale spectre, larger than the life.
Aghast, astonish'd, and struck dumb with fear,
I stood : — like bristles rose my stifFen'd hair.
Then thus the ghost."— ^ Dryden.

d 2 Mr.

52 NOTES. Chap. IV. 13.

Mr. MIckle, with more propriety, compares the present description
with the phantom of tlie Cape of Good Hope in Camoens' Lusiad,
a bold and terrific picture j but which he admits, at the same time,
to be inferior to that before us. Canto v. 3Q.
Nao acabava, quaiido bua fignra
Se nos mostra no ar, robusta, e valida,
De disforme e grandissima statura,
O rosto carregado, a barba squalida :
Os olhos encovados, et a postara
Medonba, e ma, et a cor terrena, e palida
Cheos de terra, e crcspos os cabellos,
A boca negra, os dentes araarellos.
r spoke : — when, rising through the darken'd air,
Appall'd, we- saw an hideous phantom glare ;
I^igh and enormous o'er the flood he tower'd.
And, thwart our way, with sullen aspect lour'd :
An earthly paleness o'er his cheeks was spread.
Erect uprose his hairs of wither'd red:
Writhing to speajc, his sable lips disclose.
Sharp and disjoin'd, his gnashing teeth's blue rows :
His haggard beard flow'd quivering on the wind ;
Revenge and horror in his mien combined :
His clouded front, by withering lightnings scared.
The inward anguish of his soul declared.
In conjunction with these passages, the reader will excuse my copy-
ing the following from Lucretius, i. 63.

Humana ante oculos fede quom vita jaceret
In terris, obpr^ssa gravi sub Religione ;
Qua? caput a cceli regionibus obtendebat,
Horribili super adspectu mortalibus instans ;
Primum Graius homo mortaleis tollere contra
Est oculos ausus, primusque obsistere contra.
Not thus mankind ; their baser life bow'd down
By SUPERSTITION dire, amid the clouds
Mansion'd, and ever thrusting o'er the world
Her spectre-front, till he, the Man of Greece,
Uprose, who first with mortal eye defied,
And spum'd the fury of th' appalling Power.
In the author's translation of this admirable poet, he has given this
passage somewhat differently, and not quite so verbally exact to the
original : and he now notices it, in order that the above lines may

fee substituted for the common text.

In

Chap. IV. 14, 15. NOTES. 53

In the authenticated Poems of Ossian, however, there are several
descriptions of apparitions, possessing more terror and sublimity than
are to be met with any where out of the Old Testament. And long
as this note is, I cannot avoid copying the following fearful and
magnificent description of the Spirit of Loda, from Carricthura,
Here I may give Mr. Macpherson's translation j since, on comparing
it with the original, as copied into the Report of the Highland Com-
mittee, it is sufficiently faithful.

*' The wan cold moon rose in the east. Sleep descended on the
youths. Their blue helmets glitter to the beam : the fading fire
decays. But sleep did not rest on the king. He rose in the midst
of his arms, and slowly ascended the hill, to behold the flame of
Sarno's tower.

" The flame was dim, and distant : the moon hid her red flame
in the east. A blast came from the mountain ; on its wings was
the Spirit of Loda. He came to his place in his terrors, and shook
his dusky spear. His eyes appear like flames in his dark face : his
voice is like distant thunder, Fingal advanced his spear amid the
night, and raised his voice on high.

" Son of Night, retire : call thy winds, and fly ! Why dost thou
come to my presence with thy shadowy arms ? Do I fear thy gloomy
form. Spirit of dismal Loda? Weak is thy shield of clouds; feeble
is that meteor, thy sword ! The blast rolls them together ; and thou
thyself art lost. Fly from my presence. Son of Night ! call thy
winds, and fly !

" Dost thou force me from my place ?" replied the hollow voice,
" The people bend before me. I turn the battle in the field of the
brave, I look on the nations, and they vanish ; my nostrils pour
the blast of death. I come abroad on the winds: the tempests are
before my face : but my dwelling is calm above the clouds ; the
fields of my rest are pleasant."

Ver. 14, ' a horror, -j

So that the multitude of my bones trembled, j
This powerful feature is well given by Virgil, ^n. ii. 120.
— — gelidusque per ima cucurrit
Ossa tremor.
Through all their bones an icy tremor ran.

Ver. 15. The hair of my flesh rose on end.'] This is the boldest

and

54 NOTES. Chap. IV. 16,18.

and most fearful description that has, perhaps, ever been given of
the effects of extreme horror. In other poets, tlie hair of the head
alone has been represented as thus affected : and even in the follow-
ing, which forms part of the Ghost's speech to Hamlet, and in much
of its description comes perhaps next to that before us, the erection
of the hair does not extend beyond that of the head :

— — " But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres.
Thy knotty and combined locks to part.
And each particular hair to stand on end.
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine."

Ver. 16. A spectre to the evidence of mine eyes^ I have given the
passage to the letter and order of the original. The common trans-
lations for in-h, " to the testimony, evidence, or manifestation
of," give only before, as though the two words were a single prepo-
sition. The obvious idea is, " I was not imposed upon by a dream :
— I was broad awake, and saw palpably and distinctly,"

Ver. 16. There was silence, — and I heard a voice^ Such is the ad-
mirable rendering of our common version. Almost all the earlier
translations have confounded the words silence and voice together,
as though it were a whisper or low murmur, a voice scarcely per-
ceptible. Thus Arias Montanus, " Murmur silens et vocem audiam,"
" A still murmur and voice might I hear." Arabic and Syriac,
" Audivi obraurmurationem," " I heard a hollow murmur." The
Septuagint, 'AW rj aSpav, Kal ^(jvtjv iJKovav, " I heard an air
and a voice :" whence St. Jerom, " Vocem quasi anrae lenis audivi,"
" I heard, as it were, the voice of whispering air." In Tyndal,
." There was stylnes, so that I heard this voice."

Ver. 18. Behold! he cannot confide in his servants."] In St. Jerom,
" Ecce ! qui serviunt ei non sunt stabiles :" probably from St. Ambrose's
version, 'Ev covXoi? avTov dfjefiatorric: whence Beza, "En! servis
suis non crediturus esset firmitatem," " Behold ! he doth not give
credit to his servants for stability."

In a very ancient Sanscrit work, entitled the Ramayan, we meet
with the following parallel passage, as rendered by Sir W. Jones ;

Works,

Ch.ap. IV. 18,19. NOTES. 53

Works, vi. 404. "The most eminent among the deities, and the
most virtuous Rishys, have fallen under the dominion of the pas-
sions. What being exists, but God, who was never seduced — whom
nothing has provoked to wrath, or stimulated to vengeance ? — He is
the Being of Beings." The passage in the Hebrew poem (and per-
haps in the Sanscrit, see the preceding Dissertation) probably alludes
to the apostacy of the angels under Satan, who appears to be intro-
duced as an evil spirit in ch. i. 6. and ii. 2. It cannot in reason be
applied to those whose fidelity had been tried, and who had " kept
their first estate," as St. Jude denominates it. In this view of the
subject, Beza's version is the most explicit, though not sufficiently
literal for adoption.

Ver. 18. Jnd charge th his angels with default.'] Default appears
the properest term upon the whole j though defection -would in
many respects have answered better, and been quite as strict. I have
rejected it, however, lest I should be accused of systematizing. The
term in the original is iibTiii " want of continuity," as in the inter-
stices of a garment, producing apertures that may be seen through,
ii^ijtj A^AMiJy synonymously with the Greek Xitott]?. The ren-
dering of the Septuagint is ayjoXiov ri tirevorjae, " He perceiveth
something of vacuity, relaxation, intermission, or failure." Our
standard version gives " folly f' not occasional, but continued va-
cuity or intermission. Piscator is still farther from the point ; for
he writes stoliditas, " stupidity." Tyndal's version is of a very
opposite character, " In his aungelles hath he {oundifroivardness."'
And so the Spanish translation, " En sus angeles hallo torcimiento."
But the word M^riM imports not only " defect, failure, intermis-
sion," but " light, glory, praise :" and the text has hence been
tried with this idea, the negative in the preceding line being conti-
nued into the present, and the particle I being construed nor instead
of and ; a construction commended by Luis de Leon, though not
actually followed by him : " Y en sus angeles no puso alabanza,"
" Nor ascribeth praise or glory to his angels." But it is impossible
to follow all the different renderings to which this passage has given
rise.

Ver. 19. They are crushed before the moth.'] Not who are crushed,
for no such word occurs. For the rest, the original admits of various
renderings : " l1^\ J.jjj ^ ' Ab anteriore parte tinese j' quod

idem

56 NOTES. Chap. IV. 20.

idem est Arabibus ac simplex t^.^^)^ ^^ ' A.b inde tinese,' pro '^ tinea:'
Reiske: " ' By the foremost part of the moth j' which to the Ara-
bians is the same thing as the more simple expression, ' In the pre-
sence of the moth," or * by the moth'." St. Ambrose, St. Jerom, and
Schuhens, " ve.lut, ad instar," "in like manner as:" Junius, Tre-
mellius, and Piscator, " antequarn, citius," " sooner than :" Tyndal,
" consumed by the moth :" the Syriac as our common version, only

of o

that it exchanges the term moth for worm, \'*<^\\ yo^O) 2nd the

Arabic ^Ulili ^\sa " Are laid low before tlie darkness or sha-
dows," perhaps " of the evening V his day of life being by this time
consumed or exhausted. Du Pin, hke Reiske, " antefaciem tinece"
*' in the presence" or " before the face" or " approach of the moth:'*
but this is to stretch the simile much too far.

The comparison of man, on account of his littleness, his feeble-
ness, and the shortness of his life, to a worm, or an insect, is com-
mon to the sacred writings ; but in no other part of them, nor in
any other writings whatsoever, is the metaphor so extensively ap-
plied, or so admirably supported. The passage, indeed, has not
been generally understood in its full import; but it has enough, under
eveiy translation, to challenge a comparison with every attempt at
the same kind in the Greek or Roman poets.

In Pindar the image is thus glanced at :

^YjirdfjLEpoi tI Ze tic tI o^oii rig
^Kidg, (ivap, dvdpwvot. \

Day-thing-s, that meet and mock the ken,
A dream, a shadow ; such are men.

In tlie following of Mr. Gray, it is given much more fully ;

" To Contemplation's sober e^e
Such is the race of man ;
And they that creep, and they that fly.
Shall end where they began.

" Alike the busy and the gay
But flutter through life's little day.

In fortune's varying colours drest :
Brush'd by the hand of rough mischance,
Or chill'd by age, their airy dance
They leave, in dust to rest."

Ver. 20. They are leaten down from morning to evening,"] " as

butter-

Chap. IV. 20,21. NOTES.^ 57

butterflies, and other winged insects, by idle boys." The Hebrew
DD means " to beat or throw about," " to pound or beat to pieces."
Thus in the death of Gaul, as given from the original by the High-
land Society :

" What is the strength of the warrior,
Though he scatter the battle as wither'd leaves ?
To-day though he be valiant in the field.
To-morrow the beetle will prevail over him."

Ver. 20, They are for ever perishing without notice!] In the ori-
ginal Ctyo *!?ia " without noticings." But the general scope of
the passage not having been fairly entered into, it has been rendered
very differently by different translators. Our standard lection ap-
proaches the meaning, but does not give it explicitly ; " They perish
for ever, without any regarding it .-" in which neither it nor any are
to be found in the original. This sense was probably derived from the
Vulgate, "Quia nullus intelligit," " Because no one understandeth."
In Tyndal it occurs thus, " Yee, they shall perish everlastingly, and
no man think thereon j" obtained, probably, from Piscator, " Prop-
terea quod non est qui attendat, in aeternum pereunt," " Because there
is no man who regards it, they perish everlastingly." Here, how-
ever, there is still more periphrasis than in either of the English ver-
sions, which seem, nevertheless, to be copied from it. Junius and
Tremellius give another idea : " Nemine disponente," which is imi-
tated by Schultens, " Nemine gravante," and explained by Cocceius,
" Nemine manum adhibente," " No one aiding," " no one com-
pelling," " no one giving a lifting hand :" that is, adds Cocceius,
" sua sponte, citra vim, aut manum allatam," " spontaneously^
without foreign force or coercion."

Ver. 21. Their fluttering round is over with them.'] The passage
has never been understood, because the words have never been pro-
perly derived or divided j and hence, as in all similar cases, the dif-
ferent explanations have been innumerable. I have rendered it
verbally, and, I trust, clearly. The original is as follows :

on onn' i?D3 nbn
Here «bn is a verb, " to pass by, or away, to be over, or at an endj"
but, instead of this, it is generally regarded as two distinct words,
nb-'n, importing a negation either direct or interrogatory. J?DJ sig-
jiifies " to gO; move, or flutter about," and hence also " to travel

or

58 NOTES. Chap. V. 21.

or move from place to place :" whence the noun ni)a imports "a
moving or rushing forward." Our common version gives " go away,"
instead of " go about," or " flutter," as applied to an insect. It is
only necessary further to observe upon this word, that it is here
used in an adjective or participial form, " fluttering, rushing, brush-
ing." '']TV, which has usually been rendered " excellency, dignity,
nervous strength or power, virility," and hence sometimes " poste-
rity," is a noun derived from '^^^, the '• being formative, and of
course imports " a round, range, turn, twirl, course, or circuit}" all
which may be employed convertibly.

Thus simply rendered, the whole applies admirably to the general
metaphor before us, and adds a powerful feature to the description.

The proper idea not having been seized, the translators have gone
almost equally astray, and seldom seem to have satisfied themselves.
The Septuagint gives the passage as follows : '^.v^t^vatftiE yap avrolg,
Kal i^t]pdpd}]cray, " For he bloweth upon them, and they wither
away." St. Jerom, " Qui autem reliqui fuerint auferentur ex eis,"
'^ Moreover, those that shall remain behind shall be taken away
from them." St.Ambrose, " Abstulit reliquum eorum in eis," " Their '
residue, which was left in them, hath he taken away." The Zurich
text, "Annon posteritas illorum interit?" *' Doth not their posterity
perish r" Junius and Tremellius, " Nonne proficiscitur excellentia
illorum quae inerat illis ?" " Doth not their excellence which was in
them pass away ?" Piscator, not widely different, " Nonne abil ex-
cellentia eorum cum ipsis ? " Doth not their excellence pass away
with them ?" Whence Tyndal, " Is not their dignity taken away
with them ?" And our common version, " Doth not their excel-
lency which is in them go away?" Schultens, " Profecto, nihil con-
vulsum est nervus eorum," " Truly, their spinal marrow (or virility)
IS an uprooted nothingness." Dr. Stock, " Doth not what is ex-
cellent in them shift away ?"

Ver. 21, They die — a nothing in wisdom.'] Such is the literal ren-
dering, and the appropriate and forcible conclusion, of this impressive
picture, noini «!? " a nothing in wisdom." They have not the
smallest pretensions to scrutinize, much less to impeach, the ways and
dealings of Providence. »b is here a negative noun, and not a nega-
tive particle ; ro firj^ev. It is often used in this sense in the poem be-
fore us, and occasionally thus rendered in our standard translation, as
for instance in ch. vi. 21. " For now ye are nothing, or a nothing."

The

Chap. V/ 1,2. NOTES. 59

The passage before us, like the preceding part of the verse, in-
stead of being given literally, is almost always paraphrased, the actual
meaning not having been caught, and the different paraphrases
being innumerable.

CHAP. V.

Ver. 1. — which of these — .] In the original ty-rt, literally as here
rendered ; the n, as well as the tl^'', being, in this situation, pronouns.
*' Which of these weakly, ephemeral, perishing, ignorant insects —
which of these nothings, can render thee any assistance ?"

Ver. 1, — heavenly hosts — !] CD''tyip, which, in its original signifi-
cation, denotes " separate, select, sanctified, set apart, freed as though
from impurity" — is indiscriminatelyapplied, in its secondary meaning,
to saints, angels, or the whole host of heaven, and the Deity himself.
As placed in opposition to the first clause of the verse, it necessarily
alludes to the heavenly servants and angels, contrasted with man, in
the course of the preced"ng address. So Schultens, in his Commen-
tary, " A.d qnem sanctorum converteris ? quem tibi defensorem ex
universe sanctorum choro parabis ?" So again : " Non erit sane qui
tibi respondeat vel homo vel angelus ,•" " To Mdiich of the holy ones
wilt thou turn ? Whom, among the whole host of the holy ones, wilt
thou instruct as thine advocate ?"

Ver. 2. And indignation — .] In oui- common version, " And
eJivy — ." This, however, is merely a secondary and derivative mean-
ing of the Hebrew rt.^pi, which, in its primary sense, implies " heat,
iire, inflammation" of any kind ; and hence " indignation," with a
more easy transition than " envy or jealousy." The Syriac and
Arabic versions have both this rendering ; as has Tyndal also, or at
least with a mere shade of difference, " Anger slayeth the igno-
raunte." It is probable that this very severe, and apparently uncalled-
for sarcasm, was one of those proverbial sayings which the com-
panions of Job are so often urging against him, and of which he bit-
terly complains in various places. See especially chap. xii. 2. 3. and
ch. xiii. 12. I have hence distinguished it by inverted commas.
Such sayings it was the custom of ancient sages to store in their

minds ;

(30 NOTES. Chap. V. 4, 5.

minds J and it is a custom that has continued, like many other cus-
toms of the earliest ages of the East, to the present day. Whence
Hafiz,

(*y <s^^ uj^ j-2/' \J^ ^jy^ ^wAs\j

In maxims vers'd, of ancient hirtli ;

Like Hafiz, sweet of tongue ;
Like Hagi Kovam, wide o'er earth,

For liberal splendour sung.

Ver. 4. — ai the gate — .] 'liJU^.-., a gate or bar, as it might be ren-
dered : the bar of a tribunal at which prisoners are placed during
their trial. In the present instance, however, it rather means the
entrance gate of the city, adjoining to which was formerly established
the court of municipal justice, in most Asiatic states. Upon which
subject, the following remark from Parkhurst, (chiefly extracted
from the Annual Register for \779>) will be found sufficiently ex-
planatory. " Among the Israelites, the gate of the city was the
forum or place of public concourse: Prov. i. 21. viii. 21. There was
the court of judicature held, for trying all causes, and deciding all
affairs : Deut. xxv. 7- Ruth iv. 1,9. 2 Sam. xv. 2. 2 Chron. xviii. Q.
Lam. V. 14. Ps.cxxvii. 5. Prov. xxii. 22. xxiv. 7. xxxi.23. Amos v.
12. There also was the market, where corn and provision were
sold: 2 Kings vii. 1,18. Taylor's Concordance. And nearly the same
observations might, I suppose, be extended to the other ancient na-
tions of the East. See Gen. xxxiv. 20, 24. Job v. 4. xxix. 7. xxxi, 21.
Esth. ii. 19. iii. 3. v. 9, 13. Dan. ii. 49. Compare Harmei's Observa-
tions, vol.11, p. 524, &c. and Shaw's Travels, p. 253. To which I
add, that the square tower which is the present principal entrance to
the Alhambra or red palace of the Moorish kings, in Grenada, yrow
its being the place where justice was summarily administered, was
styled THE GATE OF JUDGMENT." In voc. 'liJtl^. See also note on
chap. xxix. 7-

The following verse in the Alcoran, xxiii. 79- seems to indicate
that the same practice was in use in the sera of Mahomet : " Aperui-
mus contra eosportam maximi supplicii," " We have opened against
them the gate of supreme judgment."

Ver. 5. — the wild starveling — ,] The hungry Arab, or Kedarine,
the prowling bandit of the desert. The original term ^y*) is

occasionally

Chap. V. 5. NOTES. (Jl

occasionally applied to the wolf, instead of the more common appella-
tion n«I, and hence might be literally rendered the wolf-hungry, ov,
as we have it equivalenily in our own day, the canine- hungry . The
Arabs still employ the same term c^£. to express a stomach per-
fectlyemplyor hollow. So Hos. viii. "Strangers shall swallowit up."

Ver. 5. He seixeth it, to the very thorns^ The expression is pecu-
liarly emphatical. So famished, so rapacious is the wretch, that he
does not allow himself to stay a moment to separate the thorns or
thistles from the grain, but abruptly seizeth and carrieth off both to-
gether. Yet the Hebrew CD^l^ means targets as well as thorns j
pointed hostile instruments as well as vegetable prickles ; and hence
Symmachus irpo^ tvoTrkuv apQifasTai,; and St. Jerom, '' Ipsum ra-
piet armatus," " He will seize it with hostile arms." So Tyndal,
" The weaponed man had spoyled it."

Ver. 5. And rigidly — .] The passage is difficult, from the word
XD'^iyi {tzammim) occurring but seldom in the Hebrew language, so
as to ascertain its precise meaning j and still more so, from its being
traced by different commentators to different origins. Hoy means
" to spring, sprout, shoot up, as hairs or bristles," and to this root
the Chaldee paraphrast appears to refer it, his explanation being
"Armati armis bellicis, tollenteam;" '"Armed with warhke weapons,,
they carry it away j" or, in the language of Milton,

" With bright emblazonry of horrent arms."

Yet this is rather an ingenious than a satisfactory explanation : and
hence the greater number of our interpreters have derived the word
from C3y, ''to be empty," " meagre," "thin :" and made it synony-
mous with ii?"i, " the starvehng," of the preceding part of the verse.
This derivation is right, though its application is not quite correct : as
CDV imports " to fast," it also imports " to be pressed by hunger, or
close living ;" and hence £D''Dlf, as an adverb, (the term employed
in the text,) signifies " fastly, closely, rigidly." The term is still
retained, and in common use in the Arabic *Jwcj {tzammim), and

signifies a rope, string, or cord, {funis) : whence ^JC4«i7 {sammim),
as an adverb, implies also " tightly, straightly, rigidly, closely," like
the knot of a cordj or, as the Latins would still more accurately ex-
press it, arete. The same term occurs in ch, xviii. Q. and still more

forcibly

62 NOTES. Chap. V. 7,8.

forcibly justifies this interpretation. Reiske and Schultens concur
in this meaning of it, in both places j the latter, however, using it as a
substantive instead of as an adverb, and rendering it in the present
case everricum, a net or drag, an instrument made of cords : " Ab-
sorbitque everriculum opulentiam eorum," " And his drag hath
swallowed up their substance," It does not appear to me that the
idea of a drag is very consonant to the instruments and manners of
the predatory hordes here referred to.

'r^'AW (sap) is not improperly rendered, in our common version,
swaUoweth up. The original means " to absorb, suck in, swallow
up, devour greedily j" and is perhaps the basis of our own terms,
" to sip, sup, swoop"" The last term is most in point.

Ver. 7. Js the bird-tribes are made to fly upwards?^ In the Hebrew
flli? in^lJ* Fityn 'ill -, literally as the " sons of the bird are made to
fly," and, pre-eminently, ''as the sons of the eagle," the boldest flying
bird we are acquainted with ; for to one or two varieties of the eagle
kind the term f^U^I (resep) is still applied in Arabia, under the same
form, u-i-oi. And in this manner the passage is rendered in the
Syriac and Arabic, and in all the Greek versions without an ex-
ception } only that the term used is sometimes yvirog, sometimes
yvTTuv, sometimes deriiiv, and sometimes vrtjvovg, " vultur, "
"vulturs," " eagles," " bird." So St. Jerom, " Et avis ad vola-
tum5" " Man is born to trouble, and the bird for flight." And to the
same effect Reiske.

The passage, however, will bear two other interpretations ;
and accordingly two others have been given to it ; for F]tyi is
translated, in Ps. Ixxvi. 3. " arrows ; " and seems in several other
places to signify " flash, or fire." And hence we have it, in Arias
Montanus, " filii prunse," " sons of the Hve-coal;" which in Junius,
and Tremellius, and Piscator, are abbreviated to scintillce, and hence
rendered sparks alone in our standard version. While other inter-
preters, and especially those of Germany, give it " tela corusca,"
" glittering javelins," which is the version of Schultens, but which
Grey alters to " filii coruscationis," " sons of the flash."

Ver. 8. Wherefore, I would seek unto God.] Thus Hariri, very
beautifully, in Mekama xix. with a considerable parallelism to these
two verses :

Chap. V. 10, 13. NOTES. 63

$ <.«^,*ui^* ^ ^'.^ ^^^ c;-^ cr* -^^j

Be patient then : submit to present ill :
Time is the sire of wonders : — let thy soul

Unwavering trust th' eternal Spirit still :

Countless his gifts, his power beyond control.

Ver, 10. — among the valleys.'] The term here employed, fiivn, and
generally translated ^e/ciy, means rather " dells, valleys, declivities j"
and hence, secondarily, " stagnant marshes, lakes, fish-pools." It is
thus still employed by the Arabians, under the form of CL!\^t^,
and Cl^LaJwr'.-^U

The two divisions of the verse seem intentionally to answer to
those of the verse ensuing, " the earth generally," or " level parts of
the earthy" (as opposed to the hills and mountains) designating the
lowly, and its valleys, the mournful ox: depressed.

Ver, 13. Entangling — .] Taking by a toil or snaring net, 13^.
The phrase has been proverbial in all ages and languages, and the
proverb was perhaps derived from the passage before us. The
Psalmist seems to have copied it with peculiar pleasure, for he uses
scarcely any figure so frequently. Thus, as a single instance, ix. 15.
The nations have sunk into the pit they had digged ;
In the snare they had laid have their own feet been entangled.
So Euiip. Med. AOQ.

Kakwv C£ irdvTuv TEKTOvtQ aro(b(oTaTai.

The most entangling framers of all ill.
With which the reader may compare Androm. 936.

K^yw KXvovffa tovjSe ^eiptjvuv \6yovg,

Zo(j>b>p, iravovpytiv, toikiXuv XaX-qfxdTuv,

^K^>]V£fX(odi]y fiupCq..

, I to these Sirens lent my easy ears,

These specious, versatile, insidious pests.

And raised to folly's gale my swelling thoughts." PoTTKR.

See also Lucretius, v. 1151, which is still more in point :

Circumretit enim vis, atque injuria, quemque

Atque unde exorta est,, ad eum plerumque revortit.

For force and rapine in their craftiest nets

Oft their own sons entangle, and the plague

Ten-fold recoils.———. '

Ver.

64 NOTES. Chap.V. 13--19.

Ver. 15. So he smveth the persecuted — .] So Vogel, and with
great propriety, translates the Hebrew S'^t^a ; pointing it y\T\Q or

tt:it

yiUD, and, in Latin, rendering it periens. The term far better
agrees with the context than our common reading the poor. Mi-
chaelis, not widely different, interprets it " der Uebenwundene,"
" the over-stricken }" and Dr. Stock, " the wasted." Our common
lection divides the word into two parts, SIH-O, and thus obtains
" from the sword." The word " poor," as employed in this last
lection, fVlS, is transposed from the next member of the verse, and
is here rendered " helpless," in concurrence with the Septuagint
d^vvaro^.

Ver. 16. And iniquity stoppeth her mouthy Thus copied by the
Psalmist, cvii. 42.

The righteous shall behold and rejoice ;
And all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

Ver. 17. Therefore, despise not thou — .] To the same effect the
beautiful apophthegm in Sacontala, " Many are the rough stalks that
support the water-lily, but many and exquisite are the blossoms
which hang on them." ^^

Ver. 19. In six troubles shall he deliver thee^ Instead of deriving
b'')t'' from btf, Reiske refers us, but unnecessarily, to n!?tf. The fol-
lowing is his note : " iW'' est, immerget te. Iraraerget te t^)!^^
vel ci)J Ju in sex angustias, at in septima malum in te nihil vale-
bit ;" " He shall plunge thee into six troubles, yea, in the seventh the
calamity shall have no power over thee."

In the latter part of the verse, ^y is almost always derived from
y:i3 " to touch ;" but this seems scarcely to make sense. The pro-
per root is i?3'' '^ to weary or overpower with labour," especially as
connected with the preposition 3 in n^. The play upon the words
six and seven, or a play somewhat similar, is common to Oriental
writers. The Bible is full of it. Thus Eccl. xi. 2.

Give a portion to seven — yea, even to eight.

For thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

In like manner our Saviour, Luke xvii. 4. '' And if he trespass
against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn
again to thee, and say, ' I repent,' thou shalt forgive him." So also

Mat.

Chap.V. 21, 22. NOTES. 65

Mat. xviii. 22, " I say not unto thee until seven times, but until
seventy times seven."

Ver. 21. Frofn the brandish of the to?igue.'} The term ntoty, here
translated brandish, imphes " nimble motion, vibration, corusca-
tion," as of a sword, or scourge dealing its lashes carelessly about j
a favourite figure with the sacred writers, who are perpetually com-
paring speech, or the tongue, to a sword. Thus Ps. xlii. 10.
As with A SWORD in my bones, mine enemies reproach me.
While thej/ sat/ daily unto me, " Where now is thy God?"
And again, Ps.lv. 21.

His WORDS were softer than oil.
Yet were they drawn swords.
In like manner, in the sublime figure of the Son of Man, Rev.i. l6.
"And he had in his right hand seven stars; and oui of his mouth
went a sharp two-edged sword; and his countenance was as the sun
shining in his strength." Compare also ch. ii. l6. of the.same book.

The following couplet has, perhaps, a direct reference to the pas-
sage before us, if it be not a copy, Ps. Ixxiii. Q.

They set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue brandisheth over the earth.

Our standard version, instead of brandisheth, gives walheth, and
thus loses much of the force and elegance of the term. HBU; will
indeed admit of such a rendering, but the direct idea of the Psalmist
is obvious from the passages quoted above. In the passage before
us, the idea of walking is exchanged for that of a scourge, or rather
the brandishing of a scourge : " Thou shalt be hid from the scourge
of the tongue." In Dr. Stock it is given thus :

" During the nimble motion of the tongue, thou shalt be hid."
In Tyndal we have it, " He shall kepe the from the perlous tong."
St. Ambrose and St. Jerom have employed scourge.

■ Ver. 22. Jt destruction and famine thou shalt laugh.'] Tyndal has
not rendered the passage improperly, " In destruction and derth
thou shalt be mery."

Ver. 22. And shalt not dread the wild leasts of the land.] See
Note on ch. iv. 18. In hke manner the Psalmist, xc. 13.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder.

The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under foot.

€ Ver.

i56 NOTES. Chap. V. 23, 24.

Ver. 23. Lo ! — .] See Note on ch. iii. 24.

Ver. 23. — tribes of the field — .] mmrr ''ii^ " the sons or pro-
geny of the field." The idea seems pertectly clear, and implies the
whole of the noxious animals it produces, whether reptiles or qua-
drupeds. But the Septuagint has deviated from the literal sense in
favour of a comment, and has interpreted it " the stones of the field}"
and no succeeding writer, that I know of, excepting Reiske, has
ventured to object to the interpretation : the greater number indeed,
and especially Mercer, endeavouring to justify and expla'ui it by
the weU-known passage in Ps. xci. 11, 12.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee.

To keep thee in all thy ways :

They shall bear thee up in their hands.

Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Yet it must be observed, that stones are neither peculiarly the pro-
duction oi fields, nor their peculiar characteristic. Oi high-ways,
indeed, they may be : and it is to high-ways, to public roads, or
paths, that the Psalmist alludes in this passage, rather than to fields ;
so that the very text, and I believe the only text, referred to in their
support by these commentators, is inimical to them. But there is no
end to such conjectural renderings : and hence, dissatisfied with the
more simple idea of " stones of the field" or " land," Tyndal has
assumed that of collected stones, or castles; and his version runs
thus :

" But the castels in the land shall be confederate with the ;
The beastes of the fealde shall give the peace."
The passage is clear in itself, and there is no necessity for recondite
interpretation of any ]vind.

Ver. 24. And shalt investigate thy household, and not miscarry^
The original admits of a great variety of renderings, and the inter-
preters have not been sparing in offering them. tilpQ may mean
" thou shalt visit," " inspect," " investigate," " review," " over-
see," " reckon up," " t^ke account of," " mtister," or ''marshal :"
and Ntonn vb, " shalt not miscarry," " miss thy path," " miss thy
mark," " go astray:" and hence again, ''shalt not labour in vain,"
" shalt not be unprosperous," " shalt not fail," " shalt not trans-
gress," " shalt not sin." Whence, in all the Greek versions, we have,
for the last term, a verb which is almost as general in its significa-
tion as the Hebrew : ^>; dfiaprrj Vatic, txrj dfiapTrjg Alexandr.

Chap. V. 26. NOTES. 67

fit] d^aprriaHQ, Aquil. and Complut. ; which the Scholiast upon the
last version paraphrases ov SvaTrpayrjirrj ; in plain English, " thou
shalt not be unprosperous," or " unsuccessful j" while at the same
time it might be equally rendered, " thou shalt not mistake thy
path," " thou shalt not go astray," " thou shalt not sin." Piscator,
*' Et non aberraberis," " and thou shalt not mistake thy way," St.
Jerom, from whom our national version is copied, " Et non pec-
cabis," " and thou shalt not sin." Junius and Tremellius, " Si non
peccabis," " if thou shalt not sin." Dr. Stock,

" And thou shalt visit thy dwelling, and shalt not go astray."
Schultens, " Lustrabisque amoenam mansionem tuam, nee votis
frustrabere," " Thou shalt take a survey of thy pleasant habitation,
and shalt not fail in thy desires:" an elegant rendering, and only, as
I believe, not perfectly correct, because too paraphrastic. In the
translation now offered, I have at least adhered to the original in its
letter, and, if I mistake not, in its spirit :

" And thou shalt investigate thy household, and not miscarry :**
" Thou shalt visit it step ly step, and shalt not fail in any one purpose
or expectation concerning it."

Ver. 26. In ripe old age — .] Literally, " in dried up," or " shri-
velled age 3" and hence the term here employed, n^!), is applied by
the Arabians under the same form, UsvJi", to designate the tvinter
season, in which every thing is corrugated or shrivelled. On which
account some commentators propose, that the text should be ren-
dered " in the winter of life j" poetically, indeed, but not thoroughly
consistent with the metaphor of a shock of corn ; which, in close con-
gruity with the emblematic picture of Winter, at its season of matu-
rity, is dried up and contracted, and thus far offers an equal simili-
tude of ripe old age ; but which forcibly increases the similitude by
the well-known fact, that, like ripe old age also, it must be com-
mitted to the earth in order to spring to newness of life ; for, in both
cases, " the seed which thou sowest shall not quicken, except it
die."

Tyndal has given the passage thus : "^ In a fayre age lyke as the
corn sheewes are broughte into the barne in due season:" whence
Sandys,

" Then, full of days, like weighty shocks of corn.
In $eason reaped, shalt to thy grave be borne."^

e 2 Nor

6S NOTES. Chap.V. 26.

Nor very difterently Schultens, notwithstanding that he admits that
the Hebrew «5n in itself implies " congestion, accumulation, or
heaping together." " Intrabis in decrepita senectute ad tumulum,"
" Thou shalt enter into the tomb in decrepit age 5" meaning as a
shock of corn enters into the barn.

In the following parallel passage in the Gaelic poem of Diarmad,
the original of which is in Dr. Smith's collection, there is something
so tender and elegant, that the reader will not be displeased to see
it in a comparison :

" On eddying winds be thy spirit borne,
O son of Duino, to thy fathers :
But light lie the turf over thy beauteous form.
And calm in the grave be thy slumber."

Ver. 26. Js the shock of corn is gathered together.'] In our com-
mon version, " As a shock of corn cometh in." In Dr. Stock's
translation, cometh up; hereby rendering both the Hebrew terms
win and m!?i? by the same word, for which there is no occasion ;
though, if it were to be done at all, the verb to accumulate or heap
together would answer the purpose better than any other : for the
latter, like the former, implies " coacervation, or rising into a heap,"
but in a sense rather more precise, and indicative of ascension.

CHAP. VI.

Ver. 2. — were put together in the balance^ The image has been
copied, or paralleled, by writers in every age and nation. Thus

Isai. xi. 12.

Who hath weighed the mountains in scales ;
And the hills in a balance .'

So 1 Sam. ii. 3.

Jehovah is a God of knowledge,

And by him actions are weighed."
So Cicero de Fin, v. 30. andTusc. Quaest. v. 17 j to which the reader
may turn at his leisure.

Ver. 3. For now would they he heavier than the sand of the sea^
So Prov. xxvii. 3. in imitation :

Heavy is the rock, and more heavy the sand of the sea :

But the indignation of the fool is heavier than both of them.

Nor

Chap. VI. 3,4,5. NOTES. 69

Nor widely different Ps. cxxxix. 17, 18.

How precious, O God ! are thy thoughts unto pie !

How great is the sum of them !

Could I count them, they are more in number tJiaJi the satid,

Ver. 3. — overwhelmed.'] Swallowed up as by a tempest. Our
common version is perfectly correct, but not perfectly clear, " To
le swallowed up by a weight of sand/' is scarcely so perspi-
cuous as "to be overwhelmed," Schultens renders it, '* Therefore are
my words tempestuous or fretful:" Propterea verba mea cestuantla
sunt. Tyndal, " Thys is the cause that my words are so sorrowful."

Ver. 4. Behold ! the arrows, &c.] This terribly sublime descrip-
tion may challenge the most beautiful tigurative poetry of all ages
and nations. The avenging sword, athirst for human blood — is the
image of modern times : let the reader compare the two, and de-
cide for himself. In the passage before us, for the avenging sword,
we have avenging arrows, the arrows oj" the Almighty ; and instead
of being athirst ybr blood, they are loaded with fiery, unquenchable
poison, and athirst for the vital spirit. They have pierced the
bowels of the wretched sufferer, and are incapable of being drawn
out — they remain within him. The bold and majestic personifica-
tion with which the picture closes can only be weakened by a com-
ment, and is too clear to require any, I am surprised to behold the
middle part of the description thus conversely and dilutely rendered
by Dr, Stock :

* The poison, whereof my spirit drinketh,"
Jeremiah has thus copied the image in his Lamentations, iii. 13.
He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

In the poem of Zohair, the third of the Moallakat, or those tran-
scribed in golden characters and suspended from the Temple at
Mecca, on account of their excellence, we meet with the very same
image. I take the version from Sir W. Jones :

Their javelins had no share in drinking the blood of Naufel."

Ver. 5, The wild ass — ] In the Hebrew, «ia ; which is generally
translated, in the Septuagint, opot; dypiot; or oyaypog, and signifies,
as a verb, " to run wild ;" while the Latin writers render it, from the
Greek, onager. This variety of the ass tribe, or rather this original
stock of the domestic ass, is still met with in Tartary, and many
parts of Eastern Asia, and is peculiarly distinguished by a dusky,

woolly

ro NOTES. Chap. VI. 5,6.

woolly mane, long erect ears, and a forehead highly arched. It is a
much more dignified animal than the domestic ass. In ch. xxxix. 5,
of the present poem, it is spoken of as distinct from another species
of the ass tribe, and which is there rendered ill)?, or brayer : for
an account of which see the Note upon the passage.

Ver. 5. in the midst of herhage!] «tyi '^hv '^^ apud teneram

herbam," which is the joint rendering of Piscator and Junius and
Tremellius. Our common version, " when he hath grass," is bor-
rowed from the Vulgate, but is less correct.

Ver. 6. Doth insipid food, &c.] This and the three ensuing verses
have proved a strange stumbling-block to the critics and translators ;
not one of whom appears to me to have understood them. " Doth
that which hath nothing of seasoning, nothing of a pungent or irri-
tating power within it, produce pungency or irritation ? I, too, should
be quiet, and complain not, if 1 had nothing provocative or acri-
monious : but, alas ! the food I am doomed to partake of is the
very calamity which is most acute to my soul — that which I most
loathe, and which is most grievous or trying to my palate." Or, as
it is rendered ch. iii. 24, 25.

Behold ! my sighing takes the place of my food ;

And my lamentations burst forth as the billows.

Behold ! the fear that I feared hath even befallen me ;

And what I shrunk back from hath overtaken me.
Nothing, I think, can be clearer than this interpretation, or more
correct than the metaphor itself. The patriarch admits that he has
spoken severely 3 and at the same time endeavours to palliate the
licence of his tongue. I have rendered the Hebrew verbally ; and
its signification is almost too obvious to need any further remark.
The proper idea not having been seized, the pasJage has been
given very differently by prior expositors ; almost all of whom are, at
the .same time, at variance with each other. In our established text
it occurs thus : " Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt ?
or is there any taste in the white of an egg ? The tilings that my
soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat :" a mixt rendering
from the different Latin copies 3 and at the same time offering no
meaning whatever,

Piscator, in some measure following the Septuagint, separates the
sixth and seventh verses from the allusion contained in the fifth,
and refers their subject-matter to the arguments of the preceding

speaker

Chap. VI. 6. NOTES. 71

speaker, as though the patriarch meant sarcastically to accuse them
of being vapid, and void of taste : " Renuit attingere verba tua
anima mea. Ista sunt mihi tanquam cibus abominabilis :" " My
soul refuses to touch your words ; they are to me as loathsome food."

This fancy has pleased Schultens ; and he has hence not onlv
adopted, but improved upon it; an improvement which has been
carefully copied by Grey : " Can that which is frothy, spiritless, or
prepared without salt, be eaten ? Is there any taste in the drivel of
dreaming ? My soul refuses to touch them 3 they are as offensive
(putrid) meat to me." " Num commedetur sputans, jejunumve,
nuUo sale praeditum ? An est sapor in saliva somnolentiae ? Renuit
tangere anima mea : sunt ilia ut putridinosa cibi mihi." And this
rendering is endeavoured to be justified by a note, the great length
and elaboration of w^hich prove obviously the difficulty the writer
laboured under in his own mind.

Dr. Stock otfers a still different rendering ; yet a rendering with
which he himself is not satisfied. He too, however, refers the
sixth and seventh verses to the arguments advanced by the friends of
Job. It occurs as follows :

" Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt .'
Or is there any taste in the drip of the rock ?
The things which my appetite refused to meddle with.
Even they make up the measure of my food."
Upon which he has the following note : " Will exhorting give
a relish to that which is in itself insipid ? is there any taste 'i^'il
mo^rt in the drivel of dreams?''' is Parkhurst's interpretation; and it
is the best we can come at, if the text he not corrupt. But the
image is both far-fetched and unpleasing." I trust the reader will
now no longer think that this interpretation of Mr. Parkhurst, de-
rived, as I have already observed, from Schultens, " is not the best
we can come at," and that the real image, when properly applied,
instead of being " far-fetched and unpleasing," is admirably to the
point. The note, nevertheless, is sufficient to prove that this excellent
critic was not perfectly satisfied, either with his own interpretation,
or that of any other expositor with which he was acquainted. The
rendering, however, now offered, being new, let me be allowed to
explain it more at large. The original text is as follows ;
nhn 'h'jn ban ^awn
:m»bn ini orto ty cdn
»tyQ3 j?iji^ ni«a

72 NOTES. Chap. VI. 6.

132M' in the first line is a noun, instead of a verb, as commonly
interpreted, the ' being formative. ''b2D is a compound of a noun
and substantive, ''1'2-a, and hence not merely without, as usually
rend^^red, but " without a mixture of." The whole is given inter-
rogatively : and in this form it occurs in Junius and Tremellius and
Piscator : " An comeditur insulsum (P. insipidum) absque sale V

Respecting mobr! im there is some doubt, "i^ni may be a single
or a compound word, m-i. If a single word, it imports ji
in Arabic, the farinaceous part of grain, as meal or flour, that which
produces jelly or paste ; and the gelatinous part of animal substance;
and hence, according to the Chaldee interpretation, from which
there appears no reason for deviating, the white of the egg. And in
this case1'''^l, or " the white of the egg," becomes the nominative
to the verb, as rendered in the version now ottered. If the term be
compound^ the radical will be ll, in Amble j\j or ji,j, which is
still " mucilage or jelly;" though under this foirii, in me Hebrew, it
will also bear the sense of " spittle, drivel or slaver." llie verb ty will
then also be impersonal, uh'n, whence twoh'n, imports "an egg" in
one of its senses, and " dreaming" in another, both in Ch^ldte and He-
brew; and in Arabic " a farinaceous seed something like foenugreek."
Whence the verse may be rendered, with 1'i:i as a single word,
" Doth the white or jelly of the egg gi\e forth or produce (£ji?to)
taste or pungency ? " but with 'T>1-!3 as a double word, " Is there any
taste or pungency in the white of an egg." According to the Arabic,
for "white of the egg," we shall read "mucilage oihelem," a substance
equally insipid, and containing, therefore, the very same idea. And,
according to a third and possible translation, we may read for either
of these " drivel of dreams," as rendered by Schultens and others.
I apprehend the reader will have no difficulty in rnaking an election.

J?1J3, in the third line, is not a verb, though generally so rendered,
but a substantive, and, with the preposition b, imports " to the
touch, taste, or feeling of;" and might be rendered " to the smarting
or wounding." nJt^D (nieane) probably the origin of our own term
mean, implies " a nothing, a thing of no account, refuse, ofFal,
mean, vile, abhorred, loathful or loathsome." The particle '>:), or, in
contraction, 5, in the last verse, is not comparative, but emphatic,
" alas ! behold ! verily ! " and hence these two lines can scarcely be
rendered otherwise than in the sense now offered,
A thing loathful to the taste of my soul,
This, alas ! is my sorrowful meat !

I trust

Chap. VI. 8,9,10. NOTES. 73

I trust this beautiful and appropriate passage is thus rescued from
the obscurity in which il has hitherto been involved. It is obvious that
the original text v/ill admit of various renderings} but it can no longer,
I think, be doubtful which ought to be the proper rendering. The
version now offered is hterally true to the Hebrew, and the order is
nearly as closely preserved as tlie leLter.

Ver. 8. — my earnest desire'\ Tl'ipn, from nip " io stretch forward,
extend, or be on tip-toe ;" aiid hence " to long or desire with eager-
ness." So also, in another form, m5 " to burn, parch up, or con-
sume ; to be consumed or burnt up with desire,"

Ver. 9. That he would redouble his hand, — ] The Hebrew term in*
(iter) implies, in every sense, duplication, redundancy, abundance ;
and hence the Latin iter and itero — and our own terms,, to iterate, or
reiterate.

Ver, 9. — and put an end to me /] >ii?'a'n*, from i?^! " to complete,
totally finish, put an end to a work : to break otf Irom a work after
completely finishing it."

Ver. 10. Let him spare not, — and I will leap for joy.'] In the
order, " And I will leap for joy, let hmi {or if he) spare not." I have
followed the general spirit of Tyndal s rendering, who, like most of
the earlier translators, has united these two fragments of the verse,
as, in truth, they ought to be: " Yea, I woulde desire him in my pain
that he shulde not spare." There can be little doubt, that the He-
brew verb m^D^, from l^D, instead of ''' to desire," as here rendered,
or, " to harden,'" as rendered in our common lection, implies " to
exult, to leap for joy, to dance or strike the ground with rapture."
Schultens has established the point satisfactorily, and shown that
the same term is still in use among the Arabians, jj^,^ to express the
playful or triumphant prancing of a high-mettled horse — terravi
pede perxussit equus. He has hepce rendered the verse, " Et pede
terr'am quatiam cum exultatione," " ani I will shake the ground with
exultation, if he spare not." Dr. Stock has imbibed the same idea;
gnd has even rendered it with too close an Arabism in the following
line :

" I would even prance, in expectation that he would not spare."
So in the Gitagavinda, or Songs of Jayadeva, which constitute a part of
the tenth book of the Bhagavat. " Bring disease and death, O gale
•■■-■-" ■•'' of

74 NOTES. Chap. VI. 10— 12.

of Malaya ! Seize my spirit, O God, with the five arrows ! I ask not
mercy from thee : no more will I dwell in the cottage of my father."

Ver. 10. For I would not resist — .] Such seems to be the real
meaning of the Hebrew "•mnD, and it is so rendered by St. Jerom
and Schultens ; the former expressing it by contradico, and the latter
by alnego. Dr. Stock translates the verse,

" When I did not suppress the words of the separator."

I have no great objection to the term suppress, or, as it is written in
our common version, conceal; but resist offers a more obvious
meaning.

Ver. 10. commands — .] The Hebrew '^D« implies com-
mands or decrees, as well as words, and is so translated in our com-
mon version, Esth. i. 15. ix, 32, as also in various other places: and
little doubt, I think, can exist as to its real meaning in the verse be-
fore us.

Ver. 10. — Holy One — .] \i>'Wp; this may refer either to the
Almighty himself, or to the ministering spirit commissioned to com-
municate or execute his decree. See Note on ch. v. 1.

Ver. 11. Or what mine end, that I should, &c.] " What strength
have I left, that i can hope to recover from my present affliction ?
or what must be the end, the close of my life, if I should do so ?
What prospect of happiness or comfort, that I should prolong my
breath?" The Psalmist employs the term end in a similar sense,
xxxvii. 37.

Mark the perfect, and behold the upright man :

For the end of that man is peace.

Ver. 12. Is my strength the strength of stones?"] In perfect paral-
lelism with the following passage of Cicero, Acad. Qu. iv. 31. " Non
enim est e saxo sculptus, ant e robore dolatus homo : habet corpus,
habet animum j movetur mente, movetur sensibus." *' For man is
not chiselled out of the rock, nor hewn out of the oak-tree : he has
flesh, he has spirit ; he is actuated by a mind, he is actuated by
senses." So Theocritus, in his description of Amycus, Idyl. xxii. 47*

2r>;0f« ^' t(T(paipuTO vikdpia, Kal irXdrv vu-ov,

^apKi (TiSapeii].

Broad, and rotund his chest j and wide his loins.

His flesh of iron. ■

Ver.

Chap. VI. 13, 14. NOTES. 75

Ver. 13. Alas ! there is no help to me — .] The interrogation in-
dicated in the preceding verse by D«, is not necessarily continued in
the present, as in our common version, but seems, on the contrary, to
be totally destroyed or converted into an interjection by its being
changed into the compound tr)«n ; and is expressly thus understood
by St. Jerom, " Ecce ! non est auxilium mihi in me :" an authority
I readily avail myself of, though I had translated the passage as
above before I met with it. Tyndal gives the same idea, yet he
still continues the interrogative form ; but the rendering is unneces-
sarily paraphrastic, " Is it not so, that ther is in me no help ?" I do
not understand the meaning of our common version, " Is not my
help in me ? and is vi^isdom driven quite from me r"

Ver. 14. Shame to the man .] In the common reading of the

Hebrew text, " To him who is deficient to his friend, shame!" but
for Da^ not less than twenty-three of Dr. Kennicott's codices read
Di^D^, and consequently make it literally, " To him who despiseth
his friend, shame !" The word IDH is used both in a good and a
bad sense: in the former it means " pity, kindness, compassion 5"
in the latter, which is evidently the sense here intended, " shame,
insult, reproach." For want of attending to this distinction, the
passage is rendered obscurely in our common lection j and, with aU
its obscurity, is still obliged to be eked out by a gratuitous supply
of words, to fill up a supposed ellipsis. " Qui misericordia erga
amicum contabescit, is et timorem omnipotentis deserit," is the
version of Schultens : " He who fails in pity towards his friend, this
man even forsakes the fear of the Almighty :" not essentially dif-
ferent from that of the present text, and perfectly in accordance
with St, Jerom, who, in the Vulgate, renders it, "Qui tollit ab amico
suo misericordiam, timorem Domini derelinquit :" " He who taketh
away pity from his friend, hath abandoned the fear of the Lord."
Parkhurst, in an incidental rendering, has adopted the reading of
OHDh for DD^ before me ; and has rendered the distich thus : " To
him who despiseth his friend, (it is) a reproach, and he will forsake
the fear of God." See the article noa There is no necessity, how-
ever, for the supply of it is, which does not occur in the original j and
which, when introduced in the present form, only weakens the
general construction, which should certainly be exclamatory,

Ver.

76 NOTES. Chap. VI. 14, 15.

Ver."14. He, indeed, hath departed — .] The particle 1 is rather
expletive than connective j and is better rendered by truly, or in-
deed, than hyfor, or, as our common version has it, but. It is thus
rendered by Schultens, " Is et timorem omnipotentis deserit,"
" This man, truly, has deserted the fear of the Lord," Nothing can
be more severe, and at the same time more just, than tliis appropriate
and abrupt retort upon EMphaz.

Ver. 15. as a flood.'] The phrase in this place is a strict

Orientalism, " My brethren have acted (or played) the flood with
me :" and the proverbial form is at least as common now among the
Arabians, as it could be when the present poem was composed.
Hence, while the Hebrew IJil (begad), " deceit, perfidy," is derived
from 1J (gad), " irruption, exundation, the overflow of the banks of
a river," the Arabic .j^ and J Jui (gadr and gadyr) imply both
" flood and falsehood, or deceit." So the Scholiast on the Moal-
lakat, " Stagnum nominatum fuit jJlc. (gadyr) quoniam viatores
illud trajiciunt aquis plenum j sed deinde reversi nihil in eo inve-
niunt, ut quasi perfidum in eos fuisse censeatur." ^ " A pool or
flood was called gadyr, because travellers, when they pass by it, find
it full of water ; but, on their return, find nothing at all there, and
regard it as having acted treacherously towards them." It is hence
clear, that the term brook, as adopted in our common version, which
signifies not a temporary overflow, but a perpetual stream, does
not convey the author's idea.

Fairly explained, nothing can be more apposite, nothing more ex-
quisite, than the image before us, and the whole of its description.
Arabia has but few rivers ; Proper Arabia perhaps none : for what in
this last country are called rivers are mere torrents, which descend
from the mountains during the rains, and for a short period after-
wards. A few rivers are found in Yemen, or the southern province j
and the Tigris and Euphrates, as touching its northern limits in their
passage along Irak Arabi, have occasionally been laid claim to by
Arabian geographers. Even the Astam of Najd or Neged, the pro-
vince of Sandy Arabia, though laid down as a considerable river in
the maps, is a mere brook. Hence the country is chiefly watered
and fertilized by exundations of its dry channels, an overflow of
which is uniformly regarded as a great treasure and blessing ; the

inhabitants

Chap. VI. 15, 16. NOTES. 77

inhabitants in the neighbourhood hail its appearance, and prepare to
enrich themselves out of its stores, by admitting it into their tanks or
reservoirs. But it often happens, that the blessing is converted to
a curse ; that the torrent rushes with so much abruptness and rapi-
dity, as to cany every thing before it j and that, exhausted bv its
own violence, its duration is as brief as its stream is rapid, allowing
them scarcely time to slake their own thirsts, or, at least, to tili their
domestic utensils. Fair and specious, therefore, as is its first ap-
pearance, it is in the end full of deceit and cruel disappointment :
" Et viatores (says Dr. Lowth, upon the passage before u-.) per
Arabiae deserta errantes sitique confectos perfide destituunt," Prasl.
xii, p. 110. it promises comfort, but overwhelms with mortification.
Such (says Job) are the companions who come to visit me in my
affliction ; they affect to console me, but they redouble my
distress.

Ver. 15. that pass away ^ Not, as our common version,

" they pass away }" the image of the floods is still continued : and
the verb is referred to this term by most of the ancient interpreters,
though Schultens and Dr. Stock apply it as in our Bible rendering.
Tyndal, while following the general explanation, is somewhat more
correct : " As the water broke, that hastely runneth thorow the
valley es."

Ver. 16. — ice-hill'} nip, an icy concretion, or conglomera-
tion. The description so accurately <"orrespond:; with one of the
causes, enumerated by Lucretius, of the overflowing of the Nile, that
I cannot avoid copying the passage, yi. 734.

Forsit an jEthiopum penitus de montibus altis
Crescat, ubi in campos albas descendere ningues
Tabificis subigit radiis sol, omnia lustrans.
Or, from the ExHiop-moMwiain* the bright sun.
Now full matured, with deep-dissol/ing ray '

May melt th' agglomerate snows, and down the plains
Drive them, augmenting, hence, th' incipient stream.
So Homer, Iliad A, 492,

'ftc F onroTB irXtjduv TroTCifxOQ irediovoe KdTBitn

Ji.£ifi,ctppovg Kar 6pE<T(j>iv, 6Traii6/.i£vog Atot ojufipu,

iloXKdg ^£ dpijg di^aXea^, iroWdg ^i re irev'Ka<;

't,tr(j>iperat, roWoj' ^e r' dijivvyerdv ek a\a /3a\\f<,

78 NOTES. Chap.VI.16, 18.

'* As when a torrent, swell'd with wintry rains,
Pours from the mountains o'er the deluged plains.
And pines and oaks, from their foundations torn,
A country's ruins! to the seas are borne." Pope.

Yet the following, from the Gaelic Diarmad, as given by Dr.
Kennedy, is still more in point :

" In battle thy path

Was like the rapid fall of a mountain-stream,

When it pours its white torrent over the rocks.

And sends abroad its grey mists upon the wings of the winds.

The roar of its stream is loud through Mora's rocks.

Mountain-trees, with all their moss and earth,

Are swept along between its arms :

Yet, when it reaches the calm sea of the vale.

Its strength is lost, and the noise of its course is silent."

Ver. 16. — foams above them.'] Perhaps, more literally to the
Hebrew, "sports or frolicks over them. " The text itself runs thus:

for which our standard version gives, " wherein is hid :" but in this
place 'CD'iih means rather " to sport," " frolic," " wanton," or "^play
the wanton," like a sportive or frolicsome youth (vai^o)), than " to
be hid," " kept concealed," or "retired," as an unmarried damsel.
And, in reality, almost all the ancient interpreters, except Junius and
Tremellius, from whom our established lection is copied, as well as
most of our modern commentators of repute, and especially Schultens
and Reiske, have applied to it the former sense, or a sense closely
connected therewith.

Ver. 18. The outlets of their channel — .] The rapid torrent of the
floods, rapid as well in its progress as in its disappearance, is ex-
hausted in two ways ; by evaporation from solar heat, and by its own
forcible spread, in every direction, over the vast expanse of a sandy
and bibulous desert. The preceding couplet refers to the former
mode of exhaustion; the couplet before us to the latter: <jJji*'%
<UJu says Reiske, " Et immergunt se in vastum desertum," " They
plunge (the difFeient branchings of the inundation) into the vast
desert."

This verse, however, has been generally applied to the companions

of

Chap. VI. 18. NOTES. 79

of Job, instead of to the image of the floods ; but certainly without
reason ; this image being as clearly contmued as it is possible to be,
pure and without mixture, to the close of v. 20. the application com-
mencing with most appropriate and poignant force at v. 21, I have
given the whole verse literally, ninit* is •* outlets," " tortuous or
mazy tracks," and can only be thus rendered; unless, with Schultens
and Dr. Stock, we destroy the progress of the similitude, by read-
ing "companies/' or ''caravans," for "tracks," or "outlets/'
which the term can never import, but by a very remote reference,
and which at the same time destroys the beauty of the image,

Ver. 18. — into nothing — .] Rendered by Schultens and Reiske
'' into the desert, the empty space, or land of nothing;" but the
former is the more forcible rendering. The torrent progressively
evaporating, and branching into fresh outlets, becomes at length
itself nothing. In opposition to the well-known description of
Fame, it may be said of this,

Vires deuiittit eundo.
inn means equally " nothing," and " a desert," or place of no-
thing. It is usually rendered in the foraicr signiricaticn. I have
already observed that the latter is preferred by Reiske and bchultensj
but either will answer.

The whole description is directly coincident with a very valuable
article inserted by Major Colebrooke in the seventh volume of the
Asiatic Researches, and entitled, " On the Course of the Ga ges
through Bengal." He observes, that the occasional obstructions
which the rivers of Bengal meet with, on the return ot their perio-
dical flux, produce not unfrequently some very extraordinary altera-
tions in the course and bending of their respective beds, and, tience,
some equally extraordinary changes in the general fac" oi the
country. While some villages that, in common, are scaiceiy visited
by a river, even at its utmost rise, are overflowed and suddenly
swept away, — others, actually seated on iLc banks of an arm, and
that used to be regularly inundated, are totally deserted, and the
inhabitants have to travel over many miles to obtain water, ile adds,
that the Ganges has evinced changes of this nature, in a greater de-
gree than any other Indian stream : and that even since the survey
of Major Rennel, in 1764, it has deviated, in its course, not less than
two miles and a half: whence several of the villages M'hich figure
in his map are no longer to be found in the situations assigned

them 5

80 NOTES. Chap. VI. 1 9—25 .

them ; while islands of considerable magnitude, now inhabited and
cultivated, have started into being where the river then rolled its
deepest waters.

Ver. 19. — search earnestly,'] Such is the real meaning of the
Hebrew "itcin, which implies not merely to look, but " to leat about,
or investigate, or examinate every step." The theme is tDin " to
thrash or leat out corn, with a rod or other instrument." I ought
not to forbear to mention Reiske's elegant rendering of this line,
though I differ from him as to the application of one or two of its
terms; premising that the word mii"i« means both paths or tracks,
and travellers that journey through them : " Their tracks (the branch-
ings of the flood) tend towards Tema :" in consequence of which,
he adds, the caravans of Saba behold them in their approach, and
resign themselves over to sure and certain hope. There seems,
however, no necessity for this variation from the general mode of
interpreting it.

Ver. 20. — sink away."] Iiarf; literally as here rendered, from IQ in
" to sink, delve, or depress :" and hence, secondarily, " to be down-
cast in the countenance, to be ashamed," as rendered in our com-
mon version.

Ver. 21. Behold! — ^] For this rendering of '3, see Note on
ch. iii. 24. It is truly forcible as an interjection, but has little mean-
ing as a causative adverb, nny is here, as in many other places,
also, rather than now. The application is most correct and pungent.

Ver. 21. — shrink lack^ The Hebrew «T will frequently bear
this interpretation, by a synecdoche ; the term not only implying the
idea of fright or terror, but the result of terror ; and hence, to recoil,
startle, or shrink lack, as well as to fear or le afraid. In this sense
the argument is perfectly connected j and the interrogatories in the
two subsequent verses are peculiarly pertinent.

Ver. 25 . How forcible — .'] The very infrequent use of the Hebrew
IVIDJ leaves its exact import doubtful ; and hence nothing can ex-
ceed the difference of the interpreters in their respective versions.
The Arabians have two distinct terms that appear to be derived from
it, or that, at least, have a strong resemblance to it, umj^ and _-<.

If

Chap. VI. 25—27. NOTES. 81

If we embrace the meaning of the first, the sense will be, " How
firmly compacted and intertwined (as a cord that nothing can break
or untwist) — how irresistible, are just arguments !" an explanation
that I have chosen to follow ; and the rather, as it is in perfect ac-
cordance with our established version. If we take the meaning of
the second Arabic term, it will give us, " How pleasant, how pro-
ductive, how full of nutriment (as the meadow about to be mown),
are just arguments !" S-^sx^ J<sXi\ ^:SX\}^ U?. " What a harvest of
benefit and prosperity proceeds- from sound and solid reasoning ?"
or, as it might be rendered, with equal propriety, " from correct
speech ?" " How pleasant," or " how beautiful, is correct speech ?"

Ver. 25. But what doth the reproof from you reprove ?] nsin hOV
fjukih hukehj, the repetition of the same term, is here preserved
in the version 'precisely as it occurs in the original. Our cornmon
lection renders it, in the first mstance, arguing, and in the second
reproof The last idea appears to be t le most correct j for the term
signifies " charge, imputation, inculpation," rather than " debate or
controversy :" for which see 2 Kings xix. 3, 4. as given in the esta-
blished reading. This repetition of the term, as well as its more
prominent meaning, occurs in most of the translators. Thus Junius
and Tremellius, " Sed quid reprehendit reprehensio a vobis ?" Pis-
cator, redargueret, redargutio ? and Dr. Stock,

" But what reproof is there in a reproof from you ?"

Ver. 26. The mere venting the moans of despair ?'\ Or " merely
the venting." The passage has not been generally understood. I
have rendered it literally, and in the order of the words. Schmidt
approaches nearest to the sense, " Num arguere verba cogitatis ? et
spiritum verborum desperati ?" " Mean ye to reprove words ? and
the spirit of the words of a desperate man ?"

Ver. 27. Would ye, truly, press upon the destitute ?"] ?]« is here a
particle of emphasis : in our common version, yea. It also import.s,
as a noun, anger, or the nostrils, formerly the supposed seat of anger.
And hence Mr. Grey has translated it, " Nasum incidere in pupillum,"
" Ye would tiirow the destitute on the nose 5" according to the French
phrase, Le nez en terre. The Chaldee interpretation translates the
term anger, instead of nose: " Ye urge anger," or '' Will ye urge

/ anger.

82 NOTES. Chap. VI. 27.

anger, against the destitute ?" Schultens has advanced a step be-
yond this, and for anger has ventured to introduce ruin or destruc-
tion ; anger flowing from nose, and destruction from anger : " Quin
imo super pupillum ruinam molimini." This, however, is a mixed
rendering, as in reahty is that of our national Bible, ''Yea, ye over-
whelm the fatherless :" for when employed in the form of a partich
instead of a substantive, and a particle denoting the warmth of the
speaker, P]« also implies " Quin imo omnino," " Yea, surely, verily."
But if this signification be attributed to it, I do not perceive how it
is possible to extract the idea of overwhelming, or working ruin, as
Schultens expresses it, from the remainder of the sentence : I^P^Sn
is the only term that will apply to such a sense, and this merely im-
ports action or exertion ; working, but not working ruin, or over-
whelming. The word Din' seems to be rendered in rather too
restrained a sense, in our common version, by the term fatherless,
which cannot readily be made applicable to Job. In its primary
meaning it denotes "destitute, isolated, bereft generally)" and in
this signification is still employed by the Arabians, under the form
>Ju, which here again only exchanges the characters of the two
alphabets,

• Ver, 27. And — make a pit-fall — ?] The Hebrew iTni seems as
nearly as possible synonymous with our own term delve, which not
only, as a verb, implies to dig, but, as a substantive, among other
senses, means a pit or pitfall, the thing dug or delved. It is here
used in the conjugation Hiphil, and is expressly, not " Would ye
delve ?" but " Would ye make a delve," or " pitfall ?"

CHAP. VII.

Ver. I. — a set-time — ] The Hebrew Mlf implies " set-time, set-
task, or set-place j" and from " set-place or station" it also means
" military station, military life," and hence " warfare in general."
Nearly half the versions have rendered it by this last idea, and
especially St. Jerom, Junius and Tremellius, Arias Montanus and
Schultens : " Is there not warfare for man upon earth ?" Whilst,
not essentially different, the Septuagint gives us Ovyl ireiparTJpiSv
iartv 6 0iog dyQpuirov, " Is not the life of man a place of pirates
or robbers ?" Whence Tyndal, " Is not the lyfe of man upon erth

a very

Chap. VII. 2. NOTES. 83

a very bataile ?" I see no reason for deviating from our established
version in this place, which is derived imnnediately from Piscator,
and is coincident with the Syriac and Arabic renderings : though I
think the participle set explains the Hebrew better than appointed,
as more definitively implying limit as well as decree,

Ver. 2. Like the servant, he panteth — .] There is little doubt, I
think, that Schultens is perfectly right in connecting this verse with
the preceding, instead of with the succeeding, as is usually done.
The application of the figure in the third verse is general, but does
nqt particularly allude to a determinate period or cessation of labour,
which is the direct point of correspondence between the first and
second verses. Tij; is rather a slave or bondman than a servant of
any other condition, and is opposed to 1*3ty, which implies a hireling^
or hired servant, one who works for wages. P]«lt^', in our common
version rendered " earnestly desireth," implies " to gasp, pant for,
or earnestly aspire after j" — it imports, primarily, " to draw, suck in,
or swallow," and especially the breath : — whence the passage is ren-
dered by Dr. Stock, but I think somewhat quaintly, as well as cir-
cuitously,

" As a servant swalloweth in hope the shadow.".

nip*, in our common Bible, looketh for, is not essentially different
in its meaning, though derived from a different image, nip implies,
primarily, as I have already had occasion to observe, " to stretch out
or towards, intently 3" and hence, says Mr. Parkhurst, with much
reason, may be translated " to expect earnestly, anxiously, or eagerly."
It implies the same earnestness or intensity of feeling which our
Bible translators have very justly applied to the parallel verb in the
same verse, F)b*ty* earnestly desireth, but which is better rendered
by panteth. i?j^Q not only implies work, but work done or com-
pleted— " achievement, consummation," and corresponds with the
term Ji?iish, as applied to labour. It is hence occasionally employed
to express the hire or wages due at the time of finishing : but I think
the idea here intended to be conveyed is bounded by that of finish-
ing or terminating alone, and does not extend to the reward or
recompence consequent upon such termination :— the mere set time
of labour, and the close of the task imposed upon man. It is the
voice of anguish, that refijses to admit of comfort or consolation of
any kind,

/2 The

Si NOTES. Chap. VII. 3.

The Sepluagint copy, by rendering the term " are my heritage,''
or " I possess hy heritage,"' by " I expect" or " look forward to,"
vTTcfittva, seems to intimate that its compilers, for the common
Hebrew ^n!jnjn, read Tibmn : and Vogel, apparently inclining to
such a reading, has given the passage an entirely new bearing, and
has joined, as in such case we can do, the second verse to the third,
instead of to the first. It is necessary, however, to premise, that by
months or periods, as well as by nights, he understands an entire
period or consummation ; the close of life, and the night of death.
His version, with this allusion, is as follows : " As the servant panteth
for the night-shadow, and as the hireling looketh forward to his
close of labour, so do I look forward to the close of my miseries,
and to the nights that are decreed to my calamities." The conjec-
ture is ingenious, but somewhat too recondite, as well as built upon
too little authority.

Ver. 3. — periods of joylessness allotted to 7rte.] The Hebrew
Ti^nin, which in our common version is rendered " I am made to
possess," implies something more than simple possession — " posses-
sion by family descent, or inheritance — the succession to an estate
by direct heirship j" and is justly rendered by Arias Montanus, factus
sum hcereditare ; a rendering followed by Schultens, Reiske, and
various other interpreters. XXy, which, in its primary signification,
implies moon, and hence month, the period of the moon's synodical
revolution round the earth, implies also, secondarily or figuratively,
a season or period in general, and seems clearly to be used in this
sense in the passage before us. «1ty (suah), in its primary meaning,
imports " vanity, emptiness, fruitlessness, unsatisfactoriness j" and
hence, secondarily or derivatively, " joylessness, sorrow, misery :"
the Arabians still employ it in the latter sense, under the form s-y^
(sueh) : and this appears to be the sense intended by the author of
the poem, rather than mere vanity or emptiness.

Ver. 3. Even nights of misery.'] So Junius and Tremellius, " Etiam
noctes molestiae." The expression, when in Uiis way rendered, is
peculiarly forcible : " So much worse is my destiny than that of
the boodsman and the hireling, that, while they pant and look
eagerly for the night-shade, as the close of their trouble, even the
night is not free from trouble to myself."

Ver.

Chap.VII. 4,5. NOTES. 83

Ver. 4. — day -spring^ P]U^i : the term implies a stream or cur-
rent, whether of air or light j and the verb from which the present
substantive is derived means " to blow/' in reference to the air
alone. Hence Dr. Stock renders the phrase, " till the morning-
breez.e ;" and Mr. Parkhurst has anticipated him in the same ren-
dering, in his Lexicon, on the article P]U?3. " Day-/i(/e," or " day-
spri?ig," seems, however, to answer every purpose, and to corre-
spond more completely with the meaning of the term when it is
used generally rather than particularly.

Michaehs's version of this passage is as follows : '' Wenn ich
liege, so denke ich : wenn werde ich erst wieder aufstehen ? Die
nacht daehnt sich long, und ich werde wilder traume satt bis an den
morgen :" " When IJie down, thus I ponder. When shall I rise
again ? Long stretcheth the night, and I shall be full of wild dreams
till the morning." The Hebrew D^Tll may certainly bear the inter-
pretation of wild dreams, the flitting phantoms or visions of the
night ; but I see no reason for departing from the idea of restlessness,
or tossings to and fro, commonly attached to the term, and more
consistent with its primary meaning.

Ver. 5. JVbrms, and the imprisoning dust — .] " She that liveth
in pleasure," says St. Paul, 1 Tim, v. Q. " is dead while she liveth:'
Nor less bold, nor less correct, is Job's present representation of
himself, while on the verge of the grave, and suffering beneath a
disease which was in itself most fearfully emblematic of its corrup-
tion. The greater part, however, and indeed almost the whole of
our commentators, have weakened the force of the figure, by referring
it altogether to the disease itself: the translators of our common
version affording us almost the only example of a different and more
appropriate rendering. The phrase ^ti)3 tyij, here translated " the
imprisoning dust," is expressed, indeed, by clods of dust ,- and the
idea is so far the same, as referring to the grave, the house or prison
of all that live ; but t2^J3 or U>1J, the radical J being dropped, is no
where else, I believe, understood, by our Bible translators themselves,
to imply clods, and is only to be tolerated in the present instance by
an equivalent rendering in the Septuagint, where we meet with the
term /3<u\aKac. tyji, in its primitive sense, means to conjine, to im-
prison, to fetter; and offers us, without wandering farther, an idea
that comes home to every eye and every understanding. The idea
of filth (sordes), or clods, can only be derived from the secondary

sense

86 NOTES. Chap.VII. 6.

sense of the term, which implies, " to press, adhere, or cleave close
to;" and in this signification it is rendered by Dr. Stock, in allusion
to the disease itself:

" My flesh is clothed with worms and a cleaving of dust."

Reiske, not adverting to the primary sense of the term, and dis-
satisfied with the common interpretation, proposes to read for WM.)
lay the words "isy ty^iJl, explaining U^IJ by the Arabic ^jwp.
" atoms, attenuate corpuscles — the minutest subdivision of dust or
matter," to Kpi^vbicec rrj^ d/nfiov, or, as he renders it in German,
** das gekrimle, das gebrockte, das geklunckre des staubes,'* " the
impalpable dust or elements of death." He refers the passage, with
our common translators and myself, to the dissolution of the grave :
but with the rendering now given there is no necessity for the de-
parture which he proposes from the general text. The term iJX^,
in our common version, is translated broken, instead of become
stiffened. I have no other objection to broken, than that, as Park-
hurst has well observed, there is no sufficient authority for such a
signification of the Hebrew term. The direct ideas of 2?J"n (rigo)
are, " stillness, fixation, stiffness, rigidity;" and it is probable that
the Latin rigo, rigor (whence our own rigid, rigidity) are derived from
this very root. The stiffened, stretched out, as well as motionless ,
appearance of the body after death, could not be better characterized
than by the use of such a term in such a sense, and offers an essen-
tial feature in the melancholy picture of mortahty here presented
to us.

Ver. 6. Slighter than yarn are my days."] The Hebrew Tlhp im-
plies " levity of weight, tenuity, exility," in its first meaning; and
" swiftness" (by which idea the term is commonly translated) in
its second, as a mere result of the first. JIW denotes equally the
material and the instrument of the weaver — the woof or yarn, and
the shuttle with which he weaves it. Tha speed of the weaver's
shuttle conveys a less pertinent idea, if I mistake not, than the slight-'
ness, or tenuity, and consequent brittleness, of the yarn whh which
it is armed. I still believe, however, with most commentators, that
the allegory of the web of life, as previously woven by the Fates,
and tissued for every individual, was coeval with the author of the
present poem, and is probably here referred to. It seems equally to
be referred to by Isaiah xxxviii. 12,

I have

Chap. VII. 6. NOTES. 87

I have rolled up, like a weaver, my web of life ;

It is exhausted ; and he will cut me off;

Within a day and a night wilt thou make an end of me.

From such early intimations of the existence of this allegory or para-
bolic record, we cannot wonder at the extent to which it was propa-
gated over the world in subsequent ages. Thus Lucian, Contempl.
Karo'i^et Kal fxoipac dvu eirixkuQovcTai; hdaTa tov ctrpaKTOV, d<f ov
ijprfjirdai ^viuj3efit)i:ev dvavrag Ik XeTTuy v)]fidTO)p' " You may also
see the Fates drawing out for every one the yarn from the busy
spindle ; so that the whole texture necessarily depends upon the
slender threads."

So in a passage quoted by Albert Schultens, from the Arabic of
Ibn Doreid :

Enimvero ignarus eram Fortunam esse cupidam

Dissipandi coUeetum, et dissolvendi plexa fila.

For I knew not that Fortune was desirous

Of breaking the web, and dissolving the interwoven threads.
The simile, however, is common to Oriental poets. The following is
a more splendid example, and constitutes the opening of the history
ofTimur: -(su*Ju ^Aij ^jS\j\ J^jJu- t^U ^_f^\ <dl Jw«^!

" Praise be to God ! who hath woven the web of human affairs in the
loom of his will and of his wisdom ; and hath made the waves of times
and of seasons to flow from the fountain of bis providence into the ocean
of his power."

Ver. 6. And they are put an end to, from the breaking of the ihreadi]
Our common version, derived from St. Jerom and Piscator, is " And
are spent without hope." The Hebrew hVd cannot be made to
imply spending, without much constraint. Its more obvious meaning
is, to finish, either in a good or a bad sense ; and under the latter,
which is here obviously intended, to " put an end to, or come to an
end, to come to nought, to be broken up, or broken off." " From the
breaking of the thread," in the text nipM DQi^l, is hterally as here
rendered, " from the, failure, ox giving way of the thread." Mr. Park-
hurst proposes, and Dr. Stock has acceded to the suggestion :

" And are finished, for want of thread. "

But

88 NOTES. Chap. VII. 7.

But I prefer the sense now offered. TDpti, however, has more gene-
rally been regarded as referring to " hope or expectation," " the
stretching forward," or perhaps " the woof or web^ of the mind :"
and hence the origin of our ^stabhshed version.

Reiske appears to have understood the entire image as I have

translated it : " Dies mei (says he) sunt tenuiores, exiliores quam

jO filum textorium ; facilius rumpi possunt quam filum." Tyndal

' translates as follows : " My dayes passe over more speedely than a

weever can weave oute his webe, and are gone or I am aware."

Ver. 7. 0! remember, that, if my life pass away.'\ This verse does
not appear to have been understood by any of the translators except
Reiske, nor has it been connected, as it ought to be, with the subse-
quent verse. H'l, as a substantive, \mplles wind, air, breath, vapour ;
as a verb, to bloiv or blow out ; to breathe, inspire- or ejpire ; to eva-
porate, pass off or pass away , {ahire): in which last sense the Arabic
\. is still used. I am persuaded that the second is the only con-
struction in which the term mi ought to be regarded in the present
place. It is a verb employed conditionally, " should ray life pass
away, or " ^niy life pass away," and seems more readily to admit
of this general rendering, than of any particular rendering from the
specific images offered by the term.

Those who prefer a more figurative language, however, may
employ any one of these images j for the Hebrew may be trans-
lated, " should my life {vital vigour, which is the direct meaning of
the original term '•n, here made use of for life) evaporate-" "should
my lite (flame of fife) be blown out ;" a truly classical. Oriental, and
Bibhcal metaphor ; the poets of Judaea, Greece, and Iran, concur-
ring in representing the soul as a flame or fire — a divine lamp — the
lamp or candle of the Lord 5 " should my life expire," or " be
breathed out .-" so Homer, Ihad A. 522.

vjrrioc tv Koviriai

K-dTriTBaev, afx<f)(i) \^ip£ (jfiXoii tTapoiai irBraaaaZf

Qvfi6i> diroirvtiwv.

Prone on the dust he fell, and to his friends
Dearly beloved, wide-spreading both his hands.
Breathed out his life.

Ver. 7. turn to scenes of goodness .'] Such is the literal mean-
ing of the original, and, in the very order of the text, rendered word

for

Chap. VII. 12. ' NOTES. 89

for word. And yet I have never seen a single version that has o-iven
it in this full sense : every translator having followed those that have
preceded him, in writing two or three distinct terms to express a
single idea, and terms which contain ideas as distinct as the words
themselves : and hence nto niHlb iwn, " turn to scenes of good-
ness," has been merely rendered '* see good." The apostrophe is
in itself exquisitely beautiful, as addressed to the Creator : " O ! re-
member, that, if my life pass away, never more shall I witness those
scenes of divine favour, never more adore thee for those proofs of
unmerited mercy which till now have been so perpetually bestowed
upon me !"

Ver. 12. Am I a savage-least, — ] The Hebrew CD'', here trans-
lated *' savage- beast," has various significations. It frequently imports
the sea, and is generally thus rendered in the present instance. In
Gen. xxxvi. 24. it is used in the plural, tziD'', or, according to sixty
of Dr Kennicott's codices, &''D'', and translated in our common ver-
sion mules, in the Targum giants {a^^l^). It is given without a
translation bv Aquila and Symmachus, (as not knowing the full
meaning of the term) under the form 'lajudju (Csa''), or the Imim-
but by St. Jerom rendered " aquas ca/idas," tepid springs. The origi-
nal meaning of the word is " tempest, tumult, violence j" and hence
secondarily, it applies to the sea, or to any ferocious or powerful
monster; whether giants, or what in our common version are called
mules, but which ought to be rather read wild luffaloes. Reiske,
therefore, and in my opinion with great propriety, has rendered the
passage before us " Sumne ego taurus Sylvester (vel bubalus) ?"
*' Am I then a savage bull (or wild buffalo) ?" I have followed
him, but less specifically. That tD' implies a savage beast or mon-
ster, is clear from Gen. xxxvi. 24. but of what particular kind we
have yet to learn. It is clear, also, that the sea is not intended in the
present place, from the allusion which immediately follows ; namely,
a watch, or keeper, being appointed over itj since this is languao-e
iiniversally applicable to wild beasts, but not to seas,

Ver. 12. or a dragon.'] lam much more at a loss for the

reason why D^iH should be commonly translated whale, than C3^
should be translated jca. In almost every instance except the present.

90 NOTES. Chap. VII. 12, 15.

Cjn is rendered dragon in our established version: see, among
others, Job xxx. 29. Mic. i. 8. Mai. i. 3. In the present instance it
is so rendered in the Septuagint, vortpov QdKaaaa elfxl ^ ApciKav.
The word dragon is the common name for a large spiral or volu-
minous monster of any kind. Whence it is also, in the Hebrew
writings, fi"equently used to express a formidable serpent, and occa-
sionally a crocodile. But dragon is the common term, and, in this
sense, it coincides with the idea of a watch or keeper, as well as the
image put in opposition with it, savage monster : while the term
whale as little coincides with such idea as the term sea does. Reiske
has justly translated this word by the generalizing phrase, voluminosus
serpens. Our zoologists have not admitted the term draco into their
classification, except in the instance of a genus which contains but
a single known species, the draco volans, and which certainly is
not the animal intended by the Roman draco, whatever this last may
have been, whether real or imaginary. In the present instance,
however, and probably in every other Bible use of it in our com-
mon version, the term is employed to signify, generally, a large and
formidable serpent of any kind.

Ver. 12. — a keeper — .] The term is peculiarly severe; it applies
generally to all the associates of the patriarch, but especially to
Eliphaz, who had just been rebuking him. The Hebrew intyo
imports " a guard, watch, or keeper," appointed to protect the in-
nocent, or to restrain the violence of whatever is unruly, whether
man or beast.

Ver. 15. suffocation.'] pino, sudden privation of breath from

any cause j synonymously with the Arabic jIa>.. The Patriarch
seems to allude to an oppression of breathing, excited by the labour
and agony of his dreams, similar to what is felt in the disease called
inculus, ephialtes, or night-mare. He would prefer the sense of
suffocation, excited in him at such a time, to the terrible images be-
fore his eyes, which thus prevent him from breathing.

Ver. 15. And death, in comparison with my sufferings?^ Neither
the meaning, nor the arrangement, nor the punctuation of this part
of the present verse, appear to have been understood by any of the
commentators, except Reiske, The true and original signification of

the

Chap. VII. 15. NOTES. 01

the Hebrew y)3 is, strong, Jirm, hard, enduring, suffering : whence
nvi^ denotes the trunk of a tree, or spine of an animal ; and Cvy
the frame, substance, or skeleton of a subject; and hence again,
the bones of an animal generally. Hence, also, the latter terra
implies moral hardsliips or sufferings. There can be no doubt,
I think, of the sense in which the word ought to be taken in
the present place ; — dolores vel cruciatus, as Reiske has rendered it,
—pains or torments. Our common version, however, translates the
passage, " rather than (or in comparison with) my life:" the Sep-
tuagint, diro rov aunaro^ fiov, " in comparison with my body :"
almost all the other versions, as well Greek as Latin, " rather than
my bones;" supposing Job to mean the skeleton-figure to which he
was reduced. This last rendering appears to me the worst of the
whole J it requires a comment, and almost implies a conceit.

But the division of the present verse has not been understood j
for the real pause is at the close of the first word in the ensuing
verse, which of course should constitute a part of the verse before
us. The general reading is as follows :

'.''Wiii pinn mini

Adeo ut eligat prsefocationem anima mea,
Et mortem prae ossibus meis (or vita mea).
Aspernor.

So that my soul chooseth strangling.
And death rather than my life.
1 spurn it.

Yet the word it does not occur in the Hebrew ; and is only Intro*
duced to extract a sense of some kind or other from the sentenCfc
thus divided. Thrown away, as it ought to be, and a mere dif-
ference of punctuation given to the whole, the passage will then run
much more clearly as follows -.

: 'tya3 pDHo 'nnani
••• ^nD«D '-niD'ifi^a mm

Adeo ut eligat (avet) prsefocationem anima mea,
Et mortem prze doloribus meis aspernor.

So that my soul chooseth {coveteth) suffocation,

And death, in comparison with my sufferings, do I spurn (despise).

The

92 NOTES. Chap. VII. 16.

The Hebrew *nD«a will certainly bear the translation of " / hath ."
but its more otvious meaning, and indeed that which is generally-
given by thecommentators in thepresent case, is "I despise, or ^jDz^rwo^,"
(aspernor), " I reject with contempt ot disgust," as Parkhurst explains
it, under one of its senses. Dr. Stock, not approving of the comrnon
rendering, though retaining the common division and punctuation,
for " I loath it," translates '' I am bursting :" a reading which may
appear singular; but the truth is, that with the erroneous arrangement
in general use, it is difficult to elicit any meaning whatever. The

Syriac version is w.1^A:^d (alscindor), " I am cut off 3" and the

Arabic c>***:'J *^ (i"^ despero), " Already do I despair." Mi-
chaelis understands the term as it is understood in the text now
offered, but governed by the common punctuation, Ahr das ver-
werf'ich, " But this do I despise."

Ver. 16. No longer would I live!} db^h Vih, "no longer" ra-
ther than '' not always .•" "for the future," rather than " throughout
the future." obi? is used both definitely and indefinitely, but more
frequently in the last sense. To explain the common rendering, " I
would not live always " or " for ever," Schultens supposes the
patriarch to be speaking with severe irony, and tells us that the expres-
sion thus understood possesses a peculiar grace and gravity : " Sin-
gularem gratiam et pondus (says he) habet illud Non in aeternum
vivam." This is another of those conceits by which the simple
majesty of the poem before us has been so often attempted to be ex-
plained, in defiance of natural feeling and common sense, merely
because the expositor has perceived no other method of extricating
himself from a surrounding difficulty ! Yet the illustrations of
Schultens, though often too minute^ are generally of a far better
character.

Ver, 16. O release me /] So St. Jerom, correctly, Parce tnihi !
and so Tyndal, 0 spare me ! In Junius and Tremellius, it is " Desiste
a me" " forbear from me :" but less forcible.

Ver, 16. How are my days vanity /] So Reiske, and most admi-
rably, " !?in O Ecce, vanitas sunt dies mei ! vel, O quam sunt
vanitas!" ^5 is here used as an interjection, rather than as a causative
particle. See Note on ch, iii, 24,

Ver,

Chap. VII. 17, 19, NOTES. 93

Ver. 17. —that thou shouldst bring him up."] In our common
version " magnify him," libun. But bin means rather to augment
in point of size or growth, than in point of dignity or riches
which is the more common idea expressed by the verb to viaonify.
Its real signification is, to consoUdate or render firm : the term is still
'used among the Arabians (JtX£>-)> and peculiarly imports tojinish a
cord by adding its last twist or convolution : it applies to the entire
growth and perfection of the human powers, both of body and mind.
The general sense of the passage is well explained by Michaelisj but
it is an explanation, and not a version : " Verdient der mensch, dass
du ihn so gross achtest, und deine gedanken auf ihn wendest ?"
" What has man merited, that thou shouldst so greatly esteem him,
and turn thy thoughts towards him?" ;, „

Schultens, however, has given a diiferent bearing to the entire
ejaculation, and a bearing which I think the original by no means
supports, even in its most distant and collateral sense : and I am
sorry that so much ingenuity and learning should have been so much
bestowed in vain. Yet Mr. Grey has copied him without the slight-
est variation. His version is as follows : Quid est mortalis quhd col-
luctando te implices cum eo ? et quod cor tuum adversus eum inlen-
das P " What is man, that thou shouldst entangle thyself and struggle
with him ? and that thou shouldst set thy heart xigainst him V It is
a farther proof that the common interpretation given to this passage
is the right one, that the Psalmist has distinctly copied it under this
meaning, viii. 4.

What is man, that thou art mindful of him I
And the son of man, that thou visitest him !

Ver, 19. JFhy wilt thou — .] The Hebrew nD5 is here an ellipsis
for nD''5, and implies, quare, quern in Jinern ; why, or to what end;
rather than how long, or to what time. The Arabian interrogative Uj*^
possessing nearly the same characters, is to the same effect. So
Tyndal, "JFhy goest thou not fro me ?"

Ver. 19. — till I can swallow my spittle?'] The expression is pro-
verbial J and means, like that of " the twinkling of the eye," or " till
one can fetch one's breath," a short and momentary pause ; and
might perhaps be rendered " till my parched throat can grow moist."
It is exchanged for the second of these phrases in the Zurich version

of

94

NOTES. Chap. VII. 20.

of Leo- Juda, and rendered Donee respiraverim, " till I can recover
roy breath," Schultens has produced various instances from Hariri
and Teblebi, that the proverbial phrase employed in the Hebrew
text is still common among the Arabians. Thus the latter offers
the following specimen of smart repartee to a person whoj before he
answered, said to his companion Up-p^iUj tj<-Aj«lj^ " Allow me to
swallow my spittle 5" to which the other replied, C^ootbl J^i
^J\ji^ . i,!:*-. J " Aye — swallow the Tigris and Euphrates, ,if you
will,"

Ver. 20. / have sinned .'1 The exquisite breaks, or short and
interrupted transitions, in this sublime apostrophe, have not generally
been distinguished in translations as they ought to be. Nothing can
be more natural or more affecting than those immediately before us.
The afflicted subject of the poem can scarcely refrain from expostu-
lating with the Almighty, and occasionally in a strain too bold and
familiar. In v. 17 he suddenly becomes sensible of it) and ab-
ruptly breaks off with a rushing conviction of his own insignificance.
He again relapses, in v. 19, to the same strain of unbecoming expostu-
lation 5 and in the present verse again checks himself with a sudden
sense of its impropriety : " I have sinned 3 — what shall I do unto
thee, O thou survey er of man !"

Ver. 20. — thou survey er of man /] Not '' thou preserver" as
rendered in our standard version. The speaker is imagining himself
on the verge of the grave, and is equally without a prospect or a
desire of preservation. The term obviously refers to the character of
perpetually watching, visiting, inspecting, and proving the race of
man, described in the preceding paragraph : and hence Schultens,
who has been followed by Scott and Grey, translates it, *' O thou
olserver of man!" and Dr. Stock, *' O thou watcher over man !"
In the Syriac and Arabic it is, " O thou creator of man !"

Ver. 20. — as a mark for thee.'] )?JQ will admit of various inter-
pretations ; and is hence rendered, in the Syriac and Arabic, occur'
sum ; by Schultens, occursaculum, " a stumbling-block or hindrance}"
by St. Jerom, contrarium, " an opposition ,-" and by others, " an
offence or nuisance." But the more common meaning of the terra
is tliat given in our established version, " a mark (scopum), but, or

target.

Chap. VII. 20, 2 1 . NOTES. 95

target, to shoot at." Yet I think the Hebrew '^ can hardly be ren-
dered " against thee/' excepting in the sense of " over against,'' as a
point to aim at.

Ver. 20. — a burden to myself!'] «U^D onus, " a weight or burden."
For ''hi) the Seventy read "[bi), and hence render the passage el/nt ^t
ciri trot ^opTiov, " I am burdensome, or a burden, to thee •" and several
commentators have been induced to copy this change ; but it is a
change offered without reason, and affording less strength of idea
than the common reading,

Ver. 21. — in the dustPj^ The dust of grief, with which the
patriarch and his companions had covered themselves, consistently
with ancient usage, as a proof of humiliation and sorrow. See
ch. ii. 8. 12, 13.

Ver. 21. And thou shalt seek me in the m.orning.'] Alluding to the
poetic representation in the preceding, v. 18. " What is man, that
thou shouldst visit him every morning." It is often, however, under-
stood in a different sense, though evidently incorrectly, as importing
the perpetuity of the sleep of death ; in which signification the
same image is also frequently used by the early poets of every
country. Thus in the very beautiful Diarmad :

'S dorcha do bhuthaim fui'n f hoid,

*S cumhann, reot, do leaba lom;

Cho dearl' a mhadainn, gu la bhrath,
I A dhuisgeas mo ghradh, ann sonn.

Dark is thy dwelliHg under the sod ;

Narrow and frozen thy rugged bed :

Never more will the morning shine.

That shall wake my love from his sleep.

CHAP. VIII.

Ver. 2. And thy mouth utter the spirit of pride."] " Spirit of
pride," is the elegant rendering of the Arabic and Syriac versions,
" spiritus superhice ;" and nothing can be more coincident with the
original, which is *i''iD Mil. The term ^IDt* is here a participle, " be
uttering :" * is paragogic. " Spiritus validus," Ar. Mont. " Spiritus
vehemens," Schult. The interpretation of Tyndal is, I think, pre-
ferable to that of our common lection : " How longe shall thy
mouthe speake so proude wordes ?"

Ver,

96 NOTES. Chap. VIII. 3—7.

Ver. 3. order.'] The Hebrew term tDStyu seems to imply, in

the present place, order rather than judgment, the 7ule of right
rather than right itself. It is, however, as Cocceius observes, of
" extensive signification, and implies every kind of regulation, order,
right, or custom."

Ver. 4. — in the midst of their transgression.'] The Hebrew is
peculiarly powerful. DiJU^Q T'3 " In the very act, or practice, of
their transgression:" — " with their hand stretched forth for trans-
gression."

Ver. 5. And zuouldst thou seek betimes — .] Not essentially dif-
ferent, Reiske : " Tu vero, si summo mane adsis ad deum, et sup-
plices ipsi, purus et simplex ; — ecce ! tunc evigilabit, &c." 'inu^ im-
plies, literally, " to seek early in the morning," " betimes," or " first
of all."

Ver. 6. IVouldst thou — pure and upright indeed — .] This paren-
thesis of suspicion is peculiarly severe and irritating : and shows what
was unquestionably intended to be shown by the writer of the poem,
that of all the characiers introduced into the colloquy, that of Bildad
is the most acrimonious and caustic. He openly charges all the
family of Job with gross impiety, merely because they had been
destroyed by a whirlwind ; and questions the patriarch's own since-
rity, merely because, as their father, he was suffering beneath this
and other calamities connected with them. Q« is here a particle of
aflirmation, or rather of confirmation, and not of doubt. " Truly
pure and upright," or " pure and upright indeed." In most trans-
lations it is given in the last sense, but greatly to the injury of t{ie
passage.

Ver. 7- '^nd though thy beginning be small — .] In reference to
the multiplied afflictions of the patriarch, by which he was now
bereft of every thing, — of his substance, and of his family. The
image relates to the gradual progress of a large river, from its dimi-
nutive rise to the luxuriant breadth it exhibits at its termination or
entrance into the sea. The phrase IHD njty^ is literally '' wander
or spread about luxuriantly" or " overflowingly :" whence the Ara-
bians of the present day apply the same terra to a river in the same
state, jjvtwLJ, and again, 9jju*j.

" Ver.

Chap. VIII. 9-11. NOTES. 97-

Ver. 9. For ourselves, but of yesterday ! know nothing^ The ori-
ginal is peculiarly emphatic ; the literal rendering of which is, " for,
YESTEHLiNGS ourselves only, we know nothing." In the common
rendering the passage is wrongly punctuated ; the 1 being joined to
the latter part of the line instead of to the former, and rendered and,
instead of hut, merely, or only ; in consequence of which the words
" are hut" are obliged to be supplied gratuitously and unnecessarily,
to produce a sense of any kind. A similar mistake occurs in the
second line of this verse ; in which ^2 is not employed causatively,
but emphatically; and denotes, in conjunction with the ensuing
word by, not " because a shadow our days upon earth," but " a mere
shadow our days upon earth :" which is the order of the words in
the original. There can be no doubt that the speaker alludes to the
longevity of the antecedent, and most probably of the antediluvian
ages ; in comparison with which the term of life allotted to his con-
temporaries might well be denominated a mere shadow, or ephemeral
existence 5 or, in the significant language of ^schylus, Agam. v. 488.

s'l^oAov (TKiaQ,

-——" the semblance of a shade."
The passage is quoted verbatim by David, in his last prayer to the.
Almighty before the people, I Chron.xxix. 15.

Behold ! we are strangers before thee.

And sojourners, like all ovir fathers :

Our days upon earth a mere shadow ;

Yea, a nothing in measurement.
In our standard version this last line is rendered incorrectly, " And
there is none abiding :" I have given it literally. The original is

Ver. 10. And well forth — .] ')«"'VV, from HT, a well or fountain :
whence Isa. xli. 18. D'O ^«lf1, " springs of water." U^ho, from )>D,
" to divide into breaks or parts," implies short, interrupted, apo-
phthegmatic sayings, maxims, or proverbs ; which constitute the
common form in which the ethics of the East are communicated
even in the present day.

Ver. 11. Can the paper-reed — ?"] There can be no doubt that the
plant here referred to, under the name of WD J, is the papyrus or
reed which the Egyptians employed as paper — one of the mo-t suc-
culent vegetables of their country, thriving only on the oozy banks

p- of

• I'S NOTES. Chap.VIIT. u.

of the Nile, and absorbing moisture with the greatest avidity. The
translators of the Septuagint thus understood it in their day, and
hence uniformly render the term trdirvpoc,, papyrus. It is the cyperus
papyrus of Linnens, a triandrian, monogynian plant, with a three-
sided, naked culm, umbel longer than the involucres j involucre
eight-leaved ; the rays of the umbel sheathing at the base j leaves
hollow and ensiform.

Ver. 1 1 , Can the lull-rush — ?] The direct meaning of the He-
brew in« is not quite so clear 5 and hence it is sometimes translated
ulva oxjiag, and sometimes scirpus or rush. I prefer the latter, as
being the more succulent plant of the two, and much sooner dried
up ; and, consequently, best corresponding with the general import
of the text. It is probably the scirpus grossus of Linneus, the big-
rush or bull-rush of the East, with a three-sided,, naked culm ; a termi-
nal and more than decompound umbel j three-leaved involucre, lance-
subulate, and very long ; the leaves lanceolate j the spikelets ovate j
ferruginous. The description corresponds with the rush which Hassel-
quist found growing near the Nile, " having scarce any branches, but
numerous leaves, which are narrow, smooth, channelled on the
upper surface, and the plant about eleven feet high. The Egyptians,"
he continues, " make ropes of the leaves. They lay them, like
hemp, in water ; and then make good and strong cables of them."
Trav. p. gy. Our own big-rush, or bull-rush, scirpus lacustris of .
Linneus, does not essentially diifer from it, excepting that its culm
is round, instead of being three-sided. Thus explained, the two
plants referred to in the text are the most succulent, and at the
same time the soonest parched up, of any plants of the East.

In the earliest part of the history of all nations, knowledge of every
kind will be found to be principally taught by lofty apophthegms,
valuable maxims, and moral sayings or proverbs, handed down by
tradition from generation to generation. This was peculiarly the
case with the Hebrews, and continued, indeed, through the whole
of their history. Thus 1 Sam. xxiii, 13. " As saith the proverb of
the ancients, wickedness proceedethfrom the wicked." Hence Solo-
mon formed that admirable collection of Proverbs, which has never
been equalled in any age or country : and hence the parabolic mode
of instruction adopted by our Saviour, and the national sayings which
he so frequently had recourse to, and with such irresistible force.
The poem before us abounds with similar specimens of sententious

and

Chap. VIII. 12, 14. NOTES. 99

and treasured-up wisdom. The present passage is as exquisite a spe-
cimen as was ever handed down from generation to generation ; and
is as worthy of notice, on account of its very ancient authority, as of
its intrinsic elegance and moral beauty : since it is highly probable,
from the charsscter given of it, on its introduction, that it is of ante-
diluvian origin, and was in common use before the Flood : the
speaker expressl\ communicating it as the production of an age of
very remote antiquity, when the life of man was at its longest period
of duration. Upon this subject see also the Note on ch. xii. 3. and
xiii. 12,

Ver. 1 2. Yet, in the midst of its own greenness, — ] The application
of this beautiful similitude is easy, and its moral exquisitely correct
and pertinent. As the most succulent plants are dependent upon
foreign support for a continuance of that succulence, and in the
midst of their vigour are sooner parched up than plants of less
humidity ; so the most prosperous sinner does not derive his prospe-
rity from himself, and is often destroyed in the heighday of his
enjoyments, more signally and abruptly than those who are less
favoured, and appear to stand less securely.

Ver. 14. Thus shall his sjipport rot away.'] The passage has never
been understood ; and therefore, though rendered in a thousand
ditferent manners, never translated satisfactorily, "ityt* is here not
a relative pronoun, but a relative adverb, and, instead oi who, whose,
or which, implies " thus, in this inamier, in the same manner," or, sim-
ply, " in the manner y Thus Gen. vii.p. " Two and two they went
unto Noah, into the ark, in the manner God had commanded Noah."
So Jerem. xxxiii. 22. " In the same manner the host of heaven," &cc.

So also in the present poem, ch. ix. 5. tcp (whence the verb tOlp"',

in our common version rendered " shall be cut off-"") implies, in its first
sense, tabeo, or tab esco ; marceo, ox marcesco ; "to rot, ov putrefy,
to grow rotten or corrupt •" and hence, in a secondary sense, " to
be loathsome, nauseating, or disgustful j" or, transitively, " to loathe
or nauseate." There is scarcely a single instance in which the term
is used, either as a verb or a substantive, in which it does not, mora
or less, include both meanings. See especially Ezek. xvi. 47- xx.43.
And hence the Chaldee tO'p, autumn, or the season of vegetable
corruption j the utniiost term of vegetable life. Our common ren-
dering, shall he cut off, seems to be derived from the Syriac and

g 2 Arabic

100 NOTES. Chap. VIII. 15— 18.

Arabic versions; the authors of which appear for toip'' to have read
ntop% from Stop), which would give them this exact sense.

The speaker is still continuing his comparison, and the entire
beauty of the passage depends upon our accompanying him in his
extension of it. " As the moisture of these succulent plants evapo-
rates before that of all others, so perisheth the confidence of the
hypocrite ; and as the ooze and stagnant water, from which they
derive their support, instead of continuing its salubrious nourishment,
grow putrid, and yield an intolerable stench, so shall the support of
the hypocrite putrefy likewise : it shall dissolve into emptiness, and
nauseate him as it flies away."

Ver. 15. Upon its luilding shall he lean — .] ^JT-i bj> ; i.e. upon
the spider's building : doubtless a proverbial allusion j and so ex-
quisite, that it is impossible to conceive any figure that can more
strongly describe the utter vanity of the hopes and prosperity of the
wicked.

Ver. 17. — in a rock.l The Hebrew ^J implies, generally, any
kind of circumvolved or aggregate body — " a mass, or heap;" but
peculiarly a mass or heap of stones ; and hence a rock. For this
emphatic signification of the term, see Gen. xxxi. 46, 52. 2 Kings
xix. 25. Whence, in Chaldee, it is used expressly for stones, as in
Ezra V. 8. " builded with great stones," as it is rendered in our com-
mon version ; though the original ^^'ii p« seems rather to import
" built from mountains of massy stones."

Ver. 17. — shall he grapple^ So Schultens, " domum lapidum
experietur .-" and so again one of the Hexapla, (xvfnrXaKrjfferai, " he
shall be implicated, or interfolded with." The Hebrew rtin implies
" to fasten or settle ; to fasten on or lay hold upon." It also implies
'•' to see or behold ;" but this does not seem to be the sense in the
present place, though so rendered by many interpreters.

Schmidt has ingeniously remarked the close resemblance be-
tween the present description and our Saviour's parable of the seed
sown upon stony ground. Mat. xiii. 5, 6. with which the reader
may compare it at his leisure.

Ver. 18. Utterly shall it drink him up — .] In reference to the dry
und thirsty quality of the stony soil in which he is planted ; which,

instead

Chap.VIII. 18, 19. NOTES. lOl

instead of affording moistnrej acts like a sucker, and absorbs every
drop of his own juices. It is a picture drawn from nature. The
passage, however, has seldom been understood. In our common
version it runs, " If he destroy him:" but the Hebrew Dw is not
here an adverb of condition, but of emphasis, and implies " pro-
fectb, prorsus," " truly, thoroughly, utterly." )))>'2 signifies to
" drink or swallow j" and, hence, as a substantive, " the throat .•"
and when it denotes destruction, the same idea is continued, and it
fneans to " drink up or swallow up." It is the very same word
which, in our common version, v. 19. of the preceding chapter, is
rendered " Let me alone till I swallow my spittle." From the dif-
ficulty of distinguishing between the masculine and the neuter gen-
der, the pronoun may be rendered either he or it ; whence several
interpreters, supposing God himself to be alluded to, have actually
translated it, "If God destroy himj" which is the version of
Piscator and Dr. Stock. While Schultens, giving an equal loose to
his learning and his imagination, supposes that in the word D«, " if,
truly, or utterly," he traces the idea of mater?ium solum, or mother
earth; whence his translation is " Maternum solum alsorhehit ipsum,"
" Maternal earth shall drink him up." There is no necessity for
any such recondite implications : the verb "lij^bl^ refers as plainly as
possible to the preceding line ; and with such reference produces
a sense that, if properly seized hold of, must be relished by eveiy
person.

Ver. 18. — and say, " I never knew /Aee."] Here also, as in v. 17,
is a striking resemblance to the language of our Saviour on another
occasion. Mat. vi. 23. " And then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you."

Ver. 19. Behold the Eternal, exulting — ] The original has been
generally misunderstood. In our established lection it is rendered
" Behold, this is the joy of — ;" in which I must, first of all, observe,
that is ought to be struck out, as not occurring in the original, and not
necessary to the sense ; and next, that the word tyitya is in this place
a participle and not a substantive, and should hence be rendered en-
joying or exulting in, rather than 70?/ or exultation. We then have
the passage as follows: " Behold Hu («in), exulting in — ." But
what is Hu or «in ? In its primary meaning it implies, as Mr, Park-
hurst justly observes, "permanent existence or subsistence;" it

denotes

102 NOTES. Chap. VIII. 19.

denotes generally he, she, or it, this or that ; but pkculiarly, and
KttT f^o^>/v, the only independent and permanent existence in the
universe. " As a noun," he remarks, very excellently, " NIM is
one of the divine names: He who hath permanent existence;
tvho exists emine?il/y." To the same etfect, and still more copiously.
Dr. Lowth on Jer, xiv. 22. " The Hebrew HH (Kin) or He is often
equivalent to the true and eternal God. See Deut. xxxii. 3Q. Isa. xliii.
10, 13. xlviii. 12. and especially Ps. cii. 27- where the expres.sion is
the same with that of the text, u^tta Hu (Nin rmw), Thou art He :
our English reads. Thou art the same. The words express the
eternal and unchangeable nature of God. There is another text,
where the word is plainly taken in this sense, 2 K. ii. 14. ' Where
is the Lord God of Elijah, aph Hu '^Nin »^«) even He ; i. e. the
Eternal ?' for so the words should be translated. Those transla-
tions which join this expression to the following sentence, as our
English does, put a manifest force upon the syntax."

It is probably from the Hebrew root Hit {i^^T^) that the Celtic Hd
is derived, which implies supremacy, dignity, and might j and is the
name of the founder of the Cambrian na/ion, according to the docu-
ments of their earliest bards. I am surprised that Mr. Davies, who
has discovered so strong a desire to identify the Celtic or i*udimental
Welsh with the Hebrew, should not have adverted to this circum-
stance.

The observations of Dr. Lowth and Mr. Parkhurst are general as
to the term, and have no relation to its employment in the present
place. Reiske, however, has actually thus rendered it in the pas-
sage before us j and his version is, " Ecce Deus !" " Behold God !"
I have preferred " Behold the Eternal !" as the more direct mean-
ing of the term. .

Ver. 19. — exulting in — .] I have already observed that the
Hebrew tntyo is in the present place a participle rather than a sub-
stantive, and implies enjoying or exulting in, rather than ;ot/ or ex-
ultation. So also Reiske, " Ecce Deus confundens, conturlans viam
ejus," " Behold God confounding, overthrowing his career" But I
do not think that confundens, or conturbans, though it gives the true
grammatical construction, gives the true meaning of ti^wa. The
Hebrew tyt&, in all its bearings, implies triumphant joy, elevation,
exultation : it unites the rapturousyi?f/in^ with the action of wc/ory .*
upon which see the Note on ch. iii. 22. It is precisely synonymous

with

CiiAP.VIII. 19, 21. NOTES. 103

with the Greek yavpidu, superhlo, glorior , exullo ; and in ch.xxxix.
21. of the present poem is employed to express the spirited prancings
of the high-mettled war-horse.

The imagery is highly bold, and animated ; but not more so than is
common to the poets of the East, whether of ancient or modern
times. It is also in the true style of Moses himself, when indulging
in a loftier' and enthusiastic flight. Thus Deut, xxviii. 63. in which
the same word is employed, and repeated :

And it shall come to pass,

As Jehovah exulted over you,

To do you good, and to multiply you j

So shall Jehovah exult over you,

To destroy you, and to reduce you to nought.

Ver, 19. Even over his dust — .] "nSi^DI : which, in our common
version, is rendered *' And out of the earth." 1 is here, however,
vel, not et or atque : — even rather than and. "i&V does not often
imply the earth or ground in a concrete sense, but only in a state
of actual dust or comminuted particles ; and is here generally sup-
posed to refer to the dust or elementary atoms of the hypocrite him-
self: whence Reiske, " Ex pulvere i&c\\. ?iY\\irs\ progerminare ;" and
Scht^Jtens, " Ex pulvere alii progerminabunt." For " ex pulvere,"
I would read " super pulverem ;" for " out of his dust,'' " over his
dust:" the idea communicated being, that he is totally destroyed
in posterity as well as in person, without a possibility of germinating
atoms of any kind : a stranger taking possession of the very spot he
inhabited, and rising up wot from but over his dust. See this sense
of the preposition in Gen. iii. 24. " And he placed over the east of
the garden of Eden, cherubims and a flaming sword :" as well as in
a variety of other passages.

Ver. 21. Even yet — .] Such seems to be the real meaning of the
Hebrew bi> in the present place ; having the true sense of bl)?, and
consequently denoting rather adhiic, still, yet, even yet, than donee
or usque dum, until. Such is the signification ascribed to it by
Vogel, Reiske, and Michaelis ; the last of whom thus renders the
passage : " Er wird noch deinen mund voU lachens, und deine lip-
pen vol! lauchens machen," Schultens, on the contrary, contends
for the common rendering of till or until ; but, to make sense of
such a rendering, he is obliged to personify the concrete term Dfi^

or

104 NOTES. Chap. IX. 3, 5.

or upright man, in the preceding verse, and to apply it to him;
" Till he fill iliy mouth, O thou upright man, with laughter."
There are few of my readers, I believe, who will think themselves
justified in assuming the same Uberty,

CHAP. IX.

Ver. 3. If he condescend — .] The Hebrew i?arr, in our common
version rendered will — " if he will contend," &c. — means expressly
" to bend down," " incline," " condescend," or " vouchsafe ;"
and is therefore scarcely interpreted with sufficient force by the mere
sign of a tense in English grammar.

Ver. 3. He could not acquit himself — .] Ii3i?* vih-- in general ren-
dered " Nan respondent ipse," " He cannot answer him." ri3i> not
only means " to reply to," but " to answer effectively," " to clear,"
" vindicate," or " acquit :" and in this sense it appears to me used
in the present passage. In which case, however, the pronoun 13
(him or himself) must necessarily refer to man, the respondent, in-
stead of to God, the challenger.

Ver. 5. — and they have no trace — .] In the original, ^'S'V vh^:
the verb iJT' means actively " to perceive," " to trace" or " track 5"
neutrally, " to have or possess a perception or trace" of any thing.
There can be no doubt that it is here used in a neutral sense —
*' And they possess not, or are not in possession of, a trace," " track"
or " vestige." In the language of Shakspeare,

" leave not a rack behind."

SoReiske, "Qui transfert montes, ita, wtnon relinquant vestigivm
sui everti, per iram ejus: <Uil) *^^1«^ Ji\ Jy^J^ ^ '''«' A*'/

Xeivovtriv, 01/1^ vartpil^ovatv lyvog tov ciecTTpa^Qai mvTOv<; inr opyijc
avTov.

Most translators, however, have understood the verb in an active
sense; and hence the difficulty of rendering it, the discrepancy of
the renderings, and, after all, the inferior degree of force that has
been obtained from any meaning. Thus, in our common version,
" Who removeth the mountains — and they know not;" in which
there is a something wanting to render the passage perfect. On this

account

Chap. IX. 6,8. NOTES. 105

account I prefer to the common rendering the old lection of Tyndal,
" He translatethe the mountaynes, or ever they be aware." This
version, however erroneous, is, in fact, in perfect accordance with
Schultens ; " Qui revellit monies, et (juidem nee opinato."

Ver. 6. Ik such manner — ] The Hebrew lU^X is capable of
various interpretations. It is, as I have already observed in the Note
on V. 14. of the last chapter, either a relaiive pronoun, or a relative
adverb : and beyond this we need not consider it. Most expositors
have here regarded it in the former sense, and have hence translated
it who ; atrributing to it the same meaning as to CjM In the opening of
the preceding hne. I woald much rather regard it as a relative
adverb, connecting, under this form of speech, the two members of
the sentence in the same way it does in Jer. xxxiil. 22.

As the host of heaven cannot be numbered.

Nor the sand of the sea measured.

In such manner will I multiply the seed of David my servant.

Dr. Stock has given the entire passage a different turn ; and in
him it runs as follows :

Who removeth the mountains, and they know not
That he overturneth them in his anger.

Ver. 6. — to her foundation — ] MDIpOD:- from D]? " to be founded
or established :" whence the Syriac and Arabic versions nan parallel
with that now offered ; as does also the Septuagint, 'O atiav r»jV

VKO OVpaVOV BK 0EMEAI1IN.

With the passage, as now offered, the following couplet has a
close parallelism :

Deaf is its echo, not a vestige lives.

Call, and the ruin'd scene no answer gives.

Ver. 6. startle.'] \yihpT\\ "recoil," or "shrink together." So

the Arabic ^.^sijiju. The idea is more powerful than that of mere
trembling,

Ver. 8, And walketh upon the mountains — ] "Ti^OS, uniformly
" heights/' " hills," or " mountains /' and so rendered in the

present

106 NOTES. ' Chap. IX. 9.

present place by Arias Montanus, SchullenSj and Reiske, as well as
in the Chaldee paraphrase.

Ver. 9. — and Orion — .] The copulative ^, and, appears to have
been dropt in the common Hebrew text j for it occurs in the Syriac,
Arabic, Greek, and many of the Latin versions.

For the meaning of the astronomical terras here employed, see
Note onrh. xxxvii. 9. and ch. xxxviii. 31, 32. As also the author's
Note on his translation of Lucretius, b. ii. 1107. The Arabians still
occasionally adorn their poetry with a reference to most of these
signs, but especially the Pleiades, which are elegantly compared to a
cluster or sprinkling of pearls on the border of a costly robe. Thus
Hafiz,

Now the bright Pleiades the concave gem.
As lucid pearls the garments glittering hem.

Ver. 9. — zones of the South.'] The Hebrew term ''^in (hadri),
here translated " zones," is derived from ^in, " to surround, belt,
encircle, begirt 3" and hence, in one of the Greek texts (Olymp.),
the passage before us is rendered kvkXovvtu NoVoi/, " the circles of
the South." This makes the signs and divisions of the sphere com-
plete : and that mankind have, from some quarter or other, derived
a very early knowledge of the spherical shape of the earth, is clear
from one or two passages in the present poem, and a variety of
passages in the Psalms that distinctly allude to its sphericity. This
doctrine, indeed, appears to have been familiar to Egypt, Persia,
and India ; and in Greece was maintained by various schools
of philosophy, and especially by the Stoics, in opposition to the
Epicureans. The Hebrew term nn imports also, in a secondary
sense, " an inclosed, secure, and retired chamber or recess ;" and
hence the passage before us has likewise, and indeed more generally,
been rendered, " the recesses of the South," ''^ penetralia Austri 3"
which is the version of Arias Montanus, Schultens, and most of the
translators. Mr, Parkhurst gives it " thick clouds of the South 3"
but I think less correctly than any of the preceding senses. The
same term occurs again in ch. xxxvii. 9. and apparently in the same
signification.

Ver.

Chap. IX. 10— 18. NOTES. 107

Ver. 10. IVho hath performed great things, — yea, &c.] The con-
tinuation of the very same Hebrew verb, in the same form in this verse
as that which commences the preceding, namely, nt^i^, seems to
indicate that, whatever be their shade of ditference in signification,
they should at least possess the same tense : that if, in this verse, the
sense be the present, in the former it should not be the past 5 and that
if, in the former, it be the past, in this it ought not to be the present.
As to the rest of this and the ensuing line, whatever depasture exists
from the standard version, is for the mere purpose of better express-
ing the literal construction and iteration of the Hebrew j for the
former is otherwise altogether correct and excellent.

Ver. 12. IVho shall say mito him, " What art thou doing?"'] This
passage is copied by the writer of Ecclesiastes, viii. 4. " Where the
word of a king is, there is power : and who may say unto him.
What art thou doing ?" And afterwards introduced into Nebu-
chadnezzar's address in the Book of Daniel, iv. 35.

And noue can resist his hand.

Or say unto him, What «rt thou doing ?

Ver. 14. — shall I contend tvithP] Shall I argue with him, or
answer him in a controversy : !!::)?« j or as it is expressed in Arabic,

(UJUI, similar to iJ>Xc].

Ver. 16. Should I sujnmon, and he make answer — .] The greater
part of the terms in this and the two preceding verses are forensic,
and distinctly refer to processes at the gate, or court, of justice.

Ver. 18. Yea, glutting me — .] The Hebrew i>lli> implies not
merely " to fill," but " to overfill, to surcharge, to glut, to oppress
the stomach as with a surfeit. The idea is closely copied and illus-
trated by Jeremiah, Lament, iii. 15.

He hath glutted me with bitterness ;

He hath made me drunk with wormwood. '

In like manner, and with admirable spirit, Isaiah ; his eye, like that
of Jeremiah, being directed to the text before us j li, 17.

Awake ! awake ! stand up, O Jerusalem !

Who hast drunk from the hand of Jehovah

The cup of his fury ;

The dregs of the cup of staggering

Hast thou drunk up, hast thou drahwd off.

Ver.

108 NOTES. Chap. IX. 1 9—23.

Ver. 19. — who would become a witness for vie 91 " Who would
become bail for me ?" " who would set me a lime to plead r" " who
would become a witness in my favour ?" Of these different render-
ings, by different expositors, I prefer the last, not only because it is
supported by the Chaldee paraphrase, and several of the best esta-
blished versions, but because it is most consistent with the common
signitication of the verb T'i^V, from 1J?, " to bear witness or testify."
So especially St. Jerom, " Si aequitas judicii, nemo audet pro me tes-
timonium dicer e."

Ver. 21, Myself perfect ! — it would even prove me perverse.']
Either "my own mouth would even prove me, &c." as in the pre-
ceding line, or " it would even prove me perverse to say so." The
real meaning has never yet been understood, that I am aware of,
by any interpreter ; and hence a great variety of supplies and inter-
lineations have been introduced, where nothing of the kind is re-
quired.

Ver. 21. I should disavow — .] D«D», " I should cast away from
me, or reject."

Ver. 22, — nevertheless — ,] ^dbi^ veruntamen, nihilo secius : "ne-
vertheless, notwithstanding," when used in conjunction, rather than
the causative " therefore ;" which, in truth, in the present place offers
little or no meaning.

Ver. 23. If he suddenly slay the oppressor.'] Literally, " If he
suddenly slay the scourge (pW) ; a term, however, frequently em-
ployed among the Hebrew poets to signify an oppressor, despot, or
tyrant. Thus Isai. xxviii, 15. and again v. 18.

we have made a covenant with death.

Even with the grave are we in league.

As the overflowing scourge (tyrant) passeth along, he shall not touch us.

This figurative signification, however, seems to have escaped the
notice of every expositor, except Reiske, Indeed the entire passage
does not, hitherto, appear to have been understood by any of the
translators.

Ver, 23. — at the moanings — ,] riDnb a noun feminine in govern-
ment, from noD, " to melt, dissolve, languish, or pine away:" and

hence

Chap. IX. 24. NOTES. 109

hence better rendered " at the moanings," than^ as in our common
version, " at the trail ;" at the moanings excited by the cruelties
or scourge of the oppressor. The hne forms an elegant antithesis to
the preceding.

Ver. 24. — of Injustice.] Not "^of the unjust." ))tyi is here a
personification : and in this sense it occurs Isai. Iviii. 6. i^tyi ninyiti
"the bands of Wickedness " or " Injustice." So 1 Sam, xxiv. 13.
" Injustice" or " Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked." But in the
instance before us it isofpecuUar consequence, because, without this
personification, the verb that follows, which in the Hebrew has no
distinctive pronoun, must grammatically relate to the Deity, and is
generally so applied : while, if the personification be allowed, jJtyn
or Injustice, whether a masculine noun, as in the present tongue; a
feminine, as in the Greek and Latin, and all the modern dialects
hence derived 3 or a neuter, (das Unrecht) as in the German ; must ne-
cessarily become the predicate, and thus free us from a difficulty,
which has hitherto been uniformly felt, but never removed.

Ver. 24. She hoodwinketh — .] " So deeply doth she habituate the
judges of the earth to sinister and self-interested motives, that they are
become blind to the light of truth, and cannot discern right from
wrong." In like manner Mr. Locke, " Prejudice so dextrously
hoodwinks men's minds, as to keep them in the dark, with a belief
that they are more in the light." Hence the forcible apostrophe of
the prophet Amos, chap. v. 7, 12.

Ye, who turn judgment to wormwood.
And renounce righteousness in the land !
Behold, I know your manifold transgressions.
And your mighty sins.
They afflict the just ; and take a bribe ;
And turn away the poor from the gate.

Ver. 24. Where every one liveth, is it not so ?] Or, in the order of
the words, " Is it not so, where every one liveth ?" Xin '•a 1D« vh DN :
in which "iQ, rendered who in our standard version, means " whoever"
or " every one," as in Exod. xxiv, 14. Eccles. v. 9. and various other
places : and ^in, instead of being the pronoun he, is a verb, " liveth,
existeth, abideth." The passage has not been seized in its right sense;
and, in consequence, an extreme difficulty, " summa difficultas," as

Schultens

no NOTES. Chap. IX. 25— 27.

Schultens expresses himself, has supposed to be attached to it : and 1
a thousand different renderings have been attempted. Many of Dr.
Kennicott's codices for 1Q« {where), give «12t^, and some «1QW', but
the sense is not varied. The Syriac and Arabic renderings under-
stand it as a substantive importing anger, and hence offer a very
different version or paraphrase : " At furorem ejus quis potest sus-
tinere ?" " But who can sustain his indignation ?"

Ver, 25. 0 ! swifter .] The particle 1 appears to be here ex-
clamatory, as in ch. xvi. 24. " O ! could one plead, &c,"

Ver. 26. Js ships, with spread sail,^-'] til« nviW, literally "as ships
sw^elling, puffed- out, or deep-bellying," with full or expanded sail.
!in«, however, denotes the Egyptian papyrus, of which boats or
small vessels were frequently built, for its lightness, and occasionally
for the advantage of carrying them upon the shoulders from the banks
of one river to those of another. Isaiah alludes to such, ch. xviii. 2.
and hencp Schultens, Scott, and Dr. Stock, have rendered the pas-
sage " vessels of reed" or " papyrus." But I think the sense here
offered is more consonant with the idea of extraordinaiy rapidity
intended by the poet. Other interpreters, applying the term n:3«
not to the sails, but to the bulk or tonnage of the vessel, have ren-
dered the passage " loaded with rich fruits," which is the Chaldee
interpretation ; not essentially different from that of St. Jerom,
" Quasi naves poma porlantes :" but this rendering, as it gives us a
still fainter idea of velocity than even the former, must, I think, be
farther from the mark than either of them. In Professor De Rossi's
edition of Rabbi Parchon's Lexicon Hebraicum Selectum, printed at
Parma in 1805, n3« is rendered in the passage before us Jiumeji
magnum, " they sweep on, as ships a large river." The radical idea
here entertained is still that oi flow ot flowing; but applied to the
water, inbtead of to the 5ai/ of a ship 3 expansive water, instead of
expansive sail.

Ver. 26. — sweep they o«.] The original is peculiarly expressive,
and perfectly synonymous with the verb here offered ; "lEjbn, " they
pass on without leaving any track behind," " they merely brush or
skim the surface."

Ver. 27. — I will forego — .] The primary idea of natl^, the verb
here employed in the original, seems to be, as Mr. Parkhurst has

well

Chap. IX. 27— 29. NOTES. Ill

well observed, " to fail, relax, let go ," to which he might have
added, " to forego, relinquish, give up." It is only applied secon-
darily in the sense of " to forget," which is the meaning offered in
our common version, as importing " to forego, or let go, the remem-
brance of a thing:" a meaning, however, not so appropriate in the
present case as that of "foregoing, or velinquishmg generally ."

Ver. 27. / u'ill change my countenance, and take courage^ Our
common version gives the meaning very sufficiently, but not the let-
ter: " I vvill leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself rtii, how-
ever, denotes face, countenance, look, or aspect, and only by para-
phrase, heaviness, jbl implies literally " to encourage, strengthen,
refresh, or comfort," " to take courage, strength, refreshment, or
comfort;" and in another sense, "to shine forth again," as the rising
dawn, or the sun after having been obscured by clouds. Whence
the passage might also be rendered literally :

I will put by my looks, and brighten up.
Schultens has preferred this last meaning of n:i''!'3^^1, and hence ren-
dered the verse " Missum faciam vultum meum, et renidescam." In
Dr. Stock it occurs thus :

" I will leave my wrt/ faces, and wear a smile."

Ver. 28. — that thou wouldst ?iot acquit me."] " To hold one in-
nocent," as given in our common version, is a very subordinate
and paraphrastic rendering of the Hebrew verb np3, which primarily
denotes " to clear or cleanse," and hence " to acquit." It is trans-
lated in this latter sense, in the same common version, v. 14. of the
ensuing chapter, " Thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity."

Ver. 29. That I must he guilty.'] The Hebrew reading is ^3J«
iJtyit*, which is simply "I should, or I must be guilty." The con-
junction ^i, that, of the preceding line, is however clearly under-
stood. In the Septuagint, however, and the text of St, Ambrose,
the advefb creih] is prefixed, the entire line running cTreicrj cc
ti/tii dffsfiTfc ; whence Grey has ventured to introduce D'''i into his
edition of the original text, and Schultens to employ equidem, "And
if I must be guilty." I see no reason for any such interpolation.
Even without understanding a repetition of the conjunction ^3, the
sense would be sufficiently clear, and the abruptness of the hemistich

might

112 NOTES. Chap. IX. 30—33.

might be justified. " That I must be guilty," is a more forcible
rendering than " tliat I should be guilty j" and Piscator has pre-
ceded me in adopting it, " Ego improbus esse cogor ;" "With all
the pains I could take, I know that in thine eye 1 must still appear
guilty."

Ver. 30. Jnd cleanse my hands in purity.'] Such, literally ren-
dered, is the bold and beautiful language of the original: which is
thus closely copied by the Psalmist, xxvi. 6.

I will wash my hands in innocency ;

So will I compass thine altar, O Lord.
In like manner the devout Asaph, Ixxiii. 13.

Verily I have cleansed ray heart in vain.

And washed my hands in innoeency.
The very ancient rite alluded to in all these passages, of making a
public testimonial of innocence by publicly washing the hands in
pure water, is particularly referred to Mat. xxvii. 24. " When
Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but rather that a tumult
was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multi-
tude, saying, I avi innocent of the blood of this just person : see ye
to it." As a proverbial expression, it has descended to the present
day ; for, in our own language, " To wash our h;inds of an act," is to
afErn that we have no concern in it. Whence Shakspeare,
Rich. III.

" How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands
Of this most grievous, guilty murder done."

Ver. 31. — intojiith.'] Such is the real meaning of ihuf, rather
than dirt, as rendered m our common version ; or mire, as given by
Tyndal. It imports animal corruption or pollution; and hence a
destroying or pestilential wind, a contagious atmosphere, in Jer. li. 1.

Ver. 32. Behold!] I have often observed, that ^D is occasionally
an interjection, implying " lo ! behold ! see !" and in this sense I
think it is clear that it should be employed in the present passage ;
or, at least, that it gives to it a force and perspicuity not attained by
any other rendering.

Ver. 32. — in vain, man as I am, could I — .] There is a supposed
difficulty in this passage of the original, that has produced a variety of

very

Chap. IX. 32. NOTES. 113

very different renderings. It will be sufficient to compare two, or
three, with the present. The first shall be our common rendering,
" He is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, and we
should, &:c. :" the whole of which, expressed by Italics, is a mere
supply of the translator, and, except in the word am, a gratuitous
supply. Yet such is not only our common Bible rendering, but that
of Junius and Tremellius, and of Piscator, liom one of which it is
derived. Tyndal's is even a paraphrase upon this interpretation :
*',For he that I must answere unto, and with whom I go to la we, is
not a man as I am." The version of St. Jerom is essentially dif-
ferent : " Neque enim viro qui similis mei est, respondebo :" " Nei-
ther is there a man who is like myself, to whom I will make
answer."

The version of Arias Montanus has a nearer literal approach to-
wards the original, and is more destitute of interpolations : " Quia
non vir, sicut ego, respondebo ei." That of Cocceius is very nearly
to the same purport : " Sed, non homo, ut ego, respondebo ei."
It is not possible, however, to render these into English or any other
modern language, nor, I believe, into any language whatever ; the
nominative case, homo, which should govern the verb respondebo,
being in the third person, while the verb itself is in the first. And
hence, while Schultens calls the rendering of Cocceius an elegant ver-
sion, he admits that it is defective in grammatical concord, and is
compelled to deviate from it ; writing, " Quoniam non vir est, sicut
ego, 7it respondeam ei :" which is word for word like our common
established lection.

I believe there is not an Hebraist but will allow that the adverb
«7, commonly rendered not, is in almost every respect synonymous
with JM or p^*, and implies vanity or in vain, as well as not or neither.
See Parkhurst, under ra^b. Sect. II. from which article, which
implies vanity, the term ilt*!? is derived. With this trifling recol-
lection, the whole I think will become perspicuous, and admit of a
literal rendering, clear of all interpolation 3 the word am being fully
understood in various languages, and not absolutely necessary to be
expressed in our own.

i:Ji?« ■•JiDi ty^« «b o

For (or Behold 0 in vain, man like myself, could I contend with him.
Or, as it is in the present text.

Behold ! in vain, man as I am, could I contend Avith him.

A- Ver

114 NOTES. Chap. IX. 33—35.

Ver. 33. IVho might lay his controul — .] The Hebrew 7W im-
plies, primarily, " prominent exertion or activity;" hence, as a sub*
stantive, under the form T*, " the liand or arm, and the controul,
power, authority, or dominion," of which the hand or arm is emble-
matic. The common version of this passage, " that might lay his
hand upon us," is rendered as literally as that now ofFered, but is not
so generally obvious,

Ver. 34. — his supremacy.] His toity would be properly enough
translated rod in our common version, if it were not that nD«, Fear,
Terror, with which it is in perfect apposition, is rendered by an
abstract term ; proving clearly, hereby, that the former was intended
abstractedly in like manner ; and designed to express sovereignty,
majesty, or supremacy in general, rather than the mere instrument,
the rod, ensign, or sceptre, which is emblematic of such authority.
The personification is peculiarly bold and beautiful.

Ver. 35. But not thus could I, in my present state!] The Hebrew
"IDJ? means " to subsist, stand still, or remain ;" and when adver-
bially used, implies " in the existing state," or " present standing"
of whatever may be intended by the predicate : and hence ^Di^, the
term employed in the verse before us, denotes " in my existing or
present state or condition." With this explanation the whole is clear,
and the version perfectly literal :

But not thus, could I, in my present state.
For want of an attention, however, to this meaning of ^ai>, a great
variety of conjectural interpretations have been hazarded, equally
different from each other, and from the idea of the original writer.
Thus our common version, " But it is not so with me ;" which is
excessively incorrect, redundant in it is, and defective in ^D3M (I, or
could I) ; and which is unsupported by any other version. Thus
again Arias Montanus, " Quia non sic ego apud me." St. Jerom,
" Neque enim possum metuens respondere." Kimchius, " Quia
non sic, ego mecum loquar," " Because it is not thus, i. e. because
he does not take his rod away — I will speak with myself." And
Schultens, "Quod non talis ego sim apud me j" which he explains,
" Non timebo ilium — quoniam non sic sum penes me ut ilium timere,
deleam, possimve:" " I will not fear him— for I am not in my own

power

Chap. X. I. NOTES. H5

power so that I ought to fear him." Reiske, " Num in statu (con-
troversise et apparatu htis) alio et diverse ab eo qui nunc est, ego
mecum :" which he extracts from the Arabic, ^j^ j_^),i ^js.jil
jjvju? /J^51 k,^JSj and interprets from the Greek, 'Ett* tovtoh; ev
ffiavTf ovK £iiii. In plain English, " For I am not myself upon
these matters, i. e. of dispute " Lastly, in Dr. Stock's version the
passage has the following rendering, " For nonsense am I, j/'compared
with him."

CHAP. X.

Ver. 1. — weary — .] The original is peculiarly expressive, ntOp5
*' heartsick ;" from tap " to loathe," " nauseate," " reject with loath-
ing." I have however followed the general rendering, which suf-
ficiently interprets the idea, from a desire to introduce as few altera-
tions as possible.

Ver. 1. 1 will let loose from myself— -I The Hebrew verb ITJ? means
either to leave, as in our common version, or to dismiss, let go, let
loose, or set at liberty. There can be no doubt that the latter is the
idea here intended, and the commentators are pretty wdl agreed
upon the subject. Thus Schultens, " Liherce evagationi permit-
tarn ;" while Mr. Parkhurst and Dr. Stock have employed the very
term here otfered. They concur, however, contrary to what is now
submitted, in translating the phrase 'bi^, " super me," " upon me."
Yet I think nothing can be more obvious than that it ought to be
rendered as given in the present text, which has, moreover, the merit
of not disturbing the order of the Hebrew terms : " I will let loose
from my bosom (in which they are locked up or imprisoned), &c."

Ver. 1. — my dark thoughts.'] The Hebrew n^tir means less pro-
perly complaint than gloomy meditations, dark, deep, despondent
thoughts. The term is peculiarly expressive, and we have no single
word in our own language that can convey its tiill idea. Dr. Stock
has very accurately rendered it, " my sad thoughts."

With this the reader may compare the following pathetic excla-
mation in the Diarmad. The original is in Dr. Kennedy's Collection
of Gaelic, and in the Report of the Highland Society :

My mind is sunk into the depth of waves,
Hollow-murmuring, without repose or quiet. —
O ! my arrow-wound of grief without a cure.

h 3 Ver.

116 NOTES. Chap.X. 1— 5.

Ver. 1. '—will t break forth.'] In our common version, / will
speak : but the Hebrew i::i means something more than simply to
speak : " to break forth, or speak tumultuously — to drive forward;?
one's words with rapid action, and void of all restraint." The radi-
cal idea of the term is " to press or drive forwards as in battle," " to
subdue," " to triumph over." In Tyndal it is rendered, but para-
phrastically, " Will I put forth my words,"

Ver. 2. — thou canst not deal unjustly — .] i)U}^ implies, in its
primary sense, " to be unjust," " to act unjustly," " to be deficient in
weight or measure:" and the present inflection of the verb, though
almost uniformly rendered in our versions in the imperative mood,
is, in reality, in the future or conditional tense of the indicative, not X^l,
but J>"'U^in. The sense adopted in our common lection, " Do not
CONDEMN me," is given in consequence of the verb being in Hiphil,
in which conjugation it has frequently the signification of " to pro-
nounce unjust," or " to condemn." But in the present instance
there is no necessity for this departure from the primary sense of i*l2n,
since in Hiphil it often denotes the very same meaning as in Kal.
See especially 2 Chron. xx. 35. Neh. ix. 33.

Ver. 3. Is it hefittivg thee — ?] More commonly rendered " Is it
good ?" The Hebrew I^Vi is of very extensive signification, and im-
plies not only physical but moral good : whatever is fair, pleasant, or
amiable, in the former sense ; wliatever is fitting, consistent, or har-
monious, in the latter. The term appears, in the present instance, to
be employed in the second rather than in the first meaning 3 and
hence the Dutch commentators, for the most part, render it Num
dccet, " Doth it become thee ?" or as Schultens has more fully ex-
pressed himself, " An bonum tibi, tuoque nomine sanctissimo dig-
num?" " Is it good to thee, and worthy thy most sacred name r" On
which account Tyndal, *' Thynckest thou it well done to oppresse
me?" See the Note on ch. vii. 7-

Ver. 4. ^re thine eyes ofjlesh ?] Literally, ''Are eyes of flesh with
or belonging to thee ?" In Tyndal, " Hast thou fleshy eyes then ?",

Ver. 5. Or thy years as the days of mankind ?] I do not think
the difference has been sufficiently noticed between tyiit* {man), in
the preceding line of this verse j and 'iIiJ (here rendered mankind), in

the

Chap.X. 7, 8. NOTES. ii7

the line before us. Our common version gives both words alike :
but it should be remarked, that the latter term is peculiarly applied,
either to the whole race or species of man generally, or else to the
most powerful and robust of them ; — to a male as opposed to a fe-
^Tiale ; to a lord or master, as opposed to a peasant or slave. The
meaning then is necessarily, " Are thy days as the days of a man 3
nay, as the days of the strongest or most powerful of them ? Are the
days of the whole race added together to be compared with thy
years ?" The translation of St. Jerom is altogether in point, " Et
anni tui sicut humana sunt tempora ?" The whole, from v. 4, is a
beautiful periphrasis, descriptive of the blindness of man's penetra-
tion, the brevity of his experience, and the fickleness of his actions,
contrasted with the penetration, the knowledge, and the immutabihty
of the Almighty.

Ver. 7- Tf^iih thy knowledge — .] Not " thou knowest," as in our
common version, for the Hebrew text has neither verb nor verbal
pronoun: li^T h^ cuvi tua cognitione. The subject is unques-
tionably continued from the. preceding verse : and hence Schultens
and several other commentators, who have chosen, though less
literally, to render the passage in a verbal instead of in a substan-
tive form, have understood the preposition h)} (with) as a conjunc-
tion similar to the Arabic (^jXc- (i^^i^) : etiamsi, notwithstanding,'
although : " Etiamsi bene scias, &c," " Although thou know-
est, &c."

Ver. 8. have wrought me, ")

And moulded me compact on all sides. J
In the Hebrew y^ri ItX" ^JWi>'''i ^ilSlfi?, and in our common version,
" Have made me and fashioned me together round about." The
Hebrew verb y^)i does not, however, mean simply " to make,'" but
" to make with toil or labour 3" " to work upon," or " elaborate" a
thing. The full idea is expressed in the ensuing verse, — the knead-
ing, intermixing, or beating up (not the creating) of clay ; and the
subsequent act of moulding or fashioning it, !l'':3D ItV uniter \t\Jir-. '
miter circumquaque, " compactly on all sides." SoDryden,

One paste of flesh on all degrees bestow'd,
And kneaded up alike with moistening blood.
But the image is more literally adhered to by the apostle Paul,
Rom. ix. 20, 21. " Shall the thing formed say to him that formed

it.

118 NOTES. Chap. X. 8, 10.

it, ' Why hast thou made me thus ?' Hath not the potter power over
the clay ; of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and an-
other unto dishonour ?"

The following, from the sentimental Sadi, is well worthy of a
place on this occasion : I give the version from Sir W. Jones's Per-
sian Grammar. It is an exquisite specimen of the mystical poetry of
the Sufis j and the Vedantis of India have nothing superior to it :

Sec aa-suSj (_jOfcA.su« c:,,'-'^ J I <^;^«

" One d^y as I was in the bath, a friend of mine put into my hand apiece of
scented clay. I took it, and said to it, ' Art thou musk or ambergris ?
for I am charmed with thy delightful scent.' It answered, ' 1 w£is a de-
spicable piece of clay ; but I was some time in the company of the rose :
the sweet quality of my companion was communicated to me, otherwise
I should have been oul}' a piece of earth, as I appear to be.' "

Ver. 8. y4nd wilt thou utterly devour me ?] The original text
is in the future, though generally rendered in the present tense.
The interrogative is a matter of option. I have preferred it, as more
forcible : and Tyndal thus supports me : " Wilt thou then destroy
me sodenly ?" But the verb vbl does not mean simply to destroy,
but to devour or swallow up utterly, as a rapacious animal does its
prey, so that not a vestige of it may remain. The image imme-
diately in the poet's mind is more fully explained, v. l6, " Thou
huntest me up as a fierce lion."

Ver. 10. Didst thou not mingle me, as milk. Sec. ?] The whole of
the simile is highly correct and beautiful ; and has not been neglected
by the best poets of Greece and Rome. From the well-tempered
or mingled milk of the chyle, every individual atom of every indivi-
dual organ in the animal frame, the most compact and consolidated,
as well as the soft and pliable, is perpetually supplied and re-
newed, through the medium of a system of lacteals or milk-vessels,
as they are usually called in anatomy, from the nature of this com-
mon chyle or milk which they circulate. Into the delicate stomach,
of the infant it is usually introduced in the form of milk ; but even
in the adult it must be reduced to some such form, whatever be the
substance he feed upon, by the conjoint action of tlie stomach and
other chylifactive organs, before it can become the basis of animal

nutriment.

Chap. X. 14, 15. NOTES. 119

nutriment. It then circulates through the system, and either con-
tinues fluid as milk in its simple state ; or is rendered solid, as milk
in its caseous or cheese-state, according to the nature of the organ
which it supplies with its vital current.

The latter half of this rural image is just as beautiful and pertinent
as the former, and alone completes the analogy. Yet the fastidious-
ness of modern poets have, for the most part, exclusively employed
the former. The following passage from Dryden, however, is in
close parallel :

Thus kneaded up with milk, the new-made man

His kingdom o'er his kindred world began.

Ver. 14. Have I utterly fallen away — .] " Num lapsus sum — r"
Reiske. But Cd« is here not merely interrogatory, but emphatic,
" prorsus, penitus," as in ch. viii. 18. See the Note upon which, not
" Have I then fallen away ?" but " Have I utterly fallen away ?" for
Job did not attempt to contend that he had never transgressed or
fallen away, but only that he was not thoroughly or altogether an
oiFender. See ch. ix. 20, 21. The verb «tDni, here translated "fallen
away," means expressly " to deviate," " wander out of the way,"
"tread aside," or "transgress:" and hence "to fall away," or
" apostatise." I trust, with this rendering and interpretation, the pas-
sage is cleared of that obscurity which has hitherto uniformly over-
clouded it. Our common rendering, " If I sin ; then thou markest
me," appears to have no connexion whatever with the general con-
text. Instead of " thou markest mc," how much more forcible, and
in point, is the rendering, " Thou hast made a mark of me," '•in'ioty ;
and how perfectly in consonance with chap. xvi. 12. " He hath set me
up for a mark."

Ver. 15. Overloaded with ignominy, and drunk with my al-ase-
ment.'] The passage has not been generally understood : n«1 (raeh)
" overpowered with wine or spirit," "intoxicated," "drunk." The
Arabs use the same word, in the same sense, to the present day,
^j {rai) ; both being derived from the same root, n«'n {raeh) to
''perceive" or " understand j" whence _jj (ra A), " the soul" or
" spirit :" and whence again the same term, as among ourselves, for
that which communicates spirit, as ivine, and other exliilarating pota-
tions. So Reiske, whose version I have now explained and fol-
lowed :

120 NOTES. Chap. X. 15

Satur infamiffi, ebrius humilitate.
So in a very elegant piece of modern Persian given to Sir. W. Jones
by Mirza Abdu'lrahhim of Ispaiian :

r"

The man who had inebriated himself with milk from the nipple of anguish >

Who had been nourished in the lap of affliction.
The same simile is often used in an opposite signification. Thus
Khakani, in a very beautiful gazel, for the whole of which the
reader must refer to the author's translation of the Song of Songs,
p. 97-

..j_^JuuJ^ j\jj ^yj y ^ ^A> ^^U.

Drunk with the wine thi/ charms display.
Thy slave, Khakani, hails his smart ;

I'd die to know thy name then say

What deity thou art.
The image, however, is still more frequently employed by the poets
of Judaea than by those of any other country, and appears to have
been a favourite ornament with the author of the present work.
Thus in the preceding chapter, v. 15.

He would not suflFer me to take my breath ;
Verily, he would glut me with bitterness.
" He would pour it down my throat so fast as to prevent my breath-
ing, and so largely as to surcharge or glut me with the bitter cup." So
Isaiah, li. 20 — 22. still more copiously :

Thy sons have staggered, they lie down

At the head of all the streets.

As a wild boar in the toils.

They are glutted with the fury of Jehovah,

With the rebuke of thy God.

Wherefore, hear now this, thou afflicted !

And THOU DRUNKEN ! BUT NOT WITH WINE.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah,

And thy God who pleadeth for his people :

Behold, I have taken out of thy hand THE CUP OF STAGGERING,

The drainings of the cup of my r"RV ;

No more shalt thou drink of it again.

So

Chap. X. 16. NOTES. 121

So the probable author of the present poem himelf, IVeut. xxxii. 42.

Mine arrows will I make drunk with blood;
Ard my sword shall banquet uponjlesh :
With the blood of the slain and the captive,
Wich the utmost vengeance of an enemy.
Among the continental poets the sauje figure is often had recourse
to, but especially amonsr the Germaus ; and oi these it is more fieely
eniployed by Klop-tnck than by any other. Thus, in one of his most
beautiful Odes, entitled Die Beiden Musen (The Two Muses) :

Schon hub sich der herold

Ihr die drommet und ihr trunkcn blick schwamm.
The herald uprose, blew his trumpet before her ;

Her drunken eyes swam.

Soj with peculiar audacity, in the Messias, Ges. iii.

Sieht er den gottliehen kommen, so geht en von seligkeit trunken,

Ihm ent^egen.

The gjodlike man forthcoming he descries,
And, drunk with holiness, to meet him flies.
In our own country this image has been by no means neglected.
Thus Shakspeare, in Macbeth, Act I.

— — " Was the Itope drunk
Wherein you drest yourself.' hath it slept since ?
And wakes it now, to look so green and pale ?"
So Dryden :

" Exalted hence, and drunk with secret joy.
Their young succession all their cares employ."
And Cowper, in verses of great beauty, Task, b. 11.

" See, then, the quiver broken and decay'd,
In which are kept our arrows. Rusting there.
In wild disorder, and unfit for use.
Their points obtuse, ?t,nA feathers drunk with wine."
It only remains to be observed, that the real meaning of the terms
\r>\> and *3i; is not, as rendered in our common version, apparently
from St. Jerom, "confusion'' and "affliction," but "ignominy or
infamy," and "abjection" or "abasement " and that these terms
are so interpreted in most of the versions : see especially the Sep-
^^ tuaglnt. Arias Montanus, Piscator, Schultens, and Reiske.

Ver. 16. For, uprousing as a ravenous lion, — ] The passage has

been

122 NOTES. Chap.X. iti.

been supposed to be attended with much difficulty j and hence has
been the subject of a great variety of translations. Our established
version^ in unison with those of Arias Montanus and Piscator, divides
it into two parts; and, regarding the term nK^'' as a verb, connects
it with the abasement or affliction of the preceding verse — " for it
increaseth" — " multiplicetur," or " attolLit sese." This however has
been uniformly admitted as a very unsatisfactory rendering, and
Others have been offered in their stead. In the Arabic and Syriac it
occurs, " Si me extoUam sicut leo, me venaberis r" " If I should exalt
myself as a lion, wouldst thou hunt me ?" but this is rather to para-
phrase than to translate. Other interpreters have suspected an error
in the collocation of the original ternr^s, and have endeavoured to
elicit a meaning by transposing the first two words. Thus Reiske,
for bnu^i n«j''l writes H^J'' bT^w:!^, a change perfectly similar to
that adopted by Mr. Grey, only that the latter purposely suppresses
the introductory 1. The renderings of these two commentators are
still, however, very different ; for while Reiske interprets it, " Et ut
leo vasti rictus venaris me," "And as a lion of enormous (wide-open-
ing) jaws dost thou hunt me," (thus connecting the term lion with
the Deity,) Mr. Grey gives us, " Ut leonem superbientem venaris
me," "Thou huntest me as a^proud lion;" connecting lion with the
afflicted patriarch ; a sense, however, in which he has been preceded
by St. Jerom, whose version is, " Et propter superbiam quasi lecenam
capias me;" "And for my pride wouldst thou ensnare me as a
lioness." The version of Schultens is different from all others,
" Eum itaque qui celsus ibat ut leo venaris me ;" equally para-
phrastic and constrained : for eum and me can scarcely be made to
unite upon any principles of grammar; and even then 'iiyw must be
supplied to extract this meaning, and of course the text again changed
in a new form.

There does not appear to be any reason for the slightest variation
from the text. n«V is a verb used participially, " swelling," " rous-
ing," '•' uprousing," from n»J " to increase," " swell," " grow
higher and higher," as Mr. Parkhurst has well explained it ; and is
often applied to the swellings of the Jordan. "'J'Tivn, generally ren-
dered " Thou huntest me," means rather " Thou springest upon
me," " Thou seizest me unawares," in direct allusion to the mode
in which the lion catches his prey. The verb my, from 'iV " the
side" of any thing, denotes " to steal sideways," " to ensnare by

lying

Chap. X. 17. NOTES. 133

lying in ambush," " to catch suddenly and unexpectedly." And
hence the Hebrew text, in its conimon form,

•"jniifn bnuri n«:"'i
means strictly, and without the smallest variation.

For, uprousing as a ravenous lion, dost thou spring upon me.
The figure is common to the early poets of most nations, as I have
already observed in the Note on ch. iv. 10 : but it is peculiarly so to
those of the East, and has continued so through every age. Hence
the following verses of Caab Btn Zoheir, as applicable to Mahommed
the prophet, of whom he was a contemporary, and whom, as the
verses themselves will testify, he mortally hated.

Jj.i <UjJ Jji jAc (^*AU
.. If-

'ijj[a ^s:!i\ ^Ajuri J.laJ' aJuj

I fear him than the prince of lions more,
Through Atthar's pitchy shades that spreads his roar :
Two whelps his care; — for them he daily roams.
And man, in hideous carnage, falls and foams.
Where once he strikes, all hopeless is the field.
His hold he quits not till the victim yield :
Each brother lion crouches to his sway.
And all the vulgar of the waste obey."

Ver. 17. — thy trials — .] Rather than thy witnesses, as in our
common version : ^li) " thy testimonies," "attestations," "proofs,"
or " demonstrations of fearful and extraordinary might."

Ver. 17. Fresh harasses and conflict — ] M3V1 niQ^brr. The whole
is an admirable picture of the sport which lions, and indeed all the
feline tribe, exercise over their prey, before they finally devour it.
The cat that springs upon a mouse, exhibits, in its puny w^ay,

precisely

1 24 NOTES. ClIAP. X. 20-22.

precisely the same instinct. The verse before us, however^ is worthy
of the majestic animal it relates to, and sublimely employs terms
brought immediately from the field of battle. mS'-bh (harasses)
obviously allude to those successive skirmishes, or affairs of posts,
as they are called, by which the hostile forces endeavour to harass
each other in the first instance ; and «ntf {conflict) to the full onset,
or main battle itself, which ensues afterwards. Reiske regards «nYl
as a pure Arabism, the 1 being radical, and the « the mere sign of
the genitive case. In which sense it would be, " Fresh charges of
the battle are about me."

Ver. 20. 0 spare vie, that for a little while — .] Thus copied, al-
most verbatim, by the Psalmist, xxxix. 13.

O spare me — that 1 may be at ease (rTj''!p5i^)
Before I gQ hence, and be no more.

In our common version the text is improperly divided — " Are not
my days few ? Cease then," &c. Cease belongs to the first period,
" Will not my few days cease ?" " Will my few days never cease ?"

Ver. 21. To a land of darkness and death-shade.] Copied from
ch. iii. 5 : upon which see the Note :

Let darkness and death-shade crush it.

Ver, 22. A land of dissolution as extinction itself.'] The reference
is still to the same description in chap. iii. j and the same word for
extinction is here again employed, !pQ« (opal) the total abohtion or
expunction of light, and not a temporary darkness or eclipse 3 — dis-
solution as complete as a flame altogether extinguished, put out, or
annihilated. See the Note on ch. iii. 6. In the present passage,
however, the term is used with additional force ; for the comparison
is not simply made to extinction, but bOK 10 " to extinction itself;'
to mere, stark, or utter extinction : — the term being repeated imme-
diately afterwards, as though still deeper to impress us with its force
and energy — " Where the noon-day is utter extinction."

The word nn&i>, here rendered dissolution, may admit of another
interpretation, and has generally done so, for it is capable of two
derivations. If derived from ^)?^ as I have derived \Cm the present
instance, it must necessarily mean " dissolution, dissipation, a wast-
ing or melting away ;" a sense which the context seems not only to
justify, but even to require, and with which the whole becomes

perfect.

Chap. X. 22. NOTES. 125

perfect, and presents a grand but horrific gradation of imagery, in-
comparably superior to any thing of the kind in the poetry of Greece
or Rome. If nnQ)> be derived, on the contrary, from f\i}, the root
to which it is commonly ascribed, it gives into all that endless variety
of renderings by which this passage has been for ever distracted.
The verb f])} implies " to vibrate, flutter ^ or tremble ;" and hence its
derivative substantives denote the fluttering of the head, or dizziness ;
the fluttering of shadow, or darkness ; the fluttering of the light, or
coruscation. And in all these senses has the passage been treated
by different commeniators, though none of them, if I mistake not,
will give half so correct or appropriate a meaning as that now offered.
Thus Schultens, " Terrain vertiginis caliginosce" "A land of cloudy
dizziness ;" which he thus explains, for in truth it requires some ex-
planation : " Vertigo capitis ex horridis tenebris oriunda" "A dizzi-
ness of the head produced by horrid darkness^ This version is ap-
proved and followed by Grey. In our established lection it is ren-
dered "A land of darkness,'' following chiefly the idea of Junius
and Tremellius, and of Piscator : while Mr. Parkhurst ventures to
translate it, " A land whose light is, &c." and Dr. Stock, " A land
whose dazzling is, &c." Yet the remote derivations from both fp^
and Pji^^ are in some instances so similar, that it is difficult at times
to decide from which of the two roots they take their origin. Thus
PlIi^D, Isai. viii. 22. and ix. 1, which is generally traced from P)i^, and
interpreted "gloom or darkness,'" is rendered " dissolutio" in the
Vulgate, and must of course, by St. Jerom, have been referred to ^i?^,
and is perfectly in point with the rendering of the passage before us
now offered, as well as justificatory of it, if it required justification.
It should also be known, that both the Syriac and Arabic, though
they differ in some parts of their respective translations of this verse,
coincide with the rendering here offered of nnai?, by giving us
" quae desolata est."

Ver. 22. — where no order is.'] There is some doubt as to the
meaning of t3''nD, usually rendered order ; and I think rightly ren-
dered so, as synonymous with JTiTity, from 'inty : yet the Septua-
gint has explained it by ^syyoV, light or splendour ; a meaning
which has been adopted by Mr. Parkhurst j while Mr. Heath, still
glancing at the Greek interpretation, renders it constellations. The
common idea, however, is supported by most of the old versions,
and especially by the Syriac and Arabic, as well as by most of those

of

126 NOTES. Chap. X. 22.

of more modern date ; and unquestionably no additional force or
beauty is obtained by the change. " Where no order is," — or, in
other words, where all is chaos and confusion, — " Unus chaos, rudis
indigestaque moles:" in the language of Milton,
" a vast, immeasurable abyss ;

-dark, wasteful, wild."

Ver. 22. — the noon-tide — ] Commonly, " the light ;" but the
Hebrew J>an implies something more than mere light — light in its
fulness or utmost power : hence ni>a' is usually translated " splen-
dour, refulgence, glory." Its full force was felt by Sir William Jones,
when he translated the entire line, (Works, II. 480.)

" Et lucis RADIOS tanquam caligem."
The following passage, from the Hercules Furens of Seneca, has
occasionally been compared with the bold and tremendous descrip-
tion of the Hebrew bard : yet its inferiority is obvious, even upon a
superficial glance :

— ' — pigro sedet
Nox atra mundo. Cuncta moerore horrida ;
Ipsaque morte pejor est mortis locus.

O'er the dull realm broods pitchy night : around
All, all is wrapt in melancholy horror :
/4nd death's abode is worse than death itself.

CHAP. XI.

Ver. 2. To multiply words projiteth nothing.'] Such is both the
literal rendering, and the general order of the Hebrew : and soReiske,
" Multiplicare verba Hii?^ k^ ^/^jcc ^ nil prodest." There seems
no reason for the common interrogative.

Ver. 3. Before thee would mankind — .] The original has been
differently understood by different writers, and seems to have been
differently read. It is well observed by Mr. Parkhurst, that it does
not appear that the Hebrew *n " ever signifies liars, lies, or boasting j"
yet this is the common rendering of Arias Montanus, Junius and
Tremellius, Piscator, Schultens, and the translators of our common
version. The rendering of St. Jerom is far preferable : " Tibi soli
tacebunt homines;" or, as it is well copied by Tyndal, " Shulde
mart give eare unto the onlye ?" Yet this Is to suppose that the

text

Chap. XI. 3-6. NOTES. 127

text was originally written CD^no Pp^h instead of Cjina *]>1i : on
which account I have preferred the very elegant conjecture of
Reiske, who regards inn as a mere ellipsis of in''2, and then inter-
preting T"! as Cel. Schultens has preceded him in interpreting it,
ch. XV. 23. " at hand," " close by," " in the presence of," renders
the passage in question " at thy hand," " before thee," or " in the
presence of thee." In Arabic ClX>Ju ij^- We have the same
idiom in our own language : for '' at hand," " at one's fingers' ends,"
implies immediately, proximity.

Ver. 3. And thou mights t babble on without restraint!] The He-
brew JJ?!? not only signifies " to mock or deride," but '^ to babble,
talk jargon, or speak unintelligibly." It is in this sense it occurs
Isai. xxxix. \Q. which is thus translated by Dr. Stock :
" A people deep of speech, that thou canst not catch it ;

Of jargon tongue (3i?73), that thou canst not understand it."

It is in this sense the term seems to be intended in the present pas-
sage. cbijD, from Th'^ " to restrain," " put an end to," or " finish,"
imphes rather "restraint,'' "repression,'' " cessation," than ''shame,'*^
as in our common version ; and is the very sense given us in the
Syriac and Arabic.

Ver. 4. — my conduct — .] The Hebrew i^pb is of very general
signification, "Vitae ratio et disciplina, mores; quicquid ego, doceo,
dicoj" " The rule and discipline of life, the conduct; whatever I
do, teach, or say," as it is well explained by Mr. Grey, Hence in
the present place St. Jerom uses the term sermo, " speech;" Piscator,
disciplina, "discipline;" Schvltens, Jlos seminis wzei, " the flower
or fruit I have produced ;" our national translators, " doctrine;" and
Tyndal, " the thing that I take in hande." I believe the word con-
duct comports best with the general meaning and intention of the
term in its present place.

Ver. 6. For they are /wfHcaaw /o iNiauixY.] In common lan-
guage, "to theiniquitous man :" the personification is peculiarly bold,
and characteristic of Eastern poetry. It has not hitherto, however,
been perceived by any commentator that I know of, and hence the
passage has never been translated rightly. Neither has it been at-
tended to, that this passage is a parenthesis : and hence a second

cause

128 NOTES. Chap. XI. 6.

cause of miscomprehension has arisen. On which double account,
though a vast multipUcity of renderings (paraphrases rather than
literal versions) have been offered, scarcely any two of them have
agreed together, and not one of them has been strict to the original
text. The following attempt in our established lection, chiefly
drawn from the Vulgate, may be given as a specimen of the whole;
in which the supplied words in Italics sufficiently prove that it can-
not be correct ; while the general import, even admitting these sup-
plies, offers no definite meaning: " that they are double to that
which is ! know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine
iniquity deserveth" The word here rendered " double" (CD''!5Q3)
means, in the present instance, "conduplications, folds, complications,
mazes, intricacies," being a substantive rather than an adjective ;
while IT'tyin!', here rendered " to that which is," and consequently
derived from TTUf, being or existence, should rather be derived from
ntyj, " to fail" or " relax, i.e. in duty," and hence " to sin" or
" transgress :" whence rctyin, as a substantive, implies transgression
or iniquity. The Hebrew ))-\^, translated in the common version
" know therefore," should be " and the knowledge;" J?T being here
a substantive, and not a verb. Ti\D'i, here translated " exacteth," has
no such meaning any where : Dt^D, indeed, derived from the same
root, denotes a loan, and is sometimes used for a lender or creditor ;
"but this is the nearest approach that can be found to exaction. In-
stead of exaction, Hti^J (strictly speaking indeed, as I have just ob-,
served above, for it is a ramification from the same root that signi-
fies iniquity or transgression) implies rather " to fail, relax, lemit;"
and in this last sense it is understood by many translators in the pre-
sent passage, and especially by Reiske and Dr. Stock : the former of
whom renders the passage, " Deus adhuc demit, vel negligit
<j\mlAj vel (^^mJ in favorem tuum de improbitate tua ; non omnia
tua crimina tibi imputat :" " God thus far remits of thy wickedness
in thy favour, and does not impute to thee the whole of thy crimes :"
^hile the latter gives the entire passage thus :

Then would he show thee the secrets of wisdom.

That they are twice as much as they seem in respect of remission ;

And thou wouldstknow that God remitteth to thee of thy punishment.

It only remains toobserve, that instead of " remil,"ihe real meaning in
the present place appears to be "fail," "forsake," or " withdraw
from." With these renderings, which are equally correct and

direct.

Chap. XI. 8. NOTES. 129

direct, the whole passage is clear, and beautiful ; and requires nei-
ther the slightest interwording, or change of collocation :

— that he would unfold to thee the secrets of wisdom,
(For they are intricacies to Iniquity,)
And the knowledge that God hath withdrawn from thee because of thy sins.

Ver. 8. The height of heaven, hoiv canst thou know ?] There is no
necessity for the supply of it is, as in our common version : "Tl^lJ is
here a substantive in regimen, and not an adjective, "the heights of,"
and not " high as.'' The speaker brings forward a single instance
only of the power of the Almighty, and then asks the patriarch what
he can comprehend of this instance alone ? " The height of heaven>
how canst thou know or compute ?" and, if not, " How canst thou
pretend to grasp the magnificent whole, and to find out the
Almighty to completion?" So SchuUens, " Jltitudines caelorum !
quid facias ?" Tyndal, for " it is higher," alluding to the wisdom of
the Almighty, has " he is hier." But, as I have already ob-
served, the original text, which has neither he is, nor it is, requires
tio supply of any kind.

Ver. 8. The depth lelow the grave.^ The Hebrew npDi> is here
also a substantive : and hence " the depth," instead of " deeper,"
as rendered by St. Jerom and our established version. So the Syriac
and Arabic, " Profunditatem inferni, unde nam percipies?" "The
depth of the abyss, hbw canst. thou comprehend?" bl^tl^D is more
correctly rendered " below the grave," than as it occurs in our com-
mon reading, " than hell." ?3 is here a preposition, and implies
" under or below f and hence, if hell be added to it, the expression
would be scarcely intelligible ; for under or below hell gives us no
meaning whatever. The speaker is adverting, unquestionably, to
the regions antipodal to the -country he inhabited, of the nature
and profundity of which the world was at that time completely
ignorant, but which were supposed to be altogether uninhabitable,
and involved in eternal darkness : " Of these undisclosed recesses,
what dost thou know or comprehend ?" The expression forms a fair
contrast with " the height of heaven," in the preceding part of the
verse, and opposes the nadir of Idumaea to its zenith. Dr. Stock
has rightly rendered the Hebrew D as a preposition, but^ by retaining

i the

130 NOTES. Chap.XI. 10— 12.

the word hell, has fallen into what I have just pointed out as an im-
precise idea. His version is,

" See the heights of heaven ! — what canst thou do ?
See a deep below hell ! — what canst thou know?"
It is almost superfluous to observe, that the adverb ilD, usually ren-
dered 'what' in the present place, is equally entitled to be rendered
' how i and impUes ' ^«07woc?o?' as generally as "^ yz/irf?'

Ver. 10. If he reverse things — .] Such is the real meaning of the
Hebrew f^bn^ : whence Tyndal, " Though he turne all thynges
upside downe." So Reiske, in explanation of the entire passage, " Si
permutat Deus res et homines, rebus et hominibus, et parvos facit e
magnis, et avidos squalidos facit, senes et pauperes ex vegetis, suc-
cosis, et opimis : quis turn avertet eum ?" " If God reverse things
with things, and men with men ; make the great, little ; the nig-
gardly, bloated ; the active, the vigorous, and the rich, old and desti-
tute ; who can turn him away?"

Ver. 10. — who can change him?'] Not " who can hinder him ?"
for the Hebrew Ity has no such meaning, in any sense'5 implying
uniformly " to change," " turn," " repeal," " reverse." The
direct idea is, " who can turn him round?" or " make him change
his mind?" And most of the translators have tlius rendered it, either
univocally or equivalently,

Ver. 11. Behold! God — .] In the original Min *5 (ci! Hu), com-
monly rendered "for he." ''5 {ci!), however, is in this place, as I
have already observed it to be in many others, a particle of excla-
mation, and not of causation. See Note on ch. iii, 24. And for the
direct meaning of Min {Hu), see Note on ch. viii. I9.

Ver. 11, — the men of falsehood^ Such is the literal rendering of
the Hebrew ^W TiD, in which ^riD is in regimen : our common
rendering, " vain" or "false men," is less perfect) and that of St.
Ambrose and St. Jerom, " Hominum vanitatem," " the vanity of
men," more imperfect still.

Ver. 12. JVill he then accept the hollow-hearted person?"] There
is a difficulty in this verse, arising from a laxity of meaning in the
verb I1V3 but I trust, that, though I am alone in the present

rendering.

Chap. XI. 12. NOTES. 131

rendering, a little attention will prove that I am perfectly literal, as
well as perspicuous ; qualities which do not seem veiy fully to
apply to any other version. 1^ means " the heart," from its vibra-
tory or contractile power, or capability of being operated upon or
impressed : hence iib has two impUcations, and denotes "to knead,
mould, ox form bread," from the great facility with which bread is
impressed ; and " to take or receive to the heart," incordiare, as
Plautus, or saccorder, as the French express it, ',i. e. " to accept."
We have no authority, however, in any use of the word in the
whole Bible, for applying the term to express wisdom or under-
standing, which is the idea put fortli in our common version.
Whence, for " Would be wise," we ought to read, interrogatively,
''Would he" or " will he accept ?" or " take to his heart?"

nilJ, from S3, in its proper signification, means " hollow, exca-
vated, empty," and, applied to man, " hollow-hearted, or hypocriti-
cal :" whence !nn3 t^'W, though it may import, in a secondary sense,
" a vain man or person," denotes, much mote directly, " a hollow-
hearted person," '' a hypocrite.'' The version of Arias Montanus is
nearly coirect, and approaches very closely to the present, only that
it wants the interrogation, " Et vir concavus cordabitur."

Ver. 12. Or shall the wild-ass-colt assume the man?"] «ia 1>y, pul-
lus onager, not onagri, " ass-colt," not " ass's-colt j" *l^ being in
apposition with «"ia, and not in government. The whole is a pro-
verbial expression, denoting extreme contumacy and ferocity, and
repeatedly alluded to in the Old Testament. Thus Gen. xvi. 12. it
is prophesied of Ishmael, that he should be tZ3l« «'^2, " a wild- ass
of a man, his hand against every man, and every man's hand against
him." So Hos. xiii. 15. " Since he (Ephraim) hath run wild (lite-
rally a^ij/terf himself), amidst the howhng (or braying) monsters, &c,"
nnE)> OTiik i>n. See Lowth and Parkh. nnw. vi. So again in Hos.
viii. g. the very same character is given of Ephraim, who is called
■»b mia M1Q, " a solitary wild-ass by himself," or perhaps " a solitary
wild-ass of the desert;" for '^^\^1 will bear to be rendered " deseit."
This proverbial expression has descended among the Aiabians to the
present day ; who still employ, as Schultens has justly remarked, the

expressions 2(jc^^ ^jlj^sa^ and ^n^^^j ^Us*. the " ass of the

desert, or the wild-ass," to describe an obstinate, indocile, and con-
t;umacious person.

i 2 It

135 NOTES. Chap. XI. 14— ir.

It only remains to observe, that although lb), or lh\ implies " to he
lorn ;" the latter, which is the term piore commonly employed by
the sacred writers, is used also more generally in the sense of "to be,
to become, to be changed into ,•" '' re-formare" as Reiske has rendered it
actively J or"effici"zs it is given passively by Junius and Tremel-
lius and Piscator ; and hence, " to assume, or take on," a new figure
or character. Thus rendered, the whole passage is clear and com-
prehensible ; a rendering, indeed, different from any that has
hitherto been offered, but strictly literal, and I trust intelligible.

Ver. 14. If the iniquity of thy hand thou put away.l Literally,
" The iniquity of thy hand, if thou put it away."

Ver. 15. Lo ! then shalt thou, &c. — ] Sane tunc, is the elegant
version of Mercer. The Hebrew '•5 is here unquestionably, as
well as in the commencement of the ensuing verse, a particle of ex-
clamation or affirmation ; and not, as it is usually rendered, of cau-
sation. See Note on ch. iii. 24. For want of a due regard to this
distinction, half the beauty of the entire passage has been usually
lost sight of. The period is continued without interruption, from
V. 13. to the end of the chapter. Tyndal is the only translator I am
acquainted with, excepting Mercer, who has allowed the different
verses their proper connexion : his version is as follows : " If thou
haddest now a right hert ; and lyftedst up thine hands towards him :
yf thou woldest put awaye the wickednesse whych thou hast in
hand ; so that no ungodlynesse dwelt in thine house : then myghteste
thou lyft up thy face without shame j then shuldest thou be sure,
and have no nede to feare, &c."

Ver. 15. — shalt thou lift up thy face without spot^ The Syriac
and Arabic versions give " thy hands," instead of " thy face ;" as
though the writers had read T'T', instead of T-JQ. They also omit the
phrase " without spot, and thou shalt be — 3" beginning the second
line with " firm." The Alexandrine Greek for " without spot "
(CdiDD) gives iiavBp vSup Kudapov " like pure water," as though the
original had been Cd^dd.

Ver. IQ. As waters passed by — .] The preterite tense, and not
the present j " As a calamity that is completely over, that is gone by.
that no longer leaves any impression, and can no more return than
the preterlapsed current."

Ver.

Chap.XI. 17, 18. NOTES.' 133

Ver. 17. — shall the time be — ] " The time or period of thy pro-
sperity." ibn, not " thine age," as in our common version. Reiske
supposes l!?n to be used for "i^^Tt, or jj^e*- potentia tua, " thy
power," or else for cJ.iUs»- magnificentia tua, '^ thy grandeur:"
but there is no necessity for this variation from the common reading.
The term moreover is indefinite, and does not require a supply of
the pronoun. jEvumfelicius, vs^hicJi is the rendering of Schultens,
though paraphrastic, gives us a truer meaning.

Ver, 17- — thou shalt grow vigorous^ In our common version
"Thou shalt be 5" tlie primary meaning of nTi, however, is not that
of simple being, but of strength, vigour, perfect life, as opposed to
dissolution: whence, as a verb, it implies, almost constantly, " to be-
come strong and vigorous," " to recover strength and vigour (says
Parkhurst) after faintness, weakness, or sickness." See his Lexicon,
art. XVn. 11. Who does not perceive the fitness and elegance of the
term, as used in such a sense, upon such an occasion ? It is probable
the Psalmist had his eye turned towards it in composing Ps. xix. 4, 5 :
it at least oflfers a full explanation :

In them hath he pitched a tabernacle for the sun.
Who, like a bridegrooni, cometh forth from his chamber.
Rejoicing, as a giant, to run his race.
The passage, however, is given veiy differently by different com-
mentators; for the Hebrew nSi^n, "fhou shalt shine forth," will admit
of various renderings. It is needless to follow them : our common
version is by far the clearest, and, if I mistake not, the most correct.
I will only observe, that Schultens has it, " caligine vertiginosd la-
lores; ut aurora eris ;" not widely different from Arias Montanus.

' Ver. 18. — for substantial the support. '\ In our common version,
" For there is hope :" mpn ty^ '•5. Upon which I'beg leave to ob-
serve, that ty is here used not as a verb Impersonal, there is, but as
a noun, in which sense it means '" existence, substance, or real, sub'-
slantial, permanent." nip implies " to stretch out or tend towards,"
whence its derivatives denote " thread, or cord, stretched out and
twisted together :" and hence again, " a stay, or cord to lay hold
on by way of support ; the stays of a ship ; support itself 3 longing,
hope, expectation, confidence." Reiske, in his translation of this
passage, has endeavoured to preserve the first of the deri^'ative
meanings, " Pronus in faciem corrueris, ecce ! hie est funis, quo

prehenso

134 NOTES. Chap. XI. 18, 19.

prehenso resurgas:" " Shouldst thou fall prostrate, lo! here is the
cord," i. e. " catching at which thou mayst rise." But this is para-
phrase: nor is there any occasion for rendering nnton " shouldst thou
fall prostrate;" the common version being clearer, and equally
correct.

Ver. 18. — yea, thou shalt look around^ The verb here em-
ployed;, ^an, means " to delve, fathom or penetrate," whether
literally or metaphorically. Our common version understands it, in
the present instance, in the former sense, and hence has it " thou
shalt dig about thee ;" but the meaning is in no respect obvious,
not even with the rendering of Schultens, which is altogether para-
phrastic, " Et molli ad fodiendum terra gaudens secure recubabis ;"
" Thou shalt safely repose, rejoicing to dig the boon earth." Under-
stood in its metaphorical sense, the idea is precise and harmonious,
" Thou shalt scrutinize on every side, and shalt be convinced of thy
security." In this sense the term is used by the same writer,
ch, xxxix. 29. where, speaking of the eagle perched on the crag of a
rock, he says.

And thence espieth she ravin :

Her eyes trace the prey afar off.
In which passage IGH, " espieth she," or " looketh she around for,"
is in the Septuagint rendered ^tei, " searcheth she;" and by St.
Jerom, contemplatur , " pondereth, " looketh attentively." In
Deut. i. 22. as also in Josh. ii. 2, 3. the same Hebrew term is em-
ployed in the same tense, and so rendered generally. The Chaldee
paraphrase encourages as a rendering, " Thou shalt penetrate or sink
into thy grave, and shalt sleep securely;" and the idea has been in-
cautiously adopted by many translators. Had this however been
intended, the wording should have been Dib marri, instead of mcrrt
ntOll», a wording supported by no manuscript whatever.

Ver. 18. — in conjidence.'] h\D^b implies rather in confidence, than
simply in safety, as usually rendered : for the radical verb denotes
" to trust, to rely upon;" and the derivative noun, "trust, ox conji'
dence," in its common acceptation.

Ver. 19. — and without fear '\ Generally rendered, " And none
shall make thee afraid," mnn f^l. But j>« is here a preposition,
signifying " without,'' a% in Exod. xxi. 11. and not a noun ; while
I^IHD is a noun, denoting ** fear," and not a verb: at the same time

that

Chap. XI. 20. NOTES. 135

that there is no pronoun^ nor is it necessary that there should be^
even in a version.

Ver. 20. But the doublings of the wicked — .] I cannot concede
that ''1''^ should here mean eyes, as commonly rendered "But the
eyes of the wicked — ." HJi? implies, primarily, " reaction, reversion,
replication/' and hence " foldings, and doublings;" it secondarily
denotes " reply or answer," as a return or reaction to a prior speech j
and still more remotely " the eye," from its returning or reflecting
the images presented to it. The idea immediately alluded to is,
*' the stratagems, or devices, the doublings, or windings of the
wicked," by which they hope to elude the pursuit of justice, as a
beast of prey, when chased, hopes to elude the huntsmen. The full
sense is given in the following couplet of Swift :

*' So keen thy hunters, and thy scent so strong.
Thy turtis and doublings cannot save thee long."
In perfect coincidence, the text adds in the ensuing line.
Yea, they shall not escape.

Ver. 20. — a scattered breathJ] Wtii HQa. In which, nSD, from
ns, " to expand, dilate, or scatter abroad," implies, necessarily, " scat-
tered or dissipated." lyQi is here rather " breath or vapour" than
" soul or spirit ;" and is well rendered by Dr. Stock,
" And for their hope, it is a puff' of breath."

CHAP. XII.

Ver, 2. And wisdom shall die with yourselves /] Reminding the
classical reader of that exquisite couplet of Moschus, in which he •
laments the death of Bion, Id. F.

''Orrt Btwj' riOvaKev 6 /3<k)/co'\oc, orn avv avr^

Kai TO fiiXog redvaKt, Kal uXero Aw^otc doiSd,

Bion, the swain, and all, with him, is dead;

Song lives no more, the Doric Muse is fled.
To which I am certain of being excused for adding, after Schultens,
the following from the Philoctetes of Sophocles :

'H yap ^vcrcfisia (TvydvyjaKsi j3porols'

K^v ^w'fft, K^v Qavuaiv, ovk diroXXvrai.

But Piety, whate'er to man arrives.
Lives he, or dies he, still on earth survives,

Ver.

136 NOTES. Chap.XIT. 3;

Ver. 3. — do I yield — .] Such is the general meaning of the verb
b^i, which imphes " to fall or yield," as in battle, or *' to fall down
or prostrate oneself," as in reverence: whence Schultens, " Nan
CECiDERiM ego a vobis." But I prefer the Tigurine version, which
I h'ave given with scarcely . ny variation : " Non cedo vobis in ulla
re." Reiske understands bai as a substantive, instead of a verb,
and hence renders the passage, " Ego non sum abortus, cadaver,
•n-Tufia, (TKvjlakov, pituila excreatitia, quisquiliae, prae vobis :" " I
am no refuse or offal in your presence."

Ver. 3. And with whom are not such sayings as these?"] This is
the direct renderings in which the Hebrew "nbt^ IDS, " such sayings
as these," unquestionably refers to the string of proverbs and pro-
verbial sayings with which the remainder of the chapter is filled,
and which are tauntingly quoted, to prove, first, that the speaker, to
adopt his own language, " has understanding as well as his com-
panions j" and secondly, to show that all their attacks upon him
consist of a series of common-place and thread-bare maxims,
that, however true in themselves, have no application to the case.
It is difficult to divide several of these from those that immediately
follow ; or to say where they begin, and where they ought to end :
though it is at the same time perfectly clear, that the whole is a mass
of separate and detached maxims, and ought to possess some division.
I have attempted it, by means of inverted commas, as well as I am
able. There is a pecuhar acumen and appropriation in the first two
or three.

" This view of the subject, however, is, for any thing I know to the
contrary, new ; but I trust it will be allowed to be correct ; and will
be found to give a peculiar force and connection to the beginning
of the ensuing chapter, where the speaker, breaking off his quota-
tions, returns to his companions, and continues the expostulation
with which the present chapter commences. The common render-
ingj " Quis nescit omnia kcec ?" " irho knoiveth 7iot such things as
these?" is unitormiy referred, but, as far as I can perceive, wirhout
any meaning, to the preceding verse, or the prior part of the present
verse, both which contain a declaration, not of things or facts, but of
mere opinions.

The method is common to the ethical poets of the East, and even
to many who can hardly range under this character. Most of the
pastorals of the Moallakat offer instances of it. Thus Zohair

concludes

Chap. XII. 4. NOTES. 13/

concludes the third of these seven poems with a string of very ex-
cellent apophthegms ; of which the following, as translated by Sir
W. Jones, are a few, and are well worthy of being copied : ,

"Experience has taught me the events of this day and yester-
day ; but as to the events of to-morrow, I confess my blindness.

" Half ot man is his tongue, and the other half is his heart : the
rest is only an image composed of blood and flesh.

" He who confers benefits on persons unworthy of them, changes
his praise to blame, and his joy to repentance.

" How many men dost thou see whose abundant merit is admired
when they are silent, but whose failings are discovered as soon
as they open their lips.

"An old man never grows wise after his folly 5 but when a youth
has acted foohshly, he may attain wisdom."

Ver. 4. Their brother is lecome a laughing-stock — .] There is cer-
tainly much difficulty in this and the two ensuing verses ; and hence
the reader must not be surprised at the very dift'erent versions which
have been offered by different commentators. The literal render-
ing of the first couplet, as the original te;^t is usually written, is as
follows :

A laughing-stock to his companions am I,

Calling upon God that he would succour him.

Here no reader can fail to observe the extreme incongruity of persons
of which it is compounded, nor to ask to whom the his and the him
refer. Schuhens, however, continues- it with all its incongruity,
and thinks it may be justified by its being regarded as a proverbial
phrase. Not so the editors of our national version, who have cir-
cuitously rendered it thus, " law as one mocked of his neighbour,
who calleth upon God, and he answereth him:" in which expla-
nation we have no grammatical error, but no relative application.
In Tyndal we meet with it as follows : " Thus he that calleth upon
God, and whom God heareth, is mocked of his neighbour :" but
this is paraphrase, and not translation. The earlier commentators are
equally doubtful, and equally distant from each other; nor is it ne-
cessary to quote them.

Reiske, dissatisfied, as well he may be, with every effort, plunges,
till he completely loses himself, into the stream of conjecture. He
contends, that v. 3. has no connexion with v. 2. and that v. II,

and

138 NOTES. Chap. XII. 4.

and 12, should be introduced between them. He makes a very
slight but highly beneficial change in the common reading of v. 4.
changes more than half the common reading of v. 5. and even then
maintains that its true position should be immediately after v. 21.
to which place he transfers it. Throughout all this, I can only con-
sent to follow him in making a slight alteration in two letters that
are often mistaken for each other in copying, and thus changing
«1j? n^rrw, in v. 4, as it commonly stands, to «1|7M inw ; by which
we obtain a grammatical concordance of persons, and a more clear
and definite meaning ; and shall then have to read, as in the version
now offered, "^A laughing-stock to his companions is their brother ;'
instead of, as it can only be literally translated in the common
reading, " A laughing-stock to his (or their) companions am I,
calling upon God, &c,"

Ver. 4. — to the proud.'] In the Hebrew, T'QIj ; which word, how-
ever, and in a diiFerent signification, is made the commencement of
a new period, as well as of a new verse, in all the translations with
which I am acquainted. A valuable conjecture of Reiske has led
me to the present reading and punctuation ; and has shown clearly,
from the explicitness of the sense thus obtained, that ^''th should,
close the paragraph in v. 4, instead of commencing a new para-
graph in V. 5. Without this arrangement, all is confusion j and
hence innumerable conjectures have been hazarded as to the meaning
of the poet, and almost as inany different versions offered, equally
irrelevant and unsatisfactory. Generally speaking, T'Q^ has been
translated, by those who make it commence a new sentence in v. 5,
"a lamp, or torch." Thus, in our common version, "He that is
ready to slip with his feet, is as a lamp despised in the thought of
him that is at ease ;" the whole of which is drawn from the Latin
renderings of Junius and Tremellius, and of Piscator. In this inter-
pretation, however, the collocation of the original couplet is com-
pletely inverted, and, after all, the meaning is by no means explicit
or satisfactory. Whence Mr, Parkhurst offers the following ren-
dering : " A torch of conten;pt (or a contemptible link) to the
splendours of the prosperous is he who is ready to slip with his
feetj" thus maintaining the usual punctuation, but restoring the
sentence to its verbal order, and translating mnu^i? by the term
splendours; a far better rendering than thought or thoughts, as in our
established lection. See his Lexicon, art. timit; in which the reader

will

Chap. XII. 5. NOTES. 139

will find that the primary idea ot this term is stated (and justly so)
to be " radiance, brilliance, shining, glossiness :" on which account
I have preferred the sense of sunshine to any other, as more conge-
nial to our common mode of phrasing, while it meets in an equal
degree the meaning of the original.

There are other commentators who, by dividing the word T'b^
into two parts, a preposition 'and a noun, instead of regarding it as
a single term, translate it (from TiQ, calamilas, infortunium) cala-
mitati, or ad iifortunium : the former of which is the rendering of
Schultens, and the latter of Cocceius ; both of whom, moreover,
hold the ensuing term til (and properly) as a substantive, and not as
an adjective or participle ; as implying vilitas (which is Schultens's
interpretation) J or contumelia (which is that of Cocceius, and still
better), instead of contemptible, the expression used by Parkhurstj
ox despised, as it occurs in our common reading. Whence, in Coc-
ceius, the entire passage runs as follows : " Ad calamitatem contu-
melia, apud nitelam tranquilli, parata est vacillantibus pede j" " A re-
proach or derision at calamity, amidst the splendour of the man
of ease, is in readiness for those who are slipping with their feet."
While Schultens gives it to us thus, " Calamitati vilitas adest apud
splendidam prosperiiafem securi ; percussio flagellans vacillantibus
pede:" " Contempt iv present for calamity amidst the splendid pro-
sperity of the secure; a scourging stroke for those who are slip-
ping with the feet." This, however, the reader will perceive, is, in
its whole extent, another and a very different meaning from any of
the preceding. I agree with both in regarding 111 as a substantive j
but see no reason for departing from the general use of "^th as a
single, instead of a compound term. Why Schultens has understood
Jl21 in the sense here rendered, " a scourging stroke," I shall ex-
plain presently.

Ver. 5. — a derision — ] In our common version ni is regarded as
an adjective, or participle, and hence rendered "despised," instead
of "a despisal, or derision." See the preceding Note.

Ver. 5. — the sunshine of the prosperous.'] See the Note preceding
the last : to which I have only to add, that the Hebrew pKty not
only implies a person or persons at ease, as in our common version,
but " the prosperous," " the successful," " those who have the
means of enjoying ease ;" and appears to be more properly rendered

by

140 NOTES. Ghap;XII. 6.

by the first, than in ■any other sense. Mr, Parkhurst, as I have al-
ready observed, has anticipated me in giving it this sense, and I
cordially coincide in his version.

In few words, then, the text of ver, 4 and 5, which is usually
given and pointed as tlie first of the two following forms, should be
given and pointed as the last, which I here add by way of con-
trast, as I have already translated it in the text.

COMMON READING.

n>n« ")n;i?ib pnm 4

4 Ludibrium socio suo, existo,
Invocam deum, et respondet illi ;
Ludibrium Justus, perfectus.

5 Lampas contempta est cogitationi paeati
Paratus ad nutationem pedis.

PROPOSED READING.

iri« ini?^!? pr\m 4

4 Ludibrium socio suo frater ejus,
Invocans deum, ut respondeat illi ;
Ludibrium Justus, perfectus, superbo:

5 Irrisio, apud splendorem secundi,
Paratus ad nutationem pedis.

Ver. 6. The tents of plunderers, &c, — ] This appears to be the
commencement of another of those proverbial sayings referred to in
ver. 3 ; and so commonly known as to induce the afflicted reciter to
exclaim, " With whom are not such sayings as these ?" Like the two
preceding, it is admirably intioduced, and is designed to prove to his
companions that their suspicions of his uprightness and piety are
altogether without foundation : that they know nothing of the myste-
rious ways of the Almighty, who, instead of constantly rewarding
the good and punishing the wicked, appears, in many instances, and

even

Chap.XII. 6,7. NOTES. 141

even to a proverb, to proteet the public robber, and the blasphemers
of his own name.

Ver. 6. Of him who hath created all these things with his hand.l
So Reiske, " Deum qui produxit haec omnia mauu sua." The
supposed difficulty results from the common error of reading m^K
for T}bn ,' Deum, God, instead of hcec, ista, or these things ; an error
made and copied with the utmost periinacity by transcribers ; and
from a perpetuity and general adoption of which, nobody has
hitherto been able to translate, but merely to paraphrase the text :
whence we have been overloaded with circuitous renderings, dif-
fering in kind, and agreeing alone in being equally inexplicit and
unsatisfactory. Perhaps, throughout the whole book of Job, there
is not a passage that has been more diversely rendered, and from
this mere superfluity of a single letter. Our established version is
chiefly copied from St, Jerom, but with the addition of the ex-
planatory word abundantly, which does not occur in the Vul-
gate : while in Arias Montanus it is " Quia adduxit Deum in
manu sua," which I do not profess to understand ; in the Arabic,
which is certainly sense, though not the sense of the original,

cJblks- C)J cJfJUwj <d)T ^ (♦ J*>' e^-J^ " Qi^i^ I^eus non
est in cordibus eorum," " Because, God is not in their hearts:" in
like manner the Syriac. Piscator gives it, " Adducit Deus ut eveniat
optatum ad manum," '' God concedeth, that what is wished for
should come to hand :" Tyndal, " Yee, God geveth all things rychely
wyth hys owne : Schultens, " Cuique, qui adducit Numen in manu
sua," which is nearly a copy of Arias Montanus, and as little intelligible.
I shall close with observing, that " he who" is the common rendering
of 1t2^N, and consequently " of him ivho," the common rendering of
"ityt*^ ; and that it is clear, from ver. g of the present chapter, that
the expression "with Ms hand" refers to the Almighty, and to no
one else, where the same phrase is iterated agreeably to the genuine
spirit of Eastern poetr}^.

Ver. 7- yigain : — Go ask the beasts, &:c.] The speaker here
introduces a third of those proverbial sayings, which he asserts to
have been n every man's mouth. So Solomon, upon another
occasion, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, and be wise." Ii is as
though he had said, " Why tell ye me that the Almighty ha'ib. brought
this calamity upon me? — every thing in nature— the beasts of the

field,,

142 NOTES. Chap. XII. n, 12.

field, the fowls of heaven, every inhabitant of earth and sea,
and every thing that befals them, are the work of his hands, and
every thing feek-and acknowledges him to be the universal Creator
and controller. It is the common doctrine of all nature . but to apply
it as ye would apply it to me, and to assert that I am suffering for
being guilty of hypocrisy, is equally impertinent and impious. He
ordaineth every thing in wisdom, as well as in power ; but why events
happen as they happen, why good and evil are promiscuously
scattered throughout nature or human life, ye are as ignorant of as
myself" The direct meaning of the Hebrew b^Vit d!?1«1 is as given
above : Again : — " Go. — "

Ver. 11. Doth not the ear prove words?'] It is just as clear from
this and the subsequent verse, as it is from the close of ver. 3,
that the intermediate passages are proverbial ; that, like the beautiful
quotations in ch. viii. 11 — 13, they were the sayings of the wise
men in earlier times, carefully treasured up in the heart, and
rehearsed from generation to generation. And it is also clear that
this couplet itselt was equally a proverb in common use, since it is
again quoted as such by Elihu, ch, xxiv. 3.

Ver. 12. Prove the wisdom of the Ancients.'] The word prove
(jhin) ought to be repeated in this verse from the preceding, or,
at least, ought to be understood ; so that the two verses may be
connected, and not unintelligibly separated in a manner that makes
it highly doubtful what either of them refers to ; and, as I have
already observed in a preceding Note, so as to induce some com-
mentators to believe that one, if not both, belong to some other
place, rather than to their present. I trust that, with this suggestion,
the sense will be perfectly clear. In the common reading, however, it
is very far from being so j and hence a variety of explanations and
interpretations, all differing from one another, have been offered, to
diminish its obscurity. Our common version is taken from St. Jerom j
but Piscator, Junius, and Tremelliusj among the earlier translators,
and Schultens and Grey among the moderns, make the expression
n)iiy>ty>3 " with the ancient," " or ancients," a term of reproach,
and apply it in this sense to the companions of Job, as follows,
either absolutely, or by way of question, " In decrepiiis," or " An
in decrepitis sapientia ?" " Wisdom, then, is with the superannuated,"
or, "Is wisdom with the superannuated ?" This, indeed, is one sense
of the term : but it also means " ancients," or those of former times,

or

Chap. XII. 15— 17. NOTES. 143

or possessed of the longevity of the first ages of the world ; as par-
ticularly referred to in ch. viii. 10. D'D^ 'Tib* is, literally, " longaevus"
''grandaevus," /nuKpofiiog, " long-lived }" and necessarily alludes to
that earlier period of the world in which the life of man extended
to its primitive duration, and had not yet been shortened ; the age
immediately after the flood, or, more probably, which preceded it.

Ver. 15. — and they cease.'] In the Hebrew, 1tyn''1, from Uf^,
" to flag or fail," ''to become torpid or inactive." I am at a loss to
determine why this expression should be so generally rendered, as it
has been, "And they dry up ■" since, at best, it can only be a re-
mote interpretation.

Ver. l6. — might and sufficiency.'] In the original, M^U^iri'' tiy j
a poetic expression for " sufficiency of might," " might, sufficient
or equal to every emergency." In most versions the clause is given
as though it were a literal repetition of the first clause in ver. 13.
The Hebrew scholar, however, will perceive that the terms are es-
sentially different : the word n^tyiD is a derivation from mty, to
equalize or make equal; and consequently implies equality, ade-
quacy, competency, or sufficiency, in the sense above offered, rather
than "wisdom," "security," or " substance,"wh\ch are the renderings
of St. Jerom, the Arabic translator, and Junius and Tremellius. It is
singular that in this instance the Arabic is given differently from the
Syriac, which it so uniformly follows : the first being oaic\^t

0 O ■> ! ■>■

.\xa\Q2iO i''"*-^ " Ipsius robur in lumbis eorum," " His is the
might of their loins," i. e. " their utmost vigour or power of

action;" and the second, ^^sUs-U \j:„.j^^\ <jJ "Ipsius magni-
ficentia et salus," " his grandeur and security."

Ver. l6. " The beguiled and the heguiler — .] It is highly pro-
bable that the speaker has a reference in this passage to himself,
and his unjustly suspicious friends, whose acrimonious charges had
at times beguiled him into expressions which he felt to be unbe-
coming and arrogant. The phrase "deceived and deceiver" does
not so well apply.

Ver. 17- '— counsellors he leadeth captive.] He leadeth them
bhw," as a prey or spoil:" so Aquila, Xa'^v^a, "a prey j" and the

Septuagint

144 NOTES. Chap. XII. 17— 19.

Septuagint still better, aly^fiaXurovg, " captive." Thus Tyndal, in
^er. 19. where the same term is repeated, " into captyvyle ;" though
in the verse before us he chuses to render it differently, " He ca-
ryethe the wise man as it were a spoyle."

Ver. 1 7. ■■ maketh distracted.'] In the common reading,
*'maketh fools;" this, however, is not the exact meaning of the
term bh'\'n"', which does not imply habitual want of understanding,
fatuity, or dotage, but rather " frenzy, intoxication, delirium 5"
from hhn, " to dance, exult, or be merry, to roar tumultuously, reel,
or stagger as with wine."

Ver. 18. The 'authority of kings he dissolveth."] " He dissipateth
their proud controul like vapour, and bindeth them, like slaves, to'^he
triumphal car of their enemies." Such appears tp be the meaning
of the present verse, which, thus interpreted, is clear and explicit,
it is difficult to understand the common rendering, " He looseth the
bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle." 1D« means
"^ to bind or restrain by the authority of laws or edicts ;" whence
1D1D may imply 'Maws, edicts, or decrees," or authority generally^
as well as the bond or restraint they produce : and if the word bond
be used in this sense, there can be no objection to it; and it is thus
used by Mercer, whose general meaning is precisely that now
oflered, " Vinculum regum solvit, et ligat cingulum ad lumbos
eorum ;" " He dissolveth the bond (restraint) of kings, and bindeth
the captives' girdle (for so he explains it) about their loins."

Ver. 19, — ministers. — ] l3''inD {cohanim), "chief officers of
the state, or of the priesthood." By some translators it is restricted
to the latter sense, especially by St. Jerom and Schultens. There
is nothing, however, to justify stich restriction.

Ver. 19, - — and prostrateth chieftains.'] So Dr. Stock:
- " And stout warriors he overthroweth."

But 1=1^0 does not mean so much " to overthrow" as " to pros-
trate, precipitate, or throw head foremost :" whence Schultens, " Et
perenni vigore prasditos agit praecipites ;" "And the men of unfailing
might he urgeth headlong." D'jn^W implies, as here rendered, " men
o/Twig^A^ or great physical strength j men of violence, or war ; stout

warriors.

Chap. XII. 20, 21. NOTES. 145

warriors, chieftains ;" in early ages selected to take the lead, on
account of their muscular make.

Ver. 20. He bewildereth^ 'T'Dn, from 'ID ''to turn aside from the
right path," " to lead astray," and hence " to bewilder." Reiske ren-
ders it synonymously with the Arabic . ^ya " to pervert, or make tor-
tuous"— "curvum et tortuosum perversumque faciens labium;" but
lewildereth is a better meaning.

Ver. 20. — of the trusty!] This will admit of two explana-
tions : " of the honest upright statesman," in whose advice the
people have been accustomed to trust ; or " of the eloquent and
experienced orator," who has been accustomed lo trust lo his own
powers. Dr. Stock, and I think with propriety, adhe; es to the
former interpretation ; Junius and Tremellius, as also Piscator, pre-
fer the latter; and hence, in both versions, we find ^he Hebrew
O^ia.Si!? rendered e/o^^wew^ instead oi trusty, which is ks literal mean-
ing,— ** amovet sermonem eloquentilusy Reiske moreover explains
it in the same manner, " Quorum verbis fides certa poterat et sole-
bat haberi."

Ver. 20. — of the elders.'] The term CipT seems, in the present
place, to imply something more than " of the aged," as it is com-
monly rendered ; and rather intimates, " the aged officially con-
vened in public council ;" whence it is rendered " of senators ," by .
Schultens and Dr. Stock : but elders, or eldermen, is a more general
term, and hence more extensively appropriate, as well as more con-
sonant with what ought ever to be the unaffected simplici^ty of biblical
language. Though the term senators includes the idea of age, it
includes it more remotely. In Gen. 1. 7- we have a similar use of
the term elders : for we are told, that " when Joseph went up into
the land of Canaan to bury his father, with him went all the ser-
vants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the
land of Egypt;" in other words, the chief officers of state, the
privy counsellors, and the entire senate or body of legislators, chosen
from the land or people,

Ver. 21. He poureth contempt iipon the nobles.] In the common
rendering, " upon princes ;" but the term D'-nn: implies, rather, men

k of

iiG NOTES. Chap.XII. 21, 22.

of rank ox high birth, generally, ihAn princes, and is perfsctly syn-
onymous with the Latin generosi. It is applied by Job to himself^ in
ch. XXX. 15. yet there is nothing to induce the supposition that the
patriarch was oi royal blood, in the proper meaning of this adjunct.
With respect to the exuberance of imagery Ln the general descrip-
tion before us, it is obvious, that, in the full desire he feels to contrast
the vanity and nothingness of man and of nature with the power
and supremacy of the Deity, the poet almost labours for examples,
and seems on the point of exhausting the fertility of his abundant
imagination. The classical reader can scarcely avoid comparing the
grand train of his observations with the following exquisite verses of
Lucretius, lib. V, ver. 1232.

Usque adeo res humanas Vis abdita qusedatn
Obterit ; et pulchros fasces, sasvasque secures,
Proculcare, ac ludibrio sibi habere, videtur.
So, from his awful shades, some Power unseen
O'erthrows all human greatness ! treads to dust
Rods, ensigns, crowns, — the proudest pomps of state,
And laughs at all the mockery of man.

Ver. 21. And unstringeth the girdle — .] Such is the literal ren-
dering. In our common version, " He weakeneth the strength:"
this is well paraphrased j but the paraphrase is unnecessary. In
Dr. Stock, it occurs nearly as in the present reading :
" And the girdle of the vigorous he unbindeth."
I am not sure that the expression, "of the stout-hearted, or vi-
gorous," " the compact, or close-built," might not be rendered " of
envoys," of those who are ready prepared and on the point of being
despatched upon affiiirs of state. The Hebrew CD''p'E3« implies
"compact," " packed up," " fully prepared, or ready." It is derived
from p5N, " to force, squeeze, constrain, or pack up in a small
compass :" whence Schultens, not inappositely, renders the passage
cingulum promptissimorum, " the girdle of the perfectly prepared or
ready :" yet I rather chuse to give it the general meaning, and to
regard it as expressive of the stout robust yeomanry of a country, in
contrast with its nobles.

Ver. 22. Arid draggeth the death-shade — .] The author of the
poem discovers a great partiality for this figure : the reader can
scarcely fail to recollect its occurrence in ch. x. 21, 22, In the

present

CiiAP.XII. 23. NOTES. 147

present instance, however, it appears to be used in a different sense^.
and to allude, in characteristic imagery, to the dark and recondite
plots, the deep and desperate designs, of traitors and conspirators, or
other state- villains : tor it should be observed, that the entire passage
has a reference to the machinery of a regular and political govern-
ment j and that its general drift is to imprint upi n the mind ot the
hearer the important doctrine, that the whole of the constituent prin-
ciples of such a government, its officers and institutions, its mon-
arch and princes, its privy-councillors, judges, and ministers of statej
its chiettains, public orators, and assembly of elders ; its nobles, or
men of hereditary rank ; and its stout, robust peas nt;y, as we should
express it in the present day ; r.ay, the deep, designing villains that
plot in secret its destruction, — that rhe nations themselves, and the
heads or sovereigns of the nations, are all and equally in the hands
of the Almighty ; that, with him, human pomp is poverty, human
excellence turpitude, human judgment error, human wisdom folly,
human dignities contempt, human strength weakness.

Ver. 23. He lettetJi the nations grow licentious — ] The Hebrew
term «''JU;d is usually rendered "he increaseth," instead of " he
letteth grow licentious." In reahty, it implies both senses j for the pri-
mary meaning of i4Jtl^, very nearly if not altogether synonymous with
mm, is " to grow luxuriant or rampant," and hence " to increase,
run wild, go astray, or err." In the common rendering, the latter
clause of the verse is a mere repetition of the idea contained in the
former : by the present, two opposite ideas are contrasted with each
other. Few expositors, indeed, have been satisfied with the usual
rendering ; and hence Reiske has taken some pains to amend (as he
calls it) the verse, in what he conceives to be two literal errors ; and

o

has translated the term now before us, from the Arabic j_j^,^\A>^ or
f^jJjM^, dolere faciens, " making the nations lament." I see no

necessity, however, either for his literal corrections, or for imposing
this sense upon the verb MJt2^, for which there is no authority in the
Hebrew.

Ver. 23. — and giveth them quiet ^ In the original, Oni'n ; which
is usually, but improperly, derived from l^i^ signifying to
*' squeeze," " press," or " oppress 5" whence our common version,

k1 " And

MS NOTES. Chap. XII. 24, 25«

" And stiaitneth thfem again ;" while Schultens renders it " In angu-
lum removet," " He driveth them into a corner." The real root of
the verb is Hi, " to rest," " settle," or " be at ease j" whence it is
rendered by Reiske, but paraphrastically, " Et consolans eas" "^ And
coraforteth them." Dr. Stock has followed the same derivation in
I his instance ; and his translation of the entire couplet is thus :

** He maketh nations spread, and destroyeth them ;
He stretcheth out nations, and layeth them to rest."

Ver. 24. He lewildereth the judgment — ] In our established ver-
sion, " He taketh away the heart." In ver. 20, I have already ren-
dered "V'D'O " he bewildereth," and there is no reason for changing
the sense in the present instance, lb will undoubtedly mean the
heart, as well as the understanding or judgment, qualities which
were formerly ascribed to this organ. In modern days, however,
we have transferred these qualities to the head ; and have given
courage to the heart, in their room. On this account it is better to
translate the quality, than the organ referred to.

Ver. 15. They grope about in darkness.'} So the same writer,
(if Moses be indeed the writer, as I trust the introductory Dis-
sertation has sufficiently established, from internal evidence,) in
Deut. xxviii. 28, 2g.

The Lord shall smite thee with madness,

And blindness, and astonishment of heart.

And thou shalt grope at noon-day as the blind gropeth in darkness ;

And thou shalt not prosper in thy ways.

Ver. 25.— even without a glimpse.'] Such is, probably, the true
rendering of lii^ s^bl in the present place; for the Hebrew IK im-
plies light only secondarily, from its quick vibratory j^oe^*, its succes-
sive glimpses or coruscations; the term being primarily applied
to a stream, ox flow of water.

In perusing this chapter carefully, the reader will perceive that
various parts of its bold and spirited imagery have been copied by
subsequent poets ainong the Hebrews. The writer of Ps. cvii. has
been largely indebted to it, as the following passages may evince :

T. 27. They reel and stagger Uke the di-unhard.
40. He poureth contempt upon princes ;

Jnd causeth them to wander in a pathless desert.

Chap. XIII. 1—4. NOTES. 14Q

CHAP. XIII.

Ver. 1 . Lo ! all this — ] The exprobratory address commenced at
the beginning of the preceding chapter is here reverted to. See
the Note on ch. xii. 1.

Ver. 3. But, would that I could— 1 In the original '•i^ d!?1«, whence
Reiske, "Annan et ego — " : but Dr. Stock, still better in my opinion,
" Would I might speak out to the Almighty ! " D^IS is a particle of
very general use, and employed in very different senses : 1. Affirma-
tively, it denotes " truly," " surely," " daubtless ;" and this is its
common rendering in the passage before us, but I think an erroneous
rendering. 2. Interjectively, it implies " Oh ! that — " " would
that — " consistently with the sense offered in the present text.
3. Exclamatively, it denotes "How!" "what!" "how much!"
"to what degree! "3 and this appears to be its meaning in the
opening of the ensuing verse, in which the same term is repeated ;
but which in our common lection is rendered in conjunction with 1
causatively ; and hence, still diff(?rently from either of these signili-
cations, " For ye are forgers, &c." instead of " For what forgers
are ye — ," or " For how much are ye forgers — ."

Ver. 3. That I could direct the argument to God!'] Commonly
rendered, " And I desire to reason with God." In this place, how-
ever, niin is rather a substantive than a verb ; " the argument," or
" train of reasoning," rather than "to reason." ^'Qn denotes gene-
rally to " bend," " incline," or " direct," and will apply to eith.er
sense. Reiske, from the Arabic j^is..! explains it, "Argumentationem
adversus Deum colligam" — " I will collect, or muster, the argument
against God :" but the explanation is not justified by tlie context.

Ver. 4. For what forgers of fallacies— 1 C=)bl«1 (ve-ulam) appears
clearly in this place to mean, exclamatively, " For what — !" See the
last Note but one. bt^iD means equally " to forge, or work out a thing,"
and "to catenate, string, or sew together ;" whence Dr. Stock, not
inaptly, renders the expression ^pm ""bsto " stringers of lies," instead
of " forgers of lies," as in our common reading ; while Tyndal, with
equal truth, translates it " work-masters of lies." Yet Ipty, in the
present instance, means sophisms or fallacies, rather than /i« gene-
rally j "false, insidious reasonings," "arguments perverted inten-

tionally."

Ver. 4.

150 NOTES. Chap. XIII. 4, 5.

Ver. 4. Fabricators of emptiness^ "Builders up of inanity;" in
our own idiom, " builders of castles in the air." The imagery is thus
continued, and admirably heightened : " The whole train of your
disputation is folly 5 and even this not of your own invention, but
the folly or logical absurdity of other sophists, merely once more
brought forward, re-edited, re-tramed, or re-fabricated, by your-
selves." t^a'n, whence the term ''«B1 before us, implies " to build, or

/ re-build ; to frame, or fabricate ;" " to restore," " repair." It hence
implies, secondarily, " to restore," " rebuild," or " renovate the
human frame;" " to heal," or " cure ;" and thus ""i^QI also implies,

' but in a subordinate sense, "physicians," "practitioners of the
healing art;" in which signification the term is understood, but I
think with a very wide and unnecessary change of imagery, by the
greater number of translators, lleiske, with an inclination towards

_ i s.

the direct rendering of the present text, offers ( J.!il U^\j) inter-
polator es erroris vel stultitice, " interpolators, counterfeiters or forgers
of error or folly." Schultens gives us " consutores nihili," "sewers,"
'' stitchers together" or " menders of nottiing."

Ver. 5. This would, indeed, be — ] Or, " Truly this would be — ."
So Schultens, " Quod quidem, &c." in the original, »nm. — " As
wisdom" i.e. "as it were wisdom:'" in the original, noDh^: this is
by no means an uncommon rendering of h : thus Josh. vii. 7- "The
hearts of the people melted and became as water." Solomon is
supposed by all the interpreters to have been indebted to the
present sarcasm for the well- known apophthegm, Prov. xvii. 28.

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is accounted wise ;

While shutting his lips, a man of understanding.
To th6 same etlect the following proverbial tetrastich of great beauty
and elegance :

Keep silence, tlien, — nor speak, but when besought j
Who listens long, grows tired of what is told :

With tones of sih cr though thy tongue be fraught.
Know this— that silence, of itself, is gol4.

Ver. 6.

Chap.XIII. 6— 12. NOTES. 15 1

Ver. 6. — the fulness of — ] In the original, niil ; from nil, "to
multiply, or exuberate, to become full, or redundant j" whence
Reiske translates the term exundantiam.

Ver, 7- Behold, ye would talk wrongfully — .] This severe and
powerful address does not appear to have been properly entered into
by any of the commentators. There is a peculiar force in the dif-
ferent particles in the original, with which most of the lines begin,
n, t3S<, 1, "behold," " therefore," "yea," "forsooth 3" which have
been but little attended to, but are in a great degree necessary to the
connection or explanation of the general strain of rebuke, and
which I have hence endeavoured to preserve.

Ver. 9, — with the beguiling of man — .] So Tyndal, " Thynke
ye to begyle him as a man is begyled ?" The proper idea is caught
hold of, though given in a form and latitude of interpretation incon-
sistent with strict rendering. In Dr. Stock it occurs thus :
" As one wheedleth a mortal, will ye wheedle him ?"

Ver. 10. For dissemblingly — ] The Hebrew C3« is here a cau-
sative and not a conditional particle, though commonly understood
in the latter sense, and cansequently rendered if, instead of for. It
is rendered in the same causative manner Ezek. xxxv. 6. and else-
where, iriDS, "secretly in a bad sense, covertly, disguisedly, dissem-
llingly, or hypocritically ;" whence Mercer, " per hypocrisin ;'" and
Schultens, " sub velo specioso.''

Ver. 11. — overpower you."] In our common version, "fall upon
you :" but the Hebrew bii'' means something more than to fall upon,
— " to fall upon, like a rock or a mill-stone ;" and hence, to crush
to pieces : whence nbs implies a mill-stone, from its peculiar use
and power.

Ver, 12. Dust are your stored-up sayings."] The original will ad-
mit of various renderings. Our common version is derived from
Junius and Tremellius, who scarcely differ from St. Jerom, " Your
remembrances are like unto ashes ;" but it affords no satisfactory
meaning : and hence almost every other translator or interpreter ha
understood by ''i'lit (remembrances), memoranda, memorabilia,
" things stored up, or committed to memory;" whence Arias Mon-
tanus, " Memoriae vestrae^ parabolae cineris j" or, in the words of
Dr. Stock,

" Your memorandums are maxims of dust."

This

152 NOTES. Chap. XIII. 12--14

This is nearly, if not altogether correct. It appears to me, however,
that ''I'iSJ is, in the present place, rather an adjective than a substan-
tive, and implies " recollected,"' " stored-up," "remembered," rather
i\\ai\memoranda, recollections, or remembrances ; and, consequently,
that "bwri D^^li'iS? implies rather "Your recollected or stored-up
sayings, or maxims are — ," than " Your remembrances or memo-
randums are sayings or maxims of — ." So Schultens, " Sententice
vestrce viemorabiles," "Your memorable aphorisms, or maxims." In
vernacular language, it would be, " The sayings you have at heart are
mere trash."

Ver. 12. Your collections, collections of mire.'] There can be no
doubt that DJ, in the present place, implies " collectio?is or accumu-
lalions," in some sense or other j and there can be as little doubt
that its immediate sense is pointed out by the preceding member of
the verse. Your collectanea, as Dr. Stock observes, would be, per-
haps, the modish phrase ; whence his own version is,
" Heaps of mire your heaps ofreyncn-ks ."
while Mr. 'Parkhurst, but I think less correctly, renders it your
"heaps of words ," yo\xx "high-flown discourses." The original
makes no mention either oi words or remarks: it is, " heaps," "col-
lections," or " gatherings," alone ; and merely refers to the collec-
tions, or gatherings, or bodies, as our common version has it, of the
proverbial and recollected sayings referred to in the preceding part
of the verse. This is quite in unison with the drift of the speech in
its opening, ch.xii. 1. and following ; in which the speaker ridicules
in like manner the popular aphorisms of his friends, as applied to
himself, and opposes them by others of closer validity and appro-
priation.

Ver. 13. — / will — .] The original is peculiarly emphatic, in con-
sequence of this repetition, — a repetition that has seldom been at-
tended to by the commentators.

Ver. 14. Let what may — .] •: rro h)i. It is a verbal repetition
from the preceding verse, and, like the preceding "I will," an ana-
phora of considerable force, though neglected by translators in
general ; who, overlooking the rhetorical figure, have not known
what to do with the words. Hence our common version renders
them " wherefore,'' consistently with the "propter quid" of Arias

Montanus,

Chap. Xm. 14. NOTES. 153

Montanus, the "" quare" of the Vulgate^ and the " quamobrem"
of Piscator. Schultens is nearer the mark, but his rendering is a
paraphrase rather than a Uteral version : " Superquoque tandem
eventu," "Yet in every event j" which is equal, however, to
*' Let what may, — " though the beauty of the iterative figure is
lost. Reiske proposes that the terms be either dropped altogether
as superfluous, or united to the jireceding part of the couplet thus:
•: riD b)} na 'b:) "inri •= ''i«

I will — let what may, upon what may, come upon me.

This is ingenious : but I trust the present version will sufficiently
show that there is no occasion for changing the usual order of the
reading or punctuation 5 much less for suppressing any part of the text.

Ver. 14. / will carry my flesh — .] In the original, the fiiture
tense prevails throughout both images ; which were unquestionably
national or Oriental adages, to express a readiness to run into the
utmost degree of danger. The last is not unfrequently repeated in
the Sacred Writings : thus 1 Sam. xxviii. 21. "Behold, thy hand-
maid hath obeyed thy voice ; and / have put my life in my hand."
So also Judges xii. 3. The first is not dissimilar to the Arabic
A^4 ^jXz ats:;! " His flesh is upon the butcher's block." It is
probable that the idea of both is derived from the contest which so
frequently takes place between dogs or other carnivorous quadrupeds,
in consequence of one of them carrying a bone or piece of flesh in
his mouth, which instantly becomes a source of dispute, and a prize
to be fought for. The meaning of both is exactly parallel to that of
our own mode of phrasing : " I will stake my life upon the hazard
or success of it." Not widely ditterent the Germans, " Ich will
meine haut selbst zu markte bringen."

Ver. 15. / ivould not delay ^ The passage has been rendered
very variously. The true reading appears to be bxv\^ vb; which is
commonly rendered, either positively, " I will not hopej" or inter-
rogatively, " Shall I not hope?" To the former, Schultens, Grey, and
Dr. Stock incline : to the latter. Arias Montanus, Junius, and Tre-
mellius. Other commentators, apparently from an idea that tlie ex-
pression, if rendered positively, is altogether irreverent, have sup-
posed an error in the original text, and have introduced 1'" for «V,
" I will hope in him," for " I will not hope."

I must

154 NOTES. Chap. XIII. 14-17.

I must differ from all these renderings, though I cannot differ in
the reading from those who continue what appears to be the true
text, bVi'^H wb. Tlie verb b'n'' has various meanings 5 its more direct
and primary is, " to abide, tarry, delay, linger;" its secondary mean-
ing, " to linger for, long for, expect, or hope." Instead of the se-
cond, I understand the verb in its primary sense, " I would not
delay — ," " I would not cease or withhold."'

The interpretation of Reiske is still different, and is synonymous
with the Arabic, JUs^l i! and JjU-1 ^. " Proprie (says he) non
excogitabo strophas, quibus ipsum eiudam tantummodo ;" " I will
not hunt after subtilties, by which I might merely fly from or elude
him." But after the version now offered, there is, I think, no neces-
sity for such a paraphrase.

Ver. 15. I would still justify — .] JT'SIX ^X : In our common
version, "But I will maintain;" yet hDi means rather '^^ to act or
speak truly, justly, or righteously," *' to rectily," or " justify,"
than merely " to argue or maintain a cause, be its nature what it
may."

Ver. 16. But God .] Here again we meet with XIM (Hu),

which may either be regarded as a simple personal pronoun, or the
characteristic name of the Almighty. I have preferred the latter
sense J and upon the force of the term in this sense, see Note on
ch. viii. 19.

Ver. 16. The wicked alone — .] Or " Only the wicked — ," f]:in '•5,
The particle O is here clearly restrictive, and implies " only, alone,
or hut" in the same sense as in Exod. viii. 8. and various other
places. Why f]in should so commonly have been rendered hypo-
crite, I cannot tell; its real meaning, as a verb, is " to defile or pol-
lute" generally, as Mr. Parkhurst has judiciously observed: whence
the passage is thus rendered by Dr. Stock,

" For into his presence a worthless man shall not come."

Ver. 17. ^nd my declaration — .] The term T\^TM^ does not, I
believe, occur elsewhere, though its root mn is not uncommon.
Reiske supposes it to be an error of the copyists, and substitutes
nirii^l in the sense of niin«"i {\jb^y>^\^) ; translating the passage,
thus changed, " Et comprehendite ilium vestris aurihus ;" " and

comprehend

Chap. XIIT. 19,20. NOTES. 135

comprehend (consociate) it with your ears." There is no necessity
for a change of any kind j the passage is sufficiently clear as it is.

Ver. 19. — plead against we.] Literally, " at my side," i, e. as an
opponent ; the situation in which the plaintiff and defendant are
usually placed before the judge, even in the present day. So Tyn-
dal, " Who is he that will go to lawe with me ?"

Ver. 19. — and not hreathe^ The expression is highly forcible,
yet in perfect consonance with the phraseology of our own language.
In rendering the pas-age, almost uniformly, " 1 will be silent and
expire,'" or, as it is in our common version, " give up the ghost,'*
the translators show that they have not understood the real mean-
ing of i?1J in this place. Reiske comes nearest to the sense, " Aus-
cultabo hiante ore,'" " I will listen with wide-open mouth," as though
paniing for breath 3 but there is no necessity for such a circum-
locution.

Ver. 20, Yet, 0! vouchsafe unto me — .] It is astonishing to think
how seldom the real meaning and exquisite beauty of this passage
have been perceived : nor am I acquainted with any interpretator who
has hitherto ientered into them, except Reiske. I have rendered the
verse not only verbally, but in the verbal order of the original. The
word ^«, which as a substantive, denotes God, and as a particle,
no, not, is so clearly used in tlie former sense in the present in-
stance, that I am surprised it could ever have been understood
otherwise. Yet thus, with the single exception of Reiske, it has
been uniformly understood ; and the result is, that the translators have
not been able to agree upon the general meaning of the speaker j
whence, again, we have two senses offered, and in direct oppositioa
to each other. The one is that adopted by Dr. Stock,
" Only do not two things with me ;"

and the other that of our common version, " Only do thou two
things unto me ;" in which last version the word bb» is arbitrarily and
altogether suppressed, because in the sense of nb, or of a general ne-
gative, it appears incompatible with the context, and no other sense
suggested itself to the translators. The Syriac and Arabic, indeed,
offer us a sense different from either of the above, but, as it should
seem, altogether gratuitous and unauthorized : " Ne removeas a me,'
" Withdraw not thou from me."

Ver. 21,

156 NOTES. Chap. XTII. 21— 26.

Ver,21. Withdraw thy power.'] In the Syriac and Arabic,

we here meet with a negative interposed. Thus the former,

.»»\)o tOySi L VI -yi-*! " Withdraw not thou thy hand (or power)
from mej" which seems, however, to be a mere interpolation,
introduced equally unnecessarily and gratuitously.

Ver. 21. And let not thine awefulness — .] In the common text of
the original ^nct*, as here rendered ; but in a variety of Dr. Kenni-
cott's codices, ^DOK "thine arm-j" whence Dr. Stock renders the
passage thus :

" And thine elbow, let it not scare me ;"

with a quaintness that I suppose few subsequent interpreters will be
inclined to copy. It is of little consequence which is the true read-
ing, for the arm and the hand are both images of terror, as being
images of power; and it is highly probable, then, CD''« was originally
derived from tDt*. In reality, these variations between the MSS. and
the common text are frequent and reciprocal. Thus in Job xx. 25.
while the common text has Cr''aN, literally arms, twenty-seven of
the codices give us 0''n''«, terrors, awefulness.

Ver. 25. Wouldst thou demolish — .] In the Hebrew, y*11i*n,
" Wouldst thou shake violently" or " to destruction ?" The com-
mentators have generally understood it, however, in the sense of
^1i?in, " Wouldst thou break to pieces ?" and Reiske proposes to
correct the text by substituting the latter term for the former. — So
in the Gitagovinda of Jayadeva: "Wound me not again. Approach
me not in anger. Hold not in thine hand that shaft barbed with an
amra-flower ! Brace not thy bow, thou conqueror of the world ! Is
it valour to slay one who faints ? My heart is already pierced — ."

Ver. 26. Behold ! thou markest out — .] The Hebrew ^i is here
an exclamative rather than a causative particle, " Behold !" See Note
on ch. iii. 24. inD, in our common version, rendered " to write"
implies generally " to draw, design, or delineate," whether by li-
teral or other characters; and hence equally " to write," "sketch,"
or " engrave." n^niD is a derivative from fT^D, " bitterness," and
by its reduplication denotes bitterness in the superlative degree j
"grievous," "heavy," or " extreme bitterness."

Ver, 26.

Chap. XIII. 26—28. NOTES. 197

Ver. 2(5. And makes t me chargeable — .] '•Ity'Tini, from U>'V, " to
possess" or " succeed to, by entail or heirship." " Thou entailest
upon me," or " makest me possess by inheritance ■" — " Thou makest
me chargeable or encumbered," as an entailed estate with a load
that cannot be shaken off. St. Jerom seems to derive the term
from U?1, " to be impoverished, desolate, ruined ;" vv^hence his
rendering is " Et consumere me vis peccatis, &c." " And thou makest
me consume with the sins 3" or as the original should rather be ren-
dered in this sense of the term, " And thou makest the sins of my
youth to consume or destroy me." The rendering of Reiske is still
different : *' Eece ! inan, c— ^>io accumulas, super me coacervas
undecunque, corrosas, contumacias. Non tantii.n quae matura sctate
commisi, mihi imputas, sed etiam, ut exaggeres cumulum onerum
meorum, addis illi quae juvenis contumax, incon.sultus, disciplinae
impaciens feci." " BehoJd ! thou accumulatest, thou heapest upon me,
in every way, bitter offences. Not only dost thou impute to me
those which. I have committed in mature age, but, to exaggerate
the load of my sufferings, thou addest to them those which I ex-
hibited in giddy, headstrong, and impatient youth." I cannot ap-
prove of translating tyi'' "to heap up," or "accumulate." Dr.
Stock renders the passage thus :

" For thou settest down bitter charges against rae,
And makest me pay for the iniquities of my youth."

The psalmist Asaph has a passage containing a similar idea, and
which, perhaps, is a copy : Ps. Ixx. 8.

O remember not against us our former iniquities !

Ver. 27. Yea, thou put test my feet into clogs.'] The whole passage
refers to the proverbial comparison of a man, ungoverned by his
reason and a sense of duty, to 3 wild ass, or a wild-ass-colt, (upon
which see the Note on ch. xi. 12.) an animal difficult to be
tamed, and which it is necessary to clog in order to keep in sub-
jection ; and it seems probable, from the last member of the verse,
that some particular mark of ownership, or other quality, was usually
branded on the hoof, or perhaps indented on the shoes.

Ver. 28. IFell may he dissolve as corruption.] The abruptness
with which this part of the argument or address is introduced is
altogether in character with the natural feelings of the truly dignified
sufferer, perpetually borne away by a variety of contending passions,

which

158 NOTES. Chap. XIV. 1.

which alternately burst forth, and triumph over each other, and com-
municate a similar cast of features to every one of his speeches. The
chapter, indeed, in the ordinary division of the poem, terminates
most woefully for the general sense ; for it breaks oft' just at the
commencement of a new paragraph ; and hence an insurmountable
difficulty has been encountered by those who read the poem under
the usual division : and innumerable attempts have been devised to
extract a sense out of what, with the common unfortunate termi-
nation, is, after all, nothing better than utter confusion and nonsense.
Reiske proposes to sweep away the whole of the verses between the
present and ver. 25. so as to connect the present imagei-y with that
of the leaf and the stubble, and then to continue with the ensuing
chapter. Miss Smith transfers the verse to the place of the third in
the ensuing chapter, terminating the present chapter with v. TJ.
Dr. Stock retains it in its usual place, but translates the term «in, Ae,
by it, which he applies to the mark or brand in the preceding verse,
rendering it as follows :

" And this marli, as a rotten shred, shall grow old."
It is not easy to ascertain what peculiar sense was attached to the term
by our established translators, Schultens, and Grey, who follows him,
suppose the third person, Kin, he, or it, to be used by a poetic licence
for the first, "Surely must /dissolve j" and endeavour tojustify such an
opinion by a variety of parallel passages from other poets, both sacred
and profane, none of which, however, are in the smallest degree satis-
factory. The cause of the difficulty, is, I trust, clear, and the diffi-
culty itself, I hope, removed. The same cause, an incorrect division
into chapters, will be found, as we proceed, to give rise to several
similar difficulties, which equally give way by a reunion of the separate
parts. The reader may turn more especially to the opening of
ch. xxxvii. and the Note thereon.

CHAP. XIV.

Ver. 1. Few of days, and full of trouble^ The following forcible

lines of Lord Bacon, not only well known themselves, but from

their elegant Greek version by Farnaby, are worthy of being copied

on this occasion :

" The world's a bubble, and the life of man

Less than a span.

In his conception wretched, from the womb

So to the tomb.

" Curst

Chap. XIV. 4-7- NOTES. 150

" Curst from the cradle, and brought up to years,
With cares and fears.
Wlio then to frail mortality shall trust,
But limns the water, or but writes in dust."

Ver. 4. Ifho can become pure, and free from pollution?'] So Miss
Smith, who would be correct if she had not omitted the word jn*
" become," *' make to be," " give to be 3" in consequence of which
her rendering is,

" Who is there pure ?

Free from pollution ? Not one !"

Ver, 6. — and leave him. alone.'] Not, as it is commonly rendered,
" that he may rest." The expression is used impersonally. HrT'l, et
sinatur, " and let him be forborne," " let him be ceased from."

Ver. 7- There is, indeed, hope for the plant.] The comparison
introduced into v. 2. is here resumed, and with great force and beauty.
The passage may be thus turned into regiilar metre :

When falls the tree, hope still the fall survives ;
^ The fractur'd stock repullulates, and thrives.

Though sunk in years its root, its trunk in death.
Once let it scent the fountain's fragrant breath.
Its dormant spirit shall renew its power.
New tresses foliate, and ricw biidlets flower.
But man departs — exhausts life's little span,
Yields up his quivering breath — and where is man ?
The exquisitely tender and pathetic elegy on Bion, by Moschus,
contained in the third Idyl, must here recur to every scholar, in con-
sequence of its very striking parallelism :

AT 01", Tctt ^aXa^ai fiev sirdv Kara kutov 6\uvTai,
*H TO. •yXupd aeXtva, to, t nvQakcc, ovXov dyrjdoy,
"Yarepov aS i^worri, Kal eU eVoc dXXo (j>vovri'
"Ajujusg ^'o« fiEydXoi i:at icapTEpol ij fro<j>ol tivdpEr,^
Oirirore wpotrct ddyo)/j.£g, dvaKooi iv \dovl KoiXa
^vhofitQ eS judXa jxaKpov dTcpjLiova vrjypcrop vTrvov.
** The meanest herb Ave trample in the field.
Or in the garden nurture, when its leaf.
At Winter's touch, is blasted, and its place
Forgotten, soon its verval buds renews.
And, from short slumber, wakes to life again.
Man wakes no more ! — man, valiant, glorious, wise.
When death once chills him, sinks in sleep profound,
A long, unconscious, never-ending sleep." Gisborne.

The

160 N OT E S. Chap. XIV. 7-

The following of Jortin is singularly elegant and beautiful ; and
is, probably, a free copy either from the book of Job or from
Moschus :

Hei mihi ! le^e rata sol occidit atque resurgit,
Lunaque mutate reparat dispeiidia formae :
Sidera, purpurei telis extincta diei,
Rursus nocte vigent : humiles telluris alumni,
Graminis herba virens, et florum picta propago,
Quos crudelis hyems lethali tabe peredit ;
Cum Zephyri vox blanda vocat, rediitque sereni
Temperies anni, redivivo e cespite surgunt.
Nos, domini rerum ! nos, magna et pulchra minati !
Cum breve ver vitae, robustaque transiit aetas,
Deficimus ; neque nos ordo revolubilis auras
Reddit in aetherias, tumuli nee claiistra resolvit.

The reader may accept of the following version :

By punctual laws tbe sun ascends and sets ;
The waning moon new majesty begets ;
Slain by the javelins of the purple day.
The stars revive at midnight ; every spray.
Each blade of grass, the pictured race of flowers.
That, with fierce phang, the wintry wind devours.
When Spring returns, at Zephyr's kindling voice,
Peep from the greensward, and again rejoice.
We, lords of all ! we, big with bold emprise 1
When once the spring, the flower of manhood flies,
Sink — void of laws, to burst the marble tomb,
To ether call us, and with life relume.

Dr. Beattie had produced a similar copy, of equal excellence, in The
Minstrel, beginning thus,

" 'Tis night ; and the landscape is lovely no more, &c."
The reader may turn to it at his leisure.

The following is too important not to be quoted at length. It
constitutes a part of the Yajur Veda. The version is Sir W. Jones's:

" Since the tree, when felled, springs again, still fresher from the
root ; from what root springs mortal man, when felled by the hand
of death ?

" Say not he springs from seed: seed surely comes from the living.
A tree, no doubt, rises from seed, and after death has a visible
renewal.

" But

Chap.XIV. 9— 12. NOTES. 161

"But a tree which they have plucked up by the root, flourishes
individually no more. From what root, then, springs mortal man,
when felled by the hand of death ?

*' Say not he was born before : he is born : who can make him
spring again to birth ?".

Ver. 9. Through the fragrancy of water — ,] The original term,
here rendered fragrancy, tVI, is exquisite, and means the "fra-
grant exhalation,'' " the vital effluvium" of the reviving brook.
The Arabians still employ the same term ^j . to express the same

idea of breath, fragrance, or exhalation, indiscriminately.

Ver. 9. And put forth young shoots — .] The Hebrew T'lfp denotes
equally '^ young shoots or foliage," and "hair" or "tresses." And
hence St. Jerom has most poetically, as well as justly, rendered it,
" Et faciet comam quasi cum primum plantatum est," " And will
produce tresses, as when first planted." In which version he ap-
pears also to be correct in understanding ^05, usually rendered
" like," or " like as," in the sense of tnVD, " when" or " at the time
when" So Reiske, " Ut illo die quo plantahatvr." In this case
j?toi is necessarily to be regarded as a substantive, instead of as a
verb.

Ver. 10. — and moulderefh.'] ty^rfl, "^ dlssolVeth by corruption
or putrefaction," <pdiv£i, " marcescit" The Syriac version offers
the same sense.

Ver. 11. — with the tides.'] " Pass away and never return," but,
like mankind, are perpetually succeeded by new series that occupy
their place. W denotes " tides," " seasons," and " th'e sea," in con-
sequence of its flux and reflux by tides or seasons : but in the pre-
sent place it seems rather to refer to the former than the latter
sense, and aflfords a bold and highly appropriate image,

Ver. 11. — and the floods are exhausted and dried z^p.] He refers
to the exundation of the Nile, and other rivers that overflow pe-
riodically, of which an exquisite description is given ch. vi. 15 — 20.
See, too, the Note on that passage.

Ver. 12. So man lieth down, and riseth not.] The contemplation
of death under the image of sleep is common to poets in all ages,

I The

162 NOTES. Chap.XIV. 12.

The ScripUireSj both of the Old and New Testament, frequently

recur to it. Thus Moschus, Id. F. in a passage already referred to ;

tjucojue^ fj/ fidXa inai^poi^ drlpixova vrjypsTOv virvov.

A long, unconscious, never-ending sleep.
So Horace :

Nobis, cum semel occidit brevis lux,

Nox est perpetua una dormienda.

To us, wheh life's brief day has once declin'd.

One night, one sleep eternal, lurks behind.
Lucretius is full of the same simile. Thus, lib. iii. 1 100.

Nee prorsum, vitam ducundo, demimus hilum

Tempore de mortis ; nee delibrare valemus.

Quo minus esse diu possimus morte peremptei.

Proinde, licet quot vis vivendo condere secla,

Mors asterna tamen nihilo minus ilia manebit :

Nee minus ille diu jam non erit, ex hodierno

Luraine qui finem vitae fecit, et ille,

Mensibus atque annis qui multis obcidit ante.
E'en could we life elongate, we should ne'er

Subtract one moment from the reign of death.

Nor the deep slumber of the grave curtail.

O'er ages could we triumph — death alike

Remains eternal — nor of shorter date

To him who yesterday the light forsook,

Than him who died full many a year before.
The image, indeed, may be equally employed by those who are
ignorant of the doctrine of a resurrection, and those who know it
and believe it. And it has been a subject of dispute among the
commentators, whether Job, in the present place, refers to a definite
term in whieh a resurrection will take place, or denies it by the
strongest figure he could command. Yet I think the latter part of
the sentence, in v. 14, 15, is so strongly in favour of the former
©pinion, that no man can refuse his assent to it, who gives it the
attention it is entitled to : nor do I well know how a full persuasion
of such a belief could be more definitively drawn up. It appears
to me so strong, as to settle the question of itself, and without the
concurrence of other passages that might be called in to its aid.

Ver. 12. Till the heavens he dissolved — .] In Luther's version,
" so lange der himmel Lleihet,'' " while the heavens continue j" pro-
bably from St. Augustin, " usque quo coelum est."' A general dissolu-

tiOH

Chap. XIV. 12, 13. NOTES. , 163

tion of all things, an utter extinction of the system of nature, we know,
from other sources than the present, was a doctrine taught and be-
lieved in a very early period of the world ; and the Stoics and Epi-
cureans, who opposed each other on almost every other subject,
agreed upon this : whence Lucretius observes of the former, in
terms perfectly consentaneous with his own theory, tliat in order to
prevent this catastrophe from taking place before its due period,
lib, i, 1094,

supra circuit! tegere omni ccelum

Ne, volucri ritu flammarum, moenia mundi
Diffugiant subito magnum per inane, soiuta ;
Et, ne cjEtera consimili ratione sequaiitur .
Neve ruant cceli tonitralia templa superne,
Terraque se pedibus raptim subducat ; et omnes
Inter permixtas rerum coelique ruinas,
Corpora solventes, abeant per inane profundum :
Temporis ut puncto nihil exstet reliquiarum,
Desertum prater spatium, et primordia caeca.

' heaven, with bound sublime.

Encircles all things, lest the world's wide walls,
And all envelop'd, volatile as flame,
Burst every bond, and dissipate and die :
. Lest heaven in thunders perish, and below

The baseless earth forsake us, downward urged :
And, loose and lifeless, man's dissevering frame,
Mixt with the rushing wreck of earth and skies.
Waste through all space profound ; till nought remain.
Nought, in a moment, of all now survey'd.
But one blank void, one mass of seeds inert.

Ver. 12. No — noi — .] Such is the forcible language of the
original «^1 (ve-lo) ; concerning which ii should be remarked, that
"I (ve) is a negative particle in a negative proposition, in the same
manner as it is an affirmative particle in an affirmative proposition j
redoubling the strength in both cases. This has not beeri attended
to in the present instance, by any of the translators; and hence,
instead of " No — not — ," no (l) has'been entirely omitted, and we
have only had " nor, nee, or neque," for both terms. See the Note
on ch. i. 5.

Ver, 13. 0! that thou wouldst hide me! — "] The exquisite beauty
of this passage has not been sufficiently felt. The worn-out sufferer

/ 2 is.

164 NOTES. Chap. XIV. 14,15.

is, even to this moment, no petitioner for life : — he still looks forward
to the grave as his asylum, — and, even ages after ages, when the world
has approached its dissolution, and the dawn of the resurrection is
at hand, still he affirms that he shall have no desire to live — unless
he can live under the favour of his Creator, and free from the effects
of his indignation. When the graves of the dead are bursting open,
and the nations are arising to judgment, " even then hide me : —
O ! conceal me even then : — let me still sleep in the tomb — till thy
wrath have ceased." But the instinctive love of being, after all,
yet lingers in his heart : the idea of a resurrection yet touches him,
and animates him with hope ; and, in one of those inimitable trans-
itions from one passion to another, with which this poem, more than
any other, overflows, he seizes upon it, dwells upon it, and triumphs
in it — till at length he is again overcome by a sense of present pain,
and again relapses into the language of despondency.

The whole of this wonderful address may challenge all the odes,
and all the dramas that ever were written to exemplify the effect of
the passions, in any age, or in any country.

Ver. 14. Bui if a ma?i die — shall he, indeed, live again ?] The real
sense has'not hitherto been understood : and henqe, whilst the pas-
sage has been interpreted in a variety of ways, by different commen-
tators, it has been supposed by others, as it now stands, to be dis-
jointed from its proper situation. Among those of this last class, I
may meYition Reiske, who contends that it should immediately fol-
low ver. 12. There is no necessity, however, for such a change of
collocation ; the question, as rendered in the present version, is, I
trust, equally clear and appropriate. CD« is here used unquestionably
as a conditional particle, " though or lut" — " but should a man die,"
or " but if a man die," &c. ; and n, here translated, affirmatively,
" indeed," seems to have passed, in most of our common versions,
without any translation whatever.

Ver, 15. Thou wilt yearn — .] The original is highly expres-
sive : ^D5», " thou wilt become pale or wan with anxiety,"
*' thou wilt pine away with desire or longing." Dr. Stock has
thus rendered it with great judgment. Schultens, on the contrary,
appears altogether to have mistaken the sense, by giving it an oppo-
site meaning : " Operi manuum tuarum austero vultu immines,"
" Thou wilt hang with an austere countenance over the work of

thy,

Chap. XIV. 16, 17. NOTES. 163

thy hands:" thus understanding the Hebrew >^D5 to imply " wast-
ing, or emaciation from fretfulness or care, instead of from tender
solicitude or desire."

In the following distichs of Hafiz, conveyed in the mysticism of
the Sufis, we meet with an approach towards the same idea, and
certainly to the doctrine of a resurrection. I give them as translated
by Sir William Jones, (Works, vol. I. p. 454.)

" Shed, O Lord, from the land of heavenly guidance, one cheering shower,
before the moment when / must rise up like a particle of dry dust,

" The sum of our transactions in this universe is nothing : bring us the
wine of devotion : for the possessions of this world vanish.

" O the bliss of that day, when I shall depart from this desolate mansion ,
shall seek rest for my soul ; and shall follow the traces of my beloved."

Ver. l6. Yet now — .] In most versions, "^For now — •" accord-
ing to Reiske, " Ecce ! nunc," " Behold ! now." The particle ^5,
as I have frequently had occasion to remark already, possesses various
significations ; but that at present ofifered appears the most obvious.

Yer. 16. Thou overlookest nothing — ^] In the original, b)) "^mu^n nb ;
in our common version, " Dost thou not watch over ?" i. e. " look
over ;" — used in the sense of overlooking, or passijig ly, and not of
looking into. «V, however, is here again a noun, nothing rather
than not ; and is so rendered by Schultens, whose version I cannot
otherwise recommend, on account of its diffusenessj nor does it
indeed exactly convey the proper idea : " Quod nullius est momenti,
Themori mente servas mihi pro peccato ;" " Thou closetest up in memory
against me, as a sin, what is nothing of moment." In Reiske, the
passage occurs thus : *' Noli quceso : — noli olservare nieas lapsa-
tiones ;' " Be backward or unwilling to mark ray transgressions."
But it is obvious that this imperative (or rather optative) form as
much destroys all connexion with the preceding line, as the interro-
gatory form adopted in our common version,

Ver. 1 7. sealed up in a bundle, \

— thou tiest together. J

Thou takest especial care to secure them against the day of judg-
ment : as briefs, and other law documents, are tied and secured in a
bag or bundle, in courts of justice.

Ver, 10,

166 NOTES. Chap. XIV. 19-22.

Ver. ig.'As their overflowings sweep the soil from the land.'] In
our common version, the Hebrew ^totl^D, here translated overflow-
ings, is regarded as a verb, instead of as a substantive, after Junius
and TremeUius ; " Thou washest away :" but the common consent
of the translators, as well as the general connexion itself, proves ob-
viously its substantive form : thus St. Jerom gives, " AUuvione pau-
latim terra consumitur;" not widely different from Tyndal, "The
floudes washe away the gravell and the earth." To tlie same effect,
or nearly So, Reiske and Schultens.

Ver, 20. Thou weariest out his frame.'] In our standard render-
ing, and it is the rendering of all the translators, " Thou changest
his countenance :" and the rendering is explained by referring us to
the change of face that takes place in dying. The i-endering and
the explanation are equally far-fetched. VJQ tliU^D is hterally " ite-
rating his frame or person"' — " being at him again and again."
" Thou repeatedly assailest — worriest— weariest, or tirest out.'' The
term is a direct synonym of the preceding verbs, harass, consume,
wear ; and in the original is peculiarly forcible ; n^U^ " to iterate^"
" go to again and again," " repeat," " return to," importing an ite-
raticm or repetition of whatexer is predicated. It hence signifies, in
a secondary sense, " io alternate, alter, turn, change i' and hence
the common but erroneous rendering. To tarnish the face as in dis-
ease, would be rather ''J3 IQ'ion than ''iQ Hity, as in effect it is ren-
dered in ch. xvi. l6.

Ver. 20. — and despatchest him.] " Sendest him away hastily — '*
innbtl?m. The word despatch is used in other parts of our common
version of the Bible, in the same sense 5 thus Ezek. xxiii. 47. "And
the company shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with
their swords." Our own term despatch is a direct synonym of the
original, which means both to destroy and to expedite.

Ver, 22. For his flesh shall drop away from him!] A great per-
plexity has been felt in the wording of this couplet, and hence the
renderings are very different, the proper clue never having hitherto
been seized j though, if seized, the whole, if I mi.stake not, would be
perfectly obvious and simple. Our standard version gives, " But his
flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn."

The

Chap. XIV. 22. NOTES. lC7

The prepositions withiti and upon are the same in the Hebrew text
Qb)}), and should in both cases be rendered /row instead o{ within —
vbi} from him. 5«5 means certainly " to ulcerate ;" and so far,
but no farther, to have pain. Its general sense is " to mar," " break
to pieces," " drop to pieces," " corrupt," " make or grow rotten."
Wi>1 may be either hreath or soul, as the sense requires ; and it is
hence rendered, by different commentators, both ways. !?i« means,
in its primitive sense, " to become waste or desolate," " to become
a waste, or a desolation:" and its sense, in the present place, is most
obvious and appropriate. Thus Lucretius, describing the fate of
Xerxes, iii. 1046.

Lumine adempto, auimam inoribundo corpore fudit.

Closed has his eye, and with his mortal frame
His soul has melted.

In like manner, Virgil, Mn. x. 9O8.

Undantique animam diflfundit — — cruore.
Pour'd forth his soul amid the gushing blood.

And, still more in point, id. 8 19.

— — turn vita per auras
Concessit, mogsta, ad manes, corpusque reliquit.

Then the pale spirit, through the realms of air.
Sunk to the shades, and fled the mould' ring flesh.

So Homer, II. I'.

Ar]'i(TTol ficv yap re /3o£c, fcat '/0«a /uyjXa,
KrijTot ^i rpiirolk re, kuI 'iiriruiv ^avdci Kdpr]va'
''A.v^pog Sc i^wY»7, TciXiv iXdciv, ovre, \r]i<TT>],
Oiiff eXen), iirsl dp kcv dfi£l\p£rai 'ipKog o^oyruv.

" Lost herds and treasure we by arms regain.
And steeds unrivall'd on the dusty plain .
But, from our lips, the vital spirit fled,
Returns no more to wake the silent dead." Pope.

The passage, however, from not having been understood, has been
rendered in a thousand different ways. In our established version it
is, " But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within
him shall mourn :" the idea of mourning being a secondary sense of
bl«, '' to become waste, or a waste." Reiske explains the passage

thus :

168 . NOTES. Chap. XIV. 22.

thus : " At id sentit homo quando caro sua sibi dolet " " But this
(or these things) man perceiveth while his flesh troubleth him."
Dr. Stock gives us as follows :

" Yea, over him his flesh doth grieve.
And his affection mourneth over him."

In Schultens we have the passage as follows : " Tantummodo caro
ipsius super ipso luret ; et vita ipsius super ipso etmircida luget." I
must confess I do not fully comprehend the meaning of this, if viewed
in connexion with the context, paraphrastic as it is made, for the ex-
press purpose of being explicit. The direct rendering of it, how-
ever, is as follows : " Only his flesh upon him shall grow pale, and
his life upon him shall bemoan while wasting away."

In his prose version, Scott observes, that " we are presented with
a tragical picture of man's condition in the grave :"
" But over him his flesh shall grieve.
And over him his breath shall mourn."

'' In the daring spirit of Oriental poetry, (continues the same writer)
the flesh, or body, and the breath, are made conscious beings ; the
former lamenting its putrefaction in the grave, the latter mourning
over the mouldering clay which it once enlivened." The criticisms
of this gentleman are generally ingenious and useful ; but the plairf and
literal version now oflfered will prove sufficiently, if I mistake not,
that in the present instance he has wandered as widely as any of the
other commentators from the genuine meaning of the poet.

CHAP. XV.

Ver. 2. '—return — .] In the original n5i>'', not simply w^/er, as
in our common version, but to utter by way of reply ; for TVy^, in
all its senses, implies a reflex action, " to answer, to retort, to return,
to reply to."

Ver. 2. — arguments of wind!] So Tyndal, literally, " Shulde a
wyse man answere in the scyence of the wind." To the same
eflfect Schultens, " Num sapiens respondebit scientiam venti ?'' but
nyi implies argument, as well as science, and gives us hereby a
plainer meaning. The phraseology is common to all languages.

Ver. 2.

Chap. XV. 2— 4. NOTES. 169

Ver. 2, — his bosom — .] In Note 5. Idyl ix. of his translation of
the Song of Songs, the author has endeavoured to prove, from a
variety of passages of Holy Writ, that the word ftD2, generally trans-
lated "belly," implies the upper as well as the lozver belly, the
chesi or bosom, as well as the abdominal organs : and the passage
before us may be adduced as an additional proof of the truth of that
assertion.

Ver. 2. — a levanter.'] The stormy and furious Clj?, ''east-
wind, or levanter," according to the name given it by modern
mariners J and " which (observes Parkhurst, in loc.) is particularly
tempestuous and dangerous in the Mediterranean sea ; and to this
the Psalmist seems to allude, Ps. xlvii. 8." The Greeks denominate
it, synonymously, Y^vpoaikv^uv (Euroclydon, Eurus-storm) ; and it
was by this that St. Paul and his companions were shipwrecked on
the coast of Melita, Acts xxvii, 14. " But not long after there arose
against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon." The sarcasm of
the image, as applied to Job, is equally obvious and severe. The
term occurs again, ch. xxvii. 21.

Ver. 3. And his tvords — should there be — .] The original contains
this break ; and is a forcible instance of that figure which the rheto-
ricians call aposiopesis. So Ps. vi. 3.

My soul is exceedingly troubled.

But thou, O Lord ! how long — ?

In like manner Virgil, when giving us the indignant speech of Nep-
tune, upon Juno's having excited a storm without his permission :

Quos ego : sed motos praestat componere fluctus.

Whom I — but first the stormy billows shall be quelled.

Ver. 4. Notwithstanding that — .] if)S is obviously used, I think,
in this sense in the present passage, as in various others, " quamvis,
quamquam ;" yet I know not a single translator who has given it.
In our common version it is rendered yea (imo), which is also the
rendering of the standard German. Piscator gives quinetiam;
Schultens qiiin alone j the Septuagint ov Kal ; R. Salom. and Mer-
cer explain it quanto magis, as though parallel with ptl^ b'Z : Luther
omits the particle altogether, as not knowing what to make of it.
Noldius alone has given a hint towards the present signification,

in

170 NOTES. Chap. XV. 4,5.

in the present place j which he also affirms should be applied to
f|« in Job xxxvi. l6. With this rendering the passage is clear:
and for want of it, it cannot be wondered at that an almost in-
finite variety of meanings should be ascribed to the entire sen-
tence; every commentator appearing to be dissatisfied with the
meaning offered by his predecessor.

Ver, 4. — easiest away — .] The word 'lan, from^Q^ implies " to
destroy totally," " to shatter to pieces," " to shipwreck," or " cast
away a thing," so that it shall become reduced to minute fragments.

Ver. 4. — humiliation — .] I am aware that the term nn*U^ has
been generally translated prayer (precatio), or something equi-
valent, nty, however, simply implies *' to bow down, stoop,
or prostrate oneself:" whence the real meaning of the substantive
(and a far more pertinent meaning in the present case) is, humiliation,
or abasement. It refers to the patriarch's justification of himself, for
which he had just contended. In this sense, indeed, Reiske has
employed the term, though it is the only part of his version in which
I can agree with him ; the whole of the rest being singularly wide
and wandering. It runs as follows, "Etiam tu (quantum ad te

attinet) qui 'n\^^'> IQn i> »1j yu exestuas (ut olla buUiens aquas
snas extra oras ejiciens) vomicam pulmones tuos depascentem, et

procumbere facis i?"iJn"; (idem quod iJISD p Xj") quasi camelum ad
aquationem." " Especially thyself — who, like a boiling pot that
throweth its waters over its edges, boilest over with ulcers that eat
away thy lungs, and throw thee prostrate, as a camel at his
watering-place." He adds, that v. 8. should immediately be con-
nected with this, having been separated by the error of some scribe,
whose error has been generally copied since. In this transposition of
the passage I as much diifer, as in the proposed version and inter-
pretation.

Ver. 5. Behold — .] The unquestionable meaning of''D, and no-
ticed as such by Reiske, though by no other commentator. See Note
on ch. iii. v. 24. of the present ttanslation.

Ver, 5. — of the crafty — ,] D''Dnj>, " strictly of the sophists,"
were not this a word too scholastic for biblical use.

Ver.

Chap. XV. 6-9. NOTES. 171

Ver. 6. Yea, thine own lips shall testify against thee.'] Reiske,
'' Et labia tua sufficient, respectu tui et in causa tua :" or as in the
German, " Deine Uppen warden genug seyn iiber dir;" which may
be rendered " And thine own lips testify in thy favour, i. e. justify
thee." I see no reason for this rendering ; and the conditional tense
is still continued in the original,

Ver. 7. What! ] In the original ti, an interjection, signifying

"what!" ''say!" "declare!" "what then!" " is it then?" See
Note on ch. xiii. 7'

Ver. 7- Wast thou lorn first of mankind?] Such appears to me
the true rendering, though it is given dirferently by different com-
mentators, and will admit of various significations ; the word m«
iAdam) being either a proper name, or an appellative for mankind
at large; whence some of the oldest versions render the passage,
" Wast thou born before Adam ?" while the generality, and in my
opinion more correctly, give us " An primus homo natus es?" "Art
thou the first-born of men ?" or " Wast thou born first of mankind?"

Ver. 8. — to the secret councils — .] 1105, "to the closetings,*"
" secret places," or " secret things." Whence Dr. Stock, but I fear
with too much modernism :

" In the eaUnet of God wast thou a hearer ?"
So Tyndal still better, and whose rendering I have partly copied:
" Hast thou herde the secrete councell of God ?" The meaning is
clearly, "What! are thine age and experience beyond those of all other
men ? hast thou been admitted to the consultations of the Almighty,
dived into his mysteries, and led wisdom away captive to thyself?"
So in the following pious sentence of a Persian philosopher, quoted

by D'Herbelot: &c. ^}idJ\ j^\ ^j^. j^ ''To what purpose
art thou come? If to learn the science oi ancient and modern times,
thou hast not taken the right path. Doth not the Creator of all
things know all things ? But if to seek him, know, that where thou
wast at first, there too was he."

Ver. g. What canst thou understand— ?^ Not " What dost
thou ;" in which case it would have been n35, and not fDD, with
a change both of conjugation and tense, from the parallel verb in the

preceding

172 NOTES. Chap. XV. 10, li.

preceding period of the verse. The expression becomes hence far
more forcible, and was undoubtedly intended to be so,

Ver. 10. — the ancient — ,] Literally (tyty), ''men of menj
men of generations ; longcevi, grandcevi, of great longevity j" but
by no means as rendered by Schultens, " decrepitus (decrepit) ;" and
still less correctly by Arias Montanus, " decrepitus, infirmus (the decre-
pit and infirm)." The Targum commentary supposes that the three
descriptions in the verse refer to the three friends of Job who have
hitherto spoken ; and hence renders the passage, " Amongst us
truly are Eliphaz the hoary-headed, and Bildad the long-lived, and
Zophar, who surpasses thy father in days."

I much fear that Dr. Stock's version has a tendency to the bur-
lesque, though he has hit upon the true derivation of a term that has
hitherto been regarded of doubtful origin .

" The gray-head and the chrony are with us ;
The plenteous, more than thy father, in days."

Ver. 11. Or the addresses of kindness before thee.'] " Or the con-
versations of friendship now proffered thee." Yet the whole verse,
and particularly this part of it, has been strangely misunderstood j
and hence the translations are almost as various as the translators.
ID^, from the same verb, implying " to incline or bend towards," de-
notes, as a substantive, " gentleness, kindness, condescension :"
whence tD«!? olight literally to mean, as here translated, " of, or
through the medium of friendship or kindness." Schultens has un-
derstood the term adverbially, or in the sense of friendlily or
gently; whence his rendering is, " Et verbum lenissime tecum ha-
bitum," " And the word (or the address) most gently discoursed with
thee." But even this is rather a paraphrase than a translation, for
habitum has no authority in the original.

By some translators, the expression to«b {I' at), is regarded as a
single word, and rendered " concealment, or secrecy:" So Arias
Montanus, "Et verbum latat tecum ?" *' And doth the word lie hid
with thee?" i.e. " And is the word a secret with thee?" whence
our own common version, " Is there any secret thing with thee ?"
The meaning of both which versions, however, has to this hour
remained unexplained, and perhaps is incapable of explanation.

The Arabic version is different from all these, and so extremely
different as to baffle every attempt to reconcile it with the original.

Reiske,

Chap. XV. 12. NOTES. 173

Reiske, indeed, has made such a trial, but has no reason to boast of
his success. It is as follows :

CX^ y l?j) JXjj ^\ CuULaJ 4iXxc k«?l "'Amove a te

exprobrationes Dei,et loquere cum tranquillitate apud animam tuam;*
" Put away from thee reproaches against God, and converse peaceably
with thy soul." The Sy riac has laid a foundation for the Arabic, excepting

that instead of <dll oUiJu {reproaches against God) it employs

•!l|! wOioiD «Q^ " the threatenings of God."

Ver. 12. To what — .] In the original, na, rendered " why" in
our common version, but erroneously ; no being here not a causa-
tive particle, but an interjection. How! to what! whereunto! It is
rendered in the same version, ^^ what! in the next period of the
same verse.

Ver. 12. — would thine eyes excite thee?} The common reading
of the original is "I'^i? pOlT, an expression which no trau: lator has'
been able to understand ; and which, in consequence, has been ren-
dered in a great variety of ways, and almost of all them equally un-
intelligible. Our estiiblished version is, " What do thine eyes wink
AT?" that of Schultens, "Quid frsmitum volvunt oculi tui r"
*' Why do thine eyes roll fury ?" — of Schmidt, " Quaie pro-
DUNT ADFECTUM oculi tui ?" " Why do thine eyes betray pas-
sion ?" — of Dr. Srock, " What do thine eyes lour at :" — of the Vul-
gate, " Et, quasi magna cogitans, attonitos habet oculos ?" " Why,
as though meditating great things, hast thou eyes of astonishment :"
— of Tyndal, "Why standest thou so greatly in thine owne conceate ?
whereunto loke thine eyes V — concerning all which it cannot but be
observed, that they are paraphrases, rather than translations. It is
unnecessary to multiply farther: and I shall only remark, that the
Oriental renderings almost uniformly imply the idea of winking, as
given in our own common version.

If patT" were indeed the genuine reading, there can be but little
doubt that tvinking would be the genuine idea ; but f^Dtl'' can
scarcely be allowed to be the genuine reading, for it is not a Hebrew
but a Chaldee term ; it is a Chaldee term with a Chaldee inflexion,
and is found in no other part of the Hebrew bible : and could it be
contended, notwithstanding its inflexion, that it is a Hebrew as well

174 NOTES. Chap. XV. 13-^16.

as a Chaldee term, still the idea of zvinking, which it primarily con-
veys, would render it altogether unintelligible.

There can be no doubt, therefore, that we have in this place an
orthographical error ; and every biblical scholar is indebted to the
ingenuity of Reiske, for correcting the error by so trivial a change of
letters, as that of 1imi> for ]'\'0'(V, which is the term he proposes in
its stead, the copyists having undoubtedly mistaken the 1 and T for
I and f. With this alteration he translates the passage, " Quam ex-
tulerunt te oculi tui !" " How have thine eyes lifted thee up!" but
which I have ventured to render as above, as equally literal, and more
consonant with the preceding period of the verse :
And to what would thine eyes excite thee !
I shall only observe farther, that the poet has here boldly and
beautifully employed the term heart, to signify the passions of the
heart ; and the term eyes to signify the lusts of the eyes.

Ver. 13. For thou hast let loose—.'] So Reiske, *' Ecce libere

vagatum emittis e^^OuxJ tanquam gregem aut o-^^^troy vel rivum
adversus Deum, spiritum tuumj" "Behold thou hast let loose thy
spirit, like a straying flock or a river, against God."

Ver. 13. — remonstrances — .] Perhaps " retorts or retortings,
litter replies,'' in the present position . for nl?a signifies not merely
a word, but a word in an ironical sense ; a lye-word, a laughing
stock, an irony.

Ver. 14. -^that he should justify himself?'] pIT, in the sense of
Hithpael. So the Arabic and Syriac, " Ut possit se justificare,"
" That he should be able to justify himself" So also Arias Mon-
tanus, " Ut se justificaret," literally as the version now offered.

Ver. 15. — in his ministers.] " In his ministring spirits," VtlHpl
the heavenly hosts generally, or a particular order. In ch. iv. 18. it
isV1ii?2, " in his servants," which may be another order, or the term
may be used synonymously. See the Introductory Dissertation,
Sect. V.

Ver. l6. How much less!] The particle f]^ implies either
" How much more !" or " How much less /" according to the con-
text. Our common version, which is derived from the Vulgate, is,
in this respect, wrong. "How much less!" is the rendering of

almost

Chap.XV. 16— 20. NOTES. 175

almost all the German expositors, and of several of our own coun-
trymen. Schultens translates the expression ''i ?]«, " How much less,
then ! — Jam vero ;" but I think with a great loss of its intrinsic
force and beauty.

Ver. l6. Who dnnketh up — .] This seems to be a proverbial ex-
pression, with a direct allusion to the prodigious draught of water
swallowed by the camel. See ch. xxxiv. 7-

Ver. 18. — from the time of — .] I have here restored the order of
the Hebrew text, which is considerably changed in our common
version} the clause " from — their fathers," or " forefathers," being
in the first, instead of in the second period "of the couplet. D is here,
obviously, a preposition of time, and means^rom, only in the sense
oi since or ever since, " from the time that," or " from the time of;"
and it is thus explained both in the Syriac and Arabic, " Et non ab-
sconderunt a dielus suis:" in other words, " I will repeat to thee the
following proverbial sayings, of the truth of which I have been a per-
sonal witness; which our sages have delivered down from their earliest
ancestors, the first inhabitants of the land we dwell in, before
yet they had formed communications with any other country."
What follows, therefore, is pure recitation, and should be commaed
off, as the^ words of other persons. Much difficulty has been attached
to every part of this passage ; but with this explanation, the whole, if
I mistake not, is clear ; and all circumlocutory version is unnecessary.
Into what number of sayings the remainder of the chapter, con-
taining the recitation, ought to be divided, may admit of some
doubt J though, from the abrupt introduction of different images, it
seems obvious that a division of some kind should take place.

Ver. 19. To whom, to whom — .] This iteration occurs in the
original, though it has not been hitherto noticed by any of the trans-
lators, Qi:ib Q^b {I'am Vhad-am); and it is a favourite figure with
the modern as well as the ancient poets of the East.

Ver. 20. All the days — .] This is the order of the Hebrew
text, and there is no necessity for changing it. The proverbial
sayings of the ancient sages, referred to in v. 18. commence with
the present verse. 4

Ver. 20. — he is his own tormentor.'] Literally, " he is tormenting
himself:" ipbiinnQ Kin, the Hebrew participle being employed in

the

176 NOTES. Chap. XV. 20—23,

the very sense of the English^ and importing continuity of action, with
a surprising similarity of idiom. There are several other languages
that partake of the same idiom, and especially the .Spanish and the
Persian. Yet this is not exactly the idiom or the sense employed
in the common version of this passage in the Spanish tongue, which
is "■ Todos los dias del malvado, se ensoberbece," " All the days of the
wicked, he puffeth himself up with pride;" a direct copy from the
Vulgate, or the Vatican j the former of which renders it " Cunctis diebus
suis, impius super bit ;" a version approved by Grotius, but I am at a
loss to know on what account. Even De Leon himself, in his com-
ment upon the common Spanish rendering, observes, " Dice otra letra
todos les dias del malvado se estremece" " All the days of the wicked
he dismayeth, or agitateth himself with fear ;" while in his own
metrical translation he explains it,

El malo siempre tiemhla, y los tiranos

De luz segura y cierta non gozaron.
The direct meaning of the term is, to agonize oneself with the excru-
ciating pangs of a woman in labour j whence our own established
version, as well as various others, " The wicked man travaileth with
pain all his days." The same term is well rendered in the same
version, Esth. iv. 4. '* Was exceedingly grieved.''

Ver. 20, And a reckoning of years — .] Such is the clear and cor-
rect rendering, both of Mr. Parkhurst and Dr. Stock. 1QD here
implies, obviously, recloning in general, rather than number 3 and
fQV, " to lay up or keep in reserve," rather than simply to hide or
conceal, as in our common version.

Ver. 22. — to escape from darkness.'] " To escape or flee back from
the land of darkness," as the grave is often denominated. Thus
ch. X. 21, 22.

a land of Darkness and Death-shade ;

A land of Dissolution, as Extinction itself;

Death-shade, where no Order is,

And where the Noon-tide is as utter Extinction.
The phrase has not been hitherto understood by any of the com-
mentators, and consequently this explanation not applied to it.

Ver. 23. — as for Iread.] This appears to be the most natural
division of the verse • and it is justified by a still greater abruptness

in

Chap. XV. 23—30. NOTES. 177

in the second clause in Kennicott's MS. 80, which for tnnb^,
dropping the first b, reads Dni?, " a vagrant is he — ; bread — where
is it ?" Dr. Stock has preceded me in the same division :

*' He is a wanderer : for bread, where is it ?"
Not essentially different the Syriac ooi> li:x.}o, or the Dutch Waer
het zijn mach?

Ver. 23. — straight lefore Mm.'} Literally, ''straight at hand," pii
lyx See Note on ch. xi. 3.

Ver. 25. Because he stretched forth — ] The first apophthegm appears
to close with the last verse ; and a second to begin with the present,
and to be continued to the end of ver. 26 j a third beginning with
ver. 27 ; and several others subsequently.

Ver. 26. He shall press .] I believe Dr. Stock is the first of

the translators to whom we are indebted for the real meaning
of this passage, in which the pronoun He should certainly be re-
ferred to the noun h^ (God), or •'Iti^ (Almighty), in the pre-
ceding verse, and not to the outcast, as has been uniformly the case
hitherto : " and I suspect," adds Dr. Stock, " that before vb«, the
resembling word 'h'A had a place ;" whence he ventures to render itj

" God shall run at him with his neck."
This conjecture is ingenious ; but as it is conjecture alone, I dare
not follow it ,• nor is it necessary, as the verb without a substantive
will answer the purpose.

Ver. 29. — for his means shall not last^ In the original CDli?"" »V>
ib^ri, in which 1 is used causatively, "for " instead of " and not" or
" neither" in conjunction with vh, as in our common version ; and
P^n, for vis, or rather, plurally, vires— faculties, abilities, means : —
fitvoQ (me?ios), as Cocceius has translated it : the " strength of sub-
stance or wealth," as rendered by Parkhurst, rather than " substance
or wealth themselves." See his article b!T», sect. 11.

Ver. 30, — from darkness. '\ In the Hebrew ^t^n ^3D ; or if ren-
dered as queried by Reiske, ^mn 'JD, " fi-om the valley of darkness."
There is, however, no occasion for the alteration, trifling as it is, in
a literal view. This proverb repeats a part of one already cited at
ver. 22. See the Note upon it.

Ver. 30. as the breath of his mouth.] " He shall utterly

m evaporate.

17S NOTES. Chap.XV. 31.

evaporate, and vani'^h away 5" the vindictive thunderbolt shall equally
destroy the root and ihe branches, his children and himself, and his
name shall for ever perish from the earth. Che sense has not
hitherto been elicited. 3 in illli is a parficle of similitude, as in
Numbers xiv. 34. " Like as," or " according as, the number of days
in which ye were searching out the land — ." It has never hitherto,
however, been rendered in this manner ; and hence much difficulty
h:!S been attributed to the passage, and a variety of equally inex-
plicit versions have been offered. Oar common rendering is, " ly
the breath of his mouth :" that of Dr. Stock, " with a puff of his
mouth," the pronoun his being in this case, perhaps, intended to
refer to God, as Tyndal has rendered it expressly, " by the blast of
the mouth of God:" Schultens seems undecided, but gives us gene-
rally " flatu oris ejus.'' Reiske, not approving any of these rer^lerings,
has tried the region of conjectural emendation, and for mil 11D''i

VG has proposed V")Q mil ID^I, or, in Arabic characters, JwmJ.
SjSi i-j^^ " ^^ ventus calidus nigrescere faciei ejus fructum," "And

a hot blast (perhaps a simoon) shall blacken his fruit." I trust the
rendering I have now offered will supersede the necessity of all
conjecture whatever, and be found equally perspicuous and forcible.

Ver. 31. Let not his own ardour make the transgressor confident^
There can be little doubt, I think, that a new apopththegm com-
mences with this verse ; and here I can go very nearly hand in hand
with Reiske's very ingenious rendering, which is as follows : " Mi-
serum ilium et errantem, deceptum Hi^ni non sinit securum esse
JQW vb 5 vel non praestat omnino securum et periculorum immunem

Wl ajiu, dSjLKujJ, hilaritas sun, alacritas sua juvenilis ; nam con-

versio, exitus, catastrophe ejus (nempe hilaritatis) erit )X\W ^y^
malum, calamitas." *' Let not his gaiety, his juvenile alacrity, make
the deceived and wandering wretch secure ; for the change, exit, or
catastrophe of such merriment, will be evil or misery."

In this reading, Wl is merely a different literal compound from
what it is in most other versions ; being here las-av, " his ardour
or alacrity;" while in the common versions it is ha-sav, "in
vanity ;' in consequence of which last division, our common reading,
which is drawn from Junius and Tremellius, and Piscator, is, *' Let

not

Chap. XV. 31. NOTES. 179

not him that is deceived trust in vanity:" while Schultens^ dissatisfied
with this sense, oifers, " Ne securus sit in ipso culmine fortunse qui
ea inebriatus insanitj" " Let not him rest secure in the very summit
of fortune, who, intoxicated by her, is delirious." This, however,
is all paraphrase ; yet it is clear that here, too, Wl is divided has-av,
as with Reiske, and not la-sav, as with the rest. Dr. Stock, dissa-
tisfied with both, gives us,

" Let not the mistaken man trust in his poise."
Here the division is that of the common readings ; but a new
sense is given ioW (sav), by deriving it from nw, " to countervail or
make level," instead of from Wlti^, " vanity, joylessness, evil," and
hence "falsehood and lying." I do not perceive any advantage
gained by this departure from the common derivation : it does not
take off" the cloud from the general rendering. With the sense
I have given, however, I trust the whole is equally clear and simple :
ni^ni may imply a deceiver or transgressor, as well as a ma?i de-
ceived or misled, tt^l (bas) though in the Arabic employed to
signify " merriment, high spirits, alacrity, gaiety," has seldom this
direct sense in the Hebrew : it is clearly, however, made use of to
import heat oi\fire (as of the sun) j as also that "heat or glow
of the cheeks" which is produced by Hushing or shame; whence
it is also made to signify blushing, or shame, generally. On this
account I have preferred the word ardour to alacrity, as given
by Reiske,

Ver. 31. For misery shall be his recompence.'] In Reiske, as already
observed, malum, calamitas erit ejus exitus. «1ty may be rendered
also joylessness, as in ch. vii. 3. or vanity, as is its more common
sense : but misery appears best in the present place. The term
JT^ian is of doubtful derivation. If drawn from Tin, it may mean
" sum^, amount , computation, consummation ;" and hence "recompence,
barter, change, vicissitude, upshot, catastrophe, the final change in
a drama ;" all of which have been given by different translators.
If drawn from '^DD, it will imply " summit, end, topmost point," as
of a tree, and hence the " trunk of a tree" (especially of the palm-
tree,) and the upright shaft of a column or pillar. Any of these
senses will afford an obvious meaning : I have preferred that of our
common version, not only because I wish to abstain from all unne-
cessary variation, but because it appears to be the best meaning of
tlie same passage in ch. xx. ver. 18.

m 2 Ver. 32.

1 80 NOTES. Chap. XV. 32, 34.

Ver. 32. Before his season — .] Literally "laV «^3 "in no time of
his;" or " in a time not his own." In the French, hors de son temps.
In the Dutchj alssynen dagh wocA, which is derivedfrom the Chaldee.

Ver. 32. — shall it be fulfilled^ «^on ; the feminine in this case
being used instead of the neuter, as is by no means uncommon in
Hebrew syntax. Yet the passage has been variously rendered ; and
Reiske, with his usual boldness, dissatisfied with all the renderings,
has attempted to correct the text in various places; an attempt which
ought never to be allowed, but in cases of absolute necessity : — a plea
which certainly cannot be advanced upon the present occasion,

Ver. 32. Or ever — .] In our common version, "and 7iot" which
is unquestionably the immediate meaning of «b 1, but which, when
consecutive upon vhl, equally implies " or ever." And that the
present rendering is the true one, in the case before us, may be
still further proved, from observing that the verb ii33i?'i is in the
present tense, and not in the future, as it is commonly given : it is
derived from fi?1 " to thrive" or " flourish ;" and, by its literal du-
plication, implies " to flourish very much," " to become very flou-
rishing or vigorous."

Ver, 34. Behold.'] Such, as I have often before had occasion to
observe, is one of the numerous meanings of the Hebrew '•^D, A new
proverbial saying appears to commence with this verse,

Ver. 34. The house of the hypocrite shall be a barren rock^ The
term barren rock lin^Ji is pure Arabic, and probably was so at the
time in which this poem was composed ; at least it is difficult to
offer an etymology for it from the Hebrew, though it appears to
have been vernaculized in the Hebrew tongue. See the Note on
ch. iii. 7- as also on ch. xxx. 2. in both which it is employed in the
same sense,

Ver. 34. — of the corrupt7\ In our common version, '''of bribery :"
in Junius, and Tremellius and Piscator, " corruptorum munere"
" of the corrupted by bribes" or " gifts." This seems to be the
real sense of the Hebrew "iMU^, and it is equally one of the senses of
our own term corrupt. The obvious meaning is, " of those who have
received and converted gifts to an improper pui-pose :" and the ap-
plication to Job is, that he had received largely of the Almighty,

and

Chap. XV. 35. NOTES. 181

and had grossly abused all his benefits. Reiskej lor "ihU? proposes
"ipUf " of the deceiver, impostor, or magus," instead of the term
now offered, " of the corrupt." There is no necessity for so for-
cible a variation, or for any variation whatever.

Ver. 35. For their woml — .] The passage has never, that I know
of, been thoroughly explained. The hypocrite, we are here told, is
a self-deceiver ; the mischief he plots against another person becom-
ing, by a just order of retribution, an affliction or misery upon him-
self} so that his ftoi, " womb, belly, bosom, or inside," for the
word will bear any of these meanings, is perpetually fabricating or
working up for him an imposition, and he brings forth a birth that
he did not expect. Nothing can be more correct, or more beautiful.
Our common version, for womb reads belly, but less poetically ; —
the word ivomb being employed as a very general and very elegant
image among ourselves, to express any cavity or organ of produc-
tion whatever : so Milton,

" The earth was formed, but in the womb, as yet
Of waters, embryon immature."

Upon the actual meaning of the Hebrew |t01, which appears alto-
gether synonymous with our own term womb, the reader may con-
sult the author's Sacred Idyls, Idyl ix. Note 5. The imagery is
common to the Hebrew poets: thus Isaiah xxvi. 17, 18.

As a woman with child, drawing near to her delivery.
Is in anguish, and crieth aloud in her pangs.
So have we been, in thy sight, O Jehovah !
We have conceived, we have travailed ;
We have, as it were, brought forth wind.

CHAP. XVI.

Ver. 3. Shall there be no end — ?'\ In the original ypn, " Nonne
finis erit — ?" a more forcible and explicit rendering than without
the negative, " Shall words of wind have an end ?" or, as we have
it in our common version, " Shall vain words have no end ?"

Ver, 3. What hath emboldened thee—9'\ I have followed the
common rendering, in opposition to most of the translators, who
make it " Quid proritat teP" "What provoketh thee?" So the
Arabic synonym C-U,^^ U " Quid strenuum te lacit ?" Reiske,

however.

182 NOTES. Chap. XVI. 4.

however^ratherproposes, but unnecessarily, tiX^t^. ttf cJo--*J l^,
CJ^>^ ^ " Quid agilem, alacrem, promptum, rapiduna te fecit r"
Elipha2, upon the whole, appears to have been the mildest and most
modest of the patriarch's reprovers} and was, perhaps, habitually
mild and modest.

Ver. 4. But I will talk on — .] The whole of this passage is ren-
dered unintelligible, in its usual mode of translating, by attributing
a conditional instead of a future tensfe to it ; " \ also cotild speak,
&c." or, '' But I coM/a( speak," — instead of " But I will speak" or
" talk on."

Ver. 4. Surely shall your persons take the place of wy person.']
The sense of the passage has been uniformly mistaken. The com-
mon rendering is that which occurs in our standard version, " If
your soul were in my soul's stead :" — but such a phrasing gives no
precise meaning ; and hence something different has been attempted
by other translators. Thus Dr. Stock,

" Would that ye were in my stead !"

while Reiske, with his usual imagination, suspects an error in the
original copy ; and, with his usual daring, undertakes to correct it ;
proposing a!:U?ai niyn^ for D'Dmti: W ^b, and giving us, as the
true meaning of his improved text, " Imo vero sane subsidebit
strepitus vester sub strepitum meum ;" " Surely shall your haranguing
yield to my haranguibg." There is no necessity for any such altera-
tion ; the text is sufficiently correct in itself, and only requires to be
rightly understood, ^b is here not a conditional, but an affirmative
particle : it does not mean if, or O that ! — but " certainly," " truly,"
" assuredly," as in Gen. i. 15.) which, as Mr. Park hurst justly ob-
serves, should have been rendered " Surely Joseph will hate us."
tyQ3, usually translated, in this place, soul or souls, and by Reiske
" haranguing," " breath," " sound," " clamour," more fairly im-
ports the '' self or person" of a man, than any other idea whatever.
"As a noun, (observes Mr. Parkhurst, and without any reference to
the passage before us,) t^ai has been supposed to signify the spiritual
part of man, or what we commonly call his so7d. I must, for my-
self, confess, that I can find no passage where it has undoubtedly
this meaning." See the article ti^D3, § vi.

Ver. 4.

Chap. XVI. 4, 5. NOTES. « 183.

Ver. 4. — string together old sayings.'] In our common version,
in which the conditional, instead of the future tense, is still conti-
nued, " I could heap up words." So Schultens, " Coagmentare pos-
sem contra vos sermones :" but ^Sn, whence ninnt*, rather means.
" to knit," " join lengthwise," " tack or string together," than " to
conglomerate" or " heap together ;" while wbD has unquestionably
a reference to the common proverbs or adages alluded to and quoted
in the preceding chapter, v. 18. and following ; in coincidence with
which, nbo, as I have already had occasion to observe, imphes " a
speech well known or recorded,"—*' a common talk or saying," —
" a bye-word."

Ver. 4. And my head will I shake —.'] An action common to aU
countries and ages, and uniformly expressive of sorrow, dissatistac-
tion, or scorn: so Lucretius, ii. Il63.

Jamque, caput quassans, grandis subspirat arator

Crebrius in cassum inagnum cecidisse labores.

Thus musing, tlie rude husbandman shakes oft

His weary head: his thriftless pains bewails.
In like manner. Virgil, ^n. vii. 292,

Turn quassans caput, haec efFudit pectore dicta.

Her head, then, shaking, thus the goddess spoke.

Ver. 5. With wy own mouth-—.) Literally, " with the self-same
mouth," ■>£! lan. Luther, mit worten, " with words:' The Arabic
iLa iL " with your words," but without any authority. The Sy-
riac, however, is to the same effect.

Ver. 5. — will I overpower you.] So Schultens, " Pn^valere pos-
sem." The general rendering, however, gives a very different sense,
and imports that Job would support and comfort his companions,
instead of opposing and overpowering them. Thus in our common
version, " But I would strengthen you witli my mouth." In the
irritated state of the patriarch's mind, the idea is just as unnatural
as it is inconsistent with the true intent of the original text. Reiske
again attempts the emendatory critic in this place, but without any
reason, and for C^VDN^ " I will overpower you," proposes to us

&5Va« f,Ll^\ " I will make you burn,"—" I will consume you,

as with fire, by the energy of my mouth."

184 NOTES. Chap. XVI. 5—7.

Ver. 5. Till the quivering of my lips shall fail.'] " Till I am
totally exhausted, and have lost all power of utterance." 1 is here
a particle of tinoe, and not of copulation, " till," and not " and"
as in our standard rendering ; the error of which, common as it is,
is sufficiently conspicuous, from the necessity of adding some other
idea, not in the remotest degree hinted ai in the original text, in
order to make out a sense : thus in our established text, ''And the
moving of my lips shall assuage your grief" In Piscator, from
whom this rendering is derived, it runs, " cohiberet dolorem ves-
trum ;" in Tyndal, " shold release yowrpa^^ie,-" and in Dr. Stock,
" should lay grief." Of these, "cohiberet" is not amiss; " lay" is
not far from the mark; " assuage" can hardly be made to apply in
the remotest sense; and " release" not at all. The Hebrew term
is ItyfT", from Itl^H, which means ''to stop," "cease," "fail;"
" to obstruct," " impede," or " put an end to action or motion ;'*
and it is only owing to a common mistake concerning the general
import of the passage, that the primary signification of the term has
not hitherto been had recourse to. This I have endeavoured to
restore, and the circumlocution is no longer necessary.

Ver. 6. Yet, should I talk on, my affliction will not fail.] It is un-
necessary to point out to the reader of taste the exquisite beauty and
tenderness of this transition, or the elegant turn that is given to the
word fail, 'jtyiT', iterated from the preceding line. It is only wonder-
ful that it has escaped the notice of all the commentators, and that
most of the translators have rendered the same term by two dif-
ferent terms in the two different places. Our standard version is an
exception to tliis j since assuage, though not a proper word, occurs
in both places.

Ver. 6. What will it avail me?] In the original "[bTf^ ""JD; in
our common version, " What am I eased ?" The meaning is not
essentially different ; but ^Vrr does not imply " to ease," but " to
proceed," " increase," or " advance ;" and hence " to profit," " be-
nefit," or " avail :" whence ^btl, as a noun, implies " a loll," " cus-
tom," " produce, " profit," or " availment."

Ver. 7- Here, indeed, hath he distracted me.] nni? 1« " Here in-
deed," instead of " but now ;" here, either as an adverb of time or
place, which nny implies equally. 0«bn " hath he distracted mej"

not

Chap. XVI. 7. NOTES. 185

not " hath he made me weary," as in our common version, copied
from Junius and Tremellius, who gives us, " tantum nunc fatigat
me." h'n in no sense impUes to weary ; but generally " to move
or shake violently," " to agitate, distract, madden, intoxicate."
There can be no doubt of the real meaning in the present case.
Schultens, but I think less correctly, gives us, " ad incitas adegit
me," " he hath driven me to my wit's end."

Ver. 7. Thou hast struck aghast all my witnesses ] This period,
in conjunction with the ensuing verse, is supposed to comprise on©
of the most difficult passages in the whole poem : yet I trust, as I
have now rendered it, both verses are clear and easy ; while at the
same time I have literally adhered to the Hebrew text. The per-
plexity is, indeed, that of the translators themselves, and not of the
original writer.

Our common version, drawn equally from Junius and Tremellius
and Piscator, is, " Thou hast made desolate all my company : and
thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me ;
and my leanness rising up in me, beareth witness to my face."
This gives no definite idea, and intimates its own incorrectness by
its interpolations.

In Schultens we meet with the passage thus : " Sideratum deso-
lasti coetum meum. Quodque me quadrupem constrinxeris, in tes-
tem existit, et slat contra me aperta mihi falsitas 5 in faciem testi-
monium contra me fert :" " Thou hast planet-struck all my com-
pany. And since thou hast bound me as a beast, my falsehood
riseth as a witness, and standeth up openly against me ; it beareth
testimony against me to the face." This is more unintelligible,
and at the same time more paraphrastic, than the preceding.

Dr. Stock renders it thus :

" Thou makest desolate all my company.

And thou dost apprehend me, for a witness of what has been ;

And against me riseth my belier, among the sons of clamour."
Scott applies the pronoun thou to Eliphaz : " Thou, (says he) by
thy slanders, sanctified by thy years and character, drivest away the
few friends my adversity had left to me :" translating the ensuing
verse thus : •

*' Thou, also, hast apprehended me, as a malefactor.

He is become a witness against me :

Yea, he that belieth me riseth up ajainst me ;

He accuseth me to my face."

I do

1 86 NOTES, Chap. XVI. 8.

I do not pretend to understand either of the last two renderings. It
is needless, however, to quote farther ; since it must be sufficiently
apparent that tlie passage has been generally conceived uncommonly
obscure.

It only remains for me to justify the simple rendering I have
ventured to advance. Concerning iiDty there is no dispute, for it
means equally " to strike aghast or with astonishment," and " to
make desolate :" but I am altogether at a loss to know why '•JTii?
should be rendered my company. 1i?, as a verb, means generally
" to testify," or " bear witness," but has no such sense as " to
associate :" and fili?, as a substantive, generally implies testimonies
or witnesses, nii?, indeed, from iy\..is clearly a company or asso-
ciation, and so is mi>, from the same radical in regimen, but I be-
lieve never otherwise j and here it has nothing to govern. I have
therefore rendered this term agreeably to its common idea, and am
justified in so doing by the concurrent versions of the Syriac and
Arabic; the meaning of both which is, " Thou hast overwhelmed
all those, in the general destruction that has befallen me, who, from
having been witnesses of my past conduct, could have repelled the
calumnies brought against me ; which I cannot repel myself, as be-
ing cut off from giving an evidence in my own cause." The address
is obviously to the Almighty; and certainly not to Eliphaz, as Mr.
Scott supposes.

It is farther in proof, that witnesses is the true meaning of mi> j
that the very same word, with a mere difference of inflection, occurs
in the very next line or period, with which v. 8. opens, and which
is rendered witness in all the translations : TfT] IJjb " from becom-
ing a witness," or, literally, " to be for a witness:" — " thou hast
forbidden me to be for a witness."

Ver. 8. And hast cut off myself — .] The Hebrew term tODp'occurs
but once besides, and that is in ch. xxii. l6. of this poem, in which,
though it is here rendered with the pronoun in our common version,
" Thou hast filled me with wrinkles," it is there rendered, " which
were cut down, or cut offj" a sense I have myself given it in
both places. The Arabic writers still use the word to express the crop-
ping or cutting off of flowers or fruit immaturely, as though frost-
litten ; and in this sense, indeed, the term may imply the idea of
being wiltered or wrinkled. Reiske has therefore well rendered
the Hebrew expression by the Arabic tj,>^flaiu " Decerpsisti me

tanquam

Chap. XVI. 8, 9. NOTES. 187

tanquam florem, aut prsemorsisti me tanquam pomum," " Thou
hast cut me off as a flower, or thou hast frost bitten me as an
apple." He writes the Hebrew word, however, ':atopn, instead of
''^'O'a'ph ; but the change of letters makes no diiFerence, since both
modes of writing, whether in Arabic or Hebrew, convey the same
idea. Grotius asserts the term to be forensic ; and Scott, Parkhurst,
and Dr. Stock, have followed him, by rendering it, " Thou dost
apprehend or arrest me," — or " Thou hast apprehended or arrested
me." Schultens derives his sense from the same word in Syriac,
which in that language signifies " to bind, or tie the hands and feet."

tyns nieans " to fail or be deficient," whether physically or mo-
rally} and hence, as a substantive, leanness or deficiency in sub-
stance, as in our common version, and " a liar or false calumniator"
from deficiency in truth. There can be no doubt that the latter is
the sense here intended ; and as little doubt that either Eliphaz
particularly, or all his companions generally, is here alluded to,
notwithstanding that Reiske ascribes the allusion to the Almighty,
as well in the third person thus abruptly introduced, as just before
in the second.

Ver. 8. Yet viy calumniator riseth up against me ', ")
He char get h me to the face. J

So the venerable Hareth (who is reported to have been at the time
upwards of a hundred years old), in answer to the false charges of
Amru, before the Mesopotamian prince of his own name, who
was invited to become umpire between the two poets, each of whom
headed his own Arabian tribe :

" O thou inveterate and glozing calumniator, who inveighest against us
before king Amru, will there be no end of thy unjust invectives ?"

I have given the version from Sir William Jones. The poem itself
forms the last part of the Moallakat.

Ver. g. His indignation teareth — .] In our common version, but
erroneously, and less forcibly, " He teareth me in his wrath" or
"indignation." Reiske applies the passage to the Almighty: this,
again, is wrong. The sense refers, unquestionably, to Eliphaz, the last
speaker, in this verse, and to all the companions of Job who have
yet spoken, in the next :

" He attacketh me with the fury of a wild-beast : —

Tiger-like, his indignation teareth and preyeth upon me, &c,"

The

188 NOTES. Chap.XVI. 10, 11.

The image is common to the Eastern poets, whether ancient or

modern. So Ps. vii. 2.

Lest he tear my soul, like a lion,

Rending it to pieces, while there is no one to deliver.

So Otway, in his Orphan,

" for my Castalio's false :

False as the wind, the water, or the weather ;
Cruel as tigers o'er their trembling prey :
1 feel him in my breast, he tears my heart.
And at each sigh he drinks the gushing blood."

Ver. 10. They rend my cheeks to tatters^ The speaker here
suddenly changes the singular for the plural number, and includes
tlie companions of Eliphaz along with himself in his address. For
" they rend to tatters," our common version gives, " they have
smitten reproachfully j" but this is to drop the figure equally ab-
ruptly and unnecessarily. n53, whence the present lirr, means to
smite or strike generally, but more commonly with a sword or
spear than with any other instrument, and hence to wound, pierce,
cut, or rend; nS^ni is, literally, " to tatters;" f]in, its radical, im-
plies " to strip," " pull off," " decorticate ;" whence nQin, as a
substantive, implies primarily " a strip," " shred," or " tatter;" and
secondarily, " disgrace or reproach," the result of being morally
stripped, denuded, or reduced to tatters, possessing a tattered repu-
tation.

Ver. 10. They glut themselves together — .] p«bnn^ in^ from »bo,
to " fill to fulness," " to satiate," " glut," or " gorge :" whence
St. Jerom, and most correctly, " satiati sunt-" and Schultens, but
with less spirit, " pariter super me semet implent."

Ver. 11. — hath made me captive — .] In the Hebrew ^il'i^D, from
1:1 D, "to shut up," "inclose," "imprison:" whence Dr. Stock,
" God maketh me prisoner to — ;" and Schultens, " Collari vine-
turn tradidit me Deus." Our common version, " hath delivered me,"
hardly gives the fair sense.

Ver, 11. — to the oppressor.'] In our common version, " to the
ungodly j" but this is not the exact signification of the term ; b^li^
being derived from nbi^, which means " to exalt or be exalted,"

"to

Chap. XVI. 1 2, 1 3. NOTES. I89

" to ascend or obtain the ascendancy," " to play the tyrant or
oppressor."

Ver. 12. he hath broken me up; ">

and crushed me. J

The original terms, in both these instances', are peculiarly forcible, as
being iterations of their respective radicles, always used in the
earlier periods of every language to express the superlative degree :
^J1Q13» (jeparparni), from "^l (par) " to break or shatter j" and
*:^faVE)^ (jepazpazni), from mQ " to crash," " squash," or " crush
to pieces :" in the simpler and earlier form of our own language,
"he hath broken, broken me," '' he hath cmshed, crushed me j"
whence Reiske, in the German, translates the terms by the verbs
zertrummern, or zermalmen, and zerknicken.

Ver. 13. His arrows fiy around me.'] The word VS1, here ren-
dered " his arrows," will admit of various senses : " magni ejus,"
" his mighty men," is that offered by Arias Montanus, and copied
by Dr. Stock: " jaculatores ejus," " his archers," is that of Junius,
and Tremellius and Piscator, which is copied into our common ver-
sion, as well as by Schultens. " Sagittae ejus, et jaculatus est eas in
renes meos, et non commotus est pietate," is the concurrent ren-
dering of the Syriac and Arabic, which I have literally followed in
the present version j as has also St. Jerom in the first sentence,
" Circumdedit me lanceis suis ; convulneravit lumbos meos." From
the ensuing verse, it should appear that the poet intended to repre-
sent the Almighty as attacking the patriarch singly, and not with a
host or army. See also ch. vi. 4, " The arrows of the Almighty are
within me."

Ver. 13. My life-gall hath he poured on the ground.'] So
Iliad Y. 468.

o fiLv r]irrsTO '^Eipsai yovvuv,

'lifxtvoc, Xiffffcffd', 6 ^c (jtatrydvu) ovra *:«0' rjirap'
'Ek ^£ ol ijirap oXktQev, drdp jxiXav aTfia kut avrov
KoXttov lviir\rf<7£v, tov Ie <tk6to^ offtre KaXvxps,
Qvfxov Sevo/xevov.

** While yet he trembled at his knees and cried.
The ruthless faulchion op'd his tender side ;
The panting hver pours a flood of gore,
That drowns his bosom till he pants no more." , Pope.

Ver. 14.

190 NOTES. Chap. XVI. 14, 15.

Ver. 14. He stormeth me — .] The language of war is still em-
ployed, though the idea is somewhat varied : the whole verse con-
sists of the technical terms of fortification, and alludes to the means
of military attack and defence.

Ver. 14. He assaulteth me like a warrior.'] The Hebrew p im-
plies " to run swiftly or with violence," and hence " to invade or
assault," in a military sense, as is obviously intended from the con-
text. ^liJ (gubor) implies " strength, prowess, military power,"
whence probably the Latin guberno, " to command or govern."
In the present place, there can be no doubt that it implies " a war-
rior of renown," " a bold puissant hero," rather than " a giant," as
rendered in our common version. So Schultens, " Incurrit super
me (incursat would have been better) sicut fortissimus bellator."

Jeremiah appears to have imitated the whole of this passage closely,
from v. 9, to v. 14. — in conjunction with that, ch. xix. v. 7, to v. 12.
in his Lamentations, iii. 4 — 16.

Ver. 15. Sackcloth have I sewed upon my skin.'] " I have com-
pletely surrounded myself with sackcloth, as though it were my
outer skin or cuticle." This mode of expressing deep affliction and
humiliation, appears to have been common to all nations of high an-
tiquity. It is alluded to through every part of the Jewish scrip-
tures ; casually referred to in the Christian ; and is thus described
by Menander, in a passage cited by Porphyry, de Abstin. iv. 15. in
which the Greek, like the English word, is obviously derived from
the Hebrew term pu^ {sac), here made use of, as is well observed by
Mr. Paikhurst:

— — TTapcideiyjuia rovg ^vpovc \cij3E

Etra 2APKI0N '^Xafiov tk & ohov

^^KCtQiaav avrol iiri Koirpov, kui ttju deov
'E^tXa'ffavro tov rainivuffai a^ohpd,

following the Syrian plan.
They then wear sackcloth, and, with dust defiled,
Sit by the public road in humblest guise,
Appeasing thus the deity's dread ire.

Ver. 15. / have rolled my turban — .] " My horn-like, or turbinated
head-dress ;" " my turban capj" and hence, by abbreviation, "my tur-
ban or horn," in the original ^:ip {karni or corni). — " Have I rolled,"

Chap. XVI. 15. NOTES. 191

'>r\bbi} ; by Piscator and Reiske similarly rendered " volutavi."
" Defiled," as in our own version, is an explanation, but not a
translation.

The exact meaning of the word horn, however, in this place, as
well as in various other parts of the Old Testament, and here trans-
lated " turban," has never yet been settled by the critics, and per-
haps has never yet been understood. The horns of most animals
constitute equally their strength and beauty ; and hence, in all ages
and nations, the term has been employed to express strength and
beauty gefierally. The crescent form of the sun and moon
was called by the Greeks and Romans their horns, and the term
and application have descended to the present day. The Mosaic
altar was on this account decorated with horns j and the same figure
has progressively passed through the ornamental architecture of the
Egyptians, of the more elegant Greeks, and of various other nations,
down to our own day and country, The vase or basket of plenty,
placed by the mythological sculptors and poets of Greece in the
hands of Flora, Ceres, and their attendant nymphs, was of -the same
turbinated form, and denominated Ktpa? d/uaXdeiag, or cornucopia.
It is singular, that this is the very name which Job himself gave to
one of his three daughters, unrivalled for beauty among the Arabian
fair, upon his restoration to prosperity ; the name being Kerenhapac,
which is, literally. Cornucopia, or, as the Greeks would render it,
Amalthia. See ch. xlii. 14. and the Note subjoined to it.

It is probably from this common cause that the whole orna-
mental head-dress of almost all ancient nations, and especially of
those of the East, was a turbo, turban, or spiral wreath, representing
a single horn, at first pointed, but now more generally truncated ;
while one of its chief accompanying decorations was a crescent, or
pair of spread horns. Milton adverts to the former of these decora-
tions, in the following couplet:

" From utmost Indian isles, Taprobane,

Dusk faces with white silken turbants wreath' d:"
and to the latter in the ensuing,

— — " with these in troops
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians call'd
Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns,"
The turbinated, or horn-like head-dress, therefore, here and in
other parts of Scripture referred to, was, doubtless, a wreathed,
eornuous, or spiral turban, ascending, as indeed the word turbari
\ (turbo.

19B NOTES. Chap. XVI. 16.

(turbo, turbln-is) necessarily implies, from a broad basis to a point j
though, in the present day, we find the point often truncated or cut off.
On festival occasions, it appears that this horn or turban was parti-
cularly lofty ; — on occasions of ordinary affliction, whether domestic
or public, truncated, as it is now worn, or depressed ; — and when the
affliction was very severe, abruptly pulled from the head, and rolled
in dust and ashes ; while the hair, so lately covered by the turban,
was also covered over with the same. See Note on chap. xix. 9.

This seems to have been the head-dress of males alone, for it is
only spoken of when the male character is intended ; while, on the
contrary, Isaiah, in his very minute catalogue of the Hebrew female
wardrobe, (ch. iii. 17 — 24.) makes no mention of any thing of the
kind ; the corresponding female dress appearing to have been as there
specified, D''Jintl>iT) CD''D'lU7n, " cauls (caps or broidered kerchiefs)
and crescents ;" probably synonymous with the anadema and mitra
of the Roman ladies, or the effeminate young men of Rome who
imitated female fashions.

For want of some such explanation as this, neither the present,
nor other passages in which the term ilp* {corn, cornu, horn,)
occurs, have been fairly understood. The common rendering, horn,
offers no definite idea. Mr. Parkhurst, sensible of this defect, under-
stands the term metaphorically, and translates it " I have covered my
glory with dust," see his Lexicon, art. nby. sect. xix. 3 while Reiske
renders the term " Kp6j3v\ov Ifxov; vel potius (says he) ambo mea
tempora, ambos meos crobylos ;" " The ringlet of my temple, or
rather the ringlets of both my temples." Neither of these render-
ings, however, will apply to the same term as employed in many
places in the Psalms, and unquestionably in the same sense as in the
present place. I prefer, however, the sense of Reiske to that of Park-
hurst, because it continues to us the same idea of a wreathed, turbi-
nated, or horn-like figure. That the turban was in actual use, as a
part of the common dress of Arabia, in -the time of the patriarch, is
clear from ch. xxix. 14. in which it is particularly adverted to, by the
more definite term of Pf^i.

Ver. 16. My countenance is tarnished — .] The imagery through
the entire couplet is peculiarly bold and emphatical. The word
niD'Hon, here rendered " tarnished," is translated very differently
by different commentators : " obscuratusfuit a nimio fletu," " is ob-
ncured or bedimmed by excessive weeping," is the interpretation of

Reiske^

Chap. XVI. 17, 18. NOTES. 193

Reiske, who adds, in his own tongue, " Als ivenn ich durch einen
Jiohr sake,'" " As though I look through a veil." " Fermentescit"
is the rendering of Schultens, " is in a ferment'' or " tempest"
" My face is begrimed," is the version of Dr. Stock, but I think in-
elegantly.

In the following stanza of Bas Cliairill, or " Death of Carril,"
an exquisite elegy given in the Report of the Highland Society
respecting Ossian, there is a surprising resemblance of sentiment and

ijnagery :

O Chairill ! a mhie, a ruenein !
Dhruid do shuil, is glais do dheud-geal ;
Ghluais do neart mar osag iiamsa,
Chaochail do shiiuadh mar bhla' gheugan.

O Carril ! thou son of my love !
Closed are thine eyes, locked thy teeth of whiteness,
Thy strength is swept away as by a blast.
Thy heauty is tarnished as the blossom of branches /

The imagery introduced into the second period of the verse.

And on mine eye-lids is the death-shade,
is to be met with frequently among the poets of Greece and Rome.
The following is too frequent in the Iliad to need a specific re-
ference :

Qavdrov vccpog oaae EKCtXvipr].

The cloud of death o'erhangs his eyes.

Ver. 17. — my service — .] In the original TibSH, commonly ren-
dered " my prayer:" but, hke the Latin cultus, it rather refers to
" piety, devotion, the duties or service of religion generally," than
to any particular branch of itj and like cultus also, it is derived from
a term (n^S) that is equally applicable to the service or duties of
husbandry ; service for the body, as well as service for the soul.
Hence the same term, with a similar extent of meaning, imports in
Chaldee, nbs, " to serve, worship, or cultivate generally." The
gratuitous transposition of this and several neighbouring verses, from
one chapter to another, as proposed by Reiske, cannot be too
severely reprobated.

Ver. 18. — hide no blood shed by me.'] Literally, " hide no blood
(violence) of mine 5 and be there no lurking-place for cries of
mine," i. e. blood and cries that appertain or relate to me. The pas-
sage has an evident reference to the " cry of the blood of Abel from

n the

1 94 NOTES. Chap. XVI. 20—22.

ihe Earth," Gen. iii. 10. Mr. Scott is the first interpreter who
seems to have understood the real meaning of this passage :
* O Earth ! the blood accusing me reveal,
Its piercing voice in no recess conceal."
The German critics, who concur in regarding it as an apostrophe of
vengeance, either against the companions of Job or the Almighty
himself, err egregiously, and almost equally. We have a passage to
the same elFect in Neheni. iv. 5.

And cover not their iniquity.

And let not their sin be blotted out from before thee.

Ver. 20. Deriders of vie — .] '^h'O, literally " my deriders ;" " illu-
sorcs mei," as Schultens renders itj but my is here used in the same
latitude as in the preceding v. 18.

Ver. 21. — to argue, though a mortal, with God.'] Such is the
literal rendering. Tiy does not mean to plead, as in our common
version, but " to discuss," " to argue," " to explain." Mortal and
offspring of man are here rendered by different terms, because they
are so rendered in the original : the first is ^2J (geber), the second
Diw-p {hen-adam). h is here though, in the sense of '•D ; and not
for, as rendered in most of the versions.

Ver. 22. But the years numbered to me are come!] In the com-
mon copies of the original, the words VDt*'' 1QDD are improperly
divided ; for the * that commences the second term should close
the first, vnw nSDD. Under the former reading, the literal render-
ing is, " For the years numbered will come;" under the latter,
" For the years numbered to me are come." Reiske gives nearly
the same reading as that now offered ; supposing that the tense is
correct, but that the pronoun "> {mihi) has been dropped, through the
carelessness of copyists: he proposes, therefore, vnw ''12DD, " Ut
veniant anni mihi imputati," understanding both the future tense and
the pronoun. But a mere reference to v. l6 of the present chapter
is demonstrative that Job contemplated his dissolution not as an
event at a distance, but directly before him : nor will a remote re-
ference in any respect apply to the verse immediately subsequent,
and which is certainly a continuation of the sentence ; I mean that
with which ch. xvii. opens, but with which the present chapter
ought much rather to liave closed.

Dr

Chap.XVII. 1. NOTES. 193

Dr, Stock adopts the reading here contended for, and gives both
the pronoun and the present tense, as follows :

" For my short number of days.is come."
Upon which I ought to observe, that 1QD0, where it does not sig-
nify number or numbered, in its simple and primary sense, is em-
ployed to import either fewness or multitude of number ; but, in
order to distinguish the one meaning from the other, it is always
placed after the substantive with which it is connected in the first
case, and before the substantive in the latter. In the present in-
stance, I apprehend it to be restrained to its primary signification :
in most of the versions, however, and, among the rest, our own
established translation, it import, /e^ww, as well as Jiumber, It is
of no great consequence, for the rendering would ihen be.
But the FEW years numbered to me are come.

CHAP. XVII.

Ver. 1. My spirit is seized hold of.'\ Under every translation,
nothing is more obvious than that tliis verse is a direct contii. nation
of the sentence with which the preceding cl)apter closes : and we
have, consequently, another of those unfortunate breaks in the middle
of a paragraph, which I have already remarked in the Note on
ch. xiv. 1 . and shall again have to remark as we proceed. The He-
brew m") may be rendered breath or spirit ; but the last is the most
forcible term, and I think the truest, iibnn is generally rendered
corruptus est, " is corrupt," but we have no warrant for such a
meaning, at least in Hebrew ; for I admit that in Chaldee, and in
Arabic, it is occasionally employed in this sense, hin, in Hebrew,
imports "to arrest," " seize hold of," " take away 5" as also, " to
bind," " confine," or " oppress :" and in this primary and direct
sense of the term we have a figure so bold and beautiful, that we
should deviate equally from taste and truth, if we were to search
for any other meaning. Not widely different Virgil, Georg. iv, 496.

Fata vocant, conditque natantia lumina somnus.
Jamque vale. Feror ingenti circumdata nocte,
Jnvalidasq\ie tibi tendeiis hcu non tua, palmas !

Fate calls, and sleep o'erwhelms my swimming sight :—
Farewell ! — I'm hurried to the realms of night : —
To thee still stretching, as the shades combine.
These feeble hands — alas I no longer thine.

n 2 So,

196 NOTES. Chap.XVII. 2, 3.

So, in the well-known Ode of Pope,

" What is this absorbs me quite.
Steals my senses ? "

Ver. 2. But are not revilers before me?'] There is no passage that
has been rendered so ditTerently ; and none from which it has been
supposed more difficult to extort a meaning. In our common version
the opening is rendered interrogatively, and I believe correctly so,
though the declarative or coiiditlonal form has been more usual. 1, in
the beginning of the second line, is emphatical, and may be rendered
" indeed, truly, in sooth." ]bn, commonly rendered "^ continue "
or " abide," but by Dr. Stock " is turned awry," is derived from
jV ; which in every one of its senses implies dwelling, abiding, resi-
dence. Mr. Parkhurst employs the term rest, " Doth not my eye
rest on their bitternesses ?" "See the article MID, § i. It is used
in perfect consonance, in the present place, with our own verb to
light upon, and, like this terra, involves the two ideas of resting upon
and unfolding or penetrating a sense or meaning. The word pene-
trate, however, (penetro, i.e. penitus intra) is not destitute of either
idea ; and I have preferred it, as being upon the whole more explicit,
though it is not quite so synonymous, perhaps, with the Hebrew
jVri as light upon.

Ver. 3. Come on, then, I pray thee — stake me against thyself^ The
difficulty in this passage has resulted, in the first place, from the abrupt-
ness of the transition ; and, secondly, from its being, in its common
construction, very improperly separated from the preceding verse,
and applied to the Almighty instead of to Eliphaz, the last speaker,
to whom Job is peculiarly addressing himself. The fair interpretation
is, " But if there be any meaning in what ye say — if ye do not revile
my character, but believe me to be the oppressor and the hypocrite
ye assert — come on : I will still venture to stake myself against any
of you. Will any of you venture to stake me against yourselves ?
Who is he that will strike hands with me ? that will dare to measure
his deserts with my own ? and appeal to the Almighty, in proof
that he is a juster man than I am ?" It is an argumenturn, ad homi-
nem, of peculiar force and appropriation ; admirably calculated to
confound and silence the persons to whom it is addressed. The
custom of staking one thing against another is of very early
origin, and found in the rudest and simplest modes of sosial life :

henca

Chap. XVII. 3—5. NOTES. 197

hence the pastorals of Theocritus, as well as of Virgil, abound with
references to this practice.

Ver. 3. Strike hands with me.'] i^pn"- n'b'. This is a very ancient
proverbial expression, and has passed down through every inter-
vening language to our own. Thus Iliad B. 341. as well as in
various other places :

TVov ht] — — — — — —

— — AEHIAI ;Jc lirtTriQfxav'

A.VTu^ yap p mUafi ipihaivo^tv.

While now the hands we plighted ; for in vain

Strive we with words.

So in Virgil, ^n. iv. 597,

En dextra fidesque !

Behold my hand and troth !
Hence, too, the^ common phrase fer'ire pactum, " to strike a
larmin."

o

Ver. 4. Behold! — ] I have often had occasion already to remark
on this meaning of the particle ''D. See ch. iii. 24. In the natural vehe-
mence of passion, there is frequently a very abrupt transition from
person to person, without the speaker's staying to designate the change
in his address. We have various instances of this in the passage
before us, the tenor of which is the more natural on this very ac-
count. In the preceding verse, thyself evidently refers to Eliphaz,
the last speaker : in the present verse, thou refers as evidently to the
Almighty ; while in v. 6 he again refers to EUphaz. It is from a
general want of attention to these very abrupt, but very natural
transitions, that the passage has been supposed to contain a difficulty
which in reality does not belong to it.

Ver. 4. So, assuredly.] Such is the direct rendering of j5 hii ;
" So assuredly wouldst thou not decide against me, and give them
the victory over me."

Ver. 5. He that rebuketh his friends with mildness.'] " Gordius
nodus. I" exclaims Schultens : and, in truth, the passage is supposed by
many commentators to be altogether inexplicable : whence Reiske has
thought proper, after his usual manner in cases of this kind, to alter
the original in several of its words, by way of amendment. There

does

198 NOTES. Chap. XVIT. 5, 6.

does not^ however, appear to me to be the difficulty which has been
generally apprehended ; and, without quoting the multiplicity of
meanings, most of them very paraphrastic, which have been ascribed
to the passage by prior interpreters, I will only observe, that the
rendering now otFered is just as literal as I uust it is perspicuous.

In our common version, instead of " he that rebuketh," it runs
" he that speaketh." I am not acquainted with a single instance,
however, in which the Hebrew I'^T implies simply to speak, much
less to speak Jlatteringly. 1J, its root, means, in every sense, " to
assault," " to assail," " to attack, " to rush upon 3" and necessarily
therefore, when applied to the tongue, " to censure, or rebuke,"
phfh, in our common version rendered Jiattery, is literally, as given
above, " wilh mildness." The radical idea of phn is " smooth-
ness, softness, gentleness, mildness ;" and it is only in a secondary
sense that it can be made to imply flattery,

Ver. 5. The eyes of his children shall le accomplished.'] The
Hebrew tongue, which, perhaps more than any other, personifies the
difl^erent organs of the human body, and ascribes to them individual
and distinct passions, often employs the organ of the eyes to express
desire, ardejzt wish or expectation, which is the sense in the present
instance. Even in our own colder climate and dialect we retain
something of the same kind, and appropriate the eyes to express the
same passions, rather than any other organ. Thus Dryden, '' Jove
beheld it with a desiring look." So in the common version of the
Bible, in another place, Deut, xxviii. 32. "And thine eyes shall
look, and fail with longing for them."

In rendering the Hebrew iiJ''!?3n as I have done, " shall be ac-
complished," instead of " shall fail," as in our common version, it is
necessary to inform the English reader, that the radical meaning of
the Hebrew is that which I have given it ; T]\>'2 implying " totality,
completion, accomplishment : " it hence, only in a secondary sense,
means " making an end, or coming to an end^" and, still more
remotely, " end itself, cessation, failure."

Ver. 6. — that I should be reckoned- — ] rfinw, not "I was," as
in our common version, but " that I should be," or " that I should
be reckoned or counted," which is a frequent meaning of the pre-
sent verb, and in the instance before us a more forcible meaning.
See the same verb thus rendered in our common version, 1 Kings i,

21.

Chap. XVII. 6— 10. NOTES. 199

21. "1 and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders." See
also Parkhurst, art. nTr, sect. iv.

Ver. 6. A dotard:] The word nan, here employed, may be derived
from two distinct roots.' If from P\r\ {phat) ;\X.\m\\ imply a tabor, tabret,
or small drum ; if from nnQ (phateh), or even from ni'' fip/iat),
which has a near resemblance to nna, it will imply a fool, simpleton,
or dotard; '•ns being synonymous with the Latin fatuus, and the
English fatuous, and perhaps the root of these words. There can
be little doubt, I think, that the latter is the sense here intended.
Tyndal has admirably rendered the verse, and is the only one of
the translators who has hitherto understood it : he has merely erred
in his giving the past instead of the conditional tense, "He hath
made me as it were a bye-worde of the common people } I am his
GESTYNGE-sTocKE among them."

Ver. 7. — among the multitude.'] In the original tD''3ab, in the
primary sense of the term "before the faces," i. e. oi men: and
hence the word has often this direct signification in a secondary
sense — " before thepubhc," or " the public face." Infaciem is the
rendering of Schultens : in conspectu (" in public view ") is that of
Piscator. " Aforetime," as given in our common translation, derived
evidently from the ante of Junius and Tremellius, offers a very
inferior meaning.

Ver. g. — shall increase in courage.] So the Syriac, in explanation

•> 7 7

of this idea, mVMVio " con tineatqjie se for titer," "shall carry him-
self courageously :" so Schultens, " addatfortitudinem," '' shall aug-
ment his fortitude." The whole series of terms relates equally to a
life of warfare and military activity.

Ver. 10. Get ye hence, and be gone, I pray.] So Tyndal, " Get
you hence." In our common version, " return, and come now,"
or, "and come, I pray;" upon which difference it is necessary to
observe, that the original term 1«i, from «n, implies " to move in
either direction," "to come" or " to go," in conformity with the
general idea of the context, which in the present instance implies
going. Hence Dr. Stock, who nevertheless gives a very different

meaning

200 NOTES. Chap. XVII. 11, 12.

meaning to the entire passage, though he concurs with me in this
clause of it :

" And, perhaps, ye may return to a sense of shame — so go away, I pray.",

Ver. 11. My days, my projects, are all ovef.'} The passage has not
hitherto been properly divided: the verb " rent asunder, or broken
0^," as it is rendered in our common version, belongs to the ensuing
period of the verse, instead of to the present.

Ver. 11. The resolves — ] '•m'^)0 implies " thoughts, or meditations,"
that firmly occupy the heart j in the language of Schultens " hcere'
ditarice possessiones cordis 7«ece," — " the hereditaments of my heart:"
whence Dr. Stock renders it

" The tenants of my heart."
There appears to me, however, a quaintness in both these ex-
pressions, which completely disqualifies them for modern use. The
word resolves, if I mistake not, gives us the full idea cf the original,
without any quaintness whatever.

Ver. 12. Night is assigned — ] The original is put impersonally,
and ought to be thus rendered ; affording us a much clearer idea
than the common version,"' they have changed, put, or assigned}"
or even than the alteration proposed by Reiske, of reading !Z)''ty* for
iCty", "it hath changed, put, or assigned j" referring it to the heart
itself, as those who use the verb plurally do to the thoughts or resolves
of the heart.

Ver. 12. ^ light bordering on the regions of darkjiess.l Such is
the meaning of the original [literally ; nor has any language ever
oflfered a more exquisite picture of the last glimmering that swims
across the eyes of a person just sinking into the grave, into the regions
of death and darkness, llip does not mean " short," as in our com-
mon version, but " approaching to," "bordering on," "hard at
hand;' " propinr/uus," as it is rendered by Schultens, or "little dis-
tant from," as given by Dr. Stock.

The true meaning, however, of "[U^'n ^JQa "on the regions of
darkness," does not seem to have been caught hold of by any of the
translators. ni3Q, or Cd''JQ, whenever joined with a noun, signifying
any particular season of the day or year, imports place or region.

Thus

Chap. XVII. 13— 16. NOTES. 201

Thus Ps. xc. Q. 11J> niia!? "in the region of the evening:" so
Exod. xiv, 27. 1p3 misb "in the region of the morning:" in hke
manner the passage before us^ ^tyn »JQ, must necessarily mean
" regions of darkness;*'

Ver. 13. — the grave is my home.'] See Schultens, Sept. &c.

Ver. 15. in such a state — ] The original term is 1Q« ; which Is
either an adverb of time, nunc, now, as it is rendered in our common
version ; or of place or condition, as rendered by other versions ;
and I believe, more correctly, " in such a state," " under such cir-
cumstances." Schultens refers it expressly to corruption itself, " et
ubi, ubi istic spes mea ?" " and where, where in that place will be
my hope ? ' Grey, as usual, follows the rendering of Schultens.

Ver. 16. To the grasp — ] ^in ; literally, to the limls — *' the
grasping limbs," " the tremendous claws or talons" of the grave. The
imagery is peculiarly bold, and true to the general character under
which the grave is presented to us in the figurative language of sacred
poetry, — as a monster ever greedy to devour ; with horrid jaws wide
gaping for his prey ; and, in the passage before us, with limbs in
unison with his jaws, and ready to seize hold of the victims allotted
to him, with a strength and violence from which none can ex-
tricate themselves. The common rendering of fulcra, vectes, or
lars, as of a prison, is as unnecessary a departure from the proper
figure, as it is from the primary meaning of the original term.

CHAP. XVIII.

Ver. 2. How long will ye — ] The commentators are not agreed
to whom the opening of this speech is addressed. Being in the
plural number, it cannot, according to the common forms of
Hebrew colloquy, be addressed to Job alone. Le Clerc, however,
attempts to prove, that, under particular circumstances, such a form
may be admitted, and especially when particular respect is in-
tended. Other interpreters conceive that it is addressed to Job and
Eliphaz, to whom Job had been just replying. But the greater
number concur in supposing that it relates to the family or do-
mestics of Job, in conjunction with himself, who, it may be con-
ceived, were present, and at least tacitly approving his rebukes :

" Tu,

202 NOTES. ^ Chap.XVIII.s.

*' Tu, cum tuafamilia," is the explanation of Reiske. It is more pro-
bable that it aj^ plies to the interlocutors generally.

Ver. 2. — thorns — ] The Hebrew term "'V3p, here rendered
thorns, has proved a source of much critical controversy. It occurs no
where else in the Bible, and hence there is some reason for contro-
versy. It appears to have been regarded by all the old translators as
identic with ""Vp, the J being a supernumerary or epenthetic letter,
introduced poetically, and to please the ear ; a very common practice
in Chaldee writings, and of which we have numerous instances, as
in «Q3« for «S*<, and iJlia for J^ID. Hence it has hitherto been
supposed to imply end, cessation, or pause, '•ifp being, in the esti-
mation of such translators, derived from nvp. But such a rendering
does not offer a satisfactory meaning : on which account it is
necessary, as in our common version, in order to give it a meaning,
to supply a variety of intermediate words not found in the original:
thus in the version referred to, in which the supplied words are
marked in Italics, " how long will it be ere you make an end of
words ?" Schultens has therefore contended that the Hebrew term
has been mistaken j that the l^ instead of being epenthetic, is as
radical a letter as either the preceding or succeeding j and that as the
Arabians employ the term in its full latitude to express nets or
snares used in hunting, from <j<£JlJ (Pp) " to hunt or ensnare,"
the Hebrew language had the same word, and employed it in the
same sense. In consequence of which his rendering is " Quousque
ponetis captiosos laqueos sermonibus," " How long will ye put
enticing snares in words ?" The conjecture is highly ingenious ;
and it is adopted by most modern English translators, especially
by Grey, Scott, and Dr. Stock. Yet it is nothii.g more than a
conjecture j and, if I mistake not, a conjecture unnecessary : for
admitting (which there can be no doubt of) that ""Vip is a mere
modification of ^Vp, from the introduction of a rhetorical letter, it
does not follow of course that the translation of either of these
words must be end or ends, ''tfp is equally the plural of yp, " spina,"
"a thorn" or "prickle," and of Yp, " an end" or " extremity;"
though, as the former is masculine, and the latter feminine, the
termination refers it rather to the first than the last. This change
of gender, however, is itself a mere modification ; the radical term is
unquestionably one and the same, and either may be rendered by
the Latin term cacumen, " the top," " sharp end," or " utmost

point"

Chap. XVIII. 2-8. NOTES. 203

point " of any thing. It is on this account, by the term " thorns"
and not " end," that Reiske has rendered the Hebrew ''Ifip ; and I
have readily availed myself of his assistance, which seems to clear
away every difficulty, and to put us in possession of a very beautiful
and appropriate figure : " How long will ye plant thorns (irritating,
lacerating, wounding invectives) among words ?"

It only remains to observe, that pD'tyn, from t=)ti;, implies, pri-
marily, " to set," " plant," " put," " place in order, or arrange,"
and, more remotely, " to make, or constitute," as in our common
version.

Ver. 2. Be temperate — 1 In the original imn ; literally, " be dis-
creet," " be sober-minded}" from p, which, in Niph, means " to be
discreet," " discerning," or " sober-minded,"

Ver. 4. Devovrer of himself— ] i^lto " O tearer ! " or " devourer !"
not *' he teareth," as in our common version.

Ver. 4. Shall the land, then,—] The particle n being prefixed, as
peculiarly denoting contempt, " Shall the land forsooth" (or truly)
be disorganized, and its fruitful fields become a desert, through thy
fury, that would subvert all order, and produce nothing but uproar
and confusion ?"

Ver. 7. — be upturned — ] In our common version " be removed j"
but this is hardly forcible enough. IHi^ means, indeed, to remove,
but it also means " to distort," " invert," overturn," which seems
rather to be the sense in the present case.

Vev.S.Lo.'heplungethlyhisfeet-'] ''5 £cce / an exclamative,
not a causative particle, as in our common version. n!?U^, " to send or
shoot forth, as arrows ;" hence, literally, " Lo! or behold! henAUT-
ETH by his feet," i. e. " he darteth, or plungeth, feet- fore most."

Ver. 8. A pit-fall?^ t\Of^, a snare with pieces of wood, or other
substance, put cross-wise, or bar- wise, so as to sustain the deceitful
covering of turf, or other soil, put over it to hide the mischief it con-
ceals. The term is used Exod. xxvii. 4. to express a grating, or net-
work of brass. The same kind of snare or pit-fall is still frequently

employed throughout India, in elephant-hunting.

» Ver. 8.

204 NOTES. Chap. XVIII. 8.

Ver. 8. JValketh ahoiit.'] The poet, in the luxuriance of his fancy,
presents us with all the various modes of entangling and destroying
wild-beasts that were practised in his day. The present verse opens
with the pit-fall : the period before us alludes to the tracts of forest
encircled by nets^, or stakes, progressively drawn narrower till the
hunted animals are at length closely imprisoned. Of the practice
by nets, Spence has given a good description in his Polymetis,
Dial. xvi. where he observes that the hunters of forest- beasts followed
it up by " surrounding a considerable tract of ground by a circle of nets,
and afterwards contracting the circle by degrees, till they had forced
all the beasts of that quarter together into a narrow compass ; and
then it was that the slaughter began. This manner of hunting,
continues he, was pursued in Italy of old, as well as all over the
Eastern parts of the world ; and it was from this custom that the
poets sometimes represent Death as surrounding persons with his
nets, and as encompassing them on every side." Thus Statius,
lib. V, sylv. i. lin. 156.

— — furvae miserum circum undique Lethi

Vallavere plagae. —

On every side, the pitchy toils of death

Enfold the sufferer.
In Mr. Cordiner's account of Ceylon, we have a curious and
interesting description of the elephant hunt, which is pursued not
essentially different from the preceding, except that the snares are
palisadoed, instead of being netted, with the strongest possible
stakes, still farther fortified by interlacings. They are numerous,
but connected together, every snare or inclosure growiilg gradually
narrower, and opening into each other by a gate or two, that will
only admit the entrance of a single animal at a time. The wood,
in which elephants are known to abound, is first surrounded, ex-
cepting at the end where the foremost and widest inclosure is situated,
with fires placed on moveable pedestals ; which, in every direction,
are drawn closer and closer ; and, aided by loud and perpetual shouts,
drive the aminals forward till they enter into the outer snare. After
which the same process is continued, and they are driven by fear into
a second, into a third, and into a fourth ; till at length the elephants
become so much subdivided, that, by the aid of cordage carefully
fastened round their limbs, and the management of decoy elephants,
they are easily capable of being led away one by one, and tamed.
A single hunt, thus conducted^ will sometimes occupy not less than

two

Chap. XVIIT. 9— 1 1 • NOTES. 205

two months of unremitting labour 5 and the entrance of the ele-
phants into the snares is regarded as an amusement or sport of the
highest character, and, as such, is attended by all the principal fami-
lies of the country. Account of Ceylon, i. 218 — 226.

It is to this kind of snaring, by nets or stakes, that the Psalmist
often alludes in his similes ; thus xviii. 5.

The sorrows of hell encompassed me ;
The snares of hell were laid for me.

So again, cxl. v. 1

The proud have hid for me a snare and cords ;
They have spread a net by the way-side ;
They have set traps for me.

Ver. Q. The springe — ] In the original na, a springe or gryn, as
the same sort of snare was formerly denominated. Thus Chaucer,
" Like a bride that hasteth to hir grj/n,
Not knowing the peril."

This different kind of snare is peculiarly characterized by the de-
scription given in the following period ; in which, for reasons stated
in ch. V. ver. 5, 1 have chosen to follow Schultensand Reiske.in under-
standing Cd^DV (tzammim) to have the same meaning in Hebrew as
the identic term ^-Vo j has in Arabic ; and hence, if used substan-
tively, a core? or i^ri?5o- ,- if adverbially, cord-like, knot-like, closely,
straitly, rigidly ; in Latin, arete. Schultens chooses to adopt the
substantive meaning; whence his rendering is, " Apprehendet calca-
neum laqueus : instringet eum nexus nodosissimus ;" " The springe
shall lay hold of his heel, the knottiest tye shall fasten upon him."
Reiske, on the contrary, proposes an adverbial or adjective meaning,
" Acer vel arete erit obeundo super eum ;" " Rigidly shall it fasten
around him." See Note on ch. v. ver. 5.

Ver. 10. Its cordage — ] "^yn ; from hliU, a cord or rope ; probably
a concealed line held at a considerable distance by one of the hunters
or sportsmen, himself also in a state of concealment, upon whose
guidance the play of the snare depended. — The term, in our common
version, " is laid," by no means gives the full force of the Hebrew
pDto, which means, as rendered in the text, from jon, to hide or
cover.

Ver, 11, Devastation — ] In the original nin!?!, literally, disso'
htions, ivastings, ox layings waste, devastations; the plural being

idiomatic.

206 NOTES. Chap. XVIII. 11.

idiomatic, in the same manner as delidce in Latin, 'Adrjyfn (Athens)
in Greek, and ruins in our own tongue. Why this word should
not be understood as it is written, I know not : the greater number
of the versions, however, have regarded it as a mistake for mn!?rF3,
and have consequently rendered it terrors. The Septuagint gives us
ocvvai, " miseries, anguishes, wasting pains." A similar miscon-
ception has arisen, as Mr. Parkhurst has justly observed, in various
other places, in which the same word is used, and especially in
Ezek. xxvi. 21. xxvii. 36. xxviii. ip. in the same meaning: in all
which nothing can be clearer than that the true sense of the term is
not terror, but ruin or destruction ; cliruXua, as the Septuagint
renders it, (a word which would have been far preferable to olvvi] in
the present instance) ; or in nihilum, as St. Jerom translates it.

Ver. 11, And shall snatch him Jrom — 1 In the original invam,
which has not hitherto been fully understood, and has hence been
differently rendered. In our common version it is, "and shall
drive him to ;" in Junius and Tremellius, " disjiciunt eum," shall
put him to flight; in St. Jerom, "involvent ejus pedes," "shall
surround his feet ;" in Schultens, " dissipabunt eum," " shall shatter
him :" Dr. Stock, "deliver him to his feet." The real meaning of
nva is, " to free," " to loosen," " to deliver," " to take or snatch
away;" in the present instance eripere, in which sense the same
word is used Ps. cxliv, 7, 11. "Deliver me out of great waters 3"
" Deliver me fi-om the hands of strange children-," i. e. " take me, or
" snatch me away from," and hence accurately rendered eripe by
St. Jerom, The same idea is intended by the same word in the
passage before us :

Devastation shall terrify him on evety side.
And shall snatch him from his feet.

i. e. "And shall take from him the power of flight," not "put him
to flight," or " drive him to his feet."

As the radical verb HVQ means " to loosen," the passage might
also be interpreted, " And shall loosen, relax, or unnerve him in his
feet." The general idea is the same ; but the preceding form of
conveying it is by far the most forcible and poetical. Tyndal un-
questionably understood it in this sense, and has hence rendered it
to the same effect paraphrastically, though not literally, " that he
shall not knowe where to get out."

Ver. 12.

Chap. XVIII. 12, 13. NOTES. 207

Ver. 12. — his strength.] By Schultens rendered, '' Cavo ven-
tre famelicus erit dolor ejus," " Voracious shall be his anguish."
In some instances the term fb< might be rendered anguish instead of
strength, but I do not think it ought to be so rendered in the pre-
sent case. The very same term occurs no farther back, than in the
preceding seventh verse, and Schultens himself has there rendered
it strength, " potentia ejus.'' Reiske, on the contrary, contends that
the word should imply strength or vigour, but for 13« ^))^ (rob
anu) he proposes to read IJWl 2i)^ (rob b-anu), " famelicus in media
potentia sua," " He shall be hunger-bitten in the midst of his
strength." There is no necessity for the correction j which, after all,
offers a less forcible and poetical idea than that in the common
rendering.

In comparing various passages of this exquisite poem with similar
passages in Lucretius, the author had occasion, not long since, to
translate many of them into rhymed measure, and has given these
translations in different parts of the notes to his version of the Latin
poet. The index to that work, under the article Bible, will sufficiently
point them out. The following is one of these, taken from the
present part of the chapter before us :

Ver. 5. Fail shall the light that guides the sinner's way ;
The vital flame that cheers him shall decay :

11. Roam where be may, wild Terrors shall attend.
And haunt his steps where'er those steps may bend.

12. At him shall Anguish, gaunt with hunger, rush ;

Distress, with pond'rous gripe his ribs shall crush :

13. Death's first-born Plague shall gnaw him deep within.
Gnaw to the gloss, the summit of his skin.

14. His home Suspicion shall beset : Dismay,
Arm'd like a king, lead on the dread affray ;

15. His house, his haunts, his transient tent assail.
And round him Jkikes offiet~y sulphur hail.

16. Below, no stream his blasted root shall bathe ;
Al)ove, his branches lurid lightnings scathe ;

17. Clouds heap'd on clouds his memory shall blot ;
His name from earth be banish'd and forgot.

Ver. 13. Gluttonously—'] In the original '•'i-S (b-adi), literally " to
excess, surplus, or gluttony, gluttonously," and not, as usually read
and rendered,**!^ (badi),"h^x%, branches, ramifications," or, in a se-
condary sense, " strength," So Mr. Parkhurst, art. 12, § vii. adopting

the

208 NOTES. Chap.XVIIT. 14, 15.

the same idea, so far as it refers to this term, " The first-born of
death shall feed on the sufficiency of his skin ; shall feed on the suf~
Jlciency of himself " Whence, apparently, Dr, Stock,
" It shall eat to the full his skin,

To THE FULL shall eat him the first-born of death."
The only difference between us is, that while I refer the adverbial
term '•1-3 (" gluttonously," or " to the full") to the insatiable first-
born of death. Dr. Stock and Mr. Parkhurst refer it to the patriarch,
or whoever else may be the person predicated. Reiske again attempts
to amend the text j but it is perfect of itself, and certainly not bene-
fited by his alteration. He may be correct, perhaps, in supposing
the Jirst-born of death to denote the worm — the first and earliest
issue of putrefaction. By other commentators, however, the idea is
supposed to indicate, not the first progeny in point of time, but in
point of might, the most powerful and deadly disease.

In the poem of Zohair, forming the last of the Moallakat, we
have a similarity of thought, but with great force and perspicuity,
directed to the vulture. The poet is speaking of Hosein, the son of
Demdem, who had taken a solemn oath that he would not bathe
his head in water till he had avenged the death of his brother Harem :
" He made a fierce attack, nor feared the number of tents, where Dfath,
the mother of vultures, had fixed her mansion."
This passage rather gives countenance to the above explanation
of Reiske ; but its direct exemplification is far bolder, and more
spirited.

Ver, 14. And dissolution — ] Here again, as in ver. 11, we meet
with the term nin^:i, generally rendered terrors, as though this
word had been written in the original for nin/ni. In the Note on
ver. 11, T have already observed that it is an idiomatic plural, used
in a singular sense, but with peculiar force, in the same manner as
delicice is in Latin, ^Adijvai in Greek, or ruins in our tongue. So
Mr. Parkhurst, art, ^i>'tf, " and wastings, destruction, shall march
against him as a king." " I am sorry," says Dr. Stock, " to part with
a beautiful phrase in our common version, the king of terrors, as
descriptive of death ; but there is no authority for it in the Hebrew
text,"

Ver. 15. — shall be rained down upon — ] The Hebrew nil'' will
readily bear this rendering : so Reiske, " Ut omnem terram pluvia

rigabat.

Chap. XVIII. \6, 17. NOTES. 209

rigabat, pluviae loco sparget super fossani ejus sulphur." It may
perhaps alhide to the punishment inflicted upon Sodom and Gomor-
rah ; but this is uncertain 5 for it may also allude to the inflammable
matter scattered during the eruption of a volcano : the term n^li}:],
however, here rendered brimstone, is the same as occurs in Gen. xix.
24. in which the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah is detailed, and in
all probability by Moses himself.

Ver. 16. Below shall his roots ] " All his subsequent intentions,

and all he has actually produced, — his future expectations and his
present achievements, — shall be equally destroyed and abolished."
The imagery is common to the Arabs of the present day. Thus, in
that very exquisite poem of the Loves of Antara and Abla, con-
cerning which Sir W. Jones has finely and correctly written, " Nihil
est elegans, nihil raagnificum, quod huic operi deesse putem:"
Works, ii. 565.

■If-

Base, worthless soldier ! God shall root thee out ;
No morning dews shall give thy buds to sprout ;
Nor cloud, nor showers, amid thy tribe, be seen.
Whilst thou art there ; — nor hills with harvest green.
Shame is thy clothing, Bader's son ! and shame.
And all its curses, shall pursue thy name.

Ver. 17. And no trace of him — ] The Hebrew tom is usually
rendered najne, but this is only a secondary signification. Like the
Arabic ^, and j^j it implies primarily " nota," '^'^ character," ves-
tigium," " a mark, note, trace, or sign 3" — whence originate, in a
derivative sense, the ideas of " name, fame, reputation," — as we say
in modern language, " Si noted or marked character" — '' a man of
note," &c.

o Ver. 17.

210 NOTES. Chap. XVIII. 17-19.

Ver. 17. — public streets^ In the original pn '^3, which is literally
'*■ face of the streets," i. e. places of public resort and conversation.

The following passage, from one of the best odes of Klopstock,
entitled Der Ziirckersee, " To the Lake of Zurich," is so finely de-
scriptive of the instinctive desire of future fame, and of living in the
memory of posterity, when founded on a virtuous principle, that
the reader will readily excuse my copying it, and offering a
translation.

Reizvoll klinget des Ruhms lockender silberton
In das schlagende herz, und Unsterblichkeit

1st ein Gendanke,

1st des schweisses der edlen werth !

Durch der lieder gewalt, bey der urenkelin

Son und tochter noch sejTi ; mit der entzuckung ton

Oft beym namen genennet.

Oft gerufen vom grabe her.

Dann ihr sanfteres herz bilden, und, Liebe, dich,
Fromme Tugend, dich, auch giessen ins sanfte herz,

1st, beym himmel ! nicht wenig !

1st des schweisses der edlen werth !

Sweet are the thrills, the silver voice of Fame,

Triumphant through the bounding bosom darts !

And, Immortality ! how proud an aim !

What nobler toil to spur the noblest hearts ?

By charm of song to live through future time.

To hear, still spurning death's invidious stroke,

Enraptur'd quires rehearse one's name sublime.
E'en from the mansions of the grave invoke :

Within the tender heart e'en then to rear

Thee, Love ! thee. Virtue ! fairest growth of heaven !

O ! this, indeed, is worthy man's career ;
This is the toil to noblest spirits given.

Ver. 18. — sJiall he he driven — ] In the original inQin^ and again
in the text line ^rMy, literally, " they shall drive him" — " they shall
chase him." The verbs are evidently used impersonally : see Note
on ch. xvii. 16. In the Septuagint, the latter half of the verse is
wanting.

Ver. 19. No son of his, no kinsman — ] So Tyndal, admirably,
" He shal nether have chyldren nor kynsfolcks amonge his people ;

noo,

Chap. XVIII. 19— 21. NOTES. 211

noo, nor eny posterite in hys countrey." Why 1'D^ should be ren-
dered nephew, as it generally has been, I know not. As originating
from nD, " to shoot" or " spring forth," it implies " progeny or colla-
teral offspring in general." For "among his people" the Syriac

version gives " in the world," yViVr-^; and the Arabic " in his day ;"
and both, for so?i and kinsman, read name and memory.

Ver. 19. — among his sojournings.'\ VIUDi, from 1J "to sojourn,"
or " dwell for a short and uncertain period," as in travelling. The
idea is peculiarly expressive and forcible : — not only among his own
people, and in his own settled habitation, shall his name, his memory,
his family, be extinguished ; but no asylum, no refuge, shall be af-
forded them in distant countries, and among strangers with whom
he had casually sojourned, and where his memory might be sup-
posed to call forth the hospitalities of friendship. The Jewish
history affords innumerable instances of persons compelled to fly
from their native homes, and seek an asylum in the bosom of
strangers, to whom they were only casually, or even altogether un-
known : and, without ranging farther, 'the history of Moses him-
self, the probable writer of the poem, furnishes us with a memorable
example.

Ver. 20. Jt his day shall the young — '] Day is here used for life
— " mode" or " term of existence," as in all modern languages.
CD''J'lin« and tZJ^ionp, if taken literally, imply " occidentalists"
and " orientahsts," " men of the west" and " of the east ;" and is
actually so rendered by Schultens and Grey. It may also mean
" they that come after," and " they that went before," as in our
common version ; or " the young" and " the aged," as rendered in
the present text, confirmed by Schmidt, Reiske, and Tyndal, the
elegant version of which last is, " yonge and olde shall be astonished
at hys death." All these ideas are, in some degree, correlative ; and
the reader may chuse which he pleases.

Ver. 20. — panic- struck.'] In the original ^i^ty-lin«, which is
literally the idiom here offered.

Ver. 21. — allotment — ] ni:5tyn, "a place allotted or assigned,"
— " a mansion," or " permanent residence ;" " a sphere or circuit of
motion," which the man to whom it is allotted cannot possibly quit.

0 2 CHAi'.

iJi2 NOTES. Chap. XIX. 3.

CHAP. XIX.

Ver. 3. have ye reviled me.] In the original '•iW^an ; from

tD^J^ " to put to shame," "to revile": whence Schultens "me
ignominia fregistis," " ye have broken me down with ignominy."

Ver. 3. Ye relax not — ] Generally rendered, but I think incorrectly,
" ye are not ashamed 3" or imperatively, " are ye not ashamed ?" The
primary meaning of lU^sn, from U^2, is " to fail," " flag," or " relax j"
and its secondary meaning " to be confounded ;" whether, as Mr.
Parkhurst observes, " through fear, disappointment, modesty, or
guilt j" and hence, though veryremotely, it denotes " to be ashamed."
It appears to me unquestionable that the primary idea is, in this
place, the sense intended.

Ver. 3. — ye press forward upon /we.] The term llirtH in the
original, like many others in the poem, obviously proving its native
country, is a direct Arabism, in which language it means, from Xc
" ye rush or press upon me with violence," — cum impetu ruiiis in me,
as Reiske renders it, from the same source ; or as Schultens translates'
it, but less correctly, " impudenter praefracti estis mihi," " audaci-
ously do ye break yourselves upon me." From an ignorance of, or
want of attention to, this derivation, the term has proved a matter
of great contest among the translators ; who, deriving it uniformly
from the Hebrew ^^Tf, " to know," or " recognise," have tried in
numerous ways to extort a meaning from the passage, but in every
instance to no purpose. Hence, in our common version, it runs as
follows j "you are not ashamed that you make yourselves strange to
me j" with which version Mr. Parkhurst, dissatisfied (as well he
may be), proposes instead of it, " ye are not ashamed, though ye are
known to me :" that is, says he, "ye do not blush at your undeserved
reproaches and insinuations of my wickedness, notwithstanding your
acquaintance and pretended friendship with me :" while Dr. Stock,
equally dissatisfied with both, translates

" Are ye not ashamed .'' Ye are known to me."
The Arabic meaning of the term, which alone offers any sense to the
passage, is fully confirmed by its introduction into the Septuagint,
which gives us liriKEtaQc fiot, by St. Ambrose rendered " incumbitis
mihij" by St. Jerom, "opprirnentesme)" and by Piscator, ''obfirmatis
vos contra me ;" " ye fall upon" — " ye oppress" — " ye harden your-
selves against me. ' Y J

CiiAP. XIX. 4—6. NOTES. 213

Ver, 4. That my transgression hath harboured — ] This verse is im-
mediately connected with the ensuing, as in the version of Schmidt,
" At revera etiam erraverim, et commoretur adhuc error meus apud
me ; — num vero vos adversus me efFeretis vos, &c. ?' It is also neces-
sary to observe, that the Hebrew f^M, from fb, does not mean sim-
ply " to remain," but " to suffer to remain," " to harbour, or
lodge j" and is rendered, by Junius and Piscator, Tremellius and
Schultens, in the present place, pernoctet, " found refuge or shelter
at night }" in colloquial language^ " hath taken a bed.'

Ver, 5. — forsooth — ] The adverb tDiDS is here used ironically,
"forsooth,"' rather than " truly,"" or " indeed."

Ver. 5. And expose to myself — .] The verb n53, whence the pre-
sent term irr-iini, implies rather " to publish" or " lay open," *' to
urge a charge in broad day-light," than " to plead," or simply " to
act or speak." So Reiske, " Evincetis, proprie conficietis aut in
aprico, tanquam in via regia, patente et calcata." The whole pas-
sage has a strong resemblance to the following from the poem of
Tarafa, forming the second of the Moallakat :

" Without having committed any offence, I am treated like the worst

offender; am censured, insulted, upbraided, rejected.
" Were any other man than Malee my cousin, he would have dispelled

my cares, or have left me at liberty for a season.
" But my kinsman strangles me with cruelty, even at the very time when

I am giving thanks for past, and requesting new favours ; even when

I am seeking from him the redemption of my soul.
" The unkindness of relations gives keener anguish, to every noble breast,

than the stroke of an Indian cimeter."

Ver. 6, — hath humiliated — ] In the Hebrew mi>, from the
same word ; which denotes, primarily, " to incline downwards," or
" towards the ground," as the heavier weight in a pair of scales.
Most of the German writers, however, explain it " to incline from
a right path," " to pervert f whence Schultens, " Deus me perver-
terit f Cocceius, " Deus curvavit me f and Luther, with still
greater boldness, " Deus injuriam mihi fecit •" " God hath done
me the mischief." The first meaning, as it is the most obvious, is
the least exceptionabfe, and, as it appears to me, the truest.

Ver. 7'

214 NOTES. , Chap. XIX. 7— 12.

Ver. 7- — 1 complain of — ,] In SchuUens, " Ecce, clamo violen-
tiani — ," " Behold, I vociferate the violence — ." Whence Dr.
Stock, somewhat burlesquely :

** Lo, I may cry Murder ! but have no answer."
To this passage, as well as to a similar passage in ch. xvi. Jeremiah
appears to have turned his eyes, in his Lamentations, iii. 4 — 16.

Ver. 9. — of my glory.'] In the Hebrew ^1115, from ^i5, which
means primarily " the liver," and, secondarily, those high passions or
qualities of which this organ was supposed to be the seat : " strong
ardent desire," " glory," " splendour," " honour." In Tyndal,
" He hath spoyled me of myne honoure." In Dr. Stock :

" My FiNEftY from off me he doth strip."
I have followed our common version, as being equally correct and
emphatic. The honour, glory, or dignity here referred to, is that of
his having been prince or prime magistrate among the people : an
honour he had now not only lost, but which, through the jealousy
of his enemies, had been changed into a public derision of his per-
son, as appears from ch. xxix. / — 25.

Ver. 9. — overturyied the crown — ] In the original, ftllDi? 'ID^
" turned upside-down, or topsy-turvy," the crown, coronet, or tiara,
which he wore as chief magistrate or emir of the city. See
ch. xxix. 7 — 25.

Ver. 12. His besiegers — .] In the original VTilJ j not *■' his
troops," but " his troops in a state of invasion or assault ■" " his in-
vaders," "assailants," or" besiegers;" fromlJi, "to assault," "attack/'
or " rush upon."

Ver. 12. — in a body.] "^ Conjointly," " unitedly;" or more
technically, " in a body," In the Hebrew in\ " altogether."

Ver. 12, And wheel their lines — ] The verb 3D, whence 1iD%
here made use of, implies, in all its senses, " gyration," and denotes
" to encompass," "surround," " encircle," "enring," or "wheel;"
and by no means " to raise up," though this is the common sense
ascribed to it in the present passage, 'jn implies " a path," " track,"
"trace," or " line drawn." And it may hence import entrench-
ments, " lines of circumvallation ;" or ranks, '* lines of soldiers in

battle-

Chap. XIX. 13, 14. NOTES. 215

battle-array." The imagery is equally common to the Asiatics and
tlie Greeks, and is as appropriate as it is magnificent. As a single
example, I may otFer the following from Aristophanes, Iren. 745.

'^11 KaKohaijJLOv, Ti TO cep/ii^ cTraOfc 5 fiiv mrpi'^U CKTcfiaXtv aoi

E/c Tcir. irXevpd^ ttoXX)) aTpariq..

CaitiflF, what ails thy skin ? the nine-tail'd scourge,
JVith all his host, has rush'd against thy ribs.

Ver. 13. — put aloof — .] In the original pTtin, not " removed
to a distance," but " made to carry themselves distant" or " aloof}"
*' they see me, but will not associate with me." Jeremiah seems to
have had his eye directed to this passage in the following, ch.xx. 10.

All my familiars watched for my stumbling ;

Peradventure, said they, he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him.

Ver. 13. —guite estranged.'] The Hebrew "iir "[« will bear two
interpretations. If 11T be derived, as I think it should be, from ""A, it
will be " Are become quite cold to me;" but if from 1U, it will then
be as here rendered. The last is the common interpretation 3 and, as
the difference is not very materialj I have yielded my own judgment
to the general opinion.

Ver. 14. My kinsfolk have forsaken tt^c.] I have followed the
punctuation of Mr. Grey, who, in my apprehension, with great pro*-
priety, makes the pronoun ''JDD, " from me," open the present verge,
instead of closing the preceding : reading literally.

And my familiars are quite estranged.

From me have my kinsfolk declined (failed) .
insteadof the common order,

And my familiars are quite estranged from me.

My kinsfolk have failed.
The sufferings of Job are often remotely alluded to, and his own
description of them occasionally very closely copied by the succeed-
ing poets. This idea does not appear to have occurred to our expo-
sitors, but it will give a very happy and forcible illustration of many
passages of Scripture, and in some degree settle the point of the high
antiquity of the poem. The passage before us is so peculiarly pa-
rallel with Ps. xli. 5 — 9. as to render it almost impossible that the
latter should not be a copy of the former, considering more espe-
cially how often other passages are imitated. See also Ps. xxxviii.

1 — 11. Isai. i. 6. et passim. Jerem.:ii\. 10. et passim

The

216 NOTES. Chap. XIX. 15— 18.

The reader may compare the general idea with the following pas-
sage, literally translated from an ancient Gaelic poem, by Dr. Donald
Smith J the original of which is given in the Report of the Highland
Society, p, 254.

" 1 mourn in darkness.

Without either battle or friend ;

Like a blasted tree in the unsheltered wild.

Bereft of leaves and partners."

Ver. 15, The sojourners in my house — ] Travellers who have
claimed the rites of hospitality, and been received by me into my
house. The practice is well known to be common all over the East.
See Schult. in loc.

Ver, 15. I am reckoned — ] Such is a common meaning of the verb
IVn. See, among other places, 1 Kings i. 21. "I and my son Solo-
mon shall be reckoned offenders."

Ver. l6. — to the very face^ In the original "•& lai, literally " to the
very mouth •" though ''& has often the secondary sense oiface or
aspect, and hence readily admits of it in the present instance.

Ver. 17 -—w scattered away — ] nil, from 11, "to dispense,"
" scatter," or " cast away." I prefer this sense to the more common
reading of " is strange," which is only a subordinate, and, in the
passage before us, a far less emphatical meaning of the same word.

Ver. 18. — the dependants — ] In the original 'CD''b''^^, from nbi), " to
rear," "bring up," or " sustain :" whence the substantive means
equally " sucklings" or "infants," and " pensionaries," "depend-
ants" or retainers." Our common version, copying Junius and
Tremellius and Piscator, gives the former meaning ; Schultens, and,
as I think, with more propriety, the latter, " Etiam clientes egentissimi
aspernantur me." Theodotion renders it u<bpov£g, "imbeciles," i. e.
" weak-minded i" whence Tyndal, "Yea the very desert fooles
despise me."

Ver. 1 8. — and they hoot after me.'\ The Hebrew in, in most of its
senses, implies "force, energy, violence :" whence, in conjunction
with the preposition a, it denotes something more than merely "to

speak

Chap.XIX. 19, 20. NOTES. 217

speak against," as in our common version, and clearly means, " they
cry out," " vociferate," or " hoot against me." Schultens has it " raale-
dicunt de me ;" and Tyndal, in perfect unison, " they speak evil
upon me." Reiske, from the correspondent Arabic, ^oJjJ JJ*i
" vertunt mihi dorsum," " they turn the back upon me."

Ver. 19. Even they whom — "] In the original TW, " he whom I loved
ARE turned against me;" — a perfect Arabism j in which language
y is not unfrequently put for ^_f jj^ : whence, as Reiske observes, the
following proverb cited in Al-Meidan, ^\ J *^J^ cJ^J'^ which
is immediately commented upon and explained.

It is in consequence of this change of person that some of the
translators render the passage " He whom I loved is, &c." while
others, and with more propriety, give us, "They whom I loved
are, &:c."

Ver. 20. My hones stick out, through — "] The word DVy, usually
rendered in the singular number, lone, is a collective noun, like the
English word man, and means the whole bony mass or system of
bones : whence, as we have no such collective noun in our own
tongue, it is better to render it plurally. '\)y^ signifies " to stick
or cleave ;" and in various places, " to stick or cleave through, into,"
as well as to stick or cleave together, and especially when used, as
in the present instance, with an appropriate preposition. So Dr. Stock,

" And INTO my skin and flesh my bones are stuck."
That this is the true meaning of the passage, appears clear, from a
correlative description in the same poem, ch.xxxiii. 21. "His flesh
is consumed away, that it cannot be seen ; and his bones, that were
not seen, stick out. So in Ps. cii. 4, 5, a passage perhaps copied
rom the present :

Smitten is my heart, like the withered grass.

Since I have forgotten to eat my food.

Through the shrieks of my groaning my hones stick out through my skin.

There is a parallel imagery in Lara. iv. 8. but here the verb means
unquestionably to " stick or cleave together."

Blacker is their visage than a coal ; — they are not known in the streets :
Their skin cleaveth to their bones ; it is become withered, as a stick.
The Greek and Roman poets have not been inattentive to the same
imagery. Let the following from Lucretius suffice, lib. vi. 126S.

pellis super ossibus una

Visceribus tetris prope jam, sordique sepulta.

218 NOTES. Chap. XIX. 20.

• o'er the bones

, Skin only, nought but skin, and drown'd alike.
Within and outwards, with putrescent grume.

Ver.20. And in the skin of my teeth am I dissolved.'] There is
scarcely any verse in the whole poem that has more puzzled the
commentators, and excited a greater variety of renderings than this.
The word skin (lli^) is here repeated from the preceding line, for
the sake of an iteration ; in which figure no poets have more largely
indulged than the Asiatics, whether ancient or modern. It is a
word of extensive meaning, and implies generally, " cuticle, peel,
integument, skin; and in the present place more particularly the
gums, which are the proper integuments of the teeth, the substance
in which they are first produced, and which through life affords
a nutritious covering to their base. It may also be rendered Jilm ;
and in this sense I have translated it, upon quoting the passage
before us in the Notes on Lucretius, vol. ii. p. 6og.

Merely have I escaped with the film of my teeth.

Upon maturer consideration, however, I do not think this the direct
sense of the term in the present passage 5 it rather implies inte-
guments generally, and has been preferred by the original writer to
any other term expressive of the same meaning, on account, as I
have already observed, of the iteration hereby produced.

"1 may be rendered merely ,• but with the interpretation of ^1)^
now offered, there is no reason for regarding it otherwise than as
a common copulative in the sense of and.

The great difficulty, however, is in the word ntoboDN, in our
established version rendered, " I am escaped," but which I have
now ventured to render " I am dissolved, i. e. corrupted." The
Hebrew root Uih^ {melt, or mell't) implies primarily " solvo, dissolvo,"
" to loosen, dissolve," and is probably the origin of our Saxon term
" to MELT." It implies also " to macerate, or set free j" and hence,
intransitively, " to fly off, or escape." In the version above copied
from Lucretius, it is obvious^ that I have bowed in deference to our
established version j but the primary meaning of the term oflfers a
sense so much simpler, and more congruous, that I think it far better
to adopt it, though the exact idea has seldom, that I know of,
occurred to any other translator ; the only instance in my favour
being Dr. Stock's version, which gives us as follows,

" And I am set loose in the skin over my teeth j"

which

Chap.XIX. 21. NOTES. 219

which he explains thus : " the phrase appears to denote the loosen-
ing of the teeth from the gums, as in many disorders is the case."
It is not, however, if I conceive aright, so much the mere loosening
of the teeth, as that general deliquation, or putrescency , which ac-
companies their integuments in the disorders here referred to :
" I am dissolved, deliquated, or corrupted."

The passage, as rendered by Parkhurst, is, " I am made bald on the
skin over my teeth :" but this requires a comment ; and in order to
give it a meaning, he refers it to the falling off of the patriarch's
mustachios. I have not time to investigate the costume here taken
for granted, or at least dependent alone on the conjecture of Micha-
elis. The interpretation of Schultens is as follows 5 " Nothing is left
but the skin of my gums :" while St. Jerom gives us, " Et derelicta
sunt tantummodo labia circa dentes meos," ''And my lips only are
left about my teeth." While Reiske, with his usual boldness,
asserts that the term ni?n ( "ofviy skifi" ) is an interpolation, and
ought to be rejected. The verse should run thus, as he tells us.

And I am made to loosen (or cast) my teeth.
" Vulgati lectio," says he, " hunc sensum fundit. Sic Arabes /^ili*
et simpliciter /IssO coaluit, er ist zusammen gelacken, pro emacuit,
collapsus fuit."

The general idea of the entire couplet, as now given, is in perfect
uniformity with the following of Plautus :

Maceseo, consenesco et tabesco miser ;
Ossa atque pellis sum misera maeritudine. j
I waste, grow old, and foully fade away,
In skin and bone a miserable ruin.

Yet Lucretius is still more to the point in the passage just quoted on
V, 20. And in the celebrated inscription on the pillar at Delhi,
called the Lat of Feeroz Shah, is the following passage, exhibiting a
similar hyperbole in dilFerent terms : " Blades of grass are perceived
between thine adversary's teeth." See Asiatic Researches, vol. vii.
art. V.

Ver. 21. Pity me! pity me/] So in the Bhushanda Ram^yan,
as translated by Sir W. Jones, vol. vi. 406. " On considering the
power of the Divine spirit, I fell breathless on the ground. At
length, ' Have pity,' said I, ' have pity on me ! and cease, O thou^,

who

220 NOTES. Chap. XIX. 22, 23.

who rewardest the devout — cease to grieve thine humiliated
votary!' "

Ver. 22. — like God—'] In the original, h'A lOD ; which may-
mean either "like God/' or " like a roe or deer," for the Hehrew bn
(if in the sense of ^''N) will admit of both these renderings, Reiske
has adopted the latter : but there seems no reason for the change.

Ver. 22. ^nd not rest satisfied with viy Jiesh.'] " And not rest
satisfied with feasting your eyes on the present state of my body,
which of itself ought to afford a sufficient meal to your savage ap-
petite ; without following me up, which alone is the province of
the Almighty, into my inmost thoughts and meditations, and man-
gling me in the recesses of my mind."

Ver. 23. — even now— "] In the original ia«, which his here an
adverb of time or place, jaw nunc, as it is justly rendered by Schul-
tens. " Yet even now, worn out as I am by pain, and agonized by
unjust reproaches, on the very verge of the grave, and in the pro-
spect of dissolution, still do I know that I shall finally triumph ;
— and oh ! that I could transmit the feeling to future ages !"

Ver. 23. — that they were engraven on a table /] In the original
')pn''1 'iQDl, which is rendered in our common version "that they
were printed in a book j" a translation calculated to convey an erro-
neous idea to the unlearned reader ; for we have no reason to suppose
that the art of printing, and much less that printed books, were in use
at the period referred toj though the art of engraving vi^as unquestion-
ably known. The books in use among the ancients, for some centuries
after the probable date of this poem, were rolls or scrolls of papyrus or
parchment, whence our own word volume (volumen), which implies
a roll or convolution ; or they were bundles of waxen or metallic
plates (the metal being generally lead), sculptured or engraven with
an iron style. In perfect connexion herewith is the following well-
known passage of Pliny, xiii. 1 1. in which he asserts that, " Olim pal-
marum foliis scriptitatum, et libris quarundam arborum ; postea pub-
lica monumenta plumheis voluminibus , mox et privata linteis confici
cospta, aut ceris :" " At first men wrote on the leaves of the
palm, and the bark of certain other trees ; but afterwards public
documents were preserved on leaden plates or sheets, and those of
a private nature on wax or linen."

In

Chap. XIX. 24. NOTES. 221

In the passage before us, the term "nSD, instead of a book, means a
pubHc memorial, record, or table ; and the verb npTi; " to indent,"
"impress," "engrave," or " sculpture j" uniformly retaining the
idea of cutting, or delving, in some way or other. So Isai. xxx. 8, 9,

Now go, write it before them in a tablet ;
And in a table engrave it ;
That it may be for future days, —
For ever, a testimony.

Ver. 24. — upon lead.'] In the original filQi?"), in which the letter
1 is a connective preposition, instead of being a connective particle ;
and implies " with," " together with," " amongst," " in the midst
of," " into," " upon." Of this we have examples in a variety of
places : it may be sufficient to refer to 1 Sam. xiv. 18. In plumlo,
or in plumbum, is the rendering of Leo Juda, Luther, and Schmidt j
cum plumlo that of Diodati, Bochart, Noldius, and the vernacular
German. With this explanation the whole is clear ; and for want
of it the passage has always been supposed perplexed, and of
doubtful meaning. The Alexandrine copy gives us trt^epu ^ /bioXifiu,
" with a pen of iron or of lead :" our common version, which agrees
with all the rest, " with an iron pen and lead." The entire passage
is explained by a reference to the preceding Note, '

Ver, 24, That they were sculptufd in a rock for ever!"] I am
astonished that this line has never till the present moment been se-
parated from the preceding. With this minute change in the punc-
tuation alone, we are put into possession of one of the most beautiful
and perfect climaxes in all ancient poetry ; and are at the same
time freed from the confusion which results from intermixing the
three distinct terms, iron, and lead, and rock. The whole paragraph
includes four separate ideas, each of which rises over the other with
admirable perspicuity and force : " O ! that my words were written
down ! — O ! that they were engraven on a table ! — that they were
durably engraven with a pen (or style) of iron, upon a volume or
sheet of lead ! — yea, that they were cut into a rock that shall en-
dure for ever !"

Ver. 25. For " I hioiv that my Redeemer liveth, &c."] Such is the
noble testimony of faith, which the pious patriarch is so anxious to
have recorded in everlasting characters, for the support of those who
should hereafter be afflicted like himself. It is a direct and magna-
nimous

222 NOTES. Chap. XIX. 25.

nimous reply to the chief argument of his companions, who, in every
speech, have insisted that it is the wicked alone who are punished, and
that the good in every instance enjoy the favour of the Almighty :
it was with this argument that Eliphaz, the first speaker, com-
menced, and Bildad, the last speaker, closed. The holy patriarch, far
from denying the truth of the observation, admits it as general fact:
he asserts that it is the wicked only who are utterly cut off, and
perish beneath the indignation of the Most High ; that, in the mys-
terious ways of Providence, the just may also suffer, and, to an in-
attentive eye, indiscriminately ; but that the afflictions of the just are
corrections of love and not of anger, that the good man will uni-
formly be supported under his trials, and at length be triumphantly
delivered from them, and his real character be made manifest to all
the world. " I am persuaded, therefore, (continues he, with holy
confidence, and a consciousness of his own innocence,) afflicted as
I now am, overspread with corrupt sores, reduced to a skeleton, and
in the full prospect of dissolution, that the Almighty will not for
ever forsake me ; that this dying frame shall hereafter be rebuilt j
and the mighty Builder, the great restorer or redeemer, will here-
after vindicate my integrity, when he shall at last ascend to judgment.
And under this persuasion, I long earnestly to record the triumphant
feelings that console me at this moment, upon the most durable mar-
ble, as an animating support to succeeding generations :

" For I know that my Redeemer liveth, &c. "
The passage, however, has been restricted, by a multitude of very
learned critics and very excellent men, to a mere restoration from
the disease under which the speaker was then suffering : it being
contended by them, that there is no other passage in the whole poem
that can be fairly construed to import any hope in a resurrection
from the grave, which, they tell us, it uniformly represents as the
utter extinction of the whole man. In this general view of the sub-
ject. Dr. Stock concurs with Bishop Warburton, Mr. Heath, Dr.
Geddes, and others of the same sentiment; but while he unites with
them in believing that neither Job nor his friends had the smallest
glimpse of a resurrection from the ultimate destruction of the grave
he differs from them in thinking, that, on the present occasion, and in
the present moment, the irritated patriarch roused himself to an ex-
pectation that he should be miraculously restored from the grave,
for a time, even in the present world, to the vindication of his own
character, and the utter confusion of his enemies.

I have

Chap. XIX. 25. NOTES. 223

I have already observed, in tlie prefixed Dissertation, that the
ground of this opinion of Job's total disbeHef of a general resurrec-
tion from the dead, has been assumed not only gratuitously, but
in direct opposition to the ordinary train of the holy patriarch's
feelings and assertions, and even to what appears, from one passage
of the poem, oh. xxi. 30, to have been the creed of his compa-
nions : and, without repeating the argument, I refer the reader to the
general statement which that Dissertation contains.

In accurately translating the passage, however, there is some
difficulty 5— a difficulty which has put upon its full stretch the
ingenuity of the shrewdest scholars, and been productive of an al-
most infinite variety of renderings, widely different from each other ;
and yet, not one of which, or I much mistake, has given the real mean-
ing. How far the present translation may prove successful, I must
leave to the candid reader to determine. Our common version com-
mences as follows : " For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and
that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : and though,
after my skin, worms destroy this body — ."

Now in the original we have nothing whatever that can answer
to the words day, though, worms, or lody ; and nothing that can
fairly answer to the word destroy ; unless, indeed, this last word be
regarded, as I am convinced it ought to be, as an Arabic term, and
understood in an Arabic sense : in which case the term destroy will
be correct.

It is but just, however, to quote the Hebrew text itself:

n«t iQp3 nii> insi
in Roman characters thus :

V-ani jadoti gal-i hi
V-aherun ol oper jekum :
V-aher ori nekepu zot.

And here the first term that requires notice is b«J (gal), which is
derived from a verb of the same characters, and means " to recover,
retrieve, repurchase, or redeem, an estate ;" "to restore a person or
thing to the situation in which it existed antecedently ;" and hence
** to vindicate or avenge a person who has been used wrongfully."
How far the Hebrew term may correspond with the full scope of
the word Redeemer, as understood under the Christian dispensation, it
is unnecessary to inquire in the present place ; but in its general

sense,

224 NOTES. Chap. XIX. 25.

sense, as implying a restorer or recoverer, there is no word I am
acquainted with that forms a more direct synonym with the Hebrew
term than Redeemer does. Had our common version, however, given
us restorer or recoverer, I should still have followed it j but to adopt
either of these terms now, would have too much the appearance of
changing for the mere sake of change. Any one of the three will
answer the purpose, and equally so. The Chaldee renders it ^p^15,
"my restorer" or "deliverer ;' and in like manner the Septuagint,
o tKKveiv fie iu.t\\o)v " he who will restore " or " deliver me," So also
Le Clerc, " lileratorem meum-" while Grotius, at the same time that
he retains the term redemptor, employs it in a general rather than in
a particular sense ; and concurs with St.Chrysostom and St. Ambrose,
among the earlier, and with I^e Clerc, Reiske, Michaelis, Vogel,
Warburton, and Dr. Stock, among the modern critics, in denying
that the passage has any reference to a future resurrection or day of
judgment. Other translators prefer the term vindicator, which is
the rendering of Schultens, Geddes, and Stock, but without any
pecuhar advantage ; and it should be observed, moreover, that all
these critics, in most other places in which bm occurs (particularly
in the Psalms and Isaiah), give us not vindicator, but redeemer, in
the same manner as our common version ; whence, on the ground
of consistency, they should have given it so here ; more especially
as the use of the term in the present place has probably laid a foun-
dation for its use in all the rest.

p}i« (aherun), as a substantive, may mean " the last," and Mi-
chaehs, and after him Scott, have thus translated it; or it may be re-
garded as an adverb, and rendered novissime, "Jinally, or at last,"
as in the present version ; or " in time to come," as given by Dr.
Stock ; but it is perhaps somewhat too paraphrastic to interpret it
" in novissimo die," as given by St. Jerom ; or " at the latter day,"
as is copied from his rendering into our common version, though I
have no doiibt that this is the real meaning.

tatp^ (jekum) ; "■ will ascend," unquestionably, his nJISfl, or tri-
bunal, as a judge 3 in which sense the very same word is understood
by all the translators in ch. xxxi. 14. to which, and the Note upon
it, I refer the reader. Our common version, which, in conjunction
with most others, gives us, in the present place, " shall stand," in the
parallel passage, in conjunction with all others, gives us " riseth up,"
or "shall rise up." Why this distinction should be made, I know
not. If the rendering in the latter passage be correct, that in the

present

Chap. XIX. 25. NOTES. 225

present must necessarily be wrong. That this is the actual case^,
moreover, is perfectly clear from the close of the sentence before us,
" O tremble for yourselves, &c."

The third line, however, furnishes the chief difficulty. Admitting the

original text to be correctly written and divided, and thatiap3 (nekepu)

is an Arabic term, and should be translated in an Arabic sense, as it is

translated in our common version, the literal rendering must then be,

riMi iQpj nii? in«^

And after roy skin they have destroyed this.
If the word iap3 be taken as a genuine Hebrew term, theii it must
be rendered " — they have begirt, surrounded, ox encompassed thisj"
for these are the only senses in which Flpa is elsewhere made use of
in the Hebrew Scriptures ; and in this signification it is used in the
present place by a great multitude of critics, as St. Jerom, Luis de
Leon, Tyndal, Parkhurst, and Dr. Slock. But the question still re-
turns : What is the import of the plural phrase, " they have sur-
rounded or destroyed ?" to whom or to what does the pronoun they
refer? " To the ivorms of the grave," reply Piscator, and Junius, and
Tremellius, "for we cannot make any sense of the passage otherwise:
and hence the word worms, though not expressed, must be under-
stood." The translators of our established version have thought the
• same, and have hence added the same gratuitous supply. Yet almost
every other translator and annotator, whether ancient or modern, has
thought differently ; for we meet with no such word as worms, or
any thing parallel to it, in the Chaldee, the Syriac, or Arabic ; in
the Greek, or, excepting the two preceding versions, in the Latin
interpretations. Schultens tells us that 1Qp3 {nekepu) is a third person
plural, used impersonally for a tirst person singular ; and that the
phrase "they have destroyed my skin," is equivalent to " I have been
destroyed in my skin." But this is a forced construction, and alto-
gether unsupported by examples. He tells us, also, that the pronoun
n«^ this, may be rendered adverbially thus (hocce modo), " I have
been thus destroyed, &c.;" but we are equally in want of authority
for rendering DHT in any such way. Parkhurst contends that the
preceding substantive *11i?, " my skin," should be regarded as a
plural, and as the nominative to the verb ; which, instead of under-
standing in its Arabic, be understands in its Hebrew sense, " And
hereafter my skins shall surround this," pointing to his body.

The version of the Septuagint runs thus : i)Ua yap, on 'A/vyoo'c
ioTiv 6 cK\veiv /ue jUeWwv' iirl ytjg dyacri]<raL TQ,^£.piua fiov to

p dvavrXovv

226 NOTES. Chap. XIX. 25;

dvaprXovv ravra' irapd yap Kvpiov ravrd fioi avvereXiadr} : ** I
know that the Everlasihig existeth, who shall hereafter set me free
upon the earth, &c." The versions of Junius, and Tremellius, and
of Piscator, do not essentially vary from our own standard, which
has, for the most part, been drawn up from a comparison of these.
That of St. Jerom is as follows : " Scio enim quod redemptor meus
vivit, et in novissimo die de terra surrecturus sum: et rursus circun-
dabor pelle mea, et in carne mea videbo deum meum." The com-
mon Spanish version, and Luis de Leon in his exposition of it, fol-
low St. Jerom with but little variation : " Yo conozco que mi re-
dentor vive, y que S la postre sobre polvo me leventare ; y tornara
^ cercarme mi cuero, y en mi carne vere a dios." So Tyndal, who
will give an English version for both, " I am sure that my Re-
deemer lyveth, and that / shal ryse out of the earth in the latter
daye : that I shall be clothed againe (surrounded again, overspread
again) with this skinne, and se God in my flesh."

Dr. Stock, as I have already observed, denies that the passage can
legitimately refer to a general resurrection, since this, in his opinion,
would be to contradict the general scope and reasoning of the poem ;
but imagines that the patriarch had a full belief of a resurrection of
his own individual person from the grave, and that he would thence
return, " at some future period, to see his own innocence vindi-
cated, and bis calumniators punished," His version is as follows :

" Still do I know that my vindicator liveth,

And in time to come over the dust he will rise up ;
And after they shall have swathed my skin, even this.
Yet from out of my flesh shall I see God."

Relske, dissatisfied with every explanation offered in his day, pursues
Lis usual plan of amending the words of the original text, which he
does in a manner altogether arbitrary and fanciful. It is worth while
to quote the passage, for its singularity : " Quis efficiet ut videam
meam foveara <^l>-, et ut posterus (post me venturus quis, aetata
posterior, juvenis,conferxviii. 20.) CDIp'' ''1DJ> bi? super pulvere meo, su-
per tumulo meo, stet. Idest, utinam mortuussim. Et quis efEciet,ut,

potsquam, ceu fuste contusa est ^ni»» perhunc morbum cutis mea, et
carnosse meae partes diffluxerunt ^ se invicera et ab ossibus abscesse-
runt, vel extra conspectum mihi, meis ipsis oculis lustrem, non alius !"
To render this interpretation intelligibly, it is necessary to go back
to the same writer's translation of v. 23. with which he supposes this

passage

Chap. XIX. 25. NOTES. 227

passage to be immediately connected : " Who will give me that my
words may be written down! Who will give me that they may be
engraven on a table ! — that I may behold my grave, and that my suc-
cessor may stand over my dust ! Who will give me (or will under-
take for me), alter my skin has been mangled by this disease as by
a cudgel, and the portions of my flesh shall have separated from
each other, and have deserted my bones, that I snail then see God ;
that I shall behold him, shall survey him for myself j that I myselt;
and not another, shall contemplate him with my own eyes !"

It is hence clear that the original difficulty continues, and that no
explanation of the passage, as it has hitherto stood, has proved gene-
rally perspicuous or satisfactory. This difficulty, however, if I mis-
take not, is easily removed ; for it consists alone in a misplacement of
, the letter 1, at the end of IQpj, which, instead of terminating this
word, should commence the word that follows, namely DKl, which
ought to be nm.

I have already observed, that most of the versions regard fjpi as an
Arabic term 3 and by the text offered above, I have given sufficient
proof that I so regard it myself nwi, then, is an Arabic term also,
and implies morbus or disease, and forms the nominative case to the
verb f\p'i, which, by this simple change, not only becomes singular
instead of plural, but gives a clear and palpable meaning to both
terms. Whence, instead of reading, as the words are usually
divided,

nwr iQp3 ■>';)xi nnsi

V-aher ori nekepu zot,
we should read,

V-aher ori n ekep uzot (vezot) ;
literally, and in the order of the words,

Et postquam cutem meam perfregerit morbus, —
And after the disease hath destroyed my skin.

'i\jj (uzot or vezot) implies '' disease, pest, malady, Main;' in
some shape or other, moral or physical, in all its senses ; and we
meet with it again under the form of ij J^ {vezjet), as significative
of the same ideaj whence the phrase hSj <0 U " caret vitio," "he

is faultless," or " free from moral disease." ^.Jjij (nekeph), in

the Hebrew text P\p:, is a very powerful word, for it implies '" to

P 2 destroy

2-26 NOTES. Chap. XIX. 23.

destroy utterly," or " by breaking or dashing to pieces," so that,
morally speaking, the parts can never be re-united : and is explained
by Wankulus, in reference to the head, " Perfringere caput ita ut
excideret cerebrum 5" " To dash the head to pieces in such a man-
ner that the brains shall fall out of it." Crushed would have been a
better word than destroyed, but I have allowed the latter as the
established reading.

It is easy to perceive whence the misplacement of this single let-
ter could arise. Of nekep, and uzot, or vezot, the first word only is
Hebrew ; and hence, to the mere Hebrew transcriber, the two could
convey no idea whatever : but by taking the u away from the latter
word, and joining it to the former {nekepu zot), he obtained two
Hebrew words; and hence satisfied himself he was doing right,
although he was still as deficient, or nearly so, in being able to
make any sense out of them, as before,

I know of but one objection that can be made to this collocation
of the letters 5 and that is, that while (nekep) f^pi is a verb mascu-
line, n^n (vezot) should seem, froni its termination D op if", to be a
noun feminine. It is, however, one of the peculiarities of the Arabic
and Syriac tongues, that whenever a noun feminine is personified, in
bold and figurative poetry, as in the instance before us, it becomes
masculine. De Dieu has well observed upon this peculiarity, in
both these languages, in the Syriac rendering of HDin (hocmah)
" WISDOM," in Prov. ch. viii. where, though the Syriac term is
properly feminine, like the Hebrew, it is construed with a verb and

pronoun masculine. " Etsi enim," says he, |Z\vq2>jw ( hocmatah )
(and he might have used jv-ic^^, hocmah) " apud Syros sit foemin.
hie tamen masculine construitur, quia peisonaliter accipitur: nam
non dixit ^010 sed octo ; neque Z.001 ouA..] sed jooi a/OioA.}.
Sic APUD ARABEM VERBUM aKII quod per se foemininum hie tamen
construitur masculine." It is in consequence of this rule, as apper-

taining to the Arabic tongue, that ^uul>- (chaliphet), when ap-
plied to a thing, as ^'z government, command, or caliphat," is feminine,
according to the nature of its termination ; but when applied to a
person, as " a commander, caliph, or prince," immediately becomes

masculine. So aL*ic, from J.c " to know," when it imports know-
ledge, is, in like manner, feminine ; but when it signifies a learned
person, it is instantly masculine, from the rule of personification.

The

Chap. XIX. 27, 28. NOTES. 229

The Hebrew tongue itself abounds with occasional instances of this
rule ; of nouns used as mascuUnes, with what is commonly regarded
as a feminine termination ; and oftenj indeed, far more anomalously,
as in the cases of D^t " the measure of a span," from nit " to spread
out;" imr^l " likeness," from nal '' to resemble 3" nn " an olive-
tree," from "'I " to be lucid or glabrous." The passage before us
is therefore a clear Arabism, in syntax as well as in etymology ; and
adds another instance of this peculiarity to the many that are pointed
out in the course of these Notes.

Ver. 27. Though my reins be consumed within mel] In the vul-
gate of St. Jerom, " Reposita est haec spes in sinu meo." So the
Spanish version, " Esta esperanza reposa en mi seno ;" *' Such the
hope that reposes in my bosom." In the original, ''^^Ul ^nv!?3 1^5
which may be rendered literally " my reins (or, though my reins)
are consumed in my frame," or, '"^ my desires thus repose in my
bosom:" for Tiv!';: means either rezw^ or desires, the organ itself,
or the passion that is feigned to exist in that organ, and to actuate it ;
as among ourselves we use the word heart both for the organ of
this name, and for the quality of courage which is supposed to be
seated in it. 1^5 may be derived either tronj h'D or Tih'D : the former
denotes " to hold," "contain," "embrace;" the latter, "to con-
sume," " finish," " make an end of." ''pt]1 may impart " within me,"
or "within my frame" generally; or " within my bosom" particularly.

Ver. 28. Then shall ye say — ] In St. Jerom, " Quare ergo nunc
dicitis — ," " why then should ye say — ," putting the comma at the
end of na, or why, instead of before it, as it is put in our common
version ; " But (or then) ye should say, why, &c :" yet neither of
these gives a clear idea. The version now offered has been anti-
cipated by Miss Smith, and she is fairly entitled to the merit of having
first suggested it.

Ver. 28. Jf^hen the root — ] By this rendering of 1 the whole of the
remaining obscurity is removed. Seeing, as in our common version,
offers us no sense. St, Jerom renders it and ; while, at the same
time, he understands «lfD; to be in the prefer tense of Niphal, instead
of in the conditional of Kal. The Chaldee, Septuagint, and Sym-
machus, concur in this interpretation ; but all of them, in order to
make sense of the passage thus understood, are compelled to suppose
an error in the original text of *a, for which they substitute in,

changing:

230 NOTES. Chap. XIX. 29.

changing the vie to him : with which alteration the couplet runs
fhus, " Quare ergo nunc dicitis, persequamur eum, et radicem verbi
inveniamus contra eum ? " " Why then should ye say, let us per-
secute him, and find a root of controversy in (or against) him ?"

As now rendered, there is no occasion for thus disturbing the ori-
ginal text ; the sense is obvious, and complete in itself. Tyndal, and,
since his time, Reiske, make the last line of the preceding verse the
commencement of the present, in this manner, which is the ren-
dering of the former 3 " My reynes are consumed within me when ye
saye — ." From this point, however, they differ; the continuation
of Tyndal is as follows, with an unjustifiable negative in the first
part of the paragraph, and the above-mentioned alteration of the
original text in the second — "When ye saye, why do we not per-
secute him ? we have found an occasyon against him V In Reiske
the continuation runs thus, with a licentious transfer of letters from
one word to another, just as unnecessary as the preceding change of
pronoun, " When ye say, let us not leave him alone ; and the sharp-
ness of the controversy uproots my vital spirit." His woi ds are as
follow, " Quod dicitis li^ Pj^J HD, ovk si^iojuev avru : vel quare con-

cedamus illi vel tantillum ? *n« f 03 ^11 m^m^, \ »aU ^u^^j
i^i\ ,Y>3AJ et asperitas strepera evulsit viride meum germen. Id

est, vestra in disputando crKaiorijg me augit et exinanit." I trust the
version I have now offered sufficiently proves there is no kind of
necessity for altering *n NTfDi to '•iN y^^-

Ver. 29. — before the sword.^ Certainly " before the sword of
JUDGMENT, agreeably to the term with which the verse concludes :
a common and most appropriate figure in Holy Writ. Thus also the

Alcoran, at the opening of ch, xxii. *^=Uj |»iuijjuuUJl \^\ I— ->

&c. s-^j.^ h\M^ ^j!j c\ " O men of Mecca ! fear your Lord.
Verily the shock of the last hour will be a terrible thing. On the
day on which ye shall see it, every woman who giveth suck shall
forget the infant which she suckleth : the punishment of God will
be severe."

The 'general description, however, is given ch. xxxix, at the
close, and is as follows : " The trumpet shall be sounded ; and who-
ever are in heaven, and whoever are on earth, shall expire, except

those

Chap. XIX. 29. NOTES. 231

those whom God shall please to exempt from the common fate.
Afterwards it shall be sounded again : and, behold, they shall arise
and look up. And the earth shall shine by the light of its Lord.
And the book shall be laid open ; and the prophets and the martyrs
shall be brought as witnesses ; and judgment shall be given between
them with impartiality, and they shall not be treated with injustice}
and every soul shall be fiiHy rewarded, according to that he shall have
wrought ; for he perfectly knoweth whatever they do. And the
unbelievers shall be driven into hell by companies. — It shall be said
unto them, " Enter ye the gates of hell, to dwell there for ever." And
miserable shall be the abode of the proud ! But those who shall
have feared the Lord, shall be conducted by companies towards Pa-
radise, until they shall arrive there ; and the gates shall be ready set
open J and its guards shall say unto them, " Peace be on you ! ye
have been good, wherefore enter ye into Paradise, to remain there
for ever."

Klopstock, in reference to the passage before us, has given one of
the most animated pictures of the ascent of Job from the grave, on
the day of general resurrection, that occurs in the whole scope of
the very extensive group of ascents that take place in the eleventh
book of his Messias :

Hiob hatte sein grab mit kiihlen schatten umpflanzet,
Und er schwebt' in dem wehenden hain. Jetzt schienen die felsea
Seines thurmenden grabes vor ihm sich nieder senken,
Jetzo sanken sie ! &c.
The entire passage is too long to be quoted. But it is obvious that
the writer supposes not only the poem itself to have been written
about the period of the Babylonian captivity, but that the subject of
it was not much earlier 5 since describing the individual resurrections
of the ancient patriarchs and prophets, in the chronological order of
their lives from Adam to Amos, he closes the list with that of Job,
whom he places after Amos, and next in succession.

CHAP. XX.

Ver. 2. Whither would my tumult transport me?'] In the original

This passage does not appear to have been hitherto fairly rendered ; and
the only commentator who has in any way understood it, is St. Jerom.

His

«32 NOTES. Chap. XX. 3.

His rendering isj " Idcirco cogitationes meae vane succedunt sibi,"
"Therefore my thoughts tumultuously follow one another." Yet
this is not translation, but paraphrase, and not very obvious para-
phrase neither. To make it sense, it should be given interrogatively,
and the spirit of the passage will then be just as much increased as
its clearness, ph, as a causative particle, is either therefore or where-
fore : as an interrogative particle, " whither?'" p-b " to what time
or place ? " >^J?U^, as a substantive, is derived from a verb of the same
characters, which signifies " to seize, hurry away, or madden 5" and
hence t»''ai'U^, Job iv. 13, is admirably employed to signify " the
tumults, the irregular tumultuous thoughts or perceptions," that occur
in midnight visions, "nVh miVthD t3^ai>ty " tumults, tumultuous
thoughts or perceptions from visions of the night j" vapaWayiU, al-
alienationes, as Aquila has rendered it. It is here used in the singular,
and means rather m}' " distracted sense or feeling, my tumult," than
"my thoughts." — "•Jll^iy* is in the conditional tense, from St2^ " to
turn aside" or " back again," " to transport or mislead." Succedunt
sibi is no rendering whatever, though it gives the general sense. In
a remote application, it may mean, as in our common version, " to
answer" or " cause to answer ;" but this is evidently not the intention
in the present passage.

Ver. 2, j4nd how far my agitation within me ?] This second mem-
ber of the couplet is a perfect echo to the first. It is here rendered
literally; and the sense, if I mistake not, is clear, which can hardly be
said of any prior rendering. Our common version is, " And for this
I make haste )" which is certainly no translation of the original, and
seerns to convey no particular meaning to justify a departure from a
literal rendering. Here again St. Jerom gives us the sense, but not
the words ; " Et mens in diversa rapitur ;" " and the mind is di-
versely hurried away ;" whence Tyndal, " And why ? my mind is
tossed here and there." The interrogative sense, however, of "ilii?!!
is well preserved by the latter. — "mi>l is derived from ^13)?, which
signifies " to pass" — " to pass forward" — " to pass away j" and hence
Tliy-D, as an adverb used interrogatively, implies " to what pass ? "
" to what extent ?" " how far ?" — U^irr, here rendered agitation, is
derived from U^n, " to hurry," or " hasten "j whence the substantive
employed in the present text implies " hurry of mind," " confusion,"
" agitation." The verb itself, indeed, has not unfrequently the
same sense.

Reiske,

Chap.XX. 3— 5. NOTES. 233

Reiske, not having fallen upon this interrogative rendering, which
removes every difficulty, has had recourse, as usual, to what he
conceives an amendment of the original text. But it is unnecessary
to cite him.

Ver. 3, " / have heard" (sayst thou) — ] I am surprised that
no commentator has hitherto seen that this verse is a repetition of
Job's own observations, and almost in his own words : it is one of
those taunts of which the patriarch has already so frequently com-
plained, and altogether in the character of Zophar, the bitterest and
most violent of his opponents. As applied to Job, the passage has
peculiar force ; as applied to Zophar, individually, it has little or no
meaning whatever. The preceding speech of Zophar begins in the
very same manner, ch. xi. 4, 5.

Ver. 3. — spirit of my understanding — .] An exquisitely bold and
impressive figure, for " the subtlest powers of my understanding."
So St. Paul, ] Tim. i. 7- " God hath given us the spirit of a sound
mind." So Lucretius repeatedly : thus iv. 762,

Mens animi vigilat .

then in its spirit wakes the mind.

and again, v. 150.

■ animi vix mente videtur.

scarce by the mind's pure spirit trac'd.

Upon which see the author's Note to the former passage of this poet,
where the reader will meet with a variety of parallel figures.

Ver. 4. What, then ! — ] This spirited and vituperative interjection
is omitted by all the translators. In the original, n (ha !) precisely
equivalent to our own ha ! when used in the same sense, and pro-
bably the foundation of it.

Ver. 5.— short — ] In the original illj^D " in propinquo," ''hard
by :" a perfect Arabism, as is also the opposite " far off," — to express
"of long duration." Thus the scholiast, on t^cJuaJI ij y,a "the
summer cloud" of Hariri, Cons. 25, observes that " it is a cloud
which has no continuance, but is dispersed i^_ ^s 'i ^^ at hand;'
readily, immediately . The reader may compare this couplet with
the following distich of Lebeid, which was declared by Mahommed,
after the poet had embraced his religion, and from a severe enemy had

become

234' NOTE S. Chap. XX. 7.

become a zealous friend, to be equal to the most exquisite production
of the Pagan muse :

What is not vain, unless from God it flows ?
What honours fade not, save what he bestows ?

Ver. 7. /« the midst of his exultation — ,] In our common ver-
sion, " hke his own dung." To those who are unacquainted with
the nature of the Hebrew language, and the mode by which the
same radical term branches out to represent a great variety of ideas
which at first sight appear to have no common origin or connexion
with each other, it must appear extraordinary that the same word
hh::^ may intend " exultation, or leaping for joy," and '* dung or
ordure." The term is pure Arabic : yet the Arabians seem to have
dropt the last meaning, and to have almost closely confined the term
to the preceding 3 whence <dls\j, or in Hebrew characters r\hh^1
(b'gelele), is hterally " in the midst of exultation," and "ibbjl (^--^e-
lelu) " in the midst of his exultation." The Hebrew MSS. differ a
little in their mode of writing this term : the common reading, how-
ever, is not l^^n (b-gelelu), but ib^Ji (c-gelelu), i. e. " like his
l!'!':i," instead of " in the midst of his ^hh:: j" and hence the neces-
sity, upon the common reading, of rendering hb^, dung, rather than
exultation; for " like his exultation" would be nonsense. The re-
semblance, however, between the letters 1 and 3 is so considerable,
that every reader of Hebrew manuscripts knows that the Carelessness
of transcribers is for ever introducing mistakes concerning them ;
and the general sense of the context appears clearly to shew that a
mistake of this sort has occurred in the present instance. Zophar is
obviously alluding to the instantaneous destruction of the man of
pride and prosperity: — " They who saw him shall say. Where is he?"
— " He shall flit away as a dream, and they shall not trace him" —
" He shall vanish as a vision of the night" — " He shall perish for
ever, in the very midst of his exultation " — all these similies are
congruous, and render the description perfect : but if the version be
" He shall perish for ever, like his own dujig" the description at
once loses its congruity, and is marred by the introduction of an
unillustrative metaphor ; for there is nothing in the nature of the
substance alluded to that can make it the type of instantaneous dis- ,
sipation, though it may be an apt emblem of general dissolution

and

Chap. XX. 8. NOTES. 235

and corruption. This change of a single letter^ for one that so nearly
resembles it, was first proposed by Celsius Schultens : Reiske readily
adopted itj and Dr. Stock (apparently without being acquainted with
this circumstance) suggests the same alteration, though the render-
ing introduced into his own text is,

" Whilst he tosseth himself about, he shall perish himself for ever."
In effect, none of the translators or commentators appear to have
been satisfied with the usual reading, or at least with the usual in-
terpretation : hence the Arabic version renders it, " sicut fumus,"
" like smoke j" — the Syriac, " procellse instar," " like a lempest or
whirlwind."

The original term may admit, in a remote sense, of either of these
two interpretations} but, in both, the pronour 1 (his) must be rejected,
for " his smoke," or " his whirlwind," would be nonsense ; a re-
jection which we could not allow of. I will only add, that while the
• version now offered appears most clear and congruous, it is in per-
fect unison with the peculiar style of the writer of this most excel-
lent poem : and without multiplying parallel passages, I will merely
refer to ch. viii. 11, 12.

Can the paper-reed grow up without ooze ?

Can the bull-rush grow up without water ? —

Yet, IN THE MIDST OF its own greenness,

Uncut, and before every ether herb, doth it wither !

Ver. 8. He shall flit away as a dream.'] The Greek poets were
as fond of this figure as those of Asia. Thus Homer. Odyss. I'. 206.
Tjoic ^£ /J.01 it: yjcipuv (TKirj V/ceXov >? ical ovtipa
'EirraVo —

" Thrice in my arms I strove her shade to bind ;
Thrice through my arras she slipt, like empty wind.
Or dreams, the vain illusions of the mind." PorE.

In like manner, only a few verses lower, xi. 231.

^vyrj ^' ■ijVT ovEipoQ diroTTTcijiiEtnj ireTTOTrfrai.

th' impassive soul reluctant flies,

Like a vain dream. —

Ver. 8. Yea, he shall vanish as a vision of the night.'] " As a
spectre, phantom, or apparition." The supernatural appearances
here alluded to seem to have been generally recognised by the

characters

236 NOTES. Chap.XX. 9>io.

characters in the poem before us, and were probably not uncommon
in tiieir day. See especially ch. iv, 12. and following verses.

Ver. 9. The eye shall glance on him, and do no more.^ Such is
the literal rendering ; and it is impossible to add to its force. The
passage may vie with the boldest phraseology of the Greek and
Roman poets. A. Schultens has well rendered it, " Oculus per-
strinxerit eum, et non addet j" which, with a small variation, is that
of Ainas Montanus, who gives us, somewhat less powerfully, "Ocu-
lus vidit eum, et non addet."

Ver, 10. — shall wander about, beggars.'] Such, again, is the literal
and forcible meaning of the original tzi^^^ ii^-i^ ; it will also admit
of the rendering, " Shall be broken down into beggars ;" — " Atte-
rentur egestate," as well rendered, though not altogether synony-
mously, by St. Jerom. — " Frangentur paupertate," as given in the
Syriac and Arabic, which is still better, though not perfectly close.
" Go about beggynge" is the version of Tyndal ; — " Shall runabout,
beggars," that of Dr. Stock.

Ver. 10. Jnd his branches be involved in his iniquity.] In the
original, VT* " hands," " arms," " ramifications :" a perfect Arabism ;
for want of an attention to which, no sense has hitherto been elicited
from the passage. See Meninski, <5juoi«.Ju. The Hebrew niit^n is
usually derived from :iwr\ ; but, according to the Arabic, it should be
derived from Itl^i, and the : be retained. So Reiske, whose words are

as follow: "Et manus ejus rtJlU^n aJuguJu implicitae, intricatae, sic
infixse eruut, ut extricari nequeant, in ejus iniquitate. Per manus in-
telliguntur liberi : hinc est phrasis t!? T manus in manum, id est a filio
ad nepotem, a nepote ad pronepotem, et ita porro." " And his hands
shall be so perplexed, involved, implicated in his iniquity, as not to
be extricated. By ha?ids are to be understood, children : hence the
phrase hand to hand ; that is, from son to grandson, from grandson to
great grandson, and so on." To which he might have added, that the
Hebrew '''T', in this passage usually rendered hands or arms, is derived
from a root, which means primarily to protrude or thrust forth ;
whence ^T" implies, more directly, 5^00^5 or branches, than hands;
and consequently children, as the shoots or branches of the parent
stock. We use the term conversely in our own language, and

say

Chap. XX. 11. NOTES. 237

say palmated leaves, and the arms of a tree. The Syriac and
Arabic give the same sense, but paraphrastically : " Et manus
ejus extendentur in prolem suam," " And the deeds of his hands
shall extend to his offspring." The rendering in our common
version, " shall restore their goods," is very remote, and hardly
to be justified by any explanation, ps^, which primarily implies
pain, labour, affliclion, and, secondarily, wickedness or iniquity,
as the cause of pain, labour, or affliction, can scarcely be bent to
convey the meaning of goods, unless perhaps as the result of pains
or labour; yet I believe there is no passage to justify such a sense, in
any part of the Old Testament. The version of Schultens is, *' Et ma-
nus ejus suum ipsi reddent dolorem," " And his hands shall requite
him with his own pain •" that is, as he himself explains it, "' with
the pain which he had previously caused to others." Dr. Stock, by
supplying a few words, renders it thus,

" And his hands shall restore the fruit of\\i% pains."

The version now offered requires neither supply nor comment ; it is
of itself complete and obvious,

Ver. 1 1 . His secret lusts shall follow his bones.'] The verse is an
echo or parallel passage to the preceding. — tD^i?, as a verb, means
"to hide" or " lurk 5 " whence 'C2^h^, as a substantive, implies
" lurkings," or " lurking desires," i. e. " secret lusts," and, by con-
sequence, " lurking or secret sins." — «bD is best explained by the
Latin tendo, and implies equally " to re-xh at, " attend," or " fol-
low;" and " to stretch out," " distend," or "fill up," In our com-
mon version of the present passage it is generally rendered " to fill
up," or " make full," " to distend ;" in a s^jreat multitude of passages,
however, it is uniformly rendered "^to attend upon" or "follow."
So Numbers xiv. 24. " My servant, Caleb, hsd another spirit with
him, and hath followed me fully." So again ch, xxxii. 11, 12.
Josh. xiv. 8, 9, 14. and a great variety of other places.

With this explanation, the passage is clear ; and for want of it no
perspicuous meaning has hitherto been deduced. Our common ver-
sion is derived from the Vulgate, in general an admirable translation,
but, if I mistake not, erroneous in the present case : " His bones are
full of the sins of his youth," Here St, Jerom not only understands
the verb nbo as implying " to make full" or " distend," instead of

"to

238 NOTES. Chap. XX. 11.

" to follow" or "attend 5 " but refers the Hebrew tDh^J to the sense
of youth, rather than of lurkings or secret lusts; or rather he en-
deavours to combine the two ideas together, those of lusts or sins
and youth, and hereby proves decidedly that his conjecture is
wrong. I admit that CD^i?, which in its original signification im-
plies " to lurk," " hide," " conceal," may, in a secondary sense,
imply the age of " concealment" or " privacy," viz. youth; but if
he take this secondary sense of the term, he has no right to go back
for the primary sense, and to unite the idea of lurkings or secret
lusts (sins) along with it ; for this is to give two distinct ideas of
the same term at the same time.

But few of the commentators, indeed, have concurred with him,
or support him in such an interpretation : yet none of them, that I
know of, have presented a more allowable rendering. The Chaldee
gives us *' ossa ejus impleta sunt fortitudine sua," " his bones are
full of his strength ;" — the Syriac and Arabic, " medulla," " are full
of marrow 3" — Schultens, " implebantur signatis ejus," '' are filled
with his sealed-up deeds'' or " crimes ;" — Dr. Stock, " with his secret
gain." While Reiske, in the license in which he too commonly
indulges, not acceding to any of the senses before him, and be-
lieving that none can be elicited from the text as it is generally
written, chooses, in some degree, to alter it, and for 101^)? proposes
mui^n, or at least mni!')^, and then reads ''The worms called
Halam shall fill his bones."

The rendering now offered requires neither alteration of the text,
nor any interstitial or supposititious supply : it is in itself, if I mis-
take not, literal, simple, and perspicuous.

Ver. 1 1 . Yea, they shall press upon him — ] This also is more
literal, and perhaps more intelligible than our common version, that
gives us " Which shall lie down witli him — ." In the original we
have no pronoun relative: it is 1 yea, even, and, but not which;
while the expression IDU^n iDj^, is more clearly rendered " shall
press upon him," or " lie down upon him," than *- lie down with
him."

Nothing can be more forcible or more fearful than the ideas con-
tained in the entire passage : " His children shall be vagabonds^ his
descendants shall be involved in his crimes ; the sinful lurkings of
his heart shall pursue and haunt his very bones 3 and press heavy

upon

Chap. XX. 12— 14. NOTES. 239

upon him in the dust of the grave." They shall be a curse to him
after his death, as they were a curse to him while alive.

Ezeziel has caught the idea in the following bold passage,
ch. xxxii. 27.

They shall not lie down

With the MIGHTY DSA0 <jf the uncircumcised.

That have descended to .he grave with their war-w6apons.

Yea, let them lay their swords under their heads.

Still shall their iniquides he upon their hones,

Though they were a terror to the valiant in the land of the living.

So Solomon, conversely, Prov. iii. 8.
It shall be health to thy waist,
And marrow to thy hones.

And again, xvi. 24.

Pleasant words are a honeycomb.
Sweetness to the soul, and health to the hones.

Ver. 12. Though he cause it to lurk — ,] In the original iiiT'nS'',
in the conjugation Hiphil, and therefore not simply " though he
hide it," but " though he cause it to hide or lurk."

Ver, 13. Though he cherish it — .] The term ^OH is pure Arabic;
and in that language implies " softness," " tenderness," " indul-
gence;" as a verb, " to nourish," " cherish," or " fondle." Schul-
tens has sufficiently explained this, both in his Clavis, and in the
passage before us : and Parkhurst has adopted his explanation. In
reality, the term is generally used in this sense in most parts of the
Hebrew Bible. Thus in the present book, ch. vi. 10. " Let him
not spare," might be equally rendered " Let him not favour, or
indulge." If the word spare, which is that of our common version,
be preferred in the present instance, the passage will then be
" though he make spare of it 3" or " be sparing of it," as rendered
by Dr. Stock.

Ver. 14. To the gall of asps — .] Usually rendered "It is the gall
of asps." It is does not occur in the original, and the supply is un-
necessary. The general sense is well - iven by Tyndal, " Tiie meate
that he eateth shall be turned to the poyson of serpentes within his
body," So Reiske, "Tunc buccelia ejus convertetur in ipsiuj intes-
tinis in fel 'aspidum."

Ver. 17.

240 NOTES. Chap. XX. 1 7.

Ver. 17. " tranches of the river,

Brooks of honey and butter.

}

Nothing can be stronger, yet nothing more correct. Honey and
butter are the common results of a rich and well-watered pasturage,
offering a perpetual banquet of grass to kine, and of nectar to the
bee : and thus loading the possessor with the most luscious luxuries
of pastoral life, peculiarly so before the discovery of the means of
obtaining sugar. The expression appears to have been proverbial,
even at this early aeraj and is certainly here made use of as a pro-
verb, to denote a very high degree of temporal prosperity j in which
sense we find it again adverted to almost immediately afterwards,
by the patriarch himself, though with a little variation, ch. xxix. 6.

When my path flowed with butter,

And the rocks poured out for me rivers of oil.

For butter, the term sometimes employed is milk; and in the Arabic
version the passage before us is rendered milk instead of butter: a
change probably produced by the two images having been used con-
vertibly in Hebrew poetry only a few years subsequently to the aera of
the present poem, if I have succeeded in establishing its aera. Thus
Moses, in relating his first appointment from the Almighty, for libera-
ting the Hebrews from the land of Egypt, and leading them to Judaea,
asserts, Exod. iii. 8. that it was denominated, by the Supreme Being
himself, " a good and a large land, a land flowing with milk and
honey." In Isaiah vii. 22. the original metaphor is not only copied,
but dilated upon ; and here both the terms are introduced :

And it shall come to pass, from the abuudance of milk they shall yield.
That he shall feast on butter :
For butter and honey
Shall every one feast on (?5W)
' That is left throughout the land.

So again, in Joel iii. 18.

And it shall come to pass, in that day.

The mountains shall drop down new wine.

And the hills shall flow with milk.

And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with water ;

And a founjtain from the house of Jehovah shall break forth,

And shall water the valley of Shittim.
The imagery has descended to the Greeks and Romans, and con-
stitutes a standard picture in their descriptions of Elysium and the
Fortunate Islands. Thus Horace, Epod. xvi.41 . offering the very same

train

Chap. XX. 18. NOTES. 241

train of ideas, of iiriguous pastures, honey dropping from hives reared
spontaneously in hollow oaks, and lactiferous flocks returning of
their own accord to be eased of their rich burdens :

— — arva, beata
Petamus arva, divites et insulas ;
Reddit ubi Cererem tellus inarata quotannis,
Et imputata floret usque vinea ;
Germinat et nunquam fallentis termes oliva,
Suamque pulla ficus ornat arborem ;
Mella cava manant ex illice'; montibus altis
Levis crepante lynipha desilit pede.
Illic injussae veniuiit ad mulctra capellae,
Refertque tenta grex amicus ubera.

" O'er ocean's ambient tide our course remains,

To those rich islands, happy plains,
Which vines unprun'd w ith ripest fruits adorn ;

Where earth, unplough'd, yet smiles with corn ;
True to our hopes where plenteous olives shoot,

And fig-trees yield their genuine fruit ;
From oaks pure honey flows, from lofty hills

Bound in light dance the murmuring rills.
There goats present the teat uneall'd, nor fail

To store, well-pleas'd, the milk-man's pail." Boscawen.

The same proverbial imagery exists in the East still, and is com-
mon to every figurative writer. Thus in the Alcoran, ch . xlvii. l6, 1 7.
as translated by Mr. Sale : " Therein are rivers of incorruptible
water, and rivers of milk, the taste whereof changeth not ; and
rivers of wine, pleasant unto those who drink j and rivers of clarified
honey."

Ver. 18. To labour shall he return, but he shall not eat.'] Such is
the simple and perspicuous version of the Syriac and Arabic :
" Revertetur ad laborem, et non manducabit." The literal render-
ing, however, is, " Returning, he shall labour, but shall not eat :"
or, as l''tya implies, " growing old," as well as "returning :" " In
old age he shall labour, but shall not eat." Instead of beholding the
branches of the rivers around him brooks of honey and butter, he
shall return to labour, barren labour, that shall yield him nothing.

The entire passage, as Reiske has justly observed, is pure genuine
Arabic, almost without the alteration of a single letter . it peculiarly
characterizes the mixt dialect of the writer at the time of composing

(/ the

^f4 2 NOTES. Chap. XX. 18.

the poem, and the country in which it was written ; and proves
clearly that it ought to be explained by an Arabic glossary. In the
original it runs thus :

In Arabic the characters would be as follow :

O ^ ^ S. J

which is thus rendered literally by Reiske,

Senex factus, esuriet, et nihil deglutiet ;

Annus sterilis ejus exitus (catastropJie) , et nihil fustabit.

In old age he shall hunger, but shall swallow nothing ;

A barren season his consummation (catastrophe) , and nothing shall he eat.
Even in the Arabic form, however, the passage might be rendered,
as I have rendered the Hebrew text, and with an equal adherence
to its literal meaning.

There is more difficulty in understanding the second line of this
couplet, than the fiist : and here a knowledge of the Arabic vocabu-
lary will be found of essential use to us, since there are two distinct
terms on which it will throw light j oh^ generally translated " to
exult" or "rejoice;" and b^hi, in the present instance, commonly
supposed to mean " according to his substance."

nh:) occurs but three times in the Hebrew scriptures. In the
Arabic (mjuIc) it implies gusto, edo, lilo, " to tastfe, eat, or
drink j" it is also used as a noun iju!is. (ulas), and signifies any
thing eatable. Now, in all the three passages in which it occurs in
the Hebrew scriptures, it will admit of the same rendering, which
therefore shows it to be the true and radical rendering ; though I
am by no means averse to allow, that, in a secondary sense, it may
also imply, as the translators of our established version give it in
the present instance, " to exult," " rejoice," or " be merry," as the
result of eatirig and drinking. Here, however, the Arabic, and what
I take to be the radical sense, is by far the clearest and most ob-
vious : for " he shall not rejoice," is so feeble and inapplicable,
that in three Hebrew MSS. the term is altered from obj)^ to abxi'' ;
and Dr. Stock, dissatisfied with the common reading, has admitted
this variation into his text, and translated it, " He shall not hide it:"

" Colouring over his trJifilck, he shall not hide it."

It

Chap. XX. 18. NOTES. 243

It is in further proof, that 6bi} was understood even in the Hebrew
language as implying " to taste, eat or drink," since the word in the
passage before us is thus rendered by the Seventy, by Origen, and by
St. Jerom ; the two former translating the phrase D^:;^ s!p1 by
dKardiror(j<;, and the latter, without the negative, by the term susti-
nelit. And it has hence, in more modern times, been thus trans-
lated not only by Reiske, but by several other German critics.

The second passage in which the same term occurs, is in ch,.xxxix.
13. of the book before us, where for peacock we ought to read
esirich, and for goodly, "flapping," "fluttering," or, more poetically,
" drinking in the wind," as is perhaps the sense actually intended to
be given to it ■, and for which, and for which alone, the wings of the
ostrich are unquestionably formed, so as to give it, not buoyant flight
indeed, but rapidity of running superior to that of all animals
whatever. In the language of Adanson, "They expand their wings
as if they were to catch the wind." See the Note on ch. xxxix. 13.

The last passage in which the word is traced, is in Prov. vii. 18.
where we meet with a Uf instead of a D, thus approximating it still
nearer to the Arabic orthography. The common rendering of
this verse is, " Come let us take our fill of love ; until the morn-
ing, LET us SOLACE OURSELVES (nty^i^MJ) with lovcs." And here it
is perfectly clear that the verb vbi} or wbii has a direct reference to
the feasting, the Jill of love, as it is called in the preceding part :
whence, most decisively, the passage ought to be rendered, " Till the
morning let us drink deep, let us intoxicate ourselves (O^an^l)
with ravishments."

To revert to the second term it is necessary to notice, in the passage
before us, I mean !pini, which seems to have puzzled all the com-
mentators.— Is it one word, or should it be divided into two, !?^h-!3
(kce-hil)} As two words, it has been generally regarded, and hence
rendered according to the diiferent surmises of different interpreters,
" prout opulentia," — " velut facultatem permutationis," — " juxta
multitudinem adinventicnum," — "according to his substancej"
while Dr. Stock, equally dissatisfied, as he might well be, with all
these attempts at explanation, has chosen to consider it as one word
only, implying " to colour, paint or tinge :" whence his version as I
have already observed, runs thus, " Colouring over his traffick," — or,
as he explains it in his n ,te, " with false colours endeavouring to
hide h'i illicit practice in trade."

^ J y s-

Jt is sufficient to observe, that t'^n^ (Jjkjsn.^ hechil) is a pure

q 2 genuine

244 NOTES. ChakXX. 19.

genuine Arabic term, the radical idea of which is void, emptiness,
hollowness. It is employed in three senses, in all of which this ra-
dical idea is obvious to every one. The more common sense is
dearth, barrenness, a steril year or year of dearth : and in this sense
(J.2s:\^ or Jjcscv^ is made use of, both as a verb and as a sub-
stantive, " sterilem esse annum," " annus sterilise " a year ot
emptiness," " a dearth," Its next sense is that of the sky {caelum),
" the great void" or " concave of heaven :" thus ,\:^ ^^>a>-^
(serroehcet kahliin), " nube omni caruit, et serenum fuit caelum,"
Wan. Its third sense is that of blackness (nigredo), " a total ab-
sence or vacuity of objects," " unbounded gloom, and misery." In
this bearing it is also used for the black pigment of the eyes,
" nigredo oculorum," (See Meninski), as it is also in the Hebrew:
thus Ezek. xxiii. 40. in allusion to the enticing ornaments of an
adulterous woman yi^ii Mbri3, " thou didst paint thine eyes round
with bhi (koehl), stibium, black pigment, or black leaden ore," as
both the Septuagint and the Vulgate render it E2TIBIZ0Y rove
o^QaXfiovc, aov, *' circumlinisti stibio oculos tuos."

The term has also found its way into the Greek, as weU as into
various other languages : and in the Greek, it has uniformly preserved
its radical idea; for the general sense of /cotX»; or Koikta {koile or koilia)
is " hollowness, concavity:" and hence, perhaps, the Latin caelum,
for heaven, or the etherial holloiv. It is highly probable, therefore,
that the same term at one period conveyed also the same radical idea
in Hebrew ; though at present, omitting the instance before us, we
have no proof of its being employed, except in the collateral sense
of blackness. With this explanation the word ^Tia speaks for itself

I have only to observe farther, that I have here rendered miDfi
recompence, for the reasons urged in the Note on the preceding
chap. XV. 3 1 . where the same term occurs in the very same sense ,
and to this passage and the Note upon it I refer the reader. Had
the text been fully understood by the translators of our common
version, instead of restitution, they would themselves have preferred
recompence here, as they have done in the former case.

Ver. 19. — the orphans of the needy ^ i^i? is here a noun in-
stead of a verb, as rendered in our common version, and implies
*' bereft," " destitute," " forsaken," " orphanized, or orphans."
The latter clause of the verse is in immediate reference to it, and is
a proverbial expression, common to Oriental nations, even at

present.

Chap. XX. 20. NOTES. 245

present. «bl, when in conjunction, signifies frequently " instead of "
rather than "and not ;" though the latter would still give the same
meaning.

Ver. 20. Because he knew no bound — ] "Nihil tofo hoc capite oh-
scurius;' says Schultens, " There is nothing more obscure through the
whole chapter." The obscurity, however, if I mistake not, is with
the translators, and not chargeable to the original, the real sense of
which has never been understood, though it has been sought for in
an endless variety of ways. To quote all the different renderings is
useless ; and I shall hence only observe, that if what I have now
offered is perspicuous, it has the additional merit of being perfectly
literal. lW may certainly mean quietness, as given in our common
version, but it means also " intermission, relaxation, failure, limit or
lound." jni signifies " belly, stomach, appetite :" in both cases the
senses must speak for themselves. In like manner lo"!?D certainly
implies " to save or deliver;" but it implies equally " to bring forth,
or be delivered of" — a signification, so far as relates to this indivi-
dual term, adopted by Schultens, " delicias suas non excludet partu."

I cannot avoid noticing the very singular rendering given to this
couplet by Dr. Stock ; who, apprised that "{hm means " a quail"
in one of its significations, as well as quietness or intermission in
others, gives ic the following turn :

" Because he acknowledged not the quail in his stomach,
In the midst of his delight he shall not escape."

Upon which version we have the following note, " Here, I
apprehend, is a fresh example of the known usage of Hebrew
poets, in adorning their compositions by allusions to facts in the
history of their own people. It has escaped all the interpreters ,• and
it is the more important, because it fixes the date of this poem, so far
as to prove its having been composed subsequently to the transgres-
sion of Israel at Kibroth-hataavah, recorded in Num. ii. 33, 34.
Because the wicked acknowledged not the quail, that is, the meat
with which God had filled his stomach, but, like the ungrateful Is-
raelites, crammed and blasphemed his feeder, (as Milton finely ex-
presseth it) " he shall experience the same punishment with them,
and be cut off in the midst of his enjoyment, as Moses tells us the
people were who lusted." This excellent critic has here taken one
of the most extraordinary methods of proving the date of a poem

that

24*6 NOTES. Chap.XX. 21, 22.

that has ever been fallen upon : he first makes his theory the basis of
his translation, and then makes his translation the basis of his theory.

Ver, 21. Not a vestige — ] " Not a vestige of his abortion, or
abortive efforts." This couplet has also been very differently ren-
dered by different expositors, and has been supposed to be loaded
with difficulties. If I have deviated from all of them, I have still
rendered it literally, and I hope clearly. T'lty implies '' something
left," a vestige" or " relic," " a survivor or heir :" ^5« " a devourer,"
" the thing devoured (food)," or " the devouring passion (voracity
or greediness) :" llto "good of any kind, luck, fortune :" ^'•rt, from ^Tr,
means peculiarly " to produce by travail or the pangs of labour," and
is immediately in apposition with tO^D in the preceding verse. Our
common version of the passage is copied from the Vulgate : the

Syriac gives us paraphrastically y poi W.^ . a\L'^oL _io .^^i^!

•^ a yy . • _ ' ^ '

.oiZ\2l1 ; AoZ. which, as usual, is transcribed literally into the Arabic,

" NuUus evadet de generatione sui, propterea non durabit bonum
ipsius ;" "No progeny of his shall be left 5 wherefore his fortune shall
not endure." Schultens approaches closest to the version I have
offered, and, in effect, gives nearly the same, though too cir-
cuitously, " Nihil residuum mansit vorationi ejus : propterea nihilum
parturiet fortuna ejus ;" " No relic shall he left for his voracity : for
NOTHING shall his fortune bring forth," The imagery is peculiarly
bold and forcible : his lot, his fortune that has been so long, as he
imagined, pregnant with all his desires, shall bring to birth nothing-
ness, INANITY : there shall not be even a vestige or relic to mark
its abortion. The image is caught up and made use of by several
of the prophets. Thus Isai. xxxiii. 11.

Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring'forth stubble.
Not widely different indeed the poem before us, in another part,,
ch. XV. 35.

Mischief they conceive, and misery they bring forth. '
In like manner Sophocles, Trach. 328.

'AXX' aliv dcivovaa (TVfi(j>opac (odpoc,

AaKpvppoet cvarr^voQ.

Bearing th' eternal burden of her woe.
She wastes hy weeping.-

Ver. 22. — of his lelly.'] Almost all the German commentators

concur,

Chap. XX. 22—24. NOTES. 24 7

concur, and I think rightly, in regarding the Hebrew pQD (sepek) as
an analogue of the Arabic ^jbu? (sepak), the radical meaning of
which is peritonceum, or belly, in the full extent of the term, the
whole of the cavity containing what are usually denominated the
bowels, as opposed to the stomach alone, which, though only one
of the bowels, is often of itself denominated the belly, as sup-
posed to be the most important of them. The term sufficiency,
which is that adopted in our common version, from Junius and
Tremellius, or Piscator, has a reference to the same radical import,
and may perhaps be justified as a collateral derivation ; though in
the instance before us it offers a far less obvious meaning than the
radical idea itself. As exultation, often expressed by clapping the
hands, is a natural result of sufficiency or fulness, pQD is also em-
ployed, on various occasions, to indicate this passion, or the sign that
thus expresses it both in Hebrew and Arabic ; in the latter language
s\ju? being synonymous with ^JaJ^s A\ plaudere manihus. It is
used in this sense in the poem before us, ch. xxxiv, 37> Lam, ii. 15,
as well as in various other places. And hence several translators
have given the passage before us this same rendering : thus Schultens,
"Quumcompletaerit complosioejus, arctumerit ipsi;" and Dr. Stock,

" In the fulness of his hand-clapping shall a strait be on him."

Ver, 22. Every branch of misery — ] Such is the Hebrew idiom,
and there does not appear any necessity for changing it, " omne
genus aerumnae" — "every kind of calamity:" rather than "every
hand of the wicked," as rendered in our common version. Dr, Stock
gives us, " all the power of mischief."

Yer. 13. Even — ] In the original ^rt' sit, licet, videlicet: not as
our common version renders it circuitously, " When he is about to
fill his belly or stomach ;" but in the very act itself.

Ver. 24, — the clashing steel^^ ^ni pu^i literally as here rendered :
pW^ " to clash, clatter^ or rattle," as armour.

Ver. 24. — bow of brass — ] why MU^ini should in this place have
been rendered steel instead of brass, in our common version, I know
not. It is often put as a metal distinct from !?ni, " steel or iron,"

and

948 NOTES. Chap. XX. 26— 28.

and is rendered Irass in our common version of the present poem,
ch. xxviii. 2. and xl. IS. as well as in various other places.

Ver. 26. Terrors — ] In the original CDH, for CD^D''M, as in fact it
is written in not less than twenty-seven of Dr. Kennicott's codices.
See the Note on ch. xiii. 21.

Ver. 26. Every horror — ] I have rendered the verse literally and
univocally. "jtl^n implies darkness, whether sensible or mental, gloom,
horror : so Pope, —

" And breathes a browner horror on the woods."

Ver. 26. It shall cradle — ] In the original, i»'i^ " it shall destroy or
break in pieces with a loud sound :" " it shall decrepitate."

Ver. 28. ^ rack ] In the original ni13S " an utter dissolution

or dissipation," — "a diffusion into nothingness." It is impossible to
add to the strength of the description : and it powerfully reminds us
of the well-known passage in the Tempest, —

" The g:reat globe itself.

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded.

Leave not a rack behind." '

I have, on another occasion, pointed out the close resemblance of
this passage to the following of Lucretius ; and the reader will not
object to seeing them brought into contact, from the general paral-
lelism of idea which the latter as the former bears to the text before
us, Rer. Nat. i. IO94.

at supra circum tegere omnia coelum ;

Ne, volucri ritu flammarum, moenia niundi

Diffugiant subito magnum per inane, soluta :

Et, ne eaetera consimili ratione sequantur :

Neve ruant cceli tonitralia templa supeme,

Terraque se pedibus raptim subducat ; et omnes.

Inter permixtas rerum coelique ruinas.

Corpora solventes, abeant per inane profundum

Temporis ut puncto nihil cxstet reliquiarum,

Dcsertum prteter spatiuna, et primordia caeca.

Thus too they teach, that heaven, with bound sublime.
Encircles all things ; lest the world's wide walls.
And all envelop'd, volatile as flame.

Burst

Chap. XXI. 2—6. NOTES. 24y

Burst every bond, and dissipate and die :
Lest heaven in thunders perish, and below
The baseless earth forsake us, downward urg'd :
And, loose and lifeless, man's dissevering frame,
Mixt with the rushing wreck of earth and skies.
Waste through all space profound, till nought remain.
Nought, in a moment, of all now survey'd.
But one blank void, one mass of seeds inert.
The whole of the latter part of this chapter is finely rendered into

Spanish, by Melandez Valdes, in an Ode entitled Prosperidad

aparente de los Malos.

CHAP. XXI.

Ver. 2. —produce your retraction.'] In the original, retractions. The
word DHJ, however, has two meanings, " consolation," and "^ retrac-
tion," "change or repentance of mind." Our common version, as well
as various other versions, has preferred the former : yet the latter
appears to offer a more obvious meaning, and is hence embraced by
St. Jerom and Tyndal. Thus St. Jerom, '•■ Audite, quaeso, sermones
meas, et agite poenitentiam." In like manner Tyndal, " O heare
my wordes and amende your selves.'' n^n denotes not only to be, but
" to cause to be," " to produce."

Ver. 4. fVoe unto me /] In the original ^iiNti 'hei miki ! — This
pathetic passage has never, that I know of, been fairly interpreted,
or even understood ; and hence has only been explained circuitously,
or by a gratuitous change of the text. I have endeavoured to give
it verbally, and without circumlocution. Reiske, for IJIIO reads
Vlio ; and Dr. Stock, for ^5J«n reads Tiixn ; the latter rendering
the whole verse thus,

" As FOR ME, I am groaning out unto man my deep thought:
And iij/e <isi why ? — my breath is not short."
The b in DiJ*!? is not here to or unto, but " according to," " after the
manner of-." so Schultens " ut hominis :" so ch. xiii. 5. "This
indeed would be as wisdom in you" — " after the manner of (noinb)
wisdom in you."

Ver. 6. — Jhink upon it.] In the original, "•n'l^?, from i;)t, " to re-
member, look back or tliink upon." The common reading, " Even
when I remember I am afraid," is unquestionably incorrect, as it
does not express the pronoun it governed of the verb.

Ver. 6.

250 NOTES. Chap.XXI. 6— 10.

Ver. 6. / am utterly terrified.'] The Hebrew text is peculiarly
forcible, not simply ^n!7ni3 " I am terrified/' but ""M^Jniil " I am
utterly terrified."

To the false argument so repeatedly brought forward by his
companions, that temporal happiness is the lot of the righteous, the
patriarch here retorts, (and is overpowered with awe at so mysterious
a providence, while retorting) that the lot of the wicked is also, in
a thousand instances, prosperous, and even their death free from
inquietude ; that hence they deceive themselves, by pretending to
reason concerning the moral rectitude either of himself or of any one
else, from the evils they are called upon to endure.

To the same effect Jeremiah, xii. 1^ 2.

Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper ?
Why are they happy that deal very treacherously ?
Thou hast planted them : — yea they have taken root ;
They grow ; yea they bring forth fruit :
Thou art at hand in their mouths,
But far from their reins.

Ver. 7- mighty in substance."} The word b''t] *■' power" or

'' substance," with which this verse terminates, according to the
common punctuation, is made the commencement of the next
verse, aceording to the punctuation of Reiske, in this manner, — ,
They press forward, and become mighty :
The substance (power or splendour) of their offspring is, &c.

Ver. 10. Their lull gender eth, and refuseth «o/.] The passage ad-
mits of various renderings. I have followed the common version ;
reading, with Dr. Stock, " refuseth not" for " faileth not," as a
more verbal translation. The word "ntr is of the common gender,
like our term heeve or ox, as employed by zoologists : hence Arias
Montanus, St. Jerom, Piscator, use it, after the Septuagint (>; ftovi),
as a noun feminine : " His beeve conceiveth," " quickeneth," or
*' proveth big," and " doth not miscarry." In like manner the
term i;3i>, though in a secondary sense it may denote " to gender,"
signifies primarily " to roam or pass about from place to place :"

and hence the Syriac gives us v^.ii^o . i:^^ . Vl<^ . ;oV rn'tn/. a ren-
dering closely copied by the Arabic, " His bull roveth about, and
loweth not :" while Reiske, with a still wider difference, gives us,

" Bos

Chap.XXI. 12, 13. NOTES. 251

" Bos ejus clitellarius it viam suam, et non habet opus calceatione,"
" His labouring ox pursueth his course, and doth not need to be
shod j" i. e. " casteth not his shoes."

Ver. 12. They rise up to — .] Much of the force and beauty of
this verse are sunk in our common translation. IMU^^ from «U^3,
implies " to rise up," as in an erect position, as well as "to take
up;" whence Schultens, properly, " Attollunt inter tympanum y
and the preposition 1 (^1^^) " at" or " to the harp," being added,
it is sufficiently clear that the former alone is the real signification.
In like manner "lilDty does not mean simply " to rejoice," but ex-
presses the mode of rejoicing ; inDty denoting " to move briskly and
alternately, as in a dance, " to vibrate," " to glance along," " to
trip nimbly or merrily." It conveys the very idea of the following
exquisite verses in the Progress of Poesy :
" Now pursuing, now retreating.

Now in circling troops they meet ;
To brisk notes, in cadence beating.
Glance their many-twinkling feet"

Ver. 12. — sound of the pipe.'] The Hebrew i:i1i> is here, and in
various other places, rendered opyavov (organ) in the Septuagint
I have followed, however, the better rendering of Dr. Stock ; be-
lieving, with Mr. Parkhurst, that the instrument here referred to
was a syrinx, or Pan's pipe, a sort of flute composed of several pipes
of unequal thickness and length, now common to our own streets 3
the vmzl fistula of Theocritus, Lucretius, and Virgil. See the Au-
thor's note on Lucret. iv. 605. The word organ (as now usually
understood) is apt to betray us into an idea of an instrument M^hich
assuredly had no existence at the period in question.

Ver. 13. They wear away their days in pleasure.] Racine appears
to have turned his eye to this description in the following passage in
his Esther :

" ELISE.

Je n'admirai jamais la gloire de I'impie.

I'NE AUTRE ISRAELITE.

Au bonheur du m^chant qu'un autre porte envie.

ELISE.

Tous ses jours paroissent charmans.
L' or delate en ses v.^temens.

Son

552 NOTES. Chap.XXI. 13, 14.

Son orgueil est saus borne ainsi que sa richesse,
Jamais I'air n'est trouble de ses gemissemeus.
II s'cndort, il s'liveille au son des instrumens.
Son coeur nage dans la mollesse.

UNE AUTRE ISRAELITE-

Pour eomble de prosp^rite,
II espfere revivre en sa posterity.
Et d'enfans a sa table una riante troupe
Semble boire avec lui la joie k pleine coupe."

Ver. 13. And quietly — ] In the Hebrew i*il, the radical mean-
ing of which is as here rendered } though, in a secondary sense, it
may import, as more usually translated, in a moment : the first sense
appears to me the most correct and expressive in the present case,
and is that adopted by the Septuagint, h Si 'ANAITATIEI qcov
BKOLfiriOt}(Tav. The same idea is taken up again, and enlarged upon,
in V. 32, 33 of the present chapter, which is a farther confirmation
of the propriety of the present version.

Ver. 14, Therefore say they unto God, — "] So the Psalmist,
)xxiii. 11.

Therefore say they, " How doth God know }
Is there any knowledge in the Most High?"

There is, indeed, a surprising parallel between this most elegant
and impressive elegy, from ver. 3 to ver. 20, and the chapter before
us ; and a parallel that could scarcely be the eflfect of accident. It
is, in truth, highly probable that the holy Asaph designed it as an imi-
tation. The contrast between the general aggregate of happiness
belonging, in the upshot, to the righteous and the w'cked, is finely
conceived ; and the mode by which the pensive Psalmist obtained a
new view of the entire subject, combines the richest truth with the
richest poetry : ver. l6, 17-

When I studied to comprehend this,

It was too painful for me :

Until I went into the sanctuart of God. —

Then understood I their end.

So Ali, the relation of Mahomet, in a verse that has been highly
prized by his countiymen ;

Life's gewgaw pomp entraps> deceives, destroys.

Ver.

ChakXXI. 16, ir. NOTES. 253

Ver. 16 Behold! not in their own hands — ] There has been a
difficulty of great magnitude supposed in the present and several of
the ensuing verses, Reiske, in order to explain it, has recourse to
his usual method ; and while he changes the division of the letters
in the first member of the verse before us, in order so far to obtain
an explanation, he transfers the ensuing six verses, from 17 to 22
inclusively, to a place between verses 3 1 and 32. Other commen-
tators, with less hardihood, suppose a dialogue to be held between
the speaker and some imaginary respondent ; and have attempted
to mark out, by inverted commas, the passages that belong to the
respective disputants.

There is no necessity for any such expedients : the general drift
of the argument is clear : " The righteous, I admit, are generally
rewarded with temporal prosperity; but do not, on this account
alone, accuse me of hypocrisy and all wickedness, because I am at
present a sufferer; for the wicked themselves, in the mysteries of
T'rovidence, are occasionally allowed to partake of an equal prospe-
rity; they live in happiness, and die in quiet, even while they ab-
jure the Almighty, and laugh at those who serve him. Do not how-
ever mistake me — far be it from me to become an advocate for the
wicked — I know the slipperiness of their foundation, and that more
generally they suffer for their iniquity in the present world, as well
in their own persons as in their posterity : I am only anxious to
prove that your grand argument is fallacious; that no conclusion
can be drawn from the actual prosperity or misery of man, as to the
moral rectitude or turpitude of his heart ; and that, with a wisdom
which it is impossible for mortals to fathom, the Almighty not un-
frequently allots a similar external fate both to the righteous and
the wicked.

Ver. 16. — the advocacy of the wicked.} nvy the " forensic de-
fence" or " vindication :" " office of pleading for."

Ver. 17, How often doth God put out — P] Literally " doth he
put out ;" the name of the Deity being often understood in this
sublime and impetuous poem, without being absolutely expressed :
see ch. xx, 23, and various other places.

Ver. 17. How often dispense — ?] TheHebrew adverb Mn!: (hojv
often), witli which the verse opens, is here again understood, as

alse

254 NOTES. Chap. XXI. 18, 19.

also in several of the succeeding verses.. Our own language will
admit of the same ellipsis, but it is better to supply it : the authors
of our common translation have supplied it in the second period of
the verse before us 3 and Junius, Tremellius and Piscator, through
the entire passage.

Ver. 18. — ransacked by the storm.'] Not simply " carried away,"
as in our common version, but stolen or plundered; literally, " the
storm its plunderer," HQID IDIJJ ; whence Arias Montan us correctly,
" Furatus est eum turbo." So the Spanish version, " Y como tamo
que le hurto torbellino ;" upon which, observes the Spanish com-
mentator, Luis de Leon, " Y ainsi — se vengara Dios del robo de sus
padres en ellos, y veran los pobres sa miseria, y conosceran por donde
les viene :" "And thus shall God avenge himself of the robberies
of their forefathers ; and the poor shall behold their misery, and
shall know from whom it proceeds."

Ver. 19. How often doth God treasure up — ?] The difficulty in
this and the ensuing verse proceeds alone from an improper punc-
tuation. It is usually pointed thus:

: 1TD i:>i; ih'i* 20

Quoties Deus recondit filiis ejus iniquitatem :
Quoties rependit illi ita ut experiatur :
Vident oculi ejus pernicieni suam.

For which I propose as follows, the sense being hereby rendered far
more conspicuous :

nTi •ii"'i> i«v ri^i

Quoties Deus recondit filiis —
Quoties ejus iniquitatem rependit illi :
Et experiatur — vident oculi ejus, perniciem suam.
The general sentiment is strikingly paralleled in the following cou-
plet from the poem of Zohair, forming the third of the Moallakat.
The translation is that of Sir W. Jones :

" He (God) sometimes defers the punishment, but registers the crime in a
volume, and reserves it for the day of account j sometimes be acce-
lerates the chastisement, and heavily it falls,"

Ver.

Chap. XXT. 21— 23. NOTES. 23,5

Ver. 21. Lo ! how doth God punish him — .] Reiske is the only
expositor who seems to have understood this verse. The rendering
I have given it is from him : " Ecce ! quam celeriter corripit Deus
domum impii post ipsum! quam decurtat numerum mensium ejus!"
The text as now offered is verbally parallel with the original. ■•:: is
here, as in ch. iii. 24. and a variety of other places, an interjection,
and not a causative particle. ^^Qti, which has so much puzzled the

■ translators, and even the lexicographers, is here a pure Arabic term
ijcks-, and means, as will be seen by a reference to Meninski, "in-
flectere virgam," ," to chastise with the rod, or punish 3" or " proji-
cere, abjicere," " to hurl" or '* cast away." IV^n is not a plural
verb, as generally understood, but a singular verb with a pronoun
personal, and is in direct apposition with IVQh. It means " to cut.

, off abruptly, to cut short, or curtail."

It would be almost endless to recite the variety of renderings, or
rather paraphrases, that have been given to this verse, from the com-
mon but erroneous mode of construing it, in order to force from it
a sense of some kind or other.

Ver. 22. Unto the Eternal — .] «im, literally " even the Eternal."
From this meaning of Kin, see the Note on ch. viii. \Q.

Ver. 22. — the heights^ In the original tD^D'n, from t3l. This
word, however, is by Schultens derived from tiDl, and from such a
root may mean " worm-producing," " crawling with worms 5"
whence his version is, " Quod ille vermibus erosum judicat," " Be-
cause he judgeth a man eaten up of worms." In this instance the
critic appears to have failed in his usual judgment, and to have wan-
dered widely to no purpose. The Seventy for lD''D1 appear to have
read cm, whence their translation is ^oVoi/c, " homicidia," " mur-
ders," instead of " heights j" — a departure from the common reading
and common idea, as useless as that of Schultens.

Ver. 23. — in the Jlower of his perfections^ By Dr. Stock, ren-
dered " at the top of Iiis perfection ;" equally literaliy, but i think
less poetically. The preposition H, " in the dower," is understood at
the commencement of the ensuing line of the couplet, " In his ful-
ness, ^'C.3" tho-i.gh in the English, as in the Hebrew, it is possible
to omit its being expressed, and yet to retain the same sense.

Ver.

?i56 NOTES. Chap. XXI. 24.

Ver. 24. His sleek skin — ] In the original, vy\Di), a genuine
Arabic word, found no where else in the Hebrew scriptures, and onc&
more proving ihe writer to have been colloquially acquainted with the
Arabic, from a long residence in Arabia. The meaning of the term
(its real origin not being adverted to) has hence been altogether
collected from the context. The Septuagint conjectures -a eyyoya
avToy, "his bowels j" our established version, " his breasts j" the
Syriac, and thence the Arabic version, latera ejus, " his sides or
flanks ;" Arias Montanus, Piscator, Junius and Tremellius, " mulc-
tralia ejus," "his milk- vessels;" literally " his lacteals," an admirable
rendering, if it could be supported.

In Arabic, the word ilD)} (^Ja£.) has several meanings, but one
common idea seems to run throughout the whole ; which is that of
a sleek, glossy or polished skin, the cause of such an eftect, or the
result of the process adopted to obtain it, I will give the various sig-
nifications, as they occur in Meninski: ^a^ v. act. macerare et cq?i-
cinnar e pellem suppos'dlsfimo, sale, et planta, i^jjSs- oelka dicta, ut
deglahretur , et mollescat, " to macerate and dress a skin by the use
of animal salts, and the plant called alkali, so that it may soften and
become glossy." A second signification of the verb is foetere, " to
smell offensively," obviously from the fetor that ascends from the
skin, in the act of maceration and preparation. A third signification
is, " a lana pilisve levari pellem ;" " to free the skin from hairs,
down," or other roughnesses, by depilatories and cosmetics ;" " to
render it sleek and glossy." A fourth signification, in which it
occurs as a substantive plural (^.liic^) is " locus ubi cameli aut
pecudes circum aqnoe conceptaculam cubant," " places where
camels or cattle lie down, near tanks or reservoirs of water," i. e.
" places of refreshment for them ;" as a cause of sleekness and glossi-
ness of skin. In a fifth signification, it implies " radix vel pes
montis," " the root or foot of a mountain, i. e. its broadest and
richest circumference," that part of it on which cattle delight
chiefly to browse, and whence they derive most pasturage ; being,
as in the preceding signification, a cause of sleekness, or healthful
glossiness of skin.

It is to the fourth of these significations that both Schultens and
Reiske (who concur in regarding the term as of Arabic origin) refer
in their renderings of the passage ; the first translating it " ejus
pecorosa latifundia plena lacte," " his pastures (milk-grounds) are
filled with milk;" and the second "plena sunt ejus epaulia," "his

dairies

Chap. XXI. 27-29. NOTES. 257

dairies are filled with milk." The description, however, if I mis-
take not, is restricted to the person of the possessor, and has no
relation to his property.

The idea, as conveyed in the present version, is common to all
languages : the " milk of human nature," is a phrase in every man's
lips. So Dryden,

" Would I could share thy balmy, even temper.
And milkiness of blood !"
For milk, however, some translators have given fat : the Septuagmt
does so i the Vulgate has followed it j and Dr. Stock has thus copied

both :

** His bowels are full of /a^"

Ver. 27. — which ye agitate — "] In our common version, " which
ye wrongfully imagine." DOH implies " to drive out or about with
violence 3" and exactly answers to the translation here offered.

Ver. 28. — mighty one.'] 113 is not here in opposition to CD'')?tyi,
" the wicked," as is commonly conjectured, but in apposition with
it ; the term being equally used in a good or a bad sense.

Ver. 29. Surely, thou canst never have inquired — ] Commonly
but erroneously rendered " have ye not — ," with a total destruction
of the sense. The mistake proceeds from a wrong division of
letters in the original : the D in urhfli not being the final letter of this
word, which ought to be rhm, but the initial letter of the en-
suing, which, instead of mil?, ought to be written iiniJD.

Ver. 29, — men of travel.'] In the language of Reiske, "cursores
viae, viatores, caravani :" hterally 111 mii^o, " travellers of
journeys" or " to a distance." The allusion is obviously to the
travellers in caravans 3 which, from a variety of passages in the poem
before us, we know to have been the common mode of journeying
in Arabia so early as the sera of Job : see, especially, ch. vi. 19-

Ver. 29. Or thou couldst not have been ignorant — ] "n^jn is a
▼erb singular with a pronoun subfixed, and not, as generally ren-
dered, and to the total destruction of the sense, a verb plural without
a pronoun: "Or thou must have heard of their awefial end in a
thousand instances."

r Ver. 30.

258 NOTES. Chap. XXI. 30.

Ver. 30. — are the wicked — ] The original is a noun singular,
but collective, not malus, but malum genus; and hence the second
period of the verse changes easily to the plural : the original itself
might have borne a verb plural in the tir^t period without any breach
of syntax, i?1 It^nn instead o{ i)^ ^wn\

Ver. 30. In the day of vengeance shall they be brought forth.'] So
the Alcoran, sur. xxviii. 88. ^1 ^\ "i J>\ 1^1 t^\ «-£? cjj Sj

" Every thin^ shall perish, except himself : unto him \i&\QX\g^\\i judgment i
and before him shall ye be assembled at the last day."

The general scope of the following highly bold and figurative
description, from the Abbe Dellille's Ode on Immortality , is to
the same effect :

" Dans sa demeure in^branlable,'

Asise sur I'^ternit^,

La tranquille Immortalite,
Propice au bon, et terrible au conpable,
Du temps, qui sous ses yeux marehe a pas de geant.

Defend I'ami de la Justice,

Et ravit il I'espoir du Vice

L'asile horrible du Neant.
Oui — vous qui, de FOlyippe usurpant le tonnerre,
Des 6terne]les loix renversez les autels,

L&ches oppresseurs de la terre,

Tremblez — vous etes immortels !

" Et vous, vous, du malheur passager^s,

Sur qui veillent'd'un Dieu les regards paternels,
Voyageurs d'un moment aux terres Strangeres,

Consolez-vous — vous etes immorteh !
H^ ! quel coeur ne se livre L ce besoin supreme !

L'homnie agit^ d'esp^rance, et d'effroi,
Apporte ee besoin d'exister apr^s sol

Dans l'asile du tr^pas m6me.
Un s^pulcre \ ses pie'ds, et le front dans les cieux,

La pjTamide qui s'elance,
Jusqu' au tr6nc ^tcrnel va porter I'espc-rance,

De ce cadavre ambitieux :
Sur I'airain p^rissable il grave sa mt'moirc,

Helas !

Chap.XXI. 31, 32. NOTES. 259

Helas ! et sa fragility :
Et sur ces monumens, temoins de sa victoire,

Trop fr^les g^arans de sa gloire,
Fait un essai mortel de I'lmmortalit^."

This ode was written in England 5 and the touching glance at the
misfortunes of the poet's exiled fellow-countrymen, in the third line
of the hist stanza, is too powerful not to be felt by every reader.
M.Dellille has since made his peace with the ruler of France. He re-
turned to his own country upon a special invitation from the court,
and was for a short time appointed poet-laureat. This, however,
was a post that in no respect suited the genuine independence of his
mind : and from the acquaintance with which he honoured me, I
rejoice to learn that he was soon permitted to exchange it for the
tranquillity of a retired life, and a return to those ecclesiastical duties
in his own parish, for which those who knew him often heard him
sigh bitterly while in London,

Ver. 31. — who shall attack — ] Such is the real meaning of T'Ji'',
which, from "^:^, implies " to attack or assault, to charge or rush
upon."

Ver. 32. Even this man — ] In the original Klhl, not "yet shall
he be brought or borne ; but emphatically, " even this man, this
very person shall be, &c." So in the second of the Golden Poems of
the Moallakat, for which we are indebted to Tarafa :

' I see no difference between the tomb of the anxious miser, grasping over
his hoard, and the tomb of the libertine, lost in the maze of volup-
tuousness.

" Behold the tombs of both of them, raised in equal heaps of earth ! over
which are erected two massy columns of solid marble, among the
thickening sepulchres."

Ver. 32. — shall they keep watch!] In the original llpty, imper-
sonally : whence Cocceius rightly, vigilatur. Others vigilet, " shall
he wake or keep awake, i. e. he shall be deathless in his frame."
The former is the more obvious sense ; and I cannot better explain
it than in the words of Mr. Parkhurst, art. 1pm, " They shall watch
over his tomb, to keep it clean and nice with plants, flowers, and
verdure :" a practice still common in many parts of Wnles and
Scotland.

r 2 With

260 NOTES. Chap.XXT. 32.

With this passage the reader will be gratified by comparing the fol-
lowing inimitable dirge, (one of the sweetest that ever was com-
posed) sung by Fingal over the grave of Gaul. I copy it from the
literal version of the Highland Society:

Prepare, ye children of musical strings.

The bed of Gaul, and his sun-beam by him ;

Where may be seen his resting-place from afar.

Which branches high overshadow,

Under the wing of the oak of greenest flourish.

Of quickest growth and most durable form,

Which will shoot forth its leaves to the breeze of the shower,

While the heath around is still withered.

Its leaves, from the extremity of the land,
Shall be seen by the birds of summer ;
And each bird shall perch, as it arrives,
On a sprig of its verdant branch.
Gaul, in his mist, shall hear the cheerful note,
While the virgins are singing of Evirchoma.

Until all of these shall perish.
Your memory shall not be disunited ;
Until the stone crumble into dust.
And this tree decay with age ;
Until streams cease to run.

And the source of the mountain-waters be dried up ;
Until there be lost, in the flood of age,
Each bard, and song, and subject of story.
The stranger shall not ask " Who was Morni's Son ?"
Or " Where was the dwelling of the king of Struraon .'"

To these observations I shall only add, with a view of explaining
the first period of the ensuing verse, that the tombs or sepulchres of
the Asiatics, and especially of the Arabians, are generally situated in
low grounds and valleys, for the purpose of irrigation ; a close at-
tention to which, in order to preserve a perpetual verdure and suc-
cession of fragrant flowers, was among tlie old Arabians esteemed an
indispensable religious rite. Hence the following exquisite compli-
ment to the generous Maan, as given by Schultens from the
Hamasa :

Visitate Maanum ! et dicite sepukro ejus,
** Rigent te nubes matutinal pluvia super pluvia !"
At, heus ! sepuicrum Maani ! prima tu fossa
TerrK, ducta Liberalitati in cubile.

Ge,

Chap. XXI. 33,34. NOTES. 26i

Go, visit Maan's tomb, and thus implore :

" Here may each morning cloud its tribute pour !"

Yet, tomb of Maan ! to thy holy bed

Bounty itself is now for ever wed-

Ver. 33. — sods — ] In the original ''3J'^, which is strictly an
Arabic, and which we have no reason to suppose was a He-
brew term, as it occurs no where in the Old Testament except
in the present place, and in ch. xxxviii. 38. of the present poem.
In the Arabic (^mUi) " Terra mollis seu moUita a pluvia, non tamen
defluens," Wan. " Soil softened by showers, but not reduced to
ooze." According to Golius, " Terra late patens ac sequalisj" " A
level open plot of ground." Tlie translators have not erred in
giving it, in the plural, glebes or sods. Some, however, have ren-
dered the term stones, as they have /tin torrent, instead of valley.
Thus Arias Montanus gives us " sods of the torrent," " cespites
torrentis." while the Vulgate offers " glarea cocyti," or, as it is
copied by Tyndal, " the stones by the broke-side." There can be
no doubt that the common translation is the true one. The whole
passage, indeed, is exquisitely beautiful, and may challenge the
finest outline of a magnificent sepulchre in Greek or Roman poetry.
For a representation of the extravagant pomp with which the
funerals of the great were attended all over the East in ancient
times, the reader may consult the author's translation of Lucretius,
Note to vol. I. p. 495, 496. and II. p. 6l2.

I
Ver. 34. How vainly, then, would ye make me retract^ I do not"
think this verse has been understood by any of the translators.
iDHin does not here mean " to comfort," as usually rendered, but
" to retract or change opinion," as in v. 2. of the present chapter.
It is here used in the conjugation Hiphil, " to make or cause to re-
tract or change opinion :" and hence ^iOH^n is literacy " would ye
make me retract, repeut, or change opinion." 1«u;3 signifies " re-
lics," " fragments," " remnants," " shreds," " scraps," " leavings."
The metaphor is common to our own poets. Thus Swift :

" Shreds of wit and senseless rhymes.
Blundered out a thou:5and times."
The argument thus keenly wound up is quite in character ; and the
version now offered is as literal as, I trust, it is perspicuous.

CHAP.

262 NOTES. Chap.XXII. 2— 8.

CHAP. XXII.

Vcr.2. Can a man, then,lecome prqfitaMe — ?] Or" What ! can man
be profitable — ." The expletive n is not generally taken notice of
in the translations ; but it is not without its force and meaning, and
ought in most cases to be allowed an equivalent rendering. All the
verses, from the second to the fifth, commence with it in the
original.

Ver. 6. Behold! thou wouldst oppress — ] ''5 is here, as in
various other places, an interjection, and not a causative particle.
Almost all the translators err in rendering the severe charges now
opened against Job affirmatively, instead of conditionally. The
whole series of verbs has expressly a conditional sign, as far as to
V. 10. and here the sign is understood from the frequency of its pre-
ceding use. The passage is hence freed from a difficulty which has
puzzled many of the commentators, and instigated them to much
recondite and erroneous explanatiori. Eliphaz by no means accuses
his friend of having committed the atrocities before us, but asserts
that a man, wicked enough to vindicate himself in the manner in
which Job has done, may be supposed to commit them, hill
means, in its primary sense, " to oppress, fetter, or bind down 3" in
a secondary sense, " to bind down by a bond or pledge." The first
appears to me the best, as it is the most common import.

The general tendency with which his conduct is thus charged, is
given in the usual way, by a series of proverbial sayings.

Ver. 8. But the man of power — ] Literally "the man of arm or
arms 5" an idiom common to almost all Asia, even in the present
day, and repeated in v. 9. in which the phrase " means of the father-
less" is, literally, arms of the fatherless," as it occurs in our common
version. So Tabelebi, in his commentary upon Hariri, as quoted by
Schultens : " The Arabs make shortness of arm a figure and meta-
phor of impotence, calling, at the same time, extent of arm, power."
The origin of the phrase is, that he who hgs a long arm is able to
reach what the man possessed of a short arm cannot attain. The
figure is common to the Alcoran. The reader may turn to Sur. xi. 7g.

and xxix. 32.

Ver. 9.

Chap. XXII. 9— n • NOTES. 263

Ver. Q. — let them he crushed!'] This abrupt change hi the mode
of address is pecuharly forcible, and ahogether in the Oriental style.
The passige has never, that 1 know of, been rendered literally be-
fore. The parapi-rase is cle^r, " And as to the means of the father-
less, let them (thou wouldst say) be crushed." Our common ver-
sion, for means, reads arms, but the term mit implies means, ahility,
poiver, as well as hands 3 and is so rendered, indeed, by this same
version in v. 8. preceding, as I have already observed,

Ver. 10. — consternation terrify — ] I have copied the forcible
pleonasm of the original irrB l^nn^j — our common rendering,
" troubleth thee," by no means gives the full import of the term.

Ver. 11. Or, darkness — ] Literally," Or darkness, thou canst not
penetrate it — ." The particle it* (or) seems very unnecessarily to
have been found fault with by the commentators, who have striven
hard to suppress it, or to amend it. Reiske proposes in its stead
II^D, which would render the sense " thy dwelling shall be dark-
ness." The Septuagint has given a still more elegant, and a much
less violent change ; for by employing the term 70 0wc, the writers
prove clearly that for lb* they read "11 «, which offers us the sense of
" the light shall be darkness." Michaelis has followed this alteration
of the text ; but the scrupulous adherence to the original which
I have resolved upon, and trust I have acted up to, will not allow
me to accompany him.

The imagery of this verse has, in all probability, a reference to the
Noachic flood, which is again, and more decisively, adverted to in
V. 16. Yet it is common to poets of all nations, who have perhaps
derived it from the same source. The following of jEschylus is
quite in point. Prom. 1023. ed. Schiitz:

Oto'c (T£ ^StfUUl' Kal KeiKUV TpiKVjU.ia
"ETTflff' d(j)VKTOg.

" But mark me well ;

If not obedient to my words, a storm,

A fiery and inevitable deluge,

Shall burst in three-fold vengeance on thy head." Potter.

So in another place, v. 752.

^vrryj^iixepov ye TTcXayo^ (in]pm: Oi/'/jc.

A wide tempestuous sea of baleful woes." Id,

Ver. 12.

264 NOTES. Chap. XXII. 12— 16.

Ver. 12. But is noi — ] Or "Is not then," «!?n. The word
height means, in this place, " the topmost or highest possible point :"
whence Dr. Stock,

" Doth not God over-top the heavens ?"
Do Dieu renders it, " Is not God, then, the height of the heavens ?"
De Leon, ascribing the passage to a speech of Job, as supposed by
his friend : " For ventitra Dios 7io en altura de citlos, y vee cabeeza
de estrellas que se leventan /" " Perhaps God is not in the height of
the heavens, and beholdeth the topmost of the stars as they arise ?"
Upon which he observes, " Llama estiellas por figura a los que re-
splandecen en esta vida ricos y prosperos siendo injustos ymalos, &c."
"■ He uses stars as a figure for those who shine forth in this life
wealthy and successful, and are at the same time unrighteous and
wicked." The verse is unquestionably intended as the beginning of
i remark pretended to be interposed by Job.

Ver. 13. — dense ether. 1 This seems to be the true meaning of
the compound term b'Q^i), from P]':^, to flow down, and bs3j? thick
darkness. " Thick darkness, (as Mr. Parkhurst expresses it,) as of
the dark or gross air (ether) flowing down from the extremity of the
system," Whence Lowth, Is. Ix. 2. renders it " thick vapour."

Ver. 15. Verily wouldst thou pursue — ] So Schultens and Reiske
concurrently, " Profecto viam seculi servas," (Reiske servalis). n is
here an affirmative, saiie, ecce, verily ! behold ! In general, how-
ever, this particle is passed over without notice in the translations.

Ver. l6. — in a moment^ Literally niJ«bl "and not a moment,"
i.e. " in less than a moment." The reference is evidently to the
Noachic deluge.

The whole event is adverted to, with much poetic spirit, in the
Alcoran, sur. xiv. JUs:\]l^ ^^^ J ^ ^j^ l5^^

Then floated the ark with them upon the mountainous waves ;
and Noah called to hi^ son, who was in a boat at a distance from
them, * O son ! sail thou with us, and beware of the unbelievers.'
He replied, ' I will ascend yonder mountain, which will save me from
the waters.' ' There is no salvation,' said Noah, * decreed from God this
day, except his favour.' Then rushed the waves into the midst of
them, and he was amon^ the drowned. And there was a command,
* O earth, drink up thy waiers ! and, O heaven ! let thine be re-
strained.' And the waters were suppressed, and the command was ful-
filled ; and the ark rested upon Al Judi ; and the voice exclaimed,

' Destruction to the wicked!' "

Ver. i;.

Ghap.XXTI. 17, 20. NOTES. 265

Ver. 17. " Depart from us!" ")

And " What could the Almighty do for them ?" J
The poem before us abounds in sarcastic retorts, but the present is
one of the severest : a severer was, perhaps, never penned. It in-
cludes V. 18. along with v. 17- and is a verbal repetition, or nearly
so, of the very words of Job himself in the preceding speech and
chapter, v. 14, 15, and 1(5. which the render may compare at his leisure.
ID^ " for them," is said, by Reiske, to be an absolute blander of the
transcribers for Ij!? " to us." Mercer thinks it a figurative change
of persons : the Septuagint alters it to Ij'?, reading »/ ri iirdltTai
'HMIN o TravTOKpuTup ; which has been thus copied by Tyndal,
" Which saye unto God, Go from us, and after this manner tush ;
what wyl the Almightie do unto us ?" Dr. Stock has also copied the
alteration. By St. Jerom the general sense is changed, but the ori-
ginal and general reading preserved : " Quasi nihil possit facere om-
nipotens aestimabant cum;" "^ As though they thought of him that
the Almighty was able to do nothing." This seems constrained;
and there is no necessity for varying from the general reading or
general interpretation. It only requires that the first and second
periods of theVerse should be regarded, not as one continued, but as
two detached exclamations, issuing from the mouth of the persons
referred to ; which I have marked by inverted commas accordingly.

Ver. 20. — our trile — ] In the original IJDp, which may bear
the meaning of substance in a general sense; but which is a terra
peculiarly appropriated to express the idea of " tribe, family, people,
nation." The Arabs preserve it to the present hour, without the
change of a letter ; for \Jui yS is with them still " noster populus,

familia, gens-." and hence ,Xa,sX^ aJ means Mahometans, i. e.

"the people of Mahomet j" and ^^m^ ^y Christians, i.e.
'^ people of Christ."

Ver. 20. While even the remnant of these, a conflagration consumed-l
There can be little doubt that the reference is to the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah : and as all good men are often spoken of as consti-
tuting one family or community, so the abandoned inhabitants of
these cities are here poetically represented as descendants or rem-
nants of the wicked that perished in the flood.

Ver. 2).

266 .NOTES. Chap.XXII. 21—23.

Ver. 21. Treasure up, ihe7i — "] This seems to be the real meaning
of the word pDH, which requires some straining to render it ac-
quaint. pD implies '' to lay or treasure up, or in store 3" to " re-
pose," in thig sense of the term ; and hence ni35DD is expressly " re-
positories, storehouses, treasuries, or magazines."

Ver. 21. In redundance — ] Qil, in D!lS, is not in this place, as
usually rendered, a pronoun, " by this" or "hereby 5" but a noun,
importing " overflowing, tumultuous abundance." The Arabs
employ the same term ^rsr^j in the same sense: so *L«J (namma)
implies " to increase," " accumulate," " amass together," " pile
heap upon heap ;" and is probably the origin both of the I,atin
niimmus, and the Greek voiiiajxa, " money," " the representative of
abundance," " wealth itself."

Ver. 23. Jf thou put away — ] The Hebrew i^Tlin is in the con-
ditional tense ; and the article Dt*, with which the preceding line
opens, is understood, though not expressed.

Ver. 24.' — treasure as dust.'] The Hebrew Ti'l does not mean
gold, but treasure generally. Its original idea, indeed, is a place of
security, such as treasure is usually kept in ; and hence many ti^ans-
lators have preferred this sense to the preceding : thus Arias Mon-
tanus, " Pone super pulverem munitionem tuam," " Place thou thy
security (or defence) upon the dust;" i.e. nothing shall be allowed
to injure thee,

Ver. 24. — make to gush forth — ] In the original T'SIt* (aupher),
which is generally rendered ophir, with the word gold added to it, to
give it a sense. There is no necessity for this addition : 'T'i:i« is here
a direct Arabic verb, from 's\ {apher or afr), transgredi, currere,
assilire, impetum facere, vefiementer fervere ollam, " to flow, rush,
pass on, to boil vehemently :" no supply is necessary, and at the same
time a new and appropriate image is introduced, instead of a tame
repetition of the preceding.

Ver. 25. — he thy treasure!] In the Hebrew llfi, as in the pre-
ceding verse, to which it is an echo ; and of course should be trans-
lated alike. In our common version, however, it is translated gold
i« the first place, and defence in tlie second.

Ver. 25.

Chap. XXII. 25, 27. NOTES. 267

Ver. 25. — mountains of silver unto thee.'] Literally, " silver of
mountains/' with a metonymy common to Hebrew poetry. Yet
the passage has been rendered very differently by different critics :
" Silver of glitterings" or " glittering silver/' probably from the
Septuagint, dpyvpiov irErvpufiEvov, " fiery silver :" though Mr.
Parkhurst enlists this last rendering into a confirmation of his own
sense, which is, " silver of meltings," or " melted silver." Schultens,
and after him Mr. Grey, give us " argentum vertiginum,"' " silver
of giddinesses j" i. e. of mines so deep as to excite giddiness by look-
ing at them. Reiske, " silver in drops," i. e. " native, pure, un-
mixt silver :" but to obtain this meaning he Is obliged to alter the
original reading, and for mSiJin t^D;3 to substitute mai^^D !qD5.
Without entering into the comparative merit of these different ren-
derings, I shall only observe, that in Ps. xcv. 4. the common terra
niQiJiri occurs, and in a sense upon which there neither is nor can be
any dispute, — "height," "top," " lofty bulk," " massy substance."

In his hands are the depths of the earth ;
His, too, are the heights of the mountains.

Our own version for this, indeed, gives strength, but the idea is not
essentially different. It is clear that the term, whatever it may be,
is directly opposed to the term depths or deep places in the preced-
ing part of the verse. By St. Jerom it is rendered, as I have here
rendered it, altitudines ; by the Septuagint, in the same sense, vi^rj j
by Mr. Parkhurst, " high tops 3" and by Dr. Geddes, " heights,"
as above. This, then, being the admitted sense in one place, I have
only applied the same general meaning to another place in which
the same term occurs, and where the general context shews, if I
mistake not, that the rendering ought to be the same. In our esta-
blished version, the expression " plenty of silver" gives the general
idea, but does not favour us with the bold and beautiful imagery.
In the Vulgate " argentum coacervabitur" approaches somewhat
i)earer to it : but in Tyndal we meet with the nearest resemblance :
" Yea, the A.lmightye hys owne selfe shal be thine harveste, and
the heape of thy moneye."

Ver. 27. Thou shalt unbosom thyself — ] Not simply, as in our
common received version, " Thou shalt make prayer ; ")t^^ means
"■ to unbosom," "open," "expand," " develope" or " fiilly dis-
close."

Ver.

268 NOTES. Chap.XXII. 29, 30.

Ver. 29. Behold, when thou speakest — .] This verse has never
been understood by the translators : and hence the different render-
ings are almost as niutierous as the writers, Reiske thinks it once
more necessary to alter the text, in order to extricate a meaning from
it. I have given it verbatim, and leave to the reader to determine how
far I have succeeded. Our common version is as follows ; and, un-
intelligible as it is, I do not know of any version yet offered that i^ 1
much clearer: "When inen are cast down, then thou shalt say, j
* there is lifting up :' and he shall save the humble person."

Ver. 30, The house of the innocent — ,] Here again the critics
have tried their skill, and have very generally deemed it
necessary to suspect an error in the original text. The com-
• mon mistake has arisen from supposing '•« to import an island,
the sense given to it in our established version, yet a sense from
which no general meaning can be extorted. Reiske therefore pro-
poses for ^« to substitute ty«, virum : — " Eripiet virum purum,"
" He (God) shall deliver the innocent man." Junius and Tremel-
lius, and, of later date, Schultens, Michaelis, and most of the Ger-
man critics, for ^« would read, or at least understand, fM non,
making the expression the converse of the preceding, " Eripiet non
insontem, et eripietur propter puritatem manuum tuarum :" " He
shall deliver the guilty, and shall deliver him for the pureness of thy
hands." While Dr. Stock, following an alteration of very early
date, and which has found its way into twelve copies, unites the '•>*
to the next word 'pi, and instead of the phrase " house of the in-
nocent" gives us " mourner" — " The mourner shall escape." Of
all these our common version requires the smallest change to make
it correct : it runs as follows : " He shall deliver the island of the
innocent , and it is delivered by the pureness of thy hands." It is
only necessary that for island we read house or habitation. *•« {ai)
is strictly Arabic, and in Arabic has this direct import. It is a noun
derived from a verb of the same literal characters ^\ {ai) or ^jS
(aui), for both mean the same thing, denoting " mansionem capere,
commorari, " to reside," " have a home," *' take up one's dwelling
or abode," Wan. or, according to Got. " hospitio excipere." So the

participle ^^ means " congregatus," " gathered, collected toge-
ther," as a household 3 whence ^A j]s means " an mnaiy :"
literally " an assemblage or housfe of birds" — and not " an island
©f birds." I am

Chap. XXII. 30. NOTES. 269

I am surprised that this Arabic interpretation (than which nothing
can be more obvious, and which removes every difficulty) never
occurred either to Schultens or Reiske. Even regarded as a Hebrew
noun, Mr. Parkhurst has very justly observed that the common idea
which 'W seems to imply, is that of settlement or hahitation : " The
versions and lexicons," continues he, " usually render tliis word by
an isle or island; but it may be justly doubted whether it ever has
itrictly this meaning." Certainly not in the Arabic, in which it
uniformly imports as above, as it appears to do also in the Chaldee.

Ver. 30. — shall le delivered^ We ought here to understand iDhw
in the Niphal conjugation or passive voice, instead of in Kal or the
active voice : " He shall be delivered," instead of "he shall deliver,"
And with this view of the text there is no necessity either for alter-
ing the original reading, or supplying it with ideas that are not
expressed. ,

CHAP. XXIII.

Ver. 2. Jnd still is my complaint rebellion?'\ DVn Q:! ^'And
still ;" " even to this hour." ID is admitted, by most modern cri-
tics, to imply, in the present place, rebellion rather than bitterness.
Heath, Schultens, Scott, Parkhurst, concur in this rendering. Junius
and Tremellius give it " in earlier time." Exacerbatio, which is the
version of Arias Montanus, does not vary essentially from the idea
now offered : all being derived from niD " to resist, rise up (as in
arms), to rebel against j" instead of from ID " to be bitter or dis-
agreeable to ]the taste." Reiske, very unnecessarily, attempts to
correct the text, as though erroneous.

Ver, 3. My stroke — ] In the original '•1'', which may either
mean " my stroke" or " my hand j" i.e. the instrument producing
a stroke, Dr, Stock takes the last sense,

" My hand lieth heavy upon my sighs."
The Syriac, Arabic, and Septuagint, take the same ; but then, to
make a meaning of it, they forcibly alter the pronoun, and read IT
" his hand," There is no necessity for this variation, either from
the common reading or the common version.

Ver, 6. — would he concede — ] With this rendering there is no
necessity for the gratuitous supply of the term strength, as in our

received

270 NOTES. Chap. XXIII. 7, 9.

received version. Nor is this an unfrequent meaning of the Hebrew
tDty. Thus, 1 Sam. ii. 20, " The Lord yield, grant, or concede to
thee seed of this woman, &c." In like manner Gen. xlv. 7. " And
God sent me before you, to grant or concede to you a posterity in the
earth, &c."

Ver. y. There may the righteous argue u'ith hivi.'] This verse is
rendered by St. Jerom, " Proponat aequitatem contra me, et per-
veniat ad victoriam judicium meum," " He would set up equity
against me, and lead on my cause to victory." As several of the
terms here employed have different meanings in the original, it is
possible to offer such a sense by way of paraphrase ; but by no con-
trivance can this be reduced to a literal rendering : and I only
follow it in giving" the sense of in victoriam, victoriously , trium-
phantly, to nyjV, instead oi for ever, both senses being equally
common to it, but the former appearing to me the most conspicuous
and appropriate in the present place.

Ver. 9, I feel for him — ] In the original "intyiJS, in which the
first letter is generally regarded as an adverb of place inu?J^-i j leaving
us "iMU^i? alone for the verb, which, from T\WS, menus " to act, work,
or do." But even in this case the verb is in the first and not in the
third person, and refers obviously to the speaker, and not to tlie
Creator j and hence the Septuagint, more accurately, 'A(0«rrf(Oa ttoh']-
cavToc avTov. But iroirjcravTog does not give the real meaning of
IDi^i?!, or ratlier of vntt»J?!3, which is one word with its subjoined
pronoun, and not a verb and an adverb, intl^i?! is in reality Arabic

(<U*L^) from ijLi^, and imports, as Golius has justly rendered it,.
apprehende^-e, \e\ apprehendere velle, nee capere aut retinere rem;
Extendere manum ad aliquid capienduin ; " To lay hold of, or to
strive to lay hold of a thing, without being able to grasp it : to
stretch out the hand to grasp at any thing." Reiske is the only
commentator I have met with who enters into the complete spirit
of the passage ; and he renders it, as above, " Ich hasche ihn, oder
ich greiff^e, nach ihm. It is to this passage, and to this explanation
of it, St. Paul seems to refer. Acts xvii. 27, " That they should seek
after the Lord, if haply, whWe feeling after him, they might find him."
E< lipa ye \l>>)Xa(pi}trHav avroy Kai ivpoiiv.

The latter period of the verse is more emphatically rendered " he
enshroudeth the right hand," or " he wrappeth it up in darkness,"

than

Chap. XXIII. 9— 12. NOTES. ' 271

than " he hideth himself j" and is a happy continuation of the pre-
ceding figure. The Hebrew term ^)i, in its primary signitication,
refers to the garments by which our hmbs are covered or concealed 5
and hence, secondarily, implies to cloke, muffis or enshroud. In
this instance, the Spanish exposition of Luis de Leon gives us the
trvie sense, though it fails in interpreting the former member of the
verse : " Si ii la isquierda, que hare ? no le asiie : si a la dereka vuelvo
o le vere k el. O como el original a la lettra : Izquierdo en obrar
suyo, y no le oterare j en cubrir derecha, y no le vere."

Ver. 9, — / cannot see him.'] Or, still more literally, " I see
nothing." The whole passage is only varied, with a true poetical
anaphora, from ch. ix. 11.; on the frequency of which figure among
poets, see Note to the writer's translation of Lucretius, b. iv.
ver. 1.

Ver. 11. /» his steps will I rivet my feet. 1 I have here preserved
the order and the tenses of the original, which last are not sufficiently
attended to in our common version ; upon much of which, however,
the force and beauty of the passage depend. The translators have
followed Arias Montanus, and some other Latin interpreters, in
deriving mn« from Trt«, instead of from Mtn, and have hence made
this verb (" to hold fast or rivet") agree with foot or fiet, in the
third person prefer, instead of in the first person future. The verb
to« is here in the future as well as n^n«, and is merely a contraction,
from tO«b*. I do not know any English word that will so correctly
express the idea of nTH as rivet : the Hebrew implies " to fix or
fasten immoveably," and sometimes " to be complicated or inter-
twined with." The image it conveys is sufficiently naturalized
among our best writers, for its introduction in the present place. So
Locke observes ; " Thus hath God not only rivetted the notion of
himself into our natures, but likewise made the belief of his
being necessary to the peace of our minds." So Shakspeare in his
Gymbeline,

" Why should I write this down, that's rivetted,
Screw'd to my memory ?"

Ver. 12. From the voice of his lips — ] In this verse I have also
been studious to preserve the order as well as the literal rendering.
If the rendering of our common version, " from the commandment,"

be

272 NOTES. Chap. XXIII. 12, 13.

be admitted, the original should be niDD5 instead of which, however,
the a is single, the admitted reading being mviD, There can be no
doubt, however, that this single a is a particle {from) ; which
being admitted, the mv is direct Arabic, and the D radical, ULi^^ ^
a, voce — " from the voice," rather than " from the commandment."

Ver. 12. In my bosom have I stored up — ] Such is the order. In
the original TiiClf 'pHD. The passage will admit of various ren-
derings. If pn be the origin of '>pn, it may be translated (as Piscator,
the authors of our established version, and several others have done)
" more than my sufficiency or necessary food," or, as Arias Mon-
tanus and De Pineda, " in my resolves," or " foremost of my re-
solves/' If we derive 'pn from npn, the passage will then import, as
rendered in the present version, " in my bosom." This appears to
be the most obvious rendering, and is that given by the Septuagint,
St. Jerom, Tyndal, and P«.eiske. I do not know any authority for
translating Ti^QV " I have esteemed," the radical jQlf meaning " to
store or treasure up," " to lay by" or " reserve."

Ver. 13. But he is al-ove us — ] I do not think the sense of this
passage in the original has been hitherto elicited by any of the critics,
though few have excited more attention, or provoked more research.
In the compound int^l I cannot consent, with the greater number,
that the preposition :i is a mere expletive: it means above or over,
as in 1 Sam. viii. 11, and various other places : while in« (in Arabic
A»-\ IJcwI) is here synonymous, as Mr, Parkhurst has observed on
another oceasion (see TrT" sect, iii.) with the French on, used indefi-
nitely "he is above one ;" " above us j" " above mankind at large."

The term is not generally allowed in our own language, but is
nevertheless sometimes used by established writers. Thus Mr, Gray,
in one of his letters to Dr. Wharton, " It is a foolish thing that
without money one cannot either live as one pleases, or where and
with whom one pleases :" — and again, in the same letter, " He has
abundance of fine, uncommon things, which makes him (Aristotle)
well with the pains he gives owe."

Reiske, unable to make any sense of the common reading, follows
his usual plan upon such occasions, and for ir?«3 reads nn«D j " but
he denies this," i. e. " that I have stored up the words of his mouth,
&c." I trust the rendering I have offered will remove every

difficulty

CnAP.XXIII. 14— 17. NOTES. 273

difficulty.— For " As his will listeth," Dr. Stock translates " What
his fancy desireth j" but this is too famihar a phrase^, besides that 1 is
an adverb, and not a pronoun.

Ver. 14. Behold ! he fulfilleth my lot.'] So Calvin, truly : " Ecce,
scio, de me actum est. Quod de me constituit, id perficietur ; nihil
proficiam, etiamsi responsem, aut expostulam cum eo :" " Behold !
I know that it is decreed for me. What he hath allotted me,
that will he fulfil. It will profit me nothing, should I even reply
to or expostulate with him."

Ver, 16. — hath made my heart faint.'] The Hebrew p imports
'' to render flaccid, flabby or soft j to unstring, unnerve, unsinew,
make faint." In this sense it occurs Deut. xx. 3. Lev. xxvi. 36.

Ver. 17. 0, why can I not — ] This beautifiil apostrophe has only
been understood by Reiske, who thus renders it, " O ! quod non texui
tanquam calyptram tenebras super vultum meum ;" " O why hava
I not drawn darkness over my face like a veil." The original
'nova is an Arabic term, in which language it exists under the form
of Jau and JaJ, and implies, "ordinare, certa serieconjungere, com-
ponere, disponerej" " to array, arrange, dispose in order, to draw forth,
or draw out in order of battle :" whence the same term, as a substan-
tive, implies a thick and numerous flock of locusts.

Ver, 17. — cover my face.] " Thick darkness," ^Q«, is here the sub-
stantive governing the verb, and not governed of it. The D in 'iao is
merely formative : if regarded as a preposition, the rendering would
then be " Why may not thick darkness cover my face over,"
" overspread or overcover my face."

CHAP. XXIV.

Ver. 1. Wherefore are not doomsdays kept — ] The whole phrase
is forensic, and uniformly regarded so by modern commentators.
tD^nj? is " regular, stated periods," statu tempora, as rendered by
Schultens 3 "stated times," as translated by Dr. Stock : and hence,
literally, in a forensic sense, term times, which I should have chosen,
- but am afraid it is too colloquial, jay imports " to keep, hold, re-
serve, hide, or lay upj" and hence its direct signification must be

.V determined

274 NOTES. Chap. XXIV. 1.

determined by the context, which evidently gives it as now offered
to the pubhc.

Ver. 1. So that his offenders may eye his periods.'] Different as this
version is from the general inierpretation, it is rendered literally. This
difference depends not upon any change of letters, but merely upon a
difierent division of the woi ds. The common division is as follows :

which is thus rendered literally by Dr. Stock,

" So that those who know him see not his days."
I confess I do not understand the meaning of this: nor is it pre-
tended to be intelligible, without regarding the phrase " those who
know him" as implying the wicked, "those who disobey him,"
" those who look for him and dread him :" and various passages of
scripture are quoted in justification of this sense. Yet, after all, the
obvious sense of" those who know God" is directly opposite to thir.
idea. Divided as follows, the passage is perfectly perspicuous :

which is literally, as rendered above,

" So that his offenders may eye his periods."
The holy patriarch has uniformly admitted, that in the aggregate
scale of providence, the just are rewarded, and the wicked punished,
for their respective deeds, in some period or other of their lives.
But he has contended in various places, and especially in ch. xxi,
7 — 13. that the exceptions to this geiicral rule are numerous: so
numerous indeed, as, though they never can drive him altogether
from his confidence and allegiance, they are sufficient to render the
whole scheme of a providential interposition perfectly mysterious
and incomprehensible, chap, xxiii. 8 — 12.

- - Behold ! I go forward, and he is not there ;
And backward, but I cannot perceive him, &c.
So in the passage before us, " If the retribution ye speak of an
universal, and which I am ready to admit to a certain extent, be true
and unquestionable, I not only ask. Why do the just ever suffer in the
midst of their righteousness ? but. Why do not the wicked see such
retribution displayed before their eyes by stated judgments, so that
they may atone iuid the same time know and tremble ?"

"linw!? is here, therefore, a substantive with its possessive pronoun,
rei ejus, de/inquentes ejus, from IHi* " to apprehend," " lay bold of"
or " arrest," as a culprit : the h being merely redundant, or its for-
mative

Chap. XXIV. l. NOTES. 273

mative as a noun, Reiske, inclining to the same general sense, pro-
poses '>'innb offenders, indefinitely, and in tlie plural, without the
pronoun. But there is no necessity for altering the text : Ihw!? is a
noun of number, and hence, though itself in the singular, requires a
verb plural : it implies, strictly, a " tribe of offenders," " an offend-
ing tribe." This sense of the term, moreover, is not more requisite
for the meaning of the verse before lis, than for that of the verse en-
suing, which pre-supposes offenders or wicked persons 3 and which,
without the rendering now offered, is obliged to be introduced by the
gratuitous supply of some, or a noun answering the same purpose.

To the same effect Filicaja, the most exquisite devotional lyrick of
all the poets of Italy, in the opening of the most powerful and
popular ode he ever composed, written upon the siege of Venice by
the Turks :

E fino a quauto inulti

Fian, Signore, i tuoi servi } E fino a quanto

De i Barbarici insulti,

Orgogliosa n' andra I'empio baldanza ?

Dov' &, dov' e, gran Dio ! I'antico vanto

Di tu' alta possanza ?

Su' campi tuoi, su' campi tuoi piii culti

Semina stragi, e raorti

Barbaro ferro, e te destar non ponno

Da si profundo sonno

Le gravi antiche offese, e i nuovi torti .'

E tu'l vedi, e'l compoi ti,

E la destra di folgori non armi.

Or pur le avventi agl' insensati marmi ?
How long, O Lord ! how long

Shall yet thy servants cry for vengeance ? yet.

Hear the Barbarians breathe

Their impious insults, blasphemies and pride ?

Where, where is fled, great GoD ! the ancient boast

Of thy dread power ? —

O'er all thy fields, thy richest, fairest fields.

The barbarous sword sows ravages and deaths. —

And, from this sleep profound, ^-

Shall past, shall present wrongs, then, not suffice

To wake thee ? But thou sees't —

Thou see'st them, and allow'st.

Thy red right arm its fury yet restrains,

Nor yet thy thunder strews them o'er the plains.

s 2 Ver. 2.

276 NOTES. ' Chap. XXIV. 2, 5.

Ver. 2. They remove land-marks^ This appears to have been, for
ages afterwards, a frequent act of injustice among those who had
tlu' power of committing it. It is repeatedly referred to in^^ubse-
quent parts of Holy Writ, and especially in the Proverbs : see
ch. xxii 28. and ch. xxiii, 10.

Ver. 2. — and destroy Jlocks^ The verb ^)i^'' is usually derived
from ni)i, " to feed or nourish 3" but I think very improperly, and
that its real root is )?T " to break in pieces," " rend," " destroy."
The term, in this sense, is peculiarly applicable to a flock of sheep.
Reiske commences this verse with the last word of verse 1, which
he regards as a verb of nearly the same meaning as ^:i.''W ; but the
general import of the passage is not altered, and the variation is not
necessary.

Ver. 5. Behold! as wild-asses of the desert!] The passage refers,
evidently, not to the proud and haughty tyrants themselves, but to
the oppressed and needy wretches, the Bedoweens and other plun-
dering tribes, whom their extortion and violence had driven from
society, and compelled in a body to seek for subsistence by public
robbery and pillage. In this sense the description is admirably for-
cible and characteristic.

Ver. 5. Rising early for the pillage of the wilderness^ The sense
has never yet been understood by any commentator : and hence
Reiske has thought proper to alter the text in almost every word, in
order to extract a meaning of some kind. The common error has
resulted from a mere mis-division of the words, which, in the usual
reading, run thus :

In the language of our common version, which is that of most
others :

Rising betimes for a prey :

The wilderness yielding food for them and for their children.

The word nmj? {wilderness), however, evidently belongs to the first
line of this distich, and is governed oifpDb {prey or pillage), which

is

Chap. XXIV. 6, 8. NOTES. 277

is in regimine. With this trifling change of position, the whole
stands thus, and is comprehensible to every one :

•: nmi^ fpiDb nntyo

Rising early for the pillage of the wilderness :

The bread of themselves— of their children.
The pronoun 1 in lb is here plural, as in Exod. xxiii. 23. and many
other places.

Ver. 6. — they cut down his corn.'] The pronoun 1 (his), in lb''bn,
obviously refers to the substantive oppressor in the ensuing part of
the couplet. It is, as Reiske has observed, a genuine Orientalism ;
yet the same mode of phrasing is not unfrequent among our own
poets. Thus Young, in his Night Thoughts, in which the substan-
tive to him is placed at a distance of not less than six lines below it:
" Where shall I find him ? — angels, tell me where !

You know him ; — he is near you : point him out ;— •

Shall I see glories beaming from his brow ?

Or trace his footsteps by the rising flowers ?

Your golden wings, now hov'ring o'er him, shed

Protection, now are waving in applause

to — that blest son of foresight ! lord of fate !

That aweful independant on to-morrow !

Whose work is done ; who triumphs in the past;

Whose yesterdays look backwards with a smile.

Nor, like the Parthian, wound him as they fly."

For want of a due attention to this fact, the translators, and inter-
preters, have been generally puzzled as to the meaning of the pas-
sage : and the Chaldee, several of the Latin translators, Mr. Scott,
and even Mr. Parkhurst, propose to divide iWl into two words,
"lb ""l?!, which will then make " not his own,'' " They reap every one
in a field not his own :" but even then they require the gratuitous
supply of every one, to make any sort of sense of it. Understood
as above, there is no necessity either for gratuitous supply or altera-
tion of the text.

Ver. 8. Drenched are they with the mountain-torrents^ Our com-
mon version, " They are wet with the showers of the mountains,"
gives the original neither literally, nor with suflficient spirit, nor in
perfect accordance with the natural history of the country. The
mountain- torrents here referred to are well known to every traveller

through

278 NOTES. Chap. XXIV. 9, 11.

through Syria, and the part of Arabia before us, and have been
aheady described. in. the present poem, ch. vi. J5 — 20. So Is. i. 7 :

Your land, before your eyes strangers devour it ;
And it is desolate, as from the overflow of torrents :

for so ought (his passage to be rendered : so is it understood by
Schultens, in his comment upon the verse before us ; and so is it
actually rendered by Dr. Stock, who has subjoined a very valuable
explanatory note in justification of such rendering- On this account
I am very much surprised that he should not have given the same
rendering to the verse in question } and that he should have pre-
ferred the more frigid term of mountain-showers to mountain'
torrents. yiD") means " to drench or saturate with moisture," ra-
ther than merely " to moisten or make wet."

Ver. Q. They steal the fatherless — ] The description of the poor
wretches that are driven into a state of confederate depredation
closes with the preceding verse ; and the poet here returns to several
new features in the character of the opulent and unfeeling tyrants of
the land. " They steal " or " cany away forcibly, and into slavery,"
means, therefore, the offenders against God specified in v. 1. and
called oppressors in v. Q. The verse before us should begin a new
paragraph.

Ver. 11. — they make them toil at noon-day?^ The Hebrew inv,
which implies primarily " to be clear or transparent," equally im-
ports, in a secondary and substantive sense, " transparent oil, and
the transparency of noon-day ;" and hence in Hiphil it may equally
signify, " to make to labour in obtaining oil," or " to make to labour
bexieath the scorching rays of the noon-day." In the latter sense the
verb is used very generally among the Arabians to the present hour,
and is highly descriptive of the oppressive sweltering endured in
those hot Eastern countries, at noon-day, during the summer season.
It is to this severe labour our Saviour refers, Matth. xx. 12. It is
highly probable, indeed, that the Hebrew verb, as here employed, is
a genuine Arabic term. It offers at least, in this sense of it, a more
powerful idea than that of pressing out' oil ; and is, therefore, em-
braced by almost all the modern commentators and translators:
Heath, Schultens, Scott, Parkhurst, and Reiske. Luther renders the
passage " auf ihrcn eigenen miihlen;" " in their own mills," i. e.

oi/-MILLS.

Ver. 12.

Chap. XXIV. 12—14. NOTES. 279

Ver. 12. In the city — .] Thus far the poet has confined his view
of extortion and rapacity to those that reside in the country. He
now proceeds to draw a picture of the more multiphed evils that in-
fest the city ; and which seem adverse to the doctrine of a con-
tinually superintending providence. The whole remainder of the
chapter is* supposed to be of very difficult interpretation ; but it is
only so because its general drift has not been understood, nor its
ditferent breakings or paragraphs attended to.

Ver. 12. But God regardeth not the supplication!] So Macduff, in
Macbeth, act iv.

" Did Heaven look on,

And would not take their part ?"

Ver. 13. They are indignant of the light ^ The original, here
translated indignant, is generally, but erroneously, understood as two
distinct terms, n"iD-2, and hence rendered " they are amongst the
indignant," or, as our common version has it, " they are of those
that rebel." ^1")D2, however, is only one word, and that an Arabic
term ; j^jJiUj impotentes, " incapable of bearing," or ^4^U^
rehellantes,rej'ractarii, " XQhQ\\\o\x%, indignant." Eiiher sense will
answer ; but I have preferred the latter, as most coincident with the
general conception of the passage.

Ver. 14, Distrest and destitute, he sheddeth Hood.'} The passage
has not been understood : the adjectives p''2i<1 ^Ji?, " disirest and
destitute," refer unquestionably to the murderer himself, and not to
those who fall a sacrifice to his poverty and violence. The common
translation, " killeth or sheddeth the blood of the poor and the
needy," conveys no satisfactory idea; for these, of all ranks of
society whatever, are those whom the lawless bandit would be
least disposed to murder, as not affording him any plunder.

Ver. 14. — the thieving trile.li I" the original i3J3, in which the
3 is not an adverb of similitude, but a generic prefix, " the thiev-
ish, or thief-like," ** the thieving or pilfering tribe," those restrain-
ing themselves to larceny. It is a term of far less criminality than
riVI'i " the murderer," and is purposely contrasted with it. Compare
Jeremiah xlix. Q. and our Saviour's comparison of the day of the

Lord

280 NOTES. Chap.XXIV. 16, 17.

Lord to a thief i?) the night. Thus Milton, describing Satan prowl-
ing amidst the shades of the garden of Eden, Par. Lost, IX, 1/9.
" So saying, through each thicket dank or dry.
Like a black mist low creeping, he held on
His midnight search."

Ver. l6. He wormeth — .] Such seems to be the real meaning of
the Hebrew "inn, " he diggeth or breaketh through imperceptibly."
The verb is in the singular number, though in our common version
put in the plural: and I concur with most of the expositors in be-
lieving it to refer to the progress of the adulterer, rather than to
house-breakers, as another tribe of criminals belonging to the city.

Ver. l6. — they seal themselves up.'] So Schultens rightly:
semet sigillant, " they shut or seal themselves up," rather than
" which they had marked or sealed (put a mark or seal upon) for
themselves," as in our common version. Thus the Septuagint, rifiipa^
i(T(^pciyiaav mvrovg. So Job ix. 7-

Who commandeth the sun, and he riseth not.

And setteth his seal upon the stars.

Ver. 17. — they reckon—."] The term '\1tT> is not here an adverb,
even as, though so rendered in our common version, but a verb ;

in Arabic 1jiA.S\J froni ^^ Heb. and J13. Arab. " judicare, assig-
nare, &c." " to judge," " determine," " reckon," " account." So
Reiske, " Nam reputant sibi auroram pro caligine."

Ver. 17. — as it returneth.] In the original 1^3'' O, literally as
■ here rendered ; the verb 1^3'* being derived from 15, which is itself

an Arabic root ^ signifying " regredi, recurrere, iterare, repetere,"
" to turn, turn round, or return, to revolve, or make a circuit j" and
not, as commonly rendered, from '^^n " to know again, call to
mind, or recollect." For want of this explanation, the passage has
never yet been understood, and always rendered paraphrastically.
The following quotation from St. Paul may form an admirable com-
ment upon the general description, and may perhaps have been in-
tended as such, 1 Thess. v. 4, 5. " But ye, brethren, are not in dark-
ness, that that day should overtake you as a thief: ye are all children
of the light, and children of the day : we are not of the night, nor of
darkness."

The

Chap.XXIV. 18. NOTES. 281

The reader may with this passage compare the following beautiful
couplet of Amralkeis :

Jo-tfb cXLi? «^^«^ % [>a J i^^t^

" O ni^ht ! before the morning never flee !
For ne'er shall morn so grateful prove to me."

The following well-known apostrophe of Macbeth is admirably in
point :

" Come, feeling night!

Skarf up the tender eye of pityful day.
And, with thy bloody and invisible hand.
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale !"

Ver. 18. Miseralle is this man — .] From this verse to the end of
V. 24. it is agreed by all the translators^ that there is much difficulty
and perplexity. " Non nimium, (says Le Clerc) quam hac pi.^riodo
se obscurius quicquam in Sanctis scripturis," " There is hardly any
passage in the Holy Scriptures more obscure than the present :" and
Schultens fully concurs in the observation. Hence there are no two
interpreters, perhaps, who have translated it in precisely the same
way, or understood it in the same manner. By many the text h^s
been suspected to be erroneous in several instances j and a sense has
been attempted to be extorted by pretended amendments of it.
Reiske, here, as on all other occasions, is by far the boldest emenda-
tor ; there is scarcely a verse into which he has not introduced some
alteration, and in some verses an alteration amounting to nearly half
the original text.

It would be in vain to investigate these numerous renderings, of
which no one appears to me to be more perspicuous than anotlier, or to
propose a clearer sense than that contained in our common version,
obscure and in many parts unintelligible as it is allowed to be. With-
out dwelling, therefore, upon the misconceptions of my predecessors,
I shall at once offer to the reader's attention, with much diffidence,
a new interpretation of this contested passage, founded upon a dif-
ferent view of the writer's general scope and intention : and in doing
this, while I adhere to the original text without any amendment,
the reader will find, I trust, that I shall be able to extract a very ob-
vious meaning from it, even by such strict and literal rendering.

What

282 NOTES. Chap. XXIV. 18.

What is the grand point of controversy between the pious patriarch
and his too severe companions? I have been compelled to advert to it
on various occasions, and especially in the Note on chap.xxi. 1 6. which
contains the patriarch's preceding reply. Job is, from first to last,
accused by his friends of being an enormous transgressor, because it
had pleased the Almighty to visit him with a severe affliction : and
when he at tirat denied h'rt being such a transgressor, he was imme-
diately taxed with gross and open hypocrisy. He defends himself,
in several of his subsequent answers, from this cruel and unfounded
charge, and ably and completely refutes the very ground of the argu-
ment, by observing, in chap. xxi. that although it be true that the
righteous are often, and for the most part, rewarded sooner or later,
in this life, with prosperity, and the wicked punished as they de-
serve ; yet that, in the mystery of providence, the rule by no means
holds universally ; for that the wicked also are often allowed to be
prosperous, even to the latest period of their existence, and the up-
right to endure an uninterrupted series of pain and affliction.

In chapter xxii. the original charge is again, however, advanced
against the patriarch by Eliphaz, who once more advises him to re-
pent of his misdeeds, in order that he might be restored to his for-
mer prosperity, and ascribes his vindication of himself to a spirit of
obstinacy and rebelUon. In the chapter before us. Job reverts to the
argument so forcibly opened in his preceding reply : and in enlarging
upon it, observes not only that the conduct of providence is inscru-
table to us in regard to its dealings with the righteous and the
wicked, but in regard to all the ditferent classes of mankind, all the
different modes of life they pursue, and all the different events that
accompany them. In every scene we behold evil, moral or physical,
permitted } in the retirement of the country, and in the crowded city j
by sea and by land : it commences in the womb itself, and accompanies
man through every stage of his being. We know nothing of the
laws of providence ; the Almighty often appears to be labouring in
vain } and vice and virtue, the righteous and the wicked, to be
almost equally, and almost promiscuously, the subject of prosperity
and of affliction. The corollary is clear and unanswerable: " How
absurd then is it to accuse me of being more a sinner than the rest
of mankind, from the mere circumstance of my being a severer suf-
ferer than others."

Solomon, after perhaps as extensive a survey as ever was made by

man

Chap. XXIV. 18. NOTES. 283

man, sums up the whole of his research in words that have a striking
resemblance to this general deduction : Eccles. ix. 2, 11, 12.

All thing^s come alike to all :

There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked :

To the good, and the pure, and to the impure ;

To him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not.

As is the good, so is the sinner ;

And he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath.

I considered ; and saw under the sun
That the race is not to the swift.
Nor the battle to the strong ;
Nor bread to the wise ;
Nor yet riches to men of understanding ;
Nor yet fa\'our to men of skill :
But time and chance happen to them all.
Behold, man knoweth not his time !
As fishes taken in an evil net.
And as birds caught in the snare.
So are the sons of men snared in an evil time ;
So falleth it suddenly upon them.

bp, hei'e rendered miserable, is more generally translated swift or
light. It may import either of these ideas j but as there is no doubt
of the meaning of bbpD in the ensuing line, which is uniformly ren-
dered wretched, accursed, or miserable, there can be little doubt that
something of the same import ought to be ascribed to bp. In reality,
these two adjectives, derived from the same source, constitute one
common and beautiful climax ; the second duplicating its radical let-
ters merely to import a superlative degree of whatever quality or
idea is designated by the first. If, therefore, hp mean swift or
light, as it is equally rendered by preceding translators, bbpTS must
necessarily import more or very swift, or light: while, if the latter
signify deeply wretched, miserable, or cursed, as given in our com-
mon version, the former must necessarily imply the same idea in a
positive or subordinate degree. In Arabic we meet with the same

term in nearly the sense now offered ; jjj defcere, paucum et im-
minutum esse : as a substantive, tremor; whence Jjjj paucus, tre-
mulus, vilis, 7niser, miserabilis.

Reiske, SchuJtens, and of course Grey, concur in thinking the
only means of extracting any sense out of the passage before us, from
the present verse to the end of v. 24, is, by adapting the whole to

the

284 NOTES. Chap. XXIV. 1 8, 1 9.

the charncter and practice of the adulterer^ adverted to in v. 15, 16.
I trust the version now offered will shew that this supposition is al-
together unfounded ; and free the passage from the inconsistency of
descanting at an immoderate length upon a crime which has no
more cogent claim for being given in detail than any other crime,
and which assuredly has no particular relation either to the parties
speaking or the subject spoken of.

Ver. 18. — is interrupted.'] Literally (illQ''), " Does not look to-*
wards, or face us/' " Does not go straight forwards/' or, if the verb
be understood in Niphal, " Is viewless or unperceived." — "TTl, which
means " way," " advance," " progress," is here the substantive
governing and not governed of the verb.

Ver. 19. — carry off the snow-waters.] Literally, ''ransack or
plunder them." The reference is to those dykes, tanks, or reservoirs
of water, which in Eastern countries are always carefully filled during
the periodical exundations of the large rivers, as the Nile, Indus,
and Ganges, and preserved to fertilize the soil by occasional irriga-
tions through the rest of year, and without which there can be no
harvest. So Isaiah xxxvi. 16.

Make ye peace with me, and come out to me.

And eat ye, every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree ;

And drink ye, every one, of the waters of his own cistern {tanld-

And Jeremiah, still more at large.

And their nobles sent their little ones to the waters ;

They came to the pits [tanks) — they found no water ;

They returned with their vessels empty j

They were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

Behold ! chapt was the ground, for there had been no rain on the earth ;

The plouglimen were ashamed, tliey covered their heads.

These exundations were uniformly ascribed, and with great reason,
10 heavy periodical rains, and sudden thawings of the immense
masses of snow deposited in the colder months on the summits of
the loftier mountains, and especially of that vast and winding chain of
jocks which, under the name of Caucasus and Imaus, runs, in almost
every direction, from the eastern verge of Europe to the southern ex-
tremity of India.
Lucretius adverts to this circumstance, in very beautiful language,

as

Chap. XXIV. 19. NOTES. 285

as to one of the causes of the periodical overflow of the Nile, Rer.
Nat. vi. 729.

Fit, quoque, utei pluviae forsan magis ad caput ejus
Tempore eo fiant, quo Etesia flabra aquiloaum,
Nubila conjiciuat iu eas tunc omnia parteis.
Scilicet ad mediam regionem ejecta diei
Quom convenerunt, ibi ad altos denique monteis
Contrusae nubes cog:untur, vique premuntur.
Forsit an vEthiopum penitus de montibus altis
Crescat ubi in canapes albas descendere ningues
Tabificis subigit radiis sol, omnia lustrans.

Or, towards its fountain, ampler rains, perchance.
Fall, as th' Etesian fans, now wide unfurl'd,
Ply the big clouds perpetual from the north.
Far o'er the red equator ; where, condens'd,
Pond'rous, and low, against the hills they strike.
And shed their treasures o'er the rising flood.
Or, from the ExHioP-mountains, the bright sun,
Now full matur'd, with deep-dissolving ray.
May melt th' agglomerate snows, and down the plains
Drive them, augmenting, hence, th' incipient stream.

The two physical evils here adverted to, therefore, are amongst the
severest scourges ever inflicted upon man, — the failure of the vintage
and of the harvest.

Ver. 19. They fail to their lowest depth.'] In the original,

which is literally as rendered above ; though usually, and, as I con-
ceive, without any meaning whatever, and obviously with mnch
circumlocution and supply of words, given, as in our common ver-
sion, " so doth the grave those that have sinned." Mton unquestion-
ably implies to sin, but only in a secondary sense ; for its priniciry
meaning is " to miss or fail of an object :" and hence the direv.! and
literal version of the term is as here rendered, '' they fail." b^HU^ in
like manner may import, if the context requires it, " the grave,"
" hell," " the invisible state of the dead." But it is well observed,
both by Bate and Park hurst, that the same term may be used for
" a great depth unuer ground," " a reservoir or receptacle," without
any reference to the dead : and such unquestionably is the meaning
of the term in the present instance, in which it admirably descubes

the

286 NOTES. Chap. XXIV. 20—22.

the lowest part of those vast tanks or reservoirs of snow and rain-
water alluded to in the preceding line of the couplet.

Ver. 20. Of this one, tsfc. — ] A new and inscrutable evil per-
mitted in the mysteries of providence is here glanced at, and briefly
noticed in true poetic language. I have rendered this passage also
literally j its genuine meaning has never hitherto been understood.

Ver. 20. But the shoot shall be broken off" as a tree'] The com-
parison is peculiarly elegantj upon which, however, it is necessary
for me to observe, that n^W appears to be employed in the sense
of il^Ji^, which means uniformly, as here rendered, " a twig, shoot,
or sucker." The more common import of rt!?")!?, however, I am
very ready to acknowledge, is " a burden or yoke j" and hence
*' iniquity," " oppression," " injustice," under one of which words
It is usually rendered in the present instance : nor have I any great
objection, though the expression "as a tree" seems clearly to point
out the immediate idea in the mind of the writer at the time of em-
ploying the term. If the common sense be adopted, the rendering
will then be " But the burden (abortive fruit, and hence, poeti-
cally, iniquity of the womb) shall be broken off, as a tree."

Ver. 21. He ?iourisheth to no purpose the unproductive.'] Another j
of the mysterious evils of life is here opened upon us, and contrasted
immediately afterwards with a new evil of an opposite descrip-
tion. For what reason our common translators have rendered n^J"y
" he evil entreateth," I know not. It implies specially " to feed,
nourish, tend, or take care of 3" and is never used, that I am ac-
quainted with, in a bad sense. The expression in our common ver-
sion " the barren that beareih not," rendered literally, is "abortively .
(to no purpose) the unfruitful." In our common translation, and
indeed in almost all the translations, this verse is supposed to continue
the subject of the preceding. But it makes a clearer and much
better %ense, if separated from it, and allowed to constitute a new
subject.

Ver. 22. The aspirer — ] In the original dp', which is here used
as a substantive, and not a verb, as in our common version j "the
man of ambition," " the revolter," "the upriser" or "leader of an
insurrection;" from CDp, " to rise up," and often in a hostile man-
ner. In Hiph. " to raise or stir up."

Ver. 24.

Chap. XXIV. 24. NOTES. 287

Ver. 24. — they are blighted as grain.'] Literally, " they are
shrivelled upas grain-kernels 5" obviously implying when they are
suddenly blasted vi^ith a mildew. So Reiske, " Ui i^ramen distrin-
guntur, et ut arista uredine tacta, quasi ambuiii et cuiericii caput
dejiciunt."

CHAP. XXV.

Ver. 2. He worheth absolutely in his heights.'] The original will bear
the version given in our common translation, " He maketh peace
in his high places;" but neither so directly, nor in such concordance
■with the general drift of the preceding chapter, as the version now,
offered, ntyi means " to make," " to work," "do," " perform:"
tDbuf " to complete," " perfect," " make absolute." It meaiH, se-
condarily, " to mnke up a difference," " to make peace." CDlbtl? or
oW is here used, if I mistake not, as an adverb, " absolutely,"
" despotically ;" if as a substantive, the sense would be, " he work-
eth or practiseth absoluteness or despotism in his heights or sublime
abodes."

Ver. 3. Jnd where — ] Literally (''D ^i?l) " And upon what — ," or,
as more commonly rendered, '* And upon whom. — ." The former
appears to me more concordant with the poet's general scope.

Ver. 5. — and it abideth not] " And it shrinketh from his view:"
" and it vanisheth before him." The figure is exquisitely bold and
beautiful, and peculiarly adapted to the perpetually shifting appear-
ance of this luminary, ^nt* never means " to shine " that I know
of; but " to abide," " to tabernacle," " to pitch a tent/' " to take
up an abode."

Ver. 5. And the stars are not pure in his sight.] Unquestionably
the MORNiNG-STARs, the angelic hosts, often so denominated in tlie
sacred scriptures, and particularly in this very poem, ch. xxxviii. 7.
The passage indeed is only an anaphora, or slight.ly varied iteration
from ch. iv. 18. and ch. xv. 15. in which last place it runs :

And the heavens are not clean in his sight ;
the word heavens being rendered uarfjci, stars, in this very passage
in the Alexandrine Greek version. The burden or conclusion to the
general piece, which refers to the greater imperfection and impurity
of man, is the same in all the collateral passages.

CHAP.

288 NOTES. Chap. XXVI. 3—5 .

CHAP. XXVI.

Ver. 3. — in controversy .1 In the original T\h, from y), "^to strive
or controvert j" and not, as in the generality of translations, "in
plenty" or "plentifully," from mi " to increase, multiply, or be-
come many."

Ver. 4. — hast thou pillaged — ] The expositors have generally,
but erroneously, derived the verb m^n from 1J3, with an omissible 3.
The context clearly proves its genuine root to be 1J, " to assault,"
"invade," "ransack," "pillage." Hence the Chaldee 1J, "to
hack," or "cut down."

The retort is peculiarly severe j and refers immediately to the
proverbial sayings which, in several of the preceding answers, have
been adduced against the irritated sufferer ; for which see ch. viii.
11 — 19. and ch. XV. 20 — 35: and some of which he has already
complained of, as in ch.xii. 3. and following. I concur most fully,
therefore, with Dr. Stock, in regarding the remainder of this chapter
as ** a sample ironically exhibited by Job of the harangues on the
power and greatness of God, which he supposeth his friends to
have taken out of the mouths of other men, to deck their speeches
with borrowed lustre. Only in descanting on the same subject, he
shows how much he himself can go beyond them in eloquence and
sublimity."

Ver. 5. — the mighty dead — ] Rephaim (0^«En), " the shades
of the heroes of former times," "the gigantic spectres," "the
mighty or enormous dead." Isaiah has imitated the entire passage in
his triumphant but severe satire upon Belshazar, after his death,
chap. xiv. 9-

The lowermost hell is in motion for thee.

To congratulate thine arrival :

For thee arouseth he the mighty dead.

All the chieftains of the earth.
The spectres of deified heroes were conceived, in the first ages of the
world, to be of vast and more than mortal stature, as we learn from
the following of Lucretius, to the writer's Note upon which passage
the reader is referred, tor a still further illustration of the text before
us, Rer. Nat. v. 1168.

Quippe

Chap. XXVI. 7. NOTES/ . 289

Quippe et enitn jam turn div6m mortalia secla
E^regias animo faeies vigilante videbant ;
Et magis in somnis, mirando corporis auctu.

For the first mortals effigies of gods
Oft trac'd awake, when mus'd the mind profound j
Yet, mid their dreams, still ofter, and in shape
Most vast and wondrous,

Ver. 7- He spreadeth forth, isfc. — ] In this couplet, which has
never hitherto been sufKciently explained, we have one of the doc-
trines of the earUest Idnmaean or Arabian cosmology ; and which,
issuing perhaps from this quarter, was propagated in every direc-
tion, and received as a popular tenet, in subsequent ages, throughout
Greece and Rome. The north, or north-pole, is here used synech-
dochally for the heavens at large ; the inhabitants of Idumsea know-
ing nothing of the south, but believing it to be altogether uninha-
bited and uninhabitable ; and, in the language of Ovid,_

ponderibus libratasuis.

— — self-pois'd and balanc'd.

By what means it was, in their opinion, thus self-poised and hung
upon nothing, we find amply explained in Lucretius, V. 535.

Terraque ut in medi^ mundi regione quiescat,
Evanescere paullatim, et decrescere, pondus
Convenit ; atque aliam naturam subter habere.
Ex ineunte aevo conjunctam atque uniter aptam
Partibus aeriis mundi, quibus insita vivit
Propterea, non est oneri, neque deprimit auras ;
Ut sua quoique homini nullo sunt pondere membra.
Nee caput est oneri collo, nee denique totum
Corporis in pedibus pondus sentimus inesse.

But that this mass terrene might hold unmov'd

The world's mid regions, its excess of weight.

From its own centre downward, gradual ceas'd ;

And all below a different power eissum'd.

From earliest birth, a nature more attun'd

To the pure *ir, on which it safe repos'd.

Hence earth to air no burden proves, nor deep
L Grinds it with pressure j as the limbs no load '

* Feel to the body, to the neck no weight

Th' incumbent head, nor e'en the total form

Minutest labour to the feet below.

i Whence,

290 ♦ NOTES. Chap. XXVI. 8.

Whence, in another part of his poem, II. 602, the same elaborate
writer, again adverting to the earth, tells us, in a description verballjr
corresponding with this before us, that,

Aeris in spatio ma^nam pendere

Tellurem, ueque posse in terrA. sistere terrain.
in ether pois'd, she hangs,

Unpropt by aught beneath.
For a more minute account, the writer begs to refer to the Notes on -
these two passages subjoined to his translation of Lucretius j in one
of which (11.602.) he will be found to have translated inn, here
rendered space, by the term chaos. In effect it may be rendered
either way ; the word signifying equally, as Parkhurst has already
given it, " confusion, loose, unconnected, without form or order ;" ,
the rudis indigestaque moles of Ovid j or '* a waste, inanity, va-
cuum or space." Upon fuller consideration, however, the latter
appears to me the most correct meaning, and I have accordingly so
rendered it : " the north-pole looking towards (or facing) space."

Ver, 8. He driveth together, fefc] The Hebrew 1^ means '' to
thicken or make dense," rather than " to bind up," as in our com-
mon version. But the term in the text is not simply IV, but 'ilV, and
of course imports the same idea in an augmented degree, " to im-
pact," " coacervate," " heap up," " drive together," 3J? signifies
rather the web or woven veil, which constitutes the boundary of the
cloud, than the water it contains witliin. I must once more take
leave to explain the passage by a quotation from the admirably de-
scriptive poet I have just cited : VI. 475 •

Prasterea fluviis ex omnibus, et simul ipsS,

Surgere de terra, nebulas, <Fsfumque videmus ;

Quae, velut halitus, hinc ita sursum expressa feruntur, ,. .,■

Subfunduntque su4 coelum caligine, et altas

Subficiunt nubeis paullatim conveniundo :

Urguet enim quoque signiferi super ffitheris aestus,

Et, quasi densendo, subtexit ca:rula nimbis.

Thus from each river, e'en from earth itself, J

We trace th' ascending moisture, and the mist.
Like vital breath, borne upwards ; which, when once
Firmly coBdens'd, and congregated close,
Veil all the heavens with clouds, and darkness deep :
While tides of rushing ether closer still
Drive the light woof, and weave a thicker shade.

So

Chap. XXVI. 9-12. NOTES. 291

So Agar, Piov. xxx. 4.

Who hath gathered the winds in his hands ?
Who hath driven together the waters into a web?

Ver. 9. —the face of his throne.'] A bold and sublime Image for
the pure serene face of heaven. So Isaiah Ixvi. 1 .

Thus saith the Lord, Heaven is my throne.
And the earth my footstool.

Ver. 10. He settetha bow, ^c] I have given this couplet verbally,
and I trust with its real meaning, which has hitherto been over-
looked by every commentator ; and has hence been regarded as a
passage of extreme difficulty, and of course been explained in a vast
multiplicity of ways. The waters referred to are not those of the
sea, or which are under the firmament, but those which constitute the
clouds, and are above; the waters which the poet has just told us, v. 8,
God " driveth together into his dense cloudo." The whole passage
is confined to a description of the phaenoniena of the heavens ; and
the part of it immediately before us has a direct and most beautiful
reference to the fact recorded in Gen. ix 12, 13. " And God said.
This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and
you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual

GENERATIONS. I SET MY BOW IN THE CLOUD ; and it slial! be

for a token of a covenant between me and the eaith." Our com-
mon version has paraphrased the passage, as indeed have most of the
versions, instead of giving it literally, jn does not mean a hound,
but " a circle or circular line ; an arch, arc or bow ; and pn, instead
of " to compass," means to " describe, trace out, or set down." The
Syriac, but not the Arabic, has given it correctly, W:s,j A ,cu/ na»
:V»ic A<2)| " circulum super facie aquarum." It is also given literally
enough by Dr. Stock, but the historic fact referred to is lost sight of:
" He hath described a circle on the face of the waters."

Ver. 12. — he maketh the waters fiash^ In the original □''/l )iT),
" he maketh these waters (the waters of which I am speaking) flash."
Certainly, therefore, the waters of the heavens, first noticed in v. 8.
and adhered to throughout the description. But the commentators
and translators, having uniformly lost sight of the first reference,
have also uniformly, as in v, 10. applied the expression to the waters
of the ocean ; and hence ti'anslated D^n, instead of " these waters,"

1 2 ot

«9^ NOTES. Chap. XXVI. 12.

or ''waters" generally — rtjv Qdkaaaav, mare, the sea. In our
established version, which follows the greater number of the Latin
translations, i>:i is rendered " he divided." Why it should have
been thus rendered, except from a mistaken idea that the passage has
an historical reference to the division of the Red Sea or of the Jor-
dan,4 know not; and fully concur with Mr. Parkhurst, in affirming
that for such a sense there is no sufficient authority. Another and a
much better meaning ascribed to V^^ is, " to still," " quiet," " tran-
quillize;" which is that given to the passage by Mr. Parkhurst, Dr.
Stock, and indirectly by Dr. Lowth, in his Note de Sacra Poesi,
p. 78. 4to. The more immediate idea, however, offered by VTt is,
to " flash or vibrate," " to cut or divide space or time into infinitesi-
mally minute parts :" " Notat (says Dr. Lowth) momentaneum quid-
dam ; et cessationem etiam motus sive quietem suhitam, ut cum vo-
lucris super arbore sidit." Hence Schultens, Grey, and Reiske, in
identical terms, rolore sua convibrat mare, " with his strength
he maketh the sea vibrate ;" " ut chordam instrumenti musici percus'
sam," observes Reiske, " as a musical chord when stricken." This,
however, is a mistaken image, and only results from applying the
term C to the sea, or rather " the waters of the sea," instead of to
" the waters of the clouds," The vibration, coruscation, or flash,
alluded to, is evidently that of lightning, as is almost incontestable
from the subsequent period of the verse, " And by his skill he
cleaveth the tempest :" i. e. " By his might he kindleth up the
thunder-storm, the electric flash dartetli from quarter to quarter, the
tempest is cloven in every direction, the clouds are disburdened of
their waters; (v. 13.) the garnished heavens appear in all their
brilliancy, the glorious sun is beheld traversing the serpentine
ecliptic."

Ver, 12. — the tempest.'] In the original IMI, importing primarily,
as a verb, " to excite, stir up, inflate;" and hence, as a substance,
whatever is " excited, stirred up, swollen or inflated:" " a storm
or tempest, a stormy or tempestuous temper;" and hence "pride
or haughtiness." Our common version, after St. Jerom, has adopted
this last idea ; but, unquestionably, incorrectly. The greater number
of the Latin versions embrace the former, though, from a mistake
of a general image, they apply it to the waters of the sea, instead
of to those of the clouds. Thus Junius and Tremellius render it
pelagus, " the boisterous ocean ;" and Piscator superbos Jtuetus,

''the

Chap. XXVI. 13. .NOTES.- 293

"■ the tumultuous surges." The Septuagint gives a still different
leading, to KiJTog, "the whale," meaning perhaps "ihe leviathan,"
" the stormy monster of the main," After this explanation the
reader will be at no loss to understand the writer's real meaning.

Ver. 13. — hath he garnished — 1 Our common version is here
admirable, and I readily adhere to it. The primary meaning of IQU;,
whence Tt&Vii (hath he garnished), is " goodly, beautiful, or orna-
mental :" the word is hence sometimes used to express " the
beautiful serenity of the heavens," and on this account is employed
in the same sense by many of our best commentators and translators
in the present place, as Arias Montanus, Schultens, and Parkhurst ;
but I think with far less spirit and perspicuity. Luther is peculiarly
unfortunate in his rendering, which is " Am himmel wirds schon
durch seinem wind;' " To the heaven it becometh fair by his wind,"
niQiy should be undoubtedly machts schon, even in this sense of the

passage.

The following is perhaps the best description of a similar kind
that occurs in the Alcoran : and I quote it to show, that though in-
trinsically excellent, it falls far short of the inimitable force and
beauty of the text. It occurs in the beginning of sura xiii : " It is
God that raised the heavens without visible pillars, and then ascended "
his throne j and compelled the sun and the moon to perform their
services. Every one of the heavenly bodies runneth an appointed
course. He ordaineth all things. He showeth his signs distinctly,
that ye may be convinced ye must meet your Lord at the last day.
It is he who hath stretched abroad the earth, and placed over it the
steadfast mountains and the rivers. He causeth the night to cover
the day."

Ver, 13. — incurvated the flying serpent^ Nothing can be more
forcible or exquisite : " His hand bent into curves that serpentine
track which we behold the sun pursuing through the zodiac, the mo-
ment the thunder-storm is cleft in twain, the clouds unloaded and
dissipated, and the, heavens once more developed in all their or-
namental excellence." This admirable and appropriate personifica-
tion of the ecliptic is in the best style of Oriental poetry : the origi-
nal is nil U^ni, literally draco volans, " the flying or aerial ser-
pent," or, as Arias Montanus has equivalently rendered it, serpens
Jugax. The term crooked, as rendered in our common version, is

not

294 NOTES. Chap. XXVI. 13.

not quite correct; fof H^l means almost any thing rather than
crooked, and it will in some degree excite the surprise of the
English reader to be informed that Mr. Parkhurst has translated this
word, in the place before us, by straight instead of by crooked:
see his Lexicon, nii iii. The primary and real meaning, how-
ever, is as rendered in the present text, Jiying; for rrii, in its first
sense, imports " to flee," " fly," or " shoot along as an arrow :'*
and hence, indeed, in a secondary sense, it imports " a straight
line," or any thing of the same figure as " a bar of iron." Dr.
Stock renders it " the mailed serpent," and explains it as alluding
to the crocodile, from the common mistake ^^erhaps of referring a
part of the general description to the waters of the sea, the element
of the crocodile, instead of to the waters of tlie clouds. This indeed
IS the more common explanation ; but it is not in unison with the
general grandeur and sublimity of the rest of the scenery : the sub-
ject sinks, and exhibits a sad anti-climax, by passing from the lustre
and constellations of the heavens, to the whale. Hence other com-
mentators, and even translators, have given another explanation j
and referred it to the arch-serpent Satan. Thus Schultens, whom
Grey sedulously follows :

Prosternit manus ipsius serpeutem oraiuosum.

His hand prostrateth the mischievous serpent.

But this is rather to paraphrase than to translate. The Septuagint,
however, gives nearly the same idea, dpdKovTa diroaraTijv, " the
apostate serpent ;" and hence Tyndal, " With his hand hath he
wounded the rebellyous serpent." Sandys appears to have been the
only translator who has had a glance into the real meaning of the
couplet, which he thus renders generally :

His hand tK adorned firmament display'd,
Those serpentine yet constant motions made.

He seems to have read wn as an adjective, and Pill as a substan-
tive, instead of inversely, as it is generally and more correctly under-
stood : and in this mode of construing it, the expression may be
translated, literally, "the serpentine flight or track:" but the idea
hereby comniunicated is far less animated, and of far less Oriental
complexion.

The term r6br}, usually translated " formed," should doubtless be
rendered, in the present place, " curved," " incurvated," or " bent
into curves 3" scooped out or scalloped. The primary meaning of

Chap. XXVI. 13. NOTES. 295

rh is " a hollow," " excavation," or " curve ;" and it only imports
procreation, production, or the act of forming, from the cavity of the
womb, in which the new-formed being is deposited and acquires
growth. The Latin uterus is applied to the same organ from the same
cause. The Alcoran has a passage much in point, and which has
possibly a reference to the present. It occurs in ch. xv. 16. " We
have placed the twelve signs in the heaven, and have set them out in
various figures for the observation oi beholders."

The author, in the Note on h.v. ver. 712. of his translation of Lu-
cretius, has given somewhat of a detailed history of the constellations
and zodiacs of different nations ; has examined the assertions which
have of late been advanced by several infidel philosophers on the con-
tinent, concerning the zodiacs lately discovered in the two temples at
Tentyra and Esne in Egypt 5 and has endeavoured to disprove the
conclusions to which they are intended to lead, vi%. that these zodiacs
must have been invented at XtasX Jifteen thousand two hundred years
anterior to the Christian era^ and, consequently, that the Mosaic
chronology is false, and its history all a forgery. It would occupy
too much space to re-copy the argument, and the reader is therefore
referred to the above Note for its subject-matter.

The great body of fixt stars, as surveyed in the heavens, have been
immemorially divided into distinct clusters or constellations. These
clusters amount, in the whole, to between forty and fifty, and take
their names from an imagined resemblance to different animals or
other figures we are acquainted with on earth. The zodiac consists
of twelve of these signs or clusters of stars j "or, in other words, the
sun passes, in a tortuous and serpentine direction, through twelve of
them, in his annual path round the earth ; and it takes him about a
month to complete the space in the heavens occupied by each ; and
he is said to be in one of these signs, when he appears in that part of
the celestial sphere in which such cluster of stars is situate.

All the zodiacs of the most ancient nations agree together so accu-
rately, that there can be no doubt of their having originally issued
from one quarter, though it may be difficult to fix upon the coun-
try. Greece probably derived it from India; but from what region
did India derive it ? or did it originate there ? Sir Isaac Newton re-
gards Egypt as the parental point; Sir W. Jones, Chaidaea; Mr.
Montucla, Arabia. Mr. Colebrooke, in the Asiatic Researches,
vol. IX. art. VI. has sufficiently established that the Arabic and the
Indian ecliptic is the same, but he seems doubtful which of the

twe

296 NOTES. Chap. XXVI. 14.

two countries may lay claim to the invention. The passage before
us, and especially as taken in conjunction with various others that
refer to a division of the heavens, may perhaps be urged with chro-
nological force (admitting the chronology of the poem to be esta-
blished in the preceding Dissertation) in favour of the Arabian pre-
tensions.

Ver. 14. — the outlines — "] In the original, mvp, "the marginal
or boundary lines." So Heath, Scott, and Dr. Stock. In Schultens
and Reiske, extremitates.

Ver. 14. y4nd the mere whisper — ] The original is peculiarly for-
cible, in yr^Uf nm -, in which na is not used interjectionally how I
how much! or how little! but expletively or emphatically, in the
sense of ID, from the same root, "mere," "very." '^S^ fDtl^, lite-
rally " the muttered word or sound," i. e. " the whisper," is ad-
mirably opposed to DJJI, " the thunder," in the ensuing line j the
full overwhelming crash of his power, irresistible and instantaneous.
So the Scipios are called by Lucretius, and after him by Virgil,
fulmina belli, " thunderbolts of war."

In the following distichs of Hafiz, collected from different odes,
and which, as Sir W. Jones observes, relate without doubt to the
mystical theology of the Sufis, there is something of the same magni-
ficence and elevated fire :

' In eternity, without beginning, a ray of thy beauty began to gleam ;
when Love sprang fhto being, and cast flames over all nature.

" On that day thy cheek sparkled even under thy veil ; and all this beauti-
ful imagery appeared on the mirror of our fancies.

** Rise, my soul ! that I may pour thee forth on the pencil of that Supreme
Artist, who comprised in a turn of his compass all this wonderful
scenery."

CHAP. XXVII.

Ver. 2, — he hath rejected — ] In the original l^on b«, " God
hath turned aside or away :" T'DH is here in Hiphil, from ID "to
turn aside, or out of the path:" but the passage has never been fiilly
understood. Reiske, who approaches nearest to the present reading,
gives us, " Deus curvum fecit jus meum," " God hath made crooked
my cause." The whole of the language is forensic, and the word

cause

Chap, XXVII. 5,7. NOTES. 297

cause seems clearer and more applicable than judgment, which is
commonly employed in its stead.

Ver. 5. — that I should justify myself lef ore you^ Not " justifie
you," as in the common versions J but tu^DW p'''i'tfi^j "justifie my-
self before you," " in your presence." Thus Reiske, with a perfect
sense of the general meaning j " Sit mihi abominatio, si me justum
jactem penes vos j" " Let me be accursed, if I boast myself just be-
fore you."

Ver. 5. Yet, though 1 die — ] *'Till I die — ," as the passage is
usually rendered, gives no explicit sense. The original is )?1^S ^)i,
literally " Yet, let me die, will I not, &c." The meaning is clear :
*' I am no hypocrite, as ye accuse me of being j God forbid that I
should pretend to spotless purity, or boast myself to be perfectly just
before you. But I have honestly endeavoured to discharge my duty ;
and, though I die, I will not relinquish my claim to integrity.
Though not just, I am at least upright." The passage is in perfect
parallelism with ch. ix. 20, 21.

Ver. 6. To my righteousness I adhere — ] The common version,
" my righteousness I hold fast," is to the same effect : and I have
only changed it because the text now oiFered is more literal, as ad-
mitting the preposition 1 or to.

Ver. 6. — my heart shall not he reproached — "] In all the render-
ings, " my heart shall not reproach me;" but in the Hebrew there is
nothing to correspond with the pronoun me, nor is the sense very clear,
even if this addition be allowed, *Tnn signifies primarily " to strip,
make naked, plunder, or ravage j" and secondarily, " to strip of
honour, to reproach or disgrace." The verb is here used in its se-
condary sense j but in Niphal, or the passive voice, instead of in
Kal, or the active. Thus explained, the meaning is too obvious for a
comment : "I may transgress through ignorance, or be turned from
the line of duty by passion, but I will not transgress deliberately j
my heart shall not share in the reproach."

Ver. 7- Let mine adversary he reckoned — "] That n^ii imports " to
be reckoned or reputed," as well as simply " to be," I have already
had occasion to observe in various passages.

Ver. 8.

598 NOTES. Chap. XXVII. 8, 9.

Ver, 8. Yet what is the hope of the wicked — "] .The argument now
entered upon is admirably forcible, and in point ; it opposes the ad-
verse party with their own weapons. " You accuse me of hypocrisy
and of all wickedness, and you accuse me of thus acting from a love
of gain. How absurd and irrational such a motive! what hope of
prosperity can the wicked man indulge ? what hope that God
should grant him tranquillity?" v. 11. "I will teach you his lot by
the hand of God himself. Ye yourselves know it, and have seen it."
V. 13. " Behold ! this is the portion of the wicked man, &c."

Ver, 8. — that he should prosper ?"] In the original iii:i'> '•'2, " ut
lucretur," as Reiske has well rendered it, consonantly witli the pre-
sent version.

Ver, 8. That God should keep his soul in quiet?'] The general
drift of the passage not having been understood by the commentators,
there has been a great diversity of opinion among them as to the
meaning of bv^\ It will be sufficient to enumerate the two more
common explanations. If derived from Wj, it implies " to take
away forcibly," which is the derivation adopted by Arias Montanus
and Piscator, and from them copied into our established version. If
its proper root be ni^U^, it imports " to be quiet, easy, secure ;" or
*' to make or keep so :" and this is the derivation ascribed to it by
Schultens, and most of the modern expositors, as well as by Tyndal,
who translates the passage, " Though God geve hym ryches after
hys hertes desyre." To the same effect Dr. Stock, " When God in-
dulgeth his dfesire r"

Ver, 9. Will God then listen — ] Our common version does not
give sufficient spirit to the original, " Will God hear, &c." The
Hebrew is bn iJDtl^ -ti, hterally " What ! will God hear or
listen, &:c," or " Will God, then, hear or listen, &c."

There is a considerable resemblance in the sentiment of this pas-
sage to the following, in the tenth sura or chapter of the Alcoran :
" If God afflict thee with hurt, there is none who can relieve thee
from it, except himself 5 and if he willeth thee any good, there is
none who can keep back his bounty : he will confer it on each of his
servants as he pleaseth, and he is gracious and merciful. It is he
who causeth the lightning to appear unto you, to strike terror and to
raise hope ; and who formeth the pregnant clouds. The thunder cele-

brateth

Chap. XXVII. 10, 11. NOTES. 299

biateth his praise j and the angels also, for awe of him. He send-
eth his boits, and striketh tlierewith who!Ps<)7"-er he pk;i'.-;eu , while
they are disputing concerning God : for he n mighty in power."

Ver. 10, Doubtless — .] In the original &«, the translation of
which is to; ally omitted in our established lection, and indeed in
most of the versions, and unintelligibly slurred over in others, as T\ is
in V. 9. The term, however, has here, and in many other places, an
idiomatic meaning of great force and significance, and may be taken
either affirmatively or negatively, according to the manner in which
the general phrase is understood : for it may be either rendered as
above, or *' No_, unless he delight himself, &c." Reiske, who has
entered into the full meaning of the term, has chosen the latter
sense: '' An audiet Deus clamorem ejus in angustiis haerentis? non :
si in Deo se delectasset, audiret ipsum Deus omni tempore ■" " Will
God listen to his cry when in straits ? no : if he delighted himself
in God, God would hear him always." De Leon, in his Spanish ver-
sion, has given it, on the contrary, in the affirmative, though condi-
tionally, and with far less force than it deserves: " Per ventura escu-
chara su voceria Dios, quando viniere sobre el la apretura ? Si se
deley tara en el Poderoso, 6 si le invozara en todo tiempo }" " Will
God, then, hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? — If he de-
light himself in the Almighty, or if he call upon him continually."
The whole of the comment of this excellent writer upon this passage
is admirable, but too long for citation. We have a turn precisely
similar in Is. xhx. 15.

Can a woman forget her sucking-child.

That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ?

Yea — they may forget :

Yet will not I forget thee.

So Sarngarava to Dushmanta, in Sacontala, or the Fatal Ring : " O
king ! they who gather the fruits of devotion may command pro-
sperity."

Ver. 11. Concerning the dealings — .] There are already about
twelve or fourteen different renderings of the original, which is I'^l,
but not one of them which appears to me to give the proper sense.
I can glance at but a few. Our common reading is " by the hand,"
a reading sufficiently literal, but not, I think, sufficiently explicit: it
is, however, the rendering of St. Jerom. The Chaldee paraphrase

300 NOTES. Chap. XXVII. 12, 14.

gives ''per prophetiam Dei," "by the prophecy of God:" in the
Syriac the entire couplet runs thus, ,i'^ ^a:^ v»j V^N-'g- _*» .ooia.
. 1 m'->Av-, y au.>o yOa. ] ^v» . jou:^ "But I will deliver you into
the hand of God, for your works are not hidden from him." The
Arabic follows the Syriac literally. The Septuagint offers a still dif-
ferent sense,'^'AX\o Br} dpayyeXu vfiTv, tL iariv iy \cipt ILvpiov,
" But I will tell you, what they are in the hands of the Lord." Junius
and Tremellius translate, " Doceo vos in plaga Dei fortis" — " I teach
you by the scourge of the mighty God." Tyndall, " I wyl teache
you in the name of God." Schultens, " Docebo vos de manu, &c."
" 1 will teach you out of the hand, &c." Dr. Stock, " I will inform
you what is at God's hand." Reiske, "^ Docebo vos coram Deo,"
" I will teach you before, or in the presence of, God."

To explain all these different interpretations, it is necessary the.
English reader should know that the Hebrew y is a word of very
general and extensive signification. Its direct meaning is hand:
and as the hand is the instrument of a great variety of operations, it
also implies in Hebrew, as the word hand itself does in almost every
other language, the different operations that are produced by it : hence
agency, dealings or operations generally, as in the text now offered ;
hence " scourge or punishment," as given, under different ideas, in
the Syriac, Arabic, Greek, and that of Junius and Tremellius : and
hence " approximation, or presence," as given by Reiske, and as
we ourselves imply, when we say " he has it at hand," or "at his
fingers' ends :" concerning which, see the Note on ch. xi. 3.

After this general comment, I must leave the reader to select for
himself which of the above senses he pleases ■. yet I am mistaken if
he do not see that the sense now offered, for the first time, is the
most perspicuous, and most in harmony with the context.

Ver. 12. — babble babblings.'] I have given the original, not only
literally, but alliterately, ll'Iinn ^in (habal tahabalu) " Quare ergo
(jAvapiag (bXvapnre ? " or, as it is admirably rendered by Junius and
Tremellius, Quare jam vanitate vanescitis ?

Ver. 14. — for very ruin^ In the original i'lH id!?, " for very
ruin," " for utter ruin," " for ruin itself." It may also mean " for
the sword itself,"

Ver. 15,

Chap. XXVII. 15. NOTES. 301

Ver. 15. His remains shall be entombed, ^c] Nothing can be
bolder, nothing more highly imbued with the spirit of Oriental
poetry, than the entire couplet : " No sepulchre, no funeral dirge :
corruption alone shall be his tomb : his own household shall not
bewail him; not even the affectionate females of his haram, his
bereft wives and concubines ; those of his own rank, who brought
with them a dowry upon marriage, and those selected on account of
their personal charms, and who were married without dowries." See
the author's Song of Songs, Idyl vii. Note 27.

" Ohnegesang, ohne gecklanck," says Reiske. No honourable man
was ever interred, in ancient times, and in Eastern nations, without
the solemnity of public mourners in long procession, loud lamentations,
and metrical dirges. But it is probable that the writer, in the
present place, more immediately alludes to those shrieks of domestic
grief which are so often to be met with in every quarter of the
house, and especially among the females, upon the death of its
master ; and which is thus admirably described in the Iliad, upon
the fall of Hector, X'. 405.

*fic rov jucv KEKOviTO Kctpt] uTTav' 1] C£ vv fiyjrt]p
Tf'XXf KOfxrjv, ciiro ce XtTaptju eppr^s KaXvTrrprjy
TrjXoffC KuKvaBv ht fidXa fieya iralSi siridovaa.
'Siifiu^EV ^' iXetivct iruTtjp (j>iXoQ, d/x(j)i ^e Xaol
Kuyvrp 7-' e'Ikovto Kal oifxuyrj kut doTv'
T« Ze fMaXiaT dp etjv ivaXiy^iov, daEi diraaa
"'IXfoc 6<j)pv6e(T(Ta irvpl a^vyoiro kut dicprjc.

" The mother first beheld, with sad survey ;
She rent her tresses venerably grey,
Aud cast far off the regal veil away.
With piercing shrieks his bitter fate she moans.
While the sad father answers groans with groans ;
Tears after tears his mournful cheeks o'erflow.
And the whole city wears one face of woe.
No less than if the rage of hostile fires.
From her foundation curling to the spires,
O'er the proud citadel at length should rise,
And the last blaze send Ilion to the skies."

Pope.

The passage, however, has not been understood by any of the

commentators or translators who have concurred in regarding ^Tilty

. as meaning the remains of his house, instead of the remains oj his

person ;

}

302 NOTES. Chap. XXVII. 15.

person ; and hence our common version, " those that remain of him"
instead of, literally, " his remains.''' Equally erroneous the common
version, " shall be buried in death 5" in which niD, here rendered
death, means also "■ mortality," " corruption," " pestilence 5" i. e.
*' corruption alone shall be his tomb, or covering," as just explained
above. Reiske, not knowing how to explain this expression upon
the common interpretation, suspects, as usual, an error in the
reading, and proposes a choice of three amendments ; neither of
which, however, it is necessary to particularize. The whole
couplet has a striking resemblance to that beautiful and impressive
passage, Jerem. xxii, 18, I9.

The}' shall not wail over him,

" Ah ! my brother !" or " ah ! sister '."

They shall not wail over him,

•' Ah ! lord !" or " ah ! his glory !"

With the burial of an ass shall he be buried,

Drawn out and cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

There is a spirited Ode in the writings of Melendez which is
evidently derived from the present poem. The whole is too long for
quotation, but I will extract and translate a few verses from it :

Su gloria se deshizo : sus tesoros
Carbones se volvi^ron ;
Sus hijos al abismo descendi^ron ;
Sus risos fueron lloros.

Del injusto opresor esta es la suerte !
No brillarA su fuego ;
y andard entre tinieblas como ciego
Sin que camino aeierte.

La muerte le amenaza, los disgustos
Le esperan en el lecho :
Contino un dspid le devora el pecho :
Contino vive en sustos.

Dard huyendo del fuego en las espadas ;
El S^gnor le hard la guerra ;

Y caeriii sus raaldades i la tierra
Del cielo reveladas.

Porque del bien se apoder6 inhumano
Del luierfano y viuda,
Le Toerk las entranas hambre aguda ;

Y huiri el pan de su mano.

Im

Chap. XXVII. 16, 18. NOTES. 303

In edad serd marchita como el heno :
Su juventud florida ;
Caerd qual rosa del graniza herida
En medio el valle ameno.

His pride shall fade ; the gold for which he raves

Prove dust and ashes to his eyes :
His sons be hurl'd before him to their graves ;

His hollow laughter turn to sighs.
Such is the stern oppressor's fearful doom !

His lamp of life shall cease to burn :
As though stark-blind, in darkness shall he roam,

Nor path nor friendly guide discern.
Death deep dismays him ; every former sin

Haunts him at night, and robs his couch of rest ;
A cruel viper ever preys within ;

His life perpetual fears infest.
Flies he from fire ? — he rushes on the sword : —

'Tis God himself that takes the field.
Earth views his foulest deeds in all their hoard.

Full to his face, by heaven reveal'd.
Orphans and widows, since his harpy-claw

Remorseless robb'ci ->f house and land.
Corrosive hunger shall iii.-. entrails gnaw, .

And bread untasted flee his hand.
His age shall wither as the blade that blows ;

His youth in all its vigour fail.
So, struck by ruthless hail-storms, falls the rose,

A wreck amid the pictur'd vale.

Ver, 16, — as mire.'] The Hebrew "lan means rather mud or mire
than clay, as rendered usually : and the imagery is obviously de-
rived from the common custom of sweeping together the dust and
mud or mire of the street, into heaps.

Ver. 18. li1te the moth, ">

Or like a shed——— J

Feeble in its structure and materials, short in its duration, and
equally incapable of resisting a thunder-storm or shower of rain. So

ch. viii. 14.

" Thus shall his support rot away,
And the building of the spider be his reliance."
The genus phalaena, or moth, is divided into plant-moths and
cloth-moths j and the latter have generally been supposed to be those

immediately

S04 • NOTES. Chap. XXVII. 15.

immediately alluded to in the present place. I have some doubt of
this, but the question is not of consequence ; the house or building
referred to is, assuredly, that provided by the insect in its larve or
caterpillar- state, as a temporary residence during its wonderful
change from a chrysalis to a winged or perfect insect. The slight-
ness of this h^oitation is well known to every one who has attended
to the curious operations of the silk- worm (phalcena mori) , or the
tribes indigenous to the plants of our own country, as ph. pavonia,
or emperor moth ; ph. caja, tiger-moth ; ph. vinula, poplar, or
willow-moth, &c. Of these, some construct a solitary dwelling ;
while others, as ph. fuscicauda or brown-tail moth, are gregarious,
vast numbers residing together under one common web, marshalled
with the most exact regularity. See Curtis's History of the Brown-
tail Moth, Lond. 1783, 4to. The web of the cloth-moth, the prin-
cipal of which is ph. vestianella, is formed of the very substance of
the cloth on which it reposes, devoured for this purpose, and after-
wards worked into a tubular case, with open extremities, and gene-
rally approaching to the colour of the cloth by which the moth- worm
is nourished. The Alcoran, sur. xxiv. gives us, upon the same sub-
ject, a simile so beautiful, that I shall readily be excused for
copying it, though it is probable Mahomet drew it from a very
closely correspondent simile of the present poem, ch. vi. 17. " As to
the unbelievers, their works are like the vapour on a plain, which
the thirsty traveller thinketh to be water, till, as he cometh to it, he
findeth it to be nothing."

, The keeper or watchman referred to in the second part of the
verse, is supposed by Schultens (and perhaps with reason) to be
one of those who were usually employed to protect the vineyards
from pillage, whence he renders it custos vinece. The shed erected
by these people was of the simplest kind, and merely intended to
defend them, while on guard, from the intense heat of the sun ;
whence the Hebrew USD is admirably rendered, in the Vulgate,
umhraculum, literally umhrella, a little insignificant shade.

Mr. Southey opens the fifth part of his Curse of Kehama with a
similar allusion, and in very beautiful and picturesque lines :

" Evening comes on : arising from the stream.
Homeward the tall flamingo wings his flight ;
And where he sails athwart the setting beam.
His scarlet plumage glows with deeper light

" The

Ch AP.XXVII. 1 9, 2 1 . NOTES. 305

" The WATCHMAN, at the wish'd approach of night,
Gladly forsakes the field, where he all day.
To scare the winged plunderers from their prey,
With shout and sling, on yonder clay-built height.
Hath borne the sultry ray."

Ver. 19. Let the rich man lie down, and care Jioi^ The only
translator who has hitherto understood this passage is Reiske. The
difficulty proceeds from the term t^Dt^"' {jaseph), being an Arabic
instead of a genuine Hebrew verb, which has never been attended
to, except by this profound commentator ; and consequently im-
porting " to care or be anxious," instead of " to collect or gather
together," See i^p.J in Meninski, who renders it moeror, angor,
whether as a noun or a verb. The term i..,JuJ\ also imports " to be
in bodily pain," doleo; and, in reaUty, this last is the immediate sense,
in which Reiske has chosen to consider it in the present place,
though I think erroneously. " Cubitum eat dives, (says he) et non
DOLEAT, absque ullius doloris sensuj" or proverbially in the German
language, " Ohne dass ihm ein Jinger weh thuth," " Without even
so much as his finger aching." The reader must determine between
us. But that the term f^D^'' implies eith -r mental or corporeal in-
quietude, and that the general passage refers to sleep at night,
rather than to the sleep of death, as it is usually made to signify, is
clear from the context both preceding and immediately subsequent j
in which the wretchedness of the oppressor's life, however opulent
and powerful, and the abruptness with which he is at last cut off, is
painted in the most forcible colours. The passage is in this respect
altogether parallel with ch. vii. 22.

Ver. 19. — is nothing!] So Schultens, " vh nihil, substantive,
ovlh', TO firjEiv, et quidem, pro serie, nihil ratione felicitatis tem-
poralis, et seternae." "■ sb nothing, as a substantive, rather than not
as a particle; nothing in regard either to temporal or eternal happi-
ness:" to which he might have added, nothing in regard to physical
existence. In like manner Sophocles, Electra :
Trjv fxri^iv eig to /urjcai' ^e^ai.
Of nothing form'd, to nothing now return.

Ver. 21. The levanter — ] In the original D'lj?, the eastern whirl- ,
wind, or Euroclydon (Evp6i:}^vSoy), as the Greeks denominate it,

n concerning

306 NOTES. Chap. XXVII. 23.

concerning the effects of which, see Acts xxvii. 14. and following.
See also the Note on ch. xv. 2.

Ver. 23, Everyone clappelh — 1 Literally "One clappeth, &c."-
the Hebrew pDty^ being used impersonally. Dr. Stock regards the
term dp, or levanter, as the nominative case 3 and hence renders it,

" It elappeth over bim its hands,

And hisseth over him from its place ;"

but I see no necessity for this deviation from the common rendering,
though it gives us a bold and ingenious personification,

CHAP. XXVIII.

Ver. 1, Truly there is a mine, ^c] Nothing can be more con-
nected or admirable than the reflections contained in this chapter.
How surely is man disquieted in vain ! How comprehensive his inge-
nuity, yet how useless his pursuits ! How little is he capable of find-
ing what alone can render him happy ! He can master the earth, and
unfold it to the regions of darkness and death-shade ; but how little
does he know of wisdom ! Where shall wisdom be found ?

Ver. 2. And the rock poureth forth copper."] Our common ver-
sion, for copper reads brass; but brass is a mixt metal, and never
found in the bowels of the earth, and perhaps not even known at
the period before us. The Latin versions are for the most part cor-
rect ; for the usual rendering is ces, which is strictly copper, the
term for brass being aurichalcum : see the author's Note to his
translation of Lucretius, b. v. 12/0. I have rendered the whole line
literally, and in the order of the words, — pIV^ does not here mean "to
le molten out of," as usually translated, but " to pour forth," as the
same terra is actually given in ch. xxix. 6. of our established lection:
"et lapis fundit aes," (j^U.^1 J>V. ^' ^^i^ke has excellently ren-
dered it,

Ver, 3. Man delveth into— ] Literally "He delveth into, &:c."
" One delveth into, &c." for the verb is given without a noun,
which is of course understood, and in the same sense here as in
v,23. of the preceding chapter. The entire passage to v, 12. refers
to the deep skill and ingenuity of mankind, which, therefore,

though

Chap. XXVIII. 3, 4. NOTES. 307

though they enable him to turn the earth as it were inside out, are
totally incompetent to direct him to the most important of all
sciences, that of wisdom and real happiness. The passage, how-
ever, instead of being applied to man, has by most commentators
been referred to the Deity ; and thus the whole has been completely
misunderstood, and what is perfectly clear, been regarded as inex-
tricably perplext and mysterious. The two original terms tDU^ yp,
here rendered " Man delveth into the regions," or " He delveth
into the regions," may both of them be regarded either as substan-
tives or verbs. In our common version, the former is contemplated
as the substantive, and the latter as the verb : in the version now
offered, the former as the verb, and the latter as the substantive ; and
hence chiefly the difference of the translation. It will be difficult to
find a more detailed or beautiful description of the operations of
mining than is contained in the passage, from the beginning of the
chapter to v. 12.

Ver. 3. the region of darkness -j

The stones of darkness and death-shade. j
So the queen of the Subterranean Spirits, in Mr. Sargent's elegant
dramatic poem, the Mine :

Ye gnomes, ye puissant spirits, who delight
To range th' unfathomable depths of night, —
Who these stupendous realms, undaunted, sway.
To whom this cold is heat, this darkness day, —
Speed through the earthj' layers your fluid course.
Loose the soft sand, the marie obstructive force.

Ver. 4. He hreaketh up the veins from the matrice, ^c] This
continuation of the passage has been a stumbhng-block to all the
critics, nor do I "believe it has hitherto been rightly understood
by any one of them. Reiske, as usual in cases of this kind, daringly,
and to the extent of many words, alters the text : while those who
endeavour to translate it as it is, for the most part 'eke out a meaning
by interstitial terms of their own, and at the same time differ widely
from each other in the various senses thus educed. The only error
that I can trace (and it is an error not yet pointed out by any one), is
in bni (nahal), " a channel," " bed," " stratum" or " vein," in
the singular, instead of C^Jm (nahalim), ''veins," "strata," &c. in
the plural. The cause of this error, however, is clear ; for the final
CD has been accidentally dropped, in consequence of the next word

u 2 Qi^a

308 NOTES. Chap. XXVIII. 4.

OJ?D beginning with the same letter 5 so that, in point of sound, the
passage reads nearly alike both ways. And that it is an error, and
that ^n: ought to be cl^nj (the plural instead of the singular). Is
clear, because otherwise there is no nominative case to the participle
or the two verbs that follow ; while at the same time these are all in
the plural number, and require a plural noun.

It is necessary to state in addition, that br\i, which, in its primary
sense, means " a channel, bed, or hollow, in a secondary sense im-
ports " a flood or torrent," by which such channel or hollow is
often formed ; and that it is, on this account, rendered flood in our
common version.

The term'iJ, here rendered matrice, is also liable to a similar variety
of inte.pretaiion. If derived from ^3, as the authors of our common
version have derived it, it may mean, as they have actually rendered
it, an inhabitant ; if from nii, the n of which, though radical, is
inutable or omissible, it will mean a rude mass of matter ; '' tlie
rubbish of stones (as Mr. Parkhurst has explained it in the passage
before us) broken off from the rocks, by miners, in searching for
gold and silver ore j" or rather, as rendered in the present version,
the rude base or material, the matrix, matrice, or gangue, as
it is technically called, in which metals or precious stones are
deposited.

Ver. 4. — thought nothing of, &c .] In the Hebrew CMitt^l :
from riDti> ''^to forget," '*^not know," or " know nothing of," "not
to own or acknowledge," " to reject." It is almost synonymous
with the French nieconnaitre. The idea is equally obvious and beau-
tiful : the metals and precious stones, which, in their ores and unpo-
lished state, are accounted nothing of, or rejected by the foot (for so
it may be rendered), or while under the foot, are drawn forth, and
blazoned as ornaments, by mankind, li^^, rendered in our common
version " gone away," implies indeed motion, but not motion of
this kind. i?3, whence it is derived, imports rather " to move to and
fro," "to vibrate," "to brandish or flourish," " to be borne or car-
ried proudly and pompously." Schultens renders it vagantur, " move
backwards and forwards," or rather " dangle about j" which is also
a genuine sense.

Thus Goethe, in his drama entitled Torquato Tasso, founded
on the attachment of the latter to the illustrious Leonora of Este,
Actii. 1.

Chap. XXVm. 5-8. NOTES. 309

So sueht man in dem weiten sand des meers
Vergebens eine perle, die verborgeiv
In stillen schalen eingescblossen ruht.

So, mid the sands of ocean, seek mankind.
And vainly oft, the pearl that, hid from glare,
Sleeps in the bosom of its secret shell.

Yer. 5. — windeth a Jiery region.'] The common punctuation of
the original is wrong; and on this account the passage has never
hitherto been understood. The word Dlpa " place or region," which
begins ver. 6, belongs to ver. 5, and should close it. I have given the
whole, not only literally, but in the order of the Hebrew words.
nanj, usually rendered in Niphal, or passively, " is turned up," means '
rather, in Kal, or actively, " meanders/' " turns or winds about."
tywiD5, commonly rendered " as it were fire," is rather to be re-
garded as an adjective, " fiery, or fire-like," and is obviously con-
nected, as I have just observed, with the word QlpD, " place or re-
gion," with which ver. 6. opens, in the general, but erroneous punc-
tuation. So in Mr. Sargent's Mine, just quoted :

Wheresoe'er onr footsteps turn
Rubies blush and diamonds burn ;
Every rock and silver cave
Streams of milk and amber lave. —
From controling seasons free.
We labour our high alchymy,
Nor borrow from the garish day
One beam to light us on our way :
Our torch the phosphorus : our car
Hhe jacinth, or the emerald spar.

Ver. 7. The eagle— ] The Hebrew tD>l?, though translated gene-
rally/owZ in our common version, is properly restricted to a "bird
of prey," and peculiarly to the genus falco, the eagle, or falcon
kind ; as the contiguous term n^H is applied to the vulture or con-
dor. This tribe appears to be selected on account of the well-known
strength of its sight ; whence it is said to be able to face the sum-
mer sun at noon-day. The general meaning is, " the keenest-sighted
bird cannot descry it."

Ver. 8. — nor the ravenous lion sprung upon it.] i.e. as upon its

prey :

310 NOTES. Chap. XX Vm. 9-11.

prey : see ch, x. l6. in which bhU^ "^ ravenous lion^" the term em-
ployed here, is employed there also, m)^, here translated sprung
upon, is still retained in Arabic \s£., and used in the very same sense.
Schultens has well rendered the passage, "■ Non superbius se intutit
super earn (scil. viam) ho.'"

Ver, 9. — sparry ore — ] In Hebx-ew ty^Dpn, which is a compound
term, precisely answering to the translation here given 5 such ores
being found, in large quantities, in the mines of our own and of other
countries. Michaelis renders the same term, in Deut. viii. 15.
porphyry or red granite : but this does not often form a raatrice
for metals.

Ver. 10. He cutteth out channels — ] In our common version, " he
cutteth out rivers 5" in one or two others, "canals." The exact
meaning is, the hollows that are delved by miners in a metallic bed
or mountain, often serving as passages to the central chamber. By
cleaving .such openings as these, the metallurgist may truly be stated,
•which he could not be in the usual rendering of" cutting out rivers,"
" to discover every precious gem."

Ver. 11. He restraineth the waters from ooxingi] According to
Reiske, " E fonticulo compellit in unum alveum," " He driveth them
from their spring into a common feservoir." According to the more
general interpretation, " He bindeth the floods from overflowing.'*
The sense has not been fairly understood. Every one acquainted
with mining knows, that, at different depths from the surface, the
shaft, or aperture, is so apt to be overflowed with water from
surrounding springs, that it is impossible to work it till the water
is drawn off; the machinery to accomplish which is sometimes one
of the most serious expenses incidental to working a mine. It is
to the restraint of these waters, so perpetually oozing or weeping
through every pore, that the writer alludes in the prese.it passage,

Ver. 11. — hidden gloom become radiance.'] The expression is pe-
culiarly bold, but admirably correct. The Hebrew no!?i>n is exqui-
sitely forcible, as combining the two ideas of concealment and opa-
city, and cannot well be rendered otherwise than as above. Such is
the natural disposition of the mineral substances here referred to, to
coruscate and glitter, that the moment the audacious industry of man

has

Chap.XXVIII. 12, 13. NOTES. 311

has forced a way to them through their depth of concealment, the
opacity in which they have been hitherto buried disappears, and all
is briUiance and splendour. This curious fact, as well as the preceding
one, of the existence of springs (often extremely troublesome from
their force and abundance), are thus pertinently adverted to in
Mr, Sargent's Mine :

Of latent rills the bubbling fount unlock,

And gem with crystal, every glistening rock :

Each devious cleft, each secret cell, explore.

And from its fissure draw the ductile ore :

Through ponderous shades diffuse the golden rays.

And bid th' imperial lord of metals blaze.

Ver. 12. But, 0! where — ] In the original fND noanni. I can-
not consent to omit the emphatic M (0 /), as has been done by every
preceding translator.

Ver. 13. Man knoweth not its source.'] The writers of the Sep-
tuagint seem to have read n3")S instead of Hili^, and in the meaning
of niTiW, for they have rendered the passage ovk o'ih '(^poroi; 6S6v
ai/Vj/V, " No man hath known its way." Reiske translates Hi'iV
stahulum vel atrium. In effect, few of the interpreters have been
satisfied with the common rendering, price, as forming no answer to
the question in the preceding verse, which refers not to value, but to

.y » J Of 1 o o -a

■place. The Syriac gives us ,icj Va-o . tjO Loa\\^ . ,^) i^oaiZ

o y

. wZ.a^ A*^ " Nescio homo thesaurum ejus, &c." " Man knoweth
not its treasure or treasury ;" perhaps its " treasury- house" — an excel-
lent version, if, as a Hebrew term, naii? could be found to justify
this meaning. Every difficulty, I apprehend, will vanish, when the
reader is informed that "TiJ?, instead of being a Hebrew, is, in this
place, an Arabic term ; -ijS. pi. /^j^jS. " origo, stirps, genus, ra-
dix arboris," "source, stem, family, the root of a tree:" whence it
also implies, " ramifications," " veins and arteries," as in the fol-
lowing passage, c-*^ <U^^ i-^dyo j J^^ j '^j— J^ Oj^
vena paternitatis, seu paterni affectus et araoris commota : " moved
by a vein of paternal affection, or of fatherly feeling and love."
The term is peculiarly apposite in its present situation, and in the
sense thus offered ; referring immediately to the matrices or sources
of the preciovte metals, with their numerous veins running in various

directions ;

312 NOTES. Chap. XXVIII. 13— 18.

directions ; and which, deep as they usually lie, in the very bottom of
mountains, the penetration and industry of man are still capable of
detecting and bringing forth for use. But " O ! where shall wisdom
be found-»-yea, where is the dwelling-place of understanding ? Man
knowetli not its source — the matrice in which it lies deposited;
he is unacquainted with its veins and ramifications ; it is not to be
found in the soil or land of the living."

Ver. 15. Solid gold — ] In the Hebrew 11l) " condensed,"
**■ beaten," " concentrated gold."

Ver. l6. — ingot of Ophir.'] In the Hebrew Ti3")« DMS, the tried
and stamped gold of Ophir : whence Tyndal, " wedges of golde
of Ophir." " Ingot of Ophir" is the elegant rendering of Dr. Stock.

Ver. 17. The burnished gold and crystal — ] Alluding, unques-
tionably, to some peculiarly valuable ornament of crystal set in gold :
perhaps the diamond is intended; for we are by no means certain
of the exact signification of rfilSl, farther than that it denotes some
perfectly transparent and hyaline gem. iMt implies gold in its
most resplendent and burnished state 3 the term in its primary sense
importing " splendour," "lustre," ''radiance."

Ver. 17- JVb/- its rival be jewels of pure gold,'] I have given the
verse in the order in which it occurs in the original, and without
the circumlocution with which it is generally rendered.

Ver, 18. Talk not of corals or pearls.] Or, in the direct order
of the words in the original, " corals or pearls, let them not be
talked of." It is by no means certain what the words here rendered
corals and pearls, and those immediately afterwards rendered rubies
and topaz, really signified. Reiske has given up the inquiry, as
either hopeless or useless ; and Schultens has generally introduced
the Hebrew words themselves, and left the reader of the translation
to determine as he may. Our common version is, in the main,
concurrent with most of the Oriental renderings, and I see no reason
to deviate from it.

Ver. IS. For the attraction of wisdom is beyond rubies.] In no
sense can "iWD be fairly rendered, as in our established lection, price.

Its

Chap. XXVIII. 18. NOTES. ' 313

Its exact meaning is, " tractio," " attractio 3" " drawing," attraction,"
" enticement," " allurement." Schultens takes it in the first sense,
" the attraction of gravitation" or " draught of the balance," by
which the writer supposes it to outweigh the substances with which
it is compared 5 and Dr. Stock has adopted this idea. Mr. Hutch-
inson translates it, distincily, " attraction," but supposes it to refer
to the attraction of the magnet, for so he renders t3''i^j5 ; " the
attraction of wisdom is beyond magnets." That minuets, and the
magnetic power, were known in Arabia at this early period, I have
little doubt. Lucretius makes mention of both, lib. vi. 006, as facts
common to every one in his day, and points out the country in
which they were first ascertained :

Quod super-e?t, agere incipiam quo foedere fiat
Naturae, lapis hicc' ut ferrum ducere possit,
Quem Magneta vocant patrio de nomine Graiei,
Magnetum quia sit patriis in finibus ortus.

And next explain we by what curious law
The stone, term'd Magnet by the Greeks, attracts
Th' obsequious iron ; magnet term'd, since iirstj ,
Mid the Magnetes, men its power descried.

Magnesia, the country of the Magnetes, was a region of Lydia ;
and from this quarter the Greeks perhaps first received this infor-
mation : but the magnet was probably known for ages before, in
different parts of Asia ; since, on the first discovery of ^Chiha, the
inhabitants (who do not appear to have had any connection with
Europe before the time of Justinian) were found not only to be
acquainted with the magnet, but with its use, in the construction of
the compass. See the writer's Note on Lucretius, translation,
b, vi, ver. 933.

Yet, intelligible and elegant as such a version must be regarded, I
cannot conscientiously admit it. I can find no place in the poem in
which there is any decided reference to the magnet, as a stone known
to exist ; and in all the places in which the Hebrew D^r^Q occurs, it
refers rather to some gem or precious stone, attractive by its elegance
rather than by any occult power : which is by far the most obvious
idea in the present instance; and, if I mistake not, an idea quite as
beautiful as that oifered by the magnet : and far more beautiful
than the idea of superior weight, suggested by Schultens and Dr.
Stock, Arias Montanus gives the sense generally, as now rendered,

" attractio

314 NOTES. Chap. XXVIir. 25, 26,

" attractio sapimtice ;" and it is thus explained in the Chaldee
paraphrase.

Ver. 25. irken he made — ] In the orginal DltyD-b, in which
h is synonymous with ^ in the beginning of ver. 2Q, and means
quum "when" as an adverb of time, and not to, as a preposition,
the sense in which it is understood in our common version.

Ver. 26. When hejixed a course — ] The original will bear either
this version, or that of our established rendering, " when he made
a decree," with equal readiness : but as the rest of the general
description paints the Almighty, not as ordaining decrees or laws,
but as actually present and operative, I have preferred the former,
as somewhat more coincident.

Ver. 26. — lightning of the thunder-storm^ The Hebrew tnn, here
rendered lightning, is strikingly emphatic ; it is derived from ID, to
notch or jag, and immediately refers to the jagged or zig-zag
figure which peculiarly characterizes the lightning of hot countries,
as it flashes across the heavens. The entire passage as rendered by
Tyndal is as follows, " When he sett the rayne in ordre, and gave
the mightie floudes a lawe." The characteristic feature of the
thunder-storm, here immediately adverted to, is given so fully in
the following admirable description of Lucretius, that the reader
will not be displeased with my copying it on the present occasion ;
lib. vi. 276.

Insinuatus ibei vortex vorsatur in alto,
Et calidis acuit fulmen fornacibus intus.
Nam duplici ratione adcenditur ; ipse suA cum
Mobilitate calescit, et e contagibus ignis.
Inde, ubi percaluit gravius ventosus, et ignis
Inpetus incessit ; maturum turn quasi fulmen
» Perscindit subito nubem, ferturque, coruscis,
Omnia luminibus lustrans loca, percitus ardor :
Quern gravis in sequitur sonitus, displora repente
Obprimere ut coeli videautur templa superne.
Inde tremor terras graviter pertentat, et altum
Murmurra percurrunt coelum ; nam tota fere turn
Tempestas coneussa tremit, fremitusque raoventur j
Quo de concussu sequitur gravis imber, et uber,

Omnis

CHAP.XXVm.27. NOTES. 315

Omnis utei videatur in iinbrem vortier ajther,
Atque ita praecipitans ad diluvium revocare,
Tantus discidio nubis, ventique procelia,
Mittitur ardenti sonitus quom provolat ictu.

Then springs the fiery vortex, and within
Forges profound, and points its deadly darts,
Deeply enkindled, by the boist'rous air
Rapid convolv'd, and touch of fiery seeds :
Then springs and raves, and ripens, till at length,
Grown full mature, the shackling cloud it cleaves,
And down abrupt, with vibratory flash,
Diffus'd o'er all things, flings the missile fate.
Roars next the deep-ton'd clangour, as though heaven
Through all its walls were shatter'd ; earth below
Shakes with the mighty shock, from cloud to cloud
Redoubling still through all th' infuriate vault :
While, loosen'd by the conflict, prone descends
Th' accumulated torrent, broad and deep.
As though all ether into floods were turn'd.
And a new deluge menac'd man and beast.
Such the vast uproar, when the red-hot storm
Bursts forth abrupt, and hurls its fiery bolts.

Ver. 27. — and thoroughly proved it.} In the original CDil
rr^pn, TTQwyn r]Kpl[Duas avrrjy, " accuratissime probavit illam." So,
in very beautiful language, the Alcoran, sur. Ivii. 1 — 4, &c.

(„-l*.^\ J L? ^ ^Ju» " Whatever is in heaven and earth

singeth praise unto God ; and he is mighty and wise. His is the
kingdom of heaven and earth 3 he giveth hfe, and he piiiteth to
death ; yea, he is the Almighty. He is the first and the last ; the
manifest and the mysterious, and he knoweth all things. It is he
who created the heaven and the earth in six days, and then ascended
his throne. He knoweth that which entereth into the earth, and
that which issueth out of it ; and that which cometh dowTJ from
heaven, and that which ascendeth to it : and he is with you where-
soever ye may be."

It seems to be to this principle, or high original being, that
the Druidical bards, and especially Taliesin, applied the term Math,
who was among the first created, and was chiefly concerned in the

formation of the world.

A'm

316 NOTES. Chap. XXVIII. 27.

A'm sw';j'mysei Math

Cym bftm diaered.
M^th bad mysteriously marked me
Before I became immortal.

"This Math (observes Mr. Davies, Celtic Researches, p. 2S5) I
take to have been the universal genius of Nature, which discrimi-
nated all things, according to their various kinds or species : the
same, perhaps, as the Math of the Egyptians, and the Mtjnc af the
Orphic bards, which was of all kinds, and the author of all things .•"

"A.p(n)v jutv Kal dcXvc f<^vt Tokvuvvfii MHTI.

Orph, Hymn. xxxi.
Kat MHTI2 irpmo'; ytviTuip. Orph. Frag. 6.

A'm swynwys, i Sywydd
Sywedydd, cyn byd.
Pan vei gennys vi vot, &c.
" I was marked by the Sage
Of Sages in the primitive Morld,
At which time I had a being."

So the son of Sirach, in a passage evidently copied from the place
before us, ch. i; 3, 4, 12,

Who can find out the height of heaven ?
And the breadth of the earth ?
And the deep, and wisdom .'

Wisdom was created before all things,
And the UNDERSTA^DING of prudence from everlasting.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ;
And she was formed for the faithful, in the womb of things.

So again, in the sublime monologue uttered by Wisdom, ch. xxiv.
3^ 4, 5, p. of the same book :

I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,

And covered the earth as ^fruitful cloud .

I dwelt in the heights, and my throne was a cloudy pillar.

I alone compassed the circuit of heaven.

And walked in the abyss of the deep.

He created me in the beginning,

Before the world ; — and never shall I fail.

In like manner in the Sette Giornate of Tprquato Tasso, unques-
tionably alluding to the present passage, or those immediately derived
from it : Giorn. i,

Seco

Chap. XXVIII. 27. NOTES. 317

Seco era allor, ch' all' ocean profundo

Termine pose, e di^ sue lugg'i all' onde ;

E quand' ei coliocb del' ampia terra

I fondamenti era pur seco all' opre,

Seco'l tutto fornio di giorno in giorno.

Quasi scherzando.
Whence Milton_, doubtless^ in his description of Urania : Par. Lost,
vii. 8,

" Before the hills appear'd, or fountain flow'd.

Thou with eternal wisdom didst converse.

Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play

In presence of th' almighty Father, pleas'd

With thy celestial song."

CHAP. XXIX.

Ver. 3. If hen he suffered his lamp to shine upon my head.'] Not
" when his lamp shined," for l^n is here in the conjugation Hiphil,
"■ when he caused or suffered his lamp, &c." The reference is very
probably to the mode by which the palaces and mansions of the great
were illuminated in ancient times, of which we have an excellent
description in the following verses of Lucretius, well known to have
been afterwards closely copied by Virgil. De Rer. Nat, ii. 24.

Si non aurea sunt Juvenum simulacra per sedeis

Lampadas igniferas manibus retinentia dextris,

Lumina nocturnis epulis ut subpeditentur :

Nee domus argento fulget, auroque renidet,

Nee citharje reboant laqueata aurataque templa ;

Quam tamen inter se, prostratei in gramine moUi,

Propter aquas rivum, sub ramis arboris altas,

Non magiiis opibus joeunde corpora curant.

Prsesertim, quam tempestas adridet, et anni

Tempora conspargunt viridanteis floribus herbas.

What though the dome be wanting, whose proud walls

A thousand lamps irradiate, propt sublime

By frolic forms of youths in massy gold.

Flinging their splendours o'er the midnight feast :

Though gold and silver blaze not o'er the board.

Nor music echo round the gaudy roof :

Yet, listless laid the velvet grass along.

Near gliding streams, by shadowy trees o'erarch'd.

Such pomps we need not : such still less, when Spring

Leads forth her laughing train, and the warm year

Paints the green meads with roseat flowers profuse.

Ver. ?,.

318 NOTES. Chap. XXIX. 3, 4.

Ver. 3. And ly its light I illumined — ] In our common version
" and by its light I walked through j" — but the verb lb« in Hebrew,
" to walk or proceed," is perhaps rather to be taken in its Arabic sense

(J^\^ in which it imports fulgere, splendere, " to make bright or

illumine," whence /»_J1 (illoek) is often used in the sense of .j U'i^
(muteellyk) part. " fulgens, rutilum, et coruscans fulmen." Gol.
for, at the period adverted to, there was probably no darkness what-
ever, but all unclouded illumination.

Ver. 4. — in the days of my — ] In the original ^Q^iH '0^:13 in
which ^Slh (horpi) is also an Arabic expression ^Jjs>~ {horphi), and
imports " summitas mea," " cacumen," aK/LiTj, — whence the literal
rendering is, ''in the days of my summit)" "of my topmost pro-
sperity." <■—>/>■ is used in our own sense of a top, or extreme
point, generally ; and is equally applied to the summit of a moun-
tain, and the point of a sword. So Reiske, most correctly, " in
diebus acuminis mei," QK/nij^ ifiyg. Regarded as a mere Hebrew
term, the commentators have been at a loss how to extract any
sense from it j for as a genuine Hebrew root, P|in imports " to strip, or
make naked j" and it would hence rather apply to the winter than
to any other season ; and in this sense it is actually made use of in
almost every passage in which season of any kind is implied 3 the
literal sense being " the stripping season," as opposed (and we meet
with it thus opposed in a great variety of texts, as Gen. viii. 22.
Zech. xiv. 8.) to l?p% which imports " the awakening or productive
season," i. e. " the summer " generally. So Jer. xxxvi. 22, n'2
f]inn implies a " winter-house or palace ;" and is so rendered in our
common version. But this interpretation can afford no meaning in
the present case, though it is actually adopted by Piscator and several
others : and hence the commentatois have been driven to invention,
in order to extort a sense that will apply. Schultens has, with
much elaborate learning, attempted to shov/, that by " the stripping^
season" was frequently meant autumn by the poets both of Arabia
and of Greece ; and that hence the passage means, " in the days of
my productive season," " of my happiness and prosperity." Mi-
chaelis, dissatisfied with this rendering, obsei-ves, that the He-
brews and several other Eastern nations began their year from the
autumn : and that hence the autumn of life was, in this view, the

same

Chap. XXIX. 4, 5. NOTES. 319

same with thetn as the spring of it is with us j" and by this means he
endeavours to justify St. Jerom's version, "in diebus adolescentiae,"
"in the days of my youth," which is the version followed in our
common reading. Mr. Heath has turned it freely, and much better,
"in the days of my prosperity j" and Dr. Stock, " in the days of
my pleasant season." The real meaning is however, T trust, suf-
ficiently obvious : regarded as an Arabic term, the whole is equally
clear and forcible.

Ver. 4. IVhen God fortified — ] In the original wi^MIIDi, in
which "II D is an Arabic verb instead of a Hebrew susbtantive, and
means X^ "Jirmare, munire, vallare," " to make firm or secure,"
" to fortify," or "defend by bulwarks:" whence, as an Arabic
substantive, j^ signifies, very generally, propugnaculuvi, " a fortress
or bulwark 5" and sometimes " a guard of soldiers:" so t--?l> (X«9
means " muro obstruere," " to repair the breach in a wall 5" and thus

i)S .1 iIjJujI ^ L-^jJuM Juj is "portae ferreae instar firmum

erit;" " he will prove impregnable as a gate of iron." The term is
strictly military j and affords a sense vastly clearer than the common
rendering, " when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle," In
the version of Dr. Stock the same idea is approached, but the signi-
fication is not very definite,

" When God locked up my tabernacle over rae."
Reiske gives us " quum Deus adhuc sarciret mea vice meum tento-
rium," " when God sewed up my tent for me." The Arabic j^j
will bear this sense, opplere hiatum, but only remotely, and as
branching out from the sense of " to repair a breach."

Ver. 5. When viy strength was yet — ] In the original ntl^ 11i?2,
which may be rendered two ways. If nti^ be pure genuine He-
brew, and only one word, the sense, which is that of our common
version, will be " when the Almighty." If an Arabic term, and

two words, ""-Itl* (i_^Jcii), it will be, as now rendered, " when my
strength — 3" Iti; (j>-i)> ^s a verb, importing "i/a^i/ir<r,jZr7nare,"
"to make strong" or "establish;" and as a substantive, "funis;
chorda; validitas ; vigor ; rohur." I have preferred the latter sense j
first, because, in the common rendering, the passage offers a mere

repetition

320 NOTES. Chap. XXIX. 6--8.

repetition of the idea contained in the latter clause of the preceding
verse ; and secondly, because ''^ty appears to be in apposition with
•"liJl (tny children}^ in which the "> is unquestionably a pronoun,

Ver. 6. JVhen my path flowed — ] In the original ^i^^n y'n'^'2., in
which fm is governed of ybT\, obviously of the masculine gender.
So Tyndal rightly : " when my waies runne over wythe butter." The
riches of the Arab tribes consisted chiefly in their cattle, their olives,
and their bees ; and hence we have perpetual references to their
stores ofiDutter, of oil, and of honey. Seech, xx. 17.

Ver. 7. As I went forth, the city rejoiced at me^ The passage in
the original has not been understood ; and hence an infinite variety
of renderings, not one of which, 'however^, has hitherto given the
real sense of the writer. The Hebrew text is as follows,

nip ^/i? ^)im ^n«vi
and our established version gives us

" When 1 went out. to the gate through the city :"
for this Schultens reads " — above the city," {super urbi,) situated
upon an eminence. Dr. Stock renders it,

" When I went out to the gate, because of the meeting."
The Syriac and Arabic,

When I went forth, I called at the gate.
The cause of this variation and the obscurity proceeds from not at-
tending to the fact, that '-\)im (in all the above, rendered gate) is the I
Arabic h- or j^ « "^3/ ' that iby is two words instead of one, '•-V)^
ad or super me; and that nip, instead of being a Hebrew noun

{city), is an Arabic verb Ljj, "hilart alacrique oculo recreare ; refri-
gescerc} quiescerej commorari:" " to rejoice at, refresh, recreate
itself, tarry or dwell upon me."

Ver. 7. — abroad:] In the original iini, literally and idiomatically
as here rendered. It may also be translated " in a broad place,"
"" a square," or " market-place," but not " a street," as given in our
common version. The Greek synonym is dyopij^i. In Schultens,
" atque in foro constituerem sedile meum."

Ver. 8. — ranged themselves alout we.] In the greater number of

" , versions.

Chap. XXIX. 10, 11. NOTES. 231

versions, "aro?,e and stood up :" in the common text of the original
llDi) IDp, which Schultens, in order to avoid the tautology of the
general translation, renders " stabant loqui cessabant," " arose and
stood still." There can be little doubt, however, that IIDi? is a cor-
ruption of ^IDi/, and, of course, instead of being a verb plural, is a
preposition with a pronoun personal : " ad me," " circum me."
Thus Reiske, " stabant circum me :" so Tyndal, " stode up unto
me-." and thus Dr. Stock ;

, " And grey-beards rose up before me."
The interstitial copulative "and stood" becomes, in this view of the
text, as unnecessary in a translation, as in the origirial, Dp, here
rendered " ranged themselves," i. e. " established themselves,"
" set themselves in order," may also, unquestionably, be rendered
" arose or stood up j" but the version now offered ogives a better con-
trast to the verb in the preceding part of the couplet, l^in^ " shrunk
back " or " hid themselves."

Ver. 10. The renowned — ] Doubtless " the renowned speakers,"
" the pubhc and popular orators ;" and not " the nobles," as
rendered usually. Dr. Stock, for bip "voice," ''speech," or
"harangue," reads !?15 " totaHty j" and then translates the passage:
" The whole body of the nobles hid themselves j"

but the change of text is wholly unnecessary, and gives a less forcible
and appropriate idea. The sense now offered is confirmed by the
latter member of the couplet. Junius and Tremellius, indeed, have
distinctly rendered the term C'T'^ii, " orators or men of eloquence,"
" eloquentes antecessor es."

Ver, 11. — it hung upon me.] No commentator appears hitherto to
have entered into the real beauty of this expression. TJ^M, from 1'S,
m its primary sense, implies continuity, " to persevere," " continue," ■
*' to fix or fasten," " to hang or dwell upon." In a secondary sense,
it imports " to testify or bear witness;" and for some reason with
which I am not acquainted, almost all the commentators have mis-
taken this second and subordinate sense for the first: thus our
common version, " When the eye saw me, it gave witness to me."
The idea hence derived, however, is not very definite ; and on this
account Dr. Stock has varied it as follows :

" When the eye saw, it dressed me out."

X Thi«!

232 NOTES. Chap. XXIX. 14.

This is also a meaning the passage will bear ; but the idea is more in-
distinct, if I mistake not, than that of the common version. The
sense now rendered is equally elegant and perspicuous j and the image
it conveys is common to every language. Thus Dryden :

her accents hung,

And faltering died unfiiiisb'd on her tongue.

So Lucretius, i.35.

suspi'jiens tereti ccrvice repdstA,

Pascit amore avidos, inhians in te, Dea, visas ;

Eque tuo PEMDET resupini spiritus ore.
with uplifted gaze,

On thee he feeds his longing, lingering eyes,

And all his soul hangs quivering from thy lips.
Or, to come still nearer to the point, thus St. Luke, ch. xix. 48.
6 Xoof yap dirac 'EHEKPEMATO avrov ctKoowv, " For all the
people HUNG upon him, while listening to him." Our common
translation gives us, for " hung upon,'' " were very attentive to /' but,
in the margin of several of the editions, the proper meaning is ad-
verted to. The Greek theme is Kpijudu, pendo, suspendo.

Ver. 14. — as a robe and turban^ " Covered me all over from
head to foot, and exhibited an equal degree of gracefulness and dig-
nity." The general figure is common to the sacred writers ; and in
most instances, perhaps, is borrowed from the present source. Thus
Jeremiah, xliii. 12.

And I will kindle a fire

In the houses of the gods of Egypt ;

And he shall burn them, and carry them away captives.

And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt,

As a shepherd jiutteth on his garment.
So the Psalmist,

Who deckest thyself with light, as with a garment.
For turban (fT'Jy) our common version gives diadem : but from the
real meaning of the term, which is that of " a circumvolution, a
roll or wrapping round," there can be no doubt, as Mr. Parkhurst
has already observed, that the Oriental turban is here intended ; and •
of course, that this constituted a part of the dress of the Arabians as
early as the era of Job. See also the Note on chap. xvi. 15.

The following Turkish verses, which I take from Sir W. Jones, are
so much in point, and at the same lime so intrinsically beautiful, that

I cannot

Chap. XXIX. J 6, 17. NOTES. 233

I cannot forbear inserting them. They wer.e written upon the
emperor Solyman, and may vie with the best eulogies of the Persian
Muse :

^■jSs. J J jLa CXil *^, SSJc\^j Jf^»

During his reign, no sigh was heard, but that of the twanging bow :
During his reign, nothing was found crooked, but the bow itself :
While he was king, there was no other orphan than the pearl of Aden ;
While he was emperor, there was no bleeding heart but the musk of Khoten.

Ver. 1*5. — of the unknown.'} " Of the stranger unacquainted with
our hiws 5 or of the lowly and obscure, who have no ready means of
obtaining redress." In the original TliJT' i^b : which is usually re-
garded as a verb and a negative, and rendered " I know not," or
*' I was ignorant of," an idea which offers no very obvious meaning
when applied to a judge. Schmidt and Schultcns have preceded
me in clearing the difficulty, by pointing out that TlJJI' i^ib is here a
noun instead of a verb, and governed of I'l in regimine: " of the
unknown or obscure j" " litem ignotissimi," which is the rendering
of Schultens, and gives us a striking feature in the character of an
upright and impartial judge.

Ver. 17, — tusks — ] In the original Ty^))br^n, a term derived from
an Arabic root, ^Jj promineo ; and hence meaning " projecting
teeth or tusks." Our common version is jaws, from Arias Mon-
tanus, who translates " conterebam ma las f the more general ren-
dering, however, is molares or molas, ''grinders-." tusks, however,
is the proper term : whence Schultens, who correctly follows the
Arabic radical, " Confringebam caninos eminentes injustij" " I
brake the projecting dog-teeth nf the wicked." It is to wild-boars,
and other rapacious beasts armed in a similar manner, that the poet
here boldly but beautifully compares the oppressors of the poor, who
were permitted to flourish in his day.

The following passage, among the Extracts from Ancient Gaelic
Poems, in the possession of the Committee of the Highland Society,
breathes a similar spirit, and is well worthy of a comparison. It has

T 2 been

534 NOTES. Chap. XXIX. 1 8.

been copied by Mr. Macpherson ; but the subjoined version is ren-
dered literally by Dr. Donald Smith :

Oscair! claoidhsa an treun armach,

Thabhair ktearman do'n la'g-lamhach fheumacli, &c.
Oscar ! do thou bend the strong in arms ;

Protect the weak of hand, and the needy.

Be as a spring-tide-stream in winter.

To resist the foes of the people of Fingal :

But like the soft and gentle breeze of summer.

To those who seek thine aid.

So lived the conquering Trenmor ;

Such, after him, was Trathal of victorious pursuits.

Ver. 18, / shall die in my nest^ A proverbial expression un-
questionably, as are those that follow and are connected with it ;
implying, ''I shall die peaceably and quietly at home, surrounded by
my family and domestics." Our own proverbial expression " to
feather one's nest" is derived from the same source, and, so far as it
extends, is significative of the same idea. But the figure is peculiarly
frequent amongst the Hebrew poets. Thus Jeremiah, xlix. l6. which
is closely copied by Obadiah, v. 3, 4.

Thy terribleness, the pride of thine heart, hath deceived thee,

0 thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rocks.
That possessest the height of the hill.

Though thou make thy nest as lofty as the eagle,

1 will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord.

See also the author's translation of the Song of Songs, Idyl III.

Note /.

Homer has a simile drawn from the same source, in his description

of the wounded Diana, II. $. 493.

AaKpv6^(T(Ta c cTTdTa did (j}vy{p, oiars trtXeia,
''H paQi" vT I'jotjKog Koi\)]v clffiirTaro irerpyjv,
^ijpafiov' ovS' apa rij ys dXdjtisvai a'laifxov j/f>',

As when the falcon wings her way above,
To the cleft cavern speeds th' affrighted dove.
Straight to her shelter thus the Goddess flew.
In like manner Spencer, Sonnet Ixxvi.

" Fayre bosome ! fraught with vertues richest tresure,
The NEAST OF LOVE, the lodging of delight.
The bowre of bliss, the paradiee of pleasure," &c.

Ver. 18.

Chap. XXIX. 18, 19. NOTES. 235

Ver. 18. — shall multiply my days as ihe sand^ This, as I have
just observed, is also a proverbial expression of nearly similar impprr.
Thus Gen. xxii. ly.

Blessing I will bless thee,
And multiplying 1 will multiply thy seed.
As the stars of the heavens.
And as the sand upon the sea-shore.
In like manner Gen. xli. 49, " And Joseph gathered corn as the sand
©f the sea, very much, until he left numbering ; for it was num-
berless.

So the words of Apollo :

OW' iyw \pdjiifzov r dpi8f.c6y, Kul fxirpa OaXdfffftjg.
The countless sand I know, and measure of the sea.
But Still more directly to the present point, Ovid, Met. xiv. 135.
— Elige, ait, virgo Cumsea, quid optes :
Optatis potiere tuis. Ego pulveris hausti,
Ostendens cumulura, " quot haberet corpora pulvis,
" Tot mihi natales contingere vana," rogavi.
Ask what thou wilt, Cumsean Fair ! said he.
Thou shalt enjoy thy wish, whate'er it be.
I snatch'd a heap of sand, and said, untold,
" Give me a year for every grain I hold."

Ver. Jg. My root shall spread abroad to the waters.'] This image
is just as proverbial as either of the preceding. The opening of the
first Psalm affords us an elegant and copious example. It is still
common to every part of the East. Thus, in a highly-finished pas-
sage from an unknown writer : 1^^.— Jt\it«g jlvj^ jVsiUli ^^^
A\k3 j\J^ Uj\j i^A^jj CL:j\Jb ^\jjj^\j Jij^- j\Jo cX5l

" Like trees that overshadow the banks of his justice, they flourish richly,
watered by the floods of bounty and liberality ; like flowers in the
rose-garden of his empire, they are impearled with tli£ rain-drops of
his benevolence and condescension."
To the same effect is the very ancient and exquisite Chinese ode,
copied and literally translated into Latin by Sir W. Jones, in bis
Works, vol. II. p. 351. the original of which is to be found in the
book of Confucius, entitled T^ Hlo. The Latin version is as fol-
lows :

Vide

236 NOTES. Chap. XXIX. 20.

Vide illius aquae rivutn

Virides arundines jucundfe luxuriant !

Sec est decorus virtutibus Princeps noster ;

Ceu qui secat, ceu qui limat ebur, ,

Ceu qui radit, ceu qui poiit getnmas,

Elatus ! Sogax ! Celebris !

O quam verendus est decorus virtutibus Princeps !

In finem non ejics possumus oblivisci !

Of which the EngHsh reader may accept of the following vernacular
translation, rendered with equal exactness :

Seest thou yon stream, around whose banks

The green reeds crmvd in joyous ranks ?

In nutrient virtue and in grace.

Such is the Prince that rules our race. —

As the nice artist cuts the gem.

Or turns the ivory's polish'd stem.

Skilful ! and sage ! to aims refin'd

He moulds the heart, and forms the mind :

How throng the virtues round his state !

His name what deathless honours wait !

Ver. 20. J>id my how continue fresh — ] The ancient Arabs, as
■well as many other Eastern people, were accustomed to travel with
their bow and quiver, as a defence against assaults : whence an allu-
sion to this mode of protection became proverbial among them, as
significative of strength or power. Schultens has quoted several
passages in proof of this, from Hariri. The following is far more an-
cient, and is from the Sacontala or Fatal Ring, as translated by Sir
W. Jones. It is thus the faithful Madhavya bemoans the state of
Prince Dushmanta, in Act II. " Oh ! there he is — how changed ! — he
carries a bow, indeed, but wears for his diadem a garland of wood-
flowers." And again. Act V. in which the idea is employed meta-
l)horically and proverbially : " The hermitage has been rendered
secure from evil by the mere sound of his bow-string."

In like manner Filicaja, in his exquisite ode " to the Divine
Majesty:"

Volgomi a te, che sei del mio pensiero
Segno, saetta, e arcicro.

To thee I turn ! who art of all my song
The scope, the shaft, the bowyer, and the bow.

In

Chap. XXIX. 20. N O T E S. 237

In what may be called, comparatively. Modern Arabia, the same
instrument was as generally in the hand, and as frequently made use
of in a metaphorical and proverbial sense, as in ancient Arabia and
Judaea. Thus, according to Asmai, the venerable Hareth, (whose
most excellent verses close theMoallakat, and with deserved warmth
chastises the haughty Amru, who had just recited his poem,) although
a hundred years old,' poured forth his couplets with so much ve-
hemence, that, without perceiving it, he cut his hand with the string
of the how, on which he was leaning, while he spoke.

Ver. 22. After my words, they replied not7\ Or, as Reiske'has
given it, " They repeated not my words after me:" for the passage
M'ill bear either sense ; " Postquam elocutus fuissem, non iterabant
verba mea, ut faciunt aut dedignantes aliqiiid, aut irridentes."
In which case ''iriK is to be regarded as two word«, '•■IHt^. I have
given the former rendering, not only because it is the more common,
but because it afJbrds a more agreeable meaning, and more coinci-
dent with what follows.

Ver. 22. — dropped dow?i upon them.'] Like honey or dew : — for
both metaphors are equally common. Thus Deut. xxxiii. 28.

Then shall Israel dwell only in safety ;

The fountain of Jacob, in a land of corn and wine ;

And his heavens shall drop down dew.

In like manner Drayton, in his Cynthia :

The dew which on the tender grass

The evening had distill'd.
To pure rose-water turned was

The shades with sweets that fiH'd.

See for the rest, Parkhurst, ^\iDj in. and the writer's Sacred Idyls,
So Homer, in describing the eloquence of Nestor, Ihad I'. 24Q.

Tov Kal clird yXoicrffrjg fiiXirog yKvKiuv 'PEEN avli].
Words sweet as honey from his lips distill'd.

In like manner the repentant Madhava to the angelic Eadha, in the
songs of Jayadeva : " O grant me a draught of honey from the lotos
of thy mouth !"

The same figure is given with much spirit in the following (from a
German bard of some celebrity, M, Staudlin) Ode to Sappho:

Eine

233 NOTES. Chap. XXIX. 23, 24.

Eine seele rann mit honig siisse,
Zilrtlithe ! aus jedem deiner kiisse !
Der umermung wonue schien dein wesen,

Glubeiid aufzulosen.
Through all his soul pure honey flow'd.

Voluptuous fair ! with every kiss ;
Nor less thyself with rapture glow'd,

Dissolv'd beneath th' ecstatic bliss.

Ver. 23. — the harvest-rain.'] In the original U^p^D^, from typ^,
*' to crop, gather, or harvest." ^ The rains peculiarly seasonable, and
henc* peculiarly desired by the inhabitants of Syria and Idumaea,
were the spring or growing, and the harvest or swelling and perfect-
ing rain. These rains are hence often denominated, in the Sacred
Scriptures, the early and the latter rain : and the term " latter-rain" is
generally employed, by most translators, in the present passage, in
preference to the direct synonym " harvest- rain." But there is no
reason why the precise idea should not be continued.

Ver. 24. — and they were gay."] Literally, "^ and they were not
stiff, rigid, motionless, immoveable j" that is, "they were altogether
the contrary to this character/' "they were active, lively, gay,
playful:" for the negative is often emp'oyed with peculiar force in
tlie poetry of all languages. In a similar sen&e the same term, 1J''a«%
is Used, Job xxxix. 24. which see, as also the subjoined Note,
pw means also, however, " to be sure, secure, or confident of a
thing}"' and hence " to believe ;" which last is the sense understood
by most of the translators in both these passages, but in both equally
erroneously. Thus our common version, " If I laughed on them,
they believed it not." But what is to be understood by such a ren-
dering ? Every critic has seen and admitted the difficulty, though
none of them have yet adopted the sense now offered in its stead,
which, if I mistake not, is 4,he only correct sense. Tyndal gives us,
" When I laughed, they knew wel it was not earnest." Schultens and
Reiske, " Non securi fient," or " Non eo fiebant securi ;" " I
laughed at them, and they were not confident," i. e. not bold or
audacious. Dr. Stock,

" Ij'l smiled upon them, they were not serious."

The version of Diodati is as follows, " Se io rideva loro, essi
no'lcredevanoj" similar to that of our established lection: and he

thus

Chap. XXIX. 24, 25. NOTES. 239

thus explains it : " Tanta era la mia antoritS, che appena potevano
credere ch' io usassi tanta dimestichezza con loroj" " Such was my
authority, that they scarcely believed I would assent to so much
familiarity with them."

Ver. 24. Jnd rejected not the light of my countenance.'] Jn com-
mon language, " availed themselves of my beoevolent look," Our
standard version is in unison with this rendering, but gives the idea
less clearly : " The light of my countenance they cast not down."
Schultens and Reiske understand by it, " They did not suffer my
dignity or authority to decline ;" " Neque serenitatem (auctoritatem)
vultus mei cadere facient." But this is a remote sense : it is ne-
vertheless that commonly employed and explained. Thus Diodati,
"E non facevano scadere lachiarrezza della mia facciaj" which he
thus interprets, "Non ardivano pero morteggiarmi, o spregiarmi in
alcuna maniera, onde io richevessi alluna vergogna, overo la mia
dignita fosse avvilita j" " They did not dare to humiliate or slight
me in any manner, by which I might be disgraced, or my dignity
degraded."

Ver. 25. / scrutinized their ways, aJid rebuked the lofty.'] The
equivocation of the original, (an equivocation arising from the gene-
ralization and simplicity of its language), admits of various renderings.
The text is as follows :

Our common version is derived from the Septuagint, 'E^eXB^d/xrjy
6S6y avTuv, Kai hdQiaa dp-^uv, which is also copied by Pagninus;
"■ Eligebam viam eorum et sedebam caput." St. Jerom gives us,
*' Si voluisset ire ad eos sedebam primus ;" "Ifl chose to go among
them, I sat chief 5" which is thus copied in the Spanish by Luis de
Leon, " Si caminaba a ellos, me sentaba en cabeza :" though he
adds, " O como el original a la letra, * Elegia su camino dellos, y me
sentaba en cabeza.' " In the Syriac and Arabic we have it, " Et in-
vestigabo vias eorum, et revertar 5" " And I will investigate their
ways, and will go back ;" or " investigated," and " went back."

The rendering of Diodati, like that of De Leon, is copied from
the Vulgate, " iSe m'aggradava d'andar con loro, io sedeva in capo."

None of these appear to me to be perfectly adapted to the origi-
nal : though the Syriac and Arabic make the nearest approach. But

what

340 NOTES. Chap. XXX. 1 .

what are we to go tack to? In the interpretation of Reiske, " to their
beginnings, motives, or first conceptions :" for such he understands to
be the meaning of iy«1, which, in fact, is altogether omitted in the
Syriac and Arabic. " Scrutabar (says he) ipsorum viam, mores, usauE

AD FUNDUM EUNDo, reccssus et plicas omnes excutiendo: jS\'A

I am not quite satisfied with this interpretation. ^H'2, which in its
first sense means " to behold or mark critically," may mean also
" to choose or select." I have in this instance adopted its
primary sense with the Syriac and Arabic, and with Reiske : but
here I leave all the commentators. Ityw, in the present translation
rendered '' I repressed," is derivable either from ity or from !iu?\
If from itl^, it may imply the idea expressed in the Syriac and Ara-
bic, in Reiske, or in the present version ; for it will then signify " to
turn or turn over, to turn back, aside, or away/' and hence " to
repulse, repress, rebuke, or reject j" which last is the direct mean-
ing of the term in Arabic ; and there can be little doubt that it is
here used in an Arabic sense, or rather as an Arabic word; for
t.,^ is, literally, " conviciare," "■ secare," " resecare," " maledi-
cerej" " to rebuke, reproach, cut up, cut to the quick, or revile."
If the term be derived from Sty", it will import " to sit or take pos-
session of a seat," as in our common version. Of these senses every
one, I think, must prefer the former, as offering a more distinct idea ;
while, as it has appeared to me that WHI, in direct connection with
it, is intentionally opposed to Curij'' at the close of the verse, I have
rather chosen to render it generally, " the lofty," " uppermost,"
" forward," or " proud," than individually " chief," as in the greater
number of the versions. ti?«'n is also an Arabic word /oil. (^«*),
and is used almost all over the East, and especially on both sides of
the Arabian Gulph, where ^ . (ras) is well known to import " a
man of eminence, a leader, ruler or governor."

CHAP. XXX.

Ver, 1, — inock at 7ne.'] The Hebrew ipntl^ implies equally,
" sneer, mock, or laugh at." Sneer is the least significant of these,
but nevertheless best agrees with the term n!?^, "crabbed looks," 'm
the ensuing verse.

Ver. 1.

Chap. XXX. 1,2. NOTES. 341

Ver. 1. — dogs of my flock.'] So in the poem of Amru, the sixth of
the Moaliakat :

" We were so disguised in our armour, that the dogs of the tribe snarled at
us : yet we stripped the branches from every thorny tree {everi/ armed
warrior) that opposed us."
In like manner Abner, 2 Sam. iii. 8. " Am I a dog s-head, that
thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman r"

Ver. 2, Yet what to me is the value of their taunts'] The Hebrew
ni (coh) is perfectly synonymous with the Latin valor, which we
render equally "valour or value :" the latterj, in the present case, is
the most obvious meaning, though the former is that generally pre-
ferred by the translators, from their not having understood the author's
real meaning. ''T is usually rendered hands, and will certainly bear
such a rendering, if it would give us any sense. It only denotes
hands, however, in a secondary and subordinate signification : for the
radical T* means " to cast, thrust or throw forth," " to sally forth,"
" to project 3" and hence, as a substantive, " a cast, throw, or sally,"
" a gibe, scoff, or taunt," which is doubtless the meaning of the
term in the present place : " Of what weight or value to me are
their throtvs, sallies, or taunts, &c."

Ver. 2. With tvhom cralhed looks are perpetual, ")
From hunger and Jlinty famine? J

Reiske is the only commentator who has entered into the real mean-
ing of this couplet, which, instead of being Hebrew, is pure genuine
Arabic, and can only give a clear meaning as Arabic : for though
most of the terms are Hebrew or Arabic convertibly, several of them
are Arabic alone; and hence the supposed obscurity of the passage,
and the prodigious varieties of its rendering.

In the Hebrew text it occurs thus :

iinbj fQsm ^onn
in all the renderings of which, except that of Reiske, the first mis-
take is that of separating the two lines of the distich from each other,
and transferring the latter to the third verse. In this form it is ren-
dered in our common lection, which is that of Piscator, and most of
the translators :

In whom old age was perished.
?>. For want and famine they were solitary.

In

342 NOTES. Chap. XXX. 2.

In the same form, Schultens and Grey make it,

" Super ipsis periit decrepitus oris rictus.
3. In vastjtate, et inedia, durus silex."

Upon them the decrepit wrinkling of the mouth had perished :

In desolation and want, a rigid flint.
The former part of which, Scott, understanding the passa^ in the
same sense, explains by adding " who were grown old in pro-
fligacy," i. e. " in whom old age is profligate."

Diodatl renders the whole passage thus, " E certo, che m'hav-
rebbe giovata la forza delle loro mani ? Essi non potevano diventar
vecchi — 3. Per cagione della necessita e della fame ;" " And truly
what would tlie strength of their hands have availed me ? They are
not able to grow old — 3. By reason of necessity and hunger."

The Syriac and Arabic give us, " Consumpta est omnis celsi-
tudo," " All loftiness is perished." The Septuagint, not widely dif-
ferent,'Ett' or i/rov\- aVwAtro en- vrrXfj a, "In them all perfection has
perished." St. Jerom, " Vita ipsa putabantur indigni," " They are
held unworthy of life itself." De Dieu, " Super ipsis periit clamor,"
i. e. " Frustra eos inclamassem 3" '' Upon them exclamation has
perished," i. e. " In vain should I exclaim to them." Lastly, Dr.
Stock gives us,

" Over them old age had spread the wing.

3. Men who through want and through famine, &c."
But it is useless to point out these variations any farther. It is
only necessary to put the very same passage, almost without (he alte-
ration of a letter, into Arabic ; when the obscurity, which such a pro-
digious variety of renderings shows clearly to exist, will at once
vanish, and the whole become equally perspicuous and forcible :

^ J0I ^^

The passage thus exhibited runs literally as above.

With whom crahbed looks are perpetual.
From hunger and flinty famine.
The chief difficulty among prior interpreters is, in not knowing
the real import of liN or Jul, which in Hebrew means " to perish
or to be lost," " to pervert or become corrupt :" but which in Ara-

bic (jaVpro i^AS) implies, as'a verb, ceternare, " to become perma-
nent, perpetual, or eternal 3" "^to eternize:" as a substantive,

ceternitas,

I

Chap. XXX. 3. NOTES, 343

teternitas, sceculum. ; and as an adjective, sempiternus, "everlasting,
perpetual." Whence J\j 'i\ j^J {ebedcl abad) is the common
phrase, even in the present day, for " in scecula sceculorum ; in
ceiernum ;" " from everlasting to everlasting."

n!?3 is altogether an Arabic word, and is no where to be found in
the Hebrew scriptures, except in the book before us. In Arabic
nb^ or _.^ (kulah) is peculiarly forcible, and embraces the three

ideas of wanness, crabbedness, and wrinkles ; luror, ireXiovort]^ :
and hence, as a substantive, it is often employed to express old age,
and occasionally a barren year ; while, as a verb, it imports " to be
of a crabbed, wan, and wrinkled countenance ;" " austero et tetrico
vultu esse 5" and in building, " to whiten or pale-face a wall." In
the passage before us, it means, obviously, " sour, wrinkled, and
crabbed looks," or "a crabbed and cynic face :" and directly refers
to the act of mocking or sneering, mentioned in the preceding verse.
The sarcasm 'is peculiarly strong and pungent ; and especially if
we conceive, as is highly probable, that many of the wretches
alluded to were present at the time of its being uttered.

'TiD!?J,or, in Arabic characters, Jj^^ls- J>/«L>" (gelmed or gelmud), is
also a mere Arabic word, in which language it implies '' a large
stone or flint, a barren rock 5" and figuratively, a miser, vir durus,
"a hard or flinty man." See Notes on ch. iii. y, and xv, 34, in
which the same term is made use of. The word is scarcely to be
found, in the Hebrew Scriptures, out of the book of Job. In our
common version it is rendered solitary, for which there is no
authority. Scott and Dr. Stock regard it merely as a superlative
adverb: hence the former translates the' phrase IID^pj JQ!:! ''in ex-
treme famine," while the latter drops it altogether, and merely
writes " through famifie."

Ver. 3. — yesterday — ] U^D«. So the Septuagint uniformly, cydcg 5
and so our common version, 2 Kings ix. 26. In the present passage,
however, the same version gives " in former time," far less forcibly
as well as less correctly. Schmidt paraphrases the passage tiMlty tl^DK
but not correctly, '' quibus nox praeterita/wi^ inquieta &c."

Ver. 3. — gnawers of the desert."] Our standard lection renders
the substantive Oip'ijJ " fleeing into," i. e. " who were fleers intoj"
but the real meaning is as here given, and as, indeed, it is in like manner

given

34-1 NO-TES- Chap. XXX. 4, 5.

given by all the modern translators. The word plH^ is also Arabic, and
is only to be met with in the present chapter, in which it occus in
V. 1/, as well as in the passage before us. In Arabic, (^'-c) as
Schultens has justly observed, it means expressly " io gnaw, '• ro-
derej" and the comparion is to famished ferocious beasts, vora-
ciously gnawing whatever refuse they may chance to find in the
desert,

Ver. 5. — nettles — ] It is uncertain what is meant by the origi-
nal term m^O: in Hebrew, in Chaldee, and in Syriac, the word im-
plies a brackish or salt- tasted plant j for Th'O in Hebrew, 'AThi:^ in

a-
Chaldee, and l^^^io in Syriac, are equally salt. Buxtorf, however,

expressly tells us that hl^D in Chaldee is urtica, " a nettle ■" and
it is upon his authority, chiefly, that I have so rendered it. The real
plant, however, is perhaps a species of salsola or salt-wort; and the
term ciXij-ia, employed in the Greek versions, gives additional coun-
tenance to this conjecture. The salsola, saltwort, or kali, is, in mo-
dern botany, an extensive genus of plants, comprising not less than
two or three and twenty different species, of which some are her-
baceous, and others shrubby ; several of them common to Asia, ard
not a few indigenous to a dry sandy soil. They have all a saline and
bitter taste.

The general meaning may be compared with the following
couplet of a free translator of TibuUus, lib. i. el. 5. in the Censor,
vol. III. No. 88.

" May she the bitter pangs of hunger feel,

Rob dog-kennels, and graves, to make a meal !"

Ver. 5. — furxe-roots — ] It is probable that the poet uses the
terms "nettles or salt- worts, and furze- roots," as a metonymy, to im-
port the meanest and most impoverished weeds of the waste. Dn'n
(retain) is an Arabic term, Jij and Iajj (retain and retamah),
signifying generally those kinds of plants which in modern botany are
known by the names of spartium, genista, ulex ; " broom, green-
wood, furze, gorse, whin," In consequence of the settlement of
one of the most powerful of the Arab dynasties in Spain, under the
name of the Western Caliphat, this term, in conjunction with a great
many others, has become incorporated into the Spanish tongue ; and
hence retdma is still the general Spanish term for all this family of

plants J

Chap. XXX. 5, 6. NOTES. 343

plants ; as retdmal is for a heath or sward that is overgrown with
them. Some of these are low, and others much loftier shrubs : a
few capable of affording a tolerable shade from the rays of the sun,
by sitting under their branches.

The following passage from Lucan bears a striking resemblance to
the present description, lib. vi.

cernit miserabile vulgus

In pecudum cecidisse cibos, et carpere dumos,
Et morsu spoliare nemus.

he marks the wretched throng,

Sei2e food for cattle, crop the prickly briar.
And fell the grove with gnawing.

Ver. 5. They slunk away — ] In the original liJ'l', in Arabic
r)^\y subrepserunt, " they slunk or stole away privily :" the
term, as Reiske has already observed, is usually applied to this action
in the fox, or other crafty animal. Thus Par. Lost :

" He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk
Into the wood fast by."

The real meaning of the term has not been understood} and hence
the period has been obliged to be cut off by a parenthesis, and still
eked out by one or two interpolations. " They were driven forth
from society/ (tliey, i. e. men, cried after them, as after a thief,) to
dwell, &c." This awkwardness of translation proceeds from under-
standing li^'i'T' as a Hebrew word, (in which language it unques-
tienably may import " they cried out,") instead of as an Arabic term.

Ver. 6. To dwell in the fearfulness of the steeps, "I
In dens of the ground, and in caveryis. J

I have given the couplet verbally and literally. For " fearfulness of
the steeps," the common reading is '^clifts of the valleys j" and a
very general one, " clifts of the torrents." XT))) has no such mean-
ing as clifts, otherwise than as such places are places of fear or ter-
ror. As a verb, pi? means "to terrify, shake or agitate;" and
hence, as a substance, " terror, fear, fearfulness," and, perhaps,
" place of fear or horror," from depth or darkness. So Lucre-
tius, in. 28.

Hiis ibi me lebus quasdam divina voluptas
Percipit atque horror : quod sic natura, t\xk vi
Tarn manifesta patens, ex omni parte retecta est.

On

346 NOTES. Chap. XXX. 7.

• On these vast themes,

As deep I ponder, a sublime delight,

A sacred horror sways me; Nature thus,

By thy keen skill, through all her depths unveiled.

This union of ideas is common among the Italian poets. Every
reader knows the beautiful soliloquy of Guarini, that commences.

Care selvi beati,

E voi solinghi, e taciturni orrori,

Di repose e di pace alberghi veri, &c.

Sweet, blissful shades !

And you, ye silent solitary horrors !

Of peace and rest true mansions.——
Not widely different Mr. Pope,

" Her gloomy presence saddens all the scene.
Shades every flower, and darkens every green ;
^ Deepens the murmur of the falling flood,

And breathes a browner horror o'er the wood."
Schultens very judiciously translates the passage before us, " In
TREMENDO valllum." But tzibm means something more than
valleys ; and rather denotes the precipitous hollows that are scooped
in the earth by sudden and irresistible deluges. The whole passage
admirably comports with the following of Addison : " We had on
each side naked rocks, and mountains broken into a thousand irre-
gular steeps and precipices."

tD"'Li3, here rendered "caverns," is usually rendered "rocks:"
yet there is no authority for this last sense. riQD implies " to bend,
curve or hollow out:" whence the substantive is always employed to
express " caves, caverns, hollows." Tyndal has given a spirited ver-
sion of the passage : " Their dwelling was beside foule brokes (tzi^nj
torrents); yee, in the caves and dennes of the erth." The general
passage may be compared with the following beit, with which the
beautiful poem of Tarafa, the second of the Moallakat, commences:

" The mansion of Kaula is desolate ; and its traces on the stony hills of
Tahmed shine faintly."

Ver. 7- Under the briars did they huddle together."] Such is the
just and forcible rendering of Dr. Stock. Why Junius, and Tre-
mellius.and Piscator, should translate MlH by " urtica," and our own
common lection, after them, by " nettle," I know not." In almost
'*very other place in which the word occurs, it is uniformly rendered,

as

Chap.XXX. 8, 11. NOTES. a47

as it ought to be, " thorns/' " brambles," " briars." See Prov.xxiv.31.
The version of Junius and Trenaellius is doubly erroneous j for it
not only gives us urtica, but " sub urtica pungelantur" " they vv^ere
stung under a nettle." In the Chaldee ':;'n. Noldius, spina, " thorn
or bramble." To the same effect Aben-Ezra, mn : nor widely dif-
ferent R. Levi, tzi'Vlp. The Zurich version gives "paliuvus^" holly.
The German and Dutch as our own.

Ver. 8. A breed of churls ! yea, a breed of infamy, \

Scourged out of the land. J

Such is the literal rendering. In Dr. Stock it occurs thus :
" Sons of confusion ! yea, sons of the nameless !
They were whipped out of the country."
The latter verse of the couplet is correctly rendered, but somewhat
too colloquially. " Sons of confusion " is only to be obtained by
changing the text from !?13 '31 to bin '31, as it occurs, indeed, in one
copy : but the variation is unnecessary. " Sons of the nameless," or
" a breed without a name," is literal: but as tDW means not only
"name," but "fame, renown, reputation," in a good sense;
t3U^ 'bl, or tZiUf with a negative, means rather, in the present place,
" infamous," than " nameless :" and hence, in Schukens, is ren-
dered " iilii infames," and, in our common version, " children of
iase men." Ezek. xxxvi. 3. affords us a passage strikingly parallel :
Ye are taken up in the lips of talkers.
And are an infamy of the people.

Ver. g. But now am I become their song, •)

And serve them for a Lye-word. S
Thus the Alcoran, probably copying the passage before us, Sur.
Ixxxiii. 18. " They who act wickedly, laugh the true believers to
scorn ; and when they turn aside to their companions, they turn
aside making scurrilous jests."

Ver. 11. Behold ! they loosen — ] The supposed difficulty of this
verse proceeds solely from the ") at the end of nJiQ being misplaced,
and united to the verb that follows, so as to make it a conjunction
instead of a plural termination. The common reading runs thus :

nnQ iin' 'i

instead of which it should run as follows, the plural 1 in 'ijy being
purposely dropped -, innQ ^1tV '1

'J3i?'

y Literally,

348 NOTES. Chap.XXX. 11.

Literally,

Behold tbey loosen my curb, (my check-string,)
They humble xAe.

In consequence of this error in the conimon reading, the transla-
tors have not been able to settle to whom the verb relates} and while
some have supplied thie noun Deus (God), others (as Schultens and
Grey) have supplied quisque (everyone).

For " curb," " check-string," or " restraint," Mr. Parkhurst pro-
poses " low-string" i. e. " God hath loosened my bow-string ;"
while the Septuagint reads quiver, as follows :

'Aj'ot'^ac ydp (j)apLTpr)i> avrov, cKaKutri /biB,
Kat vaXtrSy Tov irporrwirov fxov c^airifTreiXev.

Whence St. Jerom, in the Vulgate,

Pharetrara enira suam aperuit, et afflixit me,
Et frasnum posuit in os meum.
For opening his quiver, he hath afflicted me.
And put a bridle in my mouth.

But this is to couple two distinct metaphors, between which there is a
total want of congruity ; as also to reduce, without any authority,
the plural verb in the latter member of the sentence to a verb singu-
lar. Tyndal has freed himself from the first objection in the follow-
ing manner, though the second still continues in force :

" For the Lord hath opened his quiver.
He hath hytt me, &c."

Reiske, who is the only interpreter that has hitherto given the proper
reading of the original, proposes,

Ecce funem meum laxe fecerunt,

Obversantur mihi infrenes.

Behold ! they have loosened my curb.
They rush against me.

The translators of our common version, in giving us ''They also
let loose the bridle," seem to have read inbtu by mistake for )Hbm.

The metaphor is common to every language. Thus Hariri, as
quoted by Schultens, ii, 694.

Et funem habenae meae in gibbum rejiciens,
Viam sequor nutantium in religione.
And throwing wide the bridle of restraints,
I follow men half sinners and half saints.

So

Chap. XXX. 12, 13. NOTES. 349

So in our own tongue,

" with a strong aud yet a gentle hand,

You bridle faction, and our hearts command." Waller.

" rash and unbridled boy !

To fly the favours of so good a king." Shakspeare.

The general passage is closely copied by the Psalmist, lxix.8 — 21.

Ver. 12. On the right rise up the younglings.^ This verse has been
supposed to be clogged with difficulties, and such as Reiske conceives
can only be surmounted by altering almost every word in the entire
triplet. The translation now offered is literal ; and if perspicuous, as
I trust it is, will show that these difficulties are merely ideal, and
arise from a want of duly comprehending the original. The term
" rush into,"(inbty) in its primary sense, means " they cast or dart
into." — "ibD'i is literally " they heap up," and is thus rendered by
Schultens, "^aggerarunt super me 3" "they multiply or redouble"
is perhaps rather more conspicuous, but the first may be employed, if
the reader prefer it. — tiTK mm«, "their rude inroads," is in our
common version rendered " the ways of their destruction j" in
Schultens, " their mischievous or pernicious ways," " vias suas
perniciosas." — ■l"'t< is certainly employed at times to signify affliction
generally ; but its primary sense, as Mr. Parkhurst has justly ob-
served, is " violence or impetuosity ;" whence, as an adjective, I pre-
fer the signification of " rude, insolent, violent, impetuous," in the
present passage, to any other.

Ver. 13. They tear up my pathway 1 In the original IDDi
^niTli ; in which IDDl (netesu), " they demolish," is a term directly
Arabic, though not hitherto pointed out as such by the commenta-
tors, and occurs no where else throughout the whole Hebrew scrip-
tures. In Arabic it is found under two forms, i^'Sj (netech), and
ijjju (netes), both equally denoting " to tear up," " pluck up," or
"tear to pieces 5" and both peculiarly applying to the pulling to
pieces of their meat by birds of prey : " Trahere mordendo, ac vellere
carnem; vellere et carper e accipitrem carnem rostro suo," Gol.

Ver. 13. Not an adviser amongst them.'] Or, " Not a helper
amongst them :" but this last is equivocal ; for it may refer either to

y 2 the

350 NOTES. Chap. XXX. 14, 15.

the patriarch himself, or to the insolent rabble that assaulted him. In
the first of these senses, the Vulgate seems to hare rendered it,

Et non fuit qui ferret auxilium.
In the last sense, Junius and Tremellius, and Piscator :

Nemine opem ferente ipsis ;
or, in the paraphrastic translation of Tyndal, " It was so easy for
them to do me harme, that they needed no helper." '^"li?, in its primary
meaning of " to aid, help, or assist," may either mean " to further
or forward," or " to succour or remedy," ministro, administro ;
" to assist by counsel, or advise." Our own term " to abet" implies
both these senses ; and though now only used in a bad signification,
was formerly employed also in a good one. Thus Spencer, in his
Fairy Queen, B. i,

" Then shall I soon, quoth he, return again,
^bet this virgin's cause disconsolate.
And shortly back return."

Ver. 14. — a tumultuous ruin ^ In the original, rrwtt^ nnft: i^
which nnn is not a preposition, " in the desolation," as rendered ir
our established version 3 or " under the ruin," as given by Dr|
Stock, but a substantive, of the same meaning as the univocal Arabia
er^-o^" ruina. In the common Spanish version, which is mere
paraphrase, " por ini calamidad," " on account of my affliction.'^
Luther gives, " Sind ohne ordnung daher gefallen," as widely fror
the mark. The Zurich translation, " Irruunt ut latum flumen rup-
tis aggeribus, et impetu convolvunt sej" " They rush on as a broac
flood with broken banks, and impetuously roll together."

Ver. 15, The turn is come.'] Literally, "It is turned round j"j
i. e. " It is at last my turn." So ch. iv. 5.
But the turn is now thine own.

The reader may advantageously consult the Note upon this last
passage, which will show the idea to be common, and even prover-
bial. The term in the original is '']ti'n'n, a verb, signifying rotation
or a turning round, and here used impersonally, as in Isaiah Iviu
ty^li " there is no hope," or " it is desperate." So Schultens, whc
is the only writer that has fairly entered into the grammatical con-
struction of the passage: " Eversio facta — super rae Dirse."

The

Chap.XXX. 15. NOTES. 351

The common interpretation supposes mn!?;!, " destructions " or
" terrors/' to be the nominative both to '1i:il^^T^ " to turn round/'
and >TTnn " to chase or pursue." But it is sufficient to observe, that
, while the substantive is a plural feminine, the first of the two verbs
is a singular masculine, and the second a singular feminine ; and
although, according to the peculiar genius of the Arabic tongue, a
feminine noun plural may concord with a verb singular, yet there
seems to be no necessity for having recourse to this anomaly in the
present instance 3 nor for suspecting, with Grey, an error in the first of
the two verbs, and so reading isann instead of ^Qnn j nor for alter-
ing the passage still more extensively, as Reiske has done. The sense
and grammar are both perfect in the construction now offered.

Ver. 15. — Destructions — ] The Hebrew mn!?! is usually ren-
dered " Terrors j" but this is not its fair meaning, the term (which
is plural) signifying rather dissolutions or absolute annihilations, than
terrors. Schultens, as I have just observed, translates it Dirce ; but
this term would perhaps rather apply to tzi'^noa than to Jiin^i, the
former of which terms occurs ch. xxxiii. 22. to the Note upon which
the reader may turn.

Ver. 15. My nolility — ] In the original Tii'iJ j for a further
illustration of which, see Note on ch. xii. 21. ''My noble nature,
that dignified and exalted inspiration which I have received from the
Almighty." In our common version it is rendered, but rather
inferentially than directly, my soul; by Schultens, " generosiim meum
spiritumi' by Scott, my " princely dignity/' by Miss Smith, who
has given the whole sentence very excellently :

" My dignity is chased away like the wind."
Nobility, however, is a term more true to the original than dignity.
So Dryden :

" They thought it great their sovereign to controul,
And nam'd their pride nolility of soul."
It is used in the same sense, though the sense is ludicrously applied,
in Shakspeare,

** Betwixt the wind and his nobility "

Dr. Stock, for '•nilJ, " my nobility," reads, after one or two MSS.
'fii'ini, "my paths/' but the authorities are not sufficient to justify
such a change in the text j and one, moreover, which is altogether

unnecessary.

352 NOTES. Chap.XXX. 16— 18.

unnecessary, f]1in " is chased" is a feminine verb singular, and
can in no sense agree with the plural mnbl, " terrors or destruc-
tions." By regarding it in Niphal conjugation, or the passive voice,
instead of in Kal, or the active, T\T\'i {nobility) becomes decisively its
nominative case, and every difficulty is removed. Tyndal has well
rendered the whole,

" Myne honoure vanysheth away more swyftly thau wind ;
And my prosperite departeth hence, like as it were a cloude."
Diodati gives us " perseguitano la mia magnificenza come il
ventOj" explaining magnificenza, however, by the word soul:
" L'anima mia," says he, "cosi e chiamata I'anima, dell' huomo la
gloria sua ;" " The soul is here called magnificence, because it is^
the glory of man."

Ver. 1 6. Even now is my soul dissolved throughout me.] Literally, i
"over me," i. e. " all over me." So Lucretius, elegantly, vi. 1154.
Atque animi prorsus vires totius, et omne
Languebat corpus, leti jam limine in ipso.

■ ' ■ — every power
Fail'd through the soul ; the body — and alike
Lay they liquescent at the gates of death.

Ver. 17. My flesh — ] In the original ^DVi?, " the flesh, or sub-
stance of the body," rather than the bones, as rendered in our com-
mon version.

Ver. 17. My gnawings — ] Or, as Parkhurst proposes, ''gnaw-
ing pains," ''pli^. The former is most literal, and perhaps most
correct. The term occurs, and is rendered in the same sense,
inv. 3. of the present chapter. It does not appear to mean the|
odTOKoiroL or doraXytat, (ostocopi — ostalgice,) " bone-pains," or
" bone-aches," of nosologists, but bitings or corrosions of the skin,
from the sharpness of the ichor secreted. In Chaldee and Syriac,i
pli^j instead of " gnawing," means flying, wandering, fugitive ; in
which sense the term might be rendered " my flying or wandering^
pains." It is hence thab the Septuagint has made it vevpa fiov/
" my sinews," as it is copied into our English version ; and Pisca-
tor, arterice mece, " my arteries 3" from the mazy and mcandring'
course of these organs. But this is a very remote sense.

Ver. 18. From the abundance of the acrimony — ] i. e. " of the

fierce

Chap. XXX. 18. NOTES. 353

fierce or acrimonious humoiuv," d^up, 'X'^P' sf^fii^^- ^^> impetus,
violentia, force, fierceness, violence, acrimony. So Lucretius,
vi. 1266.

Languida semianimo cum corpore membra videres,

Horrida psdore, et pannis cooperta, perire

Corporis inluvie.

Their languid limbs, already half extinct.

Horrid with fetor, stiff with blotches foul.

With rags obscene scarce covered.
So in the book before us, ch. vii. 5.

Worms and the imprisoning dust already cover my flesh.

My skin is become stiffened and corrupt.

The entire image is directly Oriental. Thus in a very beautiful Per-
sian poem quoted by Sir W. Jones, vol. I. p. 224. where the reader
will meet with the original :

" Madness had fixed her abode on his head ; he was clothed, as with a vest,

with the tvounds of ulceration.
" His locks flowed, like a mantle, over his body : his only sandals were the

callus of his feet.
"In his hair stuck a comb of Arabian thorns ; a robe of bvst from the
desert covered his back."

The same figure is often used in an 'opposite sense. Thus, in Ebn
Arabshah's beautiful and brilliant history of Timur :

jjAs- ^Jx- J'lJjJl t-^y M^Az. JU^S\ JJUJ

" Grace round them flung the vest of sport and joy."

But the real sense has not hitherto been understood ; and hence a
variety of renderings has been offered, equally different from each
other, and from the actual meaning. In our common lection it is
given, " By the great force ofwy disease is my garment changed j"
which Diodati, adopting the same interpretation, thus explains : " La
mia vesta ha mutato colore, essendo tutta sozza di sangue, e di marcia
delle mie ulceri oride mi s'attaca addosso ;" " My garment is changed
in colour, by being made foul with blood, and the discharge from my
sores j whence I am thrown on my back, without a power of mo-
tion." Here, however, U^Qh is not in Niphal, but in Hithpael, U^ann'',
and hence implies not merely a passive signification, but reflected
action : while 11 is not an adnoun, but a substantive in regimen ;
not "by great," but ''by" or " from the greatness or abundance
of." Mr. Parkhurst, giving a different turn to tyan, renders the

passage.

354 NOTES. Chap. XXX. 19.

passage, " With great force must my garment be stripped off,"
which conveys at best a very feeble idea ; while Reiske, not being
able to satisfy himself with any signification that occurred to him,
according to his usual custom, has altered the original text : and for
115, here rendered acrimony, writes WT\2, atrophy, emaciation,
^tyrri l^l " per magnitudinem maciei mei," " from the extent
(abundance) of my emaciation." The reader, if I mistake not, will
see that there is no necessity for a change so totally unauthorized.

•
Ver. 19. It hath set me up for corruption, "»

And I am made a bye-word, ^c— f

The passage has never yet been understood, "lan, which means mud
or jnire, and is commonly rendered so in the present place, means
"filth, foulness, dirt, or corruption of any kind." nin, which in
our common version, and indeed in most other versions, is rendered
" to cast," (projecit, Pagn. and Schultens,) means " to raise or set
up," "to elevate or make lofty j" whence Irt, as a noun, implies
" a hill, mountain, or harrow .-" and it has only been made to sig-
nify projicio, or " to cast," in order to obtain a sense for the word
mud or mire ; for " he (or it) hath cast me into the mire " is cer-
tainly sense, though it is not a translation of the original text. Miss
Smith has boldly given the term its proper meaning ; but having con-
tinued the mistaken signification of lOH {7nud or mire), though she
has given a literal rendering, she has not given an obvious sense.
Her translation is as follows :

" He hath set me upright in the mud."
The intention of the patriarch is clear ; and it is put beyond all doubt
by the latter member of the verse, " I am set up, as a monument of
corrupilon J I am made a bye-word, like the common phrase ' rfM5<
and ashes.' " So Dr. Young,

" Man's proudest story ends in * here he lies ! '
And * dust to dust ' concludes his noblest song."
How it comes to pass that the verb bmnnw (generally rendered /
am made, or I am lecome — factus sum) should have been so little
understood in the passage before us, I cannot account for. bt^O is a
frequent term, employed in the poem before us, and throughout the
Hebrew scriptures generally, to express " a proverb," " parable,"
"bye- word," or " common saying;" and hence, as a verb in Hithpael,
it must necessarily mean (not simply / am made or I am lecome, for
this is in no respect the sense of t^e word, but) " I am made or

become

Ghap.XXX.so. notes. 355

become a proverb or bye-word ;" '*^Iam proverbialized or bye-
worded ;" " cessi in proverbium," as Reiske has rightly rendered it,

though he has unnecessarily altered *3nn into 'Jin, ^^_J-JJJk " De-
turbavit me cum fragore, ut veterem ruinosum murum a fulmine
tactum."

This declaration appears to have been predictive, perhaps pro-
phetical; for the dreadful disease with which the patriarch was
afflicted, seems to have been referred to, either in a comparative or
metaphorical sense, by most of the subsequent writers among the
Hebrews. It is probable that the Psalmist had his eye directed to
it when composing Ps. Ixxvii. and especially xxxviii. 1 — 11. and
xli, 7,8,9. So Isaiah i. 6.

From the sole of the foot, even unto the head,

There i^ no soutidness in it :

But wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.

With the passage before us may be pertinently compared the follow-
ing couplet, quoted by TuUy from an ancient poet :

Quid petam praesidt, aut exequar .' quove nunc
Applicem ? quo recedam ? arce et urbe orba sum.
Where shall I hide ? to whom make known my lot ?
What desert seek ? by God and man forgot.

Ver, 20, 1 persevere, hut thou loosest on upon me.'] I have given the
original literally, and in its verbal order. iaj> means " to persevere
or continue," as it does also " to stay, stand, or subsist :" the former
appears to me the more apposite sense. pS, from p, imports " to
look at, or take notice of or consider 3" and in Hithpael, as in the
present place (pinn), " to deliberate, pause, or look on j" " to be-
hold without acting;" "to be an idle or unconcerned spectator."
" Tanquam territus aut iratus aut abominans, aliquot quasi passus re-
trocedis," as Reiske explains it ; " As though alarmed, angry, or ab-
horrent, thou recoilest a few steps, as it were." The translators, in-
attentive to the peculiar sense of the term in its actual modification,
have been obliged to supply a negative to give the passage a meaning.
Thus St. Jerom, " Sto, et non respicis me ;" whence our own
established version, " I stand up, and thou regardest me not^ So'
the Spanish of De Leon, " Vocee, y no me respondiste ; estoy, y ad-
vertiste ^ mi." " Entiendese," (continues the commentator), " y
no advertiste a mi ; porque segun la coshimhre de la Icngua primera,

sr

356 NOTES. Chap. XXX. 21,22.

se repite en elfin la negacion del principio ;" " Because, according to
the custom of the primaeval tongue, the negation of the beginning is
repeated towards the close."

For '•mni?, " I stand or persevere," tlie Arabic and Syriac read
rr\D)i, " thou standest or perseverest 3" which is also the lection of
one Hebrew MS. Whence Dr. Stock, omitting the usually sup-
plied negation:

" Thou standest, aad takest note of me."

But I tmst that the sense now given shows sufficiently that there is no
reason for deviating from the common text. Schultens gives us,
" Insto, tu autem lentus inspicis in mej" " I persevere, but thou art
slow in looking towards me."

Ver. 21. — thou Ireakest me to pieces.'] Snch is the real meaning

of 'iDtOiyn, in Arabic v^JuaJ : properly rendered by Reiske,

" Conquassas me, ut oUariifictilem," " Thou breakest me to pieces, as
a potter's vessel." In the Spanish of De Leon, " Me haces guerra"
" Thou makest war against me." But this is not the exact sense.

Miss Smith, ingeniously, but I think without sufficient reason,
renders the present and the ensuing verse interrogatively •

" Wilt thou turn to be cruel to me ?

In the strength of thy hand wilt thou oppose me ? &c."

Ver. 22. Thou tossest me into the whirlwind^ The imagery of
this verse is highly beautiful and appropriate. The pati'jarch com-
pares himself to a straw or gossamer, or other light substance thrown
into a whirlwind, driven about in every direction, and frittered away
to nothing by its violence. The phrase " to ride on the air," or
''on the whirlwind," is common to the poets of all countriej.
Thus Zephyr, in the Phoenissa of Euripides, is said,

tTTTTCvsiv iv ovpavu,

to ride through ether.

In like manner Horace, Od. iv. 4. ♦

£urus

Per Siculas equitavit undas.

— ' — o'er the Sicilian waves
So Eurus rides.

And among our own poets, Milton :

" They ride the air in whirlwind."

Thus

C-HAP. XXX. 23, 24. NOTES. 357

Thus, too, in Mr. Addison's very admirable simile of the angel exe-
cuting the commands of the Almighty :

" Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm."
To which I may add the following exquisitely bold and spirited
imagery from the pen of Tabat Skerra :

Unarm'd, he rode upon the back of Rum.

Ver.23. 'Behold! — ] For this meaning of the Hebrew '•5, see
Note on ch. iii. 24.

Ver. 23. — Iring me to death.'] The passage may also be rendered,
" make me dwell in or inhabit death ;" or, " bring death to or upon
mej" according as we derive l''tyn from iU^ or Ity, or make it
govern the substantive death, or the pronoun me.

Ver. 24. — into the sepulchre — ] In the original ''i)l, " into the
burial hillock, barrow, or excavated rock ernployed as a sepulchre."

Ver. 24. Surely, there, in its ruin, is freedom?^ Literally, but in
the order of the words, " Surely, in its ruin, there {at least) is free-
dom j" or, if ^iQ be derived from niE3, instead of from 15,' " Surely
there, in its boundary, is freedom." The difference is not essential ;
but the former sense is perhaps the most correct, and certainly the
most forcible.

Yet the passage has never been understood j and hence every
commentator has given a different, and at the same time, if I mistake
not, a wrong sense. Our common version is, " though they cry in
their destruction ;" which, although sanctioned by several of the
Latin translations, offers no clear sense ; and at the same time sup-
presses a part of the text, for '(rh (in the present version rendered
there, ilkic) is totally omitted. To accommodate to the English
reader the difference between the two versions, it is only necessary
to observe, that the Hebrew )iW, in the present, and various other
translations, regarded as a noun, and in the established lection as a
plural verb of the third person, in its original signification means
" to free, open, or liberate," or " freedom, liberation, or deli-
verance ;" and hence, in a secondary signification, " freedom of
voice," or " to have the voice free j" and hence *' to cry out or
vociferate."

Several

358 NOTES. Chap. XXX. 25.

Several of the translators, conceiving an obscurity where it really
does not exist, have attempted to remove it, by changing ^Tib (illuc,
there) into Dn!? ; others, by changing it into f n^. Among the last
is Dr. Stock, whose rendering is,

*' Oh ! while he destroyeth, Itt there be a cry for grace."

Reiske alters more than half the verse, with a view of making
sense of it ; while Schultens, without altering it at all, but with a
daring equally unnecessary and unwarranted, closely bordering on
impiety, and, if I mistake not, contradicted by the import of the
subsequent verse, gives us, " Verum tamen non in tumulum laxat
manum, si in exitio ejus illuc levamentum ;" " Yet not even in the
tomb would he withhold his hand, if, in its destruction, an alleviation
were there."

Mr. Parkhurst rather paraphrases than translates it, in the following
rendering : " But yet he will not stretch out his hand against the
grave : surely, in his destruction or destroying (of me namely), ]T\h
)iW, a shout (would he) to them ; i, e. to death and the grave, before
mentioned." " The sense," continues he, " of this violently pathetic
and obscure passage, seems to be, that God would not extend Job's
punishment beyond the grave j and therefore, that even in death
and the grave he would shout for joy, in being relieved from his
present sufferings." Whence Miss Smith, with a close copy,
" Surely, in my destruction they would shout."

In Diodati it runs thus, " Pur non avventera egli la mano nell'
avello : (juelli che vi sono dentro gridano essi quando egli conquide ?"
" Yet not into the grave will he thrust his hand : those who are there
— do they call out after he has subdued them }" But the modes in
which the text has been altered or paraphrased, or differently and
obscurely rendered, are almost infinite. I have only to adjoin, that
the version now offered, if clear as I trust it is, is verbal and univocal,
and sufficiently proves the competency and integrity of the original
text in its admitted reading : — and how totally unnecessary is circum-
locution or alteration of any kind.

Vei". 25. Should I not then weep for the ruthless day."] The
meaning of the preceding verse having been generally misunderstood,
that of the present, and, indeed, of the greater part of the remainder
of the chapter, which follows concatenately, has been misunderstood
also. The exquisite pathos of this interrogative must wind itself into

the

Chap. XXX. 25—29. NOTES. 359

the heart of every reader. The expression " for the ruthless day "
is pecuHarly forcible in the original, DV nwpb, " for the stern,
rigid, immoveable, pitiless, or inexorable day."

Ver. 25. — for the rock^ Not " for the poor," as given by all the
translators. The term indeed (fVl«) admits of both these senses;
but the latter is obviously the true sense in the present place -, and
for want of attending to this circumstance, the meaning of ihe pas-
sage has been utterly lost : " Should not my soul pine for the marble
tomb, or sepulchral rock," in which it was usual to deposit the bodies
of all those of higher rank and condition in lifej " for the rock or
STONY RECESS of darkucss and death-shade," as mentioned \a ch.
xxviii. 3. in which the same term is used, and rendered by every one
in the sense now offered.

Ver. 27. My bowels boil.'] A true Oriental figure. So Hafiz,

, I rage with fire, with love my heart o'erboils.

Ver. 28. ^-without protection.'} In our common version, " without
the sun." The original is tiDH «bl ; in which rtDH will mean " sun"
if derived from DMj but if from tiDh, which is a true Arabic word to
the present hour, it will mean '' guardianship, protection, defence,"
(j^«4«>. % : properly rendered by Reiske, " absque satellitio, proprie
absque tutela-" probably in allusion to the general desertion of his
person, stated in ch. xix. 13 — 16.; with which compare the attention
and reverence formerly paid him, as recorded in ch. xxx. 7 — 10. 5 and
the afflicted patriarch might well bemoan the wretched and despond-
ing change he was now sustaining. Our established rendering, how-
ever, is that of most versions. Piscator gives propter solem, " on
account of the sun :" Luther, " Und brennet mich dock keine sonne
nicht i" " And I am burnt up, but not from the sun."

Ver. 29. — an associate with dragons.'] Literally, " with howlers
or hissersj" from tiin, " to howl or hiss hoarselyj" whence the noun
(D^an) is often employed to denote dragons or monstrous serpents :
and perhaps there is no terra that agrees so well ; for the word
" dragons," like Q'>:n, is altogether indefinite, and is sometimes
used to express a reptile, and sometimes a mammalian animal. The

only

360 NOTES. Chap. XXX. 29.

only permanent idea conveyed by either is that of a tremendous scaly
monster, whether of the woods or of the waters j for the same term
here usually rendered dragons is translated sea-monsters, Lam. iv. 3.
and is there characterized as mammalian. n« is usually, but I think
less correctly, rendered brother j it means, primarily, " an associate
of any kind," but is secondarily employed to denote a family relation,
a cousin or brother.

Ver. 29. — Ostriches.'] Literally, " the screeching tribe," or
" daughters of screeching," n^i?'' m35, which is generally translated
" ostriches," though sometimes, as in our established lection,
" owls: ' the former is certainly the more correct version. In Tyn-
dal, the passage is given very accurately, " I am a companion of
dragons, and a felow of estriches."

The whole passage has a striking resemblance to the deeply im-
pressive complaint of Ossian, " Report of the Committee of the
Highland Society, &c." p. 63.

" And thou, Seallama, house of my delight !

Is this heap thine old ruin.

Where now grows the thistle and the rank grass.

Mourning under the drop of night ?

Around my grey locks

The solitary owl flutters;

And the roe starts from her bed,

Without fearing the mournful Ossian."

CHAP. XXXI.

Ver. 1. / made a covenant.'] This chapter terminates the defence
of Job, and in the most concise and artful manner sums up the whole
of his case. He has hitherto vindicated himself generally, and con-
troverted those arguments of his friends which, built upon construc-
tive guilt alone, pretended to charge him, first, with being
wicked, because he was suffered to be in affliction ; and next, with
being a hypocrite, because he would not confess his wickedness. He
now takes an actual survey of his life and conduct, both domestic
and public, as a husband, and father, as a master, and as a magis-
trate. He challenges the whole world to come forward and accuse
him of want of chastity or conjugal fidelity j of partiality in the
distribution of public justice ; of contempt for the poorj of covet-

ousness ;

Chap. XXXI. 1—4. NOTES. 361

ousnessj of idolatry j of inhospitaiity to strangers; of hypocrisy. He
demands to be publickly accused at the tribunal of the gate, if there
be an individual who is capable of supporting any one of these
charges ; and voluntarily offers to submit to the severest disgrace and
punishment, if the verdict be given against him. He concludes
with maintaining, that so far from having ever exercised a tyrannical
hand, or indulged a covetous disposition, he has been indulgent even
to the very soil that he has cultivated ; he has never exhausted it of
its strength by overworking its furrows j while the husbandmen who
superintended it have been always liberally rewarded for their labour,
and allowed time for recreation and refreshment.

Ver. 1. That I would rao^— ] In the original flisi, ut ne, or ut non:
na is here a negative, as in a variety of other places, and is thus
rendered by the Greek versions, St. Ambrose and St. Jerom, as well
as in several of the best modern translations. Thus the Spanish of
Luis de Leon, " Concierto establece a mis ojos, paka no pensar de
doncella." So Relske, " ideoque non contemplor." Schultens gives it
interrogatively, agreeably with our established version, after Junius,
Tremellius, and Piscator, " Why then should I ?"

Ver. 2. Yet what is the allotment of God^ " Yet what is the
allotment of God to me,'' for this virtuous resolution ? " What re-
ward have I received from above, for my purity and temperance of
heart ?" The meaning of the passage has not been understood by the
translators ; and is hence given in a thousand dilferent ways, and all of
them equally wide of the mark. This appeal to the chastity of his
life is continued, with very great force and beauty, to ver. 10.

Ver. 3. Is it not the fate — ] In the original 1^« vhn, " Is it not
the punishment, or, to speak more literally, the out-casting, exile, or
rejectioxi of the wicked ?" — 1''« is evidently derived from !Ti* ; the
primary meaning of which is, " to cast, cast forth, cast out, or cast
away;" " aljicio, rejicio." Whence, in a secondary sense, it is used
in a great variety of consecutive significations, as " fate, ruin, de-
struction, calamity, affliction, or evil of any kind."

Ver. 4. But doth not the Eternal — ] I have given it literally, itiri
Nin. The particle M, " But doth not,—" or " Doth not then — ,"
is generally but improperly omitted, i^^T^ is usually regarded as a

personal

3«S NOTES. Chap. XXXI. 5- 10.

personal pr6noun, and rendered he : in the present place, however,
it is rather one of the names of the Deity, as expressive of his eternal
existence. See Note on ch. viii. 19.

Ver. 5; With unfaithfulness :\ «W Dy ; literally, " with falsehood,
or infidelity," in breach of my plighted troth.

Ver. 5. — hath rushed — ] Or if the Arabic sense be allowable, and

tynn be univocal with ^jLc>-, i- e. ^JUjj^, " hath burnt concupis-
cently," " avide, cupidine incensa fuitj depfiog ^v.

Ver. 7- — towards this course.'] In the original, TTiH ^3D, literally
as now rendered j but the pronoun has been generally and unac-
countably suppressed.

Ver. 7. — a speck^ In the original, DIND j the exact meaning of
which is not precisely known. In Chaldee, it means " a blot, or
blemish ;" and is here supposed to be synonymous with, or derived
from, the Hebrew OID, of the same signification, CDt«D however,
and especially the feminine noun nm«D, is generally translated
minimum., " the least thing, or any thing." It is therefore, probably,
whether in the masculine or feminine gender, a diminutive of DID,
directly importing " a minute or the minutest blot imaginable, a
mere spot or speck." In this sense n?:3lb<D seems to be used. Gen.
xxii. 12. which, in our common version, is rendered, " Lay not thine
hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him/' i.e.
" neither make thou the least mark (spot or speck) upon him."
Reiske supposes the reading to be an error for Dli^D, alominahile,
rejectaneum, " any thing vile or refuse;" but this conjecture is alto-
gether unnecessary.

Ver. 10. May my wife be ground down.'] " Be opprest in the
vilest and most abusive manner." The verb is here in Niphal, and
its sense is to be taken figuratively, and not literally: though even in
this last sense, and in Kal, it has been generally understood, to adopt
Mr. Parkhurst's words, as " a decent expression for her committing
adultery." — let my wife grind /or another. The expression as now
rendered, is, if I mistake not, still more decent, and, if possible, still
more humiliating.

Ver. 11.

Chap. XXXI. 11— 14. NOTES. 363

Ver. 11. — a premeditated crime^ In the original HDt, from DT,
" to premeditate, devise, or machinate 3" whence Dr. Stock renders
the passage,

" For this were malice forethought."

Ver. 11. — of the understanding.'] In the original D''!p''bl ; lite-
rally, '' of the reasoning or judging powers :" whence it has been
almost universally understood, " of the judges 5" but as this render-
ing makes no sense of itself, it has been necessary to eke out a sense
, by a gratuitous supply of a few words ; and hence the paraphrase
I offered in our common version, from Junius and Tremellius and
i Piscator, "an iniquity to 7;e punished by the judges;" or, as Dr.
Stock gives it, " punishable by the judges." St. Jerom relinquishes
the literal idea altogether, and translates " iniquitas maxima," " the
grossest iniquity." Schultens, and Grey after him, " iniquitas vel
apud quosvis arbitros," *' an iniquity, let who will be the umpires
i or deciders." Diodati gives the whole passage, " Percioche quello
e una sceleratezza, ed un iniquita criminale;" " For this is a great
wickedness, and a criminal offence." Reiske, dissatisfied with every
previous attempt, understands D'Vbl in a somewhat different sense,
as importing an act of separation or secerning, rather than of judging
or discerning ; and referring the term, as being in the plural, to both
the antecedent substantives, gives us, " Sunt auteni perrumpentes,
oninem scilicet legem, et sepem, omnem honestatem, et reverentiam
Dei 3" " For these are utter infractions, namely, of every law and
boundary, of all honesty, and reverence of God."

I trust the sense I have now offered will render all such intersti-
titious explanations unnecessary. The same phrase occurs again in
ver. 28 ; and the present reading will be there found still more
applicable and pertinent.

Ver. 13. — with /we.] In the original, ''IDJ;, "with me," " toge-
ther with me," as correctly rendered in our common version ; and not
hefore ine, as rendered by Miss Smith, or circum me, as by Reiske,

Ver. 14. — ascendeth.2 Unqnestionahly, the judgment-seat ; and
bence the version of St. Jerom, " Quid enim faciam cum surrexerit
idjudicandum Deus ?" "What then shall I do, when God riseth
1^ to judgment?" While in Tyndal we find it, " But seing God wyl
lyt in judgment, what shall I do?"

z Ver. 15.

364 NOTES. Chap. XXXI. 1 5, 1 8,

Ver, 15. — mahe them?'] The 1 in mtyy is here plural, as in many
other passages.

Ver. 15. — in a like organ?'} ^^^K 13*13: but inw may also mean
one instead of like, and be the nominative case to the verb ; though I
prefer it in the sense and construction now offered, as most consistent
with the order of the original text. Thus varied, the meaning will
be, as given in our common version, " And did not one fashion us in
the womb?" tD'^i, indeed, as well as ftDi, in the preceding member
of the verse, may mean womb, but it also means " a bowel, viscus,
or organ of the belly generally j" and I have chosen the latter word,
to keep up with the variety of the original.

Ver. 18. Behold, from wy youth calamity hath qmckened wie.}
There is a difficulty in both members of this verse, from the
equivocal signification of several of the terms employed, which no
acuteness of the translators has hitherto been able to clear up. Our
common version gives us the following attempt, " For from my
youth HE was brought up with me, as with a father; and I have
guided HER from my mother's womb." But to whom do the he
and the her refer ? " The he and she in this verse," says Dr. Stock,
" relate to the orphan and widow mentioned before." This indeed
is the common explanation) but it is a sufficient answer, that the
patriarch is speaking of orphans and widows generally, and not of
an individual of either character : independently of which, the
Hebrew verb is active, or in Kal, ^i^lJ, " he brought me up," and
not '• he was brought up with me." He, says Reiske, refers in the
present place to Godj and the her, as it is commonly rendered,
(ni in njn3«) is not a pronoun, but the mere termination of what

is an individual word, and which is still found in Arabic, ^uJwi-ljl

" Ecce, a pueritia mea inde sivit (Deus) me adolescere, ut pater, et
ex utero matris fecit me procumbere in terram, ut camelus ad aqua-
torium, vel in mansione post absolutum iter;" ''Behold, from my
childhood hath he (God) known that I should grow up as a father;
and from my mother's womb hath he caused me to spread myself
over the land, as a camel at a watering-place, or at home when the
journey is finished," But this gives us no connected sense with the
context; nor is it necessary (as I shall presently show) that riinJK
should be regarded as an Arabic term. Tyndal paraphrases the

passage,

Chap. XXXI. 18. NOTES. 365

passage, " For mercy grew up with me fro my youth, and compas-
sion fro my mother's wombe." The version of Miss Smith is,
*' When he brought me up as a father.
And led ine from my mother's womb."
But this, as Dr. Randolph (the learned editor of this version)
acknowledges, is evidently an error ; and confounds the person of
the verb, in the first line of the couplet, with that in the second j the
verb in the former being in the third, and, in the latter, in the first
person, in the original.

The translation of Diodati is altogether a paraphrase ; " Conscio
sia cosa che dalla mia fanciuUezza gli orfini sieno stati allevati meco,
come appresso un padre : ed io habia dal ventre della madre mia
retta la vedona;" " Surely from my infancy have orphans been
brought up with me, as though a father : and from my mother's
womb have I righted the widow."

The Vulgate, understanding n«D as one word, miseratio (pity or
compassion), though generally understood as two, l«-3, and trans-
lated " as a father ;' or "as with a father," gives us, " Quia ab in-
fantia mea crevit mecum miseratio, et de utero matris meae egressa
est mecum;" " For from my infancy pity grew up with me, and from
my mother's womb hath kept a progress with me." Scott gives us,
m words nearly similar, " For compassion grew up with me ; I
brought IT from my mother's womb." It is a sufficient objection
to both these, that nwD in no instance means pity or compassion, but
grief, misery, calamity, affliction (see Job ii. 13. xvi. 6.)j and also,
that if it did, the first of these two versions would be erroneous, in
translating the verb n:nj«, which is in the first person, with a
subjoined pronoun in the third, "it kept a progress with me ;"
j while the second, though it properly enough attends to both these
points, makes the pronoun it (/ brought it), which in the present
place in the Hebrew is feminine, agree with 1W5 {compassion),
which is masculine. Mr, Scott, indeed, observes that S«3, though
it has a masculine termination, was probably of the feminine, or
«lse of the common gender. It is only necessary, however, to turn
to ch, xvi. Q. in which the same noun is used with a verb masculine,
to prove that the writer did not allow the term such an anomaly ;
and, consequently, that the m {it) cannot agrefe with 2«D, whatever
may be the meaning of this latter.

In the version now offered, this false concord is entirely got rid of,
* 1 the

366 NOTES. Chap. XXXI. 20.

the feminine pronoun being joined with a feminine substantive,
namely, na (rnorsel), instead of with !l»5 {compassion or calamity).
2b^D, however, as I have already observed, does not in any in-
stance imply compassion : and hence I have retained it in its common
sense. Yet to do this, it is necessary to understand biJ as meaning
not merely " to giow, sprout up, or increase," but " to make to grow,
to quicken, stimulate or rouse ;" a sense it appears to have in many
passages, and especially in ch. ii. 1.3. of the poem before usj where
we find it directly connected with 2«3, as in the present place,
n«?3 S«5n I'lJ O 1M1 'D, " For they saw that the affliction or
GRIEF GREW vehement," which may also be rendered " quickened
or raged sorely," So Isaiah, xliv. 14,

He planteth an ash, and the rain ouickeneth it.

It is likewise necessary to observe, that the verb n3«, instead of being
derived from nna, " to guide, lead, or bring forward," belongs ra-
ther to nj (neh), the chief significations of which are, " to fix or ap-
propriate," " to apply, present, offer, or distribute," triluo, disirihuo;
whence the derivative noun nnja is the common term for " a
gift, present, or oblation," to God or man. The Arabic ij {neh),
" ponens, posilor, applicator, distributor," is derived from the same
root; the verb with the Arabic termination being ^^jl^ {neh-
aden), " apponere, admovere, applicare, distribuerej" " to fix, ad-
vance, apply, distribute."

Ver. 20, — n'ool of my lamls.'] Literally,, as now rendered, JJO
»tyi!D, " the softest and tenderest, as well as the warmest covering I
was in possession of, and that best adapted to his sickening and
emaciated frame." In the sweet and highly-polished poem of Le-
beid, composed, like that before us, in Arabia, and constituting
the third of the Moallakat, we have the following reference to the
same kind of hospitality :

*' The guest and the stranger, admitted to my board, seem to have alighted

in the sweet vale of Tebaala, luxuriant with vernal blossoms,
"To the cords of my test appoacheth every needy matron, worn with
fatigue, like a camel doomed to die at her master's tomb, her vesture
equally scanty and ragged.
^ " There, while the wintry winds contend with fierce blasts, they crown
with meat a dish flowing like a rivulet, into which the famished orphans
eagerly plunge."

In

Chap. XXXI. 21, 23. NOTES. 36?

In like manner the elegant Sadi, in his Bustan :

So spread the boundless banquet of his tare.
That the wild griffin might have had his share.

Ver.21, If I have withdrawn my hand — ] "If I have not
afforded protection, if I have not used the authority with vi'hich I
was invested, as much in favour of the helpless as of the powerful."
nna means directly " to withdraw," " to draw back or aside ;"

and has still the same sense in the Arabic, i^^Jlasi- or (.^^..Juss-i .
Our common rendering, " If I have lift up my hand against — }" and
that of Junius and Tremellius and Piscator, " If I have shaken my
hand at — ," (" si agitavi manum meam,') are both of far inferior
force as well as correctness ; and I am compelled to relinquish them,
though the first is supported by the Septuagint and Pagninus, and
the second copied by Schultens and Dr. Stock,

Ver.21. When I saw my authority in the gate^ ''The Gate of
Judgment >" a term still common to the Arabians, to express a court
of justice 5 and even introduced by the Saracens into Spain. ^' 1
had several times visited the Alhambra, the ancient palace and for-
tress of the Moorish kings : it is situated on the top of a hill over-
looking the city, and is surrounded by a wall of great height and
thickness. The entrance is through an arch- way, over which is
carved a hey, the symbol of the Mohammedan monarchs. This
gate, called the Gate of Judgment, according to Eastern forms,
was the place where the kings administered justice." — Jacob's
Travels in Spain, Letter xli.

Ver. 23. I was powerless — ] The passage is sublimely energetic,
" I had neither power nor will of my own. I acted as strict justice
demanded, and compelled me ; and I dared not, I had no power to
act otherwise before his awful majesty." The verb ^51« is derived
from bi'', " to be able j" whence, with its negative, it imports pre-
cisely as above. It might perhaps be derived (but with a less for-
cible meaning) from !?2J, " to deceive, contrive deceitfully, dissem-
ble or impose upon :" and then the rendering would be, " For I
could not dissemble before his majesty." Miss Smith gives us,

" And by his majesty was I overawed ;"

but

,

368 NOTES. Chap. XXXI. 24, 26.

but this, though an elegant paraphrase, is no translation, b^'*
cannot fairly be interpreted " to awe or terrify," either with or
without a negative.

Ver. 24. — io the ingot — ] In the original CDMi, " stamped, im-
pressed gold." See the Note on ch. xxviii. 16,

Ver. 26. If I have looked at the sun as he shinelh.'] At what lime
Sabeism or planetary worship was first introduced into the world, we
know not. That it was invented at a very early period, we have histo-
rical evidence ; for we have the actual practice and traditions of tliose
very ancient people, the Guebres and Parsees, and the record of the
Zend-avesta, ascribed with probabihty to the aera of Cyaxares I. of
Persia, and supposed to be the work of the earlier of the two Zo-
roastres, who are now generally allowed to have existed j and the first
of whom was probably the Heomo of the Zendish books, the Hom of
the Palavi. Be this as it may, we have an evident allusion to this kind
of idolatry in the passage before usj which consequently appears, even
at this very early sera, (I am supposing Moses to be the author of
the poem, and the patriarch whom it celebrates to have existed at
an earlier epoch than his own,) to have travelled from Persia to
Arabia, and to have been generally and fashionably embraced. At
a much later period we find it spreading, together with a multitude of
other idolatries, over the whole of Judaea ; and so extensively imbibed,
as to have been one of the causes of the overthrow of the Jewish
government. The fact is related by Jeremiah, ch. viii. 1 — 3.

At that time they shall bring up, saith the Lord,

The bones of the kings of Judah,

And the bones of his princes.

And the bones of the priests,

And the bones of the prophets.

And the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

Out of their graves.

And they shall spread them before the sun and the moon.
And all the host of heaven
Whom they have loved.
And whom they have served.
And after whom they have walked ;
And whom they have sought.
And whom they have worshipped.
They shall not be gathered up nor buried, &c.

It

Chap.XXXI. 26— 30. NOTES. 369

It is not, therefore, without some astonishment, that I perceive this
passage, by Schultens, and after him by Mr. Grey, explained figura-
tively, as referring to splendid and exalted characters, who, on account
of their brilliance and power, might aptly be compared to the sun
shining at noon-day, and the bright refulgent moon.

Ver, 26. — progressive in brightness.'] Not merely *' walking in
brightness," ^s rendered in our common version, but " walking for-
ward, advancing, increasing in brightness." Ivin Ip'', literally
" brightly or splendidly progressive." The idea is obviously to the
moon's advancing to her foil 5 to her waxing, as opposed to her waning
alternations.

Ver. 27. Or my hand hath borne a kiss to my mouthy This, which
a common mode of paying compliments among ourselves in the pre-
sent day, was the usual sign of adoration among the Eastern nations.
Upon which the reader may consult Mr. Parkhurst, art. pt^J sect. 11.
So Minutius Felix, (De Sacrlf cap. 2. ad fin.) remarks, that when
Caecilius observed the statue of Serapis, " Ut vulgus supersti-
tiosus solet, manum ori admovens, osculum labiis pressit •" " Ac-
cording to the custom of the superstitious vulgar, he moved his hand
to his mouth, and kissed it with his lips."

^ Ver. 28. This also would be a profligacy of the understanding^ A
repetition from v. 11. ''Wq pi> «in ; the word ^Wq being a mere
gratuitous change for CD''b'^!pa. See the Notes upon v. 11.

Ver. 30. to transgress,

By entreating evil

}

The Hebrew «an means rather " to deviate from, go astray or
transgress," than " to sin," as this last is generally used. h\Xti} is not
''to wish," but ''to supplicate, pray, ask, entreat;" and in the pre-
sent instance, "to imprecate or call down." The version of the
entire passage is thus given by Dr. Stock, with what appears to me
an unnecessaiy deviation from the established sense :

" If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me.

And made a stir when evil had found him ;

And did not rather give up to error my taste, ^

To the asking of a curse mine inclination."

To justify the change of pronoun, ""tyaj for WQ3, (" my soul or
inclination," for " his soul or inclination," he has recourse to

various

370 NOTES. Chap.XXXI. 31—34.

various copies which read the former, but, if I mistake not, with a
very unnecessary alteration of the common text.

Ver. 31. Who hath longed for— — ?] Literally, "Who hath
longed for his meat unsatiated ?" but the passage has not been suf-
ficiently understood by the commentators. jn3 is the common
verb to express " longing, wishing, or desiring ;" whence fiT* ^D
^ (the expression here made use of) is, " Who hath longed or
willed — y or " Who could long or will for — r" Whence also the
same expression implies frequently, "Would that!" "Oh that!"
and might even here be rendered in the same sense, " Who is there
that would of— ?" " Who hath ever said. Oh that ! for — ?" " Who
hath ever longed or willed for — ?" Schultens is the only translator
who has made an approach towards the real meaning, " Quis dabit
de carne ejus non saturatum?" " Who will allow that there haih
been any one unfilled from his meat ?"

Ver. 33. If, like Adam, I have covered — ] In' several other ver-
sions, "If, like a man, I have covered — j" by Miss Smith, "^ If,
like a mean man—." By Diodati, '' Come sogHono far gli huo-
mini — 5" " As mankind are wont to do — ." In all these the beauty
of the immediate simile is lost — the endeavour of Adam to hide
himself from the piercing eye of the Almighty, upon the first fatal
transgression, thus feelingly described by Milton, Par. Lost, ix. 1080.

" How shall I behold the face.

Henceforth, of God or angel, erst with joy
And rapture so oft beheld ? Those heavenly shapes
"Will dazzle now this earthly, with their blaze
Insufferably bright. O might I here
In solitude live savage, in some glade
Obscur'd, where highest wood, impenetrable
To star, or sun-light, spread their umbrage broad,
•j^ And brown as evening ! Cover me, ye pines !

m^ Ye cedars ! with innumerable boughs.

Hide me, where I may never see them more."

Ver. 34. Then let me le confounded before — ] Our common ver-
sion does not give the sense of the original, which is literally as now
rendered, and nearly in conformity with Schultens, Reiske, and Park-
hurst. iJiy means " to dread, to tremble, be terrified or agitated, at
oi;^in the presence of a thing," and hence " tp be confounded at or in

the

Chap. XXXI. 34,35. NOTES. 371

the presence of}" which last seems to be the exact bearing of the
term in the present instance.

Ver. 34. — quash me.] In the original ^jrih* ; which may be de-
rived either from nn or nnrr: if from the former, the rendering will
be as now given, for there is no word in the English language that so
completely takes in all the attributes of the very forcible original
term, which implies equally " to agitate violently, or terrify," " to
shatter or break to pieces," " to crush," " to demolish." If from
the latter, the aense would be, " Let the reproach of its families con-
sume mej" for nnn imphes " to burn or consume as by fire ;" but
I see no reason for deviating from the generally-received derivation,
which is the former.

Ver. 35, Who will consent to summon me?'] In the original,

and rendered, altogether literally, " Who will consent to me, to sum-
mon me ?" It is a continuation of the forensic appeal in the preced-
ing verse. But the entire passage, of this and the two ensuing verses,
has never hitherto been understood, as it appears tome, by any of the
commentators or translators. Whence, although we have a great
variety of different and circuitous renderings and proposals for alter-
ing the text, or transposing its different periods, we have nothing that
is clear or applicable. I have given the whole simply and verbally,
and, if I mistake not, forcibly and perspicuously : and, without com-
paring the different explanations that have hitherto been offered,
which would occupy too much space, I shall only endeavour to justify
that now proposed.

For the present line, our established version reads, " O that one
would hear me !" and it is the general mode of rendering the pas-
sage. Yet the former part of this expression, " O that one would!"
can only thus be translated in a secondary sense; and still
the pronoun 'h is strangely superfluous, and cannot be intro-
duced, even by implication. See, upon this subject, the note on
ver. 31, above. The remaining part of the passage, " Hear me," is
in the original, ""h )}'om; but i>DU^ means not only " to hear," but
" to call forth," " to call out," " to cite or summon;" and there
can be no great difficulty, I apprehend, in conceiving which of the
two senses is here referred to.

Several

372 NOTES. Chap. XXXI. 35.

Several of the Latin translators have rendered in, in the ensuing
verse, by " desiderium ;" whence our common lection, desire; but
there is nothing to justify this sense j the real meaning of the term
being " a mark, gage, pledge, or seal," " a legal security " given to
fuidl a contract; whence Parkhurst, and after him Miss Smith,
" Behold my gage !" and Dr. Stock, " There is my bail !" So Schul-
teijs, *' En sigaacuram meam !" all which are renderings synonymous,
and consequently correct : but all which are equally incorrect, in mak-
ing 'he Almighty a party in the proposed conireversy, in the present
pL^e. " Let the Almighty," or, " That the Almighty would answer
me!'' fi), here rendered " answer," means, also, "^ to comment
upon, observe upon, remark, take notice of;" and in any of these
senses the term may be translated with an obvious meaning, but
not in the first ; Let the Almighty " notice down, remark, or com-
ment upon what I now say."

Michaelis, and the German writers in general, carry the common
explanation still farther; or, rather, naturally connect in one common
sense (admitting the usual translation) the latter period of this
verse with the former, and hence apply the word adversary to the
Deity himself, " Let the Almighty answer me — yea, (or and) let
my adversary write a book, charge, or memorial !" " He challenges
God," says Michaelis, " to come into judgment with him, and to
give his reasons for treating him with such severity." But this is
impossible ; and hence again it seems sufficiently to prove the futility
of the usual interpretation : for the term adversary, in the original,
expressly and altogether applies to an adversary in a human form /
the compound term being '>1''T ty"'W, literally, " my foe-UAN," " the
man my adversary ;" though the first is the better rendering, and
would have been admitted into the present text, but that it is rather
a military than a forensic expression. Scott has yielded to the
German rendering: " By his adversary," says he," he must mean
his accuser, that is, the Almighty, mentioned as such in the foregoing
sentence."

Ver. 35. — the charge."] In the original, 15D, " a computation, or
general statement," " an account or relation;" in forensic language,
*' a bill or indictment;" " the book or roll that contains the above."
The Septuagint translate it avyy pa(^i) ; Grotius, scripta accusatio;
Michaelis, adcusatio simply, and most correctly.

Ver.

Chap. XXXI. 36, 37. NOTE^. 373

Ver. 36. I would wear it on my shoulder, dSJ'c.] I would bear
it about publickly and conspicuously, that I might publickly and
conspicuously confute it} I would wear it as an ornament, convinced
that it would be a source of honour to me, in the issue. The whole
passage refers to the practice, among the Eastern nations, of having
mottoes, or proverbial sentences, enwoven into the most ornamental
and conspicuous parts of their dress, in the same manner as we now
find similar mottoes enwoven into the insignia of the different orders
oi knighthood, in the different courts of Europe. Hence the beau-
tiful passage in the Proverbs, ch. iii. 3.

" Let not MERCY and truth forsake thee.

Bind them about thy neck ;

Write them upon the tablet of thine heart."

Unquestionably, " Let not the phrase or motto, 'Mercy and Truth,''
forsake or be cast off from thee -." and hence the hypocritical Pha-
risees, in the time of our Saviour, had introduced the fashion of
wearing broad phylacteries, that they might have inscribed upon
them a greater number of mottoes and texts of Scripture.

The total passage, however, never having hitherto been translated
as above, the explanation now offered, simple and obvious as it may
perhaps appear, does not apply to the renderings already in use ; and
hence numerous explanations, and widely different from each other,
have been suggested. " The passage," says Schultens, " appears to
allude to the ancient custom of suspending the sword from the
shoulders, and especially among the Arabians j whence the ceremo-
nial figure amongst them, {_^ ^'<^\ ^jIs, " He suspended the sword
from his shoulder," for, " he made him a prince." So the chief
insignia of principality amongst them are, the sword and the crown.

Reiske, on the contrary, thus explains the passage : '' I would
carry him upon my shoulders; — I would," says he, " commit to
him all the secrets of my heart; I would have him as close to me
as \jas:0 {negidah), the noble, swift, strong, and active horse,

■^ ^ ^ s-

which the Arabs call UJu? a ready agent i which, even in the
present day, they keep in their immediate vicinity, and will not s
allow to be put to any labour, nor to be turned to pasture with
other cattle, nor to go away from their tents, or out of sight."

Ver. 37. — altogether as a witness.'] Thus, literally, in the original,

1D5

374 NOTES. Chap.XXXI. 38, 40.

n:3 1D5, or " as a very witness." The sense is clear and obvious ;
but Dr. Stock is the only writer I am acquainted with, who has
thus rendered IJi (negid) ; the usual translation being " as a prince,"
which offers no meaning whatever j while, as I have observed in the
preceding note, Rc;iske translates it in the Arabic signification of the
same word, ^AJsaaJ (negidah), " as a horse." — i:ii, observes Dr.
Stock most correctly, " is, properly, a person held up to view,
whence it came to signify an eminent person, or prince. Here it
implies only an evidence, brought forward to the observation of the
court."

Ver. 38. If tny own land — ] There is peculiar force and beauty
in this closinj^ part of the patriarch's justification ; in which he
asserts that he has been a kind and indulgent master, ^ven to the
soil itself which he has cultivated ; that he has allowed its furrows a
due degree of fallow, has given liberal wages to his husbandmen,
and has never exhausted them by labour. Heath and Scott seem
to think this and the ensuing verse misplaced, and that they ought
to be transferred to the end of ver. 23, or 25. whence the latter
omits them in his version altogether. But the argument loses much
of its beauty, and is even deprived of a proper close, by the adoption
of such a change, independently of the evil consequence of thus
fancifully transposing the sacred text.

Ver. 40. — nightshades^ The Hebrew term is nu^i*;i (baseh),
which most of the commentators concur in translating nightshade,
upon the authority of Hasselquist and other travellers, who offer
various reasons for believing this to be the plant here referred to ; a
plant which, they add, is very common to Egypt, Palestine, and the
East J and it must be observed, that the Arabic ijLxi (l^yO)
which is one of the terms for nightshade, in some degree supports
this opinion. If this be the plant, it is probably that species of
solanum which is essentially denominated puhescens (hoary night-
shade) ; though several other species of tliis genus are also indigenous
to the East.

In other parts of the Bible, however, r^\^i\'2. appears to import
a weed not only noxious, but of a fetid smell; which character
hardly applies to any species of nightshade: and, in truth, the verb
itself, U^Nl, in its primary signification bears the same meaning, viz.

"to

Chap. XXXI. 40. NOTES. 375

" to stink." The Septuagint translates it (34to^, " the llackherry-
liish ;" Castalio, " ebulus, dwarfs elder •" Symmachus, aVfXfor-
(pop-qra, " plants of imperfect fruit;'"' the Chaldee, ^D^n, " noxious
herbs" generally. The subjoined imprecation has a striking re-
semblance to the following of CEdipus. Oi^iir. Tvp. 287.
Kat ravra rotg jlitj Bpuenv, ivyofxai Buovq
M)/r' iipoTOv avTOii yt]v drievai rivd.

" O ! if yet there are

Who will not join me in the pious deed.

From such may earth withhold her annual store !" franklin.

Ver. 40. The argumejits of Job closedl Dr. Stock takes this
verse to be a part of Job's speech, " like the e'/prjKa and dixi of the
Greeks and I/atinsj" but it is surely more obvioiis io regard it as
the words of the writer of the poem himself, by which one division
of the work is distinguished from another. This kind of, closing
remark to tlie speeches and episodes introduced into the body of a
poem, are common to all writers, and peculiarly abound -n the
Iliad, the iEneid, and Paradise Lost. It is thus the genuine Car-
ricthura closes, as given by the Highland Society:

Thog: UUin ^er subhach an dan ;
Chual' Innis nan earn an cebl ;
Bha lasair o'n daraig \kn ;
Chualas sgeul air clann nan se5d :

which is thus rendered in Mr. Macpherson's version, nearly lite-
rally : " Ullin raised the song of gladness. The hills of Innistore
rejoiced. The flame of the oak arose: — and the tales of heroes

ARE TOLD.

CHAP. XXXII.

Ver. 2. Elihu, the son of Barachel, "»

A Buzite. — ~ J

We know nothing more of Elihu than is here mentioned. Buz
was the second son of Nahor, the brother of Abraham j and the city
of this name, probably derived from the same family, is mentioned
Jer. XXV. 23. in conjunction with Dedan, which we know to have
been in Idumaea. The Chaldee paraphrase upon this passage asserts
Elihu to have been a relation of Abraham.

Ver. 2. — his life lefore God.'] Such is the real meaning of the

original ;

376 NOTES. Chap. XXXII. 7,8.

original J for Wtii is " his life, soul, or spirit," though usually
rendered himself, as if it were a mere pronoun j while CD'Ti^'Ka is,
more correctly, " coram Deo," as the Vulgate justly renders it, " in
the presence of God," than " pr<s Deo," " rather than God," as it is
usually rendered. Job had repeatedly called God to witness the
truth of his assertions : he longed for an opportunity of pleading his
innocence at the tribunal of the Almighty j but he no where im-
piously impeaches the moral character of the Deity, or represents
himself more righteous than his Maker. Hence Tyndal gives a
better rendering than our common version : " He was very sore
displeased at Job, that he called himself just before God." The
Septuagint renders it still differently, havriov Kvpiov, " in oppo-
sition to," or " as the adverse party to the Lord,"

Ver. 7- — the controversy of years — ] In the original CD'iU^ ni,
which has hitherto been uniformly rendered " the multitude of
years;" but I think erroneously. 5*1 (rab) may certainly be
derived from ^^l'^ (raleh), " to multiply or magnify," which is the
common derivation ; but the more literal radical is ni {rah), which,
in every sense, means " to strive or contend/' and in almost every
sense, '' to strive, or contend by words ;" " let the verbal dispute,
the disputation, controversy or argument, the collision of years,
teach wisdom." We hence introduce into the text, not only a
more direct and primary sense, but an additional and truly elegant
idea, and one which completely corresponds with the general signi-
fication of the preceding linej for 111 does not here mean simply
to speak, though uniformly so rendered, but to speak arguments,
" to reason, to controvert, to argue," The radical l^i is again
adverted to, and in the same sense, in ver. 9, on which see the
Note.

Ver. 8. — a?i afflalion.'] I am compelled to use this word, in some
degree against my consent; but there is no other that fully explains
ihe meaning. The Hebrew nil, however, is so comprehensive in
its general significations, as to allow of a great variety of renderings
to this passage j for it implies " air, breath, emptiness, vanity, soul,
and spirit," as well as inspiration and afflation. Our common
rendering gives us, " There is a spirit in man — ." Tyndal, " Every
man no doute hath a myndcj" but this is rather to paraphrase than
to translate. Michaelis explains it, *' ^ber wahrhaftig auf den

ffeisi

Ghap.XXXII. 8. NOTES. 377

geist im menschen kommt es an 3" " But surely it cometh into the
mind of men;" and it is a rendering approved by Vogel; yet this,
also, is rather a paraphrase than a version. Reiske translates the
passage, "But surely with mankind is vanity 3" thus regarding mi
as synonymous with b^lTl, and nearly so with 4t\vapia, and as
forming a direct contrast with the second clause of the couplet, I
was, at first, very much disposed to adopt this elegant idea; but
was compelled to relinquish it, on reflecting that the very same
passage is iterated in the ensuing chapter, ver. 4. in which it is
impossible to apply this sense to the term. The direct meaning of
the word, therefore, is afflatus; for which I have hence been
obliged to use affiation; as afflatus is not only Latin, but unaltered
in its Latin termination. Spirit does not answer to the idea ; and
inspiration, which comes nearest to it, is required for the second
part of the couplet. Influence, or divine injiuence, may be used as
a paraphrase 3 but it has far less force, and is a paraphrase only.
Castalio's rendering is in perfect coincidence with that now otTered;
" Verum afflatu aguntur homines,"

Upon this subject, I may be permitted to add the followlnjt
highly beautiful verses of Filicaja, Poesie loscane, canz. vi.

*' Dico, Signor, che qual da i fondi algosi
Saglie a fior d'acqua, e beve
Mariua conca le ruggiade, ond' ella
Le perle a concepir sugo r^ceve :
Tal' io la dolce e bella
Pioggia Serena allor degli amorosi
Tuoi raggi a ber mi posi,
E n'empiei I'assetato arso desio.
Ma siccome del ciel la perla ^ figlia,
Non gik di sa conch iglia ;
Cosi lo stil, che mio
Sembra, mio non ^ gik ; gli accenti niiei
Han da te saono, e tu Tauter ne sei." ;

Of which the reader may accept of the following version :
As from its sedgy bed the ocean-shell
Mounts to the surface, and the lucid dew

Drinks, — ^thus transmitting to its inmost cell

The fertile juice that rears the pearl to view —

Fountain of life ! so mounts my soul to thee !

To drink the beams that from thy presence well.

And quench its thirst in that celestial sea, —

But

378 NOTES. Chap.XXXII. 9, 12.

But as the pearl, though in the shell it lies.
Springs from the light, fair daughter of the skies.

So are not mine these strains, though mine they seem ;

'Tis thou inspir'st me — as I touch the theme,
Thou giv'st the accents sound — from thee alone they rise.

Ver. 9. Controvertists — ] In the original XZi'^l^ (rabim), unques-
tionably derived from the same root as l'^ {ral) in ver. 7, and
intended to convey one common idea. 'T\, as I have there observed
ah'eady, should be derived from the verb 11 {rdb), " to dispute,
controvert, or argue;" and hence D^ll {rahwi), from the same
source, should signify " disputants, controvertists :" yet, in both
cases, the root usually referred to is 'ny^ (rahek), which imports
" to multiply or magnify." It is an additional proof, however, that
this common derivation is wrong, that the generality of translators
are compelled, in the former case, to take the first of these ideas,
and, in the latter, the second. Thus y^ (ral), in ver. 7 of our
common lection, is a noun of multitude, " the multitude of
years;" while S^i'l, in the verse before us, is a noun of magnitude,
or rather of political rank; — " Great men are not always wise."
Admitting that we may take which root we please, we cannot thus
apply two distinct ideas to what was unquestionably designed to
convey but one. St. Jerom and Dr. Stock endeavour to get rid of
the difficulty, by translating 'CLi'^'y\ longcevi, elders, (i. e. many in
years) : but neither 1") nor nil will bear such an interpretation,

Ver. 11. 7 suspended myself — ] In the original f^l», from jl«, " to
weigh or suspend in a balance :" whence, in the present form, it im-
plies " I kept myself weighed or suspended," or " I suspended my-
self." \\'A, (probably, as Parkhurst conjectures, from its weighing
sounds,) as a noun, signifies the ear : whence the translators have
almost uniformly rendered it, " I gave ear," " auscultavi ;" but this
is only a subordinate, and, in the present instance, a much feebler
sense.

Ver, 12. —a correcter.'] In the original n^DlD ; which is almost
uniformly derived from ni*, "to show, or make manifest," and
hence rendered " a convincer," or " one that convinceth ;" some-
times " a reprehender, or one that reprehendeth or convicteth." The
real origin, however, of n"'D"iD, is not tiy, but ri23, " to straighten, or

make

Chap. XXXII. 15. NOTES. 379

make right, to rectify or correct ■" whence the passage, as Reiske
has justly observed, should be rendered as above, " a correcter," in-
stead of" a convincer." The Arabians use the same term in the pre-

sent day, in the same sense, ^ssx'j^, in which the j. or 3 is re-
tained, though suppressed in the Hebrew. The whole of this ver^se
is rendered not only literally, but in the order in which the words
run in the original.

Ver. 15. They are dissipated, they no longer produce effect.'] I
have given the passage literally ; and it will hence, I apprehend, be
obvious that the whole of the difficulty, which has been supposed to
belong to this verse-, has arisen from its not having been understood :
the- real nominative case to the verbs, or rather the real noun to the
pronoun they, being the speeches of the patriarch's friends, and not
\\\s friends themselves. With this explanation, the passage is pecu-
liarly forcible ; and the contempt which Elihu expresses for these
speeches, wonderfully severe and mortifying : they are no sooner de-
livered than they are dissipated, like clouds or vapours ; they lose
their effect instantaneously ; every word flits from its allotted posi-
tion in a different direction. So iEneid xi. JQ^.

Audiit, et voti Phoebus succedere partem

Mente dedit ; partem volueres dispersit in auras.

He said ; and Phoebus half voucUsaf'd his prayer.

And half dispers'd amid the fleeting air.
In hke manner St. Paul, 1 Cor. xiv. 9. " So likewise you, except ye
utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be
known what is spoken ? for ye shall speak into the air."

Schultens has rightly translated the last part of the verse "demi-
grarunt ab illis sermones j" but, like the rest of the commentators, he
has destroyed the real meaning of the passage, by referring the verb
and the pronoun to the friends of Job, instead of to their speeches.
Making sermones the nominative case to the verb, as it ought to be,
the text now offered is a literal version of it. The rendering in our
established lection, " they left off speaking," is in no respect a
translation ; and is in truth merely a paraphrase of a meaning that
was misunderstood. Miss Smith's rendering, " they put away
words from them," is more direct, but obviously labours under
the common misconception of the nominative case.

The general subterfuge by which the difficulty, resulting from
Elihu's adopting the third person plural instead of the second, is

a a attempted

330 NOTES. Chap. XXXTI. 16.

attempted to be overcome, is a supposition that the speaker, in the
present passage, turns suddenly from the patriarchs before him, and
addresses himself to a supposed company of bye-standers. This ex-
planation, however, must now appear to be just as unnecessary as it
is hypothetical : while others have supposed (and altogether as erro-
neously) that the present and ensuing verse form a kind of explanatory
note to the general reader, and hence, increasing the scries of errors,
infer that Elihu was the author of the poem. As now rendered, the
awkward supply, with which almost all the translators restore Elihu
to the speakers before him, in the beginning of v. 17. (I said, or
The?i said /,) is altogether superfluous, and forms an additional
proof of the existence of eiTor in the common interpretation.

Ver. 16. Js I attended till nothing could he said to Am.] The ori-
ginal runs as follows :

my Yj)) «^ nor ^3

and I give it, that the Hebrew scholar may see with what verbal ac-
curacy the text now offered is rendered ; and how little the original
is amenable for that extreme and almost insuperable difficulty which
attaches to all the translations hitherto attempted : which continue a
part of the mistake of the preceding verse into the present ; and,
after erroneously conceiving all the verbs, except the first, throughout
the entire verse, to be in the third person plural, erroneously also con-
ceive these verbs to apply to the friends of the patriarch, whom
Elihu again addresses in the third person, instead of in the second —
unless the preceding subterfuge be here also again had recourse to,
and certain spectators of the controversy be introduced, as consti-
tuting a part of the dramatis personae, and addressed instead of the
preceding speakers.

It will be obvious, from the text now offered, that, instead of re-
garding these verbs as in the third person plural, I have considered
them as in the third person singular, with the pronoun 1 or him sub-
joined. The term v6 (nothing) is the nominative case to the first
and last; and the third (as in the text itself) is used impersonally. It
is possible that the translation might be rendered with somewhat more
ease and elegance : but, in consequence of the multiplicity of ex-
planations which have been offered, to remove as many supposed per-
plexities in the original text, I have chosen to give it in its literal
character, words, and order. '5 (ci), which I have rendered ////

(donee).

Chap. XXXII. 17— 21. NOTES. 381

(donee), instead oi for, as in our common lection, and in almost all
others, is the ^ (ci) of the Arabians, which admits of the same
sense, nb is su often used as a noun, (nihil, to jutjctv), and espe-
cially in the book before us, that it is almost superfluous to give
examples. The reader, however, may turu^ if he choose, to
ch. vi. 21. viii.9.

Ver. 17. I myself, also, will declare — ] This is a mire repetition
of the latter part of the couplet constituting v. 10. ; a figure so com-
mon to the poets of Greece, Rome, and Persia, as well as to those of
Syria and Arabia, that it would be idle to offer instances. Among
the GreeJcs, Theocritus appears to have been most attached 10 it }
among the Romans, perhaps Lucretius, — though Virgil seems to have
followed him nearly cequis passibus ; among the Persians, Hafiz,
and Jami.

Ver. 17. — on my part ?^ In the original *pbn : h /xcpei. The
phrase is idiomatic, and expressly corresponds to our own idiom.
Dr. Stock has thus rendered it correctly. So the Dutch, op myn
haart.

Ver. 18. Lo! I am overcharged — ] In the original "Tl^D >5. '5 is
here, as in a great variety of other places, a particle of interjection, and
not of causation: " Lo ! see! behold!" and not /or, as usually
rendered, ^nbu from K^D, " to satiate, overload, surcharge, or over-
charge." The passage might be rendered actively, "I have loaded,
heaped up, accumulated matter." Reiske derives Tiba from rh^,

synonymously with the Arabic ^^^.Jl^ and makes it jactito, voluto
argumenta, " I revolve or regurgitate arguments."

Ver. 19. — my bosom — ] ''Jtoi: in our common version, " my
belly 5" and in the preceding line, (for it is the same word that
occurs there,) " within me." In both instances it ought to be ren-
dered as in the present text. See the translator's Note on the Song
•f Songs, IX. 5. p. 176-

Ver. 21. Nor will I now flatter men's faces :

I will neither keep silence nor complimen

,.}

The whole of this, different as it is from our common reading, is
rendered literally, and in the order of the original. It is necessary,

a a2 however.

382 NOTES. Chap. XXXTI. 22.

however, to notice more particularly the second line of the couplet,
which in the Hebrew text is as follows :

And here DIM ^M may be regarded as a preposition and a noun, im-
plying to " man ;" in consequence of which the rendering will be.

And to man I will not pay a compliment ;
or, as a negative particle and a verb in the first person singular of the
future tense, nee tacebo, in which case the rendering will be as now
offered. The former is the sense in which the passage is generally
understood : but I have followed Reiske in adopting the latter ; first,
because it introduces an additional and highly appropriate idea; and
secondly, because the very same term, b«, is used as a negative parti-
cle in the preceding line of the couplet in every translation, " nor
will I flatter," or "let me not accept;" and hence has a claim,
from apposition, to be taken in the same sense in the line before us, —
as also because tnt^ and JiiDW {a-dam, and a-canneh) appear to be
equally in apposition : and since there can be no doubt of the latter
of these terms being a verb in the first person future tense, there
can, I think, be but litt'e doubt as to the former. In Diodati we
have the general meaning, but rendered loosely : " Gia non m'av-
venga d'haver rigaardo alia qualita della persona d'alcuno;" " For
I will not suiFer myself to pay respect to the personal quality of any
one."

Ver. 22. — should hold me in contempt.'] Such is the literal and
most general rendering. Thus Schultens, " Tanquam nuHius pretii
toUeret me Factor mens j" " My Maker would hold me as of no
value." So Dr. Stock,

" For so should my Maker make very light of me."
The Vulgate gives us, " Et si, post modicum, tollat me Factor mens ;"
" Nor whether, after a little, my Maker may not take me away."
Our common version follows this rendering nearly, " For in so
doing, my Maker would soon take me away." «li^3 means, certainly,
to bear away : but it also means, and more generally, " to bear
up, or hold up to view ;" while toro, from a verb of the same cha-
racters, signifying " to be despised, or of no value," is here used
adverbially, " miLli pretii, contemptim, et aspernanter."

Chap. XXXIII. 3-6. NOTES. 383

CHAP. XXXIII.

Ver. 3. —shall find me words:\ The Hebrew -^D« is, here, a verb,
and not a substantive,

Ver. 3. —pure knowledge.'] Literally, "thoroughly purged or
purified," -^^^:l ) free from all error : the reason is explained in the
ensuing verse.

Ver. 4. The afflation of God—'\ h'A nil : literally, afflatus numinis.
The greater part o*" the passage is iterated from v. 8, of the preceding
chapter, and clearly explains in what sense the speaker then em-
ployed it.

Ver 6. Behold ! I am thy fellow — ] The term here rendered
" thy fellow or equal" is T'QD {cepic),'m which ^QD is a direct
Arabic term, u^ , implying "fellow, equal, like;" similis, par,
compar : whence the expression "i^ JS &jjji J unns alteri sit
par. It is found in.no other book in the Avhole Jewish scriptures 3
and hence the commentators have been woefully puzzled for a
meaning, and, to accomplish any thing of the kind, have been obliged
to split the word into two parts, '•a-D, independently of the pronoun,
'7-''Q-D, " as thy face, form, or person ;" whence — conjoining the term
bub, " by, through, or to God," to the same section of the couplet,
instead of transferring it to the ensuing, to which, as Reiske well ob-
serves, it justly belongs — the usual rendering is, " I am as thy face to
God," " as thy person or appearance." Thus Schultens, " Ego
sicut OS tuum ad Deum ; which he thus explains, " Ego sum ad
Deum eadem ratione qua tu ;" " I am to God in the same degree of
comparison as thou art:" or, as Dr. Stock renders it,
" I am what thou art, in regard to God."
Such is the general sense derived from the older versions, and intro-
duced into the more modern. But it is a rendering that has never
been regarded as sufficiently clear or satisfactory. Hence Pagninus
translated the passage, " Ecce ego, secundtim os tuum, Deo ;" and
our common translation, copying him, " Behold I am, according to
thy wish, in God's stead :" but this rendering wanders still farther
from a direct interpretation than the preceding. Symmachus trans-
lates the passage ovk el/xt Qeos, " Behold ! I am not God before

tliee r*

3S4 NOTES. Chap. XXXIII. 7, 9.

Ihee !" improperly altering bi^b into bn i6. Luis de Leon translates,
" Vesme aqui, segun tii boca, por Dios;" "Behold me here, ac-
cording to thy mouth (call or demand), on the part of God."

This maltipliciry of renderings shows, evidently, that the passage
has never been understood ; nor could it, while ^23 was regarded as
pure Hebrew Contemplated in its Arabic sense, the difficulty im-
mctliateiy vanishes, and ail is clear and lunjiaous : " Behold I I am
thy itauw or equal : — by God, was I too formed out of the clay."
The passage has J direct reference to the observ ation of Job himself,
t.8-— 10. ^

Thy hands have wrought me, and moulded me ;

O remember, that as clay thou hast moulded ifte.

Ver. 7- L>o f my terror, ^c] This also is a quotation, and most
forcibly introduced, of a passage previously made use of by the
patriarch .himself. Seech, xiii. 21,

Withil^ayf Jar from me thy power.

And let not thine awefulness dismay me.

So again, ch. ix. 34,

Would he withdraw from me his supremacy,
And not let his terror dismay me.

Ver. p. I am clean — ] In the original ''53 » ^tl ; in our common
version, " I am innocent — :" and, as an Arabic term, or used in
an Arabic sense, either rendering is correct. The direct signification,

however, of the term in Arabic (t—ds.-) is " Evulsis pilis giabram
nitidamque faciem reddere j" " concinnare faciem ;" " To mnke the
face clear and shining, by extirpating the hairs or beard;" " to dress up
the face." It is also applied to the feet ; for ^ p^ is nudus pedilus,
clean-footed. — If i=]n be translated as a Hebrew term, the rendering
must be different, and, in order to make sense of it at all, circuitous :
for, in this language, it imports, as a verb (nan), " to veil, cover,
overspread," and hence, secondarily, " to shield or protect." Whence
Mr. Parkiiurst, and after him Miss Smith, renders the passage, " I am
wrapped {in innocevce); while Dr. Stock gives us, " Secure am I."
Thi- 'v-iniueniatvirs, generally, concur in understanding the term
in its Arabic import, which undoubtedly affords a clearer and more
obvious idea.

Ver. 10.

Chap. XXXIII. 10— 13. NOTES. 383

Ver. 10. — he hunieth out pretexts.'] The Hebrew m«1in, fiom
Hi, " to fail or come short of," means " flaws, lailinp;!,, deliciei cies."
Whence the passage might be rendered, "he bunieth out or scruti-
nizeth failings;" or " he findeth out charges possessing flaws or
failings," " unfounded accusations," against me. But our c( mmon
translators have given the word, and 1 believe most correct iy, an
Arabic meaning; d^b, u/UL, " occasions, or pretexts." The
Septuagint has pursued the same track, irpo^atnu:. Diodati trans-
lates it thus, " Ecco! egli ritrovade modi per disperder mi ;" " Be-
hold ! he seeketh out means to ruin me." Job, observes the trans-
lator in his comment, has not actually made use of these words : but
the sentiment they convey is to be found in ch, xiv. l6. as well as in
various other places.

Ver. 11. He putteth my feet into clogs?^ This charge is brought
verbatim from ch. xiii. 27. The rest are rather quoted generally,

Ver. 12. Behold ! this thou hast not made good.'] Literally, " this
thou hast not justified :" not " in this," as given in most of the
translations.

Ver. 13, Why dost thou dispute with him, -i

Because, isfc. ? S

Such is the division of the couplet by St. Jerom, and Junius and
Tremellius j the first and second hemistich being united ; giving a
clearer sense than that of Piscator and Pagninus, which clo.ses the
interrogation with the first hemistich, and which has been copied into
our common version. Dr. Stock translates the passage rather like
a special pleader than a theologian :

" Why dost thou go to law with him ?
Since in all his suits he putteth in no answer."

The general purport of the remark is in perfect unison with the fol-
lowing of J. B. Rousseau :

" Et tu crois, 6 mortel, qu' k ton moindre soupcon,
Aux pieds du tribunal qu' ^rige ta raison.
Ton maltre ob^issant doit venir te repondre ?
Accusateur aveugle I un mot va te confondre.
Tu n'appereois encore que le coin du tableau .
Le reste t' est cacht sons un ^pais rideau ?
Et tu pretends d^jk juger de tout rouvrage."

Ver. 15,

386 NOt£S. Chap.XXXIII. 15— 18.

Ver. 15. When deep sleep falleth uponman.'\ A line repeated ver-
bally from ch. iv. 13. by a figure called by the rhetorician? awapAora,
and of which the best poets, sacred and prophane, appear to have
been very fond : see the author's translation of Lucretius, vol. II.
p. 4. note.

Ver. l6. — mpr°sselh — ] As with a seal, QTstV : the whole pas-
sage is rendered verbally.

Ver. 17. — (he man of stratagem^ In the original, ntyi?0 tDT^,
literally as in the version ; for nu?>*a is here evidently used in a bad
sense.

Ver. 17. — rooteth out — ] Not fiDi^ from nt3i " to hide," at
given without any clear meaning in our common version: but riD3%
from HDS " to uproot, extirpate, eradicate/' or, in its Arabic sense,
(^^) " to sweep or drive away."

m:i is rather " contumacy, obstinacy, stubbornness," in all the
places in which it occurs, than " pride;" though this, if it were ne-
cessary, would form a clear reading.

Ver. 18. He restraineth — ] He restraineth him when. /irw?/^ or
olsthiatdy bent upon travelling in the road where the dangers, re-
ferred to, lie. ,

Ver. 18. — from the pestilence^ In the original nhty -30 ; literally,
" from the pestilence," " from contagion " or " corruption :" — and
hence St. Jerora, following the Chaldee interpretation, " a corrup-
tione ;' Tyndal, "from destruction 5" and the Septuagint, ctTro
davdrov, " from death." Most of the translators, however, have
chosen to derive ritlty from hty, " to stoop or bend downwards,"
■•»«ahd hence render the passage " from the pi/." The former is the
more direct meaning, and offers a better opposite to nW, " the
arrow or javelin," as it .should rather be rendered than "the sword,"
and as, in truth, it is rendered by most of the translators.

These seem to h^ve formed, and still continue to form, the two chief
dangers to which the Arabian traveller is exposed — the pestilence

or poisonous wind, the (. Jj /•L.) Sam-iel, (poisonous wind,
literally,) which mostly sweeps over the desert between Bagdat and

Mecca,

Chap. XXXIII. 19. NOTES. 387

Mecca, though often met with in other parts of the East, suffocating
the lungs, and putrefying the blood almost instantaneously j and the
dart or arrow of the hordes of wild Arabs that over-run the same
inhospitable tract, and often strip and plunder caravans, as well as
individuals. It is certainly to these two dangers, and probably to
this individual verse, that the Psalmist refers, xci. 5, 6.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night.
Nor for the arrow that flieth by day :
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness,
Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day,

Ver. 19. — the agitation of his bones be violent.'] Piscator, and
Dr. Stock, appear to be the only translators who have rightly ren-
dered this passage : " et lis ossium ejus vehemens;" or, according
to the latter, " the contention of his bones is strong." ni (rob)
(the term here employed) means "strife, contention, agitation ;"
but nil " multitude, magnitude, &c." It is from this last word
(but, I think, erroneously) the sense has been generally derived:
thus, in our common version from Junius and Tremellius, " the
multitude of his bones with strong pain,'" in which a very licentious
supply of words is necessarily introduced, to give the passage a signi-
fication : — while Mr. Scott, and after him Mr, Parkhurst and several
others, render it, " When the multitude of his bones is yet strong ;"
a sense which the passage will certainly bear j — though I think, with
the commentators in general, that the whole line is rather intended
to be descriptive of the disease than of the Jirin health of the suf-

ferer. 1^ (<-r-')) '*''^^> '^ ^''^^ ^" Arabic term, and implies ^fZ/y,
or rob as we express it, in our own tongue, from the Arabic root
itself, jnt* (eteji), " strong, violent, Jierce" may also be regarded

as an Arabic word, under the form of , t i] importing "^ olescit,
foetet ;" whence Reiske translates the passage, " Quando (rob) me-
dulla ossium ejus olescit j" "■ IVhen the marrow of his bones is cor-
rupted." I have rendered ^hik (eten), "violent," instead of merely
" strong or powerful {' because in the present instance, as well as
in various others, it is used in a bad sense. pHN, and nJIflb*, {Aten,
At'na) indeed, whether in Hebrew, Chaldee, or Syriac, import a
" furnace," and is so rendered, G^n. xix. 28. : and hence probably
the name of Mount Efnu. •

Ver. 20,

388 NOTES. Chap. XXXITI. 20—22.

Ver. 20. — nauseates — ] Or " makes nauseous to him;" inom
from Dm, sordeOjJ'ceteo.

Ver. 21. His flesh is consumed, thai it cannot be seen^ Literally,
" is consumed from ihe sight." But I have chosen to retain our
common version, not only because it gives the real meaumg of the
passage, as well, if not better than any other 1 have met with, but also
because, in the repetition of the word seen, it others a similar alliteration
or jingle to that which occurs in the original, and to which the
writer of this poem was peculiarly addicted :

■•K^o ntyn by

Jicel besaro ma-rui,
Vesuppu ozmatiu la-ruy.

Ver. 22, — to the Destinies "l In the original CD^riDDb ; Hterally,
to the " ministers of Death 3" Parcce, Destinies ; or, as our common
version has rendered it, " to the Destroyers." But the meaning
of the term has not been understood, and hence a variety of other
renderings have been attempted in its stead. Schultens translates it
perimentes, to which, however, he affixes no pertinent or distinctive
idea : at which I am the more surprised, since he has ventured to
translate mrtVl Dirce, a far bolder approach to Grecian mythology
than the present. — Pineda gives " ad moribundos," " to the dying;"
the Septuagint and Luther, " ad mortuos," " to the dead;' others,
" ad signa mortis instantis" " to 'the signs of immediate dissolu-
tion :" but the word does not directly lead us to any of these ideas,
nor is it the appropriate teim by which to express any of them.
Reiske conjectures that CnoD^ should be written tZ)''nno^; — " to
the regions of terror," if nn be the root, or " to the regions or
realms below," if it be nni ; — a very elegant and ingenious conjec-
ture, but unnecessary and inappropriate.

This patriarchal doctrine of Destinies, or powers appointed to ex-
ecute the judgments of the Almighty, descended to almost all coun-
tries. The Greeks had their AtVat, or Mopai ; the Piomans, their
Parcae ; and the Goths, their Fatal Sisters. In like manner, the
Icelandic Scandinavians (a branch from the same quarter) denomi-
nated their destroying goddess, Hela, and feigned her the grand-
daughter of Odiil, by his son Lcjie. Among the Arabians of modern

times,,

Chap. XXXIIT. 23. NOTES. 389

times, the power is of the male sex, and is denominated Azrael,
He is supposed to belong to the Jfirst order of the celestial hierarchy,
and to be cc^equal with Gabriel, Michael, and Israfil, the angel of
Resurrection, or he whose office it will be to sound the trumpet at
that soiercii period. The function of Azrael is thus alluded to in
the A!coran, Sur. xxxii. " The Angel of death, that is set over you,
shall cause you lo die." . That the same doctrine constituted an arti-
cle iu the Jewish creed, is fiilly established by one of the most ex-
quihue narratives in the whole history of this people, 2 Sam. xxiv.
id, VJ. "Ana when the ?.nge\ stretched out his hand upon Jeru-
salem lo destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the
ANGEL TiMT DESTROYED the people, ' It is enough : stay now thine
hand.* And the aa^el of the Lord was by the threshing-place of
Araunaii t;}^ Je'ousite. And David spake unto the Lord, as he saw
the tiiigeJ that smote die people, and said, 'Lo! I have sinned, and
I nave done rr-ickedly : but these sheep, what have they done ? Let
thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's
house.' " The same isagam recorded, 1 Chron. xxi. 15, 1(3. j and a
reference to a similar fact is given 1 Cor. x. 10. " Neither murmur
ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the
Destroyer." Upon which see the Introductory Dissertation, Part V.
It is farther in corroboration of the explanation now oifered, that it
gives a meaning to the command of the Almighty, in v. 24. which is
otherwise unintelligible, as to the persons addressed.

Ver.23, Surely — ] The Hebrew DW is here evidently an affir-
mative, and not a conditional particle, as rendered by all the transla-
tions : not if, but surely.

Ver. 23. — one of the thousand.'] Not " one of a thousand," as
rendered by all the translators. It is evidently a character of definite
dignity, and closes the sublime and beautiful chmax, which runs
through the verse : see the preceding Dissertation. " There shall be
over him an angel" — but angels are ministers of judgment as well as
of mercy ; " There shall be over him an angel of grace ; an inter-
cessory angel, whose office is directly the reverse of the Destinies
or ministers of Death ; yea, one of the supreme chyliad, the pre-
eminent thousand that shine at the top of the empyreal hierarchy,
possessed of transcendent and exclusive powers^ and confined to
functions of the highest importance."

The

390 NOTES. Chap. XXXIII. 23— 25.

The pnssage, taken as a whole, gives us a curious and valuable in-
sight into some parts of the patriarchal creed, concerning the Divine
government, and the diti'eient orders and degrees that exist in the
world of spirits. . I mu>it again refer to the Introductory Dissertation,
Part V. The same doctrine runs through the whole of the Alcoran .
thus,ch.ix. " Be not grieved, for God is with us. And God sent down
his security upon him, and strengthened him with armifs of angels,
whom ye saw not." So again sur. xiii. speaking of man generally :
" Each of lliem hath angels mutually succeeding each other, belbre
him and b^-hind him ; they watch him by the command of God.
Verily, God will not change his grace which is in man, until they
change the disposition which is in their souls by sin. When God
willeth evil on a people, there shall be none to avert it 3 neither shall
they have any protection be^^ides him."

It is a doctrine common to all ages, and almost to all countries 3
and certainly not, as suspected by Dr. Horsley, a mere Greek liction,
grafted upon the Christian system in the first ages of the church; and
unsupported by the revealed religion, either of Jews or Christians.
The following verses of Voltaire give a correct view of the subject,
as constituting a part of the general creed of mankind, derived from
patriarchal tradition:

" Devaht lui sont ces dieux, ces brulans seriphins,
A qui de I'univers il coinmet les destins.
11 parle, et de la tferre il vont changer la face ;
Des puissances du si^cle ils retranchent la race."

Ver. 23. — his duty.'] , The Hebrew may be rendered "his
righteousness or justice," with a reference to the Almighty: but it
may also be rendered " his duty" — or, as Tyndal has admirably given
it, " the ryghte w^aye" — in reference to the sufferer himself 3 and the
whole context proves, clearly, that the last is the sense in which it
ought to be understood.

Ver. 24. Release him, fefc] A command given unquestionably
to the tn^noD {Memitim), " Destinies or Ministers of Death," re-
ferred to in v. 22. and justifying the sense now given to the passage,

Ver. 25, -—shall fatten.'] The word, as usually written, is ty&toi,
which is a word in no language 3 is altogether contrary to the genius
of the Hebrew 5 and which no commentator has been able fairly to
explain. There can be no doubt that Reiske is correct in amending

this

i

Chap. XXXIII. 27,29. NOTES. S91

this to tyatDI, et impinguetur ; which gives us a clear sense, and a
genuine Hebrew term, employed, in the meaning here oflered,
Ps. cxix. 70. — and which also occurs in the same signitication, both
in the Chaldee and Syriac: tyQtO, " impinguari," " pinguefieri,"
" incrassari."

Ver. 27. But he hath not requited — ] Literally, "■ he hath not
been even with me ;" for the Hebrew mty, in its primary sense,
means " to smooth, level, or make even ;" whence it implies, se-
condarily, " to weigh or balance ; to compensate, requite, or re-
taliate." I am not aware that it ever means to profit, as given in
our common version. Schultens renders it " Et nihil cpquatum fuit
7nihi." We use the word " even" in the sense of " requital " in our
own language, though in an idiom somewhat too colloquial for the
present occasion.

Ver. 29. Time after time — •] Literally, " Three times over"
U;W tz>''D)?i3 : but it has been rendered variously by the translators.
The Septuagint gives o^ov^ rpfig, " three ways;" Junius and Tre-
mellius, Piscator and Schultens, "his terve, or du<ihus vicibus, tri-
lus," " twice or thrice ;" St. Jerom, " vicibus per singulos" " by
turns to every man ;" Tyndal, " alwaye."

}

CHAP. XXXIV.

Ver. 3. For the ear trieth words.

As the mouth tasteth foods.
" Before you sit down to a book, taste it; examine the title-
page, preface, contents, and index ; then turn to the pbce where
some important article is discussed : observe the writer's diction,
argument, method, and manner of treating it. And if, after two or
three such trials, you find he is obscure, confused, pedantic, shal-
low, or trifling, depend upon it he is not worth your reading."
" Student and Pastor, by the Rev. John Mason, A.M." — Nothing
can better exemplify the comparison; and I have a pleasure in
quoting from so excellent a man, and highly esteemed a relation.
That the couplet in the text was a proverbial expression, is obvious,
from its previous citation by Job himself, ch. xii. 11.

Ver. 4.

392 NOTES. Chap. XXXIV. 5, 6.

Ver, 4. Let us search out for ourselves the right.'] Our common
rendering hardly gives the real sense of the original j which is not
" let us chuse"' — but 'Met us- select," " let us choose out," " let
us explore" or " investigate." The Hebrew mn;iJ is still

retained in this sense in the Arabic jsXiJ . But the Arabic and

Syriac text, for toBu;D, seem to have read tDityo; since they give,
" Let us select for ourselves a judge, that we may know among
ourselves (Syr.) what is best."

The following distich from a very excellent kasida ( iJjuuaJJ )
or idyl, of Abu Hanifa, quoted by Sir W. Jones, will form a valuable
and beautiful comment upon the passage :

** In strife of words, be right alone your aim ;
The truth t' unravel, and the false disclaim."

Ver. 5. " I am righteous," -j

And " God hath rejected my cazise." S
Elihu quotes verbally from the speech of Job, as given ch. xxvii.
6. 2. But he does not quote quite fairly; for he omits the con-
necting parts of the passages brought forward, and which are of
great consequence to the argument.

Ver. 6. Concerning my cause, I am slandered^ In the original
313M, " I am belied, calumniated, or slandered." The part referred
to is probably ch. xvi. 8.

" Yet my calumniator riseth up against me.
He chargeth me to the face."
But the passage does not appear to have been understood by the
commentators, and, hence, is given in almost a thousand different
ways. I have translated it literally, and in the order of the original.

Ver. 6. He hath reversed my lot without a trespass.] The allusion
is probably to ch. xix. 6. or ch. xxiii. 14.: but the passage has been
by no means comprehended. " He hath reversed my lot," is, in
the original, 'tfn U^13M {anus hezzi) ; both which terms are either
pure Hebrew, or pure Arabic : but they have not exactly the same

• meaning

Chap. XXXIV. 6. NOTES. 393

meaning in the two languages; only, however, in consequence of
that accidental change of signiticalion which words c.re always
undergoing in a long period of time, under ditferent circumstances.
tyj« (anus) — the original idea of which, in both languages, stems to
be " to derange or disturb" — implies, in Hebrew, " to weaken, or
make sick or infirm j" but in Arabic i^iJu. (anus), either " to
upturn, subvert, reverse, iiicurvate, make crooked," (ivjlectere,
incurvure, exturlarej ; or " to chase, or drive away," (jiropellere,
aligerej. While vn (^hezj, which, in Hebrew, means "an arrow,"

in Arabic (iL-*a>-) means " a lot, portion, or division." There it
no difficulty in tracing this difference ; for the Hebrew verb itself,
D'ir^ (hezzaj, signifies " to divide or part," — whence the Hebrew
substantive should rather signify, as the Arabic does, " a part, lot,
or division:" instead of which, however, while the Arabic has
thus adhered to the radical idea, the Hebrew has deserted it for
that of the instrument by which the division is eft'ected, " a shaft,
or arrow." *

I am surprised that this difference of sense has never struck any
of the Iranslaiors, especially Reiske, Schultens, and Michaelis;
considering the difficulty of obtaining any thing like an obvious
signification from the terms, viewed as Hebrew, instead of as Arabic.
In the version now offered, I have given the direct Arabic
meaning, which, I trust, is clear and definite : restricted to a direct
Hebrew meaning, the translation will be, " my arrow is weakened
(or " made infirm") without a trespass." But nobody has ever been
able to make any sense of such a rendering : whence a great deal of
paraphrase has been had recourse to, and a foreign sense has been
attempted to be extracted from a plain obvious passage, by a cir-
cuitous process. " My arrow," almost all the interpreters tell us,
is " my plague, my disease, or my wound 3" in other words, " wy
hurt from thine arrow," or the arrow of the Almighty: while the
Hebrew t&J«, which, in no fair sense, can mean more than " to
be weak," or *' infirm," — is stretched out in its signification, to
import " to be mortal, deadly, incurable." Thus Junius and
Tremellius, and Piscator, " Mortifera est sagitta meaj" so Schultens,
" Lethalis est mea sagitta;" — whence our common version, " My
wound (arrow) is incurable." Dr. Stock has attempted to make
sense out of the literal meaning of the original,

'* Mine arrow is weak for want of passage ;"

believing

394 NOTES. Chap. XXXIV. 7, 9-

believing it to be a proverbial expression, for " I have a good cause,
if I were allowed to plead it." While Miss Smith, with great
ingenuity, regarding ty"i:« as a noun, instead of as a verb, translates
it " man •" and, at the same time, regarding ''Vn as an adjective,
instead of a noun and pronoun in conjunction, translates it " divided,
" cut off:"

" A man cut off without transgression."
There appears to be no reason, however, for deviating from the
common construction j and the instances of the introduction of
Arabic terms are too numerous to require any remark upon an
example, in the present case. Miss Smith, moreover, has no
authority, that I am aware of, for ^ being employed as a formative,
in a participle derived from npn.

Reiske, as usual, has altered the original text, in order to obtain a
meaning : but it is not necessary to follow him.

Ver. 7- He drinkeih up derision like water.'] Another expression,
and ptobably a proverbial one, quotfed nearly verbatim, and with
great severity, from his own speech. See ch. xv. l6. It is clear,
from the ensuing verse, that the whole passage refers to the
customs and manners of a caravan ; and, of course, this part of it
immediately to the large draughts of water drunk by the camels, on
setting out.

In the following apostrophe of Sacontala to Dushmanta, we
meet with a singular parallelism : " Oh ! void of honour, thou
measurest all the world by thine own wicked heart. What prince
ever resembled, or ever will resemble, thee, who wearest the garb
of religion and virtue, but, in truth, art a base deceiver; like a deep
well, whose mouth is covered over with smiling plants."

Ver. Q. " Behold r saith he — ] The Hebrew >5 is here an inter-
jection, and not a ,particle of causation. Behold ! and not for, as
usually rendered. The remark probably refers to the whole of the
patriarch's reasoning in ch. xxi.: but it is not altogether a fair con-
clusion from the argument there advanced, — in which the patriarch
observes, that a wicked course of life does not necessarily and con-
stantly produce misery, under the existing dispensation of things j
nor a virtuous course of life happiness. Ehphaz had recourse to the
same charge, in his reply ; and met with a severe and deserved
rebuke, in the rejoinder.

Ver.

Chap. XXXIV. 10-17. NOTES. 393

Ver. 10. A truce with wickedness toivards Ood^ I have trans-
lated the passage hterally; Thhu means " a cessation, intermis-
sion, breach, or breaking off." The evident circumlocution of our
common version proves it to be rather a paraphrase than a, close
rendering. But, independently of its looseness, it does not give the
exact idea of the original ; which is doubtless, " far be it from us to
impute wickedness to God," rather than " far be it from God that
he should do wickedness." So Schultens, " Longissime Deo ab
improbitate."

Ver. 11. According to a man's work.'] Not "'for a man's work,"
or "for the work of a man," as rendered in our common version.
^3 is " according to," here, as well as in the next line, in which our
common version so renders it. In this view of the subject, we may
well exclaim with Voltaire, upon another occasion :
" Jamais un parricide, un calumniateur

N'a dit tranquillemeut dans le fond de son coeiir ;

' Qu'il est beau, qu'il est doux, d' accabler 1' innocence,

* De dechirer le sein qui nous donna naissance !

' Dieu juste ! Dieu parfait ! que le crime a d' appas 1'

Voilk ce qu'en diroit, mortels, n' en douter pas,

S' il n'etoit une loi terrible, universelle.

Qui respecte le crime en s'^levant contre elle."

Ver. 13. TFho inspecteth the earth over him?'] " Who revieweth,
or scrutinizeth it over him, in order to rectify his errors ?" '"' Where
is his superior in the concerns of the earth ?" I have given the
passage literally. The Hebrew IpQ means, primarily, " to inspect,
review, superintend ;" and, secondarily, " to give in charge, or
trust," The passage has been diversely rendered by almost all the
translators ; but, more generally, in the secondary sense, which does
not appear to me to offer any very explicit signification ; and which,
if it could be applied at all, would make it, " Who hath given the
earth a charge over him ?" rather than as it is commonly tendered,
" Who hath given him a charge over the earth r" The phrase is
repeated, and in the same sense, ch.xxxvi. 23. which see,

Ver. \6. But, touching — ] In the original 0X1, " but if of — "
" but as to — " " but concerning — ."

Ver. 17. — become a check.] The passage refers to ver. 13. There

lb is

S96 NOTES. Chap. XXXIV. 17—23.

is no instance in which tym means strictly " to govern " or " give
laws," as the passage has commonly been translated in our own
country : it is merely " to gird or saddle a beast," " to bind,"
" restrain," or " curb ;" and tl\is is the usual idea, given under dif-
ferent forms, by the different translators.

Ver. 17. ^tid wilt thou, forsooth, tsfc.'] Our common version
omits the sarcastic Di*, " truly," " marry," " forsooth j" and trans-
lates "^'55, " abundant," " multiplied," " unbounded," by a mere
sign of the superlative degree — " him that is most just." I have
given the passage literally ; Schultens translates it, " Justum prae-
potentem condemnabis ?" Dr. Stock, " the eminently just one ?"
But I prefer p^Tif, as an abstract term, "justice," to a personal
term, " a just one" and " multiplied, or unbounded," is more
true to ^13, than either " almighty" or " eminent."

Ver. 19. Behold! all these, ^c] The whole verse has been
strangely misunderstood by all the translators; and the present line
improperly connected with the preceding, instead of with the
succeeding. The conclusion is striking and obvious : if respect be
due to kings and potentates of the earth, how much rather to Him
who has created them, and who can destroy both princes and
people in a moment.

Ver. 22. For' the workers, fei'c] Literally and ordinally, " for to
hide therein the workers of iniquity."

Ver. 23. Behold! not to ma7i hath he entrusted the time.'] The
preceding verses having been generally misunderstood, it is not to
be wondered at that this verse should be misunderstood also ; and
there is not a passage in the Bible that has more severely tried the
skill and ingenuity of the critics: none of whom, however, have
given a clear rendering, nor often a rendering which has even
proved satisfactory to themselves. Schultens offers four or five,
and explains each at some length ; and finally concludes as follows :
"■ Vereor interim ne nudta jaculatus necdum ferierim. Certe
dubitatio mihi necdum dirempta;" "But I am afraid, though I
have taken many aims, I have not yet hit the markj certainly, some
degree of doubt still remains with me."

It would be a useless task to copy all the different renderings of

this

Chap. XXXIV. 24. NOTES. 397

this passage, or attempts at rendering it, that have been offered to
the world, and which amount to at least forty. I shall only observe,
that the version now presented is both literal, and in the very order
of the words of the original. I should understand trj^ty' ratlier as
derived from tDty, than from Dt2>, whence it is usually derived ;
though the difference is not essential, and probably the former itself
is derived from the latter. Both mean '' to put, place, or depute ;"
but LDm> imports, still more emphatically, " to put, or place confi-
dentially," " to trust, or entrust ;" in which sense it occurs Gen.
i. 26. Jud. xii. 3. — Tli^ is not, in this place, an adverb, " amplius,"
" still, or more," as usually rendered, but a noun; and, like 1)3 and
m;i?D, means " time," " day," " period 3" and, in this part of their
rendering, Grotius and Reiske concur with the present.

Ver. 24. — unawares.'] In the original IpH «V : literally, inopi-
nanter, improviso ; dwpoaooKrjruf;, dirpooTrroig • " unpreparedly,
unexpectedly:" " without notice, without exactness." It might
also be rendered, " without inquest, without trial;" or, as Dr. Stock
has rendered it, " without process." So Pagninus, " Non investi-
gatio :" but the first sense seems to agree best with the context.
The direct paraphrase is given by our Saviour: " For the day of the
Lord Cometh as a thief in the night." The only translator who
appears to have preceded me in the rendering now offered, is Louis
De Leon, whose version is, desmenuzara grandes sin cuenta.
The following fine verses of Corneille are altogether in point upon
this subject.

" Vous ^talez en vain vos charmes impuissans ;

Vous me montrez en vain, par tout ce vast empire,
Les ennemis de Dieu pompeux et florissans.
II 6tale k son tour des reveis tquitables.
Par qui les grands sent confondus ;
Les glaives qu' il tient suspendus
Sur les plus fortunes coupables,
Sont d'autant plus inevitables
Que leurs coups sont moins attendus."

Ver. 24. — And lifteth up the lowest into their placed So De
Leon, once more, with the greatest correctness : " Establera pos-
TRERos en su lugar," " Los," says he, " que ellos no estimaban ea
nada." Others is not the direct meaning of the Hebrew C3''"inw^
which is literally, " the hindmost i" from "inx, " after," " behind." .

I h 2 Ver. 25.

398 NOTES. Chap. XXXIV. 25, 26.

Ver. 25. And rolleth round the night, and they are demolished^
A beautiful synecdoche for " in a single turn, or revolution of the
night, they are demolished." So Diodati, nearly correctly, " Al
voltar d'una notte sono conquisi j" " in the turn of a night they are
destroyed. " Dr. Stock renders it in like manner,

" And with a change of the night they are trodden down :"
which is a good paraphrase, though it loses something of the spirit,
as well as of the letter of the passage. In Miss Smith's version, it
is given thus :

' They are overturned in the night, — they are broken down."
which, however, can by no means be justified as a literal translation,
and is less imbued with the general sense. Tyndal otfers a still
bolder deviation from the letterj " For he knoweth their evel and
darcke worckesj therefore shall they be destroyed."

Ver. 26. Down, culprits — ] I have given the order of the
original, as well as the literal sense. The words are D'i?tyi nnn,
which are usually rendered " as wicked men 3" or, as Miss Smith
has it, " like culprits." But nnn has no such meaning as " like or
as," even in a secondary sense. In the verbal and radical form
nri:i, it imports " to descend or go down 5" and hence, as an adverb,
" down, beneath, below." And in this sense it is rendered by
Schultens, Reiske, and Dr. Stock, in the place before us. But
though these critics have given the true meaning of nnn, they
have all of them mistaken the signification of the general passage.
Schultens renders it, " Sub sceleratis explodit eos/' '■' Beneath the
wicked, he driveth them away j" in which, sub or beneath is used
in the sense of before, or in the presence of; — " In the presence of
the wicked themselves, he driveth them off the stage." But this
version has not proved satisfactory. Reiske has hence conjectured
a mistake in the original reading, and for Ci^t^l proposes d^HQI,
" Silent are they below— he hath smitten them."

Dr. Stock suspects a still greater error in the original text.
" Here," says he, " has been a remarkable interpolation from the
margin. Some annotator, who found D''i?tyi in his copy, where the
context appeared to require WtK"), wrote at the side 3''H"1 D^poa,
with some mark set upon the word in the text, W)3W\; as if he had
said, this word is in place of D''«1, ox)tb.s^ thrust out of its place
the proper word. Negligence adopted the' annotation as a part of

the

Chap.XXXIV. 26, 27. NOTES. 399

the text." Whence this learned writer connpresses the two periods
of the verse into one, and renders it,

" Beneath the behoUlers doth he tumble them."
I trust that the rendering now offered will prove, very sufficiently,
that there is no reason for disturbing the original text, in its usual
reading, usual signification, or verbal order.

The general idea designed to be inculcated in this and the pre-
ceding verse, is thus elegantly expressed by Racine, in his Athalie :

" De tous ces vains plaisirs oii leur ^me se plonge,
Que leur restera-t-il .'— Ce qui reste d'un songe.
A leur REVEiL (6 r^veil plein d' horreur !)
Pendant que le pauvre Ti ta table
GoMera de ta paix la douceur ineffable ;
lis boiront dans la coupe affreuse, in^puisable,
Que tu pr^senteras au jour de ta fureur
A toute la race coupable."

Ver. 26. In the public courts — ^] The Hebrew is t3''pDi : literally,
as now rendered, " in the resorts, public courts, or other places."
Our common version, " in the open sight," gives a good commen-
tary, but not the verbal meaning.

Ver. 27. IFho purposely — '] In the Hebrew p Vy Itl^M; which is
usually, but very incorrectly, rendered lecause ; in which p b)i is
altogether omitted. Schultens gives us, somewhat more properly,
quid pro certo, " because for certain ■" and Dr. Stock, still nearer
to the truth, " who for certain." ntyw is here unquestionably a
pronoun, and should be rendered who ; but p bn means rather
" purposely, deliberately, by previous preparation," than " for
certain." The radical verb p imports " to purpose, prepare, make
ready j" and the derivative, in the present instance, continues the
radical meaning.

Ver. 27. — all his dealings perverledi] In our common version,
" Would not consider any of his ways :" yet b>D does not meari any,
but all. bity means rather " to act or behave wisely," than
merely " to consider," and (in Hiphil, the conjugation here em-
ployed) " to make, or cause to be wise ;" whence, with the negative
vb, " to make, or cause to be, not wise, or unwise;" " to pervert )"
literally " to stultify." Schultens renders it, " Omnes vias ejus non

mature

400 NOTES. Chap. XXXIV. 29.

mature intellexemnt/* " All his ways understood not thoroughly 5"
and Dr. Stock, " Of all his ways had no knowledge." But there
appears to me hardly force enough in these renderings to equal that
of the original.

Ver. 29. But let him. give quiet — ] This passage forms a beau-
tiful contrast with the preceding, in which the Almighty is repre-
sented in the character of an avenger of unrighteousness. The
direct rendering of i'^iy'T' "■ give trouble," is, "" assault," " invade,"
" break in upon." But I have not chosen to disturb the common
reading ; and prefer this rendering of Junius and Tremellius, of
Piscator, and our established version, to the forensic sense given to
it in the Syriac version, and which it certainly will also bear, as well as

the present : " If hetlismiss, who shall condemn?" : .n«^« o 01 J o.

The Arabic is to the same effect, --C^Ji jJi ^J li.

Ver. 29. — hide his face — ] The phraseology is common to all
the Hebrew poets, and especially to the royal Psalmist. But the
passage has probably an immediate reference to ch. xiii. 24. of the
poem before us : _'

" Wherefore hidest tliou thy face.
And aceountest me thine enemy ?"
Mr. Parkhurst prefers the forensic sense; and is hence followed by
Miss Smith,*who is a faithful copyist of his criticisms :

" He acquitteth, and who shall condemn .'

He hideth faces, and who shall behold them .'"

the latter period being thus interpreted, " As the face of a culprit
was covered as soon as he was condemned." Dr. Stock's version is
to the same effect:

" When he quieteth a process, who shall condemn ?

When be covereth a face, who shall make him look at it .'"
the latter period being explained, " Who shall pretend to reverse

the sentence?" Reiske makes the passage pure Arabic, AJ^tcJ,

orjjililj, " Quis declarabit ipsum U» h^ malum?" " Who shall
think evil of him ?" I see no reason for deviating from the common,
and, as it appears to me, the most obvious^ as well as the most
elegant rendering.

Ver, 30.

Chap. XXXIV. 30,31. NOTES. 40 i

Ver. 30. To a corrupt king of mankind, -»

Or the 7nultitude of the people. S

Literally, and in the order of the words.

To a king of mankind, corrupt.

To the multitude of the people.
But the word ^ba was very early considered as a verbj and a
colouring has, hence, been given to the passage, that has been
seized hold of by every succeeding commentator : and though the
renderings, in order to make any kind of sense of it, when thus
distorted, have been varied almost to infinity, nothing satisfactory
has been hitherto offered by any one. It is needless to run over these
erroneous divarications. The passage has been uniformly misunder-
stood ; and not only ^^D {a king) has been regarded as a verb to
reign, but ''WpD, " a multitude," or " the multitudes," from Wp,
" to collect or assemble together," has, in like manner, been inter-
preted as a verbal form, and derived from iyp% " to entrap, or
ensnare." I shall only observe further, that the rendering of our
common version, which is as follows, is derived from Junius and
Tremellius, and Piscatory " That the hypocrite reign not, lest the
people be ensnared;" only that it omils the word homo (man, i.e.
hypocrite-man), introduced into the Latin translations, and correctly,
as the original contains the same term. P|in may mean hypocrite,
though this is not its general sense, which is that of wicked or
corrupt, and which I have therefore given, in preference.

Ver. 31. Therefore say thou unto God^ The translators are here
still more divided than in the preceding verse. The original,
according to the common reading, runs thus,

in which the letter H should terminate the third, instead of begin-
ning the fourth word,

and by this means we obtain the imperative, and, as I trust, the
perspicuous phraseology now offered.

Ver. 31. / have suffered, — / will not offend^ This is the direct
rendering of our common version, if we omit the unnecessary inter-
polations expressed in the Italic types: " I have borne chastisement,

I will

402 NOTES. Chap. XXXIV. 32, 33.

I will not offend any more.'' Nor is there any sense that I have
met with that is so true lo the original. Mr. Parkhurst understands
the term ^ID^^ in the signification " to be bonnd, obligated, or
obliged," instead of " to offend ■" whence he renders the entire
passage, " Is it to be said to God, I have suffered what I was not
obliged to, or did not deserve r" And Miss Smith, as usual, has
echoed this able writer's rendering.
Dr. Stock has given us as follows :

" Since, on God's part, I have taken up the word,
I will not confine thee."
While Schultens, who denominates the passage, " Insuperabilis fermc
scopus j" " An almost insuperable point," writes " Nam ad Deum
sane dixit, accepi quod non pigneratus eram j" "^For he hath said to
God, I have taken {seized), I have not borrowed 3" as though with
the irresistible force of a king.

Ver. 32. Wkerein — ] Such is evidently the meaning of D« in
this place, siquidem, iiriicrj, as in various other places in the He-
brew scriptures.

Ver. 33. Then, in the presence of thy tribes."] This very difficult
passage I have also rendered verbally, and in the literal order of the
original, excepting that the second period runs thus :

Shall he make it whole, according as thou art bruised :

I hope the passage thus rendered is clear, as well as literal j and if so,
it is more than can be said of any hitherto offered, with all the lati-
tude the writers have assumed, in order to obtain perspicuity. Mr.
Parkhurst gives us, " Thy words he hath requited thee : but thou
hast despised his correction. For thou choosest, and not I; and
what thou knowest, say." He is followed by Miss Smith. Dr.
Stock translates thus :

" Will he demand it of thee, because thou refusest ?

Surely thou didst choose it, and not I.

Therefore, what thou knowest, speak."
Schultens renders it, " Ecce ! de tuo rependit illud : naraque sub-
ulceratus ;" " Behold ! he repayeth it out of thine own coin : for thou
art full of sores."

Ver. 35.

Chap. XXXIV. 35— 37. NOTES. 403

Ver. 35'. Should Job answer — ] The meaning is perplexed in all
the translations, by rendering this and the subsequent verbs in the
present or preterite, instead of in the conditional tense, as they uni-
formly occur in the original. The proposition is that referred to in
V. 33, and, concerning the justness of which, he expresses himself
desirous of conferring in v. 34.

Ver. 36. Verily — ] In the original "il^, which, if a compound term
from !i«, may mean " my father !" and is so rendered as an inter-
jection, by Pagninus, St. Jerom, and Tyndal ; but if a single term, it
may be regarded as a particle of desire or of affirmation. It is un-
derstood in the first of these two senses, in the Chaldee, in our
common version, and by Dr. Stock, who renders it "content! let
Job be tried, &c.j" and in the second of these two senses, in the
Syriac and Arabic, and in the Alexandrine Greek, " vere ■" " veruvi
enim vero" This last I have preferred, as appearing to offer the
plainest signification.

Ver. 36. — even to conquest.'] Wi 'ni?. As a verb, WJ implies
both " to overcome," and " to be over." Our common version
has given the last sense to the substantive formed from this verb,
" unto the end 5" and it is perhaps the more common rendering.
In Dr. Stock it occurs, " to the uttermost." Junius and Tremellius,
howev^er, give us " victoriam," " to victory or conquest :" Parkhurst
approves this rendering, and I think there can be no' doubt of its
being the most forcible and explicit.

Ver. 36. — like wicked men.'] Not " for wicked men." The
original is p« ''lyjt^!! : in which ;i is an adverb of comparison j so the
Septuagint, wainp ol d(f>poi'ti. So also Schultens, " instar hominuni
vanissimorum."

Ver. 37- Yea, he would tempest his words up to God.] Nothing
can exceed the force of this expression, if I have rightly appre-
hended it. 1"V, " he would tempest," is derived from ni'l, which
implies, in its primary signification, " to grow great, swell forth or
multiply :" and, in an improper sense, " to grow tumid," or " in-
flated ;" and hence, in a secondary signification, when applied to
speech, " convitior,'' " jurgo," or Xoihoptu, as it is occasionally
rendered by the Septuagint, " to talk big or with swelling words,"

"to

404 ' NOTES. Chap. XXXV, 3, 9.

" to bluster/' " to storm or tempest." Milton has ufjed the verb
" tempest " in the sense now offered, in that well-known passage :
part huge of bulk,

WalloM inj unwieldly, enormous in their gait.

Tempest the ocean.
hvb cannot, except with a very constrained meaning, imply " against
God," as rendered by Piscator, and after him by the translators of
our common version. The usual meaning is, " to," " up to,"
" unto," " towards j" and in the one or the other of these senses
it is rendered by almost all the interpreters, ancient and modern.

CHAP. XXXV.

Ver. 3. Behold! thou wouldst argue — ] The passage has-been
misunderstood : ^5 is here an interjection. 'IDWM is in the con-
ditional tense, "thou wouldst branch out," " launch out," "ha-
rangue or argue," not " thou didst or hast — ." The latter period of
the verse, as rendered in our common lection, proves itself to be
erroneous by the superadded and unnecessary phrase, " if I be
cleansed." — Di^ton imports " a deviation from the right," " a trans-
gression," " an evil course" or " going astray." The particle D
implies prce, mag'is quam ; and is so rendered by a variety of expo-
sitors in the present place. Thus Piscator, " magis quam ex peccato
meo." So Schultens, " prae peccato meo," which he explains
" prae qu^m si peccator vixissem." So Dr. Stock correctly, but in
equivalent, instead of in univocal terms :

" How am I better than if I had gone astraj' }"
The rest of the translators have given the passage in a great variety
of ways, almost every one differing from the other. We do not
exactly know what parts in the argument of Job are here referred
to : perhaps ch. xiii. 18, I9. or xxiii. 4, 5.

Ver. g, — the oppressed—"] In the original D^pltyy : in the present
place a participle paoul or passive j and not a substantive, "op-
pressors " or " oppressions," as usually rendered ; it is flie nomina-
tive to the verb that follows. The whole scope of the argument in
this chapter is to prove that the only reason why God does not in-
terfere at times in human calamities, is, because he is not properly
applied to ; but that he still beholds the actions of every one, and

will hereafter regard or punish accordingly.

Ver. 10.

Chap. XXXV. 10— 12. NOTES. 405

Ver. 10. Wko giveth songs in the night.'] An exquisitely beautiful
image, and in the true spirit of Oriental poetry. Tyadal's rendering
is a good paraphrase, though a bad version, " That shyneth upon us
that we myght prayse him in the nyghte ?" It might be rendered,
" Who giveth paeans (triumphant songs) in the midst of darkness
or oppression." The Septuagint is feeble, Kardrclffauv (bvXaKdij
vvKT£pivd(s, 'rWho superintendeth the watches of the night ■" and
the Syriac and Arabic, not much more povv^erful, and apparently read-
ing mal by mistake for twyo), "Who giveth thoughts, fancies,
imaginations, in the night." Yet Miss Smith has copied this last
rendering, and her learned commentator justifies it.

The best practical illustration of the common and correct reading
is found in Acts xvi. 25, 26. " And at midnight Paul and Silas
prayed, and sang praises unto God : and the prisoners heard them.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, &c."

c s.

Ver. 11. Who teacheth us — ] liSi'D, a direct Arabic term, UuiJ^
from ^__^il " to learn, devise, or discover ;" and hence, in Hiphil,
" to make to learn," " to instruct, or endow with knowledge," For
want of referring it to this source, the critics have been uniformly
puzzled as to its derivation : it gives indeed a sense nearly similar if
derived from P]b«, but such a derivation is forced and ungrammatical,
and at the same time altogether unnecessary.

Ver. 12. Piteously — ] The whole verse has been conceived un-
intelligible, but only, as it appears to me, because it has been
wrongly translated. Dty, here rendered " miserably," from notl^,
" desolation, waste, misery," has always hitherto been regarded as
an adverb of place, to the utter confusion of the sense. There
is a fine passage upon the same subject, of the general depravity,
and, at the same time, the general impotency of man, in a
Sanscrit poem, entitled Moha Mudgara, " the Mallet of Folly,"
inserted in Sir W. Jones's Works, vol. I. p. 207. from which I shall
take leave to copy the two following distichs :

" How soon are we })orn ! how soon dead ! how long lying in the maternal
womb! (of earth : seethe same figure. Job i. 21.) How great is the
prevalence of vice in this world ! Wherefore, O man, hast thou plea-
sure below ?

" Day and night, morning and evening, winter and spring, depart and
return. Time sports, life passes on ; — yet the wind of expectation (the
breath of confidence) continues unrestrained."

Ver. 12.

406 NOTES. Chap. XXXV. 12, 14.

Ver. 12. Notwithstanding the violence of the outcries.'] In the
original,

0^i>1 p«J "-JfiD

which the Hebraist will at once see is rendered^ as now proposed,
not only perspicuously, but verbally and ordinally. The common
renderings are, ''Because of the pride of evil men," or, " In the
face of the rising of evil men." ^i^D is literally " in the face of,"
" in opposition to," " iu spite of," " notwithstanding," " nihilo-
minus." Either of these significations would answer in the general
sense given to the passage above ; but I have preferred " notwith-
standing," as being most accordant. pi^J;, from Hb^J, may be trans-
lated "swelling, rage, violence, elevation, pride " the exact mean-
ing must be determined by the context. And D''i?1, from i>1, " to
break or rend," means equally " renders or rendings of the air,"
" shouters or shoutings," and " renders or breakers of established
right}" " wicked or evil men."

Ver. 14. " Thou dost not behold us /"] In our common version,
"_^Thou shalt not see him !" In the Hebrew 131'ityn, which may be
rendered either of the above ways, the pronoun being equally the
first person plural, or the third person singular; the former gives the
best sense. I can in no respect, however, concur with those who
would gratuitously alter the verb from the second to the third per-
son, for this cannot be done without interfering with the characters
and meaning of the text. It is so altered, however, by several of the
translators, especially by St Jerom, who has copied the Chaldee ver-
sion, as he has been copied in turn by Miss Smith. The Syriac and
Arabic give us, equally erroneously, the first person, " Non laudabo
eum," " I will not extol or give praise to him."

Ver. 14. — and thou shalt abide it.] In our common version,

and that of most others, " trust thou in him." The Hebrew is

lb bhnn. The pronoun may import him or it : the last appears to be

most correct. The verb may be derived from hT^\ " to abide, stay,

wait, expect, hope j" or from bui, " to inherit, possess, partake."

If from the former, the sense will be, " and thou shalt abide it," or

" by itj" if from the latter, " and thou shalt partake of it." Miss

Smith renders it with the same error of person as in the preceding

period of the verse, *' and he will execute it."

The
4

Chap. XXXV. 15. NOTES. 407

The entire verse is thus given by Dr. Stock :

" How much less when thou sayest, * Thou dost not look to me ?*

The cause is before him, and thou dost act disrespectfully towards him."

Ver. 15. — because he hath not mustered up his ivrath.'] Our com-
mon version is extremely clouded and perplexed, Mr. Parkhurst
has endeavoured to correct it, by rendering the passage thus, " And
now because he (God) hath not visited his (Job's) anger, and hath
not taken notice of his great excess, or rather hath not taken severe
notice of his excess." This, however, is rather a paraphrase than a
literal translation, and, as it appears to me, an erroneous paraphrase
too. The rendering offered in the text, I venture to hope, as it is
more literal, will also be found more perspicuous, IpQ imports
" to muster, marshal, or take a review of," as well as " to visit."
Diodati is at least as paraphrastic as Mr. Parkhurst, but somewhat
more to the purpose, " Fdllo pur' hora : percioche nulla e quello che
I'ira sua ha fatto visitandoci, ed egU non ha atteso grandemente alia
moltitudine de' tuoi peccati."

CHAP. XXXVI.

Ver. 2. Incline to me — ^] In the original *b 'ifii. In our com-
mon version, " suffer me j" probably after St, Jerom, '' sustine me."
Dr, Stock, " an audience for me." Miss Smith, " attend to me."
The real meaning of IMi has not been understood. It imports " to
encompass, curve, bend, or incline." Applied in the sense now
offered, the spirit of the passage is peculiarly polite and modest.
Montanus renders it, " sta circum mej" and Schultens, ^' coronare
mihi," " crown me," or " let me wear the crown." These last
have a reference to the idea of a curve conveyed by the Hebrew
term, but they do not give the proper sense.

Ver. 3. I will exert my knowledge to the utmost.'] So Reiske, not
very differently, " Je pousserai mes arguments au plus haut degre
de I'evidence."

Ver. 4. Behold! truth, without error — ] DiD«, usually regarded as
an adverb, and rendered truly, is a noun in the present place ; and
by this general mistake the passage has lost half its force. The
whole verse is here rendered strictly, literally, and in the order of
the words.

Ver. 5.

408 NOTES. Chap.XXXVI.5— 7.

Ver, 5. — will not le despised.'] In the original D«n'' H^l ; in
which Db^Q may be used actively, in the Arabic sense, " and will not
relax." Our common version proves at once its want of correctness
by its circumlocution, " and will not despise any." Mr. Parkhurst
gives the entire passage, " Behold ! God is abundant, and will not
despise any ;' Schultens, " Ecce Deus praepotens, et non subulce-
ratur;" " Behold ! God is Almighty, and will not be wounded or
injured." The text will certainly bear this sense : though I prefer,
by far, the common signification ascribed to C^D in the present
instance, " to scorn or despise j" the error consists in understand-
ing the terra in the active voice or Kal, instead of in the passive or
Niphal, as now rendered.

Ver. 5. Mighty in strength of heart, he will not — ] Such ought
to be the rendering, as well as the division ; both of which are
equally erroneous in most of the versions. Our established reading,
" he is mighty in strength and wisdom," shows at once its miscon-
ception by its Italic additions.

Ver. 5. — he will not uphold — ] In the original mn^ from IT'n,
" to strengthen, uphold, or make vigorous." Our common version,
" he preserveth not the life," is a most unnecessary circumlocution,
and equally wanders from the sense and tense.

Ver. 6. — from the judge."] The common rendering is, "^ from the
just or righteous person." But the whole paragraph has been mis-
taken, and the only clue to the real meaning is the original itself.
p''1i? does not here signify " a possessor," but " a dispenser of
righteousness or justice," " a judge " or " magistrate ;" and with
this rendering the whole is clear, though inextricably confused
without it.

Ver. 7- Nor even from kings — ] In the original tuO^D ns^l. I
have given the passage literally. The preposition O "from," in
the preceding line, is here understood ; the 1 is necessarily negative
after the preceding «b j and n« is emphatic, " even from kings,"
"^from very kings," "from kings themselves." Miss Smith makes
a most extraordinary addition to this passage, in order to elicit a
meaning from the usual sense, which she has adopted, without being
otherwise able to understand it :

" But with kings on the throne doth he place theyn."

Ver. 7-

Chap. XXXVI. 7—13. NOTES. 409

Ver. 7. For he returneth them in triumph—'] Usually rendered,
"Yea, he doth establish them forever" or "constantly." The
passage, considered apart from the context, will bear either of these
versions ; but it is obvious, from what immediately follows, that the
latter sense cannot possibly be correct. The Septuagint will in some
degree admit of the same double meaning ; but the proper significa-
tion of the verb rather inclines it to that now offered, KaQin avrovi
fu v7koc. Reiske is obliged to amend (as he calls it) the original
text ; but, after all, he is by no means explicit. The real root of
i^ty\ " he doth establish," is 'z'Q^, " to turn or return," and not lty\.
" to seat, fix, or establish."

Ver. 12. They pass ly, as an arrow, ■%

And die without remembrance. J

Reiske is the only commentator who has hitherto understood the
real meaning of this exquisite image, frequently as it has been made
use of by subsequent poets. His commentary is, " Sed si non audiant,
prseteribunt, absque ut vestigium existentise suae relinquant, quemad-
modum telum per auras it; et expirabunt in ignobiUtate, infamia,
absque nominis celebritate, ut alii quidquam de ipsis norint;"
** But if they listen not, they shall pass by, so that not a vestige of
their being may be left, as an arrow passeth through the airj and
they shall perish in ignominy, infamy, and void of fame, so that
others shall know nothing of them." The passage certainly may
be rendered literally, " they pass away by the arrow ;"■ but the
preceding version is in every respect preferable. To the same effect
Young, Night Thoughts, B. I.

" All men think all men mortal but themselves ;
Themselves, when some alarming shock of Fate
Strikes through their wounded hearts the sudden dread :
But their hearts wounded, like the wounded air.
Soon close ; where pass'd the shaft, no trace is found.
So dies in human hearts the thought of death."

Ver. 13. — toss up the nose^ I have literally retained the idiom 3
which, in truth, is nearly as common to our own tongue, as to the
Hebrew and Arabic. Thus Shakspeare, conversely, in his Timon:
" Down with the nose —
Take the bridge quite away —
Of him that, his particular to forefend,
Smells from the general weal."

Ver. 13.

410 NOTES. Chap. XXXVI. 13, 14.

Ver. 13. They shall not be liberated — ] In the original )XiW> «!?.
In our established version, and, I believe, in every other, except
Reiske's, " they cry not, or shall not cry." ^^m implies, in its pri-
mary sense, " to open, enlarge," or "make free 3" and hence, in a
secondary signification, " to open or enlarge the mouth," " to cry
out or vociferate." There can be no doubt that the primary sense is
intended in the present passage : it gives the best explanation, and is
that expressly demanded by its opposite in the same line, ^Dii " to
fetter." So Racine,

" Nulle paix pour I'impie. II la cherche, elle fuit :
Et le calme en son coeur ne trouve point de place :
Le glaive au-dehors le poursuit,
Le remords au-dedans le glace."

Ver. 14. They shall die in the youth of their soul^ A most for-
cible and elegant phraseology, but vi^hich is strangely mutilated in
our common version by the total omission of DU?a3, " of their soul."
The term "li^J, here translated " youth," may also be rendered
" agitation" or " violence," and is thus rendered by many exposi-
tors, though with great disparagement to the real meaning. Thom-
son, with true poetic daring, applies the same term to the bud of a
flower. Spring, 506.

" Around, athwart, *

Througli the soft air, the busy nations fly.

Cling to the bud, and with inserted tube

Suck its pure essence, its etherial soul."
So Lucretius, with a figure of similar spirit, lib. iii. 223.

" Quod genus est, Bacchi quom flos evanuit, aut quom

Spiritus unguenti suavis diffugit in auras,

Aut aliquo quom jam succus de corpore cessit,

l*Jihil oeulis tamen esse minor res ipsa videtur."
So, from the juice of Bacchus, when flies ofi"

Its FLOWER ETHERIAL, from the light perfume

When mounts th' essential spirit, or from man

Th' excreted lymph exhales — the curious eye

Nought marks diminish'd.
Dryden has offered nearly the same image, and precisely the same
meaning, in the opening of his Alexander's Feast :

" The lovely Thais, by his side,
Sat, like a blooming Eastern bride,
In FLOWER OF YOUTH, and beauty's pride."

Ver. 14,

Chap. XXXVI. 14, 15. NOTES. 411

Ver. 14. And their strength shall lie amovgst the rabble.'] Literally,
*' in faece plebis" " amongst the dregs of the peo[)le," D'-t^np:::.
Schultens gives us, " inter nefandos," " amongst the abominable or
execrated." t^lp, however, like the Latin term sacer, may be used
both in a good and a bad sense ; and hence, while on the one hand
it implies " filth, dregs, pollution, abomination," it implies, on the
other, "separation, consecration, holiness j" and plurally, ''holy
places " or " holy persons." It appears to be given in this last sig
nification by the Septuagint, »/ ^e i^utrj avruv nrputrKOjuivt] vtto
dyyeXaiv, " And their life is destroyed by the angels." Scott has
attempted to justify this version, and has proposed the two follow-
ing renderings of the entire passage, in order to include it •.

" Their breath dieth in youth ;

And their life is destroyed by the holy beings.'*

Or,

" Their breath dieth by violence ;

And their life is destroyed by the holy beings."

Whence Dr. Stock,

" So their person dieth by shaking.
And their life by the angels."

The sense offered in the text will, I trust, be found as much more
obvious as it is more forcible.

The following from Malherbe, in his ode entitled " La Mort,"
is directly in point :

" La se perdent ces noms de maitres de la terre,

D'arbitres de la paix, de fondres de la guerre ; .

Comme ils n'ont plus de sceptre, ils n'ont plus de flatteurs ;
Et tomhent avec eux, d' une chute coinmune,

Tous ceux que leur fortune

Faisoit leurs serviteurs,"

Ver. 15. And make their ears tingle luith joy,] In the original
t^im bl^'^ ; in which, h^ may be derived either from T]bl or from
b:i. If from the former, the rendering will be, ''And make their
ears openj" if from the latter, it will be as rendered above, "And
make their ears exult, ring, vibrate, or tingle, with joy." The trans-
lators have hitherto given the former of these renderings, by common
consent ; but it is less forcible, and perhaps less clear than that now
offered.

c c Ver. 1 6.

412 NOTES. Chap.XXXVI. 16— 18.

Ver. l6. Su, surely, ivouhl he have raised up, ^c] I have given
the passage literally, an3 in the order of the words. The second
period is rendered by Schultens, "Ad latitudinera, sub qua nihil
coarctati ;" " To enlargement, under winch there is no strait," i. e.
" under which there is nothing to fear." The original, however,
has no such preposition as ad or io ; and irnnn does not mean
lender which, but *' in ilie place, extension, or extent of which,"
" in its place or extent." In Diodati we have it thus, " Anche te
havrebbe egli ritratto dalla bocca dell' afBittione /' " He would also
have withdrawn thee from the mouth of affliction."

Ver. l6. — the lowest of thy tables — ] In the original nns
linbiy j in which nn3 is usuail}' regarded as a participle, " sent,
put, or placed;" but the idea which uniformly pervades this term,
is inferiority, or something below. The verb imports " to descend,"
" to come down or under." And hence, as an adjective, the form
in which it is here employed, it imports " low, lower, or lowest;"
and as an adverb, " beneath, underneath, below."

Ver. 17. But thou art consunnnating — ] There is a very great
difference in the rendering of this passage, amongst all the transla-
tors ; yet I do not believe it has hitherto been correctly given by any
of them. The version now offered is in the direct order of the ori-
ginal, and requires no gratuitous supplies to make out a sense.
Ueiske alters the text, and makes the present and the ensuing verses
change places. Mr. Scott offers, " But thou art full of the striving
of the wicked; judgment and justice take hold on thee.'' Dr.
Stock,

" Now the trial of condemnation thou completest.
Trial and justice support themselves."
Neither of which are so clear as our common version, from which 1
have deviated as little as possible : " But thou hast fuHilled the
judgment of the wicked : judgment and justice take hold on thee;"
literally, " are on the catch," — but the expression is rather too collo-
quial, and I have hence given " are at hand."

Ver. 18. Behold the indignation 1"^ Here ""^ is obviously an ad-
verb of exclamation, " behold! mark! take notice of !" and not
an adverb of causation, " because," as rendered by preceding
translators. The sense with this signification (and a very common

one

Chap. XXXVI. 1 9, 20. N O T E S. 413

one in the poem before us) is clear and forcible ; but clouded and
doubtful without it. Mr. Parkhurst renders the passage, "Because
there is wrath, take heed lest he irritate thee to explosion."

Ver. 19. JFill thy magnificence then avail?'] The greater number
of versions make yj:W, " thy magnificence," governed of the verb,
" Will he then value thy magnificence ?" The present mode of con-
struing, however, seems the clearest and most correct, " Will thy
magnificence then avail, or be of value ?" Schultens gives the pas-
sage in this manner, thus far, but supposes 1V1 " treasure" to be a
compound, Tii"-!, from ll." " a strait or difficulty j" and hence, join-
ing the first part of the second line to the present, renders it " An
in acie stabit rannificentia tua, ut non sis in arcto?" " Will thy mu-
nificence stand in array, that thou shouldst not be in a strait ?" And
Mr. Parkhurst proposes, '•' Will he estimate or set in array thy mu-
nificence, that thou shouldst not be in distress r" The common
division of the verse, however, appears more forcible and per-
spicuous. Pieiske has taken strange and very uncalled-for liberties
with the text, both in this and the succeeding verse.

Ver. 20. Neither long thou for the night, "i

For the vaults, iffc. S

The passage has been generally understood aright, as referring to the
night of death, which, in a variety of places, the affiicjted patriarch
had been invoking ; and in this sense the word is used by our
Saviour, John ix. 4. " I must work the works of him that sent me,
while it is day : the night cometh when no man can work-." but
it has never yet been explicitly rendered, and especially in the latter
mem.ber of the verse, which I have here given literally. t\\b):ih,
which is expressly " for the vaults," has usually been regarded as
an impersonal rendering of the verb th^i in the infinitive; whence
Schultens, " Qua tollendae gentes sub semet :" " In which the na-
tions are taken away underneath themselves ;" and our own version,
" When people are cut off in their place." So Dr. Stock,
** Gape not thou for the night :

For wtere people go up to their last homes."
Reiske, I have already observed, has endeavoured to obtain a mean-
ing by altering the text. And Miss Smith has given the Ibllowing
version :

" Dost thou not pant in the night.

For the people coming up on account of them?"

c c 2 Upon

^14 NOTES. Chap. XXXVI. 19.

Upon which Dr. Randolph observes, that " This literal and simple
version has cleared up a most obscure passage, and given a beautiful
meaning to what is perfectly unintelligible in our Bible." " It is a
curious circumstance, (he continues) that Schultens has rendered
the first part of the verse the same as Miss Smith, ' Ne anheles
noctem ;' and the latter part of it corresponds with the versions of
the Vulgate and Septuagint, ' ut ascendant populi, pro eis:' rop
(h'aljijuat Xaovg dvT avrup." I confess the obscurity of our com-
mon Bible rendering ; but I cannot see less obscurity either in Miss
Smith's rendering, or in that of the others on which she seems to
have grounded it ; nor can either of them be fairly entitled to the
character of simple or literal versions, for the latter half of the
verse is peculiarly paraphrased in all of them. Diodati gives the
passage in its usual rendering, " Non aspiran' a quella notte nella
quale i popolo sono tolti via dal luog6 loro ;" which he expressly ex-
plains, " Non disiderar tanto la morte, &c." The chief, perhaps the
only, difficulty exists in the word nibi?, which, from nbi?, implies
uniformly the idea of " rising, elevation, uplifting, superiority,"
'' coming up, going up. See. ;" and it has not appeared possible,
therefore, accurately to apply such a term to tombs or sepulchres.
I have chosen a word, however, that embraces both these ideas :
ribi> is, literally, " to vault or ascend j" yet " vaults," like ii'''b^, are
also applied, from the peculiar form of the buildings to graves or
sepulchres ; and hence the English and Hebrew terms are direct
synonyms in both senses. The obvious and immediate reference is
to the catacombs, or sepulchral chambers, common to Eastern coun-
tries, and especially to Egypt, as a receptacle for the bodies of those
who were not sufficiently opulent to build for themselves pyramids
or similar monuments. " The Egyptians of lower quality cut
subterraneous grots, or dormitories, in the rocks ; such as those in the
Libyan deserts, of which travellers speak so much, calling them
catacombs, or mummy pits. The entrance into them is by a square
well, where holes are cut on each side for the convenience of those
that descend. These wells are not of equal depth, but the shallow-
est are above six men's height. At the bottom of tlie well, there is
a square opening, and a passage of ten or fifteen feet long, leading
into several square vaulted chambers, each side of which is
usually fifteen or twenty feet ; and in the midst of every one of the
four sides of tlie chamber is a bench cut out of the rock, upon which
ilie embalmed bodies lie." — ^inc. Univ. Hist. vol. I, Egypt, B. I. ch.3.

So

Chap. XXXVI. 21, 22. NOTES. -iir,

So Dr. Young, in his Night Thoughts, B. IX.

" The globe around earth's hollow surface shakes,
And is the ceiling of her sleeping sons.
O'er devastation we blind revels keep ;
Whole buried towns support the dancer's heel. —
As Nature wide, our ruins spread : man's death
Inhabits all things but the thought of man."

Ver. 21. 0 leware ! — advance not — ] This verse I have also ren-
dered hterally, and, for the first time, have immediately linked its
meaning to that of the preceding verse ; which makes the sense
equally clear and simple. The original is peculiarly strong, " O be-
ware ! go not face-forward — ." The general idea is, " For wicked-
ness hast thou chosen rather than affliction." The actual and ob-
vious meaning, however, is : " For destruction, the night of death,
the vaults of the grave, this greatest of all wickednesses, this utmost
resistance to the divine will, hast thou chosen, rather than afflic-
tion," The reference is to ch. vii. 15, \6. and a variety of similar
passages, in which he sighs and supplicates for death as a release from
his sufferings :

My soul coveteth suffocation,

And I despise death, in comparison with my sufferings.
No longer would I live ! —
Schultens renders the passage still differently, " Cave ne respicias ad
vanitatem ; nam super hoc electus fueris ex adflictione :" " Beware
that thou return not to vanity 5 for on this {condition only) shalt
thou be elected out of affliction." But the rendering is peculiarly
forced, and at last not very explicit.

Ver. 22. ^nd who like him can cast down ?~\ The common ren-
dering of iTTiD, from the Chaldee paraphrase to the present day, is
" teacheth or instructeth," as though a participle in Hiphil, from MIV
This sense, however, is a very remote one, and exhibits no very
close connexion with the preceding part of the verse. There is no
necessity for wandering so far for a meaning. The second period of
the verse is obviously intended as a direct antithesis to the first ;
and ii'i^ in its primary and direct signification, imports " to cast
forth, cast out, cast down, or cast away :" and hence VM, its sub-
stantive form, " calamity, affliction." The sense therefore appears
clear and forcible, "And who like him can cast down?" The
Psalmist appears to have imitated the passage in its full vigour, cii. 10,

For thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.

Reiske

41<5 NOTES. Chap. XXXVI. 23— 27.

Reiske supposes it to be a genuine Arabic substantive, ,_cLs ; and
hence his version is, " Quis est tarn quam ille, depressor aut occuU
tator ?" " Who is bO much as himself a depresser or hider," i. e. " oj
the face." But ihere is no necessity for wandering so far. Schultens
gives, " Et quis slcut ille stringens plagis ?" " And who, Hke him,
woundath with stripes ?" The Hebrew theme is, in ihis case, mo
instead of H'lV

Ver. 23. JFho inspecleth his tvay over him?'] "Who super-
visetli," or " hcrutinizetb, it as a superintendant, in order to detect or
rectify its errors?" The passage is repeated literally from ch.xxxiv. 13.
which see. The translators appear uniformly to have forgotten this,
and have hence give a dilfereuL rendering, when precisely the same
idea is intended.

Ver. 24. Ore/led! — that thou may st, &c. — ] Thus excellently,
though somewhat too paraphrastically, rendered by Tyndal : " O !
consydre how greate and excellent hys worckes be, whom all men
love and prayse." It is only necessaty to observe, that Tllty, which
ought strictly to be derived from IIU^, " to celebrate, or magnify,
jointly or togetiier," " sing in chorus or triumphantly, " " conce-
lebro,'' — in many of the translations is derived from llty, " to see
or beho!(l." And hence our common version, " Remember that
thou magnify his work, which men behold," a sense which is equally
feeble and incorrect.

Ver. 25. Lvery mortal looheth toivards hirn.'] So the Sepluagint,
7r«f dvdpuiroq elhr Ir iavrw. But the greater number of versions
for " him," translate the Hebrew 1 " it," less perspicuously and
forcibly. St. Jerom, however, and Tyndal, concur with the Greek
in giving the proper sense. The passage is highly beautiful; and the
following from Paradise Lost may be regarded as an excellent com-
ment upon it, if it be not a direct copy :

" I now

Gladly behold though but his utmost skirts

Of glorv, and far oit' his stcj)S adore."

Ver. 2/. Lo ! he exhaleth — ] The whole description is highly
beautiful and correct ; but it has not hitherto been thoroughly un-
derstood. iJ'i:;, usually rendered " to diminish or make small," im-
ports, primarily, " to subtract, withdraw, draw away, exhale." The

entire

Chap. XXXVI. 28. NOTES. 417

entire process of vaporization, and the formation of rain, clouds, and
tempests, is most accurately and picturesquely delineated. ^pV can in
no sense mean " they pour down," as in our common version ; but
" they secern, secrete, strain oft', throw off, eliminate;" and henco
Dr. Stock, far more correctly, though it does not exactly answer the
purpose, "they are refined j" and Hchuheas, " ellfjuant." The
direct term, perhaps, is eliminate ; but it is scarcely of sufficient fre-
quency for general use. inw^, literally, as thus written, " for his
cloud or vapour 3" but there can be little doubt that it ought to be
written ITS^b ; which is then literally, as given above, " for his
Storm or tempest." The whole force and spirit of the subsequent
verse justify such a reading : but it is rendered almost, it not alto-
gether unquestionable, from its occurring in not less than fifty-one of
Dr. Kennicott's codices.

Ver.28. Then down flow, tSfc. — ] In this place, 'lU^S ought rather
to be regarded as an adverb of time, '' then," than as a pronoun
** which." ibr is rendered in our common version " do drop," but
very incorrectly : for bt, in all its meanings, implies lavishness or
profusion; " to let loose all at once," " to let go with profusion,"
" to be lavish or prodigal of" It is equally clear that D''pnt2/ cannot
mean " clouds," as we have it in the same translation ; since these
CpntJ^ are compared, ch. xxxvii. 18. " to a molten-looking glass j"
and the same lection is, in this last passage, compelled to substitute
" sky;" which, however, should be rather skies or heavens, the
original noun being plural. The entire verse has a wonderful con-
formity to the following couplet in Thomson's Seasons;

" Immense, the whole excited atmosphere
Impetuous rushes o'er the sounding world:"
with which the reader may compare the following very masterly
sketch in ^' The Nature of Things." Lucr. VI. 284.

" gravis insequitur sonitus ; displosa repent^

Obprimere ut ccpli videantur templa superb^.
Iiyie tremor terras graviter pertentat, et altum
Murmura percurrunt coelum : nam tota fer^ turn
Tempestas concussa tremit, fremitusque moventur :
Quo de eoncussu sequitur gravis imber, et uber,
Omnis utei videatur in imbrem vortier aether,
Atque ita prsecipitans ad dilnvjera revocare."

Roars next the deep-ton'd clangour, as though heaven
Through all its walls were shatter'd ; earth below

Shake*

4IS NOTES. Chap. XXXVI. 29.

Shakes with the mighty shock, from cloud to cloud

Redoubling- still, through all th' enfuriate vault :

While, loosen'd by the conflict, prone descends

Th' accumulated torrent, broad and deep.

As though all ether into floods were turn'd,

And a new deluge nienac'd man and beast.
In the following passage of the younger Racine, there is a moral
which renders it exquisitely interesting and impressive. It is a pari
of his ode from Genesis, entitled " La Creation."

" Quelle spectacle pompeux I quelle magnificence !
Quand Ics eaux tout a coup s'^levant dans les airs,
Forment en s' etendant, comme une voftte iumiense

Dont les cieux sont converts.
Qui la soutient ? Celui qui sur nous peut suspendrc
Ces nombreux amas d'eaux de nos raers attires ;
Celui qui les eiil^ve, et qui les fait descendre

Dans nos champs alt^res.

Qu'il nous aime bien plus, quand sa grace fecondc
De sa prodjgue main descend au fond d' un cceur,
L' arrose, 1' amollit, le p^nfetre, 1' innonde,

Le remplit de vigueur !
Heureux qui dans sa soif est abreuv^ par elle !
Heureux qui peut puiser au torrent pr^cieux,
Dont r onde qui retourne k sa source eternelle

Rejaillit jusqu' aux cieux."

Ver. 29. But if he heap up, isfc.'] These verses are supposed by
the critics to be altogether intractable. So obscure is the passage,
observes Schultens, notwithstanding the various efforts of the
interpreters, that all farther exertion is in vain. And hence he
gives it as it is ordinarily rendered, without pretending to enter
into its full meaning. Reiske, as usual, endeavours to extort a
sense by altering the text. Dr. Stock proposes as follows :

" Ye.n, can any understand the'spreadings of the cloud ?
The rattlings of his tabernacle .'
Lo ! he scattereth over it his lightning.
And on the bottom of the sea he casteth a cover."

Miss Smith offers a different version.

" Also who can understand the sprcadings of the clouds!
The high abodes of his silence ?
Behold he spreads on it his light,
And the bottom of the sea is covered (with the reflected light)."

In

Chap. XXXVI. 29. NOTES. 419

In the text now offered, I have adhered literally to the original,
which is, in the highest degree, grand and picturesque, and forms a
complete counterpart to the description contained in the two pre-
ceding verses, " If, during the rise of the tempest, the gathering
clouds be broken at once, the rain pours down impetuously, and it
is a storm of rain alone ; but if he pile, or heap up, the cloudy- woof
into a wide, and dense, and clustering mass, it then becomes a
storm of thunder and lightning — the flash spreads or brandishes in
every direction athwart the heavens, and covereth, as with a gar-
ment, the bottom of the sea.

The grand error of all the interpreters consists in giving to the
passage an interrogatory cast, to which it has no pretensions; and in
deriving j''l> from fl '' to discern or understand," instead of from
rr:i " to build up, pile up, heap up, multiply, or increase." '2i> is
not exactly expressed by our word cloudy it means, rather, " the
web, vapour, or woof, of which the cloud is composed, nimhis
rather than nubes." ,

Ver. 29. The tapestry of his pavilion.'] This imagery is in the
best and boldest spirit of Oriental, and especially of sacred poetry.
Thus Ps. xviii. 11. probably borrowed from the present passage :

" He made da»kness his secret covert around him ;
His pavilion dark waters, accumulated clouds."
The term nist^n, rendered '' ratllings" by Dr. Stock, and " noise"
in our common version, from M^U^j and " high abodes" by Miss
Smith, from HWi, is properly tapetcs, " tapestry, or pictured
drapery," one of the earliest arts cultivated by civilized man.
Concerning which, see Note to the Author's translation of Lucretius,
IV. 327. The root Ht^U^, observes Reiske, with great accuracy,
"Est picta variegata species, idea rei," — imports "the pictured,
variegated semblance, or image of a thing. "

So also Ps. civ. 2, 3. thus excellently paraphrased by De Pom-
pignan :

" Ainsi qu'im pavilion, tissu d' or et de soie,

Le vaste azur des cieux sous «a main se diploic ;
II peuple leurs deserts d' astres ^cincelans.
Les eaux autour de lui demeurent suspenducs ;

11 foule aux pieds les nues, ^ ,

Et marche sur les vents."

It

420 NOTES. Chap. XXXVI. 29.

It is possible that the Psahnist borrowed the image in the luinier
quotation from the present passage: yet imagery ot a similar k\nd
is common to the poets of most countries. Tnus Li.cretius, VI. 356.
" AuTiJMNOQUK niagis, tellis fulgentibus, apta,
Coucutitiir cocli domus undique, totuque telius;
Et, quom tcnipora se Vekis tlorentia paudunt."
But, chief, in Autumn, and whe!) Spring expands
Her flowery carpet, — eartli with thunder shakes,
And heaven's high arch with trembling stars inlaid.
Amono" the poets of Asia, the same figure is still more frequent j
thout^h usually appHed to the beauty of Spring, rather than to the
solemn scenery before us. Thus, in the highly-tinished book,
^ja'duUmakdur.

Sec. ^J^ J-^i; *^^^ J-^ '^j^ ^ CJL> S\ J^^
" Now had the stormy Wintir departed, and the grateful Spring
returned : the face of the fields was pictured by the fingers of
Providence, as by a painter; and the bride of the gardens had
received her ornaments from Divine Wisdom as from a jeweller, and
was gorgeously decorated. The birds sung from amidst the flowers ;
hundreds of nightingales, and thousands of linnets, ravished the ear,
and compelled mankind to listen, and Nature herself to bend to the
modulated music ; while the footsteps of heavenly benevoleu' e
recalled the earth from death to newness of life."
So in the following beautiful apostrophe, from the Abi'lola :

Lo ! at thy bidding, Spring appears.

Thy slave, ambitious to beseen ;
Lord of the world, thy voice she hears,

.\nd robes th' exulting earth in green ;

And

Chap. XXXVI. 30. NOTES. 421

And from her mantle's radiant hems

Drops pearls, drops emeralds, as she winds.
The milkmaid crops the heavenly gems.
And round her tuckt-up kirtle binds.
The Spanish poets have caught the same vein of eulogy fiom the
Saracens ; and hence the following amoret of Garcilazo de In Vega :
" Qual suele accompanada de su bando
A paracer la dulce Primavera,
Quando Favonio y Zefiro soplando,
Al campo tornan su beldad Primera,
Y van artificiosos esmaltando,
De roxo, azul, y bianco la ribera :
En tal manera h. mi Florida mia
Viniendo revedece mi alegria."

As with his light and airy train
The gentle Spring begins his reign.
When Zephyr and Favonius first
O'er the green meads benignant burst.
And round the central verdure strew
Borders of scarlet , white, and blue :
Such, when my Flora deigns t' appear.
The gay delights my soul that cheer.

Ver. 30. And investeth the roots of the very ocean.'\ The imagery
is continued in full spirit. " He mantleth or covereth as with a
garment," " he decketh," would, perhaps, best answer the purpose;
but that the general terror of the subject does not allow of it. The
simile is, not untrequently, to be traced in other parts of the sacred
writings. See ch. xxxviii. 15. of the poem before us. Thus again,
Ps. civ. 1, 2.

With glory and majesty art thou clothed.
Thou art covered with light as with a garment.
So Milton, in his exquisite address to Light :

" Before the sun thou wast ; and at the voice
Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest
The rising world."
We meet with precisely the same image in the following beautiful
passage of Lucretius, IL 143.

" Primum, Aurora novo quom spargit lumine terras,
Et variae volucres, nemora avia pervolitantes,
Aera per tenerum, liquidis loca vocibus obplent ;

Quann

422 NOTES. Chap. XXXVI. 30.

Quam subito soleat sol ortfis tempore tali

Convestire su4 perfundens omnia luce,

Omnibus in promptu manifestumque esse videmus."

When first Aurora o'er the dewy earth

Spreads her soft light, and throue^h the pathless grove

A thousand songsters ope thoir liquid throats,

All ether charming- — sudden we survey

Th' effusive sun, as with a garment, deck.

With his own radiance, all created things ;

Instant in speed, unbounded in his blaze.
In like manner, Klopstock, in his Messias, Ges, I.
" Hier fuller nur sonnen den urakreis

Und gleich ein hullc gewebt ans strahlen des urlichU

Zkht sich ihr glunz um den himmel herura."

Here only suns the vast horizon fill ;

Whose intermingling beams a role of light

fVeave, that enwraps the bright expanse of heaven.
For the figurative term, " roots of the very ocean," wr\ '>\n'-\m, our
established, and all other English versions, give the colder phrase,
" bottom of the sea." The Septuagint, hovi^ever, and most of the
Latin renderings, preserve the figure in its original force ; and we
meet vv^ith a parallel use of it in the Orphic Hymn to Nereus :
*fl KUTE'^uv irovTov PIZAS, Kvavav'/ETiv ICpTJV.

O thou ! who boldest, mid old Ocean's roots.
Thy bright-blue court.

Ver. 31. He passeth senterice amain.'] In tlie original, thus —

The real meaning of which has never yet been entered into; and
hence the general passage has met with another perplexity. The
common rendering (for the error has been propagated from age to
age) is.

He giveth meat in abundance :
and the explanation is, that the thunder-storm is both a judgment
and a blessing 5 and a beauty of a particular kind is supposed to
lurk under this contrast. But the sacred poet is here contemplating
it in all its awefulness alone; as inflicting punishment on the wicked,
and making even the heart of the good man " tremble and start
in its post." b^n, therefore, I feel persuaded, is, in the present

instance.

Chap. XXXVI. 32. NOTES. 42S

instance, a derivative from Tib^, the N being formative; and, as
such, importing " positive determination" or " decision," " predeter-
mination, doom," &c, as the verb is employed 1 S'am. xx. 7, Q, 33.
Esth. vii. /. and in various other places, T^IIIDd!? is, perhaps, in the
present instance, a direct synonym with our own compound amain,
" with sudden force or vehemence."

Ver. 32. — athwart the concave.'] The expression is more highly
poetical in the original than we can possibly render it in our own
language, except by a periphrase ; for it is in the plural number,
literally " the concaves," " the etherial vaults." The rendering of
this term by clouds, as in our common lection, is not only incorrect
in itself, but destroys the general meaning of the passage. Most of
the modern commentators, however, have concurred in giving the
proper import. Yet d''Q3 will certainly bear another sense than
of the " concave;" for it may mean, secondarily, the " hollow
part of the hands," " the palms of the hands;" and the Septuagint,
St. Jerom, and most of the Latin translators, have ascribed to it this
sense. Schultens renders it as follows : " Manum geminam vestit
fulmine;" " He clotheth either hand with thunder." This turn,
however, is extremely constrained, hi), which ought to be regarded
as a preposition, " over, across, athwart, &c." cannot easily be made
to imply " both, or either;" nor is there any thing in the original to
justify the use of J ulm en in the ablative case "with thunder."

Ver. 32. ytnd launcheth his penetrating boU.I This has proved
the most perplexing verse in the entire passage. Our established
lection gives us as follows, " And commandeth it not to shine, by
the cloud that cometh betwixt." The impotency of this rendering
is sufficiently proved by the long list of gratuitous terms, which are
necessary to give it any thing like a meaning. The different senses,
however, offered by different commentators, are too numerous for
quotation. Mr. Parkhurst renders it thus : " He (God) spreads the
light (lightning) over the vaults (of heaven) or vaulted skies ; and
he (God) gives a commandment to it concerning him that prayeth,
i.e. not to hurt him :" and Miss Smith readily adopts the rendering
of her acute oracle. Dr. Stock, on the contrary, offers us the
ensuing couplet:

" On the vaults above he casteth a cover of lightning.
And glvetli it charge as to what it shall meet."

The

424 NOTES. Chap. XXXVI. 33.

The sole ground of all this perplexity consists in an erroneous
division of the letters of which the second line of the verse consists.
The text, as commonly given, runs as follows :

Ve-jezv oliah bemapegio.
I readily confess myself indebted to the scrutinizing eye of
Reiske for the first hint of an error in the division of these words j
which unquestionably should be written thus :

Ve-jezvo liahbe niapegio.
The direct and literal rendering of the verse, thus restored, is that
offered in the present text. Reiske gives, " Et eff'undit flammam
penetralia cordis sanciantemj" but ITT'b is less correctly, and, in the
present place, less forcibly, a flame than a holt, and especially a
thunder-holt ; hterally " a vibratory or coruscating shaft."

Ver. 33. Along tvith it rusheth — ] The term 1^J\ here rendered
*' rusheth", fromlJ, " to assault, attack, or rush upon," has hitherto,
I believe, uniformly but erroneously, been derived from 1J1, *' to
show, tell, or discover /' So Schultens, " Annunciat de eo clangor
ejus}" " Its clangour (i. e.of the thunder) proclaims concerning him."

Ver. 33. The flerceiiess — ] The original Hipo may be derived
from rFJp", "to hold or posiess;"or from Nip, "to burn with
fierceness, with fervent or ardent zeal." Most of the elder trans-
lators have taken the first root, and have rendered the word " cattle,"
as constituting a chief part of patriarchal possession. Pavkhurst, still
adhering to the same root, renders it possessing, as a participle: his
version is, " Concerning him (God) declareth his thunder, pos-
sessing wrath for or against pride or arrogance." Almost all our
best critics, however, have concurred in deriving Til'p'Q from NJp,
whence Reiske gives us excandescentia, Schultens, rubedoflammans,
and Dr. Stock, fervour : — " The fervour of his wrath against
oppression."

CHAP. XXXVII.

Ver. 1. Wrath — at which — ] A more unfortunate and destruc-
tive division has never been exhibited, than that by which the last
chapter is separated from the present: for it takes place not only in

the

Chap. XXXVII. 1,2. NOTES. 435

the middle of a general and most mngnificent description, but in
(•he middle of the very same parngraph, " The thunder-htorm,"
observes the sublime poet, " is an apt emblem of the wrath (P]i^)
of the Almighty, because of (or again:;t) wickedness: wbath .(f^i*),"
continues he, " at which my heart tremblelh, and staggereth in its
post." By some unaccountable error, however, the chapter has been
inade to close, and the passage to break off abruptly with the word
wickedness, or vapour, as it occurs improperly in our conmion ver-
sion. But what is to be done with the word ?!«, with which the
new chapter opens, and which the greater number of commentators
hj.ve rendered wrath, in the last line of the preceding chapter ?
And here such commentators are obliged to regard the term in a
ditferent light, in the two places; and to render the same word (^t<)
also, in the latter place, which they have rendered ivrath, in the
former place. Our comn}on version, indeed, is free from this
inconsistency ; for it has rendered P)i^ adverbially, or also, in both
places : but this rendering is as erroneous in the lirst instance, as it
is in the last.

Ver. 1, Jnd staggereth — ] In the original, 1W : in which ItV
ha>^ been hitherto unitormly, but I think erroneously, derived from
in:, " to loosen," " to be loosened," " to move, or be moved,"
instead of from ID, " to turn round," " roll round," " to reel, or
stagger." Miss Smith's version of this passage is peculiarly unfor-
tunate, considering the grandeur of the subject, and betrays more of
the lady than I have seen in any other part of her translation,
which, upon the whole, is highly creditable, not only to herself,
but to her sex :

*' Verily for this my heart flutters,
. And beats loeyond its place."

In Macbeth, the same idea occurs still more powerfully:

" Why do I yield to that suggestion.
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair,
j4nd mahe my seated heart knock at my ribs.
Against the use of nature."

Ver. 2. Hear! 0 hear ye, the clangour — ] Literally, " Hear
ye with hearing," or "attend ye attentively to:" the very forcible
<3uplicate of the idiom is, perhaps, best preserved as now rendered.

I have

426 NOTES. Chap. XXXVII. 2.

I have translated D% " clangour," — as a term with which it agrees
far better than with the common lection " noise:" it is, literally,
" a clang," or " sound produced by percussion or repercussion."

Klopstock, in that exquisite ode, which is allowed in Ger-
many to form his masterpiece, and which he has entitled " Die
Frukli7igsfeyer," " The Vernal Ecstasy," has a passage so strictly
in consonance with the present, and, at the same time, possessed of
such intrinsic excellence, that the reader will readily pardon me for
quoting it on this occasion. He is describing the progress of a
thunderstorm :

* ' Seht ihr den zeugen des Nahen den ziickenden strahl.'
Hort ihr Jehova's donner ^
Hurt ihr ihn } hort ihr ihn
Den erschutternden donner des Herru ?
Herr! Herr ! Gott!
Barmherzig, und gniidig !
Angebetetj gepriesen
Sey dein herlicher name!
Uud die Ge^vltterwinde ; sie tra£:en den donner !
Wie sie rausehen ! wie sie mit lauter MOge den waid durchstriimen !
Und nun schweigen sie. Langsam wandelt
Die schwarze vvolke.

Seht ihr den neuen zeiigen des Nahen den fliegenden strahl .•*
Horet ihr noch in der wolke den donner des Herrn ?
Er ruft : Jehova ! Jehova !
Und der geschmetterte wald dampft !
Aber nicht unsre hiitte !
Unser vater gebot
Seinem verdenber,
Vor unsrer hiitte voriiberzugehn !"

See ye the signals of his march ? — the flash

Wide-streaming round .' the thunder of his voice

Hear ye ? Jehovah's thunder .' the dread peal

Hear ye, — that rends the ceucave .'

Lord ! God supreme !

Compassionate and kind !

Prais'd be thy glorious name !

Prais'd and ador'd !

How sweeps the whirlwind ! — leader of the storm !

How screams discordant ! — and with headlong waves

Lashes the forest! — All is now repose : *

Slow sail the dark clouds — slow.

Again,

Chap. XXXVTT. 3. NOTES. 427

Again, new signals press ; — enkindled broad.
See ye the lightnings ? — hear ye, from the clouds.
The thunders of the L<yiD ? — Jehovah calls ;
Jehovah : — and the smitten forest smokes.
But notour cot. —
Our heavenly Father bade
Th' o'erwhelming power
Pass o'er our cot, and spare it.
The solemn and fearful beauties of this passage are too numerous to
be pointed out : they run, however, through the whole poem : but
the simplicity, sublimity, nice feeling, and abrupt turn of the last
stanza, beggar all description.

In the Gaelic Carricthura, there is a passage approaching that of
the text, though it has not the feeling of Klopstock's. I'he original
is thus given by the Highland Society :

" Dhomhsa dh'aomas feachd nan soon :
Seallam o m' thom air an t-sluagh,
Is tuidh iad mar luath nam fhiauuis ;
O'm anail thig osag a' bhkis.
Thig mi mach gu h-ard air gaoith ;
Tha na stoirm a' taomadh shuas, '

Mu'm mhala fhuair fo ghruaim gun tuar, /

'S einin mo ch5mhnnic'h ai'ns na neoil,
Ts taitneach raoin mhor mo shuain."
As a popular version, the following, from Mr. Macpherson, will
answer the purpose 5 but it is, in various parts, less energetic, and
especially at the commencement :

" The people bend before me. I turn the battle in the field of the
brave. I look on the nations, and they vanish : my nostrils pour the
blast of death. I come abroad on the winds : the tempests are before
my face. But my dwelling is calm above the clouds ; the fields of
my rest are pleasant.".

Ver. 3. — his flashy In the original innty ; in which, rTlty may
be either a verb, or a substantive. Our common version, and many
others, regard it as a verb, and render the expression, " he directeth
it." Schultens, and, after him, Scott, have made it a substantive ;
the former rendering it " his direct force," " rectus impetus ejus 3"
the latter, " the flash thereof" It may mean either : the Hebrew
sense is, perhaps, more immediately, " his track or trail/' the
Arabic, " his flash," which seems the precise signification here
referred to.

d d Ver. 4.

42S NOTES. Chap. XXXVII. 4.

Ver. 4. uind there is no limit to them — ] No limit either to the
flash or the roar : the hghtning and the thunder spreading equally,
as affirmed of the former, in the preceding verse, " under the whole
heavens," and " unto the ends of the earth." So Ps. xix. 6.
His going forth is from one end of the heavens,

And to the other end of it his circuit ;
So that there is nothing hid from his heat.
With the sublime description in the text. Sir WiUiam Jones
appropriately compares the following in the Prometh. Desm. of
iEschylus, whom he, at the same time, justly denon. mates, "om-
nium poetarum post Asiaticos altissimus)" " the loftitst of all poets
next to the Asiatics."

X0WJ' (7f.(TciX£vraf

Bpvyta ^' tjycj irapa^vKarai

Upoyrrji;, eXiKe'j v CKXcifxirovm

^repoTrrjc i^dwpoi, arpo^jioi ^rj koviv

^iXiaaovcn. ^Kipr(x ^' avvf-iuv

T\v(:VfxaTa irdvTidv, £<c «XX?/Xa

Y.Td(m> dvTLTTvovv aTrociiKrv/bicva-

HvvTtTdpctKTai c" aldtjp ttovto.

" 1 feel in every deed

The firm earth rock : the thunder's deep'ning roar
Rolls with redoubled rage : the bickering flames
Flash thick ; the eddying sands are whirl'd on high ;
Tn dreadful opposition, the wild winds
Rend the vex'd air : the boisterous billows rise.
Confounding earth and sky ; th' impetuous storm
Rolls all its terrible fury." potter.

The original is Dlpi^'' b^bl, in which Ipi^^ has very greatly, but I do
not know why, perplexed all the critics, ipi?, as a noun, imports
primarily, and almost entirely, "an end, bound, or limit," " an
extreme or utmost partj" and, consequently, as a verb, it must
import the very same idea : it is here used impersonally, and, with
the negative, is, literally, " there is no limit, bound, or end." But
the critics and interpreters, overlooking this obvious sense, have
found no other that will in any respect apply ; and have hence
conceived, and the conception has been continued from age to age,
that as nDi^, a Chaldee word something like it, means " to retard,
stop, or delay," this Hebrew word is probably derived from the
same family, and, in the present place, is possessed of the same

meaning :

Chap. XXXVII. 5. NOTES. 429

meaning; for which, however, there is not a single authority in the
Old Testament j the uniform idea implied by it, being that of
" end, limit, event, consequence 5" an idea, moreover, evidently
intended in the passage before us: for the common rendering is not
only erroneous in its import, but scarcely intelligible in its applica-
tion. Reiske, who has too much independence to assent to so
corrupt a derivation, pursues his usual plan, and boldly attempts to
find fault with, and to amend the original text. I trust, however,
that such an attempt will now be found altogether unnecessary.

Ver. 5. God thundereth marvellously with his voice.'] Here this
fearful and unparalleled description terminates : and we have again
to complain of a misdivision of the text, as it is usually given, for the
period is thus made to close in the middle of a verse ; the latter half
of the same verse containing the commencement of a new paragraph.
There appears to be something more than an incidental resemblance
between the exquisite painting now offered, and the following of
the Psalmist, Ixxvii. 17, 18. It is probably intended as a copy:

The clouds poured out water ;

The skies sent forth a sound ;

Thine arrows, also, went abroad ;

The voice of thy thunder was in the heavens ;

The lightnings lightened the world —

The earth trembled and shook.

Ver. 5. Great things doeth he, surpassing knowledge.] The poet
proceeds, with undiminished spirit, to describe a variety of other
natural phaenomena. The word marvellously, m^PSJ, in the
preceding line. Miss Smith has chosen to introduce into the present;
in consequence of which, her verse runs as follows:

*' God thunders with his voice ;
He doeth mighty wonders, and we understand not."
No advantage whatever is gained by such a deviation from the
accustomed order j and the division of the passage, as now offered,
shows it to be completely erroneous.

The phrase, surpassing knowledge, i?1J vh), is an ornamental
repetition from ver. 26. of the preceding chapter, and forms the
opening to the description of the summer-storm ; as, in the present
instance, it does to the description of the winter-cold. This iterative
figure is common to poets of all ages and countries, but peculiarly

d d2 so

436 NOTES. Chap. XXXVII. 6.

so to the more figurative of the sacred poets ; and most of all so
to the Psalmrst, and the author of the sublime piece before us. It
has bee:; neglected however, so far as I know of, by all the trans-
lators. Thus our established version, in the first instance, renders
the phrase, " and we know him notj" and in the second, " which
we cannot comprehend." So Schultens, first, " ut non cognos-
camus," and afterwards " et non scimus:" and Dr. Stock, " above
our knowledge," and then "beyond our knowledge:" and Miss
^Smith, in the former case, " beyond our knowledge,',' and in the
latter, " and we understand not." It is upon these delicacies that
much of the spirit of poetry depends; it is these that distinguish its
language from that of prose : and to neglect them is to act unjustly
to the taste and genius of the original author.

Ver. 6. Behold J he saith to the snow — be!] A passage perfectly
parallel in structure, as well as in sublimity, with Gen. i. 3 : and
worthy of one common author :
" And God said.

Be, Light ! — and Light was :"

the sublimity of which is well known to every one to have attracted
the attention, and compelled the admiration, of the first literary
critic of Antient Greece.

The full beauty, however, of the exquisite passage before us has
never been understood,- and hence it has been rendered in an almost
endless variety of ways, and in every way wrong. Reiske, who
makes by far the nearest approach to its real meaning, renders it,
" Ecce! dicit nivi, hue ades! (holla! holla !)" " Behold, he saith to
the snow, hither! or, be present!" In most of the versions, how-
ever, the word p«, " on earth," or rather "earth-wards," is united
with the first member of the verse, " be on earth!" very much to the
injury of the general sense and spirit. The Arabian poets are full
of this idiom, which they have probably derived, in the first
instance, from Moses, though more directly from the Alcoran, in

which it occurs frequently. Thus, sur. xxxvi. 82. \j\ iijA Ujl

$ ^j yjj ^ «U Jyu ^;)^ Ui^ dW " His command, when

he willeth a thing, only saith to it, 'be!' and it is." In like man-
ner, sur. xl. 64. " It is he who giveth life, and causeth to die ; and
when he decreeth a thing, he only saith to it, * be !' and it is."

Ver. 6.

Chap. XXXVII. 6. NO T E S. 43 1

Ver. f5. On earth then falleth it : — 1

To the rain

« Earth- ward, and it falleth ,•" or '' Earthward then falleth it." The
word " earthward," or " on earth," being joined with the preceding
member of tlie verse, in all the other versions, except that of
Reiske, there is a great difficulty of determining how to divide the
remainder of the verse, or what sense to give to many of its terms.
tDW^, here rendered " falleth it," is made a noun of, instead of a
verb, by Piscator and our common version, and translated " to the
rain." It is rendered something in the same manner by Schultens,
who gives us the word imler, or " shower :" his general version
being, " Quum pluvias dicit, Estoin terra! et imber pluviae existit,
et imber pluviarum vehementiae ejus ;" " When he saith to the
rain. Be thou on the earth ! and the shower of rain existeth, and the
shower of rains of his might." X=i\i)l, however, is a direct Arabic
word, importing " to descend, fall, or settle j" and it is only in a
secondary sense that it is ever employed in the Hebrew writings
as importing rain, and perhaps never but in the immediate sense
of a heavy and violent shower. Mr. Parkhurst very properly regards
it in this sense, and translates the whole passage; " When he says
to the snow— that is the earth ! and makes heavy the rain, even
MAKES HEAVY the showcrs of his strength." Dr. Stock understands
Dtyj in precisely the same sense. His version is :

" For to the snow he saith,

Settle on the earth ; and he maketh heavy the rain ;
And he maketh heavy his powerful showers."
Mr. Grey is so totally dissatisfied with the entire passage, that he
suspects a corruption of the text; and we have, of course, another
attempt at amendment. He finds out, moreover, that the beautiful
and truly poetic iteration of aty:n ^tOD is inconsistent with his pre-
conceived notions of Hebrew metre; and he has consequently
changed the text, with equal injury to its elegance and integrity, so
as to make it speak as follows :

" Quum nivi dicit, Esto in terra !
Et imber pluviarum, potentia ejus."
When he saith to the snow. Be thou on the earth !
And the shower of rains, his strength.

I do not exactly understand the meaning of this version ; nor does
Mr, Grey seem to have been altogether pleased with it himself;

for

432 NOTES. Chap.XXXVII. 7.

for^ in his annotations, he subjoins another, and a far better
rendering :

" Cum dicit nivi, Esto in terra !

Pluvia, et Imber pluviaruin, vehementes estote !"
When he saith to the snow. Be thou on the earth :
The rain and the shower of rains, be ye mighty !
I have only to add, that, in the version now ottered, I have given
the text hterally, and in the order of the words; and have only
changed the punctuation from that which is commonly assigned to
it, and which the perpetual controversies of tlie critics show to have
been erroneous. As now rendered, it offers one of the subhmest
passages in any writings, sacred or prophane. I have also studiously
preserved the iteration of words, as they are iterated in the original
text; so as to give, as far as may be, the general character of the
diction, as well as the lofty spirit of the sentiment.

Ver. 7- Upon the labour of every maji he putteth a seal.'] The
figure is exquisitely bold and beautiful. — 1^1 may be rendered either
" upon the labour," or " upon the hand:" I prefer the former, in
the present instance, as the more obvious. The Septuagint takes
the latter sense, Iv j^j^ipl iravrdt; dydpuirov Karairippayi^ei, which I
may translate by offering Dr. Stock's version.

Upon the hand of every man he setteth his seal."

Junius and Tremellius, Piscator and Schultens, adhere to the
sense of the passage, as given in our common translation, " he
sealeth up the hand of every man:" but this translation altogether
omits the preposition 1, " at, in, or by," and therefore cannot be
correct.

Reiske renders the expression T*:!, coram, " before," or, '' in the
presence of " " Coram unoquoque homine obstruit;" " He put-
teth a stop before every man." And understanding the term nti^i^D
in the succeeding line, which is usually and properly derived from
nt^i^, " to work, do, or perform," as derived from U^i}, or rather
from the Arabic iiJls, " fraud, or guile," he paraphrases the pas-
sage thus, in his native German: '' Er nothiget die menschen in
sich zu gehen, und ihr tiickisches hertz zu erkennen;" " He
compels mankind to look within themselves, and to know their
deceitful hearts." — An ingenious paraphrase, but founded upon a
misconception of the original text.

Schultens

Chap. XXXVII. 7-9. NOTES. 433

Schultens takes the general sense of the Latin translators, or that
given in our established version ; and conceives that the passage
refers to the frost of winter. But this cannot possibly be ; for the
poet has not yet touched upon this phaenomenon, and only enters
upon it at ver. 9. The real meaning is, God driveth man and beast
to their homes, and putteth a stop to their labours, till the " rains
of his might are over."

Ver. 7. To the feeling of every mortal— "] Or, as it might be
rendered, " in the witnessing of every mortal 5" but the sense now
offered is the strongest and best.

Ver. 8. Even the brute kind—] Not "• beasts," as rendered in
our common version : the term imports the brute race, or brute
creation generally, birds as well as beasts. It is a generic feminine,
in the singular number.

Ver. 9. From the utmost zone — ] In the original ninn fD (min-
ha-hedan), literally, as here rendered, " from the utmost, utter, or
very zonej" the n being emphatic, as in ch. xxxvi. 30. " the
utmost, or very ocean," "a zona ipsissima." The epithet is neces-
sary, in order to distinguish the zone immediately alluded to ; which
is still farther characterized, however, by the subsequent verse of
the couplet. In ch. ix. 9. the same term occurs in the plural
number, and both point obviously to a similar rendering. In the
note on this last passage, I have observed that ^in may not only
mean " a zone, belt, girdle, or circle," which seems to be its
proper acceptation, when astronomically, or geographically em-
ployed, but also, in a secondary sense, " an inclosed, encompassed,
retired, and secure chamber," the penetralium or recess of a house:
and in this last sense the term is understood, but I think erroneously,
by most of the translators, in both the places before us. Thus the
former passage is rendered, by our common translators, instead of
" the zones of the' south," " the chambers of the south, "(fDfi '•'nn).
In the second instance, they have strangely supposed that the same
quarter is referred to, although the term JDD (south) is not
introduced ; and have hence boldly ventured to translate the
passage " out of the south," instead of out of the chamber,"
as it should have been, upon their own principles — a rendering not
only altogether fanciful, but inconsistent with the general nature of

the

434 NOTES. Chap. XXXVII. 9.

the south-wind, in the quarter of the world referred to. The
Septuagint gives k ra/iit£io>y, plurallyj and the Vulgate, with a
close copy, " ab interioribus," " out of the recesses." Dr. Stock,
adhering to the singular number of the original, " out of its
chamber."

Ver. 9. — whirlwind — ] In the original n&TD (supah). What
peculiar kind of wind the Supah imported, we know not. The
Arabic translators suppose it to be Boreas, or the norih-wind, and
distinctly render it in this sense. There can be no doubt, however,
that this is wrong, because it is connected with the word south,
Isai. xxi. 1, IJil m^TD ** supahsof the south." It means, probably,
therefore, " a sweeping wind, a whirlwind, or whirlwind geneiallyj"
— the radical term is tiGD, " to sweep, or rake/' eradere,everrere:
and in this general sense, the same word is still employed among
the Arabians. It certainly, in the present instance, alludes to a
whirlwind blowing from the north or north-east, the Aquilo of the
Latin poets, which, in the language of Virgil, Georg. iii. 201 :

— " volat, simul arva fug&, simul asquora veneris."

It flies, and, flying, sweeps at once the fields.

The floods at once.

and it is hence, in every respect, better to employ the general term
whirlwind, alone, as it occurs in our conimon translation.

Ver. 9. And from the arctic chamhers — ] In our common ver-
sion, " out of the north," which is a far more coriect rendering than
the preceding part of the verse, " out of the south." The Hebrew
term, however, is tD^^iTDO (mi-mezarim) ; a plural noun, which
may be derived either fron>1T, " to compress, contract, straiten, or
narrow 5" or from nu, " to disperse, or spread abroad." Those
who derive it from the former, suppose the term refers to the
compressed, contracted, or narrow regions of the earth, which
constitute its arctic extremity, or the boundary of its north pole.
Thus the Septuagint, aico li dKpu>Tr\piusv, " out of the extremities,
or extreme parts j" i.e. "the arctic or polar regions." So St.
Jerom, " ab Arcturo," " from Arcturus," " the chief star in the
constellation of the arctic regions," the Riski or Manes of the
Brahmins; for thus they denominate the sevan bright stars of Ursa
Major, and the Pleiades collectively j — Riski, or patriarchs, as
believing them to have been first created by Brahma j and Manes,

as

Chap. XXXVII. 10. NOTES. 435

as being emanations from the mind {mana) of this deity. So our
common version, as quoted above, " out of the north ;", which can
only be an eilipais for " the utmost regions or chambers of the
north" — tho^e of the northern extremity of the earth, of the arctic
or north pole. These who derive the term from nit, " to disperse,"
conceive it alludes to those dissipating and brightening winds
which not unfrequently occur in the middle of winter, and give
us a continuance of clear unclouded frost. So Pagninus, Junius and
Tremellius, and Piscator, " a dispergentibus," — and Schultens, " h
sparsoribus," — " from the scatterers," or " scattering winds." Upon
which passage, the last writer thus explains his idea of tD''1tD :
" Venti sparsores, ventilatores, qui, nubibus dissipatis, ccelum
serenant, nitidant, speculo clarius reddunt, sed et tam frigidum, ut
omnia gelu adstiicta rigescant j" " Scattering, ventilating winds,
which, the clouds being dispersed, give serenity and lustre to the
sky, and a brightness beyond that of a mirror ; but, at the same
time, render it so cold, that every thing becomes stitf and rigid
with frost."

Of these two ideas, the first appears to me by far the most natural,
as well as most forcible and poetical. Dr. Stock's version differs
from both these :

" And from the blighting winds the cold."
Mr. Parkhurst retains the Hebrew term, and gives us for the full
couplet, " From the dark thick cloud cometh the storm, and from
the Mezakim coldj" which he afterwards explains, however, as
compressed air, instead of the compressed sphere. Reiske conceives
Dnta to be a corruption for CD'-no (merzim), which in Arabic
((*Jj^) is an epithet for Boreas, Septentrio, or the north- wind :
whence he reads it ^\j^\ ^^^ », " and out of the north ;" precisely
corresponding with our own version, and with the Arabic. But as
the same idea, though an erroneous one, may be obtained from the
text as it now stands, there is no necessity, even upon this sense, for
attempting to reform it.

Ver. 10. By the blast of God the frost congealeth.'] So St. Jerom,
correctly as to the general sense, " Flante Deo, concrescit gelu." —
|hi means either " to set, fix, appoint," or " to give or bestow."
Most of the translators, however, have taken the last sen.'^e. Kei-ke
concurs with St. Jerom, and the present version -. " Ab halitu Dei,

436 NOTES. Chap. XXXVII. 10, 11.

s. ^

p"" ^ju (a ^j) Stat firmum geluj" " By the breath of God, the
frost or ice standeth firm or fixt." Yet I prefer, with St. Jerom,
Hast to Ireath, as a more appropriate and powerful term. Pagninus
concurs thus far, " a Jiatu Dei." The Septuagint paraphrases it,
but gives the same idea still more obviously, dird iryoij? la-vypov,
" By the breath or blast of the Mighty One."

Ver. 10. yind the expanse of the waters, into a mirror.'] The
Hebrew p^iai may be derived from py, "■ to straiten or confine,"
or from p'if, " to pour out as water, or as melted metal," and,
hence, " to fuse, found, or cast." The usual rendering is from the
former root; but the most correct and forcible appears to me to be
from the latter; and it is the rendering which is given to the same
word in our common version, in ver. 18. of the present chapter.
Hence Beiske, " Et lata planities aquarum ut tDVIDD fusum vitrum
vel metallum ;" " And the broad expanse of the waters as a looking-
glass or mirror." In which, however, he very unnecessarily changes
the 1, into, to D, as. St. Jerom seems to imagine that the latter part
of the verse is designed to express the act of thawing, as the former
is the act of freezing; and hence his version is, '' Et rursum latis-
simse funduntur aquae;" "And again the wide waters are poured
forth;" — but this is mere paraphrase, instead of translation ; and, at
the same time, in the opinion of most interpreters, incorrect para-
phrase. Miss Smith, however, has applied both periods of the
verse to the act of thawing, imagining that the preceding verse is
intended to represent frost:

" From the breath of God the ice gives,
And the waters run wide in the thaw."

But this is to form a false concord, by joining the verb singular,
nm, to the noun plural tD'D. Independently of which, we have no
proof of fOi ever being used in the sense of give, as here employed.

Ver. 11. He also loadeth the cloudy-woof with redundance.] "The
cloudy- woof or texture" that holds the shower, as in ch. xxxvi. 2g.
where the same word is employed. But the verse before us has
been rendered in such a variety of different ways, by different inter-
preters, that it is impossible to follow them all. The poet is un-
questionably completing the circle of the seasons, and advancing from
winter to spring and summer ; the former being depicted, and most

beautifully.

Chap. XXXVIT. 1 1. NOTES. 437

beautifully, in the first period of the couplet, and the latter in the
second. Our common version, " Also by watering he wearieth," is
not very wide from the mark ; but would be more explicitly and
equally closely rendered, " Then with redundance he loadeth."
riTn (ruek) imports " to drench or water ;" whence rt^ll (ruih), or,
as the Arabians have it, without the 1, X) . or ^. {rih or ri),
"saturation with water 3" literally, redundance, or exundatiou;
whence rio and rivo, " a river." The term as here used, '"'i {ri), is
perfect Arabic, for it omits the 1 («), which in genuine Hebrew is
always retained. The double idea, therefore, is, "richness of mois-
ture," "plenitude of water," "redundance," in its most forcible and
primary sense. ^I'''^^0'' " he wearieth," as in our common version, is
directly in the present place, "he loadeth, overloadeth, or burdeneth."

Ver. ] 1. His effulgence disperseth the gloom.'] In our own version,
" he scattereth his bright cloud," which does not appear to offer any
very distinct sense. It is probably drawn from Piscator, who gives
us "dispergit nubem fulgurantem 5" but this is rather "he scatter-
eth his thunder, or lightning-cloud," than " his bright-cloud." TiK,
however, is here a substantive instead of an adjective, "brightness"
or "effulgence," instead of " bright or effulgent j" it is, moreover,
the nominative case to the verb, "scatter, or disperse," and is directly
opposed to pi? ; and hence shows us distinctly how this last should
be translated, — not cloud, as on some occasions, but gloom, darkness,
cloudiness, as on others ; probably, the gloom, darkness, or cloudi-
ness, of the winter season.

In St. Jerom this couplet is given as follows, " Frumentum desi-
derat nubes ; et nubes spargunt lumen suum." " The grain longeth
for the clouds ; and the clouds spread abroad his light."

Here '•'i, " redundance," is derived not from TT\l, but from ni)"t,
" to feed or nourish." — Schultens.

Mr. Parkhurst renders it, " Also the pure, bright ether, wearieth
or weareth away the condensed matter 3 his light scattereth the
cloud." Here the preposition '2 {with), that precedes '•"i, is united to
it, so as to form one word : while Schultens extracts nearly a
similar sense from the passage with the words divided, " Etiam ad
rafilem nitorem dispellit nubem densam j nubilationem dissipat lu-
men ejus 3" " Also he dissipateth the thick cloud into tattered ra-
diance ; his light scattereth the cloud." But it would be endless to

pursue the variations.

Ver. 12.

438 NOTES. Chap.XXXVII. 12, 13.

Ver. 12. Thus revolvcth he the seasons in his wisdom.'] Neither
our common version, nor any of the oLhers, are perfectly clear ; the
former being, " and it is tnrned round about." — «in is not it, but
HE, and HE emphatically J so emphatically, indeed, as to stand in
many parts of the Bible, and in several of the present poem, as I
have already observed, for the Deity pre-eminently, and without an
implied noun — " the mighty He, the Self-existent, or Eternal.'*
See Note onch. viii. 19, — The word mi DD, here rendered, adver-
bially, " round about," is a noun, distinctly signifying " courses," as
it is actually rendered by Dr. Stock 5 " circuits," (circuitus,) as it is
rendered by Schultens: or seaso?is, as rendered in the present
translation.

Ver. 12, — world of earth.'] I dare not change this vigorous and
beautiful pleonasm into any other expression ; much less can I think
with Dr. Stock that !?in (world) is here " foisted into the text,"
and therefore consent to alter the text itself, and omit it. " Orbis
terrarum " is the Latin term, and forms a perfect synonym : the
direct import is, " the world of lands or nations j" or, as Tynd'al has
actually but more feebly rendered it, " the whole world." We have
a similar pleonasm in ch, xii. 24. pMH DJ^ '•tys'i " the leaders of
the people of a land."

Ver. 13. Constantly in succession, ^c] This verse has excited
50 much controversy, that it is necessary to quote it :

The rendering of our common version is, " He causeth it to come,
whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy ;" which is
literally given, though not in direct order, — the terra " he causeth
it to come," closing, instead of beginning the passage in the original.
The chief difficulty, however, is in the meaning of the clause
" whether for his land," intermixed with that which precedes, and
that which follows it. Scott proposes to transpose the text, and to
make the second Dt* an adverb of affirmation, in the following
manner :

" Whether for correction or for mercy,
Verily for his earth he causeth it to come."
Schultens gives the same sense to the same dh, without changing

• ' the

Chap.XXXVII. 15. NOTES. 439

the order of the text. Dr. Stock, for TiTi^lj tD«, proposes to substi-
tute lyis bo:^, thus :

" Whether it be for correction, the toiling of his earth.
Or for mercy, one findeth him out."

Reiske proposes a still greater and more violent change in the text ;
and which it would occupy too much space to enter upon.

The whole of the difficulty appears to proceed from not having
taken the real sense of toiity and of p«, as they are intended in the
present place. The primary idea of tODty is succession; hence, as a
verb, it imports " to proceed, to extend, follow in order, to draw
out in length 5" and as a noun, " a shoot, tribe, or branch of a
family — progeny, succession}" as also "a branch of a tree," and
hence " a root, staff, or ensign." The versions in general use have
taken the last of these senses j and have hence rendered the passage,
" in virgam," or ''ad flagellum," " for the rod," or "for correc-
tion." St. Jerom gives " in una tribu," " upon a single tribe." But
I believe it will readily be admitted, that " in succession," as now
offered, is the real and proper sense.

p« does not, in the present place, signify " earth ;" but is a
noun derived from p, " to dash, crush, or break to pieces." The «
is formative, and hence the noun imports " violence, discomfiture,
destruction, ruin, judgment, or punishment 3" either of which terms
may be employed on the present occasion.

Dr. Stock doubts whether DM, " being twice employed in the
sense of whether, would in the same breath be used to signifj
verily," as in the case of Mr. Scott's version. But a thousand in-
stances might be advanced to show that the Hebrew writers were not
thus particular ; and that they often employ the very same word in
two different senses in the same paragraph, instead of two different
words, for the mere purpose of obtaining an anaphora, or iteration of
sound. The present poem, and the prophecies of Isaiah, are pecu-
liarly characterized by this kind of ornament. D« (c7tt), therefore, in
its first use, in the passage before us, is an adverb, importing " sta-
bility or constancy," and is nearly synonymous with pV (amen);
but in its two last uses it is merely suppositive or conditional, im-
porting whether or or.

Ver. 15. How the light giveth refulgence to his vapour 91 So
Milton, beautifully :

" Ye

440 NOTES. Chap. XXXVII. l6, 19.

— — " Ye mists that rise

From hill or streaming lake, dusky or j^rey.

Till the sun paint yourjleecy skirts with gold —

In honour to the world's great Author, rise !"
The question here proposed may still be proposed in the present day,
and has in fact been proposed, as a problem of great difficulty, in
almost every age. The theories otfered have been numerous, but
in no instance perfectly satisfactory. The opinions of the Epicureans,
as well as most of those of modern times, the reader will find glanced
at in the author's translation of Lucretius, Note on book VI. 210.

The German critics, however, have almost uniformly regarded
this passage as relating to the phaenomenon of the rainbow ; and the
interpretation now given may indeed be taken in such a sense,
though I think the former is a more direct and obvious explanation.

Ver. l6. of wisdom.'] Literally, " of wisdoms," (D''iJ'7) j "of

concentrated wisdom or knowledge."

Ver. 19. IFhen arrayed in robes of darkness.^ I have rendered
the original text literally ; but much difficulty has been felt by
almost all the translators, and an almost infinite variety of versions
oflFered, from a misdivision of the two first words, which, instead of
being ^li?: t*^ {la noruk), " let us not array," ought to be "IM^ f«V
(l-an oruk), " when he is arrayed."

Our established version, derived from Junius and Tremellius, or
from Piscator, proves its own fallacy by its gratuitous interpolations,
"for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness," Dr. Stock
endeavours to get rid of these interpolations, as follows :

" Let us not marshal nur forces in the dark."
I know of no authority, however, for rendering '•iiJ forces. Inde-
pendently of which, the preposition D ('^Qd), is altogether omitted,
and the pronoun our inserted as arbitrarily. ^:Q, in its common sig-
nification, imports "surfaces, facings, coverings 5" and hence ^3 QD,
" in surfaces, facings, coverings, or robes." It may perhaps import
" by reason of," as in our common version ; but the sense is very
remote, and uncommon. I am indebted to Reiske for pointing out
this error in the division of the common text : " X^)3 \v6, (says he)

C^jZ . jj cJ/^ .1^ si quando educat instructas suas (tenebri-
cosas) acies (Imj^\ *IaJ ^j.a ex epaulio caliginis."

Ver. 20.

Chap. XXXVII. 20. NOTES. 441

Ver. 20. Or, if hrightness le about him — ] Literally, " if it
beam, shine, or glitter about him :" but the real sense has never,
that I know of, been understood by any of the critics before Reiske ;
and hence the passage has been in every instance obscurely and
erroneously translated. iQD (seper), in Hebrew, imports " to tell
or calculate numbers;" but in Arabic Ju) (seper), "to beam,
shine, glister, irradiate ;" whence, as a substantive, it signifies
" brightness, the splendour of the day, the day itself." So Me-
ninski, juj albedo — nitor diei ; ipse dies. It is only necessary to
point out this difference to the English reader, to convince him that
the term here used is Arabic, and not Hebrew 3 it is, indeed, directly
employed as the opposite of darkness, in the preceding line, a con-
siderable part of which is also Arabic. In reality, nearly the whole
of this couplet, reduced to Arabic characters, will become Arabic
more strictly than Hebrew :

In the Rime Sacre of Lorenzo de' Medici, there is a hymn of great
magnificence addressed to the Supreme Being, which, though for the
most part founded on the Platonic theory, contains various stanzas
that may not inaptly be compared with the splendid description be-
fore us. The following are peculiarly entitled to attention :
" Concedi, O Padre ! I'alta e sacra sede
Monti la mente, e vegga el vivo fonte,
Fonte ver bene, onde ogni ben procede.
Mostra la luce vera alia mia fronte,

E poicli^ conosciuto e'l tuo bel Sole,
Deir Alma ferma in lui le luci pronte.
Fuga le nebbie, e la terrestre mole

Leva da m^, e splendi in la tua luce ;
Tu se' quel sommo ben, che chiascun vu»le
A t^ dolce riposo si conduce

E th come suo fin, vede ogni pio ;
Tu se' principio, portatore, e duce.
La vita, e'l termino, Tu sol Magno Die,"
Of which the reader may accept the following version:
Father Supreme ! O, let me climb
That sacred seat, and mark sublime

Th'es-

442 NOTES. Chap. XXXVII. 21

Th' essential fount of life and love ;
Fount, whence each good, each pleasure flows.
O, to my view thyself disclose !
The radiant heaven thy presence throws !

O, lose me in the light above.
Flee, flee, ye mists ! let earth depart ;
Raise me, and show me what thou art,
Great sum, and center of the soul !
To thee each thought in silence tends ;
To thee the saint, in prayer, ascends ;

Thou art the source, the guide, the goal ;—
The whole is thine, and thou the whole.
Schultens, while rendering the term laoTr (ha-isaphir) , " should it
be told," as in the common manner, instead of " should it beam or
brighten," acknowledges the difficulty of the passage j " Impeditior
ratiocinatio ; nee constructio omnino plana." He does not appear
satisfied with his own rendering ; " An narrabitur illi, quum lo-
quar ?" yet he is not more obscure than any of the rest,

Ver. 21. When it is resplende?it — ] In the original T"!!! (lahir),
which is also Arabic as well as Hebrew ^ (laher), " splendour,"
''irradiation;" and hence, secondarily, "glory," "^excellence."
t3''j?ntyi does not mean " in the clouds," but " in the heavens,"
" skies," or " ethers."

Ver. 21. And a wind from the north hath passed along and cleared
them.'] The common punctuation is placed wrong ; and hence the
total want of connection between this and the latter part of the
ensuing verse. The direct order of the words in the original, with
the common reading of the te.\.t, is as follows : " And a breeze hath
passsed along and cleared them from the north ; splendour (fair
weather, as in our common version) cometh: with God is terrible
majesty."

And here the first question is, " Does the expression " from the
north," belong properly to breeze or to splendour? It is usually
made to apply to the latter, but with great impropriety ; for every
one knows that the splendour of the day lies in the opposite
quarter : while the poem itself has already hinted, in v. g. of Xhe
present chapter, that the purifying or sweeping wind proceeds
" from the utmost zone, or from the north." See the Note on this
passage. And hence Reiske and Scott have very properly applied

the

Chap. XXXVII. 21. NOTES. 443

the expression " from the north," to the wind or breeze^ instead of
to the splendour. Thus the latter,

" When heaven's expanse the sweeping north-wind clears,"

The only objection to this rendering is, that the ensuing clause,
" splendour cometh," requires a connecting particle, which is not
found in the original j for it should be " and splendour cometh,"
and even then there is no possible connection between these clauses,
in what way soever rendered, and the succeeding cLiuse, ^' with God
is terrible majesty." The word cometh is nrib*' 5 and here I feel
confident that this word ought to be nrij^ alone, and that the "i is
altogether interpolated, and introduced after the above mispunctua-
tion, in order to extract a sense from the passage in its distorted
shape. With this simple variation, the whole is at once clear, and
exquisitely forcible, ilMi^ is a pronoun, signifying itself; and the
phrase thus restored must necessarily run as follows, "And a breeze
hath passed along and cleared them from the north. Splendour
ITSELF is with God ! — insufferable majesty !" It is possible, how-
ever, to retain the ^ and read rtn^'' as a verb, in the sense of the
pronoun 5 and the meaning will then be, " splendour is identified,
personified, or co-exists with God." But I have no doubt of its
being an interpolation in the present place, and from the cause just
noticed.

The following passage in ch. xxiv. of the Alcoran has a striking
resemblance to the present description, and has perhaps been bor-
rowed from it : " Dost thou not see that God gently driveth forward
the clouds, and gathereth them together, and then layeth them up
in heaps ? Seest thou not the rain which falleth from the midst of
them. God, too, sendeth down, as it were, mountains of hail ; he
striketh with them whom he pleaseth, and from whom he pleaseth
he turneth them away : the splendour of his lightning near It/ taketh
away the sight."

The inost beautiful parallelism of this passage, however, with
which I am acquainted, is Milton's well-known and exquisite ad-
dress to Light, which forms the opening of his third book of
Paradise Lost :

" Hail, holy Light, offspring of heoVen first-born.

Or OF th' Eternal co-eternal beam

May I express thee unblamM ? since God is Light,

And .never but in unapproached Light

Dwelt from eternity,"

c c The

444 NOTES. Chap. XXXVII. 21.

The two sublime addresses to the same power in the Carrickthura
and Carthon of Ossian are almost equally known, and ought to be
known to every one, as affording the most admirable addresses upon
the same subject, of any age or country, next to the above of Milton,
There is in the last, indeed, a train of thought and sentiment, pro-
ceeding from the blindness of the Gaelic bard, so curiously similar
to that indu'fged in by the author of Paradise Lost, that it was made
a distinct charge of plagiarism against Mr. Macpherson, on the first
publication of his version. The unwearied and elegant exertions
of the Highland Society, however, have completely settled this
point, and freed Mr. Macpherson from the imputation cast upon
him ; for, among other valuable collections, they have printed the
copy of a letter from the Rev. Mr. M'Diarmid, of Weem, to his
son, Mr. John M'Diarmid, (whom the author had once the plea-
sure of ranking among his friends, but who unhappily was cut off in
the bloom of life, just as the world began to appreciate his literary
talents,) in which a fair copy of the original is contained, written
down " from an old man in Glenlyon : he had learnt it in his youth,
from people in the same glen, which must have been long before
Macpherson was born."

The address in the original commences as follows, and is printed
in the appendix to the Committee's Report, p. 185.

" O ! 'Usa fli^in a shiubhlas shuas,
Cruinu mar Ian sciath chruaidh nan triath,
C as tha do dhearsa gu'n ghruaim,
Do sholus ata buan a Ghrian .'" &c.

Mr. M'Diarmid's version is as follows : it is not equal in elegance to
Macpherson's ; but it is, as the translator justly affirms in his letter
to his son, "as literal as possible: I made it so on purpose, without
any regard to the English idiom, that you might understand the
original the better :"

" O THOU ! that travellest above, round as the' full-orbed, the hard shield
of the mighty ! 'whence is thy brightness without a frown, — thy light
that is lasting, O Sun .' Thou coniest forth in thy powerful beauty,
and the stars hide their course : the moon, without strength, goeth
from the sky, hiding herself under a wave in the west. Thou alone
art in thy journey — who is so bold as to approach thee .•' — The oak
falleth from the high mountain ; the rock and the precipice sink
under old age ; the ocean ebbeth and floweth ; the moon is lost above
in the sky ; but thou alone existest for ever in victory, in the rejoicing
of thine own light. When the storm darkeneth around the world,

with

Chap. XXXVII. 24. NOTES. 445

with fierce thunder, and piercing lightnings — thou lookest, in thy
beauty, from the noise, smiling in the troubled sky.
" To me is thy light in vain, as I can never see thy countenance ; though
thy yellow-golden locks are spread on the face of the clouds in the
east ; or when thou trerablest in the west, at thy dusky doors in the
ocean. Perhaps thou, like myself, art at one time mighty, at another
feeble ; our years sliding down from the skies, quickly travelling to-
gether to their end. Rejoice then, O Sun, while thou art strong !
O King, in thy youthl Dark and unpleasant is old age, like the vain
and feeble light of the moon, when she looks through a cloud on the
field, and her grey mist is on the sides of the rocks : — a blast from the
north on the plain ; a traveller in distress, and he slow."

Ver. 24. He looketh all the wise of heart to nothing.'} Or, " Let him
look, — the wise of heart are nothing." The passage may admit of
various renderings 5 but that which I have now given appears not
only the most energetic, but most in unison with the context, and
with the general phraseology of this bold and energetic poet. Thus

V. 20. above ;

If brightness be about him — how may I converse ?

For should a man then speak — he would be consumed.
So again ch. vii. 8, as well as in a variety of other places :

Let thine eye be upon me, and I am nothing.
Schultens has understood the term k!? in the same substantive sense,
7-0 jbitf^Ev, as have the translators of our common version in ch.vi.21,
" for now ye are nothing." In Schullens, however, the passage
before us is given thus, "Nihil videt omnes sapientes cordis j"
" He beholdeth as a nothing all the wise of heart ;" or as Mr-
Scott, who has adopted his rendering, has paraphrased it :

" In his eyes.

To nothing shrinks the wisdom of the wise."
The verb rrw'i^ is derived by Dr. Stock, and various other translators,
from «1% instead of from r^«'^, but I think improperly 3 and hence
the rendering of the former is,

" Therefore men should fear him :

He feareth not any that are wise of heart."
It is impossible to close the Notes upon this concluding part of
the transcendent address of Elihu more appropriately than in the
following parallel and sublime description in the Night Thoughts :
" The nameless He ! whose nod is Nature's birth ;
And Nature's shield, the shadow of his hand ;

ee% Her

446 NOTE S. Chap. XXXVIII. 3, 4.

Her dissolution, his suspended smile ;

The great first-last ! pavilion'd high, he sits

In DARKNESS, FROM EXCESSIVE SPLENDOUR BORN.

His glory to created glory bright,

As that to central horrors : — he looks down .

On all that soars, and spans immensity."

CHAP. XXXVIII.

Ver. 3. — manfully — ] In the original ^3J5: which is a direct
synonym of manfully,'' — not merely " as a man," but " as a strong
or valiant man."

Ver. 4. Declare: — doubtless thou knowest the plan.'] The particle
fi« is here affirmative, instead of conditional, as in the common ren-
dering " if {hou knowest — ." The irony is hence exquisitely pre-
served, and peculiarly pointed, nvi, here rendered " the plan,"
has hitherto been only regarded as a pleonastic continuation of the
idea contained in the verb Mi^T, " thou knowest," that precedes it.
Hence, in our established lection, " thou hast understandings" in
Schultens, " intelligentia polles," " thou art potent in understand-
ing;" and Dr. Stock, " thou knowest z/;/ia^ fi understanding." Hi^i,
however, if I mistake not, has a far more important meaning, and
communicates an idea altogether independent ; " the skill evinced}"
" the devise, project, or plan."

In the author's Note to his translation of Lucretius, b. II. 1107'
he found it necessary to render much of this sublime passage into
rhymed metre ; and as many of his readers may not be in pos-
session of this translation, he will take leave to copy the rendering
there introduced :

4. Say, where wast thou when first the world uprose
Fresh from its God ? thy wisdom doubtless knows.

5. Who fix'd its bulk, its limit, its design .''
Streteh'd o'er its breadth the plummet and the line .*

6. What forms its basis ? props its nether pole .'
Who rear'd the top-stone o'er the mighty whole,

7. When, at the sight, the stars of morning sang,

And heaven's high cope with shouts of rapture rang .' — ^
12. With thee coeval, is the dawn thy slave.'

Springs, at thy nod, young phosphor from the wave .'

16. Hast thou the deep pervaded, or descried
The dread abyss whence Ocean draws his tid^ ?

17. Are to thine eyes the gates of Death reveal'd ?

The gates where Death's dread shadows lie conceal'd ?

31. Canet

Chap. XXXVIII. 5-9. NOTES. 447

31. Canst thou the teeming Pleiades constrain ?
Or break Orion's icy bands in twain ?

32. Whirl round th' undevious Zodiac ? or the dance
Of bright Arcturus and his sons advance ?

33. Know'st thou the laws that regulate the spheres ?
Is it from thee that earth their power reveres ? —

34. Lift to the clouds thy voice — and will they swarm
Round thee in robes of showers and torrent storm ?

35. Will, at thy call, the lightnings rush, and say,

" Lo ! here we are, — command, and we obey ?"
Ch. xl. D. Hast thou an arm like God ? like him to roll

The volleying thunders round th' affrighted pole ?

10. Come, clothe thyself with majesty and might.

Let glory gird thee with unsuffering light ; •

1 1 . Shoot from thy nostrils flames of arrowy fire ;
Search out the proud, and let them feel thine ire ;

12. Search out the proud, and crush them to the dust j
With their own arms exterminate th' unjust.

Ver. 5. — for thou knotvest.'] The irony is still kept in force; the
common reading, " if thou knowest," is woefully feeble and ir-
relevant. It is again repeated in v. 18, and 21.

Ver. 8. When its rush from, the womb would have overflou'ed.J
Not as in our common version, " When it brake forth as if it had
issued from the womb." I have given the passage literally, and in
the order of the words. Miss Smith's version is still more defective
than the established reading :

" When it burst forth from the womb."
In this last the 1 in Ih^J and «V^ are equally neglected. This pas-
sage does not appear to refer to the deluge, as suspected by Mr.
Parkhurst, (art. tlj) but to the first gathering together of the waters
into one place, here called the woml, and the limit by which they
are divided from the dry land, narrated Gen. \.g.

Ver. 9. IFhen I made the clouds its mantle, t

And thick darkness its swaddling-band. S
The imagery is exquisitely maintained ; the new-born ocean is re-
presented as issuing from the womb of chaos ; and its dress is that
of the new-born infant. The order of the Mosaic history, more-
over, is accurately adhered to. The clouds formed a part of the

second

448 NOTES. Chap. XXXVIII. 10, 1 1 .

second day's creation 5 the sea a part of the third, and the sun and the
moon a part of the fourth. So that clouds and thick darkness were
still existing ; the former covered the ocean, the latter encircled it.
To the same effect Milton, in lines of exquisite beauty, and known to
every one, Par. Lost. i. 20.

" Thou from the first

Wast present ; and with mighty wings outspread.

Dove-like, sat'st brooding o'er the vast abyss,

jind mad'st it pregnant."

There appears some reason for believing, as observed by Mr. Black in
his Life of Torquato Tasso, that Milton is indebted to the Tuscan
bard for a part of this admirable description. The biographer adverts
to the following passage in the Sette Giorjiati, Day I.

" Nelle tenebre allor de' ciechi abissi
Lo Spirito divino, e sovra I'acque
Era portato, e I'umida natura
Gik preparava : Anch' ei presente all opra
Spirando giaforza, e virtute nil' onda,
jyuccello in guisa, die dajrale scorza
I Col suo caldo vital covata, e piena
True lion pennato 'Ifiglio, e quasi informe."

Ver, 10. And uttered my decree concerning i/.] Perhaps some-
what more literally, *' And broke my decree concerning itj" the
word Iroke being used in the sense of uttered: as in the phrases
" to break an opinion," " break one's mind 3" but as such a phrase
in the present case is liable to a different construction, I have
preferred the term uttered. The decree referred to is given in
the ensuing verse. For want of this explanation, the versions have
generally been obliged to supply the word place very unnecessarily,
and altogether erroneously : " And brake up for it my decieed
place." Crinsoz offers a third meaning to lltl^, " Lorsque je la
domptai par mes loix;" " When I tamed it by my laws or decrees."
But this is more paraphrastic than even the common rendering.

Ver. 10. — boundary. 1 Literally, " a boundary line," rr-IS, from
ITil, " to pass or shoot along from place to place.'*

Ver. 11. And here shall the raging of thy waves be stayed.'] The
original of this hne may be regarded as Hebrew or Arabic. If the
former, the direct rendering will be, " And here shall there be a

stay.

Chap. XXXVIII. 1 2, 14. N O T E S. 449

«tay, or shall one put a stay to the pride or swelling (p«:i-n he gay n)

of thy waves." If the latter, " And here shall the raging ( jUii
ie^3^a«) of thy waves be stayed/' the term p«n being a noun
preceded and governed by a preposition in the Hebrew, and in the
Arabic being a noun alone, and the nominative case to the verb.
Our common version seems chiefly to have inclined to the latter,

and, as it appears to me, forcibly and correctly so ; ij and fJoM
are nearly synonymous, and both import " exundation," " the rush
or overflow of waters in a valley," " a torrent," whether of a river
or of rain.

}

Ver. 12. JVithin thy days, hast thou ordained the dawn,
And appointed to the day-spring his post.
So Racine in his Athalie, with a very delicate and appropriate turn,
probably drawn from the nineteenth Psalm ;

*' II commande au soleil d'animer la nature,
Et la lumi^re est un don de ses mains.
Mais sa loi sainte, sa loi pure
Est le plus riche don qii'il ait fait aux humains."

Ver. 13. And evil-doers be terrified away from it^ So ch. xxiv.
34 — 17. to which the present passage has probably an allusion :
At night go forth the thieving tribe :

For the dusk, too, watcheth the adulterer.

Exclaiming, ' No eye shall behold me.' —

In the day-time tliey seal themselves up.

They know not the light :

For the dawn they "reckon to themselves the death-shade.

The horrors of the death-shade, AS it returneth.
So in the terrible soliloquy of Hamlet:

"Tis now the very witching time of night.

When church-yards yawn, and hell itself breathes out

Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood,

And do such bitter business as the day

ff^ould quake to look on."

Ver. 14. Canst thou cause them to lend round, as clay to the mouldy
Rather more literally, " as clay the mould," or " as the mould doth
clay }" but I have followed the turn given to the expression in
our common version. The image, as it appears to me, is taken
directly from the art of pottery, an image of very frequent recur-
rence in Scripture, and, in the present instance, admirably forcible in

painting

450

NOTES. Chap. XXXVIII. 14.

painting the ductility with which the new hght of the morning
bends round like clay to the mould, and accompanies the earth in
every part of its shape ; so as to fit it, as we are expressly told in
the ensuing metaphor, like a garment, as the clay fits the mould
itself. I have given the entire passage literally, and in the order of
the words. 'jannn is usually rendered, impersonally, " it is
changed ;" but it is, in reality, the second person singular of the
conditional tense of the conjugation Hithpael, from ^an, " to turn
round, bend, or change the course or state of a thing ;" and is hence
directly as rendered in the text, " Canst thou cause to bend or turn
round."

There is hardly any passage, however, in the whole poem, that
has been supposed so difficult of elucidation 5 nor have I hitherto met
with a single rendering that is perspicuous, or will bear a critical ex-
amination, notwithstanding that an almost infinite variety of inter-
pretations have been offered. " Magna cum cura," says Schultens,
" contuli atque examinavi varios interpretum hunc versum explicandi
conatus, sed ex iis omnibus sensum hujus versus explicari non va-
luisse confiteor. Aliquid tamen ad aenigmatis hujus intelligentiam
conferre conabor." " I have compared and examined, with great
attention, the dirFerent attempts of the interpreters to explain this
verse ; but I confess that from none of them have I been able to
extract its meaning : I will nevertheless try something farther to the
unravelling of this aenigma." And even Reiske, the boldest criti-
cal expositor we are possest of, finishes with exclaiming, " Fateor
me non capere ;" " 1 confess I do not understand it."

The ch.ief cause of this perplexity seems to arise from DJin being
regarded as a seal, rather than as a mould, which last it imports as
readily as the former 3 and hence Mr. Scott's version, which is one
of the most ingenious :

'* It [the earth) is changed as clay hy the seal,

When they [the mornmg and the day-spring) present themselves as it
were in magnificent attire."

"■ During the darkness of the night," observes he, " the earth is a
perfect blank ; in which state it resembles clay that has no impres-
sion : but the morning light falling upon the earth, innumerable
objects make their appearance upon it. It is then changed, like clay
which has received the stamp of the seal." For seals, he adds, were
formerly applied to clay as well as to wax. This is ingenious, but
not very cleai', and certainly not perfectly true to the text ; for the

latter

Chap. XXXVIII. 15, 16. NOTES. 451

latter line, even with his own interpretation of 13V^n% is " they pre-
sent themselves as it were a garment," not " as it were in a gar-
ment;" which is not essentially difterent from the version now
offered, " they are made to set like a garment." The general me-
taphor, moreover, is confused ; for it is the earth, and not the morning
and day-spring, that, upon this explanation, should present itself in a
garment or magnificent attire," — having cAaw^eci its appearance, and
being arrayed with new objects.

The resemblance of light to a garment, gracefully covering and
adorning whatever it fails upon, is common to poets in all ages and
countries, but to none more so than to the Hebrew poets. I have
already had occasion to notice this in the Note upon ch. xxxvi. 30.
to which I refer the reader.

Ver. 15. — the roving of wickedness — ] Such is the passage lite-
rally : nDI :i)Ti!. The word J^lt imports, primarily, " to spread out,
expatiate, wander, or rove 3" whence the substantive means " wan-
dering, expatiating, roving 3" and secondarily, " the arm " of a man,
from its power of motion, or stretching out. HD"! is a collective
noun in the singular number, from rtOI, the verb, and signifies
" deceit, mischief, fraud, wickedness." It has hitherto, I believe,
been uniformly derived from d, " to be lifted up, or exalted 3"
and regarded as an adjective to jJTit, whence the translation has been
" the high arm," a sense not very clear or connexive.

Ver. 16. — the well-springs of the sea?^ The porous sides and
bottom, from which, in the opinion of many schools of ancient phi-
losophy, the main was supplied with new materials perpetually
oozing through them. Thus Lucret. VI. 631.

" Postremo quoniam raro cum corpore tellus
Est, fit conjuncta est, oras maris undique cingens;
Debet, ut in mare de terris venit humor aquai.
In terras itidem manare ex aequore salso :
Percolatur enim virus, retroque remanat
Materies humoris, et ad caput amnibus omnis
Confluit : inde super terras redit agmine dulci,
Qu^ via secta semel liquido pedc detulit undas."

And as this mass terrene of frame consists
Porous throughout, and with a thousand coasts
Girds all the deep ; — since to the deep it sends,
In part, its fluids 3 doubtless so, alike.

Part

453 NOTES. Chap.XXXVIH. 17— 20.

Part still retreats, and, percolated pure,

Fresh bubbles distant at some fountain-head.

Whence winds again the dulcet tide, through paths

Its liquid feet have printed oft before.
It is in this sense the Hebrew ^!)ni has been understood, by the Sep-
tuagint translators, iirt irr^yrjr OaXdcratjc;, by Junius and Tremellius, by
Piscator, and the authors of oar establised version. Many of the
critics, however, and among the rest Mr. Parkhurst, derive the term
from 153, instead of from nin ; and hence they render it *' mazes,"
''intricate passages," " tortuosities :" whence Reiske proposes syrtes.

Ver. 17. — the gates of death — ] So Lucret. I. 1105.

base rebus erit pars janua Iseti,

Hac se turba foras dabit omuis material."

the doors of Death are ope,

And the vast whole unbounded ruin whelms.
In like manner Virgil, JEn. ii. 66I.

patet isti janua leto."

the door of Death stands open.

' As also Ossian, in his Address to the Sun in Carrickthura, as given in
the Report of the Highland Committee, for the purpose of inquiring
into the authenticity of his poems :

Tha doirse na hoiche dhuit f^in,
Agui palluinn do chlos san Jar."
Before thee are the doors of the night ; and the tabernacle of thy repose is
in the west."

Ver. 19, Where, too, is the region — ] I have thus given the couplet
in order, and without circumlocution. The term ni, here rendered
too, is omitted in all the versions^ in both periods of this verse 5 ap-
parently from its not having been understood. Its usual meaning is,
"here, hither, this way 3" whence it occasionally signifies, " in this
manner, thus, so, likewise, also, too."

Ver. 20. — in its boundary.'] The limit that separates it from
light. The idea is peculiarly strong and poetical. Miss Smith trans-
lates this verse:

" When God described its boundary;
Didst thou mark the paths to its house ?"
but such a rendering cannot be obtained without leaving out a great

part

Chap.XXXVIII. 21— 26. NOTES. 453

part of the text in both members of the verse, and at the same time
committing a gross false concord.

Ver. 21. Thou knowest — ] Here the irony is so obvious, that it has
been introduced into almost all the modern versions, both foreign and
vernacular ; and it is hence the more extraordinary, that it never
occurred to any of them in the preceding part of the argument.

Ver. 24. — the levanter — ] fTp : literally, the *' Euroclydon, le-
vanter, or hurricane of the east- wind," as I have already had occasion
to notice in a preceding passage. The opening of this verse is pre-
cisely similar to that of v. 19.

Ver. 25. — a storehouse — ] il^^i^n, " a chamber, vault, store-house,
or repository," rather than " a canal or water-course 3" from tlbi?,
"" to curve or excavate." See Note on ch. xxxvi. 20.

Ver. 25. Or made a path — ]' p'i'Tl: so in the Arabic «-)tS"vel
viam stravit." p'Tl is here a verb, rather than a noun as usually
rendered ; and implies " to track or trace out," " to path out, or
make a path."

Ver, 26. To cause rain on a land where there is no man ,- -\
On a desert, without a mortal in it. j

In perfect accordance with the principles of modern philosophy. So
Ps. cxxxv. 7-

He maketh lightnings for the rain.
In like manner Lucretius inquires with regard to the gods of the
Roman people. De Rer. Nat. vi. 395.

" Quum etiam loca sola petunt, frustraque laborant ?"
Why seek the gods, too, solitary scenes,
And labour fruitless ?
The passage before us appears to be copied in the Alcoran, sur. vii.
" It is he who sendeth the winds spread abroad before his mercy,
until they bring a cloud heavy with rain, which we drive into a dead
COUNTRY, and cause water to descend thereon, and thus make all
kinds of fruits'to spring forth." The same sentiment is repeated, in
almost the same words, in sura or chapter xxv.

In like manner the very elegant Amriolkais, in the first poem of
the Moallakat :

*' The cloud unloadeth its freight on the desert of Ghabeit, like a mer-
chant of Yemen alighting with his bales of rich apparel."

Ver. 28.

454 NOTES. Chap. XXXVIil. 28-31.

Ver. 28. Who is the father— ?'] So St. Jerom, " Quis est
pater — ?" whom Tyndal has correctly followed, " Who is the lather
ot raine r" The M in t^'n is a relative pronoun, in the present, as in
an infinite variety of other cases.

Ver. 28. — globules of the dew.'] ^bjt^, from ^J, "a round, globe,
or circle." Whence Dr. Stock, with great accuracy :

" Or who hath begotten the round drops of the dew ?"

Ver. 30. When the u-aters grow opake as a stone.l This beautiful
passage, which is closely connected with the ensuing, does not ap-
pear to have been understood by any of the interpreters. The ori-
ginal text commences pK5, " when stone-like, or marble-like, &c. 5"
in which p« is used adverbially. I suspect, however, that it was
at first written px:)!J, " when like a stone, &c." and that the^ former
D has been dropped through carelessness. The point, however, is
not of consequence ; for the sense is exactly the same in either case,
excepting that it is fuller with the additional 5.

Ver. 3 1 . Canst thou compel the sweet influences of the Pleiades ?]
" Canst thou force forward the spring, and abruptly break up the
rigidity of winter ?" — " Canst thou oblige ;" but not strictly " Canst
thou bind," as rendered by all the interpreters.

The astronomical terms, in this and the ensuing verses, have greatly
puzzled the critics of every age, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, as well
as those of more modern times. I have concurred with our common
version in following the synonyms of the Septuagint so far as they go,
as believing them to be nearly, if not altogether correct ; and under
this interpretation of the passage the Pleiades, (rra^3 Chimah), Arabic
by, from j '^ moisture," are elegantly opposed to Orion (V''D3
Chcsil), as the vernal renovation of nature is opposed to its wintry
destruction ; the mild and open benignity of spring to the severe and
icy inactivity of winter- The Pleiades are a constellation of seven
stars in the sign Taurus, and make their appearance in the spring-
time ; whence they are denominated, by Virgil, Vergilice, Spring-
signs. The Hebrew term Chimah is peculiarly beautiful in its
origin, and implies whatever is desirable, delightful, or lovely 3 for
such is the force of the radical verb rroS. It is probable that from the
term Chesil {Orion) the Hebrews derived he name of their first
winter-month, which they denominate Chislu, and which corre-
sponds with a part of our own November. The constellation itself

appears

Chap.XXXVIII. 31. NOTES. 455

appears towards the end of November, through December and a
part of January, and hence becomes a correct and elegant synec-
doche for the winter at large. The Arabians still employ the same
term, J^u^ {Chesil,) to express coldness and inactivity; otium, tor-
por, frigus. This, however, is not the word introduced into the
Arabic version of the passage before us, but \iJiS\.

The translators of the Septuagint could not satisfy themselves of the
real meaning of the word riTilD (Mazaroth) ; and have hence retained
it without offering any synonym ; in which conduct they have been
followed by our standard bible. St. Chrysostom makes mention of
two interpretations, to the former of which he himself inclines:
Mai^ovpud TCt (Tva-r/jjuara roiv dfrrcpoji', dzp r?/ (Tvvi^Qsiq. ^oiSia Ka-
XovpTai.' ''AWot Se (])a(Tl M.a^ovpud'FjftpaiKi]v jliev tivai Trjv Xi^iy
crjixaCvuv ^s rov dtxTpuov juvya. " Mazaroth are those clusters of
stars which are commonly called the Zodiac : though others assert
that Mazaroth is a Hebrew term for Sirius or the Dog-star." — Of
these interpretations, the latter, I believe, has been generally pre-
ferred. I have ventured, however, to adopt the former, not merely
on the authority of St, Chrysostom, but because I have no doubt
that the term m!?;D (Mazaloth) in 2 Kings xxiii. g. was originally
the same word, and has been corrupted by the mistake of a b for a *lj
and because, in this latter place, it means obviously the Zodiac,
and is so expressly rendered by Sextus Empiricus, and many others.
The two words, moreover, are given alike in the Septuagint, as
well as by Theodoret; and in more than one Hebrew codex the
proper character is restored, the Lamed being again converted into a
Resh. And it may be further urged, in proof of the same opinion,
that it is to this term the Alcoran makes frequent allusion, hereby
proving that it is a proper Arabian image; and which has, probably,
never ceased to be common to their poets, from the date of the
book of Job. Thus, among other places, sur. xv. " We have
placed the twelve signs in the heavens, and have set them out in
various figures, for the observation of beholders."

Of tyi?, or, as it is written ch. ix. Q. U^i) (aish), there seems to be
little doubt; most of the interpreters and commentators having re-
ferred it to the star Arcturus, in the constellation Bootes. It is sup-
posed to be the nearest visible star in the northern hemisphere ; the
expression " Arcturus with his sons" being hence understood as
descriptive of the arctic regions, or extreme -point of the northern
hemisphere, — that part of the lieavens which alone was surveyed by

the

456

NOTES. Chap. XXXVIII. 33, 30.

the inhabitants of Idumaea: it forms as beautiful a contrast with
Mazaroth or the Zodiac, the extreme southern line of the same
hemisphere, as Chimah forms with Chesil.

These references are in the pure spirit of Oriental, and especially
of Arabic poetry. Thus, in the very beautiful eclogue of Amriolkais,
forming the first of the Moallakat:

" It was the hour when the Pleiades appeared in the firmament, like the
folds of a silken sash, variously decked with gems."
So in the eclogue of Lebeid, constituting the fourth of the same
collection:

" The RAINY CONSTELLATIONS OF SPRING have made their hills green and

luxuriant : the drops from the thunder-clouds have drenched them

with profuse, as well as with gentle showers."

I have already observed, in the note on ch. xxxvii. 9. that Mr.

Parkhurst has given a different interpretation to one or two of these

signs; and, for the most part, he is followed by Dr. Stock, whose

translation of v. 31, and 32, is as follows:

" Canst thou bind up the delights of warmth ?
Or the flakes of cold, canst thou set loose ?
Canst thou bring forth the blight in its season.
And comfort corrosion over her sons."

Ver. 33. Hast thou, forsooth — ] The Hebrew D«, " truly," " in-
deed," " doubtless," " forsooth," so sarcastically introduced, is
totally omitted in all the versions I have ever seen.

Ver. 36. JVho putteth understanding into tha volleys? ")
And who giveth to the shafts, ^c. J

The real meaning, I believe, remains yet to be explained, notwith-
standing the great variety of renderings which have been given to
the passage. The writer is still continuing his description of the
phaenomena of the heavens ; but the common interpretation supposes
him to wander abruptly from his subject, to the structure of man,
and then as abruptly to return to it in the ensuing verse. Dimto in
Mimtoi is not here derived from nto, in which case it may possibly,
though not very obviously, mean the inner parts of an animal j but
from nriD, "to urge, impel, shoot, or drive forwards;" whence the
•ubstantive implies " impulses, impulsions, shootings, volleys." —
Schultens, and, after him. Grey, has given to this term a similar
derivation, and in consequence, rendered the passage " injactibus

vagis,"

Chap. XXXVIII. 37. NOTES.' 457

vagis," " in the zig-zag shoots, or casts." The Arabic writers still
continue the term in the same sense, ^jt,, and \s:\!b.

'>')'DWh has been altogether misunderstood by every one : our com-
mon version is, " to the heart i' the more usual rendering, " to the
imagination:" Schultens, " to the phaenomenon or meteor," i. e. of
lightning, " quis dedit ph^nomeno distinctam intelligentiam." — In
all these cases, the word "'i^Uf is derived from Tt'D^, "to resemble or
imitate j" whence the substantive imports "resemblances, imitations,
effigiations, imaginations, — and hence the imaginations of the heart."
So Scott, who approves and follows Schultens,

" Vapjue meteors, wild phaenomena, who taught
These not to err, as though endowed with thought?"
In opposition to every previous authority, I venture to derive '•liU^
from 1ti^3, with an omissible i, " to cut, corrode, bite, or pierce,"
" to wound, hurt, or damage." Whence the substantive, here used
plurally, imports any thing that corrodes, pierces or wounds; and in
the present instance, " the shafts or bolts of the thunder-storm." —
Reiske, dissatisfied with every previous rendering, has chosen to
alter the text, but, as I trust it now appears, very unnecessarily,

Ver. 37. — irradinteth the heavens — ] tD'>pnu^ IQD'' : see the
notes on ch. xxxvii. 20, and 21. "ISD is here an Arabic term, as
well as in the preceding chapter: and CD^pnty no more implies
clouds than in the text referred to.

Junius and Tremellius, and Piscator, translate the wordlQB'' (sapir),
something after the Arabic derivation, as importing a bright sapphire
hue: whence the latter, "Quis sapphirinum reddat cgelum sa-
pientia?" "Who can make the heavens of a sapphire hue by
wisdom."

Schultens, not adverting to the Arabic sense of the terra, renders
the entire passage " Quis scribere facit nules in sapientia ? et utres
coelorum quis effundit hnrai'" " Who makelh the clouds to write (or
imprint, as by furrows) in wisdom? and who poureth forth the bot-
tles of the heavens on the ground ?" Every reader must perceive that
the former period offers a very circuitous rendering: to which I
must add, that the word ti''j7nty, here rendered clouds (nubes),
Schultens himself has thought proper to render, in the preceding
chap. v. 21, plagce cetherece, " etherial regions," skies or heavens j
and to explain it in his subjoined note, " aethera ^ transeunte vento
purgatum," — " ether purified by the passing wind."

As

458 NOTES. Chap. XXXVIII. 38.

As little can I allow tliat sr>ty imports, " to pour forth." Its
primary sense is, " to lie down," " to be at rest," " to be still or
quiet." Whence St. Jerom renders it " dormire faciet," " make
to sleep," as he also renders t)''pnu; heavens, instead of clouds. It
may, indeed, import " to level, lay low, or cast down," but not in
the sense of pouring forth : and on this account I have preferred our
common rendering, to that of all the translators. It is most simple,
and most in unison with the preceding part of the verse.

The phrase, " bottles of the skies," is a direct Arabism for the
clouds; and is to be found in every poet. *jus^i^ {hantem), which
is synonymous with the Hebrew bii {nihel), says one of their best
commentators, is a green water-jar, or water-skin ; whence the plural,
hanaiim, signifies llacTt clouds. — Thus in a Dewan quoted by Schul-
tens:

" Aderat nubes propendula, mulgens reliquas,
Intermicante fulinine hydriam ferens difFissam."

A broad deep cloud, that fed the rest, was nis^h,
And burst its bottle mid the warringkrsky.

Scott has well observed, that " this image is similar to the in-
clined urn, which the heathen poets place in the hand of a river-
god. The urn represents the fountain from which the river flows :
and what fountains are to rivers, the clouds are to rain."

The Hebrew ^^li means, however, a musical instrument, as well
as a bottle ; probably from its belly, as in the case of the Z^a^-pipe,
being of a bottle-shape : and hence the Vulgate gives the entire
couplet a different, and a very elegant bearing, but one which can-
not stand the test of inquiry, " Quis enarrabit coelorum rationem ?
et concentum coeli quis dormire faciet ?" " Who shall narrate the
wisdom of the heavens, and who shaU make to sleep (put a pause
to) the music of the sky ?"

Ver. 38. JVhen ihe dust is broken down intoglassincsi.'] " To glassy
points or spicula." Literally, " when the dust is glazed into glassi-
ness," " fluxed into a flux," or " dissolved into dissolution." In our
common version, " when the dust groweth into hardness;" and in
that of Schultens, "^ quum conflatur pulvis in fusuvi quid," which
is approved by Mr. Parkhurst, and interpreted " when die dust is
fused, or melted into a molten mass." The meaning of the Hebrew
\>'i^ is here more nearly approached, than in the standard English
translation, but it is still given with a want of correctness. The exact
sense of the passage is, " when the dust is dissolved or decomposed;

is

Chap. XXXVm. 39-41. NOTES. 459

is impalpably attenuated, comminuted, or broken down into its
smallest and sharpest points, or elementary atoms ; and the reference
is to those fine imperceptible spicula of sand, resembling points of
powdered glass, which are for ever floating over the burning deserts
of Syria and Arabia, and so frequently produce blindness to the in-
cautious traveller. See note to the author's translation of Lucretius^
b. VI. V. 648.

While such is the fact with respect to the dust or lighter earth,
the clods of (he field, the loam, or more tenacious earth, are well
known, under the very same circumstance of dryness, and a bright
sky, to become as hard and impacted as if baked or burnt; and,
hence, both parts of the verse have an equal truth of description, and
the one forms an elegant contrast to the other,

Ver. 3Q. -fo7- the lioness, -j The original is feminine,

Jnd perfect the strength, tsfc. i though it has a termina-
tion which more usually belongs to the masculine gender. The
allusion is evidently to the time of suckling her whelps, and the
necessary confinement she then undergoes. riTl is "hfe, living prin-
ciple, strength, vigour," rather than " appetite," as rendered in our
common version; or " stomach,'" (for which there is no authority)
by Miss Smith. In Dr. Stock, it occurs,

" Or with animal-flesh wilt thou stuff the young lions ?"
But this rendering requires a preposition which does not exist.

Chap, xxxix. should commence with this verse : for the poet
opens a new source of argument; and having ranged through the
more curious phaenomena of inanimate nature, he now enters upon
those of the animal kingdom.

Ver. 40. When they crouch in the shelter of the covert^ Or
" amidst shelter in the covert." So Pagninus, " Manent in umbra-
culo ad ipsum latibulum. — l-i« does not here mean ambush, which
would rather be ni«D, or rrn'iw, but den or covert, as in ch. xxvii. 8.
The passage is intended to describe the helpless state of those
animals, when young, which are the most powerful of all when
full grown, The ensuing description of the young ravens is of the
same kind, and forms a parallel picture.

Ver. 41. — are famishing — ] riM', not from ilJ^D, " to wander,
or go astray," but from i?nb, " to break down, comminute, or wear
away." So the Chaldee, Arabic, and Syriac, infirmantur. Miss
Cmith has correctly given this rendering.

// CHAP.

460 NOTES. Chap.XXXIX. 1— 5.

CHAP. XXXIX.

Ver. 1 . Understandest thou the course of breeding of the moun-
tain-goats?'} The common rendering, (a rendering that runs through
all the translations), " knowest thou the time when — " is extremely
erroneous. There can be no doubt that so excellent a naturalist, as
Job is represented to have been, must have known that its time of
gestation was five months j erroneously stated by Schultens to be
eight : but the real question is, " Dost thou understand the process r
art thou acquainted with the course and progress of the parturition,
and the manner in which the bones do grow and acquire solidity in
the womb?'' — The passage is translated literally and ordinally.

The ibex, or mountain-goat, is indigenous to Arabia, where it i&
known by the name of Baeden. It is an animal of great strength
and agility, and is considerably larger than the domestic goat.
The horns are peculiarly large and long, and often extend back over
the whole length of the body. It dehghts to climb the steepest
precipices ; and, when hard pressed, is said to throw itself from the
tops of rocks, or even towers, upon its horns, which preserve it
from injury. The flesh of the young animal is highly esteemed as
food. The ibex is also found in many parts of Europe.

Ver. 3. They draw theviselves together."] In the original,
HiJ^IDn : not " they crouch, or bow down;" but they " incurvate,
contract, or draw their limbs together," for the sake of acquiring an
expulsory power.

Ver. 4. Their nurslings bound away, they contend over the field.']
The rapidity with which these animals acquire independence, is here
described, in a correct and forcible climax. Our established version,
" their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn,"
though supported by the rendering of Pagninus, is equally incon-
sistent with the original reading, and with the habit of the animal ;
■which does not feed on corn, but on the shoots of fir, beech, and
other trees, ill' is here derived from l'^, " to strive, or contend,"
and not from HD'n, " to increase, or grow up."

Ver. 5, TFho hath sent forth the wild-ass at large ? -|

And the reins of the wild-mule who hath loosed ? S
" Who hath decreed different habits and dispositions to different kinds

of

Chap. XXXIX. 8. NOTES. 461

of animals? Who hath made some submit to the controul of man,
and others despise his authority ?" The phrase, " Who hath
loosed the reins of— " is to the same effect as " Who hatli loosed,
or left loose from reins 3" but it is more spirited and poetical. For a
description of the wild-ass, see note on ch. vi. ver. 5. Tyndal
seems to be the only translator who has had even a glimpse at what
is intended by the second animal ; for he is the only one who has
rendered it by the name of " mule." In the original it is ni"ii>
(orudj, or hrayer, from its peculiar cry. All the other translators
have given ii in difterent ways, onager, asinus, hrayer, tvild-ass;
while the Seventy, St. Jerom, and Luis de Leon, not knowing
what to make of it, have omitted the term altogether.

The wild- mule, or jickta, the equus Hemionus of Pallas, is dis-
tinguished by having solid hoofs 5 an uniform colour; no cross on
the back; and the tail hairy at the tip only. The colour is brownish
on the upper part of the body; white beneath, and on the buttocks ;
with a blackish list along the back. It inhabits Arabia, China,
Siberia, and Tartary, in grassy, saline pbins, or salt wastes, as men-
tioned in the ensuing verse; but avoids woods and snowy moun-
tains; is timid, swift, untameable; its hearing and smell are acute;
neighing more sonorous than that of the horse ; in size and habits
resembling a mule; but, though called the wild-mule, is not a hybrid
production : the ears and tail resemble those of the zebra; the hoofs
and body those of the ass; the limbs those of the horse. Its length is
five feet. I have no doubt that this is the animal which the Arabs
of the present day call Jumar; and which Mr. Jackson seems to
regard, agreeably to the vulgar opinion, as a hybrid product of the
ass and the ox genus. See his " Account of the Empire of Ma-
rocco," p. 39. Dr. Pallas has named it Hemionus, as supposing it
to be the Hemionos of Aristotle. It is described by Pennant
under the name given to it by the Mongolians, which is Dschik-
ketai. The Chinese call it Yo-to-tse. From the Mongolian, Dr.
Shaw has called it Jickta.

Ver. 8. He traverseth the mountains, his pasturage^ Such is the
order and literal rendering of the original; and so Reiske, " Circum-
lustrat montes, pascuum suum." Not widely different the Spanish
of Luis de Leon, " Ogea (otea) montes de su pasto, y despues
busca todo lo verde;" " He exploreth the mountains of his pas-
turage, and then searcheth for whatever is green."

// 2 Ver. Q.

462 NOTES. Chap. XXXIX. 9— 13.

Ver. 9. — rhinoceros — ] In the original CD^I (reem): by all the
older translators rendered rhinoceros, or unicorn; but by some
modern writers, bubalus, bison, or wild-ox. There can be no doubt
that rhinoceros is the proper term, for this animal is universally
known in Arabia by the name of Reem, to the present day. — " With
regard to the animal called by our heralds the unicorn, and repre-
sented in armorial be^rings, I doubt if ever such an animal existed.
The Reem (rhinoceros) is also called Huaddee, which signifies the
beast of one hornj Aouda signifies a mare; hence, perhaps, by an
easy corruption of narrie's, the Aouda has been mistaken for Huad-
dee; and the figure of a horse with a horn has been adopted as the
figure of the Reem, in our heraldic supporters." Jackson's Account
of the Empire of Marocco, &c. ch. v.

Ver. 10. — after thee.'] •■y^TM^. This is, perhaps, rather a pre-
position of manner than of place: not "following or behind thee/*
but " according to thee;" "^ after thy device;" " in consequence of
thy orders."

Ver. 12. — thy harvest.'] Not ''thy barn," as rendered by our
common version. ni:i signifies nourishment, digestible substances,
generally: Avhence miJD is a threshing floor, and pJ, the term here
made use of, the collective matter threshed, the threshing harvestj
or annual produce.

Ver. 13, The iving of the ostrich-tribe is for flapping, -y^
But of the stork and the falcon for flight. j

And both answer equally; for though the wings of the ostrich can-
not raise it from the ground, yet by the motion here alluded to, by
a perpetual vibration or flapping, " by perpetually catching, or
drinking in the wind" (as the term might be rendered, see note on
ch. XX. 18.), they give it a rapidity of running beyond that possessed
by any other animal in the world. Adanson informs us, that when
he was at the factory at Podore, he was in possession of two tame
ostriches : and " to try their strength," says he, " I made a full-
grown negro mount the sm:^llest, and two others the largest. This
burden did not seem to me at all disproportioned to their strength.
At first, they went a pretty high trot; and when they were heated
a little, they expanded their wings, (Watson says expressly they flap
their wings,) as if it were to catch the wind, and they moved with

such

Chap. XXXIX. 13. NOTES. 463

such fleetness as to seem to be off the ground. Every body must,
some time or other, have seen a partridge run ; consequently, must
know there is no man whatever able to keep up with it: and it is easy
to imagine, that if this bird had a longer step, its speed would be
considerably augmented. The ostrich moves like the partridge,
with both these advantages; and I am satisfied that those I am
speaking of would have distanced the fleetest race-horses that were
ever bred in England."

The text is thus rendered clear and comprehensible: but it has
not hitherto been fully understood; and, hence, an innumerable
diversity of renderings have been offered, and all equally, or nearly
equally, obscure or inadmissible. The term Hobi^i, "■ for flapping,"
ad quatiendum, or " for drinking in the wind or air," as it might be
translated, is strangely rendered in our common version goodly :
and the term CD^Ji'i (rennim), ostrich- tribe, is given, after Junius
and Tremellius and Piscator, peacocks. Almost all the other trans-
lators, however, give us for the last, ostrich or camel-bird, as the
Persians denominate the ostrich, struthio, or struthio-camelus, and
correctly so; for while the whole character precisely applies to the
ostrich, it should be observed, that all the Western Arabs, from
Wedinoon to Senaar, still denominate it ennim, with a near approach
to the Hebrew name here employed.

Our common translation, also, with great singularity, renders
MTDn (Jiasideh) ostrich, in the second line of the couplet ; even
Junius and Tremellius, and Piscator, translating hasideh, stork, or
ciconia ; although they render the term nifJ (nezzeh) ostrich,
which our common translation renders feathers. Nesseh, indeed,
as a noun singular, may he feather, if it be a radical term of itself j
but if, as the greater number of both ancient and modern inter-
preters concur in believing, it be a derivative from y) (nezz), it will
import a large Arabian bird of some kind or other, though the
kind has been very unnecessarily made a subject of doubt. The
writers of the Septuagint, not fully comprehending the meaning
either of MT'Dn (hasideh) or nVJ (nezzeh), have merely given the He-
brew names in Greek, dcrtca kuI veacra : Junius and Tremellius, and
Piscator, as I have just observed, have rendered TX^y (nesseh) ostrich,
as they have tD''J3'i (rennim) peacocks. St. Jerom has translated
nesseh, accipiter, hawk, or falcon: the Chaldee commentary co-
incides with St. Jerom ; and, hence, Tyndal makes it " the sparow-
hawke." It may possibly be this, as the falco nissus, or sparrow-

hawkj

'464 NOTES. Chap. XXXIX. 13.

hawk, is said to be found in some parts of Africa, as well as of
Europe : but I do not know that it has been traced in Arabia,
and it does not even enter into the hst of African birds, given hj
Mr. Jackson, Ju (naz) is used generically by the Arabian writers,
to signify both falcon and hawk, falco and acdjAter; and the term
is given in both these senses by Mininski. There can be little
doubt that such is the real meaning of the Hebrew word, and that
it imports various species of the falcon family, as jer-falcon, gos-
hawk, and sparrow-hawk.

The argument drawn from natural history advances from qua-
drupeds to birds j and of birds, those only are selected for descrip-
tion which are most common to the country in which the scene
lies, and, at the same time, are most singular in their properties.
Thus the ostrich is admirably contrasted with the stork and the
eagle, as affording us an instance of a winged animal totally inca-
ble of flight, but endued with an unrivalled rapidity of running,
compared with birds whose flight is proverbially fleet, powerful,
and persevering., Let man, in the pride of his uisdom, explain or
arraign this difference of construction. — Again, the ostrich is pecu-
harly opposed to the stork, and to some species of the eagle, in
another sense, and a s^nse adverted to in the verses immediately
ensuing: for the ostrich is well known to take little or no care of
its eggs, or of its young; while, not to dwell upon the species of
€ag'e just glanced at, the stork ever has been, and ever deserves to
be, held in proverbial repute for its parental fondness. The Hebrew
"word, indeed, for stork, nT'DD, imports kindness, or affection i and
our own term, stork, itself, if derived (as some pretend it is) from
the Greek aropyr] (storge), has the same original meaning. And,
hence, Schultens, " Ala strulhionum exultabunda : estque penna
pietalicultrix, et pluma r" " The wing of the ostrich-tribe is full of
fluttering; but is it an off'eclionate wing and plume r" the substan-
tive stork being thus transformed into the adjective affectionate. So
Dr. Slock,

" The wing of the ostrich is set to flutter .

Hath her affection taken wing, anil is it flown away ?"
The word stork is correctly preserved by Mr. Parkhurst 3 but the
general sense, if I m.istake not, is equally missed by all of them.
" The wing of the ostrich is quivered or fluttered up and down:
but is it the wing of the stork, and its plumage? — No, (continues

Mr.

Chap. XXXIX. 15, 18. NOTES. 465

Mr. Parkhurst) ' for she (the hen-ostrich) depositeth her eggs on
the earth — and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, &c.'"
This, however, as I have just observed, forms only one part of the
contrast ; and not that immediately adverted to — viz. the total inca-
pacity of flight, in the one instance, and the strenuous power of
flight, in the other. It is useless to pursue the different renderings
of other interpreters.

Ver. 15. ^nd is heedless that the foot may crush them.'] This
want of parental affection, and instinctive understanding in the
ostrich, has been denied by some modern naturalists, but certainly
without adequate authority. The passage before us is alone suffi-
cient to settle the point; and if it were not, I might appeal to the
concurrent testimony of all the Arabian writers, who have noticed
the habits of this bird. " The ostrich," observes Mr. Jackson,
*' lays several eggs, of the size of an African citron, or a six-and-
thirty pound shot, white, and of an oval form, weighing from eight
to ten pounds. After laying these eggs, the bird goes away, for-
getting or forsaking them; and if some other ostrich discover them,
she hatches them, as if they were her own; forgetting, probably,
whether they are, or are not : so deficient is the recollection of this
bird." Account of Marocco, &c. p. 6l. Hence, there is scarcely
an Arabian poet who has not availed himself of this peculiar cha-
racter of the ostrich, in some simile or other. Let the following
suffice, from Nawabig, as quoted by Schultens :

* Est qui omittat pietatem in propinquos, alienis benefaciens,
Ut struthio deserit ova sua, et ova aliena incubat."

There are who, deaf to nature's cries.

On stranger-tribes bestow their food :
So her own eggs the ostrich flies,

And, senseless, rears another's brood.

Ver. 18. Yet, when she rouseth herself to the contest.] Not, as
usually rendered, " what time she lifteth herself on high," iv v\pit
vxpuati, as the Septuagint gives it, I have translated the passage
literally. tDlial is not from «1D, in altum, " aloft," or " on high j"
but from n"iD, " to resist, contest, or oppose :" whence, &^" 01
is "to the contest," or '' in a state ol opposition." The reference
is either to the ostrich hunt, which is one of the most dextrous and
rapid sports of the Arabian and African regions; or to a direct race

betwee»

466 NOTES." Chap. XXXTX. i g.

between this bird and a race-horse, in which, as I have already
observed, from Mr, Adanson, (see Note on ver. 13.) there seems
little doubt the former would beat, even if made to carry double.

The comparison here offered is common to Arabian poets of later
times J and is a frequent figure in the Moallakat. Thus Lebeid,
speaking of his favourite courser:

" I incite him to run like a fleet ostrich in his impetuous course, until

he boils in his rage, and his bones are light."
Antara, in the same collection, compares, in one place, the swift-
ness of his camel to the same bird ; and Hareth, in a similar strain,
tells us that he rode,

" On a camel SWIFT AS an osfrich, the mother of many young ones, the
long-necked inhabitant of the desert."

Ver. 19. — with the thunder-Jlash.'] Not tonnitru, or "with the
thufider-peal," as usually understood, or rendered ; but fulmine,
" with the thunder-Jlash" " the dazzling rapidity of lighrning." The
metaphor is peculiarly bold, but in the characteristic spirit of Orien-
tal poetry. Schultens seems half-afraid of its boldness; and, hence,
renders it, with great comparative tameness, " tremore alacri," "with
rapid quivering;" which, it must be acknowledged, the original
terra 'HD))") will bear, as well as that of thunder, or thunder-flash:
for it is from the coruscating quiver or trembling of the forky
lightning that the term is applied to express this last idea. The
strong figure of being clothed with light, or with lightning, is com-
mon to the sacred writings, and especially to the poem before us;
and had this been adverted to, the real meaning would have been
understood, and settled long before now : thus cli. xxxvi. 30 :

Behold he throweth forth from it his j^a^A,
And investeth the roots of the very ocean :
and for farther instances, the reader may turn to the note on this
passage.

We have a figure nearly parallel, in Ossian's description of Cu-
chuUin, but somewhat less sublime:

" FoUt orabhar urmhaomnacb."

His bushy hair is a waving flame. ,
The whole portraiture is highly beautiful, and is thus literally ren-
dered by Dr. Donald Smith, in the Report of the Highland Society:

" Withix) the car is the strong-armed hero of swords,

Whose name is Cuchollin, the son of Semo,

Son

Chap. XXXIX. 20. NOTES. 467

Son of SuvALTA, son of Begalt.

His red cheek is like the polished yew :

Lofty the look of his blue-rolling eye beneath th« arch of his brow.

His bushy hair is a waving flame,

As coming towards us a fierv bolt:

He wields both his forward spears."
Mr. Parkhurst has paraphrased the passage^ " with the shaking
MANE." Reiske has understood it in the sense of the Arabic
d,^,, " with humiUty." — " An indues ejus collo humilitatem r" The
Septuagint gives hihvaav II rpaj^rjXu avrov (l)6j3ov ; " Canst thou
clothe his neck with fear, i. e. treniour r" The Chaldee, Indues
collum ejus furore ? " Canst thou clothe his neck with fury r" St.
Jerom, " Circuradabis collo ejus hinnitum?" as though the thunder-
clap was implied, instead of the thunder-flash: whence Scott, with a
bombast in which he does not often indulge,

*' Hast thou with prowess fill'd the martial horse,
Thou ton'd his throat with roaring thunder's force ?"

Ver. 20. Hast thou given him to launch forth as an arrow ?~\ In
our common version, " Cansr thou make him afraid, as a grass-
hopper?" " An facies eum intremere uc locusta?" " An facies eum
treniere ut locustam?" " Canst thou make him tremble as a locust?"
Such is the rendering of Reiske and Schukens. " Canst thou make
him bound, or leap, as the locust ?" Bochart, Scott, Parkhurst, and
Stock. And so Luis de Leon explains it, " Por dicha levantarle has
como a langosta ? (the version of St. Jerom.) Esto es (says the trans-
lator) si le dio que saltasse presto y ligero, como si fuese langosta."

It is needless to pursue the different turns thai have been given to
this passage any farther. Nothing ij clearer than that a great diffi-
culty has been ftlt, and that the translators have not concurred in
the real r^jeaning of the metaphor.

The cause of this difficulty appears to me to have arisen altoge-
ther from the genuine sense of the term nnit* (hitherto rendered
locust, or grasshopper) not being fully entered into ; and an adjust-
ment of \r)i^ to the supposed st-nse of nni« The tt-rm ni1« is
unquestionably derived from tin, the « being meieiy formative.
And thus traced, it may certainly mean a locust: but it may also
mean a dart, ov arrow; for it is thus used, tlr.ugh commonly without
the formative 'A, in various place-', and especially Job xvi. 13. V!n,

" His arrows fly around nie."^

The

468 NOTES. Chap. XXXIX. 21.

The verb t2?i>i imports " to tremble or quiver, to brandish, or cause
to brandish, to rush, lanch, or dart forth;" and seems to unite the
two ideas of rapidity and coruscation. It is just as applicable to the
motion of the arrow, as -the whole figure, thus explained, is to the
motion of the horse,

Ver. 21. He pawelh in the valley, and exultelh.'] No writers have
ever taken so much pains as the Arabians, to describe, in glowing
and diversified language, the pomp, and pride, and beauty of their
horses ; for no people have ever carried the art of riding to such
perfection, or cultivated it so generally. There is scarcely an Ara-
bian poem of the descriptive kind to be found, in which this animal
is not introduced, and in which the writer does not summon all his
powers to delineate it. Such delineations occur, at considerable
length, in most of the poems of the Moallakat ; and, if I recollect
aright, at some length in all of them. The following is a brief
extract from Sir W. Jones's translation of the poem of Amriolkais,
forming the first of this collection : the whole description is too
long to be copied.

" Often, too, have I risen at early dawn, while the birds were yet in their
nests, and mounted a hunter with smooth short hair, of a full height,
and so fleet as to make captive the beasts of the forest.
" Ready in turning, quick in pursuing, bold in advancing, firm in back-
ing ; and performing the whole with the strength and swiftness of a
vast rock which a torrent has pushed from its lofty base.
" When other horses that swim through the air are languid and kick the
dust, he rushes on like a flood, and strikes the hard earth with a
firm hoof."
The Persians have in this, as in all other points, copied from the
Arabian poets. Thus the hero of the Shah Nameh :

^\ JjJ j^^L jj ^\ ^^ •

<^ ^ (*^-^ '^J^y. ^Xf^

My mace uplifted, at a single blow,
Hew'd a long pathway to the midmost foe.
My steed, impetuous, trampled file o'er file ;
While earth quak'd under, like the floods of Nile.

The

Chap. XXXIX. 21. NOTES. 469

The poets of other nations, however, have tried their powers in

the same Hne, and have been ambitious of rivalling those of the East.

Hence the following, from the Argonautics of ApoUonius, lib.iii.
'fit c or 'A^»/ibc /Wof, ceX^ofxevoi; ttoXcjuoio
Hfcapd^i^ iTf^pc/iicSoiv, Kpovsi TTiSoy.
The steed, thus sinit with battle and emprize.
Neighs, and the turf with hoof incessant plies.

So Virgil, in a well-known and exquisite passage, Georg. III. 13.

" Turn, si qua sonum procul arma ded^re.

Stare loco nescit, micat auribus, et tremit artus,
Coilectunique premens volvit sub naribus ignem.
Densa.juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in anno.
At duplex agitur per lumbos spina ; cavatque
Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu."
" But at the clash of arms, his ear afar

Drinks the deep sound, and vibrates to the war :
Flames from each nostril roll in gather'd stream ;
His quivering limbs with restless motion gleam ;
O'er his right shoulder, floating full and fair,
Sweeps his thick mane, and spreads its pomp of hair :
Swift works his double spine ; and earth around
Rings to his solid hoof that wears the ground." Sotheby.

I give the following from Book VIII. of " Les Trois Regnes de

la Nature" of my friend the Abbe Dellillej because it is avowedly

an imitation of the description in the text :

" Voyez ce fier coursier, noble ami de son maUre,
Son compagnon guerrier, son serviteur champetre,
Le trainant dans un char, ou s'^laneant sous lui ;
Dbs qu' a sonn^ 1' airaint, desque le fer a lui,
11 s' eveille, il s' anime, et redressant la tete
Provoque la m^lee, insulte k la tempete ;
De ses naseaux briilants il souffle la terreur ;
»11 bondit d' allegresse, il fr^mit de fureur.
On charge ; 11 dit, allons ; se courrouce et s' Glance,
II brave le mousquet, il afFronte la lance,
Parmi le fer, le feu, les morts et les mourants.
Terrible, echevele, s' enfonce dans les rangs,
Du bruit des chars guerriers fait retentir la terre,
Pr^te au foudre de Mars les ailes du tonnerre ;
II pr^vient 1' eperon, il obeit au frein,
Fracasse par son choc les cuirasses d' airain,
S'enivre de valeur, de carnage, et de gloire,
Et partage avec nous 1' orguejl de la victoire."

Ver. 21.

470 NOTES. Chap.XXXIX. 21— 26.

Ver. 21. Boldly — ] In the original niDi ; which is usually, but
erroneously, placed at the termination of the preceding line, and
regarded as a substantive : in consequence of which, the pronoun his
is also obliged to be gratuitously supplied in the following manner :
He paweth in the valley, and rejoioeth in his strength.

Ver, 24. And is impatient — ] This passage has not been under-
stood; and has hence been rendered so as to destroy the sense, " Nei-
ther BELiEVETH HE THAT it is the souud of the trumpet." I
have given the line literally, and in tlie order in which the words
occur in the original, faw (ameti) implies only, in a subordinate
sense, to believe; its primary signification hemg, to I e Jirm, quiet, at
rest; and hence, with a negative, as in the present case, to be un-
quiet, restless, impatient, ungovernable. The Arabic /jA*i'l (amyn)
is used precisely in the same sense, and is often applied to the
camel, to denote its perfect steadiness and quietude.

It is to this inimitable description of the Arabian war-horse that
Mahommed appears to have directed his eye in the hundredth

chapter or sura of the Alcoran, which commences thus; CjltjUlU

Sec. l,snju? " By the war-horses, which run swiftly into the battle,
with a panting snort ; yea, by those which strike fire by dashing
their hoofs against the stones ; yea, by those that, early in the morn-
ing, rush headlong on the enemy, and raise up the dust amongst
them, and hereby pass through the midst of the hostile troops —
verily, man is ungrateful to his Lord."

Ver. 26. Is it by thy skill the falcon taketh flight, -\

That she stretcheth her wing towards the South 9 )
The description of the horse may be regarded an episode led to by
the mention of the horse in the way of comparison, v. 'l 8. The
poet now returns to the race of migratory birds, noticed v. 13. Most
of the falcon-tribe are of this description : they pass their spring and
summer in cold climates, and wing their way towards warmer re-
gions on the approach of winter, " The flight of a strong falcon,"
observes Dr. Shaw, " is wonderfully swift. It is recorded, that a
falcon belonging to a Duke of Cleves flew out of Westphaha into
Pruseia in one day j and in the county of Norfolk, a hawk has made

a flight

Chap. XXXIX. 27. 28. NOTES. 471

a flight at a woodcock, near thirty miles in an hour." Zool, vii.
p. 134. I have already observed, in the note to v. 13. that yi (nezz)
is probably a generic term, importing various species of the falcon-
tribe, as jer-falcon, goshawk, and sparrow-hawk. The usual trans-
lation does not give the full force of the passage, " Doth the hawk
(or falcon) fly by thy wisdom ?" The real meaning is " Doth she
know, through thy skill or wisdom, the precise period for taking
flight, or migrating and stretching her wings towards a southern or
warmer climate ?" It is in reference to the same instinctive econo-
my in other birds of passage, that Jeremiah thus reproves his coun-
trymen, in the language of the Almighty, viii. 7-

Even the stork knoweth her fixt time in the heavens ;
And the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow,
Observe the season of their migration;
But my people know not the judgment of Jehovah.
The passage before us is well rendered by Sandys:

" Doth the wild haggard tow'r into the sky, '

And to the south by thy direction fly ?"

Ver. 27. And therefore — ] In the original ^31, " And on this ac-
count— ," or, " And for this reason — ." But the ''3 has been alto-
gether neglected in the greater number of translations, as the
£d«, " indeed, truly, or forsooth," has been in the preceding line.
Dr. Stock renders the verse,

" Even when she maketh her nest on high ?"
And Reiske observes that the 1 before ''2 should be destroyed ; in
which case the sense would be, " — soar at thy command, when
•he maketh, &C.3" or else that the rendering should be, " And, O
how high doth she make her nest!" — '•::, however, is here ob-
viously, as it appears to me, a particle, not of exclamation or of time,
but of causation, and appropriately answers to D« in the line
preceding.

Ver. 28. She dwelleth in the cliff'.'] The whole is here literally
translated ; but the passage has hitherto been improperly punctuated,
and hence alone rendered confused. The division of the present and
ensuing verse should be as follows :

nan uwv nnvDi

The

471 NOTES. Chap. XXXIX. 30.

The term nilVD is in our common version rendered " the strong
place," and it will bear this meaning. But its more obvious and
direct sense is that of " game, prey, ravin;" any thing seized by
cunning, or toils. The radical verb is mv, '' to look sideways or
slily at a thing." This word, as the reader will perceive in the
preceding collocation of the Hebrew, should open the 29th
verse, instead of closing the 28th, " And ravin thence espielh she."

Ver. 30. — swooi) up — ] In the Hebrew "iJjl?i^S a word no where else
to be met with ; and hence supposed to be a corruption from ibi^^i)'", in
Arabic ^^^UiAJu ; or from i:l?P% in Arabic rjJ^- If from the first,
the meaning will be " to act with violence or iteration," " to etfecl
violently or powerfully." If from the latter, ^' to lick up or
swallow." Dr. Stock renders it, " gobble up :"
" And her young ones gobble up blood."
This gives a good sense, but in a low way : and for this reason I pre-
fer the term now offered. It has the advantage of including both the
preceding senses.

Ver. 30. And wherever there are carcases, she is there.'\ Probably a
proverbial expression at this early period of the world 5 but certainly
an expression in proverbial use in the time of our Saviour. Thus
Matt. xxiv. 28. " For wheresover the carcase is, there will the eagles
be gathered together."

CHAP. XL.

Ver. 2. Doth, it, then edify — ] So Pagninus correctly, " Num-
quid contendere cum Omnipotente eruditio ?"

Ver. 1 1. Let loose — ] fSn, from nva, " to let loose or set open,"
and not from ^'53, " to scatter or disperse," as usually rendered. So
Schultens, " Effimde ;' and Stock, " give loose to." So also Tyn-
dal, " Pour out the indignations of thy wrath."

Ver. 12. — to the grave7\ In the original onnn, not " in " or " to
their place," but " to their place below, ad inferos ;" from nnj, " to
descend." See, for a rhymed version of this and several preceding
verses, the note on ch. xxxviii. 4.

Ver. 13. Huddle them together — ] The direct synonym of

Chap. XL. 13-^15. NOTES. 473

in* tDJDtO : " Cover ihem hastily and promiscuously." The itera-
tion of the word in the second Una of the couplet, though peculiarly
forcible, has been hitherto passed over by almost every translator.
It is of the same character as the repetition of the word, eye every
proud one, in v. 11, and 12 j which has likewise been passed over
by every interpreter, so far as I am acquainted with, except Dr.
Stock. Most of the best poets of Greece and Rome were fond of
this figure ; but the Hebrew bards seem to have been still more
attached to it.

The funeral ceremonies of the East are performed with peculiar
pomp and magnificence, wherever such expence can be afforded.
Almost every one makes it his dying request j and there is a general
belief among the multitude, that a curse will attend the life of such
survivors as dare to neglect this supreme and sacred duty. See the
author's translation of Lucretius, Note on b. III. v. 923. and b. VI.
V. 1337.

Ver. 13. Thrust them down — ] Not " bind or tie up." — tynr?
here implies " to put or thrust down, to oppress or depress," and is

thus used in the Arabic /uj,ji^l. See Reiske in loco.

Ver. 14. Then, indeed, will I confess — ] Reiske, for :?^tyin, pro-
poses T'^'^T) : and begins the next verse immediately afterwards ;
making the rendering, " Even yet will I teach thee that thou art
unjust. On thy right hand, behold, now^ the beasts, &c." The
alteration is totally unnecessary.

Ver. 15. — Behemoth — ] DIDtl!!. This term has greatly tried the
ingenuity of the critics. By some, among whom is Bythner, and,
as I have already hinted in the preceding note, Reiske, it is re-
garded as a plural noun for beasts in general: the peculiar name
of the quadruped immediately described not being mentioned, as
unnecessary, on account of the description itself so easily applied at
the time. And in this sense it is translated in various passages in the
Psalms. Thus l. 10. in which it is usually rendered cattle, as the
plural of nona, it means unquestionably a least or brute, in the
general signification of these words :

For every beast of the forest is mine,

And the cattle {Behemoth) upon a thousand hills.

So

474 NOTES. Chap. XL. 1 5.

So again, Ixxiii. 22.

So foolish was I, and ignorant,

I was as a beast {Behemoth) before thee.

It is also used in the same sense in ch. xxxv. 1] . of the present poem :

Who teacheth us more than the beasts {Behemoth) of the earth.
The greater number of critics, however, have understood the word
Behemoth in the singular number, as the peculiar name of the
quadruped here described, of whatever kind or nature it may be j
although they have materially differed upon this last point, some re-
garding it as the hippopotamus or river-horse, and others as the
elephant. Among the chief supporters of the former opinion, are
Bochart, Scheuchzer, Shaw, Calmet, and Dr. Stock : among the
principal advocates for the latter interpretation, are Schultens and
Scott.

These animals have so general a resemblance to each other, that
they ought not only to rank under the same class, but the same
order. Linneus, indeed, has placed them in very different orders,
chiefly on account of the disparity of their fore-teeth ; the elephant
being destitute of this organ in either jaw, and the hippopotamus
having four fore-teeth in each. But Cuvier, in spite of this indivi-
dual distinction, has united them, along with the rhinoceros and the
wild-boar, into one and the same order, which, on account of the
toughness and thickness of the skin in all these kinds, he has deno-
minated pachydermata.

To determine how far either of these animals comports with the
minute description before us, as also which comports with it best, let
the reader take the following correct outline from Dr. Turton's
translation of Linneus, from Gmelin's text, with improvements from
later writers.

" Elephant. — Inhabits the Torrid Zone, in swampy places, and
by the sides of rivers ; feeds on the leaves and branches of yonng
trees, particularly plantains, eating even the wood ; devours grain
voraciously ; gregarious, docile, long-lived, sagacious, though
the brain is small ; proboscis long, extensile, contractile j moves
quickly j swims dextrously. The largest of animals ; sometimes
weighing 4500 pounds ; body cinereous, seldom reddish, or white,
thinly set with hairs : eyes small ; tusks, which are only in the
upper jaw, far extending beyond the mouth, and resembling horns,
marked with curled fibres ; these are the ivory of the shops ; and

sometimes

Chap. XL. 15. NOTES. 475

sometimes weigh 150 pounds each'j skin thick, callous. Impene-
trable by musket-balls, and yet sensible to the sting of flies.

" Hippopotamus. — Inhabits the rivers of Africa, and the lakes of
Abyssinia and Ethiopia ; gregarious, wandering a few miles from the
water ; feeds by night, on vegetables, roots of trees, never on fishes ;
lays waiste whole plantations of the sugar-cane, rice, and other
grain ; when angered or wounded, will attack boats and men with
much fury 5 moves slowly and heavily j swims dextrously, and walks
under water, but cannot remain long without rising to the surface
for breath ; sleeps in reedy places 5 voice tremendous, between
the lowing of the ox and the roaring of the elephant ; nearly as
large as the elephant. Head large 3 mouth very wide ; skin thick,
dark, almost naked j tail about a foot long, naked."

It is highly probable that Behemoth is used in the passage before
us as a peculiar name 5 and it must be obvious to every one, that the
animal it designates has a resemblance in many points to both the
preceding, and there can be little doubt that the Arabians were ac-
quainted with both. Schultens and Scott object to the hippopo-
tamus, chiefly because of its comparatively diminutive size, which they
assert to be in general not superior to that of the ass ; and because it
is carnivorous, and feeds principally on fishes. In both these cha-
racters they are strangely mistaken ; for, first, in addition to the
above assertion of Linneus, as progressively confirmed by Smelin
and Turton, that he is nearly as large as the elephant, Dr. G. Shaw
observes, that his size is " nearly equal to that of the rhinoceros,
and sometimes even superior ;" and adds, in a note, that some speci-
mens are said to have measured seventeen feet in length, seven in
height, and fifteen in circumference, the head alone measuring three
feet and a half. And, secondly, the hippopotamus, instead of being
carnivorous, and feeding principally on fishes, is altogether gramini-
vorous or graniyorous, and is peculiarly abhorrent of fishes, as ap-
pears to be admitted by all the zoologists of reputation^

The elephant is chiefly objected to, in favour of the hippopotamus,
because it is said, first, that the description of the Behemoth's dwell-
ing habitually in " the covert of the reeds and the ooze," and
taking a pleasure in resisting the strongest tides, does not so de-
cidedly belong to the former as to the latter 5 and, secondly, because
the tail of the elephant, so far from being like a cedar-tree, is de-
spicably small and slender, like that of a hog : whence Schultens has
endeavoured to apply the term :i3T (tail) to the elephant's proboscis,

g g but

4rfl NOTES. Chap.XL.i<J.

but with so little success, that Scott has attempted to give it the
meaning of another organ of this animal, with as wide a deviation
from the real sense of the term, and as little resemblance to the
organ itself

In few words, it does not fairly appear that either of these qua-
drupeds is the animal exactly intended. Had the elephant been de-
signed, some notice must have been taken, in so exact a descrip-
tion, of its proboscis, its tusks, its docility, and sagacity. Had it
been the hippopotamus, the tremendous roar of its voice could not
have escaped attention.

Both these, moreover, are naturally quiet animals, and never in-
terfere with the grazing of those of different kinds, except when
irritated. The Behemoth, on the contrary, is represented as a
quadruped of ferocious nature, and formed for tyranny, if not for
rapacity ; equally lord of the floods and of the mountains 3 rushing,
with rapidity of foot, instead of with slowness or stateliness ; and
possessing a rigid and enormous tail, like a cedar-tree, instead of a
short naked tail of not more than a foot long, as the hippopotamus j
or a weak, slender, hog-shaped tail, as the elephant.

It is most probable, therefore, that the Behemoth (unques-
tionably a pachydermatous quadruped, or one belonging to the order
of this name, to which both the elephant and the hippopotamus
appertain in the Cuverian system) is at present a genus altogether
extinct, like the mastodontonton or mammoth, and at least two
other enormous genera, all belonging to the same class and order,
the bones of which M. Cuvier has traced in the gypsum quar-
ries about Paris, and to which he has given the names of palaeothe-
rium and anoplotherium. And it is truly singular, that in this order
of pachydermata or thick-skinned animals, we meet with a greater
extinction than in any other : for while the whole of the known and
extant kinds belonging to it do not amount to more than six (the
elephant, tapir, hog, hippopotamus, daman, and rhinoceros), we
actually have traced out the skeletons of three genera that are lost,
the palaeotherium, anoplotherium, and mastodonton or mammoth,
besides numerous species.

Ver. 16, And his virility in the navel of his lelly."] i. e. " In the
middle of his belly 5 in his waist," — as opposed to the preceding line.
See the Author's Translation of the Song of Songs, Idyl ix. Note J.

The Hebrew word^l^'ity is plural, middle-parts, or navel-parts; but

wc

Chap. XL. 17— 19.' NOTES. 477

we have no word that exactly parallels it in our own tongue: though
navel itself is often used among us (as it certainly is here, and in
various other places among the Hebrew poets) synonymously with
middle or midmost. Thus Milton,

" Within the navel of this hideous wood,

Immur'd in cypress shades, a sorcerer dwells."

Ver. 17. — of his haunches — ] In the original lina; distinctly
in the present instance, an Arabic term, S^SXs coxce, femora, " the
haunches," or " hind quarters 5" and thus rendered in the Syriac and
Arabic versions. Thus the former .woio^jwoa, |i-»sv 5^-*2i*D|o, of
which the Arabic is a mere copy: " erecti sunt nervi coxarum ejus:"
nor is there any authority for rendering it verenda or testes, as all
the old Latin translators have it, or stones, as given, from the Latin
copies, in our common lection. This is still more obvious, from the
term lina being altogether dropped in most, if not in all the Greek
versions, as of no importance 3 the usual rendering among them
being vevpa avrov (or avrov (T\oivia) avjUTrcTrXeKrai, "his sinews are
braced together." Hence Schultens, correctly, " nervi femorum
ejus ramose implexi sunt." Mr. Parkhurst, Dr. Stock, and Miss
Smith, adhere to our established reading. The word nM, tail, has
been frequently translated with an equal mistake, as to the meaning,
and even the modesty of the passage.

"Ver. 18. His joints like masses of iron.] So Piscator, correctly,
" artus ejus sunt ut massas ferreae." The term ^tOD {metal) is pure
Arabic, and is used in the sense now offered on various occasions.
Thus Reiske, " ossa ejus lirnrXdrt} kuI arjpayy^ui], apophyses, et quae
in juncturis manuum et pedum sunt, bulbosa globosa et irregularis
figurae ossa; sunt ut martellus ferreus, vid. Caab ben Zoheir, v. 23."
I have quoted the reference as given in all the editions I have seenj
but, upon examination, I suppose the verse intended in the reference
is 43, instead of 23.

Ver. 19. Let him but commission him, ^c] In our established
version, "He that made him, can make his sword to approach unto
him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food; where all the
beasts of the field play." The renderings are very numerous, but
not essentially different as to the general sense, if a clear sense can
be extracted out of any of them. Reiske, dissatisfied with the whole,

gg2 and

478 NOTES. Chap. XL. 22—24.

and not more successful in his own efforts as to the admitted text,
alters it, to obtain a different sense. I trust it will now appear, that
no alteration is necessary in any respect. I have given the entire
passage, both literally and in the order of the words.

Ver. 22. While they overshadow him — ] Literally, " Should they
(or let them) overshadow him/' " Should they (or let them) sur-
round him." The description is peculiarly bold and beautiful, and
may challenge the whole scope of Greek and Roman literature for
a parallel. Dr. Stock, who is the only translator that has fairly ren-
dered the Hebrew ib^V as a verb, "they quake," (the rest understand-
ing it as a substantive, which requires the aid of a suppUed preposi-
tion to make sense of it,) has given a tame and inadequate explana-
tion of the text, by explaining they quake, " they play to and
fro." The real intention is clear; "^ The shadowy trees themselves
are alarmed at his fearful and enormous form, and tremble while
they afford him a shelter."

Ver. 23. If the stream rage, ^c] So the Syriac and Arabic, most
correctly, '' Si proruperet fluvius." So Reiske, " Si saeviat (aut
(Imm ^ w TtOoXuTai) fluvius, non jias^j ^ retro it. Our com-
mon rendering, " Behold he drinketh up a river," appears to be de-
rived from the Vulgate, " Ecce absorbebit fluvium." inj, or river,
however, is the nominative case to the verb, instead of being
governed of it. Concerning which, the reader may also consult
Bochart in loco, for further information. Jordan is, in like manner,
the nominative case to the verb, in the ensuing line,

Ver. 24, IVith his eyes he inviteth him ; \

He cutteth through, ^c. S

" He challengeth the tide to combat with his looks." I have given
both periods of the verse literally; but the proper sense has hitherto
been missed by all the translators : and honce none of the render-
ings are clear; and Reiske, as usual, seeks for perspicuity, by
reforming the text. The chief error has been in regarding ?1«, in
the second line, as a substantive, implying nose, aiiger, or Jierceness,
instead of as an adverb, fiercely, or indignantly. CJ''U?po is as
uniformly derived from urp*, and, hence, rendered " snares, or
cords;" instead of from ntyp, under vfhich form it means, as here
given, " scales, plates, or hard and rigid incrustations of the

^ skin."

Chap. XL. 24. NOTES. 479

skin." Whence t)Wp, and riWpD, in the feminine gender, signify
metallic plates, or vessels of beaten metal 3 and, in the duplicate
form, ^''typlUj?, the firm metallic plates of a coat of mail, 1 Sam.
xviii, 5.

CHAP. XLI.

Ver. 1, Leviathan.'] There has been almost as much difference
of opinion upon the meaning of this term (jiT'1^), as upon that of
Behemoth. I have already touched upon this subject, in the note
on ch. iii. 8. and shall only add a few observations to what is there
offered.

Reiske, dissatisfied with all the interpretations, contends that the
word should have been written M'\'^)b, in Arabic aJuJ. collum, or
neck; thus making the passage a continuation of the description in
the preceding verses: " Trahesne collum ejus, curvum latus cervicis
fune ?" " Canst thou draw out the twisted breadth of his neck
with a rope?" But this is very unnecessarily to alter the text, and
without improving the meaning.

Almost all the oldest commentators, — I believe t may say, uncon-
ditionally, ALL of them, — concurred in regarding the whale as the
animal here intended. Beza and Diodati were among the first
to interpret it the crocodile; and Bochart has since supported this
last rendering with a train of argument which has nearly over-
whelmed all opposition, and has brought almost every commentator
over to his opinion.

The sublime description of Milton, Par. Lost, I. 200, will apply
either to the whale, or the kraken of Pontoppidan :

" — —that sea-beast
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created liugest that swim th' ocean stream :
Him, haply slumbering on the Norway foam.
The pilot of some small night-founder'd skiff
Deeming some island, oft, as sea-men tell.
With fixed anchor in his scaly rind, v

Moors by his side under the lee, while night
Invests the sea, and wish'd-for morn delays."
It is a sufficient objection to the whale-tribes, that they do not
inhabit the Mediterranean, much less the rivers that empty them-
selves into it ; some of the species have occasionally been found in
this quarter, but the great whale, or Balsena Mysticetus^ perhaps

never.

4S0 NOTES. Chap. XLI. 1.

never. This family of marine monsters, moreover, have neither pro-
per snout nor nostrils, nor proper teeth. Instead of a snout, they have
a mere spiracle, or blowing hole, with a double opening on the top
of the head, which has not hitherto been proved to be an organ of
smell J and for teeth, a hard expanse of horny laminae, which we
call whalebone, in the upper jaw, but nothing of the sort in the
under. The eyes of the common whale, moreover, instead of
answering the description here given, are most disproportionately
small, and do not exceed, in size, those of an ox. Nor can this
monster be regarded as of fierce habits, or unconquerable courage :
for instead of attacking the larger sea animals for plunder, it feeds
chiefly on crabs and medusas, and is often itself attacked and
destroyed by the ork or grampus, though less than half its size.

The crocodile, (lacerta crocodilus, Lin.) on the contrary, is a
natural inhabitant of the Nile, ^nd other Asiatic and African rivers 3
of enormous voracity and strength, as well as fleetness in swimming;
attacks mankind, and the largest animals, with most daring impe-
tuosity; when taken by means of a powerful net, will often overturn
the boats that surround it; has, proportionally, the largest mouth of
all monsters whatever ; moves both its jaws equally, the upper of
which has not less than forty, and the lower than thirty-eight, sharp,
but strong and massy teeth; and is furnished with a coat of mail so
scaly and callous, as to resist the force of a musket- ball in every
part, except under the belly. Herodotus expressly asserts that
one of the modes by which this unconquerable monster was occa-
sionally taken, in his time, was by means of a hook {dyKiarpov),
which was baited with a hog's chine, and thrown into the midst of
the river ; the crocodile having swallowed which, was drawn on
ihore {{'^tXKvadrj tU Tt]v ytji'}, and dispatched : lib. ii. /O.

The general character of the Leviathan seems so well to apply
to this animal, in modern as well as in ancient times, the terror of
all the coasts and countries about the Nile, that it is unnecessary to
seek farther,

Ver. 1. With hook and line — ] The verse has been improperly
divided, and hence has been somewhat confused in its meaning.
Dr. Stock renders it as follows :

" Canst thou draw out the crocodile with an hook?
Or with a cord wilt thou sink into his tongue ?"
Reiske observes, that a cord cannot penetrate or sink into the
tongue? and, hence, proposes that the words hook and cord should

change

Chap.XLI. 2-§. NOTES. 481

diange places. The passage, as now punctuated, renders such a
change altogether unnecessary, and removes the difficulty com-
plained of.

Ver. 2. Say, canst thou—'\ In the original Ct^nn, in which the
n is emphatic, Schultens has it " Certe impones — ,"

Ver. 5.— /or thy children?'] In the original nili?:, "flourishing
or vigorous plants," " nursery,"

Ver. 6. Shall thy companions rush upon him ?] Not '* make a
banquet," as in our common version ; but rather " rush upon for
prey." So the Arabic <uLs ljX> — '' An involalunt in euna,
armata manu ?" as Reiske explains it.

Ver. 7, — with harpoons^ So Junius and Tremellius, and PIb-
cator, harpagonibus : and Dr. Stock,

" Wilt thou fill with harpoons his skin."
Mr. Parkhurst renders the passage from Gusset, " Is it possible that
thou sh|^ldst place his skin in the booth, and his head in the shed,
or hut, for fish ?" But this rendering is remote, and inaccordant with
the preceding verse.

Ver. 8, Dare the contest; lejirm.'] IS* means usually " to remem-
ber j" and such is the sense given to it, in the present passage, in all
the versions, " Remember the battle," But it also means " to dare,"
" to be stout or vigorous," in courage, as well as in memory :
whence ^151, as a collective noun, imports males, or the male sex.
f\D)h b«, here rendered " be firm," is, literally, " be not relaxed, or
hollow- Aeor /erf," " relax not," f]D\t\, however, has, unfortunately,
been uniformly derived from f\D\ " to add," instead of from ^D,
" to be loose or hollow;" and hence the version has hitherto
been, " do no more," " add nothing further;" or, as Dr, Stock has
it, " give him no second blow," If this, however, were the proper
root, the sense should be, " give not in," " yield not," But I feel
persuaded that it ought to be as above.

Ver, 9. It is dissipated — ] Not " shall 710/ one be cast down," as
in our common version; for the original has no negative; but, " it
is cast down, or cast laway," " Dissipated, or dispersed," however,
is a better word 3 for b\D, the term here employed as a verb, means

dew^

4,82 NOTES. Chap. XLI.l 1,12

dew, vapour, as a substantive, from its dissipating or evaporating
power.

Ver. 11. — yea, presumptuously!] In th^ original D^Jtysi j and
almost uniformly rendered, " that I should repay him." This, how-
ever, supposes the term to be a verb, and from the root thw, " to
make good, or recompense." Yet such a rendering is by no means
clear or satisfactory, though so generally adopted. I have no doubt
that the proper root is hm, which, as a noun, imports " looseness,
licentiousness, presumptuousness." The K is formative, and the D
converts it into an adverb, " licentiously, presumptuously." We
thus gain a clear sense, and require no supply of him, or any other
term, to eke out a meaning.

Ver. 11. The Jiolloiv of the whole heavens — ] Literally, " the
under-part of the whole heavens :" D^DU^n h'2 nnn.

Ver. 12. I cannot he confounded at — ] In the original, U^^"in« V<h:
" be appalled," " I cannot be appalled, silenced', or struck dumb
at." In Dr. Stock, " I will not be silent as to — 3" who^ds the
following note to the preceding verse: " I am strongly of opinion,
that in the original of this fine poem, the speech attributed to God
ended here: not only because it forms a fuller and more dignified
onclusion than that which now closes the chapter, but because it
assigns a satisfactory answer to the question. With what view was
this laboured descripiion introduced, of the two formidable works of
the Creator, the river-horse, and the crocodile? — Answer that ques-
tion yourselves, saith the Almighty : if ye shrink with terror before
my works, how will -ye. dare to set yourselves in array against their
Maker. — Observe how the appendix is ushered in, " I will notj be
silent, &:c." Is this language for the Omnipotent? Is it at all suitable
to the grandeur of conception manifested in the rest of the poem ?"
Whatever propriety there may be in this observation, it only
applies to the common, and, as I have no doubt, erroneous mode of
rendering : " I will not conceal," or " I will not be silent." As the
passage is now given, the connexion is complete. " However man
may be appalled at attacking the Leviathan, all creation is mine :
his magnitude and structure can produce no eflTect on me. I
cannot be appalled or confounded; I cannot be struck dumb." The
poet then enters upon a part of the description which has not

yet

Chap.XLI. 13, 18. NOTES. 483

yet been given, and which admirably pairs with the detailed pic-
ture of the war-horsCj and Behemoth.

Ver. 13. The doulling of his nostrils—'] Usually, " a double
bridle," or " the fold or doubling of the bridle." Bochart observes,
from Pol. Onom. that the Greeks called those parts of the lips
which end at the cheeks," ;)^aX<j'o<, bridles: and, hence, Parkhurst
has rendered the passage " his gaping jaws." This, however, is a
very circuitous explanation, andj after all, not quite correct. JDI
{risn) means, equally " the bridle or halter of a horse," and " the
bridle or halter part, i.e. the snout or nostrils^" that around which
the cord is usually tied, or into which, in some animals, it is fixed,
by a hole bored through it. Thus ver. 2. of the present chapter,

" — Canst thou fix the cord to his snout?"
The very same term, in the very same twofold sense of a Iridle or
halter applied round the nose of a horse, and the nose itself, is

^ OS-

still common to the Arabic, Thus Antonio Giggei, ^^^ {risn),

" Camus circa nares equi : vel pars capitis equini ciii camus adhibe-
tur." " A halter about the nose of a horse; or the part itself of

the horse's head about which the halter is tied." Hence ^^J'■'^^

A^i jSI is vultus humanus, "the front or fore-part of a manj" in
consequence of the prominence of the human nose. From the
Hebrew or Arabic fDI or ^j (risn) there can be little doubt is
d^ived the Greek pU, piav6<;, {ris, risn-os), expressly " snout,
nose, nostrils:" of the origin of which, however, the etymologists
have usually expressed themselves doubtful or ignorant.

Ver. 18. His snor tings are the radiance of light, -»
And his eyes, as the glancings, &c. S

In our common version, " By his neesings a light doth shine," which
is copied by Dr. Stock. But doth shine (Vnn) is a substantive in
the original, " radiance, coruscation:" nor is there any such pro-
noun as by. Miss Smith gives,

" His sneezings throw out light."
But this is wrong in every sense, bnn, if a verb, would be singular ;
but ''nwlD)) (sneezings) is plural : and in no form whatever, whether

verb or substantive, does it mean to throw out.

Tyndal

}

484 NOTES. Chap.XLI.21, 22.

Tyndal is far more correct, and nearly verbal :
'' Hys neesynge is lyke a glistrynge fyne.
And hys eyes lyke the mornynge shyne."
Shyne is also a better expression than eye- lids. The exact term is
rapid vibrations, glancings. The phrase occurs in ch, iii. Q. and
precisely in the same sense. Dr. Stock has there given it winkings
of the dawn, but here lids of the morn.

The figure is common to Asia, Greece, and Rome. The following
is from Ovid :

" From their full racks the generous steeds retire.

Dropping ambrosial foam and snorting fire." Addison.

Ver. 21. His breath kindleth coals ;

Raging fire goeihfrom his mouth.
So Hesiod, in describing the creation of a well-known monster of
the fabulists, Theog. I. 319.

'H ^c XtjUatyOav iriKTE, Trviovaav duaificiKtTov vvp.
Next, the Chimera rear'd she, breathing fire
Fierce and unquenchable.
So Virgil, Georg. II. 140.

" Haec loca non tauri spirantes naribus ignem
Invert^re." —

*' Bulls breathing fire these furrows ne'er have known." Warton.

Ver. 22. And destruction exulteth before him,^ Such is the literal
version : and thus the Septuagint,

''Yj/UTTporrdEv avTOv rpcysi 'ATinAEIA.

So, also, the Spanish translator, Luis de Leon :

" Y ante sus faces va el Asoliamento."
Here, however, the fl'ih is by no means adequately expressed by
va. But the writer corrects it in the poetical version which he sub-
joins to every chapter .

"_ Es al reposo su cerviz valiente,

De todo lo Robusto y Fuerte, y lleva
El Destroso ante si continamente."
Our common version gives, " And sorrow is turned into joy before
him." The Hebrew nit^l can only mean sorrow in a very indirect
sense, though it is thus rendered by several Latin translators ; as
dolor by Pagninus ; and mosror by Junius and Tremellius, and
Piscator. Its exact signification is, failing, wasting, deliquescence,
dissolittion, and hence destruction, p imports *' to move briskly,"

" bound,

Chap. XLI. 23. NOTES. 485

" hound," "exult," and hence ''^to'be joyous;" but not very cor-
rectly, " to turn to joy ." Dr. Stock has given the passage a very
bold, and in some degree, perhaps, incongruous image 3 and he has
been followed in his translation by Miss Smith, at least with a
trifling variation :

" And before him danceth swooning."
In Scott it occurs,

" And DESTRUCTION DANCETH before him."
With this very striking metaphor, in whatever way explained, the
reader may aptly compare the triumphant, but severe satire upon
Belshazar, after his death : Isai. xiv. 9.

Hell from below is in motion for thee.

To CONGRATULATE thine arrival ;

For thee arouseth he the mighty dead.

All the chieftains of the earth,

Ver. 23. — are soldered together^ So Parkhurst correctly, "Are
united as with a metallic cement." The word is elegantly employed
in the same metaphorical manner by Shakspeare, in his Timon :

" Thou visible God,

That solder'st close impossibilities.
And mak'st them kiss !"

Ver. 23. It is firm alout him, it will in no wise give way."] Such
is the literal rendering. But Reiske gives it thus : " Tundat super

eum vhv pIV^ (scilicet pp^Ti C^\A\ ijiz <jXaJ^ tundens, id est
aliquis ;) non deflectit." " Should one press upon it, it will not yield."
The verb pIV, here rendered " it is firm," is twice repeated in the
ensuing verse ; and obviously in the same sense. Schultens, how-
ever, has thought proper to render one of these iterations, and Mr.
Parkhurst both of them, " it is molten." Dr. Stock has correctly
adhered to one sense for the whole, but has chosen the word hard
instead affirm: our common version employs both.

The general idea conveyed by both verses has a striking resemblance
to the following description of Amycus, in Theocritus, Id. xxii. 46.
^dtjdea 0' £(T(j)a(po)TO irtkupia, Kal irXarv vutov,
^apKi (n^apcii], a(j)vpr]XaTog oia KoXocraoc. ,

Round rose his chest, in many a massy mesh ;
Broad were his loins, and iron was his flesh,
As hammer'd Kke a statue. -
So Milton,

'' Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheeks."

So

I

486 NOTES. Chap.XLI. 25, 26.

And Spencer,

" Your tears a heart of flint •

Might tender make," —

Ver. 25. They are confounded at the tumult of the sea.'] In the
originalj, i^tann'' c'lnufa

Mi-sebarim jithatau.
which is literally, " they are confounded at the tumults." But the
question is. What are the tumults referred to ? By regarding the
plural termination of D''^:3iyD as a distinct word, D^ intyo, we have
a clear and satisfactory answer ; for the passage will then run as now
rendered, " the tumult of the sea."

"iNtohD'' has been very strangely misunderstood by many of the
Latin translators. Thus the Vulgate, " territi purgabuntur j" and
so Jur\ius and Tremellius, "^ metu confractionum se purgant j"
which is rendered, in very delicate terms, in our common version,
" they PURiFiE THEMSELVES." The primary sense of «ton is, " to
go astray, ramble, or wander :" in its secondary sense, this action is
applied to the mind, " to wander or ramble mentally," " to be con-
founded, or delirious." And in this sense the word may be regarded

s-

either as Arabic or Hebrew : for ^.jjjlail Ju has precisely the same
meaning as IxtDtiD^ " hue, illuc trepidi gradiuntur," applied both
mentally and corporeally. Dr. Stock gives the passage thus :
" When he settleth himself, the mighty are afraid :
Waiting the end, they go astray.
The common French version offers a sense much clearer : " Et Us
ne savent ou Us en sont volant conime U rompt tout ;" "And they
know not where they are (they are out of their wits), seeing how he
breaks every thing." The latter part of the passage, however, has
been obviously misunderstood.

Ver. 26. The sword of his assaUant cannot stand.l " It is shivered
at the first onset." So Schultens correctly : " Invadentis eum
gladins non stabit."

In the following couplet, in the poem of Dermid, (See Gaelic "
Antiquities, p. IQS,) we have a curious parallelism, in relation to
the wild-boar :

" Cbagnadh e a shleagan readh ruadh,
Mar chuilc ra leige no mar luachair."
He grindeth the tough red spear.
As if it were the soft reed (or rush) of Lego.

Ver. 30.

Chap. XLI. 30. NOTES. ' 487

Ver. 30. His led is the splinters of Jlint.'] The verse has not
been understood. Our common version is, " Sharp stones are under
him," which is the general rendering of the Latin translators. In
the Vulgate, however, we have it, " Sub ipso erunt radii solis, et
sternet sibi aurura, quasi lutumj" "^ Beneath him are the rays of
the sun, and he reposeth himself on gold, as though clay." This
rendering Luis de Leon seems to approve, though he quotes both,
and thus endeavours to reconcile both. " Debajo de si rayos de
sol, esto es, recuestase, si le place, 6 quando le place, sobre las
rayos del sol, que llama asi lo que la otra letra nombra, puntas de
tejas', que por lo uno y lo otro entendemos las piedras y guijas
agudas y asperas, que suelen estar en lo hondo del aqua, que por
razon de su agudeza son aqui llamadas rayos, y por causa del re-
splandor que por la mayor parte muchas de ellas tienen, son nom-
bradas oro, y rayos de sol." In few words, both, says the Spanish
translator, import the same thing 3 the sharp stones or pebbles may
be conceived, as for the most part, so brilliant as to be entitled to
the name of rays, gold, and rays of the sun."

Dr. Stock offers, 1^

" Underneath him are splinters of the potter."
The word nnn, here, as in ver. 11 of the same chapter, is not an
adverb, lelow, or underneath, but a substantive, the sulstrate, or
Vvhatever is below ; the under-part, that which he lies or rests
upon : — in the present instance, his couch or bed. For " sharp
stones," or rather " sharpnesses of stone," which is the idea ex-
pressed in our common lection, I prefer " splinters of flint." Some
of the copies, however, for '•Ti'in, splinters, read 'Tlin, layers, or
chambers ; which is, perhaps, the truest reading : but as not being
that in general use, I have not chosen to adopt it. " Sharpnesses
of the sun," " spicula of the sun," or " rays of the sun," is a far
more remote rendering ; and has not been often followed.

Ver, 30. fFhich the broken rock scattereth on the mud?^ In our
common version " he spreadeth sharp pointed things on the mire."
For " sharp pointed things," the orrginal gives us only ^I'lH, " a
craggy or broken rock j" which is also the nominative to the verb
1QT', of the singular number, " the craggy or broken rock spreads."
And thus Dr. Stock, with great correctness, though it does not
apply to his image of pot-sherds in the preceding v6rse :

" Which the breaking rock scattereth on the mud."

Ver, 31.

488 NOTES. Chap.XLI.31,32.

Ver. 31. He snuffeth up the tide as a perfume.'] The common
rendering is, " he maketh or disposeth :" but WUy> is here less
correctly derived from Dtl^, " to put, place, or ordain," than from
Dtyj, " to breathe, smell, snufF:" in the Arabic, still ^Jkuj. The
idea of a perfume is probably taken from the smell of musk, which
some species of the crocodile throw forth from the body; and
which the animal seems here to be represented as communicating
to the water : " He snuffeth up the tide as a perfume of his own
making." The imagery is truly Oriental : thus Ferdusi, describing
the royal gardens of Afrasiab :

^y^ ^ J^ Kj'f ^^^ ^^
The ground is a perfect silk, and the air is scented with musk :
You would say, " Is it rose-water which glides between the banks ?"
So Pope, in verses worthy the Muse of Solyma :

" See lofty Lebanon his head advance.

See nodding forests on the mountains dance ;
^•^ee spicy clouds from lowly Saron rise,

And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies."

Nor less spirited Filicaja, in his Canzone on the Siege of Venice,

" Ecco d' inni devoti

Risonar gli alti templi ; ecco soave

Tra le preghiere, e i voti

Salire a te Arabi fumi un nembo."

Behold ! with hymns devout

The lofty temples shout :
See ! mid the prevalence of prayers and sighs.
In clouds, to thee, Arabia's odours rise.

Ver. 32. The deep is emhroidered with hoar.] A beautiful and
truly Oriental image for " the deep is covered with foam." I have
given the passage literally ; but the word Ityn, which has two very
different significations, "■ to embroider, or work in tapestry," and
"■ to repute or account," has, unfortunately for the sense of the pas-
sage, hitherto been uniformly taken in the latter import. Moschus
thus describes the deep with a somewhat similar image, but less
elegantly. Id. V. 4.

'AW iirav d^V'Tp nOAIOi: BTGOS, a Sc QdXaffaa

Yt^vpray iirafpi^Tj,

But

Chap. XLI. 33, 34. NOTES. 489

But when the hoary deep resounds, the main
Foams in its tortures, &c.

Ver, 33. Hs hath not his like upon earth!] It might be rendered
" He hath not his master on the dust" or " ground." But there ic
no necessity for deviating from the standard version.

Ver. 34. He dismayeth all the boastful.'] The sense has only been
understood by Reiske, v^ho justly derives n^l^ from Ml'', " to terrify
or dismay," instead of from n«*i, " to look at or perceive^" which
is the derivation foUow^ed by all the rest.

Ver. 34. He is a king — ] Nirr is, emphatically, ipsemet, he himself.
All the interpreters appear to have run into an error, in con-
ceiving that the '^ sons of pride or haughtiness," in the original
yr^Uf ^32, refer to wild-beasts or monsters of enormous size —
belluce ingentis molis, as is the actual rendering of Reiske. It
is far more confounding to the haughtiness and exultation of
man, to that undue confidence in his own power which it is
the very object of this sublime address to humiliate, to have
pointed out to him, even among the brute creation, a being
which he dares not encounter, and which laughs at all his pride and
pomp, and pretensions ; and compels him to feel, in all these re-
spects, his real littleness and inferiority. It is difficult, perhaps
impossible, to find a description so admirably sustained, in any lan-
guage of any age or country. The whole appears to be of a piece,
and equally excellent : and hence I cannot conclude without once
more expressing my ptter dissent from the opinion of Dr. Stock,
who, as I have already observed, regards the entire passage (from
verse 12 of the present chapter) as a superfetation of a later period.
" This appendix," says he, " at the close of the chapter, as I have
ventured to call it, abounds too much in amplification, — is too
luxuriant to accord with the majestic simplicity of the other parts of
the poem."

CHAP. XLII.

Ver. 3. Who is this that pretendeth wisdom without knowledge !]
This is another instance of the anaphora, or figure of repetition,
which I have so often had occasion to notice in the course of the

poem J

4go NOTES. Chap.XLTI. 3.

poem J and which is here recurred to with inimitable effect and
feeling. In ch. xxxviii. 2. the Almighty thus commences his

address^

Who is this that darkeneth wisdom
By words without knowledge ?
In direct allusion to which, the afflicted patriarch, now convinced
of his presumption, in all the meekness of humiliation, re-echoes,
in nearly the same terms, "Who, indeed, is this "that pretendeth
wisdom without knowledge ! " '' Who indeed is this insignificant
being, that affecteth to be wise in the midst of gross ignorance ?"

So again, in the ensuing verse of ch, xxxviii, as also ch. xl. 7,
the Almighty exclaims.

Gird up now, manfully, thy loins ;

For I will ask of thee, and answer thou me.

In allusion to which the patriarch now exclaims (ver. 4 of the
chapter before us) in nearly the same terms,

O ! hear thou then, and / will speak :

/will ask of THEE, and declare thou unto me.
" I relinquish my confidence, I repent and abhor myself: I will
only speak that I may be informed : I will only ask that I niay
learn. O ! hear thou me^ and declare unto me thy will."

Nothing can be finer, or more touching. And I am therefore
truly astonished that Miss Smith should have ventured to banish
the whole of these three lines from the sacred text as an inter-
polation, and, consequently, to omit them in her version, and even
to alter the arrangement of the part she retains ; observing, in a
note, " This passage is totally unintelligible as it stands in the Bible.
Verses 3 and 4 seem to have c-npt in, from the beginning of
Jehovah's address to Job."

Ver. 3. Surely I have leen presumptuous — I would not understand .'1
The passage has not been taken in its proper sense by the trans-
lators, but is here rendered literally, pb is not therefore, but
verily, surely, in truth, '•nil'n is not a derivation from IJn, " to
declare or utter;" but from 1J "to rush headlong," ''to be
forward, or presumptuous," *' to assault, or invade wantonly."

Ver, 3. Wonderful art thou beyond me, and I know nothing!'}
n«l?a3 is here ftot a noun plural, wonderful things, but a verb, in
the second person singular, of the conjugation Niphil, " thou art

wonderful."

Chap. XLII. 10,13. NOTES. 491

wonderful." wb is often used substantively for nothing, as well
as in the sense of a negative particle : of which various instances
have already occurred to us.

Ver. 10. — reversed the affliction — ] Literally, " reversed the
strait, confinement, seizure, captivity;" almost all of which are
used in the same metaphorical sense, in our own language, to
express disease, or affliction.

Ver. 13. the name of the Jirst Jemima,

And the name of the second Kexia.

}

Jemima — literally, " Days upon days." Ketzia, or Kezia —
"Cassia," the plant of aromatic fame. — Kerenhapuc, "The in-
verted, or flowing horn;" "The horn of plenty," and hence
rendered, by the Septuagint, Amalthcea.

The End.

hh

{ 493 )

Lately Published,
BY THE AUTHOR OF THIS TRANSLATION:

1. SONG of SONGS; or, SACRED IDYLS ; translated from the Original

Hebrew, with Notes Critical and Exp!anator3\ 8vo. 7*. 6d. Keursley, 1803.

2. The NATURE of THINGS, a Didactic Poem ; translated from the
Latin of TITUS LUCRETIUS CARUS, accompanied with the Original
Text, and illustrated with various Prolegomena, and a large Body of Notes
Philological and Physiological. 2 vols. 4to. M.^s. Longman ^ Co. 1805.

3. MEMOIRS of the LIFE and WRITINGS of the Rev. ALEXANDER
GEDDES, LL.D. Bvo. Xds.M. 1803.

4. PANTOLOGIA, or UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY of ARTS, SCIENCES,
and WORDS : being the joint production of the Author ; OLINTHUS
GREGORY, LL. D. of the Royal Mihtary Academy, Woolwich, &c. &c. and
Mr. NEWTON BOSWORTH, of Cambridge ; occasionally assisted by other
Gentlemen of Eminence in different Departments of Literature. Now pub-
lishing in Monthly Parts, to be comprised in 1 2 vols, royal 8vo. 6*. each Part.
Sherwood, Longman 1^ Co. &c.

5. SELF-KNOWLEDGE : a Treatise showing the Nature and Benefit of
that important Science, and the way to attain it, &c. by JOHN MASON, A.M.
Stereotype Edition. Revised and corrected from the earlier and more
perfect Editions, with a prefixed Life of the Author ; and a Translation of
the Passages in the Notes which have hitherto been only given in their
Original Tongues. 12mo. large and elegant, 6^. small 45. fVihon, 1812.

6. SKETCH of the REVOLUTION in 1688, with Observations on the
Events that occurred. Second Edition, enlarged and illustrated.

7. DISSERTATION on the DISEASES of PRISONS and POOR-HOUSES.
Published at the Request of the Medical Society of London. Dilly, 1795.

8. CASE of PRETERNATURAL FETATION, with Observations on the
Phaenomena that occurred. 8vo. Dilly, M9h.

9. HISTORY of MEDICINE, &c. from the earhest Accounts to the
present Period. Published at the Request of the General Pharmaceutic
Association of Great Britain. Second Edition. 8vo. Dilly, 1795.

10. DIS-

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10. DISSERTATION on the best MEANS of maintaining^ and employing
the POOR in PARISH WORK-HOUSES, Published at the Request of the
Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.
Second Edition. 8vo. Longman ^- Co. 1805.

1). SECOND ADDRESS to the MEMBERS of the CORPORATION of
SURGEONS of LONDON. Published by the Request of the Committee of
the Corporation. 8vo. 1800.

12. ANNIVERSARY ORATION, delivered before the MEDICAL SOCIETY
of LONDON ; on the General Structure and Physiology of Plants compared
•with those of Animals, and the Convertibility of their Organic Elements.
Published at the unanimous Request of the Society. 8vo. Longhian
8f a. 1808.

13. ESSAY on MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY : having received the honour
of the Fothergillian Medal, unanimously voted by the Council of the Medical
Society of Lpndon. 8vo. Maxwell, 1810.

Printed by R. WATTS, Broxboum Press;

For Messrs. BLACK, PAERY, and Co. Leadenhall Street, London.

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